Return to Transcripts main page
Quest Means Business
Protests In Spain In Support Of World Cup Players; Russia's War On Ukraine; Federal Judge Orders Trump To Stand Trial On March 4, 2024; Italian Government Set To Devise Emergency Plan; Ben Mutzabaugh: Travel Disruption Will Have Effects Beyond The U.K.; Lardy: Don't Expect Huge Stimulus Spending In China. Aired 3-4p ET
Aired August 28, 2023 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[15:00:40]
ISA SOARES, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: Well, it is a positive start to the trading week, we have a quick look at the big board to show you how they're
doing. It's green, let me give you that, up almost two-tenths of -- or almost four-tenths of a percent at 148. Those are the markets and these are
the main events for you.
Spanish prosecutors open an investigation into soccer federation boss, Luis Rubiales. The allegation: Sexual aggression.
Donald Trump's federal criminal trial begin one day before key presidential primaries. What could that mean?
And a technical issue with air traffic control spreads havoc at UK airports.
Live from London, it is Monday, August 28th. I'm Isa Soares, in for Richard Quest, and of course. I too mean business.
Good evening, everyone.
We begin in Spain this hour where protesters have come out in support of the country's women's football World Cup stars, as a scandal of course
erupt over the suspended Spanish football chief. You're looking at live images coming to us from Madrid where it has just gone 9:00 PM. This
protest, this demonstration in support of the football star, of Jennifer Hermoso happened started about an hour or so ago. The crowds are quite
large.
And prosecutors meanwhile, for Spain's High Court have opened a preliminary investigation into the action of Luis Rubiales. They are looking into
whether this kiss you're looking at forced upon star player, Jennifer Hermoso amounts to sexual assault.
Spain's Football Federation has held what it calls an extraordinary and urgent meeting, and the head of Spain's football council said the situation
is very serious. Have a listen to what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VICTOR FRANCOS, PRESIDENT, SPANISH HIGHER SPORTS COUNCIL (through translator): And I don't like the way it was applauded. I think the
consequences is what the Federation have to decide. I don't like applause.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: And for context there, the reason he is saying he doesn't like applause is that Rubiales if you remember, when he spoke, he said last week
that he wouldn't step down to which then there was a lot of applause -- that is just adding some context to what we heard there.
Well, sources tell us that Spain's Football Federation has asked UEFA to exclude teams like Barcelona and Real Madrid from the Champions League
because the Spanish government got involved in the effort to oust Rubiales. UEFA, however, is not expected to take action.
And in this remarkable development, the mother of Luis Rubiales has locked herself in this church, and says she is on hunger strike in support of her
son.
Lots to discuss as you can imagine, Atika Shubert is in Madrid, and Atika, many as you were telling me in the last hour, turning out in support of
Jenni Hermoso and against Rubiales, but this has gotten bigger than just Rubiales. Tell us what you're hearing.
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, absolutely, it has.
I mean, the people that you're seeing come out today have pointed out, I mean, one protester I spoke to said, it's not just about Rubiales, it is
about the structural sexism, the sort of what women face every day in their jobs, and the way they have to face it.
And what surprised her when I spoke to her, she said, it is the fact that not only that it happened, but that it seems such a textbook example of
this sort of sexism against women, but particularly against women sports people, but against footballers in particular.
And so she was saying, this is why there's a rally needed here today, and it's a rally to put more pressure not just to get Rubiales to resign, but
to change the system entirely.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHUBERT (voice over): Euphoric celebrations for an historic Women's World Cup quickly turned into a moment of reckoning when Luis Rubiales, president
of the Spanish Football Federation planted a forceful kiss on player, Jennifer Hermoso during the medal ceremony in Sydney.
The kiss, she later said she had not consented to.
(LUIS RUBIALES speaking in foreign language.)
[15:05:04]
SHUBERT (voice over): Facing domestic and international criticism, Rubiales was pressured to resign, but he defiantly refused. He doubled down saying
the kiss was consensual to the applause of men in the room.
LUIS RUBIALES, PRESIDENT, SPANISH SOCCER FEDERATION (through translator): You think I have to resign? Well, I'm going to tell you something, I will
not resign. No.
SHUBERT (voice over): Hermoso issued her own lengthy response which said the kiss was not consensual at all: "I felt vulnerable and a victim of an
impulse-driven, sexist out of place act without any consent on my part," she wrote.
Since then, FIFA, the world's governing football body provisionally suspended Rubiales for 90 days and the Spanish government has submitted a
complaint to its Sports Tribunal, a step towards suspending him.
(PROTESTERS chanting in foreign language.)
SHUBERT (voice over): What was first a national embarrassment now threatens international repercussions, but could well become a turning point for
women athletes in Spain.
TANIA VERGE MESTRE, MINISTER OF EQUALITY AND FEMINISM, CATALONIA REGIONAL GOVERNMENT: Clearly, his attitude has been a demonstration of what female
players have to endure in professional sports, but not only also in their daily lives. We have all been subjected to these different forms of
harassment in our workplace. These forced kisses, the grabbing, the touching, the demeaning -- so this is why women from all fields are sending
their support.
SHUBERT (voice over): Hermoso and her teammates said they will not play for the national team until Rubiales is removed in a statement signed by nearly
50 athletes.
Spanish football clubs unfurled their supporting games over the weekend: "We are with you" banners read. "We are Jenni." Spain's women players are
proving that they are winning hearts and minds both on and off the pitch.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SHUBERT (on camera): Now as you point out, Isa, Rubiales's supporters are rallying around him, including his family. But for many of the protesters
here they have a message for Rubiales, and that is "Se Acobo." You might have seen it on some of the banners here. It means it's over, not just
Rubiales' defiance in this case, but also the systemic kind of sexism that women face should be over and the country needs to move on.
SOARES: Yes, I was speaking to a guest in the last hour, of course, we remember, she is a Spanish author. She was saying she remembers very
clearly #MeToo Movement and how that was covered in Spain. But this feels very different indeed.
And as we look at these protests and the people turning out, it is 9:00 PM there where you are, Atika, we are also waiting from the Spanish Football
Federation, some sort of decision from them.
What are you hearing from those on the ground there in terms of what they want to see? Because, one, it's Rubiales, but also, there are concerns of a
more systemic problem within the football world and football in Spain?
SHUBERT: Absolutely. It is clear that the federation is in crisis, and they are trying to steer away out of this. I mean, one of the biggest issues now
is what happens to the wider international -- Spain playing in the international games and tournaments, for example, because what we
understand is that UEFA has now already received a letter from the federation suggesting that Spain should somehow be suspended because of
what's happened, because of the government interference into this scandal.
And because of that, it could potentially mean that other Spanish teams then would not be allowed to play and say European championships, which
would be catastrophic for Spanish football.
So the federation is very much trying to figure out a way out of this, trying to figure out is there a way to still salvage this situation and
make sure that it doesn't have a further impact on the sport?
But for now, what is clear is that with people coming out on the street and rallying, this has become a very deeply divisive issue in Spain, but one
that has really, really struck home for many people here.
SOARES: Yeah. And interesting you mentioned that. You were talking about the impact of, you know, this may have on the Champions League games, but
interesting, also, a press conference today of the Spanish federation talking about the impact this is having internationally, because it's worth
remembering, just remembering our, viewers as well reminding them here, Atika, that Spain, Portugal and Morocco are bidding of course for the World
Cup and the impact this image will have on that bid.
SHUBERT: Absolutely, I mean, let's not forget that Rubiales, up until this point, had quite a successful career here in Spanish football. The profits
that were coming in had really grown and he was spearheading this effort to have the World Cup here in Spain among other countries.
[15:10:07]
And so he was clearly somebody leading the sport, so to have him now fall on this issue, this scandal is really very shocking to people here. But it
is clear that this is an issue that is very important to many people here in Spain, and this is why they're saying, we're not going to let this go.
This is important. And if Rubiales needs to resign or to be removed from it, then he should be.
SOARES: Atika Shubert for us in Madrid this hour. Great to see you, Atika. Thank you very much.
Well, the president of Ukraine says elections could take place next year, but he says they will need more funding to make it happen. We'll hear from
Christiane Amanpour in Odesa with the very latest, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:18:25]
SOARES: We are tracking for you this hour a situation in the US right now.
Police at the University of North Carolina are responding to an armed, as well as dangerous person on or near campus as you're looking at there, live
pictures. That's live pictures coming in from Chapel Hill in North Carolina, that's from the school. An alert sent out has instructed people
to shelter in place, and says a suspect is at large. That's what we are hearing right now.
A witness on campus has told CNN, they are currently locked down and in their building and see armed officers searching the area. Of course, we are
working to get more information on the story and bring you all the latest developments, but as you can imagine, this is ongoing situation.
Police at the University of North Carolina responding, we've been told to an armed and dangerous person on or near the campus. They're telling us, it
is an ongoing situation, the suspect is at large.
A previous post from the university want people to stay away from the campus and they said if you are on campus, shelter in place; if you're off
campus, stay away from campus. That followed an alert that said as soon as we have verified information, we will share it.
Now, police telling CNN they began responding to reports of an armed and dangerous person around 1:00 PM Eastern, so that was two hours or so ago.
So we'll stay on top of this situation right now at the University of North Carolina. As soon as we have any more developments there, we will of course
bring them to you.
Now, I want to take you to Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Ukraine could still hold elections next year, but they'll need financial support to do
it.
The Ukrainian president spoke on the matter in an interview with Ukrainian media. He says it's important that authorities don't seem like they're
using the war to hold on to power. Ukraine is currently under Martial Law, and would need to change its electoral code to have an election.
Well, as the war rages on, people in Ukraine are trying to maintain some semblance of normal life. Beachgoers have returned to the coastal town of
Odesa, more than a year of course, after the start of the war stopped activity there all together.
Our Christiane Amanpour is in Odesa for us, and Christiane, for many no doubt, this is a distraction from the war even if it's just for a few
hours. What have they been telling you?
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Well, that's exactly right. And of course, this port, this important port, which have been practically
paralyzed for the year-and-a-half of the war has been under a lot of Russian attack over the last several weeks.
And as you know, also elsewhere along the southern front, the counteroffensive continues and there is a real feeling here that they just
have got to keep pushing forward. They need more help. They say they're grateful for what they have, but they need much more in order to make that
counteroffensive work, and we found people just trying to get a break, and also, we talked to people who had actually, you know, soldiers being
wounded and wanted to get back to the front.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AMANPOUR (voice over): In the waning days of a second summer at war, under the blazing Black Sea sun, you find well, people at the beach. It is
actually the first time some of this Odesa coastline has been opened for business since the Russian invasion.
And while Olga has brought her family for a change of scenery, there is no getting away from it.
Here can you forget the war for a little bit?
OLGA, UKRAINIAN RESIDENT (through translator): Sirens at night don't let you forget. No, we don't forget. At least, I don't. But I hope my kids and
parents get distracted a little bit.
AMANPOUR (voice over): Still those who can make the most of it. Life goes on even in wartime, and here at the Caleton Beach Club, it is somehow
comforting to watch parents slap protective gear onto their infants as if sunburn is the worst that can happen.
But of course it's not.
So is it -- does that mean orthopedics or anything?
Fifteen minutes away in the center of town is a modern private recovery and rehabilitation unit. One of 10 set up around the country by a Ukrainian
philanthropist.
Here in a full body sling, 41-year-old Vitaly (ph) tells us that he volunteered for the front as a D-Minor until he was blown up by an anti-
personnel mine eight months ago in Kherson.
(VITALY speaking in foreign language.)
AMANPOUR (voice over): "The first wave hit my face because I was bending down," he says, 'And shrapnel entered my eye, another bit hit my finger and
three of my toes were blown off."
On the rehab bed next to him, 43-year-old Ruslan's (ph) injuries, less dramatic, spine and back problems from suddenly having to haul heavy gear
around.
AMANPOUR (on camera): Do you need to get into better shape?
(RUSLAN speaking in foreign language.)
AMANPOUR (voice over): "If I was 20," he tells me, "It would be different, but I'm 43 and so it's difficult." But he wants to go back to the front
like Vitaly does just as soon as they are patched up. Still motivated, still sure of victory.
But then the talk suddenly turns.
(VITALY speaking in foreign language.)
AMANPOUR (on camera): Vitaly --
VITALY, 41-YEAR-OLD VOLUNTEER: Yes.
AMANPOUR: What do you think you need?
AMANPOUR (voice over): Immobilized and prone, he is crystal clear.
(VITALY speaking in foreign language.)
AMANPOUR: "We need more weapons and jets to close the sky from the Russian missiles," he says. "When a soldier is fighting there and his family is
here unprotected, what do you think goes through our minds? "
Andriy (ph) tells me his psychological trauma is worse than the shrapnel to his hand, because, he ,like all of them want to be back at the front with
their comrades to fight for their country and their family.
(ANDRIY speaking in foreign language.)
AMANPOUR: "I have a mother, a father, a wife and a cat," he tells me.
Back at the seaside, Sergey (ph) a 59-year-old conscript based in Kherson defends his beach time break.
AMANPOUR (on camera): In the middle of war , you don't feel strange?
SERGEY, 59-YEAR-OLD CONSCRIPT: Yes. It is mostly likely a little bit strange, but we need some relaxation.
AMANPOUR (voice over): He'll be back under arms after his 15-day furlough. He insists their counteroffensive is going according to plan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
AMANPOUR (on camera): So you can, Isa, and it is really quite humbling actually that even injured, even you know fighting this very, very
difficult slog for more than a year-and-a-half now, they are still committed.
[15:20:08]
And we talked to people, even this evening here in Odesa, who said that look, you know, at the beginning, we thought maybe this war would be over
pretty soon once we repelled the Russians from Kyiv. Now, we think it may take a lot more time.
And I just have to say also, we spoke to the Moldovan president, Maia Sandu, her country abuts this one, and she is calling for more help for
Ukraine saying, it is only Ukraine's resistance that has stopped Russia having designs and actually going into her country. So it's very, very
clear the risk in this region still.
SOARES: Yes, indeed incredible resilience like you said, Christiane from all those three men that you spoke to. Thanks very much, Christiane, from
the port city of Odesa.
Now, I want to take you to the United States, Donald Trump is now set to stand trial in March on federal charges related to his effort to stay in
office after the 2020 election.
A US judge scheduled Mr. Trump's trial to begin on March the fourth in Washington, and the following day, FYI, he is set to be on primary election
ballot in 14 states.
As for the criminal charges in Atlanta, Mark Meadows, Trump's White House chief-of-staff is arguing you should be tried in a federal court. He is
among 18 people along with Trump facing state charges related to their actions following the election.
During this hearing, we expect to learn more about the evidence gathered by Fulton County prosecutor, Fani Willis.
Evan Perez has had a busy day and he is following all these strands for us in Washington.
Evan, great to see you.
So I mean, this was a very lively, I hear from -- a lively and heated hearing in Washington. The judge throwing away, rejecting both proposals of
January next year, 2026. And now we've got March the 4ht. What more can you tell us what? What stood out for you from what you heard from the judge?
EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, the judge really pushed back on the arguments by the former president's lawyers who
said that there's absolutely no way he could get a fair trial if it happened before April of 2026. He said -- his lawyer said that they have
millions of pages of documents have been turned over by the federal prosecutors, and that as a result of this, there was absolutely no way the
trial team could be ready for trial.
The judge said that the public has a right to a prompt resolution of this case, and that is one reason why she decided that March 4th is the trial
date.
Now, as you pointed out, this was a time of a very heated hearing. John Lauro, one of the lawyers for the former president stood up and said this
is not a request for a speedy trial, this is a request for a show trial, and he called what the prosecution was pushing for, absurd and ridiculous,
as you heard, however, the judge believe that in the end, the public interest, which is to try to get this case heard before the 2024 election
really was the thing that was guiding her.
And one of the things this means obviously, as you pointed out, the following day is Super Tuesday. And it means that, you know, during the
time that the former president is sitting here in this courthouse, the prosecution says, it is going to take about four to five weeks for them to
present their case, that day, the former president is going to be stuck here watching his trial unfold, and he won't be out there doing his
campaigning.
Of course, I should note that the former president is known for doing rallies. He's not really a guy who goes out to Iowa until these other
states, you know, kissing babies and glad handing people, so perhaps it might not be that much of an imposition.
Back to you.
SOARES: Yes, and what we understand is that Trump says he will appeal that date. So watch this space. Evan Perez there for us in Washington. Great to
see you, my friend. Thank you very much.
Now shares in China's Evergrande Group plunged after they resumed trading Hong Kong for the first time in 17 months. The company lost nearly 80
percent of its market value as you can see there.
Evergrande is the world's most indebted property developer. It reported a $5.4 billion loss in the first half of the year. Its default in 2021, if
you remember sent chills through China's vast housing market and raised questions about its economic health. In fact, it sent chills right around
the world.
And to boost investor confidence, Beijing has just slashed a small tax on stock trades, the stamp duty was reduced from a tenth of a percent to 0.5
percent. The last time China cut this tax was during the 2008 financial -- I should say, global financial crisis.
The move spurred Asian markets up to some extent as you see there, the Hang Seng up one percent, Shanghai just over one percent, and the Nikkei about
have just over one-and-a-half percent. So green arrows across the board.
Well, my next guest thinks fears about the Chinese economy may be overblown.
Nicholas Lardy is a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute, and he joins me now.
Great to see you. So, let me ask you, then you think it's overblown? What is your assessment of what is happening then with Evergrande?
[15:25:25]
NICHOLAS LARDY, SENIOR FELLOW, PETERSON INSTITUTE: Well, this is a story that's been clear for a couple of years, a lot of the big property
companies have missed payments on their bonds, some of them have gone into bankruptcy, and more of them will. But I don't think it poses the financial
crisis.
Obviously, shareholders are going to lose a lot of money -- that have invested in the shares of these companies. But I'm not sure it will slow
the economy down, but it is not going to create a financial crisis.
Two big reasons: Number one, when you buy a flat in China, you have to come up with a pretty big down payment. So most owners have quite a bit of
equity. So if the price goes down a little bit, they're not going to send the keys back to the bank. And secondly, all of the mortgages in China are
full recourse loans. If you quit paying your mortgage, the lender can go after your other assets. This is very different from the United States.
So defaults on property are extremely low, and they're likely to remain low, even if prices fall further.
SOARES: And Nicholas, are you seeing then that the housing sector, the property sector, what are you seeing in terms of trends? Are they still --
is it still selling as they were like, six, seven years ago? Or is that a concern?
LARDY: No, sales are down substantially, investment is down substantially and lower investment is good, because this economy has been over building
on houses for quite a few years, and there is going to be a long period of adjustment when they absorb the excess supply. There is a big excess supply
of housing already completed, and then there are a lot of people who have purchased property in advance, but it hasn't been finished. So this is
going to be a drag on economic growth for several years.
SOARES: And Beijing, as we were saying, Nicholas, has stepped up on its policy support to kind of try and bolster in many ways, the real estate
sector even kind of stamp duty, hoping to entice investors and create some sort of stimulus, I think, for the market, but that didn't bite.
So what next then? What else can Beijing do here? What tools do policymakers have up their sleeves to try and turn this around? Or is this
just a question of more liquidity here?
LARDY: I think my best guess is that they're going to continue to do very little. They don't want to have a big stimulus program like they did back
during the financial crisis, in which debt of the government and households and corporations increased dramatically.
They've been slowing down the growth of credit for several years in order to reduce financial risk, and they don't want to throw that out the window
by having a big stimulus program with a huge surge of credit.
SOARES: And so then, the fear of this -- the fear that we've been hearing on this side of contagion, financial contagion, and trying to limit the
spillover you think that's overblown? You think it is not going to get to that?
LARDY: Yes, they definitely do. I think you know, a few banks are overexposed to property, but the biggest banks can easily absorb some of
the losses that are coming down the pike.
SOARES: Nicholas Lardy appreciate it. Thank you very much, Nicholas.
LARDY: Thank you.
SOARES: And still to come tonight, a record setting weekend for migrants arriving to an Italian island. We hear from the Red Cross about the
challenges officials are facing, that's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:32:04]
SOARES: Well, to Italy now where the government is expected to divise an emergency plan this week in response to the country's migrant crisis. The
Red Cross says more than 4000 migrants arrived on the island on the island of the Italian island of Lampedusa just say -- this Sunday. That marks a
record setting weekend. The number of migrants arriving in Italy this year has doubled compared to the same period last year.
And that is according to the Italian government. I want to bring in Barbie Nadeau who has been following the story and joins me now. And Barbie, it's
been an extraordinary year for crossings and for migrant deaths I should add as well. What are we expecting to hear from -- to hear from Maloney, of
course, who won on a promise to stop the votes.
BARBIE NADEAU, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: That's right. You know, I don't think anyone's expecting any miracles from her. A lot of the situation in
Lampedusa especially comes from the breakdown, the political breakdown in Tunisia. And she spent a lot of time and about to spend a lot of money all
of Europe is to try to help the situation there. But those -- that's why we're seeing so many boats arrive on Lampedusa.
But that's not the only reason so many boats are making it to Lampedusa. Part of it is because there's just no one out there to rescue them right
now. We took a closer look at exactly what's behind that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NADEAU: It's the height of the Mediterranean summer, and this tiny island is overwhelmed with the arrival of thousands of migrants and refugees. More
than 4000 people arrived on the Italian island of Lampedusa in hundreds of small boats over the weekend. Among them pregnant women, babies and
unaccompanied minors. It's the highest number of arrivals in a weekend this island has ever seen.
More than 113,000 people have arrived in Italy by boat this year. That's more than the total number that arrived in all of 2022. There may be more
migrant and refugee boats at sea, but there are fewer NGOs to rescue them. At the moment the Italian government has sequestered three NGO ships for
allegedly breaking a law set by Italy's right-wing government under Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni that mandates how many rescues a charity ship can
carry out.
Each of the sequestered ships will be docked for 20 days and fined up to 10,000 euro. 56 organizations have signed a petition against the
government, accusing them of obstructing civilian search and rescue and warning that it will lead to more deaths. But the Italian government says
without the rest of Europe helping they cannot manage the influx.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Easily can't be left alone facing this extraordinary phenomenon. Italy is the gateway to Europe. Europe must
intervene with us.
NADEAU: Meloni will lead crisis talks this week after the government reconvenes on the agenda, ways to help people migrate legally and ways to
deport them faster. In the meantime, the boats keep coming and coming and coming.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[15:35:07]
NADEAU: And, you know, what's really happening there when you see these sequestered NGO boats, you know, they would only be there to pick up some
of these smaller boats and take the people to the island of Sicily or to the Italian mainland. They wouldn't be stopping the numbers by any means
but it would alleviate some pressure on the island of Lampedusa, which after all, is a small, tiny tourist island in the height of summer. Isa?
SOARES: Barbie Nadeau for us in Rome. Important reporting. Thanks very much, Barbie.
Now hundreds of thousands of airline passengers in Europe face flight delays and cancellations today. The cause, a technical issue with U.K.'s
air traffic control system. After more than five hours the issue has since been fixed, though planes are now out of place, and people probably still
in filling the knock-on effect. Now, you can see the difference in traffic here. This is how flight patterns looked before that travel began.
Then if we have a look, this afternoon, we saw a huge decrease in traffic. And you see many of the planes are indifferent on the wrong places where
they're supposed to be. Ben Mutzabaugh is a senior aviation editor for The Points Guy. He joins me now from Washington. Great to have you on the show,
Ben. So Ben, do we know first of all what this technical issue actually was?
BEN MUTZABAUGH, SENIOR AVIATION EDITOR, THE POINTS GUY: They haven't said much beyond the fact that it's a technical issue. But we do know that it
has basically forced air traffic controllers and -- or it's forced flight plans to be entered manually instead of automatically. And so that, as you
might expect is a slower process. So that's forced air traffic control to basically slow everything down, keep some planes on the ground and add some
more space between departures and arrivals just to accommodate for what they're calling this technical issue.
SOARES: And it took more than five hours for the issue to be fixed. But I'm guessing for many people, that has had a huge knock-on effect. I heard
stories of people on tarmacs on the plane for five hours, some being canceled. So, others being told their flight was a 2:00 in the morning.
Took us -- take -- took us through the knock-on effect here outside of just U.K. critically.
MUTZABAUGH: Well, of course, yes, it's not pretty. And of course, the U.K. perspective, it couldn't have come at a worse time given that it's very
busy bank holiday where lots of people in the U.K. are traveling mostly home from summer vacation. So, add that to the mix. And that does create a
real kind of nightmare scenario if you're trying to get back into the U.K. But beyond that, it's going to create some ripple effects.
We see Amsterdam has a lot of delays today and cancellations. Now, there could be issues there too. But how many of those planes were going to
London or to Manchester. And I think that speaks to the ripple effect. Now that the technical issue has been resolved, it takes a while to queue up
all of these flights to get them back to where they're supposed to be to. The crews back where they're supposed to be, the planes.
You have issues with staffing with hours work before, you know, crews can go over their legal limit for how long a day they can work for as a safety
concern. So, the knock-on for this is pretty significant. And it will affect -- have some ripple effects beyond the U.K. just as everything gets
backed up and crews are out of place. So, we're going to see this for a while. And the worst of this will be in the U.K. over the coming days or
flights to and from the U.K. in the coming days.
But this won't be fixed this evening. And it won't be fixed tomorrow, barring any other disruptions or poor weather or things like that.
Hopefully, it should be getting better. But this is not -- they fix it in five hours but things don't get better five hours later.
SOARES: And for people who are airports, watching this ban, in terms of compensation, what can they be looking for? Look, I got -- I got back from
my kids at 1:30 in the morning. It was -- I can tell you, it was tough. It was really tough. It's busiest end of summer. But if people watching this,
situation like this was a technical glitch, in terms of compensation, can they ask for it? What are -- what are the terms here?
MUTZABAUGH: Yes. So, I think as far as, you know, at least from an American perspective, the compensation rules in New York tend to be fairly generous.
Now the problem here is that this is a problem that was created outside of the airline's control. This is a problem with air traffic control and
nothing that the airlines could really do about it. So as far as additional compensation for delays and that type of thing, you could always ask.
You never know when you might be surprised with a pleasant answer, but this one I would have low expectations for. Now, what you should know is that
the airline remains on the hook to get you to your final destination or to give you a refund of your flight if you decide not to travel and go bad in
the rest of your trip. So, that -- in the Europe you should be entitled to compensate -- not compensation but for flight, food, lodging, that type of
thing.
Those are things you should ask for but as far as the generous payouts for a long delay I would have less hopes for those.
[15:40:02]
But do ask your airline to provide you for food -- with food vouchers, ask if lodging is available. And, you know, the one thing that we always say I
think this is true whether no matter where in the world you're flying. If you're - if you're flying to London and you know another flight that's
operating that you might be able to get on, ask to see if you can be booked on that flight.
SOARES: Yes.
MUTZABAUGH: Don't always assume the agents will know every option you have. If you can fly to a, you know, a nearby city if Gatwick instead of Heathrow
works, if city airport or Luton. Ask to at any London airport or even a nearby city, if you've driven in from somewhere else. Do try to explore all
of your options. But this is a case where the backlog is going to be pretty severe. There won't always be a great answer for everyone. Although we like
to think there is.
This is one where sometimes you just may run out of options.
SOARES: Yes, Keep calm. Explore your options. Very good advice. I know who would like to be in this conversation, that's Richard Quest. Ben, great to
see you.
MUTZABAUGH: I'm sure he has lot to say about this.
SOARES: Oh, I'm -- sure. He will have a lot to say indeed. Ben, appreciate it. Thank you very much. And that is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS. I'll be back at
the top of the hour in about 20 minutes or so as we make a dash for the closing bell. Up next, speaker of Richard, it's Quest World of Wonder.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:58:42]
SOARES: Hello. I'm Isa Soares. It is the dash to the closing bell. And we are just two minutes (INAUDIBLE) two minutes away, less than two minutes
away in fact. U.S. markets are off to a good start to begin the week. You see there the Dow has been positive all day. It's now up just over a half a
percent, 226. The S&P is set to close half a percent higher as you can see there. Tech stocks are up as the NASDAQ tries to claw back some of this
month losses.
Asian markets also rose after China if you remember me telling you cut a small tax on stock trades. Beijing is hoping to spur the economy. But
Nicholas Lardy at the Peterson Institute told me earlier that government will only take modest steps. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARDY: They're going to continue to do very little. They don't want to have a big stimulus program like they did back during the financial crisis in
which debt of the government and households and corporations increased dramatically. They've been slowing down the growth of credit for several
years in order to reduce financial risk.
And they don't want to throw that out the window by having a big stimulus program with a huge surge of credit.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: And looking at the Dow components mostly greens and 3M as you can see shares have popped.
[16:00:00]
The company has been facing thousands of lawsuits related to its ear plugs. Bloomberg News says the 3M had -- 3M has reached a tentative settlement for
$5.5 billion. But good all around. The exception there with Johnson and Johnson down just over one percent.
And that is your dash to the bell. I'm Isa Soares. The closing bell should be ringing on Wall Street any minute now as it is. And "THE LEAD" with Jake
Tapper starts right now. Have a wonderful day.
END
