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Quest Means Business
Trump Says It's a Great Time to Do Business in U.S.; Lagarde Says Judge Trump on Deeds Not Creeds; U.S. Trade Panel Backs Bombardier; Varadkar Says U.K. has Promised No Hard Border; How to Build an Igloo in a Fractured World. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired January 26, 2018 - 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 HOST: Closing bell ringing on Wall Street. All the three major indices at record levels. The gavel is -- there we go
trading comes to a close. It is Friday, January the 26th.
Tonight, Donald Trump brings America First to Davos and the president becomes the country's top salesman. Also, tonight, Christine Lagarde says
look at what Trump does, not at what he says. And Bombardier versus Boeing, Boeing loses in the battle over tariffs.
I'm Richard Quest live in the World Economic Forum in Davos for the last time where we mean business.
Good evening from Davos. He came, he saw and now Davos is asking did he conquer? Participants are still trying to work out exactly what message
Donald Trump delivered here. The president, for one, seemed pleased. Tweeting on his way home.
Heading back from a very exciting two days in Davos, Switzerland. Speech on America's economic revival was well received. Many of the people I met will
be investing in the USA.
The president was greeted by the anthem from the Swiss Canton where Davos is. And in the room, itself, there was fanfare from the brass band. The
message itself got a muted reaction. The president told delegates there there's never been a better time to do business in the United States. His
speech had a strong domestic focus with Mr. Trump talking up the benefits of tax cuts and deregulation. He even opened the door to re-joining the
Transpacific Partnership in some form. Saying any agreement must meet certain conditions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We will enforce our trade laws and restore integrity to our trading system. Only by insisting on fair
and reciprocal trade can we create a system that works not just for the U.S., but for all nations. As I have said, the United States is prepared to
negotiate mutually beneficial, bilateral trade agreements with all countries. This will include the countries in TPP which are very important.
We have agreements with several of them already. We would consider negotiating with the rest either individually or perhaps as a group. If it
is in the interest of all.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: Now we'll talk about that in more detail of what he actually said and what he meant. But before we go further, we need to bring you a
decision that has major implications for U.S. trade and manufacturing. A crucial, independent U.S. trade panel has overturned the decision by the
Trump administration that would have hit a Canadian plane maker with 300 percent tariffs. The plane you're looking at is the Bombardier C-series,
Swiss was the launch customer.
Now Boeing claimed that the Bombardier unfairly benefitted from government bailout subsidies. Boeing in reaction says we are disappointed that the
International Trade Commission, the ITC, did not recognize the harm that Boeing has suffered from the billions of dollars in illegal government
subsidies. Straight to Paula Newton who is in Ottawa. These 300 percent tariffs that the administration had imposed on C-series sales, particularly
on Delta Airlines contract which has bought dozens of them, threatened to derail -- pardon the pun -- the aircraft.
PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It did and that is why Bombardier returned to Airbus. You'll remember that deal well. They thought that airbus could
save them by perhaps really having a success assembly line in Alabama, which would mean 300 percent duties wouldn't be levied because those planes
would be made in the United States. Turns out they may not need that at all. I mean, this has really been a surprise ruling and met with I would
say shock and awe here in Canada.
[16:05:00] Remember, Richard, this trade tribunal is a U.S. trade tribunal. It might be called an International Trade Commission, but this was a 4-0
decision by Republicans and Democrats. It is an independent, bipartisan panel that said look, Boeing, you're not going to be harmed by this. And
that means Delta can start taking those planes as they had expected in the spring and start to take delivery immediately. But what it does is really
put Trump's trade agenda really at odds with what his own trade body says is not proven. Having said that, just before I go back to you, Richard,
remember, NAFTA talks, going on not too far from here in Montreal. And will certainly, put a different mood in the room, it's shall we say with this
shocking ruling now from the United States.
QUEST: There's no question there are huge ramifications for the Trump trade policy because they put so much store by this. But Bombardier's decision to
sell the C-series or at least the majority stake in the C-series to Airbus. And I assume this decision doesn't change that, because the C-series was
having -- I mean, won't say difficulties but airbus is still needed to help sell the plane.
NEWTON: Yes, and the crucial thing here, Richard, was not that the C-series was having problems, Bombardier was having problems. Clearly, they were
having problems with money and now that Airbus is onboard it means that they will have the entire sales structure behind them and perhaps even the
second assembly line that was promised in Alabama no matter what this ruling says.
The thing though here is bottom line, the game on, as always for Boeing and Airbus and for those two plane makers around the world in terms of having
that as you know all too well, Richard, that cutthroat competition that will continue around the world. Having said that if I was a Canadian
negotiator during NAFTA talks right now, I would not gloat too much. They should not rise to that temptation. There are tough talks ahead and they do
not want this decision to really cloud that that.
QUEST: Thank you. Paula Newton in Ottawa, and a look again at the share price and a reminder that Boeing's share price barely budged, which is an
indication that maybe it's not as significant for Boeing. It's off just a tad after such a huge run-up. But Bombardier, this is massive because it
means not only Delta, but other U.S. airlines who may be interested would not be hit by this level of tariffs.
And so, to Davos where people are trying to interpret the message delivered by President Trump just a few hours ago. The IMF's managing director,
Christine Lagarde, said she was encouraged by some of the things she heard in Mr. Trump's speech and Christine Lagarde said we should judge the
president on what he does just as much is what he says.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTINE LAGARDE, MANAGING DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND: I think his focus on we are supportive of trade, but it needs to be free, fair and
reciprocal. Who's going to object to that?
I think it's now when we go down to the details and how we deal with the unfairness, the suspicious trade practices, the lack of reciprocity
eventually, that's where we need to do the hard work. And that's where we need to do on the multilateral basis.
QUEST: He came here with everybody worried about how the U.S. might be withdrawing, whether it's from Paris or TPP or even in the recent WTO
meetings that took place. Do you think people are reassured?
LAGARDE: You'd have to ask the people.
QUEST: Are you reassured?
LAGARDE: Well, you pick and choose those things that seem to indicate a shift from assumed directions. And maybe we just assume too much, and we
have to stick to what is happening, what are the facts, what are the actions before we pass judgment.
QUEST: That's the key, isn't it? It's not just what I say. It's what I do.
LAGARDE: In deeds, not creeds in everything, what actually happens.
QUEST: How has this Davos been on other areas, do you think? I mean, it has been so overshadowed by the U.S. delegation and what they were saying
whether it's about the dollar or whatever it is.
LAGARDE: I wouldn't say that. Because, you know, it was nicely structured. You had the whole Wednesday which was clearly a focus on Europe and the
potential for restructuring, resetting Europe. And I thought the various speeches from Gentiloni, from Merkel, from Macron, were really interesting,
cohesive, showing a direction. That was really good.
[16:10:00] I think there was a huge focus on new technologies, artificial intelligence. Where do we need investment and innovation? And then there
was the U.S. at the end of the week. But you know, it's a good thing that there was a good U.S. delegation, because we haven't seen so many U.S.
representatives in a long time. And it is the leading economy in the world.
QUEST: On that point, it's the leading economy in the world, which is enjoying some of the best growth in the world -- and maybe not numerically,
but if you take the size of the economy, the U.S. is still a bright spot in that sense.
LAGARDE: There are bright spots everywhere. You know, when I look at how we revise our forecast, we revised output the U.S., Germany, Japan, the UAE
area. That's a lot of revision and some of them big way, Germany and Japan up.5 percent. So there have been a lot of good surprises around the world
which is why that pretty good growth that we have for this year and next is well scattered. Not to say that everybody has the benefit of it. And that's
one of the focuses that I'm particularly concerned about.
QUEST: Before we go to the board, the gender diversity issue, the #metoo which has been so well documented in other areas. Do you now get the
feeling that it is well and truly entrenched and that real, meaningful change is taking place, not just paying live service because one or two
famous people have done?
LAGARDE: No. I think something has waken up. But I think that it has to be kept alive and action oriented and efficient. I think that we need to pass
that stage of anger, of legitimate pain sharing and voices into what action do we take. How do we close the gap and how do we eliminate the
discrimination? How do we eliminate the biases that people have so that women can also participate without restrictions?
QUEST: If you take that point, who leads on that? What is the next?
LAGARDE: The men and women.
QUEST: I don't doubt that. But this is a really -- not just about policy in an esoteric sense. This is about real change that has to be promulgated and
acted upon. How do you do it?
LAGARDE: You know, there are lots of countries where the legal system includes restrictions, discrimination against women, about 130 countries in
the world still have them. You have fiscal policies that are to the benefit of a couple, not an individual. Who is disadvantaged? Clearly, the second
earner who is usually a woman. So, you also have policies that can help. Maternity, paternity leave. Look at what Norway is doing. It's for both of
them. If the father does not take advantage of it, it's lost for the family. There are lots of measures that can be taken in addition to the big
mindset change that actually accepts that women can do well and sometimes better.
QUEST: And the leaders in these -- you remain a leader in this, do you?
LAGARDE: You will continue to hear my voice, for sure.
QUEST: Right. Let's see if I can find the full range of color pens. I've got two. A full range of colors for you.
LAGARDE: OK. I'll pick the green.
QUEST: Fair enough.
LAGARDE: I'll pick green and blue, actually. I'll tell you why.
QUEST: Already on all.
LAGARDE: No.
QUEST: That's we're not fractured at all. This is where we are very fractured and that's just a point of reference. Where are you going to make
your mark?
LAGARDE: You know, I'm going to do it with closed eyes. Because to me it doesn't matter. OK. I'm here
QUEST: Right.
LAGARDE: OK. And I'm going to put a blue arrow in that direction. The reason it is green is that just as Leonard Cohen would say, there is a
crack in everything and that's were the light gets in. And the reason I'm making my blue arrow is that I think that's Europe carries on its shoulders
a burden of hope that it has to deliver upon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: The reference to Leonard Cohen, as the managing director -- yes, absolutely.
Now back to the rest. The only person during the week who went for two colors on the board. David, what did people make of the speech? David
Gergen is here.
DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: I would say for many in Europe and many of the United States that were here, they had seen an awful lot of
the bad Donald Trump over the last few months. His tweets and all the erratic behavior. Tonight, they saw the good side of Donald Trump. The
narcissism is still there, the hyperbole is still there, but he came as America's salesman. To sell an economy that is revving up and to sell
people on a place of investment, and I think he made some sales. It was almost as if he was the head of the American Chamber of Commerce.
[16:15:00] QUEST: He is very, very good at reading a situation --
GERGEN: Yes.
QUEST: -- when he has to do something, particularly when business is involved. You can't eliminate him.
GERGEN: I agree. I think you'd want to think about. People who are here are probably the people that he respects the most in the world. They're highly
successful business people for the most part. And that's what he values, that's what he places his value on. And he's comfortable in this kind of
crowd.
QUEST: We saw it last night at the dinner.
GERGEN: Yes.
QUEST: That was -- probably at the end of the speech, you know, he had to give. That dinner last night for him was probably the piece de-resistance
of the visit.
GERGEN: I think that's right. We all thought coming here this was going to be a Modi's Davos, because he was going to go first. He was the leadoff.
And that fell a little flat and it became Trump's Davos. I think we ought to be careful about not overdoing it. And on the very days here the growth
numbers come out and they're lower than the Trump administration had been envisioning. You know, the job numbers, the employment numbers are less
than what they were at the end of the Obama year. He never gives any credit to Obama.
QUEST: You just may have heard at the beginning of the program, this decision on Bombardier and Boeing.
GERGEN: Yes.
QUEST: Without getting into the minutia of it with tariffs, but the fact is when the commerce department introduce those tariffs --
GERGEN: Yes.
QUEST: -- they made a great fuss about them, and this was clearly America First. We're going to fight back. Well, now, the ITC independent,
unanimously says, no there's wrong.
GERGEN: I happen to think it's good for the world and the reason is I think it's much more likely now that we'll come out with a NAFTA intact or
revised and not destroyed. Because this was a big hang up with the Canadians and the after talks and it takes that issue away from the talks.
QUEST: NAFTA is absolutely at the crucial point, the sixth talks with the round of talks. And they have to discuss -- so they have to start to decide
the rules of origin and the sunset clause. And from your understanding of the administration, how much are they prepared to ditch NAFTA if they had
to? It's always like Brexit.
GERGEN: I don't think they really -- I will tell you, the president's instinct would be to ditch it. But the people around him, the Gary Cohn's
of the world. I think Gary Cohn was an architect of this speech today. You know, Goldman Sachs and all of that background, they pulled him in. Listen,
one of the most important things that happened today, was his signals on TPP. Yes, and the fact was for all of the time it was a monstrously awful
treaty, you can 't possibly stand it. And these other 11 nations said OK. We'll do it without you. And they did. And suddenly the United States is
coming back, and Trump is saying to the world, maybe we'll renegotiate and maybe we'll join after all.
QUEST: A good Davos?
GERGEN: A good Davos. And you did well. I think people will go back from here feeling a little less fractured.
QUEST: A little less fractured.
GERGEN: A little less fractured.
QUEST: See you next year here.
GERGEN: Ok. Take care.
QUEST: Good to see you. Thank you.
The economic picture in the U.S. Isn't as rosy as David was saying and as maybe the president would like us to believe.
Growth slowed slightly in the last quarter of the year. The economy grew 2.3 percent for the whole of the year and that's quicker than the previous,
but below Donald Trump's target of 3 percent.
However, look at the markets all three major U.S. indices jumped to record highs with tech and healthcare stocks leading the way. Wall Street
continues to ride a wave of strong, corporate earnings. The Nasdaq, the Dow and S&P all at record highs.
At Davos, the president boasted about how many records the stock market has hit since his election. We've been tracking them. So far for this year
there are 10 record closes on the Dow, 14 for the S&P and 13 for the Nasdaq. You can see in the European boards that euphoria extends beyond the
U.S. markets. If you take a look at the numbers there, it's euphoric sense. We've got the FTSE at 6, the Dax at 1, the SMI at 2.
Now, as we continue on tonight's program, will take a short break. When we come back we'll have more details on what's happening with Donald Trump.
He's now heading back, and we will hear more from the fracture board.
[16:20:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: The snow is still on the trees, but just barely, it was a little bit warmer. Now the Australian relations between two NATO allies, Turkey and
U.S. I ask the Turkish Prime Minister about the state of their relationship. When we talked about what was happening the Turkish President
has slammed support for the militias. Asking how can a strategic partner do this to its ally? The latest sign of troubled relations between Washington
and Ankara. Now listen to how Turkey's deputy prime minister insisted it's not all bad.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MEHMET SIMSEK, TURKISH DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER: First of all, Turkey despite multiple domestic and external shocks, is toward leading growth story. Last
year growth rate in real terms was over 7 percent. We've created over 1.3 million jobs. Turkey has been growing for the past 15 years. The growth
rate is average to 5. 7 percent. Now, going forward, clearly Europe remains our core market. Despite occasional tensions, Europe is a rule of law-based
economics on and clearly, I don't see our trade being affected by that.
The U.S. was never really a major trading partner with us with relative to other parts of the world. But it's important that the tension is as we go
forward. However, we are like everybody else, going to focus on emerging seven and Africa. Why? Because that's where growth is going to be. We've
ignored Asia for too long. We have to focus. Africa and we have a big opening toward Africa. Turkish Airline is the largest international carrier
out of Africa.
QUEST: How did you see the European relationship developing?
SIMSEK: Improving.
QUEST: How?
SIMSEK: We are -- the relationship is back on demand. We have direct talks with Germany. We are back on some sort of normalcy with Dutch and
Austrians. We also have good, diplomatic channels. It's back. Last year was unusually bad. They had elections, noise, Turkey being used as domestic
political football. Of course, we had the referendum. It was tension. It's behind us. The worst is behind us.
QUEST: The issues aren't behind you though. That's the real problem. Yes, a political football doing an action and it's nice to beat up on an easy
target, arguably. But the issues, the immigration, the refugee issue.
SIMSEK: We are part of the solution, Richard. Turkey is the world's largest refugee hosting country. We're helping Europeans deal with it. Terror,
Turkey is key. And as you supply secret deterrent is key. You know, let me put it this way, actually President Erdogan and President Trump are getting
along well. However, it's the establishment in the United States where we occasionally run into difficulties. However, we're still hopeful. As
Winston Churchill said, you can always count on Americans to do the right thing after having tried everything else.
QUEST: Right, but this particular nasty --
SIMSEK: I'm talking about Syria here.
QUEST: So am I, but this particularly nasty row, argument, whatever you want to call it, over the U.S. asking and you demanding the support for
different factions.
SIMSEK: Come on, Richard, let's put it this way. Turkey has legitimate security concerns. We have 911 kilometers of border with Syria. The United
States is 10,000 kilometers away. U.S. is using, knowingly, a subsidiary of PKK which is on the U.S. terrorist list to combat ISIS. We say, look, let's
combat ISIS together legitimately.
QUEST: The U.S. says don 't attack the people we're supporting.
[16:25:00] SIMSEK: We're not attacking people. We are trying to secure our border. We have no quarrel with Kurds. I am a Kurd. We have no quarrel.
However, we have a problem with PKK terrorism. The U.S. is our ally. We're in NATO together. When U.S. asked for our help we went to Afghanistan to
fight al Qaeda. We've always been there for U.S.
QUEST: From Turkey's perspective, how serious is this riff over the PKK?
SIMSEK: Very serious. Very serious. We take it very seriously. Because it's an existential threat to our democracy and our future.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SIMSEK: As we continue the Russia investigation stole some thunder from President Trump's economic victory lap here in Davos. After the break, the
latest on reports that Donald Trump tried to fire the man in charge of that investigation, and he tried to do so back in June of last year. This is
QUEST MEANS BUSINESS from Davos.
[16:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Hello. I'm Richard Quest. There's more QUEST MEANS BUSINESS in just a moment. With the Irish Prime Minister tells me the problems with Brexit
are not insurmountable. And building an igloo. Well, I tried it and it's harder than it looks. I'll show you what happened when it all went wrong.
As we continue tonight, this is CNN, and on this network the facts always come first.
President Trump has denied reports that he tried to fire the special counsel, Robert Mueller. A source confirmed to CNN that the president
wanted to fire Mr. Mueller last June. Just weeks after he took over the investigation into the Russian election meddling. The president reportedly
backed down but only after the White House legal counsel threatened to resign.
Donald Trump told the World Economic Forum there has never been a better time to do business in America. He gave his highly anticipated speech in
Davos at a packed conference hall and did not address the bombshell report about the special counsel.
Moscow is dismissing a Dutch media report on Russian hacking in the U.S. as anti-Russian hysteria. The media report says Dutch intelligence services
alerted the FBI about the hacking of the Democratic National Committee, the White House and the State Department.
Shares in Wynn Resorts plunged more than 10 percent after a report the chief executive Steve Wynn had sexually harassed dozens of women over many
years. The report in the "Wall Street Journal." Steve Wynn has denied the allegations calling the accusations preposterous.
Parts of France are now inundated with floodwaters. The river Seine continues to rise. It's swollen and around Paris with days of heavy
downpours. Several train stations near the popular tourist destinations are closed, as well as parts of the lower level of Louvre Museum.
Donald Trump is on his way back to Washington, on his way home. When he gets there the controversy continues. According to a source the president
tried to fire the special counsel, Robert Mueller, back in June. You are aware of what the investigation is all about. Jim Acosta is here in Davos,
our chief White House correspondent, braving the cold in the Swiss mountains. Jim, good evening to you. Now, this is interesting because the
administration, Donald Trump, just about everybody has always flatly denied that he ever was going to or thought about or tried to fire Robert Mueller.
That now appears to be untrue.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. That's right according to our sources the president did try to fire Robert Mueller, the
special counsel earlier this year -- or excuse me, in June of last year. And that his White House counsel Don McGahn, the internal White House
lawyer who makes sure the White House is following the law said no, Mr. President, you can't do that and I'm going to if you go forward with that
plan.
Richard, you can play a very long montage of clips of various administration and White House officials, denying that the president ever
considered doing this. And yet here we are today. And we should point out, Richard, over at the Davos forum that you were at earlier today along with
us, the president did not flatly deny that this took place. He called it fake news. But as you know, he has called things fake news that are very,
very real. Going back to the January press conference at Trump Tower in 2017 when he referred to us as fake news. Because we were trying to ask
questions about the Russia investigation.
Calling something fake news, the president calling something fake news doesn't necessarily mean he's saying it's not true. And we went to various
-- I've talked to sources inside the president's legal team, inside the White House today, they are not saying that this is not true. And I think
this is one of the big questions for the president when he returns to Washington. He should be back any moment. And keep in mind, he's got a plan
for the State of Union address, deal with immigration and this Mueller investigation is the cloud that hangs over everything. It is not going
away.
QUEST: Jim, on the question of this Davos trip, you have obviously been at the White House with this president since day one. How important, in your
estimation, was it that he come here, do a victory lap and be seen for want of a better phrase, to conquer Davos?
ACOSTA: I think he desperately wanted to see that. This was part of the club that he felt like it never wanted him. Now he feels that he's part of
this club. I think what we saw here in Davos is much of what we've seen in the U.S. business community over the last year, which is the world business
community, the global business community is sort of digesting and rationalizing what President Trump can bring to the global economic scene.
They like his tax cut policy. They like his deregulation policy. They don't like the extreme tweets and comments. They rather he would get away from
that.
And I think that's why we saw a pretty warm reception for the president and what he was talking about today with respect to the U.S. Economy. And there
were boos and hisses when he went off on the fake news media. People around the world just aren't comfortable with the president of the United States
engaging in that rhetoric. But at the same time, Richard, I think what we saw here was a bit of what President Obama used to call the okie-dokie.
Which is not really presenting things for what they are. President Trump was a fierce anti-globalist, anti-trade candidate during the 2016 campaign.
He did not come across that way here in Davos.
And whether that means the president has learned his lessons from being president of the United States. That you can't govern the way that you
campaign, or he's just simply masking his true feelings and he'll continue to be anti-trade on the world stage I think remains to be seen. He's made
some comments here in Davos that I think would lead people around the world to conclude that he's tempered a lot of those feelings and a lot of those
beliefs. But the question remains what does he do moving forward -- Richard.
QUEST: Jim, have a safe journey back to Washington. Good to see you here in snowy Davos. Thank you, sir.
[16:35:00] Now as we continue the Irish border conundrum, Leo Varadkar, his vision for the U.K.'s only land border in a post-Brexit world. After the
break, it's QUEST MEANS BUSINESS in Davos.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: The United Kingdom is preparing to leave the EU and no EU country arguably will be more affected than by Ireland. The economy is entwined
with Britain's and shares the U.K.'s only land border with Northern Ireland, of course. I spoke to the Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and asked
him if it's possible to overcome the border issue?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LEO VARADKAR, IRISH TAOISEACH: I don't think it's impossible to solve. You know we have a common travel area between Ireland and Britain separate from
the EU and we have that, in fact, before either country joined the European Union, so I don't have any particular concerns about maintaining the free
movement of people between Northern Ireland and Ireland, and between Britain and Ireland. We can do that bilaterally. Where it does get
complicated, of course, is around trade because we're in the European Union, we are in the single market and the United Kingdom has decided to
leave. What we have agreed in December is a commitment from the U.K. government that there won't be a hard border.
QUEST: But that's a commitment that's almost impossible to keep at the same time as maintaining the Brexit notion of not being in the single market. I
mean, I don't understand how you square this circle.
VARADKAR: Well, I would humbly suggest that it is for people who are leaving to square that circle and not for others, but one way that it could
be done, for example, is through a new EU-U.K. agreement and new partnership that in many ways may not be the single market, but is similar
to it or it may not be the customs union but is something very similar to replicate what's there already in terms of regulatory alignment. But
politics is the art of the possible and the science of the future.
QUEST: No. Politics is the art of the fudge.
VARADKAR: Not necessarily.
QUEST: Politics is the art of the fudge, Taoiseach, that then becomes obviously a fudge when the thing finally disintegrates a year or two later.
VARADKAR: Well, you know, it's my job and the job of others to make sure that doesn't happen. It can be done as I said in two ways. A new
relationship between the EU and the U.K. that replicates lots of the single market and a customs union. Or if needs to be a unique solution for
Northern Ireland and that's an option too.
QUEST: Right, now, which of course would not play well with of course the political party supporting the British government or literally supporting
the British government. On this final point.
VARADKAR: It might play well with the majority of people in Northern Ireland who perhaps would see the advantages of having it both ways. If
there's any part of the United Kingdom that actually can have flexibility and can have the benefits, it is Northern Ireland, I believe.
[16:40:00] QUEST: Are you in favor, bearing in mind what you just said, over Canada-
plus-plus solution. In other words, a free trade agreement that services included, but still does not necessarily have all of the four pillars
entrenched within it, because that's really what you are sort of suggesting by saying the U.K. how is a unique solution. Are you in favor of something
along those lines?
VARADKAR: What I'm in favor of and the Chancellor Merkel spoke for all of us yesterday is that I'm in favor of allowing the United Kingdom to have as
close a relationship as it wants to have. But there is a very important proviso when it comes to the, and that is that with access to single
market, with access to the European Union, there come responsibilities and obligations. So, whether it is Canada-plus or Norway-plus, the decision I
would like is the closest one, of course.
QUEST: Choose a color.
VARADKAR: I go for black.
QUEST: Very good.
VARADKAR: Does that mean anything?
QUEST: No. I thought you would go for green here because the last guests went for green.
VARADKAR: I'm agreed. Not today.
QUEST: Absolutely. The fracture board. We are told we are - - there is a fractured world. This is not fractured at all. This is very fractured and
that's the middle line to give perspective which clearly has gone and quite a few people have decided to go rogue. So where would you like to go?
VARADKAR: Hmm. There's not much space left.
QUEST: Don't worry. You can make a big mark.
VARADKAR: Go here.
QUEST: You are saying we are fractured.
VARADKAR: We are fractured. But if you look a lot of the indexes, things like global poverty all of those things believe it or not, we are actually
going in the right direction.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: And that's where the Taoiseach was on the board. When we return it's nearly time for us to pack our bags after a superb week of memorable
moments and we'll look at what you might have missed from Davos.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Ah, he's done marvelous service. Bitcoin Bob celebrating the cryptocurrencies of the world. Those of you expecting a quiet restrained
World Economic Forum may well have been disappointed. The fractured world and America's relationship with the rest of the world dominated
proceedings. We've condensed our coverage into a mere three minutes.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: It is Monday, it is the 22nd of January. Tonight, the snow is falling in Davos, and now Donald Trump will be coming here.
Good evening to you. It's snowing for days. Tonight, the U.S. government is set to re-open for the time being, and President Trump's trip to Davos is
back on schedule.
KLAUS SCHWAB, EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN, WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM: He is just the voice of a fractured world.
QUEST: The WEF risks report was quite terrifying, for the first time talking about war.
[16:45:00] BILL THOMAS, CHAIRMAN, KPMG: We do a survey every year. 1300 CEOs, geopolitical risk rose to the top of the survey, as well, so it's on
everybody's mind.
WINNIE BYANYIMA, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, OXFAM INTERNATIONAL: Our fractured economies are rewarding wealth and not rewarding hard work.
QUEST: Today is Tuesday. It's January the 23rd. Tonight the battle lines are drawn on the question of trade.
JUSTIN TRUDEAU, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: A new comprehensive and progressive agreement for transpacific partnership, the CP TPP.
GARY COHN, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL: America first is not America alone.
QUEST: It was a very much America First, bring back American jobs. Now that will not be well received if that is the tenure of his closing speech here.
DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: I agree. And a lot of what he's done before has not been well received and you see a lot of the CEOs
thinking it is very positive for them.
ERNA SOLBERG, NORWEGIAN PRIME MINISTER: Jobs in America is dependent on market and their outs. It's dependent on innovative immigrants. It's
dependent on this circle together, which we have.
QUEST: It is Wednesday, it's the 24th of January. Tonight, deep into the trenches. The battle lines on trade get ever clearer.
ROBERTO AZEVEDO, DIRECTOR GENERAL, WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION: Most people now are concerned with the direction that this has taken and
whether we are going to remain in control of the situation or not.
ANGELA MERKEL, GERMAN CHANCELLOR (through translator): We think that shutting ourselves off from the rest of the world, isolating ourselves will
not lead us into a good future. Protectionism is not the answer.
AXEL WEBER, CHAIRMAN, UBS: In my view, the U.S. has something to show for, so growth is going to come up. In Europe, they don 't have yet anything to
show.
QUEST: Thursday, the 25th of January. Tonight, Donald Trump is in Davos. His economic adviser Gary Cohn they will get the message.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's your message for everyone here, sir?
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Peace and prosperity.
COHN: We are looking for a level playing field. We want to be part of a level global world.
MARK RUTTE, DUTCH PRIME MINISTER: We need Donald Trump's leadership on many international issues.
CHRISTINE LAGARDE, MANAGING DIRECTOR, IMF: As if we're all seeking more growth, better growth, more inclusive growth, sustainable growth we need to
fire from all engines.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: What a week. Finance ministers, heads of state, chief execs they have all passed through our cozy little broadcast studio and they've all
been asked the same key question about the state of the fractured world today.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: WEF says it's a fractured world. How fractured?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's pretty fractured.
QUEST: Choose your color.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to go blue.
QUEST: Choose your color.
ANDREY KOSTIN, CHAIRMAN, VTB BANK: Of course, red.
COHN: Red is unacceptable and in the world. OK, so that's out, will go with green.
QUEST: Go green.
QUEST: Choose your color.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Choose because I like to live in the black.
QUEST: Oh, oh.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm going to go with this.
BYANYIMA: Extreme, there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I put us here on the fractured side.
QUEST: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'd put us over here and the tendency in terms of wages and in terms of quality of jobs with the big T revolution, we are not
prepared for this revolution.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think we are there.
QUEST: What, that we're not that fractured.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am moving sideways.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Unfractured. I would -- I would circle it and say it's everywhere.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are going in a circle.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm actually going to put two dots on. I told you I'd be tricky.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I like to be -- to make cross somewhere here in the middle because I see, I will put like this, this and this, try to bring
convergence.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Countries will implement necessary reforms. That's crucial.
QUEST: And there I dropped the pen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hopefully here.
QUEST: Right. And which way are we going? Getting better or getting worse?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here.
QUEST: That doesn't give us much cause for optimism.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: And you make of this what you will. I think overall what you get from it is where people sort of in this area. But it's the arrows there
also were most fascinating. And by and large when you try and count them all up, more arrows do suggest that direction. But the fracture board has
well and truly served its purpose.
We nearly had some fractures of our own, the saw us build an igloo earlier in the week. We showed how all the world leaders carried their burdens to
Davos trying to heal the world's fractures. And just like diplomacy, as we discovered, building this igloo was an extremely testing process.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[16:50:00] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, Richard.
QUEST: Everything is such hard work in the snow.
When you're getting on with the job, there is no time for messing around.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: I always wanted to do that. With the forum over let's recount what we have learned. Here to help put us all together, is Urs Gredig. the
editor-in-chief of CNN Money Switzerland. Congratulations to you on your superb launch.
URS GREDIG, CNN MONEY SWITZERLAND EDITOR IN CHIEF: Thank you so much. Congratulations on the igloo, as a Swiss, I can say, really well done.
QUEST: Well, you've launched, you're on your way, as CNN Money Switzerland and we couldn't be more proud of it. Now what did we learn this week?
GREDIG: Wow. It was a week. It was an extraordinary week and looking at the highlights that you showed me that once again. As a Swiss, I must say I
covered some WEFs, but this WEF was extraordinary. I mean, you know, the heads of state being here, and of course, the American president is
something we don't see every year.
QUEST: And the president, Donald Trump, met the Swiss president.
GREDIG: Exactly.
QUEST: It was a fascinating dynamic the whole week. Did we learn anything from Davos? Do you think -- I mean being Swiss, being here. We schlep up
this mountain once a year. What do the Swiss people think of this?
GREDIG: I mean the Swiss people are quite skeptic, and they are skeptical, and they don't buy into all of the political boo hoo going around the WEF.
The WEF is and remains a business meeting. And I think the American president being here shows exactly that, that the businessmen and the
entrepreneur coming here, and selling himself, selling America is what the WEF is all about. And I think that's what all of the Swiss people with all
of the politicians here and with the heads of state here still think that the WEF is mainly something that people come to do business.
QUEST: It's a very expensive place.
GREDIG: It is.
QUEST: Not just Switzerland.
GREDIG: Welcome to Switzerland.
QUEST: I was about to say. How do people actually make ends meet? I know wages are higher, this place is exorbitant at WEF week.
GREDIG: It is during WEF week although, I mean, you know here are still people in Davos who are renting out for lower prices. You can still have a
pizza for 20 francs instead of 50 francs. It's not that expensive after all.
QUEST: When we start looking at CNN money Switzerland now, what are your hopes, what are your plans for the future?
GREDIG: Look, I hope we can build a bridge from Switzerland to the outer world. We want to build a bridge from, you know, whatever happens
internationally what does that mean for Switzerland and vice versa. We're in the middle of the world. We're in the middle of Europe, although not
being part of Europe. And we want to build that bridge constantly. I want to show what's going on in Switzerland which is a fascinating country, as
you know, you've been here so many times.
QUEST: I have. I have, but whenever I do come here I'm always impressed. I am impressed at the quality of life. I'm impressed at the sort of a country
that seems quite relaxed with each other, with itself at the moment.
GREDIG: We are, and we are, you know, we are modest. Yet we want to work. We want to work well and that's why the WEF is really taking place here.
And while it's taking place here, I think we keep getting reminded that it is those Swiss talents that we have that we might bring into the WEF, as
well.
QUEST: OK. Final thought. Final thought though as we talk about this. The concept of Switzerland with the European Union, and the whole world coming
here and the way you take it all in your strides in this extraordinary weather, it's not easy.
GREDIG: It's not easy, however, it's best PR. I think it's good PR for Switzerland. It's good PR for the Swiss people being able to host an event
like this which is getting bigger and bigger every year, is a good sign and we can actually do it. And maybe it helps that we are not part of the
European Union.
QUEST: Do you think Switzerland would ever join? I know there have been referenda on this issue.
[16:55:00] GREDIG: It has. And there will never be a referendum in the coming years because we are quite good and work well outside of the EU.
QUEST: Final question. I have a final, final, final question. We spent most of the day trying to work out what the piece of music was that was played
at the beginning of the Donald Trump speech with that brass band. Now we wondered whether it was the national anthem which it wasn't. In fact, we
are listening to it now, just a second or two of it, and apparently it is some canton anthem of some description.
GREDIG: This is so embarrassing because I thought it must be American, or it must be British, or it must be anything but Swiss because I don't know
it, Richard, I have to tell you.
QUEST: Excellent, I don't feel nearly as bad.
GREDIG: Thank you so much.
QUEST: Thank you very much. As we continue we will have a Profitable Moment after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: And so, we come to another Davos, the conclusion thereof. Tonight's Profitable Moment. It is always fashionable to say Davos isn't what it used
to be, that Davos has changed, that Davos is somehow too big and too brash, and there's no question about it. Earlier in the week up there on the
promenade it was like policy making Las Vegas.
There were so many people walking up and down, party to party. You wondered if there was any sense or rhyme or reason to what was going on. But as the
week wore on, so it clarified. It wasn't all about Donald Trump. Yes, it was a major part, but there were important other issues, too, that were
discussed and debated.
And as for the idea that Davos isn't what it used to be, well, that's always the cry of the old foggy who thinks that it was always better in a
different year and maybe I've turned into that person this year. The reality is Davos did the deed and Bitcoin Bob was here to help us all of
the way through.
And that's QUEST MEANS BUSINESS for tonight. I'm Richard Quest in Davos. Whatever you're up to in the hours ahead, I hope it's profitable. See you
next year.
END
