WEBVTT - Coronavirus Update, Peloton’s $1,000 Value Bike 0:00:00.720 --> 0:00:03.720 This is Bloomberg Business Week. I'm Carol Masser and I'm 0:00:03.800 --> 0:00:06.320 Jason Kelly. We're right here every day bringing you the 0:00:06.400 --> 0:00:11.160 latest news from the world's of business and finance, plus technology, politics, economics, 0:00:11.240 --> 0:00:14.280 all harnessing the power of Business Week reporters and editors. 0:00:14.440 --> 0:00:16.439 And of course Carol that's part of a team of 0:00:16.520 --> 0:00:20.439 twenty seven hundred journalists and analysts more than a hundred 0:00:20.480 --> 0:00:23.240 and twenty countries and Jason. You can download Bloomberg Business 0:00:23.280 --> 0:00:26.239 Week on iTunes, SoundCloud, bl Bloomberg dot com. You can 0:00:26.280 --> 0:00:28.640 also listen to our radio show at two pm Eastern 0:00:28.680 --> 0:00:31.560 on Bloomberg Radio every weekday, or watch us on YouTube 0:00:31.600 --> 0:00:36.280 by searching Bloomberg Global News. Well, our tough stories on 0:00:36.320 --> 0:00:38.159 the virus, you've been hearing them throughout the day here 0:00:38.200 --> 0:00:41.760 at Bloomberg. Those anti malaria drugs that President trub has 0:00:41.800 --> 0:00:43.600 touted to fight COVID nint well, they're linked to an 0:00:43.640 --> 0:00:46.360 increase of death and heart ailments. Meantime, you've got Oxford 0:00:46.360 --> 0:00:49.800 and Astra Zeneca they're starting to recruit subjects for advanced 0:00:49.880 --> 0:00:53.320 human studies of one of the fastest moving experimental vaccines. 0:00:53.600 --> 0:00:56.240 And then Dr fauci Uh He said he was quote 0:00:56.240 --> 0:01:00.000 cautiously optimistic about Murderner's vaccine boosting that stock once again. 0:01:00.040 --> 0:01:02.600 So let's get an update, let's see what you really 0:01:03.400 --> 0:01:05.560 need to walk away with before we get into the 0:01:05.560 --> 0:01:08.880 holiday weekend. Dr Ian LUs Bader is Clinical Associate Professor 0:01:08.920 --> 0:01:11.120 Medicine at n Y you Land Going Medical Center, joining 0:01:11.200 --> 0:01:14.120 us once again on the phone from New york Ian. 0:01:14.200 --> 0:01:16.840 Good to have you back again. How was your week? 0:01:17.840 --> 0:01:22.040 Thank you Carol and Jason. Hope you guys are doing well. Um, 0:01:22.840 --> 0:01:26.280 I think it's been overall a good week. You know, 0:01:26.360 --> 0:01:30.760 we're all transitioning, trying to transition back to whatever a 0:01:30.800 --> 0:01:35.000 more normal environment is. Certainly we're seeing a fewer cases 0:01:35.040 --> 0:01:39.440 in the hospital with UH with a cute UH COVID 0:01:39.520 --> 0:01:42.520 nineteen UH. Still a number of patients who are in 0:01:42.560 --> 0:01:47.200 the hospital, and certainly we're still touched by death. Yesterday 0:01:47.200 --> 0:01:51.200 a colleague of mine who's a cardiologist died uh. Not 0:01:51.440 --> 0:01:54.840 very old at seventy and a very vital, great teacher. 0:01:55.280 --> 0:01:57.639 So I think we're all touched one way or another 0:01:57.720 --> 0:02:01.640 by friends or family or people that we know. So 0:02:01.680 --> 0:02:05.720 it's still, you know, a very serious disease. Fortunately, the 0:02:05.800 --> 0:02:09.120 numbers here or going down there's some data perhaps in 0:02:09.160 --> 0:02:11.639 South America that the number of cases are going up, 0:02:11.639 --> 0:02:15.600 which is a concern, and we're trying to transition back 0:02:15.680 --> 0:02:18.960 to normal patient flow. What's interesting is a lot of 0:02:18.960 --> 0:02:23.920 the floors that were previously medical or surgical most of 0:02:23.960 --> 0:02:28.080 the hospital converted to COVID patients. Those patients, many of 0:02:28.120 --> 0:02:31.839 them fortunately have been discharged UH and now sort of 0:02:31.880 --> 0:02:35.040 awaiting the return of regular patients. And what's interesting to 0:02:35.080 --> 0:02:38.880 see is that volume is not a hundred percent. So 0:02:39.000 --> 0:02:42.679 it seems that many patients with you know, abdominal pain, 0:02:42.760 --> 0:02:47.120 chest pain, elective surgery needs are slow to return to 0:02:47.160 --> 0:02:52.200 the regular healthcare system, which which may reflect either you know, 0:02:52.400 --> 0:02:57.200 fears about getting care, maybe fears about getting COVID. But 0:02:57.720 --> 0:03:01.680 certainly I think the medical system is eddie to return 0:03:01.800 --> 0:03:04.200 to UH, you know, dealing with patients who might have 0:03:04.280 --> 0:03:07.360 postponed some of their care and our anxious to have 0:03:07.400 --> 0:03:10.080 those patients back. So Ian talked to us about New 0:03:10.160 --> 0:03:12.080 York City at this point. You know, we heard from 0:03:12.360 --> 0:03:16.480 Governor Cuomo that by next week, essentially every region of 0:03:16.520 --> 0:03:20.079 this state of New York State will be in the 0:03:20.160 --> 0:03:23.160 phases that early phases and and and further along in 0:03:23.200 --> 0:03:26.880 reopening safe for New York City. We know about the density, 0:03:26.960 --> 0:03:29.360 we know about the fact that this was the epicenter 0:03:29.400 --> 0:03:32.800 really in the entire United States. Help us understand what 0:03:32.919 --> 0:03:35.920 needs to happen, because my understanding is is that part 0:03:35.960 --> 0:03:40.160 of it is available beds and and basically hospital capacity. 0:03:40.240 --> 0:03:43.200 That is one threshold that the city has yet to meet. 0:03:43.240 --> 0:03:46.520 Help us understand that, well. I think it's very hard 0:03:46.960 --> 0:03:51.120 to turn on hospital availability like a light switch. When 0:03:51.160 --> 0:03:54.400 you start filling up your hospital with you know, elective 0:03:54.440 --> 0:03:59.240 surgery and uh other surgical procedures or cardiac cases and 0:03:59.280 --> 0:04:03.040 so forth. If there's a sudden surgeon patients, you it's 0:04:03.160 --> 0:04:07.000 very hard to quickly get those patients out. So it's 0:04:07.080 --> 0:04:11.640 always better to anticipate what your needs may be, whether 0:04:11.680 --> 0:04:14.600 it's ventilators or I c U space. But it does 0:04:14.640 --> 0:04:20.120 seem at this time whether or not social distancing and 0:04:20.120 --> 0:04:24.040 and mitigation measures have helped, or whether it's the better weather, 0:04:24.360 --> 0:04:26.760 we don't really know. But the number of new cases 0:04:27.160 --> 0:04:31.599 does seem to be uh reducing. So that's certainly very 0:04:32.279 --> 0:04:35.640 uh you know, encouraging, and I think we have to 0:04:35.720 --> 0:04:38.960 address our regular patients and other patients, you know, to 0:04:39.080 --> 0:04:41.800 deal to deal with those issues. And I think this 0:04:41.960 --> 0:04:44.640 is really unknown, it's a new virus, and how people 0:04:44.680 --> 0:04:48.279 will get back, how safe it will be uh in 0:04:48.480 --> 0:04:53.680 businesses and offices. I certainly I think people will begin 0:04:53.760 --> 0:04:57.080 to come back in a slower fashion. People who can 0:04:57.120 --> 0:04:59.880 work from home probably will still be encouraged to work 0:05:00.000 --> 0:05:02.560 them home. But I think there's a lot of benefit 0:05:02.640 --> 0:05:07.080 to people getting back to normal psychologically. Um, there may 0:05:07.120 --> 0:05:08.920 be some people who still want to work from home, 0:05:09.160 --> 0:05:11.880 may be more efficient. There's some people who say they're 0:05:11.880 --> 0:05:15.120 working longer hours, you know, from eight am to six pm, 0:05:15.520 --> 0:05:19.200 and and actually even being more productive. Yeah. I think 0:05:19.320 --> 0:05:22.520 just now I've had some of those conversations that you know, 0:05:22.560 --> 0:05:24.159 I don't think. I think I went into this wasn't 0:05:24.240 --> 0:05:26.800 quite sure how it was going to work. And I 0:05:26.839 --> 0:05:30.160 feel probably more productive on a lot of different levels. UM. 0:05:30.160 --> 0:05:33.680 So it's kind of interesting this experience. UM. What did 0:05:33.680 --> 0:05:38.400 you make of the president taking hydrochloroquin so that that 0:05:38.480 --> 0:05:40.520 has been asked to me by a number of patients 0:05:40.760 --> 0:05:46.200 and UH and colleagues and and and friends. And I think, um, 0:05:46.240 --> 0:05:51.280 because we do not have any medication really that we 0:05:51.320 --> 0:05:56.320 know of to reduce the uh say, incidents of of 0:05:56.839 --> 0:06:01.680 COVID nineteen or the symptoms. We're very lucky that of 0:06:01.760 --> 0:06:04.600 patients approximately more or less seem to do fairly well 0:06:05.480 --> 0:06:08.520 and a smaller percent again for unclear reasons. We know 0:06:08.640 --> 0:06:11.559 some risk factors. Again we talked about age and weight 0:06:11.680 --> 0:06:16.599 and diabetes and hypertension due to deteriorate UH. We don't 0:06:16.640 --> 0:06:20.560 really have great medications to to bend that curve. We 0:06:20.640 --> 0:06:27.520 certainly know hydroxy chloroquine um is very useful for rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, malaria, prophylaxis. 0:06:27.560 --> 0:06:30.799 We also know from many studies it's not very helpful 0:06:30.839 --> 0:06:34.840 at all once you're hospitalized and use sort of late 0:06:34.880 --> 0:06:37.720 in the disease or when patients are very sick. There 0:06:37.720 --> 0:06:41.280 are a number of studies going on now to see 0:06:41.720 --> 0:06:43.960 in a controlled way, and we don't really have good 0:06:44.040 --> 0:06:47.479 randomized control studies, so so those are starting now. But 0:06:47.560 --> 0:06:50.440 there's a lot of anecdotal evidence, small case studies and 0:06:50.480 --> 0:06:56.080 individual reports where it does seem to reduce the viral replication, 0:06:56.200 --> 0:06:59.560 does seem to reduce the severity um of the disease, 0:06:59.680 --> 0:07:03.440 or maybe actually prevents some people from getting the disease, 0:07:03.880 --> 0:07:07.800 so they're used early on. It right to be very helpful, 0:07:08.120 --> 0:07:10.880 and I think in the White House where I have 0:07:10.960 --> 0:07:16.360 the best guest, thirty or forty people there habit and 0:07:16.680 --> 0:07:18.440 hang on a second, because we've just got to take 0:07:19.120 --> 0:07:21.280 a break and we'll come back. We're catching up with 0:07:21.320 --> 0:07:24.680 our pal. Dr Ian les Bader, clinical Associate Professor of 0:07:24.720 --> 0:07:27.920 Medicine at n y U s Lango Medical Center, joinings 0:07:27.920 --> 0:07:31.200 on the phone from New York City, and when we 0:07:31.320 --> 0:07:33.960 left off, we were talking about some of the treatments 0:07:34.040 --> 0:07:37.840 that are out there. So Ian, I want to ask you, 0:07:38.960 --> 0:07:43.760 since testing and tracing are going to be key to reopening, 0:07:44.080 --> 0:07:49.000 where are we on testing? What are we learning so far? Um, 0:07:49.000 --> 0:07:51.080 both in sort of broad strokes but also sort of 0:07:51.120 --> 0:07:54.640 specifically what have you seen here in New York h 0:07:55.040 --> 0:08:01.120 great questions. So in terms of testing, every one UH, 0:08:01.320 --> 0:08:04.800 whether they've had mild or no symptoms or severe symptoms, 0:08:05.200 --> 0:08:08.840 wants antibody testing and those are generally pretty reliable. We're 0:08:08.920 --> 0:08:12.600 using some of the national labs um for a blood 0:08:12.640 --> 0:08:16.360 draw and I g G levels, and it's interesting to 0:08:16.400 --> 0:08:18.920 me that there are some people who were very sick 0:08:19.080 --> 0:08:22.240 and they have antibody positive. That's great, not all unexpected. 0:08:22.280 --> 0:08:24.800 You've got some people who are very mild or no 0:08:25.520 --> 0:08:28.800 known exposure and they're positive. But we're also seeing and 0:08:28.800 --> 0:08:31.360 I would say the majority of patients who are curious 0:08:31.800 --> 0:08:35.880 negative blood tests for antibodies, and you know, presumably that 0:08:35.920 --> 0:08:38.920 means those people definitely should be vaccinated when that is 0:08:38.960 --> 0:08:43.280 available and hopefully soon. In terms of acute patients who 0:08:43.320 --> 0:08:47.480 are ill, uh, we are now able to get those 0:08:47.600 --> 0:08:51.280 nasal swabs. Some people go to local urgent care where 0:08:51.280 --> 0:08:55.080 they may get nasal swabs or the saliva test. UH. 0:08:55.360 --> 0:08:58.320 Many go to urgent care to and get antibody tests. 0:08:58.520 --> 0:09:01.920 Remember that takes about ford to six weeks after symptoms 0:09:01.920 --> 0:09:04.680 for the antibody tests to be positive. But it seems 0:09:04.679 --> 0:09:07.439 there's a lot of curiosity and when we get all 0:09:07.480 --> 0:09:09.800 that data, that will give us a denominator of how 0:09:09.800 --> 0:09:13.560 many people had exposure and really what the death rate 0:09:13.640 --> 0:09:16.680 is when those final numbers come through. But at the 0:09:16.760 --> 0:09:20.240 end of the day, because we have no specific treatment, 0:09:20.600 --> 0:09:26.160 even if someone is COVID swab positive, UM, we really 0:09:26.480 --> 0:09:29.120 don't treat them. And that's sort of hearkens back to 0:09:29.160 --> 0:09:32.040 what we were talking about before with President Trump taking 0:09:32.120 --> 0:09:37.199 hydroxy chloroquine that may either prevent more severe disease or 0:09:37.280 --> 0:09:42.440 may prevent getting the disease or shortened symptoms. Other things, 0:09:42.480 --> 0:09:46.880 for example, vitamin D, some zinc, vitamin C, all of 0:09:46.920 --> 0:09:50.240 those may play a role. I urged patients to talk 0:09:50.280 --> 0:09:52.800 to their doctor about it. If you're vitamin D deficient, 0:09:52.880 --> 0:09:56.319 probably good to take a supplement. The hydroxy chloroquine does 0:09:56.400 --> 0:09:59.760 have risks. People really should get an e KG baseline. 0:10:00.160 --> 0:10:03.600 We've used it for years successfully in amator arthritis and lupus, 0:10:03.640 --> 0:10:06.520 and patients do very well on that. Uh. If I 0:10:06.600 --> 0:10:09.280 was the president and surrounded by thirty or forty people, 0:10:09.720 --> 0:10:12.400 including my valet with I wish I had a l A, 0:10:12.440 --> 0:10:15.160 but and I had a l A who was sick um, 0:10:15.200 --> 0:10:18.880 I would definitely say, hey, maybe I should take hydroxy clorklin. 0:10:18.960 --> 0:10:22.000 There is some data. I'm not sure that's appropriate for 0:10:22.080 --> 0:10:24.640 everyone to do. And I think that's sort of the 0:10:24.679 --> 0:10:28.000 issue that your role model and you sort of everyone 0:10:28.000 --> 0:10:30.120 then says, hey, if he's taking it, should I write 0:10:30.280 --> 0:10:34.559 that we're really waiting for for data on that. So will. 0:10:34.840 --> 0:10:36.839 I love that you said, if if you know maybe 0:10:36.840 --> 0:10:38.680 what the president is thinking, that you know where I 0:10:38.720 --> 0:10:40.520 am and who I'm surrounded with, maybe it makes sense 0:10:40.559 --> 0:10:41.880 for me to take it and so I'm going to 0:10:42.040 --> 0:10:45.840 ask my doctor, if you were his doctor, knowing his age, 0:10:46.120 --> 0:10:50.960 and you know some of his medical health conditions and um, 0:10:51.040 --> 0:10:54.280 who he is, would you suggest he do it? That's 0:10:54.400 --> 0:10:57.160 that's really a great question. There is no question he's 0:10:57.160 --> 0:11:00.280 in a high risk group. Um, even though he is 0:11:00.480 --> 0:11:03.559 appears overall healthy. We don't know. I don't know his 0:11:03.640 --> 0:11:06.800 e KG results, but if you're overweight, that is a 0:11:06.880 --> 0:11:11.840 significant risk factor, and a certainly age and male sex 0:11:11.880 --> 0:11:14.840 as a risk factor. So he definitely is high risk. 0:11:14.920 --> 0:11:19.600 He's surrounded by a very close UH workers who who 0:11:19.800 --> 0:11:22.720 have tested positive. I don't think it was really a 0:11:22.760 --> 0:11:26.480 crazy idea to take it. The next question is, okay, well, 0:11:26.640 --> 0:11:28.880 how long do you take it? What's the dose you take? 0:11:29.280 --> 0:11:32.120 We don't really have that information. Studies are going on, 0:11:32.640 --> 0:11:36.600 but you're really guessing when you're when you're dosing it 0:11:36.640 --> 0:11:38.439 as to what the right doses and how long to 0:11:38.559 --> 0:11:41.320 keep someone on it. But in principle it is not 0:11:41.440 --> 0:11:44.720 a crazy idea. All right, Well, we hope you have 0:11:45.160 --> 0:11:49.400 a triffic weekend. Dr lesbader Ian Les Beder, Clinical Associate 0:11:49.400 --> 0:11:52.440 Professor of Medicine, ny US Langown Medical Center, And I 0:11:52.440 --> 0:11:54.200 will say just to give him a shout out. He 0:11:54.240 --> 0:11:56.800 has been such a consistent voice for us in all 0:11:56.800 --> 0:11:58.920 of this. I really look forward to our conversations. I 0:11:58.960 --> 0:12:02.200 feel like I come out the other side smarter and 0:12:02.200 --> 0:12:04.319 and really able to talk to people because we're all 0:12:04.320 --> 0:12:07.079 talking about this all the time, Carol, and being able 0:12:07.120 --> 0:12:09.280 to convey some information not just to our listeners, but 0:12:09.360 --> 0:12:11.719 even in my personal life. Very grateful to the the infide. Yeah, 0:12:11.760 --> 0:12:13.599 and I have to say he's often given us a 0:12:13.679 --> 0:12:15.720 heads up on things that all of a sudden, like 0:12:15.760 --> 0:12:17.600 in a week or in a few days, are in 0:12:17.640 --> 0:12:21.800 everybody's headlines and in everybody's uh conversations. But I really 0:12:21.800 --> 0:12:23.560 do feel like he's been ahead of the curve, so 0:12:23.720 --> 0:12:27.080 really appreciate it. Um Dr Ian lust Later LUs Baider, 0:12:27.120 --> 0:12:30.160 Clinical Associate Professor Medicine at Lanto Medical Center. On the 0:12:30.160 --> 0:12:33.560 phone from New York City. You're listening to Bloomberg Business 0:12:33.640 --> 0:12:37.679 Week with Carol Masser and Jason Kelly on Bloomberg Radio. 0:12:38.120 --> 0:12:40.280 This story Jason is among the most red on the 0:12:40.280 --> 0:12:43.040 Bloomberg Today. You and I were both He's rubbing his 0:12:43.040 --> 0:12:46.040 hands together because we're excited to talk to Ashley Vance. 0:12:46.160 --> 0:12:49.120 It is in the magazine's double issue. It's online. It's 0:12:49.120 --> 0:12:51.000 a story that came out of a phone call from 0:12:51.040 --> 0:12:53.719 Elon Musk to Bloomberg Business Week reporter and New York 0:12:53.720 --> 0:12:56.760 Times bestselling author Ashley Vats, who, of course, as you know, 0:12:57.160 --> 0:13:00.880 wrote a biography of Musk entitled Elon Musk, Slow, SpaceX 0:13:01.160 --> 0:13:03.400 and the Quest for a Fantastic Future, actually also the 0:13:03.440 --> 0:13:05.760 host of Hello World. He joins us on the phone 0:13:05.760 --> 0:13:12.319 from Palo Alto, California. So must just called you up. Yeah, 0:13:12.400 --> 0:13:16.000 we we uh, you know, we never since my book 0:13:16.000 --> 0:13:20.040 came out, we've had a bit of unusual relationship, sometimes talking, 0:13:20.200 --> 0:13:23.680 sometimes not, and it had been a while since we 0:13:23.760 --> 0:13:27.320 had any kind of really meaningful conversation. But you know, 0:13:27.360 --> 0:13:30.839 there's this amazing moment that's coming up next week with 0:13:30.960 --> 0:13:34.280 SpaceX China launch after us to the Space station. And 0:13:34.679 --> 0:13:38.240 I got a call from Elan on Sunday and Ashley, 0:13:38.679 --> 0:13:40.880 you do such a beautiful job setting it up, and 0:13:41.200 --> 0:13:43.959 I don't want to take I'm not gonna I was 0:13:43.960 --> 0:13:45.720 gonna read some of your best lines. I'm not gonna 0:13:45.880 --> 0:13:47.760 read it out loud because people just have to go 0:13:47.800 --> 0:13:49.800 read it and have the whole experience that we got 0:13:49.840 --> 0:13:52.000 to have. Of of like sitting and reading and just 0:13:52.040 --> 0:13:55.400 sort of being enveloped in this world. But the main 0:13:55.600 --> 0:13:58.600 point that you make at the top is that this 0:13:58.720 --> 0:14:04.200 should be a very straightforward, like declare victory, patriotic moment, 0:14:04.440 --> 0:14:07.400 you know, and you talk about like an immigrant launching 0:14:07.400 --> 0:14:10.400 people into space. This is what this whole country has 0:14:10.520 --> 0:14:13.920 has been about. And yet it is so much more complicated, 0:14:13.960 --> 0:14:18.640 in part because Elon Musk himself is complicated. Help us 0:14:18.760 --> 0:14:22.640 understand why and what you really took from this conversation. See, 0:14:22.640 --> 0:14:24.640 and I just wanted to know, did you like, wait, Ellen, 0:14:24.720 --> 0:14:26.720 can I just get back to you. I'm hope busy 0:14:26.840 --> 0:14:29.720 right now now. I'm just kidding answer answer Jason's question. 0:14:30.880 --> 0:14:33.040 It is funny because you know, I was already working 0:14:33.360 --> 0:14:36.160 on an essay tied to this launch, because it is 0:14:36.240 --> 0:14:38.560 it is this historic moment. You know, we've been we've 0:14:38.600 --> 0:14:41.800 been relying on Russian rockets for for about ten years 0:14:41.840 --> 0:14:45.280 to get humans into space, and obviously it's such a 0:14:45.280 --> 0:14:48.120 good ton with the virus that I wanted to write 0:14:48.160 --> 0:14:51.280 something about. Look, you know, humans can do a lot 0:14:51.320 --> 0:14:53.280 when they really put their mind to it. We all 0:14:53.280 --> 0:14:56.640 work together Space Action, NASA, the government and the private 0:14:56.640 --> 0:15:00.400 sector doing something good and and you want had already 0:15:00.400 --> 0:15:03.720 started to complicate my piece because you know, for the 0:15:03.800 --> 0:15:07.520 last um two or three weeks, he's been especially flamboyant 0:15:07.600 --> 0:15:11.360 on Twitter. Um, he's pretty happily in the COVID ninety 0:15:11.440 --> 0:15:14.800 and Truther camp. Uh. You know, he's been fighting to 0:15:14.840 --> 0:15:17.560 open his factories when people have been saying maybe that's 0:15:17.600 --> 0:15:20.080 not the safest thing to do, and so so yeah, 0:15:20.200 --> 0:15:23.760 just it's not really complex. I mean, here's this, um 0:15:24.040 --> 0:15:27.480 super it should be just a super positive thing for 0:15:27.640 --> 0:15:30.720 humanity at a time when when humanity as a whole 0:15:31.240 --> 0:15:33.360 is uh is phasing questions and I think you know, 0:15:33.440 --> 0:15:36.800 the US obviously is as well. Well all right, I 0:15:36.800 --> 0:15:38.800 know Jason said he wasn't going to read a line, 0:15:38.800 --> 0:15:41.000 but I am, and I agree everybody has to read this. 0:15:41.040 --> 0:15:43.600 But you're right, so the moment of achievement is complicated, 0:15:43.760 --> 0:15:46.880 sort of like the right stuff meets the electrical maid 0:15:47.040 --> 0:15:50.560 acid test or the idea that anything is possible is 0:15:50.600 --> 0:15:54.120 as unnerving as it is encouraging. Mind mail Jason Kelly, Um, 0:15:54.160 --> 0:15:56.280 it's such a great line, but but it is significant. 0:15:56.280 --> 0:15:59.080 My dad was very involved in the space race, UM 0:15:59.280 --> 0:16:04.040 back in the you know, fifties, sixties seventies. Um, so 0:16:04.160 --> 0:16:07.240 tell us about this moment and really, you know Elon Musk, 0:16:07.720 --> 0:16:10.600 you know, really does stand at this moment of doing 0:16:10.640 --> 0:16:14.080 something incredible for our country. Yet at the same time, 0:16:14.160 --> 0:16:17.800 right he kind of complicates everything he does. Yeah, I mean, 0:16:18.080 --> 0:16:21.680 it's sort of it speaks to everything about Ellen. I think, 0:16:21.760 --> 0:16:24.920 you know, SpaceX, of all his businesses, is probably the 0:16:24.960 --> 0:16:29.760 most improbable, and yet it is ended up being the 0:16:29.800 --> 0:16:35.080 most consistent, reliable, and high achieving of all his companies. 0:16:35.120 --> 0:16:38.920 So much though that NASA, which is this very traditional 0:16:39.360 --> 0:16:44.000 um risk averse organization, is willing to put human lives 0:16:44.040 --> 0:16:46.680 on top of the the SpaceX rocket. You know, if you're 0:16:46.720 --> 0:16:48.920 if you're not a space nerd, it's it's kind of 0:16:48.960 --> 0:16:53.120 hard maybe to put what an unlikely achievement this is 0:16:53.200 --> 0:16:56.560 and and how hard it was to do it. Um, 0:16:56.600 --> 0:17:01.320 I think then you just have the wrapper of law 0:17:01.760 --> 0:17:03.840 all around is you know, there was a day when 0:17:03.880 --> 0:17:06.199 he was firing off a ton of his tweets when 0:17:06.200 --> 0:17:09.240 he was gonna sell off his possessions that we have 0:17:09.359 --> 0:17:12.720 to open the factors and like, at that very same moment, 0:17:12.800 --> 0:17:15.679 Master was having a press conference with Gwinn Shotwell, the 0:17:15.680 --> 0:17:19.199 president of SpaceX talking about the launch, and and so 0:17:19.280 --> 0:17:23.400 you just have you have these such extreme things where um, 0:17:23.440 --> 0:17:26.879 this is not your traditional NASA rocket lodgers just out 0:17:26.920 --> 0:17:31.119 there giving a vision of public safety and you and 0:17:31.200 --> 0:17:35.119 we beings every and so we'd be remiss if we 0:17:35.160 --> 0:17:37.760 didn't ask you about some other sort of musky and things, 0:17:37.840 --> 0:17:40.480 you know, not the least of which is Tesla because 0:17:40.720 --> 0:17:43.760 you know, despite everything, I mean you go back and 0:17:43.760 --> 0:17:45.639 and read sort of the headlines or a timeline over 0:17:45.680 --> 0:17:47.560 the past couple of years. You know, this is a 0:17:47.600 --> 0:17:50.359 company that's had lovers and haters, and it feels like 0:17:50.400 --> 0:17:52.679 most people are sort of binary on this, both from 0:17:52.720 --> 0:17:56.159 an investor perspective and even from a personal perspective. And 0:17:56.320 --> 0:17:58.439 you have a great line where you talk about, you know, 0:17:58.560 --> 0:18:01.439 defying when you especially when you look across his portfolio, 0:18:01.840 --> 0:18:05.360 you know, like lottery like odds to be successful. Um 0:18:05.680 --> 0:18:08.720 here remind us of the Tesla piece of this, because 0:18:09.000 --> 0:18:13.880 in terms of influencing everyday life, he has had a 0:18:13.920 --> 0:18:17.320 massive influence there. Yeah, I mean on the you know, 0:18:18.480 --> 0:18:22.520 say is incredible. Tesla is a remarkable story as well. 0:18:22.600 --> 0:18:25.240 You know, without Tesla, I do not think most people 0:18:25.280 --> 0:18:28.879 would be talking about electric cars, and so whether you 0:18:28.920 --> 0:18:31.080 love Tesla or here, I think they're going to go 0:18:31.080 --> 0:18:33.240 banker up to turn a profit. I mean, the reality 0:18:33.359 --> 0:18:36.680 is that Elon shifted um the car market to to 0:18:36.720 --> 0:18:39.760 actually pay attention to electric cars and get consumers interested 0:18:39.800 --> 0:18:44.200 in them. In this particular story, Tesla is strange as 0:18:44.200 --> 0:18:47.119 a result of Musk tweets, because a lot of people 0:18:47.160 --> 0:18:49.800 buy Tesla's to kind of virtue signal that they care 0:18:49.800 --> 0:18:52.280 about the environment and may hope, you know, human kind 0:18:52.400 --> 0:18:55.040 ends up in a better place. Um. But because of 0:18:55.119 --> 0:18:58.240 Musk tweets where he's been he's been threatening the pool 0:18:58.240 --> 0:19:00.960 Tesla out of California and go to tech, and he's 0:19:00.960 --> 0:19:03.439 been tweeting a lot of kind of right stuff. He's 0:19:03.480 --> 0:19:07.240 suddenly now now a post child for for conservatives, a 0:19:07.320 --> 0:19:10.800 clident Denis as well. So it's a very strange situation. 0:19:11.280 --> 0:19:13.399 What's also and I love the way towards the end 0:19:13.440 --> 0:19:17.040 of your story you talk about Musk's larger ambitions, which 0:19:17.080 --> 0:19:18.639 I think some people are like, Okay, this is the 0:19:18.640 --> 0:19:21.120 crazy side of Elon Musk, you know, building a human 0:19:21.160 --> 0:19:24.040 colony on Mars. But here we are with the pandemic 0:19:24.160 --> 0:19:27.159 and not quite sure about how this is all going 0:19:27.160 --> 0:19:28.840 to play out, or really what our future is when 0:19:28.840 --> 0:19:31.879 it comes to you know, devastating viruses and the idea 0:19:31.880 --> 0:19:34.240 of an alternative planet to maybe go to. Not such 0:19:34.280 --> 0:19:37.479 a crazy idea anymore. Yeah, that's kind of the irony 0:19:37.480 --> 0:19:38.960 of it. What do you allowed to use this? People like, 0:19:38.960 --> 0:19:41.520 why do you want to spend your money on space? Actually? Like, wow, 0:19:41.600 --> 0:19:43.680 humans might get wiped out one day and we should 0:19:43.680 --> 0:19:45.840 have this backup plan. And people like whatever, man, you 0:19:45.840 --> 0:19:48.000 know you're crazy. Why don't you go do something else? 0:19:48.440 --> 0:19:51.159 And then you know, a plague hits the world and 0:19:51.160 --> 0:19:54.159 then he's dedying it. But but this is kind of 0:19:54.160 --> 0:19:57.600 the reason SpaceX was started at the beginning, and so 0:19:57.680 --> 0:20:00.800 there's a lot of symbolism in to the human is 0:20:00.840 --> 0:20:05.359 actually exiting the pandemic on a SpaceX rocket. Yeah. Well 0:20:05.440 --> 0:20:08.879 it's amazing and uh fortunate for us. You are in 0:20:08.880 --> 0:20:12.360 a position to take that call, Ashley fans and write 0:20:12.359 --> 0:20:16.040 about it for Bloomberg Business, Like you got your voicemail 0:20:16.040 --> 0:20:19.399 and you're like, wait, I bet they were going to connect. 0:20:19.520 --> 0:20:21.440 It sounds like he was. It sounds like he wanted 0:20:21.440 --> 0:20:24.080 to unburden himself. Ashley. You're the best. Thank you so 0:20:24.160 --> 0:20:26.280 much for spending some time with this feature writer for 0:20:26.440 --> 0:20:29.399 Bloomberg Business Week. His book on Elon Musk. It's a 0:20:29.440 --> 0:20:34.440 great quarantine read so timely now given everything that's going on. 0:20:35.359 --> 0:20:39.000 This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and Jason 0:20:39.080 --> 0:20:42.760 Kelly on Bloomberg Radio. Well as Jason Kelly and I've 0:20:42.800 --> 0:20:46.680 been talking. It's been the world tour for FED Chief 0:20:46.760 --> 0:20:49.199 J Powell. I believe what do we call it, the 0:20:49.280 --> 0:20:52.320 lending not spending tour, ending not spending tour JP and 0:20:52.359 --> 0:20:56.160 the Feds. We have heard from j Pale a lot 0:20:56.240 --> 0:20:58.600 over the past week, and he certainly has reaching been 0:20:58.640 --> 0:21:01.360 reaching out getting his message of us. Uh, what does 0:21:01.400 --> 0:21:04.840 it all mean in terms of FED policy. Let's get 0:21:04.840 --> 0:21:08.480 into that with Jeffrey Cleveland. He's Chief Economistic Paidon and Regal. 0:21:08.520 --> 0:21:11.600 He's joins us on the phone from Los Angeles. Jeffrey, 0:21:11.640 --> 0:21:13.640 great to have you back with us on Bloomberg Radio. 0:21:13.640 --> 0:21:15.120 First of all, tell us a little bit about your 0:21:15.119 --> 0:21:17.480 world out in l A. We know the world is 0:21:17.520 --> 0:21:21.040 slowly across the country reopening. Um, how have you been impacted? 0:21:21.080 --> 0:21:24.680 What's going on? Well, the work from home protocol is 0:21:24.720 --> 0:21:27.320 going pretty well. You know, I'm able to adjust quickly 0:21:27.320 --> 0:21:29.240 to that. I think that the real downside here in 0:21:29.359 --> 0:21:31.560 l A. The weather has been beautiful the last couple 0:21:31.600 --> 0:21:33.520 of weeks, and only within the last week or so 0:21:33.600 --> 0:21:36.840 did they open up the detrails here. I went. I 0:21:36.840 --> 0:21:39.000 went hiking in the Santa Monica Mountains, which was great, 0:21:39.080 --> 0:21:41.840 and then down to the beach. You can carol. You 0:21:41.840 --> 0:21:44.399 can swim in the ocean, they said, and run at 0:21:44.400 --> 0:21:46.479 the beach, but you're not supposed to sit on the 0:21:46.480 --> 0:21:49.560 beach and gather in in crowd. So it's a little 0:21:49.560 --> 0:21:54.800 bit limited. Alright, so some some rules still, right, Yeah, 0:21:54.800 --> 0:21:56.840 but you know, we we're looking at high frequency data. 0:21:56.880 --> 0:21:58.800 So if you're looking at l A public transit, you 0:21:58.840 --> 0:22:01.560 know you got a huge client and activity obviously during 0:22:01.600 --> 0:22:04.960 March and April and into early part of May. But 0:22:05.000 --> 0:22:06.920 it looks like it's bottomed out. Looks like those high 0:22:06.960 --> 0:22:10.800 frequency data measures have bottomed out. So if you want 0:22:10.800 --> 0:22:14.000