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First Move with Julia Chatterley

Major Counteroffensive Underway in Southern Ukraine; Melting Ice in Greenland to Raise Oceans by 27CM; Markets Heading into Traditionally Volatile Month of September; Is the World having Enough Children to Sustain Civilization; Panama Based Ocean Builders Specializes in Innovative Marine Technology; "Eco-Friendly" Floating Homes are Being Built in Panama. Aired 9-10a ET

Aired August 30, 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)

ALISON KOSIK, CNN HOST, FIRST MOVE: Warm welcome to "First Move". I'm Alison Kosik. Lots to get to this Thursday - this Tuesday rather, including

Ukraine on the offensive Ukrainian forces beginning a military operation to retake the Russian occupied Kherson region this as international inspectors

ready a high stakes visit to the biggest nuclear plant in Europe.

The massive power station increasingly in the line of fire in this six month war, we are live in Kyiv with the latest. Plus the business of Serena

Tennis Great Serena Williams winning her opening round U.S. Open match and what could be her last major tournament before retiring. We'll serve up a

discussion on what's next for the 23 time Grand Slam winner coming up.

But first, another center court match about to get underway on Wall Street a better picture for U.S. stocks after two days of selling pressure, with

all the major averages currently on track for a higher open Europe mostly higher too. But still a lot of nervousness over the Fed's rate hike path

after Chair Powell is hawkish speech on Friday.

Just released numbers showed German inflation raising to almost 9 percent this month as well a higher pace than expected. Stocks are studying as oil

prices pull back on global growth fears European natural gas prices they're falling sharply as well amid optimism that the region can withstand a

winter with less Russian gas.

The EU also reading emergency measures to ease the shock of sky high energy prices more on the markets later in the show but first major counter

attacks are underway. Ukraine says its forces have broken through in several places on the frontline of the battle near the Southern City of

Kherson. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, saying they will drive Russian troops to the border.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: If they want to survive, it's time for the Russian military to run away, go home. If they do not hear me

they will have to deal with our defenders who will not stop until they free everything that belongs to Ukraine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: Melissa Bell is live in Kyiv with the latest. Melissa, what are Ukrainian officials saying about this offensive in the South?

MELISSA BELL, CNN PARIS CORRESPONDENT: Well, on one hand, they're remaining fairly tight lipped because they want Ukrainians who are naturally at this

point full of hope about what may be going on to understand that this is going to take some time.

And that's one of the things we've been hearing over the course of the last few hours, is presidential adviser saying this is going to be a long grind.

And we shouldn't hope for too many early successes. And yet we're also hearing from Ukrainian officials at some at the regional level at some

hearing Kyiv Alison of those early successes.

Remember that this is a counter offensive the Ukrainian side had been preparing for, for some time, using those that more advanced weaponry that

it now has, thanks to NATO allies, and specifically the American high mars to get beyond the front lines to try and take out some of that key

infrastructure along the Dnieper River that had allowed Russian forces to resupply their troops that are currently holding Kherson.

That we heard last night about the four villages that have been taken. We've been hearing this morning about the fact that on this day two have

the counter offensive it is several towns and villages along the front line that are the scene of fighting with the Ukrainian forces, again, according

to Ukrainian officials have been able to continue targeting those attempts being made by Russian forces to ferry their way across the river, their

troops and their men, their troops and their weaponry.

Given that so many of the bridges that used to allow that crossing, say Ukrainians had been entirely destroyed. They say they're now targeting

those efforts to ferry across their men and their weapons. From the Russian side we'd heard of course last night, the acknowledgement that this counter

offensive had begun but also the idea from the Russian Ministry of Defense that it had been an absolute failure, according to them.

So we keep a very close eye on this. There's a lot of excitement here in Kyiv amongst Ukrainians that what they hope they're going to see as a

turning point. But again, Alison, if that happens, it's going to be slow and painful. There are a lot of Russian soldiers currently occupying

Kherson.

KOSIK: Melissa, I know that a team from the IAEA has arrived there in Kyiv. Do you know when they're going to get to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant to

take a look at what's going on and that's as the EU is donating millions of potassium iodide tablets to Ukraine, to protect the citizens there in case

there is some sort of radiation exposure.

[09:05:00]

BELL: That gives you an idea of how concerned people are. You're talking about Europe's largest nuclear facility and it has been the subject, not

just of fighting, but so much speculation these last few days, the shelling around it were damaged it may or may not have caused who's responsible for

the shelling now.

We were hoping to hear more this morning Alison from the IAEA, team itself staying here at this hotel in Kyiv. We were hoping to find out exactly when

they were hoping to get to Zaporizhzhia and what access they'd been given.

Now that press conference was suddenly cancelled. And since then, we've been hearing from Ukrainian officials, the idea that it is Russians

shuffling of the corridors that would have allowed them to get to the plant, but also Russian military exercises around the plant that are

preventing the team from going.

Again, from the Russian side we've been hearing that there had been Ukrainian shelling near the plant this morning. And it is in that context

that we will need to hear more from the IAEA itself. Clearly, the hope had been that they would get to Zaporizhzhia fairly quickly. For the time being

that doesn't appear to be the case.

And again, with all those concerns, as that shelling continues, as that safe passage is impossible for these inspectors one way or the other of

what that will mean for the plant. And remember that this is a plant that is in the hands of Russian forces since it is now in those occupied parts

of the country around Zaporizhzhia. But it is being manned by Ukrainian engineers an extremely worrying situation that for the time being the world

waits to hear more about, Alison.

KOSIK: OK, Melissa Bell live for us from Kyiv thanks so much. To Iraq, a country on edge right now after some of the deadliest violence its Capital

Baghdad has seen in years. This was just a snapshot of the fighting on Monday when at least 10 people were killed and hundreds more injured

According to medical sources.

The violence was brought on after a prominent cleric announced he's quitting from politics throwing the country's leadership into further

uncertainty. Ben Wedeman is live for us on this story. So these clashes have certainly intensified Ben overnight?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, actually, they've come to a rather abrupt end at 1 pm Baghdad time Moqtada Sadr came

on television and told his followers, first of all, he condemned the violence, which just to update you has left at least 21 people dead and

more than 250 wounded.

He condemned the violence, and he told his supporters who were inside the green zone that they must leave within 60 minutes. Or in his words, he

would disavow the movement that is known as the Sadrist Movement named after him.

And what we saw from those television networks that are actually functioning out of Baghdad was that those protesters left almost

immediately. The guns fell silent, they left the Green Zone immediately the guns fell silent, and within minutes, the Iraqi army cancelled a Baghdad

wide curfew that had been announced.

Now, just to give you the background to this Moqtada Sadr, who is a powerful Shia Leader, leads a block that won the largest group of seats in

the Iraqi parliament last October. But since then, none of the politicians were able to agree on the formation of a government.

Moqtada Sadr back in June told all his 73 Members of Parliament to resign what followed were citizens within the green zone where the Iraqi

parliament was located. And yesterday on Twitter Moqtada Sadr announced that he was permanently withdrawing from political life.

Now I believe that's the fifth or the sixth time he's made such an announcement since 2013. But that was an act that sent his supporters into

the green zone, some of them occupying what's known as the presidential rather the Republican Palace of where the current caretaker government is

functioning.

But apparently the shock of the violence that we've seen over the last 24 hours was enough perhaps to convince Muqtada Sadr that it was time to call

his people back. And it appears at the moment at the moment calm has been restored Alison, in Baghdad.

KOSIK: OK, Ben Wedeman thanks for all that great context. The world's biggest electronics market shut down. China locks down some areas in the

City of Shenzhen, the country's southern technology hub. This as Beijing sticks to its zero COVID policy. I want to bring in Will Ripley he joins us

now.

[09:10:00]

KOSIK: Well, great to see you. So how long do you think this latest lockdown will last?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it really depends on the case numbers, but I need to put the case numbers in context.

Shenzhen has 18 million people. They have 35 infections reported today. 11 of them are asymptomatic. And because of those 35 infections, they are

shutting down, as you mentioned that world's largest electronics market.

They're putting neighborhoods into mandatory four day lock downs, several neighborhoods. They are basically classifying dozens of areas dozens of

neighborhoods is high risk, which means that there are lockdown orders residential buildings are blocked off people's apartments, if there's a

single COVID case in their apartment, surrounded by barbed wire fencing.

Entertainment venues are closed in many areas along with public parks, public gatherings are banned. You know if you have wedding canceled. 24

subway stations are suspending service along with hundreds of bus stations. And this is all because there's this new Omicron variant BF-15 which is you

know, experts say more transmissible and harder to detect.

And so they're worried about those 35 infections becoming a larger number. So as a result, millions of people are once again enduring kind of like

this time war back to the zero COVID days that many of us around the world at one point experienced but most countries except for China have pretty

much moved on or in the process of moving on.

But this is a pet project of China's President Xi Jinping who has absolute power in that country of 1.5 billion people so even though the zero COVID

policy is expecting a heavy blow to the economy in China, which has been slowing down.

I mean, you have youth unemployment now at a record high. One in five young people out of work in China, you have and you have this massive effort,

expensive effort to enforce zero COVID, even as vaccination rates, especially among the high risk elderly continue to be low.

So they're spending money on digital surveillance, mass testing, extensive warranties of snap lock downs, and yet people aren't getting the shots and

the arms the vaccinations that they would need to be protected and other countries have felt that if enough people are vaccinated, they can move on

from zero COVID safely. That's not happening and China Alison.

KOSIK: OK, Will Ripley thanks for all of your reporting. The Head of the UN is warning that the planet is sleepwalking to its own destruction, saying

climate change has created what he calls a monsoon on steroids in Pakistan.

More than 1000 people have been killed by floods that are threatening to submerge a third of the country. The disaster is impacting tens of millions

of people and has already caused damage estimated at $10 billion. Anna Coren has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The endless monsoon rains may have eased for now with the deluge across Pakistan has left carnage and

destruction on an unprecedented scale. Up to a third of the country could end up underwater.

Countless townships are already submerged, leaving millions of Pakistanis destitute and homeless. We are poor people says this woman. Our home was

destroyed. Our belongings disappeared in the big flood. Our children are waiting on the bank with no food, no shelter.

The government says the historic floods across Pakistan that have claimed the lives of more than 1100 people are estimated to have caused more than

$10 billion in damage. For a country that already received a bailout from the International Monetary Fund this calamity could push its fragile

economy to the brink.

AHSAN IQBAL, PAKISTANI PLANNING MINISTER: Until water completely recedes they will not be able to go and physically do the survey. But my hunch is

that this figure is going to be two to three times higher than what we are estimating.

COREN (voice over): The Prime Minister has set up a national Flood Response and Coordination Center. And the military has been mobilized to help with

evacuations. 10 cities have sprung up and humanitarian aid is slowly trickling in, but it's a drop in the ocean considering the magnitude of

this climate change induced catastrophe.

PETER OPHOFF, INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF RED CROSS & RED CRESCENT:

I have been in the Red Cross Red Crescent for the last 29 years I haven't seen anything like this. It is a serious situation. Pakistan is in dire

need and the damages are here and we will be in this for a long time. It's not months but years that we're talking about.

COREN (voice over): A timeframe unfathomable to these desperate people whose only priority right now is survival. Anna Coren, CNN, Hong Kong.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOSIK: Meantime a new report warns a melting ice sheet will raise sea levels by 27 centimeters around the world by the start of the next century.

The study predicts trillions of tons of ice will dis appear in Greenland between now and then. Joining us now is CNN's Chief Climate Correspondent

Bill Weir.

[09:15:00]

KOSIK: Bill, great to see you. I want to hear more about the details of this study. But first, tell us why Greenland and its ice sheet are so

important.

BILL WEIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, well, it's the position. It's up in the Arctic, which is warming, you know, three to four times faster than the

rest of the planet. And because it's this massive block of land ice, it has enormous implications, not just on sea level rise, but also the Gulf

Stream, the current - the conveyor belt that brings warm water up from the Caribbean up past the United States over to England, is that all this

freshwater melting is throwing that off as well, which affects weather patterns, really around the world.

KOSIK: So this report actually isn't saying that the entire Greenland ice pack will melt the results that they're talking about is 3.3 percent of the

ice sheet, or 110 trillion tons of ice between now in the year 2100. How much is in the full ice pack?

WEIR: Well, if the whole thing melts, it would raise sea levels by 20 to 30 feet, you know, by dozens of meter. It's beyond comprehensible. It's you

know, taking Earth back to millions of years before humans built cities on the coastlines right there.

But just enough is already sort of gone is already water over the bridge, to mix the metaphor right there. Because what has historically happened is

climate models have tried to pick a date in the future. And using computer modeling to factor in all the different factors, there's so many different

things that go into this.

They say by this year, it will rise by this. Well, these numbers are so much higher, because they're just observing what has already happened.

They're looking at about 20 years of satellite data to measure how the snow line retreats and advances seasonally?

And just by seeing what is gone, they realize there's so much less ice to catch and more snow and build itself back up. And so what we have already

built into the system here is about 27 centimeters, 11 inches. That's a global average, though, we have to keep in mind, some places like Southeast

Asia, and it could be five times that.

It depends on where you are on the planet. Meanwhile, the actually the sea level around Greenland, the country is actually rising up as all of that

with the weight of that ice melts off. So sea levels in Greenland are going down. But it's hugely, hugely alarming for coastal cities who are already

trying to plan. There's billion dollar seawall plans in Charleston, South Carolina, for example. But this accelerates the timeline, and makes it that

much more difficult to adapt.

KOSIK: OK. And in addition, no research shows that if the sea level rise is one foot, we should expect worst flooding. And the study's co-author told

you last year that the sea level rises would be happening so fast, that it will be hard to adapt. So talk us through what this means for places that

aren't underwater at the moment or wouldn't be?

WEIR: Yes. Well, you know, the thing is, you think well, if it rises 10 inches, I live 20 miles from the coastline I'll be safe. But this means

more nuisances flooding by a factor of 10. That means bigger storm surges when there are hurricanes, it means infrastructure that was built at a

different time no longer will hold up in, in cities like New Orleans and Charleston and Boston.

It's obvious there if you go down to the waterfront, how close they are to peril but real worrisome things are like Vietnam, for example. And if rice

production is wiped out by seawater inundation, you know, that has a trickle effect economically. Humanitarian climate refugees are all part of

what happens if that all system collapses.

They're working on coming up with new strands of rice, new strains genetically that can survive in brackish water. But this kind of research

is at its infancy and this is happening, as we said much faster than expected.

KOSIK: Yes, certainly stunning research Bill Weir thanks so much for breaking all that down! Coming up on "First Move" Elon Musk thinks the

world's population is on track to collapse. And that's a bigger threat to civilization than global warming. Is he right? Plus Uber cool floating

homes of the future check things out a few meters above the waves, science fiction becoming science fact right now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:20:00]

KOSIK: Welcome back to "First Move", I'm Alison Kosik. U.S. stocks still on track for a higher open this Tuesday. Stock set to rise after two days of

losses including Friday's big fed induced sell off. Wall Street action could remain choppy as we close out August trading and head toward the

traditionally volatile month of September. Lots of upcoming data could affect the direction of the markets as well.

New U.S. consumer confidence numbers will be released later today. The big challenge for Investors comes on Friday when the U.S. releases the August

jobs report. Sam Stovall joins us now he's the chief investment strategist at CFRA Research, great to have you with us.

SAM STOVALL, CHIEF INVESTMENT STRATEGIST, CFRA RESEARCH: Good morning, Alison.

KOSIK: Good morning, so I am still reeling from that 1000 points sell off that happened on Friday. I want to hear what your thoughts are about you

know about what happened? And if Jay Powell set the right tone in Jackson Hole, Wyoming?

STOVALL: Well, I don't think you're alone. I think a lot of people were taken by surprise. Most people thought that Fed Chair Powell really would

not say anything substantive at the Jackson Hole meeting because expectations were that there are a lot of data that will come out between

now and the September 20th, 21st FOMC meeting. But he did read, you know, say once again that they want to strangle inflation and are going to take a

very firm stance. So the implication therefore is that the Fed will raise rates probably by 75 basis points or three quarters of 1 percent and then

add some more as time goes on and not start to lower rates in 2023 as Investors thought.

KOSIK: Do you think that Fed Chair Jay Powell reignited the bear market? Is the market expected to revisit those June lows?

STOVALL: I think that Fed Chair Powell in a sense triggered a retest of the June lows. That happened on June 16th. But history says that we'll probably

retest but not set a lower low. Recently the S&P 500 recovered 50 percent of the decline that had experienced from January 3 through June 16. And

whenever we had a 50 percent or more retracement, we never set a lower low, of course not a guarantee, but it is a reassuring statistic.

KOSIK: Yes, consumers in all walks of life are feeling the effects of high inflation to them. It's pain. And Jay Powell talked of this pain, but do

you think the U.S. economy is really experiencing the pain that he's talking about? Is it when maybe the Fed sees unemployment rise? The job

market really taking a hit is that the indicator that the Powell wants to see to know that his strategy is taking hold?

STOVALL: Well, I think he wants to see the inflation rate come down.

[09:25:00]

STOVALL: Our expectation is by the December reading we should be close to a 6 percent year on year increase versus the 9 percent that we saw in June.

And then by the end of 2023, our forecast is for 2.5 percent. So the Fed is really focused on that inflation rate. And unfortunately, you know, in a

sense, there could be collateral occurrences where you know, you have higher unemployment, etc. And that's just part of the action of raising

interest rates, in order to dampen inflation, he does not want to repeat the mistakes of the 1970s, where they raised rates only to then loosen them

very quickly, and really not end up crashing inflation.

KOSIK: So hearing how tough he talked at Jackson Hole, do you think at this point of recession in the U.S. is inevitable?

STOVALL: I think it's highly likely every time since World War II, that the year on your rise in CPI exceeded 6.5 percent. And remember, we hit a high

watermark of 9.1. We had a bear market and a recession. The real question, I think, is how shallow will this recession be? And because unemployment is

so low currently, and because of the growth that we still see in the economy, over the coming quarters, we believe that the recession will be

shallow.

KOSIK: So with this pedal to the metal approach that the Fed is sort of latching on to get a handle on inflation. I'm curious how concerned you are

about, you know, the fallout in the economy or the stress in the system that will result in this?

STOVALL: Well, I think nobody knows for sure how deep it's going to run. And so yes, you have to be very cautious about it. But at the same time,

you really can't say sell everything and then just wait on the sidelines, investing is taking advantage of opportunities, and with valuations for

stocks being at levels below long term averages fairly recently. I think Investors who do have long term time horizons need to be nibbling at stocks

today. And they'll be very happy a year from now that they did.

KOSIK: So where do you see opportunity in this market then?

STOVALL: Well, I think as you had introduced that September is a challenging month. It's along with February the only to post an average

decline, but it's the only month of all 12 that actually fell more frequently than it rose. So I think we'll see more challenges in September.

But I point to another historical tidbit that the October of midterm election years through the October of the year after never fell since World

War II, and the average total return was 21 percent. So I think seasonally once we get beyond this September and October time period of elevated

volatility, Investors will end up feeling better a year from now.

KOSIK: Two months of buckling down and buckling it in our thanks to Sam Stovall, the chief investment strategist at CFRA Research thanks very much.

Coming up on "First Move" Twitter shares are struggling this morning after Elon Musk says allegations made by Twitter's whistleblower are enough

reason to ditch his deal details just after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:30:00]

KOSIK: Welcome back to "First Move", I'm Alison Kosik. U.S. stocks are up and running this Tuesday a better tone for the market so far with the U.S.

majors on the rise for the first time in three sessions. Tech stocks trying to claw back some of the 5 percent losses suffered since Friday, when Fed

Chair Jerome Powell issued his hawkish message on interest rates.

Shares of Twitter are under pressure in early trading as Elon Musk sends a new letter to the social media firm's management. Musk says new

whistleblower allegations prove he's justified in trying to back out of his Twitter takeover agreement. Twitter wasting no time and firing back a

response.

Paul La Monica joins us now. Paul, this back and forth is getting really interesting. First, walk us through what this latest reason is that Musk is

giving to pull out of this $44 billion deal.

PAUL R. LA MONICA, CNN REPORTER: Yes, exactly Alison, Musk obviously has plenty of reasons he wants to back out of the deal. But this new one are

based on the allegations from the Twitter whistleblower that were exclusively reported by CNN and the Washington Post that really show

allegedly, some lacks security at cybersecurity at Twitter, which could be of course, a major problem if you want to spend $44 billion to buy a

company that might have some security holes.

So Musk is deposing Mudge Zatko, the former security chief at Twitter. Zatko is also going to be testifying in front of Congress as well. So he's

going to be in the news a lot over the next few weeks. Whether or not this effectively scuttles the deal for good still remains to be seen but Musk

doing everything he can to try and back out of the agreed purchase of Twitter for $44 billion.

KOSIK: And so what did Twitter say to his latest? You know his latest punch?

MONICA: Yes, I mean, Twitter clearly wants to have this deal go through. They are trying through the court to see if they can have their, the

purchase agreement enforced. And it remains to be seen how a judge will rule in that regard. I think Alison, though; there are still so many

questions. Will Musk agree to pay a higher breakup fee to walk away from this deal? Will he negotiate maybe a lower price to try and buy Twitter

since Twitter clearly has been reeling in recent weeks with the stock price now below $40 a share which you don't need to be a math genius to know

that's well below 50 to 40 the agreed upon takeover price that Musk originally offered.

So, you know Musk, in some respects is holding all the cards not the least of which being the fact that he is the world's richest person. So I think

Twitter is going to try their best to get this deal in force but Musk clearly does not want to do this deal, at least not at this price. And with

this entire new question mark surrounding Twitter.

KOSIK: All right, our thanks to Paul La Monica, thanks for all that great context. And Twitter is an Elon's only concern. The billionaire shared his

thoughts about the world's population last week tweeting this "Population collapse due to low birth rates is a much bigger risk to civilization than

global warming".

So is the global birth rate really that bad? Who else to bring in but Elizabeth Cohen to set us straight.

[09:35:00]

KOSIK: Elizabeth Cohen is he right or is wrong?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: He wrong, he is wrong, according to the experts that we've talked to Alison, you know, birth rates

are going to go down over the next 80 years or so. But that doesn't mean that there's a population collapse, people are not so worried about this.

Now there are, you know, things will happen, there are economic repercussions, but collapse and worse than global warming, that is really

just quite going far, far down a limb. Let's take a look at what the birth rate is going to do. So if you look at births, now, what we're seeing is

about 134 million babies born worldwide per year. If you project out about 80 years from now, it will go down to 111 million now, at least in the

U.S., a major reason for that decline is that there are fewer teen pregnancies, and that is a good thing. So again, this is not something to

get worried about, according to all the experts that we've spoken to. In fact, one of them said he is better at making cars than about predicting

population trends, Alison.

KOSIK: And good point we've got enough to worry about than this. But I do want to ask you, you know, when we look at a birth rate per women, how do

countries measure up?

COHEN: Yes, it's very interesting to see this it really has gone down really over the course of like a generation or two. It's such a dramatic

change. So let's take a look globally at births per women, per woman I should say. So when you look in the 1950s, it was five per woman each woman

had on average five babies, when you look at last year, it was 2.3. Again, a big difference in just a pretty short period of time. If you want to look

at low birth rate countries, Italy is just 1.2 births per women, China, the same Japan 1.3. Those are three that are particularly low. But again, does

this mean the end of civilization as we know it? Is it worse than global warming? Absolutely not, Alison.

KOSIK: All right, Elizabeth Cohen thanks for setting him straight Elon Musk.

COHEN: Thanks.

KOSIK: Thanks, still to come Serena Williams delights her fans on a big night at the U.S. Open, warm what could be her last tournament after the

break?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:40:00]

KOSIK: It was a record setting opening night at the U.S. open fit for the greatest of all time. More than 29,000 fans packed Arthur Ashe Stadium in

New York to watch Serena Williams and what could have been her last match.

But the 23-time Grand Slam champion did not disappoint, winning her first round match in straight sets. Ahead of the tournament, Williams shared this

message with her fans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SERENA WILLIAMS, U.S. TENNIS PLAYER: Thank you, thank you so much. I am so overwhelmed and it's just been an incredible ride and I'm so happy that you

guys are on it with me and I love you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: After 27 years of professional Tennis, the 40-year old champion is looking ahead to new challenges off the court. Joining us now is Patrick

Rishe, he is a sports business professor at Washington University, St. Louis, and the founder and CEO of the consulting firm sports impact.

Patrick, thank you for coming in today.

PATRICK RISHE, FOUNDER AND CEO, SPORTSIMPACTS: Thanks, Alison.

KOSIK: Let's begin with Serena is legacy she's said she never liked the word retirement and kind of thinks of this more as an evolution, doesn't

she?

RISHE: Well, she does, and I think Alison, the thing that we have to remark at is not only there, obviously a true champion of all time. But the legacy

that she's made, she's created greater diversity and inclusiveness in the sport itself. We've seen a different socio-economic of fans than we did 30

years ago, but also some of her peers that are now competing, you see more minorities competing and professional tennis. This is all the impact of

Venus and Serena Williams.

KOSIK: Yes, but she's clearly having a hard time with what she calls this evolution. Some may call her retirement. So could this be a retirement much

like Tiger Woods where she competes it? You know a few events every year? I don't know if you sure you saw the piece she wrote in vogue. She said, I

love to entertain. I'm not sure every player sees it that way. But I love the performance aspect of it to be able to entertain people week after

week, and she's having real misgivings about, you know, evolving or retiring.

RISHE: Well, one of the things that she can do, obviously is a double star as well with her sister, you could see potentially opportunities during the

year where she could compete with her sister and say, doubles events and select Events. But I think part of the reason why we're seeing what we're

seeing Alison is just the physical grind at the age of 40. Let's face it, she's had her share of adversities physically which she's overcome. But I

think part of what this recent announcement was basically saying, look, I'm at a point where I need to kind of dial it back, but maybe we'll see her in

some doubles events going forward.

KOSIK: She's also said she's going to go ahead and turn her focus to her venture capital firm that she began 8 years ago called Serena ventures,

what investments do you see her focusing on?

RISHE: Well, certainly being tech forward, you know, a lot of the athletes and certainly Serena is no different, wanting to invest in tech forward

companies, and also those companies that are focused on empowerment, and diversity and quality and inclusiveness.

You know, it's interesting when you think about when athletes retire, oftentimes, if they've been high endorsement earners, they may lose a

little bit of the shine a little bit of the limelight. If they're out of the public's eye, they're not as valuable as an endorser. But in Serena's

case, you think about the moment of time that we're in as a country with the forcefulness of the women's empowerment movement, greater diversity,

equality and inclusiveness. I could see companies like the Gatorade, the Gucci's wanting to continue to affiliate with her, she's a champion, but

also any company that champions this message of women's empowerment and diversity and equality. So again, for her and her investments, I think

sports tech, and tech in general is going to be one area that we'll see her focus on.

KOSIK: What do you think makes Serena Williams a good marketing celebrity? I mean, you know, where does she rank with that consumer appeal? What makes

her so relatable?

RISHE: Well, I think what the reliability comes back to again, I mean, you've got someone that's a champion, first and foremost, corporate America

wants someone that's a winner. You also again, in this day and age, with the emphasis that there's been on women's empowerment and diversity and

equality.

Obviously, she represents that she personifies that, from her upbringing. What a wonderful story right coming from where she did to where she is now,

it's just an inspiring story. And so for these reasons, the champion, inspiration personification of all of these characteristics and attributes

that brands want to be affiliated with. I think this is what makes her such an attractive product endorser not just now but for years to come.

[09:45:00]

KOSIK: And we will have to see where she winds up after her tennis days are somewhat over but it will be interesting to see how she branches out with

Serena ventures. Patrick Rishe, thanks so much for your perspective. Patrick Rishe, sports business professor at Washington University, St.

Louis, and founder of Sports Impacts. Thanks for coming on the show.

RISHE: Thanks, Alison.

KOSIK: Coming up after the break, floating homes of the future are being built right now. These space age pods come with all the luxuries for modern

living except of course, a drive way.

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KOSIK: And now the ultimate home if you'd like to be alone, take a look at these luxury living pods which float on steel tubes three meters above the

surface of the water. They cost between $295,000 and $1.5 million, a piece. And they're currently under construction in the Linton Bay Marina on the

north coast of Panama, the company behind it called Ocean builders.

The company hopes to distribute them internationally once it's confident that technology can be supported elsewhere. You get 73 square meters of

living space in one of these things, you get panoramic windows, and they come loaded with technology. The company says if you run out of milk, hey,

then drones will deliver small items.

And as for taking out the garbage well larger autonomous vehicles, they'll do that job. The company has also devised a model for use on land. Grant

Romundt is the CEO of Ocean Builders and I am so excited to talk with you about these super cool sci-fi looking pods, welcome to the show.

GRANT ROMUNDT, CEO OF OCEAN BUILDERS: Thank you, Alison, great to be here.

KOSIK: So let's talk about what the options are for those who want to buy one of these things. There's one built for aquatic living, one for land and

a third for what you call a more environmentally friendly option. Is there a certain person who could actually handle this kind of living? Talk us

through who the right person is to buy one of these and to live in one of these?

ROMUNDT: You know I was originally living in a floating home about 3.5 years ago in Toronto. It looked like a normal house but it was on a

floating concrete barge. And everyone that came to visit just fell in love with the lifestyle.

[09:50:00]

ROMUNDT: And I found that people that would never think about living on the water just fell in love with it and I didn't even know it existed until I

stayed there as a one night Airbnb. And then I extended for a week, and then a month and then the summer and then I didn't leave for many years. So

now I've come here to Panama to build what I believe is the world's most technologically advanced floating home, and maybe most advanced home on

land as well.

KOSIK: Oh, go ahead, finish your thought.

ROMUNDT: So I think the market for this is pretty much anyone that I can get on to sea pod for just a few minutes, because the views are stunning.

And I think people fall in love with the lifestyle.

KOSIK: So I want to go through some of the specs with you a little bit more. What is the aquatic one attached to how far into the ocean? Is it

sitting? And can you install these anywhere in the world?

ROMUNDT: So the pod itself, we call the sea pod, the floating version in the water. It looks kind of it's kind of an optical illusion, it looks like

the post, the steel tube post goes straight into the sea floor. Because the whole house is floating, so high up above the ground or above the water

doesn't look like it could just be floating, but it actually is floating. It can be in minimum 5 meters water and a maximum of about 200 meters.

KOSIK: What if there is a big storm that's coming or just a big wave, I mean, is it being held steady that much that it could sustain that sort of

force.

ROMUNDT: Were engineered for waves of up to 5 meters. And if we wanted to engineer for larger waves, we could, we're going to start a product testing

project next year in Florida, where we are going to try to engineer them for hurricane conditions. And if we can crack that nut, then I think this

will be really popular in Florida, about 40 percent of our global demand, an increase is actually coming from Florida. So I think there's a huge

market for these there. But right now, we started in Panama, because we're outside of the hurricane zone here, so it just makes things really easy.

KOSIK: What about electricity, and also security pirates. I mean, you know, it's going to take a long time, if you're having an issue in your pod, it's

going to take a long time, I would think for security to get to where you are to help you.

ROMUNDT: Well, we are starting at a place that's really close to the Marina. So we have the entire infrastructure here that we need, we're close

to convenience stores, and security as well. But this is a pretty secure area. But we don't we can also have aerial drone delivery or aerial drones

that come out and do surveillance and just make sure everything's safe. We also have something we've we built called boat AI. And it's a camera that

is placed at different points around the bottom of the pod. And we can see for several miles in every direction. And we have connected to an AI

algorithm that can detect if there's unfriendly or unknown boats heading directly your way so you can have lots of notice if there's any issues.

KOSIK: OK, so full disclosure, I need to take Dramamine when I go on a boat. How do you not get seasick on one?

ROMUNDT: Well, the challenge with most boats is that the floating part of life that you're actually in, is floating in the waistline. And so our

homes, you notice, they're floating several meters above the waves, and then the flotation which is under the water is under the wave line. So

we're actually skipping that whole wave section, which is where that movement comes from. And there's only a 1.6 diameter hole that's connecting

the two. So the waves are really interacting with a very small piece of material versus entire boat. So instead of a boat moving around in the

waves, we're floating above the waves.

KOSIK: And very quickly, I'm curious how many of these futuristic pods you need to sell to turn a profit?

ROMUNDT: Well, we're going to need to do some refactoring for our manufacturing to get the costs down because right now, we've been building

our prototypes, which have been incredible amount of work. That's been a huge project. We've had about 80 people working for the last up to 80

people working for the last 5 years to build this technology. And this is an incredibly complex thing. It's never nothing like it's been ever been

done before. There's marine engineering, there's software, hardware, and material science, and there's so many things that need to come together to

make this happen. That it's been a huge project.

[09:55:00]

ROMUNDT: So we need to get our manufacturing up but base we just did our launch a week ago today and our online launch and it was the response has

been phenomenal. So I think we're already seeing that numbers we need into mass production. We just need to build the structures to get there.

KOSIK: Well, they look super cool, and I wish you much luck Grant Romundt, CEO of Ocean Builders. Thanks so much for your time today.

ROMUNDT: OK, thank you, Alison.

KOSIK: One last look at the markets U.S. stocks little changed in recent trading stocks trying to bounce back after two days of selling. But

Investors still concerned about the pace of central bank rate hikes and what upcoming data will tell us about the health of the U.S. economy energy

stocks pulling back sharply to amid weakness in the global price of oil today.

And today marks the return of the famous pumpkin spice latte at Starbucks. But like most things, the fall favorite is not immune to inflation. It'll

cost you about 4 percent more than last year to have one of these with a Grande going for nearly $6 in some U.S. locations. Starbucks has amassed a

loyal fan base for this specific drink for almost 20 years.

That's it for the show, I'm Alison Kosik, follow me on Instagram and Twitter @alisonkosik. Thanks for joining us. "Connect the world" with Becky

Anderson is next, I'll see you tomorrow.

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