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First Move with Julia Chatterley

U.S. Economy Added Only 210,000 Jobs in November; U.S. Congress Averts Shutdown with Stopgap Bill; China's Didi to Delist from NYSE After IPO Backlash; Germany to Lock Down Unvaccinated People Amid COVID Surge; W.H.O. Warning of Rapid Spread of Omicron Variant; Alec Baldwin Speaks about Fatal Shooting on Film Set; Facebook Sold Ads Comparing Vaccine Program to Holocaust; Dubai Company Ships Houses Overseas. Aired 9-10a ET

Aired December 03, 2021 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:15]

ZAIN ASHER, CNN ANCHOR: Live from New York, I'm Zain Asher, in for Julia Chatterley. This is "FIRST MOVE." And here is your need to know.

Jobs jolts. U.S. economy adds fewer jobs than expected.

Didi delists. Chinese firm leave New York just months after a botched IPO.

And cases climb. New Omicron outbreak across Europe.

It is Friday. Let's make a move.

Welcome once again to "FIRST MOVE" wherever you are in the world.

U.S. stock futures are fairly flat as we countdown to the open as investors digesting a very disappointing November jobs report. 210,000 jobs created

last month -- November. Economists were actually expecting the number roughly around 500,000 but the unemployment rate fell sharply to 4.2

percent. Those numbers pre-dating the discovery of the Omicron variant and these factor that significantly clouds the outlook for recovery. We will

dig into that jobs report in just a few moments.

In New York, stocks are slightly higher after a volatile week for markets worldwide. The initial reports about Omicron unleashed five days of wild

swings for shares, from the U.S. to Hong Kong.

In the energy market, oil is up over 2 percent. That's after OPEC producers signaled, they were willing to reconsider plans to increase output, if

COVID developments lead to a significant change in demand.

We're going to get straight now to our drivers.

Matt Egan joins us live now from here in New York.

So, Matt, just walk us through this jobs report. It ended up being half - half the number of jobs added in November than what analysts had been

expecting. Why it's so few?

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Well, Zain, you know at first blush, this jobs report looked like a bit of a dud, as you mentioned, just 210,000 jobs

added during the month of November. Less than half of what analysts were expecting. There were some Wall Street economists who were calling for

seven or even 800,000 jobs were added. This is nothing close to that.

Leisure and hospitality was a big source of weakness. That was supposed to be a big job gainer. In reality, it was little changed. Jobs in that very

key, very exposed to COVID sector are still down by more than a million from February 2020. But I think when you really look under the hood, this

is a much more mixed jobs report than it first looked like. And there is actually a lot of positives.

First off, the unemployment rate is falling all the way to 4.2 percent. That's down from 4.6 percent in October. It is the lowest level we've seen

since March of 2020. And it is way down from the pandemic peak of nearly 15 percent during the spring of 2020.

Another positive that we saw is that wages are up. Nearly 5 percent over the last 12 months. That's not quite keeping up with inflation, but it does

show really strong demand for workers, just like the fact that people are quitting their jobs and the great resignation. That also shows strong

demand for workers.

Another positive here is that the labor participation rate rose. It rose to the highest level since March of 2020. That shows that more people are

getting off the sidelines and they're actually going right to work.

And the other thing is that previous months, the prior two months, were revised higher, were revised higher by 82,000 jobs. And we've seen that

happen a lot lately, where the government is underestimating the strength of the jobs market, and then it revises it higher. And there is no reason

to think that that won't happen again with today's numbers.

So, I do think there were some positives here but, Zain, the big question mark, the big wild card hanging over the economy and the jobs market of

course is the Omicron variant. And this is a rearview looking number. It really doesn't capture anything that may or may happen - may not happen

because of the variant. And so, that is the risk that everyone is looking at going forward.

ASHER: You brought up a good point and that is, is so much more -- there is so much more to this jobs report than just the headline number. As you talk

about, it is the fact that previous months got revised higher. It is the unemployment rate being just 4.2 percent. It is the labor force

participation rate. So that's so much for the Fed to digest here.

I do want to talk about Congress because they passed a short-term funding bill that averted government shutdown. However, Janet Yellen, the Treasury

secretary is saying that the government could still run out of money by December 15th. Walk us through that.

EGAN: Yeah. You know, the government shutdown is being in all the headlines and it of course it's - it's welcome news that there won't be a shutdown.

[09:05:02]

At least not until February since they kicked the can down the road. But that was never really a risk. I don't think in the view of you know the

economists that I've been talking to or the market. It was seen as sort of a nuisance.

The big risk again is the debt ceiling, everyone expects that Congress will do the right thing and figure out a way to address the debt ceiling, so the

United States avoids a catastrophic default on its debt. But yet Janet Yellen warned lawmakers this week that if Congress fails to act here, that

it could eviscerate, that's her word, eviscerate the economic recovery. So, that is the big risk out there.

And you know what, we saw this happen a few months ago. Congress usually debates this, waits until the last moment or something close to the last

moment. And then eventually does the right thing. Hopefully that's what happens here.

ASHER: Yeah. We've seen this through play out over and over again.

Matt Egan, live for us there. Thank you so much.

All right. Didi delisting. China's raid - ride, excuse me, hailing giant is making a hand break turn taking itself off the New York Stock Exchange and

pivoting to Hong Kong. It is just a few month's since Didi's New York IPO brought a furious response from the Chinese government.

Paul La Monica is joining me live now with more.

Paul, it's been a while. So good to see you.

Didi has faced so much pressure from Beijing over its decision to list on the New York Stock Exchange. Just walk us through that.

PAUL R. LA MONICA, CNN REPORTER: Yeah. You had, Zain, that Didi decided to have its shares list in the United States. And that clearly, in hindsight

was a catastrophic error, a misjudgment, a miscalculation by the company's management, because Beijing, not happy with the move to the point where you

started to see Didi get cracked down on for privacy and cyber security concerns. And as a result of that, Didi, once it started trading on the New

York Stock Exchange, it went from a company that had so much promise and hype, it was essentially China's Uber or Lyft. And instead, you had Didi

plunge. And now the company is going to go back and start listing its shares in Hong Kong instead.

It's a recognition, I think, that companies from China that want to trade in the United States, if they don't have all of their ducks in a row, so to

speak, before they make that decision, and unless they want to do a dual listing as well, then there's probably going to be a lot of resistance from

the Chinese government and we know that may not end well. Just look at what is happening to many other Chinese ADRs, Baidu, and Alibaba, and JD,

Pinduoduo. They have all been crushed in recent months as well, Zain.

ASHER: Yeah. Because I'm curious, what the sort of stock market reaction is likely to be going forward, especially you know with other Chinese tech

companies.

LA MONICA: Yeah. We clearly had a big pullback in many of the Chinese tech giants that listed in the United States. And it's partly because there have

just been crackdowns on many of those companies in Beijing as well.

I think the big question is going to be, a company like Alibaba, for example, it has been public in the United States, since 2014. And then it

subsequently listed shares in Hong Kong as well. Will that be enough to appease the communist government of China, and regulators there, so that a

company like Alibaba can continue to have that dual listing.

I'm not so sure that we should jump to conclusions yet and say that all big Chinese companies are going to be leaving Wall Street. But this is clearly

sending shock waves throughout the financial community and I think a lot of investors that might own these big Chinese stocks which have great growth

potential have to be wondering, are my shares all of a sudden that are on the New York Stock Exchange or Nasdaq suddenly going to go away and now

only be listed in Hong Kong or Shanghai? Perhaps.

ASHER: Yeah. It's going to be worrying for them.

All right. Paul La Monica, live for us there. Thank you so much.

A new wave of COVID cases is spreading alarm across Europe. German leaders have ordered a near lockdown of anyone who has not been vaccinated barring

them from anything but essential businesses.

Fred Pleitgen is joining us live now from Berlin.

So, Fred, how close is Germany at this point in terms of making COVID-19 vaccines mandatory?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I'd say, Zain, probably closer by the day, and what you're hearing is really

politicians from many political parties here in Germany. And certainly for those that are in the government saying that they are actually in favor of

vaccine mandates.

You had Angela Merkel come out and say that she's of course the outgoing chancellor.

[09:10:01]

You also had the designated incoming chancellor Olaf Scholz say he is also in favor of vaccine mandates. And the way that German politics wants to

handle this, is they said they're going to draw up a draft law probably by the end of this year, and then have the German parliament vote on it most

probably around February and see whether or not these vaccine mandates are going to come into - into effect.

It certainly would be a very big step for German politics. But certainly, one that if you look at recent polls, does have the majority of Germans

behind it. And the situation quite frankly, Zain, here in this country continues to be dire.

We had sort of falling new coronavirus infections over the past couple of days. But today once again, a massive spike going on in those coronavirus

infections. Possibly caused by a backlog in the tracing that was going on.

And the German health minister, he came out today and he said something that really has a lot of people alarmed. He said even if all of the

measures that were decided by German politicians yesterday, that lockdown, first and foremost, for unvaccinated people, even if that goes into full

effect and has a major effect. He thinks that the peak of ICUs being filled with patients here in this country will come around Christmas time. And

will put the health care system here under an even bigger strain.

So, right now, this country certainly in a lot of trouble, and very much contemplating that mandatory, that vaccine made mandatory in the not-too-

distant future, Zain.

ASHER: And let's talk about Switzerland because there have been two cases of the Omicron variant found in an international school in Switzerland. And

as a result, 2,000 people, most of them children, have been placed in quarantine.

PLEITGEN: You're absolutely right. This happened in Geneva. And I think it shows how seriously authorities of these European countries are taking the

Omicron variant and really trying to find out not just how contagious it is but also how dangerous it is as well.

This happened at the international school in Geneva where you had two people who were confirmed to have the Omicron variant, apparently this

stems from someone coming back from a family trip to South Africa. And as a result, indeed, 2,000 staff and also students of that international school

were placed into quarantine. 1,600 of them -- around 1,600 are actually children. And all of them need to take a PCR test, continue their

quarantine. And there's also of course siblings, parents and a lot of other people who are infected - who are affected by this as well.

The Swiss authorities say this is the first and largest quarantine measure due to the Omicron variant. And again, just gives you a reflection of right

now the mood in Europe, and how Europe is really trying to come to terms with the Omicron variant, while it literally watches it spread around the

continent, Zain.

ASHER: Fred Pleitgen, live for us there. Thank you so much.

From Europe to Asia, which is also facing fresh outbreaks as well, Ivan Watson has more from Hong Kong.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A top official with the World Health Organization is warning governments to prepare for the

Omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus. Predicting that most countries will eventually face this. And also predicting that it is probably circulating

in more countries than have so far identified cases of the new variant.

One country in the Asia-Pacific region that has detected Omicron is Australia, which has ordered an urgent investigation of a cluster of

confirmed COVID cases linked to a school in Western Sydney. 13 confirmed COVID cases, among them, three Omicron variant cases confirmed. And the

reason that health authorities there are concerned and nervous is that this cluster is not linked to any international travel, suggesting it is local

transmission.

And most of the cases that we're hearing about, in other countries around the world, are linked to some kind of international travel, which is part

of why many countries have banned travel from a number of Southern African countries.

China so far has not detected, announced detection of an Omicron variant case, but it is dealing with outbreaks in several northern cities.

Prompting the lockdowns of those cities. The most difficult city right now, the hotspot is Manzhouli on the border with Russia in China's inner

Mongolia region, which had another 80 local symptomatic cases reported on Thursday. That city facing a very strict lockdown.

And another border city, Harbin, which has detected new fresh cases, despite China's zero case policy approach to the virus. Also now facing

strict restrictions on coming and going from that city.

Ivan Watson, CNN, Hong Kong.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[09:15:00]

ASHER: All right. These are the stories making headlines around the world.

Beijing is criticizing the Women's Tennis Association for suspending its events in China saying the organization is politicizing sport. The WTA

acted over concerns for the safety of tennis star Peng Shuai who had publicly accused China's former vice premier of sexual assault. Those

concerns remain despite the International Olympic Committee speaking with Peng on Wednesday for the second time since her disappearance.

The Taliban have issued a special decree on women's rights in Afghanistan, saying local leaders should take seriously action to enforce those rights.

The decree says women should not be considered property and cannot be forced to marry. It also says that oppressing women will anger Allah.

Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, says she hopes her court victory over "The Mail on Sunday" will help change British tabloids. On Thursday, a British

court affirmed that the newspaper had violated her privacy. Meghan hopes British tabloids will stop profiting from, quote, "the lies and pain they

create."

All right. Coming up here on "FIRST MOVE."

A growing number of countries is detecting cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant. We will have the latest with the senior adviser at the World

Health Organization.

Plus, a Facebook controversy uncovered by CNN. It has been accepting ads that compare COVID vaccination programs to the holocaust. Details next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ASHER: Welcome back to "FIRST MOVE."

U.S. futures pointing to a slightly higher open on the last day of a very volatile trading week. That's despite a big disappointment from the

November jobs report. The U.S. economy adding just 210,000 jobs last month. That is by the way less than half, less than half the number that analysts

had been expecting.

Let's get the latest on that jobs report.

Joining me live now is Kristina Hooper, chief global market strategist for Invesco.

Kristina, thank you so much for being with us.

So, the Fed, just in terms of Fed tapering. I mean, they're looking at this jobs report and they're thinking what?

KRISTINA HOOPER, CHIEF GLOBAL MARKET STRATEGIST, INVESCO: So, they're looking at this jobs report, and thinking it's largely a positive jobs

report. When we saw labor force participation go up. We saw black unemployment go down.

[09:20:00]

Hispanic unemployment go down. We saw average hourly earnings go up, but more modestly. So - so, fears about very high wage growth were not realized

in this report. They came in under expectations.

So, all in all, it was a pretty good jobs report. I don't think it will change anything the Fed does, although it might be a little less concerned

about inflation now. But of course, it remains a very significant concern for the Fed.

ASHER: Yes. So, explain - explain this jobs report to me because on the one hand, you had this headline number that was quite disappointing, right?

Basically, less than half the number that analysts had been expecting. 210,000 versus half a million, essentially. But at the same time, you have

all of these bright spots, you have the unemployment rate being at 4.2 percent. You've got 600,000 people coming into the labor force, who are

waiting on the sidelines. Just square that circle for me. How do - how do both of those things work together?

HOOPER: Well, sometimes they just don't work together on a month-to-month basis. And keep in mind though that there are always opportunities for do-

overs. And by that, I mean the following month, we will get revisions to this month. And it could be that we see revisions upward versus what we got

today.

So, there is, and we just have to recognize there's a built-in level of volatility in the nonfarm payroll's numbers on a month-to-month basis.

So, you can see, if we go back in time, that estimates for what is going to happen, and what actually happens, there can be such a big gap between the

two.

So, what I think is important to focus on is that average hourly earnings. I think that's very important, especially when we think about inflation, as

well as where the jobs are being created and where they aren't.

We saw losses in retail and we actually saw a very tepid job creation in leisure and hospitality. And so, that tells me that it's becoming difficult

to source workers in that space, which is something we knew. But we're likely to see an increase in jobs in that space in the December jobs

report.

Simply because employers are going to pay more. We're already seeing offers of sign-on bonuses, or special holiday pay. So, I think we're going to see

increases there. We always have to take a step back and realize each jobs report is just one tile in a mosaic that tells us a story about the

economy.

ASHER: So just I want to touch on something that you sort of mentioned about wage growth. So, wage growth this time was pretty solid. What does

that mean, do you think, for price increases?

HOOPER: So, I don't think that one month has a lot to do with price increases. But clearly, if employers are feeling pressure on their profit

margins, they are going to increase prices. We've already heard in earnings reports from various companies that they feel comfortable, and they have

been able to pass on some price increases to customers.

So, any time we see higher wage growth, we can certainly worry that it might get passed on to customers. But this was more modest this month. It

wasn't as much as expected. So, I don't know if it's going to play a big role.

December, we might very well see those costs passed on to consumers, just because employers are likely going to be paying a lot more in the retail

space, in the leisure and hospitality space. But whatever everyone is concerned about is the impact on inflation over the longer term. And I

think it's important to point out that while wage growth tends to be sticky, usually that part of the, the part of the jobs that is retail, that

is leisure and hospitality, there's a lot of turnover, so it is less sticky than other industries.

ASHER: And it is important to note that you know we're getting these numbers, before the Omicron variant became a real factor, a real player

here. How much of a threat - I mean, obviously, there is so much we don't know at this point in terms of how vaccine resistant this variant is, if at

all. But how much of a threat do you think this new variant is to the labor force in this country?

HOOPER: Well, Zain, we're only hearing very preliminarily information that suggests that it is a mild form of COVID-19. So that is all we can go on at

this point. We're waiting to hear more. So, the key indicator that I'm looking at is mobility. We can look at Google mobility data for many

countries to see how the release of that information, about this new variant, is affecting how people live.

[09:25:05]

And thus far in the U.S., now, of course, we can only get data as of November 29th right now, but we saw a dip around Thanksgiving. And then a

return to pretty normal levels for retail and recreation. So that's the dining out, that's the shopping out kind of portion of activity.

So, thus far, at least, it seems as though, at least when -- where American consumers are concerned, they haven't altered their behavior.

ASHER: And so, I just want to get your take on just sort of big picture, how the landscape of the labor market in this country has changed since the

start of this pandemic. If you look at this particular job report, I know that you can't look at any jobs report in isolation. But looking at these

particular jobs report, you're seeing that you know some the sort of tepid lackluster jobs numbers wherein you know areas like retail, like leisure,

like hospitality. Where are those workers going now?

HOOPER: So, they're looking for higher paying jobs. That's what certainly we're hearing anecdotally is that many view this as this great opportunity

because there's a shortage of workers to find higher-paying jobs. So, those who would traditionally be in the retail space, those who would

traditionally be in hospitality and leisure are first of all, concerned about potentially catching COVID-19. But also of course, seeing the

opportunity to make more money and are looking in other industries, more business services, that kind of space.

ASHER: All right. Kristina Hooper, Chief Global Market Strategist at Invesco. Thank you so much for being with us.

The market open is up next. You're watching "FIRST MOVE."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:30:00]

ASHER: 9:30 a.m. here in New York City. That was the opening bell. Rung by the Local Bounti corporation.

And let me tell you. So far, it has been a very volatile week here in New York in terms of Wall Street. But U.S. stocks are up and running for the

very last session in a rollercoaster week that ended with a somewhat disappointing jobs report.

Payrolls grew by just 210,000 last month. That was the headline number. That is well below the half a million, the 550,000 that economists had been

talking about, and had been expecting. And remember, technically, those numbers, the 210,000 you see added there cover a period before the Omicron

variant became a concern. That covers November.

Looking at individual stocks. Didi is down after the Chinese ride hailing giant said it will delist from New York and move to Hong Kong. Didi came

under pressure from the Chinese government right after its U.S. IPO, as Beijing cracked down on the tech sector.

Moving on to another Asian firm, Grab is making a steadier start, up 3.5 percent after a rough first day on the Nasdaq. It sank more than 20 percent

yesterday after the biggest Wall Street debut by a Southeast Asian company.

The World Health Organization has a new warning about the rapid spread of the Omicron variant. The head of the group's Western Pacific region says he

believes more countries have the variant are being reported.

President Biden launching a new strategy to deal with both the Omicron and Delta variants. He is pushing for more vaccinations and booster shots while

tightening rules on testing for those traveling into United States.

All right. Dr. Bruce Aylward leads a new W.H.O. program called ACT Accelerator, it aims to get into develop and produce COVID treatments,

tests and vaccines for people around the world who need them most. The initiative is supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation among

others.

And Dr. Aylward joins us live now from Geneva.

Dr. Aylward, thank you so much for being with us.

About, I would say five minutes, 10 minutes before I came on air, we actually got news from the chief scientist at the World Health Organization

basically saying that just because there were reports right now that the Omicron variant causes mild symptoms, it does not mean that it will always

be that way. How long until we get a concrete look at just how serious this variant really is?

DR. BRUCE AYLWARD, W.H.O. LEAD, ACT ACCELERATOR PROGRAM: It's going to take a few weeks, Zain. And this will depend a little bit on the variant itself.

Because we can look at the genetic sequence, which has concerning changes. We can look at it in the laboratory and see how it behaves and back and

tell us some things.

But it's really going to be that real life experience. And if it spreads very rapidly, it will tell us that quite rapidly. If it is very dangerous,

it will tell us that quite rapidly. So, it in part depends on the virus itself but usually you're looking at weeks.

Because remember, Zain, if you look in one place, and you see one thing, it may be biased because it is a certain population. So, you need to look at

it in many places as well. And because of the current spread, we should get answers relatively soon.

ASHER: And it's not just about, you know, how serious the symptoms are. What everybody is dying to know is really you know whether or not it evades

vaccines. That is really key here, whether or not the vaccines can protect us against this variant. How long until we get a better sense of that?

AYLWARD: Well, again, we're in a really different situation than previous viruses, because with this variant, as it's emerged, it's against the

background where a lot of people have been vaccinated in the world, or at least in the rich countries of the world, which means that we should get an

answer relatively quickly as to how well the vaccines work. And the way I like to think about it, Zain, is the question is not will they work. It is

how well will they work, right? We don't expect it not to work at all, we certainly hope not, so it is a matter of degree.

ASHER: Let's talk about - because you talk about rich countries, where a lot of people are vaccinated and that is certainly true. But as you know,

Dr. Aylward, there is a part of the world where there is a very, very different reality. Obviously in the wake of the discovery of the Omicron

variant, a lot of western nations closed their borders to Southern Africa. Many people are saying that instead of closing their borders to the

southern part of Africa, instead, European countries should have ramped up efforts to supply vaccines to that part of the world. Do you agree with

that?

AYLWARD: Absolutely. And the problem is not just vaccines, right? We have a toxic mix of low vaccine coverage, low testing.

[09:35:00]

So, we have an opportunity for the virus to spread. We're not putting pressure on it with vaccines. And then we're blind to what is actually

happening as it emerge because we're not testing at the right rates. And all this is solvable. That's why we set up the ACT Accelerator to be able

to get these tools into these countries. But they have just a fraction of the access of what we're seeing in high income countries which just reminds

us again, Zain, you cannot vaccinate your way out of this in the high- income countries alone. You've got to protect the whole world with all of the tools we have at our disposal.

ASHER: So much has been made of this idea that you know it is high time that a lot of African countries really start laying the groundwork to

manufacture their own vaccines. A lot of African doctors and scientists who have had on this program have talked to me about that many times over.

However, we all know that's going to take time. What would you say was the shorter-term solution, the step between getting to that point, which is an

important milestone, and where we are now?

AYLWARD: Crucial thing today is full transparency on who's making how much vaccine where, and where is it going. If we have transparency on that, from

the manufacturers, from the high-income countries, then you can start solving the problem of equitable distribution.

The fastest way to solve the problem right now is move as much vaccine as you can through COVAX, the mechanism we've set up for it to be allocated,

and put the money behind it, not just for the vaccine but also to hire the people, to train the people to give these, to overcome now the rumors that

it has spread from the north.

Because as we limited access, we've given huge to the vaccines, we've given huge access to all the misinformation and rumors, et cetera. So now these

low-income countries are dealing with twice as many problems.

ASHER: You have various countries in Europe that, because of the vaccine hesitancy, and obviously their vaccination rates are much higher than there

are in Africa but there is some degree of vaccine hesitancy. So, there are a handful of European countries that are talking about, and actually

implementing vaccine mandates and surprisingly there are even some African countries that are following suit as well. Places like Ghana, South Africa,

talking about it, Kenya as well.

What do you make of vaccine mandates in this environment? Is that really what it is going to take to get entire populations vaccinated?

AYLWARD: Well, we believe there's a huge amount that needs to be done, to understand why people aren't getting vaccinated. And make sure they're

getting the right information through the right channels from the right people so that we can optimize the probability of them getting vaccinated.

Mandates should really be a last resort. And only, you know, countries are at a -- sovereign states can decide how they want to manage rollout in

their own countries. But our recommendation, and our position is we do try to avoid mandates.

ASHER: So, you are part of the ACT Accelerator program at the W.H.O. Just explain to us how that works and how you go about trying to get vaccines to

the people around the world who need them the most.

AYLWARD: Well, the ACT Accelerator is a fantastic collaboration across all the leading, let's say International Health Agencies that are now focused

on vaccines, tests, treatments, and personal protective equipment, how do we develop it more rapidly and how would we get it out equitably.

And what we've done is set up an end-to-end solution from the R&D right to the end country delivery. So, we've got in the area of vaccines for

example, Gavi is doing the deals and buying the vaccine. UNICEF is shipping it in the country. W.H.O. is working on the policy, regulatory framework.

So, we have a whole pipeline leveraging you know the organizations, with experience -- decades of experience and relationships on the ground, trying

to ensure that we can update these vaccines as rapidly as possible.

ASHER: All right. Dr. Bruce Aylward from the W.H.O.

Thank you so much.

AYLWARD: Thank you.

ASHER: All right. Coming up here on "FIRST MOVE."

Facebook criticized for making money from shocking new ads. That story next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:41:50]

ASHER: In an interview with "ABC" that aired Thursday night, an emotional Alec Baldwin said that he never pulled the trigger of the gun on the "Rust"

movie set that fired a live bullet killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

Lucy Kafanov joins us live now from Denver, Colorado with more on what Baldwin had to say.

Lucy, I think the question that everybody is asking is how on earth did live ammunition end up in a gun on a movie set.

LUCY KAFANOV, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Zain, that is also the question that Alec Baldwin is asking. We did not get any information about that. That is

still subject to investigation. But Alec Baldwin in this raw lengthy interview denied responsibility. He said he would have killed himself if he

believed that this was his fault.

Now, in the interview, Baldwin described the moments leading up to that gun being discharged. He was rehearsing a scene with Halyna Hutchins. He said,

Halyna told him to point the gun right below her armpit for what he called a completely incidental shot, an angle that he says may not have even ended

up in the film at all. He says he began to cock the gun. He let go of the hammer but insisted that he did not pull that trigger. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC NEWS ANCHOR: So, you have this Colt 45, you just pulled --

ALEC BALDWIN, ACTOR: The hammer as far back as I could without cocking the actual gun.

STEPHANOPOULOS: And you're holding on to the hammer?

BALDWIN: I'm holding -- I'm just showing -- I go, how about that? Does that work? Do you see that? Do you see that? She goes, yes, that's good. I let

go of the hammer. Bang, the gun goes off.

Everyone is horrified. They're shocked. It's loud. They don't have their earplugs in. The gun was supposed to be empty. I was told I was handed an

empty gun. If there were cosmetic rounds, nothing with a charge at all, no flash round, nothing. She goes down. I thought to myself, did she faint?

The notion that there was a live round in that gun did not dawn on me until probably 45 minutes to an hour later.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAFANOV: Now, Baldwin says, you heard him there, that he was told the gun was safe by crew members who were in charge of the weapons. He said that he

would never point a gun at anyone and pull a trigger at them. Zain?

ASHER: So, he is saying that he is not responsible, so then who was responsible?

KAFANOV: Well, you know, there are several crew members who had accused the production of cutting corners in the interest of time and budget. Two

people stepped forward with a lawsuit.

Serge Svetnoy was the chief lighting technician. He filed one of the civil lawsuits. The other one was Marnie Mitchell. She filed the other -- you

heard her voice perhaps on that chilling 9/11 call that initially, when crew members reached out to the authorities in the immediate aftermath of

that shooting.

Now, Baldwin said one of those two people, he declined to specify which one, came up to him afterwards and said no responsibility. That he bore no

responsibility for what happened here. He declined to say who made that comment. But he said it was unsettling that these lawsuits were being filed

before Hutchins' husband had a chance to file his. Take a listen.

[09:45:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Those two people are lunging toward making sure their suits are filed before the husband files his suit? They couldn't wait until Matthew,

on behalf of his son, filed his suit first?

STEPHANOPOULOS: Do you expect Matthew to file a suit?

BALDWIN: Oh, how could it be otherwise? His wife -- his wife was killed as a result of someone's -- I mean I don't want to say negligence, it's not

for me to use that word, that's a legal term. But, you know, something happened here that resulted in his wife's death, he's entitled to something

as far as I'm concerned.

I just found the filing of the two lawsuits, civil lawsuits, in advance of Matthew filing his lawsuit, I found that to be unsettling.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAFANOV: Now, Svetnoy's attorney actually spoke to CNN earlier this morning, saying that his client was focused on bringing awareness to the

problem in the industry of films taking cost-cutting measures at the expense of safety protocols.

Baldwin himself said he wasn't personally involved in the budget discussions. He said that his production responsibilities were strictly

creative.

He says, and I quote, there's only one question to be resolved, and that is, "Where did the live round come from?"

And that of course, is the focus of the investigation, that investigation still ongoing. Zain?

ASHER: Lucy Kafanov in Denver for us. Thank you so much, Lucy.

All right. Some shocking new reporting on Facebook now. CNN finding that the social media company not only ran but actually profited from ads

comparing the U.S. coronavirus response to Nazi Germany.

Take a look at some of these examples of that to show you here.

So here is a sweater that reads, "I'm originally from America but I currently reside in 1941 Germany."

And here's another with a picture of vaccine, saying, "Slowly and quietly, but it's a holocaust."

The social media giant also made money from ads that pushed political violence, like this one.

CNN's Donie O'Sullivan joins us live now.

So, Donie, how on earth does Facebook excused this.

DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. It's really pretty disgusting stuff, Zain. Look, oftentimes, Facebook would like to frame their problems,

issues on the platform in terms of free speech. They have billions of users, billions of posts every day. But these are very different, these are

paid ads, these are ads that Facebook is promoting to their own users that Facebook is making money off of.

Now, Facebook took down and disabled those anti-vaccine ads, the ads comparing the vaccine to the holocaust only after CNN brought it to their

attention. But that last ad you showed there, the one about make -- make hanging traitors great again, Facebook seemed to say that was not against

their rules and that is actually still up on the platform. This of course, just months after January 6th insurrection where we saw gallows outside the

U.S. Capitol.

Frances Haugen the Facebook whistleblower was on with Anderson Cooper last night here on CNN and she was reacting to some of our reporting. Have a

listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRANCES HAUGEN, FACEBOOK WHISTLEBLOWER: Facebook's business model is conditioned on fixing problems after they find them. Facebook is known

since 2018, Mark has publicly made comments on it. Mark Zuckerberg has made comments saying engagement-based ranking.

That means prioritizing content or ads based on their ability to provoke a reaction from you, which is usually the most extreme and polarizing

content. It is dangerous because people are drawn to engage with extreme content. But Mark said at the time, it's OK. AI will save us.

The only problem is the AI misses lots and lots of problems. In the case of hate speech, only three to five percent of hate speech is caught.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'SULLIVAN: And you know I think some folks will find it stunning, of course, that a company that makes billions of dollars in profits can't, you

know, police even the ads it's selling, until news organizations or researchers point out to the company that this stuff is on your platform.

But of course, as Haugen sort of alluded to there, that is by design, the reason why Facebook is so profitable, is because it doesn't bother to have

humans review the paid ads before they run on the platform. It relies on computers, it relies on AI, and clearly, that is not working. Zain?

ASHER: Yeah. Because I was going to ask, how did AI -- I mean if you look at some of the examples I was just reading before the introduction to you.

You know, "I'm originally from America, but I currently reside in 1941 Germany."

Really?

And then saying, "Slowly and quietly, but it's a holocaust."

That is so hateful and provocative, how did AI or their computer system not detect those ads?

O'SULLIVAN: It's not very good. I mean you would think that a word like the holocaust should set off some alarm bells, should have a - then set off an

alarm bell that a human will actually review this ad. Of course, once Facebook did have humans review it, after CNN showed it to them. That is

when they took it down.

[09:50:00]

But clearly, this is a company that either has no interest or is not able to get a handle on its own platform.

ASHER: Donie O'Sullivan, thank you so much for bringing the story to our attention and I guess to Facebook's as well.

All right. More "FIRST MOVE" after the break. Don't go away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ASHER: Welcome back to "FIRST MOVE."

The demand for accessible and affordable homes on the rise around the world and hoping to provide a quick solution. A company in Dubai is set to ship

houses overseas.

Eleni Giokos reports in today's "Think Big."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Bedrooms, living area, and open kitchen.

GYWN TAYLOR, GENERAL MANAGER, LINQ MODULAR: We've got under stairs storage cupboards.

GIOKOS: It's a house like any other or not quite.

TAYLOR: So, where we are right now is the beginning of the production line.

GIOKOS: What makes it distinct is that it was constructed kilometers away in a house factory. And was assembled on-site in a matter of weeks. It's

called modular housing.

TAYLOR: Modular is really taking elements of work from a construction site and they manufacture them in a controlled environment off-site.

GIOKOS: LINQ is a modular housing company established in Dubai in 2020.

TAYLOR: The big idea behind LINQ is to provide a housing solution (INAUDIBLE).

GIOKOS: From installs (ph) to external layers, plastering, drilling.

Here, building looks a bit different. It is like a production line.

TAYLOR: When the work on that particular model was finished, everything gets indexed to the next workstation.

GIOKOS: All in all, the idea is to save time.

TAYLOR: The construction industry, it doesn't seem able to get levels of efficiency that it needs to make itself sustainable.

GIOKOS: Depending on the projects, LINQ estimates it could deliver houses up to 40 percent quicker than the traditional way.

Once ready, the modular houses can be shipped and assembled anywhere in the world and this could be part of a solution to a global problem.

The United Nations estimates a 40 percent of the world's population will need access to adequate housing by 2030.

LINQ is looking to get started on helping to supply this demand by shipping houses next year to the UK.

TAYLOR: So, we look at the UK market. And the UK market strives to deliver 300,000 homes a year. It currently delivers around about 150,000 homes a

year. We believe that modular provides an answer to bridging the gap between what they want to do and what they need to do.

GIOKOS: The company also hopes to deliver houses much closer than that in its home country. However, it is unlikely we will see modular Burj Khalifas

in the future.

[09:55:00]

TAYLOR: Construction by nature has a lot of flare in its design. We are essentially manufacturing rectangular steel boxes that has a place and it

can be integrated. And it can be made to look fantastic, but it won't solve all problems.

GIOKOS: So, there's still room for growth. That with LINQ's first units shipping next year. If you're looking for a simple quick design, a house

from Dubai could be an option for your future home.

Eleni Giokos, CNN, Dubai.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ASHER: And finally, on "FIRST MOVE."

A fashion magazine is banning fur from its international publications. "Elle" magazine says the move is about animal welfare and reflecting

changing tastes. The number of fashion houses and retailers have ditched animal fur over the past few years as well. "Elle" executives say they hope

their move fosters a more humane fashion industry.

All right. That's it for the show. Stay safe.

"Connect the World" is up next.

You're watching CNN.

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[10:00:00]

END