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First Move with Julia Chatterley

President Xi Calls for Greater Global Cooperation, Plans for a European Super League Draw Increasing Ire, Doge, the Cryptocurrency that Started as a Joke now Soaring in Value. Aired 9-10a ET

Aired April 20, 2021 - 09:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[09:01:22]

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.

Halting hegemony. President Xi calls for greater global cooperation.

Footballing fury. Plans for a European super league draw increasing ire.

And Doge day. The cryptocurrency that started as a joke now soaring in value.

It's Tuesday, let's make a move.

A warm welcome to all of our First Movers around the globe. On today's show, the breakaway football brushoff. We've got the latest as opposition

to the European super league builds as I mentioned, plus, the U.S. earnings breakdown. A big day of market moving profit news ahead, and a global

travel break through. Greece hoping to lure back some travelers with an embrace of vaccine passports. We'll speak to the Greek Minister of Tourism

who believes Greece is the word. Yes, I couldn't help myself.

The word on Wall Street meanwhile is consolidation with U.S. stocks set to retreat further from record highs despite the signs of economic recovery

from earnings season.

United Airlines posting a fifth quarter loss, yes, but it says it is now cash flow positive and hopes to see a return to profitability later this

year.

That message ties in with some upbeat U.K. news as well. The unemployment rate falling below five percent. The first quarterly decrease since late

2019. The retail Primark seeing a record week for sales as shops reopen, too, after a three-month lockdown.

But it is not all good news. Nervousness over rising COVID caseloads that could force governments to re-impose emergency measures saw Japanese stocks

tumbling some two percent. So, lots going on today.

Let's get to the drivers. China's President Xi laying out his vision for global coexistence amid rising tensions with the United States. Xi says,

China will not seek hegemony no matter how powerful it becomes and warned other countries not to try to boss others.

Will Ripley joins me now. Will, great to have you with us. The quote for me, I think from this was: "Big countries should behave in a manner

befitting their status with a greater sense of responsibility." I am sure some nations and the critics are going to look at this and say, what about

your own record on Hong Kong? What about your own record on human rights? Time to look in the mirror.

Will, what else was said here and what do we think?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What was so striking to me, Julia was how similar this speech was to the speech that President Xi give

in January at Davos, and in fact this event that he was speaking at has been called China's version of the World Economic Forum.

So, from the imagery to the messaging, it's very much similar to what he was saying ahead of President Biden's first days in office, but now, we are

several months in the conflict between the U.S. and China really is growing here.

And this is on the heels of some really great economic news for China to have first quarter economic growth at a record of 18.3 percent. Their

economy is rebounding after COVID-19, but the relationship with the U.S. remains on life support and President Xi's major foil right now is this

heightened cooperation between the United States and its traditional allies in standing up to China.

So you had those targeted sanctions as a result of the treatment of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang. That was the United States, the E.U., the U.K.,

Canada, all coming together not only with a coordinated statement, but also with sanctions towards China.

[09:05:04]

RIPLEY: That is very troubling for President Xi because as he was saying in his speech today, just like he said back in Davos, it is all about

equality, mutual respect and trust. He thinks a nation should be allowed to do as they please and he does not like the idea, Julia, of one or a few

nations, as he put it, banning together and trying to impose their rules on another.

So China doesn't want to be criticized over human rights or the suppression of the democracy movement here in Hong Kong or accusations of genocide,

trying to erase an entire minority culture. They want to forge ahead on their own path and they don't want interference from the west.

CHATTERLEY: Yes, which is perfectly fine, but he is also, as I said, calling for a greater sense of responsibility from nations, too, and I'm

not sure if you can have it both ways.

Will, great to have you with us. Thank you, Will Ripley.

All right, let's move on. Football fury. The backlash against the planned European super league escalates with the head of Europe's governing body

strongly criticizing the 12 breakaway teams in an interview with CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEKSANDER CEFERIN, UEFA PRESIDENT: With this so-called self-proclaimed super league, it's all about money -- profits, taking money, not sharing

with anyone and they don't know anything about solidarity. They are shameless.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHATTERLEY: Alex Thomas is live in London for us. Alex, great to have you with us. Even the U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson weighing in and saying,

no action is off the table, including legislative action if necessary to stop this going ahead.

The response has been pretty overwhelmingly negative.

ALEX THOMAS, CNN WORLD SPORT: Yes, neither side really wants this to end up in a court of law. At the moment, it is being tried in the court of

public opinion and it's very much those against a proposed European super league that are winning it, mainly because we are not hearing from any of

the key decision makers who have broken away, the so called dirty dozen that form this super league, except for Real Madrid President and also the

President of the proposed super league, Florentino Perez who says the main problem is football is losing a young audience, they need to help win them

back.

Their proposals will help do that and be good for football. Perez say that is not the opinion of many others. We heard how angry, Alex Ceferin, the

UEFA President was in that interview exclusively to CNN later on Monday.

He has spoken again at day two of the UEFA Congress that is been more conciliatory saying to the clubs that are breaking away, it's not too late

to change your mind, come back into the fold, but also crucially the President of FIFA, the global governing body.

We weren't quite sure where they stood actually because Infantino himself is planning a super league in Africa, which will be a closed shop, no

relegation or promotion, and he wants to expand the World Cup to include more matches similar to some of the super league plans.

But he is doing it within the current structures of football, and he said he is definitely against the super league. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GIANNI INFANTINO, PRESIDENT, FIFA: If some elect to go their own way, then they must live with the consequences of their choice are responsible for

their choice. They are responsible for their choice.

Concretely, this means either you are in or you're out. You cannot be half in or half out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

THOMAS: There are conflicting reports, Julia, as to whether some of those proposed super league clubs are wavering, thinking that they've maybe

bitten off more than they can chew. Everyone has set their position. Now, we will see who blinks first.

CHATTERLEY: It was an interesting comment there, wasn't it, with regards to being in or out -- either you're in or you're out, and that's the

problem for some of these teams.

If it's going to go ahead, you want to be in, you don't want to be out. There is kind of a game theory issue here for these guys, and the point

that you made as well about the proposed Chairman of this European soccer super league -- sorry, football -- getting excited there -- Perez, what he

was saying, that this is about saving football. That you know, the younger generations are bored. They have got lots of different options in terms of

content, they are not watching.

Do we buy that theory here, Alex? Because a lot of the criticism has been this is going to ruin some of the smaller teams. They are not going to be

able to make money. They are going to go out of business.

But he was sort of suggesting this is a way to consolidate viewership for the fans in football. Is there logic in the argument?

THOMAS: Yes, yes. It's an open secret, isn't it that you need to try harder to get hold of younger audience's attention for longer periods.

CHATTERLEY: Right.

THOMAS: Attention spans have been split. There's lots of distractions, but also, it has led to growth opportunities. You think of e-sports, think of

adrenaline sports. It's easier to get to those niche interest and hobbies that still young people are interested in. They don't all sit in their

basements playing computer games all day, despite what you might hear in the media.

And it is also true that you can argue that European football rights, particularly for key champion's league games are still undervalued. There

may be more money to get from them.

[09:10:09]

THOMAS: I think what everyone else is arguing is though, for the gains you get, what you would lose in terms of how it would shatter the finances of

governing bodies in Europe and domestically, that's too much of a loss to let these 12 maybe 15 or 20 clubs break away and do their own thing.

CHATTERLEY: Yes. You've got to work on ways to redistribute the spoils of this if you're going to do it at all.

Alex Thomas, thank you so much for that.

All right, the world is headed for a surge in carbon dioxide emissions thanks to a coal-driven economic recovery. In a dire warning for the

planet, the International Energy Agency says a boom in the use of coal in Asia particularly in China is outweighing the growth in renewable energy

sources.

John Defterios joins me now. John, just give us the details on this because we've been through a year where we've seen the benefits of -- or the

relative benefits of lockdown and the planet recovered quite dramatically.

And now, we're saying on the recovery, we're going to do more damage than we were doing before.

JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN BUSINESS EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: Yes, and you can blame coal for it, Julia. I'll tell you, a decade ago, if you had seen this

recovery in energy demand, you would be cheering because it means that you are seeing the globe healing economically.

But in 2021 in the race to 2050 for the Paris Climate Agreement, and this race that we're in that we're losing against global warming, you have to be

alarmed.

And yet, this rests with the two major emerging markets, China and India representing about 2.5 billion people around the world. China represents

half of the global demand growth in coal right now in 2021 and alarmingly, often overlooked by the way is that it exports coal technology,

particularly to Africa, so that game has to stop.

I went into India, to the heart of coal country two years ago for the Global Energy Challenge, and 45 percent of their energy demand is met by

coal. They have supplies for a hundred years, Julia. It's cheap and they can't afford to get out of it.

So we saw Antonio Guterres, the U.N. Secretary General recently say, we have to get the world out of coal by 2030. It's not realistic, and if you

want this to happen, it almost has to be like a Marshall Plan for the emerging markets that cannot afford to make the transition.

And it is interesting about India, they are investing in renewables, fantastic growth, but demand is rising and they are meeting it by the

cheapest ways possible. It's not even clean coal technology though and that's the biggest worry we have today -- Julia.

CHATTERLEY: And obviously, the relative level of oil prices also matters for the energy mix here as well and we are -- what -- a year to the date

since we saw prices collapse, in fact go negative in terms of oil being delivered, J.D. What impact did that have on the industry itself, even for

just a brief period? Because obviously we've recovered, subsequently, but we've now got third waves in Europe, we've got India you just mentioned

them, struggling with COVID as well.

So where are we in terms of recovery and investment?

DEFTERIOS: Well, there are two different -- yes, there are two different approaches, Julia, so I am glad you brought it up. OPEC Plus, had to cut,

right, better than 20 countries and they are still cutting so it is nearly 10 percent of supplies and they're adding two million barrels between May

and July, but they said they'll come back into the market and cut back if they need to.

The U.S. shale producers, the word is consolidate or go bust and we saw bankruptcies still rising in the first quarter of this year because of the

uncertainty of demand.

So let's look at that flash crash. One year ago, as you suggested, we went negative for 24 hours for WTI and that was a wake-up call, if you will, to

Saudi Arabia and Russia to end the price war that they had over how much they cut because of COVID-19. They woke up out of it and decided to cut

nearly 10 million barrels a day, the 10 percent that I was talking about.

And the other challenge that we have now is with -- you know, if you look at the demand and the challenges for the European Union because of the

third wave and India, you can't be too confident. We see a demand rising by five million barrels a day, I don't think that's in the bank by the second

half of the year if this continues -- Julia.

CHATTERLEY: John Defterios, great to have you with us as always. Thank you.

Okay, let me bring you up to speed now with some of the other stories making headlines around the world.

Jurors have just resumed deliberating in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. Chauvin who is white pleads not guilty to

killing George Floyd, a black man with excessive and unreasonable force by kneeling on his neck for more than nine minutes. Thousands of National

Guard troops have been deployed in Minneapolis ahead of the verdict.

The E.U. is warning Moscow it will hold Russia accountable for the health of jailed opposition leader, Alexei Navalny. Supporters say, Navalny's

health is failing and he could be near death. He went on hunger strike three weeks ago demanding proper medical care for back pain and numbness in

his arms and legs.

[09:15:01]

CHATTERLEY: An Army spokesman says Chad's long-time President has died from injuries suffered on the frontline. Idriss Deby was reportedly

visiting troops fighting rebels in the north of the country. It comes just hours after he was declared winner of another presidential election. David

McKenzie is covering this for us. He is live in Johannesburg.

David, what more do we know?

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's an extraordinary story, and it will send shock waves through the Sahel Region, Paris and Washington for

sure. Idriss Deby was an extremely important figure in West African Sahelian politics. He's been ruling that country for at least three

decades.

He had just been announced the winner of a disputed election, and then according to the Army spokesman on state TV, he went to the front line to

either visit with his troops or potentially command his troops.

He is, of course, a former general and tactician, and then there was an incident at that point and he subsequently died from his injuries. Murky

circumstances, and in a way, Deby died the way he lived.

He came into power through force and he left power on the front lines. Now a transitional military council has been set up according to those military

spokesman. Let's take a listen to their announcement.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AZEM BERMENDAO AGOUNA, CHAD ARMY SPOKESMAN (through translator): The transitional military council assure the Chadian people that all positions

have been taken to assure the peace, the security of the Republican order. Long live the Republic. Long live Chad.

The President of the transitional military council general will be Mahamat Idriss Deby.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCKENZIE: Now, that's the son of the former President Deby. This is a very volatile situation. A journalist we spoke to on the ground in the capital

of N'Djamena says, it is relatively calm. As mentioned, this will be closely watched by Paris and Washington.

There's a large contingent of French troops, more than three to four thousand of them in N'Djamena, and Deby has been critical though highly

criticized ally in the fight against Islamic terror in the Sahel and Lake Chad Basin.

CHATTERLEY: David, thank you for joining us. David McKenzie live from Johannesburg there.

Okay, still to come here on FIRST MOVE. Sun, sea and social distancing. Greece welcomes back tourists, but only those in the right places and with

the right paperwork.

The country's Tourism Minister joins us to explain.

And CureVac be the cure-all for Europe's vaccine woes. We speak with the company CEO to discuss. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to FIRST MOVE. No turn around Tuesday for U.S. stocks. Red arrows across the board premarket as you can see as we pause

around record levels.

Tobacco stocks like British American Tobacco and Imperial are getting, well, smoked today. Reports say the U.S. might force cigarette giants to

lower nicotine levels.

Philip Morris set to fall in U.S. trading today, too.

[09:20:19]

CHATTERLEY: Meanwhile, Johnson & Johnson boosting its four-year guidance and upping its dividend after strong Q1 results, but shares remain under

pressure as the U.S. continues its health review of the J&J COVID vaccine, of course.

Now blue skies and blue seas await, Greece slowly welcoming back international visitors in time for the European summer. Tourism makes up

more than 20 percent of Greek's GDP and around a quarter of its workforce.

In the first phase, international direct flights are being allowed on the Mainland and these popular islands including Crete, Corfu and Mykonos.

There is no need for quarantine if you are coming from the E.U., Britain, the United States, Israel, Serbia or the UAE and you are vaccinated -- if

you are vaccinated or have a negative PCR test.

There will still be targeted rapid checks at entry points with quarantine hotels for those who test positive, and just like the locals, your fine

bars and restaurants remain off limits except for takeaways.

Harry Theoharis is the Minister of Tourism for Greece and he joins us now.

Minister Theoharis, great to have you on the show. A lot of countries grappling with how to handle tourism. Greece being bold about this, I

think, and the message seems to be, if you are vaccinated in particular, then you're not a risk to others. Is that correct?

HARRY THEOHARIS, MINISTER OF TOURISM, GREECE: Well, yes, up to a point. But it is also a complete system that has five levels of protection for

everyone, both our residents and of course, but also anyone coming to Greece.

So, this is not just about the vaccination, it is about testing before you leave in case you're not vaccinated. It's about targeted testing when you

arrive and of course, isolation if you or your family -- if you are positive.

It is protocols -- masks, the other things that we are used to by now, we have to keep social distancing, et cetera. And of course, it is a priority,

vaccination for people serving in the tourism industry.

So it is a complete system that wants to keep a balance between international travel and safety.

CHATTERLEY: Let's break down those individual pieces of this plan and I'll start with just vaccinations. If you've been vaccinated with the Chinese

vaccine, if you've been vaccinated with the Russian vaccine, does that still qualify for entry?

THEOHARIS: Yes, it does qualify for entry. It effectively means that you can skip the pre-departure test that you have to perform otherwise. So

that's effectively the only difference between vaccinated and non- vaccinated people.

CHATTERLEY: So even though those vaccines aren't approved or authorized in Europe, Greece is saying, look, it's good enough for us?

THEOHARIS: It's good enough for the risk base approach that we are taking in terms of traveling. The risk base approach is on an individual basis and

not on a regional basis or a country basis.

So we have weighed with our doctors, this is based on our health experts' advice, that for -- the risk is minimal as far as international travel is

concerned, we don't need to impose both a PCR test and a vaccination certificate in those cases, yes.

CHATTERLEY: Yes, I mean, Greece is trail blazing here. A lot of nations, as I mentioned at the beginning are struggling to decide how to operate,

but at some point, we have to try to get back to some form of normality once more and more people get vaccinated.

So, you are trail blazing on this, which, I think is very important. Just help us understand as well the rules that will apply to tourists. Will they

be similar to what Greek citizens are currently facing in terms of restrictions, traveling to different regions? I mentioned that some of

their bars and restaurants will be closed as well.

Is there any difference between being a Greek citizen in the summer and being a tourist?

THEOHARIS: None whatsoever.

CHATTERLEY: Right.

THEOHARIS: I mean, I want to be clear about this. We are applying the same health and safety. A tourist's life is as important to us as our citizen's

life, so the same rules that are enforced for hygienic reasons, for the epidemiological reasons will apply to everyone. We do not discriminate in

any way whatsoever. So it's important that people understand this.

We are hoping things will actually be more and more liberalized as the vaccination programs throughout the world progress, but even if we have

changes in the other direction, those changes will apply to everyone.

CHATTERLEY: What's it going to be like? For those that are watching here and thinking I'd love to go to Greece. I've been to Greece before. It's a

beautiful country. I am biased, I love the Greek Islands. But if things are shut, if the country is still challenged, what's it going to be like as a

tourist?

[09:25:10]

THEOHARIS: Well, let me say, by the 14th of May, where we are -- we are going to have the formal opening of our tourism season. Restaurants will be

opened, especially outdoor parts of the restaurants. We already have the archaeological sites open. People have to wear masks.

So, this is not a normal summer. I mean, those restrictions still apply. So you can still enjoy the outside. You could do hiking. You can enjoy the

beach where you don't need to wear a mask. You can enjoy those things.

But you still need to keep your distance, you still need to be cautious about how you move about.

CHATTERLEY: Yes, sun, sea and social distancing. That really is the message. You mentioned as well, a top priority is getting people that work

in the tourism sector vaccinated. Can you give us a sense of your timing on this? Clearly, it depends on supplies.

But when people go there, will they know that generally they are being helped, provided services by people that are vaccinated, too?

THEOHARIS: Yes, of course. We will certainly guarantee that there they are very, very tested often or they are vaccinated. We're hoping actually that

the vaccination program will actually accelerate and we will not need to vaccinate as a priority. We will open those ages, if you like, and people

working in the tourism industry will have the ability to get vaccinated as a matter of fact, like the rest of the population.

But if there is still supply, sort of restrictions, then we will prioritize our people in the industry to vaccinate them as a priority.

CHATTERLEY: And Minister Theoharis, we spoke to Prime Minister Mitsotakis a few weeks ago, several weeks ago, I'll be clear, and we were talking

about the challenges of handling the third wave and how your intensive care units are doing and your healthcare workers.

Can you just give us the latest on how you're managing the current outbreak?

THEOHARIS: Yes, of course, we're trying to manage the best possible way. We see already the dent in the number of cases because of the vaccination

progress. Every day, we vaccinate enough people to lower the transmissibility by 0.5 percent, so that's an important factor that as the

days progress, vaccine intervening with the disease.

The situation in the hospitals is still tense. I don't want to deny that. We're still managing in sort of with a health system, which is very, very

much stressed, but a health system that's coping at the same time.

So we haven't seen the overwhelming of the health system like we have seen in other places, but it's still a very stressful period for all our health

personnel.

CHATTERLEY: Yes, and we wish you all well, sir. And fingers crossed for a good and safe summer. Harry Theoharis there, the Minister of Tourism for

Greece. Great to have you on the show.

All right, up next, CureVac's potentially game changing vaccine now under review in Switzerland and Europe. We've got the CEO, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to FIRST MOVE and U.S. stocks are up and running this Tuesday. Fresh weakness though for Wall Street after yesterday's

pullback benchmark 10-year bond yields in the United States firming up a bit too, after their recent pullback. So that's probably not helping

sentiment either.

European bond yields have seen noticeable moves higher as well, amid increased inflation and economic expectations. The German 10-year yield at

their least negative levels in over a year. I can't believe I'm saying that, but I am -- at their least negative levels in over a year.

In the meantime, IBM bucking today's negative tech trend posting its first quarter of revenue growth in over a year boosted by demand for the

company's Cloud computing services.

Netflix, meanwhile, set to report results after the closing bell today. Its shares are up just two percent year-to-date amid increased competition in

the streaming space and a great year last year. Of course, fears of weaker subscription growth as lockdowns ease also adding to the mix here, too. A

Bridgerton too far for some investors, perhaps, sorry, I couldn't help myself -- twice.

All right, let's move on, German biotech company, CureVac has been working with mRNA technology for over 20 years. Now, its COVID-19 vaccine candidate

is raising hopes. The vaccine is under review in Europe and in the last 24 hours in Switzerland, too.

The two-dose vaccine uses the same mRNA, the messenger RNA platform as Pfizer and Moderna's version, but does not require the same extreme cold

storage.

Joining us now is Franz-Werner Haas, he is the CEO of CureVac.

Franz, fantastic to have you on the show. I know you guys, you and the team have been incredibly busy. Just give us a status check and your sense of

timing if all things go well with the trials.

FRANZ-WERNER HAAS, CEO, CUREVAC: Thank you, Julia. Yes, we are more or less close to the finish line. We have more or less completed recruitment

with roundabout 40,000 subjects recruited in our Phase 3, and well, we are expecting the cases to come in. These are the subjects which have been

vaccinated in our trial.

And then, to see whether people who have been catching after second vaccination COVID whether they in the placebo group or in the vaccine

group, and we are expecting these data to come in May, and then we will know more. And certainly, the expectation is quite high.

And then after cleaning up the data, we hope and depending on the data, certainly expecting approval in June.

CHATTERLEY: I believe you're doing rolling reviews of the data. Does that mean you can give us any sense of just how well things are going even if

you can't give us specific data? Because when I -- I mentioned in the introduction that it's the same platform as Pfizer and Moderna, the obvious

question is, is there any reason to think the performance of this vaccine will be materially different from theirs?

HAAS: Well, to start with the latter one, yes, it is mRNA and CureVac has started from the immune side of things and not on the molecular therapeutic

field. So there on the scientific part, there are differences because there is a chemical modification introduced within Moderna's and BioNTech's mRNA,

but in principle, it works exactly the same. The difference is, and most probably due to this difference, I wasn't talking about before is that we

are -- our dose is 12 microgram, with BioNTech-Pfizer, it's 39 microgram per dose, and Moderna's is 100 micrograms. So you see here a difference in

the dosages.

[09:35:06]

HAAS: And then certainly, we are shooting for a cold chain and fridge temperature, at least for a few months, with the pandemic, it certainly

also makes a difference.

CHATTERLEY: I mean, this is of huge importance if we see success with your vaccine and fingers crossed we do because obviously, one of the challenges

of getting the Pfizer and the Moderna vaccines to developing nations is the requirement for that deep cold chain storage.

And what you're saying is actually, because of a difference in the science, despite this being the same platform, yours can be kept up for higher

temperatures than theirs.

HAAS: Yes, that's true. But you see, everyone is working exactly on the stability, because it is certainly an obstacle if you if you go for prod

logistics. But with like all the innovations, you start somewhere and lucky us all, and certainly we are expecting also great data to come to be

proven, even though we have got rolling submissions.

So we are giving certain data sets to the regulatory authority that they do not have to cope with, on the very X day when the data are there to read

through all of this. So partially you can give in the most essential, certainly, the efficacy data we don't know about because it's a double

blinded study. And certainly everyone is working then on the cold chain.

So it is good that the first vaccines are out there, even though the logistics are not all settled, but everyone is working on this as are we.

CHATTERLEY: Assuming you get approval in the E.U., how soon could you start delivering vaccines? Because I know you're manufacturing them already

in anticipation of good results.

HAAS: Yes, all what we have pre-produced, so at risk, which means that in the hope that our data will be good enough that we will have approval that

immediately, we will release the dosages produced so far, and we are not only producing by ourselves, but we have got a pan-European network of

different kinds of partners who are producing for us.

So our tubing and base manufacturing unit, we have duplicated quite several times all over Europe in order to have this mass produced and these

facilities needs to be scaled up.

And I can tell you that the manufacturing, to get the equipment, but also the supply to produce the mRNA is really a hassle because it's a shortage

all over and some of the materials even blocked by legislation not to get out to certain countries, which is really a struggle, not just have the

facilities and the equipment, if you get the equipment but also the material to produce, so it's very hard.

CHATTERLEY: You're talking about the U.S. Defense Production Act, it's tough to get supplies when certain aspects of the supply chain are

restricted through nation saying we need to prioritize our own country.

HAAS: That's absolutely correct, which counts on both sides. The equipment certainly, too, to build your facility and the machines to run it, and then

certainly the supply as well.

And if you've got components, let's say 90 components, if you're missing just one, you don't have a vaccine to produce.

CHATTERLEY: Give us the best case scenario. How many and when do you think we will receive your vaccines assuming everything goes well with the

trials? Best case scenario.

HAAS: Best case scenario, we are scaling this manufacturing network and there will be, at the end of the year, all of this will be established a

hundred percent and we are shooting to have 300 million dosages produced towards the end of the year, which does not mean that all of these dosages

are released because we have to follow up certainly with a GMP, which is Good Manufacturing Process to release those doses.

But this would be really that we are getting through with everything and get all the materials.

CHATTERLEY: And very quickly, in 2022, how many do you think you can produce?

HAAS: Yes, also, then the entire network will -- if we get all the equipment, we will be established, and also our manufacturing unit here and

tubing industrial scale facility will be up and running, starting from the mid of the year. So it's somewhere between 800 and a billion dosages to be

produced, and then again, the release times come on top.

CHATTERLEY: Fantastic. We will keep our fingers crossed. Thank you for the work that you're doing and for your whole team as well. Franz-Werner Haas

there, the CEO of CureVac. Great to chat with you.

HAAS: Thank you.

CHATTERLEY: All right, coming up on the show, a deepening COVID crisis in Brazil. Why it is called a humanitarian catastrophe by Doctors without

Borders, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:42:49]

CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to FIRST MOVE. The global death toll from COVID- 19 topped a staggering three million lives over the weekend with a deepening crisis in countries like Brazil.

Nearly 375,000 people in Brazil have now lost their lives. Some public health experts are warning that the country may deteriorate further due to

political chaos and inaction.

Joining us now the International President of Doctors without Borders. Christos Christou.

Christos, great to have you with us. You've called this a human catastrophe. Just explain what your colleagues are seeing in Brazil at this

moment.

CHRISTOS CHRISTOU, INTERNATIONAL PRESIDENT, DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS: What we see in Brazil at this moment is preventable deaths and unnecessary

suffering.

Each week, as you mentioned, there are new records of deaths and infections. The hospitals are overflowing and there is still no coordinated

centralized response. The workers, the health workers are physically, mentally and emotionally exhausted.

CHATTERLEY: Christos, the truth here is frightening, but I think people need to hear it. There are reports of drug shortages and that the

healthcare workers are having to intubate patients in order to give them oxygen and they're having to do it without the appropriate sedation.

I can't even imagine what it's like for the patient, but also for the healthcare workers to have to do this. Is this what is happening? Is this

what's happening right now?

CHRISTOU: This is exactly what is happening. This is what I keep listening from my people and to everyone that I speak to these days. So that is of

oxygen. Our medical devices and medications used to intubate critically ill patients and personal protective equipment, sometimes they have even to

improvise.

And within a night, we see units that they were never purposed for such a reason to be repurposed in order to accommodate very critically ill

patients.

CHATTERLEY: Have they got adequate PPE, their healthcare workers? Have any of them -- many of them been vaccinated -- because that's another challenge

for Brazil, too.

CHRISTOU: Indeed, Brazil has the capacity to roll out massive vaccination campaigns. But this right moment, they don't have the doses needed. This is

one thing.

[09:45:15]

CHRISTOU: In regards to shortages of drugs and medication, and of course, the PPEs, the problem is also because there is no coordinated response.

There is not a centralized response that can allocate based on the needs for each unit, and that is what is very much worrying.

On top of this, of course, I think there is also another very important thing here. It seems that the Federal government, the central system does

not listen to the science. We have so many things that we have learned the last year about measures that can be applied and can be very much effective

public health measures, and unfortunately, we don't see them in Brazil being applied in a horizontal scale.

CHATTERLEY: You make such an important point. We are one year into this crisis. We know how to handle it as best we can, what's involved, what to

do when ICUs become completely overwhelmed. Christos, what are we looking at here? Are we just looking at complete and utter government failure?

CHRISTOU: Yes, exactly. I think, even the severity of the crisis is not acknowledged by the Brazilian government at this moment, and what I keep

hearing from my people and to whomever I speak to is that the disease needs to be taken seriously by the authorities.

People are desperate, they are mourning, and they need this kind of help. Unfortunately, what we see is public health messages have become associated

with political messages. And as a doctor, I cannot accept that.

Wearing a mask, for instance, is not and should not be a political stance. It is in part what is needed to slow down the spread of the virus.

CHATTERLEY: Your workers are heroes, and they must be quite frightened. Are any of them saying to you, look, I want to come home, I want to leave

I'm afraid of what I'm seeing and what I'm having to deal with.

CHRISTOU: No matter how difficult it is to be working today in several places like Brazil, I think all my colleagues and all the medical and

healthcare workers also that they are in the forefront, and they work not with them aside, but with the state, with the municipalities. They would

never abandon their patients and they are sitting there next to them, trying even to stand by them without sometimes having to offer a lot.

But this is something that I would never hear from anyone, however, how much desperate they can be. That's why it is important at this right moment

to assist them, to provide the necessary support that they are missing, to coordinate a little bit more the activities that we have.

CHATTERLEY: Your team and all the healthcare workers around the world are absolute heroes, and I can only thank them for the work that they continue

to do.

You've said the nation desperately needs a science based rethink, which I think for people watching and understanding they would agree with you

completely. What happens if we don't see that in Brazil? Where is this headed, Christos?

CHRISTOU: I'm afraid that this trend will continue and will cost more and hundreds of thousands of more lives, as well as further health collapse of

the health system. This happens when we don't apply things that we know that they work. This happens when we don't have one consistency in the

messages. This happens when we do not let the science guide us and lead us on how to better respond.

And unfortunately, this is what is happening today in Brazil.

CHATTERLEY: Christos, what's your message to President Bolsonaro?

CHRISTOU: Take it seriously. It is a very serious disease. Listen to the people that they are there. I have met brilliant colleagues from all

different institution, medical health facilities that they know their job well. They know what we have to do.

And please coordinate in a Federal level, coordinate all of these different levels and provide them the support that they need.

Brazil has the capacity. Brazil has the resources and the people to do that. It's just the lack of the political will.

CHATTERLEY: I know. And our hearts with them. Everyone who is suffering and involved and to your team. Thank you for the work that you're doing.

Christos Christou there, International President of Doctors without Borders, our heroes. Thank you.

You're watching FIRST MOVE, more to come.

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[09:52:22]

CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to the show. Call it the artful dodger of the crypto world, Dogecoin, a once laughed at cryptocurrency is having its day

in the sun, its value soaring as much as 20 percent on what its fans are calling Doge Day. But prices are in reverse right now, down nearly five

percent.

Clare Sebastian is here to explain, rather you than me, I think the first thing we need to clear up is what it is actually called. Is it Dogecoin? Or

is it Dogecoin, because there is a picture of a dog on the front of it. It's like calling Target, Target, I believe.

CHATTERLEY: Yes, a sophisticated edge there, the pronunciation Dogecoin. That is the most common one I've heard. But I know there is some debate out

there about how exactly to pronounce it. But look, I think that's part of the appeal here. This is sort of the underdog if you'll allow me, a little

pun there, of the crypto world and it has really become sort of much more mainstream due to the huge rise in its value this year.

Extraordinary numbers, Julia, the value was up about 8,000 percent so far in 2021, about 400 percent in the past week alone, which is the kind of

rally that you just don't really see except in these sort of meme-type investments including stocks like GameStop that we've seen in the past.

But this is a cryptocurrency that was started by two software engineers as a joke in 2013. It's different from Bitcoin in that it doesn't have this

sort of built in scarcity. There's not a limited supply. They are going to release more blocks as it called as it is so called every so often and

people can mine it just like they do Bitcoin.

But you know, really extraordinary chain of events over the past week. It at one point crashed Robinhood's crypto system because demand was so high.

Elon Musk has been tweeting about it.

So you know, I think look at it today is down a little bit. Doge Day doesn't seem to be going quite so well. So I think as it is with all of

these sort of meme investments, you know, buyer beware.

CHATTERLEY: I might have known that Elon Musk involved, particularly apt talking about this on April 20th.

You mentioned the two originators of this Mr. Markus, one of them said he made just enough from selling it. He sold out in 2015, I believe to buy a

Honda Civic. And when he was asked what he thinks of it, he says it doesn't make sense. It's super absurd. The coin design was absurd.

Are we looking at the crypto equivalent of GameStop, Clare? What do you make of it?

SEBASTIAN: I think, yes, to some extent. Certainly, I mean, we see a lot of the same sort of tropes around it. There's a Reddit group called Satoshi

Street Bets that's trying to pump up the value on this so called Doge Day. You remember Wall Street Bets was responsible for some of the rally around

GameStop.

I think, you know, interestingly, if you look at this, the rally around GameStop didn't really change GameStop. I think what we're seeing here with

the rally around Dogecoin is it is just to a certain extent, to a limited extent, leading to more mainstream adoption.

[09:55:16]

SEBASTIAN: We see the likes of Mark Cuban also tweeting about it, the Dallas Mavericks which he owns now accept Dogecoin for sales of tickets and

merchandise. There are other sort of smaller companies, airBaltic and Latvian Airline is starting to accept Dogecoin.

So, I think the difference here is that as Dogecoin increases in value, admittedly, it is only worth about 38 cents right now, but as it sort of

increases in value, that pumps up the publicity around it and that is leading to slightly more mainstream adoption.

But in terms of the GameStop comparison, very little intrinsic value apart from the demand for it. Right now, very limited use cases.

CHATTERLEY: Buyer beware. I mean, for non-crypto savvy people, I think their heads just exploded. The end.

Clare Sebastian, thank you so much for that.

That's it for the show. If you've missed any of our interviews today, they will be on my social media @jchatterleyCNN, of course, and we will see you

tomorrow.

Stay safe. Have a great rest of the day.

"Connect the World" with Becky Anderson is next.

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