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Quest Means Business

US Senate Votes To Kill First Article Of Impeachment; Floods Hit Dubai After City Gets A Year's Worth Of Rain; Boeing's Safety Culture Under Fire At Capitol Hill Hearing; Benjamin Netanyahu At Center Of Firestorm At Home And Abroad. Aired 4-4:45p ET

Aired April 17, 2024 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:12]

RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: Our colleagues and counterparts over at CNBC ringing the closing bell on wall street celebrating 35 years

anniversary. We wish them well, and the Dow Jones, well they ring the bell on a day when the Dow is all 46 points. Those markets are down, betwixt and

between, as you can tell over the course of the session.

The markets and the events of the day that you and I will chew over.

Dubai is beginning a massive cleanup efforts after flooding caused by torrential rains.

Airlines are working to restore normal flight schedules.

A former bank manager tells the US Senate the lack of paperwork, given to investigators after the 737 Max plug amounts to a criminal cover up.

And President Biden wants to triple tariffs on Chinese steel. We will talk about that.

Live from New York on Wednesday, its April 17th. I'm Richard Quest, and I mean business.

Good evening.

We are watching closely events on the US Senate floor that is taking place during our time here.

The senators are voting on the Articles of Impeachment against the US Homeland Security Secretary.

Now, in the last hour, the senators voted to kill the first two Articles of Impeachment against Alejandro Mayorkas even before they have had a chance

to debate them. The motion passed 51 to 48 to one, Lisa Murkowski, a centrist Republican from Alaska she merely voted present in a sign of

discontent with the impeachment effort, we will monitor the developments on the Senate floor.

There is never any real possibility that Alejandro will actually face a trial per se in the US senate.

And so to our main story tonight, the United Arab Emirates is trying to clean up from very damaging floodwaters brought on by a record setting

storm. We told you about it last night and now we are really seeing the damage and the victims.

In Dubai, schools were closed, flights were canceled, traffic was disrupted and people were wading knee deep across water. The flood poured into this

shopping mall where people frantically tried to mop it up.

A year's worth of rain in one day in a region accustomed and unprepared for this kind of deluge. In Dubai, Eleni Giokos reports.

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: Richard, you've been to Dubai many times.

You know how important Sheikh Zayed Road is and I bet you've never seen it like this.

I mean, you've you got flood water basically taking up more than half of this highway and you can see behind me just how deep and extensive this is.

But the levels have actually gone down. It is 24 hours after the torrential rains that we saw on Tuesday that saw unprecedented and record rainfall of

over 100 millimeters in just 12 hours, and the result is this, people were trapped on this highway during the storms on Tuesday for many hours and of

course, affecting the airport as well.

We saw the images of aircraft unable to effectively land, as well as take off because the runways were just so flooded. Flights were canceled for

anyone leaving from Dubai, and one of the reasons is because people couldn't actually get to the airport. Flights are meant to resume at

midnight tonight.

Question is, are they going to, given the state of things. It is very difficult to move around Dubai.

We also spoke to a few people that actually came for a holiday. They would stranded. Some of the taxis were just dropping people off on the side of

the road here.

I mean, they had to make their way through some of the most flooded areas by foot, but it is encouraging. You had a lot of Emiratis stopping with aid

trucks to come and help people and of course, emergency services working around the clock to start to clean things up.

Is it climate-related? Is it because of cloud seeding? The Dubai government says it is climate-related, but the matter of fact is, we had a lot of

cloud seeding over the last couple of months. We've seen an increase in rainfall in Dubai and the infrastructure, Richard, is just not geared to

deal with this type of rainfall.

This is a dry and very hot part of the world, and buildings and roads are just not made for this kind of water. You've got water just having no way

to go, and basically highways turning into rivers and residential areas that basically look like lakes and some people even taking out canoes and

enjoying the water.

[16:05:06]

It is a tale of two worlds. You've got the immense destruction of infrastructure and people's lives being upended, and then you have people

enjoying the water because it is a rarity here in Dubai -- Richard.

QUEST: Eleni Giokos, DXB, Dubai International Airport told people on Wednesday to stay away unless absolutely necessary. And Emirates Airlines

have just extended the suspension for check-in for passengers to 9:00 AM local time nine hours from now. It had been thought it would be about now,

but clearly not.

And when you see the scale of what is going on like this, the runway is being submerged and flooded.

Flight Radar says the flooding forced 900 flights that have to be diverted or canceled. Fly Dubai, the low-cost carrier parts of the Emirates Group

has resumed partial operations and said it was trying to minimize disruptions.

Paul Griffiths is the CEO of Dubai Airports. Paul is with me now.

So just to confirm before we get to the whys and the wherefores, we've just heard that Emirates is now, which is your largest, obviously carrier,

Emirates is now suspending check-in until 0900 on Thursday morning local time. Is that right?

PAUL GRIFFITHS, CEO, DUBAI AIRPORTS: That's absolutely right, Richard. 0900 is the time that check-in will open in Terminal 3 and Emirates flights will

be accepting passengers for departure from DXB. For other airlines, it is 0300 in the morning on Thursday and as you said correctly, from Terminal 2

Fly Dubai are operating limited schedule.

In all cases, what we are advising customers to do is to check with their airlines for the actual departure time scheduled flight, so they can

actually check in at the right time.

QUEST: Paul, I understand the unprecedented nature of this water. I've seen your quotes on it, but should DXB have been better prepared?

GRIFFITHS: Well, 254 millimeters of rain in a single day is the largest rainfall before meteorological records began in the UAE 75 years ago. So I

don't think there is any way that we could have been better prepared for such a cataclysmic event and I have to say the coordination between all the

stakeholders here has been magnificent.

We've been clearing the roads. We've had 22 tankers on the airfield clearing all the stands and the DXB facilities are now 100 percent

operational, and now we are into the mode of trying to actually clear that huge backlog.

We've got hundreds of large airplanes spread all over the region, and of course, once we've slowed down on departures, we can't accept any more

arrivals until there are places for those airplanes to pass.

So were are ready to actually start the renaissance of operations here, but I think it is going to be another 24 hours before we can start to see the

semblance of normality that is DXB, which as you know, Richard is normally the world's busiest airports.

QUEST: The use of Al Maktoum Airport, how did that play into -- this is of course the EWC Al Maktoum, whatever you want to call it. It is the other

airport. How did that play into it?

GRIFFITHS: That has played a very vital role as the diversionary airports and we have been accepting a large number of diversions into that airport

when we've actually been full at DXB because of the backlog of departures, so that has actually been very good.

We've also had a few diversions to other airports in the region, including Abu Dhabi, so the whole system around the UAE has played hosts to a lot of

flights that they wouldn't normally see an that has been a vital part of the recovery operation.

QUEST: Paul, I also know -- we've known each other a long time and I also know that you will be forensically looking into what you could have done

differently, what other resources you might have had.

I understand of course passengers been stranded, that's just the nature of the beast in these sort of things, but what will you be looking at, whether

it be flood or whatever, pandemic, but in the future you can make it more pleasant if such be the word to have these sort of things. What would you

be focusing on?

GRIFFITHS: Well, our focus is always on customer care and what we must prioritize is to make absolutely sure that all those customers that are

being disrupted are properly looked after.

We've got three hotels, our side at DXB. We've made all of those hotel rooms available to disrupted passengers. We've made sure to prioritize

deliveries of foods and drinks to all of the outlets across the entire airport to make sure everything is fully stocked. Those deliveries have

been getting to the airport. Some of them have had police escorts so they can get in very quickly.

[16:10:11]

So customer care is right at the top of the tree. Making sure we are minimizing the disruption communicating to customers when they're flights

are going to depart. That's been quite a challenge because the operation as you can imagine has been hugely complex with hundreds, literally hundreds

of large white body jets spread all over the region.

QUEST: That's one of the downsides of having your home carrier with the fleet of 777s and 380s.

Finally, I don't think anybody is going to be able to argue this is an EU 2601 event. I think there is an exception. This is exceptional, sir. I am

sure there will be some people who will try and get the compensation. But of course, there are carry and comfort, which has to be taken care of in

all circumstances, even if not compensation.

GRIFFITHS: That's correct. But I think I wish I could control the weather and I really do think that this has to be classified as an act of God. I

don't see that we could have done anything to minimize the disruption anymore.

You know, the storms have been unbelievably violent and I was actually landing in the middle of one of them. It was quite an event, as you can

imagine.

QUEST: Paul, it is good to see you. I am looking forward to being in Dubai in a few months. We are going -- when we will be talking more about IATA

and seeing it all going.

Paul, thank you very much indeed.

GRIFFITHS: Indeed. I imagine the weather will be better by the time you get here.

QUEST: By June will be schvitzing.

All right, thank you.

Some breaking news now. Senators have just been voting on emotion to kill the second Article of Impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary

Alejandro Mayorkas.

Now, there are two of them basically they say that he has failed in his duty. He has lied to Congress. He has failed to secure the border and as a

result of which, he has committed the high crimes and misdemeanors required.

Stephen Collinson is with me.

That's what the House sent to the Senate. The Senate where of course the Democrats just have a bare majority. They got rid of the first without even

debate or trial. I am guessing they're going to get rid of the second.

STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS SENIOR REPORTER: Yes, all of the votes so far, Richard have gone on party lines and you say, as you say, there is a

slim Democratic majority, and that means that once this vote is completed, and the second Article of Impeachment is killed off that will end it.

It will disappoint Republicans who are looking for the spectacle of a trial, having said that, they have been able to make a number of points of

order which at least get some the chance to air their political views.

But Mayorkas isn't going to be impeached. He was impeached and he has not going to be found guilty, so he will be able to continue in office.

QUEST: The question, the high crimes and misdemeanor, every time there is an impeachment, there is always the question of whether the acts involved

rise to the level of high crimes and misdemeanors. With the exception of maybe the House managers for the Republicans.

There seems to be older, I mean, people voting their party.

This is political. There is nothing that Mayorkas did arguably that could even be regarded as criminal, let alone impeachable.

COLLINSON: That's right. There is a saying in Washington, the phrase high crimes and misdemeanors actually means whatever the Senate wants it to

mean, and as you say, therefore, these things usually play out on a partisan basis.

You know, think back to the second impeachment of former President Trump after the Capitol insurrection. Plenty of Republican Senators didn't

believe that rose to the level of impeachment.

So whatever Mayorkas is supposed to have done, which according to Republicans is not actually implementing the law to secure the border,

doesn't come anywhere near that.

And there are in fact, a lot of conservative legal scholars who were involved in defending Trump in his two impeachments, who agree that this

doesn't rise to that standard.

So you're right, it is a deeply political venture pushed by some of Trump's allies in the House and the far-right wing of the Republican Party.

QUEST: Stephen, finally, the ability to roll back impeachment. The cat is clearly out the bag. Can it be put back in there again in a sense that

impeachment is now a political weapon.

COLLINSON: You know, you remember back in the late 1990s when Bill Clinton was impeached, that was one of the big arguments that once you do this, it

is going to become a partisan vessel and everyone is going to end up getting impeached.

[16:15:10]

I think one of the reasons why Mayorkas was particularly targeted is because there were those in the Republican Party that wanted to impeach

President Joe Biden, partly as revenge for the double impeachments of President Trump.

The evidence hasn't been there and they have repeatedly, the Republicans failed to find evidence that the president committed high crimes and

misdemeanors with regards to his son's business.

So Mayorkas was for many of them, I think a step down and a convenient target they could at least try to make a point and enact some political

revenge, which would be very popular, let us not forget with their base voters in the Republican Party.

QUEST: How long are they into this vote? How long do you think before we get a result on it?

Here we go, here we go. I beg your pardon --

SEN. PATTY MURRAY (D-WA): On this vote, the yeas are 51, the nays are 49. The point of order is well taken. Article two fall.

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): Madam President --

MURRAY: Majority Leader is recognized.

SCHUMER: I move to adjourn the impeachment trial of Alejandro N. Mayorkas, sine die and I ask for the yeas and nays.

MURRAY: Is there a sufficient second?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is.

MURRAY: There is a sufficient second. Clerk will call the roll.

CLERK: Miss Baldwin --

SEN. TAMMY BALDWIN (D-WI): Aye.

CLERK: Mr. Barrasso --

SEN. JOHN BARRASSO (R-WY): No.

Mr. Bennett --

Did he say aye?

SEN. MICHAEL BENNET (D-CO): Aye.

CLERK: Mrs. Blackburn.

SEN. MARSHA BLACKBURN (R-TN): No.

CLERK: Mr. Blumenthal.

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-CT): Aye.

CLERK: Mr. Booker.

SEN. CORY BOOKER (D-NJ): Aye.

CLERK: Mr. Boozman.

SEN. JOHN BOOZMAN (R-AR): No.

CLERK: Mr. Braun.

SEN. MIKE BRAUN (R-IN): No.

CLERK: Mrs. Britt.

SEN. KATIE BOYD BRITT (R-AL): No.

CLERK: Mr. Brown.

SEN. SHERROD BROWN (D-OH): Aye.

CLERK: Mr. Budd.

SEN. TED BUDD (R-NC): No.

CLERK: Miss Butler.

SEN. LAPHONZA BUTLER (D-CA): Aye.

CLERK: Miss Cantwell.

SEN. MARIA CANTWELL (D-WA): Aye.

CLERK: Mrs. Capito.

SEN. SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO (R-WV): No.

CLERK: Mr. Cardin.

SEN. BEN CARDIN (D-MD): Aye.

CLERK: Mr. Carper.

SEN. TOM CARPER (D-OH): Aye.

CLERK: Mr. Casey.

SEN. BOB CASEY (D-PA): Aye.

CLERK: Mr. Cassidy.

SEN. BILL CASSIDY (R-LA): No.

CLERK: Mr. Collins.

REP. MIKE COLLINS (R-GA): No.

QUEST: Okay, Stephen Collinson, if you're still with me, we had the vote on the second Article of Impeachment, which has failed 51 to 49. They are

calling the roll now. Is this for something else or is this just for that second vote?

COLLINSON: Right. Yes, what they are doing now is to -- they are voting to adjourn the trial, which never really even started. And that will be the

end of this when presumably this vote also comes back on a party-line vote because of the Democratic Majority and that will be it.

QUEST: Interesting that they need to do this because there are no Articles of Impeachment left to trial about since both of them have fallen there.

COLLINSON: Right, the Senate is quite a strange place, Richard. There are all sorts of arcane rules that we see every day, but it is all based on

precedent and the Constitution and the Senate rules, and it calls itself the world's greatest deliberative body, but it is also one of the strangest

legislators as well.

QUEST: So now let's go from the legal to the political. If you factor in, you've got a House and you've got Republicans that will say, we try to hold

him to account and you've got the Democrats who say we have to get rid of this because it was just a nonsense and it was a flagrant abuse of

impeachment.

How will the voters judge it do you think?

COLLINSON: I think America is so deeply divided along partisan lines and it obviously depends which sort of that line you fall. The only real wrinkle

in this for Democrats was whether some Democratic senators are running for re-election in November in difficult races, for example, Bob Casey in

Pennsylvania or Jon Tester in Montana, which will go by probably 10 to 20 percent for Trump in the general election, whether they would be hurt by

not having a trial.

But it looks like the Democrats have decided that they want to get rid of this as soon as they can and of course, Democrats are going to turn around

to say to Republicans that there was a very conservative bipartisan border bill that was agreed a number of weeks ago to tighten security at the

border and Republicans rejected it largely because former President Trump, the presumptive nominee wants to keep that issue alive because it is the

central one in his bid to win back the White House.

Shouldn't this have gone to the trial. I am devil's advocate here, in a sense, the House put forward its Articles of Impeachment it was incumbent

upon the Senate to hold the trial what they have done is gotten rid of the charges, so they don't have to.

Is that not -- maybe technically okay, but is it not sort of breach of the principle, if not the rule.

[16:20:00]

COLLINSON: Yes. And that was an argument a lot of the Republican senators were making that at least have the trial and to your earlier point, it only

seems to make it more likely that the tool of impeachment will be abused again in future. And it is the only constitutional measure for holding a

political leader in the United States to account and this trial and the previous ones, or this trial, it didn't even take place seems to be further

eroding that constitutional tool.

QUEST: The clearest indication of that, of course, is the last time there was a trial or an impeachment of a Cabinet member. I mean, there has been a

lot of Cabinet members and I am 18, you're going to --

COLLINSON: 1876.

QUEST: 1876, a hundred years or so after the founding of the country, and not one since. That's quite an achievement.

COLLINSON: Right. There have been, I think a number of them for judges, but not for a Cabinet member in all that time and of course, we had the three

presidential impeachments, Bill Clinton twice with former President Donald Trump.

So I think its a fair bet that were going to see a lot more in future given the hyper-partisan nature now of the US Senate and the US House.

QUEST: Right, let's just listen in to see where she is in the order. It is alphabetical, so let's have a listen to see.

CLERK: Mr. Young.

QUEST: Oh, she is at the Ys.

COLLINSON: Right at the end.

QUEST: Mr. Young might have been the last one. Yes, so she is -- they are going to add it all up and then we will get a result, the tallies from both

sides we will obviously have to check to make sure the numbers. You've got the clerk of the Senate. Actually presiding over this, of course, is a

senator, the senior senator who is -- remind me which senator is presiding -- Patty Murray.

COLLINSON: Patty Murray.

QUEST: Yes.

COLLINSON: Of Washington. She is the senior Democratic senator. She is called the President Pro Tempore of the Senate.

QUEST: Right and this is of course, because otherwise, I mean, one would have expected others to have been involved here. But now --

COLLINSON: It would be the vice president officially who presides over the Senate, but that -- in occasions like this, that's why they have the

President Pro Tempore to do it for her if you like.

QUEST: Right, and there is a whole procedure for the way in which it shifts from being a legislative body to being a judicial body with an entirely

different set of rules as we've learned over the years.

We are waiting for the tallies to come in. We couldn't hear the responses, so we don't know if Lisa Murkowski voted present or if she actually went

with her vote, but it doesn't really matter, does it? Because the numbers are there.

COLLINSON: Right. That's right. Yes.

She voted present earlier. She is sort of a maverick figure in her own party now. She is at odds with the increasingly pro-Trump shift of the

Senate so she voted present just to kind of register her disapproval of the way her own Republican senators were responding to this impeachment trial.

QUEST: But it doesn't look like she voted present on the --

COLLINSON: On the number two.

QUEST: Second.

COLLINSON: Yes.

QUEST: Yes. Now, why would that be?

COLLINSON: Good question. The number two was about Mayorkas supposedly having breached the public trust. Perhaps there is some distinction that is

not in previous presidential impeachments, it is not that unusual to see senators vote for one and not the other. I guess, they have their own

political reasons for doing so.

It is not clear exactly why Murkowski made that decision right now, I don't think.

QUEST: We've still got of course, the House trundling through impeachment proceedings as you will against the president, which will rumble on ad

nauseum.

COLLINSON: Yes, the investigation hasn't been going very well. A lot of the key witnesses and key pieces of evidence that Republicans are using for the

impeachment investigation of President Joe Biden have been undermined.

The fact they are continuing on with the investigation suggests the partisan nature of this, but it seems very unlikely A, that that ever gets

to a conclusion. And B, that even if it did, there would be the numbers in the Republican Senate, which has now got a majority of about two votes and

its actually we get thinner towards the end of the month.

It is going to end up being one vote majority of the Republicans will have in the House, given the fact that some of the Republican lawmakers, a

minority of them are against this impeachment push, it seems very unlikely that it would even get through the House and get to the Senate in the first

place.

[16:25:01]

QUEST: It is extraordinary events in the same way as we saw the double impeachment of Donald Trump those years ago impeachment, of course, but not

conviction and now we are waiting to see the final result which should be in line assuming Lisa Murkowski or anybody else didn't vote present, it

should be in line with what we've already seen, which is 51 to 49.

The tellers, we've had the voting, the tellers as you can see on the floor and in the well of the chamber are doing that checking and making sure, and

they will go back to the President Pro Tempore, who will give the results and will then have to announce if the result is, as we say, Stephen

Collinson that the Articles of Impeachment are adjourned or at least the proceedings are adjourned.

COLLINSON: Right, that would be the end of the trial in the Senate will go back to its normal business. So I would just note, it is very unusual to

see all of the senators in their desk. Usually that chamber is pretty empty apart from a senator giving a speech or one or two senators waiting to

speak. But during an impeachment trial, all the senators are -- they are forced to stay in their seats while it takes place.

MURRAY: On this vote, the yeas are 51, the nays are 49, the motion is agreed to, the Senate sitting as a court of impeachment stands adjourned,

sine die.

Majority leader is recognized.

SCHUMER: For the information of members, there are no further votes today. Now, I remind all members that we have very serious business ahead of us in

the next few days and we will keep you forum as to schedule as things can get scheduled.

MURRAY: The Senate will be in order with senators, please take their conversations to the cloakroom.

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): Madam President, we've set a very unfortunate precedent here, which means that the Senate can ignore in effect the

House's impeachment.

It doesn't make any difference whether our friends on the other side thought he should have been impeached or not. He was, and by doing what we

just did, we have in effect ignored the directions of the House, which were to have a trial. No evidence, no procedure. This is a day that is not a

proud day in the history of the Senate.

QUEST: Stephen Collinson, Mitch McConnell is right, isn't he, in a sense. I am not making a political point, but he is right. The House sent across

Articles of Impeachment, the senate's job was to hold a trial.

They took advantage of their majority, albeit very slim, and as the minority leader says, it is an unfortunate precedent.

COLLINSON: Right. I think what Mitch McConnell there was doing was, first of all, speaking for history, getting to your point earlier about there

should be a trial because there was an impeachment, but it is also starting the business of making political points in the aftermath of this, trying to

spin this to the best effect for the Republicans.

But I think, you know, as you say, he does have a very good point. What Democrats would say is that this was a frivolous impeachment in the first

place that didn't follow any of the rules of the spirit of this constitutional tool, and so therefore, shouldn't be given the time of day

if you like.

QUEST: Steven, thank you.

This is CNN. We will be back with more in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:32:38]

QUEST: Two Boeing whistleblowers have told U.S. lawmakers the company has serious safety issues, and Boeing continues to ignore it.

Ed Pierson is a former manager. He said Boeing has withheld information about the door plug blowout on the 737 MAX-9.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ED PIERSON, FORMER SENIOR MANAGER, BOEING 737 PROGRAM: The NTSB chair reiterated to Congress last week that Boeing has said there are no records

documenting the removal of the Alaska Airlines door. I'm not going to sugar coat this. This is a criminal cover-up. Records do in fact exist. I know

this because I've personally passed them to the FBI.

A five-minute testimony is not nearly enough time to explain how insidious the story is. Boeing's corporate leaders continue to conceal the truth.

They continue to mislead and deceive the public about the safety of planes. That is the safety culture at the top of the Boeing company right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: A quality control engineer who's still with Boeing testified about potential problems with the 777 and 787 Dreamliners saying workers took

shortcuts while assembling these models and that could put excessive stress on the air frames. The FAA says the Dreamliners are safe and Boeing -- the

inspections have found no signs of fatigue. Boeing previously said the whistleblower's claims are inaccurate.

Pete Muntean, it is very difficult for me and other members of the flying public to gauge where the truth lies here when you have such competing

views on something as crucial as safety.

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Especially when the testimony is so compelling, Richard, and we heard from these whistleblowers today with

the newest allegation from Sam Salehpour, who said that there was issues on the 787 line there in South Carolina. He said that crews there were

stepping on some of the joint portions of the fuselage, the big sections that come together, exerting extreme amounts of force.

He also said that the fuselage pieces that join together the gaps are too large between them. And that can cause fatigue cracking at those joined

points, which could he said lead to a very extreme allegation that the plane could fall apart in flight.

Now, Boeing does insist and it's been on the defensive here from the start, in fact a few days ago and held a briefing for reporters, saying there are

about 1100 787 flying.

[16:35:02]

There's been no evidence of fatigue cracking. The airplane is doing just fine. So it's really hard, as you mentioned, for the flying public to

decipher what is the truth here, and with Boeing being so adamant that there are no issues with the 787, all of the proof is in the pudding here.

There have been quality control issues on the 787 line, and that plane -- the deliveries were essentially halted in 2021 and 2022 because of quality

issues there.

So really, really difficult for people to get to the bottom of it here. The issue here is that the authorities continue to insist they're looking into

this, but no big red herring yet.

QUEST: All right. So where does this go?

MUNTEAN: Well, the big question now is whether or not Boeing can take the blows here. You know, this is -- the crisis that Boeing has been facing

landing and Capitol Hill. That's this chapter of the saga. But there has been chapter upon chapter before this leading back five or six years, not

only what the 737 MAX crashes 2018 and 2019, but then now the door plug issue back on January 5th on this Alaska Airlines 737 MAX-9.

Now these new allegations about the 787, Boeing is really trying to put this to bed. It's had a very controlled message when it comes to the public

that the airplanes are safe. But I think the thing that's really interesting here is they've been more proactive now in trying to come

forward and say these airplanes are safe before it ends up in these Capitol Hill hearings. It really is sort of an interesting change of communication

strategy now.

QUEST: Yes, right. But regardless of the hearings and this stuff, Boeing still makes planes, the airlines are still buying them. They are billions

of dollars' worth in the order book. Boeing is not just going to fold its tent and go away.

MUNTEAN: No. And it has to really sort of convince the flying public that things are OK. Shareholders that things are OK. Also the NTSB, the FAA here

in the United States. Those are really critical communications games that the company needs to play.

QUEST: Right.

MUNTEAN: So, we'll sort of see how it unfolds. I mean, I think the thing right now is that Boeing just needs to sort of stick on message. The

airplanes are safe, they build safe plans. They've done this big change at the top. There was a lot of questions about whether or not there would be

heads rolling at the executive level, rather than scapegoats sort of at the mid-level. So maybe they can make a turnaround here.

You're right. It's not like Boeing, this manufacturing goliath, is going to evaporate into thin air tomorrow.

QUEST: Pete Muntean in Washington, grateful to you, sir. Thank you.

Israel's allies are pushing for the country to show restraint as it plans its next move against Iran. The British and German foreign ministers were

in Jerusalem to meet with the top leadership. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made it clear that Israel will make up its own mind. It comes

as the U.S. says it will soon impose fresh sanctions on Iran in coordination with G7 because of the attack on Saturday.

CNN's Nic Robertson reports on the day's events.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): As protesters in Tel Aviv were trying to unseat Israel's prime minister

Saturday, demanding he stop the war in Gaza, allow the release of hostages, Iran was launching attack drones towards them.

The two things are not disconnected. Iran appears to think Benjamin Netanyahu this vulnerable, unpopular at home, increasingly alienated from

his iron clad ally America.

GERSHON BASKIN, FORMER HOSTAGE NEGOTIATOR: He has created so much damage to our society. The sacrificing of hostages is the kind of harm that will take

a generation or more for Israeli society to heal from.

ROBERTSON: Gershon Baskin negotiated Israel's last major hostage deal with Hamas, the release of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit in 2011. He fears Netanyahu

isn't negotiating in good faith.

BASKIN: He wants to prolong the war because he knows on the day that this war is over, the commission of inquiry headed by a Supreme Court judge will

be formed that will hold him responsible for what happened on October 7th and for what led up to October 7th.

ROBERTSON: The hostage issue is just one of many, pulling the country apart. The prime minister says there will be an inquiry once the war is

over.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Prime Minister Netanyahu, you have to be strong.

ROBERTSON: At pro-government rallies, attitudes are uncompromising, risking alienation with America by shunning U.S. demands.

(On-camera): But they're saying 33,000 Palestinians is too many that are being killed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want 500,000 people.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There was attacking. (INAUDIBLE) that America wanted to win the war.

ROBERTSON: They're calling here for more people to come out on the street and support the prime minister, telling him to be strong.

[16:40:03]

But the reality, according to independent polling here, is that only 52 percent of the people believe the prime minister could bring the hostages

home. This is a divided country.

(Voice-over): Six months after Hamas' brutal attack, the Nova Music Festival site, where more than 350 people were slaughtered by the terror

group, has become a memorial. Orna Kadmon who's brother was killed came back, says, she feels the loss more now.

ORNA KADMON, BROTHER KILLED ON OCTOBER 7: There is one solution, very clear, very simple. But it's not politically correct, though.

ROBERTSON: What's your solution?

KADMON: Clean all Gaza.

ROBERTSON: Everyone supports you.

KADMON: I know it's impossible, but this is my wish, you know.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Israel's war in Gaza has so far claimed the lives of more than 33,000 people, according to the health ministry there, and

triggered a humanitarian crisis of catastrophic proportions.

Baskin gets Israelis' anger, says they're still living in the trauma of October 7th, but that won't bring peace.

BASKIN: The ultimate victory over Hamas is not military, it's political. It's when the Palestinians have freedom and dignity.

ROBERTSON: Iran's missiles that impacted Sunday might focus minds. Israel's enemies are exploiting divisions, or it could deepen the wedge as debate

over how to respond drags on.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: And that's our reporting this hour. That's QUEST MEANS BUSINESS for tonight. I'm Richrd Quest. Tomorrow I'll be at the IMF and World Bank

meetings in Washington, D.C. The spring meetings are taking place. Join me then. I must remember to take the bell because whatever, together we're up

to in the hours ahead, let's hope its profitable.

Coming up next "MARKETPLACE ASIA."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

END