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First Move with Julia Chatterley
Deadliest Day of Israeli Strikes in Lebanon Since 2006 War; Hezbollah Fires Rockets After Monday's Strikes; CNN Speaks to Siamak Namazi; Zelenskky in U.S. to Present "Victory Plan"; Zelenskky Plans to Meet with Biden, Harris, and Trump; U.S. Proposes Smart Car Tech Ban; At Least Six People in Japan Floods; Astronaut and Cosmonauts Returns to Earth; SpaceX to Launch Five Mission to Mars; Lab-Grown Diamonds Disrupts Industry; Shohei Ohtani Makes History; New Emojis Coming to Smartphones. Aired 6-7p ET
Aired September 23, 2024 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[18:00:00]
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: -- some spots to the south, upper 80s, where the water is right now, where the storm is. All of this very deep,
deep moisture for this storm to get stronger quickly. We'll watch the American and the European models. We'll have crews on the ground. All of
this coming up this week. This will be making landfall in less than 72 hours, Jake.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Chad Myers, thank you so much. And the news continues on CNN with one Mr. Wolf Blitzer right next door in a place I
like to call The Situation Room.
RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: -- 7:00 on Tuesday in Tokyo. Still 6:00 Monday night here in New York. Julia's off tonight. I'm Richard Quest.
And wherever you're joining us in this world, it's your "First Move."
You're most welcome. Here's today's need to know. Israel has launched its deadliest strikes on Lebanon since the 2006 war. Hundreds of people have
been killed and more than a thousand injured. At least six people have died in Japan's Ishikawa prefecture after record rainfall has caused landslides
and flooding. And Elon Musk says SpaceX will launch five missions to Mars in two years. Also, tonight --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His two-one pitch. Ohtani, spots on right center field. Ohtani is inevitable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: And the Japanese baseball superstar keeps adding to his history making season. You'll see it all in the hour ahead.
We begin with the deadliest day of Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon since the 2006 war. At least 492 people have been killed and at least 1,600 people
injured according to the Lebanese health ministry. The Israeli ministry says it's preparing for the next phases after hitting hundreds of Hezbollah
targets and that includes stores of munitions.
Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, says his country's aim is to change the balance of power on its northern front.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): For those who have not yet understood, we want to clarify Israel's policy. We do not
wait for a threat. We anticipate it, anywhere, in any arena, at any time. We eliminate senior officials. We eliminate terrorists. We eliminate
missiles. And there's more to come. Whoever tries to hurt us, we will hurt them even more.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: Now, Israel's Iron Dome, the mechanism by which it intercepts rockets, intercepted many across the city of Haifa. Here you see them in
videos that have been geolocated by us to the Northern Israeli city. Ben Wedeman joins me from Beirut. It is late at night there, Ben -- well, early
morning, 1:00 a.m. How are things tonight?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we've seen is even into the evening, even into the night, Richard, is that there are
continued Israeli airstrikes focused on the south of Lebanon and also the Beqaa Valley.
Now, regarding the death toll, which is now 492, at least, 93 of them are women and children. And it's worth pointing out that this is getting close
to about half of the total death toll, fighters and civilians, from the 34- day war in 2006.
Now, according to the Israelis they have launched 1,600 strikes on targets in Lebanon within the day. And they say that Hezbollah has launched 250
rockets into Israel. But the Israeli airstrikes began just before the sun went up.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WEDEMAN (voice-over): As dawn broke. Israel launched the first of a series of punishing airstrikes starting in South Lebanon, pummeling what it
claimed were Hezbollah targets. Hitting, hitting, and hitting again.
While Hezbollah battered over the past week, it struck back as it did early Sunday. Its missiles reaching deep into Israel to Haifa and beyond. Many
others intercepted, through text messages and by breaking into local radio broadcasts. Israel warned people to leave and stay away from buildings
where Hezbollah might be operating. But the bombing was enough to send thousands fleeing north. The roads packed.
Strikes, war planes destruction, says Ahmed (ph). No one is left there. Everyone has fled. We took our belongings and left.
Yet even those fleeing vowed, they will return.
[18:05:00]
We will be back, God willing, shouts this man. We will be back. Tell Netanyahu we will return.
When and how and to what, unknown. The death toll for one day reached into the hundreds, the wounded well over a thousand. Coming after a week of
pager and walkie-talkie blasts and a deadly strike on Southern Beirut that killed a senior Hezbollah commander, but also many civilians.
All classes in schools and universities across Lebanon have been suspended, with some schools being turned into shelters for the displaced. Seventy-
year-old Janna Ayyash fled her village at 5:00 a.m., taking shelter in a training institute in Beirut.
I buried my son a week ago under bombardment, she says. My other son stayed behind. He didn't want to leave our home.
With Israel's air offensive intensifying, it may be some time before Jenna (ph) sees her other son again, if at all.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WEDEMAN (on camera): And one of those Israeli strikes was on Beirut today, although, it was barely audible or visible. The target apparently was Ali
Karaki, who is the commander of Hezbollah's forces along the border.
Now, Hezbollah later put out a statement saying that he was alive and well. However, Hamas said that one of their field commanders in Southern Lebanon
was killed in a strike this evening. Richard.
QUEST: Ben Wedeman in Beirut. I'm grateful. Thank you, Ben. The IDF spokesperson, Daniel Hagari, says Hezbollah was planning an October the 7th
like attack and that Israel has a right to defend itself.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DANIEL HAGARI, ISRAEL MILITARY SPOKESPERSON: We have to act to stop the threat of Hezbollah. Hezbollah was planning to do a larger scale of
massacre than the 7th of October in the Northern Israel. And we will have to make sure that in any one of our borders, we are safe and there is no
threat of a 7th of October in any one of our borders, never again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: Jeremy Diamond is in Haifa in Israel. Jeremy is with me. Sir, we'll talk about the latest position in a moment. I just want to refer to what
Hagari says. We have no way of testing that, have we, that there was Hezbollah planning a similar or worse October the 7th attack in Israel?
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: No, we certainly do not. I mean, there is very much the possibility that Hezbollah could send fighters
across its border and into Northern Israel, but whether they would conduct the kind of massacre that we saw on October 7th is not something for which
we have any evidence, nor is it something for which the Israeli military has provided evidence.
QUEST: OK. So, the Iron Dome protected Haifa, but the missiles were sent. As the northern battle gets worse, how concerned are people in Haifa?
DIAMOND: Well, there's no question that this is a city that has known that as things escalate between Israel and Hezbollah, that this city and many of
the infrastructure assets as well as the naval base that exists in the bay here could very quickly turn into targets. And today, for the first time
since Israel and Hezbollah have been trading fire for nearly a year now, this city did indeed become that target.
A siren sounded around the central parts of this city for the first time. The question now is what more will follow? Because over the last couple of
days, we have been watching as Hezbollah has been flexing its muscles in new ways, showing its ability to strike deeper into Israel and its
willingness to strike targets that it previously had not targeted, such as Haifa, for example.
We also saw that Hezbollah was targeting the Ramat David Air Base, which is several miles east of our location. And many of the communities around that
base were also fired upon with one hit yesterday, hitting a civilian home in that very area. We also saw today as a part of the West Bank, just east
of Tel Aviv, also received Hezbollah rockets, at least two of those rockets actually making impact, one of them hitting a Palestinian community in the
West Bank.
So, there's no question that Hezbollah is striking deeper. That community, for example, with some 60 plus miles south of the Lebanese border.
QUEST: So, are people in -- whether -- where you are in Israel, I mean, are people asking what on Earth is Netanyahu up to? What on Earth is the
government doing? Seemingly -- well not seemingly, escalating this, saying, of course, they're protecting this, but ratcheting it up in a way that just
seems like pouring petrol on the flames?
[18:10:00]
DIAMOND: Well, look, Israeli society is -- there are certainly supporters of what's happening right now. There are certainly opponents as well. I
don't have a snap poll to read out to you at this instant on that. But what is clear is that the support that exists for the moves that the military is
making in Lebanon right now is born out of the fact that there is a kind of lassitude with the constant barrages of rockets that Hezbollah has been
firing into Northern Israel and the way that the government -- the Israeli government has been framing its actions right now is saying that it cannot
allow those barrages to continue and that something needs to be done to change the equation.
This government has clearly chosen the escalation route rapidly over the course of the last week, escalating the number and the intensity of the
strikes that they are carrying out in Lebanon, others would say that this government should have chosen another path, which would be a ceasefire in
Gaza, which many experts believe would likely have led to a diplomatic agreement with Hezbollah as well, since Hezbollah has been saying that they
are firing rockets into Israel because of Israel's military campaign in Gaza in solidarity with the Palestinian people. Clearly, that is not the
route this Israeli government has chosen.
The question now is whether Hezbollah has the will and the capability to continue to join Israel on this escalation route. So far, it seems like
they are, but there's no question that these strikes in Lebanon, over the course of the last few days, have significantly impacted Hezbollah's
capabilities. To what extent, we will find that out, I think, in the coming days and weeks. Richard.
QUEST: Jeremy in Haifa. It's late. Thank you, sir. We're now also getting an unflinching account into the conditions at Iran's notorious Evin Prison.
Siamak Namazi spent eight years wrongfully imprisoned in Iran. He was released last September. It makes him the longest held Iranian American
prisoner.
In an exclusive interview, he tells Christiane Amanpour about the deplorable treatment that he faced in prison.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SIAMAK NAMAZI, AMERICAN FREED FROM IRANIAN PRISON: I assumed that because I'm a hostage and I have value, they will not harm me. Unfortunately, that
assumption was proven wrong.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: What did they do?
NAMAZI: You know, I got to tell you that the physical part of what they do isn't -- you know, it's not like they're pulling your nail. But you're
blindfolded. And unfortunately, the thugs are as bad as their job as everyone else in that rocking system. I believe they don't mean to harm you
as much as they do, but they don't understand simple things like when you toss a person who is blindfolded, I won't -- I don't know that's a wall in
front of me and I'm going to go face first into it, or I don't know there's a staircase and I'm going to go rolling down. So, I --
AMANPOUR: Did that happen?
NAMAZI: I did, yes. Both of those things happened. And there were -- that part still you could endure, but not day after day after day nonstop. There
was a lot of humiliation, that I'm not comfortable talking about. And I mean unutterable because it had a profound effect on me. It's just -- I
still haven't even gotten to talking about it fully in therapy.
It's just -- they humiliate you, and they always do this while you're blindfolded. You know, they -- you know, it's that -- they're that
cowardly. The guy beating you up won't even -- you see -- I saw my interrogators, but the thugs were of a different nature.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: And you can see Christiane's entire compelling interview on CNN over the next few hours. It starts at 1:30 Eastern, 6:30 in London, 7:30 in
Central Europe.
President Zelenskyy of Ukraine is in the U.S. for an important week of diplomacy. He's going to address the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday,
and will discuss his victory plan for how to end the war between Ukraine and Russia. CNN's Alex Marquardt reports.
ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Richard, this is a critical week for President Volodymyr Zelenskyy who has a very busy
schedule as he tries to generate continued and increased support for Ukraine in this war, particularly from the Biden administration.
Now, the big question is, what does this plan for victory from President Zelenskyy include when he proposes it to President Biden and others this
week? What are the ideas that could lead to a diplomatic solution in Ukraine? On social media, Zelenskyy posted that, quote, "This fall will
determine the future of this war." And he says that much of the onus is on the United States.
In a new interview with The New Yorker, he talks about the plan, saying, quote, "This plan is designed, first and foremost, with Biden's support in
mind. If he doesn't want to support it, I cannot force him. If he refuses, that's unfortunate. It would mean that Biden doesn't want to end the war in
any way that denies Russia a victory, and we would end up with a very long war."
[18:15:00]
Now, a key part of this plan for victory, according to Zelenskyy, are those long-range missiles made by the United States and the United Kingdom, which
he wants to fire inside of Russia. It's no mistake that Zelenskyy started his U.S. tour this week at an ammunitions plant in Pennsylvania,
highlighting that U.S. support for Ukraine over the past year two and a half years.
Now, Zelenskyy is expected to speak at the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday before heading down to Washington to meet with President Biden.
He's also going to present his plan to Vice President Kamala Harris, who, of course, could be the next president, as well as Congress and possibly
former potentially future President Donald Trump. Richard.
QUEST: Alex Marquardt reporting. As you and I continue this morning, Elon Musk says unmanned SpaceX missions to Mars could begin within years and he
claims it hinges on the outcome of the U.S. presidential election.
Also, brilliance on a budget. Lab grown diamonds are help to grow at Pandora. The chief executive of the jewelry company joins me. But what's a
diamond? And is a diamond a diamond is it's not a diamond? We'll have diamonds galore.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: A profitable start to the week on Wall Street, which tops our Money Move. U.S. stocks, mostly modest gains. The S&P 500 and the Dow hit fresh
records. The chip giant Intel rooms on reports it may get a multibillion- dollar investment from the private equity, Apollo Global Management. And there's speculation that Intel and Qualcomm are exploring a merger as well.
Boeing was up. It's offered striking employees a 30 percent rise over four years. It's a better deal that was rejected earlier this month. And as you
get ready to start trading in Asia, on Monday, everything was closed in Japan for a holiday. And that's where you start your Tuesday, both in
Japan, Hong Kong, China, and in Seoul.
The Biden administration wants to make sure that new generation smart cars built with Chinese and Russian tech are never sold in the United States.
[18:20:00]
The U.S. says it's proposed smart car tech ban announced on Monday is needed to protect national security and head off the threat of sabotage and
data theft. Sean Lyngaas is with me. I don't quite -- so, here's the question, look, what's the goal here? To prevent the product getting into
the United States, but at the same time, will that be denying U.S. consumers the benefit of, or often perhaps, technology that might bring
cheaper prices?
SEAN LYNGAAS, CNN CYBERSECURITY REPORTER: Well, that's why, Richard, I mean, the -- this -- the U.S. officials are not denying that this may
increase the cost for U.S. consumers because, obviously, there'd be less choices to them. The Chinese smart car market is booming. It's having a
real impact in Europe where sales have taken off. And now, U.S. national security officials are trying to take that off the table for Americans. And
it's unclear if that's going to be a very popular move.
The administration is expected to release an analysis of the costs that consumers could bear because of this, haven't yet seen the numbers yet, but
it's certainly riding a lot on national security arguments that U.S. officials make and how convincing those are, Richard.
QUEST: Right. Interesting, Sean, but what is the national security argument or is this protectionism for the likes of Tesla, who we know that
the new EVs coming from China are now starting to eat the lunch and dinner and breakfast?
LYNGAAS: That's right, Richard. Well, the Commerce Secretary, Gina Raimondo, went out of her way to tell reporters that this was not a
protectionist move. The national security arguments that they're laying out are that China, with its formidable hacking program, could use access to
the software and hardware that shows up in some of these smart cars to, you know, sabotage U.S. cars that are already on the road.
And they say that's not a theoretical example because, U.S. officials have made public allegations about Chinese hackers doing -- or preparing to do
something similar should China invade Taiwan. Being a cyber security reporter, I know that China does have very strong cyber capabilities. In
this case, we're having seen it actually play out in practice, but it's -- it is a legitimate threat, but it's a question of how much the U.S. public
buys into that threat.
QUEST: Good to have you, Sean. Thank you. Grateful. Watch it closely, please. And when there's more to report, we want to hear more from you.
Now, to Japan, where at least six people have died following floods. Several more are missing. Ishikawa Prefecture is experiencing its heaviest
rainfall, turning roads into rivers. Overall, you've only got to -- I mean, on this program, Julia's been telling you about the hard year that it's
been in the region. A major earthquake earlier this year, and the vulnerability to landslides. Hanako Montgomery reports from Tokyo.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This region was devastated by a massive Earthquake on January 1st, a horrible start to the new year. And
now, it's reeling from what the Japanese weather agency said is the heaviest rainfall that it's ever seen. If you take a look at some of these
videos, you can see entire roads and rivers have completely flooded. People are wading through these flooded homes and businesses and just waste deep
water.
And if you take a look at some of these homes, they're actually temporary shelters that people evacuated to after that deadly January 1st earthquake
that killed hundreds. We were actually there in Noto just a day after that earthquake, and we saw how it completely collapsed and devastated entire
homes and buildings. It also caved roofs and people were trapped underneath the rubble.
Now, some of those people who were rescued were sent to these temporary emergency shelters, and when we spoke to them, they said that they didn't
know when they'd get to go home because they literally had no home to return to. And now, some of those very same survivors are having to deal
with a second disaster just months later. Here's what one resident had to say about the double disaster.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AKEMI YAMASHITA, RESIDENT (through translator): The Earthquake occurred on January 1st, and again, the city became like a scene out of a movie in
September. I cannot help thinking the Noto region might be cursed or something. I'm shocked that so many unbelievable things happened in one
year.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MONTGOMERY: People are exhausted. They've spent the past few months trying to reconstruct and rebuild this region, and now, some of them are having to
start all over again.
Now, according to local government officials, part of the destruction that we've seen from these floods could have been exacerbated by the damage
caused from that earthquake earlier this year, in particular because of the damage caused to embankments and revetments.
Now, according to the Japanese government, they've dispatched members of the self-defense force, the police force, and also firefighters to try to
rescue any remaining survivors.
[18:25:00]
There's also there to assess the exact extent of the damage caused. But again, the mental toll that this has taken, the double disaster has taken
on these residents cannot be measured. It's been an extremely devastating and catastrophic moment for these residents.
Hanako Montgomery. CNN, Tokyo.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: There's much to talk about. Chad is with me. Chad, we've got the recovering torrential rains, and we've got new storms both in Mexico and
around and about. There's a lot going on.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Right. It's tropical season, Richard. That means there's a lot of humidity in the air. And this is storm now, tropical
storm turned into hurricane, likely even going to be bigger than that. Could be a big, big storm here for the southern coast of Mexico. And we're
talking between the 500 millimeters and one meter of rain in the next 72 hours.
So, let me give you your bearings. Here's Cozumel, Cancun over here, here's Southern Mexico, Puerto Escondido, big music festivals go on there. And
then, also up toward Acapulco. Now, Hurricane John, not moving much at all. Will likely become a Category 3 major hurricane before making landfall.
But notice where it goes, which is nowhere in five days. That's why the rain is going to pile up. Hurricane Center saying life-threatening
situation. And that's going to be the case when you talk about this much moisture, this much rainfall in this large of an area, everywhere that you
see that white, that's 500 millimeters. That's 20 inches of rain or more. And some models put out a devastating 60 inches of rain in the next 72
hours. I can't even think about what that would do to the landscape there. These people that live there are certainly in danger.
Now, something here going on in the Gulf of Mexico for the U.S. But first of all, for Mexico, for parts of Havana and even part all of Pino del Rio
where we're talking about tropical storm warnings here, for the lower keys tropical storm watches. And then what happens? Richard, a Category 3 major
hurricane makes landfall again in Florida somewhere.
Now, these models here, these cones are not always going to be perfect, and they're not even made to be perfect. So, Tampa, you're not out of it. All
the way over to Mobile, you're not out of it. But a major landfalling hurricane in the next 72 hours, this is going to ramp up very, very
quickly. This is going to be a rapidly intensifying storm that is going to make landfall where people are just now thinking about preparing for a
storm, and it will be onshore rather quickly, by the middle of the week.
The temperatures here somewhere between 32, 33 Celsius, upper 80s Fahrenheit, a lot of water, a lot of heat. And yes, the American model is
significantly more impressive, stronger than the European model. So, kind of take half and half, but there are models here that take this to greater
than Category 3 intensity before landfall.
Not much time to prepare, but if you are anywhere from almost to Orleans, maybe not quite, but then all the way down toward Tampa and Sarasota, you
only have a couple days to prepare for a big storm. The storm doesn't even have a center yet. I can't tell you where it's going to go yet until the
models say, oh, there you are, and there you're going. That's the problem right now. It is not even a tropical storm, will be tomorrow, will be a
hurricane on Wednesday, will be a major hurricane by Thursday.
QUEST: So, we have serious weather systems on both sides.
MYERS: Yes. Absolutely. Yes. And I would predict more than a million people, more than a million customers, will be without power here. In the
southeast part of the United States. And more than a hundred thousand people may lose their homes or at least where do they want to reside in
parts of Mexico. Because of that Hurricane John.
When you put down -- you even think about a meter of rainfall, what that could do to those landscapes there. Wow.
QUEST: I was just sort of -- yes, three feet of, sort of -- all right. Chad, I'm grateful. Thank you, sir. Chad Myers at the --
MYERS: See you tomorrow.
QUEST: -- Weather Center, thank you. This is a "First Move." We'll be back in a moment.
[18:30:00]
QUEST: U.S. astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts have arrived home, well, on Earth. They left the International Space Station on Monday. It's a busy
route. Later this week, NASA will send a SpaceX craft to the station and to leave with two empty seats in order to bring back the stranded Starliner
astronauts. It's all very complicated, the way they've done the musical chairs for all of this.
SpaceX has very lofty goals, five missions to Mars in two years and the very ambitious promise from Elon Musk. He says they plan to send uncrewed
ships when the next opportunity arrives. SpaceX is prone to changing timelines. Its main client, NASA, has big plans. That's, of course,
returning humans to the moon. Miles O'Brien joins me now. How much of this is all talk and no trousers, as they say?
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN AEROSPACE ANALYST: Richard. Yes. Yes. What did they say in Texas, all hat no cattle, right?
QUEST: Yes.
O'BRIEN: Yes. You know, the thing about Elon, as you well know, you've covered him long enough, he eventually delivers on most of his seemingly
grandiose promises, but that key point you injected in the lead in there that the asterisk is the schedule may slide a little bit here. To say that
a human mission to Mars could happen as soon as four years from now is quite aggressive.
QUEST: Right. So, he also says, and I have no hesitation in wading you into the deepest political waters, Miles O'Brien. You can handle it
beautifully. He says that if Kamala Harris gets elected, bearing in mind Musk is a strong Trump supporter and may well be in the administration if
Trump wins, he says if Kamala Harris wins, nobody's going to Mars because they'll be tied up with bureaucracy.
O'BRIEN: Well, you know, Elon says he's going to Mars anyway. I don't understand the logic of this one at all. He intends to beat NASA regardless
of funding in his own way. And so, for him to say, we're not going to Mars because Kamala Harris might be president doesn't really pass the logic
test.
We could all agree, and Elon would probably agree if he was talking to us, that the NASA effort to put humans on Mars, which is now officially late
2030s, early 2040s, is not doing well.
QUEST: So -- but is it helpful to inject party politics rather than grander politics into space in such a way? It's always been there on
funding and this, that and the other, but this is basically saying, vote for that one, vote for this one, and you'll get the opposite?
[18:35:00]
O'BRIEN: You know, the short answer is no, it is not helpful at all, because the thing about space is it doesn't respond well to two and four or
even six-year cycles. You got to think at least decadally and beyond that in order to get anywhere. We had a period of time, in the George W. Bush
years, leading into the Obama years, where there was a sudden change in the plan, and that set things back significantly.
Now, what was kind of launched early Obama days is what we're seeing mature today. And what we're seeing, as you all know, is a flourishing space
economy. So, we got to let these things take their time because it's not easy. Space is indeed hard. And to inject it into the political campaign in
this way, to say, if you vote one way, we'll change from Mars to some other place or go to the moon or whatever, we end up going nowhere.
QUEST: So, glad we have you. Thank you. Miles O'Brien. good to see you. As "First Move" continues, diamonds are forever, forever, forever. Diamonds
are forever. We are talking about sprite -- but sparkling your day. The question is, which one is lab grown and which one is real? Can you tell the
difference after the break?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: The Bank of America has downgraded the luxury sector on Monday, saying consumers are all shopped out. Well, according to the jewelers
Pandora sales of one luxury item are on the rise. Just look at these -- this magnificent piece, first of all. I wanted to show you this wonderful -
- look at that. Absolutely gorgeous. Diamonds beautifully displayed. Thank you, Christopher.
The question, of course, is when you look at that piece, could you tell whether the diamonds were mined or lab grown? And here's a better example.
Could you tell the difference here? Bring that one back in again. So, which or which, can you actually tell any of these things?
Well, unless you've got the receipt, the short answer is no. And Pandora says the market share of artificial alternatives has risen from less than 1
percent to 20 this year. Analysts are warning the shine is starting to wear thin and the price gap is widening between the lab-grown on the mind.
[18:40:00]
Pandora is in New York this week for Climate Week. It's like shifting 100 percent recycled silver and gold to its jewelry crafting. Alexander Lacik
is the CEO of Pandora. He joins me now. Sir, I'm very grateful to you. This idea -- we'll come to the diamonds in a minute. This idea of 100 percent,
where are you getting the silver and gold to recycle from?
ALEXANDER LACIK, CEO, PANDORA: Well, each year there's roughly 26,000 tons of silver being produced in the world. 6,000 of those are recycled, and we
buy it from the same people that are kind of in the value chain of mining. And out of those 6,000, Pandora buys roughly 340 tons. So, we consume
roughly 6 percent of the global consumption annually.
QUEST: But I guess your argument is if we don't mine -- if we don't buy mined diamonds, therefore the mining -- or gold, sorry, silver and gold,
then it doesn't come out of the ground, therefore there's less CO2. That's the way the argument goes, right?
LACIK: Well, I mean, it's two-thirds less CO2 when we recycle versus going into the ground for it. So, yes, there's a very strong argument from an
emission standpoint to work with recycled. And if you then take gold, it's 600 times less CO2 emitted. So, we --
QUEST: This is a very --
LACIK: Yes.
QUEST: This is a great idea, but if everybody did it, there wouldn't be enough recycled and you'd still be mining. So, it doesn't get rid of
mining, but it might reduce it. Is that your point?
LACIK: Over time I think there's enough silver that has been mined than we would actually be able to move to a world where there is no need for mining
silver in the future.
QUEST: That's where its value comes from though, isn't it? That's the value of the -- it's rarity and scarcity that gives it its value.
LACIK: Well, I mean, at the end of the day, we're not in the business of selling silver as a commodity. We craft beautiful jewelry, just like you
showed on that necklace two seconds ago.
QUEST: Right.
LACIK: That's what people are buying. Not necessarily just kind of the commodity as such.
QUEST: So, here we have you're two, and I couldn't tell you and, unless I tried to run off with one versus the other, I could not tell you, and then
you'd run after me. But the price gap between the lab grown and the mined is widening, which suggests that you haven't fully managed to get people to
accept lab-grown as an equivalent to a mined.
LACIK: Well, that could be an argument, but if we look at what consumers actually are doing. So, last year was the first year in the history of the
U.S. where there were more loose stones sold that were lab-grown than mined. So, we can have all sorts of academic arguments, but the consumer is
voting with their wallet, and they're voting in favor of lab-grown. So, this will -- is transforming this industry at a very high pace.
QUEST: The ability -- you know, I think back to the famous De Beers commercials that made diamonds. Do you need something similar, in a sense,
something that gives the lab-grown the cachet, that you say, that simply it's not just based on price, so that people will say, no, I want a lab-
grown because a lab-grown is what I'm about?
LACIK: Yes. So, if you look at the jewelry industry is probably the last of the luxury sectors that have such a high unbranded proportion, but this
is -- each year we have more and more of the brands taking share of this industry. And they're taking a share because what they're promising is
something that the brand is promising them. So, they're moving away from a purely commoditized type of idea.
And it's the same thing with diamonds. As you said, when De Beers coined, you know, the -- this magical word, that diamonds are forever, of course,
that was very strong in those days. We have gone after a quite different way of portraying this. We're not shouting that I'm cheaper than my
neighbor. That's not a real good argument in this space.
We're proposing this -- a diamond proposition that Pandora is offering as a -- let's say, a manifestation of strong women that can buy the diamond for
themselves. They don't need to wait for the guy to turn up on their knees.
QUEST: Hey, less of the strong women. I'll take one of these any day. Thank you very much, sir. Thank you very much. Lovely to have you. Let's
see how quickly your security people come in as I try and work out which one is -- oh, look at that. They've both gone into my pocket. What a shame,
sir. Thank you very much. Good to see you.
It is "First Move" tonight. I'll have a bell. In a moment, Japan's Shohei Ohtani is not yet finished with the baseball record books. In a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:45:00]
QUEST: This year marks the 25th anniversary of Macao's handover from Portugal back to China. Long known as the Vegas of Asia, Macao is now
looking to diversify its economy away from gaming, with more emphasis on unique heritage. Today, Marc Stewart has the story of an iconic Macao
hotel.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In a place obsessed with constructing new things, Simon Sio is following his own path. He owns Hotel
Central, a nearly century old building and one of the most iconic in Macao.
SIMON SIO CHAIRMAN, LEK HANG GROUP (through translator): Hotel Central and I are faded together, and that's because my family lived across from Hotel
Central when I was born.
STEWART (voice-over): When Hotel Central was built in 1928, it was known for its glitz and glamour.
SIO (through translator): As children, we would frequent the largest building in Macao out of curiosity. One day, I got caught by an employee
and was thrown out onto the streets. So, I pointed at the hotel and swore that I would buy it someday.
STEWART (voice-over): That's what he did in 2016.
SIO (through translator): I felt that restoring the hotel was a huge business opportunity.
STEWART (voice-over): Restoration got underway in 2020 from re-piling the delicate foundation to restoring the exterior. Simon wanted to retain the
hotel's original integrity. After about $50 million U.S. dollars and years of restoring the building, Hotel Central officially reopened in the summer
of 2024. The design is based on styles from the 1920s to the 1940s.
Cultural heritage is essential for a healthy tourism sector, observers say. The global heritage tourism market reached more than $580 billion in 2023.
That number expected to grow to more than $810 billion by 2032, according to market research firm IMARK Group.
VICKY CHEN, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, MACAO UNIVERSITY OF TOURISM: So, in 2005, the historical center of Macao was inscribed in the world heritage site.
So, start from that, so historical center of Macao has become a unique tourism attractions and also a key reasons for visitors to visit Macao.
STEWART (voice-over): The power of preservation at work, ensuring the gems of the past are protected for future generations.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: Shohei Ohtani's record setting season is far from over. The L.A. Dodgers superstar recently became the first player to hit 50 homers with 50
steals in a single season. Now, he's up to 53 and 55 respectively with his team independent race.
[18:50:00]
Don Riddell is with me. Don, how's it going?
DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: I'm All right. mate. How are you, Richard? Yes, this is just an absolutely amazing season that Shohei Otani is having,
and he is definitely repaying big chunks of that $700 million contract that the Dodgers gave him at the start of the season.
As you've just referenced, he's already up to 50 and 50. He was actually the first man to do 43 and 43. And he has big plans for the rest of the
season and the postseason. This is Shohei in action with two more steals in a big come from behind win against the Rockies on Sunday. He had two steals
and another homer. That was the homer, and it was huge coming in the bottom of the ninth inning, which helped them beat the Rockies. That's Mookie
Betts with the winning score in this game.
So, Dodgers are sitting very, very pretty at the moment. They haven't yet won their division, but they are already into the playoffs. Meaning that
Ohtani is going to be in the postseason for the first time in his career. It's amazing to think that he's never actually experienced playoff baseball
before.
With half a dozen games still to go in the regular season, they want to keep going. The Dodgers want to win their division because that means
they'll have an advantage in the playoffs. They'll be able to skip through the wild card round.
And when you look at what he's doing, it is just absolutely incredible. He's on pace, I think, to be the MVP, which would make him only the second
player ever to win MVP awards in both of the leagues in Major League Baseball. And of course, he wants to go much further than that. Hopefully,
leading the Dodgers all the way.
But even just looking at what he's done, it is phenomenal. It is absolutely historic. And, Richard, you may know that he's not just a batter, he's a
pitcher. He's the kind of guy that hasn't existed since Babe Ruth way back in the day, but he's recovering from elbow surgery. So, he's not able to
pitch this season. And that's one of the reasons why he makes so many steals because he feels bad that he's not contributing more for his team.
So, he's doing everything he can to help them out, and he certainly is.
QUEST: You mentioned Babe Ruth. Babe Ruth, that's got him going. That's the -- the e-mails will be coming in against you, Don.
RIDDELL: It's true.
QUEST: Brave, brave man. Good to see you as well. Thank you. Now, if you rely on emojis to get your message across today really is a significant to
go. Eight new emojis are coming to our smartphones. I'm going to walk you through them. The most anticipated is the exhausted face with bags under
its eyes. I identify. The others include root vegetables for ripping it out, and a leafless tree for something that's bare and barren, and about
climate change, and then, there's also a flag of a tiny island of Sark, which is in the England Channel.
New emojis don't just happen every day, it's a formal process led by the Unicode Consortium. Those sworn to uphold the global emoji standards. Glad
that they are there.
Glad, Jennifer Daniel, that you are doing good work in the cause of the community. You're the chair of the Emoji Standard. When you decide --
because every single one of us thinks we know better than anybody else what should be an emoji, what's your criteria?
JENNIFER DANIEL, CHAIR, UTC EMOJI STANDARD AND RESEARCH WORKING GROUP: Oh, do you have a good emoji idea? Because I'm all here. I'm here for it. I'd
love to hear it.
QUEST: Well, how did you decide on these? Because there were lots of submissions, and I mean, this one was the best one, sort of the tired face.
How did you decide what to put in?
DANIEL: Sure. Well, there's -- obviously, there's criteria that we're looking for. So, anyone could submit an emoji proposal. All it has to do is
include a number of factors. So, these are things like, can someone tell what it is, right? The image distinctiveness. How many times have you
squinted at your keyboard and you're like, I can't even tell what this is. So, it's really important that you can actually tell what it is.
Another is that it has multiple uses. Meaning, can it be used symbolically? Can it be used metaphorically? Can it be used outside of just literally
representing?
QUEST: I love this because I'm having an argument with one of my colleagues who tries to tell me that it's just a way of saying something.
And I'm saying no. These emojis connote and import an emotion and a feeling and actually accelerate what you're trying to say. They emulate it. They
add to it. Am I just reading too much into it?
DANIEL: Oh, absolutely not. I think there is a very physical barrier when you're talking to someone in digital spaces, especially if it's just a
text-based environments. And so, emoji really do kind of, like, overcome that digital divide. It allows you to connect more. I mean, if you really
think about how we talk, how we're talking right now, right? You're listening to my cadence. I'm listening to your speed of how you're talking.
I'm getting a sense of how excited you are. You're getting a I don't know if that makes sense maybe of how nervous I am right now.
QUEST: Yes.
DANIEL: We use body language and gesture and facial expressions. And these are ways that we build empathy and build relationships and emoji are
absolutely in service of that.
[18:55:00]
QUEST: So, what does not work as an emoji? When you get the submissions and you think, oh, God, no way. What doesn't work? We've just got a minute
left.
DANIEL: Oh, that's funny. You know, sometimes we get a submission and it's just a drawing on a napkin and a photo. They're clearly at a bar. Draw a
picture. Like a lack of thoughtfulness to it. So, something that's meanie, like, something that's like, has a 15-minute lifespan that isn't going to
be relevant a year from now or 500 years from now, probably not going to make for a good emoji.
But something that has global relevancy, something that everyone feels like being tired is going to make for a very good emoji.
QUEST: This is the best one. This is brilliant. I'm holding this one up. It's brilliant. Thank you so much for joining us. I'm going to make our
discussion an annual event as you bring more and more.
DANIEL: I would love that. Please give me your emoji.
QUEST: That's brilliant. And I shall be submitting a picture of myself and you can decide yourself what sort of emoji I will be.
DANIEL: I'll get back to you.
QUEST: Just when I pulled the dagger out. Thank you very much for joining me. Good to see you. And that is our show tonight. Don't worry, Julia is
back tomorrow to dig us out of the hole. Good night.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:00:00]
END
