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First Move with Julia Chatterley

Stimulus Has Been Secured In Congress As It Approves A $900 Billion COVID Plan; U.K. Ports Remain Cut Off Over Fears Of COVID Spread; BioNTech CEO Says He Is Confident Vaccines Will Work On The New Variant Of The Virus. Aired 9-10a ET

Aired December 22, 2020 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:13]

RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Live from New York. I'm Richard Quest, in today for Julia Chatterley, and indeed all this week. This is

FIRST MOVE, and here is what you need to know.

Stimulus has been secured in Congress as it approves a $900 billion COVID plan.

Borders are closed. U.K. ports remain cut off over fears of COVID spread.

And BioNTech CEO says he is confident vaccines will work on the new variant of the virus.

It is Tuesday and Christmas week. Let's make a move.

A very good day and a warm welcome to FIRST MOVE. We look at the markets at the start as we always do, and the futures in the U.S. are pointing to a

mostly higher open after a volatile day on Monday, a bit of a mixed bag though if you look at the Dow futures.

Remember on Monday, stocks were whipsawed by positive vaccine and stimulus news on the one hand; on the other, there was the concern about the spread

of COVID, the new COVID variant.

A lot of questions about how contagious this new variant actually is, how far it has spread, which countries are affected. So far, there is nothing

to suggest that this new variant is resistant to the current vaccines being rolled out.

Europe is bouncing back from Monday's steep losses. The Xetra DAX up a percent; in Paris, similarly, amounted to the worst selloff yesterday

wherein some two months. So far, more than 30 countries have banned travel to and from the U.K., where the variant is prevalent. That's why maybe the

U.K. is still laggard, it's not joining in the rally to the same extent as the other European bosses.

Reports say E.U. officials are urging member states to lift restrictions soon with the U.K. Asia is closed, and it closed down with Chinese shares

falling almost two percent. The virus fears has dented sentiment and feeling, one and three quarters.

And so let's get to the drivers and begin with another huge story here in the U.S. After many months of sparring and stalemate, the U.S. Congress has

at last approved a $900 billion stimulus deal that is so urgently needed by families desperately struggling to make ends meet across the United States.

Suzanne Malveaux is with me from Capitol Hill. Susan, this is a behemoth of a bill that's got everything including the kitchen sink in it somewhere,

but the crucial parts, those that relate to helping those people who have, that as important.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN U.S. CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. I mean, this really is the second largest stimulus package in U.S. history. The other one was

back in March. And so yes, there's a lot of moving parts to this. And of course, big question, just how soon can people get the desperate help they

need?

It was just before midnight that the Senate followed the House in passing this legislation, but it is not what President Trump actually signed just

before one o'clock this morning. He signed a five-day extension to keep the government funded and running until December 28th to allow for the

paperwork and the process to get to his desk to sign off on COVID relief.

But it's two parts. It's $1.4 trillion in spending bill to keep the government funded through September and also this $900 billion COVID relief

package. How does it break down? Well, most people taking a very good look at that $600.00 direct payment, direct check there to those making under

$75,000.00, also to children as well.

We are looking at $300.00 per week boosted unemployment benefits, which was set to expire after Christmas. $284 billion for emergencies small business

loans, $20 billion for purchasing vaccines, $8 billion for distribution, and a one-month extension in terms of eviction. People were due to be

evicted at the end of this month. They have one month until the end of January.

Big question: how soon can people get that money in their pockets? The Secretary of Treasury, Steve Mnuchin saying that he thinks it's going to be

just within days, not weeks. Take a listen.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

STEVEN MNUCHIN, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: I expect we'll get the money out by the beginning of next week. $2,400.00 for a family of four, so much

needed relief just in time for the Holidays.

This is now much more targeted. I expect it's needed in a short period of time. And I think this will take us through the recovery.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Richard, there are a lot of people who disagree with him in terms of taking through the recovery. Many Democrats already saying that they are

going to have to request another stimulus package at the beginning of next year under the Biden administration, that that much needed money to state

and local authorities, those governments, it just means that it's going to be still a lot of suffering that is going to take place.

[09:05:15]

QUEST: I noticed there that this is only a one month moratorium for evictions, bearing in mind that moratorium will expire pretty much in the

dead of winter in January, when the virus is not expected to have gone away and we don't expect in winter an improvement in the job situation. I mean,

why only one month? We're going to be back here again.

MALVEAUX: And that's certainly was one of the compromises, one of the points a lot of people are making, the Democrats saying that that barely

moves the needle.

One of the other things that is in the stimulus package is rental assistance, which goes for another couple of more months that potentially

keeps those folks in their homes, but you bring up a very good point, it is that there are so many different angles to come at this where it is just

going to be devastating for so many people that that is not going to be enough of a window of time, essentially, to address that concern.

There are different groups, if you will, in terms of when they are going to get those direct checks. There are those who are already in the I.R.S.

system, they can get a direct deposit, maybe they can get those unemployment benefits and those checks right away.

But then you have another whole group that is relying on check by mail, debit cards, and then a whole other group that is not in the system and

doesn't normally even file for taxes, tax returns, who actually they have to find those folks and make sure they get their information in the system,

just to even get that direct check.

So there are going to be a lot of challenges, Richard, as you point out.

QUEST: Suzanne Malveaux who is on Capitol Hill. Suzanne, thank you.

Turning to the U.K. who says it is working with France to lift border closures. Travel ties to Britain were cut by many countries after the

discovery of a new COVID-19 variant. The U.S. has not yet banned flight, but major airlines flying to New York agreed to test all passengers.

The French ban has led to gridlock at the Port of Dover in England, a vital crossing point into Europe.

Salma Abdelaziz is with me. All right, now, this is -- it is bordering on chaos in the sense that you've got the trucks and longlines. You've got the

tunnel closed. You've got no crossings. And now the drivers are being told what?

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER: Well, this is exactly what we're trying to figure out, Richard, that's why I'm at this location here. Essentially,

we've been speaking to these drivers who are parked in every empty corner you can find in Dover along the highway, up into the next town of Kent.

One of the drivers I spoke to said, I was told and several of them said this, I was told to go get tested, although there's not an agreement yet

between the U.K. and France and he handed me this sheet of paper, which he says the authorities gave him.

We've come to this address. No one here will confirm to you what's happening. But it is a COVID testing center and I'm just going to let, Lee,

our cameraman pan around here just to show you what's happening.

Truck after truck after truck is coming in. It has been an endless line since we have arrived. And they are being instructed, essentially into what

is a disused airport, a massive airfield that we drove past on our way here, where you can see dozens of trucks lined up waiting, essentially, to

get the testing.

And again, I want to remind everyone, here's the crucial part. There's no agreement yet. We understand the French and the British are speaking about

the possibility of COVID testing, but this seems to be an anticipation of any agreement that these drivers are here to try to get tested.

But this is a massive logistical feat, Richard. I just can't explain to you how many hundreds of drivers from how many different countries, and quite

crucially, if someone tests positive, where are they going to isolate? Who is paying for these tests? How is this all going to work, Richard? We're

trying to find out.

QUEST: Right, so let's just pause for a second. So the trucks are arriving. First of all, are they even being tested? I mean, when they get there, are

they expected and is there a test? And how do they get the results? And please feel absolutely free to say you have no idea.

ABDELAZIZ: Well, part of my answer is going to be, "I have no idea." And to be frank, I don't think the authorities have any idea yet.

There's an important part to remember here, there's different types of tests. Not all tests are approved or agreed with in the same way. You have

a lateral flow test and you have the fast test. You have tests that take three to four days. How many days will these tests take to get the results?

What type of tests are they using?

What authorities will acknowledge the results of these tests? Who will pay for these tests? Who will administer these tests?

There are talks of maybe the military needing to administer these tests in France. Will it be medical workers? Will it be the military? So many

questions and a massive logistical nightmare?

And yes, of course, this is important for the drivers to get home for Christmas. Many of them have essentially told me they've given up, they're

not going to make it home to their families, but it's not just about these drivers and their wellbeing. It's about the cargo in these trucks, Richard.

This is a vital and crucial supply line for this country, and it is cut off right now. You are talking about food and medicine. Really, we are talking

here potentially about shortages, empty grocery stores during the Holidays -- Richard.

[09:10:25]

QUEST: Salma Abdelaziz, thank you.

Our own Fred Pleitgen spoke to the -- in a one-on-one conversation with the BioNTech CEO a short time ago. Dr. Ugur Sahin says he is confident that the

current vaccine will work on the new COVID virus variant, but they are still testing. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. UGUR SAHIN, CEO, BIONTECH: There's a high likelihood that the vaccine response will be able also to inactivate tis virus because you have to

consider that even though nine amino acids are changed in this protein, 99 percent of the protein has not changed and we know that our vaccine induces

immune responses against multiple regions of this protein, multiple T-cell responses and multiple antibody binding reagents.

So there is a scientific confidence that the virus will not just be able to escape, but let's wait for the validation to get the data and we will of

course update once we have the date.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And how long is that validation going to take? And is there any sort of anything early

right now that you can already maybe share with us as to how that's going?

SAHIN: So the experimental testing will take about two weeks because we have to synthesize this variant, but what we already did is we evaluated

the sites where we have observed T-cell responses against the spike protein, and we see that almost all sites that we have seen T-cell

responses are still conserved.

And so that is a good message. That means at least one component of the immune system will not be affected by these mutations.

PLEITGEN: But you're still confident that basically life will return to some form of normalcy maybe in the latter half of the year.

SAHIN: No, the evolution of this virus is still relatively limited. They are just still one percent of the spike protein and we should not forget

that there is still the opportunity if required to adjust the vaccine exactly to this new virus variant if this is needed.

I don't think that is needed, but if it would be needed, there is a technical possibility to do that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: Fascinating as you heard Pfizer-BioNTech and also Moderna are testing their vaccines on the new variant. The top coronavirus expert in

the U.S., Dr. Fauci is scheduled to get his jab in the next hour. He says the U.K. variant is probably already in the United States.

Our senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen is with me. How do they do this? I mean, how do they test the existing vaccine against a new

variant? And do it in relatively -- I mean, if you trying to talk about a stage three trial, you'll be roping in, I presume, loads of people in the

U.K. because that's where it is.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: So Richard, I'm going to give you two answers. In order to sort of get an idea whether the vaccine

will work well against this variant, there are some computer analyses that you can do to see the way we set this up, the way we set this vaccine up to

work, will it work against this variant? And that's actually relatively quick and I've spoken to a number of scientists who are working on this

right now.

But if you -- and that gives you sort of an answer. That gives you sort of a 30,000-foot view answer. If you want a real 100 percent, here is what we

know, we're as close to 100 percent as we ever get answer, all you have to do is more work. You do work in the lab. You do work with animals to see

how well the vaccine works against this new variant.

But you can get a reasonable idea just by doing a relatively quick computer analysis, and those analyses are going on, as we speak in labs in the U.K.,

in the U.S. and elsewhere.

QUEST: Right. But help me understand this. Look, the flu vaccine people take every year because the vaccine -- the nature of that vaccine, it

doesn't last longer than 12 months and there are mutations and different strains which have to be accounted for.

So why wouldn't this be the same thing? In the sense that next year, there has to be another COVID vaccine to account for changes and whatever?

COHEN: Richard, that's possible. I'm glad you brought up the flu because we know the flu really well. The flu has been around for a long time. There

are many, many experts around the world who live and breathe the flu. I don't mean that literally, but who know everything about the flu, basically

that there is to know.

This virus, it hasn't even been with us for a full year yet, and so there's so much that we don't know. So is it possible that we will have to update

the vaccine every year? Yes, that's possible. Is it possible that the vaccine that's put out at any given time that a variant might come up and

it won't be quite as useful against that variant as it was against previous variants? That's also possible.

Remember how early on we are in this fight. It's easy to forget, because we got these vaccines out so quickly, but still, there is so much we don't

know about this virus.

[09:15:28]

QUEST: Very good point. Early days. Elizabeth, thank you. Good to see you. Thank you.

To Asia now where Taiwan is reporting its first domestic coronavirus case since April. The new infection ends a 255-day run without local

transmission. Steven Jiang is with me. He is live in Beijing.

Now, the important thing here is local transmission, community spread of the virus. There have been cases, just not community, so what's gone wrong?

What's happened here?

STEVEN JIANG, CNN SENIOR BUREAU PRODUCER: Well, Richard, you know, we're talking about this one local case there because this island had been so

successful in containing this virus until Tuesday.

So the health authorities there say this local case was a woman in her 30s who was a close contact with a recent imported case, a pilot from New

Zealand who flew to the U.S. in late November before returning to the island in early December, and the two of them had close contact between

December 8th and 12th.

And this pilot is actually now facing a potential fines of over $10,000.00 because, according to the authorities, he failed to disclose his activities

during the very strict contact tracing process, and apparently he had also been to quite a few popular spots in Taipei without telling the

authorities.

So now, the general public has been advised to monitor their health if they have been to the same locations during the same period of time and seek

medical attention if symptoms do appear.

Now, this of course, is interesting in Taiwan because up until Tuesday, this island had been hailed as a success story in containing virus with

this place of 23 million people reporting just over 700 cases without the government having to impose strict lockdowns or other draconian measures

you have seen in places like China.

The government there had attributed their success to early screenings, mass testing and effective contact tracing, as well as severe punishment for

anyone who breaches quarantine rules.

Richard, one recent example is a migrant worker got a fine of $3,500.00 for stepping out of his quarantine hotel room for just eight seconds. But

despite all of that, this latest local case does show the difficulties in containing this virus even in places where it's been largely stamped out --

Richard.

QUEST: Steven, thank you.

Now to the stories making headlines around the world. Israel's unity government appears to be on the brink of collapse unless it agrees to a

2020 budget tonight. The Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his main rival Benny Gantz have been locked in a battle for months. If they can't

agree, Israel could face its fourth election in two years.

White House Senior Adviser Jared Kushner is leading an Israeli delegation on a landmark trip to Rabat. Israel and Morocco have normalized relations

earlier this month after U.S. brokered talks.

A flight from Tel Aviv was meant to highlight progress between the two countries.

As we continue on FIRST MOVE, UPS says it is ready to distribute the Pfizer vaccine in Europe. I'll speak to the President of UPS International.

Apple is reportedly aiming to put a passenger car on the road by 2024. We've got the details on that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:21:27]

QUEST: A warm welcome back. It is FIRST MOVE. I am Richard in for Julia this week and we are live in New York where it is still looking mostly

higher open for U.S. stocks. Investors hope that the newly passed basically trillion dollar, $900 billion emergency aid bill will boost growth and

lower the chances for a double dip U.S. recession.

Joe Biden is expected to push for more of course when he is sworn in as President on January 20th.

Oil is falling after an almost three percent drop in Monday. Investors fear the new variant will trigger new lockdowns and imperil global recoveries if

it's found to be more transmissible than previous strands, which would appear to be initially.

And BioNTech says it is confident its vaccine will be effective against a new variant. If that changes, it says it can make a new version of the

vaccine within weeks.

Lindsey Piegza joins me. She is Chief Economist at Stifel. Good to see you. Now, this is -- we're really in a very difficult position now, are we,

because on the one hand, markets have well and truly priced in some -- the vaccine, the recovery, looking way down the road, but then the variant

suggests this is not going to be that straightforward. So, where do we stand?

LINDSEY PIEGZA, CHIEF ECONOMIST, STIFEL: Oh, it's very difficult for investors at this point, because the market is pricing in as you mentioned

that earlier timetable for a widespread vaccination, assuming that there's essentially zero hiccups in terms of approvals, manufacturing,

distribution, refrigeration, administration. And so, it's going to be very difficult to actually reach that reality.

Right now, there are a tremendous number of things that could go wrong, particularly in the U.S. as we see all 50 states responsible for developing

and deploying their own vaccination processes.

So right now, I do think that the market is a little over optimistic or overly optimistic in terms of the timing for getting that vaccine out to

the public and seeing a widespread inoculation occur, not only in the U.S., but on the global stage.

QUEST: So the stimulus package -- not stimulus -- recovery package, the budget bill, the emergency aid bill that we're looking at the details now,

of those measures, I know they are needed, but there's a general view that they're not sufficient and that more will be required. Do you hold that

view?

PIEGZA: Well, it's certainly a step in the right direction, and we're getting much needed aid to individuals and businesses that are struggling

that have lost their job, their livelihood through no fault of their own, but by the government's own design.

So I think it's widely accepted that we've needed a fifth round aid package. But the question is, will it be enough to jumpstart the U.S.

economy? Probably not. More likely, it's going to provide stabilization, so we avoid these wild swings and growth as we saw the second and third

quarter.

Now in the details, we do see another round of direct checks to individuals, which certainly should help at an immediate stage. But the

timing, it's a bit delayed to save the holiday spending season.

Unemployment benefits and extension there will give a longer term support, but at the same time because they're enhanced, this may actually create a

disincentive to be more difficult for some businesses to rehire.

QUEST: But the money, the $600.00 will only work if people spend it. And I mean, there will be those who will of course, need to use it to pay down

debt. But this idea that somehow this is going to be a boost or a major boost the economy, it won't be, if people save it.

[09:25:05]

PIEGZA: No, certainly not, and that's what we saw with a lot of the funds that came through the CARES Act, if you remember that was passed back in

March.

So again, it's only going to be a sizable boost if those funds actually make it out into the marketplace and we see this turnover in terms of

consumers buying goods, businesses investing to stock their selves for those goods to be consumed.

But if we do see this saved -- just widely saved or tucked under the mattress, it's going to have less of an impact. And again, even if we

assume that all of those dollars are spent, it's going to be more of a stabilization factor, as opposed to a sizeable boost to growth.

And in fact, I do think there's still a very large risk that the U.S. economy falls back into negative territory as we turn the corner into the

New Year.

QUEST: And finally, the measures taken that we are seeing, I guess it's the best you can hope for at Christmas.

PIEGZA: Well, we would have liked to have seen these measures come much quicker. It's very frustrating that it has taken months to reach this point

and we would have liked to seen this shot in the arm for consumers, these additional checks, this additional extension of unemployment benefits.

So having that spending power given to consumers on an earlier stage so they were able to go out and spend in the marketplace, which for many small

businesses, this is the key season that consumers come out and support their business for the entire year in this small four to six week period.

So from a timetable standpoint, we certainly would have seen -- we would have preferred to have seen this come to fruition much earlier, but of

course, those in Washington were unfortunately dragging their feet.

QUEST: Lindsey, good to see you. Thank you. I wish you and your family the very best over the festive season. Thank you.

PIEGZA: Same to you. Thank you.

QUEST: This is FIRST MOVE. We will be off to the races. The market is due to open just a few moments from now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:30:00]

QUEST: And we are off to the races. The opening bell on Wall Street and already stocks, if you take a look, early trading mostly lower for the Dow,

but that is just one, the other indices are showing more enthusiasm. There we go.

As you can see the NASDAQ, a third of a percent up. This is all about hope that the new U.S. emergency aid bill will help boost growth. The President

is set to sign the bill into law soon and U.S. carriers are on the rebound in early trading. They fell sharply Monday on fears that new COVID variant

will lead to more travel curves.

OK. Tesla is trying to bounce. It fell six percent on its S&P 500 debut. The stock slid amid reports that Apple is developing a self-driving

electric vehicle. We'll talk more about that in a moment. This of course is a negative for Tesla because -- if Apple comes along.

And Peloton shares are rallying, 10 percent in early trading. It is buying the exercise equipment firm, Precor that will ramp up production of its

stationary bikes, which of course has been an important and hot item during the lockdown.

Britain says it is working with France to open the border between the two countries. France imposed a 48-hour ban on all travel including freight

after the discovery in the U.K. of the new variant.

The long line of trucks is growing at the Port of Dover in southern England. The crisis comes only days before the end of the Brexit transition

period.

William Bain is with me, the European and International Policy adviser of the British Retail Consortium. William, this is -- I don't know, they are

moving the trucks from near Dover Port to this airfield. They are talking about potential testing.

But the reality is, I mean, this 48-hour moratorium will be over before they've got any plans in place.

WILLIAM BAIN, EUROPEAN AND INTERNATIONAL POLICY ADVISER, BRITISH RETAIL CONSORTIUM: Hi, Richard. Yes, we really do need a solution today because of

course, what's happening affecting all the supply chains between Great Britain and the E.U. and G.B. is, of course, lorries and trucks are going

to be in the wrong place.

And so whilst all the ingredients are there in the U.K. for people's Christmas dinners and lunches on Friday, it is going to cause disruption by

the weekend if we don't get this sorted out today.

So we welcomed what the European Commission has said this lunchtime, encouraging, I think, a resolution, saying that you don't need to do these

rapid antigen tests in a way that disrupts transport of the movement of goods.

We hope both sides would take that on board and get it sorted today.

QUEST: Right, but the problem is, I mean, the variant is already in Continental Europe. The problem is what do you do? I mean, do you have a

testing regime which would -- even if it's a rapid testing regime that we have, with the 15-minute response, is that the answer as someone say like

Europe are suggesting versus these bans -- these wholesale bans?

BAIN: Well, I think going back to the commission's statement this lunchtime, they are saying that these travel bans and issues that are

affecting freight and the movement of goods, these are really strongly to be deprecated.

And I think if we can get a deal between the French government and the U.K. government today that sets down some clear protocols for testing of drivers

who are leaving the U.K. and entering France that should be the key to solving this.

But we need it to be we need to be a credible solution that's going to last and not change every two or three days, which has been what's happened over

the last week.

QUEST: And of course, whatever is agreed. I mean, you talk about policy not changing every two or three days, but within the seven days, of course, the

end of the transitional period takes place and we have no idea what will follow.

BAIN: Well, indeed, I mean, we know that even if there is a trade agreement, because the U.K. is leaving the Customs Union and the single

market come what may, there will still be disruption, and the government's -- U.K. government's best guess at what could happen could be 7,000 lorries

queuing up in Kent per day, disruption of one to two days that is going to affect supply chains.

So again, I think it would be improved if we get a deal, at least we evolve -- we avoid tariffs and we can make sure that border checks can be done in

a pragmatic way.

QUEST: William, I just want to go back to what you were just saying a second ago about the E.U.'s latest statement. Now, the E.U. is basically

saying the Commission is urging E.U. member states to lift the bans of train and flights over the variant to avoid supply chain disruptions.

Nonessential travel it says should be discouraged, but here's the point. Doesn't this show a failing in the E.U. that you know, it's a classic, a

day late and a euro short -- to adapt the American saying -- they should have been having a coordinated policy before everybody decided to do their

own thing.

BAIN: Well, we can have that discussion. But I think the key thing is that we also are beginning to move now, and I think it's a strong encouragement

to both the French government and the U.K. government after only a third country to reach an agreement here, and to get something that means that we

can start to have these travel bans being lifted, and most importantly, we start to see the movement of goods and freight in an unrestricted way.

QUEST: Sorry, one thing I just wanted to quickly raise, I noticed that for a lot of those trucks and lorries where the goods are perishable, and will

have been not usable or whatever, there is no real insurance for that, is there?

BAIN: Well, indeed, that's a real problem. And, of course, we know, there's a lot of stockpiling going on elsewhere in terms of goods coming into the

U.K. ahead of the end of the transition period.

But in terms of perishable produce, you know, there is no way of stockpiling that. So if we don't get a resolution within the next couple of

-- really by today, and see the supply chains back to normal within a couple of days, then we are going to see one, I think, a kind of shortage

of haulage and freight because drivers won't want to make the journey and lots of lost produce as a result.

QUEST: Good to talk to you, sir. I'm sorry, it's on such a depressing note that we end things, but it is good to see you. Thank you, sir.

We'll stay on top of the theme of -- we speak to the President of UPS, what it takes to deliver these vital vials on time.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:40:16]

QUEST: Right now, delivery companies are working to get authorized vaccines to people across the United States, across the world and across the

European Union. Their role is crucial, especially given that Moderna's rollout shortly to begin is four times larger than that of Pfizer and

BioNTech.

UPS says it is providing support for eight of the 10 leading vaccines in clinical trials. Scott Price is the President of UPS International, and

joins me now.

Scott, it is good to have you. So the E.U. has now approved the vaccine, the BioNTech vaccine, and that is now starting to move across the union.

The difficulty of ensuring all 27 member states get the vaccine at the same time, so they can distribute it themselves is quite herculean.

SCOTT PRICE, PRESIDENT, UPS INTERNATIONAL: We actually have been planning this for months and weeks, Richard. For the European sort of last mile

context, we have a very large freezer farm near our Cologne hub, which gives us access to all of the E.U.

We are also manufacturing 12 tons of dry ice a day to be able to ensure that each one of the vaccine parcels is followed by dry ice to ensure that

we have the integrity of the temperature controlled for Pfizer that's minus 80 degrees Celsius as you know.

And then importantly, we have UPS exclusive technology that will allow our 24/7 control tower to ensure that if there's ever any disruption, whether

it be weather, et cetera, that we can adapt quickly.

So as of this date, we have a hundred percent service on all of the vaccines that we've delivered thus far.

QUEST: And when Moderna comes online, is that going to dramatically increase the pressure on the system.

PRICE: We have reserved sufficient space, and I think maybe what's missed is the actual density and number of vaccines within a particular package,

it is pretty high. So relative to the millions and millions that we process on a daily basis. We have reserved premium space for the vaccines, but

don't see the Moderna coming online as creating any sort of capacity constraints for us.

QUEST: I suppose, you know, you are always looking forward, not in the rearview, you and I are talking now about rear view about what you're

moving now. But what you're doing now is you're planning three or four months ago. So tell me, what are you planning now for three or four months

hence?

PRICE: You know, we have something called the peak, which in normal times, is usually just the first four weeks leading up to Christmas and the end of

the year.

We have been living within peak for the last nine months and peaks generally mean, you can see upwards between 50 to 80 percent surged on a

daily basis versus average. We've hired 100,000 people, 40,000 permanent between April to June.

As we emerge out of the traditional Holiday peak, we will have more than enough capacity to be able to handle the vaccines as they expand over the

next three to four months.

QUEST: So if we look at UPS in a more general sense, on the one hand, for the rest of the stuff that you're moving, the non-vaccine stuff, the bread

and butter of your like, we know there's been a dramatic increase in e- commerce, tremendous increase which you are carrying a lot of it.

At the same time, we know that there has been a sort of a fall-off in trade and in retail trade in stores. If you balance that net-net, where do you

stand do you think?

PRICE: So in our Q3 earnings, we forecasted that this would be once again a record peak period for the three months that will end 12/31, a high single

digit increase. So the mix, you're right, has changed between residential and commercial. We see that as readapting.

I think the question for all of us, how much of that B2C, that residential, will now be permanently baked? How fast and how far have we accelerated

that move from the brick and mortar to the digital? I think we'll probably have a better idea at the end of next year.

QUEST: What's your gut feeling telling you?

PRICE: I think we've moved forward three to four years, accelerated it.

QUEST: Yes, that accelerant which we are seeing just in our everyday lives. Scott, it really is good to talk to you. I appreciate it. And, and I mean,

all the best to you and your colleagues who are actually, you know, people like me sit here and talking about the vaccine, you're moving the thing

around. Good luck to you and your colleagues in doing that, sir.

PRICE: Thank you. Stay safe out there.

QUEST: Thank you. Now South Korea is imposing tighter COVID restrictions for Christmas and New Year. It is calling it a special quarantine period.

The country now faces a dire shortage of hospital beds for coronavirus patients amid a record number of cases.

CNN's Paula Hancocks is in Seoul.

[09:45:10]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): No sooner a new ICU beds find, then they are filled with more coronavirus patients. Up

until Monday, the City of Seoul with some 10 million residents have fewer than half a dozen ICU beds available for days.

At one point last week, it was just one.

SEO JUNG-HYUP, ACTING SEOUL MAYOR (through translator): Seoul is now in the calm before the storm. If we do not overcome this explosion of new cases,

Seoul may face empty streets and the lockdown like New York and London.

HANCOCKS (voice over): A ban on five or more gathering from Wednesday until January 3rd has already been announced for Seoul and its surrounding areas.

The scramble is now on to find more beds. Seoul City says it will double the number of ICU beds by the end of the year. Officials say two

coronavirus patients have died in the city this month alone while waiting for a bed.

Kwon Sun-ho is a manager at Autech, a company that has been making negative pressure ambulances all year and is now focusing on mobile hospital beds.

KWON SUN-HO, MANAGER, AUTECH: So medical carts, the medical supplying oxygen unit parts and the emergency bell.

HANCOCKS (voice over): Almost the same as a regular hospital bed.

SUN-HO: It is a little smaller because this is a very portable unit.

HANCOCKS (on camera): So the plan at this point is to have 24 of these structures built by the end of the month which would effectively give 48

extra hospital beds that will be based here in the carpark of this hospital and the company making them says they are already in discussions with other

places to replicate this elsewhere.

HANCOCKS (voice over): Kwon says they are currently in talks with every one of the 17 city and provincial governments in South Korea.

Elsewhere in Seoul, shipping containers made into makeshift wards are already being used. Seoul City says they have fewer than 500 regular

coronavirus beds left in hospitals.

Not a single positive case even asymptomatic is allowed to recover at home. Everyone is admitted to a hospital or a government facility. Private and

university hospitals have been ordered to secure at least one percent of their beds for coronavirus patients. Military hospitals also making room.

Pre-anonymous testing is also underway at up to 150 temporary testing stations across Seoul. Long lines have been seen across the Capitol.

Despite these efforts, health officials warn new daily cases will likely stay above 1,000 for at least the rest of the week.

Paula Hancocks, CNN, Seoul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: As we continue today, coming up, a self-driving car with breakthrough battery technology. If that sounds good to you, you're not

alone. It was just a thing Elon Musk did not want to hear on the day his company made it into the S&P 500.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: Kenya is famous for its runners boasting Olympic champions and world record holders during the competitions that are usually made outside the

country. A local startup is trying to change all of that aiming to make running shoes for the world and 2020 incidentally has been the most

successful year yet.

Eleni Giokos reports.

[09:50:14]

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN BUSINESS AFRICA CORRESPONDENT (voice over): This is the first ever running shoe made in Africa. The brand is called Enda, which

means "go" in Swahili. The company was started by Kenyan-American in Nairobi five years ago.

NAVALAYO OSEMBO, FOUNDER, ENDA: The aiglets have red, green and black. That's the colors of the flag -- of the Kenyan flag.

GIOKOS (voice over): The logo represents the tip of the spear, a traditional hunting tool that can also be found in the country's Coat of

Arms. The Enda team was determined the manufacturing process would benefit Kenyans.

Although the majority of the materials are imported from China, the shoes are built here, just outside of Mombasa, where Enda employs 42 workers.

CHIWAYA NGEDZO MWANAMWENGA, ENDA: I am feeling so proud. I am so proud because I'm putting a shoe that comes from my country. I produce 250,000 a

day. The shoes is light, very light, very comfortable. Very nice shoe.

GIOKOS (voice over): The brand has really started to make a name for itself. In 2020, Enda sold more than 7,000 pairs of trainers. That's 10

times as many as last year. Ninety percent of orders came from the United States.

OSEMBO: I think there are a couple of factors that help the brand, especially this year becoming bigger. One, I think, for instance, the

social justice movement going on in the U.S., Black Lives Matter and the whole idea to buy black support black and a lot of African brands and

African-American brands have benefited from that.

And so when you're looking at especially the running space, how many running shoe companies are black? I don't know. You know, so that has

definitely helped.

GIOKOS (voice over): The brand is sponsoring professional athletes who wear their shoes for training like here in Iten, Kenya's famous high altitude

training base.

In the future, the Enda team wants to make racing shoes too to help their athletes win Olympic medals and break world records.

OSEMBO: In the next five years, I definitely see us as the top three running brand. But I also wanted the brand to mean something, you know,

like for it to be a cultural thing that you're not just wearing shoes, but you as part of a community.

GIOKOS (voice over): That community is growing around the globe as the brand is changing lives of hundreds back home.

Eleni Giokos, CNN, Connecting Africa.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: Now, Tesla shares are under pressure for a second day. They fell more than six percent on Monday. The firm made its S&P 500 debut. A new

report says Apple could give it some serious competition over the next few years.

Paul La Monica is with us. I mean, there's a lot of froth on that share price to come off at the first whiff of some heavy weather.

PAUL LA MONICA, CNN BUSINESS REPORTER: Yes, exactly, Richard. I mean, Tesla, prior to yesterday was up 700 percent this year. It was easily the

best performing stock in the S&P 500. Now that it's part of that index, the company shares rose 70 percent alone just between the time of the

announcement and the actual inclusion.

So I think it's putting it mildly to say that there was some froth and it was due for -- get ready to groan -- an electric slide.

QUEST: The problem with Tesla is, everybody is waiting for the price to come down to buy in again.

LA MONICA: Yes, I think that it is a legitimate concern for investors, but you know, to Tesla's credit, they've split the stock to make it a little

bit more affordable for average retail investors.

And I'm not so sure that the high stock price has really, you know, put a damper on demand just yet.

But clearly, there are going to be concerns going forward about more competition.

To be fair, though, I'm not so sure that this Reuters report about Apple is really something that Elon Musk has to be that concerned with just yet.

Yes, it's Apple, the most valuable company on the planet. But the Reuters report suggests that it's not going to be until 2024 until it makes some

significant headway on developing its own battery, and actually a potential car.

And there have been rumors about a mythical iCar before that have yet to come to pass.

QUEST: All right, Paul, briefly, the markets just deciding which way to go and backwards.

LA MONICA: Yes, I think there are still just a lot of concern right now about this new variant whether or not it will be resistant to some of the

vaccines that have been developed, the Pfizer-BioNTech, as well as the Moderna one.

We have the optimism about that stimulus bill finally going through, but you know, $900 billion sounds like a lot, but it really isn't given the

state of the economy and everyone is wondering what's next in 2021 under a Biden administration.

And oh, by the way, what's the Senate going to look like? We're still waiting for that Georgia runoff, which is going to be key.

[09:55:32]

QUEST: It takes place the beginning of January -- January 5th. Thank you. Paul La Monica joining us.

Now, that's FIRST MOVE for this morning. You've got me all week and right the way through Christmas.

I am Richard Quest.

The market is betwixt and between. I will wrap up the market, close the day off for you in five hours' time with "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS."

As always, no bell, but whatever you're up to between now and then, I hope it's profitable. See you on QMB.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:00:00]

END