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First Move with Julia Chatterley
The U.S. Orders China To Close Its Consulate In Houston; Twitter Closes Thousands Of Accounts Linked To Disinformation In An Effort To Clamp Down Conspiracies; Carmaker, Tesla Reports Earnings After A Huge Valuation Surge. Aired 9-10a ET
Aired July 22, 2020 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:00:15]
JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Live from New York, I'm Julia Chatterley. This is FIRST MOVE and here is your need to know.
Houston we have a problem. The U.S. orders China to close its consulate there.
Conspiracy clamp down. Twitter closes thousands of accounts linked to disinformation.
And Tesla's triumph. The carmaker reports earnings after a huge valuation surge.
It's Wednesday. Let's make a move.
Welcome once again to FIRST MOVE. Fantastic to have you with us, as always, we're bringing the show well and truly back to COVID science, stimulus help
and geopolitical strife.
As you just heard there, U.S. futures were a lot weaker than they look right now. Earlier, a red flag of warning as investors acknowledge further
dramatic deterioration in China-U.S. relations.
As I mentioned, the United States ordering the closure of Chinese's Consulate in Houston, Texas, China now vowing to retaliate. What does that
look like? We'll get to Beijing shortly for the latest.
The counter to that and helping sentiment, I think news that the U.S. has committed to spend $2 billion on 100 million doses of Pfizer's COVID
vaccine candidate. Pfizer shares as you can see, up some five percent premarket while the investment and that investment only made more urgent by
the latest U.S. numbers.
We saw 1,000 deaths linked to the virus yesterday while hospitalizations are nearing April's peak.
Even nations that handled the virus well remain challenged. Look at Hong Kong seeing 600 new cases over the past weeks. Tokyo cases also hitting new
highs.
We've got a push and a pull of encouraging vaccine news and economic support versus downbeat health data, which is creating a choppy trading
environment, creating a lot of concern, too for the stocks around the world and a flow of money into safer assets like bonds.
Look at the NASDAQ, falling from record highs yesterday. Microsoft, Tesla the stocks to watch in earnings today.
For now though, European stocks pulled back from four-month highs. Yesterday, Asia stocks finishing mostly lower. Hong Kong underperforming,
down more than two percent, giving back all of those strong gains from Tuesday.
Caution is the word, I think in light of current events. That makes sense.
We begin our drivers today with the drama in Houston. A fire at the Chinese Consulate there in Texas. Police say it was caused by burning documents at
the compound has come shortly after the U.S. ordered China to close the consulate by Friday of this week.
It also comes as the U.S. accuses Chinese hackers of trying to steal coronavirus vaccine research.
David Culver is live in Beijing with the latest. David, a dramatic escalation. On top of all the other issues that you and I have been
discussing, what more do we know about this order from the United States about the closure of this consulate?
DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I was just thinking, Julia, you and I have been adding to the list it seems with each passing week. The tensions
continuing to rise. This is significant, it cannot be understated.
And what the U.S. is saying as the reason that they have closed this consulate, this, according to the State Department, is because of illegal
spying essentially and interference on behalf of China in U.S. domestic politics.
They don't go into specifics here, but what was interesting is, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was asked this just a few minutes ago when he was
speaking with Denmark's Foreign Minister. And he was asked specifically why now and why the Houston consulate in particular?
We acknowledged in the past that there has been issues with China in intellectual property theft, in fact, that goes back to the start of the
trade war as it has been something that's been addressed quite frequently, and claims of cyber hacking.
However, this now is a move that many are looking at as potentially political on behalf of the U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says this is
about national security. This has nothing to do with politics.
However, the Chinese nonetheless are planning to respond. I want you to listen a little bit to what the Foreign Minister's spokesperson had to say
today. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WANG WENBIN, CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMAN: It is a political provocation unilaterally launched by the U.S. side which seriously violates
international law, basic norms governing international relations and the bilateral consular agreement between China and the U.S.
China strongly condemns such an outrageous and unjustified move, which will sabotage China-U.S. relations.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CULVER: Julia, one of the things that you and I have spoken about is the rhetoric and the increased rhetoric of being rather heated from China on
behalf of what the U.S. has done on many occasions, then calling them out with regards to Hong Kong and even stripping it of its special trade status
after the National Security Law was imposed there, or go to Xinjiang in the far western region and alleged human rights abuses that the U.S. has issued
sanctions against Chinese officials on.
[09:05:31]
CULVER: Or you could even go to the South China Sea, not to mention the pandemic that we're still dealing with and allegations of widespread cover
up and mishandling. All of that has been met by China with seemingly heated rhetoric, not as much action matching that just yet and they have issued
some sanctions against U.S. officials. However, it stopped short there.
The question is, what do they do next now with regards to this closure of a consulate? It seems domestic media here, state media is pushing and
certainly on Chinese social media, that there has to be something equivalent, such as the closure of a U.S. consulate.
Reuters are suggesting that could be the Wuhan consulate. However, the reality is there's not many American diplomats there because at the onset
of the epidemic, the pandemic now, they left. They were evacuated -- Julia.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, it's fascinating, isn't it? Proportional -- a proportionate response always, it seems from the China no matter what the
behavior is from the United States here. They try and keep it balanced and not create further escalation.
But one questions and one has to wonder as we head towards a U.S. presidential election with, again, both the Democrats and the Republicans
on board with tackling and closing in on China's behavior here, what more comes?
David, the United States yesterday saying two specific hackers not only targeting vaccine research, but also that they've targeted companies around
the world. This is not just about the United States. It's about other nations here, too.
CULVER: And that is exactly what Secretary of State Mike Pompeo addressed just a few minutes ago with the Foreign Minister of Denmark.
He said, part of his reason for going to the U.K., and now Denmark is to stress that the threat against freedom-loving nations as Secretary of State
Pompeo put it, by the Chinese Communist Party specifically pointing out the party not generically, China, is why he is trying to address that now in a
more, I'd say confrontational setting.
It seems they're doing that obviously with action with the Houston consulate, but it is also addressing years of the hacking. Now, this goes
back to the reference that you make to these two hackers, it goes back several years.
I mean, it's more recently that they acknowledge that perhaps there may have been interference with coronavirus and pandemic research, but they
also say, it goes many years back, a decade back into other biotech and other intellectual property from around the world.
So it's clear the U.S. is trying to build a Western coalition, if you will, including many of the Five Eyes nations to come against the Chinese
Communist Party in pushing this.
What I wonder is, will China respond beyond the closure of a consulate? Will they take increased action? Or are they waiting the long game here and
going to play it out through the U.S. election just to see what administration they'll be dealing with a few months from now?
CHATTERLEY: Yes, that long game feels like a really long time at this moment. It's a long way and a long time to come until November.
David Culver, thank you so much, as always, for your perspective.
CULVER: All right. Thanks, Julia. All right, the U.S. President, Donald Trump returned to the White House Press Room, Tuesday, to hold his first
coronavirus briefing since April with around 142,000 people in the United States having now lost their lives as a result of COVID-19.
The President acknowledged the grim reality of the crisis.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Some areas of our country are doing very well, others are doing less well. It will probably,
unfortunately, get worse before it gets better, something I don't like saying about things, but that's the way it is. It's the way -- it's what we
have.
And we're asking everybody that when you are not able to socially distance wear a mask, get a mask. Whether you like the mask or not, they have an
impact, they'll have an effect and we need everything we can get.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHATTERLEY: The President went on to say that the White House is working on a plan to combat the virus.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We are in the process of developing a strategy that's going to be very, very powerful. We've develop them as we go along.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHATTERLEY: John Harwood joins us now. John, important, I think to underscore hear the tone shift, late, but better late than never hear,
John, but the acknowledgement that they're working on a plan, months and months and months later to me, defies reason and logic.
[09:10:02]
JOHN HARWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, but Julia, he said it was a very, very powerful plan. I'm being facetious, of course.
Look, they should have had a plan a long time ago. This is a brush fire in the United States right now, not going well at all.
But I think the significant point is the one you just made initially, which is better late than never. If the President is going to adopt a more
realistic tone about the course of the pandemic, if he is going to gird Americans to expect more, ask them to wear masks, ask them to socially
distance, ask them to pay attention to public health authorities, that makes yesterday better than the day before was and better than the day
before that.
We'll see what they deliver if there is a new plan on testing, on guidelines for school reopening and the follow through on that.
But when you're in a crisis, as the United States is right now, to have the President adopt a more connected to reality approach to it is better than
not doing that.
CHATTERLEY: I agree completely. Credit where credit is due as well. One area where they have had a plan and it came together very quickly,
Operation Warp Speed. Investment progress in vaccine. An announcement just this morning $2 billion being spent by the United States to get access to
Pfizer's vaccine candidate, if possible, 100 million doses, potential millions more if it works here, John. This is critical, too.
HARWOOD: That is the bright spot of this situation at the moment. And honestly, I think when things begin to get a little bit better in May, the
administration took a gamble that therapeutics and vaccine would come on a timetable that would mean that they had done basically what they needed to
do, states could do the rest. We've gone into reverse, and that's a big setback.
On the other hand, the way in which both the scientists and the government have truncated this process by setting up a manufacturer of vaccine even
before it's approved in the confidence that it's likely to be approved means that we're going to get a vaccine sooner than people expected when
this pandemic began.
You had the executive from AstraZeneca yesterday telling lawmakers on Capitol Hill that we could have from September onward, a vaccine available
for emergency use. That is not going to be available for the general public.
It's something that might be used for healthcare providers in a special hotspots of this pandemic, but it's very positive news on the multiple
fronts in terms of vaccine candidates and it appears quite likely we will get one and it will be available to some people before the end of the year
and in a much larger group of people in 2021.
CHATTERLEY: Makes sense. John, I also want to talk very quickly. We know there's debate. We discussed it yesterday, even on the Republican side,
between the Republicans and the White House over the contours of what future aid looks like.
Let's hone in on testing. It seems that the initial $25 billion that was allocated in the last program to testing, $7 billion or $8 billion remains
unspent. How can that be?
HARWOOD: Well, look, the President has been pretty transparent about his attitude toward testing and he said it over and over. Testing reveals more
cases and the President thinks that revealing more cases makes him look bad, it makes the response of his administration look bad.
He describes it differently, so we wouldn't have cases if we didn't test. Well, obviously, that's ridiculous because the cases exist, whether you
test or whether you don't.
But the scale of the crisis right now that has forced the President to adopt this different tone, as his poll numbers have dropped, have also
eroded the bargaining position of both the White House and Republicans that are resisting that extra money.
So I think in the negotiations between Democrats, Hill Republicans and the White House, that money for testing is going to be set aside. And there
will be pressure on the administration to spend it more rapidly and robustly than they have so far.
CHATTERLEY: Yes. To use your words, a powerful -- or the President's words -- a powerful presidential pivot required on testing, too.
John Howard, great to have you with us. Thank you.
Now social media is stepping up. Twitter has removed more than 7,000 accounts related to QAnon, a group known for spreading conspiracy theories,
including baseless claims of politicians and celebrities being engaged in child sex abuse.
Donie O'Sullivan has been following the story for us. Donie, interesting move from Twitter. Interesting, perhaps reasoning why they chose to do this
now as well. Explain.
DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN BUSINESS REPORTER: Yes, that's right, Julia. I mean, I guess, good on Twitter for taking some action here. But also, you know,
it raises the question, what took them so long?
You know, even more interesting than the fact that they removed 7,000 accounts is that they're saying that they are no longer going to sort of
serve off or algorithmically recommend QAnon content.
I think a lot of people when they heard that last night -- I know, I certainly was, was wondering, you know, why was Twitter recommending this
content in the first place?
Twitter estimated that about 150,000 accounts on it service right now could be impacted by this. That basically means that 150,000 accounts, at least
could be pushing this sort of nonsense.
But what is really interesting here is that you know, QAnon has been around for a long time. It has taken on a life of its own, and it's festered on
Twitter for ages, frankly.
Just a few days ago, just last week, the actress, television personality model, Chrissy Teigen, who is one of Twitter's most popular and famous
users, she complained about how she was publicly, about how she was being harassed by QAnon users.
And last night, she actually made the point pushing back to some people who were saying, you know, this is -- you're going against freedom of speech
here. Twitter is censoring people.
She made the point, "You don't have a right to coordinate attacks and make death threats. It is not an opinion to call people pedophiles who rape and
eat children." Now, that is obviously an extremely graphic image, but that is the reality of the nonsense that is being pushed on Twitter.
So, you know, I think it is very possible that Chrissy Teigen raising this issue really put it higher on Twitter's lists of priorities. And you know
that's also sad in the sense that, you know, is that what it takes for these social media companies to take something like this very seriously --
Julia.
CHATTERLEY: Very quickly, Donie, because I've got around 30 seconds. This is Twitter making a judgment call on content, on misinformation on
accounts. Facebook, not making a judgement on the content quality or the information coming from President Trump and then Joe Biden, but it will
label and provide fact-based in information. This is also an important step. It's not enough, it's just a move.
O'SULLIVAN: Yes, so two things, I guess. Yes, Facebook is now starting to slap little labels linking out to a government voting website anytime
President Trump or Joe Biden mention this year's election, but unlike Twitter, they are not making a judgment call. They are not fact checking
those posts, so it's causing a lot of confusion.
And also of course, we haven't heard -- you know, there are plenty of QAnon Facebook groups and posts and pages on Facebook. We haven't heard anything
from Facebook. It will be interesting to see if they follow Twitter's lead here on tackling QAnon -- Julia.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, stepping up censorship or still not enough, you decide. Donie O'Sullivan, thank you so much for that.
O'SULLIVAN: Thanks.
CHATTERLEY: All right, we're going to take a break here on FIRST MOVE, but coming up, we are charging up for some electrifying news. The CEO of
electric vehicle maker Fisker joins us while rival Tesla reports results.
And the bots worth billions -- software robots. That is the firm that promises to make work simpler. I speak to the CEO of UiPath. That's coming
up. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:21:01]
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to FIRST MOVE live from New York where U.S. stock market is pointing to a mixed open premarket. News that the U.S. has tapped
to Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech to produce 100 million doses of their COVID vaccine candidate. The price tag for this $2 billion.
The offset of course, the challenges between the United States and China as we've been discussing, so investors trying to just get a sense of where we
go from here.
The NASDAQ hoping to gain back some of its summertime sizzle after a losing session, Tuesday, as we wait key earnings too from Microsoft and Tesla
after the bell. Nervousness, also over the economic impact of COVID-19 still playing into broader sentiment hereto.
In that vein, United Airlines announcing it lost more than one and a half billion dollars in the last quarter, with revenues falling 85 percent. Its
cash position, however is improving.
Companies that are providing Wall Street with better viability, many aren't, of course, have outperformed those that have pulled guidance
overall.
Alicia Levine is the Chief Strategist at BNY Mellon Investment Management, and she joins us now.
Alicia, great to have you on the show, as always. Welcome. I want to hone in on technology and the importance for the broader stock market here.
However important technology is and we've learned that in particular over the past few months, the dominance of some of the five, let's call it,
biggest tech companies makes me nervous. Do you share that concern?
ALICIA LEVINE, CHIEF STRATEGIST, BNY MELLON INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT: I do share that concern because the five large cap tech stocks are now 25
percent of the market weighted S&P index, which is historically unheard of.
Even in 1999, the five largest stocks were not that overweight, so we're well above a period that was thought of as excess. In addition, in the last
couple of weeks, the tech sector has actually underperformed the rest of the S&P constituents.
So even as we've had a softer tech index, we've had the S&P moving higher, meaning the rest of the constituents are trying to play catch up here, even
still year-to-date, the outperformance of those five cap -- those five large cap tech stocks is still 43 percent coming into this morning. So it's
just extraordinary.
It is extraordinary, and it suggests that for the market to move higher, you need to have tech, at least not go down. Right? So flood is okay. But
if there's any turn in tech, it could take the index with it.
CHATTERLEY: It's quite fascinating, you know, we look at the market overall, what does positioning look like? Because, for me, this doesn't
look in any way extreme. In fact, we've seen a lot of flows going into safer assets like bonds, for example, some of the precious metals, too.
What's your sense of positioning here, to your point about needing tech in particular to hold up here?
LEVINE: Look, that's really a great point, Julia, because investors are overall defensively positioned. Meaning by a factor of four to one, flows
have gone into the bonds, not into equities, and investors are holding some of the highest levels of cash ever suggesting that the equities are not
overbought here overall.
Now I know there's been like a lot of discussion about Robinhood and retail investors pushing certain stocks up, but overall, the overall picture is in
fact that investors are very cautious, which suggests that there is some floor under the market and ultimately why we are constructive going forward
even if we get some volatility here in the next few months.
CHATTERLEY: I love your point about Robinhood, and I do think we have to debunk myths on this. This is a pipsqueak tiny piece of a multitrillion
dollar stock market and I think we have to keep that in mind when we talk and we see all the column inches dedicated to this. Important story, but in
the broader market overall, how important is this?
[09:25:10]
LEVINE: It's really a very small fraction, and so the flows are really telling you that because the flows are going into the bonds and into cash,
into money market funds. So, it's just something to keep in mind. I mean, it's interesting, but let's put it aside.
What I do like is that we are bringing in a new generation of investors, and if you think about what happened after the global financial crisis, we
lost retail investors here because people were so burned.
I think it's great that there's a new generation interested in investing, learning the stock market, so I think that's all positive.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, that's a fascinating point to make as well. The democratization of access to financial markets, but from a younger
audience, too.
Alicia, fascinating report you wrote recently looking at the probabilities of the kind of recovery that we might see in the United States and
actually, I was quite astonished to see you allocated a 50 percent probability to a V-shaped recovery.
What kind of assumptions are you making about further financial support in that regard, and are you still confident about those probabilities in light
of the health risks that we're seeing continuing to increase here?
LEVINE: Yes, thanks for bringing that up. Look, we do have a 50 percent chance of a V-shape recovery, which in the world of economists of alphabet
soup, that is the most optimistic scenario, but we are equally weighted to other downside scenarios as well.
Embedded within that optimistic scenario is the assumption that the Central Bank will do whatever it takes both here at the Fed and also globally, and
also the fiscal stimulus will keep on coming.
I think the message out of Europe was extremely optimistic for the recovery there and I do think that here, we are going to get a bill at least in the
$1.5 trillion range to get over the fiscal cliff, which happens next week.
So embedded in bed is a lot of policy support, and as we've talked about in the past, Julia, you know, in the end investors cannot fight the policy
support. There's just too much liquidity sloshing around the market here.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, and endless promises of doing whatever it takes to get us through this, whether you're a Central Bank, or it seems a government, too,
and the combination of these two forces is unprecedented -- overused word, but the right word.
LEVINE: It is the right word. Look, if we do get a $1.5 trillion second large stimulus bill here in the U.S., the total fiscal stimulus is going to
be 20 percent of U.S. GDP in the course of four or five months. That's extraordinary.
Again, unprecedented, but that's what's holding up consumption and consumption is 70 percent of U.S. GDP. It'll hold up that side of it and on
the other hand, we see that manufacturing and the industrial economy is actually rebounding pretty nicely. So if you put the two together, you can
get an optimistic scenario.
Now, there are a lot of not great scenarios out there also, but it's not unheard of to have something like that.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, just have got to get the health crisis under control. Alicia Levine, great to have you with us. The Chief Strategist at BNY
Mellon Investment Management, a pleasure as always. Thank you.
LEVINE: It's great to see you.
CHATTERLEY: Likewise. The opening bell is next. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:31:36]
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to FIRST MOVE and U.S. stocks are up and running this Wednesday. Let's take a look at some of the big movers among them.
Pfizer shares rallying as the U.S. commits to spending $2 billion for a hundred million doses of its COVID vaccine. When and if it proves
effective, the U.S. also has rights to buy an additional 500 million doses.
Also, keeping an eye on Tesla set to report second quarter results later today, their shares jumped more than 270 percent -- I was getting a little
overexcited there -- so far this year.
Microsoft is also reporting its earnings this afternoon. Much of the focus on the company's Cloud business.
Clare Sebastian has all the details. Clare, let's start with Microsoft. Will investors be left on cloud nine? I couldn't help myself. Tell us more.
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: That is the question, Julia. I think the big focus is on the Cloud business. That has really been a source
of strength.
I think the key line from Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft, in the last earnings report. He said, "As COVID-19 impacts every aspect of our working
life, we've seen two years' worth of digital transformation in the space of two months." I think the question for this quarter is how much more digital
transformation continued into the three months between April and June.
So I think that is a key question. Will it be enough to offset some declines that they did see in the previous quarter in terms of their
transactional business, licensing for products and things like that.
And advertising, they also, of course, have advertising on things like LinkedIn. We know LinkedIn has had to cut some jobs. So it's that balance
that we see with these tech companies between the short-term spending cuts from businesses who are, of course, their clients and the long-term digital
transformation, which will continue to propel them forward.
They are priced very high. They are within a few percent of a record high, the share price right now. So I think there could be some pressure on the
stock if they do end up even slightly missing expectations.
CHATTERLEY: Yes. And social media firm Snap today also warning on advertising. So very interesting point to watch on that, in particular.
Clare, what about Tesla? Will they or will they not hit that elusive fourth quarter profit and see entry into the S&P 500?
SEBASTIAN: Yes, I mean, I think if you're talking price for perfection, a 275 percent rise in the space of a year, you're pretty much there.
But having said that, there are people who think that there's more for Tesla to run. They've smashed estimates for second quarter delivery that
came in 90,000 deliveries even with a six or seven weeks' stoppage in their production in California.
So there's an awful lot riding on this if they do post a profit. That will be their fourth consecutive profit. That makes them eligible for entry into
the S&P 500. It doesn't guarantee it. This is an actively managed index.
The decision then goes to the Index Committee, which is a group of market experts and they have to decide whether Tesla will be part of their next
index rebalancing. But that could give a boost to the stock because it will mean of course, passive inflows into that as funds that track the index
starts to invest automatically in Tesla. So there's a huge amount riding on this earnings report for their company.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, and sorry, we lost you a little bit there at the end of it. Huge amount riding on this report. I could hear you anyway. Clare
Sebastian, great to have you with us. Thank you.
Now our next guest is someone who knows just a little bit about Tesla and Elon Musk, as well as the electric car market having been part of design
teams of some beautiful cars.
Henrik Fisker now wants to take on the EV market with his own new creation. His namesake company plans to begin selling its crossover SUV called Ocean
in 2022 for around $40,000.00.
[09:35:10]
CHATTERLEY: It's financing the production through unusual means, too, by going public through a reverse merger with an already listed company whose
sole purpose was to merge with another. The deal values Fisker at nearly $3 billion.
Henrik Fisker is the Chairman and CEO of Fisker and he joins us now.
Henrik, fantastic to have you with us. I've just been looking at some of the images here of the SUV. Pretty beautiful looking car, I have to say.
Talk us through what it is that makes this distinctive in your mind.
HENRIK FISKER, CHAIRMAN AND CEO, FISKER: Well, first of all, apart from design and the fact that it looks like a real SUV, I think that's missing
in the market in electric vehicles, but also, we're aiming this to be the world's most sustainable vehicle.
So for instance, all the carpets are made from recycled plastic bottles and fishing nets from the ocean, and so everything is sustainable about this
vehicle to use other recycled materials. We have a large solar roof on the vehicle.
So I think the world is really after COVID going towards a cleaner world, and we've got to do something about it. So our idea was to make the world's
most sustainable car, but make it good looking and make it affordable and that's what we have done as a first in a range of vehicles.
And we went out with, as you mentioned, a reverse merger to make sure we finance the entire project all the way to production.
CHATTERLEY: Quite fascinating when I saw the price tag on this, I thought that can't be right. Is that an on the road price? Or are there going to be
all sorts of additions in terms of costs? Like what's the on the road price on average for this SUV?
FISKER: No, it will be starting from $40,000.00, but obviously if you want a large hi-fi stereo and you want you know a whole bunch of options, of
course, it'll go higher up.
I would expect that the average price is somewhere around $45,000.00 to $50,000.00, maybe a little higher depending again what you want, but the
point here is to create a vehicle, which is really compatible, you know, competitive with a similar gasoline vehicle and that's what this is.
But also really, you know, go in and look at how can we make a vehicle more sustainable? How can we make the future cleaner?
And we love our cars and we've got to make the cars clean and that's our mission, it is really to make the world's most sustainable vehicles and
also go into a market segment which right now is all hatchback crossovers in the EV segment around $40,000.00 to $50,000.00 and I think making a real
SUV is something that people will like.
We also have something unique called the California mode where all the windows goes down by a push of a button including the rear windows so you
can throw in a surfboard in the back.
We've got a lot of really cool features.
CHATTERLEY: Look, a solar panel as well on the roof there. I just want to talk about the production because there are similarities and there are
differences when I look at some of the competitors and the obvious, I wanted to be talking about here is Tesla for many reasons.
You have outsourced a lot of the manufacturing. You also offer a leasing arrangement where customers can just pay a monthly lease to have this car
and then give it back. Talk to me about this, too, because I think this is an important piece of the jigsaw puzzle for Fisker.
FISKER: Yes, so to address both questions, first of all, I think hardware that you don't see is in the past. In the future, nobody is going to care
about the hardware, when we go all electric. Everything is the new digital revolution.
And when it comes to the hardware, think about your television screen. Nobody any more asks who makes your television screen. People ask, what's
the content on your television? It's all about content, and it's the same in cars.
So we decided that manufacturing, we would rather outsource it. We're talking to groups like Magna, which is very recognized for making vehicles
for many different car makers and they obviously are super professional in doing this, make high quality vehicles so we don't want to take that risk
of production hell, as Tesla called it. So that's the first thing.
The second part is our flexible lease. I think the new consumer of the future, they want to have flexibility. They don't want to get tied into a
36-month lease. So with our vehicle, you can actually lease it and give it back after three months, six months a year. We will then take the vehicle
back.
If it needs fixing up, we'll fix it. We'll send it back out for a lower price to somebody else and it'll still have full warranty. We do all the
service. We pick up the car for service. So it's basically the new hassle free mobility, but still driving a cool sustainable vehicle.
CHATTERLEY: Henrik, there'll be those that recognize the name Fisker Automotive and say hang on a second, is this another moonshot by Henrik?
You had a bankruptcy back in in 2013. Obviously, we've mentioned the financing arrangement and the differences this time around. Why is this
time different for you?
FISKER: Well, you know, we were one of the first ones out. We have to remember that we launched the original Fisker car one and a half year
before the Tesla Model S was launched.
We had a very small startup battery supplier that went bankrupt in the middle of it as we were delivering vehicles. Now, we did get several
thousand vehicles on the road all over the world.
We had a lot of celebrities like Leonardo DiCaprio buying the car and it was a great learning experience of what to do and what not to do.
And I think the lessons learned is really to not use startup companies when it comes to this new technology like batteries. So we are obviously in
discussion with larger battery companies, which by the way, there's more of now.
There wasn't -- there was only about three battery companies back in 2011 when we actually launched the car, which were very early and we were sort
of a pioneer. There was a lot of innovation and risk. We were the first to do a full length solar roof. We were the first to probably do a vegan
interior with reclaimed wood.
[09:40:40]
FISKER: So you know we are taking all of these lessons learned and we are kind of going into a different segment with the ocean being an SUV.
But I think also now, you have a supply base which actually is mature and that's why you see a lot more EV companies, but I think our difference is
really the business model and our, you know really more sexy design and our sustainability point as well.
CHATTERLEY: You obviously worked at Tesla, know Elon Musk. How's your relationship with him right now, given that you're a competitor? And have
you learned some lessons from his behavior and what he has been through over the past several years?
FISKER: Well, you know, I think he is so successful right now that he is probably flying around Mars right now. So, you know, as a competitor, you
know, it's not like we're hanging out or talking at all.
I think we've been fierce competitors for quite a while, and I think he's done quite a terrific job. I mean, he has definitely put electrification on
the map, clearly showed that there is a way forward in electrification.
But we also have to recognize that there really isn't an alternative to Tesla. If somebody is looking for, you know, a cool electric car from an EV
company that only makes EV, the only choice today is Tesla and I think in America, and in the world, we should have choice and we are really want to
offer a choice.
We are not here to take customers away from Tesla. We are here to offer a choice for people who want get out of the gasoline SUV and into another
cool SUV and that's why we're making the Fisker Ocean, and on top of that, making it as sustainable as possible. And I think that's where we're
different.
With all the recycled materials we use just to design our user interface, our flexible lease, as you mentioned, all of these things are sort of
really e-mobility as a service, and that's what we're looking at.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, well, I tell you what, Tesla investors are loving Henrik Fisker right now. The question is, will they love you in the future when
this car comes to market? We shall see. Good luck, sir, and stay in touch. It's great to chat with you.
FISKER: Thank you, Julia.
CHATTERLEY: Henrik Fisker there, Chairman and CEO of Fisker there.
All right up next, UiPath makes software robots for the likes of Amazon, Google and even NASA. The CEO joins me as the company's valuation hits $10
billion. Find out how and why, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:45:57]
CHATTERLEY: Never mind the unicorn, meet tech's newest decacorn, UiPath software bots are worth $10.2 billion. That's according to its latest
funding round, at least. The company automates routine and repetitive tasks through a process called robotic process automation, also known as RPA.
Here is how it works. The company identifies repeated routine tasks done by their workers. RPA developers record how the worker does the job, then
creates code to do the job automatically. The worker then you hope is freed up to do more complicated tasks.
And joining us now is Daniel Dines. He is co-founder and CEO of UiPath. Daniel, fantastic to have you on the show. It's basically fast, efficient,
effective automation at the core of this and you're doing it for the majority of what -- Fortune 500 companies.
DANIEL DINES, CO-FOUNDER AND CEO, UIPATH: Thank you for inviting me. Yes, absolutely. I love the way you define it. I think our technology works
across business verticals.
We work with a majority of Fortune 500 companies, and I can say that during this crisis, we have worked even more. We have helped a lot of our
customers with their way to cope with the crisis.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, you've been working with hospitals as well to be able to analyze some of the COVID test results. It's all about fast data processing
and using software robots to do it.
DINES: Yes, I would say it's also about eliminating the need for bureaucratic paperwork. For instance, with Cleveland Clinic, we have helped
them to say three hours a day for each nurse, and these hours were dedicated in turn to help their patients.
CHATTERLEY: So it means people are more efficient. They is not about job replacement because this is always the question that comes up when you talk
about automation, the immediate fear is that it's going to cost jobs. You're saying it's just about greater efficiency?
DINES: Yes, absolutely. This is all about efficiency and let people do jobs more appropriate for what humans are meant, like in the case of nurses, for
helping patients instead of just filling paperwork.
CHATTERLEY: But I can also imagine there will be jobs that are made redundant as a result of this, and this is why upskilling, retraining is so
important, too, and I know, you've talked about this idea of democratizing access to RPA, just providing free training. Talk to me about this, too,
and does this apply to the businesses that you're working with as well?
DINES: This is absolutely a great point, and we believe like any advance in technology, not only automation, the nature of jobs will change. I don't
think people will lose their jobs, but they have to upskill their work.
For instance, we work in the United States to help 750,000 people to be trained in our technology. We have a pledge to help American workers to get
more skills into automating the routine part of their jobs, and this is not only related to the United States, we work across the world.
We have invested a lot in our community. We are very proud to have millions of people across the world learning to be prepared for the next generation
of jobs.
CHATTERLEY: Daniel, I've mentioned your $10 billion valuation. What about an IPO? Timing? Thoughts on this?
DINES: We have plans to IPO even before COVID, but we made the promise to ourselves that we will file only when we are on our path to profitability.
[09:50:05]
DINES: I can tell that COVID has actually accelerated our plans. We are able to hit our top line numbers that we planned before COVID, and in the
same time, we managed to cut down on discretionary costs.
We are in a very solid financial situation now and definitely, we plan to IPO next year.
CHATTERLEY: A Romanian company trailblazing in Silicon Valley. Daniel, come back and talk to us soon because I want to talk about your experiences as a
startup and raising money throughout this process because I'm sure you've got some good stories.
But for now, I'm going to say thank you. Daniel Dines, great to have you with us, co-founder and CEO of UiPath. Thank you.
Right after the break, an innovation original shows us a little work and a lot of sparkle gets the job done. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHATTERLEY: And finally, a life lesson on the spirit of innovation from an American generation that remembers pretty bleak times, too. Ninety-four-
year-old Mae Krier is one of the original Rosie the Riveters. Thousands of women like her stepped in to fill labor shortages during the Second World
War.
Mae worked in a Boeing factory back then building war planes. Now, she is making red polka dot facemasks, similar to the famous red and white bandana
worn in the iconic Rosie the Riveter posters.
Earlier, CNN had a chance to hear about her story.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAE KRIER, ONE OF THE ORIGINAL "ROSIE THE RIVETERS": I've always made the polka dot bandanas for when we travel and we go to Washington and places
and whenever we do, they love the bandanas and I was making a lot of them when the virus started then I just switched over from bandanas to facemask
and it's just snowballed.
I said, it's amazing. I made 300 by myself and sent them out to my friends and just people that -- my neighbors, my family and what have you.
But now with a spin on the news, we've got over a thousand requests. So now, I'm going to, you know, reach out -- a lot of friends have offered to
help me, so we will get there. We can do it.
The energy I have, I'm very fortunate. I was gifted with good energy and good health.
At first, I started with the material. People were starting to send me material and at last, they can -- everything that I need from all over the
country. It is absolutely amazing. I'm just stunned.
When I went on Facebook, and I said, I've just mentioned that I ran out of elastic and I wouldn't go to a store now to get any. First thing I knew, I
get a whole package of threads -- everything that I needed from Delaware.
And that started it. it just seemed like everywhere, people wanted to help me and that felt amazing. Every day I get materials, elastic or thread.
Everything I need.
American people are wonderful. The 99 percent of our people are just great. When you need something or need them, they are there for you.
Well, you know, we went through the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. I came from the Midwest and it was really difficult times.
[09:55:14]
KRIER: And in a week, when we heard that World War II was declared, we just all banded together -- men, women and children, and we did what had to be
done.
I don't understand why people can't band together now. It just seems to me, we wore bandanas and we were -- we carried rivet guns, the girls in the
shipyards had to bear the heavy welding things and they carried torches. We did that for days and years.
And I think that we're in a mess and it's simple to me after going through that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHATTERLEY: What a message. Mae Krier. Amazing then, amazing now.
That's it for the show. I'm Julia Chatterley. You've been watching FIRST MOVE. Stay safe, and I'll see you tomorrow.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:00:00]
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