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First Move with Julia Chatterley
More Nations Announce Temporary Suspension of AstraZeneca's COVID Vaccine; Beijing Promises Greater Scrutiny of China's Tech Giants; U.S. Extends $14 Billion Lifeline to Airlines. Aired 9-10a ET
Aired March 16, 2021 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:00:22]
JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN BUSINESS ANCHOR, FIRST MOVE: Live from New York, I'm Julia Chatterley. This is FIRST MOVE and here is your need to know.
Clotting concerns. More nations announce the temporary suspension of AstraZeneca's COVID vaccine.
Xi's squeeze. Beijing promises greater scrutiny of China's tech giants.
And electrifying expectations. Volkswagen shares surge on ambitious targets. We speak to the CEO later on the show.
It's Tuesday, let's make a move.
Welcome once again to FIRST MOVE where we are focused on reopening roadblocks in Europe as more nations suspend the use of AstraZeneca's
vaccine. The A to Z on the details of that coming right up.
From dosing delays in Europe to reflation rumblings in the United States, Goldman Sachs now saying that the U.S. economy will grow by eight percent
this year.
Meanwhile, Bank of America's latest investor survey saying COVID no longer the number one market risk. Inflation and potential taper tantrums dominate
as support gets pulled back.
They highlight the biggest drop in tech exposure in 15 years with investors piling into things like financials and energy stocks, and I can tell you,
Monday was all about the reflation stock trade with airlines, casinos, and cruise lines all out performing.
The Dow and the S&P hitting fresh records, and if you look at there, we were set to add to that today. Europe also shaking off that dosing drama
with shares higher there, too.
Volkswagen, as I mentioned, one of the biggest winners up more than 19 percent as you can see with investors well and truly electrified by news
from its Battery Day Event. The CEO, Herbert Diess will join us later to discuss their global EV vision.
And as EV vroom in China, too, where Geely, China's biggest privately owned car brand has announced plans to reallocate more than $4.5 billion on a new
battery plant to boost their EV ambitions. So plenty of green chutes, let's call it, for clean energy today.
There is also green on the screen in Asia, too. Big Chinese tech names looking relatively stable after Monday's losses even as President Xi talks
broader tech regulation for the first time ever.
We've got all the details on that ahead, too. But for now, let's get to the drivers and dosing dilemmas across Europe.
This hour, the European's medicine regulator will give an update on the safety of the AstraZeneca vaccine as more countries stop using it to look
into reports of blood clots developing after vaccinations. It's the latest setback in Europe's struggle to bring COVID under control.
Fred Pleitgen joins us now. Fred, nations like Germany, France, Italy, Cyprus, Luxembourg, and Latvia all suspending this vaccine temporarily at
least until we hear from the regulators. What are we expecting, Fred? Talk us through it.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Some of those nations just making that decision today, some of them making that late last
night. You can really feel one country after another in the E.U. suspending the use of that vaccine.
As far as that rethink is concerned from European Medical Agency, that's going to be an update because the agency says that they're going to come up
with more data on Thursday. That's when we expect, there could really be a decision on whether or not a blanket in Europe that AstraZeneca could be
stopped -- the use of AstraZeneca could be stopped in the entire European Union.
So, certainly some very important times, and you're absolutely right, it comes at some of the worst times here in Europe for many of these European
governments.
Look at for instance Germany, AstraZeneca is absolutely central as Germany tries to get its vaccination campaign on track. They started with these
vaccination centers, never really had enough vaccines to begin with, but now with AstraZeneca, they want to move all of that to general
practitioner's offices to make sure that they can get more and more people vaccinated.
All of that is now out the window here in Germany. There are some who are criticizing the German's decision, the German Medical Agency's stop the use
of the AstraZeneca's vaccine because so far there have been seven reports of blood clotting after that vaccine has been administered in 1.6 million
doses that have been administered so far.
And there is one medical expert I heard just a couple of hours ago and he was saying that right now, this country really does not have a viable
alternative to the use of AstraZeneca, so what you're saying is absolutely correct, it comes at a time that in many European countries, these
vaccination campaigns are sputtering, not just here in Germany, but in other countries as well.
And of course, what we've been watching is that cases have been on the rise also in many countries. So certainly a very difficult situation.
[09:05:10]
PLEITGEN: All eyes really on the European Medicines Agency to see what sort of update they're going to give in this hour and especially on
Thursday what we're going to hear from them then -- Julia.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, I mean, the medical comparisons of that, you would expect to see three to four cases per million per year of such an issue in the
general population. So it gives you a sense of perhaps how cautious people are being here about the risks potentially associated with this vaccine, of
course, and to your point, nothing has been proven.
I mean, we've seen, what -- 380 million vaccine doses given now worldwide and it is rapidly increasing. I'm perhaps more surprised that we haven't
seen more safety alerts like this with the amount of caution and the concerns about trust and vaccine skepticism around the world. We just have
to wait and see what the regulators say.
PLEITGEN: Well, that's exactly what AstraZeneca is saying. They are saying, look, these issues of blood clotting, that is something that
happens in the general population whether people are taking vaccines or not, and they say that the amount of cases that they have seen so far of
these incidents of blood clots developing, which is a couple of dozen in the European countries, they say it's not more than would normally happen.
The U.K. of course, also saying from its experience, this is not something that's a major problem there and they are continuing the use of the
vaccine.
So for instance, Belgium has also been continuing the vaccine use as well. But the European countries are saying right now, Germany and others that
with these incidences of that developing, it did happen in very close proximity to people taking that vaccine and so they say, they want to be
absolutely sure that this vaccine does not have that danger.
But of course, you're absolutely right that it is a major public trust issue and that's been a problem around the AstraZeneca vaccine in the
European Union to begin with.
You have for instance, countries like Germany where at the beginning, the medical regulator here in this country only approved the AstraZeneca
vaccine for people 65 and under.
It took them several weeks to allow people over 65 to take it and that actually increased some of the public trust in the vaccine, but now facing
issues again with the Germans stopping it, other countries stopping it as well. So it is a major issue not just to getting these vaccination
campaigns going, but then also of public trust in what is one of the most important vaccines not just for Europe, but of course, worldwide -- Julia.
CHATTERLEY: And that's the critical point. This is not just about Europe. This is the high hope for getting vaccines out to many poorer nations as
well.
Fred, we wait and see. Great to have you with us. Fred Pleitgen there, thank you.
All right, let's move on. The world needs $131 trillion of investment in green energy to cap global warming at 1.5 degrees by 2050. That's according
to the International Renewable Energy Agency, but it says the window for going green is closing fast.
John Defterios joins us now. John, great to get your perspective on this. So, how much more spending above current spending does that sum suggest?
And what's the saying where there's a will there's a way. Is there a will to ramp up spending to that degree just to keep things steady?
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN BUSINESS EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: I can always count on you for the key questions here, Julia. I'd say this is a call to arms by
IRENA because if you want to cap global warming at 1.5 degrees centigrade, you've got to get a move on it where the world is behind the curve is the
message here.
And I'd say, there are kind of two key ingredients that is scale and speed, and to your point, I'd add a third, and that's the political will to make
this happen.
So, let's look at that number again, $131 trillion, and to add the context you were asking about, Julia, $4.4 trillion a year. That's up scaling by 30
percent according to IRENA, and the idea is to redirect the money to the renewable sector.
Last year, during the stimulus packages, better than $4 trillion were spent on hydrocarbon related sectors, and that doubled the amount of money, more
than doubled the amount of money going into renewables during the pandemic. So it was the wrong signal.
So you have to go across the value chain: solar, wind, hydrogen -- very important, battery storage, energy efficiency. It's all needed in this
phase of development and to speed up the transition and the Director General told me during the briefing yesterday, we should be absolutely
alarmed that emissions are shooting up at the end of 2020 and at the beginning of this recovery, especially in China. Let's take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FRANCESCO LA CAMERA, DIRECTOR GENERAL, INTERNATIONAL RENEWABLE ENERGY AGENCY: We are going in the wrong direction. The pathway to 1.5 is
narrowing and so this is the first message that we put very clearly, and then we put the question to the government, you want to really go for the
1.5. These are the options that you have.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[09:10:01]
DEFTERIOS: And La Camera is saying, there is no option but to see oil demand drop from a hundred million barrels a day that's peak in 2019, he
thinks we hit peak demand, all the way down to, Julia, listen to this number -- to 20 to 25 million barrels by 2050. That will be alarming to the
oil producers in the world.
CHATTERLEY: Wow. So we are talking like 75 percent reduction in that kind of fossil fuel --
DEFTERIOS: Absolutely.
CHATTERLEY: Whoa. That's mind blowing and yet terrifying to some of the oil producers in particular, I'm sure.
John, in terms of these targets and what we're looking at, you've got to think post pandemic spending has got to be key in sort of promoting
spending on renewables rather than on fossil fuel consumption.
How does the rejoining of the Paris Climate Accord by the Biden administration sort of factor into these targets and to hopes, perhaps, for
a ramp up in spending going forward?
DEFTERIOS: Well, it is the scale of the United States, Julia, which is very important here and having Joe Biden's capital behind it and John Kerry
as his climate change envoy, and it also comes in a very important year with COP 26, the global climate conference taking place in Glasgow in
November.
So, the timing is right, but you have to get all of the top five emitters on the same page. This is where the U.S. helps out. China, the United
States, India, Russia, Japan. Those are the top five. Can you get them to accelerate the process here is the key question.
But just think of where we are now with Joe Biden and where we were in 2020 with Donald Trump, a climate denier.
La Camera of IRENA said this is a fantastic news, there is a push to do it, but still, Julia, you have to accelerate it. Most people don't think we're
going to hit 1.5. I've been covering this now for the last three years of transition. It is alarming and that's why they are shouting from the
rooftops, let's get on with it.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, we need to accelerate and I guess to your point, firms in the United States say we will carry on regardless, irrespective of what the
government is saying, but we need governments on board clearly. U.S., China, you name it.
John Defterios, thank you so much for that.
And speaking of China, Beijing doubling down its efforts to regulate the country's tech giants. Chinese President Xi Jinping calling for the
acceleration of oversight of so-called platform companies. It is his first comments on the topic since December.
Ivan Watson live in Hong Kong with all of the details. Ivan, I read these comments and I thought if you are one of the biggest players in this space,
so if you're a food delivery expert, or a ride sharing, Didi Chuxing for example, oh, boy, you've been given warning.
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I think it's fair to say that Xi Jinping, his message to the tech giants to what state
media described as the platform economy can be distilled to this. Regulation, regulation, regulation.
He wants to tighten up the rules and protect theoretically consumers from risks and things like that. And also kind of clip the wings of a sector of
the economy that has grown so rapidly that China has largely gone to a cash free economy over the course of the last decade.
This is just the latest in what have been kind of several months of warnings coming from Beijing, coming from Chinese regulators to the private
tech sector warning against what they described as monopolistic activity saying they want more regulation for this side of the economy and then some
real action that we've seen on the ground, notably with that IPO that was supposed to be the world's biggest for Ant Group that was scrapped at the
last minute and then investigations into Alibaba, for example, for alleged antitrust activities that was back in December.
And some of these companies being called in to meet with regulators like Alibaba, ByteDance, Tencent, and Baidu.
The question is, what is really behind this? Is this Beijing afraid perhaps that this sector of the economy has just kind of grown out of control and
does need some regulation to protect consumers from potentially getting hurt or could it also be just a need to control this increasingly powerful
part of the private sector?
I do think, if there's one characteristic, one hallmark of Xi Jinping's period in power, it has been asserting control over different sides of
Chinese society -- Julia.
CHATTERLEY: Absolutely. I read from the research eMarketer that online purchases will surpass 50 percent of the country's total retail sales this
year. Alibaba to your point, JD.com, Pinduoduo, some of the big players there, they are so powerful now. It's a recognition I think that something
has to be done.
Ivan, great to have you with us. Thank you so much.
All right, here are some of the other stories making headlines around the world. Prince Philip is out of hospital following successful heart surgery
earlier this month.
The 99-year-old Duke of Edinburgh left the facility in London where he has been recovering and has just arrived back at Windsor Castle. Prince Philip
is in, quote, "good spirits," a Royal source told CNN. Queen Elizabeth's husband was hospitalized in mid-February.
[09:15:20]
CHATTERLEY: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says Washington and Tokyo will push back against China where needed. Blinken spoke after talks
in Japan where he is making his first foreign trip as Secretary of State. He said China can expect the push back when it uses what he called coercion
or aggression to get its way.
And today is My Freedom Day, when CNN tries to raise awareness about modern day slavery.
It is a scourge affecting around 40 million people and for the fifth year in a row, CNN asked young people around the world to take to social media
and sign a pledge to fight back. WE got responses from Indonesia to Italy and everywhere in between.
Just take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would take into consideration of a company's business practices when buying things like clothes, chocolates and
electronics and then making my decisions on how they treat their workers and the environment. How about you? Take the pledge to help end modern day
slavery.
RAFAEL: I'm Rafael from Taranto, Italy and I'm signing My Freedom Day pledge.
JULIA: I'm Julia from Roseto, Italy and I'm signing My Freedom Day pledge.
GRETA: I'm Greta in Atlanta, Georgia, and I'm signing the My Freedom Day pledge.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHATTERLEY: Very sweet. Share your pledge to end modern day slavery on social media using #MyFreedomDay.
And there's a special My Freedom Day Global Forum hosted by Becky Anderson. Hear from hundreds of students across five continents. That's Saturday at
12:30 in New York. 4:30 in London.
All right, still to come on FIRST MOVE, airlines ready for takeoff as bookings boom. I speak to the head of the trade body for U.S. carriers to
hear what's going on.
Stay with us. We're back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:20:21]
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to FIRST MOVE live from New York where the Dow and the S&P looks set for a pretty flat open after their record runs. Tech
futures pushing higher as bond yields behave. I see the tech stocks gaining some half a percent here, actually, so let's not underplay it.
As we told you earlier, Wall Street firms are rushing to upgrade their outlooks for U.S. growth following the passage of the U.S. emergency aid
bill.
Morgan Stanley now says the U.S. economy reaching pre-COVID levels as early as this quarter. Blackrock sees the U.S. in the middle of a "restart"
quote, rather than a recovery. It believes Wall Street is not sufficiently factoring in the economic rebound to come.
And with the rising hopes for reopening rebounds, major airlines reporting strong bookings going into the traditional spring break period here in the
United States.
It also comes after President Biden signed a massive stimulus package that includes $14 billion for the airlines, but there is still concerns over
fewer bookings for more lucrative business and overseas travelers.
Joining us now, Nick Calio, who is the CEO of Airlines for America, a trade group representing the major U.S. carriers. Nick, great to have you on the
show. Just set the scene for us. What are you seeing?
NICHOLAS CALIO, CEO, AIRLINES FOR AMERICA: Julia, first, thanks for having me again. Right now, we're seeing some encouraging signs. You know, for the
last year in general, we've been down flying about 40 percent of the people that we used to, which is much better than last April when it was about
three or four percent.
But bookings week over week in the last three weeks have been going up. We're seeing more longer term bookings as people look out towards the
summer and the fall, and as more people get vaccinated, people are feeling better we're seeing just basically a lot of pent-up demand.
But underlying all of that, the situation still is not very good. We're still burning $150 million in cash every single day.
CHATTERLEY: Wow. We'll talk about the financial burden for a second, but I just want to focus on, in terms of the bookings, are they domestic travel?
Are they international? What's the sort of breakdown of how those bookings are playing out?
CALIO: They are domestic and they are leisure travel. International travel is way, way off, down about 80 percent still. Better in some countries like
Central and Latin America, but the traditional high end in Europe and Asia are way down still with no sign of coming back.
We've put some testing protocols in place hopefully to open up some of the markets, but you can't fly somewhere and then quarantine for 14 days.
So it's going to be mostly leisure travel. We're ready for that hopefully, and we are hoping that business travel will come back sooner than one would
normally expect.
CHATTERLEY: Let's pick up on the cash burn situation. $115 million a day, Nick. When are we looking at break-even based on the pickup in activity
that you're talking about? I know it's some finger in the wind estimate, but can you give me it?
CALIO: It is. The one thing we've learned, Julia, throughout all of this is we can plan, but we can't really forecast. And so we are planning for
increased travel and having the seats available over the summer. It's a little bit of a gamble because if people are going to fly, you need to have
the seats available. If they don't fly, then you are flying empty planes, which we have been.
So, we're hoping that by sometime later this year, we can hit breakeven. That takes about 65 to 70 percent of the people who used to fly starting to
fly again.
CHATTERLEY: Should vaccinated travelers be free to travel in your mind without the quarantines that you just mentioned which for many travelers
are prohibitive? Would you like to see the C.D.C., the U.S. government ease up perhaps on some of the restrictions? Because there are those that are
criticizing and saying, until people can travel freely, they have been vaccinated in particular, we're not going to see that sharp recovery that
people are hoping for.
CALIO: We think there should be consideration. The C.D.C. has its job. The W.H.O. is taking a slightly different tact, but when people are vaccinated,
they ought to be able to resume the life they lived before.
As a George Washington Professor recently pointed out, you know, if you don't allow people some kind of freedom when they are vaccinated and safe
from infection, there's going to be a disincentive to some people to get vaccinated.
CHATTERLEY: Where do you stand on vaccine passports? Just a card saying, hey, I have been vaccinated. Let me travel. Because we are risking a dual
society of those that haven't yet been vaccinated and those that have.
CALIO: Well, we have been pushing both testing and vaccination and we believe there ought to be a digital passport and that the U.S. government
ought to take the lead in developing these.
[09:25:13]
CALIO: A number of private sector companies are developing these, where you know, you've got it on your cell phone and you've got a UR code and
that you just flash it. It comes up, it protects your medical information, we think as a temporary measure, this would help facilitate travel.
It would lead to an end of some of the restrictions and the quarantines and that would open up travel in the economy.
So, you know, we've got two problems, we've got the pandemic on the one side, and then we've got a very sick economy on the other side that's
getting better. We can make it get better quicker if we can facilitate people being able to start their normal lives.
CHATTERLEY: You're clearly lobbying the government for this, what are you hearing back? Is it something that the Europeans are already working on?
CALIO: The Europeans are working on it, as are countries in Asia, Israel, and other places.
Our government is looking and working with the W.H.O. at this point, so we're hopeful because it is fairly easy to implement. The technology is
there. It's safer and you know, you mentioned those little white cards.
That's not a 21st Century solution passing these cards around, you show that show that you've vaccinated or that you've been tested. Much better to
have it on your phone, you hold the information and it's not floating out there.
CHATTERLEY: It is less easy to fake it, perhaps as well, which is another concern.
CALIO: Exactly. That's one of the things going forward, it's got to be verifiable. It's got to be accurate and it's got to be safe for the
passenger.
CHATTERLEY: Nick, let's fast forward because we have spoken about it. I mentioned it in the introduction that the airline industry has got more
financial support from the latest stimulus bill in the United States.
Do you think it's going to be enough? Again, I'm going back to these predictions and forecasts that are difficult to see at this stage, but do
you think it gets you to the point where the airlines are breaking even and we see some kind of recovery or do you think if you are honest that more
support is going to be needed?
CALIO: We certainly hope that more support is not -- we hope that we will not need more support. I don't believe that we will.
If the forecasts keep the way they are, if the vaccinations keep going, we think there will be a pickup to the point where we can sustain ourselves.
We've taken a lot of self-help measures already and are in pretty good financial shape, although we have a lot of debt to be honest.
But the CARES Act and the payroll support program that the government has provided were a life line that kept our frontline employees kind of on the
job and in shape, I guess, I would say.
As you know, Julia, airline employees have to go through a constant process of training and recertification. They just can't be laid off for two months
and get back on the job on any particular Monday or Friday. A pilot can't be thrown the keys and say let's get this airplane off the ground. So, it's
been a very good thing.
As a result of the government acting basically as an employment agency for the government, or not an employment agency, our employees are there and
they are ready if demand picks up. Very significant.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, super important. Nick, great to have you on as always. Nick Calio, the CEO of Airlines for America there.
CALIO: Thank you.
CHATTERLEY: Thank you.
All right, the market opens next. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:31:33]
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to FIRST MOVE. U.S. stocks are up and running this Tuesday and we are higher on Wall Street techs, the big winner in
early trade after Monday's one percent NASDAQ jump. The Dow opening relatively unchanged at this stage after its fourth straight record close.
Plenty of time ahead in this session though to see what happens.
The U.S. reporting that retail sales fell three percent last month. A bit of a disappointment due in part to bad winter weather. Remember that
historic Texas freeze? The sales numbers are sure to get a boost as millions of Americans receive $1,400.00 in fresh economic aid over the next
few weeks.
U.S. financial firms meanwhile are busy upgrading their growth forecast due to that economic support. The Fed is expected to upgrade its outlook, too,
during a two-day policy meeting that begins today. So, we'll be talking about that later this week.
But in the meantime, one person's trash is another's treasure. That's the old adage. And increasing numbers doing just that to boost their income
during the pandemic. eBay says 72 percent of its consumer-to-consumer sellers turned to the marketplace as an extra income stream.
Most found things to sell at home that they don't need anymore, but the amount of clutter does vary from country to country. eBay says the value of
your spare secondhand stuff depends on where you live.
Canadians have on average nearly $6,000.00 worth of surplus items. In Europe, it's much less.
Jamie Iannone is eBay's CEO and he joins us now. Jamie, great to have you with us. I love this report. I know it's your first re-commerce report that
you've produced. But I think that was the key finding. People were looking around their homes, selling secondhand goods and they were doing it to
bring in more money.
JAMIE IANNONE, CEO, EBAY: That's right, eBay, was really the pioneer of the circular economy or re-commerce. People taking used goods that they
have around the home.
As you mentioned, the average consumer has about $4,000.00 of items that they could sell online, less than 20 percent of that is actually online.
So, a huge opportunity to bring more of that online and instead of going to the landfill, really helping the planet and selling that to somebody else
is a great opportunity. It's what eBay was founded on.
In fact, the first item sold on eBay was a broken laser printer and that was 25 years ago.
CHATTERLEY: A broken laser printer?
IANNONE: That's right.
CHATTERLEY: And someone bought it? I guess, that's what makes the marketplace.
IANNONE: That's right, and someone bought it, and you know, still today people refurbish musical instruments. There's a student who refurbishes
musical instruments, I just met him and he resells that online to make extra money.
People resell their clothing online. I've taken a computer bag that I had, a laptop bag and sold it on eBay and said a hundred percent of proceeds go
to charity. And so in this case, I won because the money went to charity, the buyer felt great because he got a used pre-used bag. The charity won
and the planet won because that bag didn't go into the landfill.
CHATTERLEY: It is a great story. The geographical differences as well, sort of amused me. Those that had a lot of stuff in their houses in places
like the United States, perhaps more so in the U.K. versus those like the Germans perhaps that didn't have quite so much stuff in their house that
they could sell.
IANNONE: I don't know what it is culturally about different geographies as we saw them.
CHATTERLEY: Decluttering.
IANNONE: It was pretty interesting to see, but it's pretty universal. You know, really, eBay is located across the world and across the world, we see
this opportunity where eBay is the place that people turn to, to sell their goods online.
We were really built on the principle that it's economic opportunity for all that a brand-new person can bring their used good and celebrate a long
a larger seller and that's one of the beauties of the eBay marketplace.
[09:35:13]
CHATTERLEY: And so who is selling predominantly? And what are they selling? Because when I think of eBay, I think of things like clothes, and
you know, just general things that you could sell, but actually, when I was looking into the details of this report, it is technology, electronics,
cell phones, computers, video consoles. There is a real tech feel to what you're doing amongst everything else that gets put for sale on there.
IANNONE: Absolutely. From motor parts to collectibles to trading cards to sporting equipment to musical instruments. One of the beauties is the
breadth of eBay.
You know, we did close to $100 billion of business last year, it was $14 billion the year before. And that's 18 million sellers across the world
selling to over 185 million buyers.
So, it really is just about anything that you can think of is being sold on eBay, and that's really the delight, it is just the discovery of what you
can find on this amazing marketplace.
And eBay is really in it for our sellers. We only win when our sellers win. We don't compete with our sellers. So we are really helping our sellers
thrive. We made it so much easier to list on the marketplace, to bring your items, get them up there quickly and sell them to a buyer.
CHATTERLEY: I mean, you had a record year in 2020. What's 2021 going to bring? And where is the focus going to be? Because I saw a lot of talk
about the focus remaining on non-new in season and these products you bring on, and in many cases, now authenticating.
Because that was one of the big criticisms, I think at the beginning and in earlier years. How do you authenticate some of the products that are on
there and make sure that you're not buying fake? You're hot on this with certain products in particular.
IANNONE: Absolutely. You know, last year, we added over 11 million new buyers, so a lot of new momentum in the business.
But we've launched some new features, too. In our sneakers business, we are now authenticating every sneaker over $100.00. We are authenticating
watches and over 10,000 of that actually goes into escrow.
So we are building new capabilities into the platform and take sneakers, for example, that business is now growing triple digits. People are really
loving the resell of sneakers on eBay. The authentication is very fun. It comes up with an NFC tag. You can hold your phone up to it and see the
sneaker that you bought, so really engaging the customer in a totally different way on eBay.
CHATTERLEY: And these have been worn, these sneakers?
IANNONE: Yes. Some are new, some are presold. So there is a lot of new, there is a lot of used, there is pre-loved.
We actually do a great business in certified refurbished. So we are selling like new product on the platform with a two-year warranty, 30-day hassle
free returns, and eBay money back guarantee. So it is like new except at incredible value.
Another example of great sustainability for the planet is certified refurb. Instead of that going to a landfill, it is coming back to a new buyer who
is really happy they are getting a like new product.
CHATTERLEY: How much do people spend on average?
IANNONE: Well, take the sneakers buyer that comes in. We really attract a Gen Z, a younger demographic there, and there, when they come in, they
spend $2,500.00 on the platform. But what's great about eBay is that they spend it across categories.
So only $500.00 of that is in sneakers. The other $2,000.00 is categories across the board. Whether that be apparel or sporting goods, or some other
category.
CHATTERLEY: What do you offer relative to -- particularly for some of these products that require certification or authentication versus a
Poshmark or a RealReal where we are talking about these expensive products? What does eBay have that they don't?
IANNONE: Yes. Nobody has the breadth, the scale, the technology, the global reach, or the footprint that we do. So when you think about where
you can list your items, you want to maximize the price that you can get for them.
So you're going to go to the marketplace that has global reach, that has 185 million different buyers on the platform and that's really easy to
list.
Once you set up your account, we now have a new managed payments where it is one integrated account payments on the same file, on the same account so
that makes it much easier to list and you can start listing across the categories.
You can literally just look across your house and say, well, I could list this, I could list this. You take something that's cluttering. How do I
declutter? We put it up on eBay.
And what's great about eBay is the person-to-person connection. When I sold that laptop computer bag to the buyer, he wrote me and I said, look, this
isn't real leather. Are you sure you want this bag at this price point? Because he bid it up to quite a bit, and he said, yes, it's going to
charity and I need a bag like that. I don't really care that it's preloved.
So, you get a happy buyer on the other side of the transaction, too and that's really fantastic.
CHATTERLEY: To your point, I mean, your consumer to consumer business is outgrowing the business to consumer.
IANNONE: Absolutely. It's a key focus for us this year. It is really focusing on the C2C and it is growing faster than our business to consumer
business, than our B2C business which is also growing really healthfully, but really making it easy for people to come on the platform, list in a few
minutes.
We are working on completely different selling tools to make it easy for them and really leaning into categories like sneakers, watches, and those
collectible areas that are really powerful to people to bring items onto the marketplace.
[09:40:09]
CHATTERLEY: And with the managed payments product where people give you their bank account details, you manage that part. I now you've got some
partnerships with the likes of UPS, with FedEx, with U.S. Postal Service here in the United States.
Is it more -- is it easy to monetize those relationships perhaps than charging people upfront for a cost of listings that's actually more
lucrative for the business, too, surely even as consumers buy and sellers benefit.
IANNONE: You know, what we're trying to do is just make it easier to list on the product with those partnerships. So, now, you have UPS, FedEx, with
the United States Postal Service in the U.S., we did the same thing with Royal Mail with Australia Post.
So, it is really easy to get there and list your products and ship them out. We print the shipping labels for you. It's all automatically
calculated. So we make it very easy for the seller to list their items.
You know, the benefit of the managed payments is that once you come on, you put one payment on file and it's really seamless. Now, you don't have to go
set up a separate account, and what we find is that when our sellers move to the new eBay managed payments, they're much happier.
It is a 10-point higher customer satisfaction, the ones that haven't moved, and that's really fantastic. It shows that they love the ease and
convenience of having everything all in one place.
So we're excited about that rollout. It will be complete by the end of this year and going forward next year, everybody will be on the eBay managed
payments and a really frictionless experience.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, and I guess, it makes sellers buyers and buyers sellers as well, which is always healthy if you can cross pollinate. Jamie, great
to have you on the show. Come back soon and talk to us how you're doing and congratulations on a great year.
IANNONE: Thanks for having me on.
CHATTERLEY: The CEO of eBay there. Thank you.
Okay. We're back after this. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to FIRST MOVE with an update on the briefing by the European Medicines Agency on the AstraZeneca vaccine. The agency's
director says she still believes the benefits outweigh the risks of side effects.
Fred Pleitgen is back with us. Fred, they've said this before. What more came up in that briefing?
[09:45:12]
PLEITGEN: Well, it was interesting, Julia, because they said that of course, they are going to take a look at all of the reports that they are
getting from the various E.U. member states about these incidences of blood clots apparently occurring after people took the AstraZeneca vaccine, but
they say --
Emer Cooke, who is the head of the European Medicines Agency saying that for the time being right now, especially since the cases of this blood clot
have still been fairly rare, they still do believe, as you said, that the benefits still outweigh the risks.
Let's take a listen to what she had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EMER COOKE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, EUROPEAN MEDICINES AGENCY: While the investigation is ongoing, we are currently -- we are still firmly convinced
that the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine in preventing COVID-19 with its associated risk of hospitalization and death outweigh the risk of these
side effects.
In the meantime, anyone who has received the vaccine and has any concerns should contact their appropriate healthcare professional.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PLEITGEN: That also, by the way, bears one of the things that the German medicines regulators said yesterday that people who did take the
AstraZeneca vaccine, if they did feel that they have any side effects, like for instance, bad headaches and bleeding, that they should then obviously
contact their physician to see what exactly is going on there.
But I think one of the other interesting things, Julia, that I heard in that press briefing there from Emer Cooke was that she said that while the
trials were going on, for some of the vaccines that of course, some of them are now approved within the European Union, that even in the placebo groups
of those vaccine trials, there were of course, some people who developed blood clots.
So those were people who hadn't actually taken the vaccine, but had taken a placebo. And so, I think one of the points that Emer is trying to make
there, the European Medicines Agency is that blood clots unfortunately are something that happens in a society. That that is not a regular occurrence,
but that does tend to happen in some people, in society whether or not they take a vaccine.
And so, one of the things that AstraZeneca of course has said is that they don't believe that the incidence of blood clots occurring is higher in
people taking the AstraZeneca vaccine than in the general population.
But of course, right now the European Medicines Agency is saying they are going to look at all of these reports and be absolutely certain that the
product that we are dealing with here is safe for Europeans to take -- Julia.
CHATTERLEY: It is fascinating, Fred, because obviously, I heard that for the first time and what I heard and maybe clearly misheard based on what
you said was while the investigation is ongoing.
So I -- and I want to just point our viewers to that, we are expecting, I still believe, the agency to come forward with results of their
investigation on Thursday this week. Can we still expect that? Because I feel like the European nations at least for now have suspended use of the
vaccine in light of these comments. They will still wait until we get the results of an investigation that the agency is carrying out.
PLEITGEN: Yes. They certainly will. I mean, the European countries are certainly waiting to hear on Thursday what exactly Emer is going to say.
But what Emer Cooke said today is that they are going to look at all of the reports that they are getting, the reports that are coming in.
They're obviously going to hear specialists as well, internal as well as external specialists, and then on Thursday, they are going to have some key
meetings within the European Medicines Agency and then come with the result about whether or not they think that this vaccine is safe for Europeans to
take -- Julia.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, absolutely, Fred. Thank you for watching that for us. Fred Pleitgen there, thank you.
All right, you're watching FIRST MOVE. More to come.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:50:57]
CHATTERLEY: As we mentioned earlier in the program, today is My Freedom Day for the fifth straight year. CNN is partnering with young people
worldwide for a student-led day of action against modern-day slavery.
These students in Kosovo are pledging to change the world.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHILDREN: We're ending modern-day slavery.
Let's end child trafficking.
UNIDENTIFIED GIRL: I want to be an artist.
UNIDENTIFIED GIRL: Me, too.
UNIDENTIFIED BOY: Me, too.
UNIDENTIFIED GIRL: Me, too.
UNIDENTIFIED BOY: I want to be a YouTuber.
UNIDENTIFIED BOY: Me, too.
UNIDENTIFIED BOY: I want to be an astronaut.
UNIDENTIFIED BOY: I want to be a police.
UNIDENTIFIED GIRL: Dr. Martin Luther King is my hero because he defended freedom.
CHILDREN: Freedom is the choice to follow our dreams.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHATTERLEY: And CNN's Kristie Lu Stout spoke to students across Asia about their efforts to spread awareness, too.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Say hello to Asia's next generation of freedom fighters.
STOUT (on camera): We are excited to have with us scores of students joining us by video chat from schools across Asia. We've got Hong Kong,
Tokyo, Seoul, Bangkok, and Noida in India. Joining us, we have two modern day abolitionists who are based here in Asia.
MATT FRIEDMAN, ACTIVIST, THE MEKONG CLUB: We, as human beings buy things and a certain percentage of what we buy is tainted by modern-day slavery.
We don't know which items are tainted, but the relevance of this is the kind of like global warming, it's kind of like the carbon footprint. It
demonstrates that we are part of the issue.
And as a result of that, we also have to be part of the solution.
VICTORIA AHN, EDUCATOR, FAIR EMPLOYMENT FOUNDATION: What's even more surprising is that businesses and brands themselves also have a hard time
knowing this information.
We need to learn more about the journey and stories of migrant workers themselves and hear about their experiences because that's also what's
going to change people's minds and hearts and attention to this issue.
STOUT: Let's open it up to Q&A to all of you out there. This is your chance. Your chance to raise a question.
EMILY: Do victims of human trafficking self-identify as a victim of a crime?
FRIEDMAN: Many people that I've met who are victims of human trafficking don't even realize that they are victims of anything. They just realize
they are in this bad circumstance, they are being threatened.
They made choices. The choices resulted in them being there and they are often surprised if you go and say you want to help them.
KATIA: What role does education play in alleviating this issue?
AHN: When people are aware what it takes to get the products we have, we're going to want our brands to hold themselves accountable to better
standards.
ARSHIYA: What are some ways that we, as students can highlight the issues that put an end to human trafficking so that the government is compelled to
take action and not ignore them?
FRIEDMAN: There's a point at which we, as human beings just have to say enough is enough. We have to step up. We have to take a stand and it's
often students that lead this.
This is what is going to bring the change about and that's why this day is so important.
PREM: What are some ways we can maybe motivate people to be more conscious about their spending habits?
AHN: You choose something because of the stories behind that product and if you think about the fish you ate was caught by someone on a slave boat,
I think it would become much less appetizing.
If you could buy something that was ethically made, wouldn't you love that more?
STOUT: Victoria, thank you. Okay, everyone. Now is the time to decide on a solution. What is the best way to convince the largest number of people to
commit to stopping forced labor?
There's no right or wrong answer here. The poll results are in.
Become more aware of how goods are made and take into consideration a company's business practices before making a purchase. That's going to be
part of the action plan from Asia. It's going to contribute to the 2021 Freedom Pledge that is going to be available online for students and
educators around the world to sign.
So let's continue to work together to deliver the freedom for people across the world and across here in the Asia Pacific region.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[09:55:10]
CHATTERLEY: And you can make a pledge, too. Let's end modern-day slavery and celebrate freedom. Sign the pledge and nominate your friends to do the
same. Share your pledge on social media please using the #MyFreedomDay.
All right, one last look at the markets before we go. We've got a mostly higher open for Wall Street as you can see, a so-called reflation trade
rest, perhaps going on. The tech is the big S&P winner as you can see. The NASDAQ up some six-tenths of one percent, too.
We are also seeing some profit taking in recent gainers, energy and financial stocks, but remember fund managers surveyed by Bank of America
see big gains for those sectors in the future.
Their survey entitled, "It's over," now, see inflation and a pullback in Fed economic support as the biggest risk to stocks and not COVID.
It may be over for Wall Street, it isn't over for the real world.
That's it for the show for now. If you've missed any of our interviews today, they will be on my Twitter and Instagram pages, search for
@jchatterleyCNN.
And in the meantime, stay safe. We will see you tomorrow.
"Connect the World" with Becky Anderson is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:00:00]
END
