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Quest Means Business

U.K. Partygate Report Finds Failures Of Leadership; U.S. And Russia Clash In U.N. Meeting Over Ukraine; Outgoing CEO Gary Kelly, Southwest Now Out Of Survival Mode; Spotify Up 12 Percent Amid Joe Rogan Podcast Controversy; Truck Drivers Snarl Roads, Border Crossing Canada; Canadian P.M. Justin Trudeau: We Are Not Intimidated. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired January 31, 2022 - 15:00:00   ET

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

[15:00:15]

RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS ANCHOR: It has been a miserable month for stocks, but I'm delighted that there's a relief, I want to tell you, there

is relief rally on the final day of this miserable month. We're holding the gains which suggests we will. The big board shows it, the triple stack also

shows.

The NASDAQ is up more than two percent, turning a corner, three percent. The Dow is up, the S&P is showing good gains as well, and yet, the month

overall, it could be the worst month for the last two or three years.

The markets are going one way. The main events of the day that you need to know.

It's a scathing report, which is turning up the heat on the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Police investigating eight separate Downing Street

parties.

The United States is targeting Vladimir Putin's inner circle, as it considers new sanctions against Russia.

And low fares and low costs, Gary Kelly of Southwest tells me the secret to success as he ends 17 years in the airline.

Well, I'm live in New York. It's Monday, it's the last day of January. I'm Richard Quest. I'm back in New York and I mean business.

Good evening. We begin tonight with the turmoil in the political scene in Britain. A long awaited report has found failures of leadership -- their

words -- at Number 10 Downing Street, the seat of government.

Boris Johnson is fighting to save his Premiership. He says he won't resign over an investigation by a senior civil servant that has scathing results.

Her report faults his government for holding a number of workplace parties and involved excessive drinking while the rest of the United Kingdom was

living in strict COVID lockdowns.

The string of mass gatherings was in Sue Gray's words, difficult to justify.

We now know at least 12 events are being investigated by the Metropolitan Police and more than 300 photos from the parties have been handed over.

Salma Abdelaziz is outside Number 10 and has been following the day's events and the publication of the report.

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER: Richard, a failure of leadership, a failure of judgment, behavior that cannot be justified. At times, the report

reading like you're scolding a naughty teenager, reminding the staff behind me here that excessive consumption of alcohol should not happen at the

workplace because apparently the government needs to be reminded of that.

And the Prime Minister's response is yet another sort of meek, "I'm sorry."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Firstly, I want to say sorry, and I'm sorry for the things we simply didn't get right, and also sorry for the

way that this matter has been handled.

I understand the anger that people feel. But Mr. Speaker, it isn't enough to say sorry, this is a moment when must look at ourselves in the mirror

and we must learn.

Mr. Speaker, I get it and I will fix it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABDELAZIZ: The remorse did not last for long, Richard. Johnson quickly turned it around and became that bullish defensive person that yet again,

lied on that excuse of we got the big things right, we got Brexit done. But it's not going to be enough.

His own party now is parsing through that report after he was in Parliament. He met with members of the Conservative Party to try to PR

campaign himself there as well, gain that support because it is his party that is going to decide what to do with him next and it is not over yet for

the Prime Minister.

The report we saw today. That's just the summary, Richard. We're still expecting the full report and the police investigation in the coming days.

QUEST: Salma Abdelaziz in London. Thank you.

And it is British politics, we turn to Bianca Nobilo in London, of course from "The Brief."

Now, Bianca, he bought himself time saying you had to wait for this report, and now he's bought himself more time saying he's got to wait for the

Metropolitan Police report, the longer -- but come on, he's never going to resign over a lot of parties, no matter how distasteful and yucky they are.

BIANCA NOBILO, CNN ANCHOR, "THE BRIEF": Well, that's what his allies are saying. They say this simply isn't commensurate with the seriousness of

which you had to depose the Prime Minister for. They say, it's just parties, they need to blow off steam. They were working so hard.

We can all have our own opinions about that, but there is no question that the fact these delays are occurring is buying the Prime Minister time and

it's killing momentum.

If a devastating full report by Sue Gray had been released when the Prime Minister was at his weakest point a few weeks ago, there is no way he would

have survived that. Those blues would have been terminal and that threshold would have been met.

[15:05:09]

He's got time. He could potentially choose some scapegoats from his Downing Street operation just to give a bit of blame to some other people and

continue to try and shore up support with his own back benchers.

QUEST: Did Kier Starmer, the leader of the opposition, Sir Kier, did he lay a finger on him? I mean, he was more muted than Johnson. And when he

said at one point, you basically get everybody wrong. Everybody who comes in contact with you suffers. Did you lay a finger on him?

NOBILO: I think it is working. You know, the leader of the opposition has made headway in the polls, but I view this between Starmer and Johnson as a

real zero sum game. When Johnson fails, then Starmer succeeds. He's not really doing this of his own leadership and charisma and original attacks.

It's just when the Prime Minister becomes less and less popular, if hypocrisy is perceived to be exposed, if we have more and more allegations

that has been hurting him and Starmer has been the beneficiary of that.

But now, the Prime Minister is in a position where if that was anyone else, it would just be a sure fire answer. They would not be able to recover from

this. He is an escape artist of a politician. He's survived so many scandals before, whether it's about his own personal life or his own former

right-hand man eviscerating him for seven hours in front of Parliament and the country.

He manages to get through and he is not afraid of gaffes, of exposure, and these types of things.

QUEST: But finally, the seriousness isn't the lack of trust, when people in Britain as indeed elsewhere, wherever our viewers are watching tonight,

rulemaking in very difficult circumstances. What will it take? What's that extra ingredient that has to be added to this volatile mixture that would

due him in.

NOBILO: Well, sometimes it's the small things. With Boris Johnson, it might not necessarily be the dramatic moment we are expecting because

they've just been so many of them.

When I spoke to some of his own MPs last week, these are ones who described themselves as ambivalent towards the Prime Minister and his vices and

virtues. They said it would be when they're sure that they're likely to lose their seats or lose the election if Boris Johnson remains in charge,

and that will be the moment when they're certain of that fact that they decide to go against him.

But something else which almost everyone I've spoken to has said is, at this point, it's a question of integrity, of trust.

I think, Richard, voters and some Conservative MPs didn't mind the fact that the Prime Minister has a lot of traits that wouldn't be considered

virtuous. In fact, they kind of liked that antihero aspect, but it was when he was their antihero, or he was fighting for the public that resonated and

that sometimes works.

But if he is shown to be behaving in a way where the public is suffering and he was enjoying himself, that no longer that stands and he has lost his

central appeal.

QUEST: I hope you'll have more on this with "The Brief."

NOBILO: We will.

QUEST: Excellent. Bianca Nobilo, we will be with you later. Thank you.

Downing Street says that the British Prime Minister will visit Ukraine on Tuesday. Boris Johnson has been looking for ways to support Kyiv and punish

Moscow, if tack was to follow.

His Foreign Secretary will join him on the trip. The Prime Minister says he will also speak this weekend with the Russian President Vladimir Putin and

tell him to step back from the brink.

Now, the U.N. Security Council has held a tense meeting on Russia's intentions towards Ukraine. The U.S. has accused Russia of threatening its

neighbor by amassing thousands of troops near its border. Russia's Ambassador tit-for-tat accused the West of whipping up tensions, and says

there is no proof of a plan to attack.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VASILY NEBENZYA, RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS (through translator): The delegation of the U.S. in explaining its proposal on

convening this meeting has pointed out that it considers the deployment of Russian troops within Russian territory as a threat to international peace

and security.

This is not only unacceptable interference in the domestic affairs of our states, of our state, but also an attempt to mislead the international

community on the situation in the region, and also the reason for the current global tensions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: In Washington, U.S. senators are working in a bipartisan fashion, calling it the mother of all sanctions if Russia invades Ukraine, and they

say the sanctions would cripple the Russian economy.

As for Russia's influence on the world stage, today, it exceeds its economic size, less than two percent of the global economy. You see the

numbers there. GDP per capita in many ways even a worse number. It's similar to Chili's or Croatia's.

Russia though has energy. It is the third largest source of oil in the world, 11 percent of global production and Europe is by far its largest

market for oil and natural gas.

[15:10:10]

Anna Stewart now looks at how the sanctions on Russian energy could backfire against Europe.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER (voice over): Europe's winter could feel much colder in the coming weeks.

HENNING GLOYSTEIN, DIRECTOR OF ENERGY, CLIMATE AND RESOURCE, EURASIA GROUP: If all of Russian gas stops flowing to Europe, you'll see prices literally

going vertically through the roof.

STEWART (voice over): Gas dependency is a hard habit to kick.

(on camera): The E.U. relies on Russia for over 40 percent of its gas imports and some countries are more vulnerable than others. For example,

you can see here Austria, Finland, and Latvia rely on Russia for all of their imported gas.

Germany, Europe's economic powerhouse is particularly vulnerable. Not only does it rely on Russia for the majority of its gas imports, but it depends

on gas for over a quarter of its energy. And actually, this gas dependence has grown over the past few decades as Germany transitions away from coal

and nuclear power.

(voice over): It is surprising given the E.U. has faced this problem before.

JOSE MANUEL BARROSO, FORMER EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT: Gas that should come from Russia through Ukraine to European Union is not coming.

STEWART (voice over): Russia has invested billions of dollars in more pipelines to Europe since 2009 to avoid transiting through Ukraine. There

is Nord Stream 1 shown here in yellow, and alongside it that new $11 billion Nord Stream 2, currently awaiting certification by German

regulators. That pipeline's future though is in doubt.

VICTORIA NULAND, U.S. UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR POLITICAL AFFAIRS: If Russia invades Ukraine, one way or another Nord Stream 2 will not move

forward.

STEWART (voice over): There are concerns that this measure and others could trigger Russian retaliation against the West. It could suspend all

gas exports to Europe, which is now scrambling to shore up supplies.

One option is liquefied gas via ships.

GLOYSTEIN: Over Christmas and New Year, European utilities quietly ordered an entire fleet of LNG imports, mostly from the U.S. and Qatar, and they're

all due to arrive this month and it's a lot of gas.

STEWART (voice over): It isn't a fix for all. Experts agree there wouldn't be enough LNG to replace Russian gas. Many European countries lack LNG

terminals and redirecting gas through Europe is also challenging due to limits on existing pipelines.

Another option is storage.

AMY MYERS JAFFE, RESEARCH PROFESSOR, THE FLETCHER SCHOOL, TUFTS UNIVERSITY: Europe still has nine weeks' supply in storage, and there is the so-called

emergency cushion that puts another 10 percent, so all good. I mean, maybe they could like squeak through.

STEWART (voice over): There are non-gas options. Experts say decommissioned coal and nuclear plants could be fired back up. Ultimately,

Europe could survive a winter without Russian gas, but at a great financial cost.

It would also have a cost for Russia. One reason experts think full gas suspension to Europe is unlikely.

(on camera): Does Europe seek to reduce its reliance on Russian energy? Does this backfire, eventually longer term on Russia?

JAFFE: We all thought it had in 2009, right? Because you know, all these LNG receiving terminals went in and the U.S. started drilling, drilling,

drilling. But you know, having the actual physical asset of inventory tanks or LNG export capacity, none of that is useful if you don't use it in a

strategic way, and you're not thinking about the security premium, which people felt they didn't have to pay anymore.

STEWART (voice over): Energy security comes at a price.

Anna Stewart, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: The United States is also looking at a number of ways to sanction Russia. The Biden administration has drawn up the list of people in the

Kremlin's inner circle, as well as their family members who could be targeted if Russia attacks.

And the U.S. is looking at sanctioning Russia's top energy and banking institutions. Lawmakers have even suggested removing Russia from SWIFT, the

global banking systems.

Dmitry Konov is the Chair and Chief Executive of the Russian petrochemical firm, SIBUR. He told me what would happen if Russia were to be cut off from

SWIFT.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DMITRY KONOV, CHAIR AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE, SIBUR: That will hit all the Russian corporates for sure. I also believe that, you know, although

sanctions are unknown, and also, beyond that, I do hope that this tension will somehow be settled between Russia and the U.S. mostly about what they

see any sanctions do nothing good for anyone.

And clearly if sanctions are introduced, would it be SWIFT, would it be anything else, it will not help any business including ourselves.

QUEST: I've certainly seen when I've spoken to the banks who found themselves in difficult situations that there has to be domestic support.

Would you be looking -- if there were more difficulties, would you be looking to the Russian government for domestic support?

[15:15:04]

KONOV: We mostly rely on ourselves. Clearly, I'm not trying to kind of estimate what we will do if any sanctions, which I still hope would not

happen. If sanctions happens, my view is that we will be able to do our own business and to reroute some of the flows to the other markets if some

markets are restricted for us.

Then the other picture that may be different picture is on the financial institutions, we need to figure out how it works. Obviously, it should work

one way or another. It will take some time to establish ourselves in the new environment.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: And we'll have more with Dmitry Konov in tomorrow's program. He is the Chairman and CEO of SIBUR. He will be here on QUEST MEANS BUSINESS

tomorrow.

The airline is out of survival mode, the CEO of Southwest, says the airlines is through the worst of the pandemic, and its low cost business

model is still viable.

Gary Kelly, an exit interview. It's his last day as the Chief of Southwest.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: Southwest Airlines is the pioneering low-cost carrier that's undergoing a rare change in its C-suite.

The chief executive, Gary Kelly is stepping down on Monday after 17 years at the helm. He worked with the airlines founder, Herb Kelleher.

Now, under Kelly's watch, Southwest continued its never-ending growth from scrappy upstart to one of the most popular airlines in the United States.

He expanded the airline to more than 120 destinations. And after acquiring AirTran in 2010, he started flying internationally.

Gary Kelly was a steady hand in the post 9/11 era, the Great Financial Crisis, and most recently through COVID. Continuing this tradition of

treating Southwest employees as family with its 50-year history. The company has never once issued a single layoff or furlough.

Here is what he told me back in 2011.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GARY KELLY, OUTGOING CEO OF SOUTHWEST AIRLINES: I've got the luxury of having 35,000 family members here at Southwest Airlines that work very hard

and believe the same thing.

So I think, it's value. I think what Southwest offers is low fares in addition to very good customer service and that's what Americans want and

we're going to hopefully provide that to more and more Americans as time goes by.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[15:20:10]

QUEST: Gary Kelly looks a bit older and so do I, as you'll see, when I spoke exclusively to him last week during my trip to Dallas.

He told me similar sort of message that we heard in 2011. But at least now, Southwest is out of survival mode after COVID.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KELLY: We did not anticipate the surge this summer with the delta variant. We didn't anticipate the surge here recently with the omicron variant. And

anytime we have a surge like this, it has a very significant impact on the demand for travel. So we see a lot of cancellations, our revenue suffers as

a consequence.

It also impacts our workforce because a lot of people are out sick. So, it makes it difficult to staff flights and even that leads to flight

cancellations or delays.

So that, I wouldn't call real stable, but at the same time, you look at where we are today, compared to a year ago, or a year and a half ago, we're

so much better off today than we were then.

So, we're out of the survival mode, we're definitely into the stability stage. But that still means that they're going to be some -- no pun

intended -- but they're going to be some ups and there's going to be some downs, and we just have to factor that in and be prepared to manage through

it.

QUEST: If we look at Southwest and we look at the low cost model, I wonder, it's obviously still extremely relevant. But I wonder how you think

it has changed, and still needs to change.

So for instance, we have a much greater emphasis on ancillaries. We have the new ultra low costs, and then we have other low costs, who are now

dabbling with premium seats at the front. Is the traditional southwest model still valid?

KELLY: We've never wanted to be no frills. We want to have low fares and great service. We want you to pay a low fare and have a comfortable ride

and have plenty of seat room as an example.

So I think we're threading that fine line very well. We still have inherent low cost business model strengths. We fly one equipment type. We have the

best narrow-body airplane in the world, in my opinion, with the 737-8. It is 15 percent more fuel efficient than its predecessor.

So all of those things are huge contributors to our low-cost business model. But the fact that we still are the only large airline to fly a point

to point system and focus on asset utilization and high productivity, minimal ground time is a huge advantage for us.

If I compare where we are today to ourselves 20 or 30 years ago, it is more complicated. Our planes are more full. We offer more connecting

itineraries.

We fly more. We fly longer stage links. We try our best to mitigate that with continued innovation and technology and new efficiencies.

QUEST: I always think that's when people retire or move, like yourself, I think it's an opportunity to hear in a much more statesman like way in a

sense what change you think this industry needs.

KELLY: We're a business of logistics, and it's a complicated choreography, if you will, between public and private enterprise. So I'd love to see the

air traffic control system modernized where we can take full advantage of GPS navigation tools and techniques that would provide less time in the

air, less carbon emissions. And so there's definitely an opportunity for that.

On the ground, obviously, to support growth, we need more airport capacity. And especially in very popular locations. It could be Chicago, New York. LA

has a major airport expansion and modernization underway, and all of that takes money.

So I think those are all agreed upon objectives, and as long as we stay focused there and execute, I think that we can make sure that we can

provide for the air transportation needs of the future.

[15:25:00]

QUEST: Finally, the aviation industry is essentially -- I mean, its nuts and bolts, its planes, you know it's all of those sort of the everyday

stuff. But it's also about dreams, isn't it? And I think if there's one thing we learned during the pandemic, it is that the wanderlust to travel

still exists, and that's not going away. Would you agree?

KELLY: I totally agree with that, and you just look at our fourth quarter results. We have very strong revenue performance, a very strong revenue

performance despite the fact that the business travel component of our customers is still down about 50 percent compared to pre pandemic.

So, consumers, people spending their own money definitely have that wanderlust. They definitely want to travel and probably some pent up demand

during the pandemic. But as long as we can keep our costs low and our fares low and offer great service, I think there's every reason to believe that

not only will the demand stay strong, but it will grow and it'll grow strongly from here.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: Gary Kelly of Southwest Airlines telling us how post pandemic the airline will thrive, and we're looking forward to traveling once the

pandemic subsides, which meshes nicely with the fact that this week we're exploring how people, communities, and businesses in Japan are innovating

and preparing for a world beyond the pandemic.

Today, CNN's Blake Essig is looking at how the tech giants formed in the 1935 is open to transform Japan's traditional work culture.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLAKE ESSIG, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): For many people living in cities across Japan, this is a familiar scene -- salary men and

women heading to work on their morning commute.

For decades, these crowds have been a symbol of the country's workforce, and a reminder of its notoriously rigid work environment. The long hours,

strict hierarchical structures, entire lives revolving around jobs.

ESSIG (on camera): Well, in the last few years, there have been moves by the government and companies to help address work-life balance. The

pandemic has accelerated that movement. And although it might not look like much has changed on the surface, experts say Japan's workplace culture is

evolving.

CHINATSU KANEKO, SENIOR DIRECTOR, CBRE: Yes, it's a massive change. It's almost dramatic, but it's definitely the way we need to go if Japan or any

corporation wants to continue to be innovative and be competitive in the market.

ESSIG (voice over): Meet Hiroki Hiramatsu, Chief Human Resources Officer for Japanese tech giant, Fujitsu. He is the architect of its Work-Life

Shift Initiative set up to help employees balance their personal and work lives.

Fujitsu says it incorporates remote working, hybrid work styles, new digital tools, even working vacations to help boost productivity and

wellbeing.

HIROKI HIRAMATSU, CHIEF HUMAN RESOURCES OFFICER, FUJITSU (through translator): The purpose of the Work-Life Shift Initiative is for

employees to proactively choose when and where to work. To achieve this, we wanted to create an environment where remote work can be done comfortably.

In the office, we needed to change the layout to make it more comfortable for real communication.

I used to think the Japanese companies could not change that easily. However, when all our employees in Japan were required to telework because

of COVID, everyone adapted to it. Around 80 percent of our employees said they wanted to make their own choices.

ESSIG (voice over): Fujitsu first created the initiative so its Tokyo- based staff could work from home during the Olympic Games. But the company launched the plan early nationwide in July 2020.

While Fujitsu says a majority of their employees are happy with their new normal, experts say there are challenges.

KANEKO: So it's a huge shift in communication between managers and employees. Managers have to go through this transformation of mindset and

start to trust their employees.

Now on the employee side, they need to earn the trust of the management so they have to be more proactive.

ESSIG (voice over): It's a challenge Hiramatsu is hoping to take on by creating more structured opportunities for communication.

HIRAMATSU (through translator): Originally, Japanese culture does not allow for frequent feedback. So now we've put together a system where

supervisors and subordinates have one-on-one meetings.

ESSIG: What does the future hold? How do you improve upon this initiative?

HIRAMATSU (through translator): We've seen productivity increase. I think the next goal is to be able to produce more innovative and creative output

through collaboration.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: The podcast host, Joe Rogan, thanked Spotify for its support over the weekend. Rogan said he was sorry that Neil Young and Joni Mitchell felt

they had to pull the music from the platform and he said he was a fan of Neil Young's.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:30:06]

QUEST: The last trading day of the first month of 2022 is a horrible day. Oh, it's hard to go down for horrible month I should say. All the major

averages have been up through most of the day. They're holding their own. The down will not break 35,000. I'm guessing that's one of those technical

barriers. Same for the S&P up 4500 but the NASDAQ powered on regardless, so a strong good start to the week.

It was a bleak month overall. The NASDAQ is on track with that for its worst January ever and it's worth month since 2008 financial crisis. The

S&P 500 is heading for its worse month since two years ago, it was the beginning of the pandemic. Tech is leading the way in today's market

recovery. Spotify is roaring at. It's up 13 percent. The streaming service has been at the center of controversy on its exclusive podcasts as Joe

Rogan has been accused of spreading COVID misinformation.

And that had artists Neil Young and Joni Mitchell to ask for their music to be pulled from the platform. Neil Young got about six million monthly

listeners on Spotify before the music was removed. Joni Mitchell had 3.7 million. Joe Rogan's Spotify's top podcasts in the -- in the U.K. getting

11 million listeners per episode. He's released about 15 episodes a month. Oliver Darcy is with us now.

This is tricky because if we do the numbers game, Rogan wins hands down. They paid 100 million. He's got 11 million as we just saw then. But then

you throw in the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Harry and Meghan who are also against it. And it starts to look a little more like you don't want to

offend anyone.

[15:35:03]

OLIVER DARCY, CNN SENIOR MEDIA REPORTER: Yes. It's a tricky spot for Spotify to be in. But look, the bottom line is Spotify has invested a lot

of money in Joe Rogan. You know, he has reported $100 million deal with Spotify. He has a huge audience on Spotify. He's by far the number one

podcaster in the world. And so, when it comes to weighing who's got a bigger audience on the platform, you know, someone like Neil Young, versus

Joe Rogan, Spotify is always going to side with Joe Rogan.

Now whether other artists start to say that they are concerned about misinformation, and they're worried, you know, maybe Spotify might take

some more stringent actions. They came out of course, yesterday and made some tweaks to the policy, some took some baby steps, but I think really

big. But I think Spotify is always going to say what Joe Rogan until there's a huge snowball effect or someone maybe like Taylor Swift or Billy

Eilish comes out.

(CROSSTALK)

QUEST: Rogan was very clever, isn't he? He hasn't come out with belligerents. He's put forward a well-reasoned argument. He had people like

Sanjay Gupta on, you know -- so he's had both sides of the argument. And he's basically said, he'll listen to what people are saying. And he'll be

more respectful or careful in the future. Very clever.

DARCY: Yes, very clever. He's come out basically, and said that he's going to be a little bit more responsible moving forward that after he hosts some

of these people who spout off with anti-vaccine rhetoric that he'll bring on maybe a more authoritative doctor who reflects the public health

consensus. I think that's not really going to satisfy critics though, Richard, because you're still doing this false sides equivalence here,

where you're saying that you're going to have someone who, who says things that are contrary to the public health viewpoint, and then bring on someone

who's going to reflect what most doctors think that that really does set up a false equivalence.

So I'm not sure how much it's going to quell criticism. But you know, Spotify is up today. So maybe investors do think that with what the CEO

announced yesterday, and with Rogan said, it's going to stop this controversy in its tracks.

QUEST: An issue for another day that we must debate. You talk -- you talk about the false equivalence but we do need to debate one day, when is a

disagreement of false equivalence, but that's a subject for another day, when we have a bit more time. Thank you, Oliver. Good to see you, sir.

DARCY: Thank you.

QUEST: Tensions are boiling over in Canada following days of protests against a COVID vaccine mandate. The protests cause gridlock and chaos in

the nation's capital, Ottawa, and elsewhere. The police are investigating after monuments were allegedly defaced. The Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

announced he's got COVID-19. But he did speak about the crisis today. It's not entirely known where he is.

CNN's Paula Newton is following developments in Ottawa. Why is everyone it's so hot under the collar in Ottawa?

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, this started out as a trucker's protest. Right? Richard, what actually ended up happening was both the

Biden administration and the Canadian government decided, OK, enough is enough, there will be a vaccine mandate in place for truckers of driving on

either side of the border. And to be clear, Richard, the Canadian government says that nearly 90 percent of all truckers are already

vaccinated.

But what happened is truckers started this convoy on one side of Canada. They've made their way to Ottawa, in the middle of all this, a significant

minority, a noisy minority of Canadians touched a nerve with them because they're just fed up with the healthcare restrict -- the health restrictions

that have been going on here. And as you know, as we've talked about before, they've been quite strict.

Now, having said that, what's transpired here in Ottawa now is causing a lot of --

QUEST: Paula, are you -- are you frozen? And have you gone for good? I roll (INAUDIBLE) I know what Paula was going to tell us. She was going to tell

us what the Prime Minister had said. So I'll tell you instead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUSTIN TRUDEAU, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: Over the past few days, Canadians were shocked and frankly, disgusted by the behavior displayed by some

people protesting in our nation's capital. I want to be very clear, we are not intimidated by those who hurl insults and abuse at small business

workers and steal food from the homeless. We won't give in to those who fly racist flags. We will cave to those who engage in vandalism or dishonor the

memory of our veterans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: Paula is back. We heard the Prime Minister. He has been hoarse.

NEWTON: So yes. He does have COVID, he sounds a bit hoarse, but otherwise he's fine. He's at a complete schedule of events virtually and that

includes as you just heard there, Richard reacting to what we're very unpleasant events. Hateful symbols being displayed, harassment of retail

workers, even people in soup kitchens and the desecration of a National War Memorial.

[15:40:07]

With all of that, Ottawa, the city's mayor we spoke to him today as well saying look, enough is enough. You have a perfect right to protest. The

problem here, Richard, is that the truckers say they're dug in. They've got lots of financing. They've got fuel, they've got food, they are staying in

to continue to blockade the nation's capital.

QUEST: And that's where you are. And you will continue to watch. Paula, glad we had you -- we got your back. Thank you, ma'am. Thank you. And

that's QUEST MEANS BUSINESS for the moment. I will return at the top of the hour. Together, we're going to make a dash for the closing bell and a good

data it's going to be, well, I hope so. I mean, who knows whether the market can lose three quarters of a percent?

Of course it can. I know. I know. Of course it can. Will it? But you're stay tuned because coming up World of Wonder. And we're in Bangkok.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

{15:58:26}

QUEST: Hello. I'm Richard Quest. Together let's have a dash to the closing bell. It is just two minutes away. And the markets are closing out. It's a

horrible month, which ends on a positive end. Look at that. Whoosh. Another half a percentage point went on in the last 20 minutes. And we are -- I

said we're going to make 35,000. I was wrong. The Dow is over 35,000. It's been up the most of the day so far.

It's the best of the day. The triple stack showing all the major averages. The NASDAQ up three percent. The S&P did make it over 4500. But still the

NASDAQ is off around 10 percent. In January its worst month since 2008. Southwest's outgoing CEO says business travel is down 50 percent from its

pre pandemic level. The airline industry's recovery has repeatedly been set back because of COVID. Even so Gary Kelly says pent up demand offers hope.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GARY KELLY, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, SOUTHWEST AIRLINES: And you just look at our fourth quarter results, we have very strong revenue performance. A

very strong revenue performance despite the fact that the business travel component of our customers is still down about 50 percent compared to pre

pandemic.

So consumers, people spending their own money definitely have that wanderlust. They definitely want to travel and probably some pent up demand

during the pandemic.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: That pent up demand. Look at the DOW 30 and Boeing's up five percent on the back of an excellent deal that it's done with Qatar Airways for

engines for its 777Xs. That's the way the markets are moving and the bell is ringing. I'm Richard Quest.

END