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Quest Means Business
South Africa's Future; Wall Street Breaks Records; New Boko Haram Video Released; Journey to Chibok; Africa's Economy; Tracking Aircraft After Flight MH370; Angus Houston on Search for MH370
Aired May 12, 2014 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE CLOSING BELL)
RICHARD QUEST, HOST: A very strong day on the New York market, a rollickingly good session, with the Dow Jones up more than a hundred points. When all was said and done and the closing bell rang, hit the gavel. Thank you, sir, madam. It is Monday, it is the 12th of May.
V is for victory, and a vow to create jobs. On QUEST MEANS BUSINESS tonight, we have South Africa's finance minister giving us his opinion what comes next.
One month to go to the World Cup, and it's all about the goal for growth. But what can South Africa learn and teach, perhaps, Brazil as it goes forward.
Also tonight, and exclusive interview with CNN with the head of he LA Clippers. He talks to CNN and begs for forgiveness for his comments, which have been called racist.
I'm Richard Quest, tonight live in South Africa, where of course, I mean business.
Good evening. Tonight, we come to you from the South African government capital. We are in Pretoria, where there is only one big talk of conversation. The election victory by the ANC was never in doubt. The question now, of course, is the complexion and the policies of the new government when it is finally announced after the inauguration of Jacob Zuma to his second term.
But if the election victory wasn't in doubt, then the problems affecting the country certainly have raised eyebrows. A GDP of barely 2 percent last year. A currency, the rand, which is under pressure against the dollar. And investors worrying and nervous about what sort of policies they can expect from the next administration.
So, you might arguably suggest, what is there to celebrate for the government? The aftermath of disturbances in the township of Alexandra, where 59 people were arrested. Police used rubber bullets on protesters who burned tires in the streets.
Their anger was directed at the president, Jacob Zuma, who will embark on a second five-year term. There are deep economic problems. The ANC won 62 percent of the vote. The DA, the Democratic Alliance, came a distant second. On a reduced majority, the ANC is under pressure to deliver improvements.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HUDSON RAMKOLOKOSHE, JOHANNESBURG RESIDENT: There is still a lot of overture on our country and minister, starving and struggling. It's very painful when you find people sleeping in the streets, they're homeless, they're foodless. And of course you cannot really help everyone, but if the country can try and get the economy of the country shared to everyone, I think that way it will actually --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: Despite the fall of Apartheid in 1994 and the late Nelson Mandela's promises to build an equal, prosperous South Africa, the country's biggest problems remain wealth inequality and joblessness.
A quarter of South Africans are out of work. The ILO estimates amongst 15 to 24-year-olds, that rate goes up to 50 percent, the world's highest, incidentally, behind Greece and Spain, eurozone members. And the inequality of wealth is causing growing frustrations.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ZAMIKHAYA MASETI, POLITICAL ECONOMIST: Very few Africans or blacks are benefiting directly from that economy precisely because old national patterns again are still unresolved. The oligarchy in terms of the economy, the dominance still resides with the few, your Anglo-American, the financial institutions are outside government control.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: This mineral-rich country has taken a huge hit from striking workers in a long-running battle for better-paying conditions. Lonmin, the third-largest platinum producer, posted a steep fall in revenues. Strikes have caused a 40 percent cut in Lonmin's global production and halted production at its mines and processing plants. The prime minister says he's seen enough protests.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JACOB ZUMA, PRESIDENT OF SOUTH AFRICA: In my view, if you are an employer, you must reach a point if you say these employees, maybe they're not good, you take a decision, so that that matter ends. You can't just prolong the thing forever. I say they must be responsible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: The president, there, speaking on the Lonmin strike. South Africa's finance minister, Pravin Gordhan, joins me now. Sir, you've just heard a sort of a bit of a catalog of woes. I suspect you're now going to try to tell me why I'm being too pessimistic.
PRAVIN GORDHAN, SOUTH AFRICAN FINANCE MINISTER: Well, Richard, firstly, welcome to South Africa.
QUEST: Thank you, it's lovely to be here.
GORDHAN: And South Africans by nature are optimistic, unlike, perhaps, some other parts of the world. Why are we optimistic? Because we are a 20-year-old nation, and one which has achieved a significant amount of change in South Africa since our first democratic elections in 1994.
We are at peace with one another. We're trying to build a non-racial culture in this country. Our democratic institutions work, our courts work, which are just behind me. And many of the democratic institutions we have set up work.
But secondly, our economy has grown on average over 3 percent over the last ten years or so before the recession. Many millions of jobs have been created. Many millions of people have now access to water, sanitation, which they didn't have before.
QUEST: Which reminds me of the old line, so what have you done for me lately? You know --
(CROSSTALK)
GORDHAN: Oh, lately --
QUEST: The issue is, what will this -- what will be the priority for the next administration? I hear reports since I've been here that it's going to be more business-friendly.
GORDHAN: Well, of course. Businesses are 70 percent of our economy, so we need to be business-friendly, we need to be labor-friendly, we need to be people-friendly to make sure that all of the sectors of society can participate freely in the economy.
So, our plan is very transparent. It's a continuation of the main policy pillars of the last five years into the next five years. They're clearly articulated in the manifesto of the ANC. They are underpinned by industrialization, infrastructure investment, rural reform and agricultural reform.
And in particular are focused on young people and how we can educate them better, train them better, and develop them better.
QUEST: Will there be a large spending program? I've heard reports of several trillion rand that is being put into the budget over the next five years or ten years on infrastructure. Is that what -- is that going to happen?
GORDHAN: Yes. We have a pipeline of infrastructure projects over the next ten or so years. We probably will spend between 2 and 4 trillion rands. Some of that is off our fiscal balance sheet. Some of that is on the balance sheets of state-owned enterprises.
QUEST: So, you are going to spend more money?
GORDHAN: We will spend more money that we can afford to spend, yes.
QUEST: This country, along with other emerging markets, was hit when the threat of tapering came along last year. You saw your currency under pressure. It's still under pressure now. I suspect you don't want to comment on the rand?
GORDHAN: Well, the rand has been volatile. The US Fed has become a lot more aware since many of us have been to Washington recently to remind them that when a big economy sneezes, so to speak, the impact on the rest of the world.
And when the big economies of the world make policy decisions about themselves, they need to be aware that they have a negative potential impact on the rest of the world.
QUEST: So, if you were worried at the mere threat of tapering, or if there was a reaction on tapering, which is now underway, the considerable period of Janet Yellen, which takes us into next year, as we wait for interest rates to go up, that could have a very damaging effect on your economy.
GORDHAN: I think in anticipation one can actually say that. In effect, tapering has already started late last year. The talk of tapering started exactly a year ago, May last year, and the markets have priced the tapering factor in, we believe, to some extent.
And institutions like the IMF have been given some food for thought during the meetings in April to look at what other buffers countries like ourselves, India, Brazil, Indonesia, and others could have, including the way in which policy decisions are made in the developed part of the world.
QUEST: In other words -- come on, let's be blunt about this, Minister -- you are telling other countries in the developed world don't forget about us here.
GORDHAN: No, we're reminding them that they have an impact on us here. Just as the 2008 session had an impact on South Africa and the rest of the world as well.
QUEST: So, they have a duty to make sure their policies don't hit you down here?
GORDHAN: They have a responsibility in a globally-connected world, to understand that their decisions do make an impact. And the Indian central bank governor has been very articulate on this matter, as have other leaders of economies around the world as well.
QUEST: Are you disappointed that you're no longer the number one economy in Africa? I mean, let's face it, Nigeria rebalanced its numbers and you dropped to number two. Should I be commiserating with you?
GORDHAN: Not at all, not at all. We're still amongst the top-most economies on the African continent. In many respects, in the specter of business infrastructure, financial infrastructure, auditing capabilities in South Africa, we're in the top five of the world competitiveness index.
So, we have many things going for us in South Africa that many countries in the developing worlds still need to catch up on. And it's good that Nigeria, with a population of 170 million, is where it is, and that we learn how to complement each other in terms of our respective parts of development.
QUEST: Ultimately, as you look to the next five years -- well, first of all, this is never an easy question to ask -- do you still expect to be the finance minister this time next month?
GORDHAN: Politicians never have expectations. So, all politicians around the world serve at the pleasure of the heads of government and state.
QUEST: So, you have no indication whether or not you're going to keep your job?
GORDHAN: Well, the president will let you know on the 25th of this month.
QUEST: Well, I'm hoping he'll let me know a day earlier.
(LAUGHTER)
QUEST: Let's just talk firmly about where -- did the mining sector in this country, there's a very damaging strike at the moment, and it's not the first time there've been problems in the mining sector, whether it was the violence in Marikana, whether it's been other issues. What is it about the mines in this country that makes it so difficult?
GORDHAN: Well, a hundred and some odd years later after the first discovery of gold and diamonds in South Africa, we still have a migrant labor system in South Africa. So, we haven't transformed that particular sector.
Mine workers are families, for example, in the eastern cape or in the Sotho, but they also have residents in western Bulgaria if the platinum mines are there. The second is the collective bargaining system didn't operate within the platinum sector.
And third, I think there's been some political influence, which have kept all these strikes going. But I believe that the companies are communicating directly with workers, that they're getting increasing responses, that workers want to get back to work.
QUEST: Finally -- and we're delightful to be in your country as always and enjoying your hospitality, coming out late this evening -- what's the one thing you want us to know about South Africa as it faces a second Zuma term, but a fifth ANC term?
GORDHAN: Oh, that the ANC still remains a leading organization, that we will --
QUEST: You're not tired, complacent, and over it?
GORDHAN: Not at all. We will fulfill Mr. Mandela's vision in time of a non-racial society, of an economy that accommodates everybody, an economy that provides decent jobs for everybody as well, and continue to raise the standard of living of all South Africans.
QUEST: Minister, thank you for joining us.
GORDHAN: Thank you, Richard.
QUEST: As always, it's a treat and a pleasure to have you with us. Thank you very much, indeed. Now, as I alluded at the beginning of the program, the market is much stronger in New York at the open. The Dow Jones -- or at the close, I should say.
(LAUGHTER)
QUEST: A few hours of these time zone differences. Alison Kosik is at the New York Stock Exchange.
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Richard, it was all about the M&A today, mergers and acquisitions. Corporate deal-making brings confidence to Wall Street, and today was one of those days.
Hillshire's deal to buy Pinnacle Foods for $6.6 billion, that was part of it. And Pfizer's continued push to acquire AstraZeneca, that also kept stock in the green. We're seeing another record high for the Dow, also the S&P 500.
Don't be surprised, though, if you see caution kick in, because you know that old adage: sell in May and go away. We're right sort of getting to the middle of May, and there are some concerns that we may see that adage come to pass. Richard?
QUEST: Alison Kosik at the New York Stock Exchange. And Alison, tomorrow night, when we're talking hopefully, we might be able to just put into some context, for example, the Johannesburg stock exchange and some emerging markets. Maybe we'll have time for that.
It's QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, which tonight comes from South Africa. We'll stay in Africa after the break. We'll take a journey through Boko Haram-controlled territory in Nigeria. An exclusive report from the town where 200 schoolgirls were abducted last month. This is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, good evening.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Welcome back to QUEST MEANS BUSINESS in Pretoria in South Africa. Now, we stay on the continent. There was a chilling new development today in the case of the 270 schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram in Nigeria.
This video released by the French news agency Agence France Press reportedly shows the girls wearing full-length hijabs and reciting the Koran. The terror group's leader says all the captives have converted to Islam. It's known that several of them -- many of them where of Christian faith. He asks to exchange the girls for militants being held by the Nigerian government.
Nima Elbagir has traveled through the dangerous territory of Boko Haram in northern Nigeria. She has visited the school and the dormitory where -- from where the girls were abducted, and spoken to those concerned. This is her report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is a road few are now willing to travel.
ELBAGIR (on camera): It's been one checkpoint after another as we have traveled north from the Nigerian capital Abuja. We've definitely seen evidence of the security reinforcements that the government's been talking about.
But as we got further north, as we got deeper into the Boko Haram countryside where they've been striking terror into the hearts of villages, much of that presence seems to have evaporated.
ELBAGIR (voice-over): Attacks by the militant Islamist group Boko Haram are constant in this part of Nigeria. But what happened in Chibok put the world on notice.
ELBAGIR (on camera): In here, in these rooms, is where the girls were sleeping when armed men in what they describe as military uniforms came to their dormitory gate and told them that they'd come to protect them.
The girls started to assemble in the yard as ordered to. They didn't realize who the men really were until it was too late.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He said, OK, we enter this lorry.
ELBAGIR (voice-over): This girl managed to escape. She's now too fearful to show her face. Too fearful to go back.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A big lorry.
ELBAGIR (on camera): Big lorry?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
ELBAGIR: They came with a big lorry?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
ELBAGIR: Was it one or more?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Seven.
ELBAGIR: Seven lorries?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
ELBAGIR (voice-over): Trucks, motorbikes, residents here tell us this raid was effectively a shopping trip for Boko Haram. Over 200 girls dragged from their beds to be sold off as bounty. A message that the militant group's edicts on female education must be heeded. But avails over big men with guns to make money off terrified girls.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If we leave Chibok, I will never go again.
ELBAGIR (on camera): You'll never go back to school?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
ELBAGIR: Because they made you afraid?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
ELBAGIR (voice-over): Before the militants left, they destroyed everything they could: textbooks, the library, the laboratory. Their attempt to forever shutter this school.
Elizabeth and Mary are friends. Members of the same church, their daughters were also friends, hoping one day to study medicine. They and many of their classmates never made it home from school.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are pleading them to leave our daughters. We don't have power to do anything that requires power.
ELBAGIR: They say they still feel powerless, no closer to finding their daughters nearly a month after they were taken.
Nima Elbagir, Chibok, Nigeria.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: There are many people we can talk to about this story, but we need to hear the views of corporations and banks. Why? Because in many ways, they are the engines of growth and the support structures that can move forward.
Ben Kruger is the co-CEO of Standard Bank, which has a major footprint in Africa. Good to see you, sir. Thank you very much.
Obviously, the horror that you all feel by what's happened in northern Nigeria with the abduction, so let's begin with that security question.
BEN KRUGER, CO-CEO, STANDARD BANK: Clearly, Richard, it's something that for all of us it's very difficult to relate to because we can't quite contemplate the travesty. We employ some 7,000 people in Nigeria, and for them, this is very real, and they live this every day. It's terrible.
QUEST: They live it every day. And you've just been at the -- or your company was at the WEF talking about Africa rising. But how can we talk about Africa rising when at the same time you have atrocities like these taking place? I know they're not unique to this continent.
KRUGER: I think to give it context, you need to go back to ten years ago. Ten years ago, you would have had at least three wars raging in the parts of Africa where we operate. That has dissipated. But clearly, there are many areas of conflict and many disputes and massive inequality and problems with education. And I think societally, it's still a long way for Africa.
QUEST: Right. Now, on that issue -- because obviously, the security forces will hopefully, please God, deal with what's happening with the girls. But on the questions of inequality, the breeding ground of discontent, that is somewhere where you can make a difference as companies and banks.
KRUGER: Yes, absolutely, I agree completely. In fact, people often think that inequality only relate to people that have jobs, and so clearly, unemployment is a massive issue. But I think the second problem, if you take South Africa as an example, for example, South Africa has had about 10 million people move into the middle income group over the last 20 years under new government.
And when you think of those people who, when you look at the stock exchange going from 7,000 to 50,000 today. For those people suddenly with pensions, they're all the new haves, and they have capital, and they've become forevermore complicated. And it's the opportunity. Unequal opportunity, I think, is the problem.
QUEST: Right. But what do you want from this new Zuma administration that will take office? Do you agree with what you heard the finance -- respectfully, of course, disagreeing. Do you agree or disagree with what you heard the finance minister say on this program?
KRUGER: Yes, absolutely. Clearly, the finance minister is in a more complicated position, but if I look at it from a business perspective, there are only two things in South Africa that have received a unanimous vote. Firstly, the constitution, and secondly, the new NDP or the national development plan.
In recent times, it's been very difficult for the ruling party to progress the implementation of the national development plan. This clearly gives them a complete mandate to do that, and I suspect that they will do that, and that's a very pro-growth, pro-job oriented program.
The one element I would add to that, which is really quite important, I think, is education. In South Africa, we spend a huge amount of money on education, and I don't think we actually get the result that we deserve from that kind of an investment. And so --
QUEST: You're spending something like -- something like 7 or 8 percent is spent, so it's almost up to the same levels as certain developed countries. But the bang for the buck, so to speak --
KRUGER: Yes.
QUEST: -- is not there.
KRUGER: Absolutely. And we see more and more corporates, and ourselves included --
QUEST: Right.
KRUGER: -- taking those years are spent and actually focusing on education. Because that, I think, is the biggest change for the country in the future.
QUEST: I want to finally come back to this idea, because you have -- how big is the bank?
KRUGER: We've got a market capitalization of $20 billion, and we employ about 50,000 people.
QUEST: Fifty thousand people in this continent?
KRUGER: Yes.
QUEST: Twenty billion. Lots of assets under management. A huge potential economic force. Well, you're not the chief -- the co-chief exec for your own good just alone, are you?
KRUGER: Definitely not.
QUEST: So, what do you want to do next, in terms of assisting this continent? And how?
KRUGER: I think -- yes, for us, we focus on quite a key few sectors in the continent. If I look at the continent and I think power and infrastructure is the greatest inhibitor of growth. You have massive populations, you need to industrialize these countries. And so clearly, focusing on power, infrastructure, very, very important.
Very much in line with that, we focus on the structure industries that often facilitate massive infrastructure development, like mining and metal projects, or oil and gas. And these are key drivers of the economy.
QUEST: Big topics that are hard to do.
KRUGER: Yes. And finally, I think for us, working -- creating the capital markets and actually taking it right down to the bottom level to small-scale farmers trying to leverage the entire value chain. It's a big role that we have to play, and a lot to do.
QUEST: Good to see you, sir. Thank you for coming in this evening. Cold evening here -- it's winter here, isn't it?
KRUGER: It is certainly.
QUEST: Right.
KRUGER: Thank you.
QUEST: Many thanks, Ben. Good to see you always, from Standard Bank.
(CROSSTALK)
KRUGER: Thank you.
QUEST: Now, when we come back after the break, we continue our discussion. You're going to meet the man who's responsible for trying to find Malaysia MH370. He's not doing it alone. But Angus Houston speaks to CNN. This is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS. We're live in Pretoria.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: So now the work begins on trying to put right some of the damage for the aviation industry as a result of Malaysia Airlines MH370, most notably, how is it that a plane has managed to disappear for so many weeks with so little idea of where it is. And crucially, how to avoid this from happening again.
The International Civil Aviation Organization, the UN body ICAO, is holding a special meeting this week in Montreal where it will discuss tracking aircraft in the future. The group will consider the industry's needs and capabilities. In other words, what can be done? But at the same time, ensuring that it doesn't just become a talking shop with no results.
Ahead of the conference, the companies whose satellite was used to help track MH370 has told ICAO it will provide free airline tracking. Inmarsat says it connects with 11,000 commercial passenger planes that already have its equipment onboard, and it's happy to offer the tracking section free, and of course, will try and sell premium services thereafter.
As the search continues, "The Wall Street Journal" saying some Australian authorities doubt the pings from the underwater locators were really from 370. Still, the man leading the investigation is very much of the opinion that the pings are from MH370.
And when Angus Houston, former air chief marshal of Australia, when Angus Houston sat down with Anna Coren, it was a very honest appraisal of what they know, what they don't know, and why they're now reviewing the evidence.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You have been praised for restoring credibility to the search, for your calm manner, and for being, quote, "a steady pair of hands." Beneath that calm, cool exterior, do you feel an overwhelming sense of pressure and responsibility?
ANGUS HOUSTON, CHIEF COORDINATOR, JOINT AGENCY COORDINATION CENTRE: There's a very heavy responsibility. Everybody who's involved in this has the same imperative that I do, is that we've got to find the aircraft, and we've got to find it for the families, and we've got to find it for the -- I suppose, the confidence of the general public in traveling by air.
COREN: The Malaysian government has been strongly criticized for the way that it has handled this disaster. Do you think they could have done a better job?
HOUSTON: I think some of the commentary about what the Malaysians have done, I don't think is as fair and objective as it might have been. They have been open, and they have been transparent. I think there's been an intent to be as transparent as possible, but it's been an extraordinary set of circumstances.
People are looking for answers, and there are no answers at the moment. That's the difficulty. We'd all like to know precisely what happened aboard that aircraft on that night and why it flew the flight path that it did. And at this stage, that's still an open book.
COREN: So, you are 100 percent certain that the plane is in the southern Indian Ocean?
HOUSTON: I'm still hopeful that we've found something in that area, because it was a manmade transmission. We're going back to that area, and I think we should all pray that we'll find something at the bottom of the ocean in that area.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: That's Angus Houston. And interestingly, he says he is still hopeful that something will be found, which is not quite the same thing as we may have heard in the past, where they say they are confident. I suspect it's a case of once bitten, twice shy. They haven't found anything so far.
After the break, in Brazil, Sao Paulo's airport is ready to receive visitors for the World Cup, which starts in a month's time. What a pity maybe some of the World Cup actual facilities aren't quite as ready as the airport. What is going on and are we watching a fiasco about to take place? QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, we're in South Africa tonight. Good evening.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Hello, I'm Richard Quest tonight live from Pretoria in South Africa. There's more "Quest Means Business" in just a moment. This is CNN, and on this network the news always comes first. A separatist leader from Donetsk in Eastern Ukraine has declared the region to be independent. He says the region will be asked to join Russia. Nearly 90 percent of voters in the area favored secession in a referendum that's being dismissed by Ukraine and the European Union. The E.U. has imposed sanctions on 13 more people in response. Nigeria's government says it would consider negotiating with Boko Haram to secure the release of more than 200 kidnapped girls. That's according to an official. A man calling himself the group's leader says he's willing to trade the girls for militant prisoners. Spanish police say a politician from the country's ruling party was shot dead in Leon on Monday. Isabel Carrasco led the provincial branch of the Popular Party. Spain's interior ministry said the killing did not appear to be politically-motivated. Monday marked the last day of voting in India's general election. Exit polls show the opposition party, the BJP, is still in the lead. Official results are expected on Friday.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Less than a month from the World Cup and Brazil has passed a major milestone in its preparations. Well anyone who's seen the fiasco of openings of terminals and airports - (terminiad Airport) like Heathrow and the like - will have welcomed Sao Paulo new international terminal which opened this weekend. It's a bright spot that's been preparations marred by delays. With just one month left, some projects are still under construction. Others won't be completed at all. Some Brazilians say the money spent on preparations could've been spent elsewhere. The FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke insists the tournament has a net benefit.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
JEROME VALCKE, FIFA SECRETARY GENERAL: When a country bids for the World Cup, it's not against the interest of the country. It is for the interest of the country. So you are not saying 'I'm bidding for the World Cup and I will cut the budget of xyz because that's the only one way for me to finance the World Cup.' The World Cup is a way to speed up a number of investments in the country.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
QUEST: Now, I'm a firm believer on these sort of events that the carping is useless, certainly when you get this close to the actual opening ceremonies. All we need to really do is actually take stock to see just how much is there and how much still needs to be done. Shasta Darlington, who will be following the World Cup whether she likes it or not, is in the northern city of Manaus. So, give me an idea what is the situation?
SHASTA DARLINGTON, INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT FOR CNN , BRAZIL BUREAU: Well, Richard, this is a very unique situation to put it mildly. I'm in the middle of the Amazon Jungle, I'm in Manaus. This right here is the Arena Amazonia. It's actually done. They've tested it. It's looking pretty impressive, the problem is more logistics. There is no way in or out of the city except by a very slow boat or by airplane. And the airport here, they haven't finished the expansion project. So any visitors who do fly in are going to be met with areas that are still boarded up, the immigration lines, if you're coming in on an international flight. Have been long in recent weeks. And there's really only a very small area for what could be 40,000 fans sitting in here. At the same time, the urban transport projects on the ground - they never even got started. So they haven't decided yet how they're going to get people around Manaus. We're in the middle of the Amazon Jungle, but this is a city of 2 million people and they have huge traffic problems. So they have to figure out quickly how they're going to get people to the stadium, to the hotels and then back to the airport to get out of here, Richard. So you can see a little bit of the positive in the stadium here and a lot of the negative. And you know I have to just raise a point here about that Sao Paulo Airport. Yes, they opened it, but with so little time that most of the airlines including the big Brazilian ones aren't going to move to that terminal until after the World's Cup because there isn't time to test the immigration systems and the ticketing counters, Richard.
QUEST: OK, Shasta, but what I feel we need to know - because, you now, to use that old phrase "The troops are on the train," this thing is going to happen in less than a month. So to that extent, are we looking at a World Cup that is going to run smoothly?
DARLINGTON: You know, Richard, I'm really doubtful about that. I was saying all along as you know that the stadiums will be ready, yes, you'll have to wait in line, but this is Brazil. Brazilians are a wonderful, welcoming people. They're so joyful, you know, they'll play their samba, and they'll drink their cachaas (ph), they'll get everybody in the mood. But the concern now that I have is I don't know if that's going to happen. Brazilians themselves are so worried about the overspending, the perception that there's been corruption, the fact that so much else needs to be done in the country, and of course the economy has slowed down. So there really isn't that public support behind it that could turn things around. That could make people get off the plane and sort of really not care all the lines and the shortcomings. So I think this might not be as great as I would've said it would be six months ago, Richard.
QUEST: All right. Shasta Darlington who will be following it ball to ball, stadium to stadium over the next four weeks Whether she likes football or not, she's about to learn a great deal more than she ever wished to. Here in South Africa the Football Association is looking for a turnaround after what one might describe as a string of embarrassments. The Association has launched a plan to try and put South African football as one of the top 20 footballing nations by 2022. Now, Robin Petersen is overseeing that event. Good to see you, sir.
ROBIN PETERSEN, CEO, SOUTH AFRICAN FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION DEVELOPMENT AGENCY: Thank you, Richard.
QUEST: I mean, I don't want to dwell on maybe misfortune.
PETERSEN: Yes.
QUEST: But it's not been a happy time in that sense post-World Cup for South African football.
PETERSEN: No it hasn't indeed, and in fact we have only qualified for major tournaments recently by hosting, and that's not a good record at all.
QUEST: Perhaps they thought you got into this one -
PETERSEN: No.
QUEST: -- because you were the previous - I thought it was the previous, the current and the future. You didn't qualify.
PETERSEN: We didn't qualify for this one, we didn't qualify for the last African Cup of Nations that we had a chance to qualify for. We've got a qualification coming up in the next few months for the next one, so we're on the back foot.
QUEST: Does that make a nonsense of the legacy argument of promoting a sport in the country that hosts it if you can't even qualify for the next one?
PETERSEN: No, not at all. I mean, you can't - football talent does not develop overnight. So, that's why we set ourselves a ten-year plan. We've said we cannot carry on making excuses to the nation, we have to qualify, we have to not only qualify, we should, given our economy, the size of our GDP, the size of our football economy, we should always be in the top three in Africa.
QUEST: So why didn't you?
PETERSEN: Because we haven't - we've allowed the developmental structures to erode.
QUEST: It's infuriating though to hear -- .
PETERSEN: It is infuriating.
QUEST: I can see you're infuriated by it. But, I mean, you got the World Cup -
PETERSEN: Yes.
QUEST: And you squandered it.
PETERSEN: We haven't squandered it -
QUEST: Football-wise, football-wise.
PETERSEN: No, no, not yet. I think you can't - it's a too short a timeline to say we squandered it. What we have done is that, yes, we didn't build on what we had achieved significantly enough. But we have done now is we've said to put in place the structures for football development is a much longer process in a four-year cycle. We now have a ten-year cycle. We built a plan, we're raising the funds and we're absolutely determined to implement that plan to make sure that we take football to where we need to be in this country.
QUEST: I don't want to invite you too much to maybe comment on the next country. But you obviously were very heavily involved in the arrangements for this one. You know - you know what it's like. Should - how can I put this delicately? Should we be worried that what's happening in Brazil at the level preparedness ahead of these games?
PETERSEN: I think it's a pity that they've come to the point that they're at in terms of readiness. However, I really do believe that it'll be OK on the day, and I think that FIFA are there -
QUEST: Right.
PETERSEN: -- that the Games will be fantastic. I think it'll be a fantastic tournament.
QUEST: Talking about FIFA, should Sir Blatter get another term? He wants it. I mean -
PETERSEN: He's done a fantastic job for African football, and we've always supported his candidature, and if he's - now he has re-announced his candidature, I think he would be a tremendous president to carry on the investment and development globally, not just in South Africa.
QUEST: So you will support him?
PETERSEN: Look, that's not my call. But I think that we would listen to the candidates. We certainly have always supported him up until now.
QUEST: Sir, good to see you, sir.
PETERSEN: Thank you.
QUEST: When - you're going to Brazil?
PETERSEN: I will be there.
(LAUGHTER)
QUEST: I bet you've already got your tickets, haven't you?
(LAUGHTER)
QUEST: Good thanks.
PETERSEN: Thank you.
QUEST: Thank you for joining us.
(CROSS TALK)
QUEST: Many thanks indeed. When we come back after the break, Donald Sterling has broken his silence. He's spoken exclusively to CNN. He says he's not a racist. He's asking for time and he's asking for forgiveness. You'll hear him in his own voice after the break. This is "Quest Means Business." Good evening to you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: So, Donald Sterling has been speaking for the first time since the recordings of his comments were released. He says he was set up and he hopes to stay in control of the L.A. Clippers. He says he is not a racist and crucially asks for forgiveness. He spoke exclusively to CNN's Anderson Cooper. Anderson is with me now. Great, great interview, Anderson, but were you surprised by what you heard from Mr. Sterling?
ANDERSON COOPER, ANCHOR OF CNN'S ANDERSON COOPER 360o SHOW: You know, there are a lot of things that surprise me in the interview, and the full interview is going to be starting to be broadcast in several hours, about four hours from now. And I think a lot of people will be surprised, they'll be shocked by some of the things he says. You know, he's very clear he wants to apologize, he apologizes multiple times throughout the more than hour-long -- hour-long interview. He also, you know, goes on to criticize NBA great Magic Johnson, a beloved figure globally and I think that's going to surprise and shock and anger a lot of people. Here's some of what he said starting with his apology.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
DONALD STERLING, CURRENT OWNER OF THE L.A. CLIPPERS BASKETBALL TEAM: I'm a good member who made a mistake and I'm apologizing and I'm asking for forgiveness. Am I entitled to one mistake in my - after 35 years? I mean, I love my league, I love my partners - am I entitled to one mistake? It's a terrible mistake and I'll never do it again.
COOPER: The vice president of the NBA Players Association, Roger Mason, he said that the players won't accept anyone in the Sterling family owning the Clippers - not you, not your wife, not your son-in-law, not your daughter. Do you believe that?
STERLING: I really don't know. The people that are going to decide my fate I think are not the media and not the player's union, but the NBA.
COOPER: The owners.
STERLING: Pardon me?
COOPER: The owners.
STERLING: The owners. If the owners feel I deserve another chance, then they'll give it to me.
COOPER: But there is a path for you to fight their decision, isn't there?
STERLING: Of course. But if you fight with my partners, what at the end of the - the end of the road - what do I benefit? Especially at my age? If they fight with me and they spend millions and I spend millions, let's say I win or they win, I just don't know if that's important.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
COOPER: He clearly believes, Richard, as you said, there is a path for him to remain owner of the L.A. Clippers. The question is how and we talk more about that tonight.
QUEST: And we'll be looking forward. But, Anderson, how calculating do you think he is in this interview at this time with the owners about to vote on the decision that they have to make?
COOPER: He clearly, you know, is well aware of the situation he's in. He's a very accomplished attorney - divorce attorney - he knows his way around a courtroom. He knows, you know, the next step is the owners. They're going to decide whether or not it's the way it works in the United States. The owners of the other teams in the NBA - three-quarters of them - have to vote in order to oust him. He doesn't want to tip his hand whether or not he will fight their decision in court. There's a number of ways he could do that. He's facing a divorce from his wife - his estranged wife who is also part of the trust that owns the team. He could tie things up in divorce court for years, they could spend a lot of money on lawyers and just fight this for years it could drag on. So he doesn't want to tip his hand one way or another until he sees what the owners are going to vote. It seems like the owners will vote to kick him out. He I think believes maybe there's some sort of negotiation or room for negotiation that he can move in.
QUEST: Anderson, thank you, and we look forward to the interview later in just a few hours' time - AC 360o with the interview with Donald Sterling. Now to tonight's weather forecast. And glorious, glorious day. Winter - autumnal day here in the Southern Hemisphere.
TOM SATER, METEOROLOGIST FOR CNN INTERNATIONAL: Yes.
QUEST: In Johannesburg and Pretoria, the sort of day that just makes you put a spring in your step.
SATER: (LAUGHTER). Well, Richard, there's going to be a few more of those steps coming them because not only are you in one of the more beautiful places on our planet, you are there one of the most beautiful times of the year. Here's your forecast. It's 13 degrees, the skies are clear, you've got cool, crisp mornings, sunshine, humidity - ideal. The average high 22, you're 23. You're right it's autumnal, it's perfect. Enjoy it. Weather may not have been perfect but I hear over 100,000 people lie in the streets to watch some Manchester City footballers show off some new hardware. A few scattered showers were in the area, but of course a nice parade - they didn't care about the weather. They wanted to see that the players left Albert Square around 6:15 local time - it ended just a little while ago. Eleven degrees currently in London, Paris is at 10, Vienna 11. These numbers are slightly cooler than average. The cold air is pushed all the way into the south and southeast, and the Jetstream far to the south as been the catalyst along with this area of low pressure to fire up some storms . In fact, the satellite picture shows where that upper level development is, and this is where we've had some healthy rainfall totals, we've had some good size hail. In fact, northern Italy 6 centimeter diameter hail, 96 kilometer power winds in Croatia. The rainfall totals as mentioned are pretty good - well over 40 to 48 millimeters in Belarus, Poland as well. That rainfall is going to really kick up. Take a look what happens here in the next 48 hours. This area of low pressure's going to develop for heavy rainfall, maybe damaging winds, parts of Romania. Pictures like this with the storm clouds on the horizon - this in southern Germany and Bavaria - a beautiful day yesterday. Now a little bit cooler. For those traveling, no big problems in Europe. We're looking at maybe 15/30 minute delays. More for volume I think than weather. In parts of - well we're looking toward the east - we're looking at Kiev about 24 high, Bucharest 23. In the U.S., the problems are thunderstorms from the Great Lakes into the Central Plains. Yes that was snow in Denver. They've got quite a bit into the mountains but look for fog to be a problem on the East Coast. Here's the eruption of thunderstorms, we're going to watch tornados firing up, we've had snowfall on the back end. Richard, believe it or not, a meter of snow fell - snowfall fell - in parts of Wyoming in toward areas of Colorado. The heavy snow will continue there as thunderstorms erupt in the middle of the country. This'll set the stage for a few delays, again, from the Southern Plains to the Great Lakes and slightly cooler temperatures will soon follow. Look at Dallas - 27 for a high Monday, down to 18 for a high on Tuesday. Back to you.
QUEST: Tom, thank you for that. Tom Sater with the weather forecast. It is an odd time to be in South Africa. Nelson Mandela passing away, an election taking place, and behind me, a legal circus of the Pistorius trial. Robyn Curnow is our correspondent. She'll be with me after the break to make sense of it all.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Correspondents are usually lucky they get one big story a year. They're exceptionally lucky they get a really large story. But, to have two of such magnitude and huge nature is quite exceptional. Robyn Curnow is our South Africa correspondent, joins me now. The Mandela trial - the Mandela death - obviously you covered very, very closely in great detail and superb coverage, and now the Pistorius trial. What's it like?
ROBYN CURNOW, ANCHOR AND INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT FOR CNN, BASED IN JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA: Well, to be honest with you, we've spent most of the time on this pavement under this tent and we did the same with Madiba last year. So I think there has been this great familiarity with Pretoria. But also, the sort of sense of an occasion - and it is so different from Mandela, isn't it? Because this is so much more serious in a way. I mean, Mandela was a celebration whereas what's happening here - this issue of Oscar Pistorius and his fate, and then of course Reeva Steenkamp and her --
QUEST: But it doesn't go away. Even just today, you had the psychiatric evidence which has led to an entire new series of questions about whether the man is mentally impaired and will be judged tomorrow.
CURNOW: And that opens up a whole new landscape of legal possibilities and of delays, the possibility he might be sent to an institution for observation for 30 days. Just when we felt that the defense - and the defense thought - that they were wrapping up their case perhaps on Wednesday, you know, we're now looking at this being extended indefinitely until this next part of this soap opera, this circus continues. But even though it seems to be made-for-television and all this drama, it is - I've got to keep reminding myself and the viewers - this is a human, very human drama and it's so important to remember that.
QUEST: But what we are seeing here - bringing it - because we've just had an election in this country, --
CURNOW: Yes.
QUEST: -- and you've got - you heard the finance minister this evening. But you're seeing a trial being run extremely efficiently. M'Lady is in control.
CURNOW: Oh yes.
QUEST: The two counsels are superb at their jobs. Justice is being done over there.
CURNOW: I mean, and I think you know, as a South African and - there's one thing the South Africans are saying - it's on T.V. for the first time and there was a steep fear that there'd be this public sort of hanging or something - this sort of terrible, you know, drama. But actually, isn't it just so sedate? So judicial. And I think, you know, there's a deep sense of pride that M'Lady really is in control of her courtroom and that everybody seems to be so eloquent. And there is this unbelievable institutional pride and honor that you can see. And I think what we do know - one thing. There's going to be justice.
QUEST: And -
CURNOW: No matter what people say on social media, there will be justice whichever you look at it and it will be fair - whether it's to Oscar Pistorius or to Reeva, this is not a circus on that level.
QUEST: And you of course had better put your sleeping bag over there, you're camper (ph) over here and you'll be under this tent for the foreseeable future. Wonderful job, thank you very much for being on the program tonight.
(KISS SOUND)
QUEST: We'll have a "Profitable Moment" after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Tonight's "Profitable Moment." South Africans went to the polls and an election to be so free and fair and so untroubled is an achievement on the continent of Africa. There's no question about that. But it is still one party rule and that party still holds on to much of its power. The question is what does the ANC do now? A born-free generation that still seems in many ways to be stuck into the old minds of thinking. It's up to the ANC to prove through the next government that they can refresh themselves when an opposition isn't in place to do it for them. And hopefully, if the President's listening, Pravin Gordhan remained in his job. And that's "Quest Means Business" for this Monday night. I'm Richard Quest in Pretoria. Whatever you're up to in the hours ahead, (RINGS BELL), I hope it's profitable. I'll see you tomorrow.
END
