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First Move with Julia Chatterley

China Puts City Of 1.2M Into COVID Lockdown; India Orders New Restrictions As Omicron Cases Rise; Theranos Founder Elizabeth Holmes Found Guilty Of Fraud; Apple Becomes World's First $3 Trillion Company; Tesla Opens Showroom In Controversial Xinjiang Region; Sam's Club Accused Of Pulling Xinjiang Products; Thousands Of Flights Canceled Or Delayed; CrowdStrike Expects Rise Of Ransomware Extortion Efforts; Getty Images Prepares To Go Public Again In SPAC Deal. Aired 9-10a ET

Aired January 04, 2022 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:25]

ALISON KOSIK, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Live from New York, I'm Alison Kosik in for Julia Chatterley. This is "FIRST MOVE." And here's your need

to know.

COVID closure. China locks down a city of more than a million people.

CEO convicted. Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes found guilty of fraud.

And China controversies. Tesla and Walmart are the latest U.S. companies caught up in tensions over Xinjiang.

It's Tuesday. Let's make a move.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

Welcome to "FIRST MOVE." It's the second trading day of the new year. And we are just 30 minutes away from the market open.

U.S. stocks are set to gain after a record-breaking start to 2022. On Monday, the S&P 500 and the Dow closed at historic highs. Apple briefly

became the world's first $3 trillion company. And Tesla jumped over 13 percent.

In Europe, the new year brings fresh optimism as well. Stocks there are up on hopes that Omicron's economic hit can be kept in check. Encouraging

December job numbers from Germany and Spain help make that case.

In London, travel and leisure stocks are leading the footsie higher as investors bet that 2022 will be the year the world finally reopens.

Let's get right to the drivers. And we are heading into a tough January in the fight against Omicron.

Here in the U.S., the seven-day rolling average of new daily cases now stands at record 480,000. More than 103,000 people are hospitalized with

coronavirus. It's the first time in nearly four months that the total in the U.S. has reached six figures.

European health systems are also struggling. In Ireland, nearly 4,000 frontline workers are out on COVID-related leave as hospitalizations soar

more than 40 percent.

And in China, another test of the zero-COVID strategy. A city of more than 1 million people has been placed under lockdown after just two cases were

reported on Sunday and they had no symptoms.

Let's bring in Paula Hancocks. She joins us now.

Paula, what's the latest?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Alison, this really is the proof that we didn't really need that China is continuing with that zero-COVID

policy. That's certainly not going to change this side of the Beijing Winter Olympics, only a month now.

But this is quite remarkable. This is the city of Yuzhou. There's about 1.2 million residents within the city in central Henan province. And they did,

as you say, have two asymptomatic cases reported on Sunday. And they locked down the city. Only essential services are open in that city. For example,

supermarkets or medicine production. And even the people that work there have to prove they have a negative test before they're allowed through the

door. Schools, public transport, all shut down.

And then elsewhere in Xi'an, this is a city of some 30 million residents which has been in lockdown in China since December 23rd. We're hearing some

disturbing reports from Chinese social media, some residents and loved ones of residents who are in that lockdown, saying that they are struggling to

find food, to find groceries and some struggling to find medical attention.

One Weibo which is Chinese social media user saying that his father had had a heart attack, that he had been refused entrance to hospitals, because it

was within the lockdown area. By the time he got medical attention it was too late. And he passed away.

We had been seeing on social media many reports like that. Now the municipal government officials say they acknowledge there is a problem.

They know that they need to get food and medical assistance to people quicker. And they are endeavoring to do that. Alison?

KOSIK: Let's turn to India, Paula. Because it's reporting tens of thousands of new COVID infections. And now the concern is as the next few weeks go

by, the country could wind up finding itself in a grip of a new wave of infections.

HANCOCKS: Yes, so what we're seeing in Delhi, in the capital territory of Delhi, they've now introduced a weekend curfew. So, they're asking people

not to go out on a Saturday and Sunday to try and stem the outbreak of these cases that we are seeing.

[09:05:07]

But we have heard from the health minister there. That at this point that hasn't translated into a worrying amount of hospitalizations, but they are

concerned that there may just be a lag on that.

But what we see in different states is something very different. In Uttar Pradesh for example, this is one of five states which has an election

coming up earlier this year. And we are seeing massive political gatherings, was seeing one of the ministers there saying that Omicron is

weak. It's not a concern. But you should take precautions, anyway. And he was saying this at a massive political gathering with thousands of people

listening, many of them not masked, not social distancing.

And we have been seeing this recurring throughout different states. So, certainly, the concern now is that as this political campaigning picks up,

we've also seen Prime Minister Narendra Modi at some of these rallies in speaking. That we could see some superspreader events coming forward.

In fact, the Delhi chief minister who has just tested positive as well. He says he has mild symptoms. That that is just after he was speaking at one

of these massive political events as well. Alison?

KOSIK: OK. Paula Hancocks, thanks for all of your reporting.

Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes is facing up to 20 years in prison after being found guilty of fraud. Holmes falsely claimed her company had

revolutionized the blood testing and could detect conditions like cancer and diabetes from just a few drops.

CNN's Camila Bernal reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Elizabeth Holmes leaving a San Jose courtroom knowing she's likely headed to prison.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have anything you want to say?

BERNAL: The jury finding her guilty on three federal counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud for lying to investors

about her blood-testing technology.

But the jury also found her not guilty on four additional charges in relation to patients. Jurors did not reach an agreement on three other wire

fraud charges pertaining to investors. She faces 20 years in prison for each charge, plus fines and restitution.

ALAN TURKHEIMER, JURY CONSULTANT: At some point in the deliberation, jurors on both sides, the not guilty and guilty camps, said something to the

effect of, look, this is how I feel, and you guys aren't going to convince me otherwise.

BERNAL: Prosecutors argued her company, Theranos, promised a wide range of blood tests, using just a few drops of blood, but did not deliver.

ELIZABETH HOLMES, FOMER CEO AND FOUNDER, THERANOS: So, this is the little tubes that we collect the -- the samples in.

BERNAL: They argued that Holmes lied about the accuracy of the blood test, the capabilities of her technology, the company's relationship with the

military, and its validation from pharmaceutical companies.

SARA ASHLEY O'BRIEN, CNN BUSINESS REPORTER: So, we saw kind of the charisma, the charm, the way in which she likely spoke to investors in her

meetings with them, you know, when she was pitching the company.

BERNAL: She captured the attention and money of powerful and wealthy investors. Among them, former Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger and

George Schultz, former Secretary of Defense General Jim Mattis, the family of former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, and media tycoon Rupert Murdoch.

O'BRIEN: She was hailed on the cover of magazines as the next Steve Jobs. She claimed to have revolutionized blood testing.

BERNAL: But the prosecution proved otherwise, and they're hoping to do it again in the trial of her long-time partner and COO of Theranos, Ramesh

"Sunny" Balwani, who is potentially facing decades in prison for the same charges. The trials were separated after Holmes made bombshell accusations

of sexual and emotional abuse against Balwani. He has denied those allegations and has pleaded not guilty to the federal wire fraud and

conspiracy charges.

And, in the meantime, the darling of Silicon Valley, with a vision of the future, now facing the consequences of her past.

Camila Bernal, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOSIK: Let's switch to a tech player that's definitely the real deal, Apple becoming the world's first $3 trillion company. That's bigger than the GDP

of most countries, including the UK.

Wedbush managing director and analyst Dan Ives is here with us now.

Apple, I know, Dan, is one of your creme de la creme companies you like to talk about. But this is really one of these milestones that's kind of hard

to wrap your head around.

I mean, the market cap of Apple right now is greater than Walmart, Ford, Netflix. Here on the screen, all the companies, it's bigger than all of

these combined.

So, the question I have for you, you know what kind of moment is this for Apple? How would you characterize it?

[09:10:01]

DAN IVES, MANAGING DIRECTOR, WEDBUSH SECURITIES: It's a watershed moment. Anything you just shared, what's happening for Apple in terms of this

renaissance of growth that's happening Cupertino. And it's not just about iPhone, it's services and the whole ecosystem.

And I think we're still only in this sort of middle endings of this playing out. Coke continues to have the golden touch. Then that's why I don't think

this stops at $3 trillion.

KOSIK: You know I find it interesting that Apple is earning this title even after the company, I remember, had to deal with supply chain issues, even

cutting its iPhone production goal by 10 million units. And it's happening in October because of the supply constraints. What got it here to this

tech-tightened status?

IVES: Their back was against the wall. I mean, it's not just the supply chain issues, it's also at China which continues to be a core mark. They've

had to navigate that tightrope. You know a lot that just comes down. They have an unparalleled install base. 1.7 billion IOS devices and their

ability to monetize is really unmapped. And if you look at what's happening on iPhone out there on the iPhone cycle, called a super cycle that's played

out. It's that services business. That's an $80 billion revenue stream. That's worth $1.5 trillion. That's been a big part of the rereading as the

street has further appreciated the Apple story.

KOSIK: So, you know how back in the old days, it was all about what is Apple's latest gadget. That's how Apple is going to keep on making its

mark. Is that still the story for Apple to keep it going? Is that latest thing that it could create?

IVES: Well, it's a great point. I do think the iPhone cycle will continue to play out and that will start to normalize as we've seen. But I think the

next product cycle is going to be Apple Glass, the AR and VR headset and that comes out in the summer, goes first up potentially in the fall. And

that could add you know $20 per share to the stock. And then we believe it's a matter of when not if in terms of Apple car by 2025. It's about

further monetizing.

But when you look back at some of the demands of the Nokia's and the Blackberry's, they were at the peak that they could monetize. Look at

Apple. 97 percent of Apple users, they stay with Apple for the rest of their life in terms of there's an ecosystem.

KOSIK: Do you think this kind of valuation for Apple and other tech tightens pose a risk to the market? Because it's just a few big companies

controlling the fate of the S&P 500? I mean, should investors watch out for that crowding at the top?

IVES: Look, I think they're strong and have gotten stronger. And I think you've seen that during the pandemic. And even though the Fed will raise

rates and you will see some valuation sensitivity, I believe Pact continues to lead us higher to the fourth industrial revolution playing out. And

that's why Apple is where it is, because of what we're seeing especially with 5G.

KOSIK: Another favorite of yours to talk about is Tesla heading its own milestone on deliveries for the fourth quarter. You described it in an

interesting way. I think something about a trophy?

IVES: Well, I mean this was - this was a quarter that I think Musk and the team will frame. You know their new headquarters in Austin. You didn't have

that chip shortage which hit other automakers. It was a jaw dropper in terms of what they delivered. And that's why the stock reacted like it is.

You look at the screen, tidal wave playing out in EVs. Right now, at least in EV land. It's Tesla's world, everyone else is paying rent. And that was

really an explanation point in terms of the fourth quarter.

KOSIK: What does Tesla's performance tell you just about the EV space in 2022, in general?

IVES: I think it's going to be a massive year for EVs. I think a lot of - if you look at Ford, GM, of course, BMW in Europe. We're just starting to

see this transformation. I view it as a big transformation in the auto industry since 1950s. A very positive sign that EVs going in 2022.

KOSIK: All right. Dan Ives with Wedbush Securities, great getting your perspective today, enjoying it.

IVES: Thank you.

KOSIK: All right. Tesla, cording criticism by opening a showroom in a Xinjiang region in China. Allegations that China commits systemic human

rights abuses in the region have sparked tensions between Washington and Beijing in recent years.

Paul La Monica has the details now.

So, we are seeing Tesla you know having this big presence in China. It's spent years making inroads of Beijing. But Paul, this new showroom in the

region really proves to be controversial, doesn't it?

PAUL LA MONICA, CNN BUSINESS REPORTER: Yeah. It does, Alison. There are a lot of people who will criticize Tesla because of the fact that this new

showroom is in a region where the Chinese government has been accused of supporting genocide against the Uyghur Muslim minority in that region.

[09:15:00]

And obviously that is something that I think you're going to have many human rights activists as well as potentially the American government be

critical of Tesla for doing this at a time where it's maybe perceived as Elon Musk and the company really trying to make a bigger push in China.

Because they recognize how big of a market it can be for electric vehicles. But maybe Elon Musk and Tesla are willing to turn a blind eye to some of

these alleged human rights atrocities that you know people talk about in the region.

KOSIK: Yeah. You wonder if that's going to come back to bite them at some other time. That's for another discussion.

But I do want to talk about another point. Because while Tesla continues to do business in Xinjiang, other companies are actually pulling their

products that have been sourced from that region. They're pulling them off their shelves.

LA MONICA: Yeah. Sam's Club, a subsidiary of the retail giant Walmart has had some issues and has come under fire in China for pulling some products

from that region. People at Walmart haven't really given a good explanation. One person at a Sam's Club there did tell someone from CNN

Business that it's really more about supply chain issues and inventory management.

But you know the Chinese government is not buying that at all, calling the decision to pull some of these products from that region, you know, an

example of stupidity and short sidedness. So clearly Beijing is not happy with Walmart. And it will be interesting to see what Walmart winds up doing

as a result.

You've had companies such as Intel and others in the past just recently that have had to apologize for making comments about the, you know,

Xinjiang region and not having supplies some - you know supplies from that area and that has put them under fire from the government in China.

And obviously, most western companies that are doing business in China want to stay there. Because it's such a lucrative rapidly growing market.

KOSIK: Yeah. All right. We will continue to follow this story along with you. Paul La Monica, thank you so much.

And these are the stories making headlines around the world.

With one month to go until the Beijing Winter Olympics. China is testing a COVID containment program for Olympic staff. Starting today, workers from

overseas will have to undergo daily testing and will be subject to movement restrictions. Trains will also have designated carriages for them. And

venues will begin to enforce vaccination policies. All this comes as China is fighting to contain fresh COVID outbreaks.

Our Kristie Lu Stout has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Beijing Winter Olympics is now only one month away, and the bubble has begun. The games will be held in a

bubble or closed-loop system around Beijing, covering all stadiums, venues, and accommodations. And throughout the games, all athletes and participants

will be required to stay inside the bubble and undergo daily COVID-19 testing.

And according to the "Global Times," the pre-game bubble officially starts today for all overseas Olympic personnel. And across province, highspeed

train has divided carriages to separate Olympic participants from ordinary passengers.

Now, this is critical because the winter games coincide with the Lunar New Year festival. This is a time with hundreds of millions of people travel

home for family reunions. The winter games will be a very big test of China's zero-COVID control measures, which will be difficult given the

highly infectious nature of the Omicron variant.

China has only reported a handful of Omicron cases. And experts say people in China are vulnerable because of their lack of exposure to the variant,

the lower efficacy of China's homegrown vaccines and the limits of China's zero-COVID policy.

YANZHONG HUANG, CENTER FOR GLOBAL HEALTH STUDIES, SETON HALL UNIVERSITY: The problem is not the vaccine. But it's the policy, right? It's under the

zero-tolerance policy, right? Even the best of vaccines you know cannot fulfill the objectives set by the government.

LU STOUT: Public patients for China's zero-COVID policy is also being pushed to the limit. In the northern city of Xi'an, case numbers may be

falling but desperation there is growing as a city-wide lockdown enters its 13th day with residents forbidden to leave their homes unless it's for

COVID tests.

And Chinese social media has been inundated with cries for help and for food. On Weibo, the hashtag, grocery shopping in Xi'an is difficult, has

been viewed over 420 million times.

Kristie Lu Stout, CNN, Hong Kong.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOSIK: Lawyers for Prince Andrew will today ask a New York judge to dismiss a sex abuse lawsuit by Virginia Giuffre. She alleges the prince had sex

with her when she was underage after Jeffrey Epstein trafficked her.

On Monday, it was made public that Epstein paid Giuffre $500,000 in a 2009 settlement to drop her case against him without admitting liability or

fault.

[09:20:07]

A severe winter storm has caused serious traffic disruptions in the U.S. after dumping several inches of snow.

In the state of Virginia, drivers had been stranded on a major highway since Monday. Officials say they're trying to clear the route and remove

the trapped cars.

Coming up on "FIRST MOVE."

COVID cancellations and more flight chaos. We'll speak with the CEO of Airlines UK about the many challenges of the year ahead.

And a picture may be worth a thousand words, but some images can leave us speechless.

I'll be joined by the CEO of Getty Images, whose photographers are capturing the world through a lens.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KOSIK: Welcome back to "FIRST MOVE." I'm Alison Kosik.

U.S. stocks are set to open higher this Tuesday. Both the S&P 500 and the Dow notched up record closes Monday in the first session of the new year.

And that trend looks set to continue. Investors betting that the COVID-19 variant Omicron is no match for the U.S. recovery.

COVID infections are continuing to cause massive disruption for the airline industry as it deals with sickouts and staff shortages. More than 3,000

flights have already been cancelled today. More than 1,000 which were to, from or within the U.S. Thousands of other passengers are facing delays

with winter weather remaining a factor in the U.S.

Tim Alderslade is the CEO of Airlines UK. And he joins us more on the challenges the industry is facing.

Great to have you with us. And from what I could read and see, the challenges are just building and building. And if I want to focus for a

minute on the challenge for the British aviation industry, the COVID testing rules in England. Talk us through what the rules are and when you

expect to see a change here and why it's important.

TIM ALDERSLADE, CEO, AIRLINES UK: Yes, certainly. So, and it's clearly been a devastating 18 months or so for British aviation. We are significantly

behind our European competitors and also the U.S. who have eased restrictions a lot quicker than here in UK.

So, to come into the UK, you have to take a predeparture test up to two days before you travel into this country.

[09:25:05]

You also then have to take a day to PCR test and self-isolate until you get a negative result. So, we're the only major economy that requires both a

predeparture test and also an arrivals test. And as a result of that, we're seeing a pretty devastating impact in terms of bookings over the Christmas

and the New Year period which is up to 30 percent of bookings for the year.

So, government is looking at these restrictions in a meeting tomorrow. And I think our message to ministers is that given the Omicron, the severity is

not as you know severe as we feared and also, we have major community transmission here in the UK, up to 90 percent of cases are now down to

Omicron. You know the variant is here. The virus is here.

And so, we do not see the need for such severe travel restrictions which were emergency restrictions. They were brought in once we knew about

Omicron, we now know it's here in major numbers. And so, these restrictions on travel actually don't really aide the government's public health

efforts. And so, they should be removed fairly quickly.

KOSIK: What damage has this testing requirement already done to the British aviation industry and to the wider economy as well?

ALDERSLADE: Well, we look at the booking period for Christmas and the New Year. That's when people start to think about their -- some holidays, their

2022 travel. And really, it's just a real damper on consumer confidence because people will know that they have these or could have these

restrictions in place. We're seeing significant number of cancellations, in particular, over Christmas and people are delaying their bookings until

they've got greater clarity as to what is happening with these kinds of restrictions.

If you look at the data over the last two years, inbound travel and domestic tours and the impact has been over 140 billion pounds as a result

of the various travel restrictions we've seen since March 2020. And I think the frustrating factor is that we always said that we would use the red

list - the government's red list to deal with variants of concern.

When Omicron first hit, the government introduced PCR testing day two and then introduced predeparture testing. And I think the concern for the

sector is that every time we get a variant of concern, and we know the variants will prop up. That we automatically draw down the bridge and

introduce these kind of restrictive travel measures that actually don't have a huge impact in terms of stopping variants coming into the country.

KOSIK: Now you are advocating for more economic support from the government for the aviation industry. Where does the call for a new package of help -

economic help stand at this point?

ALDERSLADE: Well, I think we know that the Treasury here in the UK, you know, they see that the way to say aviation is to allow it to trade. You

know we don't want economic support. We don't want a bailout. We want to be able to trade our way out of this.

We've lost around 6 billion pounds in terms of debt. We've taken on 6 billion in terms of debt from government and also from the private markets.

We want to pay that back. Because we want to invest in new aircraft and use sustainable technologies.

But if we're not able to get back to where we were in 2019, and the back end of last year, we were around 60 percent down on flights compared to

2019, we're simply not going to be able to replenish those balance sheets. And so, we will require some form of economic support from the chancellor,

probably elements of grounds we cannot continue to borrow money and get further and further into debt.

The government can also help in terms of testing costs. We are requiring people to pay for their own testing when they come into the UK. Both in

terms of predeparture and on arrival. So that's a small win and something the chancellor could do to help travelers and help the sector. But we want

to trade our way out of this. And we want to get back to serving passengers and delivering all the good things about aviation and the connectivity that

it delivers.

KOSIK: Very quickly, I want to get your reaction to Heathrow Airport charging passengers a 50 percent increase in charges if they fly into the

airport there.

ALDERSLADE: Well, I think we are on record as being very opposed to these sorts of egregious, you know, increases in charges. Airlines have fallen

back on their investors to bail them out over the past 18 months. They have not asked passengers to subsidize the costs of coronavirus. As I said 6

billion pounds of loans have been absorbed. And we think Heathrow with their, you know very, very wealthy shareholders and backers should do the

same.

KOSIK: OK. Tim Alderslade, thanks so much for your time today.

ALDERSLADE: Thank you.

KOSIK: And you are watching "FIRST MOVE." The market open is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:33:15]

KOSIK: Welcome back as to "FIRST MOVE." I'm Alison Kosik.

And we've had the opening bell already. Both the S&P 500 and the Dow seeing record closes on Monday. And now stocks across the board, they're opening

higher on this second trading day of the year.

One of the stocks to watch this session is Apple. The tech giant briefly hitting a $3 trillion valuation yesterday. Will we see that feat repeated?

After a series of major cyberattacks last year, including ransomware attacks on the colonial pipeline, and the U.S. meat producer JBS and with

more people working remotely than ever before, global cyber security has never been more important. So, what are the threats to watch for this year?

Joining us now, the CEO and co-founder of CrowdStrike, George Kurtz.

George, great to see you. Grateful for your time today.

GEORGE KURTZ, CEO, CROWDSTRIKE: Thank you. Great to be here.

KOSIK: It seems like during the pandemic, we've really seen a surge in ransomware attacks. To what do you attribute this rise of activity -

activity to?

KURTZ: It's success. It really is about the success and the ease of being able to plant ransomware, detonate ransomware and most importantly extract

money out of corporations to the tune of millions of dollars with very little risks to the cybercrime actors.

KOSIK: And it looks like, you know 2022, at least for the cyber world is starting with a crisis with the Log4j vulnerability. Talk with me about

what this is and how serious of a threat this is?

KURTZ: Well, Log4j is a common piece of software that's used by many infrastructure websites. So, the website that we all use behind the scenes

typically use this piece of software.

[09:35:04]

And there was a vulnerability that was actually found in it that was very easy to exploit. So, what we've seen is one is a patching frenzy by

corporations trying to identify these vulnerabilities which are critical and passioned before the adversaries are able to exploit them. And we've

seen adversaries in China and Iran and others exploiting -- actively exploiting these vulnerabilities which makes it very easy to get into these

infrastructure systems.

So, overall, it was a very, very busy period of time at the end of the year for companies to try to identify and patch those which is again one of the

things that we focus on at CrowdStrike is identifying these vulnerabilities and making sure that corporations can patch them and keep themselves safe.

KOSIK: I know you deal with big companies, big corporations. But I'd imagine you can you know give some advice to regular people on what they

can do to beef up, you know, their own security, on their own networks. What advice do you have?

KURTZ: Well, sure. So, when we think about where we are today, it really is the extortion economy. So, there are a couple of things that you know

companies and people should be aware of. You know one is ransomware which we talked about. And two is the extortion piece of it, which is the

stealing of data and then being able to extract money out of that. We call that double extortion.

And on the personal side, what we're seeing a lot is extortion demands that are fake. So, someone will get an e-mail that says, hey, we've got access

to your computer. We're going to detonate in an hour. We've got sensitive information unless you pay us. A lot of times those are fake.

So, it's important for consumers to make sure that they keep their passwords protected, use a password manager with very secure passwords.

Don't reuse passwords across different websites and organizations which is the number reason that we see consumers get impacted as their passwords are

compromised and they reuse them across sites.

And be vigilant. If you see something that doesn't look right, you know, contact the company or go directly to the website. Don't click the link to

try to get to a particular website. Go there directly and type them in your browser.

And obviously, endpoint security, which is business wariness, critically important to identify and prevent those pieces of malware from executing

across those systems.

KOSIK: Do you think that companies and organizations get it yet? I mean, the importance of cybersecurity where they're actually willing to spend

money on it? I mean there was a time where it wasn't a priority. Is it now a priority?

KURTZ: It's the number one priority for boardrooms right now. When we think about the impact of ransomware and this double extortion where data is

being stolen, there's nothing more critical. Obviously, you have one piece which is ransomware is no longer just an annoyance where you have a

computer that's infected, and you have to pay to get it decrypted. It could be an existential risk. It can take out an entire organization if their

computers are effectively bricked because you can't use them.

And the second piece then is when we think about all of legislation, the regulatory requirements on data privacy. If data is extracted out of a

company, there is massive fines if you think about you know some of the regulations in Europe and other places, massive, massive penalty.

So, it is number one item on any board. They're spending a lot of money on security. And for me, I don't think there is anything more critical to the

digital economy than cyber security.

KOSIK: Let's talk about artificial intelligence for a moment. I am curious how AI is going to affect cybersecurity over the next few years. I mean,

it's making everything faster, more automated. Obviously, the tools have to be more automated to keep the threat out. So how do you see the industry

evolving? And is this where you see biggest opportunity?

KURTZ: Well, it is a great opportunity, it's one of the things that we pioneer at CrowdStrike as being able to use artificial intelligence to

identify attacks that have never been seen before. So, and that's worked very well. On the converse side, you have adversaries that are trying to

use their own AI to beat you know systems that are out there.

So, it's a bit of a cat and mouse game. But at the end of the day, if you have a massive amount of information that you can train your AI models like

we do at CrowdStrike, you can get great outcomes. And I think that is really important.

So, AI, really is the future of security. But it's only one element to it and it's a very important element.

KOSIK: I am curious what the blind spots are that keep you up at night?

KURTZ: Well, it's a very evolving and fluid landscape. When we think about the underground economy, you know we talk about the extortion of the

economy and the digital economy, the black market, if you will. You can pretty much get whatever you want. If you want to buy access to a

particular company, you can buy that. If you want to buy ransomware as a service, you can buy that. If you want to buy you know information, private

information on individuals, you can buy that as well.

And you can all do that very anonymously and typically using crypto as a form of currency for the transaction. So, it's all set up. It's very easy

to use. And it happens behind the scenes every day. And what we see in the news is only tip of the iceberg of what happens behind the scenes

unfortunately.

[09:40:08]

KOSIK: It's all about - is it all about staying one step ahead, huh?

KURTZ: Well, you have to stay one step ahead. But there is also a time element. You know any -- any company can have an incident, right? What you

want to do is you want to make sure that incident doesn't turn into a breach and you want to be able to focus on being able to - to prevent as

much as you can.

But if there is an incident, if a password is compromised. You don't have two factor authentication, you're going to want to be able identify someone

getting on the system. We call it the 1-10-60 rule. Identify within one minute, investigate within 10 and triage you know remediate within 60. And

that really is best practice at this point. And time is your friend, right? So, if you can identify very quickly, you might have an incident. But it

doesn't turn into a breach.

KOSIK: OK. George Kurtz, CEO and co-founder of CrowdStrike. Thanks very much for coming on the show.

KURTZ: Thank you so much.

KOSIK: A developing story from the world of photography is next. The company that brought some of the most striking news images of the year will

go public again in a SPAC merger. The CEO of Getty Images is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KOSIK: Welcome back.

Some of the hardest hitting news images CNN broadcast on air come from one source. And you'll notice the caption saying where in the top right corner

of your screen.

Getty Images works with over 450,000 contributors around the world. It provides about 160,000 new images every year as well as video and music

content to media outlets and for commercial and creative purposes.

Now Getty is set to become a public company once again in a SPAC deal which values the company at nearly $5 billion.

Craig Peters is the CEO. And he joins us now.

Craig, great to see you.

CRAIG PETERS, CEO, GETTY IMAGES: Thanks for having me. And great to see you as well. And thank you to CNN for being such a great customer.

KOSIK: Oh, you got it.

(LAUGHTER)

So, talk about why you decided to take the company public again, you know via SPAC. And what you are going to do with the proceeds from your public

debut or your next public debut?

PETERS: Well, I think you know first off, you know why go public? You know this is a great brand. It's a great business. We feel really good about our

performance, our prospects. And ultimately, this transaction. And so, we're really proud to take the business back to the public markets where we

believe it rightly belongs.

[09:45:06]

Why SPAC? You know, it really, it wasn't about SPAC. What we found with CC Capital and Neuberger Berman as bell partners.

And they were willing to invest in behind this deal. This deal comes with $875 million of committed capital into the transaction. And it was that

level of commitment and investment that we really focused in on that made this transaction the right one for Getty Images.

Ultimately, we'll use the proceeds of those transaction to pay down debt and de-lever the business. But we're really excited for the transaction.

Again, the community capital that comes along with it.

KOSIK: What happened during the pandemic, as far as the impact? I mean sports entertainment events were canceled. Nothing to take pictures of.

PETERS: That's true. But they've come back. I think you know what happens in times of crisis is I think people always look to the world of sport and

entertainment as a way to get away and have some level of enjoyment. So, we've seen those events come back. We've seen, you know, people spend their

time and energy, you know, engaging with those events and ultimately with the content that we produce.

KOSIK: Talk with me about where you see opportunities for growth for Getty Images.

PETERS: We see growth from a number of vectors in this business and we're excited for them. You know, first and foremost, this is an increasingly

visual world. And at our core - at a core of our business, what do we do? We helped businesses connect and compete in that visual landscape.

And so, whether that's you know small businesses and how they need to compete through our iStock brand or whether that's corporations as they

struggle to have a presence across TikTok and Instagram and all the platforms that they need to be present on. We see just huge amount of

demand for our service.

And then with the growth of video increasingly, you know being a medium in which not only the media needs to produce but corporations and businesses

need to have a video presence. You know, that's another core driver of this business. But we see a lot of growth opportunities across Getty Images.

KOSIK: Where do NFTs fit into your future? Getty's future?

PETERS: Well, I think we see it as a long-term opportunity for this business. We're unique and that Getty Images owns a lot of the intellectual

property that it distributes. We have a huge archive. And we fundamentally believe that intellectual property can have value in NFT space. But that

will be something that will develop over the long term. But we do believe that as an intellectual property owner that that has potential to produce

revenue for the business over the long term.

KOSIK: What makes a good picture?

Did you hear my question, Craig?

PETERS: No, I didn't. I'm sorry.

KOSIK: Oh. So, I was quickly asking you, what do you think makes a good picture?

PETERS: What do I think makes a good picture? I think you know ultimately, it's about emotion. You know whether you are capturing something that's

going to be used in a marketing material or whether you're capturing something that's going to be on CNN. Ultimately, it needs to grab the

attention of a user. And that's typically through the emotion side of things. Whether that's love or whether that's passion, or whether that's

you know other emotions. It's typically through the emotional connection.

KOSIK: Yeah. And we can certainly feel things when we look at your pictures.

Great talking with you. Craig Peters, Getty Images CEO. Thanks for your time.

PETERS: Thank you. Thank you for having me.

KOSIK: Coming up after the break, Richard Quest makes a New Year's resolution to get over his fear of heights. And what better way to do it

than this? New York's new tourist attraction. Just don't look down.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:51:15]

KOSIK: My colleague Richard Quest has reported some - from some very strange places. And when he said he was popping outside our headquarters

here in New York, we didn't realize he meant it literally.

The climb is the city's latest tourist attraction. And it's not for the fainthearted. In fact, if you are scared of heights, like I am, you may

want to look anywhere but down.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD QUEST, CNN HOST, "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS": New York is back. And I've gone to the top, to the apex, to do the climb. Off. Oh, my goodness. Whose

idea was this? And these are how many feet up?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're at 1,189 feet.

QUEST: 1,189 feet. Look at it. King of the world. I'm terrified of heights. My husband is behind me. What are you doing down there?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, sorry. I'll catch up.

QUEST: It's just great. Chris.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

QUEST: Come on.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You got a nice night on the town. I didn't realize (inaudible).

QUEST: I told you it literally a night out on the town. I know that I'm tethered to the building in three or four places. And I know that I could

pretty much go -- and nothing would happen. But I'm still scared. When they said do the climb, I thought - I don't like heights, I won't enjoy it. But

this is absolutely outstanding. The freedom, the -- of opportunity, the just the wind. I'm starting to realize just how much we've all been

through. How far we've come. How magnificent it is just to be here tonight to enjoy it.

Oh. Oh, my goodness. No, I'm not doing the lean. No. I lean this - oh, no, no, it's too -- the wind is -- it's amazing, but it's terrifying.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There you go bend your knees. There you go all the way down. Then you're going to stick your booty out. Stick your booty out. Yes,

stick your butt out. Yes, yes and then straighten those legs. Excellent. Yes, yes. Whoo! You did it! You did it!

QUEST: I feel the wind is going to blow me off my feet.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's not going to blow you off of your feet. It's not going to blow you off your feet.

QUEST: King -- well, why I want to keep saying king of the world.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because you feel like king of the world up here.

QUEST: It's a building, it's a life, it's the jobs, it's the people, it's the loves, it's the crime, it's the -- we look down and it doesn't look

real. And yet I know, because I've lived here for so many years what's going on in everybody -- it's just amazing. Just extraordinary.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Its magnificent.

QUEST: It's up to you New York -- New York-

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[09:55:00]

KOSIK: See, now, I need to get out. There is something called the Edge here at Hudson Yards where you just walk in this glass-enclosed thing. And you

can look down. Even that scares me. But what they just did, whoo, I was shaking here and sweating. And by the way, the other guy that you saw, that

was Chris Pepper, his producer, who looked pretty scared.

Finally, on "FIRST MOVE." I know Richard loved them. And frankly, so did I.

But the tech world is finally moving on from the old school Blackberry. From today on, the company is ending support for the classic non-android

version of the device, rendering those old handsets useless, what was a status symbol in the 1990s was eventually defeated by the iPhone which one

time to drive Apple's market value to $3 trillion and condemned the Blackberry to the back of the kitchen drawer or just use it as a hockey

puck.

That's it for the show. I'm Alison Kosik. Go ahead and follow me on Instagram and Twitter. You can find me @alisonkosik. Thanks for watching

and joining us.

"CONNECT THE WORLD" with Becky Anderson is next. I will see you tomorrow.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:00:00]

END