Watch Jim Cramer toss softballs to Tim Cook (video)

Slim pickings from a 22-minute Q&A. Four highlights:

On U.S.-China trade tensions:  

COOK: I think a deal is very possible. And I’ve heard some very encouraging words.

CRAMER: Even of recent, right?

COOK: Yes, yes, very recently. And I don’t speak for them, obviously. I do talk with them. And I give them my ideas and thoughts.

On the iPhone XR naysayers: 

CRAMER: A Wedbush analyst said, “Apple’s clearly the darkest days, representing a challenge in growth.” Journal, “It’s too soon to call the XR a flop, only after a few months. But early indications are, of course, it’s a flop.” What do you say to people who say XR flopped? What do you say to, say, “darkest days”?

COOK: I say bologna. I call bologna on that. Let me tell you how I view this. Here’s the truth, what the facts are. Since we began shipping the iPhone XR, it has been the most popular iPhone every day, every single day, from when we started shipping, until now.

On the stock price: 

CRAMER: Well, then you were surprised with the market reaction to both when you decided to not reveal units and when you revealed the shortfall.

COOK: I’m never surprised by the market, to be honest with you. Because I think the market is quite emotional in the short term. And we sorta look through all of that. We think about the long term. And so when I look at the long-term health of the company, it has never been better.

On Qualcomm:

CRAMER: You have people who are naysayers. One of the naysayers is not an analyst. It’s Qualcomm. Qualcomm keeps telling you, over and over again, “You’re gonna come to the table. You have to. Lost the suit in Germany. Lost the suit in China. Wait ’til you see them cave.” Are you gonna cave?

COOK: No. Look, the truth is, we haven’t been in any settlement discussions with them since the third calendar quarter of last year. That is the truth. So I’m not sure where that thinking is coming from. The issues that we have with Qualcomm is that they have a policy of no license, no chips. This is, in our view, illegal. And so many regulators in many different countries agree with this. And then secondly, the obligation to offer their patent portfolio on a fair, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory basis. And they don’t do that. They charge exorbitant prices.

CRAMER: Right, that they say you are in settlement talks all the time.

COOK: Well, not just that, but paying somebody to write fake news and then promoting it. This is stuff that should be beneath companies. This is not how things should operate.

Cue the video:

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Apple CEO Tim Cook talks China, Wall Street negativity and innovation with CNBC’s Jim Cramer from CNBC.

My take: Cramer could have dug a little deeper into the fiscal Q1 earnings miss without getting blackballed by Apple PR.