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First Move with Julia Chatterley
Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Withdrawal Bill Faces The Music; Softbank Reportedly Will Take Control Of WeWork After Its Failed IPO attempt; Facebook Says A Kremlin-Backed Group Is Laying The Groundwork To Meddle In The 2020 Election. Aired 9-10a ET
Aired October 22, 2019 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:00:10]
MAX FOSTER, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Live from Abingdon Green. I'm Max Foster.
ZAIN ASHER, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: And I'm Zain Asher coming to you live from the New York Stock Exchange and here is what you need to know.
Breaking that Brexit. Prime Minister Boris Johnson's withdrawal bill faces the music.
And a soft landing. Softbank reportedly will take control of WeWork after its failed IPO attempt.
And who fed the trolls? Facebook says a Kremlin-backed group is laying the groundwork to meddle in the 2020 election.
It is Tuesday and this is FIRST MOVE.
All right. Welcome to what the British tabloids are calling Titanic Tuesday, a high octane, high velocity effort by the Prime Minister to get
his Brexit deal through Parliament by Thursday.
Here, U.S. stocks look set to open mixed in about half an hour or so from now. Good news on the trade front drove early optimism. Beijing said
progress had been made in talks with the U.S. President Trump remarked Monday that the deal was coming along quote, "very well."
And markets are also digesting a slew of mixed earnings. Good news from Procter and Gamble, Harley-Davidson and TD Ameritrade is offsetting bad
news from familiar brands like McDonald's and Hasbro's as well.
Let's get you right to the drivers. We begin with Brexit. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Brexit deal is facing a real test today.
Lawmakers are set to vote on the government's withdrawal agreement from the European Union tonight.
They are debating Mr. Johnson's plans right now in the House of Commons. Max Foster is following al the latest developments for us outside the House
of Parliament in London -- Max.
FOSTER: That's right, Zain. Today is the second reading of Boris Johnson's Brexit deal, but it's the first time lawmakers are set to vote on
it. The results will gauge support for the Prime Minister's deal in principle. In practice, it will only be the first hurdle because the deal
will have to go through another series of vote before it comes into law.
Tonight though, if Boris Johnson wins that vote, MPs will vote on the government's timetable for the rest of the week and this is where lawmakers
could derail Boris Johnson's plans to ram his Brexit deal through by October 31st.
And here's what his rallying call sounded like earlier on.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Because if this House backs this legislation, if we ratify this new deal, which I believe is profoundly in
the interest of our whole United Kingdom and our European friends, we can get Brexit done and move our country on and we can de-escalate those no
deal preparations immediately and turn them off next week.
And instead concentrate on the great enterprise of building a new relationship of the closest cooperation and friendship, as I said on
Saturday, with our European neighbors.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: He is still speaking. Anna Stewart is outside 10 Downing Street where he left a bit earlier on. Anna, this is all about the numbers. He
has been working very hard, hasn't he? He had been in negotiations overnight, his team, I think with various MPs trying to get them over the
line. Does it really look as though he can get this one through this time?
ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER: Well, I think, Max, it depends which vote we look at. If you look at the second reading of this very large bill, 110
pages long, he is likely to get that one through today, not because necessarily he has got a majority of support in the Commons. We really
don't know.
But many MPs who want to see get through the next stage so they can slap on a load of amendments, perhaps try and force the U.K. to remain in the
Customs Union with the E.U. going forward. Lots of different amendments that the Prime Minister won't like. So likely to pass that one.
The one that is perhaps more significant in many ways is the so-called Programme Motion. That will be voted on later tonight. And this is what
the government is trying to do.
He wants a Programme Motion to be voted through so it can sit in Parliament for 12 hours a day, sit on weekends, hammer home, fast track this
legislation, so the U.K. does leave the E.U. at the end of October.
This is the vote we are not sure Boris Johnson has the numbers on. If he doesn't win it and it looks like Brexit cannot literally be achieved, the
legislation doesn't have enough time to get through Parliament. The question is, does the Prime Minister then completely crash the bill
entirely and try move to a general election -- Max.
FOSTER: Okay, and in terms of that timetable vote, just explain the importance of that because if it doesn't get voted on in the sort of way
that Boris Johnson wants it to be voted on tonight. Actually, a delay is completely likely, isn't it?
STEWART: Yes, although the Prime Minister is arguing here that currently, although he has requested a Brexit extension from the E.U., as he had to by
the Benn Act last weekend, the E.U. hasn't yet granted that extension.
[09:05:10]
STEWART: So at the moment, if they don't fast track this legislation, his argument is well, at the moment, we are leaving the E.U. without a deal at
the end of October. So vote with me on this. Help. Let's get this through. Let's work on the legislation and fast track it.
Of course, there's expectation also in the Commons that the U.K. will get an extension from the E.U. and they want more time. They think the 31st of
October is a sort of made up deadline that the Prime Minister wants to adhere to because he always said he would, but this is a big bill.
Normally you get 21 sitting days in Parliament to go through an international treaty like this, not two to three days. They want more time
-- Max.
FOSTER: Okay, so Nic and Carole are with me. Carole, you've been through these sorts of votes many times before as have you, Nic. What do you think
is the most likely outcome today from the people you've spoken to, the back benchers?
CAROLE WALKER, POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, looking at the numbers that voted on Saturday, the public declarations from MPs across all parties, I
think it looks as if the Prime Minister should get the backing for his deal in principle.
And I think we shouldn't underestimate the significance of that. Because if you think about those huge thumping three defeats, which Theresa May
suffered as she tried to get her deal through, if the Prime Minister does win that vote in principle that will be an enormously important symbolic
boost to the Prime Minister's authority.
But he knows that in order to try and leave as he has sworn it time and time again, he will do on that October 31st deadline that he has to get MPs
to agree to his Programme Motion, the timetable for getting this hugely complicated legislation through.
He wants to get it through all its Commons stages on Thursday night. It then has to go to the Lords and then comes back. And of course the
ratification process in Europe also has to be completed all in time for October 31st. And there are suggestions coming from Downing Street sources
that if MPs vote against that timetable motion tonight, that yes, the government could simply pull the bill entirely.
And then we are into a somewhat uncharted territory because as Anna was mentioning, he has been forced to formally make that request for an
extension to the E.U., whilst at the same time sending an accompanying letter saying it's the last thing I actually want.
FOSTER: Yes.
WALKER: And I think then we're back into hugely uncertain territory about exactly what happens next.
FOSTER: Nic, obviously, Boris Johnson and his team, they are strategizing all the time. They are planning, obviously for two different outcomes
today.
If he can't get the deal through, people are talking about a no deal being the only other option, but what do you understand from Downing Street
sources?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, there seems to be in the air a possibility that the Prime Minister would if this Programme
Motion, the short time table for discussion, amendments and changes is deemed too short and doesn't pass them, then yes, it could be -- he could
collapse this current process and try to find a way to move to a general election.
Now it's not in his own gift to give himself a general election. He can't do that. He needs two-thirds majority support in Parliament. He needs the
opposition to be on side for that.
So this is going to be difficult for him. But when we talk about strategy, I think the general understanding and the language of Boris Johnson since
his first speech outside of Downing Street had so much detail, and about, you know, an additional 20,000 police officers were going to be providing
additional funding to renew, build new hospitals, renew existing hospitals, take care of social issues, improve education. He has been on an election
narrative for a long time.
So to have a successful vote today, and there is a sense that today or in for the next five hours, we are in very carefully chartered territory. We
all feel comfortable. We know what's happening. We know there's going to be a vote up and down on this.
We may not know the outcome, but it's all normal. It's after that that it changes, that it potentially changes again. So yes, he would have the
success of this vote where Theresa May didn't presuming the vote goes his way. And that would be very good to take forward into an election,
particularly given he got a deal out of Brussels when he said he would.
FOSTER: Carole, we've got all day to talk about this. We've got weeks.
WALKER: Excellent.
FOSTER: It could be months now. We don't know. We'll find out today about the delay, but thank you both. There's a lot more to unfold here in
Parliament in the coming hours.
I think he is still speaking, isn't he, Boris Johnson? So it's going to be a long session. We will be here following all the votes and the
developments, but Zain, for now, back to you.
[09:10:00]
ASHER: All right, Max, thank you so much. And we'll bring you some breaking news.
According to sources cited by "The Wall Street Journal," WeWork -- that's the embattled co-working space operator has secured a financial rescue
package from Softbank.
I want to straight now to Clare Sebastian. She is joining us live now from New York. So Clare, what more do we know about this rescue package from
Softbank and how much control will they have of the company now?
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Zain, this is the key question. We knew that WeWork was weighing reportedly two financing
options. One from Softbank; one, a kind of a debt package that was being put together by JPMorgan.
It is reported now by "The Wall Street Journal" that they have made the decision to go with Softbank which was already a key investor, already
owned almost a third of the company, but this is really interesting how this deal according to "The Wall Street Journal" will be structured.
They say that that you know as a part of this, they will take control of the company, that their stake will go up. They will now be in control.
But really interesting is how the future of Adam Neumann will be affected by this. According to "The Wall Street Journal," he will step down from
the Board. Don't forget, he was already sidelined as CEO, but had a position as a non-executive director on the Board.
But according to the report, he will now step down, but in return, he's going to get about $1.7 billion as part of this deal, about a billion of
that from selling shares, another $500 million in a credit line from Softbank, $185 million consulting fee. It's unclear what that will be.
But all of that together means that he is pretty much walking away if this report is true, quids in. And meanwhile, it's very unclear, Zain, what's
going to happen to the more than 500 WeWork locations; even less clear is what's going to happen to the company's 15,000 employees.
And of course, Softbank doesn't emerge really profitable from all of this. Their investment in the company, if this report is true will now probably
be more than the company is actually worth. So a lot of questions are going to arise from this.
ASHER: And Clare, just walk us through what the last few months have entailed for WeWork because this was supposed to be one of, if not the
hottest IPOs of the year. And then just a few months later, everything has come crashing down. Just walk us through what happened.
SEBASTIAN: Yes, it's been a very rapid kind of unraveling. Basically, it all started, when the pre-IPO paperwork was filed. It really gave us a
glimpse into the inner workings of this company, something that we hadn't really known about before. And it revealed a lot of skeletons in the
closet, Zain.
Most of all, the company was really making just wild losses. They lost almost $2 billion last year. On top of that, the business model was
seriously concerning to investors. The company has about $47 billion of long term lease obligations.
And on the other side of that, they only have short term commitments from their members, the people who occupy that space. So that mismatch led to
some serious concerns. They were burning through cash at a rate that led analysts and investors to worry about an imminent cash crunch as soon as
that paperwork came out.
And of course, the kind of unorthodox relationship of Adam Neumann, the founder and then CEO to the company. The fact that he had, you know,
secured loans against this, holding in the company. There were reports that he had leased out some of his own properties to the company. His wife
had the power to help appoint a successor at that point.
They amended some of that, the company, as they tried to push forward this IPO, but it just wasn't enough and now, we end up in this situation.
ASHER: All right, Clare Sebastian live for us there. Thank you so much.
And more details have emerged from Facebook about Russia interference in next year's U.S. presidential election. It says that Russian profiles
linked to the internet research agency are posing as groups in swing states on Instagram. Let's bring in Hadas Gold no.
So Hadas, what more do we know and just walk us through Facebook's specific process for trying to identify these Russian linked accounts?
HADAS GOLD, CNN BUSINESS REPORTER: Yes, Zain. So Facebook announced yesterday that they took down around 50 accounts on Instagram, cleaned one
on Facebook. Combined, these accounts had around 250,000 followers.
Now Facebook said these accounts posed as Americans from all sides of the political debate. They had names like Michigan Black Community, Stop
Trump, Bernie 2020 -- all posing as sort of politically active accounts, and they would post these sort of memes around politics and a lot of the
memes, though, even if they were pro-Trump or pro-Bernie, a lot of these memes seem to be united in their opposition to Joe Biden.
Of course, that's notable considering that Facebook is saying that the people behind these accounts are actually not Americans, they're actually
Russians associated with the Internet Research Group in Russia, of course, they became infamous during their attempts to do similar activities during
the 2016 election.
Of course, their activities were documented in congressional inquiries that were published, documenting just how far they went, how big of a business
this was for the IRA.
But it just goes to show you that what we saw in 2016, just because it's exposed, it's not stopping anytime soon. It is continuing into 2020. But
the difference is now we're much more aware of it and the social media companies are much more aware of it and the way that they are identifying
them and taking them down are becoming more sophisticated.
[09:15:11]
GOLD: They're starting to partner more with some of these outside groups, digital kind of forensics who analyze these things. But it's a cat and
mouse game. It's a constant game to try to catch these accounts, identify them and take them down.
ASHER: All right, Hadas Gold live for us there. Thank you so much. Appreciate it.
All right, so these are the stories making headlines around the world.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is meeting his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Sochi right now. The two are likely discussing the
ceasefire in Northern Syria, which is set to expire in just a few hours from now. We are expecting a statement from both Presidents. We will of
course bring it to you live as soon as that happens.
Meantime, in Canada, Justin Trudeau's Liberal Party is expected to hold on to power, but as a minority government. He will have to form a partnership
with at least one other party for a second term. Mr. Trudeau's campaign suffered after multiple photos of him wearing blackface years ago emerged.
He apologized, claiming he didn't realize at the time that what he was doing was racist.
Japan's Emperor Naruhito has officially proclaimed his enthronement, that's after his father abdicated the throne in May. Around 2,000 dignitaries
from more than 180 countries attended a solemn, centuries-old ceremony earlier in the Imperial Palace in Tokyo.
The Emperor says that he will pray for happiness of the people and world peace as well.
Okay, still to come here on FIRST MOVE, Brexit in the skies. The President of Emirates Airlines weighs in on the process and why he feels that it's so
disturbing.
And Verizon enters the Magic Kingdom. The telecoms giant teams up with Disney throwing another name is the streaming wars. You're watching CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:20:09]
ASHER: All right, welcome back to FIRST MOVE, everyone. I'm Zain Asher coming to you live from here at the New York Stock Exchange. Let's talk to
you about what's happening in the Houses of Parliament right now in London.
Boris Johnson's vision for Brexit is facing its very first real test. The British lawmakers -- you are looking at live pictures by the way -- British
lawmakers are set to vote on his withdrawal agreement with the European Union tonight as part.
This is part of Prime Minister's plan to ram through his legislation by October 31st. That is just over one week away. So of course, the clock is
ticking, with the urgency echoed by the President rather of Emirates Airline, Tim Clark. He has been speaking to our Julia Chatterley weighing
in on the Brexit process, and how he thinks the whole thing has gotten, in his words, pretty ugly.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TIM CLARK, PRESIDENT, EMIRATES AIRLINES: From a personal point of view, I think anybody involved or looking at this, for me, it's quite disturbing
because I see the British system of government, which is highly aspirational in other parts of the world that I see. Countries, entities
within those countries aspiring to the British system of government.
They like what they see. They like the way the laws are passed and enacted through the parliamentary process and sovereignty passing from the people
to Parliament to act on behalf of the people.
Now, what I see now is a challenge to that. A disruption to that, and how this will be resolved, I don't know, but the whole process over the last
two or three years has been pretty ugly.
I'm not just -- I am not going to say that that won't get resolved in the end, but in the process of doing that, it's quite disturbing.
And I think it's disturbing, not just for the people in the United Kingdom for all the reasons that we know, but also it's causing a degree of
instability in the minds of others and that affects confidence of investors. It slows down those very, very important economic factors that
push growth are put into equilibrium.
At the same time, in this case, the European economies, in the German case has slowed considerably. And not long ago, we were talking about a
recession in Germany.
And the political upheavals that are going on in Europe at the moment. The Catalonian crisis, the various shifting governments within the various
constituent parts such as Italy. Austria recently, et cetera. So there is a -- there's a degree of uncertainty which isn't helped by Brexit.
JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR, FIRST MOVE: Do you think the U.K. leaves the E.U. on October 31st?
CLARK: That's a hugely difficult question. Even though it is the 21st. It is -- 10 days to go. I don't know. The chicanery that goes on in the
British Parliament, and I'm not pointing fingers at anybody, but it is --
CHATTERLEY: You don't have enough fingers.
CLARK: No, but there is that, but of course, it has got to be a -- constitutional historians, books are going to be written about this in the
future.
CHATTERLEY: Plenty of them.
CLARK: So whether I believe that there will be a Brexit, whether it will be on October 31st, I'm not sure, but I believe that it will come and it
will come in a manner in my view that eventually will be diluted to an extent that will be equally -- will be received well by all the various
parties once we been through the multilayers, multidimensional agendas that are working here.
In the end, I think sets will prevail because I believe the U.K. powers that be, entities, establishment and the Europeans understand the
fundamentals of all of this.
And it is critical that the United Kingdom and Europe work together. They are bolted at the hip, not perhaps so much as they were in the past, but
they just get on with the job.
And I believe both the Europeans and the United Kingdom want this to happen.
CHATTERLEY: Do you say and suggest it will be a very soft form of Brexit therefore? Is it even worth it to Brexit for the U.K. economy in that
case? Or are we so far beyond asking the question of whether the deal is good or what kind of deal it looks like because we're so desperate to enact
Brexit that the benefits whether it's a good deal or not have become irrelevant?
CLARK: Well, it depends what you define as soft Brexit or hard Brexit. These are terms that have been banded around for political purposes, et
cetera.
In my view, there will -- there is already a balance. There is already a middle road which will probably satisfy the hard and the soft whatever it
maybe.
[09:25:02]
CLARK: And because it is nearly there, I believe that in the end, sense will prevail. I can't say what will happen in the case of a general
election, et cetera. We will, who will -- you know, I have my own views about that. I haven't got time to talk about those.
But in the end, I think this is going to happen and it will all be a result of judgments taken by both sides and I don't mean just the people within
the U.K. parliamentary process, but the Europeans themselves a recognition that this cannot go on indefinitely.
And if it is allowed to go on indefinitely, the destabilization of both the European economies and the U.K. will be there for so long. It's not a good
place to be in.
Equally, the Europeans need to get on with their jobs, the United Kingdom needs to get on with its job. And the Europeans really don't want to see
any more countries taking a similar path because this would just be --
So it's important it is brought to an end. I believe it will be brought to an end. I believe we will be out of -- the United Kingdom will be out of
the European Union, but not on such a hard basis that we are totally isolated and without link.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: That was the President of Emirates Airlines speaking with our Julia Chatterley. They spoke a lot more than -- about a lot more than just
Brexit, the challenges of global growth to the troubles facing Boeing as well. All of that and more, tomorrow on FIRST MOVE.
Tonight's vote will likely move the pound. Right now, it is edging lower. It is trading around 1.29 against the dollar.
We will be right back in just a couple of minutes with the opening bell
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:30:29]
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.
FOSTER: Okay, we've got some breaking news on Brexit for you because the process isn't working quite as Boris Johnson had been hoping. It's a
complex matter. Let's bring in Anna Stewart. She is in 10 Downing Street. You've been following it for us.
Just explain the various votes today and how they are developing effectively.
STEWART: So two key votes today. One is the second reading of the withdrawal agreement bill that's expected to go through and it essentially
means that the bill can go through the next stage of the process, which involve probably loads of amendments being slapped on it. So not the end of
the process by any means.
The second vote. This is a crucial one. We've been talking about this morning, Max, the Programme Motion. This is the government wanting to fast
track this so it gets through Parliament, essentially through the House of Commons in two to three days. That's an incredibly short amount of time,
compared to the huge amount of time an international treaty would take. That's 21 sitting days.
Now, in the last few minutes, the Prime Minister stood up and said that if Parliament does not agree to fast track this bill, he is going to pull it.
Now, this is really a bit of a game changer. This will focus minds in Parliament, plenty of MPs who may be were planning to vote against the
Programme Motion, wanting more time to debate it, to consider it. Many will be concerned at this stage that if they want Brexit perhaps they have
to fall in line and vote with the government because otherwise this bill may get scrapped entirely, and the Prime Minister wants to head straight
for general election -- Max.
FOSTER: In terms of Jeremy Corbyn's point of view, he is currently speaking right now, isn't he? He is treading a careful tightrope here
because he has got to allow Brexit to happen. You know, that's what the referendum called for, but at the same time, he is very uncomfortable about
leaving the Customs Union.
STEWART: It's been an incredibly difficult position for the opposition party. They've always said they want to deliver what the nation voted for,
deliver Brexit; however, they would like to have a second referendum. They did it on that actually, throughout the last three and a half years.
Finding Labour's position has always been quite difficult. What will be very interesting is if the Prime Minister wants to call a general election
because he feels that he cannot get his bill through Parliament in the timeframe he wants. Will Labour support that call for a general election?
If the E.U. grants the extension, we are still waiting to find out if that happens, then it will be very difficult for the Labour Party to not back a
general election. They blocked it before, but they said they've blocked. Boris Johnson from having a general election in recent months because they
wanted to ensure that no deal Brexit was taken off the table at the end of October.
If that happens, and the Prime Minister decides he can no longer go forward with his bill, then it would appear likely that we are going to head into a
general election.
FOSTER: Is this -- thank you, Anna. I've got Nic here. I mean, you've been following Boris Johnson's strategy throughout. It is quite hard to
keep up with, isn't it? You never quite know whether he is just blasting or he is actually coming up with a firm threat in whether or not this is
just a way of getting the deal through.
ROBERTSON: Look, I think the government has a reasonably good handle on where they feel the figures are at and there was immediately huge pushback
in Parliament last night.
You know, this bill, 110 pages was only given to MPs at quarter to eight last night, and as soon as it was given, MPs was standing up in Parliament
saying very clearly that they don't have enough time to go through it.
So it's very clear there has been push back on this timetable, the Programme Motion already so that clearly within Downing Street the
calculation is being made. If that doesn't pass, what are we going to do?
And the strategy has always been there to prepare and be ready for a general election. That pushing for the possibility of a no deal Brexit was
always going to be a huge challenge. It was a negotiating strategy to a great degree with the European Union, with the British people, with
Parliament as well to get himself to this position to open up the withdrawal agreement that was said that couldn't be done.
So he has used that as a strategy to get into this point. And I think he would have every intention of taking it to that point if he could get
there.
But the next best alternative will be -- and he has tried to do it before, call on the opposition to call for a vote of no confidence in the
government if they're not supportive of it.
So he is in effect saying that this Programme Motion, if you don't support it, then you don't have confidence in the government and therefore, you
need to bring down this government and allow us to go to a general election. It is something that has challenged Jeremy Corbyn on multiple
times.
[09:35:16]
ROBERTSON: So there is a sense that the Labour Party don't feel that they have the numbers that they want to go into an election. But the one clear
line for Labour has always been through this process right now that they won't go for it until they know there's a guarantee of an extension.
This letter that Boris Johnson sent that they're waiting for the European Council leaders to respond to, once that extension is guaranteed, then
Labour says that's a game changer and they've indicated that they would go for an election. However, we're not quite at that point yet.
FOSTER: Anna, this is all about sort of getting the numbers together really, isn't it? I mean, do you think this alternative strategy that
Boris Johnson is suggesting, as he says quite openly in Parliament is enough to convince those last few MPs to support him in the vote later on
tonight?
STEWART: It's really interesting. It is a game changer. We're going to have to look through those numbers very carefully because plenty of MPs do
want to see Brexit done and delivered perhaps, not by the end of October, but certainly soon.
And the risk of a general election is of course, a different government, a different withdrawal agreement going back to Brussels, a potentially very
lengthy extension or a second referendum.
Many MPs heading into a general election will be very concerned about their voters at home, the voters in their constituencies. If you represent an
area that voted to leave the E.U., how are they going to feel if you are an MP that essentially scuppered a Brexit deal just before the deadline?
That is going to be the reaction for some MPs, so I think it's going to get a lot tighter on this Programme Motion. It is possible now that this
decision by Boris Johnson, this statement, very ballsy may actually end up saving the day for the government, but we'll see. It's going to be close.
FOSTER: Yes, it's going to be close. We can't unfortunately hear Jeremy Corbyn right now, but you know this -- he is quite often on the back foot.
He is quite good at getting on the front foot as well, isn't he? But do you think he could have seen this coming? And how do you think he might
respond to this?
ROBERTSON: He will have seen it coming. And I think it will be difficult for people to understand how he'll respond to it because his position or
Labour Party's position has seemed ambiguous and one of the successes I suppose, of their conference a month ago, or maybe less than a month ago
now, it seems like a long time ago, was to present a very clear platform that you have an election.
And then after that election, then we could move towards a second referendum, but only after we've had an opportunity to negotiate a better
withdrawal agreement ourselves.
So but there's been these tensions within the Labour Party that are essentially undermined the credibility of the position of Jeremy Corbyn and
as much as there are many other senior MPs who have wanted him to push for a second referendum sooner, to be clearer on that, to make that a defining
factor.
So whether or not Labour now feels -- given Boris Johnson is threatening this, that they would feel comfortable in going into a general election
isn't clear because they've been taunted by the Prime Minister essentially saying that he wouldn't go for it because you don't think you have the
numbers.
And current polling, as it stands right now has the Conservatives, approximately within a few percentage points, about 10 percentage points
ahead of Labour at the moment.
So that's not a comfortable position for the Leader of the Opposition to be in. However, the way that democracy works in this country and Jeremy
Corbyn has said this, it is in the nature of the beast that you will, if there's an opportunity to -- when you are in opposition, if there's an
opportunity to challenge the government and bring down the government, you will do that.
He has abstained from doing it before, but it will seem impossible for him not to accept that challenge once the guarantee is that of an extension.
FOSTER: You know, this is a very unpredictable process and that's because it's all a negotiation as well. We don't really know what's going to
happen it feels sometimes until we get to October 31st, that deadline.
But we're going to try and keep on track for you, because it's all about the vote later on tonight for many people, this timetable, because that
will define whether or not the deadline is conceivable even. We will bring you all of the updates. Zain, back to you for now.
ASHER: All right, Max, thank you so much. Let's head now to Capitol Hill, Washington where a key witness in the Impeachment Inquiry is about to begin
giving his testimony.
The top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine, Bill Taylor is appearing before Congress. This comes -- just as a backdrop for you -- this comes as a new CNN poll
shows growing support for removing President Donald Trump from office.
Suzanne Malveaux joins us live now from Capitol Hill. So Suzanne, as I mentioned, Bill Taylor, obviously a key witness. What sorts of questions
do you expect he is going to be asked today?
[09:40:06]
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN U.S. CORRESPONDENT: Well, Zain, we actually just saw him enter the building and he is now behind closed doors with those three
key committees. The Democrats, first and foremost, I mean, they're looking at somebody who is a career diplomat here, who actually came out of
retirement to replace Marie Yovanovitch, who was the one who was ousted as the U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine under very strange circumstances.
What did he know as soon as he got into his position about what was taking place within the State Department? The role of the President, as well as
the President's personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani?
He had multiple conversations and we saw that memorialized in these text messages that the committee has in which he essentially is raising the red
flags from the very beginning saying he thinks it's crazy that they're withholding aid from Ukraine for a political cause here, for some sort of
gain.
So he pushes Sondland, he pushes the U.S. Special Envoy, he pushes the E.U. Ambassador, both of them to try to explain on this text message chain, what
is occurring? What's taking place behind the scenes?
And it's almost as if he is trying to create a paper trail for what is occurring. And that is really what the Democrats want to know. Was he
actually trying to record and gather evidence for the kinds of things that he was hearing in these telephone conversations he was having with
officials and offline? Did he want somebody to respond to him, and really just lay all of this out? So that is the first thing that they want to
know.
The other thing, of course, is Zain, you mentioned this and it really comes at a critical time. The President seemingly very frustrated and distraught
by this process tweeting this morning, saying to the Republicans, he says, " ... they can impeach the President without due process or fairness or any
legal rights. What all Republicans must remember, what they are witnessing here - a lynching."
Zain, highly offensive, racially-tinged language here that the President is using. And so you can imagine the type of response this morning that is
coming from a number of lawmakers.
We heard from Congressman Clyburn, he is the minority whip, and he is the person -- he is African-American who said this is absolutely offensive,
really evoking that period in American history where thousands of African- Americans were tortured, hung and murdered.
And so this has only escalated the President becoming more and more desperate in his language. In the meantime, really a great contrast behind
closed doors, this methodical process that's taking place as they gather more evidence and testimony and Zain, again, you brought up that poll, that
new CNN poll showing that now for the first time, at least this poll indicating that it is 50 percent of Americans who now feel as if the
President should be impeached and removed from office.
One caveat to that, Zain, however, is that this is really strictly along party lines and we are not seeing any movement in the President's approval
rating or even job performance -- Zain.
ASHER: Suzanne, as you mentioned, just sort of deeply hurtful language there used by the President. Suzanne, we have to leave it there.
You're watching FIRST MOVE. I will see you on the other side of this short break. Don't go away.
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[09:46:26]
ASHER: Welcome back, everybody. Profit at the Swiss bank, UBS, slid 16 percent in the third quarter. A disappointing performance on its
investment bank was blamed for the drop. The bank said it will have to cut high paying jobs at the division. Matt Egan joins us live now.
So Matt, obviously this has been a very challenging environment for UBS. How much of this can be traced back to low interest rates, negative
interest rates as well?
MATT EGAN, CNN BUSINESS SENIOR WRITER: Zain, that is definitely one factor. You've all of these unorthodox Central Bank policies, but you've
also got slow economic growth and really weak CEO confidence and that has combined to create a really challenging environment for banks, even the
biggest banks.
I mean, listen to what UBS reported today -- 16 percent drop in profits, a 59 percent decline in investment banking earnings, and they reported sharp
declines in M&A and investment banking fees.
And the bank flat out said, they are not satisfied with the performance of the investment bank. That's why they've announced this restructuring plan
that will cost $100 million. It is squarely aimed at the investment bank and UBS said that it will mount to structural changes in the investment
bank suggesting, yes, job cuts.
Now, it's not just the investment bank, though, because UBS reported an eight percent decline in lending profits. That is definitely reflection of
this upside down world of interest rate policy. You can recall, the ECB went to negative rates back in 2014, the Swiss National Bank went to
negative rates in 2015.
And now the Federal Reserve is lowering interest rates and is expected to cut rates later this month for the third time. And you know, that's really
putting a lot of pressure on these banks.
UBS and Credit Suisse have actually recently announced plans to charge wealthy clients to hold their money there. That can lead to clients to
just take their money out altogether. So it's no wonder why U.S. banks have come out and said that they do not want to see negative interest rates
here.
ASHER: And beyond that, how else are they sort of trying to pass on the costs of negative interest rates to consumers?
EGAN: Yes, I mean, it's a really difficult situation. We've seen big banks cut costs and that can cause some problems as well. And they've
tried to maybe pass along some of the negative interest rates to clients. But that can lead to a backlash.
One of the bright spots though with the UBS report is their wealth management business does continue to perform well. The bank announced that
its total assets under management climbed again last quarter. It hit a record, Zain, $2.5 trillion.
ASHER: All right. Matt Egan, live for us there. Thank you so much. Appreciate it. All right, still to come here on FIRST MOVE. As Disney
prepares to launch it streaming service, the CEO of the U.S. telecoms giant, Verizon, tells me why they are pairing up and why it's good news for
Verizon customers. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:51:40]
ASHER: Welcome back everybody. U.S. telecoms giant, Verizon is teaming up with Disney Plus giving its customers a free year when the streaming
service launches next month.
Joining me now is Hans Vestberg, the CEO of Verizon. Hans, thank you so much for being with us. So just tell us how this deal with Disney came
about.
HANS VESTBERG, CEO, VERIZON: I think that we have been discussing for quite a while, you know, we have a consumer base on our wireless, on our
Fios and our 5G Home and we want to offer an optionality.
We think that Disney Plus is something new in the market and very exciting. So we have a commercial lead with this where we're going to actually offer
that to our customers for free for 12 months.
ASHER: Okay.
VESTBERG: And I think, for us, it is a great deal because we can use our technology and our best network. We can use our brand and our distribution
to give our customers something extra. So that's what we're doing.
ASHER: Okay, so why Disney specifically? I mean, why not other streaming services? Will that come later or just Disney for now?
VESTBERG: No, this is exclusive with Disney. So I think for us, we want to do really good exclusive. We did one last year on music, together with
a very famous company in the Silicon Valley, with Apple.
We thought that those type of models are really beneficial for our customers. But we only do it with the best brands and with great content,
so it really fits into our strategy where we believe in our network and our brand and our distribution.
ASHER: So how important do you think content is going to be just in terms of distinguishing your company from, for example, our parent company, AT&T
or other telecoms giants as well.
VESTBERG: I think in general, I mean, a lot in the network is content, and it's going to be uploaded and downloaded and viewed all the time. So of
course, content is important.
Our model, which we outlined in the beginning of the year is that we actually are partnered with content partners and we think that has given
the optionality of our customers and we can focus on the network and on the distribution and circle around. And we think that's our model.
ASHER: And so just switching gears now to 5G. What are some of the biggest challenges in the race towards 5G, do you think?
VESTBERG: I think that we are early on in technology. We were first with the 5G Home solution. We were first getting a 5G smartphone in the market.
We are rolling out the market. We have 13 markets right now. We're coming into 30 markets before yearend.
I think just to get the gears out and improving them all the time. The software is improving so quickly when you're early stage on software, and
the first launches we did, you know, on 5G smartphone, we maybe had 600 to 700 megabits per second on the phone, and now we're up to two gig.
So it's a constant evolution and hard work to see that consumers are getting the best experience. So I think that's what we're working with
every day to see that we're going to have it to all our customers.
ASHER: And talk to us about Verizon Media Group. Obviously, they've changed their brand, especially moving away from oath.
VESTBERG: Yes.
ASHER: What's the strategy going forward in terms of boosting ad revenue? Competing with the likes of Google and Facebook in that department?
VESTBERG: I think we have a dual role here. First of all, we have our over the top brands, you know, everything. We have Yahoo Finance, Sports,
entertainment and all of that. We think that own content in those are important. But it's all over the top, that's where we believe we can be.
And that of course, is helping us with engagement. And also on an advertising platform, where we actually combine some six to seven different
ad platforms to one. And I think we're doing well with it. And I think that's our model. We're going to find our niche in it. There are some
variance in a market, but we think we can find our way of actually getting local traction to our model.
And I think the guys at the Verizon Media Group has done a great job in the last few months to put these all together.
[09:55:29]
ASHER: All right. And one of the sort of key strategies is of course, commerce as well in all of this.
VESTBERG: Yes
ASHER: All right. Hans Vestberg, live for us there. Thank you so much. Talking to us about the partnership with Disney with Disney Plus being
available for Verizon customers.
All right, that's it. You have been watching FIRST MOVE. I am Zain Asher. Stay with us on CNN. We are live from Abingdon Green following all the
latest developments when it comes to Brexit in the U.K. House of Commons.
"Connect the World" starts after this short break. Don't go away.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:00:00]
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