Return to Transcripts main page
Quest Means Business
50 Countries Join China-Led Investment Bank; US Markets Stage Late Rally to Close Higher; Zynga Shares Fall; Greece Makes Crucial $497 Million Payment; Cyber Attack Shuts Down French TV Network; Cyber Security; Make, Create, Innovate: Preserving Threatened Antiquities With Digital Mapping Technology
Aired April 09, 2015 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[15:59:55] (NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE CLOSING BELL)
RICHARD QUEST, HOST: The market is closing, the bell is ringing. As trading comes to an end, the market is higher. And the man who hits the
bell is also ringing -- ringing the bell is also hitting the gavel. Huh. There were two of them, and I think that classes as a mini-wimpy gavel for
Thursday, it's the 9th of April.
Tonight, the World Bank president tells me the US is wrong to reject the Asia Investment Bank. You'll hear him on this program.
Also, the former president of the European Commission tells me Greece's new government is making mistakes.
And I'm telling you forget West Texas, Britain has West Suffolk, and with these horses comes billions of barrels of oil.
I'm Richard Quest -- neigh! I mean business.
Good evening. We begin tonight with two of the world's most important economic figures, the president of the World Bank and the former US
Treasury secretary Larry Summers. Both of them telling me the United States should learn to live with China's new investment bank.
And they're doing so for different reasons. Larry Summers because he says it's in US's interest policy, and the president of the World Bank because
he believes it's in China's policy, too.
At China's urging, more than 50 countries have joined or have applied to join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, and going forward, it could
rival even the World Bank and IMF if it gets enough resources and support. More countries joined today: Malta and Kurdistan, even Iran is onboard.
But --
(RINGS BELL)
QUEST: -- the United States has major concerns and has failed at persuading its allies to stay out. The US is almost alone in being on the
sidelines. The US Treasury secretary Jack Lew has warned America's credibility and influence is wavering as rising players seek to challenge
its leadership. In a speech last week, he outlined how the two institutions could co-exist.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JACK LEW, US TREASURY SECRETARY: We made clear to China that the United States stand ready to welcome new additions to the international
development architecture, including the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, provided that these institutions complement existing international
financial institutions and that they share the international community's strong commitment to genuine multilateral decision-making and ever-
improving lending standards.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: So, that's the view of the US Treasury secretary. We have the views of two men who are at the heart of the debate. Larry Summers, former
US Treasury secretary, professor at Harvard who says the US is making a terrible mistake, a crucial one at a critical time. You'll hear from him
later in the program.
First, the president of the World Bank, Jim Yong Kim, says he plans to work with the bank of infrastructure and in the fight against poverty. As the
president of the World Bank, he now stands at odds with the policies of the man who appointed him, Barack Obama. I spoke to the president of the World
Bank and asked him what his message was to the United States.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM YONG KIM, PRESIDENT, WORLD BANK: My message is the same to everybody. We're looking at a trillion to a trillion-five of investment infrastructure
needed every year in the developing world. And A lot of that need is in Asia, which in the Asian Infrastructure Investment bank extends from China
all the way to the Middle East.
And so, we are now every day thinking about how on Earth we going to meet this need for infrastructure investment.
And so, this particular institution, which more than anything else, in my view, is China taking the leadership in embracing multilateralism, because
there's going to be 50 countries a part of this institution. Embracing multilateralism to tackle of the most difficult and one of the most
critical problems if we're to have any hope of ending extreme poverty.
QUEST: Of course, China's decision doesn't come in isolation, and the argument goes, of course, that by doing this, it in some ways breaks the
lock that the US may have on the other multilateral organizations. Or even if that's too pejorative, at least it puts China into the arena, thus
questioning the US's dominance.
KIM: Well, China getting into the arena, it's really important to understand which arena they're getting into. They're getting into an arena
that is inherently very complicated and difficult, and that's multilateralism.
[16:05:03] If you have 50 people -- or 50 countries, excuse me -- if you have 50 countries on your board and you're going to have to find a way
forward that they can all embrace, that's a level of complexity that actually is hard to grasp. So, that's what they're joining. And so I
think that's a very important and positive step, both for China and the world.
QUEST: But that implies that you have greater confidence in China's acceptance of multilateralism and the willingness basically once this thing
is set up, it is no longer China's baby. They have to go with the majority in that sense. That is, of course, what the US and other critics, not just
the US, say this is really China trying to run the shop.
KIM: Well, if you look at what's happening right now, Richard, a couple of really important facts that I need to put on the table. China is not
backing away from other institutions. In fact, China is going to increase their borrowing from us, the World Bank group, pretty substantially over
the next few years. And so, they're already very engaged in multilateralism.
On this particular issue, my understanding is that they were looking at infrastructure possibilities in Asia and just felt that all of the
resources that are on the stable were not nearly enough to meet the demand, and thus they stepped in.
Now, the other countries that have joined -- the UK, Germany, France -- have all said that they're joining and they're very explicitly going to
make the point that China and the AIB has to be in line with international standards. And I think that's a very important step going forward.
My own expectation is that the discussions that they'll have will be complex, putting together articles of agreement, how they're going to deal
with safeguard. But this is going to be now irrevocably a multilateral process, and I think it's going to have a good outcome.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: President of the World Bank giving the opinion as seen from the multilateralist, from the international point of view. Larry Summers later
in the program, you're going to hear from the former US Treasury secretary, and he'll tell us the US risks losing its place at the top of the global
economic system. And tomorrow, President Kim on his strategy to fight poverty.
To the markets, and the US stocks look to be heading for a flat finish. And indeed, as you can see, it was -- it was a late rally, but what a
topsy-turvy day. Down, up, down, up, down, down, down, up, down, down, down, up, down, down, down, and ended up, with the market closing up 56
points for this late rally to the market into the green, putting all that together.
And Zynga share prices tumbled. And we talked to you, on Wednesday night, the chief exec switched company with the founder, Mark Pincus returning to
the helm. But Zynga's share price was down 18 percent, $2, $3.25. Zynga makes Farmville, Words With Friends.
And the reason, of course, is it's struggling to keep up the number of monthly users. The question of course is, by replacing the top man with
the former top man, the market seemed to suggest that that might not be the way to salvation.
Greece has avoided a debt calamity by making a crucial payment of $0.5 billion to the IMF. Many had feared the government would not have the
money to make the payment in time. Now it has done, it should give Athens a bit more breathing room as it negotiates for more bailout funds.
Remember, money has to be -- bailout money has to be provided if Greece is going to be able to continue to pay the money it owes to the IMF, the ECB,
to roll over its T-bills and the like.
The prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, met with his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev. He's in Moscow, and Tsipras said his country would be likely to
bridge and act as a mediator between Russia and the EU.
The managing director of the IMF, Christine Lagarde, says Greece must focus on the difficult steps necessary to improve its economy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTINE LAGARDE, MANAGING DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND: So, we are, for our power, to completely committed, including weekends, wherever -
- in Athens, in Brussels, in Washington -- to actually help the authorities navigate through the measures that will actually deliver on the objectives
of the program while respecting some of the commitments that have been made in the course of the political cycle. It's a difficult path, but it's one
that has to be walked, and which will just improve the situation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[16:10:05] QUEST: Exactly where the responsibility lies between the lenders, the eurozone, and Greece, often seems to be unclear, especially
when you look at the Troika. Greece's economic future hinges on meeting their obligations to the so-called institutions -- the IMF, the ECB, and
the EU.
The former EU Commission president, Jose Manuel Barroso, told me that it's time for the Greek government to present a credible plan for reforms.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOSE MANUEL BARROSO, FORMER PRESIDENT, EUROPEAN COMMISSION: I think the Greeks can do as the others the necessary reforms. One of the points, I
think, it's a mistake from the Greek government is that they keep on insisting that the programs did not work, that the European Union should
now change completely.
And this is completely wrong. In fact, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, they had adjustment programs, Spain only for the banking sector. They are now back
in the markets. In fact, some of those countries are now borrowing at negative interest rates. So, it shows that it is possible to recover
confidence of the markets.
The only country that has not been able to do it is because of -- is Greece, and mainly because of internal political problems. So, it will be
wise if the Greek authorities, instead of continuing to put the blame on the other partners, try to present a credible plan on reforms. Because I
believe this can work in Greece as it worked in the other countries.
QUEST: But you don't help your cause by almost offending the country that maybe contribute the most to your bailout. What do you -- what was your
reaction when you saw the claims for hundreds of billions of war reparations from Germany for the Second World War?
BARROSO: In fact, it was not very helpful, that's to say the least. That's why I believe this new government, probably because of lack of
experience, has made some mistakes. I understand how sensitive this issue is also for Greece, but we should not now play with this very emotionally-
charged issues.
This is very deep problems in the European history. I think they should be addressed in a constructive manner and not to play it as a kind of
accusation. So frankly, this also once again not helpful.
Another mistake the government of Greece has been doing is that they pretend that the European Union and the eurozone will be in deep crisis if
there is no agreement. The problem is that this is not the perception of the others.
It is true that two or three years ago, the systemic effects of a Grexit would be devastating. By the way, I have done everything I could while
president of the Commission to avoid any kind of default in Greece.
But today, the situation is different. So, even if, of course, it's not desirable, and I think we should do everything to avoid a Grexit, the Greek
authorities should understand that the perception of its partners is that we are no longer in 2012 or 2013. So, let's now go back to business, let's
make things in a wise manner.
QUEST: Right.
BARROSO: Because it's a pity, after all efforts of the Greek people, that now, so close to a solution, everything is again put in question.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: Former EU Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso talking to me. Now, in a second, pro-ISIS hackers shut down a global television network.
How is this possible? Well, France is vowing quick action after the attack on TV5Monde. We'll show you the pictures -- or rather, the pictures of
what they didn't see, after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:15:28] QUEST: France's TV5Monde has regained control of its operations following the most audacious surprising cyber attack. Hackers
took the global network's 11 channels off the air late on Wednesday, and they seized control of its website and social media accounts.
It's taken most of the day to put it right. Now, a group calling itself the Cyber Caliphate is claiming responsibility for the attack. French
officials are pledging swift action against the attackers and an expansion of the national cyber security. Our senior international correspondent Jim
Bittermann reports now from Paris.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At TV5Monde, the screens of its 11 channels suddenly went blank Wednesday
evening. Almost simultaneously, its website crashed, the network's e-mail system went down, and social network accounts were hacked.
And while there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the cyber attack, there were plenty of clues what was behind it. On Twitter and
Facebook accounts, the hackers put up the logos and slogans of ISIS and posted what the hackers said were the identity papers and personal
information belonging to French military personnel. The director of the network said the attack was unprecedented.
YVES BIGOT, DIRECTOR, TV5MONDE: We are trying to find out, but it's been a powerful cyber attack, because we have very strong firewalls that have been
checked very recently and were said to be very safe. So obviously, it's a very knowledgeable and powerful cyber attack.
BITTERMANN: The extent and organization of the attack was such that three government ministers with direct responsibility for TV5 went to investigate
for themselves and have been in crisis meetings pledging to take immediate action.
BERNARD CAZENEUVE, FRENCH INTERIOR MINISTER (through translator): About 500 additional jobs will be created. Among them, positions of technicians
specialized in the fight against cyber criminality. We have decided to reinforce the central board of judicial police's Pharos platform, where the
people spreading messages through the internet or at the origin of cyber attacks are reported. So, there is a complete mobilization on the
technological, legal, and human levels.
BITTERMANN: By the end of the day, TV5 was back on the air and its website back up. But technicians were still not clear how the attack took place,
and they couldn't say that all problems from it have been resolved. And the attack clearly worried the government here. Officials are planning to
meet with the heads of other television networks and newspapers to make sure their security systems can withstand a similar attack.
BITTERMANN (on camera): The French foreign minister suggested it was nothing short of the same kind of assault on French values that took place
in the attack on Charlie Hebdo Magazine last January. Said Laurent Fabius, once again, the terrorists have targeted freedom of expression and
information.
Jim Bittermann, CNN, Paris.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: This is not the first time that ISIS sympathizers have targeted social media. Cyber Caliphate hacked social media accounts of US military
central command in January and sent pro-ISIS tweets on CENTCOM Twitter account.
It posted -- excuse me -- ISIS propaganda videos to CENTCOM YouTube channel while other hackers targeted governments and companies to get across the
political messages.
On the commercial front, Sony Pictures received terror threats over "The Interview," the movie. Hackers released copies of Sony films and private
company memos, exposed personal data of 3,800 employees.
And in January, activists hit the German government, took down websites for German parliament, Chancellor Merkel. The attack was a protest by pro-
Russian groups against European Union aid to Ukraine.
Alec Ross joins me now from New York, a former senior advisor to Secretary of State -- as she was then -- Hillary Clinton on technology and cyber
security. I hope you heard that report because in it, the editor says we checked. We've looked at it, we have hard firewalls. Now, these people
didn't just dilly-dally around at the edges. They crashed the lot. So, what can we do?
ALEC ROSS, FORMER SENIOR ADVISOR TO HILLARY CLINTON: So look, one of the key takeaways from this, Richard, is that cyber offense is now much easier
than cyber defense. I think that it's time -- we had a great 20-year run, from 1994 to 2014, where our open internet really didn't cause many
inconveniences.
[16:19:57] Unfortunately, I think our law enforcement and intelligence agencies need to increasingly look at the internet as a weaponized space,
and governments are going to have to do more to protect people online.
QUEST: But -- well, let's talk about that, because --
ROSS: Sure.
QUEST: Governments can do so much. They can stop, if you like, state- sponsored -- maybe, maybe they can. But the sheer diversity of these attacks and the mere fact that our communications now all pervasive -- I
suppose I'm suggesting there's very little they can do.
ROSS: Well, I disagree with that. I think there's plenty they can do, but they can't just sort of snap their fingers and fix the problem. Today,
April 9th, 2015, we live in a world of 16 billion connected devices. In just five years -- five years, which is not a long time -- that number is
going to go from 16 billion to 40 billion.
So, the vulnerabilities are going to more than double. And you're right, you don't have to be sitting in an office building in Beijing or Moscow or
in Fort Meade, Maryland to conduct a sophisticated cyber attack.
But government does have a unique set of capabilities here, as we know from Mr. Snowden, and we need to put them to work to identify and thwart some of
these bad guys online.
QUEST: You're not -- well, look, Alec, I've just -- and in fact, while we're talking, while we are talking, I have just received an e-mail which I
just got saying, "Dear all, my e-mail account has just been hacked. Please do not open the last e-mail you received from me asking you to open a
Google file."
Now, I've got to the point now where I don't even bother in many of these situations because it's so all-encompassing. Is this something we're just
-- what do I need to do differently, besides not open this particular e- mail?
ROSS: There's nothing that you need to do differently, but there are things that Google, which runs those Gmail accounts needs to do
differently. There are things that the telecommunications companies need to do differently.
One of the big challenges that we've had is we had a great 20-year run where it was able to maintain your privacy online and where anonymity was
protected. I think that there's going to be an increasing push to wipe out anonymity online, which enables some of the kind of hacking that you get in
your inbox.
QUEST: Final question, Alec. You were Secretary of State -- as she was then -- Hillary Clinton's advisor on innovation. I suspect you weren't
necessarily her advisor on how to handle her e-mail accounts --
(LAUGHTER)
ROSS: No.
QUEST: But that's another subject.
ROSS: Yes.
QUEST: No, I didn't think you were, and that's another subject for another forum. But let's -- just humor me. Humor me. For the purposes of this
question --
ROSS: Sure.
QUEST: -- assume that she is running for president of the United States and she's going to tap you again to be her advisor on innovation and
technology, what would be your first piece of advice to her besides get a different server?
(LAUGHTER)
ROSS: Well, first of all, I wouldn't presume that she would tap me on the shoulder. Having said that, look, she has great instincts in this area.
One thing that I would say for her in the cyber domain is we need to treat cyber like we treat warfare on land, sea, space, and in the air.
We need to come up with a cyber offense and defense strategy so the kind of people that are raining terror with these various cyber attacks are taken
down. I think she has all the right instincts there. I think we need to build a national strategy from law enforcement to intelligence to diplomacy
that encompasses all three of these.
QUEST: And no doubt, you're getting ready to join her in the campaign.
(LAUGHTER)
ROSS: Let's hope she runs, let's hope she wins.
QUEST: Good. All right, you can't blame a man for trying.
ROSS: Yes.
(LAUGHTER)
QUEST: For trying to get a -- Alec, good to see you, thank you, sir.
ROSS: Good to see you.
QUEST: When we come back, from the Nazis to ISIS, evildoers have robbed the world of some of the most prize cultural heritage by destroying
antiquities. Now one Iraqi is out to preserve them forever, and it's using breakthrough digital mapping technology. You're going to meet him.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:25:40] QUEST: Earlier this year, the world was shocked to see unforgettable images of barbarism when ISIS filmed themselves wrecking a
museum in Mosul. The propaganda video showed militants reveling in destruction. Just look at these horrendous pictures. Yes, it may not be
death, but it's destruction of culture of the worst sort.
It wiped out thousands of years of antiquities, matter of minutes. And the speed and revelry with which they did it is a disgrace and disgust.
Now, an engineer born in that city has a new plan to preserve items forever. We sent Nick Glass to report on the Make, Create, and Innovate.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK GLASS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The great monuments that fill us with wonder. As we know, they're under threat from
erosion, and in war zones, from us. How do we preserve and pass on what's been passed to us? Could the answer lie in images like this?
GLASS (on camera): Capturing the monumental. I'm here in San Francisco by the Golden Gate Bridge to meet a man who's made it his mission to make a
digital record of our collective cultural heritage using technology he invented himself.
BEN KACYRA, FOUNDER, CYARK: We came up with the idea, we're going to challenge ourselves and the world to 500 world heritage sites in five
years.
GLASS (voice-over): Ben Kacyra is an Iraqi-born engineer who went from being the construction guy to the monuments man. He made his fortune --
(AUDIO GAP)
KACYRA: It's got a very powerful laser that sends a powerful beam of light that is pulsing at about 50,000 pulses a second, which means that it's
collecting 50,000 points of everything that's in front of it as it pulses up and down and in a circular fashion, generating the geometry, the X and Y
and Zs of everything that's in the space around it.
GLASS (on camera): OK, let's give it a go.
KACYRA: OK, here we go.
GLASS (voice-over): Standing still like statues, an ethereal green light slowly scans every aspect of us and the room, creating a highly-detailed,
multicolored digital map.
Kacyra grew up in Iraq, not far from the capital of ancient Assyria, seen here in 2002, but recently destroyed in an act of cultural vandalism that
shocked the world.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: ISIS militants are destroying more cultural treasures. This time, the target is the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud.
GLASS: Things were changed for Kacyra by an earlier act of vandalism in 2001, the Taliban destroying a pair of giant Buddha statues in Afghanistan.
KACYRA: If it had been scanned, our children and grandchildren would have the opportunity to come back and learn the story and have the description
of it.
GLASS: So he set up a foundation, CyArk, with the aim of documenting the 500 most important historical sites in the world.
(AUDIO GAP)
GLASS: Even the great carved presidential heads of Mount Rushmore.
KACYRA: We have done about 130 projects now. We have that data if something, God forbid, happens to these, the data is there.
GLASS: We are continually losing our collective human memory, as Kacyra calls it. And for him, the key to preserving our past lies with future --
(AUDIO GAP)
GLASS: -- who will learn from it.
KACYRA: Give them this valuable information about the past, which enlightens our future. But to engage them also so that they can
participate in preserving the past.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[16:30:08] QUEST: What a fascinating tale of Make, Create, Innovate, who will map out and preserve for the future.
After the break, Larry Summers, former US Treasury secretary, one of the greatest thinkers in economics, defends the decision to attack in saying
that the United States should have joined the Asian Infrastructure Bank.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
Hello, I'm Richard Quest. There's more "Quest Means Business" in just a moment when Larry Summers will tell me why Mario Draghi is Europe's hero,
and those ten-gallon hats may soon be all the range in England as a massive oil field is discovered. Before that, this is CNN and on this network the
news always comes first.
Iran's supreme leader says there's no guarantee a framework nuclear accord will lead to a final deal. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said he's waiting to see
the details before making a decision. Iran is insisting that economic sanctions are lifted on the very first day of the deal's implementation.
The U.S. says the removal of sanctions will come in phases.
The French TV station TV5Monde says it's been hit by a massive cyberattack. All of the network's 11 channels were down for hours. It's now regained
control. The network's director says the attack was the work of an Islamist group.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
YVES BIGOT, DIRECTOR, TV5MONDE: It's been a very powerful cyberattack because we have very strong firewalls and that had been checked very
recently and were said to be very safe. So obviously it's a very knowledgeable and powerful cyberattack.
In Italy three people have been shot dead in a courthouse in Milan. This is the scene outside the building a short time after the government opened
fire. A bankruptcy judge is amongst those who was killed. An Italian news agency reports the gunman was on trial for fraudulent bankruptcy and the
man has now been arrested.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
QUEST: More shootings - this time in the United States - and the man who recorded the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man by a white police
officer is now speaking out. Walter Scott was shot five times as he ran away from the police officer Michael Slager. The witness Feidin Santana
told NBC News that he wanted Slager to be known he was being watched.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
[16:35:01]FEIDIN SANTANA, MAN WHO RECORDED WALTER SCOTT SHOOTING: I remember the police had control of the situation. He had control of Scott
and Scott was trying to just get away from the Taser. With the Taser, you now, you can hear the sound of the Taser.
Male: He had been tased at that point - when you heard the sound?
SANTANA: Yes, yes, yes. I heard the sound before I started recording. And I believe he just want to get away of the Taser.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
QUEST: An exploration company in the United Kingdom says it's found an estimated $100 billion barrels of oil underground in the South of England.
The area is near to Gatwick Airport. The firm said though a mere fraction of the oil reserves would be recoverable.
Larry Summers says United States should join the new China-led Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank and also do some serious soul-searching as
to why its influence is suffering. Mr. Summers is the former U.S. treasury secretary. He's written an op ed article saying political bickering in
Washington has allowed the U.S. to slip as the underwriter of the global economy.
I asked him what the U.S. needs to do going forward.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
LARRY SUMMERS, FORMER U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: What we really need to do is understand what led to this kind of failure and understand as a nature
that we derive huge benefits from an open collective global economic architecture.
But that if we want to have there be such a system, we have to be the underwriters of that system and we can't let -
QUEST: Right.
SUMMERS: -- every parochial concern at every moment cause us to abdicate from that role or we'll start to see our - start to see the kind of system
we want erode. That's why this was such an important wake-up call for us.
QUEST: The wake-up call may have been arriving, but arguably nobody's listening and potentially not likely to listen in the next year or so as
the U.S. presidential election campaign gets underway.
SUMMERS: Well we'll have to see. I think a lot of people were surprised and I hope they'll listen. I certainly hope that the Congress will do what
it needs to do and support the reforms at the IMF that recognized that China is now longer a poverty-stricken country.
I don't see how we can fail responsibly to do that and I hope that that will be in legislative discussions with the Congress, a strong priority for
the President and his team. I know that it's something that the President feels very strongly about.
QUEST: Which part of the world do you remain most concerned about, particularly bearing in mind the complete difference in this cycle that
there now seems to be - say for example - between the United States, Europe and Japan?
SUMMERS: It felt - that felt like a leading question.
QUEST: (LAUGHTER).
SUMMERS: I'm worried about Europe, I'm concerned. I think the fact that the German ten-year interest rate is 18 basis points -- .18 percent - is
telling you that people don't see a lot of growth coming there - even over the fairly long term. I think it's telling you that there's a substantial
deflationary risk. I think Mario Draghi is a hero, but I don't think a central bank can deal with these kinds of problems alone.
I think that the kind of policy that Mr. Abai (ph) has talked about though not fully implemented that has three arrows - a monetary policy arrow, a
fiscal policy arrow and a structural reform arrow. I think that's a pretty good way of thinking about it throughout the industrial world.
But I'm looking for that fiscal policy arrow in Europe, I'm looking for that structural policy arrow in Europe, and I think it would be a real
mistake if the combination of the sins of the Greeks on the one hand and the general tendency towards low interest rates on the other led to a sense
in Europe that things were sort of OK.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
QUEST: Larry Summers talking to me earlier. To the markets and how the Europeans rallied on Thursday despite what Mr. Summers may think. Let's
look at the numbers and how they traded.
[16:40:01] Strong data in Germany, strong numbers for Europe's order (ph) sector and a boost from MA activity and of course enormous relief that
Greece - even though we knew they'd got the money maybe from loose change in the back of the sofa - still it was welcoming. So you saw the best
gains in Zurich, but all the major markets were up more than one percent.
A major discovery - black gold, but not Texas tea. This time it's under the other tea - Southern England. $100 billion barrels of oil could be
waiting to be drilled from under Gatwick Airport, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: A U.K. oil company says it's found a bonanza of black gold underneath the gentle slopes of Southern England. U.K. Oil and Gas
Investments says up to 100 billion barrels could be known - could be under -- Horse Hill near Gatwick Airport, beneath an area known as the Weald.
Now it's been drilling at the tiny site of Horse Hill on the Surry/Sussex border. And the company's chief exec says the area could become a world
class oil resource. In other words, this could be the next Dallas.
(THEME TO "DALLAS" PLAYING)
QUEST: So let us compare the two - the discovery has led to the site near Gatwick being labeled Britain's Very Own Dallas. So, how does this corner
of Southern England compared to the lone star state? First of all, let's look at Texas.
Here in Texas you have 696,000square kilometers of American heartland - 696,000! Meanwhile over in more genteel West Sussex and Surry - together
there's three and a half thousand square kilometers of English countryside.
Ah! But Texas oil has 12 billion barrels of accessible reserves and pumps 3 million barrels a day. Sussex - 5 to 15 billion - a total of 100 could
actually be extracted from the overall amount. Finally, Texas has Houston with 2.1 million residents and it has the Dallas Cowboys with a capacity of
80,000 for its stadium. Giant Texas where everything is big.
Sussex on the other hand - the largest town there is Crawley with 106,000. And Crawley Town has a capacity for its local football club of just - well
- 5,996.
Put it all together and you see - Sussex or tap (ph) Dallas. Texas or Southern England - Isa Soares reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
[16:45:10] ISA SOARES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In the midst of Southern England's most picturesque countryside is a green field oozing opportunity
while here beneath are potentially 100 billion barrels of oil, making it one of the largest onshore oil discoveries in the U.K. in decades.
The prospect of finding black gold didn't come as a surprise to the exploration firm which has been testing the grounds for more than a year.
But the extent of the find did amaze the company's chairman.
DAVID LENIGAS, CHAIRMAN, U.K. OIL & GAS INVESTMENTS: So at the moment we've got 55 square miles and we've found 158 million barrels per square
mile in that area, but we know the Weald extends over 1,100 square miles.
SOARES: But it may be too early to celebrate because only a fraction, roughly between three and 15 percent can be recovered. Still, if
extracted, it would boost Britain's daily oil production, rivaling the likes of United Arab Emirates with just over 97 billion barrels of oil.
Another such as Libya and Nigeria. Unlike the controversial process of fracking where water and sand is used to extract oil, this we're told is a
standard drilling process.
LENIGAS: The unique part about this particular oil deposit is not only do you have oil in sandstones but you've got good oil in limestones. And when
you look at world oil production, 60 percent of world oil production actually comes from limestones. So this is a straight conventional play
(ph).
SOARES: That may be so but critics warn that at a time when oil prices are sharply lower. Drilling here may not make much business sense.
MIKE JAMEMAN, GLOBAL ANALYST, ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT: What they need to do next is actually discover if they can get it out - which - that is
something called a flow test to see whether the oil will actually move and come out the ground. And then after that, they have to drill lots more
wells which will irate plenty of nim bees (ph) in Southern England to then see whether the same amount of oil is present elsewhere.
And only if all of those things come together, you know, could we start considering this to be really significant.
SOARES: Whichever way you look at it, this is a major discovery - possible equal to the entire oil reserves of Nigeria and Libya combined. No
surprise then that this rural area's already being dubbed Britain's Texas. Isa Soares, CNN in the South of England.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
QUEST: President Obama is currently in Jamaica - in Kingston, Jamaica. He's on his way to the Summit of the Americas. The President says he's
reconsidering Cuba's status on the White House list of state-sponsored terrorism. The President is meeting those in the Caribbean.
He'll then go on to Panama for the summit where there's every possibility that he will have a meeting with Raul Castro - the first meeting of two
leaders of the United States and Cuba if you don't count the handshake a few - couple of - years ago, but a first proper meeting in decades.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: President Obama is holding off on a potentially-momentous decision to remove Cuba from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism. The
President's heading to the Summit of the Americas in Panama after a stop in Jamaica where he met with Cuban - with Caribbean, I do beg your pardon -
bit of a difference there.
[16:50:01] He met with Caribbean leaders in Jamaica. Officials say Mr. Obama plans to interact with Cuba's Raul Castro in some way at the meeting.
The President says he must be briefed by his advisors before he can assess Cuba's status on the terror list.
Our senior Washington correspondent Joe Johns is in Kingston, Jamaica. What on earth, Joe Johns, does it mean that he's going to "interact" with
Cuba's Raul Castro?
JOE JOHNS, SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: I think, Richard, it can mean almost anything. The question of course is whether there will be that
photo op of a handshake between the American president and Raul Castro or whether there will be some substantive interaction on the issues.
Senior White House aides have said that they are prepared to list an agenda if you will of issues that the President wants to address with Castro if in
fact it turns substantive. It is certainly not clear the extent to which they will interact.
The President right now by the way has been speaking before a group of students at the University of West Indies. And just a little while ago he
was asked a question about Cuba and whether he would encourage, for example, the Caribbean Community of Nations to engage with Cuba, he did
encourage engagement.
The White House, the President and others have been making a distinction and a differentiation between Cuba's issues of human right where they say
there's a big disagreement between the United States and Cuba and other issues like whether Cuba is a state sponsor of terrorism.
That recommendation to lift Cuba from that list has been made to the President. However, he said here in Kingston that he has not received that
recommendation and wait for his staff before he acts on it, Richard.
QUEST: Joe Johns in Jamaica who'll be going on to Panama with the President. Joe, thank you. Now if President Obama decides to remove Cuba
from the White House list of countries that sponsor terrorism. Well of course that could pave the way to ending some of the harshest U.S.
sanctions as our correspondent in Havana, Patrick Oppmann explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN HAVANA-BASED CORRESPONDENT: There are no stars and stripes over the U.S. intra-section (ph) in Havana - not yet that is. But
U.S. officials hope to raise an American flag and reopen the U.S. Embassy here soon. Restoring full diplomatic relations with Cuba for the first
time in 54 years.
Among the thorny issues, the U.S. government's classification of Cuba as a state sponsor of terror. Cuba was included on the list in 1982 and along
with the Sudan, Iran and Syria faces (ph) harsh economic sanctions - hardly a recipe for warmer ties.
JOSEFINA VIDAL, CUBAN FOREIGN MINISTRY: We expressed that it would be difficult to explain that diplomatic relations have been resumed while Cuba
is still unjustly listed as a state sponsor of international terrorism.
OPPMANN: For decades, Cuba supplied safe haven to terrorists and supported Marxist insurgencies in countries like Colombia - fueling bloody conflicts
that cost the lives of thousands of people.
OPPMANN: In recent years Cuba has begun to clean up its act and won praise hosting peace talks to end the war in Colombia. But despite those changes,
Cuba remained on the terror list.
A former State Department official says the U.S. was playing politics by blacklisting Cuba.
PHIL PETERS, CUBA RESEARCH CENTER: For many years we've had this specious allegation that Cuba in involved in sponsoring international terrorism.
Now in the past there certainly were problems that justified Cuba being on that list. But for many years, there haven't been and so it devalues the
U.S. words when it comes to terrorism.
OPPMANN: When President Obama announced the start of a new approach towards Cuba last year, the U.S. State Department began a process to
examine whether Cuba should be taken off the terror list.
Cuba's removal will likely result in increased international financing with Cuban governments as well as increased criticism of Obama's Cuba policy.
ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, U.S. HOUSE REPUBLICAN: Will we be advocating for Cuba's inclusion in these - in these international organizations that would
allow to give it credit to continue to oppress people?
ROBERTA JACOBSON, U.S. ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE, WESTERN HEMISPHERE: We're not advocating for their membership, but we also want to make sure
that at some point in time it may be useful to have organizations like the IMF not give them help but help them open their economy.
OPPMANN: Many investors were waiting for Cuba to lose the terror designation before opening their wallets. Now it may be a question of how
much the Cuban government is willing to open in return. Patrick Oppmann, CNN Havana.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
[16:55:08] QUEST: Now some sad breaking news to bring to you. Twenty-one migrants have died in a shipwreck off the coast of Haiti but 12 people have
been rescued. It's believed they were trying to reach the Turks and Caicos Islands. The migrant boat sank in the waters just north of Haiti.
A search operation obviously is underway and will continue for some hours to come. This is CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Tonight's "Profitable Moment," and it promises to be a very profitable moment. Horse's Hill on the Surry/Sussex border in Southern
England where there could be 100 billion barrels of oil waiting to gush from the ground.
Why are we so fascinated by this story? I'll tell you why - it's the Beverly Hillbillies in real life. Think about it. The people whose land
is - the oil is underneath - they stand to be rich amongst avarice for the foreseeable future. That is of course if they ever manage to get
permission to drill down and bring it up.
I was having a cup of tea only yesterday with a friend from Texas who was in London and he was telling me about the oil wells that they have on their
property. Now, to be sure, the price of oil may have fallen 50 percent, but I promise you he isn't worried about going off into the world of work
any time soon.
No, if you find oil on your land, it is a means of future riches. And that's why we all look at this and think, `Oh,' -- come on admit it, I wish
it was on my land that they discovered that oil.
But it wasn't, and so I'll be back tomorrow because that's "Quest Means Business" for tonight. I'm Richard Quest in London. Whatever you're up to
in the hours ahead, (RINGS BELL) I hope it's profitable. See you tomorrow.
END