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First Move with Julia Chatterley
President Trump Heads To Protest Hit Kenosha Despite Pleas From The Mayor And The Governor To Stay Away; Samsung, The Phone Maker's Boss Indicted Over A Controversial 2015 Merger; Zoom Takes Off With Profits Jump More Than 3,000 Percent As The Cash Is Thin On Work From Home. Aired 9-10a ET
Aired September 01, 2020 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:00:11]
ZAIN ASHER, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Coming to you live from New York, I'm Zain Asher. This is FIRST MOVE and here is your need to know.
President Trump heads to protest hit Kenosha despite pleas from the mayor and the governor to stay away.
Samsung charged. The phone maker's boss indicted over a controversial 2015 merger.
And Zoom takes off. Profits jump more than 3,000 percent as the cash is thin on work from home.
It is Tuesday. Let's make a move.
All right, welcome to FIRST MOVE. So good to be with you. I'm Zain Asher filling in for my colleague, Julia Chatterley. Let's begin with a look at
the global markets for you.
U.S. stocks are set for a mostly higher open as we kick off a new month. It's September here on Wall Street. The newly revamped Dow is under
pressure again after three quarters of a percent drop yesterday, but tech stocks are set to extend the strong gains we saw in August. It was the best
August on Wall Street since the mid '80s.
The Dow and the S&P 500 rising seven percent. The NASDAQ beat them all, though, rallying almost 10 percent, thanks in part to some players like
Apple and Tesla. Both companies rallied yesterday after their stock splits. Both are up again premarket, but Tesla has pared its gains significantly
after announcing that it will sell about $5 billion more in stocks.
Zoom shares, let's take a look here, meantime are set to rise almost 40 percent after posting a better than expected 3,000 percent spike in second
quarter profits.
Stocks are trading mixed in Europe. U.K. stocks under pressure as the pound rallies against the dollar. New numbers also show Euro zone unemployment
rising to almost eight percent in July.
In Asia, let's turn to Asia now. Chinese stocks advanced after a private manufacturing survey showed factory activity expanding at its fastest rate
since 2011. Last month -- U.S. factory numbers for August will be released in the next hour.
Let's get to our drivers now. President Trump heads to Kenosha in Wisconsin in the wake of protests there despite objections from the state's governor
and the city's mayor as well. They're concerned today's visit could trigger even more violence as Shimon Prokupecz reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER (voice over): This morning, President Trump is moving forward with plans to travel to Kenosha,
Wisconsin, despite calls from local officials to reconsider his trip.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR JOHN ANTARAMIAN (D), KENOSHA, WISCONSIN: I'm disappointed that he is coming. The President is always welcome, but at this time, it's just the
wrong time. Right now is a time for us to heal and to be able to look inward and deal with the issues that we have to deal with.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PROKUPECZ (voice over): The White House says Trump will survey damage and speak with law enforcement officials, dismissing criticism that his
appearance could cause even more tension in the city.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It could also increase enthusiasm, and it could increase love and respect for our country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PROKUPECZ (voice over): Unrest in some American cities like Kenosha and Portland are now a major talking point for Trump's re-election campaign.
Joe Biden slammed the President's rhetoric from a campaign stop in Pittsburgh.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN (D), DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: He may believe mouthing the words law and order makes him strong, but his failure to call on his
own supporters to stop acting as an armed militia in this country shows how weak he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No justice.
GROUP: No peace.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PROKUPECZ (voice over): This, as protests continue, demanding justice for Jacob Blake, who was shot by police over a week ago. President Trump will
not visit Blake's family because he says they want a lawyer present.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JACOB BLAKE, SR., FATHER OF JACOB BLAKE: I'm not going to play politics. This is my son's life we're talking about.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PROKUPECZ (voice over): And while protests in Kenosha became deadly last week, the President refused to condemn the 17-year-old gunman suspected of
killing two people.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: You saw the same tape as I saw. He was trying to get away from them, I guess, it looks like, and he fell, and then they very violently
attacked him, but I guess he was in very big trouble. He would have been -- he probably could have been killed, but it's under investigation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PROKUPECZ (voice over): Biden denouncing all violence from both the right and the left, saying Trump is only causing more division instead of uniting
a hurting nation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: The violence we're seeing in Donald Trump's America, these are not images of some imagined Joe Biden America in the future. These are images
of Donald Trump's America today.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: Shimon Prokupecz reporting there. The President's visit comes as coronavirus cases in the United States exceed six million. Joe Johns me
live now from Washington.
So, John, the President has been warned by local officials not to go to Kenosha. He is going anyway. What good does he think could actually come
out of his visit, especially given that he is talking about people like Kyle Rittenhouse as though they have acted in self-defense when that's
clearly, according to people who were there, not the case.
[09:05:10]
JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: I think you can say this is an appeal to the President's base. He knows he has a conservative base
and they are interested very much in law and order. The President harking back to the strategy used by Richard Nixon when he was an unpopular
President and had a swirl of events going around his office.
Meantime, Richard Nixon pushed the notion of law and order and successfully won a second term, though he eventually resigned.
So, the President is pushing this message of law and order for his followers. As far as Kyle Rittenhouse goes, it's pretty clear that the
President, by encouraging the followers who do things like Kyle Rittenhouse, he is essentially sending a message that he is not condemning
it.
He was asked to condemn it in his briefing just yesterday, the President explained that in his view, Kyle Rittenhouse, by shooting two people and
killing them, wounding a third, was in fact, acting in self-defense.
All of this not only serves to help the President with his base, there's also an issue of distraction. As you mentioned at the top, the President
has coronavirus here in the United States, as worse as it's ever been, in fact. So many people dead, so many people infected.
And this is an attempt, of course, to turn the page, move on to something different. It's a tactic the President and this administration have used
again and again, and certainly, we'll see more of in the run-up to the November election.
Zain, back to you.
ASHER: Right, so this is just about sort of changing the subject. But you know, just in terms of his visit to Kenosha, the President continuously
complains about division, violence, unrest happening in various parts of the country. He talks about himself as being the law and order president.
But when you see the division happening in various cities, how does he explain the fact that all of it is happening under his watch?
JOHNS: He doesn't, quite frankly, and that's the big problem that we're in Donald Trump's United States. This is not Joe Biden's United States, `as he
suggests, and when the President goes to Kenosha today, he is not trying to bring the two sides together. He is going to visit with law enforcement.
He's going to see property that's been damaged by the riots there.
And he is going to see an Operations Center and have essentially a town meeting with law enforcement. He is not meeting with the family of the
young man who was shot seven times there, paralyzed, and is now fighting for his life, the family says.
So, the President is reaching to one side of this equation and not both, and clearly pushing the division rather than trying to heal it -- Zain.
ASHER: Yes, Jacob Blake's father clearly stating that he is not going to be used as a political prop. This is just about his son's life and nothing
else matters, which is understandable.
Joe Johns live for us there at the White House. Thank you so much.
Now to South Korea. Samsung heir, Lee Jae-yong, indicted over a controversial merger in 2015. Prosecutors accuse him of engaging in a stock
price manipulation and other offenses as well as he sought to tighten his control over Samsung.
Selina Wang joins us live now. So, Selina, this is the outcome of a 21- month probe. What more do we know about this allegation?
SELINA WANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Zain, Samsung's de facto leader who is also known as JY Lee has been embroiled in legal scandals for years.
This time, Lee, as well as 10 other executives are being charged on indictments related to this 2015 merger between Samsung C&T and Chell
Industries.
Allegedly, this merger allowed JY Lee to consolidate his power, to cement the succession of the company after his father, who has been hospitalized
since 2014. Now, the lead prosecutor said in the process of this merger, Lee and those executives engaged in spreading false information and stock
manipulation.
They say that those executives and Lee unilaterally decided on the timing of this merger so that it would benefit Chell Industries. That's important
because JY Lee was the majority holder of Chell Industries.
Samsung has denied these allegations, saying that the investigation was done quote, "with the aim of prosecuting JY Lee from the beginning rather
than seeking the actual truth according to evidence."
Now, JY Lee had already spent about a year in jail, Zain. He was only released in 2018. That was on charges of bribery related to South Korea's
former President. That case is still ongoing.
ASHER: And Selina, you mentioned that he has been jailed before. Obviously, this is not the first time he has faced criminal indictment.
What's next for him in this? What's next for JY Lee?
[09:10:10]
WANG: Well, Zain, this indictment sets up -- paves the way for him to face trial on these allegations. That could drag on for years, however. And in
the meantime, this does cast yet another shadow over Samsung's leadership.
This conglomerate is a powerful symbol of South Korea's rise as a technology powerhouse, but it's also a symbol for the problems that arise
when a small group of families control so much of South Korea's economy.
Samsung accounts for about a fifth of South Korea's exports for years, and has been one of the world's largest sellers of smartphones, TVs and chips,
so it not only plays a key role in South Korea's economy, but also in telling this broader national story and in recent months, JY Lee has tried
to improve Samsung's public image.
In fact, in May, he even issued a public apology. He admitted that Samsung has, quote, "failed at times" to meet society's expectations because we did
not strictly uphold the law and ethical standards.
He's pledged to do better, including ending the dynastic succession. He said he won't be giving his role to his children down the line.
ASHER: Selina Wang live for us there. Thank you so much.
Facebook is threatening to ban news sharing by its Australian users if the country passes a new rule about content on the site. Australian regulators
are proposing that Facebook should pay for news shared on its platform.
Brian Stelter joins us live now. So, Brian, this still needs to be approved by Australian Parliament, but why do they think this move in terms of
making Facebook pay, why do they think this is fair and necessary just in terms of leveling the playing field?
BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Right. This proposal in Australia could be a model all around the world. That's why Google and
Facebook are taking it so seriously and now Facebook is taking a dramatic step to fight against it.
The foundation of this is about what has happened to news publishers, big ones like CNN and then small newspapers around the world due to the
internet age. Because Facebook and Google control the online ad marketplace, it has hurt many smaller publishers.
It's also hurt many companies like ones owned by Rupert Murdoch. It has been Murdoch's news corporation that has been driving for this kind of law
in Australia that would reset the playing field and would force Facebook and Google to pay more to the news publishers.
Basically, there had been a panel of arbitrators that would decide how much revenue should be going from the social media giant over to the newspaper
industry.
Facebook and Google are fighting against this and Facebook most dramatically, overnight, Facebook saying that if this becomes law in
Australia, it will disable the ability for people in Australia to post links to news. That's how serious this fight is.
ASHER: So then if Facebook ends up blocking news on their site, I mean, couldn't that backfire by preventing these smaller publishers that are in
danger, preventing them from reaching a much wider audience, which is, of course, what they want?
STELTER: Right, they say they don't want to do this. Campbell Brown, Facebook executive, former CNN anchor, says this is not a step Facebook
wants to take. They say regretfully they would have to do this because they don't agree with the proposal in Australia.
We have not heard what Google's stance on this would be. I think Facebook is coming out in front here and saying they would take this extreme measure
in order to fight back against this proposal.
You know, bottom line here is that Facebook says it doesn't need news as much as news needs Facebook. You know, it says that most things shared on
Facebook are posts from friends and family, not links to news sites.
However, the news industry is very, very serious about trying to get more money out of Facebook and Google. This has been a battle for years, and I
think we're seeing it explode now in Australia.
ASHER: Yes, Facebook, Google, and those tech sites, you know, of course continue to dominate in terms of ad revenue. Brian Stelter lives for us
there, thank you so much. Appreciate it.
All right, these are the stories making headlines around the world. Hong Kong is rolling out a free coronavirus testing program for all residents
today, hoping to contain its latest outbreak.
Hundreds of thousands of people have signed up. But many others are staying away because of China's direct involvement. It's sent dozens of doctors to
help at testing sites.
And pro-democracy activists say China could use the program to collect data on people, including their DNA. Officials deny that and say no samples will
be taken out of the city, but as Will Ripley reports, deep skepticism remains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The work never stops at this Hong Kong lab. COVID-19 tests are coming in around the clock.
Do it yourself testing kits take just a few minutes. My team and I got results in 24 hours, all negative.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RIPLEY (on camera): How often do you get tested?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Twice a week.
RIPLEY: Twice a week?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
RIPLEY: So you don't have to wear a mask.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I'm usually the safest person in the room.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RIPLEY (voice over): Prenetics CEO, Danny Yeung has teams working 24/7.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DANNY YEUNG, CEO, PRENETICS: We've actually had to hire over 200 people, just alone in the last four weeks to be able to meet this demand.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[09:15:10]
RIPLEY (voice over): Demand is so high the office is getting crowded.
RIPLEY (on camera): Each of those clear plastic bags is somebody's COVID- 19 test. They basically spit into a cup.
They are processing 15,000 of these every day just at this lab. They actually have a capacity for up to 20,000.
And there is the demand. Because people want to know if there are hidden cases out there in the community.
RIPLEY (voice over): To find those hidden cases, Hong Kong wants to test the entire population, more than seven million people.
The city set up more than 100 testing labs. Three thousand medical staff are prepared to handle half a million tests per day assisted by a team of
experts from Mainland China, raising concern among some residents that the tests could be used to collect DNA.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSHUA WONG, PRO-DEMOCRACY ACTIVIST: With our experience of that red capital companies provided service in Xinjiang re-education camp and with
the DNA collection for Uighurs, et cetera, it's time to realize how Beijing and Hong Kong government pretend and also facilitate the inference in Hong
Kong using the excuse of COVID-19.
DR. KWOK KA-KI, PRO-DEMOCRACY LAWMAKER: A lot of people will ask the question whether this important private information will be transmitted or
be handed to other institutions, laboratories, or even going back to any places or institutions in China.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RIPLEY (voice over): Hong Kong's leader, Carrie Lam, says the claims are purely political.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CARRIE LAM, HONG KONG CHIEF EXECUTIVE (through translator): They just need that one thing to smear the central government and undermine the
relationship between Hong Kong and the Chinese government.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RIPLEY (voice over): Hong Kong is one of the few places outside of Mainland China to offer free testing for everyone. Unlike China, it's
voluntary.
If privacy fears keep too many people away, those hidden cases may stay just that. Putting the city at risk for an even deadlier outbreak.
Will Ripley, CNN, Hong Kong.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: An Australian journalist working for Chinese state media is being held in China without charge. Officials for Australia's Consulate say
business anchor, Cheng Lei is in good condition, but they do not have answers as to why she is being detained. Cheng Lei hosted a business show
on China's English language broadcaster, CGTN.
Children in several sites across China returned to school Tuesday, including Wuhan, the original epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak. It is
a phased return depending on age and grade level.
Chinese authorities say safety measures are in place. The city officials say they have plans to return to online teaching if new outbreaks emerge.
And French President Emmanuel Macron is in Beirut today for his second visit since the devastating blast ripped through the city's main port last
month. His two-day trip is meant to follow up on reconstruction efforts and to help press political and economic reforms.
All right, still to come here on FIRST MOVE, Zoom reaps the benefits of working from home with a revenue surge.
And the mothers who are fighting to get back into their jobs, the struggle of working women in this pandemic.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:21:14]
ASHER: Welcome back to FIRST MOVE coming to you live from New York. U.S. futures are weakening a bit as we count down to the start of September
trading. I can't believe it's September.
But tech is still on track for a subtly higher open. Tech stocks were big winners in August, but companies that will benefit when a COVID vaccine
finally arrives saw strong gains last month as well.
Cruise lines, airlines and resorts continue to bounce from the sizable losses and suffer -- they suffered during the spring. Stocks in the news
today include Walmart has officially unveiled its new Walmart Plus online service intended to go head-to-head with Amazon Prime.
The service is $21.00 a year, less than Amazon Prime in the U.S., but it lacks some of Amazon's key features like music and movie streaming.
Boston Consulting Group, one of the largest management consulting firms in the world are announcing a major climate commitment. BCG says it plans to
deliver net zero climate impact by the year 2030.
Joining us live now is CEO, Rich Lesser. Rich, so just walk us through how you plan to achieve these really good climate impact goals.
RICH LESSER, CEO, BOSTON CONSULTING GROUP: Yes, we've got three big elements to it. The first, of course, starts with our own emissions to
improve what we're doing. That means taking down our scope: one and two emissions, our direct emissions by 90 percent by 2025.
It means taking down our business travel related expenses per FDE by 30 percent over the same time period with an expectation that we can go
further.
So, we'll make a big dent in our own emissions profile relative to the size of the firm, and then the next thing that we do is we want to neutralize
the rest.
That's different than avoiding emissions. That's actually taking carbon out of the atmosphere for every ton that we put in and we'll do that using a
combination of nature-based and engineered solutions and spending much more per ton where we're anticipating that the cost could rise to about $80.00
per ton versus the market price today that is about $3.00 to $6.00 per ton by 2030, to be able to truly neutralize what we emit and to be able to
really invest in projects that represent leading technologies.
And then the final commitment is to help the world. BCG has so much capability. So we've committed $400 million over the decade of BCG team
time, of our own investments in research to be at the cutting edge in collaborations with groups like the WEF, the work we've been doing with COP
26 and other organizations to really do what we can to bring our capabilities to help the rest of the world improve as well, which we
desperately need.
ASHER: So, these are all noble goals, but what is about what's happening in the world right now, the United States, obviously, people are certainly
hardened by their suffering because of coronavirus. The economy is in a difficult situation as well.
What is it all about all of that that has really forced you to reaffirm your commitment to the environment.
LESSER: Well, I think you've laid exactly the right backdrop. Interestingly, carbon emissions have dropped this year by the largest
amount since World War II, but exactly for the wrong reasons.
The economic impact it's had on so many people is enormous. This isn't the way we wanted to get there. The risk is with governments and individuals
under so much strain that we could lose sight of this critical long-term challenge, which is to fundamentally change the carbon footprint of
humanity in the world.
And we felt like now was the right time to send a signal that of course we need to focus on the near term and all the challenges, but we also need to
reaffirm long-term commitments to fundamentally change trajectory and we believe whether it's green stimulus programs and some of the government
support packages, whether it's the commitments that individual companies make, but now is a really important time to reaffirm support for this
really existential challenge the world is facing.
[09:25:11]
ASHER: Just pivoting slightly to the coronavirus and the economy. You know, naturally, the business impact of the coronavirus has been pretty
significant.
As an economy of six million cases, we're just looking at a chart there, showing six million cases right now in the U.S. But as an economy, as a
country, how do you think the U.S. should balance, you know, keeping people safe with just making sure that people, especially those living below the
poverty line don't need to necessarily completely sacrifice their livelihoods as well?
LESSER: It's so important to get the balance right here. You know, the real challenge is to be able to have a safe economy that can keep people
healthy and a vibrant economy, to not have to do a complete shutdown the way we did six months ago, and in order to do that, we see two broad --
well, three.
One is to keep providing the economic support and hopefully Congress and the administration will be able to agree on a package when they return in
this month.
But second, two broad thrusts on the health side. One is to do general things around wearing masks and keeping social distancing, particularly in
indoor gatherings, to keep people safe generally, and then the second is to protect the vulnerable, the people that are either over 65 or are facing
serious health issues already, those are the people that are most at risk, ten times more likely to end up in the hospital or to die from COVID-19.
And whether it's providing them free masks, helping them with additional support if they are living at home, whether it's mental health or food
support, taking on other actions to protect the vulnerable, in addition to the broader society responsibilities we have, we will reduce
hospitalizations, reduce fatality, and allow a broader economic opening.
ASHER: All right, so protecting the vulnerable is key. Those who have underlying conditions, those who are slightly older.
LESSER: And there's just one point -- as you said, particularly vulnerable are people in poverty, people of color, they are particularly vulnerable
for the kinds of things and the actions we need to take.
ASHER: Of course. We are in the middle of what some people have coined as a "she session," meaning that this pandemic has unfortunately
disproportionately affected both women and minorities, partly because women are more employed in service sector jobs and hospitality jobs, which, you
know, has suffered a lot during this pandemic.
How do you think the government -- I mean, obviously, you know, we can talk about the stimulus bill as a separate issue, but how do you think the
government should really make sure its recovery is that much more inclusive for both women and people of color?
LESSER: Well, it's a really important point, and I think that the first thing the government can do is make sure that we recognize that this is
hitting different groups differently, and some of the underlying support packages to help people go through very difficult times, particularly
people on the front lines.
Frontline workers, people in service industry jobs and other places are going to be hit harder. They're at higher risk, and many of those
industries are some of the ones that are still suffering in parts of retail, in restaurants, in travel and tourism, and I think finding ways to
continue to provide some underlying support there is going to be important.
We also need to invest in helping people build the skills they need for tomorrow. There have been some really innovative programs announced. The
Governor of Rhode Island announced one recently, Governor Raimondo, we need to not just get people back to their current jobs. We need to recognize in
the digital technology oriented economy, we need to help reskill people and using COVID, when many people are displaced anyway, as a chance to build
skills that will help them succeed in the future. That's a really key element of this, too.
ASHER: Rich Lesser, CEO of BCG, thank you so much. Appreciate it. We'll have the market open coming up after this short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:32:05]
ASHER: All right, 31 minutes past the hour. Welcome back to FIRST MOVE. U.S. stocks are up and running on this first day of September.
As expected, we've got a mixed start to the session with blue chips underperforming the broader market. Tech stocks, however, are kicking off
the month with solid gains. The NASDAQ is now up more than 31 percent year- to-date and approaching milestone 12,000 level.
Tech is getting a boost from blockbuster results from stay-at-home stock, Zoom. The video conferencing company is reporting a more than 3,000 percent
rise in fiscal second quarter profits in more than 300 percent spike in revenues.
Tesla shares are under pressure in early trading after announcing that it plans to sell an additional $5 billion in stock.
The biggest black-led bank in America was created last week in a deal that saw City First Bank of D.C. merge with L.A.-based Broadway Federal Bank.
The new lender has over a billion dollars' worth of assets under management and aims to finance affordable housing and small businesses as well.
Joining me now is Brian Argrett, President and Chief Executive Officer of City First Bank of D.C. Brian, thank you so much for being with us. So,
what will this merger mean for low income banking, do you think?
BRIAN ARGRETT, PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, CITY FIRST BANK OF D.C.: Yes, well, first of all, thank you, Zain, it's a pleasure to be on
the show this morning.
This merger of equals is extremely important because we're bringing together two strong, long-standing financial institutions in their
respective markets, as you said, in Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles, really to build a stronger organization, an organization that can provide
increased levels of capital to low and moderate income communities and communities of color.
ASHER: You know, we're seeing, Brian, protests happening across the country, you know, Black Lives Matter has become a real issue in this
country and the spotlight has really shining on it at this moment in time.
How important are black-owned banks and black financial empowerment in the Black Lives Matter era?
ARGRETT: I think it's absolutely critical. And again, I think this combination is critical in both demonstrating our ability to come together,
build something stronger in the collective and in a unification that is both symbolic and that also delivers to our underlying communities.
It's critical in a time like this. Economic justice is important.
ASHER: So, what have you done in terms of how have you invested in sort of equitable economic development and, you know, what should be done overall
in this country to really level the playing field financially for black people?
ARGRETT: Yes, well, let me start with a statistic that I think might be very interesting, Zain. If you look at pre-pandemic levels and you look at
my hometown of Washington, D.C., where City First Bank is located, there's a wealth gap that is dramatic.
Literally, you have 81 times the wealth in white households as you have in African-American households and so let me translate that.
That's a $284,000.00 in net worth, if you will, the balance sheet of a family, if you will, for a white family, and for a black family, that
number is actually $3,500.00.
And so what that means is -- and for a Latino family -- the Latino-Hispanic family, that number is $13,000.00.
[09:35:51]
ARGRETT: So, the difference, the dramatic challenge that presents is really a resilience for that family entering into a pandemic or even in
normal times.
And in fact, also, the difficulty of funding the balance sheet of a business. So really, inadequate or a large differential in wealth
translates into a reduced ability for opportunity.
But to your question, what can be done? Community development, financial institutions, and black-led banks, black-led businesses are critical in
closing that gap and providing wealth and capital so that we can, in the collective, uplift our community.
ASHER: And in terms of, you know, at the sort of government level, just in terms of passing another stimulus bill, I mean, how should resources be
allocated within black communities to make sure, I mean, things have gotten far worse in this country during this pandemic in terms of the differences
between black income and white income and which communities are suffering the most job losses.
So what could be done on a governmental level, especially with stimulus, to make sure that black people in this recovery are not left behind?
ARGRETT: You're right on point, and really, government has to play a critical and central role in really addressing what is a systemic issue.
I'll point out, for example, the Paycheck Protection Program, which is PPP, which was part of the government stimulus effort to uplift small business,
unfortunately, did not reach the African-American community in the manner for which it was intended by its own writing.
So, 95 percent of African-American businesses were unable to access the -- this stimulus money. Now, contrast that, and for a reason, at City First
Bank of D.C., just for example, as a community development financial institution, over 40 percent of the PPP money that we were able to put into
the community was specifically directed towards African-American business owners as well as African-American led nonprofits.
So, my short point is, it's very important to have community-based institutions that are resilient, that have relationships within the
community that have a long-standing commitment to the community, and that have the resources to invest in that community.
ASHER: Yes, CDFIs have become that much more necessary, especially given the pandemic. Brian Argrett, President and CEO of City First Bank of D.C.
Thank you so much.
All right, coming up here after the break, the economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic on women specifically. We'll explain one mom's battle
to get back to work.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:41:46]
ASHER: When schools closed down as the pandemic took hold, many women were forced to quit their jobs to stay at home with their children. Now, they're
finding it harder to return to work as opportunities dry up. Isa Soares has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ISA SOARES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Like many others, Alpana Chakravarti career hit the wrong note in 2020. Jolted by lockdown and the
financial whiplash of COVID-19.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALPANA CHAKRAVARTI, MOTHER: We were working from home for just under a month, and then furloughed to end of July, and then yes, of course, got
very scared.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES (voice over): But furlough came and went, and now the single mother of two has been made redundant with no income and bills that just keep
piling up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHAKRAVARTI: My rental bill is just going up and up. It doesn't matter what I'm trying to do, everywhere else is going up so I'm fighting a losing
battle.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES (voice over): She's not fighting it alone. According to the International Labor Organization, women have been disproportionately
impacted by the pandemic with almost 510 million of all employed women worldwide working in the four most affected sectors.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARY ANN STEPHENSON, DIRECTOR, U.K. WOMEN'S BUDGET GROUP: Now there's a real risk of a two-tier return to work, so you're going to see large
numbers of women not able to return to work because the sectors that they're working in are not really financially viable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES (voice over): For Alpana, this has meant six months of single parenting, cooking, cleaning, home schooling, and entertaining.
Ultimately, less time focusing on getting her career and her finances back on track.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHAKRAVARTI: I'm very worried. I'm still trying. More agencies I talk to, the more worried I get.
SOARES (on camera): How emotional has this whole experience been for you? Have you had moments of self-doubt?
CHAKRAVARTI: I've been wavering. I've been wavering. I've been trying to put on a brave face. I always have done that for my kids. However, that's
probably not teaching them real life and it's okay to see mom crumble at times.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES (voice over): The damage from COVID-19 will be felt by future generations of women with the I.M.F. warning gender gaps are widening,
despite 30 years of progress.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEPHENSON: I think it's actually made things worse, so it's not just that it's shone a light on those preexisting inequalities, it's actually
exacerbated them, so, you know, prior to the pandemic, women in the U.K. were more likely to be low paid. There was a significant gender pay gap.
They were more likely to be in insecure employment on zero hours contract and so on, and they were more likely to take on the majority of unpaid
work. What the pandemic has done is increase that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: A disheartening message for Alpana, her 11-year-old daughter and all women who have to finally chip away at that impenetrable glass ceiling.
Isa Soares, CNN, Berkshire, Southeast England.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: And the issue of child care is just one of many problems facing women returning to work. The Institute for Women's Policy Research says
women have been disproportionately affected by job losses since the pandemic started.
It says the worst affected sectors are leisure and hospitality, education, and health services, retail and professional and business services.
[09:45:10]
ASHER: Nicole Mason is the Institute's President. She joins us live now. So, Nicole, for women who have been forced to sort of stay at home and quit
their jobs, take care of their children during this pandemic, whose careers have essentially stalled, how do they begin, at this point, to reenter the
workforce, do you think?
NICOLE MASON, PRESIDENT AND CEO, INSTITUTE FOR WOMEN'S POLICY RESEARCH: So, for many women, the road ahead is going to be really hard and
difficult, because many women are, while they're trying to reenter the workforce or in many instances finding a new career. They're also jugging
care taking demands.
Last week, or over the last few weeks, schools across the country or across the United States have opened virtually, and so many parents, mothers who
bore most of the caretaking responsibilities at home, are also having to homeschool their children.
So for many women, reentering the workforce or being able to sustain employment will be difficult.
ASHER: So, if you're a single mother or you're a breadwinner parent, a mother as well, you know, or you're living below the poverty line as a
mother, what is needed just in terms of government policies to make that transition back into the workforce that much easier?
MASON: That's a really good question. So, for women who are able and can reenter the workforce, child care is critically important or other supports
that will allow them to not only reenter the workforce, but be able to sustain employment.
So, right now, we don't have a really great plan in terms of providing child care support. There are some legislation and bills to get money to
families who are in need of child care support, but it is stalled right now in Congress.
And so, that's on the -- so we have that on the other hand. But for other parents who just going back and reentering the workforce is not an option
because they're single mothers and they have to take care of their children, being able to provide for them, again, the extended unemployment
insurance or the economic stimulus payment really integral to keeping many families afloat.
But as you know, Congress hasn't been able to reach a deal, leaving many families hanging in the balance.
ASHER: And what will this mean for pay equity? Does it worsen the gap between men and women just in terms of what people are being paid as a
result of the fact that women have been out of the workforce -- some women have been out of the workforce now for that much longer and what will it
mean for minority women especially?
MASON: Well, so, as we know, women have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic, and women of color, specifically, who, you know, the pay
gap for all women is 82 cents on the dollar, but for black women and Latina women, it's about 64 cents on the dollar and that really translates into
cash in their pockets and cash to be able to take care of their families.
And so those families are suffering disproportionately during the pandemic and what we see is the deepening of existing inequalities both income and
wealth, and that it's going to take a long time for, particularly black women and women of color to be able to recover.
And right now, unless we do something, there will be an uneven recovery.
ASHER: So, do you think there has been a true sort of deep understanding among men in this country about what this pandemic has really meant for
women, especially women of color?
MASON: No, actually, I think our -- you know, men, women, Congress, we just were not prepared for this moment, and so we're still all trying to
figure out what this means in this moment, but what we know is in 2008, for example, it was a manufacturing and production crisis and recession.
And today, it's mainly impacting women, so the solutions and strategies that we employed in 2008 may not work now because they are different
challenges, unique challenges that women face that men do not or did not in -- during the 2008 recession.
Child care is one of those things. Pay gap and pay inequality is another issue. But also, the fact that many of the jobs that have been lost are in
lower wage jobs or jobs without benefits, which also means that if women get sick or need to take care of their families, they don't have paid leave
or paid support so that they can do that, an off ramp without fear of losing their job or being -- becoming more economically vulnerable.
ASHER: Right. Yes, so child care policies, helping women, it's important. As you mentioned, paid sick leave as well and a whole host of other
policies that are hopefully a stimulus bill in the future will address.
Nicole Mason, President of the Institute for Women's Policy Research, thank you so much. Appreciate you joining us.
All right, you're watching FIRST MOVE. We'll have much more after the break.
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[09:52:18]
ASHER: All right, welcome back to FIRST MOVE. We've got a mostly higher start to September trading on Wall Street. The Dow is under a bit of
pressure, but tech is hitting fresh records. The Dow is basically flat right now.
That said, shares of Tesla are weighted -- are weighing on the NASDAQ after announcing plans for a $5 billion stock sale. That's offsetting blockbuster
results from video conferencing giant, Zoom.
Paul La Monica joins us live now with more. So Paul, Tesla is basically selling up to $5 billion worth of stock. Walk us through what the proceeds
are going to be used for, do you think.
PAUL LA MONICA, CNN BUSINESS REPORTER: Yes, the company didn't really give too many details in its regulatory filings, Zain, saying they would
probably use some of the money to pay down debt and for other general corporate purposes, so I don't think this is necessarily Elon Musk building
a war chest to go on an acquisition spree or anything like that, but still, Tesla's stock has been on fire.
We expect that the company could be added to the S&P 500 sometime, you know, maybe in the next few months, because it's finally consistently
profitable. So, I think this is just a reflection of why not take advantage of the strong investor demand that's continued even after the stock split
and raise some more money.
ASHER: Let's talk about Zoom in terms of their sales, because they were just stellar. They didn't even predict it. Nobody predicted how good it was
going to be for them.
Profit increase of about 3,000 percent or so, I believe, just, I mean, how long do you think this company can continue to dominate in this way? Is it
up until there's a vaccine and then, you know, we might see that sort of -- their sales go the other direction or how long beyond that?
LA MONICA: Yes, I don't think, Zain, that their sales will suddenly go in the other direction if we get a vaccine, because remember, Zoom was a
rapidly growing company even before COVID-19.
Of course, we've had so many trends accelerate and have more people working from home, so you obviously have just an explosion in demand for video
conferencing now, but I don't think it's going to go away if people finally start to slowly creep back to going back to the office.
I think the bigger question is, Zoom still faces challenges potentially down the road from much larger tech companies like Cisco and Microsoft that
obviously have their own web conferencing, video conferencing tools as well, but Zoom has weathered that competition so far, and when you look at
how well Zoom has done, its market cap now makes it a mega tech giant as well.
So you have to put Zoom in the same sentence with the Microsofts and Ciscos of the world even though they are still smaller than those two giants. Zoom
is by no means some plucky upstart anymore. They are one of tech's biggest companies.
ASHER: Not at all, but I will say that you know, a year, maybe a year and a half ago, there were not that many people who had even heard of Zoom. How
did they turn themselves into the go-to service for video conferencing during this pandemic? How did they become a household name all of a sudden?
[09:55:14]
LA MONICA: Yes, it's amazing. I think it has become one of those companies that's now a verb, you know, "I'm going to Zoom you." And I think that
right now, what they've done really well is they've had little features like the filters that many users like, and they've done a good job with
their app of, you know, getting average people online, too.
I know a lot of people who use Zoom chats or just friendly discussions with big groups of people instead of doing, say, Facetime or another one-on-one
video chat.
It's not just big corporations that are using it. Schools, there have been some privacy concerns about Zoom-bombing, but you're starting to see a lot
of educational institutions use Zoom as well and not just the, you know, other platforms from Microsoft and Cisco.
ASHER: Yes, one of the majorly positive economic stories from this pandemic, Zoom.
Thank you so much, Paul La Monica.
That's it for the show. I'm Zain Asher. Thank you so much for watching.
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