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First Move with Julia Chatterley
JPMorgan Sounding The Alarm With Its Latest Outlook For The U.S. Economy; New York Confirms More Coronavirus Cases Than Any Country Around The World; The European Union Has Agreed And Emergency Relief Deal Worth Half A Trillion Euros. Aired 9-10a ET
Aired April 10, 2020 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:00:01]
JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN BUSINESS ANCHOR: Live from New York, I'm Julia Chatterley. This is FIRST MOVE, and here's your need to know.
Testing times. Talk of a U.S. economic wake up gathering steam, but can the science keep up?
Mexican mutiny. Big oil producers agree to supply cuts, but one nation says no.
And a healthier headspace, the CEO aiming to help healthcare heroes cope with the stress.
It's Friday. Let's make a move.
Welcome once again to FIRST MOVE wherever you're joining us from. It's also Easter Friday, so many global markets are closed. It's been a challenging
week for many people after another week spent in sad and strange circumstances.
We're here with you and we have a jam-packed show with the latest news, but hopefully some advice as you heard there for dealing with some of the
anxiety you may be feeling at this moment. More on that coming up later on in the show.
But for now we'll get straight to the drivers, JPMorgan sounding the alarm with its latest outlook for the U.S. economy. Economists say the
unemployment rate could hit 20 percent in April with a loss of 25 million jobs.
Economic growth could shrink by 40 percent in the second quarter. The economic data this week, truly underscoring, I think the need for a plan to
reopen the U.S. economy.
Christine Romans joins me now. Christine, you and I have been talking about this it seems like for weeks, the cost of the economic and the jobs crisis,
wherever you are in the world has to be weighed in some sense over what we're trying to achieve with the health crisis.
You can't choose between these things, but we do need a plan so the conversation needs to be had.
ROMANS: Absolutely. So the social sacrifice of these 17 million people who lost their jobs and then the short term plan to get rescue funds to them,
we know these extended unemployment benefits are going to start to flow in the next few days, maybe starting in California and in New York and some of
the big states so that extra money is coming for small business still need to connect them with the promise of all of that cash, but that's the near
term picture.
And then the longer-term picture is when do we go back to what will be a new normal and you know, interestingly, the Fed Chief yesterday said, you
know, we will go back. We will have the economy recover once the virus is contained but be careful how quickly we move.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEROME POWELL, FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIRMAN: We need to have a plan nationally for reopening the economy, but we all want it to happen as quickly as
possible.
We all want to avoid a false start, where we will partially reopen and that results in a spike in coronavirus cases and then we have to go back again
to go to square one.
We all want to avoid that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Patience and balance and avoiding a false start because, do we think that would do lasting damage to consumer spending and consumer
psyche, Julia, if people don't feel comfortable going back to work or going back to some sort of a routine, we know from our polling this week, 60
percent of Americans said at the end of April, April 30th, they do not feel comfortable going back to their pre-crisis routines.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, as desperate as we are to return to some normality, I think at this stage, that point for me is critical. The majority of people
still think we can quickly try and reopen the economy and get back to normality.
But at this moment, the majority of people are afraid that we don't have perhaps the testing, we're not sure who's had this, who's got this and the
protections need to be put in place. They know that.
ROMANS: Okay, so the testing -- right, testing, whether you have the virus, antibody testing. Some sort of monitoring so that we can do contact tracing
and find out if there are outbreaks or hotspots that come back in the fall, we know how to contain that, and how to also contain the economic damage
from that in that neighborhood.
We also need to talk about policies in place in the future so that frontline workers are better protected, right? So that people are paid to
stay home when they are sick. So there are other kind of societal and structural mechanisms so we don't find ourselves with so much economic
damage to the people who are the essential workers in the first place.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, and it's so tough to gauge as we began this segment with some of the expectations here. Terrifying in terms of numbers, but I think
you and I have been sort of predicting this now for a while, but it's -- it is so tough to gauge what the short term and the longer term impact is.
Technology on the testing side is key for me, but also technology. This -- the United States is known for its innovation for its Big Tech companies,
and the fact that we're now starting to see those names cropping up with one, getting money to people in the short term to protect the economy, but
two, of course, just looking at the operations around the country and going, how can we be so advanced on the one hand, and yet, on the
frontlines where it matters, at times, we're in the dark ages.
[09:05:14]
ROMANS: It's so interesting on two fronts. When you talk about ventilators, for example, and the frustration of not being able to get ventilators or
get the proper masks for -- and PPE for the frontline workers.
Now, on the other hand, you've got those moneys sitting there to give to the unemployed or to give to small business and you can't connect the
people who need it with the funds that have been promised. That's also -- you're right -- a technology problem.
It's just in the biggest economy on Earth will we learn from this to make sure it doesn't happen again.
CHATTERLEY: Yes. Digitization, the use of technology better. Christine Romans, thank you so much for joining us, as always.
Now, New York has more coronavirus cases than any country in the world. Around 162,000 people have contracted the virus in the state, more than
7,000 people have lost their lives.
Athena Jones has been looking at what we're seeing here. Athena, great to have you with us.
It's tough to comprehend the scale of what we're seeing, and we've been talking about it, I think on a daily basis. For the medical workers on the
frontlines, it's been impossible to keep up with what they're facing.
ATHENA JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Julia. That's right. You know, the impact of this virus on a state like New York is, as
you mentioned, this is the state with the most cases in the country, and in fact, more cases than any country in the world.
So a lot of impact here, including on the healthcare workers. There have been some positive signs in recent days when it comes to that, those
concerns we had over the last few weeks about overwhelming the hospital system.
Governor Cuomo saying in his most recent update that it appears as though at the rate things are going, it may be possible to see that the hospital
system is stabilized.
But there's no doubt about it, as we enter this holiday weekend, we're seeing bad news -- more bad news -- some of it wrapped in slightly better
news. So the State of New York reporting its highest single day death toll for the third day in a row. At the same time, hospitalizations are way
down. They went down to 200 from 585 the day before.
Intensive Care Unit admissions are also a way down, and so these are positive signs. These are the kinds of signs they want to see and this is
why Governor Cuomo says social distancing is working here. We need to keep doing it.
As you mentioned, though, there are still concerns about supplies in various places. While we talk to some hospital workers in one place,
they'll say we have enough masks, others will say, well, we're having to use our masks for four or five shifts, we need to be able to have a
resupply. And so those are still some lingering issues.
And also, the fact is, the Governor had to sign last night, an Executive Order allowing licensed funeral directors from all around the country to
come to New York and operate here in New York to take off some of the pressure on the system because so many people have died and some of them
have died so quickly. More than 7,000 New Yorkers have fallen victim to this virus --Julia.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, it's unimaginable. Athena, we were just showing some pictures. I think of Hart Island. Can you tell me what's going on there,
please?
JONES: Right. Hart Island is an island in Long Island Sound, it is north of here. It's off the coast of the Bronx. It is an island that has been used
for over a hundred years, a 150 years or so as a place to bury unclaimed bodies, and it's run by the Department of Corrections.
Well, this time because of this crisis, they are now going to be burying unclaimed bodies there in two weeks' time. If they haven't been claimed in
14 days. They will be put on Hart Island. They will be identified in such a way that they can be disinterred to be buried again, proper burial that the
family may want to give it.
But the change here really is a change to the rules in the New York Medical Examiner's Office. Before, unclaimed bodies still went to Hart Island, but
after 30 days or even 60 days.
Now, because of the influx of bodies and deaths that number has come down to 14 days.
So it's just another sign of how -- of what a toll the virus is taking -- Julia.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, it's -- I'm lost for words. Athena Jones, thank you so much for joining us there and I can tell it's incredibly cold out there
because your eyes are watering.
So, quick hot drink for you, too. Stay warm, please. And stay safe.
All right, the European Union has agreed and emergency relief deal worth half a trillion euros. Weeks of fighting over money, medical supplies and
border restrictions have strained European solidarity. The most contentious issue of all -- debt sharing.
Well, that's been left for another day. Fred Pleitgen joins us now from Berlin.
Fred, let's talk about what they did manage to agree on first and then we can talk about where the big struggle was.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Julia, yes, I mean, they were very proud of the fact they did reach out agreement. You
are absolutely right with the contentious issue, it is certainly the one that they left out which is those coronabonds or eurobonds as they're also
called.
[09:10:10]
PLEITGEN: Now what they did agree on is really a three-tier system to support countries that are in trouble financially because of the
coronavirus crisis, companies that are in trouble because of the coronavirus crisis, but then also employees as well.
On the one hand, you have the European Stability Mechanism that of course, we know from the 2008 Financial Crisis to support nations that get into
problems. There was a lot of back and forth, especially between the Netherlands and Italy on that issue, what the terms would be. In the end,
they did manage to reach an agreement on that.
The European Investment Bank is going to be the organization that's going to help small and medium-sized businesses in a lot of these countries to
get over the hump, to really stay in business as long as they are being shut down right now.
So that's going to be that mechanism that they're going to use and then there's that program, SURE, which is the jobs program and that, Julia, is
pretty much an exact copy of the German playbook of 2008.
The Germans call it the Short Labor Program, the Kurzarbeit Program, as they call it here in Germany, where essentially what companies do is they
make their employees work maybe half the time, maybe even less, pay them less, and then governments pick up the tab or pick up the difference.
Of course, the Europeans realize that a government, a lot of governments can't do that. So now they have this E.U. fund or this E.U. mechanism
called SURE to try and get that into place. That really is something that the Germans say helped protect a lot of jobs in their country in 2008, and
something that they want to see on a European level.
You could hear Angela Merkel yesterday talking about what a great program she thinks that is. So it seems as though on a lot of the issues, they did
manage to reach an agreement, but you are absolutely right. The big question is going to be the financing of all this and are eurobonds in the
end going to be issued.
And there, of course, the differences between some of the Southern European countries specifically Italy and Spain and a lot of the Northern European
countries like the powerhouses of Germany, the Netherlands, Austria and also Finland as well, that still remains in place, and Angela Merkel
yesterday, I listened to her press statement that she gave -- her Easter press statement, she once again, flat out says, she rejects eurobond as a
mechanism to try and finance all this -- Julia.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, it's a challenge, isn't it? I guess they get -- or risk being accused of some kind of moral hazard having not agreed to this during
the financial crisis than agreeing to it when all nations are impacted by something so devastating, to the same degree as this health crisis, but the
question is, do they come around to it in the future because for Spain and Italy, it's some -- it's been more devastating than ever.
Fred, thank you so much for that update there. Fred Pleitgen.
All right now to an update on the British Prime Minister's health. Boris Johnson is just beginning his recovery says his spokesman. The official
said the Prime Minister is following doctor's orders and will not be going to Chequers, his countryside retreat.
Prime Minister Johnson left intensive care last night, but does remain in hospital. He tested positive for the coronavirus two weeks ago. We wish him
well.
All markets meanwhile closed for Good Friday, a day after Saudi Arabia and Russia reached a tentative deal to reduce production by some 10 million
barrels a day in May and June.
But at the OPEC Plus meeting, Mexico declined to support the agreement. Talks will continue at today's G-20 meeting of Energy Ministers, and at the
same time, Richard caught up with the CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund and discuss the issue and the need for a longer term fix.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KIRILL DMITRIEV, CEO, RUSSIA DIRECT INVESTMENT FUND: It's very important that the agreement that has been hammered out today is really a longer term
agreement. It lasts for around two years, maybe more, and I think there is a clear alignment to understand that, you know, we need to be together
while economy is going through recovery from coronavirus effect.
So this is specifically why the agreement this longer than one year, and this is why many countries are committing to it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHATTERLEY: John Defterios joins us now live from Abu Dhabi. That's an interesting point about the setup of this deal. What I see in the
composition of what we've got here is something very, very front loaded.
But talk us through the logic of that and whether Mexico can be brought on board here.
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN BUSINESS EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: Okay, let's cover the machinations of that agreement and the structure Julia, ten, eight and six
-- 10 million barrels a day for two months, eight million barrels a day for six months, and then the remainder until April 2022 at six million barrels.
But you do the math here it is pretty simple. The magic number is two billion barrels. So you have two months at 10 million barrels and then the
next six months will eat up two billion barrels of the glut and that is the target for 2020 if you didn't act. So this is solid.
When it comes to Mexico, I have to think that done Trump is going to intervene here. In fact, the President of Mexico was suggesting, Julia,
that the U.S. is even willing to pick up 250,000 to 300,000 barrels that Mexico did not want to cut.
Their target was 400,000. They walked away at the table just offering 100,000 barrels a day, and there's a reason behind this as well.
[09:15:19]
DEFTERIOS: Pemex, the state operator in Mexico, it lost $18 billion in 2019. It has a debt of and $105 billion, and the President Lopez Obrador
said when he came to power, he would boost the production by 50 percent. They're nowhere near close to that. And that's why he's not eager to cut.
Now, whether Donald Trump would offer the cuts and what formula for the United States is another matter entirely.
CHATTERLEY: I was about to say what role is the United States playing in this ultimately? I mean, what we're talking about is stripping back around
10 percent of all supply that we have at this moment, but John, you've talked to as many times over the last few weeks about how a demand for oil
has dropped by -- what a third -- as a result of the demand destruction that we're seeing around the world. So where does that leave us?
DEFTERIOS: Yes, we're at least 30 million barrels a day right now. Many think that the second quarter is going to be 20 million barrels a day. But
I have to say, Julia, the G-20 has been going on now, the Energy Ministers meeting for about an hour. That is the right venue.
Mexico is a member, so there's going to be pressure put on there. In fact, Vladimir Putin said I'm ready to pick it up where we left off yesterday.
The nine-hour marathon, four hours courtesy of the Mexican Minister. She is now very popular around the table right now.
And also, we'll get clarity. U.S., Canada and Brazil -- the reason I bring it up is how do you define the U.S. contribution here? The Energy Secretary
late yesterday before the OPEC meeting broke up said you can't mandate U.S. companies to cut, but the IEA Executive Director who helped call the
meeting can certainly come up with some figures they can use for the second half of 2020.
So that's how you get there. Ten million from OPEC Plus, if they can get Mexico signed on, and you have to manage expectations, Julia, at five
million barrels -- it is what is expected of the G-20 today.
If you don't manage it, we're at $22.00 on WTI. We had that 18-year low of $20.00 on March 30th. It's going to be a bloodbath on Monday if you don't
manage it.
CHATTERLEY: Then, we shall wait and see what they can come up with today. John Defterios, thank you. Keeping on top of that for us.
We're going to take a break here on FIRST MOVE, but coming up, the wait for COVID-19 antibody tests. Could that be the key that unlocks the path back
to work?
And later, getting into the right headspace. How medical staff and the rest of us could perhaps benefit from some clearer thinking and some
mindfulness. That's after this. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:20:47]
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to FIRST MOVE. Testing, testing, testing -- I'll never forget those words -- the words of the World Health Organization
seven weeks ago as the realization about the scale of the coronavirus outbreak dawned on the world.
We now realize the importance of testing not only to identify those that have the virus and protect others, but also that it may be a vital tool in
restarting economies around the world.
We're already seeing it. And we've discussed on the show a key component of that is antibody testing, singling out those who've already been exposed,
perhaps even without showing symptoms.
Dr. Anthony Fauci of the White House Coronavirus Task Force said on CNN's "New Day" today that those tests are on the way.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: Yes, actually at the last Taskforce meeting, the individuals
responsible for both developing, validating and getting the test out are saying -- and I'm certain that that's going to happen that within a period
of a week or so, we're going to have a rather large number of tests that are available.
One of the things that you mentioned that's important because other countries have gotten burned by this, these antibody tests are tests that
we do on other diseases, but they need to be validated. You need to make sure that they're consistent and that they're accurate.
And that's what we're doing now, both with the N.I.H. and with the F.D.A. is validating them. As soon as they get validated, they'll be out there for
people to use.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: And so Dr. Fauci, does that mean -- what does that mean for us? Does that mean that we are shifting away from an emphasis
in testing for coronavirus to antibody testing to see who has had it and recovered?
FAUCI: No, not at all. I mean, those things are done in parallel. One does not essentially rule out the other. We still rely appropriately and heavily
on the test to show that someone is in fact infected.
Whereas the antibody test says that you were infected, and if you're feeling well, you very likely recovered.
When you're trying to find out whether a person is infected, that's the test we always talk about, but as we look forward, as we get to the point
of at least considering opening up the country as it were, it's very important to appreciate and to understand how much that virus has
penetrated the society.
Because it's very likely that there are a large number of people out there that have been infected, have been asymptomatic and did not know they were
infected. If their antibody test is positive, one can formulate kind of strategies about whether or not they would be at risk or vulnerable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHATTERLEY: Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us now. Sanjay, always great to have you on the show. Our regular viewers will have known that we've been discussing
this for a couple of weeks now. The testing for antibodies, the ordinary tests for those that are sick with the illness or the virus right now.
We've also had companies saying, we're producing tests. We're getting them out there. Where are we on a nation scale, coming up with these tests and
getting a more mass program in progress?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT You know, it's interesting. We've heard the story about the actual test for the virus for
some time, Julia, and everyone knows, I think at this point that we certainly had inadequate testing early on. They're ramping up those virus
testing now.
The antibody testing, which is a different test. That's looking for the antibodies in your blood after you've been exposed to the virus. It was
interesting. They sort of loosened up the regulations, Julia, the F.D.A. did initially because they knew that these were important tests. They
wanted to get them out there.
And I think what followed were, frankly, some bad tests. Tests that were not validated, did not seem to be very accurate. So now I think that
they've gone back and tightened up the regulations. They're going to validate all of these tests ahead of time, and as you just heard from Dr.
Fauci, he thinks these antibody tests should be available in much larger numbers, he said within the next week.
We'll have to wait and see because, I certainly trust Dr. Fauci, but we've heard that line before with other testing, but it could be very valuable, I
think the antibody testing.
If it were widely and easily available, Julia, I would have that test done as well.
[09:25:08]
GUPTA: Was I exposed to coronavirus? I don't know. I never really had any symptoms. But I think the point is that maybe a lot of people out there who
never had any symptoms or had minimal symptoms, but in fact, we're infected with the coronavirus, this test will help them figure that out.
CHATTERLEY: You actually answered my next question there in that we've heard this before, and perhaps, we've been a little bit disappointed on the
time horizon here.
GUPTA: Yes.
CHATTERLEY: But we've also discussed on the show the idea that we're not even sure how much immunity you build in your system, how long it lasts,
whether it's enough? Other tests that we're talking about producing at some point soon, going to be able to work out how much immunity you have and
also what's enough perhaps to get you back in the workforce and not still have you at risk.
GUPTA: Right. That is the critical question, Julia, and I think, you know, the good test will tell you if you have the antibodies, which is an
important data point.
But I think your question ultimately is, so what does that mean? Does that mean you in fact are protected? And how long are you protected? We don't
know the answer to that.
We think that people are going to be protected at least for a period of time. One thing that people have looked at is the SARS virus because that
was also a coronavirus and had some similarities, and what they found was that people did develop immunity, but it didn't last years and years.
For example, they tested people after five years and found they really didn't have immunity at that point, but even if you had immunity for a
year, long enough until the vaccine came around hopefully, that would be very, very helpful.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, a bridge to a vaccine. That's what we're trying to build here in whatever form.
GUPTA: Right. Exactly.
CHATTERLEY: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, great to have you with us as always. CNN's chief medical correspondent.
GUPTA: Have a great weekend, Julia.
CHATTERLEY: You, too. You, too. Okay, we're going to break. Up next, Europe and the United States talk of exit strategies from emergency measures. But
in the world's poorest countries, the crisis is only just beginning. What more is required? We'll discuss.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:30:18]
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to FIRST MOVE. More than 1.6 million cases of coronavirus have been recorded now globally. The death toll has surpassed
96,000 people.
The I.M.F. warns the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s, but there are also signs of hope.
The City of Wuhan, where the outbreak was first reported reopened this week. The United States top doctors even saying that Americans may be able
to take summer vacations.
But while richer nations work on strategies to move on from the initial impact, it's the world's poorest countries that will be hardest hit.
Philanthropist Melinda Gates of the Gates Foundation spoke to CNN's Poppy Harlow and warned that we have yet to fully grasp the scale of the crisis
in Africa.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MELINDA GATES, PHILANTHROPIST, GATES FOUNDATION: When I saw what China had to do to isolate such an enormous part of their population, my first
thought was Africa. How in the world are they going to deal with this?
I've been in townships all over Africa, in slums. When we talk about in our country, physical distancing, and then hand washing. If you live in a slum,
you can't physical distance. You have to go out and get your meal. You don't have clean water to wash your hands.
And so as soon as I saw that, and we know from the foundation's work, how quickly disease spreads, I thought, oh my gosh, we have a crisis on our
hands that we aren't even talking about yet in the United States and what's going to happen to the rest of the world.
POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: That's how much worse it's going to be in the developing world?
GATES: It's going to be horrible in the developing world, and part of the reason you're seeing the case numbers still don't look very bad is because
they don't have access to very many tests.
So, you know, look at Ecuador. Look at what's going on in Ecuador. They're putting bodies out on the street. You're going to see that and countries in
Africa.
HARLOW: You think this pandemic is just actually going to set us back in terms of gender disparity? That it will disproportionately fall on women.
What do you mean?
GATES: Here's what I know, is that 70 percent of the healthcare workers around the world are women. Women do more than two times the unpaid labor
in their homes. So they're caring for people in the health system, and they're caring for people at home.
And at the same time, we have this disparity that we're not collecting what we call disaggregated data. What that means is we're not differently --
differentiating data that comes in about men and women.
HARLOW: I wonder what keeps you up at night right now?
GATES: What keeps me up at night are the vulnerable populations. You know, what keeps me up at night is in the U.S., the kids who are falling behind
because they don't have access to broadband or to a computer, so they're not getting to continue their learning.
What keeps me up at night are the vulnerable populations who I know in Africa, I have met some of them. I can't imagine being a parent in those
circumstances and those are the things that keep me up at night.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHATTERLEY: Definitely, time to act. David McKenzie and Eleni Giokos join us now from South Africa. Guys, great to have you on the show. Some really
poignant comments and fears, I think, being addressed there.
David, I want to begin with you because we've seen the struggle that nations in Europe have had, the United States have had, some of the richest
nations in the world, let's be clear.
How does the healthcare system where you are compared to Europe, to the United States and the struggle we've had, because there's no comparison.
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, when I'm here in South Africa, in fact, it's a more complicated picture. There is, Julia, a kind of mix of
systems, a pretty robust public health system and private system as well.
But on the African continent as a whole, you know, you ask what's it like compared to Europe, around 4,000 hospital beds per million people in
Europe. In 43 countries in Africa, there are around five hospital beds per million people.
And that shows you why the leaders on the African continent have largely acted decisively to shut down the economies, closed borders and to try and
stem the spread of COVID-19 before it gets out of control.
You know, as that interview suggested, at this point, there are fewer confirmed cases on the continent than in other regions, but those cases
could spread rapidly.
[09:35:10]
MCKENZIE: And if it gets to that point, it could quite easily collapse the health system. Just in the last few days, we've been reporting out a story
on medical tourism, Julia, and the issue there is both the middle classes and the powerful wealthy elite in this continent frequently travel overseas
for medical treatment. It's about a billion dollar a year industry there.
And what I've found out in speaking to, you know, people who usually use that including a historian in Nigeria who has cancer -- is recovering from
cancer, he said, this might be a wakeup call for African leaders in the many countries where just citizens of this continent feel that the health
infrastructure has been ignored over the years.
They said they're stuck in their countries. The leaders are stuck in their countries. Maybe it's time that they did more to fix those health
infrastructures after this pandemic went -- Julia.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, and a call to action for other leaders, I think around the world that this continent needs focus, too, and support at this moment.
Eleni, come in here because fast action to lock down and shut down your economies help to try and suppress the number of cases. But the economic
consequences of that, as we're seeing everywhere are devastating.
ELENI GIOKOS, CNN BUSINESS AFRICA CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely devastating. I mean, here in South Africa, just last night, President Cyril Ramaphosa
extended the lockdown to a total of five weeks. That means that the economy is going to be shut down until the end of April.
Just to give you a sense of what it's like, only essential goods are sold in stores, which means that anything that is manufactured in the country
that is nonessential, even mining companies have been shut down. So you can only imagine the economic devastation that is going to occur.
This is why the President said that companies should try and not resort to force majeure. They should still pay suppliers even if they're not getting
goods, and they should still pay employees.
But the World Bank came up with staggering numbers, Julia, and we're talking about decimation of sub Saharan African growth where it's going to
contract by over five percent in 2020.
That is a scary number because if you need to get jobs and economic growth going, the lowest number you can have on economic growth in Africa is
around three percent to really make a dent in terms of sustainable development goals and spending money on infrastructure.
The other big problem that the World Bank and even the U.N. and I.M.F. have mentioned is that Africa right now is going to need debt forgiveness and
debt relief, because the continent as a whole spent over $40 billion in debt servicing costs just last year.
If we can free up that money, you pump liquidity straight into the markets, which means you can throw money at this problem. Remember the European
Union, the likes of China, and even in the U.S. are embarking on quantitative easing and stimulus packages.
African continent doesn't have the fiscal room to do this. So we need liquidity. We need to get money into the system. And of course, with the
help of the I.M.F. and other institutions, you're seeing everyone coming to the party, even the African Development Bank is going to pump $10 billion
into our oil producing countries as an example, that are going to be completely hurt by the drop in the oil price and of course, a drop in
demand.
So the domino effect, Julia is incredible. And the point is that everyone has to now stand together to find a solution to the African problem that is
going to relate to COVID-19, and just the impact it's going to have on the ground.
CHATTERLEY: I couldn't agree more and your point about debt forgiveness and freeing up money that isn't there at this moment, such a critical one.
Guys, thank you for helping us with this week's Call to Action. Such a huge problem and a focus and a solution required here.
Eleni Giokos, David McKenzie, thank you so much.
All right. Coming up on FIRST MOVE, stay-at-home orders continue in many parts of the world. How one company is offering remote communication
solutions with a Cloud phone system and more, the details next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:42:10]
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to FIRST MOVE. As millions of people around the world are forced to find new ways of living, of communicating and working
from home, telecommunications company Avaya moved quickly to enable large companies, hospitals, even governments and more to swiftly adapt to this
new normal.
Avaya currently sees it powers around 90 percent of the Fortune 100 companies alone.
Jim Chirico is CEO of Avaya. He joins us now. Jim, fantastic to have you on the show. As I mentioned there, we are all trying to adapt to the new
normal in various different ways. Just start by explaining exactly what you do and how you differ from perhaps some of the other communication
companies that names keep popping up all the time. Zoom, for example, was on the show yesterday. What makes you different?
JIM CHIRICO, CEO, AVAYA: Yes, sure, Julia. First of all, thank you for having me on the show and clearly our hearts go out to everyone battling
this pandemic around the globe.
CHATTERLEY: Of course.
CHIRICO: Avaya is the largest collaboration and communication company provider in the world. We're different because we have more than 100,000
customers. We operate in over 180 countries, and as you pointed out 90 percent of Fortune 100 run on Avaya.
We have been deploying our work from home solutions as a leader in the enterprise in the Cloud space, now since the early part of January, and in
fact, we've deployed more than two million licenses for free to allow our customers to have the business continuity they need to run their business.
But really, that's only half the story. That's the business side. There's obviously a human side to this as well. And you know, Avaya has technology
that others do not that can help ease the stress and anxiety on all of us.
And let me just give you a couple of examples. Humana, 13 million members, a global company in the health insurance space realized that they needed to
get solutions in order to help alleviate a lot of their concerns from their customers, many of whom are seniors, therefore in a higher risk category,
and in fact, rely on the telephone for a lot of their communications.
We immediately deployed 21,000 licenses. So they can handle the massive increase in call volumes. They also could have health and safety for their
employees to work from home and be productive.
And similar experience with Deutsche Telekom with 7,000 customers, in just four days, we enabled their workforce to work from home, really helping
answer questions and alleviating a lot of stress on their customers.
CHATTERLEY: Talk to me about the healthcare sector as well because I know you have more than -- what -- 5, 800 healthcare institutions around the
world and you specifically were helping some of the healthcare workers in Wuhan, the epicenter of this original outbreak just to communicate, to try
and relieve some of the need for PPE. Talk to me about your experiences with that.
CHIRICO: Yes, sure. We started -- we have a video application, a collaboration platform that we call Spaces, and what's unique and different
about that with many of the video providers, it does provide the capability to do video.
But after that session ends, we have a room where the folks can continue to collaborate. And that's what we've been deploying across thousands of
hospitals, and we started as you said back in January with Wuhan, where we deployed our video Spaces technology, really to enable not only the doctors
to consult with other doctors in the hot zone and outside by doing it virtually, but also we've been connecting patients with their families,
because obviously the patients are left alone in their hospital bed.
So our solution eases a tremendous amount of strain on the hospital. Clearly, with the supplies being in short supply, being able to consult
with your patients and providing that extra comforting care really alleviates a lot of the pressure on getting and changing your gowns each
time you visit -- you visit new customers and our video solutions, in fact they've been up -- roughly about 1,800 percent since January and we're just
glad that we can help connect people in the time of crisis.
[09:45:05]
CHATTERLEY: Yes, physical distancing needs some unique solutions at this moment. And the time, I guess, is what's key here, as well, just allowing
that room to be open the whole time to allow the interactions.
Jim, I think one of the big questions for all of us at this moment is, what does the new normal look like? We're just a fraction of people, even just
here in the United States that are coming into this actually worked from home. What is the new normal -- will more people -- far more people work
from home in the future, do you think?
CHIRICO: Yes, now, that's a great question. I will tell you, COVID-19 has really accelerated if you will, reinventing sort of the new workforce. I've
been at home now for almost a month. I'm a go to the office guy, it should take me a little, while but I'm adapting quite well. And I think that will
be the new norm.
In the U.S. as an example, there's 60 million knowledge workers, and prior to this pandemic, only about two to three percent worked from home. Study
suggests 25 to 30 percent in just the next two years.
So it's accelerated that move, and really, if you look at the long term trend, you're going to really see that collaboration and remote worker
capabilities are going to be essential for the enterprise.
One would not have thought of that even six weeks ago. The good news from an Avaya perspective is we're here to help, and we have technologies that
can enable productive work from home -- work from home agents.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, it's going to be interesting to see what happens. Hopefully it makes us all better workers, perhaps and a better work-life
balance, but we've got a way to go until we get there.
Jim, great to have you with us. Jim Chirico there. Stay safe, sir and thank you for the work you're doing, too.
CHIRICO: You, too.
CHATTERLEY: All right, coming up after the break.
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CHATTERLEY: That was last night in London, and it was police saluting the N.H.S. health workers. Our doctors and nurses will have the right
psychological wins from the virus, them and many others.
The CEO of Headspace joins us next and gives us advice on ways to handle that.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:50:19]
CHATTERLEY: The psychological damage to healthcare workers dealing with coronavirus patients has come to light in a survey of healthcare workers
from China.
More than half had symptoms of depression, nearly 45 percent had some level of anxiety, and over a third showed signs of insomnia, more than seven in
10 felt distressed.
Headspace is offering its online meditation services free to healthcare workers in the U.K., France and the United States. It also struck a deal
with Governor Andrew Cuomo to help New Yorkers, too.
Rich Pierson is CEO and cofounder of headspace. Rich, great to have you with us. I think given the images that we've seen from the around the
world, there's any surprise, the anxiety and the pressure that our heroes on the frontline have faced. Talk about the decision to give them access to
what you have here to try and help.
RICH PIERSON, CEO AND COFOUNDER, HEADSPACE: Yes, thanks. Well, thanks for having me, I think, you know, we realized pretty quickly that the folks
that were going to be on the frontlines are going to be experiencing extreme kind of mental distress and knowing that they're going to have to
go into the hospitals and healthcare systems every single day, we really thought about this as a kind of marathon, not a sprint and I think you're
seeing that play out now.
So we really wanted to provide a service where, you know, in between the great work that they're doing that they can -- they can look off their most
precious resource which is their mind.
So we first made it available in in the U.S. and then we quickly followed up with the N.H.S. in the U.K. and made it available to 1.2 million of
their whole staff in the N.H.S. and yesterday, as you mentioned, we launched in France with the Healthcare Ministry to make it accessible
there.
So you know, there is content to help with stress, with anxiety, content to help you sleep at night, specific perhaps on sadness, so really looking at
all of the emotional ups and downs that, you know, our heroes are going to be facing, we really feel that Headspace can help in that journey.
CHATTERLEY: How much response have you seen? Have you seen people signing up and actually using this product and telling you that it's helping?
PIERSON: Yes, we we've had so many stories from frontline, you know, you just have to kind of go on social channels and see the response that we've
had from folks that are actually in in the hospitals doing this great work.
We've had stories of people saying that they don't know how they would survive without it. I think people are just looking for some kind of pause
in their day just to take a breath. And I think, you know, a service and a tool like Headspace can really help people in their struggle as they do
this work.
CHATTERLEY: What about education, too, because children -- children come to mind and for many of them, they perhaps understand why they can't see their
friends, they can't go to school, but how do you explain to children what's going on and try and help them understand? Do you have help on that front,
too?
PIERSON: Yes, I think -- well, two things have come out of this, you know, this pandemic is that I think we appreciate our healthcare workers more
than we ever did. And I think anyone that's got kids at home, I've got a kid at home, they really start to appreciate teachers, and how hard a job
that is.
And so we've actually made it available for all educators. That's actually our social impact, kind of directive that we have ongoing all the time. But
we've actually created some specific content for parents and for teachers to be able to explain the situation to their children in a way that kind of
makes sense through the lens of mindfulness, and then we create specific content.
We have a kid section in the in the app where parents and teachers can use it with their classrooms or with their children at home.
CHATTERLEY: Rich, you have 62 million users in, I believe, 180 different countries. We're all at different stages of this outbreak. The pressures
are different here. Do you think just based on what you're seeing and the use that actually we'll all learn to be more mindful about our friends,
about our environment, about the people around us as a result of the experiences that we've had?
PIERSON: Yes, I think what we're seeing is that people are really opening up and accepting the fact that our mental health is as important as our
physical health.
You know, we spend a lot of time looking after our physical health, but very few of us actually spend the time to look after the health of our
mind, which we believe is the most -- our most precious resource.
And I think a situation like this really brings a lot of these kind of struggles that people have with their mental health to the surface, and I
just -- you know, one thing that I do think that is definitely going to come out of this is that people are going to start to prioritize the health
of their mind more and more.
[09:55:14]
PIERSON: And I think we're seeing that with the increased usage that we have on the product. I think we're seeing that with, you know, our partners
like Starbucks that have made Headspace available for, you know, all of their employees.
So I think you're going to see employers taking a stronger look at the health of their workforce through their mind. I think you're going to see
this in healthcare systems as we're already kind of seeing, and I think you're going to see it integrated in schools because I think it's just
going to elevate it.
And when you see the Governor's Office in New York, reaching out to us to make it available to all New Yorkers, I think that that shows you how
worried people in very important positions are thinking about the state of our mental health in a pandemic like this.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, in a pandemic, but at all times, it has to be a conversation that can be had.
Rich, thank you for joining us on the show and keep in touch, please, and stay safe.
PIERSON: Yes. Thank you for having me. Thank you.
CHATTERLEY: Thank you. The CEO of Headspace there, Rich Pierson, and I have tweeted out more of what Headspace offers for healthcare workers and New
Yorkers. That's @juliachatterleyCNN, so if you want to get that information you can. It's on my Twitter handle.
Thank you for watching. Thank you for being with us all week. We leave you today with the sights and sounds of Good Friday observances at Paris's
Notre Dame Cathedral Only a handful of people were allowed in and you can watch the video and see.
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[10:00:00]
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