[Harlow:] Welcome back. JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon sat down with our Christine Romans and made it very clear that the stock market right now does not reflect the economic pain of so many Americans. Watch this.
[Christine Romans, Cnn Chief Business Correspondent:] Can you explain to our viewers the difference between what we're seeing in Washington on Wall Street and what regular people are feeling right now with 13 million people out of work?
[Jamie Dimon, Ceo, Jp Morgan Chase:] Well, I and I think it's far more important. So, literally, I mean, when you have 13 million people out of work and you've got people suffering and small business suffering, that's far more important than, you know, the vicissitudes of Wall Street. And, you know, I think so I'm much more sympathetic there. That's what we should worry about.
[Harlow:] You can see Christine's entire interview. It's fascinating. Just go to cnnbusiness.com. All right, no sign that the stalemate on Capitol Hill is letting up. This as tens of millions of unemployed Americans, hit hard by the coronavirus recession, await a new round of relief. And there are major questions about the legality of the president's executive action on unemployment benefits and payroll taxes. So what does this mean for the American consumer moving forward? One of the best people to ask is someone who runs one of the biggest, most iconic companies in America, and that is Ford Motor. Jim Hackett, the outgoing CEO, joins me. And it's a big day for you guys. You're launching the Bronco, as we all see see behind you. So talk about that in the context of where we are in this economy. I mean, you know, it doesn't look like any deal's coming, Jim. And if it doesn't, I wonder what that means for for the strength or the weakness of the American consumer and the ability of buying new cars, like you guys are trying to sell.
[Jim Hackett, Ceo, Ford:] Hi, Poppy. Well, you know, this is a big day for us. And you can see the setting that I'm in. We didn't have an auto show, so we built a place where people can come and test the Bronco today, the media. And the excitement for this product's unprecedented. We've had over 150,000 reservations. I think it says a lot about two things, that the economy still has vitality in it. It is challenged. But also there's a desire by people to want to experience something other than being sheltered in place. And so this notion of outdoors is is really helping fuel the success of this.
[Harlow:] Jim, you know, when you look at the overall numbers, second quarter Ford U.S. vehicle sales were down 33 percent, but yesterday we heard the president say this. Listen.
[Donald Trump, President Of The United States:] An automobile boom. We've rarely seen anything like it and it's going on right now in America.
[Harlow:] Is that what we're seeing? I mean would you agree with the White House when they say, look, you've got a v-shaped recovery. They paint a really rosy picture for the American consumer. Are you that optimistic?
[Hackett:] Well, you know, I'm wondering myself why the car sales have actually rebounded as strongly as they have. This happened all over the world, by the way. It's happening in Europe and China as well. And I think there was pent-up demand. But I also think that a lot of the unemployment that we were able to continue, companies didn't totally downsize. Ford didn't. So people were getting paychecks. They continue to spend. And then what Jamie was talking about is this disaffected part of the economy, which is tragic. That group will have an effect on the economy down the road. So we need to get all of these people back to work for sure.
[Harlow:] Yes. It sounds like you're saying there is more pain for the economy down the road that we're not seeing right now.
[Hackett:] I think that Jamie has spoken about this and I would concur that because of the CARES Act and because of corporations being able to sustain employment, even though things like Ford factories were shut down for ten weeks, it kept the economy with momentum. But if we do not get all these folks back to work, that's going to have an effect.
[Harlow:] Yes.
[Hackett:] So I'm you know, I'm cautiously optimistic that we can bridge those two periods.
[Harlow:] Yes. Well, look, you use the word cautiously too, right? And the question becomes, if Congress does not reach a big deal and get something done here on stimulus, is could this be a bigger crisis for the auto industry down the road than 2008?
[Hackett:] I'm not projecting that, Poppy. But I will tell you, from '08 to '10, and, remember, Ford didn't take a bailout in that period.
[Harlow:] Yes.
[Hackett:] I think the Federal Reserve has done masterful work here in keeping all the right things in place for the economy to recover from this damage. And it looks like it may affect 15 percent of the world's GDP eventually, the cost of the pandemic.
[Harlow:] Yes.
[Hackett:] So it's not a trivial effect. But the way that the way the banking system's responding around the world, that's reasons for optimism.
[Harlow:] Yes, let's hope, right? There's only so much the Fed can do, and they've done a lot. Let's talk about reopening your plants, because the last time you were on the program with us back in May, you were just reopening U.S. plants. And you had to subsequently shut some of them, you know, thousands of people that were working there, because of Covid. We just, saw in the last two weeks, 32 employees at one of your your plants in Louisville, Kentucky, tested positive. I guess the broader question is, Jim, with all of the efforts you guys are doing, social distancing, cleaning, deep cleaning, what would meaningful, rapid testing mean for you guys? And what does it mean that the country doesn't have it yet for every single employee at every single company so that this is happening?
[Hackett:] Well, you're on the right attribute of how to fix this. It's one of two big things. Testing quickly, we are doing that, but not as fast as we'd like it to be, and masks that we're delivering to our employees. In fact, Poppy, the safety inside the plants are so high that we're outperforming, you know, the overall environment in terms of infection rates. Everywhere in the world, Ford factories are safer than where people leave and they go to wherever they go. So I know these practices are paying dividends.
[Harlow:] Yes.
[Hackett:] And so masking is now the big thing that we've got to ensure we continue.
[Harlow:] Yes. But is it a failure I mean, Jim, just candidly, of the U.S. government, that you can't, for example, have those rapid 15 minute tests in every single one of your Ford plants right now?
[Hackett:] Well, I don't know who to point the you know, the criticism at. I know, in listening to a lot of smart people
[Harlow:] Yes.
[Hackett:] That the challenge with the testing is to get rid of the falses, false positive, false negatives, because that you tee off of that, right? And so it's not that we don't have rapid testing, it's that we've got to make the accuracy higher.
[Harlow:] And we and we just we don't have we don't have enough on it. I want to spend a little bit of time talking about diversity. Given the reckoning that this country is importantly having, albeit pretty late on race, you guys are auditing 188,000 Ford employers and you've been having a real companywide conversation on race. This at a company where, as you know, since Henry Ford, every single CEO of Ford, including you and your successor, has been a white man. Talk about that and why is it that there has been such an issue with elevating black men and women to lead America's biggest companies.
[Hackett:] I'm excited about what this tragedy brought in terms of reflection. I've never seen anything like it in my business career. Henry Ford created really the middle class wage when he changed the hourly wage, Poppy, in factories. And so there was a black flight from the south to the north. So the history of the company in this is profound. What I've learned from the Black Lives Matter movement is that companies need to design the acceptance of why black lives matter. And it not only includes promotions and opportunity, it's of in the recruitment, in the development. And so that's what we've done in a stem to stern review. I'm on a nightly call where we look at ideas that we're going to institute. So there's a lot of momentum now behind this. And I don't think the issue of a diverse leader of Ford is too far-fetched. By the way, Jack Nasser, you know, he was Lebanese.
[Harlow:] Yes, I do.
[Hackett:] And so we've we've had we've had yes, we've had we've had diversity in the company. In fact, when I was running Steelcase, I, from afar, I thought Ford had one of the best programs in supplier and dealer development, and it still does. So but, listen, this is this is a wake-up moment for all CEOs. We have to be better at this.
[Harlow:] Yes. For sure, right? It goes to the board. You guys have one blackboard member, but there are 13 members. It goes to the board. It goes to leadership. And and I appreciate you taking that question, Jim Hackett, and congratulations on your three years at Ford. We wish you luck. I hope you get to go to an island and relax for a little bit after all of this. Thanks very much.
[Hackett:] Yes, 26 years thank you, Poppy. Twenty-six years doing this. I'm looking forward to a little break.
[Harlow:] I bet. Thank you, Jim.
[Jim Sciutto, Cnn Anchor:] Who will Joe Biden choose as his running mate? It's getting close and might we learn the answer to that question as soon as today? The latest on the highly anticipated decision, next.