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Quest Means Business
Sweden's NATO U-Turn; AG Garland Makes First Public Statement Since FBI Search Of Trump Home; SAS Attempts A Comeback After Strikes, Bankruptcy; ABBA Icon Talks About Early Days And His Inspiration; Breeding Bamboo Sharks For Thailand's Coral Reefs. Aired 3-4p ET
Aired August 11, 2022 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[15:00:20]
RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS ANCHOR: It is nine o'clock at night here in Stockholm in Sweden. The focus of tonight's QUEST MEANS BUSINESS is going
to be this country, NATO, the economy and what it says about the direction of any potential recession, only after I've told you what's happening with
the markets, and the S&P 500 is at its highest level in some three months. That's giving some people pause for thought.
The Dow has given back some of its gains, but it is still a strong-ish day and the NASDAQ is even a little bit lower.
The markets and the events we're talking about over the next hour. Sweden is set to join NATO. Twenty-three countries approved, Hungary, Turkey
remain -- now the Swedish Finance Minister, he is going to tell me why the Swedish people's mentality has changed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKAEL DAMBERG, SWEDISH FINANCE MINISTER: Sometimes, reality is nasty. Sometimes Russians act against Ukraine really makes people think, we can be
next.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: And SCANIA CEO is betting the company on electric. I bet he hadn't banked on me taking the wheel of the vehicle -- 10-tons tractor trailer. Up
close and personal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: Well, every stag party, every bar mitzvah, every wedding, every thing --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: We meet Bjorn from Abba and we hear "Dancing Queen." We are live tonight from the Stockholm. It is Thursday. It's August the 11th. I'm
Richard Quest, and yes, in the Swedish capital, I mean business.
A very good evening to you from the Swedish capital, I am in Stockholm tonight. I can tell you, forget what you hear that bad weather in Sweden
and Stockholm. If the last few days has anything to go by, it has been glorious. As you can see behind me the city is looking at its absolute
best.
Over the course of the hour, we are waiting to hear from the US Attorney General Merrick Garland. Now Merrick Garland is going to be giving a press
conference. Well, he's going to be making a statement. What it's about? Whether it's about events in Cleveland or Cincinnati, whether it's about
Donald Trump and the Mar-a-Lago search, we don't know.
We don't know if he'll take questions. We just know that the US Attorney General is due to speak, at the same time there are all these stories going
around.
I think it's fast, but safe to say, it'll be one of those major subjects that he talks about. When he does, we'll bring it to you. Of course, we
will. Forget ye not, you'll hear Merrick Garland on this program.
As for what we are talking about this hour, what makes Sweden special? Why are we here?
Well, "Quest's World of Wonder" will be coming from Sweden, from Stockholm and it was a good opportunity for us to also examine the country, and to
actually see how this bellwether state will give us a good idea of what's coming next.
It's a leader on economic matters, a leader on social policy, and yet precarious at the moment, there is the energy crisis, which of course is
affecting everybody. There are security concerns with Russia, and of course, there is Sweden joining NATO.
On tonight's program, you're going to hear the most famous. You're going to hear the Finance Minister, who will be joining me to talk more about it,
that's Mikael Damberg. You'll hear Abba superstar, Bjorn and the Chief Executives of SAS - Scandinavian Airlines, Anko put the company into
bankruptcy. He'll tell us why and what he hopes to get out of it. And Christiane Levin manages to be magnificent as I drive -- as I drive, the
major truck with Christian Levin.
We're two minutes away from the press conference from Merrick Garland. So rather than going into something, which we only have to drop out of, I
think it's a good moment for me to update you on what's happening with markets and the like.
Let's take a look at the Dow Jones, first of all, we start off with the Dow and where that is trading at the moment, 44 points at the moment, 33,354.
The triple stack the trend that we've seen, so you see the way the Dow has fallen away.
[15:05:08]
And you see the S&P, which had been at a three-month high down at zero, there are losses actually and the NASDAQ is off by half a percentage point.
Now look at the Dow 30, and when you get under the hood of the motor, you start to see a little bit of how things are changing. The Dow 30 gives you
an idea of the tops and the bottoms and where the totality of the market will come. We'll show that to you in just a second.
Now, Disney is at the top at the moment and that's on the back of results and of course, the streaming wars.
Merrick Garland, the US Attorney General is now making a statement.
MERRICK GARLAND, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: Justice will speak through its Court filings and its work. Just now, the Justice Department has filed a
motion in the Southern District of Florida to unseal a search warrant and property receipt relating to a Court-approved search that the FBI conducted
earlier this week.
That search was at premises located in Florida, belonging to the former President. The department did not make any public statements on the day of
the search. The former President publicly confirmed the search that evening, as is his right.
Copies of both the warrant and the FBI property receipt were provided on the day of the search to the former President's counsel, who was on site
during the search.
The search warrant was authorized by a Federal Court upon the required finding of probable cause. The property receipt is a document that Federal
law requires law enforcement agents to leave with the property owner. The Department filed the motion to make public the warrant and receipt in light
of the former President's public confirmation of the search, the surrounding circumstances, and the substantial public interest in this
matter.
Faithful adherence to the rule of law is the bedrock principle of the Justice Department and of our democracy. Upholding the rule of law means
applying the law evenly without fear or favor.
Under my watch, that is precisely what the Justice Department is doing. All Americans are entitled to the even-handed application of the law, to due
process of law and to the presumption of innocence.
Much of our work is by necessity conducted out of the public eye. We do that to protect the constitutional rights of all Americans and to protect
the integrity of our investigations.
Federal law, long-standing department rules and our ethical obligations prevent me from providing further details as to the basis of the search at
this time.
There are however, certain points I want you to know.
First, I personally approved the decision to seek a search warrant in this matter. Second, the Department does not take such a decision lightly. Where
possible, it is standard practice to seek less intrusive means as an alternative to a search and to narrowly scope any search that is
undertaken.
Third, let me address recent unfounded attacks on the professionalism of the FBI and Justice Department agents and prosecutors. I will not stand by
silently when their integrity is unfairly attacked.
The men and women of the FBI and the Justice Department are dedicated patriotic public servants. Every day, they protect the American people from
violent crime, terrorism, and other threats to their safety, while safeguarding our Civil Rights. They do so at great personal sacrifice and
risk to themselves. I am honored to work alongside them.
This is all I can say right now. More information will be made available in the appropriate way and at the appropriate time.
Thank you.
QUESTION: Mr. Attorney General, the former President --
GARLAND: Thank you all for your questions, but as I said, that's all I can say at this time.
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: All right, let's discuss now what we just heard from the Attorney General that he has now filed a motion in the
Southern District of Florida to unseal the search warrant and the property receipts in the search of former President Trump's home on Monday.
Let's bring everybody back with us here, and I want to start with Elie.
First, the legal element of this. This application, it sounds like a big deal coming from the Attorney General. Is this unprecedented? How rare is
it to request that this be made public?
[15:10:11]
ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: This is a remarkable and unusual move, Victor.
We essentially just saw Merrick Garland call Donald Trump's bluff and here is what I mean by that. In the wake of this search warrant, Donald Trump
has two documents, he and his lawyers. One is the search warrant itself with whatever attachments and the other is this inventory, or this receipt.
Now, those documents are going to have important information about the search. These are the documents that people have been saying, well, if
Donald Trump wants to make an issue of this, he should release them.
What Merrick Garland just said is, we, the DOJ are going to release them, we're going to go to the Judge. We're going to ask the judge to unseal
those documents, meaning make them available to the public because DOJ policy is they will only speak about things that are on the record with the
Court.
So essentially, Merrick Garland just said, okay, Donald Trump, you're not going to release them. Well, we're going to do it. We're going to put those
documents in front of the American public.
But I do think it's important to understand what will and will not be in those documents. The warrant typically will list logistical information,
place to be searched, usually a general description of items to be searched for, the name of the Judge, a deadline by which DOJ has to execute the
search.
But it also sometimes has what we call an attachment and that attachment typically will list the statutes, the laws that DOJ believes it has
probable cause to believe were violated. So, that's going to be the first thing I look for. I'm going to look right at that attachment and say, do
they list the statutes, that's going to tell us what laws could be at play here.
When we talk about the second document, the inventory or the receipt? That is what it sounds like, it's a listing. The FBI says here are the items
that we removed from Mar-a-Lago.
Now again, degrees of specificity and generality tend to vary. I do not expect there to have a piece of paper by piece of paper breakdown, if they
took thousands of pages. I think what we're going to see is listings like X number of boxes, if they took any electronic documents, if they took any
laptops, cell phones, that kind of thing.
Now, one last thing, Victor, the document that we still will not see is the big one, the most detailed document here is the affidavit. That is the
document, which typically can be 20, 40 or a hundred pages where prosecutors lay out chapter and verse, here's all of our proof that gives
us probable cause. That still is going to remain confidential.
Donald Trump does not have that. Merrick Garland is not moving to unseal that, but the other two documents that Donald Trump has, Merrick Garland
has said, well, I'm going to show them to you now.
BLACKWELL: Because that affidavit is crucial and central to the investigation, you would expect it that would be released at this point.
HONIG: No, typically, Victor that only gets released if and when there's a charge. If somebody gets searched, and then indicted, then they will be
given a copy of that affidavit. Again, this is the very long detailed document so that that person can then challenge it in Court.
Typically, what we see is the defendant or the person who has been searched will ask the Judge to throw out whatever was found, because they'll argue
that the affidavit was insufficient, did not establish probable cause.
So that's the longest, most specific, most detailed document. We are still not going to see that, but we are going to see if Garland's motion is
granted, which I suspect it will be by the Judge, then we will see the warrant itself, which will give us some crucial information and we will see
the return -- the inventory of the items that were seized from Mar-a-Lago.
BLACKWELL: Katelyn Polantz, we were expecting remarks from the Attorney General. Here, he is taking some action. Just walk us through the
significance of what we just saw here.
KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: That's right. So we did just get in the Court filing in the US District Court of the
Southern District of Florida. That's where this search warrant was approved by a Magistrate Judge.
We did just get the motion, so the request from the Justice Department to unseal the documents that Elie was just describing that Merrick Garland
just spoke about wanting to release.
Now, some of the legal reasoning here is pretty simple. They are arguing to the Judge that one of the reasons that they can release this or why they
believe it could be released is because the occurrence of this search and the indications of what it was about, those are already public.
There has been public reporting on it. Donald Trump's own lawyers have spoken about it, his son spoke about it on television. And then they also
write that the public's clear and powerful interest in understanding what occurred under these circumstances, weighs heavily in the favor of
unsealing these documents making them public.
So that just underlines what Garland was saying. It is underlining it to the Judge who is going to have to review this, and the other thing that
happens in this motion is that the Justice Department does do what they normally would do in a situation like this.
They say we would like to give the former President and his attorneys the opportunity to respond to this request. So Donald Trump's attorneys will be
able to take a position in Court on whether they want this to be public. And what's fascinating about that is that these three days have gone by, we
have heard Trump speak publicly, they have had an opportunity to file, to suppress whatever was collected in this search if they wanted to.
[15:15:10]
We even saw something like that, in a very separate recent search in a different investigation related to John Eastman, the President's elections
lawyer.
In that case, there was a search warrant and both of these types of documents, the returns, they were all made public in court. This is what
Eastman filed, he put it into his Court record to make it public to try and challenge and so, that is how we learned about that Eastman search, Trump
could have done that as well and the receipt as well as the other thing that the Justice Department is asking to unseal, that we have learned
through this new filing today, that wasn't something that was originally put in the Court, it wouldn't have been at the beginning.
It's a paper that's filled out by the FBI agents on site, the people who are on site from the Justice Department handed to the lawyers. That also
was added to the Court record after the fact of this search, so that it could be potentially provided to the public if the Judge agrees -- Victor.
BLACKWELL: All right, Katelyn Polantz, the documents that we just heard the Attorney General filed a motion for to be unsealed.
Let me go to Evan Perez, and one element that we learned from the AG is his involvement in the application for that warrant that was executed on
Monday, he says he personally approved it.
EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR U.S. JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Victor, look, I think this was him trying to make sure people understood that the buck
stops with him, and really was in response to -- there are some very inaccurate reporting out there that seemed to suggest that maybe he was
surprised by this, that he was maybe not involved. And we all -- those of us who cover the department knew that that was not true.
This was, of course -- it's one of the most important investigations that's now ongoing in this building, and there's absolutely no way that Lisa
Monaco, the Deputy Attorney General, that Merrick Garland, the Attorney General would not have been deeply involved in the weeks and months of
lawyering that went into this decision to carry out the search.
And one of the things that I think, you know, he mentions in there in his comments, was the idea that they looked at less intrusive means before
taking this step. Again, that's something that is routine in these cases.
But I think it's very important to respond to the accusations that you're hearing from the former President and his team, which is that they say that
they were shocked, that this was completely, you know, unrequired by the Department, unnecessary by the Department that they could have simply just,
you know, gone through the lawyers and gotten these documents and handed over.
What the Attorney General was saying, they took this step because they had to. It was the ultimate step that they had to take, because other less
intrusive means were not going to work. And you know, obviously, I think, you know, at the end here, this was a bit of a put up or shut up for the
Donald Trump team, which you know, they've had the field for a couple of days, making accusations and now, it's up to them if they want to go to a
Judge and try to get the Judge to say "No, Your Honor, you cannot release these documents that the Justice Department says it's in the public
interest for us to see," -- Victor.
BLACKWELL: All right, let's go now to the White House --
QUEST: And that's our coverage, we will continue to watch for Merrick Garland, and what he said and the way in which this development is taking
place.
A few facts there about search of Mar-a-Lago, but there is clearly much more to be awaited once we get the papers and the documents.
And while we do, we will continue with our QUEST MEANS BUSINESS tonight from Sweden.
Swedish inflation numbers come out tomorrow. They might be marginally better than expected, but Sweden like every other country, in the union, is
having inflation at 30 and 40-year highs. Unemployment here is also high, which is why when I sat down with the Finance Minister, I needed to
understand how bad the situation is in one of the European Union's most progressive countries.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAMBERG: We're going through tougher times now and we're very much uncertain of the situation in the future.
We see that the Swedish industry is still going strong, but when we look ahead, we think it will slow down. We will be affected by Europe, by the
war, by the German economy.
Sweden is a small open economy, very dependent on trade. So what's happening in Europe will certainly affect Sweden.
QUEST: I understand, of course that Riksbank is independent, okay, I'll give you that. I'll say it before you do, but higher interest rates are on
way here?
DAMBERG: The Riksbank has been very clear that they will increase the rates and I think most people in Sweden also calculate on that.
[15:20:10]
Because we see the Consumer Index are very bad, people are expecting tougher times.
QUEST: The problem in Sweden that is different to say, the UK, US or other parts of Europe, if your unemployment is still high, and you have high
inflation, and you've got the definition of stagflation.
DAMBERG: You should look at the numbers, you can measure unemployment and the status of the labor market in a different way. What's happening in
Sweden is that almost everyone is on the labor market, seeking job, trying to get a job. So thanks to child care, elderly care, also women participate
in the labor market.
So that's why the numbers on the unemployment rate will be higher in Sweden than in most countries, like the US that doesn't have the same welfare
system that actually provides for people to seek jobs.
QUEST: You have one other issue, which, of course, is what's happening with Russia, Ukraine, and the decision to seek accession to NATO.
So 23 countries have now agreed, and the holdouts besides the logistic, the procedural ones, the main two, Hungary, and Turkey, do you worry that
either of those is going to really be difficult when they're the last two?
DAMBERG: What we've seen so far is that we have a record pace in this process. But of course, we've seen in history that sometimes it might be
obstacles, it might be delays, so we don't have a fixed timetable. We want to join NATO as fast as possible.
QUEST: I've been coming to Sweden for 40-odd years, I know quite well. What I fear is this country, that the decision to join NATO was so searing
at one level, but necessary at another, I mean, you've just jettisoned several hundred years of neutrality in months.
DAMBERG: I grew up with a family from Finland. So my family actually has been -- my grandfather lost his life in a war with Russia. So Finland and
Sweden has been linked together for hundreds of years Many people in Sweden are perhaps not happy with the decision, but they feel it's the
right decision.
And sometimes reality is nasty. Sometimes Russians act against Ukraine really makes people think we can be next, we have to defend ourselves and
we do it better together with other European and American partners.
QUEST: And talking about the election, there is a very real issue for the Swedish people this time, isn't it? Because in the future, if you like, if
that is security through NATO, if that decision has been taken, but it's who you want to manage it.
DAMBERG: So I think the question of leadership will be very important and I think we have today the most popular and trustworthy Prime Minister that
we've had for a very long time in Magdalena Andersson.
So I think with her experience as a Minister of Finance before, now being the Prime Minister, I think many people also on the other aisle of the
political corridor, actually respects her and trusts her.
QUEST: And if you look at where the Swedish social model will be, I mean, it's enviable at one level, it's expensive, it is questionable, and it's me
questioning it, whether you can afford it in the future.
DAMBERG: I would turn the question around, can you afford not to have a welfare system where women participate in the labor market? You don't have
a system to actually retrain people in midlife, because we see so much turbulence on the labor market now. You have to transform your education in
midlife.
So I think Sweden is a beacon of transformation, giving people actually security and change is very modern. So, I would argue that political
parties that want to challenge the Swedish model in election also takes a risk because the Swedish population likes our wealth model and don't want
to abolish it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: This would all be bad enough at one level for any European country, but for Sweden with it's just over 10 to 11 million people, and it's very
high taxes and very generous, some would say, but necessary says others, social welfare net. So what's left of a country that actually punches way
beyond its economic weight?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: For more than a thousand years, Sweden has left its mark on Europe, with the Viking conquests in the Middle Ages, extending its influence to
the shores of Britain, Russia, and France.
And in the past century the countries made a different kind of mark.
[15:25:06]
(voice over): Equally, trailblazing with musicians and songwriters calling Sweden home, the most famous musical export, Abba.
And then there are the Swedish songwriters behind some of the biggest pop hits for the likes of Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, and Britney Spears. That
might be the exciting bit.
But the country has been a trailblazer in yes, monetary policy, too.
(on camera): The Riksbank is the oldest Central Bank in the world. It dates back to 1668. Now, the Central Bank here like everywhere else is
raising interest rates to try and curb inflation, which is at a 30-year high.
The problem of course, is at the same time, as they're raising rates, well, they have higher unemployment and issues of defense.
(voice over): All of this comes at a high public cost that has to be paid with taxes. So top earners here at taxed one of the highest individual tax
rates in the world.
The result of this for society, Swedes feel neither rich nor poor. They recognize their obligation to pay for the social benefits and social safety
net that they enjoy, and to those who think these higher taxes stifles innovation, the Swedes say not a bit of it.
(on camera): A visit to Sweden would not be complete without IKEA.
(voice over): This is a land of entrepreneurs, disruptors everywhere, flat pack furniture, well that's IKEA; music streaming, Spotify leads the way
and in fast fashion, H&M are at the forefront.
The country's politics are tumultuous. In the past year alone, the government has been toppled and reinstated and its Prime Minister resigned
after only one day on the job.
All of which is more remarkable, when you think of the geopolitical stability since the Second World War. Sweden is remarkably peaceful, with a
policy of neutrality that stood the test of time until Russia invaded Ukraine, and then pragmatic as ever, disruption at the forefront, Sweden
applied to join NATO.
(on camera): Sweden has led the way on so many issues, particularly social policies, and more recently, entrepreneurialism.
Now, once again, with so much geopolitical change taking place, Sweden is being called upon to lead the way. How this country handles its election,
its accession to NATO, the economic crisis that's about to arrive -- all of these issues, how it handles it will be watched carefully and followed.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: Coming up, a legend, a musical legend, Abba. It is Bjorn from Abba. We'll be talking the early days and that moment that changed everything.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BJORN ULVAEUS, SINGER: The next morning, earlier, I woke up and I realized, "My God." This was a pivotal moment. It is actually true that it
happened overnight.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:32:05]
QUEST: Welcome back. QUEST MEANS BUSINESS tonight live from Stockholm. One of the earthquakes in the corporate world in Scandinavia was when SAS, the
national airline of the country, decided to file for bankruptcy protection. It failed in the United States. It also had a 15-day pilot strike that cost
$145 million. The traffic not surprisingly, because of the strike was down some 32 percent.
At the same time, of course as the airline industry is in chaos, as a result of a return to work and not being enough stuff. Now, it's part owned
by Sweden and Denmark and restructuring plan being put forward is SAS forward. However, the stocks dropped 50 percent so far this year. Anko Van
Der Werff is the President and CEO of SAS Scandinavian Airlines. Good to see you, sir.
ANKO VAN DER WERFF, PRESIDENT AND CEO, SAS GROUP: How are you, Richard?
QUEST: The decision to seek bankruptcy protection in the United States to basically restructure the airline, get rid of the debt in some occasions
repay some, why?
WERFF: Because it's needed. It's very simple. This is a business that has actually, in our view, not reached its full potential over the years. We
need to make sure that it's of course, future proof. This is part of it, we're doing three things, lowering our cost, make sure that the balance
sheet is OK. And raise almost a billion dollars in new equity.
QUEST: But at the end of the day, is SAS a viable model. You know, the one question that everybody really wants to ask you is can it survive against
Gulf carriers for long haul, the big groups, the three big groups in Europe, and Ryanair, easyJet and others local?
WERFF: Oh, absolutely, wholeheartedly, yes. I mean, look, when you look at those first few groups that did you talk about, the overlap on our network
is really very limited. We are very proud to be Scandinavian. And this market is of course, there's a lot of people, look, digitally, the sun
doesn't shine, right? So a lot of people still in summer -- in winter months, also want to go, of course, on their trips. But business is strong,
as you have seen here. You walked around the city and the country. You see the health of the country. So there is strong business interest
Scandinavian that is first and foremost who we are.
QUEST: So let's say you do restructure the debts and you get your bonds lower. And you managed to get new agreements with unions. How do you grow
the business?
WERFF: Customers, customers, customers, right? We have, if you look for instance at our Euro bonus, loyalty program, 7 million people out of call
it 20, 25 million in Scandinavia that are loyal to us, right, and that are close to us. What we want to do again is bring back and build that business
around them.
QUEST: Your decision to go into bankruptcy protection was a bombshell, an earthquake, whatever you want, it was almost a gas I said, an inappropriate
choice of words bearing in mind, but it was always the nuclear option, wasn't it?
[15:35:00]
WERFF: Something really had to be done, absolutely. And look, you don't do these things out of a -- it's not a luxury option, right? So it tells you
how serious it is for us. And it tells you also how serious we are about transforming this business.
QUEST: Now senior politicians have told me that they support you, that they support you. But I suspect government support is wafer thin and we're
disappearing, in a second of all winter blaze, if it looked like they might lose an election.
WERFF: I think it's very strong what has happened here. And I think that is from all the stakeholders so far. I see that in the commercial
stakeholders, and also the political right? It is very clear that people want this business to succeed again. And that means that, yes, we have to
look also for in some sense, different ownership structure. That is what we're looking for.
QUEST: Hang on, hang on, you've just dropped that at the end, different ownership structure, that means no governments, perhaps.
WERFF: Norway and Sweden have very clearly come out themselves and said that they do not intend to participate in the equity race. So that is very
public and very clear.
QUEST: So do you have a preference between the sky tip -- between the Lufthansa Group AG or Air France KLM?
WERFF: I have a preference for turning this message around and making sure that we can stand on our own two feet. That is first and foremost, what we
will do over the coming period.
QUEST: And if you can't?
WERFF: We will and we can.
QUEST: You've done this before a lot among you. You've done this before. Forgive me, forgive me, you've done this before at Avianca. So you know
what you're doing in terms of restructuring. Do you think you can get it done in the Swedish Scandinavian social model?
WERFF: Yes. And I think also that was very good question and important. We have a very good, solid foundation now with a long term pilot agreements.
We've signed a five and a half year agreement with our pilots, a very important group, of course, for any airline. We will build back that
business. But also it can be done within that Scandinavian context together with the unions. But first and foremost, we need to make sure that we are a
business.
QUEST: Anko, it is good to have you, sir. By the way, do you have because I mean, wherever you go in this city, magnificent city, wonderful weather.
WERFF: Beautiful. Always, by the way, yes.
QUEST: Always, year round. Wherever you go, you hear ABBA being played on radios, it's an external favorite, ABBA.
WERFF: "Mamma Mia," right, it is classic, of course. Richard, thank you.
QUEST: I'm not going to ask him to sing that. It would be all far too much for you dear viewer on Thursday evening. But instead, we are going to meet
one of the man who is behind ABBA. There is no pop group arguably, the Beatles, yes, the Stones, but if ABBA is up there. ABBA is part of it. And
it all came from this small country in the frozen north, where they won the Eurovision Song Contest and went on to become one of the largest pop
sensations.
I met the ABBA member and songwriter, Bjorn. I was at his home. I'm going to mangle the name in Sodertalje. I always find if you just drift off in
there, nobody notices. He told me what he -- he told me where ABBA's legacy came and went.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST (voice-over): Growing up on the Swedish coast, Bjorn Ulvaeus, remembers his first taste of rock and roll.
BJORN ULVAEUS, ABBA: My first encounters with something that I really liked that I went for was Bill Haley, "Rock Around The Clock." And kind of woke
me in my teenage kind of slumber.
QUEST (voice-over): That early flirtation with music became a full on romance. And by 1974, ABBA took the stage at the Eurovision Song Contest.
(on camera): Did you think you were going to win?
ULVAEUS: I did not think we were going to win. I thought we would stand out and people would remember us that it would be a launching pad for a career
anyway, this at such an impact. I didn't realize it on the night because there was so much chaos. But the next morning early I woke up and I
realized, my god, this was a pivotal moment. It is actually true that it happened overnight. The day the world knows about us.
QUEST (voice-over): Hit after hit followed, ABBA became a phenomenon, an international sensation, one of the most successful, lasting, and lucrative
bands in the world.
(on camera): It's given you riches beyond. It's given you creative satisfaction, abundance. But you are Mr. ABBA.
[15:40:02]
ULVAEUS: Yes, yes. ABBA accepted that long, long ago. There's no way out of that. I mean, it's still Beatle Paul sometimes, isn't it? Even though he is
personally one of the most famous people on Earth, but still, he will always be Beatle Paul. No other comparison but --
QUEST: ABBA Bjorn.
ULVAEUS: Yes. I'm just proud of it nowadays. There was a time perhaps when I would have thought, you know, you would have been good without that ABBA
first. But that now, it's totally OK.
QUEST: It is what it is.
ULVAEUS: It is what it is. And it makes me humble. Because as I have said, I don't know how it happened. And why, you know, why us, why these songs?
I'll never know. And nobody has been able to explain. It's so difficult to explain why certain stuff stays relevant and other stuff doesn't. There was
so much good stuff being recorded in the 70s.
QUEST: Hit it, maestro.
(voice-over): Experimentations always been part of the ABBA brand. Now they've taken a leap into the digital future, building a special London
arena, where digital avatars, or ABBA-tars of the band's performance of greatest hits.
As part of developing the ABBA voyage, the band recorded and released their first new album in 40 years.
ULVAEUS: We asked the ladies would they be up to just try and see whether it works or not to come into the studio and sing again?
QUEST (on camera): Oh, I'd love to have been a fly on the wall for that conversation.
ULVAEUS: But they both said yes, if it's only a matter of going into the studio and trying out, yes, that's fine. You never know what voices you own
the voices sound like. But then they went into the studio and started singing and it was ABBA. We were, you know, deliriously happy.
QUEST: It was risky, your reputation.
ULVAEUS: In a way, yes. It -- we might have released something that people thought. Well, they shouldn't have done this.
QUEST: Why did you do, you didn't need the money?
ULVAEUS: No.
QUEST: You put your -- you ABBA's.
ULVAEUS: But it was a creative process. We had fun. We thought it was great. And we were proud of it. And what other people would say afterwards,
we didn't know of course, but we were proud of it. And that's the way we had always worked.
Well?
QUEST: Every staff party, every bar mitzvah, every wedding, every moment at some point has this.
ULVAEUS: Yes. Yes, I know. It's amazing.
QUEST (voice-over): After 50 years, the sounds of Sweden's greatest pop stars still have the power to amaze and delight.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: I cannot believe that I got to sing "Dancing Queen" with the man who wrote it. And yet everybody has their favorite ABBA track. You will have
yours at Richard Quest. At Richard Quest, your favorite ABBA track perhaps mine really should be "Money, Money, Money." Later, exactly what "Money,
Money, Money" means today, QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:47:06]
QUEST: Forgot the popular perception of sharks, the reality is they play an important part in marine life. And yet, nearly a third of all sharks are
facing extinction or different types of sharks are facing extinction. Today on Call to Earth, it's the bamboo shark and a conservation program and a
breeding program that will help at least we hope protect it for the future.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: On a tiny island off Thailand's Andaman coast, a crew of divers is bringing precious cargo on board. These are captive bred
bamboo sharks. And they're about to take their first plunge into the wild with marine biologist Kullawit Limchularat.
KULLAWIT LIMCHULARAT, SENIOR SPECIALIST, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, SINGHA ESTATE: We found find that around this area have a lot of coral. And this
is a perfect place for bamboo shark because this shark is a reef species.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Freedom, for the first time.
LIMCHULARAT: The bamboo shark is a small species. They will swim on the bottom. They are not aggressive and their teeth is not sharp.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sharks in general may have a bad reputation with humans. But they are essential for their marine habitat, says Limchularat.
LIMCHULARAT: The sharks play the important role in their environment because they are a predator. They will control the weak prey. The
environment of the coral reef will be stronger.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bamboo shark numbers have declined in recent years due to fishing practice and habitat destruction potentially putting reefs like
this in jeopardy.
LIMCHULARAT: The coral is a habitat for a lot of fish. They just like oasis in the desert, just like rainforest. If we have no sharks, the ecology of
the reef will be destroyed.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Those juvenile sharks cut their teeth here at the Marine Discovery Center at SAii Phi Phi Island Village.
LIMCHULARAT: You see capsule is moving.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's part of a holiday resort with a focus on sustainability. These shark embryos come from Phuket Marine Biology Center.
Between one and three months later, they hatch as baby sharks.
LIMCHULARAT: These guys around just two weeks after they hatch.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When they reach 30 centimeters, they're move to a bigger tank for another 3 months before they are released introduced to the
ocean. The center is also home to a fish made famous by Disney Pixar animated classic, "Finding Nemo".
LIMCHULARAT: Everyone knows this orange and white clownfish is a Nemo.
[15:50:03]
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: These clown fish are bred here and will be released in the wild if local populations are depleted, Limchularat says.
LIMCHULARAT: Do you know how many species of clown fish in Thailand?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Although part of a resort, the Marine Discovery Center is open to the public and dedicated to educating locals and tourists alike
on how to take care of the marine environment.
LIMCHULARAT: The local community is the one who lives here. They need to know what they have and how important that they have to protect.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: By fostering change above and below the ocean. Programs like this, for these species, and their reef habitat a chance at
recovery.
LIMCHULARAT: When we release them, we feel like we give something back to nature, maybe give them a chance, the Mother Nature can heal himself.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: Call to Earth, and let us know what you're doing, of course, in the challenge of protecting our Earth halftrack, Call to Earth.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: On QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, we are life's blood is talking about the economy, on what's happening in markets all about money. We're better than
the home of ABBA to paraphrase "Money, Money, Money."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.
I work all night, I work all day to pay the bills, I have to beg and it's sad. And still there's never seems to be a single penny left for me. That's
too bad. Central Banks do something. In my dreams, interest rates stay low. That's not going to happen. Inflation is rising so fast. I wouldn't have to
work at all if Central Banks had got it right the first time. Interest rates are going up. Inflation is high. It can rich man's world. Money
money, money, always sunny in a rich man's world. Ah, are we going into recession, no one knows. Had a little money it's a rich man's world. It's a
rich man's world. And it always was.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[15:55:21]
QUEST: I couldn't resist it. If that didn't turn your stomach and make you want to rush to the other room? Well perhaps the surstromming, which is the
Swedish herring that's not for the faint hearted. It's the way it is pickled. I'm going to be very careful I don't pour it on it. I look oh my
goodness. Oh my god, that is, you can smell -- when they open the can. How, you know, I thought when I thought was going to do this I don't have a
taste just know it's -- other profitable moment after the break. I'll may go on, go on, all right, all right, all right, all right, all right, just -
- no I can't, I can't, I can't. It's too much. Profitable moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Tonight's profitable moment from Stockholm. Sweden go to the polls next month. It'll be a crucial election. The politics in this country are
both populist and they are turning at great speed. How the electorate will vote of course will be a matter for them on the 11th of September.
For the country's economy, we're going to get inflation numbers tomorrow, and they will be high, maybe not maybe there'll be offered touch. But the
reality is Sweden is facing the same problems as every other country. The difference here is the social model. For decades they've had this consensus
understanding, the welfare state, people are looked after property, things are improved.
But now of course with immigration, with a large refugee crisis, with high unemployment, with high inflation, and with high taxes, people are
questioning whether that social model can survive. For the moment, it would appear, it is OK. But as you see with SAS and the bankruptcy filing, Sweden
is having to face unpalatable, unpopular, and downright difficult economic decisions. The country's done it before. And as the finance minister said
tonight, there's at least growth and things will soon stop picking up.
[16:00:01]
And that's QUEST MEANS BUSINESS for tonight. I'm Richard Quest in Stockholm. Whatever you're doing in the hours ahead, I hope it's
profitable. I'll be back in New York with your Monday.
END
