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Quest Means Business
Charting A Course For The Statue Of Liberty; Nepal-China Floods Leave At Least 570-Plus Dead, 1,900-Plus Missing; Warsh Defends Reluctance To Give Forward Guidance; Immigrants Arriving At Ellis Island Faced Hardship, Poverty; Music Artists Go Global To Make The Numbers Work; City Cruises Takes Visitors Near Liberty Island. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired August 28, 2026 - 16:00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[16:00:18]
RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST, "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS": Closing bell is ringing on Wall Street. The Dow has been up and now it is just off a tad
or so. You can see the numbers on the screen. The Dow closing in the red, but marginally which bearing in mind what has happened today is quite an
achievement.
The triple stack shows again similar sort of -- and a one and a two and a one, two, three, four. Trading is over for the day. Those are the markets.
And these are the main events that you and I will be talking about over the course of the next hour.
In Nepal, the number of people missing has now shot up to nearly 2,000. And of course, that number is expected to rise probably quite considerably.
Time is very short to find any of those who will have survived from the terror of the deadly floods.
The new Federal Reserve Chairman has been saying he could have work to do to get inflation back down to target.
And down there, we will take you inside the Statue of Liberty. It is our Summer Friday rocking away on a boat as we are on the New York Harbor.
Because tonight, live from New York Harbor, it is Friday, August the 28th. I am Richard Quest, this is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.
And of course on the harbor, I mean business.
Good evening and a warm welcome to New York Harbor. We are on the East River. On one side of Brooklyn, on the other side -- that is Brooklyn,
that's Manhattan and we are turning the boat around at the moment, which is why we are rocking. The Brooklyn Bridge is just behind me that you can see.
It is a special Summer Friday, the last Summer Friday in our series, and we are on the water as we celebrate the magnificence of the harbor and the
Statue of Liberty.
Later in this hour, we will be going down to the Statue of Liberty, and we will be taking you right to the top of Lady Liberty's Crown.
Over the course of the hour, we will be floating, riding, sailing our way down, enjoying the magnificent -- what a beautiful, spectacular Friday it
is for our last Summer Friday.
Plenty to get to, and I believe we've even got a shot to show you of where the captain is at the front, sailing and charting our course forward.
But before we get to any of our Summer Friday material, we do need to return to Lynda, where there is a very serious, deadly and deeply sad
stories to bring you from Nepal.
Lynda, good evening to you.
LYNDA KINKADE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Good evening, Richard, good to be with you.
I do want to give you the latest numbers out of Nepal right now, where authorities say nearly 600 people are dead. More than 1,900 are missing
after devastating floods hit the country's border with China.
Now, amidst the chaos and heartbreak of the disaster, there are growing concerns of yet another possible disaster, a barrier lake created by debris
damming up a river has begun to overflow along the Nepali-Chinese border that could lead to another massive flood or a landslide.
Rescue teams are already facing extraordinarily -- extraordinary challenges like heavy mud, rain and rough terrain as they search for survivors in the
disaster wrought by the rushing waters.
Earlier, our Will Ripley spoke with two of the only known U.S. nationals to survive the flooding disaster, and they told him what it was like to watch
the deadly waters come rushing towards them.
But Will was also there as some Nepali families got the bad news they had been praying not to hear.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, just really difficult to describe the scene here, but there is a woman who just came
and looked at a list of people who were being treated, and also a list of people who are confirmed dead. We don't know the specific details of what
she saw, but you can see on her face just how anguished she is right now.
And we've seen this type of scene, just repeated over and over and over again here in the capital of Nepal. This is the Teacher's Hospital. It is
one of the busiest medical centers in this city and let me show you this way. Let's just walk through the crowd here, John, because there is a whole
wall of people here.
[16:05:11]
And the number of pictures have kind of been increasing throughout the day. Photos of people who are missing, family members who are waiting here,
hoping that their loved ones are going to end up on this list here.
This is a handwritten list of names of people who are confirmed, survivors who are being treated right now at this hospital. All day, people have been
hearing that there might be more survivors brought in, but as of the six hours or so, we've been out here, still only 31 names on this list.
But if you look at this table over here, the number of people who are now registered as missing has grown from 1,200 when we arrived here this
morning to now more than 1,600 people. All of these people who are here gathered at the table are adding the names of their loved ones to the list.
And about a five-minute walk from here, there is a morgue with a much larger wall of photos of dead bodies and a much larger crowd of people
looking at these photos of dead bodies, trying to see if they can identify their loved ones there. And I saw people, bodies of all ages, there were
men, there were women, there were children.
There were also photographs of body parts. They actually were trying to photograph arms and legs that might have had tattoos on them, hoping that
family members might be able to help identify these remains.
Now, the worst of it is the video that you've seen now, undoubtedly at the China-Nepal Border Crossing, that large concrete structure that looked to
be about seven stories tall with that giant black wave crashing over it, and another angle that showed rows after row of blue busses that were just
washed away like toys.
Within the last couple of hours, we have spoken with the only two known Americans who survived from that border crossing. They were sitting on one
of the busses. Their names are Pattabi and Anjana. They're from Northern California, from the Bay Area. They said they were sitting on the bus just
chatting with some other tourists from Italy, and all of a sudden they looked outside the bus and saw people running, and they knew that something
was wrong. Then they looked up the hill and they saw a massive wall, a black cloud as they described it.
They didn't know if it was water. They didn't know if it was smoke, but they knew that it was moving very quickly down the hill towards their bus
and the other buses that were all parked in a row. They had had breakfast at the hotel with members of tour groups that were inside that building,
getting their visas processed to cross from Nepal into China, into the Tibet region of China. Those people have disappeared, presumed to be gone.
Even people on their own bus, when they saw this black wall approaching of water, they ran to the right and passengers, other passengers ran to the
left and they had never seen them since. But they ran up a hill and they were able, just sparing a matter of seconds to be able to get to a vantage
point where they could then turn around and watch the horror that was unfolding beneath.
Here is a portion of that interview that we just did. Please take a look.
ANJANA RAJA, U.S. TOURIST WHO SURVIVED LANDSLIDE FLOODING: So the wave, it came -- it came just like a tsunami. It just came going all the way up and
just like a tsunami, the how it sweeps going like a roll. It just took the buses, the --
PATTABI RAJA, U.S. TOURIST WHO SURVIVED LANDSLIDE FLOODING: The busses.
A. RAJA: -- the houses, people. Everything. We saw people just getting sucked in the water. It was so traumatizing to see that. People were
screaming, but of course, water doesn't hear anything. It just kind of sucked them in.
I don't know if they were thrown away somewhere in the shore, but then this happened. It was just a span of 30 minutes. In 30 minutes, everything was
swept and gone.
RIPLEY: They don't know exactly how they did it, but they crawled and climbed and ran their way up that hill, along with a small group and a
local tour operator, who they say really saved their lives because he told them where to go, higher and higher up the hill.
They didn't have a cell signal, so they had no idea what was happening until at one point they did briefly have a cell signal. And at this point,
they still didn't know if the flood was over, if there was going to be another event. But what they did when they had a brief cell signal is they
picked up the phone and they called their daughter.
And in that 60-second phone call, while they had a cell phone signal, they gave their daughter all of their passwords for their accounts because they
thought that they might not survive and they wanted her to have all the information that she needed so that she could do what needed to be don if
they didn't make it home and they told her they love her and to please take care of their of their younger son, her brother, who is in the Boy Scouts -
- and then the call got cut off.
But they have now survived, and we have much more of this interview with them. We had a long conversation with them and we will be sharing that with
you throughout the day here. But it was just extraordinary and harrowing to hear the details of how they survived.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: Thanks to Will Ripley there covering the disaster in Nepal. And later this hour, I am going to speak to a journalist in the region who is
not only covering the disaster, but is also waiting for news on her mother and father-in-law.
I want to get back to Richard Quest, who is sailing along New York Harbor right now with more.
[16:10:10]
QUEST: Yes, and Lynda please, the moment that you have that journalist and the moment that you have more that we must hear from you, please, uh, just
come straight back in and we will come to you obviously, immediately with those important details.
It is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS. It is always a special day when we are deciding to do a bit of a different program. And today, of course, our Summer Friday
comes from a boat in New York Harbor.
But on the economic front, by the way, it is the Brooklyn Bridge, we are about to pass Wall Street and Lower Manhattan any second now and those are
the towers of finance that we will have been watching very closely today as Chair Warsh called inflation concerning.
It was the Jackson Hole Speech that he was given. He said inflation was a bigger issue than jobs. He claims that essentially the U.S. is now at full
employment. He was quiet on rates. And of course, as is now, the new norm, he was refusing to give guidance on what was next, what these people in
these buildings would have wanted to know. Where are rates going? And he wasn't giving anything away.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEVIN WARSH, U.S. FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIRMAN: We should not indulge a regime in which market participants are looking primarily to the Fed for their
next trade.
A quieter Fed, a more purposeful fed in its communications is better able to meet its objectives and we can be held accountable for delivering on our
remit.
The only true test of our credibility.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: That credibility. Well, let's continue -- let's talk about nailing your colors to the mast, because inflation has been above two percent since
2021. Chair Warsh admitted, 65 months and he admitted that it was the Fed's responsibility to deal with it.
So not surprisingly, the CME now says there is a 60 percent chance of a September hike. Let's continue these analogies of -- these nautical
analogies.
If Captain Warsh is in charge now and was charting his course, the destination is absolutely lower inflation. Seas, they are dangerous. They
are perilous, and the dangers are everywhere. Because if he raises rates now too aggressively, he damages the labor market, which he admits is full
employment.
If Warsh is too slow, that 65 months just goes on forever more.
There is also the political issue. Donald Trump wants rate cuts. He could be pressured by the President, which is why President Patrick Harker is
with me. The Philadelphia Fed President.
President Harker, good to see you. My word!
You know, the thing about -- the problem for Warsh, he took responsibility today, as he has to. He has nailed his colors to the mast. He has made
inflation the priority on the dual mandate. Ergo, he has to raise rates at some point.
Do you agree?
PATRICK HARKER, FORMER PHILADELPHIA FED PRESIDENT: Well, thanks for having me and I am the former Fed President, I finished last summer, but that
said, they were great words that he said and I agree with them. But he has to deliver now.
I was disappointed in his last speech that he didn't say more about actually doing something and then the committee did not raise rates and you
saw three dissents, and there are more than three dissents. There are people who are not voting, who are also pushing for an increase.
So the committee is really pushing him more to the point where he is going to have to raise rates. That said, the market is already doing most of the
work. You look at the long end, not even the long end, the two-year, the ten-year, the 30-year. They've already risen and they are the rates that
matter to the American consumer and business.
QUEST: You see, arguably, this is exactly Warsh's argument in terms of forward guidance. It is not the market looking at the Fed, it is the Fed
looking at the market, if the market is giving the indication, that -- I mean, Chair Warsh would say, yep, I was right. The market is telling us
what it wants and needs.
HARKER: Yes, that's pretty much true, although there is always a loop. The Fed looks at the markets, the markets are going to continue to look at the
Fed. That will continue forever.
But the issue I think is being consistent. And what I am worried about now is Secretary Bessent's operation twist basically, which is running counter
to what the Fed is trying to accomplish.
[16:15:07]
QUEST: Can I just put it at -- Chair Warsh has been -- I mean, he is a hawk and he may have he may be a hawk. He has got a President who obviously
wants cuts of rates. The President may have thought he had bought himself a dove. He is about to discover quite the opposite, because for Chair Warsh's
credibility, he has to do something. It is not an option now just to talk.
HARKER: Right. Yes, and it is not just him, but look at the committee overall. I mean, he is one of 12 votes when it comes down to policy. Now he
is a very important vote, and he has that bully pulpit.
But the committee is really pushing toward raising rates here at the short end.
QUEST: Can we say that even though this is a supply side inflation, that we can no longer look through it? This idea of somehow, if it is supply side,
we can look through and amend. I mean, it is a nice argument, but eventually, if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, you call it
inflation.
HARKER: Yes, I mean, the textbook says look through it, but what happens when there is supply shock after supply shock after supply shock? Some of
those caused by nation states fighting an asynchronous war, some of those caused by domestic policy in the U.S.
At some point, they all add up to something more than just a supply shock you can look through.
QUEST: Apologies if you're having difficulty hearing me. We are just passing the east side heliport here in Manhattan, where, of course, I am
sure you're familiar, the helicopters go up and down all day long, coming to and from Wall Street.
What would you say is this balance that we heard today, the balance between employment and inflation on the dual mandate. We are de facto at full
employment. That has to be preserved at one level.
But then you have this very interesting, I hesitate to say, academic argument about industrial production or in production increase because of
A.I. Is it a tricky time for policymakers?
HARKER: Sure. I mean, we are betting a lot on A.I. The economy right now, if you look at GDP, is really betting -- there is a big bet on A.I.
A.I. will improve productivity. The Chair was right in his comments, but it has to. If you think about the math, growth is fundamentally getting more
machines or people are getting more output out of machines -- each machine and person.
We are going down in terms of our population growth in the United States. So we need A.I. just to fill that gap to stay on trend. It will be above
even that for a little bit, but nothing lasts forever. It will go back to trend at some point.
So it is important that A.I. actually produces an above trend productivity growth for a period of time. Absolutely.
QUEST: I am very grateful. Former Philly Fed President, Patrick Harker, thank you.
HARKER: Thank you!
KINKADE: I want to return to our top story now.
One of the areas hardest hit by the flooding in Nepal was the Nuwakot District. Now villages there were swept away by the raging waters. Only
those lucky enough to make it to higher ground were able to survive. Among those still unaccounted for are the family of a journalist based in
Kathmandu.
Bidhya Rajput's in-laws may have been caught in the flood. Her husband is trying to reach their village, searching for word on his parents, but the
journey comes with its own challenges as roads there have been swept away. There is no electricity and no communications.
Bidya joins me now from Kathmandu.
I am so sorry for what you're dealing with. So, it must be unbelievably difficult to report on this disaster while waiting for news about your own
family.
How are you holding up?
BIDHYA RAJPUT, JOURNALIST: Yes, it is very hard to believe that this happened to our family, but not only our family. The whole village are
swept away. And, many villages are also in the same condition.
So we are still a professional, so we have to do that. We have to write the news. And similarly, we have to give the information to our society the
correct information, and it is very hard, but we have to do it.
[16:20:10]
And still we are not in good condition, but still we are managing to focus on supporting them and to give information as well.
KINKADE: And what information do you have about your home in Soul Village?
RAJPUT: Around 44 or 45 village -- in our village, 45 households are swept away and there is no connections, no connectivity, no roads. And still we
are searching for them and still, we have not any hints about them.
Many of them are rescued, but lots of people are not in good condition and haven't reached out any of them, any of the administrative persons. So it
is very hard to get them -- to get any information about the village and about our neighbors, about our parents, about our family members.
It is hard to get -- to reach them.
KINKADE: And Bidhya, your husband has gone back to the village to try to locate his parents and I understand his young cousin. What can you tell us
about them?
RAJPUT: He has gone, but there is no road and no connectivity, no bridge. All the bridges, roads are swept away and. He couldn't go from that -- you
know, Trishuli -- not in Trishuli -- Bidur, the district headquarters. So he went there and he came back from there because there is no any
alternative go to the villages because no rivers, no anything, no helicopters, nothing. So he went back from that area and even he couldn't
contact anyone from our village side, from our neighbors.
So he came with empty hand, empty hope.
KINKADE: How would you describe your parents-in-law and 24-year-old cousin? What would you like people to know about them?
RAJPUT: Yes, my mother-in-law and father-in-law, they are very, very close to us. My father-in-law is a schoolteacher, and I don't know about -- what
has happened to him because he was on the way to home or he was going to school. I don't know about him because -- who can give the information are
also swept away. So we haven't find out them also.
And he was a teacher, so we find the news, we believe that he is in school. He may be in school, the school is in the top of the hill. So he may be
safe in that floor or my mother-in-law had a small business, small business of her own and so she might be at home.
So we thought that she would jump or she run away, but no, no one saw them and no one have any. No one have any information about them and what
happened to them, we really don't know. And we want to know this, what happened to them where are they and what's the situation of them? We really
want to know this.
KINKADE: Bidhya Rajput, we really hope and pray that you get some really good news soon and we are thinking about everyone there in Nepal.
Thank you so much for your time and we wish you all the very best.
RAJPUT: Thank you. Thank you very much.
KINKADE: We are going to take a quick break. We will be right back with much more news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [16:26:27]
QUEST: New York Harbor, this is a quiet day. It is not too choppy at the moment, but look behind me. There you have it. Lady Liberty herself, the
true icon of New York, of course, and New York Harbor, New York, Americana, everything you could possibly imagine is linked up and that's why we chose
with it obviously being the bicentenary, obviously we wanted to bring one of our Summer Fridays and the Statue of Liberty is the epitome of it all.
I was privileged with one of the top rangers, top national park rangers to go there, see it and enjoy Lady Liberty at her best.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST (voice over): "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be free." The words from the famous poem on the Statue of
Liberty that stands at the entryway to New York Harbor.
It is a symbol of freedom to millions of immigrants who arrived here at the beginning of the 20th century, moving forward in ever present motion.
Lady Liberty is an icon, part of this city, and one of the most well-known monuments in the world.
MATTHEW HOUSCH, NATIONAL PARK SERVICE CURATOR: The statue of liberty is a universal symbol. So I think the thing that fascinates me the most is that
it means so many things to so many different people.
QUEST (voice over): Our journey to Liberty Island started early in the morning. The winds are high as we take the first boat across the harbor,
and as we approach, the scale of Lady Liberty becomes clear.
The national park's service curator, Matt Housch, says the awe is a common experience.
HOUSCH: Some of our visitors arrive to New York on a plane, and they see the statue in the harbor, and it looks rather small. And I think sometimes
we forget until you're here on the island, just how colossal, impressive and awe-inspiring the statue can be. And for me, it is every time I'm on
the ferry boat.
QUEST: And it still gets to you.
HOUSCH: I am still coming here. The sun is rising. This is my morning every day and I get to see the statue of liberty and it still gets me.
QUEST (voice over): The aura was not immediately recognized when the statue arrived here from France in 1885. The French sculptor, Frederic Auguste
Bartholdi designed the statue and sent it to the United States as a gift from his country.
Oh, the pedestal, by the way, that wasn't included. It had to be built and paying for it was a typical American problem.
HOUSCH: Many Americans were like, wait, France wants to give us what? So there was this idea that we need to get Americans excited about the project
and there is a newspaperman, Joseph Pulitzer, who owns a number of papers, including here in New York City, and he said, this is kind of a disgrace.
The only thing we were supposed to do was build a pedestal for her and when all of the copper pieces arrive here on this island, the pedestal was not
ready.
So he starts a crowdfunding campaign to get people to donate money so that we can raise funds and put the pedestal up.
QUEST (voice over): Over time, Lady Liberty, of course, was embraced by New York as more and more immigrants arrived on their way to Ellis Island,
seeing its neoclassical design, it was a sign they had made it to the new world.
The elegance of its engineering evident as I made my way to the crown.
QUEST (on camera): Now, obviously, you now mean business because you've removed your hat.
HOUSCH: That is correct.
QUEST: Oh, look at this. You can see the folds of the cloaks now from the inside.
[16:30:10]
HOUSCH: This is where the technical majesty really becomes apparent.
QUEST: Yes.
HOUSCH: That really is. That thin of copper, and that's really all just being held together by these iron support systems that reach this big
central iron pylon.
Almost like a dressmaker's dummy, and the copper is the dress.
(CROSSTALK)
QUEST: Kremling (PH). Oh wow! When they said it was narrow, halfway out, continuing up. Oh, my goodness! Oh. Oh, my goodness! This isn't what I
expected at all. This is very interesting. I did not expect it to be like this.
HOUSCH: You can hear how thin it is, and you can also see the reverse image impressed here in the crown. These long lines are the lines of her hair.
QUEST (voice over): As I look out at New York Harbor, as the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary, the vision of Lady Liberty is very clear.
QUEST: The Statue of Liberty has courted controversy pretty much from the beginning. How it was funded, where it was going to be positioned, you name
it. And that controversy has continued over the years. It's become nuanced. It's become different, but fundamentally, what this statue has stood for
remains.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: And if you think about it, on and off, I've lived in this city for what, 30 odd years, 35 years, and that's the first time I've been -- I've
been to the island. First time I've been up the Statue of Liberty.
When we come back after the break, next the Statue of Liberty is, of course, Ellis Island, where many of those immigrants arrive. Immigration
then and now. We will be talking about that. It is a summer Friday, a beautiful late summer Friday.
QUEST MEANS BUSINESS. We are on the water. And I promise you, I'm holding it together, just.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:35:19]
KINKADE: There is more of QUEST MEANS BUSINESS in just a moment. When we'll we be back on board with Richard Quest as he sails around the Statue of
Liberty. Before that, these are the headlines this hour.
Rescue teams in Nepal and China are facing daunting conditions after a catastrophic flood event. Now, police authorities say at least 579 people
have been killed. The number of missing has nearly tripled to more than 1,900.
There is less information available about the situation in Tibet, partly due to China's censorship of social media.
Chinese state media reports five people have died and 558 people are missing.
A judge again has denied U.S. President Donald Trump's effort to get his New York state criminal hush money case moved to a federal court. A move
that may have made it easier to reverse his conviction. Judge Hellerstein had previously denied the request before a federal appellate court ruled
last year that the district court judge must reconsider because of the landmark presidential immunity ruling from the Supreme Court in 2024.
King Harald V of Norway, Europe's oldest monarch, has died at the age of 89. Mourners lined the streets of Oslo as his casket was taken to the royal
palace. Harald had been on the throne for 35 years. The crown has now passed to the king's son, Haakon VIII.
QUEST: Warm welcome back to our wonderful boat on the harbor in New York. I'm told that from our roof cam shot, which is coming from Hudson Yards way
over there, you can actually see our boat. If I wave, perhaps you cannot see me waving, but you can certainly see the boat.
The whole harbor, Statue of Liberty, and next door to it, Ellis Island. They are inextricably linked to immigration. That was their raison d'etre.
It was what they stood for, it's what they symbolize.
Nearby, of course, was the first place they went to after they had seen the Statue of Liberty. Many of those who arrived -- most of those who arrived
were poor. They moved into New York tenements, horribly cramped conditions. Entire families, sometimes multiple families, in single rooms sharing
conditions that were truly disgraceful and awful.
But it was the new world. They got no sunlight. They were diseases, and immigration remains controversial. The tenements prove and show
difficulties that migrants have faced since these very early days.
More than a century later, immigrants, it said, are still not treated properly. Even though give me your huddled masses remains the watchword of
this country.
Annie Polland is with me, historian from the president -- Tenement Museum.
Those who came through, I think we tend to have a slightly, when I say rose-colored, but you know what I mean.
We have -- we have romanticized the process, even right to those who had nits in their hair and might get sent back. But this was a stressful, awful
time for those who went through it.
DR. ANNIE POLLAND, PRESIDENT, LOWER EAST SIDE TENEMENT MUSEUM: Absolutely. People who came over were on ships that were much more not as luxurious as
the ship we are currently on. They were on those ships for two weeks often, and then, they got out -- and they had the fear that when they went through
Ellis Island, they might be sent back.
However, only two percent of the immigrants who went through Ellis Island were sent back. So, the majority make it through and spend about five hours
on Ellis Island.
QUEST: Really. That's about five hours?
POLLAND: Yes.
QUEST: So, and then, they would -- they would be sent because they were sponsored. They had names. They would be sent into the city and or wherever
dispersed.
POLLAND: Yes. I mean, there were some -- if they were -- if they had a contagious disease, for example, then they would stay at a hospital. But
yes.
QUEST: How many came through?
POLLAND: About 12 million come through between 1892 and 1954.
QUEST: And this tenement idea --
They went to the -- this was -- this was core to the whole immigration of Lower Manhattan, wasn't it?
POLLAND: Yes. I mean, every immigrant group that comes through, and every migrant group that comes through New York, like from the mid-19th century
to the early 20th century, lived in a tenement. It was like the universal experience, and 75 percent of all Manhattanites are living in a tenement --
QUEST: (INAUDIBLE) to be very careful to try not to take you into party politics here. But the reality is, I've got friends, some are undocumented,
some are terrified. Some may have been here for 20 years. Some have been given permission to work and now find --
[16:40:03]
I mean, this is the real problem.
POLLAND: Yes.
QUEST: The status of those people who thought they were OK is now highly in question.
POLLAND: No, it's terrifying, right? And people who had temporary protected status and you know had authority to be here, now that's been taken away.
And so, you have 300,000 Haitians who might be deported and could be deported according to the law. And one-third of them are healthcare givers.
So, you used the word inextricable earlier. And inextricable is important to understand, immigrants are inextricable to what it means to be American.
One out of four Americans are either immigrants or the children of immigrants. So, we are so bound up together.
QUEST: One of the things that's crucially important is that everybody sort of accepts that some form of immigration reform is necessary. You would
accept it.
POLLAND: Absolutely, absolutely. Absolutely, all of the studies show that Congress needs to act and pass new legislation that takes care of the
issues that need to be taken care of and creates order for all involved. Creates a sense of order.
QUEST: Look at this.
POLLAND: Yes, beautiful.
QUEST: What do you think when you see that?
POLLAND: I think of hope. I do think of hope, and I think of all the people who have come through, who have looked at that, thinking about freedom. And
I also think all the people already on American shores who looked at and said, you know what, we are not fully at liberty. We need to keep working
for it.
QUEST: You know, even somebody like myself, who is yet well-to-do, but a naturalized citizen in this country. Probably arrived here under some of
the best circumstances, but you still look at it.
(CROSSTALK)
POLLAND: Yes, it is -- it's beautiful.
QUEST: And it sort of get to that.
POLLAND: And she has a lot to say. She has a lot to say.
QUEST: What? What does she say?
POLLAND: Well, the poem written by Emma Lazarus is really -- it's about immigration.
QUEST: Yes.
POLLAND: "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses." But it's also to Americans. It's saying you are going to be American if you learn
how to welcome people, if you knew -- if you learn how to take care of people who are the huddled masses. That's what makes you an American.
That's what she says, and she says keep working. The statue can't do it alone, but the Americans have to do this work.
QUEST: Thank you so much. Honor to have had you with us.
POLLAND: Thank you.
QUEST: Thank you very much.
Coming up after the break, just take a look at that. It's extraordinary. When we come back up close and personal, the Statue of Liberty. Lady
Liberty herself.
QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, live tonight from New York Harbor.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: I could leave you just with that shot alone. The Statue of Liberty with Ellis Island next to you.
[16:45:03]
I mean, it's just magnificent to look at.
But let me give you a couple of facts about the Statue of Liberty. So, to put it into perspective.
Dedicated in October the 28th, 1886. That 1883, "The New Colossus". The poem. It's actually inside on the pedestal. And as you well know, the
pedestal itself was indeed controversial in the way it was funded and financed.
92 meters from ground to torch. It was once the -- I'm sorry, you can see the boats as all the boats pass by. So, we end up rocking backwards and
forwards. Apparently, the sandal size of the shoe is size 879.
As we continue tonight, let's talk about Africa and "AFRICA INC." and the issues relating to those doing business in Africa.
While the world may be listening, papers -- with things like paper stream in markets like Nigeria, it doesn't always add up, because for many African
countries, going global isn't the option.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Afro Nation, you are going to do something for me tonight.
ADEFEMI AKINSANYA, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST (voice over): Every year, Afro Nation puts some of the biggest names in African music in front of an
audience drawn from around the world.
For the artists selected, the stage offers more than exposure. It's a chance to test their music, their performance, and their ability to convert
listeners into fans.
Young John came to affirmation, backed by one of Nigeria's longest- established music companies, Chocolate City.
IBUKUN ABIDOYE, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, CHOCOLATE CITY MUSIC: I think it was just about time for him to get on the Afro Nation stage, and we are
really happy that he had an opportunity to perform, but he would been doing Europe. He would been doing the U.S. he would been doing. I think, he has
Australia, Canada.
For the first time, he will be going to the U.K.
AKINSANYA (voice over): Choco City has been playing the global game for several years now, since partnering with one of music's biggest
conglomerates in 2019.
AKINSANYA: There was a decision to join forces with Warner Music Group. Talk to us about that decision. Why, at that time?
ABIDOYE: I think, if we cast our minds back to the entertainment business at that time, thinking 2005 up until 2019, a lot of music businesses were
bootstrapping. We have to obviously celebrate the telcos and the big sort of breweries at that time, who funded a lot of the music businesses.
But if we needed to go global, we needed the kind of support and the backbone that I think most major companies have.
AKINSANYA: Others see the international market as an immediate economic necessity.
MOBOLAJI KAREEM, REGIONAL DIRECTOR, WEST AFRICA EMPIRE: I know some people would think, no, you don't need to run to America. Bro, please do run.
Because at the end of the day, there is something called the economic factor.
AKINSANYA (voice over): In his role with U.S.-based music company Empire, Mobolaji Kareem has helped many of the African artists on their roster make
strides off the continent.
KAREEM: A record labor invested in you. They never invested in you in naira, they invested in dollars. Now, it's expected for you to recoup. You
realize that the economic factor of streaming does not equate back to what we are getting.
An example: a million streams in Nigeria or in South Africa, it's when you quantify the money it brings is equivalent to maybe 10,000 or 15,000 people
streaming in Sweden.
Now, it's good to have the house, but it doesn't pay back the loan you've collected as an artist.
AKINSANYA (voice over): And it's usually the job of an artist's management to leverage all the opportunities available.
KEVIN BOAKYE, CO-FOUNDER, AFRICA CREATIVE AGENCY: These days, most people tell you music is kind of a lost leader. I think, there is still tremendous
amount of value in music, right?
Streaming is obviously one fundamental way to command value. But then, there is also getting your music synced in a film and a T.V. show, and
having those different opportunities for visibility there. But these days, the true opportunity is around the fan, right? Around those true fans who
are willing to buy merch, buy a ticket to come and see you at a show, come and attend something live.
And if you are able to command a genuine relationship with a core group of fans who will continue to invest in you over time, you have actually built
something that's sustainable.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:51:51]
QUEST: Welcome back. The Statue of Liberty, which is just sort of to our side, you'll see it in just a second or two. Liberty Island, formerly
Bedloe's Island, it was renamed in 1956.
Although, of course, the statue itself had been there for considerably longer. The city route cruise that we are taking, by the way, takes you
right to the island. X was our location when the show started, and now there we are.
Look at that. With me is Luis Alvarado, the City Cruise' director of national tourism. Good to see you, sir.
LUIS ALVARADO, DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL TOURISM, CITY CRUISES Nice to see you too.
QUEST: It's not often you're going to get that sort of view behind you.
ALVARADO: I know. We are very lucky that we have it all the time. So --
QUEST: When you are -- this is one of your most popular, isn't it, in terms of city cruises?
ALVARADO: The port?
QUEST: Yes, the port itself, taking people over here, going around here. Tell me about it.
ALVARADO: Well, absolutely. I mean, New York City harbor is historic and also has amazing skyline views. We just went by the bridge. The Brooklyn
Bridge was just fantastic, and then nothing beats this lady right here.
I mean, having her as a background is just so momentum and American.
QUEST: But I was interested to know that you run ship -- you run boats all year round.
ALVARADO: Correct.
QUEST: Even in winter.
ALVARADO: We do. We have some --
(CROSSTALK)
QUEST: I mean, except for ice, when, you know that, that happens that often. But --
ALVARADO: Even though, it doesn't really -- it's not solid completely. So, even when we get ice that comes up from the north, we still sail because
the harbor is pretty busy.
QUEST: How many people a year do City Cruises do take over, over to this place?
ALVARADO: In New York, about 260,000.
QUEST: 260,000 --
ALVARADO: Right. The classic, yes, for us, for the signature product and then, the meta (PH), yes.
QUEST: And where does the signature product take you?
ALVARADO: Well, we start over at Chelsea Piers.
QUEST: Which is where we started today, even --
(CROSSTALK)
ALVARADO: That's correct.
QUEST: Our dear viewer wasn't with us at the beginning. Yes.
ALVARADO: Right. And then, we go to the East River, pass the Brooklyn Bridge and the Manhattan Bridge.
QUEST: Which is where we started our program today.
ALVARADO: Absolutely.
QUEST: We stopped. In fact, we pretty much over the -- have done exactly what we wanted to show. What you can also do. But you also have this
rocking motion.
ALVARADO: Today, we have a little rocky. It's actually rocks more.
QUEST: Oh, look at this.
ALVARADO: Once a little boat sails by.
QUEST: There is a warning, isn't it? I think, there is getting -- I think, there is a boat there that's getting a little too close. But there we go.
ALVARADO: Yes.
QUEST: And where else do you have these city cruises?
ALVARADO: We have them in a lot of the major ports and harbors of the United States. So, we have them in Boston, Washington, D.C. Chicago, San
Francisco, San Diego, Philadelphia, Norfolk, Virginia, 17 altogether.
QUEST: 17.
ALVARADO: Yes.
QUEST: Which is your favorite?
ALVARADO: My favorite -- I'm from New York. So, you know, I'm kind of biased to be here in New York City. But Chicago, San Francisco is quite
beautiful as well.
QUEST: Agreed. Quite amazing, and what a perfect day for it as well.
Are you seeing, and with all the tourism turmoil at the moment across all of them, what are you seeing in terms of the business at the moment?
ALVARADO: Well, I'll tell you, we do a lot of 0national tourism here. So, we get --
(CROSSTALK)
QUEST: That's --
ALVARADO: We got a lot of students from our country that go through the different ports. And we also cater to a lot of the international, such from
Europe and South America, and some from Asia. That's a little -- that's a little bit of a challenge (INAUDIBLE).
[16:55:02]
QUEST: Really, you are seeing numbers down on the international.
ALVARADO: Yes, of course. We are seeing a little bit down. But we will rebound.
QUEST: Oh, grief! I have no idea what that is. But there you are.
ALVARADO: It's a sailboat without the sails. It looks like, but --
QUEST: It's a sailboat without the sails. Give them a wave to Clifford City. This is all really happening. It's all live, by the way on
television. That was most unexpected. And somewhere along the other be the Staten Island factory factor.
Thank you very much for joining us, sir.
ALVARADO: Thank you.
QUEST: And may I thank you. You are president, you are captain. You have all been very kind to here sharing us.
ALVARADO: Thank you. I'm glad that you are here. But just let you know, since those both showed up, the tall ships. This year, we had the 250 years
of our celebration of our -- of country, so we had a lot of tall ships. Yes.
QUEST: A lot of tall ships.
ALVARADO: Yes.
QUEST: I think I prefer. Good to see you, sir. Thank you very much.
ALVARADO: Good to see you. Thank you for your time.
QUEST: I want to show you what the markets are doing at the moment because it has been an extremely busy day.
I mean, the final number, the fact it's not dramatic, I think significant, because it means that they are waiting to see when it comes to Chair Warsh
and what he had to say, he's hawkish. Rate rises likely, but not demandingly.
It's so -- it suggests the market is just simply working out what comes next.
But I'm going to -- before we go to a "PROFITABLE MOMENT", we have to just look at that.
Can you imagine anything more glorious than arriving and seeing the Statue of Liberty?
QUEST MEANS BUSINESS live tonight from New York.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: This is our last Summer Friday. It has been such a treat and a pleasure to do summer Fridays. We haven't managed to do as many, but then
the news agenda has been so busy.
But to come from a rocking boat tonight, just thanks to everybody who has made this possible, and that's why we wanted to do it. The 250th
anniversary of America, a midterm year for elections. It is so appropriate that we wish you doing it from New York Harbor.
I first sailed across the Atlantic in, I think, 1998, when I first came under the Verrazzano Bridge and realized I was arriving in the new world
the old-fashioned way.
And ever since then, you know, I've taken tourists, friends, and family to visit Liberty Island, but I've never been up there until this particular
week.
[16:59:59]
Whatever we may think of today's politics, whatever we may think of today's issues, what that statue and the lamp stands for, is as relevant today, as
it was when it was put there all those years ago.
END
