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Quest Means Business
Many Trapped by Japan's Rising Flood Waters; China Says Growth Targets Still Within Reach; China Promises to Prevent "Hard Landing"; Chinese Growth; Dow Closes Higher as Volatility Continues; S&P Downgrades Brazil to Junk; European Stocks Down; Primark Wants to Crack US Retail Market; Business on the Move. Aired 4-5p ET.
Aired September 10, 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: Delta partners with I Love New York, that's why they're ringing the closing bell. The Dow Jones Industrials is positive
for the session, but has given back many of the gains of the day. And that's a very firm gavel to bring trading to a close for Thursday, it's
September the 10th.
China insists it's still in control of its economy as new data points downwards.
In clothing invasion. Primark says it can make an America where others have failed.
And cues from the presidential campaign trail that will help you in the workplace. What can you learn from the presidential candidates.
I'm Richard Quest. We have an hour together, and I mean business.
Good evening. We begin, though, today with the weather, the dreadful situation in Japan. It's just 5:00 AM in eastern Japan, and the sun's
about to rise after a day and night of serious, severe flooding. Dramatic rescue operations are underway across the country. At least one person has
been reported dead after a home was hit by a landslide.
Now, many homes have been completely swept away by flood waters. In all, 60 centimeters or two feet of rain has fallen since Monday. That's
double the typical rainfall for the region for the whole month of September. And there are warnings that more could follow. We'll get the
forecast and just a second. First, though, Will Ripley in Tokyo has sent this dispatch.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A wall of water in eastern Japan, leaving many stranded on rooftops, balconies,
anywhere above water. Japan activating its military, bringing in helicopters, rescue teams, pulling people to safety, searching flooded
buildings for anyone trapped inside.
Japan prone to all kinds of natural disasters, but the rapidly rising Kinugawa River took many by surprise Thursday. "This is the first time
this has happened," says one longtime resident. Tens of thousands got evacuation orders. Many had just minutes, carrying what belongings they
could, unsure of what to do next.
"I haven't seen anything like this in decades," says this woman. She's one of thousands spending the night at evacuation centers. One
hundred of them providing food, water, and medicine.
Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe warning the region could see more unprecedented heavy rain, meaning potentially more flooding at the already
waterlogged Fukushima nuclear plant.
Heavy rains from Tropical Storm Etau overwhelming the drainage systems, causing radioactive water to leak into the ocean for several hours
Wednesday. Power company TEPCO says the situation is contained, outside radiation levels normal for now.
The full scale of this disaster unknown. Also unknown, how many people may still be waiting for rescue, surrounded by flood waters, hoping
their house won't be the next one dragged away.
Will Ripley, CNN, Tokyo.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: Serious situation with every possibility of getting worse. Tom Sater is at the World Weather Center. Tom, this seems to have come out
of nowhere. What's been going on? What weather system has caused this?
TOM SATER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: That's a fantastic question, Richard, because even though we're breaking records for 24-hour rainfall, this goes
back for weeks and even a few months. It's been a terrible summer in Japan. El Nino, we've got the warming of the western Pacific, we've had
more typhoons, we'll talk about it.
But this, you can see the river that was overflowing. This river has been high for some time. So the pressure has been so great for a long
duration that we're seeing some of the levees being breached, and therefore, it's fanning in, it's ripping some of the homes off the
foundation. I mean, we've had one fatality, and that was in a landslide, that's not even in this area.
But really, if you go back a little bit -- and we're going to talk about this -- they've been breaking records in Japan. June, in some areas,
the wettest month of all time. A week and a half ago, we had cities that were breaking one-hour rainfall totals.
And then you toss in the event that occurred in these two prefectures, this is where the rescues have been taking place. And then last night, up
in Miyagi Prefecture, that's where Sendai is, another 200,000 were evacuated.
But this frontal system, which meanders around in spring, moves up in the summer comes back in fall, has not left Japan. So, they've been
inundated to the point that they're complete saturated. You toss in a tropical storm that made landfall, and the problems start to occur.
Here's the visual satellite image just from the last couple of das, and this was Etau, this was not expected to be a typhoon, but it didn't
have to be. As we see too many times, Richard, just a tropical storm meeting with that front and the rain's been enhanced.
[16:05:05] Now, the problem's been about 50 kilometers to the northeast of Tokyo, and now the rain is sliding a little bit more to the
east. Look at all the typhoon tracks in red. These have been stronger storms this year, they've had longer tracks. They were hit here by Typhoon
Goni. This is Nangka, this is Tropical Storm Noul, and then of course, you have Etau that moved in.
These numbers are amazing. If you look at the top ten, 24-hour rainfall records in all of Japan, six of those ten were broken in the last
36 hours, amazing.
QUEST: Tom --
SATER: Yes, Richard?
QUEST: What -- as the situation -- as you look at it now, what's the forecast, bearing in mind it's 5:00 AM there, what's the forecast --
SATER: Yes, right.
QUEST: -- for the next 24, 48 hours? What have people in Japan got to be wary of over the next couple of days?
SATER: Good news where we're seeing this devastating flooding, Richard. I think for three days, we're looking at some nice weather. The
waters will subside. But you can see the rainfall up near Sendai. This is going to occur with some intensity, and so the landfall -- landslide threat
will be in this region.
I think the bigger problem, Richard, is going to be for the month of September. We have seen a terrible summer, and now look at September, this
is for Tokyo, the wettest month of the year, and still a great number of typhoons to come as September ranks number two. It's just been a terrible
--
QUEST: Right.
SATER: -- domino effect on top of this El Nino here.
QUEST: Tom Sater with the forecast. Thank you very much for that. We will watch that very closely in the hours ahead. Just to remind you, of
course, that it is only 5:00 AM in Tokyo at the moment in eastern Japan.
The Dow Jones -- before we take a short break -- started off eh. Went a bit ugh. Then recovered up really rather resiliently during the day, but
gave back most -- or a lot of the gains. We closed the Dow just a half a percentage point higher at 16,330.
We're going to talk China in a moment. China tells investors they've nothing to fear. The premier is telling the World Economic Forum there's
no hard landing on the horizon. But if there's no hard landing, we can only fear for what might be next.
(RINGS BELL)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: China's premier has admitted that there are, in his words, "deep-seated problems" with the Chinese economy, and yet, he still thinks
growth targets could be met. At the World Economic Forum in Dalian, he said the government was still in control.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LI KEQIANG, PREMIER OF CHINA (through translator): We have the ability to achieve China's main economic and societal development goals for
this year, and we will fight to maintain continual development for the future.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: Now, Li Keqiang has promised investors that China is not heading for the so-called "hard landing," which of course is where growth
suddenly plummets and you almost end up in recession as a result, quite often that you do. Instead, he says a "soft landing" is on the cards.
So, let's show you what a Chinese soft landing looks like at the moment at the super screens. If you take the Chinese economy, so far
stimulus measures that have been introduced have had more of a cushioning effect than a soft landing. They have sort of massaged the volatility.
But obviously, with the stimulus, everybody accepts more long-term solutions are needed.
[16:10:05] Now, the structural reforms, now they offer more support for a proper landing for the economy for sustainable growth in the future,
and Mr. Li says reform and entrepreneurs are the way forward.
As for the transition, this is the Chinese problem: it's a shifting economy, it's a transition away from investment-led towards less
investment-led and export growth towards domestic demand. All three of these different scenarios form a version of a soft landing.
HSB is predicting China will pull out all the stops on stimulus. Frederic Neumann is their co-head of Asian economics and joins me now. I
was looking at your forecast for growth, and you still have China over 7 percent for this year and next, don't you?
FREDERIC NEUMANN, CO-HEAD OF ASIAN ECONOMICS, HSB: That's right. Don't doubt the Chinese government's ability to stimulate growth. They
still have enormous tools at their disposable, such as fiscal stimulus, they are likely to use to push up growth --
QUEST: Right.
NEUMANN: -- such as infrastructure investment, to achieve their growth target.
QUEST: But if they just do that on the basis of stimulus for meeting targets, as you say, they are not dealing with the imbalances, the
leverage, and the poor debt that's in the economy.
NEUMANN: That's right. And that is a long-term problem. Will the Chinese roll out the reforms that are necessary to put the economy on a
more sustainable trajectory? So, are they going to pursue such things like state on enterprise reform?
And here, the going has been rather slow. The Chinese have not really tackled some of the reforms just yet. They are still in the mode where
they need to --
QUEST: Right.
NEUMANN: -- stabilize the economy before they can tackle some of these reforms.
QUEST: But what does a soft landing in China look like vis-a-vis the rest of us?
NEUMANN: Well, it might be somewhere between 6 and 7 percent growth, and with a bit of stimulus, we might just have our heads above 7 percent
next year. So, it's not by world standard a catastrophe. But remember that we're coming off of 12, 13 percent growth a few years ago, so by
Chinese standards --
QUEST: Right.
NEUMANN: -- it really feels like a big slowdown.
QUEST: Now, if we -- let's talk about the ripple effects of this, and I'm not talking about the United States, here, where, of course, the
markets are -- and the economy is robust. But if you look at emerging markets, and let's take whether it's Brazil or whether it's ASEAN or
whether it's Southeast Asia or wherever it is, they are feeling the effects, and that's going to get worse.
NEUMANN: That's right. And it's all about commodities. China is a huge consumer of commodities, and that has lifted growth across Africa,
Latin America, Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. But that is coming to an end, and with China not accelerating convincingly, it's
unlikely that commodity prices will rebound, and that is hurting growth in other emerging markets --
(CROSSTALK)
QUEST: So -- so, what do they do?
NEUMANN: -- and this is a problem for world growth.
QUEST: What do -- what do they do? What do the Malaysias, the Indonesias, the Brazils, and to a lesser extent, the Indias, the
Cambodians, what do they do to battle against --? Because they're going to be facing, unless I'm mistaken, they're going to be facing current account
issues and we're into -- I'm not saying its 97 again, but we are heading in that direction.
NEUMANN: That's right. It's not 97, but it means slower growth, and they have an additional problem, and that is the Federal Reserve might
raise interest rates as well, harming growth, too. So, what can they do? They can probably just go down to nuts and bolts and start with structural
reforms.
Remember that a lot of these markets have not really implemented structural reforms to convince investors to come back into these markets.
QUEST: Right.
NEUMANN: And we need to see more by way of structural reforms.
QUEST: Finally, Frederic, as you take a look over the whole architecture of the last month or two, six weeks of volatility that we've
seen, do -- is it overdone that we're blaming the Chinese? Or are the Chinese now such an integral part of global future economic growth that
they are inextricable?
NEUMANN: They are a big part of the global growth puzzle. They are driving global growth. Since 2009, they have really driven growth in
emerging markets, and their slowdown is everybody's problems.
But it doesn't mean that it can stand -- you stand aside and say, well, we'll just blame the Chinese. You also have to do your homework,
which is to rectify some of the problems you have in the local economies. And that's where the work needs to begin.
[16:15:02] QUEST: Sir, thank you. Good to see you in London. Just as well you're not in Asia, of course --
NEUMANN: Thank you.
QUEST: -- because it'd be the middle of the night, but at least you're in London, so we can talk to you. Thank you very much.
Now, here in the United States, we saw big swings for the Dow on the fourth straight session as I showed you just before the break. It was well
worth pointing this out. This little wiggle early in the morning, some very sharp gains, which then petered away.
CNN Money's Paul La Monica is with me. What on Earth happened? I suppose that was just a bit of a blip, but what happened to sort of --
PAUL LA MONICA, CNN MONEY DIGITAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it looks a lot more dramatic than it really is. When you keep in mind the volatility
we've had --
QUEST: Yes.
LA MONICA: -- over the past few weeks, this was not a triple-digit point move.
QUEST: But what was the driving factor for the market today?
LA MONICA: There really wasn't much in the way of any new news. I think a lot of people are still sitting tight wondering what's going to
happen with the Federal Reserve next week. We did get a nice rebound in Apple stock. Apple fell yesterday after all their new products came out.
Apple is in the Dow, it's obviously one of the more important companies in that index, as well as the S&P 500.
So, I think Apple's rally and other tech stocks, that really helped fuel the big move that we're -- the decent move that we had today.
QUEST: Right. Now, Brazil. Let's --
LA MONICA: Brazil -- ugh.
QUEST: Brazil. Now, Brazilian stocks, they continued to fall, and the real has also continued its tumbling, downgraded. S&P has now cut
Brazil's rating to junk status. The Bovespa was off a third of a percent. It's at a very elevated at the moment in terms of numerically.
But for the first time in seven years, Brazil is now below investment grade. Now, the issue, of course, is with a country that's virtually on
recession, if not already officially in recession -- it's technically, if not -- then tell me what's going to happen there.
LA MONICA: It's going to be very difficult for Brazil to turn things around, I think, anytime soon. You've already mentioned that they are in
recession. We know what is happening with their currency. Inflation is very high as well, interest rates higher than they probably would like them
to be.
A lot of it is a ripple effect from China. Clearly, with China's growth slowing, that hurts Brazil. But there's also all the political
problems that really can't be ignored, and that is intertwined with one of their largest companies, Petrobras, the scandal there. That really is
hurting Brazil, and I think people are wondering what's going to happen.
QUEST: I think you look at Dilma Rousseff's numbers -- the --
LA MONICA: I believe her approval rating is below 10 percent, which is astonishing.
QUEST: It is. It's below 10 percent. But factoring in what Frederic Neumann was just saying to us a moment ago, if other countries -- if
commodity-led countries are not putting their house in order, than this Chinese slowdown is going to ripple. And we see better -- no better
example than, perhaps, Brazil.
LA MONICA: Exactly. Because even countries that are in much better fiscal shape, like Australia, it is a country that's now flirting with
recession because of what's going on in the commodities market. You can say the same thing about Canada. So Brazil really -- the onus on them is
to fix things as quickly as they can --
QUEST: Too late.
LA MONICA: -- it just doesn't get easier --
QUEST: Too late.
LA MONICA: -- when you're already in junk status.
QUEST: Would you say too late?
LA MONICA: I think it's probably too late. The best they can probably hope for is you've got the Olympics next year.
QUEST: Good to see you, sir.
LA MONICA: Thank you.
QUEST: Thank you. Uncertainty sent European stocks lower for the first time in the week. Investors are wondering what the Fed's going to
do. Of course, as a result, all the major markets were down. Earlier --
(RINGS BELL)
QUEST: -- the Bank of England left interest rates at a record low of half a percentage point. Some economists say the BOE isn't too fazed by
recent market volatility, driven by China's slowing growth. And the decision follows months of declines on global stock markets. The vote,
though, was still 8 to 1 in terms of the decision.
After the break, it's very difficult if you're a retailer, an international retailer, to actually crack the American market. A British-
owned retailer is taking its first steps in the United States, and if history is anything to go by, they should be seriously worried. America
has been a big loser for UK retailers. In a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:20:51] QUEST: It's a new shop in a new country. Primark threw a party to celebrate its first shop in the United States. It's a British-
owned retailer. It's basically "cheap chic," as they call it. And it's officially opened its Boston store earlier today. It's hoping that the
student town is the place to crack the US market.
Primark has grown into a retail chain of over 270 stores across Europe. It all started with a single shop in Dublin called Penny's, and
that began in 1969.
Associated British Foods owns Primark, and the stock is up 17 percent in the last 12 months. The launch today highlights the international
ambitions of Primark.
And it's not alone. The Spanish firm Zara, owned by Inditex, has been selling fast fashion successfully in America for years. It can get
designer into stores in 15 days. H&M also showing the retail world how it's done. The Swedish-based company is ranked number 33 on the Forbes
list of valuable brands. H&M announced it would recruit thousands of workers in the US.
The building that Primark has moved to used to be a Filene's Basement. That store closed when Macy's bought it, because Macy's was directly across
the street. So now Macy's will be confronted by Primark.
Primark's high hopes -- it knows other big names in Britain didn't do business in the US. They include Tesco's Fresh and Easy, which sold.
Entertainment giant HMV pulled out the US market in 2004. And the High Street news agent, WH Smith's sold its US hotel and airport shops in 2003.
Neil Saunders is the managing director of the retail research firm Conlumino. He joins me now from Boston. You went to Primark, you know the
store, you know how it's almost a bun fight to get as many things as you can in there. What was it like?
NEIL SAUNDERS, MANAGING DIRECTOR, CONLUMINO: Well, it was busy, as you say. It was crowded with people, people having a look, but actually
people buying as well, and that's the key thing. And people not just buying one thing, but shoving the basket full of product, because that's
what Primark is about --
QUEST: Right.
SAUNDERS: -- it's about volume. It gets people through the door, and then it sells them a lot of stuff at relatively cheap prices.
QUEST: Now, the fascinating part is if that's right, and if you look at, say, for example, the Primark on Oxford Street, or you look at any of
the other major Primarks, the idea is as you say, these vast hampers that people walk around with just pouring as many clothes and -- do you get the
feeling Primark's onto something in the US?
SAUNDERS: I think it is, because I think the key thing that differentiates Primark in the US as differentiates Primark throughout most
of the countries in which it trades, is that it is incredibly cheap.
And actually, it's a lot cheaper than most US brands, including the traditional brands like Gap and AEO and all of those. And actually, it's
also cheaper than H&M and some of those new brands that have across to the US. So, that's attractive.
QUEST: But the sheer ability of UK companies to be a disaster -- retailers, I should say, retailers. I mean, the corporate word is littered
with examples of this, isn't it? Retailers just can't make it over here. Why -- from M&S buying Brooks Brothers right the way through even to Jaguar
before it became part of Ford, they just don't do it.
SAUNDERS: I agree. I think that the US has been a graveyard for British retailers, and a lot of them have not only gone back home with
their tails between their legs, but they've lost a lot of money in the process, and Tesco perhaps is the most high-profile example of that.
I think the difference with Primark, though, is that Primark actually has proved itself internationally. It's expanded into a lot of countries
across Europe, and done, say, very successfully, including very competitive markets, like Germany.
And also, it's in the clothing segment, and actually, I think if you look at the clothing segment in the US, although it is very competitive and
it's very crowded, a lot of the players that Primark is up against, people like Gap and Aero and those sorts of players actually are doing very badly
themselves, so it's not as if Primark is up against very stiff and very strong competition.
[16:25:07] Actually, it's up against some players that are really struggling. And I think Primark will just add an extra layer of pressure
onto the top.
QUEST: So, Neil, in a sentence, are they going to do it? Are they going to break the British buck, if you like, and actually make a go, be a
success here?
SAUNDERS: I think Primark is going to prove the exception, and I think that they will not only make a success of it, but I think in the
process of doing, they'll probably reshape some of American retail, certainly in apparel.
QUEST: Good to see you, sir. Thank you very much for joining us. Primark, of course, reminds me of the old adage, pile it up -- what was it,
marks in the business? Pile it high, sell it cheap. Whatever you're talking about, talking about piling it up, we've got some Business on the
Move.
QUEST: Talking about another company that piles it high, Ikea sales jumped 11 percent thanks to growing in emerging markets. China was the
fastest, followed by Russia. Ikea will now enter India next year.
Keurig has partnered with Campbell's to launch a new product. Think of it this way: coffee meet soup. Keurig hopes that the fresh-brewed soup
will help boost sales.
From coffee and soup to Krispy Kremes. Krispy Kremes' stock plummeted 12 percent on Thursday after falling sales missed forecasts. It seems
doughnut sales aren't happening in the various retailers that sell Krispy Kremes, supermarkets and retailers are doing poorly. Krispy Kremes shops
themselves, well, they're doing rather well. That's Business on the Move.
QUEST MEANS BUSINESS. We'll be back with more in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Hello, I'm Richard Quest. There's more QUEST MEANS BUSINESS in just a moment, when Europe's divisions over the migrant crisis will
deepen, and we're going to hear from the former ECB president, Jean-Claude Trichet.
And you'll get some job coaching lessons from the campaign trail.
Before all of that, this is CNN, and on this network, the news comes first.
A major hurdle's been cleared for the US nuclear deal with Iran. In the last few moments, the US Senate has voted to block a resolution of
disapproval from the deal going forward to a final vote. It means the president will not be forced to veto the legislation. The deal faces
continuing opposition in the US House of Representatives.
[16:30:04] The United States is preparing to scale up the number of Syrian refugees it takes in. As the Europe migrant crisis escalates,
President Obama says the US will admit 10,000 in the next fiscal year, which starts next month.
Just over 1,500 have been given asylum since the start of the conflict.
Japan's advised 200,000 more people to evacuate their homes as flood waters rise. The flooding's already killed at least one person. The Kyodo
News agency's reporting a woman died after her home was hit by a landslide. Rescue efforts have been ongoing throughout the night.
A political crisis in Northern Ireland - the First Minister Peter Robinson has stepped down together with all but one of his Democratic Union
ministers. The crisis in the power-sharing government began last month when police said they believed members of the Provisional IRA were involved
in the murder of a former Republican prisoner
New York is set to become the first U.S. state with a $15 minimum wage. Governor Andrew Cuomo was joined by the U.S. Vice President Joe
Biden as he made the announcement on Thursday.
The fight for a $15 minimum wage has become a nationwide movement in the United States.
The roads and the rail are open again in Denmark. The authorities had to shut them down on Wednesday with people trying to pass through the
country to get to Sweden which is a much more open policy towards refugees. The situation there continues to deteriorate.
Hungary is building a razor wall. The defense minister was fired for not building it fast enough and there have been some appalling pictures of
even Hungarian television cameramen - woman - tripping over refugees. Shocking.
Jean-Claude Trichet is a former president of the European Central Bank and joins me now from Paris. Sir, we normally talk about matters of
economics but tonight we're talking really about matters of what Europe stands for as it faces this migrant crisis, sir.
JEAN-CLAUDE TRICHET, FORMER PRESIDENT, EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK: Well indeed it's a pleasure to be with you, Richard, and I agree that this
migrant challenge is really dramatic.
I think it's not an exaggeration to say it's probably the most important migrant/migration issue for Europe since World War II and - but -
it's not over.
So when I look at the figures I have to say that the challenges are so gigantic last year it was more than 500,000 asylum seekers that we had and
I think -
QUEST: Right.
TRICHET: -- July of this year it's already 470 or something. So it's really, really very big, very, very exceptional and a terrible challenge of
course for the Europeans.
QUEST: For the Europeans, but they seem to be failing the - neither the structures, once again, Mr. Trichet - neither the structures of the
Union or of its institutions seem to be equipped to deal with this.
And I think just for example look at this row over quotas with some member states saying one thing, another saying the other.
TRICHET: No, you're absolutely right. But let's imagine that we would not have the European Union. It's obviously of course a European
problem - a continental European problem. And also of course all member of the European Union.
And at least we tried to cope with even if it is very, very difficult. The divide - we have two divides if I may. One between the Western part of
Europe and the Eastern part of Europe.
The Western part of Europe accepts the proposal of Jean-Claude Juncker to have some kind of redistribution of the asylum seekers and migrants from
the Mediterranean part of Europe and the rest of Europe. And it is accepted again by the Western part of Europe but to my knowledge, Czech
Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia are not accepting that.
And of course it is a big problem - there are reasons for that of course --
QUEST: But what's the answer?
TRICHET: -- as we can't understand that.
QUEST: What do you think is the answer?
TRICHET: First we need first strong leadership from in particular Jean-Claude Juncker. I think he took a strong leadership. We need support
and there is really fortunately a big support from Germany which is very, very important in the circumstances.
Of course it comes out of the particular situation of Germany which has full employment and after all is more eager to have asylum seekers than
perhaps others.
[16:35:08] But I think that, again, on the Western part of Europe, with a very strong position for Germany and also backed by France and by -
of course by - Italy and a number of other countries -
QUEST: Right.
TRICHET: -- so this - I would not dramatize. I mean, what is dramatic is the problem of Syria and the problem in all the Middle East -
the drama of Iraq and so forth. What is very difficult for the European is to cope with it.
But let me say it's not a European problem, it's a global problem. And we need the help also of the United States of America because, again,
it's global.
QUEST: Right.
TRICHET: And of course we are very close to Syria and to Iraq, but, again, all countries of the world are involved all taken into account.
QUEST: Jean-Claude Trichet, thank you for joining us, sir. We appreciate it as always to have you on the program to hear your views.
Now, as Mr. Trichet said, it's a global problem and all countries are affected. Well perhaps nothing more than some of the countries like
Jordan.
The numbers we're seeing in the European crisis come pale to those compared to the Middle East taking in. Jordan is hosting nearly 630,000
refugees from neighboring Syria. And that's only counting those that have been registered with the United Nations. The actual number could be closer
to 1.4 million.
Queen Rania of Jordan spoke to CNN's Becky Anderson and the queen said it's an exceptional crisis that demands an exceptional response.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
QUEEN RANIA, JORDAN: What we would like to see a European consensus, an agreement on the - on how to move forward because hopefully a consensus
like that will encourage other countries to be part of the larger solution and not to be silent bystanders towards the worst humanitarian crisis of
our time.
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST, "CONNECT THE WORLD": The reception and responsibility taken by Jordan has been remarkable. The reception in
Europe has been mixed. It's been heartening to see the kind of friendship extended in some places but not in others.
And we know from experience that there is a risk of a wave, for example, of Islamophobia. Does that worry you?
RANIA: We need to address those fears. We need to remind the Europeans that these people are not coming to your country by choice.
And actually I hear that this crisis is being referred to as a migrant crisis. They're not migrants. A migrant is somebody who chooses to go to
another country because they're looking for a better job or education or to reunite their family.
They can choose to go back to their own country and know that they have the protection of their government. Whereas refugees are literally
running for their lives. They're running away from a well-founded fear of persecution.
What happens if we don't deal with this crisis appropriately? I'm afraid that more boats will capsize, more children will drown, more people
will die in the backs of trucks and, more importantly, I think as an international community this would be a failure that would lead to a whole
generation of people who are dislocated. A generation that at its most desperate could become susceptible to extremist ideology.
So at the end of the day, we will playing right in the hands of extremists who as you know will thrive and blossom wherever there's human
desperation and wherever they're seeing division.
On the other hand, we also really need to close the shortfalls in the humanitarian aid. The U.N. has only received half of the resources it
needs over the last four years to deal with this issue.
They are literally - them and other humanitarian agencies - are literally running out of money. We in Jordan felt it because the World
Food Program had to cut assistance to 229,000 refugees here in Jordan because of a lack of funds.
The UNHCR as of June this year only received one quarter of the appeal they made for the funds that they need to deal with the issue this year.
So we must do better.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
QUEST: Queen Rania talking exclusively to Becky Anderson. In a moment a startup with a goal that could change millions of lives -
restoring sight to the blind. Our series on Israeli innovation. We'll continue (inaudible).
(COMMERCIAL)
[16:41:44] QUEST: Uber's push for an auto industry revolution continues as it moves towards developing the so-called driverless car. Now
Uber's donated more $5 million to Carnegie Mellon University in Pennsylvania.
The money will be going towards staff who are devoted to studying robotics. In a statement, the Uber chief exec Travis Kalanick said that he
was - the word he used was - pumped because of it.
Now that combination of academic study, private investment - it's paid huge dividends in Israel's technology sector. (AUDIO GAP) for example
OrCam is one such company, a startup cofounded by professor and an entrepreneur.
OrCam cameras are miraculously helping blind people see again. Samuel Burke has the latest as part of our series on Israel innovation powering
innovation.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
HOWARD TURMAN, ORCAM CLIENT: Two weekends ago I sat down and read the "New York Times." I haven't done that in maybe 30 years. My wife came
down, I had a cup of coffee and reading the "New York Times" as she was crying.
SAMUEL BURKE, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Just being able to read again is emotional for Howard Turman. He started losing his vision as a
child. His new glasses don't fix his eyes but they do the next best thing.
TURMAN: Put on my glasses, they recognize this as a finger, zaps a picture. Now it just reads.
BURKE: The glasses have a camera that recognizes text and can read the world to him.
Device: Pull here.
BURKE: The technology is called Orcam, and Turman says it gives him a sense of normalcy.
TURMAN: We went finally out to Dunkin Donuts has a donut I never tried. I was excited.
Device: Dunkin Donuts
AMNON SHASHUA, CO-FOUNDER, ORCAM: It's a clip on that camera so a camera that you can flip onto any eyeglasses. And you have here a
computing device which you can put in your pocket.
And the way it interacts, it's with a hand gesture. For example, it's written there "Rental and Tours."
(SAMUEL BURKE GESTURING TOWARD SIGN)
Device: Rentals and Tours.
BURKE: It's not perfect though. It uses a pretty bulky cable and sometimes it needs a few tries to get things right.
TURMAN: It doesn't read script because everybody's handwriting's different. So it doesn't do cursive very well. At all.
BURKE: OrCam has a harder time in bright light or in tougher situations like signs on windows.
Device: Edinhar. U Donuts. Hours of Operation lo p.m. # p.m. 9 p.m. how was your service today?
BURKE: Shashua says improvements are on the way. Where do you see this technology going over the long term?
SHASHUA: Reading and organizing faces, organizing products is only the beginning. Where we want to get is complete visual understanding at
the level of human perception such that if you are disoriented, you can start understanding what's around you.
For example, where's the door? And the door is there. Where's the window? Where's an opening? And then, you know, the space around me.
BURKE: Even now Turman says it's a game changer.
TURMAN: Picture a kid the first time he got his favorite toy. It's just the best thing that has happened to me in a long time.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
[16:45:01] QUEST: Utterly fascinating. The Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders says he's stunned. He's taking the lead from the rival Hillary
Clinton for the first time in a poll. We're going to talk about the crucial early stages in the race for the White House.
(COMMERCIAL)
QUEST: The U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders says he's stunned. A new poll shows him overtaking the rival Hillary Clinton in
Iowa.
Now Sanders is edging Clinton 41 percent to 40. Meanwhile the Vice President Joe Biden who (inaudible) collected at number 12. That's that
particular one. If you look at the other side, which in many ways in some cases is still - is all the more remarkable, Donald Trump is surging in
another poll.
He's gained eight points since August to land at 32 percent support. Now Dr. Tracey Wilen has just published a blog "Be a Candidate - Tips for
Branding Yourself for a Job or Promotion Like Presidential Candidates".
Good to see you. The branding of a candidate, we've never - I mean, you know, I've covered a few elections. But rarely have we seen it as
brutal as this so early in the stage. So what can the candidate for a job learn from this?
TRACEY WILEN, AUTHOR, "EMPLOYMENT FOR LIFE": Oh absolutely, Richard. I think number one we should all learn how to market ourselves in a very
noisy marketplace.
There are, you know, a number of candidates out there and they all have to stand out and get our attention for the election just like job
candidates have to do that with employers. Make some noise. That's what I tell candidates to do.
QUEST: Right, but hang on, hang on. Hang on. There's a noise and then I remember my great aunt always telling me "empty vessels make most
noise."
WILEN: That's right. If you notice how these candidates are positioning themselves, they have point of view, they have data points,
they have positioning statements. And you as a candidate also has to have qualified experience and skills that you can make noise about.
So just don't make noise to make noise, but make noise about things that you do very well.
QUEST: You say that as a candidate - both for politicians which we call sound bites - but you'd say that you also should always have your 30-
second elevator pitch.
Just as the candidate can answer a question about why do you want to be president of the United States?
WILEN: Oh, that's right an elevator pitch which is a 30-second pitch about what makes you unique, what makes you important and different and
qualified.
Just imagine if you're a candidate and you get in an elevator and have a ride with three with someone who could change your job life. Are you
going to push the buttons or are you going to say something really sound about yourself that they'll say, `I want to know that person? I want to
get off the elevator with them and talk to them.'
QUEST: So as you look at our candidates or the candidates that are running, which ones are exhibiting the best of this philosophy for you for
people to follow?
WILEN: Oh when I look at rebranding, right, so everyone is looking for a brand. And a lot of us have to rebrand ourselves. There are medical
doctors, there are high-tech and real estate executives who are actually going through the motions and realize that on television rebranding
themselves, creating that persona that they are the president.
[16:50:04] And I think we should watch the language that they use and how they are developing their own persona as the best job - the president.
QUEST: But which candidate? Name names.
WILEN: Oh, well Carly Fiorina of course, a high-tech executive CEO, past senatorial running who is now rebranding herself as presidential
candidate. Donald Trump, past real estate - entertainer some say - and now are rebranding himself as president. Candidate Ben Carson. So there's a
number of people who are just saying, yes, this what I was and may have been in the past but now I'm rebranding myself to be the president and I
want to catch your attention as the president.
QUEST: It's very difficult because I can certainly see the point you're making that you're going for a job, you've got to brand yourself
into - you've almost got to say, `I can do the job before you've even given it to me.'
WILEN: Well you do, but - here, I'll tell you what, Richard, -- a lot of people walk in the door and people already make, you know, have a
perception of them without even saying something.
And what you really need to do is to create that perception so that it is exactly what you want. Package yourself in a way so that you are the
person and the candidate for the job that you're trying to vie for.
QUEST: Good to see you, Tracey. Thank you for joining us and putting that side. So if you are rebranding or you've already done it, well let's
look at the candidates. Remember Bernie Sanders is now leading Hillary Clinton by a small margin - very small - couldn't be smaller.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump is storming ahead seemingly. So for the latest, I'm joined now by CNN's political commentator Ryan Lizza. Ryan,
when we look at these polls, I mean, part of my sort of heart slightly sinks. We've got - we're still months away from the first straw poll.
Let's take Trump first. How significant is this 32 percent over Carson?
RYAN LIZZA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, Richard, they're going to take away my pundit card for saying this, but the dirty little secret is
that polls of the early states this far out from the voting have absolutely no predictive value.
This is a scientific fact. And they -- even right up before the voting starts -- they don't tell you, you know, a whole lot. They're
highly inaccurate.
They're capturing who's in the news, they're capturing who's famous at that moment, they're capturing who someone who's not paying close attention
to politics like perhaps you and me do bleeped across their screen that day. So it's about who's famous, name identification.
QUEST: All right.
LIZZA: Now having said all that, there - it's obvious that Donald Trump is tapping into something that's getting him on people's mind.
QUEST: And what's fascinating is the others seemingly are not able to tap into it yet.
LIZZA: Yes. Now they'll - the others - would say, `Hey, it's our fault. We're not giving them any publicity. If we had Jeb Bush live on TV
every single day, his name recognition would go up and he would start to do well.
I think one sign that there's some truth to that is look at a guy like John Kasich. You probably haven't been paying too much attention to him.
But he's moving up in the polls in New Hampshire and he did it after spending a few million dollars the old-fashioned way in TV ads.
QUEST: Right.
LIZZA: So that, you know, that's what breaks through at this point in the cycle and you have to remember that when you're parsing these polls.
QUEST: Now how worried should Hillary Clinton be? I mean, Bernie Sanders has raised his head above the pack because he is now above - this
is on one particular poll. How concerned should -
LIZZA: On a scale of one to ten, I think the panic level at the Hillary headquarters should be about a three at this point, maybe a four.
Look, the best predictor of who wins the nomination on either side is endorsements - elected officials who publically pledge their support to you
because that's a sign that later on you're going to have the infrastructure and networks to get voters to the polls.
Hillary Clinton has more elected officials backing her candidacy at this point than any previous nominee in the modern - in our modern system.
So when - here's the sign I'll look for when that panic should go to a six or seven. When elected officials - top politicians - withdraw their
support from Hillary Clinton and put their money on Bernie Sanders.
QUEST: So now, forget Sanders, forget Clinton. Talk Biden.
LIZZA: Yes.
QUEST: Is it your - look, I'm just going - the privilege of being so far away from the election, we can just - we can pontificate. Is he going
to run in your view?
LIZZA: I think it's very unlikely. I think he's setting himself up to be the insurance policy for the Democratic Party in case of some
catastrophic collapse of the Clinton campaign.
[16:55:01] If you will, moving from vice president to vice nominee. He's not in a -- so far we have not seen a clamoring of elected officials
demanding him get in the race.
We have not frankly seen poll numbers that should be all that encouraging for him. Remember, he's got 100 percent name recognition, and
when you put him in a poll with Hillary Clinton, she clobbers him.
He's a -
QUEST: Right.
LIZZA: -- yes, go ahead, Richard.
QUEST: No, no, I was just going to say thank you very much. Kind of you to - we will hold you to that - we've written down your prediction and
we will remind you afterward.
Thank you, sir.
LIZZA: (LAUGHTER). Thank you.
QUEST: We'll have a "Profitable Moment" after the break. "Quest Means Business."
(COMMERCIAL)
QUEST: Tonight's "Profitable Moment." And if history has anything to go by, it will be a very profitable time for Primark which opened its first
store in Boston.
Now Primark, for those who aren't familiar, is a U.K. retailer now with stores over Europe where literally you shove as much as you can in
your basket and it sells relatively cheaply. Actually not relatively, very cheaply.
The truth is British retailers have had a terrible, terrible history in the United States. Tesco's lost a fortune despite the fact it was the
first company that came up with a slogan "Pile it high, sell it cheap." Marks & Spencer which had the slogan "Don't ask the price." It's a penny
when it began. They lost a fortune in this country.
Jaguar never managed to sell many cars. It was eventually bought by Ford. Brooks Brothers was owned by M&S. Put it all together, maybe
perhaps Burberry is one exception to the rule.
But even then, Burberry didn't do as well here as perhaps it did over in Asia. Oh, no, Primark has its work cut out for it. If it can prove
that the Primark experiment will work in the U.S. And that's "Quest Means Business" for tonight.
I'm Richard Quest. Whatever you're up to in the hours ahead, (RINGS BELL) I hope it's profitable. I'll see you tomorrow.
END
