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Quest Means Business

U.S. Political Leaders Pay Tribute To Senator Graham; Graham Was A Major Supporter Of Ukraine's War Effort; Chip Stocks Sell Off As Global Rout Gathers Steam; Trump Meets With Netanyahu, Zelenskyy At The White House; France Battles Flames Around Historic Bordeaux; French Vineyard Makes Evacuation Plans As Wildfires Grow; Solar Panel Recycling Company Recovers Critical Mineral; Bernard Arnault Responds To Le Monde Series. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired July 28, 2026 - 16:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[16:00:20]

PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: Good day on the Dow, better than a one percent gain there, and I will say about 300 points away from the

record close it had earlier this month. The S&P was also up. The NASDAQ pared back losses.

Those are the markets and these are the main events: Leaders from Washington and around the world have been remembering the late Senator

Lindsey Graham. We will discuss what the death of the longtime foreign policy hawk means for the United States.

Chip stocks fall sharply in the U.S. after sell offs in Asia, and Boeing says its Air Force One project cost it $280 million in the last quarter.

Live from New York. It is Tuesday, July 28th. I am Paula Newton, in for Richard Quest and this is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.

And a very good evening to you.

Right now leaders are paying tribute to one of the most prominent senators in recent U.S. history, Lindsey Graham's funeral service in Washington is

set to conclude shortly. The South Carolinian, the Republican, died on July 11th after suffering an aortic dissection. Graham was just 71 years old.

The who is who of political figures paid tribute to him. That includes U.S. President Donald Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance and lawmakers from both

parties.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Ukraine's President Zelenskyy were also in attendance. Vice President Vance remembered Graham for his

work ethic. He said his former Senate colleague was impossible not to like.

President Trump, meantime, highlighted the senator's legislative achievements, praising Graham for working until the very end.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: He died doing the work he was born to do. He was truly a great politician, serving the

country he love, he served so deeply.

He went out at the peak of his career and the top of his game as a legend that everyone of us, many of us here today, blessed to know him and a

friend that none of us will ever forget.

There was truly nobody like Lindsey Graham.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Lauren Fox is in Washington for us and Lauren, few people would dispute what the President said there, including those from the Democratic

Party. You know, he left an indelible mark on U.S. foreign policy and it is interesting how even in a bipartisan way, he was recognized for that.

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. And it wasn't just foreign policy, it was the judiciary. It was domestic policy. It was

pursuits for immigration reform. If there was a bipartisan negotiation, CODEL effort to try to make a change and ensure that the U.S. was center

stage in the world, Lindsey Graham wanted to be part of it. And that was something that his colleagues reminded me of time and time again when it

came to dealing with the fact that they have suddenly lost a colleague, that they believe without, they would not have been able to accomplish so

much, whether it was Ukraine aid, whether it was this Russian sanctions bill that the Senate is going to be voting on later today, all of that

happened because of Senator Lindsey Graham.

And I will tell you that some of the most, most reverence that I heard from lawmakers came from his Democratic colleagues in conversations that

I've had with them over the last week, that included Senator Richard Blumenthal, who traveled extensively with Lindsey Graham to Ukraine in

order to continue advocating for aid for that country. That was Senator Elizabeth Warren, who politically, perhaps, could not have been more

different than Senator Graham, who told me about so many memories she had of trips with him to Ukraine, to Pakistan, to Afghanistan.

So many lawmakers loved being within his orbit because, as Senator Warren put it to me, he was sort of his own Wikipedia when you would be

globetrotting with him, he knew every detail, every leader, every country's history, and he made it his business to educate his colleagues, not in a

way where he was professorial or he believed he was above them, but because he was passionate about it, he was excited about it, and he wanted his

colleagues to find that contagious.

Every lawmaker that I asked, who can replace Senator Lindsey Graham, their answer universally was "no one." In fact, Senator Mark Kelly joked with me,

it is not going to be one person, it might be two or three, so that gives you a sense of just the work ethic that he had and the fact that he was

constantly on the road, constantly traveling.

[16:05:10 ]

There weren't many recesses where he wasn't traveling to some far flung place across the globe to make clear what the U.S. position was in a

conflict there. So, that is the memory and the legacy of Senator Lindsey Graham. And I should note that, you know, he also had such a legacy and

impact on domestic policy as well.

You know, people remember how strongly he defended Brett Kavanaugh during his confirmation hearing. We should also note that he was someone who,

before that Brett Kavanaugh moment, had voted with Democrats to confirm two Supreme Court nominees that were nominated by President Barack Obama, Elena

Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor, and he caught a lot of conservative flak for that. So someone who did cross the aisle at times, even when it might have

been inconvenient for his political future -- Paula.

NEWTON: Yes, certainly, as you say, and as you've outlined, remembered as a principled politician and a good friend by so many on both sides of the

aisle.

Lauren Fox, for us at that ceremony, really appreciate it.

Now, Lindsey Graham often used his access to President Trump to shape U.S. policy in ways that few others could. Lawmakers from both parties say that

made Graham uniquely influential on issues like Ukraine, Iran and Russia's sanctions. Republicans are grappling with the fact that there will be no

replacing Graham, you just heard that from Lauren as well when it comes to foreign policy or as key here, a conduit to President Trump.

Michael Froman is the President of the Council on Foreign Relations. He served as U.S. Trade Representative under President Obama as well and he

joins us now from Washington.

I am wondering how you're reflecting on this this afternoon, especially given where American foreign policy is now, because even allies are

questioning U.S. values and the country's commitment to decades of that American Doctrine and I am wondering, the Senator saw all of this happening

before his eyes, before his death. He was very clear-eyed about America's enemies, but also about the challenges of this new Trump Doctrine.

MICHAEL FROMAN, PRESIDENT, COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: Well, that's right and I think while he was very close to President Trump, he did, as you say,

try to influence him in a positive direction, whether it was support for Ukraine or international engagement more generally.

He was also, of course, a very strong supporter of the attacks on Iran as well. He was in many respects a bridge between the two leaders who were

here today, Netanyahu and Zelenskyy and Trump in helping to build those relationships with them over the course of the last over several years, and

very much had a sense of the importance of U.S. engagement with the world, of alliances. He was always a strong presence, for example, at the Munich

Security Conference, reassuring our European allies of the commitment of the United States to European security and he will be missed for his

positive influence on the President in that regard.

NEWTON: Yes, it will be quite a void.

On Ukraine, specifically, he was unable to persuade the President that the U.S. should go all in on Ukrainian support. I know things may have changed

in the last few weeks, but this was the MAGA base, right? It likely remains unconvinced as well. You only have to look at that humiliating scene in the

Oval Office last year.

Graham did not come to Zelenskyy's defense, at least not publicly. We have heard that perhaps he did so behind-the-scenes. I am wondering what that

says in terms of the compromises that he knew had to be made. And did he have, you know, much more, let's say, optimism for Ukraine in his last few

days? He had just been there. It was his last foreign trip.

FROMAN: That's right and I think over the course of the last several months, Ukraine has proven itself to be not only resilient in the face of

Russia's attack, but to be able to go on the offensive, engage in deep strikes into Russian territory, push back on some territory that the

Russians had occupied in Ukraine, and demonstrate to the President that they can be a winner and the President likes winners.

And so I think Senator Graham, perhaps behind-the-scenes, played a role in seeing that evolution from that terrible Oval Office meeting that you

referred to, to the really quite warm embrace that Zelenskyy got today and most recently at the at the NATO Summit as well.

And so there has been a great evolution in that regard, kind of the opposite evolution with regards to Netanyahu, who, of course, the President

was very close to, very supportive of and where that relationship is now quite strained.

NEWTON: When it comes, though, to foreign policy and trying to convince the president, President Trump, that alliances are beneficial. That's not the

tack that he has taken in Iran. Is it true, do you believe that the Senator is irreplaceable, and that really perhaps has more to do with Republican

politics, with MAGA politics than it has to do with Senator Graham?

[16:10:06]

FROMAN: You know, I think within the Republican Caucus, there are still a number of senators and members of the House who are very much committed to

the NATO Alliance, very supportive of Ukraine and are doing what they can to influence the administration and to reassure our allies there and around

the world that the U.S. remains very much committed to their security.

As you said, there has had to be compromise, given where the President and the administration has been and this arrangement by which the U.S. sells

weapons to Europe, Europe uses the frozen Russian assets to the interest on it to help buy those weapons and then provide them to Ukraine is a clever

workaround for U.S. support for Ukraine rather than going directly to Congress for a very significant arms package and the U.S. is still very

much involved in Ukraine and providing intelligence support and other forms of support that only the U.S. can provide.

NEWTON: And if I ask you a question, you know, linking the Senator's thinking on this because he was trying to get that package of sanctions

against Russia through both Houses, where do you think that goes from here? And was he convinced that it would make a difference? Because, you know, as

has been pointed out by you many times, sometimes the sanctions are not as effective as many think they will be.

FROMAN: Well, yes, it is very unclear. I mean, there has been several sanctions packages against Russians -- individual Russians, Russian

entities and yet Russia has continued to manage its economy. It is under a lot of strain, although some of that strain is being alleviated,

ironically, by the increase in oil prices caused by the closing of the Strait of Hormuz and the U.S. engagement with and the U.S. conflict with

Iran, so right now, Russia is actually benefiting from our war with Iran in terms of higher oil prices, helping to subsidize their wartime economy.

You know, I think this latest sanctions package, which the Senator felt very strongly about, the Senate is going to vote on later today, there is

momentum behind it. There are some difficult issues, including provisions that that give the President more tariff authority, which democrats are

reluctant to grant him, but there does seem to be a great deal of momentum behind this right now, maybe in honor of or in memory of the Senator.

NEWTON: And we will see where that goes, just one piece of the legacy for Senator Lindsey Graham.

Michael Froman, thank you so much. Appreciate you being with us.

FROMAN: Thanks for having me.

NEWTON: Turning now to the business agenda. Chip stocks extended their losses on Tuesday. Shares of both Samsung and SK Hynix took a nosedive in

South Korea, trading on the benchmark KOSPI Index actually had to be halted for 20 minutes.

On Wall Street meantime, AMD and Micron got hammered both eight percent lower. Intel fell nearly six percent, NVIDIA posted a small gain. The chip

stocks have been struggling after a huge run up this year. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, you see it there has fallen steadily since peaking in

late June.

David Goldman is with us from New York.

David, good to see you.

The worries have been menacing for chip stocks briefly in correction territory. What are investors specifically worried about now that may

linger because some people are suggesting maybe it is done now, maybe investors are satisfied that these valuations are okay.

DAVID GOLDMAN, CNN BUSINESS SENIOR REPORTER: It is the spending. I mean the JPMorgan report that came out just a couple of days ago suggested that this

industry could spend almost $1 trillion on data center buildouts this year. That is an incredible amount of money. And investors are waiting to see the

return on that investment and that's the big question, Paula, I think that a lot of traders are having is, you know, we've plowed so much money.

We've had at one point that stock index that you were talking about that measures chips was up 105 percent. Now, we are in a bear market territory

for that particular Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. The question is, well, is it going to pay off if we were going to put so much money into

A.I.? Not if the technology is good, not if this is a worthwhile endeavor, but are we going to start to see those returns on the investment and when

if the cost is so high?

A trillion dollars is a lot of money to put into this and I think that this is all kind of summed up in one incredible fact, which is that even though

NVIDIA, as you mentioned, was up a little bit today, Apple has now surpassed NVIDIA and is the most valuable of all stocks on the market. And

why is that? It is because Apple hasn't paid all that money for A.I. It hasn't invested all of that money.

Investors are saying, well, wait a minute, maybe this is the company to bet the farm on. It is up almost 20 percent just in the past month alone --

Paula.

[16:15:10]

NEWTON: Yes, which is incredible for that kind of a stock, not exactly new the scene.

On that trillion dollars though, David, Elon Musk no longer the trillion dollar man. SpaceX, I want to point out was up today.

GOLDMAN: Yes.

NEWTON: Is this more of a rational valuation? I am wondering where people see it going from here. It is still under its IPO offer.

GOLDMAN: Yes, I mean, maybe. It is only up about 2.5 percent today. I think that, you know, we shouldn't shed too many tears for Elon Musk. He is still

by far the richest person in the world. He is worth over $700 billion, although that is $600 billion less than his peak valuation at almost $1.4

trillion. He is still worth $400 billion more than the next guy on the richest person list, which is Larry Page, the founder of Google.

However, I think that the thing is that SpaceX has gotten caught up in all of this sour mood around A.I. Remember, SpaceX has spent almost $13 billion

last year alone on A.I. and in the first quarter spent $8 billion on A.I.

So certainly investors are worried about the same thing. It is a lot of spending and when are we going to start to see the return? Because SpaceX

lost $5 billion last year and in the first quarter, it lost $4 billion. That's a lot of money.

NEWTON: Yes and it says SpaceX, but it is indeed an A.I. company --

GOLDMAN: It is not about rockets anymore.

NEWTON: That's right. That's what Elon Musk tells us.

David Goldman, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

Now Boeing posted a wider than expected losses, wee for this quarter, its delayed Air Force One jets are largely to blame. We will discuss that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NEWTON: Japan's NHK reports that rescuers say they've pulled four people from a partially collapsed shopping mall. This comes after a 6.8 magnitude

earthquake hit the island of Kyushu. NHK also reports that a 400-bed hospital there says it is now at full capacity.

CNN's Hanako Montgomery has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A calm afternoon turned to chaos as a powerful earthquake and a series of

aftershocks rattled the Japanese island of Kyushu on Tuesday.

[16:20:02]

Buildings burned, this train overturned, a shrine wrecked and a bridge collapsed. The full scale of the damage still being assessed around the

epicenter in Japan's southern Kumamoto Prefecture.

Inside the mangled wreckage of this partially collapsed shopping mall, several people were reported trapped after an explosion rocked the building

following the quake, Japan's public broadcaster, NHK said. A wall of the historic Kumamoto Castle, a top tourist attraction, was also seen crumbling

as the quake struck.

(UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE speaking in foreign language.)

MONTGOMERY (voice over): "How can I put it? I felt as if my body was hovering mid-air, so for a moment I didn't realize it was an earthquake,"

this witness said. "It was only when I saw it collapse that it dawned on me that it was an earthquake."

The Castle was previously damaged in the 2016 earthquakes, which killed nearly 300 people in Kumamoto and Oita Prefectures. South of Kumamoto City,

buildings and homes in Uki City and Yatsushiro City were also impacted.

Thousands of homes were left without power and multiple people were unaccounted for after this chimney collapsed at a paper factory in

Yatsushiro City, NHK reported.

Japan's Meteorological Agency warning residents in areas that felt the biggest tremors to be prepared for further strong quakes and landslides in

the week ahead.

Hanako Montgomery, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Boeing took a $280 million hit last quarter because of its struggle to deliver new Air Force One jets, but overall, shares closed 4.7 percent

higher on the latest earnings. Production of the 737 Max is up, and so is the company's cash flow.

The Air Force One program is another matter, though. The planes are four years behind schedule and more than $3 billion over budget.

Boeing says it is adding significant resources to deliver the two jets by 2028. On top of that, U.S. officials say hundreds of 737 Max jets may have

had their seats installed incorrectly, and they are calling for inspections.

CNN aviation analyst, Mary Schiavo is with us now.

Good to see you, Mary.

I do want to get to Air Force One first. The losses, the holdup, Boeing has so struggled with this. Why?

MARY SCHIAVO, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: well, because the field keeps shifting. Every new threat, every new problem, every new way to, you know, attack

communications, every new jamming function that has to be added has to be put on that plane. But there is an additional problem because everybody

hears about government overruns on contracts, and the government just keeps shoveling in money, Boeing for the Air Force One replacement contracts

signed a fixed price contract.

Now, that was a little different for a lot of government procurement programs and the government did kick up the money that they put into the

program a little while ago, because the government made changes to the contract. But it was a little different to be signing a fixed price

contract and that is why Boeing is going to have to face the losses, which at this point may not be over.

Some projections are that it might be '31 before the planes are delivered, rather than '28, and that will be additional cost overruns.

NEWTON: And again, it is still working towards 2028 for those two jets alone. It will be interesting to see, as you said, what we hear in future

quarters about that.

How about this FAA directive about the seats? I mean, you say this is more serious than many may think.

SCHIAVO: Yes. Everybody says all the seats are installed wrong. People think, well, they won't be comfortable, et cetera. No, the warnings that

have come out with this are that in a hard landing or an emergency, the seats could detach and that's a big deal because its Federal Aviation

regulation that the seats must withstand 16 Gs. That's 16 times the force of gravity in any kind of situation.

And in emergencies and in accidents in the past, what has happened is the seats have collapsed or detached, trapping people in the accident aircraft,

trapping people in fires, et cetera, and again, by Federal Aviation regulation, an aircraft has to be able to be evacuated in 90 seconds and

that has saved countless lives. That really is life-saving.

So by these seats not being able to be confirmed that they will perform and that they were installed correctly, they cannot know if they will withstand

any kind of an emergency, bad turbulence or an accident and that's literally life threatening.

NEWTON: This is really the workhorse for Boeing and for so many airlines around the world. I am wondering how something like this was missed. Am I

describing it correctly?

SCHIAVO: That's right.

NEWTON: And a reminder that the new Boeing CEO was brought in to make sure there aren't these quality control issues?

SCHIAVO: Well, that's exactly right and there are some discrepancy about who discovered it. Some reports say Boeing discovered it and reported it

back in December. But now the FAA is publishing what is called a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, making it have the full force and effect of a

government regulation that these inspections and changes must take place.

[16:25:15]

Now, the FAA has not put in a deadline. They are going to look to Boeing's own internal guidance as to how fast these planes need to be inspected and

looked at. But in the U.S. Fleet alone, it is somewhere between 423 to 453 planes, but that's just the U.S. Around the world, there are, you know,

2,300 some of these planes and international foreign aviation regulators usually follow the FAA. So we could look for Canada, the European Union,

China and others to put the same kind of inspection requirements on their fleets.

And of course, most of these planes and these repairs, while they say it only takes two hours to inspect, they might have to replace some of the

seats, that would be more, but that will be a cost in many cases, it has to be borne by Boeing because the planes are still so new. This affects 737

Max 8, 9, and 8200 models. And those are the newer models.

NEWTON: Yes. Again, Boeing's problems continue and this is just the latest. We will continue to catch up with them in the quarters to come and see if

the seat issue affects them as well.

Mary Schiavo for us, thanks so much.

Now, Donald Trump met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at The White House today. A closer look at their strained relationship. That's

what is ahead on QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NEWTON: Hello, I am Paula Newton, and there is more QUEST MEANS BUSINESS in a moment when the fires raging in France and Spain are threatening people's

livelihoods. We speak to the deputy managing director of a French winery, and Bernard Arnault had a sharp response to a Le Monde series examining his

family and business.

Before that, though, the headlines this hour.

[16:30:02]

Japan's public broadcaster says at least four people have been rescued from the rubble of a shopping mall following a major earthquake on Tuesday.

According to reports, several people were killed and others are missing.

The 6.8 magnitude quake also knocked out power for tens of thousands of households.

Weather conditions fueling the devastating wildfires in France and Spain are expected to worsen this week. Temperatures are expected to soar and

rain is not in the forecast. Hundreds of thousands of people have been evacuated in both countries. In many cases, entire neighborhoods have been

reduced to ash and rubble.

Washington, D.C. is paying a final tribute to the late Senator Lindsey Graham. Donald Trump was among the speakers today at the funeral service

for the powerful politician. Graham served more than two decades in the Senate and was one of the leading voices on U.S. foreign policy. He died

suddenly less than three weeks ago, only hours after returning home from a trip to Ukraine.

So the White House says President Trump's meetings with Benjamin Netanyahu and Volodymyr Zelenskyy were, quote, "positive and productive." Mr. Trump

met with Israeli prime minister ahead of the funeral service for Senator Lindsey Graham.

Now the pair's relationship has appeared strained in recent weeks. But Mr. Netanyahu says today's meeting was, quote, "one of the best conversations"

they've ever had. Earlier in the day, Mr. Trump met with Ukrainian president Mr. Zelenskyy, and he says they discussed Ukraine's access to

Patriot missile interceptors and restarting diplomatic efforts to end the war in Ukraine.

Aaron David Miller is a former State Department Middle East negotiator. He's now a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

He joins us now.

David, good to see you. As you know, we've parsed the legacy of Senator Graham, and he's been so involved in these two conflicts around the world.

Now, Benjamin Netanyahu in town for the funeral. Netanyahu, in my opinion, needed that photo opportunity with Donald Trump to bolster his election

prospects. He didn't get it, did he? I mean, his presidency may be able to release a still, but they did not open it to the press.

Oh, there you go. We see it from the Israeli prime minister's office. There you go. Pretty predictable. But he didn't get the open press moment that he

wanted. Do you think that he perhaps has more tension with the president than people realize?

AARON DAVID MILLER, FORMER STATE DEPARTMENT MIDDLE EAST NEGOTIATOR: Interesting question, but there were no pressers. No public events with

either Zelenskyy and Netanyahu. The hours before the president eulogized a man, Lindsey Graham, who has championed a very robust U.S. policy toward

Ukraine and an even more robust U.S. policy toward Israel, I mean, I hate to use the word propriety in close proximity to the Trump administration,

having worked and voted for Republicans and Democrats.

You can consider it a partisan comment if you want, but my view is it would not have been appropriate. Pressers can go in any number of ways and

usually you don't have them when you have nothing to announce. They sometimes don't occur because there are fundamental differences, the

meetings were really bad, or there's a concern somehow that they would go sideways.

I think under the circumstances, given the nature of their relationship, this visit turned out about as well as Benjamin Netanyahu could have. And

remember, it's not a one-off. His objective with Trump in the next 90 days where he will face the most consequential election of his political career,

which could involve his freedom. He's on trial for bribery, fraud, and breach of trust in a Jerusalem district court, right, for five years in

running before three judges in Jerusalem.

If he's -- if he loses power, he could be convicted or be forced into a plea agreement that would end his political career. So he needs Donald

Trump to set up election headquarters in Washington and to basically campaign for him. Will Trump do it? He's avoided endorsing Netanyahu

strenuously in the last several weeks. I don't know. But I think the prime minister comes and goes. It's not a loss. Could have been better. But with

Trump, an oppressor, you never know. It could have been worse.

NEWTON: You make such a good point there. Before we let go of that issue, on Iran in general, and the fact that Israel and the United States have had

some tension, do you believe that really this is going -- Donald Trump will call the shots from here on in, as he says he will?

[16:35:02]

MILLER: Well, you don't need me. You're the star analyst here. I mean, you broke the code on Benjamin Netanyahu's main objective in the meeting. And

now I think you broke the code on this one. Look, Trump is a senior partner. Netanyahu may have played a huge role on starting this war, but he

is not going to play any kind of consequential role in ending it. And it -- and Trump has made that unmistakably clear.

I would venture to say that it would be galactic foolishness on the part of the prime minister to lecture the president or press hard for a resumption

of a war that the president wants to get out of. So what Netanyahu is hoping is that the supposed deal that the Omanis and the Gulf Arabs are

cooking up, which the Iranians have not accepted, it's a deal that would open the straits on terms that Iran would accept, and terms that the

administration would accept.

I'm thinking that Netanyahu is hoping that that's going to crater, and that sooner or later, Trump will have no choice to return to military strikes. I

mean, I hope that's not the case, but I think that's what his play is.

NEWTON: Before I let you go, I will correct the record, I am no star analyst. In fact, you are looking at the person who said that Putin would

never invade Ukraine, and here we are. That would be from looking at the whites of his eyes and his soul apparently when he first took office. But I

do want to get your opinion on Zelenskyy himself because despite his problems at home, he is in a stronger position here, isn't he?

MILLER: I think so. I mean, whether it -- I think it's no longer up for grabs that after -- when the fifth year of this war that Ukraine has

withstood and will continue to withstand Russian pressure. Putin is going to continue to try, but long range drone strikes activities in the Black

Sea region, the fact that this administration is warming to some degree to Zelenskyy co-producing Patriots. That may be in the works. That's a long

longer term play.

But I think despite the sort of musical chairs with respect to the commander of the Russian force -- the Ukrainian forces and the minister of

defense, I think Zelenskyy came and went, and yes, I think things are looking much better. And I would only point out that in almost five years,

Putin has not broken Ukraine in five months. We're now beginning the sixth month is today of this war. Trump has not broken Iran.

And you've got to wonder what Putin, having watched these great powers, wrestle with these smaller ones, what President Xi is thinking, about

whether or not what he's witnessed in Ukraine and Iran advances his risk readiness on Taiwan or retards it.

NEWTON: Interesting. These two conflicts might be a measure of deterrence. You know, besides the aggressive posture some would say that China has

taken with their military exercises.

Aaron David Miller, we covered a lot in six minutes. I really want to be covering peace treaties with you on both of those conflicts sometime soon.

We'll continue to stay in touch. Appreciate it.

MILLER: At some point, I'll interview you.

NEWTON: Take care.

Now, parts of France and Spain are slowly getting relief after days of blazing wildfires, even as weather conditions are expected to worsen. Up

next, how a French vineyard is preparing for the worst.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:41:18]

NEWTON: The Spanish prime minister says his country is seeing light at the end of the tunnel, as local forces work to put out wildfires before

temperatures soar again. Some residents in French towns near Bordeaux were also given the green light to actually return home. That's good news.

Hundreds of thousands across Spain and France have been evacuated in recent days.

Our Melissa Bell has the latest developments from on the ground.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Closer and closer to Bordeaux, the Gironde Fire has spread, as daunting by its

size now as it is by its ferocity. Here on the fire's southeastern front, the fight continued on Monday to try to rein it in. Dash water bombers

sweeping in from the sky to try and douse the flames that the fire trucks couldn't reach nearby.

At the local summer hotspot that is the Bassin D'arcachon pleasure boats have given way to Black Hawk helicopters brought in from the Czech

Republic. Just some of the resources provided by European allies.

CMDR. MATHIEU JOMAIN, GIRONDE FIREFIGHTERS (through translator): Given the scale, the response can only now be European and even international in the

face of climate change and its consequences. Amongst them, major forest fires like these.

BELL: This is the Cap Ferret Peninsula. Its population grows in the summer tenfold, which means that when it was evacuated on Friday, 40,000 people

had to flee along the single road that leads back to the mainland, leaving behind this eerily quiet holiday paradise and a huge economic shortfall.

(Voice-over): The peninsula's camping grounds now reminders of how quickly the fire brought a sudden end to so many summer holidays.

Melissa Bell, CNN, the Cap Ferret.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: And yet there are some local businesses that are only beginning to feel the impact. The vineyard Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte is making

preparations if the wildfires head its way. Two of its tractors are on standby in case local firefighters need help.

Ludovic Fradin is the deputy managing director at the chateau, and he joins us now.

I really want to thank you for your time on what must be some really tense days to come. Can you fill us in on what the situation is right now?

Because we understand that not only is it going to get warmer, but perhaps there will be a change of wind direction as well.

LUDOVIC FRADIN, DEPUTY MANAGING DIRECTOR, CHATEAU SMITH HAUT LAFITTE: Yes, that's correct. Actually, we face a wind which is very turning around the

fire and we create his own forecast inside the fire. So the fire is going up and down and coming back to the point where it's starting and coming

back to Bordeaux and now progressing to Bordeaux at about entrance door of Bordeaux about more or less 20 kilometers.

NEWTON: It must be so worrying. That is not far away at all. What has been like for you, for everyone there in the region, for your business? I mean,

this is must be real anxiety. And I understand you're really on a trigger to evacuate.

FRADIN: Yes. Well, we are not yet evacuated, so we are waiting from the chief of the estates if we have to evacuate or not. But at the time being,

there is no evacuation. So we prepare ourselves with our tank that we fill with water. It's an experience that we never underwent before. So we face a

situation. We have a -- we don't have any background. So we try to secure a lot of things, including the people, the staff, of course, but it would be

a much easier things to do.

But as well as all the animals that we have inside the winery that we have to take care and see where we are going to move them.

[16:45:03]

And some of them are big like cows and llamas and things like that. So we try to set up a protocol just to be ready in case of evacuation, which is

not yet active.

NEWTON: It is 10:44 p.m. right now. In terms of the evening and how it will pass overnight for you, how worried are you that given the wind and the

temperatures, that things could get worse when you wake up in the morning?

FRADIN: Temperature is getting drier and drier and warmer and warmer this week. So we are worried about the -- about the fire and the progress of the

fire, which is at the entrance door of Bordeaux. I saw perhaps today where the wind, they showcased the wind direction. So at the time being now they

just moved from north to south. So it pushed south the fire. So we don't have any -- we didn't get any effect with the smoke as well or just a

little bit. That's quite manageable.

So -- but it's something that you cannot forecast and you cannot see any plan because the wind obviously is turning around 360 degrees every day. So

that's something very difficult to handle. But the things we have to do is to be ready and to be prepared to evacuate if it is necessary. Giving helps

as well of the people on the fire. We have a nice hotel, which is, (INAUDIBLE), so we give them a lot of pastries and water and tours to the

people who are on the fire.

So we try our best as well with our tank of water that we are ready to use for the fire people. But at the time being, they ask us to don't move and

to leave the professional, the firemen to do their job to secure the area and see if they need it or not. So we are on hold actually. It's quite

scary and very anxious situation, but we are ready to move if it is necessary and to try to save people, animals and things like that.

NEWTON: Certainly seems like a lot of preparation has gone into this for what, you know, as you said, incredibly historic and unimaginable

conditions right there in that area of France.

Mr. Fadin, we'll continue to check in with you, and we certainly hope the fire conditions improve.

FRADIN: We hope, we hope. I think that we have a lot of volunteers, but we saw as well that we have a lack of means because there is not enough plane.

There is not enough helicopter. There is not enough volunteer for fire arms as well. Fire people I mean, so it's a situation, which is -- because we

face a very big, huge, huge fire, which never happened before for as far as I know.

And so we see that we have a lack of means and we need a lot of things to try to secure and to fight against this fire because it's a fight,

actually. It's a big fight.

NEWTON: It's a fight. Yes, a challenge ahead. Thanks again for being with us. Really appreciate it.

Now, after the break, Bernard Arnault is clapping back after the French newspaper "Le Monde" implied there was a succession feud with him -- within

LVMH. We'll explain.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:51:01]

NEWTON: Some investors are starting to question the high valuations of A.I. stocks, and its poor timing as the industry spends billions to build out

that infrastructure. These data centers rely heavily on critical minerals, and the U.S. is facing a shortage, with China limiting the export of

resources like silver.

One company is recovering these critical minerals from solar panels at the end of their lifespan. We Recycle Solar breaks the panels down to collect

their silver, aluminum, copper, and silicon. Adam Saghei is the company's founder and CEO, and he joins us now.

Adam, thanks for being with us. Now, look, I've read about the process of recycling here. It's very intensive and in some cases money-losing. So why

do it?

ADAM SAGHEI, CEO, WE RECYCLE SOLAR: Yes. Thank you for having me, Paula. Very excited to be here. Well, one of the things that drove us to do this

was we saw a huge need, a gap, within the U.S. supply chain. As you mentioned, with silver on the rise at approximately 70 percent increase in

pricing, what we've noticed is the person that holds the stockpile of silver is China. They control about 70 percent of that supply chain and as

we saw in January, some of the policies that came out of Beijing directed the rest of the world -- to the rest of the world that they were not going

to send this material off to other countries.

So much so that even sulfuric acid was banned from export, which is critical in the mining sector. But as we look to mining and we look to the

build out of this new technology that's growing and pacing much faster than we've expected, we're seeing a $1.9 billion market that's arriving, and the

infrastructure to handle it doesn't exist yet. Well, as you know, the A.I. race and A.I. itself runs on silver. Without silver, there is no A.I..

And as we look at the consumption of silver in the world, in 2025, we saw that the U.S. and China together consumed more than 50 percent of the

global mining supply of silver in -- for data centers, rather. And so as you look at the sheer demand, the next question is, what will it require in

the next 10 years?

NEWTON: Right.

SAGHEI: And we're looking at a 42,000 ton silver need that will need to happen. Now, as silver is a great conductive material, everything within

that data center, from connection points, circuit boards, high speed switches, they require this type of material. But if we look outside of an

A.I. with solar, the health sector, defense, there's a lot more to it. And that is due to high industrial consumption, stagnant mine production, new

foreign export restrictions as we mentioned.

NEWTON: Yes. I hear you on the critical minerals. We don't have a lot of time, but I do want to get to this issue of the solar panels themselves

because I had learned through reading about your company that the earliest generations of these panels will be obsolete, and you don't want them to be

in landfills.

SAGHEI: Absolutely. So as we're seeing 10 percent end up there, we also see an opportunity. There's about $2.4 billion of critical material in these

panels. And as we look at the over close to 500 gigawatts of material that's been deployed in the U.S., there's 20 grams of silver in each panel.

Now, luckily, the technology has advanced to a place where we can extract all of these materials in a small footprint without any subsidies and

addressing both issues. We can be the feedstock to this build-out for these data centers by extracting these critical materials right here in the U.S..

[16:55:02]

NEWTON: Understood. OK. And we'll see how your company scales up, especially as these panels become obsolete.

Adam, thanks so much. Appreciate you joining us.

Now, the head of LVMH is a man of few words, but Bernard Arnault had a lot to say about a six-part profile published by "Le Monde." Its reporters

detailed everything from his political ties to his taste in classical music, to the prickly question of who in his family might succeed him.

Arnault responded on X with a lengthy and sarcastic thank you note.

Saskya Vandoorne picks up the story from there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SASKYA VANDOORNE, CNN PARIS BUREAU CHIEF: Bernard Arnault is pushing back against reports of a bitter succession battle among his five children,

insisting that his family is united. His comments have caused quite a stir here in France partly because the chairman of LVMH is famously private and

rarely speaks publicly about his family. But he broke that silence with a statement shared by LVMH, in which he responded to a major "Le Monde"

investigation into Arnault's influence and the future of the company.

In a rare display of his trademark irony, Arnault mocked the idea of a family feud, writing, "With the Arnaults apparently there is no discussion,

only plotting. No deliberation, only rivalry. It's the stuff of novels." Arnault appears to be saying that the real-life plot of the hit show

"Succession" exists only in fiction, not inside the Arnault family.

The reason the speculation has been so intense is because this is not just a family story. It's about the future of one of the world's biggest luxury

empires, whose brands include Louis Vuitton, Dior and Tiffany. All five of Arnault's children hold senior roles within LVMH, fueling years of debate

over who will eventually succeed the 77-year-old. And yet Arnault insists there's no drama behind the scenes. He says his children run the group's

brands and even call each other on Sundays.

For now, Arnault has shown no sign of stepping aside, saying earlier this year that the question should be asked again in seven or eight years when

he reaches the company's age limit to be chairman and CEO.

Saskya Vandoorne, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Taking a final look at the markets, the Dow gained 537 points, up 1 percent. The S&P eked out a slight gain and the Nasdaq finished lower as

chip stocks sold off, but it was off its lows.

That is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS. I'm Paula Newton. "THE LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER" starts now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

END