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First Move with Julia Chatterley
Growing Concern for Missing Chinese Tennis Star; Alibaba's Quarterly Results Miss Expectations; U.S. and China Try to Cool Soaring Oil Prices; Paytm's IPO Sets Indian Record; Fisker Strikes Battery Supply Deal with China's CATL; Biden to Meet Today with Trudeau, Lopez Obrador. Aired 9-10a ET
Aired November 18, 2021 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:00:00]
JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Live from New York, I'm Julia Chatterley. This is "FIRST MOVE."
And here's your need to know. Further blocked - excuse me.
Tennis tensions. Chinese media presents an e-mail said to be from the missing star Peng Shuai, concerns rise.
India's Internet IPO. Payments giant Paytm plummeted their debut. We've got the CEO.
And oily operations. The U.S. asks non-OPEC countries to tackle high prices.
It's Thursday. Let's make a move.
And welcome once again to "FIRST MOVE." It's live TV. There are always issues. It is going to be with you as always. And fantastic to be with you
for another nutritious and news delicious program.
One week to go to the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday feast and who better to help kick off the calorific countdown than social media guru "Foodgod."
Yes, Foodgod. One of the world's most popular food influencers and industry disrupters with more than 11 million followers across social media. He also
happens to be best friends with Kim Kardashian West. And he joins us later in the show.
Now from keeping up with exciting food frontiers to the ever-shifting EV industry gears. Fisker motors found a Henrik Fisker revs in from L.A. where
he's unveiling his latest SUV. So, we sweep from dining deities to EV car creativities to stock market realities.
Wall Street winding up for a strong open after Wednesday's softness with tech in the lead. Oil volatile (ph) too for the oil markets, uncertainty
over reports that the U.S. has asked non-OPEC plus nations to release strategic reserves, actions we have to say speak louder than words if you
want to get those oil prices down. Tech in the meantime is trying the patience of investors. In Asia, a warning about slowing ad spending in
China from Internet, and AI giant Baidu the e-commerce platform, Alibaba, also posting softer than expected numbers. We'll explain why very soon.
A busy hour coming up. No time to lose. Let's get to the drivers.
Concerns are growing for Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai. No. 1 doubles player has not been seen since earlier this month when she publicly accused
China's former vice premier of coercing her to have sex.
Ivan Watson has all the details in this report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The royalty of professional tennis expressing concern about the welfare of one
of their own.
NOVAK DJOKOVIC, SERBIAN TENNIS PLAYER: Honestly, it's shocking you know that that she's missing.
WATSON: Warnings echoed by other champions past and present.
"I hope Peng Shuai and her family are safe and OK," writes Naomi Osaka. Adding, #WhereIsPengShuai.
"I've known Peng since she was 14," writes Chris Evert. "Where is she?"
Peng Shuai, a Chinese tennis champion.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Peng Shuai moves into the quarterfinals.
WATSON: Hasn't been seen or heard from in weeks.
CHRISTINE BRENNAN, CNN SPORTS ANALYST: This is really extraordinary. A top athlete, 35 years old, a name that a lot of people know, formerly number
one ranked doubles player in the world, just goes missing, gone?
WATSON: In early November, Peng published this bombshell post on her Chinese social media account. An open letter to a former top communist
leader named Zhang Gaoli, now aged 75 who Peng accuses of sexually assaulting her after the two had an affair.
"Why did you have to come back to me, take me to your home to force me to have sex with you?" The post reads.
"Yes, I did not have any evidence, and it was simply impossible to have evidence."
CNN cannot independently confirm these allegations and we reached out to Peng as well as Zhang and his wife through the Chinese government for
further comment with no results.
Shortly after the controversial post, Peng's online profile more or less disappeared.
(on camera): Until recently, Peng Shuai was one of the biggest tennis stars in China.
[09:05:01]
But look what happens when you try to search for people with her name in the Chinese Internet. You get the message, "no results found." Censors have
all but scrubbed this woman from the Chinese Internet.
(voice-over): On Thursday, Chinese state media released this e-mail, purportedly written by Peng to the head of the Women's Tennis Association.
It completely disavows the previous allegations of sexual assault adding, "I'm not missing, nor am I unsafe." And "I hope Chinese tennis will become
better and better."
WTA Chairman Steve Simon responded in writing saying, "The statement released today by Chinese state media concerning Peng Shuai only raises my
concerns as to her safety and whereabouts. I have a hard time believing that Peng Shuai actually wrote the e-mail we received."
Unable to communicate directly with Peng despite multiple attempts. He's calling for independent and verifiable proof that this Chinese tennis star
is safe.
Ivan Watson, CNN, Hong Kong.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHATTERLEY: Tennis now. CNN World Sport's Alex Thomas.
Alex, great to have you with us. The tennis world, actually other sports stars too are all coming out now and saying, where is she. What can we do
to push further, I think, to get more information about her whereabouts? A lot of disbelief too on whether or not this e-mail actually came from her.
It has been a focus. China has been a focus for the World Tennis Association now for some years. Did they have leverage perhaps too, to try
and push for more information?
ALEX THOMAS, CNN WORLD SPORT: Yeah, and it's really going to strain what's been a very successful relationship between China and the WTA, the
professional women's circuit. China with very lucrative deals to host tournaments in their country. And in fact, recently doubling the prize
money of the season-ending WTA Finals which should have been held in the Chinese city of Shenzhen but was moved to Guadalajara in Mexico because of
COVID-19 as due to go back to Shenzhen from Mexico is probably this multiyear deal. And in fact, making it more lucrative than the equivalent
ATP Finals on the men's tour.
But nonetheless, you have seen Steve Simon, an American who successfully ran the Indian Wells tournament for many years, has delivered a strong
stance on this. He's been in this role for about five years now, is usually respected within tennis.
And you can see from Ivan's report there that this is not going away as far as leading players past and present are concerned. Even the men's world and
the one Novak Djokovic commenting on this. Now, they all know Peng Shuai from her 20 years on tour. And you know, although she may be is not the
most famous player ever to have played the game, she's a high profile enough figure for none of them to let this go.
CHATTERLEY: Yeah. And we'll keep talking about it too.
Alex Thomas, thank you so much for that.
OK. Next driver, Alibaba on alert. The company missing expectations in its quarterly results to slow a Chinese growth and new regulations bite.
Alibaba also forecasting the slowest sales growth since going public in 2014. Just for context though, that's still forecasting growth between 20
and 23 percent year - on year.
Paul La Monica joins me with more.
Paul, great to have you with us.
These numbers are very confusing. It is a monster business. So, we have to break it down and separate. I think the core retail business for whatever
else is going on when we're talking about that profits because they have public company shareholdings, that also if they go up and down, have
implications for the profits that they report too. So, talk about the core business for us. What's going on?
PAUL LA MONICA, CNN REPORTER: Yeah. The core retail business, Julia, definitely as you noted still solid levels of growth, but there is
increased competition in China from companies like gd.com, which also reported earnings this morning and they were pretty solid. That stock is
rallying on the news. You have Pinduoduo as well.
So, Alibaba doesn't really have this stranglehold on the Chinese e-commerce market and the company acknowledged that due to competition, that is one
reason why growth has slowed a bit. The Cloud Business is definitely growing more rapidly with growth there. Revenue growth of about 33 percent
from a year ago. So, that is definitely still a solid business that Alibaba will continue to invest in, but e-commerce is definitely something that is
going to be a bit tougher for them.
CHATTERLEY: Yeah, look at the international operations as well. The retail commerce there is still growing at 34 percent. So, it's funny when you talk
about something slowing, but you're still talking about this kind of double-digit numbers. Context is key.
If we take a step back, I was looking at the user count, the annual active consumers here is 1.24 billion, just shy of a million of those in China.
285 million overseas. The CEO said back in the last results that they're going to be investing a lot of the profits into improving the customer
experience, improving the merchant experience and attracting more.
[09:10:06]
The ambition is 2 billion customers I believe globally between now and 2036, have anything that we've seen whether it's on the international side
or perhaps more concerning in China, going to limit that growth potential that they're hoping for? What's your viewpoint?
LA MONICA: Yeah. Yeah, these are very lofty goals, Julia, and I think that for the time being, when you see how Beijing and, you know, President Xi,
they are really trying to exert more control over some of these rapidly growing Chinese companies. It's not something that is exclusive to Alibaba.
You have concerns about what this means for Baidu, what does this mean for Tencent, potentially for ByteDance which owns TikTok.
So, a lot of these Chinese leaders are coming under the increased regulatory scrutiny from Beijing. And that could limit growth and
potentially benefit smaller players that are maybe escaping some of the crackdowns. And I think, you know, that potentially could be one of the
reasons why JD is having stronger growth right now than Alibaba. We saw that with the Singles Day sales last week. I mean, the numbers were pretty
good for both Alibaba and JD, but jd.com posted you know stronger sales growth than Alibaba during that annual shopping extravaganza.
CHATTERLEY: Paul La Monica, always great to have your context. Thank you for that.
Coordinated cooldown. Crude oil slightly lower this morning. Good news by China and the U.S. to rein in soaring prices. China planning to tap into
its strategic oil reserves after the U.S. asked major nations to put more crude on the market.
Back in the United States, President Biden ordering a probe into whether oil and gas companies are committing illegal conduct by keeping prices high
at the pump.
Christine Romans joins me now.
And just looking at that prices have moved higher since that was written. Very exciting times in the oil markets. Basically, I think the message here
is Biden is under serious pressure to do something about oil prices, but these are a global concern and if he's making outreaches to China, South
Korea, Japan, to say, hey, can we do something about oil prices here. Are we tackling supplies or are we tackling prices because that's sort of a
slippery slope?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: And it shows you also sort of the limited number of levers the president has, the White House has
-
CHATTERLEY: Right.
ROMANS: -- to push and pull here on a very big, very complicated oil global oil market. You know we have been saying for some time if the president
alone tapped the strategic petroleum reserve in the United States, it could even backfire and send the signal maybe desperation. It would be a very
limited near-term impact if any on -- on global supply. But a coordinated approach with America's allies, that at least sends a message to OPEC plus,
and says the world's big consumers of energy are serious about trying to make sure how to get more supply out there.
You can see in the very bottom buried in the White House readout from that President Xi and President Biden meeting, they also discussed the
importance of taking measures to address global energy supplies.
We have seen a coordinated effort before back in 2011 when there was a war in Libya. And so, you have seen allies do this before, but it just - it
just shows you how demand is outstripping supply so desperately on the global front here. I mean, prices were down a little bit yesterday. We saw
some Cushing, Oklahoma supplies in the U.S. that were a little more favorable in the near term. But I think you're looking at a kind of a
volatile market here. And the White House, those White House under intense pressure to look like it's doing something about inflation even as the
overall economy is strong.
CHATTERLEY: Including perhaps a push for an FTC investigation into whether there's some kind of collusion going on in the oil and gas industry to keep
prices high. The industry clearly not happy and saying, please.
ROMANS: Yeah. They say it's a distraction. The American Petroleum Institute right away saying this is a distraction. But again, it shows a White House
that's trying to say, we're going to do everything we can to get to the bottom of why prices are rising so quickly, and if there's anything -- if
there's any malfeasance there. The API says the price spike is about how demand has returned and the economy has reopened at facing supply. This is
a supply demand picture.
And also throwing some barbs at the White House about, you know, decisions to restrict access to America's energy, and they say we should be doing
everything we can to pump more oil and gas in the U.S. So, that's, you know, no surprise there, that position.
But I just think all of it illustrates how much pressure this White House is under to look like it's doing something about inflation. I mean I can
tick through all of these things that are going right in the American economy including you know jobless claims that are almost back to pre-
pandemic levels, you know all these excess cash in Americans' bank accounts. But it is that weekly trip to the grocery store and the weekly
filling up a tank of gas that is at the forefront of Americans' minds.
[09:15:03]
And there's COVID exhaustion. Inflation and COVID exhaustions are these two things that weighing on both consumers sentiment and I think on the White
House poll numbers. So, this is a -- inflation really is the issue number one right now in terms of the economy.
CHATTERLEY: Yeah. Price and pandemic pinch. And it hurts.
ROMANS: Yeah.
CHATTERLEY: Christine Romans, thank you so much for that.
OK. Let me bring you up to speed now with some of the other stories making headlines around the world.
More than 400 Iraqi migrants who were stranded in Belarus have boarded a flight back home. In that freezing conditions, they have been waiting for
weeks close to the border with Poland in the hope of getting into the EU. The special Iraqi Airways flight will land in Erbil and then Baghdad. In
the meantime, hundreds of other migrants at the border have been moved to a processing center in Belarus.
Germany has reported more than 65,000 new cases of COVID in the past day. The most since the pandemic began. Chancellor Angela Merkel says the
situation is dramatic as lawmakers debate new rules to try and control it. The health minister is urging people to get vaccinated. And earlier, an
advisory committee recommended booster shots for everyone over the age of 18.
A jury in Wisconsin enters its third day of deliberations today in the homicide trial of Kyle Rittenhouse. Rittenhouse shot and killed two people
and wounded a third during unrest last year in the city of Kenosha. He told the court he was acting in self-defense. So far, the jury has asked the
court a handful of questions and reviewed video evidence.
Still to come on "FIRST MOVE," pricing puzzle. I'll show a price tumble takes a turning off Internet payments giant Paytm's IPO. I speak to the CEO
next.
And keeping up with the Foodgod. Kim Kardashian's best friend says he eats out 365 days a year, so we don't have to. He joins us to talk about his new
show and his favorite snacks.
That's all coming up. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to "FIRST MOVE."
Lots of green on the screen on Wall Street premarket with continued strong gains on top for retail. Call it an ongoing miracle on 34th Street, another
big retailer, raising for your guidance. This time, it's Macy's set to soar 13 percent after a big sales beat in Q3.
Big moves in tech too. Gaming chip designer Nvidia set to rise 9 percent. After reporting record revenues, offsetting weakness from network equipment
make at Cisco, they warned of worsening parts shortages.
[09:20:08]
Breaking news overseas too. The U.S. dollar hitting fresh all-time highs against the Turkish lira. The Turkish Central Bank slashing rates by 1
percent, a third straight monthly cut even in the face of soaring inflation. The bank hinting though that cuts are coming to an end. News
perhaps to President Erdogan who has inflicted extraordinary pressure on the Central Bank to ease lending conditions this year.
Now to India's biggest ever IPO. Paytm is an Indian digital payment giant. It also offers a huge range of other services from e-commerce to fantasy
sports and even trading in gold. As of March, this year, Paytm had 21 million merchants on its platform. Total payments made to merchants on the
app grew 75 percent over the past two years.
This morning, Paytm went public at evaluation of over $20 billion. Its CEO paying tribute to the IPO on Twitter saying, "India has transformed,"
quote. The shares dropped some 27 percent on Paytm's first day of trade.
Joining us with much to discuss, Vijay Shekhar Sharma, he is the founder and CEO of Paytm.
Vijay, fantastic to have you on the show as always. We can talk about the move that we saw in the share price, but let's talk about what this moment
represents not only for India, but for you. You're an 11-year-old company and this is a huge, huge moment.
VIJAY SHEKHAR SHARMA, FOUNDER AND CEO, PAYTM: Thank you for having me here, Julia.
And I cannot say it enough in words that it is phenomenal. It is unprecedented that we would have imagined that we as a team, we as a
company, would have this were, we would have been identified as the largest IPO ever in India. And we would have been able to do a public market in
India.
Remember, technology companies were always chasing to go to think of going and listing in U.S. markets. And India for the first time has become the
choice destination and I'm very happy, very proud that we are listed in India, and we are able to pull off such a large IPO in India. Incredible
day for everybody and personally very gratifying.
CHATTERLEY: Yeah. I saw pictures of you when you were in opening and you were actually quite tearful as well. I know it's a huge moment.
It's only one day of trade, but it obviously was a big move. What do you think happened? Do you think perhaps you were advised poorly? A lot of
people going into this were saying you were priced for perfection. You were asking a lot of money, and this was a high valuation.
SHARMA: Valuation is something that I believe that many public market investors decided, and we sort of got subscribed of such also. So, I'd say
that one of the things that we could have done better is that we would have announced a few more quarters of results, our execution plan will bring
comfort to a lot more people.
And I'd say that our story which is a new story, new business model in this country. Our business model of let by payment offering financial services
is a new business model for many public market investors need to be explained much better and numbers which come in subsequent quarter will
explain this much better.
CHATTERLEY: Yes. So, maybe it was a timing thing. Just came to market perhaps a little bit early.
SHARMA: Yeah.
CHATTERLEY: One of the big questions, and I think what didn't help here was Macquarie analysts. They called you a cash burn machine with no clear path
to profitability. And I think this goes to the point that you made.
What is the path, Vijay? What can you say to investors today about how long it's going to take for you to get to a point where you're breaking even,
and then we can talk about profitability? Where's the breakeven point? How far out are we from that?
SHARMA: So, one of the best things I can tell you about our business model is that our monetization journey literally started two years back. Before
that, we were definitely in large investment phase where we were bringing in large number of customers and merchants and businesses on our platform
for payments as you know. And in the last two years, we were able to start to deliver different international services beyond just e-commerce. So, I
would say that we quartered in beginning.
So, I would say that it is very early days to say that we would not be profitable because I think it's clear. I mean when we are executing the
business, month on month and next additional quarters, our numbers and revenues will do the job of talking. And I do believe that my numbers will
talk these expectations all sort of assumptions where we could not be profitable, or we would not generate so much of revenue. It would get
calmed down.
So, I'm in here for long term and we are here for a business model that has been proven in many parts of the world that yes, we can generate large
amount of revenues. Obviously, our starting off the business required regulatory confirmations and so on. June 2020 is when our credit business
started, and it is showing phenomenal number to quote, and the only catch is that we in subsequent quarter will be able to speak of those numbers
when we start announcing the results.
[09:25:03]
And I'm sure that time this very fact that whether we can make a lot of money or a lot of revenues or break even will automatically be onset. So, I
would rather let my numbers be answering this instead of our timeline.
CHATTERLEY: Yeah, which I fully understand, and the proof of course will be in the pudding which is a very British phrase. But I think you know what
I'm saying. It's just for the investors, the uncertainty at least at this stage is, is a challenge.
SHARMA: Yes.
CHATTERLEY: You have 330 million customers. It's not just about payments as I mentioned in the introduction. The prospect of perhaps providing
financial services I think is alluring too. One of the other things you have to tackle I think is competition.
Even if people like your business model and think that the opportunity in India in particular as we see more mobile penetration is good, there's
fierce competition too. Google, Flipkart, I can name a whole host of players, Amazon potentially. The big tech players that could come in and
perhaps disrupt your disruptive business. What do you say about the competition, and what differentiates you in your mind?
SHARMA: One of best things I can tell you is that India is a market that demands incredible execution, not just capital, and I believe that somebody
sitting outside India thought of a -- cannot even just by capital on location solve the problems or it capture the boards review of India. It's
very clearly seen that in the entrepreneurs, fellow entrepreneurs and our sales as Paytm team has been able to execute and out-execute any amount of
capital that has been dumped in this country.
Like you said, we have all these large corporate or large global big tech companies. At the same time, we continue to remain market leaders and, in a
market, where everybody else is also there, there's a meaning of market leader, and winning a market share, and winning large revenues in
comparison to them is what I think is my answer to that.
That well, there is competition, and that is an acknowledgment, but we have a great product and great service to our customers and that is what matters
to the customer and market. Just because you're a large company with a large amount of capital, you can win in the market, it's never so in a
consumer Internet or financial service business as you know.
CHATTERLEY: Yes. The key is time will tell.
Vijay, great to have you on.
SHARMA: Yeah.
CHATTERLEY: Congratulations once again because I know this is a big moment, and it's so huge for your team and all your hard work. We will speak again
soon.
SHARMA: Thank you.
CHATTERLEY: Vijay Shekhar Sharma, founder and CEO of Paytm. Thank you.
OK. The market opens next. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:30:40]
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to "FIRST MOVE."
U.S. stocks are up and running this Thursday, and mostly higher open with the biggest gains for tech stocks. The S&P closed to record highs once
again too. As you can see, up a quarter of a percent at this stage. Investors ready to kick the electric vehicle ties at the L.A. Auto Show
when new models are being rolled out this week. Lots of big EV moves on Wall Street this week as well.
Truck make a Rivian is actually lower for a second day after Wednesday's 15 percent drop. That's actually its first losing session since last week's
blockbuster IPO and it soared, of course, look at that at $136 the share price there.
Lucid under a little bit of pressure too, down some 8 percent of just shelve. And Fisker high in the session today. Just to context, Lucid up 400
percent year to date. Fisker up 46 percent.
And Fisker is plugging in and charging up in a bit to challenge Tesla. The California based EV maker unveiling its Ocean SUVs at the L.A. Auto Show
today. The base model will go on sale for less than $40,000, about $20,000 cheaper than Tesla's Model Y which is what it's often compared to. Fisker
says the Ocean will have a greater range that the Model Y too.
Joining us now, Fisker founder and CEO Henrik Fisker.
Henrik, always great to have you on the show. Tell us what's most exciting about the debut today.
HENRIK FISKER, FOUNDER AND CEO, FISKER: Well, you know, we've got so many exciting things, but one of them is that we have the world's longest range
in our price statement and type of products. We have crossed over up to 350-mile range.
But I think the other cool feature a lot of people love is the turning screen. So, we're able to actually by push of a button, you can turn your
screen from portrait mode to landscape mode if you want to watch a movie or play a game when you're charging.
And then of course, we got fully vegan interior. We have a lot of recycled materials. So, sustainability is definitely number one at Fisker. So, we
spent a lot of time on that. So, just too many things to keep talking about. That's a lot.
CHATTERLEY: I know. I was going to ask you about Hollywood mode because that is something, I think, that we've never seen before. The screen that
allows you effectively to turn the car into a cinema. I mean, for the future or autonomous driving days, that's going to be pretty cool.
The other thing I spotted, and we have to talk about that, the sunroof. Because that's going to provide some degree of solar capacity depending on
where you are in the world. And that means extra mileage too.
FISKER: Yeah. You can get up to 1,500 miles under pretty good conditions like in California for example. And if you do sort of crawling commute, you
can maybe get up to 2,000 miles a year. And you know those are free, emission-free, no cost. So, we are super excited about that.
It's a very difficult and tricky thing to do to actually get a solar panel to charge into a high voltage battery on a vehicle specifically if that
vehicle is parked. Because imagine, you closed it down. So, we actually had to make an invention. We have taken IP on to actually get that to work. So,
we are very excited about that.
Let me also -- we got doggy windows which are small windows at the rear of the vehicle that can roll down, and your dog can stick the snout out and
get some fresh air. And of course, California mode that opens the car completely.
CHATTERLEY: Clearly, I'm a huge fan of all the gimmicks. We love the doggy windows.
How are you managing this? How are you managing to have something that has longer range that you're pricing significantly below cars like Tesla's Y
which it's being compared to? How are you achieving it, Henrik?
FISKER: So, we've done a couple of different things. First, we are super as like companies that I don't have to pay electricity or real estate taxes on
giant manufacturing plants because we are working with a contract manufacturer Magna which has a -- actually a CO2-neutral factory where we
are building our vehicles.
Secondly, you know, we don't have dealers. We sell direct. We have a unique service infrastructure with a partner where we don't have to build
dealerships and again, we don't have to have people sitting, waiting for somebody to come into service.
And then finally, we've spent a lot of time looking at what we call built the materials for this vehicle and we ordered all these materials in high
volume. We work very closely together with Magna. We also have multiple companies.
So, it was not an easy task to do, but it was a goal for me to have a vehicle that started at $37,500, and we achieved that. And I'm really proud
of that.
CHATTERLEY: Yeah. I mean the Asset Light model is interesting, but it relies on you to do all the PR to get the message out and then increasingly
what feels like crowd that even if the market opportunity going forward is huge.
[09:35:06]
I believe you also have Chinese batteries as well. So, can you just perhaps toward the concerns there? One that all the marketing and the promo comes
down to you, and are you introducing potential supply chain risks with foreign-made batteries?
FISKER: Well, I think first of all, I think we have less supplier risk than many other startups because we have signed from deals with some of the
biggest suppliers in the world. CATL is the bit of biggest batteries supplier in the world. They probably have some of the best batteries.
We get two different battery packs from them. One is LFP less energy technology, but it's a lot cheaper and that's also partly why we can have a
lower priced vehicle. And then, you know when you talk about the rest of the supply chain like Magna. They are the third largest automotive supply
in the world.
And you know I like to compare to kind of what we're doing as sort of what you with Apple. They don't make any of their own products and I think
that's the route we have taken. I think it's old thinking to think that you must own a car factory because you're making a vehicle.
The truth is also there is no car company on the planet that 100 percent virtually integrated, everybody uses suppliers for something. So, everybody
has a supplier risk if that's what you would call it.
CHATTERLEY: Yeah.
FISKER: I think we had set up really well. The only EV maker who hasn't announced the delay in our vehicle. We're still on time schedule to stop
production in November. We'll probably stop delivering some cars before November of next year because we're kind of ahead of schedule and we start
building two cars a day in the factory or within a few months.
CHATTERLEY: It's exciting times. And what do you think of the share price enthusiasm that we're seeing in the market? I mean have been mentioning the
astonishing performance of Rivia and after its IPO. Tesla is now worth a trillion dollars plus. Although it's had a few ropey days.
I know you can't really focus on valuations and share prices, but do you think there's too much enthusiasm, sort of bubble-icious? Even if the
prospects for the future for you be causes some -- it's interesting. It's exciting.
FISKER: It's very exciting. First of all, I think that means as a hundred - upside for Fisker was just great for us now.
CHATTERLEY: I know. Good spot.
FISKER: I don't think (AUDIO GAP). But I think there's something fundamental behind it, quite frankly, and that is I think Wall Street and
the investors on Wall Street have decided that -- or believe that probably at least half of all vehicles sold in 2030 is going to be made by us, the
new EV players. And that is a gigantic market potential in the trillions of dollars.
Of course, it means that some of the traditional commerce is going to lose market share, but if you look at it now, it was a new EV company that made
the world's longest range. It was nutritional car maker. We were the first ones to come out with an issue, be electric issue, either starts at $37000.
So, it's clear that you know business happening in new EV space. Its trust to turn around an old oil tanker. You know it takes a long time.
CHATTERLEY: Yeah.
FISKER: And having electric speed goes a lot faster.
CHATTERLEY: Elon Musk on Rivian and I do think it's an important question for all of these -- for all of you guys, the acid test here. The real test
here is when you can mass produce its scale, and you can break even. And then you obviously hope to go on and make profits because it is a capital-
intensive business, and you're keeping it as light as you possibly can as you've said. Is that the acid test or is it consumers deciding that you're
their pick?
FISKER: Well, I think it's the last one first. You got to be able to sell your product. Nobody cares how many cars you can produce if you can't sell
them. So, that's number one. I mean we got an over 19,000 - now we're probably 20,000 orders and reservations a year before launching our
vehicle, and they keep climbing every day. So, that's number one.
Number two, you do need to be able to scale up. It is much more hard to manufacture a car that most people even could imagine. You got to fit, you
know, 1,500 parts together coming from all over the place, logistics, everything else.
So, we are going into a machine which is called Magna which has made millions of cars. There are people working there together for 25 years.
It's a running machine. They've manufactured vehicles from many different premium brands.
So, I have no doubt that we can accelerate and build cars faster than any of our EV friends' companies out there, our competitors. I, you know, we
are planning to ramp up to 40,000 to 50,000 cars in the first full year of `23, and after, that we can easily do over 100 -- 150,000 vehicles. It's
just a matter of getting enough reservations and orders in, and it looks really good right now.
CHATTERLEY: Exciting times.
Henrik, great to have you with us. Thank you.
Henrik Fisker, founder and CEO of Fisker there.
OK. Coming up here on "FIRST MOVE," I hope you're hungry because a Foodgod, the Foodgod is going to be talking about his latest show on Discovery Plus.
And taking us through the latest and craziest edible trends, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:42:40]
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to "FIRST MOVE."
And oh, do I have a sweet treat for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FOODGOD, HOST, "FOODGOD": What's up, guys? My name is Foodgod. And yes, I legally changed it.
I'm getting the word out about the newest restaurants.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHATTERLEY: We're getting the laydown on the boldest and craziest food with a Foodgod. And as you've seen, that's not hyperbole. That's his name. On
the title of his new show on Discovery Plus, you may know Foodgod is from alias Jonathan Cheban. This social media titan, a regular on keeping up
with the Kardashians beside bestie Kim Kardashian West. And Foodgod joins us now.
Great to have you on the show. How exciting.
We clearly need to discuss your new show.
FOODGOD: Yes.
CHATTERLEY: But I have to ask to start. What makes someone wake up one day and go you know what, I'm going to legally change my name to Foodgod and
you're going to get an F tattoo on your neck which I believe you have as well.
FOODGOD: So, we are - I bid on the bigger show in the world for about 14 years. And when I decided to be Foodgod, I was like I'm going all the way,
you know.
I've learned from the best and I've taught best. So, I said, you what, I'm just doing it. I'm going to go to court. I got a lawyer. And it took about
a year to do and get to court. And I legally changed to Foodgod. It's one word actually like Cher, Madonna, Foodgod.
CHATTERLEY: It's a brand. What did your mother say?
FOODGOD: Oh, she was in the courtroom. And the judge asked, and when he said what do you think of it? I gave my mom the dirtiest look. I turned
back just to make sure there was no changing your mind. So, she knows what it is. She knows, you know, we hit the streets, everybody knows Foodgod.
People actually all over the world that anywhere I go, people know Foodgod now. And she really appreciates it. She knows how hard I work for it.
CHATTERLEY: Yeah. I mean after that, you've seen it.
Food is at the core of what you do. But let's be clear. It's about way more than that. As you've kind of alluded to here, it's a brand. It's a business
model. For me, escapism means realism because you give us a sense of what's going on in the world and allow us to practically live outside our own
lives, but the person that we see on TV is very you.
FOODGOD: It's very me. The same way I am in all my videos on social media, that's why it works, you know, and that's why I realized when I started
doing food because it's other people that were doing that. I said, what separates me from them is my personality. I've, you know, I have been on
television for so long, and I really like to give it.
[09:45:00]
I don't hide it. It is me, whether I'm throwing something or eating something fast or something over the top. It's just very me. I am me when I
do it.
CHATTERLEY: You know I read at -- when I first got to know who you were, and I asked the "L.A. Times" from a couple of years ago, and they
absolutely lambasted you. Who is this up star? He doesn't even cook. He doesn't know anything about food. How can he be a food critic anyway? You
were disrupting what is existential industry I think assessing food around the world. Why do you think they were so defensive, nervous about what you
were doing?
FOODGOD: You know what, it was great because they put me on the cover of the "L.A. Times." So, for me, that was already something where I disrupted
the industry. It was 85 percent positive because it is exciting what I do, but there's always the 15 percent of people that they go to that say, I
don't know who he is. He's not a food critic. Yeah, I'm not a food critic.
I have a lot more power. I have 11 million people that follow me. So, if you want a food critic to give you a local review, that's great. But if you
want someone that gives you a worldwide review from people that come from different states, different countries, that's what I do.
And not only that. I find really special, original stuff. I'm not just reviewing a Dover sole. You know, I'm reviewing a Dover sole done in a
crazy chocolate butter or something. So, it's got to be something really fun and original.
CHATTERLEY: I mean let's talk about the show on Discovery Plus because in the first episode you're with Kim Kardashian West. She's one of your best
friends. It's colorful candy floss, and that really, I think was for the children. My favorite episode had stained glass sushi which was pretty
magical. To your point, it's unique food. This is not just about one of the male food reviews.
FOODGOD: Right.
CHATTERLEY: It's extreme. I love it.
FOODGOD: Yes. It's extreme. And that's actually what Chef Morimoto who's one of the you know most renowned chefs in the world. And that is what I
do. I do things like that.
I mean, with Morimoto, with Kim, and then other places that are local places that I love. So, I hit everything, and that's the difference between
mine. I'm a not just going to Michelin Star restaurants.
No, I could end up at a pub. I could end up at a place that has buffalo wings or a place that has the most expensive food or the most expensive
burger in the world. And that's the difference. You never know what's coming. And that's how it is with my Instagram. You never know what it's
going to be. It's going to be something crazy, something expensive, or something that's literally $5.
CHATTERLEY: Do they come to you or do you go to them, and who pays? Because it's the economics of what you've built, I think, that fascinates me as
well. And I think a lot of people when they see the comments that you eat out 365 days a year, and I know you've said that, and I've seen you work,
people want you to try their food, but how does it work in terms of the financials? Because you have to establish your independence too.
FOODGOD: Sure.
CHATTERLEY: Again, it comes back to you being real about what you are talking about.
FOODGOD: Sure. Well, a lot --
CHATTERLEY: Your rawness with your opinions.
FOODGOD: Well, 90 percent of the stuff I find, I search. It takes hours. This is a full-time job. I don't just go eat. Believe me. If I just went to
eat, I would be like everybody else.
I mean this is a full job, you know, I sit there, I analyze everything. I search the restaurants. I see where they are, who's going there, but 90
percent of it is just me looking and finding something that I know people will react to. Then because of my big following, places will reach out to
me and say, hey, we want to do a social media deal with you, or we want to do a big endorsement.
You know I'm doing something with a lot of big brands. A brand called Dickey's which is going to in 600 stores, I'm doing like a Foodgod rib with
them. I'm going to be doing something with Friday's, which is a national brand.
So, I have a lot of brand deals separate from people at restaurants that call me and say, hey, we want to pay you to come to -- because it doesn't
mean I'm going to find their place out of all the thousands and thousands of restaurants. So, but it's never just about the money. I promise you, if
that place does not have anything -- that's the first thing I say. What's different? It won't look good, and people will not react to it if it's not
special, and I'm really, really, really picky. So, if you come with just money, that's not it. It's not about that. The money is just --
CHATTERLEY: So, actually, it is a pure advertising brand model, but you have to be super selective within it because otherwise you're damaging your
own brand. So, you can accept the money, but you're saying, what's unique about you and what's different about you? One because that matches to me
and my brand.
FOODGOD: Absolutely. But that's a small piece of it. The money part because that's just a few Instagram posts. The other ones are actual real
endorsements that I'm building you know a whole product line with ice creams and snacks and, you know, I have truffle ketchup. I have my whole
line of salad dressings coming out.
But most of the stuff is all stuff that I just find that I want to put up. It's not about getting paid to go there. I know that something people are
going to react to that. So, I need content. So, it's not just about money or someone paying me to go there.
Those are people that actually want me specifically to come to their place that I wouldn't find on my own. They reach out and say, how do we get in
touch with you? How do we get you there? But the other stuff is all stuff that I find on my own and I just put it. And nobody is paying me to do any
of it. You know it is building a brand.
CHATTERLEY: It's endless amount of work. How many hours a day to you work?
[09:50:00]
FOODGOD: Oh, I actually go to sleep with my phone. I wake up with my phone, and you know to me I'm basically, like, a modern-day food critic. So, it's
like I have to know what restaurants are hot. What's coming out, and what dishes in restaurants that are not just hot that are coming out? What fast
food companies are doing with new, you know, chicken nuggets or new ice creams or whatever it is.
So, I have to -- I'm on the phone constantly doing research. And I have teams with all my products. So, I deal with one team for this, one team for
that, one team for appearances. It's a 24-hour-a day. It's not just going to eat. It's a whole industry. I have a whole entire company. I have you
know my managers, my publicist, and my team. It's a whole assistance. Everybody works to get stuff together. It's a whole army.
CHATTERLEY: Yeah. I was going to say, you answered my next question. Your advice would be for people who have an idea or a concept, want to build
their social media following, want to build the brand, want to monetize it ultimately because to your point, you have got an army, but it's an
industry too. Is that your advice, I guess? No sleep?
FOODGOD: No, my advice is honestly stay consistent and because you know when I started Foodgod people were, like, what's Foodgod? Hahaha. You know
like they don't get it. They don't get it. And even some with the name they didn't understand that. But like I just went through it. I just kept going
and going. And yup, keep laughing.
Oh, cover of the "L.A. Times." Oh, keep laughing. Huge endorsement deals. Oh, products, keep laughing. And you know now a TV show on Discovery Plus
named "Foodgod."
So, if you want to laugh, you could laugh, you could though. But the consistency is key. You got to stick with it. Don't let anybody tell you,
oh, that's not going to work. If you think it's going to work, and it's actually, like, a normal, credible idea, not something that's really weird
that has, you know, 80 percent chance of working, you've just got to keep going. Don't start diverting because people tell you to do other things.
Like oh, well, maybe you should do this. Take the advice, you know move the needle a little bit, but really, really stay focused on it. Do not veer off
of that exact plan. Like I want to start posting about cool fashion stuff on my Instagram. But I don't. I'm Foodgod. People come to me for food, so
you just keep with the food.
CHATTERLEY: For now, my friend. I think the answer there is he who laughs last laughs longest and keep working. Foodgod, fun to see what you're
doing. And Discovery Plus is where the new show is.
FOODGOD: Thank you.
CHATTERLEY: Thank you for joining us.
FOODGOD: Bye Julia. Thank you.
CHATTERLEY: OK. Up next, the "Three Amigos" return. The leaders of the United States, Mexico and Canada revived a summit that got sidelined under
the Trump presidency. That's up next. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHATTERLEY: The leaders of the United States, Canada and Mexico will meet today at the White House for talks referred to as the "Three Amigos"
summit. It's back. The talks of the first since 2016. The three-sided form where shunned under President Trump.
Paula Newton joins me now. Perhaps relations better but there's a few by now, and by America provisions that perhaps these guys will have some
issues with when they meet with Biden too.
PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. And "Three Amigos" is not the official name, but we really shouldn't say these people are amigos any
longer.
CHATTERLEY: You're right.
ETON: You know what's fascinating here, Julia, this hasn't happened in five years. You would think they would be getting along a little bit better.
They are not.
[09:55:02]
And Mexico and Canada together from the United States are not feeling the love from the Biden administration. Listen. Writ large what's on the table,
the pandemic, economic cooperation, climate, migration, there are tensions on each and every one of these topics.
But specifically, what you were talking about, Julia, is the buy American provision in all of this legislation making its way through Congress right
now. It is Biden's signature legislation on so many levels and guess what? Buy U.S. provisions in them shutout Mexico and Canada. And both counties
are saying, this is no way to treat your friends, but more importantly, this is no way to try and create a strong and firm economic block that is
prosperous.
Especially given that so much of the migration issues that Mexico talks about are related to the economy. Stay tuned. We are not expecting a lot of
deliverables, and hopefully no one will utter the word amigos.
CHATTERLEY: Yeah. You're right. Naughty. Apologies for that. Pink ladies today too.
Paula, great to have you on the show. Thank you so much.
And that wraps up "FIRST MOVE." Stay safe. "Connect the World with Becky Anderson" is next. I'll be back tomorrow, Friday.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:00:00]
END
