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Quest Means Business
U.S. And China Have Called What Seems To Be A Ceasefire On Their Trade War: London FTSE Closed At A Record High; Sanctions Of Historic Proportions; U.S. Secretary Of State Mike Pompeo Says The U.S. Will Crush Iran With Pressure And Then He Warns The West; A Sham And An Election Results Not Worth Recognizing; Ebola Vaccinations Start for Health Workers in DRC; Italy's Populist Parties Name Conte as P.M. Candidate; U.K. Pledges $540 Million After Grenfell Fire; New Explosion and Laze at Hawaii's Kilauea Volcano; E.U. Privacy by Default Data Law to Come into Force; Facebook, Google Say They'll Block Ads from Foreign Donors; Ads from Foreign Donors Challenge Abortion Vote; New Official Royal Wedding Photographs Released; Royal Wedding Memorabilia Now Available on eBay; New Stats Shows 29 Million People Watched Royal Wedding in the U.S.; The Obamas Enter Multi-Year Deal with Netflix; Consumer Reports Raises Braking Concerns in Tesla Model 3; Gene Simmons Pitches Legal Marijuana, Plans New World Tour for Kiss. Aired: 4-5p ET
Aired May 21, 2018 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RICHARD QUEST, CNN HOST: Moving on (ph), ringing on Wall Street, Center on Addiction, ringing the closing bell, excellent day for stocks and
shares, I'll show you the number when we get in just a moment. This is going to be a good one. I feel it is a strong gavel coming up today.
Yes, deliberate, purposeful, robust -- trading is over. A new week, we are together. It is Monday, it's the 21st of May.
Think of it as a ceasefire celebration. Markets have rallied as the U.S. and China put their trade war on hold. Nearly 300, we might just head
for 300 before we are over.
Tesla mass market model has a critical panning, and God gave rock and roll to you, and tonight, we give you Gene Simmons, live on this program.
Live from London tonight, I'm Richard Quest, where of course, I mean business.
Good evening. tonight, the great trade war is on hold, it would appear and the Dow Jones is rallying sharply. This is the way the market went. We
were a little bit higher during the course of the day with over 371, was the intraday high. The best gain since the first week of May, and it's all
because U.S. and China have called what seems to be a ceasefire on their trade war.
No new tariffs while talks continue. And if you look at those parts of the market that actually moved, or those stocks you see, the gain is not
surprisingly -- Boeing, UT, Caterpillar, GE, chemicals DuPont, all those companies that were threatened with sanctions or tariffs whose products
would suffer, they are the biggest beneficiaries as a result and that market never looked back.
The Treasury Secretary, Steven Mnuchin says there is an agreement in place that will reduce America's trade imbalance with China.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
STEVEN MNUCHIN, TREASURY SECRETARY OF THE UNITED STATES: It is a framework agreement. It is an agreement Secretary Ross has to go over and turn that
into a signed piece of paper with companies.
As I've described, this is not a government to government purchase order, but we have an agreement with them as to what will be executed, and
Secretary Ross is going over there, I believe, next week on the ground to get that done.
(END VIDEO CLIP ENDS)
QUEST: As Secretary Mnuchin hinted, there is still much to be decided and several unknowns are left lingering. For instance, the role of ZTE,
Mnuchin talked about that, and they're still calling it an enforcement issue, not a trade issue. It's been hit by the U.S. ban and Beijing wants
that to be lifted.
Both sides say there will be meaningful increases in U.S. exports, but there were no concrete commitments to reduce the trade deficit by Chinese
companies, anyway, how do you we want to go about doing it, and course, tariffs still loom.
The Trade Rep, Robert Lighthizer says there are other issues such as cyber theft, Iran and North Korea. Luckily for us, Jason Furman is with us, he
was the Chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers under Barack Obama. He joins me from Cambridge, Massachusetts.
As I read your various views on this, Jason, you are extremely cynical, I beg to just say, about the ability of this deal to hold water.
JASON FURMAN, FORMER CHAIRMAN OF THE WHITE HOUSE COUNCIL OF ECONOMIC ADVISERS: I think what's cynical is the idea that you have very legitimate
issues in our trade relationship with China, but we are going to cut a deal where they buy a bit of extra this, a bit of extra that and then we call
the whole thing off. I think that type of approach to trade negotiations is cynical, Richard.
QUEST: Except some would say that is an improvement and at least, it gets the number going in the right direction, even though I know you're going to
tell me that they were going in the right direction anyway, but they were going in the right direction anyway because of currency issues and other
factors.
FURMAN: Well, Richard, they were going in the right direction anyway. You predicted what I was going to say. A decade ago, China had a current
account surplus of 10 percent of GDP. Now, it's down to 1.4 percent of GDP. That's a really, really remarkable reduction in their global
imbalance.
It's happened largely for the right reasons and the good reasons, their currency is more correctly aligned than it was a decade ago. Consumer
spending is a larger share of the Chinese economy than it was a decade ago. And I think we need to encourage that not some type of mercantilist buy a
bit of our sorghum.
QUEST: How will the Chinese actually execute a deal like this? I mean, obviously, it's a central command and control economy, but it's not as if -
- I mean, unless they actually go out and say to the companies, "Hey, you buy this, you buy that, and by the way, you buy a few more planes from
Boeing." What's the logistics? I mean, I am thinking back to the Plaza and the Louvre accords in --
[16:05:16]
QUEST: -- the 1980s which were managed currencies designed not only to rebalance currencies, but to erase trade imbalances.
FURMAN: Yes, I think that's one of the problems here. You're trying to negotiate over something that even if they wanted to, they couldn't
deliver, and we couldn't deliver by the way. We couldn't produce an extra $200 billion a year of exports even if we wanted to overnight.
They couldn't buy that much as centrally planned as their economy still is. And most importantly, we should be encouraging them to be more of a market
economy. The message we should be sending is stop doing central targets, start behaving more like a market economy. And that means a level playing
field, not a numerical target.
QUEST: Jason, forgive me being blunt, but I can hear some viewers at home saying, "Look, this man would say that. He was the Chief economic adviser
in a Democrat President's White House. He is clearly going to find fault when actually President Trump has managed to do what few have done before,"
which is strong arm China into making concessions."
FURMAN: First of all, a number of Democrats have been more supportive of his approach to trade with China that I have been, so if you want to be
cynical that I am a typical economist, not a typical Democrat, first of all.
Second of all, if President Trump's big accomplishment has threatened a massive trade war and out of this, he got more sorghum sales to China than
President Obama got, I don't think that's such a huge accomplishment than it was worth it.
Finally, we haven't gotten anything yet. China does have a long history of making various promises and then backing out on delivering them. So, I
think you know, if you want to make threats on the trade sides, pine out the tactic I'd take, I would do it multilaterally, I would do it for the
WTO, but most importantly, focus on China obeying the rules, leveling the playing field, becoming a more market economy that involves IP, that
involves joint ventures, that involves over symmetric treatment of domestic investment, not on this type of mercantilist get them to buy a little more
of this and that without making any other changes.
QUEST: Professor, good to see you, Jason, as always, thank you for joining us.
FURMAN: Thanks for having me.
QUEST: Now, the Dow rallied strongly because -- Jason, calls it a mercantilist policy, but at the end of the day, mercantilist policies will
of course improve exports for certain key companies, and it was up nearly 300 points.
We are back over 25,000. GE finished up two percent after it sold its 111- year-old railway business. Paul La Monica joins me now. I mean, I see where Jason is coming from, but you can't necessarily argue in the short-
term and in the immediate reaction of those companies that are benefiting and you could that are benefiting and you could see on the screen as well,
which ones they are.
PAUL LA MONICA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, the entire market rallied today, and I obviously get Jason's point. I think the question right now is do
people have to come to this realization that we have a person in President Trump who clearly hates these big trade agreements.
He wants to do bilateral trade agreements, that's what he is doing now with China, and I think while some would argue that he's not getting much by
just having China agree to some more agricultural purchases to help American farmers, you do have also the U.S. having some cards of its own,
that you know, that it holds, with the possibility of saving ZTE, bringing it back to life after it was essentially shut down because of you know,
concerns of -- security concerns.
So, I think both the U.S. and China realize that this hard line stance wasn't working and we know that President Trump is a negotiator, that's
what he loves to do.
QUEST: So, the GE and this maneuver by GE, what's left of GE -- I mean, that's a silly question. forgive me. There's plenty left of it, but does
it fit into the strategy because, look at the share price, and you just see it's on a one way bet all the way down, with a few little bleeps on the
way.
They will still have 50.1 percent of the new venture with the old Westinghouse, so it's like they're getting rid of an asset, they're just
transferring it out. What's the strategy here?
LA MONICA: Yes, I think the strategy is that they clearly did not want to entirely unload this division, so they are doing this joint venture with
the WB, the former Westinghouse Air Brake, but I think the question still becomes when will Flannery be able to sell more assets, the light bulb
division for example, and others to raise much needed cash because GE wants to focus on healthcare and power and aviation and that's all well and good.
But if it doesn't raise more cash, there are just going to be more questions and concerns about the company's viability going forward as
earnings growth slows.
QUEST: We'll watch it closely...
[16:10:16]
QUEST: ... and so will you, Paul La Monica. Guru La Monica, thank you, sir.
LA MONICA: Thank you.
QUEST: Now, to European markets, and I think the thing you need to look at there is London FTSE which closed at a record high, boosted by the weak
pound and the cooling of trade tensions to the U.S. and China.
So, London was the standout. The trade down, Paris was up, but the biggest loser was the MIBTEL in Milan, down 1.5 percent and it was political
uncertainty in the country that led to that.
And specifically, of course, the March election and now two populist parties that have risen to the top as they campaign rivals, now they are
forming a coalition. The nominee for the Prime Minister is this man, his picture on the right, Giuseppe Conte, a little known academic and a lawyer
with no political experience. This does not bode well by the way.
He is shaking hands with the leader of populist five-star movement. Joining me now, Lorenzo Codogno, he is the former Chief Economist at the
Italian Treasury. Good to see you, sir.
LORENZO CODOGNO, FORMER CHIEF ECONOMIST, ITALIAN TREASURY: Nice to see you.
QUEST: All right, what do you think of it?
CODOGNO: Well, you know, it was pretty much expected, you know, I think as you mentioned, he's a little known professor of law in Florence. He's close
to the five star movement, but certainly no experience in politics. He's not even an MP, okay, but having said that...
QUEST: Hang on. Why would they put him there other than as a puppet?
CODOGNO: Well, clearly they want maintain control. I think the government will be very much in the hands of the two leaders.
QUEST: But this is a bit of disgrace, if you put somebody in control as a namesake Prime Minister so that you can be the power behind the throne,
pulling the strings of the puppet.
CODOGNO: I would totally agree, okay, in a sense that it would be better one of the two leaders probably the five-star movement given that they are
bigger in terms of electoral support, will then take the leadership, but you know, there was the kind of thin line...
QUEST: Why wouldn't they take it? Why wouldn't either of them take it.
CODOGNO: I think it was a veto by Salvini, the leader of the league. There, he doesn't really want to have a five-star leader taking lead. The
other -- you can take another view. I mean, the leader of the five-star is 31. So, he also has no experience and you know...
QUEST: Okay, as a Treasury official, when you look at their economic plans, $100 billion of spending, reform, more generous pensions and the
like, what do you make of it?
CODOGNO: It's clearly an unrealistic program. If you add that to all the spending projects and the cut in taxation, you end up with something close
to $100 billion. Your six percentage point of GDP.
So, can you believe that? Simply not. Okay, so it's not feasible, simply unfeasible.
QUEST: They must know this. They certainly know the Maastricht Criteria and the deficit restrictions and the six-pack and the full pack and
whatever the pack -- this is now getting introduced, so if they introduce this and the deficit balloons, they are going to find themselves in very
hot water with Brussels.
CODOGNO: Yes. Maybe they want it in the sense that there is probably -- I hope the majority of this two parties that is still in favor of you know,
kind of moving towards a kind of more moderate line, and some hard line, that's probably calling for trouble because once they get the trouble, they
may actually force you know, maybe exit from the Euro or you know, more confrontational stance towards Europe, you know, to get their land.
QUEST: Right, you know, the Italian budget backwards. You know the Italian Treasury situation backwards. If I speculate to you an untested,
inexperienced Prime Minister, implementing an economic policy that is on a railroad to crisis and confrontation, which is what you're saying, what
happens to the markets?
CODOGNO: We are calling for troubles. Basically I think that the spread is likely to continue to widen...
QUEST: Between the Italian bond and the...
CODOGNO: And the German bond, yes, unless we see some signals that can actually reassure the market, and that can only come from the Prime
Minister, from the two leaders and from the new economic and finance ministry.
I think that the only way to reassure markets is to say, listen, you know, we have presented programs during the political campaign which have been
translated into the so-called contract, but these are unrealistic, so we have to come down to earth.
QUEST: Good to see you, sir. Thank you.
CODOGNO: Thank you very much.
QUEST: Now, coming up next, readying sanctions of historic proportions, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says the U.S. will crush Iran with
pressure and then he warns the West.
[16:55:16]
Welcome back. The Secretary of State in the United States, Mike Pompeo says the U.S. will crush Iran with pressure -- financial pressure if their
Middle East policies don't change. Now, what we're talking here is as he described, as Secretary Pompeo revealed, the Trump administration's
strategy on Iran after pulling out of the deal.
He said the sanctions will be the strongest in history.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE POMPEO, SECRETARY OF STATE OF THE UNITED STATES: After our sanctions come in force, it will be battling to keep its economy alive. Iran will be
forced to make a choice, either fight to keep its economy off life support at home or keep squandering precious wealth on fights abroad. It will not
have the resources to do both.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: Now, as a result of these strong sanctions and the possibilities, Brent crude is up once again. Oil companies that went into Iran are now in
a tough spot. If the secondary sanctions -- remember, we went to over 80 last week, but now, we're back at $79.45, but the trend is absolutely clear
and continuing, and Mike Pompeo said, the warning -- and this was the significant bit, not just the warning about the new sanctions, the hardest
and toughest ever, but to those in other countries that break them.
(VIDEO CLIP STARTS)
POMPEO: We understand that our re-imposition of sanctions and the coming pressure campaign on the Iranian regime will pose financial and economic
difficulties for a number of our friends.
Now, we want to hear their concerns, but, you know, we will hold those doing prohibited business in Iran to account.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: That's it. I mean, that's the bit. We will hold those who do prohibited business to account. Now, surprisingly, the French Finance
Minister, Bruno Le Mair says the E.U. could compensate European firms that will be impacted. He drew back to a 1996 rule when the E.U. stepped in to
help companies that were doing business in Cuba. Put it all together, and you start to see exactly what's happening. What's really happening is
Europe is trying to keep the nuclear deal afloat.
With all of these in the background, CNN's John Defterios gives us an assessment of what happens next.
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Richard, the Trump administration is using what may be described as something different, the stick and carrot
method, tightening existing sanctions and introducing new ones, then dangling an entirely new agreement in the future.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo talked of imposing the strongest sanctions in history, and against Iran and its military, ensuring there's
no path to a nuclear weapon. Pompeo said the U.S. wants to see Iran agree to what he called 12 basic requirements, which in fact are wide ranging.
This puts Washington at odds with the other five signatories to the nuclear deal, including European allies, Germany, France and Britain.
This weekend, Iran's Foreign Minister, Javad Zarif met with European Union's energy commissioner and said that a political commitment from
Europe is not enough, and the agreement needs to be supported by --
[16:20:16]
DEFTERIOS: -- European industry as well. Both Total of France and Siemens of Germany have said, they cannot proceed with agreements unless
given exemptions from Washington. Tehran is also pushing to see its crude oil sold to Europe, but priced in euros.
For his part, Pompeo spoke to the Iranian people saying they deserve better. With skyrocketing unemployment, a plummeting currency, and oil and
gas resources not benefitting the average citizen, putting the U.S. and Europe on two very different paths, Richard.
QUEST: John Defterios in Abu Dhabi bringing us up to date on that side of the story, while Iran's Foreign Minister, Javad Zarif is calling U.S.
diplomacy a sham, imprisoned by delusions and failed policies. Strong language. Our CNN Diplomatic Correspondent, Michelle Kosinski joins us now
from the State Department putting that together with what we now know about this potential for sanctions and the secondary sanctions. This is starting
to get very messy.
MICHELLE KOSINKSI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is, but I think we've heard the administration already after they pulled out of the Iran deal threaten
Europe, which you can imagine went over very poorly.
I mean, Europe has really become entrenched now in its goal of holding onto the existing Iran deal, but what I heard in Pompeo's remarks today was
that same tough talk on secondary sanctions, but leaving that door open, saying we want to hear your concerns and what we are hearing from the
European side is that the Treasury Department in the U.S. is giving some signals if they are going to make some allowances for European companies to
maintain these relationships.
However, you can't have a rigorous sanctions regime that's going to cow Iran into doing all of these things that the U.S. is demanding, unless
their sanctions are really going to have teeth.
And as it stands now, how can one country and whatever coalition it can cobble together, minus the U.S.'s closest allies in Europe, have those
teeth? And that's exactly what Europe is saying.
How are you going to make these sanctions work now when the U.S. is pretty much isolated in this?
QUEST: Michelle, thank you. A sham and an election results not worth recognizing. That's America and the West aren't pulling their punches when
it comes to Venezuela's presidential vote.
As you know, President Nicolas Maduro has been handed another six years in power. Our Paula Newton is live for us tonight in Caracas.
You know, not free, not fair is how Vice Preside Mike Pence described it, and I suspect there are many other countries using similar language. But
it doesn't matter, he's got it, he's there for the next six years. What happens next?
PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, but let's highlight something, Richard, two countries not using that language are Russia and China. They
say that these results are legitimate and they congratulated Nicolas Maduro, that is key, and I will get to that in a minute.
The turnout was quite low, Richard, you have less than half of the population coming out to vote. Nicolas Maduro still counted it as a
victory, though. Where do we go from here? You know, you have to think, he has a six-year term actually starting in January. If he will outlast
any President in the second term, if Trump gets reelected or anyone else, this regime is trying to consolidate power as best they can, and the United
States reacted just in the last couple of hours with new sanctions.
And in fact, it was an executive order from President Trump, and it will actually curtail a lot of the how shall we say financial creativity that
Venezuela has been using to use its oil assets as they are dwindling to be able to harden up their own regime here in Venezuela, Richard.
QUEST: Paula, the regime is widely regarded as corrupt, a klepto regime, one that has basically fraudulently taken an election. So, how can the
U.S. and all the other countries see this, but Russia and on China for their own purposes do not? What game are Russia and China playing here?
NEWTON: Well, it's very clear that when you look at geopolitics, most times you know if Russia says red, any other country sees white. It's just
the way they see the world differently. Obviously, though, Russia has its own issue of sanctions, Venezuela sits on the largest proven reserves in
the world. They need foreign investment to try and get that creaking infrastructure back up and running, and that's where China plays a role as
well, but China conversely though does not have -- is not the energy super power that Russia is, so they need it both ways.
They will invest here but they will invest in here in order to get a good source of cheap energy for what is obviously an economy that grows
exponentially. Remember the sanctions that came in today were not the hard sanctions that people want from the United States...
[16:25:16]
NEWTON: ... word has it that the Trump administration is trying to cajole Russia and China to continue to cut off Venezuela from any kind of
financial investment.
QUEST: And it would be seriously remiss of me to just leave our discussion on the finance and the politics. Briefly, Paula, just remind us how
miserable it is for ordinary people in Venezuela at the moment.
NEWTON: So miserable, I can't pass a dumpster of garbage without showing people picking over it. When I say picking over it, there is nothing to
find. There are people digging into a dumpster to try and find their next meal. This misery continues every day.
Imagine having a sick child, a sick parent and you cannot get the most basic antibiotics. You cannot get clean syringes, and you add to that, the
intimidation, Richard, in the last 10 months, the intimidation factor from intelligence services, the way they keep people off the street by
threatening them really has worked. It has been quite effective.
People are not in the streets as they were last year and any continue to leave the country, opening up a huge risk to a continuing refugee crisis
that all of South America is now dealing with.
QUEST: Paula, thank you. All sides covered. Paula Newton, of course, been to Caracas many times and bringing us the story, and we will continue
to do.
We will continue a revolution in how companies handle your personal information and it is underway this week. You'll be familiar with GDPR,
it's because of the European Union. We're going to tell you about GDPR in a moment after the break.
Hello. I'm Richard Quest. There's more "Quest Means Business" in just a moment. Britain's Royal Wedding gets a bigger audience in the United
States than the United Kingdom. America's former first family has a new home, and barbers are coming to Netflix, as we continue tonight, this is
CNN, and on this network, the facts always come first.
Hours after the U.S. Secretary of State vowed to make Iran face the strongest sanctions in history if it doesn't change its path, the Iranian
president fired back asking, who are you to make decisions about Iran? Hassan Rouhani told state media, the world does not accept the United
States as its decision maker.
Experimental Ebola vaccines have been sent out in the Democratic Republic of Congo as the country tries stop an outbreak of the virus.
[16:30:00] Health workers will be the first people to get the vaccine, which was used in Guinea in 2015. So far 26 people have died in latest
outbreak. Italy's populist parties have revealed their nomination for Prime Minister, he is Giuseppe Conte, there on the right, also a little
known academic and a lawyer and has no practical political experience.
He comes as the far right party lead and the populist Five Star Movement for their ruling coalition. The British government says it will spend more
than half a billion dollars to replace unsafe cluttering on high rise public housing. The promise comes nearly a year after a fire at the
Grenfell Tower killed 72 people. And the hearings on the cause of that fire begin next month, criminal charges are possible.
There's been a major explosive eruption at the summit of Hawaii's Kilauea volcano. The U.S. Geological Survey said it produced 2,000-meter ash
plume, in addition, lava flowing into the ocean, and that's causing laze, which is a hazardous mix of hydrochloric acid and glass.
It's a very boring name and an extremely important moment for companies worldwide and the privacy issue in Europe. GDPR, it comes into effect on
Friday. What does it stand for? Well, you probably know this by now of course.
The General Data Protection Regulation, it's the E.U.'s new privacy law, and it gives people more control over their data, the power to see what's
collected, the power to have it deleted. Google, Twitter, Facebook have already changed their privacy's settings.
WhatsApp has raised the minimum age, the fine for not complying could be up to 4 percent of global revenues. The reason -- this is the important
point. The reason why non-European companies are having to follow the rules is because if European citizen is potentially providing them data,
which most cases they are, you're covered by GDPR, which means Dylan Byers, in Los Angeles, that GDPR de facto becomes the new global standard.
DYLAN BYERS, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: That's absolutely right, it becomes the new global standard. Now, I will tell you this, Richard, I'm somewhat
skeptical about how effective this will be in terms of stopping the issue, the data privacy issue which is the invasion of the use of privacy, using
users data in order to sell ads and basically making that data vulnerable to being accessed by third parties who might have malicious intent.
The reason for that is that the GDPR -- the -- what will go into effect with GDPR already feels outdated. And on top of that is not exactly clear
to me that the majority of European users are going to want to take back their data from data companies.
Moreover, it's not like you know, data exists somewhere and you can just take it back, that data exists all over the place. So there's a lot
standing in the way here from GDPR --
QUEST: Right --
BYERS: Moving us from the place where we -- yes.
QUEST: But GDPR does -- I mean, that's on the consumer side to some extent. That is how you and I and frankly having noted it have no idea how
I'll ever get my data back. But on the other side of it, from the companies point of view, there are the requirements of a registrar, there
are requirements of proper maintenance, you have to be able to approve certain things. So it's certainly providing more safeguards from the
company --
BYERS: It's absolutely right, that's absolutely -- that's absolutely right. And look, it's also -- you know, it saves face for a lot of these
companies. It makes them look like they are doing everything necessary to meet the letter of the law as imposed by Europe which is much more
aggressive on the privacy front than the United States is, that's absolutely true.
And look, the number one most important thing is when it happens here is there are going to be clear, obvious fronts to users to decide how much of
their data they want to have shared, and to agree --
QUEST: Yes --
BYERS: To have that data shared. It's just my guess, my assumption based off a lot of the conversations I've had over the past few months that a lot
of Europeans are going to decide and Americans will decide too that it's too complicated to go about stopping Facebook, Google from using their data
and that it fundamentally leads to an experience on the internet which isn't as convenient as the one we know today.
QUEST: So Dylan and I have a challenge for you, please, as -- once GDPR comes in on Friday. I'd like you to talk us through it at some point,
choose anyone of your whatever and actually try and withdraw your data or at least see if you can actually get GDPR to work for your advantage. Are
you up for the challenge?
BYERS: I'm happy to do that for you, Richard, I will.
[16:35:00] QUEST: There we go, we'll bring that to you next week although we gather when somebody actually wants to know how to do it, we'll bring it
to you. Dylan Byers, who is in Los Angeles.
Facebook says it's banning ads funded by groups outside Ireland, as it related to the referendum on the abortion of data privacy and fake news,
all controversial. CNN's Atika Shubert reports from Dublin.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Knocking on doors, handing out pamphlets, both the yes and no campaigns are out to convince voters just
days before Ireland's abortion referendum. But the real battle is happening online, says tech journalist Gavin Sheridan.
GAVIN SHERIDAN, TECH JOURNALIST: If you're trying to collect Autumn's data about this, this kind of approach is perfect because it looks relatively
benign.
SHUBERT: He investigated a Facebook page for undecided voters.
SHERIDAN: You have no way of understanding that this is run by a no side group.
SHUBERT: That led him to a Catholic group lobbying out of the U.S., just one example of concern that digital campaigns are finding funds from
outside of Ireland.
SHERIDAN: The more money you have, if there's no restriction on spending from a legislative point of view, the more money you have, the more likely
you are to win.
SHUBERT: Ireland is now facing the same digital dilemmas that plagued the U.S. election and the Brexit referendum. The problem is outmoded campaign
law, says one lawmaker.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Involving micro targeters based on preferences, the selectors, and in many cases, they don't actually know who is behind the
ads. The legislation might publish, it requires amongst other things a transparency notice.
So you must disclose who you are, who is running the ads, who is paying for the ads as part of the content of that ad.
SHUBERT: Facebook has responded by blocking referendum ads paid for by foreign donors and Google has taken it a step further, banning any ads on
the referendum altogether. Still no campaigners have chosen controversial methods camping outside maternity wards with anti-abortion banners, but
others are focusing on other methods.
One pro-life group say the aid has launched a substantial digital campaign with the help of Canto(ph); a data analytics group founded by a former
Cambridge Analytica employee. The same company that clearly just swamped votes for Trump and Brexit.
Cambridge Analytica recently shut down amid allegations of illegal manipulation of Facebook user data.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To me, when at its best, when used property, social media is a giant focused group where you can actually engage with the
electorate -- you can put material actually, and see how they react to it, and that's what we're -- that's what we're using Canto(ph) to do.
I don't think that the fundamental debate on abortion will ever significantly change. I mean, this is one of those issues where either you
believe that the unborn child is a human being with rights and right to life or you do not.
SHUBERT: On the other side, to get it for yes is fighting to make abortion legal in Ireland and it has put more emphasis on old-fashioned door knocks,
rather than digital campaigning. To win votes without any foreign aid, says long-time campaigner Aithe(ph) Smyth.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is a referendum for the Irish people, it's the Irish people's vote, we do not accept funding from outside, we're
absolutely clear about this. There's huge determination that this time, after the 35 years, we really are going to remove this massive obstacle to
women's safer, to your health wellbeing and freedom.
We're going to remove that along, thus, from our constitution.
SHUBERT: But no matter how many posters and leaflets are handed out, digital is where the votes are won, says Sheridan.
SHERIDAN: Digital to me is the main battleground now, you'll find it in any country, in any referendum or election campaign. Digital is where
you're going to fight it out.
SHUBERT: Yes or no, whichever way the vote goes, the Ireland referendum has become the latest testing ground of online influence on voters unsure
of who is knocking at their digital door. Atika Shubert, Cnn, Dublin.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: As we continue tonight perhaps getting married to a U.S. TV star helped. The royal wedding pulled some pretty impressive ratings and left
Harry simply in the shed, we'll look at the numbers next.
[16:40:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Saturday's royal wedding has left a feel-good hangover or a feel- good factor, whatever you want to call it. Anyway, in the U.K. and Britain, people are certainly feeling it. Kensington Palace released three
official wedding photos earlier on Monday.
My word -- just look at that. And this of course is of just the bride's maids and the page boys and the flower girls actually as they are, and that
of course is the picture of just a happy couple on the steps of Kensington Palace.
Now other pieces of memorabilia are also available. The wedding goody bags handing out are now available on eBay. They were given to members of the
public who were being allowed or invited to the grounds of Windsor. And they are now selling at a premium Windsor Castle, Windsor Castle, Windsor
Castle.
This one has six days to go and insisting -- it's asking 720 pounds, just shy of a $1,000 for basically a bottle of water and a packet of shortbread.
In terms of TV ratings, 29 million people watched the wedding in the U.K., 18 million people were watching.
Put all that together, Brian Stelter has been digging deeper into those ratings numbers and joins me now. Brian --
BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Yes --
QUEST: The numbers -- the numbers of people who watched in the U.S. is not surprising they were so high, there was an American involved.
STELTER: And I do the nets why this royal wedding out-rated 2011 with William and Kate. In the U.S. at least, this was a bigger event for the
American-viewing audience.
Cnn for example, three times the usual Saturday morning audience, I think that was all thanks to you, Richard, but across the dial, all 15 channels
combined, you had about 30 million viewers watching as you said.
And then -- and then the U.K., this is also the highest rated event of the year in the U.K.
QUEST: Brian, the Obamas and this weird deal --
STELTER: Weird?
QUEST: With Netflix -- well, you tell me what the deal is and why?
STELTER: When you leave the White House, what do you do? I guess you just don't write a book anymore, now you don't just open up an office, you don't
open up a library, you even get a Netflix deal.
I think the Obamas are paving the way here for how to have a media platform in a post-presidency. Both Michelle and Barack will be making shows for
Netflix, sometimes they'll also be appearing on camera.
What we don't know is what the shows will be. There will be a variety of them, reality shows, documentary, but we don't have the specifics yet. I
think we're going to see the first show no sooner than 2019 because right now the Obamas have to go out and hire producers, hire staffers, things
like that.
But they clearly believe that being with Netflix, with the world-wide reach of Netflix is a way to stay visible and have a platform for what they want
to promote in the future.
QUEST: All right, Brian Stelter, thank you, thanks for talking more about this, still a weird deal as I said. Is the car that Tesla needs to survive
and it's just being panned, one of the most influential voices in the auto sector.
The model 3 has failed to win a recommendation by the American magazine "Consumer Reports", it complains of long stopping distances, complicated
touch-screen controls and inconsistent breaking tests.
The magazine did say however, the car was exciting to drive. Jake Fisher is director of auto testing for "Consumer Reports", he joins me now. He
didn't like it.
JAKE FISHER, DIRECTOR OF AUTO TESTING, CONSUMER REPORTS: Good to be here.
QUEST: What was it that fundamentally you didn't like?
FISHER: Well, actually, it's a whole lot of things that really did like about the vehicle, certainly the way it drives and certainly the
efficiency. But there was a few things that just prevented us from recommending it.
[16:45:00] One was those long-stopping distances, we were able to get really one good stopping distance and then they got long. The controls,
they're very complex, they're very distracting. The ride isn't very good on that, the rare seats is uncomfortable and there's a lot of wood noise.
So there's a lot of things although it does so many things so well, there's a few things there that really prevented us from recommending it.
QUEST: Did you have much of an internal debate on this? Was it when -- you know, because obviously, there were several people involved, many people
involved in making that sort of decision. So when you finally sat around, was it a good old argy-bargy of disagreement?
FISHER: Is argy-bargy -- is that a technical term? I'm not familiar with that. But --
QUEST: It's a very good term --
FISHER: You know, honestly, it really isn't about debate, what it really is about is when we recommend a vehicle, we look at the overall score of
the vehicle. So we take all these different aspects, we look at the reliability, we look at the function, the -- all the different pieces,
satisfaction and safety.
And we put that together and we create it over our score. If the vehicle scores well enough, it's recommended, it's not, it's not recommended.
QUEST: Right --
FISHER: It's not even about, you know, whether or not we like the car or not, it's really about how does it perform?
QUEST: Good to see you, sir, thank you for taking time to (INAUDIBLE), just appreciate it. As we continue on QUEST MEANS BUSINESS tonight, a
legend of rock and roll and a friend of QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, the one and only Gene Simmons from Kiss who is into some extraordinary different
businesses, and the business of Cannabis and Canada after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: The man says he's never got drunk or high, and now Gene Simmons is pitching medical marijuana. It's how rock fans know him, the best as the
bass player of Kiss, the owner of the most iconic tongue in rock music history, and that's only one side.
How does the business community know him? The man who has no shame in selling rock and roll to you, a Lifetime Achievement Award from "Forbes"
and his salesmanship is legendary. The water to the Eskimos, there's a vault experience which is a super limited edition box set, hand delivered
to you by Gene himself for the price of $2,000.
And we believe that Kiss, the only band currently selling an official inflatable standup puffer board, absolutely, probably the dollars will buy
you that -- oh, don't forget, the money-back soda range and the Rock and Brews Restaurant chain.
You start to get the idea that one question is what will he sell next? The cannabis company Invictus was so impressed they appointed him the chief
evangelist officer. Gene joins me now. Gene, I start off with apologies that you're in New York and I'm not, blame the royal wedding, Gene, I
received --
GENE SIMMONS, MUSICIAN: Oh, I think it's wonderful, the royal wedding, how cool, Harry is a rock star, this guy should be playing in a band.
[16:50:00] What a great thing for the world. Everywhere around the world, that's all anybody is talking about.
QUEST: Well, it was -- well, it was an amazing event, you should have been there. Now, look, why cannabis and why Canada? Bearing in mind the
controversial nature of the project, and I noticed from Invictus' state -- in its Web site, it is both medical and it is both medical and
recreational, but the law isn't there yet.
SIMMONS: The beginning of the answer is that both Israel and Canada are way ahead in terms of the legislation to America. I initially got involved
with Invictus-md.com, I have to say that for a financial reason because I love my $10 million worth of stock within the company because I am bullish
on Invictus.
I think it's going up. They also paid me 2.5 million bucks. However, as an aside, I have been dismissive about Cannabis as a whole. I threw out
the baby with the bath water, I'm a straight guy. Never rolled anything, never did that, never smoked or got -- you know, nothing, never been drunk
in my life.
However, research has shown me --
QUEST: Right --
SIMMONS: And I urge everybody to do their own research -- you can have a little girl shaking from, you know, epilepsy and you want cannabis-base
products and miraculously almost, it looks like she's cured.
QUEST: So are you saying that you are in favor of medical marijuana, but would you draw the line, recreational marijuana?
SIMMONS: I would not, but I urge all politicians to become well informed because it doesn't matter whether you get elected or not, let's do
something for the good of the people. So let research determine how politicians are going to vote.
So a very simple idea is cigarettes are legal, they may give you cancer, everybody knows that, but cannabis-base products are not your killing-me.
You might get the munchies, you might reach over for, you know, Doritos -- by the way, I have never smoked any cannabis or used any cannabis --
QUEST: So should you -- now, hang on a second. If you are going to trust the dice, and if you are going to say, well, let's get on with this thing,
should you not sample the product of the company?
SIMMONS: Not necessarily, that's his personal life choice. All I'm saying is in the menu of life, you should be able to pick what you want out of
life that's legal. You can drink, you can smoke cigarettes, which are not necessarily the healthiest, but I'm learning more and more about cannabis
and so should everybody else including the legislatures to find out whether it's good or bad, and pass laws based on information.
Do I want to use it? It will be my personal choice. But if I found out from the darkness that my child was sick and the diagnosis is --
QUEST: Right --
SIMMONS: Use cannabis-base products, of course, I would use cannabis-base products.
QUEST: You are an amazing man in the sense that immediately in this interview, you declared your interests, you did the transparency of
declaring your financial interests, and that's one of the things about you in business, in your entrepreneurship.
You're pretty much a straight up guy, aren't you, when it comes to integrity? But you've never learned the rock and roll image. The reality
of Gene Simmons that I know is that your word is your bond and you keep your word.
SIMMONS: But Richard, in terms of business ethics and morality with some strange bed fellows, I understand that there's something called full
disclosure before the fact. When I sit here in front of you with my long tongue and my funny hair and all this, and America's number one gold record
award-winning group of all time, say what you mean and mean what you say.
I believe I am bullish on Invictus as a company. That's what I believe in.
QUEST: Thank you.
SIMMONS: Now, in terms of legislation, I urge everybody including Cnn to do the full -- let legislation follow the advice of research. Let's all be
smart about it instead of being trapped a 100 years ago.
QUEST: Is there a business you wouldn't do? Is there something you would not? I mean, you've got a book coming out, you've got the box set, you've
got the restaurants, you've got all these things, but you're extremely lucrative. But have you ever found something where you've drawn the line,
Gene, and you just said, no, I'm not touching that with a 10-foot pole.
SIMMONS: Well, the tobacco companies have approached me and I said no. There are certain things -- look, intrinsically, invariably, and other big
words like gymnasium, unless and if my heart -- unless my heart can mix emotionally and large -- brain and heart, unless it connects with the
messaging and the idea, I stay away because -- you can't have somebody sit in front of you especially you --
QUEST: Right --
SIMMONS: Talk to the masses and say, this is what I believe in if you don't. So I'm --
QUEST: Or --
SIMMONS: Yes --
QUEST: Are you going -- I want to end on this, I've got to grab something out of you. Are you going on a monstrous 150-city world tour? Is this on
the horizon?
[16:55:00] SIMMONS: You mean Kiss?
QUEST: Yes.
SIMMONS: Well, yes indeed, Richard, how did you know that? Yes, we're going to go around the world, we've been around 45 years, and boy, do I
look good? Yes, ladies, it's all my hair, yes -- oh, there I am, good- looking son of a b. Look at that guy.
QUEST: So I will be able to catch up with you in some exotic locations.
SIMMONS: You're saying you want backstage passes, Richard, right?
QUEST: No, I'll pay you -- I'll pay you, you know me, I'll pay.
SIMMONS: Now, I like you.
(LAUGHTER)
QUEST: I didn't say I'll pay a top dollar.
SIMMONS: Well, I'll make sure --
QUEST: Not this --
SIMMONS: I'll make sure you do. But in all seriousness, before I get off --
QUEST: Yes --
SIMMONS: The air, you've got to understand --
QUEST: Sure --
SIMMONS: People should understand politicians are there --
QUEST: Yes --
SIMMONS: For their self mandate which is to get re-elected. It's not necessarily what's good for people, please, folks, vote for people who are
espouse your beliefs about what's good for your family. But let's --
QUEST: All right --
SIMMONS: All get more informed -- I was wrong about the past, so I'm the first one to say it.
QUEST: Gene, good to see you, sir, apologies again that I'm not with you in New York, blame princess -- prince -- the new duchess -- Duke and
Duchess of Sussex, good to see you, sir. That's Gene Simmons, we'll have a profitable moment after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Tonight's profitable moment, I can keep this really simple. Gene Simmons of Kiss is a class act. Barely have we started our discussion on
Invictus and he was the one that reminded us that he has a $10 million investment in the company that it's doing well and he hopes it will do
better.
There can be no better example of transparency than the interviewee who actually makes it clear that they have vested financial interest. More
should do that, I wish they would. And that is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS for tonight, what a busy show, I am Richard Quest in London.
Whatever you're up to in the hours ahead, I hope it's profitable. We'll do it again tomorrow.
END
