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Quest Means Business
New CNN Polling Shows The Economy Giving A Timely Boost To Donald Trump's Ratings; 2020 Dems Clash At Final Debate Of 2019; Andrew Bailey Is New Bank Of England Governor. Aired 3-4p ET
Aired December 20, 2019 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[15:00:12]
ELENI GIOKOS, CNN BUSINESS AFRICA CORRESPONDENT: The winning streak continues for U.S. market set to close at another all-time high. The Dow
is up half a percent, and here is what investors are watching.
New CNN polling shows the economy giving a timely boost to Donald Trump's ratings.
The Bank of England has a new boss. You'll hear from one of Andrew Bailey's old colleagues.
And more problems for Boeing. Now, it's spacecraft has run into trouble after launch.
Live from the world's financial capital, New York City. It's Friday, December the 20th. I'm Eleni Giokos, in for Richard Quest, and this is
QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.
Well, a very good evening to you tonight. If it's the economy stupid, it's good news for Donald Trump. A new CNN poll shows the U.S. economy has its
highest rating from voters in decades. It comes as the starting gun is set to fire on a crucial election year and as markets roll to fresh all-time
highs.
The Dow is on pace to have its fourth record close of the week. The S&P 500 and the NASDAQ are also sitting at records. Investors are encouraged
by the USMCA trade deal advancing in Congress, and this tweet from the President, "Had a very good talk with President Xi of China concerning our
giant trade deal. China has already started large scale purchase of agricultural products and more. Formal signing being arranged."
Speaking earlier on CNN, White House Trade Adviser, Peter Navarro told Poppy Harlow it's a vindication of Donald Trump's economic policy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETER NAVARRO, WHITE HOUSE TRADE ADVISER: First of all, we have the strongest economy in five decades. So apparently, the tariffs are working,
the China policy is working and the Trump economy policies are working.
So I'm a little puzzled why we have these forecasters who keep saying that things are going to go bad when they're going amazingly well now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: All right, so they say time heals all wounds. More than a decade into the recovery from the Great Recession, Americans are finally feeling
good about the U.S. economy.
Now 76 percent of Americans rate current economic conditions as very or somewhat good. That's the highest levels since we've seen in 2001, and
there is an undeniable partisan divide in the numbers.
But now, even 62 percent of Democrats agree and that figure is up from 47 percent just five months ago, and most voters expect the economy will still
be strong a year from now.
The election is 11 months away. The head to head races between the top democrats and Donald Trump are tightening. And we've got Harry Enten
joining us now, to give us a breakdown of all the data points through from the CNN poll.
Really good to have you with us.
HARRY ENTEN, CNN POLITICS SENIOR WRITER AND ANALYST: My pleasure.
GIOKOS: Yes. So I mean, looking at this move from what we saw in August to now, the Democrats have really fundamentally shifted, and even they've
had to admit the economy is really strong.
ENTEN: I mean, that's exactly right. As you pointed out, it's the highest rating for goods since 2001 and that follows, obviously, fairly good job
numbers that we've seen consistently throughout the Trump presidency, and it also follows the fact that Americans have voted or have rated the
President higher on the economy than they have his overall job approval. So the economy is something that is helping Donald Trump.
GIOKOS: And this is what's interesting, because you could have high markets, you have really good numbers there. You could have good economic
data, but if people aren't feeling it on the ground, it's not going to be reflected in the numbers and the polls is what we've seen. How does this
shift the dynamics as we head into election?
ENTEN: I think it shifts it in this way. Last night, you watch that Democratic debate and they tried to argue the different Democratic
candidates, and in fact, the economy wasn't too good. And it's awfully difficult to make that argument when voters say, in fact, the economy is
good.
And so even though voters may not love Donald Trump and his personality, they look at the economy and they say, you know what? Things are pretty
decent. Maybe we should give this guy another four years.
GIOKOS: Okay. So I mean, in terms of the ticket that the opposition parties are going to use in this election, usually the economy is a really
easy one to say, look, we can fix the economy for you. They can't really say that.
But if you look under the hood, there are points where people are concerned in terms of where the economy is going and whether there is still momentum.
How are the Democrats going to play this?
ENTEN: Yes, I think, you know, one of the ways they might play that is say, look, the economy is slowing down a little bit. There is some of that
and the Consumer Index is -- some indications that in fact, consumers aren't feeling nearly as confident and that's something that very much
correlates with election outcomes.
[15:05:00]
ENTEN: And another thing that I think is also rather important is we're hitting up against max employment. And what I know from studying past
elections is it's not so much the actual level of the economy, it's the growth.
And what we've seen is that the growth just simply can't be nearly as high. We saw that back in 2000, when President Bill Clinton was giving way to Al
Gore and Gore didn't do nearly as well, despite the low unemployment ratings, because the job growth was slowing down.
GIOKOS: Yes, I mean, what's interesting is that people are saying, we expect this to continue for the next year. But what happens after that?
We've got super low interest rates. I guess people are experiencing cheap money and that helps a lot, but wait too, from here.
I mean, because over the -- correct me if I'm wrong, but over the Christmas season, even bad weather starts to impact sentiment. So things could
change in the next few months.
ENTEN: Things can definitely change in the next few months. And as someone who tries to predict the elections, I know the only thing more
difficult than predicting elections is predicting the future of the economy.
And so this idea that we necessarily know where the economy is going to stand five, six, seven, eight, nine months from now, I am not in a position
to say that. That's why I think one of the most important things to watch as we head into the next year is watching that job growth because we know
historically speaking, if you team up with the President's job approval rating and job growth from say, February through the election, it's one of
the best predictors out there.
GIOKOS: Yes. Okay. So I mean impeachment process. That's not over yet. We don't have clarity on that. Is that going to influence voter
sentiments?
ENTEN: I tend to think not. I mean, if you look at our own polling, for instance, back in November, we asked voters what are the most important
issues to their vote? The economy was numero uno. The Impeachment Inquiry was the last given by voters.
So although the Impeachment Inquiry is something that we certainly talk about on cable news, and it's something that folks talk about down in
Washington, D.C., what is really important to the voters, those kitchen table issues, the economy is number one, so I just don't think the
impeachment makes that big of a deal.
GIOKOS: Yes, so bread and butter issues. I mean, that's going to be the reality heading into 2020. That's what Donald Trump is going to play with.
The Democrats need to get their act together, I guess, and so what -- how do you see this playing out?
I mean, obviously, you're in the game of predicting as you say?
ENTEN: Right. I mean, look, they're going to try and play it up. They're going to try and say, hey, maybe things are good in the overall aggregate,
but they're not necessarily good in terms of wage growth and different statistics like that.
But I honestly believe that the economy is not where this election will be won for Democrats. It's probably something on healthcare, another bread
and butter issue, which makes this a very unusual election because as you were pointing out, it's usually quote unquote, "the economy stupid."
If Democrats are going to win this time around, they better hope it's not the economy stupid, at least based upon the current economic numbers.
GIOKOS: So good to have you in studio with me. Thank you so very much.
ENTEN: My pleasure. Thank you for having me.
GIOKOS: All right, so as Americans say the economy is as strong as it's been in over a decade, Democrats are saying not everyone is feeling the
benefits. They spoke about issues people are having during Thursday night's Democratic presidential debate. Listen in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We have to eliminate significant number of these god awful tax cuts that were given to the very wealthy
people.
PETE BUTTIGIEG, (D-IN), MAYOR, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: People are not getting paid enough. That is not the result of some mysterious cosmic
force. It's the result of bad policy.
ANDREW YANG (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: GDP and corporate profits are at record highs in America today. Also at record highs, depression, financial
insecurity, and student loan debt.
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm proud to stand on a stage with Democrats who understand that rise in GDP, rise in
corporate profits is not being felt by millions of families across this country.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We need an economy that works for working families, not just the one percent.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: All right, so Catherine Rampell is an opinion columnist at "The Washington Post" and a CNN political commentator. She joins me now.
We've just heard. I mean, they are talking about the economy. It's very few things that they can say. I mean, one thing that they're talking about
is, is it working for the average American? Now, a related CNN poll is showing that people are feeling positive on the ground?
CATHERINE RAMPELL, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes. So it's interesting, the overall assessment of the economy is quite strong and that makes sense.
Unemployment is very low. We are now more than a decade into this recovery. So the overall numbers are good.
If you listened to what the Democrats said in the debate, of course, they said, the gains of the economy, the gains of that growth have not been
equally distributed. And in that sense, it could actually be a winning message.
Because of this: If you look at other poll data, a majority of Americans say that current economic conditions have been good for the wealthy, but
they are not good for the middle class and they are not good for the poor.
And even amongst lower income Republicans, which in the case of this poll from Pew Research Center, is those earning $40,000.00 a year or less, they
say current economic conditions are hurting my family.
So there is a sense in which this portrayal of the economy could be a winning message for Democrats.
GIOKOS: Yes, I mean, and it was interesting, because we also heard the message coming through that tax cuts have only benefited the elite as
opposed to average Americans as well.
And we were talking a little earlier with Harry about what the messaging of the Democrats should be. How do they play this when they know they're
dealing with a record high on the markets and they dealing with good economic data as well?
[15:10:06]
RAMPELL: I think what they point to is those kitchen table issues: Are their wages going up? Have the tax cuts delivered for them? And if you
look at the numbers, the answer is not really.
Year-over-year wage growth is about as strong as it was in inflation adjusted terms today as it was before Trump took office. If you look at
concerns about healthcare, those continue to be top of mind for Americans of both political parties and Independents and Democrats have been shown to
sort of be the winner when it comes to polling on that particular issue.
So there are ways that they can pick off some particular disappointing trend and some things that are major worries for America.
GIOKOS: Okay, so that's the issues that are going to be the winning formula. Let's take a listen to this. Elizabeth Warren and Peter
Buttigieg clashed over campaign fundraising and the private wealth of some of the Democratic candidates.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WARREN: The mayor just recently had a fundraiser that was held in a wine cave full of crystals and served $900-a-bottle wine.
Billionaires in wine caves should not pick the next President of the United States.
TIM ALBERTA, POLITICO.: Mr. Mayor, your response?
BUTTIGIEG: You know, according to "Forbes" magazine, I am literally the only person on this stage who is not a millionaire or a billionaire.
Your presidential campaign right now as we speak is funded in part by money you transferred, having raised it at those exact same big-ticket
fundraisers you now denounce.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: What did you think of that?
RAMPELL: Well, depending on who you talk with about that exchange, if you ask people who do you think won? It kind of depends on who they supported
before the exchange. So I'm not really sure that it changed a lot of minds.
But I actually thought that Buttigieg's response was relatively compelling that you, Elizabeth Warren -- is basically what he was saying -- you're
imposing a purity test on candidates that you yourself only very recently started abiding by.
And in that sense, I think it's, you know, it's a compelling case.
GIOKOS: Yes. I just also have to ask you about the trade negotiations and President Trump's tweet saying he had a good conversation with President
Xi.
RAMPELL: Well, we still don't really know a lot about what's in this deal, right? The things that this White House have said about the deal,
including specific commitments for line by line agricultural product purchases, the Chinese side has not fully corroborated.
So we will still have to wait unfortunately a little bit longer to see what this deal really looks like. And I think that while there is a sigh of
relief that a lot of people are giving right now. There's also a little bit of concern that we still are not really moving forward on tearing down
a lot of the other tariffs that this administration has put in place.
GIOKOS: If we look at the trend, we've heard a lot of sigh of relief and then, just, we get disappointed again, so let's --
RAMPELL: Right. I mean, it's like two steps forward one step or I guess, it's two steps back, one step forward. I don't know, because we still have
a lot of tariffs that this administration has put in place even if he has rolled back some of them, so the net result is that costs will in fact be
higher for Americans.
GIOKOS: It will be interesting to see. Thank you very much, Catherine Rampell joining me. All right, so the British Prime Minister got his
Christmas wish.
Boris Johnson's Brexit deal just passed in Parliament, but some are calling the changes controversial.
And Boeing being reached for the stars, but will come up short as its spaceship fails to put itself on the right course.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:16:11]
GIOKOS: Welcome back. So after months of speculation over who would replace Mark Carney at the Bank of England, we finally know who the next
Governor will be. It's the head of the U.K.'s financial watchdog, Andrew Bailey.
He joined the Bank of England in 1985 and has worked in a number of positions including Executive Director of Banking Services. U.K. Finance
Minister, Sajid Javid says Bailey's expertise make him the right person for the job.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SAJID JAVID, U.K. FINANCE MINISTER: I am delighted to announce that the next Governor of the Bank of England will be Andrew Bailey.
When we launched this process, we said that we were looking for a leader of international standing, with expertise across monetary, economic, and
regulatory policy, and in Andrew Bailey, we have found just that.
He was the standout candidate in a competitive field. Without question, he is the right person to lead the bank.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: Well, Adam Posen is the President of the Peterson Institute for International Economics and a former member of the bank's Monetary Policy
Committee.
Earlier on the Express, I asked him what Andrew Bailey needs to do to send the right message to investors.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDREW POSEN, PRESIDENT, PETERSON INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS: Just a disclaimer, Bailey is a colleague and also a friend of going on
towards 30 years. So that's why I never commented before he was appointed.
But I think it's clear just sticking to the facts. He is the continuity candidate better than the other finalists who were named, because he comes
from the Bank of England. He knows the job cold. He was brought up in the regime and he is basically a stability-oriented central banker.
I think he is -- his appointment is an important signal to the markets the fact that it came so quickly after the election, the fact that it wasn't
about pursuing some big glitzy name, even though Andrew is very well known in the Central Banking community, he doesn't have a big public profile yet.
The fact that it's about someone who has a lot of background in financial stability in his previous roles, these were all sober messages to reassure
people about the pound and about interest rates going forward.
GIOKOS: Yes, and it's an interesting pick because many are looking at the European Central Bank, you know, picking Christine Lagarde, someone that's
very progressive, someone that knows how to shake things up. What do you - - what can you tell us about the man, given the fact that you do have a good relationship with him to kind of get the market thinking of him in a
certain way and I know you're talking about continuity, but there's more to Governor than just that.
POSEN: Of course, there is more to a Governor than just that. And I think frankly, it's not fair to Christine Lagarde to say she's there to shake
things up.
They have very different challenges. The Euro area's main challenge is the monetary and fiscal union and banking union even are not complete. And so
as Draghi and Lagarde have both said, the emphasis has to be on fiscal policy, and so there is fundamentally a shake up to be done.
The Bank of England, on the other hand, has -- its regime has weathered things very well, including the uncertainty of Brexit. So it's not that
Bailey is there just to do continuity or by nature, he is going to be blindly following tradition. It's that in the U.K. setup, it's the right
thing to do to try to maintain things going forward.
I think that Bailey may surprise some people with his knowledge on the more academic policy analysis side of monetary policy, where he actually does
have a deep knowledge and that may lead to some sophisticated reviews of some of the process and certainly, the recent news just breaking about the
inadvertent pre-release of Bank of England's communications that came out. He is obviously going to have to clean up that very quickly. In fact, they
may start cleaning up before he gets there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[15:20:12]
GIOKOS: Meanwhile, British lawmakers finally approved Boris Johnson's Brexit deal. It's the first step towards fulfilling his election promise
to deliver the U.K.'s departure from the E.U. by January the 31st.
While the bill passed overwhelmingly, thanks to the Prime Minister's new Conservative majority in Parliament, the U.K.'s Brexit Secretary says it's
time to move on from the divisions of the past.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEPHEN BARCLAY, BRITISH SECRETARY OF STATE FOR EXITING THE E.U.: This bill is not a victory for one side over another. The time has come to
discard the old labels, to move from the past divisions and to come together as one United Kingdom.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: All right, so Nic Robertson has more for us.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: We knew that vote the Prime Minister had there, a majority of 124 is precisely where he wants to
be before Christmas. I think in many ways, his Christmas has really come early that what he describes as a stonking majority in the election.
But where does this leave him now? And where does this leave the Withdrawal Agreement Bill? Well, Parliament is in recess. Second week of
January, three days set aside to continue the debate about the Withdrawal Agreement Bill, the 31st of January, the Prime Minister's deadline for
getting Brexit done, for leaving the European Union, having the divorce part of the arrangement settled. That looks very much on track. That vote
there really indicative that the wind is in the Prime Minister sails. He will get what he wants.
But this is a more muscular Withdrawal Agreement Bill than the one that the Prime Minister had put forward a few months ago and in particular, it is
more muscular because the Prime Minister is saying that he is allowing himself and the European Union only 11 months to negotiate the future
relationship, negotiate the trade deal.
Now, the opposition party have been critical. In fact, many opposition MPs have been critical of the Prime Minister leaving himself just 11 months to
do this. Keir Starmer, a leading member of the Labour Party called it reckless and irresponsible.
The Prime Minister though is convinced that because Britain is starting from a position of close regulatory alignment with the European Union,
therefore, a deal can be struck more quickly. He has indicated he is going to move away from that regulatory alignment and very clearly, it's on the
Prime Minister's mind that by having a fixed and clear deadline for both British and E.U. negotiators that come that deadline, the hard and tough
choices, compromises will have to be made.
But this is the gamble if you will that the Prime Minister is taking against what the critics have said. And as we've just seen in the recent
weeks, the Prime Minister's view and decision has been paid off. The electorate has supported him. Now the Withdrawal Agreement Bill passed by
124 votes, the wind in the Prime Minister sails, he will, I think, be very happy going into Christmas right now -- Eleni.
GIOKOS: All right. Nic Robertson, thank you very much for that update.
When we return, a Parisian court delivers a landmark ruling in a moral harassment case against the French telecom, Orange. The French telecom
company, Orange and its former CEO --
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:25:24]
GIOKOS: Welcome back. Now the French telecom company, Orange and its former CEO have been found guilty of moral harassment linked to a high
number of employee suicides in recent years.
Six other former executives were also convicted in the ruling. Jim Bittermann has this report from Paris.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What makes his case so exceptional is the fact that this is the first time that one of the
top 40 companies in the country has been taken to court along with its executives for psychological harassment.
Basically to get to the facts of the case, you have to go back to 2006 when the rather bloated state run company France telecom was being modernized
and privatized and downsized and a new executive team said 22,000 employees had to go -- 20 percent of the workforce.
And as a consequence, a lot of pressure was put on the employees basically, to keep their jobs. Some people were told they had to move from one end of
the country to another, or they had -- a lineman, for example, were told they had to change jobs and become marketing people.
In any case, a lot of pressure put on. And the result, according to the unions were those suicides that took place. Here's what the son of one of
the people who committed suicide had to say after today's verdict.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I was satisfied because of what the President of the court said. She said that the procedures used by the
management was forbidden and that brings an answer to what this trial is about. Can anyone be allowed to do that kind of thing? Can anyone do that
in order to save cash? To push people to commit suicide or into depression?
At least the Court has said no, it's not possible. And if you do that, you'll be convicted.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BITTERMANN: The unions have maintained all the way along and now were vindicated today that the company used very violent techniques in order to
downsize the company.
One of the top executives was quoted as saying and it was never denied that in fact, the employees would have to leave either by the door or by the
window, a reference to the fact that some of those people that committed suicide threw themselves out the window.
Jim Bittermann, CNN, Paris.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GIOKOS: All right, so Boeing's spacecraft had a successful launch. Still the company can't escape bad news in space. Its Starliner will not reach
its destination. We will tell you why after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:30:00]
ELENI GIOKOS, HOST, QUEST MEANS BUSINESS: Hello, I'm Eleni Giokos, coming up on the next half hour of QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, Boeing's Starliner
spacecraft is off course after a test flight goes wrong, and the "The Rise of Skywalker" is out stirring up debates and making new records at the Box
Office. Before that, this is CNN and on this network, the facts always come first.
U.K. prosecutors have charged the wife of a U.S. diplomat with causing the death of a British teenager. Police say Anne Sacoolas was driving on the
wrong side of the road when a car hit Harry Dunn's motorcycle. Prosecutors say they're seeking her extradition from the United States.
Australia's Prime Minister is apologizing for going on holiday in Hawaii while two firefighters died battling the bush fires in east Australia. At
least, 100 fires continue to burn in New South Wales, and officials say half of them have not been contained.
U.S. President Donald Trump has accepted the top house Democrat's invitation to deliver the State of the Union address on February the 4th.
Nancy Pelosi says she sent the invite in the spirit of respecting the constitution. This comes just days after the house impeached Mr. Trump.
And as partisan tensions in Washington reached a fever pitch.
Prince Phillip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth has been admitted to a hospital in London. Buckingham Palace says he is being observed and
treated for a pre-existing condition that is just a precaution. A royal source told CNN the 98-year-old was not taken there in an ambulance, he
walked in. Two carnival cruise ships collided Friday morning in Port in Cozumel, Mexico.
One passenger was hurt. The company says it is assessing the damage. But there are no issues that impact the sea worthiness of either vessel. One
passenger told CNN the crash just felt like a big wave.
So, Boeing's spaceship will not reach the International Space Station as planned. The Starliner successfully launched Friday, then it failed to put
itself on the right course. Officials say the root cause is not clear, the head of NASA is staying optimistic about the situation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIM BRIDENSTINE, ADMINISTRATOR, NASA: And if we would have had crew in there, number one, they would have been safe to be very clear. Our crew
would have been safe, and in fact, had they been in there, we very well may be orbiting or we may be docking with the International Space Station
tomorrow had they been in the spacecraft.
So, a lot of things went right today. I want to be really clear, a lot of things went right, and this is why we test, and because we are now in
orbit, and in fact, elevating our orbit, we're going to get a lot more data and a lot more information in the coming days. So, this is all -- this is
all very positive in general.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: Right, so Rachel Crane covers space and innovation and she joins me now. I mean, the one thing that is really important is the launch, and
that went really well. They had enough thrust, but it's just they missed the orbit. They didn't go into the right orbit, why?
RACHEL CRANE, CNN BUSINESS INNOVATION & SPACE CORRESPONDENT: Right, well, you know, as you pointed out, that launch, it was -- went off without a
hitch, it was beautiful, also the separation from the rocket. The Atlas 5 went off without a hitch. But it was -- as NASA said -- Jim Bridenstine;
NASA administrator said, it was a problem with automation.
And that's why he was saying had the astronauts been on board, that they would have been able to override the automated flight plan, and they would
have been able to fix this. So, what exactly happened here? During the orbital insertion burn, that's a fancy way of saying a very -- you know,
precise maneuver that they do to put Starliner on track to rendezvous with ISS.
GIOKOS: Yes --
CRANE: That happened prematurely because an onboard clock failed. It did not work properly, so that burn happened early, and flight control, they
were not able to reach the spacecraft. There was a communications issues, they couldn't power down the burn, so the spacecraft lost a lot of fuel,
they decided to put it into a safe orbit and, you know, cancel the main objective --
GIOKOS: Yes --
CRANE: Of this test to rendezvous with ISS.
GIOKOS: So, I mean, Boeing and automation, we've heard problems like this before, but this is obviously in a totally different league because we're
talking about space.
[15:35:00]
What's interesting is NASA said if it was manned, it would have been a -- in fact, someone would have been able to fix the problem.
CRANE: Right, and so because, you know, in NASA, it was an unmanned test flight. There was just a dummy in there, there wasn't a person who, you
know, could manually override the system and set it on the right course. But you know, this was a critical flight test for Boeing. They were
hoping, you know, to have this go off, you know, a little more successfully than it did.
GIOKOS: Yes --
CRANE: Because this was a critical step for them to have certification to, you know, start these manned flights in 2020. And you know, that's -- we
spent a lot of money, billions and billions of dollars have been poured into the commercial crew program which is to allow NASA to have a -- once
again a home-grown way of getting to the International Space Station.
GIOKOS: So, I mean, how much -- how much does this derail the project because one of the things is that NASA wants to move away from relying on
Russian --
CRANE: Right --
GIOKOS: Technology. Yet, that they pay tens of thousands of dollars for each flight.
CRANE: Right, millions of dollars. Each flight, each seat on the Soyuz averages about $55 million --
GIOKOS: Wow --
CRANE: Over the -- you know, the course that we've been buying them. So they're incredibly expensive, and as you pointed out, we're looking to
become reliant, you know, on homegrown methods of getting there. There is redundancy built into the commercial crew program. Which is SpaceX has
also been developing a method to get to the International Space Station.
They had one of these orbital flight tests earlier in the year. They were able to dock successfully with the International Space Station. They too
have one more critical test that will be happening in early 2020 before they are certified to have -- you know, fly these manned space operations
to the ISS.
But you know, that's why NASA says that they were relying on two carriers because of one major failure happens with Boeing, then, you know, they'll
be able to rely on SpaceX. But at this point, it's unclear if they will have to, you know, do another orbital flight test or how exactly this will
impact that timeline of having, you know, manned flight in early 2020. But you know, time will tell this investigation, it's only been a matter of
hours --
GIOKOS: Yes --
CRANE: So, it was -- a lot will come to light in the coming days.
GIOKOS: Yes, I'm just curious of the big picture as well because you've got these companies that are pouring so much time and money in R&D, and
indeed the space race.
CRANE: Yes --
GIOKOS: And when is it going to translate into profits and revenue for these companies. Are we many years away from seeing that happening because
NASA is very committed as well --
CRANE: NASA --
GIOKOS: I mean, as a client -- sorry, you know, they've got someone --
CRANE: Yes, and the American taxpayer is very committed. I mean --
GIOKOS: Yes --
CRANE: This Boeing contract for instance was over $4 billion, SpaceX, over $2 billion for just the commercial crew program alone. So, you know, we're
looking -- the government is investing heavily in this, and only time will tell to see like, you know, when this really does become profitable.
GIOKOS: So good to see you, thank you very much for your insight, so, it's great. All right, so British Airways once called itself the world's
favorite airline after a year of strikes, computer glitches and mass cancellations. A new survey ranks it among the least favorite carriers
operating in the U.K. Only American airlines was found to be more disliked for long-haul travel.
Passengers complained about bad food and rude staff, on the other side, proving it is indeed possible to be liked as an airline, Singapore took the
top spot following -- followed rather by Qatar and the likes of Emirates. We want you to join in the conversation, to get at -- so get out your cell
phones and go to cnn.com-slash-join.
We've taken the top five airlines from the Which Survey, Singapore, Qatar Airways, Emirates, Virgin Atlantic and KLM. We want to know which is your
favorite long-haul airline. So, go to cnn.com-slash-join and vote, and you'll see the results live on screen soon.
All right, so Rory Boland is the travel editor at Which; a consumer watchdog in the U.K. who carried out the survey and he's in London. Look,
I'm in the air all the time, I don't care so much about food as much as I care about how comfortable it is and just how much space I have. But what
are consumers telling you, is it -- is it about the entire package? Is it one thing that's bothering them?
RORY BOLAND, TRAVEL EDITOR, WHICH?: Yes, I think for British Airways is just quite a long shopping list unfortunately of problems that they need to
address. And so, a couple of things we heard about was that planes were uncomfortable, so bad news for you if you were looking for comfortable
flights, seats were uncomfortable. Customer service was pretty mediocre, and the food was poor.
British Airways isn't particularly punctual anymore, so if you want to get there on time, it isn't an airline to choose, either. And of course, all
of this is reflective of the cuts that British Airways has undertaken. In the last couple of years, you know, if you're flying short haul on British
Airways, it often feels like a budget airline these days.
You won't get any free food or drink, you've probably paid for your seat as well. The only thing that British Airways has been less energetic about
cutting is its fares.
[15:40:00]
And so what passengers are kind of waking up to is the fact they're paying a premium price, but really what they're getting these days with British
Airways is a budget service.
GIOKOS: Yes, OK, so, Singapore and the likes of Qatar doing quite well. You know, one of these airlines doing right that the others aren't?
BOLAND: I think what a lot of it comes down to is customer service because getting a flight right is not that hard. You know, passengers want to pay
a good price, they want to be -- got to their destination on time, and they want to have an OK time on the way there as well. They don't need
Michelin-starred food, and they don't need champagne bottles.
Our survey was about economy class. I think what the likes of Emirates and Singapore often do well is get to the customer service element correct.
So, that's everything from welcoming you on board and making you feel welcomed on board to when something goes wrong to something --
GIOKOS: Yes --
BOLAND: We've seen with British Airways, in particular in recent years is if something -- if there is disruption, large-scale disruption, if your
flight is delayed, and the service that people have been getting from British Airways has been poor, that's what they've told us.
And you mentioned American Airlines being bottom of our survey, I mean, the customer service story you hear from American Airways are shocking. They
really are. And so, it really does come down to airlines getting it right when something goes wrong and the airlines --
GIOKOS: Yes --
BOLAND: At the bottom of this survey aren't doing that at the moment.
GIOKOS: OK, so, it's a very competitive space. Consumers have options, they can fly into various hubs, even if it takes them longer, as long as
they're comfortable. I mean, that's the kind of sentiment that at least I hear from fellow travelers out there. How do you stay ahead in this
market? Because it's an expensive business, and you need to get as many people on the plane as possible.
BOLAND: Absolutely, and I think that is telling on some of these airlines. I mean, some of the comments we heard around British Airways directly
reference the fact that it feels like a budget airline. So, passenger sentiment is catching up with it. You know, this idea that it's a premium
flagship carrier, which it continues to insist it is the world's favorite airline.
That is no longer true anymore. And I have sympathy for British Airways, it has to compete in a very key market where there are budget airlines,
including on long haul. You know, we've seen --
GIOKOS: Yes --
BOLAND: Norwegian in that space do really well. But I feel like it has to make up its mind, either it is a budget airline, and it needs to, you know,
bring out the budget prices if that's the case or it's still a premium airline and it needs to act like a premium airline.
GIOKOS: All right, thank you so very much for your insights, and in fact, we've got -- we asked our audience -- and for those of you who voted at
cnn.com-slash-join. You say Emirates is your favorite long-haul airline, so keep your votes coming in. And when we return, the wife of Nigerian
journalist Omoyele Sowore says her husband has been detained by the government and kept in isolation for 139 days. She's calling on the United
Nations for help.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:45:00]
GIOKOS: All right, so welcome back. Now, the wife of detained Nigerian journalist Omoyele Sowore is calling on the U.N. to help free her husband.
Sowore has been in custody of Nigeria's Security Forces since August after being charged with treason for organizing a protest against the government.
He was re-arrested earlier this month despite two court orders granting him bail. Sowore's case has drawn attention to the issue of press freedom in
Nigeria. The country was listed on the committee to project -- protect rather, journalists global impunity index this year. My colleague Zain
Asher spoke with Sowore's wife Opeyemi earlier. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OPEYEMI SOWORE, WIFE OF OMOYELE SOWORE: What is really scary about this case is the fact that the Nigerian government has shown a high level of
lawlessness and a real disregard for the rule of law. So, there are two outstanding court orders within Nigeria from two separate judges where they
have actually released Yele on bail.
And the Nigerian government is currently ignoring those court orders and still continues to maintain him. So, again he has been kept in isolation
for 139 days.
ZAIN ASHER, CNN: So the court orders have been completely ignored. Now, for people who are watching this around the world who know nothing or very
little about Nigeria, what do you think your husband's case tells them about the Nigerian justice system and about freedom of expression in that
country?
SOWORE: I think Yele's case is a perfect example of just the fact that the civic space in Nigeria is closing. He is one of many journalists, many
activists who are currently being detained. He's currently one of many who have been named prisoners of conscience. Both religious leaders,
journalists, as well as politicians.
So, the Nigerian government actually recently introduced two new bills. One is a social media bill, and the second one is a hate speech bill where
it's actually punishable by death. So, these are bills that will make it possible for the Nigerian government to punish dissent legally within
Nigeria.
ASHER: Incredible, and it does say a lot about rule of law in that country, and about freedom of expression. But just going forward, in terms
of really putting pressure on the Nigerian government to release your husband, we know that in the U.S., Senator Cory Booker, Senator Bob
Menendez have both spoken out. But beyond just tweeting about this case, beyond just sort of issuing statements, what more can the U.S. do in
practical terms, and I guess other countries around the world to make sure that Yele comes home?
SOWORE: First of all, I want to say that I am truly grateful to Menendez and Booker and Chuck Schumer, all the different senators who have spoken
out as well as the representatives. Our local Congressman, Representative Josh Gottheimer just recently nominated Yele for the Tom
Lantos Human Rights Freedom's project to be a prisoner of conscience.
There are a lot of activity to continue to drive awareness and hopefully start the dialogue to help Yele to be released. But I would say, one voice
that is really critical in terms of putting pressure and raising awareness on what's happening to my husband is the U.N. So, my hope is that the U.N.
is able to speak up and help bring my husband home safely to me and our children.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: In the months following Omoyele Sowore's arrest, the staff of his U.S.-based sites Sahara Reporters say their Nigerian bank account was
frozen without notice. They told the committee to protect journalists that this happened in October, hurting their operations.
[15:50:00]
All right, so let's switch gears now, and the force is strong with Disney, its new film "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" is set to take the company
past the billion dollar mark yet again, stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GIOKOS: "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" looks destined to deliver Disney a $7 billion Box Office this year despite the weak reviews. The
latest addition to the "Star Wars" saga made $14 million last night. It was the fifth highest grossing busy night ever. The film caps an amazing
year for Disney. Shares up 35 percent over the past 12 months. Frank Pallotta joins me. Now, Frank, you've seen it twice?
FRANK PALLOTTA, CNN BUSINESS MEDIA WRITER: I've seen it twice. It's added a press screening, I saw it with a crowd last night, it's an enjoyable
movie. Is it a good movie? That's up for debate. But in terms of having a fun --
GIOKOS: Yes --
PALLOTTA: Two and a two half hours, it's a good movie. And I think it's a nice conclusion. I said it was a satisfying conclusion to a trilogy I very
much enjoyed. And it looks like it's going to have a nice weekend.
GIOKOS: Yes, and first -- I mean, looking, these numbers just with us tonight, incredible. But is it a money-making movie? And are we going to
see it hit the $1 billion mark?
PALLOTTA: I think so. I think it has -- I mean, it's on tracks, so it would be kind of disappointing if it doesn't which is kind of odd to say,
like, you know, Disney has had $6 billion movies in 2019, and if it doesn't get to 7, it's a disappointment, no. I think -- I think it has a shot at
it. I think it's on track this weekend in North America to have around $190 million to about $200 million. Disney is being more conservative, it
says about 160. But it's going to land somewhere in there, it's hard to tell, we don't really know until probably when we get to Sunday.
GIOKOS: So, bad reviews leading, you know, up to this. And you're saying, yes, look, it's not the best movie you've seen --
PALLOTTA: Great --
GIOKOS: Coming through on this. But what are the fans going to think? Because you've got loyalists that are going to go and watch this.
PALLOTTA: So, here is the fun thing. If you go to Rotten Tomatoes which is the review site, on one side you have the critical score which is about
58 percent, 60 percent. And then on the other side, you have the audience score which is closer to 90 percent.
GIOKOS: Yes --
PALLOTTA: So, again, very much kind of like last Jedi which was the last sequel in 2017. That was the critical score, it was really high and the
audience score was really low. So, it'd be like we really aren't talking to one another, another divisive thing in America right now is "Star Wars"
somehow. So, it's funny if you think about -- but in terms of the Box Office --
GIOKOS: Do you have "Star Wars" fatigue?
PALLOTTA: Do I?
GIOKOS: Yes.
PALLOTTA: Yes. I love this series, I think it's really fun. I remember in 2015, it was one of the most exciting things ever to go to "Force
Awakens" in the premiere and cover it for CNN and all that stuff. But it's been a lot of movies in a short amount of time.
[15:55:00]
But that being said, I'm really excited to kind of change the pace of "Star Wars" because if you go watch "The Mandalorian" on Disney Plus, it's a
really fun series with Baby Yoda, it's really cute and slow stakes, the galaxy is not up for grabs, it's fun. The series is supposed to be fun. I
want to scream that online. It's supposed to be a good time, if you don't like it, fine, if you love it, fine. Just go and enjoy it, there's worst
ways you could spend two and a half hours.
GIOKOS: It sounds like you need to go on holiday.
PALLOTTA: Yes, I need to -- myself, I need to go onto a galaxy far away --
GIOKOS: That's what you're doing --
PALLOTTA: And have like a mojito, a Chewbacca and R2-D2 and be left alone. Frank is tired, ladies and gentlemen.
GIOKOS: Yes, too many movies, it seems. But I think you need a break, I never thought I'd say that to anybody.
PALLOTTA: I never thought I'd hear it.
GIOKOS: All right, thanks, Frank, really good to see you, thanks for joining me.
PALLOTTA: May the force with be you.
GIOKOS: All of us, absolutely. Never mind "The Rise of Skywalker", the rise of stocks is the main event on Wall Street. We'll have the closing
bell and the final numbers in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GIOKOS: All right, so we have a few minutes left on trade on Wall Street. And the Dow is up around 100 points, it's set to close at its fourth record
of the week. As you can see, we're up 0.3 of a percent on the Dow. The Nasdaq and the S&P also sitting to the good, the Nasdaq hitting a level
that we've never seen before in a very long time.
So, you're just seeing so much before in positivity coming through on the markets heading into the closing of the year. And it's an interesting time
we've got markets at record high, we've got economic data that's hitting the lights out as well. Let's take a look at all these stocks that are
pushing the markets forward. Boeing and the likes of Nike are laggards on the Dow.
They've been pushing down quite heavily. Nike came out with some bad numbers that market participants didn't like. And of course, those
negative earnings spilled over into today's session as well. European markets ended the week higher, shares in Italy got a boost after Moody's
raised its outlook to positive for the country's biggest utility.
And now, London's FTSE 100 close slightly higher as no-deal Brexit fears eased. And that's QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, I'm Eleni Giokos with "THE LEAD"
and Jake Tapper starts now. What? Guys, what's going on? Thank you, it's my --
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END
