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First Move with Julia Chatterley
Russia Claims It Approved The World's First Coronavirus Vaccine; Softbank Rally Helps The Japanese Giant Post A $12 Billion Quarterly Profit; Lebanon's Government Steps Down Amid Protests. Aired 9-10a ET
Aired August 11, 2020 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:00:17]
ZAIN ASHER, CNN ANCHOR: Coming to you live from New York, I'm Zain Asher, in for Julia Chatterley. This is FIRST MOVE and here is your need to know.
Russia claims it approved the world's first coronavirus vaccine.
Softbank's surge. The global tech rally helps the Japanese giant post a $12 billion quarterly profit.
And Lebanon's government steps down amid protests. What comes next?
It is Tuesday. Let's make a move.
Welcome to FIRST MOVE. So good to have you with us. I'm Zain Asher. Let's begin with a look at markets. U.S. futures are pointing to a solidly higher
open for the Dow and the S&P 500. The Dow is up in terms of futures, 352 points, but tech stocks are set to fall back in early trading.
The S&P 500 begins today's session very close to all-time highs as a rotation into value stocks continues.
Stocks are rising amid optimism that Congress will ultimately approve fresh emergency aid for unemployed U.S. workers. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin
says the White House is willing to put more money on the table if that's what it takes to seal the deal.
President trump's announcement last night that he is considering cutting capital gains taxes through an executive order is helping sentiment as
well.
Stocks are also rallying in Europe. Cyclical firms that do well in an economic recovery are among the strongest gainers right now. European auto
stocks are sharply higher after China reported an almost 16.5 percent spike in car sales last month, suggesting that its recovery is revving into
higher gear.
Chinese stocks lost ground today amid concern about worsening U.S.-China relations, but other Asian markets rallied. Hong Kong led the way, rising
more than two percent after three days of losses.
All right. Let's get straight to the drivers now and another positive day for the markets. Hopes for a COVID-19 vaccine. Russia is claiming its
government has just approved the world's first coronavirus vaccine. President Vladimir Putin announced his daughter is actually among the first
to receive a dose of the drug named Sputnik 5. Take a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): The vaccine against coronavirus has been registered for the first time in the world
this morning. I know that it works quite effectively. It forms a stable immunity.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: Elizabeth Cohen joins us live now. So, Elizabeth, a lot of people are skeptical about this vaccine. The big question is, is it safe? And is
it effective?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: We don't know. We don't know, Zain, because they haven't actually fully tested it. It is standard
that when you are going to put a vaccine on the market and vaccinate, basically, you know, essentially, your entire population, you want to make
sure if it's safe and effective.
I know that sounds crazy, but that's the standard, and Russia has not followed this standard. They are still doing their Phase 3 studies, so they
might have -- they did some earlier studies, maybe as best as anyone can tell on a couple hundred people. That is not enough.
That is not enough to know if it works. It is not enough to know if it's going to hurt people, maybe even kill people. There is a reason we do Phase
3 studies with tens of thousands of people.
You don't put the vaccine on the market while you're doing those studies. You put the vaccine on the market after you have done those studies.
So, you know, Mr. Putin sort of trotting out his daughter as an example of, oh, she was fine, who cares? Who cares? It doesn't matter if one person was
fine. You want to know if tens of thousands of people are fine.
I think that the former U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner, Dr. Scott Gottlieb said, he put it perfectly, I wouldn't take it -- Zain.
ASHER: I think a lot of people share that sentiment. I mean, clearly, corners were cut here. So what do we know about what the actual vaccine is
comprised of? A lot of people are saying that it was initially used from components that were used to fight other diseases and that's what the
vaccine is made up of. What can you tell us about that?
COHEN: Right. So, we're told that it's -- first of all, I'm emphasizing we're told because there's nothing published about any of this, and so in
science, you want to see things published. You want to see numbers. You want to see explanations. You want to see details -- and there's none of
that. There's just trust me, let me put a shot in your arm.
So, having said that, we are told that it's an adenovirus vaccine and that is a form of vaccine that's also being tried out at other places in other
countries and it has been used experimentally for an Ebola vaccine and for other types of vaccines, but to claim that we know it's safe just isn't
true.
There has never been an adenovirus vaccine on the market. Experimentally, yes. But never on the market.
ASHER: Right. Elizabeth Cohen live for us there. Thank you so much.
COHEN: Thanks.
[09:05:20]
ASHER: Optimism for COVID-19 vaccines has helped the global markets move higher this summer. The S&P 500 is less than one percent below its record
high.
Clare Sebastian joins us live now. So, Clare, we could again be seeing record highs today in the middle of a historic recession. What are the
drivers here?
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so, Zain, as you said, hopes for a vaccine is one of them. The Russian vaccine appears to be one
of the triggers today, despite the fact that as Elizabeth was so clearly pointing out, this requires a lot of caution.
We've seen other vaccines though, the Moderna vaccine in the U.S., the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine in the U.K. all showing progress. That is part
of what's driven this over the summer, sort of hopes for stimulus, although that is pretty muted in the U.S. right now, and of course, as we know,
Zain, markets tend to move a lot of the time on earnings and expectations were so low for the second quarter that in a lot of cases, we've seen
companies beat due to things like cost cutting and efficiencies, and things like that.
So, that is crucial, too, and of course, economic data as always, hasn't been as bad as expected either. Case in point was the jobs report last
week. Yes, we're still seeing really high unemployment numbers, but the number of jobs added was a little higher than expected.
So that is part of what's driving this and I think you see that reflected this morning in the kinds of stocks that are really up, things like cruise
lines, airlines, those are the ones that would really benefit from a vaccine, from a sudden start, again, to the economic activity that has been
stalled for so long.
ASHER: And in terms of the sectors that have really been fueling this rally, I mean, tech stocks, as you know, Clare, have been leading the way,
but the NASDAQ seems to be taking a pause. Why?
SEBASTIAN: Yes, I think part of what we're seeing now is what we call a rotation. People are shifting their portfolios away from these sort of big
name, big value tech stocks that have been leading the way and into the beaten down blue chips, the likes of Boeing and Caterpillar, which showed
strong gains yesterday.
And what this really means, Zain, is that people are looking ahead. They're thinking more long-term about a recovery. They're willing to bet that
things will get back up and running, which would benefit stocks like Boeing, if people start flying again.
Whereas the tech stocks, the likes of Amazon and Netflix, they are more of a sort of lockdown, work-from-home trade or at least they have been
throughout this. They have been the beneficiaries of this sudden stop in economic activity.
So I think you can see some positives in that rotation in terms of the longer term thinking in the market, but I think while we continue this
quest for a vaccine and therapeutics and all of that, there will still be a lot of volatility.
ASHER: All right, Clare Sebastian live for us, thank you so much.
The investment company Softbank has rebounded from a record loss. The Japanese firm chalked up a profit of $12 billion in the latest quarter and
its Vision Fund reported investment gains of nearly $3 billion. Let's bring in Sherisse Pham who is joining us live now.
So, this is quite the comeback for Softbank, especially just after they recorded their worst year in history. How have they done it? They've put a
lot of valuable assets up for sale, haven't they?
SHERISSE PHAM, CNN BUSINESS REPORTER: Yes, this is quite the comeback for Softbank, but you know what, Softbank and Masayoshi Son are still on the
defense. You know, Son, he started this presentation with his typical flare. He opened saying that every day is like a war for us with this
ongoing pandemic and then he showed these black and white historic photos of war photos showing soldiers trying to defend themselves against a
mounted attack.
And then he compared a fire sale of $41 billion worth of assets to shore up Softbank's stock price to soldiers hunkering down behind a barricade.
So, really just kind of showing that Softbank and Masayoshi Son, they still have a battle ahead of them, so even though they were able to swing back to
profitability this quarter, a lot of that is because, as you mentioned, in your hit with Clare just now, it was off the back of this massive tech
rally that we've been seeing in the markets for the past few months.
The Vision Fund has a lot of tech companies in its portfolio. The public ones being Uber and Slack have benefitted from this rally in recent days.
But Son also saying the course of the pandemic could be a risk factor for Softbank going forward if there's a second or a third or a fourth wave that
could drive down the value of the Vision Fund portfolio.
So naturally, analysts and investors still a little skeptical as to whether Softbank and the Vision Fund can remain profitable going forward.
ASHER: Okay, but you mentioned buybacks and that sort of being used to sort of prop up the share price. How has their improved performance -- how
is that being reflected in the share price right now?
[09:10:02]
PHAM: The share price has made a comeback. When the company reported those historic losses last quarter, the worst quarterly loss that Softbank has
ever recorded in its history, of course the share price took a nose dive, and so Softbank and Masayoshi Son did a little bit of a panic and a self-
assessment.
They sold a bunch of assets and they basically embarked on a massive share buyback program which has helped the stock to turn around a little bit.
But it's unclear if this is going to lost for the long-term because again, yes, we saw Softbank and the vision fund swing to profitability, $12
billion in profitability for Softbank, about $3 billion in gains for the Vision Fund, but let's not forget that for three straight quarters before
today's earnings report, the Vision Fund was reporting losses to the tune of billions of dollars.
So naturally, investors and analysts and quite frankly this reporter here is skeptical as to whether these profits can be maintained for the long-
term.
ASHER: Yes, we don't know how long it is going to last. Sherisse Pham, live for us there. Thank you so much.
All right, these are the stories making headlines around the world. Lebanon's government stepped down Monday less than a week after that
massive explosion in Beirut led to days of violent protests.
The blast killed more than 160 people and wounded thousands. The Prime Minister said endemic corruption going back years was responsible for the
disaster. It is thought to have been caused by chemicals being improperly stored.
Protests have been escalating with demonstrations occupying several government buildings and a clashing with security forces. Our Sam Kiley
reports from Beirut.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): If you're in the Lebanese opposition, this is democracy in action.
KILEY (on camera): Thirty or 40 yards down the street, it is barricaded there. It is the outer cordon for the Lebanese Parliament. The
demonstrators are absolutely dead set, they've told me, on getting into more and more government buildings to try and demonstrate that the
government itself is really a chimera, it is hopeless. It is a sort of joke.
KILEY (voice over): As the cleanup continues after thousands of tons of fertilizer is believed to have blown up and destroyed parts of Beirut,
activists are adamant that Lebanon's sectarian system, its dynastic politics, corruption and negligence led to the blast.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SAMIRA EL AZAR, PROTESTER: We will go to the Parliament, we will go to their houses and we will go to each place to get them down. They will go to
a place -- they will not be able to go back to the streets ever. They killed people. It is a big thing to us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KILEY (voice over): Lebanon's government has been dissolved, but the Parliament with 128 seats which is shared among Christians, Sunnis, Druze
and Shia remains and there are no prospects yet of elections.
But Walid Jumblatt, the Druze leader who inherited his role from his father and has arguably benefited from the existing system, is pessimistic that
even early elections would bring change.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WALID JUMBLATT, LEBANESE DRUZE LEADER: When I see the protesters, the revolutionary, when I saw them and I see them yesterday and they want to
change Lebanon. They want a new Lebanon, but the obstacle for change in Lebanon is in this specific point, alliance of minorities and the electoral
law. Because you cannot change Lebanon through, let's say, a military coup d'etat. It's impossible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KILEY (voice over): Close to the epicenter of Tuesday's blast, the Kataeb Party's headquarters is in ruins. It's a largely Cristian Maronite Party.
Its Secretary General was killed in the explosion. His bloody handprint is still visible.
The grandson of the party's founder and son of the former President, nephew of another President who was murdered, Samy Gemayel supports the street
protests.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SAMY GEMAYEL, LEBANESE MP: We are all from families that were part of the old Lebanon. This is how the new -- the new generation didn't come from
nowhere. And it's our duty to do our revolution, our own revolution, each one in his society and the place where he is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KILEY (voice over): But in Martyrs' Square protesters now include former Lebanese commando leader, Colonel Georges Nader. He wants to see the old
guard swept away entirely.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGES NADER, FORMER LEBANESE COMMANDO LEADER (through translator): Change is coming. And I recommend they leave peacefully or we will go to
their homes and do it by force.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KILEY: That night, it was the protests who were eventually swept away, but not for long. They have plans to harness public anger over the Beirut blast
to a more powerful revolutionary rage.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: Sam Kiley reporting from Beirut.
[09:15:10]
ASHER: Some coronavirus restrictions are making a comeback in New Zealand, and that's after the nation saw its first locally transmitted cases in more
than a hundred days.
They involve four members of one household in Auckland. Now officials are reinstating Level 3 restrictions in the city from Wednesday through Friday.
The rest of the country will go back into Level 2 restrictions.
Still to come here on FIRST MOVE, the CEO of America's biggest bank says more government help is needed to save the U.S. economy. We bring you an
interview with Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase.
And the work from home revolution is making life easier for cyber criminals. We'll speak to the CEO of security firm, Proofpoint, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHER: More government spending is the only way to save the U.S. economy, says the CEO of America's biggest bank.
With Congress deadlocked over the next Federal aid package, JPMorgan Chase's Jamie Dimon told Christine Romans that more aid is vital for an
economic recovery.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Do you think it's fair to say that the shape of the recovery depends on what Congress
does in this next tranche of financial aid?
JAMIE DIMON, CEO, JPMORGAN CHASE: I think it's critical, yes. Most of the economists have built in $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion of another program
which will help get small businesses and individuals you know, kind of to the end of the year and early next year and I do think you're going to need
that to stabilize this and hopefully you can start a steady recovery after that.
As people start to go back to work, get more comfortable, the cases come down, the hospitals can easily handle people who have COVID inside the
ICUs, et cetera, so I'm hopeful we are going to get our hands around it, yes.
ROMANS: The risk is we get it wrong. The risk is we don't take it seriously or 95 percent of Americans don't wear masks, a politicized topic,
I mean, are you concerned at all about the risk this is a five-year recovery and not a one-year recovery?
DIMON: No. I think that's too scary.
ROMANS: Too scary.
DIMON: Too scary.
ROMANS: It's not in your calculation.
DIMON: It won't be five years. We will recover and the real question is, how bad -- what's the real baseline because it's hard to tell.
[09:20:10]
DIMON: You can't look at any monthly data today and really get too much out of it because there's so many differences now than there were in the
past.
The real question is, how bad is the base and does recovery take two or three years or could it possibly take just one year?
ROMANS: Where are we here? How are we doing? The virus isn't under control yet, so do we really know?
DIMON: We're slowly getting the virus under control and other countries have and so we will win that war, but you're absolutely -- no one really
knows. We're kind of still in the middle of this thing.
We have this recession. We don't really see it -- you see it in unemployment, but not incomes, home prices, delinquencies, the basic
suffering that comes out of it sometimes, and so you're going to see that effect down the road.
Most of the economists have this model where the 10.2 percent unemployment just reported, it will be nine percent -- maybe under nine by the end of
the year, maybe under seven percent within the next year -- I hope that that's the case.
To have that happen, we need really good government intervention, which they're working on and I think they did a good job the first time.
So, I think the government did get it right and you can criticize some of his programs, but I think the administration, Secretary Mnuchin, the
Democrats, the Republicans, they did it within weeks.
Have you ever seen our government do something within weeks? Both the PPP, the unemployment insurance, the payroll checks, the Fed programs? Those
things did stop it from getting far worse.
And so, you know, we just need a little bit of continuation.
ROMANS: Do we need more?
DIMON: Yes, we're going to need more, yes.
ROMANS: You know, outside of Washington, where things are kind of normal, process, arguing over stimulus, Wall Street, where the NASDAQ is up 22
percent this year and the S&P is flat, Main Street still feels pretty rough.
Can you explain to our viewers the difference between what we're seeing in Washington, on Wall Street, and what regular people are feeling right now
with 30 million people out of work? Is there a disconnect?
DIMON: And I think it's far more important, literally, I mean, when you have 30 million people out of work and you've got people suffering and
small business suffering, that's far more important than the vicissitudes of Wall Street and I think, I am much more sympathetic there. That's what
we should worry about.
But you know, markets are markets. The Central Banks of the world and the fiscal governments of the world have put in -- I forgot the number -- $12
trillion?
You know, when you put $12 trillion in the markets, it has the effect of raising prices and causing a lot of different things and doesn't
necessarily stop some of that suffering.
But they did a smart thing and this is very important for the public to understand, to make sure the markets are open.
So all of these companies are raising capital. But the most active capital raising ever in the last three or four months in the United States --
equity, debt, convertibles, et cetera -- and that gave these companies a chance to get the money they need to keep on going and to keep their people
employed.
So it is important we do those things, even though you know, the average person may not see the benefit directly. You don't want some of these big
companies laying off 20,000 or 30,000 people. That could start a vicious cycle where they then cut advertising, they cut this and they cut that, and
before you know it, we're making something worse.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: And 27 tech and banking leaders have banded together to promise 100,000 jobs for low income, Black, Latino, and Asian New Yorkers by 2030.
Among them is JPMorgan Chase's Jamie Dimon. The program includes 25,000 jobs for CUNY students. JPMorgan's CEO and CUNY's chancellor spoke to
Christine Romans about how it would work.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: Your hope is to build a pipeline for black, Latinx, Asian New Yorkers, not for jobs that make $20,000.00 a year, for jobs that make
$50,000.00 or $60,000.00 a year, the workforce of the future. How are you going to do that?
DIMON: So get the CEOs and the companies, big employers in the city who know what the needs are to talk to the educators who want their kids to
graduate with good livelihoods.
And working together, you know, we will form curriculum and ideas and thoughts and over time, hopefully create a wonderful pipeline, particularly
targeting the disadvantaged.
ROMANS: We know that the pandemic has sort of revealed these disparities, these opportunity disparities that have been around for a long time.
Is this a moment? Is this an opportunity with the pandemic shining the light on this to fix it?
FELIX MATOS RODRIGUEZ, CHANCELLOR, CUNY: I mean, absolutely. In our case, 75 percent of our students come from those communities, so it's a natural.
So we have that great talent base and now what we need is that ongoing conversation with the employers and making sure that we do well with the
programs that are working, that we rethink the ones that are not, that we invent the ones that we need to create for the future.
ROMANS: Do companies have a moral responsibility, you think to fix this problem in capitalism? This inequality that for some reason just sticks?
DIMON: Yes. First of all, I think it's far deeper than that. As you pointed out, this has been going on our whole lives, so while COVID pointed
it out, the murder of George Floyd made it more obvious. It was there before and this whole effort started way before this.
I think that business has to work and it's not because government can't do it but business has to work with government, civic society, educators,
unions, whoever to solve society's biggest problems.
Government alone can't do it. The pace is quick. The world has become more complex, and these problems of education and jobs, infrastructure,
immigration, and if you fix these things, we will have a far more just society, a happier society, more jobs, and more growth, which can pay for
better safety nets, et cetera.
[09:25:24]
ROMANS: One of the things that a lot of researchers have noted is networks, the importance of building networks and that's where companies
and fancy universities, I'll say, have these big networks that they hire from, the pipelines.
Are you going to try to disrupt that?
RODRIGUEZ: The idea is to build new networks, right, and to make those connections happen and in our case, half our students are first generation
college, so that apprenticeship, that internship is going to be the beginning of those building of networks and then everybody is going to see
what kind of talent there is.
So, I think that the idea is to broaden the networks and expand who gets to participate.
ROMANS: So, a couple of statistics. Black household headed by somebody with a college degree has less wealth than a white household headed by
somebody who didn't graduate from high school. And the income gap between white and black families' are incomes that is the same as it was since
1968. So, how do we fix that?
This program, important, obviously. But we need a complete disruption of American education and business life, it feels like, to fix that. What
would you do?
DIMON: You know, I mean, first of all, you've got to acknowledge what the problem is. Very often, we don't. And then you've got to attack it and
there's no simple answer but one of the first answers is education and jobs.
Obviously, people may need help at the family level, social opportunity or something like that, affordable housing. How can you get more capital to
black entrepreneurs? Latinx entrepreneurs et cetera? We've got to do all of them. Every single one of them. But this one is the most important.
Jobs and opportunity are probably the most important.
RODRIGUEZ: And you know, I'm proud that we're sort of the biggest social mobility engine in the entire United States. It has been documented coming
from education, right? The one thing that we need to improve is the career engagement because that connection to jobs is the one thing that can make
what we've done, that's been disruptive, a game changer.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: We will be right back with the opening bell after the break. You're watching FIRST MOVE.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:30:23]
ASHER: Welcome back to FIRST MOVE. U.S. stocks are up and running this Tuesday. It is a mixed open for the major indices. Let's take a look here.
The S&P 500 and the Dow rallying and the S&P, by the way, very close to hitting all-time highs.
The Dow is on track for an eighth straight day of gains, but the NASDAQ is lower for a third straight session as rotation to cyclical stocks that do
well during economic recoveries continues.
Tech stocks may be taking a breather, but they are still up more than 20 percent year-to-date. Investors say a rotation away from tech can
ultimately be a positive for the markets.
Airline shares are among today's strongest gainers on news that U.S. passenger traffic has hit its highest levels since lockdowns began.
Investors are also anticipating billions in new Federal aid for the industry as well.
I want to bring you more though on Russia's development of a coronavirus vaccine with President Vladimir Putin claiming it is the world's first.
There are concerns about a lack of Stage 3 trials, which involve giving the drug to thousands of people. Still, that hasn't stopped countries from
piling in with requests for the drug, which is called Sputnik 5.
Matthew Chance joins us live now from Moscow. So, Matthew Russia clearly wants to show the world that it's still a superpower, especially in terms
of its scientific endeavors. But a lot of people are saying that releasing a vaccine to the public before you've even completed Phase 3 clinical
trials is dangerous, plain and simple.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's dangerous. Phase 3 trials are crucial because it's during those trials
which are usually carried out amongst thousands of people that you establish whether the vaccine is safe and of course whether it's actually
effective, whether it actually works.
But because of a recent law change in Russia, which they passed in order to sort of fast track developments of a vaccine because of the pandemic, for
approval in this country, they don't need to go through Phase 3 trials. In fact, those trials don't even begin here until tomorrow.
In the meantime, the Health Ministry says that the vaccine can be administered to frontline health workers and teachers and people who are in
other high-risk categories.
It was a couple of hours ago that Vladimir Putin actually broke the news on state television. He appeared in a video conference with his ministers
around him, saying that this vaccine has now been registered, which means approved in Russia.
It's gone through all the necessary checks, he said. And he said this, "I know that it is effective and forms stable immunity." Well, how? How does
he know that? Well, take a listen to the evidence that he gave.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PUTIN (through translator): I know it very well as one of my daughters has been inoculated with the vaccine. I think that in this way, she
participated in the experiment.
After the first injection, her temperature was 38 degrees Celsius. The next day, 37 something and that's it.
After the second injection, the temperature also got a bit higher, but that's it. Then it went back down. Now, she feels well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHANCE: All right, she feels well, an extraordinary revelation there. I don't think in years have I heard Vladimir Putin ever mention any of his
daughters, particularly not in a context like this.
What it doesn't do, though, is provide scientists around the world with any of the clinical data they've been asking for. Russia hasn't published the
clinical data from the tests that it has done so far and of course, the fact that it's not undertaken the crucial third phase of human testing.
It all kind of, you know, adds to the views of skeptics that this vaccine is potentially not effective and potentially quite dangerous as well --
Zain.
ASHER: Russia has had, so far, 900,000 cases of coronavirus. I believe that's the fourth largest number of cases in the world; 15,000 people have
died from the coronavirus in Russia. Just walk us through how the past few months have been for Russia in terms of trying to contain this disease, and
also, what sort of pressure the Kremlin is under right now to find a solution?
CHANCE: Well, I mean, for that reason, you're right. I mean, for a long time, it was the third highest number of infections in the world. It's the
fourth highest number now, but it's still got, you know, a lot of people with that virus.
And of course, that creates its own sort of political pressure. I mean, the Kremlin, you know, wants to show that it's doing everything it possibly can
to protect the people of Russia from the ravages of coronavirus. And so, as I say, that's one of the pressures that the government is under. It's why
they passed that law, one of the reasons why they passed the law, to sort of fast track the vaccine.
Other countries have fast tracked, you know, medical testing as well for exactly the same reason.
[09:35:10]
CHANCE: But you know, there's something else underlying it as well, which is that over the past few months, the idea that Russia could be first in
getting a vaccine, it could lead the world, I mean, that's a very seductive idea for the Kremlin.
They're constantly looking for opportunities to show themselves to be at the top table, whether it's in scientific research or in the military arena
or anything like that and getting there first, getting across the line with a vaccine before America, before anyone in Europe, before anyone else in
the world, I think gives the impression that Russia is still a scientific superpower.
And that's something that, as I say, is very appealing to the Kremlin, and it perhaps is one of the reasons why they've been pushing so hard and
plowing so many massive resources into getting this vaccine as soon as they have done -- Zain.
ASHER: Matthew Chance, live for us there, thank you so much.
In Beirut, the entire Lebanese government stepped down on Monday as popular anger over last week's massive explosion grows. Protests erupted following
the blast that killed more than 160 people and injured thousands of others.
The Prime Minister tried to focus the blame on forces beyond his control, saying corruption is bigger than the state. Fawaz Gerges is a Professor of
International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Fawaz, thank you so much for being with us. So, the government stepped down. The big question is, when a new Cabinet is formed, how do you make
sure that the various individuals that will make up the new Cabinet -- obviously, they will come with good intentions? How do you make sure that
they don't also struggle under the weight of corruption as well?
FAWAZ GERGES, PROFESSOR OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS AND POLITICAL SCIENCE: Well, first of all, before we talk about
the composition of the new Cabinet, the big question is, will they -- will a new Cabinet be set up in the next few months or so?
Remember, the governing elite in Lebanon is deeply polarized. You have basically deep divisions among the various warlords in the country. There's
a great deal of uncertainty now. There's a political void. The government today is a caretaker government.
If you ask me, what I see in the next few months, I see really more of the same, the same caretaker government remaining as a functioning government
with hardly any authorities.
So, that's what I really fear. I fear the political void, the vacuum of power, who is going to coordinate the humanitarian aid to the country?
Who's going to talk to the I.M.F. to put in place a set of reforms in order for Lebanon to get some aid from the international community?
The economy has collapsed. The country is financially broke. It's institutionally broken, so before we talk about the composition of the new
Cabinet, will a new Cabinet be set up in the next few weeks and next few months? And I'm really skeptical about this.
ASHER: Okay, so, the "caretaker government" quote-unquote, is probably going to last a while and there will be bickering, there will be
negotiations, just like there was with Hassan Diab when he came into power.
In the meantime, though, while that is going on, is it at all possible that there can be reforms?
GERGESL Well, I mean, you're asking, really a big question. Can the governing elite, all of them -- all of them, basically institute
transformative change from within? Or will change come from without?
I mean, for the past 70 years, you have the same faces, the fathers and the sons, controlling the country, both financially and politically. Why should
we expect the governing elite, who basically are in control, to basically disinherit themselves?
Why should they? Do we have any examples in history where, basically, the powers that be give up power so easily? So this brings us to the question,
really, the people. The people of Lebanon. That's what you see on the streets today.
I think my take on it, if we expect the governing elite to institute transformative change, this is delusional. It's wishful thinking.
The pressure must continue to be exerted on the ruling elite by the people on the street. What I'm talking about, really, is social struggle that the
young and old people in Lebanon must come on the streets and challenge the governing elite in order to begin the process of change, and this is the
only way that, really, we might see transformative change in Lebanon from pressure from the outside on the ruling elite in order to begin the process
of reforming the country.
ASHER: Right, because the oligarchs aren't going to suddenly change on their own is what you're saying as you're talking about social struggle.
[09:40:10]
ASHER: But now that there is so much international pressure after what happened a week ago, I mean, the spotlight is on Beirut at this time like
never before.
How much of a difference is that international spotlight going to make in the next few months, do you think?
GERGES: I think international pressure is very important. International pressure on the entirety of the political elite. The international
community cannot just exert pressure on the factions that they don't like. This is a very important point.
They cannot be selective. They cannot basically have their favorite political groupings. The pressure must be on the entire political system,
and I really insist on all of them, in order to begin the process of structurally reforming the system.
We're not talking -- you asked me earlier about a Cabinet. A Cabinet will never make a difference, a substantive difference in Lebanon.
What you need is a new political system. You need to begin the process of really overhauling the system and putting a new system based on
citizenship, based on new blood, not a system based on sectarian divisions.
And the international community has a major role to play by keeping pressure on the entirety of the political system in order, really, to show
the elite, there is no way out. They cannot really wiggle out of it.
So, the extent of internal pressure by the people of Lebanon, by collective action, by protests, and external pressure might produce some results in
the immediate future as opposed to really the next few weeks and next few months.
This is a crisis that has been in the making since 1990. It cannot -- there is no magical wand. This is part of social struggle. It will take, really,
between five and ten years to begin the process of overcoming this organic crisis that has pauperized the Lebanese people.
The Lebanese people have been pauperized by the ruling elite who have siphoned the resources of the country for the past 30 years.
ASHER: Fawaz Gerges, live for us there. Thank you so much. Appreciate you joining us.
People in Lebanon are expected to hold a vigil in the next hour to mark one week since the devastating explosion. Stay with CNN for our special
coverage of the event in Beirut.
The opposition and presidential candidate in Belarus has now fled to Lithuania. Its Foreign Minister tweeted that Svetlana Tikhanovskaya is now
safe in the Baltic nation. She fled amid a massive crackdown on opposition protesters who are disputing Sunday's presidential election.
Official results gave President Alexander Lukashenko a sixth term in office, but independent observers say there was widespread vote rigging.
After the break, a work from home warning from the cybersecurity giant, Proofpoint. Some major concerns about the dangers of remote connections.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:46:19]
ASHER: Countless computer users now rely on remote desktop connections to work from home, and criminals are exploiting remote working to launch
attacks.
The cybersecurity firm, Proofpoint says virtually all attacks need human intervention to work and that remote working is increasing that risk. It
says, this year, companies are seeing a rise in data breaches and there's been a major increase in so-called phishing attacks using text messages.
Gary Steele is CEO of Proofpoint and joins us live now. So, just walk us through how the dynamics of cybersecurity have changed since the pandemic
started a few months ago in the U.S.
GARY STEELE, CEO, PROOFPOINT: Yes, the main thing that's changed is that threat actors realized that people are more vulnerable being at home. They
were thinking about COVID and all the effects of COVID, and so we've seen threat actors basically move their lure, so getting people to click on
things to something related to COVID or something related to COVID-based events.
So, they're trying to get people to either click on a link or open a file, all of which then creates a malicious activity on your system.
ASHER: So, why are they on the rise? Why have these sorts of external base attacks on the rise now, though?
STEELE: I think it's simply because people are more vulnerable because they're at home, they're not in the office. A lot of the classic controls
that used to protect people are not in place and you've got a bigger opportunity for threat actors and unfortunately, threat actors are out
there trying to make money and they're going to prey on people's weaknesses.
And so as a result of that, we've seen threat actors be very aggressive, targeting individuals and trying to take advantage of them in this
challenging time.
ASHER: So, what do employers need to do at this point, given there are so many vulnerabilities and given that bad actors are trying to take
advantage, knowing that people are working remotely, knowing that people are working from home, how do employers need to rethink cybersecurity?
STEELE: Yes, I think that it's pretty straightforward. I think employers are really thinking about how do they better protect their employees? There
have been a couple of things.
One is, they are putting protections in place, so technology that helps identify those phishing attacks and block them. And then secondly, we see
employers also trying to raise the awareness of their users, trying to make those users that much more vigilant in recognizing attacks and protecting
themselves and the data that belongs to the company.
ASHER: It is also about trying to figure out who is more likely to be at risk and who is more likely to be targeted. How do employers figure that
out, too?
STEELE: Yes, no, it's one of the things that we do as a cybersecurity company is we help employers understand who really is being targeted.
The kinds of attacks being launched at those specific individuals, and then who is more vulnerable, who is more likely to click, who is more likely to
give up various kinds of information, and so we provide those kinds of analytics to employers so that they can be that much smarter in how they
protect their employee base.
ASHER: And although we're seeing a rise, certainly, when it comes to external attacks via e-mail, is it the same when it comes to SMS and text
messaging, too?
STEELE: You know, threat actors go where they think they can get individuals to participate and interact, so we -- as you think about
somebody working from home, threat actors target them in all the places they go, whether it's on text, whether it's on social media, whether it's
some of the other Cloud applications that they interact with.
Threat actors go where people will go, and where they're most vulnerable.
ASHER: And so what's the difference, just in terms of likelihood and just trends of external attacks that you and I are talking about and internal
threats as well.
[09:50:10]
STEELE: You know, there's always a balance. Internal threats really come where you have someone is unhappy in their role, maybe a disgruntled
employee or something like that and they then want to do damage to the company.
What's more common, frankly, today, is external threats coming from the outside, from some threat actor targeting some individual, trying to get
to, typically, either that individual's financial information or health information or trying to get to the company's information.
ASHER: And financially, you know, as CEO of a massive cybersecurity company, just walk us through how business has been for you over the past
few months, given the pandemic, given that people's needs when it comes to cybersecurity are indeed changing.
STEELE: Yes, it was a big shift for us. So, we announced our results last week. We were very pleased with the results, and I think there's been a
couple of very positive effects for us.
So as we went to this work from home environment, we saw companies reaching out to ask to better help them defend their employees so that became a nice
tailwind for us, and clearly in this broader -- in the broader economic impact, we have seen some of our existing customers renew for smaller
amounts simply because they're smaller companies today, given the reductions in force that they've done.
So, a net for us, it's been quite positive. We've seen great growth. We grew 21 percent last quarter, which we felt very good about, but there are
a balance of tailwinds and headwinds for us.
ASHER: All right, Gary Steele, CEO of Proofpoint. Thank you so much. Appreciate you joining us.
We'll be back with more FIRST MOVE after a short break. Don't go away.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHER: Welcome back to FIRST MOVE. Let's take one last look at the markets. The major U.S. averages remain mixed in early trading. The S&P 500
is inching closer to record highs, and the Dow is up by more than one percent, driven higher by Boeing, banks, and energy stocks as well.
But the NASDAQ is falling for a third straight session, chalk it up to a rotation out of tech and into cyclical firms that will do well as economies
strengthen.
Here in the U.S., Halloween is certainly a big deal, and in shops and stores, candy displays have arrived even earlier this year with trick or
treating in doubt because of the pandemic, candy manufacturers are trying to protect themselves from potential losses for their biggest season of the
year.
Hershey has now partnered with retailers to set up Halloween merchandise earlier in the summer. In some cases, actually four weeks earlier, so a
whole month earlier, and in addition to the longer season, Hersheys is focusing more on family-sized packs and fewer treats in Halloween-specific
packaging.
Coronavirus has brought with us all kinds of masks, but I'll bet you haven't seen one quite like this. Take a look at this. It is an 18-carat
mask made in Israel with more than 3,600 diamonds. It costs -- get this -- $1.5 million and comes with an N-95 filter as well.
[09:55:18]
ASHER: The buyer is an unnamed Chinese billionaire living in the U.S. who wanted, basically, the most expensive mask in the world. So the designer
says that he added just a few extra carats just to be on the safe side. There it is. That mask worth $1.5 million.
That is it for the show. Thank you so much for being with us here on FIRST MOVE. I'm Zain Asher. Whatever you're up to in the coming hours, please do
stay safe. You're watching CNN.
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