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First Move with Julia Chatterley
President Xi Says China won't be Bullied by Foreign Powers; Gap, The U.S. Retailer Closes U.K. Stores and Plans Similar in Europe; Calls for OPEC to Increase Output as Oil Prices Climb. Aired 9-10a ET
Aired July 01, 2021 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN BUSINESS ANCHOR, FIRST MOVE: Live from New York. I'm Julia Chatterley. This is FIRST MOVE and here is your need-to-know.
Centenary stir. President Xi says China won't be bullied by foreign powers.
GAP gone. The U.S. retailer closes U.K. stores and plans similar in Europe.
And pump plea. Calls for OPEC to increase output as oil prices climb.
It's Thursday. Let's make a move.
Welcome once again to FIRST MOVE, and another jam-packed show coming up, including breaking news here in New York, where prosecutors are expected to
unveil tax evasion indictments against the Trump Organization just hours from now. Ahead of that, already the firm's CFO, Allen Weisselberg, who has
worked for Trump for five decades turned himself into authorities. We've got the latest on all of that coming up on the show.
It's also an important day, too, for global stocks on the first day of Q3 trading and investors look ahead to tomorrow's us jobs data. The S&P set
for new records after a positive handover from Europe as you can see. A bit of a different story though in Asia, softer across the board. We also had
Chinese manufacturing growth slowing to a four-month low, not ideal numbers as Chinese officials kick off celebrations of the Communist Party's
centennial year. We'll take you live to Beijing in just a moment.
China, not the only Asian export giant suffering a manufacturing stumble; Malaysia, Vietnam and India saw factory activity contract in June as rising
COVID-19 cases and reopening pressures disrupt supply chains. Those challenges continue to be felt in the global auto industry, too. Ford
announcing production cuts at almost 10 U.S. factories this month due to ongoing chip shortages.
We will be discussing those challenges and more with the Chief Operating Officer at Nissan later on in the show, as they announced a $1.3 billion
green investment in the U.K.
It's a busy day. Let's get to the drivers.
Pageantry and patriotism. The Chinese Communist Party celebrating its 100th Anniversary and with the military on show, President Xi warned the world
against foreign interference.
David Culver joins us now from Shanghai, where the party was founded in July 1921. Wow, David, either you can fly really fast. I've got you in
Beijing one minute, I've got you're in Shanghai the next, but I do believe you are in Shanghai, so, we'll get that straight.
We've got to remember the audience here, I think from the tone set by Xi Jinping. Here, great to have you with us. But my favorite line of this was,
"Anyone choosing to bully the nation will find themselves on a collision course with a great wall of steel." Talk us through what else was said,
David. It was punchy lines.
DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Some strong lines, Julia. He spoke for about an hour, and you're right to point out, I was in Beijing 24 hours ago
and while we were there, we noticed a lot of the security preparations already underway.
They have been underway for weeks. They were not going to risk anything going to skew for this major celebration, a celebration really that will
continue for the next 12 months. And as you point out, we are here in Shanghai because this is where the party originated, a hundred years ago, a
few dozen members.
Now, it's a party with some 95 million members and one that rules what is the world's second largest economy with a fast modernizing military. One
that no question unnerves the U.S. and many other Western democracies that are paying close attention to how China is moving forward.
And as you point out, strong words from President Xi Jinping, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China and he clearly directed that
towards two particular audiences, I would say. One, the domestic audience, one that has seen a rise in nationalism in recent years, and the other, the
rest of the world, particularly the U.S. showing that they will not be contained.
Take a listen to some more of what President Xi Jinping had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
XI JINPING, PRESIDENT OF CHINA (through translator): At the same time, the Chinese people will never allow ourselves to be bullied, oppressed, or
enslaved by any foreign powers. Anyone who dares to try will find their heads bashed bloody against a Great Wall of steel forged by over 1.4
billion Chinese people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CULVER: "Heads bashed by a Great Wall of steel," very, very strong words. We should put in a bit of context here, the English translation comes out a
bit stronger than how it is generally used in Chinese, it is a bit softer rhetoric, if you will. No doubt though, it is a serious message that is
aimed towards the U.S., of all countries.
And yet, in all the celebrations and all the mentions, it is a hundred years that are seen as mostly positive as portrayed by those who are
celebrating today, Julia, but things are omitted, important things, including the 1989 crackdown on student protests, a bloody one at Tiananmen
Square, the Cultural Revolution, a lot of the negatives that we see over and over left out of the official narrative and left out of today's
celebration that will continue for the next 12 months as I mentioned.
[09:05:30]
CHATTERLEY: Yes, to your point, exactly, not unexpected, though, I guess, given the tone set of this meeting, and amid the celebrations here, too,
and also bearing in mind your very, very important point about the translations, and what that can mean in terms of the aggressiveness,
perhaps of the tone that we hear versus what they actually say.
I also pulled out this line as well, "A century ago, China was declining and withering away in the eyes of the world. Today, the image it presents
to the world is one of a thriving nation that's advancing with unstoppable momentum towards rejuvenation," quote. He also talked about the need to
build up science and technology.
And David, you and I have discussed this many times, China missed the rise during the Industrial Revolution, they are not going to miss the power of
the Technological Revolution, that plays very much with the ongoing tensions that we see between the two nations, as you pointed out, U.S. and
China in particular.
CULVER: We've seen billions of dollars put into that, Julia, and that was echoed even just a few months ago at the National People's Congress.
President Xi Jinping, once again, making mention of all the money they are putting into research and development, and moving forward on the
technological front, something that they likewise are concerned with how the U.S. is going to compete with them, because we know the U.S. Senate
passed that Innovation and Competition Act, one that was clearly aimed at going against China, or at least trying to stay ahead.
China, likewise, putting money where they believe the future is, and this Technological Revolution is something that President Xi Jinping has made
mention of several times because it's not only about economic success that they're looking forward to. And when you when you look at economic success,
it's also social stability that's tied to that, and that's what the Communist Party here is determined to maintain -- Julia
CHATTERLEY: A hundred percent. David, great to have you with us for context there, as always. David Culver, thank you.
Most strong language from President Xi, too, he says China wants to, quote, "Crush Taiwan's independence," and that reunification is the historic
mission of the Communist Party.
Will Ripley joins us now from Taipei. Will, no surprise, I think that that got an immediate response from Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council. It
basically said, look, you have achieved economic growth, but it's come at the cost of democracy, of human rights, and you've grown more dictatorial
in the process.
WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And the Mainland Affairs Council also said, Julia, they flat out reject China's territorial and
political claims on this self-governing island of 23 million people.
The Chinese Civil War ended back in 1949. Ever since then, Beijing has essentially called Taiwan a rogue province that could be reclaimed at any
time. And in recent months, we've seen that kind of military intimidation really escalate, including just last month when there was the largest ever
recorded incursion into to Taiwan's air defense identification zone.
You had 28 Chinese warplanes, two kinds of fighter jets, nuclear capable bombers, and you know, the self-identified ADIZ of Taiwan, this is an
island that has a much smaller population, their defense budget is about one-fifteenth of Beijing's, and yet they continue to fire back in this
propaganda back and forth.
The Taiwanese President, Tsai Ing-wen, she was at a military award ceremony this afternoon, and she didn't say anything particularly new. But she said
that it's very important for Taiwan to continue to double down on defense.
I spoke with Taiwan's Foreign Minister, Joseph Wu, who also echoed that sentiment saying that Taiwan is looking more into asymmetrical warfare
capabilities, because they want Beijing to know that if there was some sort of a military confrontation, even if Beijing was all but guaranteed a win,
if it came down to it militarily, Taipei says that there would be grave consequences and they're turning to the West, and particularly the United
States for support.
And they believe that the world is, the Western world at least, is in support of Taiwan even though most countries do not officially
automatically recognize this country.
Now, there is also a huge economic angle to this. One reason why Taiwan is particularly important to Beijing is something that you and David were just
touching on earlier. It's the semiconductor leader of the world. TSMC is light-years ahead of Chinese tech companies manufacturing the little chips
that power all of our devices, our automobiles, our computers. And so of course, Beijing would love to be able to get its hands on that kind of
technology.
Taiwan knows that, but they also know that that gives them leverage with the U.S. and other countries as they continue to seek global support to
protect what they've had here, you know, it's a self-governing island for the last 70-plus years and it evolved into the world's only Chinese
speaking democracy, and especially given the changes that we've seen happening in Hong Kong, the leaders here in Taipei believe that now, it is
more important than ever to protect their system here.
[09:10:20]
CHATTERLEY: Yes, you mentioned so many great points there, Will, and as David was saying, too, billions of dollars, $100 billion investment over
three years from Taiwan's semiconductor. So, they recognize the importance of this.
And, again, to your point, I think, considered the most important potential flashpoint, this island between the United States and China, too, going
forward. Will Ripley, great context. Thank you so much for joining us on the show.
All right, U.S. retailer gap is leaving Europe. The company is closing stores in the U.K. and Ireland where it will be online only from September.
Its French and Italian operations have also been put up for sale.
Paul La Monica joins me now. Leaving Europe is not the right word to be using, but changing the makeup and leaving the physical footprint is the
key here. And you know, I just wonder, it just follows them reducing that footprint in the United States that they announced back in October of this
year, whether it's a sort of shifting of the ways of how consumers behave, and that push towards online or just the challenges of being Gap and
changing tastes and fierce competition for what they produce also playing into this.
PAUL LA MONICA, CNN BUSINESS REPORTER: Yes, I think it's a combination of both, Julia. The CEO, Sonia Syngal, who had been the head of Gap's Old Navy
unit, she got promoted to be CEO of the entire company last year, and I think she has made a lot of quick, aggressive moves to try and recognize
the fact that Gap is in a rapidly changing retail world, even if you didn't have the pandemic, completely disrupting the brick and mortar model.
Obviously, a lot more apparel is going online. You'll also have a lot of competition from fast casual chains like Zara and H&M, not just in the U.S.
but of course in Europe as well. So, I think Gap is making a recognition that it is increasingly challenging right now in many of its markets, and
that's why it is looking to cut back in France and Italy and go online only in the U.K. and Ireland.
CHATTERLEY: Do you have any sense of what it means in terms of jobs, Paul?
LA MONICA: We do not just yet. All the company said in its statement is that they are going to work very closely with employees about transition
services in what is clearly a bit of a challenging time right now.
So, I think you can read into it that there probably will be job losses as stores are closed, because you're not going to need all of those employees
at physical retailers now that they're going online only and there's not really many places elsewhere in the company to probably put them, so I
think sadly, there will be some layoffs at Gap in the U.K. and Ireland, we just don't know what level just yet.
CHATTERLEY: Yes. Paul La Monica, thank you so much for that.
Okay, let me bring you up to speed now with some of the other stories making headlines around the world.
The Trump organization's Chief Financial Officer, Allen Weisselberg surrendered to the Manhattan District Attorney's Office this morning. On
Wednesday, a grand jury filed indictments against Weisselberg and the company related to alleged tax crimes. Sources say those indictments could
be unsealed this afternoon.
CNN reporter, Kara Scannell joins us now from New York. Kara, fantastic to have you with us on this. Just talk us through the details of what those
indictments will likely look like, and I guess everyone will be watching this and wondering what the prospect is of this CFO being used as some kind
of weapon against Donald Trump potentially, too, in this broader investigation.
KARA SCANNELL, CNN REPORTER: Well, good morning, Julia. We don't know yet what is going to be in these indictments, but they stem from an
investigation that is focused, has really narrowed in recent weeks on to compensation and benefits that the Trump Organization provided to some of
its employees and whether both the company and the executives paid taxes on those benefits.
And some of those benefits include rent-free apartments, free company cars, including school tuition for at least one of Weisselberg's grandchildren
and bonuses. So, we're expecting the charges relate to that. We don't know all of the details yet. And as you noted, those indictments will be
unsealed later this afternoon.
We do expect Allen Weisselberg who has already surrendered to the Manhattan District Attorney's Office to be processed, to appear in court here just
behind me a little later today. Now, his lawyer says that he will enter a plea of not guilty and will fight those charges.
The Trump Organization, which will also be arraigned, they'll have a lawyer in court representing them, he will enter a plea of not guilty. And you
know, they're calling this a political case. They're saying -- they actually said that this is a scorched Earth attempt to harm the former
President, saying that this is not justice. This is politics.
[09:15:05]
SCANNELL: So, we're expecting them to really have a full throttle defense to whatever these charges are, and whether this leads anywhere closer to
the former President, it remains to be seen. I mean, it is remarkable that the former President's company is being indicted today. That is an unusual
event in and of itself.
These charges will let us know just exactly how sweeping this alleged fraud may be, and how much money is involved. And that goes to the heart of this
issue of what potential jail time Allen Weisselberg could face. Now, he is someone that prosecutors have wanted to cooperate for months, he has not
cooperated and we'll see exactly how much pressure is on him based on what these charges are, and if down the road that position changes -- Julia.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, all eyes on that this afternoon. We shall see. Thank you very much for that update there.
The U.S. President is on his way to Surfside, Florida to visit the site of last week's tower collapse. Joe Biden and the First Lady is scheduled to
meet with families of the victims and to thank first responders for their ongoing work.
At least 18 people have died in the tragedy, 145 remain missing.
A judge has denied a request to remove Britney Spears's father from her conservatorship. The ruling was in response to a motion filed back in
November and was not a result of the singer's emotional testimony last week.
Spears had slammed the legal order, which allows her father to control her life as quote, "abusive." Another hearing is scheduled in two weeks' time.
Still to come on FIRST MOVE. Nissan bets big on Britain with a billion dollar plus investment. I speak to the company's COO.
And Amazon says it is a target now. The e-commerce giant wants the new F.T.C. Chief recused from being anti-Amazon.
That's all coming up. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to FIRST MOVE, live from New York, where we have some green on the screen on the first trading day of the third quarter. The
S&P trying to build on record highs hit yesterday. Investors feeling pretty light on their feet even as calorie King, Krispy Kreme makes its NASDAQ IPO
debut today.
The doughnut firm pricing it shares well below their expected range, not exactly a slam dunk as the company heads to the public markets for the
second time.
[09:20:01]
CHATTERLEY: And a Didier DiDi than expected, too. The Chinese ride sharing giant closing its first day of trade just one percent higher than its IPO
price of $14.00 a share. It traded as high as $18.00 in fact, however, shares are up some nine percent premarket today.
So, getting a bit more speed on premarket in this session, this Thursday.
Oil in the meantime beginning Q3 with strong gains, too. Crude hitting levels not seen since late 2018 with Brent rising 17 percent last quarter,
and the oil price spike comes as we await a decision from OPEC Plus, and Matt Egan is on the story for us.
Matt, expectations building here that perhaps they could raise output in August. But you know, I look at some of the gains that we're seeing in the
oil price today, and I wonder just how confident the market is because you would expect that to soften a bit if there was an announcement surely of
some output supply increase?
MATT EGAN, CNN BUSINESS SENIOR WRITER: Yes, that's a great point, Julia. Do you remember just a few years ago, when people were arguing that OPEC
was starting to become irrelevant? That notion is kind of funny right now, because here we are, and oil prices in the United States have gone from
negative $40.00 a barrel last April to above $75.00 for the first time in nearly three years.
Gasoline prices are at levels we haven't seen in seven years, and that's why this OPEC meeting is such a big deal, because analysts are saying if
OPEC doesn't pump more oil, a lot more oil, then prices are going to go even higher. And that's because we've gone from this situation where there
was a glut of oil during the height of the pandemic, people weren't flying, they weren't driving, factories were getting shut down. The world was
swimming in too much oil to now there's actually not enough.
And so Goldman Sachs had said it in a report earlier this week that they think that OPEC Plus is going to agree to pump about 500,000 barrels more
barrels per day, and they said that's because listen, Iran is still in the sanctions penalty box. The United States, the shale producers, they're
probably not going to be pumping drastically more, and so that leaves it up to OPEC Plus.
So, there's a lot of anticipation here about what they're going to say. I know that some skeptics will probably be thinking, well, listen, doesn't
OPEC want higher prices? And I think that's true to a degree because it does actually help their government revenues. But they also don't want to
hurt their number one customer, and those are drivers in the United States.
At a certain point, we're not there yet, but at a certain point, people would stop driving or at least drive less. Some people would even trade in
those gas guzzling cars for electric vehicles. And OPEC does not want to kill the golden goose -- Julia.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, I mean, you raise some great points as well on what's uncertain at this stage, too. I mean, still COVID is uncertain. If we see a
rise in cases, if that sort of puts a bit of a suppressive effect on demand, that could provide some easing of the oil prices here.
You mentioned Iran still being in the penalty box, well, we could get a breakthrough on that 2015 nuclear deal, and then perhaps that allows Iran
to pump more, and again, that could put downward pressure on prices. So, I get the sort of uncertainty here on what to do.
Where does Russia stand? Because if you don't have the Russians and the Saudis on board, you're not getting anything here.
EGAN: That's right, Julia. Russia has been pretty vocal about wanting to pump more. They are worried about prices getting too high because -- not
necessarily because they're worried about U.S. consumers, but because they're actually worried about U.S. shale producers. They don't want to
lose market share that they regained during the pandemic, because if prices go up to, I don't know, $100.00 a barrel, you're going to see the frackers
in Texas really start to pick up their production and we could have another situation where U.S. supply comes on board and that takes away market share
from OPEC Plus, and Russia doesn't want to see that.
But you raise some good points about the uncertainties here. I think the two biggest wildcards are when does Iran start pumping more? And what
happens with the COVID caseloads? Because obviously, if there's any slowdown in demand, that means that OPEC doesn't want to pump anymore.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, I mean, this is what I love about the oil market story in general, like the different players, the personalities involved here and
the sheer uncertainties. I wouldn't like to be around that table trying to make a decision.
Anyway, we shall see. Matt Egan, great to have you with us. Thank you for that.
All right, July is going to be a busy month at Amazon. CEO Jeff Bezos steps down and blasts off into space just as the tech giant attempts to bump new
F.T.C. head, Lina Khan off its case.
Clare Sebastian joins me now. I always like a bit of rhyming in here, Clare. The Wrath of Khan. For those "Star Trek geeks" out there. That's
what Amazon is fearing here and I kind of get their point. She's done a lot a lot of investigative work on Amazon and their view is, look, she is
biased already. She's got a view and she thinks we've got monopolistic powers. We don't think we'll get a fair case, a fair trial here. Got a
point?
[09:25:11]
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, like, it is easy to sort of look at this and say Amazon is pushing for a more favorable referee
in their match against U.S. antitrust law, but there is an argument to be made and it should be something that the F.T.C. does sort of take
seriously.
Lina Khan is famous for this essay that she wrote when she was 27 years old -- she is now 32 -- called "The Amazon Antitrust Paradox," where she argues
that current antitrust law is not sufficient to meet the demands of the modern day economy.
She says that because Amazon was willing to forego profits for so long and cut prices for consumers in order to achieve scale that sort of doesn't
come under the usual consumer welfare argument of antitrust and does reduce competition in the marketplace.
And she also argues, because of the many tentacles of a business like Amazon, that's another reason to look at market structure rather than
consumer welfare because things like AWS and their logistics business give them an edge in the usually low margin retail area. So, those were her
arguments.
Amazon is also saying that it's not just what she says, but in what function she has said it. She worked for the Open Markets Institute, which
is an advocacy group that sort of argues against and tries to push against monopolies in society, and she was a key member of a congressional panel
that did an investigation into Big Tech, which has informed the current bills that are moving through Congress at the moment.
So, those are their arguments. The next steps, though, is that Lina Khan, herself will have to decide whether to recuse. If she doesn't, then it goes
to the other four members, the other four commissioners on the F.T.C. to decide, and if she doesn't recuse, the risk is that if the F.T.C. does make
decisions in these cases, a court could then scrutinize them and decide to throw them out if it is determined that she should have recused, so that is
the risk. There is precedent for that -- Julia.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, and this makes a really important point, I think about the challenges here of her to your point, staying on and then risking
anything that does take place being undone later on.
And obviously very timely ahead of Amazon's acquisition, the review that the F.T.C. is going to do with the MGM acquisition as well.
Watch this space. Clare Sebastian, thank you.
The market open is next. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:30:29]
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to FIRST MOVE. The opening bell sounding on the first trading day of Q3 on Wall Street. Lots of smiles and handshakes over
there.
Half of the year gone already and what an eventful six months it's been -- wait for it -- vaccines sparking global reopening hope, uncertainty over
variant scope, Central Banks helping economies cope, and spurring market's upward slope. There we go.
Positive stock news looks set to continue on the S&P 500 and it is rising to new records in early trade. New numbers showing U.S. jobless claims at
fresh pandemic lows, also helping the mood, too, and all this before the all-important U.S. jobs numbers out tomorrow.
For the first half of 2021, the S&P 500 and the German DAX were up double digits, as you can see, but less against the Nikkei and the Shanghai
Composite. Remember, Chinese stocks were outperformers last year, and the South Korean KOSPI, a big Asian winner in the first half, up almost 15
percent there, too. So, some relative comparisons for you.
What about some alternative investing while we're at it? Well, let's just take a moment to appreciate two very different works of art. On the left, a
mobile by Alexander Calder, which sold nearly -- for nearly $6 million at a live streamed auction at Christie's last night. And on the right, an NFT, a
non-fungible token of CNN founder Ted Turner launching this network selling at $25.00 each.
Everywhere you look, a digital revolution in the art market is upon us. And according to my next guest, online sales doubled in value last year to make
up a quarter of the total market and that democratizes the process away from auction houses and traditional forms of selling art.
The online marketplace Artsy is reporting the shift firsthand. It says 58 percent of collectors used online marketplaces last year, and among 18 to
44 year olds, that number hit 90 percent.
Mike Steib is CEO of Artsy, and he joins us now.
Mike, fantastic to have you on the show. Wow, there was a lot of information there. Just take a step back and talk to us about the shift
that we've seen to what a quarter of the art market now taking place online.
MIKE STEIB, CEO, ARTSY: Thank you, Julia. As your viewers may know, Artsy is the world's largest marketplace for fine art. We've worked over the last
decade with thousands of galleries, auction houses, and millions of collectors from a hundred countries to better serve the art world online
and to better understand collectors and their needs.
Our new online art market report helps to bring more of that to light for the industry, and what we're finding is fascinating. People who collect art
bought more art than they ever did -- the majority bought more art than ever before in the last year.
They expect and demand transparency and easy access, and most surprisingly, I think to a lot of the industry, the majority of collectors and the vast
majority of next generation collectors expect to do it from a mobile device.
The art world used to be one where people felt you had to see the work in person, and you had to ask someone to know the price. And what we're seeing
today is that the expectation is transparency, low friction, easy access, and a joyful online experience.
CHATTERLEY: Wow, I think you hit me with a lot there. So, we're going to break it down. We're going to break it down. Like as fascinating as it is,
I mean, you just described what you guys are doing and that's part of what has helped you build this report because you're seeing a lot of these art
flows.
And just to give us a sense of the kind of buyers that are coming to your platform to buy this art, but also kind of the price that this art is
selling for, these are not small pieces of art. I mean, you know, I mentioned there the Alexander Calder work you just sold -- you just sold
one yourself for $110,000.00.
You also sold a very important piece of artwork, and we can show it here, "Dissident Score." That sold $6.5 million. So, these aren't small pieces of
art that you're selling and seeing bought on your platform.
STEIB: That's right. We see transactions from hundreds of dollars to millions of dollars at the click of a button from a mobile device, Julia.
It's one of the things that those of us who've seen the internet evolve and serve different industries, we continue to be pleasantly surprised by the
level of comfort people have transacting online.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, I mean two-thirds, you said of people are buying on their cell phones. To what extent is that just -- oh, and there we go, that's the
art piece that I was talking about.
[09:35:01]
CHATTERLEY: To what extent is this driven by inability to access rooms like auctions at Christie's and Sotheby's? And to what extent is this, as
you were describing earlier, just this simple shift away from people getting more comfortable with not seeing art before they buy it, with doing
these things online, with researching artists online, too?
Is it sustainable the kind of growth that you've seen on your platform over the last year? I guess, that's my question.
STEIB: It is. We've seen three factors influencing the industry. The first is consumers are transacting online for everything from homes, to cars, to
jewelry, and they've come to expect an online option when they're purchasing.
Secondly, we're seeing that the art industry had to meet the collector where they were especially during COVID, when they couldn't insist on an
offline transaction. But finally, the collectors are a next generation of collectors, a next generation of collectors, who around the world are
inheriting $15 trillion over the next 10 years, and who were raised in a world where you expect ease of use, transparency, and low friction.
I think all of those factors come together to help to transform and make more open and transparent the art world.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, there's two other themes, I think, that are interesting to me. Among the 20 artists that had the biggest increase in demand on your
platform, 15 of those artists were people of color. You also said that 45 percent of collectors surveyed say they have a preference for collecting
work by established artists, too, and I can throw some names out there, but the people will recognize them.
Andy Warhol, Kusama is a great example, sort of street artist cause, Banksy, Keith Haring, too, so you are seeing this draw to names that people
recognize, but also a draw to people of color, which fits with the times, I think, too.
STEIB: That's right. The emergence of the activist collector over the last few years, I think one of the really positive factors in the art world, and
it's why we're seeing the highest growth among what have historically been underrepresented and underappreciated artists.
There is a real sea change happening in the industry right now, and we're proud to be a part of that.
CHATTERLEY: Oh, speaking of activist investors then, what does your audience and the collectors that come on your platform think of NFTs, non-
fungible tokens, because we've had these discussions on the show. Christie's is getting involved. Sotheby's is getting involved. What do your
collectors make of it?
STEIB: Ninety one percent of those who we surveyed said that they did not have an intention of pursuing NFTs ...
CHATTERLEY: Wow.
STEIB: ... collecting it in the next year. It tends to still be a pretty niche space, but an interesting one. Artists can now create their artwork
in digital and have the ownership of that artwork recorded on the blockchain so that it can be truly owned and collected by someone and it's
a space where we're watching closely and with interest.
CHATTERLEY: What do you think it means for the big auction houses? The kind of growth that you're seeing in this confit? Do you think it just
means that they have to get digitized really fast and be able to really ramp up their online offering? Or do you see what you're doing is a
significant disruptor to the traditional forms of selling art of all prices?
STEIB: I think what's happening in the art world right now, and part of the work that arts is doing is great news for the art world, and the
reason, Julia is, the art world is a surprisingly shockingly small market as compared to other comparable categories. People spend a trillion dollars
a year on jewelry and watches, and only five percent of that on art, and yet art is this great thing you can do for the world.
You can be a patron of the arts, you can beautify your home, you can help advance our culture. Everyone loves art, but the art world hasn't felt as
accessible as so many other ways people could spend or invest their money.
And as we bring pieces online, as we make it easier to understand an artist and her work and her journey, and the market for her artwork, and we give
you a button you can click to buy it with ease and confidence that brings more and more people into the art world, which only helps to expand this
art market and better serve galleries, auction houses, and all the people in the world who should have art in their homes.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, I mean, that was one of the big challenges that are here today, the opacity, the big players, the sort of whales of the art market,
the dealers that have so much power in this market. So, I think the idea of activist investors of democratizing the access to art and also that plays
into even just being able to research, I think, new artists, too, actually should be very, very beneficial for all, whether it's the creators of that
content, but also those that want to buy into this and not everybody is doing it for investment purposes, but for those that do, this should be a
good thing.
STEIB: That's right. We're able to take because we have so much data on what artists are growing and what markets are evolving and what's
transacting and who is looking for what.
[09:40:07]
STEIB: We can democratize and have democratized the data, make it available to anyone who is interested in buying right through our app. And
I think that gives confidence to a buyer that they're making a good decision, and it helps them to not only make this purchase, but future
purchases.
CHATTERLEY: You know, Mike, I did some artwork of my own when I was illustrating to our viewers what a non-fungible token was and then I do
have a picture of it. I was getting get your potential valuation online, but I don't think you can see me, so we'll save that for our next
conversation.
Look, there it is for my audience, once again, it's doing a run. I'm hoping that there is an alternative career out there for me, but Mike, I will get
your views on this later.
Great to chat with you about this budding alternative asset market.
STEIB: Thank you.
CHATTERLEY: Thank you, the CEO of Artsy there. Great to chat with you.
You're watching FIRST MOVE. More to come.
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CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to FIRST MOVE into a billion dollar plus boost for British industry. Japanese car maker, Nissan unveiling plans for an
electric vehicle hub at its Sunderland plant.
The company is partnering with sustainable energy company and vision to develop an all-new electric car, they also plan to produce 100,000 car
batteries a year. The project could create 6,000 British jobs Nissan says.
And joining us now is Ashwani Gupta, he is Chief Operating Officer of Nissan. Sir, fantastic to have you on the show. I know you've been
manufacturing at that Sunderland plant for what -- 35 years -- but talk to us specifically about the decision to invest in the U.K. at this moment.
ASHWANI GUPTA, CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, NISSAN MOTOR: Thank you for giving me this opportunity today. I'm here in Sunderland plant.
And today we unveiled Nissan EV 360 with an investment of 1 billion pounds and this is the demonstration of working towards the goal of carbon
neutrality.
Why we selected Sunderland is because, number one, this is one of our best competitive plant in the world. Number two, this does not only cater to
Europe, but outside Europe. Number three, we have got the battery manufacturing plant also adjacent to the manufacturing plant, and most
important, number four, is because of the most competitive workforce we have in Sunderland.
[09:45:01]
GUPTA: So, all these four reasons helped us in deciding our investment of 1 billion pounds, which is not only product, but also battery, and most
important, the micro grid.
CHATTERLEY: Sounds fantastic. Can I ask you what government incentives you were provided in order to do this, too? And would this have been possible
without the E.U.-U.K. trade agreement that was signed post Brexit?
GUPTA: I would say that the government participation is important. Without their participation, it would not have been possible. But what I can say
is, this is not about the financial support. This is more about the commitment of the government to work towards a common goal, which is the
carbon neutrality, and what has changed and what is changing is to address the society and not only a single customer, and that's where we are working
as Sunderland City Council, the battery and the U Government towards the carbon neutrality.
CHATTERLEY: And I just want to move on and ask you as well, because as we talk about longer term goals in terms of carbon neutrality and
electrification, in the shorter term, supply chain challenges are key, whether it's higher input prices or the shortage of semiconductors. Can I
ask you what you're doing at Nissan in terms of production, even just for this month? Are you having to reduce production? And if so, to what extent?
GUPTA: Yes, so semiconductor crisis is not over. Obviously, this occurred based on the predictable scenarios and unpredictable scenarios. However, we
have adjusted our production to align with the crisis. And you can see that in Sunderland plant, we have launched Qashqai, and we are ramping up our
production.
We think that very soon, we will be out of the woods of the semiconductor crisis, and we can get back to the normal production soon.
CHATTERLEY: How soon?
GUPTA: Yes, that's a great question. I would say in the coming two to three months. In the incoming two to three months, we would be back to our
normal production. That's what I can tell.
CHATTERLEY: I mean, your earlier forecast was that it would cost around 500,000 cars in terms of production this year. So, you sound quite
optimistic. Do we think actually, it will cost less than that 500,000 in production this this year?
GUPTA: Yes, absolutely. So, you know, when we started the year, we said that in the first half, we will lose 500,000, and in the second half, we
will be covering half of it. So, which means in the full year, we were talking about 250,000 loss. And I think when we look at the quarter one,
exactly, it is moving in the same anticipation as we thought.
And when I said two to three months, yes, we will be back with -- we should be back with the normal production. And now the question is how much we
recover in the second half for the cars, which we lost in the first half. And that's what we are working now very closely with our suppliers on the
recovery in the second half of the year.
CHATTERLEY: So all in all, you sound like a very optimistic Nissan CEO today with the investment and of course, ramping up production, fingers
crossed later in the year, too.
GUPTA: I would say we are continuing our production adjustment. But moving forward, in the second half. Of course, we are planning the recovery all
over the plants. But yes, when it comes to the quarter one, this is exactly what we anticipated and this is what exactly is happening that we are
facing the semiconductor crisis on a short term, which is the quarter one.
CHATTERLEY: Fantastic to have you on. I know you're incredibly busy and well done with dealing with all the noise behind you. I can only imagine,
but it is great to see your people at work.
Sir, thank you so much for joining us. Ashwani Gupta there, the COO of Nissan. Sir, thank you.
All right, coming up on FIRST MOVE, the late Princess Diana is honored by her sons with one of her favorite places on Earth. We will discuss.
That's next. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:51:26]
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to FIRST MOVE. Honoring Diana, the statue of the Princess of Wales is placed at the newly redesigned Sunken Garden in
Kensington Palace on what would have been her 60th birthday.
Her son's princess William and Harry unveiled the statue. The last time they were together was in April, at the funeral of their grandfather,
Prince Philip.
CNN Royal commentator, Kate Williams joins us now. Kate, fantastic to have you with us. And we're waiting for images of this statue just to get a
sense of what was unveiled today. But in the meantime, I have to say I don't think anyone ever upstaged Diana when she was alive. Her sons risked
that today.
Do you think as they stood there together, they were sort of wondering what their mother would make of the fracture in their relationship, and perhaps
that's a reason to try and fix it. She would certainly say life is too short.
KATE WILLIAMS, CNN ROYAL COMMENTATOR: Well, Diana, she adores her sons. She was a devoted mother, she really -- right from the beginning, she was
determined to give her children a normal childhood, to prepare William for the role of being King and give Harry a childhood that that she felt could
give him a place within the monarchy.
And certainly, it's very interesting, wasn't it, because in the Oprah interview, Harry was saying that he thought his mother saw it coming with
him, that she'd been through the same process within the Royal family.
So, I think, you know, Diana would obviously as any mother would, would want her sons to be close. But I think she had also recognized that Harry
has been under unique pressures, and that she too was sort of chased by the media and suffered so much that Harry and Meghan have suffered similarly,
and that life is very difficult within the Royal Family.
So -- and I think that, you know, just as you were saying, Julia, the most recent time we saw the princes together was at the Duke of Edinburgh's
funeral when they were talking, when they were standing together, and reminding us that no matter what they've been through, no matter everything
that they've been through, and all the talks has been in the press of riffs, that they are brothers, and this is a private family occasion, a
very small occasion to honor Princess Diana on her 60th birthday, incredibly moving.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, part of the heartbreak here, I think is that if they hadn't lost their mother so young, a lot of the challenges I think that
Harry has faced and struggled with in his life, whether you believe they're a big deal or not given the Royal lifestyle and what support he had or
didn't have behind the scenes, a lot of that has manifested as a result of what they've been through.
What do you think Diana would make of Meghan?
WILLIAMS: Well, I think Harry -- exactly he has been through a lot of painful experiences, losing your mother at such a young age. And on top of
that, one time that we all remember seeing the brothers together was walking behind Diana's coffin in 1997, at the funeral, through the crowds
in London towards the funeral ceremony at the Abbey, which was an incredibly traumatic experience for both of them, particularly Harry. As he
said, it's very hard to mourn his mother, and for, you know, the people around him to cry and him not being able to be allowed to.
I think Diana would really get on very well with Meghan. I think that Meghan is someone who has a lot in common with Diana, the charity work, the
desire to help others, the desire to speak out as well on causes that sometimes are, as Diana worked so hard for AIDS, and for leprosy, causes
that aren't always fashionable.
I think they would have an awful lot in common and it is heartbreaking that Diana who had so much to give to the world, who gave so much, she had the
biggest star in the sky, that she lost her life at such a young age when her children were so young.
Wouldn't it be marvelous if she was still with us now celebrating her 60th birthday surrounded by children and grandchildren?
[09:55:08]
CHATTERLEY: Yes, I mean that gives me a frog in my throat just thinking about it, quite frankly, and we all remember that moment.
Do you think this moment is something Diana herself, whether it's trying to commemorate the loss of her on her 60th birthday, is perhaps one of the
only things that could create some kind of situation where the two boys come together and try and change it or address the damage in their
relationship? If they can't come together over this and their mother and Diana, what can they?
WILLIAMS: I think they are coming together, absolutely. I think that they are coming together. I think Harry and William have talked for a long time
about how they wanted to commemorate Diana with a statue because as Harry said, we think about her every day. She is always in their hearts, she is
always in their minds.
The world thinks about Diana. But of course, they are her sons. They miss her the most of all. It is so painful for them and that's something that
they both have, because all of us have memories of Diana, whether they are photographs or whether we were lucky enough to meet her, but they have
memories of her as their mother, and those are unique memories that only they can share.
And I think that obviously, there has been much wounding on both sides. And I mean, I personally feel that if Harry had been allowed to stay in with
Meghan part time Royals as they requested, none of this would have happened, but clearly that wasn't allowed.
CHATTERLEY: Kate, I have to cut you off there because I've run out of time. You and I can continue to discuss it, but I have to let our viewers
go
Kate Williams, great to have you with us. Thank you for context there and we await the pictures of that statue.
That's it for the show. Stay safe, "Connect the World" with Lynda Kinkade is next.
We'll see you tomorrow.
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[10:00:00]
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