U.K. Government To Help Pay Wages Of Anyone Facing Unemployment; Goldman Sachs Expect Record U.S. Jobless Claims; 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.
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.</s>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.</s>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.</s>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.</s>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.</s>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. 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?</s>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.</s>QUEST: Right.</s>ARON: And now, with expenses out the door and no revenues, we are burning through cash.</s>QUEST: Okay.</s>ARON: What we need is liquidity and only the government's going to be able to provide that.</s>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?</s>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.</s>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?</s>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 --</s>QUEST: Right.</s>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.</s>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?</s>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.</s>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.</s>ARON: Absolutely. And thanks for covering the news in these tough times.</s>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.