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Quest Means Business
Survey: Bosses More Confident Under Trump; Uber Hires Holder for Sexism Investigation; Verizon Cuts Yahoo Price by $350 Million; Facebook Messenger Gets International Money Transfers; Natalie Portman on Her Work- Life Balance. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired February 21, 2017 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[16:00:00] RICHARD QUEST, CNN ANCHOR: Another record on Wall Street. Closing bell is ringing. The market almost at the high level of the day.
A gain of over 113 points. We're 20,700 comfortably through the -- Total ringing the closing bell. And that sir, for a chairman of an oil company,
I think that was a very wimpy gavel. It is Tuesday, it's February the 21st.
In Trump we trust. A survey of business leaders say they're optimistic about this new administration.
Now who pays the price for being hacked? But actually, it's not that high.
And a chat with your banker. International money transfers move into a Facebook messenger. International transfers are that much easier.
I'm Richard Quest live in the world's financial capital where I mean business.
Good evening. As you saw with the closing bell, the good times are rolling on Wall Street. All three of the major indices have closed at all-time
highs. And confidence is surging from the C suite to the trading floor.
Giant merger deals are once again being floated left right and center. And even if they're not coming to fruition, there on the cards. Traders on
Wall Street have come back from a long weekend and just look at that, up a 114 at 20,738. There is a ferocious appetite for stocks. And the Dow has
just enjoyed its best day in two weeks.
So, let me just throw a few more statistics that you. This is the eighth straight session where it has closed at an all-time closing high. And I'm
sure somebody is going to tell me how many all-time closing highs in a session makes a record in its own right.
Alan Valdes is a senior partner at Silverbear Capital. He's live with me now from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Very simply, Alan, what
is driving this rally? Obviously, there's the Trump factor. But what else?
ALAN VALDES, SENIOR PARTNER, SILVERBEAR CAPITAL: You're right, Richard, I mean there is that Trump effect going on right now. But you know, today it
was 56 percent back to basics. Last week on Friday we got a rash of good government data. It was inflation firming up, stronger retail sales,
stronger manufacturing number. And then the week before we had that strong jobs number. And today we're back to earnings. Earnings are up about 4.8
percent collectively and over 60 percent of the companies that have reported. And today we had good numbers out of Home Depot and so, so
numbers out of Macy's. But Home Depot set the pace.
QUEST: OK, but on their earnings point, I was looking at the numbers earlier today. The earnings are of between 4 and 7 percent, but companies
are not doing as well as expectations. So, although they are making more, the market people like you had expected even more from them.
VALDES: We did, but at the same time the numbers are not bad. We were expecting, analysts were expecting a little less. Right now, like I said,
collectively we are up 4.8. They were looking for 3.4. So, were doing much better than they were expecting earlier in the quarter.
QUEST: All right. Now let's have a look. This was a deal. Here we go. What if I got for you? I have got the deal where the owners of Burger
King, BK Group, which also owns these delicious doughnuts, have bought Popeyes. This is almost crueler than usual punishment to put fried chicken
in front of me. A deal worth almost $2 billion. The market like food and it love the deal.
VALDES: Without a doubt. I mean, we love this merger talk. You have Carl Icahn coming out later in the day with talk of a merger. But this one
Popeyes, this chicken hits home really to all of us down here in Wall Street.
QUEST: All right, one other thing though. When a correction comes -- and it surely will. I mean, the markets up 13 percent since the election and
21,000 we're now talking about when it's only been 27 days since 20,000. So, when the correction comes, will it -- is it your gut feeling it's a
brutal one or is it more trading sideways as concrete gets poured into the market underpinning the game so far?
VALDES: Yes, I think it's going to be more of a sideways action. And I tell you one of the main reasons is, since January 1 $52 billion have
poured into U.S. equity funds. And they're still looking to put more money in the funds. So, I think it's going to be hard to really sell off.
A lot of stop orders may tip in. So, you could get down 1 percent, but is not to be a major selloff. And remember, this markets going up without
even a proposal of the tax cuts yet. So, if we get a tax cut strong proposal, you can see the market definitely trend higher.
QUEST: Alan, good to see you, sir. Sorry this morning when I was out for Quest Express. Good to see you on the floor of the exchange.
VALDES: Thanks, Richard.
QUEST: Executives are feeling more and more confident since Donald Trump's election, according to a survey from J.P. Morgan. Now, it was a poll
taken after the election but before the inauguration. And three quarters of executives say they think the new administration will be positive for
their business. Only 12 percent expected negative reaction. Among midsize businesses confidence levels have doubled compared to last year. The
survey says reducing regulation, lowering taxes, and improving infrastructure should be the government's top priorities.
[16:05:00] Betsy McCaughey was on the Trump campaign's list of economic advisers. She is with me now. We always like to have you, Betsy.
BETSY MCCAUGHEY, FORMER LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK: Thank you.
QUEST: This confidence, I mean, what's driving it? We know what they want --
MCCAUGHEY: Expectations, Richard. Expectations of massive tax cuts, sweeping deregulation, and big infrastructure plans. And already business
executives and investors are buoyed at the very early indications at Trump is serious about deregulation, which is so costly to this economy.
Regulation costs on average $20,000 per worker. It's sucking up money that we could be offering in take-home pay. And instead we're expending on
regulations strangle business.
QUEST: All right, but put regulations to one side, because I got an opposite view.
MCCAUGHEY: I just want to make a point --
QUEST: Go on.
MCCAUGHEY: -- that Trump has put his money where his mouth is. He's already issued an executive order instructing all his agencies to eliminate
two regulations for every one that --
QUEST: All right, since you want to go down regulation, let's go there. What about throwing the baby out with the bathwater. This regulation that
was just removed about coal mining and pollution of streams. Now look, there was a reason for that regulation.
MCCAUGHEY: I've never met a regulation that regulators didn't love. But the fact is even though Congress now requires regulators to provide a cost-
benefit analysis. They jigger it, they game the system. They rarely actually assess the cost on business. And I agree with you, I like clean
water. I like regulations to protect --
QUEST: Flint, Michigan.
MCCAUGHEY: But wait a second. Yes, Flint, Michigan, but that's not really a problem a regulation. That was a problem of inadequate infrastructure
investment. And the president has committed himself to massive infrastructure.
QUEST: When we go -- so, we've seen so far --
MCCAUGHEY: What we need are the tax cuts. What we need of the tax cuts and some investors are a little --
QUEST: You look like you just been fed some red meat, the way you say that.
MCCAUGHEY: I'm anticipating that steak dinner.
QUEST: Don't remind me -- a cameras there to witness me. When do you expect a tax proposal on the table that Republicans deficit hawks will
accept?
MCCAUGHEY: Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan, has said no later than August. But I've heard a very good idea now being pushed to include the most
important tax cut, reducing the corporate rate to 15 percent, included in the budget bill that's also going to repeal Obamacare. And remember, this
repeal of the health plan is a massive tax cut and massive deregulation as well.
QUEST: Well it's not necessarily so. Because let's not go down the Obamacare. Because are going to have to replace it with something and
that's going to have to be paid for in some shape or form.
MCCAUGHEY: They're going to eliminate the mandate on employers. That's going to really boost hiring.
QUEST: Well not --
MCCAUGHEY: Yes, they are, immediately, immediately. It's going to be in the budget reconciliation bill.
QUEST: Let's go back to this corporate tax cut.
MCCAUGHEY: Yes.
QUEST: If you reduce the corporate tax bill from 30 -- whatever it is -- percent --
MCCAUGHEY: To 15.
QUEST: The nominal not the effective to 15. Where are you going to make up the difference?
MCCAUGHEY: Growth.
QUEST: Trickle down. Here we go.
MCCAUGHEY: No, it's not trickle down.
QUEST: Here we go. Trickle down.
MCCAUGHEY: You know what it is? Ronald Reagan prove that it worked. He/taxes in the 80s and by 1991 deficit was disappearing, because the
government was bringing so much more revenue even with lower rates.
QUEST: You love going for the controversial one. The just is not unanimous on that.
MCCAUGHEY: What are we unanimous about? Nothing really, except that we both like to talk.
QUEST: I'm always glad to hear here. Listen, full marks where it's due. I mean, at the end of the day this survey does make the point.
MCCAUGHEY: It's wonderful to see the market soar and with it we'll see a lot --
QUEST: Expectations. Good to see you.
The shady past of HSBC's private banking business has returned to haunt the company. Its shares drop more than 6 percent in London after the bank
reported a quarterly loss of $4.2 billion. Most of it is due to a huge right off on the value a private banking operations in Europe. The
businesses were forced to retrench after embarrassing revelations that it cater to tax evaders and dictators.
On that related point, you saw the way market -- the shares were down. You can see that HSBC effect on the FTSE. It was the only one that fell.
There was strong PMI in the Eurozone. Other markets were up as a result. But those HSBC results and UK House of Lords Brexit debate too, all pulled
down the FTSE.
[16:10:00] Now one of the main contenders in France is close for the presidential race, is making a stop in London where he's been giving a
speech in the last hour. Brexit is looming and this is the former economy minister Emmanuel Macron. He said he hopes to move British bankers and
academics to France. Tuesday at a face-to-face meeting with the UK Prime Minister, Theresa May. He's in a very tight race in the right to move into
the Elysees palace.
Three new polls suggest his rival on the far right, Marine Le Pen, will win the first round of voting. That will leave Macron and Francoise Fillon,
fighting for second place. Our correspondent in Paris is Melissa Bell.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MELISSA BELL, CNN PARIS CORRESPONDENT: Richard, the most seasoned political analysts here in France will tell you that this is an election
campaign like none they've ever seen before. First of all, in its unpredictability. Just a few weeks ago, at the start of 2017, the man
leading the polls was Francoise Fillon. As the Republican candidate who'd seen off the challenge by Nicolas Sarkozy, the former French president, he
looked set to bring the Republicans back to power after five years of socialist rule. And yet his campaign then ran into trouble. The two
people now leading in the polls are the far rights Marine Le Pen and the centrist, Emmanuel Macron. Both were outside of France today and given the
difference in their platforms it is no surprise that they're respective forays onto the international scene have very different results. Have a
look.
(voice-over): With just nine weeks to go till polling day, the two front runners in France's presidential election were abroad today trying to
establish their credentials as world leaders. In Beirut, a visit by the woman leading France's presidential polls, Marine Le Pen, the far-right
leader, set off a small protest and a large controversy.
Prior to meeting with the Lebanese religious leader, the Grand Mufti, his spokesman said Le Pen was told that she would have to wear a headscarf.
She refused to do so. The spokesman called it inappropriate behavior. As she stormed out of Lebanon's city authority, the Dar al-Fatwa, she said
she'd not been asked to cover herself on an earlier trip to Cairo when she met the Al-Azhar Mosque's Imam.
MARINE LE PEN, FRENCH PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, NATIONAL FRONT (through translator): Grand Mufti aids could have just told me, Madame, the
conditions in a Khaldoun is the veil. I had indicated earlier that I wouldn't wear it. The aids of the Grand Mufti were free at that point to
tell me that this meeting wouldn't happen.
BELL: A diplomatic incident that has been described by her critics back in France as blatant electioneering in a country where the headscarf is been a
central issue for more than a decade. Marine Le Pen is opposed to public religious symbols. Less controversy over was Emmanuel Marcon's visit to
Downing Street. After his meeting with the British Prime Minister, the centrist candidate who is now only second to Marine Le Pen, answered those
critics who point out that he has yet to say precisely what he actually stands for.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would you agree the momentum is currently with her?
EMMANUEL MACRON, FRENCH PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, EN MARCHE!: Sure, but it will come in the coming weeks. I will disclose my program next week in
France. And I will explain how my program is a program to make France significant in this new world, in this new environment with innovation,
with training program, with helping middle classes to succeed.
BELL: After Leaving Downing St., Emmanuel Macron, spoke to London substantial French electorate. The voters from both left and right that he
hopes will be seduced by his centrism. But his critics point out that until his program is announced, he is in danger of giving up ground to a
woman who is very clear about what she stands for.
(on camera): The trouble for Emmanuel Macron is that what had been a strength, the vagueness of his centrism even as he came up and passed
Francois Fillon in the polls to become the lead challenger to Marine Le Pen. Well that strength even as he's taken that second position has now
become something of a weakness. People want to know what this man, who claims to be the only mainstream credible alternative to the far right,
actually stands for. What will his program be? We're going to know more, of course, on the 2nd of March when he announces it. In the meantime,
though, Francois Fillon is coming back up in the polls and now challenging him for their crucial second place in the polls ahead of the first round of
the election. That first round will take place on the 23rd of April.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: Melissa Bell in Paris. And when we return to QUEST MEANS BUSINESS the car sharing ride -- or the rideshare company, whichever way you want to
put it. Uber you'll be aware of course of the allegations of harassment and sexism and now the company has hired a former U.S. attorney general to
lead the investigation to these allegations. Will have the details after the break. Its QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, good evening.
[16:15:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Uber has hired the former U.S. Attorney General, Eric Holder, to investigate claims of sexism and harassment at the company. Now the chief
executive, Travis Kalanick, said that Holder would look at claims made by a former Uber employee. The claims were made over the weekend. Susan Fowler
is the former employee. She says that Uber's HR repeatedly ignored evidence that she had been sexually harassed. Look, obviously, sexual
harassment is a very large wide area at the moment, but we needed to compare Uber's response, which has come into some criticism and some
praise.
But let's compare that to the most recent big case that everybody can remember. And in that case of course, we're talking about the sexual
harassment claims against the Fox News chairman, Roger Ailes. And the way the Murdoch's and 21st Century Fox dealt with it. Remember the lawsuit was
filed against Ailes. Now how long did it take? It took them five days at Fox to launch its own investigation after the lawsuit was filed.
Uber announces its investigation within hours of the Fowler blog post going online and confirm the details the next day. It seems as if the wall went
up here and the stonewalling began, Uber was putting out statements almost immediately. But as for the resolution, with Fox it took 15 days before
Roger Ailes finally ended up resigning, 15 days after the investigation began -- 10 days after the investigation, 15 after the lawsuit.
In Uber's case Travis Kalanick says, he expects Holder's task to be completed -- the phrase being used is in "Short Order". Now Laura Coates
is a former federal prosecutor, now CNN's legal analyst, joins me now from Washington. I've created these two to show the difference. It seems as if
Uber is saying we may have got this wrong, but were going to get to the bottom of it and root out what may have happened. Which is a very
different way from the way that 21st Century Fox did it.
LAURA COATES, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: It's a totally different approach and inevitably will be more successful in terms of reputation wise. Remember,
a lot of this stems from whether or not this is an isolated incident of one particular manager who Ms. Fowler pointed out. Or whether this is more of
a systemic problem and a culture of misogyny, which is what Fox became known for through the course of those lawsuits.
And remember, within that 15-day period, you had other women who came forward from Fox to talk about this really being a culture of akin to a
playboy mansion.
[16:20:00] The question for Uber will be, is this a cultural issue of the entire corporation? Or is it an isolated incident we can take care of?
Either way, they're nipping it in the bud I think to get ahead of the bad PR, and they've had a whole lot of it recently. Or it's all to try and
investigate. Look, what could we have done better in this relatively baby company, how can we go moving forward?
QUEST: OK, in terms of the CEO, Kalanick, I mean, it always raises the question -- it did with 21st Century Fox with the Murdoch's. What did they
know and when did they know it? Did they know the allegations? And I suppose in that case it's a case of should they have known the allegations.
But I'm guessing with Uber, is slightly different. Because we're not talking here about the CEO or the COO being involved as far as we know.
COATES: Exactly right. This is a matter of whether or not the actual company knew something. And remember it's not just about what Mr. Kalanick
knew. His underlings and his people who are his -- people who work for him are also responsible and have fiduciary and make sure that things are
getting past them. So, even though he came out and said this was the first I'm hearing of it, the question is whether Uber in general knew about it.
And that's really the question. Remember with Ailes -- excuse me -- Ailes was actually sued personally because there was a clause in the contract of
Gretchen Carlson saying they could not use outside of private arbitration to sue. That's why he was attacked personally.
Now with Uber we are still in the pre-lawsuit stage and they're trying to avoid that.
QUEST: Now, finally I just want to put it into context. I mean, how important -- I realize that you're not necessarily a technology analyst in
that sense, but you can bridge this gap nicely for me. Look, with 21st Century Fox, I'm not sure I know too many people that would say I'm not
watching Fox News because Roger Ailes was a misogynist. Or I'm not going to see that movie because the Murdoch's might've known. But is it likely
or potential people say actually, Uber, nah#dropUber.
COATES: Absolutely and that's what they're dealing with now. Remember, there has been hashtag that's been trending since after the executive order
involving Trump's travel ban. Where you had the New York JFK taxi people deciding they were not going to -- they were going to stand behind people
and actually strike. And then Uber came behind them and still operated the vehicles. There was a deleteUber# that was trending. And now it's
trending again. Largely in response -- is a little bit unfair in one respect, because this is an example of what's happening I believe in
Silicon Valley generally. Which is why part of Eric Holder's mission is going to be trying to figure out how to combat the lack of gender diversity
and hopefully to stem off these problems.
QUEST: We're grateful you came to put it in perspective for us tonight, thank you.
COATES: Thank you.
QUEST: Now $350 million. That's the price that Yahoo is paying for one of the most damaging cyber-attacks and corporate history. Verizon as you know
is trying to take over Yahoo. And Verizon demanded a 7 percent this, on the original $4.8 billion to buy Yahoo. The price was slashed to $4.5
billion. Why of course, because Yahoo -- there you go, it was 4.8, going down 4.5 billion, sold to the highest bidder, which is -- there's only one
-- is Verizon. Anyway, Yahoo revealed 500 million user accounts had been hacked. The unprecedented security breach prompted multiple lawsuits.
This is the way the share price Yahoo is today just a fraction are so, 45. Verizon, the market likes this. Market likes the discount. The market had
been very anti-the deal at one particular point. Jason Abbruzzese, the business editor of the tech news site Mashable, joins me now. Good to see
you, sir. Thank you.
JASON ABBRUZZESE, BUSINESS EDITOR, MASHABLE: Thanks for having me.
QUEST: Very simple. Why does Verizon still want Yahoo when it's clearly a legal morass.
ABBRUZZESE: Eyeballs. Yahoo still gets millions upon millions upon millions of eyeballs a lot of people still go to Yahoo homepages. Still
use Yahoo apps. Verizon wants to make a giant ad network that people will pay attention to, that people will look at over and over again so they can
be number three.
QUEST: Well, I just don't get it. I mean, what is it? Is it to create new content? Is it to create "Orange Is the New Black"? Is it to create
"House of Cards" type of stuff that will be distributed through another vehicle?
ABBRUZZESE: Sure. They want to go vertical integration.
QUEST: What does that mean?
ABBRUZZESE: They run the networks so a lot of people will have their Verizon phones. They will operate on Verizon's network. They will go to
even other websites owned by Verizon. Verizon owns AOL, which they bought a few years ago.
[16:25:00] So, they've already kind of established this front to back, were going to control the content, were in a control the eyeballs, where to
control how you see the ads. That's a valuable position to be in.
QUEST: Is Yahoo so good and so many eyeballs they are willing to take on the litigation in the legal risk even though it will be shared with the old
Yahoo and the new. I don't know how you work that out once it's been taken over. It seems that it's all the same.
ABBRUZZESE: I'm sure the lawyers were well compensated for the last few months because there's been a lot of work to go into this. When the data
breaches first came out, it came out that Verizon didn't even know. Their lawyers have clearly looked at this and said, hey, we don't think this is a
problem. We don't think it's going to cost us big time. Knock a little off the deal price and let's move forward --
QUEST: Were you surprised it was only 7 percent?
ABBRUZZESE: I was a little surprised.
QUEST: And I thought, you know, 25 percent.
ABBRUZZESE: I mean, if you want to make it very, very scary about what that means? It means that when these data breaches happen, nobody's that
scared about the consequences. Verizon looked at this deal and could have backed out and said, nah, it's fine.
QUEST: That's really important. And this deal with Verizon and Yahoo, how analogous is it to the AT&T/Time Warner parent company of me, my boss?
ABBRUZZESE: It is a small, small tiny version of that. Were as Time Warner is this mega entity of hundreds of billions of dollars. HBO, these
great properties. Yahoo is a website that serves people like page views and not great ads. But what it means is this company guess to control
something from front to back. From the user experience to the ads to everything. That's what also AT&T wants with Time Warner. There is a lot
of, you know, synergies, there is a lot of advantages.
QUEST: In a sentence, have they decided what they're going to do? Because they've got AOL in the stable and you've got Yahoo. Effectively you got
two horses running the same race.
ABBRUZZESE: I would bet they have a good idea. Have not told us what is going to be quite yet.
QUEST: But once you know you will sit in that chair and tell me.
ABBRUZZESE: Absolutely.
QUEST: We are very grateful you came in today.
ABBRUZZESE: Yes, thanks very much.
QUEST: Thank you.
Now, as we continue. So, one of the really difficult things has been sending money from one part of the world to the other. You can Venmo, you
can PayPal domestically, but when we come back after the break, TransferWise lets you do it internationally and is launching on Facebook
messenger. It's a new world.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:30:00] Hello, I'm Richard Quest. Of course, there is more QUEST MEANS BUSINESS in just a moment. When Natalie Portman tells us how she juggles
being a mother with her acting career. You can like and now you can send money anywhere in the world via Facebook. I will be joined by the head of
the company that made this possible.
But before all of that, this is CNN, and on this network the news always comes first.
President Trump says the threats against America's Jewish community are in his words horrible and have to stop. He made the comments amid a rise in
anti-Semitic incidents across the United States. Mr. Trump has been under pressure to speak out after a series of bomb threats against Jewish
centers. He spoke a short time ago
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: The anti-Semitic threats targeting our Jewish community and community centers are horrible, and are painful and a
very sad reminder of the work that still must be done to root out hate and prejudice and evil.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
And Israeli soldier has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for shooting and killing a Palestinian stabbing attack suspect who was on the ground
wounded. Elor Azaria was convicted of manslaughter last month.
A controversial right wing figure Milo Yiannopoulos has resigned as an editor of Breitbart News. It all happens amid a firestorm over comments in
which he seems to endorse sex between boys and adult men. He has also lost a speaking engagement and has had the publication of his book canceled.
The French far right leader Marine Le Pen has canceled a meeting with a top Sunni cleric in Lebanon after refusing to wear a headscarf. Le Pen said
she was surprised by the request. A spokesman for the grand mufti said she was informed of the requirement beforehand.
Aid agencies say almost 5 million people are in urgent need is a severe famine is gripping South Sudan, the estimate is more than 1 million
children are severely malnourished while many are on the brink of starvation. Years of civil war, a failing economy in a refugee crisis are
all to blame.
Facebook Messenger is now a tool for like, shares and you can also send money around the world. It has teamed up with a company called
TransferWise to let users make international money transfers like talking to a chat bot on its messenger service. It is not concern ourselves too
much with chat bots, largely because I have absolutely no idea what they do and why they do them, but we do have the chief executive of TransferWise
who is Taavet Hinrikus.
Sir, thank you for joining us, you are telling me a short moment ago, that your company has been around doing this for six years, but integrating into
Facebook will take you to a new level, correct?
TAAVET HINRIKUS, CEO, TRANSFERWISE: Very true, so, I think the goal for TransferWise has always been to make it very easy and fast to move money
around. And so, looking at what is the next place that people want to do it has always been very core to us, so the smart phone has revolutionized
banking. And now conversational platforms like the Facebook messenger platform are the next place where people are doing their everyday
activities. And for us it made great sense to make sure that when you are having a chat on Facebook you can also send a bunch of money around.
QUEST: I can see why as 2 billion users Facebook is a huge market in its own right but I was using your app today to send myself some money to the
United Kingdom, let's see if it arrives tomorrow. And I will let you know by the way because if it does arrive and I am sure will in good order. But
why is it so significant to not only have your own app but integrate into a Facebook?
HINRIKUS: For us it is really important to make sure that people can attend to their money wherever they are. So, it used to be you really had
to go to a bank branch and everything banks do is built around their own business model and their own interests. But now over time is becoming more
and more common that you can attend your money wherever you are. So, your smart phone is your most important bank branch. And for us we are going
where our users are so, as the new bot platforms are coming up, makes lots of sense for us to see if people are also interesting
and using the bot platforms to move money around.
QUEST: I mean obviously, people in this country the United States will be familiar obviously with PayPal and the other methods by paying. What is
different about your system?
[16:35:00] HINRIKUS: We are really focused on a couple things. It is about making it very fast so we are looking at how can we move money around
in real time so your transfer to London should actually be in London already now. Second, we are looking at making it much cheaper so on
average we are eight times cheaper than using a bank or using PayPal when sending money. What happens is when you're making an international
transfer banks and PayPal and Western Union use an exchange rate which is very different to the exchange rate that gets reported in Reuters or CNN.
And the markup on the exchange rate --
QUEST: But you must be making money somewhere? So, if you're not making it on the exchange rate and you are not on the float by how long you hold
in the interim account, and your fees are relatively modest, are you working on the principle, the old honeybee principle, a little bit from
everybody soon makes a lot?
HINRIKUS: We are very driven by being transparent and we tell our customers up front how much we charge them. There is a transaction charge
which is typically between 0.5 and 1 percent of a transaction and people seem to be very happy paying that, if they know how much they are paying.
QUEST: Good to see you, sir. Thank you, and I am just checking now, of course I assure you, any form of online banking is best not done when
you're trying to do something at the same time or you forget a number or a key. Thank you for joining us.
As we continue tonight, I am going to see if that money has arrived actually. Just bear with me a moment, I am not going to show you the
screen because then you will see all my details. It doesn't seem to be there yet, but it is still early days. So maybe it will be there
overnight.
The Trump administration reveals plans for tougher action on illegal immigrants. The Trump organization continues to take care of business
around the world. The two sides of that story, perhaps of the same coin when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: U.S. Homeland Security Department has laid out plans to enforce immigration laws more aggressively as a result of President Trump's
election. A series of guidance memos and it is likely to have more power to state and local officials. The government says it is about enforcing
the current laws, but they say there will be no immediate roundup of illegal immigrants. The administration says it won't and protection for
child migrants, that is a program created under President Obama, the Dreamers program. The new order on restricting immigration is expected
this week, the previous band of course was stopped by district court which then upheld by the circuit court in San Francisco.
Tal Kopan is in Washington, now let's be clear about this, there were two aspects. There is the enforcement and then there is the travel ban isn't
there? So, we're not expecting to see the travel ban at least the new one until later in the week. This is about enforcement.
TAL KOPAN, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: That is absolutely right, so this -- what happened today is the Department of Homeland Security put out guidance
implementing two other executive orders that Donald Trump signed in his first week that have not -- they have been controversial but certainly not
tied up in the courts to the extent that the travel ban has which was the other executive order. So, these two executive orders specifically deal
with border security and then immigration enforcement in the interior. And they do things like beef up a number of agents but also gives them a lot
more discretion about who they can prioritize for deportation and things like limit some of the protections that those immigrants have.
QUEST: But you are already starting to see more stories whether related to this or not of that mother out West that was locked up before being
deported, the other woman with been here for 20 odd years but has had an infraction caught recently refused the stay of execution. We going to see
more of these very public removals, I won't say deportations, removals, extraditions and deportations?
KOPAN: The great irony of this is that those on the left still like to remind us that President Obama was nicknamed deporter in chief that it is
absolutely true that the Obama administration carried out many targeted enforcement priorities. Now that said, the fear in these immigrant
communities is incredibly high and what we have seen out of the Trump administration is guidance that really allows immigration officers and
field offices to sort of set their own agendas and priorities, that is why people are so concerned. When you have some of these one-off examples here
and there people are really concerned that they could turn into a pattern.
QUEST: And asked for the travel ban executive order redux what are we expecting I mean besides putting right what was put wrong in the first one?
KOPAN: It is certainly going to be similar to what we saw the first time around, I mean they have not hidden the fact that they are rewriting it in
part just to withstand some of the court challenges that immediately placed an injunction on it. Now they have to go a little bit beyond that because
otherwise the courts might say, no this is the same thing. So, we expect to see some from the beginning stuff in the executive order making clear
that green card holders are not affected by this that was one of the biggest dust ups.
QUEST: But on the fundamental separation of church and state the issue of the first amendment where you have the band from predominantly Muslim
countries and you had priority being given to basically Christians in future refugee applications, how are they going to get around that part in
a revised executive order?
KOPAN: That is absolutely what they are grappling with and we are hearing there is some debate about this provision that you are mentioning which
gave priority to folks under religious persecution, that may get tanked. Because it was really pointed to as prioritizing Christians but you know,
we don't really know how much the White House is going to give up.
QUEST: Tal, when they do reveal, you will be with us to help us understand it all, thank you.
President Trump promised that his company would sign no new business deals while in office, as for the deals already in works they are very much going
ahead. In Dubai, last week, Vancouver next week and other projects outside the U.S., India, Uruguay and Indonesia. Cristina Alesci is following it,
all these deals that were in the works are coming to fruition, the hotels and golf clubs et cetera are now getting into business.
CRISTINA ALESCI, CNN MONEY CORRESPONDENT: And it doesn't resolve conflicts of interest because although these were technically old deals, there are
events that are happening around these specific developments. Two recent examples, one in Dubai over the weekend where there was an opening event
for a Trump golf course, and then next week there is going to be an opening for a Vancouver hotel-condo project. In both cases, Trump's sons have been
there or will be there. In the Dubai case for example, Don Junior was there, basically lavishing praise upon his partner there, his Dubai-based
partner there as well as the leader of Dubai. Go ahead.
QUEST: Eric Trump said in an interview I think with "The New York Times", he said, look I know when I can talk about with my dad and what I cannot.
If we're talking about a golf hole I will say it is doing fine. But if you asked me if we have renewed a contract that is a different matter.
ALESCI: That really doesn't fly from an ethical standpoint based on every precedent that has been set in previous administrations.
[16:45:00] Right, this is not something that has six experts like to see. They think that there needs to be a very big wall between President Trump
and his business, and having his sons run it just doesn't cut it for the ethics experts and people who have advised not just Democrats but also
Republicans with been in the White House. And this isn't a political issue.
QUEST: But isn't the issue now, he is in office, he is set up his revocable trust, it is not irrevocable, things are moving forward, these
hotels are opening up, it is happening by default. And let me put it --
ALESCI: The train has left the station there is no way to --
QUEST: You are getting hot under the collar but nobody else is.
ALESCI: That is not necessarily true. First of all, there are lots of people who do not want the president to be in any kind of position where he
could benefit from his office. Americans just don't like that maybe internationally that flies but here in America people don't like the
perception that the Trump family can be benefiting off the Trump presidency. That is not something we want to see here in America, and that
is just a bedrock of our democracy that there is a very strict separation between those two elements. Even if you have a successful business.
QUEST: You will be back next week or whenever the next one opens to bring us an update.
ALESCI: I will be in Vancouver.
QUEST: Go for it.
ALESCI: Oh, yes, I'll be there.
QUEST: Really? Great city.
ALESCI: Want to come?
QUEST: Oh, I'd love to, amazing city.
ALESCI: Let's go.
QUEST: I'm jealous of you. I look forward to talking to you, make sure you attend to your duties broadcasting. Thank you.
As we continue some star power to Quest Means Business, Natalie Portman tells us about her work on and off the screen in Creators. It is Quest
Means Business and you are most welcome.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Mere days to go until the Oscars on Sunday, and few performances have earned more praise than Natalie Portman's turn as Jackie Onassis.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NATALIE PORTMAN, ACTRESS: I believe the characters that we read about on the page are more real than the men stand beside us.
QUEST: Now Portman has starred in movies since the age of 13 and hits like Star Wars, and Black Swan which earned her a best actor's Oscar. We
continue our special series, The Creators, and we spoke to her about her work on and off the screen.
PORTMAN: When you make a movie, the biggest desire is to connect to people when they are emotionally connected, when they are moved, when they are
curious about it, it is what you hope for. You hope for that communication with the audience. It is a work that I find so interesting, and getting to
play different characters, and the different people, and have the sort of like mini insights into other people's lives.
[16:50:00] Which is the kind of the greatest thing about being human is imagining someone else's life and feeling empathy with them. It is very
similar to many people's experience of saying they hear their voice on a message machine or something. Like oh I can't, I can't, I don't, I don't
love watching myself.
Directors, I can't say that anyone has influenced me more than them. There are people I look to in my life who I've met who have worked with Mike
Nichols was a great mentor to me, and I think all time still I always hear his voice in my ear.
I think that when you are mother, you don't have the luxury of just like I am going to be in character all the time because like my kid would not put
up with that. It would be like stop hearing that voice. But I think it is a really good it is a really good balance to have in life because you go
and do your work in this case extraordinarily emotional and heavy, and then you go home and you get to return to sort of like a beautiful, beautiful
world.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: It is The Creators, five inspirational artists, all of them nominated this weekend, and we reveal their art behind their filmmaking,
what drives them to success, including Lin-Manuel Miranda, and will have more of the creators as we wind our way through the week. And you can see
all of their stories and more, there are actually 14 of them. We have only got five that we are focusing on this week, but it is at
CNN.com/entertainment.
Now from those who have made it to one who is absolutely trying to, Zack George is the chap's name, that is a Zack George in the residence on
Etihad's a380. His career is just beginning, most 16-year-olds on a flight are happy if they get the window seat at the back of the bus, Zack has set
his sights higher, he is the founder of his own travel blog, Points from the Pacific, since he was 14 years old. He's been racking up miles, flying
around the world in business class reviewing the experiences from a teenager's perspective. This is the residence, it is Etihad's most
prestigious luxury suite complete with their own bathroom, double bed and personal butler. For most of us it is a pipe dream, for Zack it is a good
excuse for an article. He told me how he manages to fly in places like the residence for free.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZACK GEORGE, TEENAGE AIRLINE BLOGGER: I'm learning and finding cheap fares, I am also very lucky to have parents that allow me to use credit
cards and that is how rack up miles and points for travel as well. And buying miles as well which is a big help.
QUEST: How many credit cards have you got, you are doing the credit card thing are you? How many credit cards you have? I bet it is a lot.
GEORGE: Myself, I have four, but that is restricted to Australian banks. So yes, it is not as good as the U.S. but we still try to make advantage of
it.
QUEST: And you have just been the youngest person, tell me about that.
GEORGE: I am the youngest at the moment that has Etihad residence, I flew that last week from Abu Dhabi to Sydney, and it was an incredible
experience. I saved for quite a while to do it. And I am very thankful that I did, just incredible, still blown away by it.
QUEST: Was it really worth all that money, for the relatively short -- well it is quite a long ride from Sydney up to Abu Dhabi, but even though
it's a lot of money.
GEORGE: To pay for is around $20,000, so for two passengers it is quite worth it, for one you have really got weigh up whether it is an experience
you really want to do.
QUEST: You are 16, do your parents ever say to you, Zack, time to get a real job.
[16:55:00] GEORGE: That question has come up a bit and the blog has gone absolutely crazy in the last year, and I am able to now live off of that.
And I still work on the side as well, so that is how I get most of my profit, but the blog is growing extremely quickly and I am very happy to
see that.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: And just to make it clear, Zack did pay for the residence, it took them two years to save up the money. We will have a Profitable Moment
after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Tonight's Profitable Moment. The screen tells a story. Up 118 point, the Dow the NASDAQ, the S&P 500 are all at record highs and the
market's up 13 percent since the election day. And tonight, we reported, of course, the J.P. Morgan Chase survey that shows business executives out
of three quarters of them are very confident in the administration of Donald Trump. Only 12 percent had negative feelings. Now admittedly, that
survey was taken before the inauguration after the election.
Even so, I think it speaks volumes to why the market is rising. The Fed is going to raise interest rates. There is a vote of confidence. There is a
feeling of confidence in business and it is predicated on the prospect of deregulation, there are corporate taxes, personal taxes and infrastructure
spending. But as Betsy McCaughey said on tonight's show, it's about the expectation of all of these things. And now course, all these CEOs are
looking forward to it happening, but the administration, by that the president, has to do it.
And that's QUEST MEANS BUSINESS for tonight. I'm Richard quest in New York. Whatever you're up to in the hours ahead I hope it's profitable.
I'll see you again tomorrow.
END
