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Quest Means Business
Dollar and Euro Come Close to Parity; U.S. Stocks Gain after Volatile Week; Funds for Greece's Humanitarian Crisis; Greece Plans to Recruit Tax Spies; OECD: Greece Must Tackle Foreign Bribery; Putin Wants Eastern Europe Currency Union; Lindt Cafe in Sydney Reopens after Siege. Aired 5-6:00p ET
Aired March 20, 2015 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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POPPY HARLOW, CNN HOST (voice-over): Investors have got that Friday feeling. It is a worldwide rally to end the week. It is Friday, March the
20th.
Tonight, a sea of green for the markets as the greenback gives up gains.
And a multibillion-dollar lifeline: Europe offers Greece a solution to its humanitarian crisis.
Also taking on the industry of shame: Monica Lewinsky fights back against online bullies.
I'm Poppy Harlow and this is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.
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HARLOW: Good evening and welcome to the program. Tonight, stocks capped a week of ups and downs with a Friday surge. The Dow topped 18,000 for the
first time in two weeks. It rose 169 points on the day the S&P and the Nasdaq rose as well. Stocks across Europe -- take a look -- also closed
higher. What a day, especially what a day in London.
The FTSE rose to an all-time high as the pound gained ground against the U.S. dollar. Shares in Athens, though, end the day -- in Athens nearly 3
percent higher. The E.U. has given Greece more than $2 billion to try to deal with what Greek leaders are calling the humanitarian crisis there.
In the United States, the Dow has been a roller coaster ride -- take a look at the past two weeks, up, down; up, down. It has moved more than 100
points every day but one over the past two weeks. All told, though, it is up more than 2 percent this week. Investors are cheering a weakening U.S.
dollar, something we haven't seen in quite a while and that was triggered by the Fed's announcement earlier this week that it would not move to raise
rates in the next month.
U.S. companies have warned that a stronger dollar could hurt exports and also their bottom lines. The U.S. Treasury Secretary sees it differently,
speaking exclusively to CNN, Jack Lew said a strong dollar is a net benefit to the U.S. economy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JACK LEW, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: So, look, I am going to continue to say what I and my predecessors have said, because I believe it, that a strong
dollar is good for the United States. You look at the U.S. economy, it is a very strong economy right now. You look around the world, and there are
economies that are struggling to get up to the level of growth they need to be.
I think you look at the U.S. economic performance all factors considered, we're doing much better.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: More of Christine's interview with the Treasury Secretary later in the program. But millions of people in Northern Europe were treated to a
rare sight on Friday morning, a solar eclipse.
Over the past weeks and months the euro has been moving closer to its own rare event ,parity with the U.S. dollar. The euro has not been worth less
than a dollar since 2002. The introduction of quantitative easing was expected to push the euro below the $1 mark and keep it there for a while.
But when the U.S. Fed announced this week that it would raise interest rates but it wouldn't do it anytime soon, the euro and the dollars passed
the verge once again.
The dollar logged its biggest single-day decline against the euro in six years after a brief recovery on Thursday the U.S. dollar fell again on
Friday HSBC now says the two currencies are set to move even further apart. It warns the dollar's rally is coming to an end.
Joining me now to discuss if he agrees, Anthony Chan. He is chief economist at JPMorgan Chase.
Thank you for being here. We appreciate it very much, sir.
Do you agree with that, that sort of the run of the dollar is coming to an end?
ANTHONY CHAN, CHIEF ECONOMIST, JPMORGAN CHASE: I think the Federal Reserve rhetoric suggesting that they're watching international developments does
suggest that when they saw the dollar approaching $1.05 and vis-a-vis the euro, that kind of rang some alarm bells. And the financial markets are
getting the impression that they don't necessarily want that dollar to collapse so quickly because if it does, guess what, they'll delay the Fed
tightening.
So that, in a sense, is putting a little bit of the breaks on the acceleration of the U.S. dollar.
But when you get more quantitative easing, it's going to be a real challenge.
HARLOW: Exactly. It's stunning when we put those numbers up and you just look at the Dow movement over the past two weeks, it's pretty incredible
the volatility even with hearing from the Fed a little bit of certainty that it's not going to raise rates next months.
The market is still all over the place. For you what's the biggest factor in the volatility?
CHAN: Well, I think the volatility is a result of a lot of uncertainty, going into that Fed meeting we didn't know whether Janet Yellen was going
to take the word "patient" out, keep it in --
(CROSSTALK)
HARLOW: And she took it out.
CHAN: -- and she took it out. But they certainly put in enough other stuff that it calmed the markets.
And of course we heard from two Federal Reserve presidents today from Heavens and Dennis Lockhart, one from Chicago, one from Atlanta, both of
them giving at least some sort of a hint that, yes, the Federal Reserve will consider liftoff but they're not in a real, real rush to do so. And
that, of course, is bearing for the U.S. dollar.
HARLOW: It is. I wonder if you're sitting at the helm of a multinational right now, right, sitting at the helm of Nike with great results, right, or
you're sitting at the helm of Microsoft or Unilever and the stronger the U.S. dollar is concerning for you in terms of exports.
What are you expecting to happen?
CHAN: Well, remember that right now, when you look at S&P 500, 46 percent of the revenues of the S&P 500 basically come from overseas activities.
And so a stronger dollar does kind of hurt that, 40 percent of the profits come. But only about 25 percent of the corporate profits are in foreign
currencies, which means that apparently the exposure is there, but it's not as great as people would think.
But eventually if you continue with this quantitative easing --
(CROSSTALK)
HARLOW: -- warning about this.
CHAN: -- you continue with the quantitative easing, you are going to see further strength in the dollar, unless the Federal Reserve takes steps to
offset that.
HARLOW: (INAUDIBLE) --
CHAN: -- dollar is going to get stronger.
HARLOW: I have to ask you about oil. It hasn't been getting all the headlines this week, but in another decline this week in crude prices, how
low do you think oil can go and how sustained is this dip?
CHAN: Well, we know that there are some ply issues out there. But there are two factors whenever you see low oil prices and that is the demand
effect and the supply effect.
The demand effect means eventually we'll start demanding more. We drive more. We keep that thermostat a little bit lower. And so that tends to
push the price higher. The supply effect we've already seen oil rig counts from Texas down from --
(CROSSTALK)
HARLOW: And North Dakota.
CHAN: -- yes, from all these areas, almost down 46 percent. So that doesn't happen right away because they don't shut down the efficient oil
rigs, but eventually that leads to a little bit more of a supply reduction.
So I would say over the near term, still some downward pressure on oil prices.
But if you ask me, six months, 12 months, 18 months from now, I have to believe that oil prices --
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HARLOW: (INAUDIBLE).
CHAN: -- six months we probably will see oil in the -- when you look at West Texas in the media in the $55 to$60 a barrel.
HARLOW: OK, a lot of folks that work in those oil fields would be very happy to hear you say that. They're struggling right now.
Thank you very much, Anthony. Good to have you on the program. Have a great weekend.
The United States Treasury Secretary Jack Lew is making the case of increasing the number of trade deals Washington makes with the rest of the
world. He says it is vital to fueling global economic growth. Secretary Lew spoke exclusively with CNN's chief business correspondent, Christine
Romans.
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CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: We're here at a very busy port obviously in Miami. You're here to talk about the administration's agenda on trade.
(INAUDIBLE).
LEW: Look, I think that you come to a point like this and it tells a story of how important trade is. This is the second largest contributor to the
economy, the Miami area, followed only -- following only the airports. Trade, the transit of people and goods is just central to economic growth.
This is a port that sends an enormous amount of U.S. goods out for sale in world markets.
Our case for the trade agenda is that it's a way to create good American jobs to have a level playing field where we can compete in the world. We
think America makes great products, has great things to offer. And a port like this proves that it has many levels of benefit in a community in terms
of how it helps grow the economy.
ROMANS: Sometimes people hear trade deals and they think, wait a minute, that means some other country gets a job and I just get their goods.
LEW: So the truth of the matter is our markets are more open than many other markets. We have higher standards in this country. So we pay
attention to labor standards and environment standards. As we bring the rest of the world up to our standards and open markets around the world, we
have a lot to gain in terms of having American products, American services have access to foreign markets.
If we're not in those areas, someone else is going to be in those areas. If you look at where the growth and demand in the world is, it's not just
in the United States. We need to be selling goods in other parts of the world just like other people want to sell goods here.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARLOW: Well, European Commission chief extends a helping hand and opens the E.U. checkbook for Greece in a big way. But other officials say
they're waiting to hear more about the country's plans for real reform before they open the coffers. More after the break.
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HARLOW (voice-over): Greece is being given a new lifeline to stop what the European Commission president is calling a humanitarian crisis. Jean-
Claude Juncker has offered nearly $2.2 billion to the debt-laden country. He insists that the money must go towards social programs left with very
limited funds after five years of austerity cuts.
E.U. leaders are still waiting for Greece to show them a reform plan before they agree to release any further funding. Speaking in Brussels, the Greek
prime minister insisted there will be no return to the days of strict bailout conditions.
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ALEXIS TSIPRAS, GREEK PRIME MINISTER (through translator): It was very important we all have the same understanding of the February 20th accord.
This is very important. It's very important to have the same understanding. There's no such thing as a fifth review. Greece is not
obliged to take recessionary measures.
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HARLOW: Of all the reforms suggested by Greece, one has received more attention than the rest. It is the idea that students and tourists could
turn into informants. Seriously. To help crackdown on tax evasion.
But would they want to become spies for the government? Jim Boulden investigates.
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JIM BOULDEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Greece is a tourist hot spot. But if you're going to the islands this summer, would you mind being wired
to catch tax cheats?
CNN asked a few tourists if they would.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm here on holiday. I want to have a good time and I want to have a good relationship with the Greeks that I meet in shops,
cafes and walking around the street. I don't want them to think that I'm spying on them.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) situation. If someone I saw reach and is not being in the tax this is OK. I understand. I understand so you have
to pay and I'm going to spy you.
BOULDEN (voice-over): Finance minister Yanis Varoufakis floated the idea in a letter reported in the "Financial Times" in early March. The letter
was to the European Union.
Just one idea on how to collect tax in a country known for its cash economy: no receipts, no tax is likely to be paid. Varoufakis says Greece
is owed some 76 billion euros in missing taxes and the idea would help create what he calls, quote, "a new tax compliance culture."
The new Greek government is scrambling to find new ways -- some might say created ways -- to fund itself without a third bailout. Those that have
already loaned Greece some 240 billion euros have said the new government must not roll back austerity and must continue structural reform.
During this crisis, the Greek economy greatly needs these tourists and their money and doesn't want to alienate them.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think that this idea of the Greek government of having tax spies could be a good idea to remove or to control tax evasion.
So I think I could absolutely do this job. I could be prepared.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tax spies? I believe it is a good, a positive thing and also a negative thing. Good for tourism and strengthening the
government's resolve in stopping any potential illegal activity but also bad for the people who would then feel that their government is betraying
them somehow.
BOULDEN (voice-over): The idea would also include enlisting Greeks like nannies, students, housekeepers, Greeks spying on Greeks with sound and
video. No formal word from Brussels if a promise to spy on Greeks will become part of economic reform -- Jim Boulden, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARLOW: Well, Greece is trying to tackle tax evasion at home. The OECD says the government may be overlooking other corruption that is just as
serious a threat to their economy. Their organization for economic cooperation and development is calling for a crackdown on foreign bribery
in Greece. It says shipping companies and major exporters are most in need of action and should be the target of investigations. One thing that might
help the OECD says whistleblowers and they need protection and they need to know that they are safe from retaliation. Constantine Michalos is the
president of the Athens chapter and Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He joins us now from Athens.
Thank you so much for being with me, sir. I appreciate it.
Let's begin with that on the corruption front, Prime Minister Tsipras has said, look, we're doing what we can to tackle this. He's gotten some
credit for accomplishing that on a domestic front, a lot more criticism though when it comes to foreign briberies for business contracts.
Give me your sense. How bad and how rampant is it?
CONSTANTINE MICHALOS, PRESIDENT, ATHENS CHAMBER OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY: Well, I don't think it's as rampant as you've indicated in the sense that
we've only had seven cases being investigated as far as foreign bribery and corruption's concerned. A couple of those were on the construction field,
one on the lottery and the rest are concerned SMEs. So it's not such a serious case; however, it is extremely important that bribery and
corruption are combated at any level. And I think that the OECD report that has been published today together with the assistance of the Greek
government and Greek government agencies will provide -- will put us in the right direction.
HARLOW: Giving a sense of how Greek business leaders are feeling, both at the helm of large and small businesses, how nervous are they right now,
given all of the uncertainty?
MICHALOS: Prime Minister Tsipras yesterday made a statement and I think that he's within a spirit of mutual trust that Greece is committed to speed
up work and reforms. And this is what we desperately need. We've had this time delay since the end of the snap election back in late January. But
following last night's meeting, I think now the government realizes that we have to produce a cost that reform program in now -- in our minds will be
moving in fokelas (ph). One is the privatization sector, which is extremely important in order to attract foreign investment --
(CROSSTALK)
HARLOW: Sure.
MICHALOS: -- and therefore to being to reduce the level of unemployment. Public sector reforms are seriously required and of course we have to fund
(INAUDIBLE) proceed in the last stage of opening up the close professions here in Greece.
HARLOW: But let me try to ask you that again to get your take on the ground from the business owners, not from the government perspective, but
from the business owners that are looking for some sort of stability , some sort of certainty from their new government.
How are they feeling right now, especially given all the money we're seeing pulled out of banks?
MICHALOS: As long as we don't have the constructive reform programs that is submitted to our E.U. partners and lenders, the situation, this stagnant
situation that the Greek market, the Greek business sector is feeling over the last months, few months, will continue. The banks -- bank lending is
dried up. There is no liquidity. That is the major issue that concerns Greek small and medium-sized enterprises but of course also the large
business entities.
So it is -- we're living in an extremely difficult environment, business environment, at the moment. And we need structural reforms, but we need to
solve the liquidity issue as quickly as possible.
HARLOW: Let's hope it's worked out sooner rather than later. A lot of people there banking on some answers. Thank you so much, Constantine
Michalos, good to have you on the program. Appreciate it.
MICHALOS: Thank you.
HARLOW: As E.U. leaders agree to keep sanctions held firmly on Moscow for the foreseeable future, Vladimir Putin now says he wants to set up a
currency union for Eastern Europe. Take a look at this, ruble versus U.S. dollar. Right. The ruble is headed for a 4.5 percent gain against the
dollar this week, making it one of the best performing currencies in the world, how times have changed. It is up 15 percent since bottoming out at
the end of January. Meeting with his counterparts from Belarus and Kazakhstan, Russia's main economic allies in the loose union of former
Soviet states, Mr. Putin said a Russian version of the euro might be the way forward.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VLADIMIR PUTIN, PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA (through translator): We have agreed to continue coordination of monetary policy. We believe the time has come
to start thinking about forming a currency union in the future, working shoulder to shoulder it is easier to react to external financial and
economic threats to protect our joint market.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: Vladimir Putin there, of course this is all in the face of stiff sanctions imposed on Russia by the West, Europe and the U.S., leaders from
the E.U. say they won't be lifting those sanctions until Russia complies fully with the Minsk agreement ending the war in Eastern Ukraine. That
appears pretty unlikely to happen until the end of the year at the earliest.
The CEO of Russia's sovereign wealth fund spoke with our John Defterios and told him sanctions simply don't work.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KINIL DMITRIEV, CEO, RUSSIAN DIRECT INVESTMENT FUND: Well, we believe the court is to separate business from politics. And frankly that's the only
way to go forward because frankly the reasonable business dialogue helps solve political issues and sanctions never worked and never shifted
political goals. If the goal of sanctions were to reduce popularity of President Putin and change the policies, they failed.
The president has the highest popularity rate since ever in his history, around 90 percent right now.
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: You know, there's always a lag when it comes to recession and how it hits a leader. You suggested
that popularity's very high but a contraction of 5-6 percent can be quite painful, as you know.
DMITRIEV: Definitely Russia economy's affected. It's mostly affected by oil prices. It's also affected by sanctions. But we also remember that
the 1998 when Russia had the crisis, the markets rebounded seven times in the next two years. And in 2008, it rebounded five times. So we also see
attractive valuation in many of the U.K. funds and many other funds actually investing in Russia right now given the valuation perspective.
DEFTERIOS: With oil prices down around $60 a barrel for North Sea Brent, have you taken advantage of the opportunity to reform and not be spoiled by
$100 oil or more? The reform's actually this time around taking place in Russia?
DMITRIEV: Well, I think we will always want reforms to be faster than they have been because we believe that Russia also needs to become much more
efficient to really increase efficiency in many industries by 30-40 percent to also have the sustainable investment cycle with good investments are
happening. But some reforms are happening in the Russia move quite a bit on the list of ease of doing business by World Bank. So the speed to get
access to electric utilities, et cetera, both have dramatically.
So there is major drive to increase efficiency of state-owned enterprises and we believe that's happening successfully.
DEFTERIOS: As you know, President Putin was suggesting we'll tilt to the East and get growth in China. We'll go to Japan. We'll go to South Korea.
We'll reach out to India to provide a better avenue for growth, be less dependent on Europe, for example.
Is that happening in reality beyond the energy sector, though?
DMITRIEV: Well, I believe it is. And what we see is major influx of Chinese banks and Chinese companies that are quite focused on doing
investments in business and Russia. We have 54 projects that right now are in process of being realized between top Russian companies and Chinese
companies at a very significantly important level. So we believe it's for real.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARLOW: Well, a hostage crisis in a Sydney cafe gripped the attention of the entire world back in December. Now as it reopens for business, the
people of Sydney are showing up in droves. We'll take you inside after the break.
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Hello, I'm Richard Quest. There's more QUEST MEANS BUSINESS in a moment. This is CNN and, on this network, the news always comes first.
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QUEST (voice-over):
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HARLOW: Three months ago the world watched with horror as terrorists took hostages in a Sydney cafe. The store's manager was one of two victims
killed that day. Well, the cafe reopened for business on Friday and the people of Sydney wanted to make sure that their memories were honored.
Seven Network's Robert Ovedia was there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERT OVEDIA, SEVEN NETWORK (voice-over): Images of Lindt Cafe in darkness will always haunt Sydney but this was a new dawn, remembering the
past but acknowledging a future. Staff wanted to treat it like business as usual, but it wasn't. Among them was Joel Herat (ph), prepping the shop
just like any other morning before December 15, 2014.
JOEL HERAT (PH), LINDT EMPLOYEE: I feel like family so (INAUDIBLE) family.
OVEDIA (voice-over): Day one, he did not want to miss this.
HERAT (PH): A few days after the siege we all (INAUDIBLE) meeting. That's probably one of the first things I said, coming back here, you know, I
mean, (INAUDIBLE) the first week and (INAUDIBLE) come back to support friends that are still, you know.
OVEDIA (voice-over): There was so much support from his boss.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At happy days, the way that we're all looking at it and the staff are looking at it.
OVEDIA (voice-over): From the New South Wales premiere.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: An incredibly important day for this city.
OVEDIA (voice-over): And from the city itself.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to show these fellows what we're made of.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody should be supportive.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Should be here today.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What are you going to order in there?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).
OVEDIA (voice-over): They queued out the door and at 10:00 am, Lindt Cafe was open for business.
It was packed from regular customers to those who had never been but felt they had to come today. It was sweet.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you so much. Thank you so much for your support here.
(INAUDIBLE).
OVEDIA: Chocolates and coffee, Lindt Cafe's mission statement has always been a simple one. This company, they say, has always been about joy and
friendship. And now added to that, there is a determination to move on from the terrible events of last December.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's been a sort of roller coaster (INAUDIBLE). I mean, (INAUDIBLE) this doesn't go away. But today is like a fresh start
for a lot of us.
OVEDIA (voice-over): And by the door in gold, tributes for Lindt manager Tory Johnson (ph), adorned with a sunflower, and barista Katrina Dawson
(ph), her nickname was "Treed (ph)."
MIKE BAIRD, NSW PREMIER: Actions that came to the cause hate and division actually brought peace and unity. This city was tested. It was
challenged. But today is a strong reminder that we march forward and that we are very proud of our city.
OVEDIA (voice-over): Robert Ovedia, Seven News.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARLOW: Wow, what a beautiful piece to honor them.
Coming up next, fans of "Top Gear" have delivered a petition in support of Jeremy Clarkson in a rather unusual way. But Clarkson is hinting it may
already be too late. The latest next.
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HARLOW (voice-over): Welcome back. I'm Poppy Harlow. Coming up on the next half hour of QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, Monica Lewinsky slams Internet
companies for profiting off cyber bullies.
Also Ryanair backtracks big-time on plans to fly to the United States before that, though, here are the top news stories that we're following for
you this hour.
At least one --
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[17:30:02] HARLOW (voice-over): At least 135 people have been killed in an attack on two mosques in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa. ISIS is now
claiming responsibility for the suicide bombing that also injured nearly 350 people. The mosque serves mainly Houthi Shiite worshippers and the
White House says well it is too soon to tell if ISIS was indeed involved. The massacre is proof that extremists are trying to seize on the country's
political instability.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We're still investigating to determine whether or not there are actually command and control structures
in place that may provide some evidence to substantiate the claim that ISIL was involved in these attacks.
At this point, there is no indication that there is an operational link, but that's something that is still being investigated by our national
security professionals. But there's no doubt that the kind of extremism that is a part of ISIL is endemic in other places in the country - in the
region.
What we are seeing at least in this case is we're seeing extremists try to capitalize on the chaos and instability inside of Yemen to carry out these
acts of violence.
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HARLOW: Officials in Tunisia are learning more about the suspect in the horrific attack on a museum that killed 23 people earlier this week. The
country's security minister says two of the extremists involved received weapons training in Libya. ISIS has claimed responsibility for that attack
as well, posting a warning message of future attacks online.
Meanwhile, Tunisians marked 59 years of independence from France with a rally against terrorism. Demonstrators in the capital carried signs
reading "JeSuisBardo," naming the museum that was attacked this week, also referencing the terror attack on the "Charlie Hebdo" magazine in Paris in
January.
Talks in Iran's nuclear program are in recess and set to resume again next week. Negotiators have until the end of this month to try to reach a
framework agreement. The U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will meet with his counterparts from Britain, France and Germany on Saturday for a status
update.
Millions of people in the Northern Hemisphere have been treated to a very rare and stunning solar eclipse. Northern Europe, North Africa and the
Middle East had the best views as the moon appeared to be partially blocked - partially, rather, blocked out the sun.
People from planes taking a look as well. Although many sky watchers in the U.K. were left a bit disappointed when cloudy weather blocked that rare
view.
Top Gear's anonymous racing driver the Stig is used to driving unusual cars from rusted out beaters to million-dollar exotics. Today, someone dressed
as the Stig was in the passenger seat in a tank at BBC headquarters in Central London.
Look at that sight! Imagine just seeing that down the street. He was there to deliver a petition calling for the reinstatement of Jeremy
Clarkson as host of "Top Gear." More than a million people have signed that petition so far. The BBC suspended Clarkson after he allegedly
punched one of "Top Gear's" producers. You can't punch the producers.
The BBC has yet to announce Clarkson's fate. But at a charity event the "Top Gear" host hinted that he is expecting to be sacked. Also, he took
the opportunity to launch an all-out assault on his bosses at the BBC. Rosie Tomkins has the latest from London.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
ROSIE TOMKINS, CORRESPONDENT AND SENIOR PRODUCER FOR CNN INTERNATIONAL: True to form, he's reverent in tone, colorful in language, Jeremy Clarkson
takes the stand to deliver his latest thoughts on the BBC's decision to suspend him.
JEREMY CLARKSON, BBC'S "TOP GEAR" PRESENTER: You know the BBC should (bleep) themselves and so who gives a (bleep)?
(LAUGHTER)
CLARKSON: But he was a great fellow and a (bleep).
TOMKINS: It was an impromptu appearance at a London charity gala on Thursday night where the controversial British presenter delivered and
expletive-filled hammering to his BBC bosses and auctioned off what he described as a final lap of the "Top Gear" track.
CLARKSON: (Inaudible) (bleep).
(LAUGHTER)
TOMKINS: Tears are no surprise after 27 years presenting "Top Gear" and building an estimated audience of 350 million viewers worldwide. Today
Clarkson is one of the BBC's most popular and most divisive presenters.
Female: Oh, I don't like him at all. In fact I think they did right to suspend him.
Female: I don't mind his sense of humor. It's sort of British sense of humor.
Male: He's going to (inaudible) publicity and he makes all the money for the BBC.
TOMKINS: Everyone's got their opinion on Clarkson. And yet global support for the presenter is immense. The latest measure of it in the form of an
online petition calling for his reinstatement Delivered on Friday with a flourish by a man dressed as Sig - the mystery driver from "Top Gear."
[17:35:08] HARRY COLE, GUIDO FAWKES BLOG: We just think that the viewers of "Top Gear" deserve to be heard from. Yes, maybe he has done something
wrong - he's admitted to that himself. But at the moment, the viewers are being punished rather than Jeremy Clarkson.
TOMKINS: So there we have it - perhaps the fastest-growing petition in British history - almost a million signatures in just one week. And that
really does go to show the incredible global support for presenter Jeremy Clarkson now. Clarkson's fate should be decided next week when a report
into the matter is handed over to the director general of the BBC.
In the meantime, Stig here will of course have done his part to contribute to efforts to reinstate the controversial presenter. Rosie Tomkins, CNN
London.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
HARLOW: While Jeremy Clarkson finds support online, Monica Lewinsky is speaking out and speaking out loud about cyber bullying. Lewinsky has been
the victim of years of sustained abuse online and at a (Ted Talk) in Vancouver on Thursday, she told victims to believe there is hope.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
MONICA LEWINKSY, ACTIVIST AGAINST CYBERBULLYING: Anyone who is suffering from shame and public humiliation needs to know one thing - you can survive
it. I know it's hard. It may not be painless, quick or easy, but you can insist on a different ending to your story.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
HARLOW: Ms. Lewinsky says a marketplace has developed, shame has become an industry aimed at attracting cliques and ad dollars. CNNMoney's tech
correspondent Laurie Segall joins me now. And, Laurie, that was a pretty incredible talk.
LAURIE SEGALL, TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT FOR CNNMONEY: Oh yes.
HARLOW: And she said public shaming as a blood sport has to stop.
SEGALL: You know it's so interesting to hear someone like Monica Lewinsky - she's been silent about this for over a decade. And she's finally
deciding now is the time to come forward and talk about it and she had spoken one other time before that and she said, "I was patient zero - the
first person to have my reputation ruined by the internet." She's taking a stand, and now if you think about it, there's Facebook, there's Twitter,
online bullying. We're kind of at the tip of an iceberg and people are trying to figure out how to handle it.
There's one app, Poppy, called Yik Yak -
HARLOW: Right.
SEGALL: -- that's getting so much attention, it's on all college campuses. People post anonymously, so there's a lot of harassment happening. I
actually spoke to the founders of Yik Yak and I asked them what they do to try to counter cyberbullying. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
SEGALL: How do you guys try to help with the cyberbullying problem?
Male: Well we have filters on it for names and there for personal information, you know, just generally offensive things.
Male: Early on, made a set of rules about no targeting people, no bullying and we took kind of daring steps to enforce them and enforce them strongly.
SEGALL: For the people that kind of are bullied on it or have been bullied, what is your responsibility?
Male: There are federal laws in place that prevent, you know, sharing of private user information so that we're kind of limited in what we can do
there, but in cases like imminent threat or harm or something like that, we work with law enforcement to, you know, do what we can.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
HARLOW: So it's fascinating, I mean these are really young guys -
SEGALL: Right.
HARLOW: -- who's sort of is incredibly popular. Beastly Anonymous Twitter is a good way to describe it, right?
SEGALL: Yes.
HARLOW: And they talked about the laws - look, the laws are in place. But, Laurie, are the laws protecting people enough?
SEGALL: Well I mean the short answer's no, absolutely not. First of all, these guys are 24 years old and they have a $400 million-dollar company.
That's an -
HARLOW: Got it.
SEGALL: -- unbelievable number and then you look at how many people are using their service. You have professors from universities trying to go to
Yik Yak and get identities because, you know, they're just being annihilated in class. You have women who are being called horrific names,
but they're protected.
So I actually - I actually had lunch with a venture capitalist the other day and I was asking him about anonymity on the web and how you deal with
it. And he said, you know, this isn't going to go away, but the person, the app, the company to really be able to filter and allow the community to
help with this and really get on top of it and get in front of it will be the one that wins.
You know, Yik Yak we'll see what happens.
HARLOW: Do you - do you think that - you know we were talking earlier about this, and it's women that are largely being attacked. There's also
by the way racism happening on college campus elsewhere or through Yik Yak because of the anonymity. But what about the gaming community? Because I
know this is actually a very specific area where this is really a problem.
SEGALL: You know one thing I just want to call attention to it because I don't think we're talking about it enough is Gamer Gate, right? There's
women coming forward in the gaming community. When the gaming community is huge, by the way, bigger than Hollywood -
HARLOW: Online gaming.
SEGALL: -- online gaming community - bigger than Hollywood to a degree. You have women coming out and saying, hey, a lot of these games are sexist,
you know, and trying to kind of have a feminist approach and they are just getting harassed online.
You have hundreds of thousands of people trolling them, calling them horrific names, showing up at their door. So it's really kind of shedding
light on this larger problem of women and harassment. This is happening online - this is just the tip of the iceberg.
HARLOW: So the issue though in this country is the right to free speech and the Constitutional law here, really, so I wonder - I don't know - what
you think companies are doing. Are they really just sort of getting away with what they can or are they trying to figure it out as this is
unfolding?
[17:40:05] SEGALL: A lot of these companies - you got to think about it - Twitter has just kind of come about in the last like seven/eight years,
Facebook over the last decade. So these communities are completely evolving and so a lot of their standards and practices evolve as they go.
If you look at a company like Twitter, they just - they just banned something called revenge porn which is people posting naked pictures of
women as a form of harassment. Reddit just took the same step - but it's taken to just now.
HARLOW: And they're (inaudible) down because it was happening -
SEGALL: More and more -
HARLOW: -- and legal.
SEGALL: -- and it was legal and they had to just kind of make that choice to do it. Some people that wasn't a popular choice. But it's kind of up
to these companies to decide and up to us to really talk to law enforcement -
HARLOW: Yes.
SEGALL: -- about some of the implications of this.
HARLOW: And to talk about it and to sort of put our money where our mouth is -
SEGALL: Right.
HARLOW: -- like that venture capitalist told you. Laurie, fascinating. Thank you. I know you're doing a series on this right?
SEGALL: Yes, I'm doing a whole series on revenge porn - thank you.
HARLOW: All right so we'll bring it to you on this program. Laurie, thank you very much. We appreciate it.
Coming up next, a little sparkle for your Friday. It seems diamonds are forever. Sales have reached new record highs - they keep climbing. My
interview with the CEO of De Beers after the brake.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARLOW: De Beers says the global demand for diamonds hit a record high -- $81 billion in 2014. The world's largest diamond company by market value
says it expects sales to continue to go higher but at a bit more modest pace, particularly because of a bit of a slowdown in Asia. I asked the CEO
of De Beers what was behind the rising sales.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
PHILIPPE MELLIER, CEO, DE BEERS: The industry has been consistently increasing for the last five/six years since the end of the financial
crisis and its impact on the business. And the volume of business increased 3 percent last year after a slightly more than 3 percent in '13
and slightly more than 2 percent in 2012.
So it's good, continuous, solid growth - not explosive growth, but you know, three/four percent - that's good to take.
HARLOW: It is good and when you look at China and India, for example, it is particularly good. Let's talk about China.
MELLIER: Yes.
HARLOW: Why do you think even with the concerns about a slowing China and the GDP numbers slowing in China we have seen such remarkable growth in
diamond sales there.
MELLIER: Yes, we are - we are - to a certain extent linked to the GDP growth, but what is much more important for us is the growth in disposable
income and the middle class. And the middle class in China is still growing exponentially because of the wealth going up for all the categories
of the population. So the base of customer in China is still growing quite well. We had some impact of GDP growth, but it was minor. For us, the main source of
customers is the middle class and the bridal activity and many -
HARLOW: Really?
MELLIER: -- Chinese are getting married, so it's a very good source of business for us. This is why you have the 6 percent growth.
[17:45:05] HARLOW: I think it's interesting you say the core growth especially in China is the middle class. When I think of a rising middle
class in China, I think of it in terms of car sales increasing or the number of people buying meat products that are more expensive increasing.
I don't exactly think about diamond sales.
MELLIER: Diamond jewelry is part of the item you would like to buy when you excel to middle class status - a car but also a nice piece of diamond
jewelry for Madame.
HARLOW: One thing I found interesting - the top five markets for diamond sales globally account for 75 percent --
MELLIER: Yes.
HARLOW: -- of total demand.
MELLIER: Yes.
HARLOW: Why is that?
MELLIER: It is - it is a little bit historical. The first market and the biggest market for the last 60 years has been the U.S. The U.S. had 70
percent of the world market. Now it's down to 40/42. It's increasing, it's a very mature -
HARLOW: Wow.
MELLIER: -- market but still growing with the highest rate of growth. China ten years ago didn't have any diamond jewelry. It was all gold and
jade. Now it's 16 percent. India was focusing on gold and now diamonds are emerging. So we have been successfully replicating the U.S. model -
which was already successful in Japan by the way - in other countries like China, India and the Gulf in the last ten years.
So when the U.S. was decreasing a little bit because it was really mature, other markets were there to take the relay. And De Beers has been
absolutely critical in creating these new markets.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
HARLOW: The CEO of De Beers there for us this evening. Well Uniqlo, another big-name company, prides itself on high-quality clothes at
reasonable prices. Now the Japanese retailer wants to impress French shoppers with a collection inspired by Kabuki, a traditional performance
art. Our Jim Bittermann caught up with Uniqlo's CEO in Paris.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
JIM BITTERMANN, CNN'S SENIOR EUROPEAN CORRESPONDENT BASED IN PARIS: Let me begin with the collection you're launching here in Paris. Can you tell us
a little bit about it?
TADASHI YANAI, UNIQLO CEO, VIA INTERPRETER: We're very, very delighted to launch this Kabuki collection together with - the collaboration with - a
SHOCHIKU Company. We are able to bring this very important part of Japanese culture, representing the authenticity of Japanese culture along
with our clothing, and this is our utmost pleasure.
BITTERMANN: So we'll see some of the Kabuki influence in the style of the clothes?
YANAI, VIA INTERPRETER: Well, some of the Kabuki influence could be seen such as color combinations, very traditional patterns that's specific to
Kabuki and the use of the Chinese character (fonts) and the very bold color expressions.
BITTERMANN: Your company is very successful. How do you account for that success? What's the attractiveness?
YANAI, VIA INTERPRETER: We would like to become number one specialty private label apparel retailer of the world. And our revenue this year is
1.6 trillion Japanese yen and next year we would like to attain 2 trillion yen and the year after we'll be on our way to achieve 2.5 trillion Japanese
yen.
BITTERMANN: How come you're able to get so many people attracted to your clothes?
YANAI, VIA INTERPRETER: Well, I believe that we are very, very passionate about offering greatest possible garment and clothing to people across the
world. We combine the production capability of China and Asia because China and
Asia are the countries with whom we have grown together in our businesses. And on top of that, we are coming from Japan, therefore we entail where
that's the Japanese DNA.
BITTERMANN: Your autobiography is entitled "One Win and Nine Losses." What does that mean?
YANAI, VIA INTERPRETER: That shows business is not an easy game. Therefore winning one game and losing nine games and you still have to
remain happy. The important thing is how you'll learn from the mistakes and so that you are able to find a source of success in your failures.
BITTERMANN: They now say you're the richest man in Japan.
YANAI: (LAUGHTER).
YANAI, VIA INTERPRETER: But that is just a share valuation of equities that I have. It's not only the amount of cash that I have. Therefore I'm
not able to spend that amount of cash myself.
BITTERMANN: So you expect every employee to be a business leader on their own?
YANAI, VIA INTERPRETER: Well the answer is yes because you know rubber meets the road, therefore customer interact with one of our employees --
not the business leaders and CEOs and president. Therefore one employee's reaction, interaction and judgment matters to this customer's satisfaction.
[17:50:01] BITTERMANN: So no limits on growth then?
YANAI, VIA INTERPRETER: I believe our growth and upsale (ph) potential is literally unlimited. As you know, the current world-wide apparel market is
120 trillion Japanese yen, but there is, what, four billion people who do not have access to the (addict correct clothing) as of today. Therefore
the answer is growth potential unlimited.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEOCLIP)
HARLOW: We'll keep watching, see if that growth is unlimited. Coming up, Ryanair has made a U-turn on its plans for transatlantic flights - next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARLOW: Well, we're all used to Ryanair making some pretty bold PR claims that turn out to just be sometimes hot air, but this one is much more
puzzling. It got our whole team talking this morning. On Tuesday Ryanair made headlines when its board apparently greenlit plans to launch a cheap
service between Europe and the United States.
It confirmed to CNN the board had approved plans for low-cost transatlantic flights. Well now Ryanair has pulled a massive U-turn. It says the
previous statement was a quote, "miscommunication" and that the board has no plans to even consider any transatlantic service.
According to a report in the "Financial Times," they couldn't clarify things on Tuesday because it was Saint Patrick's Day. I was at work on
Saint Patrick's Day. Confused? Well, so are we. This is what Ryanair's chief marketing officer told our Nina dos Santos when asked about it last
week.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
KENNY JACOBS, CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER, RYANAIR: It's something our customers always ask us, and I think as you see what's happened in Europe
over the past ten years as low-cost airlines have taken more and more of the share and the national flag carriers have retreat (ph) its long-haul,
the next natural thing is that low-cost airlines including ourselves - once we can get the wide-bodied aircraft - would start to do transatlantic. So
that is our plans in about four years' time.
NINA DOS SANTOS, NEWS ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT BASED IN LONDON FOR CNN INTERNATIONAL: Will you be buying wide-bodied aircraft already? Do you
have many on order? You've got a fleet of about 320, but obviously you're geared towards European routes - the short-haul flights.
JACOBS: Yes, we've - we have a great opportunity here in Europe without doing long-haul with 320 aircraft in the fleet today as you mentioned.
We've 380 additional 737s on the way in the next nine years. That will allow us to grow to 160 million - 100 percent growth in the next nine
years.
In addition to that, the long-haul opportunity is something that is quite exciting. We're always speaking to air manufacturers, so once we can get
the wide-bodied aircraft, we will pick the right point in the calendar to operate a transatlantic service.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
HARLOW: "We will pick the right point in the calendar to operate a transatlantic service." That's what he said. After all that, where do we
stand? Ryanair says today it is still considering a transatlantic service although if it happens, it would be run by a separate company with a
different brand. We will keep you posted on this story.
Still to come on "Quest Means Business," an education is a precious commodity in India - so much so the parents will do anything - even climb
school walls - to give their children the edge. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARLOW: Well a massive scandal has been exposed in India during the country's high-stakes tenth grade exams. Hundreds of students have been
caught cheating after their own parents were seen scaling school walls to pass along notes and textbooks. Our Amara Walker reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
AMARA WALKER, ANCHOR FOR CNN INTERNATIONAL AND CO-HOST OF "CNN TODAY": Exam time in India and eager parents and relatives are lining the wall of
schools in Bihar State. Those aren't good luck cards or packed lunches they're passing to students - they're cheat sheets for all important exams
to continue their education.
Local media reports say police accepted bribes from these relatives to give them access to the school. Inside the classroom under the not-so-watchful
eye of examiners, the answers are passed around and around, with pupils barely seeming to care when they're caught red-handed.
Mass cheating in Bihar State is a recognized problem, with other cases already reported. It's a problem authorities say they can't tackle alone.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
P.K. SHAI, EDUCATION MINISTER, BIHAR STATE, VIA INTERPRETER: Three to four people helping a single student would mean that there are a total of 6 to 7
million people helping students cheat. Is it the responsibility of the government alone to manage such a huge number of people and to conduct a
100% free and fair examination?
WALKER: India is lagging when it comes to education with a literacy rate of 74 percent compared to 95 percent in China. Women in particular are
affected with just 64 percent having a formal education. The superintendent of this high school says cheating is detrimental to a
student's future, but denies that it's happening under his nose.
VISHWANATH KUMAR, SUPERINTENDENT, MULLZADA SINGH HIGH SCHOOL, VIA INTERPRETER: No such thing is happening in my center. We are conducting
peaceful and cheating-free examinations here.
WALKER: Education is seen as a precious commodity for young Indians, but for these students, the value of their education might have just taken a
serious hit. Amara Walker, CNN.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
HARLOW: Unbelievable. All right that'll do it for "Quest Means Business" today. Thanks so much for watching. I'm Poppy Harlow - have a great
weekend.
[18:10:07]
END
