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First Move with Julia Chatterley
Stocks Steady As The Logistical Challenges For The COVID-19 Vaccine Become Clearer; Team Biden Not Ruling Out Legal Action Against The White House; The E.U. Charges Amazon With Breaking Competition Rules. Aired 9-10a ET
Aired November 10, 2020 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[00:00:01]
JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Live from New York, I'm Julia Chatterley. This is FIRST MOVE and here is your need to know.
Vaccine variables. Stocks steady as the logistical challenges become clearer.
Transition troubled. Team Biden not ruling out legal action against the White House.
And antitrust accusations. The E.U. charges Amazon with breaking competition rules.
It's Tuesday. Let's make a move.
Welcome once again to all our First Movers across the globe. Great to have you with us on another day focused on science, stimulus, and standoffs.
Let's take them in turn. The blockbuster news on Pfizer's COVID vaccine helped trigger one of the biggest global rallies of the year yesterday. But
as Scott Minerd said to us, too, tomorrow's vaccines don't put food on the table today or help struggling small businesses get back to work and that
is a very valid point. It fits perhaps with subdued picture for global markets.
You can take a look though, Europe, as you can see is in the green and look at the U.K. I have to tell you, that's up 12 percent so far this month.
Asia, meanwhile was mixed, but regional carriers soared.
Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines, Korean Air all posting double digit gains. It matches what we saw in the United States hereto, a rotation out of the
pandemic winners and into some of the pandemic losers.
We saw some profit taking yesterday in stocks like Zoom, Netflix, Amazon, and we also saw big bounces in beaten up travel and leisure stocks.
Let me just give you some perspective here because this is key. Carnival Cruises gained a whopping 39 percent yesterday. But look at that chart, it
still remains down more than 60 percent year-to-date. Zoom, meanwhile -- Zoom, how we've all kept connected -- that lost 17 percent. But oh boy, up
500 percent plus year-to-date.
We remain in a pandemic and we still going to shop at Amazon throughout this, and we're still going to watch too much Netflix. For better or worse.
Big investors are telling me that they view this as the beginning of the end of the COVID crisis. That's hope. But progress won't be a straight line
and we still need help from governments -- financial help -- help controlling the virus, key, and vaccine education not to mention logistical
help with this vaccine.
Let's get to the drivers. U.S. state health officials are warning that they are overwhelmed and daunted by the handling requirements of Pfizer's new
COVID vaccine, which includes storage at super cold temperatures.
Elizabeth Cohen joins us now with the details on this, and Elizabeth, I'm sure there's a technical term for this, but I'll just use the term
"fragile." Distributing, housing this vaccine is complicated.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It really is, Julia. And let's take a look at some of the reasons for this because in the United
States, it's the individual states that are going to have to administer this vaccination program, and the more fragile the vaccine is, the harder
that is and remember to all of our listeners around the world, the United States is a huge place. It's really not like distributing vaccine really
anywhere else in the world that is quite like this.
So let's take a look at the specifics for this vaccine. So this vaccine from Pfizer, which has shown great efficacy and data that we were told
about yesterday, it has to be kept at minus 75 degrees centigrade. That is 50 degrees colder than any other vaccine that is currently used in the
United States and that means the doctor's offices and pharmacists don't have the freezers that they need. They don't have freezers that go anywhere
near that low.
And so last month, Pfizer had a webinar with folks from all over the United States, all of their immunization programs to give them the specifics for
how to make this work. It involves using custom-made storage, thermal shippers, they are being called that Pfizer is making there, about the size
of a suitcase. They need to be replenished with dry ice on a regular basis.
So the states have to find dry ice, which can be hard to find sometimes. They have to handle dry ice, which doctors and nurses are not used to
doing. It is a big deal.
So one of the people who was on this call from one of the states, she texted a friend, a colleague who was on the call and said, how are we going
to do this? And the colleague just texted back and exploding head emoji -- Julia.
CHATTERLEY: Uh-oh. I mean, the C.D.C. -- the Disease Control is saying this is very complex. How long do they have? I mean, if we're talking about
using words such as daunting and head exploding emojis, Elizabeth, how long do they have? Do they have time to get this ready?
COHEN: You know, not long. Getting a vaccine program ready is usually done over a matter of months, if not longer. This is going to be the hardest
vaccine distribution program in the U.S. because of the fragility of the vaccine, and they really may have just a matter of weeks, so it wasn't
until October 15th that states were given the very specific instructions for what to do, according to folks that I've talked to.
[09:05:13]
COHEN: And so that was October 15th, the F.D.A. may indeed grant a permission to Pfizer to market this vaccine, really in just a matter of
weeks. So that just gives these states really just weeks to get this all together.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, I just mentioned, the beginning of the end of the COVID crisis, but very much at the beginning, as far as vaccines are concerned,
which is why attention always turns to therapeutics, in the meantime, to treat people that potentially are sick with COVID-19.
Talk to me about Eli Lilly, because they've just got F.D.A. approval for their antibody therapeutic. What do we know on this?
COHEN: Yes, so this really is a big day in the same way that the vaccine data yesterday was big. It's also big that this is the first company where
we've seen get an EUA, an Emergency Use Authorization for this particular product. And so what this means, this is a therapeutic. So this is
something that you take after you've been diagnosed with COVID, after you've gotten sick.
What they're hoping is that it will keep people out of the hospital. What they found when they studied it was that it did reduce the symptoms for
some people and it did reduce the hospitalization rate.
But -- and I know I sound like I'm repeating myself, there are logistical challenges. Will there be enough of this medicine? And will it be easy to
get people in and out to give them this medicine because it has to be delivered intravenously. It's not like you can just pop a pill at home.
So those two things make this difficult and we have to remember, Julia, these products, the vaccine, the monoclonal antibody, these are not just
regular old drugs that you can make easily and dispense easily. These are for want of a better term, sort of living and breathing products, right?
They are made from actual organic, real material.
And so that means that they are harder to make, they are harder sometimes to use -- Julia.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, it's phenomenal science, but it comes with its own challenges, and you can repeat yourself as much as you like, Elizabeth,
you're my reality check queen, quite frankly. So, thank you for the analysis there.
COHEN: Thank you.
CHATTERLEY: Elizabeth Cohen. All right, Dow futures are higher this morning after the index rose nearly three percent yesterday, on Monday's session
following Pfizer's vaccine update. Christine Romans joins us now.
Christine, I'm sure you were just listening to that, I think the reality of the timing here certainly setting in, even as investors do tend to jump
ahead. It was a rotation from some of the winners to some of the losers.
But seeing more of this, we shall see.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, I think you're absolutely right that we're at the beginning of the end of
COVID, but we are at the beginning of something new, a new phase here, and so you have investors, sort of shunning NASDAQ stocks, those high flying
stocks that have done so well in the events of this year.
The NASDAQ is up 30 percent this year, and focusing on things that might come back to life next year, when you get a vaccine and when you get a
situation that is really a post COVID crisis world and learning to live with COVID and beat COVID through vaccines and therapeutics.
So you know, some of those gains we saw, for example, at AMC Theaters and in Disney and in the Carnival Cruise Lines of the world showed you that for
the first time in a long time, investors were starting to say, wait a minute, there could be a day when we have people in movie theaters, people
gathering, people traveling, people going to see grandma, and trying to prepare for what that investment landscape is going to look like.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, there is a good time coming. It could just be a good time coming, quite frankly.
Christine, in the interim, and I mentioned this at the top of the show, and I know you feel strongly about this, too, vaccines of tomorrow don't bring
jobs back today. We are still in the midst of a pandemic. There are still many challenges ongoing.
It's not a get out of jail free card for Congress, for governments around the world not providing the support to people that simply can't get back
into those jobs because of the restrictions.
ROMANS: And you know, Moody's Analytics, Mark Zandi and others have said, you know, Congress did a fantastic job of building this bridge over the
chiasm that is COVID and stopped building it and there's a little ways to go yet.
So even as we can see the end, and we see this new beginning and this new phase, what the economy is going to look like next year, we need a little
bit help to get to that point, because you have 10 million jobs still -- net job loss of 10 million since the beginning of COVID. We still have 27
million people who are receiving some sort of a jobless check.
We have potential rent and real estate problem coming around the pike here because so many people, you know, who have been in forbearance are going to
have to start paying back their rent and mortgages from earlier this year.
So, there is a moment coming here where people still need help. And you and I say it all the time, Wall Street is not Main Street. Wall Street right
now, there are people who are making money, right? And there are people at home who are just trying to figure out how to make it by to get into that
new phase next year.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, and continuity in handling all of these challenges. There seems to be a problem as well when we'll get to that.
Christine Romans, thank you so much for that.
On that note, Joe Biden's team says they are preparing for a contentious transition period including the potential for legal action if the White
House continues to refuse to cooperate.
[09:10:10]
CHATTERLEY: Joe Jones joins us live from Washington now. Joe, we were talking about this yesterday, fine, the White House wants to have certain
states see recounts. There are potential legal challenges over the validity of this vote count. The problem is, we're in the midst of a pandemic and
economic crisis, we need the potential President-elect Joe Biden to be briefed and he can't get briefed either yet.
JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: That's absolutely right. And if you look carefully at this, where it may be headed, is there are
concerns from critics already being expressed that the President with his intransigence is essentially setting it up so that the National Security
apparatus of the United States is hamstrung in the early days of a Biden administration. That National Security apparatus that might also well
include the people who have to deal with coronavirus in the next administration.
The problem is pretty simple. It was even laid out in the 9/11 report from years ago after the United States was attacked in New York, Pennsylvania
and here in the Washington, D.C. area. The 9/11 Commission said that the George W. Bush administration was hamstrung by how long it took for
ascertainment from the GSA, in other words, acknowledgement of the winner of the election.
And what that did essentially was create a situation where the Deputy Intelligence Officers and others weren't named, weren't identified, weren't
cleared, and so on.
So there are real problems associated with the President's refusal to concede, refusal to open up the floodgates and allow the Biden
administration to start its transition. And so there are two possibilities and perhaps several more, including a lawsuit to compel the government here
to ascertain Biden the winner.
Also the possibility of a shadow transition, if you will, informally individuals working with Biden, contacting individuals working in some of
these government agencies to try to get a leg up on what they're going to be facing when they walk in the door on January 20th -- Julia.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, I mean, there are so many crises to deal with here. It's the last thing we need. Every moment, every second, every minute counts.
Strange time, it seems, Joe, very quickly to be firing people in your Cabinet, but that's what happened yesterday with the Defense Secretary,
Mark Esper.
And there is now a suggestion according to, I believe our colleague, Jake Tapper, that perhaps the Director of the C.I.A. could be at risk here;
also, the Director of the F.B.I., perhaps even the Attorney General Bill Barr himself. What is going on?
JOHNS: Yes, doesn't it though? It sounds very much like the beginning of an old fashion purge in government, something you wouldn't expect at the very
end of a President's administration.
But you're right, Mark Esper, out the door. There is talk about Gina Haspel over at the C.I.A., and that really, again, points up this issue of
hamstringing the National Security apparatus here in the United States.
The President apparently doing it to his own administration. Now, to be fair, Esper was believed to be on his way out the door anyway, because he
had a habit, if you will, of telling the President of the United States no on critical issues and the President didn't like that. The same with Gina
Haspel.
The question, of course, is what kind of shape this United States National Security apparatus is going to be in by the time Donald Trump goes out the
door?
CHATTERLEY: Yes, continuity is in the best interests of Americans, however, they voted. That's the heartbreaking thing.
Joe Johns in Washington, thank you for your assessment and analysis there.
All right, the European Union formally charging Amazon with antitrust violations that says the retailer use data gathered from sellers on its
platform to compete with those sellers.
Anna Stewart joins me now. Pretty complicated here, but if you can distill it down for us, what are they suggesting that Amazon has done here,
effectively use those and the information of those sellers to foster and improve their own capabilities on Amazon selling their own products?
ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER: It does sound complicated. Julia, there are so many probes, antitrust probes from the E.U. against tech companies. It's
hard to keep track of them all.
This one has been in the works for nearly two years and you're right, it is all about that dual role Amazon has both as a market place platform for
other third-party retailers to sell on, but also as its role as a retailer on that same platform.
[09:15:07]
STEWART: Now today, this preliminary view from the E.U. is that Amazon is using data that it gets privileged from these third-party retailers to know
what is selling well at what price point in which markets, and it can therefore use that data to get an unfair advantage. A big problem in
markets where it is dominant, like Germany and France.
Now, Amazon have responded. They disagree with this view from the E.U. They also point out that they represent they say, less than one percent of the
global retail market and they say no company has helped small businesses more than them.
This is just the preliminary view. As you know, these things ramble on and on, so we are nowhere near potential fines yet.
CHATTERLEY: A far greater chunk of the online market, but to be fair to them, these small businesses wouldn't have access to the broad scope of
international businesses, regional businesses, perhaps that they sell to and customers if they didn't have access to the platform. So it's an
interesting one.
Anna, what surprises me or should perhaps shouldn't surprise us is how relatively more aggressive the E.U. is in tackling these Big Tech companies
versus the United States seems to chat a lot about and actually do very little.
STEWART: I mean, take a look at some of the fines that the E.U. has slapped against tech firms just in the last few years: Google, a total of $9
billion. Apple has appealed that one, you can see it there, though, some massive totals there. And I think Amazon is likely to get more fines in the
pipeline, not least as today, in addition to this preliminary view on this antitrust probe, Julia, they've launched a new one, this time against
Amazon's Best Box Service.
That is something that many users use. You don't always know what it is called. It's that white box on the right hand side that helps you buy
things with one click and Amazon chooses which retailers get to use it, and the E.U. suggesting that perhaps Amazon is pushing them to use its own
logistics and other services.
So these sorts of probes just keep rumbling on, particularly under this E.U. Competition Commissioner. He feels very hot when it comes to antitrust
probes against Big Tech firms from the United States -- Julia.
CHATTERLEY: Yes. Not shy about tackling these big guys. Anna Stewart, thank you so much for that.
All right. Let me bring you up to speed now with some of the other stories making headlines around the world.
Angry protests in Armenia's capital city after the Prime Minister signed what he called an unspeakably painful agreement with Russia and Azerbaijan.
The peace deal involves the disputed area of Nagorno-Karabakh, it comes after six weeks of intense fighting and just hours after Azerbaijan claimed
it captured a strategic city in the region.
Tributes are being paid to a veteran Palestinian negotiator who dedicated his life to the peaceful pursuit of Palestinian statehood. Saeb Erekat has
died in a Jerusalem hospital from coronavirus complications at the age of 65.
The E.U. has said his death is a great loss to the Middle East peace process.
The Vatican has released an explosive report following a two-year investigation involving ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick. It says the late
Pope John Paul the Second was aware of allegations of sexual misconduct by McCarrick, but chose to promote him anyway.
McCarrick was defrocked by the Vatican last year for sexual abuse.
All right, we're going to take a break. Plenty more to come from FIRST MOVE. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:21:28]
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to FIRST MOVE. It's the day after the big vaccine vroom on Wall Street. A little less investor exuberance today though, the
Dow is expected to power higher as the rotation from Big Tech names into economically sensitive stocks continues.
Right now, as you can see, higher premarket by around six-tenths of one percent. Blue chips JPMorgan, Chevron and Boeing is set to advance once
again this session. These companies could be winners when the vaccines begin distribution and economies improve.
The Dow came within 200 points of hitting that elusive 30,000 milestone Monday before pulling back from those record highs.
Alicia Levine is the Chief Strategist at BNY Mellon Investment Management and joins us now. Alicia, fantastic to have you on the show.
I mentioned at the beginning of this hour that some investors were saying, look, we're seeing the beginning of the end of the COVID crisis. Do you
agree or are we being a little bit presumptuous here?
ALICIA LEVINE, CHIEF STRATEGIST, BNY MELLON INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT: Hi, Julia. It's great to see you today. Look, I think that the preliminary
efficacy data that we saw yesterday that so outperformed what the trial was powered for it was powered for, it was a 50 percent efficacy, if the 90
percent efficacy holds and if the side effect profile is reasonable, and we don't know that yet, then the answer is yes. This was a game changer.
Because all of a sudden, if you're sitting on the fence about whether or not to take a vaccine, if it is 90 percent effective, you're more likely to
take it. And so therefore, we've now dialed forward when we think the population would be willing to take it, and you get immunity sooner.
It's a game changer for sure. Obviously, there's manufacturing issues. But yes, the company that reported yesterday, Pfizer, won't have 1.3 billion
doses until next year, but there is some plans to start rolling out this year to healthcare workers.
So I think it is a game changer.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, I mean, the read-through here being that the more efficacious it is, the less people need to take it in order to reach some
level of herd immunity where we can in some way get our lives back to normal.
I guess, the other thing to point out here, and it sort of ties to the reaction that we saw yesterday, this is just one of many. We don't know
that they are all going to be as efficacious, if they'll even work, quite frankly, but we could be in for a run here over the next couple of months
of a number of these success stories in vaccine development. Could obviously.
LEVINE: That's right. Yes, that's right. So you know, the Pfizer trial was a new technology, a novel technology targeting the spike protein. Moderna
has a similar target on the spike protein. So I think we can assume that the Moderna trial may also be successful, but we don't know if it's going
to be 90 percent or 70 percent or 50 percent. We just don't know.
We know the trials all started around the same time. They've enrolled a lot of people. If they require two doses, then you do get evaluated sometime
after the second dose. So this does take time.
But on the other hand, the news is more positive than negative and that's what we saw in the market. We saw that rotation into the cyclicals and the
value stocks, kind of an amazing historical rotation that we saw yesterday and I expect the outperformance of cyclicals to continue, although
yesterday was a huge move and some of those moves are going to have to be digested.
CHATTERLEY: You know, it is interesting, I made the point as well earlier that where we saw profit taking, they have seen bumper gains, in many
cases, Zoom was an example up 500 percent year-to-date.
[09:25:10]
CHATTERLEY: So that can lose quite a lot of ground and still be a bumper performance on the year. Some of those that were gaining have been
seriously beaten up, and they have plenty of upside, too. So does that also tie into what you're saying that you think some of that rotation can
continue even if it isn't like a session like yesterday?
LEVINE: Yes, I think the rotation can continue. You know, the truth is the rotation really started in the summer, the outperformance of the cyclicals
over tech. That doesn't mean tech didn't perform, it just means it was outperformed.
And I think that's what you're going to see here, so some of the excess in the tech and growth sector is going to have to come out of it.
Particularly, I think the stay-at-home names that we all know and love, which were down almost 20 percent yesterday. But again, both groups can
perform, the issue is where are you getting outperformance?
In the short term as a tactical trade, you're going to get it from the cyclical sectors. That doesn't mean sell tech. That doesn't mean sell your
growth. It just means you're going to get outperformance from another sector.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, that's such a great point. Alicia, I had planned originally to talk to you today as well about the election. It felt like
whatever the election result was going to be, we were primed for overall stock markets to rally because we're looking at the best bits of whatever
outcome.
How important in your mind is Georgia and the fact that one state, two Senate seats suddenly become a pivot point upon which potentially the
balance of power in U.S. Congress will be determined?
LEVINE: Yes, so thanks for that question. Look, I mean, right now, the Senate looks to stay Republican, which is very market friendly with a
Democratic President and we like split government. The market likes split government.
The issue of the Georgia races for those overseas is that they are going to runoff January 5th, and that's two Senate seats. The market is presuming
the Republicans win those seats, but if not, you could wind up with a 50/50 Senate and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris then cast any tie vote.
And what that means is that there's still a path for some of the more progressive agenda of the Biden agenda, including tax increases, and other
changes to healthcare may be able to squeak through even with a 50/50 Senate because of the tie vote being cast by the Vice President-elect.
So the market is not pricing this in. The market is pricing in a Republican Senate. This is a nonzero probability event. And I think at some point,
we're going to get some angst about it. So it's just -- it's really something to keep an eye on because you're going to see Republicans and
Democrats descend on Georgia in the next six weeks.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, and raising lots of money. We've already talked about it on the show this week.
Alicia, great to have you with us. We will reconvene very soon.
Alicia Levine, Chief Strategist at BNY Mellon Investment Management, always great to have you on. Thank you.
LEVINE: Thanks.
CHATTERLEY: All right, the market opens next. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:31:12]
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to FIRST MOVE. U.S. stock markets are up and running this Tuesday. The NASDAQ falling for a second straight session as
the rotation that we've been discussing from some of the Big Tech names into economically sensitive value stocks continues.
We're also watching the Russell 2000 closely today in the session. The small cap index rose more than three and a half percent yesterday beating
the performance of all the U.S. major indices.
The Russell is up, in fact, just two percent year-to-date. Compare and contrast that with a 30 percent rise that we've seen in the tech heavy
NASDAQ. These smaller companies, small cap names have lots of room to run if vaccines can help economies recover.
Meanwhile, stocks in the news today include Apple. It is falling for a second straight session ahead of another product reveal later today. Apple
is expected to unveil new Mac computers that will for the first time include Apple made chips instead of Intel processors.
All right, bringing this together, America's largest manufacturers association has called news of a vaccine candidate an extraordinary
milestone for the industry. It's an industry that directly employs nearly 12 million Americans.
But the body also warns it will be many months before work returns to normal, saying what Americans need right now is policies, not politics.
Joining us now is Jay Timmons, President and CEO of the National Association of Manufacturers. Jay, fantastic to have you on the show once
again. We have lots to discuss, but just to get your sense of the excitement surrounding this vaccine, but also the fact that it doesn't help
today with all the challenges that the industry and workers and employers are facing?
JAY TIMMONS, PRESIDENT AND CEO, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MANUFACTURERS: Well, actually, I think it does, because it provides a roadmap for us to
get back to some sense of normalcy. Now, that doesn't mean it's going to happen overnight, as you just indicated. We have to produce enough doses of
the vaccine to not only get out to all the folks in this country, but also around the world.
So what we can do before that is we can do exactly what the President-elect advised us to do yesterday, which is to be safe, to wear a mask. If
everybody wears a mask and social distances and avoids large gatherings, we can get this thing under control and get our economy back and save jobs and
of course, save lives.
CHATTERLEY: Jay, I love your optimism about this, and this sentiment shift is vital, too. It is light at the end of a pretty dark tunnel, so it has
been. Are you -- and what's the message from the National Association of Manufacturers? Are you going to say to the employers that you represent,
talk to your employees, educate them, and push them to get this vaccine because there's clearly misinformation? There is deep skepticism, too. How
are you going to handle that?
TIMMONS: Absolutely. I mean, that is a key component. It is utilization and making sure that enough people are actually taking the vaccine.
So I think the most important thing that we have to remember is, I'm actually more worried about the rush to get the vaccine than I am about
people not wanting to receive it. I actually think that's a myth.
Most Americans certainly and I think people around the world understand that we've cured terrible diseases or stopped terrible diseases like polio
and smallpox, and so many others because of the use of vaccines.
We can save the world, literally, save the world with this vaccine.
The most important thing for us to remember is there is going to be a hierarchy of need here. We've got to get to the first responders, our
healthcare workers, the folks that are in the hospitals, and the nursing homes that are potentially exposed every single minute of every single day.
Then we have to get to the folks who have other conditions that may be, you know, that may help to spread or contract the virus and on and on until
we're able to get enough doses out for the entire population.
[09:35:12]
CHATTERLEY: It makes sense to me. Jay, talk to me about the result of the presidential elections, because your statement is what caught my eye. And
the first thing you said was, look, the way that Americans have voted here suggests that they are not happy with extreme policies on either side of
politics here, whether you're from the Republican Party or from the Democratic Party.
Explain what you meant by that, specifically? And what policies do you want to see a future Biden administration drop and focus on primarily?
TIMMONS: Yes, that's a great question. And look, the National Association of Manufacturers and all manufacturers and those 12 million people that you
mentioned that are part of our workforce are all about policy.
They want policies that allow us to compete and succeed, and that supercharge the economy and incentivize investment in American
manufacturing and creation of jobs here in the United States, and increased wages and benefits. And what they are always looking for is smart, stable,
solutions-oriented governance.
And so I think that President-elect Biden's press conference yesterday where he outlined steps that we can all take to get this virus under
control shows that type of solutions-oriented focus. And I think that's what we really need to insist on from all of our government officials, our
elected officials.
Specifically about policy though, you know, we've had some really great policy victories over the course of the last few years. And before the
pandemic, those were coming home, and allowing us to invest more, hire more and raise wages and benefits. And I'm talking, of course, about tax policy
and tax reform.
I'm talking about regulatory certainty and the two for one regulatory Executive Order that was issued in this administration.
So we need to focus on making sure that we maintain those and then we need to focus on infrastructure investment. We need to focus on immigration
reform. We need to continue to focus on workforce development.
All of those things, and, of course, can't leave out trade agreements. We need to reach the 95 percent of the world's customers. They don't reside
here in the United States. We want to make our stuff here and sell it there.
CHATTERLEY: So you're saying end trade wars, don't overtax and don't reverse the deregulation?
TIMMONS: I think they are -- so, yes, in a nutshell. But I think as far as it goes, we need a balanced system, right? You don't want to take advantage
of American manufacturers and there have been some progress made, especially when it comes to some of the cheating we've seen coming from
China.
But having said that, we need to expand our trading relationships around the world. We need to make sure that we are the preeminent country for
manufacturing and continue to incentivize manufacturing right here because that means American jobs, not only in manufacturing, but it also increases
and makes quality of life even better in this country as we expand jobs and other sectors as well.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, and there's plenty of people without jobs that need them right now.
Jay Timmons, great to have you with us as always, sir.
TIMMONS: Sure.
CHATTERLEY: President and CEO of the National Association of Manufacturers. Thank you.
All right, as the world looks towards a future vaccine, it also faces the current reality of a surging COVID outbreak. We look at where the global
pandemic stands today, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:41:39]
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to FIRST MOVE. The coronavirus pandemic is continuing to accelerate at a worrying pace. Europe remains the worst hit
in the world. The region adds another one million cases every three days or so and accounts for roughly half of the global total.
New cases have largely plateaued in India after slowing steadily for the last two months. The country still has the world's second highest caseload,
trailing only the United States. And in China, where the virus originated, there are a handful of new cases for the second day in a row. Prepare for
mass testing, perhaps there once again.
Meanwhile, cases are surging at record levels here in the United States as Omar Jimenez reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The United States surpassing 10 million confirmed coronavirus cases since the start of the
pandemic. One million of those cases reported in just the last 10 days.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: And then now, as you see, we're well over 100,000, and that is
really something that is unfortunate. Having said that, it is not too late to turn that around.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JIMENEZ (voice over): On Monday, the U.S. saw more than 111,000 new cases and 44 states are seeing upticks in the number of cases.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: We're in, essentially, a national sort of state of exponential growth. I think that, you know, we
are going to continue to go up in terms of the newly-diagnosed infections, as well as people who need to be hospitalized. And sadly, people who will
die.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JIMENEZ (voice over): The surge is reaching every corner of the nation. In the Midwest, cases and number of patients hospitalized with the virus
continues to rise.
At least 16 states across the country are seeing record hospitalizations, including Ohio, which saw its worst week since the pandemic began. Ohio
medical officials warning that hospitals are becoming overwhelmed due to the recent uptick.
That surge also felt in North Dakota, where the governor announced that asymptomatic COVID-positive healthcare workers are now allowed to work in
COVID units of licensed healthcare facilities as hospitals face staffing shortages.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. DOUG BURGUM (R-ND): We could be facing a situation in our state in the next two to three weeks where we would be severely constrained on hospital
capacity. Some parts of the state are already -- we are already seeing that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JIMENEZ (voice over): In New York City, the positivity rate has increased to well over two percent for the first time in months. Mayor Bill de Blasio
issued this warning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO (D), NEW YORK CITY: Now, unfortunately, we're seeing a real growth in the positivity rate in this city and that is dangerous. So,
we have one last chance to stop a second wave.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JIMENEZ (voice over): And here in El Paso, nearly 900 new coronavirus cases were reported on Monday, and the city currently has a test positivity rate
of over 20 percent.
More than 1,000 patients are hospitalized with the virus and just over 300 of those are in the ICU. The city now has six mobile morgues and is asking
for four more.
El Paso is currently under a two-week shutdown that is set to expire on Wednesday. The county judge, though, says he feels they'll need to extend
that shutdown.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUDGE RICARDO A. SAMANIEGO, EL PASO COUNTY: The hospitals are still not manageable. We're having, you know, an inability to handle fatalities. It
leaves me no choice but to lean towards an extension of the order.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[09:45:05]
CHATTERLEY: Thanks to Omar Jimenez for that report there.
Now, more details have emerged about the COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer and the German biotech firm they've partnered with. Ugur Sahin who is the Chief
Executive at BioNTech is married to the Chief Medical Officer and fellow Board Member, Ozlem Tureci. One tabloid described them as the couple who
could save the world.
Fred Pleitgen joins us now. He has been monitoring a BioNTech press conference just a few moments ago.
Fred, we can talk about the press conference, but actually the most exciting part of this story is just who this couple are. They are an
extraordinary couple and they are truly, it seems incredibly dedicated.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I think you're absolutely right. I think an extraordinary couple and certainly one
that that really is seen as amazing here in Germany.
Both of the sons of a Turkish immigrants or the children, I would say, of Turkish immigrants to this country. Both of them, of course, met while they
were studying and then became this really powerhouse couple furthering, for instance, vaccine development.
But in General Science, one of the things, of course, that they did is they founded this company BioNTech together wanting to forward that mRNA
technology, which is now of course at the centerpiece of this vaccine that they're creating, BNT-162 vaccine.
And you know, one of the things that's interesting is I've had two interviews with Ugur Sahin and the thing is, he says, he is trying to
create this European powerhouse pharmacological company, but at the same time, you notice that for him and for his wife, it really still is all
about science.
And one of the interesting things that I found out from him is that the vaccine that we are seeing now, BNT-162, which, of course, is a cooperation
between BioNTech and Pfizer, they actually started that cooperation without actually even having a written agreement with Pfizer because they thought
it was so important to forward that.
So this couple Ugur Sahin and his wife, Ozlem Tureci, certainly right now a bright shining light, for the whole sense of, you know, folks who have
immigrated here to Germany, of course, we know that the Turkish community here in Germany, there's been a lot -- some problems in the past with
integration. There have been some bad feelings here. It's been a difficult process.
But this certainly is a shining light couple and one that right now is being hailed by all of Germany. As we speak, these two folks are on the
cover of almost any publication here in this country -- Julia.
CHATTERLEY: Yes. Absolutely. A bright beacon, I think, in so many ways, and for so many reasons and this is years, decades of work in cancer
immunotherapy, tools and treatments that this couple has engaged in.
Do you think there was any element of frustration here, Fred, because we kept talking about Pfizer's vaccine, Pfizer's vaccine, and at the heart of
this is their technology, and as I say, decades of their work.
PLEITGEN: I don't think that there's any frustration, at least there's no frustration that I've seen. I've interviewed Ugur Sahin twice so far. And I
think that for him, and probably certainly also for his wife as well, this is all about forwarding science.
On the one hand, of course, as I said, he does say that he does want to make this company to a very large company. It's not the first one. He and
his wife have founded or have been a part of, but it's certainly one that you can see is at the heart of what he wants to do and what his wife wants
to do with that mRNA technology.
And I think one thing that, that Mr. Sahin said at the press call that I just got off of a couple of minutes ago, he said, look, in the end, the
great thing for humanity is that we now know that a vaccine does help against COVID-19 and can prevent people from developing COVID-19.
And he also believes and he is actually seemingly cheering on also other vaccine developers that are trying to make vaccines as well or that are in
the latter stages of developing these vaccines. So I don't think that there's really any hard feelings or any bad feelings, I think for Ugur
Sahin and his wife, Ozlem Tureci.
It is all about forwarding the cause, at the same time, of course, they are very much going to reap the benefits as well. And if you look at some of
the things that they were saying today, they really do have a long term strategy, a long term plan for this.
They were talking about ramping up the production process. Of course, they and Pfizer already saying up to 1.3 billion doses to be made available by
next year, of course, if everything goes well -- Julia.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, you make a great point for it. I did read in "Welt am Sonntag" the German newspaper that they are among the hundred -- among the
hundred richest Germans, so it's a lucrative occupation.
But, wow, I believe they also spend some time on their wedding day --
PLEITGEN: Doing well by doing good.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, absolutely. And spend time on their wedding day in a research lab. So, wow, all we can say is what an amazing couple and thank
you to them.
Fred Pleitgen, thank you so much for that report there.
All right, coming up on FIRST MOVE. Jack Ma's $37 billion Ant Group IPO dream crushed by China's Communist Party. What's behind that move? That's
next. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:51:52]
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to the show. Alibaba gearing up for China's Singles Day, the massive annual shopping event on November 11th. It's less
than a week since the much anticipated IPO of Ant Group controlled by Alibaba's founder, Jack Ma was halted by the Chinese government.
Selina Wang joins us with the details. Selina, I was very excited to talk to you about shopping, robot cleaners, vacuums and revenge shopping impact,
specifically, but we don't have time. Talk to me about Ant Group and we'll talk about shopping tomorrow.
SELINA WANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Revenge shopping, indeed, Julia, and we will see some massive numbers tomorrow. Remember last year, it reached more
than $38 billion in gross merchandise value in that 24-hour window.
But shifting gears to Ant Group. It's been a difficult few weeks for Jack Ma and this big blowout shopping day comes at a time when Alibaba is trying
to evaluate the impact that this delayed IPO was going to have on its business because of course, Alibaba is a major shareholder in Ant Group and
this IPO would have been a big boost for Alibaba as well.
So take a listen here for more details on why it was delayed.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WANG (voice over): Beijing just reminded Chinese billionaire, Jack Ma who is really in charge. Chinese regulators halted the biggest IPO in history
last week. Chinese Fintech giant, Ant Group, was set to raise $37 billion days before its scheduled listing in Shanghai and Hong Kong. Ma and two
executives were summoned to a rare meeting with regulators.
The next day, the Shanghai Stock Exchange suspended the IPO citing the meeting and regulatory changes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DUNCAN CLARK, FOUNDER, BDA CHINA: I think what we saw with this last minute intervention was the-umpire-strikes-back, you know, the regulator is
nervous about the growth of the private sector players in the financial sector.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WANG (voice over): Alibaba founder, Jack Ma founded the payment service, Alipay, 16 years ago. It became a financial supermarket and an everyday
necessity for almost every person and business in China.
Alipay has more than one billion users. They rely on the app to make purchases, pay bills, get loans, buy insurance products and invest in money
markets.
In 2011, Alipay spun off from Alibaba and in 2014, it became part of Ant Group. The IPO would have valued Ant Group at more than $310 billion.
That's more than major U.S. banks like Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.
For years, Beijing has been worried about Ant's massive influence on China's financial landscape while avoiding some of the regulations that
traditional banks have to follow. Those concerns dovetail with Xi Jinping's tightening of communist party control over private businesses.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLARK: A reassertion of the role of the Communist Party and state-owned enterprises doesn't sit very well with a cashed up very fast-growing
private sector company entering into a strategic sector like finance.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHATTERLEY: Regulators have proposed new rules. That means Ant needs to set aside more cash for its loans and force it to act more like a traditional
bank that could slow down Ant Group's rapid growth while lowering its massive valuation.
Authorities gave few details on why the IPO was pulled, but experts also point to controversial statements Ma made. He publicly criticized China's
regulators for stifling innovation and China's state-owned banks for their pawnshop mentality.
[09:55:14]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLARK: To be too explicit about the problems in Chinese government and regulation isn't advisable when the government ultimately is the
gatekeeper.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WANG (voice over): It's not clear if or when Ant Group's IPO will be able to resume. It's a stark reminder that no company is immune to the reach of
the Communist Party.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHATTERLEY: Fascinating.
WANG: And, Julia, I want to mention this statistic, those new --
CHATTERLEY: Go on.
WANG: Yes, absolutely. I want to mention that though, the statistic that these regulations could reduce the valuation of Ant by as much as $140
billion, and the fact that Beijing was willing to throw into question a record breaking deal at the last minute just reminds us how opaque the
system is and certainly should be a point of concern for a time when they are trying to attract all of these international investors and financial
institutions.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, and Jack Ma not afraid to give his points of view. Selina, great job. You also did manage to get in a bit of shopping there as well.
We shall reconvene tomorrow. Thank you for that.
And that's it for the show. I'm Julia Chatterley. You've been watching FIRST MOVE. Stay safe. We'll see you tomorrow.
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[10:00:00]
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