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Quest Means Business

Stocks Pop As Fed Holds Policy, Signals Rate Hike Soon; U.S. To Double Vaccine Donations To Poorer Nations; Macron And Biden Speak After Rift Over Submarine Deal; Chaos At Haiti Airport After Deportations; Interview With Erika Mouynes, Panamanian Foreign Minister, On Need For Collaboration On Migrant Issues; Major Averages Up Despite Fed's Taper Warning. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired September 22, 2021 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:03]

ISA SOARES, CNN HOST: U.S. markets roaring back after a rocky start to the week. The Dow gaining momentum after the Fed's latest rate decision. Those

are the markets and these are the main events.

Teeing up a taper. The Fed says it is almost time to start winding down its massive pandemic stimulus.

"Donne moi un break" as the U.S. tries to repair its rift with France, the U.K. Prime Minister opens up a new one.

And President Biden promises 500 million vaccine doses for the countries who needs them most.

Live from London. It is Wednesday, September 22nd. I'm Isa Soares, in for Richard Quest and I, too, mean business.

Tonight, moderation in the pace of asset purchases may soon be warranted. That is the key sentence and that is basically Fed speak for brace

yourselves, we might start cutting off the easy money, and Wall Street, as you can see, has been higher all day as Jay Powell and the Federal Reserve

wrapped up their September policy meeting.

Stocks took off after their statement was released at two o'clock in New York. Investors, as you can imagine breathing a sigh of relief, but at

least for now, the coronavirus economic support will continue to flow.

But there are various headwinds the Fed must consider as you can imagine. First of all, let me talk you through them. First of all, Evergrande, the

massive Chinese real estate company at risk of default. We've been talking about this on the show, we'll stay on top of it.

Then you have the U.S. debt ceiling, which may not be raised amid political bickering in Washington, and then of course, you've got the ongoing

uncertainty around the pandemic. Jay Powell is giving a press conference. He's been speaking now for more than half an hour. And he's giving the

clearest signal yet that tapering is coming. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEROME POWELL, CHAIRMAN, U.S. FEDERAL RESERVE: While no decisions were made, participants generally view that so long as the recovery remains on

track, a gradual tapering process that concludes around the middle of next year is likely to be appropriate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: So as you can see, the Dow likes what it's heard. Clare Sebastian has been monitoring at all. Clare, set the stage for us. We've heard from

Powell. He has pretty much set the stage himself for tapering. He said the bond buying pace may still be warranted.

We heard the presser, how did he frame it in terms of the when? Because it's so critical here, of course, is the language, isn't it?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And it was very clear, Isa. It was the clearest that we've heard so far. He said -- he sort of

laid it out, right, the test that they have for beginning tapering is what he calls substantial further progress on two issues -- on inflation going a

little bit above two percent before moderating back over time, and reaching a sort of what the committee decides is the definition of full employment.

He says that if you look at inflation, clearly, that test has been met. When it comes to unemployment, some on the committee believe that it has

already been met as well, but others feel that there's some way to go.

He said himself that it has been as good as met, and he went on to clarify that soon that that very important word in the statement, the sort of the

one that's getting all the attention today soon could mean as soon as the next meeting, which would be in November. So that's really the clearest

signal that we've had so far from the Fed.

Clearly, it's a very important part of his job, Isa, to telegraph that to the market to make sure people are prepared and to make sure there are no

real surprises. But, always caveats, said you don't know what's going to change in the economy, the virus is dictating that at the moment.

SOARES: Very much so. Look, let's talk interest rates and the dot plot. I know, you know, you and I always love a good dot plot. Talk us through

where members stand up. From what I saw, nine members -- and I see a rate increase -- how. What are the projections? How does that compare from the

last time we heard from the Fed?

SEBASTIAN: So we're seeing a little bit of a pull forward in the projections when it comes to where the committee members think interest

rates will be, when we're going to get that so-called lift off. There is now an even split for 2022. Nine members believe that rates will go higher

by at least sort of one hike in 2022 and in 2023, we are now seeing a median of three rate hikes overall by the end of 2023, up from two in the

previous dot plot.

So look, this is a snapshot in time. This is what the Fed members think is going to happen as of now based on their best estimates of where the

economy is going to go. That could change. It usually does, quite honestly, but it is a good sort of barometer of how they are feeling and it does look

like rate lift off. They're starting to think will be sooner than they had before.

Jerome Powell though, keen to separate the idea of raising interest rates from the idea of tapering. He said that the test for raising interest rates

much more stringent than that of tapering.

SOARES: And I was listening to Powell just before I came on air, of course, but you know the economic projections, GDP from what I saw for this

year was revised down, but they seem somewhat concerned about inflation, it clearly is still bothering them, and it really does paint a picture, Clare,

just how much uncertainty the Fed is still facing here.

[15:05:20]

SEBASTIAN: Yes, so the issue with inflation is that Powell has said all along that it's going to be transitory, that a lot of it is based on this -

- on the reversal of the trends that we saw in COVID and people starting to do and buy the things that they didn't at that time, and also in the supply

chain bottlenecks that we've seen.

And those supply chain bottlenecks are persisting for longer than they had expected. So, that he said, is what continues to drive inflation higher. He

does still believe that it will mostly abate of its own accord, but he continues to say that if it doesn't, that really won't matter, because the

Fed will use its tools anyway to bring inflation back down.

But that is a big uncertainty. The other big uncertainty in the economy continues to be the labor market. The fact that there are north of 10

million job openings in the economy, and yet jobs, the number of jobs being added, as you know, was disappointing in August, just 235,000.

So that disconnect continues. It's made worse by the delta variant impacting people's ability to put their kids back in school, to get

childcare, things like that. He did say that he does expect things to improve over the coming months.

SOARES: Yes, still lots of unknowns, but clearly, the market, the Dow seems to like it. I looked at bank stocks as well. They were -- they also

liked what they heard. We'll stay on top of it.

Clare Sebastian in New York. Thanks very much, Clare.

Now, throughout the pandemic, the Fed Chair has been adamant, it is the virus that will dictate the Fed's policy. It is the point that Clare was

making.

Well, Joe Biden has been meeting virtually with world leaders today, really trying to work out a way to get vaccines to poorer countries and end the

pandemic once and for all.

The White House says it will buy another 500 million Pfizer doses and donate them to low and middle income countries, and this brings a total

number of doses the U.S. will donate to 1.1 billion.

At the United Nations, Secretary General Antonio Guterres has condemned vaccine inequality as a global disgrace. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONIO GUTERRES, SECRETARY GENERAL, UNITED NATIONS: A surplus in some countries, empty shelves in others. The majority of Western world

vaccinated, over 90 percent of Africans still waiting for the first dose. This is a moral indictment of the state of our worlds. It is an obscenity.

We passed the science test, but we are getting an F in ethics.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: F in ethics. Phil Mattingly is at the White House. And Phil, we've been hearing for some time now about vaccine inequality and the cause for

richer countries to donate. Talk us through what the U.S. is doing and whether critically, the Biden administration is confident, Phil, that other

countries will heed Biden's call to action here.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Look, it has been a constant point of tension, Isa, and one, the White House officials both

here in the West Wing, but also the State Department as well, their health officials have been trying to grapple with over the course of the last

couple of months, particularly given just the sheer scale of the supply that the U.S. currently has on its hand, the consideration and soon to be

launching of booster doses as other countries are left with little or no vaccine at all.

It's why you've seen the President really over the course of the last three or four months, once the U.S. vaccination program was kicked into full gear

make distributing vaccines worldwide, a central component of really his entire foreign policy.

You mentioned the numbers today, an additional 500 doses committed, more than 1.1 billion doses committed overall and the President calling not just

on U.S. officials, but also global leaders to try and meet the benchmark of 70 percent of the world vaccinated by 2022. There is obviously a long way

to go to reach that point.

The President is saying the U.S. is leading the way to some degree hoping that other nations will follow, it has secured a number of commitments at

the G7 Summit earlier this year, hoping to continue to not just make countries live up to those commitments, but also bolster their own

commitments in the months ahead.

And it's this idea that the White House says these things aren't mutually exclusive. You can have the U.S. side of things while also working on the

international side of things, obviously donating these vaccines through COVAX, the international vaccine distribution program that's been set up

targeting lower and middle income countries and really focused on the idea that at this point in time, the U.S. has already donated more than 160

million doses to over 100 countries, more than any other country.

However, the inequity remains and it's very, very clear and it just kind of adds pressure to this moment despite the big numbers that the U.S. is

laying out here, it hasn't made a tangible impact up to this point and that criticism certainly isn't going away anytime soon.

SOARES: And so this leads me into my next question really, Phil, and it is this. Look donations will be incredibly well received, no doubt about it in

countries where there's demand, but clearly not enough supply.

But is there a plan by the Biden administration to help produce vaccines? I'm thinking here of Africa where roughly three percent of people have been

vaccinated.

[15:10:10]

MATTINGLY: Yes. Look, it's a great point. It's not just the doses, its production. It is how do you get the doses out? It's all of the different

elements of delivering those doses that kind of work through the assembly line, not just the shot itself as it goes into an arm.

The short answer is, yes, they've been working through a process and have already kind of directed hundreds of millions of dollars to try and bolster

that process in various countries and regions throughout the world. That is going to continue. That has been a significant piece of how they have kind

of worked through the U.S. process of distribution, of donation as well.

They are viewed kind of together, not in isolation as this process goes out. The donations, obviously get the big headlines and other big numbers,

but kind of the back end piece of it is extraordinarily important. I think U.S. officials acknowledge that fact.

Again, I think the biggest question here, is less of can they deliver or will they deliver, it is how much will they deliver? And while a billion

doses seems like an extraordinary amount, if the goal is to have 70 percent of the world vaccinated by 2022, the U.S. can't do it alone, and its

international partners and their commitments won't do it alone right now. There needs to be a significant expansion at this point in time.

The administration says they believe they're only going to keep ramping up from here on out. But it's clear when you listen to international health

officials that that ramp up needs to go much, much faster and be much more expansive than it currently is.

SOARES: Phil Mattingly there for us in Washington. Thanks very much, Phil. Good to see you.

Now, the U.S. President and his French counterpart have finally spoken about the submarine deal that sunk really their relationship for some time.

Emmanuel Macron was blindsided when Mr. Biden said Australia was buying nuclear powered subs from the U.S. rather than the conventional subs from

France.

In a joint statement, both men agreed the issue was mishandled. I'm going to read part of it: "The two leaders agree that the situation would have

benefited from open consultations among allies," says the White House read out.

The French version puts it a little differently. It says: "Open consultations would have made it possible to avoid this situation."

And while Joe Biden is mending fences, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who also entered the new security pact with Australia, says the

French need to get a grip. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: That certainly did come up, and what I want to say about that is, I just think it's time for some of our

dearest friends around the world to you know, "prenez un grip" about all this. "Donne moi un break" because this is fundamentally a great step

forward for global security.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: Cyril Vanier is in Paris, and Cyril, well, talk about "Donne moi un break" in just a second. But first, the statement from the French side

and also from the Biden administration. Clearly, they've spoken. Their relations seems -- the relationship is back on track. Is this the end of

it? Is this the end of the crisis now?

CYRIL VANIER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Isa, I think it's fair to say that the worst part of the crisis is behind us. They had a friendly 30-minute phone

call and Mr. Macron clearly got enough from Joe Biden, enough of what he wanted to hear that he is now going to be sending France's Ambassador to

Washington back to D.C. pretty shortly.

So France had set a pretty high bar for this call. And in some respects it was met, in so far as France wanted something that sounded almost like an

apology from Joe Biden. They got something along those lines.

You mentioned the discrepancy between the French communique and the English communique. I mean, that is really some first class world class

hairsplitting, I think some would describe it as pettiness in the French version, it sounds like an apology. It sounds like the U.S. is

acknowledging that if they had communicated better, then this crisis wouldn't have happened.

If you look at the English version, of course, for the consumption by English speaking audiences, it says only that the situation could have

quote-unquote, "benefited from better communication."

So look, that hairsplitting and that pettiness aside, yes, the worst part of this diplomatic row is over and the alliance between the U.S. and France

lives, of course, Isa.

SOARES: So a quasi-apology, I think Macron probably will happily take that as a win for him. Look, let's talk about what we heard from Boris Johnson

today. How are his words "Donne moi un break" being received there?

VANIER: Isa, let's take a full 15 to 20 seconds to acknowledge number one that it was funny, and it was a good TV moment. I think if your objective

and I think even French diplomats if they're being honest and private, they would tell you, okay, look, that was a good zinger, right? It was a good

one liner.

As far as what it does to diplomacy, it does nothing. It does nothing to diplomacy, it does not move the needle of where the situation between

France and the U.K. has been for a week, and that's probably why Boris Johnson said that. He was playing with house money. There was really no

impact he could have on this situation, other than play well to his domestic audiences and some of the tabloids in the U.K.

[15:15:22]

VANIER: France has decided that the best way to treat the British on this particular matter for the past week has been with contempt. They have

decided not to dignify what the U.K. has said and done with an answer saying only that they know of the U.K.'s opportunism and that the U.K. has

been a follower, not a leader in this regard; and therefore, France doesn't need to answer.

So I would say, Isa, that in the final analysis, the rivalry between France and the U.K. is well and truly alive.

SOARES: Cyril Vanier for us in Paris. Great to see you, Cyril.

Still coming up right here on the show, grow up and deal with it. The British Prime Minister's straightforward message this time to the U.N.

General Assembly about the global climate crisis. That is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SOARES: Now, a global crisis takes the spotlight on the world stage. In the coming hours, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will speak to the

U.N. General Assembly about climate change. He is expected to tell humanity to quote, "grow up and leave behind the infantile approach to climate." Mr.

Johnson will host the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Glasgow in November.

Well, his address comes as the United Kingdom is feeling the effects of climate crisis. Soaring fuel prices caused two more British energy

companies to go bust. Avro Energy and Green Supplier Limited serviced almost three percent of domestic consumers.

Meanwhile, the U.K. government is bailing out an American fertilizer company crucial to the British food supply. It needed millions of pounds to

help pay its natural gas bills. The U.S. is blaming Russia for the rising gas prices, vowing to stand up to energy manipulation in Europe.

Here to break it all down for us is Anna Stewart. Anna, two more suppliers. I think, we've got like a growing list now of supplies that have just

ceased trading. Talk to us about what the British government is doing to really stop these companies from following, you know what we saw today, the

likes of the other two companies just going bankrupt in many ways.

[15:20:05]

ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER: Well, what are they doing? In short, Isa, they're doing absolutely nothing. They actually expect more energy

providers to go bust in the coming months. This takes the total to at least six, I think. Just in the last few weeks, it's almost on a day by day

basis, we're getting this news.

So it is impacting hundreds of thousands of households and businesses whose energy firms have gone bust. Now, they will all be transferred directly on

to a bigger and more robust energy provider. I think the really big question is, though, can these energy providers, these bigger ones take on

an absolute flood of new customers? Can they afford to?

They've secured enough gas on long term contracts, so they are insulated from these crazy high prices. They cannot actually pass all the costs on to

the customer because the government has an energy price cap. So that's the situation.

If it comes to the point where they simply can't take on more customers, I think then we will actually see the U.K. government having to step in and

doing something and the fact that we saw them, announcing financial aid to a U.S. fertilizer firm just to shore up food security, it goes to show that

if the crisis is bad enough, if it's really critical, they are likely to step in.

SOARES: Yes, and meanwhile, I mean, we made the point introduction to you. Meanwhile, you know, there are plenty of reports of alleged market

manipulation in Europe and some, finger pointing at Russia. What more can you tell us here?

STEWART: Yes, I mean, I don't think anyone is saying that it is just Russia. There are plenty of reasons why prices are high. You look at the

demand issue, lots of economies leaving lockdowns, they are roaring back to action. They want more gas.

Last winter was long, it depleted reserves and wind and solar outputs being poor. There are a number of reasons here. But today, the IEA said bluntly,

Russia could do more. And they pointed to the fact that actually Russian exports of natural gas to Europe are below 2019 levels.

They didn't go as far as some experts within the industry, some analysts who have said that Russia is purposely not exporting as much gas, they are

exacerbating the situation. They want the gas price to be this high because it plays into their arguments to get the Nord Stream 2 pipeline approved by

Europe.

Now currently, this is the pipeline that runs from the Baltic Sea right through to Germany. Very controversially, it sidelines, it completely

bypasses Ukraine. Russia says that is not what's happening. They say they are fulfilling all their long term contracts. We heard from Gazprom, the

state energy provider today.

They also said they seek to satisfy the request for additional supplies, however, I will leave you with this thought, Isa. They have also said the

Russian government in the last week, that if the pipeline were to be approved, and soon as well, that that would balance out the gas price --

Isa.

SOARES: Well, I don't think this story is going anywhere, Anna, so do stay on top of it. Because we have been here before, you and I covering the

story. We shall see as we of course be going to the colder months how this develops.

Anna Stewart there for us. Thanks very much, Anna.

Now, the aviation industry is one major polluter. Now dozens of CEOs are committing to getting 10 percent sustainable fuel by 2030, and it includes

the heads of United, Airbus, KLM as well as energy companies like BP, as you can see there, and companies that rely on corporate air travel like

McKinsey and Deloitte. They are part of the World Economic Forum's Clean Skies for Tomorrow Coalition.

Lauren Uppink Calderwood is the head of Aviation Travel and Tourism at the World Economic Forum. She joins me now,

Lauren, thank you very much for joining us. Look, explain to our viewers what this coalition is looking to achieve, and by when.

LAUREN UPPINK CALDERWOOD, HEAD OF AVIATION TRAVEL AND TOURISM, WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM: Absolutely, and thanks for having me.

So the Clean Skies for Tomorrow Coalition is a group of actors, as you mentioned across the aviation value chain. So we have representatives from

airports, airlines, fuel producers, travel buyers, et cetera that are working together to decarbonize aviation.

But to get us there, we have to find the technologies that will work and will enable us to bring down the emissions in the aviation sector and

sustainable aviation fuels is the most promising option we have to do this, and to reduce the industry's carbon emissions in the near term.

But these fuels currently only make up less than 0.1 percent of jet fuel demand, and so if we want to really meet net zero by 2050 and see carbon

neutral flying, we need to scale that to at least two percent by 2025, and 10 percent by 2030.

And so today, these 60 companies have committed to working together to unlock the chicken and egg situation that has prevented these fuels from

coming to scale.

SOARES: I mean, it's a huge task, but like you clearly pointed out, it's not impossible. So talk our viewers through how you even start. How do you

begin to reduce emissions? You talked about maybe technology, better aircraft design, are we talking improved ground operations? Give us some

thoughts and some ideas of what is being discussed here.

CALDERWOOD: So all of those -- all of those items are part of the puzzle, but these are things that are ongoing. The aviation industry has done a

substantial job in increasing efficiencies, fuel efficiencies and improving on ground operations and aircraft design.

[15:25:07]

CALDERWOOD: But we have technologies like battery and battery electric flying, and hydrogen flying that are longer time away, we're thinking

middle of 2030s when we might see some of those aircraft come into fruition.

So in the meantime, we have to replace the fuels that we're using and move away from fossil fuel jet fuel.

So to do that, you have different types of sustainable aviation fuels. Some are bio feedstock based, some are based on e-fuels on electricity and

hydrogen -- liquid hydrogen. But these are all at different levels of readiness and currently, they cost way too much. They cost much more than

traditional jet fuel. And so up until now, there's been limited uptake and limited production.

SOARES: Right, because I was reading here and I thought it was really interesting that British Airways -- this is the British Airways Chairman

and CEO, Doyle was basically saying that for COP 26, they're going to have enough sustainable aviation fuel for the flights between London, Glasgow,

and Edinburgh.

So he said up to 80 percent compared to jet fuel. That just shows that it can be done. But it's a beginning, isn't it? I mean, how much will this be

a game changer, do you think?

CALDERWOOD: Oh, I mean, those types of demonstrations or those uses of the fuel are critical to prove that the fuel -- there is demand. The fuels are

certified. The pathways are certified, but we don't have enough plants in production.

So we need especially the producers to be looking at how to invest and retrofit or build new plants to be able to bring those fuels to market. But

yes, these fuels can bring down -- they can provide greenhouse gas saving of, in some cases up to 80 percent as the BA CEO mentions, and so they

really do present an enormous opportunity.

SOARES: Lauren, keep us posted on the developments, and we would love to stay on top of this such an important story for our audience, and really

for all of us.

Lauren, thank you very.

Lauren Uppink Calderwood there, the head of Aviation Travel and Tourism at the World Economic Forum.

Next, a crisis widening by the day. Chaos on the tarmac in Haiti as U.S. deports migrants who made it to America. We speak to the Foreign Minister

of a key player in the region, Panama, that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:30:00]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

ISA SOARES, CNN HOST: Welcome back.

We are getting a look at the chaotic moments when Haitians deported from the United States landed in Port-au-Prince. Journalists who witnessed the

arrival of the migrants were effectively abandoned on the tarmac.

Democratic lawmakers have urged the White House to stop the flights, especially given the crisis at America's southern border. U.S. Border

Patrol agents were seen aggressively confronting migrants in Del Rio, Texas.

The Department of Homeland Security said it is investigating that incident. The agents, meanwhile, have input on administrative duty. Matt Rivers is in

Mexico.

Give me a sense of what is happening behind you.

MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so right now we're just across the Rio Grande here. That's the United States on the other side of

the water there. We're here in Mexico in a town called Ciudad Lacuna.

Essentially, what you see behind me are Haitian migrants. There's a rope that's tied to a tree and it goes across the river. What you're seeing here

are people basically going back and forth across the river.

If you look up, you can see that that is the so-called wall of iron that the Texas governor has helped put into place between Border Patrol, trucks

and state troopers there, to try to not let the migrants pass.

What is essentially happening, as you cross as a migrant, you can take a left there. If you go further up the river, that's where this encampment is

under the International Bridge. What is happening behind me, largely people who are staying in the U.S. at this point, staying underneath bridge,

coming back across the Mexican side.

Just up the bank behind me there's a park here in Ciudad Lacuna. And in the park it is a little bit easier to get supplies. We just came through that

park. You can see that there's water available. There's clothing in some cases. There's food.

What you're seeing is people, who will come across this side, get some supplies and go back across the United States. The big question over the

next few days is, what will happen, both on the Mexico side and in the United States?

We know in the U.S., the Haitian migrants are either being allowed in the U.S. after being processed by Border Patrol or they're being deported to

Haiti.

In Mexico, something similar is happening, where Mexican authorities, at a slightly slower pace than their U.S. counterparts, are talking to migrants,

saying, do they have some sort of legal status stay in Mexico?

If they do, some sort of asylum process, many are being bused or flown down to southern Mexico to see the asylum claims through. If they have no claim,

they are being put in detention centers and eventually are going to be deported.

Essentially, the Haitian migrants are trapped. They can't freely walk into Mexico. They can't freely walk into the United States, at least without

being processed by Border Patrol. So a very fluid situation here along the U.S.-Mexico border.

SOARES: Thank you very much, Matt Rivers, for that reporting.

Let's turn our attention to the south. As we speak, almost 20,000 migrants remain stranded in Colombia. Many are from Haiti and Cuba and are waiting

to enter Panama.

It is a key channel for migrants, many of whom travel to Brazil or Chile. Then they make their way north with Panama standing as a vital doorway

between South and Central America.

Erika Mouynes is Panama's foreign minister and joins us from our studio in New York.

Thank you for joining us. I would like to begin where my colleague, Matt Rivers, you heard there, where he took off. We saw the influx of migrants

making their way to the United States. Give our viewers an idea what it looks like at Panama's borders right now.

ERIKA MOUYNES, PANAMA'S FOREIGN MINISTER: Yes. This situation has been happening for months. And let's be clear. The phenomenon, the migration of

extracontinentals and from the Caribbean has been happening for over a decade.

But between last year and especially in January, we saw -- we went from 800 that we were receiving in January to now where we are receiving over

20,000.

[15:35:00]

MOUYNES: So we've been, for months, advocating to try to get attention, collaboration among all the states. There are states that are receiving,

there are nations receiving these migrants. Then there are the transit ones, such as Panama and then the destinations such as the U.S.

We need collaboration between all the key players. We were able to have a high level summit to address this very pressing issue.

From there, we were able to create sort of a road map, establishing exactly who is receiving, how are they receiving. At the end of this migration, you

could end it fairly quickly and then deal with the originating cause.

Haiti, for instance, just less than two months ago got the first dose of vaccine. And you can see how much we need to do as a community, helping

them at the origination cause.

But also we need to deal with the states that are receiving and encouraging them to come to the south and then make their way up to the U.S. The

numbers, for instance, through Panama just this year, 80,000 migrants have gone by.

So what you're seeing right now in Texas, the 10,000 or 14,000, there are many more coming that way. And we can see from the information we have from

Colombia and other states toward the south that there are many more making their way up.

SOARES: How many are waiting?

How many are waiting to cross the border?

How many are waiting in Panama to cross?

MOUYNES: So we are constantly moving. But we have heard information from Colombia that there are between 14,000 and 19,000 in Colombia now waiting

to transit to Panama and then make their way up to the U.S.

SOARES: And give us an idea of the challenges you're facing at home as you deal with this influx. You went from 800 to 20,000.

MOUYNES: So Panama is the only country and the first country where they received medical attention. So sometimes they've gone through three or four

countries. In Panama, it's the first time that somebody takes care of their health, makes sure there is no COVID.

If there is COVID, we quarantine them. For example, we had a case of a girl with yellow fever who had gone through three countries already and, in

Panama, it was the first time it got detected and we were able to take care of her.

We also feed them. We have a migration station to give them temporary shelter. But we have a maximum capacity that we've prepared and we've

completely surpassed that capacity.

In order to provide support for this type of migration, it needs to be controlled. So that's what we're asking and we're looking to partner with

the U.S. and all of our neighboring countries to make sure that this is something that we can manage and we control together.

SOARES: So you've surpassed capacity, Minister. But Panama has been saying for a while now that the region needs to step up and needs to deal with the

crisis.

So what would you like to see?

What actions do you want to see from the United States and from other neighboring countries?

MOUYNES: The road map that we've developed with the help we got, every single immigration director, we sat them on the table. We also dealt the

attorneys general. We've prepared all the various aspects, which are key in the migration.

Now it is a matter of political will. When you have countries that have charters, welcoming or encouraging migrants from Haiti, for instance, to

come to the south or when you have no visa requirements or certain labor permits, so it is not across the board, the way that we're dealing with

this migration.

However, the effects and the consequences are felt throughout. So we need to truly collaborate and make sure that we have the same protocols so we

can actually take care and have a controlled migration.

SOARES: Do you think, Minister, that the action we've seen in the United States sending people back, Haitians back, do you think that is helping at

all?

MOUYNES: I think that right now it is key that we need to work together. The countries that are receiving them, the countries that are transit and

the destination; not one single country can deal with this on its own.

We need to all collaborate together and make sure that we're all doing our part and we also need to take care of Haiti and understand that the crisis

they're going through needs our attention and immediate help.

SOARES: Minister Erika Mouynes, the Panamanian foreign minister, thank you very much for taking the time to speak to us here on QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.

Thank you.

And that does it for the show this hour. I'll be back at the top of the hour as we make a dash, of course, for the closing bell.

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[15:58:00]

SOARES: Hello, I'm Isa Soares, a dash to the closing bell. We're just about two minutes or so away. U.S. markets are bouncing back after the

Chinese conglomerate Evergrande said would it make one of its debt payments this week.

A look at the big board and see how the Dow is doing, last time I looked, 332 points up, almost 1 percent. It lost few points after the Fed policy

statement. Then it came back up.

The Fed, if you missed it, said it would roll back stimulus efforts if the recovery continues. All the major averages are up. The Dow is still some

200 points off its Friday close. But green right across the board.

Speaking after the Fed's two-day meeting, chairman Jerome Powell sent the clearest signal yet that the bank is rethinking its policy.

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JEROME POWELL, CHAIRMAN, FEDERAL RESERVE: The committee continued to discuss the progress made toward our goals since the committee adopted its

asset purchase guidance last December.

Since then, the economy has made progress toward these goals. If progress continues broadly as expected, the committee judges that a moderation in

the pace of asset purchases may soon be warranted.

We also discussed the appropriate pace of tapering asset purchases, once economic conditions satisfy the criterion laid out in the committee's

guidance. While no decisions were made, participants generally view that, so long as the recovery remains on track, a gradual tapering process that

concludes around the middle of next year is likely to be appropriate.

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SOARES: Let's look at the Dow components. We see a lot of green on the screen. Boeing, Chevron, Goldman all up more than 3 percent. United Health

and Amgen are the laggers.

That is your dash to the bell. I'm Isa Soares. The closing bell is ringing on Wall Street in the next few seconds. "THE LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER" starts

right now.

END