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Quest Means Business

Russia Threatens Turkey With Economic Sanctions; U.N. Says Mud Spilled From Iron Ore Mine Is Toxic; Barclays Fined For Cutting Corners On Money Laundering Checks. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired November 26, 2015 - 16:00   ET

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

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RICHARD QUEST, HOST: Tonight Russia threatens Turkey with economic sanctions. President Erdogan gives his reaction in an exclusive interview

to CNN.

Also the United Nations says the mud that spilled from the Iron Ore mine is toxic despite BHB Billiton's claim to the contrary.

And a case of ask no questions tell no lies; Barclays is fined for cutting corners on money laundering checks.

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I'm Richard Quest live from CNN, Abu Dhabi where of course, I mean business.

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QUEST: Good evening, Russia is tonight preparing to impose a raft of economic sanctions on Turkey. The Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, has

ordered ministers to clamp down on trade and business ties with Turkey. All part of a deepening row over a Russian war plane that was shut down by a

Turkish jet near the border with Syria.

In an exclusive interview with CNN's, Becky Anderson, Turkey's President refused to apologize for the incident.

Becky is now with us live from Ankara to put this into perspective.

Becky, good evening to you. The nuts and bolts of this seem to be fairly clear. Ankara says the jet had strayed into Turkey's air space and that

they gave them warnings. The Russians say the opposite. Are we any closer to knowing the truth of it and now, of course, Russia's reaction and

Turkey's response.

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BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well Richard, the truth of it as far as the Turkish President is concerned is what we have been

hearing now from the Turks for the last 48 hours since the plane was shot out of the sky.

And he says and reconfirms that that plane, that Russian fighter jet was warned ten times, that it was approaching Turkish air space. That would be

an incursion into sovereign air space.

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ANDERSON: This is a Russian jet that is flying (inaudible) in support of the Syrian army over Syria against, they say, ISIS, but many people say the

opposition.

It flew into Turkish air space for something like 17 seconds and there's been some complaint about the fact that was not really very long, but the

President tells me that that is an incursion into their air space, they had been warning the Russians about this.

This isn't the first time, it's happened some four times since the Russians have been flying in support of the Syrian regime over the last what six or

eight weeks. And so according to the rules of military engagement, they shoot it out of the sky.

Now he says he is saddened and disappointed that the incident happened. He will not apologize. He said it is up to the Russians to apologize. But he

did go on to say that he is trying to de-escalate the situation, echoing the words of the U.S. President, and NATO, and various other world leaders

who are really trying to put together this sort of grand coalition in order to fight the scourge that is ISIS on the ground in Syria.

He said he wants to deescalate it. He also went on to point out the bilateral trade that goes on between Russia and Turkey which is so

important not just to Turkey he says, but to Russia as well. Have a listen to what he told me just a couple hours ago.

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RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN, TURKISH PRESIDENT: (As translated) (inaudible) we have a strategic partnership with the Russian Federation, a partnership of

great importance. And in 2013 for instance we actually increased our bilateral trade volume up to $35 billion and right now of course in terms

of oil and natural gas, we are a primary customer of Russia, we're buying oil and natural gas from Russia. We have this kind of a connection with

them. And at a time everyone when everyone was imposing sanctions on Russia in terms of food stuff, we did not do so and we actually met a significant

part of their food stuff needs. So wouldn't want this kind of deterioration of these ties.

But unfortunately despite our different approaches to the Syrian issue, we wouldn't have wanted this incident to take place.

[16:05:11]

ANDERSON: Was it a mistake and will you apologize?

ERDOGAN: (As translated): Well, I think if there's a party that needs to apologize it's not us. Those who violated our air space are the ones who

need to apologize. Our pilots and our armed forces simply fulfilled their duties, which consisted of responding to a violation of the rules of

engagement. I think this is the essence.

ANDERSON: Sergey Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister, has called this has called this planned provocation and Putin has accused you of deliberately

driving relations between your two countries to a standstill. Your response?

ERDOGAN: (As translated) Well, first of all, there is no deliberate effort from our side to bring the relationship to a standstill. I think these are

emotional attitudes to the issue. I don't think it's the right thing to say. We have never had this kind of an intention to bring the relationship

to this kind of a point.

ANDERSON: They do keep coming. Putin has accused you of effectively stabbing him in the back I think is the line he used. And as being - Turkey

as being an accomplice of terror. This is pretty fiery stuff isn't it?

ERDOGAN: (As translator) Well, the expression accomplices of terror, I don't know it if he used it or not. If Putin -- he is saying that, we are

cooperating with Daesh that we are accomplices, I think that will be a huge mistake, because we are doing the exact opposite. That is and Russia is not

engaged in a fight against Daesh in Syria. On the contrary, they are actually targeting moderate opposition.

Turkey is a country that fights against terrorism, so calling Turkey is an accomplice would be the worst thing to do. Yesterday there was a

declaration which was very unacceptable. Some people claim that we were buying oil from Daesh. And the fact that people in positions of authority

in Russia said this was unacceptable very, very unacceptable. Yes, it's a horrific lack of respect vis-a-vis Turkey because people who made this

claim should prove it.

No one can accuse us of buying oil from Daesh. These are smugglers. If any such thing is happening then we would you know apprehend tease people and

put it to an end.

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QUEST: Becky, listening to the President there, I was particularly taken with your question, are you going to apologize, you know did you get this

wrong and he says there's nothing to apologize for. And then he becomes almost angry himself at those later accusations.

So it's difficult to see how Turkey rose back in this situation.

ANDERSON: Isn't it just. Look, Turkey, you know -- as you and I know, is diametrically opposed to Russia when it comes to what is happening on the

ground in Syria. The Russians are supporting Bashar al Assad, the President of Syria, and his regime in their fight against they say ISIS, but many

people will say the opposition.

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ANDERSON: You have Turkey on the other hand, who are supporting the opposition in the face of what they suggest is the scourge that is Bashar

al Assad and ISIS as well. So you've got - you've got that situation going on and the President, you know he acknowledged that in that interview. He

said we may not be on the same page when it comes to what is going on in Syria, but he made the point that the bilateral trade ties are incredibly

important between these two.

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ANDERSON: Talking about 36/37 odd billion dollars a year in trade. We're talking about something like 100 billion by 2023. There is the Turkish

stream, the oil and gas pipeline coming from Russia. 60% of Turkey's natural gas comes from Russia. And then you've got an enormous project. $20

billion in this nuclear deal for the construction and operation of a nuclear facility by Russia here in Turkey.

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ANDERSON: Somebody said to me tonight e we don't really want that any way because we don't really want the old style Russia nuclear sort of

operations and capability. But look that deal was on the table.

I mean so when you look at these sanctions, these punitive sanctions that have been thrown at Turkey by Russia, the Turks will say well this is a

two-way street. They've got to get this right. Some people calling it a side show, I'm not sure.

QUEST: Becky Anderson, who is in Ankara with that exclusive interview with the President of Turkey. Becky, thank you.

Now it's a secret deal that involved a special safe and it cost Barclays $100 million in a fine.

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QUEST: In a moment an expert in dirty money says the penalty that's been slapped on Barclays isn't nearly enough because the question is whether

Barclays were incompetent or malfeasance.

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QUEST: Welcome back to its Quest Means Business we are in Abu Dhabi this evening.

To our top story of course, it's the worsening diplomatic military relationships between Russia and Turkey following the downing of the

Russian warplane.

Matthew Bryza, is a former U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan. He's also a Senior Fellow at the International Affairs the Atlantic Council, who joins

me now live from Istanbul.

Matthew, the core crux of this is whether or not it is in Putin's or Erdogan's best interest to somehow bury this dispute or to let it fester or

to make it worse. What's your gut feeling?

MATTHEW BRYZA, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO AZERBAIJANL: My gut feeling is both leaders want to get this crisis past them.

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BRYZA: And you can see that in the measured tone both have been following in Becky Anderson's interview of President Erdogan. But also in President

Putin's own statements no Russian statements yet have been that the Turkey shoot down was considered an act of war. Putin has called it a stab in the

back. The Russian military called it an unfriendly act. But the rhetoric has been remarkably restrained which shows to me, both leaders would like

to move on.

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QUEST: And if we put this in pardon since we are a business program, we need to put it in commercial trade terms. The multibillion dollar bilateral

relationship, it has to suffer in some extent. There has to be an exacted price for what's happened by form of sanctions or some form of

restrictions, doesn't there?

BRYZA: Yes, there does. President Putin, I'm sure, feels he has to look strong, has to look tough for domestic reasons so that so he continues to

maintain his image as such a strong leader.

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And not really allowing the Russian people to realize how negative sometimes his actions look. But I think those economic sanctions or

reactions by Russia will also be measured just like a rhetoric. So what's being talked about is restriction in the flow of Turkish agricultural

products into Russia, reduced tourism, steps that actually will hurt Russian consumers as well.

What I don't think we're going to see would be any restriction or slowdown in Russian natural gas flows to Turkey because Turkey is the second largest

market for Russian natural gas after Germany.

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BRYZA: And we certainly won't see any cancellation from the Russian side of the $20 billion nuclear power plant that Russia has won a contract for.

So there'll be some reactions by Russia but I think they're going to be limited.

QUEST: Matthew, finally, one thing, when I heard about the Russian plane being brought down, the first thought was there was - there was an

inevitability that eventually either through friendly fire or some form of mishap, there are so many militaries now fighting over the scorched earth

of Syria whether it's U.S., whether it's Russia, whether it's Turkish planes, whether it's the French, the British if they come along on board.

Was it inevitable that something like this was going to happen?

BRYZA: I think you're absolutely right that the chances were high of something like this happening because of the crowded air space.

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BRYZA: However, Washington and Moscow have been working hard to try to de- conflict and to make sure or to reduce the chances something like this wouldn't happen. Let's broaden the scope a little bit. I think something

like this was inevitable somewhere along the periphery of NATO because for the past year Russian military aircraft have been violating the air space

of a wide range of NATO member states including the United States but also the United Kingdom, Norway and the Baltic states.

And in one - in a couple of cases, Russian military aircraft without their transresponders on almost collided with civilian aircraft over the Baltic

Sea. So some sort of action like this I think was inevitable somewhere in the NATO space. It happened, President Putin has been poking and probing

and let's just hope that this is the incident that finally convinces him to back off.

And one more point I would add is NATO has said and the Turks have said that the Russian military aircraft was bombing Turkmen. These are ethnic

Turks, on the Turkish, on the Syrian side of the Syria/Turkish border.

President Putin understands how sensitive the protection of ethnic kin are because he has used that argument to justify the invasion of Ukraine.

So I think President Putin knows he's probed too far.

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QUEST: Sir, thank you for joining us.

BRYZA: Thank you.

QUEST: The British bank Barclays has been handed $109 million fine. It's the penalty so say the regulators for ignoring rules on vetting wealthy

customers. Because it wanted to win what one Barclay's manager called, the deal of the century.

The sum involved was nearly $3 billion. The deal that was involved was so secret that Barclays bought a new safe just to hold the paperwork. And that

safe incidentally very few people knew its location in the Barclays headquarters.

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QUEST: According to the British authorities, the Watchdog, Barclays didn't bother finding out the source of the money, they didn't do enough vetting.

It opened and closed quickly offshore accounts to process the transactions. It didn't enter client's names on computers where they would normally be

stored. . And remember banks are obliged to check the origin of large sums to detect possible money laundering.

Barclay says there's no evidence any crime was committed, but if you look at the facts, they clearly didn't do the full due diligence on both the

client or indeed where the money was coming from.

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QUEST: Jeffrey Robinson, the British Banker's Association has called in the world's most important financial crime author. And he says that there's a

problem with the fine even at this elevated level of $109 million.

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Which Jeffrey, which the FSA, the authority, they tripled the specifically because they said they wanted it to be a deterrent. And I can almost hear

you gafforing and snorting, as I say that.

JEFFREY ROBINSON, AUTHOR: Yes, you can, Happy Thanksgiving, by the way.

Richard, the problem is the fine is lunch money for these banks, that's all it is.

Now this is the seventh time that Barclays has been fined since 2009 by first the FSA, the Financial Services Authority and then now the FCA, the

Financial Conduct Authority.

When the FSA, which was completely useless, became the FCA, they covered it with a nice coat of paint and scotch taped up the holes in the walls and

that's about all. Because the FCA has now proven to be equally useless than the FSA.

When you fine these banks and they still don't get the message to stop, you've got to ask can yourself why. And the answer is because they are

making so much money doing it.

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QUEST: Now as I looked at this particular case, the worrying part is it comes after the great recession and the crisis. The dates involved 2011 and

'12, this should have been time when everybody was more vigilant on questions of ethics. So in your view, Barclays are either stupid or they

did it on purpose.

ROBINSON: Well, of course. I mean Banks can make mistakes and they cannot check off all the proper boxes and you say, well, they should have known

better. They made a mistake. They were stupid.

No, they did this deliberately. Those bankers knew exactly what they were doing. But I ask other questions. I say who were those people who had the

1.9 billion pounds and why did they need to hide their money in such a way.

Now if it's money laundering, that's one thing, if it's terror financing that's something else, if it's tax evasion, that's something else. But from

the bankers' standpoint, it's aiding and abetting a crime. Because there's got to be a crime somewhere along the line. The FCA said no we're not

charging criminally.

QUEST: So ultimately, I mean it's hard to suggest, and I'm going to argue against you here. It's hard to suggest that somebody should perhaps get

locked up for this particular case when at best rules may have been broken, but there is no - there is no evidence here Jeffrey of criminality.

ROBINSON: Aiding and abetting. It's not the criminality of the bankers. What was -- where did the money come from? Was it corruption money? These

apparently these were what's known as PEPs, Political Exposed Persons, which then the banks are not supposed to take.

So what are they aiding and abetting? Is it money stolen from a national treasury someplace? Is it money that's been laundered through a nefarious

thing. You know Richard it's a simple thing, seven fines didn't work because they are doing it. They did it again.

When you take these bankers one by one and you put them in an orange jump suit and you put them in a 6 by 4 cell with a guy named Bruno who's got two

fang tattoos on the side of his neck, that gets bankers attention very fast. That puts an end to it.

QUEST: And you, sir, have given us a Thanksgiving vision that I think most of us will take away. Have a Happy Thanksgiving Jeffery.

ROBINSON: Thank you, sorry you're not joining us, there's always turkey at the table for you.

QUEST: I'm looking forward to it next year. When we come back, we will talk about that. A traditional parade in New York and then a shopping bonanza.

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QUEST: In the U.S. Black Friday sales get underway on Thanksgiving. We'll show you how retailers have been getting ready. The stores in many cases

will be opening within the next hour or two. Its Quest Means Business, we're in Abu Dhabi tonight, good evening.

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QUEST: Tradition, tradition! The annual Macy's parade on Thanksgiving in New York. More than 3 million people are believed to have taken part in

this year of this parade, watching it and being involved. More than 75 floats, I think it's the 75th anniversary of the parade this year.50

million people watched it on television.

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QUEST: Meanwhile get ready, get set, in just over an hour and a half Macy's doors open to get the Black Friday sales going early. Let's hope the

preholiday season will give a boost after a difficult year.

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QUEST: Macy's shares are down nearly 40 o% this year. Poor sales are largely the result and or the reason and you can see that from the graph.

It's not the only company that needs things to look up.

The term Black Friday is said to have originated because it is only now in late November that many retailers move into profit for the year into the

black, in other words. It's obviously the most crucial part of the retailing year.

CNN's Claire Sebastian now has a look at the preparations for what's going to be one of the biggest, busiest, most important shopping days of the

year.

CLAIRE SEBASTIAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You have to walk fast to keep up with Target regional manager Tony Roman. This is a man who takes

Black Friday seriously.

And you're all ready?

TONY ROMAN, TARGET REGIONAL MANAGER: We are ready. So we started preparing I started preparing last Black Friday. This is women's apparel right now,

but on Thursday evening when the guests walk in, this whole aisle will be televisions.

SEBASTIAN: All around, all along here will be televisions?

ROMAN: All the way here.

SEBASTIAN: Spreading out key items like televisions and toys helps manage the crowds and if you get lost, there's a map to help you.

This is one of the hallmarks of holiday shopping here at Target, stacks of items piled where you might not expect to find them. It's about attracting

some of the almost 60% of Americans who are expected to shop this weekend. This year analysts say it's more important than ever that stores get Black

Friday right.

WENDY LIEBMANN, CEO WSL STRATEGIC RETAIL: The shifting mood of the American Shopper has been really unusual. You know coming out of recession, usually

there's this bounce back and people go back to the way they used to live. This recession really scared the pants off a lot of people. So they are

still very circumspect about what they spent.

SEBASTIAN: At Macy's flagship store in Manhattan, Charlie Brown's face says it all. The company saw sales dip in the last quarter. Rival Nordstrom also

cut its forecasts and Wal-Mart stock is down about 30% this year.

So are you going to be shopping on Black Friday?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Online, not in the stores.

SEBASTIAN: Both Target and Wal-Mart are kicking off their Cyber Monday deals on Sunday and amazon started theirs a week ago.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So I'll be a cheerleader going out there and getting them excited I'll pretend to have pompoms in the air.

SEBASTIAN: For those who do come to the store, Target says it's not just about the deals. It's about the experience.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So it says may your lines be merry and fast.

SEBASTIAN: Luckily at this time of year, well some things never change.

Why did you buy that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because I want it.

SEBASTIAN: Claire Sebastian, CNN, New York.

QUEST: That has to be the best reason for buying anything. Because I wanted it! In a moment after the break and the news headlines, Brazil's

worst environmental disaster and the U.N.'s now worried about toxic waste as the country struggles to clean up tons of sludge. We'll be live in Rio.

It's "Quest Means Business."

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QUEST: Hello, I'm Richard Quest. There is more "Quest Means Business" in just a moment when there are conflicting claims over a spill that the

Brazilian environment minister is calling a catastrophe. And Adele gets some competition from a South Korean teen. We'll have these stories and more but first, this is CNN and on this network the news always

comes first. The Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says his country won't apologize to Russia for shooting down a Russian warplane.

The president spoke exclusively to CNN's Becky Anderson when Mr. Erdogan denied claims that Turkey is buying oil from ISIS.

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RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN, TURKISH PRESIDENT, VIA INTERPRETER: Those people who made this claim should prove it. No one can accuse us of buying oil from

Daesh. These are smugglers. If any such thing is happening, then we will, you know, apprehend these people and put it to an end.

(END VIDEOCLIP) QUEST: The president of France and Russia are promising to coordinate and intensify airstrikes against ISIS, saying they have a common enemy.

[16:35:02] Francois Hollande's been meeting Vladimir Putin in Moscow. It's the latest stop on Mr. Hollande's diplomatic tour to build a broader

coalition against ISIS. He made it clear what he thinks of Mr. Putin's ally, the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

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FRANCOIS HOLLANDE, PRESIDENT OF FRANCE, VIA INTERPRETER: And as far as France is concerned at least, it is clear that Bashar al-Assad does not

have his place in the (inaudible) of Syria.

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QUEST: Belgium has reduced the terrorism alert in Brussels nearly a week after it raised to the highest level. Local schools and the metro were

closed for a time. The city is still on edge and a security scare at the Brussels Grand Mosque turned out to be a false alarm.

The mining giant BHP Billiton's rejected a report that said mud spilled from a collapsed dam is toxic. The sludge that poured into the Rio Doce in

Brazil was from a mine that was jointly owned by BHP and the Brazilian company Vale.

Experts at the U.N. Human Rights Agency say the companies didn't do enough when 50 million tons of waste were spilled. The mud flow has now reached

the Atlantic Ocean. The U.S. Secret Service has apprehended a man who jumped over the White

House fence while President Barack Obama and his family were inside the residence celebrating Thanksgiving.

The man was draped in an American flag and carrying an envelope. The Secret Service is checking a vehicle registered to the jumper at the

Lincoln Memorial parking lot. "The New York Times" says it is outrageous at a campaign rally that the U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump allegedly mocked the physical

disability of one of its reporters. The newspaper's demanding Mr. Trump apologize for ridiculing Serge

Kovaleski who suffers from a condition that affects his arm movements. Trump is now saying the reporter should stop using his disability to grandstand and get back to reporting for a paper, in his words, "that's

rapidly going down the tubes." QUEST: To Brazil now where the environment minister is calling the flooding caused by a burst dam an environmental catastrophe.

Now to give you an idea of the scale of the disaster, these shocking pictures that the U.N. says is the equivalent to 20,000 Olympic swimming

pools of toxic waste covering more than 850 kilometers. Stephen Eisenhammer is the Reuters correspondent for Brazil and has been writing that it would take years for the ecosystem to recover. He joins me

now from Rio. Thank you, sir. This story, ever since it began and the waste happened, it's sort of continued this story but has never really got momentum.

And that in itself is causing quite considerable disquiet in Brazil, isn't it?

STEPHEN EISENHAMMER, BRAZIL CORRESPONDENT AT REUTERS NEWS AGENCY: Hi, there, Richard. Yes, that's absolutely - that's absolutely correct.

I mean, there was immediately quite a slow response both from the Brazilian company that's mainly responsible, Vale, which is a 50 percent owner of

Samarco who ran the mine and also from the president Dilma Rousseff. They both took days to actually visit the site and meet with the people who

were affected and that caused quite a lot of concern here in Brazil and quite a lot of criticism as well.

QUEST: Now why do you think this is? Is it because they simply didn't grasp the gravity of the situation and it is only now that it is becoming

clear?

EISENHAMMER: I think there's definitely an element of truth in that. At first it wiped out a very small village, it was immediately obvious that

certain people who had been caught up in it and now we're up to about 13 people that were killed by that disaster.

But it was when it started to spread into the here Doce River which runs to about 850 kilometers to the Atlantic Coast across two states, Minas Gerais

and Espirito Santo. And thousands of dead fish started to wash up on the banks on that river that began to realize this was a massive -

QUEST: Right.

EISENHAMMER: -- environmental disaster and was really going to take a very long time to clear up.

QUEST: So are the resources - is the general feeling now that the resources - never mind the damages and the costs and the compensation, but

that the resources to deal with the spill, the cleanup and the aftermath are now being mobilized in sufficient quantities?

EISENHAMMER: It's difficult to say. It's such a vast area and covers such a difficult terrain that it's difficult to know whether there's really

enough being done. [16:40:06] It's difficult to know what could be done. There was a moment

when they asked the company to build a barge, to build a barrier to stop the mud from reaching the ocean.

That was unsuccessful, the mud did reach the ocean and a lot of turtles that are endangered that breed there on the beaches had to be evacuated.

I think there is a sense now that people are beginning to understand the gravity of it and there are certainly a lot of people that have been

mobilized both in the direct area to search and rescue people who caught in the mudslide -

QUEST: Right.

EISENHAMMER: -- and also further downstream to rescue some of the environmental - the marine life that are at risk.

QUEST: Now obviously one can draw comparisons with Macondo, the Gulf of Mexico, the BP oil spill which of course has on its entire doorstep the

entire mast ranks of the U.S. media corps, including all the television networks.

Do you think that they have this now under control in Brazil?

EISENHAMMER: It's difficult to say exactly what under control would mean. I mean, the mud is there, it can't - it's now in some ways the authorities

are saying that we have to wait for the river to do its work - the river to keep running and pushing that and spreading the sediment around.

It's not as if the mud can really be gathered and moved somewhere else. It's there and will be there for many years to come.

And when you kind of have to wait for nature to do its work to try and recover.

QUEST: Sir, thank you. I know you've been following this from the beginning and we obviously will hope that you'll join us more frequently to

talk about how this proceeds. Stephen joining us from Rio. Coming up next, we'll hear from the president of the World Bank after you've had a moment to think about "Make, Create, (RINGS BELL) Innovate."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: Sheikh Zayed Mosque here in Abu Dhabi. It's a beautiful evening in the UAE in the capital. Not too hot, not too cold and we're here coming to

you from CNN Abu Dhabi. Brazil's president is getting ready to head to Paris for next week's U.N.

climate talks amid a host of other pressing issues. But the World Bank has warned leaders around the world not to forget the environment.

[16:45:12] The president of the bank Jim Yong Kim supports (ph) a $16 billion funding plan. It's all designed to help African countries which he

says need to adapt to rising temperatures. The president told Isa Soares the poorest people in the world are the first

to be hit by global warming.

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JIM YONG KIM, PRESIDENT, WORLD BANK: Unless we take immediate action, both in terms of mitigation - reducing the amount of carbon we're putting in the

air - but especially in the area of adaptation, fully 100 million more people could be plunged into poverty by 2030.

Now, for us, we're focused on two things - ending extreme poverty by 2030 and boosting shared prosperity that we realized some time ago that there

will be no way for us to achieve our goals unless we tackle climate change. In Africa, of the 100 million, 43 million will be in Sub-Saharan Africa. And so the urgency of taking action to support African governments - both

in mitigation, but especially in adaptation - is critical and urgent.

ISA SOARES, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Let's talk about the plan because there is a way out as the report says and that involves targeted

work and action by many countries. As we look ahead to COP21 that begins next week here in Europe, what are

your expectations from the 140 countries? Do you think their promises go far enough?

KIM: Well, you know, on the one hand he combined plans - the so-called intended nationally-determined contributions gets us to about 2.7 degrees

Celsius above the historical average if financing is available. So in some ways you could be disappointed but you have to realistically

look at what they've done. More than 150 countries have put together really ambitious plans, plans the likes of which we've never seen before

across so many countries. And so I think what we need to do is take everyone seriously, take them at their word and then aggressively move forward to find the financing and the

momentum to get those plans done. I wouldn't expect 139 or so of world leaders to be going to Paris

especially after the tragic events of the last month in Paris if they weren't serious about coming to an agreement.

The leaders have to give us a framework, they have to give us a very strong message and that message has to be we're serious about climate change, and

we want both the public sector and private sector groups like the World Bank and like many companies to take action right now along with us to

tackle this very, very serious challenge. Not only political - not only a political challenge, but a challenge to the

planet. A challenge to our ability to live on this planet.

SOARES: Talk us through if you can about your plan for Africa.

KIM: You know, what African leaders say all the time is that we have had the smallest role of any continent in terms of putting carbon in the air.

And yet we are feeling the brunt of the impact of already warmer temperatures more than any other continent. The ability to respond, for

example, to extreme weather events is lower in Africa than just about any other continent.

Any time there is an extreme weather event along the Mozambican coast, flooding has led to many deaths. It's devastation every time.

We are hearing about the currently available land to grow maize will reduce by 40 percent just by 2030. So Africa is staring down the barrel of

climate change in a way that no other area is. And so we put this plan together to ensure that everyone at COP21 knows that taking climate action - in mitigation yes, but especially in

adaptation - is an urgent task. And more than just being urgent, this is a fundamental morale issue. It is not right, it is not just that Africans

are suffering the most because of climate change when they've had the least to do with putting that carbon in the air.

We are putting our own money -- about $5.7 billion of our own money and saying we need at least $16 billion over the next four years to just begin

the process of both mitigation and adaptation, mitigation and adaptation that we feel is just and that they deserve and they've deserved for a long

time.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

QUEST: That's the president of the World Bank on the preparations for COP21.

After the break, one is a record-breaking singer known around the world, the other is a South Korean girl who shot to fame singing the other's song.

(SOUND OF ADELE AND KOREAN SINGER SINGING SIMULTANEOUSLY)

And the one thing they have in common is an amazing voice. And you can hear it after the break. It's "Quest Means Business." We're in Abu Dhabi,

good evening.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: Adele's return to the music scene is now complete. The singer has announced that next year she'll go on tour for the first time since 2011.

Now it follows record sales of her new album. Adele is only 27 years old and as Paula Hancocks reports, there's already a potential successor in the making in South Korea.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

(SONG "HELLO" PLAYING)

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Fourteen million views in just three weeks.

Meet Lydia Lee, the latest YouTube sensation. An 18-year-old music student shell-shocked by her overnight success.

LYDIA LEE, MUSIC STUDENT: Lots of people like commented on the video and it was insane. It was so surreal. Oh my gosh, I still can't believe it

(LAUGHTER).

HANCOCKS: An appearance on U.S. talk show "Ellen" singing her cover of Adele's new song "Hello." Recording offers are flooding in.

It's not hard to see or hear why.

(LYDIA LEE SINGING "HELLO)

HANCOCKS: A piano, a guitar and an incredible voice. No post-production here.

LEE: I really just love - like - to express myself through music because I think like sometimes music is like more powerful than words. So, yes.

HANCOCKS: Singing from the age of two, Lydia is by no means the first South Korean to make a musical impact on YouTube.

(SONG PLAYING)

HANCOCKS: How could you ever forget Psy and "Gangnam Style," still the most watched YouTube video ever, with almost 2 1/2 billion views?

Now Lydia's got a fair way to go to catch that number, but just in case you thought she was a one-hit wonder, --

LEE: (SINGING FRANK SINATRA'S "FLY ME TO THE MOON")

[16:55:08] HANCOCKS: Sinatra, Adele, no song's too big for this viral singer. Paula Hancocks, CNN Seoul.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

QUEST: Wow. It's the look in the face as she is singing - the absolute rapture. I could listen to that for hours. Unfortunately we haven't

hours, but we do have a "Profitable Moment" after the break (RINGS BELL).

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: Tonight's "Profitable Moment." It turned out to be a very expensive deal for Barclays. They attempted to do the deal of the century

worth billions but they were so backward at coming forward with finding out who their customers were that they broke a variety of money-laundering

regulations and in doing so found themselves in deep trouble. The problem of course as you heard on this program is that Barclays has been fined seven times and these particular miscreant deeds came after the

Great Recession, after all the ethics changes and indeed after people were supposed to behaving better.

It does make you wonder what it's going to take before the financial community finally learns to play by the rules and to show integrity. Maybe

our guest tonight was right. It'll take orange jumpsuits and a prison cell.

And that is "Quest Means Business" for tonight. I'm Richard Quest in Abu Dhabi. Thank you for joining us. If you're celebrating Thanksgiving I

wish you well. And whatever else you're up to in the hours ahead, (RINGS BELL) I hope it's profitable. I'll see you from Abu Dhabi tomorrow.

(END QUEST SHOW)

MALE: One a.m. in Moscow where French president --

END