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Quest Means Business
Oakbay CEO: We are Caught in Political War; Al Qaeda Claims Credit for Murder in Bangladesh; Pope: Be More Accepting of "Irregular" Lifestyles; Bruce Springsteen Cancels Show Over "Bathroom Law"; Key Terror Suspects Arrested in Belgium; WTO: Trade Growth Still Subdued in 2016; Space-X Launches Cargo Flight to Space Station; Venezuela President Extends Weekends; CNN Style Launches This Weekend
Aired April 08, 2016 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[16:00:00]
RICHARD QUEST, CNNI: Breaking news to bring you on this Friday. We'll have the business news for you in just a moment. A huge development in the hunt
for Europe's most wanted terror cell as Belgium police have now arrested a number of men including one who may have been involved in both the Paris
and the Brussels attacks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: The events happened just a couple of hours ago. Mohamed Abrini is one of the men in custody, he's been wanted since November for his possible
role in last year's Paris attacks. Investigators say they are checking if he is the so called man in white, the one that was seen at the airport, the
final terror suspect in last month's bombing at Brussels airport.
Meanwhile Belgian prosecutors say the other man arrested is Osama Krayem. The Belgian investigators believe he may have been involved in the metro
bombing in Brussels. This is the amateur video of one of the suspects being arrested today in South West Brussels. The picture there of somebody
being bundled into a police car. We don't know if its Abrini or Krayem that's being taken away by the police. Nor do we know the circumstances.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: There was a news conference a few moments ago when the Belgian prosecutor said they were still trying to work out Abrini's connections to
the Brussels attack.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ERIC VAN DER SYPT, SPOKESMAN BELGIAN FEDERAL PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE: At the moment investigators are verifying whether Albrini Mohamed can be
positively identified as being the third person present during the attacks in Brussels National Airport, the so called man with the hat.
The investigation continues. Currently in the interest of the investigation no further details can be given.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: CNN's Kelly Morgan is in Brussels for us tonight. So Kelly the two men -- let's take this slowly point by point. Do we know how these men came
-- I mean, came to be arrested? Where the intelligence came, why now?
KELLY MORGAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Richard, that is the detail that hasn't been shared by the prosecutors at this stage. We were hoping to hear
something. They didn't - they didn't say anything about that at all. They did say there would be further details released later on.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MORGAN: But again no timing on when we can expect to hear that. But pretty dramatic developments today with the arrest of -- well, at least two of the
most wanted men in Europe at the moment. Both with connections to Paris suspect Salah Abdeslam who of course was caught here in Belgium just four
days before the terror attack here Richard.
QUEST: All right, OK, let's take this slowly, because it is confusing and we need to clarify who is who.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: Abrini is believed or alleged to have been involved with Paris and Brussels, is that correct?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MORGAN: That's correct. And what the prosecutor confirmed in that press conference a short time ago is that his DNA was found in the apartment
(Scarbeck) apartment which was basically the bomb making factory for the Brussels attackers. So his DNA was found there. That's his link to the
Brussels attack. Furthermore, his fingerprints were also found in the vehicle, the car, that was used in the Paris attacks back in November. And
remember that he was filmed, caught on CCTV with Salah Abdeslam en route to Paris just days before those attacks were carried out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MORGAN: So there's the link to Paris, the DNA, his fingerprints found in two locations.
QUEST: and let's stay with Abrini and his relations to Brussels. The view is that he may be, may be, the man in the hat, the man in the white coat
and the hat.
MORGAN: Yes, absolutely. He is probably the most infamous character in this whole saga really, isn't he.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MORGAN: An extraordinary really that these arrests came just 24 hours after CCTV footage was released of the route that he took in the two hours
immediately after the airport blast. So yes we don't know for sure. Prosecutors are saying they are still trying to determine the role that he
played. They suspect that is the case, certainly Belgian public television today is saying that is what they believe that he is indeed that man.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MORGAN: But the prosecutors not confirming that. They say there's plenty more investigation to go yet.
QUEST: And finally, Osama Krayem potentially involved in the metro bombing in Brussels but also with the connection to Paris?
[16:05:00]
MORGAN: Yes, absolutely again he has a connection with Salah Abdeslam. We know that this man traveled from Syria in September and he travelled with
another man. They made their way into Europe, they were in Germany and were picked up by Salah Abdeslam outside a refugee camp in Germany and then
driven to Belgium. That was back in September of last year. So that's the connection there to the Paris attacks. So yes a lot more detail, Richard. I
hope that's explained it a little bit better.
QUEST: It has - it has -
MORGAN: -- for you -
QUEST: -- it has, grateful that you are in Brussels for us tonight.
CNN contributor Michael Weiss he joins me now from the Daily Beast. Gosh, this is complicated but at the same time Michael I'm curious what's led the
authorities I mean is this good police work, is this luck, is this evidence found following Brussels, what do we know?
MICHAEL WEISS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well we actually don't. I mean this is the thing. It could have been Salah Adbeslam giving up essentially where his
remaining comrades at large were or giving them some indication, some leads that they could investigate.
I mean his capture was significant Richard because of the human intelligence as it's known that he will bring to bear. And you know it
doesn't really do to talk about the Brussels attack and the Paris attack as almost two separate organizations or networks. This is - this is what I
have been referring to as the Francophone network of ISIS operatives operating throughout the European continent and not just in France and
Belgium by the way.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WEISS: These are people who have been trained up by ISIS high command inside Syria and dispatched back into Europe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WEISS: I mean all of the Paris attackers I believe have been found to have gone to Syria and, you know, ISIS propaganda released footage of their
essentially cutting people's heads off and running around the desert probably in Raqqa not long after the Paris massacre.
But all of these guys knew each other. This is the thing. I mean Abrini was a childhood friend of Salah Abdeslam. He ran in the same circle. Salah
Abdeslam was also himself a childhood friend of Abdelhamid Abaaoud, who is known as the ringleader of the Paris massacre.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WEISS: Abdeslam's brother, Brahim Abdeslam was a Paris attacker himself. These are kids that grew up together. They devolved into a life of petty
crime and gangsterism and then they became radicalized and decided to join ISIS.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: Are you surprised though that bearing in mind they must know the vast number of law enforcement is still looking for them that they're still
in the same city where they attacked?
WEISS: No, because it would be stupid of them to try to and transgress even these non-existent Schengen borders. Because everyone - you know there are
checkpoints you know, and now Europe has seems to have at least attempted to get its act together.
I mean I recall Abaaoud giving an interview to (Dabiq) which is ISIS' propaganda magazine when he was one of the most wanted men in Europe
because he had been implicated about half a dozen ISIS operations most of them thankfully aborted. He was boasting that he slipped the European
dragnet. Somebody collared him at a border crossing and, you know, looked at a photo of him on a wanted poster, looked at the chap in the car and
didn't even realize the man that he'd gotten.
So it makes sense for them to go to ground in their native territory, in their turf. I mean for four months, Salah Abdeslam was living in a flat
that was, what, a block away from his childhood home. This happens more often than you might think. It certainly happens in the region. I mean
Abou Moussab al-Zarkaoui, the head of Al Qaeda in Iraq was killed in a 15 minute helicopter flight away from where the U.S. Special Forces base in
Iraq was located. So very, very close to enemy territory.
QUEST: OK. So as more details become clear, Michael, what is the one thing you're going to want to know? What is for an expert like yourself who
lives, breathes, eats and sleeps this stuff, what for you is going to be the crucial piece of information that you're seeking?
WEISS: Well, I think for me it is what is the true extent of ISIS' network in Europe, meaning their trained up operatives, I'm not talking about lone
wolves. And what are the attacks that they're currently planning?
I mean, I have talked to defectors from the ISIS organization who say all of the emphasis now is on Europe. European nationals, some of them by the
way Richard not even of Arab or Muslim or North African descent. White Frenchmen converts to Islam are now ascending the ranks, the ladder of ISIS
European security structures because this is where is wants to take the fight to the West.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WEISS: So Italy is a target. Spain is a target. Germany is a target. I've even been told that they're now looking to repurchase women Jihadis as
suicide bombers. If that came to pass, it would be the advent of the black widow phenomenon for ISIS. So this is by hook or by crook they want to
target us in our own home cities, in our own capitals.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WEISS: And this is where I think the fight is now being moved. It's no longer you know the main ground in Syria and Iraq. So ISIS is bifurcating
as an organization. They are becoming more Al Qaeda-like in their foreign operations while still trying to as they put it remain and expand in the
Levant and Mesopotamia.
So this is what I want to know. I mean where else and what is the next target? They're talking about hitting a host of different countries and
they probably have the wherewithal to do so.
[16:10:15]
QUEST: Michael, thank you. The Daily Beast, we appreciate your time coming to us this evening.
Now let's turn to our normal agenda at this time and our conversation on business and economics.
Have a look at the markets and you'll start to see what a rather peculiar sort of day it was.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: On the Dow Jones, a very robust strong open, the market tails away towards lunchtime, then has a bit of a rally, just after lunch, a
postprandial rally. It goes negative for a few moments just before 4:00 o'clock, and it all sort of peters out with a gain of just 35 points at the
end of the closing day and a fifth of a 1%. A turbulent week overall.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: The comments from the Fed, and particularly from Janet Yellen, giving a speech and also another comment that she made have calmed the
market. Because for the first time ever, all four living heads, living chairs, chiefs of the Federal Reserve, were interviewed together. The four
were Paul Volcker, Alan Greenspan, Ben Bernanke and the incumbent Janet Yellen. They spoke exclusively to CNN's Fareed Zakaria. And they sang a
largely positive tune about the U.S. Economy. They said they do not think a bubble is about to burst.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL VOLCKER, FORMER CHAIR OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE: Recent rate of inflation.
ALAN GREENSPAN FORMER,CHAIR OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE: But how do we know when irrational exuberance has unduly escalated asset values.
BEN BERNANKE, FORMER CHAIR OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE: The serious uncertainties about the economy and the housing market.
JANET YELLEN, CHAIR OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE: Too many Americans remain unemployed. This is an economy on a solid course. Not a bubble economy. We
tried carefully to look at evidence of a potential financial instability that might be brewing and some of the hallmarks of that clearly overvalued
asset prices, high leverage, rising leverage and rapid credit growth. We certainly don't see those imbalances. And so although interest rates are
low and that is something that can encourage reach for yield behavior, I certainly wouldn't describe this as a bubble economy. We have relatively
weak global growth, but the U.S. economy has been doing well and domestic strength has been propelling us forward in spite of the fact that we're
suffering drag from the global economy.
BERNANKE: I do think it's unfortunate that not just the United States but around the world as central banks have carried so much of the burden. And
we've gotten I think the wrong impression that only central banks can respond to downturns.
FAREED ZAKARIA, HOST CNN'S GPS: Expand on that. Are you saying that you think that there's been too much of an emphasis on austerity and that in
effect governments should spend more money to boost the economy?
BERNANKE: Under appropriate circumstances, yes. I mean take -- in 2013, the United States, between sequestration and budget cuts and tax increases and
alike, the congressional budget office estimated that in that year that fiscal policy was taking 1 1/2 percentage points of growth off of otherwise
what would have been the case. Which was something at that point which we really couldn't afford.
So at certain times, I mean I'm not saying that the government should always be spending. I mean I think obviously we're looking at longer term
fiscal sustainability is very important. But at certain times particularly in a recession when the Central Bank is out of ammunition or ammunition is
relatively low, the fiscal policy does have a role to play, yes.
ZAKARIA: Alan Greenspan, may I ask if you would agree with Ben Bernanke that this is a moment at which governments around the world particularly in
the western world should be spending more money --
BERNANKE: No, I didn't say - just a moment, you asked me a hypothetical. Seriously.
ZAKARIA: All right, no, no, no. If there is another recession which presumably at some point there will be, in order to combat that recession,
should governments spend more money?
GREENSPAN: No, in fact, I think -- I think the major problem that exists is essentially the issue that productivity growth over pretty much across the
spectrum of all economies, has been under 1% per year for the last five years. This is true in the OECD, it's true in the EC, it's true in the
United States. And I think our major problem as I see it at this stage is how do we create a GDP growth rate which enables us to get all the values
we get out of the growth without getting productivity?
[16:15:10]
GREENSPAN: And the unemployment rate is going to reach a level soon below which it cannot get realistically. And so unless we come to grips with the
issue of productivity, then we have no major advance in the future. I agree with Janet that -- and everyone else that if there's a bubble, it's not a
major problem, and I doubt very much if a recession is what our problem is. I think it is fundamentally the issue of economic growth over the long run.
ZAKARIA: Paul, what do you think the economy looks like in this conversation fundamentally?
VOLCKER: I agree with everybody. I would supply a little historic perspective. We used to have recessions before we had a Federal Reserve.
There are other factors at work in the economy that tend to produce ups and downs and I wouldn't worry too much about the present situation.
ZAKARIA: You don't think we're in a bubble economy?
VOLCKER: I certainly don't think we're in a bubble economy. I think there are aspects of the financial world that are overextended and tend to be in
conducting unduly risky activities. There's a lot of reliance on very short term borrowing to make the liquid investments. Large part of it in the
financial system itself. Without contributing to productivity or real investment and increasing risks on the economy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: Don't miss CNN's Fareed Zakaria GPS this weekend where you can see the whole of that discussion, it's at noon, it's on Sunday London time noon
and it's only on CNN.
Randall Kroszner is a former member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, he's now a professor at the University of Chicago Booth School
of Business and joins me from Chicago. Quite an extraordinary group. I have pictures of them all here in front of me.
Without getting into the minutia because they didn't say anything completely revolutionary. I'm much more interested, Randall, on what you
think of the various holders of the office and who had the most difficult time. Would you say it was Volcker with the hyperinflation or Bernanke with
the great recession?
RANDALL KROSZNER, FORMER FEDERAL RESERVE GOVERNOR:I mean, it's hard to say which one was more difficult because they were both real challenges for the
Central Bank. The Central Bank has to try to keep a reasonable stability in the economy and reasonable stability in the inflation rate. Not explosive
inflation and not deflation. They both had dragons to slay. The inflation and deflation devils. I think they both succeeded in that and they were
both incredibly difficult challenges. I think it's time.
QUEST: All right. Then do you think history is being kind or unkind or I'm being pejorative in the way I'm phrasing the question to Alan Greenspan? He
gave us irrational exuberance. He gave us this idea that productivity can continue to grow without inflation. And he somehow got it wrong.
KROSZNER: Well, for a while, he got it right. But as Alan Greenspan also said in the interview, prediction is a very challenging thing to do. And to
think that we're always going to know where things are going is really tough. And so he did understand that productivity was changing in the U.S.
as you could hear from the excerpt you just had, he continues to emphasize the importance of productivity and I would agree with that. But there were
some things, there were some imbalancing that were growing that maybe didn't get as much attention.
I think as Bernanke had said, central banks are very powerful but they're not all powerful. They're not the only game in town. We shouldn't give all
credit to central banks for get things right but we shouldn't give all blame to them either unless there's a hyperinflation then you can blame the
Central Bank.
QUEST: Right. And are we now at that situation where although they're not tapped out completely, the level of ammunition is greatly reduced. The
firepower is not as powerful. And they are basically saying and Mario Draghi says the same thing at the ECB come on, governments, it's your turn
now?
KROSZNER: Well I think a good illustration of this is abenomics in japan. They said there were three arrows in the quiver. One was fight the
deflation through the Central Bank. Second was fiscal consolidation, get the fiscal house in order because they had more than 250% debt to GDP. And
third, very importantly, were restructure reforms to try to improve productivity.
[16:20:01]
KROSZNER: And you can -- Central Banks can provide the necessary condition for growth. They can avoid hyperinflation, they can avoid deflation, try to
provide a stable environment for prices. But that's only a necessary condition. It's not sufficient. You have to have people willing to make
investments. You have to have a physical situation that is sound. And then you can get economic growth built on that foundation.
QUEST: Randall, good to see you, sir. It was an historic event to hear all four of them talking and being on the panel at the same time. Thank you for
joining us. Thank you.
It was a strong close to European markets. They were boosted by an Italian Bank rally of all things.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: The Italian government plans to rescue four small banks. There was also positive trade data from Germany. And as you can see the FTSE, no it
was actually the CAC in Paris got the best of the day up one and a third percent.
On Thursday the Fed - Yellen said that labor markets were healing all of this fed into that which also saw an oil prices rally.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: The President, his son and the wealthy and the family all lurking behind the scenes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: South Africa's political turmoil takes another twist in a moment.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: The web of political intrigue around President Jacob Zuma is starting to hurt the business interests of his closest allies. The South
African President has been criticized for links to the powerful Gupta family. And now the Guptas themselves are being abandoned by the wider
financial community.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: So, let's start and explain all the links to Jacob Zuma. The Gupta family has been criticized for supposedly sounding out new finance
ministers. Today, the Guptas resigned from their own company called Oak Bay Investments and Oak Bay Resources.
One of the reasons why Oak Bay was under financial pressure because of relationships with the Guptas. Look at who's decided not to do business
with Oak Bay; KPMG, Barclays, FNB, First National Bank, and a variety of others all cut ties with Oak Bay because the Chairman and the chief exec
were the Guptas the controlling interest was the Guptas and the Guptas had a relationship with Jacob Zuma. Further complicating matters, if that were
possible, President Zuma's own son Duduzane Zuma has stepped down from an Oak Bay subsidiary.
What it's all meant if you take a look at that is that Oak Bay itself suddenly found itself unable to do any banking without financial support,
writing to its employees basically telling them that if we don't sort something out we're going out of business.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: Joining me now exclusively from Johannesburg is Nazeem Howa, the Chief Executive of Oakbay Resources. Sir, thank you for joining us. We have
much ground to cover. First of all, what did the bank tell you when they said we're no longer doing business with you, we're closing your accounts?
NAZEEM HOWA, CEO, OAKBAY RESOURCES: Well, thank you Richard, and thanks for having me on the show. Well the banks have been very scarce in the
information to us. They have primarily told us that in terms of their terms and conditions they have the right to cancel our banking facilities. And
they've used the reasoning of potential damage to themselves. Not one of them have come forward with anything we've done wrong or anything we may
not have done correctly in our relationships with them. So primarily have used a potential risk and then saying to us in terms of their terms and
conditions they have the right to cancel our banking facilities.
[16:25:25]
QUEST: KPMG actually used the phrase "the association risk is too great to continue." By that I assume they're talking about the association risk with
the Guptas and with the President?
HOWA: Well I think they have nothing to do with the President. They have been our auditors for 16 years. In the announcement to the staff, they say
there is no audit issue at all. And the sense I have is that they've been under a bit of pressure from their clients to not do business with us. But
certainly it was a sad day for them and a sad day for us. We've got strong relationships with KPMG.
QUEST: Have you been in touch with government to protest against this and basically now ask for help?
HOWA: Well Richard, for us, the primary concern is that we are likely you know to face major challenges paying the salaries of our staff and we have
at the moment 4,500 staff. We're in the process of closing another transaction which will double that number and our concern is for the well-
being of the staff and their families. And you know that could number up to 60 or 70,000 people.
So today yes indeed, after we announced the fact that the shareholder was stepping back, a very tough decision for the shareholder, something they've
had to step away from. I did indeed write letters this morning to the Presidency, to the Minister of Finance who governs it, who governs the
banking sector to the Minister of Labor to warn of an imminent possibility of job losses. And to the Minister of Mining because I think we supply a
strategic supply of coal to ESCOM, the power supplier. And that would be at risk if we were to go out of business. But our appeal really was on behalf
of our staff because you know they've put heart and soul into our business and it really is not fair that an attack on us and our shareholder should
affect our rank and file staff.
QUEST: Whatever the fairness of the attack and the decision by the banks, you and I and everybody watching all knows this is about the Gupta family
who you describe as your shareholder, the Gupta family and what is believed to be their relationship with the government, their alleged corrupt
relationship with the government, the state capture in many cases as seen by some. That's what this is about isn't it?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOWA: Well I think we've had perceptions both over a period of time primarily by our local media, and followed up a bit by the international
media. And very simply in our latest audited financials by KPMG in fact you know we show that we have 1% of our turnover coming from government
business.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOWA: So if 1% can be equated to state capture, I think we've failed quite fundamentally in that regard. We really are a very small player. In terms
of coal supply, it would be 5% of the total coal supply of the country --
QUEST: Right, but it's not you. Hold on. You're the - you're the -- Oak bay is the innocent victim here. This is about the Gupta family, isn't it?
HOWA: Well, you know, I think it's not about the Gupta family. I think it's about the President. And I think we've just been caught up in a political
war around the future of the presidency. That's my own reading of it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOWA: Certainly I don't believe we've done anything. I don't think we've claimed to have any special relationship with the President or any of the
other politicians. Like any other business, we have relationships with businesspeople, government people, anybody else. But they are all
transparent relationships, they're arm's length relationships.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOWA: There's been nothing untoward in any one of those. Given our very good judiciary -- if we did do something wrong, we'd be in a court of law
right now.
QUEST: Do you -- I'm just going to take a punt here, bearing in mind the constitutional court's decision last week. Do you now think that this is
really all about from your point of view whether President Zuma survives in office?
HOWA: You know, from our point of view is we try and steer clear of politics. You know, our view is we started building our business. In fact
when -- before the fall of the (inaudible) regime we started our business. We still had F. W. de Klek as President. Our business has grown through
fits and starts through three other presidents before Jacob Zuma. It was always the dream of the shareholder that we'd grow the business beyond
President Jacob Zuma. So you know we really are businesspeople and we do not want to meddle in politics or be interfered with political processes.
QUEST: Final question sir, briefly, how long has Oakbay got, whether it's resources, money in the bank? Whatever you like. How long before you have
to shut the doors now you haven't got the banks?
NAZEEM HOWA, CEO, OAKBAY RESOURCES: We've got money. Money is our issue. Our issue is the ability to transact. And that's why we are concerned
about our 4000 or going to be 10,000 staff when we closed the optimum coal mine transaction. So our worry is being able to pay salaries and being
able to pay our service providers. The agreement with the banks is they will close our accounts at the end of May, the first week of June. And we
hope that through the very brave action from our shareholders to step away from the business. We can meet with the banks next week and employ them to
reconsider in the interest of our staff.
QUEST: Sir, we thank you for joining us tonight from Johannesburg. It's good of you to give us time, it's late there. We thank you sir. Speaking
exclusively live on QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.
Trade agreements continue to get a pummeling from presidential candidates. The head of the world trade organization tells me they're hugely beneficial
to America and actually this is all about campaigning. It's QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, Friday.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
RICHARD QUEST, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Richard Quest, there's MORE QUEST MEANS BUSINESS in just a moment.
When the head of the World Trade Organization takes on the protectionist rhetoric from the U.S. presidential candidates. Venezuela's President
takes drastic measures to avoid a collapse of the country's electricity grid.
Before that, this is CNN and on this network the news always come first.
Belgium police have arrested two of the most wanted men in Europe. Mohamed Abrini was wanted in connection with the Paris attacks. Belgium
prosecutors are investigating if he's the third suspect in last month's Brussels airport bombing. The second man to be arrested, Osama Krayem, is
believed to have played a key role in the Brussels attacks. We'll talk more about this after the news headlines.
Bangladesh division of Al Qaeda has claimed responsibility for the murder of the blogger, Nazimuddin Samad. Samad, the young writer who challenged
religious dogma in the south Asian nation, was hacked by machetes and then shot while walking home from evening classes in Dhaka. It's the sixth
murder targeting intellectuals in Bangladesh in the last 14 months.
[16:35:00] Pope Francis has published new guidelines on family life that's meant to promote great tolerance. It's a 260 page document and it urges
the church to be more accepting of gays and lesbians, divorced Catholics and others, living what he calls irregular lifestyles. But of course the
more tolerant practice does not change any official doctrines.
Days before a concert in North Carolina, Bruce Springsteen is canceling the concert after the state passed a so-called bathroom law. It requires
individuals to use bathrooms based on their gender at birth. Bruce Springsteen says opposition voices to the law are freedom fighters.
Mohamed Abrini tied to the attacks that killed 130 people in Paris is now in custody. Osama Krayem caught for his role in the Brussels attacks,
joining me now is CNN's Terrorism Analyst, Paul Cruickshank. Good to see you sir.
PAUL CRUICKSHANK, CNN, TERRORISM ANALYST: Good to see you Richard.
QUEST: Talk me through what we know in terms of -- let's face it, these men have been know about, they've been searched. You described for each of
them a moment ago, as the most wanted men in Europe. And now they've been caught. How?
CRUICKSHANK: We don't know exactly how they were caught, but just around 24 hours before they were caught, Belgium police circulated all the CCTV
footage of the so-called third attacker at the airport walking from Brussels International Airport all the way back into central Brussels
towards the Schaerbeek neighborhood of Brussels. Various pictures of him that you're seeing now on screen. So it is quite possible the release of
this CCTV foot contributed to these arrested today. These were not coincidence. Investigators have not described exactly what led to the
arrest today. It is possible they were following other leads and other intelligence in the end that led to these key arrests.
QUEST: These two men you're telling me the most wanted men in Europe, but that's as relates to this particular cell, the Paris or the Belgian cell.
CRUICKSHANK: Well, this particular cell has carried out two of the worst terrorist attacks in European history. This is the same cell, the very
same cell that carried out both these attacks. And these men were integral parts of that cell. Mohamed Abrini was the man who drove many of the Paris
attackers from several safe houses in Belgium to France in the 48-hours before the attack. He then disappeared into thin air.
Now we know he went back to Brussels and, in fact, his fingerprints and DNA were found in the hiding place of Salah Abdeslam in Brussels. Suggesting
he was hiding out in the very same place as Salah Abdeslam all those months after the Paris attacks. The other guy, Krayem, he came through the Greek
Island of Leros like others of those attackers. Probably posing as a refugee and then came up sort of a refugee center in Germany where he was
picked up by Salah Abdeslam and then transported back into Brussels.
QUEST: This -- the bigger known here and I recognize the question is asking a hefty unknown. Do we know or is there a feeling in the
intelligence community that never mind this particular cell, which might be now broken up completely, but that there is an equivalent size cell
somewhere else. It might be a London-based cell, it might be a Madrid/Rome-based cell, that there's an actually organization just sitting
there waiting.
CRUICKSHANK: Yes. The intelligence is alarming on this front. ISIS are ratcheting their international attack planning. They're targeting the
European countries that are involved in the anti-ISIS coalition. So you look at Belgium, the Netherlands, U.K., Germany and other countries that
are involved in attacking ISIS. ISIS wants revenge. It's tasking its European recruits to return and launch these attacks. Now just with this
one cell, they believe more than 12 individuals still at large that have some connection. Play some logistical --
QUEST: But more cells, different cells, in different places that we've not even heard pipsqueak from yet?
CRUICKSHANK: They believe that ISIS are pushing down that accelerator when it comes to international attack planning. That they are dispatching
European extremists back into Europe. There is worry right across the European Union there will be more attacks in the weeks to come. Why?
Because ISIS is starting to feel the pressure in Syria and Iraq. It's lost about 22 percent of its territory in both countries and it wants revenge.
[16:40:00] It feels the Islamic so-called caliphate is under attack and it's their religious obligation to fight back. If they're going to be
taking down, they want to take Europe down with them too.
QUEST: Thank you sir. The Secretary General of the World Trade Organization says there's a big difference between campaigning and
governing. His comments come amid sustained anti-trade messages in the race for the White House, notably from Donald Trump and the other side
Bernie Sanders. I spoke to the head of the WTO. He told me the presidential hopefuls will change their tune on trade if they are elected.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTO AZEVEDO, DIRECTOR-GENERAL, WTO: It is two different things to campaign and to govern. I think we have to really wait until the
candidates become president before we see what kind of inflection we see in trade policies. I have no doubts in my mind that trade is highly
beneficial to the U.S. economy. It creates jobs. It is -- it innovates. It creates better paying jobs. So I have absolutely no doubt in my mind
that's beneficial. The U.S. government realizes that. I think the general population in the United States does too.
QUEST: But then how do you explain the popularity of the ideas and, you know, normally I wouldn't take, you know, down the road of inviting you to
comment on one candidate, but the reality is in this case the leading Republican candidate wants to impose tariffs on Mexico. Rip up trade
agreements arguably with the WTO in China. Impose tariffs on Chinese goods and fundamentally believes that trade is unbalanced against the United
States.
AZEVEDO: The reality is that the benefits trade are widespread throughout the economy. So while consumers in general win, while huge segments of the
population win with trade, those wins, those benefits, are not very visible. However, the losses, the sectors that compete with imports, they
see that effect very immediately. And they're much more vocal. They're much more visible than the gains of trade. But if you are the government,
if you govern a country, you have to look at the net overall effect of trade, not the localized ones. I don't have the power to second guess the
political advisers that are helping the candidates, but I suppose their argument makes sense in the campaign. I'm not sure it will make sense for
the government.
QUEST: Director General, the latest numbers on world trade and the forecasts from the WTO, fifth consecutive year of subpar growth, the worst
stretch since the 1980s. This is now starting to get worrying and serious.
AZEVEDO: It has been serious for quite some time, since the crisis. I think, however, that we are seeing continuous growth, which is in itself
good news. It could be a lot better. What is interesting to notice is that despite the stability of the numbers, the drivers of trade expansion
are changing. So it was Asia until a couple of years ago, now it is the United States and Europe. So we have to take a look at those driving
forces to better understand the numbers.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: So he's talking about world trade and this is Dragon, it's an exit cargo ship that's about to take off for the International Space Station.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 3, 2, 1. Engine ignition, liftoff of the Falcon 9 rocket. The science for today and deep space exploration tomorrow.
QUEST: It's the eighth Space-X mission to the International Space Station. More than 3,000 kilograms of cargo on board. Interestingly what we're
going to be looking for with this particular rocket launch, this is another chance for Space-X to try and retrieve the rocket booster once it
separates.
[16:45:00] Remember it's going to try to come back to earth and land in the Atlantic Ocean. Now they haven't managed a successful rocket landing so
far. Every time it's managed to either hit the platform and fall over and explode. So that's what this is going to be about. In many ways that's
more significant than the actual launch going up. Will they be able to retrieve the fallen rocket after it disengages from the rest of the rocket
heading up towards the International Space Station? That's what we'll going to be watching in the minutes, maybe 20-minutes or so ahead.
Fascinating.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Approach long weekends with discipline, conscience, and extreme collaboration. That's the message from Venezuela's President Maduro, who
has designated today and every other Friday, for the next two months, a national holiday for public sector workers. It comes as the country's
facing a severe energy crisis. If you take a look you can see the reasons why. It's trying to lower electricity consumption. The Guri Dam, in the
center of the country, supplies 75 percent of Caracas' energy. Now if its water levels just drop 10 more feet, the dam will close. And the
seriousness of this is, of course, it will add on to the existing economic woes of the country.
It's already being hit by a dramatic oil slump. It's almost giving away oil in some cases, but it's having serious problems with oil prices at
current levels. The bolivar has plummeted. The currency is just down in the toilet. It owe billions in debt repayment. There are food shortages.
Medicines are extremely in short supply. And you have a population that is enduring severe hardship. Joining me live is former U.S. Ambassador to
Venezuela, it is Patrick Duddy. Ambassador, the problems with the water and electricity, how much of this is mismanagement, malfeasance by the
government in terms of managing electricity and the water supply, and how much is climactic, it's just bad luck?
PATRICK DUDDY, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO VENEZUELA: Well, it's clearly a combination of things. On the one hand, there is a drought. And that has
contributed very greatly to the current crisis. But at the same time, Venezuelans have been enduring blackouts, brownouts, sort of a rolling
system of electricity rationing since at least 2009. So this is a problem that is -- has now long been familiar to Venezuelans. The fact is the
government just hasn't made the capital investments in electricity generation that it need to make in order to cope with what are obviously
periodic but quite predictable periods of drought.
QUEST: When we look at this, when we have a worsening situation in Venezuela, the economic situation, if we know it's a crisis, at what point
does it tip into the inflection point of crisis?
[16:50:00] DUDDY: Well, arguably, they are on the very brink now. The IMF estimates that the economy contracted seven percent or eight percent last
year. They expect it will contract another seven or eight percent this year. Inflation last year was well over 150 percent and is estimated to be
on the way to a 700 percent inflation rate by the end of calendar year 2016.
Law and order is breaking down. The shortage of medicines is calamitous. A recent NGO survey suggested that out of more than 160 basic medicines as
determined by the WHO, the Pan American Health Organization, 60 plus were completely unavailable. Another 30 were only marginally available. As you
very correctly point out, the currency has collapsed and the oil crisis has affected Venezuela arguably more dramatically than any other country in the
world. There are actually indications in many parts of the country at the deterioration of the government and the economy. As recently as today, a
urology center announced that because of shortages of water, they were having to reduce the number of patients they could handle.
QUEST: Sir, thank you for joining us. Thank you for joining us, we appreciate it.
It's been said that fashion says me too and style says me only. I'll ask the host of the new "CNN STYLE" define style after you've enjoyed a chance
to "MAKE, CREATE, INNOVATE."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: "The more stylish you are the more successful you will be." The words Elsa Klensch who hosted "CNN STYLE" for more than two decades that
was back in the 1980s. Style is back at CNN or lovers of fashion and design and luxury. The new show is heading your way and it begins this
Saturday. The host of the show is Derek Blasberg, who joined me in the studio. And I asked him the all-important question, there's the word, what
does it mean?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEREK BLASBERG, CNN STYLE HOST: I'm a classic guy. Richard Quest has great style.
QUEST: Very kind of you, flattery will get you everywhere. Welcome aboard.
BLASBERG: Integrity is a big word we use in the word of style. So someone that's not haphazard, someone who actually cares.
QUEST: One of two things here, what would you wear and what would you not? Or maybe none of this lot.
BLASBERG: You've surprised me with these mannequins today.
QUEST: We're surprised ourselves most days. Here we have a nice formal bit of attire that you might wear for work or an evening cocktail party.
You've got a hoodie which of course Mark Zuckerberg thinks is extremely for any occasion. Then you've got classic golf ware that you'd pop out for an
evening or maybe. I don't think you'd wear any, would you?
[16:55:00] BLASBERG: I probably would not touch a single thing up here. But what I think is interesting --
QUEST: Why not, why not?
BLASBERG: Well, I don't know where it's been it suddenly arrived, Richard. But what I think is interesting about these three mannequins, it really
tells the story about how in men's wear fashion has really changed in the office place. Maybe 10 or 20 years ago you'd be expected to wear a suit
every day. Maybe ten years ago you could get by with collared shirt and a sweater. And now thanks to really, San Francisco and the tech starter
boom, this is considered appropriate office wear. Mark Zuckerberg recently tweeted a picture of his closet which was only t-shirts, only hooded
sweatshirts. So sadly casual Fridays are everyday now aren't they?
QUEST: What do you think about that?
BLASBERG: I think if you can --
QUEST: You see now, the reason I'm asking, because you're wearing a shirt, you're wearing a suit and you're wearing a tie. And I'm wondering is this
because you're in the august cathedral of QUEST MEAN BUSINESS, a business show, or is this because it is what you would normally wear on television?
And actually you're screaming inside to get rid of that tie.
BLASBERG: What is actually great about men's suiting, it's an easy thing to put on. There's not so many questions you have to ask. It's much
easier for a man to get dressed every morning than a woman. I did definitely put on a suit today for you, Richard, I'll admit it. But you'll
probably find me somewhere nearer this side of the on end of the spectrum in my daywear than that side.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: Casual Friday has arrived. CNN STYLE, heading to a TV screen this Saturday. International viewers can catch a debut Saturday at 1:30 p.m. in
London, 2:30 across Central Europe. A bit of style and we'll have a Profitable Moment after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: That's QUEST MEANS BUSINESS for tonight. I'm Richard Quest in New York. Whatever you're up to in the hours ahead, I hope it's profitable.
The "SITUATION ROOM" is next.
END
