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Quest Means Business

Warsh Vows to Remain Independent From Political Pressure; Tillis Demands DOJ End Powell Before Vote On New Chair; Iran-U.S. Blockade Is Act Of War And Violates Truce; War Taking Major Toll On Global Travel Industry; Londoners Turn To Lime Bikes During Tube Strike Disruptions. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired April 21, 2026 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:20]

RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST, "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS": The closing bells are ringing on Wall Street over there and over here. You see -- well,

we were down most of the session and then we are just off the lows, but not really because we are at the lows, sort of, if you like.

Sir, bring us to an end on a hard day of trading and one and a two and a one, two, three four. Trading is over. We are off the lows. That's the way

the markets are looking, and these are the events well be talking about in the next hour.

Donald Trump's pick for the Fed Chair tells senators at the confirmation hearing, the Central Bank will not do the President's bidding.

Oil prices have jumped back up after Vice President Vance puts his trip to peace talks on hold.

And a tube strike here in London has commuters scrambling for alternatives. I will be speaking to the CEO of Lime Bikes and I will take his vehicle for

a spin.

We are live in London. It is Tuesday, it is April 21st. I am Richard Quest and in London, I mean business.

Good evening. We start tonight with Donald Trump's nominee to lead the Fed, who says he will not be the subject to the president's wishes. The nominee,

of course, is Kevin Warsh, a former governor, and he appeared before the Senate Banking Committee for the confirmation hearing.

He told lawmakers he never promised the President that he would move to cut interest rates. He was also asked about his own financial disclosures,

bearing in mind he is worth over $100 million and how he plans to divest those assets.

He earned praise from Republicans, even from Senator Thom Tillis, who maintained that he would still block the confirmation on other grounds.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. THOM TILLIS (R-NC): The problem that I have here is that we had some U.S. Attorney with a dream or Assistant U.S. Attorney thinking it would be

cute to bring Chair Powell under an investigation just a few months before the position was going to be open.

Let's get rid of this investigation so I can support your confirmation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: Now, a few details about Kevin Warsh himself that we should note. If confirmed, he would be the wealthiest Fed Chair in history, worth more than

$100 million. Some of that comes from his work with a hedge fund billionaire, Stanley Druckenmiller. Warsh, is also married to the cosmetics

heiress, Jane Lauder.

He served on the Fed Board during the 2008 financial scandal and became a critic of Q.E. -- quantitative easing.

The Fed's massive intervention in the bond market.

Rana is with me. Rana Foroohar, to talk about this. Look, I don't think anybody seriously thinks that just because Donald Trump wants interest

rates down, he is going to do his bidding. Kevin Warsh is going to do his thing.

The man is an extremely respected economist, former governor. But and this I think is core he does want to make major changes at the Fed.

RANA FOROOHAR, CNN GLOBAL ECONOMIC ANALYST: yeah. No, it is a very, very interesting moment and he is a fascinating candidate. You know, as you

know, Richard, I too was a critic of too much Q.E. I thought that particularly rounds three and four were a bad idea. I actually really

respect Warsh for standing up and saying that.

But here is the thing, I am going to be watching very, very carefully to see if his decisions are data driven because he stood up to the left back

then and said, you know, just to buoy wages at the $15.00 an hour mark, we are going to create inflation later. Assets are going to be high. That was

a good idea.

Is he going to do the same thing if he is under pressure from the right now and from the President in particular? That's a big question and it is also

a time when the data itself is going to be murky. You know, Warsh hopes that A.I. will create the kind of dot-com effect that we saw during the

Greenspan era where you really do get this tailwind of productivity that allows rates to be kept low. Is that going to be the case with A.I.?

QUEST: Right. I mean, the argument being that the productivity gains will mop up the otherwise inflationary pressures that would spill over. But here

is the -- he is in favor of forward guidance. Now, forward guidance has been the backbone of communication for the last 15 years.

FOROOHAR: Yes, and you know, it is interesting, he also says he wants to depoliticize the Fed and that you know, it needs to be more independent.

Well, you know what?

[16:05:11]

What does that constitute? Does that mean it becomes more secretive? Does that mean that it works more closely, you know, if not being under pressure

from the President, is it going to be working with the Treasury? I mean, he and Bessent have a good relationship. There has been some discussion that

maybe fiscal policy and monetary policy would be more intertwined. That too, I want to just say, is something that I thought maybe could be a good

idea, but you don't want to see it happening in a way that is perceived to be politically compromised at all. Otherwise, boy, the markets are not

going to like it.

QUEST: Here is another problem. Jeanine Pirro and her investigation into Powell. Now, if and there is the if -- if Judge Pirro believes, as U.S.

Attorney genuinely believes, that there is an investigation that has to be had, then she should not bow to pressure from Tillis to actually drop the

investigation. You can't have it both ways.

I agree with what -- I mean, the judge said there is no evidence. But if Pirro truly believes that the Powell investigation is warranted, then she

is duty bound to continue it.

FOROOHAR: Well, look, having it both ways, to be honest, is what this administration has always been about. There are so many ways in which the

Trump administration is trying to have it both ways, but when it comes to the Fed, as we know, this isn't just a domestic American politics, this is

international markets.

And Kevin Warsh is -- he is going to be walking a fine line.

QUEST: All right, I want you to listen to what President Trump said today about those companies, those who do and those who don't apply for refunds

of the tariffs. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: If they don't do that, I will remember them. I will tell you that because I am looking to

make this country strong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: In other words, if you don't apply, I will remember that. And in other words, I will look upon you favorably, the ergo being, if you do hit

reply, nice company you've got, shame if something were to happen to it. This is mafioso, pure and simple.

FOROOHAR: I was just thinking, am I watching "The Sopranos" or am I watching The White House? I mean, you know, Richard, this puts me in mind,

years ago, I remember watching the ticker on a Russian oligarch's oil company go down as Putin was saying, he has a cold. You won't see him for a

while.

It is the sort of thing that you hear -- you used to hear in other countries and you are now hearing it in the U.S. It is part of what I would

call the EMification, emerging marketification of America, and I hope it stops with this President.

QUEST: Rana, always good to speak to you. Lovely. Thank you very much indeed.

In a few moments, I will be talking to the former Fed Vice Chair, Richard Clarida. We will discuss the size of the Fed's balance sheet and whether

eight news conferences each year is too many. It is all part of the communications strategy.

Richard Clarida at the bottom of the hour.

Now, Vice President J.D. Vance's trip to Islamabad for talks with Iran is on hold. The V.P. who leads the U.S. delegation was expected to leave for

Pakistan this morning. He is still in Washington for the moment. The ceasefire is expected to expire on Wednesday, although there is some

confusion about whether it is Washington time. Iran says it hasn't decided whether to resume talks. The Foreign Minister says the U.S. blockade of

Iranian ports amounts to an act of war.

Nic Robertson is in Islamabad. I think first thing is, Nic, when the ceasefire expires, I mean, when the actual deadline is and secondly, nobody

seems to be very willing or keen to go to Islamabad for the talks.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Look, I think there is a lot in play at the moment, Richard. I mean, it is quite literally in flux

as you and I are having this conversation. Sources I have here feel optimistic, perhaps we may be hearing things in a few minutes.

There has been a sort of a lot of sort of negative impressions created in Tehran at the moment. The diplomacy of the interlocutors here and the

mediators here in Pakistan has been pretty intensive today.

As far as Pakistan is concerned, the deadline expires 4:50 in the morning. And what is it now? We are right now, we are 1:09. So there is less than

four hours to go, about 3.5 hours to go or so before the deadline expires and the Information Minister a few hours ago said, look, Iran really needs

to respond before that deadline.

Iran has sort of been re-upping this issue of the U.S. blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. It is like they want to get that addressed before they

come to the talks. We don't know.

[16:10:07]

But I think what I can tell you in these minutes, and I stress minutes right now, things may be about to change.

QUEST: All right, but Nic, on that point, it really -- it doesn't -- at the end of the day, it doesn't come down to whether they can finish -- whether

they can find, you know, change this word or change that word. It really comes down to whether they want to because if they want to do it, they will

find a way to do it.

And at the moment, I am not clear whether the U.S. wants to.

ROBERTSON: I think both sides want it. I mean, that seems to be clear because they've both held to a ceasefire pretty much to get to this point.

And neither side sort of, you know, thrown in the towel so far.

The cost for both sides are huge. It is a matter of an utter lack of trust; it is a matter of both sides, neither side has been defeated and punished,

you know, to the point that they've absolutely collapsed and both sides want to be able to portray a victory at home, you know, for a variety of

reasons. None of that is unusual in a negotiation.

I think we are in a position where both sides actually don't want to go to have a war, because Iran would be utterly, economically crushed going

forward. The United States would face, you know, a very bad economic situation with the rest of the world. President Trump personally would face

potential political consequences through all of that.

And I think there was a sense that a week-and-a-half ago at talks here, they got a broader understanding. They kind of know where each other are on

issues. If you keep it really simple to a memorandum of understanding and not try and repeat the Nuclear Deal of 2015, the JCPOA under President

Obama and get into years of talks and detail, if you keep it simple, you might just deliver something that both sides can walk away from and try to

sell at home as something of a victory.

QUEST: Nic, right and while you and I are talking, in my ear, I've just been told that President Trump has posted he is extending the deadline.

Ronan, tell me anymore that or do you have any more details on that? We are getting the post up there, but even while you and I are talking, apparently

the deadline is being extended, Nic, whilst you tell me the significance of that, I will get more information.

ROBERTSON: This is -- yes, I am going to jump in here, Richard, you know, I was saying to you minutes, things are changing at the minute. Yes, this was

coming. I didn't know the text of it. I knew it was coming. This is what we are getting from sources and here we have it. So let's digest it.

The President is extending the ceasefire. That's what Pakistan's Foreign Minister called for. This potentially does give an opening here for Iran to

take a beat, Iran to decide whether or not they're going to trust; Iran, to perhaps come forward to the table.

You know, it is anyone's guess. As I said, this is all in play minute by minute by minute right now, the Iranians are just getting this, they are

going to digest it. Let's see what they have to say.

QUEST: All right, I am going to read it to you to what it says. It is a statement of President Trump: "Based on the fact that the government of

Iran is seriously fractured, not unexpectedly so. And upon the request of Field Marshal ..." et cetera et cetera, "... we have been asked to hold our

attack on the country of Iran until such time as their leaders..." et cetera et cetera. "... I have therefore directed our military to continue

the blockade and in all other respects remain ready and able, and will therefore extend the ceasefire until such time as their proposal is

submitted and discussions are concluded."

It is a very long post, but essentially it is an open-ended extension here.

ROBERTSON: And I think this gets to your fundamental point, doesn't it? Do both sides want to avoid going back to war? And it does seem that this

creates the space to have the diplomacy that the negotiators here, that the moderators who are doing it in Pakistan, the mediators feel that they can

get something that both sides can hold on to and turn the President's post here.

As you say, an open-ended ceasefire into something a little more solid that can endure. Look, the cost to the world, as you've been reporting and you

know better than anyone else, all the financial details and the ups and downs of the markets and how it all looks and the cost to the airlines and

the cost to the economies of all the nations of the world. There is a little more time here to get it right.

This doesn't give Iran what it wanted. Iran seemed to be signaling, it wanted the end to the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, the end of the

blockade of its ports. The President is not lifting that. That's very, very clear.

[16:15:08]

But earlier on today, Iran was talking about, it felt under international law that it would get reparation money to repair its energy infrastructure,

to repair much of the country. That was signaling from Iran that it wanted to get money at the table as part of the deal. It wanted that -- are these

things in play? These are going to be the inducements that will bring Iran back.

Does what the President said tonight throw some trust into the mix again for the Iranians? Probably a little, but not much really. The lack of trust

is so deep, but can it get them to the table?

QUEST: All right --

ROBERTSON: That is the moment. That is where we are at right now.

QUEST: Nic, I'm grateful. Thank you. You were there where we needed you and you brought us up-to-date. When we have the price of oil, we will put it

into perspective as well. Thank you. Nic Robertson in Islamabad.

Let me just refresh your memory or remind you what we just heard, that the ceasefire is being extended. It seems to be an open-ended extension by

President Trump on the basis that Iran still has to put forward its submission, talks have to take place, and those talks have to be concluded.

As we continue our conversation together tonight, Kevin Warsh suggested that the Fed officials talk too much. All right, the Fed's former Vice

Chair Richard Clarida will be with me. There he is. Richard, have you been talking too much? Do you all talk too much? You'll give us your answer

after the break. QUEST MEANS BUSINESS. Good evening.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: Our top story tonight, the Fed Chair nominee, Kevin Warsh, called on the Central Bank to shrink its balance sheet during the confirmation

hearings that took place.

Warsh suggested that the Fed's bond buying spree mainly helped Americans with financial assets. He said monetary policy is best set through interest

rates, and he suggested that Central Bankers hold fewer news conferences.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN WARSH, FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIRMAN NOMINEE: If you ask me, my true personal opinion right now, Fed Chairs and other Central Bankers around the

FOMC, they speak quite frequently. There is no lack of transparency. But I would say this, I think truth seeking is more important than repetition.

If one has a press conference, one wants to deliver some important news.

SEN. RUBEN GALLEGO (D-AZ): To follow up on that then, would you commit to taking questions at those press conferences?

[16:20:04]

WARSH: If a press conference were held, I think it would be incumbent to hear what the reporters of the day had in mind.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: Richard Clarida is the Fed's Vice Chair under Jerome Powell.

Richard is with me now and what do you make of it? I don't want us to get bogged down in, you know, is he going to do trumps business or not? Because

I think most sensible people believe that, you know, he is a man of his own mind. And that's going to go forward.

But there are philosophical issues with Warsh on things like forward guidance and monetary policy.

RICHARD CLARIDA, GLOBAL ECONOMIC ADVISER AT PIMCO, FORMER VICE CHAIR AT THE FEDERAL RESERVE: There are and, you know, Kevin has been consistent. I

credit him with that since leaving the Fed. He has been critical of quantitative easing, the balance sheet expansion and he has been critical

on forward guidance, which was a real emphasis of the Bernanke, Yellen and Powell Fed and actually, went further than I expected today, uh, in terms

of not committing to continue to do the regular, press conferences.

I think the important point to note is there is a First Amendment and so Reserve Bank presidents and governors can give and I think will continue to

give speeches, and so the real question is not less communication from the governors and presidents, the real question is how will Kevin Warsh shape

his communication with markets and the public?

QUEST: You see the problem with not liking Q.E. is that there is a very strong argument that says Q.E. saved the ship from sinking. When you go

back to those days, that was -- the bond buying method was the only way to get rates lower.

CLARIDA: Well, thank you for that, Richard. I mean, important for your viewers to know, as Kevin knows, is that the two main episodes in which the

Fed's balance sheet expanded were the global financial crisis and during the 2020 COVID pandemic collapse.

I think, perhaps a more nuanced critique is not to criticize the use of the balance sheet in those episodes, but the fact that the Fed maintains a very

large balance sheet and did not really shrink it to Kevin's satisfaction in the 2010s and then obviously the Powell Fed since the pandemic collapse and

he actually gave more insight today than we've heard from him on his approach.

He seems focused on shrinking the balance sheet from here and moving it to holding more short dated securities.

QUEST: What about this idea also of back to monetary policy? He doesn't believe that the Fed -- there is a lot of the Fed research taking into

climate control, climate change, taking diversity, other issues which in a strict definition of monetary policy would not be part of it. He thinks

they should be put aside. That's not the job of the Fed.

CLARIDA: Well, my own sense, you know, I was there from 2018 to 2022, the Powell Fed was labor focused on supporting the economy. The economy is in a

very good place in January of 2020, and then supporting the economy with the pandemic, collapse. And so I think it would be an exaggerated critique

to say that the focus got diverted by those other issues.

QUEST: Last thing I just want to talk about away from Warsh, in your role, Global Economic Advisor at PIMCO, how much economic trouble are we in? We,

being, however you want to define it, the world, you know, the western world, how much economic trouble are we in at the moment as a result of the

war in Iran, the Straits being closed and the oil price shock?

CLARIDA: Well, let's start with it is a very big shock. The IEA said its potentially the biggest shock to the global energy market ever. I think

historically, and you've seen the IMF and other forecasters based upon what we know now, and importantly, Richard, based upon where the oil futures

markets say the oil market is going to be, it looks like a big shock, but one that is manageable. That shouldn't tip the global economy into a

recession.

However, the longer this lasts and the more uncertainty there is about safe passage through the Strait and the future approach that Iran may take to

controlling the Strait, then this then has a cumulative effect over time.

So right now, based upon what we know and what the what the oil traders expect, it looks to be manageable, but the longer it goes on, then the more

of a concern it is. It is a classic textbook stagflationary shock. It will slow growth and push up, at least for some time, inflation.

[16:25:01]

QUEST: And the problem with the stagflationary shock is what do you do with monetary policy to bring it back to full circle? Because stagflation, by

definition, either movement will hit the other side really badly.

CLARIDA: Exactly, right, so if you cut rates to support the labor market, inflation may move up. If you raise rates to try to lower inflation caused

by a supply shock, you can really create a very, very significant economic downturn, which is why the first inclination of modern Central Bankers is

to look through an adverse supply shock that pushes up energy prices.

But everyone has read the textbook and I began my career as a student in the 70s, that did not work out well in the 70s. Oil went from $3.00 to

$10.00 to $20.00 to $30.00 a barrel and so that was like a tripling in oil prices in a decade and Central Banks fell behind the curve and the

inflation genie got out of the bottle. So that's why they are very closely and carefully looking at measures of inflation expectations.

QUEST: On that final point, if you're going to get rid of forward guidance, what are you going to replace it with?

CLARIDA: Well, see, that's the $64,000.00 question and speaking of genies out of the bottle, I think it may be difficult -- more difficult than maybe

soon-to-be Chairman Warsh believes to put forward guidance back on the shelf.

Now, let me stipulate, it is entirely possible to run a successful monetary policy without a lot of forward guidance. I don't want to say zero. There

has always been winks and nods, but Volcker and Greenspan, for most of his years ran policy with very little forward guidance. It would -- but we had

a forward guidance regime in place in the U.S. and globally now for nearly 25 years and it will be a shock or would be a shock to markets if Warsh

really is serious about eliminating forward guidance.

And that is why it will be important to see what he does in terms of the Fed communication around press conferences and economic projections.

QUEST: Richard, thank you so much for joining us. It is exactly what we wanted to talk about tonight. I am very grateful to you. Thank you.

CLARIDA: Thank you, sir.

QUEST: Thank you, Richard Clarida. Thank you.

Now, how did I get to work? Well, I sort of did a bit of both. I got a bit of a train and then I got a bit of a bike because there is a tube strike in

London, and it made a real mess for commuters. However, I was able to use - - I know it is not very stylish, a Lime Bike and I will talk to the CEO of the company who got a couple of bucks out of my pocket today.

quest means business.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:30:52]

QUEST: President Trump says he's extending the ceasefire with Iran. We just heard that at the beginning of the program. He says the U.S. will hold off

from attacking Iran while its leaders come up with a unified proposal. And he says the U.S. will maintain its blockade on the Iranian ports.

Now the tenuous ceasefire is forcing businesses to improve over the short term. Lufthansa says it is canceling 20,000 short haul flights to save jet

fuel. United told investors it will have to be nimble with capacity in response to higher fuel prices.

Now if you can still find flights, but you will certainly pay more to get on board. The consultancy Teneo says the cheapest economy seats are now a

quarter times more than last year. The disruption is, of course, threatening the growth of travel booking platform Get Your Guide. It used

to book tours, attractions, excursions and so forth. The platform earned its first ever profit in 2025.

Now Johannes Reck is with me to talk more about this.

Let's talk about, first of all, the -- I mean, we are now getting the real evidence of what's going to go wrong here. Lufthansa, 20,000 flights. And

they haven't put that forward. I imagine IAG and I imagine Air France-KLM will follow suit, and we're all paying more on the way, too.

JOHANNES RECK, CEO, GETYOURGUIDE: Yes. Look, Richard, first of all, it's great to be on the show. Those are definitely some very interesting times

to be in online travel. And I wouldn't have believed that a couple of years after the pandemic, you know, we're again in a situation, you know, that is

very dynamic. But, you know, to speak to the upside first, this is a much more regional local crisis at this point in time and not a systemic issue

like COVID.

And people, at least from what we can see, are certainly traveling this summer. They're prioritizing spending on travel and experiences over, you

know, physical goods or staying at home.

QUEST: Right.

RECK: And we see a lot of bookings to shorter term destinations at lower prices.

QUEST: But this Lufthansa announcement this morning is interesting because it's as if we want to get ahead of this before the really difficult stuff

comes. And, I mean, this is all assuming the situation doesn't get worse. So the capacity is going to be reduced. They're cutting out less profitable

flights. Fares are going up. It is going to be hard to find a bargain this year.

RECK: That's right. But, you know, I'm German, so I wouldn't read too much into the local German situation on a global scale. You know, experiences --

the market we're operating is a $500 billion market, still growing very fast. And, you know, Germany and Lufthansa, who's a partner, is only one

piece of this. At the same time, you know, there are multiple ways of getting somewhere.

The more concerning thing with the current situation is that you still can't really route through the Gulf States, which is 15 percent of global

air capacity. So that is really the thing that we're watching.

QUEST: The ability for low cost airlines to continue to be low cost is going to be fascinating. And, you know, I think we all know Michael will do

whatever --

RECK: Yes.

QUEST: Michael O'Leary will do whatever he can to ensure that Ryanair is rock bottom. But it could get ugly and there could be a lot of money lost

by less profitable carriers who could ultimately go under. And I'm not talking about Ryanair or EasyJet or in the same breath.

RECK: Look, you know, I think those low cost carriers like Ryanair, EasyJet and others have proven to be so resilient over much greater shocks that I'm

pretty sure that they have planned for a scenario like this. And we will see them coming out strong on the other side. And I have a lot of

confidence in these business leaders navigating this challenging situation.

QUEST: Yes. Right. Now, the old platform is all about booking tours, experiences, attractions, and it's sort of about enjoying the destination

when you get there.

[16:35:03]

What now? What can you tell us about the trend in what you're seeing people want to do when they go to places?

RECK: So we've seen the experience economy rebounding incredibly strongly after COVID. GetYourGuide now is six times the size of pre-COVID. So that

tells you something about customers really prioritizing spending on experiences over physical goods. And what we are seeing is that across all

of the many verticals within the experiences economy, whether that's food tours, sightseeing tours, attraction tickets, people are really leaning

into those type of experiences because in the age of A.I., the human connection truly matters.

QUEST: Yes. Finally, so as you look towards your summer, what experiences are you looking to do? Where are you hoping to go, and see and enjoy? So we

all know to go in the opposite direction.

RECK: I have my flights booked with Lufthansa, by the way, to Japan in a couple of weeks with the family. So I'm looking forward to doing lots of

great experiences in Kyoto, Tokyo, Hiroshima, and other places in Japan.

QUEST: Thank you very much, sir, for joining us.

RECK: Thank you, Richard.

QUEST: I'm very grateful.

Now, in terms of getting around London today, it was difficult. The tube, drivers' strike, major travel disruption, as you can imagine. Several lines

are delayed. If we take a look at the tube there, you can see just severe delays. There were a couple of trains that I managed to get. So I did get

here by train. Some like the circle line -- I've never quite understood that one -- have stopped completely.

Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport Union are fighting for a 32- hour week across four days and better working conditions. Now because of that, people were traveling, taking Lime bikes. Instead, the demand was so

high today. This is roughly where we are at our studios here in east of London. There were only a handful of bikes you can see just in that small

area. Instead, all the bikes were out in residential areas.

So if you wanted one, you had to literally hunt, peck and do whatever you could. I went out. Somehow I found a bike.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: Trying to get a Lime bike today has been almost impossible because of the tube strike. They're either being taken, used, hidden or reserved.

Finally, though, success.

When using the Lime bikes in the big cities, the ability to find somewhere to park that's convenient has now become so much more difficult. The red

zones seem to be everywhere, and there are rumors that some people are basically stopping in a green and then dragging the bike into their back

garden.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: All right. Not the most elegant, as you can say, but that helmet is really cool. It collapses. I bought it recently. And many Londoners were

doing Lime during the tube strike last September. 54 percent increase in trips.

The Lime CEO, Wayne Ting, joins me now.

Wayne, what have you learned in terms of bike management when you have a day like a strike? Because you're not like Santander bikes or the Citi

Bikes in New York, which have fixed parking, and they can then move the bikes all around the city as necessary. What do you do?

WAYNE TING, CEO, LIME: Yes. Well, Richard, thank you for having me. As you mentioned, during the September tube strike, we saw traffic go up by more

than 50 percent week on week, which means that so many more users are using us, and they're using us for longer distances. So what we've done is we

also scale up our operational team on the ground. Our foot patrollers who are moving around greater London, making sure that our bikes and scooters

are parked in a way that is tidy and respectful.

And we're doing that today as well in London. We know that we're going to see an increase in demand, so we're scaling up our operations to meet that

demand.

QUEST: Right. Lime has grown so phenomenally across Europe. And look, I'll declare the conflict of interest here. Now I'm a firm user of Lime and I

have the Lime path and all that sort of nonsense. But I find it very annoying when I get to my destination and that particular city has decided

to put reserve, you know, you've got to go another X, Y, or Z before you can park. You can't just stop anywhere these days.

TING: Yes. So I think one of the things that I think is actually a strength of Lime is that we work with cities and we partner with cities.

[16:40:02]

That includes creating parking zones and mandatory parking zones and slow down zones and no go zones. What that allows us to do is to ensure that we

show up in a way that is safe and respectful, according to the local regulations, but we do also work closely with cities to ensure that we are

expanding the number of parking bays so that riders like you, Richard, can find a parking spot once you get to your destination.

QUEST: And the other issue, of course, is just the sheer plethora now of bikes, scooters. If we take Lime. And let's talk about your competitors,

whether it's Bolt or whatever, or Forest, there are so many of you now that controlling it, is there a commonality between you? I'm not suggesting a

collusion, but, you know, you all sort of recognize that together as the shared vehicle industry, you have to be more responsible.

TING: Yes, I think, I mean, I mean, I can only talk about Lime. So we take being a responsible steward and take that, being an operator in a city,

that relationship very seriously, which also means why we continue to invest in things like new hardware. In fact, we just launched our new Lime

bike here in London and cities around the world. We designed this with rider in mind. It feels lighter.

It has a lower center of gravity and it's allowing us to reach new riders, older riders, women riders, who may not have taken a chance on micro-

mobility before. But that relationship has to be taken with a lot of care. And I think Lime approaches that with a humility that we got to be a great

operator to earn the right to be in the cities that we serve.

QUEST: The other fascinating thing is your pricing structure. The LimePass, so to speak, you know, 60 minutes over three days, 200 minutes over a month

or whatever it might be. And obviously, like everything else, you have used clever algorithms that work out what is the most price sensitive advantage

like everything else. It's a pretty sophisticated way of doing it.

TING: Well, Richard, we actually heard that feedback from a lot of people that our LimePass requires just a little bit of math and planning.

QUEST: Exactly.

TING: So we recently launched a new product called Line Prime. It's a monthly subscription product. It's a low monthly subscription fee. And for

that, writers get unlimited flat rate. So in London, the flat rate is less than two quids for any trip under 20 minutes. So now what you get is a

predictable low affordable rate for any trip that you want to do. So we are improving even our offerings so that it's easier for riders to access and

understand.

QUEST: I am grateful, sir. Thank you for coming and talking to us tonight. I appreciate it. Thank you.

TING: Thank you for having me, Richard.

QUEST: Good to talk to you.

And that is our show tonight. That's QUEST MEANS BUSINESS. I'm Richard Quest in London. Whatever you're up to in the hours ahead, I hope it's

profitable. Up next, Sydney, "World of Wonder."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:45:54]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST (voice-over): It's time to embrace new adventures.

Doesn't get much better than this.

(Voice-over): Seize the moment. In this WORLD OF WONDER.

Good lord, look at this. The sheer amount of stuff. And there it is. And this is all, of course, come from Australia Post. So it's in the postal

service.

(Voice-over): It is another beautiful late summer morning, an hour's drive north of Sydney by the Hawkesbury River, and there's no time to rest. Here

the post doesn't walk, cycle or drive. It sails. Riding the ripples aboard Australia's last Riverboat Postman.

JUSTIN PIGNEGUY, OWNER, THE RIVERBOAT POSTMAN: We deliver between sort of 400 to 600 articles of mail each day, and that can be from a postcard

through to a fridge.

Who orders a fridge online?

QUEST: Morning.

(Voice-over): Since 1910, the Riverboat Postman service has delivered everything, parcels, letters, those dreaded bills.

Oh, I've got the good stuff.

(Voice-over): In doing so, it brings a healthy dose of community spirit to the hundreds of people who live along this river. Today's swift couriers

are Justin Pigneguy with his wife Catherine and brother Ben. They took over the service in 2012.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi. How are you?

PIGNEGUY: Welcome aboard the Riverboat Postman. My name is Justin. I'm up at the pointy end in the wheelhouse with our skipper, Rhett.

QUEST (voice-over): The floating postman is also a tourist attraction. Last year, nearly 30,000 paying guests joined this gentle, meandering cruise

along the Hawkesbury.

PIGNEGUY: As we leave Brooklyn behind us, the open ocean is only about four and a half nautical miles off to the right.

QUEST (voice-over): The Hawkesbury begins at the junction of the Nepean and Grose Rivers, running around 120 kilometers towards the coast and finishing

at Broken Bay, where it flows into the south Pacific Ocean. Along the way, we see the sandstone cliffs and admire the mangroves.

PIGNEGUY: Now the HMAS Parramatta, Australia's first warship.

QUEST (voice-over): There are even shipwrecks.

What's the experience that you want people to have from this?

PIGNEGUY: Because we're so close to Sydney, I think it's fantastic that you can actually hop on a train or drive a car and be here within an hour, and

you're like a million miles from nowhere.

QUEST: So what are you delivering here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All that stuff.

QUEST: I'm going to help.

PIGNEGUY: Look, that's nice and light. Someone has got a party.

QUEST: Just here? Where'd you leave it?

PIGNEGUY: Just around the corner there, mate. You'll see where all the post boxes are.

QUEST: Oh, yes. Wow.

PIGNEGUY: Yes. So here you go. This is the --

QUEST: Oh, wow. This is the other side of it.

PIGNEGUY: This is the other side of it. So you've got locals here at that point, but you've also got a few settlements we can't get into. Thanks for

all that.

QUEST: Thank you.

PIGNEGUY: See you later. Yes. So this is also you'll find around the river. There's a whole heap of these sheds.

QUEST: But the thing about it is it's what I'm finding fascinating is just the sheer infrastructure that has to exist so that life in Australia.

PIGNEGUY: Yes. So --

QUEST: Traditional life.

PIGNEGUY: All the pontoons and everything you've got to have so it's -- yes.

QUEST: Yes. Absolutely. All right. On we go.

(Voice-over): Stop by stop, jetty by jetty, the Riverboat Postman makes its rounds. For the locals this service is essential. For in a country as vast

as Australia, it keeps remote communities connected. Here the river sets the tempo of life. Slow, calm. Yes, no worries. The post has arrived.

[16:50:06]

The mail must get through.

PIGNEGUY: The mail must get through. The mail must get through.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST (voice-over): I could look and stare all day, for as I've told you it is my favorite building in the world. A UNESCO heritage site, a global

icon, an example of triumph over adversity. Beneath its majestic sails is the restaurant Midden. It is here that the chef, Mark Olive, a pioneering

force in Australia's indigenous cuisine, has his own platform as powerful as his food. Of course, Mark insists I try the lot.

Talk to me. Talk to me.

(Voice-over): Lamb chops topped with saltbush, sea parsley, rosemary in a river of meat juice. And why not the barramundi with lemon myrtle or

romesco and a sea succulent? The key, it's all in the local herbs.

MARK OLIVE, AMBASSADOR CHIEF, MIDDEN BY THE MARK OLIVE: Here we have this ice plant. It's got that cross between salt and a little bit of the

barramundi and the lemon myrtle romesco, all of that together. Those flavors all come together and it just pops in your mouth.

QUEST: Just watching your face then as you start talking about it, you sort of take on a different energy, a passion.

OLIVE: Oh, boy, this is my passion. I've been doing it for 40 odd years now. That notion of getting it out there to as many people as I could back

in the day was quite hard. In around '96 all of this happening way ahead of its time and making things like a relay mignon. Sort of a kangaroo fillet,

a smoked emu. I'd be doing lasagnas, but it'd be crocodile instead of chicken. The taste and the flavors and everything.

You know, it does take time, but once that sort of like sticks with you and you get used to it just like anything else, indigenous food is the same.

And you know, we have people that keep coming back now all the time just for these certain flavors.

QUEST (voice-over): What Mark brings to the plate is an important part of this country's first nation's history. Beyond the sails, there are

reminders everywhere of how this country was created and developed.

They said, you're going to Cockatoo Island. I thought, oh, that's nice, that's nice. There'll be bird sanctuary, you know. And then I read about

it.

JANET CARDING, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, HARBOUR TRUST: We like to think of Cockatoo Island as having different layers of heritage values. So first

layer, the sandstone, which has been here several hundred million years. Second layer, the First Nations, the aboriginal people of the area who we

know have been living here for more than 20,000 years. Then the layers that you start to see, the convict layer. So the convicts who were sent here, if

they committed another crime after arriving in the colony, they were sent here to prison.

They were, during the era of hard labor, they quarried out the stone of the island. They dug drydocks. They built many of the buildings that were

surrounded by. And then the layer on top, the industrial layer, the layer that you see, that's the shipyard that followed the convicts. They spent

100 years as a shipyard.

[16:55:07]

QUEST: I almost feel guilty saying this because Sydney has got so much going for it, but life does revolve around the harbor.

CARDING: It certainly does. And I think that's because the city grew up around the harbor. What I would say is that the harbor continues to change.

QUEST (voice-over): The Harbour Trust is the keeper of Cockatoo Island, which has turned into a tourist attraction. It's one of nine sites they

manage around the harbor including the Macquarie Lighthouse standing proudly on the coastline as Sydney's southern harbor head. This is

Australia's first lighthouse. Climb to the top and the view is worth it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You got up one stair and then stopped.

QUEST: Yes, because I'm just -- I'm going to count my stairs because apparently there's 100. 100.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's graceful.

QUEST: There we go.

(Voice-over): Finally, out of this tiny door and Sydney's whole story comes into view. I can almost picture what Captain Phillip saw back in the 18th

Century. Can A.I. help me visualize this more clearly?

OK, I'm chatting with Claude, right? Please create a portrayal, painting, photograph, whatever, of what this would have looked like when the first

fleet arrived in 1788. I'll create a beautiful HTML artifact that depicts Sydney harbor as it would have looked in 1788, when the first fleet

arrived. Rendered as an oil painting. Oh, we like that. It's taking a long time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not all masterpieces were created in a minute. What is it?

QUEST: It's crap. It's crap.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's like 12 pixels. I said, let me see that.

QUEST: It looks like --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you ask a toddler to do it?

QUEST (voice-over): I kid you not. This is the oil painting our A.I. came up with. I think if Captain Phillip had seen it, he'd probably have turned

around.

The view from the Macquarie Lighthouse is outstanding because it gives a perspective of the whole of the harbor, from the built up city center all

the way to the majesty of the Sydney harbor heads, where the first fleet sailed through. And there's something else to notice. Remember Utzon's

opera house, designed to look like sails on the harbor? Well, there's the real thing. How did he do? Sails on the harbor.

And you'll want to come here and see all of this for yourself. Sailing Sydney. Totally part of our "World of Wonder."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

END