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Quest Means Business

Mnuchin And Powell Appear Before U.S. Senators; JPMorgan CEO Says Virus Is A Wake-Up Call To Fix Inequality; Etihad Airways Announces Layoffs After Drop In Demand; Trump: Taking Hydroxychloroquine An Individual Decision; Trump Threatens To "Reconsider" U.S. Membership In WHO; 23andMe Studies Genetics For Clues To COVID-19 Severity. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired May 19, 2020 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:48]

RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: In 60 minutes time, the closing bell will ring on Wall Street, so we have an hour of trading still to go

and it is a much more muted day than the strong rally, which was at best, a thousand points, down nearly one percent, off 214 or so, give or take.

The market is down, and these are the reasons why.

Treasury Secretary and Chairman of the Fed, two top policymakers with different stories on the U.S. economy as they face senators' questions.

Etihad, the airline is planning job cuts. The Chief Executive is going to join me live on this program.

And sales of Walmart are surging. There's unprecedented demand. Nearly a quarter of a million new jobs and that's only at Walmart.

We are live from New York. It is Tuesday. It is May the 19th. Delighted you're with us. I'm Richard Crest in the living room, I mean business.

Good evening. It was a debate that some say is false whether to reopen the economy or to save lives. Of course most like the Governor of New York say,

you can do both.

But today it was the turn of the Treasury Secretary and the Fed Chair before the Senate Banking Committee. Steve Mnuchin said the economy cannot

afford to stay locked down, even though he was asked about the risk of reopening.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. SHERROD BROWN (D-OH): How many workers will die if we send people back to work without the protections they need, Mr. Secretary?

STEVEN MNUCHIN, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: Mr. Senator, we don't intend to send anybody back to work without the protections.

BROWN: How many workers should give their lives to increase the GDP or the Dow Jones by a thousand points?

MNUCHIN: No worker should give their lives to do that, Mr. Senator, and I think your characterization is unfair.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: Now, Jerome Powell, however is warning the economy will suffer lasting damage, but if Washington doesn't do more, in terms of fiscal

stimulus, he reiterated. Congress must be ready with a greater policy response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEROME POWELL, U.S. FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIRMAN: We now have a situation where people are unemployed for long periods of time. That can be -- it can

permanently weigh on both their careers and their ability to go back to work and also weigh on the economy for years, equally so with small and

medium-sized businesses, which are the jobs machine of our great economy.

This is the biggest response by Congress ever and the fastest and the biggest from us. And it still has the biggest shock we've seen in living

memory and the question looms in the air of is it enough?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: Manu Raju is with me in Washington. Good to have you, as always, sir. So, this supposed difference between the men, is it a real difference

in economic thought? Is one more willing and hoping to do a fiscal stimulus than the other?

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, one of the things, Richard, I lost you at the beginning of this question, but one of the

things that was discussed here at this Senate hearing this afternoon was Steve Mnuchin, the Treasury Secretary warning about the long-term economic

impact if states continue to be shut down.

He said, there's going to be a risk of permanent damage, the longer that states here in the United States continue to be shut down.

He did express some optimism that the economy would recover, the quicker and as soon as states reopen.

Now, there's still a significant disagreement between the Democrats and the Trump administration and the Republicans on Capitol Hill about whether

there needs to be another fiscal stimulus, a fourth recovery package.

Democrats, of course, have passed -- pushed through roughly $3 trillion in aid that was approved by the House last week.

Senate Republicans are wanting to put brakes on that. That was the message that was clear all day today, even behind closed doors when President Trump

met with Republican senators today. The senators are merged saying we're going to wait. We're going to see what happens in the economy in a few

weeks to decide whether to act again.

And that's a tension that's going to continue to play out on the Hill as Democrats push for more money and Republicans are saying, let's wait.

[15:05:13]

QUEST: Okay, now in terms of Donald Trump who has been speaking today, the arguments and the disagreements continue over his taking hydroxy. Where do

we stand on that?

RAJU: Yes, he actually came to Capitol Hill today, as I mentioned, and he took questions, including one from me, where I asked him directly about the

concerns from the Food and Drug Administration here in the U.S. that is warning against using this drug saying that it could actually cause some

serious heart effects, and we have no proof that it could actually cure COVID-19.

I asked him why since he is not a doctor, why is he promoting this and suggesting the American public should use it?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think it gives you an additional level of safety, but you can ask many doctors who are in favor

of it. Many frontline workers won't go there unless they have the hydroxy.

And so again, this is an individual decision to make, but it's had a great reputation, and if it was somebody else other than me, people would say,

gee, isn't that smart?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: So I asked him, well, do you not believe your own Food and Drug Administration? He did not answer that question. But he, of course,

announced yesterday that he is taking this drug, even though this anti- malarial drug, as I mentioned, has not been proven to be effective to cure this disease.

And these concerns continue to be raised by health experts, but the President is undeterred. He is saying it should be used. The question

though, is what kind of impact will this have on people if they take the President's advice and maybe not health experts' advice -- Richard.

QUEST: Manu, thank you. Good to see you. As always. Thank you, sir, looking well on Capitol Hill.

Now, Jamie Dimon is one of the world's top bankers by any definition. He also earns an extraordinary large amount of money in his own right.

But today he called it a crisis and a wakeup call, where he was discussing, of course, a time to address inequality.

The CEO and chairman of JPMorgan Chase said, and I quote, "It is my fervent hope that we use this crisis as a catalyst to rebuild an economy that

creates and sustains opportunity for dramatically more people, especially those who have been left behind for too long."

He also said that the crisis, the way in which those who had no savings, those who were so weakened economically was extraordinary.

Now, the World Economic Forum is predicting great economic and great transformation after the virus.

In a risk survey, WEF says executives worry about prolonged recession, rising inequality, weakening climate commitments.

Saadia Zahidi is the WEF Managing Director and joins me from Geneva. Good to have you. Let's -- before we talk about what WEF said, just go, let's

talk about JPMorgan.

A wake-up call and a time to address inequality. I mean, when you hear these sorts of calls, and indeed the WEF report to some extent, it's either

where have you been all these years when this inequality was rising, or it's hypocrisy that you have not got anything you can do about it, you're

just complaining about it.

SAADIA ZAHIDI, MANAGING DIRECTOR, WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM: I think we saw already at the start of this year a big push for stakeholder capitalism,

for essentially greater focus on people, greater focus on planet, both from corporations and also from governments.

And what this crisis has done is sort of brought the stark reality of that to all of us, because it was those underinvested health systems that are

struggling. It's the social safety nets that didn't exist that are causing a lot of challenges. It's the fact that people were already in low quality

jobs with very low wages.

And we've now seen a very different focus on what is essential work versus nonessential work. So, it's all of those things that I think have become

clearer and that's partly what today's report is about.

If we don't want to be caught off guard, again, let's start understanding now what are those second order effects of this crisis that we need to deal

with today and essentially start building back better economies, more resilient economies?

QUEST: Okay, so let me pull this apart, Saadia, first of all, you know, arguably, everything you said, which is true was true in 2008 and 2009,

after the great financial crisis.

And what we saw over the last 10 years, is very few of them were addressed, and far from it, populous government, and particularly in the United

States, actually led to an increase in many cases of lack of healthcare and rising inequality.

So why should anybody listen to the world's elites now?

ZAHIDI: I think there's been a shift in terms of -- so let's take one example the speed with which governments have responded to this current

crisis, and tried to ensure that it's the bigger players within each industry, as well as the small and medium-sized businesses that are

starting to receive some of the support that is directly a lesson taken out of the 2008-2009 crisis.

Similarly, I think for the last couple of years, there has been this build up and this momentum, both from businesses and from governments that we

need to think about a greener economy. We need to think about a more inclusive economy.

But, now the time has come for action, and I think even if there was, you know, perhaps in the beginning of this decade, this sense that we've got 10

years to do it, I think this pandemic has made it incredibly clear that those actions have to begin today and not just actions on the social front,

but also on having a greener recovery.

QUEST: Okay, So, again, I come -- I'm sorry, I keep coming back to this point that it's not the elites that suffered, yes, some somewhere have lost

their jobs.

But in this crisis, it is the healthcare workers that have borne the brunt. It is the lowest paid and the socially and racially disadvantaged in the

developing world and the developed world that has borne the cost.

And for Jamie Dimon to say it's a wake-up call and a time to address inequality, don't you think it beggar's belief? I mean, this has got all

the hallmarks of Mary Antoinette, let them eat cake.

ZAHIDI: I think what we've seen with this crisis is to your point, it's the healthcare workers that are essential. We've all realized how important the

role of teachers. It's the workers in logistics and delivery that are some of the most essential workers to keep the economy running.

We are also starting to see which are the types of roles we're likely to be more off. Whether that's people who are installing solar panels or whether

that's people who are working in cybersecurity, given how digital we just got.

I think there is a sense of sort of a wake-up call, where there is more of a focus on the people that are doing some of the most essential roles

across the economy, and I think that's what you're getting a call for.

QUEST: Right. So, Saadia, make me a promise now, if you will, when you and I -- assuming we can with social distancing -- when you and I are up the

mountain in Davos in January, assuming we will and we can, make me a promise it won't be business as usual.

ZAHIDI: I think this is a moment of reckoning in delivering stakeholder capitalism. I think we already saw a healthy shift towards that narrative.

We started seeing a shift from a number of businesses putting that into place. We're going to need a much stronger collaboration between bigger,

bolder government and businesses to actually put that in place.

And I think you're seeing some of those conditionalities being put in place, for example, from government, as they provide some of these bailouts

and some of the massive injection of fiscal stimulus that they've done, and they will continue to do.

So, I think you are seeing a pretty big step change now.

QUEST: That's interesting. Interesting. I'm sure at WEF, this is completely -- I mean, I understand. A lot of the things that we're talking about, WEF

has been promoting for many years. They have been on the agenda. The issue is they never seem to get further than the agenda.

ZAHIDI: Now, I think the Forum has a 50-year history. It's sort of built into our DNA, this push for stakeholder capitalism, and there has been over

time, a big shift in terms of how much companies are investing, for example, in their human capital, how much they're doing in terms of

commitments to reducing their carbon emissions.

I think what you're seeing now is this moment where we get to build back better at an accelerated pace and not at the pace of 10 years out, but

really put in place some of the changes within the next couple of years.

QUEST: Good to see you. Thank you for taking time.

ZAHIDI: Thank you.

QUEST: Wonderful to be with you. In just a moment, we will have Tony Douglas who is the CEO of Etihad. Interesting, obviously airlines at the

moment, Etihad starting to reopen some routes, but the losses are vast and it does raise questions, what next?

It's QUEST MEANS BUSINESS live in New York.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:17:11]

QUEST: Welcome back. Now after months of near zero demand, airlines are starting to add routes back to the network, although it is far, far from

anything like they've seen before.

Delta says it'll add more flights in June. Even though it'll be barely -- even after the new flights, it's still going to be only hitting only about

10 to 15 percent of the network. Southwest's schedule has dropped 60 to 70 percent. Delta is at 85 percent. United is down 90 percent.

There are significant financial pressures, of course for the airlines.

Etihad, which is the national airline based in the UAE, in Abu Dhabi announced layoffs today directly tied to the pandemic and it says, there

will be layoffs in several areas across the business group.

Tony Douglas is the Chief Executive of Etihad. He joins me now. Tony, good to see you, sir. I do -- very grateful that you're talking to us.

You're starting to add some new routes back in, in a very targeted fashion. What's the thinking?

TONY DOUGLAS, CHIEF EXECUTIVE, ETIHAD AIRWAYS: Hello, Richard. And I know, you know, Abu Dhabi very well. On my right hand side, out of view, in the

dark night sky is the airfield of Abu Dhabi International Airport.

For us in aviation, it's absolutely heartbreaking to see a large proportion of our fleet parked up. The problem that aviation is being decimated by the

world over, so of course, all of us want to get back to flying and what we're trying to do is handle that in a very controlled way.

Up to now, we've concentrated on our freighter flying cargo, obviously, in terms of food security, in terms of medical supplies as being key.

But off the back of that, we found that we were able to deploy up to 25 of our 787 Dreamliners. They're a wonderfully efficient aircraft, and we've

got a skeleton network up and running off the back of that.

QUEST: So, with that in mind, how long do you think it will be? Before you are back -- the phrase that's being used is meaningful flying. Some are

saying June, other say July. Norwegians is not looking until next year. How long before Etihad is back to meaningful flying?

DOUGLAS: Well, I have to say my crystal ball is no better calibrated quite frankly than anybody else's. There's a lot of variables in this equation as

we all know. But what we try to do off the back of that skeleton network that I referred to before where we're flying passenger aircraft at the

moment, just with belly hold cargo.

It's allowed us to be able to do repatriation flying, so obviously people who live in other countries outside of Abu Dhabi, and we post every day on

etihad.com all the destinations that we can do in that regard.

[15:20:37]

DOUGLAS: Equally, we've been doing repatriation flying off the back of that same skeleton network back here into Abu Dhabi, and last Saturday, we did

our first transfer flight between Melbourne, Australia and London Heathrow.

So, it's small steps in a very controlled way, subject obviously to government approval here in Abu Dhabi and the destinations in question.

But to answer your question, my sense is we're looking at the 16th of July is when we see that we'd like to make a few more steps, and hopefully with

the right approvals in place where it's safe to fly, we'll build off the back of that -- Richard.

QUEST: Tony, obviously, this has come up, the issue of Etihad and Emirates, either coming together merging whatever. I am not -- I can construct any

one of a million variants on the combination.

But the idea is, look, two airlines, one country, both making losses for the foreseeable future. Does it not now make sense for those two airlines

to combine?

DOUGLAS: I think in your introduction, you talked about the heaviest losses that all airlines are taking at the moment, and there's no denying that,

and that's a reality of what COVID has done to our industry.

And obviously the economic tsunami that seems to be washing through as a result.

I could probably resolve our losses if I had a dollar for every time somebody has asked that question about the merger of us and Emirates.

I'm sure Tim Clark could probably get $2.00 for every time he has been asked the same question as well.

The simple answer, Richard, is this -- at this point in time, I don't know of any plans in that regard, and where there ever to be so, it's something

that would be handled at stakeholder level or shareholder level, but what we are doing, wherever possible is working together.

So, there's a lot of volunteering we're doing in the way in which we're supporting humanitarian aid. There's a lot of freighter and cargo flying

we're doing to work together in a noncompetitive way.

QUEST: Finally, and I believe, one of your flights for your planes for the first time went to -- or is on its way to Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv.

It's a humanitarian flight for Palestinians in the territories there. But it proves your pilots can find their way to Israel, and potentially, I'm

just being mischievous here, of course, Tony, that's a new destination for you. I mean, let's face it, if you're looking to make up losses.

DOUGLAS: In terms of the humanitarian flying that we've been doing, I can tell you, I thought I had a reasonably well developed knowledge of

geography. We've been flying to places we hardly knew existed.

We've been doing an extensive amount of humanitarian aid. The governments of the UAE has generously been donating support all around the world, and

you're absolutely right.

As we speak now, that aircraft is just about to leave Ben Gurion, having given vital medical aid to the Palestinian people, and who knows, the world

continues to change.

I imagine there's destinations that we've been flying in the past that we will no longer find economic value in going forward.

And equally, there was probably places that will emerge as a result of the economic changes that will be around all of us that will find opportunity

in.

Etihad is a high class carrier. Etihad's home is Abu Dhabi, where standards are extremely high. We are, we believe one of the safest places in the

world and when this thing finishes, and for sure, it will do, what we want to make sure is the standards that we are able to deliver at the standards

that the traveling public will want to enjoy when the world is ready to fly again.

[15:25:09]

QUEST: A tantalizing answer with many different supplementary, if only we had time, Tony, if only we had time, but there will be time in the future

and we look forward to that.

Thank you, sir. I appreciate it. As always, Tony Douglas joining me from Abu Dhabi.

Now, stay in the region. Mubadala aerospace is the state owned corporation. It is traditionally in your independent UAE. Now, it's producing masks for

the region and for export and beyond.

How Mubadala reformed and change and opened up its new production line. CNN's John Defterios reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN BUSINESS EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: In the COVID-19 world, N-95 mask production is viewed as essential protection against the

viral enemy. That's exactly what's happening in Abu Dhabi.

The initial scramble for personal protective equipment prompted a rethink in the United Arab Emirates.

Ismail Ali Abdulla is Chief Executive of aircraft parts maker Strata.

In normal times, he says, he delivers orders of over $7 billion for the likes of Airbus and Boeing who are now facing their own economic

turbulence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ISMAIL ALI ABDULLA, CEO, STRATA MANUFACTURING: Everyone is seeing that we are at war. In order to win that war against coronavirus, you need to

ensure that the supplies are available in a timely fashion.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEFTERIOS (voice over): Now, he is in partnership with U.S. giant Honeywell to become the first producer of N-95 masks in the Gulf.

With the continued coronavirus threat, the two partners say they went from a handshake to production in just 30 days.

DEFTERIOS (on camera): Aside from oil, this region traditionally has been import dependent especially for critical supplies.

But this entire facility is a signal that approach is rapidly changing.

DEFTERIOS (voice over): Mubadala, Strata's parent company launched a We Are Dedicated Plan to buffer the country's citizens and economy from

coronavirus risks.

Sitting atop a $230 billion dollars Strategic Investment Fund.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIROSLAV KAFEDZHIEV, VICE PRESIDENT, HONEYWELL: A lot of the countries have introduced restrictions when it comes to the materials, when it comes to

the machine, even when it comes to the actual finished good -- masks. This is what enables the region to be self-independent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEFTERIOS (voice over): The plan is to roll out enough masks to meet domestic demand and export to regional neighbors from Saudi Arabia to

Egypt, for health security in areas like construction sites, to hospitals, and a lot more.

DEFTERIOS (on camera): This is just a test run to fine tune the process. But by this time next week, this machine can pump out 45,000 masks a day

over three shifts.

DEFTERIOS (voice over): Maryam Al Nyadi joined the first of two production lines as supervisor after nine years of working on aircraft wings and

stabilizers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARYAM AL NYADI, PRODUCTION SUPERVISOR, STRATA MANUFACTURING: We look to the small details. We are applying the same measure and aircraft parts,

same we are doing with the masks.

ABDULLA: The world will change post COVID-19 and there will be more importance in investing in medical supplies especially PPE.

This is where we are deploying our expertise to manufacture these products.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEFTERIOS: Strata's CEO says there's more to come soon, but just on this N- 95 mask production, they expect nearly a billion orders over the next five years.

John Defterios, CNN, Al Ain, Abu Dhabi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: We will take a break in just a moment. Walmart is employing new employees by the hundreds of thousands.

The orders are extraordinarily strong during the pandemic. We'll talk about it after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:30:00]

QUEST: Welcome back. I'm Richard Quest. A lot more QUEST MEANS BUSINESS in just a moment. Stockpiling and Walmart did extremely well on it. The stock

is up some 25 percent since its lows, and it's taken on more than 200,000 employees.

We'll discuss that and exactly how it's now going to compete. Is it on a more level playing field with Amazon? 23andMe, the genetic testing,

consumer genetic testing, now the CEO will be with us to talk about their research into COVID genetics and the like. We'll need to understand that.

That's all coming up. All after I've updated you with the news headlines because this is CNN, and on this network, the news always comes first.

President Trump has defended his use of hydro -- hydroxychloroquine, typically used to treat malaria and lupus. He says it offers safety from

coronavirus, but they represent -- presents little evidence and there are calls in making a personal decision for someone to make.

Donald Trump's also escalating threats against the World Health Organization saying he will pull funding in permanently and reconsider U.S.

membership. He's told the organization in a letter to distance itself from China and to make other unspecified changes.

A budget airline EasyJet apologized after hackers stole data from nearly 9 million customers, including thousands of credit card numbers. It says a

sophisticated source access the data. The airline didn't say when that event occurred. It's promising to support everyone affected, and is now

working with British cyber security specialists.

It seems self-evident and rather obvious, but it's startling, nonetheless, the reduction in manufacturing and production and lack of transportation

has led to a huge fall off in global emissions. The numbers are quite startling. Daily emissions have fallen 17 percent CO2 between January and

early April. According to Nature Climate Change journal. Emissions could decline as much as seven percent by year end. It will be the biggest annual

drop since World War II.

Our chief climate correspondent is Bill Weir. He is with me now. There are those obviously, who points out the benefits of this. But realistically,

nobody could suggest that this would be a permanent position, even though there are those who say, maybe we should shut down for a couple of weeks

here.

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: Sure. I mean, I think not least among those who would say there's this is no silver lining. This is not a

remedy in any way or the scientists behind this study. They basically looked at the carbon footprints of all the states in the U.S. and 70 or so

countries around the world looked at how strict their lockdown measures were, and extrapolated the numbers and yes, it's a huge jump from status

quo.

Obviously, all those idle factories and all those idle cars, China, we put the most about 25 percent of their output. The United States, Europe and

India, following up on that list. In the U.S., California, Washington saw the biggest drops.

[15:35:02]

But yes, once this thing is lifted, there are certain that so-called revenge pollution will come back as factories crank 24/7 as people who are

leery now of public transportation, might drive more than they did before and fill it up. But to just put those numbers in perspective, Richard, in

order to meet the most ambitious Paris Climate accord target, 1.5 degrees Celsius warming, we would need 7 to 8 percent declines just like this,

every year for the next 10 years.

And so, unless there is a deliberate shift to cleaner energy, in one stat statistic is, the clean energy sector is getting wiped out and so many

other 600,000 solar and wind installers among folks in that industry applying for unemployment, and if the science is right, those are essential

workers if we're going to flatten the next climate group.

QUEST: The -- everybody is saying that what this has done is showed us what's important. Back to basics. Pandemic healthcare planning, climate

changes, because these are things that if they get out of the gate, humans have very limited abilities to deal with them. But do you spot any shift in

national positions? That would suggest, I mean, bearing in mind the U.S. pulled out of Paris, do you spot any shift in national thinking?

WEIR: It's hard to tell because the protests we're seeing with regularity on Fridays, the climate strikes led by Kids Life and others are not visible

anymore. They're trying -- they're happening online, but obviously that's not as dramatic. There's a big fight right now with big banks, and most of

them have decided not to fund drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Bank of America is the one who hasn't committed to that. So, that's sort of a sign that the free market is hearing from people more but policy wise,

not as long as this administration is in charge in this country anyway.

QUEST: Bill Weir, chief climate correspondent, thank you. Walmart saw a 74 percent increase in its online sales, as the company's announced its latest

earnings. The stock may be down just a tad, but it is up the best part of 25 percent since its lows back in March. Clare Sebastian is with me. Has

this been Walmart's moment to make up ground online between itself and Amazon?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I think this is a good opportunity for them, Richard. It's still, don't forget, a distant second

to Amazon. The last statistic that we got from e-marketer, Amazon had about 39 percent of the e-commerce market in the U.S. Walmart in second place but

with five percent. So, they have some ground to catch up.

But numbers like we saw today, 74 percent growth in e-commerce does suggest that they are gaining market share, perhaps not from Amazon but from other

players out there, but they do face challenges, Richard. They are facing mounting costs 900 million in the quarter related to COVID-19. Most of that

benefits and bonuses to employees, they hired more than 235,000 hourly workers in the quarter.

And because of the types of things that people were buying, they also the margin squeezed. These with lower value items, household essentials, and

things like that. But having said that, they are because of the money they've invested over the past few years, in e-commerce now very well

positioned to handle this and they are continuing to expand that.

QUEST: Clare Sebastian with the Walmart story. Thank you.

Now, to our "VOICE OF THE CRISIS," Swiss chocolate, we like the sound of that. Well, it was a Swiss chocolate company that was founded in 1929 that

we're looking at today. And many crises have been weathered by them ever since.

Chocolats Camille Bloch kept the stores open throughout. Sales are 80 percent of their chocolate is sold in Switzerland, and it sells around 20

percent, its impulse buyers. Duty Free sales have gone and they're unsure when demand will return.

Daniel Bloch is the owner of Chocolats Camille Bloch. He joins me now. Daniel, I'm very impressed by the measures that you took to keep your staff

on in all its areas of production, because production still at full strength, administration sales and the like. But what happens now, as

economies are reopening, you're still 20 percent down. What happens now?

DANIEL BLOCH, OWNER, CHOCOLATS CAMILLE BLOCH (via Skype): Good evening, Richard, thank you for inviting me tonight. It's evening in Switzerland. In

normal times, I don't have to run the company. My people know how to do it. But to change it.

But now times are not normal. So, I have to run it again. I -- we have not, as you said it, the sales went down by 20 percent by the end of April. And

now economy opened up again but the sales didn't pick up again. People are still cautious. They are staying at home.

[15:40:10]

We are very strong in out of home consumption. So, it will take some time to recover, I guess. It will take more than we thought.

QUEST: Why? Why do you think that's the case? I mean, chocolate? I mean, yours is premium chocolate. So, unless people are trading down, heaven

forbid, and buying the cheapest stuff, but why would -- what can you do in that case to get people back to your luxurious chocolate?

BLOCH: It's not a luxurious chocolate. It's a premium chocolate. And we really don't have global brands but we have lots of brands. We have very,

very loyal consumers. We have -- our brands are well known in Switzerland. They're household items, Ragusa, Torino. And we have to be confident. We

don't -- we cannot do a lot about it. I mean, as long as people stay at home -- we have out of home consumption.

They eat a little bit less of chocolate, but they will realize that it will lack, and we have to be a little bit patient. And I mean, we have been

around for 90 years, it will not -- will not be killed in one month.

QUEST: That's -- that was my next question. Well anticipated, sir. You have 90 years' worth of history and tradition. I mean, I assume you're looking

at more than just survival. You're looking at how to thrive for the next 90 years, aren't you?

BLOCH: Yes, that's right. Now, it's important to be confident. We don't have to grow to survive all the time. We're a family business. We have our

own equity. We don't -- we're not -- we have no debt. We're not on the stock exchange, so we don't have to tell every quarter a story of growth.

And I think it's also part of entrepreneurial freedom not to have to grow. But to be ready when the economy is picking up again to -- with innovations

and distribution to grow.

What we have done, we have started. We have completely changed our kosher business that we're exporting to the United States. We have improved the

quality and we have increased the sales by 50 percent. It's a niche market. It's a niche business, in our business. But still, if you do something, you

can still grow. There are opportunities.

QUEST: Sir, here comes the promise. Next year, when we are at Davos, we will have your chocolate with us on the program because we'll be coming

through Switzerland. So, we will make sure next year in Davos, we have your chocolate and only your chocolate, as we gorge ourselves through Davos next

year. Good to see you, sir.

BLOCH: I will bring it --

QUEST: I appreciate it.

BLOCH: I will bring it myself to Davos. Thank you very much.

QUEST: Ah! Now, there is a promise, an even better one. We'll eat your chocolate with you and we'll even pay for it. Whoever's keeping a track of

our promises. That's the promise to you -- for you tonight. Good to see you, sir. After the break --

BLOCH: Thank you for having me.

QUEST: -- the 23andMe is an institution, just become a phenomenon. Now, how can 23andMe manage to somehow tie itself in with the coronavirus under

research being done by DNA testing organization? The CEO Anne is with me, after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: 23andMe, the DNA testing, of course, the consumer many of us have used, is exploring the role of DNA in the developing COVID-19 crisis. It is

studying, quantitatively, studying whether genetics can be tied to the severity of symptoms, or susceptibility to the disease. Participants are

being recruited to have and have not shown symptoms. They want a million responses.

Anne Wojcicki is the CEO of 23andMe, joins me from California, now via Skype. Anne, very good to have you. You're obviously going to need large

numbers of people to make this meaningful. And that's more than those people who would already have signed up for 23andMe. So, how are you

getting the volume that you will require?

ANNE WOJCICKI, CEO, 23ANDME (via Skype): We're doing two things. So, one, the first thing that we did on April 6th is we reached out to our existing

customers. And we asked them to take a COVID-19 survey, whether they've had symptoms or whether they've been diagnosed or not. And we actually have

over half a million people who've taken that survey. Over 8,000 said that they have actually had COVID-19. Over 1,000 actually have said that they

were hospitalized.

But you're right, what we need is more numbers. And so, a cup last week, we actually announced that we are giving away 10,000 kits to anybody who was

hospitalized with COVID-19, in part, because we want to find more people who've had severe cases of COVID-19. So, we need people who had both COVID-

19 and were, you know, had mild symptoms, as well as people who had COVID- 19 and were hospitalized.

QUEST: What are you aiming to show? What's the goal here? When the research is finally published and reviewed? What would you aim to show?

WOJCICKI: Well, there's a number of infectious diseases where there's actually a genetic component. For example, in HIV, there's a mutation

called CCR5. And we know that people who have both copies of that mutation are resistant to HIV. Similar also with something called norovirus, which

is known as the cruise ship virus. There's mutations that say whether you're resistant or susceptible.

So, we're looking, you know, our hope is that we'll find something for COVID-19 as well, that will help say this population of people are much

higher risk, and this group of individuals are potentially still susceptible, but less likely to have severe disease.

And then the hope here is that we'll put -- we'll put this information out to the entire academic community, and one day that there will be a report

so that customers or the public at large would be able to know whether they're genetically at risk for having a severe type.

QUEST: Now, your competitors are doing similar things in different ways. Maybe not at the same large scale or whatever. But, I guess, at some point,

is it worth you all working together on this to get the numbers?

WOJCICKI: Absolutely. I think a couple things. One, 23andMe by far and away, we have a brand that for 14 years, we've been doing research on this

platform, on a digital platform. So, we have the ability, we have size and scale. We have over 12 million customers, we have size and scale. What's

happened since COVID-19 is the entire academic world really has come together.

And we will absolutely pull together our resources, academics as well who have more sequencing individuals who have been diagnosed are looking to

partner, so we are absolutely part of that partnership world. If there's other academic groups out there that are listening, we absolutely are

looking to find ways to partner. And some of the 10,000 kits that we're giving away could absolutely go to a academic group.

[15:50:14]

QUEST: Anne, it's very good of you to give us time, I'm very appreciative. Thank you for joining us today. (INAUDIBLE) is having recovered from it.

Thank you, Anne. Now, in a moment, we -- the man went, the executive went from Disney to TikTok, streaming to new media. Why? Brian Stelter after the

break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: Now to Disney where the head of streaming is to now become the new CEO of TikTok. He's leaving Disney and going to TikTok. The social media

platform, of course, having a phenomenal rise in popularity during the pandemic, downloaded more than any other app in the world. In Q1, according

to Senator Todd. Brian Stelter is our chief media correspondent. He joins me now here in New York, Brian, from Disney streaming to TikTok, why? was

it just because he didn't get the top job at Disney?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: That is the short answer. Yes, Kevin Mayer was in line to succeed Bob Iger. He was widely expected to

be taken over for Bob Iger, when Bob Chapek was chosen instead, Mayer started to look for a way out, look for a new opportunity. But this is also

a really cool job. This is not a step down for Kevin Mayer, if anything, it's a step up.

I mean, look, yes, Disney Plus is very important. It's the future of Disney. But TikTok is an incredibly interesting business with a lot of

growth potential. And the parent company ByteDance wants to look to grow in other areas as well. So, Kevin Mayer is talking about music and games, what

more can TikTok do? This is going to be fascinating to watch.

QUEST: If you look at our own CEO, Jason (INAUDIBLE) who just started recently, again, somebody from streaming coming into, in our case, a

traditional sort of cable and movie industry. And which begs the question, all the streamers, the one who all believe to have the experience needed to

run not only the new stuff, like TikTok, but the traditional stuff like HBO, Warner movies and ourselves.

[15:55:09]

STELTER: In many cases, yes. But now the head of Disney Plus and Disney's streaming efforts is actually a veteran of broadcast television of local

television. Her name is Rebecca Campbell. So, that's an interesting choice by Disney.

But look, Disney Plus is up and running. It's doing very well. The company has a solid footing. It's just that TikTok, it's, you know, potentially

more innovative, more of a startup, obviously. And now, Kevin Mayer is going to have to put on a positive face for U.S. regulators.

This is a company that is Chinese-based. It's actually incorporated in the Cayman Islands. So, they say they're not in China, but it came out of

China. That, of course, does not scare off users. American users love this app.

They're using it by the tens of millions, especially young people, but there are senators and other lawmakers and officials in Washington that are

going to want to hear from Kevin Mayer. They're going to drag him to Washington.

In fact, GOP Senator Josh Hawley already said he's going to want to see Kevin Mayer under oath in his new gig leading TikTok. So, keep an eye on

that space if and when Congress starts return to normal in this post pandemic or amid this ongoing pandemic.

As for Disney, you know, is very rough sledding. You've talked a lot about what a difficult position Disney is in. It's, you know, there is light at

the end of the Disney tunnel, but this ride isn't over anytime soon.

QUEST: We're delighted, Brian, to have you back with us on QUEST MEANS BUSINESS in some shape, form and description. It is always good to have

you, sir.

STELTER: Thank you. See you soon.

QUEST: I appreciate it. Thank you. Now --

STELTER: Thanks.

QUEST: -- look at the markets. They've taken a bit of a downward turn in the last 30 minutes or so, have a look. Rumors and suggestions are perhaps

maybe the vaccines that have been out there and people have been talking about aren't as promising as everybody thought. Remember, the market on

Madonna rose because of it. Now, they're all going down. Hard to know exactly the obvious reasons why. Look -- if you look who's at the top,

Intel, look at that.

And if you look down at the bottom, Boeing down 3.6 percent. Boeing really just can't seem to get any traction at the moment. Disney, by the way, is

off two percent as well. We'll have a profitable moment after the break. It's QUEST MEANS BUSINESS. Good evening to you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: Tonight's profitable moment. It always sounds a little weird when very rich bankers, indeed elites of any kind, and they'll probably put

those of us in broadcasting, who talk about this in the same category. It only sounds a bit weird and a bit strange, bordering on hypocrisy, when we

started monitoring and remember trying to tell people to remember the inequality. But that's what's happening at the moment.

Jamie Dimon, let me read a quote to you what he said earlier. It's my fervent hope we can use this crisis as a catalyst to rebuild an economy

that creates and sustains opportunity for dramatically more people, especially those who've been left behind. He reminded us the number of

people who are just a paycheck or two who simply didn't have any form of savings, to see them through this crisis, let alone the developed world and

the developing world.

And so, thanks for the question. What changes do we make? Well, I'm highly skeptical, maybe even bordering on cynicism, for the simple reason. We were

here after the global financial crisis, even then we said, we must make sure that those without don't suffer again in the future. And then we've

managed to make the same mistakes all over again.

And so, I'm cynical again, whether after all this is over, we actually make any changes. We should. We could. We can. And now we're going to join

Donald Trump, who's speaking at the White House.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Call it came in. I said how did they let that happen? How did they let that happen? And how committed

and go into other sections of China.

END