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First Move with Julia Chatterley
U.S. Futures Rally After Trump Signs COVID Aid Bill; U.S. Could See Post-Holiday COVID-19 Surge, Says Dr. Fauci; E.U. Gets COVID-19 Vaccination Program Underway. Aired 9-9:30a ET
Aired December 28, 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]
ZAIN ASHER, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Coming to you live from New York, I'm Zain Asher in for my colleague, Julia Chatterley. This is FIRST MOVE and
here is your need to know.
Stimulus relief. Futures rise after President Trump finally signs the $2 trillion bill.
And darkest days ahead. Fauci's grim warning as Americans continue holiday travel.
And journalist jailed. The reporter who highlighted the Wuhan outbreak gets four years.
It is Monday. Let's make a move.
Welcome to FIRST MOVE. It is so good to have you with us. Let's begin with a look at the markets. Wall Street is set to open near record highs as we
head into the last trading week of 2020.
All the major averages are on track for solid gains in early trading. Investors pleased that President Trump has finally signed the $900 billion
emergency aid bill into law, ending days of uncertainty for struggling businesses and families.
Stimulus optimism is giving European markets a boost as well, while the U.K. market is closed for a holiday, Asia finished Monday's session mixed.
The shares of Chinese internet giant, Alibaba fell about eight percent. Beijing is accusing the companies and financial FinTech unit of ignoring
regulatory rules, officials want Ant to curb its expansion plans. Other Chinese tech stocks fell in sympathy with Alibaba today.
Let's get right now to the drivers. After nearly a week of uncertainty, President Trump has signed the coronavirus relief and government funding
bill into law. His initial refusal to sign it threw many Americans into financial limbo and sparked fears of a government shutdown.
John Harwood joins us live now. So the government shutdown, those fears have been averted, but the fact that the President didn't actually sign the
bill on Saturday, what sort of problems will the delay cause, especially when it comes to the unemployment assistance programs -- John.
JOHN HARWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, in the short term, Zain, there are some Americans who will not get an unemployment check this week,
because by not signing it before the beginning of the week, on Sunday, the extended unemployment lapsed for several millions of Americans and that's a
significant hardship for them.
The President of the United States doesn't really care about that. This entire delay was organized around the need to affirm his ego. He was trying
to say I'm still relevant to this process, even though in a little over 20 days, I won't be President anymore.
He had the power to hold up the bill. He did hold up the bill. In the end, he deferred to all the entreaties of fellow Republicans and Democrats and
other people to avoid much more human misery that would have been caused by both the government shutdown and the delay in the benefits of this bill.
But there are short term consequences for people who will not get a check this week. It's very sad.
ASHER: So in terms of what Americans have to look forward to, what is in this bill, especially for unemployed Americans?
HARWOOD: Well, there are multiple things in this bill. $900 billion is a lot of money in COVID relief. It's less than the bill that was passed in
March, which was over $2 trillion, but it's substantial. You've got $600.00 stimulus checks for families earning $75,000.00 a year or less, which is
most American families.
And that's $600.00 per person, so a family of four would get $2,400.00. You've got extended eligibility for unemployment for people whose
unemployment had run out and a $300.00 Federal unemployment bonus check.
You've got the protection from eviction for millions of families that were facing the expiration of those protections by the end of the year. And you
could have had a very large number of Americans thrown out on the street because they're not able to pay their rent.
You've also got aid in this bill for vaccine distribution. You've got aid for indirect aid for state and local governments for things like education,
to try to get schools back open.
So there are many benefits to the American people in this bill of $900 billion and we're going to see them administered and distributed soon
enough. But as we discussed earlier, the interruption of unemployment for some Americans.
[09:05:04]
ASHER: The President also says that he expects progress, hopefully at some point to vote on legislation to increase direct payments to ordinary
Americans to $2,000.00. It is one of the red points that Democrats and the President actually agree on.
What is the timeline for that happening, do you think? And how possible is it to get Republicans on board?
HARWOOD: Well, Zain, it is certainly not going to happen when Donald Trump is President. Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican leader has no interest
in that. The President issued a series of demands both in terms of a $2,000.00 per person check, as well as the elimination of some foreign aid
in the bill and other things that he called pork.
Of course, it wasn't pork, and it wasn't extraneous. The items inserted into the bill, they were things his own budget requested. He didn't -- he
skipped over that fact in trying to get people to bow to his power.
But the one consequence, I think that may happen is when Joe Biden comes in, he's going to ask for more aid from Congress. I don't know if he's
going to be able to get that. And partly that will depend on whether Republicans or Democrats win these runoff elections for the Senate in
Georgia, which would determine whether you have a Democratic or Republican Senate.
But the fact that the President called for $2,000.00 checks gives a little momentum for what Joe Biden can request for Congress in January, and we'll
see whether he can make that stick.
ASHER: And just in terms of overall the President's delay in signing this bill. I mean, what sort of impact do you think that will have on Perdue and
Loeffler in the Georgia Senate runoff?
HARWOOD: Well, it's possible that it will have no effect. The President is going to have a rally on January the 4th. The runoff, of course occurs the
following day, January 5th. January 6th is the day that the Electoral College certifies the votes and Donald Trump has been trying to disrupt
that as well.
But there had been signs somewhat earlier in this process that there's a group of Republicans, a small group, who have heard the President describe
elections as rigged and fraudulent and have taken the view that, well, if it's rigged and fraudulent, why should I show up?
I do not know if that's going to be enough to tilt these races. They're extremely close, both of them, both for Kelly Loeffler, the appointed
senator serving out the term of a senator who resigned, and David Perdue, the elected senator trying to win another term.
So it's very difficult to forecast the effect on these elections. We know they're close and the question is whether the President, his effort to
rally turnout at the end, offsets the discouragement of turnout that he may have caused earlier in this process.
ASHER: John Harwood, live for us there, thank you so much.
Stimulus checks will arrive just as the coronavirus virus pandemic could hit Americans even harder. Top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci
says that he fears a post-Holiday season surge in cases, more than 60,000 Americans -- get this -- have actually died from COVID-19 in just in
December, just in December alone, making it the deadliest month yet.
Another 1,200 died just on Sunday. That's according to Johns Hopkins University. The country has now passed 19 million confirmed cases.
Adrienne Broaddus is at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport as millions of Americans continue to travel. Obviously, Adrienne, we know that travel
in this country has certainly been depressed and suppressed since the pandemic started, but the fact remains that according to the T.S.A., they
actually screened 1.2 million passengers on just December 23rd.
How do you get this virus under control when that many Americans continue to travel?
ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's the challenge, Zain, when people are traveling, it will be extremely hard to get the virus under
control and health experts say they aren't so much concerned about people passing through the airport. The concern comes when they reach their final
destination and what they do when they arrive there.
The lines here at Chicago O'Hare International Airport this morning are long, and people have had to wait. And you talked about the T.S.A.
screening more than 1.2 million people on Sunday, they broke the previously set pandemic record and they screened more than seven million people within
the last week.
Throughout the morning, we've been chatting with passengers. I asked them two questions. Where are you going? And why are you traveling? One woman
told me, "I need an escape." So she said she and her friends are heading to Jamaica.
She said she feels safe because they were required to test negative before entering that country. So she feels the precautions that have been or the
measures that have been set in place are an added layer of protection.
I spoke with another family of five, they're heading to Florida. They're going to Disney World. That family told me they had plans to go to Disney
World back in March, but that trip was canceled because of the pandemic and they said now more than ever, they really want to be together. So they're
going to ring in the New Year in Florida together -- Zain.
[09:10:05]
ASHER: So people are basically traveling partly because I mean, obviously they want to see friends and family and I get that, but some people are
saying that listen, if they're required to take a negative test before they get on the plane, then that makes them feel more safe.
However, when you look at the numbers I mentioned before I introduced you that we're in a situation where 60,000 Americans in just December alone
have died because of this pandemic. When you look at numbers like that, what does that tell you about what's to come?
BROADDUS: Those numbers are troubling. Horrible milestone here in December, December has been the deadliest month, more than 63,000 Americans died, and
it's all because of the virus.
And health officials warn, you know, we have the vaccine now, but darker days could be ahead. Listen in to what Dr. Anthony Fauci said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: We very well might see a post seasonal in the sense of Christmas,
New Year's surge. And as I've described it as a surge upon a surge, because if you look at the slope, the incline of cases that we've experienced as
we've gone into the late fall, and soon to be early winter, it is really quite troubling.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROADDUS: Troubling indeed, at least 20 million Americans were -- the hope was that 20 million Americans would receive that vaccine by the end of the
year. There are only three days left in the year and it looks like America is going to fall short of that goal because as it stands right now, about
two million people have received the vaccine -- Zain.
ASHER: Certainly, slow, slow progress being made. Adrienne Broaddus live for us there at Chicago O'Hare International Airport. Thank you so much.
And from the U.S. to the E.U., where a mass vaccination program is now underway as British regulators prepared to make a decision on AstraZeneca's
vaccine. Salma Abdelaziz is in London for us.
So just walk us through this mass vaccination program in the E.U. Just given the pace of the vaccination rollout right now, how long will it take?
And this is the question in everyone's mind, how long would it take for significant portions of the population there in the E.U. to be protected
against this virus to have so-called herd immunity?
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER: Zain, I mean, as you said, that's the question everyone is asking, and it will take months. But for right now,
this is a ray of light in what's really been a very terrible surge that's been plaguing Europe and the U.K.
The first vaccinations rolling out this weekend and it's especially good news for a country like Germany, which developed the Pfizer-BioNTech
vaccine, but ultimately had to watch other countries roll it out first.
They were so excited that the first jabs were given on Saturday, a day ahead of the rest of the E.U. The first person being a 101-year-old woman
living in a nursing home in Germany. So major step there in the E.U., and the advantages of it are the same as the disadvantages with this
vaccination program.
Twenty seven member states, everyone gets the same amount of vaccine, but supplies are limited. So back to your question about how long it will take?
It will take a while because there have already been delays. You're sharing it among 27 member states.
But again, just this moment of hope in the middle of this pandemic, and there's also -- it couldn't come soon enough. There's also been signs that
the variant that's prevalent here in the U.K. might have made its way into the E.U. That variant is prevalent in London in parts of Southeast England
and here in the U.K. as well, positive news, Oxford-AstraZeneca rather, that vaccine is set to be approved in a matter of days.
British authorities are of course very excited about this because this is the homegrown vaccine, right, developed at Oxford University, one of their
own rolling out here.
There has been debates about its efficacy, a preliminary trial showed it to be 70 percent effective, but the researchers and scientists who developed
this vaccine say it can become more effective if that second dose that's given -- remember, two doses -- that second dose is a half dose that might
raise the efficacy to 90 percent.
And that's also great news because this is a cheaper vaccine. It only costs about three pounds as much as your morning coffee. It doesn't need that
super cold refrigeration capacity. A normal refrigerator will do.
So a lot of positive signs here, but again, balancing those new vaccines, those rollouts with the demand from authorities, heed restrictions, make
sure you stay vigilant. We're not there yet -- Zain.
ASHER: Salma Abdelaziz in London, thank you so much.
All right, these are the stories making headlines around the world. The independent Chinese journalist who documented the COVID-19 outbreak in
Wuhan early in the pandemic has been sentenced to four years in jail. You're looking at pictures of the lawyer there, Zhang Zhang. She has
reported on efforts to contain the virus just as authorities began reining in coverage.
Ivan Watson joins us live now. So she was found guilty essentially by Chinese authorities of picking quarrels and provoking trouble. Clearly,
just another example, Ivan, of China trying to say to silence dissidents.
[09:15:10]
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, well, the Chinese Foreign Ministry was asked about this case in particular and a response
from a spokesperson was that the quote, "Chinese government protects citizens' freedom of speech in accordance with the law."
But in the case of this woman, Zhang Zhang, who was a citizen journalist who was compelled, I guess, to travel from Shanghai to Wuhan back in
February, try to rewind back to those days when the worst place in the world for the coronavirus epidemic at that stage before the pandemic was
the Chinese City of Wuhan, which became the target of very draconian lockdown measures.
She went there and kind of posted messages about that and videos on social media. We have one that maybe we can show you where she shows the hallway
of a hospital in Wuhan that's crowded with patients being treated in the hallway itself.
Well, she got in trouble for this and has been detained several times, and always accused of this kind of vague crime, quote, "picking quarrels and
provoking trouble," which is a crime that the Chinese authorities typically level at dissidents who do not toe the government line.
Now, according to the organization Reporters without Borders, China is the world's biggest jailer of journalists and beyond Zhang Zhang, we know of at
least three other citizen journalists who tried to document what was going on in Wuhan last winter who have all been detained or disappeared.
In her case, the defense attorney says that she has been on hunger strike while in detention since last summer, and that when the lawyer met with her
at the beginning of this month, he said that her arms were restrained, that she looked thin and pale, and that she had a gastric tube inserted through
her nose and mouth that the authorities were force feeding her.
He says that she appeared in court today in Shanghai for her sentencing in a wheelchair -- Zain.
ASHER: Ivan Watson, thank you so much for bringing us that important story. Appreciate it.
Authorities in Nashville, Tennessee say they have identified the bomber behind an explosion on Christmas Day. DNA found at the scene was matched to
63-year-old Anthony Quinn Warner, who was already a person of interest in the case. Warner died in the explosion and his motive at this point still
remain unknown. Three other people were also injured as well.
All right, still to come here on FIRST MOVE, Trump signs the COVID-19 Relief Bill. And we are headed right now towards a higher open. Greg
Valliere is talking markets with me, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:20:59]
ASHER: Welcome back to FIRST MOVE. One drama has been resolved, many others still to come during this extremely busy Holiday period in Washington.
President Trump finally signed the $900 billion COVID Relief Bill into law Sunday night, which means that new aid will soon be flowing to jobless
Americans as well as struggling businesses, too. The move also keeps the U.S. government up and running.
Meantime, Congress will move to override President Trump's veto of a key Defense Bill. All this, has the makeup of the Senate which remains in play
just one more week before those hugely important runoff elections in Georgia.
Greg Valliere joins us live now. He is the Chief U.S. Policy Strategist at AGF Investments. Greg, thank you so much for being with us.
So let's just talk about the Stimulus Bill to start off with. How much do you think this really impacts the broader economy especially in Q1 when it
comes to staving off a recession, do you think?
GREG VALLIERE, CHIEF U.S. POLICY STRATEGIST, AGF INVESTMENTS: I think it's a big deal, Zain. You've got $900 billion coming into an economy that was
looking really, really weak just a few days ago.
So I think it's a big deal. The economy is not going to blast off. But I think this bill will avoid a recession.
ASHER: And in terms of the direct payments to Americans, in terms of what's in the bill, a few hundred dollars here, do you think it's enough?
Obviously, the President wants to see $2,000.00 in direct payments at some point in the future, just walk us through how much of a difference
$2,000.00 in direct payments will actually make to the U.S. economy, especially when it comes to consumer spending.
VALLIERE: Well, what a bizarre story last week. He threw Steve Mnuchin under the bus. Mnuchin had negotiated $600.00. $2,000.00 is something the
Democrats would love to see.
So I think this was a way for Trump to say to the Republicans, I'm furious with you for not supporting my bid to win another term. The election was
fixed, but you wouldn't agree with me. So there's a lot of moving parts to this story.
I think maybe Trump is looking at a narrative for 2024 saying that I wanted to give people a lot of money. But the fact is we got a deal. And I think
getting this deal is very important for the overall economy and for the markets.
ASHER: In terms of what this deal needs to be accompanied with, obviously, you said that it's huge in terms of staving off a recession in Q1. But how
much can this bill actually do to the U.S. economy without it being accompanied by faster, a much faster vaccine rollout.
We've only got a couple of million Americans who have been vaccinated so far, that progress is far, far too slow. Surely a stimulus bill needs to be
accompanied by vaccinated Americans in order to really have an impact.
VALLIERE: You are right, Zain. We need more inoculations. But you know, we also need another stimulus bill. I mean, this is not enough. I think
there's a real pressing need for something more.
Joe Biden, I think will try to get one but so much of this hinges on Georgia. If the Republicans keep the Senate, I think you'd get a very
modest bill. If the Democrats keep to get the Senate, then I think the bill would be a little more substantial.
ASHER: And speaking of Georgia, obviously the President delayed signing the bill. So in a sense, that hurts the Republicans, but on the other hand, he
did actually sign the bill. So how much of an impact do you think that will have on Loeffler, for example, and Perdue?
VALLIERE: Things were so dysfunctional over the last week or so that probably voters just shrug their shoulders and are now saying, well, at
least we have a bill. But I think that Trump still has another big veto fight, that hasn't gotten much publicity. That's the Defense Spending Bill.
And if he gets overridden on that, or if there's a big controversy over that, that can't help the Republicans in Georgia. I had thought a week or
two ago, the Republicans were very likely to win a seat or two in Georgia. I think it's a lot closer right now.
[09:25:06]
ASHER: We shall see. Greg Valliere live for us there. Thank you so much.
All right, to a business story that might come as a bit of a surprise. Did you know that the world's largest snowboard maker is actually based in
Dubai of all places? So how does a city on the edge of the desert the right fit for winter sports? Eleni Giokos explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELENI GIOKOS, CNN BUSINESS AFRICA CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Driven and successful, entrepreneurs like Rainier Nouhra are in high demand. And
increasingly, cities around the world see the likes of Nouhra as key to their future prosperity.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cities are always in a relentless competition with each other to attract businesses to attract investment and to attract talent.
GIOKOS (voice over): When it came to setting up his snowboard manufacturing business, Nouhra chose Dubai. Hardly the obvious choice for the Canadian
national.
But his company SWS, is now one of the largest snowboard manufacturers in the world, grinding out 300,000 boards a year.
RAINIER NOUHRA, FOUNDER, SWS: So it started with doing wakeboards and kite boards. And in 2012, it was the organic thing to do to get from compressed
molded wakeboard and kite boards into snowboards.
GIOKOS (voice over): In the economy of tomorrow, the big idea is that entrepreneurs and innovation are not defined by geography. To succeed,
major cities must find ways to lure the world's best.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So it really has become an all-out war for talent and that is most certainly going to accelerate in the coming years.
GIOKOS (voice over): For Nouhra, device composite industry is a major draw.
NOUHRA: It is not just composite, it's high tech composite. So Dubai is very much focused in technical industries, industries that add value. They
have been pushing for this.
GIOKOS (voice over): Dubai is also home to one of the largest ports in the world, Jebel Ali, giving him access to global markets.
NOUHRA: The big advantage having Jebel Ali that is connected to the international shipping hub, we are on an average of 18 days to reach our
clients.
GIOKOS (voice over): Dubai's business friendly environment convinced a talent like Rainier Nouhra to set up production here using the tools the
city has to be successful.
Eleni Giokos, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: All right. That is it for the show. I am Zain Asher. I will be back tomorrow, same time, same place. Stay with CNN. "Inside Africa" is up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:30:00]
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