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Quest Means Business

Biden Criticizes Republicans For Not Supporting Climate Plan; Europe Faces Severe Fire Danger As Temperature Soar; Gas Supply Fears Grow As Nord Stream 1 Set To Reopen; Record Breaking Heat Wave Sears Europe; Venice First City To Charge Entrance Fee; Boris Johnson Addresses Parliament For Last Time As PM; Streaming Slowdown. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired July 20, 2022 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:00]

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You don't get to turn it around and the world is counting on us.

As this is the United States of America, when we put our hearts and minds to it, there is not a single thing beyond our capacity. I mean it, when we

act together.

And of all things we should be acting together, it is climate, it is climate.

And by the way, my dear mother, God rest her soul, used to say, "Joe, if you at everything bad, something good will come if you look hard enough."

Look what's happening. We're going to be able to create as many are more good paying jobs. We're going to make environments where people live safer.

We're going to make the clean -- the air safer, I really mean it. We have an opportunity here.

I'll bet you when you see what's happened here in this cable construction manufacturing, you go back and ask all the people who grew up in this

beautiful place. But they'd rather have, they want the plant back with everything it had, or what you're going to have.

I will be dumbfounded if you find anybody other than for pure sentimental reasons, saying, "I'd rather have a coal plant."

I'll end by telling you another quick story. When we move from Scranton, when coal died in Scranton, everything died in Scranton. And my dad wasn't

a coal miner, my -- my great, my great grandfather was a mining engineering. But my dad was in sales, and there were no work. So we left to

go down to Delaware, I told you wherever those oil plants were.

But I remember driving home when you take the trolley in Scranton going out North Washington and Adams avenues, within 15 blocks -- we didn't live in

the neighborhood among the most prestigious neighborhood in the region in the town where Scranton is another good decent people live.

There was a -- you'd go by a wall that my recollection is somewhere between 15 and 18 feet tall, and it went through the -- essentially a city block,

and you could see the coal piled up to the very top of the wall from inside. That is a coal-fired plant, a coal-fired plant and all of that, all

of the negative impacts of breathing that coal, dust, were affecting everybody, but at the time, people didn't know it and there wasn't any

alternative.

Folks, we have no excuse now. We know it. There are answers for it. We can make things better in terms of jobs; we can make things better in terms of

the environment. We can make things better for families overall.

So, I'm looking forward to this moment.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

May God bless you all, and may God protect our troops.

Thank you.

PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: Hi, I'm Paula Newton in New York. Thanks for joining us.

You were listening there to President Joe Biden. He was speaking in Somerset, Massachusetts, and he said climate change is in fact an

existential threat to the world. He was speaking at a former coal plant, which is now used to make wind turbines and Mr. Biden announced a new Wind

Energy Area in the Gulf of Mexico and a $2.3 billion fund for heat affected communities.

He stopped short though of declaring a national climate emergency and that is significant. And it comes as over a million people now, a hundred

million people, pardon me, in the United States are under heat alerts. You see them up there. It is hot.

Biden said the US needs to (AUDIO GAP) -- air conditioner, not a lot of detail here.

MJ LEE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you know, first of all, I think the language and overall tone that we heard from the President,

obviously had a lot of urgency, as you noted, he said the words climate change is literally an existential threat, and he started off by sort of

talking about all the different ways in which climate change has had an adverse effect on the country and the world.

He talked about things like wildfires that we're seeing all across the country, record high temperatures. He said even military installations are

being damaged by extreme weather elements and supply chain issues are being exacerbated by extreme weather as well.

And the President as you mentioned refer to the fact that Congress is not taking the action that he thinks that it should be and this is yes, a

reference to West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, basically putting the kibosh on a climate change package that Democrats here in the US had been

negotiating on for weeks and weeks.

[15:05:21]

LEE: And over the weekend, we found out that he has concerns about what that could ultimately do to inflation and he is a no-go on that for now.

That was a big source of disappointment and anger for a lot of Democrats and climate change advocates.

And so now, we are seeing the White House in this position of ultimately having to just say, well, if Congress is not going to take action,

legislatively, the President is going to take whatever actions that he can on the executive front.

But you're right, that we are basically waiting for more details and for the White House to sort of put more flesh on the bones on some of these

things that they are talking about. But in the big picture, the two areas of executive actions that the administration is talking about now; one, is

funding for communities that are very much affected by extreme heat, and then there's this focus on boosting the country's offshore wind industry.

Now, one of the things that they are talking about is creating the United States' first Wind Energy Area in the Gulf of Mexico, something you just

mentioned. And this is a part of the reason why we saw him at this backdrop he is visiting in Massachusetts, this former coal plant that is being

transformed into a wind energy farm.

So he is using this as an example of something that he would obviously like to see happen more and more across the country as he tries to get the

administration and the Federal government to be more focused on these kinds of initiatives.

Now, you also mentioned that he didn't declare a national climate emergency. This is something that the White House has basically said, is on

the table. But that's not an announcement that we heard from the President today. It is something that could come and a lot of advocates are wondering

why not just make that announcement now.

NEWTON: Yes, and some are saying that he might face obstacles, even if he did make that announcement. We'll leave it there for now, MJ, but I know

that there will be more on this in the days to come as he said. He is looking forward to, perhaps, signing some executive orders in the days and

weeks to come.

MJ Lee for us, thanks so much for stepping in to give us all of that.

Now, as we've been talking about here, it's not just the US, right, that's under threat from extreme weather. Wildfires are forcing Europeans from

their homes as a record breaking heatwave crosses the continent.

In Greece, hundreds of firefighters have been battling a destructive blaze just on the outskirts of Athens. At least 600 people have been evacuated,

some from a children's hospital.

Some people in Northeast Italy have been urged to just stay indoors because the smoke is so thick with fires also burning in Tuscany.

And in London, officials say at least 41 properties were destroyed Tuesday. The London Fire Brigade said it was their busiest day since World War Two.

Temperatures in the UK, thankfully have now come down after setting a national record -- historic record. That was just yesterday.

Salma Abdelaziz is in Wennington, just east of London and joins us now. Listen to everyone, I'm sure, must be trying to take a deep breath given

the temperatures have moderated, but what has been left behind is destruction, and I get a sense from speaking to officials a bit of shock at

what went on in the last few days.

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER: Absolutely.

I mean, we did hear from one British official saying that the UK could not have reached this record again of over 40 degrees Celsius, that's about 104

degrees Fahrenheit.

He says that could not have been reached without human intervention, without essentially the climate crisis that's taking place. And yes, of

course we have this bit of relief, this breeze that you see coming through here, giving people that much needed cooling down.

But people are also waking up to devastated homes, to lost businesses, to serious questions about how they continue to survive with this in the

future. And of course, meanwhile, across the rest of Europe, the fires there are still blazing. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ABDELAZIZ (voice over): It was a long night for firefighters in Greece as they battled to see this neighborhood on the outskirts of Athens, where

hundreds were evacuated from their homes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Our first priority remains the protection of human life, but also the protection of critical

infrastructures of public property.

ABDELAZIZ (voice over): Europeans are grappling with a climate reality that brings new risks to this region.

Spain's Emergency Unit worked through the night to contain this active wildfire, while some two dozen other fires forced people out of their

homes.

On a visit to the affected province, Spain's Prime Minister urged extreme caution in the days ahead.

PEDRO SANCHEZ, PRIME MINISTER OF SPAIN (through translator): During this heatwave, according to figures, data shows that more than 500 people have

died due to the high temperatures in addition to what we are facing as a consequence of the wildfires.

[15:10:10]

ABDELAZIZ (voice over): And after reaching record-breaking temperatures, today, Britons woke up to cooler weather, but also the devastating

aftermath of wildfires in suburbs and villages around London.

Tuesday, the London Fire Brigade was stretched to the limit, facing with the Mayor called their busiest day since World War Two.

This resident described how he resorted to using a garden hose to put out a fire in his neighbor's backyard without success.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was like a tinderbox and it was getting warmer and warmer. The day before when it was, you know, like a few degrees lower,

there was no wind, it was very stifling, but there was no wind.

But once that -- once the wind picked up yesterday, and obviously the flames are sucking the oxygen, it's gotten out of control.

ABDELAZIZ (voice over): Local officials are scrambling to prepare for further extreme weather.

RAY MORGON, COUNCILOR FOR HAVERING: Because we do know extreme weather, it is going to be hitting the UK more and more as years go by.

Now, in this part of Havering, we've had quite a few occasions where flooding has been an issue and people have had their homes completely

flooded and we've had that kind of devastation; yesterday was unprecedented.

ABDELAZIZ (voice over): Wildfires that ravaged through forests in a region near Bordeaux and France, burnt land more than twice the size of Paris. But

today, one small sign of relief. Those fires have now stalled official figures show.

Visiting the devastated region of Giron, French President Emmanuel Macron thanked the firefighters for their bravery.

As record temperatures were set across the region this week, Germany is bracing for the possibility of even hotter weather. One thing is certain,

the heatwave is far from over.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ABDELAZIZ (on camera): Now the reality that we're seeing across Europe and here in the UK, of course, Paula is that the infrastructure of these

countries is quite simply not set up, not capable of handling these extreme heat conditions.

Take London, for example, a city where the overwhelming majority of people do not have air conditioning. So yes, yesterday when authority said don't

take the tube, don't take the train, and so much of the rail services and the public transport was canceled. They said stay home.

Well, staying home can be dangerous in such heat conditions, when houses around this country are built to keep heat in, not let heat out. So there

are so many layers to this. And of course, all the while you're talking about civilians here. You're talking about residents, about families, just

like in this area in Wennington who were forced out of their homes.

I spoke to one man earlier today who told me his whole livelihood has gone up in flames essentially. He had a stable flow of horses. That's how he

provided for himself. Now, he doesn't know what he's going to do.

And what you're looking at leaders scrambling with right now, trying to deal with right now is yes, the day to day, what do we do right now? But

also, how do we handle this in the future if countries are not built to deal with these extreme heat conditions, and those are only expected to

become more and more frequent -- Paula.

NEWTON: Yes, and today it's heat, but Britain has seen its fair share of epic flooding as well given the extreme climate crisis. So a lot to think

over here.

And Salma, I appreciate you bringing it to us live there for us from Wennington, England.

Now, as the heatwave puts extra strain on Europe's energy supplies, the EU unveiled an emergency gas rationing plan on Wednesday. Yes, rationing in

Europe. It comes amid fears that Russia will not resume deliveries through Nord Stream 1, now the pipeline has been closed for scheduled maintenance

for about the last 10 days, speaking earlier, Ursula von der Leyen said Europe has to be prepared for the worst.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

URSULA VON DER LEYEN, EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT: We have to be proactive, we have to prepare for a potential for disruption of Russian

gas, and this is a likely scenario what we've seen in the past, as we know, Russia is calculatingly trying to put pressure on us by reducing the supply

of gas, so it is a likely scenario that there's a full cut off of Russian gas and that would hit the whole European Union.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Okay, now, meantime, Russian President Vladimir Putin says it will fulfill all of its obligations on gas supplies. However, he warned on

Tuesday during the trip to Iran that deliveries could slow in his words, claiming that sanctions could prevent maintenance on its components.

Deliveries are set to resume through Nord Stream 1, Thursday. Clare Sebastian reports many in the EU will be watching very closely.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: When it launched in 2011, the Nord Stream 1 was actually expected to reduce potential disruption to

European energy supplies.

By running the pipeline under the Baltic Sea to Germany, Nord Stream 1 unlike many other European gas pipelines bypassed Ukraine, in theory giving

Russia room to deal with any future spats without leaving Europe in the lurch, but in practice, it made Europe more reliant on Russia and made both

the EU and Ukraine more vulnerable to Russian influence.

And here is how: In 2021, the EU imported about 155 billion cubic meters of gas from Russia.

[15:15:10]

SEBASTIAN: Now, the Nord Stream line alone accounted for 59.2 billion cubic meters, that's about 38 percent, so almost 40 percent of the total.

And if you look at the EU's total gas consumption, around 400 billion cubic meters, the Nord Stream alone accounted for 14 percent of all the gas that

Europe consumed last year.

Now the EU says Russia has now cut or partially cut gas supplies to at least a dozen European countries -- Poland, Bulgaria, Finland, and the

Netherlands to name a few.

In May, it temporarily suspended supplies through this, the Yamal pipeline to Germany and in mid-June, it slashed supplies, through the Nord Stream 1

itself to about 40 percent over what Russia claims were equipment problems. That caused the German government to trigger the second stage of its gas

emergency plan.

MASSIMO DI ODOARDO, VICE PRESIDENT, GLOBAL GAS AND LNG RESEARCH, WOOD MACKENZIE: The pipeline that was carrying gas through Belarus and Poland

is now running completely empty. The pipeline even to Ukraine despite Gazprom is up to 40 PCM have contracted capacity, is only running at about

12 to 15 PCM.

So until June, Nord Stream, was really, you know, the only pipeline that was continuing to provide substantial exports to the EU.

SEBASTIAN: This chart shows natural gas flows to Europe from Russia since 2019. Now, you can see that there are dips for the July maintenance period

every year, but never quite like we're seeing today, flow is down about two-thirds in the last two months alone.

And all this as the EU races to meet its target for filling its gas storage capacity to 80 percent by November 1st to avoid shortages. It's currently

at about 64 percent according to Gas Infrastructure Europe, and Germany says right now, gas is being taken out of its storage facilities at the

same rate it is being injected in.

So Nord Stream 1, the biggest single pipeline between Europe and Russia will be critical if Europe is to avoid those winter shortages, something

experts warn, could tip the continent into recession.

Clare Sebastian, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Up next for us, the CEO of Goldman Sachs speaks to CNN warning inflation is here to stay.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:20:02]

NEWTON: US stocks have been in fact mixed after Tuesday's sharp rally. The Dow has seesawed throughout the day. Your guess is as good as mine as to

where that ends up. Only the NASDAQ has been steadily higher. Investors are cautious ahead of the next interest rate decisions from the ECB and the

Federal Reserve.

Also playing into the mix are concerns as Clare Sebastian was just pointing out about Russia and its gas supplies to Europe. Now as investors mull the

economic outlook, the CEO of Goldman Sachs warns that higher prices are in fact, here to stay.

David Solomon told our Poppy Harlow he doesn't believe inflation has yet peaked.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID SOLOMON, CEO, GOLDMAN SACHS: The confluence of a bunch of unusual events at the same time is a different mix than we've seen before.

So a pandemic that completely shut down economic activity around the world, at the same time, for a significant period of time, the size and the amount

of the fiscal policy and the fiscal stimulus combined with really the fact that we had monetary policy very, very dovish for a long, long time, and

then put the war in Ukraine on top of that, we've created a much more complex macro environment, and we have to kind of unwind or rebalance some

of that, and that's going to take some time.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Was it too much stimulus coupled with those other things? I mean, Lloyd Blankfein, your predecessor said a few weeks

ago, we have too much growth, too much stimulus.

SOLOMON: I think it's very easy with hindsight to say, if you are going to go back and rewrite the play --

HARLOW: You'd write it differently.

SOLOMON: You'd write it differently.

HARLOW: That is an important lesson, right?

SOLOMON: Well, of course, it's an important lesson. But it's also, we were going through a very difficult period, an unknown period during the

pandemic, and there were people that needed help, there were people that needed support.

Unfortunately, we're not really great at directing in a very specific way to people that need help, we wind up kind of directing it very broadly.

HARLOW: It would have gone smaller than it did.

SOLOMON: I would have gone smaller and tried, you know, to be very directive to the people that need help, but not necessarily get it so

deeply embedded throughout the economy.

There are some that might disagree with that, but I think in hindsight, when you think about the size of the numbers, the amount of money that went

out for two administrations, by the way, it's quite significant and it has had an effect.

HARLOW: Do you believe 9.1 percent is peak US inflation? Are you preparing for an environment of higher inflation? The UK just hit 9.4 percent this

morning.

SOLOMON: I think you have to prepare for an environment of higher inflation. And the reason I say that, you know, if you listen to our

economists, our economists are saying they think that we might be getting to peak inflation. But if you get out and you talk to the business

community, most of the big business, you know, people that run big businesses, big supply chains, still say, you know, they don't think

inflation is peak, they see inflation continuing to move.

So, you know, our base case in thinking about this, we think there is a good chance that we haven't quite reached the peak yet.

HARLOW: How do you think the Biden administration is handling the economy? When you look at numbers like 82 percent of Americans feel like economic

conditions are poor, how is the Biden ministration handling this?

SOLOMON: I think the Biden administration needs to be very focused right now on doing what it can do to take policy action, some of which we talked

about, to help dampen this down. They've got to recognize that this is not a short-term thing. They live in election cycles.

HARLOW: It is not transitory.

SOLOMON: Well, it's definitely not transitory.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Okay, rising interest rates in the US are in fact, strengthening the US dollar for better and for worse. It has climbed to parity this year

with the euro. That's good news only really, for Americans traveling abroad, a big problem for US firms.

Netflix, Microsoft, and others say a strong dollar threatens their sales outside of the US of course.

Joining me now is Myron Brilliant, Executive Vice President and Head of International Affairs at the US Chamber of Commerce. And thanks for joining

us.

That's all American business need now is that strong US dollar. We'll add that into the mix. What's the guidance that you see coming out of this

earning season and from companies about how difficult this will be to navigate given that's the latest variable, giving them trouble?

MYRON BRILLIANT, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT AND HEAD OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS AT THE US CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: Well, look, we have a difficult environment

to navigate. Business understands that we've got high inflation, we're still coming out of COVID era. We still have uncertainty around supply

chains.

We need government action, policies that will, I think, help us shoulder the burden that we've seen with inflation at a record high and maybe even

going higher as David Solomon suggested. And we've got work to do. There are a lot of ways we can do it.

We can increase, obviously, visas to make sure we have the jobs filled in this country. We can do better on oil and gas production domestically. And,

of course, President Biden tried to push that agenda with our friends in Saudi Arabia.

And we can also try, of course, to provide carefully. We've talked about this a lot. For 18 months, the administration has been holding back tariff

relief.

[15:25:02]

BRILLIANT: $1,200.00 is what the average American family is paying extra because of tariffs and right now, summertime, right, we've got 25 percent

tariffs on bicycles, 25 percent tariffs on suntan lotions, 25 percent tariffs on baseball gloves --

NEWTON: I was trying to get in -- I was going to get into that later, but since you brought it up, okay, $1,200.00. There are some studies that say

it is closer to just under $800.00. We're not going to quibble.

But you know that labor organizations here in the United States say you're ruining American jobs, why can't we onshore this and that the tariffs are

part of the on shoring. I mean, listen, where do you fall? Where do US companies fall on this?

BRILLIANT: Well, look, there is no question that we can on shore and do better in certain areas. That's why we got behind the Chips Act, right? We

want to see billions of dollars invested in semiconductors because we've seen us production go from a high of 37 percent in the 1990s to 12 percent

in this country right now.

And of course, having semiconductor production here, fabrication production is really critical to everything from autos, to dishwashers, to PC

computers. That's part of the solution.

But another part is to provide tax relief to American families and how do we do that? We lower tariffs for ordinary goods. Not everything is going to

get produced in the United States, we can do some nearshoring, some reshoring in the United States, but not everything is going to get produced

in the United States, nor should it be.

And we need to produce things here that are critical to our competitiveness, but we also need to balance it with the reality that we

are part of a global community and I take benefit when we export because we create jobs in this country. Forty million Americans have jobs tied to

international commerce. So it is not --

NEWTON: And I want to talk further about China in a second. Very quickly on the tariffs, you give me -- do you think they will be lifted in the

coming days? Coming weeks? You're ears to the ground.

BRILLIANT: I've had extensive conversations with people in the administration. I think the President and the administration will take

action, the questions will it be big and deep enough to help with inflation, or will be more modest in its approach.

NEWTON: Okay, so they're going to be --

BRILLIANT: That's just going to be --

NEWTON: I hear you, they're going to lift some, but not all. On China and COVID, we are still seeing that country battle it out with that virus, a

lot of shutdowns there.

I mean, what have been the challenges that you are seeing for companies that are either doing business in China, US companies, that is or those

that rely on supply chains from there?

BRILLIANT: Well, obviously, in this geopolitical context with tensions very high between China and the United States, US companies are factoring

that in their boardroom decisions. There are less new investments going into China. That's not good in the long run for either China or the United

States or the global community.

We have seen lockdowns that have affected business travel into China, no one has been traveling to that country for some time. And therefore, we've

seen a decreasing environment -- commercial environment. And we're seeing actually, honestly, predatory practices in China, unfair trade actions

taken by the Chinese government that impact the mood and atmosphere as well.

So there's a lot of work to be done on that front. I think China's economy is slowing down. But it remains such a critical economy to the world and to

the United States and to our businesses.

So we've got to be pragmatic. We need a coherent administration approach to China and the business community to be helpful in this context.

NEWTON: Yes, over to you, the US-China Trade Representative has a lot of work on her hands as well.

BRILLIANT: Yes, she does.

NEWTON: Myron Brilliant, thanks so much. We really appreciate you joining us.

Now before the pandemic, the City of Venice was overrun by tourists. Officials there are now trying to manage the problem with a new entry fee.

The Deputy Mayor joins us when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:30:00]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

NEWTON (voice-over): Hello I'm Paula Newton. There's more QUEST MEANS BUSINESS in a moment when just two candidates remain in the race to become

Britain's next prime minister.

And always dreamed of seeing the canals in Venice?

Pretty soon you will have to fork over some cold hard hash to get in.

But these are the headlines this hour.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

NEWTON (voice-over): In Washington, Ukraine's first lady delivered an emotional address before Congress. She thanked lawmakers for the weapons

from the U.S. to fight what she called Russia's "hunger games," and she asked for air defense systems to help defend against rocket attacks.

Sri Lanka's parliament has picked acting president Ranil Wickremesinghe to be the country's next president. He will replace the former leader who was

ousted after mass protests. But the appointment of the premier threatens to anger some protesters, who are demanding a full government overhaul.

Italian prime minister Mario Draghi has won a confidence vote in the senate but three main coalition parties boycotted the motion. Draghi now leads a

fractured and weakened government.

Earlier on Wednesday he asked for a pact of trust and unity among his allies.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

NEWTON: Scorching heat continues to sweep across Europe. Residents of Germany are enduring temperatures of nearly 40 degrees Celsius. The country

is one of many under an extreme wildfire warning across Europe this hour.

Nine cities are under the country's highest heat alert. The number is expected to rise to 16 by the end of the week.

In Greece, firefighters have brought a wildfire under control on the outskirts of Athens. At least 600 residents were evacuated. Elinda

Labropoulou is a journalist and she joins us from Greece.

Thank you for joining us. Seeing the overnight video from the suburbs, the wind just really whipped up. You can see they were are having a hard time.

ELINDA LABROPOULOU, JOURNALIST: Yes, it has been a really difficult 24 hours effectively in Greece. Last night was a very complex operation that

the firefighters had to deal with, simply because the winds were so strong.

Gale force winds all across Athens, so the fires just kept rekindling. The situation is a lot better today. What we are seeing now is that the big

fire has now been under control. There are smaller fires across parts of greater Athens.

But it seems like they are much more under control than they were previously during the day. Of course, it is only the beginning of the heat

wave in Greece. It seems this heat wave has been moving east.

[15:35:00]

LABROPOULOU: So temperatures are expected to rise this weekend in Athens and most of Greece. The winds are not expected to subside. So it's going to

be a challenging time ahead.

But it's not the first time Greece has seen these fires. I think this is really what is worrying people here. They know that the infrastructure has

had a very hard time coping with the situation before.

Last, year we saw a massive fire that let many evacuations on one of Greece's biggest islands. And a massive fire on the outskirts of Athens led

to the death of over 100 people.

So there are some very bad experiences that comes to people's minds when they see situations like this.

We are also dealing with the peak of the tourist season. Greece is really packed this year. It's the first post COVID year. There are thousands of

tourists are in most locations. So that makes the work of authorities much more challenging, when they have to deal with such situations as well --

Paula.

NEWTON: Especially when you're dealing with perhaps more remote areas that might need some of those resources. Elinda, thank you so much for that

update.

Now to Venice, Italy, where the climate change isn't fire, it's flooding. Canals and lagoons around the city also make it one of the world's top

destinations in 2019, the last year before the pandemic about 19 million people visited Venice just for the day.

That's just day trippers. Now the city is trying to rein in those numbers by charging an entry fee, set to take effect in January, ranging from $3 to

$10, that's depending on the number of visitors that day.

Venice will be the first city in the world to put in such a measure. Simone Venturini is Venice's deputy mayor for tourism and economic development. He

joins me now from Venice.

Really good to talk to you. I do want to talk to you first about the climate emergency that is unfolding across Europe. I'm sure this is the

discussion that rings in your ears in Venice. Your city is trying to mitigate its worst consequences for years now.

What have you learned in Venice?

What have been your successes?

SIMONE VENTURINI, DEPUTY MAYOR, VENICE: So of course, Venice is dealing a lot with climate change and the sea level rising because we are very

exposed to the climate change. We are a city on the water. We have a very delicate city, fragile.

So we need to act in a very strong way to keep Venice safe and to keep Italy and Europe (INAUDIBLE) so we just are applying to became the

international capital of sustainability, in a different sector.

Of course environmental sector is very important for us. And we are dealing with a lot of infrastructure to keep Venice safe against the waves, against

the high tides and it's a very big deal for us.

NEWTON: I'm sure, especially as you try to be as innovative as you can, given the architecture of Venice and what you are trying to preserve there.

So now you are charging visitors to enter Venice, what do you hope to accomplish with this?

As we have come to understand, it is like a congestion charge. It's there not necessarily to make money but to manage the flow of visitors.

VENTURINI: Yes. We want to find a balance between the needs of the residents and the needs of the visitor. The daily visitor, on some days, in

some periods, can be a problem for the city because they all arrive on the same hour, they all walk on the same path and they all arrive (INAUDIBLE).

So it's very difficult to keep the city not under stress. So we are trying to introduce a system that can find this balance and can discourage mass

tourism during Sundays. And incorrect, of course, overnight tourism.

Information that you risk of course arrive in Venice and stay overnight. So it's very important for us to just make very a simple booking process. If

you book your hotel, you will be automatically booked in the city at the same time.

But the daily tourism that arrives all around Venice in the region around Venice, needs to book itself and pay a fee to enter in Venice. It's a new

system we are trying to find a way to find this balance.

NEWTON: So by 2025, in a couple of years, when this has been in place, do you want fewer people to visit Venice?

Or do you just want the traffic to be managed better?

[15:40:00]

VENTURINI: We want quality over quantity, so fewer and better. So quality is not only a matter of purchasing power; it's a matter of approach. We

want tourists that want to know Venice, to discover Venice, to fall in love with the city and to discover the city in every hour, every day, because

the city's very different in the morning, in the evening, in the night.

You always have a different light, always a different atmosphere. So if you want to know Venice, you have to stay in Venice at least two days, three

days. Of course, a week is better. So just a different approach.

Daily tourists sometimes arrive and consume the city and overnight tourists can be different. They can stay, can know the city, can find the

restaurants, can walk during the night. So Venice is wonderful, it's fragile, it's unique and we need high quality tourism.

NEWTON: It is absolutely an international treasure. We will wait to see how this new experiment works out for you. Simone Venturini, thanks so

much. Appreciate it.

Up next for, us the race to be the next prime minister of the U.K. tightness as Boris Johnson bids his farewell.

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NEWTON: The race to replace U.K. prime minister Boris Johnson has narrowed to just two candidates now, former finance minister Rishi Sunak and foreign

secretary Liz Truss are vying for Tory Party leadership and the top job in British politics.

Penny Mordaunt was eliminated from the race earlier today, this as prime minister Boris Johnson faced lawmakers in Parliament for the very last time

before leaving office. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BORIS JOHNSON, U.K. PRIME MINISTER: Mission largely accomplished for now. I want to thank you.

And Mr. Speaker, I want to thank all of the wonderful staff (INAUDIBLE), all my friends and colleagues. I want to thank my right honorable friend

opposite, Mr. Speaker. I want to thank everybody here and hasta la vista, baby.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Bianca Nobilo joins me now.

And thankfully you get to follow that, not me. We'll deal with Boris Johnson in a second. The two contenders, to me, they look like very two

different candidates.

[15:45:00]

NEWTON: From everything from where they stood on Brexit originally and what their economic plan might be.

BIANCA NOBILO, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: When it comes to the economy, there are huge disparities between the two in terms of conservative

principles. But the one area in which they are similar, which is potentially an issue to both of them in the future, is the fact that

neither of them can claim a discontinuity truly with Boris Johnson and his legacy.

The whole point of this leadership contest was a frustration at the Johnson years, at the scandal, at the quagmire that the government found itself in,

distracted from policy and focusing on mismanagement or scandal or the press concentrating on the leader and nothing else.

Well, both Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak until the last and in Rishi's case until he resigned, were very closely associated with him. So I think it's

going to be hard for either candidate, at the next general election in the U.K., to really convinced the British public that they mark something

different from Boris Johnson.

In terms of their differences, yes, in economics, Rishi Sunak is trying to position himself as the true fiscal conservative. He's going to be the

sensible one who thinks that tax cuts at this point are fairy tales; whereas Liz Truss is promising 30 billion pounds' worth of tax cuts.

So the difference there is quite stark but both of them are trying to appeal more to the right of the party. And that's because the Conservative

base that are now the people that are going to be deciding the result, the under 200,000 members of the Conservative Party in this country, vote next.

They are not an accurate representation of the country at large or Conservative voters generally. There is a very specific type of person that

decides to be a party member and they tend to be skewed heavily toward the right wing.

NEWTON: And now to Boris Johnson. Of course, you have covered every inch of his political life at Downing Street.

What do you make of his last words today?

NOBILO: They were characteristic of him. What we saw was a man who was buoyant and trying to seem like he has not been taken down by this. He will

not be taken down a peg or two by the fact that he had this resignation crisis and was essentially pushed out by his colleagues, forced out by the

pressure of the British public in response to all of his scandals.

It was a return to form in some ways. There were some moments over the last, year especially during the really serious crises that the government

was facing, where many remarked that Boris Johnson's natural charisma, sense of humor and levity with which he approached politics simply did not

suit. It was too serious a time.

This was original Boris Johnson in some ways. I am sure that he has plans for the future and will be entrepreneurial about how he spends his years

not as prime minister. As we know, lots of prime ministers, once they leave office, make hundreds of thousands of pounds on speaking circuits, they

write books.

And because Boris Johnson enjoyed his celebrity prior to being prime minister and was already doing some of those things, we can expect to see

more of that in years to come. And he will also I want to have a lot of control over how he's perceived and his legacy. Churchill is his idol and

he said that history will be kind to me, because I intend to write it. I'm pretty sure Boris Johnson might have a similar approach to how he wants to

be perceived.

NEWTON: The producers are killing me but I will put myself on the line here. I cannot collect on this bet that we will not see the last of Boris

Johnson in politics. As I said it might take me decades to collect on that.

Bianca, are you betting against me?

NOBILO: I would never bet against you, Paula.

(LAUGHTER)

NEWTON: Bianca, you're too good to me. I really appreciate your analysis there. And we will continue to watch this race very closely. I appreciate

it.

(CONNECTING AFRICA)

NEWTON: Up next for, us Netflix is up, despite losing subscribers last quarter. What it said in its earnings report and why its investors are

happy. That's up next.

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[15:50:00]

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NEWTON: Sometimes a loss can be a win. That is in the latest earnings report that Netflix said it lost nearly 1 million subscribers during the

second quarter. Investors were relieved that the number was not worse.

Netflix shares are now up a little bit, over 7 percent. The country's second quarter profit was up $100 million since last year. Rahel Solomon

has been digging into these results for us.

As we just pointed out, it was pretty good, given the expectations, which were set quite low.

[15:55:00]

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Some would say pretty good, some would say it was less bad. Nearly 1 million subscribers lost this most recent

quarter, about 200,000 before that. This is the first time in the company's 25 year history, where they are posting back to back losses like this.

The stock is up because the expectation had been a much greater loss, about 2 million. So expectations going into this report were quite low and

Netflix surprising on the upside. Neil Saunders, an analyst putting it this way.

"Despite the slowdown, Netflix is not in trouble. It remains a solid company," adding, "however, to get back into growth it will need to change.

But that change needs to be about evolution than revolution. The last thing that they need is destroying what made it, great and the pursuit of a few

additional percentage points of growth."

What would that growth look like that Netflix needs?

Two things: the company has introduced, with Microsoft as a partner, to introduce a lower price ad-supported tier, which some analysts have been

calling for for years. They will also want to crack down on password sharing, which they say about 100 million people globally are taking

advantage of.

The question however, is how soon will this generate meaningful revenue credits, it believes this will happen well into 2023 or 2024. But it is

still the streaming leader and expectations were very low going into this report. Netflix, surprising to the upside. It was less bad than many had

expected.

NEWTON: And I want to ask you. We just had the chart up there of Netflix's price. Of course it has lost two thirds of its value from the peak. The

fact that it is up 7 percent, you see it there, it's quite dramatic that fall it has had.

In terms of what we call peak streaming, was there anything in the analyst reports about what this could mean about the others in this space?

Of course, Netflix is a leader and has been.

SOLOMON: Netflix is a leader and my understanding is that Netflix is also the most expensive in this space. That said, it has competition and

competition has stiffened.

At one point does the market become saturated?

There's also some concerns where folks are becoming more conscious of discretionary spending.

Do they start to pull back on streamers as the first lever?

Lots of questions, competition is still stiff. That said Netflix is certainly the leader in terms of content and content generation. And so

holding on now for sure.

NEWTON: They have some big projects on the line over the next few months and we will continue to advertise. There's some people who have pointed out

that, if we are going to a downturn, people will lean in more to the subscriptions because, in terms of entertainment, it's still fairly

economical.

Rahel Solomon, thanks so much.

There are just moments left to trade on Wall Street and we will to those numbers and the closing bell right after this.

END