WEBVTT - Our Vaccine Passports Already Being Deployed: TPT Med Tech 0:00:00.800 --> 0:00:04.040 Welcome to the Bloomberg Markets Podcast. I'm Paul Sweeney, alongside 0:00:04.040 --> 0:00:06.920 my co host Matt Miller. Every business day, we bring 0:00:06.960 --> 0:00:11.520 you interviews from CEOs, market pros, and Bloomberg experts, along 0:00:11.520 --> 0:00:15.600 with essential market moving news. Find the Bloomberg Markets Podcast 0:00:15.600 --> 0:00:18.439 on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts, and 0:00:18.480 --> 0:00:23.960 at Bloomberg dot com slash podcast. Let's continue our focus 0:00:24.040 --> 0:00:27.600 on vaccine passports. I want to bring in Stephen Thomas. 0:00:27.600 --> 0:00:32.880 He's a CEO of TPT Global Tech, uh, and they 0:00:33.000 --> 0:00:38.120 are our tpt S med Tech is developing vaccine passport 0:00:38.120 --> 0:00:41.400 and COVID health technology that's currently operational in one of 0:00:41.479 --> 0:00:45.120 my favorite places in the world, Jamaica, mon in the 0:00:45.200 --> 0:00:50.040 International airport there in Montego Bay. Travelers can move about 0:00:50.080 --> 0:00:53.480 safely and freely. I guess if if, if this technology 0:00:53.520 --> 0:00:57.080 works out. So Stephen, what are you guys doing? Hey, 0:00:57.080 --> 0:00:59.080 thank you for having me on this morning. I appreciate 0:00:59.120 --> 0:01:01.720 being on the show. And we're excited. So we're doing 0:01:01.720 --> 0:01:04.319 some great stuff. Man. You know we uh, we're a 0:01:04.319 --> 0:01:07.000 publicly traded company here in Sandy of California. You have 0:01:07.040 --> 0:01:09.640 to say we're a small company with big ideas and 0:01:09.920 --> 0:01:13.280 we have developed an end to end UH COVID management 0:01:13.640 --> 0:01:18.119 solution technology platform, you know, where we create mobile labs 0:01:18.160 --> 0:01:20.480 out of shipping containers where we actually do the testing 0:01:20.600 --> 0:01:23.640 for COVID as well as vaccinations in our labs. And 0:01:23.640 --> 0:01:28.280 we've also developed a software technology platform called click pass 0:01:28.280 --> 0:01:31.440 where we're able to do the testing as well as 0:01:31.440 --> 0:01:35.319 the vaccination tracking, tracking, and deliver a digital passport system. 0:01:35.360 --> 0:01:37.440 And our system is up and running, you know, we 0:01:37.520 --> 0:01:41.520 launched this back in August, so we're the first company 0:01:41.800 --> 0:01:44.520 to actually put this out into the global marketplace where 0:01:44.600 --> 0:01:46.800 and we're really excited to uh be the first to 0:01:46.840 --> 0:01:49.880 do something like this. And as you mentioned, you know, Jamaica, Safemond. 0:01:49.960 --> 0:01:52.640 We we are up and running in in Jamaica at 0:01:52.680 --> 0:01:57.560 the Montego Bay Airport, UH and some of the resorts 0:01:57.560 --> 0:01:59.800 like Scandals UH in the island. I think we've got 0:01:59.800 --> 0:02:03.360 a to the level about eighteen different testing locations on 0:02:03.400 --> 0:02:06.240 the island that we're in the process of onboarding. So 0:02:06.280 --> 0:02:08.600 it's a very exciting, you know time for our publicly 0:02:08.600 --> 0:02:10.440 traded company and what we're doing, you know out here 0:02:10.440 --> 0:02:12.600 in San Diego and throughout the United States as well. 0:02:13.120 --> 0:02:14.840 All Right, Steven, give us a sense of kind of 0:02:14.880 --> 0:02:18.360 the deployment of your technology, because I know there's a 0:02:18.400 --> 0:02:20.440 lot of solutions out there, but there's also a lot 0:02:20.440 --> 0:02:24.120 of you know, frustration that the testing capabilities and the 0:02:24.160 --> 0:02:26.560 testing tracking in the United States much less the rest 0:02:26.600 --> 0:02:29.680 of the world, you know, hasn't really been as robust 0:02:29.680 --> 0:02:31.040 as we would have liked. Give us a sense of 0:02:31.120 --> 0:02:34.280 kind of where you guys are, well, what what we 0:02:34.400 --> 0:02:36.519 what we like to speak of it kind of being 0:02:36.600 --> 0:02:38.200 one of the first to put this out is that 0:02:38.480 --> 0:02:41.080 we have the Indian solution. So what we're able to 0:02:41.120 --> 0:02:43.440 do is we're able to either tact on our own 0:02:44.280 --> 0:02:48.160 lab mobile labs, or we work with partner labs, right, 0:02:48.200 --> 0:02:51.359 and they take that information and that's delivered through our 0:02:51.520 --> 0:02:56.120 QuickPath technology platform to the end customers, subscribers. So what 0:02:56.200 --> 0:02:58.160 happens is you go to one of our locations of 0:02:58.240 --> 0:03:00.240 one of our part of locations, you get tested or 0:03:00.240 --> 0:03:02.880 you get the vaccination. We tracked that information and we 0:03:02.960 --> 0:03:05.800 send you a digital report via either the Internet or 0:03:05.800 --> 0:03:08.840 to your phone, right and it's on a centralized platform. 0:03:08.919 --> 0:03:11.560 So it's an amazing situation where you know, you're not 0:03:11.639 --> 0:03:14.520 bringing two or three different companies together to try to 0:03:14.639 --> 0:03:18.320 deliver the solution which could create, uh, you know, some 0:03:18.400 --> 0:03:21.760 types of technology issues when you're bringing multiple companies together. 0:03:21.960 --> 0:03:24.040 So we're an end in solution and I think it 0:03:24.160 --> 0:03:27.280 worked incredibly well and we're excited of the results that 0:03:27.320 --> 0:03:29.359 we're having in Jamaica. You know, when I was down 0:03:29.440 --> 0:03:31.840 there and we're onboarding at the first day, you know, 0:03:31.880 --> 0:03:33.920 there was like two or three people in line. They 0:03:33.919 --> 0:03:36.040 had all the paper and there was the nurses and 0:03:36.200 --> 0:03:39.280 putting out all that information. And by the time we left, 0:03:39.360 --> 0:03:41.800 you know, it was just running so smooth. And there 0:03:41.960 --> 0:03:44.480 they would come to the airport, you know, download the 0:03:45.080 --> 0:03:47.680 quick pass app about the information intade of the app, 0:03:47.720 --> 0:03:50.680 show their QR code, the nurses would do their test, 0:03:51.120 --> 0:03:53.440 uh and then within you know, fifteen minutes, they would 0:03:53.440 --> 0:03:56.080 get the results, walk up to the Delta or American 0:03:56.120 --> 0:03:59.640 Airlines show their test report digitally on their phone. You know. 0:03:59.840 --> 0:04:02.440 The the airlines know that it's secure because it's all 0:04:02.520 --> 0:04:07.000 Hippo compliance secured uh de identified information, except for if 0:04:07.040 --> 0:04:09.720 the person wants to actually show their i D. There 0:04:09.800 --> 0:04:11.640 is a function where they hit a button and the 0:04:11.640 --> 0:04:14.040 i D pops up on the screen so that that 0:04:14.160 --> 0:04:18.760 airlines or or cruise line or supporting advantage to actually 0:04:18.839 --> 0:04:21.640 verify that it's the actual person's phone and the person 0:04:21.760 --> 0:04:24.520 who actually have the cast results and be able to 0:04:24.600 --> 0:04:27.640 verify that. So is it exciting? Uh? Scenario that we 0:04:27.760 --> 0:04:31.320 put together. I'm gonna tell you offline about the sweetest 0:04:31.320 --> 0:04:34.880 spot in Jamaica. I don't want other people to know. 0:04:35.040 --> 0:04:39.320 It's like a secret destination. But you mentioned Hippa and 0:04:40.320 --> 0:04:43.200 as someone who I like to travel a lot, I 0:04:43.279 --> 0:04:46.280 get in a lot of motorcycle accidents and I hate paperwork, 0:04:46.400 --> 0:04:49.360 Hippa is like the bane of my existence. What is 0:04:49.400 --> 0:04:53.080 it like working with this kind of regulation? Well, you 0:04:53.120 --> 0:04:56.479 know what, we have a fantastic development team and we 0:04:56.520 --> 0:04:59.840 are actually part of the whole Google back in Hippa 0:05:00.360 --> 0:05:03.480 compliant engine, So we work very closely with Google and 0:05:03.520 --> 0:05:06.159 that's why we're Hippo Climate and so it makes it 0:05:06.200 --> 0:05:08.000 a lot easier for us to be able to do 0:05:08.040 --> 0:05:11.000 what we do. So it's it's it's been actually a 0:05:11.040 --> 0:05:14.159 good experience, a little little, little, some pain points, but 0:05:14.200 --> 0:05:15.599 we were able to work through it and we have 0:05:15.640 --> 0:05:20.000 a secure technology platform. All right, Steve, where are you 0:05:20.040 --> 0:05:23.920 in terms of some maybe some other airports, some other airlines, 0:05:24.080 --> 0:05:26.719 some other you know clients that you might be signing 0:05:26.760 --> 0:05:30.160 up for your technology. Well, you know, there's other Caribbean 0:05:30.200 --> 0:05:32.880 islands that we're in the process right now of breaking 0:05:33.000 --> 0:05:35.840 up UH for example of the Bahamas, Turks and Keiko's. 0:05:36.360 --> 0:05:39.640 We're talking with Trinidad, we're talking with UH Puerto Rico, 0:05:40.080 --> 0:05:42.039 so we're pretty excited about that as well. You know, 0:05:42.160 --> 0:05:44.599 it's really interesting. You know, we're in Miami. We have 0:05:44.640 --> 0:05:47.640 our mobile labs at the day Lin mall and one 0:05:47.640 --> 0:05:51.280 of the Walmart parking lots in Miami. We just entered 0:05:51.279 --> 0:05:54.840 into an agreement with a national parking lots company. Believe 0:05:54.880 --> 0:05:56.760 or not. They've got a little five thousand parking lots 0:05:56.800 --> 0:05:59.360 across the United States and they've offered those parking lots 0:05:59.360 --> 0:06:02.719 to US took to bring COVID testing and point of 0:06:02.760 --> 0:06:05.880 care testing to their communities. It's a very interesting concept 0:06:05.920 --> 0:06:08.120 with with UH, with this parking lot company. I was 0:06:08.240 --> 0:06:09.840 very pleased that they reached out to us because I 0:06:09.839 --> 0:06:12.400 think it's gonna be a fantastic partnership for US to 0:06:12.480 --> 0:06:15.840 be able to be able to expand this technology across 0:06:15.880 --> 0:06:18.440 the United States. Because look, it's not just for the airline, 0:06:18.800 --> 0:06:23.600 it's also for restaurants, it's for concerts, it's for you know, schools, 0:06:23.720 --> 0:06:26.240 colleges to be able to act. To sporting events. You know, 0:06:26.279 --> 0:06:30.280 you get tested. You show up to a stadium, you 0:06:30.560 --> 0:06:33.479 you show your pure code, and that stadium over that 0:06:33.520 --> 0:06:35.960 team or whatever away team would know that those fans 0:06:36.000 --> 0:06:38.240 coming into that game have all been tested in it's 0:06:38.240 --> 0:06:41.680 twenty four hour periods. So the idea is that everybody 0:06:41.880 --> 0:06:44.719 in that sporting event is COVID free. For example this 0:06:44.839 --> 0:06:48.080 summer and tune into the Mississippi we're working with the 0:06:48.400 --> 0:06:51.120 Chamber of Commisor and we're doing a concert on the 0:06:51.160 --> 0:06:55.000 Mississippi River this summer. Fascinating stuff. Good luck to your company. 0:06:55.000 --> 0:07:01.320 Stephen Thomas, CEO of TPT Global, more banted Tin, president 0:07:01.360 --> 0:07:05.560 of s J Consulting, and talk a little bit about 0:07:05.839 --> 0:07:09.080 what's going on with this big ship in the Suez 0:07:09.160 --> 0:07:12.440 Canal SAT. I know it's huge, right, it's a quarter 0:07:12.560 --> 0:07:17.400 mile long and it's two thousand tons whatever that means. Um, 0:07:17.520 --> 0:07:20.360 why is it stuck in so hard? Can't they just 0:07:20.400 --> 0:07:22.440 get some boats in a rope and like pull it out. 0:07:23.720 --> 0:07:27.720 The boats will be We're getting pulled towards the ship 0:07:27.840 --> 0:07:33.120 rather than pulling the ship away. It is a huge task. 0:07:33.840 --> 0:07:37.360 It is so heavy that the tugboats are not gonna 0:07:37.400 --> 0:07:41.040 make it. In my view, they will need to start 0:07:41.880 --> 0:07:45.360 getting some of the containers off the ship to reduce 0:07:45.440 --> 0:07:48.400 the weight on it and then they will have some success. 0:07:48.960 --> 0:07:53.120 It is not an easy task, alright. So the image 0:07:53.160 --> 0:07:55.440 that is in my mind is the one way we 0:07:55.480 --> 0:08:00.360 have all seen is literally this monster's container ship. It's 0:08:00.400 --> 0:08:03.480 abound buried into the uh, you know, the bank of 0:08:03.520 --> 0:08:07.760 this canal and this little teeny tiny bacco with a 0:08:07.800 --> 0:08:10.720 couple of guys trying to dig it out. It just 0:08:10.800 --> 0:08:14.720 doesn't look like the canal was prepared for anything like this. 0:08:14.920 --> 0:08:17.640 Why was that? Well? There a couple of factors. One 0:08:17.720 --> 0:08:20.680 is the sizes of ships have gotten big over time 0:08:21.600 --> 0:08:26.360 and they've never had to experience it. The maximum ship 0:08:26.480 --> 0:08:29.040 that used to travel a few years ago would be 0:08:29.360 --> 0:08:33.240 eight thousand, ten thousand, twelve thousand containers, and now they 0:08:33.240 --> 0:08:37.160 are up to eighteen and twenty thousand, So they are 0:08:37.240 --> 0:08:40.400 much bigger in size, and that means they're also heavier. 0:08:40.720 --> 0:08:43.880 And when they are heavier, they tend to score further 0:08:44.360 --> 0:08:49.240 below the level of the water and they then are 0:08:49.400 --> 0:08:54.400 hitting the surface that they didn't imagine would be happening. 0:08:54.640 --> 0:08:57.760 And then maybe some eroision taking place that is causing 0:08:57.840 --> 0:09:03.360 that soil to further into the canal that has cost 0:09:03.440 --> 0:09:06.720 us to happen. So he Twitter is having a field day. 0:09:06.920 --> 0:09:10.439 The guy with a digger has an account on Twitter now. 0:09:10.520 --> 0:09:15.319 Perike Patel, probably my favorite twitterer, has uh published a 0:09:15.360 --> 0:09:17.160 bunch of schematics as to how they could deal with this. 0:09:17.240 --> 0:09:20.080 Even I've in the case says this is bad um 0:09:20.320 --> 0:09:22.840 bad risk management. They should have had a backup canal. 0:09:23.480 --> 0:09:27.240 In seriousness, how big is this problem? Try and put 0:09:27.240 --> 0:09:29.400 it in a scale for us, but for one, there 0:09:29.480 --> 0:09:32.040 is no option to have a backup canal. Whoever thinks 0:09:32.280 --> 0:09:36.400 that the chipping okay, yeah, you know, China is trying 0:09:36.400 --> 0:09:39.959 to have a backup canal to the Panama on the 0:09:39.960 --> 0:09:43.439 other end, and it is going to be decades of okay, 0:09:43.600 --> 0:09:47.360 so this is not something they could have anticipated. It's 0:09:47.400 --> 0:09:51.280 easy to do Monday morning quarterbacking on it. At this point, 0:09:51.679 --> 0:09:54.080 they need to look at getting the weight of the 0:09:54.200 --> 0:09:57.640 chip down from all the containers that are on it, 0:09:58.040 --> 0:10:01.280 and then they will have ability to push it such 0:10:01.320 --> 0:10:04.040 that at least it can not be blocking that tired 0:10:04.120 --> 0:10:07.400 and at least one lane can continue as opposed to 0:10:07.480 --> 0:10:11.840 them moving in both directions. All right, so what do 0:10:11.920 --> 0:10:15.880 you believe is is this simply unload the ship, get 0:10:15.960 --> 0:10:19.400 some bigger tugs in there. If that's in fact the case, 0:10:19.760 --> 0:10:22.480 how many days slash weeks do you think we're looking 0:10:22.520 --> 0:10:25.560 at here? I think they should be able to within 0:10:25.600 --> 0:10:28.120 a week or ten days if they move quickly on 0:10:28.120 --> 0:10:32.959 it and and do what the professionals no needs to 0:10:33.000 --> 0:10:36.440 be done. Uh. But then and there is urgency because 0:10:37.080 --> 0:10:39.880 the people who manage the Swiss Canal are losing revenue 0:10:40.080 --> 0:10:42.280 that they get paid for every ship that goes through. 0:10:43.280 --> 0:10:48.040 So there is incentive on everyone's part, including Evergreen, to 0:10:48.160 --> 0:10:53.959 get this thing fiasco off there seen and away from 0:10:53.960 --> 0:10:57.480 the media. Could the same thing happen in the Panama 0:10:57.559 --> 0:10:59.640 Panama Canal? You bring up one of the other key 0:10:59.640 --> 0:11:04.679 water ways in um in global logistics? What are the 0:11:04.760 --> 0:11:07.440 what are the differences between the seas? And one difference 0:11:07.520 --> 0:11:11.439 between the two major one is that the two water 0:11:11.600 --> 0:11:15.400 bodies that Panama Canal connects are not at the same 0:11:15.800 --> 0:11:20.280 sea level that the thirty foot difference between the Atlantic 0:11:20.320 --> 0:11:23.960 Ocean and the Pacific at that place where the two 0:11:24.280 --> 0:11:29.480 openings of the canal connect and they use locks gates basically. 0:11:29.520 --> 0:11:32.040 I've seen it myself. I've been there where they fill 0:11:32.120 --> 0:11:36.400 the water to raise the ship up to connect with 0:11:36.520 --> 0:11:38.880 one side or to load it on the other side. 0:11:39.160 --> 0:11:42.280 So if something like this was to happen in Panama, 0:11:42.520 --> 0:11:45.680 they would be better prepared to deal with it. SWEZ 0:11:45.760 --> 0:11:50.880 doesn't have that option. So it's interesting. Sets I mean, 0:11:51.120 --> 0:11:53.800 is there an argument made that ships have gotten too 0:11:53.840 --> 0:11:57.360 big park nows, not just for the canals, they've gotten 0:11:57.400 --> 0:12:00.160 too big for the ports, and they even gotten too 0:12:00.160 --> 0:12:02.680 big for the supply chain because when you have to 0:12:02.760 --> 0:12:08.480 load a ship eighteen thousand containers, it takes several days 0:12:08.559 --> 0:12:12.520 or weeks. So the merchandise that was prepared and needed 0:12:12.600 --> 0:12:16.800 to be in the showrooms are stored and with consumers 0:12:17.120 --> 0:12:20.840 are sitting at a port for twelve fifteen days to 0:12:20.880 --> 0:12:23.800 be loaded on a ship and then traveling, and they 0:12:23.840 --> 0:12:26.280 travel at a slower pace because of the heavier weight. 0:12:26.640 --> 0:12:30.600 So you are extending the supply chain. Yes, you're absolutely right, 0:12:30.640 --> 0:12:33.480 and I may add that you know that there was 0:12:33.480 --> 0:12:36.240 a similar thing happening in the airline. Air was three 0:12:36.280 --> 0:12:40.800 eighty double decker with passengers where that plane is had 0:12:40.840 --> 0:12:43.720 its day, It's going to die and there will be 0:12:43.760 --> 0:12:46.480 no more A three eight the same thing. I am 0:12:46.520 --> 0:12:49.920 absolutely glad that you're raising the topic. This the ship's 0:12:49.920 --> 0:12:54.199 approutant too big, Wow, fascinating, statiste. The Gindel, president of 0:12:54.320 --> 0:12:59.559 SG consulting me appreciate your thoughts. There we have the 0:13:00.240 --> 0:13:04.600 os of Facebook, Alphabet and Twitter. They are testifying they 0:13:04.640 --> 0:13:10.200 will testify before Congress today, uh, talking about social privacy, 0:13:10.400 --> 0:13:13.640 data security, and the roles that they may have played 0:13:13.679 --> 0:13:18.000 in the Capital insurrection in January. Let's get a preview 0:13:18.000 --> 0:13:20.360 of what we might hear. Jim Anderson, CEO of Social Flow, 0:13:20.960 --> 0:13:23.520 based in New York City. In full disclosure, social Flow 0:13:23.679 --> 0:13:27.200 is a platform used by Bloomberg for social media purposes. Jim, 0:13:27.200 --> 0:13:29.080 thanks so much for joining us here. Is this gonna 0:13:29.120 --> 0:13:34.760 be just another I guess, uh show by politicians or 0:13:34.800 --> 0:13:38.080 can anything substantive get done at these hearings? Do you think? 0:13:39.080 --> 0:13:41.480 I sure hope something substantificantly get done. I mean, the 0:13:41.520 --> 0:13:43.800 show is, of course part of it. Congressional hearings are 0:13:43.840 --> 0:13:47.200 are part spectacle by design. But I am really curious 0:13:47.200 --> 0:13:49.840 to see whether we can get past that angry shaking 0:13:49.880 --> 0:13:52.960 of this that text CEO phase of things and really 0:13:53.000 --> 0:13:54.760 get into it. And I think what you're gonna see 0:13:54.800 --> 0:13:58.800 here is how much research the staffs of these representatives 0:13:58.840 --> 0:14:01.079 have done. Right. There's a lot of the work required 0:14:01.120 --> 0:14:04.040 to come up with really intelligent and thoughtful questions, and 0:14:04.160 --> 0:14:06.400 hopefully we'll get a signal that they're ready to move 0:14:06.400 --> 0:14:08.760 beyond just talking and shaking their fists and start to 0:14:08.760 --> 0:14:13.200 actually propose the solution. I often get the feeling that 0:14:13.200 --> 0:14:15.280 the staff knows a heck of a lot more than 0:14:15.320 --> 0:14:20.400 the representatives for whom they work, Uh, absolutely right. I 0:14:20.400 --> 0:14:23.880 Mean sometimes I lose my faith in government when I 0:14:23.880 --> 0:14:27.840 watch these things, because it really doesn't seem like these 0:14:27.840 --> 0:14:31.680 elected officials are prepared at all to run a country, 0:14:31.800 --> 0:14:34.760 let alone a hearing um. What what do you think 0:14:34.840 --> 0:14:39.080 needs to be done about Facebook? About Google? I mean, 0:14:39.080 --> 0:14:45.960 these huge platforms certainly have uh some some real dominance, 0:14:46.120 --> 0:14:49.800 you know, bordering on anti trust issues they do. And 0:14:49.840 --> 0:14:53.440 I think, you know, you can't you mentioned the exact 0:14:53.520 --> 0:14:56.840 right word. I think antitrust really is the foundational issue 0:14:56.840 --> 0:14:58.880 because if you look at what people object to is 0:14:58.880 --> 0:15:01.520 it's primarily around eyes. Right. You know, these big giant 0:15:01.800 --> 0:15:05.600 tech platforms, they're so huge, they're so hard to control. 0:15:05.640 --> 0:15:08.240 I mean, the size honestly is at the root of 0:15:08.320 --> 0:15:10.840 many and many of these complaints, and I think because 0:15:10.840 --> 0:15:13.160 of that, we tend to over emphasize the role of 0:15:13.160 --> 0:15:17.560 the platform and under emphasize the overall political situation. I mean, 0:15:17.680 --> 0:15:21.440 if today's hearing is around misinformation, and obviously the the 0:15:21.480 --> 0:15:24.200 insurrection and the events of the capital on January six 0:15:24.280 --> 0:15:26.640 or are huge, But I mean, do you really think 0:15:26.640 --> 0:15:29.280 that big tech caused that problem? By I don't think 0:15:29.320 --> 0:15:32.320 most people believe tech caused it. They believe they contributed 0:15:32.320 --> 0:15:34.560 to it. They may not believe they responded, you know, 0:15:34.840 --> 0:15:37.360 as effectively as they could have. But I think we 0:15:37.360 --> 0:15:40.560 we just tend to over emphasize what Facebook or Google 0:15:41.080 --> 0:15:44.320 or or Twitter should do because of their sign Yeah, 0:15:44.360 --> 0:15:47.080 it's interesting. I'm reading Jack Divine's new book. Jack Devine 0:15:47.160 --> 0:15:50.200 was a former senior UH person at the c i 0:15:50.360 --> 0:15:51.840 A back in the Cold War, and he's got a 0:15:51.880 --> 0:15:54.600 new book out talking about UH. You know, how these 0:15:54.640 --> 0:15:59.120 platforms have been used by the Russians to influence the election, 0:15:59.160 --> 0:16:01.880 and how it's a big, big issue. So there's a 0:16:01.960 --> 0:16:06.600 national security aspect to this. Um. If I were in Congress, 0:16:06.720 --> 0:16:10.240 that would be where I would focus. Um, do you 0:16:10.280 --> 0:16:13.359 think that's gonna be? Race has a big issue here today? 0:16:14.000 --> 0:16:17.080 I tend to doubt it because it's such a partisan issue. Remember, 0:16:17.160 --> 0:16:19.680 you know it used to be just as is easy 0:16:20.400 --> 0:16:23.280 to paint Russia as a villain. Is anybody right and 0:16:23.320 --> 0:16:25.960 look at the political situation over the past three four years, 0:16:26.000 --> 0:16:28.480 though Russia was not, you know, the villain. In fact, 0:16:28.840 --> 0:16:30.120 a lot of people would say that Russia is not 0:16:30.200 --> 0:16:32.520 an issue at all. It's all about China. So I there, 0:16:32.520 --> 0:16:35.280 I would agree with you that the national security is 0:16:35.280 --> 0:16:39.160 a huge issue and and any adversary foreign or domestic, 0:16:39.200 --> 0:16:41.120 if you will, is going to use the platforms and 0:16:41.160 --> 0:16:44.000 tools available to them. I think the other thing that 0:16:44.040 --> 0:16:45.880 we need to get into, you know, you've heard and 0:16:45.920 --> 0:16:48.600 talked about this section to thirty reform quite a bit, 0:16:48.680 --> 0:16:51.720 you know, the the idea that platforms are not liable 0:16:51.760 --> 0:16:54.120 for what happens, and that seems morally offensive to a 0:16:54.120 --> 0:16:57.040 lot of people. I'm really really curious now that President 0:16:57.120 --> 0:16:59.760 former President Trump has said he's considering starting his own 0:16:59.760 --> 0:17:03.080 self on network. Section to thirty is the biggest friend 0:17:03.120 --> 0:17:05.399 you can imagine to a start up social network. So 0:17:05.440 --> 0:17:08.680 I'm interested to see whether the Republicans actually go very 0:17:08.720 --> 0:17:11.719 aggressively towards section two thirty. I would be willing to 0:17:11.800 --> 0:17:14.360 guess that we will see a lot less enthusiasm from 0:17:14.400 --> 0:17:17.080 the Republican side of things to talk about section two 0:17:17.119 --> 0:17:19.439 thirty today. That so, I'm really lucky to see how 0:17:19.480 --> 0:17:25.360 that plays out. When you look at former President Trump's influence, Jim, 0:17:25.359 --> 0:17:29.480 has it grown since he left office? Has it subsided? 0:17:29.640 --> 0:17:33.200 What do you see? It has very much subsided. It's funny. 0:17:33.200 --> 0:17:35.000 We do it with something we call the Trump Index 0:17:35.040 --> 0:17:37.600 every single day, where we basically just go and look at, okay, 0:17:37.600 --> 0:17:40.720 what kind of media attention is former President Trump getting? 0:17:40.840 --> 0:17:43.879 And you know, whereas during uh, you know, his presidency 0:17:43.880 --> 0:17:45.879 and be somewhere around a fifty out of a hundred, 0:17:45.880 --> 0:17:47.800 you know, now he's down around of five out of 0:17:47.800 --> 0:17:51.640 a hundred. And that makes sense. We have former presidents typically, um, 0:17:51.680 --> 0:17:54.920 you know, fade from public view. They don't you do things, 0:17:55.080 --> 0:17:58.280 and they they uh, you know, they sort of retire 0:17:58.320 --> 0:18:00.399 from public life. And we're seeing that. I think what 0:18:00.480 --> 0:18:03.520 everybody is thinking about, though, is is he going to 0:18:03.600 --> 0:18:05.560 make a comeback? And and have we heard the last 0:18:05.600 --> 0:18:07.879 of them? And I certainly wouldn't predict it. We've heard 0:18:07.920 --> 0:18:10.399 the last of them, Jim iSER. I guess there's been 0:18:10.400 --> 0:18:13.760 some talk that he may consider starting up a online 0:18:13.760 --> 0:18:16.439 network or maybe a cable network. I mean, what are 0:18:16.440 --> 0:18:20.399 you hearing? Yeah, it's well, I think everybody is is 0:18:20.440 --> 0:18:23.440 speculating about that. I think he is floating trial balloons. 0:18:23.480 --> 0:18:25.399 Part of what's happening is these people are saying, Oh, 0:18:25.440 --> 0:18:27.040 he's going to start a media company, he's going to 0:18:27.040 --> 0:18:29.399 start a social network, He's going to do this, and 0:18:29.440 --> 0:18:31.439 then let's see the reaction. You know that one of 0:18:31.440 --> 0:18:34.560 the things he really is quite effective at is controlling 0:18:34.560 --> 0:18:36.679 the narrative. You know, we always like to say, you know, 0:18:36.720 --> 0:18:38.600 to the degree he had a superpower, it was not 0:18:38.640 --> 0:18:40.640 the ability to tweet, it was the ability to get 0:18:40.680 --> 0:18:43.159 the media company to cover what he tweeted. So I 0:18:43.160 --> 0:18:46.840 think you're seeing a very carefully orchestrated floating of trial 0:18:46.840 --> 0:18:49.200 balloons about these things and then just sort of see 0:18:49.240 --> 0:18:52.040 what the how well they land with the marketplace, how 0:18:52.080 --> 0:18:54.000 well they resonate. At first it was gonna be he's 0:18:54.040 --> 0:18:56.000 definitely going to create a social network, and then he 0:18:56.080 --> 0:18:58.880 himself said, well, I'm thinking about creating a social network. 0:18:59.040 --> 0:19:01.440 I think the media company. He's fall into the same category. 0:19:01.560 --> 0:19:03.680 So I don't know that he knows what he's going 0:19:03.720 --> 0:19:06.040 to do next, but I would expect to continue to 0:19:06.080 --> 0:19:09.120 see these trial balloons floated. Jim, thanks so much. Great 0:19:09.160 --> 0:19:12.160 to get some time with you. Really fascinating stuff you're doing. 0:19:12.280 --> 0:19:16.520 They're over at Social Flow. Jim Anderson is the CEO. 0:19:20.000 --> 0:19:22.680 All right, let's revisit a story that was very much 0:19:22.680 --> 0:19:25.520 into headlines recently when Walmart said they were getting into 0:19:25.560 --> 0:19:29.480 the financial services business. Remember when they were gonna they are? 0:19:29.600 --> 0:19:32.520 They announced they were starting a thin tech startup in 0:19:32.520 --> 0:19:34.959 the US, and they hired the head of Goldman Sachs 0:19:35.240 --> 0:19:38.400 Consumer Bank to lead it. Let's revisit that story. See 0:19:38.400 --> 0:19:41.480 how it's going. We welcome Sarah Hall's actually covers all 0:19:41.520 --> 0:19:46.040 things retail for Bloomberg Opinion. Sarah, this isn't the first time, 0:19:46.080 --> 0:19:49.160 as I recall, that a big retailer wanted to get 0:19:49.160 --> 0:19:53.040 into the financial services business Testco. I remember the big 0:19:53.320 --> 0:19:56.560 UK retailer tried this a while ago, maybe a decade ago. 0:19:56.760 --> 0:20:01.400 Didn't go so well. What's walmart strategy? Yeah, so Tesco, 0:20:01.640 --> 0:20:03.680 you know, in the wake of the financial crisis, had 0:20:03.800 --> 0:20:06.840 this insight that you know, the trust in big banks 0:20:06.960 --> 0:20:10.120 was not super high, and that um, you know, perhaps 0:20:10.160 --> 0:20:13.440 the affinity and loyalty its customers had for its brands 0:20:13.680 --> 0:20:16.560 would create an opening for them to really disrupt the 0:20:16.600 --> 0:20:19.760 banking sector. And fast forward to today and you know, 0:20:19.800 --> 0:20:23.720 Tesco Banking arm is profitable, but it hasn't exactly let 0:20:23.760 --> 0:20:25.800 the world on fire, right, And so that's kind of 0:20:25.800 --> 0:20:29.439 the cautionary tale for Walmart. Here is canna avoid some 0:20:29.520 --> 0:20:32.960 of those mistakes that Tesco made and can it um 0:20:33.000 --> 0:20:35.280 you know, as opposed to just having this sort of 0:20:35.359 --> 0:20:38.280 nice to have side business, can it really make these 0:20:38.320 --> 0:20:42.040 fintech offerings um really disruptive for the sector and an 0:20:42.080 --> 0:20:46.639 important part of its overall revenue and profit stream. My 0:20:46.720 --> 0:20:49.879 first move would be to higher a big wig banker 0:20:49.960 --> 0:20:55.240 from Goldman Sachs. Did Tesco try that? They They did not, 0:20:55.480 --> 0:20:58.560 And look, I think that showed people how deadly serious 0:20:58.560 --> 0:21:02.200 Walmart is about the initiative, and perhaps people should have 0:21:02.240 --> 0:21:04.760 bread between the lines. That was the case already. UM. 0:21:04.840 --> 0:21:07.640 The fact that when they initially announced the startup, they 0:21:07.760 --> 0:21:11.399 put their us CEO, John Furner and their CFO Brett 0:21:11.400 --> 0:21:14.159 Bigs on the board, clearly they would not devote the 0:21:14.240 --> 0:21:17.399 time of people that seen here in their operation to 0:21:17.520 --> 0:21:20.600 this startup if they didn't see it as utmost importance. 0:21:20.680 --> 0:21:23.720 And I think the gold been higher really announced to 0:21:23.720 --> 0:21:25.840 that in big bowl letters to the rest of the world. 0:21:26.400 --> 0:21:29.280 All right, Sarah. So again, Tesco and sainsbury and UK 0:21:29.440 --> 0:21:34.359 tried this what what wrong? Or what maybe didn't go 0:21:34.440 --> 0:21:37.639 as right as they hoped? Yeah? So I think one 0:21:37.680 --> 0:21:40.160 of the big things was they tried to go it alone. Um. 0:21:40.480 --> 0:21:44.679 They after having in the nineties done joint ventures on 0:21:44.760 --> 0:21:47.680 things like credit cards and such, in this post financial 0:21:47.680 --> 0:21:50.359 crisis for a they tried to do it all by themselves. 0:21:50.400 --> 0:21:53.080 And the problem was they got distracted from their core 0:21:53.119 --> 0:21:57.000