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First Move with Julia Chatterley
Zelenskyy Accuses Russia of Nuclear "Blackmail"; William Ruto Announced Winner of Kenya's Presidential Race; Cash-Conscious Travelers look for Best Deals Online; "Never Alone" is an Initiative Offering help and Support in One Place; Overcoming Mental Health Struggles in a Post- Pandemic World; WeWork's Former CEO Reportedly Running $1B Startup. Aired 9-10a ET
Aired August 16, 2022 - 09:00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN HOST, FIRST MOVE: A warm welcome to "First Move" this Tuesday, great to be with you as always and plenty coming up in the next
hour including wisdom for meditation expert Dr. Deepak Chopra, a force behind the "Never Alone" initiative tackling. The stigma of mental health
whether through the isolation of COVID economic challenges or something else how to spot the signs of trouble in loved ones and guidance on
reaching out when you yourself need help, too that's coming up later in the show.
Plus, the CEO of travel site Trivago on the post lockdown "Revenge Travel" rush, high demand triggering higher prices sadly but good deals still to be
had without busting the bank. We'll be talking through that speaking of round trips.
In the meantime, U.S. stocks all over the map over the past 24 hours they come from behind win though, on Monday despite weaker than expected reads
on U.S. housing and regional manufacturing a soft start as you can see on tap today Europe however managing to hold in the green. We are kicking off
a busy few days here in the United States specifically filled with retail Revelations is the consumer in good humor or will a higher price put
purchases on ice.
Walmart, the largest U.S. retailer out with second quarter results, beating lowered expectations and seeing profit improvement ahead home improvement
giant meanwhile Home Depot posting record profits and sales in the previous quarter too August sales events in fact popping up all over the place.
S stands for streaming showdown Walmart's not only announcing earnings, but partnering with Paramount plus in a new content deal targeting Amazon.
A is for Apple Amour, Warren Buffett buying almost 4 million new shares in the second quarter. The Oracle of Omaha energized by energy it seems to buy
more Chevron and occidental stock as well. L is for a Loeb Lift Disney shares rallying as Dan Lopes third point takes a quote significant stake in
the entertainment giant but Dan is demanding changes as usual.
And E is for an Elliott Exit, the FT is reporting that the activist investor Elliott Management is selling all of its Softbank holdings after
losing confidence in Masayoshi Son's leadership more on all of that later in the show.
For now, let's get to our top story. New explosions in Russian controlled Crimea. Today's target and ammunition depot this comes just a week after
explosions destroyed several warplanes in the same region. Moscow is blaming sabotage. David McKenzie joins us now, two attacks David in the
space of a week. I believe Ukraine once again not retaking responsibility for this incident, either sabotage on the part of Russia accordingly. Tell
us what more we know?
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we know is that there were these very dramatic explosions in the Northern part of
Russian occupied Crimea that was caught by passing commuters from a bus and other vantage point showing this peppering his throws and across the
horizon of what appears to be again at some kind of ammunition supply depot of the Russian Military.
And also according to authorities, they're damaged significant infrastructure. And well, who's responsible? That is the big question, as
you say the Russian saying its sabotage, Ukrainians are keeping very quiet about it being coy about it, but it is significant moment.
Again, we have seen these strikes now occurring in Crimea, which has a significant psychological impact. I think on this conflict, whether it has
a major impact on the battlefield remains to be seen. But it is indicating that perhaps Ukraine is able to strike through sabotage teams on the ground
or airstrikes, these kinds of targets.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, coincidence or otherwise, that the Russian defense minister was saying that the U.S. supplied high Mars High Mobility
Artillery Rocket systems and not having a significant impact. Take that what you will. Let's also talk about the concerns about the nuclear power
plant it is Zaporizhzhia President Zelenskyy calling it "Nuclear Blackmail".
MCKENZIE: That's right, and he's been saying this for several days now striking the warning that this nuclear power plant faces a potential
catastrophe that could be an issue not just for Ukraine, of course but for the wider region as multiple officials have told us, depending on which the
wind which way the wind blows, which is of course a very alarming detail.
[09:05:00]
MCKENZIE: At this stage the big question is whether the IAEA, the atomic energy agency can get inside with those inspectors. The U.N. Secretary
General's office says they have well, they've rubbished claims that Russia says they have stopped, those inspectors going in. They said they have the
security and the logistics to help teams to get in there.
But there's no sign of movement on that or any movement of demilitarizing. That zone, there have been multiple strikes on that site, and around that
site in the industrial town next to it in the last few days. So that until they have some kind of negotiated way to get those inspectors in. I think
this is a very big worry indeed, Julia.
CHATTERLEY: David McKinsey reporting there, thank you for that. OK, let's move on Iran is closer than ever to reviving the 2015 nuclear deal. That's
according to Tehran's, negotiating team advisor. He said Iran had expressed its concerns quote about a European Union proposal. But the remaining
issues are not very difficult to resolve.
Fred Pleitgen joins us now three main factors we believe on this Fred, among them, I believe, sanctions relief for the energy sector, which would
help the world if Iran's oil came back on the market.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Iran's oil and also Iran's gas, I was at Iran's gas facilities a couple of years ago, and
they certainly have a lot of gas in the Persian Gulf, a huge field that they share with the Qatar ease. But yes, there are still three main
sticking points. This is something that that adviser to Iran's negotiating team told us as well.
One of them is, of course, that probe by the International Atomic Energy Agency, where Iran in the past has been reprimanded by the Board of
Directors of the IAEA for alleged activity at undisclosed locations. That's something that Iranian say is unfair, and they want that to go away.
However, you're absolutely right to say that it seems as though right now, as far as the language of that text is concerned.
The two main things the Iranians are focusing on is the fact that they want real sanctions relief, they say, and they want to make sure that the U.S.
doesn't interfere with that real sanctions relief by for instance, putting pressure on companies that want to do business with Iran, or countries that
want to do business in Iran, they say they want guarantees that they are going to get real sanctions relief.
And of course, the energy sector would most probably be the first place where they would have real massive benefits. So because the world needs
energy at the moment, the other thing is guarantees the Iranians want guarantees that the U.S. is not going to go out of the agreement quickly
there.
They say this comes from that same adviser, they say they understand they can't stop the U.S. from exiting the Iran nuclear deal. Again, however,
they say that they would want compensation. If that were to be the case and the words of that negotiator they say that they want to make sure that
there would be a price if the United States exited the deal again.
Now, the Iranians are saying that a lot of those things are already reflected in the text that was put forward by the EU negotiator they see
that their suggestions only would only - impact that text. They say they believe this is something that U.S. could agree to.
But of course, Julia, you know, we've been reporting on this for such a long time. We know how complicated it is. We know the sides all don't trust
each other. Nevertheless, there does seem to be a good degree of optimism in Tehran, and among the other countries that are still members of the
JCPOA. Of course, the U.S. is the country that wants to get back into the agreement, Julia?
CHATTERLEY: Yes, going to come down to trust Fred Pleitgen thank you so much for that.
Power cuts, meanwhile, in China factories in this Sichuan province ordered to shut down for days because of an electricity shortage.
Right now China is enjoying its worst heatwave in 60 years. Selina Wang joins us on this. So the officials are rationing industry energy use in
order to protect residential households and individual consumers which makes sense but this is a key manufacturing hub for some of the
manufacturing facilities for companies like Apple and Intel so that the knock on effect could be significant.
SELINA WANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, exactly, and it's not just a knock on effect on the economy here in China, but also could potentially have knock
on effects on the global economy Sichuan now is in Southwest China. It is one of China's largest provinces with 84 million people. It's ordered all
factories to shut down production for 6 days to ease that power shortage.
Now to your point, this is a key and important province because it's rich in minerals like lithium and polysilicon. It's a key manufacturing location
for the semiconductor industry and also for the solar panel industry. So this power rationing would hit these major factories from giant companies
like Apple, Foxconn and Intel, you've also got China's battery giant that supplies to Tesla that also has a factory in that region.
So shutting down these factories for the week it's got the impact, of course on the factories and their manufacturing capacity, but overall could
also tighten the supply of polysilicon and lithium, which could potentially push prices higher now officials there said to your point that this
decision was made to make sure that people's homes that residential use is enough.
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WANG: This is as China's dealing with its worst heatwave in 6 decades with temperatures above 104 degrees Fahrenheit in dozens of cities. And that
heat means that there's an increase in demand for air conditioning, which puts pressure on the power grid making things worse.
And China though is that the drought has also depleted river water levels, which has reduced the amount of electricity produced at hydropower plants.
And this extreme weather, which we've talked about before Julia, has also added inflationary pressures and China. The extreme heat in the south has
killed crops while Meantime, in the north, you've got heavy rain and flooding that's also led to major crop failures.
In fact, an official in China said that the extreme weather has pushed up the price of fresh vegetables by nearly 13 percent year on year, which is
significantly higher than the same period last year, Julia.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, it's exactly what I was going to ask you about the impact on crops even in the short term. I mean, China is one of the world leaders
in genetically modified crops to try and mitigate the effects of high temperatures and drought conditions. But in the short term, it just adds to
the ongoing challenges. Selina Wang, great to have you with that Selina, thank you!
OK, let me bring you up to speed now with some of the other stories making headlines around the world. Kenya's opposition leader is calling the
outcome of the presidential election, a travesty. He says he rejects the results announced on Monday without reservation accusing the Electoral
Commission of disregarding the law. Raila Odinga addressed his supporters a short time ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAILA ODINGA, KENYAN OPPOSITION LEADER: Today, I did not want to fully address it were strategies going forward. But suffice it to note that we
will be passing on constitutional and legal options available to us.
We will do so because we regard the main influence the elections and the wrongs committed by the IBC as fatal to the process and the outcome
announced by Mr. Chebukati. We urge Kenyans and the friends and partners of Kenya abroad, to stand tall and be counted as we seek to advance the ideals
of democracy and an open society that you've always stood for.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHATTERLEY: Larry Madowo joins us now from Kisumu, Kenya. Larry, we were discussing yesterday and the result was perhaps even tighter than we were
expecting. We heard from Odinga's running mate who would have been the first deputy president that the country had ever had as well tweeting, it's
not over till it's over. So now there's wild speculation about a legal challenge is that we have to expect?
LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Almost certainly, yes, Julia, even though Raila Odinga says he doesn't want to lay bare the strategy he just did,
right? He says they're going to pursue every legal and constitutional avenue to challenge those results.
Because he says that the chair of Kenya's electoral boundaries commission committed an illegality that whatever he announced is null and void. And
that according to relevant this coalition, there is neither a legally declared President elect nor a winner of the presidential election because
they he did not follow the law, according to them.
So I think over the next 6 days, that's all they have left. They will most certainly go to court to challenge that. And it's going to be sort of a
deja vu for many Kenyans have seen this happen relative to the challenge the outcome of the 2013 election.
He lost that on in court, he challenged the outcome of the 2017 election, he won that one and the election was thrown out by the Deputy President
William Ruto, who is now President elect, according to the law had also something to say about how he would govern the country.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAM RUTO, KENYAN PRESIDENT-ELECT: And in this election, there are no losers. The people of Kenya have won, because we have raised the political
bar. I want to say that the people of Kenya led by the 14 million who's turned up to vote are the biggest winners.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MADOWO: William Ruto won the presidency of Kenya, in his first attempt; Raila has been trying to become president of Kenya 5 times now. It's been a
stunning turnaround for William Ruto, who after the 2007 disputed election, was accused of crimes against humanity and tried at the International
Criminal Court.
He's been able to put that behind him the case has collapsed. To this he calls himself the hustler in chief; he says that, if elected, he would make
this country the country of everyone. And he thinks that that message really Julia got through.
He was promoting what he called a bottom up economic approach to give everybody in this country a fair chance of life. And it seems to have
really got an across to the vast majority of people in this country. So what Raila Odinga and his team have to do is clear this impossibly high Are
to convince the Supreme Court of Kenya.
[09:15:00]
MADOWO: That whatever illegality is that claiming in this election rose to the level that it invalidates the entire election and the winner William
Ruto, it's going to be very difficult to do so in court, Julia.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, huge challenge, it was interesting to hear the President elect their legal President elect saying that people have won. And it does
come down to the people and what they want and what this vote showed irrespective of the vote count is that the country is incredibly divided on
who the right person is to lead the country going forward.
You're in Kisumu, which is in Odinga's stronghold and the people there behind you. I remember where it was so enthusiastic and waiting for that
the results come through. What are they saying to you today?
MADOWO: There's so much disappointment, so much heartbreak here in Kisumu. This is a region that has traditionally voted overwhelmingly for Raila
Odinga and the date again in this election. And so many people have been telling us Baba the fifth. They call him the father, Baba, and they just
can't imagine that he's lost this thing for the fifth time.
So they're pinning their hopes on this legal challenge when it happens, because when we were here yesterday, hours before the announcements, there
were celebrations on the streets, people just singing his name and carrying his posters, and hoping that the Independent Electoral Boundaries
Commission will declare Raila Odinga the winner.
And when it was William Ruto that quickly turned into disappointment and heartbreak and some protests and they barricaded roads and led some
bonfires, just the disappointment was so high in the air. So they still hope that there's one final way for Raila Odinga to make his way to the
presidency.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, it's going to be a tense future week. We'll keep on talk of it. Larry, great to have you with us, thank you. Larry Madowo there in
Kisumu, Kenya!
Brazil's President Candidates are launching their election campaigns today with rallies across the country their front runners President Jair
Bolsonaro and former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, holding rival events in the Southeast. The latest polls say Lula currently has a 12
percent lead over Bolsonaro.
And U.S. Congress woman Liz Cheney will face a tough primary election today against a fellow Republican endorsed by Donald Trump. Cheney, the
representative for the state of Wyoming has lost much of a party support for opposing Trump and his election lies. But Democrats and some moderate
Republicans have defended her and could give her a chance of victory in today's vote.
And so as ahead inflation isn't stopping travelers from booking getaways, but it is making them choosier.
We speak with the CEO of travel site Trivago up next. And from we work to new flow, Adam Neumann looks like he's staging a billion dollar return this
time in real estate it's touted as the answer to the housing crisis. More when we come back.
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[09:20:00]
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to "First Move" summer we'll be winding down but travel prices are unfortunately still heating up the signs are travelers
are still willing to spend to get away while being savvy though with their savings. And to Trivago the hotel search and price comparison website
that's benefiting from cash conscious consumers looking for the best deals.
The firm says while inflation hurts vacation as Wallets it's not making them abandon their plans entirely. At your Wallets Survey said 83 percent
of travelers think 2022 will be their best summer yet, or 64 percent say they're willing to spend more.
Trivago CEO says while inflation remains high travelers are likely to spend more time looking for the best prices. This after Trivago reported second
quarter revenue up 52 percent from a year earlier. Axel Hefer is the CEO of Trivago. And he joins us now Axel, great to have you on the show. I looked
at your forecasts and your earnings overall.
And I saw good news and bad news. The good news is there's a buoyant response to the ending of COVID restrictions. The problem is, and we've
alluded to it, prices are going higher. And we'll continue to do so in your mind. Walk us through what you're seeing?
AXEL HEFER, CEO OF TRIVAGO: Yes, it's as you said, it's a very interesting point in time and we are coming out of a pandemic. And a lot of trips have
been pushed back and they are now happening. So to see friends, families, with the kids et cetera. And people have also saved a lot of money by not
going out as much by not traveling. So the demand is extremely strong this summer.
On the other hand, pretty much all the travel companies have reduced their staffing levels during the pandemic because the demand dropped to zero. And
pretty much everybody is now struggling to staff up. So we have this imbalance overall in the travel industry that somehow need to go back to
balance and that's why prices are increasing, salaries will have to go up in the industry. And that will lead to the overall demand coming down.
CHATTERLEY: How long does that go on for? Because that's two things, you describe the fact that the labor challenges persist, even when the summer
months, perhaps wind down and people travel a little bit less at the same time, you've got people that are desperate, post COVID to get out there and
travel. But at some point, the higher prices bite, how long do you think the two things last?
HEFER: It was difficult to say I mean, these adjustment processes take some time, will it take one year or will it take two years. But the good news is
that the travelers have actually quite a few options. They can decide where they want to go and how they would want to go there, which allows them to
save money if you go for cheaper means of transportation or closer destinations. And they can compare more prices.
And that's what he said the opening. That's why we are very optimistic actually, the more actually you want to compare price the more you're the
more time you're spending on saving money, the greater the benefit is by a website that is helping you to navigate through that process.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, it's great for your business one because as you said, it's not just about coming to you to look for alternative options, but it's also
actually the eyeballs are there for longer. So in terms of the message to advertisers, it's like hey, guys, they're going to hang around longer, in
addition to everything else, what's your sense of what people are doing in terms of what they're booking now?
Are they looking for cheaper price points? Are they perhaps reducing the amount of time that they're going on holiday for looking for those bargains
in effect?
HEFER: Yes, I mean, this so far to be honest, that we don't see really that much because the summer is really what everybody was looking forward to. So
the decision on the trip has been taken quite a while back and the inflation issues that we've seen, I mean, have obviously accelerated.
Plus, obviously the labor shortage is now experienced while traveling. So we think that the main lever is actually the destination to go to cheaper
destinations. And that's also what we've seen in 2020 and 21 that people are quite willing to go to another destination, but they really need their
break and summer in particular.
CHATTERLEY: Axel, is price gouging taking place? We have many representatives of their hotel industry all over the world on the show over
the last two years saying they don't know how people are going to survive, particularly the smaller independent boutique hotels relative to some of
the bigger chains that perhaps could provide some degree of offset and resilience. Do you think they're getting their own back on what's been a
desperate couple of years and actually perhaps charging more than they need to recover some of that?
[09:25:00]
HEFER: I mean it's difficult to say it's really very much different by the company. And also by the market, I think what is happening for sure is that
this, this imbalance of supply and demand is for sure beneficial to the profitability of the accommodation operators right now. But let's be
honest, they will have to increase their salaries to staff up the hotels again, and to improve the service, that in a lot of areas, a lot of
situations has actually suffered.
CHATTERLEY: I think one of the other things and the questions about your business is whether or not you follow Google's lead and add free links to
hotels and to travel agencies to supplement the paid links. What's the logic of that decision obviously, you want to provide greater truths to
your consumers and keep them on the website? But obviously, the offset perhaps is that you upset those that pay?
HEFER: Yes, I mean, the logic of offering direct links as Google is doing. I mean, from our perspective would be, if we decide to do so would be that
there is a significant segment in the market, a lot of people wants to actually book direct. And that could be for various reasons.
That could be because you're traveling with many children's we need connecting rooms, which the OTAs don't really offer to you. It could be
because you have special needs, you have certain disabilities, et cetera. And to serve those travelers better there is a benefit in increasing the
coverage of direct booking options.
CHATTERLEY: Are you going to make that decision sometime soon?
HEFER: I don't know once we take it you will be the first to know.
CHATTERLEY: Oh, now you promise. Thank you so much for your time. And I thank you for that exclusive, not only the breaking news that the exclusive
like I'm doing my own terms here. Axel, great to chat to you, thank you, we'll speak again soon. The CEO of Trivago there, thank you.
OK, coming up, profits have always been paramount at Walmart streaming now paramount, apparently to a brand new deal could deliver an earnings plus
will explain next.
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[09:30:00]
CHATTERLEY: The digital - opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange, welcome back to "First Move" U.S. stocks are up and running for the second
time this week and it is unfortunately a lower start to the trading day with downbeat housing numbers. I think weighing on sentiment housing starts
falling by almost 10 percent last month to their lowest levels in over a year. This after a weaker read on homebuilder sentiment in the previous
session too clearly a slowing going on in the housing market.
Economists now warning that the U.S. has entered a housing recession due to the effect of higher interest rates in particularly for the cost of
mortgages and pedal problems for the indoor exercise industry to peloton slashing hundreds of jobs and hiking prices customers might soon have to
assemble bikes themselves to help the firm cut costs.
And some soul searching news from Soul Cycle to the indoor cycling studio closing some 25 percent of its locations and laying off staff as well
retail clearly affected by changing post lockdown habits, Home Depot shares lower even after reporting record sales and profits investors perhaps
warning in terms of how housing weakness will affect future growth shares in the meantime of Walmart rally, after beating lowered sales and profit
targets.
It says consumers are still trading down but it's been seeing sales improvement over the past few weeks. Christine Romans joins us now.
Christine, that's interesting in terms of the switch over the last few weeks, but I tell you what, what leapt out to me the change in terms of
away from higher margin goods to lower priced products more use of credit, rather than debit cards. So putting it on credit, and then just moving away
from non-processed meats to canned goods. These are all obvious signs.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: These are paycheck to paycheck customers who are changing their behavior, because their costs are
going up. And even the private brand growth rate was amazing. That was that had doubled from the first quarter to the second quarter.
So people are still shopping. In fact, according to Walmart CEO, they're going to Walmart because Walmart offers value. They're going to Walmart
because Walmart had a whole bunch of sales. Remember, they chopped prices on a lot of things that they had too much inventory of and that attracted
people and people spent their money their sales up 9 percent overall.
And in terms of that behavior change the company noting that people moving from deli meats and beef which costs more to hotdogs, a canned tuna, you
know prepackaged tuna and chicken bits. So it's a different kind of behavior from consumers. They're still spending their money. They're
spending it on a different mix of goods, Julia?
CHATTERLEY: Yes, what are the other things I think that stood out to me the sheer chunk of the market share gain that they're seeing in food with
people with incomes over $100,000 or more? So they're also seeing people looking for better value options, even at higher income levels, which is an
interesting sign too.
Not only that, but they're trying to move into other, an alternative and diversified products too so to get people to sign on to their discount
shipping service. They're now offering Paramount global streaming. It's Hello, Amazon Prime; we're coming to get you.
ROMANS: I know I've seen this model before and it certainly worked for Amazon. And so look, they note that their membership, this membership model
has grown every month since it was started in 2020. And the Wall Street Journal and others have reported that the company had been talking to a lot
of different folks about how it could put an offering on here.
And Paramount Plus is the offering so this will be offered you know, for the $98 a year you pay for the membership, this would be the add on it's
interesting because it's an added bonus to get people in there to do that. $98 a year. And look, I even said Amazon, Walmart membership and it looks
just like that Amazon model, doesn't it?
CHATTERLEY: Walmart thanking you at this moment.
ROMANS: Right, exactly.
CHATTERLEY: The comparisons clear. Yes, Christine, great to chat to you, thank you for that. OK, after the break joining forces to promote healing
and calm troubled minds. We're facing mental health head on Deepak Chopra and the Actress and Activist Gabriella Wright up next stay with us.
[09:35:00]
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to "First Move" conversations about mental health can often be difficult, and it's no exaggeration to say the pandemic has
affected all of us in different ways. Some are outwardly obvious others less so. But the statistics speak for themselves.
According to the World Health Organization, one person takes their own life every 40 seconds. It's also a leading cause of death among teens. Now
unlike physical health, mental health issues often go on treated even ignored.
Maybe it comes down to embarrassment feeling alone a lack of understanding of what we see in others or just a lack of information about simply how to
find help? Or that's for the "Never Alone" initiative comes in led by renowned meditation experts Dr. Deepak Chopra, the aim is to eliminate this
stigma around discussing mental health issues ones and for all from providing research into mental health therapies meditation videos right
through to offering educational resources to schools.
They've also launched an app and on the neveralone.love website. There's already an AI chatbot called Pee-Wee will explain available 24/7 via
messenger or text. And behind this campaign is a powerful partnership. The actress and activist Gabriella Wright met Dr. Chopra while working on a
film called "We are never alone". One which tackles the topic of suicide head on and together they are two of the forces behind the "Never Alone"
initiative. And they both join me now.
Welcome Gabriela welcome, Deepak is definitely two forces of nature on my show this morning. And thank you for joining us. And Gabriela, I want to
begin with you because this is a personal mission for you because you lost a beautiful sister to suicide. And this is about I think channeling the
emotion of that loss into something powerful and something positive to help as many other people as you can. Let's begin there.
GABRIELLA WRIGHT, ACTRESS, MODEL & ACTIVIST: Thank you so much, Julia. I actually want to start with "Never Alone" is a love story. And it starts
with a very personal love story. My sister, singer, songwriter died by suicide 4 years ago now and it's, I suppose it's that love, because her
absence has created so much presence with the fact that we need to feel her we need to experience the healing through her absence and we need to do
something about it.
And the truth is when she died by suicide, I realized that we're not alone, that we're not alone. There are millions of people who are experiencing
this grief. And the grief was so gigantic that it just was swallowing us slowly. And when I say us, it was not only myself, I'm the eldest sister, I
have a middle sister, she was the baby sister.
[09:40:00]
WRIGHT: And then there are my parents, there's my son. And all of a sudden, it felt like the Titanic, there was nothing that we could do. That was that
we felt hopeless, we felt helpless. And it was just this string of love that was our only hope to almost just survive the grief. And that's when I
realized, you know what, we have to do something about this, because we're not alone. We're not the only ones who are experiencing this suffering.
And we have to start by raising awareness. And that's how "Never Alone" started. It's just became this inner cry, this love story, this, this
tangible experience of how can I translate this loss into a loving presence, so that we can shine light on this stigma because there is a huge
stigma Julia, as you just so set culturally, religiously, you know, identity, country wise, we look at mental health very differently.
CHATTERLEY: Deepak I think that's the many ways, the perfect way to describe it not just the devastating loss of losing someone the emotional
suffering that they went through and what led them to choose suicide and saw that as the only path out.
But also this idea that there are people around them that also perhaps may be able to be advised on what to look for how to help? Deepak the
importance of this initiative and also, I think the importance of what you saw in Gabriella is someone that can be such a beacon of light to help
people whether it's watching someone suffer or someone that they needs help, and just need to reach out.
DEEPAK CHOPRA, AUTHOR AND FOUNDER, THE CHOPRA FOUNDATION AND CHOPRA GLOBAL: So, as you said Julia, right now, it's a pandemic, and it's a much bigger
pandemic, depression, anxiety, stress, and even suicidal ideation, combined, are a bigger Pandemic than all other pandemics combined. So we're
not our humanity is incomplete unless we address this.
The wisdom traditions of the world tell us that if you have empathy, which means you feel what another person feels compassion, which means you have
the desire to alleviate suffering, it automatically leads to what we call love in action. And this partnership with Gabriella is about love in
action, because love without action is really irrelevant. And action without love is meaningless.
But when you have love and action combined, then you can achieve extraordinary things because the whole world supports you. And Gabriella
brings to this very strong emotional story, which actually, instead of fighting the darkness brings in the light.
And then we also bring science to it. You know when you have these ingredients that we talk about attention deep listening, affection, deep
caring, appreciation, deep gratitude, in a sense for the uniqueness of every human being, and acceptance of all of us, including our own shadows,
and our own demons.
Then there is a biological response to that your neural networks wire, there's rewired there's something called limbic resonance, your emotional
brain starts to rewire itself. Limbic resonance leads to limbic regulation, which means your brain start your emotional brain starts to self-regulate
itself and ultimately leads to limbic revision, which means your brain actually changes its neural networks.
So with Gabriella bringing the story element in the conversation elements, and then our access to science and the world community, we think we can use
what we're doing, including artificial intelligence and deep learning, and creating online and offline communities of compassion and joy. We can
hopefully aspire to a critical mass for a more peaceful, just sustainable, healthier and joyful world. So thanks for giving us the opportunity to tell
the world about it.
CHATTERLEY: It's funny, Deepak when I asked Gabriella, where she found the strength from having described what happened to her family as being like
the Titanic and the devastation that took place after the loss of Paulette, she said, you have to ask Deepak that love in action and the four A's and
you just describe that I think that part of reconnecting I think emotionally and working out how you move forward and how you turn something
so sad into something so positive.
[09:45:00]
CHATTERLEY: I want to talk about the technology because I do think this is really interesting and this AI bot and PIWI Gabriella, you can describe
because I know that was nickname for your sister. But this idea perhaps that for young people and some part of it breaks my heart but some part of
me also recognizes the power of it.
They'd rather speak to an AI robot because they don't feel judged in some way, but that the power to magnify those that you touch, using technology,
at this moment in time is huge. And that's the point here we want to touch as many lives as possible, help as many people as possible.
WRIGHT: Absolutely, and PIWI so far. So peewee is the nickname of my little sister and I spoke about her in the present tense because the presence
never dies, in just presence doesn't die and presence when you're fully in the awareness of it is love.
And that is the language that and that's the energy that is behind what we're doing. It's this currency of loving action as Deepak described. So
PIWI is also an acronym for People Interacting with Intention. And so we were able to couple her nickname with actually what we do.
And this AI emotional chat bot, during the height of the pandemic, 16 million messages were exchanged on our platform; 6 million minutes of
conversation were recorded. And helped people and 6000 suicide ideations were de-escalated. So we have much more data as well.
And that was the first rendition of PIWI, we're now re activating her with a more well-being mental well-being appropriation for to accompany on your
journey for every day. And so that's obviously consciousness space, thanks to Dr. Deepak Chopra.
And, and all of the work that we do through consciousness studies bringing that into to the tip of your fingers so that you never experienced
loneliness so that you know that you can go somewhere. And it's exactly what you were saying, Julia, young people prefer to talk to technology.
They don't want to - they do not feel judged, they feel safer. And this is the world that we're in today, whether we like it or not, technology is
part of our humanity. And we need to embrace it and flood it with consciousness and conscious - tools, self-awareness tools, and these tools
can then really help families in distress.
Because everyone like in my family, there are blind spots, sometimes it's easier to help a stranger than to help some of your family members. And we
have to be vulnerable enough to realize that we don't know everything, but we will know to get.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, it's funny. In a world where we're more connected than ever, at times the degree of loneliness is that much greater. But if we can
harness technology for good to connect people the right way, and for the right reasons, it can be so powerful.
Deepak very quickly, I know you've employed all sorts of ways to help raise money as well, including a foray into crypto, I'm not going to ask you your
views on Cryptocurrencies, don't worry. But what more do you need, how can people help and what's the game plan going forward to get as many people
aware of this and conscious of this as we can?
CHOPRA: I think the more people participate, the more people there are for each other in those forays acceptance, appreciation, deep gratitude,
purpose, meaning all coming together. We have a new story for humanity. To be human is to have a story.
We need to update our story right now, collectively, because everything that we're talking about today in the world, you know, social injustice,
economic injustice, fractured relationships, war, terrorism, economic disruptions, the disruption of the ecosystem, worldwide pandemics are all
related to one simple fact we haven't discovered who we are.
If we knew who we are, at the most fundamental level, and then we are so inseparably interconnected, that our joy depends on each other. Our health
depends on each other. Our happiness depends on each other. And it's time to rewire even globally, the neural networks of the collective mind and
that's happening right now through social media. It's happening through this conversation, and we'll have a--
CHATTERLEY: Yes, we're working on it.
CHOPRA: --Julia.
CHATTERLEY: Gabriella, I have a minute left. I watched videos of your sister singing this morning. She has to use your present term the most
angelic voice beautiful her smile, megawatt. What do you want people to know about how she would feel now about this conversation perhaps but also
what someone's so beautiful so talented but also suffering so deeply and quietly?
[09:50:00]
CHATTERLEY: What the message is?
WRIGHT: The message that she will want us to realize is that if we're kinder, we would be able to hear each other's inner smile. And if we're
able to hear that, then there's no need to judge anyone. There's no need to be angry. There's no need to gossip. It's just the currency of kindness.
CHATTERLEY: Yes.
WRIGHT: And I think, you know, kindness heals the world. Kindness heals the world.
CHATTERLEY: A beautiful legacy - Gabriella thank you!
WRIGHT: Thank you.
CHATTERLEY: Gabriella Wright and Deepak Chopra there both of you, thank you so much, and come back soon; we'll track your progress. Thank you for what
you're doing. And a reminder of that website, it's "Never Alone Dr. Love". And they'll also mental health resources on cnn.com and next month in the
United States, it's National Suicide Prevention Week too, more "First Move" after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHATTERLEY: Just into CNN U.S. First Lady Jill Biden has tested positive for COVID-19. Her office says she's experiencing mild symptoms. A positive
test comes two weeks after her husband had COVID. The Biden is currently on this summer holiday at the beach in South Carolina. We wish her well.
And new man new firm Newman nearly three years after he stepped down as the CEO of WeWork, remember that? Adam Newman said to be in charge of a billion
dollar startup. Paul R. LA. Monica has all the details. When is the capitalist kibbutz not a capitalist kibbutz when we are living life in flow
for Paul, tell us more what do we make of this?
PAUL R LA MONICA, CNN REPORTER: I'm not even - I'm not even sure.
CHATTERLEY: --down there. No, I know.
MONICA: Let's just put it this way. Adam Newman is back. He has a company called "flow" we don't really know much about it. It is hoping it sounds
like to try and revolutionize the housing market taking advantage if you will, of the fact that there could be an opportunity in a world where there
are lots of people who are working remotely and maybe aren't going into the office.
They need now housing as a social outlet that the office used to be so kind of take the WeWork model and transmogrify it into something for housing
called flow. We need more details and we have to have a healthy dose of skepticism.
As we know even if you didn't watch all the fictionalized accounts of Adam Newman and his fall from grace. WeWork lost a lot of money. It finally went
public without him through SPAC at a fraction of its once lofty $47 billion unicorn valuation.
[09:55:00]
MONICA: But what's disturbing here is that Andreessen Horowitz, one of the VC firms that invested in WeWork is now investing in flow again and it
sounds like I hate to say it, they're drinking the proverbial Kool Aid and hoping that Newman can you know, maybe strike - they'll have lightning
strike twice but maybe not have the negative effects of what happened the first time with WeWork.
I'm scratching my head why a reputable VC firm is backing him again. Investors have to be cautious if this thing ever goes public.
CHATTERLEY: Biggest investment they've ever made apparently. You could speak to a - Yoshi over at SoftBank about how that Kool Aid tasted.
(CROSSTALK)
CHATTERLEY: --New York City, though, something that could standardize the quality of rentals in New York City could be really powerful and other
cities around America let's be clear. So it's possible and you can make money keep doing it and also make it better for individuals then great. To
your point, we remain skeptical.
MONICA: Yes, we need to see more details. It's a great idea on paper but--
CHATTERLEY: We are not going with the flow. Live life in the flow, not yet. Paul R LA Monica.
MONICA: Goodbye--
CHATTERLEY: Goodbye! Goodbye! Goodbye! That's it for the show. "Connect the World' with Becky Anderson is up next. I'll see you tomorrow.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
