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Quest Means Business
Xi, Blinken Meet, Agree To Try To Stabilize Relations; Italy Curbs China's Influence At Pirelli; Intense Firefight As Israeli Forces Raid Jenin; U.K. Lawmakers Debate Partygate Report; Search Underway For Titanic Expedition Vessel. Aired 3-4p ET
Aired June 19, 2023 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[15:00:27]
ZAIN ASHER, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: Losses across Europe today. Stocks closed roughly one percent lower in Paris and Frankfurt. US markets are
closed for the Juneteenth holiday. Those the markets and these are the main events: The potential thaw in frosty US-China relations.
Italy points to national security and limits Chinese control over tire maker, Pirelli.
And a search mission is underway for a missing submarine that host tours for the wreck of the Titanic.
Coming to you live from New York, it is Monday, June 19th. I'm Zain Asher, in for my colleague, Richard Quest and this is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.
Good evening.
Tonight, China and the United States have agreed to try to stabilize ties in a bid to stop their growing rivalry veering into conflict. The rare
meeting of America's top diplomat, Antony Blinken and Chinese leader, Xi Jinping in Beijing did not however, lead to any many rather breakthroughs.
The two powers still have no direct military communication and Beijing has rejected Washington's de-risking policy towards China. Still, the US
secretary of State praised the progress made.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTONY BLINKEN, US SECRETARY OF STATE: In terms of those objectives that we set for this trip, establishing open communications channels, directly
raising issues of concern, exploring cooperation in places where it is in our mutual interest to do so, we did all of that on this trip, but
progress is hard.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: There is a huge amount at stake for both the US and China in terms of reducing military tensions and economically as well for China.
There are signs that its economy is slowing. Exports fell seven-and-a-half percent in May compared to a year earlier.
Retail sales and manufacturing output came in below expectations as well. The property market is still struggling after last year's slump.
Last week, Beijing cut rates and more stimulus is expected and it is in growing competition with the United States over semiconductors and the
supply of critical minerals.
Let's bring in Kevin Liptak in Washington and Ivan Watson in Hong Kong.
Ivan, let me start with you.
One of the most important things especially going into this meeting was really to try to develop open lines of communication between both US and
China especially, especially during times of military crisis. Just walk us through what was discussed from that perspective.
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right, and this was Antony Blinken's number one stated goal was to re-establish government to
government communications and there, he has succeeded.
The Chinese Foreign minister accepted his invitation to come to Washington sometime in the future. There are further agreements to kind of set up
working groups on kind of low hanging fruit issues like student-to-student exchanges, business exchanges, academic exchanges, and resuming a senior
level dialogue, so it worked there.
He succeeded in having meetings with the Chinese leadership at the very highest level, Xi Jinping himself, who talked about the need to stabilize
this deteriorating relationship. And that word, "stabilize" was echoed by Blinken himself.
When it does come to military-to-military relations, well, that's where the meeting fell short. Blinken said the Chinese have not agreed to move
forward on that, and a senior Chinese diplomat has responded saying the US knows what to do to fix that.
The US currently has sanctions on China's Defense minister, Li Shangfu and the Chinese are arguing that's why these two militaries cannot talk face-
to-face right now.
ASHER: And Kevin, let me bring you in.
So no major breakthroughs, but just explain to us whether or not or rather how much the fact that you had Antony Blinken meeting with Xi, how much is
that a precursor to a possible meeting between Biden and Xi later on this year?
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, certainly President Biden just said over the weekend that he hoped to be meeting with Xi sometime in
the coming months, certainly nothing on the schedule at this point, but they do hope to have some precursor meetings in the next several months or
so after Blinken arrives back from the United States.
[15:05:03]
Secretaries like the Treasury secretary, like the Commerce secretary who have all said that they do want to visit China to resume these top level
conversations, there are some various points over the coming months when President Xi and President Biden may be in the same summit potentially at
the G-20 in India, potentially even when President Biden hosts the APEC Summit in San Francisco in November. That would be sort of a significant
moment if President Xi were to travel to the United States to attend that, but that is all to be seen.
This meeting between Secretary Blinken and President Xi was certainly the start of what American officials hope is a resumption of more regular
contact between the two countries.
Before this meeting, White House officials, State Department officials all said that they didn't necessarily have high expectations for any concrete
deliverables to come out of this trip, but they did hope for both sides to sort of recognize the importance of a stable relationship to sort of pull
up what had been really a deteriorating relationship over the last several months.
And on that front, they did seem to succeed. Both sides, recognizing the importance of having these stable ties. But as Ivan said, these military-
to-military communications that was Secretary Blinken's top priority heading into these talks, those have not resumed and do not appear to be
resuming anytime soon.
So it will remain to be seen whether this can continue going forward. Certainly, the hope here in Washington is that it will be able to -- Zain.
ASHER: And Ivan, just quickly. I mean, just in terms of the optics here. Obviously, the meeting that took place between Blinken and Xi Jinping was
not necessarily on the cards going in, but the fact that that meeting between these two men actually did end up taking place, what should we be
reading into that?
BLINKEN: Well, we have an acknowledgement, despite the fact that the two governments have been trading barbs and bashing each other publicly for
some time now, despite the huge amount of mistrust, I think there is also an acknowledgement that they need each other.
These are huge, huge trading partners, and they quite literally can't afford right now to not deal with each other at some level even though
there is a tremendous amount of mistrust.
The bounce back of the Chinese economy after it did away with its Zero- COVID Policy that's only about six months ago, that it was isolating itself from the rest of the world, it has not bounced as much back as it would
like. It has record high youth unemployment right now, it needs business.
And Beijing has been watching the Biden administration engage in just real diplomatic progress, strengthening military and political ties with all
sorts of countries here in Asia, from South Korea, to Japan to the Philippines, Australia, and on and on, but also watching the ties grow
between the US and Europe over the Ukraine war and feeling perhaps somewhat left out and isolated to some degree.
China's premier is in Germany right now on a trip there trying to play nice over there. So China has illustrated that despite the fact that not long
ago, it was talking about wanting to rewrite the international order with its close friend, Vladimir Putin, it does seem to need the US to some
degree and is acknowledging that even though there are still huge levels of mistrust in this bilateral relationship.
ASHER: All right, Ivan Watson, live for us there; Kevin Liptak, thank you both so much.
Europe is increasingly following the United States in protecting its semiconductor technology from China. The Italian government has placed a
raft of restrictions on Pirelli's biggest shareholder, the Chinese company, Sinochem.
The move is aimed at blocking Beijing's access to chip technology owned by the tire company. It follows similar interventions by Germany, the UK, and
the Netherlands.
Anna Stewart joining us live now with more on this from London.
So Anna, just walk us through a bit more about how Italy is limiting China's control over Pirelli.
ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER: Well, this has been an interesting twist-and- turn-y kind of story, to be honest, Zain.
So, this was initially a stake from a Chinese company called ChemChina, that was then swallowed up by the state-owned company, Sinochem. So quite
quickly, Pirelli's big major shareholder became very much linked to the Chinese state and there was a move to try and allow that major stakeholder
to have more control in terms of strategy and leadership.
And this was the issue that Pirelli's board raised with the Italian government and they've now flexed their political muscle really calling
upon their golden power rules, which essentially is a way for a government to intervene in an M&A or a takeover deal and say actually, we're going to
protect this company's assets because they're of some sort of national strategic importance, and in this case, the Italian government according to
their statements say they are interested here in Pirelli's cyber tire, which uses chip technology to collect vehicle data.
[15:10:10]
So, bear with me, I would say on that level, we are looking at a similar story as ASML and some other European chipmakers and IP protection really
from China.
But in addition to this, Pirelli is one of the crown jewels of Italy. It's one of the oldest best known industrial companies. It is over 150 years
old. It's been within the Pirelli family since it was founded. It is currently run by the Pirelli founder's son-in-law. So, there is a sense of
national pride as well.
And on top of that, this new Italian government, you can see there would be some political pull here for taking a sort of strong stance against China,
particularly in protecting such a crown jewel.
So, there is more perhaps, to this story to some of the other chip companies we've been talking about recently.
ASHER: It will likely continue to sort of inflame tensions between Europe and Beijing. Anna Stewart live for us there, thank you so much.
All right, last week, key parts of the global economy appeared to slip out of sync as the world's three biggest economic bloc's went their separate
ways on rates. The US paused interest rate hikes, the EU raised and China cut.
The latest outlook from the Organization for Economic Cooperation Development says headline inflation in the OECD will continue to fall this
year and will cool to 4.3 percent in 2024.
OECD secretary-general, Mathias Cormann told Julia Chatterley earlier, central bankers are heading into a crucial period.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATHIAS CORMANN, OECD SECRETARY-GENERAL: Certainly, the US Federal Reserve went very hard earlier and for some time, and indeed, I mean, you know,
obviously, as you go forward, you need to give yourself the time to properly assess as the risks of doing too much or too little become more
equally balanced.
You know, it's important to really focus very carefully on the data that's coming through. I mean, in Europe, you know, we see that there is some more
tightening that is likely to be required.
But again, of course, you know, these decisions will be informed by the data as it comes through.
You know, in relation to China, you know, obviously, they are assessing the data that they're looking at as they are making their decisions.
I mean, no two economies are entirely in the same stage. And, of course, you know, relevant decisions have got to be made based on the relevant data
in relevant economies.
JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR, "FIRST MOVE": Part of the debate that's being had in the United States is whether the targets for
inflation, even bear relation to the world we're in today with the energy transition that you've mentioned, that's taking place, particularly in
places like Europe.
But if we talk specifically about the United States, the shift in supply chains, changes in globalization, do you worry that Central Banks in
particular are pushing towards inflation targets that aren't really relevant for today's economies, and the danger is perhaps they go too far?
CORMANN: Well, inflation targets have served us well and inflation targets are important. I mean, you are right. There are different factors for
driving inflation.
But I mean, what we see is that the supply chain pressures in the context - - in the aftermath of the pandemic, in the context of the war of Ukraine, I mean, supply chain pressures have actually eased and it is very important
to get inflation durably under control and to ensure that inflation expectations are well anchored.
I mean, in the end, it's the lowest income people in economies around the world that get hit the hardest and get hurt the most when inflation gets
out of control.
And so in terms of stability and the capacity to sustainably grow the economy moving forward and offer the best possible opportunity for people
to get ahead, having a stable inflationary environment is a very important ingredient.
So, you know, I would certainly caution against any suggestion that, you know, the inflation targeting approach by central banks is no longer
required. It's a very central and important feature of our economic stability and will be so into the future.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: It's Juneteenth in the US, a holiday that marks the emancipation from slavery.
Victor Blackwell gives an emotional, very powerful report as he traces his own ancestry back through slavery.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:17:03]
ASHER: An Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank erupted into an 11-hour gun battle.
[VIDEO CLIP PLAYS]
ASHER: Leaving five Palestinians including by the way, a 15-year-old boy dead, that's according to Palestinian officials. They say dozens more were
injured in the city of Jenin.
Meantime, Israel says eight of its troops were wounded. It deployed military helicopters to help evacuate soldiers from the ground as they came
under fierce gunfire.
Israel's defense forces says it was an attempt to arrest terror suspects.
Hadas Gold is with us live now from Jerusalem. So, Hadas just walk us through more on what the IDF has said about the suspects that they were
after during that raid.
HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so the IDF said that they were after two wanted suspects and they did manage to arrest, as part of this early
morning raid, that turned into something really much bigger than I think anyone really anticipated ended up lasting 11 hours and it ended up showing
and sort of reviewing the use of tactics and weaponry from both the militants and the Israeli military that we have not really seen, especially
in the last two years as we've seen this increasing level of violence in the occupied West Bank specifically and especially in Jenin, which has
really become both a militant hotspot and a site of very regular Israeli military raids.
One of the things we saw today was the militants use of a roadside IED, an explosive that went off as these Israeli military armored vehicles were
driving through the parts of the city. We even see some rather dramatic video of the moment of at least one of these explosions.
Now, according to the Israeli military, this very powerful IED managed to destroy quite a bit of the underside of a Panther Command vehicle. And we
know of the eight Israeli injuries at least some of them were in that vehicle that was hit and something like five other Israeli armored vehicles
were rendered inoperable as a result of the intensity of the firefight.
The Israeli military saying they came under very intense gunfire, an explosive fire during this raid and that actually at some point, Israeli
soldiers were waiting hours to be extracted from the city, that's why this whole thing lasted something like 11 hours.
Now, while the Israeli military was trying to extract soldiers, that is when they used something else that we have not seen the Israeli military
use since the early 2000s, since the days of the Second Intifada, and that's the use of an Apache army helicopter that provided gunfire coverage
while they were trying to extract soldiers.
Now, the Israeli military is saying that they fire towards open areas and we have not yet heard of injuries directly related to this helicopter
firing, but the use of an Apache helicopter over a very dense urban area like Jenin, again this is not something the likes of which that this region
has seen since those very heady days of the Second Intifada.
[15:20:05]
Now five Palestinians were killed, more than 90 were injured. Of the five killed, three of them have been claimed by Islamic Jihad as their militant
fighters. But among the dead, as you noted, are a 15-year-old boy, and among the injured is also actually a Palestinian freelancer photojournalist
who was injured while he was covering the raid as it happened -- Zain.
ASHER: Hadas Gold live for us there, thank you.
United Nations chief, Antonio Guterres says he is concerned by the ethnic dimension to the ongoing violence in Sudan.
He said the targeted attacks in West Darfur could amount to crimes against humanity.
The UN secretary-general was speaking at an event to raise funds for the country. Two million people have fled the region since fighting began two
months ago.
Today, the UN pledged extra $22 million to help them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTONIO GUTERRES, SECRETARY-GENERAL, UNITED NATIONS: The people of Sudan and those of neighboring countries are shouldering the burden of this
terrible crisis. We must do everything we can to support them.
It's not only our duty as members of the international community, it is crucial to preventing the situation from deteriorating even further.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: Many have fled to neighboring South Sudan, a country already stretched for resources.
CNN's Nima Elbagir visited one of the refugee camps where people are living in dire conditions lacking even the most basic facilities.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is Africa's largest refugee crisis. And you can see the conditions here for yourself.
The people here are being largely ignored by the world. Aid agencies are doing what they can, but it is simply not enough.
South Sudan is one of the poorest countries in the world. They barely have enough to feed and shelter their own returnees. And they are also now being
asked now to absurd fleeing Sudanese and other foreign nationals with limited support from the outside world and it is almost impossible.
With rainy season starting, what you see here, it's only going to get worse. So many of those speaking to us say that they feel a sense of
humiliation, that the message that they're receiving from the world, from the international community, is that they are not worthy of support.
And until aid arrives here in meaningful quantities, it's hard to argue with that.
Nima Elbagir, CNN, Renk, South Sudan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: Americans are marking a national holiday today, Juneteenth.
Back in 1865, June 19th was the day that the Emancipation came to enslaved African-Americans in the US state of Texas. It has long been an important
day in the country's history. It only recently became a federal holiday just two years ago.
A historic slave trading port in South Carolina is about to become a museum and a research center. It offers resources that will allow people to trace
their ancestry and CNN's Victor Blackwell followed his lineage back to slavery and what he found, brought him to tears.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR (voice over): Very few moments in my career have ever brought me to this.
BLACKWELL (on camera): This is -- oh, man.
BLACKWELL (voice over): It happened at the International African-American Museum in Charleston, South Carolina, which opens this month.
Six centuries of history packed into 150,000 square feet at the historic Gadsden Wharf.
DR. TONYA MATTHEWS, PRESIDENT AND CEO, INTERNATIONAL AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSEUM: Above 40 percent of all enslaved Africans would have come in
through Gadsden Wharf. We've been referred to as the ground zero of importation of enslaved people into the United States.
BLACKWELL (voice over): Dr. Tonya Matthews is the museum's president and CEO.
BLACKWELL (on camera): Space of solemnity or celebration?
MATTHEWS: Yes. I refuse to choose.
BLACKWELL (voice over): Tribal art and contemporary fashion, relics of protest and reports of resistance.
MATTHEWS: It's this infusion of trauma and joy, constantly, that we like to talk about here. You get the full story, but you're going to get all the
context in it.
BLACKWELL (voice over): What arguably is the best illustration of full context is the museum's Center for Family History. It's a team of
researchers with access to millions of records that can trace African- American lineage sometimes back to a slave ship that came into this very port.
The expert genealogist here spent months tracing my lineage. And this was the day of the long-awaited reveal.
DR. SHELLEY MURPHY, HEAD GENEALOGIST, INTERNATIONAL AFRICAN-AMERICAN MUSEUM: Make sure you've got a box of Kleenex by you and sit there and
enjoy.
BLACKWELL (voice over): That's the museum's top genealogist, Dr. Shelley Murphy, on the laptop. She's joining us from the University of Virginia.
MURPHY: This is a tree, just a snapshot of your tree. And I'm following your maternal line.
BLACKWELL (on camera): Wow, that's a lot to see in a tree.
BLACKWELL (voice over): You see that box?
[15:25:10]
Well, that represents David Veney, my great grandfather's great grandfather. He lived in coastal Richmond County, Virginia, on a farm with
his wife, Judy, and their 18 children. And in 1871, he filed this claim to be reimbursed for livestock and supplies requisitioned by union troops
during the Civil War.
MURPHY: Another thing that is significant is that he owned the land that he's on and it was 23 acres.
BLACKWELL (on camera): Where did a man --
MURPHY: Yes.
BLACKWELL: In the 1870s, so soon after the end of slavery, get the money to buy 23 acres?
MURPHY: Absolutely. And -- and the thing of it is, I would even question, he said he was freeborn.
BLACKWELL (voice over): Well, for some answers, we have to go back more than 300 years to my great-great-great-great-great-great-great- great-
great-great-grandmother, Mary.
She arrived on a ship in Northumberland County, Virginia in 1712, before America was America. Her granddaughter, my eight-times great grandmother,
Bess, was with her. That's according to this centuries-old deposition that Dr. Murphy's team uncovered. Why a deposition? We'll learn that a little
later.
MURPHY: And Bess, at the time, was about 13 years old. Witnesses apparently said they looked like they were Indians.
BLACKWELL (voice over): Researchers believe that Mary and Bess were actually Mattaponi, like these people of that region of Virginia called the
northern neck.
MURPHY: We're not sure where they came from, but Thomas Smith of Richmond County did enslave one of Bess' children, and that was Sarah.
BLACKWELL (voice over): And it's Sarah, my seven-times great grandmother, who changes the trajectory of her children and all her descendants who
followed.
MURPHY: There was a law back in 1705 that declared that all children that are enslaved or free, their condition would be based on whatever their
mother was.
BLACKWELL (voice over): Remember, Sarah and Bess arrived free people.
MURPHY: So, Sarah has a lawsuit that's filed saying, we're free.
BLACKWELL (voice over): This is the actual lawsuit filed by Sarah, suing for her freedom and for the freedom of her descendants. And that
deposition, it was from a witness who saw Mary and Bess arrive decades earlier.
MURPHY: So, in 1791, the court agreed with Sarah and her children and grandchildren and all of those relatives who were descendants of Mary and
Bess are going to be free.
BLACKWELL (on camera): That my ancestors filed and sued for their freedom, it is remarkable.
MURPHY: We're not done.
BLACKWELL: We're not done. We're not done. Okay. We're not done. Let me get a -- let me get a Kleenex, Doctor Murphy.
MURPHY: I -- I told you, have a box there.
BLACKWELL: All right.
BLACKWELL (voice over): But not all of Sarah's family was free.
Before the court's decision, Sarah's enslavers illegally sold her daughter, Rachael (ph), and then Rachael was sold again. And for the next 20 years,
unaware of the court's ruling, Rachael and her children remained in bondage.
When she learned of the decision in 1807, more than a quarter century after her mother's groundbreaking lawsuit for freedom, Rachael filed this lawsuit
against her enslaver, claiming that she was the daughter of a free woman and therefore she and her children should also be free.
MURPHY: And, guess what? The witnesses and things all came through and they were awarded their freedom.
So, what do you think?
BLACKWELL (on camera): Man. This is -- oh, man. To be an enslaved woman suing your slave master, to do it twice in one bloodline is just
remarkable.
MURPHY: In Virginia.
Your line started out enslaved and became free to up until where you're at right now.
BLACKWELL: It became free because those women fought for it.
MURPHY: A few women.
I'm going to tell you what, Victor, the women in your family is unbelievable.
BLACKWELL: It fills in a lot of gray, a lot of blank space. There was nothing there. There was an assumption. Now there are names, relatives, and
places and stories. It certainly fills in more of the story of my family's place in this country.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: I've watched that piece a few times today and it moves me every time.
Victor Blackwell reporting there.
All right, still to come here, it is the report that former British prime minister, Boris Johnson quit Parliament over. Now, lawmakers have their say
on how he deliberately misled them over parties held during the coronavirus lockdown. That story, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:30:21]
ASHER: Right now, U.K. lawmakers are having their say on a controversial report that caused former Prime Minister Boris Johnson to resign from
Parliament. It found he deliberately misled Parliament overruled ranking parties held at the heart of government during the COVID-19 lockdowns. The
debate over whether to accept the report comes as new video emerges showing Johnson's aides dancing and drinking at a Christmas party in 2020.
That location, the Conservative Party headquarters. Nada Bashir joining us live now from London. So, if majority of lawmakers end up endorsing this
report, neither what does that mean for Boris Johnson's legacy?
NADA BASHIR, CNN INTERNATIONAL REPORTER: Well, it certainly have an impact on his legacy. He obviously had very low popularity ratings leaving office
but of course Boris Johnson has now stepped down from his post as a member of Parliament. So the penalties aren't as harsh as one would anticipate
(INAUDIBLE) so a member of Parliament may see of course, a suspension of about 90 days.
And that could in turn trigger a by-election but of course, Boris Johnson perhaps anticipating the outcome of this report and the backlash that would
follow has stood down from his pose. Now of course M.P.s are debating at this stage whether or not to not only endorse this report, but whether to
in turn revoke Boris Johnson's membership access to the Palace of Westminster. Now, Boris Johnson has responded to the report itself. He has
called it a charade.
He has also criticized the committee he is accused him of twisting the truth into order to serve their own purposes.
[15:35:01]
But the backlash from other members of parliament has been fierce to say the least and of course as you mentioned there the release of that video
depicting a party taking place in December 2020 during the -- during the time when the country was facing strict lockdown regulations as is
obviously really sparked anger amongst many across the country, particularly those of course who were separated from loved ones during that
time.
Now, at this stage the Metropolitan Police has even responded. They are assessing this video and other element of evidence that have been provided
with regards to these Partygate gatherings which took place during those lockdown restrictions. But this has only really heightened the anger being
directed not only towards Boris Johnson but also of course to the government's has had a huge impact on the amount of trust in the
Conservative Party on Rishi Sunak's government.
And we have heard that criticism today in the House of Commons as M.P.s continue to debate. This report a vote is of course expected later this
evening. Zain?
ASHER: All right. Nada Bashir live for us there. Thank you so much. The U.S. is wrapping up another busy weekend of summer travel and people are
shutting out to get away. A new survey shows a third of travelers say they'll spend more this season. They didn't back in 2022. Some costs have
been pushed up by increased demand and high global inflation. Other costs have been baked in for years, especially for international travel.
The FinTech company Caxton estimates that Brits will spend about $77 million in ATM and bank charges this summer alone. Alana Parsons is a COO
of Caxton. She joins us live now from London. Lana, thank you so much for being with us. So obviously, people want to avoid bank fees. Explain to us
how Caxton's prepaid cards stuck up against, you know, just using your normal credit or debit card when you travel overseas, especially when you
think about obviously, it eliminates bank fees.
But there are other hidden costs with Caxton cards too. For example, if you don't use the card for a period of time, there are certain dormant fees.
Just walk us through how bank cards and Caxton cards stuck out from that perspective.
ALANA PARSONS, CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER: Sure, absolutely. Some of the benefits in terms of the way that you can use the Caxton card. And now it's
quite a pertinent time, if I'm honest, because we're seeing nine-month than 14-month highs on the euro and the dollar. And the Caxton card actually
enables you to take advantage of those rates and preload now. Regardless of how far in the future your holiday is.
And meaning that you'll be able to save even more on the exchange rate rather than doing what most people do and leaving it to the very last
minute. And one of the things that the survey really hit home with was looking at what banks but in particular charge you just for accessing your
funds abroad, particularly when utilizing ATM machines. And we found it really surprising, especially in the current economic world that we're
living in, with price -- food prices rising. Just the general cost of living.
And more now than ever, people are really wanting to understand where every penny is going. And ATMs abroad have increased significantly over the last
five to seven years. And there are two types of fees that people need to look out for. And one is the actual fee that the ATM owner charges. Now
that's normally a standard fixed fee, and one that's almost unavoidable now, but the one that people really do need to keep an eye out for them and
where they can particularly save with the Caxton card and where we've been true for the last 20 years to what we stood by is not charging anything
conditional.
And our research from looking at what the banks were charging is they're typically charging an additional 3.59 percent on top of what the ATM owner
is. So those fees can quickly stack up over the course of a holiday.
ASHER: And so just in terms of your advice for travelers, when it comes to, you know, when you have a prepaid card, for example, when travelers are
asked whether they want to pay in their local currency, for example, or in their own currency, it's much better to go local. Just explain why.
PARSONS: Absolutely. So, with the Caxton card, as we mentioned, you'd be able to preload in a number of different currencies. I mean, we offer up to
15. So take the example that you've already loaded euros onto your card. When you go to a retailer or a restaurant, let's say in France, they'll
often ask you whether you want to pay in the same currency or whether you want to have a conversion at that point.
Now, we always say make sure you pay local. If not, you'll be subject to additional fees that conducted by the payment provider at that end. So it
just means if you've already bought your currency, don't fall foul of having it converted again because you've already done that bit.
ASHER: All right. Alana, thank you so much for being with us. We appreciate it.
[15:40:05]
Authorities are searching for a missing submersible off the coast of Canada. What you're seeing on your screen right now is a vessel run by
OceanGate Expedition. That's a company that runs underwater visits to the wreckage of the Titanic. It reported a vessel like this one like the one
you see here. Missing on Monday morning. OceanGate says several government organizations and deep-sea companies are assisting in the recovery efforts.
Paula Newton joins us live now from Ottawa. So Paula, obviously, the irony of this is certainly not lost on anyone. I mean, when you think about how
these trips to visit the Titanic wreckage underwater actually works. I understand the trips are supposed to last about eight hours or so. That
includes 2-1/2 hours of descent and a sent as well. Just explain to us at what point did the company lose contact with this submersible.
PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: So, the U.S. Coast Guard that's leading the search and rescue mission right now seems to indicate that they
lost contact about an hour and 45 minutes in. That's really important information, Zain. As you said, they're supposed to descend and again,
we're talking deep water exploration here. This is about as, you know, technically complex is trying to go up in space.
You have to think it's two -- nearly 2-1/2 miles to the bottom of the sea. So an hour and 45 minutes. Hard to know exactly where they were. And
they're trying to pinpoint that right now. And this submersible has lost communication in the past with the vessel that is escorting them. In this
case, it was called the polar princes out there. Obviously right now it's a former Canadian icebreaker, and it is assisting in the rescue efforts.
At issue here, Zain is pretty old-fashioned concept of time, right? It's been about 24 hours. They have about four days food, fuel, oxygen, 96
hours, that's in the best conditions. You also have to think about the weather a concern quite dramatically in that location. It is about nearly
400 miles or 600 kilometers southeast of St. John's Newfoundland. All the assets that they can muster right now in the air and at sea being brought
to bear on what is essentially still pretty rough seas.
The Coast Guard says that they will have a briefing in about an hour from now, Zain. So we should know more. Again, we believe the Coast Guard says
that there are five people missing at this hour. And I don't want to leave people with the impression that this is a tourist excursion like you go
look at whales. No, not only is this very expensive, it's very intricate. It takes a lot of expertise and technical know how to get these people who
are tourists but also explorers down to see the bottom of this wreck.
And it is all a few. OceanGate says that look our expeditions are all in the name of research. They have not had -- they've had difficulties before
but certainly nothing is serious. And so again, both Canada and the United States and quite frankly, Zain, expertise from all over the world bringing
to bear right now the information that they can in order to help which with what will be a very complicated deep-sea rescue. Zain?
ASHER: As you touch on these -- those tickets that are very expensive about a quarter of a million dollars each. Paula Newton live for us there. Thank
you so much. That is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS. I'm Zain Asher. Living Golf is up next.
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