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Quest Means Business
AstraZeneca Secures $1B Vaccine Investment From U.S.; Chinese Search Giant Baidu Rethinking NASDAQ Listing; France Scrambling To Save Its Tourism Industry; Trump Speaks Before Touring Ford Plant Producing PPE; Trump Tours Ford Plant In Michigan; Another 2.4 Million Americans File Jobless Claims; T.S.A. Revises Screening Procedures At U.S. Airports. Aired 3-4p ET
Aired May 21, 2020 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[15:01:26]
RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS ANCHOR, QUEST MEANS BUSINESS: A few more minutes of trading, and 60 minutes of trading on Wall Street to go and the
way the markets are looking at the moment.
These are the markets. The Dow Jones Industrials are down 80 -- 90 odd points as we look. These other markets and the reasons why.
President Trump is heading to Michigan. He is going to be talking to -- as more workers file for U.S. job claims. The President will be visiting a car
plant.
Live from New York. I'm Richard Quest. This is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, and of course, I mean business.
Good evening. We begin tonight in the U.S. Midwest, where Michigan -- in the State of Michigan, America's Heartland and an important swing state.
It's where President Trump is at the moment and is going to be visiting a factory of Ford factory. These are pictures to us now as he is speaking at
the moment.
The issue of course will be whether or not he is going to wear a mask. As the U.S. manufacturing is starting to reopen, there is a struggle in
Michigan with the Federal government with reopening protests, funding, ventilators, masks a whole variety of issues.
Michigan law requires face masks. The State Attorney General says the President should follow the law. The President when he left for Michigan
gave nothing away.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't know. We're going to look at it. A lot of people have asked me that question. I want to
get our country back to normal. I want to normalize.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: Want to normalize. He doesn't want to know, but of course Michigan was one of the states hit hardest by the coronavirus, hence why it has this
strict rule about facemask being obligatory and mandatory.
It has the fourth largest number of deaths in the United States. On Wednesday to other Ford plants closed. One in Michigan, another in Chicago.
Employees tested positive for COVID-19 and it had only just reopened a matter of days before.
Jeremy Diamond is with me. Our White House correspondent. Elizabeth Cohen is the senior medical correspondent. Okay, let's do the masks first with
Jeremy. And then Elizabeth, the follow on to you will be whether the masks work.
I mean, those numbers out of the U.K. suggesting 75 percent -- anyway, we will talk about that. Let's first of all, why -- I mean, it is vaguely
ridiculous, Jeremy Diamond that's the U.S. government's position is masks should be worn, and we're debating whether the President will wear it in a
plant in a state that requires masks.
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. No, it certainly is remarkable, Richard, and you heard the President there, seeming to offer
perhaps a little bit more of a rationale for why he hasn't worn a mask so far, and that is in his words, I want to normalize.
The President wanting to will this pandemic away will a return to normal back into existence and somehow it appears that the President thinks that
by not wearing a mask, by showing that he is unafraid of this virus, even though we have shown that it can affect anybody, no matter who you are, how
powerful you are, how poor you are, how wealthy you are, you know, the President wants to send a different signal here by not wearing a mask
clearly.
[15:05:28]
DIAMOND: So, we'll see whether or not he decides to ultimately wear one particularly because the Ford manufacturing plan does require masks be worn
there. And Ford did put out a statement saying that they notified the White House, that it is their policy that everyone -- everyone -- must wear a
mask when they walk into that facility.
We should also note, Richard that a new polling is showing that nearly 70 percent of Americans believe that, you know they should wear a mask and
that they do wear a mask when they go outside.
So, the public certainly seems to be in a different place than the President is. And the last thing I'll say, Richard, is that it's especially
notable because the President while he has been willing to do, you know, this unproven method of taking hydroxychloroquine as a prophylaxis despite
a total lack of any evidence to suggest that it works as a prophylaxis, the President is unwilling to do what all public health experts are urging
Americans to do to try and slow and stop the spread of this virus and that is simply wear a mask, not to protect yourself, but to protect others from
yourself.
QUEST: All right. So, the science -- the science, Elizabeth, somewhere in my morning reading, viewing and listening, I recall reading about a study
in the U.K. or somewhere that says wearing a mask reduces risk by 75 percent or something. Put me right, please.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know what, Richard? I wish I could say that there was absolute ironclad evidence, scientific,
published in a medical journal proof that masks work or they don't work.
Unfortunately, that's not the status of the science because frankly, we never thought we would have to study it this much. We never thought that we
would be in this position.
But there are enough studies that show that it reduces the transmission. As Jeremy just pointed out, you're not wearing a mask for yourself, you're
wearing it for other people.
And that's what I think is that the core of this. This is about community. This is not about doing what you want. This is about protecting the
community.
Wearing a mask shows that you care, not wearing a mask is saying to the people around you, I don't care about you. I don't care if you get
infected. That's what Mike Pence did when he walked into the Mayo Clinic a few weeks back.
He walked into the Mayo Clinic. They told him to wear a mask and he didn't. That is a blatant -- actually the phrase I want to use, I can't say on
television -- but that is a blatant way of saying, I don't care about the people around me. I care more about what I want to do, to Jeremy's point
wishful, you know sort of wishing this away magical thinking, I care more about how I look than about protecting the people around me.
QUEST: Right. Jeremy, Jeremy, tell me why haven't his advisers, or maybe they have, just said to the President, this is really awful. I mean, this
is dreadful.
Your own government is requiring masks. We require them in the White House. You're going to a factory that requires masks, wear a mask.
DIAMOND: Well, unfortunately, Richard, in this White House, it's really top down approach, not a bottom up approach. And so everybody is really
following the President's lead.
In fact, until the Vice President's Press Secretary tested positive for coronavirus, most officials at the White House we're not wearing masks.
We're not taking those kind of basic preventive steps.
They were all simply pointing to the fact that those who are around the President, that's not everyone at the White House, but those who are around
the President were getting tested for coronavirus, initially weekly, and then it became a daily test.
But we also know that those tests can be flawed that that Abbott test might be you know, 15 percent false negative rate.
And the other thing is that Richard, all of the aides around the President really are moving in his direction in terms of wanting to reopen the
economy. And that is the message that they want to amplify right now.
They don't want to amplify the message from the public health experts who are warning, look, you can't reopen too fast. You can't go exactly back to
how things used to be. You need to take these preventive steps.
They really want to encourage things to open up. Why? Because the economy, the economy, the economy, so crucial to the President's reelection
prospects in November and the President knows that if he doesn't get this economy going again, and his political advisers know this as well, his
reelection prospects are not looking very good.
QUEST: Jeremy, thank you. Jeremy and Elizabeth, thank you. You raised the economy and that's a good point to go on to.
More than two million people who are -- another further two million people are now out of work and claiming benefit in the United States according to
the latest numbers from the U.S. government.
It takes the total number to now 40 million people who are doing jobless claims and this is even as all 50 states now reopening.
Over the last nine weeks, it is 38 million. Cristina Alesci is with me. So, at what point -- now these are new claims and it doesn't really work
apparently, if somebody goes back to work in that sense, but at what point will we see the number drop of new people because they are being taken back
on again?
[15:10:30]
CRISTINA ALESCI, CNN BUSINESS POLITICS AND BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, I don't think we're going to see the number drop necessarily, you know, to a
decline for a little bit of time, Richard, and the reason for that, there are a number of reasons for that.
But one of the main reasons is the government programs that were enacted to save these jobs clearly are not working when you think about the Small
Business Loan Program that the Small Business Administration and Treasury rolled out. That was really intended to save jobs and it just hasn't done
that.
And that's why we heard the Treasury Secretary reluctantly admit again today that another round of stimulus is likely needed here.
And because those programs didn't work, people are relying on enhanced unemployment benefits. So, it's not just the regular unemployment benefits
they're getting, but they're getting an extra $600.00 in order to pay the rent, pay the mortgage, put food on the table.
And it's really those payments that are standing between, you know, essentially the economy where it is now and an even worse situation and
those benefits run out on July 31. That's going to put pressure on Congress to really think about what else they can do here -- Richard.
QUEST: Right. But one imagines that Congress will extend those benefits if the situation is as grim as it is now.
And when you say, Christina, these programs haven't worked. I'm wondering if they could ever have worked. The size and the scale of this at such a
rapidity was almost doomed to disaster from the get go.
ALESCI: That's right. The fact that Congress had to move so quickly, and the amount of money they had to pump through the system really brings us to
the question about whether or not any of these programs could have worked, whether it was doomed from the start.
I think that's a completely legitimate question and point of view. Here's the thing, though, if you look behind the headline number today, of those
additional 2.4 million people filing for unemployment benefits, what you see is we're going to hear the administration talk about how initial claims
are coming down week over week.
But continuing claims, the amount of people who remain on unemployment insurance, that number continues to go up and what I saw in this week's
report was really disturbing. And this is something that people aren't talking about, 2.25 million increase in continuing claims.
Just to give you some context here, that number was 171,000 in the last report, so we are still seeing some troubling signs and not included in
that headline number are the millions of Americans who are applying for another program that was launched under the CARES Act which is the Pandemic
Unemployment Assistance Program. That's for people who don't qualify for the traditional unemployment benefits. That number as well, increasing this
week -- Richard.
QUEST: Cristina Alesci with us now. In a moment, Heathrow Airport in in the Queen's Terminal, Terminal 2 is trying out a new sensor monitoring way
of people's temperature to see if that works.
At the same time, in the United States, the T.S.A. has got some new procedures that they will be using for people going through security. We'll
have them both and our aviation correspondent after the break. In a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:16:35]
QUEST: When we start traveling again, there will be some big differences in the airports, and today Heathrow Airport unveiled how it expects the
future, or at least the future in the short to medium term to look like.
In the Queen's Terminal. That's Terminal 2, which is used by Star Alliance, thermal technology is now being used for screening passengers'
temperatures. It's a trial that's underway.
Passengers aren't physically stopped. The cameras monitor them as they move through the terminal. But these are of course, more sensitive than the ones
that have been used in the past.
Temperature checks are not part of screening procedures at U.S. airports. The T.S.A. announced changes meant to limit physical contact.
Travelers indeed place boarding passes on the scanners themselves. They pack food in clear plastic bags for you, phones, belts and wallets in
carry-ons instead of x-ray bins.
Pete Muntean is our aviation correspondent. He is in Washington. Let's take both of these. First of all, if we look at the Heathrow Airport
developments today, and I suppose we can lump it all together with the T.S.A. They're all designed in some shape or form to be able to move large
numbers of people through the airports at once without the whole thing coming to a grinding halt.
PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right, Richard. And you know, you have to think about the fact that this might actually slow
the process down in some ways.
We know that earlier this week, we heard from a senior health official who said that the T.S.A. was considering doing temperature checks here in the
United States. We're not exactly sure if that's on the table or off the table, if this latest announcement sort of supersedes that.
There is some question here in the United States about whether or not that would be all that effective, whether or not the T.S.A. would be good at
doing that, whether it would slow the process down.
There are researchers who tell me the efficacy of temperature checks might actually be relatively limited. Remember that if you have coronavirus, you
could be asymptomatic.
So, we know that some airlines are experimenting with that, though the T.S.A. has not moved totally towards that just yet.
QUEST: The speed at which airlines are coming back online, Delta riding 100 flights today to June; United, putting on more flights and EasyJet
announces it's going back to flying in June, but obviously it will be a much reduced, same for Lufthansa will start meaningful flying again.
Do we have any vision yet on what this will look like?
MUNTEAN: Well, that's a great question, Richard. I mean, you know that the airlines are trying to restore confidence. They're showing off, flaunting
expanded cleaning procedures.
United Airlines here in the United States announcing that it is partnering yesterday with Clorox and also the Cleveland Clinic. We know that Delta
says it is adding flights primarily to maintain social distance on board to keep passenger levels at 60 percent or lower, which essentially means all
middle seats empty.
We do know that airlines say that they cannot remain profitable, cannot even break even if the middle seat is eradicated from flights for a long
time period of time.
So, we're getting a glimpse in the short term of what these changes might look like. Although long term, it's still not very clear what this will
look like, as the aviation industry really tries to recover as a whole.
[15:20:14]
QUEST: Pete, you are an expert in this field. You've been through probably as many airports as myself at some point. Is it realistic? We're going to
have reports immediately after -- actually stay where you are, Pete Muntean, stay where you are.
I want you to watch and listen to this report from John Defterios, who has been going through Dubai International Airport, as you know, one of the
busiest in the world. Watch his report, and afterwards, come back with me and give me your opinion on really how realistic is this? Large scale in
crowded aged airport terminals. Here's John Defterios.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN BUSINESS EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR (voice over): This is an insider's view of what a post COVID-19 era may look like at the busiest
airport for international passenger traffic in 2019, Dubai International.
DEFTERIOS (on camera): As a frequent traveler, two words come to mind here in the terminal -- sterile and distant. And this idea of coming to check in
around two hours before your flight is a thing of the past, at least for now.
They want passengers here three hours before takeoff.
How do you feel about being on the first round here?
PAOLA LICASI, PASSENGER: Excited. Anxious, but okay, and these masks are not really comfortable, but gloves are not comfortable either, but we have
to do it.
DEFTERIOS (voice over): On the first day back, Emirates Airline said that flights to London and Milan were 30 to 50 percent full depending on class.
DEFTERIOS (on camera): It seems only fitting, we're with the cabin crew from Flight Number EK 001 bound for London is the first commercial leg to
that city after a suspension of operations nearly two months ago.
DEFTERIOS (voice over): Onboard, they are donning safety visors and disposable gowns. A dedicated member of staff is also in hand solely for
cabin sanitation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELISABETH KRAUS, EMIRATES CABIN CREW: For sure, it'll feel very different than before because, yes, you'll have all these measurements, but just to
be safe, so I feel like it's only a good thing and very positive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEFTERIOS (on camera): The first order of business for ticket holders is to pass through a thermal scanner to check for high temperatures.
We're just off the main entrance here.
Plexiglas barriers separate check-in staff from customers. Social distancing signs cannot be missed.
It is the same theme at passport control. Combined, they are all visual markers to rebuild passenger trust. And clearly, Emirates wanted to get out
front in that process.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ADEL AL REDHA, CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, EMIRATES: By Emirates taking this lead is to give confidence and to send a strong message to the rest of
other countries and airlines, this is where we need to start. We cannot continue to be in the lockdown process.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEFTERIOS (on camera): For these passengers, it's been about six hours from their wakeup alarm to the boarding gate. And there's another marked
difference here.
Passengers can only bring on a briefcase, a laptop, baby items or a handbag.
It is a measured approach for Emirates with nine destinations, after all, it had 157 before the pandemic set in. It is the beginning of a long
journey back to normality.
John Defterios, CNN at Dubai International Airport.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: All right, Pete, listening to that. Dubai was able to do this because new airport terminal prepared to spend a shedload of money. Airline
and airports both run by the same organization, so you can make these changes quickly. And all aviation structures and it is complicated -- how
realistic is this for U.S. carriers?
MUNTEAN: Here in the U.S., it's much more of a scattershot approach, Richard. You know, airlines were somewhat slow to warm up to the idea of
masks requirements on board. We've seen varying approaches airline to airline about whether or not they're going to enforce that and how they're
going to enforce it, if it's at the gate or how they're going to enforce it on board.
So, that would be a much more difficult process here, and the real point that I want to make is that all of these changes that airline carriers are
putting into place are happening in the void of a requirement from the Federal government.
The F.A.A. says it is not in its purview, not in its statutory authority to enforce any changes when it comes to the health of passengers.
You know, you have to think about that three-hour window, that three-hour requirement to show up before a flight. Here in the United States, you
know, the idea is predicated -- the success of the airlines is predicated on jamming as many people through as possible.
So, one has to think that that would be a hard thing to implement, as the culture differs and as the policies differ airline to airline without any
Federal regulation.
QUEST: Pete Muntean, thank you. Thank you. The airline experience in the Gulf is certainly extremely different to anywhere else in the rest of the
world.
As we continue in a moment, the U.S. is making a billion dollar bet on a vaccine and there are now dozens of potential vaccine hopefuls. We will
discuss this after the break.
It's QUEST MEANS BUSINESS. Good evening to you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:28:25]
QUEST: I am Richard Quest. There is more QUEST MEANS BUSINESS in just a moment.
We'll investigate how the world's top tourism destination, France is planning to woo visitors back in the future and the CEO of the pharma
giant, AstraZeneca on the deal with the United States, the USb paying a billion dollars for access to a vaccine.
That all of course, is still to come after we have the news headlines because as you're well aware, this is CNN and on this network, the news
always comes first.
The Chinese Parliament says it will consider a controversial new security law governing Hong Kong. There were massive protests against Mainland
influence that dominated the city for months before coronavirus slowed the demonstrations.
Proponents of the new measures say, it could effectively end the territory's decades of relative autonomy.
The Trump administration is preparing to withdraw from a key arms control agreement. The Open Skies Treaty allows unarmed surveillance flights over
member countries.
President Trump is accusing Russia violating the pact. Moscow denies this.
However, the U.S. President says, he may try to broker a new deal.
John Ratcliffe has been confirmed on Thursday as Director of U.S. National Intelligence, a Texan Republican nomination, it was a straight party line
vote 49 to 44. Before the vote, no more than a dozen senators had ever voted against a candidate to lead the D.N.I.
[15:30:00]
RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: Actress Lori Loughlin and her husband have both agreed to plead guilty and served two months in prison in
connection with a wide-ranging college admissions scandal. They were accused of paying half a million dollars to get their two daughters into
the University of Southern California.
There are startling scenes of mass graves in Brazil, as the country is grappling with one of the worst levels of the Coronavirus pandemic anywhere
on the planet. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh spoke to Brianna Keilar from the scene a short moment ago.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: Behind me, Brianna, are the new graves from April. I have to tell you it's startling here.
There seems since we've been here to be a funeral pretty much every 10 minutes filling them up. And this is just the beginning. We were at a
hospital earlier on when we spoke to a doctor, and they believe here in Sao Paulo, the biggest city whose hospitals are saying they're getting close to
capacity, that the peak is possibly two weeks away. They're not even at it right now. And you get an idea behind me here, what they're kind of bracing
themselves for because these are the empty graves freshly dug. We've just put a drone up in the sky earlier on, and you just see how many thousand
there are here. 8,000 new dugs since the pandemic first hit Brazil here, and they're expecting many more to be needed.
Now, the numbers are already staggering, Brianna. The problem really is they're not the full picture. Testing simply isn't as widespread here, as
Brazilians would like. And much of the problem, this is half of the new cases currently in Latin America, which I should point out over the last
three days, has in fact had more new cases than the U.S. has or that Europe has. The government here has been giving at times contradictory advice,
frankly, somewhat dangerous advice. President Jair Bolsonaro who's called this a little flu, perhaps being a little bit more cautious in recent
statements, but his government, too, has recommended the use of anti- malarial drugs, chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine.
You'll have heard President Trump talk about them, and how he's been taking hydroxychloroquine himself, as well. But they don't have a proven benefit
against Coronavirus. In fact, some say they may even cause you harm. We even spoke to a woman here who was burying her mother, her only mother who
was taking hydroxychloroquine and that she blamed no science necessarily with her. She spoke to back her up. She blamed that drug for contributing
to the death of her mother, but actually as I speak here, another funeral procession is passing by us. It is a startling sight to see this is a
densely populated city in Latin America, where as I say the healthcare system is beginning to grow already. The ICU we were in earlier on, one of
the biggest in this city, is already full, and they're still two weeks away from the peak, Brianna. This is going to get an awful lot worse.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: Nick Paton Walsh in Sao Paolo. And related to all of this, of course, is the need for a vaccine. And today, AstraZeneca announced that it
had done a massive deal with the U.S. government worth a billion dollars for access to up to 300 million doses. Now, the U.S. government is pledging
this money for 300 million doses, possibly starting in the autumn of this year, assuming they have a vaccine. The CEO of AstraZeneca spoke to Julia
Chatterley and said the investment by the U.S. government is indeed a gamble, but ultimately, it is worth the risks.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PASCAL SORIOT, CEO, ASTRAZENECA: This is a bet, but if you look at it, the investment is absolutely worth it. Qualitative to the economic damage, the
social damage, and medical damage this epidemic, this pandemic is inflicting on everybody.
JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Talk me through timings here in terms of deliveries to the U.K., deliveries to the United States, and I
mentioned the September date, how soon could we have substantial mass- produced doses in each of these countries?
SORIOT: We will start getting substantial doses by September, October. And I would say about 30 percent of our deliveries will take place starting in
September, October. And the balance will arrive by December, January. And so, a very, very short timeline, if you will, and a lot -- lots and lots of
people will be able to be vaccinated before the end of the year.
CHATTERLEY: Wow. So based on that timeline, and the numbers that we're talking about here, again, if this vaccine is successful, we could have the
entire U.K. population, the entire U.S. population potentially vaccinated by early next year.
SORIOT: Yes, first of all, we -- as you said, it has to work, right? I mean, so we should remember that it is, of course, not a guarantee that it
will work. We have very good hope and we're confident there's good reasons for it to work, and that's why we are committing ourselves to it and moving
so fast, but it has to work.
[15:35:09]
And if it works, we'll be indeed able to vaccinate a lot of people. The choice is you don't have to vaccinate the entire population. You tend to
focus on the population at risk, the health care workers, the people who have underlying conditions. And then over time, you can vaccinate a greater
proportion of the population. And then, you stop the disease when you get to about two thirds of the population that is immune to this virus.
CHATTERLEY: Developing herd immunity and to your point, sir, you reiterated there a few times that this vaccine may not work. Can we just get a sense
of I know you're seeing human trials at the moment; we're then potentially talking about deliveries in September. Is that enough time between ending
trials and getting these vaccines out for use? We're talking weeks --
SORIOT: Yes, you know -- Yes, actually, you know, we are actually trailblazing here because we are not following the standard process. We are
partnering with regulators both in the U.K. and in the U.S. We're working hand in hand with the FDA. We are sharing data on the day-to-day basis, on
the real-life basis. And basically, they're committing coming to them first for help, look at our data as they come (INAUDIBLE) so that by the time we
finished with our phase three program in August, they can rapidly afford the vaccine for emergency use.
CHATTERLEY: Are you worried that we haven't because of the desperate need, taken enough time to challenge the virus, to make sure that it's something
that will work and that we can trust?
SORIOT: I would say we are not cutting corners. We are actually moving fast because of this partnership between the regulators and the Oxford group and
ourselves. And but we're not cutting corners. We're doing the clinical work that needs to be done. We've done the preclinical work, we're now doing
Phase One, two. We're going to do Phase two, three. So, it's a completely standard program. It just happens that it's done very quickly, with a lot
of resources involved, a lot of passion, a lot of focus, and a great collaboration with the FDA in the U.S. and the MHRA in the U.K.
CHATTERLEY: This is a global problem. You're talking about 1 billion doses, which is exceptional, but we have, what, just under 8 billion population.
How does the licensing deal work? Can we see other big manufacturers around the world? Pfizer, maybe, some of your biggest competitors also ramping up
production at the same time if this vaccine is successful?
SORIOT: Yes. But you know, I think in this instance, we are competing against the virus, not against each other. We at AstraZeneca doing this as
a -- as a form of no profit. And I'm sure the other manufacturers would do the same. And we need several vaccines. So, we're not really competing
against one another. We really trying to bring several vaccines so we can vaccinate as many people around the world as possible.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: AstraZeneca and the risks that they will be taking to deal with the United States. Anyway, when Chinese companies traded on U.S. markets are o
face greater scrutiny after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:40:00]
QUEST: (INAUDIBLE) who said that just about anybody that wanted to could probably work from home. Now, Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook is saying that he
expects up to half the workforce to be working from home in the future. Clare Sebastian is with us. So, this revolution that has been enforced upon
us continues.
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Richard, and I think, Facebook, the latest company to admit that some of these changes will be
permanent. The company saying it was Zuckerberg in a town hall for employees that he broke us live on his own Facebook page saying that that
50 percent is not a target. But he expects over the next five to 10 years that they could see about half of their workforce shift to permanent work
from home. Now, this is -- this is because he's listening to employees. He says they conducted an internal survey. And about 40 percent of people
expressed an interest in continuing to work from home. And of those, 75 percent said that, in doing that, they would relocate to another location.
So, Zuckerberg saying that he's going to start doing this by remote hiring, by allowing the company to hire engineering talent from within about four
hours distance of some of its existing offices. So, that's for the beginning and then eventually they'll open it up to existing employees. So
really, an admission, Richard, of just how big of a change this is and how people are unsure, executives are unsure about how long this will go on.
But Zuckerberg also saying this will be helpful for Facebook, they have to retain and attract engineering talent and other talent. And he wants it to
be -- you know, this is his lofty vision. He wants it to be helpful for the world, as well. He says that they need to sort of broaden our economic
prosperity to other geographic regions, bring in other perspectives. And of course, we've seen this Richard, he thinks it will help the environment
bring down commuting and the emissions from that.
QUEST: Clare Sebastian. Clare, thank you. The U.S. Senate has unanimously passed a bill that would require Chinese companies to comply with U.S.
audit standards. It's a fairly Draconian measure. Companies that do not three years in a row will be removed from U.S. stock markets. Senators said
they're meant to protect investors. Now, the Chinese search engine giant Baidu is considering a U.S. listing following that vote by the U.S. Senate.
The CEO Robin Li told a statement in China Daily, it doesn't concern -- this is what he actually said. "The U.S. government is constantly
tightening its control of Chinese companies listed in the U.S. Our basic judgment is that if you are a good company, there are many options on where
to list. It is not limited to the United States."
Matt Egan, is with us, CNN Business Senior Writer. And the idea first of all, that Chinese companies must comply with SEC audits. Now, is this if
they're listed and doing business over here, I mean, what is this designed to do to catch U.S. companies in which way?
MATT EGAN, CNN BUSINESS SENIOR WIRTER: This is designed to protect U.S. investors. The problem when you talk to the sponsors of this legislation,
they say is that Chinese companies are not playing by the rules. Beijing does not let U.S. accounting watchdogs inspect the audits of companies that
are registered in China or Hong Kong. So, we're talking about China companies that are listed on U.S. exchanges. And there's no coincidence
that this is happening that this bill passed the Senate, just weeks after the Luckin Coffee accounting scandal. The Chinese company, they had to fire
their CEO, their COO, and that's because of these accounting irregularities that they have disclosed.
And so, the problem is that there's not enough transparency. So, this bill would basically say that companies that don't open their books are not
going to be allowed to list on Wall Street. I got off the phone with Senator Chris Van Hollen from Maryland, one of the co-sponsors of this
bill. And he said, Listen, we're not trying to take on China. We just want them to play by the same rules as everyone else.
[15:45:03]
QUEST: But isn't this a case of caveat emptor for investors? If you know that you can't see the books of -- I can understand if it's a security
issue, but if it's a straight investment question, you know, you pay your money, he takes your choice.
EGAN: I think so. I think that's -- that is a fair -- a fair statement. But we also have to remember that there's a lot of people that are investing in
Chinese companies, and they may not actually realize they're doing it, right? You and I have money in mutual funds, we might have ETFs. And those
funds may be investing in companies that are based in China. And we might not know that there's not as much transparency there. So, there is an
accounting risk. But Richard, I mean, let's be honest, this is part of a broader issue, right?
This is a broader crackdown between the United States and China. There is clearly a battle here going on. It's not just about securities. It's about
national security. It's about technology and global supremacy. So, we're seeing it playing out right now in terms of Chinese stocks. But there's
also this crackdown on Huawei. We saw NASDAQ is also proposing new securities restrictions as well. President Trump continues to talk about
possibly imposing tariffs or sanctions on China. So, this is a broader issue and it's not going away. It's going to be playing out for the next
few years.
QUEST: Matt Egan, Matt, thank you. France has always been number one in terms of foreign visitors, the destinations in the world. There's all sorts
of logistical reasons why, but now the question is, how can France maintain that top status? Paris is also a way up there. After the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: France is the world's number one destination. It has been for many years all sorts of logistical reasons, cross border travel from other
countries and the like. Now, the issue is following the pandemic. How does it maintain that leading status? The busy summer season should beginning --
Angela Merkel says she hopes Schengen will be open by mid-June. Cyril Vanier joins us from Paris. And so, France has always had this top dog
status. But this year, there's no way, is there, it's going to be able to have anything like the tourism numbers it's had in the past?
CYRIL VANIER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No, you're absolutely right, Richard. And France is extremely proud of its top tourist destination in
the world status. But as you mentioned, the borders are closed and it's a different world now. France has never had a problem before attracting
tourists and attracting their dollars, but it's just going to be an extremely and a very different tourist season.
[15:50:11]
We wanted to find out how the tourism industry is preparing for the summer months, July August. And what we found, Richard, is that some places are in
a much better position than others to offer socially distanced tourism options. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VANIER: Stunning views, majestic castles, centuries of history. The Loire Valley is one of the Crown Jewels of French tourism, drawing 6 million
visitors a year from all over the world. An industry crippled by the Coronavirus. After nearly two months national confinements and with borders
mostly shut to outside travel, tourists are now a rare commodity. Chateau Chaumont once owned by the queen of France is one of the first in the
region to reopen.
It's so calm and it's so peaceful here. It's tempting to forget that there's a Coronavirus epidemic but, of course, you can't. In fact, the only
reason the Chateau was able to reopen is because here, too, there are strict social distancing guidelines, mask on, gel on your hands. There's a
predetermined route that you must follow through the domain, and the number of visitors had been kept in order to avoid crowds.
KARL FOUCHET, VISITOR (through translator): It's been a while since we haven't been out so it feels good.
VANIER: Just a trickle of visitors today. All of them locals. Travel is still limited to 100-kilometer radius. Martine and Jomarie Harrouet had
plans to visit Denmark and Uzbekistan this summer. That will have to wait.
MARTINE HARROUTE, VISITOR (through translator): In a way, this period is very good. We often forget to visit these beautiful sites in France, but
it's a magnificent country.
VANIER: The Chateau doesn't expect to see its usual foreign visitors this summer, about a third of its business, they say. But the domain manager
does see a silver lining.
CHANTAL COLLEU-DUMOND, DIRECTOR, CHATEAU CHAUMONT (through translator): I hope that the increase in French visitors will come because they can't
travel abroad will make up for the foreign visitors who sadly won't be able to come.
VANIER: Here in Paris, however, there's no silver lining on the horizon. The main attractions remain shut, the Eiffel Tower and the river boats, not
far from here the Sacre-Coeur, the Act de Triomphe, the Louvre Museum all closed, not to mention restaurants and cafes. And with Paris still
considered a red zone for the Coronavirus, there's no telling when any of them might be allowed to reopen.
With almost 90 million tourists a year, France is the most visited country in the world. Last week, the French Prime Minister said saving the industry
was a national priority. The government's bailout package for the sector includes guaranteeing bank loans to businesses and paying 80 percent of the
salaries of furloughed workers. For Yann owner and manager of two hotels and a restaurant in the heart of Paris, it's a lifeline. His last booking
was on March 12th.
Thanks to a 250,000-euro loan, he hopes to be able to survive the next few months, but desperately needs borders to reopen and travel to pick up.
YANN CHEVANCE, HOTEL OWNER: We need people to fly again, tourism is airplanes. No airplanes, it really limits the amount of tourists that we're
going to have.
VANIER: Until then, Parisians will have the streets of the capital to themselves.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VANIER: Richard, the tourism industry accounts for 2 million jobs in France direct and indirect. It accounts for eight percent of the French GDP. So,
it's hard to overstate how important it is to the French economy.
QUEST: Cyril Vanier in Paris. A glorious spring evening there, thank you. Donald Trump is now taking questions in Michigan. We'll listen in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Go ahead, John.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, can you just clarify, sir, what federal funding you're considering removing from Michigan?
TRUMP: Oh, I'm not going to discuss that. There are so many forms of funding and we're not going to discuss that. What we want is we want good
straight honest voting. OK? Honest voting. And by the way, if that could be honest, which obviously it can't be, you get a ballot you're sitting in
your bedroom signing it. Who knows who's signing it? Who knows that it ever gets to your house? Who knows that they don't pirate, you know? They pirate
these applications, they print new voting forms, and then they send them around, people sign them or one person signs then with different pens, and
a different signature every time.
It's obviously there's going to be fraud. We're not babies. There's tremendous fraud. You have all of the harvesting, you have all of the
things they walk in at the end of a race. We had a lot of them in California. They walk in bed at the end of a race, and they dump thousand -
- you think the race is over. You think somebody won and then all of a sudden out of the blue, come thousands of votes at the very end. Oh, what
happened? Harvesting, wonderful thing, harvesting. They just happened to find thousands of ballots just at the end.
[15:55:12]
So, somebody that thought he or she was going to win the race, all of a sudden gets flipped. We can't have that. John, go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, in the midst of this Coronavirus crisis, the Chinese government is considering a new national security law, they
would give it the authority to clamp down to a greater degree on Hong Kong. Do you have a message for the Chinese government about changing the
relationship with Hong Kong? Well, we'll have to see what happens. I haven't seen it yet. I've gotten a little briefing but I'll have a
statement to make at the appropriate time. OK? Hong Kong's been through a lot.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, we've seen this historic flooding. We've seen this historic flooding in -- here in Michigan, and we have seen
forecasts that we could see a really severe hurricane season as FEMA and the federal government prepared to meet the needs of some of these
potential disasters?
TRUMP: Are you saying FEMA and the federal government? Yes, they're here right now. FEMA is here right now. They did a fantastic job on the
Coronavirus, fantastic job in Michigan. They did a fantastic job everywhere, frankly, you know, you have ventilators, you're going to see
them now. Because this is one of the plants where we make thousands of ventilators. But FEMA was involved. And we also has, you know, you know
that the Army Corps of Engineers at the highest level is right now in Michigan, working on the fact that you had some dams breaking, that
shouldn't have broken and they were probably maybe not maintained properly, something happened to them.
Could have been human error from what I understand, but it was certainly a physical error, too. They were old, but you have the best in the world to
fix them and to get that water stopped. And we have FEMA here. And we have the Army Corps of Engineers here, they'll be able to take care of it. Let's
go take a tour and you're all invited to join me if you want. And we'll take a look at a great assembly line making ventilators. Thank you. Thank
you very much.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: President Trump there, of course. Now, the big question that everybody wants to know is whether or not he is going to --- go to wear a
mask as he goes around. I'll leave it there for the moment. I'm Richard Quest. Whatever you're up to in the hours ahead, I hope it's profitable.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
