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Quest Means Business
Helene Now a Major Category 3 Hurricane as it Approaches Florida; Zelenskyy Meets with Biden and Harris at White House; Israel Strikes Lebanon as US Pushes for Ceasefire; Helene Approaching Florida as Massive Cat 3 Hurricane; New York City Mayor Indicted, Interview with IAG's CEO Luis Gallego. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired September 26, 2024 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[16:00:16]
RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST, "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS": Closing bell ringing on Wall Street. The cheering, I am not sure why, oh yes, I can see
why. Here is the reason why. A sea of green across -- as they move across and one, good grief, Madam, wielded that mallet with verve and vigor, and
perhaps for good reason, up 260 points on the Dow, probably the best of the day with a strong, green in the market.
The markets are good down the main events of today, not so today. Florida is bracing for the impact of Hurricane Helene. About 60 million people
likely to be affected.
Ukraine's President Zelenskyy is presenting his victory plan to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. The two have just been speaking a moment ago.
And the head of AIG, Luis Alejo joins me. BA, Iberia, Air Lingus -- the whole lot -- British Airways -- now how is it managing the planes waiting
to be delivered.
Live from New York, Thursday. It is September the 26th. I am Richard Quest and I mean business.
Good evening.
We begin with weather and the forecast, there is a warning of the unsurvivable storm surge as high as -- with a surge as much as six meters
along Florida's Coast.
Hurricane Helene is barreling along towards the state of Florida. It is a monster Category Three and hours to go before landfall.
Early impacts of the storm are being felt in areas. Helene is extremely powerful, and as it goes, you and I have talked about this before, as it
goes out over the water, the hot water picks up moisture, picks up speed, gets stronger and bigger, and then it reaches Florida's shore. Sixty
million people across 12 states, some form of warning or watch relating to this.
Derek Van Dam is in Apalachicola in Florida.
So, yes, I did my best. I did my best.
Look, how bad is it? Are you expecting worse? Where is it going?
DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Oh one hundred percent. We are bracing for impact here in Apalachicola. This is along the Florida Panhandle, we
are near the Big Bend area, kind of we call it the catcher's mitt of Florida that catches these hurricanes so often and brings up that storm
surge as well.
Look, I just had a moment to talk with one of the sheriff deputies of Franklin County where I am located and what is really interesting to note,
if you're looking behind me, there is a highway, a large bridge there. There are several of these bridges that line the coastline of the Florida
Panhandle.
But this one in particular, the sheriff deputy told me that it is not closed as of yet. Winds have to reach 62 kilometers per hour before that
bridge closes and then your escape route east out of Apalachicola is removed.
In fact Tallahassee is about 50 kilometers to my east and so that opportunity is going to diminish quickly as we start to get the outer bands
of major Hurricane Helene.
But this area, hey, it is no stranger to hurricanes. This is going to be the fifth major hurricane to make landfall in the state of Florida since
2017 and there are a lot of threats posed to this area.
The storm surge potential, which is 10 to 15 feet here, Richard will be well above my head if it is realized.
Of course, this is a game of miles where this makes landfall, but there are so many trees in this region that will topple because everything is so
saturated.
And I really want to highlight that too, because that is a really important part of this storm. It is already what we call preloaded the environment
with so much rain. Here we've already had 175 millimeters since yesterday, and we've got this rare high risk of extreme flooding and extreme
precipitation.
So this is going to work its way into Atlanta, which is currently under a flash flood warning. Asheville, North Carolina, they are facing there a
historic rainfall event that could be a one in 1,000 year event.
The eye now starting to become more visible on this satellite and radar and it is just surging all of this heavy, heavy Gulf of Mexico moisture right
into this region and much of the southeast is well. This is a multistate threat, not only Florida, but also Georgia into South Carolina and North
Carolina as well, tornadoes, flash flooding, storm surge, and catastrophic winds.
[16:05:08]
But I really want to highlight that the storm, not only is gaining intensity, but it is also ballooning in size.
Richard, by the time it is all said and done, this could be one of the largest in terms of wind field storms ever recorded in the Gulf of Mexico,
even eclipsing Hurricane Katrina and we all remember that one so well.
QUEST: Derek, thank you.
Ukraine's President Zelenskyy is at the White House where he is presenting his so-called victory plan to President Biden and Vice President Harris.
The vice president said, Vladimir Putin will keep going if he is allowed to take Ukraine.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS (D), VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: History has shown us, if we allow aggressors like Putin to take land with impunity, they keep
going and Putin could set its sights on Poland, the Baltic States, and other NATO allies.
We also know that other would-be aggressors around the world are watching to see what happens in Ukraine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: President Biden vowed to make sure Kyiv gets the weapons it needs to defeat Russia, which includes delivering approved aid before his term
expires.
The president of Ukraine has also been talking on a bipartisan basis. There, you see with Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer, leaders in the
Senate asking for permission to strike deeper into Russia. The US has so far been reluctant to give him the greenlight.
MJ Lee is at the White House.
This is -- I mean, it is difficult, MJ Lee because look, he walks -- President Zelenskyy, he dare not piss off -- my words -- he dare not piss
off Donald Trump too much because Donald Trump could be the next president and he is going to have to reverse back anything he does, that Trump
doesn't like.
MJ LEE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, there is no question that looming over this visit by Zelenskyy to Washington, DC is very much the
possibility of a second Donald Trump Term.
You know, in the remarks that the vice president just gave, you'll notice that she didn't once mention the former president by name, but you could
tell even though she didn't want to explicitly make mention of the upcoming US presidential elections, she was trying to send a clear message that
under her presidency, if she were to win, she is going to continue sort the foreign policy sort of worldviews that are espoused by President Joe Biden
and tried to send a message to the Ukrainian leader that the unwavering support that was the word that she used, and the White House officials like
to use when they were talking to their Ukrainian counterparts, that that unwavering support would continue.
And interestingly, she did make mention of others whose views in this country are different. She said, "There are some in our own country who
would be okay, basically with Ukraine giving up parts of its territory, with Ukraine accepting neutrality, with Ukraine for going security
relationships," she said with other nations.
And she said that is a proposal coming from Vladimir Putin and it is unacceptable. Now, I think for President Zelenskyy, he obviously has a
pretty tough task ahead for him as you alluded to. He is not only asking for additional security assistance, which he says is important if he has
any shot at winning this war.
He is also making a deliberate case on something really specific that he has not yet had luck on and that is convincing some of these western
countries, including the US that provide long range missiles to Ukraine to be used in the war, to be fired further into Russian territory.
QUEST: Okay, now, let's stick with -- for one second -- on the politics of this. I listen -- you're right, I listen to what the vice president said on
exactly that point "others in this country," but doesn't she have to convince those voters in this country where there may already be anti-
Ukraine fatigue or Ukraine fatigue that they are better off with her than her opponent?
LEE: I think the answer is actually yes and no. Yes, if you think that there are going to be enough voters for whom this is a driving issue. And
no, if you think actually at the end of the day, many people -- and public polling suggests this -- many people are going to be voting based on issues
like the economy for example, something that she has been talking about a lot.
I do think there is sort of a use of foreign policy including this war in Ukraine, including of course, the war that is going on in Gaza to try to
paint that contrast between Democrats and Donald Trump and his Republican allies, but at the end of the day, I am not sure that the Democratic
presidential candidate, the vice president believes that this is going to be the issue that ends up making the biggest difference.
[16:10:09]
Because at the end of the day, what we currently believe if you're talking to anyone that is educated about politics is that, it is going to come down
to possibly tens of thousands of votes in just a number, a handful of battleground states that will ultimately determine the outcome of the
election.
QUEST: Excellent point. Grateful to you as always. Thank you, MJ Lee, in Washington at the White House.
Let's stay with this. as MJ and I were discussing, Donald Trump may very well win back the White House. I mean, it is Even Stevens on the polls and
he has made his position on Ukraine quite clear.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: But Ukraine now, I see Zelenskyy is here. I think Zelenskyy is the greatest salesman in history.
Every time he comes into the country, he walks away with $60 billion -- billions -- walks with $60 billion -- he wants them to -- he wants them to
win this election so badly. But I would do differently.
I will work out peace before him -- even before -- as president-elect, if I win this election, the first thing I am going to do is call up Zelenskyy
and call up President Putin and I'm going to say you've got to make a deal. This is crazy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: NATO was taken steps to Trump-proof the Alliance, take on a bigger role in coordinating military aid to the country. Finland's president
Alexander Stubb says, NATO must work together as allies are not in separate blocs.
President Stubb joins me from New York.
There is no way of getting around this. Mr. President.
I know you don't want to get involved in US politics and you will obfuscate your way around this question beautifully, but the reality is other
European NATO members are worried a new President Trump would not support Ukraine. Is that your worry, too?
ALEXANDER STUBB, FINNISH PRESIDENT: Oh, I think the reality is that whoever is elected as the president of the United States, the Finnish president
will get along with, him or her, and the reality is that we need to continue our steadfast support to Ukraine because in many ways, it is a
fight for the free world.
Putin has violated international law. He has aggressively attacked Ukraine and taken about 20 percent of its territory.
Peace will be imminent at some stage, but we need to find the right way towards peace.
QUEST: Do you believe that NATO countries, including obviously the UK and the US, should give permission for Ukraine to use the longer-range missiles
deep into Russia?
STUBB: Oh, definitely, a hundred percent. I mean, you can't fight a war with one hand behind your back.
Finland has put absolutely no limits in its 24-25 packages of military aid to Ukraine, and the reason is very simple. There are two conditions. One is
that they are used for defense and the other one is that they are within the framework of international law.
Look what Putin is doing right now and turn it around, he is violating every rule of international law by bombing hospitals, bombings schools and
apartment blocks. So certainly in order for Zelenskyy and Ukraine to win this war, they need to be able to defend themselves.
So release the missiles, long-range as well.
QUEST: When President Trump -- former president says he'd on the phone to Putin and Zelenskyy saying make a deal, it is a good catchphrase, but as
John Major once told me, if there are any easy answers, don't you think we'd find them? What is the answer?
STUBB: Well, the answer is that the peace negotiations need to begin with four conditions. Number one is territory, and that is for Zelenskyy and
Ukraine to decide. Number two is security guarantees for Ukraine so that Russia can never again do this to anyone, including Ukraine. Number three
justice, so Russian war criminals indicted; and number four, reconstruction.
When we have that as a package in the ten-point peace plan of Zelenskyy, I think it is good to begin and those negotiations have to begin at some
stage, but the time is not right at the moment.
QUEST: We are going to another winter. You have heard -- you read President Zelenskyy's speech to the United Nations. All are conventional power has
basically been destroyed in some shape or another. There are worries about the nuclear power.
How can Ukraine survive another brutal winter?
STUBB: Well, I had a meeting with President Zelenskyy yesterday, it was actually my sixth meeting with him in six months. And of course, in
Finland, we understand harsh winter conditions, much like they do up say in Minnesota, it will be very difficult, because 80 percent of their energy
infrastructure has been destroyed.
[16:15:08 ]
And remember, anytime you think or threaten a nuclear entity, it is extremely dangerous. So we need to make sure that Ukraine has enough
generators, has enough energy to survive this winter.
It is one part of a brutal war that Putin is waging against Ukraine and the Ukrainian people and the free world.
QUEST: Turn to Gaza, it seems that there is no one or no country or no pressure that can be brought to bear on Benjamin Netanyahu to show
restraint in prosecuting the war either in Gaza or in Southern Lebanon, even accepting the atrocity took place against Israel and we are heading to
two wrongs making a right, if we are not there already.
STUBB: Yes, I think you're right on that and all the conversations that I had with more or less 15 to 20 leaders from the global south here in New
York during the UN Week indicated that there is a very close link between the war in the Middle East and Ukraine.
And many of us -- many of them accuse us of double standards. I understand where they are coming from.
I think it is very important at this stage that we reach a ceasefire, that the hostage deal is done and that we can calm things down. I think it was
very good that G7 countries, Arab states led by the United States and the UK put forward a ceasefire proposal today and a country like mine, supports
it.
But we have to understand these two wars are linked.
QUEST: Finally, Mr. President, and thank you always for coming and talking to us. It is always -- you know, from minister to prime minister to
president and you've always been so gracious with your time.
Look, your contribution, your country's contribution to NATO is going to be roughly, I know, just a couple of hundred million. It is going to be a
large sum, the annual budget up to a billion.
Why don't you just take a million or two of that, just a million, and keep the pandas in Finland. We are only talking about 1.3 million. You're
sending the pandas back to China early because the zoo can't afford to keep them.
FINLAND: Richard, this was the first connection that I've ever heard between the pandas and Finnish defense.
I think from what I understand, the zoo in question had financial troubles and we have thoroughly enjoyed the pandas in Finland. But I do think it is
time to send them home and I do wish them very well on their trip back home, a safe journey in many ways.
QUEST: The man who sent the pandas, right? Thank you, Mr. President. It is good to see you, sir, even I was impressed by linking your defense
contributions to the pandas. I am sure they will have a comfortable journey back.
Thank you, sir, always and I wish you a safe journey back home as well.
STUBB: Thank you very much.
QUEST: As we continue tonight on QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, Israel launches new strikes into Lebanon. The Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is now in New
York for his speech to the UN on Friday. He is dismissing the idea of an immediate ceasefire. We will be in Beirut, next. It is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS
and you're most welcome.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:21:02]
QUEST: The US and several of its allies are now pushing for a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah as part of the efforts to avoid
escalation in the region.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is now in New York for the United Nations speech, and he is calling the idea of a pause imminent
incorrect.
IDF troops happy and holding exercises where they are simulating ground combat in Lebanon and Israel is vowing to speed up the attacks on Hezbollah
without a reprieve.
Only hours ago, the Israeli forces says it killed a top Hezbollah commander in a strike on Beirut's southern suburbs.
Jomana Karadsheh is in Beirut, joins me now, where it is now sort of heading towards midnight. What is happening tonight?
JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Richard the situation here is continuing to escalate, it seems by the day. You've
got these Israeli strikes that are continuing mostly focused on Southern and Eastern Lebanon, but as you mentioned, we had another strike here in
Beirut's southern suburbs, one of the most densely populated parts of the country earlier today.
And, you know, there are a lot of concern when you speak to officials here about where this is all headed. They are very, very concerned. A short time
ago we sat down with the country's health minister, Dr. Firass Abiad and I started by asking him how he would describe the situation in Lebanon right
now. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. FIRASS ABIAD, LEBANESE HEALTH MINISTER: I think we are in a full- fledged war. There is no doubt about that, and irrespective of what you now call it, you know, we have civilians, innocent people, women, children
being indiscriminately attacked, targeted.
You know, we have residential buildings being blown to smithereens. We have hospitals, ambulances, primary health care centers being targeted, this is
war, there is no doubt about that.
KARADSHEH: Some people we have spoken to say that they are worried about seeing what is happening and has happened in Gaza repeat itself here in
Lebanon. Is that something you're concerned about?
ABIAD: Well, it is the same perpetrator and it is using the same excuses, using the same weaponry. Of course, we are very much concerned. We are
concerned for our community. We are concerned.
We do not want to see the carnage that has happened in Gaza, I mean, happen in Lebanon nor did we want to see it in Gaza. That's why I think it is
imperative on the international community to take action and to apply the required pressure on Israel to cease what is indiscriminate attacks on
civilians.
And the paper that was put forth by the US, by the G7, by Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE and which Lebanon accepted would have been a very good place to
start. But unfortunately, it seems that everyone is intent on finding a diplomatic solution to this conflict, except one party that wants to
continue with its indiscriminate attack on civilians.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KARADSHEH: And Richard, I asked the minister if Hezbollah would agree to this proposal and he said Hezbollah's position has been very clear. They
have said that they will cease their attacks on Israel if there is a ceasefire in Gaza, and we saw that back in November when you had that week
long ceasefire, Hezbollah's attacks have stopped.
But as you heard it there, this is the position of the Lebanese government saying that they want a diplomatic solution. They do not believe that this
is what Israel wants, and they don't believe that the US is putting enough pressure on Israel to bring this to an end.
[16:25:07]
QUEST: Jomana, grateful. Thank you. I am going to take exactly what you've said and put it to Alon Pinkas who is Israel's consul general in New York.
He joins me now.
You heard Jomana, whether we call it the Israeli government or Benjamin Netanyahu, it doesn't matter. Let's just put it in whatever terms you like,
doesn't want a diplomatic solution and America -- the United States can't put enough pressure.
ALON PINKAS, ISRAEL'S CONSUL GENERAL IN NEW YORK: Yes, well, that is the gist of it, Richard.
He does not want a ceasefire. Mr. Netanyahu is now claiming that he is under severe political pressure from his extreme right-wing (AUDIO ISSUES)
not to relent and not to agree to a ceasefire. And in fact, to go on and further damage, hurt, and degrade Hezbollah.
I am not sure that he is as much under political pressure as much as he is in fighting and soliciting that pressure.
You could just see it in the last 24 hours, Richard, first he said that Israel is contemplating an American -- a French American plan for a 21-day
ceasefire, then he said that he has never heard about it, then he said that he has heard about it, but he does not agree. Then he said that he might
agree, but will have to wait and in-between, all he is doing is getting himself busy for another UN speech.
QUEST: All right, so let's assume he gives his speech tomorrow. He may or may not use charts and diagrams as he has in the past, but the reality is,
my words, Israel is rapidly becoming a pariah state.
PINKAS: Yes, unfortunately tragically, and it pains me to agree with you, but you're right. It is a rogue state -- it is perceived as being a rogue
state now.
It is not supported by anyone other than the US and we can go back to the issue of how the Biden administration managed Mr. Netanyahu, how they
became so gullible and amenable to manipulations and we would need -- you're -- we would need, I am sorry your entire show, Richard, which I am
sure we don't have, but be that as it may, Israel is fighting alone.
And this by the way, parenthetically is exactly what Mr. Netanyahu wants to drive in his UN speech. Look at me standing in front of the entire world
that's against us, I am Churchill, this is the gathering storm. This is 1938, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
It is the same speech by the way, that he has been giving for three years, except that this time, we are not on the precipice of war, we are very much
deep in to a war.
QUEST: But if he is right and that there is this general view -- the view being, and we've talked about it on QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, the Israeli
mentality of it doesn't matter what we do, they will hate us.
Then he -- assuming you get to a position of a buffer with Lebanon. You've degraded Hamas sufficiently. What then? That seems to be, even allowing,
even acknowledging and putting front and forward the atrocity of October the 7th, it comes down to what next? To live in any form of harmony?
PINKAS: You're absolutely right in describing it that way. Look, let's put the record straight here.
The war against Hamas is justifiable. A military response against Hezbollah is justifiable because Hezbollah made it intolerable and untenable, the
situation in Israel's northern border.
And so the question is, as you presented it accurately, okay, we've degraded Hamas, we've degraded Hezbollah. What now?
What is supposed to come now is a grand diplomatic plan, the kind of which are along the lines of what President Biden described in December and then
again in January.
But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is intransigent and defiant and does want this plan.
This calls for an inter-Arab force in Gaza. This (AUDIO ISSUES) with Lebanon on the demarcation of the border and this calls for a regional
alliance.
QUEST: Clearly, everybody in your hotel is on the internet at the moment. We taking some hits on that, lots of diplomats are discussing what needs to
be done during UNGA.
I am grateful to you, Alon, as always. Kind of you to give us the time. Thank you.
It is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS from New York.
We are tracking Helene. The monster hurricane is set to barrel ashore in Florida in a matter of hours. It will be the storm surge, some have called
it unsurvivable. We will find out.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Hello, I'm Richard Quest. There's more QUEST MEANS BUSINESS as we continue.
The New York City mayor is vowing to stay in office while he's facing corruption charges. The chief executive of IAG, the parent company of
Iberia, BA, et al, all of that are still to come. We'll get to it only after I've given you the news headlines because this is CNN, and here the
news always comes first.
Sudan's army is making its biggest push yet to regain ground in Khartoum. And the Paramilitary Rapid Support forces have been launching artillery and
airstrikes on RSF positions in the capital. The paramilitary group has controlled as much of Khartoum since Sudan's civil war began 17 months ago.
The mastermind behind the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi has been re-sentenced. Ahmed Abu Khatallah was given 28 years for his role in the
deadly attack in 2012. The Libyan militia leader was convicted and initially given 22 years. Prosecutor argued that was not enough time and
had requested a new sentence.
A Japanese court has exonerated the world's longest longest-serving death row inmate. 88-year-old Iwao Hamakada is now 88 years old. The court says
he was wrongfully convicted in 1968 for the murder of a family. The judge ruled that his confession was forced and that police falsified evidence
against him.
Newsmax has reached a confidential settlement over claims it spread lies about the 2020 U.S. election. Smartmatic, the voting machine company, had
sued for defamation.
[16:35:03]
It's facing a similar lawsuit from another company, Dominion Voting, denies all wrongdoing, and juries were just about to be impaneled in the first
case.
Hurricane Helene is now a major category three. It's heading towards Florida and getting stronger. It's already one of the largest hurricanes
ever seen in the Gulf. The actual winds stretches around 800 kilometers. Where it's going to hit, Tallahassee in the coming hours. And interestingly
it's the storm surge that's being described as unsurvivable with six meters.
Elisa Raffa is our meteorologist.
And where and when?
ELISA RAFFA, AMS METEOROLOGIST: The Big Bend is when we're really worried about that unsurvivable storm surge. And that starts to peak tonight into
tomorrow morning is when we're going to find that landfall. The eye is continuing to get a little bit more symmetrical and more clear here on the
satellite. That's a sign of strengthening. It's a category three hurricane right now with 120-mile-per-hour winds, still sitting 150 -- 165 miles
south of Apalachicola where it's going to get close to that eye going north and headed into that Big Bend area.
We've already found some gusts making it up to 40 to 50, even 60 miles per hour on the Florida Peninsula. A lot of these outer bands have been lashing
Florida all day. We have a tornado watch in effect because these outer bands could have some spin-up tornadoes, as tornado watch goes into the
Carolinas as well, and it goes well into the evening as we continue to find this spinning system.
Here's the latest track. It's a hurricane warning in the red. Apalachicola, Tallahassee, even up towards Macon. We're looking at a major category three
landfall with 120-mile-per-hour winds. But look at all the blue. Those are tropical storm warnings. This hurricane is incredibly wide, spanning more
than 400 miles at times of tropical storm force winds. So we are worried about widespread power outages with this storm as well.
This is the unsurvivable part. 20 feet. That is more than six meters of storm surge. The ocean just coming in and sloshing with destructive waves,
pushing structures completely damaging things, just incredible the amount of water that we could see push into the shoreline here in the Big Bend of
Florida. Again, catastrophic and unsurvivable.
We'll find some of these gusts over 100 miles per hour in a place like Cedar Key going into this evening, even 70-mile-per-hour gusts in Macon
overnight tonight into tomorrow morning.
QUEST: Right.
RAFFA: And look how wide this is with the, again, tropical storm force winds stretching from Florida up into Georgia, just incredibly wide. And
we'll find multiple impacts from this.
QUEST: Elisa?
RAFFA: Yes, Richard.
QUEST: Do you think people living in these regions, they have these every year, do you think they become sort of immune and complacent? And, you
know, and saying, unsurvivable, move, go, it's horrible, it's awful. Eventually they just, we've been through this before.
RAFFA: Yes, yes, absolutely. Especially in this part of the country in Florida, there's actually research that shows how our personal experience
can really lean into how we react to forecast for events like this so absolutely. And that's leaning into these numbers and kind of showing why
it might be different than the last one is so important, especially when it comes to something like the rain.
This could be unprecedented for a place like Asheville, something that they've never seen before. They want people to evacuate because of the rain
that could happen in the mountains more than a foot of rain possible -- Richard.
QUEST: Gosh, thank you. Which of course makes your job much more difficult to find the words to bring home the gravity and (INAUDIBLE) of it. Thankful
as always, thank you.
Here in New York, the mayor has been indicted on corruption. Mayor Adams says he's innocent. He's denying he accepted illegal campaign donations and
luxury travel. We're going to have Elie Honig with special (INAUDIBLE) after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:41:45]
QUEST: New York City's mayor is accused of taking bribes from Turkish nationals.
Elie Honig is the former prosecutor who is with me, and he's going to be discussing it as we talk about it.
Elie, the prosecutors say Eric Adams allegedly sought illegal donations to his election campaign. Business class travel, luxury hotels. The indictment
is ripe with graft. What do you make of it?
ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: It does. It does allege that, Richard. So there's two types of graft, I guess, that the indictment
alleges. First of all, in the United States, you are not allowed to accept campaign contributions from a foreign national. The indictment alleges that
Eric Adams did accept substantial campaign contributions from Turkish nationals, Turkish citizens, and what he did was funnel those through straw
donors, through fake donors.
The other thing it alleges is that Eric Adams took over $100,000 worth of free first-class travel and luxury hotel accommodations. Now, that's the
quid part of the quid pro quo. The indictment alleges that the quo part of it is that in exchange he did special favors for these Turkish special
interests. He pressured the fire department in New York to sign off on a skyscraper that Turkish nationals were bringing before they can fully
complete the inspection.
QUEST: All right.
HONIG: So that's the gist of the allegations here.
QUEST: Listen to what the U.S. attorney Damian Williams said about the severity of those very charges.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAMIAN WILLIAMS, U.S. ATTORNEY FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK: The conduct alleged in the indictment, the foreign money, the corporate money,
the bribery, the years of concealment is a grave breach of the public's trust. Public office is a privilege.
We allege that Mayor Adams abused that privilege and broke the law, laws that are designed to ensure that officials like him serve the people, not
the highest bidder, not a foreign bidder, and certainly not a foreign power. These are bright red lines and we alleged that the mayor crossed
them again and again for years.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: How sensitive is this prosecution bearing in mind he is a sitting mayor in the United States' largest city?
HONIG: I can promise you that the U.S. attorney and higher levels than that, up to the attorney general, pored over this indictment, thought about
every single word in it.
These corruption cases, Richard, I should say are easier said than done. And as the U.S. attorney seemed to be anticipating there, a lot of times
you'll see a defense of saying, well, what's wrong with constituent service? What's wrong with pushing the fire department to approve a
building? Isn't that what mayors are supposed to do?
And I should add the Supreme Court here in the United States has really narrowed the scope and the reach of our corruption laws over the last
couple of decades. So I think what the U.S. attorney is trying to do is say this was a specific exchange of cash and other benefits in order -- in
return for special favors.
QUEST: Bearing in mind the severity of the charges, essentially the mayor has two choices. Either resign and fight it, as he says, or stay in office
in which case he'll do need the job very well, he'll neither be a good mayor nor -- because he'll be distracted by potentially going to prison.
Isn't there an argument that like with the president and the Justice Department old rule, he should be -- any prosecution should be delayed
until after he leaves office?
[16:45:08]
HONIG: So it's an interesting point, right? Here in the United States the rule that the Justice Department has adopted is they will not indict the
sitting president, and of course the U.S. Supreme Court has told us that the president, when he's in office or after, can't be indicted for anything
that has anything to do with the office.
If there's consideration of should we have a rule for lower level officials, for governors, mayors, that kind of thing, there is no such
immunity recognized in the law right now. I supposed it's possible that prosecutors could say it doesn't make sense to bring this charge right now,
but I think the countervailing position is, well, if we have a mayor who's engaged in crime, voters need to know about that, the political apparatus
needs to know about that, so that he can be removed.
QUEST: But isn't there an element, Elie, that he's almost being convicted before it's been put forward. In a sense the nature of it, of these -- I
mean, they're all very serious allegations to be sure. but he can't stay in office while all this is swirling on. And what happens then? He pops up in
-- I mean, it'll take a year or two if this to come to court anyway, plus arguably. And what, he pops up between Gracie Mansion and the court?
HONIG: I think Eric Adams would say watch me. I don't think he's going to reside. I think he's going to either have to be forced out or he's going to
have to lose the election in 2025, and you're right, it's an incredibly difficult situation. I mean, we here in the United States struggle with
this situation. What do you do when you have an elected official who has been indicted?
We just saw this two times in the U.S. Congress. George Santos, a member of the House from New York. He was indicted, but he wasn't thrown out of
Congress. They can do that until after Congress did its own internal investigation. He was removed from Congress before he was ever convicted.
Robert Menendez, a U.S. senator from New Jersey, actually prosecuted by the Southern District of New York, same office that's now prosecuting Eric
Adams, he stayed in office throughout the pendency of his indictment. He was just convicted a month or two ago and then he resigned.
So we do have this problem. We do have people sitting in powerful public office who are under indictment. You know, we have a presumption of
innocence in the United States and if they don't want to resign, it's really hard to throw them out.
QUEST: Elie, we'll talk about it. Good to see you, sir. Thank you.
HONIG: Thanks, Richard.
QUEST: My next guest had hoped to buy an airline in Europe, Air Europa. Well, he couldn't. He wasn't able to. It is Luis Gallego. He's the CEO of
IAG, and if that wasn't enough, he's got problems with engines. Well, all airlines do. Keeping them on the wing. We'll talk about the airline
industry in a moment. The head of IAG.
More QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:50:14]
QUEST: Boeing says it will resume talks with striking workers tomorrow. It's been almost two weeks since the walked off the job and the strike has
halted production of the 737 Max and other models. It's the latest woe to hit Boeing and Airbus customers, and if it's not that, it's problems with
engines.
IAG is the parent company, it's got BA, Iberia, and Aer Lingus and others. There are risks to deliveries and new planes have to be expected this year
and next.
Joining me is Luis Gallego, the chief executive of IAG within New York.
The strike may not affect necessarily, but these delays for new aircraft are really screwing up your expansion and growth plans, aren't they, for
roots?
LUIS GALLEGO, CEO, INTERNATIONAL AIRLINES GROUP: In our case, we are not impacted because as you say, the 737 aircrafts can have potent cellulase.
The 787 that we are going to receive they are still like according to the plan and we have flexibility with a 737s in the future. So for the time
being, we are not affected.
QUEST: But you are going to be affected by, for instance, supply chain issues, engines on the wing, Rolls-Royce, Pratt metal, and so on.
GALLEGO: Yes, we have the issue with the GTF engine, with the Pratt engine in wing but we have leased aircraft in order to cover the lack of engines.
So they are flying in the program, that they had schedule. And in the case of the Trent engines we needed to cancel two lines this year, in the
summer, in British Airways because, as you know, we need to split the engines and sometimes we need to replace. There is a lack of spare engines
in the market.
QUEST: Every look, were you very disappointed not to proceed with Aer Europa? It's been going on for as long as I can remember. Competition
questions, it would now, I mean, if that is right and you couldn't get a relatively small issues deal through like Europa, then it does make
difficulties for things like Tap Portugal, which is still to come and further consolidation in Europe.
GALLEGO: We tried to do the Europa operation because we thought it was the best thing for the Madrid hub in order to have a stronger hub to compete
with the hubs in the north of Europe. That's the reason we started this operation in 2019, but the conditions that competition authorities asked
were not possible for us. In the interest of the shareholders we decided to abandon the operation and some people now they are saying you need to buy
TIP because we didn't do the Europa operation, and what we are saying is no. M&A is not essential for us. We are delivering good results in the
group.
You know that we have announced that our dividend and interim dividend and M&A will do it if it makes sense for the group. And in the case of the TIP,
sorry, we need to see what the government -- what are going to be the conditions from the government.
QUEST: So what's your -- besides obviously making money, and what is your priority? Where are -- which of the airlines are you -- in the group are
you going to grow most, do you think?
GALLEGO: So this year the group is growing 7 percent. If we look at the different airlines, British Airways is growing around 7 percent, Iberia 14
percent, and Air Lingus and Vueling, their growth is various. But I think we have an opportunity in the different markets where we operate.
QUEST: Right.
GALLEGO: With British Airways in the North Atlantic, with Iberia also in the South Atlantic.
QUEST: So, on that point, sorry, are you satisfied with the way you have the airlines all working together? And the analogy I want to think about
is, you know, if you take, for example, your competitor, particularly the Lufthansa Group, which essentially runs like it an iron fist across Swiss,
Austria, Lufthansa, Brussels, de facto one airline with different flavors. You're much more of a federation.
GALLEGO: No, we have, our model is different. We always talk about the capital allocation model and we determine where we allocate capital and the
function of the return that we are going to have. The good thing is our main markets are operating very well. So North Atlantic working well. South
Atlantic also. And intra-European we are doing a good job with Vueling.
[16:55:03]
So we are deciding where to allocate the aircraft in function of how do we see the market and the possible evolution. For the time being, things are
working well.
QUEST: After the pandemic and everything that went before, what's your biggest challenge? What's your biggest challenge now?
GALLEGO: I think after the pandemic, we were worried about the behavior of the customer. What we see is a very strong demand. We see that corporate
traffic is coming back, very strong also premium leisure traffic. We launched a transformation program in 2020 because we knew that we needed to
be more efficient after the COVID and it's working. And that's the reason we came back last year or two to their profitability that we had in the
past. And we could repair also the balance sheet and now they live it out after the first half we're seeing 1.3 times and that's what we wanted, to
be in a position that allow us to continue with our strategy.
QUEST: Grateful to see you, sir. I wish you a safe journey back to Europe. Thank you, sir.
GALLEGO: Thank you very much.
QUEST: We'll take a "Profitable Moment" after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Tonight's "Profitable Moment," so the mayor of New York has been indicted. As soon as I heard that story, regardless of the facts of the
case, obviously he's innocent until proven guilty. Fundamental tenet. You and I both, we all agree on that. And then I thought, hang on a second, how
can he continue to be mayor if he's under indictment and he's going to face a trial? Does he have to resign?
Well, in theory, of course, he doesn't. But the reality is that probably it's impossible to remain as mayor and defend yourself properly against
some very serious charges that will send you to prison for a long time if you get convicted. And so the ultimate question is whether or not he should
have -- any prosecution should have been delayed? I'm not saying immunity. I'm not saying immunity. But I'm saying should it be postponed, any
prosecution?
But Elie Honig raised a good point, as indeed my producer. But could you delay something and he runs for reelection? Don't the public have a right
to know that there are these charges pending? In other words, I don't really know the answer to it. It just seems to be all rather shabby all
around. Here you have a mayor who can't do his job properly. Justice may be delayed or denied. The question of the voters don't know what to do leaves
me just wanting to say, that's QUEST MEANS BUSINESS for tonight.
I'm Richard Quest in New York. Whatever you're up to in the hours ahead, I hope it is profitable. "THE LEAD" is next.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper and we're going to start this hour with breaking news and a brand new forecast for
Hurricane Helene, which is now expected to slam into the U.S. of A as a, quote, "extremely dangerous" category four hurricane. Helene is still
gaining strength as it barrels towards Florida. It's among the largest storms in the Gulf of Mexico.
END
