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First Move with Julia Chatterley

Optimism Surges Over a COVID-19 Fighting Drug, But The Owner Urges Caution; China's Economy Shrinks For The First Time In More Than 40 Years; Jeff Bezos Says The Firm Is Building Its Own Testing System. Aired 9-10a ET

Aired April 17, 2020 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:12]

JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN BUSINESS ANCHOR: Live from New York, I'm Julia Chatterley. This is FIRST MOVE and here is your need to know.

A treatment treat. Optimism surges over a COVID-19 fighting drug. The owner urges caution.

China's crunch. The economy shrinks for the first time in more than 40 years.

And Amazon acts. Jeff Bezos says the firm is building its own testing system.

It's Friday. Let's make a move.

Welcome once again to all our FIRST MOVErs around the globe. We have a jam packed show for you this Friday and it is all about the three Ts. The first

one -- treatment. There is global hope for a potential treatment of COVID- 19 from Gilead, but are we getting ahead of ourselves? All the details on what we are seeing from that coming up.

And then there's two and three, and that's testing and tracing as we often talk about on this show.

President Trump has given his guidelines for opening up the U.S. economy, but the crucial part, those two Ts seem to be missing.

Right now, we're looking at gains of more than two percent for U.S. stocks, three percent as you can see in some cases, following a late session surge

on Thursday that allowed and flattened earlier losses helped along by tech and the healthcare sector.

In fact, Gilead shares are set to rise around 11 percent as you can see at the open. We will be discussing that shortly.

Europe meanwhile is higher. Asia rose, too, and I have to say, as you can see there, global optimism, it is a sign of the times that China, posting

its first ever quarterly decline in growth is not mentioned until this moment.

The truth is, the road to a new normal for all of us and for global economies could be a bumpy one. Trust in leaders here is crucial, too. In

fact, we are going to call trust our fourth T this Friday -- trust in leadership.

Let's get to the drivers. Pharma stock Gilead rallying premarket, this on a report that one of its drugs -- it is called remdesivir was showing

promising results in a COVID-19 trial. Elizabeth Cohen joins me now, our senior medical correspondent. It is great to have you on this story, and it

was a story suggesting that a doctor had been talking about the success in one of their trials, but my understanding is, they did do well -- the

patients. They were very sick originally, but we're only talking -- what? Around 125 people. How optimistic should we be at this stage -- Elizabeth.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Julia, I wouldn't be optimistic at all. I think we should maintain an even outlook, could this

drug be useful? Absolutely. Could it turn out to be used less? Absolutely.

Let me tell you what happened and then let me talk to you a bit about what happened during the Ebola times, because I think it's a good comparison.

What happened was that there was a video conference as many of us are doing these days about this drug, University of Chicago doctors were involved,

and it was taped and somebody leaked that tape to STAT which is a health news website.

And in that tape, we're told, now STAT didn't post the tape, but they wrote about it, and they said that all sorts of positive things were said. That

the patients were recovering more quickly. That few of them were dying. And that there was a general sort of positive and rosy outlook expressed by

this doctor.

But what this is really is office chatter. And we all work in offices and we all know that in offices, you get chatter that turns out to be true and

you get chatter that turns out to be nothing.

So the fact that these doctors said this does not mean much, and the reason why is that sometimes patients with COVID do well. As a matter of fact,

most of them do well. Thank goodness most of them recover and are discharged from the hospital. Most of them do not die.

So the fact that she is saying, hey, they recovered quickly, well, maybe all of her patients are recovering quickly. You need to have what is called

a control group.

If you don't have a control group, all you're doing is making an observation that people did well. Maybe people did well not on the drug.

It's sort of like -- I'll give you this comparison, Julia. If you had a cold and I gave you a chocolate chip cookie and you recovered a few days

later, I could say, a-ha, it was the chocolate chip cookie.

That is not true of course. What we need to see is we need to see this in writing and we need to see this with a control group.

And when I mentioned Ebola earlier, here's what I was thinking about. During Ebola, about five years ago, there was so much excitement. People

were jumping up and down about various treatments that turned out not to work.

There was so much excitement. I can remember this as if it were yesterday and then they turned out not to work. We need to keep that in mind during

this time as well.

[09:05:08]

CHATTERLEY: Yes. What is your benchmark for comparison? That is the key here, and even the firm themselves are saying, look, be cautious at this

moment. Though I have to say, to your comparison, a cookie would always make me feel better, I have to say. Great to have you with us.

COHEN: Good to know.

CHATTERLEY: Thank you. Thank you thank you for joining us all this week. It's great to have your insight. Okay, yes, so we'll pare our enthusiasm.

For the first time in more than 40 years, China's vast economy has shrunk. The world number two nation reported a near seven percent drop in GDP for

the first quarter.

David Culver is live in shanghai with the details. David, I have to say when I see their growth numbers normally, there is a healthy dose of

skepticism, shall we call it. When I saw these numbers, I felt the same because given what we saw, I would have expected this number to be worse.

Talk us through the details.

DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A lot of skepticism with China and numbers these days, Julia. You are right on with that. So the shrinking here of the

economy is 6.8 percent.

And it has obviously been expected given the damage that we have seen economically and to a lot of the businesses here with the closure and what

has been a brutal lockdown in most cases.

Now, we have started to see the economy reopen in some parts here and certainly that is the image that state media wants to portray, and to that

point, I want to share a little bit of video that we were invited on, a tour of local businesses, small businesses here in Shanghai that we're

showing that they're back on track, and that's something that state media has tried to push out over and over, is this idea that China is coming

back, that they are springing back to life.

The reality is while they are in some places, there are still a lot of restrictions in other places. Even within Wuhan, the original epicenter of

all of this, many folks are still inside their homes many hours a day and still restricted to leave depending how large crowds can get in certain

public areas, including work places.

So the reality that this is all coming back online is far from true. So it is expected to drag on for a good while longer. Yet at the same time, China

is ahead of the rest of the world when it comes to coming back online, and what they do point out is that even though factories here may be starting

up again and getting near full production, if they're exporting things to clients around the world and those clients are in a place of lockdown and

not buying, they're simply not going to have a customer base to sell to.

CHATTERLEY: It's such a great point. There is no real counterbalance because so much of the world is going through this even if they're going

through it at different stages. I'll circle back to where we began as well about the nervousness about the data, again. A change, an adjustment in

numbers from Wuhan specifically. David, tell us more.

CULVER: Julia, we've been pushing this concern from the very beginning of our coverage of this going back to January, and you know that.

We have questioned repeatedly the numbers of confirmed cases and the death toll, and ours is based on anecdotal evidence and speaking to many people

within Wuhan originally who told us that their loved ones were not getting tested and if they were tested, those tests were delayed heavily.

And in some cases, their loved ones would pass away and the doctor in one instance pulled the family aside and said, look, it was severe pneumonia.

We know it was that pneumonia, but it's not official, and so they don't go towards that death count.

What we now have seen is a revision, an increase within the City of Wuhan in particular of about 50 percent, that's a significant jump in numbers.

Though, Julia, it still falls short of what many people believe might be the actual reality in how many lives were lost due to this virus here.

CHATTERLEY: Yes. Even just anecdotally comparing the death count to other nations and population size, it has been a bit mystifying and you have been

all over this. So, David, thank you so much for keeping us updated on this story.

CULVER: Thanks, Julia.

CHATTERLEY: Thank you. Now, of course, everything we're discussing there are sign of things to come for the United States. The U.S. President

unveiling guidelines for a staggered re-opening of the economy in a seeming retreat from claims earlier in the week.

He told state governors that they can make the final call on how and when to reopen. This comes as a new poll from Pew Research suggests 73 percent

of Americans say we haven't seen the worst in the crisis and most fear state and local governments' stay-at-home restrictions will be lifted too

quickly.

John Harwood joins us now. John, it's been great to speak to you throughout this week. I do feel like we've gone on a bit of a wild goose chase. The

states began in control, we detoured briefly. We are back in control as far as state leadership is concerned, but what I didn't hear in the guidelines

was a plan -- a national plan for testing and tracing.

JOHN HARWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, first of all, Julia, there is a relation between the first and second parts of your intro. The

President's retreat from saying he is going to compel states to do what he wants them to do, and that polling information, because until consumers are

ready to come back to work, until business owners are ready to re-open their businesses and people like Jamie Dimon in New York State said we're

not ready until at least June, it is simply not practical and the President vowed to that reality.

[09:10:23]

HARWOOD: The guidelines the President released last night were constructive in the sense that they were science based. They described entering a gate

for Phase 1, if you've had 14 days of declining cases. If you have a hospital capacity, if you have testing and contact tracing capacity, but

did not indicate a plan to give states those capacities or help them reach those capacities.

So states have a lot of responsibility. Deborah Birx, the coordinator of the Coronavirus Task Force says we're going to be working hand in glove

with states. We'll see what kind of assistance they actually provide.

The Congress is talking about perhaps $30 billion of additional aid for testing for states. That would help them reach that goal. So they are

bending in the right direction. It's not clear exactly how and when they will get there -- Julia.

CHATTERLEY: And trillions of dollars are being lost as a result of the economic decline in this country.

HARWOOD: That's right.

CHATTERLEY: The idea that you can't put $100 billion, $200 billion into a broader testing plan to coordinate this is mystifying to me. But John, I

completely agree with you on the point that the states have control here, but the states are also liaising with the companies and the businesses to

understand when they think their workers are going to be comfortable enough to come back to work, so everything here is tied and it comes down to

confidence.

HARWOOD: Exactly right, and one of the things that is going to be an interesting challenge for business is trying to make their workplaces a

little more COVID friendly. That is to say, more spacing for employees and how they can, you know, in the initial phases of this plan, they're

describing an encouragement of continued telework which a lot of people are doing now.

But as they start having people come back into the work place, businesses have got to account for how you keep people apart and not on top of each

other. How you limit gatherings and meetings in the workplace, and businesses which have both liability concerns and also have concerns about

simply once you restart, staying restarted. It's going to be up to them to make some of those things real.

And I think you can expect them to have a very strong focus on those issues because it goes straight to the bottom line.

CHATTERLEY: Yes, it absolutely does. John Harwood, great to have you with us, and we're going to be speaking to one of the companies at the forefront

of this, Amazon's Jay Carney coming up later on in the show which is going to be pivotal, I think, too. John, thank you.

All right, to France now where French President Emmanuel Macron says richer members of the E.U. must help the poorer nations hit by the coronavirus.

In a candid interview with "The Financial Times" newspaper, the French leader warns that if the E.U. doesn't act now, there will be a higher price

to pay. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EMMANUEL MACRON, FRENCH PRESIDENT (through translator): If we cannot do this today, I'm telling you the populace will win. Today, tomorrow, the day

after tomorrow in Italy, Spain, perhaps in France and maybe somewhere else.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHATTERLEY: For more on this, we're joined by Melissa Bell who is in Bordeaux for us. Melissa, great to have you with us. I feel like he is the

last remaining bastion of more Europe in any form, but I think what he was pointing to there was perhaps coordinated borrowing, Eurobonds, COVID

bonds, and everyone else seems reluctant.

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, he also suggested in that interview and I think this is important, Julia, that it seemed that those most

reluctant members of the European Union and I am speaking here about Germany and the Netherlands were coming around to the idea of that fund in

the name of solidarity.

This was what he told "The Financial Times," it was important that Europe put aside its old dogmas, the very things, Julia, when you think back about

ten years ago to the European debt crisis that had prevented it from acting as it should have, as it might have to prevent the crisis from taking

place.

Those same things are happening once again. We've seen this week the sell- off of Italian, Greek, Spanish, Portugese government bonds, those yields widening between German bonds and Italian ones for instance.

It is, he said, the very future not just of the Eurozone but of the European idea, that is at stake. His plan to create a 400 billion euro fund

that would essentially mean the neutralization of the debt and he said it was important that we put aside this idea of sinner must pay that had

prevented those northern economies from accepting the idea that their taxpayers should be helping out the borrowing of other countries.

These times are different is what he explained and it was a fairly stark warning about the idea that if Europe failed on this front, if it failed to

show the sufficient solidarity to create such a fund in these times of coronavirus, in these extraordinary times where he pointed out, all of the

dogmas were being put out the window by all the countries in Europe since governments are having essentially to nationalize the wages and the

financial accounts of their businesses in order to keep them afloat.

[09:15:21]

BELL: If Europe failed at this particular point, he said, it would be the death of an entire idea, drawing a stark warning from history really

saying, look, when France had insisted on Germany paying at the end of World War I, what did it lead to? The rise of populism and World War II.

There are times in history essentially, he was saying, when the old dogmas have to be put out the window and Europe, in this case, needs to reinvent

itself and show the solidarity that this particular crisis requires -- Julia.

CHATTERLEY: Yes. Learn to bend before you break, I think the message here. And there are no sinners in this fight against the virus. Melissa, great to

have you with us. Melissa Bell there.

All right. We'll take a break here on FIRST MOVE, but coming up, as I mentioned, Amazon begins working on its own version of coronavirus testing.

We are going to be joined by the company's Senior Vice President, Jay Carney to get the lowdown.

And also ahead, Verizon gets its own BlueJeans. I speak to the CEO as the company scoops up the video conferencing company. Stay with us. We are back

after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to FIRST MOVE where we see U.S. stocks this morning set to rally on hopes that some U.S. states can restart their

economies soon, as well as we were discussing earlier on the show, reports that a COVID-19 treatment from Gilead Sciences may be showing some promise.

Elizabeth Cohen saying, hold your horses on that, and I'll reiterate that message.

The NASDAQ coming in into today's session down less than five percent this year. What a performance when you think about what we've been through and

we will still see in the data, of course.

Thank you Jay Powell perhaps on the trillions of dollars of stimulus from them.

Netflix, up 35 percent year-to-date. Amazon, up 30 percent. Both hitting record highs this week. It comes as Amazon announced it is developing its

own testing for the coronavirus. The CEO, Jeff Bezos announcing in his letter to shareholders that the company will begin testing small groups of

employees soon.

I'm delighted to say Jay Carney, Senior Vice President for Amazon, and former Press Secretary for President Barack Obama joins us now.

[09:20:22]

CHATTERLEY: Jay, always fantastic to have you on the show. Now, Amazon is many things to many people, but the last time I checked, you didn't have a

scientific testing development unit at the company. Talk me through why you're doing this and how you're doing this, and time horizons potentially,

too.

JAY CARNEY, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, AMAZON WELL: Well, thank you, Julia, for having me, and you are absolutely right, Amazon has no experience in

assembling labs for coronavirus testing, but these are extraordinary times.

And I think Amazon, like a lot of companies and other private, as well as public sector institutions are having to do things they've never done

before.

Now, we think and I know that we're not alone in thinking this that the need for plentiful, scalable testing around the country and the world is a

key to our ability to return to normal, so to speak, especially before there is a vaccine available.

And because there has been a shortage of testing, we are assembling our own first lab. It is early days. Hopefully, we'll be able to start testing some

of our frontline employees soon.

But how far we get in this process, how much scaling we are able to do remains to be seen. We are very humble about this, not our area of

expertise, but we really need and everyone needs to, I think, focus on this challenge.

CHATTERLEY: But you're sending a message here perhaps to the leaders of this nation that in the absence of mass testing on a broader scale,

companies will go it alone because in the end, you have to protect and give confidence to your workforce. Is that the message?

CARNEY: Well, we're not alone. I think many business leaders and leaders from the health industry and across industries have noted that the easiest

way, the best way -- perhaps, the only way for us to get the economies of the world going again is to have a system where testing is readily

available so that those who are diagnosed positive can be taken care of and isolated from the population of workers and others who can, if they test

negative can go back to work and do so without fear.

I think, you know, this is not a novel idea that we have. We are, because we have the capacity to at least try it, we are trying to build some of our

own coronavirus testing capacity, but obviously, none of this works at the scale that the United States or Europe or the rest of the world needs,

unless it's done by many, many institutions, governments, and private and public sector.

CHATTERLEY: Yes. Centralized leadership, one might argue is required here. You are hiring an additional 75,000 workers to help cater to the demand

that you've seen, particularly as a result of what we're experiencing and going through here.

You've already hired a hundred thousand before that. You've also faced some criticism from sporadic workers saying, look, we don't feel safe. Is this

testing going to be used on those frontline workers first, assuming you can do it? Those that are handling the demand and in these warehouses?

CARNEY: The answer to that is absolutely yes. Now, the scale remains to be seen, but once we are able to begin our own testing, we'll have our

frontline workers tested first.

We have quite a few as you know. We have more than 850,000 employees globally and hundreds of thousands of them are frontline workers in our

fulfillment centers and our distribution centers.

So, again, getting to that scale is a challenge for everyone, but we are very concerned about the safety of our workers. We've taken extraordinary

steps in all of our sites to enhance the safety precautions, ensure social distancing. We supply masks and gloves and other protective equipment to

all of our employees around the world.

And we're -- you know, going to continue taking steps to ensure their safety.

CHATTERLEY: Explain to me what is happening in France because you've been ordered by the courts to shut some warehouses there. What is your reaction

to that? And are your employees there less safe than anywhere else in the world?

CARNEY: We were disappointed by the court ruling. We don't believe the court took into account the many measures that we've put into place to

ensure the safety of our workers in France, as well as around Europe and the world. We are appealing that decision.

[09:25:08]

CARNEY: We have had to shut down our fulfillment centers in France because of the lack of clarity in the ruling that would result in potential massive

fines for incidental or accidental or inadvertent violations of the ruling and, you know, when a nonessential item would be shipped from a fulfillment

center.

So, it is really a shame. There are, you know, our French customers are still able to get deliveries from Amazon sites, but it reduces selection

for them, it reduces time of delivery -- increases time of delivery, which is a problem for folks who are sheltering at home.

And it also -- it is not good for our French workers -- employees -- who are those who were able to work and we're healthy and we're coming in and I

think many felt and feel that they were doing something important for their own citizens, you know, their own fellow citizens.

So we'll see where that goes. It is obviously a judicial decision not a governmental. We've actually had some, we think, positive support from the

French government in general for our role in this situation, so we'll monitor that and proceed with the judiciary.

CHATTERLEY: Will you still pay those employees, very quickly, Jay, or is it now down to the government to protect those that were working and aren't?

CARNEY: Well, we are paying those employees. You know, we're -- we don't know how long this will last.

CHATTERLEY: Right.

CARNEY: And you know, we will follow all the laws of course in France and we want to keep -- our goal is to allow our employees in France to go back

to work.

CHATTERLEY: Jay, as always, a pleasure to have you on the show. Thank you so much for being so candid with us. It's great to have you.

CARNEY: Thank you, Julia.

CHATTERLEY: Stay safe. All right. The market open is next. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:30:07]

CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to FIRST MOVE this Friday. U.S. stocks are up and running as you heard there, clapping for some of our healthcare heroes

there, while ringing the bell, so multitasking.

As expected, we've got strong gains for stocks across the board. Blue chips among the biggest winners, including Boeing, in fact, so that clearly

helping lift markets, too, given its sheer weight.

It will restart commercial aircraft production in Washington State next week, a move that will get some 27,000 people back to work. That is an

interesting one. Right now, we're seeing that relatively unchanged.

Proctor & Gamble also out with quarterly results. It saw a 10 percent U.S. sales gain in the first quarter as consumers stocked up on essentials.

Interesting though that sales in China, however, fell some eight percent.

A mixed day also on the oil markets. U.S. crude tumbling more than 10 percent at this moment to well under $19.00 a barrel. That due to contract

expirations and, of course, continued over supply. Brent managing to hold unchanged at this moment.

Claire Sebastian joins me now. Clare, a lot of the enthusiasm that we're seeing in the session today coming back to what we were discussing earlier

on in the show with Elizabeth Cohen, this optimism over a drug potentially to help with some of the symptoms of COVID-19.

She was very cautious. Investors less so.

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I think, Julia, it is extraordinary on a day when for example U.S. oil is down some 10 percent,

an event that in normal times would really roil these financial markets that they are placing so much hope in this.

This is a market, don't forget that is up some 25 percent since its March 23rd low. The prevailing sentiment out there is one of hope for recovery

and science is really a big part of that.

So investors are looking at this potential drug from Gilead. By the way, not even the results of a clinical trial, this is a conversation -- a video

of a conversation that was published by STAT News, a health news website that showed some promising signs that they are seeing in patients that are

treated with remdesivir, which is this Gilead drug, but so far not the full results of the clinical trial.

This trial itself doesn't have a control group, so there is a lot of caution out there and including from the company itself. Gilead saying

anecdotal reports while encouraging do not provide the statistical power necessary to determine the safety and efficacy profile of remdesivir as a

treatment for COVID-19, but they expect the full results will be out by the end of this month, Julia, so it won't be long before we know.

CHATTERLEY: We'll have to watch and wait for that. It was just 125 people, I believe as well, so again, we have to be careful about sample sizes. Any,

I think, statistician will tell us, too, never mind the control group to your very valid point here.

Clare, what about Moderna, another one that is being talked about, funding for a vaccine potentially?

SEBASTIAN: Yes, so this is sort of a mid-sized biotech company and have been given a grant today by BARDA which is the Biomedical Advanced Research

and Development Authority by the Department of Health and Human Services. The grant is large, it is $483 million and it is designed to accelerate

their path towards a vaccine.

They have already supplied a vaccine that is being -- that is undergoing a Phase 1 clinical trial funded by the National Institutes of Health here in

the United States, but this grant, they say, will accelerate their production and will accelerate he trial itself.

So this is sort of another part of the science that the markets are really looking at. You have treatment and then you have prevention, and the path

toward a vaccine is crucially important if the economy is going to open up and that is something, of course, that is crucial to these financial

markets.

CHATTERLEY: Yes, it is all a bridge to a vaccine at some point potentially. Thank you. Clare Sebastian. Great job there analyzing the findings there,

mixing the science and the finance as well.

I just want to quickly show you Boeing, because I mentioned earlier that it looked relatively unchanged. A-ha. That sounds more like it. Right now, up

some 10 percent as you can see.

So, now, we've got that open and I can give you a true reflection of what we are seeing.

All right. Let's move on. Just because many of us are working from home doesn't mean deals aren't getting done. Verizon announcing it is buying

Zoom rival, BlueJeans, and joining us now to explain why, Verizon CEO, Hans Vestberg. Hans, great to have you on the show and looking so well.

Talk to me about this decision. Was it based on valuation and/or the fact we're communicating in an incredibly different way and BlueJeans cuts to

the heart of that?

HANS VESTBERG, CEO, VERIZON: First of all, we have been in conversation with BlueJeans since May last year. We actually introduced them and

distributed their service in Q4, then one thing led to another and we continued to discuss the sort of acquisition and we completed with that

right now.

[09:35:00]

VESTBERG: So we already saw long before this COVID-19 broke out that our customers on there really need an enterprise-grade video conferencing and

BlueJeans is a great product, so that was the main reason and of course with the COVID-19 and everyone working from home and working with video

conferencing is of course accentuated right now.

And also, in the meantime, that will support our 5G journey because in 5G especially in 5G mobile, EDGE, compute where you have processing at the

edge of the network with high speeds and throughput, video conferencing and video in general will be extremely important.

So it both plays in today's environment where we need to deliver this service to our customers, but also in the future strategy of Verizon.

CHATTERLEY: And this is such a great point as well, and to your point, I know you've been also promoting BlueJeans with your clients for a while

now, as you said.

We keep talking about Zoom and Cisco WebEx simply because we are using it more, but I know BlueJeans got over 15,000 clients as well, already

established, but we do have connection issues with some of these guys.

Is that the point that you're making, too. You can have a product like BlueJeans, but if you match it with great 5G, then the speed, the coverage,

the quality that you're getting is dramatically enhanced.

VESTBERG: Yes, especially the latency and the application can be closer to the user of it. So, yes. That is what I see in 5G. But already, right now,

as you know, I mean, we have an increase on VPN services, for those basically working from home. Indeed, over 50 percent since the COVID-19

broke out, and still, the network holds up very well.

And there of course, has been some all of the other applications that have had some challenges, but again, it is a combination of having a great

network and then of course, a robust application for video conferencing.

CHATTERLEY: Do you think this also says something about the future of how we work? I mean, we're all wondering what the new normal looks like here.

Do you think in the future, we will be present together in offices and in work environments less where we can going forward?

VESTBERG: I am certain that when all of this is over, we will have a new normal. We will work differently. Barriers that we've had before, the sort

of -- the sort of education, digital education, all working from home will be much more normal and the barrier has broken down.

And I think that we will probably never go back to where we were pre-COVID- 19 and we're going to find technology actually to enhance our lives, making things more efficient.

So I think that, clearly, we are going to see a totally different way of acting when all of this is over. That, we see already right now.

CHATTERLEY: As a CEO, do you think you will travel less personally? Forget COVID-19, do you think, you as a leader of a big business will travel less

in the future?

VESTBERG: Yes, I think so. I have had -- I'm not sure how many CEO meetings with my biggest clients or big discussions with customers and it is working

very well.

All of us are working from home, et cetera. So, yes, clearly, we are going to find these as us having a new way to communicate. I think, still that

meeting people will be important. The social interaction is something lovely. But it will be in a new way in the future.

CHATTERLEY: Talk to me about your plans, your thinking, for Verizon, because I know you were on the call with the President this week talking

about what is required and testing seemed to be the answer from everyone on the call from what I've heard.

What was your message and how does that translate to getting your people back to work in what kind of time horizon?

So first of all, we need to say that Verizon is -- we're still operable, all from a business because right now, I have 115,000 people working from

home, but I have 120,000 people in the frontline keeping up the networks, keeping some 30 percent of our stores open for critical infrastructure

because --

So we have never really closed. We need to be open because we're so important for our society right now. But the conversation was very much

about that all of us really want to bring the economy back as soon as possible, but not on the expense of the safety and health of the citizens

and then of course, testing becomes an important piece for that and over time of course, vaccine as well.

So that was the discussion, but it was much sharing among the CEOs what we're doing and how we can help because it is not one party that can make

this solution, it is actually everyone in our society has to do it -- private, public citizens need to help in order to bring the situation back

to normal or the new normal as we call it.

CHATTERLEY: Yes, but I mean, we all have to play our part, but it is fascinating that even with you and your point about the infrastructure and

the network requirements that you have, just doing the math there, 83 percent of your workforce working in some way out of the office or from

home is pretty astonishing in what was achieved in such a small space of time.

Just to go back over the point that you made there, would you like to see centralized money, leadership from the White House, from the government

putting into place mass testing? Or do you think you'll do it as a company in the same way that Amazon has announced they are going to try? What is

the balance here to your point?

VESTBERG: First of all, I think we will have big responsibilities, and I mean, I am running Verizon and I need to see that all of my stakeholders

are doing the right decisions, I am doing the right decision for them every day.

The same goes for the government, what they need to do. I mean -- so I think we all need to speak and actually execute what we think are the right

things.

I don't have any major, any specific advice on what they should do or not do. They are doing their job to see that their constituencies are held

accountable and doing the right thing.

I think, again, collaboration, there is not one unit having it, the right of everything, so the discussions and the things like that have to lead up

to what is the best solution for this.

But, clearly, the urgency of testing in order to get this back to normal is of course very imminent.

CHATTERLEY: Yes. We all have to play our part. Hans Vestberg, thank you very much for joining us and talking through your plans, and of course, on

the deal, too, congratulations. Thank you, sir.

VESTBERG: Thank you. Thank you.

CHATTERLEY: Okay, up next, execs give up their pay as UBS joins the fight against the coronavirus. It is Time to Act, that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHATTERLEY: As coronavirus cases worldwide now top two million, big names in business and finance are doing their bit to help out.

The philanthropy foundation of Swiss Bank, UBS has set up a COVID-19 Fund. Partners include Doctors without Borders, Americares and the Swiss Red

Cross among others and the company is matching employee donations one to one.

Phyllis Costanza, Head of UBS Philanthropy joins us now. Phyllis, when I look at the list of things you are doing -- and great to have you with us -

- I was pretty astonished actually. So let's focus in on what you're encouraging your employees and your clients to do to give back in their

communities.

[09:45:34]

PHYLLIS COSTANZA, HEAD, UBS PHILANTHROPY: Great. Well, thanks for having me. We're really looking at three things. First of all, we're looking to

make sure our employees are safe and healthy, of course, and we're encouraging them to work in local communities to address the most

vulnerable -- the most vulnerable in the communities in which we're working.

But we're also encouraging them to look beyond our borders globally and focus on some of the places with the weakest healthcare systems, because we

know, I mean, we saw this in Ebola. We're seeing it now. We are only as strong as our weakest healthcare systems.

So for example, in our local communities, we're supporting programs like Feeding America where the Swiss Red Cross, and they're working with some of

the most vulnerable populations in those specific locations.

And UBS has put up tens of millions and our group Executive Board has also committed 50 percent of their salary over the next six months toward these

efforts, and we're looking -- we're also trying to encourage our clients to donate as well. Our clients and our employees are our greatest assets.

And so UBS has committed to match 100 percent of our client donations and our employee donations to some of these causes.

One example is in Sub Saharan Africa. You know, we've all been looking at Imperial College data, right? And some of the analysis that they've done on

the African continent shows that if we do nothing, we could have one billion cases of coronavirus, 2.5 million deaths.

And so it is critical for us to address the needs there, which we're doing through a number of our partners.

CHATTERLEY: This is so important. I mean, there is so much in that, to be honest. I love the fact that as you said your executives have said, we are

giving up half their salaries this year because we want to put money toward this and to help.

Can you give us a sense of how much money collectively you've managed to raise and obviously the causes that you mentioned are absolutely critical.

But can you give us a sense of the numbers here, too?

COSTANZA: Sure. So over -- we have just launched this initiative with our employees and clients, and so far we've raised more than $7 million. It

hasn't come in the door yet, it's been committed. And some of the programs that our clients are supporting, for instance, Rihanna, she has a

foundation called the Clara Lionel Foundation and we matched her donation to medicines on Frontier.

And we're also working with an organization -- because it is important to work with some of the big organizations providing immediate relief, but we

also want to do is prepare for the long term, because in Sub Saharan Africa, it is critical we start to help them build the health systems that

they're going to need to sustain their healthy communities.

So, for instance, Last Mile Health is an organization that's working in some of the most remote places in Liberia, and if we look at Liberia it is

a country of 4.5 million people, yet they only have three ventilators in the entire country.

CHATTERLEY: Wow.

COSTANZA: And so we are -- so we need to help them build their healthcare systems and we're doing this by working with community healthcare workers.

We're training -- or Last Mile Health is training and equipping them in order to bring healthcare to some of the most remote places, and these are

people who certainly don't have a medical education and many don't even have a high school education, but they can be trained to treat and

diagnose.

CHATTERLEY: I'm so glad you came on because you've highlighted some pivotal issues actually around the world that we've discussed, but not the response

to them. Particularly from private companies that we tend to talk about from a commercial point of view, but there are other things going on at

these companies like your own and you're giving back.

Phyllis, great to have you with us. Stay in touch please and stay safe. Phyllis Costanza, head of UBS Philanthropy, thank you.

COSTANZA: Thank you.

CHATTERLEY: All right. Wow. Coming up on FIRST MOVE, creativity in times of crisis as we salute as always our frontline heroes. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:51:57]

CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to FIRST MOVE. How about this as a tribute to workers in the healthcare sector and beyond all around the world? And a

reminder of those we love and care for around the world, too.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TEXT: In times of crisis, we need who the real stars are.

AT 9PM every evening, let's switch off and reflect on the stars in our midst.

Lights Out For The Stars.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHATTERLEY: Lights out for the stars. So, I like star gazing. So does our next guest, clearly. Joining us how Rik Haslam, Executive Director and

Creative Partner of brand consultancy firm, BrandPie. Rik, fantastic to have you with us. Beautiful video. Talk to me about why you created this

video and I know it is personal because you were ill with COVID-19 at the time. So it is good to see you looking so well.

RIK HASLAM, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CREATIVE PARTNER, BRANDPIE: Thank you. Hi, Julia. Yes, I was fortunate. My illness was fairly mild, but I was

bedridden, quarantined from my family, and feeling pretty useless.

I'm normally good in a crisis. I just had a sense that, really, I wanted to be out on there at the frontlines, but I can't do that. I don't have the

medical skills.

So I was feeling pretty miserable in my bedroom when I saw that the U.N. and the W.H.O. had put out a brief to the creative community asking

creatives to make content and show support and try to spread positivity.

So, I thought, well that is something I can do, even though I'm sick, it's a small thing, but I can do something. So I tried to have an idea and

Lights Out for the Stars was the result.

CHATTERLEY: And what feedback have you had from it? Because when I saw this, it literally captured me. I think it's pretty beautiful.

HASLAM: Thank you. Yes. Really great feedback. You know, you never know whether something is going to resonate with people or not, so it's gone

down really well, and I think that everybody wants to show support for all of those essential workers that, you know, have been so heroic.

But I also wanted to encourage people to take quiet moments of reflection, and when we do so and stare up at the stars in the sky, you know, we do

stop thinking so much about ourselves and think about the kind of bigger picture.

And we don't often think about these people. They are like the stars. We don't normally see the stars. You know, the light in our cities stops us

seeing them, and it's the same with these workers. We don't see them most of the time.

But right now, I think we're really realizing what these people do every day and have been doing for years and years and are doing right now. So

that was the thinking.

CHATTERLEY: They are the unsung heroes, I think.

HASLAM: For sure.

CHATTERLEY: Yes, one of the up sides of this terrible situation is they're under terrible pressure, but they are also getting recognition, and you

helped -- you helped achieve that. Rik, are you fully 100 percent now? You're all better?

HASLAM: Hundred percent. I'm all better now. Thank you.

[09:55:06]

CHATTERLEY: Okay. Great. It is great to have you with us. Thank you so much for sharing that and shedding some light on the people that are our heroes

of the day. Rik, stay safe, please.

HASLAM: Thank you, Julia.

CHATTERLEY: Rik Haslam, thank you so much for that.

HASLAM: You, too.

CHATTERLEY: All right. That just about wraps up the show for this week. Thank you so much for being with us, and I will say it again as I always

do. Stay safe, please. Take care of each other, and we'll see you on Monday. Thank you for watching.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HALA GORANI, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Hala Gorani. Welcome to our special pandemic coverage this hour. And we start in the United States.

[10:00:10]

END