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Quest Means Business

Harris Speaks At Campaign Rally In Wisconsin; US Adds Just 12,000 In October; Cass: Tariffs Can Help Raise Government Revenue; Israel Says It's Struck Hezbollah Targets In Lebanon; Federal Judge Sends Musk $1M Sweepstakes Case To State Court; Striking Boeing Workers To Vote Monday On Revised Offe. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired November 01, 2024 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:12]

RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST, "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS": Closing bell is ringing on Wall Street and the markets have been a bit topsy turvy. We

had jobs numbers today, which gave a bit of a pause and cause for thought. Looking at the numbers as the bell rings, as he hit the gavel there, he is

still ringing the bell, and one, two, three, good strong, deliberate gavels, up over half a percent. Those are the markets. And these are the

main events of the day.

The US added only 12,000 jobs last month, economists say not to panic. It is mainly due to strikes and hurricanes.

Donald Trump says one of his main Republican critics, Liz Cheney, should see how it feels when guns are trained on her face.

And tragic flooding in Spain. The prime minister is calling it the worst national disaster in a century.

Live from Dubai on Friday, November the 1st, I am Richard Quest in Dubai, in London, in New York, I mean business.

Good evening. Only days to the election, I want to take you straight to where vice president and Democratic nominee, Kamala Harris is speaking. It

is a campaign rally in Janesville in Wisconsin, one of the swing states. Let's listen in for a moment or three.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

KAMALA HARRIS (D), VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you.

So let's get to work. I love you, guys.

So Janesville, we have just four days left. Four days left in one of the most consequential elections of our lifetime and we have a lot of work

still to do, but I know who is here. We like hard work.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: Hard work is good work.

(CROWD answer "yes.")

HARRIS: Hard work is joyful work.

(CROWD answer "yes.")

HARRIS: And we will win.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: And we will win. We will win. We will win.

And part of the reason we will win is because we know that when you know what you stand for, you know what to fight for.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: And we have an opportunity in this election to turn the page on a decade of Donald Trump, who has spent full time trying to have the American

people point fingers at each other; full time, trying to divide us, have people be afraid of each other and folks are exhausted with this stuff.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: And we know that's who he is, that's not who we are. That's not who we are, and nobody understands better than a union member that as

Americans, we all rise or fall together, here in Janesville and across our nation, union members have helped lead the fight for fair pay, better

benefits, safer working conditions, and every person in America benefits from your work.

I tell people everywhere I go, thank a union member.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: Thank a union member, because you may not be a member of a union, but thank a union member. If you've got a five-day workweek, thank a union

member for your sick leave. Thank a union member for your paid vacation leave. Thank a union member for paid family leave because it is union

members that work and put blood, sweat and tears into raising the conditions of the American worker wherever they work.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

QUEST: So there we have a little taste of the union rally that Kamala Harris is speaking at in Wisconsin, and she is doing so on the day when the

worst jobs report of the Biden administration has been published.

The economy added, the US economy that is, only 12,000 jobs in October, pushed lower by disruptions from Hurricanes Helene and Milton and the

strike at Boeing. The unemployment rate, the headline number if you will, was unchanged at 4.1 percent.

There was also gains in September, but other months were revised. There is no getting away from the fact that the jobs number was weak. If we take it

in the round, we show a much better report card for Biden and Harris. GDP grew at 2.8 percent in Q3.

[16:05:10]

Payroll software company, ADP said companies added 233,000 jobs, quarter of a million this month or last month now, and the Feds' preferred inflation

index came in at just 2.1 percent.

Julia, yes, don't you be getting too excited. But we have on hand, on the other hand, on the third hand, which hand are you going to play?

JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR, "FIRST MOVE": All hands. All four of them. Why stick at two or three.

Strike storms and some slowing, Richard, I would qualify it slightly. Remember, what we were anticipating is in a worst case, according to most

economists, around a hundred thousand jobs lost as a result of the Boeing strikes and the potential impact of Hurricane Helene and Milton, even if

you add that 100,000 back to the 12,000 jobs we got, it looks softer than we've seen.

So it is a cooling jobs market, we know that. It is not a collapsing jobs market. The Trump administration or the campaign called it a catastrophic

jobs number. I would argue it is a curveball for the White House, four days out from a presidential election.

One extra number I will give you is 34, which is the number of days until the next Jobs Report and then we can see what clears up and what we clarify

on these job numbers. It doesn't look good on the surface, but there is just too much noise to be able to judge.

QUEST: Right, and of course, as you and I have discussed, this jobs number is the reflection of the very high interest rates that were there for so

long so quickly and so long. It is lagging, it is the tail end of it.

But if you're fighting an election on the back of it, well, you're in a much more difficult position.

CHATTERLEY: Yes, you are, but it is one jobs number, so we have to take it into and put it into context and I think you did it brilliantly actually,

and just took a snapshot of all the data that we got this week. And look, when I was at the IMF, the International Monetary Fund last week, they were

talking about the United States economy being effectively the envy of other G7 nations judging by the growth that we are seeing, we are still adding

jobs.

Of course, we have consumer spending as part of that, which was up, what -- 3.7 percent, admittedly, Richard, households are rather than poor, which is

struggling. Now, I will give you the other hand and this is the challenge, of course, inflation may be cooling from the high levels that we've seen

over the past three-and-a-half years, but prices are still up what -- almost 20 percent over the course of this administration, even if now,

wages of core topic, it has been a painful period.

QUEST: Right.

CHATTERLEY: Credit card debts are at record highs, according to the New York Fed. The housing market has been sluggish due to high prices and high

mortgage rates. There is a reason why the Federal Reserve is cutting rates and will do so next week to your point.

QUEST: Oh, you've just anticipated my last question.

CHATTERLEY: I kind of did.

QUEST: Is next week's quarter point cut baked in?

CHATTERLEY: Yes, investors have baked it in. I mean, some people are looking at this number again on the surface and perhaps, there is room

particularly in light of the inflation data that we got this week, tend to go half a percentage point, I don't think so. We've got a presidential

election. There is a caveat. We could see volatility.

Who knows what is going to happen next week. I will go with a quarter of a percentage point rate cut and just to make it exciting, Richard, I will go

for another quarter of a percentage point rate cut in December, which isn't a given.

QUEST: You know how to live dangerously, Miss Chatterley.

CHATTERLEY: I try.

QUEST: If I may say so.

CHATTERLEY: Almost there, Richard.

QUEST: Risk all the way. Good to see you. Thank you, thank you. Excellent.

Now, on this program yesterday, we talked about tariffs and our guests expressed skepticism about Donald Trump's trade proposals.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NGOZI OKONJU-IWEALA, DIRECTOR-GENERAL, WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION: Protectionism, rising tariffs are really, whichever way you look at it,

detrimental to world output.

MARY LOVELY, SENIOR FELLOW, PETERSON INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS: It is the buyer who pays the tariffs. We know this now with great certainty

because we've just been through this enormous experiment, which is called the, you know, Trump era trade war.

MICHAEL FROMAN, FORMER US TRADE REPRESENTATIVE: History has shown that tariffs are not a particularly good way to raise revenue, particularly

compared to the income tax. It is no substitute for the income tax.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: Today, 300 economists signed the letter, opposing another letter by the way, there has been lots of them, opposing Donald Trump's presidency,

saying his trade agenda will backfire by raising prices on consumers.

Our next guest has a different view. Oren Cass writes that many economists say that a vote for Trump is a vote for inflation, and in making that

argument, those economists are abandoning some of their most basic analytical principles.

Oren Cass is the founder and chief economist at American Compass. He was the domestic policy director for Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign.

I am delighted, sir, that you have taken time and you're joining me now.

On this tariffs point, how do you justify when just about everybody says that tariffs will be paid for by consumers and importers in higher prices,

and they will not raise enough money for deficit reduction or greater spending. It is just not economic sense.

[16:10:20]

OREN CASS, FOUNDER AND CHIEF ECONOMIST, AMERICAN COMPASS: Well, respectfully that doesn't make any sense. You certainly won't eliminate the

deficit with tariffs, but tariffs do generate revenue and if you use that to reduce the deficit, the deficit will be lower. I don't know anyone who

disagrees with that point.

I think more importantly, it is really important to remember that the last time we heard this much extraordinarily confident consensus among

economists, it was, of course, when they were unanimously telling the American people we needed to eliminate our tariffs on China and welcome

China into the World Trade Organization because free trade with China would be wonderful for America, and they got that exactly wrong and they are

getting it exactly wrong again, because economists don't think very well about trade.

All they can think about is the wonders of free markets and they can't wrap their heads around the idea that a free trade with China is not free

markets. Free trade with China is leaving yourself at the mercy of the Chinese Communist Party.

QUEST: I think there is a consensus on targeted tariffs, as we talked about on this program last night. Targeted tariffs are all very fair and good,

but it is the Trump proposal for across the board 20-odd percent is the number we hear on all imports, even higher on China.

Now, let's put the China issue to one side for a second. I am more concerned about the 20 or so percent on all imports, that will push up

inflation and that will take -- that will cost consumers up to $2,500.00 according to the Peterson Institute.

CASS: Well, the Peterson Institute study, I am afraid, is a bit embarrassing because all they did was look at the total amount of money

that that people spend in the economy and assume that that essentially every dollar of tariff imposed was going to be paid directly by consumers.

Now, it is absolutely true that consumers pay some of the cost of a tariff, but we equally know that they don't pay the entire cost of the tariff and

we know that looking at the experience of those Trump tariffs on China when there is a wide range of studies finding all sorts of effects, frankly, it

is a very messy situation.

But this is a perfect example where if you're the Peterson Institute, you're not actually interested in thinking about this very difficult issue

seriously, you're interested in putting out a paper that makes tariffs sound scary, and then having it reported that way on the news.

But we keep having to go back. I don't know why we would put the China question to the side. The China question is at the heart of this and

economists got it exactly wrong.

QUEST: The issue of course on taxes and spending that the Trump administration would be putting forward. The rise in the deficit. Again,

Goldman, a variety of others all say that vis-a-vis the two proposals of Harris versus Trump, the Trump proposals raise the deficit by many billions

more over the next 10 to 15 years, or however you want to -- in other words, it is a deficit-busting agenda.

I am imagining you don't accept that.

CASS: Although, that's absolutely true, if you're looking at the tax cuts that Trump has talked about, if you were to try to do them all, they would

be outrageously expensive and I think, you know, if you look at the Harris budget, it is a deficit buster also.

The reality is, we don't have serious budget proposals coming from either side right now and we are going to have to both find a way to raise more

revenue and a way to reduce spending significantly.

Again, I think that's something that the American people seem to understand a lot better than a lot of our policymakers do.

QUEST: I am grateful, sir. Thank you.

However, this election turns out, we look forward to having you more often on QUEST MEANS BUSINESS to give us your perspective. I am grateful for your

time tonight. Thank you.

Now, 61 percent of Americans over 50 worry that they won't have enough money for retirement, according to the pensions organization, the AARP.

It comes as the very nature of how we save, that's you and me, saving for retirement is changing. So schemes have been moving away from defined

benefit or DB schemes. That's the traditional pension plan where you've got a percentage of your last salary. You knew how much you were going to get

each month.

[16:15:11]

Now, we have defined contributions or DC plans like the 401 (k), you know how much you're putting in, you just don't know how much your investments

are going to get.

The chief executive of the asset manager, PGIM gave me his opinion on this shift and we started about the macroeconomic policy on global debt levels.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID HUNT, PRESIDENT AND CEO, PGIM: So that is one of the big worries that we have. And of course, we can't get anybody to worry about it with us.

Right? Because neither political party wants to talk about it. It is the great missing person from the political debate.

And so we will undoubtedly have as a loser of the election, the balance sheet of the US government. Corporate debt is actually reasonably well

contained and yet, there are pockets of places where we do worry. Private equity for example, after not being able to really access enough IPOs and

assets, has started to build up more leverage than they've had in the past, both at the individual property level, but also at the fund level and that

is one of the areas we do worry about.

QUEST: Do you sometimes worry that we are the first generation that is going to have to retire on defined contribution schemes, 401s, investment

schemes, and many people just will not have the money to retire with anything like the lifestyle we had as a working human.

HUNT: So, I would say that if you look at corporate DB schemes for people who are older, most of them are actually in very good shape. In fact, they

are better funded than they have been at any time in the last decade.

QUEST: There are few and far between them.

HUNT: No, they are actually doing very well.

If you look at state schemes, that's where the problem lies because they really have not de-risked and many of them, very, very poorly funded, and

then if you look at companies that have been founded in the last 20 years and only have a DC plan, I mean, that is a real problem and I would say

that is an enormous put that is being underwritten by the US government, because none of the people who are in those DC schemes are saving enough

money for retirement.

QUEST: None of us.

HUNT: No.

QUEST: I remember my father telling me when I was a kid, start saving now. I didn't listen to him, of course.

HUNT: Well, I mean, there is plenty of good examples out there of places that have got this right -- Australia, Canada and others that have save

early and save at a much higher significant level and you will have enough.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: I am sure I can't be the only one whose father said start saving when you're 20 for your pension and didn't put enough aside back then. Oh,

well.

I will be working till goodness knows when.

Democrats and Republicans are blaming each other for the current dangerous rhetoric. A Princeton historian puts it all into context.

It is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS. Tonight, I am in Dubai.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:20:42]

QUEST: The final days before the election, Donald Trump is facing criticism today for using violent rhetoric to describe Liz Cheney, one of his most

prominent Republican critics.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: She is a radical war hawk. Let's put her with a rifle standing there with nine barrels shooting

at her, okay, let's see how she feels about it, you know, when the guns are trained on her face.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: The former House Republican, Liz Cheney responded on X, saying: "Comments like that are how dictators destroy free nations and that Trump

cannot be trusted with the country."

Kristen Holmes is in Milwaukee in Wisconsin. It was an inelegant phrase by President Trump. When I heard it, I didn't think he was suggesting somebody

go and do it. He just was saying, how would you feel about it? It is a bit like the garbage comment from Joe Biden. But once again, it descends the

election, right the way into the gutter.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I think the thing to keep in mind here is that Donald Trump hasn't built himself any goodwill, given

the fact that he has said that he is seeking retribution, that he will be people's retribution, that Democrats should be punished at different times,

that they are the enemy within. So when you hear these kind of comments or when voters hear these kind of comments, it often goes to the worst place

imaginable.

Now it seems as though the campaign and Donald Trump himself believe that this could harm him in some way, because we've actually seen Donald Trump

now try to clean up these remarks twice. He posted on Truth Social. He also just talked about it with reporters, saying that what he was trying to say

is that she is a war hawk, that she is a war monger, that she herself would never go to war, but make decisions so that other people could go to war.

They have argued to me all day starting at about 5:00 AM this morning, that these are comments that other people have made. They were just made in

Donald Trump's speech, essentially saying that he went too far because he talked about the violence, but that he was making an argument that she

herself would not want to be in war.

But again, we go back to this idea that Donald Trump has often used violent rhetoric, has often used dark rhetoric, which is why people are seizing

people, being Democrats on these comments and making them, blowing them up for what they are, violent, dark rhetoric.

So this is not the kind of messaging that Donald Trump or his campaign want in the final days. They want to be focused on other things like the

economy, like immigration, but instead they are talking about this.

And it really has been a ping-pong ball between the Trump campaign and the Harris campaign. I think the real thing to watch here is just how closely

everyone is watching every single thing that not just Kamala Harris and Donald Trump say, but anyone in their orbit says, because we are just so

close to the election and it is such a tight election, every single vote matters and there is concern on both sides about any kind of rhetoric that

might do some damage as voters head to the polls.

QUEST: Grateful for you in Milwaukee, where I was just noticing it is about 49 to 50 degrees, the temperature today. I am only telling you that because

I am here in Dubai, where I think we are comfortably in the 70s and the 80s. So keep your gloves on.

Thank you, Kristen Holmes, who is in Milwaukee for us tonight.

Now, on this question of the rhetoric of the various candidates, Kamala Harris wasted little time today responding to Donald Trump's comments.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: He has increased his violent rhetoric, Donald Trump has, about political opponents and in great detail, in great detail suggested rifles

should be trained on former Representative Liz Cheney.

This must be disqualifying. Anyone who wants to be president of the United States who uses that kind of violent rhetoric is clearly disqualified and

unqualified to be president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: Now Donald Trump and his running mate, JD Vance are pointing the finger back at Democrats, saying the rhetoric from the left is what led to

Trump's near assassination this summer. You get the picture.

Julian Zelizer is with me in New York, joins me now.

When we look at this, it is very difficult to just gauge, because in this final heated moment, how much worse the rhetoric is than what we have seen

before and how more violent or vitriolic or whatever word you would like to use. Give me your view.

JULIAN ZELIZER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, look, I think there are two different issues. One is just heated political rhetoric, the way in a

polarized age how both sides have intensified their anger toward each other, but that's different than the kind of rhetoric the former president

uses.

Last night's comments were pretty explosive, and I think many would agree dangerous in this atmosphere. But more importantly, they are consistent.

There has been this kind of rhetoric not just in the campaign, during his presidency, during his last runs, this is something we have seen again and

again. And so I think that is an important distinction.

We have not seen this, for example from Vice President Harris. This is not the kind of language that she has used on any occasion.

QUEST: What troubles me, in fact, I've just found -- I just found a quote. what worries me is talking about Liz Cheney, and we could pick 1,001

examples of it: "I don't blame him for sticking with his daughter, but his daughter is very dumb." Well, if its talking about Kamala Harris, she is

very stupid.

Whatever else these people are, they are neither dumb nor stupid nor ignorant and that goes on both sides. These are the elites of both parties

and I just sort of wonder, do we ever recover from that sort of animus and insult?

ZELIZER: We can. I mean, look, leadership can go a long way, and strong leaders can restrain themselves and by doing that, they can model. How you

can have very vigorous debates, how you can have intense disagreements, how you can even attack your opponent without that kind of language, and that

language does matter. It infects the body politic. And other people use it, and it can also lead to bad consequences.

So right now, it is not going to change. I wouldn't expect anything in the next few days, but I do think it is a long term project that American

democracy needs to think about and we need leaders who can say no to certain kinds of words about who they are against.

QUEST: You're a historian and looked into this, they aren't the real villains here, not the people who -- not the people who make those

comments, but those in either side on either party who don't restrain them, who don't deny them, who don't disavow those comments.

And if you think about it in this particular election, we do have and I will just give the example, we do have the Republican Party, which has been

happy to go along with it.

ZELIZER: You've gotten to the heart of the issue. I mean, it is the enablers who are really the most important part of this, meaning there are

always people in American politics who try to go very far, who abandoned guardrails. We had Senator Joseph McCarthy in the United States in the

1950s.

The key is having a party that ultimately pushes back, having a media system that ultimately can restrain itself, all the guardrails have to be

there, because if you have a lot of enablers, all the incentives are to keep going further and further.

So I think what you said about the GOP in this case is exactly right. Should they not support him, he would not be the candidate and these words

would be a lot less meaningful.

QUEST: Grateful for you, sir. I am grateful indeed. Thank you.

As you and I continue our conversation tonight, our next guest, I can't imagine would use anything like those sorts of language. True gentleman,

Robert Reich. He was Labor Secretary in the 1990s. he has now become a social media star with his videos in support of progressive causes.

He is left. He will admit it. He will also talk about the election coming up next in suitably gentlemanly terms.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:32:19]

QUEST: Hello. I'm Richard Quest. We have a great deal quest -- more QUEST MEANS BUSINESS in a moment. The former U.S. labor secretary (INAUDIBLE)

with me to discuss today's jobs report and how he's using his viral videos to back Kamala Harris and fewer cities and more podcasts. The traditional

campaign trail has been changed this election.

All of that only after I've updated you with the news, because this is CNN and on this network, the news comes first. Israel's military said on Friday

it had struck Hezbollah targets in Beirut and southern Lebanon overnight. Lebanon reported that Israeli warplanes executed intense air strikes on

Southern Beirut, and it caused massive destruction, with dozens of buildings leveled. The U.S. delegations returned from the region after

making no progress on a range of issues.

A federal judge has sent the case over Elon Musk's million dollar giveaway to registered voters back to the state court. The case had been moved to

the federal level at the request of Mr. Musk and his super PAC. The Philadelphia district attorney brought the case saying the program amounted

to paying people to register to vote.

Striking Boeing workers announced plans to vote on Monday on a new contract offer. It would include a 43 percent pay rise over four years and a bigger

signing bonus. Factory workers have voted down two previous offers from the company.

Comcast, one of the largest U.S. television companies, is considering splitting off its cable networks. This could include networks USA, CNBC and

MSNBC. The decline of cable T.V. subscription is a major challenge for Comcast and its competitors, and that, of course, includes our own owner,

Warner Brothers Discovery.

And to our top story. Today's week jobs report, comes as broader data shows a resilient U.S. economy. Robert Reich says Kamala Harris should talk more

about the good economy. The man who was Labor Secretary 30 years ago, instead now is taken to Instagram, TikTok and X to try to spread that

message. He has around a million followers on each platform, and he makes the case for Kamala Harris with videos like this one.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Donald Trump left office for the lowest approval rating of any president ever. But some people now seem to be suffering from

amnesia. Let me jog your memory. Here are the 10 worst things about the Trump presidency.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[16:35:04]

QUEST: Robert Reich is with me now. We'll deal with TikTok et cetera in a moment. Let's just talk about this jobs number. We can pull anything like

you like out of it. In a sense, it can be all things to all men and women. But the reality is, it's not a particularly encouraging way to go into a

weekend just before the election.

ROBERT REICH, FORMER U.S. LABOR SECRETARY: No, it's not. Richard the unemployment rate is 4.1 percent. That's about the best unemployment rate

going into an election in 25 years. But I agree with you, in terms of job creation, it is something of a disappointment, and I can explain the

disappointment if you'd like, but that's up to you.

QUEST: Right. Well, I think we know the reasons why, because of weather and Boeing strikes and the like. What I'm particularly interested in is, why do

you think that Harris and the Biden administration is not getting, in a sense, credit for having put the U.S. economy back on the rails.

REICH: I think because there's a lag between public perception of how good the economy is and how actually objectively good the economy is. I mean,

when you think about what was accomplished by the Fed and the Biden administration in terms of what economists call a soft landing from

inflation that was double digit down to inflation that is now 2.1 percent. Very close to the Fed's target level.

And on top of that, extraordinary public investments in infrastructure, which are going to increase productivity and also in manufacturing. But

these investments and all this good news has to catch up with public perceptions because a lot of the public is still feeling and you can't --

you can't tell people that that they're feeling something that they're not feeling. They're still feeling grumpy about the economy.

QUEST: You have embraced social media like few others of your generation. Was it deliberate? Did it happen by accident or did you realize that if you

wanted to get a message across, a social message across, you better learn how to do it, because that was going to be the new vehicle.

REICH: Well, actually, my son, my second son, Sam Reich who's very involved in social media, and everybody under the age of 30 knows dropout T.V. Now

you don't know it, I don't know it, but that's what Sam does. But what Sam said to me about 10 years ago, he said very kindly to his old dad, Dad, I

understand you're a writer, and you like to think of yourself as a writer, and you've written a lot of books, but if you want to really affect the

thinking of my generation, you have got to embrace social media and videos and podcasts and you've got to dive in.

And I had no idea, Richard, what he was talking about, but I -- but with some careful tutoring from Sam, I have dived in.

QUEST: And what's interesting, we're looking at some of the videos. In reality, it's exactly what you and I have been doing all our professional

careers. It's taking a message, it's simplifying where necessary, and it's putting it out there, and it's learning to do it in a different medium, and

you've been very successful at it. And as we come into this election where economics is so important, that's become very relevant, hasn't it?

REICH: I think it has. And one of the problems that many communicators have, and you don't have this problem and I luckily don't have the problem

because I have been spending so much of my career teaching undergraduates and graduate students. But one of the problems people have, particularly

with regard to the economy, is explaining economic reality in ways that people can understand.

And you can't totally separate economics from sociology and politics and history, and I think that combination is very important for people to get.

Economics should not be something that people fear or look at with sort of through a glass dark leg. They need -- they need to understand the

fundamentals.

QUEST: I'm grateful, sir. The economic reality, that's what we're talking about and you're very good at explaining it. Thank you, as always, for

being on QUEST MEANS BUSINESS. I'm grateful to you. Thank you.

QUEST MEANS BUSINESS continues. It is the death toll from the flash floods in Spain. It -- the numbers, I mean, we're talking 200 plus. It's expected

to rise.

[16:40:08]

We'll talk about that as more rain is forecast will be in Spain in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: Intense rainfall is set to southern Spain on Friday and a red warning is in place for parts of the coast. The numbers of people dead so

far from the flash floods is absolutely horrific. More than 200 people perished as flood waters swept through the east of the country earlier this

week. Most of the people were from the Valencia Region, which is the worst hit. The Spanish military has now been deployed to assist in rescue

efforts.

Clean up, if you will operations are underway, but as you can see, you can see the magnitude of what they are facing. So, it is not going to be easy

or quick and it's going to be extremely painful as more victims are discovered. Atika Shubert is with me from Valencia. Atika --

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Richard, you know the destruction, the level of destruction here is just staggering. And it's so bad that many of

the highways have been blocked off. There are cars piled on top of each other, and what that's meant is that emergency services can't get through

to a lot of the areas. And what we saw today, we actually walked to some of these areas with an army of volunteers that decided to help on foot if they

could. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHUBERT (voice-over): In a dystopian scene of Spain's deadliest floods in decades. Dozens of cars and debris are piled on top of what was a railroad

in eastern Spain. With a year's worth of rainfall plummeting down in just hours on Tuesday, hundreds of people have been killed, according to

authorities. And the death toll is only expected to rise. The extreme weather has caused a surge of water to break bridges, damaging homes and

cars along the way.

With the floods turning gray roads into a muddy brown, these satellite images taken less than two weeks apart show the sheer level of destruction

the floods have left behind. But now armed with broomsticks and shovels, locals have been coming in droves to clean up the streets. Some tell us how

they turned up just to help.

[16:45:02]

TANIA, LOCAL VOLUNTEER: We wanted to help because we know there are a lot of people

suffering, so we told (INAUDIBLE) bring clothes and everything and water.

SHUBERT (voice-over): There have been widespread concerns about official warning systems. Many residents saying they were alerted too late.

VALENTIN MANZANEQUE FERNANDEZ, LOCAL VOLUNTEER (through translator): The storm hit in the morning, but the water didn't get to us until 8:00 in the

evening. Yet nobody warned us, nothing, nobody cared. At 70 years old, I had to go with these old clothes to change, but I haven't even been able to

take a shower.

SHUBERT (voice-over): This children's school was also affected by the tragedy. Its interior severely damaged.

SHUBERT (on camera): You can see just how high the waters were, more than chest high, higher than a child. And this is a school. All of this

equipment, we are told is brand new. It's been completely destroyed by the mud and the flooding from the river.

SHUBERT (voice-over): Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has called this Spain's worst natural disaster in a century. And E.U. officials warned of

the flood's wider implication.

FLORINKA FINK-HOOJER, E.U. ENVIRONMENT ENVOY: A tragedy like this one is not just the Spanish one. It really affects all of us in Europe.

SHUBERT (voice-over): In the wake of the destruction, the Spanish government says it has deployed more than a thousand soldiers to help the

clean up and rescue efforts. But as more rainfall is expected in the coming days, meteorologists say this human-made crisis is only going to get worse.

SHUBERT: Now fortunately, there hasn't been much rain in this region so far, but the storm hasn't left either. It's actually still raining in

Mallorca, where there is flooding, for example, and so emergency services are warning people that it's not over yet. In the meantime, as they try and

clear debris, they're still focused on trying to find the missing. There are still many more that have not been found, Richard.

QUEST: Atika Shubert and you will continue to report more as we have it. After the break, Donald Trump is speaking. We're going to watch what he is

saying. He's getting his one of his rallies at the moment. We'll watch it after the break. We will listen in to see what he's saying. At the moment,

we're just waiting for it really to get started. There we go, just walking up to the podium. Once he gets into the meeting bench of it, we will join.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:50:13]

QUEST: We started a program with Kamala Harris at her work rally in Wisconsin. In Michigan, Donald Trump is now speaking at his campaign rally.

DONALD TRUMP (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: But this has been the thrill of a lifetime for me and for you and for everybody, and now we want to take that

thrill and turn it into let's do business, right? Let's do business. So, it's great to be back in this beautiful state with thousands of proud,

hardworking American patriots. And I'd like to begin by asking a very simple question. I've been doing that lately because it seems so poignant.

Are you better off now than you were four years ago? I don't think so. I don't think so. It's been

-- is that one of the easiest questions you've ever been asked? But I've come today with a message of hope for all Americans with your vote this

election, most important election, you've ever -- even thought about voting. And I will end inflation. I will stop the invasion of criminals

pouring into our country.

And I will bring back the American dream. I'm going to bring it back. You know, yesterday, we had a long day. We started out before 7:00 in the

morning. We went to New Mexico. You know, it's sort of in play because the people can take it anymore that people are pouring through the border.

That's a real border state, but you're a border state. The different sense. Everybody is -- every state is a border state.

We have criminals coming in from -- they fly them in now to the Midwest. Isn't that nice of them? Kamala and you said, you said, who the hell would

want to do it? And so many of those people are hardened criminals coming out of prisons, jails, mental institutions. But this is all you need to

know, Kamala, who's grossly incompetent, broke it. I will fix it. We're going to fix it. We're going to fix it quickly.

America will be bigger, better, bolder, richer, safer and stronger than ever before. This election is a choice between whether we live have four

more years of gross incompetence and failure, or whether we will begin the four greatest years in the history of our country. We'll get it going fast.

And I'm asking you to be excited about --

QUEST: There you have Donald Trump speaking on an incredibly busy day for both parties and President Biden, he's always actually got the job at the

moment. He's been -- he's speaking a moment in Pennsylvania. The President has invented out his administration's support for unions. Currently

speaking, as you see, this is a tremendous area. Look at President Biden in Pennsylvania, Donald Trump in Michigan, Kamala Harris in Wisconsin.

And the states, Michigan, one of those that could make or break the election. New polling shows razor close shape. John King spoke to Michigan

College students who could play a key role in determining the winner in Michigan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): I'm calling to ask Michigan Republican headquarters five days out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If President Trump can count on you and his support in this election.

KING (voice-over): A basement phone bank shift, Ralph Brennan among the Michigan State students helping turn out the vote.

RALPH BRENNAN, CAMPUS COORDINATOR, MICHIGAN TRUMP TEAM: I think there's a red wave coming, especially in Michigan, and I think people will be very

surprised on how many people vote Republican this election.

KING (voice-over): Brennan is 21. A junior economics major from Ohio, but he registered in Michigan for his first vote for president.

BRENNAN: I was a sixth grader when Trump got elected in '16 and I watched him, you know, come to the White House. I watched the inauguration. I

watched all the great things he did.

KING (voice-over): Trump struggled with young voters in 2016 and 2020. Brennan predicts better numbers this time, especially among young men. And

especially after Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ended his campaign and backed Trump.

BRENNAN: I've heard a lot of young guys say how much, how important RFK was to their president, Trump vote. You know, ever since Trump kind of brought

RFK onto the team, onto the campaign, a lot of young men voters really like that and kind of resonate with RFK and what he's done.

KING (voice-over): In a dead heat race organization can be the difference. Halloween Spirit helps.

JADE GRAY, DIGITAL ORGANIZING MANAGER, PROGRESS MICHIGAN: There's cookies too.

KING (voice-over): Treats as well.

GRAY: Will you fill out one of our pledge to vote things?

KING (voice-over): Jade Gray is a progressive organizer, former co- president of the College Democrats here at the University of Michigan.

[16:55:04]

Back on campus to encourage early voting.

GRAY: We know that when we vote we win, and quite frankly, we're getting a lot of people out to vote.

KING (voice-over): Gray's optimism is a big shift. This is our fourth Ann Arbor visit in a year. Back at the beginning, she was down about President

Biden's prospects, and later, she was worried Vice President Harris would still lose too many young voters because of student anger over the Israel-

Hamas conflict.

GRAY: Have you guys voted yet? OK. Yay. Thanks.

KING (voice-over): But she is upbeat now, and credits a mix of constant organizing and a smarter approach from the Harris campaign.

GRAY: It was not just the candidate that switched, but it was really their whole approach to the campaign. And leaning into this idea that memes and

internet culture is a, you know, a mode of communicating about politics has totally transformed this race, and I think will be, you know, one of the

biggest reasons to -- one of the biggest things we should credit I'm saying when, but if she wins.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: John King reporting there. We'll take a profitable moment after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: Tonight's profitable moment. Robert Reich on this program talked about economic reality. We had some of that today in the sense of the jobs

number. The reality is that that don't have a jobs number that is the most encouraging for Kamala Harris going into this election. In fact, far from

it. The reality is the jobs number is a lagging indicator and is still suffering from the effect of course, from the high interest rates that

lasted so long.

It'll be some time, of course, before we get an idea of whether or not the job position has actually improved and by then it'll be, of course, too

late. At least it's not too bad.

And that's QUEST MEANS BUSINESS for tonight. I'm Richard Quest in Dubai. Whatever you're up for the hours ahead. I hope it's profitable. I'll see

you (INAUDIBLE)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Wait a second. Didn't we forgot something? Thank you. CNN's election music, my sweet jam. Both presidential campaigns are

spending their last days on the trail and some of the crucial battle on stage, Wisconsin, Michigan, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, it is

specifically the Badger State for Vice President Harris today where she wrapped up her first event in the last hour.

She has two more tonight. Former President Trump is in Michigan where we just saw him taking the stage in the city of Warren just moments ago,

overshadowing Trump's campaign, perhaps.

[17:00:06]

END