WEBVTT - Bloomberg Businessweek Weekend-October 17, 2020 0:00:00.880 --> 0:00:05.920 This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser from Bloomberg Radio. Hi, 0:00:06.000 --> 0:00:08.560 I'm Carol Masser. Welcome to the weekend edition of Bloomberg 0:00:08.600 --> 0:00:11.440 Business Week. It is week thirty one, working from home 0:00:11.560 --> 0:00:15.240 for so many Still, the presidential election got closer, more 0:00:15.280 --> 0:00:18.720 coronavirus relief stimulus got farther away, and we had a 0:00:18.800 --> 0:00:22.120 lot of conversations about working from home versus getting back 0:00:22.160 --> 0:00:25.759 to the office. Not everyone agrees on that. Well. Coming 0:00:25.840 --> 0:00:29.200 up this week, dis Eruption is an opportunity for innovation 0:00:29.240 --> 0:00:32.199 and new thought. Former Mayor of Kansas City Slide James 0:00:32.240 --> 0:00:35.560 on the impact of the virus on education and getting 0:00:35.600 --> 0:00:38.239 out the vote. Plus, there will be a lot of 0:00:38.360 --> 0:00:42.199 changes as we move forward, bringing back Broadway with the 0:00:42.240 --> 0:00:45.440 president of the Broadway League. We begin, though, first with 0:00:45.600 --> 0:00:48.519 the presidential election now just a little more than two 0:00:48.600 --> 0:00:51.320 weeks out. Florida has become a battleground when it comes 0:00:51.360 --> 0:00:55.000 to the November elections, and as Josh greenwrights, Florida seniors 0:00:55.000 --> 0:00:58.760 could seal President Trump's fate. On election night, bloombergs Paul 0:00:58.760 --> 0:01:01.080 Sweeney and I caught up with John National correspondent at 0:01:01.120 --> 0:01:04.679 Bloomberg Business Week, along with Bloomberg Business Week editor Jille Webber, 0:01:05.319 --> 0:01:09.600 as Josh writes, Uh, in this dispatch, Um, we're really 0:01:09.640 --> 0:01:12.840 looking at an outcome here that for Trump to have 0:01:13.040 --> 0:01:18.280 any real certainty of getting back and retaining the Oval office, 0:01:18.520 --> 0:01:22.040 he really needs Florida, and so the Democrat strategy is 0:01:22.040 --> 0:01:24.680 obviously to try and take Florida out of his hands. 0:01:24.680 --> 0:01:28.160 But what Josh actually gets into here is the there 0:01:28.200 --> 0:01:31.520 are some early numbers that we're seeing from Florida, and 0:01:32.080 --> 0:01:36.640 the swing among seniors UM, which is a demographic that 0:01:36.680 --> 0:01:40.480 Trump had had locked down last election, is just one 0:01:40.560 --> 0:01:46.320 eight and is already in early numbers, is veering towards Biden. Josh, 0:01:46.319 --> 0:01:49.560 what does that mean in the grand scheme of things, Well, basically, 0:01:49.560 --> 0:01:53.240 what it means that the current trends continue, Uh, Trump 0:01:53.280 --> 0:01:55.840 isn't gonna win Florida, and Crump doesn't win Florida, He's 0:01:55.840 --> 0:01:58.520 not going to win the election. But what's really interesting 0:01:58.520 --> 0:02:01.120 about this is we've all been reading about these nightmare 0:02:01.160 --> 0:02:04.200 scenarios where states don't count their vote and from the 0:02:04.240 --> 0:02:07.640 weeks and the election is consisted. What's great about Florida 0:02:07.760 --> 0:02:10.239 is that it counts its votes early as they come in. 0:02:10.680 --> 0:02:14.440 So about of the votes early votes already cast in 0:02:14.440 --> 0:02:17.720 the twenty general elections have been cast Florida and have 0:02:17.800 --> 0:02:21.040 already been counted, and Florida updates those numbers. So what 0:02:21.120 --> 0:02:24.560 we did was we took a look at who was 0:02:24.639 --> 0:02:27.920 voting early, and the thing that really jumped out was 0:02:28.000 --> 0:02:30.800 that seniors, voters age sixty five and vote or older, 0:02:31.240 --> 0:02:36.920 we're voting at the ten then later clip in than 0:02:36.960 --> 0:02:39.560 they were at this point four years ago. If you 0:02:39.639 --> 0:02:42.160 look at the poll numbers. We wrote about this in 0:02:42.160 --> 0:02:45.280 our election issue in Business Week in September, a group 0:02:45.320 --> 0:02:50.600 that I called swinging seniors senior supported Trump, not necessarily 0:02:50.600 --> 0:02:52.520 what you think it might mean, So I better explained 0:02:52.840 --> 0:02:57.240 senior supported Trump at a seventy point in origin. Uh. 0:02:57.360 --> 0:03:00.800 The latest polls in Florida have Biden win seniors by 0:03:00.840 --> 0:03:03.800 fifteen points. So if you add those two things together, 0:03:03.880 --> 0:03:06.760 a huge swing to Biding among seniors and a huge 0:03:06.800 --> 0:03:10.200 outpouring of support, it isn't surprising that this is good 0:03:10.240 --> 0:03:13.280 news for Biding. And if it keeps up at this pace, 0:03:14.000 --> 0:03:16.880 what I say is we will know on election night 0:03:17.480 --> 0:03:20.280 whether or not Biding his one Florida, and if he has, 0:03:20.280 --> 0:03:21.840 I think he's a very good chance that he's going 0:03:21.880 --> 0:03:25.360 to be president. So, Josh, what has the president quote 0:03:25.400 --> 0:03:28.480 unquote done wrong? It's certainly not for lack of effort 0:03:28.560 --> 0:03:31.160 down there. He was just down there again campaigning. What's 0:03:31.160 --> 0:03:34.800 really been the change? Well, there have been two things. 0:03:34.800 --> 0:03:36.920 I mean, number one in the easy answer is COVID. 0:03:36.960 --> 0:03:41.760 He was down there to a gigantic, maskless rally in Orlando. Um, 0:03:41.760 --> 0:03:45.040 which you might imagine, Uh, spooks it awful lot of seniors. 0:03:45.080 --> 0:03:47.240 If you look at the main drive or the senior vote. 0:03:47.600 --> 0:03:51.360 It's been Trump's handling of the COVID pandemic. Uh, doesn't 0:03:51.360 --> 0:03:52.920 seem to have a lot of inspired a lot of 0:03:52.960 --> 0:03:56.920 commerce among older voters. Not necessarily surprising, but you know, 0:03:56.960 --> 0:03:59.080 as I saying, the piece of the big question about 0:03:59.080 --> 0:04:03.080 early voting is are these new voters? Is this is 0:04:03.120 --> 0:04:08.000 this genuine enthusiasm or have older voters simply moved up 0:04:08.000 --> 0:04:10.119 when they cast their ballot? Are these just people who 0:04:10.200 --> 0:04:13.720 vote anywhere on election day deciding to vote early through 0:04:13.760 --> 0:04:17.240 the mail because it seems safer. Um, that's certainly some 0:04:17.320 --> 0:04:19.960 of it. But the other interesting factor here is that 0:04:20.360 --> 0:04:22.600 it appears to be much broader than that, and much 0:04:22.680 --> 0:04:24.720 broader than COVID, because if you go back and look 0:04:24.760 --> 0:04:28.760 at the results of mid term elections, there was once 0:04:28.800 --> 0:04:31.960 again a huge spike in senior voters, and of course 0:04:31.960 --> 0:04:34.960 that predated COVID. So what we can conclude from that 0:04:35.040 --> 0:04:38.120 is its seniors are much more eager to vote and 0:04:38.360 --> 0:04:41.200 seem to be much more willing to vote for Democrats 0:04:41.400 --> 0:04:45.719 now than they were in And if those trends continuous Florida, 0:04:46.200 --> 0:04:49.279 where they're especially pronounced because there are so many old 0:04:49.279 --> 0:04:52.920 people there, uh, it really spells bad news with them. Well, 0:04:52.960 --> 0:04:56.160 and what's interesting is you have to think Josh at 0:04:56.200 --> 0:04:58.599 the Trump camp is a little bit worried because you 0:04:58.640 --> 0:05:01.720 think about the video and he did you know, after 0:05:01.839 --> 0:05:06.160 coming out of the hospital. It was aimed directly at seniors. Yeah, 0:05:06.200 --> 0:05:09.200 so when Trump was was cooped up in the White House, 0:05:09.279 --> 0:05:12.640 when he was still contagious with coronavirus, he shot a 0:05:13.120 --> 0:05:15.440 kind of an awkward cheerleading video on the on the 0:05:15.520 --> 0:05:17.960 lawn of the West Wing. Um there was aimed at 0:05:18.000 --> 0:05:21.000 reassuring seniors, you know, I love you, I care about you, 0:05:21.000 --> 0:05:22.840 you know, so on and so forth. I think that 0:05:22.960 --> 0:05:26.599 was a clear reflection that his campaign staff was looking 0:05:26.600 --> 0:05:29.240 at the same numbers I am and seeing themselves. Oh, 0:05:29.320 --> 0:05:31.760 you know, unless we change the mind to the senior 0:05:31.839 --> 0:05:35.400 voters pouring out to the polls and into the post 0:05:35.440 --> 0:05:37.680 office to mail their ballot, we're gonna be in real 0:05:37.720 --> 0:05:39.760 big trouble. Let's try and turn this around now. I 0:05:39.760 --> 0:05:43.280 think the problem is, you know, it's really hard to 0:05:43.360 --> 0:05:46.880 change public impression of how you handle the pandemic if 0:05:46.920 --> 0:05:49.160 you come out of the hospital, stick with COVID and 0:05:49.200 --> 0:05:52.200 then turn ondis letter and have a maskless rally like 0:05:52.240 --> 0:05:56.240 Trump in Florida. That's Bloomberg business Week national correspondent Josh Green, 0:05:56.279 --> 0:05:59.679 who's also author of Devil's Bargain, Steve Bannon, Donald Trump, 0:05:59.720 --> 0:06:03.120 and then Nationalist Uprising, along with Bloomberg business Week editor 0:06:03.160 --> 0:06:04.960 Joel Weber. We know it was a busy week when 0:06:04.960 --> 0:06:07.960 it came to politics. The presidents certainly out there on 0:06:08.000 --> 0:06:11.240 the campaign trail, so too was the Biden campaign. And 0:06:11.279 --> 0:06:14.480 an interesting development because we heard that Democratic vice presidential 0:06:14.520 --> 0:06:18.520 nominee Kamala Harris she canceled her travel until Monday after 0:06:18.560 --> 0:06:21.360 her communications director and a member of her flight crew 0:06:21.560 --> 0:06:25.880 tested positive for COVID nineteen. So some developments along the 0:06:25.920 --> 0:06:29.440 campaign trail. Speaking of the election, he's been working on 0:06:29.480 --> 0:06:31.720 getting out the vote and also writing the world when 0:06:31.720 --> 0:06:34.359 it comes to injustices. We're gonna check in with former 0:06:34.440 --> 0:06:37.760 Kansas City mayor Sly James. That's coming up next. This 0:06:37.800 --> 0:06:49.160 is Bloomberg. This is Bloomberg Business Week with GARYL. Masser 0:06:49.440 --> 0:06:52.720 from Bloomberg Radio. So common themes through many of our 0:06:52.760 --> 0:06:55.159 interviews throughout the week on our daily show had to 0:06:55.200 --> 0:06:57.680 do with the two pandemics facing our country. We're talking 0:06:57.680 --> 0:07:00.720 about the virus and racial injustice. Bloomberg Paul Sweeney and 0:07:00.760 --> 0:07:03.000 I got into that with our next guest, known for 0:07:03.080 --> 0:07:05.279 his bow ties when he was mayor of Kansas City, 0:07:05.320 --> 0:07:08.600 Slide James is now focusing on building cities for our children, 0:07:08.839 --> 0:07:11.840 prioritizing education. You had a book that came out over 0:07:11.840 --> 0:07:15.040 the summer, the Opportunity Agenda, a bold democratic plan to 0:07:15.040 --> 0:07:17.400 grow the middle class. We talked to education, we talked 0:07:17.440 --> 0:07:19.880 the pandemic, and of course getting out the vote. This 0:07:20.000 --> 0:07:23.400 pandemic and the economic upheaval that's caused along with the 0:07:23.480 --> 0:07:27.200 social upheaval. It's kind of like the perfect storm. Every 0:07:27.320 --> 0:07:30.600 fissure and crack in our society is being opened and 0:07:30.720 --> 0:07:33.880 laid there. People are able to see it. And one 0:07:33.880 --> 0:07:39.480 thing about these, uh, these disruptive times is disruption is 0:07:39.520 --> 0:07:42.720 an opportunity for innovation and new thoughts. And if we 0:07:42.800 --> 0:07:45.320 look at it like that and recognize that we've got 0:07:45.360 --> 0:07:47.760 problems and work on them, we may be able to 0:07:47.800 --> 0:07:50.280 bring some new ideas to the forefront solve some of 0:07:50.320 --> 0:07:54.480 these problems. Sly, how about in terms of education kids 0:07:54.480 --> 0:07:57.960 around the country or back at school, some virtually, some physically, 0:07:58.200 --> 0:08:02.280 some hybrid model. But what we've seen from last spring 0:08:02.280 --> 0:08:05.640 and now in the fall here is minority students are 0:08:05.680 --> 0:08:08.920 really at risk here of I guess falling through the cracks, 0:08:08.920 --> 0:08:13.720 are certainly at a disadvantage in this new virtual learning environment. 0:08:13.840 --> 0:08:16.800 What are your thoughts there, Um, Well, first of all, 0:08:16.840 --> 0:08:19.560 I agree with you wholeheartedly. I think minority students, but 0:08:19.560 --> 0:08:21.920 I'm going to broaden it out to say children who 0:08:22.000 --> 0:08:27.160 live in poverty are are all at an extreme disadvantage. 0:08:27.280 --> 0:08:29.920 They do not have access to the resources. They do 0:08:29.960 --> 0:08:33.200 not have access to broadband, they do not have access 0:08:33.240 --> 0:08:35.960 to the hardware, they do not have access to the 0:08:36.040 --> 0:08:40.840 innovative ideas that money and higher resource levels are able 0:08:40.880 --> 0:08:45.080 to bring that their more world heeled counterparts to do. Um, 0:08:45.120 --> 0:08:48.080 the problem that we have, of course, is that it 0:08:48.120 --> 0:08:49.960 would be one thing if we were at the top 0:08:49.960 --> 0:08:52.239 of the heat that we were talking about an incremental 0:08:52.240 --> 0:08:54.520 fall that puts us someplace in the middle of the pack. 0:08:54.880 --> 0:08:56.600 But we're not at the top of the heap. As 0:08:56.600 --> 0:09:00.120 a society and education we're falling faster and fast or 0:09:00.160 --> 0:09:03.920 behind other countries. So every kid in this country is 0:09:03.960 --> 0:09:07.640 falling behind our competitors around the world, and our kids 0:09:07.640 --> 0:09:09.679 at the bottom of the ladder are about to slip 0:09:09.760 --> 0:09:13.160 off and fall into the abyss. These problems have been there, 0:09:13.679 --> 0:09:16.400 uh they are now just being laid there and open 0:09:17.000 --> 0:09:19.600 because of this pandemic has forced us to look at 0:09:19.679 --> 0:09:22.920 them in a different way. It's not The good news 0:09:23.000 --> 0:09:24.720 is is that people are looking at them in a 0:09:24.760 --> 0:09:28.120 different way and maybe some incremental change that's going to happen, 0:09:28.520 --> 0:09:31.960 But without a systemic approach to it, without an intentional 0:09:32.000 --> 0:09:34.200 approach to it, we're going to continue to have the 0:09:34.240 --> 0:09:37.440 same education gaps that we've always had. They may shrink 0:09:37.440 --> 0:09:39.800 a little, but it's now time to look at it 0:09:39.840 --> 0:09:42.480 for what it really is, a disaster for the long 0:09:42.600 --> 0:09:45.760 term economy of this country and fix it. Well, what 0:09:45.920 --> 0:09:48.640 you just said, a systemic approach. It's a systemic problem, 0:09:48.720 --> 0:09:51.040 so it needs a systemic approach. So if if you 0:09:51.080 --> 0:09:53.520 could list I don't know a couple of things that 0:09:53.559 --> 0:09:56.360 we need to do already, because I'm so tired of 0:09:56.400 --> 0:09:58.400 the convert state. I'm not tired of the conversation. I'm 0:09:58.400 --> 0:10:01.120 tired of people talking about it but not doing something. 0:10:01.120 --> 0:10:04.120 What would you say we need to slide? Well, first 0:10:04.160 --> 0:10:06.440 of all, I think we need to find political leadership 0:10:06.520 --> 0:10:09.560 that's not afraid to lose um. And by that I 0:10:09.600 --> 0:10:12.120 mean we can't have leaders who will do anything to 0:10:12.160 --> 0:10:14.960 stay in office, even if it means giving up ideas 0:10:14.960 --> 0:10:17.960 and ideals that they know are valuable. We've got to 0:10:18.000 --> 0:10:19.840 have people that are willing to say I'm going to 0:10:19.920 --> 0:10:21.720 fight for this, and if I lose, I lose, but 0:10:21.720 --> 0:10:25.200 I'm going to fight for it. We need sustained leadership 0:10:25.520 --> 0:10:28.600 to focus on this and this and and it can't 0:10:28.600 --> 0:10:33.199 be subject to the normal O uh democratic republican rebound 0:10:33.679 --> 0:10:36.800 philosophy that we see so often, where one party gets 0:10:36.800 --> 0:10:39.040 in does some droubles the ball for a bit, the 0:10:39.080 --> 0:10:41.680 other ball comes in and steals. Other team comes in 0:10:41.760 --> 0:10:44.360 and steals the ball and dribbles in the opposite direction. 0:10:44.640 --> 0:10:46.920 So that at the end of the day, neither side 0:10:47.000 --> 0:10:49.360 is doing much of anything you said, dribbling away from 0:10:49.400 --> 0:10:51.959 each other. We need people who are in charge who 0:10:52.000 --> 0:10:58.920 recognizes number two. We have to recognize that people. People 0:10:59.040 --> 0:11:00.920 need to find a way. We need to find a 0:11:00.960 --> 0:11:03.200 way to bring people together in such a way that 0:11:03.320 --> 0:11:07.680 they actually influence an impact the leadership. Not talking about lobbyists, 0:11:07.960 --> 0:11:11.480 not talking about business. I'm talking about people who say 0:11:11.600 --> 0:11:14.800 this is important to us. And frankly, I wish I 0:11:14.840 --> 0:11:17.760 had a magic wand for it, but I don't. But 0:11:17.880 --> 0:11:20.480 I do think that we have to start educating, little 0:11:20.520 --> 0:11:25.120 by little the importance of early childhood education as a 0:11:25.200 --> 0:11:29.120 precursor and a foundation eliminating the thirty million word gap. 0:11:29.760 --> 0:11:32.439 We need to focus. We need to force more resources 0:11:32.480 --> 0:11:35.560 into the zero to five states, which is going to 0:11:35.600 --> 0:11:38.200 help on the long term solution and on the short 0:11:38.320 --> 0:11:41.080 term solution. We really need to tackle the third grade 0:11:41.120 --> 0:11:44.960 reading deficits that we have because up the third grade 0:11:45.000 --> 0:11:47.360 you're learning to read. The third grade on you're reading 0:11:47.360 --> 0:11:50.080 to learn, So obviously, if you haven't learned to read 0:11:50.160 --> 0:11:53.040 very well, you're not gonna learn very well. But all 0:11:53.120 --> 0:11:56.000 of this starts with conversations like this Carol and Paul 0:11:56.360 --> 0:11:59.920 and and mobilizing people to understand how valuable what we're 0:12:00.000 --> 0:12:03.120 talking about really is. So I'm just thinking, um, sly, 0:12:03.320 --> 0:12:06.400 all the things that we've talked about, and you know, 0:12:06.679 --> 0:12:09.400 the children who are living in poverty and the disadvantages, 0:12:09.440 --> 0:12:12.520 and the importance of making sure that everybody gets a 0:12:12.600 --> 0:12:15.920 good education, because it really makes a difference, you know, 0:12:16.080 --> 0:12:18.760 in your lives or in their lives. And I do 0:12:18.880 --> 0:12:23.160 wonder how you think about the vote in November and 0:12:23.440 --> 0:12:26.480 the outcome of that vote, and how that could possibly 0:12:26.679 --> 0:12:32.360 change those things. Well, I think that there is a 0:12:32.400 --> 0:12:35.199 lot of sentiment that the vote is being driven by 0:12:35.240 --> 0:12:39.120 whether or not you like Donald Trump. Um And frankly, 0:12:39.280 --> 0:12:41.680 whether or not you like Donald Trump may be good 0:12:41.720 --> 0:12:45.320 for the vote in this particular instance, may affect change, 0:12:45.720 --> 0:12:47.480 but at the end of the day, that's gonna wear 0:12:47.520 --> 0:12:49.920 off pretty quick and people are gonna have to stand 0:12:49.920 --> 0:12:53.000 on their own merits. So the question then becomes, what 0:12:53.200 --> 0:12:57.320 are you doing for me? Okay? Uh? Winston Fisher and 0:12:57.360 --> 0:13:00.440 I when we wrote the agenda, we deliberately wanted to 0:13:00.480 --> 0:13:04.120 point out that people should add that people in leadership 0:13:04.160 --> 0:13:07.360 should say, here's what we are doing for you. Uh, 0:13:07.400 --> 0:13:10.120 and maybe if they can internalize that, they will stop 0:13:10.160 --> 0:13:12.240 doing so much for themselves and do more for you. 0:13:12.880 --> 0:13:15.560 But at the end of the day, Uh, what we 0:13:15.600 --> 0:13:19.480 need is a new approach to leadership. We need a 0:13:19.520 --> 0:13:23.640 better and different coalition between business and government. We need 0:13:23.720 --> 0:13:26.880 more P three's. Here's an example of a P three possibility. 0:13:27.280 --> 0:13:31.840 One P three possibility to address the childcare situation would 0:13:31.880 --> 0:13:34.839 probably be more on the local level, but with businesses, 0:13:34.880 --> 0:13:38.400 where government and local businesses would enter into a P 0:13:38.559 --> 0:13:42.680 three arrangement with businesses so that those businesses engaged would 0:13:42.720 --> 0:13:46.280 have access to high quality pre K with some government helps, subsidies, 0:13:46.280 --> 0:13:49.079 tax credits, whatever the case may be, so that then 0:13:49.120 --> 0:13:52.520 there could be some quality control. Another opportunity for P 0:13:52.720 --> 0:13:57.920 three's would be to have something like what Anthony Fox 0:13:58.000 --> 0:14:01.680 did with his transportation grant lenge grant. It was about 0:14:02.080 --> 0:14:06.360 access to broadband and transportation, et cetera. But have challenge 0:14:06.360 --> 0:14:08.880 brands so that you could have some incubators of some 0:14:09.000 --> 0:14:13.720 ideas incubators. For example, on the issue of early childhood education, 0:14:14.080 --> 0:14:18.400 how's business and government combined their efforts and resources to 0:14:18.520 --> 0:14:22.320 improve our quality pre case system. That's former Kansas City 0:14:22.320 --> 0:14:25.680 Mayor Slide James his book The Opportunity Agenda, Bold Democratic 0:14:25.680 --> 0:14:27.480 plan to grow the middle class. Do you want to 0:14:27.520 --> 0:14:30.480 point out he's graduate of the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership 0:14:30.480 --> 0:14:35.280 Initiative education program sponsored by Bloomberg Philanthropies. You're listening to 0:14:35.280 --> 0:14:38.320 Bloomberg Business Week. Still to come. She's got an agenda too, 0:14:38.440 --> 0:14:41.720 and that's to get Broadway reopened in New York City safely. 0:14:42.120 --> 0:14:44.840 Charlotte St. Martin, president of the Broadway League, is coming 0:14:44.920 --> 0:14:51.360 up next. This is Bloomberg. This is Bloomberg Business Week 0:14:51.520 --> 0:14:54.760 with Garrol Masser from Bloomberg Radio. We're bringing you some 0:14:54.760 --> 0:14:57.720 of the highlights of our daily radio broadcast and podcast, 0:14:57.800 --> 0:15:00.240 and that included someone we've checked in with several times 0:15:00.280 --> 0:15:03.240 during the shutdown in New York City. This time around, 0:15:03.240 --> 0:15:05.280 Bloomberg's Paul Sweeney and I caught up with her on 0:15:05.360 --> 0:15:07.720 the heels of news that there would be no Broadway 0:15:07.760 --> 0:15:12.400 theater until at least June. Here's Charlotte St. Martin. She's 0:15:12.400 --> 0:15:15.680 President of the Broadway League. Many things to bring everyone 0:15:15.760 --> 0:15:17.960 back when it comes to the theater industry, and to 0:15:18.000 --> 0:15:21.480 do it safely, and that included figuring out testing the 0:15:21.520 --> 0:15:26.240 fact that there hasn't been uh, a verified rapid test 0:15:26.400 --> 0:15:30.520 that is secure, which we have to have for the 0:15:30.560 --> 0:15:34.840 cast and crew until the virus is gone. And that 0:15:34.920 --> 0:15:38.000 doesn't even address the audience, which we also have to 0:15:38.040 --> 0:15:41.400 give the right products for the audience. And with no 0:15:41.520 --> 0:15:44.800 news about that now, we just felt that we had 0:15:44.840 --> 0:15:49.600 to be as open and transparent as possible with the 0:15:49.680 --> 0:15:53.040 people that worked for Broadway, work on Broadway and our 0:15:53.120 --> 0:15:58.120 theater goers. So many of those nine thousand employees that 0:15:58.280 --> 0:16:01.680 depend on Broadway to work need to have as much 0:16:01.760 --> 0:16:05.720 advanced notice now as possible so that they can try 0:16:05.760 --> 0:16:10.800 to find other work. Since the extension is so far out, Charlotte, 0:16:10.840 --> 0:16:14.280 what do we know about the economic impact to date 0:16:14.400 --> 0:16:19.040 on those employees on the theater owners? I think about 0:16:19.080 --> 0:16:22.080 these beautiful theaters in Midtown Manhattan on the West Side, 0:16:22.120 --> 0:16:24.440 just sitting idle. Talk to us about some of the 0:16:24.520 --> 0:16:29.040 economic impacts you're hearing about. Well, for our last full season, 0:16:30.000 --> 0:16:33.920 the loss in ticket sales was almost two billion dollars 0:16:34.000 --> 0:16:36.920 and the loss to the City of New York was 0:16:36.960 --> 0:16:42.320 almost fifteen billion dollars. It's uh, everyone loses with this, 0:16:42.680 --> 0:16:46.560 and it's hard when you're talking billions to put a 0:16:46.600 --> 0:16:49.640 face to it, but in fact, you know, the face 0:16:49.720 --> 0:16:54.160 has ninety seven thousand faces that are unable to collect 0:16:54.160 --> 0:16:58.000 a paycheck. And you know, most of the organizations I 0:16:58.040 --> 0:17:01.960 know have reduced their half as much as they can 0:17:02.080 --> 0:17:05.520 so that they can reopen when we have the opportunity 0:17:05.560 --> 0:17:09.679 to reopen. So it's it's not good news anyway you 0:17:09.760 --> 0:17:12.000 look at it. I know I was thinking about and 0:17:12.119 --> 0:17:14.200 I guess I was reading something to you know, just 0:17:14.560 --> 0:17:17.240 I mean, if you think about people who go to theater, 0:17:17.280 --> 0:17:18.760 I mean, they're all ages, but there's a lot of 0:17:18.760 --> 0:17:22.040 older theater goers, you know, lack of tours that are 0:17:22.080 --> 0:17:24.520 coming into the country now, and then you've got old 0:17:24.560 --> 0:17:27.920 theaters where the idea of trying to do social distancing 0:17:28.000 --> 0:17:30.800 it's just you can't do it, you guys have It's 0:17:30.840 --> 0:17:35.800 just really difficult on so many different angles. That's absolutely right. 0:17:35.840 --> 0:17:38.879 And while you know the average age of our audience 0:17:38.960 --> 0:17:43.480 is forty two point three, I think there's still certainly 0:17:43.560 --> 0:17:47.080 a large percentage over that age and a large percentage 0:17:47.160 --> 0:17:51.200 under that age. And these are hundred year old grandams 0:17:51.480 --> 0:17:55.280 in many cases our theaters. And you know, as someone 0:17:55.359 --> 0:17:57.760 said to me, have you ever watched a one minute 0:17:57.800 --> 0:18:01.359 costume change with three people making that change in the 0:18:01.720 --> 0:18:04.240 in the space the size of a phone booth. So 0:18:04.320 --> 0:18:09.159 you know that social distancing justice at work, Charlotte. Are 0:18:09.160 --> 0:18:12.719 there any parts of the world where live theater has 0:18:12.760 --> 0:18:16.520 come back. I'm thinking about you know, London or other 0:18:16.960 --> 0:18:19.320 Paris or other major markets where it's come back. Or 0:18:19.359 --> 0:18:22.879 is this kind of a universal thing? Now? This is universal? 0:18:23.280 --> 0:18:28.880 You have Korea is the only location that I'm aware 0:18:28.920 --> 0:18:33.840 of that has reopened without social distancing. And it's a 0:18:33.840 --> 0:18:38.000 brand new theater with giant lobbies and giant stages and 0:18:38.800 --> 0:18:42.879 big spaces. And uh, they have a culture of wearing 0:18:42.960 --> 0:18:46.199 masks and and behave much better than a lot of 0:18:46.200 --> 0:18:50.439 our lovely Americans who can't seem to put those masks on. 0:18:51.200 --> 0:18:54.800 So um, for the most part, you have a few 0:18:55.640 --> 0:18:59.879 venues that are trying social distancing, and it's just you 0:19:00.080 --> 0:19:03.080 can't financially make it work. In New York City, we 0:19:03.160 --> 0:19:08.560 have seventeen union contracts that UM require our theaters to 0:19:08.600 --> 0:19:13.280 be over full just to return on investment for the 0:19:13.320 --> 0:19:16.199 people who make theater. And if we don't return, we 0:19:16.240 --> 0:19:20.159 don't get theater. So uh, it's it's still we have 0:19:20.320 --> 0:19:24.320 not found a solution to socially distanced in a safe way. 0:19:24.480 --> 0:19:27.280 Did you say they have to be nine full No, 0:19:27.440 --> 0:19:31.600 I said ninety. Okay, yeah, no, because I remember us 0:19:31.640 --> 0:19:33.520 talking in the past and it was this whole idea 0:19:33.520 --> 0:19:35.240 of you know, could you do something virtual or could 0:19:35.240 --> 0:19:38.320 you do something partial? But it's just the mathematics just 0:19:38.359 --> 0:19:42.240 don't exist, Charlotte, They don't, and we wish it did. 0:19:43.040 --> 0:19:47.439 But you know, everybody, the besides the people working, I 0:19:47.440 --> 0:19:52.119 mean the creatives, the theater owners, the producers, everything, the 0:19:52.280 --> 0:19:55.560 model would have to change, and I think we're not 0:19:55.680 --> 0:19:59.040 ready to do that just yet, because we certainly haven't. 0:19:59.680 --> 0:20:02.480 And when you talk to you know, when you talk 0:20:02.560 --> 0:20:06.000 to theatergoers, part of what the joy of going to 0:20:06.080 --> 0:20:09.120 theater is the shared emotion that people have. There will 0:20:09.160 --> 0:20:13.120 be a lot of changes as we move forward. That's 0:20:13.160 --> 0:20:15.600 Charlotte St. Martin, who is president of the Broadway League. 0:20:15.600 --> 0:20:17.760 And yet lots of change, is no doubt about it. 0:20:17.800 --> 0:20:20.040 And listen, the way back is not going to be easy. 0:20:20.080 --> 0:20:21.399 And of course she's not going to be able to 0:20:21.400 --> 0:20:24.760 get all of the shows that were on Broadway back 0:20:24.840 --> 0:20:26.879 up really quickly. It's going to take a little bit 0:20:26.920 --> 0:20:30.560 of time. But listen, employees who depend on work in Broadway. 0:20:30.600 --> 0:20:33.199 We know this is an important industry, certainly to New 0:20:33.320 --> 0:20:36.560 York City. All right, still to come. Theater is still shut, 0:20:36.640 --> 0:20:40.720 but retail shopping certainly not up next Amazon's domination. I 0:20:40.760 --> 0:20:42.879 see lots of opportunity for Amazon, certainly to grow in 0:20:42.880 --> 0:20:45.719 this country. Everything they've done in this country with regards 0:20:45.760 --> 0:20:48.640 to shopping, they're replicating all over the world. We'll hear 0:20:48.640 --> 0:20:54.320 from a former Amazon insider. This is Bloomberg. This is 0:20:54.359 --> 0:20:59.199 Bloomberg Business Week with Garrol Massier from Bloomberg Radio. We'll 0:20:59.240 --> 0:21:01.199 not sure if you know ist or more likely you 0:21:01.280 --> 0:21:04.280 did and probably actually did some shopping on Amazon Prime Day, 0:21:04.280 --> 0:21:06.879 which was two days this week. The event expected to 0:21:06.880 --> 0:21:09.640 give the world's largest e commerce company an early advantage 0:21:09.640 --> 0:21:12.760 of our brick and mortar rivals ahead of Black Friday. 0:21:12.840 --> 0:21:15.959 James Thompson, he's partnered by Box Experts as a managed 0:21:15.960 --> 0:21:20.320 services agency supporting brands selling online. He's also former business 0:21:20.320 --> 0:21:23.520 head of Amazon Services. He shared some thoughts with Bloomberg's 0:21:23.520 --> 0:21:26.560 Paul Sweene and me and Amazon's growing dominant. But we 0:21:26.640 --> 0:21:30.760 started with a question, are we already holiday shopping? I'm 0:21:30.800 --> 0:21:34.200 fascinated with this whole preconceived notion that somehow this is 0:21:34.240 --> 0:21:37.200 the beginning of the holiday shopping season. And the reason, 0:21:37.240 --> 0:21:40.400 the reason a little confounded by this is typically when 0:21:40.440 --> 0:21:42.840 people buy things on Amazon, if they're going to buy 0:21:42.840 --> 0:21:45.960 them for gifts, they send it directly to whoever they're 0:21:45.960 --> 0:21:49.119 gifting it too. And so I ask you, would you 0:21:49.160 --> 0:21:51.159 be buying Christmas presents right now in the middle of 0:21:51.200 --> 0:21:52.880 October and sending it to people two and a half 0:21:52.920 --> 0:21:56.719 months early. No, you know, the the application here is 0:21:57.040 --> 0:21:59.760 people are spending money on themselves. They're not spending money 0:21:59.800 --> 0:22:03.560 on other people. At least that's my hypothesis. And it'll 0:22:03.600 --> 0:22:06.200 be interesting to see what happens when we get to 0:22:06.320 --> 0:22:09.439 end in November, when the normal start of the holiday 0:22:09.480 --> 0:22:12.600 season kicks in. But right now we're seeing people buying 0:22:12.640 --> 0:22:17.360 stuff that they're they're they're enjoying themselves. So I guess 0:22:17.359 --> 0:22:19.399 there's a lot of disposal income out there because the 0:22:19.520 --> 0:22:22.359 sales are absolutely through the roof, even more than we 0:22:22.400 --> 0:22:26.240 expected for Prime Day. So, James, as we think about 0:22:26.240 --> 0:22:28.800 this pandemic, it's impact is so many facets of so 0:22:28.840 --> 0:22:32.640