Speaker 1: You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and
Speaker 1: Jason Kelly from Bloomberg Radio. Hi, I'm Jason Kelly and
Speaker 1: I'm Carol Masser. Welcome to the weekend edition of Bloomberg
Speaker 1: Business Week. Over the next couple of hours, we're going
Speaker 1: to bring you some of the most important and informative
Speaker 1: coronavirus conversations that we've had this week on our daily
Speaker 1: radio show. And Jason, you know, we kicked off saying
Speaker 1: it's a new month, new quarter this week, and yet
Speaker 1: it's a quarter that's going to be all about the health, economic,
Speaker 1: and market impact of the virus. We talked with leaders
Speaker 1: from all walks of life, medicine, politics, telecom, and of
Speaker 1: course the beaten down hospitality and restaurant worlds well, and
Speaker 1: this week felt different, I think, Carol, in the sense
Speaker 1: that we started to talk to people more and more
Speaker 1: about what's right now, but also what's next. And every
Speaker 1: single aspect of our lives has been changed and will
Speaker 1: be changed by this And as you listen to this show,
Speaker 1: I think you're going to get a sense of that because,
Speaker 1: as you say, we talked to people in all walks
Speaker 1: of life, CEOs, retired and roles chefs, and you know,
Speaker 1: all of their lives are changing, they're trying to adjust,
Speaker 1: and so getting inside all of these businesses it was
Speaker 1: actually really really interesting, right, And let's remind everybody, Jason
Speaker 1: that these conversations with leaders in their respective fields. It's
Speaker 1: happening in real time throughout our week as news concerning
Speaker 1: COVID nineteen and its impact continue to break and shape
Speaker 1: our daily lives. Let's talk about who we're going to
Speaker 1: hear from over the next couple of hours. From here,
Speaker 1: Labor Secretary Robert Reisch. He weighs in on those corporate bailouts.
Speaker 1: He's got a very hot take. Alan patrick Off, someone
Speaker 1: who's been in the business of investing in startups, some
Speaker 1: names that you know over the past four decades. And
Speaker 1: Glenn Fogel of booking dot com. And that's just to
Speaker 1: name a few. Carol. Yeah, and let's just point out
Speaker 1: Glenn Fogel found out this week that he was tested
Speaker 1: positive for COVID nineteen, continuing to do his job. So
Speaker 1: a really timely conversation on so many different levels. First up, though,
Speaker 1: we caught up with Hans Vestberg. He's the chairman and
Speaker 1: CEO of Verizon Communications. This week, President Trump held a
Speaker 1: call with telecom giants, including Verizon. Of course, we are
Speaker 1: in a very serious situation in this country and the
Speaker 1: whole world due to this pandemic, and of course having
Speaker 1: that in mind, you also understand that the networks becomes
Speaker 1: more critical for people to communicate and keeping business up.
Speaker 1: We see a clear surgeon our in our network. We
Speaker 1: see enormous a lot more of calls and we we
Speaker 1: have today eight hundred million calls a day, which is
Speaker 1: twice as much as we would have on the Mother's Day,
Speaker 1: which is the biggest day of the year. We have
Speaker 1: nine billion messages a day, a day that's equal to
Speaker 1: a New Year's even so we are on peak every
Speaker 1: day of the week. So that tells you how much haffick.
Speaker 1: At the same time, I see totally new patterns. I
Speaker 1: have fifty percent growth in DPN access. That's basically when
Speaker 1: when you work from home co operation, that's fifty percent up.
Speaker 1: And you see over hundred percent growth gaming in the
Speaker 1: network at the moment. So all that at the same time,
Speaker 1: you know, as people are moving around in the country
Speaker 1: in a different way. So but the networks are keeping
Speaker 1: up well. I would say it's very robust. We have
Speaker 1: I have to say the engineers and the and how
Speaker 1: we have built on networks over the years. It's really
Speaker 1: proven to be the right thing to do. Right now,
Speaker 1: the networks and holding up well. But the data data
Speaker 1: can give a use as the change of behavior. We
Speaker 1: see that handovers between radio cells has gone down with
Speaker 1: twenty nine percent nationwide. That means that people are moving
Speaker 1: so much less today compared to just a week ago.
Speaker 1: And if you take a place like New York Metro,
Speaker 1: it's down fifty that people are moving between one cell
Speaker 1: and another radio sells to another. So we can see
Speaker 1: that the behavior changing, the uses of the network is
Speaker 1: is dramatically changing in these times, and we understand the
Speaker 1: important us to keep the network's up and in good health.
Speaker 1: You know both, Jason, I do hope this. You sound good,
Speaker 1: So I'm hoping you are. Your family is doing okay.
Speaker 1: Your employees, how are your employees doing with all of this?
Speaker 1: That's a very good question. Our our mission is very clear.
Speaker 1: Number one, safe and healthy. Our hundred thirty five thousand
Speaker 1: and police worldwide majority In the US, I would say
Speaker 1: I have some hundred fifteen thousand people of them working
Speaker 1: from home, and we we swapped that in less than
Speaker 1: two weeks. We swapped works were never done from home before,
Speaker 1: So that's that's one category. Then of course I have
Speaker 1: so vital infrastructures. I need to have certain all my
Speaker 1: technicians out in the field. I actually manage and maintain
Speaker 1: the networks, and of course that's we'll only do for
Speaker 1: critical things. But you know, we need to keep up
Speaker 1: the first responders networks, the hospitals. We need more moved capacity,
Speaker 1: so I have a crew of that's actually out there.
Speaker 1: And then of course I also have some stores open
Speaker 1: for just critical deliveries. So they're doing fine. But of
Speaker 1: course we're impacted as any on the company or in
Speaker 1: this pandemic. And I just want to do a shout
Speaker 1: out to you guys, because you guys have implemented a
Speaker 1: virus leave of absence policy. Anybody who gets the virus
Speaker 1: eligible up to twenty six weeks, So what you're doing
Speaker 1: and everyone who had a job before the virus cause
Speaker 1: the shutdown, they're going to continue to do. So is
Speaker 1: that correct? Correct? In the crisis like this, Uh, the
Speaker 1: responsibility of companies are are enormous, and of course I
Speaker 1: feel that then, but we reassure all our employees if
Speaker 1: they cannot work and they can work from home, and
Speaker 1: they cannot work, we reassure them about their payments and
Speaker 1: the salaries, and that's saying goes if they're impacted if
Speaker 1: they need to stay home with children. But we'll also
Speaker 1: understand that some of our employees at work, not working
Speaker 1: in an office and coming home, we are actually giving
Speaker 1: them tasks as well, and so we have an exchange
Speaker 1: of work so you actually have something to do, because
Speaker 1: it's also very very dull to be home and not
Speaker 1: have ending to do, so we we do that at
Speaker 1: the same time. And that's Frison chairman and CEO, Hans
Speaker 1: Vestberg and Carol. We caught up with Hans earlier this
Speaker 1: year under very different circumstances. We were talking about big
Speaker 1: sporting events, we were talking about five GM, we were
Speaker 1: talking about the streaming wors. Obviously his business dramatically changed,
Speaker 1: and as you said earlier in the show, he was
Speaker 1: with the president at least telephonically, trying to understand what
Speaker 1: they need to do from an infrastructure perspective. Well Verising
Speaker 1: one of the companies that has seen a surge in
Speaker 1: internet traffic all right, you're listening to Bloomberg business Week.
Speaker 1: Coming up the CEO of Booking dot Com on how
Speaker 1: the coronavirus has impacted the travel sector. It's a business
Speaker 1: story for them, but it's also a personal story for
Speaker 1: the CEO of Booking dot Com. This is Bloomberg. You're
Speaker 1: listening to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and Jason
Speaker 1: Kelly from Bloomberg Radio, and today we're reading some of
Speaker 1: our favorite, we think the most important and informative conversations
Speaker 1: we had on our daily Bloomberg Business Week radio show
Speaker 1: about the coronavirus it's impact across all businesses. This week,
Speaker 1: one of those important conversations, Jason was our chat with
Speaker 1: Glenn Fogel. He's the CEO of Booking Holdings and Booking
Speaker 1: dot Com, home to some well known brands Priceline, as
Speaker 1: I mentioned, Booking dot Com, Open Table and more. But
Speaker 1: let's remind everybody that this was also a personal story
Speaker 1: because Glenn found out that he was tested positive for
Speaker 1: COVID nineteen just this week. Well, thanks for having me,
Speaker 1: and I feel fine. I've been very, very fortunate that
Speaker 1: I had the most mildest of symptoms and recovered very
Speaker 1: very well. In between the time I was tested last
Speaker 1: Thursday at the time I actually got the result tonights ago,
Speaker 1: all the symptoms resolved, so I am perfectly fine physically,
Speaker 1: of course, emotionally, you know, I just feel so bad
Speaker 1: for people who have not been as fortunate as I
Speaker 1: have been. And I know how hard it is. I
Speaker 1: read it about it, I hear about it. I have friends,
Speaker 1: I know others who are not having an easier time
Speaker 1: with this as I did. Well, we want to talk
Speaker 1: about the the end markets, obviously, Glenn, but tell us
Speaker 1: about how your company is dealing with this in a
Speaker 1: world where I mean travel has just essentially stopped, traveling,
Speaker 1: entertainment have come to a screeching halt. What does it
Speaker 1: look like on the ground to you. Well, look, it's
Speaker 1: been very tough. Even though, as you point out correctly,
Speaker 1: a lot of travel is stop. The fact is there's
Speaker 1: a huge number of customers who had set up plans
Speaker 1: that needed to have their issues addressed. We were dealing
Speaker 1: with four hundred thousand contacts a day and just booking
Speaker 1: dot Com alone, dealing with people who are scared, frustrated,
Speaker 1: concerned that they need to get their money back, and
Speaker 1: that's an issue when you have people who bought something
Speaker 1: a few months in advance and now all of a sudden,
Speaker 1: maybe they're losing their job, they're concerned about their health,
Speaker 1: and they're trying to talk to us as quick as possibly. Hey,
Speaker 1: something's changed, I need can you help me get my
Speaker 1: money back? And it's it's it's hard, and it's hard
Speaker 1: on our customer service. People are hearing these things and
Speaker 1: we're doing everything we can to help people because in
Speaker 1: these situations, contracts do allow people to get their money
Speaker 1: back in many cases, and it's something that are people
Speaker 1: are working all the time. It's it's hard on everyone, though, Well,
Speaker 1: what about you know this the stimulus programs and packages
Speaker 1: that are coming out of Washington, Glen, do you feel like, um,
Speaker 1: your voice and your industry is being heard pretty clearly
Speaker 1: and you're getting the assistance that you think is that
Speaker 1: should be should be coming your way. Well, listen, it's
Speaker 1: just so great that the government has stepped up and
Speaker 1: made an initial uh start to helping the economy. And
Speaker 1: it's not just the travel industries. Everybody, but travel has
Speaker 1: been hurt more than anybody, and the airlines, the hotels, everybody.
Speaker 1: When you have zero revenue. That's really really bad. So
Speaker 1: this is a good start, and I thank the President,
Speaker 1: I thank the Treasury Secretary, I think Senator Schumer and
Speaker 1: Speaker Pelosi, everybody for coming together and doing what was
Speaker 1: absolutely necessary. But I think we all recognize that's just
Speaker 1: a start. That's not going to be enough. This crisis
Speaker 1: is going to go on for too long, and we
Speaker 1: know during that time period we're gonna need additional stimulus,
Speaker 1: gonna need additional assistance, not just in the US but
Speaker 1: around the world. So what does the industry look like
Speaker 1: when we get on the other side of this. You know,
Speaker 1: we've been asking this question of so many people. You know,
Speaker 1: how will the coronavirus pandemic change the world? I mean,
Speaker 1: you know what will be the most important in your view?
Speaker 1: You know underappreciate way that the world will be different
Speaker 1: when we get on the other side. Well, the first
Speaker 1: thing is not going to be like you switch, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, you just switch right, not how it happens.
Speaker 1: What's gonna happen is we're gonna have domestic travel come back. First.
Speaker 1: People feel better about traveling domestically, and I'm certainly sure
Speaker 1: you're gonna start traveling by car more than planes to
Speaker 1: start off. Then you'll start seeing more and more people
Speaker 1: flying domestically internationally. It's going to take some time, and
Speaker 1: the reason is you're gonna have countries that are still
Speaker 1: gonna be has and to want to have a reimportation
Speaker 1: of the virus that they've already done a good job
Speaker 1: of stamping it out, and they're gonna put on a
Speaker 1: lot of checks. You're gonna see fever checks in all
Speaker 1: airports that are gonna try and catch if anybody's coming
Speaker 1: through who may be infected. And certain certain jurisdictions, they're
Speaker 1: gonna ask you to download an app to track where
Speaker 1: you are because they want to know if you've come
Speaker 1: from another country, and if you turn sick, they want
Speaker 1: to know who have you been close to so they
Speaker 1: can then alert other people. So people may have to
Speaker 1: give up so in their privacy if they want to
Speaker 1: go to certain countries who are going to be a
Speaker 1: little more hesitant about letting people into their countries. So
Speaker 1: things will be different. But the thing that won't be
Speaker 1: different people are still gonna want to travel. I know
Speaker 1: that people have always want to travel. They always will.
Speaker 1: We just have to get past this virus. And what
Speaker 1: about in the world of sort of entertainment and and
Speaker 1: sort of people meeting with each other over meals and
Speaker 1: restaurants and things like that, only got about forty five
Speaker 1: seconds left. How does that change, Glenn? Just are are
Speaker 1: sort of more intimate day to day lives. Yeah, look
Speaker 1: at the beginning, there's gonna be distancing, no doubt. And
Speaker 1: they're gonna say I don't want to go to a
Speaker 1: big crowded concert. For example, if he said I don't
Speaker 1: want to be packed in with a bunch of people.
Speaker 1: I want to have some space, that's gonna be just natural.
Speaker 1: But people's human nature does not change. And I know
Speaker 1: this because I know how many people after nine eleven,
Speaker 1: on the September twelve people said they're never going to
Speaker 1: get on another plane ever. And you know something, a
Speaker 1: few months they got back on planes. The same thing
Speaker 1: is going to happen here. People are gonna go back,
Speaker 1: they're gonna travel, they're going to go to open table,
Speaker 1: and they're gonna get reservations dining. We're going to all
Speaker 1: be good again after we get past this virus, which
Speaker 1: will happen. I gotta say, I can't wait to travel
Speaker 1: and I can't go wait. I can't wait to go
Speaker 1: out to a restaurant. So Glenn, we wish you so
Speaker 1: well and thank you so much for finding time for
Speaker 1: us to stay healthy and uh we hope your team
Speaker 1: does well through this. Uh. In addition, Glen Fogo, President,
Speaker 1: chief executive officer at Booking Holdings, I should put out
Speaker 1: Jason that their company's brand CEO has decided to forego
Speaker 1: their salaries. Their board of directors voluntarily declined to accept
Speaker 1: hash retainer payments. They've been cutting expenses and spending, so
Speaker 1: they've been really retrenching to get through this crisis. And
Speaker 1: that's Glenn Fogel. He is the CEO of Booking Holdings
Speaker 1: and Booking dot Com and again someone who we have
Speaker 1: gotten to know over the past couple of years. That
Speaker 1: business obviously so core for a lot of our listeners
Speaker 1: in terms of going on trips, whether it's business or personal.
Speaker 1: That industry has effectively shut down, and so how do
Speaker 1: you alter how do you change course in a business
Speaker 1: like that? So glad we could catch up with Glenn.
Speaker 1: You're listening to Bloomberg business Week coming up a conversation
Speaker 1: with David Mussifer, the chairman and managing partner of Advent
Speaker 1: International also lead director of Lulu Lemon. A great chat
Speaker 1: that you had with him looking forward to that. This
Speaker 1: is Bloomberg. You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol
Speaker 1: Masser and Jason Kelly from Bloomberg Radio. We're bringing you
Speaker 1: some of the most important and informative conversations that we
Speaker 1: had on our daily radio show about the coronavirus this week,
Speaker 1: and Jason, we really did try to reach out to
Speaker 1: leaders in all fields because, as we know, everything's been
Speaker 1: impacted by the virus. Well, and this is a guy
Speaker 1: I really wanted to hear from, David Mussafar. I've gotten
Speaker 1: to know him over the past few years. He's the
Speaker 1: chairman managing partner of Advent International, and if you remember,
Speaker 1: I wrote a story for Bloomberg Business Week magazine did
Speaker 1: a long form conversation with him and the CEO of
Speaker 1: Lulu Lemon back in December. It was a different world,
Speaker 1: but I wanted to catch up with David to understand
Speaker 1: what he was seeing both as an investor and as
Speaker 1: a director of a very high profile company. Check it
Speaker 1: out well, David, let me start by asking you, first
Speaker 1: of all, how are you like what's it like for
Speaker 1: you personally, family wise, just sort of as a human
Speaker 1: being here? Well, I mean, firstly, that's the first question
Speaker 1: that we share with everybody, which is firstly, just how
Speaker 1: are you doing? Because this, the physical element of this
Speaker 1: is unlike anything we've ever dealt with before, and so
Speaker 1: thank you for asking. Personally, I'm I'm doing well, and
Speaker 1: actually i'm I'm quarantined here in outside of Boston. So
Speaker 1: we're in the suburbs in Boston, and I've got uh
Speaker 1: four tunity twenty year old kids, and three of them
Speaker 1: are actually here with us. So, um, it's been in
Speaker 1: the face of some really difficult times, some unique elements
Speaker 1: of being with your family. And how how is it
Speaker 1: uh feeling and looking there on the ground in Boston.
Speaker 1: I mean, I know you're outside the city, but I
Speaker 1: know you're in touch with a lot of people. You're
Speaker 1: very active from a civic perspective. You know. I feel
Speaker 1: like different cities and different parts of the country are
Speaker 1: at a different moment here, and you know, we're recording
Speaker 1: on March thirty one, and it's a it's changing daily.
Speaker 1: But what does it feel like in and around Boston
Speaker 1: right now? Well, I mean, I think it's probably equivalent
Speaker 1: to the major your metro areas. If you think about
Speaker 1: obviously New York, which is so such the epicenter right now,
Speaker 1: ben Boston is behalf of stuff behind and right there.
Speaker 1: So there's a lot of fear and concern that I
Speaker 1: think exists here in London, in Paris, certainly, Madrid, and
Speaker 1: you know, so many of our major metropolitan areas today
Speaker 1: and Boston. You know, we have terrific medical care here
Speaker 1: in the city. But I think everybody is certainly mindful
Speaker 1: of the time and where we sit today at near
Speaker 1: the you know, the peak of this crisis. And so
Speaker 1: let's talk about the firm and your portfolio companies. And
Speaker 1: I guess I'd start with the firm. How do you
Speaker 1: everybody started learning these lessons? We are certainly day to day.
Speaker 1: How do you run the firm at a time like
Speaker 1: this remotely? This is such a people intensive business in
Speaker 1: many ways relationship intensive. Well, I mean, Jason, the one thing,
Speaker 1: you know, we have offices in uh Shanghai and Hong Kong,
Speaker 1: so badly we we had a little preview of of
Speaker 1: how we were going to need to manage remotely, and
Speaker 1: so we were prepared and and uh set up for
Speaker 1: remote access once you know, we got to that point.
Speaker 1: And I think one of the lessons we actually distributed
Speaker 1: this the very first day of our UM you know
Speaker 1: that when we went to Remote Work worldwide, we shared
Speaker 1: a lessons learned memo that we had asked our team
Speaker 1: in Asia to prepare and it was both you know,
Speaker 1: pointers serious points, light hearted elements, but the key theme
Speaker 1: that we heard loud and clear was the need to
Speaker 1: over communicate the need for video because as humans, we
Speaker 1: take so much of our cues from facial express that
Speaker 1: you actually can can't get over the phone like we're
Speaker 1: doing right now. And so, you know, those were some
Speaker 1: elements that we realized early on, we're going to be
Speaker 1: really important to make sure that we were prepared to
Speaker 1: do that. And so is that a situation David, where
Speaker 1: I mean you sort of have to invest in some
Speaker 1: infrastructure that maybe you would normally have or does all
Speaker 1: of this does all of that already exists for you? Well,
Speaker 1: I think the you know, the critical infrastructure that allows
Speaker 1: you to have access to you know, your data as
Speaker 1: well as to have systems that you can use remotely
Speaker 1: were the access points. But I think, like everybody you know,
Speaker 1: they're spending much more time in a video conversations and
Speaker 1: so literally you know, just using WebEx and Zoom and
Speaker 1: a host of other resources like that have become the
Speaker 1: critical link. And that's David must For, the chairman, managing
Speaker 1: partner of Advent International and also the lead director of Lulu,
Speaker 1: Lemon and Carol. You know, I love the private equity
Speaker 1: guys in part because they have all these inputs right right,
Speaker 1: And I think talking to the private equity folks, the
Speaker 1: venture capitalists mean because they all have portfolios of companies
Speaker 1: that often are in different field. It's great to get
Speaker 1: a feeling of how those companies are doing, especially at
Speaker 1: such a stress time like we are in today. And
Speaker 1: that's just a part of the conversation I had with
Speaker 1: David Mussaf for he talked more about what they are
Speaker 1: doing from a charitable perspective through their companies. That entire conversation,
Speaker 1: it's almost thirty minutes long. You'll want to dig into it.
Speaker 1: It is our Business Week Extra podcast this week. Check
Speaker 1: that out on your feet. You're listening to Bloomberg business
Speaker 1: Week coming out. We hear from Stanley McCrystal, a retired
Speaker 1: four star Army general about how cities can better fight
Speaker 1: the coronavirus. He's helping lead the fight in Boston war footing. Indeed,
Speaker 1: this is Bloomberg. You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with
Speaker 1: Carol Masser and Jason Kell from Bloomberg Radio, and today
Speaker 1: we're bringing you some of the most important, we hope
Speaker 1: informative conversations we had on our daily Bloomberg Business Week
Speaker 1: radio show. Carol all about the coronavirus this week. But
Speaker 1: as we settle into this new normal, obviously one of
Speaker 1: the things we're asking is what's happening now, but also
Speaker 1: looking ahead. That's right, Jason and we have the opportunity
Speaker 1: to catch up with retired four star Army General Stanley McCrystal.
Speaker 1: He has been tasked with leading Boston's emergency response to
Speaker 1: the coronavirus pandemic. We talked with him about how he's
Speaker 1: helping out the city and just got some ideas about
Speaker 1: leadership in this really troubled and stressed time. What we
Speaker 1: are trying to do is to help organizations bring together
Speaker 1: wider groups of stakeholders and collaborate better to the chief synergy.
Speaker 1: So if you take that model, Mayor Walsh and Boston
Speaker 1: asked us if we could help them change from a
Speaker 1: normal mode of operations first into a crisis response mode
Speaker 1: to the COVID nineteam, which brings in more people communicating
Speaker 1: on a daily basis, in a keystone form that they
Speaker 1: have every morning, which brings them together, and then also
Speaker 1: help prepare them for longer term for not just this crisis,
Speaker 1: but the crisis after next. And so what does that
Speaker 1: look like general in terms of what is the shift?
Speaker 1: Give us an example of what that shift entails, either
Speaker 1: in terms of the personnel, in terms of the pace,
Speaker 1: in terms of the assignments. Sure, mostly in a crisis,
Speaker 1: one of the key things you have to do is
Speaker 1: going to shared understanding of common contextual appreciation for what
Speaker 1: the situation is. And then you have to align on
Speaker 1: the strategy so that you can execute things that actually
Speaker 1: makes sense. So one of the things we find is
Speaker 1: you bring people together on a moral, more frequent basis.
Speaker 1: What mayor Walls does is bringing them all together for
Speaker 1: an hour every morning. It's all virtual. Everybody's brought in
Speaker 1: and he gets updates from all different players, police, fire Department,
Speaker 1: help part players, and so everyone gets a common understanding
Speaker 1: and then they solve problems right on that call. It's
Speaker 1: a video call, and they start doing it. They capture
Speaker 1: the lessons of those and then they put that out
Speaker 1: every day as an update, and so even more people
Speaker 1: can get that sense of understanding. General mc crystell. You
Speaker 1: know last June, you last year in June, you and
Speaker 1: I talked at the Bloomberg Breakaway Summit and we talked
Speaker 1: about leadership lessons that you've learned along the way and
Speaker 1: what CEOs can do to be more effective leaders in
Speaker 1: today's environment. You know, what advice can you give to
Speaker 1: today's political and corporate leaders because, as you know, a
Speaker 1: lot of criticism has been levied at our political leadership
Speaker 1: out of Washington, and I'm not looking to point fingers here,
Speaker 1: but you know, what have we learned that can be
Speaker 1: constructive about what mistakes were made early on and what
Speaker 1: can be applied now to get this under control. First off,
Speaker 1: thank you for speaking of getting Carol, who was pleasure
Speaker 1: to see last year. I guess think about the threat
Speaker 1: we've got now, We've got a MORPHOUSH viral in them
Speaker 1: that is frightening, that's the pandemic COVID nineteen. But we've
Speaker 1: also got the uncertainty of an economic shutdown of the economy,
Speaker 1: at least temporarily, so so people are assaulted from multiple directions.
Speaker 1: Nobody really knows how to defeat a pandemic on their own,
Speaker 1: and of course we feel helpless when the economy changes
Speaker 1: so suddenly. So I think the first thing leaders have
Speaker 1: got to do is be straight with us. Get in
Speaker 1: front of us and tell us what is known. Give
Speaker 1: us the data and and very candid terms. People can
Speaker 1: take that and you will build credibility over time, even
Speaker 1: when the treat changes. His data is updated, it's okay
Speaker 1: if you come back and say, okay, I think people
Speaker 1: need to understand what the situation is. Then the second
Speaker 1: is give people a sense of commitment. Think of Winston
Speaker 1: Churchill in summer of nineteen forty when he told the
Speaker 1: British people we will never surrender. He couldn't promise quick
Speaker 1: victory at that point everybody knew it was very very
Speaker 1: difficult to head. But what he communicated was absolute idea
Speaker 1: that we're in this together and we'll come out of
Speaker 1: it together as we will this crisis. Well, I think
Speaker 1: inspirations follows as well. Yeah, it's such an interesting point.
Speaker 1: General with Crystal because it feels like there there has
Speaker 1: been a turn, and I wonder if you agree with
Speaker 1: this over the last week or so, maybe even the
Speaker 1: last few days, that people are starting maybe to embrace
Speaker 1: that notion of shared sacrifice, individual responsibility. You know, it's
Speaker 1: sort of attaching themselves to this notion of Okay, what
Speaker 1: can I do? And part of what we can do
Speaker 1: it sounds like his nothing like stay at home, like
Speaker 1: don't go anywhere, um, but but there is a sense
Speaker 1: building And maybe I'm just being overly optimistic that people
Speaker 1: are are kind of reading that right. Well, I think
Speaker 1: that's right. I think the American people desperately want that.
Speaker 1: You know, we really haven't asked the American people to
Speaker 1: go to war it's World War two. Ever since that,
Speaker 1: we've always done limited and even after Non eleven, there
Speaker 1: was this brief period when we talked about we were
Speaker 1: all in this together, and then it kind of felt
Speaker 1: like pretty soon we weren't. So I think there's a
Speaker 1: hunger in the American people to do that. But it's
Speaker 1: going to take the idea that we're not fighting fifty
Speaker 1: separate state fights against COVID team, We're fighting a national fight.
Speaker 1: And it's not a national fight, it's a global fight.
Speaker 1: I think the American people will respond dramatically if the
Speaker 1: leadership asked them to. Yeah. I think that's a really
Speaker 1: good point. I do wonder too. You know, we keep
Speaker 1: talking about jenal McCrystal about kind of longer term impacted this.
Speaker 1: How do you think the coronavirus pandemic ultimately will change
Speaker 1: the world, you know, and specifically when we come out
Speaker 1: of this, what's the most important, in your view underappreciated
Speaker 1: way that the world will be different. Well, I'm going
Speaker 1: to throw two scenarios to the First is when societies
Speaker 1: are under pressure, sometime they unify, they come out stronger,
Speaker 1: and sometimes they fragment, like Irac did after two thousand
Speaker 1: three of the Balkans did in the So what I'm
Speaker 1: going to describe is the positive is not a guarantee.
Speaker 1: It's if we make it happen. But what I think
Speaker 1: happens is the pandemic stresses us. It reminds us that
Speaker 1: we are connected. It reminds us that global supply chains,
Speaker 1: personal relationships, everything are connected. And so we don't win alone.
Speaker 1: We don't even win in small groups. We don't even
Speaker 1: win as single entities or nations. We win more broadly
Speaker 1: than that, and if we have an appreciation for that,
Speaker 1: several things happen. One we start to think a little
Speaker 1: bit more broadly about problems like global warming, like income
Speaker 1: and equality and other things that dog society, and then
Speaker 1: I think our way of working is going to be different.
Speaker 1: It was sort of a shock to a lot of
Speaker 1: organizations and people that have to work from home, But
Speaker 1: now we're only a couple of weeks into it, really
Speaker 1: and a lot of people are fine. Didn't that they
Speaker 1: can stay connected. They've got to learn some new techniques,
Speaker 1: they can do something. So I think businesses are going
Speaker 1: to migrate to a new normal that's sort of a
Speaker 1: hybrid from where we used to be, because we won't
Speaker 1: do away with offices entirely, but we're going to do
Speaker 1: a lot more connected, which is actually going to open
Speaker 1: up our ability. It is going to widen our reaches
Speaker 1: individuals and organizations, and the most agile, the most aggressively
Speaker 1: networked organizations, whether their military organizations or businesses or governments,
Speaker 1: are going to come out really well well. And it's
Speaker 1: so interesting you say that you went exactly where I
Speaker 1: wanted to go. Next general with Crystal, which is you know,
Speaker 1: now in the private sector, you're working with a lot
Speaker 1: of companies, you advise CEOs and many others. And I
Speaker 1: do wonder, even though some similarities exist between government leaders
Speaker 1: and corporate leaders, you know, businesses ultimately have different stakeholders
Speaker 1: and employees and customers and whatnot. What are the lessons
Speaker 1: that may be a CEO and learned that might be
Speaker 1: slightly different from a military leader or a government leader. Sure,
Speaker 1: government leaders and military leaders can wrap themselves in the
Speaker 1: flag and cause and motivate people that way. Business leaders
Speaker 1: it's more difficult. You can talk about the goal of
Speaker 1: the company. But reality, business leaders had a big advantage
Speaker 1: because the pressures of the marketplace can both cause you
Speaker 1: to make dramatic turns and it can allow you to
Speaker 1: make dramatic turns. Because if you've got a company that's
Speaker 1: just making money year over year and you go to
Speaker 1: the boarder or stakeholders and say we want to change dramatically,
Speaker 1: you may not get automatic support, but a very competitive environment,
Speaker 1: then suddenly the CEO is not only allowed, but he's
Speaker 1: or she's expected to make that kind of significant change.
Speaker 1: And that's pretty liberating. Absolutely, and you know, I do
Speaker 1: wonder when you looked at the situation in Boston's spacifically
Speaker 1: and just when you look at the situation around the country,
Speaker 1: really around the world. I mean, does any of this
Speaker 1: feel um, I don't know, a little bit overwhelming and
Speaker 1: just a reminder that there are certain systems we've got
Speaker 1: to have in place. I mean, the military has to
Speaker 1: do it all the time, right, They're constantly probably asking
Speaker 1: themselves what if, what if? And we've got to have
Speaker 1: the backup systems. And I really do feel like this
Speaker 1: crisis has revealed to us how many backup systems we
Speaker 1: didn't have in our society. I think that's right, Carol. Uh.
Speaker 1: But but there's a danger. We learned this in the military.
Speaker 1: If you try to plan for contingencies, you never get
Speaker 1: it exactly right because that the risk that comes up
Speaker 1: is always a bit different. But it doesn't mean planning
Speaker 1: for contingencies, doesn't it value that's retired four star Army
Speaker 1: General Stanley McCrystal, who is leading the fight against the
Speaker 1: virus in Boston. So great to catch up with him, Jason,
Speaker 1: you know, at a Bloomberg Live event last yearne I
Speaker 1: caught up with him to talk about leadership when you're
Speaker 1: really stressed and when you have your own personal crisis.
Speaker 1: He's had to deal with that. Now he's helping the
Speaker 1: city of Boston deal with the virus pandemic and just
Speaker 1: trying to, you know, get some ideas about how best
Speaker 1: to lead in these times. And uh, I thought it
Speaker 1: was really great to just catch up with him. Well
Speaker 1: and the military metaphors they work here, and you understand
Speaker 1: that a lot of the ways that people fight real
Speaker 1: hot wars that is actually happening day to day when
Speaker 1: it comes to the coronavirus. Well, that wraps up the
Speaker 1: first hour of the weekend edition of Bloomberg Business Week
Speaker 1: from Bloomberg Radio. I'm Jason Kelley and I'm Carol mass
Speaker 1: are plenty coming up in our next hour, we'll hear
Speaker 1: from former Labor Secretary Robert Reich, provocative thoughts and writings
Speaker 1: from him about the bail out for companies. Yeah, it
Speaker 1: was interesting. After we did this conversation, I was telling
Speaker 1: my family about and they're like, interesting, Oh, mob, weigh
Speaker 1: and end really interesting conversation. There also Alan patrickof Love
Speaker 1: catching up with him four decades in the venture capital business,
Speaker 1: what he's seeing when it comes to investing in Also,
Speaker 1: he is a political animal. He had some thoughts on that,
Speaker 1: and Danielle Bleu, one of the best known chefs out
Speaker 1: there fighting a different sort of battle on behalf of
Speaker 1: the restaurant industry. This is Bloomberg. You're listening to Bloomberg
Speaker 1: Business Week from Bloomberg Radio. Hello, I'm Carol Masser and
Speaker 1: I've Jason Kelly. Today we're bringing you some of the
Speaker 1: most important, we hope informative conversations we had on our
Speaker 1: daily Bloomberg Business Week radio show that runs two to
Speaker 1: six pm Wall Street Time every weekday. Obviously all about
Speaker 1: the coronavirus, but Carol, we hope taking it a level deeper,
Speaker 1: understanding where we are now and where we may be going.
Speaker 1: That's right, Jason. So many of our conversations we're talking
Speaker 1: about what our world is like when we get on
Speaker 1: the other side of the virus. And we actually talked
Speaker 1: about that with Alan patrick Off, an early venture capitalist.
Speaker 1: He helped build and grows such companies as a O
Speaker 1: L Office Depot, Apple Computer. We caught up with him.
Speaker 1: He also is a big Democratic fundraisers, so we talked
Speaker 1: politics with him as well, and form Secretary Robert Reich.
Speaker 1: We talked with him. Yeah, I loved catching up with him.
Speaker 1: He had some bold ideas, as he often does. But
Speaker 1: first up, the restaurant industry been hit incredibly hard, effectively
Speaker 1: shut down by the coronavirus. We spoke about the situation
Speaker 1: with the world famous chef that is Danielle Blue. Well, Uh,
Speaker 1: it was an experience we didn't have a plan for.
Speaker 1: As we decided within twenty four hours to shut all
Speaker 1: our restaurants and to furlom entire staff. And of course
Speaker 1: it's devastating because um, we think we have to do it.
Speaker 1: We do the right thing. And I was one of
Speaker 1: the first to close UM together with the BERNARDA and
Speaker 1: Danny Meyer. We were we we didn't talk to each other,
Speaker 1: but we made the same decision the same day to
Speaker 1: shut all operation within the Friday, the thirteen of March,
Speaker 1: and and then following that weekend week of course everybody
Speaker 1: had to close after that. UM, we try to think
Speaker 1: of possibility of continuing to uh produce food while keeping
Speaker 1: some staff. And I felt that New York was such
Speaker 1: um a danger exposing all our stuff to try to
Speaker 1: do that. I didn't have the courage to do that.
Speaker 1: And uh does not mean we will not do it
Speaker 1: soon as New York gets a little bit better, for sure,
Speaker 1: but um, you know it's it's terrible not only for
Speaker 1: me but for everyone in our industree for having to
Speaker 1: you know, have all their staff on unemployment and people
Speaker 1: who have been with us for twenty five years. We
Speaker 1: have been through thin and take uh and and really
Speaker 1: will they's We have a lot of hope because we
Speaker 1: are doing things such as we did a charity called
Speaker 1: and in An with Daniel Bullet Foundation where we raise
Speaker 1: money for our our staff. And today we had our
Speaker 1: first meetings for distribution and we really already helped fifty
Speaker 1: people today, but uh, fifty of our stuff. That's not all,
Speaker 1: but at least it's the immediate need. And for the
Speaker 1: one we're really in our ships and I need to
Speaker 1: start to pay some bills of medicals or family or food.
Speaker 1: And we continue to raise money and we continue to
Speaker 1: support them. Of course, we also are trying to make
Speaker 1: sure that we um we have the right support. So
Speaker 1: we had a call with the President on last Sunday
Speaker 1: with Thomas Keller, Gen George, myself and both Gang Park
Speaker 1: and someone a connection through both Gang a gentleman was
Speaker 1: able to get us um A for a conversation with
Speaker 1: the President and and of course we talked about a
Speaker 1: lot of things, from the insurance situation, which is a
Speaker 1: big one right now, the business interruption. The insurance are
Speaker 1: kind of denying everything at this point. Yeah, let's talk
Speaker 1: about that if we can. Danielle, I want to pardon
Speaker 1: me for jumping in, but that is critical I think
Speaker 1: at this point, I know you've been working very hard
Speaker 1: on this insurance issue. Tell us what's going on, because
Speaker 1: you have some insurance companies, as I understand it, who
Speaker 1: aren't saying, who are essentially saying this basically doesn't qualify
Speaker 1: what's happening and what needs to happen. Well, we have
Speaker 1: a form with a with a law firm. We have
Speaker 1: formed an association called we Are Big and Big is
Speaker 1: for Business Interruption Group and we w E R BIG
Speaker 1: b I G dot org is explaining a little bit
Speaker 1: what we are trying to do and a lot of
Speaker 1: a lot of rest rater and chaff already all over
Speaker 1: the country as describing to we are Big because we
Speaker 1: feel that together we can have a voice big enough
Speaker 1: that there will be some real um ancentive for the
Speaker 1: government to work with the insurance and for the entrance
Speaker 1: to work with us, right right, And what from what
Speaker 1: I understand the lawsuit is about. You guys have said
Speaker 1: you know that says insurance companies are are wrongfully denying
Speaker 1: business interruption coverage for all businesses in the US and
Speaker 1: your in and supporting federal subsidies for insurers that pay
Speaker 1: business interruption losses caused by the coronavirus. In your conversation
Speaker 1: with the president, were you guys able to talk about this?
Speaker 1: And I wonder if there's any support for that out
Speaker 1: of the government very much, and the government are looking
Speaker 1: very deeply and carefully into that. Absolutely, the President was
Speaker 1: really concerned as well. Um, it was very open to
Speaker 1: to look at it and to really understand closely. I
Speaker 1: think he has all his legal support there too to
Speaker 1: advise him on our claims and what we are looking for.
Speaker 1: But uh, it's uh, it is um, there is a
Speaker 1: technicality who should protect us in the language of insurance,
Speaker 1: and I think that technicality has to be taken, uh
Speaker 1: to quote I guess, and that's Chef Danielle Blue. We
Speaker 1: had a hint of what he might say from our
Speaker 1: amazing Kate Crater, she follows the food world. She knows
Speaker 1: all these guys incredibly well. And I have to say
Speaker 1: he was very candid, very on point. I felt like
Speaker 1: Carol in terms of what has to happen next, and
Speaker 1: it does feel like he knows he's in a position,
Speaker 1: speaking of leadership, to lead well. Speaking of that, he
Speaker 1: and some other well known chefs were talking with the
Speaker 1: President over the past week or so, and we also
Speaker 1: heard the President talk about the restaurant industry, so they're
Speaker 1: looking for some more assistance from the government as well.
Speaker 1: You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week. Coming up a conversation
Speaker 1: with longtime venture capitalist and democratic fundraiser Alan patrick Off,
Speaker 1: the founder and managing director of grey Croft. This is Bloomberg.
Speaker 1: You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and
Speaker 1: Jason Kelly from Bloomberg Radio. We're bringing you some of
Speaker 1: the most important and informative conversations that we had throughout
Speaker 1: the week on our daily radio show. Of course, all
Speaker 1: of it related to COVID nineteen Jason, but it was
Speaker 1: talking about where we are in the world today, but
Speaker 1: also starting to look about what happens when we get
Speaker 1: out of the pandemic and what does our world look like? Well,
Speaker 1: and this is where it helps to talk to people
Speaker 1: who can give you some perspective. And no one has
Speaker 1: that like Alan patrick Off forty years as a venture
Speaker 1: capitalist now the founder and managing director at Greycroft. Check
Speaker 1: it out. Well, listen, it's very obvious. This is I think,
Speaker 1: I don't know how you go anything less than devastating
Speaker 1: to certainly small growing businesses. Uh. You know, to the
Speaker 1: companies that are larger, the ibms, the Microsofts of the world,
Speaker 1: they can withstandard Apple people with great ball and sheets
Speaker 1: and lots of cash on hand, they will be you know,
Speaker 1: they'll whether it's fine. The real challenges to the smaller companies,
Speaker 1: even small below the venture capital level, the local businesses
Speaker 1: with small shops and small whether they're industrial type companies
Speaker 1: or or retail or consumer service, they're all being severely affected. Uh.
Speaker 1: And you know, and that's going to be here for
Speaker 1: the next thirty days. I mean, this peak point we
Speaker 1: keep hearing the first it was April ninth, and it
Speaker 1: was April fifteenth, and April and now we don't know
Speaker 1: when the data is where it's been a peak, but
Speaker 1: I think we're in for a difficult kind time going forward.
Speaker 1: And so Alan, what does that mean for you? Know?
Speaker 1: You you mentioned that the big firms are are resilient.
Speaker 1: Tell us more about smaller companies because you know they
Speaker 1: have less wiggle room. You know, some of them don't
Speaker 1: have those fortress balance sheets that big come ben ease do.
Speaker 1: What's the mood among you know, the smaller companies that
Speaker 1: we know you're in touch with, well, yeah, which is
Speaker 1: my area focus. There's no question smaller companies are in
Speaker 1: a very disadvantageous position. Unless they have a very strong
Speaker 1: cash position, uh and not a lot of debts, UH,
Speaker 1: they are going to be under severe pressure. And even
Speaker 1: if they have cash, if you don't have enough cash
Speaker 1: on hand for six to twelve months at least, UH,
Speaker 1: you're gonna have real concerns and an environment where raising
Speaker 1: money is going to be harder than it's been and
Speaker 1: it's never easy. I think that you're you have already
Speaker 1: seen immediately uh significant layoffs, and I think you're going
Speaker 1: to continue to see that. I would expect the unemployment
Speaker 1: figures are going to increase dramatically, UH, and I think
Speaker 1: we're gonna be seeing that for the next couple of
Speaker 1: weeks so we get to a level point in the
Speaker 1: business world. Forget about leveling off of the flattening off
Speaker 1: of the virus curve. I think the uh problem in
Speaker 1: business layoffs it's just not people are doing gradually. They're
Speaker 1: not all acting fast. But frankly, the secrets is staying
Speaker 1: alive here is to take quick action and to not
Speaker 1: to contemplate and study the problem too long. I think
Speaker 1: that one has to get a visit in a financial
Speaker 1: shape very quickly, and which means cutting your expenses and
Speaker 1: realistically reassessing what your revenue expectations can be in this environment,
Speaker 1: and you know which customers you have are going to survive,
Speaker 1: who is going to pay you, and managing your cash.
Speaker 1: What does that mean for your portfolio companies? I mean
Speaker 1: you're invested in gaming, fintech, healthcare, software, publishing. I mean
Speaker 1: you're in so many different areas healthcare. Um, what does
Speaker 1: it mean for your portfolio companies? What are you saying
Speaker 1: to them? UM? What are your expectations in terms of
Speaker 1: their survival? We're across the board, as you just said.
Speaker 1: I mean, clearly, if you're in the right areas to
Speaker 1: health care, you're okay. If you have any kind of
Speaker 1: service that's performed from the home. Uh you mentioned a
Speaker 1: gaming where a company called Scope lead another one called Dots.
Speaker 1: Both of those are game companies that people pay on
Speaker 1: play online. They're doing very well in this environment. We
Speaker 1: have a to home delivery grocery companies, one called Thrive Markets,
Speaker 1: which is kind of a uh better less coarsely thry
Speaker 1: whole foods. And then we have another company called Box
Speaker 1: which is doing bulk delivery, which is a even cheaper cosco.
Speaker 1: So those companies are doing well and are hiring people
Speaker 1: and can't meet meet up with the demand. We have
Speaker 1: companies that are dealing with special aspects of the public market,
Speaker 1: building portfolios on online. They're doing very well. So I
Speaker 1: think it really is uh selective. And you're in a
Speaker 1: retail store chain, you've got a lot of problems. Fortunately,
Speaker 1: we don't have too many companies that are in the
Speaker 1: retail area. Most of our companies are in e commerce
Speaker 1: that are selling merchandise, and so far those seem to
Speaker 1: be holding up. But everybody has got to look to
Speaker 1: take a new look at their budget for this year
Speaker 1: and say, realistically, you know, I can't just expect that
Speaker 1: what I call a cascade of miracles, which is everything
Speaker 1: is gonna be all right, and everything's gonna turn out well,
Speaker 1: and and I think you've got to prepare for, you know,
Speaker 1: a really severe thunderstorm and perhaps a hurricane. Alan Joynes
Speaker 1: is on the phone from the Hampton's where I trust,
Speaker 1: Uh a lot of people are Alan, what's it like
Speaker 1: out there? Well, it's not, uh times square, but I
Speaker 1: think people are following the rules and staying secluded. And
Speaker 1: I think that, uh, you know, we're in my home
Speaker 1: and very tight and not having it is and not
Speaker 1: visiting anyone else, so we're like everyone else is following
Speaker 1: the rules. There are living a number of cars on
Speaker 1: the road, and there are are the only people that
Speaker 1: are open the restaurants which have take out at night
Speaker 1: and at a drug store. But other than that, everything
Speaker 1: is shut down. And that's Alan Patchcraft, the founder and
Speaker 1: managing director at gray Croft, so much more than that
Speaker 1: title might tell you, Carol. Of course I loved getting
Speaker 1: into politics with him, because you know, he's the sort
Speaker 1: of person who can refer to Joe Biden as Joe
Speaker 1: and mean it right. I mean, he knows these guys
Speaker 1: so well. He knows the political landscape, and he also
Speaker 1: knows what this may portend for Let's not forget this
Speaker 1: is a presidential election year. You're listening to Bloomberg business Week.
Speaker 1: Coming up, we're going to take a look at the
Speaker 1: team that's looking at ways to save the world. We're
Speaker 1: talking about finding a cure against the virus. We'll chat
Speaker 1: with Columbia professor Alejandro Chevez. Recently, that team was the
Speaker 1: cover of Bloomberg business Week magazine. This is a hopeful
Speaker 1: interview and this is Bloomberg. You're listening to Bloomberg Business
Speaker 1: Week with Carol Masser and Jason Kelly from Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 1: And today we're bring you some of the most important,
Speaker 1: we hope informative conversations we had on our daily Bloomberg
Speaker 1: business Week radio show, all about the coronavirus, of course,
Speaker 1: and we know, Carol, this is at its core a
Speaker 1: medical crisis, correct and medical teams, healthcare teams around the country,
Speaker 1: around the world are all racing to find a cure.
Speaker 1: Alejandro Chavaz is one of those folks, part of the race.
Speaker 1: He's an assistant professor of pathology and biology at Columbia University.
Speaker 1: He is part of a team. As we said earlier,
Speaker 1: that's looking at ways to save the world. Listen to
Speaker 1: our conversation. Yeah, so, I think basically there's a lot
Speaker 1: of interest to see if we can develop some sort
Speaker 1: of therapeutic against COVID nineteen. Uh, there's several different teams involved,
Speaker 1: kind of the whole school you'll becoming mobilized and really
Speaker 1: trying to see what we can do. The core part
Speaker 1: of the group that was featured in Bloomberg are trying
Speaker 1: to develop several things. One or antibodies against the virus
Speaker 1: that would prevent the virus and enable to infect cells.
Speaker 1: And then two other three other teams are actually all
Speaker 1: looking for drugs that could prevent the virus either replicating
Speaker 1: um or for being infectious. And so that's kind of
Speaker 1: like what's going on, um from the kind of Bloomberg piece, right,
Speaker 1: And so Alex, you know, from the perspective of people
Speaker 1: who aren't nearly as smart as you are, help us
Speaker 1: understand what's different um about this and what those differences
Speaker 1: mean in terms of how you attack the problem. Yeah. So, uh,
Speaker 1: not all viruses are the same, you know, just like people,
Speaker 1: and so they all have little differences, and the differences
Speaker 1: between viruses can be quite large, UM, and so you
Speaker 1: can't take us something that works on flu, and I'll
Speaker 1: actually assume it's gonna work for this virus. And in fact,
Speaker 1: a lot of drugs that work on flu work on
Speaker 1: processes that this virus doesn't even use. So, you know,
Speaker 1: recingle virus has a little way that they like to
Speaker 1: get into cells, replicat inside the cells, and get out
Speaker 1: of the cells. And it turns out that in the
Speaker 1: case of coronavirus is we don't really have an approved
Speaker 1: therapy that we know for sure works on them. UM
Speaker 1: In general, they tend to just cause the common cold,
Speaker 1: and so there wasn't a huge incentive to discover a therapy. Obviously,
Speaker 1: two decades ago we had stars, and then you know,
Speaker 1: several years ago we had mers, and that should have
Speaker 1: been a wake up call that maybe this is a problem,
Speaker 1: but it obviously wasn't, and now we're kind of stuck
Speaker 1: with the current problem we have. Well, and we did
Speaker 1: feel like a theme today is that we did hear
Speaker 1: from a lot of different UM members of the healthcare
Speaker 1: or drug community about what they're working on. And I
Speaker 1: do feel like there's many things going on. What's the
Speaker 1: most promising what's the quickest, What are the most long
Speaker 1: lasting in terms of us getting the virus under control
Speaker 1: and managing it so that we can go back to
Speaker 1: living our lives safely and not worrying that every time
Speaker 1: the coronavirus comes back that we're going to go into
Speaker 1: this lockdown state. Yeah, so I think the longest treatment that,
Speaker 1: if we make it work, would probably the best is vaccines.
Speaker 1: You know, nothing beats vaccines. Vaccines has transformed the reason
Speaker 1: why we're probably alive today is vaccines UM. And so
Speaker 1: if you really could find a vaccine that was broadly
Speaker 1: active against coronaviruses, that would be amazing because they're incredibly safe,
Speaker 1: you can deliver them very easily. Um. Outside of that,
Speaker 1: I think the next sort of thing you're hoping for
Speaker 1: some sort of broad molecule that maybe inhibits some aspect
Speaker 1: of how the virus copies itself, or some aspect of
Speaker 1: how the virus kind of processes its proteins. UM. But
Speaker 1: really I think vaccines are very much going to be
Speaker 1: a great solution. But as far as an immediate solution
Speaker 1: to someone that is sick already, then the thing that's
Speaker 1: probably most likely is an existing drug that we're gonna
Speaker 1: try to see if we can make it work for
Speaker 1: this virus people get lucky or it's there's some people
Speaker 1: trying to take anybody's from those who have already mounted
Speaker 1: the expense against the virus and transferred to those who
Speaker 1: haven't had the opportunity to do that and that and that. Okay,
Speaker 1: could that be a really big tool in in fighting
Speaker 1: this Yeah, I mean that's the way they used to
Speaker 1: treat the theory back in the day, the way we
Speaker 1: actually treat like snake venom poisoning nowadays. Actually that you
Speaker 1: actually take animals and you infect them with the venom
Speaker 1: and then you take their anybodies and you can give
Speaker 1: it to people. Um. So it's tried and true. They've
Speaker 1: been doing that for like a long time, so work
Speaker 1: it would be effective. And it's interesting because we did
Speaker 1: talk to a researcher down at Johns Hopkins who's working
Speaker 1: on that project, as I'm sure you're aware of, Alex,
Speaker 1: So help us understand the sort of collaboration here and
Speaker 1: also this sense of urgency and what it ultimately means
Speaker 1: and how the work gets done, because you know, I
Speaker 1: think the story was relatively clear about the idea and
Speaker 1: you've alluded to this that you're trying to cram literally
Speaker 1: years of work into a much much shorter period. What
Speaker 1: what what's the given take there? Yeah, I think the
Speaker 1: thing that's been amazing about this whole opportunity is really
Speaker 1: barriers and walls have really come down. I mean, I've
Speaker 1: never seen people so agreeable, so happy to work together,
Speaker 1: so open sharing information, which has been amazing. I think
Speaker 1: it's it's transformative for us. We all push things forward.
Speaker 1: Also administratively, I think people would get the origin see
Speaker 1: and so they're all jumping to do what they can. Um.
Speaker 1: But there's some aspect of you. You have to do
Speaker 1: good science right. We don't want to hurry in Russia
Speaker 1: sloppy solution because that doesn't help anyone. And if we
Speaker 1: get it wrong, that could really be detrimental because once
Speaker 1: you know, once things become dogma, they're very hard to break, right,
Speaker 1: So once someone thinks that this is a solution, it's
Speaker 1: gonna be tough too if we find out later that
Speaker 1: it's not to get people to move away from it.
Speaker 1: So I think we're being uh quick moving, but also prudent.
Speaker 1: That's Alejandro Chavez, a sistant professor of Pathology and Biology
Speaker 1: at Columbia University, part of a team. They were recently
Speaker 1: featured on the cover of the magazine business Week magazine.
Speaker 1: They truly are looking at ways to save the world.
Speaker 1: And Jason, this is certainly a medical story, a healthcare crisis,
Speaker 1: and everyone around the world is trying to figure out
Speaker 1: how do we stop the virus. I really enjoyed that conversation.
Speaker 1: He's someone we are definitely going to keep in touch with.
Speaker 1: You're listening to Bloomberg business Week coming up former US
Speaker 1: Labor Secretary Robert Reich. He's always got a hot take,
Speaker 1: and today he's talking about corporate pailouts. This is Bloomberg.
Speaker 1: You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and
Speaker 1: Jason Kelly from Bloomberg Radio. We're bringing you some of
Speaker 1: the most important and informative conversations we had in our
Speaker 1: daily radio show about the virus this week. And we
Speaker 1: did this, of course, Jason, as the news continued to unfold,
Speaker 1: right and we were so eager and excited to catch
Speaker 1: up with former Labor Secretary Robert Rice. She's now a
Speaker 1: professor at u C. Berkeley, but still keeping a very
Speaker 1: close eye on politics and policy. He's got a new
Speaker 1: book out, and he has a take specifically right now
Speaker 1: about corporate bailouts. Well, we need all of the taxpayer
Speaker 1: money we possibly have right now for individuals. That bill
Speaker 1: that was signed into law. Uh, it provides per person
Speaker 1: just a one time payment. Now, I don't know how
Speaker 1: many people listening to this program can get by for
Speaker 1: very long on. The typical American earns about US thousand
Speaker 1: dollars a week and has expenditures that are just about
Speaker 1: that much per week, but is not going to extend
Speaker 1: nearly far enough in this pandemic, which is estimated to
Speaker 1: be uh two months, three months, possibly even four months.
Speaker 1: On the other hand, we agreed or at least provided
Speaker 1: in that bill for five hundred billion dollars of bailouts
Speaker 1: two very big companies, including airlines and Boeing and a
Speaker 1: lot of other big companies and industries. Well, here's the issue.
Speaker 1: I think we should have learned this in the big
Speaker 1: bank bail out of two thousand eight. Uh. These companies
Speaker 1: have been in bankruptcy many times before. They know how
Speaker 1: to use the bankruptcy laws to get to reorganize their debts.
Speaker 1: It's not as if they have no collateral. They have
Speaker 1: a lot of assets. I mean, the airlines have planes
Speaker 1: and landing slots. They're going to be worth a lot
Speaker 1: to the economy is back on track. The ships, the
Speaker 1: cruise ships of the hotel industry. I mean you talk
Speaker 1: about assets, these organizations, these corporations have very very large assets,
Speaker 1: and yet individuals have a great need right now. So
Speaker 1: I say, rather than bail out companies, let's bail out
Speaker 1: of people. If there is going to be a fourth
Speaker 1: co coronavirus relief bill coming up, and it looks like
Speaker 1: there will be, let's focus it on people rather than
Speaker 1: on corporations. Well, and I want to talk to you
Speaker 1: about that fourth bill because it's going to include some infrastructure.
Speaker 1: I really want to get your thoughts on that, Bob.
Speaker 1: But before we get to that, I do want to
Speaker 1: ask you because I think this speaks exactly to what
Speaker 1: you write about in your book. I mean, clearly, part
Speaker 1: of what's going on here is the system is set
Speaker 1: up to do exactly what you described as the wrong
Speaker 1: thing in many ways, which is companies have an inordinate
Speaker 1: amount of power and influence in Washington to get that
Speaker 1: half a trillion dollars right exactly and that's that's the problem. Now.
Speaker 1: You would have thought in times of national disaster emergency,
Speaker 1: certainly in wartime all of those old power relationships suspended
Speaker 1: and companies stand and the government understands that we've got
Speaker 1: to make the first priority human beings and safety. But
Speaker 1: this time around we didn't quite get there. Now, there
Speaker 1: are some things in the bill that are good, unemployment
Speaker 1: insurance six dollars over and above the unemployment people are
Speaker 1: eligible for. That's a step in the right direction. But
Speaker 1: if there is a fourth bill, let's just not worry
Speaker 1: about big companies. Let's worry about small businesses and individuals
Speaker 1: and families. They're the ones that need the help. Well.
Speaker 1: And you know what's interesting, because we've been having this conversation,
Speaker 1: um Bob with a lot of our guests here and
Speaker 1: and some say, well, you can't let these companies go down.
Speaker 1: You know they this is who could have guessed this
Speaker 1: black swan right, Nobody could have been prepared for it.
Speaker 1: I mean, what do you say to them? And and
Speaker 1: and and these folks will also say, you know, these
Speaker 1: companies employ a lot of workers. So by taking care
Speaker 1: of these companies were taking care of the workers. Um,
Speaker 1: what's your response, Well, the companies are letting off workers
Speaker 1: right and left. In fact, this week, big companies are
Speaker 1: laying off probably several million additional American workers in addition
Speaker 1: to those who were laid off last week and the
Speaker 1: week before. So what is the point of taking care
Speaker 1: of big companies that will exist? I mean these come,
Speaker 1: United Airlines isn't going anywhere. American Airlines isn't going anywhere.
Speaker 1: These companies are three or four or five months from
Speaker 1: now as still going to be there. It's the height
Speaker 1: of folly to think that these companies can't take care
Speaker 1: of them those and again, just if we're talking about
Speaker 1: the airlines, every major airline has gone through bankruptcy over
Speaker 1: the past twenty years at least once in order to
Speaker 1: rearrange its debts, and its creditors know how they do it,
Speaker 1: and its creditors are willing to let them do it
Speaker 1: because of all the assets they have. These companies are contracted.
Speaker 1: There are a bunch of contracts, they are a bunch
Speaker 1: of executives top executives, and they are some big investors.
Speaker 1: But none of those requires or deserves a bailout, particularly
Speaker 1: at a time when so many individuals and so many
Speaker 1: families are being such are being hit hard hits, so
Speaker 1: hard hits. This is a health emergency. Not only do
Speaker 1: we want to get income income support to people and families,
Speaker 1: we want to get healthcare support to people and families
Speaker 1: who need it. And we ought to we ought to
Speaker 1: do it immediately. How much do you worry about the
Speaker 1: essentially sort of fracturing of the healthcare uh system? You know,
Speaker 1: based on the stresses that you're seeing there. Oh, I'm
Speaker 1: very worried about it, as we all should be, because
Speaker 1: all the reports we're getting from all over the country
Speaker 1: is that our health care system is already at capacity,
Speaker 1: if not over capacity. In places like New York, we're
Speaker 1: finding a hospitals just can't deal with all of the
Speaker 1: people who need desperately a need help of ventilators, and
Speaker 1: I see us uh and even people inside the hospital, nurses,
Speaker 1: orderly doctors that can't find the protective equipment that they need. Uh.
Speaker 1: We'll find that the entire health care system is flooded
Speaker 1: to way, way beyond its capacity within the next two
Speaker 1: or three weeks. I think the big question for the
Speaker 1: future is whether, having experienced all this, Americans change their
Speaker 1: minds about whether healthcare ought to be organized as now
Speaker 1: is largely as a for profit corporate venture, or whether
Speaker 1: we do need to think about a different kind of
Speaker 1: healthcare system. Well, and that's what I was curious about.
Speaker 1: You know what what you see how the coronavirus pandemic
Speaker 1: will ultimately change our world? You know? You know how
Speaker 1: you know, once we get emerged from the immediate crisis,
Speaker 1: what's the most important and your view under you see
Speaker 1: a way that the world um will be different. Well,
Speaker 1: if you look at how wars have changed public attitudes
Speaker 1: in the United States, and I'm thinking particularly of the
Speaker 1: Second World War, America was able to accept certain kinds
Speaker 1: of changes that really the country didn't want to accept before. Look,
Speaker 1: and that's true also the Great Depression. It's because of
Speaker 1: the Great Depression that we were able to institutional and
Speaker 1: social security, something that we uh would not have have
Speaker 1: had the political and social capacity for accepting. Uh. The
Speaker 1: same thing with medicare after the Second World War in
Speaker 1: nineteen Medicare was again something that although it's very popular
Speaker 1: now as is social security, at that time, we accepted
Speaker 1: it because we felt like we were all in this together.
Speaker 1: We had emerged from not only the World War two
Speaker 1: but also the Korean War and the Cold War. We
Speaker 1: were still in the clod War. We were all in
Speaker 1: it together. I think that after this pandemic, it is
Speaker 1: possible now I'm I hope, I'm not looking at it
Speaker 1: through two rosy colored glasses, but I think it is
Speaker 1: possible that we may understand that, at least with regard
Speaker 1: to minimum safety nets and minimum healthcare, we need to
Speaker 1: do much more for our country and each other than
Speaker 1: we are doing now. We can't ever afford to find
Speaker 1: ourselves so unprepared and so uh with so lacking in
Speaker 1: the basics. The richest country in the world can't even
Speaker 1: make sure that all of its people are safe. That
Speaker 1: makes no sense. And will this, Bob, do you think
Speaker 1: in the short term, or if there is a different
Speaker 1: administration come next January, will it change the way certain
Speaker 1: governmental entities, including maybe the one that that you oversaw,
Speaker 1: will it change the way they operate given what we've
Speaker 1: seen in this crisis. Well, let me say this, It's
Speaker 1: hard to know obviously what what's going to change and
Speaker 1: what's not going to change, But I think Americans as
Speaker 1: a whole are gaining a deeper appreciation of how important
Speaker 1: government is and when government does not really function as
Speaker 1: it should most of the time, for most of us,
Speaker 1: it's just an irritation. Now it's a matter of life
Speaker 1: and death, and I think that changes the calculation, It
Speaker 1: changes the stakes, and people emerging Americans emerging from this
Speaker 1: may say, we may say to ourselves, now, again there's
Speaker 1: no guarantee, but we may say to ourselves, you know,
Speaker 1: we really do have to have a government that works well,
Speaker 1: that functions well. We cannot have leadership and people in
Speaker 1: responsible positions that don't know what they're doing. We've got
Speaker 1: to have a public health system that is the best
Speaker 1: in the world. Why not? And that's former Labor Secretary
Speaker 1: Robert Reich. Really excited to catch up with him, and
Speaker 1: not surprisingly, Carroll, he has some very specific opinions, but
Speaker 1: also some solutions. I really appreciated that about what we
Speaker 1: might be thinking about next, because let's be honest, the stimulus,
Speaker 1: the government, your action, it ain't over. And that wraps
Speaker 1: up the weekend edition of Bloomberg Business Week from Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 1: Thanks so much for joining us. I'm Jason Kelly and
Speaker 1: I'm Carol mass Or be sort of tune into Bloomberg
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