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Quest Means Business
150-plus Dead In Myanmar And Thailand After Major Earthquake; E.U. Economic Minister Seeks To Avoid Counterproductive Tariffs; Inflation Fears, Uncertainty Spark Wall Street Selloff; Mitch McConnell Criticizes Donald Trump's Approach To Russia; U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance Attacks Denmark On Trip To Greenland; Bitcoin Sinks As U.S. Markets Confront Inflation Fears; Donald Trump Speaks About Tariffs Aboard Air Force One; Robot Squirrel Aims For Giant Leap In Space Exploration. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired March 28, 2025 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[16:00:07]
RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST, "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS": Closing bell ringing on Wall Street. Riverdance, the dance troupe, they are ringing the
closing bell. Nothing really to sing about or dance about today. Horrible day. We are just off the lows. Very marginally. But it is a bad day. Come
on, let's see the gavel to put us out of our misery for the weekend. Come on, come on.
One. Two. Three. Trading is over. Horrible day on the markets. We will go into all the details. Those are the markets and these are the main events
of the day.
A powerful 7.7 magnitude quake devastates Myanmar. More than a hundred people are dead. Certainly that number is going to rise considerably.
All the talks of tariffs leading Americans to worry about high inflation could come back. Consumer confidence has taken a hit.
And the head of Britain's financial watchdog is wanting more young people investing in stocks and bonds. Apparently, it is all crypto these days. The
head will be with me live, because we are live in London. It is Friday, March the 28th. I am Richard Quest. Together, lets end the week because I
mean business.
Good evening.
Considerable search and rescue operations are well underway in Myanmar and in Thailand after that massive 7.7 magnitude earthquake which hit on Friday
afternoon. It was near Myanmar's second largest city, Mandalay. The tremors have caused significant damage in neighboring Thailand. Look at the map and
you'll see exactly how close everything is there and why there is such cross border effect.
A hundred and fifty people have been killed. That's the number we know so far. Seven hundred at least injured. But the one thing I can tell you from
many years of covering earthquakes is that those figures almost certainly will rise and officials are agreeing with that rise considerably, perhaps.
International aid workers say the damage is enormous. It could be weeks until the full extent is understood.
CNN's Will Ripley is in Bangkok, he joins me now.
The closeness of Thailand and Myanmar and the buildings that collapsed in Bangkok, tell me more, Will, please.
WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Richard, I am standing around 600 miles from the epicenter of this earthquake, and yet you see behind me
the huge pile of rubble, what's left of a 30-story building, a government building that was under construction here that collapsed.
I mean, when you see people next to the twisted concrete and steel, I mean, they look like ants and even the heavy equipment that they brought in to
dig through the building because they think there are around a hundred people still in there. They've found 13 people dead so far, eight people
alive.
So there is still hope, and they are working around the clock, hoping that they can find more people alive, trapped, and perhaps pockets of this
twisted building.
But there are reports of a thousand buildings across Bangkok where they are requesting a structural inspection. And so far, two residential buildings
have been evacuated because they have damage that engineers have determined could make the building structurally unsound.
And again, 600 miles away from the epicenter. There is no fault line here in Bangkok, just soft soil, that's why the shaking was felt so intensely
here. That's why rooftop swimming pools turned high rises into waterfalls, essentially. But what we are not seeing is a whole lot of video and
information coming out of Myanmar, because communications are spotty. Even on a good day, they only have electricity about 12 hours a day. So they're
getting, you know, details on social media.
But the size of this quake, the largest quake that most people have seen in their lifetime, probably in at least a hundred years, it is going to be
enormous. We've already seen, you know, the limited videos out of Myanmar, an iconic temple that just disappeared from the skyline, a bridge that fell
into the river in pieces. Reports of numerous building collapses and even a rare plea by the military junta, which is locked in a four-year Civil War
asking people to donate blood and asking the international community for help.
But just getting in there and navigating the twisted web, Richard, of all of these militias that are controlling different areas, it is going to be a
real struggle and a real nightmare to get the badly needed help to scores of people who undoubtedly need it.
QUEST: Right. We are going to be talking in Myanmar in just one moment, just to conclude on, before we leave you on Thailand there in Bangkok. Is
it believed now that the situation in Bangkok is understood? It is known that there are others that are waiting to be rescued.
RIPLEY: The most urgent situation in Bangkok is the one that's unfolding behind me, Richard. And you have hundreds of recovery and rescue workers
that are here. Thailand is very well equipped to handle this sort of thing. That's not the case over the border in Myanmar.
And so, they know that there are about a hundred people in that building. They don't know how many of them are alive, how many of them are
desperately in need of medical care and they're trying to kind of delicately pick through the pieces if they can, but eventually they're just
going to get in the heavy machinery and start to dig in more haste.
[16:05:19]
They also have drones flying up overhead just looking for any signs of life. They've heard some, but there is a lot of silence out of that
building tonight, too much silence, frankly.
QUEST: Will Ripley in Bangkok. Grateful, sir. Thank you.
Dr. Kyi Minn is the National Director of World Vision International Myanmar who joins me from Yangon.
The situation, as you understand it now, is what?
DR. KYI MINN, NATIONAL DIRECTOR, WORLD VISION INTERNATIONAL MYANMAR: The situation in Yangon is quiet and calm because Yangon is not very much
affected. The most affected areas are in central Myanmar, Mandalay and the capital, Naypyidaw, and some part of the Gyan Mogwai, and also Shan State,
and as well as in Bago.
So we only have tremors at the start of the earthquake and now it died down, but there is a devastating damage in Mandalay and Naypyidaw.
QUEST: Are you able to speak or have you been able to contact anybody in Mandalay? Are there -- is there information coming out? Because the
devastation must be quite enormous.
MINN: Yes. As soon as the earthquake hit, we tried to call, but all the phone lines were cut. Now, we are able to communicate with them in the
evening, and our staff on the ground in Mandalay, they all are safe, but they are assessing the situation.
And there are several building collapsed and several people injured. So we are still getting in to get into these places because the road is or the
roads are also damaged, especially the highway from Yangon to Mandalay is severely damaged. And also the airport, Mandalay Airport, is also being
affected, as well as the Naypyidaw.
So in Naypyidaw, the air controller tower is collapsed and also in Mandalay Airport also being affected and the runways are damaged.
QUEST: The authorities have basically said we are welcoming all and every piece of aid from wherever it comes. So one imagines that in the hours and
days ahead, look, I know it is never fast enough. I know it is never fast enough, but it will start arriving before too long from international aid
agencies and from other regional countries.
MINN: Yes, the government officially announced for the plea for this devastating earthquake and this is the opportunity where the international
community can come and help and will be able to help the country in person.
QUEST: It is going to take quite some time, isn't it? Because even in the most sophisticated environments dealing with earthquakes requires
machinery. It requires sniffer dogs. It requires -- I mean, the sheer amount of stuff.
And if this is as bad as we suspect and believe, it is on an epic scale.
MINN: Yes, it would take -- I think it would take even months and maybe some years, because the infrastructure is damaged. And currently even, you
know, if we are thinking about how to go into this areas because the highway is damaged, the airport is damaged, so we are finding a way how to
get there. It will need a special way to go there. So, yes, for the rehabilitation, it is quite, quite difficult.
QUEST: Well, I am very grateful, sir, that you've spoken to us and that all your staff and all your volunteers are safe and thank you very much indeed,
please keep us informed as things continue. I am grateful.
MINN: Thank you.
QUEST: Now, this earthquake was caused by a strike slip fault, as it is known.
Now, this is where two tectonic plates move side by side. CNN's Derek Van Dam explains why it was so destructive and how some buildings were designed
to withstand the shaking.
DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Extraordinary video coming out of Thailand and Myanmar from this devastating 7.7 earthquake. Let's talk about
this video behind me. This coming out of Bangkok, Thailand. Look at the water sloshing around on this high rise building, doing as it is supposed
to.
In fact, some of these high rise buildings are actually designed to have a pool at the top of them to absorb and dampen the intense shaking from an
earthquake nearby. So it is working as it is planned to.
[16:10:10]
Unfortunately, not all buildings survived this earthquake, and we've seen multiple instances of that pancaking effect of the buildings collapsing one
floor by one floor as the severe shaking from this intense earthquake took place, 7.7, the depth, though, that's so crucial, 10 kilometers below the
surface puts it very, very close to the surface of the ground, so where the general population lives, right?
If this was a deeper, focused epicenter, we are talking well over 300 kilometers below the surface, there would be plenty more ground to absorb
that shaking that occurred, but because this was only 10 kilometers deep, that means the potential here for this to create catastrophic damage, and
we've already seen that with the videos coming out of the region.
This was a strike slip fault, so the ground in Central Myanmar actually moved like this next to each other and that built up tension and the energy
associated with that slipping action occurred and resulted in an earthquake that was felt by millions.
In terms of the weak and light shaking, we are talking nearly 90 million people feeling the impacts of this earthquake. We know that Bangkok, which
is over a thousand kilometers away saw damage and felt the shaking from the epicenter that is well to the north and west near this particular part of
Myanmar. So just incredible.
But the significant shaking, the severe and violent shaking was also felt by millions near the epicenter. So we can anticipate aftershocks to
continue for days, if not weeks to come. This is how it works with this powerful of an earthquake. And unfortunately, we need to prepare ourselves
for at least the potential of a high fatality event because we can compare to previous events of similar magnitude taking into consideration the type
of building material that was used to construct the homes, the buildings, the houses in and around this region, and the damage that we've already
seen on the ground. This will likely be a high impact event, and we know that just basing it off of previous events.
So let's talk about going forward, the search and recovery effort that is ongoing and will be for the days and weeks to come. No significant weather
situations in this forecast. I guess that's the glimmer of hope here. The only concern that I do have is that it is extremely hot in and around
Mandalay, for instance, near the epicenter.
So with this type of heat, without electricity, without the ability to cool oneself, without hospitals being able to create ice for instance, this
could serve as a compounding factor in this search and recovery effort. Back to you.
QUEST: Derek Van Dam for us there about the geological side of it.
Now to the markets, brutal, that's the word for it. Well talk about inflation fears that really did clobber the market and once again the
NASDAQ bore the brunt of it, off nearly three percent on the day. Perhaps entirely understandable when you think of what's happening elsewhere in the
economy, in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:15:53]
QUEST: The E.U.'s Economy Minister has warned that Donald Trump's trade war could slash global GDP by an amount equal to the economies of France and
Germany combined.
I spoke earlier today to Valdis Dombrovskis, we were both in Brussels, and he is still seeking to avoid tit-for-tat tariffs with the United States.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VALDIS DOMBROVSKIS, EUROPEAN UNION ECONOMY MINISTER: On tariffs, we had been making very clear from our side that we see those moves of Trump
administration as counterproductive, which are going to hurt both U.S. and E.U. economy, and we are engaged intensively now with the administration to
try to seek negotiated solution.
QUEST: But for instance, on cars, on automobiles, you know, the U.S. says that the E.U. is unfair in the way it puts tariffs on incoming automobiles,
deliberately designed to prevent exports of automobiles from the U.S.
DOMBROVSKIS: Well, I wouldn't say so, but from E.U. side, we are open to engage on those discussions and find mutually acceptable solutions. Then
again, if of course, we are not successful in those negotiations, we are ready to respond in a proportionate way.
QUEST: On this question of the economic effect, and I will grant you, we don't know, tariffs on tariffs off, tariffs up tariffs down. But what's
your best economic guess for how it is going to affect the E.U.?
DOMBROVSKIS: Well, we expect negative economic effect both on U.S., E.U., and global economy. And actually there had been some IMF studies on the
cost of global economic fragmentation. So what happens if there are those trade barriers and trade concentrates within certain economic blocs? And
the result is that that would lead over the medium term to seven percent lower global GDP and it is like taking Germany's and France's combined GDP
out of the world map.
QUEST: When we look at the reforms necessary in the E.U. at the moment, everybody talks of the Draghi Report and I've seen the president of the
commission's roadmap and plan, and I've seen the council, the council has said, but it is time -- the time for talk is over.
DOMBROVSKIS: Well, actually, we already started this work and one of the first initiatives of the new European Commission was so-called
competitiveness compass, where we are exactly outlining what we are going to do to strengthen the E.U.'s competitiveness, where we need to close the
innovation gap, where we need to pursue what we call competitive decarbonization, address high energy prices, also reduce administrative
burdens and we are already working across all of those workstreams.
QUEST: Is there the urgency in this building to do it?
DOMBROVSKIS: Well, indeed, there is this urgency because we understand that the world is also getting more complex, more conflictual. And as a E.U., we
will need to stand more on our own feet. So for this, we need strong and competitive economy. And for this we need also to invest much more in our
defense capabilities and defense industries to strengthen our security.
QUEST: You're one of the longest standing members of the Cabinet, of the College, as you call it. What do you think you've learned over the years
here?
DOMBROVSKIS: Well, exactly as I was saying, that, E.U. is ready to react quickly if it is necessary. We do have our complex decision making
structures, and sometimes it takes time and we have indeed endless discussions, but when we need to concentrate, we are actually able to
concentrate and deliver quickly.
QUEST: Do you still enjoy it?
[16:20:10]
DOMBROVSKIS: Well, that's certainly --
QUEST: You do enjoy it.
DOMBROVSKIS: That's certainly an interesting job to do. I probably would have preferred a quieter global environment, but okay, we need to respond
to the reality as it is.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: Wah-wah-wah-wah-wah-wah-wah. The good, the bad and the ugly. The economic numbers that we are looking at and that Wall Street is watching so
closely. The Dow shed 715 points, it is not the low, but just about the low of the day. The S&P down two percent, the NASDAQ is off nearly three
percent, and that brings us back to wah-wah-wah-wah-wah. I am determined to keep singing that.
The classic western, "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly." So you've got the numbers. So the good is the retail spending numbers. Retail spending rose
last month, yet the growth was far less than expected. The bad has to be, as you can imagine, the inflation fears we talked of. Core PCE inflation
ticked higher last month amid uncertainty over Trump's trade war, and that's likely to get worse as trade tariffs push up.
But the real one, of course, is the ugly, consumer sentiment. Forward looking, we had the conference board. Now, we've got the University of
Michigan survey showing it fell a whopping 12 percent since February.
Rana is with me. So, I mean, look, it makes perfect sense when we look at the dislocation that's taking place. It would be extraordinary if we
weren't seeing some of these things.
But how much? Where does it go? How much worse? Bearing in mind that consumer sentiment number.
RANA FOROOHAR, CNN GLOBAL ECONOMIC ANALYST: Well, great question. I mean, I think what's looming behind all of this is tariffs, right? I mean, you
know, we just don't know. I heard you say earlier, it is quite right. We don't know what's coming down next week, we don't know if something is
going to come down on Tuesday and then it is going to change by Wednesday, and that's part of what we are seeing.
I think that the amount of uncertainty is a dampener, not only for businesses, but seriously for consumers. I know it is personally impacting
decisions that I am making on a daily basis just not knowing where things are going to be, and that's really what you're seeing here I think.
QUEST: So we have to go deeper in a sense and look at -- because the President has said that, you know, there will be short term economic pain.
And certainly everybody in automobile says, yes, car sales will probably fall, prices will drop, et cetera, et cetera.
But if this plays out then you know, the U.S. auto industry will benefit in the long run, but I guess the long run is a very long way.
FOROOHAR: Well, I am actually glad that you brought it up in that way, because oftentimes when people talk about tariffs, you know, it is all
about the short term and it is about panic and it is about inflation and that is -- you know, these are good points to make.
But you're right, there is an endgame here and I think it is interesting what is happening in autos because, you know, to be fair, U.S. tariffs on
other nations in terms of autos are much lower than what say, Europe puts on the U.S. and this is part of this larger burden sharing paradigm that
Trump is all about.
He is saying Europeans, you've got to pay more for your defense. World, you've got to pay more in a tariff system that was really set up, you know,
in the postwar period and doesn't make sense anymore.
I mean, when the current tariff structure was really put into place, America was about 60 percent of the global economy. We are now somewhere
between 20 and 25 percent, depending on you know, what day you're talking about, things will need to change, and it is going to be painful.
QUEST: Now, Ngozi at the WTO said to me a couple of weeks ago that yes, there were legitimate concerns. And I guess the administration's argument
would be if we'd just gone along and said, oh, let's have a nice chat about this at the WTO in Geneva, all that we would have got is very large expense
bills, and nobody would have actually been willing to do anything, and there is a certain faith in that.
But -- and there is where I question the whole thing, you don't then need to go and attack the USMCA, which was designed to specifically address this
sort of thing.
FOROOHAR: Well, you've landed on the one thing that I think is confusing, even to people like me, that are somewhat sympathetic about rejiggering the
global trade system.
You can make a good argument that Europe needs to change. It is harder, as you say, to make that argument about USMCA, in part because Trump
negotiated it. Also, and this is what I can't get my brain around.
[16:25:10]
In Trump 1, the tariffs on China actually moved a lot of production regionally. It integrated North America -- Canada, U.S. and Mexico much
more deeply. We are now unwinding that. Why? You know, that is a big question mark. And I would love to see some articulation on the part of the
administration and President around that.
QUEST: And of course, we will talk more about it because this is -- and also, you don't have to be offensive about the way you deal with your
allies, I suppose, is one of the ways.
FOROOHAR: No.
QUEST: Such as the Denmark -- talking of that, thank you very much, Rana. Have a lovely weekend.
FOROOHAR: Thank you.
QUEST: Don't dwell on it too much. Have a good weekend, and I will see you back in New York.
Now, we were just talking then about the whole thing of being offensive. Well, arguably, J.D. Vance is making an offensive trip by taking aim at
Denmark on this controversial trip to Greenland.
The U.S. Vice President attacked the NATO ally for the underinvestment in the people of Greenland. We will have that story for you in just a moment.
This is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, delighted you're with me.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: A very good evening to you. I am Richard Quest. You and I, we have a lot more QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.
Vice President Vance is in Greenland. He is visiting the territory's leader or the territory's leader is calling Vance's visit highly aggressive.
The chief executive of the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority says crypto could come back to haunt young investors. Nikhil Rathi will join us. We
will be on our best behavior.
Before that though, this is CNN and here, the news always comes first.
Israel says it hit a key Hezbollah stronghold in Southern Beirut. It is the first time Israel struck Lebanon's capital since the ceasefire agreement in
November. It follows reports two projectiles were fired at Israel from Lebanon. Hezbollah has denied any involvement, saying it is committed to
the ceasefire.
[16:30:06]
No decision yet in the case of Mahmoud Khalil. He is the Palestinian activist who is fighting deportation in the United States. He was actively
involved in the protests last year at Columbia University. He has legal residency, but was detained by immigration authorities. A hearing in New
Jersey just a few hours ago without a ruling, protesters were outside the courthouse to show their support.
President Trump says he has what he called an extremely productive conversation with the new Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. It is the
leader's first phone call since Mr. Carney was sworn in 14 days ago. It comes amid strained ties between the U.S. and Canada over the ongoing trade
war.
The former Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell has come out in a speech with extremely strong words for this White House in how it's
handling the war in Ukraine. He's criticizing much of the administration as he received an award from the U.S.-Ukraine Foundation last night.
Now, in his acceptance speech, he said, when American officials caught the favor of an adversary at the expense of allies. When they mock our friends
to impress an enemy, they reveal their embarrassing naivete.
Jim Sciutto is in Washington. At one level, this is, I suppose, the speech that many people have been looking for. He harks back to the 1930s to
Reagan, to Thatcher, and basically he even quotes peace in our times MacMillan.
Has anybody listened to him, or is he simply an old codger who should have left the stage years ago?
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, what's interesting is that this harkens back not just to 1939 but to three years
ago in this Republican Party and several of Trump's current senior advisers, Mike Waltz, national security adviser, Marco Rubio, Secretary of
State, they had quite similar descriptions of the war in Ukraine, identifying Russia as the clear aggressor, saying that they would stand by
Ukraine until the last day.
So, Trump's own senior advisers had quite a similar opinion, identical opinion, frankly, to McConnell, until they joined the Trump administration.
When words such as this in such strong terms are just not allowed anymore, right? They have to leave this door open, in effect of Vladimir Putin.
QUEST: But the thing that struck me about the McConnell speech is this harking back to the 1930s and making this analogy with the '30s, the Cold
War and then Reaganomics.
And I was in Brussels today, and this is what people are saying. The U.S. feels, they say, like it's gone back to those early days of the '30s.
SCIUTTO: No question, the comparisons to Chamberlain peace in our time, imagining, as those leaders did in the '30s, that if you just give them a
little they'll stop, right? Give them a little piece of the Sudetenland, and Hitler will stop. Of course, that was not true.
And the thing about Putin, right, is you don't even have to look back that far. Just look to the last 20 years. Give him a little bit of Georgia.
He'll stop. Well, in fact, he didn't stop at the 2008 invasion. He's tried, through other means, to subjugate the country, or say, give him a little of
Ukraine in 2014 allow that to stand and look what happened in 2022.
You know, the question is, does this pierce that bubble in the Trump administration? Because I'll tell you, Richard, when I heard Trump's Russia
envoy Steve Witkoff speak about this war the way he did in that interview with Tucker Carlson, outright repeating Russian talking points, I mean,
that's what Mitch McConnell is trying to push back on here. We'll see if Trump listens.
QUEST: But he -- first of all, thank you, you got it right. I mean, you put me right on Chamberlain and not MacMillan, thank you for that. But nobody's
listening, Jim. No -- the repub -- the people in the Republican Party, the Lindsey Graham's of this world. Who should -- some would say, no better,
are not listening.
SCIUTTO: They're not listening. But here's the other piece, it's not so much perhaps they're not listening is that they're not willing to speak
this truth to the president for fear of being exiled, right?
I mean, this is not a controversial position. It certainly wasn't three years ago at the invasion to say Russia is the aggressor, the U.S. must
stand with Ukraine. It's become controversial, and those folks who had this position before, Waltz, Rubio, Mitch, well, Lindsey Graham as well, appear
too afraid to speak that truth to power.
[16:35:05]
QUEST: And we'll talk more about it. Grateful. Jim, you'll be up later. You're talking about all of these matters. Good to see you, sir. Thank you.
SCIUTTO: Thanks.
QUEST: J.D. Vance is in Greenland, and he says he does not foresee military force being needed there. With me is Matthew Chance.
Matthew, the U.S. Vice President is there. It's a controversial trip. We've got some pictures. It's been described by Greenland's leader as highly
aggressive as Donald Trump pushes to annex the Danish territory, and we'll get your reaction. Vance did not shy away from criticizing Denmark.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our message to Denmark is very simple, you have not done a good job by the people of Greenland. You
have under invested in the people of Greenland, and you have under invested in the security architecture of this incredible, beautiful land mass filled
with incredible people, that has to change. And because it hasn't changed, this is why President Trump's policy in Greenland is what it is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I mean, he is absolutely right in the sense that Greenland is of immense strategic
importance to the United States, to the world. It's the gateway to the Arctic.
But you know, there's a contradiction at the heart of that Washington position, which is that if America cares so much about security
infrastructure in Greenland, it has the treaty rights to build more bases. It can build submarine docks. It can build more air bases, more space
stations if it wants.
The Greenlanders, the Danes absolutely open to that. They don't have to own it.
QUEST: I -- reading what Vance says, there's a nuance today. He says, what we want is Greenland to leave Denmark, and then, through self-determination
will come closer to the United States.
CHANCE: Yes, I picked up on that as well. But you know, again, I think there's a high degree of wishful thinking. The Greenlandic people, the
Greenlanders have made it absolutely clear that they do not want to be part of the United States. They have spent decades, generations, even trying to
get from under the colonial yoke of the Danes, they don't want to be replaced by the United States.
QUEST: Nobody would be highly dangerous for the Greenlanders if they got independence from Denmark and were suddenly then subjected to massive
propaganda force, whatever you want to say from the United States, wouldn't that be more difficult for them?
CHANCE: That's that question, the United States could do this if it wanted, it could take over Greenland by force, and who is going to stand up to
them?
And you know, that's why I think --
QUEST: Is that realistic? Have a moment of reality. Is that realistic?
CHANCE: I mean, who knows what's realistic in this administration, but I can tell you that the only world leader that I know of, who's praised this
initiative by the United States, by President Trump, is Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin and that's because he knows the annexation of Greenland would
legitimize his own annexations in Ukraine, and it would undermine the NATO alliance, and that's what he's doing.
QUEST: And this plays into this theory that everybody's talking about in geopolitical circles, spheres of influence, essentially, Putin has said,
all that's yours, and you don't bother with me over here. You leave me to get on over here. I'll leave you to get on over there.
CHANCE: Look, I mean, Putin would obviously love that. Again, that goes back to the point I just made. It would legitimize his annexations and
legitimize future territorial ambitions he's got, you know, to the east of the United States as well.
QUEST: One of the things that struck me when I was --
CHANCE: But it ignores Europe. It ignores the interests of Europe.
(CROSSTALK)
QUEST: Pathetic. Have you not heard Europe's pathetic freeloaders?
CHANCE: Yes, I heard that.
QUEST: The -- but the fascinating part about it is, I was talking to people from the Baltic countries over the last couple of days. They really are
concerned. This is not an academic issue. They are worried about disinformation, destabilization, the whole thing.
CHANCE: No, of course -- of course they're concerned. I mean, they've got long borders with Russia, and if you've been up to those border areas, you
can see they're completely, you know, featureless geographically, tanks from Russia can just roll on in in under a day, I expect, which is why many
of them are opting out of the sort of anti-land mine accords. They're trying to build a sort of defense barriers up there, you know, to fend off
a future Russian attack. It's a genuine concern for the security of Eastern Europe.
And when you're in Eastern Europe, you're acutely aware of how dangerous Moscow looks from that perspective.
QUEST: Good to see you, sir.
CHANCE: You too.
QUEST: Have a good weekend. Thank you very much.
The head of U.K. watchdog says young people are more likely to invest in crypto than stocks and bonds. Nikhil Rathi joins me in a moment. Wise
warning that this is a strategy you could lose a lot.
Thank you, Matthew.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:43:01]
QUEST: U.S. markets sank those fears of inflation and certainty over tariffs and look at the numbers. Those are the markets. Not a particularly
pleasant way to go into the weekend.
Bitcoins' even worse, it's really been clobbered. It's down nearly over three percent and remember, that was over 100,000 not that long ago.
Now, the head of the U.K.'s financial watchdog, the FCA is worried that young people are choosing to invest in crypto over equities and bonds.
Warning there's a very high risk that you could lose all your money.
Nikhil Rathi is with me now, he's behind the warnings. This is more serious than the warnings of investments can go up and can go down, isn't it in a
sense, which is the old standard warning that people got. This is really you could lose a lot.
NIKHIL RATHI, CEO, U.K. FINANCIAL CONDUCT AUTHORITY: Absolutely. And we're really clear about that. Crypto is worth around $3 trillion globally. But
the point I was making was that more young people own crypto now than shares, and when people are thinking about where they put their savings, is
that the right thing for the long term for them?
QUEST: Is that -- because it's easier to trade crypto, you can go on the various online platforms, it's more -- it is actually more difficult to do
stocks and shares.
RATHI: Yes, and there's a -- there are influences involved. Social media is a big part of this. There's a part of -- this is about entertainment as
well as trading, and some of its gambling too.
So, there's a whole range of reasons that pull people into crypto. We also --
QUEST: And sexy stuff.
RATHI: It's insulting.
QUEST: I'm sorry, buying the FTSE is not sexy.
RATHI: What we're saying is people have to be conscious of the risks and, you know, we -- but we're very always open for innovation in the U.K., we
have a lot of crypto firms that come through our sandboxes. We've opened that up for support for international firms too, with proper regulation.
QUEST: But now, this is really the point. It's proper regulation. How do you protect people from themselves?
RATHI: Through education. So, we are very clear that if you put money into crypto, you have to be ready to be ready to lose everything. And you just
talked about the price of Bitcoin today, it can move up and down very fast. And there are other crypto currencies that are even more volatile, so we're
very transparent about that.
[16:45:04]
QUEST: Would you be in favor of restrictions, waiting periods, you know, all sorts of know your customers more than we've already had at the moment?
Because I often think that we've got it wrong in a sense, you know, I get trouble from my bank and I've banking with them for 35 years with forms and
documents, but I can go and buy crypto tomorrow and lose a lot.
RATHI: So, the U.K., were a major international financial center, so we have international money laundering standards. We've taken prosecutions in
relation to crypto, one of the most active regulators in the world in doing that, and we regulate financial promotions to make sure that they're clear,
fair, not misleading. And have taken a lot of actions there as well.
So, we put some of those restrictions in place, but at the same time, people need to be free to decide what they want to do with their money.
QUEST: How -- this is -- it's fascinating. If we -- you know, if you look at $100 invested across all the various different asset classes, I suppose
Bitcoin is still probably doing the best of it. We added some numbers that could you look, there you go, 118 on Bitcoin, 109 on the FTSE.
And if you start going down the road -- the road of bonds, and you really are into complicated stuff.
RATHI: Well, the point we've been making in the U.K. is that we've got a massive international financial center. It's hugely successful. But
actually a lot of our citizens don't actually invest in markets, and they've got a huge amount in cash, over 400 billion pounds in cash. That
should be you know --
QUEST: That's a bigger issue, that goes back to Sid in the 1980s, the shareholder democracies and all of those sort of things.
RATHI: And we want them investing in markets for the long term, so they've got better pensions, more secure retirement.
So, I'm not saying there's no role for crypto, but we want people to be taking a balanced approach and also support the U.K. economy by investing
in some of these other things.
QUEST: Do you think it can start earlier at school?
RATHI: Absolutely. So --
QUEST: Financial literacy.
RATHI: We have -- that's one of the challenges in the U.K. We don't have strong enough numeracy or financial literacy. And a core part of what we've
been talking about this week as we've been launching our strategy is, how do we help consumers navigate their financial lives? And a big part of that
is capability in schools, but also in the workplace.
A lot of people don't engage with their pensions till they're in their 50s and don't know how they're going to plan for retirement either.
QUEST: I need to leave it there, sir. I need to go to Washington. President Trump's been speaking about tariffs. He was on Air Force One, have a listen
to what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Mr. President.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're in the process of landing, I didn't realized, quite late. Is everything good?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Yes, sir.
TRUMP: We have a lot of good things happening in our country. I hope you enjoyed the flight. Any questions?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, Mr. President.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: After the call, you seem to be much more positive about Canada than you've been in the past.
TRUMP: No, I just think, you know, I've always loved Canada and we had a very good conversation. The prime minister, they've got an election going
on, so we're going to meet after the election.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: On the pharma tariffs, Mr. President, you've been talking about the pharma tariffs, and what to expect there. Are you going
to exempt lifesaving medications? Or what can we expect there?
TRUMP: Well, we'll be announcing it soon, but we have to bring pharmaceuticals, drugs and pharmaceuticals back into our country.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And what's the rate you're looking at? 15 percent, 25?
TRUMP: I'm looking at a certain number that will be enough to get the drugs and the pharmaceutical companies bringing their product into our country.
I never want to have to rely on other countries (INAUDIBLE) like we did at COVID.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, on the car tariffs and just the reciprocal tariffs, a lot of countries are making gestures, including
Britain, which was talked about reducing digital services.
TRUMP: They want to make deals.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They want to make deals?
TRUMP: They do.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you -- are you in a mode, or you know --
TRUMP: It's possible if we can get something for the deal. But you know, we've been taken advantage of for 40 years, maybe more, and it's just not
going to happen anymore.
But, yes, I'm certainly open to them. If we can do something where we get something for it.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President -- Mr. President, do you plan to --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Would that happen before the -- before the tariffs are announced?
TRUMP: No, probably later.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, to you --
TRUMP: It's a process. (INAUDIBLE) We're landing right now.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, do you plan to take Greenland by force?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) inflation report impact?
TRUMP: We're landing right now. Don't, I don't want to see anybody get hurt.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We don't want to see you get hurt, Mr. President.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you, Mr. President.
TRUMP: Good luck, everybody. Good luck. Sit down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: President on the Air Force One. Just let me brief you on what he said, because it is very interesting on what he said.
On Canada, he's going to meet Mark. Well, I'll rephrase that. He's going to meet whoever wins the general election in Canada after the election,
because the election is underway. It was a good conversation, he said.
He said, on the question of pharma, we never want to be -- we never want to have to rely on other countries. Somewhat ironic, since that's exactly what
Mark Carney said in the opposite direction today. We never want to have to rely on other countries again.
And as for tariffs, we are open to deals as long as we get something back. The transactional president has made his position clear.
It's QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, in a moment back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:52:28]
QUEST: Now, growing up, I remember the old rule that the gray squirrels had got rid of the brown squirrels, or maybe it was the other way around.
But anyway, I do remember a lot of squirrels and jumping around all over the place, the ability to do pinpoint landings and all sorts of the
flimsiest of branches.
Now, scientists in the United States say robots could very soon be like squirrels. I jest not. Louise McLoughlin tells us the robots could one day
fly flying far out into the yonder.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LOUISE MCLOUGHLIN, CNN REPORTER (voice over): A robot that can parkour like a squirrel.
ROBERT FULL, HHMI PROFESSOR, UC BERKELEY: They're the, you know, most agile animals from nature.
MCLOUGHLIN (voice over): Biologists and engineers at University of California, Berkeley worked together to make a robot that can do just that.
Meet the hopping and now balancing robot, Salto.
JUSTIN YIM, PROFESSOR AT UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS URBANA-CHAMPAIGN: I actually have it here with me.
MCLOUGHLIN (voice over): Justin Yim, now a professor at University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign, worked on the one legged jumping robot during
his time as a student at UC Berkeley.
Yim worked alongside professors like Robert Full and other students to translate squirrels leaping and landing patterns to Salto.
YIM: We realized that we had this great synergy in exploring both jumping robots and jumping squirrels, and decided to work on this project together.
MCLOUGHLIN (voice over): The results, a robot that can stick a landing on a narrow rod just like the furry rodent.
FULL: Justin was able to do something that you know, no other robot could do, jump from branch to branch like it.
MCLOUGHLIN (voice over): The next leap for Salto:
YIM: To get around in complicated environments where humans have difficulty, or where it's dangerous for humans to go.
MCLOUGHLIN (voice over): Or eventually explore far away places like Saturn's moon Enceladus.
YIM: If a robot can jump four feet high here, it could jump like an entire football field on Enceladus, and that means that it might be really good at
covering lots of very challenging terrain quickly.
MCLOUGHLIN (voice over): Yim is now embarking on a NASA funded project to see if a robot like Salto can one day land on that icy moon. This all
thanks to squirrels and a one legged robot.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: Good Lord, that's the minute. There you have it. The robot jumping around.
Look at the markets. There was no jumping around in the markets today, absolutely not. Take a look at the triple stack. It was one way, all the
way down all the whole session from the Dow, the NASDAQ and the S&P 500 and that really tells you, I wish my eyesight was better so I could tell you
those three bits of green. If you get to my age, you can't see.
[16:55:01]
It's Merck, J&J and United Health, the three you would expect to be doing quite well, particularly on the tariff comments from the president. But all
the good solid, the value stocks, everything else has been clobbered. Nvidia it's at 1.6, Apple of 2.6 sales, Microsoft three percent.
And Amazon down at the bottom four percent none of which should be -- I mean, it's all understandable when you put it into the context of the wider
picture, because we are expecting -- let me tell you what we're expecting to happen over the next week or so. Next week is tariffs, we call
Liberation Day. The U.S. president says, not on April the first. He's made that clear, it's April the second, when the tariffs will come into force
and we may get more information on, say, pharma tariffs, or other things like that.
A profitable moment after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Tonight's profitable moment, of all my reading today, the most interesting thing was the Mitch McConnell speech from the Ukraine
foundation when he received the award. It was classic old school Republicanism. It was classic old school trans-atlanticism, and a clarion
call and the warning of when he says quite clearly that there is a naivete, an embarrassing naivete, about some of the administration and the way
they've been dealing with President Putin.
I think he's talking about Steve wall -- Witkoff, sorry, and that speech where he faulted after he saw the interview after he'd seen Putin, and then
received, promptly repeated all the talking points.
My point is it will be very easy to rubbish what Mitch McConnell has said to ignore him. He's yesterday's man. He's old, he's infirm. He supported
Trump when it suited him. He then went the opposite direction, and all of a sudden now, he's seeing the light, hallelujah.
But the reality is what he was talking about peace in our times, peace through strength, embarrassing naivete. This comes from somebody who's
watched and seen and if I take it into account with the other things I've been hearing from world leaders in the last week or so on my travels,
there's a certain truth in it, that we are destined to repeat the mistakes of the past if we have not learned from them.
And as my producer Jake has been saying, isolationism in the United States is not new, but will the McConnell message go any further than me bleating
about it tonight?
I regret to say I think not, and that's QUEST MEANS BUSINESS for tonight. I'm at Richard Quest in London.
Whatever you're up to in the hours ahead, I hope it's profitable. I'll be - - I'll be back in New York on Monday.
END
