Return to Transcripts main page
Quest Means Business
Captain, Crewman Arrested Over Migrant Deaths; Plight of Migrants; Trader Charged in Connection With Flash Crash; Lukewarm Earnings Hurt US Stocks; European Markets Rise; FireEye Joins Forces With HP; Yahoo! Misses Earnings Expectations
Aired April 21, 2015 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[16:00:00] (NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE CLOSING BELL)
PAULA NEWTON, HOST: And the Dow falling about half a percent today, about 100 points. Those jitters still hitting the Street. Those earnings
not everything they're cracked up to be. It's Tuesday, the 21st of April.
On the front line of the migrant crisis. The head of Europe's police force will be telling me what's being done to stop people smugglers. A
representative of the shipping industry tells this program, we are helping where we can, but are too ill-equipped to cope with the real scale of this
tragedy.
And a trader is arrested for sparking the Flash Crash five years ago.
I'm Paul Newton and this is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.
Good evening. Tonight, two men have been arrested over the deadliest migrant ship disaster recorded in the Mediterranean. Now, the boat's
captain on the left, here, and the member of the crew you see on the right, both face manslaughter charges.
This video shows he captain in a white jacket, there, smiling onboard a coast guard ship after being rescued with the crewman later on Saturday.
We want to point out, very few people survived, about 28, and they were two of them.
The scene on the sea was described as a "carpet of bodies" by one doctor searching for survivors. The United Nations refugee Agency says the
loss of life has set grim records.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ADRIAN EDWARDS, SPOKESMAN, UNHCR: UNHCR now believes the number of fatalities to have been over 800, making this the deadliest incident in the
Mediterranean that we have recorded.
We have currently a total of about 1300 deaths in April. This means that April of 2015 has truly been the cruelest month, the highest numbers
that we've seen deaths in any month on the Mediterranean. We've had so far this year 1,776 reported dead on the Mediterranean.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: Desperate and dangerous crossings continue, in the meantime, on the Mediterranean. On Tuesday, the Italian navy rescued 446 migrants
from a fishing boat. Karl Penhaul is live in Catania, Italy.
And Karl, I have to ask you: these grim statistics still keep coming out. We've heard of these arrests. Will these arrests make any difference
to what's going on off the shores of Italy and Malta?
KARL PENHAUL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I very much doubt that, Paula, because at the end of the day, this is a multimillion-dollar
business. That's what we're talking about.
We've got a Libyan end of it, which is where, perhaps, the organizers of these trafficking rings are. They also put their personnel on some of
these vessels to try and get them across at least part of the Mediterranean.
There's also a European end where there are traffickers here that then try and get migrants a little further north to the more prosperous nations
of the European Union. But there are big bucks involved in this industry, and that isn't going to stop anytime soon, especially when European
authorities have no jurisdiction in a failed state like Libya.
And talking to some of the surviving migrants today, they seem to indicate to me very much so that armed political militias in Libya are also
hand-in-hand with criminal gangs running these trafficking organizations. So a few arrests here and there really isn't going to make much of a dent
in that, I wouldn't have thought.
NEWTON: And Karl, I know that you have been talking to some of the victims there. What do they tell you, not just about their circumstances
during this voyage, but about what is going on, certainly, in their war- torn countries and what drove them to do this?
PENHAUL: Well, absolutely horrendous stories. As you say, some of them are fleeing conflict. Some of them are fleeing failed states. Some
of them are fleeing rampant poverty. We have been talking to a group of people today. Let's take a look at what they've been telling us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PENHAUL (voice-over): On the way to a new life, they've had to cheat death. Beaten, robbed, shot at, that's the price of their passage.
Syrian Mahmoud Shabbat (ph) fled his hometown, Homs, two and a half months ago, leaving his family behind. "In Syria, I would have to be part
of one party or of ISIS. I'd have to take up arms and kill people. But I don't want that. I only want to take care of my children," he says.
[16:05:05] This construction worker says he paid $5800 for smugglers to take him by car to Turkey, then boat to Libya. In Libya, another gang
of migrant traffickers charged him $1800 to sail to Italy.
Just before they set sail, Mahmoud says Libyan militia fighters stormed aboard. "Other men came aboard. They were wearing masks and they
had guns. They searched us one by one, looking for money and gold," he says.
These teenagers from Eritrea say they've been sleeping rough in this park since they landed three weeks ago. Trimai Tispamical (ph) speaks a
little English. His gestures need no translation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very very danger.
PENHAUL (on camera): Why?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Risk or death.
PENHAUL (voice-over): Trimai, who's Christian, was traveling with other migrants through Libya in two buses when he says ten ISIS gunmen
intercepted them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This Christian.
PENHAUL: He says 20 migrants were beheaded. He ran, then he turns to show me the scar where he says a bullet grazed him.
His friend, Essyeas Nikusai (ph), now 18, left his village in Eritrea six years ago. He first lived in an Ethiopian refugee camp, then a journey
on foot and by bus through Sudan and Libya. He stayed for a year in Libya, crammed into an overcrowded house before sailing for Italy.
He says men he describes as Libyan soldiers guarded them and applied electric shocks if they refused to sleep on time or ate too much. Essyeas
says his boat, loaded with more than 500 migrants, almost capsized en route from Libya.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Journey, it's not good. Their boat opening. Opening. And we are shot in Italy. Then helicopter comes to us, killed
us.
PENHAUL: Their stories sound like hell, but these are the lucky ones. Survivors washed up on the shores of their promised land.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PENHAUL: You know, here in Europe, we are often complaining about recession and the lack of jobs and slow economic growth, but that really
puts into perspective that with all the problems we have here, for those people, they have absolutely nothing, so arriving here really is the chance
of a new life, Paula.
NEWTON: Karl, it's been a few years since I myself have spoken to some of these migrants. It seems to me that in those that you've spoken to
now, the gravity of their situation has absolutely gotten worse, if it's even possible. You're talking about people escaping every kind of horror,
including ISIS, just to make it on those shores. And it's not over yet, is it, Karl?
PENHAUL: It is absolutely not over yet. Everything that we're seeing, even in the last few days, is that this is escalating. Hour by
hour, it is getting worse. You mentioned at the start 446 migrants picked up today off a fishing boat. They're now on two Italian naval vessels
headed to another port here in Sicily. They're going to arrive in the wee small hours of the morning.
Yesterday, 638 migrants picked up. Boats are leaving from Libya by the hour, no sign that this is getting any better. But of course, NGOs,
the charity organizations, say in a sense that this is a permanent crisis. It takes a shipwreck like we saw over the weekend for the eyes of the world
to fix on this. But at the core of it, root problems
Now, the European Union says they're going to try and step in and try and look at the root problems, but for decades, the European Union has been
trying to end poverty. For decades, the European Union has been trying to prop up these failed states with democratic processes. All that is
failing, and the flood of migrants still comes.
And that is generating also tension within the European Union, because poor people in Europe, recession-hit people in Europe, are also asking, are
these new migrants going to take our jobs? It's problems all around, Paula.
NEWTON: Our Karl Penhaul, tonight, in Catania, Sicily. Thank you so much, Karl.
And coming up, we will be speaking to the director of Europol about this problem and about what they're doing to try and tackle it. And we'll
be right back on QUEST MEANS BUSINESS in just a moment.
[16:10:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NEWTON: US officials have charged a London trader in connection with the so-called Flash Crash five years ago. Remember that one? The Dow fell
600 points --
(AUDIO GAP)
NEWTON: -- apparently he did it many, many times. A sophisticated way to say that, look, I'm going to buy this many shares of this stock, and
then you pull the plug on it at the last minute, thereby driving up the price. Do they have their man, though? Many people are skeptical about
how they know that one trader in the suburbs of London could get this done?
EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE REPORTER: That is, actually, a very interesting question, because it does seem like there's been a lot of
speculation of exactly where these trades came from. The FBI thinks that they've got their man. They say that they've been looking at this for some
time. Obviously, this is now a five-year-old investigation.
And it is something that they were getting to the end of the statute of limitations. So now they've asked for Mr. Sarao's extradition from the
UK to the United States. He's going to be facing wire fraud, commodities fraud, manipulation charges.
And it's a very extraordinary case, like you said. According to the officials, according to the criminal complaint that was filed that was
unsealed today, according to that, according to the US government, he made about a $40 million profit from all of this. So, it's not clear that it
was worth all of that.
But he really did, as you recall, as you just mentioned, freak out the markets all over the world, because they didn't know what exactly caused it
for some time.
NEWTON: Yes --
(LAUGHTER)
NEWTON: Way to say it. He definitely freaked everybody out. But I think in terms of him being -- facing justice, they now would have to try
and extradite him, is that right?
PEREZ: Right.
NEWTON: And I know sometimes these can be long sagas.
PEREZ: Well, they can be long sagas, and especially because the US and the British justice systems are so different that they'll have to
really come there and make the case that this is something that is also illegal under British law.
I'm not sure exactly what the laws are on this in the UK, but I think what the US is alleging, that this is a manipulation of the markets case.
I think they're trying to make it more simple, because actually this practice that you talked about, spoofing, wasn't actually made illegal
until way after this event actually happened. So, they're using an old law to try to tackle this case.
NEWTON: Yes, and the point is that it is market manipulation, as you just pointed out.
PEREZ: Right.
NEWTON: The Department of Justice, this is five years ago, now. How -- do you get the indication about how much of a magnifying glass they have
on these issues right now?
PEREZ: This is a difficult area to police, because again, they're using high-tech computers that, frankly, are more sophisticated than a lot
of things that you see at the Justice Department or the FBI. They try to hire some people who can try to understand these things, but these are not
easy things to figure out.
And frankly, the idea that someone can layer or spoof, as this practice is called, and get away with it -- and according to people who
observe the markets, it's not something that is that uncommon. No one's been able to do it like this.
[16:14:59] But what I think -- it's a novel case for the Justice Department, and I think we'll see whether this prosecution succeeds,
whether they can try to bring anything else like it.
NEWTON: Yes, and experts saying they doubt whether it was just one guy, and they also doubt whether the markets aren't still vulnerable going
forward --
(CROSSTALK)
PEREZ: Oh, yes.
NEWTON: -- to something like this.
PEREZ: Absolutely.
NEWTON: Yes. Evan, thanks so much, appreciate the update.
PEREZ: Thanks.
PEREZ: On Wall Street, stocks started off in positive territory before falling into the red, disappointing investors. The Dow ended 85
points down as investors focused on, yes, those lukewarm earnings.
Shares of Harley-Davidson fell by more than 9 percent. This has always been a darling of the market. The motorcycle manufacturer warned of
a decline in sales amid stiff competition from overseas manufacturers.
The strong dollar makes US-made motorcycles appear more expensive to overseas buyers, and it makes imported motorcycles appear cheaper to
American buyers. Bad news all around there.
In Europe, stocks ended mostly higher as investors cheered strong corporate earnings. Software company SAP and drug maker Actelion both rose
after their results beat forecast. In Athens, meantime, worries about a possible Greek default pushed stocks down more than 3 percent.
Marissa Mayer has spent the last quarter trying to define what the Yahoo! of the future will look like. The company's earnings have just come
out. We'll go through them with business correspondent Samuel Burke. That's up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NEWTON: It's the meeting of security and scale. FireEye, one of the world's top cyber security companies is teaming up with HP. Now, the deal
will bring what has been an expensive security service to companies of all sizes.
FireEye was already one of the dominant players in the cyber security industry. Last year, it helped Sony Pictures recover from its devastating
hack. And just last week, it accused a hacking group of breaching networks across Asia over the past decade. Those hackers are suspected of having
ties to the Chinese government.
Now, David DeWalt is FireEye's CEO. He joins me now from San Francisco. In terms of us looking at the problem -- and I understand you
have this new venture with HP, but let's talk about the problem first -- why do I get the feeling we're still playing defense on all of this? And
is anything you're doing going forward going to change that?
NEWTON: Yes, a good question. And certainly I think we are playing a lot of defense, and that's because the offense has gotten so good over the
last few years. And we've been reading about this, we've been seeing in the news.
We're not only dealing with cyber criminals and cyber hactivists, we're now dealing with very strong and highly-funded nation-state actors.
So, the offense is very good at what it does, and most of the corporations, most of the entities we deal with, are playing a lot of defense.
And right now, it's a very challenging battle for most companies, as evidenced by your lead-in there with Sony and some of the other big
retailers.
NEWTON: Why do you think it's necessary at this point to really change the way you operate in a corporate way to be able to take on some of
these hacking events?
DEWALT: Well, I think that's a good question. And the answer, really, is we have to flip the paradigm around. And when you look at
what's happened over the last decade, the security industry has been very reactive. Most of the technologies that we have developed are all about
trying to find an alert, look for an event that might have triggered that the attackers were in the network.
[16:20:00] What we're trying to propose at FireEye and now with HP is a very proactive, very adaptive defense model. Become more offensive, look
for evil, try to search for the bad guys ahead of time and try to block them in a different kind of way and really marry together people and
product and technology in a way that human intelligence together with product intelligence makes for a stronger solution.
So, this is premise of FireEye and Mandiant. And now together with HP, it gives us massive scale. And I think together, we can solve a lot of
the problems that we're seeing if we really focus on the combination of those two.
NEWTON: And without giving away anything, does this mean that it's always better to have these kind of groups from within trying to poke at
your holes and poke into your system so that you know what your vulnerabilities are. Is that a big part of it?
DEWALT: It can be, although it's just a small part. Actually, what we see is vulnerability assessments, or what we call threat assessments are
important. It's always good to know what vulnerabilities you have.
But nearly every company we visit has vulnerabilities. In fact, in many cases, has hundreds of vulnerabilities. The issue isn't do you have
vulnerabilities, the issue is are you compromised. And this is really what we're trying to bring together with Hewlett-Packard is we want to provide a
service that tells you, are you breached already?
And we see that breaches are inevitable. And it's just a matter of time before you get breached. But the real solution is, if you do get
breached, can you close the window? Can you reduce the risk window to minutes? And if you do, you're very successful in eliminating that risk.
So, proactive, adaptive defense is key. The ability to really look for compromises is critical. And trying to change the paradigm, I think,
is the future of the way cyber security will solve this.
NEWTON: That's so interesting that you say it's inevitable that you're going to be breached. And I don't now what you're going to say to
my next question is, can we prevent the next Sony hack? Can we make that just absolutely obsolete?
DEWALT: My opinion, the answer is absolutely not. It just takes some motivated attacker right now. We've seen this with some of the high-end
offensive activities that are in the market. If these actors want to get into your network, if they want to do destruction to your systems, it's
probably inevitable that it happens.
But in a lot of ways that we've solved problems over a global model, there might be victim one, but the key is not to let there be victim two
through a hundred, or even more. So, what can we do to share intelligence quicker? What can we do to be more proactive so if there is another Sony,
there's not a number of other victims at the same time?
So, the criticality of public and private working together, governments and private companies, like ourselves at FireEye, working
together is key to keep from having many victims instead of, perhaps, just one.
NEWTON: OK, Mr. DeWalt, you are one of the foremost experts in this. Your information is sobering, but we'll take it under advisement and
hopefully things -- that landscape will change in the years to come. Appreciate your time.
DEWALT: Thanks for having me.
NEWTON: Now, Yahoo! has reported earnings for the first quarter, and yes, they missed. Samuel Burke is here to tell me why. OK, so, this is a
company that everybody told me, search is over, search is over, search is over for them. They're going to redesign themselves. What is going on?
SAMUEL BURKE, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're searching for themselves.
(LAUGHTER)
BURKE: They're searching for their soul. And it looks like they're searching for search. For so long --
NEWTON: Oh!
BURKE: -- you heard her talking about -- of course, Marissa Mayer, the CEO of Yahoo! -- talking about getting money from video and getting
money from social networks. They acquired Tumblr for over a billion dollars.
But now it looks like they're refocusing all of their efforts on search, which is, of course, how this company came to life in the first
place. It was the big search engine before Google.
Let's just get to the numbers before we get into more of this. Earnings per share, Paula, 15 cents versus 18 cents, that's what analysts
were expecting, so not good, a big miss there.
NEWTON: That's quite a miss, yes.
BURKE: And revenue, $1.04 billion versus expectations of $1.06 billion, so a miss on both earnings per share and revenue.
But let's get back to this search for the search. More and more, we see her positioning herself trying to be a competitor to Google. It's
really fascinating, because it looks like maybe some of the other things that she had tried haven't quite come to life.
Buying Tumblr, for example, isn't bringing in the revenue yet. So now it looks like they're renegotiating some of their terms with Bing, which is
owned by Microsoft, because that's what powers their search engine right now. And they just became the default search engine on Firefox, that
browser, instead of Google.
So what you see them doing all a sudden is going up and trying to be a strong competitor against Google, refocusing all of their efforts on
search. They've come full circle.
(LAUGHTER)
NEWTON: Remember, we were talking about Alibaba, of course, and how that was playing into their results. At a certain point of time, how much
are investors going to be spooked about this? Because it just looks like a company that is a bit directionless.
BURKE: They're already spooked. We heard investors already coming out and saying on Twitter that they're disappointed in these numbers. Back
to what you said on Alibaba, the call, which is in just about 30 minutes, which we're going to be listening in on, they want to know more about this
spin-off of Alibaba, what she'll do with that money.
[16:25:05] But at the end of the day, I think most of these investor questions are going to be about search. She's just renegotiated all these
big deals. It gives Yahoo! a lot more power over Microsoft, their new contract. So, we think people want to know, have you changed strategies,
Marissa Mayer? Is your focus on search now, as opposed to video, as opposed to the social networks?
NEWTON: Now, one thing you and I talk about all the time is this issue of the video. The video streaming, which leads to big dollars
because it leads to a lot of eyeballs on your mobile device or wherever else you are. How can Yahoo! play that, and do they have the competitive
edge there?
BURKE: Well, what Yahoo!'s trying to do right now -- first I should say, the reason why video is becoming more important is because banner ads,
which used to be what these companies lived on, Google and Yahoo!, are becoming less and less valuable. So, they need to get ads from videos.
What Yahoo!'s doing right now is trying to position themselves as a type of competitor to Netflix. They've purchased shows like "Community,"
which used to air on NBC. Now it's actually airing on Yahoo!'s website, on a website called Yahoo! Screen.
So, basically, they're trying to get original content, which is what everybody's trying to do right now, and get the ads that way. We don't
know if it's working yet, and that's one of the things that investors and we, the journalists, are going to want to know on this call. Is it paying
off at all?
NEWTON: Yes. "Community" won critical acclaim, awards. Does that mean it's making money? It's another thing you have to come at. Ooh, it's
always interesting when Yahoo! results come out, that's for sure.
(LAUGHTER)
NEWTON: Thanks, Samuel, appreciate it.
Europe's shipping industry has a message for EU leaders: you cannot rely on our merchant ships to rescue stranded migrants.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NEWTON: Hello, I'm Paula Newton. Coming up on the next half hour of QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, one of the world's most flawless diamonds could be
yours for the bargain price of $26 million.
And all aboard the fastest train in the world. We'll show you how Japan has broken records once again.
Before that, though, these are the top news headlines we're following for you this hour.
Two men have been arrested over the deadliest migrant ship disaster recorded in the Mediterranean. The boat's captain on the left and a crew
member here on the right both face manslaughter charges.
This video shows the captain in a white jacket smiling onboard a coast guard ship after being rescued with a crewman late on Saturday. Only 28
people were rescued after the ship capsized. It's estimated there were 850 people onboard. A doctor who tried to find survivors described a horrific
scene.
[16:30:00] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GIUSEPPE POMILLA, DOCTOR WHO HELPED RESCUE MIGRANTS (through translator): We got to the area without knowing exactly what we could
expect. The sea was dark and cold. I didn't think we would find someone still alive. My colleague, Enrico, and I got onto dinghies to find
survivors. What we saw, it's terrible to say, it was a carpet of bodies.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: There has been a major shift in the Saudi-led military campaign against Shia Houthi rebels in Yemen.
A military spokesperson says the coalition is ending its month-long campaign of airstrikes in Yemen. The focus they say will not turn to
security and counterterrorism. Egypt's first democratically-elected president has been sentenced to 20
years in prison. A court in Cairo convicted Mohamed Morsi on charges related to the killing of protesters in 2012. His attorney plans to
appeal. Morsi was deposed by the military just a year after taking office. What may be one of the last big Holocaust trials opened today in Germany - 93-year-old Oscar Groening who's been called the Bookkeeper of Auschwitz
entered the courtroom using a walker. The former member of Hitler's SS told German judges he shares in the moral guilt of the mass killings but he
as a bookkeeper he says, never killed anyone. An inquiry into why the president of Serbia's plane plunged on the way to Italy last week has been found that it was due to spilled coffee. The co-
pilot said he began wiping the instrument board and accidentally turned off the auto pilot, causing the plane to fall. Advisors report being thrown
around the cabin before the pilot took command and managed, thankfully, to pull the plane up.
One of the engines then stopped but was restarted as they turned back to Belgrade. The president was forced to cancel his official visit to meet
Pope Francis at the Vatican. Europe shipping industry warns the migrant crisis on the Mediterranean can
no longer be ignored. It says Mediterranean countries are relying too heavily on merchant ships. The head of the E.U. Community Ship Owners
Association said Europe must step up. Quote, "The urgent and immediate priority is for E.U. member states to increase resources for a search and
rescue operation before thousands more die." The group recently released this picture showing the kind of merchant ship
rescues they have to deal with. John Murray is the marine director at the International Chamber of Shipping and he joins us now from London.
I mean, what an incredible picture, John. I mean, just speak to us to the kind of conditions. So you're one these seas, you're carrying probably
industrial goods. You know, if you've ever seen these boats, you don't actually have a lot of room even for the crew with the tight quarters in
there. And then you see this happening on the high seas.
JOHN MURRAY, MARINE DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL CHAMBER OF SHIPPING: That's absolutely right. Merchant ships with a relatively small crew of
perhaps 20 people - imagine the - how you would face taking that number of people onboard a ship which might possibly be a tanker or a chemical tanker
with very dangerous cargo onboard. Looking after those people, keeping them safe, keeping your own crew safe,
it is a very difficult situation to have to deal with.
NEWTON: I can imagine the strain because you don't have medical supplies, food supplies, you have no idea what you're dealing with and then
you have to get them to a safe port which is completely out of the way, I'm sure. One way or the other, you have to put them into safe hands.
Look, I'm sure that the crews want to do everything that they can to help, but at this point in time, you're saying it's urgent. What do you want the
E.U. to do immediately - within the next few days?
MURRAY: Well, it's clear that shipping irrespective of our commitment to recovering or rescuing people who are in distress, shipping should not
be considered to be part of the long-term solution. What is needed is detail put on the 10-point plan we saw out of Europe
yesterday which will reinstate search and rescue procedures that were previously in place off the Italian - or towards the Libyan coast with
sufficient resources to actually address and recover and rescue the people in peril.
That itself is a short-term measure because the overall migrant issue needs to be managed and it is by collective action by the heads of the European
states that that management can be put in place.
NEWTON: Yes, and you're talking about a full political process there where they have to figure out what to do without going on land in Africa
which we assume no one wants to do. [16:35:06] You know, I'm curious, John, we've spoken before about the
piracy issues in the Gulf of Aden. A lot of that has subsided because of the big international presence there.
Do you think that kind of operation at least will help save lives and get the people that you represent from, you know, not having to rescue hundreds
of people at sea?
MURRAY: That's certainly the approach that may well be appropriate. Clearly it's a different problem - we're not dealing with pirates in this
instance, but the methodology that was used to address pilot - pirate - I beg your pardon - piracy is similar.
A three-pronged approach whereby the industry plays a part but is not the key part where coastal states are involved here and also the E.U. that
would also be an important player.
NEWTON: John Murray, thanks so much. You've been an important part of this story in terms of what we've been hearing from those merchant and
commercial ships on the water. Appreciate it. Now, as we were saying, smuggling and trafficking are two of the fastest- growing transnational crimes. Europol has launched an operation to try and stop the criminals who are turning people's desperation into quite a
lucrative industry. Now these countries have the most suspects and links to organized crime as
well as the most extensive networks like vehicles, ships and hotels. Now, major - yes, I said hotels - you can imagine the network here. Major
illegal immigration hubs are scattered right across North Africa and Europe. Human traffickers made $3 billion it's estimated from smuggling
people into Europe in 2010, and that's according to the Migration Policy Institute.
Europol director Rob Wainwright joins me now from Brussels. We've gone through a lot of the issues already in the last couple of days. To be
frank, we've been covering it for several years. I know that you guys just launched a program earlier in March. It's Operation "Jolt Mare" and I
understand that you guys were very hopeful that it would be certainly - it would inspire some kind of confidence on the water so that it could make a
difference. But the problem has to do with the human smugglers who never leave Africa
or places in the Middle East. What can you possibly do about that?
ROB WAINWRIGHT, DIRECTOR, EUROPOL: Well, I think, Paula, that we can build on the experience we've had at Europol working with a concerted law
enforcement industry and indeed our own international partners for so many years, dealing with the problem of illegal migration which has threatened
the external borders of the European Union in the Mediterranean, but in other areas as well.
I mean since 2014 1,500 cases alone supported by Europol, over 400 facilitators arrested. We have a business model for dealing with this
where it's a successful one. We're going to build on that now and put in place a specific enhanced program to coordinate the efforts of collective
European communities to try and do something about these traffickers. Now, of course what can we do in North Africa? Well there was a European end to this operation we're determined to stamp out in the first place.
There are a financial trail that we will follow. There are partners in North Africa that we can work with as well.
So all hope is certainly not lost and we're determined that together we can do something about bringing these terrible traffickers to justice and then
(AUDIO GAP) carrying out and being responsible for (AUDIO GAP file # ci211630 - 08:35.6 - 10.15.1)
(AUDIO GAP file # ci211640 - 00:00.0 - 02:23.3)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NEWTON: The co-founder of one of the world's most popular dating apps has launched her own service aimed at giving women the upper hand when it
comes to online dating. Whitney Wolfe used to work at Tender. Now she's started Bumble which changes the game so that only women can reach out
after their match. Wolfe says when women start the conversation, it makes them feel empowered
and confident. And she joins us now from Austin, Texas. OK, it makes them feel empowered but I guess the argument too - it also
takes away that whole thing - does he talk first? Do I talk first? Who asks who out first? Because only the woman can do it on your app, right?
[16:45:07] WHITNEY WOLFE, FOUNDER AND CEO, BUMBLE: Sure, that's exactly right. Thank you for having me by the way, and so when we impose a
restriction and we force one party to make the move, it's on Bumble. You can blame Bumble.
So it leads to more conversations and it makes it a very empowered experience.
NEWTON: Now you say empowered, but this is a hard-sell for me with a teenage daughter. I still find it hard to -
WOLFE: OK.
NEWTON: -- believe that - I wouldn't - you know, I'm not sure it'd be all that keen to have her on this in terms of actually it being sold as an
empowering device. Now you work with it - what do you - how does it change the relationship
dynamic to the point where it gets off on a good footing and that it's safe.
WOLFE: Yes, very interesting questions. So we fully believe that when the female leads the conversation, there's no rejection felt on the
males and so automatically there's no aggressive behavior, right setting - you know - the stage is set to be a really positive interaction.
And by the female making the first move, she's empowered, she's confident and that comes across in such a way and she guides the conversation in the
sense that the man - there's a sense of flattery involved. So it really does have an interesting social shift.
NEWTON: And what kind of feedback have you had from people about this - once they -- ?
WOLFE: Phenomenal. Phenomenal feedback. Interestingly enough, which came at a great surprise to us, the men really love this approach.
Because, you know, the traditional dating norms are that a man is meant to approach a woman and maybe he doesn't always want to do that - he might be
shy. This really alleviates pressure and it gives women a chance to go after
what they want per se and it gives men a chance to kind of have, you know, the tables turn a bit.
And so everyone's been very, very receptive in an amazing way.
NEWTON: You know, there are criticisms of course and you've heard them a million times - that Tender is just superficial so why get into that
space and kind of pile on in that way?
WOLFE: So, you know, Tender's a great product but I would say that dating is something we are - we are all going to do - no matter what. You
know, it's a huge part of our life and everything is digital - it's all mobile. So why not give women and empowered way to take their busy work
day and meet someone while they're on the go. Traditionally, you know, people would go home and get ready for two hours
and go out every night, but that's just not the way of the world anymore. We're busy, we're leading our careers. So give them an empowered way to
kind of go out and conquer their dating lives on their phone.
NEWTON: You know, the male/female dynamic is a very serious issue online. I mean, a lot of people complain about some of the things that
women are subjected to online because it happens to be anonymous and you're no stranger even in the tech world to some of the discrimination that
happens to women. I mean, what do you think it's going to take to really change the
conversation and change the dynamic for women in that space - whether it's high-tech companies or online?
WOLFE: Sure. So I think obviously it's going to be a bevy of things, but what we're trying to do with Bumble is we're trying to push social
change and encourage women to own their dating lives, own what they want, go after it with empowerment and encouragement and be confident.
Therefore, the landscape shifts and it's all about equality. So, you know, we're a feminist app. We stand for equality for male and
females - this is not a superiority tactic.
NEWTON: OK, but that - OK, but that works in the app.
WOLFE: Sure.
NEWTON: What do you think it's going to take for that to work at the office?
WOLFE: Well, you know, honestly this is the year for equality and I think it's going to be a joint effort for males and females alike to really
build one another up collectively in order to see any social change.
NEWTON: OK, well we thank you for joining us and we'll continue to track -
WOLFE: Thank you.
NEWTON: -- the developments of Bumble. Appreciate it.
WOLFE: Great, thanks for having me.
NEWTON: Now, the largest diamond of its kind is being sold right now in New York. The only thing more breathtaking in its reflective (AUDIO
GAP) the price, this is expected to sell at auction. We'll tell you exactly what it's supposed to fetch. More after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:50:15]
NEWTON: British Mining Company is making a big bet on Sierra Leone as the country looks to move past the Ebola outbreak that took thousands of
lives and ravaged its economy. And now Sierra Rutile which mines the mineral used to make pigments is starting a $77 million expansion project.
Mining is a vital part of Sierra Leone's economy and the deal could mark a turning point in the effort to rebuild. Now, normal life is thankfully
gradually reemerging somewhat in Sierra Leone. Last week, schools that had been shuttered during the Ebola crisis are
reopened. I mean, to know these - some of these kids didn't go to school for six or seven months.
Now joining me from London is John Sisay. He is the CEO of Sierra Rutile. Thank you so much for joining us, we appreciate it. And we're glad that
there is a piece of good news there for Sierra Leone. You know, the president said that, look, we really hope this marks the turning point.
What convinces you that this is a turning point in Sierra Leone and that your company and companies like yours are ready to invest again?
JOHN SISAY, CEO, SIERRA RUTILE: Well, thank you for that. Well, being on the ground of course, we've been witness to the hardship of Ebola
and we've seen the efforts of Sierra Leonean's international community and the government has made.
And watching the figures over the last few months, we've seen a steep decline in the infection rate and we're confident that the Ebola really is
at its tail. And so right now we need to change the watch - the narrative - about Sierra Leone and go back to reminding people that Sierra Leone was a good
destination for investment and we are backing that by launching this expansion program with our Gangama projects as you mentioned earlier - $77
million - showing the world that Sierra Leone really is open again for business.
NEWTON: And when you say it is ready again for business, can you just try and outline for us? I mean, what was it like seven or eight months ago
when we were in the throes of this crisis to be a business on the ground? And I know that, you know, you didn't have any of your workers contract
Ebola. But still it must have been a completely devastating situation.
SISAY: Well it was a devastating environment because to fight the Ebola, the government always had to put a state of emergency which forced
many businesses to close down. So we then had the unfortunate problem of having so much (ph) - it's all the major mines shutting down creating a
real frustration within the business community. So it was challenging for us in terms of supply chain management. Of
course you will know most of the flights into Sierra Leone were canceled. British Airways which gave us a direct link into London stopped flying.
This created more challenges in terms of bringing in equipment and spare parts.
So it was a challenging seven and eight months, but we were able to plan through it and we're here today re-launching our company.
NEWTON: How do you think corporate Africa - to use the term - can be helpful in these things and not just to help when there is a crisis but to
prevent it from beginning? I mean, what are some of the initiatives?
SISAY: I think corporate Africa has learned powerful lessons in the manner we were based (ph). We now know that whatever investment we place
in, we need to secure it by being involved and understanding public health. So I think we need to contribute as much as we can in our locality in terms
of public health. And this is something that Sierra Rutile will want to promote more going forward because whatever happens to the general public
obviously impacts significantly on our investment. So it makes good business sense for corporate Africa to listen to and
understand the weaknesses in the system and try and assist as much as they can in solving those problems well ahead of time.
NEWTON: OK, thank you so much for being here with us to explain the new investment to us. Appreciate it.
SISAY: Thank you, Paula.
NEWTON: And now to one of the most glittering prizes mined in Southern Africa in the last decade. Now, a huge flawless diamond - it's
been on a global tour - yes, like a rock band - making stops at Dubai, in London, in Hong Kong. It didn't come to my house.
People are said to be drawn to it from across the room. It doesn't really even look real I have to say though. OK, you'd be in awe of the size, but
the first question is, is that thing real? Apparently it is. And now here in New York, Sotheby's is selling this 100-carat emerald-cut
diamond. Flawless diamonds are extremely rare - I'm supposed to know that apparently (AUDIO GAP) intense magnification. This one is the largest ever
of its kind to be put up for auction. [16:55:16] OK, it is a stunner. These things - it could bring in as much as $25 million. I don't know - would you want the ring? I don't think so.
(LAUGHTER). I think I'd rather have the house, the boat, anyway. Dream of - when we come back, the dream of the bullet trains that actually
move as fast as bullets is inching closer to reality. And if Japan gets its way, this record setter will be coming to a country near you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NEWTON: The world's fastest train just got even faster. Now on a test run, a Japanese maglev train hit a record 603 kilometers an hour -
that's 374 miles an hour. This really got my attention today. The train spent 10.8 seconds above the 600-kilometer per-hour mark.
Now, in that time, it covered nearly two kilometers. OK, you're going to tell me we can't use these trains, but we will soon enough. The train is
due to begin between Tokyo and Nagoya in 2027. Get this - the journey that takes five hours by car will take just 40 minutes on the train.
Don't expect to do that on this continent. Japan is also trying to sell its technologies overseas - yes, including here in the United States. But
we're still waiting. The fastest train here is the Othello which travels between Washington and
Boston. Its top speed is just 241 kilometers an hour. It doesn't look so shabby. And the train usually travels far slower than that the passengers
on it will tell you. In Italy the Frecciarossa trains reach speeds of 360 kilometers per hour, but they stop a lot. Trains in Europe regularly top the 300-kilometer an
hour mark. [17:00:01] Now China is of course home to the fastest passenger train in
operation today. The Shanghai maglev uses magnets for propulsion and can hit speeds of 431 kilometers an hour. And that's it for us on Quest Means
Business.
END
