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Quest Means Business
British Authorities Have Launched a Murder Investigation into This Week's Death of a Russian Ex-Pat in London; Russia Is Calling Friday's Comments by the British Foreign Secretary "Shocking Unpardonable Diplomatic Misconduct"; Israeli Authorities are Investigating a Deadly Attack and the West Bank; An 18-year-old Iraqi Asylum-Seeker Has Been Convicted of Attempted Murder the on the London Underground; Puerto Ricans Still Dying in Hurricane Maria's Wake; Jacob Zuma Faces Corruption and Money Laundering Charges; Shares in Cyber Security Firm Zscaler Soar on Market Debut; United Airlines Diverts Flight After Dog Landed on Wrong Plane Again. Aired 5-6p ET
Aired March 16, 2018 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[17:00:00] (CLOSING BELL RINGING ON WALL STREET)
RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: Yes, they are ringing the CLOSING BELL, of course, St. Patrick's Day, manufacturers or brewers I should say
of Guinness, as they get ready for that. And the markets enjoyed a bit of a tipper (ph) as well, the S&P and the Dow was up, the NASDAQ and the other
market was flat.
Come along sir?
One, two, three, yes, there we are, that's how you close the market, that's how you bring trading to a close on Friday, it's March the 16th.
As President Putin prepares for the polls, London's icy relationship with Moscow has now gone into deep-freeze.
The E.U.'s list of hundreds of American products it would target if the Trump tariff plan goes ahead. We have the list and we will analyze the
contents.
A costly mistake, Snapchat's paying dearly for mocking the singer Rihanna.
I am Richard Quest, live in London where of course, I mean business.
Good evening, tonight, icy exchanges continue between Britain and Russia. Vladimir Putin is now standing accused of ordering a killing on U.K.'s
soil, only days before he goes to the polls. The accusation came from the British Foreign Secretary, who says, "It is overwhelmingly likely that Mr.
Putin approved the nerve agent attack on a former Russian spy." The Kremlin calls those comments, "Shocking and unpardonable," as it is
deciding how to retaliate.
Now at the same time, the British police say the death of a Russian businessman in the U.K. capital, they are just saying it was murder.
Melissa Bell is covering that story from Salisbury, we'll talk about that with Melissa, we will be with you in just a second.
Let's go to Fred Pleitgen who is in Moscow. So, you know, the rhetoric is ugly, we thought it couldn't get worse and it just.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes.
QUEST: .has.
PLEITGEN: Yes. I think you're absolutely right. That's something that we saw. When that statement was first made by the Foreign Secretary, Boris
Johnson, where he said that he believed that it was overwhelmingly likely that Vladimir Putin himself had ordered the hit on Sergei Skripal and Yulia
Skripal as well.
And you know, immediately after that was said we got in touch with the Kremlin and they really they responded very, very quickly, Dmitry Peskov a
spokesman for Vladimir Putin, he came back and he sent us a message, I just want to read a little bit of it, it's very short, but he says, "We have
said on different levels on occasions that Russia has nothing to do with this story, and here we come, any reference or mentioning of our president
is nothing else but shocking and unpardonable, diplomatic, misconduct," so that's how the Russian see it.
As far as the Russian retaliation Richard, they say that they finalize what they want to do in retaliation against the Brits but they have not exactly
said what that is yet Richard.
QUEST: Melissa, so we've got this extraordinary business of another Russian dead in London, where the police say from compression of the neck,
attempted murder or -- well a murder in this case. Is there a connection?
MELISSA BELL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There is. No links say the police. They repeated it once again in the statement that was issued in the
wake of that pathologist report that indicate that Nikolai Glushkov was indeed murdered; there is no finger-pointing at the moment, there is no
blame being apportioned, this is very different to the case in Salisbury, the Skripals where as you said Boris Johnson has firmly, squarely,
(INAUDIBLE) it's not just since the defeat of the Russians but of Vladimir Putin himself.
And yet Richard, the timing of Nikolai Glushkov's death, the fact that he was found Monday night, that is eight days after the Skripals were found
here in Salisbury slumped on a bench will raise questions, we're talking about two Kremlin critics, with very different profiles, very different --
QUEST: Right.
Bear: -- backgrounds who were attacked since one was found dead and the other one remains in a critical but life-threatening condition, within
eight days of each other.
QUEST: Fred, help me understand, why would Vladimir Putin order the assassination or the murder on a British Street in an English town of the -
- of the spy. I mean what's in it for Putin?
PLEITGEN: Well on the face of it, it doesn't seem to be anything in it for Vladimir Putin and that certainly what the Russians are saying as well.
They're saying look, we have an election coming up here in Russia, literally just two days away but it was two weeks away when the -- when the
poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter happened, they said there is no reasons why the Russians would want any additional international
turmoil, with the international community, with the Brits, and with the Americans as well so close to their election.
They also --
QUEST: Right.
[17:05:00] PLEITGEN: -- say that quite frankly for them Sergei Skripal was not of any sort of value, there was no reason for them to do this.
As far as Putin's popularity is concerned I mean it -- it's -- he's certainly - it certainly hasn't impacted it negatively, he's certainly seen
as --
QUEST: Right.
PLEITGEN: -- someone who is very strong right now, this conflict shows him as someone who is standing up to the West but I mean for him to allegedly
have ordered it because of that it really -- there really is nothing that indicates that's actually the case.
Very interesting to see what the Brits actually have to underscore or any evidence that they would have to make such a -- such a strong statement
like Boris Johnson actually made.
QUEST: Friday night in Salisbury, I'm sure it will be a hotbed of activity Melissa Bell. In a sentence or two what's the mood there tonight?
BELL: Well many questions here of course. This is a city that is not used to this sort of activity. It certainly not used to be in the center this
sort of diplomatic storm and even now all of these areas that the Skripals visited are cordoned off, we were confronted once again with --
QUEST: Right.
BELL: -- police -- policemen wearing protective gear, collecting samples again today. This has become something the people have gotten use to over
the course of the last couple weeks in Salisbury.
They want answers. How did the Skripals become poisoned? How were they poisoned? Where was it administered? Why did this happen? How could it
happen on British soil? The people of Salisbury really want to get to the bottom of that.
QUEST: Melissa, Fred, thank you both.
PLEITGEN: Thank you.
QUEST: Now Europe has started the process of retaliating against U.S. tariffs even before they have been issued. Europe has published a list,
it's 10 pages long, it is extremely detailed on products that could be hit.
And the E.U. is asking businesses that may be affected to provide comment. Look it's rather dry when you see it like this so bring her in. How about
this?
Now, you've got a much better idea of what we are talking about. We've shipped some of them in. How about the bottle of Jack Daniels? There are
about 16 different forms of rice, long grain, short grain, numerous orange juices including those with added sugars, with added-this or with added-
the-other and even the dreaded cigarettes; oh, and a pack of playing cards because playing cards are also on the agenda into this.
So, what we have in this? They're each now dealing their hand deciding who is going to retaliate against what. We couldn't fit some of these things
onto the desk, motorcycles, sailboats, and kitchen sinks for example.
Now the stakes could not be higher, in this particular game, the E.U. and the U.S. trade around $1.3 trillion in goods and services, each --
everything from all of this to, well and maybe even how about a bit of a paddle as well - thank you very much.
Joining me from Brussels, Jakob Hanke. Jakob Hanke is the Reporter of Politico, covering Trade. I look at this very sizable list, basically they
have gone to the WTO list and they've just taken an entire range of U.S. goods which could be there but Jakob how serious are the Europeans about
this?
JAKOB HANKE, TRADE REPORTER, POLITICO: Right. They've -- they've chosen goods that are very known for being American goods and also goods that if
you target them, won't hit European producers because no big European business need American whiskey or needs Harley-Davidsons to make its
machines. Those -- they've chosen this rather smartly.
They've also chosen products that will hit Republicans, in Republican states. How serious are they? This is -- this is an escalation from the
E.U. side but the -- this was not the spin the E.U. was giving today. There were saying we have to do this, just as a precaution.
It's definitely a --
QUEST: But --
HANKE: -- (INAUDIBLE).
QUEST: -- but they are also having to go along with the U.S. story and the U.S. game if you like by attempting to or applying for an exemption from
these sanctions.
So, they first of all got to -- I mean that's the first thing they've got to decide, whether to apply for an exemption, under what terms, and whether
they will be granted it and there's only a week to go.
HANKE: You're -- you're right Richard, they are trying to get an exemption but this shows how little the trust is in the U.S.
I was speaking to a commission official today and he was saying, look even if -- even if we get an exemption who is going to promise us that in a
month's time Trump is not going to get -- go back to his tariffs and hit us after all so we need to be prepared this is why we've drafted this list.
And they've actually added more products. It used to be EUR 2.8 billion, no it's EUR 6.4, the total of products that the E.U. could hit back so
they're definitely warning Trump but I think there even more they're warning Congress because they are hoping that Congress will put some
pressure on Trump to backtrack, this is the E.U.'s biggest tool (ph).
[17:10:00] QUEST: Good to see you sir. Thank you.
Jakob Hanke joining us here --
HANKE: Thank you.
QUEST: --from Brussels tonight. Thank you.
Now this whole tariff battle started over steel. How you get from steel to whiskey and orange juice, beggars belief.
But now Europe steelmakers are bracing for the tariffs to take a weak effect one week from now. The President says the measures were necessary
to counteract WTO rules which allow for unfair competition from markets like the E.U. and China.
Axel Eggert joined me on the line, the Director General of the European Steel Association and he basically said, the President's wrong.
(BEGIN AUDIOTAPE)
AXEL EGGERT, DIRECTOR GENERAL, THE EUROPEAN STEEL ASSOCIATION, EUROFER: The problem is not the WTO, the problem is that some countries are not
following the WTO and I would agree with the U.S. president that countries such as China are not -- or not following the WTO rules but then we have to
strengthen the WTO and not undermine it.
The tariffs are undermining the WTO because not -- they are not according to those rules, so my proposal would be that the U.S. is sitting together
with the European Union and working on further improving WTO rules which I believe they are doing but in the meantime the U.S. tariffs attack E.U.
steel companies --
QUEST: Right.
EGGERT: -- unfairly. That's unfair trade and that's protectionism which we do not want.
QUEST: Right, so what do you want the European leaders, the community, the commission, to do? How strong do you want a retaliation to be?
EGGERT: So first of all, of course we fully support the European Commission, the European Union in deploying all the policy actions
possible, legitimately possible to counter the threat from U.S. Section 232.
Now there are several possibilities and of course rebalancing is one option, it's a political option. What the European Steel Industry in
particular needs now is safeguard measures because we expect deflection of millions of tons of steel originally foreseen for the U.S. which will now
seek new markets and the European Union is the major open market in the world.
So, logically those volumes would end up in our markets and destroy our industry. We really see ourselves back --
QUEST: (INAUDIBLE) --
EGGERT: -- into a --
QUEST: -- (INAUDIBLE).
EGGERT: -- crisis situation where we have been two years ago.
QUEST: Right so do what President Trump has done, impose your own tariffs on everybody else's steel.
Look, it may lead to a trade war but that's going to be the answer to the Chinese or Indonesian or Indian steel that then gets dumped into the
European Union.
EGGERT: I feel that is not the answer because if you're starting a trade war now, we are risking according to studies with the U.S. tariffs, 20,000
steel worker's jobs in the European Union and 140,000 jobs in direct and induced jobs in the European Union.
But also, in the U.S. according to studies, you are risking 150,000 jobs in the steel-using sectors in the United States and that will not, let's say,
replay for or makeup the few jobs which could be added to today's U.S. steel industry so we are all losing with the trade war.
QUEST: Do you fear that a trade war is imminent?
EGGERT: Yes. We fear that a trade war may be the result but of course we want to avoid any escalation so we still have some days' time until the
23rd of March when the U.S. tariffs will come into force and we appeal on the U.S., and on the European Union to sit together.
And first of all, we need of course, exemption for the E.U. countries because the E.U. is a close NATO partner, we are one of the most important
political and economic partners to the United States so there's absolutely no reason to come with measures based on national security.
(END AUDIO)
QUEST: Now just reading the list, a little bit detailed, extraordinarily, sun beds, sun lamps, and similar, sun-tanning equipment and electric fence
energizers, just what you'd always wanted to have on a list of tariffs; we're going to tariff your electric fence energizers.
(STUDIO BELL RINGING)
As we come up, it's Friday, so what's missing?
Well, a sacking at the White House, they're waiting for the revolving door to turn once again
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[17:15:00]
QUEST: The door -- the revolving door at the White House is spinning ominously, even as the White House says there are no immediate personnel
changes coming.
Now the administration is denying any rift between Mr. Trump and his National Security Advisor, H. R. McMaster. Speculation continues over his
long-term future in the administration and the White House insist it is business as usual.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, PRESS SECRETARY, WHITE HOUSE: The Chief of Staff actually spoke to a number staff this morning reassuring them that there
were personnel changes -- no immediate personnel changes at this time and that people shouldn't be concerned. We should do exactly what we do every
day, that's come in to work and do the very best job that we can.
And that's exactly what we're doing, that's exactly what we are focused on and many of us have relayed that to other staffers that weren't part of
that meeting and we're going to continue to focus on having record success in the second year as we had in or first year and we fully expect to do
that and we expect that -- to do that as a staff and as a team.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: The tension, comes in part, from what has almost become a tradition in this administration, losing a top official on a Friday, usually after
the markets close.
Now Mr. Trump got rid of a press secretary and a chief of staff on consecutive Fridays, last July. The same happened the next month with the
departure of his chief strategist and his deputy assistant, and his Health secretary, also quit on a Friday night, in that case it was over a jet
scandal, flying on private jet.
Ryan Nobles is at the White House, what is it Ryan with Fridays?
RYAN NOBLES, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I don't know Richard. I know that we are all kind of like just waiting with nervous anticipation
for something to happen here today but I have to tell you that the White House has made quite the effort to try and convince all of us here that
this isn't going to be one of those Fridays, that we shouldn't expect any major staff changes.
Sarah Sanders, the Press Secretary, briefed earlier this afternoon and said repeatedly, that there are no plans for anyone to lose their jobs or for
anyone to replace anyone today. And we also know that Chief of Staff John Kelly, specifically brought together staffers in the West Wing today to
tell them that nothing was imminent and at this point the President doesn't have any plans to make any big moves.
But obviously the complicating factor to all of this Richard is that, while there's no doubt that John Kelly and Sarah Saunders are close with Donald
Trump, the only person for sure who knows when the President is going to be ready to make a staff move is the President himself and if he has --
QUEST: Right.
NOBLES: -- his phone at the ready and he decides he wants to makes a staffing move, he could do that at any moment even tonight.
QUEST: OK, so it's going to be very difficult for -- oh, well not actually anybody cares at the White House anymore but to do a -- to continue with a
straight face, having told everybody McMaster's is you know, rock-solid and --
NOBLES: Yes.
[17:20:00] QUEST: -- there were no problems, even a weeks' time, he then - - he's then gone, what is it about McMaster? This is one of the great strategic thinkers, military thinkers in the U.S. Forces, what he's got
against him?
NOBLES: Yes. I mean it seems to be that there are just some certain foreign policy issues and a style perhaps that General McMaster has that
doesn't necessarily seem to mesh with Donald Trump.
We know in particular that McMaster has long been a proponent of keeping the Iran deal in place, this is something that Donald Trump just criticized
heavily during the campaign and has also suggested that --
QUEST: Right.
NOBLES: -- it may be time to tear the Iran deal up, that's just one example.
We know that they also had different opinions as it comes to North Korea but a lot of contrary, this comes down to personalities and there are
people that Donald Trump gets along with and people that he doesn't necessarily get along with.
Rex Tillerson and Mike Pompeo are the two best examples of that, for some reason Rex Tillerson and Donald Trump didn't get along --
QUEST: Right.
NOBLES: -- he's no longer the secretary of state.
He really likes Mike Pompeo and that's why he's going to take that job in the very near future.
QUEST: Good to see you Ryan. Thank you. Have a good weekend.
NOBLES: Thank you.
QUEST: It's Friday, just -- we've only got a few hours to go, Friday would've passed without a firing.
Stephen Moore was an economic advisor to the Trump campaign, joins me now. Wait, it's bizarre, come on Stephen, even with your friendship with the
President or having --
STEPHEN MOORE, CNN SENIOR ECONOMIC ANALYST: Right.
QUEST: -- worked for him and --
MOORE: Right.
QUEST: -- advised him, it's bizarre, his firings on a Friday.
MOORE: Well you know, I guess -- and this is the President who it was -- two favorite words are, "You're Fired," as we learned from his TV shows.
And you know, look, people say --
QUEST: Right.
MOORE: -- there's a lot of chaos and crisis in the White House, I mean this is the way he manages and you know, I work for him in business and so
I'm not that disturbed by it.
I'm -- as you know, Richard I'm very pleased by the fact that my buddy Larry Kudlow is now going to be the head economist at the White House, he's
a superb economist, he was in your line of business by the way, he was a -- he had his own TV show for you know, 10 years, explaining finance and
economics.
And so, I think he's got a very good team in place right now.
QUEST: OK so let's stick with economics. I want to -- I want to go back to what you and I were talking about earlier, along Quest --
MOORE: Yes.
QUEST: -- Express because --
MOORE: Right.
QUEST: -- we were talking about Bear Stearns which of course collapsed 10 years ago today. Now look, you were saying that the way around all of this
--
MOORE: Yes.
QUEST: -- is to go back to sound lending, 10, you know, 10 --
MOORE: Yes.
QUEST: -- percent, 20 percent deposits --
MOORE: Yes.
QUEST: -- before you can buy a home. Come on you've touched -- you've lost touch with reality when you -- bearing in mind Stephen --
MOORE: How so? No that's --
QUEST: -- the cost of an -- the cost of an apartment in New York or London or Paris.
MOORE: -- so let me -- let me take that up.
First of all, I did look at the data going back you know, in 2007 --
QUEST: Right.
MOORE: -- `8, `9 and it is very true I mean it's -- it's just -- it's clear as a bell that the low down-payment loans were the ones that were
foreclosed on. It's very few loans with the down payment of 10 percent or more were defaulted on and the reason for that is, people had skin in the
game.
Now think about this, if you --
QUEST: (INAUDIBLE).
MOORE: -- Richard, if you've got a let's say five percent down payment on your house and let's say falls by 10 percent in value you don't have any
equity in the house, right? In fact, your mortgages more expensive than the home is worth and so people were walking away.
And -- what I'm saying is, I don't think we do any favor to people to induce them to purchase a home that they can't afford and that's what
happened in 2007 and `8 and `9.
And then I want to make one other point because I was thinking about our conversation earlier today, you asked me a tough question, you said, "Are
we looking at 2007 and `8 again, another financial crisis," and I --
QUEST: Yes.
MOORE: -- was scratching my head and thinking about it. And I'll -- I'll tell you one thing that does worry me.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are back doing the 100 percent guarantees on those three percent mortgages and that makes me nervous because those are -
-
QUEST: All right --
MOORE: -- if you have a downturn in housing, people walk away.
QUEST: -- but surely the bigger danger and I don't know how you'd solve this, I don't have an answer but the bigger danger is the ability of Wall
Street, the city of London, or the financial industry to literally shoot themselves in their foot, through greed, by coming up with the most complex
derivatives and instruments that requires a PhD to realize that it is not going to blow you out the water.
MOORE: Yes. Look, that makes me uncomfortable too but as a point I made to you earlier today is those derivatives -- not -- you know, a lot of
those weren't the instruments that caused the crisis, it really was what was regarded as the safest investments and traditionally had been, which is
mortgages.
You know, Richard when you think about it, we had a big crash remembering the stock market in 1999 and 2000 with -- remember the Dotcom bubble
bursting and of course we had it again in 2007 and `8 with the housing --
QUEST: Right.
MOORE: -- bubble bursting, you just never know and I made this point you before, we always -- when we regulate the financial markets we always put
out the last fire and we're not looking ahead at what's coming, where is the overinvestment, where is the next bubble and if you know, that you'll -
- you'll probably be a multimillionaire.
[17:25:00]
QUEST: Look, if I knew that I would not be sitting here talking --
MOORE: Exactly. And I wouldn't either. Maybe you'd do it (ph)?
QUEST: That's it.
Good to see you. Thank you for today. Good to have you, my pleasure --
MOORE: You too. Have a great weekend.
QUEST: -- as always. And to you.
As we continue tonight, it's always nice on a Friday. Never mind (INAUDIBLE) Friday, it's nice on a Friday to be able to talk a little bit
more detail on these stories that we deal with every day.
As we continue, South Africa's ousted president Jacob Zuma has officially now been hit with corruption charges. We'll have more from Cape Town in a
moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) @0:46
QUEST: Well I'm Richard Quest. There is more QUEST MEANS BUSINESS in just a moment.
Jacob Zuma's past seems to catch up with him as he faces money-laundering charges.
The top executives are heading out the door at Nike, there have been talk of improper conduct.
As we continue tonight, it CNN and on this network the FACTS ALWAYS COME FIRST.
QUEST: British authorities have launched a murder investigation into this week's death of a Russian ex-pat in London. The police say the businessman
Nikolai Glushkov died from compression to the neck. Now we had links to other Russians who have died under mysterious circumstances in Britain.
Russia is calling Friday's comments by the British Foreign Secretary, "Shocking, unpardonable, diplomatic misconduct." Boris Johnson said, "The
Russian president himself likely ordered the poisoning of a former Russian spy in rural England." Sergei Skripal and his daughter are in hospital and
remain in critical condition.
The White House continues to damp down speculation that more staff will lose their jobs. The Press Secretary Sarah Sanders says there is no
immediate personnel changes at this time, however sources tell CNN, the National Security Advisor, H. R. McMaster is on the shortlist of aides the
president wants gone; it's just a matter of timing.
Israeli authorities are investigating a deadly attack on the West Bank. They say a Palestinian driver rammed his car into a group of soldiers as
they were securing routes around the settlement in the town of Jenin; two Israeli soldiers were killed, three others were wounded. The driver has
been detained.
An 18-year-old Iraqi asylum seeker has been convicted of attempted murder on the London underground, Ahmed Hassan left a homemade bomb on a packed
train in September, 30 people were injured when the bomb exploded [0:04:50].
QUEST: Hurricane Maria, may have swept across Puerto Rico's six months ago, there people are still dying as a result of that storms fury. CNN has
identified at least five deaths related to the hurricane since this year
[17:30:00]
began. Leyla Santiago reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LEYLA SANTIAGO, CNN MEXICO CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It couldn't be so difficult for Mariam Rodriguez seam this machine.
MARIAM RODRIGUEZ, HURRICANE VICTIM: That takes me back, it makes me so angry.
SANTIAGO: When this machine for sleep stopped working, her husband, 77- year-old Natalio(ph) stopped the breathing in the middle of the night in Montalvo, the southeastern part of the island.
RODRIGUEZ: So he started to shake, and I saw him and I got on the floor and I couldn't do nothing to help him. That's why I say that, if we had a
electricity, no more electricity at that time, he could be alive. It pains me, he could be alive.
SANTIAGO: She blames Hurricane Maria for wiping out the island's power. At least, a 120,000 customers still don't have power nearly six months
later. The night her husband died, months after the storm, Mariam says their generator run out of gas, living their home without power for the
machine her husband needed to breathe.
Natalio's(ph) grave is one of many this year, Cnn has identified at least five deaths from 2018, identified by families, doctors or funeral homes as
related to Hurricane Maria.
Among them, Valio Salina Santiago(ph), his family tells us he died of a heart attack in the parking lot of Monawo's(ph) Clinic, waiting for the
clinic to open. The mayor says after Maria, the town can't afford to run the once 24-hour service.
Harming Rodriguez Martinez, her family tells us she died because she didn't have power for the machine she depended on for oxygen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING SPANISH) --
SANTIAGO: Dr. Altoro Torres(ph) listed Hurricane Maria as a contributing factor on her death certificate.
(on-camera): Is Maria still killing people?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I'm sure that my case is not an isolated case. Since there's no electrical power in many places that would accelerate the
end of the life in that being, that person.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING SPANISH) --
SANTIAGO (voice-over): Cemetery workers tell us the number of deaths have doubled since the storm pointing to dozens of graves they believe are
related. Graves that cemetery workers tell us will not be getting a head stone anytime soon because families can't afford them after Maria.
Natalio's(ph) family paid $4,000 for his funeral, still owes a $1,000. To qualify for assistance from the federal emergency management agency, the
death must be certified as Hurricane-related.
But Puerto Rico's list of certified deaths hasn't changed since early December. The official death toll stands at 64, even though the
government's own death statistics in 2017 showing increase of at least a thousand more deaths after Hurricane Maria compared to the previous two
years.
The Puerto Rican government has now ordered a review of deaths since Maria.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING SPANISH) --
SANTIAGO: Dr. Torres(ph) says the elderly and those with complicated health conditions are too vulnerable to resist the challenges brought on by
Maria.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING SPANISH) --
SANTIAGO: So just last week, just last week they had a death. Do you think you have to right Maria again on a death certificate?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't describe it, in my opinion, yes.
SANTIAGO: As hard to hear, is it hard to say?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's hard to say, yes.
SANTIAGO: Even harder to accept. But six months later --
RODRIGUEZ: It wasn't a normal death, that wasn't.
SANTIAGO: Maria is still destroying lives. Leyla Santiago, Cnn, Puerto Rico.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: We'll have more, it's QUEST MEANS BUSINESS on a Friday after the break.
[17:35:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: South Africa's former President Jacob Zuma is to be charged with 16 counts of corruption and money laundering. It follows months after he
resigned as president. Eleni Giokos is in Cape Town for us tonight.
These are historical allegations concerning arms deals back in the 1990s --
ELENI GIOKOS, CNN AFRICA CORRESPONDENT: Yes --
QUEST: Was he in that (INAUDIBLE) then?
GIOKOS: I mean, this is what is so fascinating about it. We know that Jacob Zuma has been protected during his presidency, you know, over the
last eight years or so.
And these original charges were dropped in 2009, Richard, just before he became president. Handing over the presidency for such a long time and
assigning the national prosecuting authority, coming in and saying, there's enough evidence, there's enough of a case to prosecute Jacob Zuma.
Remember, this is a guy that we called the teflon president, surviving numerous new corruption scandals swirling around him again for such a long
time.
And this isn't the only thing that he's going to face down the line. You know, an investigation into the so-called state capture and the capture of
Jacob Zuma is also currently underway, and it seems that this could be the nail in the coffin for him, Richard.
QUEST: OK, if convicted, one assumes, there will be a serious -- I mean, honestly, it's a big hit. There will be a serious time of imprisonment.
GIOKOS: Yes, exactly, I mean, this is what everyone has been saying that, you know, Jacob Zuma getting his day in court and getting his time in jail.
But we're also talking about a man that has been so good at delay tactics and getting his defense team, you know, ready to fight as much as possible
and delaying as much as possible so that it just carries on for, you know, two to --
QUEST: All right --
GIOKOS: Three to four to five years. But he's going to have money to do that.
QUEST: OK, now, let's look. The reaction in South Africa to this, and there was --
GIOKOS: Yes --
QUEST: And there was jubilation when he finally resigned and Cyril Ramaphosa took over. And --
GIOKOS: Yes --
QUEST: But you know, I guess is there an element of sharp fraudster that is now going to be prosecuted, or will there be an ANC hardcore that says
no.
GIOKOS: Yes, I mean, look, the ANC also doesn't want to look weak. And it's stuck between a hard -- a rock and a hard place. Because at the end
of the day, the ANC does have this black market against it because it allows Jacob Zuma to get away with so much for such a long time.
At the other end, it's got to bring credibility back to the judiciary, and that's going to be just as important. With Jacob Zuma, has to pay for what
he did and a lot of money has been lost in the process, Richard.
I mean, just his defense, just defending Zuma within the presidency has cost South Africa around $2 million, and many say it could be, you know,
just double that --
QUEST: Right --
GIOKOS: So lots of positive reaction and people on the ground are hoping to see the man behind bars.
QUEST: Pravin Gordhan was on the program earlier in the week, and we were talking --
GIOKOS: Yes --
QUEST: About a minister, and he was saying how difficult it's going to be dealing with the state --
GIOKOS: Yes --
QUEST: Capture. But is there a feeling that even though Ramaphosa was the number two, and Zuma, that -- this government is determined to clean up a
mess that maybe they --
GIOKOS: Yes --
QUEST: Should have not let happen in the first place. But at least, they're getting on doing something about it --
GIOKOS: Yes, but you got a new different time, you've got Cyril Ramaphosa, you know, speaking -- you know, talking this whole -- saying that he's
going to clean up, but it's something we've heard before.
[17:40:00] But remember, Richard, the people at the top within the important ministerial positions of people we've known before, we've seen
them before. We're hoping that this is going to be a new dawn like the president says, a new ANC fighting corruption and it's got to be -- you
know, we've got to see the proof.
State capture, they've got to be results and consequences. You know, you spoke to Pravin Gordhan after -- you know, during that interview, I spoke
to him afterwards and he said, Eleni, it's going to be really tough because we've got to get rid of people as well as finding where the money has gone
and bringing it back to the country.
So it's going to be a tough task, Richard, and everyone is watching, and it's not going to be easy and it's not going to happen quickly.
QUEST: Got it, Eleni, have a good weekend, thank you very much indeed.
GIOKOS: Yes.
QUEST: European markets, now take a look at the European markets with a strange start to the day in Frankfurt. Well, there were technical problems
and the trading was delayed.
The big mover of the day was next group, once known as ICAP, its shares were up 30 percent after it got a takeover offer from CME Group. Markets
have closed the week on something of a high.
Take a look and you'll see exactly how this market is closed. Strong impression, except that it don't quite show up until blip was right about
9:30 this morning. But we won't waste no time too long enough.
Just look at that, it's a bit like the ounce, the way it did trade, now the day still manages to put on 72 points. It did go through 25,000 out once,
it was around 130 odd points, a third of a point, we'll take that.
Over the week as a whole, down 1.5 percent. Caterpillar was one of the biggest gainers, it's cutting 900 jobs in the United States and in Central
America. Caterpillar was of course, also concerned there by the steel tariffs coming into the United States.
The Nasdaq demand was sky high, and the first big tech IPO of the year. It's a cyber security company, it's called the Zscaler, and it rose 106
percent on its market debut.
Now, I asked the company's chief executive, whether the enormous jump basically when a share price rises that much, you misprice the stock.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAY CHAUDHRY, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, ZSCALER: The thing with all that wise and data we had, we made the call and I think it was a good call, and
I think the results really matter in the long run.
And I believe that if we keep on delivering value, keep on solving (INAUDIBLE) problems, everything will work in the long run. So it's a one
day focus, it's not really what you're looking at.
QUEST: All right, let's talk about the business you are in. Everybody agrees cyber security is the number one issue that really should be on the
minds of not just the CIO and the CTO, but also the CEO. How --
CHAUDHRY: Yes --
QUEST: Woefully unprepared are we from major cyber attacks?
CHAUDHRY: I think for you fairly unprepared, I knew you'll say that because lots of these companies are getting hacked quite often. And what
has happened is a cloud and mobility are driving business to move applications to the cloud and use it as I work at home every day.
Because they're mobile, they're more productive, but security is stuck in the data center, and the lots of security companies, but they all sell old
school technology that sits in the data center, trying to protect the data center which is no longer the center of the universe.
That's why I started Zscaler to solve the security problem whereby security must move the cloud, and it should be purpose built and that's what we did.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: As we continue tonight, two executives, top executives of Nike leave within 24 hours, and it's to do with improper conduct, but what has
gone on? We need to discover after the break.
[17:45:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Two Nike top executives left the company amid complaints about inappropriate behavior. And Vice President Jayme Martin was forced out on
Friday 24 hours after Nike's president left for the same reasons.
Ahiza Garcia joins me from New York. I mean, one has to start with the basics here. What did they -- what did they do? What's the allegation
here?
AHIZA GARCIA, SPORTS BUSINESS REPORTER, CNNMONEY: It's very unclear at the moment. All Nike is saying is that there were work place issues and work
place conduct was not to the standard of Nike's code of conduct.
They have come out and denied that any allegations were brought against Trevor Edwards. For Jayme Martin, they're saying they cannot comment. So
it's -- at this moment, it's very unclear. But it does seem that Nike is really trying to clean house on this.
QUEST: Right, so, well, it sounds to me like one may have gone for behavior and the other has gone for the way it was handled or something
like that. I mean, which way -- you help me understand what's going on there.
GARCIA: Right, so Richard, so Trevor Edwards was the president, and --
QUEST: Right --
GARCIA: And Jayme Martin worked below him. So what -- that scenario that you're laying out could make a lot of sense. And if you look at the fact
that Trevor Edwards has not -- he immediately resigned from his position as president of Nike brands.
But he's still staying on with the company until August, he will work under -- as an adviser to Nike CEO Mark Parker. So as we've seen with a lot of
these -- you know, these new cases within the Me Too Movement, when allegations are brought, it seems to follow that the person -- the violator
whoever has --
QUEST: Right --
GARCIA: Done this, who has committed this is immediately released. And so that kind of follows with what we're seeing with Jayme Edwards.
QUEST: And where does it leave Nike in terms of succession or at least upper management, direct to management, when you have the president who is
basically going in August.
GARCIA: Right, and he was supposed to be -- he was kind of been groomed as the new CEO or the next CEO after Parker. Parker said in that same
announcement, where they said that Trevor Edwards was going to be stepping down or stepping away.
And they said that Mark Parker will stay on through 2020. So it seems to me that as far as Nike is concerned, in terms of the succession of
management, they have a plan, right?
Mark Parker is just going to stay in place. And it seems like they're just going to clean house, and anyone below who, you know, wasn't kind of being
up to Nike's total conduct is going to be out.
QUEST: How far has the sports world been hit by Me Too? In the sense, we know what's happened in the media world, we know what's happened in the
entertainment world, and to a certain extent we've seen it within the political world.
GARCIA: Right, so the sports world has been a little more insulated, and I hate to say that, but it just kind of is. If you will look at some of the
bigger names that have had accusations, they haven't been recent.
So if you look at some of the -- you know, Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger thinks like players like him who had these allegations in
the past, and then seem to kind of right their wrongs, and it seems that they've been insulated, right?
The Me Too Movement seems to be something that's like not hit the sports world with the same retroactive punishment that it has the rest of the
political Hollywood --
QUEST: Yes --
GARCIA: Media world.
QUEST: Good to see you, have a good weekend, thank you very much. Now --
GARCIA: Thank you --
QUEST: Some $800 million has been wiped from Snapchat's mark while get capitalization. And it's all because an offensive ad appeared on the
platform. Now the ad was for an app for a game, would you rather, and it's really simple. Would you rather slap Rihanna or punch Chris Brown?
[17:50:00] It's distasteful even in its rawer sense, but want you to remember that in 2009, Brown pleaded guilty to beating Rihanna, you start
it, you start to really understand how deeply grotesque this actually is.
Snap apologized and said it is investigating. However, Rihanna is not accepting that apology and saying, "I'd love to call it ignorance, but I
know you ain't that dumb. You spend money to animate something that would intentionally bring shame to domestic violence victims and made a joke of
it."
Not the first celebrity to dent Snap's value. Remember, Kylie Jenner says does anyone else not open Snapchat anymore or was it just me? In this case,
the -- this is so sad.
It costs Snapchat $1.3 billion in market cap. This one is about 800 million in it. Joining me from San Francisco is Kurt Wagner; Recode's
senior editor for social media.
This is a fascinating one because you know, one question is, were Snapchat's culpability is, bearing in mind, they are merely the
distribution channel if you like. They didn't -- they didn't create the ad, they're not the creators of the ad, but they're culpable because they
allowed it onto their site.
KURT WAGNER, SENIOR EDITOR FOR SOCIAL MEDIA, RECODE: Yes, that's exactly right, and Rihanna was a little bit confused in her statements, saying, you
-- you know, went out of your way to create this graphic.
Snap didn't create it, the advertiser did and they purchased ad space on Snapchat and put that ad on there. So there's little confusion around who
actually created the ad.
At the same time, a human moderator actually looked at this ad and said this is OK to appear on Snapchat, Snap uses human beings to redo all of the
ads created because on the app -- except for a small group of advertisers that they pre-approve.
So a human did say this was allowed, that's why Snap had to apologize, but it wasn't Snap's ad, they just simply run the ad.
QUEST: Now, the whole programmatic way in which apps do automatically punch relevant apps to an algorithm of known interest from users. Is it
possible, bearing in mind the size and scale that you can ever get -- the sort of it here like -- just take a network like Cnn where it has -- or any
television network, you don't have that many commercials.
Therefore somebody can look at them and truly dissect them. You can't do that online within the greater numbers involved.
WAGNER: Yes, and that's been an issue for both Facebook and YouTube most recently, you know, it's called ad adjacency, right? If I'm a brand --
QUEST: Yes --
WAGNER: Where's my ad going to appear, so it's not just, is Facebook going to run a crummy ad? But is Facebook going to run a good ad that runs next
to crummy content, right, with YouTube.
You know, someone's ad was appearing for example in front of before an ISIS video, right? So if you're a marketer, the last thing you want is for your
ad to be last thing someone sees right before they see an ISIS recruiting video.
So there's this issue right now when all of this automated, that it's really hard to -- you know, monitor all the ad content and where it's going
to be in real time for everybody on the internet.
They can do it, you know, pretty well for some folks --
QUEST: All right, so --
WAGNER: But it's not everyone.
QUEST: Let's be clear here. The blame in this Rihanna story rests with the creative who came up with it and who thought this was a good idea. The
tangent(ph) if you like, tertiary blame goes to Snapchat only.
WAGNER: I think that's right. Whoever created the ad, obviously poor choice, Snap gets a slap on the wrist because they should have known better
than to allow this to run on the platform.
But I think that you are -- I think that you said it clearly right there.
QUEST: Good to see sir, thank you, have a good weekend.
WAGNER: Thank you, Richard, take care.
QUEST: Right, now, you're all familiar with the bulldog that died because it was put into the overhead compartment on the United Airlines flight from
Houston to New York.
And then there were the two dogs that got mixed up on United, one went to Tokyo and the other went to Denver when they should have gone in the
opposite directions.
But now for the second time this week, a dog flying on the United Airlines plane has been sent to the wrong destination. OK, so the dog was meant to
fly from Newark to Akron, Ohio, and instead was put on a flight to Saint Louis, Missouri instead.
The flight was diverted to Akron, all the passengers were offered compensation and the dog made it home safely. And it all follows an
instance where the Great Dane which was meant to go to Kansas City was accidentally sent to Japan, and of course the bulldog that died.
[17:55:00] Continues to raise the question, does United Airlines have systemic problems, not just with dogs, but obviously with certain -- with
passengers as well. And one of the reasons why the Department of Transport of the United States says it is now investigating what happened with the
various issues.
We'll have a profitable moment after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Tonight's profitable moment. The European Union's list of potential items to be tariffed against United States is truly remarkable.
A digital flight data recorders, fully automatic household or laundry type from clothing, washing machines.
And how about this one, electrical machines and apparatus, I think individual functions. And absolutely no idea what that means. But I do
know what orange juice, Long Grain Rice, Tennessee Whiskey Jack Daniels would mean.
We are just a week away from the tariffs from the United States coming into effect. And by publishing this list which is strategic in nature, but
somehow random in content -- well, we know that the European Union is sending out a very sharp message.
The problem is whether anybody in Washington is listening. Make no bones about it, yes, we all still someway offer trade war, and there those people
that think it will never happen.
But we're not that far off, because all it will take is these tariffs to come in without exemptions, untargeted, broad range and then bang, this
will come in.
And the president who doesn't like to be questioned will then go for the next round and tit-for-tat becomes a full trade scale trade war. Make no
bones about it, it still put up.
And that's QUEST MEANS BUSINESS for tonight, I am Richard Quest in London, I'm off in next week, whatever you're up to in the week ahead, I hope it's
profitable, I'll see you when I get back, have a good day.
END
