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Quest Means Business
Harris in North Carolina for First Post-Debate Rally; The Past, Present and Future of Boston; Reaching for the Stars; Interview with Bain Capital CEO Steve Pagliuca; Inside Ukraine's Hospital Train; A Look Inside Massachusetts Oyster Industry; Interview with Bain Capital CEO Steve Pagliuca; Inside Ukraine's Hospital Train; A Look Inside Massachusetts Oyster Industry. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired September 12, 2024 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[16:00:15]
RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST, "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS": Closing bell ringing on Wall Street. It is US Bancorp that is ringing the bell today for
us. The market, as you take a look, absolutely bifurcated. It was down in the morning and then all of a sudden around about lunchtime, it suddenly
roars up more than 200 points. Not quite sure why, but the bell is about -- there we are. We've had the gavel. Trading is over.
Those are the markets and these are the main events of the day. Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are back on the campaign trail. They are targeting
seven key states. Now, former President Trump says, there will be no more debates.
The Boston Mayor Michelle Wu tells us how the federal government can help cities or it can hold them back.
And from here it looks like a perfect world. Well, at least it does to those first civilians having a private walk in space, private in the sense
of private citizens paid privately. You get the idea.
Tonight, we are live from Boston, the city on the hill. It is Thursday, it is September the 12th, and I am Richard Quest, and in Boston, you better
believe, I mean, business.
Good evening.
Tonight, we come from Boston, to be more precise, the Omni Boston Hotel at the Seaport which we are very grateful for, allowing us to intrude into
their restaurant so rudely.
There will be no more presidential debates. Donald Trump says he is done with them, and the candidates are now back on the campaign trail.
They are at the first rallies since Tuesday's debate.
Kamala Harris is speaking at the moment in North Carolina, having done her debate and largely successfully, it is called the New Way Forward Tour in
which she is emphasizing her economic plan.
Eva McKend is in Greensboro, North Carolina. Eva is with me now.
Clearly, an enormous amount of enthusiasm following the debate, but Eva, are we getting any more details on how that plan -- well, first of all,
more details, how it works, but secondly, how the vice president is going to pay for it?
EVAN MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Richard, let's talk about North Carolina because Democrats think that they can be especially
viable here in this state for a variety of reasons. They think that the Republican candidate for governor thinks it is especially weak in a way
that makes them more viable. There are nearly a dozen Historically Black Colleges and Universities in this state, and we have seen a surge of
momentum in terms of early voting.
More than 161,000 people have requested valid to vote early. And we know central here is going to be this issue of reproductive rights and the
broader issue of health care.
So they want to confidently run on those issues, and they think that they can resonate with voters here in this state on that issue.
Now, the vice president's team, they are feeling very confident about the debate performance. Let's take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS (D), VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Two nights ago, Donald Trump and I had our first debate --
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
HARRIS: And I believe we owe it to the voters to have another debate.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCKEND: So you can see there, she is eager for another showdown with the former president, even though he has no appetite for this.
Listen, Richard, the last time a Democrat was successful here at the presidential level, it was Barack Obama in 2008. But listen, if they win
North Carolina, that means they can afford to lose Pennsylvania and still, with a mix of other states in this one, yes, the critical 20 electoral
votes that they need to win elections.
So that is why they are so competitive or so aggressively, rather competing in his state with two rallies today here -- Richard.
QUEST: Eva, I am grateful. Eva with the vice president.
We are here in Boston in New England, which is the economic engine, if you will, for the region. Now, although the politics might be fairly Democrat,
the economics of the region says a lot about what's happening In the United States.
The Boston region is a metro region worth GDP some $600 billion in 2022. But that really doesn't tell the full story because it is the makeup
between academia, science, biotech, certain amounts of older industries, tourism, if you will, that all put this melting pot together, particularly
Boston itself, which has a groundbreaking mayor in Michelle Wu.
[16:05:26]
She has been navigating national challenges like safety and affordability and basically making it clear as Boston goes, so goes the US.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST (voice over): Michelle Wu is not a traditional Boston mayor, the first woman and first person of color to be elected to the role. She is
often seen with her kids in tow, which she used to bring them to meetings as the city council president.
MAYOR MICHELLE WU, BOSTON MASSACHUSETTS: Hi. Nice to see you. Hi.
QUEST: Outside of politics, she is an accomplished pianist.
Now, she is pregnant with her third child, conceived through IVF, which she says gives her a unique perspective on issues.
WU: I have kids at home. I get home. I am overwhelmed by two boys running over to me and they remind me of how much joy there is in the world, but
also how urgently we have -- how urgent it is to fix these challenges and every day that we make a step forward, it is a good day.
I Michelle Wu --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do solemnly swear --
WU: Do solemnly swear --
QUEST: Mayor Wu was elected to office three years ago on a progressive platform.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
QUEST: With the presidential election two months away, the city's successes and failures are taking on greater importance.
WU: Cities are in a unique place where we are in the ocean of waves caused by international, national, and state level policies and macroeconomic
shocks, climate shocks. But we are closest to the ground and closest to the people.
So when we make decisions, it ends up touching people's daily lives. Our goal every day therefore, is to prove, to become that point where idea
becomes reality and we show what's possible.
QUEST (voice over): While the mayor is focused on making changes at the local level.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: By the way guys, how are you?
WU: Hello. Good to see you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good to see you.
QUEST (voice over): Changes at the national level are having an impact close to home.
WU: We have now a Supreme Court appointed by that administration that has taken steps to ensure that my daughter under their watch would have fewer
rights than her great grandmother, and that is simply unacceptable.
QUEST (on camera): If former President Trump wins, do you fear that those blue states will get clobbered again and again as they did last time on
taxation? Those states that are naturally Democrat will be punished?
WU: It is more than taxes. I've been in my role now as mayor for three years, but I've been in city government for quite a long time and so, I
know what it is like when you're working with a federal administration, who understand cities, values partnership, and wants to move things forward
versus being under an administration that city governments have to gird up to fight against, to protect their residents, and it will be up to cities
ultimately to be that last line of defense.
QUEST: Do you think that is an argument that Vice President Harris can be criticized for leaning too far progressive?
WU: I was just at the Democratic National Convention.
QUEST: What's crucial to the converted mayor? What's crucial --
WU: Well, I am saying, I had the chance to meet those from all different stripes around the country, but the atmosphere there, the sense of unity
across all different factions of the Democratic Party was palpable.
The track record that Vice President Harris and Governor Walz and the Biden-Harris administration in general have had. Our team is in contact
with them every single week on some issue. They have been through Boston, they have delivered resources, they understand what is happening at the
city level, and we've seen remarkable progress.
Boston is now the safest major city in America. We know that the instances of public safety incidents have gone down nationally. In our city, we have
seen up to 80 percent declines in crime, and we are proud to hold that up as an example of what happens when we have that partnership.
QUEST (voice over): Affordability of housing remains the major issue. Rents here have jumped 25 percent in the past five years. That's despite
declining during the pandemic.
Mayor Wu has made the problem of accommodation a touchstone of how administration. She has plans to use empty office space to help bring down
rents.
WU: This is the largest site approved today for conversion from underutilized office space downtown to what will be almost a hundred
apartments for new residents.
Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, Mayor.
[16:10:15]
QUEST (voice over): The mayor has her share of accomplishments amid grateful constituents and there is one year left in her term.
WU: These small businesses are really the lifeblood of our neighborhoods and especially when it comes to times when downtowns everywhere are needing
to boost foot traffic, getting them into vacant spaces makes all the difference.
QUEST (voice over): The mayor and Boston hoping their success can and will be replicated throughout these United States of America.
WU: Welcome to Boston.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
QUEST (voice over): Which had its birth right here.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: Now, former President Donald Trump will be speaking in Arizona in the next hour.
The polls are showing that Trump is more trusted on the economy. According to the voters, they say the economy is the number one issue and the budget
battle looms large.
So if we take a look at it, October 1st is the funding deadline. The Republicans want to increase the election security tied to the budget.
The US budget deficit reached $1.9 trillion for the first few months of 2024, fiscal year, It said nearly $2 billion, Jason Furman, former chair of
the Council of Economic Advisers and a professor at Harvard.
Good to see you, sir.
JASON FURMAN, PRACTICE OF ECONOMIC POLICY PROFESSOR, HARVARD UNIVERSITY, FORMER CHAIRMAN, COUNCIL OF ECONOMIC ADVISERS: Great to be here. Great that
you're here.
QUEST: Absolutely. This budget, well, let's look at the economics now. I had been surprised at the number of banks, investment houses who have come
out one side or the other saying the economic plans seem to favor the vice president at the moment.
FURMAN: I think it is pretty clear that they do. You were just talking about the deficit. She has said she will pay for every one of her things.
She hasn't fully spelled it out, but it adds to about $1 trillion to the deficit if she doesn't meet her promise.
Donald Trump is at $5 trillion and that is even crediting him for a lot of revenues from tariffs, so a big fiscal difference.
The Trump tariffs, there is not an economist in the world that would take tell you those are anything other than terrible.
QUEST: Okay. But when I listen to the debate, the backwards and forwarding on this question of the tariffs, whether -- I mean, he says China is going
to pay for them. He says the revenues that will come in, this is the former president, not me, that the revenues coming in will pay the cost of the
tariffs.
FURMAN: Oh, well, there are two different questions here. One is, if he does these tariffs, will the government raise money? Yes, it will.
QUEST: And that will pay for?
FURMAN: A second --
QUEST: And that will pay for his plan.
FURMAN: The second one is where is the money coming from? It is coming from Americans. And the third question is, is it enough to pay for his plans? No
way. He will get about a trillion-and-a-half from the tariffs. His plans are about $7.5 trillion. He can't come close to paying with them for
tariffs.
QUEST: Isn't there a very valid argument though, very valid when we say, hang on, the Democrats in office, the Biden-Harris administration kept most
of the Trump tariffs and yet they made such a belly ache about it during when they were put on, but they kept most of them.
FURMAN: I think that's a totally valid argument. I wish they had gotten rid of the Trump tariffs. I think they were poorly designed. There are certain
strategic things vis-a-vis China that makes some sense, but tariffs on dishwashers make no sense at all. They should have dropped them. They
didn't.
That was a mistake and now he gets to make the point he is making, which is you kept all my tariffs how can you say you don't like them.
But by the way, don't be confused. There is a massive difference between across the tariffs on every country in the world and what the Biden
administration kept from Trump.
QUEST: We are expecting the Fed will move next week. I am guessing, you expect that, too.
FURMAN: Absolutely.
QUEST: I mean, it will be a scandal if they didn't having led us down the garden path.
FURMAN: Oh, yes. Look inflation is two percentage points lower than it was a year ago. The unemployment rate is three three-quarters of a point above.
They need to start moving.
I would start with a quarter point. I don't think they need to do a half point, but they need to do something.
QUEST: And this question of, have they left it too late to effectively skirt a shallow recession?
FURMAN: I think they are probably fine.
QUEST: Probably.
FURMAN: Probably, you never know. They are balancing risks. At this point, the recession risks have grown, the inflation risks have receded. If they'd
had all the data, they would have moved at the last meeting. I am sure Jay Powell was kicking himself when that Jobs Report came back. Why didn't we
start in July?
The difference with starting in July and starting in September, though, very small when it comes to the economy.
[16:15:03]
QUEST: I see the ECB -- we will talk about that in just a moment. I see the ECB cut rates. Do you think everybody is now saying, we should have gone a
bit sooner.
FURMAN: Europe's economy is in more trouble than the US economy is. They don't have the extraordinary amount of demand from that budget deficit that
we started out talking from. So yes, I think they are further behind than we are.
QUEST: Now I am sure you're always up for --
FURMAN: A Boston cream pie, of course.
QUEST: Look at this. This is the Boston cream pie. It was invented here. It is arguable whether it should have chocolate on or not.
FURMAN: Oh, no, it is not. It is absolute and it is perfect.
QUEST: No, no. There is an economic argument.
FURMAN: There is no argument. It is perfect.
QUEST: It is yours.
FURMAN: Thank you so much.
QUEST: I'm very grateful.
You've got to have it. If you're going to come all this way on a beautiful day --
FURMAN: Fantastic. Thank you.
QUEST: Thank you very much. I look forward to talking to you more during the election as it continues. Thank you very much.
FURMAN: Okay, thank you.
QUEST: We are in Boston. As we continue, were actually out by the seaport at the Omni Boston Hotel at the Seaport.
Coming up next, a milestone for the private space industry. A spacewalk with SpaceX where they de-pressurized the whole capsule. You think you have
a difficult job.
QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: There was history made today in space when it was made in a spacewalk.
SpaceX had the first spacewalk by private citizens on a private correctly funded expedition. It was the billionaire, Jared Isaacman who went out of
the craft and was followed by the engineer, Sarah Gillis, testing out not only the SpaceX's new spacesuit itself. It is a five-day journey through
the Earth's orbit.
It is actually flown further than anyone has traveled from Earth since the NASA Apollo missions.
What was also interesting -- Miles O'Brien is with me -- Miles, what I thought was particularly fascinating was they depressurized the whole
spacecraft so that the two could leave and then repressurized, which begs the question. I mean, if it had all gone wrong, God forbid.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: God forbid. Exactly. It was a risky move. There is no question.
[16:20:00]
And Richard, for those of you who keep track of space trivia, this is the first time four individual humans have been exposed to the void of space
only with suits. You know, I guess you could make an argument that they were sort of part of the spacewalk even though they didn't pop their head
out.
In any case, it went well. They were able to test out these suits and, you know, spacesuits are hard to make. It is an engineering challenge.
QUEST: I wonder, this is not space tourism by any means. And Isaacman has actually done a lot of work and is involved.
So from your understanding, obviously, we are learning more so we can go further, farther for longer. Does trips like this have real scientific
benefits?
O'BRIEN: Yes, it does. I mean, a couple of thoughts here. First of all, Issacman, he has got 7,000 hours as pilot. He flies his own fighters. He
has a MIG-29 among others. He has already flown on one space mission, so he is not really a dilettante in the classic sense. He has done a lot of hard
work to get to this point.
I do think it is an interesting business model, Richard, that he has written, he wouldn't say, but I assume it is at least an eight-figure,
maybe nine-figure check for three missions called Polaris to Elon Musk and he gets to be the commander. So interesting business proposition.
Having said all of that, they are doing things that NASA did 60 years ago.
QUEST: Well put, Miles. I watched Starliner come back to Earth and I have seen the spacewalk, and the thing that constantly comes back to me is how
difficult it is, how everything or at least most things have to go right. The right thrusters have to go, the right drogue chute, the right main
chute. In this case, the right re-pressurization.
We can't afford to be blase or complacent.
O'BRIEN: No, and we tend to be, right? You know, the old astronaut saying is you know, I am sitting on top of a million moving parts all from the low
bidder. Should I be worried? Yes.
There is a lot of things that can go wrong and that's why they build all of that redundancy, but there are still individual single-point failures in
all of these systems, which you have to watch out for.
This was a risky mission, so far so good. They are not home yet.
QUEST: Oh please, God, they get home. Thank you, Miles. Always good to have you on QUEST MEANS BUSINESS. Miles O'Brien.
O'BRIEN: You're welcome, Richard.
QUEST: Now, some news I need to bring to your attention and this just in. Donald Trump's Georgia election case, the judge in that case has dropped
two of the charges against Mr. Trump, but upheld the main racketeering charge.
Now, of course, because of the Supreme Court and the immunity ruling, everything is having to be revised, rethought and re-indicted or recharged
in some shape or form.
So they've dropped one charge also against the co-conspirators and the case is paused pending an appeal.
As we continue, I am in Boston as I've been telling you, I will get my fair share of the Boston Kreme donut in a moment or two.
The place itself, of course, you don't need me to tell you, is rich in US history. The advanced research being done at leading academic institutions.
Well, we wanted to see when you take Boston, New England, the history, the future, how does past and future co-exist.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST (voice over): It was built as the American city on a hill in one of the earliest colonies in what would later become the United States.
Its first governor wanted it to be a shining example to the rest of the world. Now, this city is transformed. It is a center for sophisticated
culture, higher education, and technology. Synonymous with innovative company in robotics, health care, finance, and more.
The universities in Boston and surroundings amongst the most famous in the world. Harvard just over the river, where eight presidents and countless
business leaders earned their degrees.
MIT also across the Charles River in Cambridge is one of the best engineering schools in the world.
It is a setting for the movie "Good Will Hunting."
("GOODWILL HUNTING VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)
WILL HUNTING, FICTIONAL CHARACTER: Sorry.
PROFESSOR GERALD LAMBEAU, FICTIONAL CHARACTER: What are you doing?
HUNTING: Sorry.
LAMBEAU: That's people's work. You can't proceed here. Don't you walk away from me.
QUEST: America's history is everywhere in Boston.
Four hundred years after its founding, the city still strives to be a model for the rest of the country.
WU: It is definitely an exercise in prioritizing.
QUEST: Boston's mayor, Michelle Wu is charting a progressive course.
[16:25:13]
WU: Over our nearly 400-year history, at every moment where the world has faced challenges, Boston has stepped up and we've always been known as the
place where people come from all around the world to make a difference and that is our role right now as well.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How are you?
WU: Hi, nice to see you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How are you doing?
WU: Good, good, good.
QUEST: The mayor is also facing challenges as cost of living issues plague the country. Rents in the area have soared.
The state's residents face high taxes and Boston is one of the most expensive cities in America.
Two hundred and fifty years after it was a hotbed in the Revolutionary War, leading the country to independence, Mayor Wu and others hope this city can
continue to show the US its future course.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: So to put this all into context, we will have Stephen Pagliuca in a moment or two to discuss the region, the sport. He is a man who should be
celebrating after all, his teams have done extremely well and we've got to remember who won what. I am sure he will happily remind me several times.
Coming up, still to come, we've got a lot more. We will be in Ukraine in just a moment or two as we go inside the secret hospital train where we
will get exclusive access and we meet medics and the troops risking their lives.
QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Hello. Welcome back, I am Richard Quest. There is more QUEST MEANS BUSINESS in just a moment when the ECB cuts interest rates again and the
president, Christine Lagarde warns that growth is getting a bit dodgy. Well, that's my words, not President Lagarde's.
The owner of the Island Creek Oysters, we went out to get some oysters with him. The waters are good, it is good timing. The weather is perfect and the
season is excellent.
Before we get to any of that, I will update you with the news headlines because this is CNN and on this network, the news always comes first.
A New York grand jury has indicted Harvey Weinstein in connection to two new sexual assault allegations. The details that remain under seal until
his arraignment, which could be as early as next week. The disgraced Hollywood mogul is recovering from emergency heart surgery and did not
appear in court on Thursday.
Boeing faces a crucial union vote in the coming hours. The workers are deciding whether to ratify a contract that includes a 25 percent pay rise
over four years. Worker anger has been building at the troubled plane maker. 33,000 workers could go on strike if they reject the deal and two-
thirds of them vote to stop work.
The U.S. attorney general Merrick Garland is fighting back against efforts to politicize the Justice Department. Donald Trump and his allies have
repeatedly claimed the department has been weaponized against him. AG Garland praised his workers for refusing to break under pressure without
mentioning President Trump by name. He said it's outrageous that their work has been attacked.
European Central Bank has cut interest rates by 25 basis points. Now it's 3.5 percent is the lending rate, the call ending rate. It's the second cut
in a row. And so attention turns to the U.S. Fed, which will decide next week on U.S. interest rates. You've already heard Jason Furman earlier in
our program saying that he expects rates to be cut. We'll be shocked and surprised if they didn't. The last rate cut was in March 2020.
Inflation is easing with the growth slowing and the ECB, Christine Lagarde, is worried.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTINE LAGARDE, PRESIDENT, EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK: The risks to economic growth remain tilted to the downside. Lower demand for euro area exports
owing, for instance, to a weaker world economy or an escalation in trade tensions between major economies would weigh on your area of growth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: Steve Pagliuca is with me.
Good to see you, Steve.
STEVE PAGLIUCA, SENIOR ADVISER, BAIN CAPITAL PRIVATE EQUITY: Great to see you.
QUEST: Senior adviser at Bain Capital.
Now, we will get to your sports teams in a moment, and your championships which you've done rather well. Before we do, let's talk about interest
rates. ECB's cut, you obviously have interests elsewhere. You expect I imagine the Fed will move as well next week.
PAGLIUCA: Yes, absolutely. The kind of job openings are down. Unemployment is up a bit. We don't have a lot of inflation so I think there's no reason
not to increase the rates.
QUEST: Right. What are you seeing in your own business, on your own investments, and those private equity businesses that you are in?
PAGLIUCA: Well, we're seeing a revolution in AI. AI is driving a lot of things downstream. The economy, it's revolutionizing the approaches in call
centers, customer service. So I think we're only at the very beginning of this AI boom.
QUEST: When we compare that to what we've heard, for example, of this idea, of Nvidia not doing as well and companies are cutting back on some of their
spending. They don't think it's going as fast. Is that just a blip? Is that just us being too optimistic to start with?
PAGLIUCA: I think it's just a blip. You know, there's this huge demand for data, manipulation of data. Huge productivity gains when you put an AI into
systems. And it's a little bit like back in the 1990s with the internet. We had some ups and downs, but it was basically straight up for a long period
of time. We're just at the beginning of that in AI.
QUEST: So does not mean you have to be careful and cautious in where -- I mean you're always careful and cautious where you're putting it. But, you
know, the idea of a gold rush, that anything that rises where, you know, throw your money in.
PAGLIUCA: Yes, you have to be very selective. I think we learned of Bain Capital, we really try to analyze the businesses specifically on their own,
what value they can add. Unless we see that we don't invest.
QUEST: What areas are you looking at at the moment?
PAGLIUCA: Well, personally, I'm heavily invested in biotech. You know, you can see the Boston area here, there's biotech buildings. Last time you came
here, I don't think they were even here, many of these buildings.
QUEST: So where are we? I mean, what have we got all here?
PAGLIUCA: This is a seaport. In the last 10 years, they build something like eight million square feet. This used to be parking lots. Now we have
convention center, an eight million square feet of buildings that we're surrounded by. You can see another one going up there.
Companies like Vertex, huge biotech company, is here. Huge market, biotech company. Many are moving down here.
QUEST: Is that because there's an echo system now? I mean, you've obviously got the great institutions of academia, and now you've got the companies.
Like Silicon Valley, an essential tech, but before long they feed and grow. The virtuous spiral up.
[16:35:05]
PAGLIUCA: It absolutely is an ecosystem. And I applaud the government here because under Deval Patrick, I think 10, 12 years ago, they put a 2 billion
bill into biotech to really foster that. We didn't want to lose the tech to California that we lost from 128. So we really have a great biotech
ecosystem here.
QUEST: What about this election? What, without taking necessarily a side, what -- because you have been -- you've advised both sides at some point
and consulted for both sides. What worries you about this election?
PAGLIUCA: I think what worries me is the continued polarization. You're seeing this in the United States and all over the world where people have
been divided into kind of warring camps instead of trying to solve problems. So I'm hoping this election will hopefully bring us back to the
middle. The second issue is some of these proposals and maybe they're just driven by the base are crazy. Tripling tariffs.
The tariffs in general can cause a lot of economic harm. So somebody has got to look at these proposals in-depth and say what's best for the
country.
QUEST: Sports, now your teams, the NBA champions with the Boston Celtics, which you're very proud. And at Atlanta, UEFA, Europa League must be very
proud as well, even though you then lost some of your best players. That's life.
PAGLIUCA: It's the price of --
QUEST: At the price of success. And whether you're making money on it or not is not really the point when it comes to sports teams, is it?
PAGLIUCA: Well, it's great to make money as well, but really sports team are not owned by owners. They're owned by the community. So I went out a
lot to one, I think first time in 100 years, the parade took five hours because there were so many people in the streets lighting off flares,
really celebrating. It's just a joyous occasion. So sports teams are really a community asset. They're not really as much as economic asset.
QUEST: Will you -- are you going running anymore, that you'd like to tell me about?
PAGLIUCA: If I did, they'd have to shoot me.
QUEST: But not before you -- look at these great pictures. Not before you've enjoyed it. I'm sure as a good man from the region, you --
PAGLIUCA: I've had many of these. I had many of these. My father, who's deceased now, loved Boston cream pie.
QUEST: Really?
PAGLIUCA: Yes. Way back 50 years ago.
QUEST: We got oysters later. We've got Boston cream now. Beautiful. If you just come to the wrong room. You have to get the oysters later. But enjoy
that, sir.
PAGLIUCA: Great. Great to see you.
QUEST: May I just say, you've always been very generous with your time with QUEST MEANS BUSINESS in talking to us. I'm very grateful.
PAGLIUCA: Great to be here. Love the program. Thank you.
QUEST: Thank you very much indeed.
PAGLIUCA: Thank you.
QUEST: Thank you.
Now we're in Boston. We're enjoying ourselves enormously now.
Turning our attention to other matters. Russia's war in Ukraine which has been very much also on the political agenda as we heard in the debate only
the other day. But the reality of that war is something very different.
The reality away from the politics in the United States needs to be seen to be understood. And CNN has gained exclusive access to the medical train
which runs near the frontline. The people on the train are evacuating the injured Ukrainian soldiers and the mobile operation operates obviously in
complete secrecy.
CNN obviously is not -- we are not revealing its route, who's on board, and how and why and where.
Our Christiane Amanpour was on board.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR (voice-over): On a hot late summer morning, departure time is fast approaching at this railway
station in Ukraine. Departure time is fast approaching at this railway station in Ukraine.
But this is no ordinary train. It's a hospital on wheels. Evacuating dozens of wounded military personnel away from the eastern front as Russia's
brutal offensive grinds on. Paramedics carefully loading patient after patient. Many of them unconscious, onto repurpose carriages.
It's a highly organized special operation and it's never been seen before. CNN gained unprecedented and exclusive access to what so far has remained a
closely guarded military secret.
Before the train moves off, I meet 35-year-old Olexander, wounded by a drone strike, which has caused him to go deaf in one ear. His call sign is
positive but he doesn't feel it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm very tired. But hard times, and we must (speaking in foreign language).
(Through text translation): And we must keep fighting no matter how hard it is.
AMANPOUR: Do you feel that you have enough people, enough weapons to defend?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. We don't have enough. Not enough. No.
(Through text translation): There aren't enough people and there definitely aren't enough weapons.
AMANPOUR (voice-over): As the train rolls on, we make our way to the intensive care unit where several soldiers are on life support.
[16:40:02]
Bed after bed of broken and battered bodies, lives shattered in an instant. 90 percent of the wounds being treated here are from shrapnel. And yet many
of these patients know they'll be patched up just to be sent back to the front as soon as possible.
This train and its cargo some of Ukraine's state of military affairs, mostly ordinary citizens who've answered the call. Outmanned, outgunned by
Russia, and yet still putting up a hell of a fighter.
Nurse Yulia makes this journey twice a week.
How do you feel being in here with these very badly wounded soldiers? How does it make you feel?
(Voice-over): I'm an empathetic person so it's difficult, she tells me. But you have to switch off your feelings at the moment of work, and later, you
can reflect.
And the story of frontline morale is on display here, too. If electrician Olexander was feeling down after 18 months fighting this brutal war,
Stanislav, who signed up in March, is still full of patriotic fervor. He can still summon a smile even though he has shrapnel in his body and damage
to his lungs.
STANISLAV, UKRAINIAN SOLDIER (through translator): Personally I was ready for it. I was ready to trade the shower stall, the good sheets and the bed,
the good conditions that I had at home for a foxhole. I knew where I was going and what I was doing.
OLEKSANDR, UKRAINIAN ARMED FORCES MEDIC (through translator): The most difficult part is evacuation from the frontlines. Combat medics who work on
the front are dying. Just like soldiers.
AMANPOUR: As these carriages rumble on through fields of gold think for a moment of history repeating itself in Europe, when thousands of ambulance
trains evacuated casualties from World War I's trenches, more than a million to the U.K. alone.
Tonight, darkness descends as we arrive at the destination and suddenly there's activity everywhere again. As ambulances line up, collecting and
dispatching to hospitals across the country, on the platform, the railway chief describes his pride and his sorrow.
OLEKSANDR PERTSOVSKYI, CEO, PASSENGER OPERATIONS AT UKRAINIAN RAILWAYS: I see those kids who are saying goodbye to their dads who are heading towards
the frontlines. Seeing those same guys coming back effectively unconscious or with amputations, it feels like the price of the war is incredible.
AMANPOUR: Like a conveyor belt, industrial scale conversion of healthy young men and women into this. And yet as one of them told us, Ukraine is
strong and motivated. While Russia has quantity, we have quality and we will win.
Christiana Amanpour, CNN, Ukraine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: Before we have a short break, let me show you the markets because they were bifurcated largely on the back of what was happening with the ECB
and the cut in the ECB which pretty much solidifies the fact that the Fed will move when it meets next week, all three. We'll have the best of the
gains, the Nasdaq.
As you and I continue our nightly chat over business and economics, I decided to leave Boston in the rearview mirror and instead get onto the
water.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're looking for ones that have done really well in the hatchery, real blow out in the nursery and they grow well, not necessarily
the fastest growers, but really nice shape.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:46:33]
QUEST: Britain's history with eels goes back to the 11th century. Now, there's over fishing and there are all sorts of barriers in the water which
are making it far more difficult. Eels in Britain have fallen by 95 percent. That's in the river population if you will.
So this week on "Call to Earth," we join a school in Somerset in Southern England where the forefront of the movement to protect eels.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HANNAH STRODE, PROJECT COORDINATOR, "EELS IN THE CLASSROOM": Can you see all where the orange and the yellow is? Is where there's eels. So there's
lots and lots and lots of eels a few hundred years ago, and then this is a picture of today. And the blue means that there's no eels.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some of them are dying easily.
STRODE: Why might they have died? Go on.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think because people keep in like these barriers in the water and then the eels can't get to where they want to go.
ANDREW KERR, CHAIRMAN, SUSTAINABLE EEL GROUP: In the story of Britain, William Conqueror in 1086 started to collect taxes in eels. How significant
it was. Everybody was eating it. Eels was so close to humankind and really we've gradually lost that relationship where all this sort of engineering
has strangled the life out of eel, not just in Britain, across the whole of Europe and North Africa. And now it's critically endangered.
RUPERT FOOTE, YEAR 3, ST. BENEDICT'S JUNIOR SCHOOL: That's like barriers that the eels that can't through and that they can't get to eat their food
and stuff so they can't grow as big and they can die.
ERIS COLLINS DIAZ, YEAR 3, ST. BENEDICT'S JUNIOR SCHOOL: There's not that many of them left and they're close to being extinct.
STRODE: Where we live in Somerset, that used to basically be a bog. But humans have done something very clever, which is to help us to live on it
by draining it. But if you're a tiny little baby eel, you need to swim passed all of these barriers. Well, lots of eels can't get over these
barriers in the water. So that is why we have got them in your classroom.
FOOTE: We all have 20 hours and we've been feeding them to keep them healthy. At the start, they kept hiding in the filter machine and under the
pots, and in the pots so we couldn't really see them. And over time they started adapting to the tank and we like to see them and they like to see
us, too.
STRODE: Young people have a really beautiful or a natural wonder for the world. The children might never have encountered an eel before unlike some
other sort of more charismatic, big species that you see a lot of. I think there's something really special about them having that actual personal
interaction with the eels.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my god. It's looking at me.
STRODE: It's all part of a bigger restocking project.
You've been amazing eel parents, and I really appreciate you looking after them for a little while.
DIAZ: They're going to go back to the river and set over one of the barriers so they can get to where they want to be.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm going to be happy when they're gone.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because they're going to be out in the wild.
KERR: The eels are a key component in that freshwater. Everything eats eel. It's the basis of the food chain.
[16:50:04]
STRODE: As you can see this one's heart beating.
Hopefully, I'm inspiring some children to be conservationists in the future. Wouldn't that be amazing? They can then go on and spread the word
and we can really get a community movement going on.
Well, it's time for these guys to go back into the river.
I think if you want to engage a community. A really good place to start is with the young people.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're so wriggly.
KERR: We've already started to turn the corner and we're making a difference. So eel is a story of hope. If enough of us want to make a
difference, we can band together and make positive change happen.
DIAZ: Now more I learned more about European eels, I actually really want to help them.
FOOTE: If I see other eels getting stuck by the barriers I will go help them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: Eels of England's rivers. Let us know what you're doing to help protect our earth and to answer the call with the usual hashtag, "Call to
Earth."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Look at that glorious day here in the seaport. The only Boston Hotel at the seaport. Wonderful.
Now, a trip to Boston without oysters, unthinkable. Absolutely incomplete. The longstanding city staple. It is the oldest restaurant, that is, the
oyster house here, and well, you can have oysters but besides oysters, I wanted to see how and where they are harvested. So I grabbed my waders,
yes, I have waders. I got on a boat with the owner of the Island Creek Oysters.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SKIP BENNETT, OWNER, ISLAND CREEK OYSTERS: These are trade grown oysters, so they're held up off the bottom. They grow really fast and tend to be a
little more uniformed size and shape.
QUEST: So is this where they would be, when they're ready to be harvested and taken and eaten?
BENNETT: They are. And they actually grow out over here. They kind of all grew at different rates, which is nice because we don't want the whole crop
to come to market size at the same time. So those are little.
QUEST: So that's a bit -- but is that big enough to --
[16:55:03]
BENNETT: No. No. That'll -- and probably won't make it this year because we're mid-September, they probably have about a month to grow and I don't
think those will get there. They're growing a little slower now.
QUEST: So, again, from start to finish, from hatchery to here, they're growing a little slower now, again, from start to finish from hatchery, to
hear, how long?
BENNETT: So these were in the hatchery last year.
QUEST: So it's a two-year process on average.
BENNETT: So if these were spawned in March last year, yes, you probably just about 18 months right now.
QUEST: How do you manage to have enough oysters to supply throughout the year?
BENNETT: Well, fortunately, we can -- we know what we have to start with and then they grow at different rates and we kind of constantly monitor
that through that crop of how much we have left. And then strategically we tried to make sure we have oysters in March and April and May.
QUEST: You do that by?
BENNETT: By not harvesting market size oysters that are ready to go in December.
QUEST: But these will not naturally spawn.
BENNETT: They won't reproduce out here. No.
QUEST: So you have to take him in, fiddler around over there for God knows how long.
BENNETT: We did.
QUEST: And bring them out here. Then they take him back, then bring him out.
BENNETT: And we've already selected the parents for the next year because we're looking for ones that have done really well in the hatchery, real
blowout in the nursery, and they grow well, not necessarily the fastest growers, but really nice shape and --
QUEST: Go on. See you next year on a plate and a nice restaurant.
BENNETT: In some of the best restaurants in the world.
QUEST: And new. Go and grow.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: And I happily ate my way through some of his profits which we think he's got millions of oysters, wasn't really that much. And I learned how to
shuck an oyster. No, I'm not being vulgar, madam. I promise you next one day on this program, I will give a demonstration.
We will take a "Profitable Moment" after the break. QUEST MEANS BUSINESS from Boston.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Tonight's "Profitable Moment," which comes to you from Boston, yes, I've spent much of the time learning how to say the name. Apparently it's
B-A-W, Boston. Tin. And if you get that right and they still laugh at me, which perhaps is not surprising since I am British and I seem to have spent
most of my time here trying to claim I've come to take it back. But no one was giving me any quarter on that.
And so what did we learn while we've been in Boston on the economy? That it's difficult times. But even in this highly Democrat state, there are
those who are concerned that the way the country is going forward and really need to know more about the policies of Kamala Harris as she will be
if she becomes president.
There is also great industry, new industries, biotech, technology, academia, that's here. And that in many ways will be part of the driving
force of this country in the next decades or in the decades ahead. But how to ensure to promote that? Keep the city growing but at the same time don't
tax people out of existence. Because if there's one thing that we've heard again and again in Boston is that taxes are often too high, public services
are often not that good, and that there needs to be more in the infrastructure that's on offer.
One thing that people haven't complained about is this magnificent. The Boston cream pie, along with the oysters. If you finish up all of this
you're well and truly on your way home.
And that's QUEST MEANS BUSINESS for tonight. I'm Richard Quest in Boston. Whatever you're up to in the hours ahead, I hope it's profitable. I'll be
back with you next week.
END
