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First Move with Julia Chatterley
Fed Chair Powell: Jobs Market "Overheated"; Former Pakistan PM Survives "Assassination Attempt"; Richardson: Labor Market is Tight but Stabilizing; Investors Hope for Easing of Zero-COVID Plan; How Recycled Plastic can be Turned into Buildings; Tech Leaders Gather in Lisbon to discuss Industry's Future. Aired 9-10a ET
Aired November 04, 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)
JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN HOST, FIRST MOVE: A warm welcome to "First Move", as always, it may be Friday but we are on the job for you. A key job Friday,
of course, in America today's numbers coming, I think particularly tense time for U.S. workers with cutbacks announced just this week from the tech
sector that said seemingly no slowdown yet in the jobs market overall, the U.S. economy adding a net 261,000 jobs last month.
That was way above expectations of 200,000 jobs added net big upward revisions in September too, today's numbers not. I think what the Fed
really wants to see as it attempts to slow down the economy and of course, tame inflation. In fact, Fed Chair Jerome Powell hawkish message this week
was that monetary tightening is far from complete, only intensifying fears.
I think that the U.S. will fall into recession next year. And of course, one reason why firms operating interest rate sensitive sectors were talking
sectors like technology, like housing. And making plans to reduce or at least not increase their headcount for now.
Twitter, of course the major breaking corporate news story with layoffs beginning this morning. Some 3000 workers, it's been reported close to half
the staff maybe let go other tech firms announcing cutbacks, however, too.
Ride hailing app Lyft and payment processing firms stripe cutting around 13 percent of their employees both companies citing recession fears Amazon in
the meantime, extending its hiring freeze as well.
Capping a horrible week really for the company that began with disappointing earnings and a warning of holiday shopping slowdown now
Amazon stock falling another 3 percent in the session Thursday it shares in fact have tumbled more than 46 percent year to date, you can see it there.
And talk about fallen fangs and Meta stock in nothing short of a collapse down a further 2 percent Thursday and off almost 74 percent year to date,
making it the worst performing firm for the S&P 500, this year. It also slows the pace of hiring.
As you would imagine U.S. futures pretty volatile pre market, a higher open scene for stocks at this moment a fascinating and complex picture for stock
Investors to navigate with headline jobs growth strong even as those recession warnings continue.
Rahel Solomon joins us now with all the details on this jobs report. I think it's a solid jobs report. The only blip there I think particularly
politically, for Joe Biden heading into the midterms that next week is a rise in the unemployment rate. Just talk us through what we saw.
RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So the unemployment rate did rise. In fact, Julia from 3.5 percent, which as you know, was a 50-year low to now
3.7 percent. That report saying that about 300,000 more unemployed people rather, were added in the month of October 261,000 jobs added that was
hotter than expectations.
It was however much cooler than the revised number for September, which was 315,000. So perhaps that is what the futures are responding to that, it
does appear to be a bit of a slowdown there. When Julia, we look at where we saw the job gains in the U.S. in the last month or so.
Well, it was healthcare that added about 53,000 jobs, professional tech services. And manufacturing added 32,000 jobs and leisure and hospitality,
which is still sort of clawing its way back from its pandemic losses, also adding about 35,000 jobs. So how does the Fed interpret that?
So we saw the unemployment rate rise quite a bit about 3.7 percent, from 3.5 to 3.7 percent. We saw job gains slow a bit, the labor force
participation rate, which the Fed watches very closely, essentially, how many people are participating in the labor force that did not change. And
we know Powell has talked quite a bit about needing people to come off of the sidelines.
And join us working folk to come off the sidelines and actually participate and we did not see that move in the month of October. So is this a
Goldilocks report? You know, I mean, I guess there's a little bit of something for everyone here, job growth slowing but perhaps not as much as
the Fed or even the White House would really like to see.
CHATTERLEY: Irony, in what you just said there. It's fascinating to me.
SOLOMON: I know.
CHATTERLEY: And it's I now really crystallize the challenge that the Federal Reserve face, the government face and ordinary people face. The
idea that we think that Investors are celebrating a slowdown in job gains in the U.S. economy simply because the Federal Reserve the government wants
to get a handle on rising prices. And it cuts to the core of the challenges at this moment.
[09:05:00]
CHATTERLEY: That we are seeing decades low, in the unemployment rate, even with a slight rise this time around, and yet consumer confidence is so low.
And the majority of Americans according to surveys, that CNN data saying we're already in recession. That's the challenge and that's the challenge
of inflation.
SOLOMON: Well, I think that's a fantastic point. And that is exactly right. That is sort of the effect that inflation is having on perception, because
you do have this very robust labor market.
But you also have prices, which are also rising at its fastest clip in about four decades, right. And so it just makes you feel pretty crummy
about things. But you're right any other time; this would be a great number, right to see the U.S. economy adding 261,000 jobs that would be
great.
But we know the concern is that we have overheated and that we need to slow down. And so in a way for the Seinfeld viewers out there, you know if
you've watched Seinfeld in that episode of Bizarro World, where what is up is down and what is left is right, that sort of the environment that we
feel like we're in good news is bad news.
And sometimes bad news is good news. It is all very confusing. But Julia, I know you and I have talked about this before when Jason Furman said on
Twitter, if you're not a little confused about the economy, you're not paying attention.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, and the rest of us are just very confused, quite frankly. But I think we can simplify it and say, less job gains or slower job gains
means perhaps less rate hikes in the future and that's why it would be positive. Rahel Solomon thank you for that!
OK, saying the jobs and mass layoffs are expected at any moment at Twitter. Elon Musk expected to fire 1000s of employees in the coming hours up to
half of the staff could be gone by the end of the day. Paul La Monica joins me now.
I feel like Paul, we've been talking about this now for days and days and days. And the speculation has been wild over the proportion of people that
might lose their jobs which terrible for these people, of course, right before Christmas. But what are we expecting in terms of numbers and
actually how it's going to be carried out?
PAUL R. LA MONICA, CNN REPORTER: Yes, as you point out, the numbers are staggering, Julia. There are reports that it could be half of the workers.
And this really is just shaping up to be a kind of ghoulish mix combination of The Hunger Games and a reality TV show and Willy Wonka's golden ticket,
because according to the reports, if you are a Twitter employee that's going to keep your job, you will get an email at your Twitter email.
If you are going to be laid off, you're going to get a notice at your personal email with more instructions. And oh, by the way, Julia, they're
shutting the offices temporarily and restricting badge access, because they're worried possibly about what might happen from all of these possibly
vengeful Twitter employees that you know, are not going to be thrilled about not having a job anymore in the Elon Musk care?
CHATTERLEY: Yes, I mean, I think anybody who's ever fired, someone knows there's no easy way to do this. And there's so much press coverage of every
word that started in some of that, of course, is self-inflicted with the fact that the new Chief Twit is on Twitter so much and is talking to people
about this. But it's difficult at the same time, perhaps no surprise that some of the biggest advertisers in the world are going --.
MONICA: Yes, you have reports that General Mills and Audi are recommending or that they are going to temporarily pause advertising on Twitter. And I
think it makes sense, Julia, there are all these report about the increased your rise in sort of hateful content that has come back onto the platform.
You look at that, and you look at this circus that Twitter has become under Elon Musk. If you're an advertiser, you know, all of a sudden you start
thinking, yes; you know what Google, Facebook, and TikTok? They look a lot more stable than Twitter. Sorry, Elon.
CHATTERLEY: I'm not saying something. Yes, I mean, I'm sure --.
MONICA: We just want to see - for verification. So if he loses the ads, you know, he's just honestly thinks people are going to pay up for those blue
and white checkmarks. We'll see, I'm not going to be one of them as--
CHATTERLEY: We've previously discussed, we'll see. Paul R LA Monica thank you so much for that. Great to chat to you this week!
OK, let's move on escalating tensions on the Korean peninsula. South Korea says it scrambled 85 fighter jets Friday morning, after around 180 North
Korean war planes were detected in the skies near the border with South Korea. The U.N. Security Council will discuss the situation in the coming
hours.
Will Ripley joins us now from Seoul. Will, I know you'll bring us up to speed with the latest. But you and I were talking about this, the U.N.
Security Council meeting what good they do? I think that's an even more pertinent question in light of what we've seen over the past 24 hours.
[09:10:00]
WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely right, because you know, you have the United States and Linda Thomas-Greenfield,
the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. saying that they're going to try to put pressure on China and Russia to do more to enhance the sanctions against
Pyongyang, which is already one of the most heavily sanctioned economies on earth. And they still continue to grow their nuclear program by leaps and
bounds.
And do things that are pretty extraordinary for a country of any size, including testing, what they claim are hypersonic weapons, which are
ballistic missiles that have the ability to change course midflight, making them almost impossible to shoot down the U.S. still hasn't deployed that
technology Russia and China have.
But it just goes to show the regime of Kim Jong-Un's determination at this point to go down their checklist and test and enhance their already
substantial and growing arsenal and arsenal that despite several years of diplomatic efforts on the part of the Former President of the U.S., Donald
Trump. The Former South Korean President Moon Jae-in got us right back to this point where we're at the on the verge, potentially of a seven
underground nuclear test, which would be the biggest provocation and half a decade.
And could potentially push this region back to the brink of a nuclear crisis and on top of all of that, Russia and China are staying remarkably
silent, remarkably neutral if it were at least the publicly they claim to be neutral.
But really, you know, analysts say they are in no mood, meaning Xi and Putin in no mood to work with the United States and its allies to work with
the West in general, on punishing Pyongyang, because they have this authoritarian Alliance. This alliance that basically with a wink-wink and a
nod-nod they're allowing each other to do what they want to do.
Whether it be China's refusal to condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine, or China's refusal and Russia's refusal too strongly enforce these North
Korean sanctions, which allow the country to continue to grow this program. And you know keeps their economy kind of limping along despite the United
States in the West's best efforts, Julia. So this latest provocation, you know, after the week, we've had, frankly, you know, warplanes near the
border.
And you know, South Korea scrambling their own war planes in response, that's a pretty tame way to end the week considering that they tried to fly
their most powerful ballistic missile over Japan just yesterday. And even though the missile failed in mid-flight, they learned just as much if not
more from a failure than they do from a success, Julia. And, of course, the day before that, to see more than two dozen North Korean missiles launched
in a single day this unprecedented Blitz.
It is just really striking and concerning. We're watching very closely here, what's going to be happening in the coming hours given that North
Korea is incensed by the extension of the Vigilant storm exercises between the U.S. and South Korea, which they are claiming is the whole reason why
they're doing all of these provocations in the first place. Although let's be honest, it's an excuse. They say this every time the U.S. and South
Korea have military drills, even though North Korean Military drills are continuing as well.
CHATTERLEY: We'll wait and see what the U.N. Security Council has to say. But to the bigger point about whether it's a ballistic missile use or
nuclear weapon, you surely it's in no one's interest, irrespective of your position on the political spectrum. Yes, I guess that's politics. Will
Ripley great to have you as always, thank you.
And Ukraine's President says terrorism is being unleashed against his country's energy sector. Vladimir Zelenskyy says Russia's attacks have left
4.5 million people across Ukraine in the dark. The Capital Kyiv, the mayor says nearly half a million households are now without power. The President
also says inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency have established that Ukraine is not developing dirty bombs, contrary to what
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said.
And we're expecting to hear from the Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan from his hospital bed the day after he was shot and injured at a
rally. Sophia Saifi is in Islamabad with the latest for us. Sophia good to have you with us once again!
There have been accusations directed at the Current Prime Minister by associates of the Former Prime Minister Imran Khan, of course that was
injured yesterday. I want to ask you about that and whether we're expecting those accusations to be heard directly from the Former Prime Minister
today. And whether there's been any evidence to support those accusations presented. Just talk us through it please.
SOPHIA SAIFI, CNN PRODUCER: Julia, well, this I mean, the statement - the Prime Minister. According to him, his Asad Umar, he said that this
statement was coming directly from Imran Khan himself in which he's not only blamed the Prime Minister. But he's also blamed the Interior Minister
and Major General Faisal, who is a Senior Intelligence Officer.
And this kind of wraps into the fact that Imran Khan has been accusing the government as well as the military establishment for conspiring along with
the United States of getting rid of him. He had been saying the lead up to what happened yesterday when he was shot in the leg. He's now out of
danger.
He had surgeries chipped a bone, as well as had a ballot lodged in his thigh we do know that he's due to speak any minute. He might actually just
be speaking right now while I'm on air with you.
[09:15:00]
SAIFI: But we've been waiting for quite a few hours for that statement to come just 24 hours after he was shot. We know that there are now protests
the call for prayer his party had called for protests across the country for early general elections. That is why Imran Khan was leading along march
towards the Capital.
He was at one of the rallies as part of that Long March when he was attacked, yesterday evening in the district of Gujranwala in the province
of Punjab. And we're seeing these protests now spread across the country from the south and the largest City of Karachi, as well as right here in
Islamabad. There's an interchange called Faizabad, which connects the capital city to the City of Rawalpindi.
And what we're seeing over there is tear gas protesters, not as many as expected, but it's happening in the province of Balochistan. It's happening
in the province of Punjab. It's happening in the north.
And it's something that we had feared; we fear that it could get worse. But we're hoping and Pakistanis themselves are hoping that this situation does
not get completely out of control. And there's a situation of anarchy.
So we just have to wait and see what Khan says, what he's going to control his followers or whether he will continue with those accusations and give
some evidence, because the government has responded to the Interior Minister said this is a grievous statement. And this incident of Khan's
attack should not be politicized. And it would be irresponsible to do so. So we're just waiting to see what happens once Khan begins to speak, Julia.
CHATTERLEY: Thank you so much for that. We will bring that detail to our viewers the moment we get it for now. Sophia thank you. Sophia Saifi there!
OK, straight ahead family fury, the human cost is official to take extreme measures to keep China's COVID at bay and fantastic plastic how long
companies turning trash into treasure in the construction industry. That's all coming up, stay with us.
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to "First Move", a busy day on the show as always, with the focus not only on U.S. job gains, but also on some high profile
job losses. However, the U.S. reporting less than an hour ago that a greater than expected 261,000 jobs were added net to the economy last month
with broad base gains in healthcare, manufacturing and the leisure and hospitality sector.
[09:20:00]
CHATTERLEY: But an uptick in unemployment bar but for an uptick in unemployment but a solid report overall. And a report that will only fuel
inflationary concern at the Federal Reserve too, even before today's report. Fed Chair Jay Powell called the labor market "Overheated".
And interesting juxtaposition as we report on further job losses in interest rate sensitive sectors like tech. Nela Richardson joins us now;
she's the Chief Economist at payroll processing firm ADP. Fantastic to have you on the show this morning! Welcome, welcome. Firstly, what do you make
of today's jobs numbers?
NELA RICHARDSON, CHIEF ECONOMIST, ADP: Well, thanks for having me. These are really strong numbers. If you think about where we are on this economic
cycle we've largely recruit in the United States, all the jobs that were lost in the pandemic.
So what you're seeing now in these 261,000 jobs for October is real job creation. These are not regaining lost jobs; this is actually producing new
jobs. And for any economy, especially one that's supposed to be on the brink of a recession this is a really strong and robust jobs report.
CHATTERLEY: It's interesting; you collect your own jobs information over at ADP too. And you said something in a recent interview that caught my
attention. And you said, even if hiring is slowing at some of the larger companies, it perhaps results in less crowding out of the smaller companies
that have been struggling to hire and not been able to.
And perhaps they then will be able to hire so there's a cushioning effect. I mean, that really caught my attention. So explain that first, and perhaps
how long that lasts to?
RICHARDSON: Absolutely, so ADP pays about one in six U.S. workers, and many of our clients are small firms. And what we've seen is that small firms
were the first to start hiring. But then they had to compete with larger firms compete on wages, compete on benefits, and they were out bid many
times because we just, workers could command higher salaries.
And larger firms were in the position to give those higher salaries. Well, now as you're seeing some of these large firms that hired aggressively
during the pandemic start to pause a bit in their hiring small firms are catching up. And when we survey firms, and we do that every quarter, we
find that finding qualified workers is the number one issue for small firms.
It's not the economy, it's not supply constrained. It's not even inflation. It's finding people and adding headcount. And so what you might be seeing
is larger firms are slowing down. It gives small firms some breathing room and opportunity to add to their headcount.
CHATTERLEY: Yes and that just exacerbates the challenges in many ways for the Federal Reserve as they continue to look at the inflation rate and say,
look, we have to do something about this. So for those that went into the meeting, at the Federal Reserve this week, hoping for some kind of sign
that perhaps they're willing to slow down in terms of the size and the scale of the rate hikes that they're doing I mean, you look at the
inflation number you go, why would they do that?
You look at the jobs number today. And you go, there's really, at least so far, no evidence to suggest that they're getting on top of the inflation
rate. And they can bring it down significantly. Would you agree?
RICHARDSON: You know what; I think the easy solutions of bringing the pandemic down through the labor market are not going to be there for the
Fed. If you look at wages are starting to stabilize, but they're stabilizing at higher levels. So we're seeing wage growth topped out at
higher than expected a wage gains at ADP.
We're seeing that for people who stayed on the job for more than a year, they're seeing a wage growth of 7.7 percent. That's really high compared to
where we even were just a year ago. So the Fed has other channels that can maybe bring some demand down through the housing market, unfortunately, for
many Investors through the stock market.
But the labor market remains really tight. And so that means that the Fed is going to probably have to raise rates higher, for longer in order to get
the kind of effect on inflation that they want.
CHATTERLEY: It's fascinating, because we saw through the Pandemic supply chain issues, Central Banks threw so much money at the situation as well to
try and support individuals that were struggling in many different guises. But we've seen that before in the past. I think what we've relied on over
the last; I guess decade to two decades is the disinflationary forces, a lot of them through technologies.
And the smartphone is a great example that it's a camera, video recorder, a voice recorder, as well as a phone and a little computer as well. I sort of
wonder where those disinflationary forces have sort of petered out or gone from. You could perhaps could answer that better than me, but does it come
down to an idea of productivity?
It's a sort of snooze, if you go back to your economics textbooks. But when did we forget that actually boosting productivity and a bigger bang for the
buck in terms of workers being able to work more efficiently, faster in the same amount of time perhaps?
[09:25:00]
CHATTERLEY: And for the same amount of pay, because that's how you grow without making it inflationary surely. Is there a solution there some way
too?
RICHARDSON: You make an excellent point. And productivity is the - in the labor market right now. Economies grow all economies, when you have more
workers, who can be more productive, who can create more output that not only increases worker's wages; it increases profits and standards of
living.
That's why productivity is so paramount to economic growth. But that's not what we're seeing, we're actually seeing productivity slide. And wages are
going up, not because workers are more productive, but because firms have to compete for those workers.
And so that means that it's less output but more man hours, and that, by in itself is inflationary. So to really grow our way out of this inflationary
picture, which I think is going to be more persistent for a longer period of time than just this one episode. It means that we have to rethink how we
invest in an economy to create a more productive workforce.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, I couldn't agree more. And to your point, that's government job. That's not the Central Bank's job.
RICHARDSON: That's not the Feds job. The Fed is doing what it's supposed to do keeping an eye on inflation now. But to solve the problem of inflation
in the future, as inflation becomes more persistent, that not no longer transitory exactly because of the points you mentioned, these de
inflationary forces are not having the same effect now than they used to. Then it's the role of governments to make sure that the workforce is
properly invested in to make them more productive and grow the economy over time.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, thank you for making us smarter. Nela Richardson, Chief Economist at ADP, great to chat to you and have a great weekend.
RICHARDSON: Thank You.
CHATTERLEY: More "First Move" after this.
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[09:30:00]
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to "First Move"! And U.S. stocks are up and running at this final day of the trading week. And it is a higher open on
Wall Street as investors pour over a stronger than expected read on U.S. jobs growth. Hang on a second. I think we already finished yesterday. So
we'll get that in the moment we see it we'll update it.
Well, the report of course that will only make the Fed's inflation fighting mission harder. That said we are coming off a week of losses for all the
major averages particularly for the tech sector too. So perhaps a little bit of a bounce was in audit this Friday.
We shall bring you that data the moment we get it. In the meantime, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in
Beijing; the first visit by G7, leading into China in roughly three years, and the first visits by a major political leader since Xi began his third
term in office.
Meeting Friday morning, both men emphasized the need to work together in a volatile international environment to say the least. Selina Wang joins us
now on this. Selina, great to have you with us! It's funny; China holds many of the ACE cards here. They have financial leverage with Russia; they
have financial leverage with North Korea, also a delicate balance for Germany, of course, given that China is their largest trading partner, so
it's what levers each of them can pull here. What do we think?
SELINA WANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's an extremely critical meeting to your point. And it's also a very delicate balance here that the German
Chancellor is trying to strike. He's in a difficult position. He wants to maintain those economic ties with China at the same time; he's facing this
pressure, not just at home within his own government, but also from allies to take a tougher stance on China.
Going into this meeting, he faced a lot of criticism that Germany is putting their economic interests over the need to pressure China on human
rights and other critical issues that other allies in the West have been pushing Germany to do with China.
Now, in this meeting, though, he made it very clear by being in China sending this symbolic message that despite all of these international
challenges, this relationship between Germany and the world's second largest economy, well, it is going to continue, and it must continue.
This is Germany's most important trading partner. And those trade flows have only been growing with the value of trade last year reaching more than
$240 billion. The importance of that relationship really reflected by the fact that he went to China with about a dozen top executives, including
leaders of companies like Volkswagen that make a very large portion of their profits of their revenues from China.
What's also important here is that there are people inside his coalition government that are increasingly nervous about these deepening ties that
we're seeing economically. A really good example of that is a really fierce debate in Germany over a Chinese state shipping company Costco buying a
stake in the Hamburg Port Terminal.
But the reality is that Germany may not even be able to afford a decoupling even if they want it to. There is a looming deep recession on the horizon
in Germany. They've also been hit hard by the war in Ukraine, because they've been forced to ditch their long dependence on Russian energy. So
they're not really in a position to play hardball when it comes to China.
Another key point here, though, is that the biggest challenge potentially for German businesses and for quite frankly, all foreign businesses is
China's continued zero COVID policy, which has devastated the economy at home. And it's made China a much less attractive place for all foreign
businesses so a lot of difficult challenges. And a lot of difficult balancing that Olaf Scholz faced going into this meeting and coming out of
it.
CHATTERLEY: Quickly, Selina, oh, boy, some challenges. It's interesting what you said. And we've obviously been talking about it now, day after
day. You're, of course, almost halfway through your own quarantine and the challenges of zero COVID.
It's been fascinating to watch financial market investors this week in China, and admittedly those stock markets have been heavily beaten up. But
this rallying on the suggestion that perhaps there's going to be some easing of some of these lockdown measures in salt stock, I think we can
call it contrast to what you've been discovering is going on in terms of life under lockdown.
WANG: I mean, what Julia investors are so desperate for any good news out of China, especially when it comes to easing zero COVID that even a tiny
rumor can spark a big share rally. But there was this big expectation that after the Party Congress after Xi Jinping consolidated his power got re
anointed for an unprecedented third term that he would feel comfortable easing the zero COVID policy.
Well, that clearly hasn't happened. In fact, he's doubling down on the strategy and he made that clear on his Party Congress speech when he said
zero COVID is a success putting Chinese lives above all else. So we see China's still stuck in this endless cycle of quarantines lockdowns and mass
testing but the problem now is that public confidence is waning frustration is growing that patience is wearing thin.
[09:35:00]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WANG (voice over): 14-year-old girl lives in bed at a COVID quarantine facility in China. Someone comes over saying the kid has a fever of 104
degrees Fahrenheit and no one is coming. She died soon after. A man who says he's the girl's father posted this video online filming his daughter's
body. He's demanding justice.
I begged the Communist Party to investigate he says. CNN hasn't been able to independently verify the videos. They have been censored in China. Along
with these videos of a father, desperately trying to revive his 3-year-old son he can't get his child to the hospital fast enough because of the COVID
restrictions in Lanzhou City. The boy later died.
Enraged residents took to the streets swarms of armed police back. In Lanzhou City some were forced to quarantine outside in the court in parking
lots. This viral video which CNN could not verify shows others forced to stay in male bathrooms sleeping under urinals.
In year three of the pandemic, every positive case and close contact is still sent to government quarantine facilities like these. And this one,
the video says it's a quarantine site for kids in - Province a little boy jumping on bricks to avoid the pool of dirty liquid. This is where they use
the bathroom.
To stop parent's crowd outside to protest, protesters rushed to the streets in Lhasa Tibet, demanding the end of a lockdown that's lasted for more than
80 days, and in Guangzhou City, workers are fleeing Apple's biggest iPhone plant after a COVID outbreak. Masses of workers carrying their luggage walk
long distances across highways through villages, even farm fields.
Those left behind at the factory clean living conditions are subpar. Videos appear to show workers literally fighting for boxes of supplies. China's
Leader Xi Jinping claims zero COVID puts lives above all else. But for many it's precisely the policy itself that's ruining their lives.
This woman swabs on the ground crying that after she was caught with her mask pulled down the government suspended her business for 30 days, losing
a month income. Metal spikes which the man filming says were installed on a compound gate to prevent residents from leaving, or red plastic barriers.
This one separating a father from his daughter, the little girl worried asks her dad how he's going to get home. But her father, like millions
across China likely has no idea when he can go home or when all of this will end.
(END VIDEOTAE)
WANG: The other big question Julia is just how long is China going to keep up these strict border control measures for? As you reminded me I'm
currently midway through my own 10 day government quarantine all inbound travelers were bussed off to isolation facilities. The doors closed we can
only open them for our daily PCR tests to pick up the food that's left outside the door three times a day.
Disinfectant gets sprayed in the hallway every few hours with a giant machine so all of this is really extreme for the rest of the world that's
learned to live with COVID. But this is still the reality inside China. So it is no surprise that this country has become increasingly isolated as the
pandemic has dragged on.
CHATTERLEY: With dramatic consequences, of course, for the rest of the world too. Selina hang in there, please. Good job. Selina Wang thank you
for that! OK, let me bring you up to speed now on those numbers and a look at the U.S. stock markets as well.
I think we've got them. Aha, there we go up and running this Friday higher, as you can see there for the DOW the NASDAQ and the S&P 500 gains of around
1 percent for the DOW Jones at this moment. A reaction perhaps to the better than expected jobs numbers we just received in the United States.
Although of course, today's dumbness doing nothing to alleviate the inflation fears that is currently the focus of the Federal Reserve. Despite
today's rallies U.S. stock still on track for weekly losses. OK, up next, as the world faces a pollution crisis, and of course, a cost of living
crisis one company has an idea to tackle both. That's next, stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:40:00]
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to "First Move"! Everything from biros two bottles our planet's drowning in plastic. Despite our best intentions to separate
and sought only around 8 percent is recycled, most ends up in landfill incinerated or in our oceans.
At the same time construction is expensive there can be supply chain issues and price volatility and traditional construction methods with bricks or
blocks rely on water and drying time. A potential way of addressing all of these problems a U.S. company called "ByFusion" has monetized unrecyclable
plastic by turning waste into construction blocks.
Using only steam and compression it zero waste process re-purposes unsorted plastic waste, steel rods hold the structure together, and "ByFusion" wants
to partner with local governments, municipalities and corporations.
And Heidi Kujawa is the CEO and joins us now. Heidi, phenomenal to have you on the show. I think for most people watching this, this is the big
question when you sort and when you filter, what will be recycled. And what by fusion is doing is negating the need to worry about that and utilizing
it all?
HEIDI KUJAWA, CEO, BYFUSION: Exactly, Julia thanks for having me today. That's exactly right. I mean, I think what we've seen is, you know, plastic
is, is actually a really wonderful materials. It's enabled us to grow as a civilization and do some amazing things.
The challenge is it's just been completely mismanaged, it's very complicated material, not all plastic is created equal. Only some of the
types of plastic that are created can actually be recycled, which is in its designed to never degrade or go away, which is compounding the challenge.
And so what we've decided is - go ahead.
CHATTERLEY: Please carry on.
KUJAWA: Now, what we've decided is, let's just try to make it simple. I mean, it's very difficult to figure out as a consumer, like not chemical
engineers, like what is recyclable and what's not? So if it's not a water bottle, it's not clear to you, we've just given you an alternative ability
to convert the non-recyclable plastic waste into something usable.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, I mean, it makes perfect sense to me. So you take rubbish, whether it's clean or dirty, you compress it into the blocks that we were
showing earlier called "By Blocks". I believe, just explain the process of that. And I think we can see the machinery behind you as well how those
blocks are created? What they cost and ultimately what they can be used for too?
KUJAWA: Yes, thank you. Those are really good questions. The process is intended to be very simple. I mean, again, the recycling industry is a
complicated one being able to take something that is a bottle that sorts and then reconstitute it back into a form that can be then again
reconstituted into another bottle that takes a lot of time and energy.
[09:45:00]
KUWAJA: And so our processes designed to be very, very simple. You literally don't have to clean source measure, pull labels off of, you don't
have to be - there's no intended recipe. We make snowflakes; the process is completely the same. And the science behind what we do is been able to take
something that's not measured, that's not clean, that's not sorted, and converted into something that is consistent in performance, and structural
capabilities.
And so in this machine that you see behind me, this is not a background, this is a real myth. This is the real one. We literally take the material,
throw it in the machine; it is all happens within the machine and out comes a block. There are no additives, no fillers, no glues, mortars, adhesives;
it's literally just plastic waste.
CHATTERLEY: How much more expensive in total? Can you give us any sort of base comparison compared to traditional building materials? And to your
point, if we just compare the obvious things, I guess, heat resistance, durability, and tensile strength. How do they match up relative to
traditional building materials? I know it's clearly far quicker to create them.
KUWAJA: Yes, far quicker. So from a comparative perspective, the structural integrity is really in line with a little bit of lumber and a little bit of
hollow cement blocks that we're accustomed to saying. So we fall within a building code category within lumber that's basically on par with lumber.
But from a structural perspective, we act very much like a like a hollow cement block.
So right now, we are using cement for everything. That's just what we've done, and lumber for everything. And so this is really intended to maybe
reduce the dependency of some of those materials, and use those for what they're most suited for and best intended to be done with.
And so it's actually a very strong material. We fall within a general utility, which spans from everything from landscaping terracing, all the
way into commercial applications and single family homes and residents applications.
I think the sweet spot, and what we're really focused on is enabling communities to take control their plastic waste, so that we can help to
build and develop and refurbish the infrastructure crisis that we're seeing around the world, not just in the U.S. So that's really where we're focused
on is enabling communities to take control of their plastic put back into their communities.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, I mean, if you can sell this to waste management companies or municipalities that they actually are doing the process of collecting
the refuge, and then they can make them into these and sell these blocks on because I knew that we were saying that early, you actually provide the
technology and the machinery for this too, which is part of the business model.
You know, it's interesting. It's not a sexy subject, though. I mean, recycling is OK. But when you're talking about waste, I'm just sort of
trying to imagine you're talking to investors, how much of a challenge has it been to get investors excited about this, this sort of sparky, and as
amazing as you are?
KUWAJA: Thank you. It's been challenging. I mean, that's one of the things that we've seen that's added to the complexity is, you know, I come from
the tech background, actually. So that's I know how to speak to investors around technology. And while this is a very technical machine with a lot of
intelligence and automation, this is still waste management.
So the challenge that we're seeing is, one of the problems the waste management is - from I should say is that it's not, it's been slow to
innovate, there hasn't been a lot of capital funds going into that market, which is why we're in the situation that we're in.
So the traditional investment community has been slow to make investments in these industries in this and in construction. And so I think that we're
on the heels of helping to innovate both of those industries pretty quickly.
CHATTERLEY: Yes. Which is sort of nonsensical to me, because as we said in the introduction, you're tackling two things at once and actually, it could
be incredibly beneficial? Are you going to COP 27?
KUWAJA: I am not sure yet. We're pretty busy right now--
CHATTERLEY: I wish you're.
KUWAJA: --schedule. I know it's important. I'd say it's an important event, and I would love to be there. We'll see how we can make that happen?
CHATTERLEY: Yes, I was going to say whether you actually felt like it was important or it's the work by people like you on the ground and the sort of
the practical rather than the big thematic discussions about this, that are ultimately crucial for tackling our carbon footprint.
KUWAJA: Yes, it's always the balance. We're very passionate about this. But there's also kind of an element of what we're doing there? I'm kind of sick
of talking about it. I just want to get it done.
CHATTERLEY: I could never admit to that. But I like the action. We're talking for a living. Heidi, great to chat to you thank you! We'll stay in
touch you can come and talk to us.
KUWAJA: Thank you.
CHATTERLEY: --soon. Thank you. The "ByFusion" CEO there, thank you! No shortage of talking on this show. And up next, the talk of the town Elon
Musk may be miles away from Lisbon but he's still the hot topic at this year's Web Summit we hear from the even CEO after this.
[09:50:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to "First Move"! And as we've been reporting this hour, Elon Musk is expected to begin laying off Twitter employees today
according to a memo center staff. It's been a major talking point in Lisbon at this year's Web Summit Event where some of the biggest names in tech are
gathered. And Anna Stewart has more from Lisbon.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PADDY COSGRAVE, CEO, WEB SUMMIT: Artificial intelligence, web three, Cryptocurrencies, climate attack, the metaverse remote work, the evils and
opportunity of social media.
ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Some big talking points this year, and as ever at Web Summit's really big names here as well. But it's
not all happening right here. There is a lot going on away from the main stage. From big firms to small startups is the place where tech firms can
pitch for publicity and investment. And it's a chance to try something different.
STEWART (on camera): Well, looking around here, it is hard to believe that this event actually came close to collapse last year. This year, it's
bigger than ever before. Tickets actually sold out weeks ago. And that is despite this year 2022 so far, being a year that some tech investors might
like to forget.
STEWART (voice over): Tech stocks in Europe and the U.S. have taken a battering the NASDAQ in the U.S. and the Stock 600 Tech Index in Europe,
both down more than 30 percent.
COSGRAVE: We've been through this before. Does this mean tech is just going to disappear and Planet Earth will stop innovating? I think the answer is
no. The only question is how deep are we going to fall? What's the crater? Where is it? What does it look like? I don't know. I don't think we're
there yet. But when we get there, we'll know.
STEWART (on camera): He's not here this year. But Elon Musk has been a web submitter before?
COSGRAVE: Yes, he's busy at the moment. He's just taken over a small company called Twitter.
STEWART (on camera): He's a bit busy.
COSGRAVE: Yes.
STEWART (on camera): What do you think about this? What's the outlook for Twitter?
COSGRAVE: I've been asked this question a few times. And I think it's just the most wonderful drama playing out before our eyes. You know, people talk
about you know, what's the next greatest Netflix series?
STEWART (on camera): It deserves a--
COSGRAVE: Right now the Elon Musk show is the biggest show on earth. You know, it has surpassed the Kardashians by an order of magnitude. It's sort
of like this real life Truman Show. And he is Truman, and we're all just clues to what he does next. So if nothing else, forget about your opinions,
good or bad indifferent to Elon Musk.
STEWART (on camera): --out?
COSGRAVE: Elon Musk's show is the greatest show on Earth right now. We shouldn't - I'm enjoying it anyway.
STEWART (on camera): Well, this year has been somewhat costly, sometimes confusing, even controversial in the online space, plenty for the world's
biggest, smallest and most innovative tech companies to mull over here at website Anna Stewart, CNN, Lisbon, Portugal.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHATTERLEY: And finally if you're looking for a gift for someone who likes beer? How about this Christmas tree stand designed to fit around a cake of
Miller Lite?
[09:55:00]
CHATTERLEY: Wow! The company is describing it as the ultimate way to enjoy a pilsner. It's also selling Christmas ornaments or --. Yes, I see what
they did there? One word, divorce; I think you better ask the other half before you buy that gift. Wow!
That is the end of the show. Yes, no. If you've missed any of our interviews today, there will be on my Twitter and Instagram pages you can
search for @jchatterleycnn. In the meantime, have a wonderful weekend and "Connect the World" with Becky Anderson is up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
