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Quest Means Business
Irma Continues Deadly Advance West; British Lawmakers Debate Crucial Brexit Bill; Congress Questions Facebook over Russian Ads; Walkie-Talkie App Helps Hurricane Victims. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired September 07, 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 HOST: Real jubilation at the stock exchange, as a medal of honor from the Vietnam War rings the closing Bell. Let's not
worry too much how the Dow is doing. This is a true hero who is ringing the closing bell. And, one, two, three. Yes, just what you had hoped from
Specialist Five James McCloughan, medal of honor of the Vietnam war. Showing the market is down a tad, a small loss at the end of the day, on
Thursday, it's September 7.
Tonight, Irma's deadly advance continues across the Caribbean. We'll show you where it has been and where it is heading next.
Britain gets moving on its Brexit Bill, as Europe polls for delay on the talks. And Russian trolls are buying their way into your social media.
And now Congress wants answers from Facebook and Twitter. I'm Richard quest live in the world's financial capital, New York City, where I mean
business.
Good evening. Tonight, Irma is showing her power demolishing communities and shattering records as this monster hurricane rips through the Atlantic.
No storm has been the strong for this long. Just take a look. Parts of Haiti are currently being battered. This is where Irma is at the moment,
Haiti. And ahead, smaller low-lying islands like Turks and Caicos stand directly in its way. And soon Eastern Cuba will start to feel Irma was
wrath.
The scale of the devastation is vast and unprecedented. So, first in Puerto Rico hundreds of thousands of people are being left without power.
Look at the winds that ripped through the island. Water supplies have been disrupted. The island of St. Martin both French and Dutch, badly hit.
And in Irma's wake trees flatten, roofs torn off, communication towers and power poles all torn down. Northwest of their the Turks and Caicos
Islands, people were warned. Expect the worst.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VADEN WILLIAMS, TURKS AND CAICOS MINISTER OF HOUSING: As a government will do our best after the storm to get this country back on track. We can
replace your homes and cars. You can't replace your lives. So, we encourage you to go to the shelter, go to the shelter now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: That's what happens. But there are competing models showing where the store may go next, which will talk about at the CNN world whether
center in just a moment or two. I need to show you where it's been, where it's now and who's next in the path. Let's start on Wednesday. And you
can see on Wednesday, you're down here. Barbuda has been completely devastated. 90 percent of the buildings have been destroyed. St. Martin,
four dead, in Puerto Rico50,000 without power.
Go to Thursday and you're looking at the Dominican Republic where 7,000 people have been displaced and Haiti, potential flooding mudslides. We'll
talk to Paula Newton who's in Haiti in just a moment. And then a little bit further north, the Turks and Caicos Islands, where some of the islands
will be completely over washed. We'll have the governor in just a second.
And then towards Friday up into the Bahamas, which is undergoing the largest ever evacuation in the islands history. But this is where it gets
very uncertain, because by the time we get to the weekend on Saturday in red it's where the storm could go. So, we are seeing mandatory evacuations
in Georgia and in Florida and you're seeing in the Carolinas where a state of emergency has been declared. The cone has moved its way up getting
bigger and this is where it is at the moment. The Turks and Caicos and the Bahamas are in Irma's path right now. Dr. John Freeman, is the governor in
Turks and Caicos. I spoke to you 3 1/2 hours ago, governor, when you were waiting and anticipating Irma. Irma is now with you. How bad are things?
DR. JOHN FREEMAN, GOVERNOR OF TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS (via phone): Richard, thank you. I have been kind of working since we spoke. The Winds
are building up. We have tropical storm force wins here. We haven't yet gotten the full hurricane force winds. Irma is about 70 kilometers off the
most east of the island in Turks and Caicos, Grand Turk.
[16:05:00] Where in the coast already being felt. Electricity has gone down in Grand Turk. All water has ceased pumping and the shelters there
are full, as you know would expect and hope. Over in Providence where I'm sitting somewhere across from Grand Turk we have already had some
electricity going down in certain communities. It went down in the command center that I'm. We have a generator that's come on here. And we hope
that it survives quite a while because of the winds speeds. So, that's roughly where we are.
QUEST: Are you seeing the worst of it yet? I mean how much more do you anticipate there is still to come?
FREEMAN: We are not seeing the worst. I fear Irma is still limbering rather than being fully running. And because what we're getting is
tropical force winds, which are significantly less speedy than the full hurricane force. We would expect within the next four hours.
QUEST: Are you in touch with London? Which of course, has responsibility in these matters for assisting you. And if so, what is her Majesty's
government saying that they can provide ones Irma has passed?
FREEMAN: We are in talks with London. I took part in a (INAUDIBLE) briefing room meeting chaired by a minister earlier today. And we were
discussing all the various aspects and support. Of course, they are busy at the moment providing whatever support they can to the Anguilla and
British Virgin Islands, two other British territories which have been very badly hit as you know. There is a British naval ship down there. They're
looking to see what they can do with us. But first of all, Richard, we have to actually I'm afraid -- it sounds rather gruesome, but we have to
see the damage first in order to assess what help we need.
It's going to be a difficult night here because gradually things will go off, switch off and we just have to hunker down and get through until the
morning an assess what the damaging is as soon as we can and then speak with London, regional partners. London's been in touch are ready with the
Americans and others. And we have been in touch with the region. We are already being engaged and we are engaged we're engaged with the Caymans
some things may be able to come over from there. We are properly engaged. We're already even at this stage, trying to think through recovery.
QUEST: Governor, thank you. We'll talk more on this. Please stay safe. Know that our thoughts and prayers are with you and all in the Turks and
Caicos. Thank you, Sir, for joining us.
So, this is the Turks and Caicos, that's where the governor has been talking with us from his command post at the moment. Let's go slightly
south down to Haiti. Paula Newton is on Haiti's northern coast, which puts this just directly opposite the Caribbean Sea from where the governor is.
I hope, Paula, you were able to hear the governor. There sort of being trashed Now, the cone seems like it -- when I say it is going to miss, it's
meaningless. You're going to feel the force. How bad are things getting?
PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We are already. We are being lashed by some furious winds. And as I looked behind me just to make sure there
wasn't anything on our way. As the governor he was saying, we have not seen hurricane force winds. Believe me, Richard, Haiti is very lucky for
that. We have had some very blunt statements from local officials here and you're talking hundreds of thousands of people at risk. They say they are
not prepared, nor are they prepared for the aftermath. So, all best intentions out the window. At this point in time they are very lucky that
the path of the storm essentially wobbled a bit east and a bit north. Having said that, even the back end of this storm could be quite furious.
It's not even just the wind and what's passing right now, but what's coming after. In terms of regions that will continue to have a deluge of rain and
also those mudslides. A lot still to fear here as we just continue to see the beginning of the storm -- Richard.
QUEST: All right. Is it believed that you're going to get the outer bank of the hurricane looking at the model so far or is Haiti going to receive
the full force? Again, maybe it's dancing on the head of a pin, Paula. But you know what I mean.
NEWTON: No. It is actually highly significant, what you're saying, Richard. And they will not take the full force. And so, we're talking
about anything that might approach a category one or category two, perhaps not even hurricane force winds. That is good news. They told us point
blank that they weren't prepared. The problem, Richard, is that even when you start to get more of this outer bands. How much moisture actually is
produced in which areas has a significant impact on the kind of devastation we might see here and unfortunately loss of life.
[16:10:01] Right now people are still not in those evacuation centers. There weren't many of them to begin with. A couple that we visited didn't
have food or water. They just said it was a solid structure so please come in. People were not convinced. And really, quite resigned to what
happened and most people hunkering down in their own homes. You know, shaky homes I might add. A lot of them plywood and tin roofs and they are
trying to whether this. We still have another 10 hours to go at least.
QUEST: Paula, final question. Some viewers may well be wondering, where are you? What structure are you? Obviously, safety for you and our team.
Where are you?
NEWTON: Yes, good point. We Cape Haitian, we're a little bit elevated. We can see the ports. And we are in a hotel. Has good cement, good rebar,
good windows. Things have been boarded up. We are fine and of course, CNN has made sure that we have all of the provisions here that we need. Even
if the power goes out we will continue to do our live shots. What is alarming, again, is the lack of preparedness pretty much all around us even
though we feel we are quite safe here.
QUEST: Paula, thank you, I appreciate it. Give the best of the team. And Tom Sater is with me at the world weather center. Tom, I have done a
rather shabby job with my map of showing here it is going and what it is go doing. With your more sophisticated graphics, let's take this point by
point. If we may.
TOM SATER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: OK.
QUEST: I see where it is. What are the winds and the rainfall currently?
SATER: Well, about 280 kilometers per hour. Remember, super Typhoon Haiyan was at 315, but it didn't have the staying power that we have with
Irma. What we are watching now is we are getting conditions that are pretty rough on the northern coast of the Dominican Republic into Haiti.
More concerned about the Turks and Caicos right now, Richard. Because of the sea level rise as it makes its way toward the islands. I mean, they
are looking at a good 6, 6.5-meter storm surge here. But this is new today. Warnings for the Bahama Islands but they slapped a hurricane watch
unto southern Florida. This is a big, big stage. They don't slap these up here haphazardly. This is heavy consideration, a great analysis because it
costs millions and millions of dollars when you put a hurricane watch somewhere in the U.S. because federal, state and local aid that needs to
get in the equipment that needs to get here and evacuations.
QUEST: When do you expect to know when that north turn is going to happen? Let's be clear about this -- when I say you I mean meteorologist and the
UGS. They are pretty certain this northern turn is going to happen.
SATER: Yes. It is going to happen. About a week ago we were wondering exactly what had happened sooner than later. I mean, you would like to see
that turn northward sooner and stay from, of course, the Bahamas maybe if that's possible and cross off the East Coast. But the storm surges going
to be an issue. That term what we are watching though, getting closer to around northern Cuba. Still some questions on whether northern Cuba will
have any interaction with this storm system. Because if it does, then it would break the system down to category two. Unfortunate for Cuba getting
a lot of water just kind of squeezed out over that area.
But it still looks like it's going to be some time, I believe late Friday. The timing seems to be good. The models have been in great achievement,
which is staggering really this far out. The European model last Thursday had it sitting south of Miami. U.S. model was up by the U.S. you know,
over 12,000-mile separation. But the turn takes place on Friday. Again, the models have been shifting a little west and a little east. This is
when it gets interesting now. If we take a look at the spaghetti plots and there's all kinds of models. There is over 70 of them really.
But again, there's been a little shift off to the east with some of the spaghetti plots, but if we break it down even further, you're going to be
able to see that it's either going to be one of these two scenarios and they are both terrible. The European takes it right into Miami. So, a 10-
foot storm surge right into Biscayne Bay. That takes it right up towards Orlando on Sunday and straight up into Georgia. The American model takes
it right up the coastline and slams into Savannah, Georgia. So, both will be historically damaging.
QUEST: Move to your left if you would be as kind and show me. So how serious is Jose still out in the Atlantic and Katia in the Gulf?
Amazing. It has been since 2010 we had three hurricanes at the same time. Those names are Carla, Julie and Igor and it looked just like these
positions here. It's almost identical. It's amazing. Katia is not a big concern although it is for Veracruz and Mexico as it slides downward.
We've got a little bit of a cold front here, Richard, which is too bad that it's not coming through on Friday to help push Irma away. But that'll
slide that system to the south.
Now Jose, we knew was going to become a hurricane and it is. Yesterday we talked about it could become a major hurricane. That means category three.
And it's getting dangerously close to the northern islands of the lesser Antilles.
[16:15:00] Can you imagine telling the residents of Texas 24 hours after Harvey hits you and devastates you and you have another one coming with
another hurricane watch. Hurricane watches are now in effect. It is hard believe in hard to just fathom this. Barbuda, Anguilla, St. Kitts, the
system is coming dangerously close. They are already as we've heard barely habitable. So where do you go? We don't have a convention center like we
do in Houston. I don't think it's going to make landfall, Richard. But it's going to come close enough where tropical storm force winds are going
to throw all of that debris around. Debris that has enclosed on buildings.
QUEST: Tom Sater, thank you, sir. Thank you. Stay with it. Obviously, you're going to stay with it. We need you for the details. Thank you.
Not knowing exactly where the storm will hit is making it very hard for the authorities to give any evacuation orders. Airlines are lowering ticket
prices. Every seat on every plane is being filled to get people out before Irma causes thousands of people to be stranded once the flights are
canceled. It's QUEST MEANS BUSINESS. Good evening.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Two U.S. states are announcing mandatory evacuations as Irma approaches. In Florida, there are three counties -- and the important ones
by the way -- down at the bottom, Miami-Dade County and Broward County, which is Miami, Fort Lauderdale. That's why the report runs. Those which
you are most familiar with. In the Georgia coastline, that's just at the top and over. And for Southern Carolina President Trump declared state of
emergencies, where mandatory evacuation start in those other states on Saturday.
Florida's governor is warning everyone in his state to be ready to take shelter whether you're on the East Coast or the West Coast of Florida. He
says no matter where you are be prepared to leave in a moment's notice. American Airlines which has a vast hub in Miami, the last flight out is on
Friday afternoon. The airline's already canceled 2.000 flights and that's likely to grow, depending on where Irma finally lands. Rene Marsh is our
aviation correspondent in Washington. The preparations, Rene, are extremely careful. Get planes out of the way, obviously, so they don't get
blown away. What's the extent at the moment?
RENE MARSH, CNN AVIATION AND GOVERNMENT REGULATION CORRESPONDENT: Not only are they trying to get planes out of the way, Richard, they're also doing
as much as they can before the storm gets dangerously close. So, Delta for example, they just announced that they are adding some 2,000 seating.
Because they are trying to get as many people out as possible. Because the bottom line is a lot of these flights are simply sold out or it's a
scenario where there is only one seat left. So, the airlines are adding as many seats as they can right now in the lead up to the storm.
[16:20:00] Because as you mentioned, once we get the Friday afternoon and later, there will be the winding down process. The airlines will start
winding down and by the time you get to the weekend there will be no flights going in or out the state of Florida.
QUEST: This story that was around yesterday of airline price gouging and fair gouging and this sort of thing, Renee, this is really -- I mean this
is more the airlines not deliberately doing it as I understand it. It's the algorithms, isn't it? It's the way the prices, they price seats --
prices go up as people try to buy more seats. But the airlines have tried to counter that now. Tell me more.
MARSH: They have. You know, it wasn't very good publicity. You're right, I mean, I spoke to several of these airlines and they say they did not
change their pricing mechanism or the algorithms as you put it. This simply was the fact of the matter of when, you book a flight last minute it
is going to be a lot of money. All of that being said we have seen now that airlines after complaints have gone viral from consumers. They are
capping their fears. JetBlue for example, they've capped their fares at $99 for one leg if you need to get out of Florida. American Airlines
capped it between $99 and $159. Delta said that they're capping theirs at about $399, which many people would see and say that's the right thing to
do because you have so many people that may not be able to afford that hefty price tag you were seeing before -- Richard.
QUEST: What I find fascinating, Rene, is that after all the hurricanes that you and I have covered, this is the first time we have really seen or
at least it's become a big issue where price capping has been introduced. I'm just wondering -- I have no answer or thought about it, why this one
has raised the issue?
MARSH: You know, I think that if we put it into context I don't think any airline whether it's American, whether it's Delta, or anyone else, number
one, wants to be that airline that is blamed for someone not being able to maybe evacuate because they couldn't afford a ticket. I mean, you saw the
devastation that we saw after Harvey. This one is going to be worse. How to terrible would that be that someone was not able to get out of harm's
way simply because they couldn't afford $1,000 plane ticket? That would be a bad, bad story. I think airlines realize that even if they weren't
trying to gouge, that this was the right thing to do.
QUEST: Good to see you, Rene. Thank you, stay watching this side of the story for us. It's important for us. Thank you.
MARSH: I will.
QUEST: To Wall Street now. Markets are mostly flat. The U.S. Senate approved package of bills provides emergency hurricane relief for those
from hurricane Harvey and raises the debt ceiling. Yesterday President Trump surprised his own party when he backed the Democrat's plan for
raising the debt ceiling and actually specifically chose not to follow his own party's congressional leadership.
To Europe, the markets are in the green as the ECB capped rates on hold and raise Eurozone growth forecast. However, the pounds slipped against the
dollar. It's down just about 1/2 a percent on the day.
The European Union wants to delay the second round of Brexit talks saying the U.K.'s lacking clarity and is not making significant progress on the
core issues for example. British lawmakers are debating the government's flagship Brexit bill for the first time. The bill converts current E.U.
regulations into British laws. It's a one thing -- every E.U. law becomes domestic British law. And then in the future over many years the U.K. will
decide which to keep and which to ditch. Parliament debates the bill for the second time tomorrow. It will vote on Monday. The chief negotiator
for the European Union is warning Britain about the consequences for a negotiation over the Irish border.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHEL BARNIER, EUROPEAN UNION CHIEF NEGOTIATOR FOR BREXIT: And what I see in the U.K.'s paper on Ireland and Northern Ireland, worries me. In the
U.K. wants to use Ireland as a kind of test case for the future E.U./U.K. custom relations. This will not happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Roger Bootie is the managing director of the consultancy Capital Economics. His new book is "Making a Success of Brexit and Reforming the E.U." It's
released today Roger, we are always delighted when you got time to join us on QUEST MEANS BUSINESS. Thank you, sir. It's a great pleasure to have
you. We'll come to the book in just a second. I just want to get your feeling that these talks on for instance single market, future
relationships and at what point do you think reality comes home that Britain is going to be on her own?
[16:25:00] ROGER BOOTIE, MANAGING DIRECTOR, CAPITAL ECONOMICS: Well, I'm not sure. I'm not entirely surprised I have to say by what's going on at
the moment. It was always likely I thought that what we've seen was the two sides being pretty hard lined and then eventually the clock was ticking
away all the time towards the end. And then the pressure than really comes on. I thought all along that there was a pretty good chance actually that
the U.K. would be leaving without a deal.
QUEST: In your book, the idea of leaving without a deal, which you have to obviously consider, you don't see it being the greatest disaster.
BOOTIE: No, I don't think it is at all. It's not the best of all possible outcomes. I think the best outcome would be what Mrs. May has outlined as
her objective. Best to say deep free trade relationship, cooperation with the European Union. While the U.K. is outside the single market, outside
the customs union and able to strike free trade agreements with countries around the world. That's the best outcome. If we can get that and I
suspect you probably won't, then I think the U.K. will do perfectly well. It will be a disaster to have to face European tariffs.
QUEST: The next two years -- or 18 months is it is pretty much by no -- the volatility, the uncertainty as a deal is put together and then has to
go to the Parliament. How damaging will it be to the British economy?
BOOTIE: Well, it's not helpful. But so far, we have seen that Britain has weathered this uncertainty remarkably well. Don't forget that before the
referendum vote, the treasury and umpteen other forecasters were saying that a Brexit vote would lead to a recession. Quite a deep one and it
didn't happen at all. Consumers and particularly went on spending. I think that's probably likely to happen again.
QUEST: Longer term, Roger, why do you continue to believe that leaving the union not only could be good but can be turned into a success when the
plethora of views otherwise -- you know, you go to a dinner party in London and most of the people around the table will shake their head and say
Armageddon is on the way.
BOOTIE: Well, that's on the things that convinces me that I'm right. I think the key thing is that this is not Brexit. It's not the road to
riches, but neither is it the road perdition. I think we have got to do Brexit right. It is a series of opportunities and challenges. And I think
in the end we will do it right. But it's not a gift on a plate. There we are were out of the European Union. Suddenly everything's fine. We've got
to do it right.
QUEST: Roger, good to see you, sir. I appreciate it. Thank you. Roger Bootie joining me from London.
Now, when we come back, how to turn your phone into a mobile walkie-talkie. It's call Zello. You may be familiar with it. It's an app that lets you
press a button and as you're about to see, I'm in New York. The other phone is in London. As you can see, it's immediately going to be able to
talk to the person on the other side of the Atlantic. It's proving very useful for those in need when a hurricane arrives. QUEST MEANS BUSINESS
continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:30:45] QUEST: Hello, I'm Richard Quest. There's more QUEST MEANS BUSINESS in just a moment. We'll be talking about U.S. senators who are
looking for answers from Twitter and Facebook over Russian propaganda on your newsfeeds. And as I outlined, Zello, the little app that has become
the most popular free app in the United States because of hurricane Irma. The app's founder CEO will be with us on this program. Before all of it,
this is CNN and on this network the news always comes first.
Hurricane Irma's furious force is now pushing further at the Caribbean islands towards Turks and Caicos. The southern edge is raking the island
of Espanola. So far, the category five hurricane has killed at least six people across the northern Caribbean and left a shocking path of
destruction. Forecasters say it's on track to hit the Bahamas and southern Florida.
A little while ago President Trump said it would be great if the North Korean crisis could be sold without military action. The President said
that does remain an option. It is neither inevitable nor preferable. However, he added, if a military strike did happen it would signal a very
sad day for North Korea.
Officials said at least 164,000 ethnic Rohingyas have fled the violence in Myanmar. They've crossed the border into Bangladesh over just the last two
weeks. The United Nations of Bangladesh said they are planning up to over 300,000 people to arrive from Myanmar by the end of the year.
A state-sponsored group of German hackers says the countries voting system is extremely vulnerable to attacks. Germans are set to vote in just a few
weeks in the federal election. The government set it's working to secure the software.
Well, the first day of school is always a big deal for both parent and child. And that's no different even when you're Royalty in going to be
king. Britain's for four-year-old Prince George took things into stride as his father, Prince William, took him to his new school on Thursday. His
mother stayed home as she is pregnant and suffering severe nausea.
Irma, hurricane Irma weaving a lethal path towards Florida. CNN's Kyung Lah is in Homestead just south of Miami. Devastated in 1992 by hurricane
Andrew. Where are you?
KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We are just on the edge of Homestead. Just on the skirts of Homestead. And this is an area, this entire area was
almost completely wiped off the map. We have heard story after story of people who barely survived or simply left and then returned to rebuild.
So, this is an area that is well acquainted with the risk of hurricane. And what they're seeing now is trying to prepare for another one. A very
eerie feeling. They need fuel, Richard, in order to escape. I'm at a gas station that within the last hour just ran out of fuel. You can see all
this yellow tape. There is no fuel. There is some diesel. But you can see that it is completely boarded up. There are four gas stations on this
block, all completely out of fuel. The options here in the southernmost part of Miami County, it is dwindling out of options.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAH (voice-over): After seeing the devastation Irma left behind in the Caribbean, Floridians are bracing for monster. Boarding up their homes and
preparing to get out fast.
JOEL MELENDEZ, HOMESTEAD FLORIDA RESIDENT: Today is going to be the deadline.
LAH (on camera): Today's the deadline.
MELENDEZ: people are going to get caught in the turnpikes. They're going to get caught in the roads. Because they're going do that last-minute
panic and try to get out of here. It's going to be too late.
LAH (voice-over): They're urgency echoed by Governor Rick Scott this afternoon. As the sunshine state braces for most powerful hurricane ever
recorded.
RICK SCOTT, GOVERNOR OF FLORIDA: We cannot save you when the storm starts. So, if you're in an evacuation zone and you need help you need to tell us
now.
LAH: From Kissimmee to Fort Lauderdale, residents are waiting hours for the fuel to get out of its path. Scott reassuring them supply is his top
priority. Please take only what you need.
[16:35:00] SCOTT: We've got a be considerate of others so everybody can get out.
LAH: As fuel tankers make their way into Florida sports to meet demand, smaller boats and crew ships are heading out. At least one cruise company
tells CNN it is using its vessel to evacuate employees to calmer waters.
SCOTT: This is a serious, serious storm. I called it a nuclear hurricane.
LAH: The mirror of Miami Beach is also sounding the alarm as ambulances at Miami's Mercy Hospital stand ready to move the last of his patients out of
harm's way.
Early this morning Broward County's animal shelter evacuated more than 175 of its residents by plane in order to make room for displaced pets during
the storm.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If Broward County doesn't get hit they will be the receiving shelter.
LAH: Miami Beach is now under mandatory evacuation orders. But still some residents are vowing to stay.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Maybe it's stupidity of the first-class, but nevertheless I want to stay at home and I want to see if I can survive it.
LAH: Thousands more are heeding orders. Crowding Florida's airports and state highways as they as they flee their homes not knowing what they may
come back to.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAH: So, this gas station completely out of fuel except for diesel. There are total of four gas stations just on this one block here, out of fuel.
No one can get fuel to get out if you're trying to come to this block. The options here, Richard, are just getting more bleak as the storm gets
scarier and scarier.
QUEST: Kyung Lah who will be in southern Florida, probably at Homestead in Miami during the hurricane, thank you.
For those caught up in Irma's path they've been turning to technology for help and support. In particular to an app to which were very familiar with
on QUEST MEANS BUSINESS. It turns your smart phone into a walkie-talkie. And the app is top of the iTunes charts. It is called -- I'm going to open
it now -- it is called Zello. And it allows private and good conversations. You simply press and talk and your voices heard simply on
the speaker. There is no looking up numbers. There's no waiting for voicemails.
Those caught up in the hurricanes have been using it as groups. And to group search such as text a search and rescue. Now, it only works over the
cell networks or when you've got Wi-Fi. So, it won't work if you have no Internet access, which is a misconception at the moment. Bill Moore, the
chief executive of Zello, who we'd hoping to have an QUEST MEANS BUSINESS for some time. Bill, good to see you. He joins me from Austin in Texas.
Bill, we are seeing Zello being used as a way of monitoring and coordinating large group efforts. Are you surprised?
BILL MOORE, CEO, ZELLO: No, I'm not. It's been used in the past in disasters before like Louisiana a year ago. And also in countries that are
going through insurrections in political strife. In the case of Venezuela, the government shut it down or tried to shut it down. Before that Turkey
and Egypt and after that Ukraine. So, it's been used around the globe and hotspots when the stakes are high.
QUEST: Where did the idea come from? I mean, whenever I mention what it does people always say, oh yes, Nextel used to have that in the U.S. where
you push the button at the side and it became a walkie-talkie. But where did you get the idea to create Zello from?
MOORE: Well, it wasn't my idea. The founder actually is a great guy name Alexey Gavrilov. I'm the CEO and he and I worked together. I founded the
company called Tune in Radio and he and his team did some really wonderful work in those years. And he started it in about 2007 looking for a more
efficient way to use devices than texting. That is a text style communication, but with a voice. That's how we most naturally communicate.
It's fast. It's easy. You can do it while you're doing something else.
QUEST: Well, Bill, I can tell you -- Zello is the backbone of our communications on QUEST MEANS BUSINESS and QUEST EXPRESS, because we have
producers in London and writers in London and the stock exchange and here New York. And it's a very fast and efficient way of doing it. So, we
thank you for that. But Bill, how do you make money out of it? Because it's free.
MOORE: Sure, the consumer app we don't monetize it in any way. There's no ads. But companies can buy a version called Zello Work. It adds central
administration. It's very popular with different transportation companies. We just won a large deal with a company, Fast Retailing, in Japan. Is used
by Restoration Hardware. Lots of great retail brands and also hospitality. Most of the major hotel chains use Zello on the properties.
QUEST: And what? Then it becomes a closed group, does it? Where you have different bandwidth.
MOORE: Yes, their separate infrastructure for the business networks. And more importantly companies have central administration so they can define
who's talking to who in channels et cetera.
QUEST: Finally, Bill, the fascinating part about it is -- what do you do next with it?
[16:40:02] Because it seems to me -- I mean, it works brilliantly. And as I say, here at QUEST MEANS BUSINESS were using it on a minute by minute
basis. But it's a sort of thing that somebody can do on MeToo and suddenly your unique profile is gone.
MOORE: Not so much. There's been many companies that have attempted this over the past decade or so, and Zello has emerged as the clear leader.
It's a massive space. It's very difficult. The technology of making it work as you describe is important to make it radio like superfast, but work
anywhere and work on any device. We're building what we call social radio, which is again, how we most naturally communicate and Zello is a massive
social media around voice communication. People that know each other or people that don't.
QUEST: Finally, Bill, back to the hurricane, it must be gratifying. You know, you create these apps and you know that people will say, I'm going to
be late, I'm on the train. Or you know, put the tea on I'll be home in in five. But then you suddenly find that something that's been created that
your company is doing is actually forming a fundamental critical part of search and rescue and in emergencies. That must be gratifying for you and
your colleagues.
MOORE: It's totally satisfying and humbling. In particular, people at the Zello don't have boots on. They're not in the water. They are not risking
their own lives. They built an amazing communication tool that's been the glue that holds together these social efforts. But it's just been
incredible to watch the community groups like Cajun Navy in the case of Harvey build massive rescue effort and have a huge difference if you think
about the number of people who lost their life and the scale of the opportunity. So much of that has got to be through these volunteers.
They've done such a great job.
QUEST: Bill, I think you for creating it. I'm just not sure all my colleagues in QUEST MEANS BUSINESS in my producers thank you, since I seem
to be able to get them at every inopportune moment just by simply saying, London what are you up to now. But anyway, Bill, thank you very much
indeed for joining us.
MOORE: Thank you, Richard.
Emmanuel Macron -- oh, thank you very much. There you are. He replied. They're watching the program. Nice to know that the London staff are doing
something.
Emmanuel Macron's proposed labor reforms have made him popular with businesses and unpopular with his countrymen. Now he's trying to build
support for something much bigger. A new economic vision for Europe. It's QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Emmanuel Macron fixed the birthplace of democracy to rule out his vision of a new Europe and a series of addresses in Greece, the French
president said that the euro zone should have its own finance minister, its own parliament and its own budget. He warned the states must unite as
citizens whose fate is in the European project.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EMMANUEL MACRON, PRESIDENT, FRANCE: We need economic European force, we should overcome this internal dispute, the internal civil war, the
differences between the states, every state, every country should move in a dominant way, but solidarity is a pre-requisite.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[16:45:00] QUEST: The president's popularity at home has declined, the chief executive Marie Brizard Wine & Spirits says business enthusiasm
remains high, and that the labor reforms that the president has proposed will affect companies like his. Very pleased that Jean-Noel Reynaud joins
me now. Sir, thank you for joining me in the C Suite.
JEAN-NOEL REYNAUD, CEO, MARIE BRIZARD WINE & SPIRITS: Thank you very much.
QUEST: The reforms, the 200 reforms that have just been announced, the massive document that is going before parliament, people like yourself see
these reforms, labor reforms, change in pension rules, change in working hours, do you see them as essential?
REYNAUD: We see them as essential, especially the labor code for sure because end of the day you know that this reform that we are talking about
is probably much thinner than the labor code that we have, can you imagine that it is more than 3000 pages. For entrepreneurs like us obviously it is
a major burden, so it is clear definitely this was a burden, because the timeframe actually to put in place those restructurings in the company was
quite lengthy.
QUEST: But can we simplify it down to basically saying, the reforms make it cheaper to keep staff and easier to hire and fire staff? And that is
what the unions subject to.
REYNAUD: Well, I deal with them, the point of the reform is to make sure that all negotiation will take place at the level of the company, and not
necessary at the level of law, so that will make it more pragmatic, more practical for the entrepreneur, that is the point. So, it's going to be
making things a little bit, I would say, more foreseeable for the entrepreneurs when it comes for example about dismissal. We will know
exactly what will be the frame in the type of dismissal fees that we will be facing, so obviously that will make our life a little bit more
predictable, let us put it this way.
QUEST: There is going to be a national strike, these various unions are going to take part in what is believed to be a national strike, the general
view is that although the president can get his policies through parliament, he has got a thumping majority, his popularity is going down in
the reforms may falter.
REYNAUD: You know, I mean it is very difficult to actually in France to restructure things. So, at the end of the day we will measure the success
at the end of the story. It's like when restructuring a company, obviously, people don't like, but it is a necessary step. Not all unions
will be demonstrating next week, that is the starting point, at the end of the day the business confidence is very high.
QUEST: On what basis, growth is back, unemployment has gone down, but the growth is not exactly a barnburner. And if the U.S. example is anything to
go by, it's going to remain mediocre.
RENAUD: But if you add this up, I mean for the entrepreneurs it is good news. Look at our company, 40% of our business is in France. So, this is
all about good news, the restructuring, the labor code, making business more simple and also to a certain extent may be cheaper, because some of
the social costs will be now paid in the form of kind of VAT and sales tax, this makes our life easier and more practical for sure.
QUEST: What is your biggest challenge then, as this moves forward since clearly, you're going to gain some benefit from it, 40% of your business is
in France as you were saying, so Brexit only has a limited effect in that sense. But do you fundamentally believe the European project requires
greater integration?
REYNAUD: I do think so, yes, it requires greater --
QUEST: A federal states of Europe.
REYNAUD: Yes, for sure, for example the tax policies have to be aligned for sure, we cannot survive by having I would see either the social dumping
on one side, but more importantly I would say the tax and the fiscal dumping that some countries may have had in Europe. So, we must have a
more aligned tax policy throughout Europe. I think this is a necessary step for sure.
QUEST: Really glad, sir, to have you on the program tonight.
REYNAUD: Thank you very much.
QUEST: It was a great pleasure, thank you very much for joining us.
As we continue tonight, France and the U.S., they are accusing Russia of trying to interfere in presidential elections. Well now, Facebook has
revealed how the campaign of influence was actually carried out. We will talk about it after the break, it is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, good evening to
you.
[16:50:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Facebook has admitted that Russian groups trying to so division amongst U.S. voters bought $100,000 worth of ads, $100,000 worth during the
2016 election. Facebook made that admission to congressional investigators. Mark Warner on the Senate Intelligence Committee, now look,
this is how Mark Warner put it, I'm going to show you. The ad buy in his words was just the tip of the iceberg, they bought $100,000 worth. But
other social networks may have been used as well.
Twitter will brief Congress, Google says that there is no evidence that they were targeted. And if you move further down the iceberg itself, you
see the so-called troll farms, the Russian troll farms. They set up 470 phony Facebook accounts, and at the bottom of course, with the Russian
government itself. Right at the bottom where the Senator is concerned it will attack again.
So that's what you have, the ad buy, the networks, the troll farms and the country. CNN Money Dylan Byers is here tracking the story. Good to see
you.
[01:00:00] DYLAN BUYER SENIOR REPORTER FOR MEDIA AND POLITICS: Good to see you.
QUEST: Now, to some extent a $100,000 is bought in ads, but it is all this other stuff, isn't? What were the actually doing?
BYERS: It is all the other stuff and would Mark Warner said about the tip of the iceberg is important because the problem here is that Facebook
doesn't know if there is more afoot here.
QUEST: What were they doing? Buying ads is one thing, but what else were they doing?
BYERS: Buying ads and influencing the political conversation, and to that extent they could still be influencing the political conversation. What
you are doing is, by the way, two forms of advertising here. Traditional advertising sponsored content, articles that many users by not even know is
sponsored content, my just believe his actual news. Much of this content, it's not like it's necessarily promoting one candidate for going after
another candidate, it is contributing to the discord in American politics.
Whether that is on issues having to do with race, with immigration, with LGBTQ community, all of these issues to basically sew discord among the
American electorate during the course of the 2016 campaign, that could very well be going on now with Facebook, with other social media networks. And
could certainly be going on any 2018 election if Facebook doesn't step up and do something about.
QUEST: What should they do? Because there is an argument that says, well, if you're buying an ad you are entitled to buy an ad. Perhaps, if you want
to set up a Facebook group that is going to promote or going to put forward incorrect data, where do you draw the line? I am playing devil's advocate
here, Dylan. These people are entitled to do what they did.
BYERS: That is absolutely right, and this is where you get to the issue that every tech company is looking at, which is the issue of automation.
If you have a self-service ad model for you Richard Quest can come in and say I want to buy ads, and Facebook is letting you do that on their own,
they are not looking at. You have gotten rid of the human element, this is a big issue, it is the issue of automation. When, at what point does
Facebook have to step up and take responsibility and say, OK, we need humans monitoring those ad buys. We need to have people who can basically
figure out when we are dealing with fake news accounts, inauthentic news accounts, foreign governments influencing what Americans are reading about
their own political system, when we have humans there?
[16:55:00] And Facebook faced the same problem when it came to fake news earlier during the election.
QUEST: Good to see you, sir.
BYERS: Good to see you.
QUEST: Thanks for coming in.
BYERS: Thank you.
QUEST: Now some news into CNN, the credit reporting agency, Equifax says a cybersecurity reach may affect 143 million customers. Equifax is the one
that does your credit scores. And information access would include names, social security numbers, date of birth and addresses, and in some cases
driver's license numbers. The credit card numbers from more than 200,000 consumers may also have been accessed. Equifax chief exec says it is clear
the company must do more to shore up data security. That sounds rather like locking the stable door after the horses bolted.
We will have a Profitable Moment after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Tonight's Profitable Moment, we showed you the beauty of Zello something we use a great deal on QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, the free app that
allows you to turn your phone into a walkie-talkie. The ingenuity not only to come up with this idea which of course is not unique across the social
media, the iTunes, the Android systems, apps that we never even knew we wanted until we got them and use them.
But the ability to use them and adapt them in times of emergency and crisis is what is truly extraordinary. And needs to be celebrated tonight. Here
we have a walkie-talkie app that people are using around the world, and in crisis and emergency helping to save lives. It really does work.
And that is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS for tonight, I am Richard Quest in New York. Whatever you are up to in the hours ahead, I hope it's profitable.
I will see you tomorrow.
END
