Return to Transcripts main page
Quest Means Business
Donald Trump Makes The Market Great, The Dow At An All-Time Record; Obama Welcomes Trump to White House; IAG's Willie Walsh Tells President Trump Will Be Good For International Transatlantic Travel. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired November 10, 2016 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[00:00:07] ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Isha Sesay in Los Angeles. This is CNN.
RICHARD QUEST, CNN ANCHOR: Those are bell rang on Wall Street an hour ago. Rolling (ph) make baseball gloves and make those off the bell. I'm
anticipating a good strong robust gabble from this group on a strong day on Wall Street.
I have no idea what to make of that. But it seems entirely appropriate on a day where the Dow did close up at a record, up more than 218 points. It
is Thursday. It is November the 10th.
Tonight, Donald Trump makes the market great, the Dow at an all-time record. Welcome to the White House Mr. President-elect. President Obama
meets his successor for the first time in the Oval office.
And the head of International Airlines Group, Willie Walsh tells me President Trump will be good for international transatlantic travel.
I'm Richard Quest live in the World Financial Center, New York, QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.
Good evening. It was a remarkable meeting at the White House during this historic week in U.S. politics, remarkable because it showed that leaders
in a divided country are trying to come together. The president and the President-elect put aside the abuse, the insults, the acrimony of the
insults that they've held against each other, and then a campaign that was like none other. And instead, they have held that crucial democratic
tradition that's the whole mark of the U.S., the peaceful transfer of power.
Barack Obama welcomed Donald Trump to the White House. Mr. Obama called the meeting excellent. Mr. Trump called the president a very good man.
And both men called on the country to unite following a bitter election.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, I just had the opportunity to have an excellent conversation with President-elect Trump.
It was wide ranging. We talked about some of the organizational issues in setting up the White House. We talked about foreign policy. We talked
about domestic policy.
And as I said last night, my number one priority in the coming two months is to try to facilitate a transition that ensures our President-elect is
successful. And I have been very encouraged by the, I think, interest in President-elect Trump's wanting to work with my team around many of the
issues that this great country faces.
And I believe that it is important for all of us, regardless of party and regardless of political preferences, to now come together, work together to
deal with the many challenges that we face.
And in the meantime, Michelle has got a chance to greet the incoming first lady. And we had an excellent conversation with her as well. And we want
to make sure that they feel welcomed as they prepare to make this transition.
And most of all, I want to emphasize to you Mr. President-elect that we now are going to want to do everything we can to help you succeed because if
you succeed then the country succeeds. Please come.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATED: Well, thank you very much President Obama. This was a meeting that was going to last for maybe 10 or
15 minutes. And we were just going to get know each other. We had never met each other. I have great respect.
The meeting lasted for almost an hour and a half. And it could have, as far as I'm concerned, it could have gotten for a lot longer. We really --
we discussed a lot of different situations, some wonderful and some difficulties. I very much look forward to dealing with the president in
the future, including council.
[00:05:00] He explained some of the difficulties, some of the high flying assets, and some of the really great things that have been achieved.
So Mr. President, it was a great honor being with you. And I'll look forward to being with you many, many more times in the future. Thank you.
OBAMA: Thank you everybody. We're not -- we are not going to be taking any questions. Thank you, guys. Thank you. Here's a good rule, don't
answer the question when it just started.
TRUMP: It's always the last one.
OBAMA: Come on guys. Yes, come on guys. Let's go.
TRUMP: Very, very good man.
OBAMA: Thank you guys.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: Almost speechless. I mean, you -- what can one say, the peaceful transfer of power. The stage is set. Mr. Trump's takeover has begun in
exactly the way the U.S. constitution has framed it. It is picture perfect. And tonight, we will show you how Donald Trump's transition team
will reshape the White House.
First, invitation to our foreign leader to come and visit has gone to the United Kingdom. We'll speak to Britain's former Chancellor, George
Osborne.
And through it all, the stock markets are betting on economic shifts of enormous proportions. We'll show you those pictures again of them in the
White House because it is both uplifting and extraordinary when you think of the bitterness of the campaign and that where it all comes together.
Now, while Mr. Trump was making history in Washington, out comes the band, look at this on Wall Street straight out of the gate, bit of a hiccup
around about 11 o'clock. But the market rallies.
This is by the way is all the time afterwards when they have spoken. This is after the two presidents, elect and incumbent have spoken. And the
market surges over 200 points, hitting an all-time high. We might call it the Trump Bump with investors hoping that the focus more on stimulus and
less on regulation, 218, 19,000 if it carries on.
Many were bracing for market storm after the election, instead stocks have risen everyday this week. So now, remember, this where we had a very sharp
fall in the end of last week. That was the return. That was the bounce back after the Friday fall.
That's Election Day when people aren't quite sure what's happening. That is the first Trump bump. And then this is the second Trump bump. Add it
all together and the Dow is out more than 900 points since Monday morning. It seems traders have changed their mind about the president-elect.
CNNMoney Clare Sebastian looks at what really is behind the Trump Bump.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Throughout the campaign, many had predicted a Trump victory would spark chaos on the global markets.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At uncertainty, you know, potentially as the President of the United States, that's the last thing Wall Street wants to hear.
SEBASTIAN: Trump even once alluded to it himself.
TRUMP: Whenever I do well in the polls, other countries' other stock goes down a little bit.
SEBASTIAN: And yet, by the time Wall Street opened Wednesday morning, it was a different story.
TRUMP: We're going to rebuild our infrastructure which will become, by the way, second to none.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: After he gave his speech at 3:00 o'clock in the morning, he mentioned we're going to significantly increase infrastructure
spending. We're going to fix our roads and our bridges, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Then the selling kind of stopped.
SEBASTIAN: This is part of what the market sees as a pro-growth agenda for Mr. Trump, whether or not he builds that famous wall on the Mexican
boarder. His infrastructure spending from his own stocks like caterpillar which makes construction equipment soaring and held fuel the rally as a
whole.
And there's another key pillar to this Trump fueled rally.
TRUMP: Dodd-Frank has been a disaster, making it harder for small businesses to get the credit they need. You folks know that.
SEBASTIAN: Trump's anti-regulation agenda, another major focus for the markets. Crucially, he said he wants to repeal Dodd-Frank, the major post-
crisis bank reform act which cracks down on risk taking and forces the banks to keep more money in reserve. That prospect has sent banking stocks
soaring.
Even concerns over Trump's trade policies haven't dampened the Wall Street spirits.
TRUMP: We will terminate NAFTA and get a much, much, much better deal.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know it scares a lot of people thinking that the U.S. is going to become this vast isolationist economy. I think that's an
absurd notion. That's just not going to happen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a big moving ship, right? It's not going to be something that you can just start reaping up agreements and reaping up
treaties.
SEBASTIAN: So, for now, the President-elect, he claims to be a novice when it comes to investing.
TRUMP: I never invested to stock market in my life.
SEBASTIAN: Is proving very popular in the markets. Clare Sebastian, CNNMoney New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[00:10:01] QUEST: But it was absolutely a tail of two markets. It's not everybody has voted from the Trump bump. The NASDAQ fell the section so-
called FANG stocks were partly to blame.
Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, and Google FANG and they were down, well, very sharply. Amazon off nearly 4%. Even Facebook down as well. Donald
Trump's tough talk on trade has hit the tech -- made the tech work nervous.
The reason is the feeling that these companies are the very ones that would be affected if there's a trade war with Asia, or indeed with any trading
partner. Obviously, that all being global stocks with many consumers and customers in.
Now, compare that to the banking stocks which we see. The largest bank, J.P. Morgan Chase up 4.6%, Citi up as well, BOA and Wells Fargo.
Now, it's an interesting one for Wells Fargo. Remember, that the stocks be well and truly beaten up because of its own scandalous selling -- miss
selling scandal. So it's not surprising that that has a higher upside (INAUDIBLE).
But that going between those two, you absolutely see the difference of the way the markets. We need to put some real interpretation into all of this.
Joining us, Howard Lutnick. Good to see you sir.
HOWARD LUTNICK, CEO, BGC PARTNERS : Great to see you, Richard.
QUEST: Well, look, we'll get to the bigger picture. But first of all, why -- I mean tech stocks down, all stocks up, what's going on?
LUTNICK: Well, so the financials, right, you've had basically all the banks sort of laying on the ground with Elizabeth Warren, other people
who's stepping on their neck, stopping them from doing business, restraining them.
And now you have Donald Trump saying, I want to get back in. I want to get banks lending again. I want to drive the economy with fiscal stimulus run
by business.
And I think you've seen all the finacials jumping, commercial banks getting the leashes off of them and letting them go back to lend. I think you're
going to see spectacular growth in the economy driven by the banks.
QUEST: So why should -- if we're getting growth, and I understand that some of those other companies that might be affected, Amazon, Facebook, the
text of why should they be less affected?
LUTNICK: Well, let's talk about Amazon, right? They've had this not paying sales tax in all these different countries. And a guy like Donald
Trump who owns real estate is going to say, you know what? I don't understand why aren't you paying sales tax in all these different states?
So you're going to see Amazon has got a problem because they're going to have to pay sales tax and be equal to the local players. And that's the
difference. And that's why Amazon is down today. People know it's going to be a fairness tax world and that's come in their way.
QUEST: So, if we put this together, this idea of a stimulus, this idea of infrastructure spending, let's -- you talk about less banking regulation.
But there were those who say, you know, those bank rules are there for a reason and it's called the Great Recession 2009.
LUTNICK: Well, look, Dodd-Frank, Chris Dodd was a democratic center. He's not there anymore. Barney Frank was a democratic congressman and he's not
there anymore. And it was all Democrat, Democrat, Democrat.
Do you remember one Republican participating in Dodd or Frank? Well guess what, all Republicans in the Senate or Republicans in the House and then
Republican in the White House is going to say, bye, bye to Dodd-Frank. It was not a bipartisan save the world.
QUEST: Right. But some of those rules in Dodd-Frank just as much as some of those energy rules, and some of the EPA rules, and some of the
environmental protections. They're there for a reason. Can we be sure that we won't throw the bay, yes, with the bath robe (ph)?
LUTNICK: I'll give you an example there. The energy sector, when oil dropped at the beginning of the year, remember we talked about it. The
controller of the currency went out and said, all energy companies are now rated a risk of zero to 10, they're now at 8, very risky. So, all the
money is in the banks. All the banks who just listed up there could not lend to energy companies.
You know what that did to all our energy sector? It hurt them because all the banks can't lend to them. They can't rebuild. They can't have jobs.
So, Donald Trump is going to go and say, you know what? If it's a reasonable company and it's got reasonable financials, you can lend to
them. He's going to stop that nonsense. He's going to drive money into the Texas market.
That's why the guy wins Texas. He's thinking correctly about getting jobs out there by letting the banks do their job the way they used to.
Remember, we had problems in 1929 and we had problems in 2008. That's a lot of years in between Donald Trump thinks you can't save everything,
let's grow again.
QUEST: OK. So is it your view that -- I mean, obviously, he's not going to get everything he wants.
LUTNICK Of course.
QUEST: And there seems to be a view; he will get the records I mean with changes. He will get corporate taxation changes, particularly the
repatriation rules, and the lower -- maybe not the lower corporate tax rate of 15%.
LUTNICK: Right. He will get a lower corporate tax rate because that makes us more competitive in the world. He's going to bring back those trillions
of dollars that are forced overseas and bring it back to America and get people to invest in America. And that's good for America.
QUEST: The bound market, the 10-years over 2% for the first time since January. That's because of high deficits to come, don't you think?
LUTNICK: No, that's because of growth to come. You know, a growing economy --
QUEST: It's the same thing. Bank growth is coming from deficits spending to a certain extent, you must accept that.
LUTNICK: No, you don't have to accept it. You don't have to accept it. A growing economy, you know, we've got nice employment now, right?
[00:15:01] If we get some growth, right? And we get a little bit of inflation back to what the Fed was hoping to. You can get interest rates
within 2% and 2.5%.
Remember, you and I, when was the last time we throw a 2%? It was like tenure notes at 2%, and we were worried that they're too high? Oh stop.
Remember, interest rates are quarter of a percent.
On December 14th, if the Fed raises them to a 0.5%, you and I can use our new interest to buy each other coffee. That's what a quarter of a percent
is, it buys us coffee.
Let's remember, this economy has got plenty of room to grow. We used to do fiscal policy and we're in deficits. Then all of a sudden, the Central
Banks, because we stopped banks from lending, started doing monetary policy.
QUEST: Right, he's going back to fiscal policy. I mean, he's going back to traditional fiscal policy in many ways.
LUTNICK: Correct. And he learned from Japan, which didn't work. The monetary policy didn't work. We'll do a little fiscal policy but also
we've had the banks around the world out of the markets.
QUEST: Right.
LUTNICK: Beaten on by the regulators and we've had anemic growth. His view is let the banks lend again. So, you know what, commercial banks?
They were a great place to be. They were up yesterday. They were peak today. They'll be a peak again and again and again.
QUEST: So right, (INAUDIBLE) question. Do you see this rally has legs?
LUTNICK: This rally has legs too for the financials for long way. You know, my company BGC Partners?
QUEST: Yes.
LUTNICK: You know, I do a lot of business with the banks, so this is spectacular for us. But, you know, someone is always happy about these
kinds of things. But the fact is I really think growing, a bank-led fiscal policy will be a wonderful thing for America. It will help America. It'll
help a lot of companies. It'll help the energy companies. It'll be good.
QUEST: We need you in the new Trump administration. Are you going to do it for real?
LUTNICK: You know what? I've known him a long time. And I'm rooting for him and hoping great things happen to America.
QUEST: Well, promise me you'll comeback on the program.
LUTNICK: I'll be delighted to. But you got to love the dollar here. Love the dollar, interest rates going up here. Europe's still Europe. Love the
dollar.
QUEST: On other note, a major shift in tone an appeal to unity that you've just heard from both men. The President meets the future at the White
House. We'll be in Washington for the analysis of what clearly, like any structure of imagination, on the story tank.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: More now. We're in this meeting between the present and the future. The White House has just released incidentally a picture of the
first lady meeting the first lady to be, Melania Trump. Another fireplace, who knew the White House had so many fireplaces. We'll show while they're
doing this seem to be having a snack of some sort.
But anyway, the two met for the first time, no doubt. Michelle Obama showed the first lady to be the private quarters of the White House.
Whilst the ladies were meeting, Donald Trump did what no one expected. He called Barack Obama a very good man, which is when you think about it,
somewhat extraordinary after the most rancorous election campaigns in U.S. history.
The president returned the good will saying he had an excellent conversation with the President-elect.
[00:20:00] CNN White House Correspondent Michelle Kosinski joins me from Washington. Michelle, my dear, we know how this game is played. We know
that they call each other everything under the sun. And then as soon as it's over, it's what a magnificent man you are and how wonderful you have
been for the country. And -- but it still takes the breath away when you see it happen.
MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Indeed. I mean, maybe even more so given all that was said of course. I mean, we all knew this
was going to happen. It's not as if they're going to meet and then trash each other.
But in a sense, that kind of happened because you have these extraordinary things being said, everybody reassuring and on their best behavior.
President Obama is saying, Donald Trump, if you succeed, America succeeds. We want to help you. We had a great meeting. In fact, the President
called it excellent.
Then you have Donald Trump, yes, calling him a very good man, saying he respects the President, that he looks forward to meeting with him again and
again and seeking his counsel.
Well, that's all very surprising and everybody sits back and says, wow, that's fantastic. Everybody has put aside their differences somewhat.
Well, not so much. When you go back to the White House and you say, you know, what is an excellent meeting really look like? What does that mean?
They said, well, it was purely focused on a smooth and organized efficient transition.
Does this mean that the President now feels that maybe Donald Trump is fit to be President of the United States? No. Does it mean that his deep
concerns that he expressed and the feeling that Donald Trump is dangerous for national security are swaged? No.
The White House reiterated that President Obama meant every word that he said on the campaign trail. None of that has changed, where the President
is optimistic as the White House said that both of these men seem fully committed to their being a smooth transition.
The gruel (ph) in the room is that Donald Trump has said many times, that he wants to roll back virtually every bit of President Obama's policy.
White House didn't want to talk about that today. Their feeling was kind of what will be, but for now we're going to work together to make that
transition a successful one. Richard.
QUEST: Do we know anything about the meeting of the two first ladies? We've just shown a picture of them seeming to be having tea. I mean, do we
know what their personal relationship is like? They were -- I mean let's face it, Melania plagiarized Michelle Obama's speech. But one imagines
that maybe they were this cordial.
KOSINSKI: Yes. I mean they don't have that kind of ranker between them. They haven't trashed each other on the campaign trail. And when you look
at that picture, because of course the picture is worth a thousand words, it looks very causal and relaxed, two ladies having tea. I think that's
the images that White House wanted to get across.
And then they toured the White House together. At one point, there was a curator with them, so telling Melania Trump historical and interesting
facts about the White House.
In the official readout, it said that they talked about raising children in the White House. So, you know that that meeting was not political. I'm
sure it was a very nice meeting between the two of them and kind of a good luck.
It doesn't mean that Michelle Obama is thrilled about the transition that is happening. But she's certainly not going to take out her feelings on
the new first lady. Richard.
QUEST: Well, you have got so much more to tell us in the weeks ahead as this transition takes place. Michelle, great to see you at the White
House. Thank you.
KOSINSKI: You too.
QUEST: Now, Donald Trump has just 10 weeks to put this administration together. To do that, it's a vast enterprise. He needs to have more than
4000 members of staff. Because remember, in the U.S. administration, it goes long and it goes very far down and deep between secretaries, assistant
secretaries, their assistant secretaries, commissioners.
In various government departments, 4,000 potential political appointees and the key positions need to get through the Senate after inauguration day.
Now, there are familiar names up for the big jobs, Newt Gingrich, Chris Christie, Rudy Giuliani. The former New York mayor says tax reform
infrastructure investment could be the first priorities. Giuliani's tip is a potential U.S. Attorney General in the administration. And he says that
Trump realizes the magnitude of the task. He was talking to CNN with our Chris Cuomo (ph).
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The weight of the world is on their shoulders. And Donald, I think, realized that the last couple of days of the campaign, I
think he really realized that when he saw --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you see the change?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now, so people are going to come to you and they're going to say, OK, he won. Democracy affords him an opportunity. People
say have an open mind.
It's trickier here though because when someone comes out and says we should be unified. OK, when they are the person who is blamed with creating the
division, now it's more complicated because which one of these people do you believe.
[00:25:07] Is this the Trump that we saw as President-elect or the one who was stoking intolerance?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, my advice would be the same advice that I gave President Bush when he won in '04 and kind of wasn't followed. I think you
go with the things you know you can pass. Like, for example, way back then Bush could have passed immigration reform just like Obama could have when
he first came in. And both of them passed on it, so now they leave it for now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So you think he should start with it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. I think he just start with tax reform.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Tax reform --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because I think he's got the votes for it. I think he's definitely has the Republican votes for it, in House and Senate, and I
think he probably has maybe 20% of the democratic vote for it. So he can get it done with the bipartisan majority.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But people will say, wait a minute, I'm here for the wall, I'm angry. I want the wall and I want to drain the swamp.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The wall was going to take awhile. I'm sure he's going to build it. It's a campaign promise. He's not going to break a campaign
--
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Guys in Congress don't want it. On both sides, there's resistance.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, he can do it by executive order, by just reprogramming money within the immigration service. And not only that,
they have actually approved the wall for certain portions of the border that hasn't even been built yet. So you could take a year building that
out with what has been approved.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So go with what you can get done, led bygones be bygones. Move on from the politics.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And then -- and after you got a couple of credits under your belts, like tax reform which I think can get done, like a stimulus
program but a real one for infrastructure. This time, the commitment has to be the money get spent on infrastructure. And this is not to go back
over all wounds, but I think President Obama made a big mistake with this stimulus program when he promised it will be spent on infrastructure.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But it wasn't.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There were no shovel ready jobs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right now, we need it. That will put Americans back to work. That will be a good long-term investment in America. It's going to
help grow our economy.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: That's the -- that's Rudy Giuliani. Fascinating to hear the inside workings of how government is actually put together, the nuts and bolts,
the making of the sausages.
Now, Donald Trump is a dealmaker so let's cut some deals. A former British Chancellor George Osborne tells me why he thinks you should all give Donald
Trump a chance.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Hello, I'm Richard Quest. There is more Quest Means Business in just a moment when Willie Walsh of International Airlines Group tells me
Donald Trump will be a sensible president.
[00:30:03] And I'll be speaking to the Swedish surfing instructor who auctions himself off on eBay to help Americans who can't take it anymore,
and gets the knot. And by the way, there are 28 fireplaces in the White House.
You needed to know that because this is CNN. And on this network, the news always comes first.
Donald Trump has made his first visit to his future home following being elected President, U.S. President. He met with the gracious President
Barrack Obama who told him, he wants him to succeed and will effort a smooth transition.
Mr. Trump who has repeatedly accused President Obama of not being a natural born American and the founding of ISIS called him, a very good man.
A German consulate to the North and African City of Mazar-e-Sharif has been attacked. A local police chief said a suicide bomber attacked police car
packed with explosives into a wall of the consulate. Local doctors says at least two people have been killed, dozens wounded. Taliban have claimed
responsibility.
For the third time, the South African President Jacob Zuma's ANC Party has saved him in parliament. Opposition lawmakers failed in that third bid to
pass a no confidence vote. It came after a blistering report implicating Mr. Zuma, top aides, and others a large scale colonialism and corruption.
In Northern China, official say a young boy has been found dead after an almost five-day rescue effort. He fell down an abandoned well while
helping his father pick vegetables. The opening was too narrow for any adult to climb in to save him.
There was consternation in some of the British newspapers today after it became clear that the British prime minister had not yet had a phone call
with Donald Trump where many other countries had gone ahead. They are in calls and all.
Now, that's finished. There's a phone call today with Theresa May and Mr. Trump invited the British prime minister to visit the U.S. and his words,
as soon as possible. He and Mrs. May spoke about the special relationship between America and Britain, and reaffirmed the commitment to preserving it
in the year ahead.
I spoke to Britain's former Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne. He told me, political risk in the U.S. and Europe is back with a vengeance.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE OSBORNE, FORMER CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER, BRITAIN: First of all, don't underestimate the shock this would cause in political systems around
the world and in, you know, the heads of governments around the word.
But also, you know, don't perhaps over estimate the economic shock because I think at the moment, financial markets have taken a bit in their stride
and they are looking to the -- what they see as the short term stimulus of the infrastructure spending without perhaps really pricing in the longer
term uncertainty.
QUEST: His tax cut plan, his trade plan, his banking, less banking regulation plans, do they cause you concern?
OSBORNE: Well, not necessarily. I mean let's see what he has to offer. I mean there's, you know, no doubt that the somewhat incoherent approach of
U.S. regulators to financial services is not being great for financial services around the world.
Yes, there's definitely things that can be done to improve the way United States regulates financial services, the way it regulates pharmaceuticals,
or the way it provides infrastructures in his country. Yes, there are lots of good things to be done out there.
I think the big uncertainty is, you know, is Donald Trump the person who can do this? I mean he has harnessed a -- you know, very successfully
harnessed his anger about insecurity in the modern world.
But are things like breaking international alliances, directing trade barriers and the like, really the answer are they going to deliver for
these good working people? Indeed, is he going to deliver those policies? And just at the moment, we don't have answers. We can speculate but we
don't have answers.
QUEST: The great similarity, of course, is made again and again to Brexit. I think even I described it yesterday as this Brexit redact on steroids in
the sense of what's happened here. Do you see similarities in terms of a popular saying where matters hell (ph) and we're not going to take it?
OSBORNE: There's no doubt that the Brexit campaign did successfully prey on peoples and securities. And I mean that in a particular pejorative.
You know, they did -- they got hold of people's insecurities about, you know, the pace of changing communities, the loss of identity, you know,
potentially things like future economic consequences for incomes and harness that into now let's save the E.U.
[00:35:04] I think Donald Trump has done something similar here in the United States. And in fact where another similarity exists is that in both
cases now, because we're essentially quite uncharted political territory, and each individual statements on Brexit can cause quite adverse market
reactions.
Yes. Over the next few weeks, I wouldn't be surprised if some of the things Donald Trump says or does catches everyone by surprise. And, you
know, everyone wants to put him in the boxes of he's going to be sensible, he's going to appoint all these people, it's all going to be very
irrational and maybe will be. But you never know. Maybe where it say --
QUEST: You don't think it will be?
OSBORNE: Well, I just think if you look at the way he's campaigned, you know, he's -- it's been a one-man band, largely. I know he's had advices,
but it's been a one man band. He's ignored all the rules. He has run against the Republican establishment.
I'm an external observer of American Politics. But the idea that this guy is going to suddenly jump into bed with the Republican establishment seems
to me at least a like.
QUEST: So how tricky, maybe even dangerous, possibly worrisome is it that at this time you have the two largest trading blocks in the world
undergoing pretty fundamental change, the E.U. and the U.S. both going through their own tortured change at the same time?
OSBORNE: Well, I said I think the businesses and markets, you know, politics is back with a vengeance. And political risk is inherent now in
both the U.S. and in Europe.
But we're going to try and make it work. We're going to try and make Brexit work. We're going to try and make the Donald Trump presidency work
for all of our sakes. And we've got to make sure that the people who voted for these movements, the victims of these movements, so let's give Donald
Trump the benefit of the doubt. Let's work with him. Let's, you know, let's engage with him in his (INAUDIBLE) administration.
He's a dealmaker, let's cut some deals. And because, you know, he says, you know, what have we got to lose? Well, the answer is quite a lot. You
know, peace, stability, prosperity. So, you know, let's try and make it work.
QUEST: Let's try and make it work. Well, our Kremlin source says that members of Hillary Clinton's campaign visited Moscow. Anyway, that's after
the presidential. The same sources, Trump's team never went to Russia but did make contact with Russian officials at the embassy in Washington. Now,
the Trump campaign is denying that happened.
It's all a bit strange because of the biggest questions surrounding the President-elect's foreign policy is how he will handle relations with
Moscow.
Joining me is Kirill Dmitriev, the CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund in the C suite (ph). Good to see you sir. Please make yourself
comfortable.
You have about $40 billion in the management, a large amount of money. And you are pleased or reassured by what's happening in this bilateral
relationship. Why?
KIRILL DMITRIEV, CEO, RUSSIAN DIRECT INVESTMENT FUND: Well, we believe that President Trump, he has an open line about Russia and that's very
important. Of course, he will defend interests of the U.S. But we believe it's in the interest of the U.S. to have good relationship with Russia.
And the fact that he's stuck to this position even so it would be political, more expedient for him to say oh, maybe not Russia, et cetera.
We have deep respect to that position.
QUEST: The suspicion is though, I mean, Hillary Clinton summed it up in a sentence, Putin's puppet. And that went -- I mean that went -- that's
stone hard, that accusation. And the perception and the view is still very much that Russia got the President it wanted because they can manipulate
the situation with President Trump.
DMITRIEV: Well, that's of course not true. And I think the election, lots of crazy words was said during election and now it's time for
reconciliation. I think it's very important that he has open mind. And we believe that previous administration made lots of mistakes.
Its implemented sanctions against Russia to try to reduce popularity of President Putin. It doubled in the times of sanctions we introduced. So
those mistakes have to be pragmatic and practically reviewed and corrected. And we believe that President Trump can do that.
QUEST: Right. Of course President Putin may discover that Trump is a much harder man when he comes up against him than he thinks. I mean, yes, Trump
said and I've heard him said a million times, wouldn't it be great if you could work with Russia on Syria, for example, and against ISIS and those
sort of things.
But if Donald Trump perceives Russia to be interfering in domestic U.S. policies, hacking for example, it'll be a very different story.
DMITRIEV: Well, we are very realistic about approach and we don't believe that it will be love from first sight relationship. I think it will be a
very pragmatic relationship. But we can really change (INAUDIBLE) politics, about fighting terrorism together, by working joint on economic
growth and other issues. And that's a great hope.
But it will not come overnight. I think it will require lots of works to be done. And of course we believe it gives a huge opportunity to the
world.
[00:40:00] QUEST: When you look at where you're now positioning your investments, the GVs that you are doing, the equity investments, what is it
you are looking at now that, you know, particularly appeals?
DMITRIEV: Well, the big focus is return and reproduce positive return in dollars even though (inaudible) collapsed. And agriculture is a big sector
for us because Russian agriculture is growing dramatically. We also meet some investments in the U.S. We invested in Hyper Loop, which is a big
promise for technology transportation.
So a variety of sectors that benefit from the growth and will result in the growth of the world economy.
QUEST: So you will benefit if Donald Trump manages to get growth up to 3 or 4%?
DMITRIEV: Definitely.
QUEST: And in that case, would you shift attention? Because let's face it, if he manages to get growth here up to 3 to 4% and Europe is still
tootling along at this -- at a rather pathetic 1.5, if they're lucky, had a good year with the wind behind them, you will revise your strategy?
DMITRIEV: Definitely. And we see lots of our co-investors was leaving investment funds since the world. They want to invest more in the U.S. I
think there are some things such as (Justa) and other mistakes of the previous administrations. They jeopardized investments --
QUEST: So you think it's important, and for the Russian economy, that the sanctions which are being the KARAMIAN (ph) sanctions which are being put
in place are lifted?
DMITRIEV: Well, Russian economy will have growth anyway. But we believe that sanctions should be lifted because the advantage of this purpose is
they are not working and they are hindering the growth of the world economy of Russian companies and also U.S. companies.
QUEST: We're watching, fascinating. And I'm sure people in Russia are watching and fascinated.
DMITRIEV: Definitely.
QUEST: Good to see you sir.
DMITRIEV: Thank you so much.
QUEST: Thank you very much indeed.
Now, we really are taking you around the world to look at the international business implications. We've talked obviously about banking tonight. And
we've talked about Russia. After the break, we're going to talk about the airline industry with one of the leading CEOs, Willie Walsh of IAG.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Willie Walsh, the Chief Exec of IAG says he's looking forward to the Trump years. Now, IAG owns seven airlines. The big four, five on BA,
Aer Lingus, Iberia, and Vueling is also CityFlyer, OpenSkies, and there's other which immediately escapes in the mind.
And Willie Walsh told me, aviation stands to play a critical role in the Trump economy plan because for no other reason, that carrier, British
Airways, is one of the leading number one carriers between the U.K. and the U.S. And it stands to gain hugely with the new economic plan of the
President.
WILLIE WALSH, CEO, INTERNATIONAL AIRLINES GROUP: I'm hoping that things continue as they are. And now, clearly, with the U.K., we will need to
negotiate a new OpenSkies agreement with the U.S. following the decision of the U.K. to leave the EU. And I'm pretty sure that that will be relatively
simple job.
[00:45:03] I listened to President-elect Trump making his victory speech. I was in Washington filling there on Tuesday. So I watched it through
until about 3:30 in the morning.
What I heard was somebody who is determined to create jobs to grow the economy to invest in infrastructure. He talked about airports. And, you
know, if he is to succeed in doing that, well then aviation is going to be a critical platform in that plan, because you will need to continue to
facilitate tourism which is a big part of the U.S. economy. You will need to facilitate trade and I believe that President-elect Trump will do that.
QUEST: Obviously, all companies have an interest. But one of your carriers, British Airways, what percentage is the United States? It's a
sizable percentage?
WALSH: Yes, it's a big part of our businesses. So the United States is a big market for us. It's always been an attractive market and I believe it
always will be an attractive market.
QUEST: So you have a very much of a strong interest in many of the economic policies that our President Trump is going to introduce,
particularly his idea of juicing up the economy to say 4% economic growth, which would be of great benefit to you.
WALSH: Huge benefits. You know, when we look at U.S. GDP at 1.5 to 2%, we believe that's a great figure. You know, for us, if we can see the U.S
growing in those low figures, it actually is good for our business. If the U.S. economy picks up even more, I think it's going to be a significant
positive for IAG.
QUEST: Do you worry about the question or potential of a trade? It's cliche to say trade war. That's a trade disruption as he takes on China,
as he decides to undo NAFTA, all of these other issues, and of course the failure which it probably is, my speculating, of a transatlantic trade
partnership.
WALSH: I don't really fear it because I think when you are going to tackle some of these issues, you're going to tackle them in a sensible sequence.
And you're not going to want to start problems right across, you know, your full remitter of responsibility.
So I think you'll look to where you have solid relationships where you have, you know, a sound basis for growth. And you will build on that as
you turn to address some of the other challenges. So I'm, personally, I'm not concerned. I think this is going to be a good time for transatlantic
aviation and I'm looking forward to the years ahead.
QUEST: Brexit, of course, is for one of your airlines is the biggest issue at the moment and the negotiation of a free trade agreement, not only with
Europe or whatever and wherever, but also with the United States. You must be starting to get a little concerned at the talk of hard Brexit.
WALSH: I'm not really concerned because I think it will be resolved. But there are a couple of issues. I think when you look at what's happening in
the U.S., you have a clear understanding of how you transition from one president to the other.
The problem we have in the U.K. is there's no precedent for what has happened. Nobody knows how you go through this process. So there is a lot
of uncertainty. But personally, I believe that these issues will be addressed relatively easily and I don't see it having a material impact on
my business.
QUEST: So you don't see a loss of the -- let's take everybody, first of all, from the European platform, from the common aviation area, you think
there will be a common aviation area?
WALSH: I believe there will be something similar. But for British Airways and its British Airways that's impacted by this, B.A. does not fly from
other European countries with the European countries. It flies from the U.K. to European countries. That's a relatively simple issue.
I think for some of the other airlines like easyJet, it's a much more complex issue where they have a significant amount of their flying between
European countries. And as a U.K. carrier, the question is will they be able to continue to access that market.
The same for Ryanair, as the European as an Irish carrier, will they be able to continue to fly from the UK to countries other than Ireland.
Now, I believe that these issues will be resolved because nobody in Europe will want to see consumers deprived of low cost airlines like Rynanair and
easyJets. It's not just -- you know, to me, that's too big an issue. There would be a huge political backlash. Consumers would be very angry
with politicians right across Europe if that were to happen.
QUEST: Willie Walsh, the head of IAG.
Donald Trump once called himself Mr. Brexit. U.K. investors aren't so sure. The most selection rally has already run out of steam for the U.K.
The foot sees started today higher and then ended in the red. And it was a similar picture right across the continent, which is somewhat unusual
bearing in mind what had happened on Wall Street, and indeed what then proceeded to happen once New York opened.
In a moment, this one says the U.S. just became the land of the free to leave. It's about an offer for Americans fleeing Donald Trump. We're
going to meet him next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[00:52:01] QUEST: When Canada's immigration website crashed on election night after the people trying to access it were using computers in the
United States. And a real estate agent in South Carolina says he got hundreds of golds after he offered to help sell your house if you're
packing up and going to Canada.
Now, a Swedish surfing instructor has gone a step further. He's offering his hand in marriage on eBay. He's doing so in case any Americans want to
escape Donald Trump and move to Sweden. Its all your -- this gentleman is all yours for the price of $50,000.
eBay hasn't -- so the eBay has taken the listing down. The man is Gustav Hallen. He joins me live from Skype in Stockholm. Gustav, good to see you
sir. And so, 50,000, a bit of a bargain, what were you offering yourself?
GUSTAV HALLEN, SURF INSTRUCTOR, SWEDEN: I think the money started off like an insurance for me that it would never happen. So it's more of that
instead of like try to earn money, I will say.
QUEST: Why did you do it? Why did you do it?
HALLEN: I think like it was a reaction from my side. From -- I was like early walking home from the gym and I saw like people's reaction on
Facebook, because we have like quite stronger reactions here in Sweden too. And I think like maybe you can tackle this like in another different way
and open up for a conversation, because I think Sweden has election in two years and I think we're heading kind of the same way.
And I think people maybe need to start talking about it. And I hope, really hope the irony in the post really shines through because I was
aiming for make my friends laugh and not end up like in the world media, I would say.
QUEST: Well, you did it partly obviously as a joke. Did anybody make you an offer? I mean, did anybody sort of decide, I'll give you 500 for a
quick one?
HALLEN: No. And luckily, I would say I don't know how I would explain this to my parents otherwise. So, I think the price was a good thing to
like ensure that it wouldn't happen. But it's like it's still the thought of marriage I think that creates the interest in it, so.
QUEST: Now, on the question of --
HALLEN: But eBay has took down the --
QUEST: Yes.
HALLEN: -- ad too I think.
QUEST: Yes, eBay. Yes, you've broken the rules. Yes.
HALLEN: Yes. You can't sell people on eBay.
QUEST: You can't -- well, let's be grateful that you can't sell people on eBay. And -- but even --
HALLEN: Yes.
QUEST: You can't even sell yourself, never mind selling somebody else. Look, final quick thought.
HALLEN: No, exactly.
QUEST: And -- if you had to sum up the view in that -- from your friends in Sweden on the election of Donald Trump as president in a sentence, what
would it be?
HALLEN: I think like people -- some people are really positive and some people are really negative.
[00:55:00] And I think like with -- for -- from my perspective not living in the U.S., I think it's scary and I think the whole world is scary. But
in the meantime, it like took him 4 point billion years to get to the presidency. And I think like if he doesn't do a good job, he would be out
in four years. So I don't know. But it's -- I think the world is scary.
QUEST: The world is scary. Well, 50,000.
HALLEN: Yes.
QUEST: You didn't get your 50,000. You're off eBay. But there you are. It's a scary world. Thank you sir for joining us from Stockholm tonight.
HALLEN: Thank you. Have a nice one.
QUEST: Very quickly, going to show you some live pictures that are coming to us from Philadelphia. Protesters are starting to take to the streets
once again. There are protesters in up to 20 cities last night in the United States. We'll keep a watch on that obviously in the hours ahead.
We'll have a profitable moment after the break.
(OFF-MIC)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Tonight's profitable moment, fascinating going on in the market with the Dow Jones up with at a record high. But the NASDAQ was down and
many big NASDAQ stocks fell sharp. And there is now an absolute difference between the way the Tech stocks are going because they're perceived to be
at risk from some of the trade policies of Donald Trump.
And say, for example, the Blue Chips and the Dow which will benefit from his infrastructure plans and his less government and lack of regulation.
Put it all together and what we're seeing is the market not in turmoil but starting to react to new policies of a new administration.
And that's Quest Means Business for tonight. I'm Richard Quest in New York. Whatever you're up between the hours ahead, I hope it's profitable.
I'll be back in a week.
END
