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Quest Means Business
British Prime Minister Rubbishes "Brussels Gossip"; Trump Hints at Wall Street Break-Ups; Fox News Co-President Quits; Dozens Hurt After Turbulence on Aeroflot Jet; Movies with Diverse Casts Rule at U.S. Box Office
Aired May 01, 2017 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[16:00:00] RICHARD QUEST, CNN ANCHOR: Closing bell ringing on Wall Street. Dow Jones Industrials down just 16 points. Topsy-turvy sort of session,
but actually the movement was very little as you'll see from the graph later. And as a result, we're off just 20 odd points toward the close.
One, two, three, four, hang on, he must be left-handed because the gavel is on that side. It's all very different, but I can tell you we're back in
New York and it is Monday, it's the 1st of May.
So tonight, the main headlines. Theresa May says, a case of mistake of what was said at the dinner that took place at Number Ten with EU leaders.
The markets are betwixt and between. Undecided on exactly which way to go on the back of Donald Trump's comments about banks.
And Fox News, Bill Shine is out. Another top name leaves as the Murdochs clean house.
I'm Richard Quest live in New York where of course I mean business.
We begin tonight with an extraordinary account of she said/he said. The U.K. governments hit back at leaked details of a dinner last Wednesday
between Theresa May and the Jean-Claude Juncker, the President of the Commission. Now the British Prime Minister insists that it was a
constructive meeting. However, a German newspaper, the "frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" claims the commission president thinks the British
prime minister is living in another galaxy. He left Number Ten times more skeptical about Brexit negotiations. Speaking today, Theresa May brushed
aside talks of the leaks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
THERESA MAY, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I have to say that from what I've seen of this account I think it's Brussels gossip and just look at what the
European Commission themselves said immediately after the dinner took place, which was that the talks had been constructive. But it also shows
that actually these negotiations are at times going to be tough.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: According to the report, let's look at the dinner menu. The dinner turned sour over three key issues on Brexit. The first, the status of ex-
pats on both sides. The next, on the question of keeping the talks confidential, not having any leaks. And then finally on the question of
the trade deal between the EU and the U.K. after it leaves. And also, related to that, the money that the U.K. will have to pay as part of the
divorce settlement. Now, on Saturday, Jean-Claude Juncker reflected on what lies ahead.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEAN-CLAUDE JUNCKER, EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT: Everything went well, but in fact, we have a problem because the British want to leave the
European Union. And it's not feasible that this can be done just like that. It will take time, and we have to discuss a certain number of the
elements we have to address in the next coming months. But it was excellent. I'm not talking about the food.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: Nothing like putting the boot in with the reference. Erin McLaughlin is in London for us tonight. We'll get to the little last bit
not talking about the food. How serious is this disagreement?
ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Richard, British Prime Minister Theresa May, may try to dismiss this as Brussel gossip but the fact of the
matter is this is reputable German newspaper sourcing multiple senior level European officials at the EU Commission basically painting a picture of a
dinner that was fraught with tension and really illustrates the divisions that exist between the two sides. There was even dramatic flourish, if you
will, a moment when President Juncker pulled out two piles of paper, one pile of paper being the EU/Croatia entry deal, the other pile being the
free trade agreement between the EU and Canada in order to illustrate to Prime Minister May just how complex these negotiations are going to be, and
the divisions exposed on any number of issues you were just talking about there.
But perhaps most worryingly on the issue of money, according to this account, Prime Minister May saying that the U.K. owes the EU absolutely
nothing, and we know that in the past President Juncker has said that the U.K. owes some 60 billion euros in terms of commitments and he even
questioned the future agreement between the two sides.
[16:05:00] QUEST: On that point of the question of the money owed, he was quite rude when he sort of said you're not leaving a golf club, it's a bit
more than that. But surely this is to be expected. Each side is sort of dancing, getting themselves a bit of shadow boxing ahead of the bell
ringing for the first round?
MCLAUGHLIN: Yes, and I definitely think there is a bit of that going on here, Richard. I was speaking over the weekend to an EU official who was
telling me that they are aware that anything that Theresa May has to say prior to sitting down at that actual negotiating table needs to be taken
into context of the fact that she's campaigning. When she referenced these Brussels rumors at a campaign event today, there is a general election
expected here in the United Kingdom. And I think the same has to be said also for the EU. They're very concerned about potential for budgetary
short fall, especially if the U.K. walks away paying nothing.
QUEST: Erin McLaughlin who is in London. The former prime minister of Finland is Alex Stubb. Now, he certainly has been around the few fences
with this. Alex, so from your understanding and I'll bet you bashed the phones, from your understanding of what happened at that dinner, where does
the truth lie?
ALEXANDER STUBB, FORMER FINISH PRIME MINISTER: Usually these dinners are actually very civil and then you have a little bit of frank conversation
and then unfortunately some people start throwing around leaks. These leaks become rumors and these rumors become truths, whether they are in the
reputable newspaper or less reputable newspaper. But you know what, Richard, we're going to see more of this for the next two years. We're
going to see it in the coming weeks before the British elections and don't forget that the European Parliament elections are May 2019 so you can
imagine the leaks are going to be like two years from now.
QUEST: Is it your understanding on this though that Juncker did make that phone call to Angela Merkel in which he did say the British Prime Minister
is living in a parallel galaxy?
STUBB: The thing is heads of state and government talk to each other all the time. We don't live in the old world of diplomacy when you're sending
telegrams from one place to the other. So, you have conversations. It could very well be that President Juncker called Merkel and said that you
know, the Brits are not very clear on that but a little bit more clear on that. And then a rumor start spinning around. We will see more of this.
And that's why have said from the beginning that these negotiations are going to be nasty, brutish, but unfortunately, quite long.
QUEST: Look, I read the -- I read the council's guidelines, negotiating guidelines that they've now issued to Michelle Barnier. I know you've seen
them. The reality of those guidelines is they're just not any more than the Theresa May's guidelines from her negotiating letter on her Article 50,
they're just not realistic on either side, are they? Both sides are going to have to give more ground, which you expect, but it's still very early.
They haven't even negotiated yet.
STUBB: Yes, I mean, I think you're right. The first observation is remember the Article 50 was written in such a fashion that no one would
ever want to use it. And if you use it, then you know that you have a very weak negotiating hand. The U.K. will have to use it because of the
referendum. And all the negotiating cards are in the hard of Michelle Barnier. At the end of the day they only need to decide on two things, one
is the date of exit and the second one is the price.
But in every negotiation, you have one extreme and another extreme and at the end of the day after a lot of rigmarole, a lot of fighting, a lot of
noise, you're going to find the solution. The solution is going to be sub optimal. We're not going to be better off, but a solution will be found
QUEST: Do you think -- at the end of the day though, this idea that the British could say we're not paying a penny, we're not obliged to pay
anything, it doesn't say in Article 50 that you shall make good your repairs on reparations. So, come to that date we are off unless you're
prepared to be a little bit nicer to us, good-bye.
STUBB: No, it doesn't work like that. I've been negotiating EU budget for eons. The latest was the so-called financial framework from 2014 to 2020,
and in those budgets, you have legal commitments that you have to pay for up until 2020 no matter how you look at it. At the end of the day the U.K.
will have to foot the bill. But I wouldn't want to see this as sort of an accounting exercise.
QUEST: Let's go back to this other issue, ex-pats status or status of those people living. It's entirely justifiable, I mean, I can see why the
EU is saying the European court should be the final arbiter on this.
[16:10:00] But I can just as easily see the British saying absolutely not, we are not -- we are leaving the EU, we are not subordinating ourselves to
that jurisdiction, we'll have to create a new tribunal.
STUBB: This is the bottom line. You need a transition period and I know that in the beginning a lot of Brits voted for Brexit because of
immigration, because of the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice, but at the end of the day you have commitments that you have to stick to
and then you have someone who does the arbitration. And when it comes to free movement, that will be the European Court of Justice for a
transitional period.
QUEST: Alex, good to see you. You look like you're having a far too good a time in Los Angeles.
STUBB: No, no, what do you mean. This is Helsinki, Richard. The palm trees of this time of the year, normal weather in Helsinki.
QUEST: Good try, Alex, good try. Look at the smile. He can barely contain himself. Good to see you, Alex, thank you. The former prime
minister of Finland.
Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen held rival political rallies in the French capital today. One of them will become president on Sunday. The
front-runner is Macron. Pro Europe, former economic minister under Hollande. He appealed directly to voters who didn't opt for him in the
first round.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EMMANUEL MACRON, FRENCH PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (through translator): The question being posed on May 7th is that of the future of France, of Europe,
and of a certain conception of the world. In the past week, our country has been involved in a profound mutation. The political landscape that we
had known for so many years vanished before our eyes in a matter of hours.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: The opponent of course is Marine Le Pen and she offers a very different outlook, the far-right candidate, anti-EU and anti-immigration
and she's denounced Macron's vision for France.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARINE LE PEN, FRENCH PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (through translator): The reality is simple, clear, Emmanuel Macron is just Francois Hollande who
wants to stick around and is clinging onto power like a barnacle. Emmanuel Macron means it's Francois Hollande who will continue to run politics in
this country. This outgoing candidate, we are going to get him out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: Jim Bittermann in Paris, is Le Pen making any inroads into the natural majority that Macron will have, bearing in mind the traditional
candidate's parties on the left that have gone for him?
JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's true, they have gone for him, Richard, and calling him a barnacle probably
doesn't hurt him at all. But in fact, Marine Le Pen does have some things going for her. One thing was what happened today when she appeared on
stage was a man that she has designated as her prime minister, Dupont- Aignan. Nicolas Dupont-Aignan who was a candidate in the presidential elections but only got 5 percent of the vote. So, he's not going to bring
a lot of voters to her. But he's going to be with her along the line. So, he's bringing a little bit of something.
There's also this idea that she's picking up some head way. She's picking up some votes, according to the public opinion polls. Things like the
demonstrations that took place today, there was a lot of violence on the street during the Mayday demonstrations, those kinds of things if they
continue in any way, if there's any security concerns either with the demonstrations or a terrorist event between now and the election, that
could also swing her way. But for the moment, really, realistically, Macron has it in the bag, Richard.
QUEST: On this question, how much of it is the Kennedy-esque, the torch has been passed to a new generation born in this century line from Macron
and the French see Macron as being the youthful face to take into the 21st century?
BITTERMANN: I think at the beginning, I think that people liked that. They liked the idea of a new face and the rest of it. Now that we're
coming up to a choice between these two candidates and the mainstream folks have been eliminated, a lot of people are expressing a little uncertainty
about this, talking about his youth and his inexperience. He's never held elected public office. He was a minister of finance but only for a brief
time and appointed, as Marine Le Pen pointed out, by President Hollande. So, there is some concern and some nervousness about this. None of the
familiar faces are around. Sure, he's a new face but what does that mean for France, Richard?
QUEST: Jim Bittermann, remind us that voting is on this weekend, if I remember correctly, it's on Sunday, and we don't get any more opinion polls
after when? When is the last opinion polls?
[16:15:00] BITTERMANN: They'll be Friday and that will be the last time we get any kind of check on things. Some of the polls have been contradictory
so we're not looking at that too much I don't think. We're kind of looking for trends but the actual hard numbers, there's little contradiction
amongst the pollsters so I think we have to watch things as they develop.
QUEST: Jim Bittermann in Paris, good to see you, sir. As always, thank you.
President Trump has shaken the diplomatic world and says he'll meet with the leader of North Korea if certain conditions are met. That was followed
up of course that those conditions do not exist yet. We'll have more in a moment. QUEST MEANS BUSINESS live from New York.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: A look at where the Dow traded, bouncing between losses and gains, right the way through the course of the session. And the movements were
not that great over the day, having put them over 600 points last week. The Dow has just lost 27 points, 20,913. The reason it did fall back was
because Donald Trump said he would consider breaking up the big banks. He was talking to the independent community banks association.
Now the NASDAQ closed at a new high. Europe was closed for the holiday. So, you end up with this -- and actually, even within the markets
themselves, the thirty years were down, the broader market is up and the NASDAQ is up as well, which leads me, Paul La Monica, to believe that there
must have been some influences within the Dow stocks that caused that to fall back.
PAUL R. LA MONICA, CNNMONEY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I think that right now -- welcome back, by the way, Richard.
QUEST: Thank you.
LA MONICA: Investors are continuing to be just enamored with technology companies. Those were the leaders, a lot of other stocks in the Dow pulled
back a little bit. Apple which will report its earns tomorrow, it has been a consistent winner, all-time high, Facebook, Microsoft, Amazon and Google
Alphabet, these five companies it seems can't do anything wrong on Wall Street.
QUEST: How much of the NASDAQ is gained is outside the big ones? How much of it is broader based?
LA MONICA: That is a big problem right now. Investors are starting to grow increasingly nervous about the fact that the gains are concentrated in
these mega cap stocks, those five tech stocks in particular what I mentioned. It's not to say that the broader market is necessarily
weakening or in trouble, but there are some worries that it's just five companies that are dominating everything.
QUEST: Earnings season so far, what are we seeing?
LA MONICA: Yes, I think earnings --
QUEST: Solid?
LA MONICA: I think solid is a good way to describe it. We are expecting that we might finally get double digit earnings growth in the S&P 500. We
haven't had that in a couple of years and we have seen some decent gains not just in technology but energy. Oil sector might be starting to rebound
from the problems they had when the oil prices were falling. We're seeing consumer companies also having some better results also.
[16:20:00] QUEST: The market is still waiting for results from the administration.
LA MONICA: Oh, without question.
QUEST: This idea of going on a health care kick again, this idea that health care is going to be back on the agenda.
LA MONICA: Some people I've talked to said that it makes sense, even though you did have the repeal and replace attempt fail, that it might be
easier for Trump and Republican leaders to get tax reform through if they are able to tackle health care first, but that just might be tough because
we saw how difficult it was just to get that first go around approved.
QUEST: Finally, the prospect of tax reform and the issue of what it does to the deficit, I was reading over the weekend there's still no consensus
often this. Steve Mnuchin speaking out west at the Milliken conference, basically says that the reduction or the elimination of deductions will
prevent the deficit ballooning because it's not just tax cuts, you're also eliminating deductions. But we know how difficult it is to eliminate
deductions, particularly the elimination of the state and city income tax deductions.
LA MONICA: Yes. Most people that I've talked to and reports that I've read, no one really seems to think that a tax cut can pay for itself.
You're eventually going to need to get some of that lost revenue from somewhere else, and unless the president and his administration can figure
out a way to do that, it might be difficult not just to convince Democrats but his own party to approve this.
QUEST: Good to see you, sir.
LA MONICA: Thank you.
QUEST: For reporting on the market. Thank you.
President Trump said he would be honored to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un if the circumstances are right. At the White House press
briefing the press secretary said those circumstances do not exist yet. A series of missile tests have pushed North Korea to the top of the
administration's foreign policy agenda.
CNN's Jeff Zeleny is at the White House. Jeff, I can see 1,001 ways in which you can say you would be honored to meet with the North Korean
leader. I just can't see it being the sort of sensible thing to say at this particular moment with tensions so high.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Richard, certainly unusual, particularly the use of the word honored, that it would be an
honor to meet with him, but the White House did not apologize for that word. Sean Spicer, the press secretary, once again tried to explain it at
the briefing today a short time ago this afternoon. He said it was just the president using that language, but he did make clear that the
conditions would have to be right. He did make clear that this is very much a hypothetical sort of situation at this point. There are no
diplomatic channels between the U.S. and North Korea, so a lot of things would have to happen of course. But he said first and foremost, they would
have to ratchet down their provocative behavior, that means stopping the missile tests.
QUEST: On this question because he also said over the weekend he was talking about how difficult it must have been for Kim Jong-Un to take over
from his father at such an early age and the difficulties he must have had. Now you throw that in with other suggestions out of the administration for
direct negotiations with North Korea and I'm wondering, are we just watching policy being made up as we go along, or is there a real shift here
in some shape or form?
ZELENY: Richard, I think it might be the former. I think this is not always -- we're told by senior administration officials this is not a
strategy of flattery but it certainly seems like that, that these trying to treat this rogue leader of this regime with certainly more respect and
flattery to some extent. But I have to think it's probably Donald Trump being Donald Trump. You know, he's -- you know, says a lot of things that
are -- that have to be explained later. I would put this in that category, Richard.
QUEST: And the idea of meeting the Philippine president, which is another meeting that has got sort of the traditional foreign policy experts
scratching their heads and wondering how on earth you meet somebody who called -- forgive me, I won't use the exact language, but called your
predecessor some exceptionally abusive language and may well be complicit in the murder of several thousand people.
ZELENY: A great question. And the White House says again that they need the cooperation of the Philippines in the region as it deals with this
nuclear threat, but not specific at all in terms of if they need their military bases or if they need -- what exactly from the Philippines. But
it certainly is raising a lot of clamor here from human rights groups, from Democrats and others, who are saying, look, this is putting the American
stamp of approval on his brutal human rights records. But again, the White House, no apologies from them today on this.
QUEST: Good to see you, Jeff.
ZELENY: Thank you.
QUEST: Let's stay in the United States because all the major news seems to be there. Congress reached a deal to keep the government running.
[16:25:00] It's not the deal that the President wanted. The bill would keep the government funded through September. It includes billions for the
Pentagon and border security but not for the border wall. And one month after the Republican health care bill failed, the president's top economic
adviser says he's confident the Republicans now have the votes to get it through.
Ryan Nobles is on Capitol Hill. Good grief Ryan, this is getting extremely complicated. Help me through this thicket. Does this budget -- this is
not the president's budget, is it? This is not the one that increases military spending by 10 percent and puts the border wall. This is
basically putting your finger in the hole to try and keep things going.
RYAN NOBLES, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: You put it perfectly, Richard. That's exactly what leaders in Congress are doing right now. They're
basically staving off this big battle over spending until the fall. And you're right, the White House had to concede on a number of points in order
to get this bill passed and to keep the government open. Among them, no funding for that wall on the southern border. Not nearly as much funding
as what the White House wanted for military spending. And it also restores or keeps in place funding for Planned Parenthood, an organization that the
president has railed against.
So, I was in a briefing just a few minutes ago with the Senate Minority Leader, Chuck Schumer of New York, and he was essentially taking a victory
lap, saying that they had to concede almost nothing to get this spending bill approved. It already has the support of leaders in both the
Republican and Democratic parties on the House and Senate side. It should be passed pretty easily.
QUEST: Right, but let's be men of the world about this. This spending bill is merely delaying the flackare that what will happen either in the
autumn or early next year?
NOBLES: That's absolutely right, Richard. They still haven't dealt at all with the spending plan for 2018, and you get the sense here in Washington
that the president and the White House decided that they were going to lose this battle with the goal of winning a much bigger war and that they'll
concede on these points but when it gets to the real big omnibus spending bill that the president has put on the table, that's where the fight is
really going to begin. In addition to that, they want to win battles on health care and on tax reform. They thought that what they didn't need was
to have a battle over the government shutting down at the end of the week.
QUEST: Ryan, without getting too much into the minutia of it, this idea of returning to the health care, now, is this an idea of putting the previous
bill that was much derided back before Congress, or have they gone away and tinkered with it in any substantial way?
NOBLES: We haven't seen the bill. That's part of the problem, Richard, and it really depends on who you talk to about this. The Freedom Caucus,
the conservative group of members here on Washington believe that they've made significant changes to the bill, enough where they feel that they can
support it, but a lot of the things that they claim are in the bill the president seemed to directly contradict during interviews over the weekend.
Most specifically exactly what's going to happen with the coverage for pre- existing conditions or whether or not that coverage is going to be guaranteed within the same funding pool.
So, until this bill actually is presented to members of Congress and we in the public get to see it, I don't think there's any guarantees that you're
going to see it passed this week, although members of the House Republican Caucus seem confident that they're going to at least get a bill to the
floor this week because they go on recess next week and the president and the White House want this done.
QUEST: So, Ryan, bottom line here, you've got the Freedom Caucus to the right who helped scuttle deal. You've got the Democrats on the other side.
You've got sort of a bolshie Congress that is trying to make trouble for the president on all fronts, but is there a feeling on both sides that the
White House and Congress are sort of learning to live with each other yet?
NOBLES: Actually, that's one of the things that Chuck Schumer said today, that the deal that they struck in the late-night hours last night is an
example of how if they talk to each other they can find there is a compromise and get something done. The caveat I'll offer to that though is
that both he and Patrick Leahy, who is the ranking member on the Appropriations Committee, said they had zero communication directly with
the White House. That the White House's feelings about this bill were transferred through the Republican members of the Senate and House.
So, Donald Trump fancies himself as a deal maker. It's one of the ways that he pitched himself to the American people. So, if this is an example
of this, Richard, perhaps we'll have to wait and see, but certainly it's in his background. He's willing to make deals and compromise, perhaps this is
the first sign of that.
QUEST: Ryan, good to see you, sir. Thank you for putting that into perspective. Much appreciated.
NOBLES: Thank you.
QUEST: Another senior top man has gone. CNN is confirming that the Fox News co-president, Bill Shine, has resigned. We'll put it into perspective
after the break.
[16:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Hello. I'm Richard Quest. There's more QUEST MEANS BUSINESS in just a moment. When the C suite shake up continues at Fox News and how the
company's co-president has quit.
And there are broken bones and bruises on a flight to Bangkok after some brutal turbulence on an Aeroflot jet. We will talk about that and was
showing the pictures. Before any of it, this is CNN and on this network, the news always comes first.
President Trump says he'd be willing to meet with the leader of North Korea under the right circumstances. Even told Bloomberg news during an
interview, he would be honored to do it. Those comments come amid growing tensions between the U.S. and North Korea over Pyongyang's nuclear program.
The White House is defending the president's invitation to another controversial leader, the first president of the Philippines, Rodrigo
Duterte. He's been under fire over his bloody drugs war. The administration says human rights matter but right now the top priority is
getting the Philippines cooperation over North Korea.
U.S.-led coalition still battling ISIS for the control of the city, CNN's obtained exclusive drone video of Western Mosul. These image from a
freelance journalist, Gabriel Chaim, shows a city in absolute ruins and civilians who remain caught in the continued fighting.
To Paris now, where one police officer was seriously injured during violent May Day protests. The riot police were seen brushing off flames after
demonstrators attacked them with Molotov cocktails. The officers responded by firing tear gas. The clashes comes ahead of the French presidential
election which is on Sunday.
Turkish police now say they've detained 165 people joining May Day marches in Istanbul. Besides offering traditional support for workers' rights,
this year's marches focused on democracy and free speech. Critics say basic rights have been under attack since last year's failed coup.
There's more trouble at Fox News. The network's co-president Bill Shine is out. You'll recall first Roger Ailes had left the company, then Bill
O'Reilly. Now it's Bill Shine. And Shine is a founding member of Fox News has gone.
[16:35:00] He's named in four, at least four lawsuits or allegations relating to sexual harassment or racial discrimination. I asked CNNMoney's
Dylan Byers if he was surprised by today's events.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DYLAN BYERS, CNNMONEY SENIOR REPORTER FOR MEDIA & POLITICS: Certainly, surprised that Shine went so quickly. We spoke to top staffers at Fox News
and not even they were aware he was out until after reports started surfacing earlier today. As to whether he would go eventually, 21st
Century Fox has a lot going on right now, certainly it's attempting to acquire Sky, the British broadcaster. There was no doubt that all the
problems at Fox News, Roger Ailes being ousted amid sexual harassment allegations. Bill O'Reilly ousted amid sexual harassment allegations. The
scrutiny around Bill Shine, that he enabled much of this bad behavior to take place, all of that scrutiny was getting in the way of the Murdochs'
attempt to take over Sky British broadcasting, getting in the way of some of their other business deals. This was something we saw coming. It's
just surprising how quickly they made it happen.
QUEST: You alluded to the reasons why just then. Was that because either he knew and didn't do anything about it over a long period of time, or as
the top man he should have known and done something about it? In other words, damned if you do, damned if you don't.
BYERS: Well, the charge against Shine is that he was the man who knew too much and did too little. He was the right-hand man to roger Ailes since
the network's inception in 1996. He was viewed as an integral part of the network. He is directly accused by many of Ailes' accusers of having
participated in covering up the allegations and encouraging women not to accuse Ailes publicly of wrongdoing. In one case, he even helped to
organize appointments with a psychiatrist for a woman who claimed she was struggling from mental breakdowns because of sexual harassment at the hands
of Roger Ailes.
It is very hard to see how a man in that position for 21 years would not know about what was going on and you can certainly argue that he should
have done more.
QUEST: So perhaps the toughest question, how many people now have been let go at lower levels within Fox? You've got the big names that have gone,
and is there a feeling that the culture is changing or is that really people are going because they've got caught?
BYERS: I'm glad you brought that up, Richard, because the truth is aside from a few cases here and there around the greater Fox Network, there
really is limited to the big three, Roger Ailes, Bill O'Reilly, and now Bill Shine. There is a question about workplace culture. There is a
question, is Fox News stuck in this sort of 1950s mad men era, archaic misogynistic view of the world where men could get away with bad behavior.
You know, in addition to the sexual harassment allegations, there are also allegations of racial discrimination.
I think with the Murdochs sitting up at the top of 21st Century Fox are saying is, are we going to move this company into the 21st century. They
promised that they would do that ten months ago when they first got rid of Roger Ailes. Obviously, they did not take enough steps. I think what
we're seeing now with the effort to get rid of O'Reilly, get rid of Shine is an effort to finally make that happen.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: Dylan Byers in Los Angeles.
Dozens of passengers injured on an Aeroflot flight. We'll discuss what happened. Could it have been avoided? And it reminds me of the old story
of keep your seatbelt fastened, even when the seatbelt sign is off.
[16:40:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: This is the aftermath of what happens when a plane hits clear air turbulence and you're not strapped in or you're standing in the aisles, the
absolute sort of mess and carnage of people being thrown around the cabin and all the accoutrements of the galley just strewn everywhere. At least
27 passengers are recovering from injuries that they sustained on this Aeroflot flight.
The plane hit unexpected severe turbulence on its way into Bangkok from Moscow. And this is a video taken by one of the passengers. The Russian
Embassy in Bangkok says some people suffered serious fractures. David Soucie is CNN safety analyst. He joins me from Denver, Colorado. Before
we talk about what passengers could have done to help prevent it, David, the ability of pilots to forecast or to at least prepare for clear air
turbulence is quite limited?
DAVID SOUCIE, CNN SAFETY ANALYST: It's very limited, Richard. Right now, they can look at forecasts, they can look at what happens ahead of them but
not very far. And it's really reliant on the pilot that flew through that area just before them. But it changes so quickly. These fronts move
forward and they're really guessing at where and when they might encounter clear air turbulence.
QUEST: And what would it be the result of? Would it be a change in air pressure, convection heat, jets? What would cause such dramatic and rather
violent clear turbulence?
SOUCIE: There's really only two ways, Richard. One is a front in which it goes through the tropopause and it changes the temperatures and therefore
changes the speed of the air. When those two collide that's where you have a wind shear and that's what happens. You're flying along fine and
suddenly the temperature or the direction of the air changes and you move quickly. The other one would be something on the surface like over a
mountain ridge and that sort of thing where it affects up higher into the tropopause just from the movement of the regular front.
QUEST: To the passenger, it will feel like you've dropped 10,000 feet maybe, but in reality, you're not dropped anything like that in many of
these cases, have you?
SOUCIE: No, not really, Richard. At most you would be dropping as much as 100 feet, but 100 feet, think about that. That's almost ten stories from
the top of the building to the bottom. And so therefore, what most of the injuries and deaths caused in these types of wind shear are from carts and
things that are floating around, but again, as we're going to talk about is just the fact that the passengers that were not strapped in during this
time are at most risk.
QUEST: It's in my Profitable Moment today as part of the newsletter reminding people to be strapped in but here's the real problem, David.
This was 40 minutes out from Bangkok. Passengers would have been stowing their luggage. Some would have been waiting, perhaps, to use the toilets
for the last time before landing. For those people who are legitimately standing in the aisles, there's nothing they could have done?
SOUCIE: That's absolutely right. Not only could they not do anything about it but the people that are strapped in are just as much at risk.
Since 1980 there's been about seven deaths in clear air turbulence such as this. In China, China air oh back in 1980 there was a very surprising one
in which a passenger, older lady had been walking along perfectly clear, perfectly straight. The airplane just ahead of them had no turbulence
whatsoever and that person went up and broke her neck on the ceiling of the airplane. We're fortunate we're not talking about deaths in this
particular incident.
QUEST: Finally, to any viewer who is somewhat concerned tonight, reassure, once again, David, the aircraft itself is well built to handle this. I
mean, the wings will flex, the engines will look like they're about to fall off. It will shutter and grown like an old jalopy on the water, but the
plane is fine?
SOUCIE: Absolutely, it's fine, Richard. The wings themselves are like huge shock absorbers. So, when this does happen, the wings drop and they
wait and when they hit the next lift, they pull back up to the top.
[16:45:00] I've been at the FAA certification on the Airbus 787, witnessed the testing that these wings go through. They nearly touch each other
before they'll start to crack or fail in any mode whatsoever. So, these airplanes are built for this type of thing and I don't know of any large
aircraft that has been brought down by clear air turbulence at all, I don't know of any in the history of aviation.
QUEST: No, there's been cases where the way people have reacted -- France 447 -- they have reacted to it, but you're right, air turbulence in its own
right has not destroyed an aircraft as such. David, wonderful to see you as always. Thank you for joining us. Thank you.
SOUCIE: You too, Richard.
QUEST: David Soucie, joining us now.
Obviously, on the newsletter, keep your seatbelt fastened. I've said this so many times. Keep your seatbelt fastened even when the seatbelt sign is
off. Anyway, read the newsletter. It's a good briefing note. It comes to you after New York closes, before Asia opens. Really it will tell you
everything you need to know about the way the day went.
Now, as we continue tonight, thousands of people are converging on South Africa for the world economic forum. The top of the agenda is economic
diversification, falling prices and China's growth slow down. They've all taken a bite out of African economies.
South Africa is finding creative ways to cope. All this week will be showing you the solutions for farmers. It's economic acceleration and it
starts with a machine that might move the economy faster, but the machine moves at 5 miles an hour.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON BRANTLEY, MANAGING DIRECTOR, JOHN DEERE SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA: You can almost live in one of these.
ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is the largest tractor John Deere sells in Africa. It weighs more than 18 metric tons, has 570
horsepower, but this green giant is actually more brains than brawn.
BRANTLEY: This tractor actually drives itself. And this tractor can be accurate down to two centimeters.
GIOKOS (on camera): This is the 9 RX. It is what John Deere is known for, these monster tractors that farmers are looking for and it's not just about
the heavy machinery that's making life more productive, it's about the data and analytics that's driving the agriculture sector forward.
JASON BRANTLEY, MANAGING DIRECTOR, JOHN DEERE SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA: A lot of our customers are seeing, 5 percent, 10 percent or more improvement in
efficiency by integrating new equipment, plus the technology that goes with it.
GIOKOS: John Deere has begun rolling out the operation center platform in Africa.
JOE DU PLESSIS, FARM MANAGER, ROSSGRO FARMS: We control all the tractors, all the combines, all the spraying equipment.
GIOKOS: The system allows farmers like Joe Du Plessis, to use data gathered from his compatible equipment to control his entire operation
through the cloud and make money-saving decisions.
DU PLESSIS: We use today go to all the fields and if you go and work out and you use the extra fertilization, extra chemicals, extra seed, diesel,
everything that costs us a million rent, whatever. Now we're saving 8 percent to 11 percent.
GIOKOS (voice-over): For farmers in Africa that don't get government subsidies, precision agriculture can be the margin between survival and
profitability. That's why Du Plessis sees the more than $200,000 he spent in smart equipment as a worthy investment.
DU PLESSIS: In the beginning when you buy a new tractor it is really expensive but after two years it has paid for itself.
GIOKOS: Agriculture is the main source of income for around 70 percent of Africans and most are on a much smaller scale that Du Plessis.
(on camera): That's very cool sounding, isn't it?
(voice-over): But soon even entry level equipment will be geared for precision farming.
TAVONGA SIYAVORA, TECHNOLOGY SPECIALIST, JOHN DEERE: It will be a telematics unit. And through cellular it would actually be sending machine
and job information to the customer which would be you, to your smartphone.
GIOKOS: It's an advanced behemoth like the 9 RX or something smaller, smart technology and data is giving African farmers a way forward in
agriculture. Eleni Giokos, CNN in Delmas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: Now you'll be aware that last week of course, we were in Nigeria's economic center of Lagos only a few days ago. If you missed it, there are
highlights of the special reports this weekend. It airs 10:30 on Friday morning in London and throughout the weekend where you can see "Nigeria at
a Cross Roads". And yes, once again, see me ringing the closing gong of the Nigeria stock exchange.
Interesting times at the top for the latest U.S. box office results. It's a question of diverse films that are now at the top of the chart or at
least heading that way.
[16:50:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Films with diverse cast are doing remarkably well at the U.S. box office. If you look at the last weekend "The Fate of the Furious" still
occupies the number one spot and of course the movie boasts a diverse cast. $19.4 million takes its total global sales to over $1 billion.
Number two is also interesting "How to Be a Latin Lover." That was boosted by Hispanic audiences, brought in $12 million. The movies main star,
Eugenio Derbez is show here.
Number three is an Indian film that did better than "The Circle" at number four which stars Tom Hanks and Emma Watson. In fact, "The Circle" has been
widely panned in some ways. "Baahubali 2" is a Bollywood import, even though it only played in 420 screens, it managed to take in over $10
million. Paul Dergarabedian, is a Senior media analyst for measure services company, comScore. He joins me from Los Angeles. Paul, now look,
first of all, how surprised were you by these numbers that we saw today?
PAUL DERGARABEDIAN, SENIOR MEDIA ANALYST, COMSCORE: I think, I like everybody else, and I've been doing this a long time, I was surprised by
this. To have a movie in 420 theaters, "Baahubali: The Conclusion," earned $10.1 million and take in a higher gross than a Tom Hanks/Emma
Watson movie I think surprised everyone.
And then at number two as you're showing "How to Be a Latin Lover" with one of the biggest international superstars in the lead, that movie did very
well. And then "The Fate of the Furious" of course, known for being one of the first film franchises to use a very diverse cast.
And just outside the top ten is "Born in China" as well which is a Disney nature movie about wildlife in China. So, there's a lot of stuff going on
here. We live in a diverse world, a global landscape, and these movies reflect it.
QUEST: Right, but those who are attracted to these diverse ones, particularly the "How to Be a Latin Lover" and "Baahubali 2." Those who
were attracted, where they attracted to -- for want of a better word -- an immigrant viewership or those who would identify with those cultures. Or
the real issue here, Paul, is are these movies crossing into the mainstream culture, or are they just -- if you like -- appealing to their own?
DERGARABEDIAN: I think at this point in many cases they do appeal to the audience that is at the core of the story, and that's why a movie like "The
Fate of the Furious" does well with so many different cultures because it's not as specific. It's about a bunch of different characters from a bunch
of different backgrounds. But I think what this does is a show that an exposed audience, and show that there are other worlds out there.
The Indian movies or Bollywood as they're sometimes called, those movies have beautiful costumes, epic adventure, a great dance sequence, and so
this may turn people on to these movies who might not otherwise have known they existed.
[16:55:05] And for a movie like this to open at number three in that few theaters shows you the power of the audience that loves these movies.
QUEST: I was staggered to find last week, when I was in Lagos that Nollywood makes something like 50 movies a month or something. It was
extraordinary. Good to see you, Paul Thank you putting that into context.
DERGARABEDIAN: Thank you, Richard.
QUEST: We will have a Profitable Moment after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: So, tonight's Profitable Moment, what did happen between these two when they had dinner at Number Ten? Whose story of that fateful meal is
more accurate? Jean-Claude Juncker, who says that Theresa May is living in a parallel galaxy and he's ten times more skeptical of a future Brexit.
Or Theresa May, who said it was a constructive meeting. Besides his offensive comment about the chiefs at Number Ten. The truth of all of this
is we should not be surprised. This is new territory, unprecedented. I've said it a million times. But the fact is these two countries, the country
and the EU, are going to go head-to-head in the most vicious, bitter negotiations where money will be at stake, prestige will be at stake, ex-
pats, trade, it goes to the heart of the European Union. So, before they've even sat down and negotiated, should we be surprised that they are
already shadow boxing each other? Of course not. This is going to get worse before it gets better. But I'm pretty certain when the talking gets
going, then the really nasty comments will begin.
And that's QUEST MEANS BUSINESS for tonight. I'm Richard Quest back in New York. Whatever you're up to in the hours ahead, I hope it's profitable. I
will see you tomorrow.
END
