[Quest:] Hello, I'm Richard Quest. There's more QUEST MEANS BUSINESS for you in just a moment. The European economy commissioner will be here talking about Apple, and how it's had a victory over the Commission on Taxation in Ireland. And the Mayor of Chicago joins us, keeping her city safe in an era of COVID when there are dangers from states and regions all around, just how far can you actually go? All of that is still to come. This is CNN, and on this network, the news always comes first. President Trump says trade advisor Peter Navarro was wrong for writing an op-ed, criticizing the country's top infectious disease expert. He insisted that they all on the same team. The White House has told CNN that Navarro was told to deescalate tensions with Dr. Fauci before releasing the article on Tuesday. Walmart will require all customers at its U.S. stores to a facemask starting from next week. It says it will enforce the policy by stationing employees called "health ambassadors" near entrances. Walmart is now the biggest retailer to mandate facial coverings as, yes, Coronavirus has continued to rise. A law enforcement source says a man found dismembered in his New York apartment was Fahim Saleh, the head of a Nigerian ride hail company. Saleh's assistant found his remains partially bagged up at the luxury address. They say surveillance footage shows a suspect dressed in black entering an elevator with Saleh. In the market, Apple shares were hurt after the general court of the European Union ruled that the aid given by Ireland was not illegal, and that Apple did not have to repay $13 billion as previously been ruled. Now, of course, the commissioner says it is looking to see whether it will appeal to the highest court. However, that is still to be determined. It's a big blow to the commission, which had worked to crack down on U.S. tech companies. I spoke to the European Economic Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni, who told me the ruling doesn't take away from the fact big tech still pays too little taxes.
[Paolo Gentiloni, European Commissioner For Economy:] This ruling is going against our decisions. I would say that this is not canceling the problem, because the problem in a nut is very simple. Apple, a giant, is having profits for 16, 17 billion per year and paying taxes for 50 million. So, it's less than one percent of taxes.
[Gentiloni:] Oh, well, we will see. Actually, we have the summit meeting this weekend. And I am quite confident that despite the divisions, the differences that are there, we all know that at the end, we can reach an agreement. And this, if we consider how Europe reacted to the previous crisis, the financial crisis. I think this would be a great success.
[Quest:] But there have already been several goes of this already. And you're right, so it's the Frugal Four, and it's the Netherlands that are the holdouts at the moment. But so far, they have not shown willingness. There were plenty of chances for them to sign on to the plans, but have not chosen to do so. Why are you more confident now?
[Gentiloni:] Well, because I know that what we are proposing what we propose as European Commission is quite unprecedented. Someone called it a Hamiltonian moment. So, you are proposing to have a common to issue a common debt of 750 billion for financing common purposes, which is really unprecedented in the European Union. So, the story is a very important one. What makes me confident on the possibility to reach an agreement is the fact that, despite this real, new proposal, we didn't have slamming doors.
[Quest:] The E.U. or the structures and the decision making of the community and the commission, it wasn't built for crises, was it? It wasn't it wasn't built for moving fast.
[Gentiloni:] No, not at all. But indeed, as Germany said some long time ago, Europe is indeed then growing through crisis. Building capacity through crisis. It is you're right, it is a rather Baroque building.
[Quest:] The numbers are coming in on the economics. And the recession is deeper than first thought. All right, it'll be short lived in terms of technicalities, but the recovery is looking more L-shaped or than U, and certainly not V-shaped. What this is getting to be the crisis.
[Gentiloni:] Yes, we are we are, in fact, very worried. What I repeat always is that recovery is underway. But the road to recovery is paved with uncertainty. And until you have uncertainty uncertainty is not about, at least not in Europe, about second waves of the pandemic, we have only limited outbreaks in very limited dimension, but this is still conditioning the atmosphere, the moods of investors, of communities, of consumers, and we need to restore confidence.
[Quest:] The European Economics Commissioner talking to me earlier. In the United States, Chicago has placed two more states under emergency restrictions. Now by that, I mean, that they are telling travelers from up to 19 states now, that they can that if they travel to Chicago, the city, not necessarily in Illinois, the state, but if they go to Chicago, then they need to quarantine for two weeks. I think that it's 17 states now on the list of hotspots. Arizona, Florida, California, of course, as the case has surge around the United States. Look at that map. Extraordinary. New cases in the past week versus previous week. The city is revisiting the list. The mayor of Chicago is Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who joins me now via Skype. Mayor, you would you admit, don't you, that at best, these restrictions of visitors from elsewhere from effective states is a best an honor system that can have no real enforcement mechanism?
[Lori Lightfoot, Mayor Of Chicago:] But it's not unlike what we've seen in European countries and also other states here in the United States. The people who are adhering to the public health guidance and have been all along, I think are taking this very seriously. But it applies with equal measure to people who live here in Chicago, and that are going to those states, and then coming back, they're also required to quarantine. And I do think people who are residents of Chicago leave and then come back are taking this very seriously. But it does have an also another, I think, effect, which is to raise the consciousness of people, both here and elsewhere, that if you're coming from a state that has, for example, four times and in some instances, eight times the amount of new cases that we do have here in Chicago, that we need you to be careful because we are trying to make sure that we contain the spread in my city.
[Quest:] Chicago and Illinois was at the forefront along with New York at the beginning of the crisis. I wonder when you look at the situation in your city now, how close to the edge are you? I mean, are you I'm not suggesting complacency, or anything like that. But what I mean is, how risky is the current situation? How close do you believe you could be to another full-throttle outbreak?
[Lightfoot:] Well, look, because of the hard work and sacrifice of so many here in my city, we're not on the precipice that we feared back in March or even April, but that's only because we remained diligent. But what we're seeing is, for example, an uptick in new cases in the cohort of 18 to 29- year-olds, across all races, all ethnicities, particularly in some northern parts of our city. So, what the lesson of this is, we can never not be diligent. COVID-19 is very much a part of our present and will be part of our future. So, we've got to remain diligent and continue to follow the public health guidance that has gotten us to this point, where we have a semblance of normalcy in our city.
[Quest:] But, Mayor, you're using scientific advisors will have told you that, yes, when the reopening happens, you should expect a certain rising in numbers of cases. That's just a straightforward public health fact. We've seen it everywhere. The trick here or the difficulty is to ensure the management of that number of cases, so that it doesn't, obviously, put your healthcare surfaces at risk. And masks, for example, and the significance, can you understand those can you have any comprehension of those who are against wearing masks?
[Lightfoot:] No, no, it's quite foolish. And look, you're right, the brightest minds really in a world that we've had access to showed modeling that all of it showed a slight surge. Now, whether or not that surge became extreme, and whether or not we were able to manage it, is wholly dependent upon social distancing, adherence, wearing face coverings when you leave your home, and making sure that you continue to engage in the hand hygiene regimes that we know are important. Plus, making sure that our older residents and those with underlying medical conditions continue to stay home. So, no, I don't understand people who have unfortunately politicized the wearing of face coverings in public is essential. We know it works. And so, we are really trying to drive that home as much as possible. I don't want to get to a situation where we've got to fine people or worse because they refuse to wear face coverings, but it is taking an unnecessary risk, not only with your own health, but the health of every other person that you literally come into contact with, including your loved ones. This virus is vicious, it is ruthless. And as we know, there's significant asymptomatic spread here in across the country, across the world.
[Quest:] Mayor, as somebody as I'm sitting here in London, in a two-week quarantine, having arrived from the United States, which is not on the U.K. list, I can only agree and sympathize and say, your message is well-heard. Mayor, thank you for joining us. Now, we can, in a moment.
[Lightfoot:] Thank you.
[Quest:] This is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS. We're back in a second.