Return to Transcripts main page
First Move with Julia Chatterley
Ceremonies For Late Justice Ginsburg At The U.S. Supreme Court; China Promising It Will Be Carbon Neutral By 2060; Tesla Shares Lower Premarket After Battery Day. Aired 9-9:30a ET
Aired September 23, 2020 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:00:31]
JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Live from New York, I am Julia Chatterley. This is FIRST MOVE, and here is your need-to-know.
Green Revolution: China promising it will be carbon neutral by 2060.
Nike just does it. Digital growth powering the firm to an earnings beat.
And a $25K Tesla? Elon's dramatic drive to bring battery costs down.
It's Wednesday. Let's make a move.
Welcome once again to FIRST MOVE. A pleasure to be with you, as always. We have lots to cover during the show today, including some historic scenes in
the U.S. Capitol as the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg arrives at the Supreme Court for the final time.
You're looking at live pictures and we will see her casket in around half an hour's time. A private ceremony will follow and then the public will be
able to pay their final respects.
Ginsburg will lie in state on Capitol Hill on Friday, the first woman in U.S. history to achieve that honor, and we will bring you all the details
of that ceremony live as they happen.
For now, a look at the business headlines and a stock snapshot. As you can see, futures are mixed. The S&P and the NASDAQ rising for the first time in
five sessions yesterday. We also though did hold some key technical levels and that is triggering hopes I think that stocks may have found a bit of
support at these levels.
Recovery stocks also getting a boost premarket from vaccine news. Johnson & Johnson's COVID shot entering Phase 3 trials, that sending shares for
Johnson & Johnson a little higher here premarket.
Airlines also higher, too, on hints from the U.S. government that perhaps more financial support for the sector may be forthcoming, too, to try and
stem further furloughs and job losses.
To Asia now, Japan's Nikkei ticking lower on the first day of trading this week amid continued nervousness, I think, over U.S.-China relations,
President Trump repeatedly calling COVID-19 the China virus yesterday at the U.N., meanwhile Chinese state media overnight now suggesting that
Beijing should block what it is calling the dirty and unfair TikTok deal.
Yet, the biggest divide perhaps between the two nations leaders, focusing on their views on climate change.
Let's get to the drivers. That's where we are beginning. China promising a green revolution, President Xi Jinping telling the U.N. General Assembly
his country will be carbon neutral by 2060. China is currently the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases. It is also admittedly one of the
leaders of renewable investment, too.
Will Ripley is live in Hong Kong for more. Will, I think the response here is going to be cautious optimism, but actions speak louder than words. How
are they going to achieve this?
WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This has been the consistent theme in response to President Xi's speech. It was well-received, Julia,
but just like you said, people want to see concrete action, because there have been previous speeches that President Xi has made and pledges for free
trade when China's markets are closed to most of the world, world peace when China is militarizing the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait.
These are pledges that President Xi has made that haven't come to fruition, but when it comes to climate change, which arguably is the biggest crisis
facing all of us on this Earth, even though COVID-19 is our focus right now, China bringing that issue back into the spotlight and that is a good
thing, environmental activists say, including Green Peace.
So this green revolution, President Xi lying out that essentially China aims to reach its peak of carbon emissions within this decade, so within 10
years. By 40 years, China is pledging now to be carbon neutral.
This is the first time that China has actually given a timeline of their goals for this sort of thing, and remember, unlike the United States, which
thinks in four-year increments every presidential cycle, because President Xi has effectively set the stage that he could be President for life, they
can think in 40, 50, in a hundred-year increments and come up with a plan.
So if this is what President Xi is saying, they certainly do have the power to implement that at the government level and also industrial level as
well. Xi also pledging that China will scale up its targets that it made in the Paris Climate Accord, which nearly 190 countries signed, a deal that
President Trump is in the process of pulling the United States out of, calling it a one-sided deal.
He has criticized China mostly for COVID-19, but also for its record of being the world's largest emitter of gases that warm the planet.
[09:05:20]
RIPLEY: President Xi made a really interesting comment, he said that the pandemic, Julia, is a reminder for all of us of the repeated warnings of
nature, because it is widely believed that the source of the COVID-19 virus was a wildlife market in Wuhan, where animals that are not meant to
interact with humans were being slaughtered and sold for consumption.
So is China going to emerge as the leader in renewables, after years of being the world's top polluter? That is certainly the goal President Xi
laid out in his speech at the U.N.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, elegantly put, Will. And actually that phrase that you quoted was exactly what I pulled out as well, the pandemic has shown that
we can't ignore the damage that we're doing to nature here, because there is and there remains debate over how the virus started, about the
information sharing from China.
And President Trump yesterday, as you correctly predicted on the show yesterday, again calling it the China virus and pointing the finger firmly
at China.
RIPLEY: I could have never predicted, Julia, that he would only take around five minutes for his speech. When has President Trump ever gone under the
time allotted? I think they had a 15-minute limit and he just spoke very briefly. It didn't have any praise for President Xi, which I think might
have been more an off the cuff kind of remark that President Trump made.
So my prediction wasn't spot on, but yes, he attacked China for COVID-19 and basically railed in to China in a way that we really haven't heard with
a kind of aggression directly from the U.S. President.
You now, we've heard it from people at the State Department. We've heard strong words in the past. But for President Trump to now say to the United
Nations that this plague, as he called it, has been unleashed onto the world by China. In fact, he continued to call what many people in the
United States and elsewhere find deeply offensive, certainly in this part of the world that he called it the China virus.
I mean, people are really outraged to hear that, but President Trump unabashedly used that language, went on the attack and said that China is
to blame by allowing flights to take off and travel around the world, in his words, infecting people with the virus. China was so upset by this.
Even though President Xi's speech which was prerecorded was very unmeasured, but the Chinese U.N. Ambassador took the unusual step of
calling a press conference to directly respond to President Trump's speech. He said that the U.S. COVID-19 response has been a complete failure and he
said it's time -- this is a quote actually, "time for some U.S. politicians to wake up from their self-created illusions."
So China really striking back in a way that we don't normally hear from Chinese diplomats. Even when President Trump in the past had been in
Beijing and there's been a very inflammatory tweet, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is often reluctant to comment immediately and when they do, they
usually don't name anybody by name.
They don't directly respond as pointedly as they did in this case. It really does underscore, Julia, the escalating tensions between the two
countries.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, and one cannot forget the proximity to a U.S. presidential election here. Will, great to get your insights and thoughts. And we'll
forgive you for the timing mismatch, continuing especially since you're shorter rather than longer.
RIPLEY: Thanks.
CHATTERLEY: Will Ripley, thank you very much for that.
All right, let's move on to Tesla's Battery Day failing to get investors charged up. Stocks down some five percent premarket that despite Tuesday's
big promises about a super fast Model S and dramatic battery and manufacturing improvements over the coming years.
Tasha Keeney is analyst with global asset manager, ARK Invest and joins us now. Tasha, I mean, really, I think investors are already charged up this
year with the stocks up almost 400 percent, so we'll skip that part. What was most revealing about what you heard yesterday from Elon Musk and crew?
TASHA KEENEY, ANALYST, ARK INVEST: Well, I think the key take-away here is, you know, you mentioned the $25,000.00 car, Tesla is reducing battery costs
by 50 percent, increasing range by over 50 percent and reducing investment so the cost to build at factor is by 70 percent.
I mean, if you're a traditional automaker, you must be so scared right now. I mean, you're trying to save your core business in the pandemic and on top
of that, you're trying to build an electric autonomous vehicle. And really, none of them have successfully done that, especially on the EV front.
Also, if you are building an electric vehicle, a lot of automakers are actually using a different form factor of battery than Tesla, so they
couldn't even try to copy Tesla if they wanted to. They'd actually just have to start with a whole new battery platform.
But on top of that, I think it's just going to take -- at this point with Tesla's patents that they have on this new cell structure and architecture,
I think that it could be sort of a lifetime advantage that they have over the auto industry. I mean, I think it will be massively difficult to catch
them.
[09:10:08]
CHATTERLEY: I mean, these numbers are huge. Fifty percent reduction in cost per kilowatt hour, 50 percent increasing range, as you said, the nearly 70
percent reduction in investment per gigawatt hour.
I want to pick you up on what you just said there, because in the past we've discussed this. You've said, look, Tesla's battery technology is
what? Four years ahead of the competitors. Are you now saying if -- and I'm putting a big emphasis on if -- they can achieve this, then that lead would
be insurmountable?
KEENEY: I think that's exactly what this means. And the cheaper car, you know, is also another point in that bucket, right, because now if you want
to match Tesla on price and performance, how are you going to do that? Their cars are getting even cheaper, they're breaking into other customer
segments.
So really, I think their market share should be a lot greater coming out of this announcement, but their future market share should be greater coming
out of this announcement, too, because of that cheaper model. And I mean, traditional autos are really just wasting their time on things like fuel
cells, between, no, it is much less efficient technology, and it doesn't make sense from an infrastructure perspective.
So they haven't even gotten their ducks in a row yet on batteries and now Tesla is just running away from them.
CHATTERLEY: It's quite fascinating, isn't it, if we're talking about a $25,000.00 entry point and actually they were saying a fully autonomy
Tesla, but we'll skip that bit because I know you get very excited about their advances in autonomous technology and data collection, too, because
you know, if you look on the lifetime basis of an electric vehicle, it works out cheaper, but it's the entry point, the relative height or the
greater cost that's a difficulty for many people here.
If you can bring those kind of costs down, then there's a double whammy here, too. But this is all about the future and I think that's what
investors are focusing on today. It looks great, but can they achieve it, Tasha? Why should we believe that they can?
KEENEY: Well, I think Tesla sort of already achieved the impossible and we know that they are the leader in batteries, and if you think of where
battery breakthrough is happening, if they are happening in the lab and these research centers that are outside the company, where is the first
place you want to market your invention? It's going to be Tesla.
So on top of their own internal work, they're likely seeing the most cutting-edge research coming at them from every place in the world. I mean,
Elon Musk has said, if you can build a better battery, show it to us. So I think that it's sort of an easy case to make that if anyone can do this,
it's Tesla.
CHATTERLEY: I love -- yes.
KEENEY: And they are a magnet.
CHATTERLEY: A magnet for all those that have some kind of groundbreaking potential technology, they go to Elon Musk and Tesla first. Tell me why
you're excited about the autonomous opportunities again here because I know it comes down to the data that they are already collecting and again, an
advantage that you think they have.
KEENEY: Yes, well, one incremental update that we heard last night -- well, first of all, it's notable that this is Battery Day and Elon Musk mentioned
autonomous technology a number of times. I mean, this is clearly so important to them and that they know that.
And it makes sense to us because we see this as the next largest opportunity in the auto industry. It's going to completely change the way
you look at an auto company if they pull off autonomous technology. They are basically going to have software to service like margins.
But last night, we heard -- so, Tesla has been working on this update to autopilot for some time that basically combines two of the steps that you
need in the process to make an autonomous car successfully drive.
In doing so, they get an order of magnitude improvement in the efficiency and sort of the processing that you can do in an autopilot. So that seems
to say that this autonomous lead that they have over other auto makers is again going to be accelerated by this new thing that they are building
which is this rewrite of their neural net.
So, Musk said that that would come out in full production in the next month, so that's another really exciting development that I think is likely
going to be overlooked.
CHATTERLEY: Tasha, I'm going to get shouted out for asking this because we have about five seconds. But, I know it's a long-term price target. Post
stock split, what number should we be focusing on from ARK Invest?
KEENEY: So we're working on updated research. Look out for that. But our published price target right now, if you account for the stock split would
be about $1,400.00 per share.
CHATTERLEY: Fourteen hundred dollars.
KEENEY: Yes, and so that's really taking into account the electric and autonomous opportunity. You have to value this company like a technology
company that it is.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, I know, this is not a car maker in your view. Okay, Tasha Keeney, just a car maker. Tasha Keeney, analyst with ARK Invest, great to
have you with us, as always.
All right, let's move on, just do it and they did. Nike shares up again premarket after revenue easily beat forecasts, including an 82 percent
spike in online sales.
Paul La Monica is here. Paul, the CEO says that digital growth is sustainable. Talk us through the numbers.
[09:15:10]
PAUL LA MONICA, CNN BUSINESS REPORTER: Yes, these were phenomenal numbers, Julia, as you pointed out. The digital revenue nearly doubling, I think
that sets a very good tone for Nike going forward, as it, like many other consumer products companies is shifting to a world where you have to
increasingly rely on digital with many stores that are still, if not fully open yet, may have, you know, hours that have been scaled back and
consumers that may not want to go out and shop.
So this is good news. But more importantly, I think, it's not just a U.S. story. When you look at markets around the world where they've had COVID
outbreaks before the U.S., they are really starting to recover.
Europe and China had revenue actually go up in the last quarter and that's a big reason why overall revenue was only down about one percent in the
quarter, much better than the really bad drops that many Wall Street analysts were expecting. So this is a very encouraging sign for Nike and it
could be good news as well for rivals like Adidas and Under Armour, both of their stocks are rallying on this news, too.
CHATTERLEY: ... down two percent, China up six percent is a Nike swoosh style recovery here. I also wanted to talk about the fact that they are
basically seeing strength in the categories that they are leaning into here, which is digital, and weakness in the ones that they are leaning away
from, which is selling through third parties, for example. This is important, too, and they gave guidance.
LA MONICA: Exactly. The guidance was strong, which is clearly a good sign for the company and probably other consumer products makers as well. But as
you point out, Julia, the fact that Nike is showing that it can really have its own digital footprint and doesn't necessarily have to rely on the likes
of Amazon is, I think, something that many other big brand name companies are going to be watching closely to see if they can do it.
I mean, not every company has as loyal a following as Nike does, particularly with younger consumers. But those that do, this is a message
here. You can set up your own digital shop and you don't have to necessarily rely on your retail partners. It obviously helps having those
retail partners, but you can do it on your own as well.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, I couldn't agree more. Paul La Monica, thank you for the analysis there.
All right, these are the stories making headlines around the world. The body of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is expected to arrive at the U.S.
Supreme court shortly where she will lie in repose, Wednesday and Thursday.
President Donald Trump will be paying his respects on Thursday, but he hasn't wasted any time in trying to replace her. He says he will announce
his Supreme Court pick on Saturday.
CNN Justice Correspondent, Jessica Schneider is at the Supreme Court. Jessica, let's focus in on Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the important of this
historic day and what we'll see.
JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: A historic day, indeed, Julia. Good morning. You know, when Justice Ginsburg's casket arrives here
at the Supreme Court around 9:30 this morning, so in just a few minutes, just about 100 or more of her former law clerks, they will actually be
here. They will serve as honorary pall bearers.
And then for the next two days of public viewing, they will stand guard over Justice Ginsburg's casket. Really, in tribute to her. She adored her
law clerks and they obviously adored her.
So beginning at 9:30 this morning after Justice Ginsburg's casket arrives, there will be a private ceremony inside the Great Hall here at the Supreme
Court. That will be private. It will be for family, close friends and Justices. Then after that, Justice Ginsburg's casket will be moved to the
portico, that's at the top of the Supreme Court steps here and that's when the public viewing will begin.
We are expecting thousands and thousands of people to make their way here to the Supreme Court over the next two days. We've already seen thousands
flock here to the Supreme Court since Justice Ginsburg's death was announced on Friday night. The public viewing will be tonight and tomorrow
night until 10:00 p.m., and then on Friday Justice Ginsburg will make history.
She will be the first woman to lie in state at the U.S. Capitol and then next week, we expect there will be a private burial service at Arlington
National Cemetery and Julia, Arlington is the same place where Justice Ginsburg's beloved husband, Marty is also buried -- Julia.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, together once more. Jessica Schneider in Washington, D.C., thank you for that.
All right, it's the second day of the United Nations General Assembly in its first ever virtual format. Leaders from many conflict zones are due to
speak, including, Yemen, Libya, Cyprus, Venezuela and others. The U.N. G.A. continues through the second of October.
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence safely back in Washington, D.C. after a bird struck Air Force Two midflight. It happened after a Trump campaign rally in
New Hampshire.
[09:20:10]
CHATTERLEY: As a precaution, the aircraft returned to the airport where it had taken off from. The President and his staff flew back to Washington on
a different plane.
All right, coming up after the break, Johnson & Johnson announces Phase 3 drug trials, a new ruling could ensure there is no coronavirus vaccine this
side of Election Day in the United States. All the details next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to FIRST MOVE. You are looking at live pictures of the U.S. Supreme Court, people there waiting to soon see the casket of the
late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg arriving there. They are her law clerks, in fact.
There will be a small private ceremony attended by the family, friends and members of the Court, too. Ginsburg will lie in repose at the top of the
front of the steps of the building to allow the public to pay their respects, and that will take place until Thursday night.
Okay. Let's move on. Johnson & Johnson is beginning critical Phase 3 trials for its vaccine candidate today. The fourth company to enter the stage of
testing here in the United States. Sources say government health officials are considering new rules for approving a vaccine that would push any
authorization beyond Election Day.
Senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen joins me now. Great to have you with us, Elizabeth. Which shall we go on first, let's talk about
Johnson & Johnson. Talk about the key differences, I think, between what Johnson & Johnson is doing in terms of their vaccine and what we've already
seen from the likes of Pfizer and Moderna, because it's a different style of dose that's being provided.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, let's talk about these four vaccines, Julia, that are now in phase three clinical trials in
the United States. We have a list, so let's take a look at that.
So, the first one that started was Moderna on July 27th and then Pfizer started later that day, also July 27th. AstraZeneca is sort of an
interesting one. In the United States they started their trial August 31st, but then about ten days later the trial went on hold and is still on hold
in the United States because of concerns about an illness of one of the participants.
[09:25:27]
COHEN: Johnson & Johnson started their trial today. Now, if we look at these, you mentioned any differences.
Moderna and Pfizer are using the same type of vaccine, the same vaccine technology. AstraZeneca and J&J are using the same technology, meaning they
are same but they are different from Moderna and Pfizer.
So Moderna and Pfizer are using sort of technology number 1; AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson are using technology number two. It is important to
note, Julia, that no vaccine using either of these technologies has ever landed on the market.
So they are using technology that's been tried out in various clinical trials but has never resulted in a vaccine being on the market, so the
safety concerns here are high because this technology has never been tested in hundreds of millions of people which is what we would expect that they
get on the market.
Now, one difference between J&J and AstraZeneca that we really should point out is that AstraZeneca and the other two -- those are two doses. You have
to get a dose, wait a number of weeks, get another dose.
Johnson & Johnson is a single dose. If it works, that's a huge advantage that you only have to vaccinate people once. You don't have to go back and
do it again.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, I was leading the witness there because that's where I was going initially when I was asking you to comment on the doses. A critical
difference in terms of how quickly perhaps you can get people dose and not have to go back and give them another dose.
Also critical in light of what the F.D.A. is potentially going to be doing here, too, in wanting to lead what -- a two-month gap before they will
approve these vaccines after the final or the second dose has been given.
This is very important time-wise with where we lie today and proximity to the U.S. presidential election.
COHEN: That's right, Julia. So President Trump has said several times, in effect, yes, we are going to have a vaccine by Election Day. He says that
he thinks that that could happen.
If it does what it is expected to do according to two of our sources, that cannot happen. It would be mathematically impossible and here is why. What
the F.D.A. is expected to do according to our sources is to say, you know what, from a certain point in the trial, you have to wait two months. When
you hit a certain point in your trial, you have to wait two months.
And that two months will take us well past Election Day. That means that we would have a vaccine in this country in the United States, by Thanksgiving
at the earliest. Now, we don't know that the F.D.A. is going to make this rule, they were told to expect it, but we don't know that they are going to
do that.
And the reason, Julia for this rule is safety. We just were talking about how these two vaccine technologies that are being tested out, they have
never been on the market. So there are safety concerns right there.
So they want another two months. They want more and more shots in arms of study participants to see if it really is safe.
CHATTERLEY: Because if you're going to get an adverse effect, it is going to happen you assume in that one to two-month window after the dose is
measured and taken?
COHEN: Yes, that's part of it. But also, just think of it in terms of numbers. If you're going to see a one in -- you're looking for a one in a
million side effect, one in a million people are going to react badly to this vaccine.
If you've only given two doses of the vaccine, to let's say 10,000 people, you know, why not wait another two months and give it to say another 10,000
people. The more shots you have in arms, the more sure you can feel that the vaccine does not have a safety concern.
Now, usually, if this weren't the pandemic, we would be waiting years. We would be doing this trial for years to see if there were safety concerns.
Unfortunately, we are in a situation where we want this vaccine sooner than years and so it's sort of a compromise if you will.
CHATTERLEY: These aren't ordinary times. Senior Medical Correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, thank you for that. I am going to hand you over now for
more live coverage with Poppy and Jim as the casket of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg makes its way to the Supreme Court.
END
