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Quest Means Business

Athletics Anti-Doping Panel Calls for Russia Ban; Many Airports Are Potential Terrorism Targets; Sharm el-Sheikh Airport under Scrutiny; Rate Hike Fears Sink U.S. Stocks; Ericsson, Cisco to Build Networks Together. Aired 4-5:00p ET

Aired November 09, 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]

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RICHARD QUEST, CNN HOST: Off the lows of the day but still a down day on Wall Street, the Dow Jones down off exactly 1 percent as trading comes

to a close and the gavel is hit.

I think we call that a robust gavel.

It's Monday, it's the 9th of November.

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QUEST (voice-over): Tonight: explosive revelations from the World Anti-Doping Agency. It says Russia must be banned from international

athletics. We have full coverage.

The president of the world's largest airline tells CNN there are many airports where security is weak.

And MTN's chief executive resigns on accusations it didn't do enough to prevent terrorists using its network.

I'm Richard Quest. We start a new week together. And I mean business.

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QUEST: Good evening. Tonight: it's a deeply rooted culture of cheating at all levels. Those are the words from the World Athletic

Corporation, which faces a corruption scandal that threatens to overshadow the one at FIFA in terms of seriousness and scale.

The world's antidoping agency says it's uncovered what amounts to, in their words, "state-sponsored doping" in Russia. And it has called for

Russia to be suspended from the 2016 Olympics.

It is an extraordinary story tonight. It says that the -- Russia should be -- faces a ban, that the 2012 Olympics sabotaged by failure to

crack down on doping cheat -- that was the London Olympics in 2012 -- and it says there is evidence of corruption and bribery, which has now been

sent to Interpol.

So Russia facing a ban; London Olympics sabotaged; Interpol is now investigating.

Dick Pound, who led the investigation, has called the findings "very damaging."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DICK POUND, CHAIRMAN, WORLD ANTI-DOPING AGENCY: It is worse than we thought. It has the effect, unlike other forms of corruption, of actually

affecting the results on the field of play. And athletes, both in Russia and abroad, are suffering as a result of that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: Joining me now, Matthew Chance, who is in Moscow for us tonight, and "WORLD SPORT's" Don Riddell, who is at the CNN Center.

We'll begin with you, Don, if we may.

I read large parts of the long report today. It is breathtaking in its detail and mind-boggling in its level of corruption and miscreant

behavior.

DON RIDDELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And for all that those, what, 300 pages in all this detail, they're saying that this could well be just

the tip of the iceberg. It could be more than Russia, it could be more than athletics. But they were given a very narrow brief with regard to the

investigation they could do.

And what they've come up with incredibly damaging to Russia and for the sport of athletics, for which the stakes just couldn't be any higher,

Richard. If you were to ask people, you know, your ordinary man on the street, which sport have athletes who cheat, they would say maybe cycling

but probably athletics.

So this is a problem that goes way back. But if the sport is going to tackle it, it has to be tackled now. And you're talking about in Russia,

not just athletes but coaches, trainers, doctors -- the entire institution, it stinks.

QUEST: Don, as I -- so we have the coaches and the trainers providing the doping, the enhanced performance doping. We have the laboratories

falsifying results when they know, in their words, the specimen is dirty and they're falsifying it.

And we have the state conniving in all of this. But I get the impression that everybody has known this for some time.

What are people like Seb Coe and International Athletics now saying?

RIDDELL: Well, there's an awful lot of pressure on the IAAF and Seb Coe in particular. He's the new president. He's only been in charge for a

few months. People are now asking what he knew. He was the vice president of the IAAF for seven years. Now he's in charge.

And he's got to try and get this thing sorted out right now. He has said he will stop at nothing to make sure that they get to the bottom of

this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEBASTIAN COE, IAAF PRESIDENT: Look, I realize I've been criticized for that, those remarks I made within moments of winning a campaign. And

it also presupposes --

[16:05:00]

COE: -- I had a list of allegations sitting in front of me. I did not.

ALEX THOMAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You've said you'll do anything to sort out what needs to be done.

Does that include thinking outside the box, maybe bringing in outside help, using the money you pledged from your election campaign to

federations maybe, to instead go to the fight against doping?

Is there anything off limits in -- ?

(CROSSTALK)

COE: The day after I got elected, I started a root and branch review of the organization. Clearly in the light of the allegations today and the

criminal allegations made at the beginning of the week, I've advanced that review. And I will do anything it takes to create and return our sport to

being a responsible, transparent, accountable sport that is responsive.

And that is what I'm pledged to do. And we have to do this absolutely on the behalf of the clean athletes.

THOMAS: You have been backed by the IOC and Dick Pound as the right man for the IAAF to lead in going forward. You faced the Olympic finals in

1980 and 1984. You put on a terrific London Olympic Games, Seb Coe.

Is this the toughest challenge of your career?

COE: I will do anything it needs to fix this.

THOMAS: Thanks for your time.

COE: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RIDDELL: Richard, that was Alex Thomas asking those questions a couple of hours ago here on CNN. He actually began that interview by

defending the remarks he had made about the outgoing IAAF president, who himself has now been implicated in this whole mess. He's been questioned

by criminal authorities.

And Seb Coe, having to begin that interview by saying, you know, when I was complimentary of him, I didn't have the full facts at my disposal.

QUEST: Don Riddell, who is in the CNN Center, Don, just stay there, I'm looking at Matthew Chance, who is in Moscow.

Matthew, I want you to hear Don's answer to my question.

Don, is it likely that Russia would be banned from the next Olympic Games?

RIDDELL: Well, we'll have to wait and see how things play out. I mean, that, I think, is the nuclear option that remains on the table for

the IAAF and the World Anti-Doping Agency.

What they're saying is that if Russia plays ball, if they effectively 'fess up to what they've gone -- what has gone on and promise that they can

fix things going forward, then maybe there is a chance that they can be rehabilitated and brought back into the international forum.

If they don't, then I think there is a chance that they could be banned from the next Olympics. And when you consider what a --

(CROSSTALK)

RIDDELL: -- superpower globally Russia is, that would be huge.

QUEST: Matthew is chomping at the bit because he has got the story from Russia and how Moscow -- thanks, Don.

How is Moscow going to justify?

Because this report has chapter and verse against the Russian athletes and the systemic doping.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I mean, Richard, I just can't see that the Russians are going to take a step back

and say, look, you know what, hands up, we did it, we're guilty.

And in fact every comment we've had so far since this report was issued a few hours ago has been completely defensive, completely denial --

complete denial that there's anything wrong in Russia. The head of the Russian doping agency said this is an unprofessional report and it's

illogical, it doesn't make sense.

The Russian sports minister has said that the problem of doping has been sorted out already in Russia and the labs to test athletes are the

best in the world.

This is about much more than sport in Russia. The country has spent billions of dollars, billions of dollars promoting this image that it is a

leading sporting superpower. It had the Winter Olympics in 2014, it had the swimming championships this year, it's got the World Cup in 2018.

Billions of dollars has been spent.

It's about promoting Russia's image for the Kremlin. There's no way, there's no way, in my opinion, they're going to say, yes, you know what,

we've been cheating all along.

QUEST: Matthew Chance in Moscow, Don Riddell at "WORLD SPORT," gentlemen, we'll follow it closely, thank you.

As we continue tonight on QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, the chief executive, Sir Tim Clark, Emirates Airline, the largest in the world, he says that

there are many airports, not perhaps just Sharm el-Sheikh, where there are safety and security concerns. You'll hear him -- next.

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QUEST: The president of Emirates Airlines says there are many airports around the world that could be vulnerable to terrorist attacks.

Uncertainty over what brought down a Metrojet plane over a week ago is now weighing heavily on the airline industry. Sir Tim Clark of Emirates spoke

to John Defterios, who is attending the Dubai Air Show.

And Sir Tim told him the company is reviewing its security procedures.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SIR TIM CLARK, PRESIDENT, EMIRATES AIRLINES: If you put the incident in the context of what happened -- and we understand what happened -- we

can get a fix on what happened. We understand that.

And if it was as a result of the alleged device put on the airplane, then we must assess, both as an airline, Emirates itself, all its security

protocols at all the airports it flies to. And we are doing that, as it happens. We do it on an ongoing basis. And I would expect the industry

and other carriers that have a global reach such as ours would do the same. And I'm sure they will do.

In addition, the International Civil Aviation Organization and other regulators within their own countries are probably going to come along and

say, look, we need to see what you're doing, we need to talk to the airport authorities. We need to talk to the stakeholders on the airports with

regard to who does security, how they do it, how they screen employees, what processes are going on.

All this will happen, in my view, as a result of what happened at Sharm el-Sheikh.

JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: I've flown into Sharm el-Sheikh a number of different times for conferences and also on holiday.

It's a soft target. I mean, the reality is, if you're a terrorist organization and you want to infiltrate an airport, the smaller tourist

destinations seem to be vulnerable.

This is a reality, is it not?

CLARK: Yes, look, unfortunately for the Egyptians, this airport was, in the view, I believe, of the Egyptian government, was a secure airport,

because they knew there was a clear and present threat. So they had security in the place. Maybe it was slightly lax in certain areas. I

don't want to criticize them.

But as you rightly say, there are many airports in the world, and not just in Egypt or Africa, all over the place. There are potential targets

that -- airports that are vulnerable. And those are the ones that must look at their procedures to ensure that kind of thing can't happen.

DEFTERIOS: Aren't you very concerned that maybe staff was compromised here and they're cooperating with the very seedy elements that got into the

airport?

CLARK: I made mention of the human resource. It is the human resource that applies the processes, the procedures, the protocols. If you

have a weak human resource, then there are going to be issues.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: Sir Tim Clark of Emirates talking to John Defterios.

Safety protocols at Sharm el-Sheikh airport are now under intense scrutiny. CNN's Erin McLaughlin now reports on the allegations of security

breaches.

[16:15:00]

ERIC MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Wheels down at Sharm el-Sheikh International Airport, the latest point in a wave of evacuations

ordered by British and Russian governments to bring their citizens safely home, this as questions swirl around the airport's security.

Allegations key scanners are sometimes not functioning and employees accept bribes, allegations the Egyptians deny.

MCLAUGHLIN: For now, this is as close as our cameras can get to the airport, after the military took over and kicked the media out.

MCLAUGHLIN (voice-over): But it wasn't always this way. Six days after the plane crash, Egyptian officials were eager to show us around.

They took us on a tour to see the airport's inner workings. They showed us the luggage screening process, a process the British government says may

have been manipulated, leading to the possible bombing of Metrojet Flight 9268.

BBC reports British intelligence believed a bomb was placed in the lower half of the plane's fuselage, the place where luggage is stored

during the flight.

MCLAUGHLIN: All bags are first X-rayed and if they see something they think is suspicious, that's when they send it to this machine for more

(INAUDIBLE).

MCLAUGHLIN (voice-over): It's called a CTX machine, and it's used to test for explosives. When we were there, everything seemed to run

smoothly. But the Associated Press reports that's not always the case.

An unnamed airport official says the machine often breaks down and the breakdowns have more to do with, quote, "human stupidity" rather than

technical faults.

Another official told AP the police men at the scanning machines are poorly paid and sometimes take bribes to allow drugs and weapons through.

One police man told CNN, unlike other airport employees, he and his colleagues are not searched before entering the airport; instead, they're

vetted and managed by Egypt's top security agencies. He said their work is watched through the airport's camera system.

We were shown one of the rooms used to monitor that system. We're told they have footage of Flight 9268. They say it's part of the ongoing

investigation.

During our tour, we weren't allowed to see everything we wanted. Didn't say why. We asked to get on the tarmac. This was as close as we

were allowed to go. We filmed through an open door and we were denied access to the main room used to monitor the airport.

Egyptian authorities are hitting back at allegations of security lapses. The civil aviation ministry spokesman told CNN, "I am not saying

we are 100 percent mistake free. It is possible but not in the way it was portrayed. These allegations are generalizations. They are baseless and

false."

They insist the airport is safe.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: International civil aviation authority and we are complying with all the standard and regulations of this authority which

means it's completely safe to fly and fly from and to Sharm el-Sheikh airport.

MCLAUGHLIN (voice-over): The British and Russian officials are skeptical. They've sent their own teams to evaluate the airport and

shepherd their citizens home. Whether or not ISIS brought down Metrojet 9268, security at this and other airports in the region will remain under

scrutiny -- Erin McLaughlin, CNN, Sharm el-Sheikh.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: As we continue tonight, the rate hike fears are up. The markets are down. U.S. stocks fell from the open and they never recovered.

They were off the worst of the day but still I think the word is ugly for how the day progressed.

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QUEST: So the market started lower and it remained unhappy for the session. A last-minute surge wasn't enough. The stocks began falling

right from the beginning and frankly never really recovered. It was off 200 points at one stage.

Is it only the prospect of higher interest rates from the Fed which is starting towards, in the words of Janet Yellen, as a live possibility for

December?

Paul La Monica is with me.

When you get a day like today, Paul, down at the beginning, start of a new week, down at the beginning, never really looks back, what's going on?

PAUL LA MONICA, CNNMONEY DIGITAL CORRESPONDENT: The Fed rate hike concerns are part of it. But I think what's more worrisome was you had

some pretty poor economic data coming from China, exports and imports both down. And remember, it was China that really sparked all that market

volatility this summer.

I think it has more to do with that than whether or not --

(CROSSTALK)

QUEST: -- it's all percent, I'm sorry, but it's -- there's a grunt feeling about that. The market was down and it never recovered.

LA MONICA: Yes. You never like to see a day like this. But we had a solid week last week. We've had an amazing few weeks now, a huge run-up in

October. So I don't think you need to be too concerned about one day like this within the context of that big rally we've had from the lows of

August.

QUEST: Let's look at the European markets. European stocks also closed the week lower. You could see the FTSE was down, very sharp losses

in Frankfurt with the DAX.

In the French market, Renault was down 3.5 percent after the government said it opposes a merger with Nissan. And Intercontinental down

5 percent as it says it's not considering a sale or a merger. So European markets are still -- they are particularly unhappy at the moment.

LA MONICA: Yes, obviously the European markets are even more concerned, I think, about China than the U.S. It's a huge trading partner

of China. But the DAX in Germany has actually done even better than the S&P 500 and a lot of U.S. stocks. So it doesn't shock me that Chinese weak

data would send European stocks even further down than we had in the U.S.

Thank you very much.

QUEST: Thank you. See you tomorrow.

Now when it comes to the telecommunications companies, these two, one of them brings you the Internet on your phone and at home and now they're

doing it together.

It's Cisco, which is the world's top router company, depending on how you like to pronounce that word, and Ericsson of Sweden is the world's

biggest wireless equipment maker.

Take Ericsson and Cisco, and you put them together, not in a merger, the two of them plan to build networks and collaborate on development, a

partnership, a strategic arrangement, not a merger.

The chief execs of both companies join me. And Cisco's chief exec, Chuck Robbins, told me what his customers will get out of this deal.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHUCK ROBBINS, CEO, CISCO: It really is the combination of Ericsson that is just a market leader and the areas that they play and in Cisco, in

the market areas that we play. And we believe in coming together we can help the service providers, first in our first phase, the service providers

really transform their networks and move to this next generation of architecture that allows them to deliver services more quickly to their

customers, actually allows them to drive their own growth in addition to what we see between Ericsson and Cisco.

And then we also see an opportunity to really create a seamless mobile experience in the enterprise and also work together on really unleashing

the value of IOT --

[16:05:00]

ROBBINS: -- for our customers in the future.

QUEST: Hans, most consumers -- I'm not being disrespectful here -- but they won't really care about Cisco and Ericsson; they just care that

the whole thing works, don't they?

HANS VESTBERG, CEO, ERICSSON: Yes, they do. And that's what this is all about. What Cisco and Ericsson will do, they will see that the video

stream, the data streams that consumers are using all around the world will come much more effectively to the screens. If it's a small screen or a

large screen, that's what we're doing together with the service providers all around the world.

So they should care that we're coming together, because we should give their experience to be much better.

QUEST: So Hans, why not just do it very simply and do a merger?

Strategic partnerships are all fine and good.

But if it's really broad-based and deep-delving into the infrastructure of each company, aren't you better off just merging?

VESTBERG: I think that we have both our options, what we wanted to do. (INAUDIBLE) companies or we could actually double down on I.P., which

scenario, which we're all in the fringes in our strategy (ph).

But to be honest, this is the most agile way of working in the new world, where you need to find partners in the areas where you're not

equally good.

I think this is actually the next generation where you'll do strategic partnerships instead of doing big, bulky mergers. And I've said it before,

I'm not a big believer in big tech mergers; it's very complicated, have different platforms.

Here we actually are finding the best way for us to continuing investing in areas where we are number one, Cisco in theirs, they are

number one. And together we want to a bridge in between us in order to get the consumer experience and the customer experience that is far more

better.

QUEST: One of the hottest issues at the moment is that of national security and the number of governments that are seeking the ability and the

right to either eavesdrop or to get hold of information.

ROBBINS: We have never provided any special access to our equipment nor will we do so. And I think it's important on two fronts, number one,

to work with each government to understand the data privacy requirements and concerns and then work to architect the networks in a way that actually

accommodates that.

And I think that's one of the benefits of what we can do with Ericsson.

And the last thing is that security is so important for our customers. And we believe that the combination of Hans' technology, our technology

coming together, from the mobile device all the way through the infrastructure, we believe that we can help our customers not only deal

with data privacy and the issues that they would like to deal with but also just provide a much greater degree of security across the board.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: Two chief execs, Ericsson and Cisco, talking to me earlier.

A massive fine for Africa's largest mobile operator first obliterated the company's stock price and now it has cost the chief executive his job.

We'll break down the numbers and we will be in Johannesburg after the break. QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:31:25] QUEST: Hello, I'm Richard Quest. There is more "Quest Means Business" in just a moment when the chief executive of Norwegian

Cruise Lines will be with us and shows me his brand new ship and talks about Cuba and China.

And Sierra Leone is declared Ebola free. I'll ask the ask the head of a local company where the economy now heads. But before all of that, this

is CNN and on this network the news always comes first.

The World Anti-Doping Agency says Russian athletes should be suspended from international athletics after finding evidence of widespread state-

sponsored doping.

Interpol says it will investigate after the WADA report said it found corruption at the highest levels of athletics. The lead investigator said

the doping scandal was likely to grow.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

DICK POUND, P RESIDENT, WADA INDEPENDENT COMMISSION: Tip of the iceberg? I'm afraid you're probably right.

As I say, we certainly do not think that Russia is the only country with a doping problem and we don't think that athletics is the only sport

with a doping problem.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

QUEST: A veteran democracy campaigner Aung Suu Kyi is on track to win a landslide victory in Myanmar. It's the country's first openly-contested

election after decades of military rule.

Suu Kyi's party claimed almost 90 percent of the seats that is announced so far.

A Jordanian man has shot and killed people at a police training center in Amman. Two Americans, a South African and a Jordanian died. Security

forces killed the gunman.

A U.S. official says the attacker was a police officer who had recently been fired.

The Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has met U.S. President Barack Obama at the White House. It was Mr. Netanyahu's first visit in

more than a year and the first time the men had met since Washington agreed a nuclear deal with Iran.

The President reiterated his support for Israel in the light of recent violence between Israelis and Palestinians.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, U.S. PRESIDENT: I'd like to be very clear that we condemn in the strongest terms Palestinian violence against innocent

Israeli citizens and I want to repeat once again it is my strong belief that Israeli has not just the right but the obligation to protect itself.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

QUEST: The chief executive of Africa's biggest mobile phone operator MTN has resigned. Now, the firm has been hit with a massive fine in

Nigeria for failing to cut off unregistered SIM cards.

Nigeria says that by having those unregistered SIM cards, millions of anonymous customers creating a risk that terrorists and criminals can

communicate and plot with immunity.

As MTN tries to negotiate a lower penalty, Sifiso Dabengwa said he was resigning as CEO in the interest of the companies and its shareholders.

Now, look at what's happening -- a $5.2 billion fine. That's roughly half of MTN's annual revenues. The firm is huge, it has some 60 million

subscribers in Nigeria, each paying roughly $86 per subscriber - gives you an idea.

So and of course it is pancontinent, MTN, in many different countries.

[16:35:03] But look at how the share price has fallen recently since October. At that very sharp fall, that's when the fine is announced, it

becomes clear, but it's down some 15 percent over the last year.

Eleni Giokos joins us now from Johannesburg to put this into perspective. The fine is huge but why has the chief executive gone?

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well this is the interesting question. We all thought that Sifiso Dabengwa was going to see this

through and that he was going to be the man that would try and negotiate a better deal.

I mean, how do you negotiate $5.2 billion? But that's what the market was expecting. The reality is, Richard, that MTN failed to announce - make

the announcement - to when they found out about the $5.2 billion penalty.

So the Nigerian regulators had announced very early on a Monday morning 26th of October and then failed to announce it before the market

opened in Johannesburg.

And in fact only did this when the market already had shown that it was working against MTN share price. MTN share price had really plunged by

6 percent and then 2:30 in the afternoon we saw MTN's cautionary announcement coming through.

So there's a massive gray area. Why didn't MTN shareholders know about this sign (ph) in time so that they could act responsibly?

Over and above that we saw MTN share price also coming under pressure, losing about 25 percent of 1 point over the last couple of weeks and then

the Johannesburg Stock Exchange decided to suspend the company for a few hours of trade last week.

So all of these things working against Sifiso Dabengwa at this time.

QUEST: Right, now - the fine itself -- $5.2 billion is, I mean, in South Africa and in Africa and in Nigeria, are people saying this is a fine

that's commensurate with what they did or out of all proportion to what they did?

GIOKOS: Well I think we have to look at the fine per user, and it basically comes down to around $1,000 per user because we're talking about

over 5 million subscribers.

So is $1,000 per user a fine that is justified for a terrorist potentially using an unregistered SIM card? Some are arguing yes it is.

Some are saying that it's just not in proportion. And we're talking about $5.2 billion which basically equates to over 22 percent of Nigeria's entire

2014 budget.

So we're talking about a really big fine. The Nigerian Communications Commission has also been working very closely with the telecoms companies

since 2008 trying to get unregistered users either disconnected or making sure that they're in the system somehow so they can be traced.

So deadlines have been coming through since 2013, but unregistered SIM cards have been slipping through the system. And, Richard, it's not only

unregistered SIM cards. MTN and other big operators -

QUEST: Right.

GIOKOS: -- in the country have been selling pre-registered SIM cards. So in other words, people were buying SIM cards that were registered

already for a premium.

QUEST: Ultimately does this jeopardize MTN - the future of the company? Because it is a large company. Nigeria is merely one country

albeit the largest where it operates. So is the survival of MTN in any way put at risk by this fine?

GIOKOS: Well, I mean in terms of survival, many of the analysts say MTN is going to survive this but liquidity is going to be an issue.

Payment terms are going to come and, you know, under the spotlight as well.

How much are they going to pay? Is it going to be halved? Is it going to come down to around $ 1 billion which some people are expecting?

And remember, Richard, actually in 2008/2009, we had Bharti Airtel snooping around wanting to acquire MTN and look for a potential deal.

So is this a good time for other potential suitors to come along? MTN has 233 million subscribers across the continent.

QUEST: Good to see you. Welcome onboard and hope to have you many more times with us -

GIOKOS: Thank you.

QUEST: -- on "Quest Means Business." Our new South Africa - or Southern Africa - business correspondent Eleni joining us from

Johannesburg.

It's anything but business as usual. The chief executive of a mining company in Sierra Leone tells us how his organization got through the

devastating Ebola epidemic.

It's "Quest Means Business," the start of a new week.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:42:21] QUEST: E.U. industry ministers met earlier to discuss a sector in crisis - steel of course. The upshotter (ph) promised to hold

more talks, this time with other producers including China. The position is pretty dreadful.

The U.K. steel companies are accusing China of dumping their product on the European market and driving local manufacturers out of business.

They were calling for stronger action from the E.U. to defend jobs and not just a promise of further talks.

I asked the European Commission Vice President what the E.U. could do when people are calling for action.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

JYRKI KATAINEN, VICE PRESIDENT, EUROPEAN COMMISSION: There are already now, if I remember right, 37 cases in which E.U. has taken action.

If there is state subsidy case or anti-dumping investigations going on, it will take a few months and then we decide whether this is the case or not.

So we have trade defense instruments at our disposal and we are actively using them.

QUEST: I can hear industry saying - and I'm sure you hear it, I'm sure they say it in fairly blunt terms to your face - but I can hear them

saying it's not enough, they need more from you.

KATAINEN: Well actually we cannot launch sanctions to anybody without complaints and every time when industries are doing official complaining,

the Commission start investigating the issues or the case.

And this is - this - there is something what has happened so far and this will continue also in the future. But actually what we need is the

solution to overcapacity problem.

Because always it's not the question of dumping or subsidy but the over-capacity starts creates difficulties and problems to the market.

So I just visited Beijing at the end of September and we had very fruitful discussion with Chinese authorities that E.U. and China will start

developing negotiation formats for reducing overcapacity.

So we need international multilateral but also bilateral tools to - in order to - reduce over production. One significant issue which may have

impacted the overcapacity issue is the climate negotiations which takes place in Paris at the end of this month.

And there I guess the leaders will agree to reduce overcapacity issues.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

[16:45:03] QUEST: That's Jyrki Katainen, the European Commissioner talking to me earlier.

The World Health Organization has declared Sierra Leone free from Ebola. The country has not had a case of Ebola in more than 42 days.

That's two incubation cycles of the virus.

The disease has killed more than 3,500 people in Sierra Leone. The World Bank estimates the epidemic wiped out 3 percent of GDP in 2014.

Sierra Rutile operates mines in the southwest of country. John Sisay is the chief executive. Good evening, sir, you join me tonight from

London.

JOHN SISAY, CEO, SIERRA RUTILE: Good evening.

QUEST: When we were talking to government officials and the president of the country, we were talking about a system months ago - it was all

about the way in which the country has to be rebuilt, the difficulty of a country that was already devastated economically now having to go back to

square one if not further back.

So from your point of view, what's the priority for rebuilding the economy?

SISAY: Let's not forget, Richard, that prior to Ebola Sierra Leone was actually doing fairly well. The GDP growth was in double digits.

So the first thing we have to do is go back to where we were. Now, accepted is the challenge given that Sierra Leone economy is a commodity-

driven economy, and as we know commodities are very sluggish at the moment.

But we have to try and go back to that. And then we also have to try and look at how we can diversify the economy for the future, focusing on

things like infrastructure, tourism and agriculture.

I know that the government tried to preempt some of this in terms of Ebola recovery by talking to people like the E.U. for an Ebola recovery

fund to focus on infrastructure developments like water and more roads.

QUEST: Right, but a company like yourself, I mean, you kept trading, you managed to stay and keep doing business throughout, but you had huge

logistical challenges in terms of getting product in and getting product out.

But you did survive - your company survived.

SISAY: Absolutely. We had some advantages, Richard, because the first case of Ebola happened away from our area. So we were able to put

protocols in place, we were able to look at our supply chain and look at, you know, (AUDIO GAP) time point of view what other supplies we needed in

country and we were able to stock up in advance of the shutdowns that the country had to go through.

So it was really a question of running a business planning for an event for the worst-case scenarios. We were able to do that, we were able

to mount serious awareness campaign around our area.

Luckily our communities understood the seriousness of the disease and adhered to the protocol that we put in place.

QUEST: Do you feel that the right policies are in place now to sort of take advantage? Because obviously, you know, commodities are down,

China is buying less, countries such as Sierra Leone, Liberia and the likes are commodity driven are going to suffer as a result.

And so I'm wondering is this a double hit for you?

SISAY: It was a double hit. But like I mentioned earlier, even more important now to look at how the economy would diversify going forward. So

that, you know, we would not suffer so much from these shocks in the global cycle.

Like I mentioned, for example, an area that requires more investment which shows huge potential is agriculture, -

QUEST: Right.

SISAY: -- another area is tourism. And I don't know if you know, Richard, but Sierra Leone has the deepest natural hot port in Africa. So

we have an advantage there to develop a real transshipment port that can be a gateway to West Africa.

So there are plenty other opportunities -

QUEST: Right.

SISAY: -- away from mining and commodities that I think the government will be focusing on as we go forward.

QUEST: John, thank you for joining us this evening. Much appreciate you coming in and talking to us. Very much appreciate it.

SISAY: Thank you.

QUEST: And as we finish our discussion, now just to make it clear because obviously thousands of people died and in no way does a discussion

on economics in any sense lessen the seriousness and the gravity of what took place with Ebola.

But longer term of course, there is a question of how you rebuild the economy and then once you're talking about that, then you are looking at

people like John Sisay and how they are going to develop their businesses.

As we continue tonight on "Quest Means Business," Norwegian chief executive - that's Norwegian Cruise Line chief executive - he's got a brand

new ship, carries 4,000 passengers. Where is he going to put it and what sort of passengers are going to go on it?

We'll talk about that after you've had a moment to relax, enjoy and think about "Make, Create, Innovate."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(SOUND OF SHIP'S FOG HORN)

[16:52:34] QUEST: Ooh, I'm feeling a bit sea sick to start with. Haven't got me sea legs. It's a "Vacation Machine." That's how the chief

of Norwegian Cruise Line is describing his newest vessel and that is it.

It's called the "Norwegian Escape," and while it was christened on Monday in Miami, the chief executive Frank Del Rio has his set - sights -

some 200 miles further south. He told me that one day he hopes to see "Escape" dock in Cuba.

Del Rio is of course a native Cuban himself. I spoke to Frank Del Rio onboard the Escape - well he was on the Escape, I was here in New York --

and I asked Frank how the new liner fits into the Norwegian portfolio.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

FRANK DEL RIO, COE, NORWEGIAN CRUISE LINES: This is by far our largest vessel - 4,200 passengers, 165,000 tons and she's loaded with all

the features you'd ever want to go on vacation with, Richard.

Truly a - literally a - vacation machine.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

QUEST: And as I was reading about it, I think it's the zip lines and the walking around over the sea - I think that's the bit that sort of

terrifies me and excites me at the same time.

Have you tried them yet?

DEL RIO: I have not, but -

QUEST: Oh!

DEL RIO: -- Andy Stuart our president has and he loved it. I instead tried the fastest and largest aqua park yesterday with my seven-year-old

granddaughter and she gave me the thumbs up. And if Mariana (ph) liked it, then I know it's going to be a big hit.

QUEST: You're well advanced in your plans, aren't you? I remember asking you about the plans in the bottom of your drawer.

It seems to me like you've found the key to the bottom of your drawer or the bottom drawer, you've opened it up and Escape is part of a plan for

Cuba.

DEL RIO: Well, someday Escape will go to Cuba. I think once we receive Cuban government clearance, I'm confident that there's huge pent up

demand from the American public to go to Cuba.

It's been over 50 years. The cruise industry didn't even really exist the last time Cuba was open to American visitors.

So I think it's going to be a wonderful experience.

QUEST: These 4,000, 3 to 4 to 5,000 passenger vessels, I'm not being disrespectful when I say this though that they've commoditized the cruise

industry. It is passengers on a truly industrial scale, isn't it?

[16:55:15] DEL RIO: Well, we're trying to break that mold, but I know what you mean. And one of the things that we do differently than the rest

of the cruise industry is, you know, we market to fill the vessels. We don't want to discount price.

So we've changed the conversation with the consumer from that of low prices to that of high value. And in doing so, we're able to offer the

consumer - I wish you could be here to see this ship, Richard. She is not a mainstream-looking vessel.

If you take venue to venue and you compare what we have here onboard Escape to what we have on some of our more upscale lines like Oceania and

Regent, she stacks up very well.

This is not your grandfather's cruise line.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

QUEST: It may not be your grandfather's, what about your mother's? "Profitable Moment" after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: Tonight's "Profitable Moment." On this show, you heard Sir Tim Clark of Emirates saying that there are many airports in the world

where there could be security and safety issues.

That's an extremely disturbing thought. But it really raises the question - whose responsibility is it to sort it out? Perhaps only once

the airlines say they won't fly there will anything get done.

And that's "Quest Means Business" for tonight. I'm Richard Quest in New York. Whatever you're up to in the hours ahead, (RINGS BELL) I hope

it's profitable.

Let's get together tomorrow.

END