Return to Transcripts main page

QUEST MEANS BUSINESS

Transcripts Reveal Trumps Heated Phone Calls; Trump Administration Backs Points-Based Immigration; Bank of England Cuts Forecasts, Pound Falls; Barcelona: $263 Million for Neymar; Softbank Invest $250 Million in Kabbage. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired August 3, 2017 - 16:00   ET

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


[16:00:00] (CNN DOMESTIC SIMULCAST)

[16:16:22] RICHARD QUEST, CNN HOST: Good Evening. Tonight, the Trump administration is refusing to confirm or deny whether leaked transcripts of

calls between President Trump and two foreign leaders are accurate. Now it's all about telephone calls and the stunning calls took place just days

after President Trump assumed office.

Now the President then pleaded with the President of Mexico to help him politically by not publicly saying that Mexico would not pay for the border

wall.

And then he went further. He went and spoke to the Australian Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, when they discussed an Obama era deal to take

immigrants from Australia and the U.S. president called it crazy and said it made him look like a dope.

These various calls were all set up for the new president to exchange pleasantries with his international counterparts. For instance, he asked

President Pena Nieto to help him keep up appearances. Look at what he said.

You cannot say anymore that the United States is going to pay for the wall...Believe it or not, this is the least important thing that we are

talking about, but politically this might be the most important.

President Trump had then called reports of tension with Prime Minister Turnbull, fake news. Then you read the transcript and it shows the two men

sparred on the issue of refugees. Donald Trump saying, I'm going to get killed on this.

Malcolm Turnbull, you will not.

Trump, yes, I will be seen as a weak and ineffective leader in my first week by these people. This is a killer.

The Prime Minister says, you can certainly say that it was not a deal that you would have done, but you are going to stick with it.

Donald Trump, I have no choice to say that about it... It is an embarrassment to the United States of America

Joining me now Jim Acosta, CNN's senior White House correspondent. There's something deliciously voyeuristic reading these transcripts. Jim, do we

have any reason to believe that they're not genuine?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: No, and as a matter of fact, the White House was given an opportunity, Richard, to tell us whether

these transcripts were not genuine. They chose not to do that. They're referring to them as allegedly leaked documents. Allegedly leaked

classified documents, I should say. So, they're not particularly happy that this is come out. But there are also not knocking this down either.

And remember, it was just shortly after the president was inaugurated when he had these conversations and there were reports that came out about

portions of these phone calls.

And obviously, I think one of the big headlines, Richard, is the president making it very clear with the Mexican president, Enrique Pena Nieto, that

perhaps his promise that we heard time again throughout the campaign that Mexico was going to pay for this wall on the border, was just really

campaign rhetoric. And it was not something that the president ever plan to make good on.

And you hear Enrique Pena Nieto -- and he's been criticized down in Mexico for not being tough enough on President Trump. He makes it very clear in

these transcripts and this phone conversation that he had with the president, that no, he was not going to stop saying that were not going to

pay for this wall. And you could see reading through all of this that the president was clearly frustrated that the Mexican president was not

planning to do that. And so, I think that is also very important.

[16:25:00] I think the other thing that is illuminating in all of this and that conversation with Malcolm Turnbull, the Australian Prime Minister, at

one point the President says, well he had an easier time on the phone with Vladimir Putin. That is obviously, not the kind of information that the

White House would like to see out with everything going on with the Russian investigation.

QUEST: How much can we put to one side that it was a new president, not familiar necessarily with making these sorts of calls. I mean, reading the

Turnbull one, I mean, they went add it. And Malcolm Turnbull, as anybody knows, is a hard bruiser fighter of his own right. And he gave no ground.

ACOSTA: That's right. And Richard, remember back -- and I don't know if this has been emphasized enough -- but on this day where the president

makes these phone calls, he made more than half a dozen phone calls I believe with foreign leaders. This went all day long about a week after he

was inaugurated. So, not only is this an indication of a new president just coming into office, but I don't recall covering the second term of the

Obama administration, President Obama ever being on the phone with eight or nine different world leaders on any given day unless there was some major

crisis. Even if there's a major crisis I don't recall having that kind of load. And so, it does appear the White House and the president's handlers

made some sort of mistake having him put through all these phone calls.

Putting all that aside and being charitable in that fashion, putting that to the side, is very clear in these conversations that the president was

using the wall and Mexico pain for the wall as a campaign device. And this was clearly nothing he was ever going to make good on his president.

And as for the deal with the Australians to take in those refugees, he makes it very clear with the Australian Prime Minister that he thinks this

was a terrible deal struck by the Obama administration. And he almost seems to be looking for Malcolm Turnbull to sort of sooth his feelings

about this thing. Saying, I'm going to get killed in the press about this and so on. And you can see the Australian Prime Minister saying, no, just

explained to the American people that this is not a deal you would have cut. And so, it almost seems that he's getting advice from these foreign

leaders in these conversations as well -- Richard.

QUEST: Jim Acosta at the White House. Jim, thank you.

Now, what it's really all about. The way it's all come out. This spat, particularly with the Australian Prime Minister. It's all about the

President Trump's call for an Australian style immigration system. One that favors younger, English speaking skilled workers. Exactly the

dispute, incidentally, that are correspondent Jim Acosta had yesterday with Stephen Miller at the White House.

Now, the idea is that applicants for residency and immigration are graded. They are given a certain number of points. So, for example, in Australia a

bricklayer who is 42 years old, so, he gets 15 points for that. Employed five of the last 10 years gets 10 points out of that. And coming to

Australia for the first time. Competent in English that's the minimum, but no extra qualifications. He has 25 points.

Come over to the chart and we see if he meets the actual threshold. So, the bricklayer does not meet the threshold because he's only got 25 points.

He's kept out.

Then you have the software engineer. Software engineer gets more points for being younger. Better English proficiency, you get 10 points for that.

Has worked in Australia before and has a bachelor's degree, 75 points for that person. And if we move the software engineer clearly at 75 points

your head of the threshold and you get to go to Australia.

But there's one other one I want to show you. And it is the neurologist. The neurologist, highly skilled, highly proficient, much in demand, but 50

years old. And at 50 years old you don't even get to go to the board. You are disqualified.

Jonas Prising is the chairman and chief executive of ManpowerGroup and joins me now from Milwaukee. So, many countries, Australia is obviously

one, the UK is moving to a points-based system for non-EU residents or citizens. Do they work, these points-based systems?

JONAS PRISING, CHAIRMAN AND CEO, MANPOWERGROUP: Well I think all of it, Richard, is down to the implementation. And I think that as we talk about

the new RAISE Act, or this proposed immigration reform, I think the most important thing to remember, is that it needs whatever when new immigration

reform is being announced or contemplated, is that it sends a positive message about immigration. That the U.S. welcomes immigrants. And that we

know here in the U.S. that it makes is more competitive globally as well as creates prosperity for all.

Now, having said that, you know, the point systems that you are citing have been very successful in countries such as Australia, Canada and also in

other countries. So, this is something when implemented in the right way can direct the flow of immigrants, the kind of immigrants that you want to

encourage first and foremost, and bring them into your workforce.

QUEST: in a world where there is clearly competition for qualified workers at the moment, the points-based system has a certain appeal. Because it

drags in those highly qualified people. But the U.S. also needs at the other end, doesn't it? It needs unskilled workers that will work in fields

and in farming and agriculture.

PRISING: Yes, that's absolutely right. So, the U.S. has a whole spectrum of skills that it needs. And under the current system about 1 million

green cards get provided for workers and family members that come to the United States. I think it's a question of choice in terms of what

immigration for work you're trying to drive. But as you know, 66 percent of the green cards that were issued in the United States were issued to

extended families. And only 20 percent of the green cards that were issued for specific workers, were related to work assignments.

QUEST: So, if we pull this together, does the United States justify moving to a point based system, bearing in mind the size of the economy and the

number of people, the number of immigrants it would attract? Which frankly, vis-a-vis Australia, dwarfs the numbers.

PRISING: I'll come back to my first point. I think the most important part is to make sure the world knows the United States is open for

business. Is open to immigration, because it's been the key, one of the keys, two it's competitive success and global leadership in many areas. It

has been in the past and will continue to be in the future.

And then it's only natural that countries will look at ways to modify immigration reforms. And we've not had a major immigration reform for a

long time. So that tweaking what is in place today might be a good idea. But as you can tell from the rhetoric, and as you can also tell from the

reaction, for instance to the Brexit discussions. You know, what is intended and what is perceived can be very different. And just launching

this with the headline that we're going to cut immigration by half is really sending a message to the world that were less interested in

immigration, which is exactly the wrong message to send. And I think we will see this also play out, for instance and were seen it play out today,

in the reaction to Brexit. Where talented individuals are choosing not to apply.

QUEST: Good to see you, sir. Much appreciated, thank you. Joining us from Milwaukee.

By the way, you may be just worried about my throat. A bit of a summer cold, which is not going to disappear any time soon with allergies. But we

battle on anyway.

Paris Saint-Germain says they've got their man. Plucked from the seemingly untouchable FC Barcelona. And the amount of money that the Catalonia took,

say they've been paid $.25 billion and change. An extraordinary amount.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:30:52] QUEST: Hello, I'm Richard Quest. There's more QUEST MEANS BUSINESS in just a moment. And as we get to that and before we do, this is

CNN, and on this network the news always comes first.

In our reports that the U.S. special counsel's Russia probe in the United States is growing in intensity. The "Wall Street Journal" is citing two

sources saying, Robert Mueller has been paneled for a Washington grand jury to investigate Moscow's interference with the 2016 elections. The panel is

reporting it began its work in recent weeks.

He ran supreme leader is urging his country to stand up against what he calls, aggressive powers, such as United States. The statement came after

the U.S. president signed a measure levying sanctions on Iran, Russia and North Korea. Another high-ranking a rainy and official said, the sanctions

are meant to destroy the Iran nuclear deal.

Stephen McGown's wife and father are celebrating his freedom after the South African was released by Al Qaeda. Catherine and Malcolm McGown

appeared at a news conference with South Africa's Foreign Minister. Al Qaeda held Stephen McGown for nearly 6 years after seizing him in Mali.

So, to the markets, and the Dow closed at an all-time high for the seventh day in a row. It not only held the 22,000 mark -- but look at the way the

market traded. Down, then up, and sometimes look to me dicey. It's the 50th record since Donald Trump's election and it broke 22,000. It was

helped by the technology stocks today Apple, Amazon, and Facebook they were all lower and indeed, there were no records for either the S&P or the

Nasdaq.

Brexit uncertainty and a sluggish economy are not exactly a vote of confidence, but they were the words from the Bank of England has once again

said the U.K.'s central bank held interest rates steady and slashed its growth forecast. The decision triggered a fall in the pound, which met its

lowest point against the euro and nine months. For those British people taking holidays to the continent, the vacation just became a little harder

on the wallet.

Governor Mark Carney says, the divorce from the European Union is weighing on the economy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK CARNEY, BANK OF ENGLAND GOVERNOR: It is evident in our discussions across the country with businesses, it's evident in our decision-maker

during panel survey, it's evident in other business surveys, I think it's evident in the reporting of a number of people in this room, uncertainty is

about the eventual relationship are weighing on the decisions of some businesses.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: Joining me now is Adam Posen, the former member of the MPC, and now president of the Peterson Institute for International Economics in

Washington. Adam Posen, the decision to leave interest rates unchanged is no surprise. But the governor very much giving this warning of uncertainty

on both the demand and supply-side because of Brexit.

ADAM POSEN, FORMER MONETARY POLICY COMMITTEE, BANK OF ENGLAND: I think, Richard, it wasn't a surprise some of us had said, but on the other hand

you saw how much sterling moved today, against the dollar and particularly against the euro. So, it surprise some people. And that is partly because

the governor and some of the other MPC members have been talking quite tough and then not voting quite tough. I think their right not to vote

quite tough, but that's how you get this kind of surprise.

QUEST: Right, but this very difficult environment that they find themselves in, where you might wish to raise rates because of inflationary

pressures or other pressures in the economy.

[16:35:05] But you can't now because of this overhang of uncertainty, which exists in the U.K. economy. At a time also, where your downgrading

economic growth for this year and next.

POSEN: I think you're absolutely right, Richard. And you said initially about that Governor Carney spoke about the two-sided risks and the great

uncertainty for Brexit. I don't think there really two-sided. I think it's clearly one-sided. It's how bad it's going to be. How much

inflation? How slow growth is going to go? The bank's forecast to me and a lot of other people, most recently, it seems pretty unrealistically

optimistic, because they seem to be assuming that the worst part of Brexit was the temporary uncertainty.

But the worst part of Brexit is Brexit. And it's going to require a lot of adaptation and probably a further decline in the pound to get there. So,

then they've got to make got check call and how much that passes through into persisting inflation versus being a onetime adjustment. And as you

said, it's really hard to raise rates when the economy is slowing down.

QUEST: If you were on the MPC now -- the old question -- what would be your preferred policy response? Bearing in mind that frankly, interest

rates as a blunt instrument, don't seem to have had the efficacy that we've experienced may be in previous generations.

POSEN: No, I completely agree with the thrust of your question. That the interest rate doesn't have this precise control. That was a happy

coincidence, or a happy accident of the early 2000s. And so, you can't look to the interest rate. If anything, if I were on the MPC right now,

I'd be walking down the hall and pounding on the door of the colleagues who are members in the Financial Policy Committee, the FPC, and saying, look,

my real concern is consumer over borrowing, real estate prices, all the imbalances the former governor Mervyn King used to speak about that don't

seem to have corrected.

It's your job to figure out a way to take those down without us having to raise rates. That was the whole point of creating the FPC. And Governor

Carney and other members, a couple of the other internal members of the MPC are on that committee and they should hear that.

QUEST: To be fully transparent, I mean, you have been an arch opponent of Brexit since the get go. And indeed, your view has always been that the

U.K. -- I think your quote is -- the U.K. economy will collapse. It certainly will be worse off in the long run. So, that said, this morning's

caveats from the governor sort of back you up.

POSEN: I guess so. It's like everybody who was accused of being part of project fear, even though I was just genuinely afraid, I got wrong the

timing. I thought things would fall off more quickly for the U.K. economy. And they had a good six months run as I several other people have said, you

know, it was like Wiley Coyote in the classic cartoon going off the cliff and running for a while before he realized he's got no floor under him.

And you know, I think it's healthy for the bank, the MPC and the governor in particular, to say, you know, on basic economics this is a blow to

potential growth for the U.K. We have to take that into account.

QUEST: Adam Posen thank you so much. Great to have you, sir, thank you.

POSEN: Thank you.

QUEST: The most expensive football transfer in history appears to be complete. Paris Saint-Germain says, it's signed the Barcelona star,

Neymar, on five-year deal. A few hours ago, Barcelona said it to have received the $263 million release clause for its Brazilian star. The

Catalan Club also says it will pass on details of the deal to European football's governing body. There are just claims that the astonishing fee

is breaking the financial rulebook.

Patrick Snell is in Atlanta and joins us. We can argue and discuss until the cows come home whether any individual is worth quarter of a billion

dollars. Give me some perspective about how much bigger this is from anything we've seen before.

PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: Richard, yes, this is huge. This absolutely shatters the previous world record fee, which was around the

$150 million mark. As recently as last year, that when Manchester United paid Juventus, the reigning Italian champions, some, as I say, well over

$100 million to bring back, two buyback Paul Pogba, the French international infielder, they were buying him back. But this pretty much

more than doubles that and then some.

And Paris Saint-Germain, of course, they're owned and back by the Qatari sports investment, who were desperate to bring success to this club.

They're not even the reigning French champions at the moment.

[16:40:00] They are desperate to win European club football's most lucrative prize, namely the Champions League. This is all part of a

strategy, Richard. But players might want to know why would Neymar Jr. want to leave a club with the stature of Barcelona. He's basically saying

he's ready for a new challenge. He's extremely happy to be joining PSG.

QUEST: What does he bring for a quarter of a billion dollars? Bearing in mind that even if you have him, you still need the rest of the team. And

you still need to build -- I mean there's no iron team as they always say. So, what does he bring?

SNELL: Your quite right, and the ramifications, Richard, that could ensue from this. If the financial Fair Play regulations, if PSG are at some

point deemed to be in breach about it. It could be mean -- you could get the scenario that PSG actually have to sell off some of their other star

players. Which kind of makes some might argue, the Neymar situation, well why are you moving in the first place? But look, much is expected of him.

He is expected now to be catalyst of this team. He is after all, he knows he's no stranger to victory and winning. He won the Champions League with

Barcelona. He has won an Olympic gold medal for Brazil. But he's desperate to get on the big stage.

Now of course, at Barcelona he was surrounded by other star qualities as well, namely, Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez. There is huge expectation now

on Neymar Jr. He is going to be the main man at Paris Saint-Germain. We saw it before with Slaven Grevenbroich as well. The Swede who's since

moved on. Neymar's weight of expectations, is he worth it? Time will tell. It will be fascinating to see.

QUEST: A quarter of a billion. Thank you. Patrick Snell.

More business news on QUEST MEAN BUSINESS in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: If the Trump administration get its way, the United States will join Australia, the U.K. and Canada amongst others in using a points-based

system to screen permanent residents. Now, economists are warning baby boomers are retiring as are simply aren't enough young workers in the U.S.

to pick up the slack. Fewer workers means less economic growth. Joining me now Benjamin Bergen the executive director of the Council of Canadian

Innovators, the points-based system is controversial but it has worked well for Canada and for Australia, and the U.K. is looking at, if the U.S. were

to move towards that would that help or hinder Canada?

BENJAMIN BERGEN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, COUNCIL OF CANADIAN INNOVATORS: Well, I think, thank you, Richard, obviously for having me, but I think that is

kind of a simplistic question. If you look at the language that has come out in the RAISE Act of cutting immigration, you see the language that

President Trump used in January around trying to ban individuals coming from certain countries. What is beginning to emerge anti-immigration

feeling.

[16:45:00] A lot of people want to look to Canada as a success, and yes, we do have a points-based system in some aspects. But really, the Canadian

approach is actually three prongs.

And at the center of that really is diversity as our strength. So, if President Trump is wanting to implement just one of those items, be at the

point system, you better look at really the totality that makes the Canadian system so successful. And I would say that that is a focus on

humanitarian, a focus on economic, and they focus on family reunification. And it is those three pieces working together that has really led to a

successful system.

QUEST: Right. That is if you like success in the wider sense of an immigration policy to which you are referring. But in the battle to

attract the most qualified applicants at a time when there is a shortage in some areas such as engineering and obviously, software. United States is

sort of sucking in more of the sort of immigrants that other countries want must hinder them surely the seller countries.

BERGEN: There is obviously a global shortage of tech, so I work for a business council and I work with CEOs all the time. And the item I would

say there is that being able to be a diverse workforce is very important, and so the Canadian system, it doesn't really matter where you come from,

but cares what you come with. And I think the US moving towards a point system may be beneficial in terms of those applicants meeting economic

criteria.

But if you don't have some of those other pillars, the humanitarian pillar which I mentioned earlier, Canada brought in 40,000 Syrian refugees, that

helps to add to the kind of country that people actually want to move to. So, these highly desirable workers are wanting to come to a country that is

immigrant friendly. I think the tone that has been struck with RAISE Act by limiting immigration, limiting pieces of humanitarian is a challenge.

QUEST: And on this question, I know obviously it doesn't necessarily apply in Canada's case because obviously, the bilingual nature of the country.

But this idea that there has to be an English test or that there needs to be a certain standard of English that will be spoken, well, apparently, you

need that anyway for naturalization in the United States. But do you think it is right to have that as criteria initially on an immigration basis?

BERGEN: The thing that I would say in Canada we as part of our economic points rewarding system look at international students. And often

international students that come here don't come with maybe the necessary language, by one of the tools we have in Canada is actually training to

learn English or to learn French. I think is being smarter about how you bring in people from abroad but don't necessarily just limited towards that

language, especially if they are students in your own country.

QUEST: Good to see you sir, thank you for joining us from Toronto tonight.

QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, we are going to continue in just a moment after the final episode of our series INDIA 20 UNDER 40.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAVIN BHARTI MITTAL, FOUNDER AND CEO OF HIKE MESSENGER: In a market where a billion people are coming online for the first time in their lives on a

mobile phone, the Internet can seem like the wild, wild West. I am Kavin Bharti Mittal, I am 29 years old, I am the founder and CEO of hike

Messenger, India's largest local messaging application.

Hike messenger is a new kind of messaging app that transforms the way people interact with their close friends and also transforming the way

people interact with content services. We are just 4 1/2 years old. And 4 1/2 years we have gone to over 100 million users, people are sending over

40 billion messages a month on the platform.

We believe India is a country of 20+ countries. So, one of the biggest things that we tackle early on was localization. Today we have 15,000

stickers, over 40+ regional languages which are used today to communicate in your local languages. Over 300 million stickers are exchanged every day

on the platform.

Internet is generally a difficult place for someone to come online for the first time in a market like India. Our goal in India is so messaging how

can you bring these people online and actually make the Internet a simpler place.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[16:50:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, now SoftBank, the Japanese telecoms giant is expanding is expanding its empire across the world. It is investing $250

million in an online lender called Kabbage. Now SoftBank has already pumped billions into tech companies just this year, the company invested

1.4 billion in that Indian starter called Paytm, so you have got Kabbage, Paytm, next to targeted Uber's rival investing 5 billion in the Chinese

company Didi Chuxing which is over there. And about $2 billion in Singapore's startup Grab.

Rob Frowein is the chief executive of Kabbage and joins us now live from Atlanta. So, what does this deal give you that you did not have before

that you will have going on?

ROB FROWEIN, CEO, KABBAGE: Well, Richard, first of all, thank you for having me on the show. Having a partner like SoftBank really opens up the

world to us. SoftBank obviously, as you pointed out, has investments across the globe. They also invest in what they see is very disruptive

revolutionary companies in specific spaces. It validates what we have really been doing over the last seven years, we are thrilled to have them

as a partner.

QUEST: OK. A partner, this is a sizable investment. How will you use that investment?

FROWEIN: There is many ways. We are going to continue to drive deeper into small business lending in the U.S. under the brand Kabbage. We have

already put out more than 3 1/2 billion dollars of capital to 100,000 businesses. We plan to grow that to over 500,000 businesses over the

coming five years. That is part one.

QUEST: From your experience at the moment, with the U.S. economy which is growing slow to mediocre, is there a lack of capital available? Are SMEs

finding the increased lending ratios and requirements difficult in terms of accessing capital?

FROWEIN: Yes, for sure, look, small businesses have always been sort of the ugly redheaded stepchild or whatever term is of the financial services

industry. They have not been able to access cash, not just since the financial crisis but will before that. We have actually figured out a way

to fund them very quickly through technology and data and an automated user experience. It is the only way in my opinion to serve the segment

profitably.

QUEST: We look at the market at the moment and this is not necessarily markets question, but everyone wants to invest in something to do with

tech. Tech is de rigueur, it is in vogue. But the real economy, give me a perspective of the sort of companies you are investing in, the real

economy, people who make things. There is a novel thought.

[16:55:00] FROWEIN: It is absolutely a novel thought. What is incredible is that we support restaurants, dry cleaners, lawn care, even lawyers and

doctors, but also retailers who are setting up small businesses. Small business generates two thirds of all the jobs in the United States, and

frankly, everywhere else around the world.

QUEST: How much of a risk do you have to take? I mean obviously you don't want to throw money down the drain. But when you are lending to SMEs at

the sort of level that you are, and within the depths of the community which you are, you must accept an element of NPF, nonperforming loans. And

you must accept the sum of that is just going to go bad.

FROWEIN: Yes, you absolutely do, something you have to figure in. Also, almost more importantly, is you have to be prepared upfront to take that

risk. You've got to figure out what makes these small businesses tick. What separates the great ones from the ones that are not going to do as

well? And you have to guess what, put out capital to make that happen. You can just hope that you can figure that out without actually putting

capital at risk. And that is what we do.

QUEST: I have to say thank you, sir, for joining us, but I take my hat off to anybody who is in business, a long time ago, I discovered I could not

sell water in the desert. Good to see you, sir, thank you for joining us.

FROWEIN: Thank you.

QUEST: We will have a Profitable Moment after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: Tonight's Profitable Moment, to transcripts or the alleged transcripts of Donald Trump's conversation with President Pena Nieto from

Mexico and Malcolm Turnbull of Australia, well, we all read them and they were just deliciously voyeuristic as you read these highly confidential

conversations between world leaders. As to what it all means, I suspect it is going to take many months before we can ever get to truly understand the

implications of those policies and those arguments.

And that is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS for tonight, I'm Richard Quest with a sore throat, whatever you are up to in the hours ahead, I hope it is profitable.

You will be pleased to know I am taking tomorrow off.

END