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Quest Means Business

Biden Unveils Vaccine Donation, Aims to Blunt China and Russia; Joe Biden and Boris Johnson Meet for First Time; EA Hack Not a Ransomware Attack; Top CEOs and Investors Demand Climate Action from Leaders; Keystone XL Pipeline Scrapped after Years of Protests; #CallToEarth; Uganda Struggles to Get COVID-19 Vaccines; Biden to Meet with Putin. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired June 10, 2021 - 15:00:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[15:00:28]

PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: The market is shrugging off inflation numbers. We will talk about that soon.

Those are the markets, and these are the main events.

Joe Biden says the global economy can't recover without vaccines as he promises half a billion doses to the world.

Bumping elbows or butting heads? Mir. Biden and Boris Johnson discuss trade and Northern Ireland in their first ever meeting.

And prices are rising like it is 1992, and yes, I remember the year well. U.S. inflation hits its highest mark in decades.

Live from New York, it is Thursday, the 10th of June, I am Paula Newton, and this is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.

Tonight, U.S. President Joe Biden says he is ready to supercharge the global vaccine rollout. Now, speaking at Cornwall, England ahead of the G7

Summit, Biden harkened back to America's role in the Second World War, offering to make the U.S. the arsenal of vaccines.

The plan is to have 500 million made in America doses distributed right around the world over the next 12 months, but the 92 countries that will

get these shots, Biden underscored there is no quid pro quo.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The United States is providing these half billion doses with no string as attached. Let me say

it again, with no strings attached.

Our vaccine donations don't include pressure for favors or potential concessions. We're doing this to save lives, to end this pandemic, that's

it. Period.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Now while Biden says his vaccine push is, as you heard him there, all about saving lives, the U.S., of course, does have a vested interest in

inoculating the rest of the planet. Washington is out to prove that democracies, not Moscow, or Beijing, will lead the pandemic recovery.

China, with its Sinopharm vaccine; and Russia, of course with its Sputnik vaccine have been flooding developing countries with doses through vaccine

diplomacy. Biden now appears to be reasserting U.S. leadership on the world stage.

Kaitlan Collins joins us now from Falmouth, England, where she has been following all the action.

And Kaitlan, I will say while clearly this is the centerpiece of the Biden agenda as the G7 Summit gets underway, it is a bit late to the party here.

He claims there are no strings attached, but really what's behind this?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, that has been the White House's line, not just with this latest announcement on these

doses that they are going to be donating, but also with the other previous 80 million that they had announced. They said they are not doing this in

exchange for political favors. That is obviously taking a jab at Russia and China trying to really assert that they feel that this need to donate these

vaccines worldwide has kind of been a concern that maybe the U.S. wasn't stepping up quick enough in order -- when it comes to China and to Russia.

And so, I think that they are timing this announcement on purpose with this first trip abroad because President Biden and his top aides knew they were

going to be pressed by other world leaders on what their plan was for this.

And you had already seen the Prime Minister Boris Johnson talking about the need for the G7 leaders to work on vaccinating the rest of the world. Of

course, even U.S. allies are struggling to ramp up vaccinations as well.

And so, I think that's all part of this announcement, which are we are told by sources was essentially negotiated for about the last four weeks the

last month or so by the President's top coronavirus adviser, Jeff Zients and they want to have the U.S. playing a big role in this.

But, I do think you're right that critics have raised the question of whether it's too late or just did not happen quickly enough, because those

previous 80 million doses that President Biden had announced that they were donating worldwide, of course, they take some time to actually get out.

It's a big logistical undertaking to actually designate those doses, but also to get them out to those countries and make sure they have the right

infrastructure to hold those doses and so they do not go to waste.

I think all of that is factoring into this announcement that you heard from President Biden, but clearly, by making this announcement on his first trip

abroad, he is certainly trying to emphasize not only the announcement, but the role that the United States is going to play in this vaccination effort

globally going forward.

NEWTON: Yes, definitely trying to showcase a level of benevolence there and leadership that the Biden administration claims has been lacking. So,

something that I know you noticed today, Kaitlan, no press conference, right?

[15:05:05]

NEWTON: He didn't take any questions, not even impromptu ones, still camera shy, and yet, there are many questions about the tough part of this. The G7

is one piece, but then we've got the NATO Summit, and of course, that Summit, that one-on-one with Vladimir Putin to follow. Vladimir Putin

I mean, do you read anything into this? That he has really not made himself all of that available for questions?

COLLINS: Well, I think a lot of the questions today would've also been about that bilateral meeting that he had with the British Prime Minister.

It's the first time that they've actually ever met, and he has been critical of him in the past, he once compared him to Donald Trump's clone.

That is not a compliment, certainly not coming from President Biden. And he has also been really critical of Brexit.

But you heard from the British Prime Minister after that, he said there were good negotiations and talks that the two sides had. He said, they were

in agreement, in harmony, was the words he used on the Good Friday Agreement when it comes to Northern Ireland.

But I do think people will be looking for President Biden to take questions on what this trip is going to look like and what he wants to get out of it.

And talking about press conferences, there are still unanswered questions about what the press conference is going to look like following that sit-

down with the Russian President because the White House has said, yes, President Biden will take questions. But whether or not they're going to

appear alongside each other, which is often a critical point where you can see the difference in the two sides on how they saw that sit-down between

the two of them, we still don't know if that is actually going to happen the way it did with former President Trump in Helsinki three years ago.

And so, a lot of questions about what questions President Biden will be taking from the press on this trip.

NEWTON: Yes, it is always interesting to watch the body language in that process right after.

Kaitlan, thanks so much. Really appreciate you setting that up for us.

Now, the U.S. plans as we were saying to deliver 200 million vaccine doses this year. Then 300 million during the first half of next year. It does

seem kind of late, doesn't it? Experts say that's not fast enough. Only six percent, look at that, six percent of the world's population is fully

vaccinated compared to 40 percent of the people in the U.S. and the U.K.

As infections, of course, spread through Africa now, the World Health Organization is sending out an urgent plea. Its goal was for each African

nation to vaccinate 10 percent of its population by September. The W.H.O. says without another 225 million doses, nearly all of them -- all of them -

- will miss that target.

The vaccination rate in Africa is less than one percent.

Amanda Glassman is the Executive Vice President of the Center of Global Development. She is among those calling on the leaders to share at least

one billion vaccine doses with low and middle income nations by the end of the year. She joins us now from Washington.

It is a cliche and yet very true here, right? Very little and very late. It is a fair comment that the allies all around the table -- all around the

table -- have hoarded vaccines and then decided to provide them to the world.

AMANDA GLASSMAN, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, CENTER OF GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT: Well, that's certainly the case that the U.S., the U.K., the European Union

pre-purchased enough doses to vaccinate their own population several times over. And now, they're beginning to think about the rest of the world.

But in the meantime, the disease has moved extremely quickly and we are now seeing a third wave of cases kick off in Sub-Saharan Africa. So, it's now

time to get faster on sharing doses.

NEWTON: In terms of the need and the scope of this, and what's extraordinary here is this is one of those things where you can't protect

any one of us without protecting the entire globe. And the fact that there was no leadership on this from anyone around that G7 table is

extraordinary, really.

But let's deal with what you just explained, the scope of the need right now in places like Africa, South Asia, in places that actually aren't even

that far, as you point out, from the U.S. coast line, places like Haiti.

GLASSMAN: Absolutely. Unfortunately, it is the case that outside of Europe and the United States, the U.K., there simply isn't access to vaccine. Now,

those countries have purchased vaccine from manufacturers in China, in Russia, and in the United States, and Europe.

But the delivery of those doses has been slow because they are farther back in the queue to have their deliveries. So this is really about trying to

get everyone up to a basic level so that healthcare workers are covered and so that people over 65 are covered.

It's now totally feasible now that the U.S. is almost at half its population fully vaccinated.

NEWTON: Yes. And that is certainly the good news. Do you have any concerns about distribution? I understand that the doses are going to these

countries. But do you think more should be done to make sure these countries know where to distribute it, how to distribute it, and that they

really bulk up their own healthcare, you know, put the resources to bulk up public health in these countries.

[15:10:00]

GLASSMAN: Absolutely. You know, many countries are just not accustomed to vaccinating adults. So, that's a whole new story. They are really good

actually at childhood immunizations. In most countries outside of high- income countries, vaccinations rates higher for basic childhood immunization.

But there are challenges with these vaccines. It's particularly challenging given that we are fielding not just one vaccine, but four or five different

vaccine candidates that requires a different level of logistics. And we certainly do need to provide some support to delivery.

We've learned a lot in our own country about how to make this work, and we can share that.

NEWTON: And about learning lessons, what would be the one thing you would tell those leaders around the table of what they should've learned from

this global pandemic and vaccine diplomacy?

GLASSMAN: Well, we certainly need to prepare for next time, and that means we need to have the money ready to pre-purchase for the entire world, not

just for high-income countries. Because imagine pandemic flu, there's a likelihood that that will happen in the next 10 to 25 years. Are we going

to have this same scramble for vaccines again? I certainly hope not.

So, we need to create new mechanisms that put the money up front, that make it possible to procure in simultaneity. To be able to manufacture enough in

simultaneity. So, that's the task ahead.

NEWTON: Quite a task it is, we will see, because Biden in fact preempted the announcement of his allies, saying that there will be more donations to

come and we certainly hope we see better statistics out of these countries.

Amanda Glassman, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

Now, Joe Biden spent his day with a man he has never met. Yes, the two have never met, and has very little in common with the British Prime Minister

Boris Johnson. Despite their differences and the fact that Biden once compared Johnson to Donald Trump as the special relationship between their

two countries was all in full display, I should say, he described him as his clone, as Donald Trump's clone.

The two held an extended meeting in private. Afterwards, Boris Johnson said working with Biden was a breath of fresh air.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: The talks were great, they went on for a long time. We covered a huge range of subjects. And it's wonderful to

listen to the Biden administration and to Joe Biden because there is so much that they want to do together with us, from security, NATO, to climate

change.

And it's fantastic. He's a breath of fresh air. A lot of things that they want to do together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Clarissa Ward is CNN's chief international correspondent. I know, Clarissa, it did not escape you, the fact that Biden described Boris

Johnson as of course, the very clone of Donald Trump. This relationship has to move far beyond that. As much as we may love quoting that in the media,

how do you think, what kind of a foot do you think they got off to here?

They certainly had a lot of, let's say, administration help, the two teams on each side of them working on this for months.

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. And I think if the comparison before, Paula, had been between Boris Johnson and

Donald Trump, the Prime Minister is very much hoping that now, the comparison will be between Boris Johnson and Winston Churchill.

I think both the U.S. and the U.K. leaders very much trying to sort of turn the page, usher in a new era by, indeed, harkening back to this bygone era

80 years ago when essentially the U.S. and the U.K. were working together as partners in lockstep, basically reshaping the post-war world.

And now, they are looking ahead to the challenges of COVID-19 pandemic, the global economic fallout, climate change, the rise of authoritarianism,

China, Russia, and a host of other issues that liberal democracies are facing.

And they are saying, Paula, that they want to confront them head-on together.

A lot has been made of the differences that Biden and Boris Johnson have had in the past. Of course, President Biden was not a fan of Brexit, and,

as you mentioned, the tension over calling him a physical and emotional clone of Trump. But I think, it is important to understand that there have

always been differences in the so-called special relationship between the U.S. and the U.K.

Churchill and Roosevelt also had their differences, and what the relationship is ultimately about, though, is being able to come together

during tough times facing tough challenges, often having differences of agreements and being able to sort of chart a course forward.

I think both leaders would feel quite optimistic that they've been able to lay the groundwork for doing that today -- Paula.

NEWTON: And yet so many tough issues here to confront. The U.S. says Biden isn't there to lecture Prime Minister Johnson. And yet he's saying that,

look, on a specific issue, Northern Ireland, the negotiation with Europe over Brexit that Biden, in the words of the administration, cares deeply

about peace.

[15:15:05]

NEWTON: I mean, I would say, no kidding. But this is definitely an era, and I want you to listen to Boris Johnson and I'll get you back on the other

side of it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNSON: America, the United States, Washington, the U.K., plus the European Union, have one thing we absolutely all want to do and that is to

uphold the Good Friday -- the Belfast Good Friday Agreement and make sure we keep the balance of the peace process going.

That's absolutely common ground and you know, I'm optimistic that we can do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Clarissa, I'm really interested to get your take on this. I know how closely you follow this. And the message seems to be from Biden saying,

look, play nice with Europe; own up to your role as a caretaker of peace in Northern Ireland because we're watching.

WARD: I think that's absolutely the message. It's no secret that President Biden cares deeply about this issue. He has Irish roots, of course, and

this is a huge issue for many American politicians and the U.S.'s role in the whole peace process in Ireland is something that politicians take very

seriously.

I think you're seeing also Prime Minister Boris Johnson try to underplay the importance of this or the importance of any sort of supposed rift

between the two countries over this issue. He wants to downplay that. He wants to say I'm optimistic we can resolve it.

And I also think that the Biden administration doesn't want to inflate tensions or make this a bigger issue than it needs to be. But President

Biden has been very clear, Paula, about his style and his message of delivery, which is to tell people what's on his mind, what he is thinking,

what the U.S. wants to see in very clear terms, not in some of the sort of crude language that perhaps we were used to seeing under President Trump,

which was kind of undermining the whole underpinning of these relationships and the role of things like the G7.

But just having a frank and candid expression -- conversation between two allies, I think that the special relationship both leaders believe is

strong enough, absolutely, to survive that.

NEWTON: Yes. And you made a good point, Clarissa. Many have commented that Joe Biden is actually quite blunt, especially, and I am told they had 10 or

15 minutes without aides, one on one, so you can only imagine what was said.

Clarissa, really good to have you there. We look forward to talking to you in the days to come. Appreciate it.

Now you knew this headline was coming, cyber attackers strike again. A major gaming company is the target. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:20:08]

NEWTON: Major U.S. averages in the U.S. are in fact in the green today. The spiking numbers showing inflation is at its highest level in years. The

U.S. Consumer Price Index rose to five percent in May. That's the largest year-over-year spike since August 2008.

Now, some of the biggest price jumps are in items you'd expect, right? Gasoline, used cars and trucks, and airfare. Paul La Monica joins us now.

Paul, good to see you. Can you help us parse some of these numbers? You know, that big word, of course, inflation is transitory. Clearly, I would

say that I don't see this data as transitory. Clearly, I'm wrong because the markets disagree with me.

PAUL LA MONICA, CNN BUSINESS REPORTER: Yes. I think this is the real conundrum right now for investors and then obviously consumers as well,

Paula. We all know that if you are going to the grocery store, you are seeing higher prices, and you are seeing higher prices obviously for things

like gasoline and cars, and it's hard to stomach that this may be just transitory.

But the Fed, the bond market, and others, they are looking at these data points, and they are taking it a step back and looking from the lens of

when you have what the economy did in March and April of 2020 where it essentially shut down because of COVID, and now it's come roaring back as

people are vaccinated and returning to work and returning to normal, it's understandable that prices are surging, especially since there are so many

supply chain bottlenecks that we have all heard about that have increased the price of lots of goods.

So, yes, it seems trite to say it's transitory because it's not transitory when you're the one going to the store and paying more money for food. But

I think there is a hope on the part of Jerome Powell that, yes, this is transitory, they are not going to overreact, and the bond market seems to

sense that as well.

NEWTON: Yes, and that seems to be key here. We know what the Fed has said, but what are companies saying about it? Because when you try and

extrapolate some of the data, the companies seem to be more alarmed than the Fed is right now, even though the Fed is doing a good job of keeping

the markets calm.

LA MONICA: Yes, companies are clearly worried about rising prices because they are going to be forced in a box pretty soon. Do they raise prices to

preserve profit margins and please shareholders? Or do they eat the cost, which may be a negative for shareholder returns, but good in the eyes of

consumers if they are not raising prices aggressively to match some of these increases and input costs? And many of them may not have a choice but

to raise prices because you are seeing some pretty staggering increases in the prices of many commodities, particularly those that have had these

well-publicized supply chain shortages.

I mean, just think about chips and what are happening with semiconductors in the technology sector.

NEWTON: Yes. And what is interesting here, as you mentioned the supply chains, there hardly ever seems any component of the supply chain where

people aren't seeing those increases. Paul La Monica, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

Moving now to some breaking news we're following. A major hack at one of the world's largest video game producers. Electronic Arts known as EA tell

CNN hackers stole source code used in the company's games.

In an online forum post, hackers claim to have taken 780 gigabytes of data including software development tools. The company says, player data, though

-- and this is key -- wasn't compromised, and that the hack was not a ransomware attack.

Alex Marquardt joins us now. I mean, this is interesting, especially interesting because it's been disclosed so quickly. What do we know?

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, as you mentioned, Paula, this is one of the biggest video game publishers in the

world. They are known for their games like "Madden," "FIFA," the "Battlefield" series, and what we know is that on June 6th, according to

the company, hackers got into their system and stole 780 gigabytes of source code including for the game engine -- source code for the game

engine called "Frostbite," which powers those games that I just mentioned.

The hackers which have still not been named went on to post screen grabs on an online forum to prove that they had this data. They are looking to sell

it.

The company for its part essentially is downplaying what these hackers got their hands on. As you mentioned, they have said that no player data was

stolen. I want to read you a bit more of a statement from the EA spokesperson. They said, "No player data was accessed and we have no reason

to believe there is any risk to player privacy. Following the incident, we've already made security improvements and do not expect an impact on our

games or our business. We are actively working with law enforcement officials and other experts as part of this ongoing criminal

investigation."

Now, Paula, as you mentioned, this is not believed to be a ransomware attack.

[15:25:10]

MARQUARDT: That is, of course, important because we have seen this whole spate of attacks recently that has really highlighted the vulnerability of

the critical infrastructure. This looks more like a straightforward malicious actor who went in there, got this data, and is now trying to sell

it. And of course, it highlights that companies, big and small, including some of the most powerful and rich companies in the world like EA are

vulnerable to cyberattacks -- Paula.

NEWTON: Yes. And I mean, this has obviously been in the news quite a bit.

We learned from JBS, and that's the meat processing plant with operations all over the world. We learned from them, it isn't just the ransom, right?

Apparently, it was $11 million, correct me if I'm wrong on that, but the issue was they notified the F.B.I. immediately.

Do you think things are changing? And I did notice as well that up on Capitol Hill they are talking about perhaps forcing American companies to

disclose these kinds of hacks.

MARQUARDT: It's an excellent question. There absolutely is a discussion about this, whether it comes into law, we will see, but the position of the

F.B.I., the Department of Justice, and the Biden White House is absolutely when there are ransomware attacks, you should tell us. These are Federal

crimes, you should be alerting us because we want to learn about the attackers and if a ransom is paid, as it was in this case, they will try to

track it down.

We saw in the case of Colonial Pipeline, the F.B.I. just came out a few days ago on Monday saying that they were able to get back the majority of

ransom that was paid. That was around $4.4 million in Bitcoin.

What we know about JBS, which is as you said, the biggest meat producer in the world, they paid the equivalent of $11 million. It's a huge ransom. I

say the equivalent because that means that that ransom was also paid in cryptocurrency.

Just like the Colonial CEO, the CEO for JBS said that this was one of the more painful decisions that he has ever had to make. He said that it was

made -- the payment was made when the vast majority of their operations were back up and running, essentially, to make sure, he said, that they

were trying to mitigate any unforeseen issues related to the attack and to ensure that no data was exfiltrated.

Now, this attack was attributed to a group of attackers called REvil who are believed to be based in Russia. So, now, the next logical question is

going to be, are American Federal investigators or international investigators going to be able to track that money, track that payment in

cryptocurrency as they did with the Colonial payment to a wallet, a cryptocurrency wallet and try to get that back?

But Paula, this conversation about ransom is certainly changing. The government here in the U.S. doesn't want companies to pay them. But if they

do, they certainly want to be told about it very quickly -- Paula.

NEWTON: Yes. Perhaps it could even be used as bait in a way in terms of the Department of Justice was saying the other day, we follow the money and

that's how we got this small victory, I guess, over hackers.

Alex, thanks so much. I appreciate the update once again.

MARQUARDT: Take care.

NEWTON: When we return, CEOs from many of the world's largest companies are pressing G7 leaders to take bold action on climate change. We'll have that

next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:30:00]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello, I'm Paula Newton. There's more QUEST MEANS BUSINESS in a moment.

When a Canadian energy company gives up on the Keystone XL pipeline handing a major victory to environmentalists.

And the chief executive of IAG tells us you can't mix politics and safety when it comes to crises like Belarus.

Before that, though, the headlines this hour.

(HEADLINES)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

NEWTON: Some of the world's most powerful CEOs and investors are joining forces to pressure G7 leaders to tackle the climate emergency. Now in an

open letter published on the eve of the summit, more than 70 top CEOs urged governments to take bold action, including forcing businesses to reduce

their carbon emissions.

In a separate letter, investors with more than $40 trillion under management call on leaders to set more ambitious emissions targets and plot

out a clearer road map toward carbon neutrality. Clare Sebastian's following all of it for us.

Yes, OK, all of this sounds like such a good idea, right?

But why are companies convinced that it will actually make a real difference?

You know, I am tempted to kind of just discount it as a PR stunt.

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. We do hear a lot of rhetoric around climate change and relatively little actions to back up those words.

But I think it's clear that it will take a huge amount of investment for the world to get to the sort of stated goal of the Paris climate accord,

which is net zero emissions, a carbon neutral economy by 2050. Money is sorely needed in all sorts of different areas.

So these investors and companies are looking for safety in numbers and banding together to try and bring this change, $41 trillion, no small

matter, when it comes to deploying that to sort of access this greener economy.

There's also timing to consider, don't forget, as developed economies particularly recover from COVID-19, they have the opportunity now to do

that in a greener way. And certainly the U.S. has expressed a desire to do that.

We're also seeing sort of money and shareholder power being deployed in a recent reckoning against Big Oil. We're seeing successful shareholder

rebellions at Exxon and Chevron.

[15:35:00]

SEBASTIAN: Shell has had an adverse court ruling in the Netherlands that shows that courts can also uphold a sort of legal responsibility when it

comes to climate change.

So there's real momentum here. I think that skepticism is certainly healthy. We've seen a lot of commitments not followed through and in the

past.

But there's now a lot of corporate power behind this. And I think that will put pressure on governments. But of course, for this to work, corporations

have to look inwards at themselves.

NEWTON: Yes. And that is a good point. I find it curious that they're actually deferring to government on this. Now despite this call, the COP26

climate meeting is going on in Scotland in November.

Is there great hope from the corporate community that something will take hold there?

And I guess perhaps, if you're a corporate player here, you're looking for a level playing ground around the world. So whatever you do to offset your

carbon footprint will be matched by your competitors.

SEBASTIAN: Right, absolutely. And the COP25 was not really very successful, certainly in 2019. That batted a lot of potential policy undertakings down

to COP26, which, of course, is delayed a year because of the pandemic.

The U.N. is calling this a make or break summit. There's a lot of pressure on this year for something to get done, the opportunity, given the recovery

from COVID-19, the sort of momentum from countries that now have administrations that want to do something about this. So look, I definitely

think there is hope.

But as always, skepticism around these things is important going into it.

NEWTON: Yes, the whole concept, though, of that build back better in a post-pandemic, we'll see if there is certainly more will from both

governments and corporations to do more.

Clare, thanks so much and thank you, Clare, for teeing up our next story, which is a decision by the Biden White House and years of protests to stop

the Keystone XL pipeline for good.

The Canadian company behind the project now says the pipeline has been terminated. Joe Biden revoked the permit on his first day in office.

Environmentalists had opposed the plans for years. And they're not stopping there.

The so-called Line 3, a Dakota Access Pipelines, are still on their sites. Actor Jane Fonda told CNN this week that she would keep up the pressure on

the U.S. government.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JANE FONDA, ACTOR AND ACTIVIST: We're up against time. The scientists say we have less than nine years to cut our emissions in half. Line 3 is going

in the absolute opposite direction. And the news every day is telling us emissions are going up, not down.

So we have to put our bodies on the line and do whatever we can to get our administration to call a halt to these permits.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Matt Egan is listening to Jane Fonda loud and clear and will now let us know how significant this whole Keystone issue is because like we

just said, they are setting their sights and yet they're pretty emboldened by this.

When they see that Donald Trump had approved Keystone, it tended to get another life and yet here we are. They are setting their sights on other

pipelines through the continent.

MATT EGAN, CNN BUSINESS SENIOR WRITER: That's right, Paula. This is what climate activism looks like, a decade of campaigning has finally ended this

pipeline. Keystone XL might be the world's most famous pipeline that was never actually completed.

As you mentioned, President Biden, on his very first day in office, he rescinded the permit here. This was supposed to be a 1,200 mile-long

pipeline that was going to carry oil from the tar sands of Canada down into the United States.

Oil industry executives and some Republicans are slamming President Biden for the fact that this project is no more. They're saying that this does

harm to the United States' energy security and it also kills, they say, thousands of good union jobs.

But this is no doubt a big win for environmentalists, who, for so many years, they were warning that this project was going to endanger drinking

water and only worsen the climate crisis.

And I talked to one environmentalist today, who said that this win here for them has really energized them. And they said, next up is Line 3, referring

to that project that Jane Fonda was talking about, that was supposed to be carrying oil from Canada through Minnesota.

So clearly this battle between the fossil fuels industry and environmentalists is only going to heat up from here.

NEWTON: Clare was bringing up the issue with the reckoning really for a lot of the oil companies and a lot of them moving on.

Where do you see this fitting in, in terms of this pipeline issue and the fact that, if you're a company right now and you're building any kind of

pipeline, you've got to be pretty nervous.

EGAN: Yes, absolutely. If you were thinking about building any sort of fossil fuels infrastructure at all, you do have to be nervous. You

mentioned that this is a new administration in Washington and that is a very significant part of this.

The Trump administration, of course, was very much in favor of oil, natural gas and even coal. Biden has taken a very different approach here.

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EGAN: He has actually, you know, he's threatened to increase a lot of regulations, to spend a lot more money on clean energy. He's revoked this

one pipeline permit.

And the climate activists, they are not satisfied in just having Biden be elected and having him help terminate this project. They are actively

pressuring him to do more. 350.org, one of the most influential environmental groups, they put out a tweet just this afternoon.

They said, listen, President Biden has the power to stop Line 3 with just one order.

They asked, will POTUS be a pipeline president or a climate champion?

So again, the industry, of course, has to be nervous about this political pressure that they're facing right now.

NEWTON: Yes. It will be interesting to see this evolve because the premise is that these activists have been emboldened right now. Matt, thank you so

much for following the story. It certainly was an important one this week. Appreciate it.

We have been talking, of course, about -- oh, we were talking about the Biden trip, apologies, and we will get right back to more news.

But coming up, our week-long celebration of World Oceans Day continues. Today, how bubbles could be the answer to plastics pollution.

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NEWTON: Celebrate World Oceans Day this week. We have a series of stories on our blue planet. In today's "Call to Earth" report, we take a deep dive

into the threats facing California's kelp forests and the role they could play in the fight against climate change.

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HEATHER BURDICK, THE BAY FOUNDATION: Kelp forests are like the rainforests of the sea. They are home to over 700 species at some point during their

life stage.

It's hard to believe that this area is off of Los Angeles, one of the most populous cities in the world. It's such a treasure to be able to work in

it.

NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Just off the coast of southern California lies a hidden forest, one that's almost entirely

disappeared.

[15:45:00]

WATT (voice-over): It's Heather Burdick's job to bring it back.

Decades of development, coupled with a warming climate, have combined to destroy as much as 95 percent of some of California's kelp forests, helped

by a marine heat wave -- nicknamed "the Blob" -- that invaded these waters in 2014.

The other culprit, this army of zombie-like purple sea urchins.

BURDICK: There was densities of urchins all the way up to 100 per square meter. So they were everywhere.

WATT (voice-over): These little creatures have eaten all the remaining kelp and are now starved. Experts believe this invasion is partly because one of

the urchins' main predators, the sunflower starfish, was almost wiped out by disease that first struck in 2013.

BURDICK: They were on top of each other. And it was like terrifying to swim over it because you were just afraid that you were going to get spikes all

over your body every time you were doing surveys.

WATT (voice-over): The Bay Foundation has hired local commercial divers to cull the purple urchins, allowing the ecosystem to rebalance.

BURDICK: Within just a few months, we had giant kelp starting to grow. Just being able to swim under that canopy of kelp that didn't exist in 2014 and,

then, like, you'd go in and it's like a magical cathedral.

WATT (voice-over): Restoring kelp forests in this little corner of California could have even larger implications in the fight against climate

change.

MICHAEL STEWART, SUSTAINABLE SURF: The ocean right now produces a majority of the oxygen that's on the planet. And we don't pay a dime for that.

WATT (voice-over): Michael Stewart is an oceans advocate and co-founder of nonprofit Sustainable Surf. So far, they've planted or helped preserve more

than a million sea trees, such as mangroves, coral and kelp around the world, joining with the Bay Foundation in a collective effort to save

California's kelp and help capture and store carbon.

STEWART: Ecosystems like kelp forests can actually absorb and soak up that carbon, create habitat, create biodiversity, create barriers that protect

us against coastal erosion and storms.

WATT (voice-over): Research shows blue carbon coastal ecosystems are up to 10 times more effective than tropical rainforests at capturing and storing

carbon. With its ability to grow up to two feet per day, kelp could be a key ally in the global effort to remove CO2 from the atmosphere.

BURDICK: We've restored 57 acres of kelp, off of Palos Verdes (ph), which is a very local area. But the world is watching us and learning from what

we're doing.

People have a deep love for the ocean and a connection to it. And once you start to educate them about it, then people just are, like, oh, yes, we

have to save this.

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NEWTON: We'll be showcasing inspirational environmental stories like this one as part of the CNN initiative. Let us know what you're doing to answer

the call with the #CallToEarth.

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NEWTON: Returning to our top story, U.S. President Joe Biden has pledged to buy 500 million Pfizer vaccine doses and donate them to countries in need

right around the world.

Now in many parts of the globe, the need is right now. Now a brutal second wave is ripping through some African countries. Uganda is warning that it's

close to running out of doses as cases there spike. Larry Madowo has more.

NEWTON: So, a tense meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin awaits Joe Biden next week.

[15:55:00]

NEWTON: The two are bound to discuss Moscow's support for the Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko after his government diverted a Ryanair

flight last month to Minsk. In our exclusive interview with Richard Quest, the chief executive of IAG says this has rattled the aviation industry.

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LUIS GALLEGO, CHIEF EXECUTIVE, INTERNATIONAL AIRLINES GROUP: This is a matter for the Civil Aviation Authority. We need to follow their

recommendations. So, what we are saying is that we are going to follow what the output from the investigation that the you know icow (ph) council

decided to undertake. I think it was on the 27th of May.

So, I think it's important not to mix in some way politics and aviation safety. And that's where we are.

RICHARD QUEST, CNN HOST: On this, politics -- never mind politics and aviation safety, politics and aviation, I think, Luis, you have been in

this industry so -- long enough, like myself, to know the two are enshrined.

Whether it's in Belarus, whether it's opening, whether it's state aid, do you worry that there's too much politics now in aviation?

GALLEGO: Oh, I think COVID has changed a lot of things. In some way, we came back to the position that we were maybe 10 years ago. So it's true

that this is the worst crisis we have seen in the aviation and the commercial aviation. And it requires there's probably not a (ph) actions.

And in that sense, there are governments that are helping the different airlines. You know that our vision (ph) there is that we always try to

self-help ourselves. And we don't support bailouts when they, in some way they start (ph) competition. But we understand also that this crisis,

everybody needs to help in order to survive.

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NEWTON: So tomorrow night, a special edition of QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, focused on the tourism industry, live from Dubrovnik. We moved this show,

of course, from this evening to Friday because of those all-important G7 events.

But Richard will be joined by the CEOs of Ryanair and easyJet and Air France KLM as well as the Croatian prime minister. That's Friday at 9:00 pm

Dubrovnik time.

There are just moments left to trade on Wall Street. We'll give you the final numbers and the closing bell right after this.

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