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First Move with Julia Chatterley

U.S. Brings Forward Its Travel Ban Against Travelers From Brazil As Brazilians Catch The Virus In The Tens Of Thousands; Some Floor Trading Does Resume Today On The Floor Of The New York Stock Exchange; Stocks Are Set To Surge Once Again In The Hope Of A Vaccine. Aired 9-10a ET

Aired May 26, 2020 - 09:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[09:00:05]

RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS ANCHOR, QUEST MEANS BUSINESS: Live from New York, I am Richard Quest, in for Julia Chatterley all this week. You are

most welcome.

Here is what you need to know on this Tuesday morning out of New York.

Brazil ban as the U.S. brings forward its travel ban against travelers from that country, not applying, of course, to U.S. citizens. Brazilians are

catching the virus in the tens of thousands.

Back in business, some floor trading does resume today on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. The governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, will

virtually ring or ring virtually the opening bell.

And stocks are set to surge once again, it's the hope of a vaccine that's pushing the markets higher in New York.

It is Tuesday, and this is FIRST MOVE.

A very warm welcome. It is FIRST MOVE. It is Tuesday. And the way the markets in New York are set to open after a long holiday weekend, the

Memorial Day weekend, is with a very strong bounce.

Look at the futures, up two and a third percent, 25,000 once again well and truly within grasp. Same for the NASDAQ. That's up strongly and the S&P.

All the futures markets are up.

And it's a continuation of last week's gains. The optimism, the reopenings will proceed successfully and fresh hope for a vaccine. The Dow, highly

likely to cross 25,000.

Europe, let's go to Europe, across the Atlantic, the U.K. was b back in action after its bank holiday. Travel stocks were gaining. The U.K. is

seeing not the best -- Paris is up higher than that. Reports say Germany could lift travel restrictions for its citizens next month.

And in Asia, strong gains with The Nikkei up 2.5 percent. Japan lifted its state of emergency for the entire country, and that's why, I think, we're

seeing Japan almost the best of the day, but the Australia market is up the best part of three percent.

And so to Latin America, the BOVESPA in Brazil up four percent. The travel ban is set -- U.S. travel ban is set to take effect tonight. Nick Paton

Walsh will be live for us in Sao Paulo in just a moment or two.

And our old friend, oil. We're always catching up with how oil is doing. Demand is improving. New signs countries are cutting production as

promised. Take those two things together and that's why we're seeing a gain of nearly four percent in oil.

To the drivers. Christine Romans is with me. Two factors for the U.S. markets. And Christine, I can't gauge which I think is the stronger push at

the moment. Firstly, the prospect of a vaccine, but we've had that a million times.

But secondly, the idea that the reopening is going better than expected, even allowing for an uptick in cases in certain places.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, hello, my friend. It's so nice to see you and yes, I mean, looking at an S&P 500

near 3,000, a Dow that could cross 25,000 again today and a NASDAQ that is up on the year, it looks like investors are pricing for perfection in terms

of reopening of the economy and vaccine progress.

On that reopening, I think overnight, in Asia, that really, really set the tone here. Japan, U.K. opening its retail sector. These were things that

kind of fed into last week's hopefulness in the United States about a reopening here, and then new progress on another human trial for another

vaccine, that is also sparking some optimism this morning.

But we have seen that vaccine optimism kind of ebb and flow before. Last week, Moderna had a very big Monday, and then kind of scaled back a little

bit in the days that followed on concerns that, well, look, this is going to be a long road.

I would put a little bit of caution in here as well for investors because, look, you know, the stock market is incredibly -- stocks here in the U.S.

are incredibly expensive.

I mean, earnings are ugh, and you've got stocks here that have been moving higher. They are up to March highs at the moment and we still don't have

testing, tracing, treatment and a vaccine.

So, there is risk in all of this still.

QUEST: Right, but I just -- the Proverbial "but." There seems to be an understanding that providing the cases don't become out of hand and out of

control, then, the U.S. is prepared to allow a drift higher within the confines of not overwhelming medical and hospital supplies.

ROMANS: Well, what's really interesting to me is that we don't know sort of what the plan is for reopening yet, right? I mean, it's been left to the

States, and different states have different sort of protocols here.

So, I do think there still is a lot of risk we don't know. The W.H.O. is also warning there could be this second peak. We're in the first wave of

the virus and we could see a second peak in that first wave, so there is still a lot of caution from the scientists, but with the markets, you're

right.

[09:05:19]

ROMANS: What the markets are saying is that they tolerate a number that's drifting higher if you have a healthcare system that can handle it and you

start to get some robust testing and tracing, and potentially therapeutics.

We're not there yet on any of that, which is why -- that's where my caution comes from in looking at the markets right here, but clearly, markets are

looking well beyond openings to a successful restarting of the American economy.

Those FAANG stocks, that tech core of these deep-pocketed companies that are up 25 percent, 35 percent, 45 percent, some 50 percent this year, I

mean, that's a different engine of the economy that's doing very well, even as Main Street is crumbling here.

Just a lot of headline risk, I would say, both for the economic data we're going to be getting and also the healthcare news we are going to be

getting, but at least for this morning, you're seeing optimism in the United States about the direction of all of this.

QUEST: Christine Romans in New York. It is good to see you. Thank you, Christine Romans.

Now, the New York Stock Exchange is to reopen its floor just about half an hour from now. It's a limited reopening, restricted to certain floor

brokers, and it will be the first time since March that the floor has been in session.

There won't be anything like the usual energy. There will be masks and full social distancing. We'll be talking to the Vice Chairman of the Exchange in

just a moment.

Alison Kosik is with me on Wall Street. So, why has the Exchange done this in this way?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: You know, the CEO of the NYSE, Stacey Cunningham had released an op-ed in "The Wall Street Journal" a

couple of weeks ago and saying there is a way to do this, and we are seeing how the NYSE is going to do it in just about a half hour from now.

It is using, you know, social distancing measures. It's also looking at legal measures as well. Let me first go over those safety measures with

you, Richard, because these are social distancing to the nth degree.

Any traders that come to work here today have to have agreed to have not taken public transportation. Once they arrive at the front door here, their

temperatures will be checked. Of course, they will be wearing facemasks as well.

Once on the floor, they have to remain six feet apart, social distancing will be enforced. If traders do not stay six feet apart, they will be

removed from the floor.

There is to be no eating on the floor of the stock exchange, which is usually what we see. Instead, they have to make appointments to eat in the

cafeteria. Of course, properly social distanced.

Also along the floor, there is Plexiglas or plastic separating some of the traders to try to help them keep their distance as well, and there is a ban

on any handshaking as well or any physical contacts.

Now, about that legal measure. Anyone who walks into the building here at the New York Stock Exchange has to sign a Liability Waiver, basically

saying, I give up my rights to sue the NYSE if I get sick inside this building -- Richard.

QUEST: Okay, so -- but Alison, it begs the question, will the floor ever really get back to where it was? I mean, you know, without the proviso of,

until we have a vaccine, et cetera.

KOSIK: Yes, and that's the question we can ask about the broader economy, right? Will we get back to what it was? And I think it all depends on

whether or not we have a vaccine, and that, in fact, will instill that confidence in people to get close to each other, to have that open outcry

on the floor, which, by the way, is not going to be happening in this Phase 1 of reopening at the New York Stock Exchange -- Richard.

QUEST: Alison Kosik, thank you. Alison is outside the Exchange. John Tuttle, the Vice Chair of the New York Stock Exchange will join me in a

little while as we wait for the opening bell.

We'll also show you just how the market has risen since then. When the market closed, well, you'll hear all the numbers when we talk to John

Tuttle in just a moment or two.

LATAM Airlines is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the United States. The CEO is blaming the pandemic. Now, LATAM is Latin America's largest

airline. It's actually a sort of LATAM-Chile, LATAM-Ecuador and so forth, all subsidiaries of the umbrella, LATAM Group.

The bankruptcy protection is in the U.S. so that it can restructure whilst, of course, staying fully in business.

Colombia's Avianca did the same thing earlier this month. Clare Sebastian is with me.

So now we have the two largest groups of airlines in Latin America, Avianca and LATAM, fierce, fierce rivals both, both now going into Chapter 11.

[09:10:25]

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Richard, I think this is the sign of the pressure that they've been under. LATAM has had to cut

passenger traffic, well, cut their passenger services by the 95 percent.

They say that they're going to try to restart in June, but they are going to keep it at lower costs, they are going to have more flexibility for

passengers, more, of course, enhanced cleaning and sanitation measures and things like that.

All of that costs money, plus add to that the fact that they have not had access to state aid yet. They said in their announcement of this bankruptcy

filing that they are in talks with various governments: Brazil, Chile, Peru, among others, to try to get state aid.

They also have debtor in possession financing from a number of shareholders including Qatar Airways, not notably from Delta Airlines, which owns 20

percent of LATAM.

Clearly, they are under their own amount of stresses, but this is a situation that they have been brought to. The CEO did -- it was at pains to

make clear that Chapter 11 is not a liquidation. They do have to continue in business.

He hopes this will pave the path forward to an airline that can survive in the post-COVID era, which he acknowledged of course will be very different

from the pre-COVID era, but they are going to try to restructure and bring their debt down, and keep going.

QUEST: It does raise the question why these airlines particularly felt the need to go into Chapter 11? I mean, clearly, I suppose one problem is that

there are an amalgam of different airlines in different countries and the existing balance sheets were stressed, but we haven't yet --

I mean, in the U.S., we've seen one or two minor, but we haven't seen any of the majors anywhere else having to go in -- that's a lie -- except of

course in Australia where Virgin Australia did.

SEBASTIAN: Well, Richard, I think state aid does play a big role in this. You see the likes of Lufthansa getting that huge cash injection from the

German government, the U.S. airlines have shared $25 billion from the government here and that is, in itself, controversial.

Some believe that Chapter 11 is a sort of a more ethical path for these airlines to take, that they should restructure on their own and then if

they still need to, they should seek state aid after that and we see that controversy in play today.

Ryanair saying that it will now appeal the state bailout of Lufthansa in Europe, calling it illegal. The CEO, Michael O'Leary, who as you know, has

been very vocal in his opposition to state handouts to airlines saying Lufthansa is addicted to state aid.

So, it is very controversial how these airlines should manage this and how much help they should get in doing that.

QUEST: Thank you very much, Clare Sebastian with the airlines and we will watch that closely, of course.

Emmanuel Macron is pledging to support the auto industry. You'll remember of course, France has already supported Air France KLM to the tune of eight

billion euros.

Now as the auto industries return, Cyril Vanier is in Paris. How much and to whom?

CYRIL VANIER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're about to get the announcement in about an hour or so, Richard, so as far as numbers, we don't yet know

them.

We know there's one big number floating out there, and that concerns the ailing French car maker Renault, which is really in the eye of this

particular storm.

The French Economy Minister made no bones about it, saying they may not survive this crisis. So, the number is five billion. Renault has cobbled

together a five Billion euro loan, but the French government being the majority shareholder, along with Japan's Nissan of Renault still needs to

sign off on this loan and as of a minutes ago, officially they had not done so.

The French government wants to know what Renault's plan is going forward, because Renault already delivered its worst year in a decade. That was in

2019. It was extremely vulnerable going into this crisis, and of course, all of their plants and dealerships in France were forced to shut mid-

March.

So, the French government does not want to see its economic champion fail, but they also don't want to keep pumping money endlessly if Renault doesn't

have a plan going forward.

We're going to be hearing more about that plan from Renault later this week.

QUEST: Cyril Vanier who is in Paris and will report on the details once they become clear.

Now, in just a moment, Wall Street, the New York Stock Exchange reopens. Don't shake hands. Don't take public transport, and eat in the cafeteria.

The sort of more basic restrictions.

The traders are returning to the floor under new rules. We're live at the open.

And feeling the chill, China is warning against a new Cold War with mounting U.S. tensions.

Former U.S. Ambassador to China joins me after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:17:54]

QUEST: So, these are the stories making news around the world this morning. This is FIRST MOVE. I am Richard Quest in for Julia Chatterley.

The U.S. ban on non-Americans entering the country if they've been to Brazil in the past two weeks comes into force in just a few hours. Brazil

has the second highest number of confirmed infections in the world. According to Johns Hopkins, at least 375,000 people have had it.

Nick Paton Walsh is in Sao Paulo. How is the country -- I mean, the stock market in Brazil is somewhat extraordinary at four percent today, and yet

there must be a feeling that this is a crisis that is bordering out of control.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: Look, I think there is no doubt in the minds of many Brazilians that there is something bad

ahead. I think anyone who has been looking at the signs, listening to medical professionals, and frankly listening to their local governors here

in Sao Paulo or in Rio or in the town of Manaus in the middle of the Amazon, one of the worst hit in the country, if not the world know that

this is going to be very Bad and the peak is one to two weeks away.

The numbers though don't tell the full story, certainly, because testing isn't like it is in the United States. The only country in the world that

has more cases than Brazil at the moment.

So, it may not be the full figure. The point is, though, there is possibly room somehow in all of this for misplaced optimism because of the message

coming out of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who has been very much pro-economy, calling this a little flu initially, going on to perhaps

suggest the fight against it, he used the word, it is a war.

But I think really, if you're looking for the possibility that the lockdown isn't going to be that restrictive towards the economy, all you have to do

is look at the Federal government here, which at one point, in fact, seemed to be happy to allow a Health Minister to resign over a dispute about

whether they would authorize the use of hydroxychloroquine, that is now recommended in Brazil for moderate and mild cases, not just severe cases

despite the fact W.H.O. say in fact, it is harmful.

So, this is an extraordinary situation where the main Federal government is pushing in one direction and its local governors who are essentially trying

to put the lockdowns in place that have shown around the rest of the world to be successful -- Richard.

[09:20:12]

QUEST: But is the curve flattening?

PATON WALSH: No, it's on its way up. I mean, there is no doubt about that right now according to most of the studies being seen. Certainly, the

number of new cases reported every day in the last 24-hour period was 11,000. We have seen it about four or five days earlier to be about 20,000

a day, but that isn't necessarily a reflection of the spread of the disease being lower.

It's about how many numbers are being tested, how that data is collected. Different states in brazil count positive tests or suspected COVID cases as

part of their particular figure, so it's a mishmash of numbers, not very universal at all.

And above all of that, too, is the extraordinary politics of all of this because you essentially have a political war between the Federal

presidential government that says, don't take this as seriously, get back to work, the economy is the most important thing, and local governors who

say, we need to protect lives because people are dying around us.

That's fundamentally where the problem is in the next two weeks. You can't stop nature. You can't stop the virus. You can't stop the peak coming.

What you can possibly alter is how damaging it is and the debate really here in Brazil is, is the economy more important than people? Is it health

or wealth -- Richard.

QUEST: And it's a debate that's been had in many countries, but it seems like it's on the forefront here in Brazil. Nick Paton Walsh, thank you.

A junior minister in the U.K. government has resigned in protest over the actions of Dominic Cummings, the Prime Minister's chief adviser.

On Monday, Cummings said he did not regret traveling more than 400 kilometers out of London and back while the country was under a strict

lockdown. The Prime Minister has defended his adviser's action.

The markets' strong gains expected with the blue chips likely to outperform. You can see the numbers there, over 25,000, if that is true.

The NASDAQ was the best gainer last week of 3.5 percent, four percent for the year. VIX volatility down.

European stocks gaining as more countries lift restrictions on movement and commerce.

The New York Stock Exchange is opening in the next few minutes. John Tuttle is the Vice Chairman. He joins me -- John Tuttle, via Skype.

John Tuttle, thank you first of all. Congratulations on opening the market in some shape or form. I do wonder why you chose these particular people,

the floor traders, rather than, say, the market makers who are supposedly the backbone, if you like, of the unique specialist version of the New York

Stock Exchange.

JOHN TUTTLE, VICE CHAIRMAN, NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE: Well, great to be with you, Richard, and today is an important day, not only for the New York

Stock Exchange and the markets, but also an important symbol of America and hopefully the world recovering from this pandemic that has closed our

trading floor for over two months.

And so we've been working very closely with Federal, state, and local officials, with public health experts and others to come up with a plan to

methodically and thoughtfully open up -- reopen the trading floor at our iconic 11 Wall Street building, and you identified one of the

constituencies down there, the floor brokers. That's who will be coming back into our building today at a much limited capacity.

So, 25 percent of the typical population on the trading floor will be down there today. Our designated market makers, who represent a lot of our

listed companies will continue to operate remotely, but the reason we brought those floor brokers back is because they represent the large

institutional investors, the asset managers out there, and many of them are small to medium size businesses.

While we have large investment banks down there, we have these smaller firms that their presence helps save investors, and, again, pension funds

or even individual savings for the retirement, millions of dollars by being on our trading floor.

So, we're pleased to welcome them back in a limited capacity and today is a very important symbol for getting back to normal.

QUEST: I was looking at the numbers. The market has gone up the best part of 25 percent since the floor closed.

I guess, I mean, assuming this goes well, when do you anticipate taking the next step, another tranche of either brokers, traders or DMMs coming back?

TUTTLE: It's a really good question, and first of all, our workforce continues to work remote, so they're not back in the building because we

want to make sure that group on the trading floor is protected and we minimize as much risk as possible.

We're closely monitoring events, and when the time is right, we'll begin Phase 2 of our reopening plan, but think about how much has changed over

the past two months from when we decided out of an abundance of caution to proactively and temporarily close the trading floor.

It's tough to predict what the future would look like but we're taking the first step today with the phased reopening of our iconic 11 Wall Street

floor.

[09:25:21]

QUEST: I'm going to ask you the question that I asked you the question when you closed. You will reopen the floor, I mean, your opening is in

limited capacity. We've just got a minute left of this, John, because I want to make sure I catch the opening bell.

You're still committed to the floor as the centerpiece of Wall Street?

TUTTLE: Absolutely, and that floor results in superior savings not only for our listed companies, but investors.

It's also an important symbol of the markets and free enterprise and that floor will be open and I hope our next interview is in person down there.

QUEST: Oh, I'm looking forward to that very much, being jostled and moved around on the floor. Thank you. John Tuttle, I hope everything goes well

today with the opening of the New York Stock Exchange. Thank you.

Making sure we're all on time because the one thing we don't want to miss today is the opening of the floor. Limited in nature, maybe not quite as

exciting as otherwise. The market is likely to rally very strongly at the open.

Andrew Cuomo, the Governor of New York, is opening the floor in just about three minutes from now. This is FIRST MOVE. I'm Richard Quest.

There is plenty more. It is a historic day in a sense, because of the symbolism of what it says that we will get back to work.

The market will rally, as you can see on the screen, 25 percent since the floor closed. This is FIRST MOVE.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:30:00]

QUEST: Well, there you have it. Governor Cuomo ringing the opening bell with a mask. That's Stacey Cunningham, the President of the Exchange, the

CEO, virtual high fives.

We had thought that it was going to be a virtual ringing from Albany, but no, there he was. And the familiar signs of the New York Stock Exchange,

the floor, but a very different floor. Twenty five percent or less of the people that are there.

It is a case of the floor brokers, the small brokers who deal with a lot of institutional business. As I can see the pictures going round there, GTS,

they are the market makers, so you're looking at the GTS market makers and Citadel, who are market makers, the trading post there. They will not be

back yet. It will be some time. Which leads me to assume that actually, the number of people on the floor will be less since the market makers aren't

there.

At most, it will be crowded round those floor brokers and companies that have floor trading presence. The market is up 2.5 percent at the open. That

was expected. Two reasons, obviously, you've got a reopening that seems to be successfully going well and you've got the prospect of a vaccine.

I think it's the reopening that's pushing this market a little bit higher. We've had vaccines on vaccines off. Whatever it is, risk on at the moment,

and stocks are up across the board.

Another interesting thing is energy stocks. They would also be higher because of the way things are trading.

Energy stocks are amongst the biggest gainers as oil consumption picks up. It's perverse. Consumption is picking up, and therefore, the way the market

is moving, people seem to like what's going on.

Hopes for a vaccine help improve sentiment. Shares in Novavax are posting double-digit gains as it's begun first stage human trials.

They're up more than a thousand percent year-to-date. U.S. drug maker giant Merck is also working on vaccines. Clinical studies are expected later this

month. Scores of candidates are being studied. CNN's Elizabeth Cohen reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: This is now the tenth team that's in human clinical trials trying out their experimental COVID

vaccines.

So, let's take a look at these numbers worldwide. So, ten worldwide, four of them are in the U.S., Novavax is the fourth, that's the recent addition.

And then there's five in China, and there's one in the United Kingdom.

In addition, there are 114 teams worldwide that are in what's called pre- clinical stages. In other words, they're in the lab or they're working with animals, but they have not yet started human clinical trials.

So, what human clinical trials mean is that you try it out first on a small number to make sure it's safe and to make sure you're getting the immune

response that you're looking for, and then you move up to larger numbers.

Eventually, you test out the vaccine in thousands or tens of thousands of people. You try it out against people who are not getting vaccinated. Is

there a difference? Are vaccinated people getting COVID less often?

So, Novavax is the fourth in the United States. They are not quite as far ahead as some of the other ones, but it's really a matter of time to see

who finishes first and more importantly, who has the safe and effective vaccine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: Elizabeth Cohen reporting. Now, the United States says China was -- there was a lack of transparency and didn't tell the world how bad things

were and that China could have stopped the coronavirus pandemic at its borders.

China says the U.S. is just blaming them for its own incompetence in the way it's handled the pandemic and if you look at the way China has, the

numbers are well down and the economy is fully open.

President Trump says he is no longer speaking to President Xi. He is not calling him at the moment. And an alliance that was already fragile seems

to be at breaking point.

The economy of China is recovering. The economy of the United States is going downhill. The former U.S. Ambassador to China, Max Baucus joins me

now.

Ambassador, always good to see you. Would you say, as some have said, that the relationship between the two is now at its worst level in decades?

MAX BAUCUS, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO CHINA: Well, it's certainly at its worst level in the last ten years, maybe two or three decades. It's bad,

and the actions we've seen the last several days make things worse.

[09:35:07]

BAUCUS: For example, the People's Congress in China passing the National Security Law which basically hastens the day when China is going to take

over Hong Kong.

Sometimes we all say that well, words are bad, but actions are in their own way even worse. This is deeds, this is not words, the actions that China

has taken with respect to Hong Kong.

So, that makes it much worse. I'm not sure the Phase 1 Trade Deal is going to go through right now. We're in a very bad spot.

QUEST: Is the U.S. accusation against China fundamentally -- let's not quibble around the edges -- but is it fundamentally justified when the U.S.

says China could have done more to be more transparent and to stop the virus at its borders?

BAUCUS: I think China could have been more transparent. I don't think the virus began in a lab as some in the U.S. have said, but did begin truly in

China and I think there was a bit of a cover-up. Partly that's the bureaucracy in China.

When you spend time in China, you realize that China is very bureaucratic.

Second, the leaders in Wuhan and Hubei Province don't want to tell their leaders up in Beijing bad news.

For sure, China did cover up initially, then they finally realized how bad this was and they locked down Hubei and locked down Wuhan and did a pretty

good job stopping it, but there was initial cover-up, no question.

QUEST: And so, you just alluded -- well, you said outright that you feared for the China Trade Deal. Well, the first bit of the China-U.S. Trade Deal

was window dressing to a large extent.

The second bit that came along, many of us believed actually, it really wasn't that much different because the sanctions and the tariffs, the

majority of them are still in place, aren't they?

And surely, nothing really improves until they, the U.S. tariffs against China, are removed, which is highly unlikely in an election year, do you

think?

BAUCUS: I agree with that. Election year, people do crazy things. They say crazy things. They say things to get re-elected. And clearly, rhetoric in

D.C. today among those who in the Congress want to get re-elected is to bash China. You saw that 57-page memo, for example.

Now, the real danger here is that some in Beijing think, well, that's not only politics and maybe that's going to be the situation the Chinese face

after the election.

So, it's very important, I think, for the United States leaders who are criticizing China and much of the criticism is legitimate, to be kind of

careful because if it goes too far, it's going to cause even excessive nationalism in China, then whoever is elected President is going to have a

harder time putting things together again.

QUEST: Ambassador, when you look at it all from the beauty of Montana, which is one of the most gorgeous parts of the world, and some arguably

might say somewhat remote, but you are living in a truly beautiful part of the United States, rural, different, how does it all look?

This battle between these two behemoths, does it seem like there is a potential to reach ground, or is China going to be the whipping boy for

Donald Trump's re-election campaign?

BAUCUS: I think probably, China will be the whipping boy, not just for Donald Trump's campaign but you'll see a lot of Democrats with China, too.

They don't want to let Trump get too far ahead of them.

The real danger is this. We are the two largest countries in the world, U.S. and China, and neither country is going any place.

We have to figure out a way to work together. That's what this all comes down to.

Sure, there's going to be competition, but there will be trade between our countries. There will be differences. We have to work harder to figure out

ways to deal with each other. That means we keep our feet on the ground, clear-eyed, level-headed, but we're not going anywhere, China is not going

anywhere, so let's figure out a way to work together.

QUEST: Ambassador, it is always a treat and we're very grateful that you've given us time to get this. Thank you, sir.

BAUCUS: Thank you.

QUEST: Now, let's go to Asia. The casino magnate, Stanley Ho has died at the age of 98. Extremely well known. Much loved. He was the king of Macao,

who turned it into one of the world's largest and most lavish casino resorts.

CNN's Kristie Lu Stout reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): He was one of Hong Kong's original tycoon and one of Asia's richest men, but Stanley Ho made

his fortune on the nearby enclave of Macao, the only place in China where casinos are legal.

For four decades, Ho held the only gaming concession in the territory. The man who came to be known as "The Godfather of Gambling" always said he

never indulged himself.

[09:40:12]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STANLEY HO, MACAO CASINO MAGNATE: I know nothing of gambling. I still don't gamble. I've got this franchise because it was a challenge for me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT (voice over): And he says he fought to keep a clean image in what consider a murky business.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HO: Some people still think that Stanley Ho knows too many triads and connected with the triads. This is very unfair. A real misconception.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT (voice over): But he was a flamboyant man who loved ballroom dancing and not only did his casino monopoly make him a very rich man,

today, the people of Macao more or less live off the rattle of roulette wheels and the clinking of chips from the empire he founded.

Ho's substantial influence around Asia was underlined when he took a seat on the political advisory body to China, bringing him close to key figures

in Beijing.

In 2002, Macao opened its casino industry to foreign competition and big rollers such as Wynn Resorts and the Las Vegas Sands entered the market.

At the same time, China eased travel restrictions and tourists headed straight for the casinos just over the border.

This was the start of a decade of explosive growth that would see Macao's gaming scene become many times the size of the Las Vegas strip.

Ho's fortunes grew as well. And by 2008, "Forbes" estimated his net worth at $9 billion. But that wealth would threaten to tear his family apart.

Ho was famously polygamous having 17 children with four women.

In 2009, he suffered a fall and underwent brain surgery. Frail and in poor health, he stepped back from running his business and members of his family

engaged in a very public battle for his fortune.

A resolution came two years later with Ho giving up nearly his entire stake in the gambling empire he built, divided among his family.

He would also live to witness a reversal of fortune in Macao as a corruption crackdown and slowing growth in China hit gaming revenue hard.

But despite the uncertainty ahead, Stanley Ho's legacy endures. Macao itself and how far it has come remains a testament to his vision and his

life's work.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: Kristie Lu Stout reporting on the life and times of Stanley Ho.

In a moment, after the break, staycations are likely to be all the rage this year, if for no other reason than many people are simply frightened.

Well, not scared maybe, but concerned about the health risks of flying by air. We'll talk about it after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:45:49]

QUEST: It is noticeable. Here I am in the lounge and the air-conditioning is off and it is already starting to get hot. All of which tells me that

summer is round the corner and it is time to start thinking about where one might go on vacation, holidays and the like.

Europe is ready for a break, said one top European official. Well, as it gets under way, we're looking at one barometer. Each week here on FIRST

MOVE, we're going to be looking at this barometer.

It's the T.S.A. numbers, the U.S. sort of airport security people -- and they monitor the number of people they screen every day. So, between

Thursday and Monday, roughly 1.5 million people were screened. That sounds a lot, but it's a fraction. It's around 10 percent to 12 percent of the

number of people screened last year.

And you can see, if you look at the chart, just how the falloff happened in terms of the number of people screened and how much it literally fell off a

cliff.

So, you've got the number. Look at March 1st. You're up to two million a day. Now, you get down to we're just in the tens of thousands in sort of

mid-April.

But look at the back end of this chart, and it's inching up. Still a long way to go before we go. We'll continue to watch all of this.

Travel operators are under no illusions about the difficulties that they face. Airlines are saying that things won't get back to normal, i.e., back

to where they were until 2022-2023.

As for the hotel business, well, Trivago's CEO spoke to me on "Quest Means Business" last night where he put it clearly, things were not going to

return quickly, and when they did, trust was going to be the issue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AXEL HEFER, CEO TRIVAGO: This year will not be about making money, and it will obviously be about losing as little as possible, but the key thing

this year will be to, step by step, rebuild the confidence of travelers into traveling.

As I said, first domestically and then in bigger and bigger steps as travel is becoming safer, and then to have some kind of recovery of the overall

activity for next year.

This year, the activity will be very low, almost in any possible scenario.

QUEST: All right. Now, we've done numerous looks at how hotels can rebuild that trust. Everything from letting -- well, I mean, guests will say we

don't want room service or we don't want our room serviced.

But what do you think will be the touchstone for rebuilding travel? There will be lots of hotels that will make lots of pretty noises, but what will

be the evidence that will make people feel better?

HEFER: It might sound simple, but I do think that trips where everybody is coming back healthy will help to rebuild the confidence. That's why we do

think that really, step by step, getting more and more out of your comfort zone, will be important.

Apartments are considered by a lot of people as the safest accommodation type. Then, the next one, smaller hotels with not full occupancy and big

distance, no common areas.

And then you will really go step by step back to something that will be not normal, but will be closer to normal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: Now, the travel and tourism, we will be looking at in much more detail tonight on "Quest Means Business." It is our travel and tourism

special. We'll be talking about that.

I will be speaking to top airlines, hotels and CEOs, as well as Tourism Ministers from some of the countries that rely on visitors the most. It is

tonight. It is 8:00 p.m. in London, 9:00 p.m. across Central and Eastern Europe.

Coming up in a moment, we're going to be live on the floor of the exchange. Jonathan Corpina will be with me to tell me how life is different. He's

back on the floor of the exchange and what's it like.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:52:09]

QUEST: The markets are now open and doing business. Let's see how we progress. It was about 2.4 percent up when we opened. Look at the markets

now and you'll get an idea.

Rally is underway. It's holding. It's not growing. It is holding. The floor closed -- the Stock Market floor closed on March 23rd and the Dow since

then has risen by more than 25 percent.

The NASDAQ is up by nearly a third, and it's only 3.5 percent from its all- time highs. Shares of Novavax are rallying 16 percent. It's hoping to get stocks of its early stage testing of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Jonathan Corpina is with me, Senior Managing Partner at Meridian Equity Partners, back on the floor of the exchange. How -- it is different.

Explain how different.

JONATHAN CORPINA, SENIOR MANAGING PARTNER, MERIDIAN EQUITY PARTNERS: You know, everything -- every aspect has been different, right, starting from

the commute coming in today with not taking my regular train in and driving in and walking down Wall Street with a lot less people on there.

And then the process and procedure of getting in the building, screening, temperature taking, and then walking into this environment here. Clearly,

there's less people here today that's mandated by the building and in accordance with Governor Cuomo and his plans.

We've got some areas that are Plexiglas'ed off in between partitions. Social distancing is in effect here. I know at our trading desk, normally I

have about 15 people, we're down to six spread out six feet apart.

So, all of those aspects make this environment different but the good news is that we are here, we're back again. Systems are working great. Order

flow continues to come in.

And on a symbolic level, this shows America and the globe that we are moving forward, we're moving in the right direction, we are starting to get

back to what our new normal will be.

QUEST: That symbolism is very significant, Jonathan, because obviously, for the last eight weeks, you've managed to trade at home. So, besides the

symbolism, quantify for me, if you can, or explain for me why is it important that you and your six colleagues are there when you can trade

quite happily -- the orders can come in and you can trade them out quite happily on screen.

CORPINA: Right, so, the floor community provides about 10 percent of the average daily volume to our overall markets. That's a significant amount of

liquidity, and we've seen over this time with the NYSE closed that that volume, not in the markets, has added to volatility.

Spreads are getting wider. Prices are getting volatile, and that affects, negatively the end customer, and who is that end customer? It's the 401(k)

holder. It's the fireman's pension plan. It's the Main Street people who have been disadvantaged, unfortunately, by the floor brokers not being on

the floor at this time.

[09:55:09]

CORPINA: But we're back here now. This volume and this liquidity is going to come back. Spreads are going to tighten. We're going to continue to

bring back our price discovery process that we do on the openings and the close and multiple times throughout the day of getting customers the best

price.

QUEST: Jonathan, even with mask, you have no idea how good it is us to see you on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, back where you rightly

belong. Good to see you, sir.

CORPINA: Nice to see you, and can't wait to see you down here too soon.

QUEST: We'll be there. Thank you.

And that is our report from FIRST MOVE today. I'm Richard Quest, in for Julia, who is having a well-earned break.

I hope I've got us from beginning to end in one piece, roughly. But I will be back to do some more damage on "Quest Means Business," which, of course,

is at 3:00 Eastern. We'll have the closing bell at the end of that.

Otherwise, between now and then, whatever you're up to, I hope it's profitable.

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[10:00:00]

END