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First Move with Julia Chatterley
Russia and West Trading 24 Prisoners; Biggest Prisoner Swap Between Russia and West; Americans Released from Russia En Route Back to U.S.; Hezbollah's Leader Says Israel Crossed Red Lines; Israel Says it Killed Hamas Military Chief; Bomb that Killed Hamas Leader was Planted Months Ago; Putin Receives Released Russian Citizens; Red Carpet Arrival for Russian Prisoners; Simone Biles Earns Sixth Career Gold Medal; Biles Makes History Once Again. Aired 6-7p ET
Aired August 01, 2024 - 18:00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[18:00:00]
JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN HOST: It's 1:00 a.m. in Moscow, 7:00 a.m. in Seoul, and 6:00 p.m. here in New York. I'm Julia Chatterley. And wherever you are
in the world, this is your "First Move."
And a warm welcome to "First Move," as always. And here's today's need to know. An extraordinary exchange, Russia and the West trading 24 prisoners,
including Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan, in the largest release deal since the Cold War.
Inevitable response. Hezbollah's leader says Israel crossed red lines with a strike that killed a top commander, but stopped short of declaring war.
And Biles bonanza. The U.S. Olympian earning a sixth career gold medal at the Paris Games. All that and plenty more coming up.
But first, the biggest prisoner swap between Russia and the West since the Cold War. U.S. Marine veteran Paul Whelan and Wall Street Journal reporter
Evan Gershkovich are on their way home, with the newspaper calling it one of the most complicated swaps in history, at least seven countries and 24
detainees were involved, with the exchanged Russian prisoners receiving hugs from President Vladimir Putin on their arrival in Moscow.
The deal hailed by the White House as a major diplomatic achievement after years of negotiations. President Joe Biden pictured here on a call with the
prisoners' families in the Oval Office.
And Matthew Chance joins us now. Matthew, a year in the making at least, and the end of, I think, a living nightmare for these political prisoners
and their families, and hopefully, they'll be reunited in a few hours' time.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, I expect Julia, there's going to be a lot of relief, you know, amongst the
families of Evan Gershkovich, "The Wall Street Journal" reporter has been released. Paul Whelan, the former U.S. Marine. Alsu Kurmasheva, the U.S.-
Russian journalist has been released. The family of Vladimir Kara-Murza, the outspoken Kremlin critic who's part of that extremely complicated swap
agreement that has taken a long time to get across the line and has involved many, many countries getting involved and coordinated with the
U.S. to make it happen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHANCE (voice-over): This was their journey to freedom. Evan Gershkovich, sentenced to 16 years for espionage, peering at the outside world from a
prison bus, before being walked to a waiting plane. He's followed by Paul Whelan, a former Marine, also designated wrongfully detained by the U.S.
and who spent the past six years in a Russian prison. They and 14 others are now free at last. One U.S. official tells CNN the CIA played a critical
role negotiating the multinational deal.
JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: All of you. Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you.
CHANCE (voice-over): For President Biden, this was what the unprecedented swap was all about, reuniting families. Like that of Alsu Kurmasheva, a
U.S.-Russian journalist whose daughter is turning 13.
BIDEN: She's Alsu's daughter. Now, she gets to celebrate with her mom.
CHANCE (voice-over): And the family of Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza, sentenced to 25 years in Russia for treason, now also a free man. It's a
major coup for President Biden and his influence with U.S. allies like Slovenia, Norway, and Germany, who agreed to surrender convicted criminals
from Russia as part of the deal.
This is just one of the Russians given up, Vadim Krasikov is an assassin convicted of a ruthless killing in the German capital. His employers, the
FSB, the old KGB, confirmed eight Russian citizens in total were handed back, including convicted spies and cyber criminals serving lengthy prison
sentences in the U.S. and elsewhere. Their return was made possible thanks to the systematic and targeted work of competent government agencies, an
FSB statement reads.
Back in the U.S., there's overwhelming relief. Innocent prisoners are finally free.
[18:05:00]
But the Kremlin is celebrating too. Putin personally welcoming swapped Russians back to Moscow. His strategy of trading bargaining chips has again
yielded results.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHANCE (on camera): Well, Julia, yielded results for Putin, perhaps, but the people that he's got back, I mean, they're not particularly well-known
in Russia, I don't think. I mean, there's that one person, Vadim Krasikov, who's as an FSB colonel, and the others who are basically, you know, people
who are convicted of espionage or they have been serving sentences for serious criminal offenses like, you know, cryptocurrency fraud and things
like that. And so, it's not clear how much political capital he's going to be able to get out of it.
CHATTERLEY: No, but I think you emphasized the point, Matthew, incredibly well, that what we've seen is political prisoners and innocents being
swapped for someone that stood accused and was prisoned for murders, cybercrime, spies. The difference between these individuals, I think, vast.
In "The Wall Street Journal" piece that was talking about Evan's release and one of the last things he wrote in his release papers when he was back
in Russia was a request to Vladimir Putin for an interview, and as you, someone who spent a great deal of time reporting from Russia, and I know
I've asked many times as well for an interview, Matthew, there are critics at this moment that are suggesting that something like this actually raises
the risk, particularly for American, British, European foreigners in Russia. What are you -- what's your view on that?
CHANCE: I definitely think that's a concern. I mean, I've been asking myself whether the release of Evan Gershkovich and the others merely
creates vacancies for more bargaining chips to be taken by the Kremlin and used for extracting more concessions from the United States and from the
West.
I mean -- look, I mean, what one hope is that actually, it's not that at all. This is a sign that Putin is softening and there's perhaps potential
for negotiations on other issues like the Ukraine war. But I mean, the flip side of that is, you know, as I mentioned in the report, the strategy of
using innocent people to leverage the West is one that has worked for Vladimir Putin on multiple occasions. And it's possible, likely even that
it could be used again.
CHATTERLEY: Yes. Bargaining chips. Matthew Chance, thank you. Great to get your insights as always. All right. Let's speak to someone now who knows
one of the former prisoners first hand, financier, author, political activist, and someone who was once declared a threat to Russian national
security, Bill Browder, is also friends with Vladimir Kara-Murza, a Russian-British dual national and a U.S. resident. Kara-Murza is a major
Putin critic, and he was sentenced to 25 years in prison after denouncing the war on Ukraine.
Bill, fantastic to have you on the show. How does this moment feel? And how -- can you imagine how Vladimir's family and Vladimir feels at this moment?
BILL BROWDER, CEO; HERMITAGE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT, FRIEND OF VLADIMIR KARA- MURZA AND HEAD OF THE GLOBAL MAGNITSKY JUSTICE CAMPAIGN: Well, I think we're all just in a state of shock, happy shock, total relief. And, you
know, the whole world has changed overnight. I and Vladimir's mother and his wife, all thought that there is a reasonably high probability that he
would die in custody. He had been poisoned twice before using Novichok. He was suffering from the after effects of those poisonings. He was put in
solitary confinement. He was -- he had all sorts of terrible health problems, they refused him medical treatment. And a lot of doctors told us
that he wouldn't survive two years, let alone 25 years.
And so, to watch him get off that airplane in Ankara today was just the most unbelievably uplifting image. And now, of course, we have to see what
kind of physical condition he is in, but at least we can do that in a proper hospital in the West where he gets the best treatment he needs and
hopefully, recovers from this ordeal.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, and we wish him and everyone released today well. We also remember the prisoners that still remain there, Bill, and it's hard to
escape the fact, and I was just talking to Matthew Chance about it, that what we saw was a number of innocents being swapped for people who've
committed crimes in other nations, and we know it well, and they were hugged by Vladimir Putin when they arrived in Moscow.
BROWDER: It was a disgusting image. I watched as Vadim Krasikov, a convicted murderer, a state sponsored assassin getting off that airplane
and hugging Vladimir Putin. And that tells you everything you need to know about this regime. It's a criminal regime. Vladimir Putin's a murderer.
He's hugging murderers. He's giving them a grand welcome back home. And that's what we have here.
[18:10:00]
And it is a very ugly situation to have this -- to have all these real criminals swapped for innocents. But as I said, a lot of these innocents
would have died in prison. And we saw -- and that's not hyperbole. We saw Alexei Navalny, who I'm sure everyone remembers. They tried to kill him
once with poison. That didn't work and they killed him in prison in Siberia in February this year. And that would have been the fate of other prisoners
if we hadn't gotten them out.
And so, as ugly as the deal looks it's better to save a few lives. And what I would say is that with such a high probability of state sponsored hostage
taking, people shouldn't travel to Russia. It's just -- and if we can't get people to not go there on their own volition, then there should be some
type of legal bound so that members of -- people from the United States and the U.K. and the E.U. are not legally allowed to go there because they just
keep on grabbing more hostages.
CHATTERLEY: One could argue, if you look at the situation for Vladimir Putin and for Kremlin, then this was a highly successful hostage take and
release process, and they got eight criminals back. I think what you're saying is very important. Are you suggesting that actually the message from
the European governments, from the U.K. government, perhaps from the United States is, look, you shouldn't go there? And if you go there, perhaps
you're on your own. And we're not going to try and get you back from here on out. Because there are still political prisoners that are there and
they're still going to have to negotiate and fight for those two.
BROWDER: Indeed. I mean, there's a lot of people that have been left behind that we need to get out but, you know, it's not like that everybody
is going to North Korea because we all know that North Korea does this and Russia does this and Iran does this.
And so, it's become so obvious that it both puts the individual in harm's way, but it also puts society more broadly in harm's way. And, you know,
maybe we couldn't have made that judgment a few years ago, but we can make that judgment now that Russia is an evil country. Vladimir Putin takes
hostages for mercenary purposes, and we shouldn't give them that opportunity.
And so, I think that there needs to be a hard look at how we -- what kind of allowances we make for people traveling there. We -- you know, it's
perfectly reasonable to say, you can't travel there. It's against the law. If you do, you're breaking the law, and we certainly won't come and get you
next time.
CHATTERLEY: But why do you think -- and obviously, this took months, if not years of negotiations. So, the timing was always, to some degree, based
on that and the ability, particularly, I think, of the German government to be willing to release, as you mentioned, the jailed FSB colonel. But why
now do you think? Why do you think Putin was willing to release such a high number of individuals and at this moment?
BROWDER: Well, I think the timing is very key. And my analysis of the situation a month ago was that Putin wasn't going to release any hostages.
He wasn't going to do a swap for the simple reason that Putin favors Donald Trump being the president as opposed to Joe Biden. And a release of
hostages is a big diplomatic win for Joe Biden.
But the fact that Joe Biden has dropped out of the U.S. presidential election means that that problem disappears, that's it's not really a huge
political win for Kamala Harris. She wasn't involved. It was Joe Biden who did this. And so, Putin can effectively give that gift to Joe Biden without
giving -- without harming his support of Trump.
And I think that that's a crucial development that happened in the last month that changed the whole chemistry of the situation. And having watched
this very closely, because I've been involved in the case of Vladimir Kara- Murza, I could see how the stance shifted very quickly after Biden dropped out of the race.
CHATTERLEY: It's interesting because the vice-presidential nominee for the Republican Party said exactly the opposite, and this was a decision to try
and perhaps help the White House and Kamala Harris and Joe Biden because they're fearful of a future presidency from Donald Trump.
Bill, final question here. What are you going to say to him when you speak to him?
BROWDER: Well, the first thing I'm going to do is give him a big hug. You know, we thought he was gone. And then, I'm going to say, Vladimir, you
know, we got a lot of work to do, but you can't go back to Russia ever again because we don't ever want to go through this ordeal. It was
absolutely painful for the last two years.
Together with his wife and his mother, I've worked every day to try to get him out. And we just want to get him back to health and get him back to
happiness and get him connected with his family and then -- you know, then start to take on the world again.
CHATTERLEY: Do you think he'll listen, Bill, or do you think he will try and go back just very quickly? Because we saw that with Alexei Navalny.
BROWDER: No, he won't go back. He won't go back. What his wife and his mother had to go through, he can't go back. He cannot and he will not.
[18:15:00]
CHATTERLEY: Yes. Bill, great to chat to you, sir. Thank you. Bill Browder there. Now, President Joe Biden hailing the prisoner exchange, saying it's
a powerful example of global cooperation. The U.S. president posted this image of the former prisoners on their way home, paying tribute to their
courage and resolve in the face of "unimaginable suffering."
Speaking earlier, the president said the deal would not have been possible without the support of America's allies.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: The deal that made this possible was a feat of diplomacy and friendship. Friendship. Multiple countries helped get this done. Everybody
stepped up. Poland stepped up. Slovenia stepped up. Turkey stepped up. And it matters to have relationships.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHATTERLEY: Kayla Tausche is at the White House for us. Kayla, I watched your question to the president actually in the press conference and you
asked really how that came together in these relationships, and I don't think he answered the question, but the key is it was the strength, I
think, of allies and their relationships at this moment.
KAYLA TAUSCHE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: And it is a hallmark of the Biden presidency. President Biden talks often about his work to
strengthen alliances that, in his view, had frayed under his predecessor and chalking up those relationships to the ability to get this deal across
the finish line.
I also asked Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser, to what extent Russia was involved in this. He said that there was no contact with
Vladimir Putin personally and the United States, but that there were multiple of his officials down the chain who were involved through a
specific communication channel devoted just to this topic.
So, officials don't expect there to be any sort of denouement or detente between the U.S and Russia or any sort of new goodwill to reach a deal, say
on the war in Ukraine or on other topics. But certainly, it is a win. It is a momentous occasion and a cause for celebration to have these individuals
returning to American soil this evening for the very first time, in some cases in years.
It resulted -- it was the result of years of diplomacy, painstaking negotiations, much of it behind the scenes, including a call between
President Biden and the prime minister of Slovenia, that was the final leader level call that happened before this deal was able to be clinched.
After President Biden spoke to the Slovenian leader, which happened just one hour before he made this stunning announcement that he was going to be
exiting the 2024 campaign, the discussions after that turned more toward the logistics and the coordination of all of those planes arriving at the
airport in Ankara.
And so, certainly, President Biden in tandem was negotiating this deal as well as negotiating his own exit from the race, which is in and of itself
quite a consequential moment for him as a leader, but Sullivan when he was asked whether the decision to reach this deal and agree to some of the
components of it was a factor of the fact that he's leaving office in a few months, and he wants to cement his legacy and he wants to bring these
Americans home before he leaves office, Sullivan said this was just the way that the deal came together after many weeks and many months of
negotiations, and he's certainly going to keep working for the release of others. Julia.
CHATTERLEY: Yes. There's certainly more families hoping and praying that they'll be part of the next deal, when and if it comes. Kayla Tausche,
thank you for that report.
All right. Straight ahead, much more on Thursday's historic prisoner swap between the United States and Russia. Plus, news that the Hamas leadership
suffered a double blow last month with the death of not only its political leader, but also its top military commander too. All this as the region
remains on high alert for further escalation. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:20:00]
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back. The Middle East on edge amid new details of the attack that killed a top Hamas official during his visit to Tehran. Sources
telling CNN that the bomb that took the life of Hamas' political leader was planted in his guest house two months ago, representing what appears to be
a stunning security failure for the Iranian government. Israel has neither claimed nor denied responsibility for the attack.
Thousands of people turned out in Tehran for the memorial procession for Ismail Haniyeh on Thursday. Iran's supreme leader has vowed to avenge his
death, saying Israel killed his country's dear guest. The IDF also revealing Thursday that it killed the military chief of Hamas in Gaza in
mid-July.
The IDF releasing this video showing the moment of the fatal strike. Israel calling him one of the masterminds behind the October 7th attacks. And all
this comes as the head of Hezbollah warns of a real rather than symbolic military response against Israel after the assassination in Beirut of one
of his group's top commanders.
Clarissa Ward is in Tel Aviv for us now. Clarissa, Prime Minister Netanyahu said earlier this week and described inflicting crushing blows on the
nation's enemies and we continue to build a picture of just what that looks like and of course why they're now obviously, in light of these threats,
preparing for all sorts of scenarios.
CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right. I mean, the revelation today, Julia, that the Israelis, although they
haven't claimed responsibility for it, the working assumption is that the Israelis had somehow managed to have someone Plant an explosive device in
that IRGC guest house where Ismail Haniyeh had stayed on multiple occasions during the past year raises serious questions about Iran's internal
security protocols, but it also raises the specter of a pretty potent retaliation because this has been so humiliating for Iran.
And the same goes for Hezbollah, the number two, the right hand, if you will, Fuad Shukr, to Hassan Nasrallah, the head of Hezbollah, who was a man
who lived in the shadows. The fact that the IDF was able to find where he was and to kill him in that apartment building in the southern suburbs of
Beirut, again raises questions about potential leaks within the sort of shadowy militia organization. And as I said before, really ratcheting up
tensions in this region.
We heard from Nasrallah, as you mentioned today, he said that red lines have been crossed, that we were entering a new phase of this conflict, and
he talked about the possibility that an attack on Israel might not be just from Hezbollah or just from Iran, but might be a sort of coordinated attack
relying on Iran, but also its various proxies, the so-called Axis of Resistance.
So, Israeli forces saying that they are prepared to meet this moment. The Israel's National Security Council has advised Israelis who are traveling
overseas to be very vigilant in public because they may come under threat in this moment. We heard again from Israel's prime minister, Benjamin
Netanyahu, today saying that, you know, the forces are on high alert and they are ready.
I will say on the streets you do have a sense that there is some concern and some fear. We went earlier on today to a gathering or a vigil.
[18:25:00]
I will say on the streets you do have a sense that there is some concern and some fear. We went earlier on today to a gathering or a vigil protest
of hostage families and also their supporters, and a number of people who we spoke to said that they had really considered whether or not to come out
tonight because of this looming threat.
Though for now Israel's government is not telling its people to change the way they go about their daily lives, though they have placed a higher alert
on those living in those northern border communities near to Lebanon, Julia.
CHATTERLEY: We will certainly continue to watch it. Clarissa, great to have you on. Thank you. Clarissa Ward there.
All right. Coming up after the break, more on today's historic prisoner swap between Russia and the West. And in Moscow, a red carpet and an
embrace from President Vladimir Putin, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to "First Move" with a look at more of the international headlines this hour. A British teen charged with carrying out
a deadly stabbing attack in Southport, England made his first court appearance on Thursday. He's facing three counts of murder and 10 counts of
attempted murder. Three children died from Monday's knife attack at a Taylor Swift themed dance class. Police say the attack was not terrorism
related.
A Venezuelan opposition leader is urging people to mobilize following the nation's contested election results. Protests erupted after President
Nicolas Maduro insisted he would remain in power despite claims of vote rigging. Opposition leader Maria Corina says it's time people "assert the
truth," saying she's tried to reason with President Maduro into standing down, but he won't budge.
Ride hailing giant Uber has announced a multiyear partnership with Chinese firm BYD that will give Uber drivers incentives to switch to their electric
vehicles. The hope is that some 100,000 BYD E.V.s are added to Uber's global fleet. As a result, the incentives will be offered first in Europe
and Latin America, with other nations to follow.
[18:30:00]
And a reminder, once more of our top story today, released Russian prisoners arriving on the ground in Moscow to be embraced by President
Vladimir Putin on a red carpet. Eight Russian citizens serving time overseas were freed, most of them jailed for crimes including cybercrime
and spying. However, Vadim Krasikov is a former FSB colonel who had been serving a life sentence for murder in Germany.
Meanwhile, in the United States, the families of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and Marine veteran Paul Whelan are waiting for
their arrival in a few hours' time. And in the Wall Street Journal newsroom, staff applauded Evan's release, as dissident editor Paul Beckett
says he's spoken with the family.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL BECKETT, ASSISTANT EDITOR, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: I have been in touch with his sister Danielle, she just said by text that they were just
on the moon. They're waiting for Evan to land at Andrews Air Force Base in a few hours and over here at The Journal where joy, relief, smiles, and
tears all at the same time. And that's just us, you know, unbelievable to think what is going through their minds and the minds of the other families
that are being reunited today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHATTERLEY: So, much joy and happiness, but there's also a heartbreak from the family of American teacher Marc Fogle who was left out of this deal,
sentenced to 14 years hard labor. The White House described him as "wrongfully detained" for the first time.
Ian Bremmer joins us now. He's president and founder of the Eurasia Group and GZERO Media and the author of "The Power of Crisis: How Three Threats
and Our Response Will Change the World." Ian, good to see you on what is a momentous day and a huge feat, I think, for all the governments involved
operating in an environment of, what, zero or less than zero trust?
IAN BREMMER, PRESIDENT AND FOUNDER, EURASIA GROUP AND GZERO MEDIA AND AUTHOR, "THE POWER OF CRISIS": Less than zero trust. And of course, these
negotiations have been ongoing for many months now. Lots of countries involved, NATO allies, that are working very, very closely together.
And that's what's so impressive about this feat. It's not just that nobody trusts the Russians, it's also, you know, Germany, which has been much more
cautious. Poland, much more aggressive about Russia. Also, Slovenia, Turkey, which has relations directly with the Kremlin that others do not
have. The -- they all worked with the Americans to get this done.
And until late yesterday evening, despite the fact that I work at a pretty high level with all these governments, I hadn't heard anything about it. It
was only yesterday that I heard the deal was done. And that is an incredibly hard thing to do, especially given just how easily this could
have come a cropper, could have become disappointing, and given how hard it is to work with the Russians who are fighting a war right now against NATO
in Ukraine.
CHATTERLEY: Are you surprised by the scale of this? Ian, as you said, the timing is the timing, because this has been months, if not pushing beyond a
year of negotiations. But the scale of this, what's the message beyond perhaps a win for Vladimir Putin that he managed to get eight convicted
criminals back? What's the significance of the scale of this?
BREMMER: Well, it does show that you can still do things that are useful to the equities of both sides, even though there's a war going on. I mean,
it's not the first time this has happened. Turkey facilitated, you'll remember, Julia, a big win with the Black Sea grain deal in the first year
of the war. Now, this is a time when we were worried that there would be tens of millions of people that would starve to death because they did not
have the access to the grain or the fertilizer coming out of Russia or Ukraine. And that was facilitated by Turkey and by the United Nations
secretary general, lots and lots of hard work with, you know, countries that don't trust each other at all, but they could get a deal done.
And that's the message here that, you know, in a world where we have a lot less trust, a lot more fragmentation, you still have a lot of challenges
that need to be addressed between the Americans and the Chinese, between, you know, Hamas and Israel, between Russia and Ukraine, and Russia and
NATO. And the fact that a deal of this magnitude, we've seen nothing like it since the Cold War, can get done, should give us some hope that
eventually we can also see a bigger deal, like, for example, a ceasefire or at least a freezing of this utterly brutal war that we've all been dealing
with now for about two and a half years.
[18:35:00]
CHATTERLEY: There are those that look at this, Ian, and say this will embolden Vladimir Putin because he did exchange convicts for political
prisoners and people that should never have served time in Russia as a result. Is that the counter perhaps to what you're saying, even if it's on
a micro scale, that he may be in some way emboldened to create and get more bargaining chips for the future, particularly in some kind of bigger
negotiation over the war?
BREMMER: No, Julia, I agree with those people. I mean, the fact is that this is a win for Putin, and it's a win because it turns out that the
United States and other democracies care so much about the wellbeing of their citizens that they're willing to take a small tactical loss and hand
it to Putin so that these innocents can come back to their families and live in freedom and in peace.
And that is, it's a loss, but it's a loss that comes because Americans and Poles and Germans and others across NATO have values that the Russians do
not share. And absolutely, that gives Russia the upper hand. But of course, Russia doesn't have the upper hand when you recognize that a million of
their citizens have fled because they don't want to fight in the Russian war machine. And that's a part of their economy they need. They don't have
an advantage because hundreds of billions of dollars of their assets have been frozen and are now being used to allow the Ukrainians to defend
themselves. Those things aren't going away.
So, I mean, yes, Russia gets a win today and all of us cannot be happy about that piece of this deal, but if you look at the broader context of
Russia on the global stage with an economy that's smaller than California and that is failing and sending tens and tens of thousands of men into a
wood chipper into Ukraine, I don't think anyone can look at the Russians and say that they're winning.
CHATTERLEY: The phrase of that might be pyrrhic victory. Ian, I want to move on and ask you what we're seeing in the Middle East with Israel, with
Iran. We learned today a guest in their nation blown up by a bomb that was planted two months prior to his visit. What are you expecting in terms of
retaliation towards Israel now, whether it's one of the proxy groups, Hamas, Hezbollah, or indeed Iran itself?
BREMMER: I think it'll be both. You'll remember when the Iranians had the head of their IRGC in Syria targeted and assassinated by the Israelis a few
months ago, the Iranians responded with about 300 missiles and drones against Israel directly. And thankfully, they were almost all shot down and
no Israelis were killed. The Americans were very active in providing that defense.
But the Iranians did that because they felt like deterrence had broken down. The Israelis were acting with impunity against Iranian interests.
They hit, remember, an Iranian embassy building inside Damascus and Iran had to react. Well, what we saw in the last 24 hours is that Iranian
deterrence yet again has no impact on Israel. Has no impact in terms of Israel blowing up a Hezbollah leader in Beirut and more importantly, no
impact on blowing up the political leader of Hamas in Tehran, in a military complex while the Iranians are hosting the Islamic world, a decent piece of
it, for the inauguration of their president.
That is an enormous embarrassment for the Iranian supreme leader and for the new president and the Iranian Defense Forces. And they are almost
certainty -- with almost certainty going to respond at least with the degree of force against Israel that we saw following the Damascus attacks.
Now, that doesn't mean there's going to be 500 missiles as opposed to 300, but last time around they gave a fair amount of warning.
They gave warning through Turkey, through Iraq, that these strikes were coming. They allowed the Americans to get in position. They made it clear
that this was all they were going to do. They hit pinpoint just against an Israeli military target. I expect that on all of those axes, they are going
to be less risk averse this time around. And that is a very dangerous place for us to be.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, the United States and Israel and others have to be that much more vigilant as a result. Ian, great to chat to you. Thank you. Ian
Bremmer there. Thank you.
All right. Coming up, the A-team steps up to the earnings plate on Wall Street. Just released results from Amazon and Apple after one of the worst
days, in fact, the U.S. stocks this year. We'll explain.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:40:00]
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to "First Move." And a Thursday thud on Wall Street, topping today's "Money Move." The less than August starts to August
with all the major averages falling by well over 1 percent. Tech stocks, in fact, fearing the worst, giving back most of Wednesday's strong gains. All
this amid concerns the U.S. economy is weakening with new jobless claims rising to an 11-month high.
We'll get a better read on unemployment and employment tomorrow when the U.S. releases it's all-important jobs report. The big question, has the Fed
waited too long to cut interest rates? Well, the Bank of England already jumping on the rate cut bandwagon with its first reduction in borrowing
costs in more than four years. The BOE however cautioning that further cuts and not guaranteed need.
And a mixed day across Asia, but a more than 2 percent loss in Japan and another sharp rise in the value of the yen versus the U.S. dollar after
Wednesday's Bank of Japan rate hike.
And the business news does not stop there. An avalanche of earnings just out from some of the big tech players. Apple modestly high in afterhours
trade after better-than-expected results. But China sales remain a sore spot. Amazon falling after weak revenues and disappointing guidance, but
cloud growth was still strong. And the chips are down for chip giant Intel, results so bad that it's suspending its dividend and laying off some 15
percent of its staff.
Clare Duffy joins us now with all the details. Clare, I want to get into Intel, so I know I've got to be quick on this. Apple was really interesting
to me. A whopping two-thirds of Apple Watch buyers, new to the product, half of iPad buyers. These markets aren't saturated. China though, an
issue.
CLARE DUFFY, CNN BUSINESS WRITER: Yes. Yes, it was a nice quarter for iPad sales, for Mac sales, for watch sales, as you noted, but we did see a
continuing small decline in iPhone sales. And then, those China numbers remain sluggish. Although, Tim Cook did say that there were positive signs
in China, he pointed to record upgrades in the region and sales were down just 3 percent, which is better than they have been in the last few
quarters. So, potentially good signs on the China side.
And then, on that stock reaction too, I mean, look, I think investors weren't necessarily expecting to see returns from A.I. from Apple in this
quarter, which is different from basically all of its other tech peers. And so, I think the expectations were maybe a bit lower because Apple isn't
rolling out its Apple Intelligence for the next week -- until the next few weeks. And so, I think the expectations for Apple were lower, whereas some
of these other tech players were facing higher expectations. And now, of course, facing higher scrutiny after these earnings reports.
[18:45:00]
CHATTERLEY: Yes, they can't give us intelligence on Apple Intelligence until they actually rolled the product out. And I'd add to that, it's still
up 17 percent year to date. So, there's a lot of juice in this stock already, Clare, grown. Talk to us about Intel, because this is a really
tough one.
DUFFY: Yes, Intel really is the story that a lot of we're seeing -- a lot of what we're seeing with these tech players this week we're expectations
were high going into these earnings because these tech companies have been teasing their investments in artificial intelligence. Tens of billions of
dollars of investments in A.I., I should say. And with Intel, it's been sort of behind the curve on A.I. especially when you compare it to a chip
player like NVIDIA.
It's been trying to turn that around. It's been investing to turn that around, but that has weighed on margins. It's weighed on profits. At the
same time when much of the rest of its business is struggling. So, now you see the company saying it plans to cut $10 billion of expenses, which
unfortunately is going to mean a 15 percent reduction in its staff size. Julia.
CHATTERLEY: Yes. Painful, painful result. And obviously, the share price feeling it too. Clare, good to have you with us. Thank you.
Sacre bleu. I didn't write that, who did? Scorching temperatures at the Olympics in Paris as parts of Europe remain in the grip of a heatwave.
Temperatures rose to almost 90 degrees Fahrenheit, that's around 32 degrees Celsius. Friday though, could be a little cooler as Chad has long been
promising. Chad Myers is at the World Weather Centre with more on what we can expect.
Chad, I think we need to visit Paris, quite frankly, so that I can work on my accent. Tell us what's coming up.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You improve. It's raining. That's about all I have here. Four years of French down the drain. It is raining again,
thundering, even a couple of the events having to be postponed. The fans had to be cleared because of the lightning here just a couple of hours ago.
So, yes, tomorrow does look better. And because it's cooling down, you don't have that heat of the day, humidity of the day, all going up in the
sky and then making thunderstorms in the afternoon. We get back down closer to normal and on Saturday, only 26, a little bit warmer by the end of the
week.
But they would take the rainfall here in Colorado and all of the American west, forest fires still burning out of control and all they're going to
get is just more heat. More heat and dry weather. For Fahrenheit here now, we're back. The normal in Spokane should be 87 tomorrow. It will be 104.
So, yes, above average out there where the firefighters -- it doesn't make the fires worse. It just makes the conditions for the firefighters
themselves worse.
Yes, the wind and the heat does dry out the ground and also the burning things, but it's that really tough when you're in a big fire suit at 104
degrees with a hose and trying to put things out. So, yes, 93 active wildfires in the U.S. More, of course, on up into Canada.
More heat in the Mississippi River Valley, although not like out west. We're not going to see temperatures 10 degrees Celsius, 18 degrees
Fahrenheit above normal here, more like five- or six-degrees Fahrenheit. But it's going to be as warm in Philadelphia for tomorrow as it will be in
Atlanta. Some thunderstorms even right now happening through parts of Kentucky. Some of these have contained some wind gusts, knocking some trees
and power lines down.
And one more thing we're watching, a 70 percent chance of development now in the Caribbean. Could spend an awful lot of time over Cuba, which would
slow down development, but then it gets into a very warm Gulf of Mexico at the end of the weekend. We'll have to see where this goes, Julia.
CHATTERLEY: And we will follow it closely. Chad, thank you for that as always.
MYERS: You're welcome.
CHATTERLEY: All right. Coming up, Simone is simply the best. Biles makes history yet again at the Paris Olympics. All the details, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:50:00]
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to "First Move" and to a new chapter in history. An incredible evening for Simone Biles in Paris as she won the Olympic all-
around gymnastics title for the second time. It's Biles ninth Olympic medal, bringing her career total to 39, and continuing her streak as the
most decorated gymnast in history. She gave a nod to that by wearing this necklace of a GOAT GOAT, of course, standing for Greatest of All Time.
Patrick Snell is here with more. It looks like it is diamond encrusted, I believe, as well, which feels perfectly appropriate.
PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: Entirely appropriate, Julia. Absolutely. And we'll be getting more and we're talking more about that necklace in
just a few moments.
But what a story, history in the making. America's superstar gymnast at it again, stealing the show in the French capital in Paris, Julia. What a
story she continues to be at the Jeux Olympique. Biles, the most decorated American gymnast at Ever at the Summer Games, earning a dramatic goal for
Team USA in the women's all-around final. That's six Olympic gold medals now and counting for the American.
Biles holding off a really spirited challenge, though, from, I will say, the Brazilian Rebeca Andrade, who once again wins silver. Biles' teammates
Suni Lee taking the bronze, but it would be Biles' day in the end. She has yet another gold medal to her career. Amazing achievements and completing
also her epic comeback.
Remember, shared to bravely and courageously battle through the twisties, her withdrawal from the Tokyo Games three years ago. Biles later also
withdrawing from the individual all-around competition in Japan that year, again, saying she wanted to focus on her mental health.
So, who's the best Simone or should we say the greatest, the GOAT?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SIMONE BILES, MOST DECORATED AMERICAN GYMNAST: My GOAT necklace is just kind of an ode because the people love it and then some people hate it. So,
it's like the best of both worlds. And I was like, OK, if it goes well, we'll wear the GOAT necklace. I know people will go crazy over it. But at
the end of the day, it is crazy that I am in the conversation of greatest of all athletes because I just still think I'm Simone Biles from Spring,
Texas that loves to flip.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SNELL: And she may not be done yet either. Biles competing for, get this, Julia, three more gold medals at these Games. Now, elsewhere on Thursday,
Australia overcoming the USA led by their swimming superstar, Katie Ledecky, by winning silver, though, in the women's 4x200 meters freestyle
relay. Ledecky becoming the most decorated female U.S. Olympian of all time with total medals. Australia winning the race with a new Olympic record
time of 738.08. China securing bronze. Ledecky is set to swim again in the 800 meters freestyle on Saturday. Plenty to talk about on an emotional
Thursday, Julia, in the French capital.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, emotional for other reasons, but I just have to say I love that point that she made when she was like, some people hate it, some
people love it, but at the end of the day, I am a GOAT. Yes, you are.
SNELL: And I'm going to wear it.
CHATTERLEY: You can own it. You can own it, my friend. Speaking of emotions. We have to talk about Andy Murray. I know. I mean, he broke a 77-
year drought, didn't he, for British men in Wimbledon, and now it's over.
SNELL: Yes, it's actually hard to sort of get your head around. And a part of me, Julia, still wants and hopes to see him say, maybe -- oh, maybe I'll
play Wimbledon again, but it doesn't look like it, does it? It appears to be, as of right now, the end of an era for Andy Murray. The Scotsman
hanging up his racket after a quarterfinal exit in the men's double Thursday at Roland-Garros, the famed Roland-Garros, where they play the
French Open.
Now, the 37-year-old, he won three Grand Slams during a story career, two gold medals as well. He also reached world number one, but he's calling it
a day after a series of injuries and operations he's had to have over the years, including that famous one on his hip, that's widely regarded as
having extended his career.
The Brit was playing alongside Dan Evans. They lost to the American duo of Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul. Murray was visibly emotional. He always wears
his heart on his sleeve. Over the years, Julia, we've seen him fighting back tears, and this was really very emotional for him as he left the court
for one last time.
[18:55:00]
He does have a wonderful sense of humor, I will say, Julia, because a couple of hours or so after that defeat, he takes to social media, he goes
on X, there we go. What does he tweet? Never even liked tennis anyway. That is vintage Andy Murray and his humor, I'm telling you. Back to you.
CHATTERLEY: I hadn't even seen that, but 7.8 million people did. Go, Andy. We love you.
SNELL: We love you still.
CHATTERLEY: Yes. Patrick Snell, thank you. And finally, on "First Move," on yesterday's show we introduced you to a company whose new technologies
could significantly cut down on airplane turbulence, but Turbulent Solutions' exciting breakthroughs cannot come soon enough for passengers
who love their cup of piping hot instant noodles.
Yes, Korean Air has announced that beginning this month it will no longer serve the popular snacks to people in economy class on long haul flights.
And that's because turbulence could cause the container to spill and burn passengers. It says noodles will still be served to passengers in first
class where people are less crowded together. So, you can't throw it on your neighbor. Hopefully, the news won't cause undue turbulence among
Korean Air clientele.
And that just about wraps up the show. Thank you for joining us. I'll see you tomorrow.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:00:00]
END
