More Than 30 Million U.S. Workers Now Asking For Government Help; Encouraging Signs About A Potential Coronavirus Treatment; Tech Giants' Musk And Zuckerberg Have Very Different Views On Reopening.
JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN BUSINESS ANCHOR, FIRST MOVE: Live from New York, I'm Julia Chatterley. This is FIRST MOVE and here's your need to know. COVID claims climb. More than 30 million U.S. workers now asking for government help. Healthcare hope. Encouraging signs about a potential coronavirus treatment. And polarizing plans. Tech giants' Musk and Zuckerberg have very different views on reopening. It's Thursday. Let's make the move. Welcome once again to FIRST MOVE this Thursday. Great to have you with us as always, and today, as I mentioned briefly, there are some encouraging signs to bring you on a potential treatment for COVID-19. Yes, it's very early days, but even Dr. Fauci seemed encouraged. All the details on that coming right up and of course, not a moment too soon as we continue to track the economic fallout from the shutdown measures. As I mentioned, more than 30 million people in the United States have now filed for unemployment benefits since mid-March. That is a further 3.8 million people -- families -- in the past week alone. The trend is lower. That's one thing. But of course, it's still heartbreaking in numbers. More analysis on what we're seeing and what they look forward to -- the hope is for the future. The hope here is that this will slow as economies reopen. That remains the focus I think, for Wall Street in addition to the future of science and treatments to tackle the outbreak. As you can see, futures at this moment are losing a bit of ground. Right now, tech continues to keep us connected in person and drive stock markets higher. Facebook, Microsoft and Tesla all delivering solid results and again, as you can see that premarket, Facebook and Tesla, the outperformers. Europe, meanwhile, as you can see in the red following the worst growth print on record for the Eurozone and the European Central Bank saying they will do more if necessary. Meanwhile, take a look what we're seeing in Asia. The message I think it seems to be at least from the data there that recovery is complicated as you would imagine. Japanese tech giant, Softbank, has warned overnight that investment losses could top $9.5 billion. While in China, the manufacturing survey sector data for activity falling again in April, after gaining in March. I said it -- complicated. Even Jay Powell of the Federal Reserve yesterday said he sees considerable medium term risk, and that both Congress and the Federal Reserve may have to do more. He said, now is not the time to worry about deficits. Wise words, I think. Let's get to the drivers because Christine Romans joins me now. Christine might, the hairs on my arms raise every Thursday when I see this economic data -- 30 plus million Americans now claiming for help.</s>CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It's just unimaginable and this is Main Street pain. There's no question about it. In some countries, the government steps in and pays a big portion of the payrolls to keep people in tact financially for their week to week and month to month budget. But in the United States, we have a different system where people have to apply for jobless benefits. They have to wait for the states to approve them, then they get the state benefits. And then the states have to figure out how to get this Federal stimulus money that's an extra $600.00 a week for these people. And you and I both know, a lot of people haven't even received the first unemployment check yet. So, this has been six weeks of true Main Street pain. We've been crunching the numbers, Julia, and when you look at the percentage of the labor force out of work, there's some states that are really hit much harder than others. Hawaii, for example, 29 percent of its labor market has filed for unemployment benefits over the past six weeks. That's remarkable, but also not surprising, since it's such a big tourism state. Kentucky, 28.8 percent. That's the home state of Mitch McConnell, who is someone who's going to be very key to any kind of future stimulus that we see. Georgia, Michigan, Rhode Island and Pennsylvania, all with big, big shares of their labor markets that have filed for unemployment benefits in the past six weeks. So, these are going to be governors and states that are going to be really feeling the pain here in trying to get their aid, get aid to people quickly.</s>CHATTERLEY: Disparity, too, when you look at the individual states, as we start to see economies reopen, those that are more sales oriented versus those that have the ability for their workers to remain at home, I think that's going to be an interesting, perhaps, contrast between what we call blue or Democratic states and Republican states here, Christine. But to bring it back to individual people, there is still a fear for workers going back to work. Am I safe? Is it the right time? This is going to be part of the challenge, too. Am I better off taking government money?</s>ROMANS: And I think there's so many levels to that question if you are somebody who is out of work. You may not even had a couple of unemployment checks yet, and already, you're thinking about when you're going to go back, but your kids aren't in school. Maybe you have someone in your in your immediate family who has a preexisting condition. Maybe you work in a job that is consumer facing and you've heard nothing about what the plans are going to be to keep you safe. You don't know what happens to you if you get sick and have to take a bunch of time off. I mean, there are a lot of questions, I think that people are trying to figure out as they make this calculation. Everybody wants to get back to work. There's no question about that. But what is that working situation going to look like? You know, in Iowa, for example, and in Texas, I know that those governors have said, look, if you don't want to go back to work, but your job is available to you, you don't get your unemployment benefits anymore. You have voluntarily left the labor market and that's going to be something facing meatpacking workers, facing retail workers, facing bar and restaurant workers as those slowly begin to open up in some states.</s>CHATTERLEY: Yes. And even for the strongest retailers, I mean, Amazon. We've had the conversation before. They said to their workers, you can take as much unpaid leave as you want if you are frightened. You only get paid if you're sick or you're quarantined in this case, and that's the challenge even for the strongest retailers. Christine Romans, the challenges continue. Thank you. Now, let's talk about some good news hopes arising after some promising news about a possible coronavirus treatment. A study shows Gilead antiviral drug, remdesivir might help patients recover more quickly from the virus. Even Dr. Anthony Fauci, the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases says he expects the F.D.A. will issue an emergency use authorization for the drug very soon. Elizabeth Cohen has all the details.</s>ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Finally, after months of illnesses, deaths connected to the scourge that is COVID- 19, we have some good news. Doctors have found a medicine that seems to work. It's called remdesivir.</s>DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: The data shows that remdesivir has a clear cut significant positive effect in diminishing the time to recovery.</s>COHEN (voice over): Remdesivir was a drug developed for Ebola, but it didn't work very well for that virus. It's never actually been on the market for any illness. In preliminary results of this new study sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, more than a thousand patients were randomly assigned to take either remdesivir or a placebo. It took the placebo patients 15 days to recover. It took the remdesivir patients 11 days to recover, a 31 percent improvement.</s>FAUCI: Although at 31 percent improvement, doesn't seem like a knockout, hundred percent. It is a very important proof of concept, because what it has proven is that a drug can block this virus.</s>COHEN (voice over): Specifically, the drug blocks an enzyme the virus needs to replicate. Researchers can use that knowledge to create other drugs.</s>FAUCI: There are a lot of other enzymes that the virus uses that are now going to be targets for this.</s>COHEN (voice over): Plus four fewer days in the hospital means less time for something to go wrong, like a hospital acquired infection.</s>DR. ANDRE KALIL, REMDESIVIR TRIAL RESEARCHER, UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA: If you stay four more days in a hospital, intubated and in a ventilator, you increase dramatically the chances that you're going to have nosocomial infections and the chances that you're going to die.</s>COHEN (voice over): Another advantage, it is thought that the drug has few side effects.</s>DR. ANEESH MEHTA, REMDESIVIR TRIAL RESEARCHER, EMORY UNIVERSITY: Through the data we had in our trials in Ebola patients, we knew that the side effects were pretty minimal in patients and they were easily reversed when the medication was stopped.</s>COHEN (voice over): But researchers are clear, this is not by any means a cure for coronavirus.</s>DR. JEREMY FAUST, BRIGHAM AND WOMEN'S HOSPITAL: I think that we are seeing a slight glimmer of hope here. But I worry that the exuberance is related to an old saying that there's no sauce better than hunger and we want something so bad that even something that looks a little bit promising is getting blown out of proportion in terms of what it means for the number of lives that we're going to save here.</s>COHEN (voice over): They'll forge on. They'll keep looking at remdesivir and also try to find another drug or maybe a combination of drugs that will be even more powerful against COVID-19. Elizabeth Cohen CNN reporting.</s>CHATTERLEY: Treatment and not a cure. That is what you were hearing, but fingers crossed -- some help. All right, the European Central Bank says it's prepared to increase the size of its Coronavirus Stimulus Package, this after the Eurozone's economy shrank at a record rate in the first quarter. Anna Stewart joins us now on the details, and Anna, I know Christine Lagarde, of course, the Chief of the E.C.B. is speaking at this moment, but what was astonishing for me in these numbers was looking at the growth collapse in the likes of Spain and in France, two big countries in Europe and compare that to what we saw at any point during the financial crisis, and this dwarfs that.</s>ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER: Yes, performance in Spain, contractions of over five percent for the first quarter. One economist this morning, Julia, is saying it was a blizzard of depressing economic data that frankly, the economy was in freefall at the end of March. Now, what isn't good, of course, is not only these dismal numbers, but the fact that really, lockdown for most of these European countries hit mid- March right at the end of the first quarter. So, you can only imagine what that means for the second quarter figures that we will see. There are also some depressing numbers out of Germany in terms of unemployment and that increased by 373,000 in April. Now, that would be a lot worse, without the scheme, of course, for all those workers who are furloughed, and those workers with shorter hours, they now have 10 million workers in Germany signed up for state aid. So, just some of the depressing numbers we're seeing out this morning.</s>CHATTERLEY: Yes. And Germany, arguably more able to bear the brunt of this than many of the other Eurozone nations. What has Christine Lagarde God said so far, about possible additional measures because they've done a lot, but the view is that they need to do more?</s>STEWART: And I think they will do more. Christine Lagarde is still speaking at the moment, a few announcements from the E.C.B. today. I think the most interesting one was regarding the PAP Program. That's the Pandemic Asset Purchase Program. Currently, that has an envelope of 750 billion euros, that's $820 billion. Now what they've said on that so far, because that will run out by autumn, I believe, at the current rate of purchases. They've said it will run through the end of the year at the least, possibly longer for as long as the crisis persists. Plus, they said they are prepared to increase the size of the program and also adjust its composition, which makes you wonder whether she might start thinking about purchasing up so-called fallen angels, corporate debt that is below investment grade as a direct result of a pandemic. A couple of other things to note, lots more liquidity, TLTRO III, an easing of conditions, and Julia, a whole new acronym, a new series of PELTROs -- I'm sure plenty of viewers would be scratching their head on that acronym. It is Pandemic Emergency Longer Term Refinancing Operations. Plenty more just helping banks helping liquidity around the system -- Julia.</s>CHATTERLEY: Yes. I lose track of all the acronyms, but that's one heck of a tongue twister to keep saying out loud, so perhaps we'll forgive them on that. Anna Stewart will continue to watch this space. Thank you so much for that. All right, on to a clash between the heads of Facebook and Tesla over coronavirus lockdown measures. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg expressing concerns about the risks of easing restrictions too soon, Tesla CEO Elon Musk meanwhile calling the stay-at-home orders fascist. Clare Sebastian has more on this. Now, Clare, let's be clear. A couple of differences between these businesses -- both tech giants -- one needing workers in place in a manufacturing facility to be clear, Elon Musk, versus perhaps the ability to do work from a distance in the case of Facebook and the workers there. Neither uncontroversial. But Elon Musk is not afraid of sharing very controversial views. Talk us through what he said first.</s>CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: He did not hold back, Julia, on the company earnings call, which was last night, as you said, calling the stay-at-home orders fascist. He said, this was like forcibly imprisoning people in their homes. He called it an outrage. At one point, he said, give people back their goddamn freedom. So, you know, this is something we've seen from Elon Musk before, a sort of slightly colorful language on earnings calls, but he is still -- he's clearly very frustrated and not least because their Fremont Gigafactory remains closed due to shelter-in-place orders in California. This is the beating heart of the business where most of their car production happens. He said this will be extremely harmful, not only to Tesla, but to other companies down the supply chain. But look, Elon Musk has been sort of outside the mainstream, certainly mainstream health officials in his views on COVID-19 for months now, I think we can pull up some of his tweets back on March 8th here, he tweeted, "The virility of COVID-19 ..." which he calls C-19, " ... is overstated due to conflating diagnosis with contraction date and over extrapolating exponential growth, which is never what happens in reality." Unfortunately, we have seen exponential growth, " ... keep extrapolating and the virus will exceed the mass of the known universe." So, clearly he is trying to say that all the panic is overstated, and he went back on Twitter here. He was on Twitter a lot on this subject on March 16th, saying, "Maybe worth considering chloroquine for COVID-19." And we know there was a lot of hope around that drug, particularly from the President, but the F.D.A. has since issued a warning that this can cause serious heart rhythm issues among patients and shouldn't be used outside of a hospital context. So, Elon Musk treading fairly close to the line with his views on COVID-19, and it is controversial, Julia, because it is noise around this company, which meanwhile, has withdrawn its guidance. It did post a profit, but it's very uncertain what's going to happen next, particularly, as the factory in California remains closed.</s>CHATTERLEY: Yes, it's such a great point. I mean, you missed the tweet on March the 13th, where he said probably close to zero new cases in the United States, too, by the end of April, based on current trends.</s>CHATTERLEY: Yes, just quickly flip to Mark Zuckerberg because he chose from the onset of his call to say, reopening too soon was a real concern for him.</s>SEBASTIAN: Yes, and not just from the call, Julia, from the onset of this crisis, Mark Zuckerberg has been very conservative, very vocal on how, you know, Facebook is essentially letting employees work from home. It has canceled all events and meetings with people with other 50 people until June of next year. He really is trying to get ahead of this. On the call, he said that he worries reopening places too quickly before infection rates have been reduced will almost guarantee, he said, future outbreaks and worse future economic and health outcomes. This meanwhile, while Facebook while showing some resilience in the face of this, they did see a steep decline in ad revenue in March, showing some stabilization in April, but again, they are very uncertain about what's to come, but perhaps as you point out, more resilient in the face of this than the likes of Tesla because they don't necessarily rely on their workers being in the office. But then again, ad revenue businesses spending, that is something where they are vulnerable.</s>CHATTERLEY: Yes, absolutely. And I will just, for completeness, point out that Elon Musk did say, look, we open with care and appropriate protection and that comes down to businesses themselves, once they are given the go ahead to protect their workers as best they can. So, yes, that will be the focus then for both of these companies, for all companies of course. Clare Sebastian, thank you for that. All right, we're going to take a break. Coming up next though on FIRST MOVE, the CEO of Southeast Asia's biggest bank talks digitalization in times of crisis and how they are helping their customers get through this. And later in the show, re-growing a business during shutdown. The founder of Farm Girl Flowers tells us how. Stay with us. We are back after this.