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Quest Means Business

Tech Pushes Markets To New Records, Nasdaq Now Up 33 Percent YTD; David Rubenstein Speaks To World's Great Leaders For New Book; Samsung Heir Indicted Over Controversial Merger In S. Korea; Nuli Reopens 3 Locations, Sees Gradual Rise In Sales. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired September 01, 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: Sixty minutes before the end of trading today. Another hour of doing business, and if

things go according to plan, there will be more records.

Look at the Dow Jones a bit of a -- a couple of moments down, but right the way up throughout the course of the day. Another record-breaking close one

hour away. The markets and how they are looking.

One of the reasons that we will be looking at in the program today. Here are some of the reasons that's moving the market.

Zoom factor on tech stocks. Zoom stock has roared ahead even in these late stages of the pandemic and Zoom meetings. We are seeing results of just how

investors like the stock.

More airlines announce they are dropping change fees. I will speak to the Chief Executive of Expedia and KLM, the Dutch airline.

And Facebook gets a tip from the F.B.I. about a new Russian troll campaign.

Live from New York on Tuesday, it is September the 1st. I'm Richard Quest, and yes, I mean business.

Now, we may be out of August into September, but there is still plenty of sunshine and happy moods in the market at the moment, which I will accept

and agree, might seem rather odd when we look at the wider economic picture.

Be that as it may, look at the numbers and you will see for yourself. The tech stocks particularly are pushing the market up. The NASDAQ is up one

percent showing a gain of some 33 percent so far this year.

The Dow is also up some half a percent on the day and the triple stack shows the way in which all three indices are trading. You see good gains by

all. The S&P is over 3,500, the NASDAQ is pushing 12,000, and the Dow is middling along.

It is all boosted by a new player, Zoom. Profits were 40 percent up. We saw that on their earnings numbers. Year-on-year profit is up some 3,000

percent. Obviously, Zoom is capitalizing on what has been an extraordinary working from home era.

Zoom defied the odds. Now, if you think about it, Zoom has been around for a long time. It is not so much on the market, but having Zoom or using Zoom

has been -- it is not a new thing. But they capitalized quickly on its potential.

And in doing so, they beat out Microsoft with Skype, Google Calls, Cisco WebEx, Facebook Calls, and Apple FaceTime. It survived serious security

concerns and outages.

It is simple. It is user friendly. It has got an interface. Anybody can use it.

The Zoom life became essential for work and pandemic social life. Skype, WebEx, more known for business. And its low cost. The premium model, while

competitors were focused on big corporations, Zoom went for the smaller users who paid monthly.

Put it all together, Zoom has doubled the number of customers paying $100,000.00 a year.

Paul La Monica is with me. Paul, I think the most interesting thing about Zoom is the way in which it did survive security concerns when even

government organizations and for example, the U.S. government has a Zoom account.

PAUL LA MONICA, CNN BUSINESS REPORTER: Yes, exactly, Richard. There were legitimate concerns at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic here in the

United States about the so-called Zoom bombing, people dropping in unannounced and not invited to Zoom chats, and since a lot of younger users

are on Zoom as well.

I know that sometimes there were some schools that were wary of using Zoom because they were worried about the threat of Zoom bombing. That is

something that the company has really gotten past.

They have taken security seriously. They fixed some of the glitches and you don't really hear as many stories, as many horror stories anymore about

people having a Zoom chat, be it a business call or just a casual social gathering, you are not hearing about the trolls coming in and saying awful

things on these Zoom calls.

[15:05:17]

QUEST: Does it -- when I say does it survive -- of course Zoom survives, but the growth. If the pandemic subsides and we go back to something

approaching normal societal living, where does that leave Zoom? Or have we now reached an inflection point where it will become part of our everyday

lives?

LA MONICA: I think we might be at that inflection point that Zoom, much like Google before it becomes a verb. And it is the de facto video

conferencing tool for many individuals and small groups as well as some larger businesses as well.

But make no mistake, Richard, when the pandemic ends, which hopefully we can get a vaccine or something and we don't have to worry about the crisis

as much as we are right now, you won't see 3,000 percent gains in the numbers for Zoom.

Obviously, it is both a combination of people won't be using it as much or adopting it as much as they are now and the law of large numbers. You can't

keep growing at that type of exponential rate forever.

But Zoom is now a company that is a legitimate tech giant in its own right. It is $125 billion market valuation. And remember, Zoom went public last

year, early 2019, before anyone ever had heard of COVID-19 or coronavirus, and Zoom was doing well back then, too. It is just that now, everyone is

stuck at home and we are doing video chats as a daily part of our life.

So, of course, Zoom is a much bigger presence in the workplace and for average consumers trying to socialize with people again.

QUEST: Okay. Final thought though here, from our poll. Looking at the chart at the moment that we were just seeing, Zoom's share price remained

in a range during the worst early part of the pandemic -- May, June, July. It is this latest part.

So what has happened late August until now that has boosted it from 220 or now up to 453?

LA MONICA: Yes, I think it is a combination of things, Richard. There are obvious concerns that people are going to be stranded or stuck at home much

longer than we may have thought back in March. This is clearly not an ephemeral event.

I think people are going to be sticking in their homes for the long haul, be it school at home, work from home and that could boost Zoom. And then

numbers like the ones they reported last night, you know, the expectations were high and they smashed it out of the park and beat all of Wall Street's

forecasts.

I think people realize that even though they have got competition from Cisco and Microsoft and Facebook and Google and many others, Zoom has

emerged much like a company like Adobe. I mean, everyone thought, you know, way back when Adobe was going to get killed by Microsoft.

Adobe is now one of the largest software companies in the world. So not every company that is a tech company is going to get supplanted by

Microsoft, Apple, Google, Facebook et cetera.

QUEST: Paul La Monica. Paul, thank you. Breaking news now. Facebook says it is finding evidence that Russia has trolls who are again trying to

influence and help decide the forthcoming U.S. election.

Uncovered -- it says, it has uncovered online campaign that's targeting Americans associated with the same group that attempted to meddle in 2016.

Donie O'Sullivan is with me.

Donie, I have never really fully grasped and I've read a few of the sort of the congressional report on this, what it is that the Russians do that now

Facebook says it has uncovered again?

DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN BUSINESS REPORTER: Yes, Richard, well, I guess if you think back to sort of espionage and disinformation campaigns from the

pre-internet age where you know the Soviet Union used to place fake news articles and allegations, false allegations about the United States in

newsletters and pamphlets and newspapers all around the world with the hope that they might get international attention that is sort of what the

Kremlin tries to do now, and also to try and infiltrate activist groups.

So you know, during the Cold War, there was a lot of that stuff going on with the anti-war movement and even the Civil Rights movement. Today,

Russia can do that through social media platforms.

So, you know, it's one of those things, I guess that it is difficult to always see what the direct return is on this investment. But clearly,

Russia have used it as something that's worth trying.

And today we learned that Facebook, acting on a tip from the F.B.I. has found this online news outlet that purports to be an independent leftwing

sort of magazine, but that it is in fact run by, linked to the same people who were running all of these sort of fake groups and pages here in the

U.S. in the run-up to the 2016 election.

[15:10:40]

O'SULLIVAN: The point of it all, I guess is to try and probably stir some trouble in the United States, specifically analysts who took a look at some

of these groups and said that it appeared that what -- the sort of one of the aims this campaign was to try and drive a wedge among Democratic

supporters and to sort of criticize Joe Biden and Kamala Harris from the left, which is sort of similar to what Russia was trying to do with Hillary

Clinton in 2016.

QUEST: Donie O'Sullivan. Donie, thank you.

President Trump is in Kenosha in Wisconsin even though local officials have asked him to stay away and not to come. He has no plans to meet Jacob

Blake's family.

Blake of course is the young man who was shot in the back seven times by police and is now still in the hospital and paralyzed. The shooting of

Blake has roused huge protests that turned violent.

He is meeting law enforcement officials and taking part in a round table. You see the Attorney General, William Barr. President Trump on Fox News on

Monday compared the police brutality to golf.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The police are under siege because of things -- they can do 10,000 great acts, which is what

they do, and one bad apple or a choker, a choker, they choke.

LAURA INGRAHAM, FOX NEWS CHANNEL HOST, THE INGRAHAM ANGLE: Meaning they panic --

TRUMP: Shooting the guy-- shooting the guy in the back many times. I mean, couldn't you have done something different? Couldn't you have wrestled --

you know, I mean, in the meantime he might have been going for a weapon.

You know, there is a whole big thing there. But they choked, just like in a golf tournament, they miss a three-foot putt.

INGRAHAM: You are not comparing it to golf, because of course, that's what the media --

TRUMP: No, I'm saying people choke.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: Well, hats off to the -- to put it -- the challenge -- comparing it to golf. Ryan Nobles is in Kenosha.

So, the President is there. I mean, the President is entitled to go to any part of the United States that he wishes. It is normally an honor for

somewhere to have a visit from the President. It doesn't appear to be the case in this case.

RYAN NOBLES, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: You are right, Richard. You know, the leadership on all levels here in Wisconsin and in Kenosha in

particular basically pleaded with President Trump to avoid coming to this city at this particular time because tensions here are so high.

The mayor of Kenosha, the lieutenant governor and the governor of Wisconsin both saying don't come. Now, it is worth pointing out they are all

Democrats and President Trump is a Republican.

But there is kind of a broader concern about the language that President Trump is using to describe this incident. The way he is addressing it, not

so much talking about the root of the problem -- that shooting that led to all the protests and violence, but instead just focusing on the violence

that has borne out as a result of it.

In fact, you played that clip from Fox News last night where he talked and compared the shooting to the law enforcement officer here, the police

officer choking and that's been met with a fair amount of criticism.

Richard, just a few minutes ago in this roundtable that he is holding with law enforcement, he again used that analogy saying that the police officer

choked.

So, there is some concern the President not talking enough about the situation more broadly, what led to that. And then of course policing in

general instead of just leaning into this kind of forceful and kind of inflammatory language about law and order and bringing peace to chaos.

And you know, Richard, we can't ignore the fact that this is a battleground state.

Wisconsin is one of the key states for the President's victory in 2016, and one he is counting on in 2020, which could have another at least big reason

for why he came here today -- Richard.

QUEST: And Ryan, in a sentence, just remind me, if the vote were held now, which way is Wisconsin leaning?

NOBLES: It is pretty much a toss-up at this point, Richard. Most polls show it leaning in Joe Biden's direction, but a lot of those polls are in

the margin of error. So, it is razor thin here, and this electoral votes are going to be crucial for either Biden or Trump come November.

QUEST: Ryan Nobles in Wisconsin. Ryan, thank you.

Now, as we continue on QUEST MEANS BUSINESS for this Tuesday, the travel industry as we are well aware is in total chaos. What happens now?

The summer is coming to an end. Leisure travel will subside and business travel is nowhere to be seen. You are going to hear from the CEO of

Expedia, and the CEO of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. It is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:18:03]

QUEST: Welcome back to QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.

The three major top U.S. airlines have now all said that they are removing change fees for passengers and doing so permanently. They are trying to woo

back passengers, obviously, as numbers remain very low capacity.

The top three carriers in the United States, their stock, well, two of them are down. United and Delta are down. American is eking up. But they were

all down because obviously, getting rid of change fees in the longer run will have a negative impact on revenue. They were bringing in up to half a

billion a year for some of the airlines.

Air France KLM is cementing its plan to raise funds. It has redeemed $400 million in notes phasing out the larger jets. Pieter Elbers is the CEO of

KLM. He joins me now from Amsterdam.

Pieter, good to see you, sir. First thing, are you know satisfied -- you and Air France, do you now believe you have sufficient funding and

financing in place to see you through into the New Year and beyond?

PIETER ELBERS, CEO, KLM: Yes, we recently -- hi, Richard, good evening. We recently got some loans and some support and bank guarantees, which should

help us to face the present situation and help us to get through to next year. And then hopefully, we will see a further improvement of the business

environment.

QUEST: This business environment, I mean, we have seen resurgences and then fall backs. Jozsef Varadi, who you will be well familiar with from

Wizz on this program last night described it as a roller coaster.

I assume you are riding those same waves as countries open and close, restrict and then reopen again?

[15:20:02]

ELBERS: Yes, we basically see countries who are opening or closing, and I think one of the biggest challenges for airlines in general and for us

operating into all of these different countries in particular is that we see a wide range of different rules, regulation, specifications which

differ country by country when it comes to travel restrictions.

So, indeed we saw some trends in the positive direction in the past couple of weeks, and more recently in the last two to three weeks, especially in

the European landscape we see more restrictions coming in, especially for example in the U.K. now imposing new quarantine measures.

QUEST: Can you understand passengers frustration bordering on anger when airlines suddenly announce that fees they said were so crucial -- i.e.

change fees suddenly not only disappear, but disappear for good, forever, permanently, which begs the question, well, if you can do it now, why

didn't you do it then?

ELBERS: I guess everyone looking at the industry will see that the situation we are facing today is such an unprecedented crisis which lasts

way longer than any of the previous disruptions we had, which needs the industry to adjust to a new situation in reality.

And I guess, every country and every continent really is making up its own sort of new passenger regulations and decisions to be taken. So, I

understand it from a customer's perspective that it may be confusing for things which were there and now are different, but we are facing all

together such a different new reality where airlines need to adjust and to face -- and to make sure -- because that's why it is being abandoned, that

customers are willing again to board the aircraft and sort of take these new rules into consideration in making their trips.

QUEST: Pieter, the question of business travel. Leisure is going to fall off to a large extent after the summer. How worried are you, you don't have

the business travel to fall back on into the autumn? It will be even worse.

ELBERS: Well, business travel, especially for the intercontinental travel is obviously a very crucial part. I think what is a little bit encouraging

to see is that a lot of businesses basically want to get back into intercontinental travel, it is that they really hope that we find a way all

together to deal with this situation in order to make sure that business can go on.

And after all of these months really of stopping meeting people, stopping - - going into larger gathers, people looking forward for a way to get through this.

QUEST: Peter, I want to end on literally a high note. The V plane, where the model version, the drone version has now flown. This is literally a

plane in a V shape as the pictures will show. You are sponsoring and you are work closely with the university behind it.

So having seen it now fly, will it ever become a reality? Do you see this as something that's going to happen?

ELBERS: Well for us, the topic around sustainability is incredibly important. And for the last decade, even more. We are ranking high in the

Dow Jones Sustainability Index, and with that in mind, we announced last year our campaign "Fly Responsibly" in order to make the next move in

sustainability.

Two things were extremely important in that. One was innovation and the other one was collaboration. So at that point in time, and I recall you and

I spoke on that during the IATA meeting in Seoul last year when the world was still very, very different and the fact that today, really, we could

release a video of where this model of three meters by three meters was actually making a flight. It is really encouraging for the future of the

aviation industry.

So, looking a bit through this crisis, I think we need sometimes these little moments of encouragement that innovation and collaboration still

lead to wonderful new steps in the industry.

QUEST: I am still hoping we can meet in November at IATA's annual general meeting. Pieter Elbers who is joining -- who joins me from Schiphol Airport

in Amsterdam. Pieter, as always, good to see you. Thank you, sir.

Now, staying with airlines. United's executive chairman, Oscar Munoz, he was the CEO before Scott Kirby took over says the industry has little

choice but to slash the very large numbers of jobs that it has. He says some cuts were inevitable.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OSCAR MUNOZ, EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN, UNITED AIRLINES: The numbers are going to be large. I mean, the size of the industry is going to be 30, 40, maybe 50

percent lower for some time, and to some degree that percentage will be the number of people that I will reduce because it is a high fixed cost for

sort of the industry and in order to survive, we have to work through that.

We used to make a decent amount of money for an airline just a few months ago. And so, it has been tragic. It has been tragic on all those fronts,

but what we tell employees is that we are going to be a smaller airline for some time.

[15:25:12]

MUNOZ: The stark reality of what we are facing is dire. You have seen already around the world several airlines begin to in essence fold. I

suspect we may see more the longer this thing goes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: Oscar Munoz speaking there. The pandemic has devastated Europe's summer season, despite their very best efforts to try and salvage something

from it and to get travelers there.

Spain says international tourism in July was down 75 percent. Expedia says domestic travel took over in the U.S. There were stay-cations, last-minute

getaways, and it is all about flexibility. Tourists wanting refundable bookings and willing to bend on price as long as it is safe and uncrowded.

Expedia's CEO, Peter Kern joins me from New York. It is always, Peter, always good to have you with us. Let's start, first of all, the difficulty

is as summer comes to an end and the business travel simply isn't there, then the industry that is -- I mean, it barely gasped its way through the

summer is now going to have a very difficult winter?

PETER KERN, CEO, EXPEDIA: Well, thank you for having me, Richard. I would say to that -- I heard your last conversation that we think leisure may

somewhat replace business in the fall because if you think about school closings, work from home and all the things that are affecting our lives,

all the things that happened this summer where people were desperate to get away, find a different place to maybe still be working, maybe still be

schooling, but just wanted a change of venue or to get out of the cities to the country or to the beach, et cetera.

We think there may still be a knock-on effect in the fall where leisure travelers will fill some of that gap that would normally would have been

business travel.

So, again, it depends which sector of travel you are talking about. Vacation rentals have been strong and have been a beneficiary of this

instinct from people to travel locally and to find getaways.

Air will still probably be challenged. But hopefully, people will feel comfortable to make some trips of some distance. And we think while

corporate maybe off considerably still, that leisure may make some of that up.

QUEST: Now, the -- can you -- can you also understand the annoyance that passengers like myself feel and I have paid more change fees than most in

this job.

But all of a sudden airlines tell us, well, we don't need the money. We can let that go, not just temporarily, permanently. It begs the question,

people like me saying, well, if you can get rid of it now, what happened?

KERN: Well, I think as you heard with your last guest, I think the airlines are in an obviously, a terrible situation. They want customers to

feel comfortable to imagine traveling to start to book travel further out. And one of the real impediments is the change fees.

People are afraid that they very likely could have to change their travel. We have seen it in the hotel industry. We have seen this in our own trends.

In the hotel industry typically, you have got non-cancellable rates and cancellable rates and so that adjusts for it. In the airlines, that has

been covered really through change fees, so I think what you are seeing is airlines want that business booked. They want that consumer money to help

support them through this, but they recognize the consumer needs flexibility.

So, while on one hand it is frustrating for consumers who have paid change fees in the past like you and I, on the other hand, I think it is a good

innovation for our consumers from the standpoint of giving them greater flexibility and more confidence to book in the future.

So, I can understand why the airlines are doing it. I think it is a net positive for the consumer base on the whole, and we certainly want our

consumers to have less friction, less problems, less complexity in moving around. And clearly, this is a move in a good direction.

QUEST: Peter Kern from Expedia. Sir, thank you, I appreciate it. Thank you.

The markets are heading for a record close in some cases. If you look at the numbers, it is a very strong day across all three indices with the

NASDAQ perhaps showing the best of all and the Dow itself is up 133 points.

David Rubenstein will be with me in a moment to talk leadership throughout this crisis. In a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:30:00]

QUEST: Hello, I'm Richard Quest. There's more QUEST MEANS BUSINESS coming up in just a moment, as the tech stocks rally continues, and the markets

are at higher levels. The leadership question at the moment in the world, I'll be joined by the Carlyle Group founder, David Rubenstein, who will be

with us just after the break. And revisiting the "VOICE OF THE CRISIS." One of the companies that we visited, it's the Nigerian juice brand, Nuli, we

talked about earlier in the year. Well, some of the shops are now open. We'll have the boss joining us. So, we got an update. That'll all happen,

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

French President Emmanuel Macron is back in Beirut four weeks after the explosion that destroyed much of the capital. He is pushing for reforms to

try to rebuild the country under the sense of dAcjA vu. Macron is also there to mark Lebanon's centennial, after France formed greater Lebanon in

the wake of World War I.

New questions about President Trump's unannounced hospital visit last November. In his forthcoming book, The New York Times reporter Michael

Schmidt writes that Vice President Mike Pence was on standby to take over if Trump had to be anesthetized. At the time, the White House said that

Donald Trump had a quick exam and some lab tests.

India is accusing China of new provocative action at their disputed mountain border while military commanders held talks to defuse tensions

that have been ongoing since 20 Indian troops were killed in a June skirmish. A statement from India's foreign ministry says they've urge China

to control its frontline troops.

[15:34:59]

Returning to our top story and the way the markets are looking at the moment. A blistering day on the rise of tech. And Zoom is up some

ridiculous amount on the day. All other tech stocks are doing well. And Apple is up nearly four percent. Amazon -- well, you see the numbers on the

screen. Zoom, though, up 40 percent. Overall, the Dow is flat year-to-date, which is an achievement in itself. And S&P is up nine percent. The NASDAQ

is up three percent.

With me, David Rubenstein, the co-founder of the Carlyle Group. He's the author of a new book, "How to Lead: Wisdom from the World's Greatest CEOs,

founders, and Game Changers." David, it is good to have you with us. Your book comes out today. David, we'll do -- let's get -- well, let's reverse

the normal way. Normally, we'd do the book and then talk the markets. Let's get the markets out of the way now in terms of what you think is the -- and

we've got plenty of time for our talk. What you think is the underlying drive that continues to propel markets when frankly, economics, roar

economics, wouldn't justify it.

DAVID RUBENSTEIN, CO-FOUNDER, CARLYLE GROUP (via Skype): Well, I think the Fed is being so liberal, and what it's doing is a -- is a factor for sure.

And I think the market has had the sense that Congress is likely to pass another stimulus bill, whether it's a trillion and a half or 2 trillion, we

don't know. But it's likely to happen. So, the effect of another bill from Congress and the Fed, in effect, continuing the easing policy, I think is

making people feel pretty good about the next few months.

QUEST: Do you find it -- I was going to say perverse, or maybe obscene. I don't know which adjective. I'll leave you to just -- to get to offer up

your own, that you have a market that is creating much wealth for relatively few people, at a time when economies are creating great poverty

worldwide for many people.

RUBENSTEIN: It is a dichotomy that's very hard to explain. There's no doubt that the income inequality at least in the United States is probably being

increased by -- as a result of this. I don't have a solution for it. If I did, I would tell everybody what it is. But there's no doubt that the tech

companies and some of them are companies associated with technology are booming, and a lot of healthcare companies are booming. And the real

economy, though, is having some real problems. You just talked earlier about the airline industry, about the hotel industry, the cruise industry,

the restaurant industry, the movie industry, the sports industry, they're all suffering. So, a lot of the economy is not doing that well. And I think

it's going to take a while for the economy to come back in terms of the overall economy.

QUEST: So, to your book, "How to Lead" very prescient at the moment. If we take what you've discovered in this book about the leaders that you've met,

and know well, and you talk about -- and we put it into current, current, David, circumstances, what's the common thread from those leaders who have

done well, and who are they?

RUBENSTEIN: Well, I've interviewed business, cultural leaders, political leaders, so George Bush, Bill Clinton, Yo-yo Ma, Renee Fleming, Bill Gates,

Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffett, people like that are in the book. And David Petraeus and Colin Powell. Cross section. And what I learned is that, one,

you need to persist. Two, you probably have to have some failure early in your life and come back to that from that. You need to know how to persuade

people to follow you. You need to know how to share the credit. I think you have to have a high degree of integrity. I think you want to be a leader,

and you have to want to be a leader. Probably coming from a lower-income background or middle-class background is better than coming from a wealthy

background.

And you really need to do something that shows people that you want to give back to society, and you're not just trying to make money, or just become

famous. Those are the qualities that I think are important, but also working hard. You just can't just say, I have a good idea, I'd like to be a

leader. You have to work hard at it and persist, persist, persist, because generally, people are going to tell you, you can't do what you want to do.

People told Bill Gates he couldn't do what he wanted to do. People told Steve Jobs he couldn't do what he wanted to do. And, of course, everyone

told the founder of Tesla, Elon Musk, that he couldn't do what he wanted to do. So, you have to persist. And a lot of people are not like -- going to

like you when you -- when you persist, and you do things that people didn't think you could do.

QUEST: Who do you admire in terms of the current pandemic leadership? Who do you think has excelled when faced by the -- by the challenge and the

crucible, they were able to rise to that challenge?

RUBENSTEIN: Well, of course, everybody has not done what we all wanted to do. We've had now about 180,000 deaths in the United States and enormous

amount of deaths around the world. So, nobody has been -- done this perfectly. I do think that some of the medical professionals who run some

of the hospitals have done spectacular jobs in terms of making those hospitals work.

I think the people working on vaccines have really stepped up. An average vaccine takes about seven years start to finish. We're going to have a

vaccine almost certainly within a year or less. And I think these vaccines will probably be out by the end of the year. So, the companies that have

worked on that, I think deserve a lot credit. The health care professionals deserve a lot of credit. There's no doubt about it.

[15:40:03]

And the people in the federal government have done quite a good job. I think the federal regulatory agencies, the CDC, the FDA, NIH, while they

have some mistakes they may have made, I think, generally they've done a very good job.

QUEST: You're also a leader yourself. What would you say you have learned over the last six months term? (INAUDIBLE) about yourself, about the way

you lead, about the way you make decisions, what have you faced and what have you learned?

RUBENSTEIN: Well, I guess I've faced my own mortality because I'm now 71 years old, and when you get to be 71 years old, every day is a blessing in

many respects, because the average person, when I was born, did -- probably didn't live quite this long. The average person at the -- in -- at the year

1900 only lived -- they average of 49 years. Now, probably a person born today probably lives of the average of 82. But when you get to be 71, you

realize that something bad can happen, though, if you have a good medical system, you probably can get it fixed, and maybe live a little bit longer.

But with COVID, I realized that if something happened to me and I got it, given the fact that I'm 71, and probably not the greatest physical specimen

in the world, I could probably die in one or two weeks. And so, I thought about my own mortality a bit and decided I would try to do much more to

give away my money and to do much more in the health care area, and to try to get my bucket list completed because I -- you know, you never know how

long you're going to live.

So, I -- fortunately, I haven't gotten it yet, though, members of my family did get it. And I'm hoping to not get it between now and the time a vaccine

comes out. But I really probably learned more about my own mortality, and the fact that I feel very lucky to have gotten this far in life and be

successful, relatively speaking. But I also recognize that something bad could happen any day.

QUEST: David, it's good to have you, sir. I'm always grateful. Thank you very much indeed.

RUBENSTEIN: Thank you.

QUEST: And good to have you on program. And keep well, sir. I have to say - - I have to say, at 71, you're looking considerably fitter than myself, and I've seen you -- and I've seen you moving around. So, you're doing

something right.

RUBENSTEIN: All right. Thank you.

QUEST: Thank you, David Rubenstein joining us. We will be back. This is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: The heir to the Samsung fortune and several other people have been indicted in a major scandal that promises to have widespread ramifications.

[15:45:01]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SELINA WANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Samsung's de facto leader Jay Y. Lee has been embroiled in legal scandals for years. This time, Lee and 10 other

executives, are being indicted on charges that include illegal transactions and stock manipulation. It's for a merger that occurred five years ago

between Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries. Now, allegedly, this allowed Jay Y. Lee to consolidate his power and cement the succession of the company

from his father who's been hospitalized since 2014. The prosecutors alleged that the executives timed the transaction to Cheil Industries' advantage.

That's important because Jay Y. Lee was the majority shareholder of Cheil Industries.

The prosecutors also alleged that in the process of this merger, they engaged in spreading false information, as well as manipulating the stock

price. Now, Samsung's lawyers have denied the charges, saying the investigation was done, quote, with the aim of prosecuting Jay Y. Lee from

the beginning, rather than seeking the actual truth, according to the evidence. Now, Jay Y. Lee has already spent about a year in jail. He was

only freed in 2018. And that was for charges on bribery involving South Korea's former president. That case is actually still ongoing.

Now, this indictment paves the way for Lee to undergo trial over these allegations, which could drag on for years. That just casts another shadow

over Samsung's leadership. And Samsung is such a powerful symbol, not just for South Korea's rise to become a technology powerhouse, but also, it

symbolizes the challenges that occur when such a small group of families control such a large part of the economy.

Samsung comprises about a fifth of South Korea's exports. And for years, it's been the large -- one of the largest producers in the world of

smartphones, chips and T.V.s. So, it is central not only to South Korea's economy, but also to its national story. Now, Jay Y. Lee has tried to

improve the company's image in recent months. In May, he actually admitted that Samsung has, "failed at times to meet society's expectations because

we did not strictly uphold the law and ethical standards." He has pledged to do better, including ending this dynastic succession plan, saying he

will not hand over his role to his children. Selina Wang, CNN, Hong Kong.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: One of the most important parts of QUEST MEANS BUSINESS over the last few months has been meeting the business leaders, and how they are

struggling. Ordinary people running businesses, entrepreneurs. After the break, we check up on one of them in Nigeria, about how her juice business

is doing now they're (INAUDIBLE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:50:30]

QUEST: From the crisis to the reopening, the fast food company, Nuli in 2020 was supposed to be a banner year with great prospects. A Nigerian

restaurant was providing alternative healthier, fast food. And indeed, everything seems set until, of course, COVID came along. Then, all 10

locations were shut. And here's what the founder Ada Osakwe told me earlier when we were talking to her at the height of the "VOICE OF THE CRISIS."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADA OSAKWE, FOUNDER & CEO, NULI: Each of those 10 stores that we have were opened only last year. So, now, I'm just really with spreadsheets and

putting percentages next to everyone's names to see how we're going to pay, and it's everything from 20 percent to maybe a full salary. So, I want

everyone to at least have something, but after April, I don't know how we're going to survive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: Ada is -- doesn't -- has now managed to reopen three of the restaurants for pickup and delivery, but it's nowhere near business as

usual. And sometimes, some staff had to be laid off. Nigeria is in the process of reopening. New daily cases are trending downward. 10,000 new

cases last month, down from a peak of 17,000 in July. Ada is with me now from Lagos, Nigeria. It is good to see you and to hear you. And so, some of

your stores, you've had to close permanently. But you have got three open. And you are looking forward to reopening when there is sit-in dining,

correct?

OSAKWE: Absolutely. Great to see you back, Richard. Yes, we are just moving on. Honestly, it's been an interesting time. I did say when we spoke the

last time that we hope we survive. And we did. Thankfully, we did. So, we still have only three stores open. We had to shut down completely three

stores. So, those don't exist anymore. And we have another three that are just waiting. It's a wait-and-see mode because they're inside office

buildings and offices aren't back at work. So, it's a very interesting time, but we survived.

QUEST: That's a real problem for you, isn't it, those in the office buildings? Because office buildings are good to be amongst the last that

fully reopen. So, what's your strategy now? I mean, I realize it's, you know, stay in business as best you can. But what's your strategy, Ada,

between now and, say, Christmas?

OSAKWE: Great question, Richard, because it's something that has been keeping me up at night for the last three months. Now, we're actually quite

-- I actually see COVID as a silver lining. Our strategy is to get in front of places like residential estates and be located in all these high traffic

areas, like grocery stores, where people live. And we're actually seeing some interesting revenue lines emerge for us with some private label. So,

I'm actually quite excited. You know, it's the silver lining in this whole thing. And yes, that's the strategy going forward, just staying focused on

and keeping our eyes open for opportunities.

QUEST: I'm hearing that phrase by a lot of people. Big businesses tell me, looking for opportunities. There are -- you're sort of a true entrepreneur,

aren't you, Ada? You're looking for opportunities in the face of adversity. And I do wonder, when do you think you'll be able to take more staff on?

OSAKWE: You know we actually have -- soon, I'll say soon, because of those opportunities that I really, you know, fingers crossed they are going to

come up. They're going to come about. We should be able to take some folks on in the next two months, maybe. So, I'm glad, because we had to lay off

about 11 people. We're a small business. We're about 50. And we had to lay off about 11 people.

QUEST: Right. So, I asked David Rubenstein, one of the world's great sort of dealmakers, what he had learned about himself during COVID. OK, Ada,

you're at the other end of the business scale. What have you learned about yourself, as a businesswoman, as an entrepreneur during this crisis?

[15:55:06]

OSAKWE: I think I learned not to make -- not to make knee jerk reactions, to take my time to pause, to think, to ask questions, and finally, make a

decision. It was very interesting, in the last three months, the things that I thought, that's the way forward, and suddenly, three months later,

I'm like, maybe not -- it's not the way forward. So, being able to pause, reflect, and think, I think the crisis really made me do that. I learned

that about myself.

QUEST: We'll talk again before the year is over. We'll pull the strands together. Thank you. Good luck, get more of your stores open, and get those

healthier juices as far as you can. Good to see you. Thank you.

OSAKWE: Thank you.

QUEST: Let's have a short break. And a "PROFITABLE MOMENT" will be on the other side.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: Tonight's "PROFITABLE MOMENT," there was a lovely graphic during the rounds during the pandemic about the Zoom call. And actually, how much any

of us listened or watched. If you have a look, you'll see on a diagram. Apparently, most of us spent most of our Zoom calls, looking at each

other's furniture, looking at what everybody else was doing. And everybody was thinking, seeing friends and colleagues. But actually, on your bathtub,

jokingly aside. It's, of course, joking. About two percent was actually spent listening or watching on the Zoom call itself.

The reality, though, is Zoom has been a phenomenon. You've got to hand it to Zoom. The way Zoom has managed to completely reinvent -- look, Zoom has

been around a long time. But the truth is, it's only now if I'd said to people before, oh, let's meet on Zoom, then it's a no, no, no, that's a

weird thing for the people. Now, we're used to it. And I think that the gains that Zoom has seen and probably the profits that they've made, are

well-deserved for an organization and a company that has redefined the way we kept in touch during the pandemic.

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 is profitable. Jake

Tapper and "THE LEAD" is next. This is CNN.

END