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Quest Means Business
U.S. Government to Ban WeChat and TikTok Downloads on Sunday; Donald Trump Speaks as U.S. Nears 200,000 COVID-19 Deaths; Aired 3-3:17p ET
Aired September 18, 2020 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[15:00:15]
ZAIN ASHER, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: All right. Let's take a look here. The tech selloff has returned on Wall Street with stocks heading suddenly lower
after analysts warned against Apple and Microsoft valuations. Those are the markets and these are the reasons why.
TikTok and WeChat are about to be banned from U.S. app stores coming Sunday evening.
Britain's Prime Minister admits a second wave is coming in. I will speak to Joseph Stiglets about the future of the global economy.
And we are awaiting a briefing from President Trump as the U.S. nears 200,000 coronavirus deaths.
Coming to you live from New York, it is Friday, September the 18th, I'm Zain Asher, and this is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.
All right, good evening. We'll have the day's business news for you in just a moment. We are waiting for Donald Trump to speak at the White House any
moment now.
We are told he will be talking about the U.S. vaccine efforts. This, as the U.S. approaches nearly 200,000 deaths from the coronavirus. Of course, when
that conference begins, we will bring it to you live.
But first, tonight, TikTok and WeChat face a ticking clock from the U.S. government. Starting Sunday, Americans won't be able to download or update
those apps. TikTok is calling on Facebook and Instagram to join a lawsuit against the Trump administration in response.
And the restrictions on WeChat are actually even more harsh. The Commerce Department is banning all online traffic associated with the app. CNN
technology reporter Brian Fung joins live now from Washington.
So, Brian, just for those millions of young TikTok users across the United States, what changes as of Sunday?
Okay. It looks as though we don't actually have Brian Fung at the moment. Brian, can you hear me? Okay, it looks as though we are having technical
difficulties there. But we will try him back a little bit later on in the show.
U.S. actions against TikTok could have a knock on effect for the rest of tech. Instagram head, Adam Mosseri tweeted that a ban would be quite bad
for Instagram, Facebook, and the internet more broadly.
Meanwhile, VPN use is spiking and TikTok's most popular star, Charlize D'Amelio has joined its rival app. Mozelle Thompson is a former
Commissioner for the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and former member of Facebook's Advisory Board. He joins us live now from Delaware via Skype.
So, let's just start with these new restrictions, Mozelle, on TikTok and WeChat coming Sunday. What stands out to you first and foremost?
MOZELLE THOMPSON, FORMER COMMISSIONER FOR THE U.S. FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION AND FORMER MEMBER OF FACEBOOK'S ADVISORY BOARD: Well, one of the things
that strikes me is this is really unusual. This whole transaction is really unusual, for a couple of different reasons.
First of all, that the U.S. has always been a champion for openness and we have criticized other countries for blocking our companies, and now we're
doing exactly the same thing.
We may have a legitimate reason, because of a national security interest. But what's also unusual about this is the President's direct personal
involvement which is something I don't think anyone has seen before.
ASHER: So you talked about national security. I want to read you something that actually Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said. He said, "Today's
actions prove once again that President Trump will do everything in his power to guarantee our national security and protect Americans from the
threats of the Chinese Communist Party." How much of that do you agree with? How much of it do you think is fair, just and valid?
THOMPSON: Well, it is all in the details, and I'm not sure we know what the details are yet.
If there is a legitimate concern about the Chinese government being able to look at the actions and transactions of American users, that's one thing.
But there is then the next level down, which is, do they want to understand the data flow? What kind of things people are doing? What kinds of things
they are saying?
It may not be dealing with the individual, but what groups of individuals do or what they are saying?
I haven't seen a lot of that discussed in the context of this transaction. You see more noise about the idea of a sale, which I think is what the
President may have been contemplating and the proposal with Oracle, which doesn't really quite do that.
So it creates a degree of uncertainty not only with this transaction but in the market place that we have never seen before.
ASHER: So you touched on this, and I want to get you to dig deeper. What sort of retaliations are we likely to see in terms of how the Chinese deal
with American companies now that we are seeing these increased restrictions on the likes of TikTok and WeChat? How does that affect relations with
Beijing? What sort of retaliations could we see over there?
[15:05:14]
THOMPSON: Well, that's going to be an interesting question because what a lot of people may not recognize is that the Chinese have already blocked
many American companies from doing business there.
You can't get to Google, and you can't get to Facebook in China right now partly because they made a demand that they want to have access to the data
on Chinese people and there was concern about censorship and other things.
So, in this case, it is a little different. We're concerned about the Chinese government having access to data of American users. But, still,
it's yet to be seen whether there are other American companies who may want to get into China or are currently operating in China on the internet who
may see some blockage. We don't know yet.
What's also very interesting so far is we haven't heard anything yet from the Chinese government in response to what we've heard from the U.S. in the
past several days.
ASHER: Right. So there are already restrictions on several American tech companies operating out of China, but there could be further restrictions.
There could be some form of retaliation.
So, with this deal with Oracle, just walk us through what your thoughts are on just how much this alleviates some of President Trump's national
security concerns, if at all.
THOMPSON: Look, if they are structuring it so that there is a cross- investment deal, for example, there is a trade of Oracle stock for an interest in ByteDance, that's one thing and I see that they have
contemplated some sort of IPO that allows investors to invest.
That might be good, but it doesn't necessarily directly address the data flow question. I see that there was discussion of having a spin off in the
United States and having data in the United States. But it's yet to be seen how much access anybody or the Chinese have to that. That -- the devil is
in the details in that regard.
What's also kind of interesting here is that Oracle is not really a -- what I call a retail consumer-facing company. They usually have been involved in
data and also in business-to-business. So this is something new for them. And I see that they have -- Walmart has been trying to partner with whoever
winds up here. It will be very different and something new for everybody involved.
ASHER: And just in terms of a Biden presidency. Obviously, we've got less than two months to go until the election. Can a Biden presidency undo any
of this, especially when it comes to WeChat specifically?
Obviously, with TikTok, that deal with Oracle looks like it is going to go through. We will see. But with WeChat, can a Biden presidency change
anything?
THOMPSON: Well, what is happening here, so far is done in the context of Executive Orders. Executive Orders are subject to change with a new
Executive.
This is not done legislatively, and so there may be different findings. They may have a different perspective on what they expect the details to
look like, so I would stay tuned for the news at 11:00 to find out what that's going to look like if there is a subsequent change.
ASHER: And I do want to touch on just how this changes the social media landscape in the U.S. more broadly. Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram
actually said the U.S. TikTok ban would be quite bad for Instagram, Facebook, and the internet more broadly. He is asking just to put aside
thoughts about competition because of freedom of expression and due process of law.
What do you think the implication is going to be for other social media companies given what has happened to TikTok and WeChat in the U.S.?
THOMPSON: One of the things that social media companies -- American social media companies have done around the world is they have been champions for
openness. When I say that, they don't like bans. They don't like censorship.
There are countries around the world who are very, very aggressive in wanting to block certain kinds of content and certain views, and our
companies have fought those around the world.
It's yet to be seen if we go forward in this manner with WeChat and TikTok whether that invites other countries to do the same with our companies. I
would like to see some further thinking and discussion about that as a policy matter, because that's something we are going to have to live with
long after this transaction does or does not happen.
ASHER: All right, Mozelle Thompson, live for us there. Thank you so much.
I want to go back to CNN technology reporter Brian Fung joining us live now from Washington. We did have some technical difficulties earlier, but he
appears to be with us now.
Brian, thank you for joining us. So just walk us through for the millions of users of TikTok, a lot of people who love this app in the United States,
what changes as of Sunday for those users given these restrictions by the Trump administration?
BRIAN FUNG, CNN TECHNOLOGY REPORTER: Well, the big change for TikTok users in the United States --
ASHER: All right, Brian, it looks as though President Trump is speaking now. I have to interrupt, I am so sorry.
Let's go to President Trump speaking live at the White House.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: ... the vaccines, very successful work, I might add.
We have three great, great companies doing somewhat different variations, but they're all looking very good. From the beginning of the China virus,
all nations have understood that our top priority must be to develop a vaccine as quickly as possible to end the pandemic and get life back to
normal.
The successful vaccine will not only save millions of lives, it will put an end to the restrictions and some of the things that go on and have to go on
in the meantime.
Today, I want to discuss the historic progress we are making to deliver a safe and effective vaccine in record time. And there's never been anything
like this ever. In our history, there's never been any -- in history, period, world history.
Since January, America's brilliant doctors and scientists have been working been working around the clock. These are the best medical minds in the
world by far. And the vaccines are going through the gold standard of clinical trials, and very heavy emphasis placed on safety.
Three vaccines are already in the final stage. Joe Biden's anti- vaccine theories are putting a lot of lives at risk. And they are only doing it for
political reasons. It's very foolish. It's part of their war to try and discredit the vaccine, now that they know that we essentially have it. We
will be announcing it fairly soon.
As part of Operation Warp Speed, my administration is manufacturing all of the most promising vaccines in advance. And, actually, it'll be fairly long
in advance. As soon as a vaccine is approved, the administration will deliver it to the American people immediately. Distribution will begin
within 24 hours after notice.
And the General, I think those are the words specifically you wanted us to use.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, Mr. President.
TRUMP: Within 24 hours, you're all set to go, and massive amounts will be delivered through our great military. And the General is one of our best,
and he is ready to go.
We will have manufactured at least 100 million vaccine doses before the end of the year, and likely much more than that. Hundreds of millions of doses
will be available every month and we expect to have enough vaccines for every American by April.
And, again, I will say that, even at that later stage, the delivery will go as fast as it comes, they can deliver. They're very good, best -- I think
probably the best in the world.
The estimates I'm providing today are based on the manufacturing that's in process. And that's in process immediately, right now. We have already
exceeded our ambitious goals under the Defense Production Act. Contracts that we have secured, we may even get far above these numbers.
The numbers that I'm telling you today, I think we will exceed them very, very substantially. And I think that also includes distribution. I think
distribution will go even quicker than most people think.
I'm relying on our military. Everything I have done with our military has worked out very well. In a short time, we will have a safe and effective
vaccine and we will defeat the virus.
Interestingly, as I was saying, that it will go very well, just like what we did with our military with respect to ISIS, it went very well, long
ahead of schedule. They have been incredible in working with me.
Let's go to Puerto Rico, because Puerto Rico has been hit very, very hard by a lot of different storms and they are a great people. It's a great
place. I know it well, great place.
Today, my administration is making the largest emergency relief award in history to rebuild Puerto Rico's electrical grid and educational system.
We're awarding $13 billion to permanently repair and replace thousands of miles of transmission and distribution lines that should have been done
many years ago.
This was beyond even the storms. This was just age and a lot of the salt. The salt from that ocean is a killer for electrical stations and power
generation systems. But, on top of the salt, you had these massive storms or hurricanes come in. And Maria in particular was a disaster.
[15:15:08]
TRUMP: But, for many years, they have been trying to get this done, and they haven't had the political willpower in Washington to get it done. So,
we're going to get it done for them.
We're also going to be bringing back very, very major amounts of medical work. We used to have pharmaceutical manufacturing at levels that few
places had. And a lot of it has left Puerto Rico, and we're going to bring that back, especially now since our emphasis is going to be making our
product.
So, we're going to bring pharmaceutical manufacturing back to Puerto Rico. A lot of it left over the years over a long period of time. It's been
leaving and going to China and other places. So, we're bringing all of that back. This was done in previous administrations, I'd like to just point
out.
We have done more for Puerto Rico than anybody. And this is just an example of it, but we have done for Puerto Rico, by far, than anybody. We will also
be launching a major effort to repair and renovate the schools across the island.
Following Hurricane Maria, my administration immediately deployed the full power of the federal government to bring the electric grid back online, so
they could, at least temporarily -- and it certainly wasn't a permanent fix. It was ripped to shreds.
But a lot of that was ripped to shreds long before even the storm came in. For many, many years, they have been trying to do it. But we wanted to
restore water supplies. And we did make emergency repairs to critical infrastructure, which we took care of and saved countless lives, which we
did.
F.E.M.A.'s response in Puerto Rico included the longest sustained air mission supplying food and water in American history. We supplied it for
long after the hurricane was gone, the largest disaster commodity distribution mission in U.S. history and the largest sea bridge operation
in Federal disaster aid in U.S. history.
My administration has also prepositioned vast quantities of relief supplies for the future disasters. Unfortunately, Puerto Rico is in the way of a lot
of different storms, a lot of hurricanes and the island is now stocked with nearly eight times as much drinking water, and 13 times as much food as it
had before I took office. So, they're ready to go if something should happen.
They got brushed by a storm recently, but they're in a good position. So, we're going to bring back medical distribution and manufacturing to Puerto
Rico and at a level far greater than it was before.
END
