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First Move with Julia Chatterley
The French President has COVID-19, Now Other European Leaders Self- Isolate; Similar Signs as Lawmakers Edge Towards a Deal in Washington; Bitcoin Bounce, The Cryptocurrency has Hit an All-Time High on Thursday. Aired 9-10a ET
Aired December 17, 2020 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:00:16]
RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS ANCHOR: Live from New York, I am Richard Quest, in for Julia Chatterley. This is FIRST MOVE and here is you need to know.
Macron positive. The French President has COVID-19, now other European leaders self-isolate.
Similar signs as lawmakers' edge towards a deal in Washington.
And Bitcoin bounce. The cryptocurrency has hit an all-time high on Thursday.
It's Thursday. Let's make a move.
A warm welcome to FIRST MOVE live from New York. I'm Richard Quest. Again, look at the markets and U.S. futures are pointing to a higher open. A third
of a percent or a half a percent across the U.S. markets. Tech is set to push further into record territory as global investors monitor ongoing
stimulus talks in Washington. Stocks are mostly higher in Europe and in Asia, across the board with the exception of the FTSE in London.
In Washington, lawmakers are still negotiating a deal. It is believed to be worth $900 billion and the talks could go on into the weekend. Newly
released jobless numbers show the importance of getting the deal done. Greater than expected 885,000 Americans filed for the first time benefits
last week, more than 20 million people are still seeking some type of unemployment assistance, and millions will see their benefits end next
week, unless there is an agreement.
As lawmakers debate the stimulus, the Fed is offering unwavering support for the economy. The Central Bank has assured investors again yesterday
that it won't ease up on monetary aid, totaling some $120 billion in terms of QE per month.
The pound and the euro are multiyear highs against the dollar despite new pessimism on the Brexit trade deal. The U.K. says a no deal is still the
most likely outcome. The Bank of England is keeping its stimulus unchanged today as it awaits the outcome of the talks.
Also, today, E.U. officials say COVID vaccinations are set to begin right after Christmas, so they say.
Now to the drivers, and the French President Emmanuel Macron is in isolation for seven days after he tested positive for coronavirus. His most
recent contacts were the Portuguese and Spanish Prime Ministers.
Melissa Bell joins me live from Paris. Melissa, you know, I would have thought the Elysee Palace would be very careful about who gets close to
Macron, under what circumstances. So this is just another indication that anyone can get it at any time.
MELISSA BELL, CNN PARIS CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Richard. I think the idea that no one is immune, and yet, the measures that have been put in
place in places like the Elysee are proving effective.
If you look at the diary of Emmanuel Macron over the course of the last few days, as of course we all did, as we heard the news that because he'd had
symptoms, he'd had to be tested and been found to be positive. The amount of leaders, the number of people that comes to the Elysee is quite
impressive.
Of course, the entire French Cabinet, all of France's government ministers received by the French President on Wednesday, and yet none of them
declared as contact cases, Richard because social distancing measures were in place.
Similarly, the President of the European Council, Charles Michel received at the Elysee Palace on Monday. He is not technically a contact case,
again, because of the social distancing measures, although he has announced that he is quarantining as a matter of precaution.
On the other hand, you mentioned a moment ago those leaders who are having to take measures to protect themselves and others, the Prime Ministers of
Spain and Portugal have confirmed that they are canceling events over the course of the next few days after being received at the Elysee Palace this
week in order to make sure that they can infect no one else.
So yes, a reminder really of the fact that this can affect everyone, and a reminder, also, I think we should have these persistently high infection
rates that we have in Europe at the moment. What we've seen over the course of the last few weeks was not the lightening of the restrictions that are
in place in a number of European countries as authorities had hoped, but rather they're strengthening.
QUEST: So Melissa, this idea of vaccinations. The E.U. had initially said that they wouldn't be meeting before the 29th. Now, they've changed that.
BELL: That's right. That's been changed. It was confirmed earlier on by Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission. "This is
Europe's moment," she tweeted because of course, what she announced was that between the 26th, 28th and 29th of December, Europeans, members of the
European Union will begin getting their vaccinations.
They'd watched with a great deal of frustration over the course of the last couple of weeks, the British get theirs, the Americans begin to get theirs,
European Medicines Agency wasn't meant to pronounce itself on the Pfizer vaccine until the 29th of December. That was already being fast tracked. In
fact, they've managed to go even faster.
So from the 27th across the E.U., people will begin at last, getting those vaccines so needed to try and raise some of those partial lockdowns I
mentioned a moment ago.
[09:05:20]
QUEST: A cold, but clear and beautiful looking day in Paris. Thank you, Melissa Bell joining us. Now, congressional leaders in Washington say they
are close to agreeing to a $900 billion COVID relief deal.
The package is expected to include a new round of stimulus checks, funding for small businesses and vaccine distribution. John Harwood is with me.
This measure -- these measures that are being put in place, we hear it's on, we hear it is off. We hear it is close. We hear it is not. What is the
current status?
JOHN HARWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I think it's going to happen, but it may not happen today. We may get a continuing resolution that is a
punt from Congress to continue government funding since government funding is supposed to run out at midnight tonight, in order to let them keep
negotiating.
But those negotiations got a powerful boost from the number that was just announced from the Labor Department a few minutes ago, which is that the
number of people filing first time state unemployment claims has gone up again to 885,000.
The job market is weakening, we may get a negative jobs number in the month of December. JPMorgan is predicting the economy will shrink in the first
quarter of 2021. All those are reasons that members in both parties are focusing around the need to provide some support for individuals in the
economy overall.
QUEST: I mean, Nancy Pelosi some weeks ago said, look, we're not going to do a bitty part deal so that we can just get some things through, it's
important to get a total package. But the total package isn't possible. So really, it is a bitty deal with things like individual payments, moratorium
on evictions, student debt and the like.
But the two big issues that have helped the cities and states and liability is not going to be covered.
HARWOOD: That's right. They're not comparable issues. Republicans are interested in offering some protection for corporations against the
theoretical problem, which hasn't actually materialized into big lawsuits. Democrats are trying to provide some financing for state local governments
that have been decimated in their revenues by the pandemic.
And if they don't get some help, they're looking at significant state and local layoffs, which will be a drag on the recovery. Nevertheless, staunch
Republican opposition to doing that has prevented that from happening. Democrats are hoping that some of these other elements of the bill will be
backdoor ways of getting aid to state and local governments.
QUEST: John?
HARWOOD: Yes.
QUEST: Why wouldn't Republicans want some state and local help? I realize their argument is that the majority of states in a bad way, California and
New York, for example, Massachusetts, are Democrat states. But Republican states are also in a bad way, their budgets are also hurting.
HARWOOD: There's no question about it and Republican governors are asking for help as well. But as an ideological matter, Republicans have staked
their claim as the anti-government party, the smaller government party, and they are trying to make the argument that states can tighten their belts,
and this will force state governments to shrink, which they think would be a good thing.
And Democrats simply have not been able to overcome that resistance. I think part of it also is that the Democratic President is about to take
over, and the more money you have bailing out state and local governments, that means the economy will be better under a Democratic President.
Republicans don't like that.
And second of all, the deficit will be bigger and Republicans, especially when Democratic Presidents are in power, say that opposing deficits is a
cardinal principle for them, much less so when the Republicans in power as we've seen for President Trump, but nevertheless, that's how they think and
they've got the power to make that stick for now.
What Democrats are hoping is that after they get this package, which I believe they will get before Christmas that Joe Biden as the incoming
President, maybe with a Democratic Senate, if they win those two Georgia runoffs or maybe not, maybe even with a Republican Senate that there will
be momentum behind the beginning of his administration and they could get another bite at the apple with another COVID relief bill.
I don't know if that's going to happen, but that's the comfort they take in not getting what they want right now.
Thank you, John Howard joining us. Appreciate it.
As Americans wait on that deal, the U.S. is recording a record number of deaths for COVID, hospitalizations and confirmed cases and it is waiting on
another critical development, the emergency authorization of the Moderna vaccine.
CNN's Dan Simon reports.
[09:10:10]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Here in California, a shot of hope as nurses, doctors and other essential healthcare workers received the
first dose of the coronavirus vaccine.
DR. MEDELL BRIGGS-MALONSON, EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN, UCLA HEALTH: I'm very proud to stand here and get the first vaccine here at UCLA Health to also
make sure to spread the message that this vaccine is important for everyone, but especially for those who are black, Latino, and other people
of color.
SIMON (voice over): But alongside the arrival of a vaccine, a dangerous surge with new cases, hospitalizations, and coronavirus related deaths and
the state setting records according to data from the California Department of Public Health,
CHRISTINA GHALY, DIRECTOR, LOS ANGELES COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH SERVICES: I want to be very clear, our hospitals are under siege and our
models shows no end in sight. The worst is still before us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIMON (voice over): The entire San Francisco Bay area will be under the state stay-at-home order for the next three weeks beginning tomorrow. This,
after the region's intensive care bed availability plunged to just below 13 percent Wednesday.
Across the country, many hospitals are on the brink with over 113,000 coronavirus related hospitalizations across the United States, a record.
And as new cases continue to rise, vaccine distribution could with time help change the course of the crisis.
In just hours, an F.D.A. panel is expected to discuss Emergency Use Authorization for Moderna's candidate. If cleared, Federal officials say
around six million initial doses will be shipped.
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: If Moderna gets the UAE which I hope they will, that you will --
by the time we get to the end of December -- have 40 million doses for 20 million people to be able to administer.
SIMON (voice over): While there have been few reported issues with vaccines administered so far, Alaska health officials reported one healthcare worker
had an allergic reaction to Pfizer's vaccine, Tuesday, despite having no history of vaccine allergies.
DR. LINDY JONES, ATTENDING PHYSICIAN, BARLETT REGIONAL HOSPITAL: I was concerned about anaphylactic reaction, so gave her the standard treatment
of a dose of intramuscular epinephrine, and she responded immediately.
SIMON (voice over): Health experts say the occasional allergic reaction is to be expected and urge Americans with allergies to check the vaccines
product label.
DR. PAUL OFFIT, MEMBER, F.D.A. VACCINE ADVISORY COMMITTEE: What we need to find out is what specifically seems to be inducing this allergic reaction.
But remember, even for this patient or person who has never had an allergic reaction before, she would have been instructed to hang around for about 15
minutes, during which time usually if you're going to have a severe allergic reaction, you have one.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: Dan Simon reporting. Now the stories making headlines around the world.
After days of silence, the Russian President is responding to the exclusive CNN-Bellingcat investigation on the poisoning of Alexey Navalny, without
ever referring to the opposition leader by name.
Vladimir Putin said, if Russian Special Forces wanted to kill him, they would have finished the job.
Japan's Prime Minister is expressing remorse for dining out with a group of friends during the pandemic. On Monday, Yoshihide Suga ate at a restaurant
in a group of seven people and that breached the government's own guidelines. All the guests were over 70 years old. The Prime Minister said
the diners observed social distancing.
A powerful winter storm system has dumped more than -- more snow in parts of the northeastern U.S. than all of last year's winter season and it's
brought transportation across the New York and New Jersey and Connecticut to a standstill. It's caused major pile ups in some areas. CNN's Brynn
Gingras is with us in New York, which is subject to winter storms.
Good to see you out there in the cold. I sort of battled my way in this morning, too. Is it over? Or is there snow on the way?
BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, it's actually tapering off here in New York City, at least, of course there's snow still going on
north of us in the Boston area, but it's still snowing as you can see around me.
What's really been a big deal here, Richard, is the wind and there have been some serious wind gusts that were just snow and ice mix. So pretty
painful if you're actually standing in it, but like I said, the snow is sort of tapering off now. It's getting a little bit lighter, which makes it
nice for people here in Central Park to get out.
I've seen a lot of dogs happily playing in this fresh powder. Certainly, people enjoying if they're able to get out and be in it. This is a good
time to do it.
We are hearing that Central Park, this part of the Northeast was expected to get about a foot of snow. I think we're going to be a little shy of
that. But certainly, significant totals here of snowfall causing disruptions really when it came to transportation -- major transportation
in New York City basically shut down and then we had an incident just south of us at the Baltimore Airport where a plane coming from Las Vegas landed
safely, but then skidded off the runway rather, as it was trying to taxi to the gates.
We're hearing that there are no injuries reported. The passengers were able to get off that plane safely and get into the to the airport terminal. But
like I said, there have been a lot of accidents, pile ups that have happened on the highways and we have seen just people skidding out as well
just on the New York City streets.
So if there's anything good to come of this pandemic, Richard, it's that you know, a lot of people are fortunate enough to be able to work from
home, a lot of schools are able to transition to that remote learning. So it's keeping people mostly home, which is going to allow, of course plows
to get out and clear these streets, so it's a lot safer later today in New York City, at least and definitely into tomorrow.
[09:15:28]
QUEST: And you're right, I mean, no longer the excuse of, well, it's snowing. I can't work. You've been working from home for the last nine
months, you can carry on doing it. Brynn, good to see you. Thank you. Brynn Gringas.
Now, you can see my attempt to save a snowman at the end of the show. Yes, true.
Still to come, on FIRST MOVE, Chipotle's CEO joins me. Restaurants are struggling to survive, yet, the wave of shutdowns continue. So what do you
do?
And until there's a mass vaccination, we need mass testing. I speak to a company working with an American Airlines to offer widespread pre-flight
screening, in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CARLSON: Welcome back. It is FIRST MOVE live from a snowy New York City. I am Richard Quest, in for Julia this morning. The NASDAQ and the S&P looks
at fresh records in early trading. It's the stimulus and the vaccine and its optimism that is being cause.
Tech stocks. This is the 52nd record close of the year on Wednesday, and evidence that the U.S. economy is weakening and needs government help.
First time jobless claims came in at 885,000, the highest level since September. The numbers out yesterday showed retail sales falling in October
and November, too.
And Treasury yields are losing earlier gains after today's data, the 10- year and the 30-year bonds have both done round about one percent on the yield. However, Bitcoin has hit fresh record highs. It's over 23,000 for
the first time. We'll talk more about Bitcoin in just a moment.
Brian Belski is with me, the Chief Investment Strategist at BMO Capital Markets. It's good to see you, sir.
You know, what I think -- what's fascinating here is two distinct trends. One is market optimism over a vaccine later next year. The other is the
pessimism of getting through the winter. Which is the dominant at the moment?
[09:20:24]
BRIAN BELSKI, CHIEF INVESTMENT STRATEGIST, BMO CAPITAL MARKETS: Well, good morning. It's befuddling, just like it's befuddling that you have snow in
New York and here in Minneapolis, Minnesota, we have no snow. So let's just add that to the list.
But I think this, Richard. We're in a tug of war with respect to timing and emotion and this transition to normalcy. Obviously, it's a blessing. It's
wonderful news that we have two vaccines, I think we're going to probably have more than that heading into mid-year, next year.
But obviously what you see, more and more states shutting down and you see Mr. Biden talking about a potential national mask mandate, we believe that
we're going to see a massive stimulus package when Mr. Biden and Ms. Yellen, get control and we do think that the likelihood of a national
shutdown increases.
Be that as it may, we have to understand that U.S. stock market is the best asset in the world, North American stocks, you add Canada to that as well,
are the best assets in the world. From an equity perspective, that's why the market is going up, Richard, and I think next year is going to be
another good year.
QUEST: Right. Now, I saw that 15 percent on the S&P is the sort of numbers that you're talking about, but is this a moment for risk on?
BELSKI: Great question. You know, you have to think about where risk is, Richard. You talked about bonds, and when you're an investor, you want to
buy scarcity and sell capacity. Lots of bonds out there, lots of fixed income instruments.
We've had another year of massive inflows into fixed income and actually net outflows from equities. How can you have a top in the stock market,
Richard, when you're selling, and so as I talk to institutional clients around the world, nine out of 10 are still negative, they are not believing
this market rally, we think that there's more move to go especially given the fact that we have savings rates at all-time highs in the United States
and I think we're going to continue to spend money.
QUEST: What's pushing that? I mean, what is pushing the -- you know, when you look at companies, if we just do it on pure fundamentals of earnings,
the next three months, the next quarter, Q4 will be a bit wishy-washy.
Q1 is going to be ugly because of lockdowns. So what is the technical justification for this market?
BELSKI: You're looking at 2021 and 2022 in terms of recovery in the overall earnings base. An investor should never look at quarterly earnings, they
need to look forward and they need to listen to what the company is saying and really do bottoms up stock picking.
I think the next 10 years of this bull market and we've been on record by saying the U.S. stock markets in the midst of a 20-year secular bull market
that started in 2009. We had the reset in March of this year. The next 10 years is really going to be driven by bottoms up stock picking. It's all
about what the companies are doing, what kind of product. We're going to see new leadership in that and that's what you have to believe in, Richard.
Obviously first quarter is going to be ugly in terms of what is happening with respect to growth, but we think higher prices are going to be the
result.
QUEST: At what point does Bitcoin and crypto become part of an orthodox portfolio?
BELSKI: Listen, you know, I'm concerned that too many people are chasing Bitcoin. Think of Bitcoin right now, Richard like any other momentum play
that we've seen in the market in the last few years, momentum on the downside for the dollar, momentum on the upside for gold, Bitcoin is
clearly a darling in terms of near term momentum.
I would be worried about Bitcoin, we would not be adding it to portfolios at these levels.
QUEST: One thing that does worry me as I just look at the landscape, and many -- myself included, you know, are looking at rebalancing pensions. It
is that time of the year, isn't it? You look at what you made.
And I think we can agree, Brian, the bull market didn't really end in March. I mean, it was a technical end to the bull market, right, like there
was a technical recession, but the speed of that recovery, which we are seeing beautifully on there. I mean, it just shows it really was -- it was
sort of a -- I hate to say a blip because it was so devastating to people's lives. But you know what I mean?
BELSKI: We'd like to explain it as a Ctrl-Alt-Delete when you reset your computer if those who didn't know what a PC is.
QUEST: Yes, good idea.
BELSKI: That's what it was, and we think that's why fundamentally, the U.S. stock market looks the best because we have the best companies and that's
why the market went up.
QUEST: All right, now, if we then put this together for global markets, I noticed London hasn't recovered anywhere near, but at the same time, Japan
is above and beyond. And yet, Japan -- I mean, it's almost impossible to know. You don't want to miss it, but you don't want to risk it.
[09:25:08]
BELSKI: Right. It is this whole fear of missing out, but from a fundamental perspective, you have to be worried about emerging markets in Europe just
because of where the fundamentals are coming from, where the earnings and sales are coming from.
And it is way too consensus, Richard to like those areas, so we would caution on emerging markets in Europe in particular.
QUEST: High growth stocks, dividend yield stocks, where should you be looking balancing towards?
BELSKI: You know, we have a controversial call where we think you should be buying both growth and value stocks. It is a diversified portfolio.
Remember, Richard, when growth escalates, it outperforms.
QUEST: That's it. Hey, that's everything. I mean, growth and yield. I mean, let's just buy the market.
BELSKI: Well, no, it's actually buying themes. So in yield, you want to buy in like financials, you want to buy scalable assets, like the big money
center, banks, brokers and asset managers. In tech, you still want to buy those secular growth stocks, Richard, because we are going to have a stay-
at-home trade that's going to work in the first quarter and you want to exposure there.
QUEST: Yes, Brian, very grateful for you, sir, very grateful. I mean, I freely admit, I have been looking at my own pension fund and what I've
learned from you this morning has helped me hugely. Not that you've given it -- you know what I'm saying. It's good to have you. Thank you, sir. I
appreciate it.
BELSKI: Thank you, my friend.
QUEST: Always -- have a good Christmas -- always remember, nothing we give you on this program is ever actual advice as to what you should and
shouldn't do, but what we do give you is the very best opinions like you heard there from Brian. It doesn't get much better than the sort of advice
you've just heard or guidance that you've heard there that will help you make your decisions, what you're going to do with your portfolio, your
pension fund, and the like.
We have an opening bell coming up next. We've made it. We will have the opening bell. It is going to be -- not so strong. NASDAQ will go to a
record. The rest of you can see on the screen there. That is in a moment or two. It is FIRST MOVE.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:30:01]
QUEST: That's John Tuttle at the New York Stock Exchange ringing the opening bell on behalf of Skillz, which is the first publicly traded mobile
eSports platform. It's a gaming platform of one description or another. We're expecting, perhaps a third of a percent, maybe up to a half a percent
of open.
Well, we've got half a percent so far on the open. We're off to the races so to speak, 149, and they are rising to records. This is despite greater
than expected jobless claims last week. Investors are counting on Congress to seal a deal on stimulus to help Americans in need.
Stocks also rising on optimism the F.D.A. will approve Moderna soon after a key hearing that will happen today as well. The NASDAQ is at a record.
Oil, our old friend, oil, nine months highs on hopes for stimulus. Stimulus creates industry, industry requires fuel, fuel requires drilling, drilling
requires -- you get the way that works. And now you have 51 -- look at that -- Brent crude over 51, West Texas 49. Only a few months ago, oil seems a
long way back.
The U.S. IPO markets suffering a rare setback during the bumper December for new issues. Context Logic, which runs the online retailer Wish fell 16
percent on the first day of trading yesterday on the NASDAQ. I'm guessing that was a mispricing on the wrong side by the underwriters of Wish.
U.S. congressional leaders say a stimulus deal is nearby. It may be too little too late for many in the hospitality business, 10,000 restaurants
have closed for good over the past three months according to an industry group.
Delivery orders have become a lifeline for restaurants, even brands as well established as Chipotle. Brian Niccol is with me, the CEO of Chipotle. Good
to see you, as always, Brian. Thank you for taking time and speaking.
This online delivery, these e-delivers. They work, but they come at a price and that price is a high premium for access to the app at an industry that
already has low margins.
BRIAN NICCOL, CEO, CHIPOTLE: Yes, you know, so look, the delivery occasion has been a new occasion for Chipotle and it's been proving to be very
incremental. But yes, it comes with additional cost. And, you know, I think customers understand that. And so you know, when they make the decision for
that additional convenience of delivery, it will come with a bit more cost for them.
Fortunately, there's other access modes, right? So we've got, you know, the ability to order ahead in our digital app and just come pick it up.
Obviously, come into the restaurant, grab and go, and then eventually, we'll get back to having a great seat for everybody so we can get back to
dining in restaurants, they can dine in our restaurants.
QUEST: I know there's no choice. I realize this is just the way it's going. But how difficult is it now there are greater lockdowns, obviously, in
other parts of the world. And New York, for example, just stopped in- dining, what do you do? I mean, this is more hurt and pain for your restaurants and your owners?
NICCOL: Yes, look, it's a tough situation all around. Obviously, there's a lot of hope, I think on the horizon with seeing people getting the vaccine
most recently, but you know, in the near term, we've got to just do the right thing. And in that case, you know, we will close the dining rooms or
do whatever we need to do to do our part, to hopefully limit the spread.
You know, it's temporary, and fortunately, a company like ours, you know, we've got the wherewithal to be able to deal with these temporary issues.
You know, the rest of the industry is going to continue to suffer with these stops and starts.
QUEST: Brian, where do you stand on mandating vaccinations? I know, it's a difficult issue, but it's an issue that every company as CEO, I mean,
that's why you get paid the big bucks and the stock options, because you have to consider these sorts of issues. So where do you stand both, you
know, from management at headquarters, guest facing staff in restaurants?
NICCOL: Yes, right now, our approach is going to be one of highly encouraging people to take the vaccine. You know, we're going to make sure
that cost is not an issue for any of our employees to get the vaccine. And then also access won't be an issue.
So we're not at the stage of mandating anything. However, we are going to strongly encourage people to do it. You know, the data looks amazing on the
efficacy of it, and from what we're hearing in regard to all the safety based on all the people that are the experts to review this, there's no
concern about the safety stamp.
So, you know, we definitely are going to be big proponents of it.
[09:35:06]
QUEST: If we look forward now, you know, after the calamity of the various health issues some years ago, you know, the management has done a very good
job of rebuilding the business, so to speak. And that is fully reflected in the share price at the moment.
So, what do you do next? What is the next trick that has to come out of the bag for you to push Chipotle to the next level?
NICCOL: Well, look, fortunately for us, we have tremendous growth in front of us. You know, we have about 2,700 restaurants, and I do believe the
strategies that we are executing around running great restaurants with great speed, great culinary, great customer experiences, combined with our
digital system is going to continue to be just a very powerful growth engine, and yes, we will continue to do some menu innovation.
You know, you might have heard us talking about our cauliflower rice. We just had our smoked brisket going to test. So we'll sprinkle in the
innovation when it comes to the menu, or as I like to call it, seasonal specialties.
But you know, the good news is, we can be building lots of restaurants. I see no reason why we can't have 5,000 or 6,000 restaurants in the United
States. And when you think about our average unit volumes, today, were around 2.2 million. We'll definitely get back to our 2.5, and I think we're
going to go well beyond that.
So we're going to have best in class margins. We're going to have best in class average unit volumes, and I think we've got a really special growth
story when it comes to building new restaurants.
So I'm optimistic about 2021. I'm optimistic about getting past this pandemic. And I think we're just going to continue to do our strategies and
execution with excellence and that will serve us well.
QUEST: It's snowing here in New York. I didn't have any breakfast, the talk of your smoke brisket testing sounds extremely good sense on my way. Thank
you, Brian. Appreciate you joining us. Thank you, sir.
NICCOL: Yes, thank you.
QUEST: Now, stimulus aside, another problem for the U.S. government is emerging. The U.S. government has confirmed that the massive hacking
campaign against government networks is ongoing, and Federal officials are still struggling to understand the scope of the damage.
Alex Marquardt is with us in Washington. I don't really understand this one. I sort of know it's extremely important. It's exceptionally
complicated. Help.
ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Richard, it is hard to find almost the superlatives that accurately capture the
sophistication of this attack. What we're talking about is Russian hackers who have spent most of the year, we understand, inside U.S. government
systems, and it wasn't until a couple of days ago that the U.S. Federal government realized this.
Put it this way, this is how a former National Security Agency Intelligence official put it to me. Imagine you come home to find the burglars have been
in your house for several months, and now you're going from room to room to figure out whether anything was stolen, anything was moved, anything has
changed. That essentially is where the U.S. government is now: trying to figure out the extent of the access.
That could take months, it could take longer than that. The U.S. government may never know the full extent of the access by these Russian hackers. We
have heard finally, in a joint statement from the F.B.I., from the Intelligence Community, from the cyber arm of the Department of Homeland
Security last night, saying as I said that they only realized this essentially in the last several days.
They went on to say that, "This is a developing situation, and while we continue to work to understand the full extent of this campaign, we know
that this compromise has affected networks within the Federal government."
Richard, that's a bit of an understatement when you see the number of clients who use this SolarWinds software.
QUEST: I sort of see this going two ways here. On the one hand, the U.S. government needs to get to grips with it. But on the other hand, they don't
want to tell people that full extent because that could A, make them look incompetent, and B, create panic or concern about exactly what's happened.
MARQUARDT: Well, frankly, they don't know the full extent. We only have a handful of departments or agencies that have admitted that there's been any
sort of compromise: Agriculture, the Department of Homeland Security, and Commerce. We understand according to "The Washington Post," Treasury as
well, so they really are still trying to figure it out.
And then of course, knives are going to come out, accusations will be made about how this was missed. But the bottom line was this was such an
extraordinarily sophisticated attack where the Russians were able to get into these systems via private software, through these updates, through a
backdoor that the U.S. simply wasn't equipped to detect this.
And now, there are calls for response, understandably, against Russia. We heard from President Trump's former Homeland Security Adviser, Tom Bossert.
He wrote in "The New York Times" an op-ed that came out last night, "President Trump must get past his grievances about the election and govern
for the remainder of his term. This moment requires unity, purpose and discipline. We are sick, distracted, and now under cyberattack. Leadership
is essential."
[09:40:23]
MARQUARDT: Richard, this will be one of the first and most serious issues that President-elect Biden will have to deal with when he comes into
office.
QUEST: Sick, distracted and under cyberattack. Alex, thank you. I appreciate it. Thank you.
From hacking, back to the virus. The F.D.A. approves a new at home testing kit. We meet the company's founder on what he hopes at home testing is
going to help. In a moment, as we continue.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: The new vaccine is being distributed and within months, many more will have it. That does not mean, say health experts that the public should
just ignore the levels of caution in the months ahead.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: We should celebrate the fact that the science has come through,
but it is not over yet. We have a ways to go.
We have to abide by the public health measures that we talk about all the time. This is not going to just turn around overnight. We have a ways to go
and public health measures is the bridge to get to the vaccine, which is going to get us out of this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: And those public health measures include masks, of course and more testing -- letsgetchecked.com has a home testing kit. The company is
partnering with American Airlines for passengers who need preflight testing on domestic flights.
Peter Foley is the CEO and Founder of LetsGetChecked. He joins us now. Good to have you, sir. Thank you.
The way in which your test works, it is one of the things where you take it at home and you send it into your own labs and then you guarantee -- well,
you get the result back.
I've done similar tests and are you able to cope with the number of people now requiring tests.
[09:45:11]
PETER FOLEY, CEO AND FOUNDER, LETSGETCHECKED: Thank you for having me today, Richard, and we are indeed and I think what -- we're in the
fortunate position that we set up the company as a home testing provider and we've been operating for about five years now, and we own the full
supply chain around everything that we do.
So from the manufacturing, to the testing, and everything in between, we we've been fortunate enough that we've been able to scale with the demand
and to be able to support our partners and all of our customers on the market who need this type of testing in the home.
QUEST: Because the -- you know, as I've said, I've used other similar ones, and they're very good for travel in that sense, because you know you're
going to need a PCR within 72 hours, or 48 hours of whatever it is of travel, you can plan, you can buy it ahead. You can get it, you can send it
back, you can get the results. Where else you see big moves and growth?
FOLEY: From a testing perspective, in general, or specific to what we're doing?
QUEST: What you're doing in terms of the testing perspective.
FOLEY: Yes, so the travel is obviously a huge one. You know, like, ultimately, the guidelines and people recommend that people don't travel,
but when you absolutely need to, we're supporting that both from a domestic and international perspective.
But, you know, we're seeing workforces slowly starting to come back in some instances, and like big employers supporting local governments, so the
states throughout the United States and then other international governments as well. So it's quite diverse in terms of who needs this type
of testing is essentially everybody.
QUEST: If we -- I mean, if we move away from COVID and we look at the other forms of testing that LetsGetChecked can do, what other areas are there?
Because you can't -- I mean -- I know you have other health aspects to the company, but nothing really comes close to the growth possibilities and
structures of COVID.
So how do you -- once you've got me through the door with COVID, how do you keep me there with something else?
FOLEY: Look, I think what COVID has done is probably brought telehealth and the need for virtual care and also diagnostics in the home for maybe five
or 10 years.
Previously, there might have been slow adoption, a big question mark as to, you know, how high stake it was and will people use this for the future?
And I think what will come at the back of this pandemic is workforces will operate entirely different forever and there will be a continuing need for
telehealth in its truest sense.
And I think it's important to not forget that, like through this pandemic, the other things don't go away. So whether it's colon cancer, diabetes,
thyroid disorders, these are all things that need frequent testing, needs to be tested in the home and people are in a position right now that they
can't get access to these kind of things.
So there is an underlying testing that needs to continue to happen and that will have workforces continue to operate that will be forever different and
support the type of business model that we provide.
QUEST: Good to have you on the program, sir, I appreciate your time today. Thank you.
Now FIRST MOVE continues. Bitcoin continues to surge, record fresh highs, this rally, never ending. What's behind it? In a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:50:42]
QUEST: Dubai getting ready to host an event that's set to be one of the world's largest events is the start of the pandemic. More than 190
countries are set to showcase their cultures and latest innovations. It is Expo 2020. It'll be a six months event, and it starts in October next year.
John Defterios has a peek.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN BUSINESS EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR (voice over): At the Australia Pavilion, construction work continues on a structure that will
bring a little bit of down under to Dubai next year.
Inspired by optimism, ambition and creativity, when complete, it promises to take visitors on an experience of 60,000 years of innovation. Pavilions
are said to be one of the centerpieces at Expo 2020.
MAHA AL GARGAWI, VICE PRESIDENT OF POLITICAL AFFAIRS AT EXPO 2020 DUBAI: Countries will use the Expo 2020 platform as a platform to amplify some of
their messages, their visions for the future, to showcase their arts, their history, their music, their gastronomy, but also to showcase some of their
technologies and innovative solutions to some of the most pressing challenges that the world faces today.
DEFTERIOS (voice over): One country hoping to do just that is Norway. Their shipshape Pavilion aims to take visitors on an immersive experience to
showcase sustainable technologies for the world's oceans.
DAG OLAV KOPPERVIK, DEPUTY COMMISSIONER GENERAL, PROJECT DIRECTOR NORWAY EXPO 2020 DUBAI: We will also invest something more important that is worth
of concern, and that's the plastic issue. How do we clean up the ocean plastics? And how do we stop the stream of plastic pouring into the oceans
and we really need to change the way we produce the plastic and how we use the plastic.
We're going to challenge also the politicians because we know that we have all the technology we need to make a dramatic change, but we really need
brave politicians taking bold decisions.
DEFTERIOS (voice over): Millions of visitors are expected to attend Expo 2020 under the theme of "Connecting Minds Creating the Future." This is as
the world comes together for what is said to be one of the largest public events next year and an opportunity to discuss the most pressing challenges
in a post pandemic world.
John Defterios, CNN, Dubai.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: Bitcoin is hitting an all-time high to more than 23,000. Paul La Monica is with me. Paul, why?
PAUL LA MONICA, CNN BUSINESS REPORTER: Yes, it's a stunning move. I think, Richard that all of a sudden you have a lot of investors, once again,
looking at the state of the global economy. The dollar is weakening, and I think that people are viewing Bitcoin as a potential hedge against that
much in the way that gold has served that function and you have, you know, big U.K. based investment firm, Ruffer, making the case that they think
Bitcoin is an inflation hedge and they've moved a lot of their money, about $750 million into Bitcoin. You know, an executive at BlackRock made a
similar comment not that long ago.
So this is driving Bitcoin higher, and obviously, it's a bit concerning because of how dramatic the rise has been in such a short period of time.
QUEST: And basically unregulated.
LA MONICA: Not to a certain extent, I mean, there are still concerns about Bitcoin kind of being the Wild, Wild West of the currency and commodity
markets, but you're having more regulations coming in and more legitimacy of Bitcoin with the likes of companies like Square and PayPal adopting
Bitcoin as a payment platform.
So you don't really have as many of the big worries about Bitcoin being unregulated the way it was a few years ago.
QUEST: Paul La Monica. Paul, thank you.
Now, before I leave here today and I will show you the markets at the end. That is FIRST MOVE. We will have more on the snow in "Quest Means
Business," but I do want to show you.
Now last night, in my backyard, a valiant attempt, the snow was falling, but I wasn't going to let Frosty or Santa fall over or maybe I couldn't
help myself.
It was bitterly cold. What I was thinking? There we go. In you go.
[09:55:09]
QUEST: Look at it. Talk about what a mess. Freezing. And I'm delighted to say they did stay upright, just about until I switch the lights off and
when I woke up this morning, well they were having a lie down.
All right, saving Christmas one way or another. The market, I am going to let you see what's happening with them as I leave you for today.
The markets are higher. The NASDAQ set a record. The Dow is now over 30,200. So, I think we will well and truly going to see some records by the
close of play tonight.
I will have the close of play for you on "Quest Means Business." That's in many hours from now.
Whatever you're up to between now and then, I hope it's profitable.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
