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First Move with Julia Chatterley
Mike Pence Moves to Reassure Americans with a Televised Injection; The U.S. Admits the Russian Hack Attack Presents "Grave Risk;" SMIC, the Chinese Chipmakers Set to Face Tough New Restrictions. Aired 9-10a ET
Aired December 18, 2020 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:00:19]
JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN BUSINESS ANCHOR: Live from New York, I'm Julia Chatterley. This is FIRST MOVE and here is your need to know.
VP vaccination. Mike Pence moves to reassure Americans with a televised injection.
Cyber scare. The U.S. admits the Russian hack attack presents a quote, "grave risk."
And a major SMICdown. The Chinese chipmakers set to face tough new restrictions.
It's Friday let's make a move.
Welcome once again to FIRST MOVE this Friday, a day when Washington rolls up its sleeves for vaccinations and tough aid negotiations. All of this, as
we await Moderna's big moment, too. The F.D.A. poised to give Emergency Use Authorization to a second vaccine, Moderna's this time as soon as today, so
we'll be watching out for that.
The science seems falling into place. The stimulus continues to take too long.
Congress now expected to work into the weekend on a deal. U.S. government funding is running out and another partial government shutdown therefore
looms large.
What about U.S. futures? Well mixed premarket, sitting at record highs hit yesterday as investors follow the maddening machinations over in D.C. The
stimulus waiting game is no game with some 12 million Americans set to lose benefits unless we see congressional action. For those struggling families,
the uncertainty represents ongoing torture.
The waiting game continues in Europe, too. We are just a few hours remain to net a Brexit trade deal before the latest self-imposed deadline hits.
It's official business. Fishing rights still the major sticking point. The pound weakening slightly on the news, yet JPMorgan sees calmer waters
ahead. It believes the probability of a deal is now 70 percent. That's up from 60 percent. More details on that later in the show.
For now, Asian markets ending the week lower. The Japanese Central Bank today announcing a major monetary policy review. The belief is that will
ultimately signal more easing ahead.
Nothing easing though with U.S.-China tensions. The U.S. government blacklisting more firms for alleged ties to Chinese military. Details on
that coming right up.
But first, let's get to our top driver: the science and the stimulus in D.C.
Moments ago at the White House, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence receiving the BioNTech-Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine on camera. This makes the Vice
President the highest profile U.S. public official to be inoculated. He was joined by his wife and the U.S. Surgeon General who were also filmed
getting the vaccine. The administration hopes this event will boost public confidence in the drug.
CNN's very own Dr. Sanjay Gupta also joining that effort. Here he is getting the vaccine earlier today, too. While vaccinations take center
stage in Washington this morning as we've mentioned, a stimulus deal taking shape behind the scenes, too.
John Harwood joins us now from the White House, a hive of action, D.C. today. John, great to have you with us. Let's talk about that vaccine
first. Great to see a senior ranking member of this administration getting a vaccine, but where was the President? We know he has been skeptical of
the science at times. Any information about when he is going to get vaccinated?
JOHN HARWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: We don't have that information. But as you say, Julia, this was a wonderful morning, a
wonderful scene to unfold for the American people, light at the end of the tunnel for the pandemic.
The President is not part of it. The President has been holed up nursing his grievances and wounds from having lost the election to Joe Biden, which
he can't even acknowledge and he has been tweeting this morning about various things, going after Liz Cheney, the Republican, one of the leaders
in the House of Representatives, other nonsense that he is preoccupied with.
But people will pretty much move past the President on this front and that's why Mike Pence stepped up. Jerome Adams stepped up. Tony Fauci was
there.
It was a heartening moment. The President, he might be scared to get the vaccine. You know, he is not somebody who likes medical interactions and
the idea of rolling up his sleeve and having somebody stick a needle in his arm that might be something that grosses him out a little bit.
So we don't know if and when he is going to do it. He has of course, had the coronavirus, so that renders him less vulnerable and/or maybe not
vulnerable at all for a while, but he is not part of what's going on right now, but it was a good thing that Mike Pence was.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, you raise such great points. Obviously, the President has had COVID-19. He's a survivor of the virus, which makes a difference
hereto.
But it is such a huge moment for America, for people around the world, a beacon of hope and something to celebrate as far as Operation Warp Speed is
concerned. So it's a shame that there isn't more focus on the brilliance of the operation and how well it's gone and how swiftly this science has come
first.
Speaking of stepping up, John, what about the stimulus negotiations? Where are we on that?
HARWOOD: Well, it's very obvious that in tandem with these progress on the vaccines, that both the overall economy and individual Americans who are
suffering need a financial vaccination as well. It does look like Congress is going to step up and do it, but it's a very large package, $900 billion.
We sometimes forget, since the numbers that we've talked about during the pandemic, the $2.2 trillion package that was enacted earlier this year,
forget how large this is. It's larger than the Obama stimulus that was enacted to counter the financial crisis in the great recession in 2009.
So they are very near the finish line here. Their sticking points on the amount of checks for individuals who will get them on potential
restrictions on the Federal Reserve, which Republicans want to put on how much aid can go to state local governments either directly and
unconditionally or through various income streams. The governors are desperate for this aid, not only because they need to provide services, but
to prevent the layoffs that could put the economy into a double dip recession.
Remember a lot of these states that had their revenues decimated by the pandemic, and they've already laid off hundreds of thousands of workers and
their threats of many more, they don't get some relief.
CHATTERLEY: John, we see queues of people lining up to get food parcels in the richest nation in the world. We've got millions of people set to lose
benefits.
The idea that these lawmakers could leave D.C. for the holidays, having not agreed a deal is unimaginable to me. How confident are we that through all
this back and forth and negotiations, a deal actually does get done?
HARWOOD: Highly confident, Julia. I think JPMorgan was low-balling the chances at 70 percent. I think we're looking at 95 percent chance because
everybody is so invested in this and as you say, it has now become accepted on the table that it would be an intolerable, shameful embarrassment for
Congress to leave without providing relief for these families. I simply don't think they can escape providing some action at this point.
CHATTERLEY: Yes. Well, we're hopeful for that. And we'll keep our fingers crossed. John Harwood there, thank you, as always, for your wisdom.
And I will just point out the JPMorgan number was Brexit actually rather than the U.K. stimulus deal, so fingers crossed on both of those.
HARWOOD: Oh, apologies, okay.
CHATTERLEY: That's fine, just in case anyone wants to comment. Thank you, John. Great to have you with us.
All right, so the number of U.S. agencies and businesses thought to be affected by a massive cyberattack widening today. U.S. authorities suspect
Russian hackers are behind the breach and sources tell CNN the State Department was among the agencies impacted.
Microsoft has identified more than 40 of its customers who were targeted. Alex Marquardt is in Washington for us, and has been following this story
incredibly closely.
Alex, great to have you with us. I'm just looking down the list here. The nuclear weapons agency, it is suggesting the Energy Department as well. I
mean, we're talking about key infrastructure here in the United States beyond any of the corporates and those others that have been mentioned,
grave risk. It makes sense to me.
ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: It's a growing list, Julia, just on the Department of Energy on the nuclear side. They
were impacted on the business side of their network, not on the critical national security infrastructure.
But you're absolutely right, it is a growing list. This list is growing by the day. It makes things appear and they are worse, rather than getting
better and it is continuing to raise questions about what exactly these hackers had access to, what data they had access to, what they're going to
do with it, whether they stole it, whether they modified it.
And we have now gotten another alert from the U.S. cyber agency which is known as CISA, speaking to what they called a grave risk to the Federal
government, state and local governments, as well as private organizations and critical infrastructure, a very worrying about I just want to highlight
a couple parts of.
They wrote that " ... removing this threat actor from compromised environments will be highly complex and challenging for organizations."
This is a threat actor that has been in there since March. They go on to say that they used different ways of getting into these networks that have
previously been identified, and that there are procedures and techniques that have not yet been discovered.
So some very worrying language there from the main U.S. cyber agency. We do know, Julia that President Trump has been briefed by his top intelligence
officials about this attack that is very much being blamed on Russia at the moment, but we have not been hearing anything at all from President Trump.
Meanwhile, this is very much a problem that President-elect Biden is going to be inheriting. We did hear some very strong language from him. He put
out a statement saying that when his administration comes into office, they will be imposing substantial costs on those responsible for such malicious
attacks.
"Our adversaries," he says, " ... should know that, as President, I will not stand idly by in the face of cyber assaults on our nation." But given
Julia that the damage assessment is currently underway, that the U.S. government is taking stock of what exactly happened, any sort of response
from the U.S. is going to have to be proportional or relative to what they perceive this attack that is being blamed on Russia, to be in, and that
remains very much to be seen.
But what is clear is, President-elect Biden is going to be inheriting departments and agencies with Russian attackers currently in their networks
-- Julia.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, I mean, just looking at some of the language here sophisticated, patient, well-resourced. To hear a President-elect Joe Biden
say this is going to be a top priority. Dealing with this is a top priority.
Yes, makes sense to me. CNN's Alex Marquardt there. Great to have you with us. Thank you so much for that update.
All right, a major blow to China's top chipmaker, SMIC. The U.S. has included the firm in a list of dozens of Chinese companies on a trade
blacklist.
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross says, "We will not allow advanced U.S. technology to help build the military of an increasingly belligerent
adversary." SMIC has repeatedly denied any links to Chinese military.
Steven Jiang joins us now from Beijing. Steven, great to have you with us. What more do we know? And what's the response from China been to these
latest restrictions?
STEVEN JIANG, CNN SENIOR BUREAU PRODUCER: Well, Julia, this is a major development, but probably not unexpected. You know, this company was put on
a Pentagon list earlier this month for being allegedly controlled by the Chinese military.
So as the Trump administration continues to announce a series of measures against China, in its final weeks in office, many had expected the U.S.
Commerce Department to follow suit, and now, it did.
But this is a much harsher sanction against the company because it essentially means now SMIC is being cut off from its U.S. suppliers and
technologies and companies like SMIC really relies on U.S. software and machinery to design and manufacture semiconductors.
So that's why even before this news became official, even just with the chatter emerging, the company's share prices had already tensed in both
Hong Kong and Shanghai.
Now the company, as you said, has denied it has ties to the Chinese military, but the government, including top officials, like Foreign
Minister Wang Yi has said as recently as today, on Friday that this kind of arbitrary suppression against Chinese companies is simply unacceptable.
But this latest decision from Washington is really more than just about this company. It's really going to affect this entire government agenda on
technological advancement, you know, the Chinese leadership actually, on Friday held a meeting in Beijing about the country's economic outlook for
2021.
And President Xi Jinping, again, made the point that this government must take advantage of its political system to sponsor, to organize the
country's technological developments because only this way, he said, the country will never be choked by other governments when it comes to core
technologies and that, of course, includes semiconductors that power everything from computers to smartphones.
So at least from the perspective from Beijing, Julia, this latest decision by Washington is only going to reinforce the urgency and the necessity of
this message and this agenda championed by President Xi -- Julia.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, but even with China's powers to reshape, refocus, and do something incredibly quickly, it is going to be painful in the short term.
It'll be interesting to see how President-elect Biden handles it, too. Steven, Jiang, great to have you with us on that story. Thank you.
All right. Let me bring you up to speed with some of the other news items making headlines around the world.
Australia is battling a coronavirus outbreak in a Northern Sydney suburb. People in the Northern Beaches area are being urged to stay home for three
days.
[09:15:02]
CHATTERLEY: Meanwhile in Germany, laying out its vaccination plan ahead of a post-Christmas rollout, the Health Minister says priority will go to
people over 80 and care home residents and staff.
Officials in Northern Nigeria say hundreds of kidnapped school boys are back in their home state. They arrived at the local governor's office hours
ago after being rescued by the Nigerian military on Thursday.
The boys were abducted last week. Authorities in the region blame bandits.
At least two people have lost their lives in Fiji after Tropical Cyclone Yasi hit the country Thursday and authorities say casualty numbers are
expected to rise. The island nation suffered floods landslides and blackouts. A spokesman says the storm is believed to of course hundreds of
millions of dollars' worth of damage.
All right, still to come here on FIRST MOVE. Getting the right vaccines to the right people fast. The Chief Medical Officer of Salesforce will explain
the firm's digital solution.
And singing in Singapore, this landmark scene in "Crazy Rich Asians" hosts a concert in the COVID era. Just how is that possible? Find out. We've got
the organizers, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to the FIRST MOVE on a day where Washington is truly calling the shots. Traders are awaiting news from Congress on
emergency aid as well as the F.D.A.'s final decision on the Moderna COVID vaccine.
In the meantime, U.S. stocks look set to open, yes, relatively unchanged, but a consolidation going on after rising to record highs yesterday.
Investors have looked past soft economic data this week focusing more on those aid talks and of course, future vaccine hopes, too.
But the pain continues, Coke is cutting 2,200 jobs globally, half of that number coming from the United States, getting hit, of course, this company
by weaker global demand for softdrinks.
No slow down though for package delivery giant, FedEx. Q2 revenues and earnings beat expectations with an impressive 29 percent rise in shipping
volumes.
Shares are falling though premarket as you can see. The company is still unable to provide 2021 guidance and we've seen firms repeatedly get
penalized for not providing that information.
FedEx, of course, a key member of the vaccine logistics team for Operation Warp Speed, and as we await that F.D.A. decision, I just want to turn to
the role tech companies will play in facilitating vaccine delivery data collection and administration, too.
Salesforce, the Cloud based software companies teamed up with the vaccine alliance, GAVI to create a digital platform to help in distributing and
collecting data on these all important vaccines.
Dr. Ashwini Zenooz is Chief Medical Officer at Salesforce and joins us now. Dr. Zenooz, it's fantastic to have you on the show. I want to take a step
back because you are doing important work with GAVI.
But you've got a lot going on at the state level in the United States, more broadly, the Federal level. Just explain how you're approaching what's
required here in terms of data collection and analytics.
DR. ASHWINI ZENOOZ, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER, SALESFORCE: Thanks for having us on. You know, really Salesforce has been quite active from very early on in
the pandemic. We quickly realized how technology could be a great accelerator to help with all the COVID responses that the world has been
challenged to deal with.
Back in May, we built and released technology called work.com, which essentially allows organizations to start thinking about reopening safely,
allows tools like contact tracing, emergency response management, provides a command center to your point that brings all of the data together in one
place, so with that leaders, whether it's a Federal, state or an organizational leader can make really intelligent and informed decisions
quickly in real time.
And in September, we released additional technology called work.com for vaccines. It's really an end to end technology solution and several states,
15 Federal, global and state have already started rolling this out.
In the United States, the State of New Hampshire and globally, GAVI, the vaccine alliance has already started using our technology.
CHATTERLEY: Explain how it facilitates, as we were just saying, recognizing inventory levels of vaccines, who's had the vaccine, the fact that we have
to have two doses, the fact that there is, at some point in the future going to be lots of different vaccine brands to keep track of as well and
understanding who's had what. How does the platform actually work?
ZENOOZ: Yes, I'm the Salesforce technology is really agile. It can be set to manage any different type of data. And in this particular case, work.com
for vaccines has all of that end to end capability. It can manage everything from the supply chain and logistics, keeping track of the
different types of vaccines, the cold surge requirements, the communications requirements, even down to the level of scheduling vaccines,
bringing people back for a second dose if that's what's required for that scheduling, and to help track outcomes.
With GAVI, for example, the work that we're doing there is critical. We're helping really power the COVAX country engagement platform, which as you
know, GAVI is trying to equitably distribute two billion doses to 190 countries by the end of 2021, and they really need critical, stable,
reliable technology that can help visualize what's in supply what's in demand, and really collaborate.
And Salesforce is powering this technology and allowing these countries to collaborate quickly get these vaccines out.
CHATTERLEY: I mean, this is truly phenomenal. I think, coming into this, trying to see vaccinations rolled out in the West and individual nations is
one thing; when you're trying to get two billion vaccine doses out in 2021 to poorer nations, just controlling that, who gets what, making sure that
there's some interface where people are connected is truly essential, and this is what Salesforce is providing or at least providing the platform for
with COVAX.
ZENOOZ: Absolutely, I mean, look, we need to make sure that we as a nation, we as a global citizen, and a government work together so that the majority
of the world is vaccinated as quickly as possible.
What we don't want to have is a situation where wealthier countries or people of means are getting more access and the more vulnerable and foreign
nations have to wait and have delayed access.
It's not just the right thing to do to make sure everybody gets the vaccines, but it's also critical so that you can prevent unnecessary deaths
and economic devastation.
So we can't be working with Excel or working on spreadsheets. We can't be working with pen and paper, right? We really need to technology to quickly
get this information out.
[09:25:02]
CHATTERLEY: Yes, there's no Post-It notes involved in this. It's all got to be computerized and digitized. It's interesting because just earlier on the
show, we were talking about the recent hack attack and the concerns on safety, and it's broad based in the United States.
How do you protect when it's something like this, which is such precious cargo, the risk that perhaps some packages get replaced by placebos that
they appear on the black market. I mean, there are all sorts of risks associated with this that make data and tracking so essential. How are you
mitigating those kinds of risks?
ZENOOZ: We're working with a broad group of organizations. This is where really collaboration and having public-private partnership is critical.
Working with technology companies that have expertise in rolling out these types of technologies quickly, safely and securely is critical.
To your point, we need to make sure every package is tracked, every dose is tracked, that we are ensuring that people are getting the doses that they
need, and they're getting the doses that are safe.
All of these things can be done by technology. We have the means to do it and we need to ensure that we work together to get it done. Of course,
there are going to be hiccups, so we just need to be vigilant and keep track of what's going on so that we can, you know, recover really quickly.
CHATTERLEY: I appreciate you're a Chief Medical Officer, but just based on your experience, do you think what's being done here today with this
platform would have been possible in the past without the use of Cloud technology and the accessibility and analytics of the data that that
provides?
ZENOOZ: I mean, I'm a little bit biased, but I would say absolutely not. Having been in the healthcare space and worked with organizations and
governments around the world, I just see how fast we're able to do things and scale our transformations.
I mean, technology is truly the great accelerator and the great equalizer I would say to particularly when you're dealing with healthcare situations,
like what we're in today.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, I couldn't agree more, and bias notwithstanding, it's great to have this kind of technology. Thank you so much for joining us on
the show and bringing us up to speed with your work and thank you to all the team.
I say this a lot and really mean it. Thank you, Dr. Zenooz there, Chief Medical Officer at Salesforce.
All right, the opening bell is next. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:30:32]
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to FIRST MOVE. That was the opening bell as we wrap up the last full week of trading for 2020. The Wall Street majors
opening pretty flat, updating record highs yesterday. Bitcoin, taking a breather after racing past the $23,000.00 milestone yesterday. Interesting
take from Goldman Sachs today, which says gold and Bitcoin can coexist with both assets able to rise together. Bitcoin is rising to records.
Coinbase, the largest cryptocurrency exchange announcing yesterday that it plans to go public to cash in perhaps on a Bitcoin and broader
cryptocurrency strength. Remember, some have outperformed even Bitcoin, yet that is up some 200 percent this year.
A mere shadow though of Moderna's 620 percent rise and Tesla's 670 percent advance. Tesla will be added to the S&P 500 before Monday's open. The big
question, of course, how much more Tesla do index fund managers need to buy before the big day? Its shares still close to record highs.
All right. Live concerts in the age of COVID. Singapore is making the seemingly impossible a reality. The Marina Bay Sands Hotel, a stunning
Singapore landmark which was used as the location for the engagement party scene in the movie, "Crazy Rich Asians," if you remember, 500 people are
enjoying the country's first large scale music event since the pandemic began.
Joining us now Adam Wilkes. He is President and CEO of AEG Asia Pacific, the entertainment company organizing the event. Adam, great to have you
with us. What a momentous occasion. I mean, talk me through what it's taken to get to this point? Because I believe, up until this, you could only get
50 people together. So this is 10 times that size. It's monumental.
ADAM WILKES, PRESIDENT AND CEO, AEG ASIA PACIFIC: Thank you, Julia, and thanks for having us on the show this morning. It's just such an exciting
night for us here in Singapore, and for so many people in our industry. We've been waiting a long time to see a return of live music and just to
walk into the theater tonight and see the artists hit the stage and you know, it's something that we all are so familiar with, yet, it has been
quite some time.
So it's just a really exciting night here and I'm glad we could share this with your viewers today.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, I'm practically bouncing up and down on my chair. It wouldn't have been possible -- it wouldn't have been possible without
working with the government with the Health Ministry, with the Tourism Board, too.
I mean, you simply have to be incredibly careful and to build people's trust, too. Just give us the sort of COVID backdrop, why is this possible
from a health perspective? What are you doing to ensure people's safety?
WILKES: Well, absolutely. We've been very fortunate to have worked on a long term partnership here in Singapore with the Singapore Tourism Board
and the Ministry of Health on a plan of how to resume live entertainment in the market.
Singapore is one of a few places in the world right now that has been very fortunate to have. They have mitigated and manage the COVID situation, and
at this point, it really feels like we've begun to turn a corner here in Singapore, as well as some of the other neighboring countries in this part
of the world.
We worked on this for a long time to try to figure out how can we do this in a way that's going to be safe for fans? And that was really the
priority. And you know, it started off with other industries reopening, whether it was hotels, or shopping malls or restaurants, and we filled up
to now be able to go from what was five people gatherings to 50 people gatherings up to 500.
Now it hasn't been easy, but so far, it's going really well. And our hope is that this is a path forward of how we could increase capacities,
increase volume events. And, you know, we really believe that this is a bellwether for what's going to be coming in other parts of the world very
soon.
CHATTERLEY: It's quite interesting because in the last week, we've had the World Economic Forum also say, look, we're going to host in Singapore next
year in May. So it's testament not only to, to your point to the music industry here and to try and re galvanize bigger events.
The World Economic Forum is also noticing how Singapore is handling this and saying, look, we can take this risk, too. It wouldn't be possible in
many other places in the world.
WILKES: Yes, and that's right. And you know, I think that our event is not just reflective of music, it's really reflective of how do you get a larger
gathering of people together whether it's for music, for sports, for corporate conferences, a political event, and the fact that Davos Economic
Forum has decided to locate in Singapore this coming year is a real testament to the hard work that's been done by the Singapore government get
us from, you know, a very challenging period to where we are today.
[09:35:14]
CHATTERLEY: Yes, it makes sense. Talk to me about the AX, because I think and we've spoken about it on the show a lot, the K-pop phenomenon. Of
course, South Korean talent, but that's been blasted all around the world. And I know you're a huge part of that, of recognizing that kind of talent.
Talk to you about who's going to appear and how you see the talent base there in terms of a global audience.
Well, absolutely. AEG has really been a proponent for bringing Asian music to the United States and to Europe for a long time. We've been one of the
main leaders in bringing K-pop into the U.S. BLACKPINK was featured as one of the headliners on Coachella, our annual festival. We've toured them and
BTS and some of the other biggest K-pop artists around the world.
And, you know, I think what we've all seen over the last couple years and K-pop has been the one that's pushed it forward is that regardless of where
an artist is from, they can have an international audience, and as we look at the success of K-pop, the question comes, why couldn't that be an artist
in China or Japan or Southeast Asia?
So tonight, we put together a show with some of Singapore and Southeast Asia's top artists: Sezairi, Benjamin Kheng, Charlie Lim, really, the top
artists in the community came together as part of this pilot program to relaunch live entertainment, and it just had a really huge response in the
market.
And certainly for us, AEG on a global perspective, you know, we're looking for that next big star, and they could be from Korea, but they certainly
could be from Singapore. They could be from Japan. They really could be from anywhere. There's no limitation to an artist having a global appeal at
this point.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, but talking about the future, because obviously, this is a momentous occasion getting 500 people together, but for the entertainment
industry more broadly, we've seen an earthquake in terms of WarnerMedia, for example, saying, look, we're going to stream and we're going to put new
movies into the cinemas at the same time. That's one thing.
But when you're talking about a live concert where you've got bands playing. I don't know when we've tried to do it, this sort of virtual
presentation is very different from the live experience. Do you think this is a segment of the industry that will come back and won't be materially
altered by what we've been through over the last nine to 10 months?
WILKES: I mean, absolutely. Our industry, like so many industries have been heavily impacted by COVID and that's just what we've all been through this
last year.
And you know, as you said, whether it's films streaming, instead of going to the cinema and all of these other technologies that are perhaps moving
forward, and changing the way people consume, I still feel that when you go back to live entertainment, be it sports, be it music, you know, it's just
human nature, people love gathering with their friends, people love experiencing music, people love experiencing sports.
And yes, there's been some great examples of live stream shows -- just did a fantastic performance, Billy Eilish, Lady Gaga, there's been so many of
these great live streaming events that have taken place over the last year and it's really great that we've had that because people want to see it,
they want to experience live music.
But I believe it's not a question of will or if, you know, the live entertainment will return, it's just really when and as we're seeing now in
Singapore and parts of Asia, we're just turning that corner now.
These are small steps, but this is positive momentum and we're going to take 500 and it's going to become 5,000. It's going to be 50,000 in time.
We're turning the corner and perhaps, Asia is a few months ahead of other places in the world, but into '21 and beyond, there is going to be a huge
resumption of live entertainment and that's for sure.
CHATTERLEY: Bring it on, please. Adam Wilkes, it's great to have you with us. And I'm sure everyone enjoyed the concert tonight. The President and
CEO of AEG Asia Pacific there. Great to talk with you.
WILKES: Thank you. Thank you very much.
CHATTERLEY: All right, coming up on FIRST MOVE, how one of the most popular players in the gaming world is now on a mission to help children with a
devastating disease. That story is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:42:32]
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to FIRST MOVE. One of the world's most popular video games streamers, Benjamin Lupo, better known as Dr. Lupo is set to
host his third annual cancer charity event this weekend. The goal is to raise $2 million in 24 hours for St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital.
Dr. Lupo has millions of followers on live streaming platform, Twitch.
And joining us now, gaming content creator Dr. Lupo himself. Great to have you on the show once again. Okay, what you're doing is amazing, but I just
want to take a step back because while there will be many gamers watching this, you are literally losing the plot at this moment for everyone else.
Just explain what you do for a living.
BENJAMIN LUPO, GAMING CONTENT CREATOR: I was just going to probably throw some people off, but we've had a conversation last time about this and kind
of joked about it, but at its core, I'm an entertainer for a living. I just use video games as the medium for that.
So that's the way that we try to make people laugh or get excited or I mean, even laugh at our own failures that kind of thing. Video games is the
way that we do it.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, you talk about your life, you talk about your experiences, but at the same time, you're gaming, and it's fiercely competitive. Explain
how you make money because this ties to the charity that you're holding -- the charity event that you're holding this weekend.
LUPO: A number of different ways. People that watch the channel on Twitch can subscribe or they could tip the channel directly. We get ad revenue
from Twitch and YouTube and actually because I'm lucky enough to be at the level that I am, we do like sponsorship deals with companies like State
Farm and Gillette and stuff like that.
I will also advertise games that are coming up and I typically choose -- I choose games that I have already planned on playing so it doesn't really
throw the audience off. You know, you don't want to come off as disingenuous because Twitch live streaming in general is a closer
connection with your fan base.
I think because it's -- like I said, it's live. I see people type in chat and I respond to their questions and their jokes and you know, we have a
good time. There's a lot of real time back and forth that you don't really get from other jobs like this in the entertainment industry.
A lot of people that -- like an actor is not super accessible, right? But a content creator on Twitch, someone who doesn't live, you could talk
directly to us. So that's a big deal, and I think that helps build a level of trust that help me get to the point where instead of focusing on just my
own family and my own revenue and that kind of thing, we can direct that attention to, you know, people that aren't nearly as fortunate.
And in my case, I'm lucky enough that there's a ton of content creators that do a ton of really good things around the world, and the good thing
that I've chosen to focus on is St. Jude.
CHATTERLEY: Explain why. Why? I mean, we can all see with sick children, there's a desire to help. But why is St. Jude so close to your heart,
because you've raised millions of dollars for them over a number of years now.
LUPO: So I have a five-year-old, Charlie, but I'm lucky enough that I haven't had to deal with any childhood cancer related stuff, anything like
that, and I cross my fingers that it stays that way for as long as possible. Obviously, I think everybody is in the same boat.
But because of the money that we've raised for St. Jude, I've been given the opportunity through St. Jude Play Live Program to go to -- they have a
Summit every year. Obviously, it didn't this year because of COVID, which we were talking about earlier.
But I had the opportunity to go there and see in person, what it's like to be in that hospital, and a lot of people have this misconception about what
St. Jude or what hospitals like this are like on the inside. A lot of people imagine it to be not necessarily the happiest place.
Obviously, people are facing some of the worst stuff in the world, and you're talking about people that are between the ages of two all the way up
to, I believe, 25 is the highest that they'll treat, depending on what the situation is, and seeing these people in person, I think I told you this
story last time we talked and I'm going to tell it again.
Because my wife and I were there, we were being given a tour by Jason, one of guys that works through Play Live with St. Jude as like their -- you
know, one of their lead people. And we were at the admissions office where they assign the doctors and nurses to the family and the child that's
there.
And in the middle of us standing in the hallway, we had to separate actually to opposite sides of the hallway because a mother was coming down
the hall, I believe after chemo treatment for her child who was curled up in a ball in the back of a red wagon that she was pulling and I saw that
and it still gets me kind of choked up just thinking about it because I don't think any family should have to make that their day-to-day normal
thing. That's not -- that's not okay, especially for somebody that's that young that doesn't -- they didn't do anything, they didn't do anything to
deserve that.
CHATTERLEY: You just want to help.
LUPO: And so I've kind of made it out part of mission -- yes, exactly. I just want to help. I don't ever want to see my son in that position, and I
don't think -- I wouldn't wish that on anybody.
CHATTERLEY: You are -- and our audience will know this, from the last time and now, the wholesome face I think of this industry. You talk about how
you lost your father. It is why you're also an amazing father and I think we can all see that you just want to help.
The platform, the gaming industry has a sort of reputation for being quite toxic. It's a word used quite a lot. How do we tackle that as somebody that
-- you know, as somebody that is so approachable, that cares so much about society at the same time as doing something that's fun and makes a living?
How do we tackle that?
LUPO: I feel like in gaming along with -- you know, in any medium, any entertainment form and I mean in the majority of life, oftentimes the most
negative people also tend to be the loudest, right? It is the negative opinions -- you know, I mean, you know talking about that's the way things
kind of go sometimes.
And so, my opinion is one of the strongest ways we could fight that is by being louder than them. That's why I thank you very much for giving me the
opportunity to come on CNN and talk about this specific thing because you see mainstream media and I mean CNN is -- like I said, I appreciate it, but
you're -- it's happened everywhere, something terrible happens and it shouldn't be like that.
CHATTERLEY: I love that idea.
LUPO: And like --
CHATTERLEY: Make the positive louder.
LUPO: Mainstream Media seems to focus on the negativity of gaming and I think that for your viewer base, it puts gaming in a negative light and
that's not the way that things should be going. That's not -- because that's not what gaming truly is to the majority of us.
The people that play video games every single day and it's such a common thing, the audience, the people that play video games on a daily basis:
that number is so much higher than it's ever been, but those people will all attest this, too, gaming is a force for good, so might as well try and
make that known, you know.
CHATTERLEY: I was going to say, this show aims for balance in all things, my friend.
LUPO: Yes.
CHATTERLEY: Very quickly, because I have about 30 seconds, Cyberpunk 2077. Let's talk about people getting refunds because it's too glitchy. What's
your view? Should people buy it or should they get a refund if they've already bought it?
LUPO: Oh man. I was incredibly excited for the release. One of my biggest - - I've looked forward to the most among every single game. I would say they take a look around, see what other people are saying about it. Maybe if you
could play with friends, something like that. I think CD Projekt RED should have maybe waited a little bit longer before putting it out.
[09:50:15]
CHATTERLEY: Diplomatic, my friend. Dr. Lupo there. Great to have you with us. Good luck this weekend as well with St. Jude's and thank you.
LUPO: Thank you very much.
CHATTERLEY: Great. Great to have you with us. All right, we are back after this. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHATTERLEY: A matter of hours. The E.U.'s chief Brexit negotiator could not be clearer in spelling out what little time is left for the U.K. and
Brussels to agree on a trade deal. There are major sticking points such as fishing rights remaining.
And as lawmakers wait on a deal, truck drivers are waiting in a very different way. That's because of major delays brought on by the looming
Brexit deal deadline. As Anna Stewart explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER (voice over): Still 30 miles out from the Port of Dover, they are for the long haul.
STEWART (on camera): How long is the queue? Hours?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three hours.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Two hours maybe.
STEWART: Two hours.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And we have more.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So all I do is stay in the queue on the other side, and on this side. This will save me about another three or four to get across.
STEWART (voice over): The pandemic has caused port disruption for months.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's going to take us probably four to five hours to cross over to France.
STEWART (voice over): The last few weeks have seen queues getting longer, and British hauler, Alcaline are putting it down to Brexit and the risk of
no deal.
DAVID ZACCHEO, OPERATIONS MANAGER, ALCALINE: Pandemic-wise, I think it has much to do with this. This is just purely stockpiling, which a lot of
customers have been doing for the last couple of months.
In 2021, this could be like this on a daily basis.
STEWART (voice over): To beat the traffic, Alcaline are taking to the skies. They bought two helicopters.
STEWART (on camera): We are starting to see just all these big lorries joining a queue.
STEWART (voice over): We're flying over the English Channel from Dover to Calais, a main artery of trade between the U.K. and the E.U., queues on
both sides is the disruption some businesses just can't afford it.
STEWART (on camera): What sort of items are you transporting with the helicopter?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's basically car parts and we will take over the light things, having been parts of windscreen wipers for example, you take bits
of that -- a thousand of those if the production line were to stop. It is far more cost effective to get a helicopter.
STEWART: We just crossed over the White Cliffs of Dover. We are back. It's taken us less than 20 minutes to do the whole round trip. For those people
driving the lorries, it's taking hours sometimes up to a day.
STEWART (voice over): Helicopters are a huge investment to this haulage firm, and it's not the only money they've spent preparing for Brexit.
ZACCHEO: We made over three million pound investment and maybe half of it is a complete waste of money. It could have been invested elsewhere doing
other things, you know, because not knowing what the future is going to be like well, you know what kind of deal we're going to have until the very
last minute, you know, so, obviously it is impossible. You can't plan anything.
[09:55:15]
STEWART (voice over): They may have to permanently move half their fleet to Europe next year making British drivers redundant.
Fresh back from Italy, a familiar face.
STEWART (on camera): I missed you, Gordon.
GORDON TERRY, TRUCK DRIVER: I've missed you, too.
STEWART (voice over): I filmed with Gordon nearly two years ago. His journeys are taking much longer now.
TERRY: Today, it took me five hours. Two weeks ago, it took me nine hours.
STEWART (on camera): I do remember me saying that the only Brexit for you was a no-deal Brexit. Do you still want this? Do you still --
TERRY: Yes, yes. Even though I live in Italy, I still want to no-deal Brexit. I think it is the only way.
STEWART: But you're spending hours in queues?
TERRY: It will clear up. It will get better. I'm optimistic. You've got to be, otherwise, you wouldn't do this sort of work.
STEWART (voice over): If only everyone was so optimistic.
Anna Stewart, CNN, Dover, England.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHATTERLEY: JPMorgan is saying 70 percent chance and I believe negotiations can continue until the end of the year. We'll see.
That's it for the show. I'm Julia Chatterley. You've been watching FIRST MOVE. Stay safe this weekend and we will see you next week.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
