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Quest Means Business

Harris, Trump Hold Final Campaign Events Day Before Election; World Anxiously Watches the US Election; Recent Poll: Majority of Israelis Favor Trump Over Harris; Global Economies Brace For Election Results; Trump Threatens Tariffs On All U.S. Imports; Anger Grows Over Government Response To Disaster. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired November 04, 2024 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:25]

RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST, "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS": There we are. the gavel. Oh, ah, ah. Look at that. We haven't seen that for a while.

Oh sorry. The excitement. So we haven't seen that and it wasn't even a hefty gavel. Somebody will do a quick turn so we can enjoy that moment

again before the program is over. S&P Global appropriately, market people themselves, but they broke the gavel. Well done, Madam. You're in good

company.

This is the way the market has closed. We are off 257 points, down half a percentage point. Those are the markets with a broken gavel and the news of

the day: The sprint to the finish line. Harris and Trump are both holding rallies, nine in total on the final full day of campaigning.

Whoever the next president is, business wants to see progress, starting with migration, taxes, and AI.

And Spain is now deploying further troops, two-and-a-half thousand additional to assist in flood territories.

Live from London tonight, Monday, November 4th. I am Richard Quest in London, elsewhere, I mean business.

Good evening.

It has all led up to this, Donald Trump and Kamala Harris have one day left to make their case to the American voter. Right now, both presidential

candidates are in key swing state of Pennsylvania. The vice president is holding a rally in Allentown. That's due to get underway any moment now.

Donald Trump is speaking in the city of Reading and there are packed schedules on both sides.

The former president held a rally in North Carolina. He has an event in Pittsburgh and he finishes the day in Michigan. As for Harris, all in

Pennsylvania, her rally in Allentown is one of five events that she will host in this crucial swing state.

Meanwhile Donald Trump is dismissing a poll that shows him trailing in Iowa by three points. The Des Moines Register poll has an excellent track

record, and it comes as no surprise, Donald Trump questioned its accuracy and mentioned another one that has him leading.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And by the way, the polls are just as corrupt as some of the writers back there. They can make

those polls sing. They can make them sing, they brag about it.

I got a poll, I am10 points up in Iowa. One of my enemies just puts out a poll, I am three down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: What do you need to know, how is the night going to go tomorrow and how will you know when the polls close and bearing in mind of course, the

first will close in some parts of Kentucky and Indiana at 6:00 PM and almost certainly, Donald Trump wins those.

So, here is our timeline. These are key states.

Remember, most of the states we know where they are going to go. We know New York. We know pretty much Texas, Florida. We know California. So at

7:00 PM, Georgia polls will close and that's 16 votes. Then you've got an extra half hour to the Carolinas. The Pennsylvania closes, that will be the

key one. 8:00 PM. That's that to where we are in Europe, so eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, one o'clock in the morning in the UK, two o'clock in

the morning in Continental Europe.

And then Arizona, Michigan, and Wisconsin, all later. Nevada closes at ten o'clock Eastern and the West Coast has more time where Harris is expected

to win more likely.

Now, Mark Preston is with me in Washington.

Mark, I want you to look at the way in which those numbers are that we've just seen in terms of the polls. We know when they close. Traditionally, we

would have had an indication arguably quite soon, but that's unlikely tonight -- tomorrow night. What do you think?

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, just go back to 2020, only four years ago, it took four days past Election Day before the

presidential election was called and as you just pointed out and you pointed out some of those very key states, Pennsylvania specifically,

Nevada and Arizona, all included in that group of seven battleground states right now, historically count slow.

So Richard, it is going to be an amazing game to watch unfold tomorrow, but the games are not going to be over perhaps until the weekend, maybe even

later.

[16:05:10]

QUEST: So just talk me through, because a lot of us want to -- friends and family have been asking me how do we call a state? What do we do that --

for example, I noticed the AP today put out a statement saying forget what everybody else is doing, we are not going to be will not be bothered, and

indeed, we at CNN, will not be bothered by what other people are doing.

We have a group of #PollGeeks in a room locked away somewhere secret and they are the ones, tell us how it works.

PRESTON: And some of them I know as well and they are poll geeks, and they are very good at what they do. But the same as our Decision Team, so what

we have, Richard, is we have this group of people that come together. They are working over the four years, but you know, when you come into a midterm

election year and then of course, the presidential election year, you have to bring in statisticians, you have to bring in people that understand the

politics of the ground game in all of these different states.

So you bring these people together with different skills, and then you bring in polling. You know, our polling director leads the team and then

you have your editorial people. So it is this mishmash of cooks all in the kitchen together trying to come up with what the example is. And how they

do it, I mean, basically, you will not see a rush.

There is no glory in being first in calling this election, okay? The only glory is getting the election call correctly. Now, you go back about 20

years, we actually go back to 2000. There was actually congressional hearings about how about how networks had called an election. You're not

going to see that this time because the reality is, there is no gain to do it.

So, it is a mathematical formula that is based upon data different streams that all come in at once.

QUEST: Right, so if a particular county in a particular state has voted a particular way and you know historically X, Y, Z, its demographic

composition because it is about demographics, isn't it? But how much, Mark, how much do you think this notion of the shy voter, the White female voter

who you know, no one knows how you're going to vote versus the Black male voter who has gone one way versus the Latino who is offended by the garbage

comment.

How much can we actually say we can predict?

PRESTON: I love this question because it is something I've actually been thinking about a lot the last couple of days because the reality is, we

don't know necessarily know how specific moments have shaped the campaign. We can go ahead and try to conclude what those conclusions will be.

For instance, the comment about Puerto Rico and it being a garbage -- floating garbage pile -- whatever it was. Okay, yes how much did that

really resonate with Puerto Rican voters? And sometimes what I think we do, certainly here in the US is we will group all the Hispanic voters together.

Well guess what? You know, folks who live in Mexico are a lot different than who live in Cuba that are a lot different that live in Puerto Rico. So

that in itself, I think can cause some alarm.

But you're right about the silent voter. Are there women out there who are not necessarily speaking to their husbands about who they're voting for?

And to that point are there women who don't want to tell their friends who are all voting for Kamala Harris that they're voting for Donald Trump?

So that's what I am looking for.

QUEST: So now let's look at the whole question of this undervaluing of the Trump, or is it the overvaluing, whichever way it was. In previous

elections, they've got it. They've got the trump vote wrong by about two or three percent, and Harry Enten was suggesting that many of the polls this

time may be overemphasizing that to counterbalance previous underweighting.

What do we know about this?

PRESTON: Well, first of all, he is the professor so I want to make sure I get an A in Harry Enten's class. So I am going to go with Harry. And Harry

is absolutely right about that because, you know oftentimes, you will see these statisticians and I am not one of them, who will try to weigh out the

poll to make sure that they get the correct number you know, at the end, or at least the most scientific number.

But also I do wonder, you know when you're looking at these undecided or rather these silent voters, like how much is that? And when you compare

that to the vocal voters, right, when you talk about the really loud younger men versus the really loud younger women, who is more likely to

vote? I would argue the younger women are, so will that disparity where we've seen an incredible amount of support for Donald Trump from young men,

well, okay, is that great in an echo chamber, however does it not translate at the polls?

QUEST: Good to see you. You and I will talk about this a million times more. We are our own #PollGeeks in our own world.

Thank you, sir. I am grateful for you.

[16:10:01]

Julie and Scott are with me. They are both card carrying members of the poll geek family and proudly so since -- I do need to talk the serious

stuff of which we are talking.

Scott, I want to start with you, our senior political commentator former assistant to George Bush.

When we look at tomorrow night, we obviously hope it goes smoothly, it goes easily. And if it is tight and narrow and the result is that I guess, it

just goes fairly.

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Absolutely. I mean, my personal view is everybody who is legal to vote in the United States should have

that opportunity to have their vote cast and counted fairly. I do think this and a lot of republicans worry about this, that the longer it goes on,

if it stretches on days and days and days and days, that the general public could begin to lose confidence in it.

That doesn't mean they should, and it doesn't mean anything untoward is happening, but you do hear people expressing concern about like, you know,

its 2024, why can't we count the votes more quickly?

So I am personally hoping for a decisive quicker count to give all Americans confidence that we had a free, fair election and whoever wins is

a legitimate winner.

QUEST: But it is not helpful, is it, when Donald Trump does question exactly this point? You know, I know, Julie knows the exact legitimate

reasons, postal votes have to be counted. People who voted by mail on Election Day, that has to arrive at the voting places.

By definition, it can take longer than the voting. It is not nice. It is not right, perhaps in terms of, you know, it looks weird. But Scott, you

know, that's just the way it is.

JENNINGS: Oh yes, of course. And every state has different rules. You know, on election night, as you were just discussing with Mark, you could see

some states get called very quickly in the evening and then we will have other swing states that have lots of mail-in ballots and other rules that

will cause them to take a few days.

And so I don't really know what is going to happen. I don't have any great prediction, but I do think this: We all need to have confidence in the

diffused system of elections in the United States. It is not centrally controlled by the federal government, we have this diffused system. County

clerks, Secretaries of State, and frankly, just volunteers all over this country who make our democracy work.

I have a lot of faith in this system, and until somebody gives me some hard evidence otherwise, I am going to believe this system is going to do its

job as it always has for nearly 250 years in this country.

QUEST: Julie, Kamala Harris is barnstorming around Pennsylvania, a lot of eggs in one basket.

JULIE ROGINSKY, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: The whole shebang, she knows it. Look, if she wins Pennsylvania, it is going to be very hard for Trump to

overcome that. And conversely, of course, if Trump wins Pennsylvania, she is going to have to run the table almost everywhere else. And so for that

reason, they are both in Pennsylvania.

Now, Trump I know started the day today in North Carolina and I think he went to one other state. She is clearly putting everything into

Pennsylvania and she understands, and the polls have been neck and neck and neck in Pennsylvania. I don't know what their internals show, but obviously

the same thing if both states are spending all of their time barnstorming from East to West in Pennsylvania, from Pittsburgh all the way to

Philadelphia.

QUEST: Let me ask, I've heard so much spoken about the unfairness of the -- or not, the unfairness, the irrelevance in a sense of the Electoral College

in this day and age. You know, this balancing, but actually it was genius, genius of the founding fathers. They balanced population with necessity of

equality.

Now Scott, the fact that they are barnstorming these states on very narrow margins, isn't this the system working? Because the issue in Pennsylvania,

in Michigan, in Wisconsin is the same issue for the country?

JENNINGS: Yes, and I think the system is genius because the states change over time.

QUEST: True.

JENNINGS: And these big states --

QUEST: Florida.

JENNINGS: -- they are barnstorming in now, they have -- you know, they have some of the same issues going on all over the place. But, you know, when I

started, my first presidential campaign was 2000, I am from Kentucky, and it was a swing state back then and so was West Virginia. Now they're not

anymore.

In 2012, I worked in Ohio for Mitt Romney. That was a swing state for many years. it is really not that much of a swing state anymore, but we've had

other states come on the map, and so it does change over time.

I agree with you. I think the system is genius. I was dismayed, frankly, when Tim Walz, the vice presidential Democratic candidate, said we should

abolish the Electoral College. I don't think Tim Walz is smarter than the founding fathers to be honest, and I think the system is working as

designed, and we ought to trust it and not be tinkering around with something that served our nation well for 250 years.

QUEST: All right --

ROGINSKY: Well, yes, you know what? Let me be the historian here and say that the reason we have the Electoral College is because the slave owning

states wanted a little bit more say in how things were going to go. That's historically the reason for it.

I don't think my vote and I vote in New York should count for less than somebody's vote in a house in Pennsylvania, where I happen to have a house

also, but unfortunately it does, despite the fact that there are more people who live in New York than live in Pennsylvania.

The reality is, in a democracy, I think one person, one vote should count. That's not the way this government has set itself up. It is not the way its

ever going to be set up differently because obviously you need to have a constitutional amendment, and smaller states are never going to give up

that power.

[16:15:10]

But to be very clear, your vote in Montana counts for a hell of a lot more than your vote in California and that I think is a little strange when

California has so many -- and Texas for that matter, so many more people.

QUEST: So I do wonder though, I question -- I question how and again, we all know how we got here et cetera, et cetera but there is a weirdness in a

system and by the way, where I am in London or in the UK, we have the potential for exactly the same where -- because its first past the post,

where the popular vote can go in the opposite way to the Electoral College. And the same in the UK, we can have it whereby the popular vote goes

against the number of seats you get in Parliament.

I don't know how, other than by going to PR and we all know what Proportional Representation. Scott, you take that first, then you, Julie.

JENNINGS: Well, look in the United States, you know, we have people and we have a population of the country, but we also have states. I mean, we are a

federalist system. We are not a pure democracy. We weren't set up that way, and so to Julie's comment about Montana, I mean, yes it is a smaller state

with a smaller population. I don't ever hear Democrats expressing the same dismay about Delaware or Rhode Island. They have lots of Democratic

representation.

ROGINSKY: Expressed.

JENNINGS: And so, the reality is its set up this way for a reason to respect both the national population of the United States, but also the

fact that we are still a collection of state governments, we are a federal system, and that is what we are trying to respect here.

And honestly, these guys did a great job setting it up and I don't think we ought to be tinkering around with it.

ROGINSKY: In my life, I never thought I would hear a Republican make an argument for federalism. Welcome to the fight, Scott. I am so happy to hear

it. But look --

QUEST: Right, okay, I want to finish. We can also see Kamala Harris which you might have to join. I've spoken to you both quite a few times over the

month. I am going to leave it like this you go first, Julie, then you Scott.

Find something you can agree on, please. Let's have a bit of comity and civility as we come to the end of this at what's been a very difficult --

what can you agree on, do you think, Julie?

ROGINSKY: I will start end, by where Scott started to say that I am in so much agreement with Scott that there is no reason to doubt the sanctity of

this election, that Scott is absolutely right, that our elections are safe, secure, and democratic with a small D and so I will absolutely second

everything that Scott said in the beginning. He and I, a hundred percent agree on that.

QUEST: Go on Scott, you get the last word.

JENNINGS: Well, I totally agree with Julie, and I also would just say that even though this has been a contentious election and very emotional for

people in both parties, look, the beautiful thing about the United States is, is that after you vote, you get to do it again in two years, and then

two more years, and then two years after that.

And so, so the nature of this democracy is we get to vote all the time, and you can take it out on these politicians anytime you feel like it.

QUEST: Stop, stop, stop, stop. You both got a bell.

Thank you very much. It has been an honor and a privilege to have you on QUEST MEANS BUSINESS over the course of this election, and to prove the

immense nature. I promised you a look at that gavel break that took place. Have a look. This, as we go to break, take a look at how this charming

lady, there we go.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:21:10]

QUEST: Kamala Harris is speaking in Allentown, Pennsylvania. We want to listen in --

KAMALA HARRIS (D), VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: -- corporate price gouging on groceries, about making housing and childcare more affordable.

My plan will be about cutting taxes for workers and middle class families and small businesses, lowering health care costs, including the cost of

home care for our seniors.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: Because here is where I am coming from on this, I believe access to health care should be a right and not just a privilege of those who can

afford it.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: And to those certain individuals who still want to get rid of the Affordable Care Act --

(BOOING)

HARRIS: Trying to take us back to the days when insurance companies could deny people with preexisting conditions, well, to them, we say we are not

going back.

We are not going back.

And we are not going back --

(PEOPLE chanting "We are not going back.")

HARRIS: Were not going back. and we are not going back because ours is a fight for the future.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: Ours is a fight for the future and it is a fight for freedom of a woman like the fundamental freedom of a woman to make decisions about her

own body and not have her government tell her what to do.

And when Congress with Bob Casey's help passes a bill to restore reproductive freedom nationwide --

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: As president of the United States, I will proudly sign it into law.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: So, Pennsylvania, I am here to ask for your vote. I am here to ask for your vote and here is my pledge -- and here is my pledge to you.

As president, I pledge to seek common ground and common sense solutions to the challenges you face. I am not looking -- I am not looking to score

political points. I am looking to make progress.

And I pledge to you --

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

(GROUP chanting "USA.")

HARRIS: It's okay. And --

QUEST: There we have the vice president.

Now the world is watching both candidates very closely in the election, it is perhaps one of the biggest cliches in the world, but it doesn't make it

any less true.

Over my travels, as I've told you often, the contest between Trump and Harris is dominating the conversation wherever I've been. You have been not

backward and coming forward in giving your thoughts and your views and our correspondents are watching from Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.

Let's begin with my friend and colleague, Melissa in Paris.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: American elections are always closely watched here in Europe, but this one really like no other, not only because

of the likely economic consequences of a second Donald Trump term, given his pledges of tariffs on imported goods and what that would mean for the

global economy.

[16:2 5:09]

But also from this continent's point of view, for its security. Remember that the last time Donald Trump was president, there had been all this talk

in Europe of needing to achieve greater strategic independence. The fears are now on the continent that that hasn't gone far enough with the war in

Ukraine, not helping either.

A lot of questions, a lot of attention, then on what happens Tuesday in the United States.

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I am Larry Madowo in Nairobi, where a lot of people here in Kenya and across Africa are watching the US election with

interest. They know that whoever sits in the White House has an impact even here in Africa.

And speaking to people, even while I've been here on the streets, a lot of them tell me they like Donald Trump. They like that he speaks his mind.

They are aware of his more controversial comments, reportedly having called some African nations (bleep) hole countries, but they like that they know

where they stand with him.

And for many religious Africans as well, they are attracted to his opposition to abortion, to LGBT rights. Many Africans also know that Kamala

Harris has Jamaican heritage, therefore, her roots trace back to Africa, but they even know that she has been traveling in Africa as VP to Ghana, to

Zambia and to Tanzania, but there is just a certain attraction to Donald Trump, the myth of the successful businessman and that is just another

reason why they are attracted to the candidacy of Donald Trump and they think he will be a better president for Africa.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Here in Israel, the US presidential election is being closely watched. The outcome being seen

as having a direct impact on this country, too which is, of course, fighting in Gaza and Lebanon and engaged in a spiraling confrontation with

Iran.

One recent opinion poll here suggests a clear majority of Israelis favor Trump over Harris to become the leader of Israel's most important ally.

Trump is remembered for a series of pro-Israel moves when he was president, including moving the US embassy to Jerusalem, recognizing Israeli

annexation of the Golan Heights, and taking a tougher stance on Iran; while the Biden administration, including Vice President Harris, is seen by many

here as having sought to restrain Israel's tough military response in a year since the October 7th attacks.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: Now, the election has economic consequences that you and I have talked about frequently. So, for example, Latin America, where countries

are preparing for the prospect of mass deportations and restrictions on migration; move in that round and you've got Europe trying to Trump-proof

the global policies on climate and assistance and aid to Ukraine; moving a bit further and you end up in China, where it is gearing up for increased

competition on technology and perhaps most threatening of all leaders, wherever they are in the world, are preparing for large scale tariffs,

which we talked about in great detail last week should Donald Trump win.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I am going to immediately impose a 25 percent tariff on everything they send in to the

United States of America.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: If I run this country, if I am going to be president of this country, I am going to put a one hundred, two hundred, two thousand percent

tariff. They are not going to sell one car into the United States.

MARIA BARTIROMO, FOX BUSINESS NETWORK HOST, MORNINGS WITH MARIA": Now, "The Washington Post" is saying that you're talking about 60 percent tariffs on

Chinese goods. Is that in the cards?

TRUMP: No, I would say maybe it is going to be more than that.

Tell Stellantis that if they plan on moving, we are going to charge them a 100 percent tariff on every car they put in, and they won't move.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: Alan Wolff is with me, former deputy director of the WTO, now a distinguished visiting fellow at the Peterson Institute.

Sir, thank you.

Let's not worry too much about the individual tariffs. We spend a lot of time on this program talking about tariffs per se, but if you had to choose

one area of the world that should be most concerned should Donald Trump be elected, would it be Europe? Would it be China?

ALAN WOLFF, FORMER DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF THE WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION: I think they are both vying for that position, Richard. Clearly China is going to

be hit further and Europe keeps getting a lot of attention, including this week in Pennsylvania when the president singled out BMW from Germany and

Mercedes and said, they are terribly unfair, and they have to be -- put tariffs on them at a much higher level.

Right now, the tariff is 2.5 percent. It is going to skyrocket, that's clear.

QUEST: And then you have the question of security guarantees now, of course. I mean let's just spin the globe any which way and backwards:

Europe with NATO; the security guarantee for South Korea versus the North. You've got the question of the ambiguity on the security guarantee for

Taiwan and the transactional nature of Donald Trump, it is if you're not paying, you don't get the umbrella.

ALAN WOLFF, DISTINGUISHED VISITING FELLOW, PETERSON INSTITUTE: This is really the opposite of what governments have done from Franklin Roosevelt,

through Harry Truman in the beginning of the Cold War right up through Obama. Namely, that the United States had a foreign economic policy that

underpinned our security policy, that we would get closer -- integrate closer with the with the democracies, trade with them, and that they had a

common stake with us in a -- in a growing global economy.

QUEST: So, let's play devil's advocate here. If we talk about Vice President Harris, there's a strong argument that could be made in the U.S.

Of course, those Europeans want Harris and all those others, every business as usual, rubbing their hands with glee at the prospect of taking the U.S.

consumer and the U.S. markets for a ride. Of course, they don't want Donald Trump. Harris is the easy touch,

WOLFF: Yes. But on the contrary, it's this is not going to be a tax on them. It's a tax on us, our consumers. You know, the -- when the colonists,

colonists, the Patriots, threw the tea into Boston Harbor, it wasn't because they thought that the British tea merchants were going to pay the

tax. They knew was going to pay the tax, we were going to pay the tax, the American consumer.

That's still true today. So, you know, the Peterson Institute has come up with $3,600 per family additional cost. That's just for the 20 percent

tariff that Trump has called upon everybody paying up and then 60 percent in China.

QUEST: Alan --

(CROSSTALK)

QUEST: Sorry. We had four years of Donald Trump before, quite often his bark is worse than his bite. Do you believe that because the guardrails,

because of the Supreme Court decision on immunity, that it would be a much different administration than the last time?

WOLFF: Absolutely. The fact is, he's quite serious about tariffs. Talks about tariffs all the time. He talks about tariffs for retaliation. He

talks about tariffs for industrial development as if he's talking about infant industries, the way Alexander Hamilton was. So, you know, but there

was a 25 percent tariff he put on on steel. Are we producing more steel in the United States today in 2024 than we were in 2017 before he put on the

tariff?

No, we put a 10 percent tariff. He put a 10 percent tariff on aluminum. Are we producing more primary aluminum in this country than we were in 2017?

No, it's the same. So, people are paying more for everything that's made with products that bore those tariffs, we didn't get the benefit of really

renaissance in those industries. And if you put tariffs on everything, we're going to be paying on all the things we don't produce here, and

prices are going to shoot out on -- particularly pharmaceuticals. Most of our pharmaceuticals are actually now made abroad.

QUEST: So, Alan, let me -- let me just -- final question which will -- we have -- we've all been banging on about this. Economists have, television

commentators have. It's having no effect. The message hasn't got through. His supporters don't seem to either get that message or care about it.

WOLFF: There's no alternative but to demonstrate where we are today which is a robust economy with very low unemployment compared with where we were

when Herbert Hoover made the mistake of signing a smooth Hawley tariff in 1930. Trump says, I don't want to be remembered as a Herbert Hoover. He

says that because he says Herbert Hoover inherited a bad economy and he got blamed with it.

But actually, it's for a different reason in this case. He's planning on putting on tariffs. He says he'll put on tariffs. I think we have to

believe him. And tariffs on everything, tariffs at a very high level, tariffs for many reasons, and we're going to pay a price for that. And yes,

he'll be remembered as a Herbert Hoover. Why did 13 presidents since Herbert Hoover decide that cutting tariffs increased employment, increased

economic activity in the United States? Because it works, it did work. It does work now and will work.

[16:35:08]

QUEST: I'm grateful that we'll talk in the future, and thank you for your time. QUEST MEANS BUSINESS growing anger in Spain in the wake of the deadly

floods. We'll be in Valencia in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: Anger is mounting in Spain in the wake of last week's deadly flooding, more than 200 people were killed. Presidents say the government's

response has been slow and coordinated and too late. Meanwhile, more heavy rain has been falling along the Mediterranean coast. This video was taken

at Barcelona airport. CNN'S Atika Shubert reports from Valencia.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The waters have receded, but the scene remains apocalyptic. A week after the first torrential rain, some

normality is returning barely. Across Valencia, first responders and countless volunteers continue the search for the dozens still missing

feared to be stuck beneath the mud in flooded garages or warehouses where access is difficult.

The delay in aid has angered many in Valencia. Those frustrations erupted on Sunday when King Felipe and Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez visited the

badly affected suburb of Paiporta.

Asesino, they shouted, murderer. King Felipe and Queen Letizia stayed to face people's anger.

Prime Minister Sanchez did not, whisked away by security. Hearing the stories of the many here who lost literally everything and the criticism of

those who believe the government failed them. It can't be like this, this young man tells the king. They knew about the storm and did nothing. Trough rain and mud, they listened to the horror

and pleas for food and water and power.

[16:40:03]

We only ask for help, this woman says. We're not asking for anything else.

Help has been arriving often in the form of young volunteers, shocked to find they were the first to arrive.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yesterday, we was in one of the village we don't know why the police, why the military are -- they don't go and so --

SHUBERT (on camera): There were -- there were no police, no military there?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No one was there.

SHUBERT (voice-over): Specialized equipment is finally coming through days late. Power and water has been mostly restored to affected areas. But for

people in Valencia, it's too little, too slow and too late.

Atika Shubert, CNN, Valencia, Spain.

QUEST: As we continue in a moment, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce as business braces for tomorrow's election. Never mind what individual policies or

which party, what do you want? They'll tell us after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: Ahead of this pivotal election, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is about long-term slowdown in growth. It says GDP grew on average 3.4 percent

between 1950 and 2010 and that slowed in the last decade. The CBO says it could go down even further. The chamber is encouraging new policies on

issues like A.I., trade and immigration to break that trend.

Neil Bradley is the chief policy officer at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. You're not going to tell me which candidate you think is better positioned,

I think for those policies or maybe you will.

NEIL BRADLEY, CHIEF POLICY OFFICER U.S. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: Well, it depends on the issue. I think there are some issues where we're probably

more aligned with former President Trump and thinking particularly about taxes and regulation. There are other issues like tariffs and trade where I

think Harris -- Vice President Harris, might be a little closer. There are some issues that, frankly, we'd like to take a little bit from Trump and a

little bit from Harris and we might end up with a better policy at the end of the day. So, it really depends on what issues that we're talking about.

QUEST: The agenda which you clearly want is one of being business friendly. But I do think that at a time of difficulties, of course, you're going to

get taxed left, right and center. Regardless, we've seen that in the U.K., where I am tonight. The taxation on business is an easy target, especially

when budgets are tight.

[16:45:02]

BRADLEY: It may be an easy target for some politicians, but certainly a misguided one. This is why we're really focused on economic growth. You

know, when it comes to growing an economy, not all tax hikes, not all tax cuts are created equal. And what we're really concerned about is if, if

focus turns to some of the tax hikes that actually would hurt investment in our growth, investment in creating new and startup businesses, the

investment needed to scale artificial intelligence.

What we really need is whoever the next president is, whoever the new members of Congress are. We need a laser focus on productivity and economic

growth, because that's going to be the key to a more prosperous America.

QUEST: What's your biggest fear? If you look out? I mean, besides the prospect of a -- of -- of an undecided or a disputed election, which, of

course, goes on for weeks and causes civil strife and unrest. But in terms of economics, what's your fear?

BRADLEY: Yes, I think our biggest fear is, if we take our eye off the ball. We have a lot of things going well in America, when you think about the

2017 tax code and what we've been able to invest in growing our economy. We still have strong economic growth at this point in the United States when

you think about new technology like artificial intelligence coming online, that has the opportunity to really spark more efficiency in our economy and

greater economic growth.

But if we take our eye off the ball, if we start regulating, frankly, if we start doing some of the things that they're talking about doing in Brussels

and in Europe right now, we might -- we might prevent that growth from ever occurring. So, I think the biggest fear is not being focused on what

policymakers need to do to ensure a more prosperous future.

QUEST: The supply chain issue at the moment is very serious. Remain serious. You've got your members, of course, who talk about this. One of

the things, when I was in in the Gulf region last weekend, people talk about near shoring. They talk about friend shoring, but the core word I

heard again and again was trust shoring, going to those places where either a rogue administration, one way or the other, wouldn't suddenly sanction or

you wouldn't suddenly find it was persona non grata.

BRADLEY: Yes. Listen, it remains an interconnected world and it remains the case that we are, globally all better off when we are engaged in trade,

when commerce is relatively unrestricted. Now there are national security concerns and there are issues as trust, as you say, in certain parts of the

world. What we should really be focused on isn't so much where we're located, where we're moving, kind of supply chains.

But do we have redundancy in our system? Are we able to reach markets and customers globally? I think we have to have a conversation about supply

chains that really takes advantage of the fact that we're a global, interconnected world, not tries to turn away from that.

QUEST: Which, of course, will be so interesting in the next 24, 48 hours. I'm grateful to you, sir. We'll talk about the results and the policies as

they come through. I'm grateful.

Now, as you and I continue our discussion tonight, I was in Bahrain over the weekend talking to the finance minister of Bahrain. Hear what he has to

say on supply chains and the small country that could and will (INAUDIBLE) in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:51:08]

QUEST: If I'm looking a little worse, we'll wear this this evening with you a few bags and (INAUDIBLE) because I flew overnight from Bahrain into

London this morning. I was in Bahrain over the weekend where the country tells the GDP economies of the Gulf Cooperation, the GCC could reach $6

trillion by 2050. The GCC has been refocusing itself, of course, investing beyond oil and gas.

At Gateway Gulf, I sat down with Bahrain's finance minister to talk about economic diversification.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHEIKH SALMAN BIN KHALIFA AL KHALIFA, BAHRAIN MINISTER OF FINANCE AND NATIONAL ECONOMY: This region was seen for many years as a place for

investors to raise capital from. And as more economic development plans started coming to fruition, as more economic plans started going into

execution, what has been created in the region is no longer just a region to raise capital from but it has also become a region in which global

investors can deploy capital into projects that can deliver fantastic returns for them.

QUEST: What sort of projects are we talking about in a non-oil and gas environment?

AL KHALIFA: So, the Kingdom of Bahrain today, we have a very diversified economy, which is more than 85 percent non-oil. And as we look around the

region, what is happening rapidly in all of the economies in the GCC is an increase in the diversification. More economic activity in other sectors

and that brings along with it, a lot of opportunities for investment. So as an example, we are focused in the Kingdom of Bahrain on a number of

sectors, the logistics sector, the tourism sector, banking and finance, which is today the largest sector in our economy, manufacturing, technology

and telecoms and the oil and gas sector.

QUEST: I could arguably say every other country in the region is going to tell me the same version of that.

AL KHALIFA: Well, I'm very glad that they're telling you that because that means that all of us are working together to increase economic activity,

increase the pie for the whole region, and this rising tide will lift with it, all of the economies of the region. So today, the GCC economies are in

total about $2.3 trillion in GDP. And as we look forward, that $2.3 trillion of GDP is expected to go to $3 trillion by 2030. And

conservatively estimated to go to $6 trillion of GDP by 2050.

That growth, in and of itself, and the diversification that we are seeing in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the continued economic growth that we're

seeing in the United Arab Emirates, the two of them together represent more than 75 percent of GCC GDP creates opportunities for all the countries in

the region, Bahrain included, and especially Bahrain, as we build very strong

infrastructure, in logistics, in tech, in manufacturing to service those economies.

QUEST: I'd be remiss if I didn't ask you about the election. Are you worried about protectionism following on from the election? Are you worried

that we could be about to see a dramatic shift?

AL KHALIFA: We are here in the Kingdom of Bahrain. We are focused on our economic development. We're focused on always working with our strategic

partners in the best interest of growing trade, in terms of growing economic ties, and we wish everybody the best.

QUEST: When we look at the problems facing the world, doesn't matter which one we choose at the moment. Some people would suggest that they're worse

than we've ever seen them before because some of them are existential, like climate change, like energy transition.

Do you think we're up to the task?

[16:55:01]

AL KHALIFA: We are up to the task. And during any period of challenge in the world, what ends up happening is we come out better. And the greater

the challenge, the greater the reward. And today, a lot of the challenges that the world faces are interconnected and interlinked, and the right way

in which we can overcome them is with collective action. And it takes groups of countries working together to ensure that we overcome the

challenges and turn those challenges into opportunities for our citizens and for the people of the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: That's the minister from Bahrain. I'll have a profitable moment for you after the break.

QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: Tonight's profitable moment. So, the election time is already here and I've already voted, as I've told you on several occasions. Now, as a

dual citizen, the deed has been done, and we now wait for the results. When I spoke to Julian Scott tonight, it was really important to me that we

found common ground, consensus agreement. Not because it's the lowest common denominator but because that is what compromise and politics is all

about.

At some point, there will be a victor, there will be a loser, and everybody moves on for the betterment of the collective society. That is how it's

supposed to work. And of course, there are concerns and worries that it won't be like that this time round. I don't know how it will be -- you

don't know how it's going to be. We can only hope for the best and be prepared for the worst, if you will.

Whatever happens there is a majesty of the moment, a process that is absolutely superb. And much as I hate quoting Winston Churchill because

everybody does it, democracy may be an absolute but it's the best one that we've got and it's certainly better than all the rest.

And that's QUEST MEANS BUSINESS for tonight. I'm Richard Quest in London. Whatever you're up to in the hours ahead, I hope it's profitable. And if

you have to vote, somewhere, go and vote.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper. And we're almost there, folks. It is election eve in America, at this time tomorrow,

we will be just one hour away from the very first polls closing in the 2024 election.

[17:00:08]

Right now, you're listening --

END