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First Move with Julia Chatterley
China Tightens COVID Measures as new Outbreaks Spread; Saudi Arabia Scores Major Upset Win over Argentina; Turkey Talk with Butterball; Russia says Ukrainians Killed Surrendering Troops, Ukraine says Russians Surrender & Opened Fire; Kitchen Robots Address Global Labor Shortage; Binance CEO: There will Potentially be some Contagion. Aired 9-10a ET
Aired November 22, 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: Hello, a warm welcome to "First Move". Fantastic to have you with us during a topsy-turvy week for all,
where obviously eyeing World Cup football, where we start to deck the hall. Grab presents from the mall and cook the Thanksgiving Butterball. We're
very - on the show today.
Butterball for those who don't know is the world's largest Turkey producer, and their CEO will join us this hour to talk all things bird, especially
when food prices are beyond absurd. Butterball, firing up its 24-hour consumer hotline with cooking tips and this year of course, how to stretch
that bird budget too and yet more food for thought today. The CEO of Miso robotics the creator of the Flippy kitchen assistant will also be here on
the show. How robots can help restaurants cope with labor shortages?
And of course, the ongoing debate will robots like Flippy steal human jobs longer term. We will be discussing shortly on the show. Now from talking
about food to a more positive investor mood at least for now the bulls hoping for a nourishing Wall Street open after Monday's pullback.
Tesla was the big S&P loser on Monday falling 7 percent to a 2-year low in fact, while take a look at that chart Disney a red light up 6 percent on
news of the management shakeup that sees Bob Iger return to the helm Iger wasting little time putting his stamp on things or back on things, firing a
top executive and announcing a fresh restructuring.
The very latest on the eye of the Iger coming up shortly on the show and one thing connecting Disney and Tesla exposure, of course to China Hong
Kong that shares falling for a fifth straight session as China expands COVID lock downs and testing requirements amid a fresh surge in COVID cases
and fears of softer Chinese growth would normally put pressure on oil prices in anticipation of weaker demand. However, crude is firmer at this
moment as Saudi Arabia denies reports that OPEC is eyeing a production increase.
Now that would be interesting timing. Let's talk about China and China's worsening COVID outlook and its global economic impact remains our top
story today. Beijing now tightening its COVID restrictions to protect against that recent spike in new infections a negative PCR test needs to be
taken within 48 hours that's now required to enter public venues and use public transportation as Kristie Lu Stout reports.
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There is a surge in COVID 19 infection across China with outbreaks in multiple Chinese cities from the Chinese
capital and Shijiazhuang in the North to the economic engine of Guangzhou in the South and the mega city Chongqing in the country's southwest. On
Monday, China reported 26,824 new local cases of the virus that is the highest daily COVID cases reported since mid-April and although these case
numbers are very low compared to global standards.
China has been holding tight to its zero COVID policy. This policy of mass testing snap lockdowns and border controls, which has disrupted both lives
and livelihoods. And that policy is testing residents across the country in Beijing's most populous district Chaoyang, which is home to nearly 3.5
million people. Officials have urged residents there including students and workers to stay home.
According to the Deputy Director of the Beijing Center for Disease Prevention and Control, "The number of cases discovered outside quarantine
is increasing rapidly at present, and there are hidden transmission risks from multiple places.
The pressure on Beijing has further increased." Also in the north Shijiazhuang is undergoing five days of mass testing, as the city urges its
residents not to leave unless necessary. Shopping centers and entertainment venues are closed. Drainage services and in class learning suspended and
the tough measures there come just days after the city relaxed COVID restrictions.
According to state media in Guangzhou the by U.N. district is under lockdown until Friday of the District is home to the Guangzhou Baiyun
International Airport. And on WeChat local health authority said this "The risk of social transmission of the epidemic in Baiyun district has
continued to increase and the prevention and control situation is grim." Last week, scores of angry residents in another Guangzhou district took to
the streets to protest China's tough anti-pandemic policy.
Chongqing, China's biggest City with a population of over 30 million is also battling an outbreak. Last week, the City government announced that
residents are not allowed to leave the city unless necessary.
[09:05:00]
STOUT: As winter is coming COVID-19 cases across China are set to rise. The state run People's Daily, warns that the pandemic may worsen writing in an
editorial this quote, "The situation of pandemic control is severe. We must maintain confidence that we will win, resolutely overcome issues such as
insufficient understanding and insufficient preparation".
Earlier this month, Chinese authorities eased parts of its pandemic policy and Goldman Sachs is trying to construct to reopen the April-June quarter
of next year. But experts are warning that a full reopening requires higher vaccination rates, a change in messaging and broader access to medical
care. And given the rise in cases nationwide, it will be even harder for China to unwind it's nearly three-year long zero COVID policy. Kristie Lu
Stout CNN, Hong Kong.
CHATTERLEY: It's a key, for more on this Selina Wang joins us now from Beijing. Selina good to have you with us and I believe now in Beijing and
Shanghai. In order to get into restaurants as I mentioned, and to use public transport you now need to be within 48 hours of having a PCR test.
We know that if you relax restrictions, cases will rise. This is the way that COVID works. How are people dealing with it Selina both with the
prospect of more lockdowns and also, as you've been describing the mental health impact of people fearing COVID itself?
SELINA WANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Julia it's everything that you're talking about combined, is this uncertainty of not knowing when all of this
is going to end. If you're able to just live your daily life, get those essentials you need, send your kids to school. If you're going to have to
be stuck in lockdown it stocks up and prepare for the worst.
And the stories of tragedy that we've been discussing and that I've been reporting on for your show is the stories of tragedy and suffering that
I've been repeating over and over again for three years in cities across China because these harsh lockdowns continue when those buildings,
communities or cities get sealed off. There are many cases of people dying because they can't get that emergency help fast enough.
In fact, authorities Julia have acknowledged many of those cases, but each time they blame it on the execution of the zero COVID policy, rather than
the policy itself. And of course, everywhere we go, we have to have that recent PCR test. Now it's gone from 72 hours to 48 hours.
So that means we've got a lineup more regularly the largest district here as urged residents to stay at home. The city has shut down many parks,
malls and museums. The city is very quiet and there are many areas that are selectively going into lockdown where cases have been found.
Of course, you've also got to show that health code on your smartphone app that allows the government to track and surveil virtually all 1.4 billion
people. The government did announce that they wanted to become more targeted and scientific when it comes to their approach for COVID. That got
the markets and investors really excited that there could be a reopening right on the horizon.
But the reality is that these local governments are still under pressure to keep COVID cases low in the only tactics they have to rely on are these
brute force tactics of mass testing of quarantining of locking down. So there is no easy exit from this, especially when you have a population
where the elderly population is still lagging behind in their vaccination rates. And to your point, the messaging in China has still been for several
years that COVID is very dangerous long COVID is dangerous.
So for many people there still a fear about getting COVID in addition to the restrictions that comes with getting COVID because if you get COVID you
become a pariah basically. You have to go to a quarantine facility. Your close contacts have to go as well your whole community or neighborhood code
all go into lockdown just because you got COVID.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, it's a pressure cooker a stress pressure cooker and to your point Selina. I think perfectly said there's just no easy exit. Thank
you for your reporting. Thank you for being there. It's always great to have you with us.
OK, let's move on to Indonesia now, rescue teams are desperately searching for survivors under the rubble after Monday's powerful earthquake. The
death toll has now risen to nearly 270 people. Paula Hancocks joins us now. Paula, what more do we know about those that may still be alive that may be
trapped in the ongoing efforts of the rescue workers?
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Julia, there is this frantic ongoing rescue operation where you see teams trying to move rubble trying
to move effectively what were houses and buildings that have collapsed potentially onto people. Now, the reason that we have seen these buildings
collapses because this was a particularly shallow earthquake. It was 5.6 magnitudes, but it was only 10 kilometers deep.
Now of course, the closer it is to the Earth's surface, then that means there is more damage. Now unfortunately, we also know that there were
dozens according to Save the Children.
[09:10:00]
HANCOCKS: Dozens of schools that were impacted. It happened at about 1:20 in the afternoon so schools were in session people and children were in
their classes and we heard from West Java's governor that the majority of those who died were children. Also understanding that as the earthquake
hit, there weren't many children that were running out of these schools, many of which have been impacted.
Now, the President himself has been to the particular area that is affected, and he has said that there will be compensation for those who
have damaged or lost their homes. One local mayor said there's something like 22,000 homes which have been destroyed. We don't have an exact figure
on schools at this point, but obviously that does appear to have been one of the most devastating parts of this earthquake.
And he also pointed out Joko Widodo, that he wanted the rebuild to be earthquake resistant buildings. This is not something that happens just
every so often. This is a prevailing problem in Indonesia; it sits on the so called Ring of Fire.
This is a band across the Pacific Ocean where there are frequent earthquakes and volcanic activity. And once again, we have seen just how
damaging it can be. Now that particular area in West Java district this happened is, it's about 75 kilometers southeast of the capital Jakarta, but
it is a populous area.
It's a mountainous area and the concern now of course is given the amount of aftershocks whether the structures that are still standing are safe. We
saw from one local media that they were filming hundreds of patients being treated in the car park, the parking lot of the hospital because there were
concerns about the infrastructure not being safe and of course the weather. If it does continue with wet weather there is a concern of mudslides,
Julia.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, hearts with all those involved and will continue to follow the rescue worker's efforts. Paula, thank you for that, Paula Hancock's
there! OK, let's move on, Investors seem eager for Iger's return as top mouse at Disney and he's come back he's already seeing some big changes.
One day after taking back the reins. Bob Iger announced the firing of the company's media and entertainment distribution Chief Kareem Daniel and a
new restructuring is coming. In the coming weeks "Tiger says Daniels exit was part of a new structure that puts more decision making back in the
hands of our creative teams and rationalizes costs".
CNN's Frank Pallotta joins us once again on this story and that quote was interesting. It's replaced two very important and disgruntled audiences; I
think workers who believe that their creativity was being stifled and investors that were concerned about rising costs.
FRANK PALLOTTA, CNN MEDIA WRITER: Yes, so basically looking at it this way the Disney media and entertainment distribution Chief Kareem Daniel is out,
what is D-med? That's what they call it Disney media and entertainment distribution. The best way to kind of Layman's terms, it was Disney's way
to focus in on streaming.
Disney always was kind of this kingdom with all these little fiefdoms of you know, you had Marvel and studios and then you had the parks over here
and you had merchandising over here. And basically now what happened was during Chapek's reign, they as a company, Chapek as the Chief was like
everything is going to funnel through streaming. Everything is about streaming here.
We are a streaming company. We're going to focus on streaming. Now, Iger has returned and basically said, No, we're going to put it back to the way
things were when I was kind of running the place, which is really talking about these macro trends that are happening across Hollywood. It's almost
kind of like Hollywood is waking up out of this, you know, streaming at any cost kind of drunken stupor.
And now they're a little bit hung over their house is a little bit of a mess, and they're missing about $1.5 billion. So they're just trying to
figure out what the next steps are. But it looks like the next steps are kind of returning to the way things were when Iger was running the place.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, we shall continue to see those kinds of changes I think. Frank, great to have you with us! Thank you for that Frank Pallotta there.
OK on to immediate footballing upset at the World Cup.
Saudi Arabia shocking Lionel Messi's Argentina beating them in a 2-1 wins. Yes, you heard me right, if only we could stick to the sport but of course
at the start of the tournament, overshadowed by Qatar's refusal to allow players to wear armband supporting LGBTQ rights. Just listen to what the
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said about that fact.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: One of the most powerful things about football about soccer is potential to bring the world together. It's
always concerning from my perspective, when we see any restrictions on freedom of expression. It's especially so when the expression is for
diversity and for inclusion. And in my judgment, at least, no one on a football pitch should be forced to choose between supporting these values
and playing for their team
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[09:10:00]
CHATTERLEY: Amanda Davies joins us now from Doha. Amanda, I think it's important that we keep emphasizing the importance of coming back to these
rainbow restrictions but I don't think can sports fans around the world would ever forgive me, if I didn't talk about what I heard Alex in the last
hour talk about one as one of the biggest World Cup upsets of all time. Saudi Arabia beating Argentina let's talk about that first.
AMANDA DAVIES, CNN WORLD SPORT: Let's talk about that. I can tell you Julia there literally were shock waves sent around super wacky behind me the
rumble, the chairs, the gas, and the celebrations that took place when that final whistle went. This is Argentina sighs that went into that game today?
36 games unbeaten date all the way back to June 2019.
And of course, it was in Argentina with Lionel Messi this seventh time Ballon d'Or winner. So many people talking about this as potentially his
year to finally win this major piece of silverware that has eluded them. People were writing Saudi Arabia off.
I don't think that's unfair to say, but even when Messy, put them ahead for Argentina ahead from the penalty spot. Saudi was not giving up, they were
disciplined, they were organized, and they were creative. They were full of energy and there we have them, securing this famous, famous victory.
To put it into context this is a side 50 places below Argentina, in the world rankings that were stumped five nil by Russia in their opening game
of the last World Cup in 2018. They haven't made it out of the group stages at all in their last four attempts at the World Cup.
But now their fans, their sizable contingent of fans here in Doha I have to say, a daring to dream that maybe just maybe this might be the year that
they emulate the performance of their famous team from 1994, who reached the rounds of 60 and there is still a very long way to go of course. This
is just the first of three matches for each of these sides in the group stages, but Saudi Arabia couldn't have gotten off to a better start,
Argentina, a worse one.
As far as the organizers are concerned this is just the kind of footballing story, though, that they were hoping for. When the action got underway it
allows all the other teams, all the fans around the world to dare to dream to really get invested in this, in a football tournament.
But, Julia, when you take a step back the severity of the issues that we're talking about the seriousness of the rights for the members of the LGBTQ+
community, the migrant workers here that will not be removed from the agenda. People will still keep talking about them, as they absolutely
should.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, absolutely. We can talk about the sport but we'll talk about the other issues too. But I'm one would presume there's going to be
one or two more Saudi Arabian sports fans heading over to Qatar in the coming days to watch the team play. We shall see. Amanda, great to have you
with us thank you! Amanda Davies there in Doha!
All right straight head two fortunate Turkeys getting a presidential pardon the birds not as lucky as they head to the Thanksgiving table. Thanks to
Butterball who was beat to the CEO of the world's largest Turkey producer right after this. Plus, restaurants next Helping Hand may be from a robot.
The CEO of Miso robotics is talking about filling tough jobs in the kitchen. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to "First Move", where it's time to talk Turkey with Thanksgiving in the United States just two days away. Now the big bird
is about to become the star of tables across America but this year's feast is going to cost a staggering 20 percent more because of inflation snags in
the supply chain and bad weather. Turkey prices have jumped 24 percent since last year.
Making mashed potatoes will cost you around 20 percent more in the United States and key ingredients for that perfect pie for dessert. Well bear up
apparently between 23 and 75 percent too. Now Butterball is the world's largest Turkey producers supplying 1/3 of all Thanksgiving Turkeys.
The company exports to over 45 different countries, but it's had to raise prices after its production costs nearly doubled. CEO Jay Jandrain says he
expects to sell more Turkeys than last year, but the selection may be limited. And joining us now is Jay Jandrain. He is the CEO of Butterball.
Jay fantastic to have you on the show! So we have to talk about the two crucial things. First is the cost and the second is availability and
supply. What can you tell us about this year?
JAY JANDRAIN, CEO, BUTTERBALL: Well, as you mentioned, certainly we've had to deal with inflation, as many other companies have, everything has gone
up. But one really good thing about Turkeys at Thanksgiving is how heavily they're featured at the retailer. So some of the numbers you just quoted
actually aren't fully representative of what we see during the feature activity.
In fact, we just looking at some Farm Bureau numbers that they just put out shows that the whole Turkey prices were on average dropped from $11 to 95
cents a pound in the last week as we see more and more of those retailers, heavily discounting the product, as they customarily do during the time. So
that's certainly good news for the consumer also with regard to supply, we've actually shipping more Turkeys this year than we did last year, which
is great news since as you mentioned, we have a third of all the Turkeys on the Thanksgiving table are Butterball.
But from an industry standpoint, as well, we expect full supply, no shortages. We've been talking very closely to our retailers and we
understand that they're in good shape right now. Sales are brisk. They're selling through, but there are no shortages of product.
CHATTERLEY: So this is really important, because you never know what to expect. I've seen some commentators suggesting that some consumers could
end up paying double for the price of their Turkey compared to last year. But what you're saying is, actually we're seeing some cost cutting as we
had ever closer to Thanksgiving into your point, zero trouble with supply. So that should be a comfort, I think to consumers that want to eat Turkey
in a couple of days' time.
JANDRAIN: Absolutely, we know from talking our consumers shortly before the holiday that 90 percent of them planned on celebrating the holiday and 85
percent of those planned on having Turkey as a centerpiece for the meal. So it is certainly good news with that volume of people looking to have Turkey
on their table. We're certainly happy to see that they aren't going to be disappointed.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, I'm sure they agree with you. I also mentioned you export over 45 other different countries. And I think one of the big themes that
we've been discussing this year has been the relative strength of the U.S. dollar.
I just wondered what sort of demand you're seeing from elsewhere in the world. Particularly as most of the world recovers from COVID and people get
back together again, which I think is an important point. What are you seeing from demand elsewhere in the world?
JANDRAIN: Well, that is a great point. We are seeing people celebrate more both in the U.S. and domestic or domestically and overseas. From an export
standpoint, though, demand is strong. The brand is very, very strong in other countries.
[09:25:00]
JANDRAIN: Even though the brand is particularly synonymous with the holiday here, we find a lot of people looking for Butterball brand in other
countries Mexico, Central America, and Caribbean. Those are our primary exporting countries but we do ship that to many other countries around the
world.
CHATTERLEY: One of the other things that I love about what you doing, and you've been doing it for many years now is that you run a hotline for
people needing help advice. I know sort of jokingly emotional support as well, because this run now for the next month can be quite stressful, I
think for people as well. And I believe it runs from now to December 24. Just talk to me about the hotline for people and how many people you get,
on average each year calling in and asking for help? Various sports, I'm sure.
JANDRAIN: Absolutely, in fact, we're in our 41st year of the Turkey talk line, which is great to have that longevity. But it's been there for
decades, providing support to people who are feeling rushed in a crunch, trying to figure out how to get things done. One of the things that we
found through the pandemic, we had a lot of new hosts for the holidays, because gatherings were smaller, they weren't able to travel.
Maybe mom or grandma wasn't cooking the Turkey like they were before and they had to do it. So we helped a lot of people through that. We'll see in
just a matter of a couple of weeks well over 100,000 callers.
And in fact, just got news from our folks at the talk line this morning that their calls are very, very brisk right now they're getting a lot of
people calling in, but they're there to help them. They're going to talk them through whatever they need to do to make sure that was exactly what
they need.
CHATTERLEY: What's the craziest question you've ever had?
JANDRAIN: Well, I'll tell you, there are a lot of questions about how to find, like Turkeys in the bathtub while they're bathing their kids and that
sort of thing. So hey, it's all over the board.
CHATTERLEY: Wow! Yes, because I mean, that's something I learned when it came to the United States is people do, some people do put it into an
entire vat of oil so yes, exciting for me. You know something I want to ask, we had the CEO of Eat Just on the show in the past week, and I don't
know whether you've heard from them, but they talk about growing meat, and in this case, chicken as cells.
So it was never actually a full bird. They simply take the cells and they grow the meat and they're trying to say it's, you know, more that ethical,
sustainable way of eating meat in the future. Jay I just wanted to get your view on how you view that and whether you think that is in any way a sort
of viable substitute or competition perhaps for you guys and what you do one day?
JANDRAIN: Well alternatives or certainly something that we keep an eye on but that's not anything that we expect to be an imminent issue to our
business. But you know there is reason to look for different ways to feed people, which is great. We're a growing population.
So we're always looking for ways to make sure that people have valuable food on their table that is not going to be too expensive for them to
afford. And right now, certainly, the typical animal agriculture way of growing meat is the most economical way to get food on the table and we're
going to continue to do that. Make sure that we can feed as many people as possible.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, I know, I mean, I read between the lines. I mean, even he was saying it's going to take 6 to 10 years before even bacon sort of
balanced the books, never mind scaling this up. It sorts of plays with TikTok generation, though, and I know you're on TikTok now too. To your
point about sort of playing to younger people and those that might be welcoming people around the table that perhaps haven't ever before. Jay,
talk to me about the TikTok message.
JANDRAIN: Yes, well, that's something we really discovered through the pandemic, with, again, with many new hosts for Thanksgiving. We realized
that we needed to really reach out to those folks and talk to them. They are inexperienced cooks, largely, but they're foodies. So there's a great
opportunity for us to help coach them and get them along and show them how to use Turkey products in their everyday menu.
Certainly, it's a very healthy option for them for protein standpoint but the key is making sure that we speak to them where they are listening to
their information and TikTok is a great example where the amount of time that the younger generation spend getting their media. We want to make sure
that we reach out to them where they are and so that's been a big driver and now we've been advertising.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, and to your point as a company, accessing audiences wherever they are, and digital first or at some point the business being
digital first. Jay, great to have you on Happy Thanksgiving! Thank you so much and I think a message to all our viewers is no one's cooking Turkeys
in the bath, please. Overall message that's the takeaway too Jay thank you, the CEO of Butterball there! OK, stay with "First Move" more after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:30:00]
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to "First Move"! To Ukraine now where it area near Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has again come under intense shelling. A
Ukrainian official says 60 Russian shells fell overnight in the Nikopol District, each side blaming each other for the attacks close to the plant.
Meanwhile, Ukrainians endured more blackouts on Monday the head of the country's biggest energy supplier says unplanned outages could continue
until the end of March. Meanwhile, CNN has obtained intercepted calls from a Russian soldier revealing the desperate situation facing Putin's forces
on the frontlines in Ukraine. And a warning some of the images in Matthew Chance's report may be disturbing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): As Russia's military highlights its barrage of Ukraine; CNN has obtained
exclusive recordings of a Russian soldier describing the brutal reality of life on the front lines.
The commander's position was shelled, so he packed up and moved further back. But what about us aren't we humans too? The Russian soldier was
recorded phoning his girlfriend back home according to Ukrainian intelligence, and telling her candidly about the severe military setback
suffered in the two months since he arrived.
We had 96 people in our unit but now there are less than 50. We don't know what to expect here. Sometimes there's friendly fire and idiots shoot at us
because they don't see our coordinates. But it is advancing Ukrainian forces that are the major threat, compounding low morale with high
bloodshed.
Ukrainian officials now reacting to this extraordinary video of Russian soldiers apparently surrendering geo located by CNN to a recently liberated
town in Eastern Ukraine come on out, one by one Ukrainian soldier calls out then a short burst of gunfire before the video cuts off. Later a Ukrainian
military drone shows what appear to be the same men in pools of blood? The Kremlin says it's an execution.
[09:35:00]
CHANCE (voice over): But Ukraine says the soldiers feigned surrender, and fired the Ukrainians accusing Russia of its own war crime. No one disputes
the horror. It's unclear if the dead Russians were regular troops or deployed as part of the Kremlin's partial mobilization, seen here earlier
this year.
But the soldier recorded on the phone indicates he was recently conscripted, complaining bitterly at being unable to leave the war zone.
Being mobilized as crap, nobody can go home until Putin announces the order. There's no way to return. And if we weren't here, they the
Ukrainians would already be at our borders. They would shell Moscow, Yekaterinburg and shell everything.
And that constant threat of Ukrainian attack is having a terrifying effect. In particular drone strikes, which appear to have left the soldier
particularly nervous. My nerves are on edge. I'm afraid of every rustle every being every click makes me dropped to the ground.
In Russian controlled Eastern Ukraine, the funerals are underway for more of those killed on the brutal front line that's Ukrainian officials insist
would never have happened but for Russia's war, Matthew Chance, CNN, Kyiv.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHATTERLEY: Meanwhile, Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has compared what's happening in Ukraine to the spirit of London during the
Blitz when the city faced German aerial bombardment. Speaking at an event marking the first anniversary of CNN, Portugal, he told our Richard Quest
Russia's actions are strengthening not weakening Ukrainian resolve, and he pleaded for allies to keep supplying equipment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BORIS JOHNSON, FORMER BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: We need to supply them with better artillery. But we also frankly, should be giving them not just
helicopter, but three aircraft that can go fast enough to take out the drones and you don't need very sophisticated planes to do it.
The Ukrainians came to see me about it. You could do it with Spitfires. We don't make Spitfires anymore, but you just need a plane that can go a few
hundred miles an hour.
RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: If you can't get even that element of escalation. What on earth is going to happen in the depths of winter?
Weather, assuming if it's a cold winter, in Europe, where citizens are facing recession, and they say, why are we doing this? You know, we support
Ukraine. But enough is enough. How do you keep populations in Europe on side?
JOHNSON: Well, you come to very, very influential audiences in places like Lisbon. And you try to get your message across but I agree with you. It's
going to be a tough one. But I happen to think that the Ukrainian resolve is being strengthened by the attack on their infrastructure. I mean
remember what happened to London in the Blitz? It didn't lead to a collapse in morale on the country morale was stiffened by the aerial bombardment.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
CHATTERLEY: And you can see more of that interview on tonight's "Quest Means Business" that's 8 pm in London 9 pm in Berlin. OK, coming up after
the break cooking up a storm in the fast food industry for better or worse a robotics firm that's based they can take care of the heavy lift. That's
next, stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:40:00]
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to "First Move"! Fast food goes back decades yet in all of that time, the jobs in the kitchen haven't really changed all
that much. But of course, finding people to carry them out is getting harder. And it's the dirty dangerous rolls, of course that workers also
love the least.
Well, that's where our next guest says robots can come in, like the one that could accurately and evenly prepare fried food. This one in
particular, as you can see in front of you is called "Flippy" and it's made by MISO Robotics. They say can make 45 items from a menu day and night. And
current clients include chains like Chipotle, Jack in the Box and White Castle. And now the company is eyeing the international markets.
And Mike Bell is the CEO and joins us now. Mike, great to have you with us! The premise, I think of what you're trying to achieve here with robotics
was sort of in the introduction there, you're trying to take out the doll that dirty and the dangerous tasks and give them to robots.
MIKE BELL, CEO, MISO ROBOTICS: Yes, for sure. When you look at the restaurant industry, compared to other industries, it's significantly
behind maybe a decade or more behind. Other industries such as logistics, warehousing, manufacturing, for sure, have robotics applied to them a long
time ago.
But as you said at the start when you look back of house at a restaurant, a lot of those tasks haven't changed since the dishwasher like almost hundred
years ago. So we're setting up to change now.
CHATTERLEY: This is such an important point, actually. And I want to spend a little bit more time on this. What you're saying is, we've already seen
in other industries, automation in certain processes that are labor saving devices, even for the workers that you have, but it's not happened to the
same degree in the fast food industry, Mike why?
BELL: Well, the fast food industry with full respect I've been in the industry for a long time has not historically been an early adopter of the
technology. And before the pandemic, there was a thing called a labor gap where there was a shortage of workers. But fast forward today, it's now
commonly referred to as the labor crisis.
There's upwards of one and a half million jobs unfilled today that spurned the industry to actually get them back home and say, we really need to
solve this. This is labor problem. And Julia, there's really no scenario for solving this in any other way other than automation.
There's just no realistic scenario where a million and a half workers are suddenly going to return the jobs and be happy with them. The natures of
the jobs themselves are repetitive, mundane, as you mentioned, somewhat repetitive or somewhat dangerous.
And so when you look back of house and you see humans kind of you know, standing over a freight station or whatever, it's hard to imagine that
that's going to be that way. And as humans are still performing those tasks, you know, 5 or 10 years from now. So we look at it's just a matter
of time before all those repetitive tasks are taken over by automation solutions, like the ones we're bringing to market.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, it's interesting. We'll come back to that because I think there's still that fear out there of, of robots replacing humans. And I do
want to come back to that. But first, I want you to explain the technology that we're seeing on our screens now and help us understand. You have
Flippy and Flippy Lite. You have a beverage dispensing system and a coffee machine.
I think some of our regular viewers will recognize Flippy Lite because we spoke to Chipotle recently and they were talking about trialing it in some
of their California restaurants. Just help us understand the technology and what the cost is for a client of installing this kind of technology and
running it?
BELL: Yes, we've done everything we can to take the friction on the buying process because it's quite a new model for restaurant operators to look at
it's actually bringing a robot in operation. So the way that it works is we install essentially overnight where there's a robotic rail and an overhead
have an arm that hangs on his overhead rail when we install it already understands and knows the environment.
[09:45:00]
BELL: The food, when you plug it in to turn it on, it essentially takes over the full cook cycle so everything from frozen all the way through
cooked food. And we price this in a way that makes it really simple back of the napkin math for restaurant operators, and we simply charge a monthly
subscription fee.
So it's essentially like software, but it's a robot as a service fee. This makes the capital investment equation much easier for Robots for restaurant
operators. So they're able to look at it kind of with an equivalent eye towards the cost of human labor. But frankly, the robot is priced in a way
that it costs less than the human labor equivalent. But it of course, performs more reliably in around the clock, things like that.
CHATTERLEY: So I've seen some stats, and you can correct me if I'm wrong. But it was from "Jack in the Box" and they said Flippy the robot cost
around $50 million to develop. It cost "Jack in the Box" around $5,000 for installation, and then $3,500 per month per rental. I mean, I know these
things change and can change over the time. But in terms of ballpark figures, is that what we're talking about?
BELL: Yes, that's exactly we're talking about. The equivalent cost of one full time human being just doing one shift is around $3,000 a month, at
least in the State of California when you got the fully loaded wage rate. And so we price it in a way the restaurant operator, big or small could
look at and say OK, that is simple math. And it's a win.
We don't want to put restaurant operators in a situation where they have to have the robot installed for a year or more in order to discover an ROI. We
price - structure in such a way the restaurant operators enjoy an ROI in the first month.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, it's interesting, isn't it? You know, I still hear certainly a reticence to discuss this because of that fear of the
perception of perhaps stealing work away from real people and handing it over to robots.
Are we at the point where we're over that to our earlier conversation, Mike, where we sort of have to get over that robot fear of stealing human
jobs, because there's simply aren't the humans available today and willing, let's be clear to do these jobs? Because I still hear that concern, even if
the need is real?
BELL: You know we - less and less. Years ago, there was just the questions were quite pointed. And it was I think that people were very protected and
threatened by you know what is a good job. But today, any one of us that goes to a fast food restaurant can look back - and see those poor people
scurrying and working their tails off because there aren't enough workers.
They generally have one or two open slots. So the restaurants are operating at full capacity, which means service is suffers. And which means the
restaurant operations are frankly a little threatened because they're not able to produce as much food and sell as much.
So in all cases, when we install the robot, those workers that previously worked in those stations, they simply get redeployed to other areas of the
restaurant that allows them to prepare and cook more food.
Which allows the restaurant to sell more food, which means the operation is frankly, you know, more economically viable and healthier in a lot of ways
you can look at it as we're protecting jobs by helping to fortify the restaurants themselves? In no instance, if we assault the robot, and they
sent labor home, there simply aren't enough people to go around.
CHATTERLEY: Yes. Very quickly, Mike on this as well, I saw that you're now or you announced collaboration with Amazon Web Services to use some of
their technology, Robot maker, I think on AWS. And this, I think is going to help you try and get a prototype out there into the public for client
consumption far quicker. Talk to me, if you can briefly about that technology, and what that's going to mean for your bottom line?
BELL: Yes. There's so much technology that is now becoming, you know, very rapidly accessible and affordable and scalable, that just simply wasn't
available, you know, even five years ago. And one of the things that Amazon allows us to do is set up a simulation environment, completely digital.
So we can test new products, we can understand throughput and cost and cooking accuracy and all kinds of things without having to physically build
and put a robot in any environment. There are so many tools like this, that are being born today that are bringing kind of this golden era of robotics,
not just the restaurant industry, but to you know, our society as a whole little pieces of discrete technology that kind of all work together to
enable all this to be accessible, affordable and really start impacting life.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, more efficient in the end, Mike Bell, great to chat to you sir! We'll speak again soon, the CEO of MISO Robotics.
BELL: Thank you.
CHATTERLEY: Thank you. We're back after this.
BELL: Thank you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:50:00]
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to "First Move"! Bitcoin falling below $16,000 per coin to a fresh two year low prices though as you can see studying somewhat
right now still lots of concern that well known players in the Crypto space are teetering following the collapse of FTX and the broader downdraft in a
crucial asset prices.
Reports say Crypto brokerage Genesis is attempting to line up emergency funding, a lot of fears that it might be forced into bankruptcy, the CEO of
Binance, the giant crypto exchange, telling our Anna Stewart that turbulence in the space is possible?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHANGPENG ZHAO, CEO OF BINANCE: There will be some contagion, potentially, but we're not the lender of last resort. We don't print money. We're not
like the Central Bank.
ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You do rescue a lot of firms though?
ZHAO: Using our own balance sheet or using our own money. We have a strong war chest. But it's not like we can print an unlimited amount of money like
the central bank. So but they could be some contagion effects.
Whenever one player goes down, they could - other players could have money on there, or get negatively affected. But usually when one large player
goes down, each contagion effect gets smaller and smaller and smaller.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHATTERLEY: Anna Stewart joins us now. Anna I can't wait to hear that full conversation. But it is quite fascinating him talking about contagion
effect. I think a lot of people in the industry know that we've had these downdrafts before, and they lose the sector loses around two thirds it
value it bounces back. The difference, I think today is that the broader backdrop is weaker. Other markets are falling, it feels different.
STEWART: Yes. And I think I'm going to lose count of the number of times people have told me this Crypto winter is fast becoming a Crypto Ice Age.
And certainly people that go against Crypto and don't really like the whole Crypto story point to this as being an example of the end of Bitcoin.
That's certainly not what I hear from the likes of C Zaho, I have to say. But I think what we're looking at here is all of the big exchanges Binance
reports being at the top but many others having to come out and defend themselves having to defend whether they are exposed to the fallout of FTX
but also having to defend their liquidity positions.
Have they got enough liquidity? Can they accept the withdrawal of all of our assets of customers wanted to do so? The CZ the CEO of Binance told me
that if every single customer wants to take their money out of Binance, they could. And Binance is profitable and would survive. These are the
questions that people want trusses thin on the ground.
I thought it was very interesting looking at the share price of Coinbase. This being you know a company that is listed. It is Headquartered in the
U.S. it is regulated, but look at the share price and how it has suffered just over the last couple of weeks and certainly over the last month down
almost 40 percent at this stage.
There is a complete destruction of trust and I just don't know how long it will take to really see that comes back? I think we have to see where this
contagion effect ends probably Julia?
CHATTERLEY: Yes, it's a great point. We spoke to the Coinbase CEO last week and he was saying look, we disclose a lot of things. We also spoke to one
of the five commissioners that the SEC has to pay us and she was saying there's a lot more we can do even without regulation and that's about
transparency.
[09:55:00]
CHATTERLEY: Anna but I think you raise a great point, which is how do you separate the good from the bad even for someone like CZ saying it will give
money to support the good? How do you isolate which is good and bad in this kind of environment?
STEWART: Well, it's really hard. And what you have here is CZ, the CEO of the world's biggest crypto exchange, saying he will create this industry
fund. But currently that is got one member, I believe, which is Binance.
And so firms are in trouble will go to the Binance Venture Capital unit and ask for help, and they will decide which one's good and which one's bad?
For a retail investor it's incredibly hard to know who you can trust with your money.
But I think, if anything, the fallout of that of FTX has really shown us where things are getting kind of complicated, which is when you have a
custodian who is also a lender, who is also an exchange and when they are unregulated when these firms are based offshore, very difficult to know.
How much liquidity they really have and how safe your money is?
CHATTERLEY: Yes.
STEWART: Speaking to people in the industry I don't know where this story goes. I think in terms of individual private investors getting your money
off exchanges if you don't know how safe it is a good idea having a wallet.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, don't assume this is a bank and that your assets are protected or insured because they're not. Anna Stewart, thank you for that!
And that's it for the show. "Connect the World" with Becky Anderson is up next and I'll see you tomorrow.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
