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Quest Means Business
The Upcoming G7 Summit Becomes A Global Showdown On Trade; Shares In Facebook Were Dragged Lower By Further Concerns Over Privacy; Shares In The Electric Car Maker Rocketed Nearly 10 Percent Today After Musk Said It Will Finally Meet With Production Goals Despite Recent Setbacks; Flyer is Kittyhawk's First Commercial Vehicle; Trump Set to Meet Macron, Trudeau at G7; Trump Commutates Sentence of Alice Marie Johnson After Kardashian Meeting; Stormy Daniels Sues Ex-Attorney and Cohen for Alleged Cover-Up; Fire Rips Through Newly Renovated Mandarin Hotel in London; Seventy-Five Dead, Almost 200 Missing After Guatemala Volcano Eruption; Trade Dispute Deepens Ahead of G7 Summit; Macron Frustrated with Trump Ahead of Summit; Brazil Recovering From Trucker Strike; Uber for Freight Grows in Brazil; Avianca Expanding Across Latin America; Meditation App Hopes to Treat Chronic Diseases. Aired: 4-5p ET
Aired June 06, 2018 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I really didn't think they could do it, but there you go with a very healthy rally. It's Wednesday, June 6th.
Tonight, as Trump takes on the world, again. The upcoming G7 Summit becomes a global showdown on trade.
Tesla stocks goes into euphoric mode. The rationale is delivered, we don't know as Elon Musk tries to calm investors, and we're getting into the right
head space here on "Quest Means Business" how meditation, seriously has the power to make us all well.
I am Paula Newton in for Richard Quest, live from the world's financial capital in New York City. This is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.
OK, so the world's leading economies starting off with G8, yes, then Russia was kicked out, so we were left, with yes, G7. Now, there is talk of this
meeting becoming, well, let's call it -- let's see, the G6 plus 1. The Finance Ministers already called it that on the weekend. That's because
the U.S. is taking on the world, there's another though, wait, how about G1 plus 6 meeting in Quebec this Friday, as President Trump takes on all
commerce. I am not kidding, whichever way you slice it, frustrations are beginning to spill over between Donald Trump and his G7 peers as U.S.
tariffs threaten to overshadow this weekend's summit.
Now sources tells CNN that President Trump and Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau clashed on the phone last month over the tariffs on Canada's
steel and aluminum. Now, things deteriorated into President Trump invoking the war of 1812, which just by the way, a historical note, Canada had
nothing with because Canada did not exist at the time.
Look, this was supposed to be a joke. But the two leaders will now hold a bilateral meeting as this G7 this weekend, where every single nation in
that group, technically is subject to U.S. tariffs.
Now, the E.U. countries are trying to fight back. Today, the Commission endorsed new tariffs. French President Emmanuel Macron is also due though
to meet Minister (sic) Trump at the G7, while Trump's economic chief says the President is just trying to fix a broken trade system, that's all.
Larry Kudlow says this will all blow over.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY KUDLOW, DIRECTOR OF THE NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL: We are talking everything through. There may be disagreements. I regard this as much
like a family quarrel. I am always the optimist. I believe it can be worked out, but you know, I am always hopeful on that point. This is a G7
meeting and the Presidents and heads of state will get together.
Let me add one though to that though. The President -- President Trump is very clear with respect to his trade reform efforts that we will do what is
necessary to protect the United States, its businesses and its workforce. So that we may have disagreements, we may have tactical disagreements, but
he has always said and I agree tariffs are a tool in that effort and people should recognize how serious he is in that respect.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: All the allies appear to be serious as well. Joining me now, our Chief Political Correspondent, Dana Bash and Melissa Bell is in Paris.
Melissa, we are going to start with you. Emmanuel Macron is already on the ground in Canada, basically trying to huddle with Justin Trudeau to think
how -- what can we possibly do to Donald Trump to convince him not to blow up the entire world trading establishment?
MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think that's right, Paula. We have seen over the course of the last year in that relationship between Donald
Trump and Emmanuel Macron. So many issues that might have brought what appeared to be a blossoming bromance to an end, but it appears, Paula to
have been the trade tariffs that really did it for the French President.
And I think therefore, what you are going to see over the next two days is more of Emmanuel Macron siding with the others as they seek to find
solutions.
NEWTON: And the solutions that are on the table, I mean, Melissa, I am told that look, no one is expecting any kind of breakthroughs, but Emmanuel
Macron has been called the Trump whisperer. If anyone believes that at all, they had a testy phone call of their own in between that, but do you
think he does have any strategy up his sleeve, anything that he can possibly to make sure that those E.U. allies -- Japan, U.S., Canada --
actually trying to come to some agreement?
BELL: We do. Emmanuel Macron has really been putting himself aside from all the other members of the G7 by his courting of Donald Trump. It was a
real strategy, Paula. They aim was to try and get him talking.
Have a look back over this last year of a friendship that really hasn't ended up the way Emmanuel Macron might have hoped.
NEWTON: Indeed, Melissa. Thank you very much as we await to see if Emmanuel Macron can get anything done while he is in Canada. Dana, thanks
so much for joining us. You've been watching all of these --
[16:05:16]
NEWTON: -- headlines. Politically, does the President still think, "Look, this is a winning game. I could win at this."
DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: I think yes, but the question is what exactly is the game? Because he is going full bore right
now. At the beginning, when he was making these arguments or these sort of committee rattling his trade favor on the idea of having these tariffs,
there was a lot -- even we heard from people like Larry Kudlow and others in the White House privately and publicly really saying, this is how he
operates. This is how he always negotiated as a businessman. He gets people on the other side of the negotiating table really scared so that
they can come to the middle and find some kind of agreement.
That is moved -- it has moved beyond that in a big way, I mean because you have the actual tariffs in place. You have the actual retaliation from
Mexico, from Canada late last week, and so he is still hoping -- there is no question that he can charm these countries, charm the allies into seeing
it his way because that seemed to work for him a lot of times in business.
This is a whole different ball game, and it is really the test of what we saw from him and of him on the campaign trail about saying he was a deal
maker about whether this can be something that he can see through.
Because it is very dangerous. He has a very good economy in the U.S. right now. The Republicans who are running on ballots in the midterm elections
here in the U.S. have a very good economy to run on and there is a lot of concern, rightly so, that these tariffs will completely explode that.
NEWTON: And what I am having trouble seeing is how politically anybody is going to straddle this because when we talk about trade, I mean, let's face
it, Donald Trump has some allies in the Democratic side, Bernie Sanders, chief among them on this trade issue. You've got diverse governors like
Republican Scott Walker in Wisconsin and here in New York City, Andrew Cuomo, also yelling at countries like Canada and Mexico.
But look, this isn't fair trade. When it comes down to politics, will he think that it is better to do the deal or to wait to do the deal?
BASH: It's such a good question because there are such strange bedfellows here. I mean, he has the support of unions in America that traditionally -
- certainly, the membership of these unions which traditionally supported Democrats because of this policy position, and that was during the
campaign, and it's even more true now.
I mean, a lot of the steel workers for example in the rustbelt in Pennsylvania where he won for the first time in a generation as a
Republican were saying, "What are you doing? Enough already. Let's get with it." It was already a year and a half into his Presidency, now he has
done it.
So, for them, it's promise kept. For others who are his base in soybean producing Iowa in -- obviously in bourbon producing Kentucky, it's a
different story and it is a very hard thing to straddle.
So, I am not sure there is really an answer to your question yet, and to be honest, I don't know that he knows the answer to the question about what
the politics -- the right politics are here. He is going with his gut, that's pretty obvious.
NEWTON: Yes, and pretty important to remind the viewers that Larry Kudlow, the person who is going to be at the table with him was a free trader
before all of these started to happen. Just to go back to you for a second, Melissa. You know, one thing Dana was talking about was the fact
that, look, you can really get burned playing this game. I can tell you from Canada's perspective and Mexico, they are saying they are just getting
started if the President wants to escalate this, they will.
What about the view from Europe especially given the fact that the view is a little bit more precarious, especially when you have the UK awaiting
Brexit.
BELL: Absolutely, Paula, and this is something the European Union has been preparing for, an answer to these tariffs. Of course, for the time being,
they have been waiting to see, there have been these exemptions. It has happened a couple of months in a row, but now that they have been properly
introduced now that Emmanuel Macron has essentially been let down in his strategy, the rest of Europe is very keen to begin the sort of trade war
that it had been warning against, but around which it can't simply see no way at this stage, and this is something that has been being prepared for a
while.
I think that in a sense, what Emmanuel Macron has done over the course of the last year is really to test the theory that there could be compromise,
that there could be dialogue, that there could be negotiation and some hope for the future of multilateralism with the United States within those
talks.
I think what the last year has shown, Paula is that for all the goodwill on the French President's side, all of his hopefulness, all of his courage and
political investment really in this, there is really very little that can be done.
I think that's the conclusion that Europe has come to, watching this particular experiment over the course of the last year.
[16:10:12]
BASH: And she just used the world multilateralism, that's really key here because if President Trump has a win in his view, it's maybe dismantling
what is out there now in terms of multilateralism.
NEWTON: So many people are convinced with him that it doesn't work.
BASH: Exactly. And having bilateral deals, trade deals with Canada, with Mexico, with the European allies, and the question is, whether or not he is
going to have willing partners on the other side of that table given where things are right now.
It's a very, very big risk and it's unclear what the answer is, whether they are going to be willing or not.
NEWTON: It's going to be an interesting weekend. I am hopeful that the weather will at least be good. Dana Bash, our chief political
correspondent, so good to see you here on set and to our Melissa Bell as always there, live from Paris, appreciated.
Now, you heard Dana talking so much about the politics that play here. Well get this one, members of Donald Trump's own party are trying to put
the brakes on the tariff plans. The President has just met with senators, some of whom want to give Congress the final say, yes, you can say that's
contentious.
Mr. Trump already made it clear, he is not happy with that. CNN's Lauren Fox is on Capitol Hill. Lauren, I am sure you heard some of that political
discussion we were just into, I mean, everyone is saying that, "Look, Congress really doesn't have the power." It just still stays with the
President, who is going to win on this one? The President is adamant that he is the one who has the power to enforce tariffs if he wants to.
LAUREN FOX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that is the debate up here on Capitol Hill as we speak. Republicans are divided on this. I think a lot of
Republicans disagree with the President's actions last week on tariffs, but the question now is, what do they do about it? Do they take legislative
action and that is what a group of Republican senators and some Democrats are hoping to do, but Senator Bob Corker, the Republican from Tennessee who
is leading this effort has already heard from the White House, President Donald Trump called him this morning and Corker my colleague, Manu Raju and
I that he had a lengthy discussion with the President this morning and that the President was not pleased with the direction that he was taking it.
But that didn't stop Corker and a group of bipartisan senators from introducing legislation just a few minutes ago to curtail the President's
actions on tariffs. They want Congress to have a say, but the question is whether or not GOP leaders are going to be okay with that because it's an
election year, and the question is whether or not you want to defy President Donald Trump just a few months before those midterms, and I think
that's what Republican leaders are trying to weigh right now.
Do they listen to some of their Republican colleagues so they might agree with when it comes to ideology or do they support the President who they
need out on the campaign trail? So, those are some of the political push and pulls right now.
NEWTON: Yes, I would think, Lauren that even they in fact have some doubts as to what will play better on the campaign trail and of course, that's
what we have to wait to see. Lauren Fox there from Congress. You are not Lauryn Hill, we will not ask you to sing tonight, but I am sure, maybe even
that would go well.
FOX: I think, but I am not that good of a singer either.
NEWTON: You never know, you could be soprano, we just don't know, Lauren. Apologies for that. It is Lauren Fox that is there for us in Congress,
appreciate it.
FOX: No worries.
NEWTON: Thanks so much.
FOX: Thank you.
NEWTON: Now, the European Union so wants to be able to do business with Iran. It is asking the U.S. for exemptions from the new sanctions against
Tehran. Our John Defterios says the E.U. though faces quite an uphill struggle.
(START VIDEO TAPE)
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: This is a tough sell, but as the three finance ministers from Germany, France and the UK plus the E.U.
policy chief saying it's a matter of national security, and why they would like not to have the secondary sanctions apply to their companies.
But who is the real target here? Is it Washington with those message or perhaps, Tehran because we have had the senior leadership complaining of
reciprocity, the fact they have no practical guarantees on the ground at this stage for European companies to move in. That's been the reality on
the ground, and if you go back to Mike Pompeo, the U.S. Secretary of State, when he revealed his 12-point plan, he was making it very clear they are
going to time the sanctions, we heard the same from the U.S. Undersecretary of the Treasury just yesterday saying we are watching all international
companies very carefully.
And in this climate, Paula, at the same time that the U.S. is putting tariffs on their European companies because of bilateral relations, I see -
- it's very difficult to see them getting relief on compensation as well on secondary sanctions in Iran.
NEWTON: And you know what seems to be the problem here, too, John, I mean, how is the E.U. industry reacting so far? They are incredibly skittish
because at the end of the day, they don't even trust their own governments because they fear U.S. prosecution on these issues.
DEFTERIOS: Yes, it's a great point and in fact, the last hour, we heard from the European Investment Bank which is a quasi-government private
sector organization said that we cannot ignore the sanctions and we have to look at the track record over the last month or so, what we heard, Total is
the best case study, the CEO, Patrick Pouyanne said they have 20 percent of their revenues coming from the United States, the same thing for Siemens,
Joe Kaeser suggesting they could not ignore the sanctions and even Peugeot, in the last 48 hours saying it is going to start unwinding --
[00:05:16]
DEFTERIOS: -- its joint ventures in the Iranian market as well. So, unless the Europeans go for medium-sized companies that have no exposure to
the United States, you hear the big players in Germany and France and the UK saying, "There is too much risk for us to go into Iran."
(END VIDEO TAPE)
NEWTON: And that was John Defterios a few hours ago when I interviewed him from the stock exchange, from that stock exchange, we observed quite a
rally not so in Europe, although European markets were mostly higher. Officials from the European Central Banks say they will discuss winding
down the stimulus program of bond buying next week. Now, the announcement sent the euro higher against the dollar, investors also continue to keep a
close eye of course on that political uncertainty that continues to hit Italy.
Now, let's put a very fine point on it, if you use Facebook, your data could be somewhere in China. The social network is hit by yet another
scandal over use of privacy and for years, we have been asking, where is that flying car we all saw on "The Jetson's." Well, a company called
Kittyhawk has an answer and CNN gets an exclusive ride, can't wait.
Look at it, all green and the Dow over 25,000 again and then some, you know, all three markets -- major markets closed higher, green lights as you
could see there across the board at the "Quest Means Business" trading post. A rise in bond yields pushed bank stocks higher, a rally in tech
stocks pushed the NASDAQ t o a new high and then we will have more on Facebook and Tesla in a moment.
But first, you guessed it, we need to update that count. That makes three in a row for the NASDAQ, I will see if I can do a better job than
yesterday, 18 it is for the NASDAQ. You know, and that's top of cycle. That means that believe or not, me talking to the traders on the floor
today, they were still saying, there is still more upside potential for tech.
Now, in the meantime, maybe not for Facebook, shares in Facebook were dragged lower by further concerns over privacy. Now, the social network
says it gave information to four Chinese phone makers include Huawei. The U.S. government has warned the company poses a threat to national security.
Our Dylan Byers is following this story. You know, Dylan, you've been following this pretty well. It has been interesting to hear from you that
Facebook really blew it, that they had to really tell the whole story and they did. This just dribbled out all week.
DYLAN BYERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, and look, there is a maxim in crisis management which says, "Tell the truth, tell it all, tell it early, and
tell it yourself." What's happened instead is that Facebook only ever comes forward to acknowledge problems or address problems once those
problems have been reported in the media.
Now, things obviously hit ahead with data privacy around the Cambridge Analytica scandal that it got to the point that it felt like Facebook
really was coming clean. They were saying, "Look, we've put a stop to the data sharing practices that we had with third parties. We are not doing
that anymore."
[16:20:16]
BYERS: "We shut that down years ago. We are moving on to a new era." Then lo and behold, the "New York Times" reports earlier this week that
Facebook has data sharing with device makers ranging from Apple to Blackberry to Amazon and now, we know that some of those device makers are
also in China including Huawei which is as you said has been identified as a security threat by U.S. officials.
So, look Facebook, they will say in their defense, "Look, this was an industry standard. There is nothing to see here." At the end of the day,
if they wanted to tell the story, they should have told this story first and the fact that they are not is inviting further scrutiny from lawmakers
and from the public.
NEWTON: And that's the key point. It's two things. The stock is down, but there is still really no evidence to see if people are using Facebook
less or if they have fewer users, putting that to one side.
How afraid should Facebook now be of regulation? I mean, we had a few senators including Marco Rubio saying, "China? Really?"
BYERS: Well, look, there are a few things here on Facebook's side both in terms of regulation and in terms of users. In terms of regulation, just to
be blunt, Congress is pretty inept at getting regulation through. I mean, they are just not organized to do it, it's not a top priority for them.
They certainly love, sort of you know, attacking Facebook on Twitter, on a case by case basis, but actually, mobilizing Congress to get serious about
curbing Facebook's ability to share user data is really not something that even the senators I talk to think is going to happen in the near future.
And then, in terms of users, look, in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, Facebook reported an additional 70 million users around the world
and is now well north of two billion users globally. You know, I think what the last six months of this sort of trust prices, data privacy scandal
has taught us is that really, Facebook users are willing to overlook those things.
So, the upshot of this, hopefully, is that Facebook and other tech companies get better, get more responsible, get more transparent, but is
this ultimately going to hurt Facebook, get Facebook in the long run? I truly don't think so.
NEWTON: Yes, interesting conversation there, Dylan. Especially in light of the fact that Microsoft offering this advice this week, they had already
been through all of these, the antitrust and the problems with Congress. Such a good point though, effectively what can they really do. Dylan, we
will continue to follow the story because I am sure there will be more. Appreciate it.
Now, in the meantime, Tesla CEO, Elon Musk has fought over rebellion -- fought off pardon me, a rebellion at the company's latest shareholder
meeting. Look at this, shares in the electric car maker rocketed nearly 10 percent today after Musk said it will finally meet with production goals
despite recent setbacks.
Our Clare Sebastian joins me. She is incredulous as I am. OK, 10 percent the stock is nearly up 10 percent only because he said he would get to
5,000 per month on --
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right, and we saw in after hours trading, as this meeting was going on, the minute he said that they are
going close to that target for the Tesla Model 3 that's when you started to see the shares get to the top, but I didn't even expect that to be this
much.
But having said that Paula, I was listening to their shareholder meeting, and investors have written out a Christmas list of everything they want
from Elon Musk. It probably would have been roughly the same as what they got. He's close to the model three targets. He says they are not going to
happen to raise debt or equity, this is something that we will be very worried about particularly as the Model 3 has been seeing these problems.
He said that they are going to be cashbook positive in Q3 and Q4 and they are teasing a very close announcement of a giga factory in China which was
not only the world's biggest market for electric vehicles, but localizing production like that will help them avoid higher costs like tariffs.
NEWTON: All right, we will wait to see. you will continue to follow this story. Clare will be there because those numbers are now on the record and
we will see --
SEBASTIAN: If he is going to meet those targets.
NEWTON: Good to see you, Clare, thank you. Appreciate it. Now, that's what was -- this is what was promised. Have a listen here, promised to me
personally on 'The Jetson's" and then after, in the 1980's take a listen.
George Jetson's flying car, my gosh, I love this. A company called Kittyhawk wants to make it real. See CNN's Rachel Crane got a ride.
Rachel, come on, what was that like? I mean, really?
RACHEL CRANE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Paula, I have to say, I have been a huge "Jetson's" fan since I was a child, so when I learned that I was
getting a first look at Kittyhawk's flyer, I mean, I was equal parts exhilarated, but also, I mean, let's be honest, I was pretty terrified, but
I have to say, once I took to the skies, my nerves disappeared and it was so incredibly simple. That's what really blew me away. Take a look at my
wild ride.
(START VIDEO TAPE)
CRANE: OK, this was definitely one of the crazier experiences of my career. But what is this thing and why am I flying it?
[16:25:16]
CRANE: I am at a secret facility in Lake Las Vegas, the training center for company, Kittyhawk.
SEBASTIAN THRUN, CEO, KITTYHAWK: The mission of Kittyhawk is to get everybody to fly every day, eventually to get rid of traffic.
CRANE: That's Kittyhawk's CEO, Sebastian Thrun, and what he is basically describing as making "The Jetson's" flying cars a reality.
THRUN: Now, it's a long step from Flyer to that, honestly. This is a recreational vehicle, but in the far distant future, I can see that maybe,
we take something similar like this and fly into New York and Manhattan.
CRANE: Flyer is Kittyhawk's first commercial vehicle. Todd Reichart is the company's lead engineer.
TODD REICHART, LEAD ENGINEER, KITTYHAWK: You basically have 12 moving parts.
CRANE: OK, what are those moving parts?
REICHART: Ten motors and two control sticks; and that's it.
CRANE: Pretty simple. While operating it may be simple, incorporating vehicles like this into our everyday commutes -- that's going to be a whole
lot more complicated. For now, Kittyhawk is playing it safe.
Their engineers wouldn't let me fly over land or faster than six miles per hour, and trust me, I wanted to. But Kittyhawk says the vehicle is capable
of going much faster.
THRUN: Physically, I think, it's very conceivable that a vehicle like this might go at some point, 50, 60, maybe 100 miles per hour.
CRANE: Even with the conservative safety instruction, I still had a blast. I mean, I have to say, they need it pretty idiot-proof. To fly this thing,
you don't need a pilot's license, and if you take your hands off the controls, it just hovers and goes.
REICHART: And this is transformational in terms of how accessible we can make flights.
CRANE: But in order for it to be truly transformational, people have to be willing to fly them. When most people think about flying cars, they are
actually pretty scared, and also very intrigued.
THRUN: Number one most important thing other than safety for us is the side of acceptance. Will people be willing to fly on these devices, near
next true device like this that flies in the neighborhood and so on.
CRANE: But public acceptance is just one hurdle. Flyer's battery only lasts about 20 minutes, so for now, its applications are limited.
Kittyhawk's mission is to eradicate traffic. You can't do that with a recreational vehicle.
REICHART: Yes, we are on sort of a story yard from recreation to exploration to transportation, and we will have to evolve along the way.
CRANE: That was awesome.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
NEWTON: Rachel, I would certainly feel exactly the same way in that seat. My gosh, it hovers if you take your hands off the wheel. Rachel, in terms
of this really getting -- is there a year you can give me, is there anything you can give me that will say, because you know, if you look at
it, you think to yourself, "No, still impossible. Still "The Jetson's."
CRANE: Well, Paula, Kittyhawk is being quite coy about when they will be actually delivering these vehicles, however, they are taking applications
for previous sales right now on their website. They will be selling to individuals but at first, the company is really focused on selling entire
fleets of these to companies and partnering with people and bringing these training centers around the world really, so more people can experience
flight.
They think that that is what will help with that public acceptance of flying cars. The more people that are in them like myself, the more people
will become sure of themselves, so they help.
NEWTON: So, the public may not be their problem, maybe the regulators. Anybody who has seen drone regulations will know what I am talking about.
Rachel, thanks so much. Please continue to bring us these stories. That was amazing. Thanks.
Now, coming up, is the Trump-Macron bromance still in blossom? I have one word for you on that. No.
More of a state of (Foreign Language). We have -- they made me speak French on the show, unbelievable. We have the latest ahead on this week's
G7 Summit.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:30:00] NEWTON: Hello, I'm Paula Newton, there's more QUEST MEANS BUSINESS in a moment. When truck driving in Brazil is no easy task, we'll
look at the business making the most of all that empty space.
And meditation to treat chronic illness, you want to hear this, we have CEO of Headspace on this medical mystery which called it a breakthrough.
Before that though, this is Cnn, and on this network the news always come first.
U.S. President Donald Trump is to have bilateral meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and French President Emmanuel Macron, that's
according to Larry Kudlow; the National Economic Council director who said well, there are many short-term disagreements between the U.S. and Canada,
he believes the two countries were running from friends and allies.
U.S. President Donald Trump as well did this today, he commuted the sentence of Alice Marie Johnson; a woman who was a first-time non-violent
drug offender serving a life sentence. Now, the move came one week after Kim Kardashian West pleaded her case during an Oval Office meeting.
Johnson is expected to be released from prison soon. Stormy Daniels has filed a new lawsuit against her former attorney Keith Davidson as well as
President Trump's personal lawyer Michael Cohen. The suit alleges the two lawyers collided in an effort to manipulate Daniels and cover up the
allegations she made about President Trump.
A luxury hotel in London was evacuated Wednesday for fire on the roof top. Now officials say 20 engines and 120 firefighters were dispatched to the
Mandarin Oriental in Hyde Park, crew will stay through the night in an investigation into the cause will continue.
In Guatemala, four families have been lost, villages are covered in ash and the death toll continues to climb after a massive volcanic eruption. At
least 75 people have reported killed, almost 200 missing.
President Macron of France is meeting with Canada's Prime Minister ahead of this weekend's G7 Summit in Quebec. Now U.S. tariffs are of course
threatening to overshadow the entire event and they could even derail the once blossoming bromance between President Trump and Mr. Macron.
Our Melissa Bell has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: From that trusty first handshake to this warm hug.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I like him a lot.
BELL: Over the course of the last year, an unlikely friendship has blossomed between the French and American presidents as Emmanuel Macron has
toured repeatedly to get his message across.
EMMANUEL MACRON, PRESIDENT OF FRANCE (through translator): United States like France has a responsibility, particularly in the moment that is today.
We are the guarantors of multi-literalism.
TRUMP: Thank you.
MACRON: Thank you.
BELL: His plan was to keep his unilateralist counterpart talking multilaterally --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you very much Mr. President --
BELL: Even on those subjects that divided them, which didn't work out the way Macron had hoped when it came to Iran.
TRUMP: Then we started taking up big problems, bigger than they've ever had before and you can mark it down.
BELL: Other subjects of discord, climate change and the imposition of tariffs on E.U. steel and aluminum exports. Apparently, the final straw
for Macron who said the decision to impose them was not only illegal, but a mistake on many points.
The day before the tariffs took effect, Washington sources told Cnn that a phone call between the two presidents had been not just bad, but terrible.
This week, Emmanuel Macron chose to strike back the leak about the nature of the call after all had not come from Paris.
MACRON (through translator): There's abysmal USA, if we gave people the recipe for the sausages, it's not sure that people would eat them.
BELL: Not the first time the French president has had a dig at his American counterpart, but has the divergences simply grown too big?
[16:35:00] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a gap that is going to be very difficult to bridge, sorry. And of course, the result of this could very
well be that France would look for other partners.
BELL: Emmanuel Macron has been reaching out to older friends these last few weeks, convincing Angela Merkel to back at least part of his plan for
European reform. One year on from their first meeting is the NATO Summit in Brussels and then a G7 meeting in Sicily, another G7 Summit will reunite
them and their peers by one new Italian leader, the faces will all be the same, but the mood, no doubt a little primmer. Melissa Bell, Cnn, Paris.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: Still to come, a trucker strike in Brazil, turmoil in Venezuela, these are just some of the challenges facing Avianca and Cargo X, the CEOs
tell us how they will try and overcome them to keep people and goods moving across Southern America.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NEWTON: A massive trucker strike in Brazil paralyzed the economy and made a bad political situation worse. The drivers are facing low rates, high
fuel prices and trucks that ride half full, now, that's a problem Cargo X is trying to solve.
Its app matches drivers who have free space in their trucks with cargo that needs to be moved. It's like an Uber for cargo and freight. Now the CEO
joined me in the C-suite, I asked him to prove it's not just hype.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FEDERICO VEGA, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, CARGO X: Looking back like over the last three years, it's like we went from zero to almost $200 million in
revenue in just under three years. We got more than 5,000 trucks sign up on the platform that are actually moving freight.
We ask, so you know, I think, you know, we have seen that we have a very traditional industry in Brazil that exists for hundreds of years which is
trucking, you know, and then we have technologies that also exist.
What we are doing is pulling these technologies that existed for a long time or you have like, you know, brand new technologies and we are pulling
those technologies into a very traditional industry and inefficiencies.
So it's not a hype when you see the decline that was used in several different transportation providers before able to save money because it
used only one transportation provider which is an electronic transportation --
NEWTON: Sure --
VEGA: Provider on the one hand, and on the other hand it's not a hype when you see that the trucker that was running empty 40 percent of the time is
actually making more money.
NEWTON: Yes, and better for the environment too in terms of those trucks ongoing --
VEGA: You cut down -- you cut down on CO2 emissions, you enable the truckers to make more money which means they can buy a new truck, and you
also have reduced in access because a trucker that is running 40 percent of the time empty like we are in Brazil, and we are talking of the third
largest truck market in the world that is, you know -- that railroad in Brazil is very limited.
So you know, you increase in access because the truckers are running with running trucks and they make more money and they don't have to go that fast
on the roads, so you have less amount of access.
[16:40:00] NEWTON: So let's talk about scaling up, where do you want to see this? Which other countries are you thinking of or other continents?
VEGA: So we've been in busy for under three years, we are going to -- we are in the top five, we're probably one of the top five largest
transportation companies in Brazil today, and we should be -- you know, we should be expanding quickly next year, we plan to be the largest
transportation provider in Brazil and then we're going to expand across Latin America maybe, you know, I think we can expand internationally very
quickly.
NEWTON: We just saw those stunning pictures from the blockades of all the truckers in Brazil --
VEGA: Yes --
NEWTON: It's an ongoing issue there. How do you deal with that and what - - how do you think is best to deal with that considering it doesn't look -- that is going to get worse before it gets better.
VEGA: Yes, it's going to get worse, but what's happening in Brazil is that you have a lot of only operators that are people that own their own trucks,
they organize on social media and what they are asking for is what everyone is asking for in a crazy environment.
My salary is low or they have no jobs. What the truckers are saying is that they're getting paid very little amount of money for the big loads or
there are not enough loads for all of us because the amount of freight was here and the capacity was here in 2012.
That in the crisis, the amount of load and the economy went down, but the amount of trucks didn't go down. So you know, they are sharing a little
amount of freight. The problem and what worries me and I think everyone show that's worrying the world, not only in Brazil is that, social media
and technology has given the power to the population to organize under strike.
But you need a common vision and leadership when go on strike. Because what you're asking for has to be very clear. Because if the government
gives you what you're asking for --
NEWTON: Which they do --
VEGA: And you need to back up.
NEWTON: And it didn't seem to work.
VEGA: Because it's very decentralized and when the decentralization is where, you know, essentials but market places work really well when there's
decentralization and fragmentation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: Now Cargo X is trying to conquer Brazil and expand outward. Avianca started in Colombia, 99 years ago, it has grown to become the
second largest airline in Latin America. There's a region that brings unique challenges as Avianca Holdings CEO told Richard Quest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HERNAN RINCON, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, AVIANCA: We have today about 320 aircrafts, but they're all in different countries. And the challenge is to
make it all work like one airline, although we have to comply with local requirements in each one of those countries.
We've been very strong as you know in Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Brazil and Central America, that's where we're with the strength right now. We're
opening up Argentina, we did open up Argentina and we're finding a way to go to Mexico.
When we do all of that, we'll have operations in every single country in Latin America with a notable exception of Venezuela.
RICHARD QUEST, CNN HOST: For obvious reasons --
RINCON: For obvious reasons.
QUEST: What would you like to see happen that will enable you to operate a more efficient carrier that would also benefit of course Latin America(ph).
RINCON: It would be a union of Latin American countries that would accept the same regulation. Let me give you a very simple example. In most Latin
American countries, to be a pilot in that country you have to be a citizen of that country.
So you cannot hire let me say, a Peruvian pilot to fly in Colombia. So if now that becomes one market, that will be significantly better for all of
us.
QUEST: Realistically, that's not going to happen in your career.
RINCON: It's beginning to happen.
QUEST: Beginning.
RINCON: Let me give you an example. Costa Rica and Guatemala and most Central American countries will accept a one licensed pilot for all of the
countries, so it's beginning to happen.
QUEST: If we look at the economies that you're dealing with, Brazil, dreadful --
RINCON: Yes --
QUEST: Argentina arguably --
RINCON: Improving.
QUEST: Venezuela obviously you're not dealing --
RINCON: Not anymore.
QUEST: Costa Rica now got some problems --
RINCON: Yes --
QUEST: And Peru got problems, I mean, the economic -- the economics of the region --
RINCON: Are tough --
QUEST: That's a good word --
RINCON: Are tough, but they're not as bad as they were two years ago or three years ago. They used to be great, fantastic seven years ago, ten
years ago, Brazil was growing at 7 percent, Peru was growing at 7 percent, Chile was growing at 5 percent, Colombia was growing at 5 percent,
everything was very nice.
Then we came -- a correction, and then we went downhill, and Brazil had contraction with 3.5 percent for two years in a row --
QUEST: Yes --
RINCON: And was tough for everybody. Having said that, in that market, we grew -- think about that later, and now we have seen this light recovery in
all countries. Now, most countries are still going to grow 2 percent, 3 percent, which isn't great, but it's not bad, we can deal with that.
QUEST: What's the one thing you need? What's the one thing you need in your market in the way you run your business?
RINCON: Better infrastructure at the airports. We have outrun every single airport in Latin America that is not one that can deal with the
capacity that we're asking for right now.
QUEST: That will be -- I mean, you might as well put that on your Christmas wish-list.
RINCON: It is.
QUEST: It's not going to happen.
[16:45:00] RINCON: Well, it's happening slowly --
QUEST: Slowly --
RINCON: Slowly --
QUEST: Who is going to pay for it?
RINCON: Most likely private investments with some government supervision, but as you know, the Mexico airport is on the way, hopefully they'll finish
it on time I will see.
The Monterrey Airport has been totally renovated, totally new as a matter of fact. So they are working on it, but they are behind for sure.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: Now, Tabasco hot sauce is the everyday staple of diners worldwide. Some limited edition Champagne-style bottles are currently on eBay and they
might bring a tear to your eyes, not because of the spice, but because of the price.
Get this, $128 or this one, the special bottle marks 150 years in business. We take a look at the company's success in our 100 Club series.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mikolava (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's early in the morning and Tony Simmons is tasting something a bit stronger than coffee.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Colombia.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The CEO of the McIlhenny Company, better known as the makers of Tabasco pepper sauce.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Guatemala!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is his morning ritual, to personally check the pepper mash before it goes on to become the famous sauce that bears the
Tabasco label.
ANTHONY SIMMONS, CHAIRMAN & PRESIDENT, MCILHENNY COMPANY: We have a philosophy of how to run our family business to continue the legacy that
was started by my great-great grandfather.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was 1868 when Edmund McIlhenny decided to go commercial with a pepper sauce concoction he invented and have been sharing
with friends and family.
It began at the McIlhenny family home in Avery Island, a mid of wetlands wildlife of the Louisiana bayou. A 150 years later, the family-owned and
operated company hasn't moved, and Simmons is the fifth generation at the helm.
SIMMONS: My family has actually been here for 200 years. We arrived at Avery Island in 1880s. It is our home, it is where we make Tabasco and for
my extended family, it is the glue that holds this family together.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For the past 25 years, company historian Shane Bernard has been poring over the McIlhenny family's archives documenting important
moments in the company's history.
SIMMONS: We registered our trademark in 1905-'06. I think that's important because by the late 1890s, Tabasco was well enough known that you
had people stealing our names, stealing our trademarks, stealing our diamond wardrobe.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In the vault of the company's headquarters, Bernard shows off one of the company's most treasured artifacts; a bottle of
Tabasco sauce dating around 1870.
SHANE BERNARD, AUTHOR: In 1927, we completely revamped the bottle designs. Really, the only time we've had a significant change in the bottle and the
label, they both happened at about the same time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The process of making Tabasco sauce has not changed much either. There are still only three ingredients in every bottle;
Tabasco peppers, salt and vinegar. What has changed is the scale of production.
BERNARD: Today, we make 750,000 bottles of sauce per day on average, and Edmund during his entire career as a pepper sauce manufacturer, and that
was a 22-year period, he made about 350,000 bottles.
So we make twice as much in a single day as he made during his entire career.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Doing just one thing served the company well for more than a 100 years, eventually though, they had to expand their products to
accommodate more diverse consumer taste.
SIMMONS: My first line extension to Tabasco was in 1994 with Tabasco green sauce.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Since then, they've added other flavors, and today, the Tabasco label is produced in 25 languages and exported to 195 countries
around the world. Even gracing the queen's supper table, McIlhenny proudly displays its royal warrant.
As their fan base has grown, so has the number of visitors to Avery Island. And in 2016, they opened a new museum to accommodate them.
BERNARD: Now, we get a lot of people who consider this a pilgrimage of sorts, you know, because they're such fans of Tabasco that they can't
believe they're here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And while history is important here in Avery Island, Simmons is mindful of looking to the future.
[16:50:00] SIMMONS: How do you make a 150-year-old product relevant to an 18-year-old? That's a challenge every day. We have to convince young
people that even though we're 150 years old, we're still pretty cool.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: So tune in Saturday to watch a Cnn special, the 100 Club, you will hear more about other global companies who have been around for more than a
century as they reflect on their past, present and the path they're taking for future success, starting at 4:30 p.m. in London and 11:30 p.m. in Hong
Kong right here on Cnn.
Now, your mobile phone has this little thing, it can drive you crazy, certainly drives me crazy, but it can also help you relax. Stay with me on
this one, the makers -- the creators of meditation apps say it could help even all kinds of diseases.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NEWTON: All right, you're with me on this one right? It's been another busy day, no shortage of things to get stressed about. Millions of us use
meditation apps to try and help us unwind. Now, those apps want to do more than just help you relax.
Listen to this, the Headspace app is used by more than 30 million people worldwide. And now the company is announcing a new service it says can
help treat everything from asthma to cancer. Rich Pierson is the Headspace CEO.
We were just talking about so many people love your app. But cure a disease, are you serious?
RICH PIERSON, CO-FOUNDER, HEADSPACE: Well, I think, look, we wouldn't use -- the app was being recommended by doctors and psychologists off their own
back, they were using the product, they knew it works --
NEWTON: Sure --
PIERSON: And so they're recommending it themselves. We've always had a science team right from the start of Headspace, problem is we started in
2010 and it's just been a kind of natural progression.
Dr. Meghan Janisbell (ph) who is our chief science officer and we have seven full time scientist on the team. And through the 65 research studies
that we've been conducting, they're currently kind of in publication stage.
They kind of seem like an obvious place to try and work out, whether we could formally make this part of kind of healthcare. And so we're looking
at about 12 different disease -- current diseases, to see which one we're going to launch first in -- later in the year.
NEWTON: What is the science behind this all?
PIERSON: Well, I think there's a bunch of science, but some of the most promising science that we've seen on our product that we've actually tested
against Headspace app is we've shown reductions in aggression and increases in compassion as well as reductions in depression instances as well.
So it's a whole range from physical pieces all the way to mental health comes out as well.
NEWTON: You know, it seems to me that meditation in general has a bad name sometimes. Some people hear it immediately and think that's just not for
me.
PIERSON: Yes --
NEWTON: How do you get people to change their outlook even on meditation?
PIERSON: Yes, I think look, I think it's moved on a lot. Like I came from England and that's my cynical market in the world, I can promise you that.
NEWTON: It's a tough one to crack.
PIERSON: It's a tough one to crack, if we can crack it there, we can crack anywhere.
[16:55:00] But I think the fact that we've got CEOs like Jeff Weiner saying that they use our product, NFL quarterback combined, kind of picks -- Sam
Darnold who use our product.
I think when you look at the range of different people that are using it and talking about it in a really positive way about how it's affected their
lives, I think people look at it differently.
NEWTON: Fast, we don't have any more time left, fast-forward a decade, and whether it's your app or anything else, how much more open do you think
people will be to meditating to feel better to that -- you know, that cure against disease.
PIERSON: Yes, my hope is that we think about mental health is something that's preventative. That we want to look at -- we want to look after so
that we never get to the point where it's a problem that we have to cure. And I really think that meditation will be a massive part of that story in
the next 10 years.
NEWTON: So interesting, Rich, thanks so much for coming in, when you have something, (INAUDIBLE) will have you back, I really appreciate it. Thanks
so much. And that is the QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, I am headed off to the G7, but Bianna will be right in the chair tomorrow.
I'm Paula Newton, thanks for watching.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
