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Quest Means Business

Euro Group Talks Fail, France And Germany Hurtle Into Recession; U.S. Stocks Climb After Sanders Drops Of Presidential Race; W.H.O. On Trump Threat, "Don't Politicize This Virus." Aired 3-4p ET

Aired April 08, 2020 - 15:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[15:00:22]

RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS ANCHOR, QUEST MEANS BUSINESS: Last hour of trade of the day, we're now into the final 60 minutes. Gains on the markets

across the board, but we are hoping and watching to see if those gains are going to be held and maintained.

The markets are up, and these are the sort of reasons why.

France's Finance Minister is crying shame as the Euro Group fails to reach an agreement or finds accord.

The new forecast says that global trade will be badly hit. On this program shortly, the head of the World Trade Organization.

And Bernie Sanders bows out of the U.S. presidential race, while the President blasts The World Health Organization.

We are live from New York. It is Wednesday. It's April the 8th. I'm Richard Quest. Again, it's a glorious spring day. And of course, I mean, business.

Good evening. It's quite breathtaking that whilst the European major economies move ever swiftly into a recession, so the leaders of the Euro

Group can't agree amongst themselves on a way forward to neutralize debt and assistance.

The E.U. bickers and the recession arrives. France and Germany unprecedented numbers just about on contractions in growth. German

estimates down two percent in Q1 that's it -- it's getting and going. Minus 10 percent in Q2; whilst in France Q1 is down six percent and the French

economy will lose one and a half percent of GDP every two weeks.

The Euro Group has been meeting -- that's the members of those countries that use the euro as a single currency -- and so far have failed to agree a

common way forward, because there is a dispute between Italy and Netherlands over the way aid and assistance should be counted out.

The French Prime Minister -- sorry, the French Finance Minister, I beg your pardon, Bruno Le Maire was -- left no room in doubt about how he feels of

the situation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNO LE MAIRE, FRENCH FINANCE MINISTER (through translator): I will say that we had a long and difficult meeting with the Eurozone Finance

Ministers last night which ended at around 9:00 a.m. this morning.

This meeting did not result in an ambitious package of responses to the economic crisis due to the coronavirus health crisis.

I don't want to point the finger at anyone because I think that would not be useful, and because I deeply believe, as, as the President of the

Republic, that our collective responsibility is to come to an agreement within 24 hours. A failure is unthinkable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: So the failure concerned, basically, the strings, terms and conditions that should be put to ESM lending, or any form of

conditionality.

Fred Pleitgen is in Berlin, Jim Bittermann is in Paris. Let's start with you, Fred. Normally, it's the Germans that don't want any form of

neutrality. This time, it was the Netherlands that did it. But why are they haggling at a time of desperation?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, because I think that, Richard, you have some countries that are fundamentally opposed

to collectivizing debt, and who also quite frankly want some conditions also attached to ESM lending more so than for instance, some of the

southern countries do.

And I think that while the main disagreement seems to have been between Italy and the Netherlands, you do sort of see that it is the Netherlands,

Germany, Austria and Finland basically on one side and then a lot of the southern nations like Spain, like Italy, and to a certain extent, France as

well on the other side.

I think at the end of the meeting of the Finance Ministers, they did say that they were close to an agreement, for instance, on the conditions for

ESM lending for the European Investment Bank, and then also that's a scaled down version of the German short labor program called SURE that they now

want to expand to all of Europe.

But one of the things that we have to keep in mind when we watch all of this, Richard, is that even if they do come to an agreement, they haven't

even yet talked about the big elephant in the room and the big things that divide the north in the south of Europe right now, which is the question of

Euro bonds of coronabonds, which is that fundamental question of possibly collectivizing debts, which is something of course the Germans are very

much opposed to, the Austrians as well.

But the Italians and the Spanish say something that needs to happen because they say this is not a crisis that was brought about because they were bad

at housekeeping at their finances, but because of a crisis that they couldn't control -- Richard.

[15:05:10]

QUEST: All right. To Jim in Paris, so the French Finance Minister was fairly brutal in his criticism. He says he doesn't want to cast blame.

That's exactly what he did. So France wants to move forward fast.

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Exactly. He feels and he said in that soundbite that there should be an agreement within 24

hours, but that hasn't happened. And in fact, they're back at negotiations trying to get everybody together on this.

The package we're talking about is close to a half a trillion euros in money -- in bailout moneys to the various countries involved. But as you

mentioned, there's a lot of strings attached.

Now a couple things I just would like to point out here that have happened in the last few minutes here. First, the Elysee Palace, the presidential

palace here has announced that President Macron will go on television on Monday night to talk to the nation about the whole situation.

It is expected that he is going to say that they're going to announce that there's going to be an extension of the confinement period, which was

supposed to end on April 15.

If people are speculating, that's probably at least two weeks of expansion, but that's just speculation. He did -- the Elysee Palace did say there

would be an extension, though, beyond April 15. So that goes back to what you were talking about into loss of GDP for every two-week period.

Now, the other thing is, and we've been just listening in the last hour here or so to Bruno Le Maire who has been on French television explaining

some of the bailout kind of subsidies they are giving to various companies and to individuals, to gig workers and things like that.

And, in fact, there is a quite a generous package that is being talked about, but of course, that money is got to come from somewhere. And that of

course, is the European Union, or at least the French would like to see it coming from the European Union if everybody can agree -- Richard.

QUEST: Jim, we'll let you go. We'll just continue with Fred for one second. Fred, I was wondering how strong and all of this is Angela Merkel.

Some suggest it is lame duck, not only because she's nearly out, but her party has weakened and her own health has been in somewhat in question --

in what is going to be the toughest of fights over the most controversial of policies. Does Angela Merkel sit with a strong hand?

PLEITGEN: I think, Richard, that in the past week or so, I think even after Angela Merkel went into self-quarantine, after a doctor that she had

seen came down with coronavirus, I think that you've really seen a resurrection of Angela Merkel in German politics.

I was actually looking at her poll numbers just a couple of days ago and she is right now by far the most popular politician in Germany because I

think the Germans do see that there is leadership. By and large people feel that things have been going good.

The measures, for instance, that are in place, the social distancing measures, 93 percent of the population are behind those and say that those

are very good.

Now, of course, you're absolutely right. It is going to be a tough battle in Europe to try and get these things through, to try and get the German

position through.

One of the things that I'm looking out for, though, and I think we always have to keep in mind is that Angela Merkel does have a very strong ally in

the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who of course, was Germany's Defense Minister, and very, very close to Angela Merkel.

So she certainly has some support there among -- in the E.U. institutions. She's definitely a lot stronger here right now as well. One of the things

that the Germans have said today is that there is going to be a big recession here in this country as well.

And of course, that will also make it more difficult to do things on a European level for the German government. But they also think that

fundamentally, this economy is fairly strong. They think they can bounce back fairly quickly. And right now, it certainly seems as though at least

as far as Germans are concerned, they believe that Angela Merkel is the captain who can sail the ship through these very difficult and very rough

waters that of course, all of Europe is going through in Germany as well -- Richard.

QUEST: Fred in Berlin; Jim in Paris. Jim, thank you. Let's call a follow up of that idea of the recovery. But before we get the recovery, of course,

you've got to see just how bad the situation is.

The W.T.O. is warning global trade could plunge by 32 percent as the pandemic continues to bite hard. The Director General says the numbers are

ugly. He is warning painful consequences for people and businesses.

North America and Asia are supposedly hit the hardest. The W.T.O.'s Director General Roberto Azevedo is with me now.

Director General, we saw a sharp falloff in world trade in 2008 in the global financial crisis. This will be worse, you believe.

ROBERTO AZEVEDO, DIRECTOR GENERAL, WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION: Yes, even our optimistic scenario shows that the fall in trade is going to be probably

around the same order of magnitude of 2008. So that's the optimistic scenario.

[15:10:20]

AZEVEDO: If we are looking at the pessimistic scenario, we could have a fall of about 32 percent. That's almost as large or larger actually then

the 1930s. And in the 1930s, that was over three years. We're talking about just one year here. So it is very serious, this situation now.

QUEST: Right. So I want to read something from your statement. "The immediate goal is to bring the pandemic under control," because obviously

it's a health crisis, " ... but policymakers must start planning for the aftermath of the pandemic."

So if trade is a key driver of recovery, what do you want to see policymakers doing now?

AZEVEDO: Well, the image that I have been using is that, unlike in 2008 and in the '30s, when the engine of the economy was broken, it was not

functioning properly, the engine was functioning. It was just the supply of fuel that was cut off.

What we have to ensure is that we don't break the engine while we are facing the pandemic, and the way of doing that is first and foremost, have

the stimulus packages in place, but it's not only putting the fiscal and monetary measures in place, they have to be coordinated internationally.

And I don't think that that is tipped off at this point in time, and we have to keep borders open, trade flowing, investments flowing, creating

confidence for investors and citizens to return to normalcy once the pandemic is taken care of.

QUEST: You talk about the necessity of opening up and coordination. I'm sorry to just -- well, to put it bluntly, but the G-20 hasn't really done

anything short of make statements. OPEC has failed to agree and is going to have another meeting. The Euro Group will probably agree to something, but

only after desperation.

I mean, not only are they not doing what you're saying, they're doing almost the opposite.

AZEVEDO: Well, that's the wrong way to go. What can I say? One of the reasons why we managed to get out of the 2008 crisis relatively well, is

the fact that those measures, the stimulus measures, they were in fact coordinated.

Now, the instinctive reaction of governments is to look inward, is to look in the short term, is to respond to the politics that they see within their

borders. That is not good enough for the kind of crisis that we have now.

Either we shape up and begin to talk to each other and find common solutions, or we're going to pay a heavy price if we continue to go it

alone.

QUEST: Let's just talk about that heavy price because to some extent, it won't be -- it will be the -- the OECD, the mature market economies, they

will pay a price but the real price will be paid by the emerging markets in the developing world. How worried are you for their futures, bearing in

mind this falloff in world trade?

AZEVEDO: I'm very, very worried because they're not going to pay a price only in terms of economic terms. They will pay a huge price also in terms

of social impact.

First of all, those countries they don't have the health system infrastructure that is necessary to handle the pandemic properly, so

they're going to spend huge resources and they will need help to develop and ramp up their health system.

On top of that they don't have social security nets that are efficient enough to take care of those who are going to lose their jobs, who are

going to lose their livelihoods.

So you could have severe social economic problems in those countries and they need help and this is something the international community needs to

take a look at.

QUEST: We appreciate your foresight, and you're talking to us tonight. Thank you, Roberto Azevedo joining us from the W.T.O. -- the World Trade as

opposed to World Tourism.

Now, Donald Trump is planning to cut funding for the W.H.O. We will talk about that. Julia Chatterley will try to defend her view that caution is

still the watchword of the day, I happen to think she was right. But it's good to -- turn up the temperature and we will all be back in just a

moment. It is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS. We are live tonight from New York.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:17:36]

QUEST: Welcome back. The markets and stocks have rallied and there's many reasons, but the main ones seem to be firstly, Bernie Sanders has pulled

out of the U.S. presidential race for the Democrats. That means Medicare- for-All, which was an expensive policy, not liked by the markets that is highly, highly, highly unlikely.

Also, the numbers are horrible in the U.S. for coronavirus, but latest modeling suggests that the country might escape the worst in terms of

projections of deaths, and that the peak might come sooner.

Now, that's not to say it won't still be grim. But it may not be as grim as first thought. Julia Chatterley is with me. I have to say Julia, having had

the initial bounce back from the markets off the lows of mid to late March, after having seen that, it does seem bizarre that it's continuing to rise.

JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN BUSINESS ANCHOR, FIRST MOVE: And actually, I'm seeing more and more people suggesting that it makes sense to your exact

point, as horrifying as these numbers are, they are less bad than perhaps initially feared. We're starting to see countries like Norway, like Denmark

start to reopen their economies and I think that's giving people hope.

And I hope I'm wrong to about my nervousness. I just see multiple crises here, particularly in the United States, and we've talked about the many

times the economic black hole that we're in, the lack of ability to time when this ends and for all the stimulus that we've had.

You know, I had Alicia Levine of BNY Mellon tell me today that's going to last us six weeks. So if this shutdown of some form extends longer, who

knows?

We're in a black hole as far as earnings season is concerned, I just remain cautious that it's so difficult to tell what the economic cost, even if

we're seeing a lessening of the lives and those on the health crisis perhaps look more optimistic than they were. They remain devastating and

the challenges remain.

QUEST: Right. I guess we need to understand what is an EPS share price, what it looks like, once -- I mean obviously, what we saw two or three

weeks ago was the sort of trough of your life or the exogenous event trough.

But we don't know what the market price looks like because we don't know the trading positions of the companies.

[15:20:07]

CHATTERLEY: And that's exactly the point and you often point to this, the extreme fear. We went to the depths of despair and the unknown and we're

coming back from that to some degree.

But my point and I will keep arguing is that we still don't know. We've thrown so much cash at the system. We've tried to address it with

liquidity, as we call it.

We don't know what the solvency issues are going to be. The viability of huge chunks of the economy in the United States and that beyond anything

else is also a challenge going forward, and I'm not sure earnings season gives us more clarity.

QUEST: Julia, quickly, the Small Business Administration, the loans program, the Payroll Protection Plan, I can't decide whether it was I mean,

a complete fiasco, or it was an inevitability because of the sheer size and scale rolling it out so quickly, but it is getting going now.

CHATTERLEY: An inevitability, I think, overwhelmed and underprepared. It's trying. There are still huge issues. The three largest banks in the United

States -- Chase, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo -- have together lent just under a third, around $100 billion in the space of five days.

They're being criticized. There are a backlog of applications there. Come back in two to three weeks when we've tried to process some of these loans

and got the cash out and I think it will be a different story.

But for now, Richard, I'll be honest, it is still deeply challenged.

QUEST: All right. Julia Chatterley, "First Move." Thank you, Julia, as always. Now, the W.H.O. is defending herself after an attack by Donald

Trump who sees the organization as being an arm and a tool of the Chinese government in the way it's handled the coronavirus. Donald Trump says he

will delay or withdraw funding for the W.H.O.

Now, organization has retaliated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. TEDROS ADHANOM, DIRECTOR GENERAL, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: The focus of all political parties should be to save their people. Please don't

politicize this virus. It exploits the differences you have at the national level. If you want to be exploited, and if you want to have many more body

bags, then you do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: I beg your pardon, I took a moment for a quick glass of water. Stephen Collinson is with me, from Washington. Stephen, all right, let's

split this into two things.

Donald Trump is not alone in criticizing the W.H.O. There are many people who have said that the W.H.O. was far too favorable to China in its early

assessment of this crisis. Why is Donald Trump's criticism different if it is?

STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, I think Richard, what's going on here is Donald Trump is looking for a scapegoat. He's coming under

increasing political pressure in the United States. There are mounting indications that his statement that nobody thought this virus could ever

come to the United States, which he maintained right up to February and early March was completely wrong.

He was informed by an economic adviser, Peter Navarro in his administration that this could be a threat. We are learning now that U.S. Intelligence

warned as far back as December about the potential threat of the coronavirus in the United States.

This is what Donald Trump does when he's in a pinch. He seeks an enemy and he is trying to deflect. Of course, the W.H.O. can be criticized, but it

was far more prescient in fact, on the threat to the rest of the world from the coronavirus pandemic than Donald Trump ever was.

He is projecting here. He said yesterday that the W.H.O. blew the call on the coronavirus.

If you look at the W.H.O. statements and you look at Donald Trump's statements against each other, I don't think it's very difficult to see who

blew the call in actual fact.

QUEST: But all right, Stephen, is there anybody listening to the -- when people like you and others point out the discrepancies in what the

President has said, and the way he has handled this, is anybody listening?

COLLINSON: I think people who are not disposed well to Donald Trump or not really listening to a lot of what the President says in his campaign style

briefings every evening.

What the President is trying to do is what he did during the Russia investigation, during impeachment. He's trying to fog the details, throw

enough misinformation out there so nobody really knows who to blame to try and absolve himself of some of the criticism.

[15:25:05]

COLLINSON: The attack on the W.H.O. has been taken up with gusto by the President's friends in conservative media. You know, it's one of the

reasons why, even though there is rising public concern about his handling of the pandemic, a CNN poll today said that 45 percent of Americans still

believe that Donald Trump is doing a good job here and doing a good job in his presidency.

This is the story of the Trump administration. He throws enough chum out there in the water that allows his supporters to choose their own reality.

Now, the question is when we're going into an election year, is that going to be enough? Can he win with just that 45 percent and that political base,

or is he alienating more moderate voters that are possibly a lot more concerned about his handling of this?

QUEST: Bernie Sanders decision to get out of the race. It was inevitable that he couldn't get -- I mean, besides slim pathways and all of that

nonsense, but it allows the Democrats to coalesce around Joe Biden, and answering the second half of this question, is there any chance, do you

think that Biden would ever step aside for the Governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo?

COLLINSON: All right, to start with Bernie Sanders, even in the best possible worlds in a normal election year, he wouldn't have anywhere to go.

So you're right, this isn't a surprise.

I think the two questions as far as Sanders is concerned right now, what happens to his movement? And how many of them can he get to unite around

Joe Biden so there's a strong united Democratic Party going into the fall?

Donald Trump has already tried to play the trade card, the populist card on Twitter today to try and win over some of the anti-free traders in the

Bernie Sanders coalition.

As far as Biden stepping down in favor of Andrew Cuomo, Joe Biden has been running for President effectively, since the middle of the 1980s. I don't

think anything is going to get him to step aside, especially when he finally has that big prize within reach.

QUEST: Stephen, thank you. This is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS from New York. Glorious day. Not as hot as it was yesterday, but still a beautiful spring

day. We'll have more.

We'll talk to the CEO of AstraZeneca to understand the differences between vaccines and antibody tests, and all the work that's being done to help

ensure -- well, maybe an the immediate future, but in the not too distant future. There's some hope and things are getting better, in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: Hello, I'm Richard Quest. There's more QUEST MEANS BUSINESS in just a moment. We're going to hear from one of

the largest drug companies, the CEO of AstraZeneca. We'll be talking about ramping up the virus testing and the search for a vaccine. We'll hear from

him on that. And the Twitter founder, Jack Dorsey, gives away a quarter of his wealth.

The top priority is to fight coronavirus, but there is a plan of what happens to the money after that. As we continue, this is CNN. And on this

network, the facts always come first.

Downing Street says Boris Johnson's making steady progress in intensive care. The British Chancellor says Johnson is sitting up in bed and engaging

with doctors and nurses. U.K. reports 938 COVID deaths over the past day. The country's highest daily toll yet. More than 60,000 people in the U.K.

have tested positive.

Senator Bernie Sanders has dropped his White House bid, is that the path to victory was virtually impossible. The former Vice President Joe Biden is

the last remaining Democrat. He will face President Trump in the general election in November.

The CEO of AstraZeneca says their helping the U.K. government to meet ambitious testing goals. Now, it's doing so with partnering with the rival,

GSK or GlaxoSmithKline and Cambridge University. The lab is capable of carrying out up to 30,000 tests a day by early May. And that includes the

important antibody tests. AstraZeneca's CEO, Pascal Soriot, he joins me now.

Pascal, thank you for joining us. It's much appreciated that you're giving us time in your busy day. Let's understand this, where for you, the

priority is, between testing vaccines and antibodies?

PASCAL SORIOT, CEO, ASTRAZENECA: Well, Richard, first of all, thank you for having me, Richard, today. It's a great pleasure. To me, the absolute

priority is the testing because that's really what we can achieve in the very near term and need to achieve. So, priority is testing for the virus

before we test for antibodies. And of course, in parallel, we have to pursue vaccines and other means to tackle this disease.

QUEST: How close are we to a vaccine in your -- in your estimation?

SORIOT: Vaccines, I would say, you know, we are not vaccines manufacturer. We're producing -- we're working on producing a monoclonal antibody, which

is a different approach. I would say vaccines are probably 12, 18 months away. If we're lucky, maybe earlier, but more likely 12 to 18 months or

more.

And the alternative is this monoclonal antibody we are developing, and a few other companies are also trying to develop this kind of approach. And

that might be slightly faster or at least same timeline, but definitely nothing before, you know, 12 months, maybe a bit earlier.

QUEST: So, if we're relying on an antibody test that will tell you whether you've had it or whether you have the natural antibodies to it, could you

see a scenario where only those people who've had an antibody test and are OK, would be allowed back to work? I mean, the significance of the antibody

test is what?

SORIOT: Well, let me, first of all, ground everybody on this testing question. There are two types of testing. One is, testing for the virus,

just some -- what people sometimes refer to as a PCR test for the antigen test.

And the other test is the antibodies. What we are working right now, very held on with -- together with our colleagues at the GSK and the University

of Cambridge, is the first antivirus test because we need to identify -- we need to build the capacity in the -- in the U.K. to diagnose more people

who carry the virus. In parallel, we are working developing antibody tests that we believe we can have available by mid-May or so, and we're also

working with academic institutions in the U.K. to achieve this.

[15:35:10]

But the number one priority is to scale up capacity to run more tests to diagnose the virus in people's nose or throat.

QUEST: This focus on testing, can you see a scenario as we go through the summer and then face the next winter influenza and potentially coronavirus

season, can you see a scenario where people have to be continuously and repeatedly tested to ensure that the fact, they're negative? Once again, if

it looks like there's a second wave or as we go into the next year's flu season?

SORIOT: Yes. So, we try to kind of describe a little bit the journey we're going to be on, if you will. I think we are now in the middle of this acute

phase where you have lots and lots of cases. And we have to focus on identifying patients who are carrying the virus. That's this PCR virus

test. When this first acute phase is managed, it's behind us through, you know, this quarantine activities, et cetera, et cetera.

Then, we will go to a more chronic phase if you want to call it this way where we will be facing a few cases on a regular basis but not as many as

today. In between, we will need to use the antibody test to identify who in the community can go back to work safely because they have antibody that

protects them against the virus. That's when this antibody test will come in.

So, first of all, we are in this phase where we look at identifying people who carry the virus. In the next few weeks, we probably will have to start

looking at --

QUEST: (INAUDIBLE)

SORIOT: Was I disconnected? Hello?

QUEST: We may be having some difficulty. Just -- I think we -- yes. Sir, thank you for joining us. We had a bit of difficulty hearing the end of

your answer, but we certainly were able to get the gist of what you were saying. I appreciate you, sir. And, of course, you'll be well aware that

the technology that we're all using, sometimes one can think of it as being two tin cans on a piece of string, a bit of chewing gum holding it all

together. But that really doesn't matter in this day and age.

We're all in our various jobs and our various ways, doing things in ways we never dreamed would be acceptable, but we're getting on with it. And we'll

be getting on with QUEST MEANS BUSINESS after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: While passenger planes are effectively grounded at the moment, there's a great deal of cargo still being moved around the world. Passenger

planes in some cases are being converted into cargo carriers. And at the same time, air freight charges are going up. China to the E.U. is up 35

percent last week, or over the last few weeks. And London to the U.S. is up 50 percent. Peter Gerber is the CEO of Lufthansa Cargo, he joins me. We'll

talk about the cargo pricing in just a moment. First of all, Peter, give me an idea of how Lufthansa is involved, how you're using your fleet of cargo

planes and also passenger planes to move things as well?

PETER GERBER, CEO, LUFTHANSA CARGO (via Skype): Yes, hello, Richard. At first, we use our cargo planes, our main deck freighters, we use heavily.

So, all of our 17 cargo freighters are flying around the clock. And, of course, we are using now also passenger planes flying cargo only. And this

week's, we flew about 30, 35 frequencies this week to China with the passenger planes, and we will fly next week around 60 frequencies.

QUEST: When you fly passenger planes, obviously you're filling the belly of the planes where passengers -- where freight and passenger luggage would

go. Do you also put things in the cabin?

GERBER: Of course, we also put some things to the cabin, but we have to be very careful there because we have to watch all the regulations which are

in place. So, we can only put some light things there into the cabin and to the seats. But what we do now is, we rebuilt four of our passenger planes,

took out the seats so that we can put more cargo in the cabin.

QUEST: Let's just talk about this pricing business. Why do you think short of supply and demand? Why are we seeing for some commercial freight, the

price is going up so steeply?

GERBER: Yes. So, there are two reasons, Richard. First reason is, that we lost around 60 percent of our worldwide air freight capacity because all

the bellies are not flying. And the second thing is, that when we operate passenger planes as freighters, it's only 25 percent of the capacity, but

the price is for the full plane. So, the prices must be higher in order to ensure the business.

QUEST: So, to be clear, because I can hear viewers saying this is airlines trying to make up the difference. You're saying there is a rationale behind

this. This isn't just using the moment?

GERBER: It can also be using the moment, but for the moment for us, it's not. So, because we also have to take part in the global supply chain. And

this is what we have tried to do to protect the global supply chains and global trade. But of course, we don't want to lose money on that business.

That's pretty clear, I believe.

QUEST: The -- this sheer extremes and difficulties, I mean, one thing I've learned whenever I've looked at cargo, cargo is an exceptionally complex

business, highly regulated. How easy are you finding it to get through the bureaucracy? So, you can fly into China and other places, get the valuable

and much needed goods back? Or are you finding red tape?

GERBER: No, it's a -- it's a complicated business. That's true. But I -- what I have to say is that all administrations around the world are

helpful. Also, the Chinese authorities try to help us as much as they can. Because every everybody has understood that the global supply chain can't

be disrupted. That this is a big problem.

So, all of the administrations around the world are quite helpful. And the second thing is, I'm very proud of our professional team as Lufthansa Cargo

because they work 24 hours a day at the moment to make this possible and to adapt to the fast-changing regulations. So, all guys are -- all hands-on

deck. All guys do this. And so, up to now, we were able to make it. But again, thanks to all administrations in the world, they are helpful at the

moment.

QUEST: Peter, it is good to see you. Good to hear you. Thank you, sir. I appreciate you taking the time when I know you have so many busy things to

take more of it. When we come back --

GERBER: Thank you very much.

QUEST: -- one of the things coming clear, we're talking about the voices of the crisis. Well, in many ways. Lufthansa Cargo is the voice of the crisis.

But the real voice of the crisis for tonight will be when we come back, and we meet the inn owner, the small inn where the stuff had to be laid off,

and the guests simply aren't there. It's after the break.

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[15:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: There are many beautiful parts of the United States, one of the most glorious places to visit is Savannah, Georgia. And there you find the

Azalea Inn. The Azalea Inn is having great difficulties at the moment. Obviously, there are no guests. Voice of the crisis today is Teresa

Jacobson. She joins me now from there. And I was looking at once statistic, first of all, great to have you with us. I'm sorry, it's not on happy

circumstance. You say for April, you are on track to do $90,000 worth of business.

Well, of course, you're closed now and you expect only 1,200 left, and that will go away. Essentially, you're -- you've got nothing coming in, Teresa,

at the moment.

TERESA JACOBSON, OWNER, AZALEA INN AND VILLAS (via Skype): That's correct. That's correct, Richard. We were on track to do an incredible year this

year. And the way the impact of this virus and what it's doing to not just the United States but the world. I feel it here because all travel has

ceased. In Georgia, we're a shelter in place. So, there's nothing. So, I went from a banner year to a zero year in weeks.

QUEST: Wow. Wow. And you've applied for help under the Payroll Protection Plan, because that will enable you to take your staff back on again, and

have it paid back. I mean, how successful have you been in getting through with this plan? And I'm afraid I think I know the answer.

JACOBSON: Well, as a matter of fact, about 20 minutes ago, I got an e-mail from my banker who -- they've been incredible. So, my bankers sent me an e-

mail that let me know that we've completed the process through Colony Bank, but we -- they need to understand more clearly how to submit my application

to the government. They're still working their way through these things.

QUEST: Wow. This is -- this is bureaucracy. That's keeping you from getting valuably needed help. But once you've got some help, you're going to take

the stuff back on again.

[15:50:08]

And I also understand the housekeeper is still with you. She won't leave.

JACOBSON: That's absolutely correct. Betty Green has been here longer than we've all in the business. And she shows up every day and she said, well,

what am I going to do with my time? So, she's helping me keep the outside of the building, you know, looking ready for a guest to walk through the

door and she goes through and does all the room every day. She is absolutely priceless.

QUEST: Teresa, you know, this will come to an end, don't you? You know, visitors will be back. Your bedrooms will be full and you'll be making

breakfasts galore. You know, this is going to happen, don't you?

JACOBSON: I absolutely do. And it was hard to let the staff go yesterday. But I absolutely know we're going to come through the other side. We have

an incredible environment here in Savannah. There's an awful lot of support. So, Savannah is an incredibly beautiful city. So, yes, we'll be

fine in a few months.

QUEST: I'll tell you, Teresa, when it's over -- when it's over, next year, we're going to bring QUEST MEANS BUSINESS to Savannah, and we're going to

present the program from your front room, your living room, how about that? (INAUDIBLE) from the inn, as a promise for you.

JACOBSON: I think that's an incredibly wise decision on your part. Thank you.

QUEST: Good to talk to you, Teresa, joining us for that. We will, I promise you. Now, many of this (INAUDIBLE) give it away. The Twitter co-founder,

Jack Dorsey, says he's giving away a quarter of his wealth. How much is he giving away, Clare Sebastian?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Richard, it's about a billion dollars. He's drawing it from his stock in Square, which is the other

company that he co-founded. Now, bear in mind, not all of this is for coronavirus, but he is starting with that. The first donation which is

revealed in a Google document that he attached to his tweet. His whole purpose here is transparency.

The first donation will go to a GoFundMe, sort of, site that's been set up by Leonardo DiCaprio and Laurene Powell Jobs, the wife of the late Steve

Jobs, it's called America's Food Funders provide meals for people affected by COVID-19. They are getting $100,000 from Jack Dorsey. The name of the

entity that he set up to do this called Start Small, and you can see that he's doing that.

But he says also, Richard, once he's done with funding projects to help the coronavirus situation, once we've seen that sort of stopped this pandemic,

he said he's going to move on to other causes. Things like girls health and education, and interestingly, universal basic income which was a notion

that was popularized by Andrew Yang and his presidential campaign and is now increasingly being talked about as we see governments providing money

to individuals around the world as a result to the coronavirus.

QUEST: Okay. So, I mean, this idea of philanthropy helping through, it was made, of course, most famously claimed by, of course, Bill Gates. They say

-- they're doing it in a hurry. And they're having to be very targeted. But when I read what Dorsey said, he said, he wants whatever money he gives to

be used, he wants to put in place for its use thereafter, which is what you were saying. So, that's just as important as help now.

SEBASTIAN: Yes, he wants to be able to see. He says that the need is greater now than he's ever seen. And he wants to be able to see the impact

in his lifetime. That is why he's acting now, Richard. And a billion, perhaps, in the context of some of these other billion has, that we see

acting on the web, may not seem like a lot. But this is, as you say, almost a third of Jack Dorsey's wealth.

So, this really distinguishes his actions. It's a huge amount. Bear in mind that Jeff Bezos, for example, set up a charitable foundation way before

this, called the One Day Fund that was 2 billion, which is less than a fifth of his wealth. So, this is -- this is a huge amount of money for Jack

Dorsey to be pledging -- gained widespread acclaim for -- including ---

QUEST: Clare Sebastian --

SEBASTIAN: -- a spectacular commitment.

QUEST: Clare, my apologies, I interrupted you at the end, but I thought the line is poor. Clare Sebastian, joining me. Thank you. We're all working

from home. And we're all working from home all the time. And we're going to be talking about that this weekend. Of course, another edition of WFH new

reality. You can see on the screen.

Where -- I want to know how you're working from home. I want you to put on your social media, either videos or comments, your tips, use the #QuestWFH,

#WFHQuest. You can see on the -- on the screen there. Use that hashtag and we will all be talking to you. We will use some of your tips, the best of

your tips, when it comes to how you're working from home.

[15:55:10]

That program will be with you this weekend. Finally, before I'm going to leave you with the markets and how they're trading, the Dow Jones is now up

some 800 points over the course of the day. The reason that the markets have had such a strong session, it's been strong over the last couple of

days. Firstly, there is the question of whether or not New York has and the United States, the outlook will be less grim. I don't want to say better

than expected, because it's going to be grim left, right and center.

But just how grim is that grimness going to be? Well, it looks like it might be sooner and not as bad, although, you get --- you know what I'm

saying here. So, that's why the market is putting on a bit of weight. But that's just about it, really. There's still no real optimism as you take a

look over the global economy at the moment.

And that is our program for tonight. I'm Richard Quest in New York. It's amazing. But we're all here. We're still here. I want to know how you're

working from home. Whatever you're up to in the hours ahead, I hope it's profitable. I'll see you tomorrow.

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END