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First Move with Julia Chatterley
Prime Minister Johnson Receiving Oxygen And Remains In Intensive Care; China Prepares To Reopen Wuhan And Reports No Coronavirus-Related Deaths Today; Japan Restricting Activities In Seven Prefectures Including Tokyo. Aired 9-10a ET
Aired April 07, 2020 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:00:05]
JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN BUSINESS ANCHOR: Live from New York, I'm Julia Chatterley. This is FIRST MOVE and here's your need to know.
Stable and in good spirits. Prime Minister Johnson receiving oxygen and remains in intensive care.
The recovery. China prepares to reopen Wuhan and reports no coronavirus related deaths today.
And a state of emergency. Japan restricting activities in seven prefectures including Tokyo.
It's Tuesday. Let's make a move.
Welcome once again to FIRST MOVE. I want to get you straight to one of our top stories this hour. As I mentioned, the British Prime Minister remains
in a stable condition in hospital though in the Intensive Care Unit as he fights the coronavirus.
According to an update given by his spokesman just a short time ago, he said to be in good spirits. Max Foster joins us now from outside Parliament
in London.
I think anyone who knows anything about the British Prime Minister knows good spirits is something very intrinsic to him. But what more do we know
about his condition, Max? And obviously we know he remains in Intensive Care at this moment.
MAX FOSTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so we're looking for signs that either he is getting better or he is getting worse and there aren't signs that he
is getting particularly worse from where he was last night.
So he has received standard oxygen treatment. We're told he is breathing without ventilation crucially, or non-invasive respiratory support. So when
he gets on to those, that's when we start getting more concerned. And there's been no diagnosis of pneumonia either, Julia.
So, that's the update on him, you know, as a man, his health. There's the wider issue about how all of this is being communicated, because obviously
we're asking endlessly for updates.
The public wants updates. It is the leader of the country after all. But it seems as though the essential information about how he is doing is being
very closely guarded by a close group of people.
Listen to what Michael Gove had to say. He is a very senior Cabinet Minister, very close to Boris Johnson and even he wasn't aware about the
move to ICU until, you know, just after it happened.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
QUESTION: Was the government leveling with the nation at those briefings telling them what the situation was, and wasn't as taken by surprise?
MICHAEL GOVE, CABINET OFFICE MINISTER: Yes, we were. We were informed subsequently. The Prime Minister was admitted to Intensive Care at seven
o'clock, and that information wasn't given to us in government, to those in the Cabinet until just before eight o'clock.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: So they are trying to balance things on here, Julia. They don't want to freak everyone out by saying too much perhaps and they also want to
guard, obviously, Boris Johnson's privacy. And they also want to show that he is in control. They are making very clear that he is still the Prime
Minister.
CHATTERLEY: I mean, this is the key, I think as well. It's that balance of privacy for an individual versus the public's right to know when the leader
of the nation is unwell at this stage.
One of my considerations is how much say he has as an individual, how long he can remain at home versus being in hospital and can perhaps push back on
medical advice.
But Max, to your point there who is in charge, and under what conditions?
FOSTER: Well, this is the United Kingdom, Julia and we sort of fumble our way through these things as you know, without a written Constitution. There
is no set pattern for how the Prime Ministership is passed on if the Prime Minister becomes incapacitated.
So we've been asking lots of questions about this and there is a slight issue here and that we're being told that Boris Johnson is still in charge
as Prime Minister, but we're hearing that Dominic Raab, the most senior minister in the Cabinet is representing him, taking on responsibilities
when necessary.
So two people are in charge, which is never useful for leadership in a crisis. But we've had a slight update on what Dominic Raab will be able to
do. This is from the spokesperson for the Prime Minister. He does have the authority with the Cabinet to respond to an attack on the U.K., for
example, but he can't hire and fire Ministers.
He will not be having weekly audiences with the Queen that Boris Johnson normally has and they've also come up with a succession plan for him. So
the Chancellor will take over from Dominic Raab if he becomes incapacitated.
Of course, none of this is really tested until Dominic Raab is in a Prime Ministerial role and tests set. So we don't know how this is going to play
out. It might be that the Downing Street spokesperson says one thing. It might mean that something completely different actually happens. Uncharted
territory.
CHATTERLEY: Unchartered territory indeed, and certainly the messaging here over the last 36 hours has been, let's say confusing to say the least, I
think, Max.
[09:05:10]
Great to have you with us. Thank you so much for that. Max Foster in London. Now, we wish to the Prime Minister and his family, of course, the
very best and all those affected by the virus, including those looking after others around the world.
The Prime Minister's case though is a stark reminder that hundreds of thousands of people continue to battle with this virus even as optimism
grows, that the curve of cases may be flattening in some areas.
It doesn't mean that infections are declining, just that they're not rising at their previous rate.
That said, U.S. futures all rallying for a second day on the hopes that Italy and Germany and perhaps New York, too are seeing cases studying. This
follows a sharp rise Monday of more than seven percent for U.S. markets.
European stocks also reflecting, I think, one, a bounce from low levels, but also a degree of optimism. Similar story in Asia, too.
I want to hone in on South Korean stocks because they have now rallied more than 20 percent above the most recent lows along with stocks in the
Philippines and India. South Korea, to me as an example of the expanded testing capabilities that we keep discussing here on FIRST MOVE, but we
can't set aside the fiscal, the monetary measures that we've seen launched around the world to support state economies and also remain key here.
In that vein, E.U. Finance Ministers currently discussing a cross border aid package. And in the United States, President Trump says he is
considering further direct payments to individuals.
We need to see the first one come through first, but it of course remains a balance between measures to protect lives, while working out the best way
to reopen and find some semblance of normality in the future.
And for that, we look to China. The country seemingly hit a significant milestone in its recovery. On Monday, the country reported no new deaths
from COVID-19 for the first time since the outbreak began.
David Culver is in Shanghai for us. David, always great to get you on the show. That feels like a significant milestone, but also now, timing on the
reopening of Wuhan. What more do we know?
DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Julia, good to be with you. Always important to put this in context here. Of course, our source for these
numbers, the National Health Commission, the Chinese government, they're always met with heavy skepticism, not only around the world, but also by
some here in China, and you see that as folks are still hesitant to fully partake in life, as it once was.
That said, we have been recently seeing crowds of people coming together, jam packed, and in many cases, kind of letting their guards down it seems
to rejoin life as it was in some sense.
But you look at what's coming ahead here and we've got now in just really three hours, the reopening if you will, of Wuhan, the original epicenter of
all of this, and you talk about that delicate balance between maintaining control of the spread of this virus, trying to keep it from growing further
out of control and at the same time trying to reopen businesses.
Well, case in point there is Wuhan and they're starting in the next few hours to then lift the travel restrictions and why that is important is
because you're essentially allowing the folks who may have been trapped there, if you will, during the lockdown a little more than two months ago
to finally leave by train or by highway or by air.
And so it's not going to necessarily be opening the floodgates within because a lot of people I've spoken with in Wuhan aren't necessarily going
to be leaving their homes in fact, some may be continuing to go out to do their daily necessities shopping and then getting back in place.
This will be those who perhaps were even migrant workers who were there and we'll be able to finally get back to the factories and that'll help in kind
of re-boosting the economy to some extent here, too.
But all of this this kind of put with the concern and really the cautious optimism that maybe there will be another wave if people continue to move
around as freely as we've seen in recent days. It was quite unsettling actually to be even in the midst of some of those crowds, Julia, and to
think, you know, you've got asymptomatic cases still about, and you've got these imported cases that the government keeps warning about.
You wonder, is it all just becoming a little bit too loose, if you will?
CHATTERLEY: That's exactly the question that I was going to ask you, and I want to be optimistic about reopening economies, not just China, of course,
but around the world. And we on FIRST MOVE keep coming back to this idea of testing, whether it's antibody testing for people that were asymptomatic,
but also just testing for people that still have it or may have it and not be showing symptoms again.
David, what kind of testing is going on in China to allow all of those people to be safely crammed together at a tourist attraction? What are you
seeing and hearing?
CULVER: Yes, it's a really important point here because if you go back even to the early days of how China was handling this and obviously we've been
covering it since the before the lockdown, and they had, on average some 200 tests available a day in the city of Wuhan, 200 tests.
[09:10:18]
Of course, they had to ramp up production and they did and that's when the central government took over. We're now hearing that testing capabilities
are somewhere around 340,000 a day, if not more, at this point. They've been stockpiling a good number of them.
So they certainly have the capacity and they have been using that testing quite willingly to any foreigner who comes into the country and they have
blocked nearly every foreigner at this point, but those who had come in even up until that ban went into effect, every single one had to undergo
tests and they were put into hours upon hours of screening and had to get a negative test or if they were positive were put into quarantine before
being able to freely move about.
So testing is certainly, you know, the capacity is here. They've got it, but it still doesn't make it necessarily feel all of that comfortable, even
if somebody you know, were to test positive or negative, you know, to know that there's still the numbers of people shoulder to shoulder. I mean,
forget six feet apart, or the one and a half meter rule. It's just not happening here at this point.
And I think there may be a point where we start to see a reversal of some of the freedoms, the phased freedoms, and they start to ease that back once
again. I mean, we saw that, Julia, just over the past week, where they had allowed movie theaters to open back up, they closed those down. Karaoke
bars were allowed to open, within a few hours, they shut them back down. State media even saying some people were mid-song as they were shutting
them back down.
So they don't have that concern as far as going back on their word, if you will, and letting the freedoms take place because this seems in many ways
to be testing the waters.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, absolutely. And the rest of the world avidly watching what that reopening looks like, however, staggered and reversal is key here,
too. David, great to have you with us. David Culver there in Shanghai.
Now, the Prime Minister of Japan has declared a month long state of emergency as new infections there surge. Cases in Tokyo more than doubled
last week. Some say the emergency measures have come too late.
Will Ripley is in the capital for us. Will, seven prefectures, including Tokyo, I believe that have these restricted movement measures. What does
that mean in practice? And can you give us some context on the number of cases? What are we talking about here?
WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's striking Julia, just listening to David's report from China and how they can just immediately
pull back people's freedom and yet it's the opposite situation here in Japan.
This state of emergency is nothing but a very strongly worded request from the Japanese government for people to stay home, for offices to reduce
their capacity by 70 or 80 percent. The Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe did come out a couple of hours ago with his strongest statement yet, in
terms of the risk that Tokyo and Osaka and all of the other prefectures, the seven prefectures in Japan affected by this phase, if they do not
comply with this state of emergency.
He said that the numbers in Tokyo which right now stand officially at 1,200. I've talked with epidemiologists who say it could be significantly
higher than that because of Japan's limited testing.
But the official number, 1,200 Shinzo Abe saying in two weeks, if nothing is done, 10,000 cases easily here in Tokyo. In a month 80,000 cases easily.
And this is a country and a city that, you know, is hoping to maybe have 4,000 beds for coronavirus patients eventually. They're aiming to have
1,700 beds by the end of this week. They have a shortage of ICU beds.
So 80,000 cases here in Tokyo would be absolutely catastrophic and that's what Shinzo Abe is saying will happen if people do not basically do what
the rest of the world is doing, but do it voluntarily. He needs to basically cut human contact here by 70 to 80 percent for this to work. He
says this is the biggest crisis, Julia that Japan has faced since World War II.
CHATTERLEY: And for many -- most nations around the world, too, Will, it may be voluntary. We may be asking politely, but for your own health,
follow it and stay at home. Great to have you with us. Thank you, Will Ripley.
All right, now, here in the United States, President Trump announcing a deal with 3M to address shortages of facemasks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have reached an agreement, very amicable agreement with 3M for the delivery of an
additional 55.5 million high quality facemasks each month. So the 3M saga ends very happily.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHATTERLEY: So this comes after the White House invoked to the Defense Production Act to prevent 3M from exporting masks abroad. Clare Sebastian
has the details on this. Clare, what are the contours of this amicable deal as the President suggested?
[09:15:00]
CHATTERLEY: My -- and our understanding from 3M was on the humanitarian grounds. They didn't want to stop sending masks to the likes of Canada and
to Latin America because they were afraid that that would cost lives there, too.
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that was 3M's big problem with this, Julia and the President pointed to the Defense Production Act
late last week. Now, they say that they've got some of what they want in this as well.
And in their statement, 3M say that they worked together with the administration to ensure the ban does not create further humanitarian
implications for countries currently fighting COVID-19.
It's not exactly clear at how that's going to work because this is a big increase. Don't forget, 3M had already said that they had allowed for an
extra 10 million masks to be shipped per month from their factory in China. This ups that to 55 million. They're only producing 1.1 billion annually on
a global basis, about a 100 million a month.
So this is a lot coming to the U.S. if you add that 55 million to the 35 million that they are already producing in the U.S., but also bear in mind,
Julia, this isn't a magic bullet to fix the supply-demand issues, the shortages that we're seeing.
The 3M CEO in the statement saying that the demand continues to outstrip supply. They're continuing to ramp up production in the U.S. as fast as
they possibly can. But the interesting thing looking at this deal is that the role that the Defense Production Act, that seemed to have played here.
According to reporting from Jeremey Diamond at the White House, a senior administration official said that once that Act was invoked, there was a
shift in attitude at 3M and they started to realize the administration was very serious and wasn't messing around here, and that's essentially
according to that administration official what led to this deal.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, it is fascinating, isn't it, and because I know all the production ramp that we've seen from 3M in the United States was all
remaining in the United States.
An interesting use of this Act, I think. You've got to understand the supply chain, too. Clare Sebastian, thank you so much for that update
there.
We're going to take a break here on the FIRST MOVE, but still to come, as the search for an exit for emergency measures continue, Mayo Clinic
launches a test for telltale coronavirus antibodies. Why that's key to reopening economies perhaps?
And necessity, the mother of all invention. We meet the clean energy company refurbishing California's ventilators. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:20:14]
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to FIRST MOVE where U.S. stock markets are set to add to recent gains amid hopes that the COVID-19 caseloads in certain parts
of Europe and even the United States may be peaking -- early days. That's my cautious response.
Oil this morning as well higher ahead of Thursday's expected OPEC meeting. The hope is that the world's biggest oil producers can agree to restrict
output in some form or measure.
Meanwhile, shares of cruise line firms sharply higher pre-market. Saudi Arabia's Sovereign Wealth Fund has taken an eight percent stake in
Carnival. Just for perspective here and it is key, cruise line stocks is still down some 80 percent year-to-date, as investors wonder I think what
recovery looks like for the tourism and the travel industry in the future, and how long that takes. That question may rely in some part on the efforts
of our next guest.
Mayo Clinic has launched an antibody test looking at a person's immune response to the COVID-19 virus. It's crucial in helping determine whether a
person has contracted the virus, even if the patient never showed symptoms.
Dr. William Morice is the President of Mayo Clinic Laboratories, and he joins us now. Dr. Morice, we're very grateful for you making the time this
morning. Just explain this first, what you've launched this week, and why this is so pivotal?
DR. WILLIAM MORICE, PRESIDENT, MAYO CLINIC LABORATORIES: Well, Julia, first of all, thank you for the opportunity to be with you this morning. The test
that we're talking about is called a serologic test. It's a blood test that actually as you said, measures for the presence of antibodies through the
SARS-COV2 virus, which will be present in the blood of individuals who have been exposed to the virus and have mounted an immune response.
CHATTERLEY: How present, I think is one of my first questions because there's different levels of antibodies that appear in your system. How
important is gauging what kind of immunology or immune response the body has produced? And how detailed is the test that you have at this moment?
And does that matter for getting people back out there and perhaps working?
MORICE: Well, certainly, the test that we have is specific for the SARS - COV2 virus antibodies. It measures a very specific type called IgG. This
antibody appears in the blood probably one to two weeks after someone has been exposed to the virus and had either have had some symptoms that is
severe. If they haven't had symptoms, they will have the virus present in their blood about one to two weeks later.
What we know is that this virus -- the antibodies to the virus do confer some level of an immune response. What we really have to understand is, how
protective is that immunity? How durable is that immunity to answer the key questions about does having the antibody in your blood protect you and
allow us to be safely back in society?
CHATTERLEY: How long is it going to take in your mind to establish that? Because if I go back to the SARS virus that we saw in 2002, I believe the
immunity lasted somewhere between three and six years. Do we have any sense at this stage how long this immunity lasts? Or was it too early to tell?
MORICE: It's far too early to tell. I know people are really anxious for answers, but I think it's really important that as a medical community, we
really have good scientific understanding of the virus itself, and the body's response to it before we draw conclusions about what having the
antibodies in the blood really means for an individual or for a society as a whole.
What we do know is that the antibodies, as I said, take about one to two weeks to appear in the blood and that even after the antibodies appear, and
you might even be asymptomatic when the antibodies appear because you're having an immune response, you can still be actually shedding the virus and
exposing others to COVID disease.
So that's why it's really important that we continue to do molecular testing to identify those who -- the molecular testing to actually test for
the presence of the virus itself, as opposed to the serologic testing, which tests for the presence of antibodies in the blood.
And it's really important that we do both here in this early period, just to really understand the disease and the interplay between immunity and the
virus itself.
Early studies suggest that having the antibodies is protective. From what we know of other coronaviruses, as you said, the immunity tends to last two
to three years at least. But these are things that we really need to understand.
I think early on, as we have limited supply of the test in the early days, it is really important to focus where we can use the testing to the best
effect for the American people and for everybody around the world.
Really, the three main uses at this point are for healthcare workers, to identify those who have been exposed and are potentially immune. Those who
can actually donate their plasma if they have antibodies in their blood due to the virus, they can actually donate plasma to be used to treat others
who are ill with the disease.
And then last but not least, as we get the vaccine therapies which we're all anxiously awaiting, this can be used to measure the efficacy of some of
those vaccination protocols.
[09:25:12]
CHATTERLEY: I feel like I'm going to go over old ground here, but I get a sense of when people look and listen to this interview, they'll be like
immunity. Is there still a risk that even if you have antibodies in your system, you could perhaps catch the virus again? Does that remain an
unknown at this moment?
MORICE: I have to say that it does remain an unknown. It is more likely than not that having the antibodies will protect you from reinfection. Or
if you do get re-infected that you would have much milder symptoms, because really, what we're trying to avoid here is not so much the viral infection,
but really the serious illness that the virus can cause in a subset of individuals.
But we really need to learn through further study exactly what having the antibody in the blood does in terms of protecting the individual.
CHATTERLEY: A couple of questions, how long before we're confident that we can do these tests? Get healthcare workers in particular, back on the
frontlines because they have some kind of immunity? And the second part of that is, are you in favor of mass testing, whether that's mass testing for
those that are currently suffering, maybe asymptomatic, but also mass testing for this kind of immunity, too?
MORICE: Well, I think going back to the question of healthcare workers, I do think it's really important that we have the testing available for those
individuals who are in the frontline fighting the fight against COVID disease, because those who have been exposed and have an immune response
are going to be more likely to be protected from the virus itself.
And over time, as we do molecular studies as well, we'll understand who needs to be using protective personal equipment and those things. There
will be a role, I think, at some point to do the mass testing that you refer to, but right now when the testing is still a limited supply, we have
to ramp up production, just like we have to for the molecular testing.
It will be really important that we use it responsibly, to best really help manage the COVID crisis which we're all dealing with.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, we need as much money, I think pumped into this as anything else, quite frankly, to try and get us back to some degree of
normality.
Dr. William Morice, fantastic to have you with us. Thank you so much for sharing your time this morning because I know you and your team are
incredibly busy. Thank you, and stay in touch.
MORICE: Well, thank you for the opportunity.
CHATTERLEY: Thank you. Stay safe. All right. We're going to see the market open next. And of course, we'll bring you a further update on the health of
the U.K. Prime Minister, Boris Johnson. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:30:42]
CHATTERLEY: A warm welcome back to FIRST MOVE. We've got U.S. stocks up and running in this session, Tuesday. As expected, a higher open. A
continuation of Monday's sharp seven percent gains. We are up more than three percent as you can see, almost four percent right now for the Dow.
Context? The S&P 500 has risen around 20 percent from the lows we saw on March 23rd. Markets at this moment, investors seemingly encouraged by data
showing COVID-19 cases leveling off in some areas of Europe and potentially in the United States, too.
But I can tell you what, the warnings from some of the analysts at major banks remains very cautious here. JPMorgan Chase saying, be clear. The
markets are still not acting normally. Liquidity, which just means buyers and sellers and their willingness to exchange is still a big concern.
UBS Wealth Management says it's too early to call a turn in the pandemic. It is warning of fresh volatility ahead. There is more talk though about
simply how to open up economies if cases continue to flatten. The economic cost here great, too.
The Italian newspaper, "Corriere della Sera" is saying today that May 4th could be a target date there, but they will proceed in stages and that
certainly will be the case elsewhere, I think in the world, too, as we were talking about in China.
Paul La Monica joins me now. Paul, bounces like this within bear markets happen. I remain cautious. Your view here?
PAUL LA MONICA, CNN BUSINESS REPORTER: I think that caution is warranted. You're exactly right, Julia, add a lot of bear market bounces in 2008 and
early 2009. It didn't mean that the worst was over. I think right now we have to unfortunately probably wait a couple of months until a year maybe
to look back and say maybe, we did finally bottom in late March.
But right now, it's extremely premature to say that the worst is over for the markets because we have all these companies that are going to report
dismal earnings for the first quarter, and they're probably not going to have great guidance if there's any guidance for the rest of the year as
companies really don't have a lot of clarity about what's next.
And the economic numbers are going to be gruesome. We already had the tip of the iceberg with the jobs report on Friday. And that's going to be just
the start of awful job losses for several months in the United States.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, the health crisis is one thing and getting that under control, but the fallout, the economic crisis and underlying and how long
that persists, to your point, businesses simply don't have clarity here of how long the shutdown will continue and what consumer behavior and how
reticent they are, even when we get the other side of this, which is key for many of these businesses.
LA MONICA: Yes, I think the encouraging thing, if you want to call it that is that it does seem that a lot of consumers are still spending from home.
You have a company like Wayfair that yesterday reported extremely strong numbers, the stock surged. A lot of the hard hit retailers are starting to
rebound off of their lows, but companies, you know, are only going to be able to do so much with digital shopping.
There are many retailers that have huge physical footprints that aren't going to be able to keep their employees working with stores closed, then
you look at other parts of the consumer sector like the restaurant business, and obviously, so many small restaurants are getting decimated
right now.
You might have some of the larger chains being able to hold up with delivery services via Doordash and Grubhub. But you know, so many mom and
pop smaller restaurants are going to be struggling and that's going to mean more job losses.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, absolutely. The government can't get this small business loan, and of course, the individual payments to people out to those in need
soon enough. Paul La Monica, thank you very much for that.
All right, returning to our top story now. The British Prime Minister Boris Johnson remains in a stable condition in a hospital where he's being
treated for coronavirus.
His spokesman says he is in good spirits and breathing without assistance. The U.K. Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab is deputizing for the Prime
Minister and said this yesterday.
[09:35:06]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DOMINIC RAAB, U.K. FOREIGN SECRETARY: The Prime Minister is in safe hands with a brilliant team at St. Thomas' Hospital and the focus of the
government will continue to be on making sure that the Prime Minister's direction, all the plans for making sure that we can defeat coronavirus and
pull the country through this challenge will be taken forward.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHATTERLEY: Joey Jones joins us now. He is former adviser to the previous Prime Minister, Theresa May and is now strategic counsel at Cicero Group, a
communications and marketing research agency. Joey, always great to have you on.
Obviously, our first thought is for the health of the Prime Minister and we wish him a speedy recovery. But what's your sense of the messaging, the
fact that the message on Sunday night was just routine tests, and now the developments over the last 24 hours?
JOEY JONES, FORMER SPOKESPERSON FOR U.K PRIME MINISTER THERESA MAY: I think there has been a feeling over the past few days that the government has
been guilty of a little bit of wishful thinking about the Prime Minister's condition and probably partly that is down to him himself.
He is a stubborn man. He wants to be running the show and quite plausibly found it difficult to confront the fact that he simply wasn't going to be
able to do that.
But it did mean that the communications were, we're behind the curve. For a succession of days, we were told that it was basically okay and that he was
up in his flat self-isolating, but in charge, then obviously, he went into a hospital and we were told that he continued to be dictating that policy
within government.
And yet, his de facto deputy, Dominic Raab himself said at the news conference yesterday afternoon that he hadn't spoken to him since Saturday.
Then again, of course, his situation worsens.
And there is a danger of this because if each time Downing Street looks as though it's viewing his condition through rose tinted glasses, it does mean
that we are entitled or the public will be entitled to be somewhat skeptical about the messaging that is coming out right at the very moment
where they want to be as clear -- they need to be as clear as possible.
CHATTERLEY: I couldn't agree more on that point about confidence and for the general population in the U.K. that amidst a crisis, they're under
lockdown, they are wondering what's happening now with their leader being clear and as clear as you can be about the situation with his health is
essential.
You've worked hand in hand with a Prime Minister. How able are they to your point not only to dictate policy, but also dictate the advice that they're
getting from their medical advisers? We all watched that video that he put out on social media at the end of last week and thought this is a leader
that doesn't look like he's in great health.
JONES: No, I think at least that the medical and behavioral advice has now settled, but there is a position that the government has imposed lockdown.
The rules are, I think, well understood by the population. And there's no immediate likelihood that that is going to shift.
Where there was -- where there have been problems is around the communication of policy on, for example, the testing regime and persistent
questions as to why health staff, N.H.S. staff are not being tested and there again, the government has struggled.
A succession of ministers looked as though they didn't -- they weren't really well equipped to deal with those questions when they were giving the
regular news conference last week, and the whole organization looked somewhat rudderless.
But I think, in policy terms, things for the time being have broadly plateaued and that does mean that there's a breathing space, if you like,
before some really challenging decisions about trying to alleviate the lockdown we'd have to be confronted in the weeks ahead.
So at least Boris Johnson's absence is during a time when the broad policy is well understood, but from the community occasions point of view, it's
really difficult because the government does look rather rattled.
CHATTERLEY: What do we need to know about Dominic Raab who is now in a position under certain conditions according to the communication in charge
of the country? And of course, the situation if for some reason he is incapacitated, the next person in line because without a Constitution,
these things are a gray area.
JONES: Yes, and I don't think he is very widely known actually, by the British population. I was going to say if he went out into the street mass
people, of course, he wouldn't do that right at the moment. But metaphorically, if you were to do that, then I think a lot of people
wouldn't know very much about him frankly.
He is entirely untested at this at this level. He was made Foreign Secretary by Boris Johnson and was starting to establish a bit of an
imprint on that area of Foreign Affairs, but this is a test way beyond any that has previously confronted him and it has to be a collective effort.
In terms of the morning's broadcast interviews, they were actually conducted by another more experienced senior minister, Michael Gove. But
the problem is that he is now self-isolating as well, because a member of his family has shown symptoms of COVID-19.
So whichever way you look, there are challenges and many of them, as you say, crowding in on an individual who's never had to confront anything of
this magnitude.
CHATTERLEY: No, it's the ongoing challenge of strategically running a country, the isolation issues, the communication issues, and in the end, we
wish the Prime Minister well and swift recovery.
Joey Jones, great to have you with us. Thank you so much for that. Strategic counsel at Cicero Group. Thank you.
We're going to take a break. But coming up next on FIRST MOVE, what do you do with broken, damaged ventilators given they are so crucial at this
moment? Apparently, you ask a green energy company to help and you get working ventilators in a matter of hours. We speak to the CEO of Bloom
Energy to find out how.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to FIRST MOVE. At a time of great public need for life-saving medical equipment, the private sector continues to play a key
role.
California Governor Gavin Newsom said Los Angeles had received 170 ventilators from the National Stockpile that were broken. The governor
partnered with Bloom Energy, a clean and sustainable electricity provided to have them up and running again, and the company did just that -- fixing
the ventilators in a much shorter time than the makers said they could.
K.R. Sridhar is the founder and CEO of Bloom Energy and he joins us now via Skype. Sir, great to have you with us. Thank you so much for coming on the
show.
Apparently, the manufacturers of these ventilators say it would take them a month to fix these ventilators and you managed to fix one in 24 hours.
[09:45:07]
K.R. SRIDHAR, FOUNDER AND CEO, BLOOM ENERGY: That is true, and we didn't know anything about ventilators until we got the first ones from
Sacramento, then Governor Newsom asked us to look at it. And it is a flow device and we manufacture and operate and maintain very complex fuel cell
equipment.
So our engineers went to work knowing that this is a call, it's a mission. And within 24 hours, we were able to figure out how to fix these, and
within 36 hours of getting that stockpile of 170, we were able to get it back to Los Angeles to the hospitals, fully fixed and validated.
CHATTERLEY: I mean, this is astonishing. You fix it in a fraction of the time that the makers done, having had no prior knowledge of ventilators and
then you got them back. What is your capacity now in terms of receiving broken or damaged ventilators and then pushing them out? Could you take
more from perhaps other states, too?
SRIDHAR: We have received close to 1,100 ventilators since that story broke out, and we have fixed a thousand of them and we are getting it back to all
the hospitals and stockpiles.
At this point in time, we have set up our facilities both in California and in Delaware for the East Coast. Between the two places, we should be able
to do between 1,500 and 2,000 ventilators refurbished in a week. So our call to anybody in any state, any hospital would be, if you have
ventilators that need to be refurbished, send it to us, ventilators@bloomenergy.com and we'll be happy to fix it.
CHATTERLEY: And who is covering the cost of that? Is that your company that's just fixing these and sending back or are you being given government
or state support in order to do that? How does it work financially?
SRIDHAR: We have told the state that we will simply do these, you know, like, do this work at cost and keep track of the cost. There is absolutely
no intention for us to make any profit in this work. We don't want to be in this business. It is purely -- we are a mission driven company that does
clean energy and we did -- you know, we do this for people's health.
When we found out that the only treatment is a ventilator, and it is in short supply, we just wanted to step up and help out.
CHATTERLEY: And just very quickly , K.R., who is verifying that these ventilators are to the standard that's required, just because I know there
are people watching going --
SRIDHAR: Sure.
CHATTERLEY: Can we just check that?
SRIDHAR: Yes, absolutely. So we actually partnered with Stanford Hospitals, and the people that certify and validate the equipment for the Stanford
Hospitals are the ones who came and validated all the machines that we actually fixed.
So they validate it exactly to the standards that a hospital would validate it before it goes out.
CHATTERLEY: It's not the only way as well to be clear that your technology is helping because your cell powered technology is being used to help in
hospitals, also the makeshift hospitals that are attached to one of those, just to make sure that the energy that's being used is as efficient as
possible, just talk us through that too, because this is important for your underlying business too, and the adoption of that kind of technology.
SRIDHAR: Exactly. Our core technology is on site power generation using this advanced fuel cell technology, there we produce clean, reliable,
always on power, on site. So no matter whether it's a natural disaster or anything else, that facility will have power which is extremely important
for hospitals. So hospitals and healthcare services are some of our major customers.
In this particular case, there are two hospitals in Northern California, these pop up tent hospitals where we are actually providing them with
power. Here are the three things why it's important.
Number one, if you have seen our systems, they're like Lego blocks you put together. So we can put a power plan together and get it operational faster
than FEMA can put up those tent hospitals, number one. Time to power.
Number two, it's extremely reliable always on because of our architecture, so the power will not fail. But the third most important thing that makes
it very attractive for this particular situation is we don't put out fumes like a diesel generator would and those fumes are toxic, and a patient who
was having difficulty breathing should not have to read that.
With our systems, it is clean. So clean, reliable, always on and time to power -- rapid micro grids. So we are doing this and we are going to do it
in more hospitals as we are being asked to do.
CHATTERLEY: The cleanliness of the air quality using this technology is something I didn't even think about, but that's so critical, too. Sir, come
back and talk to us because your business is fascinating in itself, never mind the work that you're doing with these ventilators. So a huge call to
action and you responded and we are grateful. K.R. Sridhar there of Bloom Energy.
[09:50:19]
SRIDHAR: Thank you.
CHATTERLEY: Sir, thank you.
SRIDHAR: Thank you, Julia.
CHATTERLEY: Okay. Fascinating. Innovation in times of crisis. Wow. Okay, after the break, an update on the British Prime Minister once again. Boris
Johnson in hospital. World leaders wish him well as he fights his own battle with the coronavirus. Stay with us. That update is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHATTERLEY: News in the last few moments, the Queen -- Queen Elizabeth has sent a message of support to Boris Johnson, the British Prime Minister who
is still in Intensive Care being treated for coronavirus.
Her Majesty said the Prime Minister, his fiancee Carrie Symonds and the Johnson family were in her thoughts, and she wished him a full and speedy
recovery.
Number 10 says the Prime Minister is in a stable condition and in good spirits. His spokesman has been updating about the continuity of leadership
in the U.K. government, too. Our chief international correspondent Clarissa Ward is outside St. Thomas' Hospital in London where the Prime Minister is
being treated and joins us now.
Clarissa, great to have you on the show, I think the British public, but beyond that collectively held their breaths when this news broke. Do we
just wait now for updates on his health and the situation?
CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I think that's exactly the situation the British public is in. They have no choice but to
just wait. But what they would like to see from many of the people I have spoken to is a little more substantive information being given in these
updates because as you said, people were really taken aback when the Prime Minister Boris Johnson was suddenly admitted to the ICU or it ITU as it is
called here in the U.K.
There had been no indication whatsoever from Downing Street earlier on in the day that he was in such bad health. In fact, they had said it was just
a precautionary measure that he was even going to the hospital. He was having some tests. He was having persistent symptoms, but nothing that gave
any indication that his health had really taken a turn for the worse beyond of course, the obvious fact that he was in the hospital in the first place.
Even his own Cabinet, as we heard from Michael Gove earlier today, was very surprised to learn at about 8:00 p.m. which was just an hour after the fact
that the Prime Minister had been moved into Intensive Care.
We've heard some updates today, Julia. You basically already alluded to those. He is in stable condition. He is in good spirits. He has not been
intubated or had any sort of invasive procedure or treatment to help him breathe.
[09:55:07]
WARD: He is getting oxygen treatment. They called it standard oxygen treatment. So one senses, Downing Street is really trying to continue in
this sort of vein of really trying to downplay it and to calm people's fears.
But I think actually what many Britons would like to hear right now is some sobering truth telling, and giving them a real sense of what's actually
going on and how sick he is, and what that means, of course, for the leadership of this country -- Julia.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, balancing the privacy of an individual with the leadership that the nation needs at this moment. Great to have you with us, chief
international correspondent, Clarissa Ward. Thank you for that.
Now, before we go, the Queen is also marking World Health Day with a video tribute praising the vitally important roles that health workers are
playing at this moment.
In a statement, she said their dedication is an example to us all. I couldn't agree more. All around the world, these are the people on the
frontline and we owe them an enormous debt of gratitude. From me, and for all of us.
We will see you tomorrow. Stay safe.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:00:00]
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