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Quest Means Business

America's Biggest Companies Are Furious As The Trump Administration Puts A Freeze On New Visas For Overseas Workers; American Travelers May Be Barred From Visiting Europe Even As It Opens Its Economies To The Rest Of The World; John Bolton's Explosive Tell-All Book Released; Evacuations In Mexico City After 7.4 Quake Hits Coastline; AMC Theaters To Reopen After Doubts It Could Stay In Business; American Airlines Seeks $3.5 Billion In New Financing. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired June 23, 2020 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:15]

RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Sxity minutes before the close of trade on Wall Street and a look at the markets, they are all solidly higher

and have been for the day. The reasons why the markets are so robust, well, there's all sorts of them. But America's biggest companies are furious as

the Trump administration puts a freeze on new visas for overseas workers.

The San Francisco Fed says the bank will do whatever it can to get the U.S. economy growing again.

And England is going back to the pub. There are new measures to reopen the economy.

Live from New York, it is Tuesday, it's June 23rd. I'm Richard Quest and, yes, I mean business.

Late yesterday evening, the Trump administration introduced a suspension of a variety of foreign worker visas used by large companies. Now, today those

same companies have been crying out in protest at the decision. They've slammed the visa changes which the Trump administration not only expanded

existing restrictions on green cards until the end of the year, but introduced a whole raft of new restrictions.

Under the Executive Order announced last night, intracompany transfers, the L-1 will be suspended until the end of the year. J-1 for students will be

barred entry until next year. And, of course, the H-1B and H-2B visas for agricultural and specialty occupations, they will also be banned until --

suspended until the end of the year.

Some very minor exceptions, if you work in the food supply industry and various guest workers for agriculture, in certain circumstances. Oh, and

national security. If your work is deemed to be for national security purposes and the fight against COVID as well.

Now, the changes affect roughly 130,000 people. Those involved include mainly skilled tech workers. They include professions ranging from au pairs

to managers. And in the nature of full disclosure, even my own partner, a journalist, is going to be affected because of the L-1.

Of the countries involved, India would be most affected. It accounts for around three quarters of H-1B applications. China gets roughly 12 percent,

Canada one percent, and other countries account for less than one percent. Google's CEO, Sundar Pichai who himself moved from India to the U.S. says

he is disappointed by the decision. Facebook says the move uses the coronavirus pandemic to justify limiting immigration.

We'll talk about this, Jason Oxman is the President and CEO of the Information Technology Engine Industry Council and he joins me from

Arlington, Virginia. Joins me via Skype.

The measure was known about and rumored for several weeks. Organizations such as yourselves lobbied very hard against it. Many companies did,

including Cisco's CEO, the administration ignored you. Why?

JASON OXMAN, PRESIDENT AND CEO, INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ENGINE INDUSTRY COUNCIL: Well, it's a fair question and, Richard, thanks for having me on

to talk about this important issue.

We know that the administration has been targeting these high-skilled immigrants for months, if not years, and the COVID-19 pandemic and the need

to stimulate the U.S. economy and explain a loss of a lot of jobs here has unfortunately become an excuse for the administration to do this.

So I would say what the administration moved forward on here is something they've been trying to do for quite some time. We've opposed it. We've

continued to oppose it, and we're very disappointed to see these harmful actions taken that will have the perverse effect of harming the U.S.

economy.

QUEST: So, the argument, if you read the President's proclamation, is that a well-functioning and structured immigration policy will support the

economy. But that these visas have been abused. There is some truth in that, isn't there?

In terms of the H-1B and L-1 used where they can't get H-1Bs, there has been abuse.

OXMAN: There, in fact, has been an enormous benefit to the U.S. economy from the availability of high-tech immigrants coming to the U.S. using all

of these visas. The L-1 visa as you mentioned, for example, are simply a means for global corporations, including large technology companies, to

move employees around from different office headquarters.

[15:05:10]

OXMAN: So, for example, if a large tech company wants to start a new project here in the U.S. that may employ or bring back hundreds or

thousands of employees and the project manager for that is an executive who happens to be overseas right now and they want to bring him here to start

that project, now they can't do it because of the L-1.

That's not anything that makes any sense, in fact, it harms U.S. economic recovery. The H-1B visas that you talked about, Richard, these are visas

that are used by high-skilled immigrants who want to come make their lives here in the U.S.

QUEST: Right.

OXMAN: But about half of the largest technology companies in the U.S. were started by immigrants or children of immigrants. We are a nation of

immigrants in the United States. It's really important that we not turn our backs to these high-skilled immigrants who want to come make lives, start

companies, because entrepreneurs here in the U.S., or students who want to do the same.

They're going to turn to other countries that are going to do it and that's going to harm the U.S. economy.

QUEST: Jason, I would agree with you except for the President's point that, you know, you've got 40 million unemployed. You've got an unemployment rate

of 13 to 14 percent, now surely many of those jobs at the time will -- can now be filled certainly on the H-1Bs by Americans. The talent pool and the

job pool is much greater than it was six months ago.

OXMAN: Well, I think it's an important point to address, Richard. If we look back to the unemployment level in these high-tech areas prior to the

pandemic, back in January of this year, it was under three percent. That's really below the level at which the Federal Reserve considers full

employment.

So, in fact, there is demand, there has been demand and there will be demand for high-tech immigrants, high-skilled immigrants to come to the

U.S. and continue to fill those jobs alongside Americans. And, of course, we're talking here about the next generation of Americans.

We all once were immigrants to the United States and our families came here and started their lives and built companies here and that's what we're

looking to have happen with the high-tech industry as well.

So I think those jobs that you hear about in the proclamation, it really is an excuse that the administration has used. The authority they're seeking

to use to limit these visas requires them to make a finding in the national interest. And I think here, the finding is just not based on sound legal

ground and I think it will be successfully challenged.

QUEST: Jason Oxman, thank you.

Now, the United States could be about to face an embarrassment as the European Union bans travel from the United States. American travelers may

be barred from visiting Europe even as the E.U. opens its economies to the rest of the world.

According to two E.U. diplomats, U.S. may be on the list of excluded countries that the E.U. is deciding how to reopen borders. Fred Pleitgen is

in Berlin and with me at the moment.

Fred, so what's the idea here?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the European Union obviously, Richard, right now is looking to see whether or

not it's going to or how it's going to open up to countries from the rest of the world. They've obviously already dropped the restrictions on travel

within Europe for most countries. And now they're seeing which or people from which countries they are going to be able to let back into the area of

Schengen and then generally, of the European Union.

So the U.S., obviously, right now with the way things are going with the coronavirus is still, it seems, in quite a bit of trouble, and that's one

of the reasons why the E.U., these sources that have talked to CNN, are saying that all of this is going to depend on, as they put it, the

circulation of the virus.

And if these E.U. states deem that in the U.S., the circulation of the virus is not at a point where they believe that they can safely allow use

travelers back in, that simply isn't going to happen.

Now, we know, Richard, in the past that of course, they are going to give preferential treatment or they have to E.U. states. First affiliated

states, and then they'll look and see which other nations they will let in, particularly nations that have been dealing very well with the coronavirus.

And what I've been hearing over the past couple of weeks, the past couple of months as this pandemic has broken out is that leaders in Europe,

specifically in Germany, but other countries as well, have not necessarily been very impressed with the way that the U.S. has been dealing with the

coronavirus crisis.

In fact, there were some German politicians, top level German politicians who said in press conferences that Germany can be happy not to have the

same situation of the coronavirus that the United States has.

And Germany in particular, as you know, is a country that politically probably is one of the most similar to the political system in the United

States with a very strong federalism. And the Germans simply have been feeling that they believe that Angela Merkel's government has been dealing

a lot better with this than for instance, the Trump administration has, as Angela Merkel deals with the governors who are very strong here in Germany

and has been able to get a very concerted approach going to this.

They simply have felt that that hasn't been the same in the United States and that might be one of the reasons why the pandemic is still such a big

problem in the U.S., where you sort of feel in Germany it's starting to get under control. Of course, there are some outbreaks here still as well --

Richard.

[09:10:14]

QUEST: Fred Pleitgen. Fred, thank you. The U.S. markets are up sharply and rebounding from an overnight selloff.

Peter Navarro said the Trade Deal with China was over. Now, that took the markets lower amid great concern. He later said, the comment was taken out

of context which frankly when you see what the comment and you hear it, probably was.

Trump has also reassured the markets saying the China Trade Deal is fully intact and they'll continue to live up to the terms of their agreement. The

problem now for the markets, of course, is also worries about the coronavirus and the reopening and whether never mind a second wave, a first

wave that gets a resurgence, whatever you want to call it, the numbers are rising and that's giving great cause for concern.

The President of the Federal Reserve of San Francisco told Julia Chatterley that the Fed would do whatever it takes and remains vigilant.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARY DALY, PRESIDENT, FEDERAL RESERVE OF SAN FRANCISCO: But what I see out there is just a tremendous amount of uncertainty. The way that we have to

live right now is that the virus determines the speed at which the economy is allowed to recover.

So, we're seeing some early signs that as we lift restrictions, people go out and that's really good news. The momentum of the economy is still

there. But we could have to go back in if the virus resurges or we could have to remain socially distant and that can undermine confidence.

So, right now, there's this uncertainty. And I think both the Federal Reserve and Congress are waiting to see in the next couple of months what

happens. And then, you know, I've been impressed with what Congress has done, and I know the Federal Reserve, we're prepared do whatever we can to

ensure that we build a bridge long enough to get us over the crisis and on to economic growth.

JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN BUSINESS ANCHOR: Does doing whatever you can include having discussions about the possibility of buying equities, if necessary?

Is that debate being or has it been had?

DALY: Well, let me talk through how we actually approach this, you know, from my vantage point. So we, as you noted, we want to make sure that

financial markets work and we provide liquidity.

So we started with bond asset purchases at and then we go in and then we say, okay, what else is not working and how do we treat those? And so going

into the corporate bond market is really about ensuring that our largest businesses have the liquidity they need to fund themselves so that we don't

lose another group of jobs that we could save simply by providing liquidity.

And that's how we think about opening our facilities. So, the discussions we're having about where is the plumbing of the financial system still in

need of repair? And that's how we decide.

CHATTERLEY: So, if I infer from that, then the last thing you need to be doing right now is buying equities, given the bounce back that we've seen.

It was about making sure that plumbing in the bond market, for example, and to your point, access to liquidity for companies was the greater issue here

and that's what you tackled?

DALY: That's what we tackled, because we have -- ultimately, we are lender of last resort. We have lending powers, not spending powers. So our job is

to ensure the free flow of credit by making sure that financial markets work. That's what we focused all of our attention on.

And so far, what we're seeing is the repairs are taking place. The financial system is working in the way that we would hope and it's getting

the money to the people who need it the most, households and businesses.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: John Bolton's book is finally out. Well, we probably know the best bits of it already, but even so, there's a blistering indictment of the

Trump White House and the former national security head says that the President is not fit for office.

It gives an account of Donald Trump's meeting in Helsinki with Vladimir Putin. It also says Putin talked 90 percent of the time and was interested

in a deal involving the financier, Bill Browder.

Bill Browder joins me now. He is the founder and CEO of Hermitage Capital Management. I've read what he says about you and the way in which President

Putin tried to use you, tried to use you as a sort of a -- to get something against you from the President.

When you read the book, what did you think or that extract?

BILL BROWDER, FOUNDER AND CEO, HERMITAGE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT: Well, so the story was that in Helsinki, it was right after Mueller indicted 12 Russian

GRU officers. Trump goes to Helsinki and at the press conference, one of the journalists asked Putin, are you going to hand over the 12 GRU

officers? And Putin says, yes, we might very well, as long as Donald Trump hands over Bill Browder, me.

And so at that point, the journalists then asked Trump, well, what do you think? And he said, I think it's a great idea. And so for about four days

after that, I was wondering whether Donald Trump was going to hand me over in some kind of corrupt swap with Putin, and it wasn't until the Senate had

a vote 98 to zero not to hand me over that I was feeling a bit better.

[09:20:20]

BROWDER: So this thing that John Bolton described was a -- it sort of flushed out those sort of scary memories. But there was nothing new there,

it was just something terrible that had happened before.

QUEST: The picture painted of a President who is sometimes awed by these authoritarian wannabe dictators, some are, what do you make of it? Is this

the sort of -- is this the sort of Trump you think you know?

BROWDER: Well, you know -- so, you know, for me this was a very personal situation where you know, the entire word has sort of come to my side to

say, Vladimir Putin has been coming after me because of all of my work to get sanctions on Russia. And all of a sudden, the President of the United

States doesn't seem to be on the side of the rest of the world in this whole situation.

And so I found that to be pretty upsetting and not at all confidence building in Trump as he was ready to hand me over. Thankfully, it didn't

happen and thankfully he walked it back when he realized that it was just absolutely an outrageous thing to do.

But surely from my perspective, it's hard for me to have anything other than, you know, not feeling too good or confident about this President.

QUEST: Well, that's an interesting point, because if he gets re-elected in November and the popular view is the guardrails come off. He has got four

years and he can, you know, he can't get restarted again, at least not unless he changes the Constitution, or finds a way around that, then you

could become -- and Putin puts on pressure because Putin has found a way to remain in power, one way or the other, then Bill Browder could be in

trouble.

BROWDER: Well, I have one last bit of security, which is a pretty big bit of security, which is that I'm a British citizen. I live in the U.K. and

I've lived in the U.K. for 30 years, and so he doesn't actually have the authority to hand me over.

But, yes, you're right. I mean, as far as other Russian policies go, everything is on table. I mean, look, Trump wanted to invite Russia back

into the G-8. No other member of what's now the G-7 wanted to do that, but Trump wanted to.

Trump gave up American bases in Northeast Syria and the Russians took over the bases immediately and we sacrificed the Kurds. And so, there's a lot of

situation where Putin is winning right now, and a lot of people who are sort of focused on Russia are worried about what else could happen.

And so, yes, that's a very real risk that we're all sitting here thinking about.

QUEST: If you look at the way economies have been battered because of coronavirus and yet you look at the way the markets, because obviously

first and foremost of course you understand what's happening out there in market land, can you reconcile markets recovery with the fact that economic

uncertainty still remains so intense?

BROWDER: Well, I think that you answered that question with your previous guests, which is the economic -- the markets are not trading on the basis

of economics right now. The markets are trading on the basis of money, of liquidity and liquidity from the Federal Reserve.

And so that's why the markets are where they are. And if you go to countries that don't have a Federal Reserve, it's not the same story. And

so the United States and the European Union and other sort of what I call reserve currency countries are doing fine in their markets because there's

been just an absolute, you know, tidal wave of money from the banks flowing in.

But in other countries where you don't have that, then they're trading on fundamentals, and you're absolutely right, the fundamentals aren't good.

They have a lot of people unemployed. They have a lot of consumers who can't buy things and a lot of companies that are going bankrupt and it

doesn't make sense that the markets are trading at an all-time high other than with this sugar high coming from all of this money.

QUEST: Bill Browder, thank you. Bill, it's quarter past 8:00 in the U.K., a few more days and you'll be able to go to the pub.

BROWDER: Well, I'm not a great pub-goer, but I guess a lot of people who do go to the pubs will be pretty happy about that.

QUEST: That's what we'll be talking about after the break. I'll buy you a drink at a pub when we are next back in the U.K. together. That will be

some time because of other restrictions. But you if you are in the U.K. tonight, the time where you go to the pub is getting ever closer. After the

break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:22:44]

QUEST: The United Kingdom today announced further easing of the coronavirus restrictions as it relates to people living there, the pub is back in

business, or at least it will be as new rules mean the pubs can now reopen.

CNN Anna Stewart reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER: The national hibernation is coming to an end. That was the announcement from U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson as he laid

out his plan for the next stage of lifting the lockdown.

Businesses in England, including pubs, hotels, hair salons and cinemas will be able to reopen on July 4th, the first time in over three months.

The social distancing rule has been relaxed from two meters to one. Businesses will have to implement new measures to keep their customers and

staff safe, according to new government guidelines.

This pub has been open for the last few weeks, takeaway pints only. And as you can see, with a very socially distanced queue. Speaking to people here

though, they may be happy to have a pint outside in the sunshine. Will they feel happy going inside a pub or a restaurant? Will they want to go to the

cinema? Will they feel safe?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Being younger, I don't feel like I'm as much of a risk, and my company are actually making us go back to the office for next

week. So, if I can go back to work, I feel like I can go do the other things that will also be more fun.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I wouldn't want to sit next to people I'm just not sure about. And I really miss the cinema. I really miss that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think I'd be happy go. Probably not the cinema, but certainly to the pub and where we live there's a pub nearby.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEWART: And that is the big concern for this sector. Businesses may be able to reopen, will they have enough customers? Over nine million people

salaries are now being supported by the U.K. government's furlough scheme.

As that tapers, there is a risk that some of those businesses will simply have to cut jobs, further depressing consumer spending and prolonging the

U.K.'s deepest ever economic slump on record.

Anna Stewart, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: The reopening is continuing across the continent. Malta is set to reopen, but only to certain tourists from certain countries. Flights from

low-transmission areas will be allowed to be able to jump start the economy.

The Tourist Minister of Malta, Julia Farrugia Portelli is with me, joins me from Valetta.

[15:25:04]

QUEST: Minister, thank you for being with us. Look, before we get into your own policy, would Malta allow U.S citizens, U.S. tourists to visit?

JULIA FARRUGIA PORTELLI, TOURISM MINISTER OF MALTA: Yes, absolutely. We already have the clearance that from the 15th of July, Malta will be

reopening its boarders to practically every country.

QUEST: So if there is an E.U. ban, and I don't know what you know about this evening's -- the report is that the E.U. is intending to restrict and

put on the excluded list those travelers from the United States. Would you be in favor of that or not?

PORTELLI: So may I remind, perhaps, our viewers that as things stand, Malta at the time of doing this interview don't have any direct flights with the

United States. So really and truly, we depend on other countries, European countries also to take this further up. But we will be definitely following

up this matter.

But as things stand, Malta already stated that in eight days' time, we're going to open up to 22 destinations and from the 15th of August, all of our

borders with the rest of the world.

QUEST: Right. So, that's essentially saying, as I understand it, Minister, that's essentially saying that, look, you know, if the E.U. bans the U.S.,

then they won't be getting into those places like Italy or elsewhere, or France or Germany, therefore, they wouldn't be in a position to take

connecting flights. Is this idea of corridors and bubbles and trusted countries, is this going to work?

PORTELLI: Malta was one of the very first few countries who pledged and also put forward the argument of having safe corridors. I understand also

that other countries followed this argument, but then we saw a fragmented approach throughout the whole world.

What matters is the argument of a country, an island which depends highly on tourism. If we have to factor in the total percentage of the input we

have related to tourism in Malta, it goes up to the 30 percent of our economy. So we really and truly depend on incoming tourism.

QUEST: Finally, that balancing act, I think you -- I think you expressed it beautifully there when you say, you know, up to 30 percent of the economy

is affected by this. Therefore, you can't really afford the purest argument of no, no, we must put coronavirus first.

PORTELLI: We did put coronavirus first when we had the first issues popping up back in February. Malta was the very first European country to close up

our borders. We weren't afraid to take up that decision, despite the number and the figures. It's really and truly put tourism on the high up on our

agenda.

But our number one aim at the time way back in February was to contain the virus. And Malta, I believe, is the safest destination in Europe to welcome

back tourists in the 15th of July. And also on the 1st of July when we're opening to the first batch of 22 countries.

We did a lot of testing and I believe that the success story about Malta was that we invested heavily in testing -- one out of five citizens in

Malta got tested and we only had nine people who died over the span of the past few months.

So, yes, we're ready. We're prepared, and our system is geared up to welcome the first tourist in eight days' time.

QUEST: Minister, thank you. Good to speak to you. We'll talk more as the summer moves on.

In a moment, rattled in Mexico City, an earthquake hits the city and the effects are felt far and wide. We discuss after the break.

[15:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: Hello, I'm Richard Quest. There's more QUEST MEANS BUSINESS for you in just a moment. The about face literally on the mask question. We'll have

the CEO of AMC Movie Theaters to talk about what the policy is and what people should do in movie theaters. He says he's going to wear a mask.

And Mexico's reopening its economy despite soaring COVID cases. And also, of course, there's been an earthquake in Mexico. We need to find out the

details of that. Our correspondent will be bringing those to us. But none of it will be coming before we had the news headlines because this is CNN.

And on this network, the news always come first.

Dr. Anthony Fauci and other members of the U.S. Coronavirus Task Force say President Trump has not asked them to slow down testing, and appears to

contradict what he said the president said over the weekend. Fauci told lawmakers today that health officials will actually be doing more testing,

not less. The former Wirecard CEO Markus Braun has been arrested. The German payments service company is accused of carrying out accounting fraud

in a multi-billion-dollar scale. Wirecard now says roughly a quarter of its stated assets probably don't actually exist.

The tennis superstar Novak Djokovic has constructed the Coronavirus following a tournament he organized in Croatia and Serbia. One fellow pro

player called the decision to hold the event boneheaded. The world number one says the charity event was meant to do good. He now says, quote, we

were wrong, and it was too soon.

A 7.4 magnitude earthquake has struck Mexico's Pacific coast. Now, the shaking led to the Mexico City Hospital having to be evacuated. There was

also a tsunami warning that went into effect from the west coast. Our correspondent in Mexico City and our correspondent in Mexico is Matt

Rivers. Matt, we were going to have you talk obviously about other issues and the economy, but this of course, has happened. So, before we talk about

the economy, tell me what you can about what's happened.

[15:35:05]

MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Richard, we were actually out filming another story that will air later this week and we were inside of a

building, and we heard the alarms going off here in Mexico City, and it was quite a strong earthquake. Everything was really rocking back and forth.

We've seen a lot of videos on social media of some pretty dramatic images of that 7.4 magnitude earthquake. The epicenter is actually about 800

kilometers away from where we are here in Mexico City, in a state called Oaxaca.

But thankfully, where this epicenter was, that's not a very populated area. There's not a lot of infrastructure there. And so, so far, damage reports

have been relatively light. One death has been reported inside a building that collapsed, Richard, but this could have been a lot worse. Remember, it

was in 2017, that there was a massive earthquake just outside of Mexico City. Hundreds of people died here. And so, everyone in Mexico City is

routinely on edge about earthquakes, although today, it seems like we dodged a bullet.

QUEST: Right. Well, good, good to be remembered of that -- of that. Now, let's turn to our attention to what we were originally going to be talking

about, and that is the economic effects of the virus. Now, the borders closed with the United States, but reopening in countries is taking place.

How is Mexico faring?

RIVERS: Yes, I mean, two things are happening right now, Richard, we are, on one hand, without question in the worst days of this outbreak so far. I

mean, in the last two days, Mexico has actually reported more daily deaths than Brazil has, which is extremely significant. But at the same time,

Mexico is reopening its economy in a phased reopening plan. There's a lot more people out on the streets, and there are people who are nervous about

that, saying it's just too soon.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RIVERS: Once he gears up, Juan Carlos Cruz Gonzalez doesn't take off his equipment at the crematorium where he works housed in a public cemetery.

There's no downtime between bodies.

Honestly, this epidemic hasn't ended, he says, it's still going on every day. The furnaces didn't stop firing in the hours we were there, but they

couldn't keep up. Some families who brought loved ones had to wait hours for them to be cremated. It's a morbid illustration that Mexico's epidemic

is far from over. And the numbers back it up. This chart shows the daily trend of new cases of the Coronavirus in Mexico. It's not hard to see that

things are only getting worse.

So, is reopening the economy dangerous, we ask? Yes. Juan Carlos says. It is still too early to go back to normal. But Mexico's President disagrees.

He says we have to go back out little by little, carefully to exercise our freedom. Mexico's economy is in dire straits, and Lopez Obrador knows it,

so he has backed a phased reopening plan that for most of the country started June 1st, sending hundreds of thousands back to work across

different industries. And he has plenty of support.

And Mexico City's massive Central de Abasto wholesale market, vendor Rodolfo Machoro's sales have dropped 70 percent since the outbreak began.

We want everyone to go back to normal, he says, months of quarantine, it's too much. It's a very common sentiment here and amongst the millions of

Mexicans who've lost their jobs recently.

If I don't go out to work, who will feed my family? That's why we have to come here. But the market itself reinforces the high cost of reopening.

Officials say more than 600 people that work here have tested positive for the coronavirus since April.

30 percent of me wants to reopen and 70 percent doesn't, says this vendor, it's necessary but people aren't being safe enough. Mexico's death toll has

more than doubled in just the last three weeks, a model from MIT predicts it could pass 50,000 by early August. And back inside the crematorium, that

death toll becomes real. Of the five bodies we saw brought in, four were likely COVID-19-related deaths. Those that work here see it, he says, we

know this is not over.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RIVERS: And so, the government decision here, Richard, is both straightforward and painful. reopen the economy, allow people to go out,

earn a living, put food on the table with the knowledge that by doing so, there is every chance that cemeteries like the one we visited, they'll

become more full.

QUEST: Matt Rivers joining me. Matt Rivers, thank you, sir. Now, there's a few weeks from now, less than some places, the movie theaters will be

reopening. And the question is, what sort of social distancing, what sort of mitigation is required? The CEO of AMC is the largest in the world is

with me after the break. The man who managed to find himself in a bit of a wardrobe of masks. Well, we'll find out what it was all about after the

break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:40:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: They don't look very socially distanced as they were going about it, and there wasn't a mask in sight. Although, the popcorn looked pretty good.

We are, of course, all going back to the cinema or the movies. And then, our truth is the future has various countries, the United States ready, of

course, the U.K. after July the 4th. Many other countries are opening up. AMC movie theaters is reopening in July, and social distancing and required

masks. Back in March, the chief executive said he was unsure of the company's survival almost.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADAM ARON, CEO, AMC THEATERS: This is the biggest, most successful company in our industry. We're proud industry leader, and we will be on our knees.

What I'm fighting for are the jobs of our 35,000 people in the U.S. and Europe. They're out of work today, but we need there to be a company for

them to come back to.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: So, there is a company. Adam Aron is with me; he is the CEO. Before we get into how wise and what Adam -- Adam, how did you get yourself in

mesh into a mess over masks? And what is the policy now over masks?

ARON: Well, Richard, it's always great to be with you. Apparently, in a press interview I gave on one of the trade magazines, I chose the wrong

words, which put us right in the middle of the flap. We heard -- we -- what we said was that we were strongly encouraging masks in the United States

that we expected the vast majority of our guests to wear masks.

And that provoked an immediate outcry from our customers. They wanted us to require masks within, I think, it was 15 hours, we put out a revised policy

requiring masks across all our theaters in the United States. And that pleased our guests. And of course, that is a safer way to go. So, I'm glad

we got to this position.

QUEST: Good for you. All right. So, then let's talk about the reopening. And what percentage of seats will you fill? How will you manage this? I

remember being told that you were fascinated by the, you know, the profit margin per se. So, if you fill 50 percent, you'll be OK.

[15:45:01]

ARON: Yes, well, that's a very simple question and a complicated answer because we operate in 15 different countries. And the state of the

coronavirus is very different in each of those countries. In Europe, for example, where a lot of your viewers will be watching this program, you're

way ahead of the United States in terms of containing the coronavirus. So, we'll be working with local governments all around the world where we have

theaters to see what they recommend and suggest in terms of capacity limitations. That's what we'll observe in each country.

The conditions are very different country by country. Financially, we think we can do just fine. Because the reality is that, movie theaters aren't all

that full, actually, in normal times. We only fill between 15 and 20 percent of our seats. So, if we limit the number of seats that we sell, we

actually can survive economically.

QUEST: What we don't know -- I don't think we know; maybe you can put me right, is whether people will take the risks or believe that it's safe. I

mean, that is the unknown, the untested part. And I'm guessing that's untested in each jurisdiction.

ARON: Yes, that's correct. Although, we've seen a lot of market research. And what we're seeing is that most but not all moviegoers are going to come

right back, you know, right as soon as we open. We opened three theaters in Norway a couple of weeks back, and they did the same business this year

that they did last year.

But that's not really what we're expecting. We think we'll come -- we'll open back up across the entirety of our circuits in all these countries, at

some fraction of our normal levels. And then, we'll go ramp back up based on guests looking around our theaters, seeing how much effort we've put in

making our theatres clean and safe.

We put in exhaustive safety protocols, exhaustive cleaning protocols all across our system, whatever the country may be. And I think that just look

around, have a good time, enjoy a movie, or how happy they're out of their house, and decide for themselves that what we're doing is leaving them in a

safe condition. That ramp up will happen, but it's going to take some time.

QUEST: And of course, I mean, you -- the studios are now setting their release dates. And I wonder once we see the numbers, if some studios will

revise those dates again, if they can, if numbers aren't there.

ARON: Well, I think what you're asking is absolutely correct. But it can go both ways. I would tell you that most movies have already been pushed back.

So, I think what's more likely is if the numbers are good, studios will bring their movies forward, because they've already pushed them back.

QUEST: Good to see you, sir. It really is always good to have you with us. And we still got to go to the movies, and I'm buying the popcorn even if

we're both wearing masks on the way.

ARON: You're on.

QUEST: Good to see you, sir. I appreciate it.

ARON: Thank you, Richard. All the best.

QUEST: Now, as we -- as we continue tonight, so planes are starting to fly again. The number of people going through TSA checkpoints continues to

rise. The CEO of Oneworld alliance will be with me to try and explain and help us understand exactly where this is going to go in the short term. In

a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: American Airlines' stock is falling sharply; it's down some five percent. The airline said it is aiming to raise $3-1/2 billion. It's doing

it through a convertible bond issue along with a share placement in the market. All the airlines, of course, have had to raise funds of one

description or another in some very difficult circumstances.

Liquidity has been a major factor. It comes as the TSA, that's the security agency dealing with airports and travelers in United States, says, the

number of passengers going through U.S. airports passed 600,000 for the first time -- that's the daily number for the first time since mid-March.

Rob Gurney is the chief executive of the oneworld Alliance. That's American, British Airways, Qantas, Cathay, and a variety of others. Rob, we

know that all the airlines -- all the airlines of all the alliances are putting in place the strictest health and sanitization measures. So, you

and I don't need to talk about necessarily about that. But we do need to talk about how the airlines can convince passengers that this will be

enough, that they will be safe with all these measures?

ROB GURNEY, CEO, ONEWORLD ALLIANCE: Thanks, Richard. And it's great to be here. So, good to see you again. A great question, start up. Obviously,

restoring and building consumer confidence in air travel is going to be a critical component in any level of recovery. And yes, you've specifically

asked me not to run through the measures that the airlines have taken.

But it is important, I think, to reinforce those, the cleaning procedures, the changes to the service delivery style of how food and beverages are

served on board the aircraft, the underlying aircraft filtration systems would have filters, all of those things are really important components in

terms of creating a safe and healthy environment for our customers and also for our staff.

I think in terms of restoring confidence, I think a large part is a communication job that we need to do. And you've seen a number of the

airlines undertaking those communications, and I'm sure you're going to see a lot more and I can probably talk to some of those things as well.

QUEST: Sure. The issue of the way in which the airlines are now financially secure, each carrier in its different way, I mean, you know, American,

obviously through the CARES Act are now through a placement.

IAG through basically anything but limited government help. Cathay Pacific, including Hong Kong government getting seats and representation within the

board. Everyone's done something different. But are you happy? Do you feel safe in the sense that all your airlines are now financially secure?

GURNEY: I think, Richard, as you know, the examples you've given, there have been a number of governments that have really stepped up and supported

our members, but also supported the industry. I think the example here in the U.S. is a great example (INAUDIBLE). It was a tremendous response. And

it was a very fast response and a necessary response.

I think we've got airlines in different ends of the spectrum, and all operating in different environments, I think, in terms of the support that

the industry is looking for, for government now, I think really now is pivoting into a different area. And it's really pivoting into the area of

around how you restart international aviation. I think that's really the area where the issue would like the governments be focused on now.

[15:55:15]

QUEST: Right. And that -- briefly, it's how you restart and get back to profitability. What date, I mean, some say two years, some say three years.

What's your working date for when you think things will be back to when they were?

GURNEY: I think it's -- well, obviously, it's hard to predict. I guess, we've got a range of views from our member airlines, but the consensus is

sort of building around three to four years back to get the traffic levels, the passing levels back to around 2019 levels.

But, of course, that's just part of the story in terms of the profitability of the airlines, as you pointed out, equity raising, an enormous amount of

debt. If you look, even by the end of this year, the industry would have taken on an additional $120 billion of debt. So, clearly, all the great

work that's been done in building balance sheet strength over the last decade or so since the Great Depression or financial crisis is being

undone.

QUEST: We'll talk about this in the future, and certainly, we'll be with -- it's going to -- we'll be there at the IATA Annual General Meeting. Rob,

it's always good. Thank you, sir. I appreciate your time today.

GURNEY: Right. Thank you, Richard. (INAUDIBLE) Thanks you.

QUEST: And we will take a "PROFITABLE MOMENT" after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: Tonight's "PROFITABLE MOMENT." The whole Coronavirus and the travel and tourism industry is taking a different turn. We're talking about it

nightly on the program. And we'll continue to do so, of course, and as you want to get hold of me, I always say, you know my e-mail address,

Richard.quest@cnn.com. Richard.quest@cnn.com that is the real e-mail address.

And I always love to hear from you. And you've got something to talk about. I can't promise I'll always reply, but at least I guarantee you that all be

read. And that's QUEST MEANS BUSINESS for tonight. I'm Richard Quest in New York. Whatever you're up to in the hours ahead, I hope it's profitable.

We'll do it again tomorrow.

END