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Quest Means Business
Thanksgiving Travel Rush Comes As U.S. COVID Deaths Spike; Trump & Biden Offer Conflicting Messages on Thanksgiving; Mourners, Police Clash Day after Maradona Death; CNN Speaks with Seychelles President About New Political Era. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired November 26, 2020 - 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: Good evening. Welcome back. It's a special two- hour edition of QUEST MEANS BUSINESS on this Thanksgiving.
Now, for many American families, it's a pared-down Thanksgiving, of course. For millions of people that are traveling, though, it's holidays as usual,
which is perhaps all the more remarkable.
And all the while, the pandemic is casting a long shadow on the decisions of those to travel. As the numbers are clear, 2,000 people died on
consecutive days in the United States, the first time we've seen those sorts of numbers since early spring and April.
Make no mistake, like everything else, this Thanksgiving is politically charged. Trump is telling Americans to gather together and, thereby,
fledging his own government's health guidance.
[16:00:06]
President-elect Biden in an op-ed on CNN.com is asking families to sacrifice their normal traditions this year for the good of the nation.
Alexandra Fields reports from New York.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's have a parade!
ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A Thanksgiving like no other, the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade made for TV only on a
closed set. Families across the country are being encouraged to get together on screen only.
DR. CHRIS PERNELL, PHYSICIAN, FATHER DIED OF COVID-19: I did my phone calls last night to friends who I heard were going to travel. And I pleaded with
them, please stay home, be safe, so that you can enjoy your loved ones in the future. I don't want anyone to experience what my family has gone
through and what my sister is still going through in her fight to recover.
FIELD: Last week, the CDC advised people not to travel for the holiday. Since then, 5.9 million people boarded a plane. The CDC now projects that,
by December 19th, America will have suffered between 294,000 to 321,000 deaths.
DR. PETER HOTEZ, BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE: What we're seeing is the entire midsection of the country screaming high levels. And, unfortunately,
now 2,000 deaths per day is going to be the new normal. We will probably head to 3,000 deaths per day.
FIELD: Deaths are now at levels unseen since May, hospitalizations smashing records every day for the last 16 days.
In red hot Texas, there's a rash of new restrictions in places like El Paso and San Antonio, along with the deployment of the National Guard and 1,500
medical professionals.
California is coming closer and closer to the full-blown stay-at-home orders of last March. Pennsylvania banned bars from serving alcohol on one
of the biggest party nights of the year, the night before Thanksgiving, despite some pushback.
ROBERT PANICO, OWNER, PANICO'S: There's a lot of oppression on one industry, and one industry alone. And it seems to be the bar and restaurant
industry.
FIELD: So, for those who are going to gather today, this advice.
DR. ESTHER CHOO, EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN, OREGON HEALTH & SCIENCE UNIVERSITY: Try to layer on everything you can to keep your family members and all of
their friends and family safe. So, lots of mask-wearing, keeping gatherings short, keeping ventilation good with windows open.
FIELD: This year, there may be fewer turkeys on tables across the country.
KYLE WAIDE, PRESIDENT, ATLANTA COMMUNITY FOOD BANK: The pandemic has led to what we think is the greatest domestic hunger crisis in our country in
nearly a century.
FIELD: And, this year, there are too many families in mourning, too many clinging desperately to hope, and some celebrating answered prayers.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To come (ph) home is amazing, of course, especially on the day to give thanks.
FIELD: Another precious life saved by health care heroes, once wildly cheered for their bravery and their sacrifice, heroes who we can still do
more for this Thanksgiving Day.
DR. CARLOS DEL RIO, EXECUTIVE ASSOCIATE DEAN, EMORY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: If you want to cheer your health care worker, put a mask and stay
home.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FIELD (on camera): So, when it comes to Thanksgiving travel, exactly how many people are really heeding those warnings? Well, the TSA says more than
a million people passed through airport security at America's airports on the day before Thanksgiving. That is a pandemic-era record, but it is a far
cry from the levels that we saw last year, it's just 40 percent of the number of people who are flying a year ago before Thanksgiving -- Richard.
QUEST: Alexandra Field, thank you.
If you think that number from Wednesday of a million is big, the TSA says wait until you see Sunday's number when most of those travelers will be
heading home, and probably all at the same time.
More than 5.9 million people passed through security since the CDC warned against Thanksgiving travel last week.
Axel Hefer is the CEO of the travel website Trivago. He's in Dusseldorf, Germany, and joins me now.
Good to have you.
The reality is, people didn't listen in this country and if what we're seeing is going to be the case, they're not going to be listening in Europe
during Christmas and the December holidays.
What are you seeing in terms of bookings?
AXEL HEFER, CEO, TRIVAGO: So, we see, in Europe, currently, basically no bookings at all. So, the levels are significantly lower than what we see in
Europe, but that doesn't mean anything, because what we're also seen in the last couple of months is that people tend to book on a very short notice.
So, we wouldn't expect the winter bookings necessarily by now already.
QUEST: The industry is on its knees. Arguably, airlines got more help in terms of large bailouts in many cases than hotels, which had to go to the
market and use these sorts of payroll protection things. In your view, how desperate now is the situation?
[16:05:04]
HEFER: The situation is very severe, that's for sure, and it will get worse, because it's very likely that there will be very, very little
activity, both in the hospitalities, restaurant and bar industry, and the overall travel industry.
So, the real problem is lying ahead of us, but in particular, the smaller companies that don't have access to the same funding, and don't have the
same visibility to get political support do need support.
QUEST: There are conflicting views to the recovery, when it comes. Some like Tim Clark at Emirates say that their experience has been there --
looking back to the 1990s and even going back to earlier than that, when the recovery comes, it comes fast, and it comes -- because people want to
travel. Others say, no, that's not the case. Business travel has gone, there's an element that will not come back.
Where do you stand on the strength of the recovery?
HEFER: So, let's start with the easy part. So, we don't think that business travel will recover to the pre-crisis levels and the key reason is that we
have changed the way we operate, we've changed the way we work. We are working remotely and we've accepted that we don't have to be in the same
room to work productively, which has an implication on business travel that is for intra-company meetings, but it's also having an impact on the volume
of business travel that you do to see other companies.
So, that's the first thing. I don't think you'll reach the same point again.
The second point on the air travel is that this crisis is different than the last one, because we are -- we're basically down to almost no traveling
at all. So a lot of capacity has left permanently the market already and a lot of planes are mothballed in the desert, a lot of pilots have been laid
off or furloughed. So it would just practically take more time to ramp up supply again.
QUEST: Right.
HEFER: And last but not least, we've had one year where we were told that we should stay away from other people where we should stay close to where
we are from, and that would have an impact on long haul leisure travel.
QUEST: Briefly, Axel, is the vaccine the sort of -- if not the silver bullet, but the saving grace in we all have our vaccination certificates in
the future, is that what you're hanging onto?
HEFER: I think the main impact of the vaccine will be that we will get a feeling of control of the situation and we think that it will start to have
an impact on the second half of next year. But it's not the silver bullet, it's one measure of many, like improved testing and improved treatment.
That will help us improve the situation in 2021.
QUEST: Axel, let's keep in touch and talk more on QUEST MEANS BUSINESS as we work our way through what's going to be a very difficult winter. Thank
you, sir, for taking the time to join us.
HEFER: Thanks.
QUEST: I appreciate it.
Now, let's go to Canada, where a cautionary tale for Americans traveling this week. Thanksgiving came and went a few weeks ago in Canada, they
celebrate it earlier there, and that's being blamed for a surge in COVID cases. Prolonged indoor gatherings of people from different households and
bubbles, is the risk factor for the viral spread. Not just for American Thanksgiving but not everybody's looking at Christmas.
You can see the rise in cases since Canada's Thanksgiving, with cases now past the 5,000 mark.
The mayor of Toronto says things are being taken seriously, he'll do whatever's necessary to protect people.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: You saw your spike. Canadian Thanksgiving was October 12th. If it looks like you need to extend this over the Christmas
and New Year's holidays, will you?
JOHN TORY, TORONTO MAYOR: Well, I think we've proven that we're prepared to do that, anything we have to do to keep public health, to protect the
health care system, to keep the schools open, protect the elderly, that's what we're focused on. And I assume as we've done throughout, that's what
we'll do if that's what's required. I hope not.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: There are ramifications in all of this for Canada's so-called Atlantic Bubble. A pact which allowed free movement between 2-1/2 million
people across the four provinces on the Atlantic side with strict restrictions.
Paula Newton on more on the worries this bubble could be about to burst.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For six months, Canada's Atlantic bubble has been a sanctuary, nearly 2.5 million people living
mostly COVID free.
Just listen to Erica Baker, a child psychologist and mother of three, getting her kids ready to go to school.
ERICA BAKER, MOTHER OF 3 AND CHILD PSYCHOLOGIST: Right now, things have been very normal for them. It's been wonderful.
NEWTON: Normal. Wonderful even. The bubble has made it possible.
BAKER: Bye, guys.
NEWTON: At its outer edge, the Atlantic Bubble is a six-hour drive from Boston but a world away from the current COVID reality. It includes four
provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador.
[16:10:06]
Going into the bubble from anywhere, even the rest of Canada, you have to quarantine 14 days and then mask mandates, distancing, aggressive testing
and contact tracing have kept cases near zero or close to it for months.
BAKER: We've had exceptional leadership. They have provided us the right information so far and I don't think there is any reason to not trust that
they're going to do the right things moving forward as well.
NEWTON: That leadership is about to be tested. As cases rise into the dozens even here, they're acting fast.
DR. ROBERT STRANG, NOVA SCOTIA'S CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: Yes. If you look elsewhere a small number of cases left unchecked explodes into a very large
number of cases. Your health care system starts to get overwhelmed. You have lots of unavoidable, severe illness and death. We see that in other
places. We're doing everything we can to avoid that.
NEWTON: Dr. Robert Strang is Nova Scotia's chief medical officer and so- called caretaker of the bubble. He is putting in place more restrictions to indoor dining and shopping, and now, quarantine-free travel to other
provinces inside the bubble will have to end for a while.
For this retired senior amateur musician and one of the vulnerable, the bubble hasn't burst. It's just adapting to what he calls the tsunami of
cases all around.
GORDON FLOWERDEW, RETIREE: I actually feel that the Atlantic Bubble has been moderately successful at postponing the inevitable.
NEWTON: Health experts say that has saved lives.
There is another side though to the success of the Atlantic bubble, especially because of the quarantine. Some argue the sacrifice has been too
great, the hit to the economy too severe.
We caught up with Jennifer Hutton at Montreal's airport going back into the bubble staring down her 11th quarantine. As an IT specialist, she has to
travel for work and is thankful for the bubble, but --
JENNIFER HUTTON, HALIFAX RESIDENT: It affected my well being, my sleeping, my marriage because when you're isolating over and over again and you can't
go out into public, in your own home, like you, you know, you feel trapped and being trapped is not a nice feeling.
NEWTON: For now though, those in the bubble are acting fast to adapt to more restrictions, hoping it will strengthen people's resolve to fight on
even when cases rise.
SARAH GOSSE, SMALL BUSINESS OWNER: I think people are just like let's get this done, get this over. Let's have, you know, Thanksgiving, and
Christmas, and let's, you know, solve this problem and have a safe space in our little bubble.
NEWTON: That little bubble no matter how vulnerable now has given families like the Bakers a shot at normal life and peace of mind even during the
worst waves of this pandemic.
Paula Newton, CNN, Montreal.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: In Europe, leaders are trying to balance protecting people from COVID-19 and offering them some respite from restrictions over Christmas.
In the last hour, I spoke to David Nabarro, one of the WHO's special envoys on COVID-19 about the impact restrictions are having across Europe.
(BEEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID NABARRO, SPECIAL ENVOY OF W.H.O. DIRECTOR-GENERAL ON COVID-19: We're actually wanting to say to people how impressed we are that the majority of
really following the guidance. We look at what's happening in Europe during this most recent period of movement restrictions, numbers of cases have
been falling. I live in France, Richard, and it's great to see that the incidents rates are lower and we're even seeing a reduction in hospital
admissions. And it's a kind of incredible discipline by people, an incredible sacrifice by people.
QUEST: No, no, David, I'm going to just jump in if I may, because you're making my point. It's not -- the sacrifice that people are making at the
moment is not willingly, it's being imposed by new lockdowns in France, in Germany, in England, in Scotland. What I'm saying to you is, once these
lockdowns lift, we seem to have no capacity for self-restriction in a tiered system.
NABARRO: So, I'm going to put it to you that it is possible in liberal democracies like the ones in which we're living now for people actually to
change their behaviors. It's taking a bit of time for people in Europe to get used to what's necessary. But I'm getting reports from all over the
place, particularly in local areas, of incredible well-organized responses.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: Melissa Bell with me from Paris.
The hospitality industry is struggling to survive, and I believe in new measures that have been announced, Melissa Bell, it looks like some bars
and restaurants will have to stay closed until the end of the year in some cases. I mean -- they just won't survive without strong government support,
I mean, a bit of takeout and a few sort of -- here and there is not going to cut the mustard, as they say.
MELISSA BELL, CNN PARIS CORRESPONDENT: That's right. What we know now, Richard, the prime minister's speech today is that we're going to see some
lifting of restrictions on Saturday, some businesses, hairdressers, some nonessential shops will be allowed to open again. We know that from the
15th of December, if all goes well and the figures continue to improve, they will lift the partial lockdown in terms of restrictions of people's
movements.
But bars, restaurants, nightclubs, the hospitality industry is going to stay shut, Richard, well into next year.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BELL (voice-over): Paris may be locked down, but you will find the doors of some of its restaurants open. Take Le Baratin, a bistro in the east of the
city loved by the late Anthony Bourdain.
ANTHONY BOURDAIN, LATE CNN HOST: Superb, imaginative food, and fantastic wine.
BELL: These days, you can't drink and eat here as Bourdain did. Restaurants have been closed by the second partial lockdown this year. But this time
around, Raquel Carena is back in her kitchen.
RAQUEL CARENA, CHEF, LE BARATIN (through translator): This time, we decided to do take away, to try to be close to the people of the neighborhood. Also
to avoid sitting around and doing nothing.
BELL: Raquel says that the first lockdown saw her fall by 60 percent. The lunchtime takeaway she's put in place this time should help a little. But
that isn't the only reason she's looking forward to the end of this lockdown.
CARENA (through translator): When we cook, we have to look at the people, and that's changed now. When I used to see my customers, I asked them to
tell me the truth. It's a bit dry they would say, so I'd make something else. We've lost that luxury now.
BELL: Still, Raquel is one of the lucky ones. Union say that two out of every three establishments in France's hotel and restaurant sector could be
forced out of business by the pandemic.
According to France's health minister, restaurants will not be opening in December, which means that Raquel's carefully crafted dishes will continue
to be served in cardboard boxes and paper bags for a while longer.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BELL: Now, Richard, those businesses, restaurants, cafes, bars that will have to stay closed until January 2021 did find out they will be getting
extra help. So, beyond simply the help with their staffing costs, the 80 percent covered by the government so far, they're also going to get up to
20 percent of their turnover if they've lost more than half their turnover as a result of the two lockdowns.
So, there is some help there, but to your question about whether many will survive, clearly no.
QUEST: Many were already on the edge, barely making money with the slim margins that you get in the hospitality industry, it's just so sad.
Melissa Bell, understandable why they are doing it, but it's sad nonetheless. Melissa, thank you. Excellent report. Thank you.
Now, European markets, they were trading on Thursday. None in the U.S., of course, because of Thanksgiving.
You have Zurich there, look at that, Zurich eked out a little gain.
In London, it was the FTSE that was in attention. The British government announced what restrictions will be in place in the capital and other parts
of England once its lockdown ends next week.
It's a complicated version of tiered systems which will happen in England.
QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, when we return, live to Argentina. It's a painful day for many people. Not only because of the death of Diego Maradona, but the
clashes that took place between mourners and the police. This is a live picture coming to you now from Buenos Aires.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:21:22]
QUEST: Welcome back.
I want to return to Argentina now. These pictures coming to us from Buenos Aires. The body of the soccer legend Diego Maradona has departed the
presidential palace, at Casa Rosada, and it is now en route to its burial.
The motorcade is going to Jardin de Paz in Bella Vista cemetery where Maradona will be laid to rest this evening. It's the same cemetery where
his parents are also buried.
Earlier, live pictures showed the hearse moving through the streets of the capital, which were lined with people and they, of course, were escorted by
Buenos Aires police on motorcycles.
It's been an emotional and difficult day for the Maradona fans. Earlier, there were clashes between mourners and police.
Diego Laje is in Buenos Aires and joins me now.
So, the protests, as I understood you from last hour, the protesters were really because the police, or, the family, were cutting short the amount of
time they were going to have to pay their respects. Is that right?
DIEGO LAJE, JOURNALIST: That's very right, Richard. It was a day marked with confusion. We should call it probably a historic day marked by
confusion. The -- Maradona was going to lay in honor here at the presidential palace until 4:00 p.m. local. The throngs of people that
arrived would have not -- could not possibly have made it into the palace to say a final good-bye, pay final homage to their hero.
And in that situation, people got frustrated, started pushing, started small scuffles with police that never got into large, serious -- never had
serious consequences here in this location. In other locations in B.A., the situation was very different.
The riot police has now formed behind me just to make sure that final stragglers here in Plaza de Mayo, the square in front of the presidential
palace, leave in peace. But they are more relaxed. You can see their shields down. They are having a drink of water in a day that was hot, you
know, hot, spring day in Buenos Aires.
And one thing to note is that throughout this day, Diego Maradona was given the treatment of a president, of a president in Argentina. And he is right
now receiving the treatment of a president.
His body is traveling with a police escort that is making sure that no traffic delays the trip to Bella Vista, a place just outside the city, 35
kilometers out of downtown, and in that final trip, you can see people cheering and people throwing little bits of paper. That is something that,
you know, soccer fans normally do when a team enters a playing field -- Richard.
QUEST: So the legacy has been much walked about and the footballing aspect has been well thumbed through, but I think what's really fascinating is the
way this man, who came from basically working class background with -- managed to rise to the top. Even with all the flaws in his character and
his personality and his way of life.
[16:25:01]
LAJE: Richard, Maradona was who he was. He was a transparent person. That's why he was so loved, because he had nothing to hide. He had no addiction to
hide. He fought a life -- he fought throughout his life against two addictions, first of cocaine, later against alcohol.
Nevertheless, he came from a background that probably would be below working class. His neighborhood, Villa Fiorito, just in the south of Buenos
Aires, is one of the toughest neighborhoods in this city. And he rose from probably one of the lowest positions you could be born into in this
country, to one of the highest positions you could achieve in the world.
He did it through very hard work, lots of focus and as he said several times, unconditional love for the football, for the ball, for the game and,
of course, a hunger to win.
His teammates always said that he was unrelenting whenever they were losing, whenever their team was down, be that the national team, a club, he
played for many clubs in Argentina and in Europe, Napoli being the most remembered, but, of course, Barcelona and many others, especially in
Argentina, and he was unrelenting. His heart would not forgive losing a game and his heart could not forgive not fighting to win a game, especially
when the score was against him.
So, Maradona was what he was and it was plain to see that he was a man of enormous ambition, enormous flaws, as we all have, but, of course, he
overcame and told a narrative that inspires millions of Argentines, especially now in this very, very hard economic crisis. Remember, there's a
GDP contraction of two figures for the last quarter in this country and, of course, in the face of despair, in the face of economic crisis, in the face
of death crisis, a big IMF negotiation, rising inflation, soaring prices in the super market, people who can't make it until the end of the month in
basic necessities, this man is the biggest and grandest inspiration they could, of course, have in their daily lives.
It tells them there is hope, there is a way out. He did it, so he did it, then we can. That's what many people think here, Richard.
QUEST: Diego, thank you.
As we go to a short break, let's go with these pictures that we're seeing of the cheering -- it's cheering, it is commemorating, there's a certain
anger between police and protesters, but I have to say, looking at the force of the police there, the protesters are not going to make much, or
the fans are not going to make much headway against them.
As we continue on this extended QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, one expert says the pandemic just accelerated big tech's rise but it's not going to stop any
time soon.
Scott Galloway, he has a book out, a new book called "Post Corona." We'll talk about it with him after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:31:35]
QUEST: Hello, I'm Richard Quest. More QUEST MEANS BUSINESS in just a moment. After we've had the news headlines, of course, because this is CNN,
and here on this network, the news always comes first.
As the United States celebrates Thanksgiving, it is mourning thousands of coronavirus victims. More than 2,000 Americans died in each of the last two
days. Health experts are warning that the holiday gathering could push infections even higher, past the peaks we saw in the spring.
AstraZeneca's facing questions over the reliability of its vaccine data and there are concerns over a lack of transparency. On Monday, the drugmaker
announced its experimental COVID vaccine is 70 percent effective on average. But it hasn't explained why two different dosing regiments or two
different sized groups were used.
On the narrowest of margins, the U.S. Supreme Court has sided with religious groups in a dispute over the coronavirus restrictions. It has
ruled that New York state violated the Constitution by imposing certain limits on the number of people who could gather at houses of worship in
high risk areas.
An emotional and tense day for Diego Maradona fans in Argentina. Some mourners clashed with police in Buenos Aires earlier. The body of the
football phenomenon who died on Wednesday at the age of 60 has been lying in honor in Buenos Aires, it has not been taken to the cemetery for its
burial.
Maradona's lawyers calling for an investigation into the emergency response following the star's heart attack. The lawyer says it took an ambulance
more than half an hour to arrive. He calls it criminal idiocy. CNN does not yet have a response from the medical team itself.
(MUSIC)
QUST: Here in the U.S., the busiest shopping day of the year is about to kick off in only a few hours. Black Friday and many parts of the world as
well, frankly, they just followed, it is a start of the real start of the Christmas shopping season and factoring what this year will be like won't
be easy.
Well, we know, though, that Amazon is expected to be a big winner. They kicked off its sales a day earlier and the online retailer is expected to
roll out new deals for a full week. It's not only Black Friday that's different. If you look at how the business world has drastically changed
during the pandemic.
I'm joined by the author of "Post Corona," Scott Galloway. He's also a marketing professor at New York University's Stern School of Business. He
joins me now.
Scott, it is, first of all, it's good to see you. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family. The book, the interesting thing about what you write in
this book is, these are themes that you have been writing about, thinking about and seeing these trends for a good ten years or so, but it's corona,
which you describe as being the great accelerator.
SCOTT GALLOWAY, PROFESSOR OF MARKETING, NYU STERN: Yeah, first off, likewise, Richard, good to be with you and happy holiday. COVID-19 is more
of an accelerant than a change agent.
You just mentioned Amazon. Since 2000, each year, roughly speaking, e- commerce garnered an additional 1 percentage point of retail. So, sitting here in March of 2020, we were sitting at 18 percent of all retail was
transacted through digital channels. In eight weeks, we jumped to 28 percent.
[16:35:03]
So, we literally had a decade of e-commerce progress since the lows, for the lows of Amazon stock in March, I believe that Amazon has added the
value of all retail and all of Europe.
So, if you want to talk about a company that was invented for the pandemic, whether it's a consumption of data to EWS, home delivery, dispersion of
retail to our homes via Amazon retail platform or the fact that we're at home watching more video now, the platform with the most content, it's not
Netflix, it's actually Amazon Prime Video. This company was invented for the pandemic. But everything's being pulled forward ten years, Richard.
QUEST: OK, but that's -- that ten years, you quote the phrase, it can take decades and you get decades in a week. You say it's big tech world, we just
live in it.
I hear in those words a sort of plaintive cry of something must be done, but I'm not sure what you want done about it. You are -- you are commenting
on something that's happening.
GALLOWAY: So, the day after the four CEOs of big tech testified in front of the house subcommittee on anti-trust, they complained they had a
competition coming at them from everywhere. The next day, when the reported earnings, within 15 minutes of the close of the market, they added the
value of Pinterest, Pogacy (ph), WPP and AT&T.
So, most people would agree these companies have become so powerful, they may have overrun government.
So, what to do about it? I think we return to our legacy, our proud legacy of antitrust. And that is once a company that got so big that it becomes
anti-competitive or can abuse its monopoly power, it reduces the tax base, it reduces employment, you don't want -- to oxygenate the economy by
breaking it up.
I think it's pretty simple. I think we hold these companies to the same standards we've held all other companies in the past. They play by a
different set of rules and so it's time to true that up. But I think there's a lot of antitrust on its way. The Biden/Harris administration, the
shadow of the administration, is already having huge impact.
It's no accident that Facebook and Twitter have somewhat cleaned up their act once the Biden/Harris administration became more of a reality.
QUEST: I have to refer the delicious story that you're telling, being invited to an intimate lunch with Dara Khosrowshahi of Uber and deciding
not to go, for the reason that it's harder to be blunt or up front in criticism when you have broken bread and you know the people.
GALLOWAY: Well, look, one of the key attributes of being a CEO is that you're very likable. And I find that almost all of these companies employ a
likability shield. And when you have 600 or 700 people in Facebook's PR comms department. In other words, there's more people manicuring Mark
Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg's image than there are reporters in a newsroom at "The Washington Post", and the number of journalists has been
cut in half in the last 20 years, but the number of PR and comms people has tripled, the ratio of what I'll call spin to truth has gone six-fold in the
wrong direction.
So, my view is if -- I've spent a lot of my life as a consultant and as an academic. And I find it, you know, it's easy to become drunk on hanging out
with the rich and the powerful, but I think there's more -- there's more opportunity now spending time with the possible. And you know what happens?
You meet them, you like them and you are just less incline to write openly and honestly about their company. So, for the time being, I'm good avoiding
these lunches.
QUEST: Scott, I -- I love the book, I read it and as always with you, you manage to put things into such great, understandable ways.
But I always come away from your reading thinking, here is an angry middle aged man. Here is, you know --
GALLOWAY: I'm both those things.
QUEST: You know, I always think -- I applaud you for it, I mean, we need people like you who are still battering the ramparts while the millennials
are too busy drinking at the fountain of excess.
But you do -- you have this -- anger is the wrong word, campaigning, whatever you want, you know what I mean.
GALLOWAY: Yeah, but let me say, we call from crisis opportunity. I think the silver lining is as big as the cloud. Let's hope we're maturing a
generation that sees that global cooperation is important. We need to fund our institution. That capitalism needs to sit on a pillar of empathy if
it's to work.
Maybe we leave behind emissions. Maybe we leave behind commuting and have more time to spend more with family or making money. Maybe we decide that
the CDC deserves more funding, maybe we decide 40 percent of Americans and the wealthiest nation in the world shouldn't be -- shouldn't be unable to
work from home or worry about health insurance.
[16:40:04]
Maybe we decide that one in five households with children shouldn't be food insecure.
I think there's enormous opportunity here for the dispersion of health care, lower the cost, increase the admittance rates at universities so we
can go back to higher ed's rightful place, an upward lubricant of middle class kids. I think there's tremendous opportunity here.
So, I see the glass as half empty, but there's no acknowledging that nothing's wrong with America that can't be fixed with what's right with it.
So, I think the world isn't what it is, it's what we make of it and there's huge opportunity here, but the opportunity won't be seized naturally. We
have to be thoughtful, disciplined and willing to sacrifice.
QUEST: Scott, always wonderful. Thank you, sir. Appreciate it. Have a good Thanksgiving and good Christmas together, I appreciate your time tonight.
Thank you.
GALLOWAY: Thanks, Richard.
QUEST: As we continue, a changing of the guard in the Seychelles after four decades, I speak to the country's new president about his plans to revive
an economy devastated by COVID.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: The Seychelles is an idyllic paradise in the middle of the Indian Ocean. However, for paradise, there's now problems, unprecedented crisis
and an economy battered, of course, by COVID-19.
As an island nation, it's done reasonably well at controlling the pandemic. It has a total of 166 coronavirus cases, according to Johns Hopkins
University and has a very rigid set of rules for those who are arriving.
And when you look at pictures like this, well, you see what I mean. The Seychelles economy is hugely dependent on tourism, in a year when revenue
from that industry has fallen off a cliff. It's a tough time to start a new political era, but that's what happened.
For the first time since independence, since the coup back in the 1970s, the opposition has won a presidential election, the first time in more than
40 years. And that's where I started my conversation with President Wavel Ramkalawan.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WAVEL RAMKALAWAN, SEYCHELLES PRESIDENT: The principle on which I work, on which I function is belief -- I went into politics believing that
Seychelles needed to go through this transition through change. We needed to bring something that would reconcile our people, where there would be no
political victimization and such things where social justice would be the order of the day.
[16:45:07]
So, it's never been about power.
QUEST: You're the first opposition leader to win since independence. This has never happened before.
RAMKALAWAN: It's never happened.
QUEST: And aren't you tempted to go into the files to find out what happened ten years ago, 20 years ago, the disputed elections?
RAMKALAWAN: I can tell you, having been in the opposition for 30 years, and having fought them, I already know what happened during the 30 years and
because I know, that's why I don't want to go back there. I do not want our people to go back there. I want the country to move forward. This is the
only direction we have to move in.
QUEST: You've taken power in a pandemic, obviously.
RAMKALAWAN: Yes.
QUEST: And like every leader who takes power in a pandemic -- at this time of year, all your policies, to a certain extent, are irrelevant, because
they are going to be subsumed by how you treat the pandemic. Seventy-five, 50 to 60, 70 percent of the economy is tourism.
Tourism is just about on its knees. What can you do?
RAMKALAWAN: Well, this is why we do not have an option but to move forward.
I am bringing together everybody who -- well, the real actors in the tourism industry, but we are also diversifying. This is why, for the first
time, we have a minister for fisheries. He hasn't got any other portfolio but fisheries, because obviously, fisheries is the gold mine for Seychelles
and we've got to do sustainable exploitation.
But at the same time, given that tourism is the -- is the only well- established industry, we also have to keep talking to the health department, to find out how we can open up even -- even more.
QUEST: One of the biggest challenges you're going to have is where you position the country geopolitically. It's no -- it's no secret that China
is seeking, as it has in Sri Lanka, you'll be familiar with the port project --
RAMKALAWAN: Yes.
QUEST: -- in Sri Lanka that many say has sold the country to China for decades. Mauritius, all the countries in the region.
What about yourself?
RAMKALAWAN: China is not interested in having a base here. India is not interested in having a base here. So, it's very clear, our sovereignty is
sacred. There will never, under my watch, be a foreign military base in the Seychelles.
QUEST: Mr. President, forgive the personal indulgence. I got married two weeks ago to my male partner, wearing the ring.
RAMKALAWAN: Congratulations.
QUEST: Thank you.
RAMKALAWAN: Congratulations.
QUEST: It would have been lovely to have done it on the beaches here. When are you going to change the law?
RAMKALAWAN: Well, we already have started changing the laws, and I would hope that the country will soon move away from the conservative attitude.
I'm a liberal, Richard, and I respect everybody's position.
As a liberal, human rights matter to me. That's the number one.
QUEST: But are you prepared to expend political capital of which you have considerable towards civil union initially and marriage equality
ultimately?
RAMKALAWAN: Well, this is -- I made my position clear during the elections and they gave me 55 percent. So let's start the debate.
QUEST: And my last question, will you know when it's time to go?
RAMKALAWAN: You know what I say to -- to the workers here at the state house when I visited them? I said to them, look, we are all working here.
And the time will come when we will though longer be working here. And I want us, when we meet, after our time here, to say, hey, remember when we
used to work at state house?
So, this is the clear indication that I will go when my time is up. I've been elected to serve for five years and if after those five years, I see
that, yes there is still work to be done, I'll stand again for re-election and with the clear knowledge that ten years is the maximum.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[16:50:16]
QUEST: The president of Seychelles. It is also worth noting that the president is actually an ordained minister and was a minister for many
years. He's a member of the cloth. And he said he would bless my wedding or my union on the beach.
So, perfect excuse to go back to the Seychelles. As if one needed a reason to go to one of the most beautiful parts of the world, but now I've got
another one for me to go there.
Difficult days ahead for Disney and its employees. Disney's announced more layoffs as the pandemic continues to bite.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Difficult days even at times of Thanksgiving. Some people receiving the tough news from their employers, not even the biggest, most financially
secure firms have been spared.
For example, Disney has announced it is expanding the people they are going to lay off. It was meant to be 28,000. Now, it's 32,000 employees will lose
their jobs in the coming months as the pandemic hits the parks, the movies and the cruise businesses hard. Four thousand more families to be affected
than they previously announced.
And millions of people are lining up at food banks across the United States. It's a record number of people who have lost their jobs and they're
struggling to survive.
Hosea Helps is a Thanksgiving tradition in Atlanta of feeding the hungry and the homeless, now in its 50th year. This time, there's no big indoor
sit-down buffet of years past. Now, it's allocated slots and drive-ins.
Ryan Young was there and sent this report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RYAN YOUNG, CNN U.S. CORRESPONDENT: This is a massive operation that helps feed thousands of people each year. COVID-19 has definitely impacted the
operation here, because you couldn't be on the inside. So, all down here today, we saw cars lining up, people arriving as early as 6:00. More than
5,000 meals will be provided through this organization called Hosea Feeds the Hungry. They've been in Atlanta for some 50 years.
And here's the whole set-up, hair cuts, clothing, food. But all that food got taken away by COVID. Talking to organizers, they say this event, it's
been so devastating when you talk to COVID-19, this is like Katrina happening over and over again in terms of the need that people have for
food.
We talked to one veteran who is down on his luck, who said he needed organizations like this one to provide him a meal during these tough times.
[16:55:06]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Trying to survive. I worked day labor jobs, you know, make a little money and when I need help, I go to these events. Extremely
grateful.
Now, in my jobs field, when I'm working, I make good money. When I'm working in my job field, I pay it back, I pay it forward. That's what I do.
Why? Because people have helped me, so, when I can, I will, and I do.
RYAN: So many families arrived here to grab boxes so they could put those boxes in their car. Some will eat Thanksgiving dinner in those cars. Some
are worried about where they will be sleeping the next few days. That's the next step this organization says they have to worry about, the pandemic
hitting families who are on the edge of losing their homes.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: Ryan Young reporting there. We'll have a Profitable Moment at the end of our two-hour marathon, but it will be after the break. QUEST MEANS
BUSINESS.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Tonight's Profitable Moment: The effort to save Christmas that's now under way. It will learn greatly from the experiment that took place today
in the United States with Thanksgiving. How the U.S. numbers rise as a result of those who didn't follow the requirements and the entreaties not
to travel will give valuable information to European and other countries about what can expect of Christmas.
Part of me says, just tell everybody, grow up, Christmas, Hanukkah, you can still celebrate, but just celebrate on your own. But, of course, that's not
what people want and people will get together. The reality is, though, as I talked about with David Nabarro, the evidence is, we are not capable of
following these restrictions.
When left to our own devices, we do our own thing, we meet up in bars and restaurants and houses and the numbers go back up again. And those numbers
only go down again when restrictions are put in place. That's been the evidence so far. That's why the numbers are down in England, in Germany and
in France, because of the restrictions.
So, I ask you this -- are we capable of managing Christmas, Hanukkah, Diwali, Kwanzaa, in a manageable way, a responsible way, that means the
numbers don't go up?
Quest@CNN.com is where you can get me, or richard.quest@CNN.com.
That's QUEST MEANS BUSINESS. I'm Richard Quest. Whatever you're up to in the hours ahead, I hope it's profitable. Have a good Thanksgiving.
END
