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Two Wall Street Men Picked By Trump for His Cabinet; Plane Crash in Colombia; Trump Removing Himself from Business When He Moves to White House; World Chess Championship; U.N. Security Council's Emergency Meeting in Aleppo. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired November 30, 2016 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[00:00:12] ISA SOARES, CNN ANCHOR: Another day, another all-time record for the Dow Trading has indeed come to an end. This is Wednesday, November
30.
Tonight from Wall Street to the White House, Donald Trump adds two big bankers to his cabinets. Yet all the deal, OPEC agrees that production
cuts and oil prices go through the roof.
And what's black and white, and almost over, the World Chess Championship is coming down to the wire. I'm Isa Soares in for Richard Quest and I,
too, mean business.
A very good evening to you, we'll have the day's business news in just a moment. First, though, new information on what might have caused the plane
carrying a Brazilian football team to crash in Medellin in Colombia on Monday if we remember (ph). And that plane went down in the city of
Medellin killing 71 people, six people luckily survived.
Now, sources tell CNN the pilot can be heard in audio recording saying the plane is in "total electric failure and is without fuel".
CNN Aviation Analyst Mary Schiavo joins me now with more. And, Mary, I was listening to this tape recording 12 minutes long on Colombian media and we
can hear them basically saying we have a problem with fuel and we have total electrical failure. This is not coming from investigators, what are
you making of this, Mary?
MARY SCHIAVO, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Well, this is a plane that really didn't have much chance after they had the electrical failure problem. And
I believe they're saying that the electrical failure problem came first but without fuel. The one thing they had to do would have been to look for a
place to put that down on the ground, on a plain, get to an airport, short of the airport they were headed for but apparently they did not do that.
And so, one too and this is a four-engine plane so if they had an electrical problem, many people speculate perhaps the electrical pumps in
the fuel system, in the fuel tanks, scavenge the floor of the fuel tanks and provide that last little bit of fuel into the engine, perhaps that
would have helped saved the plane if you had electrical power. But the flight paths and the radar-tracing show that the engines failed and sooner
or after, the airspeed deteriorated quickly, and it does look like the plane stalled which means it fell from the sky and gradually coasting down.
SOARES: And I think the plane was some eight miles from the airport. If it is -- if we find out from investigators, Mary, that there was a lack of
fuel, if this is the reason, that it could be very painful indeed because this could perhaps be negligence, could it not?
SCHIAVO: Oh absolutely, it's negligence. And it's also a violation of Federal Civil Aviation Regulations because the regulations, almost all
aviation nations, Britain, United States, almost all South American countries as well, require you to have on board enough fuel, not only to
get to your destination but to get to an emergency airport near your destination and carry enough fuel for a 30-minute flight in addition to
that.
So this flight was, I'm afraid, not legal from the get-go. That it simply was beyond the range of this plane. And there's a lot of speculation that
perhaps the plane was seated with auxiliary fuel tanks, that's rather irrelevant because if it was, it certainly wouldn't fail because it ran out
of fuel. So, it was not a legal flight to begin with.
SOARES: And we've got the black boxes we saw yesterday. You and I were talking probably in the same time the two black boxes in a very good
condition. In addition to that, Mary, we also have six survivors and I'm guessing authority will be speaking to them. What will they be asking
them?
SCHIAVO: Well, they'll be asked again literally anything that they can remember seeing and hearing, although now with the black boxes recovered
and intact and having those words. They have a very good idea what happened but they will want to know, you know, when, what, what did the
pilot say, what did the flight attendant say, were you instructed to brace, did they know they were going down, did they tell you anything about any
alternative emergency plans, did the engines quit at the same time or subsequent time, were there any other sounds on the plane that perhaps the
cockpit voice recorder might not have picked up as to what was going on.
And there was a -- and I believe it's a very erroneous report but early on, there was a report of another plane in the vicinity. Did they see any
other planes in the vicinity? I think that is an erroneous report but witnesses looking out the window on either side of the plane could
certainly have seen that as well.
SOARES: And, Mary, I'm guessing with technical failure, I'm also guessing with no fuel, the plane have very little chance of making it to its
destination really.
[00:05:02] SCHIAVO: Well, really, I mean, it's so close and, you know, so many times in aviation because there's so many backups and safeties filled
in the plane that you stretch the safety envelope, it's like stretching a rubber band.
And then usually, you can get away with it but sometimes you can't. And here, the trip was 1,605 nautical miles but the range of this plane is
1,600 nautical miles. And so they were very, very close and the plane really did perform exactly like the performance parameters published for
this plane show. It's just that those last five miles, they simply didn't have any fuel to make it. And so, you know, those manuals that tell you
what your plane can do are there for a very good reason and that is to keep you alive.
So, I think that might explain why there is a report out there that the Brazilian government would not permit this charter from Brazil and why they
had to fly to Bolivia to catch this flight. And there's going to be a lot of questions asked about this plane, the performance of this plane, why
they did it.
And particularly with the plane, it wasn't loaded always full and maybe that's why they thought they could make it but with large, you know, men on
board, lots of equipment that has an impact on your fuel use and the range of your plane.
SOARES: Many questions still unanswered and, of course, we'll wait to hear from authorities. Mary Schiavo, an aviation analyst who was a very well-
known face here with CNN. Mary, I appreciate you taking the time to speak to us here on Quest Means Business. We'll keep on top of that developing
story for you here on the show.
But tonight, President-elect Donald Trump has given his clear signs yet of how he will run the U.S. economy in a whirlwind. I think it's fair to say
of announcements. In the space of just a few hours, Trump hired a new team to run the Treasury as well as the Commerce departments. He pledged to
step aside from his business empire to avoid conflict of interest, people have been talking about that, though details on that stills remain to be
seen. And they may hail the deal to keep almost a thousand factory jobs in the state of Indiana at the Carrier air-conditioning plants.
So on tonight's program, we'll be taking you through each one of these announcements and what actually mean for the world's biggest economy.
Well, Trump is picking two men with decades of Wall Street experience to run the American economy. Steven Mnuchin was nominated to be the next
Treasury Secretary. He would basically be the nation's top banker. You see him there holding that cup of coffee. He'll be overseeing the
collection of taxes and regulating Wall Street. And then, you have billionaire Wilbur Ross with the -- wearing glasses was tapped as Commerce
Secretary who will become the face of American business abroad.
In addition to being a former partner at Goldman-Sachs, Mnuchin is also a Hollywood producer. Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren referred
unflatteringly to his movie connections, she called in "the Forrest Gump of the financial crisis" showing up at every unfortunate turn. And Democratic
National Committee says appointing the Wall Street Insider is, and I'm quoting his, "is a slap in the face to voters who thought Trump would shake
up Washington." Well, Mnuchin is promising a shake up of his own well off the U.S. tax. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVEN MNUCHIN, TRUMP'S PICK FOR TREASURY SECRETARY: Well, I mean, our first priority is going to be the tax plan. And the tax plan has both the
corporate aspects to it, lowering corporate taxes that will make U.S. companies the most competitive in the world, making sure we repatriate
trillions of dollars back to the United States, and the personal income taxes where we're going to have the most significant middle income tax cut
since Reagan. We're going to incorporate the Child Care Program. So this is going to be a tremendous boom to the economy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Well, joining us now is Betsy McCaughey, former New York Lieutenant Governor and economic adviser to the Trump campaign. She was
also married to Wilbur Ross for five years in the 1990s, and William Cohan, Special Correspondent for Vanity Fair and the author of the book on Goldman
Sachs.
Thank you very much to you both coming on the show to discuss this. Plenty to talk about Mnuchin as well, one of the main appointments today. Donald
Trump, when he came into power, he basically said he wanted to drain the swamp of Washington. He does seem from many of these appointments, he is
surrounding himself with billionaires. How does --
WILLIAM COHAN, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT FOR VANITY FAIR: Alligators.
SOARES: Alligators. OK. How do you -- where do you stand on this, Will?
COHAN: Well, look, you know, I think at times like this, you have to look at the markets. The markets are very instructive.
SOARES: Absolutely.
COHAN: On the one hand, the stock market is achieving all-time highs. Why? Because suddenly the dynamic has changed, the risk factors have
changed. The profile of how Wall Street is going to be regulated has changed. Tax rates may or may not be coming down. We'll see regulations
may or may not be coming off.
But then, you also have to look at the bond market which is basically freaking out. That's not a technical term but that's what's happening.
But the ten-year treasury have risen in yield, fallen in price. Why? Because Donald Trump who promised and made a big deal about cutting the $20
trillion of debt that we have, his tax plans and his economic proposals are slated to increase the debt by $7 trillion, and at least.
[00:10:03] And so, instead of reducing the national debt below 20 trillion, it will actually increase it over 10 years to 27 trillion which the bond
market does not like, because that is fiscally irresponsible.
(CROSSTALK)
BETSY MCCAUGHEY, FORMER NEW YORK LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR: The team of people who put together President-elect Trump's economic plan are supply-siders,
very much in the reign -- in the vain of JFK and then later, Ronald Reagan. And the idea is that cutting these business taxes by more than 50% as well
as cutting individual tax rates for all but the very wealthy, even the wealthy will get a tax rate reduction but it will be offset by elimination
of many of the deductions that rich people take.
So, that will be revenue neutral for everybody else so it'll be a big tax cut. The idea is that this will jumpstart the economy and lift it from its
current very low growth rate to perhaps 4% or more. And when Reagan did this in the 1980s at the beginning, it caused a larger deficit. But by
1991, you saw the deficit coming down as the revenue poured in and that is exactly what is intended here.
I would also like to address the issue of draining the swamp, because yes, indeed, President-elect Donald Trump promised the American people, he would
drain the swamp. He meant the swamp of cronyism and insider deals in Washington. But this election was a referendum on the Democratic Party's
class warfare rhetoric. And the nation rejected it. They don't dislike rich people. They want to make money themselves. And if you want to know
how to make money, ask somebody like Donald Trump, Wilbur Ross or Steve Mnuchin, they know how to do it.
SOARES: I think that's a very good point, because I want to know what -- how do Americans feel about this, because at the end of the day, you know,
they've, you know, giants of Wall Street, well-known internationally, who we think can get the job done -- get the job done well grow the economy, do
Americans even care if they're billionaires or not?
COHAN: Look, I think I can agree with Betsy. I disagree with a lot of what she said, but I think I can agree with her on the fact that we have to
at least give this new administration a shot. OK. And yes, I have argued that Wall Street people have a lot to add to government in Washington.
They have a lot of knowledge, if they can get through a Senate confirmation hearing, if they're willing --
SOARES: You think they will?
COHAN: Well, it remains to be seen in each of these cases.
MCCAUGHEY: I don't see any problem.
COHAN: Of course, Betsy does not see any problems but there are plenty of problems --
MCCAUGHEY: Well, listen, I know these people pretty well.
COHAN: Well, you know Wilbur very well. There are potential problems looming for all of them. And the question is will they be enough to stop
the Senate confirmation hearing.
My point is, if they're willing to give up, if these billionaires and make no mistake, they are all billionaires, if they're willing to give up their
day jobs, so to speak, to take -- become a dollar-a-year man like Donald Trump or a 100,000 whatever it is like, maybe these other guys will take.
If they're willing to do that and they can get through a Senate confirmation hearing, then I think the American people actually will
benefit from their wisdom and their knowledge about how the markets work.
I have grave questions however that this 4% growth promise is --
SOARES: And what is that?
COHAN: -- so easily rolled off the tongue of Steve Mnuchin and Donald Trump and others as a done deal. Once we cut taxes, that is that trickle-
down economics distraught.
MCCAUGHEY: No, it is not.
COHAN: Yes, it is.
MCCAUGHEY: It's not a trickle-down. That's not the same as trickle-down
COHAN: It's the blind side of economics that was tried in the 1980, it did not work. The deficits ballooned. It took -- believe it or not, and I'm
no fan of Bill Clinton, but it took Bill Clinton's administration, two of them, to get the deficit down a lot.
MCCAUGHEY: You saw the deficit shrinking by 1991. And the fact is we can achieve 4% growth. You look at the number of Western European countries --
COHAN: Easy said than done.
MCCAUGHEY: -- all fully-developed countries whether it's Sweden, Poland, Spain have all achieved 4%, Ireland, well above that. And so, the fact is
that lowering tax rates deregulating was just a key --
COHAN: After years of near depression.
MCCAUGHEY: -- key part of the Trump proposal. And thirdly, really invigorating domestic energy production, those three things will get this
economy moving.
SOARES: And, Betsy, you know the commerce secretary better than most of us.
MCCAUGHEY: I do.
SOARES: What makes him a good pick?
MCCAUGHEY: OK. First of all, he is the smartest man in America. I know because I married him for his brains. He is incredibly smart. He could
easily be person in himself that he wanted to be. And what we need in the Commerce Department is someone who knows how to do deals.
Because as Donald Trump pointed out many times on the campaign trail, Americans have been snookered again and again in this trade deals by other
countries. There's nothing wrong with trade but let's have fair trade not just free trade.
SOARES: And he stays very much in line with the president-elect when it comes to trade --
MCCAUGHEY: That's right.
SOARES: But you take the issue well with the way that the president-elect is run -- perhaps run the country like he runs the business. Why? Why
can't he do it, run the country as he runs a business?
COHAN: Betsy talked about the American people being snookered. I think we -- they may well have been snookered by Donald Trump.
[00:15:02] It's just amazing --
MCCAUGHEY: No.
COHAN: Yes.
MCCAUGHEY: I'm talking about --
COHAN: Yes, it remains to be seen --
(CROSSTALK)
COHAN: It remains to be seen whether he can deliver what he has promised on. Will we be better off without those trade deals remains to be seen,
will our debt be better -- be lower or higher remains to be seen. Will our economy achieve 4% growth or to be stuck at 2% remains to be seen. He did
apparently seems to have delivered on one small campaign promise having Carriers jobs --
SOARES: The Carriers. That's -- I mean that's --
MCCAUGHEY: This is a symbol.
COHAN: But believe it or not -- no, it's a symbol. But we don't -- the devils are going to be in the details and we don't know.
(CROSSTALK)
MCCAUGHEY: Why? Why he did it? He calls Carriers --
SOARES: Do you know that, Betsy?
MCCAUGHEY: Yes. Let me just explain.
COHAN: What does he give up to United Technologies in exchange for that?
MCCAUGHEY: I don't believe that he offered something. The fact is United Technologies does a lot of business with the federal government, but the
bigger issue is he could tell Carrier and companies all across this country, in a few weeks, you will be seeing tax reform that cut your
corporate tax rate in half. And furthermore, if you have profits repatriated over, you can -- I mean, stock overseas, you can repatriate
them at a very low rate. That's enough of a promise to the whole nation to get these companies to stay in place.
SOARES: Promises, pledges, let's see whether they can deliver, Betsy and Will --
MCCAUGHEY: A thousand families are having a better holiday this year because they have the most of their breadwinner --
SOARES: Some positive news today, thank you very much to you both.
Now, U.S. stocks mostly took Trump's new appointments in this strive (ph) with pointing at that. The Dow briefly touched the record high before
losing some of the day's gains. Oil stocks in particular were driving that rally and that's because we've seen OPEC agreeing to a cut in production by
about 1.2 million barrels a day in the current 33.6 million barrels.
We'll be live in Vienna for the very latest on that now. Ray LaHood is a former U.S. Transportation Secretary under President Obama. He joins us
now live from Washington. Mr. LaHood, I'm sure you probably had this very heated discussion we are having here. What did you make of these two
economic picks?
RAY LAHOOD, FORMER U.S. TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: Well, look, to the victor go this coils and Donald Trump can appoint anybody that he wants.
These gentlemen are going to have to make their way through the Senate. There're going to be very, very tough questions that they will have to
answer. Some of which will be what is Donald Trump's economic plan? How will he get people back to work? How will he get the economy moving? It's
got to be more than just tax cuts. It's got to be a combination of many things.
And the devils and the details and so these gentlemen obviously are both very successful, whether they can be successful in government or not
remains to be seen and whether they can maneuver their way through these hearings remains to be seen.
SOARES: Absolutely, because they are corporate sharks, but they have very little governance experience -- government experience, don't they?
LAHOOD: Yes, that's right. And look, it's -- we've had other people involved in private enterprise and private business, and investments
involved in government. And they have been successful. The direction will come from the White House. The direction will come from Treasury.
But these are not experienced gentlemen in maneuvering through government and maneuvering through Senate hearings. And they will need some good
coaching. And they will also need a good plan to be able to talk about. And we haven't heard what those plans are.
SOARES: Well, two details still missing. Let's talk about Elaine Chao, named this week as the new Transport Secretary, as someone who held that
job, is she the best person for the job? What are the challenges, sir?
LAHOOD: She is the best person for the job. I consider Elaine a great pick. She is somebody who is very knowledgeable about transportation
having worked at the U.S. Department of Transportation and having been a Cabinet Secretary at the Department of Labor for eight years.
She knows how to run a big department. She knows how to maneuver around government. She knows how to make sure that the kind of infrastructure
that President-elect Trump is talking about, if that is really doable, she can get it done. She is going to be very well-versed on how to get it done
and how to maneuver Congress. And I am more hopeful about transportation and infrastructure with her appointment than I've been in a long time.
SOARES: Let me ask you, you mentioned that Congress, she will have to get this infrastructure bill through Congress. Do you think that her role be
complicated at all by her husband Mitch McConnell. Her relationship is also a critical player I think in any infrastructure bill negotiations.
LAHOOD: Oh, not at all. I think it would be a distinct advantage. The majority leader has already said he is not going to recuse himself. But
Elaine Chao will get through Congress because she is experienced.
[00:20:01] She has a know-how. She's been at DOT. She's been a Labor Secretary for eight years under President George W. Bush. She is probably
one of the most experienced people maneuvering through Congress, at maneuvering through government, and she knows how to do it.
She brings so much talent. She brings so much intelligence. She brings so much know-how. I -- There's the -- There won't even be a question I think
she will be voted unanimously out of the Senate.
SOARES: Mr. LaHood, always a pleasure to get your insight.
LAHOOD: Thank you.
SOARES: Thank you very much for joining us here on this show.
LAHOOD: Thank you very much.
SOARES: Now, Donald Trump likes to tweet you and I know that. Well, in his latest tweets of flurry, he is trying to assure Americans, he won't
mingle business with the presidency. But how exactly is he doing that? We'll break it down.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOARES: Now, Donald Trump says he is stepping away from business before he steps into the White House. The president-elect tweeted this on Wednesday,
"I will be holding a major news conference in New York City with my children on December the 15th, discuss the fact that I will be leaving my
great business in total in order to fully focus on running the country." Well, this -- it's all about the conflict of interest.
The CNN polls say six out of 10 Americans believe Trump isn't doing enough to address that very issue. CNN's Cristina Alesci reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CRISTINA ALESCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This morning, a Donald Trump tweet storm. Trump writing that it is visually important to a no way have a
conflict of interest. His solution, handing his business over to his children, the same plan he touted during the campaign.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I have Ivanka and Eric and Don sitting there. Run the company kids, have a good time. I'm going to
do it for America.
ALESCI: But will ceding control of the company to his kids erase the conflicts? With a business that spans 25 countries, experts say, there
would be plenty of opportunity in the White House for the Trump family to enrich itself if it chose to.
For example, in Argentina, a paper exposed the details of a phone call between Trump and Argentinian President Mauricio Macri. Local media claims
that Trump raised permitting issues he was having with one of his projects in the country, a planned mega-tower in Buenos Aires. Both Trump and Macri
deny the permits came up in conversation.
In Turkey, Trump's name is on an Istanbul shopping mall and condo complex. In an interview last year with his now Chief Strategist Steve Bannon, Trump
himself acknowledged the conflict.
TRUMP: I have a little conflict of interest because I have a major, major building in Istanbul.
ALESCI: Trump's partner on the project was Dogan Holding, a company that the Turkish government fined for $2.5 billion in 2009 over tax issues. The
company was locked in a battle with Turkish President, Erdogan.
[00:25:00] That year, President Erdogan even called for a boycott of the Dogan, which is a part owner of CNN Turk. This week, a Turkish journalist
revealed that Trump and Erdogan recently spoke on the phone. During the call, Trump reportedly tried to mend the relationship between Erdogan and
Dogan.
When CNN asked about the call, Trump spokespeople declined to comment. In the Philippines, Trump business partner Jose Antonio, was named by his
government as the official Filipino trade envoy to the Unites States. Antonio already partner with the Trump family on a project in Manila --
TRUMP: It's really great working with Century Properties and the Antonio family.
ALESCI: Antonio flew to New York right after the election. Who did he meet with, the Trump children. Antonio's son later told The New York Times
that the post-election trip was a business meeting, not a diplomatic one. But since the election, Trump has made a concerted effort to include his
children in the transition, even while preparing them to take over the company.
Even if Trump does create this wall between himself and his children running the business, he is not talking about selling off his assets and
having an independent auditor place them in a blind trust which has been the standard. He still knows what properties he owns and who his partners
are.
So the analogy here is if you have a Ferrari and give your kids the keys, you don't forget that you own the Ferrari.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOARES: All right, Richard Painter was the Chief White House ethics lawyer for President George W. Bush from 2005 to 2007. He joins me now from
Minneapolis where he's a law professor at the University of Minnesota.
Thank you very much, Richard to speak to us here on Quest Means Business. That tweet that we heard -- that we saw today from the president-elect, do
they convince you?
RICHARD PAINTER, VICE CHAIRMAN, CITIZENS FOR RESPONSIBILITY AND ETHICS IN WASHINGTON: Well, I am happy that he has acknowledged that the President
can have a conflict of interest which is certainly a step in the right direction and improvement of where we were about a week ago. But in order
to address this conflict of interest, he is going to have to sell his interest in his business.
He cannot continue to own the business, turn management over to the children and say there's not a conflict of interest. We're still going to
have the problem with foreign government money getting into the Trump business organization. And some of those payments could be in violation of
the (volume clause) of the constitution.
We're going to still have the problem of his name going up on buildings all over the world. And people paying him simply put his name on buildings and
it doesn't matter who is running the business, that's going to be going on. And we got to know how we're going to protect these buildings. Who's going
to provide security a foreign government, the United States government, a taxpayer expense or the Trump Organization? They got our black water if
somebody do it.
We're going to make sure there's a not tragedy at one of those locations around the globe. And that's the reason we don't put the President's name
up on buildings all over the place. President Obama doesn't do it and I do not think President Trump should do it. And there are host of other
problems, they're going to come up if he continues to own this business enterprise while his children are managing it.
SOARES: Of course, this is a president situation. So what are his options, just sell the holdings? Would you be pleased with that?
PAINTER: I think he shouldn't sell the holdings. So he could have some of this property put in to a company that does an initial public offering
sells to the public or to private investors. But I think that selling the holdings is the appropriate step to take if he's going to be a conflict-
free president. Otherwise, we're going to hear nothing but stories about the Trump Organization over the next four years and how official actions of
the United States government could benefit the Trump Organization, we're going to hear about what's being done to protect these buildings overseas
and hope that nothing bad happens when we stick the President's name up at some building in a country with problems.
And we're going to hear about scandals where people are alleged to be talking quid pro quo. It's over those conversations you just refer to are
troubling when people talk in the Unites States --
SOARES: Yes.
PAINTER: -- government business side by side with Trump organization business.
SOARES: It is not an easy task, isn't it Richard, because at the end of the day, he is his brand?
PAINTER: Yes he is, but he chose to run for president. And now, his brand is Donald Trump President of the United States, for four years. He wanted
that job. The American people voted to give him that job. And now, it's time for him to do it.
So I don't think he could be selling his brand or letting his children sell his brand all over the world, while he sat there on the White House. The
White House is not a place to go to increase your wealth. It's a place to go to serve the American people.
[00:30:01] That's what he wanted to do. He has the ability to do the job and it is to do at -- free of conflict of interest.
SOARES: Yes. And the concern of course is that, if he doesn't sell, he passes on to his family. They'd sit down at dinner and he asks how is the
business going then he will offer some advice, and there we go back to square one.
Richard Painter, always great to get your insight. Thank you very much, sir.
Now, the markets didn't really think it could happen, but they're glad it did. OPEC strikes a deal after weeks of very difficult talks. We're live
in Vienna in just a moment. Eleni Giokos will have the news headlines after this short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello. I'm Eleni Giokos in New York. Coming up on the next half hour of "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS", we'll speak to
the CEO of BlackBerry about Donald Trump's vow to keep factory jobs in the United States.
And get ready for Armageddon on a black and white board, the world's chess championships come to a grandstand finale. And before that, these are the
top news headlines we're following for you this hour.
Audio recordings reveal the pilots of the jet that crashed in Colombia, Monday told air traffic controllers his plane had no power and was out of
fuel. The crash killed at least 71 people including most of the members of the Brazilian football team. Six people survived. The U.S. is sending two
aviation investigators to Colombia to assist.
Donald Trump is promising to totally remove himself from his businesses when he moves into the White House. Trump tweeted he isn't legally obliged
to do so but he says it's visually important. He's planning to outline his plans in a news conference with his children on December the 15th.
The U.N. Security Council has been holding an emergency meeting on Aleppo as Syrian government troops tightened their grip on rebel-held areas of the
city. A volunteer group says 45 civilians were killed in Eastern Aleppo Wednesday as government forces step up their offensive.
Crowds line the streets of Havana, Cuba on Wednesday to catch a glimpse of former leader Fidel Castro's ashes. His remains are taking a reverse route
to Castro's path across Cuba as he seized power in 1959. His ashes will arrive in Santiago de Cuba on Saturday. His funeral will be held on
Sunday.
At least four people are dead and 45 injured, that's following devastating wildfires near the resort town of Gatlinburg (ph), Tennessee. Some
residents are also reporting missing family members.
[00:35:00] So far, the wildfires which officials say were human caused have destroyed roughly 15,000 acres and destroyed more than 250 buildings.
So the deal is done. OPEC stuns the markets by agreeing to cut crude oil production by 1.2 million barrels a day. The cartel's first output-cut in
eight years sent prices soaring. Take a look at that.
Brent crude has rallied more than 11% to $51.64, a long way from that $27 a barrel mark in February.
Before the spike today, prices were hovering around the mid 40s. This month, a speculation about a deal mounted. Now the agreement comes after
weeks of tough negotiations.
Not every OPEC member got what it wanted. Indonesia has suspended its membership in protest.
Our Emerging Markets Editor John Defterios is in Vienna for us tonight. John, this is a long time coming, what do you think the tipping point was
for the cartel to finally make this decision?
JOHN DEFTERIOS, EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: Yes. As you suggested, it was a lot of hard work. It was a year in the making for them to finally capture
this price, Eleni, getting the first cut since 2008.
The tipping point of course was prices. If they didn't get out of here with a deal, they were threatened with a fall down to below $40 a barrel.
But it was three hard days of negotiation, some here at OPEC headquarters, and then a lot of late night meetings at a few five star hotels.
The foundation was laid just two months ago at the end of September in Algiers and the UEA minister told me right after he came out of the
meeting. They just had to follow that script and not get distracted by regional geopolitics and challenges for example from Indonesia. Let's take
a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everything is as expected, so the Algeria and the Algerian promise is happening.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thirty two point five?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. And everyone was cooperative but this will need the cooperation with the others and we are coordinating with some other key
producers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEFTERIOS: Now, 32.5, Eleni, is significant because it means that OPEC is going to cut over a million barrels a day and that beat all expectations
coming into the meeting. Now, the attention will shift to the other major oil procedures of the world like Russia, Kazakhstan, Mexico and Oman.
They've agreed behind the scenes here to cut better than 600,000 barrels a day.
Now the OPEC president who is also the minister of energy for Qatar said he thinks after all these talks over the last year they will deliver.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MOHAMMED AL SADA, MINISTER OF ENERGY AND INDUSTRY, QATAR: We think with the commitment shown by many non-OPEC, that we think that we can get the
600 out of them 300 from Russia. By now I think we were asked to announce that to you and they will announce it themselves.
Other countries also, we believe they showed commitment and we will invite them to the meeting and we are sure that we will get the 600 and maybe more
if possible we will agree with that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEFTERIOS: That meeting is scheduled to take place at least right now on December 9th. That is a very relieved Mohammed Al Sada of Qatar. He
called a meeting back in April, Eleni, in Doha and it stumbled very badly and he was proven correct that if you do stay with it, you can get a deal
by the end of 2016, and that's the hope they have now to get the cooperation with the other players as well.
GIOKOS: And, John, we've seen the oil price coming under so much pressure. I mean, from those levels that we saw in February we've seen a little bit
of a recovery.
But during these negotiations, how much of a motivator was the Brent crude price? And over and above that of course we've seen so much oversupply of
oil. We've also seen slower growth in key emerging markets. What do you think was actually weighed up?
DEFTERIOS: Well, first and foremost, this deal was extremely important and in fact we knew in the last 24 hours that Saudi Arabia and Iran were going
head to head on whether they would give each other some flexibility here. They set aside their geopolitical differences because of the price and that
threat of going below $40 a barrel.
[00:39:57] It's also very important they think they can -- with this agreement, Eleni, they can get $55 to $60 a barrel. But let's just take a
big step back. They have a three-year losing streak when it comes to oil revenues. They were making more than $1 trillion a year back in 2012.
They haven't had a three-year losing streak since the oil bust of the 1980s. They want that to come to an end in 2017.
And also, let's remember, the other thing that's coming to the end is the Saudi strategy at the end of 2014, to flood the market with crude to drive
out the Shell producers. They threw the white flag tonight. They are going to cut production going all the way through to 2017.
SOARES: Yes, John, and we're going to be watching the (so close) CTC if the members do comply, and of course that was mentioned as well, and that's
when we really start to see the impact. John Defterios there live from Vienna.
Now, the OPEC deal has given European stock markets a lift, shares of energy companies like Shell and Total. The big win is today. On the
losing side, however, Royal Bank of Scotland fell off. It failed the latest Bank of England stress test. Berkeley and Standard Chartered also
were found to have some inadequacies regarding their financial strength, all right.
He hasn't even taken office yet and Donald Trump is already wielding the power of the presidency. Viral video of workers being told, their jobs
were being shipped to Mexico. Spark fears of widespread U.S. job losses but Trump has made a deal to save those jobs. We'll be back in just a
moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOARES: Welcome back to QUEST MEANS BUSINESS. You need to adjust your television sets. It is me, indeed, thank you very much, Eleni.
Now, President-elect, Trump has stepped into a high-profile row of U.S. worker's job and done a deal that set to spare nearly 1,000 employees for
being laid off. This is what he twitted, "Big day on Thursday for Indiana and the great workers of that wonderful state. We'll keep our companies
and jobs in the U.S. Thanks, Carrier."
Well, the air-conditioner maker was planning to reproduction from Indiana to Mexico, and Trump made the fight for those jobs. One of his signature
issues you remember on the campaign trail where YouTube video workers has been told their jobs were being axed, went viral.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It became clear that the best way to stay competitive and protect the business for long term is to move production from our
facility in Indianapolis to Monterrey, Mexico--
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Well, the original plan was to move 1,400 jobs. The fate of the other 400 is still not clear. Still, workers said they were thrilled to
get the news, including the woman who shot this very video. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would say just thank you for doing what you said you are going to do.
[00:45:00] Because when it comes to presidential candidates, you know, sometimes, if not all the time, a lot of times they don't do what they
promise they're going to do. So if he does do it, I would tell him, thank you personally for me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't really want to retire right now. So I'd like to go and work a little longer. So, yes, it's a relief, not just me but
for many of the younger people. And I'm glad for them. So it just depends of what happens, whether I stay or go.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Well, what is the rest of the business world think of this move? Joining me now is John Chen, the CEO of Blackberry. Mr. Chen, thank you
very much for joining us here in QUEST MEANS BUSINESS. The first time we're talking to you since the election. What do you make of President-
elect Donald Trump for business? Where do you stand on it?
JOHN CHEN, CEO, BLACKBERRY: Well, I think is he follows through with the campaign promises that he made regarding retaining jobs and opening up
trade around the world, I think would be a very good thing for our country.
SOARES: Where does the tech industry, in particular, stand on his appointment?
CHEN: Well, I think is -- in general, in Silicon Valley, we will look at it as a little bit of a wait-and-see, and see what happen. Obviously, you
know, the number one issue is we need to expand globally. And anything that he could help us to expand globally, whether it's policy, whether it's
making a better trade deal and so forth, will be extremely welcomed.
SOARES: And, of course, you're applauding him for what he's achieved thus far. Now, we're lacking details there with the Carrier.
CHEN: Yes. At this point in time, I think it's too early to tell but I think the team that he had picked under the economic side seems to be a
pretty powerful team, and it seems to be a very pro-business type team. And I know he pry himself being a dealmaker, and if those two comes
together and could generate win-win situation between us and global trading partners, I think this will be a good thing.
SOARES: So you think Mnuchin will be good for business, you think?
CHEN: Yes, I think it's hopeful that it will be good for business, yes.
SOARES: Now, you're -- I think it's -- I think you don't mind me saying, you're a registered Republican, you're an immigrant, but you've also
advised on U.S.-China relations under George W. Bush. How do you think the president-elect will impact, what kind of relationship he will have with
China in terms of trade relations here?
CHEN: Well, that's a great question. I think there are -- so far, the messages has been mix, you know, one good and one bad. I think the Chinese
like the fact that he got off the TPP situation, at least, he said he will. And -- but on the other hand, there was a looming currency manipulators,
status, and I hope that doesn't go through because if it goes through, that would set a trade war going.
And I have been on record saying that I hope that these new ideas and new teams come out with a new dialogue between us and China. We really do need
China to open with the market. I think Chinese likes our market very much and likes our technology. I think the combination, you know, could be a
win-win and I -- and I'm waiting to see how that could be put together.
And as I said -- now, the one wild card here, obviously, is we don't know who the secretary of state is going to be because there's a lot of things
have to do with the foreign policy, also, in addition, due to economics teams.
SOARES: Of course, the dining and the interviews are still proceeding as we know. You mentioned at the trade war, how realistic is this? How
fearfully you with this?
CHEN: I'm not. I mean I'm an optimist. And I think there's enough people in Washington, especially the Congress people that are pro-trade. And I
believe that we'll work this out. Because it doesn't help either side and it actually will send a shockwave to other trading partners, not just
between China and United States. I think it would be -- the effect would be felt a lot bigger and broader.
SOARES: Let's talk a bit about Blackberry, I think it's time. You, I believe -- correct me if I'm wrong, you're unveiling a new keyboard phone,
is that correct?
CHEN: Yes. This becomes something that everybody wants to know. Yes. OK. So, what we have done with our phone business is to decide that we
open up our operating system and technology, and security technology and license to everybody around the world who want to use our technology to
build phones.
So some of our partners, you know, we announced one in Indonesia. And in our records, and tell people that we're going to have a Chinese partner and
an Indian partner. And so -- And they would be building phones for either selective countries or territories or in a worldwide basis.
[00:50:00] And I'm sure one of those pioneers will build a keyboard phone. We had in our design, one keyboard phone. This is kind of the "the last
design" that we made here. And so, it is a keyboard phone and I haven't told anybody when it's going to come out yet, but we are going to come out
with one.
SOARES: Soon? How soon?
CHEN: Soon enough. I'm not going to be pre-announcing so, you know, otherwise, my marketing people will be quite upset with me.
SOARES: I'm sure they will, but you would know this because you -- Blackberry's share of the smartphone market has shrunk, that is not a
secret, but you're still prepared to stay in the game. Why are you now quitting the smartphone phone market?
CHEN: Well, there are many reasons. Number one, as I said, I think when the -- when a market share shrink, you know, you usually don't have the
volume to be able to make money. And so, I came out with -- or my team and I came out with this new idea of licensing our technology which has the
most secure technology for handsets.
And not only to serve the long-term customers that we have around the world, with governments and banks and medical profession, but also allow us
to penetrate bigger and broader market if we use partners to do it and relieve us on all the, you know, financial issues that it may generate when
you don't have a very strong phone sell.
So I think this might be a really a good way to come back. And so, stay in the business possibly, supporting my customers, expanding our footprint,
you know, a combination of that, at least will worth a try.
SOARES: Mr. Chen, John Chen, the CEO of Blackberry. It's always a pleasure. Thank you very much, sir.
CHEN: Thank you. Thank you very much.
SOARES: Now, the jackets are coming off. Two chess prodigies have broken a sweat as the cold war heats up. It will be an all-or-nothing tonight at
the World Chess Championship. We'll be talking to an international master about the making of a champion, that's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOARES: The South Street Seaport was hoping for Armageddon and it may it get it to Armageddon or sudden death chess could decide the World
Championship. Norway's Magnus Carlsen is in a tiebreaker with Russia's Sergey Karjakin, in a contest that personifies politics in the match 64th
quest.
Carlsen and Karjakin both get -- they're just 26 years of age. And while chess may invoke memories of cold war tensions, these are athletes with
global appeal, big online followings, and as well as major sponsors.
And joining me now is Women's International Master, Alisa Melekhina who joins me now. Alisa, thanks very much for being on the show. Who would
you think will win today? Who is the best chess player of those two?
ALISA MELEKHINA, WOMEN'S INTERNATIONAL CHESS MASTER: Well, first of all, thank you for having me. And it's hard to say. Magnus Carlsen is the two-
time defending world champion and Karjakin is pretty much broke out into the chess seen her as the challenger. And today is actually Magnus'
birthday. He is turning 26, so I don't know. They're playing as we speak. Anything can happen but my money is still on the defending world champion.
SOARES: Let's talk a bit about what you learned. What skills, can anyone play chess? Can anyone be great at chess?
MELEKHINA: Absolutely. Well, it's easy to learn the game. The rules are simple enough. And beyond that is just about constant practice, exposing
yourself to the principles and the strategy of the game. But I would say that the best time to learn chess is when you're young because it's like
picking up a language.
I learned to play chess when I was five years old. I've been competing ever since. And if you learn that as a child, you'll pick it up, you'll
absorb it quicker. And you'll also need the opportunities to travel. So, the two challengers we see here for the World Championship match, I mean,
all they do pretty much is chess. They are professionals. They study everyday.
SOARES: And Alisa, what do you get off of it? What does it teach you beside strategy and focus?
MELEKHINA: There are so many skills that chess can teach you that you can apply to real life. So things like critical thinking, analytical skills,
when to trust your intuition and when to go against your intuition. Thinking outside the box, I think that's the big one because in chess,
there is a limited number of pieces, really only just five unique pieces, and the pawn, very constraint set of rules.
And then within those pieces and parameters, you have to be able to outsmart your opponent given that the information is transparent. You have
to always think one step ahead. Be aware of all the connections between the pieces and how they function, and that is something that is applicable
to skills beyond the chess board.
SOARES: Alisa Melekhina, thanks very much. We shall wait to see who wins that one. Great to see you. Thank you.
MELEKHINA: Thank you very much.
SOARES: Now, if you want a daily digest of the top business stories delivered directly to your inbox, subscribe to the QUEST MEANS BUSINESS
newsletter featuring Richard's Profitable Moment, all the top headlines from the rest of the CNN money team. Just go to cnnmoney.com/quest to
subscribe, you can see it there.
And that is Quest Means Business. I'm Isa Soares. I'll see you tomorrow. Thanks very much. Have a good night.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
