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Biden to Meet with Pope Francis Ahead of G-20 Summit; China and Russia's Leaders to Skip European Summits; COP26 Faces Daunting Task as Climate Crisis Deepens; Big Oil Execs Testify Before House; France Plays Hardball in Fishing Argument with U.K.; Social Media Giant Changes Name to Meta Amid Backlash; Threat to Russian Journalists May Be Growing. Aired 12-12:45a ET
Aired October 29, 2021 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm John Vause. Ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM, G-20 leaders gather in Rome, faced with a climate crisis which is only getting worse and a global pandemic that just won't quit. But action on both might be stymied by petty regional diplomatic squabbles.
[00:02:18]
A big tobacco moment for big oil. Chief executive some four of the biggest oil and gas companies in the world appearing before the U.S. Congress to answer for decades of deception and deflection over their role in the climate change crisis.
And it's been a rough few weeks in the real world for Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg. So, on Thursday, he announced the Metaverse, the virtual world of the future, which will be whatever users want it to be.
ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with John Vause.
VAUSE: Leaders from the world's richest economies are now gathering in Rome ahead of their weekend summit. Even before they meet, a leaked copy of the final communique reportedly talks of climate change as an existential threat, and according to Reuters, commits the so-called G- 20 to urgent action to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
The final wording is still subject to negotiation and could still change. But it does set the stage for more detailed action at the U.N. climate summit, just days later in Glasgow.
But reaching consensus will be difficult, when the president of France is not on speaking terms with the prime minister of Australia over the sub snub controversy which cost France a $60 billion defense deal.
Britain and France are locked in a dispute over fishing rights. The leaders of China and Russia won't even be there. And the U.S. president left Washington without a final deal in Congress for his almost $2 trillion economic and environmental bill, which includes measures to deal with climate change.
The president delayed his departure for Europe to plead with Democrats to rally behind the bill. They did not, leading Biden to announce there was a framework for an agreement.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This framework also makes the most significant investment to deal with the climate crisis that ever, ever happened. Beyond any other advanced nation in the world. Over a billion of metric tons of emission reductions, at least 10 times bigger on climate than any bill that has ever passed before, and enough to position us for a 50 to 52 percent emission reductions by the year 2030.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: President Biden, who will meet with French and Italian leaders in the coming hours. But first, he will spend time with Pope Francis.
CNN's senior international correspondent, Ben Wedeman, live in Rome for us this hour.
So Ben, the relationship between Pope Francis and the U.S. president is strikingly different between Joe Biden and Catholics in the United States. These two men are in a real relationship, a real friendship.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. In fact, Joe Biden, of course, is under threat from Catholic bishops in the U.S. of excommunication, because he has expressed support for the -- a policy allowing for abortion, even though he, personally, is opposed.
So this is going to be a touching meeting, and certainly, you touched on the disarray that is preceding the G-20, which begins tomorrow. But the meeting with Pope Francis is certainly going to be interesting.
This is the third time Joe Biden meets with Pope Francis but the first time he meets with him as president of the United States. And certainly, among all the characters who are part of this -- the events of these days, here in Rome, Pope Francis is perhaps the most forward- thinking of the world leaders that -- that Joe Biden is going to be meeting.
He recently, Pope Francis, speaking in the Vatican, sort of laid out just how radical his vision is for humanity. He recently called, for instance, John, for pharmaceutical labs to release vaccine patents, which is something that most of the leaders of the major industrial countries have opposed.
He called on financial groups to cancel poor countries' debts, and extractive industries to cease destroying the environment, and arms manufacturers to stop production. These are all things that wouldn't go down very well in the meeting of the G-20.
But it really does underscore of how forward thinking Pope Francis is, compared to the leaders of the G-20, the countries with the major developing, or developing economies, in the world -- John.
VAUSE: Ben, thank you. Ben Wedeman, senior international correspondent, there. Early morning shift for us. Ben, we appreciate that. Thank you.
China's Xi Jinping and Russia's Vladimir Putin are skipping the G-20 summit and the COP26 climate meeting. Mr. Xi is appearing at the G-20 this weekend via video link. Mr. Putin is dealing with the COVID cases skyrocketing, as well as the number of deaths across Russia.
CNN's Selina Wang following developments live from Tokyo.
This is interesting, because Xi Jinping has not really -- he hasn't left China since the start of the pandemic. So I guess, you know, there is some credibility to this reason why he won't be there. But it seems odd that, you know, the leader of the country which produces the worst carbon emissions in the world will not be at the climate change summit.
SELINA WANG, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, John, that's right. Xi Jinping has not left China in more than two years, ever since the pandemic started. Beijing does not publicly comment on why he's not going to be there in person, but right now, at home, Xi is dealing with another surge in COVID-19 cases.
Since October 17, China has logged more than 200 COVID-19 cases, which, John, by international standards is low. But in a country where they're still pursuing this zero-tolerance COVID-19 policy, even a few cases leads to drastic action, like mass testing and lockdowns.
So optics-wise, it may have been determined that, in this current situation, it would be best not to leave, especially since China still has closed borders and very tight and long quarantine policies for all international arrivals.
But John, this does lower expectations that there's going to be any significant improvement in U.S.-China relations, as tensions increase over Taiwan, Hong Kong, the South China Sea, and a multitude of other issues.
One of the most productive parts of the G-20 are these in-person meetings that happen on the sidelines. And that's not going to be possible. And U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan did call out Xi Jinping for not attending in person. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAKE SULLIVAN, U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: President Xi has chosen not to attend these summits. He's chosen not to leave China at all in calendar year 2021 to see any leader. That's, of course, his choice.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)
SULLIVAN: So we are -- well, I'm not going to characterize the decision-making he's making. All I can say is, from the U.S. president's perspective, President Biden does believe it's important that he have the opportunity to have a face-to-face engagement with Xi Jinping.
(END VIDEO CLIP) WANG: Sullivan said the next best thing is a virtual meeting. The White House did announce earlier this month that Xi and Biden have agreed in principle for a virtual meeting before the end of the year.
The White House has been emphasizing that, in this era of intense competition, it's critical to have these lines of communication, to avoid accidental conflict and to responsibly manage this relationship -- John.
VAUSE: Selina, thank you. Selina Wang there, live for us in Tokyo at this hour. Appreciate that.
Once the G-20 is done, next comes the COP26 gathering in Glasgow. President Biden expected to travel directly from Rome and deliver an urgent call for global action on climate change.
Here's CNN's Phil Black.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[00:10:03]
PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These are just some of the biblical events the world has seen and experienced in 2021. Extreme floods, fires, droughts, and record temperatures across the U.S. and around the world. Proof, scientists say, we're already living in a climate crisis.
TODD STERN, FORMER U.S. LEAD CLIMATE NEGOTIATOR: It's here. I mean, it's upon us. People see that. People feel that.
BLACK: Todd Stern led U.S. climate negotiations through the Obama administration and help forged 2015's Paris agreement.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
BLACK: That breakthrough document includes a critical promise. All countries will work to keep the global average temperature increase within 1.5 and 2 degrees Celsius.
STERN: We've got a hell of a long way to go.
BLACK (on camera): Because the reality is, at the moment, we're nowhere near to being on track to keep things below 2, let alone 1.5.
STERN: We're not near being on track, but we're -- but we're getting better.
BLACK (voice-over): Better, ultimately, isn't good enough. At the Glasgow climate conference, each country will be judged on whether it's cutting emissions sufficiently to ensure that crucial 1.5 degree target is still achievable.
The scientific consensus says the goal is now slipping beyond reach, and the consequences will be disastrous. BOB WARD, GRANTHAM RESEARCH INSTITUTE ON CLIMATE AND THE ENVIRONMENT,
LSE: Without action to curb greenhouse gas emissions, we could see temperatures go well beyond 3 degrees of warming by the end of the century, something that the Earth has not experienced for three million years, long before humans were on the planet. It would be a very, very, different world.
BLACK: U.S. leadership, through example, is vital at Glasgow to boost other countries' ambitions. The Biden administration's plan is bold. Half U.S. omissions by 2030, hit net zero carbon by 2050.
WARD: That's fantastic, but they need to demonstrate that they can deliver that. And the lack of agreement at federal level and, indeed, in many states, to the outside world looks like that will be a major challenge.
BLACK: Success also depends on big, new commitments from China. The world's biggest polluter is responsible for more than a quarter of global emissions. China's long-term goal is becoming carbon neutral by 2060.
STERN: So it's quite important that China move much more than they have. Again, there's that long-term goal is pretty good, but between now and 2030, they haven't pledged, really, anything.
BLACK: The urgent challenge for China and many developing countries is to stop burning coal for electricity, while still rapidly, growing their economies and lifting populations out of poverty.
The issue is going to be a key focus of Glasgow, along with finance from rich countries to help poorer countries make the change. But even before the conference opens, it's clear there are tensions over some countries' unwillingness to offer detailed, ambitious commitments.
JOHN KERRY, U.S. CLIMATE ENVOY: We're behind. And we have to stop the B.S. that is being thrown at us by a number of countries that have not been willing to sign up to what Great Britain has signed up to, we've signed up to, Japan, Canada, the E.U. That is, to keep 1.5 degrees alive.
BLACK: It's expected Glasgow will deliver progress, but will it be enough? As frequent extreme events demonstrate the growing dangers of failure, scientists assure, there's now very little time left to prevent climate change on a devastating scale.
Phil Black, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: For the first time ever, chief executives from big oil appeared before the U.S. Congress to answer for what Democrats call a disinformation campaign on climate change.
But the bosses of Chevron, ExxonMobil, BP America, and Shell all deny any involvement in a deliberate effort to deceive the public.
CNN's Rene Marsh has details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RENE MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Democratic chairwoman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, Carolyn Maloney, announced on Thursday that she will subpoena all six major oil companies and their trade organizations for internal documents that the committee has been requesting.
That includes detailed funding information to understand the industry's financial payments to so-called shadow groups, and documents outlining their corporate strategy on climate change. Take a listen.
REP. CAROLYN MALONEY (D-NY): Unfortunately, none of the six entities have produced a substantial portion of the key documents the committee requested. Instead, they produced reams of other documents, many of which were publicly available.
MARSH: This is the first time we've ever seen these major companies be held accountable to this extent for their role in climate change and the misinformation campaign surrounding it.
Now, there were some other key moments during this six-hour hearing. All of the companies acknowledged climate change. They all denied spreading climate misinformation.
[00:15:07]
At one point, Shell's CEO, she acknowledged climate change, but she refused to answer whether or not climate change is an existential threat.
They all told Congress that they support policies that curb emissions, but all of these companies continue to fund trade organizations like the American Petroleum Institute, or API, which is the most powerful lobby for the industry.
And API has been hard at work, spending millions of dollars to undercut clean energy solutions like electric vehicles and methane gas regulations.
So, although the company are saying they support these sort of green policies, the trade organization that they fund is actually actively working to undercut those policies.
Rene Marsh, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Michael Mann is distinguished professor of atmospheric science at Penn State University. He's author of "The New Climate War."
And Michael, great to have you with us.
MICHAEL MANN, DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR OF ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCE, PENN STATE UNIVERSITY: Great to be with you.
VAUSE: OK, now your book, "The New Climate War," it documents how fossil fuel companies have muddied the waters about climate change for about 30 years; tried to deflect blame for their role in this climate crisis.
So with that in mind, I want you to listen to part of the testimony from a guy called Mike Worth, CEO of Chevron, one of four big oil companies summoned before lawmakers in Congress. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE WORTH, CEO, CHEVRON: Well, our views on climate change have developed over time. Any suggestion that Chevron has engaged in an effort to spread disinformation and mislead the public on these complex issues is simply wrong.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: A similar line came from all if the other executives, as well, who appeared. Have at it.
MANN: Well, you know, fossil fuel interests, for the better part of a half century now, have been funding front groups and organizations that played a critical role in attacking the science of climate change, attacking scientists like myself, undermining public faith in the science and the scientists, ,and pretty much doing everything they could to prevent any meaningful action on climate.
And so, here we're just hearing a new form of denial. They've gone from denying climate change to denying that they denied climate change. And to denying that they've engaged in underhanded efforts for decades, to try to block meaningful action on climate.
VAUSE: During this hearing, Democrat Congressman Ro Khanna said that these oil executives were essentially facing a very stark choice. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. RO KHANNA (D-CA): Today, the CEOs of the largest oil companies in the world have a choice. You can either come clean, admit your misrepresentations and ongoing inconsistencies, and stop supporting climate disinformation. Or you can sit there in front of the American public and lie under oath.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: It would seem they chose to lie, just like the bosses of big tobacco chose to lie about nicotine and addiction during a similar hearing in 1994. But why make that choice?
MANN: Well, I guess they figure they've backed themselves into a corner. They're so heavily invested now in fossil fuels. So much of their net assets are buried in the ground in the form of proven fossil fuel reserves. And if they're not able to access and sell those assets, they know they're going to go under.
And so, they've backed themselves in a corner, and it's unfortunate. Because if they had taken a more enlightened path decades ago, recognized what their own internal scientists were telling them -- because back in the early 1980s, ExxonMobil's own scientists, in an internal report, described the potential consequences of continued fossil fuel burning as catastrophic.
If ExxonMobil executives had listened to their own scientists and had steered a different path back then, we would all be better off, and they would still have a viable business model.
VAUSE: The committee says that between 1990 and 2018, these four companies -- Exxon, Shell, BP and Chevron -- reported profits of close to $2 trillion, adding that this: "We are also concerned that to protect those profits, the industry has reportedly led a coordinated effort to spread disinformation to mislead the public and prevent crucial action to address climate change."
And the issue here is not just what has happened in the past, but it's what the fossil industry is doing right now. They're lobbying against parts of the Biden administration's plans to cut carbon emissions. This is ongoing.
MANN: Yes, and, you know, this is what I describe in "The New Climate War." It's this evolution from denial, because you can't deny climate change anymore. People can see that it's happening. We've all been experiencing the devastating consequences of climate change. So they know they can't deny that it's happening anymore.
[00:20:07]
And instead, they have engaged in a variety of other tactics, even more insidious tactics, in their effort to keep us addicted to fossil fuels and prevent us from transitioning to clean energy.
And that consists of dividing climate advocates, deflecting attention away from the needed policies, systemic changes, to individual behavior, as if it's just a matter of you and me changing light bulbs. They don't want policies that will hurt their bottom line, but which are ultimately necessary if we're going to achieve the reductions in carbon emissions that are necessary.
And they've been promoting false illusions. They've been engaging in denial tactics, like claiming that we can just engage in a massive carbon capture and sequestration, or geo engineering. Manipulating our planetary environment in some other way to try to cover up the effects of carbon pollution. What could possibly go wrong?
VAUSE: Michael, we'll leave it there. We're out of time. But thank you very much for being with us. We really appreciate it. Thank you.
MANN: Thank you.
VAUSE: Still to come here, upping the ante in a dispute over fishing rights. After France seizes a British trawler, London is expected to summons the French ambassador in the coming hours.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Some troubling signs in the global fight against the coronavirus. The World Health Organization says new infections and deaths are up around the world for the first time in two months. It's being driven by rising cases across Europe. The WHO chief blames the continued spread of the virus on inequity.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TEDROS GHEBREYESUS, WHO DIRECTOR-GENERAL: It's another reminder that the COVID-19 pandemic is far from over. The pandemic persists, in large part, because inequitable access to tools persists.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Europe accounted for almost 60 percent of new cases worldwide last week. It's the only WHO region to report increases in the number of infections.
New Zealand says it will soon begin to ease border restrictions that have been in place since the very earliest of days of this pandemic. Beginning November, fully vaccinated travelers entering the country will spend seven days in state quarantine facilities. That's half the current requirement.
They're planning to move to a system of home isolation next year.
Travelers from Pacific nations, such as Samoa, Tonga, and Vanuatu, will no longer be required to quarantine upon arrival.
France is seemingly play hardball in its dispute over fishing rights with the U.K. But the issue is how many vessels are allowed to fish in each country's waters, now that Brexit is a done deal.
As Melissa Bell reports, France is closing most of its ports to British fishermen, even showing it's ready to seize their votes.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MELISSA BELL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is the British fishing boat seized by the French on Wednesday, one of two that was stopped and fined as part of tighter controls by the French in the English Channel, amid a war of words over fishing rights that has lasted for months.
CLEMENT BEAUNE, FRENCH MINISTER OF EUROPEAN AFFAIRS (through translator): We need to use a language of force, since that seems to be the only thing the British government understands.
BELL: Back in May, French fishermen protested just off the Channel Islands, many angry at not being given the licenses they need to fish in British waters.
[00:25:03] The U.K. government says it's granted 98 percent of European license applications. But according to the French government, French boats fishing in coastal waters have been disproportionately affected.
GABRIEL ATTAL, FRENCH GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN (through translator): What we see today is that almost 50 percent of the licenses to which we are entitled are missing. The situation is unacceptable. And I'm saying clearly, our patience is reaching its limits today.
BELL: The retaliatory measures announced by the French government on Thursday will come into effect next week, preventing British fishing boats from off-loading produce at nearly all French ports.
But also see extra customs checks on all goods heading to or from the United Kingdom. And that could mean the sorts of freight congestion that we last saw just before Brexit came into effect.
GEORGE EUSTICE, U.K. ENVIRONMENTAL SECRETARY: The measures being threaten do not appear to be compatible with the trade and cooperation agreement, or wider international law. And if carried through, will be met with an appropriate and calibrated response.
BELL: Brexit may be a done deal, but the fall-out means there's no sign of calm waters on the horizon.
Melissa Bell, CNN, Paris.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Still ahead here, Facebook goes virtual in a major rebrand, announcement by -- announced, rather, by CEO Mark Zuckerberg. But will his plans for the new Metaverse solve the company's many, many, many problems?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Welcome back. I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
Well, for Facebook, will Meta make everything better? The social media behemoth will now officially be called the Meta Platforms. The new name was announced by CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and his future vision for the Metaverse, which doesn't exist yet, and no one really knows what it is, apart from some vague, totally immersive virtual space.
But, Facebook will still be called Facebook. Instagram will still be called Instagram, and on it goes.
And even though the company is in the midst of its biggest crisis since -- in its history. Mark Zuckerberg will still be CEO, and nothing else will change. And that, say the critics, is the real problem, which will take more than a new name to fix.
Here's CNN's Paula Newton.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR/CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In a corporate event that seemed to have a vibe of a budget Sci-Fi flick --
MARK ZUCKERBERG, CEO, FACEBOOK: All right. Perfect.
NEWTON: -- Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and head of all things Facebook, introduced the Metaverse.
ZUCKERBERG: Together, we can finally put people at the center of our technology and deliver an experience where we are present with each other.
NEWTON: What is it? Put simply, an immersive way to connect online for both business and pleasure, using virtual and augmented reality. And Zuckerberg is all in, rebranding Facebook's corporate name to Meta. It's from the Greek word beyond, he says.
ZUCKERBERG: Your devices won't be the focal point of your attention anymore.
NEWTON: Now, if Meta is the future, in the present, the Facebook brand on the site and the app won't change. What Zuckerberg is trying to pull off is more profound than that.
SHEERA FRENKEL, TECH REPORTER, "NEW YORK TIMES": He is trying to take control of what he thinks is going to be the big next wave of technology. And the question is going to be whether the world accepts that, whether people, in spite of all of the controversy and stuff, in spite of all the crises that hit Facebook in the last month, are going to want to put their trust in Facebook.
NEWTON: Despite accusations of a toxic business model, and dangerous fallout to match, Zuckerberg's strategy, of plowing ahead with ambitious market domination, has worked.
ZUCKERBERG: Our mission remains the same.
NEWTON: And in re-branding, Zuckerberg has nothing substantive to say on how Facebook can become a safer social media space, especially for teenagers and young people.
ZUCKERBERG: I know that some people will say that this isn't a time to focus on the future. And I want to acknowledge that there are important issues to work on in the present. There always will be.
FRANCES HAUGEN, FACEBOOK WHISTLEBLOWER: During my time at Facebook --
NEWTON: In recent months, former Facebook employees have provided evidence that Facebook was aware of its role in disseminating the misinformation that breeds and spreads on its social media platforms.
In a statement, Zuckerberg said the documents released were cherry- picked to present a misleading narrative about the company.
HAUGEN: There's a pattern of -- NEWTON: Frances Haugen says she fears the same problems will occur in Facebook's new Metaverse.
HAUGEN: I was shocked to hear, recently, that Facebook is -- wants to double down on the Metaverse. And that they're going to hire 10,000 engineers in Europe to work on the Metaverse. I think there is a view inside the company that safety is a cost, a cost center. It's not a growth center, which I think is very short-term thinking.
NEWTON: What is not short-term, the insidious effects of Facebook social media platforms, worldwide. Regulators have so far failed to create and enforce laws that prevent the worst abuses online, those powered by algorithms and A.I., that can efficiently disperse misinformation and hate.
To that, Zuckerberg has added a new challenge, the potentially even more invasive Metaverse.
Paula Newton, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: To San Francisco now and Josh Constantine, the principal investor and head of content for Venture Capital Fund, Signifier. Josh, welcome back. Good to see you.
JOSH CONSTANTINE, PRINCIPAL INVESTOR, HEAD OF CONTENT, SIGNIFIER: Thank you so much for having me.
VAUSE: OK, so Google did something similar, back in 2015. The search engine was still Google, but they announced the umbrella company would be called Alphabet. So with that in mind, here's a little more from Mark Zuckerberg.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ZUCKERBERG: Our mission remains the same. Still about bringing people together. Our apps and their brands, they're not changing either. And we are still the company that designs technology around people. Now we have a new north star.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: OK. A new north star is probably a good idea, because the old north star, kind of the jig's up about maximizing profit, spreading hate, racism, disinformation, keeping users engaged for longer online.
But in the real world, well, you know, Metaverse? Has anything really actually changed in substance in the way this company does business?
CONSTANTINE: Facebook, by any other name will still try to collect all of your data. Nothing here is really changing. When Alphabet made its name changes, it was trying to hide massive cost centers of its moon shot division.
But with Facebook, it's trying to disconnect itself from its toxic brand. It knows that If it wants to have a chance at appealing to Gen Z and the users of tomorrow, it can't be tied to its parent social network name. It has to be something new and fresh.
And by using the name Meta, it makes us think about the company every time we think of the Metaverse.
VAUSE: Well, Zuckerberg doesn't really know exactly what the Metaverse will be, but here's how he sees this virtual space kind of working. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ZUCKERBERG: All right, perfect.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, Mark.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, what's going on?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's up, Mark.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're floating in space? Who made this place? It's awesome!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right, it's from the creator I met in L.A.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This place is amazing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: We know this is a fantasy world of Mark Zuckerberg's creation, from within his own mind, because he's hanging out with friends. Well, in space.
If this thing actually happens, in some way will it just end up being kind of like a Zoom conference call, but with better graphics?
CONSTANTINE: No. What the Metaverse is going to be is an embodied Internet. Imagine an Internet of apps and websites that you can actually walk inside of in 3D. Much more similar to the virtual games and worlds that we use today on console platforms like the PlayStation, or Xbox.
But instead, you're going to be able to buy goods, create a virtual identity, and take it with you from site to site. The same way that you might bring your credit card data from one app to another today on the Internet.
[00:35:12]
And Facebook was smart to use this very basic name that's so connected to the Metaverse. Facebook is very shrewd with how it colonizes name space, using names like pages, groups, marketplace, and messenger, to take over those concepts.
And now, it wants to do the same with Metaverse, knowing that this is going to be an explosive new area of business that will create a bloom of new companies, similar to the way so that we saw a huge new wave of apps arrive, when the mobile Internet became mainstream.
VAUSE: OK. Well, some people have been very scathing about this re- branding. Here's part of a piece by Allison Morris, senior editor at CNN Business.
"Let's not let this Black Mirror-esque gobbledygook distract us from the very real hell Facebook has wrought in our non-augmented reality. No amount of corporate re-branding should let Zuck or anyone else off the hook for the real, tangible harms their product has manifested and continues to propagate without consequence."
But will it distract? If nothing else, you know, is Metaverse Zuckerberg's get-out-of-jail-free card?
CONSTANTINE: I think Instagram was Zuckerberg's free card. You know, Facebook already owns WhatsApp, Oculus, Messenger. And most people don't know this. You know, it's actually only 38 percent of people that understand that Facebook owns Instagram. Only 29 percent of people know Facebook owns WhatsApp.
So, it's already doing a good job of distracting by acquiring companies and building those as its brand.
But with this new wave of product development in the Metaverse, activists and regulators have to keep their eye on both the present and making sure Facebook doesn't get away with any of the transgressions it's already committed. But they also need to be here to help shape the future of this virtual world, because otherwise, we could end up being indebted to Facebook permanently, or having it tax our every move or collect data on everything we do inside of these virtual worlds.
VAUSE: What we've seen from Facebook over the years, when it's acquired an Instagram of WhatsApp, it hasn't developed those apps, but rather bought them as, you know, ways of growth.
What can it buy to get the Metaverse? Because it's not out there yet. It has to develop the Metaverse, right?
CONSTANTINE: Facebook has actually tried to buy several other companies in the space, including Unity, which is a game development engine, which will help companies build products for the Metaverse. Facebook wants to own the scaffolding, the underlying infrastructure of the Metaverse, because it got screwed over by the fact that Apple and Google owned the mobile architecture, because it had to have its apps on IOS and Android.
It had to pay those taxes out to those companies on every purchase, everything, all the money spent through Facebook, and it wants to have a new chance of getting to control its own destiny. But that doesn't mean it's going to be any safer for us, as users.
And so we need to be careful about what data we give away and making sure that we always keep protection of what matters most to us, not only our data, but our social relationships and our time. Because our attention is really what matters. It's all an attention economy. So sure to preserve yours, and use it where you really believe it's important.
VAUSE: Time is valuable. Use it wisely. Josh, thank you. Good to see you.
And with that, we'll take a short break. You're watching CNN. We'll be back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[00:40:37]
VAUSE: Well, it seems being a journalist these days in Russia is one of the more dangerous jobs in the world. Being one of the free press can often cost you your life.
And CNN's Sam Kiley spoke with the newest Nobel Peace Prize winner, who's worried about what's left of the free press in Russia.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SAM KILEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is an act of defiance. "Novia Gazzetta" (ph) is printed three times a week, but all day, every day, its staff fear that Russia's government will stop its presses.
The newspaper's editor, Dmitry Muratov won this year's Nobel Peace Prize. The fight for free speech has already cost six of the paper's writers their lives.
The Kremlin denies any attacks on journalists. Many other Russians have died mysteriously in the years since the killing of one of the nation's most celebrated correspondents.
(on camera): It's been 15 years since Anna Politkovskaya, who was a scourge of the Putin administration, was murdered. Now, it seems the threat against journalists is mutating.
(voice-over): An old-school summons to the paper's daily planning meeting, held under the threat of new legislation that has designated more than 80 publications and individuals as so-called foreign agents, who must declare their foreign funding.
DMITRY MURATOV, NOBEL PEACE PRIZE WINNER (through translator): While in the 1990s, and early 2000s, journalists were killed by hired assassins.
Now is a policy of soft strangling that is happening, with the help of the Foreign Agents Law. When a media outlet is declared undesirable, it has to declare itself a public enemy, which means it effectively stops operating. Many journalists now have to leave Russia.
KILEY: He even raised the issue with Russia's president.
MURATOV: For many, this status undoubtedly means they are an enemy of the motherland. VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): This law does
not ban anyone from having one's own opinion on an issue. It is about receiving financial aid from abroad.
KILEY: Designated a foreign agent, TV Rain, a holdout independent channel, has to put this red warning sign up ahead of every segment and every tweet.
TIKHON DZYADKO, EDITOR IN CHIEF, TV RAIN: We've been called traitors. We are being called someone's agents. We are agents of our viewers.
KILEY: Police raids like this, in the home of the editor of the news site, "The Insider," have become routine. And now the publication has been labeled a foreign agent.
He's now in exile. And he fears being abducted or worse.
ROMAN DOBROKHOTOV, EDITOR RIN CHIEF, "THE INSIDER": Everybody understands, this is the toughest of times for us in journalism since the Soviet Union, even since, actually, Stalin's era.
Sam Kiley, CNN, Moscow.
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VAUSE: Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause. Please stay with us. WORLD SPORT is up after a very short break. We'll see you again, hopefully, at the top of the hour.
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