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First Move with Julia Chatterley

Inflation Increases, but there are Some Signs Prices, Maybe Cooling; Chinese Property Giant Evergrande Warns Again it Could Default; Rumors Swirl Ahead of Apple's Next Big Product Launch. Aired 9-10a ET

Aired September 14, 2021 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:06]

ISA SOARES, CNN ANCHOR: Live from London, I'm Isa Soares, in for Julia Chatterley and this is FIRST MOVE, and here is your need-to-know.

Inflation increases, but there are some signs prices, maybe cooling.

Cash crisis. Chinese property giant Evergrande warns again, it could default.

And Apple upgrade. Rumors swirl ahead of its next big product launch.

It is Tuesday. So let's make a move.

Welcome once again everyone to FIRST MOVE. Happy Tuesday. Great to have you with us as global investors pour over an encouraging, I think it's fair to

say, new report on U.S. inflation coming in in the last 30 minutes or so.

The U.S. reporting within the past 30 minutes that consumer prices rose by a weaker than expected three-tenths of a percent last month compared to

July. Now prices rose 5.3 percent year-over-year, which was also a smaller rise than forecast.

How are futures reacting as digest this data? Well, U.S. futures you can see there, which had been trading flat before the release of this report

are now seeing solidly higher, as you can see by the green arrows, Dow, S&P set rise for a second straight session. Europe, meanwhile, is pretty mixed.

In Asia, let's have a look at how markets faired, China and Hong Kong fell by well over one percent amid growing concerns over the state of the

Chinese property giant Evergrande, we'll have more on that in just a minute.

Evergrande warning, of course, it could default on its huge debts. It's being called the biggest test to the Chinese financial system in years.

We'll have much more on that in just a moment.

But first, let's get right to our top drive, a closer look at today's inflation numbers.

Christine Romans joins me now. Christine, the best person to have with us today to digest this. Inflation to me, remains elevated, but actually, the

numbers are better than expected.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: That's exactly right. You know, after six months of sticker shock, we can look at

these numbers, we can dig in these numbers and see that it appears to be moderating. These overall month over month price increases consumer prices,

this is what real people pay at the grocery store, the gas station, and at the mall was up 0.3 percent, and that is really the weakest reading since

January, that month on month reading.

So, it is not as hot as some of those very brisk paces we saw earlier this summer. When you look year-over-year, 5.3 percent still looks at its

surface to be a really big number. I mean, if you pay 5.3 percent more today than you did for something a year ago, that's definitely inflation.

But indeed, it's not quite as hot as that 12, 13, 14-year highs that we were seeing earlier this summer. So digging in these numbers while still

elevated, there are signs of that transitory inflation that the Fed had been talking about.

I saw a little pullback in used car prices. That's some good news because people who are trying to buy a car in the United States at least really

seeing some sticker shock there. So that price pulled back but even on gasoline, on food, meat, groceries, food away from home, all of these

prices are still rising, although rising at a slower pace than they were at the very, very hot, hot inflation months in the middle of the summer --

Isa.

SOARES: Yes, when I was looking at it, what stood out to me if you strip out the food, Christine and the energy, the numbers really do decrease, but

it does put the Fed in a tough spot. Where do you think they'll go after digesting these latest numbers?

ROMANS: You know, it really is sort of score one for Jay Powell here who had been saying over and over again, look, these kinks in the supply chain,

these inflationary pressures eventually will work themselves out.

Now, we do know that new car prices rose a little bit. We still have those problems getting computer chips, right, still having some delays in making

some new cars and other kinds of products, too.

You talk to any CEO who imports stuff and puts it on shelves and ships it to you or sends it to you, they will tell you there still are seeing

bottlenecks in all kinds of different products. So, we're not out of this inflation mess yet, but you can see this little whiffs that it is abating

here.

So, I think the Fed for right now stands pat, but clearly, clearly going forward, they are going to look at when they can start tapering, when they

can start taking away all this emergency stimulus that's in the economy and they don't have to worry too much about inflation.

SOARES: And if we just have a look at futures, if I can get Bob, my producer to bring up the futures again, it seems the markets at least,

Christine, like what they are seeing, this data coming out today with CPI, the Consumer Price Inflation index and an inflation reading.

ROMANS: It's suggesting that inflation won't have a stranglehold on the recovery. You know, as you know, the S&P 500 fell a little more than two

percent last week, so it's a little more than two percent off record highs, but this has been a market that has been making record after record after

record. I think 54 record highs for the S&P 500 this year.

Concerns about the delta variant holding things back last week. It doesn't look like inflation is going to be the fly in the ointment, at least not

today.

[09:05:19]

SOARES: Christine Romans, thanks very much. Christine, great to see you.

ROMANS: You're welcome.

SOARES: Now China is currently testing more than eight million people in two cities for COVID-19 to really try and contain an outbreak fueled by the

delta variant.

Kristie Lu Stout reports now from Hong Kong, this time, there are a lot of infections among children, and some of them are being separated from their

parents.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In Southeast China, COVID-19 cases are spiking fueled by the highly infectious delta variant. New local

infections have more than doubled in the province of Fujian. Today, China reported 59 new locally transmitted cases up from 22 a day earlier, all of

them in Fujian.

The epicenter of this latest outbreak is Putian, a city of 3.2 million in the province. And according to state media, the first detected cases

involve two students at a primary school there. According to the local government, among the infected in Putian are 30 children under the age of

10.

State media outlet, "Global Times" reports that the outbreak is quote "severe and complicated," as it is China's first school centered COVID-19

resurgence.

A local Chinese official in Putian's Xianyou County says that some children are being separated from their parents during quarantine.

In an interview with state run CCTV, the official said this quote, "If the children can be quarantined independently, we will consider separate

isolation. If they need parents to accompany them, we will arrange their parents to stay in a room next to them; they therefore can chat with each

other with the partition in between," unquote.

The rise in infections comes ahead of the week long National Day holiday starting October 1. It is a time of major domestic trouble in China and

officials in Putian have rolled up measures to rein in the outbreak. Residents are advised to not leave the city unless necessary. All schools

have suspended in-person teaching, public venues like cinemas and libraries are closed and people are being urged to work from home.

The virus has spread elsewhere in the province to Guangzhou and the coastal city of Xiamen and like Putian, Xiamen has also rolled out social

distancing measures. More than eight million residents living in Putian and Xiamen will be forced to undergo COVID-19 tests.

Kristie Lu Stout, CNN, Hong Kong.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOARES: Well, also in China, anxious investors are staging a protest at the headquarters of trouble property developer, Evergrande, the debt-laden

company warns of default risk saying it is working with financial advisors to examine quote, "all feasible solutions."

Shares of Evergrande fell another 12 percent today. The stock -- get this - - is down 80 percent in the last six months.

Ivan Watson is live for us in Hong Kong with the very latest. And Ivan, I mean, the outlook certainly doesn't look very bright for Evergrande,

clearly facing disgruntled investors as we saw today. Bring our viewers up to speed as to why it is come to this.

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, well, this company has been in trouble for some time for months now. It is very

unusual to see these kinds of scenes of protests in Mainland China where basically, those kinds of demonstrations are usually stopped very quickly

by the security forces.

But here, you have this giant property developer that is in massive debt. It has some $300 billion worth of liabilities right now. And as these kinds

of creditors and investors were starting to protest several days ago at their headquarters in Shenzhen, on Monday, the company put out a statement

saying hey, recent comments about Evergrande's bankruptcy and restructuring are completely untrue.

Well, then look at what they posted today with regulatory bodies here in Hong Kong. They made a very detailed statement saying that there's no

guarantee that the group will be able to meet its financial obligations. It may lead to gross default. Those are the words of the company themselves.

Now you're right now looking at their stock value, which has plunged over the course of the past year, and it's now valued at some 38 U.S. cents,

about $2.97 in Hong Kong dollars, just an incredible plunge.

The documents that were published today from this company, they said that they've been trying to make money, but that their property sales have gone

down for the past three months, and they anticipate even worse sales in September, which is normally supposed to be better for the real estate

industry.

They also say that some of their other initiatives that they were trying to do to raise cash failed essentially until now, so that was trying to sell

off part of their electric car company and their property services company. They couldn't get any investors.

They tried to sell off their headquarter -- not their headquarters, their office tower here in Hong Kong., which they bought in 2015, for the

equivalent of about $1.6 billion. They couldn't find anybody to buy that. And so they haven't been able to find the money and they owe more than $30

billion over the course of the next year.

Listen to what some of the angry investors had to say in their offices in Shenzhen on Monday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): If they don't give me my money back, then I'll jump off a tall building. They've cheated me out of all my

money, I have nothing left.

We sold everything we had, both of those apartments so that we could buy a property with Evergrande. Because you, Evergrande are one of the top 500

companies in the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: And, you know, the bad news contributed to a slump on both the Hang Seng Index, which went down 1.2 percent on Tuesday, and the Shanghai

Composite down 1.4 percent -- Isa.

SOARES: And then for our viewers, really as you heard that lady there speaking about her fears, clearly quite visibly angry is that, you know,

Evergrande relies heavily on customers paying for their flats before they are actually made. So, you can understand why people are so worried.

But you know, Ivan, it is one of the world's most indebted companies, and the fear from those I've been speaking to so far is that, you know,

bankruptcy or downfall create a risk of contagion. Give me a sense of what you're hearing from those on the ground as to what kind of broader risks

that might have on China's financial system?

WATSON: Yes, well, some experts are saying that if this does, in fact, collapse, this company, and it certainly isn't doing well right now, that

there -- that would pose a potential systemic risk to China's financial sector.

Would it be allowed to fail? Would the government kind of step in to save it? Would they step in to try to help some of these ordinary investors,

these people who have tried to purchase apartments or property or have invested in its wealth management company? And that's not entirely clear.

Would this potentially erode confidence in other property development companies in China, which are also reportedly indebted? None of that is

entirely clear right now. It also goes along with a kind of a broader atmosphere where regulators in China have been cracking down on private

companies, whether it's in technology, or in finance, or in education over the course of past months and it has contributed to trillions of dollars

estimated worth of value disappearing from their market prices.

Now, for this company, Evergrande, it has announced that it has brought in outside experts to try to help it potentially with restructuring. So keep

an eye on this story, it is important.

SOARES: Yes, it's a key story. We'll stay on top of it. Of course, like you said, not the only indebted Chinese property company. It would be

interesting to see that, like you said, Ivan, whether the Chinese government will step in.

Ivan Watson there. Thanks very much, Ivan. Great to see you.

Now, let me bring up-to-date to the stories making headlines around the world.

The international community has pledged more than $1 billion to help the people of Afghanistan. That is according to the U.N.

Since the Taliban takeover last month, an already dire situation has become worse with millions on the brink of starvation and basic public services

simply just not working.

CNN international diplomatic editor, Nic Robertson joins me now from Kabul. And Nic, so now we have more than a billion dollars being pledged clearly

at a time when Afghanistan needs it. How much of that money will flow to Afghanistan? And in the end of it, who will be managing the money? Because

the fear, of course is will end up in the hands of the Taliban.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, of course, the hope is that the vast majority flows here, it comes here as aid be it food

aid, be it medical aid, be it blankets, be it tents, because there's a real concern that with a drought that's going on in the country at the moment,

that people will move into cities. They will be short of accommodation, may even try to move to borders to cross out to leave Afghanistan.

Concerns that the economy under the Taliban won't have enough income coming into it, so you could find even people in cities running out of food and

the basic necessities. Ninety percent of the country here lives on $2.00 a day.

But to the crux of the question, who gets the money? It really goes into these non-governmental organizations and NGOs that are in effect, given

that money by contracts, by the different countries that are donating. You know, we heard from U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday

explaining this. The United States giving $64 million in medical aid as part of that more than a billion that the U.N. was able to announce at that

donor conference.

[09:15:08]

ROBERTSON: But what he also said was that the money is not going to end up in the hands of the Taliban. That's the intent of the international

community because it comes in in the form of aid. It's not in the form of cash.

But then the difficulty for the international community, for those aid organizations is to make sure that they can maintain custody of that aid

and that isn't somehow stockpiled by the Taliban or by others, and therefore becomes a form of currency in the country. That's the danger, but

the need -- the need here is absolutely massive -- Isa.

SOARES: Yes, and we heard from the U.N. Secretary General, who said yesterday that the country will run out of food, I think, it's at the end

of this month, and pretty much an economy on the verge of collapse.

So, a story of course that we will stay on top of. Nic Robertson, for us there in Kabul. Thanks very much, Nic.

Now, still to come on first move, Brazilians are taking to the streets protesting against the President. Amongst them, the governor of Sao Paulo.

We will speak to him next.

And then later, going shopping with Shopify. The e-commerce platform is expanding internationally. The company President joins us to discuss.

Please stay right here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SOARES: Welcome back to FIRST MOVE. Now, let's have a look at U.S. stocks and how they're doing as we head to the opening bell roughly 10 minutes or

so to the opening bell, on track for a subtly higher open as you can see there, a day after that better than expected read on U.S. inflation that we

brought you at the top of the show.

As we mentioned, just -- if you're just joining us, consumer prices rose by less than forecast 0.3 last month. Core inflation rose by a mere one-tenth

of a percent, inflation eased on a year-over-year basis, too. So clearly, still hot inflation, but lower than expected.

Oil meantime, is trading at six weeks high amid fresh concerns about global supply. The International Energy Agency is cutting its production forecast

due in part to recent Gulf Coast storms.

The Texas coast was slammed early on Tuesday by the Category 1 Hurricane Nicholas just weeks after Hurricane Ida halved oil production, if you

remember, in the Gulf region.

Now, I want to take you to Brazil. We have seen the last several days in fact, thousands taking part in protests against President Jair Bolsonaro,

particularly over the weekend. The angry demonstrators who gathered in several major city cities called for the impeachment of the country's far

right leader over his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the economy.

[09:20:12]

SOARES: Among them was the Governor of Sao Paulo, Joao Doria and he joins us live now.

Governor, thank you very much for being with us. Good morning.

It has certainly been a busy few days in Brazil with protests, I have to say on both sides of the aisle, the pro and the anti-Bolsonaro. What's your

assessment, Governor, of what you have seen from Sao Paulo to Brasilia?

GOV. JOAO DORIA, SAO PAULO, BRAZIL: Well, thanks for having me and good morning.

Well, the removal of President Jair Bolsonaro is a possibility because there is a majority at the Congress and that is the understanding. I

believe he should be removed from the presidency of Brazil.

I think President Bolsonaro has committed several crimes of responsibility, especially against public health in Brazil and that is a big reason for him

to be removed. Of course, we will define this with the Congress, the Brazilian Congress, by -- as a Governor of Sao Paulo, I support this and --

SOARES: Do you support that --

DORIA: And I have to add, the country needs --

SOARES: Go ahead, go ahead.

DORIA: Just to add one information more, that, in my opinion, the country needs more than ever to be united in the fight for democracy, press

freedom, and the preservation of the institutions that we are now being attacked by President Jair Bolsonaro.

SOARES: Let me ask you about that because we have heard from President Bolsonaro in the last few days -- well in fact, last week -- who, like you

said he has been stoking division. He has been stoking mistrust.

But he has since backed off kind of his heated comments on Brazil's democratic institutions. I believe, he said them because of the heat of the

moment were his words. Do you believe, Governor, that he has changed his tune?

DORIA: Well, we have to keep the democracy in Brazil. The way to change is on the democracy way. We will not allow Brazil to enter a sad period again,

as happened in the 60s when the dictatorship was installed in our country.

My family was a victim of this authoritarian regime. We were exiled, so I will fight hard to defend the values that I believe personally to stay in

this society, the democracy, equality and freedom in Brazil.

People went to the streets this week, as you showed two minutes ago, to protest and to fight for the democracy in Brazil.

SOARES: But you say, you know, I want to just clarify here. President Jair Bolsonaro had been speaking for several days prior to these protests last

week, even that the CPAC in Brazil, where he was attacking in many ways, Brazil's democratic institutions.

Do you think now that he has written that letter and he said it was in the heat of the moment, do you think that old Bolsonaro is gone? Or do you

think, it is just a question of days or months before we see that side of him come out again?

DORIA: Well, Bolsonaro is the same person always. It was just a moment in this week, a quiet moment, but Bolsonaro is the same person in the last two

and a half years. He is against democracy. He is attacking democracy, attacking the press, attacking the people, Governors in Brazil that make

opposition to Bolsonaro.

So just two quiet moments, but Bolsonaro will keep on the same way attacking the democracy in Brazil, unfortunately.

SOARES: Do you think democracy in Brazil is at risk, Governor?

DORIA: Yes, unfortunately. Yes. That's the truth. Brazil needs an alternative to populist leaders, a government that thinks of a country

project and knows how to put into practice public policies that encourage the sustainable growth of the economy and the reduction of social

inequality.

But with democracy, reelecting a corrupt populist government in 2022, next year, will be a big mistake on both the left and the right. We need a

government willing to discuss a project that boasts the country's economic growth, which tackles job creation, respect for the environment, and

education for all our children.

DORIA: Let's talk about the elections. We are just over what? A year and a bit until the big day. I know you've thrown your hat in the ring. I would

like to get a sense from you, Governor about what matters most to Brazilians right now?

[09:25:10]

SOARES: The economy, coronavirus, the attack on democratic institutions? What would you say is the number one concern right now for Brazilians?

DORIA: Well, still, we have to fight against COVID-19. But the second big problem is employment. We need employment to the people. The poverty rose

in a very fast way in Brazil.

So the balance for the next year will be health and economy and giving, providing new jobs to the Brazilians.

Before ending this interview, I'd like also to say that I am sad, very sad to see my country with this such a damaged image in the international

market due to the lack of leadership of the Federal government.

SOARES: And the markets have been reacting as you say, Governor. I mean, I interviewed one lady over a week and a half ago, who said, you know,

inflation was going through the roof, prices of -- you know, tax of gases was very expensive as well. And she said she was eating frozen vegetables

because she had no way of cooking it.

So, that is the reality. The poverty has gone through the roof as well in Brazil. How concerned are you about the state of the Brazilian economy

right now?

DORIA: Well, the Brazilian economy right now is a disaster, complete disaster. As this lady that you had the opportunity to interview just sat

and that's true what she said. We have a poverty in Brazil, almost 30 million Brazilians at this moment are in the poverty situation.

So we have to move this, we have to create social programs to help our people in Brazil. But to do that, we need a new election, a new government

in Brazil.

SOARES: Okay, let's talk about the elections. Look, Bolsonaro says he wants the electronic vote to be supplemented with paper ballots because he

says he's worried of a fraud, although so far that has been completely unsubstantiated.

Why do you think he's pushing that narrative? What is he hoping to achieve, Governor?

DORIA: Good question. Bolsonaro is a psychotic person. He is a crazy person. He was elected by the electronic vote.

We are using electronic vote in the last 25 years in Brazil, and Bolsonaro still spread fake news all the time. President -- remember, President Lula

and President Duma, they were elected by electronic vote, even Bolsonaro was elected with the same way. There is no reason to go against that except

to go against the democracy.

We have to keep the focus on important issues in Brazil.

SOARES: Governor, yes or no answer, do you think that President Jair Bolsonaro will be impeached?

DORIA: Well, that's -- this decision is the Congress decision. We have at this moment, 131 demands on the Congress against -- to remove President

Jair Bolsonaro. And so it's a possibility. There is a majority at the Congress, and that is the understanding, I believe -- I believe he should

be removed from the presidency, but this decision is a Congress decision at this moment.

SOARES: It's out of your hands. Absolutely, Joao Doria, Governor of Sao Paulo, thank you. Obrigado bom dia.

The market open is next. Do stay right here at CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:32:15]

SOARES: Welcome back to FIRST MOVE. The bell has rung. U.S. stocks are up and running this Tuesday.

Let's have a look at how they're faring. And as expected, they are higher for a second straight session after today's encouraging read on inflation,

which is our top story this hour. U.S. consumer prices came in weaker than expected last month. The numbers playing into Fed Chair Jerome Powell's

assurances that higher inflation will not be long lasting.

In earning news, shares of software firm, Oracle, are low in early trading. Profits came in above estimates, but revenues missed expectations as

competition in the Cloud computing space heats up.

And in crypto land, Litecoin is weaker after a while day of trading on Monday. The cryptocurrency soared more than 30 percent after a press

release announcing a partnership with Walmart. The retail giant later calling the press release a hoax.

Now, independent retailers who sell on Shopify are being told the world is their oyster. The e-commerce platform is allowing them to reach overseas

markets easily from a single Shopify store.

With 1.7 million businesses that use Shopify in 175 countries, it has a market cap of $185 billion. The company is also tapping into the buying

power of younger consumers in partnership with a popular social media app, TikTok. We'll get into all of this, of course with Harley Finkelstein, he

is the President of Shopify.

Harley, great to have you on the show. I want to talk about your new venture of sorts. And I would like you to explain to our viewers right

around the world how Shopify markets will actually work both from a consumer, as well as a seller point of view.

HARLEY FINKELSTEIN, PRESIDENT, SHOPIFY: Thanks for having me, Isa. It's a pleasure to be on the show. So, I think we all now know that the future of

retail is going to be retail everywhere. And we've been breaking down barriers to global commerce for many years.

Just to level set here, to date, there have been more than one billion cross border orders on Shopify. And in 2020, alone, merchants generated

about $20 billion in sales using existing cross border tools.

If you just look at, you know, two months ago, July 2021, over 27 percent of all traffic to Shopify stores was from a cross border buyer.

So the benefits are obvious, right? We know it increases conversion when you speak to a consumer in their own language using their own currency. But

up until now, it's been really limited to much larger merchants and what we're announcing today with Shopify Markets is that we are now global by

default.

That means any merchant of any size can actually now take advantage of rolling out cross border transactions to merchants anywhere in the world,

and we take care of the complexity. We make sure that it's easy for a small merchant, maybe someone at their mom's kitchen table or at a coffee shop

that's just getting started to actually sell to a global audience and I think that's where retail is going.

[09:35:05]

SOARES: Yes. And Harley, look, I speak from a purely consumer perspective. I have no business especially not even if I tried. But I do find the whole

experience of buying internationally quite daunting, where is the currency conversion? Where is the duty and the, you know, and import taxes? How

would you streamline this? Does this facilitate that?

FINKELSTEIN: Yes. So, what we are doing is we are leveraging our business intelligence. Again, you had mentioned that we have more than 1.7 million

stores on Shopify. And we know a lot about how people are purchasing, not just in one country, but in more than 175 countries.

And so what we're trying to do is make it so that a merchant, again, no matter what size, doesn't have to think about things like taxes, or duties

or languages, or currencies. And the best part is that all of these cross border tools are available to merchants right out of the box.

Now, if you think about, you know, your own experiences, one of the things you'll notice is that, very large merchants, very large brands are actually

having an easier time selling cross border, because they have infrastructure, and they have employees, and they have staff, you know. And

a lot of the smaller businesses, what they had to do previously, if they wanted to access a global consumer base was they would have to sell on a

marketplace, or they would have to sell through a retailer.

But that doesn't allow them to sell direct, and so if you look at Alessi, for example, one of my favorite Italian kitchenware brands that my wife and

I have in our home here, they were never able to sell cross border before. Their version of cross border was selling on someone else's marketplace.

Now, they can sell direct.

And so when you think about things like duty, taxes, customizing a catalogue, international domains, international pricing, local payment

methods, that's a lot for a small business to think about. And now with Shopify Markets, everything is streamlined.

SOARES: And like you said, look, with cross border shopping, of course, comes increased supply chain issues. Are you working, Harley, with

merchants to try and address these challenges?

FINKELSTEIN: Yes, so look, we know that supply chain issues are challenging. There are issues right now, but really, those are short term

issues. One of the things that the pandemic showed us and prove to us is that entrepreneurs and small businesses can be very resilient.

What our merchants told us, however, is the biggest pain point was not actually supply chain issues, but more solving for things like duties. And

so Shopify Markets brings this transparency to checkout so consumers easily understand the cost of duties, which removes friction, of course, but also

increases the amount of purchase power that they have.

And I think one of the things that we, as consumers will begin to expect and demand from anyone we buy from, whether it's a small business or it's,

you know, All Birds or Figs to Shopify brands that started with us that are, you know, now public or going public, we are now going to expect that

every single brand has this great international experience, regardless of where we're located.

SOARES: I can't let you go without asking you about your partnership with TikTok. How is it going? Because I read Kylie Jenner was among the early

adopters, of course with her cosmetics brand.

FINKELSTEIN: Yes, it's a really exciting partnership. One of the things that I think most people assume about Shopify is, you know, we're sort of

the e-commerce company. We're the largest player in e-commerce globally and that's how most people associate us with.

But we really do believe the future of retail is retail everywhere. And we want brands that you shop would be able to access surface areas wherever

transactions may happen, and yes, it happens online and it also happens offline, which is why we have PowerPoint to sell product. But more and more

it is happening on places like Instagram, and Facebook, and of course, TikTok.

And so now, very easily, we're enabling merchants on Shopify to embed products in those short form videos so that someone like Kylie Jenner who

has millions and millions of followers on TikTok can easily embed her Lip Kit product, her brand or company into the video, and it doesn't feel like

an ad. It doesn't feel like you're trying to push product, but rather it's organically integrated into the entire TikTok experience.

And so one of the things, a better way to think about Shopify today is that we're the world's first retail operating system, and to be the world's

first retail operating system, we need to enable merchants to sell wherever their customers might be. And you know the modern day Town Square, places

like TikTok.

SOARES: Very clever, you know with what you're doing with TikTok. Harley Finkelstein, wishing you the best of luck, President of Shopify, thanks

very much. Great seeing you.

FINKELSTEIN: Thanks for having me.

SOARES: NFTs are back in the spotlight. We speak to one of the most active players in the digital space as he prepares for a very special artwork

auction. Gary Vee joins me next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:41:59]

SOARES: Now, you might remember how a few months ago, NFTs, the non- fungible tokens were all the rage uproar. We talked about them on this show on more than one occasion.

After a bit of a summer lull, they are now back in the spotlight. The U.S. Open tennis tournament launched its first NFT with entrepreneur and one of

this market's pioneers, Gary -- and there's more. He is about to auction some of his NFT artwork at the auction house, Christie's.

I'm pleased to say that Gary Vee, as he is commonly known here is with me now.

Gary, great to have you again on the show.

GARY VAYNERCHUK, CEO AND CREATOR, VEEFRIENDS: Thank you.

SOARES: Let's talk about the exhibit that you're coming up, this partnership with Christie's. WHAT can we expect?

VAYNERCHUK: Well, you know, a lot of people forget that there's a lot of ways to use NFTs. They may eventually be tickets, they may be access to a

restaurant. They may be many, many things, not just art, and my project, VeeFriends was very unique because unlike most projects that are all made

in digital art, I actually made them and drew them myself physically, then clamped them with PSA.

And now, I've teamed up with the most prestigious auction house in the world, Christie's, to auction off five original art pieces. So, not the

NFTs that a lot of my community is holding of the five characters, but the actual original art and I think that that will inspire people to continue

to be creative. There's so many ways to slice this.

SOARES: And we're seeing some of that, I think I just saw a fly and a gorilla as we're looking. But explain to our viewers, Gary, you know why

partner with Christie's? I mean, is this you trying to target a new audience? You know, all these trends that you have seen with, you know, the

purchase of other NFTs?

VAYNERCHUK: Could you imagine telling somebody that doodled in high school and really liked it, but always thought of themselves as a businessman that

one day --

SOARES: I should have kept mine. I should have kept mine.

VAYNERCHUK: I mean, my mother and father sashaying tomorrow watching this right now, they love Christie's, they always aspired and dreamed -- they

are immigrants -- to maybe buy something there. Now, their son is selling art at Christie's. Why? Because it elevates the brand.

I have people who are watching right now that own the gorilla, own the tiger, own the "You're going to die fly." This is my Disney. This is my

Pokemon. This is my character IP based reality and I'm going to build this for the next 40 to 50 years and people underestimated this project in the

OG NFT land, and this is another execution that is not going to allow them to underestimate it anymore.

SOARES: And how much are we looking at? I mean, I remember reading the NFT was recently sold at Christie's something like $69 million. Do you think

we'll start seeing more NFTs in kind of mainstream auction houses?

VAYNERCHUK: Yes, I believe. Don't forget this incredible auction from Christie's also has pure NFTs from the incredible project, ArtBlocks. It

also has the first NFTs on Ethereum Curio cards.

I hope that more kids that actually like to draw, do what I did and turn them into NFTs. I think we'll see more, but this is unique because this is

actually art, right? This is physical paper. This is art.

[09:45:12]

VAYNERCHUK: But the NFTs, I mean the cheapest NFT right now in VeeFriends is about $75,000.00 to $80,000.00, just for the NFT.

This is the original kind of sell. If you look at the way Disney sells for, you know, look, I think it's going to be a pretty nice number. Go ahead?

SOARES: Yes, well, how much? How much, Gary?

VAYNERCHUK: I really don't know. Actually Christie's asked me to set pricing and I said start it at zero. I'm that confident that the market

will understand what this is. So anything, it will make me happy because I know what I'm going to do to bring value to that over the next five

decades.

SOARES: Yeah, I think I should start using some of my kids' drawings. You know, I've got a two and a five-year-old. Who knows? There might be a

business there.

Look, I don't know if I've got time. But let me ask you, this is completely unrelated to your business. I want to get your thoughts on what we saw in

the last 24 hours with Litecoin. What are your thoughts on that? What we saw?

VAYNERCHUK: Litecoin?

SOARES: Yes. So we saw that the dumper schemes -- the pump and dump schemes. You remember? With Walmart?

VAYNERCHUK: Got it. I can't even explain to you how little focus I have on anything but what I'm doing in my arena in this world, and so I apologize,

but I don't have a great take. I don't like to talk about things when I don't know.

SOARES: You are a true professional. Stick with your business. Fantastic. Well, Gary, let us know how you do, how much it sells for.

VAYNERCHUK: Thank you.

SOARES: Great to have you on the show Gary Vee, everyone.

VAYNERCHUK: Cheers. Thank you so much.

SOARES: Well, staying in the crypto space, last week we had the big development in El Salvador where the controversial law that makes Bitcoin

legal tender went into effect.

President Nayib Bukele spearheaded the move and he continues to defend it. But as Rafael Romo reports, even his traditional allies are now criticizing

it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): They have come from across the country bringing their best cattle in high hopes for a tidy profit.

Welcome to Aguilares, a town in North Central El Salvador where live cattle trading is a long time tradition. It's the kind of place where you look at

people in the eye. When a deal is made, you shake hands and exchange cold hard cash.

Other than feed and pasture, these cattle ranchers now have an additional worry. They know the government has legalized the new digital currency

called Bitcoin and rumors are running rampant.

"The truth is that it's not that simple," this rancher says, "What if you don't know how much it's worth or how much it's going to get devalued

tomorrow? What if it goes up? It's like gambling."

Earlier this month, El Salvador became the first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender in addition to the U.S. dollar. President Nayib Bukele says

using Bitcoin as legal tender will attract foreign investment, help lower commissions on remittances and give an alternative to people outside the

banking system.

ROMO (on camera): Analysts for the International Monetary Fund, which provided an emergency loan to El Salvador last year and is working on

another have warned that adopting Bitcoin as legal tender pose a serious risks to a country's financial stability and integrity.

When the law went into effect on September 7th, the cryptocurrency market crashed, losing billions in value. And the government's digital wallet for

Bitcoin has experienced several glitches that were still not fully fixed a week after the launch.

ROMO (voice over): The younger generations and some small business owners have embraced the cryptocurrency.

But here in Aguilares, even those who support the President otherwise say introducing Bitcoin was a mistake.

"Everything that he's done is good, at least what he had done so far," this rancher says, "But introducing this currency was not right. Which bank is

backing it?" He wonders.

"You have to be patient and get information about it so that you know how you can best use it. And if it's convenient or not," this rancher says, "If

the President is wrong, then we're all wrong."

For now, most of these ranchers say they will stick to what they know, a cash system that's worked just fine for generations. And even though some

are open to using a cryptocurrency in the future, their main worry is that Bitcoin can be as volatile as this bull.

Rafael Romo, CNN, Mexico City.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOARES: And after the break, could 13 be Apple's lucky number. There's a big product launch today and that sent the rumor mill into overdrive. We

will look at what's expected in two minutes' time.

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[09:52:00]

SOARES: Now, bigger batteries, crazy new cameras and stacks more storage. Those are just some of the iPhone rumors flying around ahead of today's big

media event from Apple.

CNN's Samantha Kelly is all over this for us and she joins us now.

Samantha, what can we expect from today's announcements in terms of innovation? In terms of upgrades?

SAMANTHA KELLY, CNN BUSINESS SENIOR WRITER: Sure. So Apple, there's a lot at stake for Apple, the iPhone remains a massive revenue driver for the

company central to its ecosystem.

Last year, it had massive, massive sales related to people upgrading for the 5G. This year, it won't be as revolutionary as that 5G component, more

incremental updates. Let's start with the display expected to have more screen that's less obstructed. So at the top of the iPhone there's a little

bar called the notch and that's where the face ID technology resides.

There are sensors in there. There is a microphone. It's expected to either disappear or shrink so you can do more scrolling. Also an under display

touch ID and always on display as well.

Longer lasting battery, this is one of the things that people always have on their wish list. They want battery to last even longer. We might see

that. More storage, a one terabyte perhaps storage option. Right now, I mean that's so big. Right now, on the pro models, they have 512 gigabytes,

so you might be able to have even more storage.

Updated camera, more features, portrait mode, one of the more popular features on the iPhone might eventually come to video. A different system

altogether.

Right now on the back of an iPhone, cameras are more vertically aligned, it might be diagonal to allow for more censoring and processing on the device

as well. And then, it might be some higher prices, new devices beyond the iPhone even though that's the flagship that will be announced today.

New Apple Watch as well as new Air Pods, maybe a new iPad, iPad Mini, and Apple TV plus new content. There's been lots of you know, Ted Lasso has

been such a success in the morning show. So, we might see more shows announced today as well.

SOARES: It's a long list as we look in, we've got a graphic looking at the long list of what they may announce today. But Samantha, look, the

perennial question, iPhone question, I believe every year or every couple of years is how much is this little piece of -- the new piece kit is going

to set us back.

KELLY: Right. It's a really good question because right now the pro models are in the four figure range, which is a lot to pay for, like you said

something that just fits in your pocket. So right now, analysts are saying that the iPhone could be more expensive than usual due to the chip

shortage, and the onus might be -- the rise of the price might be placed on the consumers in order to pay a little bit more.

We don't know exactly how much. My guess is it is probably, you know somewhat incremental. Apple does want people to upgrade. They do want

people to spend that money and Apple usually doesn't have to do too much to get people to do that.

So my guess is that there will be a slight change. Usually, when Apple announces a new iPhone, that set number is very similar or the same to what

its preceding devices would cost.

[09:55:24]

KELLY: But this year, probably a bit more.

SOARES: Sam Kelly there, thank you very much. I'm sure we'll touch base on what they announced.

And finally on FIRST MOVE, social and political positions inspired some of the fashions at the Met gala, one of the expensive and elitist events of

the year. New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez turned up wearing a gown with "Tax the Rich" as you see written on the back.

Fellow lawmaker, Carolyn Maloney also sent a message calling for equal rights for women, the purse saying, "Yes."

And that's it for us. Thanks very much. I'm Isa Soares. Thanks very much for watching.

Next, we join CNN U.S.A. for a live coverage as the U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken testifies before the Senate about the Afghanistan.

Do stay right here with CNN.

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