Return to Transcripts main page

Quest Means Business

Last Jobs Report Of 2021 Disappoints With Low Growth; Djokovic Thanks Fans As He Awaits Deportation Hearing; Germany Tighten COVID-19 Restrictions; British Troops To Help London Hospitals Hit By Staff Shortages; India Reports 117,00 New Cases Friday, A Seven-Month High. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired January 07, 2022 - 15:00   ET

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

JUDGE TIMOTHY R. WALMSLEY, GEORGIA SUPERIOR COURT, EASTERN JUDICIAL CIRCUIT: When you look at the statements, and you see the videos, this is

very true, and that is, she said when they could not scare or intimidate him, they killed him.

There has been discussion about remorse, and I agree with counsel that it is, is dangerous for defendants who have multiple prosecutions against them

to make statements of remorse, but remorse isn't something that is simply a statement of regret. Remorse, I think, can be determined by looking at

somebody's reaction to difficult circumstances and the reality of the situation that they're in.

Again, it doesn't require an apology and quite honestly, sometimes apologies are made simply to get past problems. Remorse is something that's

felt and demonstrated.

In this case, getting back to the video, again after Ahmaud Arbery fell, the McMichael's turned their backs, it is again a disturbing image and they

walked away.

This was a killing. It was callous, and it occurred, as far as the court is concerned based upon the evidence because confrontation was being sought. I

think the statement was made during closing arguments, it's interesting to note that the most violent crime in Satilla Shores was the murder of Ahmaud

Arbery.

So, sentencing does not generally provide closure. I think Miss Wanda Cooper-Jones also talked about closure. But I don't -- I don't find that it

really does. I think that's an unfortunate thing.

You said in this case, I think many people are seeking closure, the Mother, the Father, the community, and maybe even parts of the nation. But closure

is hard to define and is a granular concept. It is seen differently by all depending on their perspective, and the prism of your lives.

Instead of closure, maybe we would best see today's proceeding as an exercise in accountability. We are all accountable for our own actions.

Sometimes, in today's day and age, that statement is lost upon many.

And today, the defendants are being held accountable for their actions here in Superior Court. Today demonstrates that everybody is accountable to the

rule of law. Taking the law into your own hands is a dangerous endeavor.

I'm not sure how this comes across to state in any way. I think ultimately, with regard to the murder of Ahmaud Arbery, it holds us all accountable.

I've read somewhere and I don't remember where it was that a minimum, Ahmaud Arbery's death should force -- his death should force us to consider

expanding our definition of what a neighbor may be and how we treat them.

I argue that maybe a neighbor is more than the people who just own property around your house. I believe that is -- I also believed that in assuming

the worst in others, we show our worst character.

Assuming the best in others, it always the best course of action, and maybe those are the grand lessons from this case. I will let others spend as much

time as they want writing about it and talking about it, but those are my general thoughts with regard to this case and sentencing.

That said with regard to the sentence in this case, as to Travis McMichael. Mr. McMichael, the court sentences you as follows. Count one, malice

murder, life without the possibility of parole. Count two, felony murder is vacated by operation of law. Count three felony murder, vacated by

operation of law. Count four, felony murder, vacated by operation of law. Count five felony murder, vacated by operation of law.

Count six aggravated assault, merges into count one. Count seven, aggravated assault. The court sentences the defendant to 20 years

consecutive to count one.

Count eight, false imprisonment merges into count one. Count nine attempted false imprisonment, five years concurrent to count seven.

That is life plus 20.

Greg McMichael, the court sentences you as follows. Count one, malice murder the defendant was found not guilty. Count two, felony murder, life

without the possibility of parole. Count three, felony murder vacated -- when I say vacated, it is vacated by operation of law, and in call cases, I

am just not going to repeat it.

Count four, vacated. Count five, vacated. Count six, merges into count two. Count seven, aggravated assault, 20 years, consecutive to count two. Count

eight, 10 years concurrent to count seven. Count nine, five years concurrent to count seven.

That is life plus 20 years.

Roddie Bryan, I do want to separate a little bit because the State is making a different recommendation, and despite the back and forth that Mr.

Gough and I had during this case, I do want to point out a couple of things that he raised that I think are appropriate to raise with regard to the

sentence.

As far as the remorse, I think Roddie Bryan stands in very different shoes. It is obvious from the beginning, that he questioned the tragedy that had

occurred at the scene that was on, I believe, body camera -- I don't remember whose bodycam, but the bodycam in fact questioning whether or not

what had occurred had occurred, and then took steps early on in this process I think that demonstrated that he had grave concerns that what had

occurred should not have occurred. And I think that does make Mr. Bryan's situation a little bit different.

However, Mr. Bryan has been convicted of felony murder, and I do not believe it can be disputed based on the facts of this case that the verdict

was an appropriate verdict based upon the evidence presented at least and when I say appropriate, what I mean is legal because I believe there has

some been some discussion about some differences between Mr. Bryan and the McMichael's.

There may be some differences, but it does not change the fact that was it not for the fact that Mr. Bryan used his vehicle in a way to impede Mr.

Arbery's course of travel, this may not have ever occurred, and that is sufficient for felony murder.

He did cooperate with law enforcement. I will point out, Mr. Gough, 1710-1 (b). There is actually a case out of Chatham County that says it would not

apply into the circumstances of this case.

So the Court recognizing that Mr. Bryan's position is different. Again, Mr. Bryan was found not guilty on count one and count two. The court sentences

Mr. Bryan to life with the possibility of parole on count three.

Count four is vacated. Count five is vacated. Count six, the defendant was found not guilty.

Count seven merges into count three. The defendant is sentenced to 10 years consecutive to count three, on count eight and five years concurrent with

count eight. Both of those counts, though will be suspended sentences, which gives Mr. Bryan a life with the possibility of parole sentence.

Those are the sentences.

The Court having pronounced sentence first with regard to Travis McMichael. Mr. McMichael, you are hereby notified that under the law of Georgia, you

are entitled to appeal the guilty verdict of the jury and if you decide to do so --

HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: All right, the Judge in a Brunswick Georgia courtroom handing down sentences to the three men who were

convicted of murdering 25-year-old jogger, Ahmaud Arbery.

The father and son defendants, Travis McMichael and his father Gregory McMichael both sentenced to life plus 20 years without the possibility of

parole. The Court recognizing that in the case of the third a defendant also convicted of felony murder, William "Roddie" Bryan, who filmed by the

way, the killing of Ahmaud Arbery in February, 2020. The Court recognizing his case is different so that he did express some questions about his

actions, he is sentenced to life as well, but with the possibility of parole and his sentence suspended on other counts.

So just to recap, Travis and Greg McMichael, the son, Travis and the father Greg, both sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. William

"Roddie" Bryan, the third defendant, sentenced to life with the possibility of parole.

And that's going to do it for this breaking news for now.

Do stay tuned. My colleague Richard Quest now takes over with Quest Means Business -- Richard.

[15:10:00]

RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS ANCHOR, QUEST MEANS BUSINESS: Turn to the business world and a disappointing U.S. jobs report. The stock market is

searching for direction. Look at the board, and you'll see the Dow is now up. It's up a third of a percent.

The NASDAQ and the S&P, the broader markets are lower, which tells us that there is one or two Dow components that are really pulling the thing up.

The markets and the main events.

America is calling out sick. I'll talk with one of President Biden's top economic advisors on hiring numbers and why they were so short of

expectations.

Another tennis star is pulled into the mess in Melbourne. The Australian Open is now a flashpoint in the debate over vaccine mandates.

And double trouble for U.S. airlines, thousands of flights canceled, a snowstorm is colliding with COVID staff shortages.

We are live in New York. It's January, the 7th, I am Richard Quest, and I mean business.

Good evening tonight, the disappointing numbers on U.S. job growth, and what it suggests which is America's economic recovery from the pandemic is

far from complete. The economy added fewer than 200,000 jobs. Now, that is less than any month than last year, and the economists had been looking for

a number at least twice that.

So adding a record 6.4 million jobs last year, the U.S. is still three million short of its pre-pandemic levels and the December jobs report

doesn't fully capture omicron.

America's unemployment rate ticked down to 3.9, to give that perspective, it was 3.5 before the pandemic.

President Biden says the numbers show Americans are moving on to better jobs, too. He says COVID doesn't have to be the new normal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There has been a lot of press coverage about people quitting their jobs. Well, today's report tells

you why. Americans are moving up to better jobs with better pay, with better benefits. That's why they're quitting their jobs.

COVID, as we're dealing with it now, is not here to stay. The new normal doesn't have to be. We have so many more tools we're developing and

continuing to develop that will contain COVID.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: Matt Egan is with us. Give me your assessment on this number.

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Well, Richard, this is -- it feels like a sequel to the November jobs report. It is confusing and sends some mixed signals

about the healthy economy.

I mean, on the one hand, as you mentioned job growth unexpectedly slowed to just 199,000. That's less than half of what economists had been

anticipating, worse job growth of the year. But then this survey of households showed that the number of unemployed people actually fell by

almost half a million in December, the unemployment rate down to 3.9 percent, lowest since February 2020. It's just a far cry from where it was

back in April 2020, it was at nearly 15 percent.

I think we have to take a step back and kind of look at the whole picture here. We know that firings are very low. The unemployment claim is lowest

level in 52 years. We also know that demand for workers is really high.

Wages grew by 4.7 percent in December from the year before. That was way stronger than expected. There is a record number of people quitting their

jobs, a near record number of job openings. So, I do feel like this headline of 199,000, Richard, is a bit of a head thing.

QUEST: Matt Egan, talking with us on that.

Jared Bernstein is a member of President Biden's Council of Economic Advisers. Thank you, sir, for waiting and being with us. So what is the

White House make of it? What do you make of this number that suggests improvement as the President said, but this low level of hiring of new jobs

worrying?

JARED BERNSTEIN, MEMBER OF PRESIDENT BIDEN'S COUNCIL OF ECONOMIC ADVISERS: So we view this jobs report as evidence of an ongoing strong job market

with a great deal of momentum. Understandably, people will focus on one month, but even within the month, if you've already heard, you can get

conflicting numbers.

So in order to smooth out some of the beeps and bobs in the monthly data, we take a longer term view. If you look over the course of the year, now we

have full data for 2021, six point four million jobs created last year. That's a historical record for a calendar year and it's certainly a record

for the first year of any presidency.

As you mentioned, the unemployment rate at 3.9 percent, that's about four years before forecasters thought we were going to get to such a low rate

and it is also the fastest calendar year decline on record going all the way back to the late 1940s, adding the wage results and what you have is a

very strong, very welcoming job market reflecting some of the President's policies to get shots in arms and checks in pockets.

QUEST: And if we look at the omicron effect, if you will, it's too soon to really understand whether or not this has had a dramatic effect on the

economy. Is it your gut feeling that whatever omicron may have done to health, its economic effect is temporary?

BERNSTEIN: I would say that is my gut feeling in the following sense. The job market that I just described, the idea that there are 11 million job

openings and six million unemployed, that is we have way more job openings than unemployed people. That's the sign of an extremely strong labor demand

economy. That's a sign of real underlying momentum.

Now, nobody is saying that omicron won't have economic impact, I'm sure it will, we'll see -- we're seeing spikes in cases, and oftentimes, this has

led to increased absences where people are out of work for a week or two, and that could certainly slow the labor market down January, perhaps

February, we don't know. We'll have to see.

But what we do know is we have a very strong underlying labor market recovery that's been through various variants and taken all the Greek

letters you want to throw at it before and has kept on ticking, providing really solid labor market opportunities for the American working people.

QUEST: You just said, you talked about the imbalance, if you will, between the number of jobs and the number of job seekers. Now that can also lead to

wage inflation, which we have seen something off.

Do you worry that I mean, you're between the deep and the devil of the deep blue sea, as they say, on the one hand, you know, you don't want inflation,

but on the other hand, the three possible fed hikes next year that we saw in the dot plot that could slow things down? Which way would you would like

it to go?

BERNSTEIN: Well, I'm glad you teed the question up that way because the President answered it pretty directly in his speech today. He got into some

-- I wouldn't even call it Economics 101, I might call it Economics 202. He talked about precisely this dynamic, you know, you call it wage inflation,

we call it wage gains for working people and it's one of the reasons why again, the U.S. labor market is so welcoming for people who want to come in

because we see especially in sectors with strong demand.

Leisure and hospitality, restaurants, hotels, warehousing, trucking. We have wages that are growing at very solid rates, even beating price growth.

And what the President said is, what you don't want to do is whack the demand side of the economy. You don't want to make people poorer, so that

we can reduce demand, so it can catch up to the supply imbalance. What you want to do instead is increase the economy supply side so we can be up to

the task of meeting this very strong demand. That's the way you deliver for the American people.

We have a two-pronged approach to this. One is very near term, trying to unsnarl some of the supply chains, making sure our firms are as competitive

as they should be, helping in the energy markets, and over the longer term with Building Back Better, make sure that we increase the economy's

productive capacity and care -- child care and elder care for people who want to make it into the job market.

QUEST: Jared, if you were on the F.O.M.C., what would your next move be?

BERNSTEIN: You know, that's a great question for me when I wasn't an administration economist, because we try very assiduously to stay out of

the way in that kind of a precise way.

What I will say is that this Federal Reserve and Chairman Jay Powell have long valued the importance of full employment to accomplish a couple of

things, one, to make sure that economic growth is shared broadly, that's very much in sync with the President's economic values, and two, to pull

people in from the sidelines of the labor market.

Now, we need to see more of that, and that means we're going to have to try and take down some of the labor market barriers faced by some of those side

liners.

QUEST: You can't blame a man for trying.

BERNSTEIN: Understood.

QUEST: It was worth a go. All right, Jared Bernstein who is a member of the President's Council of Economic Advisers. Thank you, sir. I appreciate

it. Have a good weekend.

Now as we continue QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, from Center Court to Federal Court, the world's number one is fighting to stay in Australia so he can

fight and defend his title. I'll talk about Novak Djokovic's case with tennis commentator, Pam Shriver.

And travel disruptions across the U.S., the latest reasons why flight are getting canceled and the trend could last throughout the month. We'll have

all of that for you. It is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:22:30]

QUEST: The tennis superstar, the world number one, Novak Djokovic has made his first public comment since his controversial arrival in Australia,

thanking fans on Instagram for their continuous support after his visa was blocked by authority saying he can feel their support. It's greatly

appreciated.

Australian government officials say that Djokovic doesn't meet the country's vaccination requirements. And now a Court on Monday could decide

whether to let him stay and defend his title or require him to leave or deport him.

Pam Shriver is a Hall of Fame doubles champion and tennis commentator, Pam joins me now from Los Angeles. Good to see you. Thank you.

This is a very interesting one. We don't know -- there are so many details that we don't know. For instance, what he was led to believe, by Tennis

Australia and the State of Victoria whether or not he met Australia's immigration. He certainly was given an exemption for the tournament. But

whether or not that was valid, should he have known? Should he have done more checking on this, do you think?

PAM SHRIVER, SPORTS COMMENTATOR: Well, Richard, obviously it's a complicated situation. It seems like there were a few mistakes made. It

doesn't seem like the communication between the Victorian Government and the City of Melbourne, the tennis tournament, Tennis Australia and the

Australian Open were in great partnership with communication with the Federal government.

Obviously, having been down to Australia, myself almost every year since 1979, their borders are tight and tough and you better have everything

buttoned up on your visa. You better not bring in fruit.

I mean, it is a tough country to enter and Novak knew he was taking a risk by not being vaccinated, and he was hoping that he could come in under the

medical exemption. But again, it was not the border. It is not the Federal government and that seems to be one of the-disconnects, as well as the fact

that obviously Novak is at this point vaccine hesitant.

QUEST: What does the -- a mass generalization here -- but what does the professional tennis community think as best you want to gauge. Is there a

consensus from the people you know and speak to on this idea of his that he is anti-vax?

SHRIVER: Well, I think Rafael Nadal said it best from Melbourne just in the last 24 hours. He said, the world has been going through just such a

challenging time with this pandemic and that Rafael Nadal felt he needed to be vaccinated only for himself, for his family, if he is going to travel

internationally as an athlete, you need to protect yourself. You need to protect your community, you need to protect the countries you go into.

[15:25:14]

SHRIVER: Obviously, Novak has a different stance, he is very pure. He doesn't want to put things in his body. It is 100 percent trust. But at

this point, after a year that the vaccines have been out, my three kids have had three jabs. It's really time I think for Novak, unless he really

wants to perhaps put his career on hold until the pandemic plays out, he needs to come to accept that he needs to be vaccinated.

QUEST: And on this issue, let's just talk the tennis thing. Assume, just - - let's just nine game it out, assuming the Australian Court says he can play, how significant is it that essentially he will have lost many days

stuck in the hotel, even if he is playing tennis against the wall, and practicing his shots there, he won't have been practicing on a court for

the immediate period before. Is that significant?

SHRIVER: Well, remember 12 months ago, many of the athletes had to go into hard quarantine. This is two years in a row the Australian Open has had

really difficult circumstances for the athletes.

In this case, Novak and there was actually another player, a female player from the Czech Republic, who was taken off, put into the hotel and she is

going to be deported now because she came under a much quieter circumstance with the same exemption having had COVID in recent months, so she is going

to be deported as well.

As far as Novak is concerned, if by any chance the Federal government, the judicial system allows them to play, of course, he is not going to be in as

good as condition as if he had arrived normally and been able to start his training, but he has been the best in the world. He has dominated, I think

he'd still be fine.

But it seems to me as if the government is lining up by removing other -- a couple of other people who came in under the same exemption. They've been

deporting them, it is looking like it is being lined up against Novak at this point.

QUEST: Pam Shriver, very glad that we had your interpretation, your views on it tonight. Thank you. I appreciate it. Thank you.

SHRIVER: Thanks, Richard.

QUEST: As we continue, travel testing and trepidation, we speak to the Chief Executive of Trivago about how the tourism industry is facing the

latest challenge posed by omicron.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:30:00]

QUEST: Hello. I'm Richard Quest. Well, we have a lot more QUEST MEANS BUSINESS as you would expect. I'll tell you about a thousand of flights

that have been canceled around the world. And the Trivago CEO will brief us on what trends he's seeing in this latest shuttle crisis.

And Virgin Orbit's chief executive joins us after ringing the NASDAQ opening bell. Shares are off like a rocket. I wouldn't be right for our

public companies so far. We will get to all of that. But only after I've given you the news headlines. Because this is CNN. And here the news always

comes first.

Germany's imposing tougher restrictions on the Omicron variant spread. Even those who are fully vaccinated will be required to show proof of a negative

test to enter restaurants, cafes and bars. Only those with booster shots will be exempt.

In the U.K. the military is being called in to deal with hospital staffing shortages caused by COVID.

And India now and a weekend curfew is in place in Delhi where malls and most shops are to be closed until Sunday. It's a new restriction. It's

aimed at stemming the surge that seemed COVID cases jumped fivefold in a week.

And in Hong Kong, several top officials caught up in a COVID scandal were apologizing for ignoring the government's advice about large gatherings.

Officials are being held in quarantine, after it emerged similar to banquet that attended was COVID positive. More than 150 people were at the event.

A judge in the U.S. State of Georgia has just sentenced three white men convicted in the 2020 murder of a 25-year-old black man Ahmaud Arbery.

Travis McMichael, his father, Gregory McMichael was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Their neighbor William Bryan who

videotaped their pursuit of robbery was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole.

The president of Kazakhstan says 20,000 gangsters and terrorists as he calls them were involved in what he says was six waves of attacks in the

city of Almaty. Protests erupted days ago initially over increasing fuel costs to suppress the protest. The President now says security forces have

been ordered to kill without warning. CNN's Nic Robertson's reporting.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: On Almaty streets in a hard to verify social media posts. An ugly overnight crackdown. People

scream and scurry for cover, panic as well as bullets in the air.

They're dead. They're dead, a man says. A motionless body just out of safe reach stretched out on the freezing ground. In the same city, the country's

biggest protesters fought pitch battles with uniform forces. Casualties accumulating on both sides. Law enforcement appearing to gain the upper

hand with arrests and killings. Police claimed they took deadly action overnight, describing an as yet unverified shadowy. Shoot first ask

questions later crackdown.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Last night extremist forces attempted to storm the administrative buildings and police department in the City of Almaty.

Dozens of attackers were eliminated and their identities are still being verified.

ROBERTSON: The mayor's burnt out office in Almaty apparent testimony to the ferocity of the battles fought. Without offering proof the Kazakh President

claiming protesters are foreign-backed terrorists and often use trope to deflect blame that the Russian government is also repeating a

characterization rejected by protesters.

We are neither thugs nor terrorists this woman says. The only thing flourishing here is corruption.

We want the truth this protester says. The government is rich. But all of these people here have loans to pay. We have our pain and we want to share

it.

But truth and facts here are in short supply. The internet down for a second day. Residents reporting a scary quiet, braving government warnings

to stay indoors to go out and search for open shops to buy essential.

Russian-state media reporting heavily on allegedly rampant looting by some protesters as well as highlighting violence against Kazakh law enforcement.

[15:35:11]

ROBERTSON: As part of a regional security agreement, Russian paratroopers began deploying to guard state and military facilities. The fourth

consecutive day of protests. Gunfire and explosions still rocking Almaty. Nic Robertson, CNN, Moscow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: Winter storm and COVID-19 are forcing airlines to cancel more U.S. flights. So far there have been over 2000 reported cancellations and most

disruptions are happening in the Northeast because of a snowstorm. And some flight shedules are also been reduced of course to January as more workers

get sick with COVID. And of course there is the lack of demand as a result of Omicron or dwindling demand in some cases.

Despite so much chaos and uncertainty around travel right now, there is one destination that's gaining in popularity. A report by Trivago says November

cancellations are about a third higher than normal. Those who are traveling are either opting for staycations or for going to Dubai, which appeared in

top 10 searches for holiday travel in both the U.S. and parts of Europe. And to declared interest I'm going to Dubai, flying to Dubai tonight

myself.

Alex Hefer is with me. The chief executive of Trivago. He joins me from Dusseldorf. Good evening to you, Alex. Good, good to see you. This is

interesting, isn't it? Because -- I mean, Dubai seems to have cornered this winter. We know it's always always had the winter sun. But are you

surprised that it's held its own?

ALEX HEFER, CHIEF MANAGING DIRECTOR AND CEO, TRIVAGO: I mean, the -- what is currently driving the travel trend is is more of the expectation whether

you will have any troubles in getting to the destination and coming back. And I guess Dubai has managed that quite well in the last 1-1/2 years and

is therefore considered a safer place to go to and to offer a safe return.

QUEST: But if you just give my example tonight, I mean, I'm flying from New York, to London, to Dubai. And Dubai requires U.S. travelers to go on a 72-

hour PCR. But if I connect in London, it's not clear whether it's 72 or 48. Don't worry, I'm not going to ask you about that. I am going to sort of

point because, you know, the U.K. has a 48-hour quarantine, but it's not clear on the transit. My question is, there is still this level of

uncertainty, isn't there? It is difficult to get the right answer.

HEFER: It is -- it is very difficult. I have to agree. And I mean, even being in the business and looking at the restrictions almost every day,

it's almost impossible to stay on top of it. And that's also the primary reason from our perspective why the little travel that is happening right

now is predominantly domestic because travelers are just confused and don't really know what to expect.

QUEST: And the risk, of course, is you get it wrong. Now, if we look to how you view 2022 panning out, now assume for the purpose of this question that

Omicron dissipates, it sort of when's its merry way. And there's no other variant of note. Would you expect a bump at Easter and summer?

HEFER: I have to say I do expect other variants to come up. But I do think that the positive -- I mean, if there is a positive and a new variant,

obviously and Omicron is that there is wider and wider acceptance that we will need continuous boosters to the vaccine. And I do expect that by

Easter would be quite early, but by early summer for sure. We'll see something that is very close to the new normal, with new variants coming

up. And then being managed by the governments and by the travelers over time

QUEST: And the ability of the industry to manage this, they -- I mean there's there is now a wealth of experience. But it's still -- the industry

is still going to be buffered or buffeted by the fact suddenly passengers decide we're not traveling, we're not going.

HEFER: Yes, I mean, it is -- it is very tough to manage to be honest, you need to stay very, very flexible and ramp up and down your capacity

relatively speaking quickly. On the other hand, we have been in the situation now for almost two years. And at a certain point in time,

obviously you get used to it. The biggest concern and the biggest struggle from my perspective in the industry is that the complete stop of activity

leads to a loss of labor.

[15:40:09]

HEFER: And there is labor shortage already right now everywhere and it will take years to recover to the old staffing levels. And whoever can recover

and can stop up more quickly will have a significant advantage and the recovery in the years to come.

QUEST: Alex, good to see you, sir. As always, I thank you. Joining us tonight from Dusseldorf. Have a lovely weekend. Thank you.

Now, as I mentioned Expo 2020, we are off to Expo 2022 Dubai. QUEST MEANS BUSINESS all next week live. I'll be joined by some of the biggest names in

business including the CEO of Emirates, the chairman of Emirates, the chairman of GPL ports and the founder of DAMAC properties. Its QUEST MEANS

BUSINESS live from Expo next week.

Also in this program tonight, Virgin Orbit with reasons to celebrate. So Richard Branson's second publicly traded company rallies after the chief

executive Dan Hart.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: So Richard Branson's satellite air launch service Virgin Orbit rang NASDAQ's opening bell in New York today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST (voice over): Now the actual company Virgin Orbit started trading publicly last week. And if you look at the way the price is down 20 perecnt

today, but it's been volatile. It dropped 12 percent after the IPO and then it rose again. And now it's 20 percent. It's the LauncherOne rocket, which

is on display in Times Square. The chief executive Dan Hart joins me now from New York. And despite the fact Dan is less than a mile from me, we do

have a bad delay.

Maybe we're not using one of your satellites to do that. But we do have a delay of (INAUDIBLE) But Dan, you must be pleased with the way it's gone.

But -- I mean, we're a business program. So, it's going to be difficult managing when you have a share price that seems to be going to be extremely

volatile.

DAN HART, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, VIRGIN ORBIT: Well, I mean, you know, first of all, we're incredibly excited today to have the company go public,

ring the bell and move off in 2022 after incredibly successful 2021.

[15:45:02]

HART: You know, we went into commercial spaceflight operations. Our focus now, now that we've gotten the infusion of capital through the transaction,

our focus now is on execution. I mean, we have a rocket in -- probably right now. And over the next few days, it'll be prepared for and go to

launch. We have a number of rockets. After that, six that we we plan to launch this year, we plan to launch out of the U.K. this year for the first

time.

First time that country will have ever flown to space. I mean, we have a really jampacked exciting year ahead of us and execution, market

penetration. That's what it's all about right now.

QUEST: And the interesting thing about it because you and I had spoken before about your launching -- your launch mechanism from under the

aircraft, the the smallest satellites, this is very different to what others are doing. Do you think it is -- that gives you a niche that can

grow that others simply can't attack?

HART: I mean, absolutely. So number one is, in a growing space economy that is currently at north of 400 million predicted to go well north of a

trillion dollars over the next 15 to 20 years. The small satellite portion of that is the fastest growing part of the space economy. It's the engine.

So that's number one. Number two is we brought a disruptive technology. The rocket that's behind me would normally be clipped under the wing of a 747

airplane.

And so we fly in a completely different way. We use the mic and the efficiency of the airplane to leave the planet, to leave Earth. We get the

rocket to 35,000 feet, the better part of Mach one in velocity and two- thirds of the way through the atmosphere before it has to do any work at all, which makes it more efficient, more -- better economics. And then we

also have flexibility to where we can turn any airport that can handle a large airplane in the world into a spaceport.

And that's what we're going to do out of Cornwall next year, or this year.

QUEST: And if we look at the demand for satellites, we obviously are -- where people like -- what Elon Musk has been doing in terms of the sheer

number of satellites, but putting him aside, what demand do you expect for satellites?

HART: Well, what we've seen happen in satellite technology and we have a few of our customers on display here is we've seen small satellites that

costs a couple of orders of magnitude less than their big brothers from a few years ago, be able to do enormous amount of work. Wwhether it's Earth

observation, the Internet of things, communication, quantum encryption, keys from space, a whole host of new applications.

So, because the cost of satellites have come down and because we can now fly in low Earth orbit in small rockets, bringing that cost down. It opens

up a door for businesses. And so, you know, 20 years ago, a business using a lot of satellite technology and information would have not been on the

table, it would have been too inexpensive or not available at all. Now the door is open.

And so, we see globally, frankly, hundreds of companies popping up to either create satellites to process the data for satellites. It's a

revolution going on in space and we're in the middle of it as a mechanism to not only deploy them, but to partner with satellite companies and help

them move their businesses forward.

QUEST: Dan, thank you for that. We will follow up closely. A company Virgin Orbit we will look at closely and continue to talk to. Thank you. I

appreciate it talking to me today. It's QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.

Coming up. The pandemic has caused major disruptions in shipping global shipping, particularly the opportunities on land that that has been

created.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:52:00]

QUEST: As the pandemic wreaks havoc on global shipping, U.S. train -- using trains, I should say, forgive me, to haul cargo between China and Europe is

now much more attractive. Cyril Vanier reports from Paris.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

XAVIER WANDERPEPEN, DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT, EUROPE/CHINA TRAINS, SNCF: This train arrived last night to Paris and will be unloaded to today.

CYRIL VANIER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Tt this freight station outside the French capital, the end of a journey across two continents.

So this train carried consumer goods all the way from China to France. Headbands, electric bikes, sweatshirts, shoes, you name it, but also items

that are used in industry components and spare parts like steering wheels, like valves, tubes, and then all of them are going to be trucked to their

final destination.

Rail only accounts for about five percent of goods transported between China and Europe. That number though, set to take up as an old trading

route is brought back to economic relevance. Beijing has been promoting even subsidizing it. Part of its Belt and Road initiative aimed at

increasing trade ties and China's economic clout. More than 6000 miles from the city of Xi'An through Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany and

further into Europe. Aan odyssey usually completed in less than a month.

WANDERPEPEN: The train is advantage to be able to have circulation within three or four weeks between Europe and China. So time is more quick and

time is money. Of course.

VANIER: The value of time not lost on businesses, especially those that ship expensive cargo. Luxury French furniture brand Ligne Roset sells its

iconic sofas around the world, with 20 percent of exports going to China, usually by boat.

(on camera): So this container full of furniture is about to leave for Qingdao on China's east coast. It should get there in about 50 days. Now a

similar container left yesterday by train and that should get there in 35 days.

(voice over): These last few months the maritime route has been a nightmare says the group's transport director. Shipping has become two or three times

more expensive and a lot slower. Europe, China by sea is now taking up to 70 days compared to 40 previously. The pandemic has thrown the global

supply chain into disarray. An increase in demand and a shortage of labor to work the ports and drive the trucks has led to scenes like these, a

bottleneck of cargo.

And so, the good old fashioned freight train is making a comeback. Near Paris the Director of Development here expects the number of trains flying

to Europe-China routes to double by the end of the decade. The only spanner in the works, even trains build is more reliable are not completely immune

to the pandemic.

[15:55:03]

VANIER: This one arrived two weeks late after multiple German operators came down with COVID.

WANDERPEPEN: We leave with pandemic like everybody else. We say it in French (INAUDIBLE)

VANIER: Cyril Vanier, CNN, Paris.

QUEST: (INAUDIBLE) indeed. Now look at the market. Last few minutes of trade before we go. The markets to jesting today's job numbers. Now the Dow

was down most of the morning and then it turned positive. If the guy -- if we hold these within, the broader market, the 30 -- the 30 stocks, the Dow

30 reveals why because you've got some big winners. Say Boeing up nearly two percent. And Honeywell, you got some big winners at the top.

And those that are down are not the big market part -- participant in the sense of percentages of the Dow. So that's the way it looks. I will take a

profitable moment after the break. CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: Tonight's profitable moment. You heard me talking earlier about the travel plans and how Omicron has changed things. There's no question. It's

still very difficult and there needs to be more uniformity. I'll give you an example. I told you. Tonight I'm leaving from New York to go to Dubai.

Now the nonstop was very expensive. So we decided to go via London. If I'd gone nonstop New York to Dubai, it's a 72-hour PCR.

But because I've gone to London, the question is, does that go by the London, U.K. PCR requirements for the UAE which is 48 hours? Or if I'm in

transit, does that mean 72 hours? I don't know. I never did find out the answer. I looked, I searched, I could not find the answer whether

translating in London means 48 hours or 72 hours. No doubt somebody will e- mail me and show me -- show me the answer.

But I couldn't find it. And I've been doing it for two years. And I wasn't able to easily get that piece of information. Well, what did I do just in

case you're interested? I did another PCR within the 48-hour period so that I will be OK. It's not easy. That's my point. But that doesn't matter.

We're still going to travel. We're going to Dubai tonight. QUEST MEANS BUSINESS next week we'll come from Expo. We are very much looking forward

to it.

Because even in COVID times, life goes on. And that's QUEST MEANS BUSINESS for tonight. I'm Richard Quest in New York going to London. See you in

Dubai. Whatever you're up to in the weekend ahead I hope it's profitable. See you at EXPO next week.

I'm Richard Quest in New York going to London. See you in Dubai. Whatever you're up to in the weekend ahead I hope it's profitable. See you at EXPO

next week.

END