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First Move with Julia Chatterley

Lebanese Authorities Declare Beirut A Disaster City; Another Week Of Over A Million Fresh Jobless Claims In The U.S.; Spirits Maker Suntory Grapples With COVID-19 Fallout. Aired 9-10a ET

Aired August 06, 2020 - 09:00   ET

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

[VIDEO CLIP PLAYS]

JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN BUSINESS ANCHOR, FIRST MOVE: A bride was rushed to safety literally while taking wedding photographs. We do understand that no

one in this video was badly hurt.

Now, questions are being asked as to why almost 3,000 tons of a volatile agricultural fertilizer, ammonium nitrate was stored in the port despite

warnings that it was, quote, "a floating bomb."

Ben Wedeman is on the ground for us and he sent this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): George Faraoun has come with a friendly to see what they can salvage from the

remains of his parents' apartment, which looked directly onto Beirut's port.

Tuesday's blast turned it into a moon scape, a panorama of utter destruction. Dried blood marks the spot where his mother was resting in bed

when the explosion sent a wall slamming on top of her. She's still in the hospital. This was his parents' retirement home.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE FARAOUN, BEIRUT RESIDENT: This is their life. Everything they did here, look what happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WEDEMAN (voice over): Given the damage, they probably will never be able to move back. Many neighbors were badly injured, others killed.

WEDEMAN (on camera): In addition to the dead and the wounded, many, many people have lost their homes. According to the Governor of Beirut, more

than 300,000 people in the city have been made homeless.

WEDEMAN (voice over): People are packing up and moving out. While others try to salvage what they can, the area near the port is now a hive of

activity as an army of volunteers like Maggy Demerjian has launched into a massive cleanup effort, perhaps to show themselves that despite this

country's mountain of woes, good will prevail.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAGGY DEMERJIAN, VOLUNTEER: Lebanese people doesn't deserve this. Yes. We are good people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WEDEMAN (voice over): They've come from all over the city, handing out food and water, pitching in wherever, however they can.

Officials believe the blast emanated from a warehouse filled with 2,750 metric tons of ammonium nitrate, sitting there under lax security for six

years.

The government has promised a quick, transparent investigation, yet going back decades, Lebanon has witnessed a series of high-profile assassinations

and rarely, if ever, has the truth emerged.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAD ACHKAR, BEIRUT RESIDENT: This accident here, this crisis, for 20 years, they are going to talk about an investigation. It's never going to

end. No conclusion, no results.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WEDEMAN (voice over): And no confidence among many here that the truth will ever be known.

Ben Wedeman, CNN, Beruit.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHATTERLEY: Arwa Damon joins us now from Beirut. Arwa, we were just listening there. Part of the problem here is a lack of trust. The lack of

trust in authorities to tell them the truth about what happened here, a lack of trust to address the crippling economic crisis that the country is

facing, too.

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and I mean, if we just look at the circumstances for the vast majority of the Lebanese

population prior to this explosion taking place, you know, a number of humanitarian organizations were warning that because of the economic

crisis, the effect of near bankruptcy of the country, coupled with the coronavirus pandemic, some 70 percent of the Lebanese population was going

to need humanitarian assistance.

On top of that, on top of going through all of that, you then had this horrific explosion that has not only displaced people, as you heard in

Ben's piece there, wounded thousands, a death toll that is most certainly expected to rise, you have the physical damage that was done, the estimates

of which are running as high as $10 billion to $15 billion for all the needed repairs to be made. That's money that this government quite simply

does not have.

And people had been enraged at the Lebanese government even before all of this. Last year, there were protests against the government, against

corruption, against the economic downturn that really only stopped because of the coronavirus pandemic.

And Julia, it's also worth remembering that when this explosion took place, the country had just come out of four days of lockdown because of an

increase in COVID cases.

They were getting ready to go into another five days of lockdown. Again, because numbers of positive coronavirus patients are going up. So you also

have this additional inexplicable, to a certain degree, pressure being put on the hospitals because they were already dealing with coronavirus and now

on top of it, they're trying to scramble at a point when many hospital staff lost their jobs because of the economic crisis, coupled with the

pandemic, trying to deal with this influx of wounded.

I mean, what the Lebanese are going through, it's so difficult to wrap your mind around it that even those who are living it are struggling to put it

into words.

[09:05:20]

CHATTERLEY: Yes, it's just devastating, crisis on top of crisis. Arwa, great to have you there to give us information and stay safe, please. Our

hearts clearly go out to everybody.

Let's talk about what we were discussing there, Arwa, and as well, hospitals in Beirut, as Arwa mentioned there, overwhelmed. Some so badly

damaged, too, they are having to turn away patients.

Joseph Otayek is the Director of the American University of Beirut Medical Center. He joins us now from the capital city. Joseph, fantastic to have

you with us. Thank you for making time. Just describe the situation that you're facing, whether it's the patients. What can you tell us about what

you've seen in the last few days?

JOSEPH OTAYEK, DIRECTOR, AMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF BEIRUT MEDICAL CENTER: What we have seen in the last few days is worse than whatever happened to

this country for the past 40 years. It was really the most horrible experience we went through.

In just a second, almost 5,000 wounded people all over the city, more than 300 disappeared, 300,000 people without shelter in a second. All the

emergency rooms in Beirut were overwhelmed.

Our capacity in all the city is around -- we can handle maybe 500 or 600 casualties at the same time, while here, we had to face a massive influx of

wounded people, more than 5,000 people.

Above this, all the city, all the glass in the city was destroyed and in the street. It was a horrible vision. And all the ER, people were treated

on the streets, all the alarms were ringing. Electricity was cut in the major area. People were running in the street full of blood and in the ER,

and our hospital, all the attending physicians, all the residents, all the nurses, everybody on the ground, people were treated on benches, on

sidewalks, in the parking lots.

It was really -- we had three hours of extreme, extreme, extreme tension and we were under utmost pressure.

CHATTERLEY: Joseph, I know you're painting a picture of devastation, which, you know, we can only imagine, quite frankly, watching what's going

on there.

Just talk to me about the economic difficulties that were already being faced. We've had a currency crisis, capital controls. Are you even able to

get the PPE, the protective equipment that you need and the medicines? Just describe how that and COVID-19 is sort of complicating your efforts here to

take care of patients.

OTAYEK: Exactly, we have been going through an economic crisis for the past six months and it started maybe in September of 2019, and then all the

capital -- there was capital control on all the outflow of money from Lebanon.

We're not able to import any more spare parts for the medical equipment. We had -- the Central Bank subsidized importation of drugs and medication. We

had also some subsidies on medical supply, but no subsidy on equipment, and then we have a lot of equipment in the country that are now idling because

we cannot import any more of them to run.

We have also a major devaluation -- forced devaluation. The hospital is -- we are spending at a rate of 10,000 pounds for $1.00 while we are cashing

from the insurance company at 1,500 pounds for $1.00 and the government that treats almost 60 percent to 65 percent of the population has not paid

its dues for the past 18 months.

Our financial situation in the hospital is very bad. We are facing a problem with paying the salaries. We are facing a problem paying the

suppliers and we are facing problems importing spare parts and even specific drugs and medication. A lot of drugs are missing in the country.

Yesterday in the blast, the blast happened in the harbor and close to the harbor, there is the central warehouse of chemotherapy products that was

blown up. We will have problem treating cancer patients starting in the coming weeks and the coming month. We are really in a very, very, very

desperate position from this side as well.

CHATTERLEY: Joseph, you've clearly come under fierce criticism for letting your staff go. I've seen it. There was fierce criticism on social media,

but as you say, you're owed money from the government going back months and months and months. This is a huge problem.

For people watching, what do you need? What do you need specifically in terms of help? Because this is clearly going to cost lives and cost

patients' health.

[09:10:31]

OTAYEK: We need support in terms of access to fresh dollars to be able to import spare parts for our equipment. We need also funds to be able to pay

our employees.

I am happy that you asked the question about the people that have to leave the hospital. Actually, we were not able to pay the salaries anymore for

all this population, but those people are part of our family. They are part of our community.

So, it's true that we let them go. We gave them some severance package as we could. At the same time, we are offering them, we created a fund of -- a

medical social fund to support them. Everybody will be treated in the hospital with the money from this support fund and from volunteers in the

medical staff. We will help them if they have any social problem in the country.

We created a social net as well to protect those employees of UBMC, but we were obliged to let those people go in order for the institution to

survive, and all the problems we're having were not expected.

We started with the economic crisis, then we had the COVID crisis and then we had this blast last week. It's really becoming much more than one can

support and one can bear. It's really becoming unbearable in this instance.

And after what we have seen during the blast and after the blast and all the emergencies in Beirut, we are very -- we fear a lot that there will be

a new COVID surge because people were getting -- without any social distancing, without masks in all the ER, the situation was horrible and we

fear having a new COVID surge and that's why we need to have more PPE and we do not have access to funds. So the situation is becoming more and more

complicated and more and more difficult.

CHATTERLEY: Desperate. Joseph, thank you for making time for us to explain the situation. Our hearts go out to you, your team and everyone involved.

Stay safe, sir, and come back and talk to us soon, please.

Joseph Otayek there. All right, we're going to take a break here on FIRST MOVE.

Still to come, another week of over a million fresh jobless claims. We'll bring you an update on the U.S. labor market crisis; and some low spirits,

Japan's drinks maker, Suntory, reporting a 25 percent drop in profits as COVID-19 ravages the hospitality industry. We've got the CEO to give us the

latest.

And of course, more on the ongoing devastation in Lebanon. Stay with us. We're back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to FIRST MOVE. U.S. futures paring their earlier losses amid some more encouraging data on a relative basis on jobless

benefit claims, a further 1.2 million Americans filing for first-time benefits last week. That was slightly less than expected and it continues

some kind of downward trend.

However, this is the 20th week of over one million people asking for government support. The number of people actually getting their hands on

cash benefits also fell to just over 16 million people. These are of course, the people who are seeing that $600.00 a week less in their benefit

checks as the enhanced government aid runs out.

The White House suggesting that it is open to restoring those benefits in full for a short period of time. To be specific, it was Larry Kudlow that

said it.

Christine Romans joins us now. Christine, there's no reason for me here to see anything optimistic when you have in total 32 million people, according

to the last check, collecting benefits. But there are some signs that the downward trend continued.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's so fascinating when Wall Street finds something encouraging and pretty much

everyone else in America is saying, what? Fifty five million people have filed for unemployment benefits for the first time in the last 20 weeks and

that is a huge number, a very deep hole in the labor market that just on the margin here and there shows signs of stabilizing, but then can't really

add onto that.

So, if we look at the trend, you're right, 1.2 million is the first decline in new jobless claims in three weeks. You want to see that continue to

happen, and so we'll see maybe if next week we can try to hold onto that. There's some concern here that the recovery has hit a roadblock as you've

got the virus smoldering in other parts of the country now and when schools start to reopen with fits and starts, what that's going to look like there.

When you look at the continuing claims number, it came down, but still 16 million people relying on some form of government intervention on these

unemployment claims.

When you put all of the pandemic programs together, it's something like 32 million people are living on a government check at the moment, a government

jobless check and those checks are smaller as of last week. So that is a real kind of moment here, a shift in the job crisis, I think, because

there's not going to be the shock absorber for these families this week.

They're going to be getting by on something less than $400.00 a week in jobless checks instead of something like $900.00 a week and that's going to

be something that will be felt in the economy.

CHATTERLEY: Yes, immediate slashing of spending simply because you have to and that in a consumer driven economy is a huge problem.

Christine, we're expecting a non-farm payroll data tomorrow as well. What are we expecting thereto, because my fear with this number is, A, it's

backward looking. It doesn't reflect the reality today and the risk is that lawmakers see it and go, we're still adding jobs. We can still negotiate on

the $600.00.

ROMANS: Yes, so the President promised in a Fox interview this week that it was going to be a big number, but he hasn't seen it yet. He'll see that

number sometime today when the economists and the statisticians over at the Department of Labor have it all kind of put together here. So he'll see it.

I don't know what that number is going to be. I'm going to tell you, there is a really wide range of expectations. Some are saying maybe there could

be job loss again, others are saying, no, they think we could continue last month's trend and see another million, a million and a half jobs created.

It's just unclear to me what the number is going to look like. You called it earlier this morning, a wildcard. I think that's right. I think we

should be prepared for any kind of number that comes out of here.

Just the sheer trauma of the economy and the job market have gone through over the past three months, I mean, these numbers could be very wild and

erratic in the coming weeks as we try to figure out what this recovery is going to look like, the reopening is going to look like and it does not

feel like a V shape to me.

When you saw last month's jobs numbers, more than four million jobs, there were some saying, look, we're back. We are going to come back. This is

going to come roaring back.

But these jobless claims figures suggest it's not roaring back at all.

CHATTERLEY: Yes, I think there's plenty of people out there that think we're going into reverse.

Christine Romans, we'll see. Thank you.

[09:20:34]

ROMANS: Yes.

CHATTERLEY: The United States clearly not alone in suffering the economic consequences of fighting the virus. As Christine said there, trauma.

Southeast Asia's largest bank, DBS Group says its second quarter profit dropped more than 20 percent from a year ago in what the CEO described as a

tough quarter. The bank set aside more money too for loan losses in pandemic hit markets.

And I am very pleased to say, joining us now, DBS Group CEO, Piyush Gupta. Sir, always a pleasure to have you on the show. I think you've coined it a

strong operational performance here, but the conditions, it was a tough quarter.

PIYUSH GUPTA, CEO, DBS GROUP: Well, Julia, good to be on the show again. And, yes, it was a tough quarter. I think simply from a banking standpoint,

we've all been impacted by the busy monetary policy. The massive round of rate cuts by the Fed have trickled through to all the other Central Banks

around the world, and obviously for banks like us, that created a lot of headwinds from a revenue standpoint.

But on top of that, like everywhere else, the economy is pretty much shut down in April and May and that gave it some pretty severe headwinds for us

for things like credit card business and spending overall.

Fortunately, things started improving a bit in June, but overall for the quarter, it was challenging as well.

It was fortunate, we did have some tailwinds, volume on the loans and deposits side were strong. Trading was a knockout quarter, like across many

of the U.S. banks, so that was helpful and some of our balance sheet positioning came in handy.

But even after all of that, we showed zero growth year-on-year for the quarter. So that's obviously not a great place to want to be in.

CHATTERLEY: Yes, you've raised some really important points here. A lot of the recovery, let's call it that, that we're seeing at least in the short-

term as we came out of shutdown in the region, it's driven by stimulus support as well.

What does the second half of the year look like as some of that pulls away and small businesses clearly are still facing great challenges, just given

the backdrop and the virus environment?

GUPTA: Julia, the recovery across in Asia is sort of fragmented. It depends on which countries you're talking to. Interestingly, China and most

of North Asia, the rebound is fairly solid. China is operating -- other than the export sector, it is operating at 90 to a hundred percent already.

Taiwan never slowed down. The tech sector, the semiconductor in particular actually benefitted from the crisis. Hong Kong was doing well, it slowed

down in July, but generally North Asia has been better.

Singapore has been unfortunately more handicapped. They have a very open economy, based on 300 percent of GDP, and because the external sector and

the external count is obviously shut down, that's been a handicap. And frankly, some of the other markets, Indonesia and India are -- I suspect

they haven't even had the fiscal capacity to promote large stimulus. So, it's been a little bit patchy.

Even within that, when I say North Asia has been stronger, the recovery exists, but it is not as robust as you might imagine, but I am not in the

camp that is looking for a V-shape recovery at all. I think you'll be looking at a U shape, and perhaps W, as the pandemic comes in and out of

several markets. So I do think it is going to be challenging.

Now, to your second question, some of the countries have benefitted by stimulus packages, they tend to run out in the fourth quarter or towards

the end of the year, early next year, and when those run out, I think you're going to have a serious challenge of how you exit in a smooth and

safe way?

So I think for the banking sector, the problem on nonperforming goods and credit, that shoe will drop. Also, I think you will see a lot more

retrenchment and therefore, joblessness and finally, I do think you'll see a lot more default.

So in my book, I think next year from a banking sector standpoint, it will frankly be even more challenging than this year has been.

CHATTERLEY: Wow, and that's something to be aware of, certainly. I want to very quickly head in on the Singapore economy, because as you mentioned,

clearly it's a huge part of your business. Lots of separate issues, including being a small open economy. So when everyone else is suffering

around the world, it's an added sort of double whammy to what they're facing.

Is a W-style recovery what you're looking at for Singapore here, so a further pullback?

GUPTA: Well, I think, Singapore, I don't anticipate a W because from a health standpoint and managing the banking standpoint, we've been able to

get our arms around that problem. But I do anticipate a U. It's going to take some time for various sectors in the economy to recover.

For us, the hospitality sector is important. Tourism is important. The whole conventions, MICE et cetera, are important. I don't see those sectors

coming back any time soon, certainly not this year. And so that will be challenging.

I'm on a taskforce we have at the Singapore national level, trying to chart what we should do in a post-COVID world. And I will tell you, while we have

some ideas on how we could restructure the economy and some potential sources of growth in the future, it is not going to be easy and it's

certainly not something that we can expect without problems in the very short-term.

CHATTERLEY: But the conversation needs to be had. You know, I was pouring over your numbers and looking for the silver linings and you and I often

talk about how focused you've been over a number of years on digitization and making sure the access point for the customer is there.

The volumes on your digital transactions, the increase in market share are positive signs here, which is a strength for the bank today and clearly

going to be a strength going forward, too.

GUPTA: Yes, I would agree with that. Frankly, it's helped us through the period. We've been able to get a lot more digital transacting activity, our

volume is up 30 percent to 40 percent across the board like you correctly say with market shares around.

The interesting thing, I think though is we are now seeing a lot more activity from the recalcitrant, people in their 60s and 70s are taking to

online banking and that's obviously quite helpful. But I do think that as you look forward at a post-COVID world, this change in both consumption and

production patterns, i.e. a lot more digital, is going to be prevalent in almost every industry, whether it's health or education or banking.

And those firms and those players who have been able to embrace the digital shift will tend to do all right, I think. Certainly in our case in addition

to banking services, we think there are new opportunities. I think sustainability for example, the energy sector is going to be big and

digital allows you to play in the sector very differently from traditional banking.

So I do think there's some glimmers of hope, but it will require some focus and it's not going to come easy.

CHATTERLEY: No, work needs to be done. I always walk away from our conversations smarter. Every company has to be a tech company first, and

then whatever else your business is in has to almost come second behind that in the new normal.

Piyush, always great to chat with you. Piyush Gupta, CEO of DBS Group there. Thank you for joining us on the show today.

All right, we're going to take another break, but coming up, Lebanon's spiraling crisis remaining in focus.

After the break, how Civil War, economic woes, corruption and now a pandemic have decimated hopes of revival. What must be done? We'll discuss.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:31:12]

CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to the show. The Lebanese government has promised to investigate exactly what caused the massive explosion in Beirut killing

at least 137 people and injuring many more.

There is great anger at the government's handling of ammonium nitrate which had been stored at a Beirut warehouse for some six years. Nic Robertson

joins us now. Nic, you've been investigating successive years of concerns raised about the storage of this ammonium nitrate and yet it seems nothing

was done. What do we know?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, you've got to ask yourself was there some kind of bureaucratic inertia at work in Beirut over

this almost three tons of deadly ammonium nitrate -- 3,000 tons of deadly ammonium nitrate or was there something more malicious going on?

It was of such a level of concern that you have the Director of the Customs Authority in Beirut writing letters to officials, two of them in 2014 and

another in 2015 and 2016 and 2017, saying that this substance is, quote, "extremely dangerous" and he was requesting authorities to get this

material shipped back out of the country again, because he was concerned that it was stored so close to people.

So the process of trying to investigate, one, what initiated the explosion that's on the one side, but why the situation arose? On that side, it

drills down into the bureaucracy. So who was he writing to? What did they respond? And in this case, he was writing to the Department of Justice.

What was the response there? And then what precipitated from that? We know nothing.

So somewhere in that chain, something was going wrong -- maliciously or just bureaucratic inertia -- so that's where it lies at the moment.

CHATTERLEY: Nic, for the current government, as they're investigating this and they have promised that they will get to the bottom of what happened

here and how this initial explosion, the two, obviously took place, there's a lot of skepticism that we'll actually get the truth in this investigation

and there's perhaps an incentive here to blame others -- Nic.

ROBERTSON: I'm talking to an Intelligence official in Lebanon and I know what they're focusing on and they're focusing on this carefully, and

obviously you would expect Intelligence authorities of any country to do this, to look at the implication, possibly. Was there a national security

threat at work here?

So they're looking through all of the videos to see if there was malicious intent at the port, at the warehouse, to start a fire or was there some

kind of explosion that began to trigger the chain reaction.

So that's where they're focusing at the moment, but you can see that if that narrative finds some evidence and if the government is able to say

we've looked at this and we believe the site itself was attacked somehow, we will yet to find out what that is, then there's a possibility they can

say this isn't just a bureaucratic nightmare or people not doing their job for nefarious reasons or whatever.

They'll be able to say, yes, it was a mistake to have that there. We were trying to get rid of it, but what happened to it was not an accident. This

was perpetrated on us.

So there you can see that the government would have a narrative that might ease some of the pain and anger of the people in Beirut over time, because

then you would have an investigation to find out precisely who was behind it and these things play out over time and anger dissipates.

It is certainly not going to bring the light back as we know and certainly, in the heat of the moment right now, it's probably not going to wash very

well.

[09:35:00]

CHATTERLEY: No. It doesn't bring people back. It doesn't stop the injuries, and we spoke to the head of the Hotels Association yesterday that

said the insurance for small businesses in invalidated if it's found to be terrorism rather than just a tragic accident.

So there's real complications and an importance to attach to this for the economy as well in getting to the bottom of what happened. Nic, thank you

for that. Nic Robertson there reporting.

Lebanon's once glamorous image is now being replaced with scenes of crippling poverty and a sinking middle class. Just to give you a sense, one

in three people today now without a job. The Lebanese pound has lost 80 percent of its value just since October. Inflation skyrocketing, more than

45 percent of people now living below the poverty line. All of this in the middle of a coronavirus pandemic, and delays in finalizing an I.M.F. rescue

package.

This could be the biggest threat to stability since the 1975 Civil War, lasted five years and saw the banks closed and payments suspended.

Joining us now is Laury Haytayan from the National Resource Governance Institute, a nonprofit dedicated to improving country's governance. Laury,

great to have you on the show. The truth is, Lebanon can't afford to fix the damage that's been caused by this explosion.

LAURY HAYTAYAN, MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA DIRECTOR, NATIONAL RESOURCE GOVERNANCE INSTITUTE: Thank you for having me. That's true. Lebanon is in

a big problem today and it will be very difficult for Lebanon on its own to fix the problem.

We have, as you said, an economic meltdown and we have political crisis, economic crisis, social crisis, and this came as an additional disaster to

the problem that we're facing.

So definitely, today, Lebanon needs the help of the international community, but again, the help that should come through the international

community should not be a sign of rescue for the government and government officials and the political parties and the political regime. It should go

directly to help those who need it.

And today, the French President was in Beirut and that was a clear message. He said we are here to support the people of Lebanon and not the

government, and all the aid that will come to Lebanon will be for the people of Lebanon, and the only way to re-engage officially with the

government is through the reforms that they need to do.

And only when the reforms happen, then the government, the aid should come through the government.

CHATTERLEY: I do wonder whether this tragedy is a catalyst for compromise here, to your point, on reforms and the things that the International

Monetary Fund are demanding here. But just, Laury, in the short term, what is your biggest fear? Because with the port so badly damaged, food prices

are already rising. A lot of cereals I believe were stored in this location, too.

This is surely only going to put more pressure on food supplies.

HAYTAYAN: Definitely, there is a risk today, but at the same time, we are seeing all the support that is coming from abroad, from the Lebanese

diaspora that are being integrated and helping the Lebanese, and today, we have heard that they can send dollars and people can receive the dollars

directly.

So that is a good help that the diaspora is doing and much appreciated. But definitely there is a big risk of food shortages and like the food security

is at risk. We now understand that, but hopefully, the humanitarian help and aid will rescue the Lebanese.

But, again, this is really serious and Lebanese inside Lebanon should support each other and the aid that is coming from abroad from the Lebanese

and others is the most important today, or else, we are not going to make it. It will not only be Beirut, it will be the whole country that will go

into an economic disaster worse than what we've seen yesterday in Beirut.

CHATTERLEY: Laury, just to be clear, you're saying that the government said that if people are sent money by relatives or friends abroad, they can

actually get access to it.

HAYTAYAN: This is what we heard today and this is what people were asking for, at least to help people that need to restore their shops, their

houses. They need to repair what was destroyed by this criminal act that happened in Beirut two days ago.

CHATTERLEY: Wow, we'll see what the results of the investigation is, Laury, but it's criminal to let people suffer so badly.

Do you think this is a catalyst to allow the government to negotiate and fulfill on the reforms that are being demanded by people like the

International Monetary Fund?

HAYTAYAN: this will be the catalyst for that. This should be the catalyst for the people to ask for accountability and this time to go on the streets

and not to go back on the streets unless there is change in the political regime.

Today, we know that this is negligence. It's a crime against the Lebanese population. These political parties are not able to secure the lives of the

Lebanese, and I think today, this is the catalyst to say game over. They need to leave. They need to go wherever they need to go, to jail or

disappear even.

I think the Lebanese today, they just want to get rid of these people and start over with a decent government and with a decent political regime that

really cares for the people.

It is not acceptable to know that this explosive materials were sitting there for six years and no one was doing anything. Just imagine the

picture. You had 15,000 tons of grains stored in the port next to 2,700 tons of explosives. This is not acceptable. This is not the deed and

actions of a responsible government regime.

So I think this is the catalyst not for compromise and the international community understands that and no one is ready to compromise with a

criminal government.

CHATTERLEY: Yes, Laury, you're asking all the right questions. We hope you get some answers. Laury Haytayan, great to have you with us. Thank you.

The Middle East and North Africa Director of the Natural Resource Government Institute. Stay safe, please.

All right, up next, as COVID-19 upends the hospitality industry, I speak to the CEO of the Japanese spirits and consumer products company, Suntory

about their plans for recovery. Stay with us.

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CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to FIRST MOVE, and let's take a look at the price action this morning for the U.S. stocks. We are a touch lower amid word

that an additional 1.2 million Americans filed for jobless benefits last week. It is a modest drop from last week, but just to be clear, there is

still more than 31 million Americans collecting some form of jobless benefits in America.

All right, to Japan now and the world's third largest maker of spirits, Suntory. Its traditional focus was whiskey, but it is now a consumer

products business incorporating food and soft drinks, too.

In 2019, more than 70 percent of its revenue came from just two markets, Japan and the United States. Japan, COVID-19 fears are keeping drinkers at

home and meanwhile in the United States, grappling with an outbreak that's not yet under control.

I am pleased to say, joining us now is Takeshi Niinami. He is CEO of Suntory Holdings. Sir, fantastic to have you on the show. As I mentioned

there, biggest markets facing some pretty big challenges. Talk me through your plan of action in what you're seeing.

TAKESHI NIINAMI, CEO, SUNTORY HOLDINGS: I think those two markets are hurt so much, but alcohol products are doing very well in a sense, despite the

fact that both markets are so much infected by coronavirus.

We have three pillars. One is alcohol beverages. Two are soft drinks. Third, nutritional products. And in the second, soft drinks got hurt the

most. First of all, the economy of scale matters a lot and its sales went down so much in Japan because of the vending machine, which are installed

in the office, and offices doesn't have the workers at this moment.

And second, our Japanese business got hurt because basically people don't drink if they don't move around. So for the consumption of soft drink, it

went down so much.

And third, our European business is not doing well. So we will go into more and more e-commerce and we swiftly shifted our resources to e-commerce and

home delivery in our businesses. But our good sign, which is a silver lining, is nutritional products, because of a huge rise in healthcare --

health consciousness, which is rising in the world. That segment which is our third pillar is doing very well.

We push the nutritional product division, as well as the nutritional contents in soft drink. That is our strategy. And in addition to that, we

will make use of e-commerce in the United States for alcohol products, spirits, focusing on more premium brands.

We have more than five or six premium brands. That is a key for us to grow to offset the huge drop from bars and the restaurants by a huge increase of

the home consumption. So we would like to offset by putting more resources to the home consumption by making use of digitization.

CHATTERLEY: Yes, and we're seeing that more and more, both in terms of increased sales and increased focus for companies, too. You mentioned the

big challenge here, though, and that is restaurants, seeing less customers, perhaps not even being open.

You suggested around a month ago that 20 percent of restaurants could close in Japan. Do you see think that possibility, that scale is likely?

NIINAMI: I think it's on the way. I'm afraid to say.

CHATTERLEY: Wow.

NIINAMI: Yes, I'm so concerned about the current growing new cases, though the death toll rate is pretty low and serious cases is not so much.

However, people are not so active.

So definitely we need more PCR testing and antigen testing to alleviate the anxiety of the people so that the people can go out and dine out.

Otherwise, our people are so cautious, especially those who are over 60 or 70 years old.

They have lots of the assets in Japan. They definitely have to consume to pick up our economy, as well as to give good business to restaurants. So we

are so -- I mean, I am pessimistic about the restaurant business at this moment.

CHATTERLEY: Are you calling on the government to do more? Because you're saying -- I mean, we're talking jobs, so many jobs that will be lost.

Businesses that are failing. Surely the government needs to do more if you're saying more testing to give people confidence to go back out there.

[09:50:03]

NIINAMI: Yes, I'm requesting so hard, repeatedly, to increase the number of -- I mean, the capability and availability of PCR and antigen testing,

plus support financially of restaurants and bars. And I think having said that, the government has to think about some kind of scheme to move labor

to other industries like e-commerce.

Amazon and Rakuten, they are doing great in Japan, and if they need more people, so how we swiftly move the labor to those in need, that is what the

government has to think about quickly.

CHATTERLEY: I couldn't agree more. Talk to me about your other ways of innovating. I know in the United States, you're looking at online cocktail

making to try and engage people from home, which is a focus. You've also been looking at helmets, perhaps, that people could wear in bars in Japan

or elsewhere. Talk to me about these plans, because this is a sign of Suntory innovation in progress.

NIINAMI: Julia, you know very much about that. We are now developing a face shield which creates a safety for people to eat and drink together.

But there are not that many people, but that avoids droplets to each other. So we need innovation so that the people gather to support the restaurants

and the bars.

People want to get together. I believe that the younger generations are fed up with being sheltered in, so we have to resolve their issue. Because we

see more cases of mental illness because of working from home.

So younger people have energy. They want to get together and eat together, discuss together, argue together. So we like to offer some innovative

things for them to get together, like a helmet. But it should be a nice one.

CHATTERLEY: I do love it. You have to come back and talk to me very soon when you come up with your helmet, and I agree with you, the social aspects

of what we're missing are so critical, too. Takeshi Niinami, thank you so much for joining us on the show and great to chat with you, the CEO of

Suntory Holdings there. Looking forward to our next conversation, sir.

NIINAMI: Thank you.

CHATTERLEY: All right, thank you. Up next, moments of hope and humanity, friends and foes alike, pay tribute to the victims of the Beirut tragedy.

That's next.

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CHATTERLEY: Beirut getting help and support from around the world. Overnight the Eiffel Tower went dark to honor the victims. France is

sending military planes, a mobile clinic and other aid to Lebanon.

[09:55:07]

CHATTERLEY: Tel Aviv meanwhile lit up its Municipal Building with the Lebanese flag. Israel, of course, offering its help. That's no small

gesture. Israel considers Lebanon an enemy state, but officials there say humanity comes first.

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CHATTERLEY: And amid the chaos and the rubble, a moment of tranquility. I think, a show of great resilience, a 79-year-old grandmother played "Auld

Lang Syne" in her Beirut home. The piano as you can see appears to be one of the few things left unscathed.

That's it for the show. I'm Julia Chatterley. Stay safe and we'll continue to bring you all the news and the latest from Lebanon. Stay with CNN.

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