Return to Transcripts main page

Quest Means Business

British Prime Minister Wins Party Backing; Questions Over Uber CEO's Future and Scandal; Qatar Airways CEO Threatens Legal Action; New Trump Lawsuits Could Force Release of Tax Returns;

Aired June 12, 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: Ben Carson, the housing sector in the United States rings the closing bell to celebrate National Home

Ownership month. The Dow is off 33 points for the main index. We only got two from Mr. Secretary. Trading is now finished. Around the world no

major equity market is open, on Monday the 12th of June.

Tonight, stand by your prime minister. Senior Tories tell me they will back Theresa May. More Uber executives are heading out to the door. Chief

executives could be next. As the blockade continues of Qatar, the head of Qatar Airways demands the freedom to fly.

I'm Richard Quest, now back live in New York. Where, of course, I mean business.

Good evening. Senior Tories say they are standing behind their leader and Prime Minister, Theresa May despite last week's electoral disaster. The

Prime Minister held a series of meetings designed for shore up support for her faltering government. First meeting was with her cabinet at number 10

Downing Street. And then perhaps a more important meeting, she met that bench MPs at the Palace of Westminster. It's that group got much smaller

this week as Conservative lawmakers lost elections and were voted out of Parliament. Indeed, CNN has heard from lawmakers that the government can

work. But just.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK PRITCHARD, BRITISH MEMBER PARLIAMENT, CONSERVATIVE PARTY: It's not something we have very often in the U.K. But it's something that can work.

It's more challenging. It's more difficult. But certainly, with reliable friends and partners, working on a cross party basis, we can get through a

lot of the government's agenda.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: Despite arguably the support, Theresa May's strong and stable agenda is in jeopardy. The call once remembers, of course, that Brexit

negotiations start in 6 days, 5 hours 57 minutes and 48 seconds. Not just with Brexit but the Queen's speech may have to be delayed. A, they're not

entirely certain what will be in it. And it's written on goats skin and needs a few days in advance. But the important point is what will be in

the Queen's speech? What can a minority Tory government get through the houses of Parliament? Now, Brexit negotiations are do the same day.

Remember I just showed you the clock, 6 days, 2 hours, 57 minutes and 16 seconds.

Those talks may be a week away, but according Moody's, the negotiations may have to be delayed. That would negatively affect the U.K.'s credit rating.

And this perhaps is very significant. Business confidence has dropped quite sharply, 57 percent of business directors are now pessimistic about

the economy. That 57 percent of pessimism is up from 37 percent in May. Put all this together, and you see a Prime Minister who is struggling to

form a government at a time when policies are uncertain and major negotiations are about to begin.

Graham Brady, chairs the 1922 committee, which is the backbench committee Of All of the Conservative MPs that aren't actually in the government. It

held its meeting today with Theresa May. He told me the timing of the Queen's speech is less important about getting it right. And she said, his

members agree. The Prime Minister's position, Theresa May, is secure for the time being.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRAHAM BRADY, CHAIRMAN, 1922 COMMITTEE: I think the Prime Minister, this evening, and my committee, are very firmly took responsibility for the

decision to call the election. And indeed, for the nature of the election campaign. And was right to do so. But I think if you look at the outcome

of the election, great disappointment for Theresa May, great disappointment for the Conservative Party. I think it's also true to say, that the

easiest thing for her to have done would have been to walk away on Friday morning and spend more time with her husband and spends more time with her

interests instead. Instead, I think she chose to do the right thing.

[16:05:00] Which is to be prepared to serve. To accept the outcome of the election the way the British Republic voted, and to do her very best to

work with that and to continue in the national interest. There is no other party that is anywhere approaching the position that could form the

government. And I don't think there was any public appetite for a further general election either.

It's incumbent on us to try to make this work. There's no mood in the Conservative Party to for, yes, another leadership election, we had a

leadership election only a year ago. And so, I think we are all determined to pull together behind Theresa May, and I think also, colleagues admire

her steel, and determination and her dedication to serving the country.

QUEST: Was there a feeling that her leadership style will have to change? The two co-chiefs of staff have gone. She's brought in a more experienced

chief of staff who knows his way around government. Is there a feeling, though, that this coterie of advisers often to the exclusion of cabinet has

to change?

BRADY: I think that's a given. The chiefs of staff have resigned. Have been replaced by somebody who was a parliamentary colleague. A member of

parliament until last Thursday. Very capable, very highly respected, and very well-liked by colleagues. But crucially, is one of us. He

understands the parliamentary party, I think that's a huge asset.

But so much of this as well is about not just individuals and personalities, so much of it is about the circumstances. And I think in

the context of a minority government is simply a necessity that we will have to work in a more collegiate way. That means more cabinet government,

and it also means much better connections between the front bench and the back benches.

QUEST: I'm in New York at the moment, and I've been reading the foreign papers, the overseas papers. The story of Britain at the moment is

reliable steady Britain suddenly going off the rails. And that nothing can be certain about Britain any more. This is very damaging. At the same

time as the latest numbers on business confidence -- you'd have seen those numbers today -- our sharply down.

BRADY: Of course, it's a concern if business confidence suffers as a result of the general election. Of course, the fundamental reason why

business confidence was suffering, was because the Conservative Party didn't win an overall majority and certainly not the substantial majority

that we had hoped to see. And I think in the context of British politics at the moment, whilst the Labour Party failed quite badly in the election,

made some headway, but was far short of winning the number of seats required to be able to form a government. But looking at the substance of

that Labour Party, looking at its leadership from the hard left, looking at a shadow chancellor who is a professed Marxist. I think that it's quite

understandable why business would be worried if it thought that the Labour Party might be close to entering government.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: The head of the 1922 Committee. Melissa Bell has been watching the comings and goings outside 10 Downing Street. Melissa, it seems for the

time being, that the Prime Minister if not secure, at least is going to remain in office. But this idea that the Queen's speech may have to be

delayed as the DUP negotiations continue, is it because they don't know what's going to be in it? How much they can get through the next

Parliament?

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think that's precisely the concern. It will take place here tomorrow at number 10 Downing Street. The leader of

the DUP will be meeting Theresa May, and that will be a crucial meeting. I think that the meeting that took place here and at Westminster, it was a

much more relieved Theresa May who had returned from it than had left to attend it. That was very much the first step. That deal with the DUP is

going to be absolutely crucial, Richard, beyond the questions of goat skin and how long it takes for the stuff to dry before it can be presented to

Parliament.

The question of what goes into it, you're likely to see the lowest common denominator on a number of issues. After all, this is far short of a

formal coalition that's going to be cobbled together. If a deal is reached it's going to be what's called a confidence and supply system agreement,

which means really, the DUP and the Conservatives will only agree to vote certain issues. No conference votes and budgetary measures. All the rest

will be subject to negotiation, to compromise, to concessions, to deal making.

[16:10:02] And so, going into that Queen's speech, you're really going to have to look at putting things in there, very little, but what they can

agree on. Because even once it's been announced, even once it's been presented, it's then going to have to be voted on. And the Labour Party,

of course, they threatened to do all it can to vote against it.

QUEST: But Melissa, if she's got -- if the PMs got her own MPs -- who would be somewhat remarkable if they vote against the Queen's speech -- and

she's got the DUP, Sinn Fein doesn't turn up anyway, and you have the three, the speaker and the two deputies who tend not to vote, she's home

and dry.

BELL: You put your finger on it when you said, she's got here own MPs and that's why tonight's meeting was so crucial. Not just because they agreed

to back her and ensure her short-term political survival, but because you're talking about very tight numbers on so many votes, Richard. Not

just on the Queen's speech measure, but on all that follows. She needs all of her MPs, all Tory MPs to be voting with her. It's going to be a

struggle to get a great deal of legislation through.

And don't forget, in that Queen's speech, one of the key measures is going to be the great repeal bill. Because even as those Brexit negotiations

begin, she's going to be trying to get through Parliament, with the House of Commons likely has described, as the greatest legislative project ever

undertaking the United Kingdom. 12,000 EU regulations that are going to be turned back into U.K. law. This was always going to be tough to get

through, that's why she called the election, she wanted a stronger majority, she goes into it now from a spectacular position of weakness.

QUEST: Aren't you exhausted. Having done French elections, now British elections? Our correspondent for elections --

BELL: They've all become so interesting.

QUEST: Maybe you're the common link. We send Melissa Bell and the election suddenly takes a weird turn. Right, good to see you, Melissa.

Thank you very much, indeed. Will send you off to Berlin next, I feel is where you'd be headed for the German elections.

The European stocks, let's have a look at the markets. European stocks ended today lower. They're all down but the worst ones were the -- that's

fascinating that the pounds slipped against the dollar, tech shares were down sharply, but the CAC was down 1.1 when Macron had done better and

looks like he's now going to get the majority in the French legislature. That's an interesting one to note. And it will be interesting to see how

the CAC -- the market in France performs over the next few weeks.

Six days, 2 hours, 47 minutes. The chief executive of Air France-KLM says he's confident the U.K. and Europe will find a solution for Brexit as the

talks get ever closer. Airline CEOs all this week we'll be bringing you the interviews with the leaders in global aviation. Always make sure to

keep your seat belts securely fastened.

We were at IATA's annual general meeting. It wrapped up in Cancun, Mexico. And now it's a chance for us really get to grips with the issues we've been

talking about. Jean-Marc Janaillac, told me he's not worried about any Brexit impact on Air France-KLM.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEAN-MARC JANAILLAC, CEO, AIR FRANCE-KLM: I'm not that sure, that we will create so many difficulties. Because it helps that Great Britain and

Europe will find a solution. Anywhere we are -- I did think we were going to be impacted by Brexit because we don't have so many operations in Great

Britain. But I'm sure that we will find a solution in order to keep on maintaining the development of air transportation within Europe.

QUEST: As you continue to try and increase the profitability or the sustainability of profitability for the group. How much more restructuring

do you think is necessary?

JANAILLAC: We have done a lot already.

QUEST: How much more.

JANAILLAC: We have done a lot, because KLM is reorganized its operation and its headquarters, and Air France has surpassed 10,000 jobs during the

last five years. So now, time is to be better organized and especially using all the -- what digital can offer us. We are embarking on a very

large in very ambitious digital reorganization of the two companies.

QUEST: Air France KLM has often been seen as the European group that has been the slowest to change. To adapt, to reform. Is that fair?

JANAILLAC: I think it's a bit unfair. Because we were the first to be created. First group to be created. And we have integrated a lot of

operation. All of our cells are integrated. The revenue management is integrated. We have also a huge coordination for IT, for cargo, for

maintenance and so on.

[16:15:08] I don't think it's fair to say that we haven't moved. We have been the first to build in integrated binational group.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: Over the course of the week we'll be hearing from the various IATA airline chief executives who were in Cancun. You're going to hear from

Allen Joyce of Qantas. You'll hear from the CEO of Aero Mexico. And the first TV interview from Sebastian Mikosz, the new chief executive of Kenya

Airways, formally of LOT, now at Kenya Airways. He'll be talking to us. And M. Blair, the Brazilian play maker all this week.

As we continue today, QUEST MEANS BUSINESS now back in New York. Uber says it has fired 20 employees after an investigation into sexual harassment.

Now one of the company's most high-profile executives is headed out the door. And there are questions about what's going to happen to the chief

executive, Travis Kalanick. We'll talk about it after the break. QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: After a weekend of mounting speculation, one of Uber's top executives of the company, Emil Michael was the senior vice president of

business. That sort of belays what he really did -- he's really the right- hand man to the chief executive, almost a number two. He departs after a high-profile investigation into sexual harassment, and workplace culture at

Uber. Michael helped to propel Uber to become one of the world's most valuable upstarts. He remained a controversial figure and his fate was

reportedly sealed during a 7-hour board meeting taking place on Sunday. The controversy comes amid a string of PR disasters. Samuel Burke reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAMUEL BURKE, CNNMONEY CORRESPONDENT: It happens every day in 609 cities across the globe. Even as Uber moves toward worldwide domination, the tech

giant could be in for its roughest ride yet. Kalanick's right-hand man and Uber's SVP of business, has just left the company. Even Kalanick may take

a leave of absence in the wake of his mother's death and a major internal investigation of the company, according to media reports that Uber declined

to comment on.

The ride sharing giant has faced a string of PR nightmares. Tech blog, recode, reported recently that CEO Travis Kalanick sent a memo to employees

in 2013 telling his staff how they should behave on a company trip, including best practices for sex with coworkers. Uber declined to comment

on the reported memo, but critics see it as an example of a so-called bro culture. It comes just days after the company terminated 20 workers

following a sexual harassment probe. Uber vowing to improve management training.

MAX WOLFF, CHIEF ECONOMIST, 55 INSTITUTIONAL: No firm can afford to alienate half of their potential workforce. And certainly not at least

half of their potential ridership.

[16:20:00] BURKE: Uber is the world's most valuable start-up, worth almost $70 billion, but if it wants to go from private unicorn to Wall Street

darling, well there's work to be done. Even Travis Kalanick saying it was time to grow up when he apologized for this video obtained by Bloomberg

back in March that shows him arguing with the driver about falling fares.

TAVIS KALANICK, CEO, UBER: Some people don't like to take responsibility (BLEEP). They blame everything on somebody else.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But why you sent an email.

BURKE: Months later investors may be running out of patients.

WOLFF: The recent run by Kalanick, although he built a very impressive company, is the kind of run that gets you dismissed from a public company

and might even get you dismissed from the sort of night manager position at a drive-through restaurant.

BURKE: Not helping matters, Uber is hemorrhaging cash, it lost nearly $3 billion last year.

WOLFF: When you start losing a lot of money, when you start getting bruised, all that was once forgiven comes back to haunt you. And part of

what happened here is the Teflon company became kind of like an old iron skillet that had been seasoned. So, where nothing stock, now everything

does.

BURKE: Kalanick's issues could put pressure on Uber to bring in a more experienced Silicon Valley veteran to run day to day operations ahead of

what seen an inevitable IPO.

WOLFF: I think you put together two quarters of near or approaching break even, we might see them dash for the IPO. Because this company has a

problem. Partly its own success. It's now so valuable that it would have to attract such a large amount of money and such a large buyer that it's

only real exit plan is probably an IPO.

BURKE: Samuel Burke, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: Michael Isaac is a technology reporter at "The New York Times," joins me from San Francisco. How bad -- to hear us all beat up on Uber and

Kalanick, you'd think it was Sodom and Gomorrah and the worst thing we've seen. How bad is the situation there in your understanding?

MIKE ISAAC, TECHNOLOGY REPORTER, "THE NEW YORK TIMES": I think you're right to sort of divide it into two parts here. There's the internal

culture part, and the struggles that their company is investigating right now, which are indeed very bad. The morale inside the company according to

a lot of the people I'm speaking to is in the tank. Folks are sort of wondering if things can change from the top. But Uber continues to

maintain that the business is still healthy and growing, and riders are still sort of using this service all around the world. So, it's one of

those things that I think a lot of it is systemic problems that may affect the company over the long term.

QUEST: But what I was saying here, we can beat up on Kalanick all we like, what I was saying today, and as I think about this, surely the external

investors, the VCs, the hedge funds -- all those who have put money, billions into Uber to build it two what it is -- they bear some

responsibility for not ensuring mature management. After all, there is no reason why Kalanick should know how to run a company with tens of thousands

of employees.

ISAAC: Yes, that's right. He's had experience running two start-ups, maybe like 100 employees or probably less like in the dozens of employees

before.

I think the thing that investors have liked all along, is that Travis Kalanick has been willing to do whatever it takes to break into a lot of

these markets, in which, you know, the taxi industry has been really the incumbent and really aggressive incumbent for a long time. So, the

rationale was, if this guy, if our CEO is willing to just get down and dirty and in the muck, why not let him?

QUEST: Is it your view, your thought, your assessment he takes a leave of absence, goes to -- I mean, the poor man has also lost his mother in some

tragic circumstances, when a boat that she was in overturned. One could argue or blame him for sort of saying, I do need to take six months off to

consider life.

ISAAC: Yes, I think there's a lot that should be taken into account. Like as you said, his mother just passed away in a boating accident that was

completely unexpected. He's been working every day for about eight years since Uber was started, and, you know, frankly it would provide a lot of

cover if he doesn't want to get removed from his job as CEO. So, I imagine he's probably leaning toward taking three months off.

QUEST: Mike, good to see you, sir. Thank you for taking time to talk to us tonight. We really appreciate it, thank you.

ISAAC: Thanks for having me.

QUEST: Now, to Wall Street. The selloff continues, but I think -- come and have a look at this picture. Look at all that red. When you see that

much red -- get it right in there. You start to think, oh, my goodness, it was Armageddon on Wall Street, and then you see the number, it was just

down 36 points. Let's not get too excited. However, within this market that are particularly nasty bit of undercurrent growing on. Google. Come

over here, you see the tech stocks. This is really rather serious.

[16:25:00] You've got Netflix, Microsoft, Google and Apple. And look at the losses on Monday, 2.4, that's on top of 3 percent last week, on Friday.

Netflix is down 4 percent. This is all because of a Goldman Sachs report last week suggesting the companies are part of a tech bubble. To be more

technically correct, that the investors are not pricing in risks properly of a downturn in these highly volatile so-called FANG stocks, particularly

including Netflix.

On the other side investors cheered change in leadership at General Electric. The General Electric shares were up nearly 4 percent higher

after the company revealed its chief executive Jeffrey Immelt is stepping down after 16 years. Joining me, Paul La Monica. Two things we need to

get to. Let's for Immelt first. Immelt's, has his time at GE -- he's the granddaddy. He's the elder statesman of corporate America. He turns up on

presidential commissions. He gives big speeches. Has his time as chief exec been a success?

PAUL R. LA MONICA, CNNMONEY CORRESPONDENT: I think it's going to be difficult to say that at this point. The problem is that he took over a

company very bloated and needed to be shrunk. And he did a lot of that. They sold off NBC Universal. They got out of the appliances business, they

might even be getting out of light bulbs. The iconic business that why it's called General Electric in the first place. This is a business that

really need to be downsized. And he did that successfully, but the problem is he never got earnings for all of that to matter.

QUEST: He made a great point about this, if I remember correctly, he moved the headquarters. Because he want to send a different message of what GE

was about. It's a check knowledge he company not in industrial company. It's an IT company. It's part of the internet generation. And yet that

share price has barely budged over the past nine years.

LA MONICA: Yes, they have made moves that were necessary. They focused more on healthcare. They focus more on aerospace and technology as you

point out, but they still had been way down by the financial crisis. Of course, next to 2008 is GE Capital which there now out of to.

QUEST: FANG, the FANG stocks. The tech stocks. Being hit by this Goldman Sachs report. Is it justified?

LA MONICA: I think there is reason to wonder if investors should be this infatuated with such a small group of stocks at the expense of the rest of

the market. And then you had the Apple downgrade today by another analyst also. You know, not suggesting that iPhone 8 sales are going to be bad.

But it's hard to fathom just how good the news can be to justify the runup. I mean, this is a stock that still up 25 percent this year with the market

value of $750 billion. It's very wavy on the whole market.

QUEST: So the risky element in the market at the moment is what, tech?

LA MONICA: I think tech is still very risky because investors have flocked to just so few stocks. It's Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft and Google

owner Alphabet. That is reminiscent of 2000. The names aren't always the same, but it is similar.

QUEST: Good to see you, sir.

LA MONICA: Thank you.

QUEST: Thank you. As we continue tonight, on QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, the chief executive of Qatar Airways, he's lost 18 destinations as a result of

Qatar -- the blockade of Qatar. Tonight, he fights back, saying it's unjustified. And the blockade and the failure to allow them to fly to

certain countries may actually be against international regulations. QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:31:06] QUEST: Hello, I'm Richard Quest, there's more QUEST MEANS BUSINESS in just a moment, when the chief executive of Qatar Airways

accuses the United States of fueling the fire over its dispute with the Gulf neighbors.

Two attorneys general file a suit against Donald Trump which could force him to reveal his tax return. Before that, this is CNN and on this network

the news always comes.

The White House is reviewing an appeal court decision that ruled against the president's revised travel ban. The ninth circuit court in San

Francisco largely affirmed A Hawaiian judge's decision. The found the core provisions of the revised

order likely violates the constitution. The order would temporarily block refugees and foreign nationals from six Muslim majority countries from

entering the U.S. The case is now widely expected to go to the Supreme Court.

Riot police have arrested around 900 people, during nationwide anti- corruption protests in Russia. The leading opposition figure Alexei Navalny who had planned the protest was also detained before the march. He

faces now a possible 30-day jail term for the Moscow rally. Which authorities say was illegal.

Closing arguments are underway in the trial against Bill Cosby. On Monday Cosby's defense team rested without putting their client on the stand.

Cosby declined to testify in the trial in which he is facing 3 counts of aggravated indecent assault. In closing arguments Cosby's attorney said

sexual contact with a woman who claimed Cosby assaulted her was consensual.

A travesty of civilized behavior. That's how the chief executive of Qatar Airways is describing the blockade against his country. Tonight, Akbar Al

Baker tells CNN, the United Nations should get involved and declare it an illegal act. This shows you one of the flight monitoring systems, how

Qatar Airways -- you can see how Qatar is having to fly around different countries. There's Qatar over there. Instead of flying out of Saudi

Arabia, or over the UAE. They have to go up now through the Gulf, around this way.

Which is greatly adding and considerably adding to their ability to make quick routes. The Chicago convention has been breached. When he talks

about the Chicago convention to what is he referring. These are known as the five freedoms of the air. Which are enshrined within the Chicago

convention. There are a few more. The one he's talking about particularly is the first freedom. The freedom is the right to fly over a foreign

country. Related to that first freedom is the second. The right to stop in a foreign country for technical reasons. What that means for example is

over on the map, Qatar having the right to fly over Saudi Arabia. Having the right to fly over the UAE on its way out. That first freedom, first

and second freedom is enshrined in five freedoms of the air.

[16:35:00] And any country that signs the Chicago convention, therefore, fits six freedoms on it negotiated separately. First and second freedoms

are unilaterally acknowledged. Qatar is being ostracized by the other countries. The chief executive told John Defterios, he faces massive

challenges from this blockade and the failure to monitor the first freedom.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AKBAR AL BAKER, CEO, QATAR AIRWAYS: We have drawn passenger numbers, which was up 20.one 1. Double my competition. I'm very pleased. We now face a

huge challenge because of this blockade that's happened. When neighboring countries have located a country. Land, sea and the air. Which will of

course create a big impact --

JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Do you have a legal right to challenge this? Our international conventions, the UAE and Bahrain are signatories and they are your

neighbors.

AL BAKER: Yes, we have a legal chance to object to this. They are signatories to the Chicago convention of 1944, and the Air Services Transit

Agreement. And this is very important that ICAO should -- part of the United Nations, should heavily get involved and put their weight behind

this, to declare this an illegal act.

DEFTERIOS: You're not going to roll over, you have options on the table as we said today?

AL BAKER: Yes, we have options. I'm not prepared to talk about it in front of a camera.

DEFTERIOS: This is fairly aggressive, in a sense what's happened, they've had offices closed in three countries. They don't want to seem to want a

solution.

AL BAKER: It is actually a travesty of civilized behavior. Airline offices are not political arm. They are commercial offices which sells

tickets, we were not allowed, we were sealed as if it was a criminal organization, we are not allowed to give refunds to passengers. And we

were not given time to address those issues. Other than these 18 destinations that we have been blocked from. It's normal and we are going

to continue with our expansion. Because the state of Qatar never gets intimidated --

DEFTERIOS: We're looking at nearly 50 flights a day, it's almost a quarter of your capacity, how do you with stand that? Do you need to go to the

government and say, I need cash to get through a very turbulent time?

AL BAKER: We're not going to ask our government for any cash because Qatar Airways is a cash strong airline. We have published our accounts already,

and people can look at those accounts and see our cash balance.

DEFTERIOS: President Trump has taken sides with Saudi Arabia, what do you think today about the position particularly because Qatar is home to a U.S.

air force base?

AL BAKER: We have 15,000 Americans living. 10,000 American troops. Center command headquarters, it is for the American people to justice. I

do not want to comment about President Trump. I never expected a country that is so dependent on its vice against terrorism, on my country, is

treating my country with a stain on the back seat. They should be the leader trying to break this blockade, and not sitting and watching what's

going on. And actually, putting fuel on fire.

DEFTERIOS: As the noose tightens on the economic blockade, does it play into the hands of Iran and Turkey? Even if you look at it from a

standpoint of survival with food, for example? Airspace that you need to fly out of is over Iran, 200 flights a day?

AL BAKER: This is the time of need, when you really know your friends. We have a lot of friends. Qatar is a small country, they have many big

friends that will help us to circumvent this blockade and have a normal life.

DEFTERIOS: You have over 150 destinations. The country secured the 2022 World Cup, it has 13 percent of the natural gas reserves. Are your

neighbors trying to chop you down to size in the bigger picture?

AL BAKER: Actually, the truth is, they have climbed on a very tall tree, and now they don't know how to get down from it, they will only get down

injuring themselves. Qatar Airways will be a robust airline and the state of Qatar will persevere.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[16:40:00] QUEST: A month before Donald Trump was elected president, he opened a new D.C. hotel. Now that hotel is part of a lawsuit that says

he's violating the constitution.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: Welcome back. The state of Maryland and the District of Columbia have taken Donald Trump to court alleging Trump is violating the

constitutions by accepting payments from foreign governments through his Washington hotel. The D.C. attorney general said, Mr. Trump had displayed

a disregard for the so-called emoluments clause.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KARL RACINE, D.C. ATTORNEY GENERAL: Never in the history of this country have we had a president with these extensive business entanglements or a

president who refused to adequately distance himself from their holdings.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: Cristina is here, before you answer the first question, which I haven't even asked yet, the first week, the emoluments clause basically

says that it's part of the constitution that says the president shall not receive monies from foreign governments, also a domestic version that is

the same. When that clause was written. Half the people aren't sure what it means anyway it has never been tested. Secondly, they were meaning

direct payments. Here's a million dollars, Mr. Trump, not goods and services by renting a hotel that he happens to own --

CRISTINA ALESCI, CNN MONEY CORRESPONDENT: Do you want to get a job at Trump org? That is exactly what is going to argue. It is going to argue

that this is not the definition of what an emolument is, is what is at stake in this particular lawsuit. Maryland and D.C. are going to try to

say that a payment for service is in fact an emolument. And so is potentially to your point about the domestic emoluments, so is potentially

a license for example for a bar or a construction license or the lease for the building that --

QUEST: The emoluments clause was designed to stop a president being in the pay or beholden to --

ALESCI: Let's get to the point, it's corruption. It is an anti-corruption --

QUEST: It follows from the revolutionary war and you don't want the Brits to be bribing the president or --

[16:45:00] ALESCI: That's why they say D.C. and Maryland will argue you should use the strictest definition possible, there's no question about

where the president's loyalties lie. The American public wants to know if there's a conflict between his business interests and the countries

interest that he will of course act in the country's interest and if there's any other extenuating factor, there's doubt. That's the argument.

QUEST: Nobody doubts, well maybe some people doubt, that this administration is riddled with conflicts of interest. It's the use of the

emoluments clause which is one of the most obscure parts in the U.S. constitution, that nobody really understands how it operates.

ALESCI: No, no one understands, but what -- again, what these attorneys will argue, this needs to be tested for the first time, because of the

unprecedented nature of the president's business holdings. And potentially because he's not subject to the conflict of interest rules that apply to

his staff.

QUEST: You have examples of money that he's received? We're not talking about a vodka martini in the bar.

ALESCI: No, we're talking about millions of dollars and again the attorneys are arguing for example Saudi Arabia hosted a party at the Trump

D.C. Hotel, they spent $190,000 in lodging, $78,000 in catering. That is not the only type of emolument they are arguing here. They're saying look,

the Chinese trademarks, protections in China for trademarks, that's an emolument. They point to $32 million in potential tax breaks for his D.C.

Trump Hotel, they say that's a domestic emolument. That's just three, there are dozens of examples, and they pull from public records, media

sources, it's a good read, you should have a look.

QUEST: I'm looking forward to it.

ALESCI: Thanks for having me.

QUEST: Something tells me in the next year you're going to be so sick of the word emoluments.

ALESCI: There are more coming, I'll have it for you this week. More lawsuits.

QUEST: More emoluments.

250,000 metric tons of plastic in the world's oceans. A 22-year-old says he has a way to clean up the oceans. His picture raised millions of

dollars from some of the biggest names in tech. You're going to meet him and see why it is different to any other way of cleaning up the ocean.

After you have had a moment to enjoy our India 20 under 40.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VINESH JOHNY, COFOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE PASTRY CHEF OF LAVONNE ACADEMY OF BAKING SCIENCE AND PASTRY ARTS INDIA: One of the things I really enjoy

working with is chocolate. In fact, I have the chemical combination of chocolate tattooed on my arm. My name is Vinesh Johny, I am 28 years old.

I am the cofounder and executive pastry chef of Lavonne Academy of Baking Science and Pastry Arts India. It is India's first internationally

recognized pastry school. We teach students how to make pastry professionally. Certainly, the pastry market in India is growing. I had

had to explain to someone what a macaron was, and now I don't have to do that.

When we started this school with the idea was to try and uplift the pastry situation of the country. And make people know that there is something

that they can choose as career path to become pastry chefs. We teach students how to bake and make pastry professionally. Certainly, the pastry

market in India is growing. I still remember five years ago when I had to explain to somebody what a macaroon and now I don't have to do that.

Everyone defines success very differently. For me, it's not about the number of students who are registering for a program, it is about what the

current students are what the alumni are doing right now. So, if you ask me if I'm successful, of course I'm successful. Because I see that my

students are doing really, really well.

Honestly, when you start off as a young entrepreneur, and you don't have a great business background, there are some things you don't understand when

you start off as an entrepreneur. I think we've managed to put all that behind us and we're focusing on what we want to achieve.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[16:50:00] QUEST: All this plastic weighs less than one pound. And 18 billion of these, 8 million tons ends up in the seas and oceans each year.

That number is growing. Put this in perspective, by 2050, it's estimated there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean when measured by weight.

Much of the plastic ends up here in garbage patches when swirling around. You know, the issues. My next guest believes he can use the oceans own

currents, the swirling the currents to gather the plastic rather than chasing it. The ocean cleanup at the age of 17. Since then he's raised

millions from some of Silicon Valley's leading entrepreneurs. We're delighted to have you with us tonight.

BOYAN SLAT, FOUNDER AND CEO, THE OCEAN CLEANUP: Thank you.

QUEST: Your system basically says as I understand it. I take all of this, and it moves around the ocean, you put your big barrier and because the

barrier moves in the same direction, with the same currents, this would all get dragged toward it.

SLAT: Correct. We say to catch the plastic, act like the plastic. We want to use ocean currents to do the hard work for us.

QUEST: How successful have your tests been so far?

SLAT: The past two years we've done the reconnaissance, flew over it with airplanes. Done scale model testing. Deployed a 100-meter-long prototype

on the sea. We're launching the first full scale system from San Francisco in the Pacific Ocean.

QUEST: You found a lot of attraction in terms of money. People have been willing to fund. Was that difficult to get people to understand?

SLAT: At the beginning possibly yes, maybe. But then it's -- I was forced to do crowd funding, $2.2 million with crowd funding. We're somehow

getting the attraction of large sponsors, currently raised over $31 million.

QUEST: Where did you get this idea from? I mean, was it genius? Was it lunacy? Was it a bit of both? If you build a barrier like this, all of

this would move toward you?

SLAT: At the beginning, it was quite a lot of lunacy. Me not understanding how violent the ocean is.

QUEST: Most people don't wake up in the morning and think, if we put a barrier the garbage will come to the barrier.

SLAT: Sure, I think it started when I saw an animation of the plastic moving around in the ocean. And people told me, well, here's another

reason why you can't clean it up. It moves, it doesn't stay in one spot. I thought, is that really a problem or could we use that as a solution?

Why move after the plastic if the plastic can come to you?

[16:55:00] QUEST: You've won some extraordinary awards for this. You must be pretty excited at the prospect of a real live full-scale test of this.

Because you know, the proof is in the pudding.

SLAT: The awards. That's not really what interests me, it's what makes me think to build that first system.

QUEST: Besides ourselves, this is what's actually in the stomach of a sea turtle.

SLAT: All this stuff breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces. It includes the fish we actually eat. That's the urgency right now. 97

percent of the plastic in the ocean is still large stuff. It will all become small and dangerous micro plastics over the next few decades if we

don't clean it up.

QUEST: Delighted, sir.

SLAT: Thank you.

QUEST: With all this plastic, something's got to go somewhere, we'll have a Profitable Moment after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: Tonight's Profitable Moment, all right, so the allegations against Uber's sexual harassment, the way it treats people, they're pretty awful

things. And quite rightly we'll get to grips with it, and the board of Uber will have to deal with it. I also think, we need to take a moment.

Why should he be a superb CEO of tens of thousands of people. The man came up with a good idea. He disrupted an industry. And maybe he needs to have

the person come in to run the company while he learns how to run the company. That's going to do it for business tonight. Whatever you're up

to in the hours ahead, I hope it's profitable

END