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Quest Means Business

Biden: Trump Is "Stoking Violence In Our Cities"; Call to Earth: Using Tech to Protect the Amazon; Wizz Air Cuts flights as Hungary Closes Borders to Foreigners. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired August 31, 2020 - 15:00   ET

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

RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS ANCHOR, QUEST MEANS BUSINESS: And there, we leave Brianna as we go our own way. A very good day. I am Richard Quest.

QUEST MEANS BUSINESS now

Let's start with looking at the markets. Let's get ourselves straight off to the races. The market is lower, not hugely, 188, 189 now. It has been

lower all session. Tech stocks are surging. Those are the markets, and over the next hour, the reasons why.

The peace deal has landed. Israel's first ever commercial flight to the UAE has arrived in Abu Dhabi.

Tesla shares are up 10 percent. Its split stock debuts on Wall Street.

And TikTok's long list of American suitors now have Chinese regulators to worry about.

We are live from New York. It is Monday, it is August 31st, last day of August. I'm Richard Quest back in the chair, and of course, I mean

business.

Good evening. It was a flight like none other. One flight, but two countries and Middle East history that was made at the same time.

It was the first commercial aviation flight between Israel and the UAE -- United Arab Emirates. It went from Tel Aviv to Abu Dhabi, and it is the

final piece, if you like, of the jigsaw in the peace pact between the two countries.

American, Israeli, Emirati diplomats met in Abu Dhabi to discuss the way forward. Oren Liebermann is in Abu Dhabi. I'm not sure I ever quite

expected to say those words any more than perhaps you ever expected me to say them to be there, but Oren Liebermann is in Abu Dhabi for us tonight.

And Oren, three hours of flying, but a world of difference.

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Very much so. The delegations here, the American and the Israeli delegations treated this with a sort of

celebration, an optimism about what this means, not only for the Middle East but what this means for the future of a changing Middle East, seeing

this as bringing essentially a new era forward in the normalization between the United Arab Emirates and Israel.

Of course, there are open questions about what else will change. Will other countries follow suit? Will other countries even attend -- other Arab

countries that is -- the signing ceremony expected at the White House?

But those questions, for now at least, were put off to focus on what happened today, the first ever flight by an Israeli airline over Saudi

Arabia, over the Arabian Peninsula to Abu Dhabi.

There were statements from the pilot. He spoke first in Arabic. He told us when we entered Saudi airspace and then on the ground, the head of the

Israeli National Security Council gave his opening remarks in Arabic as well.

And all of that befits the occasion here, a big occasion, and very much a big celebration that then of course led into the meetings to turn this

statement and this intent into a reality and that part will, of course, Richard, take time.

QUEST: Okay, I believe that the flight even had the Saudi dialing code, as one report suggests, as its flight number. Is this going to be a service

yet, or is this just one flight for demonstration purposes that they can do it and that many more issues have to be sorted out before it can become

regular?

LIEBERMANN: Before it becomes regular, many, many more issues have to be sorted out. One of the groups here in the Israeli delegation is an aviation

group, so there are questions about how to make this work.

In terms of the position of El Al today, not good. The airline is effectively shut down because of COVID. This fight was essentially a

chartered flight, I believe chartered by the U.S. specifically to make this as you point out, the flight number, 971 on the way here, that's the

Emirati calling code, 972 on the way back, that's the Israeli calling code.

But as of right now, this is a one-off. When we asked questions about hey, when is the second flight coming where members of the public can purchase

commercial tickets? That hasn't been answered yet. That could still be quite a ways off, and that's not just a question of Israel-UAE relations,

it's also a question of the world economy, what does flight look like, but this one, we know, is in the books.

QUEST: Oren Liebermann in Abu Dhabi. Oren, thank you. And an explanation now as to why, of course, I inadvertently referred to the Saudi code

because the plane flew over Saudi Arabia, and that, in itself was a remarkable flight path.

If you look at the flight path that it took, Saudi Arabia had allowed El Al, the plane, to cross its air space. The U.S. officials were hoping to

bring other Gulf nations to the table there. There you see the way and the interesting thing is, of course, as Oren was talking about, getting

permission to make that flight.

It was interesting that route that they took. Mohammad Al-Tuwaijri is the former Saudi Economy Minister, and he is also Saudi Arabia's candidate to

lead the W.T.O., we'll talk to him about that in just a second. He joins me from Riyadh.

[15:05:27]

QUEST: Okay, sir, so, before we deal with -- we will get to your W.T.O. candidacy, but before we get there, what do you think it will take for

Saudi Arabia to follow the UAE and do a peace deal with Israel since many of the same issues that the UAE has settled are of concern to Saudi.

MOHAMMAD AL-TUWAIJRI, FORMER SAUDI ECONOMY MINISTER: Thank you, Richard. I think the Saudi position is very clear. There has been a dis-initiative,

many, many years ago, King Abdullah era and you know, we're still backing this one up. We've been saying this all along, so it's exactly the same

since those initial days many years ago.

QUEST: Well, yes, but we know that there is another country that is very close to signing with Israel or at least announcing a way forward with

Israel. Do you believe that could be Saudi Arabia?

AL-TUWAIJRI: I am a nominee for the W.T.O., you know, I would like to talk about that once. And second, you know, for sovereignty reasons, the UAE

decision was purely sovereign, for them, again, we stick back to our King Abdullah initiative, the Arab Peace Initiative, and we're backing it up.

QUEST: All right, let's talk about then your candidacy for the W.T.O. as I promised we would. There are eight candidates who are aiming to replace the

outgoing Director General who is actually gone.

The eight candidates have another week to make their pitches. There's no vote as such. We've committed to speaking to all of them before the

beginning of the process.

Back to you, sir, in Riyadh. Most -- in fact, pretty much all of the other candidates have quite hefty resumes either in trade or working in

international organizations, policy based organizations.

You don't have that, sir. Will that be a handicap?

AL-TUWAIJRI: I do bring also 25 years of experience leading multinational organizations in the private sector, global banks. I think that also brings

with it accountability, performance, delivery and a lot of ability to solve complex problems and bring solutions.

Also as Minister of Economy and Planning in the Kingdom in the heart of designing and implementing Vision 2030, connecting three continents,

diversifying the economy, and a massive empowerment to the private sector, women empowerment, SMEs, so this combination is very, very needed at this

point of time to the W.T.O. in terms of leadership, but also the third point is this point of gravity, being able to reach out to the U.S. and

China, for example.

QUEST: You know, for the purposes of this question, assume Donald Trump wins the presidency in November. That of course, will be up to the U.S.

electorate then.

But from your point of view, if you are successful, do you believe you can convince the U.S. President that the W.T.O. isn't anti-American in its

trade's disputes process, and too favorable to countries like China and therefore has become so protectionist.

AL-TUWAIJRI: This is the question of how relevant the organization is to global trade, to the U.S. business, which I know is very important for the

U.S. President and the USTR.

It's also serving a lot of the objectives and values that match the U.S. You know, this is peace, prosperity, growth, sustainability, empowering

women, these are the original goals of the W.T.O., and I think if we can talk about solutions in the future, talk about the relevance of the

organization, especially with COVID-19, the impact, and really try to bridge some of these gaps, hopefully we can be successful with the U.S.,

with China, and bring everybody back to the negotiation.

[15:10:13]

QUEST: Good to talk to you, Mohammad, and good luck in the next stage of the battle, as you say, one might say, competition to become DG. Thank you

for joining us tonight from Riyadh on a historic day for the UAE and Israel.

Now, many new businesses do stand to profit from the deal. Trade has been one of the largest driving forces between two countries, Israel and the

UAE, two trading, hard-fought nations who know how to make a deal.

John Defterios now reports on the Dubai industry, the diamond industry in Dubai that is certainly looking out to benefit.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN BUSINESS EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR (voice over): This factory is full of machinery, technology, and lots of diamonds.

But perhaps the item that sparks the most interest is on Mezuzah on David Zabinsky's office door.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID ZABINSKY, COFOUNDER AND CEO, TRIGEM: The Mezuzah is a small parchment of a Torah verse that we put on the door posts of our home and

our office, so I have had friends, colleagues, customers come in to say, David, what is this? And the conversations I have had as a result of that

have been incredibly interesting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEFTERIOS (voice over): Zabinsky, an entrepreneur is a member of Dubai's Jewish community.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZABINSKY: Morning, Mo, how are you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good morning.

ZABINSKY: How'd it turn out?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very good.

ZABINSKY: Beautiful. Nice goods.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEFTERIOS (voice over): His team cleans, cuts, and polishes precious stones for suppliers from all over the world. Now, Zabinsky has an

opportunity to do business with a whole new market for the first time.

Less than a month ago, Israel and the UAE announced a full normalization of relations.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZABINSKY: It's an incredibly exciting time. It really is. The commercial opportunities, the business opportunities.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEFTERIOS (voice over): Zabinsky says his phone has been ringing off the hook since the announcement was made.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZABINSKY: Rudy, Shalom. Boker Tov. How are you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello. Shalom.

ZABINSKY: I'm speaking to a lot of folks in the diamond industry in Israel. They are looking at the UAE as the next -- as their own next

frontier.

I think the opportunity is to be able to bring in Israeli entities is a fantastic, fantastic opportunity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEFTERIOS (voice over): Dubai is home to the world's largest diamond trading floor. In 2018, the city's diamond trade reached $25 billion,

making it second in the world behind Antwerp.

But Zabinsky believes ties between the UAE and Israel can catapult Dubai to the forefront.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZABINSKY: In the past, you had quite a few in the trade that have said, Dubai will never surpass Antwerp as this rough diamond trading hub. I think

now that Israelis can come to this part of the world and do business in UAE, you will see Dubai cement itself as the true diamond capital of the

world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEFTERIOS (voice over): The diamond industry isn't the only one poised to get a boost from the deal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN SFAKIANAKIS, CHIEF ECONOMIST AND HEAD OF RESEARCH OF THE GULF RESEARCH CENTER: The UAE would want to invest in areas where traditionally, it

wants to grow its economy and its investments, which is technology, agriculture, defense, and many other sectors.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEFTERIOS (voice over): While the future is not clear cut, for Zabinsky, one thing is for certain.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZABINSKY: The first direct flight from Dubai or Abu Dhabi into Israel, I'm on that first flight.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEFTERIOS (voice over): John Defterios, CNN, Dubai.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: And so to the never-ending, it seems, takeover battle for TikTok. It is torturous to watch TikTok going through the transactional turmoil.

After the break, now Beijing gets involved, saying it can veto whatever is decided.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:16:38]

QUEST: Just when you thought that the whole messy takeover of TikTok couldn't get any more messy, well, it just has as China has gotten

involved.

Now, remember, Microsoft, Walmart, and Oracle are all bidding to take part in buying TikTok in some shape or form. The share price of all of them is

lower for good reason.

China now says it wants to have a say in this. In fact, more than a say. It's given itself a veto. China has changed the rules and says that when a

deal -- if indeed a deal is done, the Chinese authorities will also be able to say no. David Culver reports from Beijing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Richard, China says that the reason they changed the rules governing certain technology sales to foreign buyers is

in part to protect China's national security. Sound familiar?

That phrase has been used a lot recently. It's the same reason given by the U.S. in motivating this possible sale of TikTok. U.S. President Donald

Trump alleges that the popular app poses a national security threat to the United States.

Trump issued an executive order threatening to ban it unless its Beijing- based owner, ByteDance sold its U.S. operations. Tiktok has denied the allegations made by the U.S. and they have even sued the Trump

administration, calling the executive order heavily politicized.

That has not stopped prospective U.S. buyers from surfacing, though. Among them, Walmart and Microsoft as well as Oracle. But these revised rules put

out by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of Science and Technology, they could actually change all of this.

They could essentially slow down or block any sale of TikTok. Chinese officials on Friday updated the technology list to include data processing,

speech and text recognition, and that is according to government notices.

The notices did not name TikTok specifically, but experts have pointed out that the rule change would require ByteDance to obtain government

permission before it could sell TikTok to a foreign company.

Tiktok has faced increasing pressure recently. Last week, CEO, Kevin Mayer resigned after less than four months on the job. He cited the sharply

changed political environment and while not naming TikTok specifically, China's Foreign Ministry on Monday slammed the U.S. saying that by using

the pretext of national security, the U.S. had attempted to use economic bullying and political manipulation in dealing with foreign companies. They

likened it to a smash and grab robbery.

China might now just be using that same national security threat claim to push back -- Richard.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: David Culver in Beijing. There's still a lot more to go. Those big stocks were pulling down the market, it's a down market overall, if you

look, but if you put in context for the year, sorry, so far, bearing in mind, we just had the best August in decades.

Year-to-date, the Dow is off a third of a percent. The NASDAQ is actually up 31 percent since the beginning of the year -- 31 percent. And the S&P is

up 8.5 percent.

Two stocks now, there is Apple and Tesla. Apple and Tesla, look at this. This is interesting. The stocks have soared after a stock split, 12 percent

for Tesla and four percent for Apple.

[15:20:10]

QUEST: Cristina Alesci is with me in New York. Cristina, a stock split, and for those viewers who are not initiated on this, it's basically where

you take the number of stocks in issue and you just halve them or quadruple them.

But in theory, this is just a mathematical issue. It's a transactional thing. You take the number of shares, you double them, and you halve the

price. But for some reason, after a stock split, the stock tends to rally again. Explain.

CRISTINA ALESCI, CNN BUSINESS POLITICS AND BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, the idea is that because the per share price is lower that the stock

becomes more affordable to a wider range of people, but we saw the run-up in the expected -- the expected stock split before the actual split

happened today for both of these stocks, both Tesla and Apple.

What happened today was a combination of the continued exuberance around the stock split and perhaps a wider ownership of these stocks. But also,

several analysts raised their price targets, raised their outlooks for these stocks, so that drove, really, a lot of excitement around that.

And for Apple specifically, this has been a long-term shift for Apple for it being viewed as more of a service provider rather than just a device

maker; and for Tesla, there's a lot of excitement for its Battery Day coming up in September.

So, for all of these reasons, and perhaps some irrational ones as well, we saw these stocks continue to rise today -- Richard.

QUEST: It is fascinating. It's one of the true oddities of the exchange. I've noticed this over many years that in strict theory, there should be no

difference, just a larger number of stocks at a cheaper price. But they do move.

You talk, then, about Apple being a service provider. That would be -- I mean, but you know, still, the Macs, the phones, the watches, the hardware,

I mean, can iTunes, Apple Music, revenues away from the iPhone --

ALESCI: Apple TV.

QUEST: Yes, yes, well, yes, thank you for reminding me. Can they ever truly make up that difference?

ALESCI: The short answer, Richard, is I don't know. What I do know is there seems to be a lot of exuberance and excitement in the stock market

just broadly.

If you look at it, investors are really shrugging off all the potential negatives here, the fact that the U.S. still can't get the coronavirus

under control and the fact that the recovery has lost steam.

We saw that in the jobs number last week and we're likely to see it again on Friday when the monthly jobs number comes out and the market is just

completely ignoring all of these announcements from major companies that they are looking to slash not thousands of jobs, but tens of thousands of

jobs.

You look at the airlines and some hotel companies like MGM. They are warning about slashing their workforces, and it doesn't seem like any of

that is really impacting the market because so much excitement is really rallying around, you know, four or five names, names like Apple, Tesla,

Amazon, all of that just seems to be what investors are focused on right now.

Not to mention the fact that Washington, D.C., still doesn't have a stimulus plan, and that $600.00 enhanced unemployment check is not -- that

is not going to the majority of the unemployed people that had been receiving that, and that could take a big chunk out of consumer spending

and consumer demand and none of that is really being priced in, Richard. It's quite remarkable.

QUEST: Let us see before Christmas if that situation remains. Cristina Alesci, thank you.

The German Post Office, the Deutsche Post, DHL to those of us in the rest of the world, has been bouncing back with some impressive numbers. The

share price hit a five-year low back in March, but shipments of course have spiked ever since.

You're talking about cargo shipments during the COVID era, plus e-commerce and an online shipping boom.

Frank Appel is the CEO of Deutsche Post, DHL Group who joins me from Bonn in Germany via Skype.

Frank, I will say it before you do. You know, you obviously mourn and regret the fact that any of your increased business comes as a result of

the misery of COVID, but that said, your company has managed to perform exceptionally well during this by restructuring itself to accommodate it.

[15:25:10]

FRANK APPEL, CEO, DEUTSCHE POST, DHL GROUP: Yes, we have done very well. That's true. You know that has a long foundation and we have done many

things right in the past and what you see at the moment is that logistics are really essential for any type of business.

And if you then have a global footprint like we have, being present in all parts of the world, then you really can help the population, we can help

the countries to get back on course, and of course, if you have that kind of service, you really can benefit from it.

QUEST: The trade flows and the ability to move goods, as you say, you and I have talked before about this, it's a logistics, it's a nuts and bolts

business, getting things from A to B. How difficult -- how much more difficult has that been in COVID with restrictions, with the difficulties?

APPEL: You know, I think if you are really focused and understand your business, it is not so much more difficult. I think what we have seen in

the last months is a demand crisis, not a supply crisis.

We had hardly any really disruption of supply chains around the world. If you know what you are doing, you really can provide great service even in

that moment.

I think people overestimate how complex it is if you are focused. If you don't know what to do, then it becomes difficult, but of course we focus

very much on the health and safety of our people from the beginning.

We had daily calls under my leadership of the operational heads. We aligned our activities, and if you do that and say, okay, we do one step after the

other, really can manage such a crisis in pretty good shape.

QUEST: I am looking forward now with vaccines and the necessity to move billions of vaccines around, many of which will have to be moved in

obviously sterile, but possibly under temperature and other restrictions. Are you tooling up for that?

APPEL: Yes, so, we are already a key player in that. The challenge, I think, is for any government that the government has not only to think

about that they get a vaccine, it's also how you distribute that.

Certain vaccines will only work if you keep them around minus 70 or minus 80 degrees Celsius. That's a challenge. We know how to deal with that.

The question is more, are the countries prepared? Who will make the vaccinations, whether local doctor or is that the authorities or a

hospital? How do you keep the stuff until the last mile in good shape? And that is a challenge.

We are well prepared and we are very open to talk to any government about that kind of service.

QUEST: Right. Finally, Frank, and briefly, I just want to touch on one thing, the W.T.O. were talking to the various candidates for the W.T.O. You

say, according to you that the pandemic has shown globalization is not the problem, but the solution.

What do you want, as a logistics and transport and moving goods, what do you want out of a W.T.O. new boss in terms of globalization?

APPEL: I think what is important is that we are coming back to a level playing field. The rich countries have to accept that they have some

advantages and therefore the developing countries should get some advantages from the overall regulation.

But of course, we need level playing fields. That means foreign investment should be on both sides in the same way customs processes, duties should be

balanced and I think that's the key challenge.

How do we bring the rules and regulations back on a level playing field? If we achieve that or the next head achieves that, I think then we will make a

significant step in the right direction.

QUEST: Frank, it is always good to see you, sir. Thank you, you're looking well. I appreciate you taking time out of your busy day to talk to us.

APPEL: Thank you, Richard.

QUEST: Frank Appel of Deutsche Post, DHL.

Joe Biden says that President Trump is fueling violence in America. It's an extremely serious accusation to be making, as the Democratic candidate gave

his own law and order speech today.

We're in Pittsburgh in just a moment. It is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS. It's good to be back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:30:00]

QUEST: Hello, welcome back. I'm Richard Quest. More QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, quite a lot more QUEST MEANS BUSINESS that you won't want to miss. For

instance, the chief executive of Wizz Air Jozsef Varadi will be talking to me, as the Hungarian government closes its borders from the beginning of

next month. Wizz Air has a huge base in Budapest. We'll be talking to him about that. And professional tennis tries to salvage whatever it can, for

the U.S. Open. The head of that will be with me in just a moment, the CEO, to talk about how they're aiming to do all of that. And it's all after, of

course, we have the news headlines because this is CNN. And on this network, the news always comes first.

More than 6 million cases of COVID-19 have now been confirmed in the United States. And that comes only three weeks after the country passed that 5

million mark. 180,000 more than people died -- have died from the virus in the U.S. Paul Rusesabagina whose story inspired the Hollywood film, Hotel

Rwanda, has been arrested in Kigali. Authorities say he backs a rebel group accused of terrorism in Rwanda and the DRC. He says the running government

is targeting him politically over criticism of President Paul Kagame dating back to the 1994 genocide.

The football megastar Lionel Messi didn't attend preseason training with Barcelona today. According to club source he's locked in a standoff with

the club. Messi reportedly believes he should be free to leave. Barcelona insists to release clause worth hundreds of millions of dollars must be

paid before he can depart.

Joe Biden says that President Trump is rooting for violence in America. The Democratic nominee has given a blistering speech where he says that

President Trump is trying to scare America into voting for him. And he rejected and condemned the violence process -- the protests and Trump's

portrayal of him as soft on crime.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Ask yourself, do I look like a radical socialist with a soft spot for rioters? Really? I want to save America,

safe from COVID, safe from crime and looting, safe from racially-motivated violence, safe from bad cops. Let me be crystal clear, safe from four more

years of Donald Trump.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[15:35:19]

QUEST: Arlette is with me -- Arlette is with me from Pittsburgh. I mean, that is really what it comes down to, doesn't it? The Republican Donald

Trump says, you won't be safe with Joe Biden. Joe Biden says you won't be safe with another four years of Donald Trump. But Trump has bombast in the

way he speaks. Biden is much more softly spoken. So, where does that leave us?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, this was really Joe Biden's sharpest pushback yet on President Trump and his message of law

and order. We heard over the course of last week during the Republican convention, both the President and his allies said that the President is

the one who can restore law and order in this country. That's something that he's been promoting during this campaign. And they've also made this

argument that people will not be safe in Joe Biden's America, pointing to those scenes of violence and unrest in various cities across the U.S. over

this past summer.

But Biden today, and he's talked about in the past few days, that these images and scenes are playing out under President Trump's watch, and that

Americans and voters need to ask whether they feel safe in America, and he didn't just talk about some of those protests that you're seeing. He also

talked about COVID-19, and both the public health and economic impact. He talked about foreign policy and rebukes the President on his handling and

approach to Russia. But bottom line today, Biden was trying to push back on this suggestion that this is a law and order campaign as the President has

tried to frame. He has argued that the President is the one who is stoking violence, that he is incapable of healing the country, which Biden believes

is something that is deeply needed right now, as there's so much division in the country.

And Biden also outright condemned those -- the violent protests that we've seen play out, saying that rioting, looting and setting fires isn't

protest, that it's lawlessness. So, you're hearing Joe Biden really trying to offer that push back to the President, as he's trying to make this

campaign about some of the law and order issues, while Biden believes that there needs to be a larger focus of uniting the country and working towards

racial justice, while also addressing some of the police brutality issues that we see in this country.

QUEST: Arlette there in Pennsylvania, thank you. The U.S. Open begins in New York, of course, amid the coronavirus backdrop of satins social unrest,

so there'll be no fans per se in the Arthur Ashe Stadium. Players will be in a bubble. We've had one positive test so far, many of the top contenders

are absent. At the same time, the athletes are at the center of the reckoning around race, as well.

Michael Dowse is with me, the CEO of U.S. Tennis Association straight from the Billie Jean King -- Billie Jean King Tennis Center in New York.

Michael, it is good to see you. And we'll talk about the other issues. Let's just do a deal with the open -- talk about the open first. The

virtual boxes, concerts, recipes, and players suite online things. I can see what you're doing, and I applaud you for it. But I wonder, at the end

of the day, that's going to be playing behind closed doors.

MICHAEL DOWSE, CEO, U.S. TENNIS ASSOCIATION: Right. Richard, thanks for having me on the show. I would say, yes, it's behind closed doors. And

there may not be fans on site, but we know there's going to be tens of millions of fans around the world watching. And we know people love tennis

and whenever we can get the greatest tennis athletes in the world playing on the stage at the U.S. Open, that's a pretty cool thing. So, our goal is

really to inspire people around the world. You know, we do miss our fans on-site, but we do know many of them can enjoy it through our broadcast

partners.

QUEST: Oh, arguably, of course -- we'll not arguably, it's simply a fact that many, many, many, many more people will watch it online -- sorry, on

T.V., online, whatever that could ever fit into the stadium. So, if that's your goal, I'm fascinated by this Watson relationship that you've got with

IBM, that will use A.I. to recreate sound -- the sound of fans as it would at that point in a match with that amount of, you know, at that particular

match, play. It sounds fascinating.

DOWSE: Yes, we're learning in real time, Richard, we never had a playbook to run a Grand Slam during a pandemic. But our partners at IBM were very

creative and they had all the sound from last year's U.S. Open. They've taken that, run their A.I. magic, and they're going to match it up with

this year's match. And as we start today, we'll quickly learn how that works, but I'm excited that we're trying it.

[15:40:07]

QUEST: And also, the sponsorship, Chase -- you still have Chase, and Chase is still involved with the concert and you've still got IBM. And you've got

Watson. How important or significant is the loss of revenue from ticket sales and corporate sponsorship and boxes and the like.

DOWSE: It is -- it is significant. We're pretty transparent. We're a nonprofit organization. And our net operating income will be down 80

percent this year, but through our reserves and our line of credit, we can still offer, it's actually 97 percent of the total compensation for last

year's. And we can still continue to fund our community tennis here in the United States, which is really, you know, the essence of our organization

is to promote and grow the sport of tennis.

QUEST: And finally, the techniques being used, the ingenuity, the screens and all of these things and give me a gut feel, Michael, rather than just

as a factual recitation, but from you -- from inside you, how difficult, challenging professional has it had to be to put together a U.S. Open, that

still has the center of tennis while still being safe?

DOWSE: Yes, we know when these great athletes get on the court, it's going to be a great product. The big challenges were so many stakeholders had to

be involved and we had to collaborate with so many people to make this happen. If you think about it, we have players from over 60 countries in

the world. We had the ATP Tour for the men's, the WTA tour for the women's, the city of New York, the state of New York, and the federal government. We

had to align all those organizations to make sure we could do this in a healthy and safe, safe way. So, that's where we spent really the majority

of our time the last three or four months.

QUEST: Good to see you, Michael, congratulations on managing -- I mean, you know, the mere fact you've got an event up and running in such difficult

times, and please God may be safe as it goes through. Thank you, sir. I appreciate it.

DOWSE: Thank you, Richard.

QUEST: Coming up -- coming up, Amazon tribes are enlisting the help of technology to help protect the land from deforestation in Brazil. "CALL TO

EARTH" comes next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:45:00]

QUEST: CALL TO EARTH of course, is CNN's long-term commitment to improving the state of the planet, a call to action on the environment. Now, we're

going to what we are working with you to drive awareness, to drive inspiration and solutions. For instance, this week, indigenous communities

in the Amazon, and how they are using new tools to protect the land from deforestation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Amazon tribes are learning to use technology to help protect their land, from the impact of deforestation by illegal loggers and

land grabbers in Brazil.

AWAPY URU-EU-WAU-WAU, MEMBER OF THE URU-EU-WAU-WAU TRIBE (through interpreter): Nature for us is the life of Indian. We don't want to see the

jungle chopped down. If you chop it all down, it will definitely be hotter and there won't be a river or hunting or pure air for us.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 28-year-old Awapy Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau is one of a new generation learning to use drones to detect deforestation. He's part of a

training program for indigenous communities and others who work in forest protection run by the World Wildlife Fund and local NGO, the Kaninde Ethno-

Environmental Defense Association.

FELIPE SPINA AVINO, SENIOR CONSERVATION ANALYST: We really accept the technology with open arms, and pretty quickly start to use it. We know that

in Brazil, the government doesn't have all the resources needed to protect their Amazon. It's very important that they are part of this process.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Awapy's tribe, the Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau, first came into contact with people from outside their community in the early 1980s. Their

land is a protected area of almost 7,000 square miles of rain forest in the Brazilian state of Rondonia. An increase in illegal deforestation and

forest fires is threatening their indigenous way of life, destroying the forests they depend on for growing and gathering food, and for clean air

and water.

Out on patrol, Awapy and his team used the drones to find and document areas of deforestation, collecting high-resolution images, video and

mapping data to use as evidence when reporting illegal activities to the authorities.

AWAPY: Look at the size of the deforested area here. It's huge. We send the drone up here too. There is no end to it.

JESSICA WEBB, SENIOR MANAGER FOR GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT: The key is not to think of the technology, of course, as a silver bullet, but it's tearing that

tool along with indigenous knowledge. That makes it so much more powerful. Having an intricate history and understanding of, you know, what are the

areas that are most important to protect? Where are there no routes that animals pass through? They need to be cared for.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Keeping the forest intact is crucial to protecting the rich biodiversity of this Amazon region, home to over 180 species of

mammals and more than 600 species of birds. It is also vital to the state's water supply.

IVANEIDE BANDEIRA CARDOZO, FOUNDER, KANINDE ETHNO-ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE ASSOCIATION (through interpreter): Water from there irrigates all the

fields outside it. It irrigates the soil, the pastures. If you destroy the water, you are destroying your economy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For his work, protecting the forest, Awapy says he has faced death threats from land grabbers and illegal loggers, but he is

determined with the help of this technology, to continue the fight for future generations.

AWAPY: My hope is that while I'm alive, I want to see the jungle standing, and the jungle intact. That is my hope.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: I will continue to showcase inspirational stories like that in our CALL TO EARTH. And let us know what you're doing on CALL TO EARTH. Use the

#CallToEarth. And we really want to know your stories about improving the planet.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:50:00]

QUEST: Welcome back. Wizz Air is slashing the number of flights to and from Hungary, after the Hungarian government returns. It was closing its borders

from April the -- from September the 1st because of an uptick in number of COVID cases. Wizz Air now plans to run 32 flights a week, down from 126.

Budapest is a major hub for Wizz Air.

The CEO, Jozsef Varadi is -- joins me now from Monaco. He joins me via Skype. Jozsef, obviously, extremely, you know, and helpful news for the

airline that Hungary has decided to close its borders not perhaps unexpected. But how difficult does this make your predictions for how you

want to run Wizz Air?

JOZSEF VARADI, CEO, WIZZ AIR (via Skype): It's a difficult time for the whole industry and certainly, we are not immune from the situation and

clearly, this has become kind of a roller coaster. So, we are seeing markets and countries going up and down. I think it's very unfortunate what

we are experiencing in Hungary now, and we hope that other countries don't follow the same example. Now, the good news is from our perspective, is

that we are operating to 45 countries.

Hungary is less than 10 percent of all business, so we are very diversified. If we have an issue in one place, we can overcome the problem

in other places. And for example, the U.K. is doing extremely well, and we are very keen on growing the business in the U.K. at the same time.

QUEST: One of the things we're seeing is massive reconstruction and reorganization within airlines. If I look at all of them, and you're not

alone, but if I look at some of the things that you're doing, you know, making COVID redundant pilots reapply for new jobs, if they do get the job

at lower levels, the sort of employee benefits that are being removed or restructured. I do worry whether airlines are taking advantage, as many

companies are, to make -- to reduce their employee cost base.

VARADI: You know, I think -- I think this is a market, and it is as cyclical as the -- as the economies all around the world. I mean, let's not

forget that over the last six to seven years, for example, pilot pay, has gone up like 30, 35 percent, at least, but I think it was a global

phenomenon. Now, the market has turned and obviously, we need to be realistic. I mean, this is a fight for survival in the industry. And every

entity, every single airline has to do his very best to cope with the situation and survive.

And I think everyone has to contribute to it, everyone has to pay the bill, and we have to share the hardship, and this is a hardship. This is not a

time to enjoy, but this is the time to get very focused, to make sure that we go through the situation. And once we are again, in better times, then

we can look at these things again.

QUEST: But talking about the better times and thinking -- listen to what you told me back in June, and we can take a -- take a view then on how

things go forward, have a listen, Jo.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VARADI: It is our usual because you're going to be seeing the industry sort of going backwards. But if you're going to be one of those few airlines,

which actually will be going forward and we are looking at the situation as an opportunity for our business. I mean --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[15:55:06]

QUEST: OK. So, bearing in mind the roller coaster analogy that you used, are you going up the hill at the moment or down?

VARADI: We are going up and down at the same time. You know, we are very focused on managing the situation as it unfolds every day. But at the same

time, we keep an eye on our future and we continue to invest in our future. So, let me just give you two examples. During the last three months, we

have opened 10 new operating bases. I don't think any airline has done that. We have continued to take deliveries of new aircraft, most of the

airlines actually have deferred aircraft deliveries or cancel their orders. But we continue to take new aircraft deliveries.

And as a result, I think we are more diversified today than what we are -- what we used to be. So, this is just very important that we continue to

invest in the future, even in difficult times. And this is -- this is something what we -- what we do every day. But again, I said, you know, we

are not immune from the situation, we are impacted very hardly. And we have to take actions to preserve cash to make sure that we remain productive as

an organization. So, we are dealing with the issues of the day today as well as the opportunities in front of us in the future.

QUEST: Jo, good to see -- good to see you, sir. It's going to be a difficult winter once, of course, the summer tourism is finishing, let's

talk again in a few months' time. So, we can gauge exactly how things are performing because it's a very strong barometer of what's happening in

wider economies. Thank you. Jo Varadi joining me from Monaco.

Now, I look at the markets before we take a short break and then "PROFITABLE MOMENT." It has been down on the market. OK, when I say down,

the Dow has been down quite sharply. It's holding. It's been remarkably stable, even though it's been down. The NASDAQ has been on a tear. You've

got Apple that's up strongly. You've got Tesla that's up strongly. So, and it's been the best August in decades. So, you page your money, your takes,

your choice. We do know for one thing that after this break, there'll be a profitable moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: Tonight's profitable moment, you just heard Jo Varadi there, at Wizz Air, as the airline faces the fact that Hungary, one of its main basis, is

to close its borders. And that because of having implications for what -- for the airline. And Britain is supposedly going to put Portugal on the

(INAUDIBLE) is requiring quarantine. It was on the list. The new IDs are not on the green list. Then, it was back again, it just shows the enormous

difficulties facing the travel industry. And one of the biggest is right upon us. The end of the summer season. It's been tarried with tourism over

the summer.

And now as the leisure centers or the leisure travelers back off, and the reason the business travel to pick it back up again, one does wonder what

happens as we go into the autumn and then into the depths of winter. It will not be pretty, but we'll be here to cover it. It's good to be back

with you all week. Richard.quest.cnn.com is where we can keep in touch. 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. The closing bell is ringing on Wall Street. The day is done.

END