Return to Transcripts main page
Quest Means Business
Dylann Roof Charged With Nine Counts of Murder, Victims' Families Express Forgiveness; Greek Banks Get Temporary Lifeline; Pension Reform Key Sticking Point in Greek Talks; Greek Bank Shares Fall; Chinese Benchmark Index Falls 13 Percent This Week
Aired June 19, 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 closing bell rings. It was a strong day up on Thursday, but down half a percent for the Dow Jones Industrials, the
best part of 100 points wiped off the market. The man hits the gavel.
(GAVEL POUNDS)
QUEST: Sort of. On Friday, the 19th of June. Tonight, call it Greece's last lifeline. The European Central Bank is propping up the bank
for one more weekend.
Also, a case of bubbles over Beijing. Stocks in China have come crashing down to Earth. The numbers are worrying.
I'm Richard Quest. It's a Friday, and of course, I mean business.
Good evening. I'll bring you the day's business news in just a moment. We start, though, with the man who has confessed to killing nine
people at the church in South Carolina, who was in court today and heard from the family members of the victims during a hearing which took place in
the last couple of hours.
A bond for Dylann Roof was set at $1 million on a single weapons charge. The judge involved, the chief magistrate, was unable -- not
eligible to offer a bond on the more serious -- much more serious -- nine murder charges. Dylann Roof will remain in custody until further hearings.
The loved ones of the dead expressed grief. They asked for answers and, incredibly, they offered forgiveness.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES GOSNELL, CHIEF MAGISTRATE: You are representing the family of Ethel Lance, is that correct?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I am.
GOSNELL: And you are whom, ma'am?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The daughter.
GOSNELL: The daughter. I'm listening. And you can talk to him.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just wanted everybody to know, to you, I forgive you. You took something very precious from me and I will never
talk to her ever again. I will never be able to hold her again. But I forgive you. And have mercy on your soul. You hurt me. You hurt a lot of
people. But God forgives you, and I forgive you.
GOSNELL: Thank you, ma'am. And I appreciate you being here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.
GOSNELL: Representative of the family of Myra Thompson. Sir, would you like to make a statement before this court?
ANTHONY THOMPSON, SON OF MURDER VICTIM: Yes.
GOSNELL: Please come forward.
THOMPSON: Hello.
GOSNELL: Your name, sir?
THOMPSON: Anthony Thompson.
GOSNELL: Mr. Thompson.
THOMPSON: I would just like him to know that --
GOSNELL: Speak up for me, we don't hear you.
THOMPSON: Saying the same thing that was just said. I forgive, and my family forgive you. But we would like you to take this opportunity to
repent. Repent, confess, give your life to the one who matters the most, Christ, so that he can change it, can change your ways no matter what
happened to you, and you'll be OK. Do that, and you'll be better off than what you are right now.
GOSNELL: Thank you, sir. Tywanza Sanders. Your name, ma'am.
FELICIA SANDERS, MOTHER OF MURDER VICTIM: Felicia Sanders.
GOSNELL: Thank you, Ms. Sanders, for being here.
SANDERS: We welcomed you Wednesday night at our Bible study with open arms. You have killed some of the most beautiful people that I know.
Every fiber in my body hurts, and I'll never be the same. Tywanza Sanders is my son, but Tywanza was my hero. Tywanza was my hero. But as we see in
the Bible study, we enjoyed you, but may God have mercy on you.
[16:04:55] GOSNELL: Thank you, ma'am. A representative of Daniel Simmons. Your name, ma'am?
ALANA SIMMONS, GRANDDAUGHTER OF MURDER VICTIM: Alana Simmons.
GOSNELL: Thank you, Ms. Simmons, for being here. Your statement, please?
SIMMONS: Although my grandfather and the other victims died at the hands of hate, this is proof -- everyone's plea for your soul is proof that
they lived and loved and their legacies will live and love. So hate won't win. And I just want to thank the court for making sure that hate doesn't
win.
GOSNELL: Thank you, ma'am, for being here. Cynthia Hurd, a representative of the family of Cynthia Hurd.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have nothing to say.
GOSNELL: Thank you very much, and thank you for being here today, sir. The Reverend DePayne Middleton-Doctor. Your name, please, ma'am?
BETHANE MIDDLETON BROWN, SISTER OF MURDER VICTIM: Bethane Middleton Brown.
GOSNELL: Thank you for being here.
BROWN: DePayne Doctor was my sister. And I, too, thank you on the behalf of my family for not allowing hate to win. For me, I'm a work in
progress, and I acknowledge that I am very angry.
But one thing DePayne has always joined in in our family with is that she taught me that we are the family that love built. We have no room for
hate, and we have to forgive. I pray God on your soul, and I also thank God that I won't be around when your judgment day comes with him. May God
bless you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: Now, those were the various statements that were made by relatives of those who were killed. Before the hearing began, the county
magistrate urged the local community to rally around the victims' families.
And then, in what many are now seeing as a highly controversial statement, the magistrate asked them to remember the victims and the
defendant's family, who he said were also victims of the boy's acts.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOSNELL: We have big hearts. We're a very loving community. And we are going to reach out to everyone, all victims, and we will touch them.
We have victims, nine of them.
But we also have victims on the other side. There are victims on this young man's side of the family. Nobody would have ever thrown them into
the whirlwind of events that they have been thrown into. We must find it in our heart at some point in time not only to help those that are victims,
but to also help his family as well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: That's the chief magistrate, who was talking about the defendant's family as well. The next case -- the next hearing will be in
October, or at least it seems likely it will be in October, with a hearing after that to be into February of next year.
At the same time, the Justice Department has said that it continues to look into the hate crime allegations. Evan Perez is in Washington, joins
me now. Evan, the legal proceedings underway now at the state level. So again, I come back to this question we talked about last night, what the
federal aspects are in this.
EVAN PEREZ, CNN US JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Richard, that's a parallel and a separate investigation. And really is one that is going to
be -- it's going to be subordinate, really, to the state case, where you have nine counts of murder.
And this is a state, South Carolina, despite the very unusual nature of that hearing you were just playing, is a state that has the death
penalty. And most likely, that is what the fate of this man is going to be. The Justice Department, though, wants to send a message, that it wants
to look at this.
QUEST: Right.
PEREZ: There's been a lot of pressure, because, look, if this man had entered this church with a black flag with Arabic lettering on it, there is
no doubt that this would be called terrorism, and certainly, those words that that magistrate just spoke would have been a completely different set
of words.
[16:09:52] So, the question that arises out of this case is why aren't people calling it terrorism? The Justice Department is succumbing
to those questions and certainly saying, look, we haven't ruled this out. We're looking at it as a hate crime, but we're also not closing the door to
the possibility of bringing domestic terrorism charges against him.
QUEST: And the controversial comments that the judge made at the beginning, I have to confess, when I heard him say them, I didn't
particularly think they were unusually controversial. I thought, you know, in the spirit of Christianity, bearing in mind this atrocity took place in
a church, it seemed, perhaps, appropriate to remember those who were inadvertently also dragged into this wickedness.
PEREZ: Well, yes. I think part of it is the timing. You're talking about a court hearing, certainly the first public court hearing that we're
seeing, and the first time we're seeing him in -- the suspect in public. So, to raise the prospect of how much suffering his family is going through
seemed a little bit out of place, given what we're dealing with.
QUEST: Right.
PEREZ: And certainly because you had all the victims' families -- a very unusual part of the South Carolina court system, apparently, is that
the victims' families get to speak. And they said some of the same words, that they forgave him, that they hope that he could see God and certainly
change his ways. So, it was a very unusual hearing all the way around.
QUEST: Very moving, the victims' families, no one can deny. But let me -- again, maybe take you into an area, the appropriateness of the
victim's families speaking -- because at the end of the day, Evan, you're the Justice Department correspondent, this is a legal proceeding. So far,
nobody has even plead. I mean, we haven't even had a --
PEREZ: Right.
QUEST: We haven't even had a -- however Roof pleads, he hasn't even been invited to plead yet. So, I was surprised that the judge chose to
open this door, however appropriate it might be, legally, it seemed a little inappropriate.
PEREZ: It does seem very unusual. It's not something that you see in the federal court system, certainly. There is a place for victims, but
once there's been a conviction and you're deciding on a sentence.
QUEST: Right.
PEREZ: And that's when you invite the victims for the jury and the judge to hear what the impact of this crime has been. He's not been
convicted of a crime, as you pointed out. And certainly, that is something that we are still just at the beginning.
He made some statements, a confession, to the detectives there, but we don't even know if that confession is going to be admissible. That is
something that certainly his lawyers are going to have to look at before we even get to that point.
QUEST: Evan Perez in Washington, than you, sir, for --
PEREZ: Thank you.
QUEST: -- for coming on this evening and putting it into perspective. Now, the other massive story in the business world. The day after the
eurozone group met, and still now everybody worries what happens to the Greek banking system. It gets an infusion of cash, and the question is
whether it's enough. QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Tonight, the European Central Bank has responded to Greece's needs. The words of the Greek minister of state after the ECB pumped
emergency cash into the country's battered banks.
As Greece slips ever close to a default, savers are now pulling money out of the country's banks in virtual record levels. They're worrying that
in a crisis they may not be able to withdraw their cash if capital controls are introduced by the government.
[16:15:03] The fear is Greece could be forced to replace its euro with a currency worth less. The latest infusion from the bank isn't enough
to fix the looming cash crunch. If you join me at the ATM, you'll see exactly.
Now, so far, the ECB -- basically, the ECB is authorizing the National Bank of Greece to offer what's called ELA, Emergency Liquidity Assistance.
The ECB authorized a billion euros earlier this week. This is Greek money from the Greek Central Bank going into Greek banks.
A billion was taken out on Thursday alone. A billion. If you take overall the amount of money that's been given -- or authorized for ELA, 84
billion has been handed out so far. Greek banks have collateral for about 8 -- 95 billion, and that could be reached in a matter of weeks.
So, you have about 11 billion left. But at the rate at which money is being withdrawn, the issue is, how much more the ECB will continue to allow
in emergency assistance for Greek banks. Speaking to CNN, the ministry of state has downplayed the danger of the ELA.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKOS PAPPAS, GREEK MINISTER OF STATE: Of course, we are concerned. Of course we want -- we don't like this phenomenon, but you have to
attribute this behavior of the people that have got their money in the banks to the fact that there is somehow some negative publicity around
this. So, I would suggest to each and everyone not to gamble and not to put a lot of money on the scenario of terror.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: Soothing words, but words that may not do much for those who are worried about losing their money. Isa Soares is our correspondent and
is in Athens for us tonight. Isa, the money is flowing out of the banks. The ECB says they can have a bit more, but everybody's waiting until
Monday.
ISA SOARES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. And that's the reality, Richard. There were reports that we're receiving the Greeks
wanted about 3.5 billion in terms of assistance, ELA. Really, we don't know.
We are hearing that they got much less, Richard, because then they're waiting for Monday -- summit on Monday to then finalize, find out whether
really their heart and soul into the European, and really meeting those proposals, those targets that the EU has been calling for for five months
or so, now, Richard.
So, giving them a bit, not too much, but keeping the banks afloat for the time being. And I can tell you, people are worried. Because like you
said when you went to your cash point just there, money has been flowing, Richard. And how much has been coming out, withdrawing? Well, in total,
reportedly 4 billion in the last week or so.
QUEST: Right.
SOARES: That gives you some sort of idea how worried people are, Richard.
QUEST: And when you take that worry, because it's difficult to know what to do, Isa. So you leave your money in the bank? Do you take it out
and put it under the mattress? Many people in Athens will say they haven't got money to start with. What have you been finding out?
SOARES: Absolutely, that's the very question. When I've asked people this morning, about four hours speaking to pensioners this morning,
Richard, and I said what have you done with your money? Well, many said, "I don't have much money to take out in the first place."
Others I've spoken to have said we're not going to get to that point, Richard. Too soon. We believe a deal will be made.
But the pensioners I've been speaking to here are seriously nervous. They're really rattled, and very angry, to be completely honest with you,
with the government of Alexis Tsipras. They say he's gambling with their lives. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SOARES (voice-over): In one of Athens' traditional coffee hangouts, men -- mostly pensioners -- talk openly about life's little problems.
Here, in between coffee sips, card games, and old habits, there are passionate exchanges.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Everything is ruined. You walk around and see a deserted city. All the shops are closed due to
poverty and misery.
SOARES: Seventy-six-year-old Spiros (ph) doesn't hold back. He's clearly frustrated, because like others here, he's seen his pension cut by
50 percent, and he's struggling.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Because of the pension cuts, the daily life has changed a lot. It's catastrophic. I am a grandfather,
and I can barely make ends meet, and my grandchild wants for me to give him a few cents.
SOARES (on camera): Many of the pensioners I've been speaking to here tell me they have seen their pensions slashed quite dramatically in the
last year. And with soaring unemployment as well as youth unemployment, they tell me that their pensions often the only source of income for their
families.
[16:20:06] SORES (voice-over): Leoneidas (ph) has been coming here for 20 years, and has heard much talk of crisis. But never as bad as this,
he tells me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): It's not difficult, it's very difficult. It's just too much. There is no pensioner without problems.
Today in Greece, the person who gets more than 1000 euros pension is the privileged one.
SOARES: Luckily, his children don't depend on him for income because, as his pension sheet shows, he wouldn't be able to support them.
SOARES (on camera): Are you proud of the government saying no more cuts to pensions to the EU? Is this something that you're proud of?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I personally don't believe it. If they don't cut pensions, they will have to do something else. They
will have to raise the VAT, which essential would be the same. The Greek government will eventually have to agree because they will have no other
choice, or else we go back to drachma, and we are dead.
SOARES (voice-over): Here, there's little hope that Alexis Tsipras is playing his cards right. For many, he's gambling with their lives.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOARES: And Quest -- Richard, a lot of the people there, a lot of the pensioners I was speaking to, have seen their pensions slashed by more than
50 percent. Two thirds of all pensioners here are living below or on the poverty line, and that is a real concern with many people out of jobs.
Yet, the Greek minister of state speaking to me today basically said we're not budging on the question of pensions, Richard. That will remain a
red line, because that would cause more austerity. It seems they're not going to budge on that front. But let's see what happens on Monday.
Richard?
QUEST: You've got your work cut out for you. Isa Soares, who will remain watching events in Athens. We thank you, Isa.
Now, the ECB's cash injection into the Greek banks helped the composite, a very small gain. It wasn't enough to keep the bank stocks out
of the red. Shares of the National Bank of Greece and Alpha Bank, they were ending up nearly 4 percent lower, as you can see.
The Bank of Piraeus, shares, they were down just 1.5 percent, perhaps a more strongly-capitalized bank. But these are the ones that are worst
affected.
Greece may be grabbing the headlines. Chinese stocks, actually, had the worst week. In fact, it was the worst week for the bourse for the best
part of a decade. The question, or the issue: when you get this sort of fall, is it a correction? And the bubble -- or is the bubble about to
burst? It's QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, good evening to you.
(RINGS BELL)
QUEST: Chinese stocks have suffered their worst week in more than seven years. Look at the numbers and you'll see. The Shanghai Composite,
absolutely creamed, down 2 percent. Then 3.4, then 3.7. Then -- 6.4 percent. It's down 13 for the weekend. It's now obviously, technically, a
correction.
And it's much worse than even Greece could do. Go along the line, you see -- there you have Greece, which is lower there, and lower there. But
Greece picks up the rallying point towards the end of the week, whereas the Shanghai Composite just continues the fall, whilst the Athens index was
down 11 percent.
It's a reality check for investors in China. The stock market has more than doubled over the past year. And despite the Chinese economy
cooling down, there is still this worry of a bubble. If it is a bubble, the question is whether we can say this week it was very firmly bricked.
[16:25:02] Joining me now from Boston is Jeffrey Kleintop, the chief global strategist for Charles Schwab. Good to see you, sir.
JEFFREY KLEINTOP, CHIEF GLOBAL STRATEGIST, CHARLES SCHWAB: Thank you.
QUEST: Let's get this straight out of the way. Let's go for broke here. Is it a correction, or is the bubble bursting?
KLEINTOP: Well, I think it's a correction. But it may not matter, because I think either way, a bubble bursting is probably inevitable for
what we're talking about here, which are mainland traded Chinese stocks. This is a really important distinction. When we talk about the Chinese
stock market, there's really two different markets.
QUEST: Right.
KLEINTOP: There are those shares traded in mainland China on, as you pointed out, the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges. And then there are those
that are traded in Hong Kong, those that are more available to foreign investors -- those in the US or the UK or elsewhere.
And those shares don't look anything like a bubble. They're trading at very low valuations, around 12 or 13 times earnings, versus those on the
Shanghai and Shenzhen --
QUEST: Right.
KLEINTOP: -- up over 60 times.
QUEST: Now -- and of course, as you rightly point out, if you look at the increase -- I read the note that you wrote, over 100 percent increase
with one, versus normal increases on the other.
Which raises the issue, why is this discrepancy? Is it because we have more confidence with the underlying economics of the companies, say
for example, listed in Hong Kong than the murky waters of the mainland China exchanges?
KLEINTOP: Well, that's certainly part of it, Richard. Absolutely true, there's different reporting requirements, lots of different things,
that make, maybe, people more comfortable with those companies trading in Hong Kong. Although some of them are even the same companies.
So, what's happened here is you've got a bottleneck of capital in China. We've seen gold bubbles, we've seen property bubbles in China. The
money has to find a way out, and lately, that way out, or way into something, has been into the stock market. It's almost a serial bubble
economy. And with housing having had its bubble pricked in China, now it's into the stock market --
QUEST: Right, but --
KLEINTOP: The good --
QUEST: Go ahead.
KLEINTOP: I was just going to add that the good news is is that a stock market bubble that may burst is a lot less damaging to the underlying
economy and its impacts, let's say, on those Hong Kong traded shares than a property bubble or a financial bubble would be that leave an overhang of
assets -- of liabilities that can sit around for years.
QUEST: Forgive me, I hate interrupting you. There's so much to talk about here. You're right in terms of an asset bubble -- of an equities
bubble, unless, of course, it translates itself. It becomes a feeding loop back into the wider economy. For example, the sort of thing we saw in the
dot-com boom and bust in the West.
But you don't think that that would happen because of, what? The limited access to the Shenzhen, Shanghai market by ordinary investors?
KLEINTOP: Pretty much. You're just not seeing that widespread engagement. If you think back to the dot-come bubble, everybody had some
tech stocks, and people were spending that wealth in the present.
We saw retail sales sour in the US. Retail sales are actually slowing in China. They're 10 percent year over year. That sounds like a big
number. But they're down from 15, 17, 20 percent, what they were a few years ago. So, we're not seeing the same type of things how up in the
economy, as we did, say, with the dot-com bubble.
QUEST: Sir, good to have you on the program tonight. And thank you.
KLEINTOP: My pleasure, Richard.
QUEST: We look forward to having you more often to talk about this and other global economic issues. Thank you, sir.
The quote is "Cool blood and political will." That's what Pierre Moscovici says is needed for Europe to secure a deal with Greece. As the
finance minister's threat for Monday's emergency summit of leaders, Alexis Tsipras has been prepping in Russia, getting familiar and friendly with the
Russians.
[16:28:45] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:31:01] QUEST: Hello, I'm Richard Quest. There's more "Quest Means Business" in a moment when India's finance minister tells me what his
country is learning from China's economy.
And vexed with a visa - the U.S. State Department is left overwhelmed after a giant computer glitch. And before all of that, this is CNN and on
this network the news always comes first.
The man who is said to have confessed to killing nine people at the church in the U.S. state of South Carolina has appeared in court. Dylann
Roof showed no emotion as he appeared via a video link. His bail was set at a million dollars on the weapons charge alone. He has been remanded in
custody for the nine murders.
The Department of Justice in the U.S. says it's considering terrorism as part of its investigation into the massacre. Before the hearing began,
the county magistrate urged the local community to rally around both the victim's family and the defendant's family.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
JAMES GOSNELL, JR., CHARLESTON COUNTY MAGISTRATE: We have big hearts, we're a very loving community and we're going to reach out to everyone -
all victims. And we will touch them. We have victims - nine of them. But we also have victims on the other side. There are victims on this young
man's side of the family. Nobody would have ever thrown them into the whirlwind of events that they are being thrown into. We must find it in
our heart at some point in time not only to help those that are victims, but to also help his family as well.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
QUEST: Relatives of the nine victims were invited to make statements before the judge set Dylann Roof's bond. As Roof stood and listened, one
by one the relatives told the gunman they forgave him.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
VOICE OF NADINE COLLIER, DAUGHTER OF ETHEL LANCE: I will never talk to her ever again, I will never be able to hold her again. But I forgive
you and have mercy on your soul. You hurt me, you hurt a lot of people. May God forgive you and I forgive you.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
QUEST: The UN. Special envoy for Yemen says ceasefire talks in Geneva have ended in no agreement but he says that the door is open for more
dialogue in the coming days. U.S. officials have been meeting separately with Houthi representatives and supporters of Yemen's exiled president.
Indonesia's Mount Sinabung is erupting again, and as you can see from these pictures in spectacular fashion, blazing hot ash has been spilling
down the mountainside engulfing fields and many homes. More than 10,000 residents have already been evacuated from around the mountain in North
Sumatra Province.
As European Union finance ministers are regrouping in Luxembourg , Britain's Charter of the Exchequer George Osborne says the U.K.'s preparing
for the worst when it comes to Greece - his words. No discussions about the crisis were planned on Friday.
The European Council President Donald Tusk says he's already made preparations with Mario Draghi and Christine Lagarde of the IMF ahead of
Monday's big summit. That's when talks resume. Tusk told the media for the time the game has ended.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
DONALD TUSK, EUROPEAN COUNCIL PRESIDENT: The game of chicken needs to end and so does the blame game. Because this is not a game and there's no
time for any games.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
QUEST: Pierre Moscovici is the vice president for financial economic affairs and says the talks need cool blood and political will to be
successful. The Commissioner spoke to Nina dos Santos who asked him where do we go from here?
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
[16:35:12] PIERRE MOSCOVICI, EUROPEAN COMMISSIONER FOR ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL AFFAIRS: We are all mobilized - the ECB, the IMF, the Commission
- what we call the institutions - but also member states in order to find a deal. And the deal with Greece is possible because we need to address a
limited amount, a limited number of questions, a limited number of reforms that need to be led and that is absolutely possible if there is two things.
First, cool blood and then political will. And we need to show that now. And I also believe that this deal is absolutely necessary for the
sake of the Greek people. Grexit would be a - or a default or any kind of situation - would be a catastrophe for the Greek economy and it's also
necessary for the Eurozone.
And when there is such a necessity, when there is such a possibility, well I think people have to behave as responsible leaders and responsible
ministers. And that is why the vote is now in the Greek camp and we expect their proposals in order to have on Monday successful meetings.
NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: You mentioned the IMF. Madame Lagarde has said the need for people to behave like adults in the
room and discuss this like adults.
MOSCOVICI: She has a good sense of humor, but I can understand what she meant. She meant that at one stage we must stop talking about global
or general ideas, we must not exchange on concepts, we must now try to finalize what we call a staff level agreement which could be a basis for
closing the review, then concluding the present program which is ending on the 30th of June.
And this is not only about ideas, it's not only about concepts, it's not only about speakings or speech, it's about concrete, practical
proposals of reforms that are badly needed. Not needed by the creditors, but needed by the Greek economy itself if we want to have an economy in
Greece capable of recreating growth now we are almost in recession and also to create jobs. And that's what the Greek people expect. That's what they
need.
Those reforms are good for the Greek economy and I must insist on the fact that we're not proposing any kind of austerity. The institutions
proved that they were flexible. We are not asking for the same fiscal targets we were a few months ago, we are not asking for a raise of the VAT
(ph) for goods and services that are the most used by the popular side of the Greek nation.
We are not proposing to cut in pensions but to reform pensions. This is all reasonable and this is why I urge the Greek government to come back
to the table of negotiation with those serious proposals.
DOS SANTOS: How does the European Commission view Mr. Tsipras' decision to spend today in Russia speaking with Vladimir Putin and making
trade deals and friendships over there when of course Europe could be on the brink because Greece could default on its debts in a few days' time?
MOSCOVICI: What is necessary is that Mr. Tsipras comes in Brussels and he wish to on Monday with a concrete proposal so that the Eurozone
summit is a success.
It's not about today - today and yesterday. We were at a meeting in Brussels at the levels of the finance minister, a meeting which was not
conclusive so now we need to work, work and work to ensure that the meetings of Monday as well of the Eurogroup level and at the heads of
state level are a success that authorize the deal, a deal which I repeat is difficult, obviously. I wouldn't want to lie on that. The situation is
worrying. But a deal which is still possible and more than ever necessary.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
QUEST: Pierre Moscovici. Now that visit by the Greek prime minister to Russia is most definitely controversial. The prime minister's already
inked a controversial deal to pipe Russian gas through Greece and on to Western Europe.
And ahead of those Monday meetings with his European leaders, Prime Minister Tsipras is demonstrating or at least attempting to, some believe,
that Greece may have options should the talks break down for good.
Our correspondent in Moscow is Matthew Chance.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well I think it was a masterly display of brinkmanship on the part of Alexis Tsipras,
the Greek prime minister at the Saint Petersburg economic forum, meeting Vladimir Putin the Russian president and showing his European creditors
that Greece has an alternative to Europe and is prepared to exercise an independent foreign policy.
There were good economic reasons too as Prime Minister Tsipras pointed out.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
[16:40:05] ALEXIS TSIPRAS, GREEK PRIME MINISTER VIA INTERPRETER: In continuation of our meeting in April and also the agreement we signed then
in Moscow, we are here to continue our contacts aimed at developing cooperation in many areas including in the energy field and at the same
time we've undertaken steps to deepen our cooperation in agriculture.
CHANCE: Russia may not have the money to bail out Greece, but a number of commercial agreements were made, most notably in the energy
field. The gas pipeline that would see Russian gas transported to customers in Western Europe through Greece. That would generate much-
needed revenue for Greece and be a potential source of cheap energy.
But it would also give Moscow influence in a European and NATO country. President Putin held a meeting with the Greek leader on the
sidelines of the economic forum, no doubt reveling in the fact that he's not totally isolated in Europe in terms of offering Greece a financial hand
though.
I think Russia has come closer to that than at any time previously. A Russian official is denying any request for assistance has been made by
Athens. But if it is, one high-ranking Kremlin official said we would consider it. Matthew Chance, CNN Moscow.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
QUEST: All in all, it was an unspectacular day for the European bosses which is quite remarkable when you look at what they had to put up
with. The DAX (RINGS BELL) was the only market to finish down on the day. All the others finished down for the week. In the case of Greece, it was
off more than 11 percent.
And in New York. Now, remember what we saw yesterday - a very strong performance by the Dow Jones Industrials. Now fears of a Greek default
weighing on the U.S. stocks. It's a Friday as well don't forget. It is the summer, things are - tend to be - a little fragile in the markets.
The Dow finished off 101 points. All the major indices still managed to eke out little gains for the week. All in all, it has been a busy week.
Let's have some business on the move.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
QUEST: An executive at Toyota has been arrested for allegedly importing narcotics. She's Julie Hemp and she' the first Western female to
become a senior executive. Toyota says it's cooperating fully with the investigation.
The economic slowdown in China has taken a hot bite out of chocolate sales for Hershey. The candy maker has slashed its outlooks for earnings
and sales and as a result, even those big bars - they're going to cut various jobs. Hershey's bought 30 - 80 percent - of Shanghai Golden Monkey
in 2013.
A bottle of Heinz Ketchup came with a surprise side for one consumer. The QR code on the bottle, part of a competition, led to a German man going
to a pornographic website. Heinz has apologized and says the x-rated site took over the link after the competition was over. Think of it as being a
QR with 57 varieties. And that's "Business on the Move."
(END VIDEOCLIP)
QUEST: And after the break, we talked about China. Now the country that wants to emulate Chinese economic growth and keep doing so is India.
The finance minister tells us how he'll do it in a moment.
(COMMERCIALS)
[16:45:41] QUEST: India's finance minister says his country can learn lessons from China about how to sustain economic growth. I sat down with
Arun Jaitley at the Columbia Business School as he tours the United States. He was meeting also the U.S. treasury secretary Jack Lew.
The minister told me India could get faster growth and then explained why it could be sustainable.
ARUN JAITLEY, INDIAN FINANCE MINISTER: I'd like to reach India's optimum capacity and I don't think in their (ph) optimum capacities the
current 7/7 and 1/2 percent growth rate. We have a history that we've gone up nine (ph) and I think India has a potential to better that.
I think India reaches the potential, that's half true, half-truth. The full truth would be that India reaches the potential and sustains there
for several years.
QUEST: That's the key!
JAITLEY: And I think that's the case.
QUEST: That's the key - you put your finger on it, Minister. It's how it sustains it.
JAITLEY: Itself. And that's extremely important because I think that's where we have to learn from China that they not only grew by a rapid
pace - 9 percent plus on an average. But they did it for more than three decades. And therefore if India is to deplete its poverty levels, we have
to reach that level and then sustain it over a period of time. It's only then that the impact would be held in the long run.
QUEST: And it's a multi-faceted approach. Did you see the article by Steve Forbes in which he talked about very detailed - whether it's tax
reform, whether it's deregulation, all these things -
JAITLEY: There are a huge number of items. In fact we've taken a lot of steps and I probably if I continue the reform program for the next two
years, I have my hands full.
QUEST: Taking that on board, what's the biggest challenge to getting these various parts of the economy to work together?
JAITLEY: You see, currently the private sector investments are a little low. Therefore, one of the bigger challenges (AUDIO GAP) to move up
the private sector investment but I have to start with a lot of public investment going in.
This year we've substantially increased public investment as far as infrastructure is concerned which is really investment in manufacturing.
And after that, we intend upping out investment as far as irrigation is concerned. Once we are able to do that, I think in due course the results
in these two areas would be - would be - quite visible.
QUEST: Isn't that really the age-old India problem? So much promise but somewhere along the line, it never quite happens.
JAITLEY: I think there's a huge opportunity. From 1991 when we started our reform program, for the next decade and a half, we actually
exploited that opportunity. So we transformed from shortages into a reasonable surplus and I think we should have gone on.
Last five/seven years we lost the track. I think we've got it back now. And there's a growing restlessness in India as I've been saying. In
order to not let this opportunity go, and therefore reform, integrate globally, up the investments in manufacturing and in agriculture, improve
your infrastructure, our banking system needs a somewhat correction.
And these are all reforms which are on and which are possible.
QUEST: Can you feel that Prime Minister Modi still has that, if you like, level of support that swept him into power?
JAITLEY: I think he not only has support, he has a lot of credibility. And therefore, even today, he remains the most credible face
of governance in India where people have greater faith in him than in anybody else in the country, as a person who can perform and deliver.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
QUEST: The Indian finance minister talking to me earlier today.
The single piece of paper that opens up the land of opportunity to workers from across the world. And after a computer failure, travelers
looking for U.S. visas are out of luck and out of the United States. (RINGS BELL).
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:51:13] QUEST: A computer glitch at the U.S. State Department has caused chaos for those trying to get American work visas. And U.S.
officials say it won't be fixed until next week.
For two weeks now, a computer failure has meant huge delays in issuing visas. A spokesperson at the London Embassy said the embassy was being in
their words, "overwhelmed" with requests, including those of people wanting their passports back.
Typically the State Department handles 50,000 applications a day. Hundreds of Mexican migrant workers have been left stranded at the border
waiting for their papers, the farm workers unable to go ahead as the harvest season begins.
Bands and other musical artists trying to get work visas are changing their plans. The Australian duo, The Veronicas, canceled their entire U.S.
tour after members of the band failed to get visas in time.
Our global affairs correspondent is Elise Labott. She's at the State Department. This is a mess!
ELISE LABOTT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENCE: It's a mess and I couldn't come at a worse time, Richard. I mean, basically what the State
Department says is this is a hardware problem and what is going on is that the U.S. cannot check the biometric data of these people against possible
security data - databases - to make sure that they don't pose a security risk.
Now, some of the people whose visas - who that biometric data - already went through were able to get visas. And good news for some of
those farmers. This week the U.S. was able to process 7 hundred (AUDIO GAP) and 50 agricultural visas --
QUEST: Right.
LABOTT: -- for some of those people to come in. But the State Department is saying they're working on it, they have over 100 technicians
both in the government and in the private sector working on it.
But they don't expect it to be up at least until after next week.
QUEST: And one of the problems of course for many of our viewers who'll be watching, they've applied, the passport has gone into the system,
and they're trying to get their passports back from the U.S. embassies around the world because they may have other problems or other - they just
don't know what's going to happen.
What's the U.S. saying on that?
LABOTT: Well, they don't have any good answers, Richard. Basically they're saying to take a look at the website, they were instructions about
how you can contact the embassy that has your passport and say, `Listen, you have my passport, I need to get it back.' So viewers can look at
state.gov or travel.gov and look for those instructions.
But it's a big problem because in some cases, if the passport happens to be at the embassy, they can easily retrieve it and get it back. But if
it's already been sent to the United States for processing, it's even that much more difficult.
And so it's a huge problem -
QUEST: And -
LABOTT: -- there was also a problem with people's - with the U.S. passport system, and Americans are applying for passports. That seems to
have fixed. But this is a very big problem. There was a problem earlier in the year with the visas and they don't seem to have gotten ahold of it.
But they are saying it's a hardware issue, it doesn't have to do with any hacking, any virus, any security breaches. So that's one piece of good
news.
QUEST: Good news. And just to compound the misery and mayhem, if you do get your passport back, the Embassy apparently says to the State
Department `you have to apply again.' You have to get -- it really is a case of go back to square one, do not pass go, do not collect (RINGS BELL)
$200.
LABOTT: Or go somewhere else.
(LAUGHTER)
QUEST: Elise Labott joining us from the State Department. We thank you for that. Remember, you can find out the information from that on
state.gov where you'll be able to find out more passport details and what you can do.
A quick reminder of how the markets closed. The Dow Jones Industrials well worth showing you at the end of an awful week where Greece was
involved, having had a rally of other 100 points on Thursday.
[16:55:07] This shows you better than anything else, the sentiment of the market. Down by the best part of 100. And even though the NASDAQ was
at a record high over the last few days, it shows you the sort of worry and misery that the markets are suffering as they go into the weekend where
it's all about Greece.
We will have a "Profitable Moment" after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Tonight's "Profitable Moment." The Greek banking system is on borrowed time and borrowed money. The decision by the ECB to raise the
emergency liquidity available to Greek banks is just that - a mere bandaid on a situation. Because, let's face it, if we get through Monday and there
is no deal and it starts to look like there will be a default, then the ECB has no choice. It will have to pull the plug on the Greek banking system.
Think about it - it can't imperil the rest of the Euro system just because Greece can't do a deal. And then you've got Madame Lagarde's words
about adults need to be in the room and everybody to a person this weeks is saying time is running out. We've heard it all before and there'll be
those of you that cynically say, `Yeah, yeah, yeah, time's running out.'
This time it rather is because Lagarde and the IMF have said if they don't repay by the end of the month, that's a default. And that is the
nuclear word that will cause chaos in the Greek banking system.
Keep your eye on the Greek banks. That's where this whole story starts and ends and will in the next week. And that's "Quest Means
Business" for tonight. I'm Richard Quest in New York.
[17:00:02] Whatever you're up to in the hours ahead, (RINGS BELL) I hope it's profitable. I'm away now for two weeks.
END
