Return to Transcripts main page

Quest Means Business

Biden: No Evidence Recently Downed Objects Linked To China; Faury: We Have Over 1,000 Orders For Planes; Tesla Recalling All Cars With Full- Self Driving; Stories Of Survival In Quake-Hit Turkey; Disaster Could Hit Turkish GDP By 1 Percent; Dash To The Bell. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired February 16, 2023 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:17]

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN BUSINESS HOST: Stocks are falling after fresh signs of stubborn inflation. Let's take a look at the big board. You can see the Dow

is off about four-tenths of a percent, but 145 points right now.

Those are the markets and these are the main events.

President Biden says that the three objects shot down over North America last week do not appear connected to China's Spy Balloon Program.

The CEO of Airbus says that he is facing strong demand and difficult supply chains.

And FTX founder, Sam Bankman-Fried back in Court after using a VPN while out on bail.

Live from New York, it is Thursday, February 16th. I'm Rahel Solomon, in today for Richard Quest, and this is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.

Good evening.

US President Joe Biden saying in the last hour, there is no evidence that three recently downed aerial objects are linked to China's spy program. He

says that they were likely tied to private companies or research institutions. The objects were shot down in the days after a suspected

Chinese spy balloon traveled over the US.

Biden says that he will meet with China's President Xi Jinping and makes no apologies for having the balloon taken out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Now, we'll also continue to engage with China, as we have throughout the past two weeks. As I've said

since the beginning of my administration, we seek competition, not conflict with China.

We're not looking for a new Cold War, but I make no apologize -- I make no apologies and we will compete and we will responsibly manage that

competition so that it doesn't veer into conflict.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: CNN's White House reporter, Kevin Liptak joins me now from Washington, DC.

So Kevin, what more can you tell us about the timing of these comments? As you know, of course, there have been increasing pressure for Biden to speak

and address these discoveries. What more can you tell us?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, the White House had really been weighing over the last several days, having President Biden come out

and speak more fulsomely about what had happened over the last week and what had been holding them back was really a lack of information about what

these objects were exactly.

They felt like there was a real risk in putting President Biden behind a podium without the full picture of what was going on because these objects

landed in fairly remote locations, investigators have been having some difficulty in accessing the debris, making it harder for them to really

know what exactly they shot down last weekend.

Now over the last several days, the Intelligence Community has been gathering around this consensus that those three objects didn't pose any

harm to people on the ground, that they were most likely for research or commercial purposes, and so as that theory became more solid, the President

clearly felt more comfortable coming out talking today.

Of course, as you mentioned, he was also under growing political pressure from Republicans, but also from Democrats, who said, you know, you've shot

down three objects over the United States, you really need to explain what you were doing and what you were thinking and that is part of why he came

out today, and sort of laid out what his decision making was, and said that he wanted to see some sharper rules, as he said, going forward about how

you engage with these objects moving ahead.

He said that the United States needed a better inventory of what exactly is in the skies over in North America and he said that he had tasked his

National Security Adviser, Jake Sullivan, with developing some new protocols over how he and the Pentagon will decide which objects will be

shot down.

Now, he did say that those protocols would remain classified, but he mentioned them, he is clearly trying to reassure Americans that there is

some sort of procedure in place as these objects keep popping up on radar that is becoming more finely tuned to detect them.

Now in those remarks, it was very interesting, he made a very clear distinction between those three objects and the Chinese spy balloon that he

shot down about a week earlier, clearly trying to send a message to Beijing that that sort of craft won't be tolerated.

He said it was an unacceptable violation of sovereignty, but at the same time, reaffirming that he wants lines of communication to remain open with

China.

Remember, it was only about two weeks ago that the Secretary of State, Antony Blinken cancelled a planned trip to China really sort of causing a

deterioration again, in relations. That's something that President might want to correct.

Of course, Secretary of State Blinken is now in Munich. It is possible that he could meet with his Chinese counterpart there at the Munich Security

Conference, and President Biden saying that he plans to also speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

So clearly trying to maintain those relations even as he sent this message about the balloon itself -- Rahel.

[15:05:24]

SOLOMON: And to that end, President Biden saying that we see competition with China, not conflict.

Kevin Liptak, good to have you on the program today. Thank you.

LIPTAK: Sure.

SOLOMON: Well, the CEO of Airbus says that its order book is growing as it tries to move past supply chain challenges is having issues getting parts

and ramping up production. Still, though shares of the company are higher after it announced earnings, you can see shares are up about five percent.

Guillaume Faury spoke to Richard Quest earlier. He said the company is seeing strong demand from airlines.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GUILLAUME FAURY, CEO, AIRBUS: The most striking figure, I think, for last year was the number of orders, more than 1,000 again, so we are back to the

times where the airlines are ordering a lot of planes, actually, they are looking at their long-term planning and their long-term fleet planning,

with appetite for new technologies to improve their competitiveness, to reduce the fuel burn, to reduce the carbon emissions.

RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: And that momentum, of course, now you have to build them.

FAURY: Actually, last year against the backdrop of a very challenging supply environment, we have ramped up our A220, and especially the A320

family, much slower than what we were targeting and we had to postpone our objective to deliver 720 planes from the end of last year to the end of

2023.

So that's quite disappointing. That's what we see around the world with disrupted supply chains. Still, the demand is very strong. And today, we

had the pleasure to announce that we will be ramping up the wide bodies quite strongly, and especially the 350 will go up 289, so close to what we

had before COVID.

QUEST: The order book is very robust. It's an example of success, but it is the challenge for you now to actually do it, to deliver the aircraft.

FAURY: You're perfectly right, Richard, as usual, I would say. We have an order book that is close to 450 billion euros, but that is also a big

responsibility to deliver those planes to the airlines, which have placed order with us, and that is that's why we are focusing so much on supply

chain, but we need to translate into bigger numbers with a goal to be reaching rate 75 on the A320 family, so 75 planes a month by 2026.

QUEST: That's two planes a day, talking of which, the Air India order. Now you've got the bulk of it, in a sense, in one way, particularly at the

320 level.

I was reading a report in the local newspaper here about how that order came about, how the complexity the length of time it took to get that

order. Was it that difficult?

FAURY: The Qatar Ranger team has been super professional in the way they have approached the procurement of their planes. I'm very happy and very

honored and very humbled honestly, of the outcome, as we have a bit of the lion's share on this single line, but as well on the wide bodies. It's an

order that relies on 40 A350s. That's a big number and we are really -- I am very happy with this outcome.

QUEST: On the 350, you settled with Qatar Airways, but Qatar had said there was a safety issue or there was a potential safety issue and there is

no real mention of that in the settlement or the announcement, which leaves people like me wondering, well, what on earth was it all about?

FAURY: As you rightly said, we have managed to come to an agreement -- into a settlement agreement with Qatar Airways. That's indeed a big relief after

two years of disputes. There has been a lot of discussions between Qatar Airways, Airbus the QCAA of Qatar, the IASA, to find a way to return the

planes to service obviously, in a safe way.

QUEST: Can you and Akbar work together? I know the commercial realities, but this was one of the nastiest disputes in aviation that I can ever

recall.

FAURY: On a personal standpoint, we have maintained a very professional and even good relationship with Akbar Al Baker and myself, and I think that

this is what has enabled the possibility of going to a settlement agreement. It was a difficult case. We had very different views, and we've

managed to converge.

QUEST: I'm going to just try this question and see how far I get. Did you end up paying any compensation for aircraft on the ground?

[15:10:06]

FAURY: As you saw in the press release, the terms of the agreement are confidential.

QUEST: You can't blame me for trying.

FAURY: I don't.

QUEST: Finally, it's rather gratifying to see all these A380s now back in vogue, are you having any regrets shutting the line?

FAURY: I can't agree more with you. It is very gratifying to see those beautiful birds back in the air. I had the privilege to fly one of them

recently on one of my trips. It is really a fantastic airplane for passengers.

Unfortunately, we had to stop production back just before COVID and I think for reasons that were related to the need of a very performing twin --

long-haul twin engine aircraft, I don't see this reversing moving forward. So I think we should not have any regrets.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOLOMON: Tesla meantime is recalling more than 360,000 cars over an issue with full self-driving. The Recall Notice says that the future can pose a

risk at intersections even if the driver is paying attention. Tesla will try to fix the problem through an over-the-air software update.

The recall affects the Model S, Model X, Model 3, and Model Y.

Gabe Cohen is with me now.

So Gabe, I think it would be helpful to just explain first what this technology is supposed to be able to do, and what the agency is saying is

the issue.

GABE COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so Rahel, this technology is supposed to be able to navigate local streets, be able to make turns, you know,

really help the driver navigate those roads, but it does require that a driver be in place at that time and be ready to go.

What this recall is essentially saying is that even with a driver in place, this software, this full self-driving technology, the software that is in

many of these vehicles, 363,000, it is dangerous even with that driver in place.

So I want to walk you through what this recall notice from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is saying is the danger here. It is

claiming that this self-driving technology, the software could allow the vehicle to act unsafe, these Tesla vehicles to act unsafe around the

intersections like traveling straight through an intersection from a turn only lane or entering a stop sign controlled intersection without coming to

a complete stop or proceeding into an intersection during a steady yellow traffic signal without due caution.

There were also concerns that it could respond insufficiently to changes in posted speed limits or it may not react properly if drivers start to go

above that posted speed limit.

So again, a lot of concerns outlined there.

This report makes clear that Tesla did not agree with NHITSA, the Federal agency's analysis here, but it did agree to do this recall of their

vehicles. The big question now is what will this free software update that Tesla is putting out actually do to fix the problem or at least, how much

of the problem will it fix.

Remember, this is coming just a few days after an attack ad during the Super Bowl from The Dawn Project that showed images, video of Tesla driving

through mannequins of children. This has been a technology under the microscope, that ad saying that Tesla's are using unsafe self-driving

software.

So the big news here this 363,000 Tesla's being recalled, but a lot of questions not necessarily answers at this point to how the company's

software update is going to fix the problem.

Tesla hasn't put out a formal response yet, but Elon Musk has been tweeting saying the word "recall" -- this is what he writes: "The word recall for an

over-the-air software update is anachronistic and just flat wrong."

So you can tell he does not want the word "recall" used for his vehicles, but that is what this Federal agency, NHITSA is saying and they want Tesla

drivers to be aware of it.

SOLOMON: Gabe Cohen, thank you.

To just add a bit more context here, I spoke to Wedbush analyst, Dan Ives. He is an analyst who covers the company very closely. When I asked him how

serious it was to him. He said, look, "I view it as a nonevent largely, the headline's bark is worse than its bite. It's an over-the-network software

update -- seamless. This continues to be an issue," however, ". that Tesla needs to fix on full self-driving."

Coming up, the head of the World Bank is stepping down. We will have David Malpass' exclusive interview with CNN, coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:17:00]

SOLOMON: Welcome back.

The outgoing head of the World Bank tells CNN he has no regrets about his leadership. David Malpass says that he will resign at the end of June to

pursue new challenges.

He was criticized in September, when he declined to link fossil fuels to climate change. Speaking earlier to CNN's Julia Chatterley, Malpass said

that the institution is in a strong position.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID MALPASS, OUTGOING WORLD BANK PRESIDENT: Far from regrets, it's been a great -- it's an amazing time. The people at the World Bank have been

great. I think the governance system works very well.

And so, we've achieved what many of the things I wanted to -- and you know, we have to recognize it's just been an intense four years. It will end up

being four and a quarter years, when, as I'm leaving, and that puts -- that just is time, I think it's really important that institutions have energy,

new energy, and that's it. This is a good time for the World Bank to do that.

So no regrets at all. In fact, I was very pleased that I talked with my Board of Directors yesterday, and they gave a long ovation. You know, we've

-- I thank them for all they've done.

Remember, during COVID, we set up this special system for a fast track approach to getting health aid to the countries, personal protective

equipment, and then big vaccination programs that were some of the most important for the world in actually getting vaccines into people's arms and

that was made possible by flexibility within the organization, plus the sizable resources we were able to get through IDA 19 and IDA 20.

You know, we've had two record replenishments in my tenure in 2019, and 2022, I guess, for IDA 20 and those have been not massively important for

the poorest. And then we're also working on the resources, the big new resources that we got in the capital increase of 2018 and the IFC capital

increase in 2020.

So the World Bank has these five institutions that I had each of each of them that are all hitting on all cylinders right now. So I'm proud of that

and it is a good time to make the transition.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: And the US typically picks the World Bank President, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says that Washington will put forward a candidate.

Oxfam and other groups say that that President is outdated.

US lawmakers meantime stepping up pressure on Federal agencies for answers on a toxic train derailment in Ohio. The crash happened almost two weeks

ago spilling potentially deadly chemicals in the town of East Palestine.

Crews burnt off the dangerous chemicals and residents have been told that it is safe to return home, but many residents are worried about the air and

the water.

At a community meeting on Wednesday, their anger and frustration spilling over. CNN's Jason Carroll was there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody is angry. We expect them to tell us a lot more on what we are dealing with right now.

CROWD: That's right.

[15:20:10]

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Frustration, anger, and unanswered questions in East Palestine, Ohio.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are my kids safe? Are the people safe? Is the future of this community safe?

CARROLL (voice over): The Mayor leading the meeting, at times speaking through a bullhorn to answer questions from distressed residents still

worried about returning to their homes, despite evacuation orders being lifted last week.

MAYOR TRENT CONAWAY, EAST PALESTINE, OHIO: The railroad did us wrong. So far, they've worked with us and they're fixing it. But if that stops, I

will guarantee you, I will be the first one in line to fight that.

[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]

CARROLL (voice over): Officials trying to answer the community's questions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You should know that it is determined by the Department of Transportation and other subject matter experts based on previous

incidents. Is everybody satisfied with my answer?

CROWD: No.

CARROLL (voice over): As many residents are demanding more testing of air, water, and soil.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are talking a lot of sort of testing until you're satisfied.

CROWD: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's why the tests are going to be solid.

CARROLL (voice over): Not present at this community meeting, Norfolk Southern Railroad.

CONAWAY: Now Norfolk Southern didn't show up. They didn't feel it safe.

CARROLL (voice over): In the 11th hour, the company that owns the train that derailed sent a statement saying, "Unfortunately, after consulting

with community leaders, we have become increasingly concerned about the growing physical threat to our employees."

KELLY FELGER, EAST PALESTINE, OHIO RESIDENT: Okay, well, if you're afraid that somebody from Palestine is going to hurt your employees, what exactly

did you do to us?

CARROLL (on camera): I can feel the anger and frustration.

FELGER: I am scared for my family. I'm scared from my town. I grew up here. I'm related to 50 percent of them.

CARROLL (voice over): Cleanup efforts are underway. The Governor telling residents Wednesday the municipal water is safe to drink. His statement

comes after new test results from the State Environmental Protection Agency found no detection of contaminants.

Officials say the toxic spill was largely contained the day after the derailment, and that tests have shown the air quality is safe. They are

still suggesting those with private wells, get their water tested.

CONAWAY: I need help and I'll do whatever it takes, whatever it takes to make this right.

CARROLL (on camera): In the meantime, the cleanup effort is well underway. The EPA says they'll be here as long as it takes. Residents here, not so

sure.

Jason Carroll, CNN, East Palestine, Ohio.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOLOMON: Coming up, the best way to tackle ocean pollution is to keep it out in the first place. One LA group is on a mission to fish out trash from

the city's waterways, before it can find its way into the Pacific.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SOLOMON: Welcome back.

Disgraced crypto executive -- actually, we'll get to that story in just a moment. But first, trash and pollution is dulling the beauty of the Los

Angeles coastline. One group is on a mission to clean it up.

On this week's Call to Earth, it is a movement that not only benefits the environment, but the economy as well.

[15:25:06]

QUEST (voice over): The beautiful beaches of Los Angeles are known around the world from their cameos on the silver screen.

In real life, Hollywood's home base is far from picture perfect. The city faces a major villain -- trash, garbage, rubbish. And the problem is, it is

getting worse.

BOYAN SLAT, FOUNDER AND CEO, THE OCEAN CLEANUP: Even though the waste management is pretty good in the United States, not a lot of waste is

ending up in the environment.

If you have 10 million people living here, even just a small fraction of waste not being managed, is -- adds up to quite a significant amount of

trash coming down this river.

QUEST (voice over): Now the city is turning to a new hero to defend its rivers, the Interceptor 007. It's all part of an organization called The

Ocean Cleanup.

This machine traps the garbage, which originates in places like Beverly Hills and Hollywood.

STEVEN FRASHER, PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER, LOS ANGELES COUNTY PUBLIC WORKS: The Interceptor is an opportunity to have a last line of defense on

this urban waterway. We try all kinds of measures from public education to trash booms further up the creek, but nothing can be quite as effective as

right here next to the ocean.

And these beaches on Santa Monica Bay are some of the most famous beaches in America. So we really want to keep these clean for public health, for

tourism, for wildlife. We have volunteers that go to extraordinary efforts to do their part in cleaning up.

QUEST (voice over): The group already has Interceptors in places like Malaysia and Vietnam, each one takes half a million dollars to build and

deploy.

SLAT: What we do see is that just the cost of not intercepting plastic in a river is many, many times higher than if you were to intercept it, because

it is damaging ecosystems, it is damaging tourism, it is damaging fisheries. So it is just very expensive to let this trash go into the

ocean.

So we are confident that ultimately, governments will step up and will want to adopt these Interceptors.

QUEST (voice over): LA's environmental challenges are mounting massive highways and traffic, it fuels some of the worst air pollution in the

country. And now climate change, bringing severe wildfires and droughts. So cleaning up LA's waterways is an important step in tackling the city's

problems.

SLAT: Oceans are vital for life on our planet. Hundreds of species are threatened with extinction because of this plastic going into the ocean.

Billions of people rely on seafood for their survival and we're poisoning that because this plastic is flowing into the ocean.

So stopping it here, cleaning up what's already in the ocean. That's what The Ocean Cleanup is about and that's what we need to do.

QUEST (voice over): An army of Ais the group's long-term aim. They are hoping to deploy in a thousand rivers around the world. Not like the robot

armies of the big screen, this one is fighting for a cleaner future.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOLOMON: And let us know what you're doing to answer the call with the hashtag #CallToEarth.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:30:00]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

SOLOMON: Welcome back.

More than 42,000 people are now confirmed dead after the earthquake that struck Turkiye and Syria today. Authorities have examined more than half a

million buildings in Turkiye, finding more than 56,000 have either totally collapsed or are badly damaged or need to be demolished.

In Turkiye, 54 people have been arrested in connection with buildings destroyed. CNN's Sara Sidner has more on the rescue teams working amid the

wreckage.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA SIDNER, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Rescue teams from around the world attack the piles of crushed buildings, sometimes with brute

force. And other times as carefully as possible. It's a delicate balance trying to save any possible life underneath or at the very least, keep

bodies intact.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's going to take thousands of rescuers here, not just the United States but it's going to take a collaborative effort of all the

rescue teams here.

SIDNER: People are actually just hoping to find anybody even if they're dead so that they can bury them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And that's very important, too.

SIDNER: The teams do this as bereaved families look on watching their every move.

"I swear I have lost my days and nights," he says, in tears. "Our sorrow is great."

While he waits, he prays for the four members of his extended family to emerge and remembers the terror of waking up to the sway of his own

building. Her building was bending like this but unlike this one, his building did not break apart.

Yes. Los Angeles County civil engineers are on the site with USAID to help the Turkish government sort out which buildings have light damage, major

damage or which need to be demolished.

KAITLIN HANNON, LOS ANGELES COUNTY CIVIL ENGINEER: I think it would be OK to live here.

SIDNER: You would?

HANNON: Yes. I think, you know, from this viewpoint, the main concern is actually the building next to it falling on top of it.

SIDNER: We are there when the owner of an apartment building approaches asking whether it's safe for her to live here again. And Engineer Hannon

goes with her inside.

While the homeowner decided she was too afraid to stay in her building, despite Hannon saying it was assessed as being safe, others Hannon has met

are relieved to hear an assessment like that.

HANNON: A lot of them that we've gone in are actually doing well. And once we tell those people that, they'll start crying, give us hugs and it's

heartbreaking. But to be able to tell someone your house is safe and it kept you safe during this, you know, it's something we can help with,

something small we can do.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Over 6,000 structures we put eyes on, just to assess at a very quick glance.

SIDNER: The findings of civil engineers are then put into a grid created by Los Angeles County Fire.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So we can see where rescue is needed.

SIDNER: It's a guide for the Turkish government to see the status of thousands of buildings affected by the quake.

Still, nine days on miraculous rescues are rare but happening.

In Adiyaman, a man is left speechless in grief while he awaits any signs of life. Five of his family members are buried in this rubble.

A few hours later, an 18-year old is pulled alive from this pile of death, once again, spurring hope in those waiting for more people to be pulled to

safety.

[15:35:00]

(voice-over): Even in the disaster zone, children find a way to soothe themselves, despite the grief that continues to weigh heavy on everyone

here -- Sara Sidner, CNN, Adiyaman, Turkiye.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOLOMON: The earthquake could shave a full percentage point off Turkiye's GDP growth this year. That's according to the European Bank for

Reconstruction and Development. Also warning of political instability with an election scheduled for mid year.

The bank manages a $7 billion investment portfolio in Turkiye, is also collecting donations to help rescue teams and community organizations in

impacted areas. Arvid Tuerkner is the managing director for Turkiye at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and he joins me now from

Istanbul.

Welcome to the program.

ARVID TUERKNER, MANAGING DIRECTOR FOR TURKIYE, EUROPEAN BANK FOR RECONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT: Good afternoon, Rahel.

SOLOMON: So 1 percent, that's a pretty significant hit. Help me understand how you got to that figure.

TUERKNER: Well, I must say that, currently, all this is very preliminary. We are still assessing the scale of the disaster, which has truly been

massive, certainly, from a human point of view but also the destruction of assets.

From what we know right now, the main destruction has been with residential housing and a lot of small and medium sized businesses. The next in line is

municipal infrastructure, water, wastewater, pipes, electricity distribution.

And of course, also the airports, roads, the bridges have been damaged. Perhaps less so the productive assets, like industry. Here, we have only

very anecdotal evidence. But it seems like the destruction here has not been as massive as the residents'.

SOLOMON: I see, so the residential impact here part of the reason of how you got to that figure.

At what point does Turkiye start to benefit in terms of GDP from the rebuilding, the reconstruction?

Because as you point out in a recent report, this did happen earlier in the year.

At what point does that counteract some of the negative impacts of the earthquake?

TUERKNER: Exactly. Without having a full damage assessment, all of this is preliminary, as I said. But now, it happened early in the year. The region

is responsible for, let's say, 9 percent of GDP. So this is massive. And we do expect some interruptions. As reconstruction kicks in, it might well

balance out the loss of GDP on an aggregate level.

SOLOMON: When you look for comparisons to even try to build these models, try to build an estimate, what's the closest comparison to what we are

seeing right now?

TUERKNER: Naturally, we looked at the earthquake which happened in 1999 close to Istanbul. It was in a comparable strength, slightly less and it

happened in a very different region. The (INAUDIBLE) is the core of the industrial production heart of Turkiye here and with less population but

more and more industry.

And it happened in summer. So the reconstruction only came the year after. So we did some comparisons in terms of assets destroyed, productive assets,

residents. And it's a very rough estimate. We might think up to 1 percent of the GDP might suffer this year.

SOLOMON: Before I let you go, we know one of the main initiatives for the EBRD already had been the green initiative, transitioning.

When you think about the rebuild in Turkiye, do you believe you can rebuild with that in mind?

Or does the priority simply become reconstruction?

Or can you rebuild in a greener fashion?

TUERKNER: Well, every rebuilding is supposed to be better than what you had before, better and newer and more timely in standards. Our green agenda

is on top of (INAUDIBLE) agenda as well.

In that sense, especially in the southeast (ph) of Turkiye, there is a lot of renewable energy being produced. That will certainly (INAUDIBLE) new

building standards -- not only seismic, earthquake proof but also greener buildings, as in this case mandatory, to reduce Turkiye's footprint.

So all of that will play a role in the rebuild. And at the same time, we hare to do it quickly because people are currently sheltering in inadequate

conditions very often and they need their homes back very fast.

SOLOMON: Time is of the essence. Arvid Tuerkner, wonderful to have you on the program today. Thank you.

Back here in the U.S., a U.S. judge is giving disgraced crypto executive Sam Bankman-Fried time to address concerns about his internet use.

TUERKNER:

SOLOMON: Prosecutors say that SBF has been using a virtual private network or VPN, to get around his bail conditions.

Two weeks ago, he was barred from talking to many former or current FTX employees. That came after prosecutors said he had contacted a former

employee, who was also a potential government witness. Kara Scannell just left the hearing. She joins me now.

The issue with VPNs is it makes it harder for the government to track what SBF is doing. As I understand it, you literally just left the courtroom a

couple minutes ago.

What's the latest?

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Rahel. The biggest issue here is the judge wanting to make sure that Sam Bankman-Fried is not improperly

contacting any former employees or he's not using the internet in a way that the government cannot track.

That is the reason why he called everyone back to court today, just one week after they were here. The judge at the hearing today said he would

give Bankman-Fried's attorneys more time to ease his concerns but he did say very clearly another option on the table is remand, putting Bankman-

Fried in detention until his trial, set for later this year.

The bigger issue, as you noted, Bankman-Fried had contacted former employees and used the VPN. Prosecutors came back to the judge saying, we

have this broad restriction idea.

We limit him to one cell phone, one laptop, have monitoring on those. And then only allow him to communicate on the cell phone using a voice

communication and SMS text and also Zoom to communicate with attorneys.

There is a concern the government acknowledges, he needs access to materials to prepare his own defense. And all these materials are on a

cloud. So prosecutors saying they are trying to work with that.

As the judge said, he lives with his parents. His parents are Stanford law professors. They have laptops, they have wi-fi. They have cell phones.

How could you be so sure that Bankman-Fried is not going to use any of those devices to get around, to potentially commit crimes while out on

bail?

Prosecutors said, there is not a great solution to that. The judge said there is but no one is talking about it. That was the reference to

potentially remanding Bankman-Fried.

So he told SBF's attorneys they can have until Tuesday of next week to come back with them about this idea the judge proposed, having a security expert

that would work only for him, that would help him try to negotiate and tailor this world of internet and cryptocurrency and understand all the

needs Bankman-Fried would need and have to access the internet to prepare his defense.

But also limited so he couldn't commit any crimes while out on bail. The judge really striking a harsh tone, saying right now there's probable cause

to believe that SBF attempted to or engaged in witness tampering.

That alone, he suggested, was enough that could force them to have a hearing for remand. But he was not going there as far as today, giving them

until next week to come back with this security expert idea.

Also proposed other ways they could try to ensure that Bankman-Fried will not commit any crimes or potentially tamper with any witnesses or evidence

while out on bail. Rahel.

SOLOMON: Good to have, you thank you.

That is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS. I will be back at the top of the hour as we make a dash for the closing bell. Up next, "CONNECTING AFRICA."

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

("CONNECTING AFRICA")

[15:59:34]

SOLOMON: Welcome back. I'm Rahel Solomon and it is the dash to the closing bell and we're just about a minute away.

Gas producer prices rose more than expected, the numbers supporting what the Fed has already said, that there is work to do on inflation. The Dow is

now off 440 points, 1.34 percent, falling sharply in the past hour.

Other U.S. averages are down more than 1 percent as well. The Dow components, Cisco and Home Depot are the only components in the green;

Cisco is up about 5 percent, Home Depot barely holding on to gains.

END