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Quest Means Business

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson Is Out Of Intensive Care; Fed Unleashes $2.3 Trillion In New Loans As U.S. Job Losses Mount; OPEC And Russia Hold Emergency Talks On Oil Output. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired April 09, 2020 - 15:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[15:00:36]

RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS ANCHOR: An hour to go before the closing bell, 60 minutes of trade.

The last hour of the midweek session and the Dow is pushing 24,000. We've given up a lot of the gains of the day by all means, off the top of the

day, but still an impressive performance.

If you want to understand why, well, these are the markets and these are the reasons why.

The Fed is offering another $2.3 trillion in lending and guarantees, and it's warning against opening the economy too quickly ahead of Easter.

Millions more people join the jobless list in the United States, 6.6 million in the unemployment claims -- 16 million overall.

And OPEC is in a meeting as we speak. There is the possibility of a deal between Russia and Saudi Arabia. We will talk to the head of a Russian

sovereign fund about why and what Russia wants.

We are live in the world's financial capital, New York City. It is Thursday. It is the 9th of April. I'm Richard Quest, and of course, I mean

business.

Good evening to you. We start with breaking news out of the United Kingdom. The British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, is out of intensive care. The

announcement came a short while ago. He was diagnosed with COVID-19 just 19 weeks ago. There you see when he was applauding caring for workers. Downing

Street now says he is in the early phase of recovery.

And at this moment in London, all across the United Kingdom. There you are, let's listen in.

The Foreign Secretary who is deputizing for the Prime Minister, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, this has become a tradition every night in the

United Kingdom. It is clapping for the carers.

Then it also happens here in New York and I'm sure in many other cities around the world, appreciating and applauding those in the caring and the

first responders.

As you can see across the country, there in the U.K., across the city, people stopping to make their views known. A glorious view of London in the

early evening.

Bianca is with me. Bianca Nobilo is with me. So the Prime Minister is out of intensive care, early stages of the recovery. Do we have any more

information than that?

BIANCA NOBILO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We are not getting a huge amount of information, we know that he is now in extremely good spirits. The line of

the last three days was that he was in good spirits, so that's an improvement as far as his overall condition goes.

We knew that he had been sitting up, engaging with staff over the past few days, but he is now out of the ICU after 72 hours, back in the regular

recovery unit. And the Downing Street team were keen to underscore the fact that this is the early stage of his recovery.

So things are going to have to be taken step by step. We learned today that Dominic Raab who is standing in for Boris Johnson hadn't been in touch with

the Prime Minister, as you may well expect since he's been in hospital on Sunday.

So I would imagine that would continue as the Prime Minister continues to heal and gets the recovery time that he needs after being diagnosed

positive with coronavirus.

And Richard, you were referencing the clapping for the N.H.S. and the frontline carers in the United Kingdom, and just before you came to us,

actually lots of car horns were tooting everybody on the road that was driving at that moment, they were making their support and appreciation of

the healthcare services known to as well as us here obviously.

QUEST: Bianca, Bianca, thank you. Bianca Nobilo with that story.

Now to tonight's business and economic agenda, where we are going to bring you up-to-date and give you the news that -- the business news you need to

understand what's happening in this crisis and how you can make the best decisions possible.

Three pivotal meetings taking place. They are trying to find an agreement. The three meetings are firstly, the U.S. Senate is meeting. It is looking

and trying to examine more small business relief.

Now, the two major political parties -- the Democrats and the Republicans - - disagree on the wherewithal to do this at the same time as there is this Main Street program we'll talk about in just a moment.

[15:05:09]

QUEST: The Euro Group, the stimulus talks there are in a second day. The Italian Prime Minister has warned starkly that a failure to agree and to

act could mean the end of the E.U. as we know it.

And OPEC is meeting underway, Russia and Saudi Arabia are trying to end that price war, trying really to understand why they ever got into that in

the first place.

At the same time, the Fed has unleashed the $2.3 trillion worth of lending. It comes in several programs, all designed for either small businesses,

those over 500 employees, and the Fed will make funds available, backed by the loans that are being given out.

Also the Payroll Protection Plan. That's the plan that's in place for other businesses, more money will be lent for this. The head of the Fed, the

Chair of the Fed was quite clear what their role was.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEROME POWELL, FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIRMAN: When the virus does run its course and it's safe to go back to work and safe for businesses to open, then we

would expect there to be a fairly quick rebound as people do go back to work and start resuming normal levels of economic activity.

We need to have a plan, nationally, for reopening the economy and what we all want to happen as quickly as possible, we all want to avoid a false

start where we will partially reopen and that results in a spike in coronavirus cases and then we have to go back again, to go to square one.

We all want to avoid that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: So it is Central Banks that are effectively doing the heavy lifting. Even when governments are spending the money, the Central Banks are the

ones that are standing underneath propping the whole thing up.

The only game in town we always used to say, never has not been more true than at the moment. Take a look.

The Bank of England -- well, first of all, you have the U.S. -- in the U.S., the United States, this $2.3 trillion plan. Jay Powell says no end to

Fed support.

In the Bank of England, they will now fund directly U.K. government spending. It will not be done through the secondary bond market as

traditional QE is done. Instead, the Bank of England will transfer the money straight to the Treasury. This is highly, highly unusual. It was done

for a short period during the crisis.

And in Europe, the E.C.B., well, Christine Lagarde has promised no limits despite the latest minutes of the last meeting, showing reservations by the

Council.

Andrew Hollenhorst is Citi's Chief U.S. Economist. He joins me through Short Hills in New Jersey. Let's do the U.S. job numbers first. We're not

surprised. It's horrible. They are awful, but they were expected.

Do you think on the jobless numbers, this is as bad as it gets, in terms of weekly claims?

ANDREW HOLLENHORST, CHIEF U.S. ECONOMIST, CITI: I really hope that this is as bad as it gets. What we've seen over the last three weeks is about 16

million new unemployed Americans. That's about 10 percent of the labor force.

So you add that to where we were on unemployment, three and a half percent, add 10 percent, we're at a number around 13.5 percent just looking at the

unemployed so far.

So we're starting to see more. We know that the claims system has been taxed in various states, so that's going to continue over the next few

weeks.

But I really am hopeful that we've seen the peak in terms of the number of claims in any given week.

QUEST: If we haven't, I mean, I've seen some suggestions, saying U.S. unemployment could go to 20 percent. Now, look, whilst that is terrible,

the really important number is after the crisis, what is the underlying unemployment level after people are reemployed?

What's your forecast for the end of the year when people have had -- they've got their jobs back? Where will it come back to, do you think?

HOLLENHORST: So, we're really hopeful that we could see a number six or seven percent by the end of this year, which seems a long way away right

now. I think the hope is that everything you were just talking about, the fiscal stimulus, the various programs that are being rolled out by the Fed,

that's going to create a bridge over this period of disruption.

And many of these employees, restaurant employees, for instance, who are losing their jobs, we are hoping it's a temporary job loss. These programs

are there to support individuals, support businesses, and we can see not quite as dramatic, but a similarly dramatic rehiring in a few months as the

economy starts reopening.

QUEST: How far are you able to quantify the number of businesses that won't come back? So like how long is the piece of string? Because you won't know

until it's happened.

But for those businesses that either haven't been able to get lending through the government schemes or simply can't make it, what do you think

it will be as a percentage?

[15:10:17]

HOLLENHORST: Yes, it's a big concern, and you know that it's going to be a non-trivial percentage. So those programs are there, the Paycheck

Protection Program is there. We hope the small businesses are using that. We've seen $100 billion or so in loans that have been approved so far for

that program alone and we know that that can help many small businesses.

But if you just look around your neighborhood, your metro area, there are certainly restaurants, there are certainly businesses that are shutting

down that won't reopen. And we know there are probably some retailers also, maybe some traffic that was migrating away from retail stores from brick

and mortar stores towards online and this could accelerate that.

So I think it's very premature and very early to quantify it with a percentage, but we know that percentage is significant and that's why, even

in this kind of optimistic scenario where we have a pretty strong bounce back, you're still left with some residual damage.

QUEST: What do you make of these plans that the Fed is putting in place? We have the two more traditional ones, the long -- the large lending

facilities. We've now got a municipal lending facility. We've got the PPP bond collateralized facility, and now we've got the Main Street lending

facility.

Now, the Fed Chair was at pains to point out, these are lending facilities, not spending facilities, and they have their head that got attached, too,

but is there a limit in your view to what the Fed can lend?

HOLLENHORST: That is what's unique about the Fed. In a very basic theoretical sense, the firepower of the Fed is unlimited. It creates

currency. It creates lending capacity, and that's why you see Central Banks so aggressive here because this sharp extreme drop that we're experiencing

in the real economy needs to be responded to with a sharp and large offsetting fiscal or monetary response, and you can get that very quickly

with monetary policy.

And that's why you're seeing the Fed increasing the size of these facilities, going further out the credit spectrum than we've seen before.

So doing things like creating facilities that purchase corporate debt, like you were referencing that lend to Main Street.

This is really unprecedented territory for the Fed, but like you heard from Chair Powell earlier today, this is the direction that the Fed feels that

needs to go, and this is why you have the ability for the Fed and other Central Banks to unveil these programs in unusual circumstances like today.

QUEST: Andrew, good to see you. Andrew, thank you.

HOLLENHORST: Thank you.

QUEST: The U.S. economy, the job numbers we've been talking about -- thank you, sir -- that we've been talking about, the 6.6 million jobless. Now,

it's roughly 17 million give or take when you actually look at the chart number, 11 percent of the workforce.

Julia is with me. Julia, we've talked quite a bit about the jobless number. I'd like to just focus our chat here, obviously, on the markets and why the

market is up, but also the bank -- what do you think? I'm curious.

The Bank of England is doing direct monetary financing of the British government. The E.C.B. is on a very thin ice. The Euro Group can't decide.

Meanwhile, the Fed has turned on the printing press into overdrive, and the markets are up. What are you making of it all?

JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN BUSINESS ANCHOR, "FIRST MOVE": I can't even give you a word for what the Federal Reserve announced today. I'm not saying it's

not required because I've been the person that's been coming on your show on a daily basis and saying how desperately worried I am about things that

we can't even see going on.

This was the Federal Reserve even saying, look, to the weakest companies in America, we will support you at this moment. It's a measure of how worried

they were.

They're also buying Congress time, I think, to take action. And I think your point about this is lending. This money has to be paid back at some

point versus spending in the hope that, particularly for small businesses in this country, a lot of the money will be forgiven, and that's a critical

factor, I think here.

But I'll just take a quote from the Global Chief Investment Officer in Guggenheim because he tweeted this Scott Minerd, he said, "The Fed has made

it clear it will not tolerate prudent and responsible investing," i.e. the fundamentals almost don't matter here in the face of this wall -- tsunami -

- of cash being thrown at the system.

QUEST: But, but listening to what Andrew was just saying then, will do the trick? Because, yes, the Bank of England, the E.C.B. and the Fed have

unlimited resources, we know they do. They can spend until the cows come home.

But will it be enough to create that environment of confidence that's been sought?

[15:15:11]

CHATTERLEY: They can lend until the cows come home, not spend. That's what governments do and that's a critical issue. But I mean, there's so many

differences here. The medical service, the blanket medical service that we've got in the U.K., for example.

The state of the different economies and the weaknesses coming into this and the underlying fragilities that have been exposed in the United States,

I think in particular.

What I will take away from Jay Powell, he said, there needs to be a plan to restart. You can't separate the stimulus from the science here and no

business mind that I've spoken to, Richard, thinks we can do this properly without testing, without tracing, so I still don't know what restart looks

like.

QUEST: Julia, finally, we've never seen anything -- we've both been covering business news for more than a week or two, and neither of us have

ever seen anything like it. What do you make of it? I mean, at the end of the day, how are you holding up covering it all?

CHATTERLEY: I find myself -- that's an interesting question -- I find myself desperately worried and I have to try and separate the emotion,

whether it's care about people around me, my family, those kind of emotions from the economic damage that I can see being wrought by a health crisis.

And you and I have been having this conversation for a long time, the fear, actually the lives put in peril as a result of the actions that we're

taking to suppress the health crisis and dwarfing the lives that we're trying to save and there's no choice here. We have to do it.

But management, top-down management is required in order to protect as many lives as we can; and in certain countries, I am just not sure we're seeing

enough.

QUEST: Julia, that's absolutely true. You'll find it -- one thing never changes, Julia, my clumsiness. Now, the smart viewer will notice that I've

now just managed to pour my glass of drink all the way down over me to try and -- I was having a bit of a tickle in the throat and well, what can I

say, Julia.

CHATTERLEY: Nice flower there, as well. Something else that would never change our friendship, Richard.

QUEST: Absolutely. Thank you. Julia Chatterley. I promise you if it doesn't dry in the next 15 minutes, I'll go and change my jacket. One of the

advantages, there are a few advantages to being at home. This is one of them, that I can go and change my jacket.

And when we come back in just a moment, well, OPEC is talking to Russia. Saudi is talking to Russia. The issue is whether the two can reach an

agreement or is this price war between Saudi and Russia going to continue to rumble on.

We'll talk about that. Some things that have changed arguably, after the break. It's

QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:20:43]

QUEST: OPEC and Russia have been holding meetings and they've come to an agreement, it's believed.

John Defterios joins me from Abu Dhabi. What are the terms of this agreement between Russia and OPEC?

JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN BUSINESS EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: Well, Richard, it is still being worked out because we're five hours into the meeting. But it's

-- let's put it this way, it's a record glut that needs a record cut and that's what's on the table here.

We're looking at a range between 10 million barrels, perhaps even higher for May and June, but the market seems very unimpressed. We've had a 10

percent swing in the last hour of trading and we're now below the line.

This is the formula here, go for May and June with a deeper cut, come back a little bit, but staircase lower to the end of 2020, perhaps with a cut of

eight million barrels a day, and then get this, Richard, this proposal is on the table of a cut of six million barrels a day through April 2022.

That's a proposal from Saudi Arabia.

So what's the motive here? It's a glut of about two billion barrels by the end of the year. We see estimates that demand has dropped by up to 30

million barrels, if not more right now. So it requires a sort of action.

So this is the OPEC Alliance, the 23 producers, they invited 12 others and their hope is to get five million barrels of cuts at the G-20 Energy

Meeting that's taking place tomorrow.

They've been at it for five hours, as I was suggesting. They're not done yet. But we know the two major producers, Russia and Saudi Arabia will cut

at least 20 percent on their output from a level of 11.3 million barrels a day. So they've averaged out that production in the first quarter.

Amazing that the market doesn't think this is enough because of the coronavirus.

QUEST: And where does the U.S. fit into all of this because there's no love lost between OPEC and Russia and the US. And yet the US production, of

course, which President Trump is concerned about could collapse without a deal.

DEFTERIOS: Well, Richard, this is complex, but let's lay it out as it is right now. President Trump has constantly pushed this message of the

automatic cuts because of the CapEx spending that's been announced in the shale basins and even by the major oil companies of the United States.

He says that should be enough. It's estimated at one million barrels this year, another million or 1.5 in 2021. But steadfastly, President Putin of

Russia has said you cannot go with that formula and expect the OPEC players to carry the burden -- the OPEC Plus players. That's the giant elephant in

this virtual meeting room as we speak.

At the same time, there's been more pressure, Richard, applied on the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia coming from Capitol Hill with yet another letter

overnight from nearly 50 congressmen and women saying you're the Chair of the G-20.

You're going to assemble this meeting. You're an ally of the United States. We backed you in Iran. We sell weapons to you. You need to come with a

solution.

I think that's why Saudi Arabia and Abdulaziz bin Salman has insisted on trying to get a deal here to 2022. It has been held up by Mexico not

agreeing with this. We don't know what Canada, Brazil and what the U.S. is going to offer.

We do know, Richard, the final point here, the U.S. Energy Secretary says he cannot mandate the oil producers to cut. So this is going to be a thorn

in the side of Vladimir Putin.

QUEST: That you know, John, I keep banging on about whenever we talk about oil. That is the difference between the U.S. and OPEC and even Russia to

some extent. The U.S. cannot instruct and accept.

All right, John Defterios, thank you. Kirill Dmitriev is with me. He will be with me in a moment or two. He is in a Russian direct investment fund.

We've just lost the line to him. We will be talking to him on that particular aspect.

And a quick look at the markets before we take a break. Why not? It's always good to see exactly where we stand. We're off the highs of the day,

but the market is still encouraged and looking better than it was, 24,000 is still some way off.

The rest of the day actually is in the S&P. The NASDAQ is lagging behind. Its QUEST MEANS BUSINESS live from my living room.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:28:04]

QUEST: Now there's a lot more QUEST MEANS BUSINESS to come in just a moment. We're going to hear from the hotel CEO of the Accor Group, giant

hotel company, and we'll find out how they are performing.

And it's no laughing matter the crisis, of course, but the Comedy Club -- well, we'll be talking to the Comedy Club owner who's had to furlough all

of his staff, and his best hope, of course is money that comes from the various government responses. He will be joining us as part of the Voice of

the Crisis.

Let me remind you, lest you need it, this is CNN and on this network, the facts always come first.

A new study says the coronavirus lockdowns should not be fully lifted until a vaccine is found. It says premature lifting could cause a sweeping second

wave of infections. The study was published in the medical journal, "The Lancet." And it comes out as some European countries are considering easing

restrictions.

The British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is now out of intensive care. Downing Street says he has been moved back into the ward of a London

hospital. He will be closely monitored during the early phase of his recovery.

Mr. Johnson tested positive for the virus almost two weeks ago.

Italy is warning it could be the end of Europe if the E.U. doesn't approve a rescue package for battered economists. The Prime Minister of Italy,

Giuseppe Conte is calling for a jointly issued debt as euro bonds to finance emergency measures.

The German Chancellor Angela Merkel has ruled this out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANGELA MERKEL, GERMAN CHANCELLOR (through translator): You know, I don't believe in mutual responsibility in the current state of our political

union, and that is why we are rejecting that. But there are many other ways to show solidarity and I think we can find good solutions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[15:30:00]

RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: So, to the potential agreement between Russia and the -- and OPEC, Kirill Dmitriev is now with me. He is

the head of the sovereign wealth fund, the Russia Direct Investment Fund, and one of the lead negotiators for Russia. So, what's been the goal here?

How did we get into this mess? That right in a crisis, a terrible crisis, Russia and OPEC and Saudi particularly, were arguing, what are you hoping

to come out of this?

KIRILL DMITRIEV, CEO, RUSSIA DIRECT INVESTMENT FUND (via Skype): Well, I think the goal now is market stability. And I think agreements that is

evolving today and lots of progress has been made today is very important, because we have agreed to reduce production for Russia, for Saudi Arabia,

for OPEC countries, and we expect other countries to join. And I think it's an example of how Russia, Saudi Arabia, actually the U.S. and many other

nations can work with together to stabilize the market, which obviously had a huge demand shock and needs to be stabilized.

QUEST: Well, you say it's an example of how you can work together. But surely it's exactly the opposite. Because first of all, this nasty

disagreement with Russia and Saudi Arabia ever took place at the beginning of the crisis. And secondly, there have been numerous meetings that have

failed to reach agreement. So, what suddenly made everybody come to their senses?

DMITRIEV: Well, first of all, Richard, we have huge success with Saudi Arabia in the previous OPEC plus deal that really stabilized the oil price

market. And I think now, it was just different estimation how much Coronavirus affects the market and basically there was some difference in

the position. But I think now when we understand that the demand really got reduced significantly by Coronavirus, there is a joint effort by Russia,

Saudi Arabia, OPEC Plus nations, and other nations.

We expect Maybe Canada, Brazil, other nations to join this agreement to stabilize the market. Lots of jobs at stake. In the U.S., it's about 10

million jobs in the oil and gas industry. So really, we have our disagreements past us and we are moving forward to stabilize the market

with many nations who never participated in those kinds of agreements before.

QUEST: I understand the absolute significance of stability in this particular market. But as you look forward, and please god, there's an

element of normality that comes back to us. I can see that it won't be long before there will be disagreements over who gets the right to add more oil

to the market when that time comes.

DMITRIEV: Well, and that's why what we're hearing today from the discussions, it's very important that the agreement that has been hammered

out today is really a longer-term agreement. It's lasts for around two years, maybe more. And I think there is a clear alignment to understand

that, you know, we need to be together while economy is going through recovery from Coronavirus effect. So this is specifically why is the

agreement is longer than one year, and this is why many countries are committing to it.

QUEST: Well, the situation in Russia and in Moscow, we hear that the situation in Moscow could be as bad as it is, say, in New York or London,

or could be in the fullness of time, is that your understanding, too?

DMITRIEV: Well, first of all, government really took very active measures on social distancing. So, you know, lots of people at home, you know, I'm

obviously at home, and this really slowed down the virus in Russia. So, we are hoping for the best, we are preparing for some, you know, challenges,

but Russia is well-poised to deal with this crisis, but definitely we expect that the peak is coming in several weeks. And our healthcare system

is really preparing for this. It's obviously a huge challenge for the world and for Russia, as well.

QUEST: Kirill, keep yourself and your family well, please, and we'll talk more as this continues. We're always glad that you're getting --

DMITRIEV: Thanks, Richard.

QUEST: -- an insight into what's happening in the -- in the Russian economy and Russian business. Thank you. QUEST MEANS BUSINESS continues in just a

moment. We'll turn to South Africa. The President has just spoken to the people. He's extended the lockdown. Our correspondent Eleni will be with me

after the break. South Africa, of course, and the whole Sub-Saharan Africa threatens to bear the brunt of this in a way like no developed economic

economy will do so, in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:35:00]

QUEST: One of the most important things that we can do on this program is bring you the voices of chief executives who are at the coalface in many

ways, and there's no sector of the economy that's more hit, perhaps at the moment, than the hospitality industry, airlines hospitality, transportation

and health care. With me is the chief executive of Accor Hotel Sebastien Bazin. Accor, a giant French group, of course. Sebastien is with me to talk

about this. Good to have you, sir. Thank you for taking time. And first of all, the -- I mean, of the thousands of the hotels that -- of the hotels

that you've got, 5,000, how are you managing? How many of them are even open?

SEBASTIEN BAZIN, CHAIRMAN & CEO, ACCOR: Well, not enough. We have today 3,000 hotels being closed, which is almost 80 percent. And unfortunately,

every day passing, I'm closing another 100.

QUEST: When you close them, they're in different countries, different jurisdictions, which have, of course, different national policies about

furloughs and government support. What's the company's policy here?

BAZIN: Well, our company policy has been extremely clear, is you're absolutely correct, Richard, we operate in 110 countries. So, we have a

vast different set of legislation between what's happening in France to what's happening in Laos, or in Chile, or in Dubai, for that matter. So,

what we decided is, you're correct, was in the most difficult decision I've made in exactly five days between the 22nd and the 27th of March, is

realizing that I went in 10 days from 20 countries out of 100 being in confinement. To 10 days later, 70 countries, today 90 countries in

confinement, lockdown, i.e. no traffic, and no necessity to actually have the hotel open.

So, over the same seven days, we had to look after all the general manager of all the hotels on the planet, talk to the country head, talk to

basically the social people to make sure they understand full transparency share with them, the back of what we facing, and them to basically accept

the furlough. And what we decided to do is since a lot of them will go from 100 percent paid to 20 percent paycheck because of the current legislation

is not too kind to them as opposed to Paris which is 90 percent.

Decided to actually make sure the company itself, Accor will have 70 million euros set aside from the dividend precisely to make sure that

nobody is being vastly harmed individually basis and that 100 percent of my 200,000 people being furloughed, each of them, wherever they are, will have

access to hospital in case being hit by the COVID. And will have enough to basically pay for food for the family, even though the national government

doesn't pay for it.

[15:40:14]

QUEST: What do you think the normal looks like towards the end of the year? As we start to reopen again, obviously, you've got a group of people who

are planning for what it will look like. What are those plans? What do they tell you?

BAZIN: Well, the plan is -- it is two sets of plan. There's a plan for the next 60 days in which I know it's going to be extraordinarily difficult

until the pandemic is under control in all the different continent. The other set of plan, of course, is one you being very cautious and very kind,

human, and caring for everybody. You have to prepare for the rebound because you're going to have blue sky coming your way, you just don't know

when. So, when we're going to be reopening, my guesstimate is you're going to see more people closer to home, basically staying within their own

country and finally visiting people to France -- visiting France as opposed to go to Spain or Greece. And France has many wonders. So, does many other

countries.

QUEST: Do you -- but I guess, I'm trying to (INAUDIBLE) do you imagine that the Accor of 2021 and 2022 will be much smaller than the company is with

number of hotels is today?

BAZIN: Answer is no, no, no, the company will be bigger in 2021 and bigger in 2022. We still signing a lot of hotels to be up, and even this year, we

signed over the last three months, 8,000 more rooms in the worst-ever market environment. So count on me and count on Accor. Accor is growing.

We're going to go through this crisis, as tough as it is, it's not going to stop the hotel tourism industry to grow, nor it would stop all the main

operators like Accor and my peers in America. Don't bet against our industry. Our industry is a formidable industry.

QUEST: Formidable, and we will talk to you as this continues, sir. Appreciative of you giving me time. Thank you, sir. Today now we turn our

attention to South Africa where the lockdown is now extended by another two weeks. The president there, President Ramaphosa has asked businesses to

keep paying staff the World Bank, as you'll be well aware, says Sub-Saharan Africa will have a recession, the first in 25 years. Eleni Giokos is with

us. She is the correspondent in Johannesburg. And Ramaphosa says businesses to keep paying staff, he asked them to, with what, I might ask, with what?

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, you know, it was so interesting because it was -- he was employing businesses to do what

they can to keep paying suppliers and to keep paying staff, so that there isn't a domino effect in the economy. He's also saying to businesses, they

should not resort to -- try not to resort to forced measure because he says this is going to have a detrimental impact on the economy. And this was

with -- that's quite interesting, Richard, because he's basically asking everyone to dig deep in their pockets to help as much as possible.

And then, he said, Look, even senior government officials are going to be taking a pay cut to third for the next three months. He asked business

executives to do the same. So, saying everyone needs to pull together to, of course, get through this for the next now, three weeks best cancel the

end of April is what we've seen a total of five weeks, Richard, it's a really long time to lockdown the economy.

QUEST: The situation is dire in Africa or promises to be in the not too distant future. And the World Bank is talking about the huge number of job

losses that will take place, from your anecdotal evidence, from what you're hearing from business leaders, what do they say? What's the reality, not

the numbers?

GIOKOS: Yes, I mean, look, when you look at COVID-19 cases on the continents, now over 11,400 cases, the fear here, Richard, is that it's

going to get out of control. The good thing is that you've had lockdowns occurring across the board. Now, the worry is that there aren't enough

screening tests that are occurring. So you don't really know how widespread infection rates are across the board. Business leaders are saying, we need

to have this lockdown, because it's good overall. But that does mean to the detriment of economic growth, that means that we won't be able to pay

people.

But remember that Africa's economy is really reliant on the informal sector, around 90 percent of jobs are reliant on the informal sector. So,

it's the small guys, the small businesses, the small to medium-sized enterprises that are the lifeblood. The World Bank is saying, first time

that we're going to see a recession in 25 years, also saying debt relief, and cutting back on the debt on in Africa is going to be important in

trying to create fiscal space to throw money at this, remember The U.S., Europe, and China able to spend their way out of this crisis. African

economies can't.

[15:45:06]

QUEST: All right. Eleni, Eleni Giokos joining us from Johannesburg. And thank you for that. When we come back, we always say that humor is the best

way forward. Her Majesty the Queen talked about good humor resolve (INAUDIBLE) that but what about a bit of raucous laughter, there'll be none

from this particular comedy club. After the break, the "VOICE OF THE CRISIS," the comedy club that's closed its doors.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: To our "VOICE OF THE CRISIS" tonight, an industry that normally cheers us all up and gives us a lift. Well, tonight we're focusing on Bark

Entertainment. Now, Bark Entertainment is a comedy club. They have four clubs and they've closed them all and had to furlough all the staff. It's

run by Adam Norwest who runs it with his wife. You can have comedy even in a crisis. Comedy -- here he is performing stand up in happier times.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADAM NORWEST, OWNER, BARK ENTERTAINMENT: We got engaged, they bought the ring at the mall. I figured if she was going to get a diamond, I was going

to get a (INAUDIBLE) that's only fair. Three times in less than a year, small stones in the ring fell out. The third time she called me, and was

like a diamond fell out. I was like, What are you doing to the ring? Like, we need to hire Frodo to guard it until the wedding. She's like who's

Frodo? And I was like, I can't even talk to you right now. You're making me question everything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: With me is Adam. Adam, good to have you, thank you for taking the time to join us. And joined me from the Pacific West. And look, you've had

to furlough the staff. You have got some landlords that are helping you, and others that are not. What's your biggest problem at the moment?

NORWEST: I mean, I guess my biggest problem is not knowing if we're going to be OK. We've submitted to PPP. We're apparently in underwriting but not

positive on timeframe or if it's going to happen. So, you know, I'm hoping we can -- we're going to be able to reopen and this thing doesn't go on

forever.

QUEST: And if you do get the PPP, is the plan to take on the staff -- I mean, the people can't come but you can take on the staff and you can take

them back or at least many of them back on the payroll. Is that the plan?

NORWEST: Yes, the plan is to get at least all of our managers back on staff and, you know, some of -- some of the people I had on salary before, just

try and get some projects done. I'd like to try and help out some of the part-time employees too if possible. I'm not sure. We need to figure out

how far we can stretch the money.

[15:50:13]

QUEST: Are you angry, frustrated, or just to use the phrase, "pissed off?"

NORWEST: I mean, no, I am -- I think that I'm more in disbelief. It's hard to be, you know, pissed off or angry when I see how sick people are, and

how many people are dying, so I'm healthy and happy as I can be and just trying to give my 3-year-old daughter a sense of normalcy.

QUEST: What do you consider your duty, your responsibility? I know what your duty is to your 3-year-old daughter, as a father, that much I can -- I

can easily see. What do you see as your duty and your responsibility to your staff, to your colleagues, or those who work for you?

NORWEST: I mean, I kind of see myself as their parent also, I think it's my responsibility to make sure they're OK. And so, I have employees who have

been declined unemployment and they don't know why. We started a GoFundMe for them. We gave away all of our perishable food that we had and other

food that we already had in stock to our staff. I've filled out countless paperwork and tried to help them with it. I just try to help them get to

the next step and help them feel like things are going to be OK again.

QUEST: Adam, I've been promising I'm going to visit everywhere when it's all over. I may not get to the Pacific Northwest, but let's promise that

when this is over, you'll come back on the show in better times, and tell us some jokes. Do you promise?

NORWEST: I would love to.

QUEST: We're making good progress. It's a deal. Thank you. Adam joining me from the Pacific Northwest.

NORWEST: Thanks, Richard.

QUEST: And so now to the U.S. Senate that's warning U.S. lawmakers against using Zoom for conference calls. Now, the irony here is we're all using

Zoom left, right and center. But there are security problems in relation to Zoom. It's been dogged by security concerns. You've got Zoom-bombing,

hacked by the hijackers, hack the calls. And then, Zoom is being sued for sharing user-end data with Facebook. The Zoom CFO told Julia Chatterley,

the company is now laser-focused on security.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KELLY STECKELBERG, CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER, ZOOM: And starting to see all these different usecase that we had never even contemplated before. And

thinking about features functionality, security features that these new usecases require. And that's really what we've been focused on for the last

--

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: So, what's all this about? How can the very widgets and gadget that we're all using, that's the backbone of our Zoom family meetings. How could

it be such a problem? CNN's Clare Sebastian reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Adapting to life under lockdown, one crunch at a time. For Jacqui Arce-Quinton and Jeff Quinton,

owners of two Pure Barre Workout studios in New Jersey, this was the closest they could get to business as usual with the help of Zoom.

JACQUI ARCE-QUINTON, STUDIO OWNER, PURE BARRE WORKOUT: I'm able to see all of the clients and kind of correct their form as if I were in the studio,

but also, our clients can see each other who they're typically used to taking class with. So, it keeps that community vibe.

SEBASTIAN: On March 15th, they made the difficult decision to close their studios, one of which had only opened in January, just one day before New

Jersey's governor made it mandatory. By 9:30 a.m. the next morning, they were up and running online. Revenue is limited with customers now paying

just half the usual monthly rate. They've applied for a small business loan. But these classes should make it easier to bounce back.

JEFF QUINTON, STUDIO OWNER, PURE BARRE WORKOUT: So, Zoom is definitely helping us retain clients and retain some of the business that we have.

SEBASTIAN: The importance of keeping your brand relevant during this time is something Alana Horowitz also discovered through Zoom.

ELANA HORWICH, CHEF: Because what's happening right now is little bubbles are forming around the garlic.

SEBASTIAN: The cookbook author and cookery teacher started offering free cooking classes on Zoom several weeks ago, as a good deed.

HORWICH: It's raised my social media numbers, it's brought many people to my mailing lists, it's increased my book sales.

SEBASTIAN: As huge swathes of the world's population has entered the lockdown, Zoom went from 10 million users in December to more than 200

million in March. Its market value now dwarfing the major U.S. airlines. And when so many businesses, schools, religious organizations, even a

British Government cabinet meeting or rely on the platform, security is critical. In the U.S., the FBI has warned about a rise in so-called "Zoom-

bombing" hackers dropping into meetings or school classes and displaying pornographic and/or hate images and threatening language. The New York's

Department of Education even instructed its schools to move away from Zoom in favor of Microsoft Teams.

[15:55:10]

ERIC YUAN, CEO & FOUNDER, ZOOM: We had some missteps over the past two weeks, and our intention is good and now we learn lesson and we top it

down, strip it down on privacy and security.

SEBASTIAN: Still, well, it took a global pandemic to make Zoom a household name. For some new customers, habits are forming.

HORWICH: I can imagine that once we're out of quarantine, I imagine that I would build a profitable online cooking school, so that I can teach from my

home and reach people all over the world.

Can you use a flavor (INAUDIBLE) no, you may not. Next question.

SEBASTIAN: Clare Sebastian, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: And finally, before I leave you, quick look at the markets -- a quick -- very quick look at the markets as how they're trading. This is how

we're going to end the day in just a moment when the closing bell rings in just five minutes or so. We're up across the board. Off the tops of the

day, but still not bad gains for the -- look, the Dow set for its best week again since the 1930s. Finally, e-mail me, Richard.quest@cnn.com or use

#wfhquest for your best tip for working from home. What's the best tip that you've got when it comes to working from home. Questwfh, you can even have

my e-mail, Richard.quest@cnn.com. We will be like -- we will have some videos, as well.

And that's QUEST MEANS BUSINESS for tonight, I'm Richard Quest in New York, in my living room, working from home. Whatever you're up to in the hours

ahead, I hope it's profitable. We'll be together tomorrow.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

END