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First Move with Julia Chatterley
Facebook Finally Announced That Its Own Cryptocurrency; U.S. President Lashes Out As The ECB Chief Hinting At More Stimulus; Democrats Bash Amazon For Paying Its Workers Starvation Wage. Aired: 9-10a ET
Aired June 18, 2019 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ZAIN ASHER, CNN ANCHOR: Live from the New York Stock Exchange, I'm Zain Asher, and here is what you need to know. Face value. Facebook finally
announced that its own cryptocurrency. And Trump takes on Mario D. The president lashes out as the ECB chief hinting at more stimulus; and robbing
the poor to feed the rich. Democrats bash Amazon for paying its workers starvation wages. It is Tuesday, and this is your FIRST MOVE.
Hello, everyone. I'm Zain Asher and this FIRST MOVE. Let's begin with a quick check of the market. Let's take a look here on Wall Street. U.S.
stocks looks set for a solidly higher open. Now, we have it the Dow futures about half percent or so as the U.S. Federal Reserve begins its
two-day policy meeting -- its June meeting -- in Washington.
NASDAQ futures are up about one percent or so right now. Every Fed meeting is important. But let me tell you this one, even more so. The Central
Bank's policy statement out tomorrow could signal that it is open to cutting interest rates to help protect against a trade related downturn.
And as the Fed debates for the stimulus, the ECB head Mario Draghi said today that he is ready to put more firepower to work to support the
sluggish Eurozone economy. He says additional stimulus will be required if there's no pickup in growth or inflation. And this has certainly helped
triggering a big rally when it comes to European stocks. There we have it, green across the board there.
You see the FTSE 100 up one percent or so. French and Italian stocks up over one and a half percent there, but the euro has fallen sharply. Right
now, it's down by about a quarter of a percent against the dollar and that has triggered an angry tweet from U.S. President Donald Trump and he says
quote, "Mario Draghi," this is tweet, "Mario Draghi just announced more stimulus could come which immediately dropped the euro against the dollar,
making it unfairly easier for them to compete against the USA. They've been getting away with this for years along with China and others."
More than this in just a moment. But first, our main driver and that is Facebook's cryptocurrency. Facebook wants to befriend your wallet. The
social media giant is launching a cryptocurrency and naming it Libra.
CEO, Mark Zuckerberg says he wants to make sending money as easy as sending a photo. Clare Sebastian is joining us live now. So, Clare, just walk us
through -- I mean, this obviously comes at a tricky time for Facebook when it comes to all of this sort of privacy and security concerns. Walk us
through why Facebook is choosing to launch a cryptocurrency now.
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Zain, this is quite a lot of detail that we've got from Facebook today. They've launched a white
paper.
They say that the actual launch of this cryptocurrency will be in the first half of next year, but I want to just walk you through because it is a lot
to take in.
What they've announced today is first of all, this cryptocurrency, it's called Libra. This will be a global cryptocurrency. They say it'll be
built on a new blockchain, and it won't be around just by Facebook. It'll be run by the 28 founding members of this, including Facebook, that
includes companies like Visa, like PayPal -- companies like Uber and Lyft, and Spotify who will eventually accept the Libra currency.
And that will be run by an association based in Geneva, Switzerland, so very much in the spirit of the whole blockchain idea, which is
decentralized power.
But on top of that, Facebook has also launched a new subsidiary of its own company called, Calibra. Now Calibra's first product will be a digital
wallet that will allow users to transact in the Libra currency. They say it will be it will be integrated with its messenger apps, WhatsApp and
Facebook Messenger and it will allow people to send, you know, essentially Libra coins as easily as they send emojis and, and messages and photos and
things like that.
And Facebook says that it's trying to solve a problem here. It says that 1.7 billion adults around the world are still unbanked, don't have access
to traditional financial institutions and this will help them gain access.
But of course, you know, that does it does also help Facebook who is looking to expand into new markets and to build user engagement.
ASHER: Clare, the cryptocurrency field is already relatively crowded. I mean, you've got Ethereum, you've got Bitcoin, Litecoin. I mean, you've
covered this a bunch. I mean, why would users specifically pick Libra?
SEBASTIAN: So Libra is actually a little bit different from those cryptocurrencies that you just mentioned, because it's what's called a
stable coin. It's not based on supply and demand. That's not how the value will be set unlike something like Bitcoin, which is, of course,
highly volatile, a highly speculative.
[09:05:05] SEBASTIAN: Libra is going to be backed by a basket of assets, essentially. Facebook says they will be low volatility assets like bank
deposits, like government treasuries and things like that and those will be built into a reserve that will be run by the Libra association based in
Geneva, Switzerland.
So, as such, it will be, they say, a low volatility, relatively stable store of value. So, it is a little bit different from other
cryptocurrencies and they hope that will build trust into the system and lead people to use it as a stable sort of value and as a currency.
ASHER: All right, Clare Sebastian, live for us there. Thank you so much. Appreciate that. And a quick programming note for all of you, the co-
creator of Libra, David Marcus is going to be live in a few hours from now on "Quest Means Business." That is 8:00 p.m. London time, 4:00 a.m. if you
happen to be watching from Hong Kong.
President Trump is bashing Mario Draghi after the head of the European Central Bank signaled that more stimulus could indeed be coming if Europe's
economy doesn't improve. Anna Stewart is joining us live now.
So Anna, I mean, obviously the markets in Europe reacted heavily to Mario Draghi's comments. Just walk us through specifically what he said.
ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER: Yes, essentially, the ECB stands ready for a fresh round of stimulus, whether that's in the form of rate cuts or asset
purchases. And this is if the inflation outlook doesn't improve, and frankly, the climate doesn't look good. We've got weak economic growth
across the region, and of course, loads of political uncertainty.
So Mario Draghi used the Annual ECB Meeting to deliver this speech, and given that he is stepping down in four months' time, it both felt like a
legacy speech where he really defended his QE legacy of the last few years, but also to reassure investors that there's still ammunition left at the
ECB. Take a listen to what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARIO DRAGHI, PRESIDENT, ECB: If the crisis has shown anything, it is that we will use all the flexibility within our mandate to fulfill our mandate,
and we will do so again to answer any challenges to price stability in the future.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEWART: Now, as you saw, European equity markets rose all around one to two percent. Euro fell 20 basis points against the dollar, and my goodness
bond yields fell. In fact, the German 10-year fell to a fresh low. It was already in negative territory, Zain, down to minus 0.3 percent earlier
today.
Now, while we're seeing market reaction, I have to say a lot of economists are pretty skeptical about whether fresh stimulus would actually be
effective this time around given that, you know, rates are already at record lows, given that ECB has already over $5 trillion worth of bonds on
its balance sheet -- Zain.
ASHER: So with Mario Draghi talking about potentially adding more stimulus, Donald Trump is reacting. The U.S. President actually tweeted
about this. He is not happy. Just walk us through what the U.S. President had to say.
STEWART: Yes, so we saw European equity markets fairly positive, less so from the U.S. President. I'll bring you that tweet that he had earlier,
and this was in the early hours of States side.
"Mario Draghi just announced more stimulus could come which immediately dropped the euro against the dollar, making it unfairly easier for them to
compete against the USA. They have been getting away with this for years along with China and others."
And actually after that, he also tweeted again, referring to the ECB President as Mario D., which is a new nickname for the man that we usually
know as Super Mario. But I would say of course, the context of this is hugely important because this comes at the beginning of the Fed's two-day
meeting, President Trump would love to see a rate cut States side, and they don't expect that to happen -- Zain.
ASHER: Right, Anna Stewart, live for us there. Thank you so much, appreciate that. Piling on pressure and ratcheting up tensions, the U.S.
is sending a thousand extra troops to the Middle East after releasing photos it claims prove Iran attacked two tankers in the Gulf of Oman.
Tehran, meanwhile, is going to increase its stockpile of uranium. Fred Pleitgen it is in Tehran. He joins us live now. So Fred, let's just talk
about this move by the U.S. to send a thousand additional troops.
This is clearly an offensive move. Just tell us a bit more about these extra troops.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Zain. Well, the U.S. says it's a defensive move and that these troops are
apparently going to be intelligence gathering to try and see what the Iranians are doing here and to try and prevent any sort of threat to
American interests as the military has put it in the Persian Gulf region, of course, but then also in the greater Middle Eastern region as well.
The Iranians, of course view all of this a little bit differently. They see this as an offensive move. They obviously see this as an increased
threat to themselves. It was quite interesting, because there have been some senior Iranian generals who have come out and commented on this. One
from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps came out and said that U.S. troops that in the Middle Eastern Region could not be a threat to Iran
because of the heightened state of alertness of Iran's military and also all the heightened strength of Iran's military.
But there was also another quote, which I found really interesting, which was from the head of Iran's General Staff who came out actually yesterday,
but also referring to some of these new troops from the U.S. in the greater Middle Eastern Region.
[09:10:10] PLEITGEN: He said that the Iranian military is very closely watching what as he calls it, the enemy, obviously, meaning the United
States is doing in the region. And if the enemy, as he says, makes a move, then the Iranians will have as he puts it, a crushing response.
And he said, this is the most interesting part, I think, that that would be a very broad area, a very broad region. And of course, saying, one of the
things that the Iranians have consistently been saying is that if there is an escalation of between themselves and the United States, if it does come,
God forbid, to some sort of shooting war, a shooting battle between these two, that Iran would not only utilize its regular military, but certainly
also the many proxy forces that it also has here in in the region.
So a clear warning coming to the United States that the Iranians are not backing down. Some pretty clear statements also, in answer to the
Americans, adding those 1,000 additional troops here to the region -- Zain.
ASHER: Fred, it's interesting, because in this sort of game of retaliatory chess, you have both sides saying that they clearly don't want war, but at
the same time, both sides seem to continue to escalate things.
PLEITGEN: Yes, and both sides, essentially, seemingly waiting for the other side to back down. One of the interesting things, though, that I
think that we've seen is that both the Iranians -- or the Iranians don't believe they say that President Trump actually wants war.
They think that there are people in Trump administration who do want more, like, for instance, National Security adviser, John Bolton at the
assessment of the Iranians, but they believe, fundamentally that President Trump does not.
They also say, look, there is still a very, very big threat that the two countries could stumble into war, but at the same time here in Iran, also,
you do have some, first and foremost military members who have some pretty bellicose talk.
But they, for instance, also have the Iranian President who came out earlier today and fundamentally said that Iran does not want and will not
go into any sort of armed conflict with any nation. He was saying that he believes the reason why there's these difficulties with the U.S. right now
is because Iran is dealing with as he puts it, people with very little political experience in Washington, D.C.
So you can see there's a little more moderate talk here on the Iranian side as well. And of course, that's what many people internationally hope will
in effect prevail both in Washington and Iran, that all of this deescalates rather than further does escalates -- Zain.
ASHER: All right, Fred Pleitgen live for us in Tehran, thank you so much. Okay, so these are the stories that are making headlines around the world.
Protest leaders in Hong Kong say they reject Carrie Lam's latest apology. Earlier today, the Chief Executive said she was sincerely sorry and that
she had heard demonstrators loud and clear, but she stopped short of scrapping the controversial Extradition Bill that sparked protests in the
first place.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CARRIE LAM, CHIEF EXECUTIVE, HONG KONG: I personally had to shoulder much of the responsibility. This has led to controversies, distress and
anxieties in society. For this, I offer my most sincere apology to all people of Hong Kong.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: Former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi has been buried alongside other senior figures of the Muslim Brotherhood. According to his wife, he
died after collapsing in a Cairo court on Monday. State-run media said it was a heart attack. Morsi came to power as the first democratically
elected leader after the 2011 Arab Spring. He was ousted in a coup in 2013.
French football legend and former head of European football's governing body, UEFA, Michel Platini has been detained in France. It comes as
prosecutors investigate suspected corruption in the process of awarding the 2022 World Cup to the Gulf State of Qatar. Platini meanwhile, is saying
that he is innocent.
Let's bring in World Sport Alex Thomas who is joining us live now from London. And so just -- I mean, walk us through this. I mean, he has been
brought in for questioning. What specifically do authorities want to know right now?
ALEX THOMAS, CNN, WORLD SPORT: Yes, that's the detail, but we're not quite sure. We know that the National Financial Prosecutor's Office that
specialize in economic crimes and corruption cases have had a probe ongoing since 2016 looking into the award of the FIFA World Cup to Qatar in 2022.
That decision made back in 2010.
Hugely controversial at the time, and since then, many of the FIFA officials that made that decision have you know, fallen by the wayside,
disgraced in a huge sweep through the corridors of power at FIFA as a whole new regime in charge ever since those raids on the FIFA Hotel back in 2015.
Platini one of the people caught up in that currently serving a lifetime -- not a lifetime ban -- currently serving a ban from all football-related
activity for four years that ends in October, although it was over payments separately to the investigation over the awarding of the World Cup to
Qatar. Very complex, lots of layers, the French investigation is just one of the global ones ongoing.
[09:15:06] THOMAS: There is another in Switzerland. There's another still ongoing by the U.S. Department of Justice. We know that, you know, in the
last hour or so, Platini's lawyer has released a statement saying that his client is innocent. That it is definitely not an arrest to start. He has
just gone in to help with questioning in relation for this matter.
And we think some of the details are probably to do with this meeting between Platini and the former French President Nicolas Sarkozy. We know a
former Sarkozy aide is one of those also being questioned as well.
This is as to how much there was sort of a grace and favor deal possibly between France and Qatar in the run up to that vote back in 2010.
Nothing's ever improved. There was a whole Michael Garcia report that FIFA commissioned a few years back that showed there was no wrongdoing by the
Russia or Qatar.
But as I said, there's still other criminal investigations ongoing around the world, and it seems that while we'd all forgotten about it, to some
extent, Platini's questioning today has just sort of lifted the lid once more on that whole saga.
ASHER: And so Alex, you know, there have been obviously there has been so much controversy around the World Cup being held in Qatar in 2022. I mean,
is that going to continue as scheduled, do you think?
THOMAS: Yes, I can't see any way now the World Cup would be taken away from that country after so many allegations thrown at us. And they've come
away every time with a reason to keep going. It'd be very strange for it to be taken away now. Something sensational would have to happen.
Any sort of paper trail with any of these allegations were true, and Qatar have always denied any wrongdoing. There's no paper trail that has come to
light so far, and there's been so many people working on it.
It will be strange, but you know, it shows that the people haven't given up on their case yet that many prosecutors are looking into it. And as you
know, as well as I do that when it comes to financial crimes, getting to that paper trail is increasingly different in the modern technological
world that we live in.
ASHER: You bring up a very good point. Alex Thomas, live for us there. Thank you so much. Appreciate that.
All right. A lot more to come here on FIRST MOVE. A bidding war of cosmic proportions. "Star Wars" director J.J. Abrams closes in on a deal for his
production company and taking to the skies, Airbus lifts off at the Paris Air Show. You're watching CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:20:22] ASHER: All right, welcome back to FIRST MOVE. We are live for you here the New York Stock Exchange taking another quick check of the
markets. Let's see. We've got about 10 minutes to open.
Futures pointing to a solidly higher open there. You can see Dow futures up about half percent. As I mentioned, nine or so minutes to go until the
opening bell.
New hopes for global economic stimulus. That is what is driving the markets right now. The U.S. Federal Reserve meets today to discuss
interest rates in Washington amid expectations for future -- a future rate cut. We're going to discuss that with my next guest.
And all of this, you see the Dow, S&P 500 and the NASDAQ all in green and European markets also in green territory as well. All this comes as the
ECB head, Mario Draghi opened the door today to new Eurozone stimulus.
New numbers out today show that German investor confidence plunging deep into negative territory. It's further evidence on how global trade
uncertainty is hurting business sentiment. Amid all this talk of the stimulus, bond yields are falling in Europe and the United States as well.
German yields are hitting record lows, and the U.S. 10-year is tumbling more than two percent. Joining me now to talk about all of this Lisa
Shalett, welcome. She is the Chief Investment Officer at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management. Lisa, thank you so much for being with us.
So let's talk about ...
LISA SHALETT, CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER, MORGAN STANLEY WEALTH MANAGEMENT: Good morning, Zain.
ASHER: ... Mario Draghi's comments, the ECB head, because he made comments indicating intimating that essentially, he'd be open to stimulus
measures if the Eurozone economy doesn't go the way it's expected to or he hopes it to.
That's having an impact on European markets, just how much -- how much of a lever does he have in terms of monetary policy to revitalize Europe's
economy?
SHALETT: So look, I don't think his comments are going to revitalize the economy right now. But I think his comments can certainly hearten markets.
I think the question on the economy will come down to whether or not global trade rebounds, to what extent China growth rebounds.
One of the things we've learned this cycle is the extent to which Europe has really become highly, highly dependent on global trade, with China
being a huge piece of that, and certainly a huge piece for Germany. And I think that's what we're seeing with this new index today.
ASHER: And we saw Donald Trump actually reacting quite angrily to Mario Draghi's comments. He feels it sort of gives Europe unfair trade
advantages.
SHALETT: Yes, look, I -- you know, that's all politics. And that's always going to be all politics. Just bringing it to market, the implication of
Draghi's comments today are really going to be felt not only in the rates markets, but in the currency market.
So we're seeing the Euro weaken relative to the dollar, as people, you know, and investors intimate that, in fact, you know, rates could be cut or
real rates could be pushed even lower in Europe.
It raises the pressure on Chairman Powell today, obviously, and folks anticipating what his comments may ultimately be at the end of the meeting
tomorrow, regarding U.S. policy.
ASHER: Right, so where do you think U.S. rates will go in terms of the Federal Reserve's decisions? I mean, obviously, you mentioned that
meeting, do you think there'll be a rate cut this time? Next time? What do you think?
SHALETT: Yes, so our current thinking is that it's going to be very, very hard, you know, to the extent that the Fed wants to be loyal to their
mandate, which is price stability and, you know, stable employment, full employment, to really make the justification for a rate cut tomorrow.
That having been said, if we embrace their broader mandate, which is financial stability, the markets are now discounting a near hundred
percent. The markets are discounting a hundred percent probability of a July rate cut.
And if he disappoints in his commentary and his rhetoric and the dovishness, you know, that could mark, you know, some volatility for U.S.
markets to the downside.
ASHER: But what does this thinking depend on? I mean, obviously, he is going to be taking into account some of the weak, sort of economic data
that we've gotten recently, including manufacturing, durable goods, retail sales, all of that goes into Jerome Powell's thinking, right?
SHALETT: Yes, no, it absolutely does. And I think, you know, he's got a look at the incoming data and the extent to which it's weakening, and we
are starting to see it fall off.
You know, one of the things that we look at, at Morgan Stanley is we have a Proprietary Business Condition Index and that has actually fallen in this
last month to its lowest level since December of 2008. So that's an important date.
ASHER: Right.
SHALETT: And that's, you know, significant to us and we think that it foreshadows more weakness in the ISM Manufacturing Data.
[09:25:10] SHALETT: And so into Q3, you know, Powell may have a little bit more ammunition to talk about a slowing economy, but even still, it's going
to be very hard, you know, for him to rationalize cutting rates here without it seeming like he is being pressured by either the markets
themselves or the White House.
ASHER: And all of this obviously comes at a time where the trade issues with China are certainly not going away. That obviously is a factor.
That's probably a big part of the thinking, too.
SHALETT: Oh, absolutely. And look, this is a huge handicap for the Fed. And, you know, I think people need to feel for that, because our trade
policy, you know, has come fast and furious. It hasn't always been predictable. It hasn't necessarily, you know, played to a clearly
telegraph playbook.
And so, the Fed is dealing with, you know, a variable that has jumped around and I think that that is one of the things that they probably are
considering that would be included in their argument to cut.
ASHER: Right. Right. Lisa Shalett here for us. Thank you so much, appreciate you being here.
SHALETT: Great to chat with you.
ASHER: Of course, all right, stay with us here on FIRST MOVE. The market open is coming up in about four minutes or so from now. See you in a bit.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:30:00] ASHER: All right, you saw that fist pump in the air there. A very enthusiastic round of applause indicating the opening bell.
Welcome back to FIRST MOVE. I am Zain Asher. Opening bell ringing at 9:30 this morning on Wall Street. We have got a higher open across the board
for U.S. stocks. Let's pull up the numbers for you.
The Dow, it's up about half a percent now or so. The Dow is also in a bit of a wait and see approach as we wait to hear from the U.S. Federal Reserve
that's meeting today and tomorrow, but there's also been some comments from Mario Draghi, the head of the ECB that's pushing European stocks higher.
He has intimated that he will support the European economy if needed with extra stimulus measures.
The euro has fallen sharply on the news triggering an angry response from President Trump. Like he said in the tweet that a weak euro unfairly makes
Europe more competitive against the United States.
The global movers. Facebook -- Facebook is let's see, Facebook is up ever so slightly. They announced they're going to be launching a cryptocurrency
called Libra. They're moving into international payments and e-commerce.
Also Beyond Meat up again ever so slightly, just under $200.00 a share, $170.00 a share. It went public by the way at $25.00 a share, so it's
really had -- it's really been rallying quite significantly. On Monday, it announced this latest product, a ground beef substitute and there at the
bottom of the screen, Blue Apron is also up as well. The meal kit company's reverse stock splits came into effect designed to preserve its
NYSE listing.
The rules require it listed host companies to have share price of no less than a dollar. All right. On to another story that we are following.
Just wrong. Amazon is fighting back against claims that it pays his warehouse staff starvation wages.
New York Democratic congressman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez or AOC told ABC News that low workers and their low pay have actually helped make Jeff
Bezos the world's richest man. Amazon says, it is simply not true.
Hadas Gold joins us live now. So Hadas, who is actually in the right here because Amazon has actually come out and said, "Listen, we actually pay a
minimum wage of $15.00 an hour which you know, we don't have to. We pay that because he want to." Who is in the right here?
HADAS GOLD, CNN BUSINESS REPORTER: Well, Zain, this is a really interesting back and forth that developed and Amazon has been the target of
several politicians from all sides of the aisle, especially some presidential candidates.
But what happened as you said was Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, congresswoman from New York went on a Sunday political talk show on ABC and said that
Bezos's being a billionaire is predicated on paying people starvation wages.
Now, Amazon hit back at them. They wrote in a tweet, "AOC is just wrong. Amazon is a leader on pay at $15.00 minimum wage and full benefits from day
one. We also lobby to raise the Federal minimum wage."
Now AOC responded back again and saying, "If a person is working 40 hours a week and is paid so little that they need government help to make ends
meet, it's not the person that's a weight on our system, it's the company."
Now, it is true that last year, Amazon did increase their minimum wage to $15.00 an hour after several years of criticism, and after actually Senator
Sanders had introduced a bill called the Stop Bezos Act that would have forced companies like Amazon to cover any sort of government assistant
benefits that their workers need to get.
Now, there have been some reports that there are a certain percentage of Amazon workers who have to have Federal assistance programs to help
supplement their wages, but Amazon did, as I said, increase their minimum wage and they have said they've been lobbying for it.
Although it's interesting because some economists say that retailers have little choice, but to increase their wages now because of the workplace
market and how hard it is to find qualified workers. But there's other problems that Amazon has when it comes to their workforce that have now
actually been pushing to unionize. They say it's not just the wages. It's also the conditions that they're in. Some Amazon workers have said that in
their warehouses, they're put on really super high standards in terms of how quickly they pick out products and put them into those boxes that we
all receive.
They say that these are such high standards that they sometimes don't feel as though they can take any breaks. They call sometimes the conditions
just completely uncomfortable and not proper conditions for workplaces.
Their motto has sort of been, "We are workers, not robots." Obviously, as robots have started to take the place of some of those workers, and it's
not just Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who has been hitting back at Amazon.
Last week, Joe Biden, former Vice President and a presidential candidate, blasted Amazon for paying a lower tax rate than firefighters and again,
Amazon hit back saying that they pay $2.6 billion dollars in corporate taxes and that they pay every penny they owe.
And they've challenged actually both Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Joe Biden to then change the laws.
[09:35:08] GOLD: They say, "We follow the laws, it's up to you to change laws. If you don't think people are getting paid enough, you're the
lawmakers. You can change it."
But what I find really interesting in all of these stories, Zain is that Amazon is getting a lot more aggressive in the last year or so pushing back
against its critics and being very public about it -- Zain.
ASHER: Yes, it certainly has especially in that back and forth it had with AOC. Hadas Gold, thank you so much. Appreciate that.
Okay, let's turn from movers to media shakeups. WarnerMedia is reported to have won the bidding war for famed director J.J. Abrams. It said to have
signed an exclusive content deal with his company, Bad Robot.
The outfit behind hit such as "Westworld" and "Lost." This deal is said to be worth $500 million. WarnerMedia, by the way is the parent company of
CNN. Brian Stelter joins us live now. So Brian, this is an eye watering sum of money. What does WarnerMedia get in exchange for $500 million?
BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: It gets an exclusive first to look at all the ideas that J.J. Abrams has for TV shows and films and
other sorts of entertainment properties in the future.
Bad Robot, what you get is you get J.J. Abrams, you get his wife, Katie McGrath, who is a key part of the company. You get this production company
that's actually been associated with Warner Brothers for many years.
When this deal was coming up, there was a bidding war with many different companies interested in getting J.J. Abrams and Bad Robot to come over to
them.
Apple was reportedly the top contender other than WarnerMedia to get the Bad Robot business. Apple actually has some shows in the works from J.J.
Abrams because right now, he is able to go out and offer shows to many different outlets.
But WarnerMedia, which as you mentioned, CNN's parent won this bidding war by offering an incredible sum of money in order to keep him in the family,
keep him in the fold when WarnerMedia is about to launch this new streaming service.
What we are seeing is an incredible expression of the streaming wars, where if you are an A-list star, an A-list producer behind the scenes, you can
command these nine figure sums of money in exchange to partner with one of these big studios and give them a first look at your shows. So that's what
WarnerMedia is getting with J.J. Abrams. It's something that will last for many years, but we'll have to see, well, everyone will end up seeing in the
future if Abrams and McGrath and the production company are able to deliver huge hits for the new streaming service.
ASHER: Yes, I was going to say, I mean, when somebody gives you $500 million that does come with so much pressure.
STELTER: Pressure.
ASHER: Although, I wouldn't say no to that. But so let's talk about the power of just really good original content in an age when the television,
movie and entertainment landscape is becoming increasingly competitive, Brian.
STELTER: Yes, we've seen similar deals with Shonda Rhimes and Netflix, Ryan Murphy and Netflix, Greg Berlanti staying put at Warner. There have
been these deals that have been worth $200 million and $300 million.
And now the Hollywood traders are saying this is setting a new high watermark at $500 million. To be clear, it's not one big $500 million
check. You know what? What the deals are, it's a valuation of a long-term contract for the production company.
But it is still an incredible sum of money. Hollywood has not seen this before and it is all driven by Netflix. Netflix has been causing these
bidding wars. And now it's Apple and Amazon as well.
All of these companies desperate for A-list talent, because look, we live in this long tail world where everybody watches whatever they want on
YouTube and Netflix and elsewhere, but it is still hits and it is still hit makers that have a lot of power because those shows can put your streaming
service or put your product on the map. That's what Disney is banking on. It's what Warner is banking on. It's what's worked for Netflix now for
many years.
You need a combination of those A-list stars and producers who can make the big hits, but then you also need a library of other stuff for everybody to
watch. It's a balancing act for all these companies. And WarnerMedia is of course launching its streaming service for the end of this year and then
in fully fledged form early next year. It's got a few more months to make that plan.
ASHER: Well let's see if that $500 million pays off. Brian Stelter live for us. Thank you so much. Appreciate that.
Up next, take off for Airbus. Boeing's woes give it to European rival a head start at the Paris Air Show, that's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:42:29] ASHER: On the first day of the Paris Air Show, Boeing rival, Airbus piled on the pressure by launching a new plane and announcing a
hundred new orders.
Meanwhile, Boeing was once again on the defensive apologizing for the two deadly crashes and promising return to service on its 737 MAX at some point
soon.
On day two, Boeing is announcing a big order. Melissa Bell joins us live now. So Melissa, just walk us through just with these two rivals -- Airbus
and Boeing. How is Airbus sort of swooping in to pick up orders that essentially would have been Boeing's?
MELISSA BELL, CNN PARIS CORRESPONDENT: Well, in fact, exactly that is exactly what's been happening here, Zain at this Paris Air Show.
Traditionally, the opportunity for these two giants to go head to head and compare how many orders they are able to get.
Yesterday Airbus got a hundred orders, Boeing announced none at all, and it was all about expressing -- the leaders of Boeing expressing their
contrition and their determination to fix these safety issues. Because of course, bear in mind, Zain, that in the wake of those crashes, the one in
October back in Indonesia, and the one in March in Ethiopia that both involved that 737 MAX. They have to get out of the immediate problem of
getting that plane recertified, getting it back off the ground.
And then of course, there is the question of the confidence in the company itself.
So good news for Boeing today. It has announced that it sold 30 of its 787 Dreamliners this time to Korean Air, but still far behind Airbus, which is
really exploiting this current weak position in which Boeing finds itself with the announcement beyond those hundred orders yesterday, of 30 further
orders to Saudi Arabian Airlines today and another 30 crucially to the Filipino, Cebu Pacific including an order for those new aircraft that you
mentioned.
And I think that is the crucial point to be made here at this Air Show is that Airbus is really exploiting a moment of weakness of its rival by
announcing this new, A321 XLR, and the idea is that Boeing had been going to look ahead to 2025 investing some $15 billion in a new aircraft that was
going to be designed exactly along these lines of single aisle, longer hull version.
Airbus already pipping them at the post and again, using this crucial fact that while Boeing is busy dealing with the fallout of all these issues,
Airbus can power ahead and develop airplanes that are going to be up and running and deliverable even before going ahead of time to crack on with
what it had planned to do previously -- Zain.
ASHER: All right, Melissa Bell, live for us. Thank you so much. Appreciate that. All right, let's come right back down to Earth now and in
India, millions of farmers subsist on small plots of land of one acre or less, many of them rely on water they have to haul out of the ground using
diesel or kerosene-driven pumps, which are expensive and dirty.
[09:45:13] ASHER: CNN's John Defterios has been finding out about a sun- powered alternative promoted by a startup called Khethworks. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN BUSINESS EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: On this edition of "The Global Energy Challenge," we're in India, focusing on a small scale
solar project out to boost productivity for rural farmers.
DEFTERIOS (voice over): For farmers to maximize their capacity to earn a living, water is crucial. Right now, rural farmers rely on expensive
diesel pumps. But MIT graduates behind company, Khethworks have engineered a solar solution here in Pune, India.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DEFTERIOS (on camera): How did the idea of a solar-driven pumping system actually come to the fore?
KATIE TAYLOR, CEO AND CO-FOUNDER, KHETHWORKS: People are saying we need to irrigate year round and we can't afford to do it with diesel fuel or
kerosene fuel.
DEFTERIOS: At the core of what Khethworks is all about, what would you say is the primary motivation of what you're trying to do here?
TAYLOR: Our number one motive is simply to enable smallholder farmers to grow more, earn more and provide more for their families and their
communities.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This place looks good.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's put it here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We can get the pump and connect it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEFTERIOS (voice over): This solar pump is small, clean and easier to install. Retail costs about $540.00. Khethworks and the NGOs they partner
with want to help farmers microfinance the equipment over time.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DEFTERIOS (on camera): Is it time to think differently and get away from diesel and kerosene?
MAHESA LADE, SENIOR PROJECT MANAGER, BAIF: If they are using diesel and kerosene, then it is worst. It's the era of solar and renewable energies.
It's a sustainable way for the farming. It's a one-time cost and there is no maintenance costs for the solar pump, basically.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEFTERIOS (on camera): Khethworks says if successful in India, it's ready to leapfrog into Eastern Africa, where the technology is also needed.
We'll have more of FIRST MOVE after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHER: All right, welcome back, everybody. We just had some breaking news into CNN. A tsunami advisory has just been issued in Japan. A tsunami
advisory has just been issued in Japan. I want to bring in Allison Chinchar who joins us live now. So Allison, what more do we know?
ALLISON CHINCHAR, METEOROLOGIST: Yes, so everyone should understand that there's a difference between a tsunami advisory and a tsunami warning. A
tsunami advisory is going to be one meter or less of additional wave height, whereas a warning would be slightly higher.
So we're not expecting huge wave crest with this particular earthquake. This right here where this red dot is, that is the epicenter. It was a 6.4
magnitude earthquake, relatively shallow at about 16.1 kilometers deep, however, because it was centered right over the water, that's where the
tsunami concern comes from.
[09:50:10] CHINCHAR: That's why they have issued that advisory. Again, noting that that is likely going to see wave heights increased by maybe at
most, one meter -- that would be at most.
Here again, you can see about 6.4, this on the north western portion of Japan. That 6.4 magnitude quake at a depth of 16.1 kilometers deep.
Most of the shaking reporting that we're hearing from around this area is relatively light, you've got your light shaking in some areas, things
rattling around inside of homes, but so far as of yet, we have not heard of any major damage from this particular earthquake.
Again, this happened just moments ago, this is still brand new. We're still collecting a lot of that information. But again, this was a 6.4
magnitude earthquake on the north western coastline of Japan at a depth of about 16.1 kilometers, and Zain, we do have that tsunami advisory in effect
for additional wave heights of one meter or less.
ASHER: All right, Allison Chinchar, keep us posted. Thank you so much. Appreciate that. Okay, so this just in. U.S. President Donald Trump is
confirming that he will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping next week at the G-20 Summit.
Presumably, the two have a lot to talk about, especially when it comes to trade. Trump says quote, "I had a very good telephone conversation with
President Xi of China. We will be having an extended meeting next week at the G-20 in Japan. Our respective teams will begin talks prior to our
meeting."
So President Trump will be meeting with Xi Jinping at the G-20 summit next week. U.S. stocks are adding to their gains right now. You see the Dow
Jones up there, up about one and a third percent there. The S&P 500 up about one and a quarter percent.
All right onto our final, but actually very important story. Everybody has baggage. Events and people shape our lives. And of course, how we see the
world. That baggage becomes our motivator whether we've unpacked it or not.
Most high achievers are there for a reason. Something drove them to the top. If you are a high achiever, it is likely that something has really
motivated you and driven you to get to the top. But when at the top many, find themselves unequipped to be a good leader, because of that very
motivator that got them there in the first place.
Bring in the man dubbed the CEO, whisperer, Jerry Colonna. He is the CEO and co-founder of Reboot IO, an executive coaching program. He is a former
venture capitalist as well. And he is the author of, "Reboot: Leadership and the Art of Growing Up."
Jerry, thank you so much for being with us.
JERRY COLONNA, CEO AND CO-FOUNDER, REBOOT IO: Thank you for having me.
ASHER: So it is true that a lot of people say that -- say in the sports world that champions are born through trauma, would you agree with that and
why?
COLONNA: I think that trauma and challenges in our childhood in particular, trauma is a big word, but challenges in our childhood, in
particular, create a sense of resiliency. It created an opportunity for resiliency and the ability to withstand the normal ups and downs of
everyday life, especially those in leadership.
ASHER: Okay. So you're saying in this book that essentially, if you have been driven to get to the top, if you are somebody who is very ambitious,
it is likely that you've got that for a reason. But it's interesting, the very factors that enables you to succeed might actually be holding you back
when it comes to leadership. Just walk us through that.
COLONNA: That's exactly right. And what happens is, a lot of times, when we're children, we develop these childhood survival strategies. We develop
the capacity to withstand the things that happened to us and those things compel us. They propel us to do well in school. They compel us to
leadership positions early on in our life.
Eventually, though, and somewhere around our 30s, we start to run out of gas and we start running into them, they start to become impediments, not
only to our own leadership, but actually to our happiness.
ASHER: It's the reason why the kids who are bullied at school are the ones who end up becoming CEOs. It's sort of like, you know, "I'm going to show
you" type thing. So why is it that oftentimes, a lot of what makes us ambitious and aggressive in terms of making it to the top also bring out
the worst in us?
COLONNA: Well, you know, I'm a huge fan of Marvel superheroes, so shout out to Marvel. And one of the things that they've taught us is that every
superpower has a dark side. And so what I often teach is that what you want to do is bring out the positive aspects of that, say ambition, while
understanding and dialing down the more negative aspects.
ASHER: Okay, so how do you do that?
COLONNA: Well, part of it is this whole process of what I refer to as radical self-inquiry, which is the ability to sort of look deeply within
yourself and ask yourself honest questions like what's really motivating me here? And what am I truly afraid of? And is it really a threat?
ASHER: And one question that you asked that -- my producer Molly loves your book by the way. She is obsessed with it. Her and were talking on
the phone this morning and she was saying that one thing you said that really got her thinking is what is being said that is not being said? What
needs to be said that is not being said?
COLONNA: That's right. And I personalize it in the sense of what am I not saying that needs to be said.
[09:55:10] COLONNA: And that's really powerful because we walk around not saying the things that really motivate us all the time. There are
corollary questions to that, such as, what am I saying that's not being heard? And what's being said that I'm not hearing?
ASHER: That's very interesting. So how important is vulnerability? Because I think, you know, a lot of people think that in order to be a
leader, you kind of have to close yourself off and be sort of very aloof and distant in order to gain that respect. Everybody talks about oh, you
know, vulnerability is very important. But is there such a thing as being too vulnerable?
COLONNA: Sure. There is such a thing as being, quote "too vulnerable" if in my vulnerability, what I'm asking you to do is to carry my feelings.
Okay. So I like to make a distinction here.
It's not about being vulnerable, for vulnerable sake. It's about being real.
ASHER: Okay.
COLONNA: So when a leader is actually not real, they actually instill distrust.
ASHER: So is it a sort of calculated vulnerability? No, that's the wrong word. I shouldn't say calculated --
COLONNA: No it is not calculated.
ASHER: Controlled vulnerability.
COLONNA: It's understandable. It's an adult responsibility. It's not, "Oh, my God, I'm freaking out." It's, "Hey, I'm scared. But I still
believe in what we're trying to do."
ASHER: Okay. Well, I'm going to definitely read this book. It's called "Reboot" by Jerry Colonna. Thank you so much. Appreciate that.
All right, but it is for us. Thank you so much for watching. I'm Zain Asher. International Desk with Christina Macfarlane is up next. You're
watching CNN.
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[10:00:00]
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