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Quest Means Business

E.U. Agrees To Ban 90 Percent Of Russian Oil Imports By End Of Year; Ukrainian Official: Russia Controls Most Of Severodonetsk; U.S. President Biden Outlines Plan To Tame Inflation; Long Lines, Chaos Plague Airports Around The World; Voices Of The Crisis Revisited: Paris Designer Recovers From COVID Closure; Quest's World Of Wonder; Dow Falls On Last Trading Day Of May. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired May 31, 2022 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:17]

RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS ANCHOR: An hour to go before the end of trading and it is the final day, a tumultuous month one way or the other for U.S.

markets. Look at the markets as we trade now, we're off 209 points down to 33,000.

But you know, something, it was a lot worse earlier in the day, and if you look closely, you can see there was even a smidgen of green or two. I'll

explain all of that later in the hour.

The markets and the main events and how they've traded. Europe has delivered its biggest blow yet to Russia's economy. It has now banned oil

imports. There are some of course, exceptions.

President Biden is laying out his plan to tame inflation. He is meeting or he has met the Fed Chair Jay Powell.

And travel misery -- longlines, missed flights, massive delays, it must be bank holidays. Indeed it is. Europe travel season is getting off to a rocky

start. The CEO of Rome Airport will be with us on the program.

We are live in London tonight. It's Tuesday. It's May the 31st. I'm Richard Quest, and yes, I mean business.

Good evening.

Tonight, after weeks of tough negotiations, the European Union has finally agreed to sanction Russian oil imports, the move will immediately cut the

E.U.'s consumption of Russian oil by 75 percent. It's a number that will grow to 90 percent by the end of the year.

This long awaited sixth round of sanctions tested European unity after opposition from Hungary and others delayed actually getting a deal. Ursula

von der Leyen said, this is the next step towards ending Europe's use of Russian fossil fuels.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

URSULA VON DER LEYEN, EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT: We started with coal. Yesterday, in the middle of the night, we decided then to have a ban now on

de facto 90 percent of Russian oil imports to the European Union by the end of the year and this comes at a time when we see that Russia has disrupted

supplies to by now five member states.

So our answer has to be very clear. How are we going to manage? And what is the roadmap to really get rid of the dependency of Russian fossil fuels and

here, with fuel to gas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: So the agreement was hard to get, but it does ban all Russian oil that's delivered by tanker, as well as through the northern branch of the

Druzhba pipeline, that's the Germany and the like, and it cuts off around 90 percent of Russian oil imports. However, and this is the tricky bit, the

exemption for oil flowing through the pipeline's southern branch that goes to Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic.

And of course, they can still get oil from Russia, and Russia has confined, of course, new customers, unless say India's monthly imports from Russia

increased nearly nine fold in May, compared to last year and China imports at around 11 percent more than average, if you look back in April. And

that's had implications for the price, but still an achievement nonetheless.

Anna Stewart has been covering this nonstop. Anna, so the decision to get this agreement, the significance of it, firstly is in getting an agreement

at all. But also, will it make a difference to Russia's export?

ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER: Okay, well, firstly getting an agreement at all this time yesterday, I would have said it was looking pretty unlikely,

actually given all the rhetoric. So it is incredible they have just by four weeks of negotiations, they've got there.

In terms of what this means for Russia, they are going to lose their biggest oil customer. As a bloc, it's really important the E.U. gives them

$10 billion a month that will drop off sharply to just $1 billion for those exempted countries, as you mentioned.

So find customers elsewhere, but for what sort of price? Because Russian oil right now is trading at a massive discount.

QUEST: Why would that be? Because there's still a shortage of oil. It's still in demand and people can still buy it.

STEWART: It's fascinating. The discount right now today, your grade oil from Russia is $34.00 a barrel cheaper than the benchmark Brent. Now, why

is this? There are risks involved for trading with Russian oil, whether it's ships in the Black Sea, whether it is who is going to insure the

tankers. Part of this package of sanctions means that European insurance companies can no longer insure Russian tankers.

There are a lot of issues at play, so the number of customers for Russia have got smaller.

[15:05:06]

QUEST: Right. But, the sanction argument has always, it's got to hurt Russia more than it hurts the E.U. India has been filling its tanks along

with China and everybody else. I mean, what's the -- I presume they're getting extremely good discounts.

STEWART: They will be getting a discount on this oil and for the E.U. who are looking at paying a very hefty price now to get I think over two

million barrels of oil a day in place of Russia that is pretty disappointing, isn't it?

However, hopefully there will be more oil coming onto the market as there is a bit of a rebalancing going on. The question is, I think as China

leaves lockdowns, and there's even more demand for oil, what happens then? Prices are at a two-month high today.

QUEST: You see that's going to be -- that's what we don't know yet. The effect of increased demand from China because the discount in the market

for the general price of Brent has been because China is closed.

STEWART: Exactly. And what happens if there is pressure on OPEC. Will they at a point, looking at oil prices today, above $120.00 meeting tomorrow and

the next day, I don't expect anything to come out of this meeting. But there will come a point which maybe OPEC will have to act.

QUEST: In a word yes, no, maybe. Is there any likelihood of a gas sanction anytime soon?

STEWART: From the E.U., no; from individual countries, we're already seeing it.

QUEST: Anna Stewart, always on top of the story. I'm grateful to you. Thank you very much.

Inflation in Europe hit a new record high on Tuesday with prices, 8.1 percent up over the year to May, eight percent. It's a number driven party

by the 39 percent increase in the cost of energy that Anna was just talking about, and the sanctions, the latest will make the situation worse.

When we got the news of the deal, Brent crude rose to around $116.00 a barrel. It was even slightly higher, but it came back off the top of the

day.

Regina Mayor is the Global Sector Head of Energy at KPMG. With me now from Houston, in Texas. It is good to see you.

The first thing is where you expect the oil price to go factoring in two aspects, the sanctions against Russia, but the reopening by China.

REGINA MAYOR, GLOBAL SECTOR HEAD OF ENERGY, KPMG: I do expect that in the near term, it's going to go higher because of exactly what you said that we

haven't seen a decrease in demand yet and we expect an increase in demand from China reopening.

So we are going to expect to see prices go higher, but we also see the futures markets start to indicate that they expect prices to go lower in

the coming months.

So my anticipation is we might see Brent and WTI solidly in the 120s, but that we will see those prices come down in the coming months.

QUEST: Why is WTI West Texas Intermediate, which is the U.S. benchmark crude, why is that so influenced, bearing in mind it comes out of the U.S.

per se and the price of the barrel in the U.S. being influenced by what's happening in Russia?

MAYOR: I think that's an inexplicable question, because you're right, you know, U.S. crude is largely serving, you know, more local markets versus

China crude. But we've seen the spread between WTI and Brent close during this pandemic and sometimes they're really close together.

So I think it's because the U.S. is exporting more crude. They do provide a lot more LNG. U.S. benchmark crude gets closer to Brent, and I think we'll

see that trend continue.

QUEST: What is the availability and the possibility of U.S. increasing oil production? I'm thinking the non-traditional stuff now, which is highly

economically sensitive, the price goes up, they start fracking again in Dakota.

MAYOR: Yes, I think what's challenging the shale players. And the reason why you're not seeing as much activity in the Permian Basin is because of

the overall inflation against the supply chain. The shale players would drill more if they could have more access to pipe workers, sand, et cetera,

but given global supply chain challenges, inflation on prices, lack of workers to do basic fundamental jobs, we're not seeing the Permian be able

to ramp up as quickly as they were in the past.

Plus, they've made these commitments to their shareholders that it is not going to be the willy-nilly, freeloading, cash spending days that we saw,

you know, five, six, seven years ago. They are making those commitments to their shareholders and they are returning those dividends, and they expect

to maintain those commitments.

QUEST: Regina, finally, I want to just get your gut feeling on this deal that the E.U. has finally put together. Okay, it exempts the southern part

of the pipeline for Slovakia, Hungary, and others. It keeps it for the northern part -- do you -- the significance in your view of this deal.

[15:10:06]

MAYOR: I think it's actually remarkably significant and I think it is remarkable that gas is still flowing into Europe through Ukraine, given

everything that we have going on.

So I do think that the E.U. will accelerate its move away from its dependence on Russian oil and gas. This will accelerate the energy

transition. It will actually cost a lot for governments and people in the short term, but this is going to make Russian oil and gas more less

relevant in the future going forward.

QUEST: Good to have you, ma'am. I appreciate your time tonight in Houston. Thank you.

We turn our attention from the oil to the actual fighting in the military side and Ukrainian official in Luhansk says Russian forces now control most

of Severodonetsk.

He says most of the city's houses are either damaged or destroyed along with all critical infrastructure. Fifteen thousand people are still living

there. Authorities say evacuations of people are simply too dangerous now.

If Russia forces gain full control, the neighboring Lisichansk will be the only sizable urban area in the Luhansk region still controlled by Ukraine.

Melissa Bell is in Zaporizhzhia and joins me now.

Melissa, I just did an assessment at the start here. I mean, not so much by stealth, but bit by bit by bit by bit, is Russia finally achieving what it

was unable to do in those early days, which has captured those eastern parts of Ukraine?

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it certainly has retreated from that vast invasion, you'll remember to the north of Kyiv that had come right

down to within an hour of it. But having retreated to that part of Russia, not just in Donbas, but here in Southern Ukraine on the edge of which I'm

standing now and if you look at a map, Richard, tonight of the territories that are controlled by Russia here in Ukraine, you get an idea of how

sizable that chunk of land is, that part of Ukraine, and it isn't just that that line keeps pushing forward.

But as you say, Severodonetsk falling tonight, with all of that means for the civilians trapped within it. It is also that we are seeing that by

other means, Russia is essentially closing off this part of Ukraine that it controls already.

What we've been seeing over the course of the day is essentially an information blackout, communications cut in those cities, Kherson,

Mariupol, internet cut. They're asking people to buy Russian SIM cards, Ukrainian authorities urging people not to buy them because it involves

giving their data to Moscow.

And essentially, this line on the edge of which I'm standing now here in Zaporizhzhia with the Russian positions just 30 miles away, Richard, we're

seeing that line hardened, communications, the military continuing to advance, but also civilians being trapped on both sides of that line, the

ones who cannot or are having trouble continuing to get out of Russian- controlled Ukraine, but the ones we've been meeting today who are having trouble getting back -- Richard.

QUEST: And so where does this go now?

BELL: Well, one of the big questions we'd have these last few weeks as we watched this happen, not just the military aspect, but all of the rest that

I mentioned, the political side, the information blackout, the propaganda, to which now those on the other side of the border have access and not a

great deal of else. What we had wondered was how Russia was going to go about annexing this part of Ukraine.

Now, Sergey Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister was asked exactly that question on French television just a couple of days ago, and he said, look,

we don't need to annex anything. It's going to be a question of the will of the people, and I think that gives you an idea of where this is going, and

what is extremely worrying to Ukrainian authorities. The idea that there should be a de facto line that even as it pushes forward should continue to

deepen is what they feared the most -- Richard.

QUEST: Melissa Bell in Ukraine, thank you.

As we continue, President Biden met the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, and he reassured that unlike President Trump, he will not

tell the Fed what they should do, in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:16:38]

QUEST: President Biden had three words for people waiting for an end to skyrocketing prices: Respect the Fed. He made the comments at a White House

meeting with the Fed Chair Jerome Powell and the Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. The three met and discussed the inflation rate, the highest in 40

years. The President said he is doing what he can and he is letting the Central Bank do its part with monetary policy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: My plan is to address inflation, it starts with a simple proposition: Respect the Fed, respect

the Fed's independence. The Fed has two responsibilities; One, full employment; two, stable prices.

Chair Powell and other leaders of the Fed have noted at this moment, they have a laser focus on addressing inflation just like I am.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: Now, the President says he won't interfere with the Fed on inflation unlike past Presidents, and a column published by "The Wall

Street Journal," he can trust it his approach to that of his predecessor, President Trump, who he said demeaned the Fed.

President Biden outlined his plans to tame inflation by highlighting those policies over the next month.

Rahel Solomon is with me.

The reality is -- I mean, no one liked -- the all-powerful leader of the free world can't do that much. This is really about the present. This is

about the Chairman, the Fed, and the Fed's policy and monetary policy now.

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It is whether Biden wants to admit it or not, there is not much that he specifically can do, which is

why in this op-ed today, you heard him call on Congress to sort of help lower inflation.

But yes, to your point, this is largely now within the domain of the Fed, and even if we continue to see half point increases, which we expect to at

least for the next two meetings, we know that there is a lag of six to nine months before we start to see that reflected in the economy and in data.

And so there doesn't appear to be any short-term relief in terms of inflationary pressures. One thing however, Richard, that we might start to

see is this full court press from the White House, I think there were 20 network appearances today, from the White House, from his officials,

essentially sort of hammering home that they are going to continue to make inflation a top priority.

One thing you might be able to argue is that they are working on inflationary expectations, sort of managing the expectations around

inflation, that they may not be able to do anything in the short term, but they are committed to lowering it directionally in the longer term.

QUEST: Okay, but here's the problem. So you've got inflation, let's say at eight, eight and a half percent, you've got rates, nominal rates at,

say, going to three percent. That still gives you a negative minus versus against the positive rate.

But what point does the Fed say enough? Let's just say they get inflation down to five percent. Will they continue raising rates? The credibility of

the Fed is on the line, Rahel, to see if they're going to get it as close as they can to two percent.

SOLOMON: It's a great point, Richard, because no one wants the Fed to overshoot it, right? We don't want to see them do so much that it triggers

a recession.

I think the Fed would say the same. They don't want to do that either, but I think so much of this is going to be data dependent, right? We never

really know how this is going to play out until we start to see it in the data. In terms of what we're looking at, you know, Friday we have the all-

important jobs report. We'll see if the economy cooled a bit.

[15:20:10]

We have seen, Richard, more than 12 straight months of 400,000 jobs added that has to come down, the Fed needs that to come down. Powell has said

such earlier this month, and CPI next week, we get that, too.

QUEST: Rahel, many things. I want to go straight to Robert Herjavec who is the Shark Tank investor who is warning that basically stocks haven't

fallen as far or hit bottom yet.

Before we talk about that particular point, what do you think on this bigger issue? Do you think that the Fed, their credibility being on the

line will continue to jack up rates to the point where, yes, the economy may go into recession, but they will get inflation down to two percent

again?

ROBERT HERJAVEC, CEO, CYDERES: Well, I think, Richard, that the Fed moved very quickly to try to stop inflation, it was a bit of a shock to the

system. So I mean, it's anybody's guess, but I think the rates are definitely going to go up. But I'm hoping not at the same rate that they've

been going.

I'm hoping that the Fed will kind of cool things down a little bit, but I still expect them to go up and see increases.

QUEST: It is the fear of these rate increases, and the reality now that has pulled so much value out of the market. I see one number five trillion

or something in value out of the market, but you don't think it's over yet?

HERJAVEC: I don't. I think what's really happened is that the -- it's been a bit of a wake-up call, and what it has done is it has made people go back

and look at the valuations and what we're seeing -- I mean, we're in the tech space, the cybersecurity space, but we do a lot of investment on a

private capital basis, and I will tell you, what the Feds did was it was a wake-up call for any company that doesn't have a reasonable path to profit,

investors are standing back.

It doesn't mean that they have to have positive EBITDA today, but to have a reasonable path to profit, and I think what you're seeing is a lot of that

stuff is being shaken out of the system right now.

There are still a lot of great companies making good money, but if we're honest with ourselves, there was a lot of companies that had ambitious

plans towards profitability. And I think a lot of those companies are going to continue to get hit.

QUEST: You know, as you said, basically the path to profitability, I was taken back 20 years, to the dot-com boom and bust, you know, companies were

told they had to be on a path to profitability. And I mean, it is slightly a philosophical question. Have we learned nothing since?

HERJAVEC: Right. Well, it's funny, somebody just asked me that the other day. I do think it's slightly different. I don't think this is the dot-com

bubble, where a sock puppet gets a $4 billion valuation by simply having, you know, an internet address. So I don't think it's that. These are good

companies, but the valuations were crazy. I mean, they went way up.

So when I say I see a continued decline, I'm talking on a percentage basis from where we are today. I do think, though, that the bigger issue for a

lot of these companies, is employment, it is very, very difficult to get people to come.

I know even on a retail basis, some of my friends who own restaurants, Richard, they have to shut down a couple of days because they just can't

get workers. It's hard to make your revenue number when employees won't show up in an industry where you need them.

QUEST: So now it begs the question for all those people, myself included, who are showing very serious losses in some aspects of the

portfolio and for those people who are thinking of retiring, it doesn't matter, which jurisdiction we're talking about, whether it's a 401 (k) in

the U.S. or an ISA in the U.K. or some other tax advantage, savings or pension savings in Europe. The reality is, people have less wealth to start

planning their future than they did before, and it is too late for them to do anything about it.

HERJAVEC: Well, so I'm of two minds on that. I'm a very conservative investor with my personal money. I'm in a risky cyber tech guy. But here's

the good news, the yields for people in retirement, and people that are thinking about retirement are going up.

The reality is, you kind of have to temper your expectations. Are you going to make another 20 percent in your portfolio like you might have last year

or the year before? Probably not. Are you going to lose everything? Probably not.

I think that there are really good companies that are having a market correction. That's what I would call what we're going through is a market

correction. It is not like the dot-com where these companies are going away en masse.

[15:25:11]

But the good news is, yields in very conservative things like bonds, interest rates are finally going up to a little bit more of a livable

standard. Mind you, it's only two, three, four percent that you're going to get an interest rate or a yield, but still, there is some optionality

there.

QUEST: What I'd love to talk --

HERJAVEC: But don't retire.

QUEST: Thank you. Thank you. If I was planning on it, I'm not now.

Look, you're optimistic. I mean, I like the tone of what I'm hearing from you. Because there's so much gloom, and you're not being halcyon. You're

not being sort of Pollyanna about it. You're being realistic, but you're telling me there's optimism.

HERJAVEC: Very well said. I will tell you as I canvass all my friends who are successful or not successful, but own businesses, there is a general

feeling of optimism.

Businesses have real issues around employment, but interest rates for a lot of the industries aren't really driving the core values of the business. It

is affecting some consumers, it's going to have an effect on some housing, but only in certain markets.

Look, how long has it been since people could even buy a home? If it cools down a little bit? I think on a macro level, that's going to be good news

for some people. But yes, I'm very optimistic. I think that the level of innovation and supply and look at the unemployment rates, like there's a

reason people are employed is because businesses are doing well.

And I think all this supply chain is eventually going to work itself out. We just have to be a little bit patient.

QUEST: Not something many investors like myself are terribly concerned very much. Good to see you, Robert. Thank you, sir. I appreciate your time

tonight.

HERJAVEC: Good to see you. Thank you.

QUEST: So we talked about jobs and lack of workers, that's one of the reasons why travelers around the world at airports are experiencing hours

of delays. The CEO of Rome's airport is with me after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:30:10]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:30:29]

RICHARD QUEST, CNN HOST: Governments are now raising the alarm as airport delays are getting worse. You'll be familiar if you've been traveling.

Travel companies, staff shortages, increased demand, it's all part of the blame game. So, for instance, at London Gatwick Airport, they were making

more than three hours to get through security.

By the way, I waited today more than 40 minutes to get through border control. Postcards do not take the Eurostar back to London. Now over the

weekend, you had horrible night businesses in Dublin. A 1,000 travelers there missed flights because of check in other delays. An opposition leader

told the Irish Times the disruptions could hurt the country's reputation.

And yesterday off of the flights out of Amsterdam and London were delayed. Out of Toronto and Munich, it was more than a third. Chaos is just about

everywhere even down in Sydney, Rome and other cities, though, have managed to avoid the delays. Marco Troncone is the CEO of Rome's airport, he joins

me now.

We'll talk about your new terminal and your new haul in a moment. But this is a serious issue. And I'm wondering, is it just stuffing problems? Is it

simply people haven't managed to get things back to where they were?

MARCO TRONCONE, CEO, AEROPORTI DI ROMA: Yes, hello, Richard. Yes, seemingly is this. Basically a lot of people left the industry during the pandemic

years, so over the last couple of years, and actually do not want or cannot come back to the industry. So the -- many airport operators are struggling

to re-staff experienced people, trained, certified people, especially for security. And it takes time actually to find new people, recruit them,

certify, get all the authorizations and get activate those people timely. The thing is that the recovery is happening very faster, probably faster

than expected.

QUEST: Right. But Rome, for example, is one of the most popular destinations. And your airport is always one. How are you going to avoid

these sorts of problems?

TRONCONE: Yes. Actually, we are -- it's a fact that we're also experiencing a very fast recovery much faster than we imagined only a few months back.

Just think that last January, February, our recovery versus 2019 was about 35 percent, 40 percent of normality. We're now running over 70 percent, so

two times as much.

And this basically happened, all of a sudden. We were, let me say, lucky enough or wise enough not to intervene on our workforce heavily during the

hard times. Within the downsides of our staff, we just went through some very mild, very modest, let me say, route sizing. And we also have

benefited of some support from the government that will finance it, the temporary layoff schemes, also provide some financial support in order to

bridge us through those times. Actually those were times in which we hold on tight. And we also kept on investing.

QUEST: Marco, if you look at both your airports and across the continent, are we looking at basically a great summer in terms of numbers? People

traveling, but a miserable summer in terms of the experience, do you think?

TRONCONE: Well, we would look at some of these across Europe. We, of course, are not anticipating such a situation in Rome. It's a fact that

today our service level still are, let me say, respecting some excellent standards that we were familiar with.

It's true anyways that we were looking at the very bullish summer, at least in relative terms in a post-COVID year. We were looking at 80 plus percent

of 2019 in Rome. This would be a year of very, very intense traffic within Europe and to from North America. Actually, this is -- this will be the

year for us of having a lot of Americans visiting Rome and Italy.

Just imagine that only the three American carriers, American Airlines Delta United will be actually offering capacity of about 20 percent more than

2019. So that would be very, very rich in traffic. It's true that is also an operational challenge.

[15:35:01]

We are onboarding over 200 people since now until July, August, our peak months. But we were planning for that. So we ensure that we were

replenishing our pools of resources, of certified resources later last year in order to get ready for this month.

QUEST: Marco, I feel the need to make a promise here. We need to come and present Quest Means Business from one of your airports, probably sooner

rather than later.

TRONCONE: Great. We look forward to hosting you here.

QUEST: Excellent. There we go. Somebody, somewhere is making a note of that. Thank you, sir. Marco joining us --

TRONCONE: Thank you.

QUEST: -- from Rome. Because, you know, we always like to make these promises. And if you saw the show last night, you know, that today I got

back from Paris. Well, while I was there, it was also keeping a promise. One of all voices of the crisis.

Those are the people whose businesses were dramatically impacted by the global pandemic. Pierre Maheo designs and sells clothing. I visited to see

how things are going and to fulfill that promise made back all those years ago.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: Delight. Style is Pierre Maheo's DNA. He's the founder of Officine Generale, hails from a proud family of tailors. His clothing brand now

delivers to 50 countries, which headquarters in Paris.

Back in May of 2020 as COVID ravaged Europe, I spoke to him as one of our voices of the crisis. He told me then this industry is all about personal

connections.

PIERRE MAHEO, FOUNDER, OFFICINE GENERALE: People wants to speak, they want to interact, they want to -- they need the advice from the store director.

That's super important.

QUEST (on-camera): The promise is, before the end of the year, I'll have presented Quest Means Business, in a jacket and shirt that you have chosen.

How about that? You have to choose it yourself.

(voice-over): I may be slightly later than promised, but I did finally make it to Pierre's store in Paris. For him, it's a joy simply to have customers

browsing once again.

MAHEO: We saw really a huge momentum on retail. Frankly, speaking, people are so happy to be back to get out of the house, to be back in store and to

have physical interaction with our store manager with the sales associate where they want to try, they want to touch they want to be in the store.

QUEST (on-camera): All right, what are we wearing for work? Because we were at home, and then we're back in the office. And now we have to have this

hybridization of a wardrobe, don't we? And that can account for working from home, days off, but also in the office where we're more informal.

MAHEO: So you have to leave the home. You have to go to the office and you have to be able to go to have a drink or dinner after. Because we don't

want to go back home to have dinner. After months of being obliged to stay home, we want to be outside, right?

QUEST (on-camera): Right.

MAHEO: So we are back with what we call these down dressed tailoring. We are wearing a softer shoulder jackets, maybe a little bit unconstructed.

Maybe not as classical or strict. So when we are wearing. Sorry, you know, it's like the shoulder is perfect. It's very good. But something a bit more

down dressed, something with a bit more attitude and let's say coolness.

QUEST (voice-over): With style advice like this, I should probably be taking more advantage of Pierre style expertise. And so, to the promise.

Back in 2020 made during the crisis.

MAHEO: What are you thinking?

QUEST (on-camera): Blown away.

MAHEO: So we're going to start with (INAUDIBLE). So you're going Olive, I like it a lot. But there is that seersucker fabric that is great for

summer. Super lightweight.

QUEST (on-camera): It isn't it. Isn't it.

MAHEO: So I think we should try this seersucker suit.

QUEST (on-camera): Somebody tells me the tire is not going to survive.

MAHEO: The tire is not going to survive. You're right about that.

QUEST (on-camera): But ties are very in.

MAHEO: Ties are super in, maybe, but --

QUEST (on-camera): You're not with me.

MAHEO: No. We can do better.

QUEST (on-camera): Do you mind? Right.

MAHEO: So, well, in terms of comfort, tell me, what do you feel?

QUEST (on-camera): Very comfortable.

MAHEO: Very comfortable.

QUEST (on-camera): Very comfortable.

MAHEO: Wow.

QUEST (on-camera): Much very, very, very comfortable.

MAHEO: Well, my advice would be to open one button and leave it slightly up and like this.

QUEST (on-camera): I think it'll -- it does look very good on me.

(voice-over): This jacket will come with me to London and New York, where obviously in general, has its own stores. But Pierre, it's Paris that

remains his Empire's spiritual home.

(on-camera): So this is your street?

MAHEO: I say it's my street because I have three stories in the street. Yes, there is only one guy that has two store, but my sister has a store.

So family wise, we have four store in the street.

[15:40:05]

QUEST (on-camera): What's her store?

MAHEO: Love Christy Cristo (ph), it's down there, the black store.

QUEST (on-camera): What does she sell?

MAHEO: Woman clothes.

QUEST (on-camera): You're in competition with your sister.

MAHEO: I'm not in competition with my sister.

QUEST (on-camera): You've got a woman (INAUDIBLE).

MAHEO: No, no, no. We grow together and we talk each other. And I help her when I can. She help me when I can't. We talk about our business. So, yes,

it's natural.

My grandfather was a tailor and he has stall fabrics. He was selling stores. So we were both born in that business, actually.

QUEST (on-camera): Thank you, sir.

MAHEO: Thank you, sir.

QUEST (on-camera): I wish you luck.

MAHEO: Pleasure to have with you in Paris.

QUEST (on-camera): Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: And so, what do you think? Is this the new? Should this be the new look for Quest Means Business at Richard Quest? Let's have your thoughts on

what it is one's wearing.

I will have the dash for the top of the bell, dash for closing bell at the top of the hour. In a moment though, it's World of Wonder. This is CNN. I

like this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: Hello. Gorgeous. This is what a vacation looks like.

(voice-over): It is early spring and western Turkey is coming alive after its winter slumbers.

(on-camera): In a few months, these trees will be heaving with fruit and the area will be bustling with tourists. It's lovely to be here at this

time of the year when there's a real air of possibility and opportunity.

(voice-over): The picturesque village of Sirince is about an hour south of Izmir. It is a gorgeous drive that one should not miss.

[15:45:05]

Today I'm a guest of Mujde Tonbekici who runs a hotel here, when she's not growing crops and making her own olive oil. Mujde fizzes with energy and

life. She first came here from Istanbul back in the early 80s. She saw something special, and she's never left.

(on-camera): We cannot discuss anything until we have tea.

MUJDE TONBEKICI, SIRINCE HOTELIER: Exactly, in the traditional Turkish way. It's a similar technique.

QUEST (on-camera): Right.

TONBEKICI: And so you have the dark tea, the black tea here, and then you put over this, the water and that makes it fantastic.

QUEST (on-camera): Lovely.

TONBEKICI: I came in -- I was a student 40 years ago. I was student in Izmir, took the train from Izmir and I came and I fell in love. I said,

this is my paradise. I should spend my life here.

QUEST (on-camera): What was it that you saw here?

TONBEKICI: A, the nature.

QUEST (on-camera): Yes, yes, yes.

TONBEKICI: Then the village, the houses, this pretty, white washed houses. That's so nice. And the people, the people living laugh on -- a smile on

their faces and I fell in love with them.

QUEST (on-camera): Over here, what am I looking at?

TONBEKICI: You look it's so greenish because the sun is fantastic, the early spring sun. And there we have in this blue gray color the trees of

olives. We have a lot of orchards, only olives around us. This village named Sirince which means almost pretty, is in the tradition olive

producting village.

QUEST (on-camera): What happens inside you, what happens inside you when you sit and you look at that?

TONBEKICI: Still, the peace like it was when I came 40 years ago in each, each season. It just give me a wonderful joy of life. That's maybe the

meaning of this village for me, the joy of life.

QUEST (voice-over): Mujde isn't content to allow my eyes to feast on the scenery. She insists my stomach feasts on her cooking which is renowned.

TONBEKICI: We are cooking stew in a clay pot, the real village style. Everything should be very, very quick in the village. You have to do it in

10 minutes and then go to work. Would you like to cut something?

QUEST (on-camera): Well I don't mind doing a bit of cutting.

TONBEKICI: Look, it's ready. And this is the best olive oil that you can find. Would you like to smell that olive oil? Isn't it nice?

Look how nice it looks. Can you listen the bubbling --

QUEST (on-camera): The bubbling.

TONBEKICI: Yes, and the smell. I think we're ready. Then we say Bismillah. The smell of the village.

QUEST (voice-over): Mujde has many talents and amongst them, giving me a tour of the reason I came here in the first place, Ephesus. This is an

ancient city, only a stone's throw from her village where tourists from around the world visit to marvel at archaeological wonders.

Mujde is mother, Arsen is son. She is the tour guide. He's the ancient historian. He'll give me the facts. She'll give me the feelings. And like a

well-rehearsed double act, they go back and forth, enhancing each other stories and enriching my visit.

ARSEN NISANYAN, SON OF MUJDE: Ephesus was a major city of the Roman Empire. It's one of the wealthiest cities in eastern Mediterranean.

TONBEKICI: Marble, you can see everywhere with marble and mosaics and wonderful sculptures.

NISANYAN: Right now we're in the center of the city. The facade that you see over there is a facade of an ancient library. It's called the Celsus

Library. It was built by one of the most important citizens in this -- living in this city.

TONBEKICI: Can you imagine, you'll enter in a marble place in this library full of columns and nice ladies and you're in another world.

NISANYAN: This was called the Curetes Street, the Curetes where the nobility in Ephesus. So the streets were aligned with the statues.

TONBEKICI: It gives you the feeling of luxury, the luxury and the richness of a town which is fantastic built.

[15:50:05]

QUEST (on-camera): If I can tap you on the shoulder and send you back there, what's the one thing you would like to say?

NISANYAN: I would want to walk the streets of Ephesus because we are told that the people dressed here so lavishly, so luxuriously. I would want to

see that pageantry going on.

TONBEKICI: And the cook, and the smells are so important. And in the ancient time, there was a food -- fast food restaurant named Thermopolia

(ph). I would like so much to go there, pay a penny and eat whatever they cooked.

QUEST (voice-over): In one day here, I have gorged on wonderful views.

(on-camera): He says if I drop the coin, you can hear (INAUDIBLE). Did you hear that?

UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER (in unison): Yes.

QUEST (voice-over): And enriched my mind and soul with ancient civilizations.

(on-camera): Don't worry, I'll be here all week. And I haven't finished yet.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST (voice-over): It is hard to miss Izmir and Ephesus. But just a little way, there is a town that's becoming a big hit with visitors, Alacati.

Turkish tourists are flocking here for the perfect getaway. And the rest of us are just discovering this hidden gem.

Shining sun, crisp air and people visiting from far and wide for the local herb festival. I'm not even sure what or why I'm wearing this garland. But

when in Rome, Perihan Akbulut knows every nook and cranny and he's going to show me around.

PERIHAN AKBULUT, ALACATI HOTELIER: This is what we call labada (ph), but in Latin language, it is rumex (ph). We can roast it, we can cook it, we can

boil it.

QUEST (voice-over): They are quite open here. They want tourists and more of them.

AKBULUT: This is the most precious, what we call Sevketibostan.

QUEST (on-camera): What do you do with it?

AKBULUT: You can roast it. It is so good for your kidney and (INAUDIBLE). The medicine for (INAUDIBLE) he say.

QUEST (on-camera): Well perhaps, we shouldn't be looking at it like that, maybe.

Aniseed, licorice.

AKBULUT: Yes, you can eat it.

QUEST (on-camera): Are you sure?

AKBULUT: Yes, you can eat it. You can eat it.

QUEST (on-camera): He's not having me on?

AKBULUT: No, no.

QUEST (on-camera): Well, I'm still on one (INAUDIBLE).

AKBULUT: This is Cesme lemon, really famous all over Turkey.

QUEST (on-camera): Oh that is -- it is sweet.

AKBULUT: Yes, sweet.

QUEST (on-camera): I would never have thought to just enjoy sucking a lemon.

AKBULUT: Enjoy.

QUEST (voice-over): Everyone here is keen to point out the beauty of this place.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello, how do you do? The mayor of the city.

QUEST (voice-over): Oh Mr. Mayor, how lovely.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We call this place the (INAUDIBLE).

QUEST (voice-over): A few hours drive from Alacati are the heavenly thermal pools of Pamukkale. The name literally translates in English to cotton

castle because they can be mistaken for angelic clouds, if you're looking at the right angle.

[15:55:04]

It is the site of ancient travertines that tourists have flocked to for centuries.

(on-camera): (INAUDIBLE), there we go.

(voice-over): I think I'll dip my toes.

(on-camera): Is this water warm? It's very slippery though. It's very slippery. It's got disaster in all over it. That's better.

It's (INAUDIBLE), it's really good fun, simple.

(on-camera): My visit to Izmir in the West has given me a fresh perspective on Turkey. Wherever I've gone, I've experienced unexpected enchantments.

And those are the word that pulls it all together. I think it is delightful. Because like the eponymous sweet and the ever present tea, they

are delight light wherever I've gone.

And you'll want to come here and experience these delights for yourself, Izmir and the West, delightfully part of our World of Wonder.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: I'm Richard Quest. And together we have a dash to the closing bell. We're just under a minute and a half away from the final trading ringing.

E.U. sanctions on Russian oil have been pushing crude prices higher. And as crude around up to $116 or so, that rattled investors. The Dow was lower.

It had been much lower over the course of the session. It did rally, in fact, we even saw some green as you can see just after 2:00, but then that

evaporated too. And we're off the lows of the session but we're still down 222 points.

The Nasdaq which had been higher (INAUDIBLE) all the session and has now just turned negative. So they have been unable to hold on to those gains.

And a last look at the Dow before we close out the trading month of of May. The Dow 30 shows it's better than this morning that still have more red

than green as you would expecting. And Nikkei Disney leading and at the bottom it's Coca-Cola. You don't often see Coca-Cola at the lower end of

the market.

But what it does tell us all, it is a goodbye to what has been an extremely messy May. I'm not sure June will be that delightful either.

But that is the dash to the closing bell. I'm Richard Quest, whatever you're up to in the hours ahead, I hope it's profitable. The closing bell

is ringing. "THE LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER" is next.

END