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First Move with Julia Chatterley

Oil Prices fall as OPEC meets to Discuss Output; Queen & Family Appear on Balcony to Watch Flypast; Ukraine: 1,300 Plus Bodies Discovered so far in Kyiv Region; Zelenskyy: 20 percent of Ukraine now under Russian Control; Meta COO Sandberg Leaving Firm after 14 Years; Musk tells Tesla Workers to Return to Office. Aired 9-10a ET

Aired June 02, 2022 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN HOST, FIRST MOVE: You're watching CNN. I'm Eleni Giokos in Dubai. We begin with a stock economic warning from JPMorgan Head Jamie

Dimon; the CEO of the largest U.S. Bank says it's time to prepare for an economic hurricane. And that's amid persistent global financial threats.

Dimon's comments are a stark change in turn from his more senior forecasts. And they come amid a turbulent time for investors increasingly worried

about a recession. Rahel Solomon joins me now, Rahel, I have to say, you know, hurricane of a time, I mean, we're talking about worst case scenario

that Jamie Dimon is predicting. But this of course means that we're still facing a lot of risks. The question is how believable are these forecasts

right now?

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A lot of risks a lot of uncertainty but look, Eleni, anytime you hear a CEO who is probably the most recognizable

American CEO start to say brace yourself for a hurricane. I think it's enough to raise some eyebrows and perhaps caused some concern among global

investors.

This is what he said, saying brace yourself for a hurricane. But Eleni, as you know this comes just a week and a half after last week, he said that

there were storm clouds dissipating. So the comments yesterday raising some eyebrows and causing some concern not just because of the strong language

you use, but because it appears to be an about face from what he said, last week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMIE DIMON, CEO OF JPMORGAN: Right now, it's kind of sunny, things are doing fine, everyone thinks that the Fed can handle this, that hurricane is

right out there down the road coming our way. We just don't know if it's a minor one or Superstorm Sandy or Sandy or Andrew or something like that.

And you got to brace yourself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: So his concerns Eleni are, of course inflation. He said it is distorting the economy, the Fed the actions the Fed will have to take to

rein in inflation in terms of quantitative tightening in terms of raising interest rates.

And he says, look, of course, the war and its impact on oil prices, saying that he could see oil prices going up to as high as $150 to $175 a barrel.

Now all of that said he did say that there were still some sunny spots in the midst of this forecast.

He said job creation jobs are still very strong, as we know, and said that the consumer is still spending. But again, when you hear a CEO like Jamie

Dimon, certainly among the most recognizable on Wall Street, but perhaps even among American CEOs start to talk about hurricanes and bracing

yourself, it really is going to set off some alarm bells among investors and Americans.

GIOKOS: Yes, I have to say, I'm enjoying the weather forecasts, you know, in the middle of the economic forecasts, these analogies always quite fun.

But they're obviously pricing something in that they hadn't anticipated before. And I know that it's a very fluid situation. Look, the jobs numbers

this week are going to be absolutely vital in understanding a little bit of what's to come.

SOLOMON: Yes, it seems like every data point is becoming increasingly more important, right, as everyone tries to game out and try to figure out the

pieces of the puzzle. But yes, exactly so the official government employment report that's released tomorrow, the expectation among

economists is closer to 340,000.

That would be pretty remarkable, if we see it because Eleni, for the last 12 months, we have seen job growth of at least 400,000. Now, we did just

get another employment report, the ADP private employment report, and that showed some signs of easing that showed about $128,000 in jobs created in

the private sector that has the slowest number since the recovery.

So that is a positive sign for officials at the Fed. And for President Biden who we know said in his Op-Ed earlier this week that he was looking

for job growth to start slowing, as officials try to rein in inflation. So perhaps this news a sign that the economy could be cooling a bit and to

your point, tomorrow's employment report will be crucial to see if this is part of a trend we're seeing.

GIOKOS: Yes, absolutely, taking some of that froth off the market. Thank you Rahel Solomon, always good to see you.

And as we've just mentioned, it's the unpredictability of the oil prices. That is a big focus right now and they are now falling on reports OPEC is

finally considering ramping up production to make up for Russia's shrinking outputs.

There are reports oil producers will agree to increase output more than expected. This has been one of the key points Clare Sebastian I have to say

you know all eyes have been on OPEC.

[09:05:00]

GIOKOS: OPEC has normally in this time said look there's a lot of speculation in the market. We need to understand the supply demand

dynamics, and now a clue in terms of what they planning to do.

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes Eleni, OPEC, OPEC Plus, in fact, the 23 members of OPEC Plus meeting today, we're hearing from sources

quoted by Reuters that the meeting has actually ended. And it seems if you look at the reports that are coming out ahead of this, that they are

potentially looking to find some way of raising output.

So far, they've been doing it very slowly, gradually adding barrels back onto the market that were taken off due to the huge drop in demand during

the pandemic. They have stuck to their guns, despite increasing pressure from the likes of the U.S. to try to add more oil back to bring down the

sky high prices.

But now we're hearing today, a source to Reuters saying an OPEC Plus source saying that it's highly likely that they might raise their output for July

from the 430,000 barrels a day that they've been doing for the past few months, up to 600,000. So that would be an interesting sea change for OPEC.

We've also had a Wall Street Journal report ahead of this meeting that they might look to exempt Russia from the current production plan, which could

pave the way for the likes of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, U.A.E., to try to make up the shortfall in Russian production that we've seen.

Two OPEC Plus sources have told Reuters that Russia's production is down by about a million barrels a day over the past few months because of the

crisis in Ukraine and Western sanctions. So all of this very significant, especially because we see the sky high oil prices that you know that

they're down a little bit today, but still up close to decade highs so the world has very much been looking to OPEC to try to do something about this.

GIOKOS: Yes, Clare, look, OPEC Plus, has also tried to maintain sort of some kind of sense of balance with regards to the sensitivities in terms of

making sure that Russia remains in OPEC Plus, this has been sort of one of those sticking points.

With regards to the potential of countries being able to increase their output do you get a sense in terms of when we'll have that kind of

announcement coming through? We know the end of May was always a big cutoff point in terms of understanding where the market dynamics fall?

SEBASTIAN: Yes, so I think in terms of OPEC, all eyes are going to fall on, as I said, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the U.A.E., they are the ones that have

some spare capacity out there. But I think it's a valid question at this moment is how much difference can I make really make if you look at the

number that's been quoted by Reuters 600,000 barrels a day over the next month or so that that might not be such a big change for the market.

If you think about the shortfall right now of Russia is down about a million barrels. That is roughly the amount that the market would be

looking to be added back. And OPEC isn't getting anywhere close to that. So I think a valid question is can OPEC make much difference?

But I think there's geopolitics at play here as well. One expert Eleni, strikingly said to me, just now that OPEC Plus has stayed on the sidelines

during the whole conflict in Ukraine has not condemned Russia, if they decide to exempt Russia from this production agreement, which thankfully,

Russia would not be too happy about because they want the market to stay tight and oil prices to stay high.

That might be a way that's experts that have tacitly sort of, you know, laying down the line on this conflict, essentially criticizing it without

criticizing it. So watch the geopolitics around this. It's not happening in a vacuum.

GIOKOS: Yes, exactly, Clare Sebastian, good to see you, thank you so much. Alright, we head to Eastern Ukraine now. The regional military saying heavy

fighting continues in the City of Severodonetsk, as much of the city has now been occupied by Russian forces.

Meanwhile, President Zelenskyy says many Ukrainian children have been taken to Russia since the start of the war. Matthew Chance is live in Kyiv with

the details, Matthew, good to see you. It is important to note in terms of what is happening in Severodonetsk right now, the Ukrainians are saying

that a big part of the city is now in Russian hands give us a sense of what's going on.

MATTHEW CHANCE, SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, there's been a very fierce fighting taking place in that Northeastern corner of the

country in the Luhansk region for control of Severodonetsk, which is the biggest city that is still not fully under Russian control in that region.

And what the Ukrainians say now is that despite their efforts, there is about more than 80 percent of the city is in Russian hands. They still got

people inside, fighting on the streets making it as hard as possible, they say, for the Russians to take over fully.

There's also been a report come out earlier today that there are still large numbers of civilians trapped inside Severodonetsk, including at least

800 people according to Ukrainian officials, hiding in Soviet era air raid bunkers, underneath the chemical factory on the outskirts of that city. The

industrial zone of Severodonetsk is still apparently in Ukrainian government forces hands.

[09:10:00]

CHANCE: But nevertheless it raises again the concerns about the plight of the civilian population that has been hit disproportionately hard when it

comes to the fighting. And it's been taking place over the past four months. So it's actually 100 days tomorrow that this conflict began.

And there's been an enormous amount of civilians who have been killed and injured because of the fighting between the two sides.

GIOKOS: Yes, Matthew, and it's such an important point, this is sort of the indiscriminate focus on civilians has been pretty chilling to hear about.

Another line that's really struck me is that President Zelenskyy says 200,000 children have been taken to Russia since the start of the war. Do

we know anything about these numbers?

CHANCE: Well that they seem to tally with what the Russians say. The Russians have given their own account of how many people from Ukraine in

well, they would say they've been given sanctuary inside Russia to escape from the fighting there.

And to escape from Ukrainian forces, they put that number at 1.6 million, including well over 200,000 children. It's just that the Ukrainians

characterize it very differently. They say that their citizens are being deported to Russia forcefully to sort of actively sort of take away the

people of Ukraine and destroy the country as a sort of entity.

And amongst them are more than 200,000 children. And so the figure isn't so much in dispute. It's the motive for those people, the children and the

adults going to Russia from Ukrainian territory in the first place, but it is whichever way you look at it, an incredible and tragic movements of

people as a result of this conflict.

GIOKOS: Matthew Chance, thank you so very much for that update. Alright, let's turn our attention now to London, where in a shared national moment,

tens of thousands of people converged on the British Capital to mark Queen Elizabeth's Platinum Jubilee from the famous balcony of Buckingham Palace.

Her Majesty and other members of the Royal Family watched a special Flypast by the Royal Air Force, Royal Navy and British Army 70 aircraft were used

for her 70 years of unwavering service and duty to the crown.

In a tradition dating back at least 260 years, members of the armed forces took part in the Queen's official birthday parade called "Trooping the

Color". The Jubilee is being marked by a four day holiday weekend giving supporters a chance to show their appreciation with plenty of flag waving

and street parties.

And Anna Stewart is down among the crowds near Buckingham Palace. You're in the thick of things. Anna, how are the celebrations going? You saw the

famous balcony moment as well? How are you and people on the ground feeling today?

ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER: Well, it has been electric the atmosphere down here. The crowds are beginning to disperse. But there were just thousands

of people early this morning. Some people actually camped overnight.

This is day one of as you say a four day extravaganza to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee. So this is the first Platinum Jubilee that anyone has

ever experienced because this is the first British Monarch to be on the throne for 70 years.

So it's a particularly special occasion particularly I think after the pandemic, people coming together, celebrating a moment of national unity

and lots of people wanting to just show their respect to Queen. As you said today was "Trooping the Color". This is one of the big calendar events

every year for the Royal Family.

It marks the Queen's birthday, excuse me, but this year was particularly of course spectacular given us Jubilee Year, pomp and ceremony Eleni like none

other. In fact, I think it's got the most pomp and ceremony of any event other than perhaps a coronation.

So we had excuse me, lots of pollen from the tree. Hundreds of soldiers and horses down the mall here. We also had royal procession. We had Prince

William, Prince Charles, Princess and all on horses, in regimental uniforms. And of course, we had the children and the Duchess of Cambridge,

in carriages as well.

You mentioned the Flypast because of course, we had the big salute from the balcony, both from the Queen for "Trooping the Color" for the first time.

So she was comfortable, but also for the Flypast, but she was joined with family members.

I hope you've got some pictures of Prince Louis, Eleni, because as ever, there was a child on the balcony covering his ears, because the Flypast was

pretty noisy, but it's been a great start to the four day event. And people have flooded in from all sorts of places. I've met people from Canada,

people for South Africa, your hometown, coming especially for this event to pay their respect to the Queen.

GIOKOS: Yes, it sounds pretty exciting. Look, get some water. I know you've been speaking to CNN all day with your coverage, well done. I'm sure the

next few days are going to be very exciting it's good to see you always Anna Stewart.

STEWART: I'll go and get I'll get a glass of champagne.

[09:15:00]

GIOKOS: Actually I think it's a good idea I was going to say. Alright, so straight ahead new details are emerging about the initial response to the

Uvalde Texas School massacre. And one vaccine maker is working with more countries around the world as Monkeypox cases continue to rise. I'll speak

with the President and CEO of Bavarian Nordic next stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GIOKOS: Welcome back! And these are the stories making headlines around the world. A gunman in the U.S. City of Tulsa, Oklahoma opened fire Wednesday

in a medical building killing four people. The shooter has not been identified was also found dead. Police suspect he took his own life. The

police captain said the scene was madness with hundreds of people trying to get out of hundreds of rooms.

Now new details are emerging from last week's mass shooting in Texas. The Mayor of Uvalde says it would be negotiator tried frantically to reach the

gunman by phone during the attack at Robb Elementary School but he didn't answer 19 children and two teachers were killed.

Now in Shanghai officials have sealed off several neighborhoods after detecting seven new COVID cases. It comes just a day after the city

loosened a strict two month lockdown. Officials are still requiring people to test negative before entering public spaces. But many residents have had

to wait hours in line to take COVID tests.

Hollywood Stars Johnny Depp and Amber Heard have both been found liable for defamation and their lawsuits against each other. But the jury awarded

significantly more damages to Depp, who had sued his ex-wife over domestic abuse claims she made in an op-ed without naming him Heard countersuit

saying Depp smeared her when his lawyer called her accusations a hoax. She plans to appeal Wednesday's verdict.

As the world recovers from the Coronavirus pandemic outbreak of a different kind is gaining a lot of attention and that is Monkeypox. The World Health

Organization says more than 550 confirmed cases have been reported in 30 countries. And as cases rise, Bavarian Nordic has emerged as a Monkeypox

focal point.

The Danish vaccine makers the only producer of a vaccine approved against the disease after supplying the shot to some European countries last month.

[09:20:00]

GIOKOS: The Bavarian Nordic said it has signed more contracts with various undisclosed countries. The vaccine called "Jynneos" is also approved for

protection against Monkeypox by U.S. regulators.

Paul Chaplin, President and CEO of Bavarian Nordic joins me now, Paul, really good to see you. I want you to first give me a sense in terms of the

risks here of Monkeypox spreading around the world. And it's also really interesting, firstly, that we're seeing these levels of cases and secondly,

that countries are responding by calling you to set up contracts.

PAUL CHAPLIN, PRESIDENT & CEO OF BAVARIAN NORDIC: Yes, good morning. So Monkeypox is a serious disease. However, it's nowhere near as infectious

as, for example, COVID. So I think, while we have to take all measures necessary to try and contain the outbreak, the general public shouldn't be

too alarmed.

However, we're in a very privileged position, that there are now vaccines and also therapeutics that are available. So we can actually contain and

treat the current outbreak around the globe.

GIOKOS: OK, give me a sense of the vaccine that you produce. It's actually for smallpox, but it also protects against Monkeypox. I want you to give me

a sense of how much you're producing right now, which countries you're supplying to, and also the new countries that have called in for

assistance?

CHAPLIN: So we've had a long standing relationship with a number of governments where we've developed this vaccine "Jynneos". And we've been

supplying the vaccine over the last 10 years for countries like the U.S. to stockpile, so it's typically a made to order vaccine.

However, we do have limited stocks, which we're currently trying to distribute to countries that desperately need the vaccine to contain the

outbreak. But we're also gearing up production so that we can continue to supply in the coming weeks and months.

GIOKOS: How much are you producing right now? What's your capacity?

CHAPLIN: So our total capacity several million doses until the end of the year. But typically, in a normal year, we can manufacture up to 30 million

doses. So we have the capacity, I believe, to address the demand that we have available.

GIOKOS: You know, this isn't one of those mandated vaccines do you believe we're going to reach a point where this is going to be a required vaccine

down the line as we see the spread? I know that you said this isn't as contagious as COVID. But there are definitely red flags in terms of the

numbers that we're seeing that are emerging in various countries.

CHAPLIN: So we're certainly seeing a very unusual and the largest global outbreak of Monkeypox that we've ever seen. However, I think right now, the

urgent need is to supply enough vaccine to protect healthcare workers, first line responders and close contacts.

I think in that way together with therapeutics is a very good chance that we can contain the outbreak, and there won't be any need for mass

vaccination.

GIOKOS: You have an entity and manufacturing facility right now, in Denmark, are you going to be relying on third party vaccine manufacturers?

Could you give me a sense of the production value chain and what you're thinking about in the future, as you receive more orders?

CHAPLIN: Yes, so we have, as I said, quite a large capacity and capability in house. But we have also historically worked with many different

manufacturers around the world. And we would do that willingly if the demand increased. But as I said, right now, I believe we have the capacity

that can meet the global demand.

GIOKOS: Yes. So can you tell me the countries that have already put through orders? Are you able to give us that information?

CHAPLIN: So unfortunately, many of the countries don't want to be disclosed. But as I said, as a CEO, my main role here is really to make

sure that we're distributing the stocks that we have and the future stocks that we're manufacturing to as many countries and organizations as I can.

GIOKOS: Right, Paul Chaplin, thank you so very much. Good to speak to you much appreciate it.

CHAPLIN: Thank you.

GIOKOS: Alright, we're going to short break and coming up a Former Russian Politician is now fighting for Ukraine on the front line. He joins us live

next stay with CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:25:00]

GIOKOS: Back to the latest on the war in Ukraine, police say more than 1300 civilians have been found dead in the Kyiv region since the Russian

invasion in late February. Hundreds of people are still missing across the area CNN's Matthew Chance visited one small village near the capital where

the wounds of the Russian attack are all too fresh. What he found there may be disturbing to some viewers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHANCE (voice over): In the liberated villages north of the Ukrainian Capital, the streets are lined with the scars of war. And it's not just

buildings destroyed. We met Sergei, a villager whose home was overrun by Russian troops who then shot him he says and left him with dead.

He shows me the gut wrenching bullet wounds, but his emotional scars run even deeper. Sometimes I have nightmares and can't sleep at night. And I

pray they won't ever come back, he tells me through tears of pain and anger. I'll never forgive Russians for what they did, he says.

And they did much worse just steps from Sergei's door. Police forensic teams are unearthing yet another crime scene. Weeks after Russian troops

were pushed from this area. Locals are still finding the bodies of their neighbors. We were shown three makeshift graves on this street alone.

CHANCE (on camera): What do you think when you see this what goes through your mind when you see these bodies being dug from the shallow graves at

the side of the road?

YEVHEN YENIN, UKRAINIAN DEPUTY INTERIOR MINISTER: So we see that Russian troops have already gone for more than one month. But we still find the

area down so their presence--

CHANCE (on camera): That's astonishing isn't it that even a month after they've gone more than a month so still finding bodies.

CHANCE (voice over): Ukrainian officials tell me more than 320 civilians are still missing in this region alone but one by one they're being found.

[09:30:00]

YENIN: So a lot of people are missing. We cannot imagine the eyes of mothers whose children were lost. You cannot imagine eyes of relatives

whose beloved have been captured or have been killed on the front line.

CHANCE (on camera): It is an awful, grim business digging up the bodies of the thousands of people scattered across this entire country, in shallow

graves that have yet to be identified. This was Vitali just 43 years old and the neighbors told me he didn't present a threat to the Russians. He

wasn't a soldier.

In fact, he was vulnerable. He didn't have a job he, he drank too much his family had left him but he was hungry. And he was trying to get some food

from a Russian vehicle that was parked just here when they caught him and shot him dead.

CHANCE (voice over): Just one of the many alleged crimes, many tragedies in the Ukrainian nightmare that's yet to end. Matthew Chance, CNN, in Kachaly,

Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GIOKOS: Devastating stories. And joining us now is Russian Dissidents Ilya Ponomarev. He's a Former Member of the Russian Parliament and now fighting

for Ukraine after joining the military and he was exiled from Russia after voting against the annexation of Crimea in 2014.

Ilya, thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us! It's always appreciated. You know, we're almost 100 days in fact, tomorrow is going to

be 100 days. It's a full 100 days of this war. I want you to tell me about how you feel now and your resolve to continue fighting on the Ukrainian

side?

ILYA PONOMAREV, RUSSIAN DISSIDENT: Obviously, I feel a little bit better if it wasn't the first night because in the first night that was not clear

whether the daylight will come back again or not.

GIOKOS: OK, we have Ilya. We're going to try and get him back. We're going to try and establish contact once again. We're going to go to a short break

and hopefully we'll have Ilya when we return stay with CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:35:00]

GIOKOS: Welcome back! And we have Ilya Ponomarev back online with us. He's a Former Russian Parliamentarian and fighting on the Ukrainian side. Ilya,

good to have you back online. And you were telling me about how you feel right now almost 100 days into the war?

PONOMAREV: Yes. Sorry for the quality of the connection, sometimes it breaks. But thanks for Elon Musk, who helps us with startling steps that

helps to fix it. So what we were talking about is that in the first days, it was not clear how to turn out FCM.

We were very much afraid that we will not see the next day lights are prepared to fight and to die right now is a totally different situation

because Ukrainian army won the war over Kyiv right now the frontlines are stabilized.

Putin's army kicked back from Kharkiv as well, they still are trying to advance some they do some stage, but very, very slow and very painful

advances. In Luhansk region, they cannot achieve the same in Donbas but at the same time, Ukrainian army advances in direction of Kherson.

So it's the worst situation, I think that without additional reinforcements, Ukrainian army would not be able to organize a significant

counter attack, but nevertheless, still the situation is way, way better than it was 100 days ago.

GIOKOS: And that's very encouraging, because I want to talk about how the frontlines have changed. And it's a different situation, as you say, in the

eastern parts of the country. I want to talk about Severodonetsk.

And what do you understand in terms of the fighting that's going on in that part of the country. And also, as you say, we saw withdrawals of Russian

troops, which has freed up a lot of the country. But now it seems that Putin's strategy is becoming more evidence and a lot more clearly.

PONOMAREV: You know, I think that his strategy is being derived from his possibilities, at least his hopes. Because I don't think that he has a

clear strategy. His strategy from the very beginning was to capture all of Ukraine.

I think that almost all of the Ukraine because I felt that from the very beginning, he wanted the Western Ukraine to go to the Pols and Hungarians.

So to justify the invasion, so he wanted rather to split Ukraine, but it failed.

Now, he's saying that he wants Donetsk and Luhansk regions that are what he's speaking about right now. But I think it's very opportunistic, because

if he can theoretically capture all of Luhansk region, in the Donetsk region, he controls less than half at the moment, and they don't see the

real possibility for him to do significant advances there.

GIOKOS: Ilya, can you give me an idea of what's happening on the front lines and just what is going on with regards to the counter offensive?

Zelenskyy has said that if Ukraine does not get long range missiles, or you know, powerful rockets, that they will lose the war in the east? What is

your experience on the ground?

PONOMAREV: I do think that the biggest problem is in the air with air force, but that's what Americans, other countries already refused us to

provide. That's why we're asking for something that is, you know, at least realistic.

Yes, those missiles, we have longer range than traditional Russian systems. That gives a certain advantage because then they can shoot without being

counter attacked. Again, only from the here but you know, being mobile, relatively quick, they could be relocated and kept safe.

But already we see that the military objectives they were not fulfilled. So originally, Russian army they try to surround Severodonestk and by the way,

that's the area where my business is part of my business is.

We produce natural gas right next to Severodonestk neighborhood where - myself. So they didn't manage to surround Severodonestk. Ukrainian army

holds the lines so it's backing up a little bit.

[09:40:00]

PONOMAREV: But at the same time, the casualties on the Russian side is so much larger than on Ukrainian side. So that Putin's army really bleeding.

GIOKOS: You know, you were saying that you were worried that you weren't going to see the light of day, specifically around Kyiv. And actually the

stories that we're seeing that as Russian troops withdrew they were leaving devastation in their wake.

What do you think of the stories, the war crimes that have been registered of rape, of indiscriminate killing of entire towns being trapped without

any food and water? What do you think of the Russian soldiers that are executing these orders? Or if they're not orders, they're doing it on their

own free will?

PONOMAREV: I actually think they're doing it on their own free will. And I think it's - there is a large degree of retaliation in it. It was very much

the same in Chechnya. So unfortunately, I'm not surprised about what's going on there?

Just put yourself in the shoes of a guy very young, which was drafted, who is from a very remote village, somewhere in the middle of Siberia, who

knows nothing about nothing. He was told that he is the liberator that he is to return Ukraine to Ukrainians, and liberated from Nazis and fascists.

And when he is coming, he realizes that he was told lies, that his commanders are abusing him, which Ukrainians are shooting back on him. That

the death is coming from every single corner of the cities that he's visiting in the cities, by the way, they look so much better than what he

was used back home.

So he's coming really, you know, without a single understanding why he's there, and he starts to retaliate, on the weak primarily.

GIOKOS: Are you seeing more Russians joining the Ukrainian side? Is that happening on the ground?

PONOMAREV: No, we receive a lot of requests to do this. There were really a number of Russians who were writing me in prior that they want to do it.

Ukrainians are not very much fascinated with the idea because right now, the idea of having Russians in Ukraine is extremely unfortunate.

And they think that Ukrainians are more or less, right, you know, everybody is helping Ukraine. And there are a lot of international fighters which are

coming to help Ukraine as well. So everybody can do this.

There is one thing that nobody deals but Russians can do is to remove Bucha. And Russians should focus on that particular objective. And this

objective has been done not in Ukraine this objective can be made only in Moscow.

GIOKOS: That is very true. Thank you, Ilya. Really good to see you, we appreciate you joining us today. You take care.

PONOMAREV: Thank you very much for having me.

GIOKOS: Now against the backdrop of war and emotional victory for Ukrainians. Their men's national football team beat Scotland 3-1 in the

World Cup qualifying playoff Wednesday night. Ukraine's coach, saying "This victory was not for me, not for the players. It was for our country".

Ukraine is now just one win away from reaching Qatar, it set to face off against Wales this Sunday.

Call it a Meta departure from social media giant Meta, Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg, is stepping down from Facebook's parent company

after 14 year tenure. Sandberg the author of the bestselling book "Lean in is not saying why she is leaning out. She will remain on the Meta board of

directors".

Joining me now is Paul R. LA Monica. Paul, really good to see you! This is an end of an era for Facebook and Meta would you say she's been such a

vital part of the company's growth and ethos and philosophy frankly?

PAUL R. LA MONICA, CNN REPORTER: Yes, it definitely Eleni without question is the end of an era. I mean remember when Sheryl Sandberg came to Facebook

as the COO, there was a lot of hype about the fact that this is great for the company because she's the "Adult Supervision" for Mark Zuckerberg, who

obviously at the time when she first joined was a very young and unseasoned executive in Silicon Valley.

He's clearly now of course a much older and more mature veteran executive of the tech world and also knows how to manage Wall Street.

[09:45:00]

MONICA: But I think that this is a shift that a lot of investors are going to be wondering, what does it mean for Meta, especially since it really has

started this pivot away from we're no longer called Facebook we are Meta platforms.

They're going to change their ticker symbol pretty soon as well from FB to Meta and they are focusing on all of these Meta-verse related businesses

within Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and, and what have you.

So I think a lot of investors are wondering what the new COO who is their Chief Growth Officer previously, what he will now look to do as the new

Chief Operating Officer to kind of meld some of these new product initiatives and how they will be able to generate new revenue and profit

streams for Facebook Meta at a time where the stock is tumbled this year because of concerns about future growth?

GIOKOS: All right, Paul R. La Monica, thank you so much always good to see you. Now the spotlight is on Southeast Asian Super App Grab as the region

recovers from the COVID pandemic and borders reopened to travel. Grab operates across nations such as Cambodia, Singapore and Thailand providing

ride hailing delivery and mobility services, with an emphasis on providing tools like education and insurance for its drivers and merchant partners.

Now it's expanding its digital banking with ambitions in Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia, Julia Chatterley spoke to Grab CEO, Anthony Tan

about the company's post pandemic growth and recovery at Davos last week.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANTHONY TAN, CEO GRAB: Southeast Asia is behind the U.S. and Europe in terms of COVID recovery, what we've seen is we believe the worst has

actually passed, we are actually optimistic. We've seen for example, between February and April of mobility rights has grown 32 percent in GMV,

year-on-year, we've also seen airport rates, the peak since the--

JULIA CHATTELEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The tourism coming back?

TAN: Exactly and business travel. And we've really seen that since the start of the pandemic, the peak, so overly optimistic for the next few

quarters.

CHATTERLEY: And this is important for those that you call driver partners, because there's the sort of more lucrative fares as well, when you're doing

the longer journeys.

TAN: Right.

CHATTERLEY: One of the benefits of what you had as well, there was this Super App basis, which allowed very quickly for drivers in this traditional

ride hailing sense to transition to food delivery.

TAN: That's right.

CHATTERLEY: And even now, I think you can talk about this, but being able to perhaps do one thing at one point in time when it's busy with food

delivery, or then go and take a Lift passenger. So you're allowing that sort of seamless transition, which helps them it's also more lucrative for

you.

TAN: Yes. So think about this way, with features like cross vertical batching. So a driver partner can pick up someone's kid, send him to

school, after school, pick up the food, pick up coffee, and then after do the grocery run.

So effectively, you know your personal concierge in many ways. But the beauty is that because the driver has the Super App on his or her side, he

or she is working with very high throughput very little debt time where we don't have to pay incentives for that time.

And that way, growth for the business grows for the drivers earnings. So we've seen the drivers earnings improved quarter-on-quarter year-on-year,

our utilization have improved as our incentives as a proportion of GMV come down.

CHATEERLEY: Did you a bank?

TAN: That's right.

CHATTERLEY: Talk to me about the progress there. And it goes to the point about whether you're a merchant with a restaurant that you're making

deliveries too. How important is the access to things like welfare and also credit?

TAN: You're totally right about credit. In fact, when we first started, which was really to solve the safety problem for rides, especially for

women, but how do you make a phone a mobile phone a Smartphone affordable for driver partners?

So we started credit since day one in 10 years ago, we used to say, hey, kick that cigarette habit of yours put $1 a day for 100 days and you

actually own a Smartphone. And that becomes--

CHATTERLEY: How do they feel about --?

TAN: Oh, I mean they love it.

CHATTERLEY: Talk at the beginning.

TAN: Exactly now that they're earning good money on it. And then fast forward now we are rolling out three Digi banks. So one in Malaysia, one in

Singapore and we just invested one in Indonesia. What we see is imagine building one Digi bank stack and what that they can roll out in three

markets. More importantly--

CHATTERLEY: So you use the tech of one market in other markets?

TAN: Exactly and leverage that stack. And then how do we drive the cost of funds down which is a big part of doing business?

[09:50:00]

TAN: At the same time make assessable financing for our driver partners our merchant partners because we have all the data we know how much they make?

We know are a good driver partners are they bad exactly?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GIOKOS: Work from home, no problem. But do it for someone else. Elon Musk tells his Tesla staff returns to the office or find a new one details after

the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GIOKOS: Welcome back! Now U.S. stocks are open for trading and we have a mixed open for stocks. A profit warning from Microsoft in the past hour

appears to be hurting sentiment. Let's take a look at these numbers.

DOW Jones is down four tenths of a percent NASDAQ also up slightly actually and the S&P taking three tenths of a percent. Now Microsoft shares are down

by about 2 percent right now it is warning of the effects of the stronger dollar.

Now in Europe German and French stocks are still moving higher. UK markets are closed for the Queen Elizabeth Jubilee festivities. And then of course

the oil markets this is the important one both Brent and U.S. Crude are moving higher despite reports that OPEC will boost output to ease supply

concerns Brent Crude up three tenths of a percent.

Now they report that supply hike a bit larger than expected so we're seeing some movement on the supply demand scenario coming through.

OK return to work or work someplace else. In leaked email sent to Tesla's executive staff Elon Musk told them to spend at least 40 hours a week in

the office. He says for the most part "If you don't show up, we will assume you have resigned". Matt Egan joins me now.

I read this email I think so many of us have. It is fascinating to see the wording sort of the undercurrents? I can't say it exactly makes you feel

like you want to get back into the office. But it's definitely gained a lot of traction on social media and of course Elon Musk's management style.

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: That's safe to say Eleni. You know say what you want about Elon Musk, but you can't call him subtle, at least not on this

topic. He's giving his employees an ultimatum gets back to the office, or leave.

Let me read you a key line from this email to staff. Elon Musk wrote, "Anyone who wishes to do remote work must be in the office for a minimum

and I mean minimum of 40 hours per week or depart Tesla. This is less than we ask of factory workers".

Now, Elon's hardline stance here is a little awkward, because it's really the polar opposite of the policy of the company that he's trying to buy

right now. And that's Twitter. I mean, Twitter isn't just telling their employees that they could work from home this year or next year.

They said that employees can work from home "Forever". Just a few months ago Twitter CEO put out this statement on online saying wherever you feel

most productive and creative is where you will work.

[09:55:00]

EGAN: And that includes working from home full time, forever. And let's not forget that this is not taking place in a vacuum. I mean, there is a war

for talent going on right now. We learned just yesterday that the United States has a near record number of job openings, a near record number of

people have quit their jobs.

Firing is historically low. So you wonder whether or not this could impact Tesla's ability to attract workers, other auto companies, of course, are

moving into electric vehicles. So it's not like people don't have elsewhere to go.

And Eleni we have seen some other business leaders, most notably Morgan Stanley CEO, come out and try to take a pretty tough stance on work from

home as well. And he later had to walk it back. I don't know if Elon is going to have to do the same thing we'll see.

GIOKOS: Yes. I mean, look, where it's, you know, when I see Elon Musk, you think he's kind of flexible on these things, but clearly is not interesting

to see this kind of language coming through, but I'm sure we'll hear from him on Twitter. Matt Egan, always good to see!

And that's it for the show. I'm Eleni Giokos in Dubai, thanks so much for joining us. 'Connect the World" with Becky Anderson is up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:00:00]

END