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First Move with Julia Chatterley
The E.U. Promises Tighter Sanctions Over the Border Crisis; President Biden And Xi Prepare For Virtual Summit; Elon Musk Turns Twitter Troll Once Again. Aired 9-10a ET
Aired November 15, 2021 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:00:16]
JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Live from New York, I'm Julia Chatterley. This is FIRST MOVE and here is your need-to-know.
Belarus backlash. The E.U. promises tighter sanctions over the border crisis.
Digital diplomacy. President Biden and Xi prepare for their virtual Summit.
And a Bernie Barney. Elon Musk turns Twitter troll once again.
It's Monday, let's make a move.
A warm welcome to FIRST MOVE and another Monday reset. President Biden and Xi prepare for their Zoom tete-a-tete. Japan's economy heads into reverse,
truly a Q3 to forget. Elon Musk and Bernie Sanders battle it out in a nasty Twitter duet, plus a second term for Fed Chair Powell still not set. It's
an infinite vet, is it time for Powell to sweat? Well, I can tell you, U.S. investors see no reason to fret, at least not yet. Yes, I'm done. In fact,
it's just the opposite.
Futures looking strong with tech sector rise to records as bond yields ease, a rebound after Wall Street's first losing week in over a month. But
in the meantime, European stocks still near records and a firm start to the week in Asia. Japan rallied even as third quarter GDP fell by a weaker than
expected three percent yearly rate.
The supply chain crisis still a challenge for Japan's exporters. The Japanese Cabinet set to approve a new round of stimulus this week, which is
good news, I think over there.
In China, better than expected reads on retail sales and factory production, and a big debut day for brand new Beijing Stock Exchange
intended to help small and medium-sized businesses raise cash. Eighty-one firms, in fact, making their debut including 10 IPOs that soared an average
of 200 percent.
Lots to discuss as always, but we begin the drivers at the Polish border.
European Union is set to ramp up sanctions over the buildup of migrants at the Belarus-Poland border. Officials say targets include airlines and
travel agencies helping people to get to the frontier of the E.U. This morning, thousands began moving from a temporary camp in the Belarus to a
Polish border checkpoint. Rumors that spread that a travel corridor to Germany was about to open up.
Fred Pleitgen joins us now from the Polish side of the border. Fred, great to have you with us. So, clearly the migrants believing something was about
to change. Any truth to that rumor?
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. No, absolutely, Julia, and it is actually one of the things where the European
Union, Germany, and also Poland, quite frankly, said that none of these rumors were true. They believe these rumors were in part at least being
spread by Belarusian authorities, of course, in part to make those people that we saw on that video, to make them make that move from the camp to the
border checkpoint.
It was quite interesting because we had some of the messaging coming from the Pols over the past, let's say 24 hours or so, where they said don't
believe any of these rumors. In fact, when you're here in the border area, you constantly get text messages from the Polish authorities, which no
doubt, the folks on the other side of the border get as well telling them that those rumors are not true.
The German government, by the way, also sent out a message on its official Twitter feed saying that rumors that there was going to be a corridor to
Germany that everybody could transit to Germany, that that was not true.
So clearly, the Pols believe that they are in what they call under a hybrid attack by the Belarusian authorities. They said that over the past couple
of days, there have been many, many attempts to try and get to the border. And they also say that that Belarusian Forces have tried to facilitate
those attempts as well. We actually have been in touch with some migrants who are inside or who were inside that camp who are now at the border, and
they say that Belarusian authorities actively tried to get them to attack the border fence. They told us that in text messages and also audio
messages as well.
The Pols for their part have said over the weekend that the border was attacked, among others by Belarusian Forces themselves. They say they have
video, which they also disseminated of a Belarusian ground vehicle trying to tear down the border fence and using strobe light to blind the Polish
soldiers.
They also said that the Belarusians have given teargas canisters to some of the migrants to attack Polish Forces. So, as you can see the situation here
in the border area very, very heated, but again the Pols are saying that border is not going to open up -- Julia.
CHATTERLEY: No, and we will head to the validation side of the border as well to get an update from there later in the show.
Fred, great to have you with us. Fred Pleitgen there.
[09:05:00]
CHATTERLEY: Managing expectation. A senior White House official says the virtual meeting between the U.S. President Joe Biden and his Chinese
counterpart Xi Jinping in a few hours is not expected to produce any deliverables.
The two men are heading into the talks with very different political fortunes, too.
David Culver is in Beijing for us. I couldn't underscore that more, I think, President Xi just having laid the path to a historic third term.
President Biden to put it lightly, embattled, I think, and both men know this. The buffer success here is very low. Perhaps it's simply that the two
are talking David. And if they continue to do so, it will be a success.
DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think that's exactly it's. It is the, hey, let's stay in touch after this. That's the hope out of all of it. To
your point, deliverables, anything concrete that might come out of it, well, there is downplaying on both sides that they'll get to that point,
but so long as they can create Julia, this guardrail, as one senior U.S. administration official has described it, so as to continue the
relationship and a competitive nature and avoid intended, and more importantly, unintended conflict between the two largest economies in the
world.
This is the first face-to-face, albeit kind of a work from home edition, if you will, for the two leaders since President Biden became President Biden.
Of course, before that, they met many of times.
We're expecting this to last several hours. They are going to cover a range of topics. I mean, you and I have talked about the many different hot
button issues, everything from Taiwan, to trade, to human rights, to threats to the international order, as the U.S. has raised concerns with
China in particular, and those are going to be the points of contention, those will be the ones that you certainly should not expect to see any sort
of agreement come out on.
But then there are aspects of collaboration, things that they might actually be able to move forward with together, and that would likely be in
the area of climate change and battle that in a joint effort, given that both the U.S. and China are the two biggest carbon polluters in the world,
and then health security.
So this timing, though, is worth noting. And you point out the juxtaposition of the two leaders right now. You've got President Biden in
the U.S. who is dealing with low approval ratings, who has a struggle with trying to win over Republicans and moving forward with things like the
Infrastructure Bill, which he is finally able to do today.
And I will say that one senior administration official, again, pointed that out, saying that before these virtual meetings get underway with the two
leaders, that he is going to be signing that Infrastructure Bill. They point that out so as to show that there is some strength coming into this
from the U.S. side, but certainly does not speak to the confidence that is coming in from the Chinese side.
President Xi Jinping coming off what was a historic meeting last week, that plenary session ending with the top party officials elevating Xi Jinping to
an undisputed supreme ruler level. This essentially paves the way for him to continue into a third term. It puts him at the level of Mao Zedong, and
Deng Xiaoping, paramount leaders here in China.
So he is going to go back into this virtual meeting now, with a lot of confidence. He is also backed here with a rising nationalism. It's
something that in combined nature, you would question whether or not there will be any sort of concession on either side, really. It doesn't seem like
that's going to be the case.
And ultimately, it's just going to be about keeping that line of communication open, Julia, to avoid any sort of conflict between these two
countries.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, critically important in the short term. The problem with endless or infinite power is there is no one to blame if you get it wrong,
but it's not necessarily a short term worry for Xi Jinping. And of course, to your point. Just keeping those lines of communication in the interim
open is a win.
David Culver in Beijing for us, thank you for your perspective.
CULVER: Thanks, Julia.
CHATTERLEY: Tesla trials. Shares losing ground premarket again after a week of heavy losses. CEO Elon Musk offloaded nearly $7 billion worth of shares
last week. He also clashed with 80-year old Bernie Sanders, Senator Bernie Sanders over the weekend after the U.S. Senator demanded the wealthy pay
their fair share of taxes, Musk tweeted, "I keep forgetting that you're still alive."
Paul La Monica joins me now. Another day, another tweet. It's an "Oh Elon" moment, but he did seem to hit a nerve, I think, of Senator Bernie Sanders
because Musk was still firing tweets off 11 hours later saying Sanders is a taker, not a maker. What do we make of this, Paul?
PAUL LA MONICA, CNN BUSINESS REPORTER: Yes, it is amusing to put it mildly, Julia, because let's realize Senator Sanders did not point out Elon Musk by
name. Clearly, you can surmise that Elon Musk was one of the people that he was talking about, but you could probably say the same thing for Jeff
Bezos, for Bill Gates, for Mark Zuckerberg. This wasn't a tweet directed at Elon Musk specifically. Elon obviously took it as such, and then ran with
it.
It does beg the question why someone that is worth that much needs to be on Twitter with these insults because there's no civil discourse, then, you
know, goes back and says, "You want me to sell more shares, Bernie? Say the word." I just struggle to understand why someone could be so thin-skinned
when they are worth that much money.
If I had that much money, I'd be just not listening to anyone, I'd be pretty happy.
[09:10:28]
CHATTERLEY: Yes. This is unique to Elon Musk, though. And there are those that would look at this and say, look, this is a career politician facing
off against a career innovative, or a career troll, quite frankly, just put the phone down, but he made it personal, Elon, by responding to this, when
to your point, there could have been plenty that Bernie Sanders was sort of pointing the finger at here.
It was an opportunity for one of the bears and the big short, Michael Burry came forward in a tweet and said, "Let's face it, Elon Musk borrowed
against 88.3 million shares, sold all his mansions, moved to Texas, and is asking Bernie Sanders whether we should sell more stock. He doesn't need
cash, he just wants to sell Tesla."
It was sort of an opportunity for the critics to wade in once again and I have to say, he is a brilliant mind, he is a great innovator. But he is, in
some ways, the biggest wildcard for Tesla investors, too, Elon Musk.
LA MONICA: This is something that I've talked to you and I think, Richard Quest on his show about numerous times. I've written about it. What I fail
to understand with Tesla, given how much of a wildcard Elon Musk is, one might say, loose cannon, there is such a difference between the way this
company is run, you hear all the stories about him sleeping at the factory, and there is really no one that comes to mind as a COO level person that
could step in if for some reason, Musk, you know, wasn't around anymore.
There could be a variety of reasons for him that not be around anymore. I'm not going to get into that.
When you look at SpaceX, his other company, Gwynne Shotwell, one of the first employees at SpaceX, widely respected, if Musk had to step away from
SpaceX. One, obviously, it's not a public company. So, there will be less concern on Wall Street. But I think a lot of people would respect the fact
that Gwynne Shotwell could just step right in, run SpaceX without missing a beat. I don't see anyone at Tesla that can do that.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, I mean, as we've talked about before, Tesla relies on the PR. It doesn't have marketing expenses. So Elon Musk, in many ways is the
guy that is out there selling the cars by creating the noise surrounding Tesla itself, but sometimes that noise and that innovation has a price.
What more can we say? Very little.
LA MONICA: You say more --
CHATTERLEY: They have to take it private now. Yes. Paul La Monica, thank you so much for that.
Here are some of the other stories making headlines around the world.
Closing arguments in the Kyle Rittenhouse trial is set to begin in the next hour, and the City of Kenosha, Wisconsin is bracing for possible violence.
Five hundred National Guard Troops are on standby. Police say Rittenhouse shot and killed two men and wounded a third during racial justice protests
last year.
British officials have now declared a taxi explosion in Liverpool on Sunday a terrorist incident. Police have arrested four men in their 20s in
connection with the blast. It occurred as the taxi approached a hospital, the passenger died. The driver who escaped is being praised for his efforts
to minimize the damage.
An American journalist has been freed from prison in Myanmar just days after being sentenced to 11 years. Danny Fenster was convicted on charges
brought by the military, which took control of the country in February. The junta hasn't explained why he was freed, but it follows negotiations with
former U.S. diplomat Bill Richardson.
CNN's Ivan Watson joins us now and has been following the story. Ivan, what more do we know? An 11-year prison sentence, released just days later?
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, this time on Friday, Danny Fenster's fate looked awful, because not only had he just
been sentenced to 11 years in prison, he was also being charged with violating a counterterrorism law, which could have gotten him life in
prison.
And then suddenly, we get this announcement, where the former Governor Richardson says that Fenster has been released and is on his way to Qatar.
He is thanking the Norwegian and Qatari governments for helping the Fenster family, putting out their own statement, expressing of course, that they
are overjoyed that he's been released and on his way home, and grateful to people like Ambassador Richardson for helping negotiate his release.
Richardson traveled to Myanmar at the beginning of this month and met with the head of the Myanmar military junta, which seized power on February 1st.
Danny Fenster was a Detroit native who had been Managing Editor of a local outlet called "Frontier Myanmar" and he was detained while trying to fly
out of the country in May and has spent nearly six months behind bars, and he is just one of more than a hundred journalists that have that have been
arrested, have been detained since that military coup on February 1st.
[09:15:16]
WATSON: It's clear that Ambassador Richardson contributed to negotiating this release. He had also during his visit, gotten the release of a local
woman who had worked for the Richardson Center.
The U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, has thanked the U.S. Embassy officials in Yangon, as well as Richardson for securing this -- helping
secure this release, and he has gone on to say, Blinken, that he calls for the release of other people detained in Myanmar, and that's important
because the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights says that there is still probably more than 40 journalists currently behind bars, as
well as at least eight news organizations that have been shut down completely.
Many others have been forced to suspend their operations, part of a much broader crackdown that has been taking place since the military swept a
civilian elected government from power and began a deadly crackdown on forms of dissent there. Back to you.
CHATTERLEY: Thank you for that update there, Ivan Watson.
All right, still to come on FIRST MOVE. Shell shock. The oil giant ditches the Netherlands, its historic structure and its name to go British.
And room ratings with a difference, booking.com plans to highlight environmentally friendly travel options. We'll discuss. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to FIRST MOVE.
Green on the screen for U.S. stock market futures with tech set for takeoff, up some one and a half percent. Take a look at that. The major
averages beginning the week less than one percent from record highs with lots in store for investors.
Major U.S. retailers announced Q3 results and we get a new read on U.S. retail sales, too. The big question, are Americans cutting back on
purchases as prices rise? Data out late last week shows consumer sentiment hitting a 10-year low due in part to the higher cost of living.
In the meantime, Bitcoin beginning the week higher. The bulls hoping to tap into the power of Taproot, The most extensive upgrade to the Bitcoin
blockchain in years. Taproot is intended to boost privacy and efficiency and to help companies better tap into cryptos potential.
[09:20:12]
CHATTERLEY: U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson praising the COP 26 agreement reached in Scotland over the weekend calling it the quote. "death knell"
for coal power.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Yesterday evening, we finally came to the kind of game-changing agreement that the world needed to see. Almost
200 countries have put their name to the Glasgow Climate Pact marking a decisive shift in the world approach to tackling climate emissions, setting
a clear roadmap to limiting the rising global temperatures to 1.5 degrees and marking the beginning of the end for coal power.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHATTERLEY: Many others though, not so happy with the agreement, saying the language was watered down and failed to measure up to the urgency of the
climate crisis.
One of a few companies chosen to address world leaders was $30 billion Australian mining giant, Fortescue, the firm also one of 25 founding
members of the Biden administration led First Movers Coalition, a platform for building private sector demand to speed up clean energy technology,
innovation, and confront the climate crisis.
Fortescue's Chairman, Australian iron ore magnate, Andrew Forrest, is on a mission to decarbonize operations by 2030 using green hydrogen, green
ammonia, and renewable electricity. This would be a full decade before rival miners, BHP and Vail, and I'm pleased to say he joins us now.
Andrew, fantastic to have you on the show once again. I know you were meeting with the E.U. Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, U.S.
President Joe Biden, how would you describe both the conversations and the outcome of COP 26?
ANDREW FORREST, CHAIRMAN, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP: Look, our conversations were very strong. I got a very warm welcome from your President to bring
the technology which we're now breaking in Australia for ships, for trucks, for trains, for mobility, fertilizers, for steel -- a very strong personal
invitation to visit the United States and bring all that technology into the United States and to bring our capability of developing very large
green hydrogen projects around the world, and also do that in the United States.
So I feel very strongly that there is an appetite around the world now for green hydrogen, certainly the E.U. Commissioner could not have been more
welcoming, saying whatever comes out of COP 26, what we know will is green hydrogen.
CHATTERLEY: You know, one of the most memorable things from our conversation before you were heading to COP 26 was when you said, "I burn a
billion liters of diesel a year. That's not even to mention the maritime or bunker oil, which we also burn in our ships," which just blew my mind. And
I know is part of the reason why you're so focused on a number of alternatives, not just hydrogen as you mentioned there.
But this was one of the things that you and your company went to COP 26 to say, look, this is the future. I know you're now in Germany, which I think
is a case of preaching to the choir because they feel very passionately about this. Again, what was the response when you said, we think this is
the way forward?
FORREST: Look, it has been strong. I've had -- look, I've had about a dozen ministers of various governments come to me and say, look, we kind of got a
bit locked in, in fossil fuel hydrogen, how do we get out of that? And so, I help them as much as I could.
But what I know for sure is that every climate change minister, every energy minister, every President, every Prime Minister of every country who
attended COP 26 now understand, they may not have before, but they now understand there is a practical implementable solution called green
hydrogen, which can stop global warming, which can replace fossil fuels, which can create the fertilizers, the steel, the industrial products that
we make, it could be green ammonia, could be green electricity. It will definitely also be the master of all those, which is green hydrogen, and
they all understand now that by COP 27, they must take this into all their plans.
CHATTERLEY: Yes. The alternatives here are key because you and I also discussed the importance of the damage that methane gas does. It's
contributed -- what -- around just shy of a third of the warming, the global warming that we've seen since industrial times, and there was this
big global methane pledge made at COP 26. And yet, China, Russia, India, Iran, and your own country, Australia didn't sign. I mean, that's surely
very disappointing. Personally disappointing.
FORREST: I think so. I think your focus on methane is a hundred percent correct. Liquid natural gas or LNG, what a clever marketing term, liquid
natural gas. What it is, is methane. Liquid natural gas is just a hundred percent methane, so it is truly dangerous.
[09:25:03]
FORREST: When you hear this sales pitch, I think it has gone quiet, but we used to hear a lot. Gasify everything to reduce global warming. Actually,
you'll speed up global warming. So your focus right now on methane, which is just LNG in another name is really important.
The fact that Australia didn't -- I can say, I come from the farming community where they just did not have the information. This is about
information. Farmers don't have the information that there is an additive to feed, which is a seaweed, which will almost eliminate if not drastically
reduce, but almost eliminate the burping of methane.
But that is the smaller part of where the global warming emissions really come from in Australia, and that's the liquid natural gas industry, LNG,
and they use the farmers to push back hard. Sadly, the farmers I don't think have the information. They allowed themselves to be, if you like, a
bit of a pawn in the game.
But come COP 27, all those games, all of those tricks, all of that greenwashing. I say to you, by COP 27, all of those tricks, all of those
shakesters, they are going to be very embarrassed.
CHATTERLEY: Really? You think that it can happen in the space of just a short time between COP 26 and COP 27 that we can have greater information,
greater understanding and actually a reflection on what we didn't achieve in COP 26.
FORREST: Yes. Look, I don't look at things as a point in time. As a scientist, you always look at the trend. The trend here is accelerating.
The information available to the world, thanks to CNN, thanks to media in general, the information being available of the reality of the point where
global warming becomes unstoppable is coming, the point where nothing we can do to stop an accelerating warming of our planet. That point is out
there.
As scientists, we don't know when or where it -- so when it actually is, but we know it's there, and we are doing the calculations as fast as we can
to try and put a date on it. But first of all, we need to get reliable information out of the methane industry, the LNG industry.
What we know of the true emissions, the true waste, they're venting into the sky, then we can really hone down that point of no return for humanity.
Now, this is really serious. People who deny global warming, I have to say, you have your head in the sand. It is happening to us right now. It will
get a lot worse if we don't put in a practical implementable solution. And now all governments of the world know after COP 26, there is a practical
implementable solution, and people around the world are going to ask, well, if there is, why aren't we using it?
CHATTERLEY: You know, there were so many questions again, that I have for you. One was the car industry where we had four of the five biggest car
makers saying that they're not signing a pledge to be fully zero emission cars and vans by 2025.
But the other one, I think that was fascinating for me having just spoken to one of the biggest container shippers in the world, Maersk, was that
you're saying to the marine industry, look, you can do net zero by 2040, not 2050, where they've planned. And again, you're sort of putting your
technology and your innovation where your mouth is. And I know you're converting a vessel to run totally on green ammonia.
How practical is that in terms of cost? Scaling up? Can you give me a time horizon? Because you're kind of saying, I think, that you think we can do
this 10 years earlier if you're making this 2040 call rather than 2050, which the industry is saying?
FORREST: Yes. Look, if you don't have solutions, you'll put 2050 out there without a clue as to how to achieve it.
CHATTERLEY: Yes. It feels like that.
FORREST: Absolutely. Yes, well, you're exactly right. But as we have solutions, as we know now, because we've tested in a full ship engine that
green ammonia really works. We've now purchased a ship and we'll be doing the small amount of re-gearing injectors and the like fuel, fuel storage
systems, the small amount of re-gearing to get that ship running on green ammonia, it'll be in full service operation with all offshore rigs, it'll
be servicing those. So it's going to be a hard working ship, but running on green ammonia.
As soon as we have all the data in from that, we are, of course, going to convert one of our huge iron ore carriers to green ammonia. Now, once that
happens, there is no excuse for the shipping industry not to go green. I mean, they can argue about it, but they no longer have an excuse.
The very company, you talked about, Maersk. Maersk is one of the world leaders on this. Maersk is leaning into this hard, and I'd say to every
other shipping company and shipping industry, listen to Maersk. Listen to us. There are solutions. Once we demonstrate it to you, then it's time to
switch.
CHATTERLEY: Andrew, fantastic to chat with you. It's great to see all the different avenues.
I know you're doing things with different countries, in the aviation sector, marine. It's fascinating to watch you take action. Thank you.
Definitely a first mover in my eyes. Andrew Forrest, Chairman of Fortescue Metals. Great to have you on the show again. Thank you.
The market opens next. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:33:26]
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to FIRST MOVE, and the curtain rising on another big week on Wall Street where stocks close to records as bond yields ease
around the world.
Investors still betting that rates will stay lower for longer and give continued support to stock markets, too. Morgan Stanley saying in a new
research note that the Federal Reserve will not hike rates until 2023, believing that inflation will soon moderate.
Investors are buying that story, too, at least for now. Tesla shares meantime pulling back further after a 15 percent drop last week. The
possibility that Elon Musk will continue to sell shares in a piecemeal fashion is triggering ongoing uncertainty in the share price.
Boeing, meanwhile, is boosting the blue chips after receiving a big aircraft order from Emirates at the Dubai Air Show.
And we return now to our top story. The European Union is set to toughen sanctions over the escalating migrant crisis in Belarus. In the past hour,
a crowd of thousands has built up at the Polish border checkpoint. The Polish Border Guard Service says the situation is very tense and very
dangerous.
Matthew Chance joins us now from the Belarus side.
Matthew, great to have you on the show. When we were talking earlier with Fred Pleitgen about the rumors that there was going to be some help to get
across the border and that got the migrants there excited and shifted them. What's the situation there? And I saw your breath earlier. How cold is it?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm having a few technical difficulties hearing you, Julia, but yes, I mean, I heard that
last bit, it is getting increasingly cold to answer your question.
[09:35:03]
CHANCE: Take a look over here, look it's so cold that the families that have their children here have been spending the last half an hour wrapping
them up in these sleeping bags so they can try and get some sleep as the temperatures plunge here on the border between Belarus and Poland.
Dramatic scenes have been unfolding here over the course of the past couple of hours. A refugee camp, which was in the forest over there was abandoned
almost completely over a period of just a few minutes as people rushed to the border here, because they believed the Pols were about to open a
humanitarian corridor to let them through even though they've been told categorically by the Polish side that they were not going to do that.
What they've been confronted with is this razor wire, these riot police, these Border Control police, and these water cannon here. You know, they
are not firing anything, but they are pointing their barrels towards the crowd in case there is any attempt by them to reach that border.
You can hear the loudspeaker announcement as well. "If you don't follow orders, force may be used against you." Well, as I say it has been an
increasingly desperate plight for these people that have come in from various parts of the world, including Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan. I met
somebody from Cameroon earlier as well.
And the situation shows no sign at this point of getting any better.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHANCE (voice over): With each day that passes, this refugee crisis is getting worse. Desperate migrants here in Belarus are camped against the
razor wire set up by Poland to keep them out. Their dream of a new life in Europe in sight, but out of reach.
From above, amid choking thick smoke from fires to keep warm, you can see how more than 2,000 migrants from countries like Iraq and Syria are
stretched along this frontier and facing an emergency exclusion zone on the other side.
Migrants like Ahmed (ph) and his 15-year-old, daughter Reza from Iraqi Kurdistan.
REZA: Country, dangerous.
CHANCE (on camera): Your country?
REZA: Country, dangerous.
CHANCE: Yes.
REZA: Country dangerous, so no electric.
CHANCE: Yes, no electricity.
REZA: No water. Dangerous.
CHANCE: Yes. This is Kurdistan.
REZA: Kurdistan.
CHANCE: Iraqi Kurdistan.
CHANCE (voice over): It is getting dangerous here, too. Already Putin's Russia is backing its Belarusian ally. U.S. officials accused Belarus of
weaponizing these migrants in revenge for human rights sanctions.
CHANCE (on camera): There is a blame game being played here. The West, European Union, and Poland is blaming Belarus for encouraging these
migrants to come here in the first place and then pushing them here towards the border. Belarus and Moscow are blaming the Pols for refusing to let
them in. But it is these people stuck in the middle that are actually paying the price, the point with which they seem to agree.
ANNOUNCER: Attention, attention to the police in the form. If you don't follow the orders, force may be used against you.
CHANCE (voice over): From loudspeakers across the fence, this is Poland's uncompromising message. Don't even try it.
ANNOUNCER: Attention, attention.
CHANCE (voice over): But that's not stopping daily attempts to break through. Belarusian officials deny helping reach the frontier, but they're
not stopping.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to look after my family.
CHANCE (on camera): And how many of your family are here?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two families.
CHANCE: Two families.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, my wife, my son and my friend. I have three kids and wife.
CHANCE (voice over): Karwan (ph) also from Iraqi Kurdistan tells me he has tried and failed to get past the razor wire, forced back, he says with
teargas and pepper spray.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now, I want to choose you for my son. My son say, my dad, don't kiss me because after you kiss me, my son say, you kiss me, so
bad for your face, my son.
CHANCE: Because the teargas and the pepper spray.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Exactly. Exactly. There is no go. Long time, I have too many chili, too many pepper -- I want a kiss from my son, but my son say,
please, my dad, don't.
CHANCE: You've got the chili and the pepper by trying to get across the border? They've sprayed it on you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Exactly.
CHANCE (voice over): Over the weekend, even more refugees have been flooding in, piling on the pressure. Belarusian officials tell us 5,000
people will be here in a matter of days, all desperate, freezing and trapped.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[09:40:02]
CHATTERLEY: Matthew Charles reporting there from the crisis of the Belarus border, and we will bring you any further details as we get it from the
E.U. Foreign Ministers making decisions today on further on Belarus.
In the meantime, breaking news, just moments ago, Steve Bannon turning himself into authorities in Washington, D.C. You can see him there behind
all the cameras and the journalists. Taken just moments ago, that was expected today. And as you can see, turning himself into authorities in
just the last few moments. Former adviser to the Trump administration.
We will bring you any further details as we get them. For now, we're back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to FIRST MOVE. As we fight to save the planet, more people are looking to make informed choices when traveling, which is
why booking.com is launching a travel sustainable badge.
It is based on 32 standards that properties can adopt such as eliminating single use plastic in toiletries and investing some of the profits into the
local community. You can see some of the main categories on the screen there.
To discuss it, Glenn Fogel is the President and CEO of Booking Holdings, the company behind booking.com and several other travel related brands like
rentalcars.com and Open Table.
Glenn, it's always great to have you on the show. You can talk us through what this represents because I know that the decision is based on your
research, which shows a whopping 81 percent now of people saying, look, I want to stay somewhere that's helping to protect the planet. This is good
news.
GLENN FOGEL, PRESIDENT AND CEO, BOOKING HOLDINGS: Yes, thank you for having me. We're so happy to be able to get this out today, having that badge,
essentially helping people know what kind of accommodation is providing sustainable practices.
As you point out, 81 percent of the people say they want to travel sustainable, but they don't know how and they don't know which properties
are doing the right things. And by putting that badge out there, we are helping people understand what properties are the ones that are doing what
we all hope is going to make the world a better place.
CHATTERLEY: How are you judging them? On what metrics? And how are you verifying what they're saying? Because you cover many, many different
properties all over the world. How are you verifying that actually, they're doing what they say and that when somebody comes onto your website and
selects a sustainable place to be in to stay, they are actually getting what you are promising?
FOGEL: Yes. No, that is an issue because just because somebody says they are doing something sustainable, are they really doing it or not? And even
more so, even if they were doing it at one point in time, do they stop doing it? So, we have different methods.
[09:45:06]
FOGEL: Certainly, people are providing us independent certifications from third-party sustainable consultancies and prove that they are doing it.
That's helpful. Certainly, when people send us their own information, we can send someone from our local partner services to actually do an audit,
or even more so, we have things where we can survey customers when they've stayed at a property and tell us did they actually have what they said they
have.
You know, we have people tell us they have a pool at the hotel. Well, it's pretty fast to find out if there's no pool because people say, hey, they
said but there was no pool.
The same thing, if they tell us they do LED lighting, and get weak survey, yes, yes, no, no, no, the old style incandescent style. We had no LED
lighting, we'll find out pretty darn fast, and we will be able to take them off that badge.
CHATTERLEY: Yes. No one wants to be swimming in a duck pond outside instead of a pool. So you're right, we have to verify ourselves.
Is it going to cost more? Because I do feel like people are very pro saving the planet until they're faced with the prospect of perhaps paying a bit
more money and particularly at this point in time, where we're all facing rising prices, just as basics and the standards and costs of our living. Is
it going to cost more to be more sustainable? And is that something we just have to accept?
FOGEL: You know, one of the things we've been looking very closely at is how important it is to provide ways to be sustainable, and also increase
profitability for our supplier partners. Hotels that we are telling them and helping them learn, look, let's go to that LED example. Again, make the
investment LED lighting sure cost more upfront, but you're going to have a higher profit margin because it costs less electricity and helping them
learn what methods, what things can they do, so they can be sustainable and be more profitable. It's a win-win-win. And we want to make sure we're
using market forces to drive this.
CHATTERLEY: Yes. I mean, it has to be that in order to make it sustainable and sustainable, I think.
Glenn, talk to me about the recovery that you're seeing? Because I was just showing some of the top lines from your recent earnings, and I know travel
is recovering. Your revenues are returning in leaps and bounds, too, which is good news. But there are still hotspots around the world that are
challenged. And we're also seeing rising COVID cases, which I know you're battling, too.
What are you seeing ultimately, and what are your predictions? I know, it's difficult for the next three to six months. And who is traveling? Are
vaccinated people traveling internationally more than the un?
FOGEL: Absolutely. If you're vaccinated, people are ready to go and people are doing it. We see in the U.S., for example, with the administration
opening up inbound travelers from around the world if they're vaccinated. And last week, we saw so many happy pictures of people who hadn't seen
friends or family for almost a year and a half and getting together. It was just lovely to see those hugs on TV and in photos.
Here's the thing about this, though, this pandemic is not done and we are seeing these hotspots. Unfortunately, in Europe particularly we're seeing
some increases that are somewhat disconcerting. What we really need is for everybody around the world, if you're able to get a vaccination, please go
and do it. That's the way we'll get out of this faster, and I just wish everybody would please go forward and get a vaccination.
CHATTERLEY: Yes. Do you see the response? Do you see people instantly when they see the headlines on the media saying there are rising cases in
certain parts of the world -- do you instantly feel a chilling effect in your bookings?
FOGEL: Yes, we can see that, absolutely. And when a country puts up some restrictions, we'll see cancellations right away, too. So there's
definitely a high correlation between what is the rate of infection? What are the government rules? And what that's going to do to travel? And that's
why it's so important that we all get together to do all the right things, to drive out this pandemic, so we can go back to travel the way we used to
do it.
CHATTERLEY: Yes. Let's get us back to some form of normality as soon as possible, please.
We recently had the President of Airbnb on and I know you have for many years in the United States have been in the sort of home rental game. He
was announcing all sorts of measures to try and attract hosts, but also give customers better options at the same time. For hosts, it was
insurance, it was Wi-Fi testing, for example.
How hot and competitive is this market now? Not only to attract people that are traveling and coming back to traveling, but also those that are willing
to host and provide their homes for people to stay in?
FOGEL: Yes. No, there is definitely a lot of competition. We are very competitive with Airbnb and the other players in the space. And these
things in terms of showing the customer why you should use our service versus another service is really important, and there is a shortage of
hosts. There is no doubt about that.
And certain hotspots around the world for travel where people always like to go, well, there's a shortage there. So, it's important that we all try
and find hosts who want to be part of the system, who want to help provide accommodations to others now help build travel.
CHATTERLEY: And that's a work in progress?
FOGEL: Absolutely. We're always trying to make things better.
[09:50:05]
CHATTERLEY: Glenn, great to chat with you, as always. Glenn Fogel, the CEO and President of Bookings Holdings. Let's help people travel more
sustainably, and that that's sustainable, too. That's the phrase, I think of the show. Thank you.
FOGEL: Thank you very much.
CHATTERLEY: Up next, thank you. Shell makes a break for Britain. The oil giant leaves the Netherlands for what it hopes is a brighter future in
London.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to FIRST MOVE. Call it a royal retreat, perhaps. A shell shocked Dutch government is calling Shell's decision to move its
headquarters to the U.K. as quote, "an unwelcome surprise." The energy giant is also dropping its dual share structure and the Royal Dutch from
its name.
Anna Stewart joins me now. That was the royal retreat part of my introduction there, just in case anyone missed it. They've been coming
under pressure from all sides from the Dutch, from environmental groups to do more to transition to more renewable energy. Does this help them? Or
does this hinder them? What are they saying? And what do we think?
ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER: Well, in terms of Royal Dutch Shell, they are saying this is going to simplify the structure, it will allow them to
accelerate shareholder distributions, but it is facing so much pressure, particularly when we look at climate change, of course on the heels of COP
26. And that comes from outside and inside.
So on the outside, in the Netherlands, you've got the Dutch Courts, which are trying to force the company to accelerate its reduction of CO2
emissions. That's something Royal Dutch Shell are actually appealing.
And then very recently from with inside the company, you have shareholders also wanting to see some of that or in the case of activist investor, Third
Point, which revealed they had built up a stake very recently they would like to see the company split in two. It is not doing that. It is
simplifying its structure.
But I think it's also very interesting quite aside from all of those climate pressures to consider the fact that this is very similar to what
Unilever did last year. And the big cause of that, of course, were those unfriendly taxations on dividends, that is something Shell also faces. It
has managed to sidestep it with its dual class share structure that was never meant to be permanent, and I think this has been a long time coming.
And finally, it is here.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, and the Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said to them, look, we're going to lose another company, I believe. He was warning that
Royal Dutch Shell may end up leaving and here we are. So, the Dutch government is clearly not happy.
Analysts on the other hand, I think seeing future stock buybacks potentially are very excited about this deal.
STEWART: Yes. Rubbing their hands with glee. I mean, the Dutch government in terms of the Economy and Climate Minister, he said in a tweet today, "It
came as an unpleasant surprise." They were clearly a bit sidelined by all of this. They are in talks with Shell going forwards about all of the
implications. They say Shell have assured them that in terms of personnel changes, this will just involve some executives and Board members moving to
the U.K., relocating including the CEO.
But as you say, analysts are very happy because, of course, this will boost the share buyback program that we've already been seeing and investors seem
pretty happy.
[09:55:02]
STEWART: The stock opened 2.6 percent higher. It has fallen back a little bit. This is going to need a lot of investor support. It needs 75 percent
support with that vote coming up quite soon as actually in the December AGN, so all eyes on that -- Julia.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, and I know, Third Point was saying, separate the old legacy part of the business from the new push to renewables, and they are
saying actually, we need the old legacy part of the oil and gas business in order to fuel the move and shift to renewables.
So, we shall see, but for now, no longer royal, just Shell in the U.K.
Anna Stewart, thank you for that.
And finally on FIRST MOVE, rumor has it that Adele has just made one young couple extremely happy. The pop superstar pleading with fans to be quiet
during last night's televised special in the United States. In the audience, a woman wearing blindfolds and noise cancelling headphones and
her boyfriend, they were led to the stage, and he got down on one knee.
And when the blindfolds came off, she got the surprise of her life and of course, she said yes. Call it a new way for Adele to send her love to fans.
Congratulations to them.
That's it for the show. Stay safe.
"Connect the World" with Becky Anderson is next, and I'll see you tomorrow.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:00:00]
END
