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First Move with Julia Chatterley
Congress Nears A Deal On COVID Relief Plan; South Korea Fights A COVID Surge; The Company With An Ethical Alternative To Farmed Chicken. Aired 9-10a ET
Aired December 16, 2020 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:00:29]
JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Live from New York. I'm Julia Chatterley. This is FIRST MOVE, and here is your need to know.
Bailout breakthrough. Congress nears a deal on a COVID relief plan.
Tracing troubles. South Korea fights a COVID surge.
And a wing and a prayer. The company with an ethical alternative to farmed chicken.
It's Wednesday. Let's make a move.
A warm welcome once again to all our First Movers around the globe, it's a day of Holiday hope for U.S. emergency aid and Brexit talks, too.
Negotiators in both cases seem to be singing from the same hymn sheet, finally. The E.U. Commission's President say she now sees a path to a trade
agreement with the U.K. -- fingers crossed. In Washington, meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says Congress isn't leaving town
without passing relief measures first.
A reminder once again today of why help is crucial, retail sales falling more than one percent last month in the United States as new economic
restrictions weigh on business activity and consumers ability to spend of course, too.
October's numbers also revised to show a negative read then as well, something Jerome Powell at the Federal Reserve will note at their last news
conference of the year later today.
And while we wait, of course, take a look at this. Global stocks are pushing higher. U.S. futures looking to add to Tuesdays one percent
advance, but a bit softer after the retail numbers.
The Dow is above 30,000 once again, however, and the NASDAQ lying at fresh records, too.
Europe meanwhile, boy, as I mentioned by those Brexit talks and new data showing resilient business activity, so far this month, too. German and
French factory numbers are back in expansion mode. Japan's factories aren't far behind that either.
Something else to watch, though in Asia -- airline. Cathay Pacific warning of quote, "significantly higher losses" in the second half of this year
operating at capacity rates of a mere eight percent -- eight percent of pre-pandemic levels.
Vaccines, as we've been discussing all week will be a shot in the arm for recovery activity. But until then, of course, it is policymakers who must
cushion the blow.
Let's get right to the drivers. After months of standoff on Capitol Hill, U.S. congressional leaders on both sides expressing confidence that they
are nearing a long awaited deal on new COVID economic relief.
While nothing has been finalized, it is expected to include an extension of jobless benefits, loans to small businesses and money for vaccine
distribution.
Christine Romans joins me now. Christine, great to have you with us. Exciting times. Finally, we see light at the end of the tunnel. Senator Joe
Manchin was just on air on "New Day" with our colleagues at John and Alisyn saying that actually, despite some things being stripped out, it is still
going to top $900 billion. What more do we know?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: That's a bigger number, honestly than I had been expecting.
CHATTERLEY: Me, too.
ROMANS: Because we know there had been -- there had been a lot of disagreement about what would be in here, and there are some rumbling this
morning that there will be direct payments to American families as well, although not state and local aid.
Again, nothing has been finalized. But let's listen to what Democratic Senator Joe Manchin said -- of West Virginia. I mean, he has actual pages
in his hands. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOE MANCHIN (R-WV): I think it is going to be done. I think we are going to hit the deadline and we'll do it, hopefully have it done by
Friday. They are moving.
Alisyn, let me just show you the size of what we're dealing with. This is what our bipartisan group worked on, over -- about 600 pages, and we're
very happy to be contributing, setting the guidelines of how this bill will be put together.
I'm sure the language that we've worked on for a long period of time is being used as a basis to work off of, and this will help accelerate
everything to get it done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHATTERLEY: It was a whole wedge. You know, it was quite interesting when we saw them agree that deal so fast back in March, the complexity of the
detail and how much has to be gone through in order to agree this.
It reminds us why it is so hard to reach an agreement and get it signed and get it agreed when you're talking about that much detail, Christine, but
we've been saying for months, it's necessary.
The retail sales data this morning, falling, a reminder that even if they manage to agree this, we're in for a rocky few months and I think Jay
Powell at the Federal Reserve will reiterate that once again, do not slip in the final moments.
ROMANS: We know it's going to be -- we know it's going to be a dark winter. It really will be. I mean, you look at the stock market, and you don't get
that sense of foreboding. But we know that right now is still incredibly difficult, and those pages that Senator Manchin were holding up is opposed
to be the bridge to get us to the other side.
I've been calling it more like a life preserver than an actual stimulus. And the Biden team has been saying there's probably more that's going to
have to be done sometime into the New Year.
What the Biden team can do? It will depend on, I think, on what's going to happen in Georgia on January 5th, these runoff Senate races and who
actually controls the Senate. But there's -- this is just such a difficult moment for so many American families as retail sales numbers really
underscoring that.
You know, you'll hear some people blame the lockdowns and blame lawmakers and governors and mayors for lockdowns, but it's the rising resurgence of
the virus that holds back the economy because people just don't have the want or the need to spend money and behave in normal circumstances when you
have a virus that is really out of control like it is right now.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, I couldn't agree more. Life preserver, we still need, struggling Americans to be pulled out of the water here. There's going to
be more work needed to be done.
Christine Romans, thank you for that.
All right, on now to Europe where European governments are implementing tough new measures to try to slow the spread of COVID-19.
In London and surrounding areas, new lockdown measures are now underway, while in The Netherlands and Germany also enacting tougher restrictions
less than two weeks before Christmas.
Fred Pleitgen is in Berlin for us. Fred, and I'm just looking. I know exactly where you are, that street in Berlin. I mean, two weeks before
Christmas, that would be packed, bustling with shoppers, and we can see it's virtually empty behind you.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, yes, you're absolutely right. This is this Breitscheidplatz right in the center of
Berlin, which is one of the main shopping areas normally in the city on a regular day.
We can pan around a little bit, and you can see that it is absolutely empty. All the shops are closed and there is very few people who are out on
the streets.
I want to show you one thing, Julia, because right behind me, you can see a couple of those little huts that was supposed to be somewhat of a Christmas
market because actual Christmas markets, of course, are banned. It's a really sad sight right now.
You can see some people actually clearing out their stalls because pretty much all of them are closed at the moment. So it's really empty. The shops
are all closed.
Of course, a lot of these shop owners are extremely concerned, the German government has said that there is going to be financial compensation. But
of course, still, it's not something that can fully make up for some really good Christmas shopping.
And in fact, yesterday, this place was still packed as people were doing last minute shopping, but now all of that has come to a standstill. And if
Germans needed any sort of reminder as to why this national lockdown is necessary, it certainly came from them this morning when Germany Center for
Disease Control put out numbers, saying that they had recorded more than 950 coronavirus death or COVID-19 deaths in the span of 24 hours, by far a
record shattering the record that has been there before.
At the same time, ICUs in Germany are also getting really full. I want you to listen to what one frontline ICU worker has to say about the workload
that they're currently facing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTIAN KLEBER, CORONAVIRUS CONTROL CENTER, DRESDEN UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL (through translator): You have to ask yourself: what resources do we have
left for managing this situation? And if you ask me if we are at a breaking point, then I would say yes.
In some hospitals in Saxony, we're already beyond it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PLEITGEN: So you can see a really tough situation there in German hospitals right now, as we've seen a very high death toll as well. And that's why
some of the feedback that I think the German government has been getting about these measures, a lot of people are saying, look, it's tough, but it
is also absolutely necessary at this point in time, just a week before Christmas having all the shops close is really a measure that shows just
how far Angela Merkel is willing to go to try and get that situation or try and get that situation back under control.
This lockdown by the way is going to stay in place here in Germany until at least January 10th. But the German government has already said they are
obviously going to have to wait and see what the coronavirus situation will be like at that point in time to see whether or not they can really open up
again -- Julia.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, it is exactly what I was going to ask you because we have seen protests. We've seen them all over Europe, clearly in the United
States, too, when you enact restrictions or lockdown measures.
But Fred, and I think you alluded to it there. Do people look at the situation with the hospitalizations and the rising cases here and say,
okay, it's frustrating, it's painful. It's Christmas, but we get it.
PLEITGEN: Yes, that's exactly right. That's exactly what the vast majority of people are saying. And you can see that also in polls here in Germany,
for instance, as well, where you have about 60, maybe 65 percent of people who are saying that they believe that the measures that are being put in
place are correct.
And then there's about 20 percent that say that they want even stricter measures, just to try and get the situation under control. But you're
absolutely right. Of course, in various European countries, there have been protests against these measures as well.
In fact, I remember that shot of Mark Rutte, the Prime Minister of The Netherlands, when he was announcing the measures that they would put in
place, which almost mirror what Germany is doing, and they could hear the protesters in the background, who are against these measures being put in
place.
That's, of course, a vocal minority in some of these countries here in Germany as well. But you can tell that the vast majority of people say that
it is painful, but unfortunately, it is also necessary to try and get that situation under control. And of course, especially to try and keep people
alive who are vulnerable of severe cases of COVID-19 -- Julia.
[09:10:38]
CHATTERLEY: Yes, it is just tough, isn't it? Tough to balance the economy and also try and protect people at the same time. The government has to
provide support, as you said, at the beginning, and hopefully they will.
Fred, great to have you with us. Fred Pleitgen there in Berlin for us.
All right, to Japan now, reporting a new high for the number of patients in intensive care, nearly 600 people are now in critical care for COVID-19.
And in South Korea, a country that had been praised for its dealing and handling of the coronavirus now sees the highest daily cases since the
pandemic began reporting today nearly 1,100 new infections. The country added military and police to help its overstretched contact tracing system.
Paula Hancocks is in Seoul, with more details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The lunchtime rush at a Seoul restaurant with almost every table taken, one diner tests
positive for coronavirus, the search begins for who else may have been infected.
It starts with a phone call confirming the patient ID from a health official to an epidemiologist investigator. Mobile phone and credit card
checks follow.
Lee Young-wook, a contact tracer and her colleagues physically retrace the footsteps.
The restaurant owner shows where the customer was sitting and shares the CCTV footage. Lee checks who was close by and needs to be warned. The owner
and staff have already tested negative.
Lee makes at least 10 of these visits a day, rarely finishing work before 9:00 p.m.
She tells me the person having lunch with the confirmed case is not wearing a mask and is a close contact. He has been contacted, tested and
quarantined for 14 days.
With hundreds of new cases every day, this work is becoming harder, with many cases now termed as untraceable.
HANCOCKS (on camera): If the mobile phone and credit card usage isn't quite enough to gain a full picture, then contact tracers can track an
individual's movements here at this CCTV center. They can find out exactly where a confirmed case went, who they met, and crucially, they say whether
they were wearing a mask.
HANCOCKS (voice over): More than 3,000 cameras cover just this one sole district of Seocho, normally used for crime prevention, but now a key
element in the fight against the coronavirus.
The Mayor of Seocho says the reason this third wave is so difficult to contain is because infections are happening in all cities and districts
simultaneously.
While the first two waves centered around one or two main outbreaks, health officials now say you can catch the virus at any time in any place. Extra
testing sites have been set up around Greater Seoul for the next three weeks, health officials providing free tests for all regardless of symptoms
or exposure.
Shipping containers are being used to set up more hospital beds to cope with a feared upcoming lack of rooms for coronavirus patients, and more
than 1,300 military personnel have been deployed to health centers in Greater Seoul to help with the legwork and data processing.
President Moon Jae-in says this is an emergency situation, calling it the final challenge before the vaccines arrive.
Paula Hancocks, CNN, Seoul.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHATTERLEY: And moving on to a trade dispute between two of the biggest players in the Asia-Pacific region that's escalating. Australia referring
China to the World Trade Organization over what it calls politically motivated import tariffs. Angus Watson has all the details from Sydney.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANGUS WATSON, JOURNALIST: Australia is launching formal action against China as its relationship with its largest trading partner continues to
sour.
In May, China slapped 80 percent tariffs on Australian barley. Now Australia is asking the World Trade Organization to investigate whether
that was an economic move as China insists, or a political one.
Barley is not the only Australian product that China has had in its sights. This year, with blocks on Australian seafood, beef and coal and added
tariffs on wine, too.
On Wednesday, Trade Minister Simon Birmingham said that the suite of measures seemed like sanctions.
SIMON BIRMINGHAM, AUSTRALIAN TRADE MINISTER: Australian industry should see this as being about Australia, defending the values, operation and
interests of Australian producers but doing so, in a calm, methodical and careful manner.
WATSON: The two-way relationship has been deteriorating since April when Australia asked for an independent inquiry into the origins of COVID-19.
China says it only conducts its trade relationships based on the interests of its businesses and its consumers and that Australia was dumping cheap
product onto the market.
[09:15:09]
WATSON: But China has also criticized Australia for weighing in on rights issues in Hong Kong and Xinjiang, and barring Chinese tech firm, Huawei
from the rollout of its 5G network.
Speaking Wednesday, Minister Birmingham said the W.T.O. process could take years, but he is hoping that other countries will come on board to try to
force China to handle its trade relationships differently.
In the very short term, Australian consumers are looking forward to a Holiday season with cheaper produce. Lobsters are selling at half price at
some supermarkets here after they were earmarked for trade with China.
In the longer term, however, China's actions could mean a big hit to Australia's economy.
Angus Watson in Sydney, Australia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHATTERLEY: Okay, let me bring you up to speed now is some of the other stories that making headlines around the world.
A record number of patients were hospitalized with COVID-19 in the United States on Tuesday at more than 112,000 people. It's the 14th consecutive
day the country has remained above the 100,000 mark.
At the same time, hundreds of hospitals are now administering the vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech.
The U.S., meanwhile, investigating whether Boko Haram is behind the kidnapping of more than 300 school boys in Nigeria last week. A man
identifying himself as the leader of the terrorist group released an audiotape claiming responsibility.
In the recording, which CNN has not been able to verify, he said the attack was to discourage quote, "Western education."
The Kremlin responding to CNN's exclusive investigation with Bellingcat into the poisoning of opposition leader, Alexei Navalny. The Russian
Foreign Minister said reports about the details surrounding the Navalny's poisoning are, quote, "funny to read."
But it didn't directly address the investigation, which found that elite Russian agents have tracked Navalny for years.
All right, still to come here on FIRST MOVE, people may not have traveled much this year, but money certainly has. The pandemic drives a surge in
cross border payments at MoneyGram. The CEO joins us to explain.
And lab grown chicken. Yes, Singapore is the first country to approve meat derived from animal cells. We speak to the company behind the science. Stay
with us. There is more to come.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:20:32]
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to FIRST MOVE live from New York where investors are bracing for a powerful winter storm headed towards the East Coast later
today. As much as a foot of snow is forecast and trading activity may be affected tomorrow, but that's not today.
And for now, futures are mostly high despite that weaker than expected read on U.S. retail sales. Sales actually dropped by greater than expected 1.1
percent last month. October's retail sales also coming in negative, too, after a revision lower.
Meanwhile, business activity is showing resilience this month in Europe. The euro hitting more than a two-year high on the new data and the pound
also rallying on Brexit deal hopes, too.
Meanwhile in the United States, the Federal Reserve could offer guidance on its monetary stimulus path later today. Fed chair Jay Powell speaks as
negotiators in Washington inch closer to a deal on fresh fiscal aid.
Don't be surprised if Jay Powell once again urges D.C. negotiators to finally seal a deal.
Mark Zandi joins us now. He is the Chief Economist at Moody's Analytics. And Mark, great to have you with us. And you're another person urging
Congress to take action essential that they provide more cash to prevent a double dip recession, surely.
MARK ZANDI, CHIEF ECONOMIST, MOODY'S ANALYTICS: Absolutely, Julia. I think that's critical. I've been waiting for this for some time. I thought the
lawmakers would get it together before the election, make good economic sense, and I thought good political sense.
But hey, you know, I'm just an economist. So, you know, who knows what's going on in the minds of lawmakers. But yes, it feels like they are getting
it together here and will sign on the dotted line before the end of the week and absolutely necessary.
You know, you saw today's retail sales numbers, the job numbers are looking softer. The economy is definitely struggling, it needs help. And hopefully
lawmakers will in fact, follow through here.
CHATTERLEY: I mean, it was looking at some of your -- the details in your note from this weekend. You were saying even just the message from the
business sector, less than a fifth of respondents saying that conditions were good at this stage.
I mean, traditionally, you would be looking at this and saying, it kind of feels recessionary. The messages were already there.
ZANDI: Yes, we've been running this survey every week since the early 2000s, and, you know, so we have a lot of data points and seen it go up and
down around the financial crisis. And every time the percentage of respondents say that present business conditions, what's happening right
now on the ground are not good that is consistent with recession and we're right on the border there.
So, you know, according to that survey, if that still holds, the economy is struggling to stay out of recession and desperately needs that help. Again,
I'm getting more optimistic about this, I think we will get that support. And if we do, it'll be a tough two, three, four months until the vaccine
really becomes more widely distributed and the pandemic starts to abate, but we'll avoid that recession if we get that package.
CHATTERLEY: How tough is it going to be? Because when I look at some of the numbers here, we've got potentially 12 million people, at least short term,
even if this deal gets agreed, slipping by a week, two weeks, three weeks until that money kicks in again, the pandemic benefits.
You point out, we've got more than 11 million renters that are still going to owe $70 billion on the other side of the rent moratorium in January. So
even if that gets extended, that's a lot of debt. There's a lot of people that have been significantly beaten up through this process financially,
and that has to weigh on economic activity, surely, even as the vaccines kick in and activity returns.
ZANDI: Yes, absolutely. I mean, and you can feel it. I mean, you can feel it in the job numbers. You can feel it in today's retail sales numbers. I
mean, folks, lower income, generally minority groups, they've been hammered.
You know, unemployment is still very, very high by any standard. Underemployment is high. And even if people have held on to their jobs and
their hours, their pay has been cut. So they're struggling. And you're right, in a couple of weeks, all that unemployment -- extra unemployment
insurance benefits that were provided by lawmakers earlier in the pandemic, that's all gone.
The rental eviction moratoria that's been in place in recent months, that'll expire at the end of the year. You know, student loan borrowers,
they've had a moratorium on payments in recent months. They'll have to start paying by the end of January.
So you know, even if Congress comes through and the President signs and we get that package, you know, for these households, you know, through
Christmas into New Year's, into late January, these are going to be particularly difficult months, because they're just not going to have the
resources.
In fact, there's a survey data coming from census showing that half of all renters who aren't making their rental payments are now relying on money
from their friends and family to kind of make it their way through on spending needs, so that just gives you a sense of the stress.
[09:25:34]
CHATTERLEY: It does. Investors are going to look through this, because as you pointed out at the beginning of this conversation, vaccines are coming.
So there's a good time coming, even if it's a good time coming, quite frankly.
But we have to get there. Jay Powell has to negotiate the fact that we should see a resurgence and activity, but they've got trillions of dollars
of stimulus out there are more coming.
How does Jay Powell play this? Or does he continue to focus on the risks here and the short term, winter and trouble that we've got to deal with in
the short term versus a recovery that could happen quite quickly as vaccines kick in?
ZANDI: Yes, I think Jay Powell, Chair of the Fed has to continue to focus on the downside risks because, you know, obviously, it's still very much a
forecast that we're going to get that vaccine out there, people are going to take it, and that the pandemic is going to wind down.
It feels like a good forecast, and as you point out, investors have bought into it. But you know, until we actually see it, I think it would be
prudent for policymakers to guard against that downside.
And so I think, he is going to be saying the same thing he has been consistently saying for months, and he is saying to the lawmakers that
look, it's pretty hard to err on the side of doing too much here. The real error is going to be on the side of not doing enough so, you know, step on
it, but put your foot on that accelerator, and let's get going here. Make sure we get to the other side of the pandemic, as well as gracefully as we
can get to the other side of this pandemic.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, I'd love to hear Jay Powell say that, "Step on it, guys." Mark Zandi, we all feel the same. Thank you so much for that. Chief
Economist --
ZANDI: That's definitely not Fed speak, that's for sure.
CHATTERLEY: No, I was about to say, yes. It wouldn't be for long if he did. The Chief Economist of Moody's Analytics, great to have you with us as
always.
All right, the opening bell is next. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:30:25]
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to FIRST MOVE. U.S. stocks are up and running this Wednesday and as expected, a mostly higher open. The NASDAQ at new records,
just the Dow having to think about what to do today. Stocks weakening a little after the negative reads on U.S. retail sales for both October and
November as we've been discussing.
Apple meanwhile, in the spotlight once again rallying five percent yesterday amid reports that it's ramping up iPhone production, a sign of
course of strong demand.
Apple shares now up 74 percent year-to-date. Speaking of rallies, it's another milestone day for Bitcoin, too, rising above that $20,000.00 level
for the first time ever. Bitcoin's gains this year now approaching 200 percent. Wow.
MoneyGram is one of the U.S.'s leading payment companies that allows customers in over 200 countries to send and receive money across borders.
MoneyGram's business has surged during the pandemic, too.
The number of cross border payments in November was more than double the level seen a year ago. While MoneyGram is digital business has seen 11
months of triple digit growth.
Joining us now Alex Holmes, Chairman and CEO of MoneyGram International. Alex, always a pleasure to have you on the show. I remember, a year ago
when we were talking about your three key initiatives. It was digital transformation. It was the work with Visa Direct, and it was what you were
doing with Ripple, the payments platform whose CEO was recently on the show.
Talk to me about the digital transformation first, because some of these numbers are eye opening in terms of growth.
ALEX HOLMES, CHAIRMAN AND CEO, MONEYGRAM INTERNATIONAL: Yes, absolutely. And thank you for having me back. It's great to be here. It really has been
an absolute remarkable couple of years for MoneyGram, and certainly what we've seen throughout 2020 has been nothing short of remarkable.
As you said, the performance of our digital business has been just absolutely amazing. And you know, even prior to the onset of a pandemic, we
were seeing phenomenal returns on that business with increasing customers utilizing our app, increasing downloads, increasing throughput and
expansion, of course, into a number of markets with our online services.
But ever since the pandemic has kicked in, we've really seen just complete resilience in that business and continued acceleration, as you said, 11
consecutive months of triple digit cross border growth, 136 percent in the month of November, and it's really been driven by that utilization and
convenience of mobile technology, the simplicity of the throughput, and the ease of which consumers are finding digital applications particularly
during the pandemic, when you know, stay-at-home orders or shelter-in-place orders have really restricted their movement and their ability to get out
and do what they might normally have done.
CHATTERLEY: What proportion of the customers are now using digital platforms versus before? Just give us a sense, yes.
HOLMES: Yes, absolutely. Yes, in the U.S., we've actually roughly doubled the output through our online platform as compared to our walk in business,
so U.S. outbound is really driving a tremendous over the past year.
About 27 percent of our global business today is digital. But that's of course, against the backdrop of really, you know, 200 countries that we
operate in, and only about 80 of those really digitized today.
So when you look at it, kind of on a more isolated basis, the percentage is even higher. And as I mentioned, you know, the U.S. is a great example of
that. We're really seeing a surge in consumers looking for that online application and the ease of use and the convenience of it.
We're also seeing an increase in face value cents on a per transaction basis and that's even throughout the pandemic. And so you're definitely
seeing the resiliency of the consumer base. And then the ease and convenience of the online application.
And we're seen about 140 percent increase in new customers on the online platform. We've seen a 220 percent increase in transactions through our
app. So across the board, simply remarkable returns, and we're very, very happy with that performance.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, and it's not just about remittances, though, I do want you to tell me what you've seen in terms of remittances because when you see a
struggle in the economy and people losing jobs in one country, you'd assume they send less money home, but I know it is the opposite.
Just again, just explain what you've seen in terms of, of people, perhaps sending more money back to foreign nations rather than less despite the
economic strife.
HOLMES: Yes, you know, it's a great point and it's one that certainly counterintuitive to what many people expected particularly early on in the
pandemic.
There was expectations that we would see remittances drop, globally, and certainly, we saw that, you know, right at the start of the pandemic, when
the real shelter in place restrictions kicked in.
[09:35:25]
HOLMES: Since really the back end of April and into May, we've seen just a resurgence in remittances. We did a survey recently of 1,500 of our
customers here in the U.S. with 80 percent of them saying that they feel that their friends and family back home are more in need now than they've
ever been before, 70 percent of our customers saying that they have sent more home in 2020 than they have before.
And I think that's really reflective of the responsibility that a lot of our customers and migrants take on when they leave their home country in
the first place, the reliance on the support that they send back. And so you see many consumers finding more work moving around. And obviously
unemployment is up in a number of areas, clearly hospitality service, restaurants, et cetera.
But when you look at, you know, the resilience of food processing, agriculture, the stability in some cases of construction and other types of
industries, you know, our customers figure it out. They also have tend to have a higher propensity for saving as well as compared to perhaps a
normal, or, you know, regular U.S. citizen.
And so they're able to tap into some of those savings as well and really hold back on their own expenses to send money back.
We are seeing an increase in face value, cent per transaction, and an increase in transaction growth across the board. So it really is a very
different outcome than I think many people expected.
And of course, there is concern about sustainability of that, obviously, stimulus is out in a number of cases and these types of things. But
clearly, as the pandemic has moved along, we really haven't seen a slowdown at all in their spending habits, and so that's been very nice to see.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, I mean, you raise a great point about sustainability, though. But we've obviously got another package coming through from
Congress, fingers crossed.
Let's talk about fraud, Alex, because I know this is something that you feel very passionately about and seeing more rigorous identification
standards.
The question for me is why is there pushback from certain quarters on this? I know, this is something, ID requirements that you've had in place, since
what -- 2018? What do you want to see?
HOLMES: Well, I'd like to see a continued push for consistency on that, and I think that some of the new proposals that have come out From FinCen have
really pushed in that direction.
You know, we generally see in our business, about, you know, $350.00 on average sent home. A lot of the ID requirements, a lot of the data
collection requirements here in the United States, I think lag standards that we see in other markets around the world.
And what they're proposing is, in many cases, to push those requirements down for the data collection. And obviously, the single biggest argument
that you get back tends to be, oh, it's going to create cost, it's going to create, you know, pricing that we're going to have to push on to the
consumers.
But I think that discounts for the fact that scams and fraud continue to be on the rise. And, you know, it really cost individual consumers and you
know, the economy itself billions of dollars every year.
And so that really needs to be addressed and pushed out. We did put in our ID standards and data collection standards at the point of sale at Dollar
One back in 2018, and a lot of our competitors really sold against us on that saying that the restrictions were too tight. It was going to cause
damage to the business.
And here we are, two years later with remarkable growth and actually have the lowest fraud rates in the industry and we've really been able to push
that down and out of our business. And at a time when scams and fraud are, you know, its highest peak really in the United States' history, we
actually are producing some of the lowest and the lowest actually that we've ever seen.
And so I think it shows the standards work and they can actually be implemented in a way that allows you to continue to grow and accelerate
your business without actually passing those costs on to customers because we've actually been lowering prices over the past couple of years while
doing that.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, there should be no excuse. I want to talk to you about Ripple as well -- while I have you -- the payments network because we
recently their CEO, Brad on our show, and he was talking about this provision of the global liquidity arrangement, the sort of transition that
they're going through as a business.
Your side of the partnership or the arrangement was focused more on the settlement of payments. I just wonder how that partnership has evolved over
the last year and how you see it progressing?
HOLMES: Sure, absolutely. We've been partnering with Ripple now for about 18 months and the idea behind that was for us was to really push innovation
and see how we could help, you know, in the pioneering of the expansion of global utilization of blockchain and we've been doing that, as you say, for
settlement, for treasury management, really FX management services and the ability to, you know, send money cross border is really affected by our
ability to actually settle real time
You know, our customers are looking for real time payouts and so the money has to be there really before the transaction is even initiated, if you
think about it.
And so, for us, you know, having access to liquidity, improving speed of transaction and throughput is really what I think can be transformative for
our industry, our business in particular in the coming decade.
[09:40:45]
HOLMES: And, you know, Ripple is doing a lot of unique things with blockchain, with crypto to help drive that and it's been a very nice
partnership. We've also learned a lot together and continue to push, I think really pushed the boundaries of what can be and it's been a lot of
fun, for sure.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, it is fascinating to watch. Alex, great to have you on the show. As always, I've got 20 more questions I want to ask you, but we'll
get you back soon. Thank you so much.
HOLMES: I really appreciate it. Thank you.
CHATTERLEY: The Chairman, great to have you on, Chairman and CEO of MoneyGram International there, thank you.
All right, still ahead, the future of meat or time to chicken out. We meet the CEO bringing science to supper time.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to FIRST MOVE. Our next story might sound like something out of a science fiction novel. But in a year where stranger
things have happened, it is very much science fact.
You'll soon be able to buy meat in Singapore that was grown in a lab. It's not to be confused with plant-based meat substitute. This is meat from the
cells of an animal, a chicken in this case, turned into an actual piece of chicken.
The U.S. based startup Eat Just has pioneered this and co-founder and CEO, Josh Tetrick joins us now.
Wow, Josh when I read about this, I actually didn't believe it was true, but just looking at what you do now, I realize that it is. Just explain the
process and how you came up with this idea.
[09:45:08]
JOSH TETRICK, CO-FOUNDER AND CEO, EAT JUST: Well, it's very much true. We're taking the best of meat, which is nutrition, the taste, and we're
getting rid of the worst of meat, which is the environmental issues, the food safety issues, and the treatment of the animals. And Julia, we think
this is going to be the future of meat.
CHATTERLEY: So are you targeting poultry or meat eaters in this case? Or are you also perhaps targeting vegetarians as well that don't eat meat for
ethical reasons. Like you said, it can also be seen as pretty disgusting the way that these animals are treated.
TETRICK: Well, I think if you're vegan or vegetarian philosophically, you're not eating meat because of what you say the way the animals are
treated, or the fact that about a third of the world's ice free land, if you can believe it is dedicated to growing soy and corn to feed the animals
we eat.
So, instead of biodiverse rain forests, we have fields and fields and fields of chicken feed. So if these vegetarians are not eating meat because
of that, this is definitely the meat for them. But maybe even more importantly, this is the meat for people that really enjoy meat.
You know, we're an imperfect species, even with all the issues, so if you love chicken, if you love beef, this is for you.
CHATTERLEY: Does it tastes any different from ordinary chicken, and texture, everything is the same.
TETRICK: So usually when people try it, they're surprised because it doesn't taste like a better version of chicken or worse version of chicken,
it just tastes like chicken.
CHATTERLEY: Tastes like chicken. Funny that.
TETRICK: Because it is. It has the nutritional composition of chicken because it is. It tastes like chicken because it is. What it doesn't have
is all the greenhouse gas emissions. What it doesn't have is the elements that lead to increased probabilities of zoonotic diseases. What it doesn't
have is the real morality issues that we have with killing 67 billion chickens every single year.
We need to build a food system that's a lot closer to aligning with the best of us, and we think this is a part of it.
CHATTERLEY: I'm just trying to look at the pictures while you're talking as well, to get a sense of what it looks like. It just looks, I guess, you can
shape it any way you choose to.
TETRICK: So yes, the process is we get a cell from a chicken or a cow and then we identify nutrients to feed that cell. So think about chickens
eating soy and corn or nuts and berries. And those amino acids and the nutrients in the berries or the sowing corn allow the chicken to grow and
they are slaughtered after about 47 days.
Well, we take the cell. We identify nutrients, same kind of nutrients, and then we manufacture the meat in a very clean safe way in a bioreactor. It's
a culturing process.
It's not that dissimilar from how you would culture food or how you would brew beer. The end result is meat without all the issues facing it. People
call it cultivated meat or no kill meat or cultured me. But what people shouldn't call it anymore is lab grown meat because with this historic
approval that Singapore is providing, the historic for sale that we had, this is no longer about the lab, right? This is about serving consumers and
restaurants. It's about manufacturing in a large scale.
And we think this is how the vast majority of meat will be made and eaten in the coming decades.
CHATTERLEY: Okay, so Singapore is clearly on the front foot here saying we approve, let's get it into restaurants and see what people think.
Talk to me about scaling up, how quickly do you think we can see this on the shelves in the United States or across Europe? Talk about your plans
for Eat Just as a business.
TETRICK: So what's exciting about this approval, we can actually scale up now. Action and approval are said to make things for me and my team
members, and my friends, so now for the first time, we can actually scale up.
So the plan is to really invest in Singapore because this is the only place in the world that's presented us a regulatory approval. But next is to work
with regulators in the U.S., F.D.A. and U.S.D.A. to work with regulators in Western Europe, and we've already seen, Julia that regulators are
influenced by other regulators. Policymakers are influenced by other policymakers.
The world might not necessarily want Singapore to own the future of food. Singapore has really taken a big step in doing that, but we want to scale
up first and Singapore in 2021. We're going to be investing quite a bit of capital in that manufacturing process.
We eventually want to launch beef, and then eventually we want to bring this to Western Europe and U.S., but more long term, I want us to live in a
world where my niece who is a year and a half old now, when she enters high school, I want the majority of beef, chicken, lamb, eggs, milk, you name
it, do not require killing a single animal, to not require tearing down a single tree, to not require a single drop of antibiotics. That's going to
be a better world.
[09:50:05]
CHATTERLEY: Yes, I'm with you, Josh. Amazing, fascinating concept. Stay in touch.
I know you've got some whopping great investors as well. Li Ka-shing, the Singapore state investor, Temasek as well, so I'm sure a lot of people
watch this and already be talking to you. Stay in touch. We'll watch your progress.
Josh Tetrick there from Eat Just. Thank you for joining us on the show.
All right, after the break, normally we see Tom Cruise defusing bombs. This time, he is in the news been dropping an F bomb. Hear his emotional plea
and it all relates to social distancing, and this go on Team Tom. Stay with us. We are back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to FIRST MOVE. The actor, Tom Cruise reportedly scolding crew members on the set of "Mission: Impossible 7" near London for
violating social distancing rules. British newspaper, "The Sun" posted leaked audio clips saying Cruise was furious about the breach delivering an
expletive filled rant.
Max Foster joins us now with more. Max, you may be surprised to know, I'm not actually in favor of diva rants. But when I read this story, I was like
I am Team Tom all the way. Talk about what happened here.
MAX FOSTER, CNN LONDON CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's interesting because when people listen to the tape, a lot of people do feel that he's got quite a
point here. We haven't got the tape. I haven't got access to that.
But this all happened during the filming of "Mission: Impossible 7" at Leavesden just outside London. It's Paramount Pictures production so they
were in charge of the time and "The Sun" managed to get hold of this tape, which they say is off the set.
You hear Tom Cruise, scolding members of the crew basically for not sticking to the social distancing guidelines here in the U.K. So you hear
him saying a word of warning there is an expletive in here. "I don't ever want to see it again, ever. And if you don't do it, you're fired. If I see
you doing it again, you're an effing gone. And if anyone in this crew does it, that's it."
The two crew members in question here apparently seen within two meters around six feet of each other, which is against the U.K. COVID guidelines.
He goes on to say though, Julia, "We are the gold standard. They are back there in Hollywood making movies right now because of us, because they
believe in us and what we're doing." And he says they're creating thousands of jobs that people are struggling to put food on the table to pay for
college tuition fees.
And he's got some record on this as well because earlier in the production whilst they were filming in Italy, the whole production had to be halted
for a while because of the coronavirus pandemic, and Tom Cruise actually spent more than $600,000.00 of his own money reportedly on getting a ship
so the cast and crew could isolate.
It is something he clearly feels very strongly about and you know, you've been converted to what he was doing here. A lot of people on social media
have, and actually feel that he's doing the right thing because the industry like so many industries is under pressure right now.
We've tried to get hold of Cruise's publicist and Paramount Pictures. They're not returning comments to us right now. But we do know that "The
New York Times" got hold of Paramount Pictures, they declined any comment - - to give any comment to them. Also, just to point out that the studio in Leavesden are run by Warner Brothers, which is part of the umbrella that we
come under, of course -- Julia.
[09:55:26]
CHATTERLEY: Yes, we have to mention all the caveats and the notes at the bottom in this. This is not free advertising of the movie of course.
You know, I think, I read actually that this production been shut down twice in the past, actually. So he knows the cost every single day. And of
course, we talk about this on the show all the time.
This is an industry that's been severely disrupted. Movies have been pushed back. The cost of just not following the rules here massive for individuals
involved.
Yes, Max, maybe less F words next time, but I think we're sort of with the sentiment.
FOSTER: Yes, it might help.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, yes. Max, great to have you with us. Max Foster there.
And that's it for the show. I'm Julia Chatterley. Stay safe and we'll see you tomorrow.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:00:00]
END
