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First Move with Julia Chatterley
Negotiators Make Progress On Relief Aid, But Is The U.S. Senate On Board?; Netflix Growth Slows As The Lockdown Boom Fades; The Hong Kong Airline, Cathay Pacific, Is Slashing Jobs And Closing Its Regional Carrier. Aired 9-10a ET
Aired October 21, 2020 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:00:43]
JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Live from New York, I am Julia Chatterley. This is FIRST MOVE and here is your need to know.
Stimulus stumbles. Negotiators make progress, but is the U.S. Senate on board.
Pressing pause. Netflix growth slows as the lockdown boom fades.
And Cathay cuts. The Hong Kong airlines slashing jobs and closing its regional carrier.
It's Wednesday, let's make a move.
Welcome once again to FIRST MOVE. Wonderful to be with you as always and lots going on in the show today.
We'll introduce you to the CommonPass App System that could finally get us traveling internationally again.
Plus, former presidential candidate and stimulus super hero, Andrew Yang will be here to talk Trumpnomics, Bidenomics and what kind of fix the U.S.
economy needs, so it's a perfect day to summon the Yang Gang as financial aid talks continue.
U.S. futures relatively unchanged at this moment. We will call it watchful. Nancy Pelosi's 48-hour deadline for these talks wasn't in fact a deadline.
She cited the progress last night, but I think the biggest road block seems to be the Senate Republicans who are giving no indication of being willing
to agree to a big financial aid package just two weeks before a presidential election when the Senate is up for grabs. We'll be discussing
that very shortly.
That said, firms that would benefit have been big gainers. Heavy machinery firm, Caterpillar hitting all-time highs yesterday. Wow. Look at that
chart.
Airlines have also rallied over the past few weeks, too. The market is still baking in some form of stimulus help for these guys.
The good news was already baked into their cake, I think, for Netflix investors. Shares are lower, as you can see, premarket after weaker than
expected subscription numbers in the third quarter. They had a record first half, remember. All the details on that coming up because I want to take
you to currency land.
The Chinese yuan posting its biggest advance against the U.S. dollar in more than two years amid Chinese growth hopes. The pound jumping, too
versus the dollar on optimism that the U.K. and E.U. can come to some form of trade agreement and avoid a hard Brexit. We have been there before.
There is no end to global negotiations going on. It is clearly now time for action.
Let's get to the drivers and to the financial aid talks which resume today. Christine Romans joins us now.
Christine, if only there were a two-way fight between the Democrats and the Republicans. The problem is, it's simply not. It is a three-way fight and
this involves the Senate Republicans and right now, Mitch McConnell who doesn't sound like he is budging.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: No, it doesn't and it sounds like we keep hearing the same thing that they are still
talking, and that's good news. That they are making progress, but differences remain.
If I had a nickel for every time I heard that they are making progress, but differences remain, I'd be a rich woman.
Look, it is clear here that they are trying to get to yes, the White House wants to get to yes, Steven Mnuchin wants to get to yes, but the Senate is
more recalcitrant here. There are many members who just don't want to spend $2 trillion and honestly don't think what they're getting in return is good
enough for their own objective.
So, where we wind up is anybody's guess, but it certainly feels like a long shot to get something done here in the next few hours.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, it's a political calculation here for some of the Senate leadership. Do you want to agree to a big deal, annoy some of the fiscal
conservatives here? Potentially allying yourself with the President, if you agree to this? Probability, Christine, that this gets agreed by the Senate
before the Presidential Election? Does it even come on the floor of the Senate?
ROMANS: I mean, and if it does, then it sort of forces these senators to say, it's almost a litmus test, right, for the President of the United
States where they stand on that.
Look, I've been hearing more recently about concerns about deficit spending from some quarters of the Senate than I have in a long time. There weren't
really many questions earlier in the crisis about spending borrowed money and now, you're starting to hear that again, and I wonder if they are
hearing it on the campaign trail, if they are hearing it from home.
But I do know that there is incredible popularity in the polling for more stimulus. I think, a recent poll I saw said 72 percent of people think
there should be another stimulus and the question I get from real people across the country every day is, when do you think there will be a check in
the mail for me, Christine? I could use another check in the mail because my earnings haven't gotten back to where they were before pandemic and I
have all these other costs.
[09:05:23]
ROMANS: So, I think there's a huge public popularity for another deal, but you just can't get the politicians to decide on how big it is, what's in
it, and then there is this political calculus so close to the election.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, deal or no deal this year, that check is not arriving before the beginning of next year.
ROMANS: No.
CHATTERLEY: At the earliest, and that's the heartbreaking thing. Politics before people, sadly.
Christine Romans, thank you for that.
ROMANS: Bye.
CHATTERLEY: As the battle over stimulus continues in Washington, President Trump and his rival Joe Biden are gearing up for Thursday's final
presidential debate. Jessica Dean reports from Nashville, Tennessee, the scene of their final encounter.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JESSICA DEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): At President Trump's campaign rally in Pennsylvania, no signs of the coronavirus pandemic that's
impacting much of the country, as supporters stood without practicing social distancing and very few wearing masks. Trump telling the crowd in
Erie, he was not expecting to make a stop there at all this year.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Before the plague came in, I had it made. I wasn't coming to Erie. I mean, I have to be honest.
There's no way I was coming. I didn't have to. I would have called you and said, hey, Erie, you know, if you have a chance, get out and vote. We had
this thing won.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEAN (voice over): While the President continued to make false claims about the status of the coronavirus crisis in the United States --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We're rounding the turn on the pandemic. Normal life will finally resume.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEAN (voice over): The truth is, cases are on the rise in at least 26 states this morning and Pennsylvania has seen spikes in new cases in recent
days.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Pennsylvania's been shut down long enough. Get your governor to open up Pennsylvania.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEAN (voice over): The President's complaints come just nine days after the White House Coronavirus Taskforce urged the Keystone State to maintain
aggressive community mitigation efforts.
Former Vice President Joe Biden is off the campaign trail to prepare for tomorrow's final presidential debate, but his biggest surrogate is making
his first appearance in Philadelphia later today.
President Barack Obama is looking to give the Biden campaign a massive boost, with Election Day now less than two weeks away.
This as Trump uses the final days leading up to the election to distract from the massive crisis at hand, attacking everyone from Dr. Anthony Fauci,
to Biden, to journalists. Sources telling CNN, the President abruptly walked out of an interview with "60 Minutes" at the White House Wednesday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: You have to watch what we do to "60 Minutes." You'll get such a kick out of it. You're going to get a kick out of it. Leslie Stahl is not going
to be happy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEAN (voice over): Meantime, Senator Kamala Harris telling voters, now is the time for the country to work together.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA), VICE-PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: It is about building back up better. It is about unifying our country. We are all in this
together. And we're going to get through this together.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHATTERLEY: Jessica Dean reporting there. Be sure to tune in to CNN for the final presidential debate. Our coverage begins at 7:00 p.m. Eastern time on
Thursday. That's midnight in London and 7:00 a.m. in Hong Kong on Friday.
Okay, let's move on. It is press pause for Netflix pandemic boon. The service reporting a slowdown in new subscribers for the third quarter as
well as lower than expected profits. Shares are down some four percent premarket.
Paul La Monica joining us on this. I think this is a bit of great expectations, Paul, quite frankly. How much Netflix can we watch even in a
pandemic? And they had a record first half of the year. What do you make of these numbers?
PAUL LA MONICA, CNN BUSINESS REPORTER: Yes, the numbers, let's be honest, Julia, they were phenomenal. This is a company that is continuing to grow
very rapidly, but that being said, I think investors are worried about maybe the fact that the numbers were so strong in the first half of the
year, as you alluded to, maybe that's pulled forward a lot of the demand.
Are there that many subscribers -- people left -- particularly in the United States that haven't already signed on to Netflix? Where's the growth
going to come from? I think increasingly it's going to have to be internationally and that's why Netflix is really looking to bet more on hot
Asian markets because the U.S., I think we are close to being a mature saturated market for streaming.
CHATTERLEY: I love that you've gone there, Paul. Speaking of hot markets like Asia Pacific, 46 percent of all global paid net ads coming from the
Asia Pacific region and I mention the word Black Pink to you, would you know what I'm talking about?
[09:10:04]
LA MONICA: I would because I looked it up, not necessarily because I am the world's most foremost expert.
CHATTERLEY: Cheat.
LA MONICA: I do my homework, Julia. So, yes, I will admit, I'm not out there streaming Black Pink and BTS, but apparently, K-pop is a pretty big
thing in America and the rest of the world, and obviously, that is something that I think Netflix is benefitting from, having these series
that can cater to K-pop fans.
So you're seeing strong growth in South Korea and Japan in particular in Asia, but one issue is that Netflix is still trying to replicate its
success in India, which is clearly the next hot lucrative market that Netflix really needs to become a bigger presence in if it's going to have
the type of global growth that matches the success it's already had in the U.S. and other Asian markets.
CHATTERLEY: Wow, Netflix now to take on Bollywood. How exciting. But did say the number of Netflix originals quarter-on-quarter next year will be
higher than we've seen this year despite some of the lockdowns and the shutdowns and the issues over production, so quite fascinating to see what
they come up with.
Paul La Monica, thank you so much for that, and thank you for googling K- pop stars. Ever the professional there.
All right, from a pandemic winner the one of the pandemic losers, Cathay Pacific reducing its head count by almost a quarter. The Hong Kong airline
eliminating 8,500 positions including almost 6,000 layoffs.
Selina Wang joins us with all of the details. Selina, I was poring over some of the statistics here and actually, they are being a lot less
aggressive than we've seen in terms of cuts from other airlines. Talk us through the details of this. What are they doing to try and cut costs?
SELINA WANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Julia, that's right. There has been worse, but for Cathay Pacific, this is the worst layoffs in the airline's history.
This amounts to a cut of about a quarter of its position. So that's more than 5,000 jobs cut in Hong Kong and hundreds of jobs overseas, in addition
to shutting down a regional carrier called Cathay Dragon.
Now, Cathay Pacific was already struggling financially before the pandemic. They were hit very hard by the Hong Kong protests, which had deterred
Mainland tourists from coming and when the pandemic hit, Cathay Pacific didn't have any domestic market to cushion the blow from the closures in
travel, the borders shutting down, and so they've experienced a 98 percent fall in passenger traffic compared to a year earlier.
Now, they have received some help. They received a $5 billion rescue package led by the Hong Kong government, but hasn't been enough to cushion
the blow and as you mentioned, we've seen this industry overall struggle incredibly hard. You saw layoffs about 20 percent at Singapore Airlines and
nearly 30 percent at Qantas, and of course, in the U.S., they are laying off tens of thousands of people in this industry. That's despite Congress
giving the industry a $50 billion bailout package earlier this year.
And I just want to read to you a comment from the CEO of Cathay Pacific who said that, quote, "The global pandemic continues to have a devastating
impact on aviation and the hard truth is we must fundamentally restructure the group to survive."
CHATTERLEY: I mean, this is the problem, isn't it? I was looking through some of the numbers here and there are still going to be burning through
cash. It's absolutely devastating and even in their most optimistic scenario here for 2021, Cathay is saying less than half of its pre-COVID
capacity will be used.
Selena, what are we thinking here? Do you think, actually, they will have to take further steps to cut capacity if we don't see some kind of dramatic
rebound in passenger travel next year?
WANG: Well, Julia, you're seeing the numbers there and many analysts are asking that question as to whether these cuts are actually aggressive
enough, even though they are historic layoffs.
When you pour through the data, as you've said, they have been burning through 1.5 billion to 2 billion Hong Kong dollars of cash every month and
this restructuring is only going to reduce that by about 500 million Hong Kong dollars. So that's still a major cash burden.
Now, of course, the executives are saying that they think this is enough to get them through the pandemic, through the crisis, but of course, that's
dependent on several factors including whether or not a vaccine is going to be widely available, as fast as they are making their projections on.
It also depends on how many travel bubbles Hong Kong can strike with other countries around the world, but we know that this pain is going to continue
for carriers around the world. The International Air Transport Association is predicting that things aren't going to get back to normal until 2024 and
they are reporting some staggering industry statistics as well, predicting the airline industry is going to burn through $77 billion of cash during
the second half of 2020 and Julia, get this, that amounts to $300,000.00 per minute.
CHATTERLEY: Wow. I mean, it's devastating, isn't it, for the industry and also devastating for all of those workers that continue to lose their jobs
and our hearts are with them and their families.
Selina Wang, thank you so much for that. And there is going to be more Cathay Pacific later in the show, too, because they are trialing a new
health app for passengers aiming to facilitate getting us all back into the skies and taking up more international travel. Selena, thank you for that.
[09:15:12]
CHATTERLEY: All right, let me bring you up to speed now with some of the other stories making headlines around the world.
Witnesses tell CNN Nigerian Security Forces opened fire on protesters in Lagos causing multiple deaths. The Lagos Governor denies those reports of
fatalities, but says one person died from "blunt force trauma," quote. Demonstrations against police brutality have been taking place now for
nearly two weeks.
Ireland is reentering a nationwide lockdown with stay-at-home orders starting at midnight. The country is struggling with coronavirus. Ireland
reported 13 new deaths on Tuesday. That's its highest number since May. The restrictions will last for six weeks.
All right. We're going to take a break here on FIRST MOVE, but still to come, stimulus Yang Gang style. Former U.S. presidential candidate, Andrew
Yang says Americans need cash now. He joins us after the break with his take.
And the app that hopes to save the travel industry. We speak to the CEO of the Commons Project, as it trials a digital health passport. Stay with us.
More to come.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to FIRST MOVE live from New York where U.S. futures are relatively unchanged at this moment as we await fresh updates
from the financial aid talks in Washington, 48 hours to get an agreement before Election Day; fast turning into another 48 hours. It sounds like a
1980s movie sequel, if you remember that movie. The two sides still negotiating, but they still seem to have a fair way to go.
Former Democratic presidential candidate, Andrew Yang tweeted this yesterday, "Imagine having the power to ease the suffering of millions and
failing to use it." So much is at stake in these talks for millions of struggling Americans.
And Andrew Yang who ran on the platform of giving Americans a basic monthly income of $1,000.00 a month to help them navigate economic uncertainties
joins us now.
[09:20:05]
CHATTERLEY: Andrew, great to have you on the show. I have to say, I was one of the 127,000 people who liked that tweet. Who is it directed at and do
you think we can get a deal before Election Day?
ANDREW YANG, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It's directed to the people who are negotiating a possible stimulus and relief bill, and I'm cautiously
optimistic that they are making progress hour by hour on this, Julia.
The political incentives could not be higher because the fact is, if we don't get this passed now, we could be waiting until a new Congress is
seated and a new administration comes into power, which would put us into February.
And if you can imagine millions of struggling American families trying to get by for the next four months through a long and cold winter without
really a leg to stand on, that's what we have to avoid.
And so, I'm cautiously optimistic that we're going to see a deal come together in the next number of hours and days.
CHATTERLEY: You know, I've been talking on the show that I'm afraid that politics gets puts before the people in this instance and actually, that's
been the case now for many weeks. Are you sure that the Senate Republicans don't get in the way to block this, for political reasons?
YANG: That is going to be a major potential stumbling block, Julia, but if you look at the math, there are over a dozen Senate Republicans who are in
tightly contested races and for them to block stimulus bills now would be really, really difficult for them politically.
A lot of them are running for their political careers in places like South Carolina and places that, frankly, you would not think Republicans would be
threatened. So I believe this would pass the Senate because of political considerations on the part of many people who are in tough battles right
now.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, we hope you're right. Andrew, you started a not-for- profit. It was called Venture for America. It was going into local communities to look at what was suppressing innovation, to try and help
small businesses, to tackle poverty and inequality.
I know you've also, on the campaign trail before it sort of went virtual, you were also talking to communities as well. Is there anyone at a local
level, at a city level that is getting this right? That could provide some kind of template for what needs to be done in America more broadly?
YANG: There are a lot of awesome entrepreneurs working on this in communities around the country, and certainly, Pittsburgh has been a
relative success story on this dimension. There are other markets that have also reinvented themselves very successfully. But there's a lot of work to
do and the pandemic has accelerated these economic changes in a way that's going to kick more and more Americans to the curb, and we're way behind on
helping many of these communities find a different sort of path forward.
CHATTERLEY: I mean, universal basic income was something you discussed when you were on the campaign trail, but I don't hear it discussed by Joe Biden
or Kamala Harris at this stage. Do you think we are anywhere closer to doing something like that, to boosting a living wage, providing a living
wages in this country at some point in the future?
YANG: A poll just came out that said 55 percent of Americans are now for universal basic income. I wish it were that high when I was running or for
cash relief during the pandemic, and so this is not going anywhere.
Now, dozens of mayors have picked up the cause. They are launching basic income trials from Los Angeles to Atlanta to St. Paul and Kamala's Cash
Relief Bill in the Senate actually looks a lot like a basic income during this recession, where she was calling for $2,000.00 a month for every
American making below a certain amount.
So, I believe that universal basic income is just going to gain energy and momentum over time. I think it is going to pass sooner than anyone might
believe.
CHATTERLEY: How long does it take, Andrew? And can the country afford it? Because there will be fiscal conservatives going, yes, it sounds really
utopic, but actually, the country can't afford it financially. I guess your argument would be, we can't afford to socially not to.
YANG: Well, the fact is that the money after it gets put in the people's hands just circulates right back into the economy in the form of groceries
and fuel and car repairs and daycare expenses. It is going to shore up millions of jobs in small businesses in towns and cities around the
country.
So, this is a major step forward in a trickle up economy. It's going to stimulate demand.
If you look at what's going wrong with the economy right now, it is low demand. It is that, even if you have the wherewithal, you're not actually
comfortable spending your money.
And so, if you put money into people's hands, there are some countries that even put money into people's hands and said, hey, you have to spend it or
else it disappears after a couple of months and it's those kinds of measures that are exactly what we need right now.
[09:25:03]
CHATTERLEY: Yes, must-spend money, but admittedly, the other angle there is being confident enough to go out and for that, you have to be in control of
the virus as well.
You've built up a community of people, the Yang Gang members who I think are avidly waiting to see what your next step is going to be and how you
are going to move here. I keep watching these mayoral -- New York mayor candidates stepping up, and Andrew, I just wonder whether you want to give
us any information. Are you going to try and go to be the next Mayor of New York or is there still time to decide?
YANG: I was just in Philadelphia campaigning for Joe and Kamala. My attention is focused right now on helping the country turn the page and get
new leadership into the White House. After that, we're going to see how I can add the most value.
One thing I will suggest that I think we need to do is speed up our national approach to technology and social media issues. Right now, social
media making it harder for our democracy to function. It is eroding our mental health, and if there is something I can do to help with that, I
would love to do so.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, some might say it's making it impossible, quite frankly. Andrew, come back and talk to us about that specifically because we have
one or two strong views on this show about that as well.
Andrew Yang, great to have you with us, thank you for that. CNN political commentator and former Democratic presidential candidate.
There is more FIRST MOVE after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:30:01]
CHATTERLEY: A virtual listing there at the New York Stock Exchange. Welcome back to FIRST MOVE and U.S. stocks are open for trade this Wednesday.
Stimulus talks and high profile earnings remain a big focus for investors today. We are opening pretty much unchanged. You can take a look there.
A bit of a spike higher there for the NASDAQ in very early trade. Telecom giant, Verizon posting an earnings beat this morning. Sales came in a touch
light, but this is the key. They raised their 2020 guidance. We are seeing companies being rewarded for giving guidance about the outlook.
Meanwhile, Snap investors have a snap in their step this morning. Shares are soaring more than 20 percent after reporting a greater than expected 52
percent revenue rise and an 18 percent jump in daily active users for the Snapchat app. Clearly, investors are liking it.
All right, that's the open this morning. Let's move on, because U.S. restaurant owners say they desperately need more aid to make ends meet.
Among them is Cameron Mitchell.
Back in march, he had to close all 37 of his restaurants including this one, the Ocean Prime Beverly Hills. Mitchell went from washing dishes to
running a food empire over the course of almost four decades. He has more than a dozen brands across a dozen U.S. states including Ocean Club and The
Barn.
Cameron Mitchell is the founder and CEO of Cameron Mitchell Restaurants and he joins us now. Cameron, fantastic to have you on the show. I have to say,
when you have 37 restaurants, a shutdown and going through a pandemic seems like a military operation to command. Talk us through how it's been and how
you're doing now.
CAMERON MITCHELL, FOUNDER AND CEO, CAMERON MITCHELL RESTAURANTS: Well, it's a pleasure being with you this morning, Julia, so thank you for having me
on. You know, in my 40 years in the restaurant business, this is the most difficult time I've ever been a leader through, and had to work through.
So, you know, it was devastating in four days, we went from -- we had record sales in January and February and we're doing well and then in four
days in March from March 15th to March 20th, we had shut down virtually all of our restaurants.
It was a difficult time for our people and the thousands of our employees and families that work with us, so we've been able to, you know, finally
reopen in May and work, but you know, it's just a difficult year and we're going to finish up the year down 40 percent in sales and that is on the
margins in the restaurant business. It's unpalatable.
CHATTERLEY: I mean, if your sales are down 40 percent, how much of your staff have you managed to keep if you compare to where you were in January
or February of this year?
MITCHELL: Right. We had about 4,500 people before the pandemic and today we're about 3,500. So, we still have a thousand jobs out there that we've
not been able to bring back yet.
CHATTERLEY: And what about as the weather gets colder and clearly, in various parts of the country, what kind of steps are you taking to make
provisions for that? Because that's going to be another huge challenge. Never mind the rising virus cases we seem to be seeing across the country.
MITCHELL: Right. I think today, I feel, as I'm sure about our business and our future, as I did in March. We're back almost to square one in that
regard with the closing of the patios, you know, we can keep some of them a little bit, but once the north gets down to 40, 30, 20 degrees, outside
dining is over and it is going to be over here shortly.
So we're not looking forward to the winter and I hope for the best as we go through, but when we have our dining rooms open at 25 percent capacity or
40 percent capacity or 50 percent capacity, it just continues to make it very, very challenging.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, Cameron, you're painting a very bleak picture here. Can you survive without more financial help from the government? Clearly, a
great deal was made of the paycheck protection scheme to try and support small businesses.
Clearly, for many, the money ran out and they simply have not been further provided. The hope is that they can come up with something. What are your
expectations?
MITCHELL: We need Congress to act and act now. You cannot -- from Columbus to Raleigh, you cannot open the paper without seeing a restaurant closure
virtually every single day. It's a misnomer out there about small businesses.
Yes, small businesses are challenged, but in our case, in a full service restaurant industry, whether you have 36 restaurants or six restaurants or
one restaurant, the pain is the same.
And the reality is, without the PPP dollars that we go in May, we wouldn't have been able to reopen. We would not have been able to survive.
So, I thank Congress for that, but now, here we head into the winter and again, rising case counts, and well guests who want to dine inside in our
restaurants still at least 40 percent to 50 percent of America is still afraid to go in restaurants even though the safety and sanitation
procedures that we have in our company, we just installed a new HVAC system that removes almost 99.5 percent of the pathogens out there in the air.
[09:35:48]
MITCHELL: So we are doing the best we can to make a safe environment for our guests. We work with the Cleveland Clinic on our sanitation protocols.
So we're just kind of hoping for the best, but without additional stimulus and additional PPP dollars, I'm not sure our company will survive until
next spring, but I know for a fact that many, many, many other restauranteurs will not survive.
And if we want a real recovery in the United States, and not just a K recovery, then we need to get the stimulus out here for these businesses
that need it to ensure not just us, the hotel industry, the travel industry which have all been decimated.
CHATTERLEY: Right.
MITCHELL: And we need that support.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, it is not just one sector. You're quite right. I mentioned at the beginning, and I did it for a purpose that you began washing dishes.
You've built this empire over four decades.
If we take a step back from the immediate challenges and some of the, perhaps, structural challenges and the criticisms of the U.S. economy today
and the inability for certain subsets of the population to rise and build businesses. Cameron, do you believe if you were starting out today, you
could build what you've built in the same way over the same time?
MITCHELL: Maybe. I mean, there is conjecture, I think, but to get started today, clearly, over years, there will be more restaurants after the many
failures we have, but it's going to take time and for us, in terms of recovery, I mean, we are saddled with additional millions of dollars' worth
of debt and for us to grow out of this economy going forward in the next few years and actually create new jobs is going to be very difficult,
again, without additional financial support.
So it's not just today, it's about our future.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, so that's the message, whichever government takes over next year, it's about providing the support needed to get people, whether
they're starting a new business or continuing a new business through the pandemic and beyond.
MITCHELL: Right. Yes, and there are thousands of stories like me out there. That's the one thing great about this industry that we're in, is people can
start and build their own businesses and it's just an American tragedy to see these businesses that people spent 10, 15, 20, 30, 40 years even longer
building getting decimated here in the short six months here since the pandemic has been upon us.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, and it is happening all over the world. Cameron, great to have you with us and hang in there. Thoughts are with you and fingers
crossed we get some support from the government.
Cameron Mitchell, founder and CEO of Cameron Mitchell Restaurants. Thank you, sir.
All right, up next. A pilot project to help us fly again. We take a look at the digital health passport that could save the travel industry. Stay with
us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:41:54]
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to FIRST MOVE. For the sake of the global economy, the airline industry and jobs and for the simple joy of globetrotting, the
world needs to get moving again even as the pandemic goes on, and there might be an app for that.
It's called CommonPass and it will be tested on transatlantic flight landing in Newark, New Jersey later today. CNN's Anna Stewart explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER (voice over): The world is a patchwork of travel restrictions. Closed borders, quarantines, pre-travel testing requirements,
all of which keep changing.
STEWART (on camera): It's enough to put people off travel altogether, and that's damaging for the aviation sector, for tourism, for the whole global
economy. However, one solution to travel could be the passport, not this kind but this, a digital health passport.
STEWART (voice-over): The app is be developed by the Commons Project Foundation, in partnership with the World Economic Forum. The concept is
simple enough. A traveler checks the app to see what the COVID-19 rules are at their destination.
For example, it may require a PCR test 24 hours before travel. The app tells the traveler where they can get a government-approved COVID-19 test
and upload that test result to the app.
If negative, the app generates a QR code confirming the traveler's compliance to be scanned by airline staff and border officials.
However, testing prior to travel has its limitations.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DANNY ALTMANN, IMMUNOLOGY PROFESSOR, IMPERIAL COLLEGE: At that moment, that person is safe to fly or migrate or whatever it is, because they were PCR
negative, which is probably, you know, meaningless if they were about to turn PCR positive five minutes after you do the test.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEWART (voice over): CommonPass says screening minimizes the risk and is already a requirement for entry into many countries. A trial of their app
is underway for volunteer passengers flying with United Airlines and Cathay Pacific between London, New York, Hong Kong and Singapore.
If it goes well, CommonPass hopes more airlines and airports will use it in the future.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL MEYER, CEO, THE COMMONS PROJECT: We've actually managed to convene over 50 countries that have come together, through dialogue that led up to
CommonPass. Most of the world's biggest airlines, most of the world's biggest airports, and I think one of the realizations that they've come to
through these sessions is this kind of system has to work in a globally operable way.
It can't only work within one bubble, or with one travel corridor.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEWART (voice over): If a COVID-19 vaccine is successfully developed, CommonPass hopes travelers will be able to log their vaccination into the
app. Yes, there are concerns too little is known about vaccine efficacy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALTMANN: I wouldn't feel comfortable as a sort of Minister of Health to be, you know, stamping and sealing the legislation on the use of immunity
passports in these places.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEWART (voice over): Immunity passports are pie in the sky, at least for now. Helping people to take to the skies with an app that simplifies and
coordinates COVID-19 travel restrictions, is at least on the horizon.
Anna Stewart, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[09:45:02]
CHATTERLEY: And you heard from the man behind CommonPass there. He is the CEO of the Commons Project and he joins us now.
Paul, fantastic to have you with us. I mean, this sounds like a fantastic idea. You're effectively a sort of easy to use collection point for COVID
tests from nations all around the world. So you're cutting across language barriers, misunderstandings, perhaps, on COVID test results. It should be a
great tool that people can use.
MEYER: We hope so, where obviously, the world has really shut down because of COVID and we are hoping that we can contribute a little bit to helping
reopen the world. And by bringing something that really is a global trust framework that allows countries to begin to trust each other and allow
travel to resume.
CHATTERLEY: You mentioned there in Anna's report, 50 different countries signed on to do this. Just give us a sense of the time frame here to have
this up and running. Obviously, we mentioned the trials are under way.
MEYER: The trials are under way between Singapore and Hong Kong, between London and New York, where we are going to be launching additional trials
through November and December across six continents with many of the world's largest airlines and we're anticipating broad global scale
deployment beginning from January.
CHATTERLEY: So as Anna said as well, the vaccine is also going to play into this as well, as people start to get vaccinated. Disinformation will also
feed into this app, so that people can say, hey, I don't need to do a COVID test. I've got a vaccine certificate, too.
MEYER: Absolutely. Right now, there's an understandable focus on testing because it's what we have as we wait for vaccines to arrive, and getting a
test for departure, again and arrival, is a way of reducing the risk of travelers who are coming in to a country to spread.
However, there are no risk-free solutions. There is no immunity. There is no such thing right now as immunity but ultimately, this is about risk
reduction. It's about giving countries the confidence to know that someone actually did get a test before they got on the airplane and that's intended
to give countries the confidence to begin to open up.
Whether they're through some of the travel bubbles that are being opened up or through relaxation of some of the quarantine instructions that are
currently in place.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, it is interesting because the quarantine is the big issue. I know a lot of people that say, look, I'd be confident enough to get into
the skies now and trust being on a plane, but it's the two-week quarantine perhaps that I decide that is prohibitive now as far as travel is
concerned.
One of the other questions that I got when I started to talk to people about this was, is this app going to be used to track people to make sure
that they're following through on their quarantine?
MEYER: Absolutely not. That's not a part of what we're doing. Really, what this is doing is just allowing people to get tested or eventually get
vaccinated in one country, be able to use that information to demonstrate that they satisfy the requirements of the country they want to visit.
The health data, whether about that test result or that vaccination doesn't actually transfer. This is built so it protects the privacy of individual's
health data. So an individual makes their data available to the platform to document their compliance, but they don't actually have to convey their
health information either to the airline or to the government of the country that they are visiting.
CHATTERLEY: And obviously, Europe is really hot in this and you are making sure that this all meets the GDPR privacy rules, I am sure. But again, I
read an article in "The Lancet" that was saying there are ethics and ethical questions surrounding these digital passports. Not only the risk of
fraud, to your point to say, if you don't have to say, hey look, this is all my medical information and I am providing it to you, that's one thing;
but, how do you know that actually the COVID test results or indeed the vaccine certificate is the person that you're seeing being waved in front
of you on the app?
MEYER: Because ultimately, this is where we are building a common trust framework and a chain of trust. And so, only information from trusted labs
or trusted vaccination sites are able to flow into CommonPass, and part of that is ensuring that it is the same person that got that pass that is now
getting on an airplane or crossing a border.
CHATTERLEY: And there is no way I can log into the app for someone else and just show their details?
MEYER: Correct. Because ultimately, you have to have the identifying information that is consistent with the identifying information that was
collected at the time of testing or at the time of vaccination.
CHATTERLEY: Yes. This is so important. I mean, I know, and it was actually quite fascinating for me that the inspiration for this was what was done in
some of the African nations when they had trucks piled up and they were trying to work at how to get supplies across borders and were like, okay,
we're going to have to trust each other in term of COVID tests and what we're seeing here, Paul.
Just translate that to what you are producing because I know you have a lot of history in your career of pulling together lots of different people and
collating data and information and sharing it. What do you see as the biggest challenge between now and getting this up and running in January?
[09:50:16]
MEYER: It really is about building momentum and trust amongst the many countries. We're at a moment in the world where borders are closing and
walls are going up and restarting our interconnected world really requires governments to begin to collaborate and trust each other.
You alluded to the inspiration for CommonPass which was a collaboration with the East African community and the six states of East Africa who had a
problem earlier in the pandemic of needing to allow trucks carrying vital supplies among their countries, and so they developed with our
collaboration and support, a system to allow truck drivers to get a negative lab test in one country and use that to document their status as
they cross the border, the land border. That was the inspiration.
Obviously, we are now focused on air travel, but we are also in dialogue with some of the world's largest shipping companies who need ships to move
and sea farers to be able to come and go to and from their ports of call.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, it's fascinating, isn't it? Well, fingers crossed it works because it would be something incredibly useful to have when we all want to
get back to the skies. Paul Meyer, CEO of The Commons Project.
Thank you so much and keep us updated with progress on the trials.
After the break, COVID coupled with a tech revolution. How the world of work has changed and will change. That's coming next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to FIRST MOVE. Eighty-five million jobs could be on the line over the next five years as a consequence of COVID-19 and big
changes in technology. That's according to our panel from the World Economic Forum hosted by our very own John Defterios. Just take a listen to
this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GUY RYDER, DIRECTOR-GENERAL, INTERNATIONAL LABOR ORGANIZATION: The fact of the matter is COVID-19 comes on the top of a lot of transformational change
that was already taking place in the world of work. Technology being the most obvious, but there are others as well and here is the problem.
I think COVID-19 has exposed extraordinarily, brutally the inequalities and precarities of people's situations in the world of work, and as we move
forward towards this more digitalized future of work, I fear that those could be even more accentuated, unless we build in and this was mentioned
in your introduction, issues of equity, issues of social protection.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHATTERLEY: So many important issues and John Defterios is going to join us tomorrow to discuss all things energy and of course, the impact of the
presidential election, so don't miss that. Can't wait to discuss with him.
[09:55:03]
CHATTERLEY: And finally, a stellar first for NASA and the United States. The OSIRIS-Rex, a spacecraft touched an asteroid on Tuesday reaching out
its robotic arm to collect a sample from the surface.
Scientists are hoping to study the sample to piece together more about the solar system's evolution. The space probe has orbited the asteroid Bennu
for nearly two years now. It is scheduled to complete its return journey to Earth in 2023. Wow. Out of this world, literally.
That's it for the show. You've been watching FIRST MOVE. I'm Julia Chatterley. Stay safe and we'll see you tomorrow.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:00:00]
END
