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Quest Means Business
U.K. Government To Help Pay Wages Of Anyone Facing Unemployment; Goldman Sachs Expect Record U.S. Jobless Claims; Spanish Foreign Minister Says Their Government Has Been Planning For This Very Moment; Trump Admin. Limits Non-Essential Travel Between U.S. and Mexico; Italy Announces 627 Coronavirus Deaths in 24 Hours; U.S. Senators Race to Reach Stimulus Deal by Midnight. Aired 3-4p ET
Aired March 20, 2020 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[15:00:09]
RICHARD QUEST, CNN HOST: Late selloff underway in New York as the market has bounced around throughout the session, but it is considerable. We are
heading to Friday. There is one hour left to trade, and it's now three and a quarter percent.
The headlines and the reasons why now. A dramatic intervention in London. The British government tells workers, we will pay your wages.
Workers in New York and Los Angeles, California and New York are told to stay at home.
And Spain's Foreign Minister tells me Europe's borders must remain open, if only for trade.
We are live tonight as always, in the world's financial capital, New York City. It is Friday, we made it. It's March the 20th. I'm Richard Quest, and
of course, I mean business.
Good evening, tonight, we begin unprecedented measures in unprecedented times.
The British government will help to pay the wages of anyone in the UK at risk of losing their job because of the virus.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer unveiled a massive economic rescue package as the virus crisis continues.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RISHI SUNAK, BRITISH CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER: Today, I can announce it for the first time in our history, the government is going to step in and
help to pay people's wages. We're setting up a new coronavirus job retention scheme.
Any employer in the country, small or large, charitable or nonprofit will be eligible for the scheme. Employers will be able to contact HMRC for a
grant to cover most of the wages of people who are not working, but are furloughed and kept on payroll rather than being laid off.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: Now that was one side of the coin, because the other side is the U.K. has ordered all pubs, clubs and restaurants to be shut from tonight
until further notice.
Anna Stewart is live from London with me tonight. Let's deal first of all, with this remarkable and potentially extremely expensive plan announced by
the Chancellor because I'm just looking at it here.
The Chancellor said, I am placing no limit on the amount of funding available for this scheme -- Anna.
ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER: No limit and it's also backdated, Richard to March. So there's hope that those people that have been laid off in the
last couple of weeks may regain employment.
U.K. Hospitality, a trade body has already told us that 200,000 to 250,000 people have already lost their jobs and many of those were actually before
the main containment measures kicked in.
Now, you will see behind me, the pub still has a few people enjoying their last pints, those pubs will be closing up.
Generally, the feeling is a good one. Most people, most business leaders we've been speaking to this week were mostly concerned about the issue of
staff and wages.
The government had urged people not to go to pubs, not to go to cafes, not to go to restaurants, but they had ordered them to close, and the demand
had just dropped off a cliff.
How do you keep paying people a salary when you've got no revenue? So I think this will be good news for many, many businesses. But of course, it's
sad that so many people will be closing up shop tonight, cafes, restaurants, cinemas, gyms, it was quite a big variety in the hospitality
sector -- Richard.
QUEST: But what's interesting is the way in which the government has done this on the same day. I mean, you know, I'm looking at the numbers again,
the government grants will cover 80 percent of the salary of retained workers, up to a total of two and a half thousand pounds, just over -- it's
just shy of $3,000.00. That's above the median income.
Now many of these people will not have been or will have been close to that limit anyway, so as long as this continues, Anna, this almost takes the
total sting, at least from the workers point of view, and I suspect from management.
STEWART: It take a big sting out, and you've got to remember that not only is that extreme itself, but this also comes after $400 billion worth has
been promised in grants and loans. Two emergency Bank of England rate cuts.
The U.K. is now really stepping up. They're doing whatever they can. I think these measures will go a long way to relieving pressure on these
businesses. The businesses have just been burning out of cash already. And it's only been really just over a week since the initial containment
measures.
Now, people feel more comfortable that they can go into lockdown. I would also say that some of the pubs and cafes I've been speaking to is now
already doing takeaway services, delivery services. They are helping in the community, and they'll be able to continue to do that. They just have to
shut their doors.
I can bring you a soundbite from a landlord I spoke to before the announcement was made. His main concern was the salaries of his workers.
[09:05:10]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICK PEARSON, OWNER, ELDER PRESS CAFE: I worry about cash flow. That is the main worry. The brewery, Sky, BT evolving really good. But the government's
biggest problem is paying staff.
STEWART: Paying staff.
ELDER: Because staff, you know, they can't go without money and that's where there's no -- there's no real help other than they start to use sick
pay.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEWART: Now, Mick was very happy with the news and I just spoke to him on the phone. I have to say though, Richard, I was at another pub during the
press conference, and there was a massive boo from the people sitting there with their pints as the announcement was made.
Lots of Brits are not very happy with the idea that they now have to stay at home -- Richard.
QUEST: All right, well, they're not alone. Most of us are. All right, thank you. Anna Stewart with that.
And now, as centers of the U.S. economy are set to virtually shut down, non-essential workers in New York and California now mandated to stay at
home.
The announcement of restrictions in New York pushed stocks firmly into the red, and those losses have accelerated in the last hour.
Concerns about the economic fallout of the pandemic are growing. Goldman Sachs is predicting more than two million Americans file for unemployment
benefits this week, eight times last week's number, an all-time record, and probably will be repeated.
Catherine Mann is Citi's Global Chief Economist. These numbers are very, very serious and devastating. However, Catherine Mann, I suppose they are
to be expected, aren't they? I mean this is what happens when you shut down the economy.
CATHERINE MANN, GLOBAL CHIEF ECONOMIST, CITI: Well, certainly, I mean, the hospitality sector, the people who are employed there are about 15 percent
of the total people employed.
And so if you shut down the hospitality sector, what are those people going to do? They don't have any business. The businesses don't have any business
and so you have a combination of a lot of smaller businesses, some large but also smaller ones, both the business and the workers are at risk. And
those are a big chunk of the economy.
QUEST: Which parts of the world worries you most from an economic point of view at the moment?
MANN: Well, I think what we've seen is when we do our analysis, is that the thing about the coronavirus is it's a moving target, right? It started off
in China and the first quarter data from China looked to be an eight percent collapse in the economy, totally unprecedented numbers for China.
And of course, that economy is relatively more manufacturing oriented, than consumer and services oriented. So as you move around the world and you
know, now there's Europe and the Europe under stress, and we're going to see bigger numbers in terms of a collapse in Q1 and Q2 for Europe and
perhaps going forward, and then you know, the last shore so to speak that this is lapping up on is the United States, which is even more of a
services oriented economy than other countries around the world.
So the problem is, is that the cascade around the world then, of course, feeds back on itself. Because even as China starts to recover, it doesn't
have any place to sell its manufactured products, and even in the domestic economy, they're only halfway back in terms of their services sector.
QUEST: If we look at the measures being taken by Central Banks, they are necessary, but they're not sufficient, are they? There's going to be
required more.
MANN: Right. No, I mean, I think the Central Banks have put into place what it is they can do, both with regard to interest rates, but also
importantly, with regard to the plumbing within, you know, keeping the water going through, money going through the plumbing. That's very
important, it is crucial.
But I mean, I think we've obviously seen that that in the absence of fiscal policy support that is both timely meaning now and big, in other words, to
convince that there's enough money to support the health sector. That's one bucket, to support smaller businesses and their workers. That's a second
bucket.
And then of course, the United States has proposed a third bucket, which is primarily bailouts and even tax cuts are being considered. That third
bucket certainly is supportive of the stock market. But the first two are much more important in terms of supportive of the economy at large.
To anybody watching tonight, and hearing, for example, the E.C.B. saying no limits. You hear the Chancellor of the Exchequer, I'm placing no limits.
You hear government after government saying there is no limit.
It sounds a silly question. But I know people ask, will they be able to do this? Will there be enough money? Can they create either from central banks
or borrow if it's from governments enough money to put this right without destroying them for later?
MANN: Well, I think the issue here is that if you don't put it right now, you're going to be destroyed for later anyway, if we think about destroyed
either in the context of people of being unemployed, rising inequality.
And then of course, from the standpoint of the financial markets, maybe they care most about, debt sustainability, debt to GDP ratios. If you don't
move now, as I say, go now and go big, then we will not have the improvement in GDP, which is necessary in order to be consistent with debt
sustainability, reduce unemployment, and of course, a healthy population.
[15:10:31]
MANN: So going small, being insufficient in terms of the vision is something that we learned from the global financial crisis was a mistake.
We did not go big enough. We did not move in the right ways, and there wasn't complementarity between fiscal and monetary policy and the
consequences of that was this very, very sluggish recovery post global financial crisis.
We don't want to replicate that. We've learned from that lesson and we don't want to replicate it.
QUEST: Catherine, good to talk to you. Thank you. Next week, same place, same time. We'll talk again next week if this carries on.
MANN: Right.
QUEST: Thank you, Catherine. Now, Europe is going into lockdown and Spain's Foreign Minister tells me why her country needs to keep its borders open,
in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: The fast-moving developments are really quite extraordinary in the pandemic. Italy announced 627 new deaths. It's the largest single death
toll in the world and that since the outbreak began.
The Italian military has now been drafted to enforce a lockdown, and of course to assist in removing the dead.
In the U.K., government advisers says social distancing measures should be in place in some shape or form for most of the year to keep the outbreak
under control.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson had previously said it could be beaten in 12 weeks.
And in Madrid, the regional President is warning eight out of 10 people will get COVID-19. Isabel Diaz Ayuso says the biggest problem is in
vulnerable populations. The virus won't leave lasting marks on most people, however.
Speaking to me earlier, Spain's Foreign Minister said the government has been planning for this very moment.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARANCHA GONZALEZ LAYA, SPANISH FOREIGN MINISTER: Let's say that what's happening is within the plans that we had two weeks ago. We've been
planning for this moment for a while now we took drastic measures over the weekend, confining 47 million Spaniards to their homes.
[15:15:05]
LAYA: They can only leave essentially to buy basic needs, go to the doctor or perform essential work. All the rest is basically indoors at home with
the objective basically of flattening the curve of coronavirus contagion.
What we want to do is make sure that our healthcare systems can cope with the urgencies that are coming into them regularly. So far, so good, but we
have to stay the course.
Citizens need to be responsible and governments, local, regional and central need to make sure that we execute this plan very, very tightly.
QUEST: Is it time to officially suspend Schengen? I know Schengen has provisions within it that allow the closing of borders, but for a country
like Spain at the moment and for France, I mean effectively what you really want to do is close all your borders. Full stop.
LAYA: Well, I don't think this is correct. All we want to do is make sure we reduce physical contact whether they are physical contact of nationals,
also whether the physical contact of foreigners. What we want is to reduce the physical contact.
This is why we are confining everybody who is on Spanish soil, be it national or foreigner confine these people to their homes, their hotels to
the Airbnb's and we need to keep borders open if only because we need merchandise to flow, we need goods to flow. We need food, we need
medicines, we need textiles products, we need shoes -- all of this is also coming through our borders.
So it's not a question of closing the borders. It is about making sure people don't be in touch or not touch, to reduce the friction and through
that reduce the rate of contagion. That's the key today.
QUEST: What have you learned? What's been the experience of -- forgive the shorthand of lockdown in the sense -- because New York State Governor
Andrew Cuomo has just announced exactly that for New York State. You'll be aware of Governor Newsom in California announced it overnight.
Boris Johnson is doing something similar in the U.K. For those countries that are only just doing it now, what has been your experience of life
under lockdown in Spain?
LAYA: Well, the experience has been, tell people the truth, make them part of this solution. Talk to them. Don't do this. Don't do the lockdown. Don't
ask them to stay at home against their will. Make them part of the solution and talk to them.
This is very important because you need their full cooperation in order for this measures to work, and we've gone through a very thorough sort of,
"education campaign" where we tell people why it's important that they remain home, why it is important that they don't go out jogging in the
morning, why is it important that they don't go out for a drink or they go out on the streets.
It's by telling people the truth, making them part of the solution that we can encourage them to behave as citizens. This is a big moment for
citizenship. It's something that we had forgotten in the past with more egoistic maybe behaviors.
Now, this is a big moment for citizenship and if we do this with us citizens, they will behave as citizens.
QUEST: And to those regional leaders like Catalonia that think there should be even more stringent measures enforced, closing off regions within Spain
from other parts. The argument is well-known, but of course, it gets -- in the Spanish case, it does get involved in terms of very large issues,
regional issues in the country.
Can you see a scenario where you would lock off regions from other parts of the country?
LAYA: Well, the only scenario that I see working in Spain is all authorities local, regional and central working together. Unity and
responsibility is what I see us working.
If every leader of every region, every city, every municipality has an idea and wants to put this idea in place, we are not going to win the battle
against coronavirus. All of us rowing in the same direction. It's like we are on one boat, and we need to row in the same direction.
And we need to do this because it's our responsibility vis-a-vis our citizens who are behaving in a pretty responsible manner.
QUEST: Final question, Minister. And in many ways, it's the most difficult. The criticism of leaders for being too slow. Yes, you had a lockdown two
weeks ago, but people say it should have been done a month ago.
[15:20:08]
QUEST: Italy is in a terrible state because people say, well, you should have seen what was happening in China, and then South Korea and then move.
I know it's very easy to be clever after the event.
But when -- as leaders and President Trump is getting the same criticism as is Boris Johnson -- so simply should European and U.S. leaders have seen
what was happening in China and South Korea and realized this was going to happen, and they needed to take drastic action sooner.
LAYA: Well, it's difficult to -- it's difficult to say this when you're in the middle of the crisis, all I would tell you is that here in Spain, we've
been anchoring every decision on science. And that's the only rational way we have found to take difficult measures, but to take them bringing our
citizens along.
Let's not forget, we will not fight this battle only by government taking harsh decisions, we can only do this as citizens are with us. The way for
us has been to anchor our decisions on science.
Science was telling us that things were getting worse and we needed to step up in terms of measures. That's what we have done. And this is what
citizens have been able to respect and we will continue along that path because we think that's the only winning battle.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: The Foreign Minister there, so today we heard EasyJet is likely to ground most of its fleet starting from next week. Marriott is furloughing
most of its workers at headquarters. It's already laid off people in hotels. Regional airlines in the United States, two of them have already
gone bust.
You're getting a picture of an industry, travel and tourism, not just in chaos and crisis, but being decimated and destroyed.
Zurab Pololikashvili is the Secretary General of the U.N. World Tourism Organization and joins me now from Madrid. Zurab, I know you've been
watching closely. And I know you have -- that the organization is putting together plans. What can you do?
ZURAB POLOLIKASHVILI, SECRETARY GENERAL, U.N. WORLD TOURISM ORGANIZATION: Good afternoon, Richard. Thanks, first of all, and, again for your efforts
to getting the world to understand the value of tourism in the global economy and its recovery.
First of all, I want to express my condolences on behalf of Tourism Society to victims and to affected families because of the virus. You mentioned and
maybe it is coincidence that yesterday we had a very important meeting with the Chair, with the main players of the industry, we had very long and
interesting discussion and mostly, you know, all of them.
We had opportunity to have with us, Secretary General, IMO, W.H.O., from the Ministers, we had Ministers from Kenya, Jamaica, Spain, Saudi Arabia,
all chairs in Zambia and also from private sector, the most important players like IATA, KLIA, WTTC and ACI.
QUEST: Right, but what are you all going to do? I mean, the industry is disappearing in front of your eyes.
POLOLIKASHVILI: Let's not speak about and don't talk about now the numbers and what's happening now, we all know that we are in a very hard and very
unique and maybe first time crisis in tourism industry.
The idea is to starting and we already started and agreed first to have a crisis committee. The crisis committee which will adopt and which will
confirm a recovery plan. A recovery plan is -- and many people are talking about recovery plan. We want to find solutions.
We don't -- of course, we are looking for numbers. We are looking for the numbers which are changing every day, but the idea is to have recovery plan
already done.
We want to use this lock -- let's say a period one month and all governments, they are locked one month and restrictions about flights,
about borders. And we want to use this one month and work very hard with our partners and both people now are talking about the coordination.
This is the coordination and we are sure that united we can create very concrete, very -- execute a plan and then we can act and we can execute
this plane with our member states.
QUEST: The Tourism Minister and Head of Tourism for the Seychelles has basically said, be safe, take care of yourself, and we'll see you all when
it's over.
This seems to be sort of a pragmatic approach for many countries are just going to have to wait it out and be ready, as you say, Director General
with -- Secretary -- with a tourism recovery plan.
[15:25:05]
POLOLIKASHVILI: We started immediately campaign stay at home today means travel tomorrow. If we don't have any gap, and I'm sure that we will start
traveling tomorrow very fast if we will stay at home and we will care with our families and our society.
This is the main a crucial moment today. It's better to stay two or three weeks at home and then travel our life as we've done before, maybe me and
you we will be first tourists once it will all work and I want to invite you because then we need strong and right communication and then right
communication between countries.
Countries will start again back to promote their products, to promote their countries. And as you know, we postponed all our events, unfortunately, but
we will be back soon I'm sure of it.
Now, if you ask me about period, we are calculating that's why we met again with W.H.O. talking about a timeline and I think that it will start between
before summer holidays. We are cooperating. Nobody knows and nobody can guarantee today the crisis period, but we want to be ready and we will be
ready in one and a half months.
QUEST: We will be with you on this one. Zurab, when it happens, and when the recovery happens we'll be there helping and supporting as well. Thank
you, Zurab, joining me tonight from Madrid. The head of the UNWTO.
Now in the Great Depression, Americans went to the cinema to feel better. During the Second World War, movies helped bolster morale.
Today, movie theaters and movie owners need all the help they can get. AMC's Chief Executive will be with me after the break. We're just about
half an hour from the closing bell.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Hello, I'm Richard Quest. There is more QUEST MEANS BUSINESS in just a moment. We'll hear from the chief executive of one of the world's biggest
movie theater chains, AMC. His industry is calling for government help.
And as more cities are shutting down, remote working has become the new norm.
The CEO of Slack on what we've learned so far.
[15:30:10]
QUEST: This is CNN. And here, the facts and news always come first.
The virus has now affected more than a quarter of a million people worldwide and 11,000 plus people have died in the pandemic. COVID-19 cases
are being confirmed in more than 160 countries and territories around the globe.
The Trump administration is limiting non-essential travel on the U.S.- Mexico border. Officials say that means among other things, anyone without proper travel documentation will be turned away. This move described as a
measure against the virus. It takes effect in the coming hours.
New York State has ordered anyone who works in non-essential businesses to stay at home. Governor Andrew Cuomo issued the order after the state's
number of coronavirus cases topped 7,000. At least 35 people in New York state have died.
For the second time this week, Italy has seen the largest one-day jump in the number of people who've died from coronavirus, 627 people have died in
the last 24 hours and that brings the total to more than 4,000. There are 47,000 infections with the virus. The Italian Prime Minister is promising
to deploy hundreds of doctors to the most devastated areas.
U.S. senators are racing to reach a deal on a phase three relief package. And that'll cost at least $1.2 trillion. It will be $300 billion for small
businesses, $200 billion for a stabilization fund, and $250 billion in direct payments to Americans. The Majority Leader Mitch McConnell wants to
vote on Monday. Democrats are concerned that the bill favors corporations over workers and does not provide enough for the healthcare system.
Phil Mattingly is live on Capitol Hill. I am not hearing anywhere else in the world, such squabbling over rescue packages, as I'm hearing in the
United States.
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I think that's pretty par for the course, to some degree. Look, this is complicated. And,
Richard, you know, the details of these things better than most. And I think right now, there's been a shift. And I think that's what I want to
underscore where we were two days ago, where we were even 24 hours ago, they are in a different place, right now.
Republicans and Democrats, the top negotiators meeting behind closed doors, Treasury Secretary, Steven Mnuchin, is up here as well. And there is a
recognition that need -- this needs to get done and it needs to get done now. There's also a recognition -- I've been told by multiple people
involved, that 1 trillion, 1.2 trillion is not enough, and it's going to get bigger.
I think the real question right now, beyond just kind of the baseline details in terms of how they plunged money to, kind of, surge healthcare
spending, how they try and add more funds in terms of unemployment benefits or to individuals beyond just the direct payments and checks is, how big is
this going to get with the recognition of what they're seeing both domestically and really across the globe right now.
QUEST: Now, in the U.K. today has just announced probably the most extraordinary thing anyone's ever heard. The government is basically
guaranteeing to pay the wages up to 80 percent of the wages up to a certain limit of people. There's no talk of that in the U.S. And $1,000 check isn't
going to help. But ultimately, Phil Mattingly, you know, people losing jobs need more than just one check in March or one in April and one in May.
MATTINGLY: Yes, no, you're exactly right. And I think what they're doing right now in the U.K., I've actually bounced that off a couple of people
here, hear staffers who are working on this, who said like, yes, not any chance in the world. However, here's what they point to, and I do think
this is important, there are two proposals in here that would have, to some degree, a similar effect, not at the same scale, but the small business
proposal is essentially --
small businesses would be able to tap into forgivable loans up to $10 million that would be directed entirely to payroll, entirely to mortgage
expenses, basically allowing companies to float their workers for up to six months. That would be $300 billion that might grow larger, that would
accomplish some of that.
I think the other thing too, which Democrats are really keen on, is expanding and enhancing unemployment benefits, knowing that what they're
seeing just this week, and what the projections are in the weeks ahead, that that is going to be necessary. I do think to your point there,
Richard, the scale here is smaller than we're seeing elsewhere.
You're seeing it start to grow and conversation is the recognition and that dawns on people, but there's still just not quite where everybody else, it
seems to be, is at the moment.
QUEST: Phil Mattingly, good to have you with us, sir. We'll talk more next week as those sausages get made. And movie theater owners across the U.S.
are hoping to see some of that rescue money. They've been urging Congress to help them as cinemas go dark. Look at the share prices just down today.
AMC shares of 6-1/2 percent, that's a good take. Everybody else is down. IMAX is of 9, nearly 10 percent.
Adam Aron is the CEO of AMC. It's America's biggest movie theater chain. He joins me via Skype from Leawood in Kansas.
[15:35:08]
Good to have you, Aron. As always, thank you, sir, in difficult times. So, your movie theaters are closed, in most places, or in large number of
places. What sort of help do you need to help people to pay wages, to pay rent, whatever it might be?
ADAM ARON, CEO OF AMC (via Skype): Richard, it's always good to be you -- good to be with you. But, boy, are these circumstances? It's unprecedented.
Literally, AMC is the largest movie theater in the U.S. We're the largest movie theater chain in Europe. We're the largest movie theater chain in the
world. Of thousands of our theaters in 15 countries, every single one is closed. We do have fixed expenses.
You can be sure we're trying to lower those fixed expenses. But, literally, we don't have a penny of revenue coming in the door. Three weeks ago, AMC
was an immensely healthy company.
QUEST: Right.
ARON: And now, with expenses out the door and no revenues, we are burning through cash.
QUEST: Okay.
ARON: What we need is liquidity and only the government's going to be able to provide that.
QUEST: I want to put this in real terms that people can understand. What was your income, just give me a rough idea of the company's income last
week or the week before this crisis happened, and what your expenses are, just so we get an idea of what we're talking about?
ARON: Well, let's just use last year because it shows you the size and the scale of AMC. AMC was a $5-1/2-billion company, meaning $5-1/2 billion of
revenues. And we had about $770 million of EBITDA. It's a very healthy company. Literally, this week, we will probably be spending $30 million,
maybe, to stay in business, and our revenues this week are zero, zero.
And, look, we had cash on hand, but we'll burn through that cash very quickly. And you can be sure we've gone to our banks to say we need some
liquidity assistance. We're a very solvent company. That's not the issue. It's just the liquidity issue. But the banks are inundated with liquidity
in requests from company after company, from industry after industry. They can't fund it all.
And by the way, we don't need a bailout. We just need loans, which we will be able to easily pay back with interest, when we reopen, when revenue
start coming back in the door.
QUEST: You made a very important point when you said that banks are inundated. Have you found any bank basically saying, sorry, we're not going
to let you draw down on all your lines?
ARON: That's not the issue. They're letting us draw down on our existing lines, but even our existing lines, if you have fixed costs, and you have
literally no revenue --
QUEST: Right.
ARON: -- you'll go through your revolvers as well. The -- a lot of companies and a lot of industries are going to need an extra liquidity, and
that's more than the banking system is able to -- I don't know.
QUEST: If it comes to -- and let's not use the word, bailout, because it's got -- it's got such pejorative stood. But if it comes to some form of
assistance that is given either from central government, from the Fed, or it's all from the Fed, are you prepared to accept the strings that will
inevitably come with loan guarantees, for instance, no share buybacks, limits on executive pay, you know, all the usual things, are you prepared
to take them as a price for getting access to guarantees and loans?
ARON: Of course, we are, for a simple reason. AMC has been around for 100 years. This is the biggest most successful company in our industry. We're a
proud industry leader, and we will be on our knees. What I'm fighting for are the jobs of our 35,000 people in the U.S. and Europe. They're out of
work today, but we need there to be a company for them to come back to, in two or three months when we can reopen.
We'll take whatever strings we need to, to make sure that we allow this company to come back for its second hundred years. And to get those jobs
back with those tens and tens of thousands of workers, a lot of them live paycheck to paycheck. They need us to be around.
QUEST: Good to talk to you. Thank you. We'll check in again, if we may, as this goes on, because I need to have your insight as to your view on what -
- on what's happening and which way it's moving. I appreciate it. Thank you. The seriousness of the situation.
ARON: Absolutely. And thanks for covering the news in these tough times.
QUEST: Thank you, sir. Now, as we continue tonight, Britain's preparing to close all its pubs and restaurants, we'll hear from a London restaurant
owner who's seen the business he's spent 17 years trying to build a building up, it will be shut down in a matter of hours.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:40:00]
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QUEST: All restaurants, bars, gyms and theaters, in the United Kingdom, are closing their doors now for the foreseeable future. Boris Johnson, the
Prime Minister, gave the order, a few hours ago, to prevent the spread of the disease and the virus. The shutdown had already begun, with many
restaurant owners forced to shut. On this program now, each night, we are committed to bringing you the voices of the crisis, the businesses big and
small, that are making difficult decisions to stay afloat.
Adam Handling is the chef and owner of the Handling Restaurant Group. He's being forced to close three of his London restaurants. Adam joins me now
via Skype. Adam, I'm guessing the situation changed tonight, today, with the announcement from the chancellor, that you'll be able to apply for
these tax grants to at least pay for most -- to keep most of your staff at least up to 80 percent. Will you be doing that?
ADAM HANDLING, CHEF AND OWNER, HADLING RESTAURANT GROUP: Oh, for sure. The news that came today was massively helpful. But it's only now. Yes, a
little a little bit too late. But the reassurance to close restaurants and government to help, is a breath of fresh air, really. It means that part of
my restaurant group will survive.
QUEST: Without -- I mean, I think you just answered the question, but I'll clarify it, without this help, would you be looking at basically going out
of business?
HANDLING: A hundred percent. I tried to move all of my own personal things, you know, my house, everything, to try and -- to try and get rid of it so I
can keep some of the staff for a few months, but it would have likely I've seen my entire restaurant group collapse within two months.
QUEST: And I asked the head of the AMC, the theater chain, you may have heard, you know, he's got expenses of $30 million a week and absolutely
zero revenue, you're in the same boat now. I mean, you've got zero revenue coming in, as of tonight, give our viewers a feeling for the sort of costs
that you still have to bear.
HANDLING: This -- that -- luckily, with the costs, there are landlords, as of today, as well, are willing to help, all three of them by doing rent
free. But if that wasn't happening, and business was as normal, you know, you'd be losing half a million pound a month. I'm only a little restaurant
chain in comparison -- in comparison to that, but that would -- that would cripple us.
QUEST: And so, as you move forward, and you've got this this bit of help from government, but there's still obviously rents to be paid and any form
of capital expenditure has gone. How are you going to get through this?
[15:45:03]
HANDLING: We've literally prioritized all where our money is going to be going, and staff first, fundamentally staff first, and then -- and then the
government, second. Without the staff, my restaurant group won't be able to come back to normal as soon as this pandemic is over. And what's the
government going to do about it? Not so much. So, keep them happy. And then the government can come for us afterwards, really.
QUEST: It's one of those strange questions that we're always told never to ask. But I always think it's the best question. How are you feeling about
it all? What's your gut feeling about the way in which the business that you have, for no fault of anybody, I mean, of anybody, it's literally on
the brink.
HANDLING: This week has been a roller coaster, you know? Tuesday, I had to close three of my places and actually terminate most of the staff of them
three. On Wednesday, it was my first day off I've had in months because I was a broken human being. I couldn't -- I couldn't -- I couldn't face
anything else, what you've worked for 17 years, be almost ripped out from under your feet in a space of a week.
But from today, I feel a lot more reassured that the other venues that I have and the staff that I've got with me, will be able to survive three
months, and then hopefully go back to business. Business won't go as good as it was, you know, a month ago, but it's definitely a start. And we're
staying positive to be able to meet the group, build it back up again of what it once was.
QUEST: Adam, thank you. Make me a promise that when this is all over, where -- you and I will have dinner, we'll bring the program to one of your
restaurants in London, and I'll even promise to pay the bill. How's that?
HANDLING: I promise. That'll be fantastic. It'd be great to meet you.
QUEST: Good to see you, Adam. Thank you. Thank you very much for joining us.
HANDLING: Buh-bye.
QUEST: Now, for those lucky enough to still be employed, working from home is the new normal. You can hear from the chief executive of Slack, who
joins me after the break.
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QUEST: Now, the last few minutes of trade, as much as 44 -- 444 points, just look at the numbers and look at the way the market went negative after
the New York governor told everybody to stay at home over mandate. And they've got the falling crude prices which hurt energy stocks. That was
down. So, the markets are all down three percent. It is the worst week since 2008.
And, I mean, that story tells its own tale, if you like, those numbers, indeed. But we bravely move on. Both America's financial capital and its
most populous state are now under lockdown.
[15:50:07]
California's governor ordering nearly 14 million residents to stay at home in California. It ranks as the world's fifth largest economy. Its own GDP
is nearly 3 trillion, and people are only now allowed to leave their homes for essential needs. YouTube says it is also reducing streaming quality
across Europe for the next 30 days, following Netflix.
It said it would do the same after an E.U. Commissioner asked content providers to reduce High Definition because the actions needed to keep the
internet working, with so many people working from home.
The messaging app, Slack, says it seen a spike of 7,000 new customers since the beginning of February, of telecommuting, Slack's chief executive told
me how the company is accommodating this new business in this growing crisis.
STEWART BUTTERFIELD, CEO, SLACK: We've made over the last couple of years, big investments on the technological side, so the scaling aspect like the
servers In the capacity, that was actually relatively easy, a lot of it was the response on the human side because we had an unusually large volume of
questions, people wanting tips, advice, the mechanics of working from home, what to tell employees kind of models for leadership, but also an enormous
increase in the number of nonprofit NGO, research, use cases that we were able to support.
So, we built up programs for one-to-one consultations, for training programs, for webinars, and have been putting our efforts in that area.
QUEST: That -- Slack is now becoming almost an essential part of the infrastructure for working from home and communicating with each other. How
would you intend to develop that? I mean, from what you had when we went into this crisis, what have you done, if you'd like to enhance it, now
realizing what people need?
BUTTERFIELD: Well, we always had a pretty good idea. I mean, Slack is designed to help organizations become more agile. And it's actually -- it's
pretty interesting. We look back at the document, the S-1 that we prepared when we went public last year. And there's just a giant block that is about
in an increasingly dynamic environment with increased pace of technological change and macroeconomic change. Organizations need to be more agile in
order to be responsive enough to survive.
So, it's -- when -- we feel like we were made for this. There's an incredible level of energy among the employees. And two weeks ago, today,
we made the decision to begin working from home. I think Slack is a great tool for people who are working from home. But I think probably much more
importantly at this point. It's a great tool for creating alignment and transparency through a big transformation.
So, through an organizational transformation, we didn't skip a beat. Now, I think part of that was just the big increase in demand and people have a
lot of adrenaline and we're looking out for opportunities to help. But for a lot of organizations -- you know, if you have 20, 30, 40,000 employees
and the whole thing runs on in person meetings and the e-mail, it's going to be a pretty dramatic shift to begin working from home.
QUEST: Of Slack whose share price actually has rallied quite a bit, having fallen on guidance. Okay, before we leave you tonight, let's look at the
market to show you what we are doing. We're down just now, 853 points of 4 percent, nearly probably the lows of the day with seven minutes left to
trade.
Now, tonight's a profitable moment. What to make of it all? Bars, restaurants, cafes, nightclubs, gyms closed in California, across the
United States, in California in New York, in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, you get the idea. It's very tempting to just go deeper and
down and further into the hole. We're not going to do that here in QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.
All week, we've been getting lots of memes and jokes sent to us. You'll be familiar with the sort of thing. Your inbox is probably heaving with them
at the moment. I want to show you one that I received that I thought was relevant, as we go towards the weekend. There you go. Looking at the map
for some weekend travel ideas. I think I'll go to the bedroom.
Now, I was there last weekend. How about bedroom number two? Good break. We're going to keep ourselves smiling, as cheerful as we can, in difficult
circumstances. If you've got a favorite, if you've got a favorite, you can e-mail it to me, richard.quest@cnn.com, richard.quest@cnn.com or @quest --
Richard Quest on Twitter. We'll hopefully get some of those up and show you exactly what we're talking about.
These are impossible times, unprecedented, every adjective you can think of again and again and again. The market is falling sharply. It's down 879
points. The Dow, well, there you are, the three biggies that are up for some frolic of their own, but 3M, they make masks and they're down to 10
percent, Coca Cola down 8 percent. You get the idea. This is what it's going to be like. I wish I could say it was only for a week or two, but
it's not.
[15:55:10]
We saw what was happening in South Korea. We've seen what's happened in China. We see what's happening in Italy. And so, with hearts held high and
with brave thoughts ahead, that's QUEST MEANS BUSINESS for tonight. I'm Richard Quest in New York. Whatever you're up to in the hours ahead, we
brought it back. I hope it's profitable. The closing bell is next.
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ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Welcome to THE LEAD, I'm Jake Tapper. We are continuing this hour with the coronavirus pandemic as our lead, 215 people
in the U.S. have now died from the coronavirus, with more than 16,000 confirmed cases in the U.S. And that number, of course, expected to grow as
testing increases around the country.
We are also watching the New York Stock Exchange on its last day of in person trading, closing its trading floor temporarily, moving to fully
electronic trading next week. The Dow closing in a moment. It's down more than 800 -- 900 points now, as the pandemic continues to rattle the
markets.
This afternoon, President Trump said he does not think there needs to be a national lockdown and national order for people to stay at home, but he did
applaud the governors of New York and California for taking those measures, enacting new mandates for their residents to stay at home, meaning nearly
one in five Americans are now under
END
