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First Move with Julia Chatterley
China's Strict COVID Measures Taking Toll on Residents; Iranian Players do not Sing National Anthem before First Game; Musk Tweets Picture of himself with Twitter Coders; Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant Shaken by Weekend Strikes; "Barefoot Empress" Raises Funds to Educate Girls in India; NASA Aims to Return Human Crews to the Moon. Aired 9-10a ET
Aired November 21, 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, CNNI HOST: A warm welcome to "First Move"! It's fantastic to have you with us as always. And we begin the show today with the
unfolding drama at Disney call it the oust from the House of Mouse. In a sudden leadership switch the entertainment giant replacing CEO Bob Chapek
with Former
Leader Bob Iger who spent 15 successful years at the helm a sudden change but perhaps not so surprising that one after more than two years of
challenges, COVID lockdowns, PR battles and of course now the streaming slowdown amid high spending on content Disney stock is down less than in
chanted 40 percent year to date to key down on the performer in fact plagued by rising losses in the Disney plus division.
As I mentioned, it spends on content Disney also under pressure from activist investors like Dan Loeb I guess back and so is some of the sparkle
at least pre market shares rising some 10.2 percent as you can see there. So it's going to be interesting to see how it opens up and speaking of
unexpected returns.
Elon Musk over the weekend reactivating Donald Trump's Twitter account after staging an online poll that saw more than 50 percent of respondents
in favor of bringing him back the Former President has yet to post and of course remains focused, it seems on his rival to Twitter, truth social.
We'll discuss the Musk's Twitter strategy with Bradley Tusk, the Founder and CEO of Venture capital firm Tusk Ventures and an early investor in
firms like Coinbase and Uber.
Now, the market pictures this Monday lacking any form of overstimulation. U.S. stocks set for a softer start after last week's pullback. A reflection
I think in part on the worsening health situation in China COVID cases surging in many Chinese cities and the country's first COVID related death
in six months.
Asia markets reflecting I think the seriousness of all this with HANG SENG down almost 2 percent. Remember what happens in China also affects Disney's
performance in a big way too. Attendance at its Shanghai theme park has already been pressured by Beijing's zero COVID policies and actually that's
where we begin today's show.
Beijing further tightening restrictions on movement, saying it's facing the most severe phase of the pandemic since the very beginning. Nearly 27,000
new infections reported on Sunday that's the most since April as well as the first deaths from COVID in six months. As I mentioned, and as we've
reported before, the government zeros COVID policy taking a heavy toll on the mental and physical health of people all across China. Selina Wang has
the story and I have to warn you may find parts of her report, difficult to watch.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SELINA WANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The piercing cries of a grieving daughter. She kneels and cries by her mother who leaves motionless
on the ground still wearing a mask. Her mother jumped to her death from the 12th floor of their apartment building their compound under lockdown in the
Northern region of Inner Mongolia after two COVID cases were reported.
In this widely shared audio recording, the daughter has heard banging on the tall barricades that lock residents inside. She pleads open the gate,
open the gate! I'm begging you, please. She's eventually allowed to rush to her mother's side.
Neighbors filmed the tragedy from their windows. Audio messages capture their desperate please to build in management to be allowed to comfort the
daughter. COVID enforcers and police surround the body.
Local police said the 55-year old woman suffered from anxiety disorders. A later statement from police blamed managers of the locked building further
slow response. In the Eastern province of Shandong, a group of COVID enforcers and hazmat suits dragged a resident out into the streets.
Two people hold the man down while others kick and punch him. Another woman is thrown to the ground. Many cases of brutality from COVID workers have
not been held accountable, sparking outrage in China.
But this time police without giving a motive for the attack detained seven COVID workers involved in the beating. In Hebei Province just outside of
Beijing, a desperate father stepped out of his car holding a knife. He tells the authorities his baby son has been out of baby formula for a long
time during lockdown. He gets back in the car and drives right through the COVID barrier.
[09:05:00]
WANG: Moments later, police arrived they escort him handcuffed towards a large group of police officers. They surround him one police men sprays him
down with disinfectant. He's arrested all because he needed to feed his baby.
After outrage on Chinese social media, local police released a statement saying the man had been fined only 100 Yen or less than $15 and that his
child milk powder problem had been resolved. The scenes of suffering and tragedy adding to rage over the growing human and mental health toll of
China's brute force COVID restrictions in the Southern metropolis of Guangzhou. Residents locked down for weeks rushed to the streets, pushing
kicking down red barriers and metal gates trapping them in buildings.
Protesters cheering and shouting, demanding that they want to eat, they want to be unsealed as people struggle to get into food essentials and
medical care on lock down. Beijing recently announced incremental changes to COVID restrictions, but said the country is sticking to its zero COVID
policy. And for people who've lost their loved ones on lock down, these changes are all too little, too late.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHATTERLEY: And Selina joins us now from Beijing. Selina incredible reporting some of those cries truly give you shivers. I think for viewers
watching, they might be a bit confused, because as you reported at the end of that, there were suggestions that Beijing was going to loosen some of
the restrictions. Now we're talking about significantly rising cases again, and I guess the big fear is, there's not going to be any easing of
restrictions, because those two things don't work, particularly given the evidence in that video.
WANG: Yes, Julia, what we heard from the authorities a few weeks ago was really these incremental baby steps to adjust the policy. They claim that
they want to make the approach to COVID more scientific and more targeted. But the reality is that these local governments, they're still under
pressure to keep COVID cases low and all they have to rely on are these brute force tactics.
So as you say, as these COVID cases are rising, and winter time is coming, we're still seeing these lock downs. But in some places, including here in
the capitol in Beijing, they're not calling it a lock down. They're urging people the largest district to stay at home.
Even in my district where there is no official government announcement, the streets are quiet and the restaurants have all stopped in restaurant
dining, many of the stores are closed. So there's general fear and there is a desire to keep those cases low, but they're still sticking to the same
old tactics of lock downs, mass quarantine, and testing and those heartbreaking stories, Julia that I was just reporting on in that story.
That is just the tip of the iceberg. That is what we're able to capture from social media before it's immediately censored by the authorities.
There are so many cases of these tragic stories that go undocumented.
Of course, there is the economic toll from zero COVID, the human toll and the mental health costs. The World Health Organization estimated that
there's been a 25 percent jump globally from anxiety and depression in the first year of the pandemic. Now, those rates are likely much, much higher
in China where the policy the restrictions that has been the most draconian and the most frequent.
Now we're sitting here three years into the pandemic and it is still continuing and there's so much uncertainty because there's no knowledge of
when all of this is going to end. Living in China is like constantly playing roulette. You never know if your city might go into lock down if
you're going to be banned from leaving your home if you're going to struggle to get grocery struggle to get milk powder for your baby like the
man in that story we mentioned or if you're going to be sent to a quarantine facility, Julia.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, it's relaxed to your point Selina, great job in capturing what you can and helping us understand. Selina Wang there, thank you so
much for that. OK, back to one of our other top stories today and that's the sudden leadership change at Disney Chapek is out.
I get his back in. Frank Pallotta joins us now on this story. I think it's shocking for the industry and for those watching this but perhaps not
surprising in light of the challenges of the 2.5 years and actually, COVID is just a small fraction of that the challenges with PR the arguments with
Scarlett Johansson. I think a lot of people will remember all these different points and I guess the latest the earnings, which was the sort of
death knell to apex leadership.
FRANK PALLOTTA, CNN MEDIA REPORTER: Yes, I mean, think about it this way. Disney has built a media empire around stories about royalty, returning to
troubled kingdoms to save it from peril, and it's currently living that fairy tale in real time, with Iger who is arguably one of the most notable
CEOs in the history of the Walt Disney Company, one of the most notable names in the company's history. Second only in my opinion to Walt Disney
himself is now coming back at a time to help turn this company around.
[09:10:00]
PALLOTTA: Now, what do I mean by turning this company around. What I mean that it lost $1.5 billion in the last quarter in streaming even though it
grew. It took a huge hit on Wall Street took a huge hit all year long.
Some other places it's really struggling is that you know, even though the parks are doing well, a lot of fans did not like Bob Chapek. They felt that
they were being nickeled and dimed by him a little bit that he kind of boosted everything kind of up. But let's talk about the shocking
development of all of this.
This is what I've been telling people is that this is shocking, but not necessarily surprising. What do I mean by that? What I mean is that Iger
for 15 years was the Head of Disney.
Arguably, like I said, one of the most notable names in Disney's history. And if you talk to people in Hollywood, it's one of the greatest runs were
his 10 years in a company's history. And they also Disney I mean, gave a contract to Bob Chapek. After all of the controversies and hiccups that
we've been talking about, they gave him a contract that started in July that were supposed to run to 2025.
Now let me read you what Susan Arnold, the Chairman of the Board at Disney said last night. She said we think Bob Chapek for his service to Disney
over his long career, including navigating the company through the unprecedented challenges of the pandemic. The Board has concluded that as
Disney embarks on an increasingly complex period of industry transformation.
Bob Iger is uniquely situated to lead the company through this pivotal period. Another way of saying that is that thank you so much Chapek for
getting us through one of the most tumultuous times in our nearly 100-year history. But we believe our future is better in the hands of Bob Iger.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, and frankly, many of the challenges that they're facing everybody in the media industry is facing one wonders how differently I
would have handled the past 2.5 years. Particularly since he was in the sort of leadership for Chairman Position until what January of this year
it's going to be fascinating to see what comes next.
Frank, great to have you with us Frank Pallotta there, thank you! OK, the FIFA World Cup is underway in Qatar. As we speak Iran and England in action
on the tournament's first full day of competition.
Let's get straight to Amanda Davies, who is in Doha for us and have to say the score line looks pretty exciting for all the Brits out there. But let's
be clear, this game is about far more than football about sport, particularly for those watching at home in Iran and I believe there was not
even a national anthem. As this much began. Amanda talk us through.
AMANDA DAVIES, CNN WORLD SPORT: Yes, Julia, just before we come to that you might be able to hear quiet noise behind me. And this, of course, was meant
to be the day that the tournament was due to kick off before the cancel match was moved to Sunday a day ahead of time. The Argentinians have
certainly arrived ahead of their opening game in Saudi Arabia.
They are just here on mass in the squeaky with their bands with their drums is very much what you would expect to be a normal World Cup evening in one
of the host cities, the atmosphere is brilliant. They get their moment in the spotlight though tomorrow, but yes, as you rightly say, it's currently
half time as England take on Iran in their opening match in Group B. And so much of the buildup was dominated by talk of politics and protests because
of we've seen in recent time now into the third month, pretty much of these anti-government protests in Iran.
We have seen more and more Iranian athletes using their platform to have their voice. The players build up was absolutely dominated. They were
peppered with questions about Alireza Jahanbakhsh had said they were going to take a collective decision as a team as to what to do if anything and
their coach Carlos Queiroz shot a man who knows the Iranian politics more than most outsiders.
He's a Portuguese national, but this is his second stint in charge of the team leading them into a Third World Cup. He said he was open. He had said
to the players they were allowed to take a stand make a protest as long as it felt within FIFA rules.
So what happens as the players lined up for kickoff ahead of their match for the national anthems was that the Iranian players decided not to sing
their anthem and it's seen as a show of support solidarity for the anti- government protesters. My colleague, Donner Adele is that inside the ground, he said on the way in. He spoke to he saw quite a few fans who were
wearing T shirts, saying things like free Iran and rise with the women of Iran.
DAVIES: There is no doubt that full time the players will be asked about what it means? Why they decided to take this stance? Because of course, we
know it is not an easy thing for them to do.
[09:15:00]
DAVIES: You know there are likely to be consequences for hold them because they have taken this moment. Sadly, though the march is not going as they
would have hoped. They're currently three nil down to England, the players just heading back onto the pitch for the start of the second half, but
they're very much hoping that they can use this moment here at the World Cup. Not only to qualify out of the group stage for the first time and no
World Cup history, but to give them a longer, bigger platform to make their point.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, it's such an important point. It's not actually about winning the game. So it's about the platform and the message they can send
at this moment too. Amanda, no shortage of questions, no controversies in this tournament, and we should be speaking to you.
I'm sure on a daily basis, and hopefully we'll get to talk about this war as well in more depth as well but for now, thank you. Amanda Davies, thank
you for joining us there from Doha. OK, tributes are being paid to the victims of Saturday's deadly shooting at an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado.
Members of a synagogue held a vigil Sunday night for the five people killed and 25 injured at Club Q. After a man entered around midnight and
immediately started shooting. Colorado's Governor ordered flags to be lowered to half-mast on all public buildings through Saturday. President
Joe Biden said the shooting was senseless and said threats of violence are increasing.
And an earthquake in Indonesia has claimed at least 56 lives and injured hundreds more. It happened earlier on Monday. The 5.6 magnitude quake hit
the West Java province according to officials there. Emergency operations are underway and shelters are being built for victims of the quake schools,
homes, a mosque and a hospital have all been damaged or destroyed.
OK, we're going to take a quick break here on "First Move", but straight ahead Ukraine and Russia playing the blame game after weekend shelling at
the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. We're live with the latest from Kyiv. And Elon Musk wheeling out the Welcome Wagon for Trump on Twitter but
Former President return more on the ongoing turmoil at Twitter, after the break. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to "First Move", and we're talking Twitter once again. Our next guest says, in the best case Elon Musk is a visionary he
sees things we can't. "He does things we can't". Well over the weekend, Twitter's new owner tweeted a late night image of himself working alongside
his coders.
[09:20:00]
CHATTERLEY: Bradley Tusk goes on to say the least general's explanation is that Musk is essentially no different from the likes of Donald Trump or
Kanye West. He needs attention ahead of anything and everything else. West arrived back on Twitter at the weekend, and Trump has been given the option
to do so. But the former president doesn't seem all that keen, at least for now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, 45TH U.S. PRESIDENT: To social is through the roof. It's doing phenomenally well. True social has been very, very powerful, very,
very strong and I'll be staying there, but here we're getting a big vote to also go back on Twitter. I don't see it because I don't see any reason for
it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHATTERLEY: True social, of course, is the alternative platform that Donald Trump and his team created just so that you're clear. Joining us now,
Bradley Tusk is the Founder and CEO of Venture Capital Fund Tusk ventures. He also worked as a political strategist for Former New York Mayor Michael
Bloomberg and Communications Director for Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer.
Bradley, that's a long line of titles, I apologize and great to have you on the show with us. We spoke a couple of weeks ago and you said look,
actually, the Twitter purchase by Elon Musk could end up being 40 odd billion PR spend, ultimately for his other companies. But I liked this op-
ed that you did unfortunate. So I pulled those quotes out of it. Do you think the truth lies somewhere in between?
BRADLEY TUSK, FOUNDER AND CEO, TUSK VENTURES: Yes, for sure. I mean, I think he certainly is motivated by attention, just like Trump, just like
you said, Kanye West. And he is certainly a visionary and an incredible business person as well. So it's a little bit of both, but when we spoke
last Julia.
If you remember, the argument that I was throwing out there was because Tesla's market cap is so wildly overvalued compared to other car companies.
That differential is really high and its PR, and his ability to sort of command this huge following in a retail investor base. And the features
maybe by owning Twitter, he can kind of own the hype machine, keep promoting Tesla promote SpaceX, once it goes public, as effectively a cost
of doing business.
I'm now starting to wonder if the risk is on the other foot, which is if Twitter truly collapses, and he is seen as someone who just made a terrible
decision. This terrible mistake solely based on his need for attention solely based on his ego, that the same thing happened to certain extent to
Tesla and Space X. Tesla is very much a real company, but as of this morning, had a market cap of over $560 billion.
General Motors exactly 1/10, that at 56 billion, even though it has twice as many car sales itself. So what's got to be careful, they didn't open up
Pandora's Box here and the whole house of cards starts coming in?
CHATTERLEY: How high is that probability, Bradley? Because it's interesting what you say. I mean, certainly from some of the sort of conversations
behind the scenes of those people that were making the decision on Friday whether or not they were hardcore enough to stay.
It was a case of the vision that we've been presented is the risk that we may end up going bankrupt. The alternative is you take a few month's pay
and perhaps salvage some of your stock and you walk away. Those choices were quite stark.
TUSK: Yes, I mean, look, the employees there now are living with a tremendous amount of uncertainty. And I think, clearly, the employees at
Musk companies produce a lot of value or otherwise, he wouldn't be so successful. But you never hear about Tesla being what a great place to
work, right?
You hear about people being made to stay in the factory floor, 24 hours a day and things like that. And so ultimately, if Twitter reflects his other
companies, it's not going to be great working environment. It's already highly uncertain, both of the alternatives that you presented weren't
really great and so if you're a talented engineer in this economy, there's tremendous demand for your services and there's no real reason the states
were.
CHATTERLEY: You know it's interesting when I saw those Twitter, pictures, or those tweeted pictures that Musk sent out, and he was with the crew, and
they were looking at coding. There was a lot of positive feedback, there was also questions thrown out there of actually how much of the coding Musk
himself understands, as it pertains to Twitter? Just how well he ultimately understands this business?
Actually, that kind of behavior is normal of a startup leader of a visionary leader, whatever you're doing, and whatever you're building; can
I just get your expertise on that? Because I think you have everybody understand sort of what it takes to build from the floor, or rebuild in
this case?
TUSK: Right, some at early stage venture capitalist, which means I invest in companies when they are really first getting started. And at that point,
you don't necessarily expect to know what the ultimate business model will be? What ultimately, your best revenue sources will be?
There is a lot you don't know, you're basically betting on a Founder and their underlying idea and their ability to execute it. That's very
different than a company already valued at $44 billion dollars, right? When something's valued at $44 million you can say through trial and error will
figure out what works best. You put a lot of zeros after that and it's a different situation.
[09:25:00]
TUSK: And look, one thing that has been done heartening to me is when you look at the ideas that Musk has thrown out there so far there's nothing new
original. It's Oh, we'll do e-commerce will be more of a town square. He's just taking things that already exist on the internet and saying, we'll put
them on to Twitter.
I don't really see how that's going to accomplish all that much. And so sure, if Twitter were a brand new company, this was 2007. All these
conversations would make perfect sense, but 15 years later, it's a little late.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, it's interesting, isn't it? And of course, the $44 billion valuation is a value that he's put on it by buying it at that price, too.
What do you make of the Trump potential, or at least the option to come back at this stage? Because there was an online poll on Twitter held by
Elon Musk himself.
I mean, he talked about having this moderation Council, I just wonder how much of that is taking place behind the scenes. And at the same time, he's
saying, actually, that in terms of volumes, news flow, journalism, let's be clear, tied to the FTX collapse. I mean, what they're seeing is bigger and
greater than they've ever seen before. Is that monetizable? Is this something in what we're hearing and seeing?
TUSK: It's been really hard, right? I mean, the business model for the platforms is advertising, right? We are the product we go on there and they
sell advertisers access to us through really finely tailored algorithms. And that's worth a lot of money and the more negative the content, the more
we tend to sort of watch the train wreck, and therefore they can charge more money for advertising and make more money.
That has worked really well for Facebook, for Instagram. But it really has never worked as well for Twitter, because the actual platform itself
doesn't really lend itself nearly as well to advertising and so they may be able to attract a lot of attention, but Twitter has attracted a lot of
attention before Donald Trump arguably ran his 2016 presidential campaign over Twitter and get their economics didn't improve all that much.
So sometimes, I see this a lot in my work, you are looking at tech startups. There are ideas that could be interesting. They might be good for
society, but doesn't necessarily make them billionaire, multibillion dollar tech companies. I think what Twitter that unfortunately, might be the case.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, it's going to be fascinating to see. One of the other things you said in light of the FTX collapse, and it's something certainly
in the crypto sphere that we've been talking about on the show quite a lot over the last couple of weeks is, Venture Capitalists might start using
common sense after this. What do you mean by that? And what extra is going to be demanded by all of us, quite frankly, in terms of transparency,
whether it's a private company or otherwise?
TUSK: Yes, so I mean, I think that Venture Capital is very, very subject to momentum, and very subject to FOMO fear out. And as a result, once
investors see other VCs succeeding with certain types of investments, they say, well, we ought to do that to their investors or asking them, why you
aren't in crypto as well and that puts a lot of pressure. And that just starts to drive kind of a train where ultimately, things get out of
control.
Valuations are way too high. The companies aren't necessarily even real, like we saw with FTX and that all leads to a debacle. So one of the tricks
I think, as a Venture Capitalist to say this trend is interesting, risky, but that's what being a Venture Capitalist is, let's invest in it.
Or this trend is risky, and doesn't really make all that much sense, because if you look at crypto, specifically. Probably 1 percent of the
people on there genuinely do love the idea of a sovereign as currency that has no borders, and no central banks, no central authorities and that's
kind of great for those people. But again, that's less than 1 percent or less than 1 percent.
The rest are people who are just riding along to try to ride that wave up that fat sustainable. So while my fun, we did invest in Coinbase, that
worked out really well. We're in a few other crypto companies. We've been generally pretty conservative on our crypto investments, simply because I
can't understand the value proposition. Maybe it's because I'm too stupid, but my view is if I can't get it, I'm probably not going to put my money
behind.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, it's a good investment advice. If you don't understand it, you know, don't assume that. Yes, Bradley, always great to talk to you by
Tusk Venture--
TUSK: Thank you for having me!
CHATTERLEY: Always a pleasure, thank you! More "First Move" after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:30:00]
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to "First Move". Lots to discuss this Monday as you've already seen, including goals, goggles and gifts. The World Cup
kicking into high gear go England my lifelong cheer always says us Thanksgivings break draws near and retail investors hoping for a holiday
season without pier.
On Western Wall Street meanwhile, to get my teeth back in U.S. stocks beginning the holiday shortened week a touch softer. As you can see there
sentiment a little bit of steer uncertainty over future Federal Reserve policy.
The usual line and of course, rising COVID cases as we were discussing earlier in China also, I think impacting sentiment more broadly. Disney
shares though however roaring like a lion king after its leadership shakeup shares up some 8.5 percent on news that Bob Iger is back in the driving
seat replacing CEO Bob Chapek who led the entertainment giant for more than 2.5 turbulence filled years.
Chapek came under fire from activist investors to do more to boost the firm's sagging share price and get a handle on rising costs particularly at
the Disney Plus streaming division. Iger has agreed to stay on for two years as the new Disney CEO.
OK, let's bring it back to one of our top stories today. And we're in Ukraine now where an inspection team from the IAEA is scheduled to arrive
at Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant today after explosion shook the area over the weekend.
The IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi says whoever is responsible for the shelling is "Playing with fire". It's still unclear who's responsible for
the explosions with Kyiv and Moscow blaming each other.
Matthew Chance joins us live now from Kyiv. Matthew, the blame game can continue. But it does feel like at this stage, its luck rather than
management that something more severe hasn't happened. And of course, that the fallout then could be dramatic, devastating?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDNET: Yes, quite literally because we're talking about radioactive material. And if the
shells that are being fired in the vicinity of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plants were to land on something critical, and so far, they haven't
and that could have a devastating impact.
Of course, Ukraine is no stranger to the impact of nuclear disasters. And so it's particularly sensitive to the fact that this nuclear power plant,
which is the biggest in Europe by the way, is now smack bang in the middle of Europe's well the middle of a European war zone, which is a very, very
dangerous place to be indeed.
[09:35:00]
CHANCE: You're right both sides are trading accusations. The Russians say its Ukrainian artillery that is hitting buildings and infrastructure, sort
of in the area of the power station. The Ukrainians are saying no, it's the Russians. They're basically shelling themselves because the Russians are in
control at the moment of that region.
But whoever's in control, obviously, the IAEA, the UN's nuclear watchdog, is very concerned on behalf of the international community and is calling
on both sides to step back and to stop fighting around this area.
In case something goes wrong, the IAEA saying we're not talking about miles or kilometers from where the fighting is happening we're talking about
meters, just meters away from potential nuclear catastrophe.
And so that's how close it is. That's how alarmed the UN's nuclear watchdog, the IAEA is meanwhile, of course, fighting continuing all across
that region, and all across those frontlines in Ukraine in this ongoing, increasingly brutal war between Russia and Ukraine.
CHATTERLEY: Yes. We'll have to see what the IAEA say when they've actually been able to inspect and have a look at what's going on there? Matthew,
great to have you with us as always, thank you, Matthew Chance there!
OK, coming up here on "First Move" a story of persistence and an inspiring reminder that you are never too old to follow your dreams. Coming up, we'll
meet the Barefoot Empress stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to "First Move". A lifelong dream of education is becoming a reality for one remarkable woman in India. Barefoot Empress a
new short documentary follows the journey of 96 year old Karthyayani Amma as she joins a first grade classroom for the very first time. The film was
inspired by director Vikas Khanna own grandmother who was not given the opportunity to receive a formalized education.
Amma who is now 100 years old and her story are also helping girls in underserved communities across India get the education they deserve. Khanna
is partnering with several nonprofits including "Leap to shine" which pledged to educate 5 million girls in India.
[09:40:00]
CHATTERLEY: And joining us now is Michelin Star Chef a Restaurateur, Director Vikas Khanna and Oscar Nominated Filmmaker Doug Roland and they're
the team behind "Barefoot Empress". Vikas and Doug, welcome to the show, it is awesome to have you with us. Vikas I want to begin with you,
congratulations first and foremost.
This film is just over 15 minutes, but it doesn't have pack a punch. And I was there at the premiere. And I don't think there was a dry eye in the
house, but they were happy tears. Just explain who Amma is? What she means to you and what your message was in writing and directing this movie?
VIKAS KHANNA, WRITER AND DIRECTOR, BARFOOT EMPRESS: I think Amma is somebody I've never - somebody with so much courage. She wanted to live
this dream and when she got the opportunity, you can see how grateful she is?
You know, I have been in her room. She was up at 3 am in the night learning tables. She hates mathematics; I must put it on the table, right? She hates
mathematics. You'll see it in the movie also that's how hard it is for her to calculate.
I see her work so hard and I followed her live over the last four years. And she is a symbol of people showing up on their dreams. And also grateful
people are as we are privileged to give education like this.
And I think we were built on women like this. Our careers are live women, my grand mom, who never got the opportunity to go to school, but they were
most intelligent in the whole family. And this is what I felt about Amma that's what connected.
CHATTERLEY: Yes. I was just going to say you see in the movie in the beginning, she's laughed at she's ridiculed. I mean, she was a mother. She
was then widowed, she worked in a temple cleaning just simply to keep her family together and to keep them fed.
And then you see the power that she has as a star pupil and how suddenly her classmates who were young children look up to her, idolize her as
someone that shows him you're never too old to follow your dreams.
Yes, we're very speechless. Doug comes in here. What was it about this story? And I think already explaining it. And Vikas of course that caught
your attention and made you want to add, what should we call it some Hollywood glitter perhaps you already had that your sparkle?
DOUG ROLAND, PRODUCER, BAREFOOT EMPRESS: You know this was something that was the moment that Vikas first told me about this story. I was just taken
by it like anyone has been who's seen it.
I mean, you know Amma is someone who, you know, you can't help but be inspired and smile when you see her on screen and you hear her story. But
moreover, you know, Vikas is someone who I've gotten to form a really strong friendship with over the last couple of years.
And I was also so intrigued by what I knew; his plans were for this film to really help, you know, so many young girls in India and have a huge impact
there. And, you know, as a filmmaker myself who has a history of social impact filmmaking that was something that really, really spoke to me as
well?
So it was first and foremost Amma and who she is and what she represents in her story, but also the impact that a film like this can have.
CHATTERLEY: Yes. I mean, Vikas your last movie that you did, and the last time you were on the show, you were talking to us about your role as an
ambassador for widows. And this is part of this story too.
And the importance as you said, of allowing young girls and women to be the absolute best they can be in all forms. And think the word that you used
was when a woman's widowed in India, she becomes in auspicious, she's seen as bad luck.
And I think some part of the power of this movie too, is about breaking what can be a devastating lifecycle for women, and that they perhaps never
achieve the things that they should. Just explain the importance of that part of your story and your power, and the story that you're trying to
tell?
KHANNA: So for the last color for you, we work partnered with so many amazing foundations, especially with Global Fund for Widows, who empower
widows around the world. Just to put it here, there are more than 350 million widows in this world.
And many of them have been disinherited. And they have no - they're totally disinheritance. And that says that, you know, I was up and you spoke to me
I was in Washington, D.C. I was - I was the only guy in the crowd over on the stage.
And here was you know, picking up the issue of girl education because I don't think so there could be a foundation of a nation actually girls get
drives to be educated. And I think this is what Amma has become such an ambassador and symbol of that if she was educated she would have not lived
a life like that.
[09:45:00]
CHATTERLEY: It's about breaking that cycle. And actually Vikas very quickly, it's all the more important after COVID with fears and concerns
now that millions of girls that were in secondary school have been forced to drop out, and they'll never go back.
So there's never been a more important moment, I think, for this movie to shine a light on the importance of education for young girls, and to keep
them in that education.
KHANNA: So we are rehabilitating classrooms, and actually, the first class was - Doug a little girl - and he was on the live camera looking at this
little classroom. And we are rehabilitating we are also working on nutrition, because that's also very important part of girls dropping out of
school.
And we are also on giving them like tools for them so they can be educated. But absolutely right more understanding this issue in India right now in
some parts of the country I feel like it needs more attention. And I'm glad that we have partners right now on grounds who are working towards mission,
amazing - Amma's portrait in the classroom. I think it just fills my heart with so much joy, Amma legacy is massive.
What she has done, especially when she says I'm not ashamed to sit in the classroom with my great grant children of age that showed courage of a
woman when owned by social norms all your life, she's not ashamed. And all - I remember when she was being celebrated, all the neighbors who
criticized us, they were right there in that function, celebrating Amma, it takes a brave heart to break that down.
CHATTERLEY: And a powerful woman. Doug, we want to take what is a local story and make it global, which again, is tied to what you're doing. And
it's funny, we spoke to the IMAX CEO recently and he was talking about the importance of local language film and how more and more people around the
world are sort of resonating being inspired by this kind of movie.
Talk to us about what qualifying for Oscar engine? We'll all keep our fingers crossed means for this movie, and just spreading the message far
and wide.
ROLOAND: Yes, absolutely. You know, this is a story that needs to be seen by as many people as possible. And, you know, platform - you know, like the
Academy Awards, like, you know, sharing it in all the different spaces we've been sharing it magnifies this story and allows it to have, first and
foremost the emotional impact that you know, that it will have in people getting to hear directly from Amma and learn about her story.
And then beyond that, the work that we were just talking about that's happening in classrooms in India have that - have the largest impact it
possibly can have. So we just want as many people to see this story as possible and be moved by it and be inspired to do something.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, she certainly inspiring. Vikas she's now 100. Talk to me about how her education is going because we know she's a star pupil? I mean
she blew away all the tests that she was doing. And you could tell that she was sort of very proud of that.
KHANNA: And that's, you know, I just made sure that nobody cheats for me. And I was - Amma I'm going to go into - book, which she written on her
life. And I think that's very important. And I wanted to see that we have a new person of the movie, and she hasn't seen that. I'm going to take that
with me and see them update on her education. So I'll be updating on my social media tomorrow.
CHATTERLEY: Amazing. And very quickly Vikas you tweeted out a picture of her holding your arm and you get a sense of how tiny she is? She's a really
tiny lady. This is one teeny, tiny, fragile lady who is so powerful in her heart. One can only imagine what it's like being in her presence?
KHANNA: Every time I leave Amma I have seen that I had the privilege to be in the same room, breathing the same air. And she's like a goddess. I did
ask her one question, which is - do forgive - just so that you have to do that to go on.
Like this wisdom, what she says in the end of the movie that you're going to go at home. Do you stop God coming to my home? Like that's brilliant 100
years of the wisdom who survived and sustained and endured and forgiven everyone who stopped her from being someone.
CHATTERLEY: Wow, forgiveness is all important. But despite or with them, she's one heck of a powerful lady now. Vikas congratulations on the movie,
Doug same to you fingers crossed.
We'll see how it does? Vikas Khanna there and Doug Roland great to chat to you both thank you our Goddess. Coming up on "First Move" NASA's mission to
eventually bring mankind back to the moon reaches a critical moment we'll have the latest details after this.
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CHATTERLEY: Welcome back once again! It's an incredibly exciting day for NASA's Artemis Mission with the Orion Spacecraft performing a critical
maneuver and to enter the next phase of its journey around the moon.
Kristin Fisher joins us with the details from Washington D.C. I'm already bouncing up and down on my chair I read this morning that the spacecraft
passed around 80 miles above the lunar surface. So in space terms, that's practically kissing. That's super close?
KRISTIN FISHER, CNN SPACE AND DEFENSE CORRESPONDENT: I know and Julia, I'm dying to see these images because it is going to be the closest that a
human rated spacecraft a spacecraft designed to carry humans has ever flown to the moon since the Apollo program back in the 1970s.
And so unfortunately, NASA was not able to share those images live because it happened that close approach just 80 miles off the surface of the moon.
It happened on the far side of the moon, meaning that they lost communications with the spacecraft for about 25 minutes.
But we got to watch that approach live. And then Julia on the other side, we saw something that was just remarkable, something we've seen before but
we're getting to see with a fresh set of eyes and that was us the earth truly just a pale blue speck in the vastness of outer space and the Orion
Spacecraft, which was sitting on top of that rocket right there when it launched five days ago.
It was beaming it back live to Earth. So we're seeing some images, beamed back live right now Julia, the other ones, the good ones, like you're
waiting for where we're going to see those really crisp, clear images of all the craters on the moon, that's going to take a little bit of time to
beam back to Earth. but I'm waiting for it. It should be back any minute now.
CHATTERLEY: I was about to say never mind beaming back beam me up, please. We don't know precisely how long we have to wait for those images? And is
that right, Kristin?
FISHER: Yes, unfortunately.
CHATTERLEY: No, that makes sense. It's some yes --it's a project for them too. Just explain to our viewers who may have missed the initial launch.
I'm not sure anybody did but just in case because this is part of a bigger project to put man and woman back on the moon and at this stage at least,
there are no humans up there Snoopy. Snoopy is the most famous individual.
FISHER: Yes, Snoopy mannequin for right now. But yes, this is the dawn the beginning of the Artemis program, the twin sister of Apollo in Greek
mythology. And so this is the first test flight.
It's designed to test the Orion spacecraft which sat on top of the SLS, Artemis rocket.
And it is going to carry humans farther than any humans had ever flown into outer space and what's so critical about this is if this mission is a
success.
[09:55:00]
FISHER: Then it's going to pave the way for Artemis II and Artemis III. Artemis II the next time this spacecraft flies, we'll have four astronauts
on board doing that flyby of the moon, and then Artemis III, which likely will happen in 2025.
That will be the Apollo 11 equivalent of the Artemis program when astronauts finally step on the surface of the moon. This time though, it's
going to be the first woman and the first person of color and also Julia this time they're going to leave behind a lot more than just flags and
footprints. They want to build a base and stay on the moon permanently and then someday go on to Mars. Julia.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, I love that way more than flags and footprints. 2025 here we come. Kristin Fisher, great to have you with us thank you so much for
that!
FISHER: Thank you.
CHATTERLEY: And finally, the Black Panther roared once more this weekend emotional Marvels Sequel "Wakanda Forever" holding on to its top perch at
the U.S. box office raking in another $67 million that adds up to a mammoth $564 million worth of sales worldwide so far topping ticket sales from the
first installment back in 2018. And that's it for the show. We'll be back tomorrow. "Connect the World' with Becky Anderson is up next stay with CNN.
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