WEBVTT - Community Immunity Campaign for Vaccination Education 0:00:01.800 --> 0:00:04.400 This is Bloomberg Business Week. I'm Carol Masser and I'm 0:00:04.440 --> 0:00:07.280 Bloomberg Quick Takes Tim Stanibek. We're here every day bringing 0:00:07.280 --> 0:00:09.799 you the latest news from the world of business and finance, 0:00:09.840 --> 0:00:13.600 plus technology, politics, economics, all harnessing the power of Business 0:00:13.640 --> 0:00:17.119 Week reporters and editors, not to mention our journalists and 0:00:17.120 --> 0:00:20.000 analysts in more than one twenty countries. You can download 0:00:20.000 --> 0:00:23.160 Bloomberg Business Week on iTunes, SoundCloud, or Bloomberg dot Com. 0:00:23.400 --> 0:00:25.120 You can also listen to our radio show at two 0:00:25.160 --> 0:00:27.840 pm Eastern Time on Bloomberg Radio or watch us on 0:00:27.880 --> 0:00:32.040 YouTube search Bloomberg Global News. President Buying expected to announce 0:00:32.080 --> 0:00:34.920 to more some new guidance on wearing masks outdoors for 0:00:35.000 --> 0:00:38.159 vaccinated people. That's coming from CNN. They're citing people familiar 0:00:38.200 --> 0:00:41.279 with the plan. We've also known that US tourists who 0:00:41.280 --> 0:00:43.159 have been fully vaccinated will be allowed to travel to 0:00:43.200 --> 0:00:45.520 Europe this summer, more than a year after an essential 0:00:45.560 --> 0:00:47.800 travel was shut down. That coming from The New York Times. 0:00:48.280 --> 0:00:51.559 At the same time, we are reminded that we are 0:00:51.600 --> 0:00:54.560 far from being over globally UH in our fight against 0:00:54.560 --> 0:00:58.160 COVID India recording more than three hundred fifty two thousand 0:00:58.400 --> 0:01:01.000 new coronavirus cases the a straight day of more than 0:01:01.080 --> 0:01:04.520 three thousand affections as the COVID nineteen crisis in that 0:01:04.560 --> 0:01:07.479 country continues to grow. So back with our daily check 0:01:07.520 --> 0:01:09.680 on COVID and great to have Joining us once again 0:01:10.120 --> 0:01:12.320 is Dr Alaga Day Williams. He's Chief of Staff of 0:01:12.360 --> 0:01:16.520 Neurology at Columbia University of Vagelost College of Physicians and Surgeons, 0:01:16.520 --> 0:01:20.760 and NIH funded researcher. A leading health disparities expert, his 0:01:20.840 --> 0:01:24.360 research is focused on community based behavioral interventions. He's also 0:01:24.400 --> 0:01:27.600 the founder, president, and board chair of Hip Hop Public Health. 0:01:27.880 --> 0:01:31.720 Check out their website. Uh Blueberg Philanthropy Philanthropies, by the Way, 0:01:31.720 --> 0:01:34.399 has provided a grant to Hip Hop Health and Dr 0:01:34.600 --> 0:01:36.600 Williams joining us once again on the phone in New 0:01:36.680 --> 0:01:39.920 York City. How are you hi, Great to be back 0:01:39.959 --> 0:01:42.360 with you. Nice to have you back. I feel like 0:01:42.920 --> 0:01:45.680 we as a nation here in the United States feel 0:01:45.760 --> 0:01:48.040 a lot of progress when it comes to getting the 0:01:48.120 --> 0:01:51.360 vaccine at and are looking ahead to maybe our world 0:01:51.440 --> 0:01:54.640 reopening more. But when you look at numbers from India 0:01:54.680 --> 0:01:56.840 and some other emerging areas of the world, you are 0:01:56.920 --> 0:02:00.240 reminded that we are far from out of COVID nighte teen. 0:02:00.280 --> 0:02:03.800 How do you see it? Dr Williams, Well, I'm I 0:02:03.800 --> 0:02:06.400 I kind of I do have hope, but I also 0:02:06.440 --> 0:02:10.480 have deep, deep concerns at the same time. It's I'm 0:02:10.560 --> 0:02:13.919 kind of in this twilight place where on the one hand, 0:02:13.960 --> 0:02:16.880 I see all the progress that has been made, and 0:02:16.960 --> 0:02:20.040 on the other hand, I'm concerned that that we are 0:02:20.080 --> 0:02:22.280 not going to make it to the finish line unless 0:02:22.360 --> 0:02:25.440 we really really come together and solve not only the 0:02:25.480 --> 0:02:30.520 disparities within this country, but also help other less developed countries. 0:02:30.600 --> 0:02:33.919 Because you know, the truth of the matter is UM. 0:02:33.960 --> 0:02:38.959 You know, these the virus is constantly mutating UM. And 0:02:39.240 --> 0:02:41.720 the way it mutates is when it's given an opportunity 0:02:41.720 --> 0:02:44.640 to replicate in our bodies. And so if you have 0:02:44.840 --> 0:02:48.720 unvaccinated clusters either way then within our own communities or 0:02:48.800 --> 0:02:51.400 within the community outside of the world, it gives that 0:02:51.400 --> 0:02:56.160 that is a scary scenario for for us because that's 0:02:56.160 --> 0:03:00.239 where these variants emerge and potentially can come back and 0:03:00.560 --> 0:03:03.160 set us way way back. I mean, that's the point, right, 0:03:03.200 --> 0:03:06.280 And so what are you hearing in terms of conversations, 0:03:06.320 --> 0:03:09.880 are are potentially global conversations about I think we're seeing 0:03:09.880 --> 0:03:12.880 it more about the importance of developed world helping the 0:03:12.919 --> 0:03:15.400 developing world to make sure that we get vaccines out there. 0:03:15.440 --> 0:03:19.120 Are you hopeful are you hearing things that we will 0:03:19.160 --> 0:03:22.800 be providing a much major assist and needed assist to 0:03:23.200 --> 0:03:27.079 the likes of Indian elsewhere. I mean, I'm I'm, I mean, 0:03:27.120 --> 0:03:29.000 I think there are efforts, but I think that they 0:03:29.040 --> 0:03:33.520 are insufficient, and you know, the challenge is, of course, 0:03:33.680 --> 0:03:36.400 we have to make sure that our own back back 0:03:36.480 --> 0:03:40.840 yards have been sufficiently back vaccinated. And we're still struggling 0:03:40.880 --> 0:03:43.800 with that, you know, in this country. You know, given 0:03:44.320 --> 0:03:46.160 you know, the inequities that we have seen in the 0:03:46.320 --> 0:03:50.560 challenges that remain of getting everyone in this country vaccinated. 0:03:50.600 --> 0:03:53.000 You know, I think that we have we we see, 0:03:53.240 --> 0:03:56.480 you know, the early adopters have come online. We see 0:03:56.560 --> 0:03:58.680 those folks that we knew were going to come on 0:03:58.800 --> 0:04:03.000 earliest come online. Uh now we're starting to be to see, 0:04:03.480 --> 0:04:06.680 you know, a situation where there's probably going to be 0:04:07.680 --> 0:04:11.760 more vaccine available than people to be vaccinated. And so 0:04:11.840 --> 0:04:13.600 we still have a long way to go in this 0:04:13.600 --> 0:04:16.960 this country. But that said, I think this is part 0:04:16.960 --> 0:04:20.159 of the reasons why it's so challenging. The global issue 0:04:20.240 --> 0:04:25.320 is so challenging, especially when it relates to lower income communities. Uh. 0:04:25.360 --> 0:04:28.320 And so you know, I know that KOVAC is trying 0:04:28.360 --> 0:04:30.520 to help, and and we see the w h O 0:04:30.640 --> 0:04:32.640 and all the all the countries that just signed up 0:04:32.680 --> 0:04:37.520 to KOVAC making these vaccines available globally. But quite frankly, 0:04:37.720 --> 0:04:40.880 I think these efforts are insufficient and I don't think 0:04:40.960 --> 0:04:44.640 that they are going to really dent the problems that 0:04:44.720 --> 0:04:47.479 those countries are facing. Well. And I'm glad you also 0:04:47.520 --> 0:04:50.560 brought up what's happening in our own backyard, because You're right, 0:04:50.680 --> 0:04:55.440 depending on the population, the demographic, the locale, the geography, 0:04:55.800 --> 0:04:58.039 some places around the country are doing better than others. 0:04:58.279 --> 0:05:01.720 Within the black community specifically, what are you seeing? Are 0:05:01.760 --> 0:05:05.719 you seeing more individuals want to get the vaccine, able 0:05:05.760 --> 0:05:08.880 to get the vaccine, have the access because um, you know, 0:05:08.920 --> 0:05:12.840 we have seen those stories about millions of Americans, you know, 0:05:12.880 --> 0:05:15.320 skipping their second dose of COVID nineteen vaccine. I think 0:05:15.320 --> 0:05:18.159 nearly eight percent of those who got that initial Fiser 0:05:18.200 --> 0:05:20.279 and Maderna are skipping out on the second one. But 0:05:20.320 --> 0:05:23.400 what are you seeing specifically within the black and minority communities? 0:05:24.279 --> 0:05:27.520 So what I'm seeing in the black community is um, 0:05:27.720 --> 0:05:32.000 I've seen the tremendous progress I've seen the You know, 0:05:32.080 --> 0:05:34.080 if if you will get asked me the same question, 0:05:34.200 --> 0:05:35.960 you actually might have asked me this question. When we 0:05:36.040 --> 0:05:39.160 lost Folk, I was deeply concerned that we weren't going 0:05:39.200 --> 0:05:41.880 to move the needle very quickly. But we actually have. 0:05:42.480 --> 0:05:45.440 In the back community, we've seen a real jump in 0:05:45.520 --> 0:05:49.240 the number of people vaccinated, and we've seen overall vaccination 0:05:49.279 --> 0:05:51.360 coverage increasing the Black comn But I want to say 0:05:51.400 --> 0:05:54.840 that if you look deeper into these numbers, what you're 0:05:54.920 --> 0:05:58.760 seeing it's almost a divergence within the Black communitia, split 0:05:58.800 --> 0:06:02.640 within the Black community where a lot of the vaccine 0:06:02.680 --> 0:06:06.080 acceptance and a lot of the existing coverage is among 0:06:06.160 --> 0:06:10.279 older African American populations, you know, those over the ages 0:06:10.279 --> 0:06:14.320 of sixty five. But as you go lower down that 0:06:14.480 --> 0:06:17.840 ladder of age, you start to see much more resistance, 0:06:18.440 --> 0:06:22.719 much more hesitancy, and greater challenges to vaccination. In fact, 0:06:22.800 --> 0:06:27.239 when we opened our own vaccination center in West Harlem, 0:06:28.000 --> 0:06:31.320 we saw a real search of people in the beginning 0:06:31.960 --> 0:06:35.400 coming to get vaccinated. A lot of those were older 0:06:35.480 --> 0:06:39.480 African American individuals, older people living in the neighborhood. Uh. 0:06:39.480 --> 0:06:43.600 And then the subsequent weeks passed, we started actually a 0:06:43.720 --> 0:06:48.560 struggling to fill out lots because we're now you know, 0:06:48.680 --> 0:06:52.080 dealing with you know, younger populations that really need to 0:06:52.160 --> 0:06:54.440 get vaccinated. Dr Williams. One of the things I was 0:06:54.480 --> 0:06:58.680 thinking about, first of all, what level of reopening are 0:06:58.720 --> 0:07:01.320 you comfortable with? And it's think about the EU saying 0:07:01.400 --> 0:07:05.880 if you're vaccinated, Americans were comfortable with you coming in. Uh, 0:07:05.920 --> 0:07:08.640 there's still debate about schools opening up. I'm seeing some 0:07:08.800 --> 0:07:13.160 schools I'm seeing you know, reopen completely, others waiting till 0:07:13.240 --> 0:07:17.280 till next September. What level of global reopening are you 0:07:17.440 --> 0:07:20.920 comfortable with right now? Yeah, well I think it's um, 0:07:20.960 --> 0:07:22.840 it's gonna be. I think it should be done on 0:07:22.880 --> 0:07:26.600 a region by region basis. UM. I think it should 0:07:26.640 --> 0:07:30.680 be done. It should be local decisions based on uh, 0:07:30.720 --> 0:07:35.080 you know, the infection rates, based on vaccination coverage. UM. 0:07:35.160 --> 0:07:36.960 I think these are the these are the things that 0:07:37.040 --> 0:07:41.160 need to really feed into the decision making. UM. Just 0:07:41.200 --> 0:07:44.000 as an example, you know that many colleges now that 0:07:44.040 --> 0:07:48.760 are requiring uh, you know, COVID vaccination before you can 0:07:48.800 --> 0:07:51.720 return to campus. So you're gonna see whole campuses now, 0:07:52.280 --> 0:07:55.000 uh with you know, covered by you know, filled with 0:07:55.120 --> 0:07:59.400 vaccinated individuals. So I think these types of these types 0:07:59.480 --> 0:08:02.680 of things, uh that we're seeing more and more in 0:08:02.800 --> 0:08:07.880 different communities should really be driving these decisions in addition 0:08:07.920 --> 0:08:10.560 to obviously the infection rates. Does it make you, though, 0:08:10.600 --> 0:08:13.760 a little uncomfortable when he says, okay, you can come 0:08:13.800 --> 0:08:15.920 in because you know, we talked about this a lot. 0:08:15.920 --> 0:08:17.880 I think we probably talked about it with you as well. 0:08:17.920 --> 0:08:22.720 That COVID doesn't know a border, and so if you're traveling, 0:08:22.760 --> 0:08:24.680 I mean there are I feel like there's a lot 0:08:24.680 --> 0:08:27.360 of gray area where things can kind of once again 0:08:27.480 --> 0:08:30.920 quickly get out of control. Yeah, I mean I think 0:08:30.920 --> 0:08:34.079 we we we we do. We do need to be careful, 0:08:34.120 --> 0:08:36.520 and we need to make sure we we we really 0:08:36.520 --> 0:08:42.319 continue to maintain UM real vigilance on these matches. UM. 0:08:42.720 --> 0:08:46.840 But we do also know that vaccinated individuals, um, you know, 0:08:47.000 --> 0:08:52.920 are really uh you know, actually the likelihood of of 0:08:52.960 --> 0:08:59.000 them even transmitting the infection is lower than an unvaccinated individuals. 0:08:59.040 --> 0:09:02.320 And we also know that you know, certainly with the 0:09:02.360 --> 0:09:04.719 ones that we have here in the United States, and 0:09:05.280 --> 0:09:09.199 we know that they're highly protective against infection, hospitalization, and depth. 0:09:09.280 --> 0:09:14.720 So I'm actually I actually welcomed the idea of liberal 0:09:14.960 --> 0:09:19.120 you know of kind of liberalizing UH the UH you know, 0:09:19.160 --> 0:09:23.480 access and opportunities for those who have been vaccinated. And 0:09:23.520 --> 0:09:26.760 I think this also provides incentives to those who haven't 0:09:26.760 --> 0:09:31.559 been vaccinated UH to actually get vaccinated. UM. But while 0:09:31.679 --> 0:09:34.000 while that is said, I think it's also really really 0:09:34.000 --> 0:09:38.520 important to continue to track UH infection rates UH, continue 0:09:38.559 --> 0:09:43.040 to do surveillance, COVID testing UM, and and really continue 0:09:43.080 --> 0:09:47.200 to make sure that we really monitor UM. So you know, 0:09:47.240 --> 0:09:50.000 when I went to Europe recently, I remember I had 0:09:50.040 --> 0:09:51.800 to take a VAT, I had to take the COVID 0:09:51.800 --> 0:09:54.080 test to get into London, and then I had to 0:09:54.080 --> 0:09:56.640 take a COVID test a couple of days after being 0:09:56.679 --> 0:09:58.600 in London. And then I had to take a COVID 0:09:58.600 --> 0:10:00.760 test to get on the plane to get back to America. 0:10:01.080 --> 0:10:02.880 And then I had to take a COVID test after 0:10:02.920 --> 0:10:05.520 I got back to America and I was only away 0:10:05.559 --> 0:10:08.760 for a few days. And so UM, that level of 0:10:09.080 --> 0:10:12.400 that level of scrutiny. UM. You know, while I think 0:10:12.400 --> 0:10:15.240 it's important to scale back, we also must make sure 0:10:15.520 --> 0:10:19.040 we continue to do some surveillance testing and tests, so 0:10:19.160 --> 0:10:21.600 testing stage. It's funny that you say that because we've 0:10:21.640 --> 0:10:23.679 just got about forty five seconds left here. But we 0:10:23.679 --> 0:10:26.160 were having a conversation this morning about what we were 0:10:26.200 --> 0:10:28.400 all getting our vaccines. Do we need to continue we 0:10:28.440 --> 0:10:33.920 get weekly tested here at Bloomberg. That's still an important thing. Well, 0:10:33.960 --> 0:10:39.200 I think that among the vaccinated, I think it's less important. UM. 0:10:39.240 --> 0:10:42.520 I think certainly we still have a lot of unvaccinated 0:10:43.559 --> 0:10:46.520 people around. UM, and I think it's really important to 0:10:46.559 --> 0:10:50.800 continue to make sure that we we at least a minimum, 0:10:50.840 --> 0:10:55.840 continue to do surveillance testing, especially on the unvaccinated, because 0:10:55.880 --> 0:11:00.360 that's where that's where these super mutators emerged, and that's 0:11:00.360 --> 0:11:02.520 where the danger to the breast of the public life. 0:11:02.960 --> 0:11:04.679 All Right, kind of leave it there, UM, thank you 0:11:04.720 --> 0:11:07.440 so much, really appreciate you giving us time again. Dr 0:11:07.520 --> 0:11:09.920 Lja Day Williams. He's Chief of Staff of Neurology at 0:11:09.920 --> 0:11:13.720 Columbia University. He's an nih n I H excuse me, 0:11:13.760 --> 0:11:16.480 funded researcher. He's also the founder, president, and board chair 0:11:16.480 --> 0:11:19.640 of Hip Hop Public Health. Bloomberg Philanthropies, by the Way, 0:11:19.640 --> 0:11:22.360 has provided a grant to Hip Hop Health and of course, 0:11:22.440 --> 0:11:25.319 joining us on the phone in New York City. This 0:11:25.640 --> 0:11:29.559 is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser from Bloomberg Radio. 0:11:29.840 --> 0:11:32.880 In the current double issue of Bloomberg Business Week magazine, 0:11:33.520 --> 0:11:36.160 there is a story about the airline founder who's launching 0:11:36.160 --> 0:11:38.760 another new carrier and he's doing it during the pandemic. 0:11:38.840 --> 0:11:41.240 Talk about timing. Let's get more in this story with 0:11:41.320 --> 0:11:44.320 Drake Bennett. He is Projects and Investigations reporter. He's on 0:11:44.320 --> 0:11:46.440 the phone in New York City along with Bloomberg Business 0:11:46.480 --> 0:11:49.040 Week nitor Jill Webber on the access line in Brooklyn 0:11:49.080 --> 0:11:52.800 and Joel. The man behind it all is the man 0:11:53.000 --> 0:11:56.840 who created Jeff Blue. Yeah, his name is David Neil Anything. 0:11:56.920 --> 0:12:01.640 He's been a serial airline entrepreneur. Um. This new one 0:12:01.679 --> 0:12:06.160 that he's got coming called Breeze, will be his fifth airline. 0:12:06.240 --> 0:12:10.439 So that's pretty impressive. As I think Will Will tell us, 0:12:10.480 --> 0:12:13.880 the the Tarmax are littered with failed attempts at getting 0:12:13.920 --> 0:12:16.880 off the ground once, let alone you know, five times. 0:12:17.440 --> 0:12:21.840 Um so strike what has been his guiding light in 0:12:22.000 --> 0:12:25.240 all of these launches and and what does what do 0:12:25.240 --> 0:12:30.920 we know about Breeze and what he's trying to do there? Um? Well, Uh, 0:12:31.280 --> 0:12:34.760 he has a long I mean the airlines he's started 0:12:35.040 --> 0:12:38.280 have been budget airlines, and Jet Blue was kind of, 0:12:38.559 --> 0:12:41.360 you know, his best known and the idea there was 0:12:41.400 --> 0:12:45.600 to basically create a budget airline that didn't feel like 0:12:45.600 --> 0:12:48.000 a budget airline. So, I mean he's someone that you know, 0:12:48.040 --> 0:12:51.839 early on in his career was obsessed with Southwest UM, 0:12:52.480 --> 0:12:58.240 and you know, set out to create a Southwest like airline, 0:12:58.280 --> 0:13:01.080 but one that didn't you know, South famously served only 0:13:01.120 --> 0:13:03.200 peanuts to people to kind of remind them of the 0:13:03.200 --> 0:13:06.160 peanuts they were paying for their affairs. UM. And so 0:13:06.320 --> 0:13:08.200 with Jeff, he's like, well, we'll put TVs in, it 0:13:08.240 --> 0:13:10.120 will have other seats, the planes will be brand new, 0:13:10.120 --> 0:13:12.640 it'll kind of feel nicer. UM. And the other thing 0:13:12.640 --> 0:13:14.600 he did with Jeflue that was super smart was was 0:13:14.800 --> 0:13:17.920 used JFK. UM. It's weird to think about it, but 0:13:18.400 --> 0:13:22.320 New York City was actually an underserved uh market for 0:13:22.360 --> 0:13:26.199 air travel UM until Jeff flu came in. Uh. JFK 0:13:26.360 --> 0:13:28.440 was really only used for international travel, and it was 0:13:28.480 --> 0:13:30.760 basically a ghost town during the day. So he has 0:13:30.800 --> 0:13:32.960 a long history of being able to find these you know, 0:13:33.280 --> 0:13:35.760 gaps in the market, even in places like a kind 0:13:35.760 --> 0:13:42.520 of a New York UM and Breezes basically another budget carrier. UM. 0:13:42.559 --> 0:13:45.800 It's a little bit modeled on Allegiant UM insofar as 0:13:45.880 --> 0:13:48.360 they're not going to be flying every day. They're gonna 0:13:48.360 --> 0:13:52.320 be concentrating on those days of the week when vacationers 0:13:52.320 --> 0:13:55.920 are more likely to travel. UM, and they're gonna be 0:13:56.120 --> 0:14:01.160 using slightly smaller planes than Southwest and Allegiance flies those guys. 0:14:01.320 --> 0:14:05.839 Why like seven thirty seven or eight, UM Breeze is 0:14:05.840 --> 0:14:08.480 going to be using slightly smaller planes, and they think 0:14:08.520 --> 0:14:10.520 that changes the math for them and the way that 0:14:11.000 --> 0:14:15.199 opens up kind of this whole tranche of smaller markets UM, 0:14:15.360 --> 0:14:19.200 especially once they get this new plan the Airbus, which 0:14:19.520 --> 0:14:22.200 which has really really long range for such a small plane, 0:14:22.240 --> 0:14:24.680 so they'll be able to do what's called these long 0:14:24.800 --> 0:14:27.960 thin routes, so from some sort of smaller city in 0:14:28.000 --> 0:14:30.400 the US all the way to Hawaii if they can 0:14:30.440 --> 0:14:33.280 find people who wanted to take that direct flight. So 0:14:33.360 --> 0:14:35.600 I think what's what's super interesting about all of this 0:14:35.720 --> 0:14:40.240 was like, obviously Jet Blue came at a time UM 0:14:40.280 --> 0:14:42.920 it actually I had forgotten to say, it launched not 0:14:43.320 --> 0:14:46.320 that far ahead of nine eleven, which obviously had significant 0:14:46.400 --> 0:14:50.600 implications for the travel industries and the airlines. Um. Here 0:14:50.640 --> 0:14:54.080 we are with the pandemic, and you know, airline traffic 0:14:54.480 --> 0:14:57.560 has been greatly suppressed for the past year and potentially 0:14:57.600 --> 0:15:02.120 for for the business class traveler, perhaps permanently altered. Right, 0:15:02.440 --> 0:15:06.200 And so what what opportunities get if you can explain 0:15:06.240 --> 0:15:08.280 that a little bit more and sort of like what 0:15:08.480 --> 0:15:11.320 he sees breeze being able to tap into here, I 0:15:11.320 --> 0:15:13.800 mean you mentioned the budget stuff in the smaller airlines 0:15:13.800 --> 0:15:16.160 that like where where does he think the window of 0:15:16.200 --> 0:15:19.800 opportunity sort of lies? Well? Right, I mean, as you 0:15:19.840 --> 0:15:23.200 pointed out, the real question is business travel. UM. And 0:15:23.320 --> 0:15:27.840 he's fortunate in that he's his sort of target customer 0:15:27.920 --> 0:15:30.880 is not a not primarily a kind of someone on 0:15:30.960 --> 0:15:33.240 like a who's who's getting their tickets paid for by 0:15:33.280 --> 0:15:36.480 like a corporate travel department. UM. It's more kind of 0:15:36.520 --> 0:15:41.080 a vacationer or a visiting friends and relatives kind of traveler. UM. 0:15:41.200 --> 0:15:43.560 And in a sense, I mean it's you know, it's 0:15:43.600 --> 0:15:45.520 not a great time to be running an airline. There's 0:15:45.520 --> 0:15:48.960 an enormous amount of uncertainties, but there are ways that 0:15:49.680 --> 0:15:53.200 he's you know, there's been this kind of retrenchment. You know, 0:15:53.280 --> 0:15:55.680 a lot of cities that just lost service, and so 0:15:55.720 --> 0:15:58.640 in a way it kind of opens up some opportunities 0:15:58.680 --> 0:16:02.840 for for for a for a breeze. Um. And also 0:16:02.960 --> 0:16:04.600 you know, he doesn't he hasn't been trying to run 0:16:04.640 --> 0:16:07.160 an airline this whole year when everyone else was like 0:16:07.240 --> 0:16:11.720 hemorrhaging money and basically trying to stay ahead above water. 0:16:11.960 --> 0:16:15.320 So um, you know there are ways in which his 0:16:15.440 --> 0:16:18.720 timing has been fultu Well, you know, this is what's 0:16:18.720 --> 0:16:21.720 fun about your story, Drake is. Yes, there's the business, 0:16:21.840 --> 0:16:25.080 very business story of he's doing, is you know, another airline. 0:16:25.240 --> 0:16:27.960 He has been so successful and kind of you know, 0:16:28.040 --> 0:16:31.160 disrupting the airline industry. But what's really cool is you 0:16:31.240 --> 0:16:33.440 kind of get into who this guy is and if 0:16:33.440 --> 0:16:36.400 you were going to bet on somebody to bring an 0:16:36.400 --> 0:16:40.040 airline during a pandemic to the market, I'd bet on 0:16:40.120 --> 0:16:41.720 David Neilman talked to us a little bit about your 0:16:41.760 --> 0:16:44.400 experience with him, because part of what was fun was 0:16:44.440 --> 0:16:48.080 he's got some pretty strong views on COVID. Yeah, I 0:16:48.120 --> 0:16:50.720 mean he's he's a little bit of a COVID truther. Uh, 0:16:51.240 --> 0:16:54.760 he really Um, you know, when we've met. He showed 0:16:54.760 --> 0:16:56.960 me the math you were he's not a huge fan 0:16:57.000 --> 0:16:59.920 of maths U and it it sort of it looks 0:17:00.120 --> 0:17:02.840 like a sort of normal black cloth mask. But then 0:17:02.920 --> 0:17:05.400 when he took it off, which he immediately did once 0:17:05.440 --> 0:17:07.879 we sat down at a conference Lable, he showed me 0:17:07.920 --> 0:17:10.280 that it's basically made of like mosquito mash, so it's 0:17:10.320 --> 0:17:13.920 not really a functioning mask in any sense of the words. 0:17:13.960 --> 0:17:17.200 So um, he's you know, for the past year, he's 0:17:17.200 --> 0:17:21.320 been pretty vocal um about kind of what he sees 0:17:21.359 --> 0:17:24.239 as the sort of overreaction to COVID that you know, 0:17:24.280 --> 0:17:29.480 the sort of medical epidemiological establishment has has has sort 0:17:29.480 --> 0:17:33.919 of um presented and so he you know, and I 0:17:33.960 --> 0:17:37.840 think it's linked the way it kind of it's linked 0:17:37.840 --> 0:17:40.720 to his attitude about risk is the attitude of about 0:17:40.760 --> 0:17:43.840 risk that you would expect from someone who multiple times 0:17:43.840 --> 0:17:48.440 has launched these extremely complicated endeavors that are unlikely to succeed. 0:17:48.520 --> 0:17:50.440 He sort of keeps doing this, and so I think 0:17:50.480 --> 0:17:52.280 it sort of shapes the way he feels about the 0:17:52.359 --> 0:17:55.240 risk of getting this disease and the way we should 0:17:55.359 --> 0:17:58.720 kind of um as a society think about that. And 0:17:58.760 --> 0:18:02.840 I think also, you know, it's it's a more unvarnished 0:18:03.000 --> 0:18:07.320 and um well it's extremely unvarnished version of what you 0:18:07.480 --> 0:18:11.639 hear more establishment figures in the airline industry saying like 0:18:11.760 --> 0:18:14.320 it's safe to travel, we should be getting back out there. 0:18:14.359 --> 0:18:17.640 He takes it to kind of a almost fringey extreme, 0:18:17.720 --> 0:18:21.680 but it's not something that's that's foreign to folks in 0:18:21.720 --> 0:18:25.440 the travel industry. Dake, I'm wondering, you know, there's sort 0:18:25.440 --> 0:18:29.000 of like a kernel of of like business management, um 0:18:29.200 --> 0:18:31.720 guru that this guy represents. And I'm wondering the like 0:18:31.800 --> 0:18:33.840 of all the people that you talked to, what are 0:18:33.840 --> 0:18:37.600 the takeaways? What? What? Why has Why has David Neilman's 0:18:37.960 --> 0:18:41.520 airline success? Why has he been so successful again again 0:18:41.520 --> 0:18:45.160 and again? And Drake, you gotta be quick about seconds. Well, 0:18:45.200 --> 0:18:47.159 I mean a lot of There's someone who worked for 0:18:47.240 --> 0:18:49.480 him for a while who's an obviously of a zool. 0:18:49.800 --> 0:18:52.560 Another of David's really successful carriers has basically described him 0:18:52.600 --> 0:18:55.080 as being like an eight year old who's a genius. 0:18:55.240 --> 0:18:57.960 And so there's a way in which he's he's able 0:18:58.000 --> 0:19:00.399 to cut he he oversimplifies things the way they can 0:19:00.440 --> 0:19:02.280 be frustrating for people who work for him. But it 0:19:02.320 --> 0:19:04.720 also allows them to see certain kinds of possibilities that 0:19:04.760 --> 0:19:07.679 are outside they kind of receipt with them. Well. And 0:19:07.720 --> 0:19:09.800 what's fun too is and I forgot herb tell her 0:19:09.960 --> 0:19:13.240 of Southwest legendary in the industry. I forgot that he 0:19:13.280 --> 0:19:16.080 had fired Neilman. It's a great read, and it's in 0:19:16.119 --> 0:19:19.880 the current issue of Bloomberg Business Week magazine. Drake and Joel, 0:19:19.920 --> 0:19:22.240 thank you so much. One are the companies that we've 0:19:22.280 --> 0:19:24.159 been talking about a lot in the newsroom today is 0:19:24.240 --> 0:19:27.480 Apple coming out and saying it's in his increasing it's 0:19:27.520 --> 0:19:31.719 US investments of the next five years, allocating four hundred 0:19:31.800 --> 0:19:36.040 thirty billion dollars to develop next generation silicon and also 0:19:36.119 --> 0:19:39.320 spur five G wireless innovation across nine U S. State. 0:19:40.720 --> 0:19:42.320 That's a lot of money. That's all I'm gonna say. 0:19:42.359 --> 0:19:44.960 So let's get more on what's up at Apple. Bloomberg 0:19:44.960 --> 0:19:47.840 News US Technology Team co leader Molly Shuts is with 0:19:47.920 --> 0:19:50.240 us on the phone in New York City. Molly, nice 0:19:50.280 --> 0:19:52.000 to have you hear. Apple shares, by the way, just 0:19:52.080 --> 0:19:53.720 up a little bit, up about a half a percent. 0:19:53.800 --> 0:19:55.840 But we're going to hear from that company later on 0:19:55.840 --> 0:19:58.880 this week when it comes to uh, earnings. Um, tell 0:19:58.960 --> 0:20:00.920 us about this news put it in respective is this 0:20:01.040 --> 0:20:03.439 new or we surprise? Is that a lot of money? 0:20:04.000 --> 0:20:05.960 What does it say about kind of Apple in the 0:20:06.040 --> 0:20:10.040 United States specifically, right, Carol, Yeah, as you said, it's 0:20:10.080 --> 0:20:12.440 a lot of money. Um, but Apple has a lot 0:20:12.440 --> 0:20:15.960 of money and Apples, you know, only been making more money, 0:20:16.480 --> 0:20:19.879 um every year. Basically, Um, this is you know Apple, 0:20:20.600 --> 0:20:23.280 they have basically a five year spending plan and the 0:20:23.320 --> 0:20:25.360 last time they made an announcement like this was back 0:20:25.359 --> 0:20:30.400 in when they announced three fifty billion dollars of investment 0:20:30.440 --> 0:20:32.480 in the US and saying that at that point that 0:20:32.520 --> 0:20:35.760 they were going to create new jobs also over the 0:20:35.800 --> 0:20:37.800 next five years. So this is kind of an update 0:20:38.359 --> 0:20:41.520 to that. And it's true, this is gonna this is 0:20:41.560 --> 0:20:43.760 you know, now four and thirty billion dollars, So that's 0:20:44.600 --> 0:20:47.960 increase over their last spending plan. But in the meantime, 0:20:48.040 --> 0:20:51.320 you know, Apple shares have you know, grown exponentially in 0:20:51.359 --> 0:20:53.800 the company is now worth more than two trillion dollars, 0:20:53.840 --> 0:20:56.560 so it's sort of keeping in line with that. But 0:20:56.680 --> 0:20:58.240 still it is a lot of money and a lot 0:20:58.280 --> 0:21:00.600 of jobs, and you know they're spreading it around, They're 0:21:00.640 --> 0:21:03.719 they're coming clearly out of you know, the West Coast 0:21:03.880 --> 0:21:06.960 Silicon Valley, and they're they're spreading up this this wealth 0:21:07.000 --> 0:21:08.760 around because there's a lot of different parts of the 0:21:08.800 --> 0:21:12.360 country that have other things to offer. In particular, they're 0:21:12.359 --> 0:21:15.159 they're putting a billion dollars down in North Carolina to 0:21:15.160 --> 0:21:18.280 build a new big research center there that's going to 0:21:18.440 --> 0:21:22.320 really have a lot of engineering and artificial intelligence types 0:21:22.359 --> 0:21:25.879 of jobs located there in that research triangle. Well, and 0:21:25.920 --> 0:21:27.359 that makes a lot of sense, right, because there's so 0:21:27.400 --> 0:21:30.240 much going on there. What is it? Is? It? M 0:21:30.800 --> 0:21:32.680 were they this is what they do, as you said, 0:21:32.680 --> 0:21:34.280 they do these five year plans. How much is a 0:21:34.280 --> 0:21:37.959 little bit of a pr move as well, you know, 0:21:38.000 --> 0:21:41.880 against the backdrop of a president and an administration who 0:21:41.960 --> 0:21:45.320 is looking to raise corporate taxes. Yeah, sure, I mean 0:21:45.560 --> 0:21:48.120 probably this has been you know, in the works for 0:21:48.160 --> 0:21:51.439 a long time before President Biden announced the latest you know, 0:21:51.520 --> 0:21:54.760 new tax plan that's going to you know, really crack 0:21:54.840 --> 0:21:58.280