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Quest Means Business
Trump Filling Key Foreign Policy Roles With Loyalists; Senate Republicans Set To Hold Leadership Vote Wednesday; Scholz Government Increasingly Unpopular In Germany; Church Of England Scandal; Russia- Ukraine Conflict; Trump Transition; South Africa's Clickatell; Future Of Last-Mile Delivery. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired November 12, 2024 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[16:00:05]
RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST, "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS": Closing bell ringing on Wall Street, and a miserable day on the street. Profit taking,
all sorts of reasons, global advisors from State Street and the Global Council ringing the closing bell. I think we are at the worst of the day.
If not, it is pretty close, down under 44,000, off 378 points, and we will get into the reasons why. It is all economic et cetera et cetera, but those
are the markets and we've had a gavel. And now let me update you on the events of the day.
Donald Trump's foreign policy team is taking shape. There are new picks for Ambassador to Israel and the Secretary of Homeland Security.
Bitcoin is closing in on $90,000.00. It has been on a tear since the US election.
And the Archbishop of Canterbury is resigning over his handling of child abuse allegations.
Live from New York. Busy day, Tuesday. It is Tuesday, November the 12th. I am Richard Quest. I mean business.
Good evening.
We start tonight with more appointments and nominations from Donald Trump. He is building his administration, filling key roles with like-minded
Republicans.
A short time ago, he selected the former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee to be the next US Ambassador to Israel. Former Governor Huckabee is an
Evangelical Christian and has been a lifelong supporter of Israel. But he is the first non-Jewish political appointee in more than half a century.
Nic Robertson is following that also, of course Marco Rubio. We don't have a confirmation of Marco Rubio, but very likely he will be the Secretary of
State nominee. So we are getting a picture, what is that picture of?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, that is a picture of loyalists to President-elect Donald Trump, that is very clear across all
his picks in all the positions. There are those, you know, like Rubio, who have started years ago as a political opponent to him and have come away,
have come around to his way of thinking. Rubio is expected to be like Trump very pro-Israel; like Trump, very anti-Iran.
Very similar to Trump on Ukraine, not believing that the financial support that Ukraine currently gets should continue in this fashion. He is on
record not as long ago as saying, look, it is very clear that the war in Ukraine is going to have to end through, you know, a negotiation. I think
everyone understands that. But it is the terms of the negotiation.
Mike Waltz who is expected to be President-elect Donald Trump's pick for National Security, is also someone who takes a tough line you know, former
Green Beret ranger.
QUEST: Right.
ROBERTSON: Military background, many times in Afghanistan. But you know, perhaps it is on Ukraine and NATO where Rubio and Waltz might have a
slightly different opinion than Donald Trump has had about the value of NATO. So I think these are the contours that we are looking at right now.
QUEST: So the one thing one can say about all of the people that we've seen so far, they are all experienced politicians.
Now, one can argue and disagree this way or the other on what their policies might be, but they know their way around. There are no weirdos.
There are no strangers. There are no off the reservation picks so far as we can see. Right?
ROBERTSON: Yes, I mean, look, Rubio has experience on various of the committees in Congress and this has given him, you know insight into
foreign relations, insight into intelligence, led that committee at one time.
So this is somebody who comes in with a degree of knowledge of you know, where the world stands on a whole host of issues. But he hasn't had to deal
with those foreign ministers those -- you know, his equivalents around the world.
QUEST: Right. But is there a difference here? I am curious, Nic, there are those issues where Donald Trump may feel particularly strongly about and
there may be either, you know, nuanced disagreements between Rubio, Waltz and the president-elect, like Ukraine, like the Middle East.
But then you've got vast swathes of the world where Donald Trump, with his notorious goldfish attention span is not interested in and that, like Latin
America, Central America, those sort of places where he might not have such an interest and that is where someone like Rubio, who does have an
interest, can make a real difference.
ROBERTSON: Absolutely. But I think the difference he is going to make is he is going to head in the same direction, the same political, the same
foreign policy direction that Donald Trump wants him to go and he will be also on China, a hawk. But yes, when it comes to Venezuela, for example, he
is likely to be able to give Donald Trump some pretty accurate briefs on it.
[16:05:16]
But I don't think we are going to be seeing a Secretary of State if he gets through all the appointment hearings. I don't think we are going to see a
Secretary of State here setting the agenda himself, telling Donald Trump, you know, here is what you've got to do, sir on Venezuela. I don't believe
it is going to go that way.
QUEST: We will talk more. You have your work cut out for you in days, weeks, and months ahead. Years ahead -- thank you, sir.
Republicans in Congress are on the cusp of the so-called trifecta. They've won the White House. They've flipped the Senate, and if you look at those
numbers they are only three seats away from holding on to the House.
Unified government and the Senate Republicans are set to choose their leadership on Wednesday. John Thune, John Cornyn and Rick Scott are the
front runners to replace Mitch McConnell. He is stepping down. He has been the leader for nearly 20 years.
Manu Raju joins me from Capitol Hill.
Look, there is the trifecta and then there is the Donald Trump trifecta in this scenario because he is such a strong leader of his own party with the
whole MAGA movement behind him. This isn't just taking the three branches of government or the two branches of government.
MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, and look and already we are seeing these Senate Majority Leader candidates fall in
line over some of his demands including to essentially allow him to bypass the Senate confirmation process that is required for his nominees to key
positions such as Cabinet positions, Secretary of State, Secretary of Homeland Security, Attorney General, and all the way down the line that
require the Senate to actually approve, the Senate has a constitutional duty to advise and consent.
He is saying essentially, short circuit that process and allow him to install that by what is already known in Washington as recess appointments,
something that he has allowed to do, but in recent years, Senate Majorities have taken steps to prevent that from even happening.
But even in the aftermath of him making that call, Senate leaders who are running for this post, these potential leaders have all said that they
support what Donald Trump is saying here, that all shows you the power that he has almost certain to wield over this new Senate Republican Majority.
The three candidates you mentioned there are all vying for this top spot. They have the power to set the agenda, to decide what bills to put on the
floor. And they are all saying, Richard, that they will do essentially what Donald Trump wants, which is to move his agenda and try to position
themselves as the closest ally to the president-elect.
QUEST: It would be a very brave, some would say, foolish congressman or senator in the initial stages of this administration to get in the way of
the Trump truck that is heading down the road because you would be committing political suicide.
RAJU: Yes, and look, there are also the concern that Trump could endorse one of these candidates ahead of tomorrow's election for the new Senate
Majority Leader and if he were to endorse someone, perhaps that could change the dynamics and the secret ballot election.
But so far, Trump has not. And the one reason why is that this race will come down in large part to relationships, something that Trump can't really
control, which is why he has made the decision at the moment to stay out of it because if he were to endorse someone and that person were to lose in
the secret ballot election then he would be -- it would be an embarrassing setback for the president-elect, which is one reason why he is staying
quiet for the most part for now -- Richard.
QUEST: Do they still have these token sessions to avoid going into recess? These ghost sessions, just so they can avoid going into recess, so a
president -- and both parties have done this, by the way, both parties have avoided the recess and they still go through the charade.
RAJU: Yes, they do. In fact, it was really started in 2007. The then Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid, prevented George W. Bush from installing those
appointments and avoiding Senate confirmation votes, really preventing the Senate from going into extended recess by having sessions that are known as
pro forma sessions, where they don't conduct no business at all.
But now Trump is saying, do away with that altogether. Go into extended recess, avoid the confirmation process, and let me just install all my
Cabinet nominees. That is something that both senators would say, I don't want to give up my power of advice and consent, but these Senate leaders
who want Trump's support or want him to stay out of this race are saying, okay, that's fine Mr. President.
QUEST: A constitutional issue, and we haven't even begun. All right, sir, I am grateful, as always. Thank you.
Bitcoin, it hit a record high early this morning and it is an election fueled rally. Take a look. Where are we now? Bitcoin is up eighty-nine
thousand -- ninety thousand almost.
The digital currency has shot up more than 25 percent since Election Day. Donald Trump campaigned on halting regulation and the idea that crypto
could define the future.
[16:10:11]
He also has surrounded himself with blockchain advocates like Elon Musk. The president-elect stands to benefit. In September, he and his sons helped
launch a new crypto group called World Liberty Financial.
Anna Stewart is in London.
So Anna, why -- I mean, is it just less regulation? What has fueled the love affair with Bitcoin now?
ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER: It is not just less regulation, its actually regulation, full stop. More rules for digital assets and cryptocurrencies,
so that more people can actually trade it. What has been most surprising, Richard, is if you remember President Trump in 2019, he was not a fan of
crypto. Here is what he said in a tweet. He actually said: It was not money and its value was based on thin air.
Fast forward five years and during the campaign, just this year, he went to a Bitcoin conference and this is what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: If crypto is going to define the future, I want to be mined, minted, and Made in the USA, it is
going to be. It is not going to be made anywhere else. And if Bitcoin is going to the moon, as we say, it is going to the moon. I want America to be
the nation that leads the way, and that's what's going to happen.
Oh, you're going to be very happy with me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEWART: Bitcoin bulls are really happy. He also wants to create a national strategic reserve of Bitcoin. He said he would fire the existing SEC chair
on day one and presumably replace him with someone who was a bit more friendly towards cryptocurrency. So this is why Bitcoin bulls are so
excited right now -- Richard.
QUEST: Okay, two things. First of all, is it a Bitcoin play or is it a crypto play? Because as I've looked at others, Ethereum and the like, they
have gained as well. And secondly, listening to what the president-elect says there, this is not an I-am-in-love-with-crypto, this is if crypto is
going to be it, we are going to do it better than anybody else, and it is going to be an American.
STEWART: Yes, and on a more personal level, he and his sons have also launched a cryptocurrency platform as well. So there is also that issue of
President Trump potentially having some personal stake in this come next year.
Your questions, though, remind me, what was your first question, Richard? I already forgot.
QUEST: I'm so sorry. I've almost forgotten it myself. Oh, yes, yes. Is it a rising tide lifting all the crypto boats?
STEWART: It always is in this case, and I think this is definitely the case with bringing up all the digital currencies, but this is also a Bitcoin
play. It almost always is. Bitcoin is possibly the most leading decentralized currency there is.
And the idea that there could be a Bitcoin national strategic reserve, that could be a huge support for prices and volatility.
QUEST: Except -- I can't, and I can't keep going on to talk here. we are out.
Oh no I can. I am allowed, except all the other strategic reserves. Let's talk about oil, they buy it in. If you talk about the reserves of
currencies, they've got them already. They are printing them.
They don't control the ability to have Bitcoin because of the algorithm and therefore you could either -- or I suppose, we are getting into this. Hang
on. I am just winging this now.
We are getting into this idea of a Central Bank aren't we, digital currency now, and whether the Fed would have a digital currency, which of course it
said it is not going to do it, it sees no merit in it.
STEWART: And if you think about the centralization of cryptocurrencies, well, that's actually exactly what Donald Trump and his sort of followers
don't want to see, so it is quite complex. A few thorny issues, I think, to iron out here.
QUEST: Decode it, Anna Stewart, thank you. You will -- you will help us through the next few years. I am grateful. Thank you.
Clare Duffy. Who is Clare Duffy? You know Clare Duffy. She is with us all the time and you'll know her even more. She has launched a new podcast
covering technology. She is going to tell us about the terms of service in just a moment.
Terms of service with Clare Duffy.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:16:37]
QUEST: Germany is set to hold snap elections on February the 23rd. It follows the collapse of Chancellor Scholz's coalition last week.
Disagreements over the country's weak economy.
And now, the chancellor is leading a government that has grown increasingly unpopular. A September opinion poll has named him as one of the least
popular chancellors ever.
Sebastian Shukla is in Berlin.
It was always a weird sort of election result to start with. He cobbled together this come what may, but I am surprised he is going to cling on so
long.
SEBASTIAN SHUKLA, CNN PRODUCER: Yes, Richard, I think it has been a long week in German politics, and particularly if you're Olaf Scholz.
Just this time last week in fact, he was the head of this government, a coalition, albeit that had infighting, but which coalition doesn't and now
he is governing in a minority, has had to call an election or said that he will call an election, has to call a vote of confidence in himself and has
left this country, a country which is so usually stable and prosperous really reeling from the effects of a period under Scholz, which has made
him not only incredibly unpopular, but also seen Germany go through this political and economic turmoil.
As for what happens next, there is a sequential series of events that do have to take place. Olaf Scholz has said that he will call this a vote of
confidence in himself in the Bundestag on the 16th of December, and the parties have agreed themselves that the elections will take place on the
23rd of February. But there is the formalities that have to go on in between that -- Richard.
QUEST: So what happens between now and then? That's two-and-a-half, three months away. There will be a new president in Washington and that Europe is
in a bit of a mess generally. Is he lame duck or is he dead duck?
SHUKLA: Well, he is -- at the moment, he is kind of neither, really. He obviously still wields the power and he would like to continue to try to
get some key policies through the Bundestag. What happens is after the vote of confidence, there is a 21-day period where President Frank-Walter
Steinmeier considers and then is able to call the election.
But what has happened today in the political horse trading since Scholz said that he was prepared to call a new election, is that the date of the
election itself has actually been agreed amongst the major parties. So between then and now, we will see essentially what we can expect to see
anyway is a period of almost the political campaigning starting, which we've already seen, particularly from Angela Merkel's former party, the CDU
who basically held Scholz's feet to the fire and said, you've got to call this election far sooner than you would like to.
QUEST: All right, we will talk about it more. You'll watch and you'll come back and tell us. Thank you very much, Sebastian in Berlin tonight.
The Church of England's most senior leader has resigned over his handling of a child sex abuse scandal.
The archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby was accused in a damning report of failing to stop a serial abuser associated with the church. More than a
hundred boys and young men were abused over decades. The Archbishop learned of the allegations in 2013.
Christopher Lamb joins me from Westminster Abbey, outside Westminster Abbey.
[16:20:10]
The Archbishop originally said, having prayed and thought about it, he wasn't going to go, but it was the Bishop of Newcastle, wasn't it, who
finally said, come on, you don't stand a chance here. You've got to go and nobody rallied to his defense.
CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right, Richard.
The Archbishop of Canterbury came under huge pressure to resign. It is a really significant moment because never before, has an Archbishop of
Canterbury, resigned for mishandling sexual abuse, and the archbishop, of course, has such an important role in the life of the UK.
I am standing in front of Westminster Abbey where just over two years ago, the Archbishop crowned King Charles III. But this report into a man called
John Smyth was really very difficult for the Archbishop to survive.
The report looking at the abuses of John Smyth, one of the worst abusers in the Church of England. Smyth was a lawyer and a volunteer at a Christian
summer camps for members of Britain's elite private schools, where he identified his victims, almost 130 of them, carried out savage beatings of
them, and the Archbishop found to not have done enough to report him.
QUEST: Okay, we are having difficulty hearing you, because I think maybe we are not hearing the right microphone. So we are going to pause for that,
while you sort maybe that out and we will come back maybe a moment or two to talk about it, because it is a very important story. I'd like to hear
more from you.
CNN has a new podcast out today. It is the first of two episodes. It's called "Terms of Service" by our own Clare Duffy. They are now available.
One of them is called "Sharenting."
The practice of parents posting information about their kids online. It raises concerns over privacy and consent. A 2021 survey showed more than 75
percent of parents shared photos and stories of their kids online, and less than a quarter of them asked their children's permission.
Clare Duffy is in New York. First of all, congratulations, Clare.
CLARE DUFFY, CNN BUSINESS WRITER: Thank you, Richard, I am so excited.
QUEST: This is an extraordinarily excellent and brilliant, and of course, it is available wherever you get your podcasts.
DUFFY: Like and subscribe.
QUEST: Why did you choose this particular subject, "Terms of Service."
Yes, Richard, look, I mean, for the show, when I am covering tech, there is often so much hype and also a lot of fear and what we wanted to do with the
show is really cut through all of that and look at how new technologies are showing up in people's everyday lives, help them understand how they work,
how to protect themselves from the downsides in a really accessible and hopefully fun way.
And this "Sharenting" episode felt like a really great example of that, because this is a question that I get as a tech reporter all the time.
Should I post my kids on social media? So I spoke with Leah Plunkett, who is a privacy researcher. She works for Harvard, and she offered some tips
for people and really said that it is not necessarily a yes or no question, should I post or should I not?
But that there are a number of things that parents can consider when they're thinking about posting their kids including is this post going to
compromise the physical safety of my child? Like, is it going to show their school address?
And she offered a really great analogy for why this is so important that I think we can play for you a clip from the show.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEAH PLUNKETT, RESEARCHER: I am the tail end of Gen X. I grew up without technology, and I sometimes say my parents would have never put my full
name, my date of birth, my phone number, my home address, my likes and dislikes on a poster board and stuck it up in the center of my town because
why do a bunch of people in my town as lovely as it was, need to know that? And the answer is they don't.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DUFFY: So physical safety is a big one. She also said that parents should be thinking about whether their kids will be comfortable with the
information that they are posting five or ten years down the road, like your kid might not love that you've shared their potty training journey on
social media.
So those are some of the things that she said that folks should think about. And I hope that people listen to the rest of the show as well.
QUEST: Right. Now, I am curious from your point of view, because you broadcast, you're a senior writer. You write extensively, but if you're
going to do a podcast, does there have to be a different relationship with the listener who has chosen -- for instance -- do you -- I don't know,
because I've not done a podcast, but do you have to challenge? Do you have to be more reactionary? More -- I don't know. Tell me, when you're
challenging --
Because at the end of the day, surely you know, why should a parent care what their kid thinks about in 15 years' time? You know, tough whatever,
you weren't around then. So get over it. Do you know what I mean? Is podcasting different?
DUFFY: Yes, I do think, I mean, certainly I've had to learn how to scale back my broadcast TV voice a little bit as I am doing podcasting. But I do
think it has put me in sort of a different frame of mind from my reporter, you know, writing framework where I am often thinking about how are these
companies making money? What are the executives thinking? What is the business strategy? And really thinking about how this technology is
impacting all of our daily lives?
[16:25:17]
I mean, things like artificial intelligence, facial recognition are changing our lives so quickly, and indeed they are making lots of money for
lots of people, but I really want for this show to focus on how are these things changing people's everyday lives and how can they navigate that?
QUEST: All right, I guess I am going to have to grovel at some point to be on the program.
DUFFY: I'd love to have you on.
QUEST: I am going to have to drop some very large hints. Clare, congratulations.
DUFFY: Anytime.
QUEST: It is a great achievement. Thank you very much.
DUFFY: Thank you.
QUEST: Yes, and we love having you on QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, Clare. Thank you.
DUFFY: Thank you.
QUEST: It is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS tonight. Just delighted that we are all together tonight, to talk about business, economics, and the world.
Donald Trump, it is Marco Rubio who is likely to be the Secretary of State. Ian Bremmer, now, there is somebody who really knows his foreign policy
onions. He is with me after the break.
I don't know why they would say knows their onions.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Christopher Lamb is back with me at Westminster Abbey on the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Thank you, Christopher, for sorting things out and it is such an important story.
The decision by the Archbishop to resign over these sexual abuse. I mean, essentially, it is because he did not report what he knew back in 2012-
2013. Why did he say he didn't?
LAMB: Well, that's a good question.
I mean, the Archbishop has insisted that he first knew of the allegations in 2013. He has admitted in the past, before his resignation, failings to
report the abuse of John Smyth, who is one of the worst abusers to be associated with the Church of England.
Now, he has said in his statement today that he takes personal and institutional responsibility for the failure to report to police this abuse
by John Smyth.
[16:30:18]
Now, the other problem for the archbishop was that he knew John Smythe. Smyth ran Christian summer camps for boys from Britain's elite private
schools, and Justin Welby got to know Smythe through those camps. Now, he always has maintained he didn't know about the abuse until 2013, but some
have called that into question. And there has been so much pressure on the archbishop to resign. It's a huge moment.
QUEST: Right, but here's the point. He said he was basically not -- he's gone because he had to go, not because he was willing to go initially. I
mean, there's a strong argument that would say he only went when he realized he couldn't stay.
LAMB: I think there's truth to that. He came out, as you said, strongly saying, yes, I made mistakes, but I'm not going to resign. He said, I took
advice and I've decided that my advisor say I should stay, so I'm going to stay. It has been inconsistent at a very difficult time for the archbishop.
But clearly he recognizes and realizes that he's lost the confidence of the church and therefore he cannot stay in post.
QUEST: Who is the front runner to take over?
LAMB: Well, it's difficult to say at the moment. I'm hearing different names. There's Bishop of Salisbury, the Bishop of Leicester, some of those
who are seen in contention for the role. Of course, as Archbishop of Canterbury, it's not just leading the Church of England. You're also the
leader of the worldwide, or spiritual leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion, of 85 million people. So it's a big international job as well as
one within the Church of England and, of course, within the UK.
QUEST: I'm grateful to you, sir. Thank you, Christopher Lamb at Westminster.
News to us, the man convicted of leaking highly classified military documents about the war in Ukraine has been sentenced to 15 years in
prison. Jack Teixeira has pleaded guilty earlier this year to six counts under the Espionage Act. During the hearing at the federal court, he
apologized and said the security breach raised alarm over America's ability to protect its most closely guarded secrets. It forced the Biden
administration to scramble to contain the diplomatic and military fallout.
Let's turn to our top story, Donald Trump is reportedly going to ask Senator Rubio to be his Secretary of State. If it happens, Ukraine will be
one of Rubio's top priorities. The critics are worried that the Trump victory could encourage Moscow to pursue its goals with Ukraine with more
force.
CNN's Fred Pleitgen on the Russian reaction to Donald Trump's win.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Russian state TV feasting on Donald Trump's election victory. The main talk program
showcasing a social media post By Donald Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., mocking Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, saying his so called
allowance from the US will soon run out.
The message from Russian media, Ukraine is concerned US aid could dry up and Russia will win the war. On Moscow streets, optimism about the incoming
administration in Washington.
Since the war in Ukraine, relations between Moscow and Washington have continued to plummet to new lows. But now, many people here hope and
believe that a new Trump presidency could bring those relations back on track.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PLEITGEN (through translation): Trump also said he wants to end the war in Ukraine.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We all want that. We really want the war to end now. The situation is impossible. I hope we get to a mutual understanding.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PLEITGEN: But what could a so-called mutual understanding look like? This video from Ukraine's military purporting to show Kyiv's forces hitting
Russian troops in the Kursk region of Russia, where the Ukrainians say they are now facing off against nearly 50,000 Russian and also North Korean
troops.
The Ukrainians acknowledge they probably wouldn't be able to sustain their operations without US military aid. Aid Donald Trump has in the past
insinuated he might cut altogether in an effort he claims to end the war.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), US PRESIDENT-ELECT: They're dying, Russians and Ukrainians. I want them to stop dying. And I'll have that done -- I'll have
that done in 24 hours. Take over, Elijah.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PLEITGEN: Trump also said he wants to end the war in Ukraine.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We all want that. We really want the war to end now. The situation is impossible. I hope we get to a mutual understanding.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[16:35:00]
PLEITGEN: A Ukrainian source now saying Trump was joined by billionaire Elon Musk on a recent phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr
Zelenskyy. Musk who, while helping Ukraine by providing Starlink satellite internet, has in the past also criticized military aid for Ukraine,
ridiculing Zelenskyy in posts on his platform X.
The Kremlin is vehemently denying Washington Post reporting claiming a Trump-Putin phone call has already happened. Still, Vladimir Putin openly
praising the president elect's stance on Ukraine and on Russia.
What was said concerning the desire to restore relations with Russia to help end the Ukrainian crisis, in my opinion, seems to me to be at least
worthy of attention, Putin said. The incoming Trump administration certainly has the attention of many in Russia, hoping for improved
relations with the US and even possible sanctions relief. Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Moscow.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: Each new pick Donald Trump makes reveals something about US policy. Ian Bremmer is with me, Head of the Eurasia Group. Ian, we've got so much
to talk about. I know how you like things in an orderly fashion, so I've driven -- I've put an agenda for us to discuss.
Let's start with Marco Rubio as such. Marco Rubio, interesting choice, what do you make of it and how far Rubio and Trump will coalesce around common
views?
IAN BREMMER, EURASIA GROUP HEAD: Well, only Secretary of State that will have ever been directly sanctioned by China. And I think, especially as the
Chinese economy is in the doldrums right now, this is a big hit. They're worried about a generally more hawkish orientation of Trump and his foreign
policy, and his economic team. And Elon Musk is kind of their only hope.
Also, of course, Marco is going to be very strongly pro-Israel, just as every other appointee of Trump has been in Trump's own orientation, which
really isolates the US further on this issue globally, but is clearly where Trump is going. And then finally, very hawkish on Venezuela and on Cuba,
will be more focused on Latin America than the Biden administration or others have been historically.
QUEST: Does Trump care about Cuba and Latin America?
BREMMER: Not much, which means that if you're Secretary of State and that's a big part of your portfolio, you'll have a lot of room to run on that one.
QUEST: Ukraine and the EU, I suppose we could put that under our agenda item as the Transatlantic relationship. Look, we don't really know where --
Ukraine, we don't know how far he's going to go to solve it in a day. The EU, I guess, we have to wait and see, you know, his bark is usually worse
than his bite.
BREMMER: Well, Richard, the 61 billion that the Americans did offer to the Ukrainians, the last major tranche, that wouldn't have been approved if
Trump hadn't given the thumbs up. So he definitely thinks that too much money is being given, but he doesn't want the Ukrainians to lose. He
doesn't want Zelenskyy to be overthrown. He does value Ukrainian national security, just not as much as Biden. What
he doesn't value is coordinating with American allies. So, I mean, Trump's inclination will be to get on the phone directly with Zelenskyy and Putin,
say here's the deal. And, of course, American allies are deeply discomfited by that. And it could lead to a split inside Europe with some leaders,
people like Viktor Orban in Hungary, but maybe even Giorgia Meloni from Italy saying, I got to work with Trump more than I have to hold a hard line
collectively on Russia.
QUEST: Arguably, Orban is more powerful than Scholz, who's a lame duck, arguably, going to lose the next election.
BREMMER: Well, sure, since that election is coming in just a few months, I would say that's probably true. But arguably, Orban is less powerful than
the next incoming chancellor of Germany, probably Friedrich Merz, who is more aligned on issues like Russia and NATO with most of the other
Europeans.
QUEST: On the economic front, the Fed, because you are indeed the expert for all seasons. On the Fed, Powell says. Powell says he's not going
anywhere. The economy is doing better than anybody really expected. At the end of the day, how does a Donald Trump not manage to ruin it?
BREMMER: Well, ruin it for who? I mean, we're going to have a stronger dollar. You've seen the markets rally. The challenge will be for other
countries in particular. The US is a much larger percentage of the global economy than the rest of the G7 is, now compared to the last 20, 30 years.
So if Trump is going to lean into things like tariffs on the Europeans, on the Japanese, he's got a lot more leverage to do that. They're going to
look a lot more willing to capitulate than they have historically. So it's possible that Trump barks pretty hard and then he ends up with a lot of
individual wins. He does have more leverage.
[16:40:07]
But if he ends up breaking things everyone's going to get hurt. So the question will not be what his opening salvo is, the question is what
happens when they get into negotiations.
QUEST: Have you seen anything in his appointments that sort of have -- has raised an eyebrow? I mean, that's out of the kilter of what we expected in
a sense that there's no loonies, there's no madmen or women, there's no weirdos, there's no extraneous, not yet anyway. It's experienced
politicians and diplomats, and experts who may have a different point of view.
QUEST: Certainly Stefanik as UN ambassador and Sanders Huckabee, excuse me, Huckabee as ambassador to Israel is a particularly pro-right wing Israel
policy that goes even beyond what we saw from Biden and even beyond what we saw from the first Trump term.
But still not out of the ordinary, Richard. I think the only thing we've seen so far out of the ordinary is that before Trump made any cabinet
appointments, he personally posted that Pompeo and Haley were not going to get a position, which he didn't need to do. He could have just not given
them a position. He wanted to make it known that those guys are not loyal and they can go look someplace else.
QUEST: You're loyal, sir. I'm grateful to you. We will have many more meetings in the years ahead. Thank you, sir. I'm grateful.
BREMMER: Thank you, Richard.
QUEST: And so, let's put it all together. That is "Quest Means Business" for tonight. I'm Richard Quest in New York. The markets were down, but
we've got weeks and months and things to go. Whatever you're up to in the hours ahead, I hope it is profitable. Together we'll have Connecting Africa
in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ELENI GIOKOS, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to Connecting Africa. I'm Eleni Giokos. The continent has the fastest growing and youngest population in the world.
It is home to 1.3 billion people, 60 percent of whom are under the age of 25.
[16:45:08]
They are tech savvy, and businesses across the continent are searching for ways to reach them. Clickatell in South Africa is leveraging messaging
platforms to connect businesses with customers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PETER DE VILLIERS, CLICKATELL CO-FOUNDED: Chat is larger than the internet. Consumers have really adopted these channels as they go to digital
platform.
GIOKOS: Countless text messages are sent every day around the world, through SMS and online platforms like Facebook, Messenger, WhatsApp and
Telegram. Software companies like Clickitel in South Africa are using these platforms to help online businesses communicate with their customers.
DE VILLIERS: We call it chat commerce.
GIOKOS: Peter de Villiers co-founded Clickatell more than two decades ago. The company has evolved to provide brands with the technology to engage
with their customers through messaging platforms.
DE VILLIERS: We provide all the toolkits that you need to create entire customer journey from discovery to ordering a product, to giving a survey,
to checking out on that chat platform that you and I already use every single day. We think that this is a very exciting space for us to help
these brands serve you and me better.
GIOKOS: With a growing youth population in Africa, he says there's increasing demand to provide consumers with mobile interactions and
transactions.
DE VILLIERS: Today, we do more than 1.5 million payments per day. We service more than 60 million active customers for many banks across that
market, $130 million plus business with SMS. We had multiple countries presence in the US, Canada, Nigeria, South Africa.
ROZZ ATANASSOVA, DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS, CLICKATELL: Clickatell is really exciting leveraging AI across the African continent, due to the
diverse nature of the African continent. So there are lots of different cultures, lots of different languages, different dialects, and AI really
provided us the ability to help businesses better communicate with the consumers.
So we're looking at leveraging private AI so that it still feels secure and safe, and encrypted, to help businesses enable use cases with real time
sentiments.
GIOKOS: For them, online chat channels are the future of e-commerce.
ATANASSOVA: Chat channels have a high level of accessibility. They are not only accessible through devices and through a low need for data, but
they're also quite intuitively easy to understand. And there's an expectation from consumers that brands will meet them where they are.
We work with retailers, pharmaceutical companies as well as grocery stores, et cetera, that you might be aware of. Really there isn't a vertical that
we currently don't engage with and that hasn't found chat commerce to be an effective way to get to their customers.
DE VILLIERS: Chat has 3X the reach in emerging markets. If you just stack up these numbers, many brands have made the investment on their digital
transformation strategies. They just simply don't have the reach. Chat gives them that reach.
I'm the eternal optimist in terms of Africa's potential, not just South Africa but Africa's potential. I think that with our diaspora and our
borderless sort of trade that's happening, there's incredible opportunities. With these technologies, they break down barriers, they
break down borders, and they really bring equal playing ground for the average man and woman on the street to be able to find the best services
and the best quality of care they deserve.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GIOKOS: One barrier to entry is lack of digital skills and internet penetration. As of 2022, only 36 percent of the continent had broadband
internet access, according to the World Bank. Our correspondent, Victoria Rubadiri sat down with Tim Kelly, an information and communication
technology, or ICT, specialist at the World Bank. He led the E-Transform Africa Program, which identified how ICTs can boost regional trade
throughout the continent.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VICTORIA RUBADIRI, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The vibrant youth population here in Africa, something we can't ignore, and what comes with
that is mobile penetration.
TIM KELLY, ICT SPECIALIST, WORLD BANK: Yes.
RUBADIRI: More of them are using their phones. How is the World Bank kind of engaging that demographic and boosting that infrastructure?
KELLY: Yes. I think what's important is digital literacy. So basic digital literacy, the ability to use a phone, for instance, to make a financial
payment, to make a transaction, the ability to use your phone to create a business. So I think helping individuals, helping entrepreneurs to convert
their phones into a business tool is very important. And through the work that we're doing on fostering advanced digital skills, we're helping
individual entrepreneurs to do that.
RUBADIRI: So many would say, you know, Africa's digital economy is in its infancy. But the World Bank put together $319 million for financing.
Clearly, you're seeing something here. What kind of prompted that?
[16:50:10]
KELLY: So the $390 million that we've committed is just for Kenya. Under the Kenya Digital Economy Acceleration Program, we see a need for much
bigger, more extended, more performance networks and we are investing in a further 100,000 kilometers of fiber networks. We recently announced a new
$2.4 billion funding under the inclusive digitalization in Eastern and Southern Africa, what we call the IDEA Project.
That funding is currently going to three countries, Angola, DRC and Malawi. But we have a sort of conveyor belt of 12 or 13 additional countries which
will join that program over the next few years.
RUBADIRI: Even when we talk about other initiatives, AfCFTA is now in play.
KELLY: Yes.
RUBADIRI: Do you see it remedying that challenge?
KELLY: I think AfCFTA will be very important for the growth of a cross border commerce which for the moment is very limited. For the moment, in
Africa as a whole, e-commerce really means within country, e-commerce. But over time, I think we will see more growth of a cross border trade. We're
already seeing a significant increase in cross border data flows.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GIOKOS: Coming up, expanding Africa's last-mile delivery operations.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GIOKOS: Welcome back to Connecting Africa. Last-mile delivery is a critical part of any e-commerce business. It bridges the gap between online
retailers and its customers. Africa's last-mile delivery market was estimated to be worth more than $1 billion in 2023 and is projected to grow
to almost $3 billion by 2032.
In Uganda, one last-mile delivery company is making big inroads into Africa's digital economy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GIOKOS: On the outskirts of Kampala, you will find a bus digital enterprise. Since 2016, CourieMate, a logistics firm has been involved in
the last leg of an online delivery process.
HOWARD IRAVONGA, OPERATION MANAGER, COURIEMATE: Most of the small businesses that are selling online, they are owned by a young population.
Africa being young, my young people are now going online. Social media, SNS, TikTok, Instagram, so we try to locate such sellers and we give the
solution of in delivery.
GIOKOS: Deploying a network of motorbikes, they navigate busy city streets and hard to find rural areas, ensuring a package reaches its final
destination.
IRAVONGA: We have 13 bikes and we have two vehicles for delivery, and we have 12 drivers for delivery.
WINFRED NAZZIWA, COURIEMATE CUSTOMER: Hello. I've come to pick my package. I don't have cash but I have mobile money.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: See you next time.
NAZZIWA: See you too.
GIOKOS: Last-mile delivery is an important part of any e-commerce business, but it can face many challenges.
IRAVONGA: The challenges we have or we face in courier delivery, quite a number. First of all is locating the correct address of a receiver. An
address location is hard in Uganda. Google Map cannot relocate all of the addresses. Secondly is delivering to last-mile in very remote districts and
areas, the roads.
Another risk we are facing is internet connectivity across Uganda. In some places, people cannot order online because they cannot access quick
internet. Another challenge is crossing -- the goods crossing the border. It takes a long time or sometimes it becomes hard for the goods to be
cleared to cross the border to the other side of the country.
[16:55:10]
GIOKOS: Deploying various types of technologies has been key to CourieMate's success.
HIROSHI MATSUMOTO, MANAGING DIRECTOR, COURIEMATE: Using the IT system we can communicate with the customer using the map or sometimes the short
message, and also the WhatsApp message as well. It's very effective to recognize the drop off point and also the drop off time.
GIOKOS: And advancements in new technologies like artificial intelligence is said to play an important role in growing this business.
IRAVONGA: AI plays a very big role in the business. As we look at the world and Africa at large, AI is a game changer. So AI has helped us save costs,
has helped us increase our profits. We are looking further into making it our biggest partner.
GIOKOS: Currently operating in Uganda and Tanzania, CourieMate has big expansion plans.
MATSUMOTO: Kenya market looks attractive because the economic situation is better than Uganda and Tanzania, I think. And also the penetration of the
smartphone is a bit higher than Tanzania and Uganda.
IRAVONGA: The future plans of CourieMate is to expand across Africa. We stayed in Uganda, connected Tanzania, in the near future going to Kenya
East African region. Then we expand to other countries in Africa.
GIOKOS: Combining technology with transportation and a growing young tech savvy population, the future is looking bright for Africa's last-mile
delivery market.
IRAVONGA: What are the solutions we are going to provide to the Africans or African continent is employment. We have provided the solution of delivery
on time, saving cost and helping businesses grow. Small business wants to sell, they cannot fulfill delivery. We come in and help to deliver for
them.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GIOKOS: And that's it for this month's Connecting Africa. If you want to know more about the subjects we cover on this program, you can check out
our website. Until next month from me, Eleni Giokos, let's keep on connecting.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
