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First Move with Julia Chatterley

Macron: It Could Take Months to Solve Ukraine Crisis; U.S. Nord Stream 2 is Over if Russia Invades Ukraine; Peloton Replaces CEO, Cuts 2,800 Jobs; Nvidia's Deal to Buy Arm from SoftBank Collapses; Eileen Gu Wins Olympic Gold in Freestyle Skiing; British PM Urged to Apologize after Labour Leader Mobbed; Global Investors Eye Higher Borrowing Costs; Tight Grip on Journalists Limits Coverage in China; Singer Maluma's Mix of Music and Business; Neil Young Calls on Spotify Staffers to Quit. Aired 9-10a ET

Aired February 08, 2022 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:30]

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

Macron's meetings. The French president takes his diplomacy to Ukraine.

Nvidia left armless as the biggest chip deal in history collapses.

And on his bike. Peloton replaces its CEO as speculation grows over a sale.

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

(MUSIC PLAYING)

A warm welcome to FIRST MOVE. Great to have you with us this Tuesday. We'll have the very latest on French President Macron's ongoing efforts to ease

tensions between Ukraine and Russia. That happening in just a moment.

But first, a look at the global markets. U.S. futures pointing to a mostly lower open on Wall Street. It's a continuation of Monday's cautious

trading. Mostly flat action in Europe, and higher borrowing costs remains a key stock market concern as more Central Banks hint at higher rates. The

yield on the benchmark, U.S. 10-year treasury inching closer to the 2 percent milestone today, as you can see there.

European borrowing costs, rising, too, with French and German yields hitting three-year highs.

In Asia, Chinese stocks finished with gains after an early session sell- off. Stocks rebounding from a 2 percent slump amid reports that state backed funds stepped in to buy shares.

It's a busy Tuesday. Let's get right to the drivers.

And the latest from Ukraine. France's President Macron says there are, quote, "concrete practical steps" to end the tensions between Russia and

the west over Ukraine. But he warned it could take months. Macron was speaking after a meeting with Ukraine's president. It was the last stop in

a high stakes diplomatic tour that included a five-hour summit with Russia's President Putin.

Let's bring in Alex Marquardt. He joins us live now.

Alex, great to see you. So, now that we've - you know watched French President Macron have a very busy schedule over the past two days, meeting

with President Putin, meeting with President Zelensky. Can you tell if actual progress has been made to deescalate the situation at the border of

Ukraine and Russia?

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR U.S. CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. And Alison, that flurry of activity is not over yet. From Kyiv, Macron goes onto Berlin

where he'll meet with the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz who himself is just back from meeting with President Biden in Washington, D.C.

So, we've got this flurry of diplomatic activity on both sides of the Atlantic all aimed at, of course, getting the situation along the borders

of Ukraine to deescalate, to get Russian troops to pull back their forces.

President Macron has positioned himself as essentially the go between, between the west and NATO and Russia. And he's keen to show that he has

made some progress. As you mentioned, Macron has said that on a number of different fronts positions have been clarified and that there are practical

and concrete solutions within reach.

He essentially laid out two mechanisms through which de-escalation can happen. One of them is what's known as the Normandy format, and that was

setup in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine back in 2014 by Russia, and that is essentially meetings by Ukrainian, Russian, French and German

officials.

So, conversations will continue on that format. Of course, that notably excludes the United States and the rest of NATO. But Macron was really

building up the importance of the Minsk agreements. Those were agreements again that were agreed to between Ukraine and Russia and others in the wake

of the invasion in 2014.

Now, those agreements have largely been ignored and fallen apart. The United States would say that's mainly Russia's fault. Of course, Russia

blames Ukraine, every side pointing at each other. But Macron and Putin are now saying that the Minsk agreements are the way forward. That they have

laid out a blueprint to get to some kind of de-escalation.

Now, Macron also said that Russian troops -- that Russia has agreed to withdraw its troops from Belarus which is to the north of Ukraine following

those exercises later this month. The Kremlin did confirm that, but they did not put a date on that.

[09:05:03]

And the Kremlin did deny the French assertion that the Russians had agreed to not build up any further, which would then lead to de-escalation. They

said Putin did not agree to that.

But there was an interesting moment in that press conference between presidents Macron and Putin last night in Moscow when talking about the

Minsk accords - Minsk agreements and how that would forge the path forward. Putin said rather crassly and misogynistically to Zelensky, like it or

don't it's your duty, my beauty, they -- meaning the Minsk agreements must be fulfilled, it cannot work otherwise.

So essentially you are still our serf, you must take it. Zelensky did respond today in his press conference with President Macron saying that you

know Ukraine is not his. He said you're right, rather glibly that Ukraine is a beauty, but he said that Ukraine is very patient and within patience

there is wisdom.

Alison, despite any kind of incremental progress, and it really is incremental at this point, Macron was realistic in saying it's not going to

be hours or days before any real progress is made. This could take months of perseverance, Alison.

KOSIK: I guess, if you want to look at glass half full incremental progress is better than no progress.

Alex Marquardt, thanks so much.

Now to a stark warning from the U.S. to Russia. President Biden vowed to end a major pipeline project between Russia and Germany if troops enter

Ukraine. But the German chancellor was reluctant to match that threat. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If Russia invades that means tanks and troops crossing the border of Ukraine, again. Then there will be

-- there will be no longer a Nord Stream 2. We will bring an end to it.

OLAF SCHOLZ, GERMAN CHANCELLOR: You can be absolutely sure that Germany will be together with all its allies and especially the United States. Let

me take the same steps. There will be no differences in that situation. What we do today is giving this very strong answer to Russia saying if you

invade Ukraine this will have a high price for you which will have high impacts on your economy and the chances for your development. And we are

ready to take steps that will have costs for us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: And Fred Pleitgen joins us now.

Fred, you know, it's interesting. The German chancellor saying yes, we're united but he doesn't really say united on what. So, it begs the question,

is he really committed to shutting the pipeline down if Russia does invade Ukraine.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. I think that was really one of the most interesting things that we saw both in that

press conference yesterday with President Biden and the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

And also, in that really great interview on -- with our own Jake Tapper on the lead last night where Olaf Scholz you know said those words that the

steps would be exactly the same as the partners, that Germany is fully committed to the partners.

He is sort of I think saying the words without saying the words or saying the substance without saying the words. I think one of the things that

seems absolutely abundantly clear right now is that if there is a further invasion of Ukraine that the Nord Stream 2 pipeline is not going to be

going forward.

In fact, President Biden not just made those very strong remarks that we just heard there. But he also then said that he promised that those - that

the pipeline would not go forward. So, really it would be difficult to see even if the Germans wanted to continue that -- the Nord Stream 2 program -

the Nord Stream 2 project if there was an invasion by Russia. And the U.S. said that project needs to end, whether they be able to see that through.

So, it does seem though the writing is very much on the wall with really without Olaf Scholz having said that. And not only did he not say that the

Germans would stop the project. He didn't even seem to mention the words Nord Stream 2 in either the press conference or that interview later. But

it certainly seemed that things while Olaf Scholz didn't say it outright, they do seem to be a lot more clear now than they were before.

And I think one of the things that Olaf Scholz really did want to do is he wants to get that backing from President Biden. In the press conference,

President Biden on various occasions said that he believes that Germany is an important, is a very key ally right now and a reliable ally as well.

That's certainly something the German chancellor wanted to hear.

And at the same time, that the Germans obviously making very clear that Nord Stream 2 is definitely something that would be part or could be part

of the mix if there was a further invasion, part of those very strong sanctions that the German chancellor was talking about while at least in

public. He's trying to keep that ambiguity up as to what exactly those sanctions would be. But it certainly does seem as though there was a lot

more clarity without him actually saying the words, Alison.

KOSIK: Oh, a situation where, yes, words matter.

Fred Pleitgen, thanks so much for all that context.

[09:10:02]

Shake-up at Peloton. The bike maker is replacing its CEO and cutting 2,800 jobs as it struggles to grow in a post-pandemic world.

Christine Romans joins us now.

Christine, this is really the saga of a company that just started here and is now here more than -- it was more than two weeks ago an activist

investor called for the company to fire its CEO, explore the sale of the company. So, we're seeing part of that happen. We're seeing rumors of the

other happen. Do you think this is a company that's kind of being you know setup or dressed up to be sold at this point? Or are they putting in a new

CEO to make it stronger?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: We know that there have been suitors circling. We also know that the co-founder, John Foley who's

giving up the seat as the CEO will stay and run the board. And the person they're bringing in, Barry McCarthy, someone who is the CFO of Spotify and

other big, big tech names is someone who we're told wants to work with John Foley.

So, it sounds like this is a company that is trying to restructure and pivot after being a pandemic winner and investing and maybe overinvesting

in the wrong places. John Foley on the conference call with analysts just a few moments ago, I heard him say, look, we get it, we own it and we're

repositioning here for the next chapter.

They will lay off 2,800 people. That's about 20 percent of the workforce globally. They are going to be shrinking their production footprint and

changing their warehousing. And they're also going to slim down their delivery, installations, staff and look at other kinds of partnerships to

do those things.

So, there -- it's real restructuring that you're seeing here overall. You just saw that stock chart. I mean this is a company that at its peak had a

$50 billion market cap and went all the way down to 8. That's why that active investor stepped in and said you need a new CEO. You need to make

some class cuts and you need to change - you know change the way you're doing business here.

What I think is kind of the consensus among those people who followed this company, Alison, is it was a pandemic winner and found itself with this

huge demand for treads and for bikes and for its digital products. And it invested wildly as if the pandemic was going to last forever. And of

course, now we know it hasn't and it's shifted in the next gear. So, it's interesting.

Look at the video. This is one of those names, Peloton, where its instructors are household names. I mean it's got a global reach, a global

footprint. John Foley, the CEO, saying that none of the content will change and of its instructions, the talent, the content makers that will be

untouched as well. So, Cody Rigsby, apparently is just all fine.

KOSIK: Is that who - OK. I don't have a Peloton, so I don't know. But I know there is the rage for the instructor. I'm curious about this. I know

that we were expecting Peloton earnings to come out after the bell. They clearly came out before the bell with the announcement of the CEO stepping

down, being replaced.

ROMANS: Yeah.

KOSIK: Do you know why the urgency to do it before the bell as opposed to after? And what did those earnings show? Did the company earn anything?

ROMANS: Well, here's the interesting thing. They were supposed to be after the closing bell and then this news hit "The Wall Street Journal" this

morning, very specific with the 2,800 layoffs and all of the very excruciating detail what this restructuring is going to look like. I don't

think the company could wait all day trading in the market with this very specific "Wall Street Journal" report and waiting for all these hours

before the earnings report came out.

So, you know the company is touting, Alison, that it's got a 92 percent retention rate and still has growing number of minutes and hours that its

customers are using on the bike. They're going to be making the focus really of this call less on the earnings honestly and where they're going

from here. How they're going to have to right size their production model? How they're going to have to right size their delivery, warehousing and

installation model for this new phase for the company? And of course, these layoffs obviously painful with any company have to have layoffs of 2,800.

KOSIK: Yeah. I hear you.

All right. Christine Romans, thanks for all that great reporting.

ROMANS: You're welcome.

KOSIK: What would had been the world's largest semiconductor deal now collapsed. The Nvidia has pulled the plug on its plan to buy the chip

designer Arm from SoftBank.

Paul La Monica joins us now.

You know, this deal felt like it was kind of doomed at the start. It's been in the making for a couple of years now. There have kind of always been

regulatory concerns. What sealed sort of the deal as far as the downfall of this deal?

PAUL LA MONICA, CNN BUSINESS REPORTER: Yeah, Alison. I think you nailed it when you talked about the regulatory concerns. Globally that was going to

be a problem for getting this deal done. But interestingly enough there were also a lot of companies within the smart phone food chain that were

not backing this deal either, and that includes Google, Microsoft and Qualcomm. All of them had sued to block this deal.

[09:15:00]

And I think that is another big headwind that Nvidia and SoftBank finally realized that this deal was not going to take place. So, it's now going to

be on SoftBank to try and figure out a new plan for Arm. And it looks like they're going to file for an initial public offering of Arm at some point

down the road.

And there are some questions about what Nvidia does next. Nvidia will continue to partner with Arm, the company says, but are there acquisition

targets now that Nvidia might want to look at or do they sit back and recognize that globally and particularly in the U.S., there's going to be a

lot more scrutiny on major mergers, anti-trust all of a sudden is a thing again that Washington cares about.

KOSIK: Yeah, but this deal in particular I think was kind of important because considering all the supply chain issues, the chip issues you throw

that into the mix but that just wasn't enough to get this deal to survive.

LA MONICA: Yeah, exactly. I mean I think there are still compelling economic and industry specific reasons why this deal might have made sense

particularly for Nvidia which is already one of the world's largest chip companies. It's a company that now has a market value that dwarfs Intel,

for example. And Intel is in the Dow.

I think though that right now there are just so many worries globally about tech companies in particular getting too big, and you are seeing lawmakers

in Washington, D.C. as well as regulators in Europe and Asia that are putting their foot down saying, no, big tech can be too big, and this might

have been a deal that would have made Nvidia a much more formidable player than it already is in semiconductors, and that might have been to the

detriment of consumers as well as the manufacturers even though many companies that makes more phones are in their own, right, not exactly slug

chits.

KOSIK: All right, Paul La Monica, thanks for all that great analysis.

And these are the stories making headlines around the world.

Teenage freestyle skiing sensation Eileen Gu has one gold at the Winter Olympics. And the women's big air competition, the American born Chinese

athlete says, taking top spot was the best moment of her life. Tens of millions of fans crashed China's leading social media platform on Tuesday

with celebratory posts.

CNN's Coy Wire joins me with today's Winter Games highlights. Take it away, Coy.

COY WIRE, CNN WORLD SPORT: How you doing, Alison?

KOSIK: Doing well.

WIRE: Imagine the pressure Eileen Gu must have been feeling, 18 years old, American-born star, Olympic debut, choosing to compete for her mother's

homeland China instead of Team USA. But Eileen Gu says that she's a hopeless romantic when it comes to fear. She says when you embrace it and

that adrenaline that comes with it, it can compel you the greatest. And that's exactly what happened.

On her final jump, she stomped a 16-20. That's 4.5 full rotations. She's the second woman to ever pull it off in competition. She said afterwards

that even if she didn't land that trick, she was hoping it would send a message and encourage more girls to go break their own boundaries. Eileen

Gu has a chance to win two more golds here at the Beijing Olympics.

Men's short program figure skating now. Team USA's three-time defending world champion, Nathan Chen, setting a new world record. Reminding the

world why he's nicknamed the "Quad King," landing two quadruple jumps for a score of 113.97 with two team Olympic medals to his name. Nathan Chen grabs

a commanding lead ahead of the long program as he seeks that coveted individual Olympic gold.

And one fun one for you. New Zealand had never won Winter Olympics gold until a 20-year-old named Zoi Sadowski-Synnott changed the game here at

Beijing Games winning the snowboard slopestyle. Her dad went viral after her win cursing up a celebratory storm on a news channel back home in New

Zealand and he's says he's getting endorsement offers because of it. Zoi told me all about it. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZOI SADOWSKI-SYNNOTT, NEW ZEALAND SNOWBOARDER: Dad - oh, yeah, hopefully by then his whisky endorsement comes through.

WIRE: He says a whisky endorsement.

SADOWSKI-SYNNOTT: He reckons. I think he might be taking the first spot. He also said that he's got a toilet paper and mouthwash endorsement --

WIRE: Because of viral moment.

SADOWSKI-SYNNOTT: Yeah.

WIRE: I think that the toilet paper endorsement because of the potty mouth.

SADOWSKI-SYNNOTT: Yeah.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: Alison, what Zoi told me that she first heard her dad went viral for cursing on the news in that interview after a big win. She didn't even want

to watch. She said dad must have been sinking beers, she said. Zoi turns 21 in a couple of weeks, so it's probably going to be a party back home. So,

first thing's first, though, she has a chance to win New Zealand. Its second ever Winter Olympic gold so she'll be keep competing in the big air

event coming up, Alison.

[09:20:08]

KOSIK: OK. Coy Wire, thanks very much for that breakdown.

British lawmakers are urging Prime Minister Boris Johnson to apologize for falsely claiming opposition leader, Keir Starmer, failed to prosecute a

notorious child abuser. Critics say his comments incited an angry mob on Monday that surrounded the Labour leader. With some protesters accusing him

of protecting pedophiles. Mr. Johnson called the harassment disgraceful, but he hasn't apologized for his remarks.

Still to come on "FIRST MOVE."

The Olympic closed loop that's meant to keep China safe from COVID and from the eyes of foreign journalists.

And Neil Young tells Spotify workers to quit before it eats up their soul.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

U.S. stock futures still pointing to a mostly lower open. Investors looking ahead to important earnings coming later in the week from Coca-Cola,

Twitter and Disney.

U.S. consumer inflation data, that will be released on Thursday as well.

Meta, meantime, set to fall for a fourth straight session. Shares of Facebook's parent company plunging 26 percent Thursday after reporting weak

results. Its stock has fallen in every session since then. Meta is now down 33 percent so far this year. The company losing its spot as the seventh

most valuable U.S. firm, losing that spot to chipmaker Nvidia.

Brian Levitt joins me now with a closer look at the markets. He's the global market strategist at Invesco. Great to have you on the show.

BRIAN LEVITT, GLOBAL MARKET STRATEGIST, INVESCO: It's nice to be here. Thank you.

KOSIK: Well, it was a rare quiet session to start the week yesterday, but it looks like 2022 overall is off to a real choppy start with a lot of

volatility. I'm curious what you think. Are you comfortable at this point with the valuation adjustment that we've seen so far?

LEVITT: Well, a couple of points. One, volatility is almost always the result of policy uncertainty. So, we're still dealing with a significant

amount of policy and uncertainty. Valuations have come down. I didn't believe they were excessive to begin with. They've adjusted.

[09:25:00]

But what investors need to recognize is that valuations are timing pools. So, what's going to matter most in this environment is to hopefully start

to see inflationary pressures ease and inflation expectations come down allowing the Federal Reserve to ultimately back off at tightening stance

and letting this cycle continue. For now, we're dealing with policy uncertainty that should continue to create some volatility in markets.

KOSIK: Yeah. I mean we are seeing Wall Street just obsessed about how many rate cuts, how big will each rate cut be. And seems it to be a conversation

that is being driven by big banks. You know Bank of America coming out yesterday saying it expects seven rate hikes. What do you see the Fed doing

as of March?

LEVITT: I think the basis would be five interest rate hikes. So, certainly, an interest hike in March, the beginning of quantitative tightening which

means scaling down the size of its balance sheet. The good news is that you've already seen a significant amount of tightening priced into the

short end U.S. Treasury yield curve.

By that, I mean if you look at two-year Treasury rate, they've gone from virtually nothing to 1.3 percent today. So, there's your interest rate

hikes, right, being priced into the market in the U.S. Treasury yield purpose flattening significantly. In that flattening environment you would

expect more of a risk off type of environment which is certainly what we've seen in the equity market.

The question is now, does the direction of inflation or the change and rate of change start to moderate? And if it starts to moderate, can the Federal

Reserve potentially undershoot those five or six interest rates hikes this year? That is what the market is going to be focusing on.

From my perspective, if you pull consumers, it does seem as if the American consumer is saying, you know what, I've seen enough, now is not a good time

for me to shop. And so, as that demand starts to come down as we move away from Omicron hopefully, we start to see more of these supply chain

challenges ease.

KOSIK: I want to talk tech because tech has really taken it on the chin, kind of feels like we're seeing this divergence in tech. I mean, last week

we see Amazon posting the biggest one-day gain in market value ever, and then one day after we see Facebook's parents suffering the worst ever loss.

How do you explain right now what's happening in tech?

LEVITT: Well, you're in an environment right now where investors are looking for visibility. It's an environment of a slowdown in economic

activity and tighter financial conditions. So, you're looking for good visibility of earnings and good future visibility of those earnings. So,

the companies that are providing weaker guidance are getting hit pretty significantly.

Now, remember, they're getting hit pretty significantly from loftily levels but nevertheless hit pretty significantly. And so, when you're in a rate

rising environment, investors are going to look for quality and be a bit more speculative. Now, Facebook Meta is certainly not a speculative

business, but the guidance was weaker and in this type of environment, investors are looking for, again, quality and good visibility of future

earnings.

KOSIK: And you mentioned Meta. So, I'm going to ask you what you think because investors are wondering whether Mark Zuckerberg's Meta, his bet on

the metaverse is actually going to work out. What's your view?

LEVITT: I think it will, but it's a question of when, and it's a long-term investment horizon. And so, the way Mark Zuckerberg has run Facebook and

now Meta has been to make big investments and to be patient to see those investments play out.

And so, you know investors had gotten used to the numbers they were getting on the Facebook platform, on the Instagram platform, on WhatsApp. And now

it's making big investments in the future. And so, I suspect over time that that will play out. It's a very effectively highly productive innovative

business, but investors are currently getting their heads around the type of investment that needs to be made into being one of the leaders within

the metaverse.

KOSIK: Looking for a quick answer from you here. Where do you see -- or when do you see this year - when do you see inflation easing up a bit, if

it's even this year?

LEVITT: In the next couple months. I mean the base effects - the base effects -- so on a year over year basis it should start to come down.

You're already seeing things like steel prices, fertilizer prices come down. Some signs are being seen in the supply chain. Consumers saying

they've had enough, it's not a great time to buy durable goods. It's not a great time to buy cars.

So, I would expect the pressure to ease. Now, we never thought 6 percent would be something we'd hope for on inflation, but it's the rate of change

- it's the change on the rate of change that matters. It's a direction that's going to matter most for markets.

KOSIK: Yeah. It's incredible, isn't it?

All right. Thank you. Brian Levitt, the global market strategist at Invesco. Fantastic getting your perspective today.

LEVITT: My pleasure. Thank you.

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

[09:32:55]

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

U.S. stocks are up and running on Wall Street. And we've got a mostly flat start to the trading day. Tech shares are pulling back a bit after Monday's

more than half a percent drop.

Earnings are in focus once again this Tuesday. Harley Davidson reporting a surprised fourth quarter profit. Its shares are rallying in early trading.

Shares of Pfizer are weaker after cutting its full year guidance.

And Peloton is giving back much of the 20 percent gain it racked up yesterday. Peloton is slashing its revenue outlook as demand for its

exercise bikes slows. The company's CEO is stepping down, and it's cutting some -- some 20 percent of its workforce. Peloton shares rallied Monday on

speculation that it could be a takeover target.

Back to Beijing where the Winter Games are underway. Officials are strictly limiting journalist movements inside the Olympic bubble not just to try and

control COVID but also to control the narrative during the Olympics.

Selina Wang and David Culver show us how hard it is to get around the city.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SELINA WANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's been a long time since there were this many foreign journalists in Beijing. But we're strictly

controlled under COVID rules. I can't just walk out of the hotel and my driver can't just take me wherever I want to go. We have to stay in our

lane, literally.

This is the closest we can get to Beijing residents.

(on camera): He said, the police would take me if I were to walk out of the gate. It's really hard to get into China right now as a journalist. But to

cover these Olympic games, we can get in without any visa issues. But the catch is we have to stay strictly confined into what the organizers are

calling, the closed loop.

(voice-over): Other than our hotel, our only options are the Olympic venues. The authorities know where we are at all times.

DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Restrictions, lack of access, a daily occurrence for journalists living in Beijing.

(on camera): I am from the U.S., but I live in Beijing.

[09:35:00]

(voice-over): CNN has regularly had run-ins with the Chinese police, around Tiananmen Square in secretive Xinjiang and throughout my coverage of the

first COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan.

Oftentimes, our reports on subjects deemed sensitive by Chinese officials are censored in Mainland China.

As the relationship between Chinese and western leaders has crumbled, so has the International Press Corps based here. Journalists have been forced

to leave.

Perhaps, the most chilling case recently, Chinese state news anchor, Cheng Lei, an Australian citizen, detained since 2020 on an accusation of spying.

We don't know where she's being held.

(on camera): Now, the Olympic games, a carefully managed opportunity for China to re-introduce itself. Journalist like me who live here, now joined

by hundreds of new faces. Albeit, separated by barriers.

WANG (voice-over): But our sources in China lived with much greater risk. Like human rights activists, Hu Jia, a prominent credit of the Communist

Party, speaking to me from house arrest, he says that authorities are frightened and might stage a demonstration during the Olympics while the

world is watching.

He tells me he'll be locked in for months. They threatened to stop him from seeing his elderly mother if he doesn't comply. He is used to getting a

knock on the door from police, who he said had visited him four times in the past eight days.

The security of the closed loop, keeping people stay from COVID as more cases are registered among Olympic personnel. But also keeping journalist

from telling their stories.

Selina Wang with David Culver, CNN, Beijing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOSIK: After the break we've got an extended interview for you. The Latin singing stupor star, Maluma, takes touring crypto and giving back. The

talks about all that and expect some singing, too. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KOSIK: And now one of the hottest singers in the world with an eye for an opportunity. We all know him as the Columbian sensation Maluma. What you

might not know is at the age of 16, he had to choose between a career in music or one in football. Choosing music was the start of an incredible

journey to stardom at an early age. Despite his collaborations with the likes of Madonna and Ricky Martin, he's also dipped into the world of

crypto and NFTs.

[09:40:03]

Add to that, fashion tie-ups from Macy's to Versace. And from clothes to cognac and his four-year partnership with Hennessy who made him a limited-

edition bottle and a big cake for his 28th birthday which he celebrated with his mother.

So, Julia starts her interview by sending some sparkly wishes.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MALUMA, SINGER: Well, thank you. Thanks for your wishes, for your birthday wishes. Yeah, I had an amazing time. I was in Vegas. Well, first, I went to

Aspen with all my friends. We celebrated my birthday over there. We did a big party in the mountains. After that we went to Las Vegas because I had

to perform over there. I had a show.

So, I went with my friends and my family. And yeah, I had an amazing time and we celebrated, of course, the friendship that we're doing right now

with Hennessy again, has been already four years working together. And I'm happy and honored to be part of the design of this new pitch. It's a

limited edition, and there aren't going to be a lot of bottles. This new package for me is very, very important because if you see, there are a lot

of important buildings here in the box, the Hennessy box. And this built desire from Columbia. So, I feel honored to be part of the whole project

and of course being the first artist and musician who can design a package for Hennessy, the whole bottle.

JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN ANCHOR: That is pretty cool.

MALUMA: That's big.

CHATTERLEY: Do you actually drink that, by the way? I know it's a rum cocktail. But do you actually drink it? I was looking at the ingredients.

One part Campari, one-part Sweet Vermouth, and an orange peel. It's quite a sophisticated drink. Do you drink that?

MALUMA: I love it. Yeah, I love cognac. You know like every time before I go to a show, when I have to perform before the show, I drink this cocktail

that I just mentioned. You know for me, just one -- and, yeah, of course I love - I love cognac. It's been like this since we started working

together.

CHATTERLEY: And you're going to be working for another 40 years together with that sell because clearly, you're selling their product and you

cocktail. You are back on tour, and as you mentioned, in a number of European places, but you're back out there which must feel absolutely

incredible. Which song are you most excited about singing?

MALUMA: For sure, "Hawai." It's my - yeah, it's my biggest song right now, and you know when we're planning to go back to Europe, you know it was

almost impossible because COVID was happening, everything was getting super crazy around the world. And in that time, I released "Hawai" and the song

became just huge global wise. And yeah, I always wanted to perform the song in Europe because I know the song was working perfect over there.

And now we're coming back it's such a dream coming true, you know, like after one year and a half since we released the song, it's actually

happening going on tour and performing the songs for all the people in Europe. It's big. That's why the most - that's what I love the most. Going

on tour, performing for my fans, being with them. And I miss them already. So, we're ready.

CHATTERLEY: They're ready and waiting. Are you warmed up? Am I allowed to ask for a line of the song?

MALUMA: Yeah, I'm ready. I'm ready.

CHATTERLEY: Go, go, give me a line.

(MALUMA SINGING)

CHATTERLEY: Also, as part of the tour launched an NFT. It's very gold. It has unseen pictures of you as well. Was that your idea? Talk to me about

NFTs. Do you like crypto?

MALUMA: Yeah. I do. I do like crypto. I love NFTs. I love art in general. When I saw the whole NFT wave that was happening like one year ago, I was

like, I want to be part of this. I think this is the future of art. And I believe in NFTs. I really love it.

So, I met this guy Alejandro Robledo, he's from Columbia too. He's the one who designed the NFTs and I saw his art and just fell in love with it. I

wanted to collaborate with him. And we did this first NFTs that we released during the tour. And it was a big surprise for me because I knew that the

business was big, but I didn't know it was going to be like this big.

[09:45:00]

And now we're working in new projects. I don't want to say what's coming, but it's something big, important. So, everybody got to be ready because

this is going to be a game changer, too.

CHATTERLEY: More NFTs. Do you invest in crypto currency itself or you just like NFTs because of the art?

MALUMA: I have my company in Columbia. It's called Royalty World Inc. And we have - I have - we have someone who's like pretty into it. He knows a

lot about it, and we're doing important, important investments in cryptocurrency.

CHATTERLEY: You're also investing in people which I love. And I've read your story. Your family suffered steep financial crisis and you effectively

became the breadwinner which is how we get to hear your voice. And I know you've also launched a foundation now to help others. I just wonder how

that experience and what you went through in your life has allowed you to invest back in other people. I mean I love the name of it, the Art of

Dreams allowing others to fulfill theirs. Talk me through what this means.

MALUMA: Yeah. El Arte de los Suenos, the Art of Dreams, is my foundation. I have it in Columbia. For now, we want to -- we're planning to take it

worldwide. We're going to start in Mexico and the USA to maybe this year or next year. And we're hoping children that they don't have any chance, any

opportunity to grow up in their lives and doing what they want to do. These kids that dream about being artists, musicians, dancers. And we're just

trying to help them.

You know, it's a beautiful foundation that I have with my family. My sister, she's the president of the foundation. And we've been working so

hard for almost four years. We already purchased a big, big house in Columbia. And we have these children over there, and we give them - we're

giving them lessons every day, singing lessons, dance lessons. And yeah, that's the way to give back a little bit what people might contribute, they

gave me already.

CHATTERLEY: I looked to your social media presence and you have 60 million Instagram followers. You have near 8 million Twitter followers and I know

with great success comes great scrutiny. And this goes back to what you were saying there with I think giving back.

MALUMA: Thank you.

CHATTERLEY: I saw last year that you tweeted a picture of yourself getting the COVID vaccine and at a very contentious time with lots of attention and

misinformation. Why was that important for you to share with people?

MALUMA: Really need to do it because there's a lot of people that they don't trust in vaccination and there are some people who are dying. You

know, like I have a couple of people back in Columbia that they didn't want to do it. And they suffered pretty bad with COVID-19. So, for me, I'm a

tool. You know I'm a tool. I'm a bridge. I have to communicate the important things happening around the world. For me vaccination is the

priority right now.

CHATTERLEY: You know we've had a bit of a controversy, and I don't know whether you saw it here in America with Spotify and some -- not as popular

as you bet well-known artists saying that they might pull their music from Spotify if the platform didn't do more to tackle misinformation. Is that

something that you would consider because I did see you have 33.7 million monthly listeners on Spotify. Congratulations on that. Is that something

you would consider?

MALUMA: No, I wouldn't do that. I wouldn't take it too far. I wouldn't take it that far. I would try to find different ways to communicate by myself.

We cannot expect that all the platforms or other people have to share the news. You have to do it by yourself. You know, the change starts with

yourself you know.

So, for me, I wouldn't touch any digital platforms or something like that. I would do it by myself. I would create a big campaign, and I would spend

my own money and I would spend my own energy to tell people that vaccination is important. You know, I wouldn't go to anyone else but me.

CHATTERLEY: Yeah, I hear the message. You're flying high. You're the new face of desire. You have seven music videos that have $1 billion views on

YouTube. You just started a movie with JLo as well. And I saw a quote from you saying I live in a place of gratitude, which I love.

MALUMA: Yeah, for sure.

CHATTERLEY: What are you most grateful for today?

MALUMA: Healthy. I'm healthy right now. You know, the wellness. I would say that for me that's -- that's a real flexing right now. On all the things

that we're living. People that are talking about money, cars, jets and fame and whatever it is. But for me, like the real flexing right now is

something that I have to be proud of is to being healthy.

[09:50:03]

You know, I'm grateful for that because we live in a crazy, crazy time in these moments. So, for me that's a priority, too, you know to be healthy

and having my family with me.

CHATTERLEY: And the odd little cocktail, too. Maluma baby.

(LAUGHTER)

I see that you got it. I'll take it for you.

MALUMA: I'm thankful for that cocktail, too.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOSIK: Oh, yes, I have to agree with him. Good health is what matters. If you miss any of that, I'll put it on my Twitter feed.

Coming up on "FIRST MOVE."

More on Spotify. Neil Young has a message for their staffers. He says leave now. More on what the musician said about the streaming service and its CEO

next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KOSIK: Welcome back to "FIRST MOVE."

Legendary musician Neil Young has a message for anyone who works at Spotify. Get out of the place before it eats up your soul. Young's call

comes after he and other artists pulled their music from the platform amid growing criticism of podcast host Joe Rogan.

CNN's Oliver Darcy joins us now.

This, Oliver, seems like it's the controversy that just keeps giving and giving.

OLIVER DARCY, CNN SENIOR MEDIA REPORTER: Yeah, it is spiraling out of control, and it's something that the CEO, Daniel Ek, seems just not be able

to get his arms around because he addressed this controversy on Sunday night to employees talking to them about the racial slurs that Joe Rogan

had used in previous episodes of a show. And he told them they had discussions with Rogan and that some of the episodes had been removed as a

result.

But then yesterday Neil Young comes out and tells Spotify employees that they should quit. And I think there's a lot of internal distress going on

inside of Spotify. So, Neil Young coming out there and saying this is something that matters. He's the one who initially kicked off this

controversy really when he pulled his music from the library on Spotify. And then, it kind of went to -- it started being focused on Rogan's racial

slurs versus the misinformation on COVID that Neil Young was upset about. But now Neil Young is backing this and he's telling people they need to

quit before it eats your soul, in his words.

KOSIK: I know. It certainly took the headlines on this controversy. I know conservative competitor Rumble offered Joe Rogan $100 million to leave

Spotify and join them they say censorship-free. What have you heard about that?

DARCY: Yeah, Rumble is this YouTube-like competitor that is funded by a lot of conservatives. And their offer yesterday quite the deal to Rogan. So,

Rogan makes a reported $100 million over at Spotify and they came out and said that they would pay him $100 million over four years to move his

podcast over to their platform.

And you know this is something on the right that you're seeing. They are big fans of Joe Rogan. President Trump came out yesterday and also weighed

into this controversy saying that he thinks that Rogan needs to stop apologizing.

[09:55:07]

And so, if he were to move, you know, I don't think he's going to. But if he were to move over to Rumble it would certainly be, he will be welcomed

by the right.

KOSIK: All right. Oliver Darcy, thanks so much.

And finally, on "FIRST MOVE."

The Oscar nominations are here. The Netflix western, "The Power of the Dog" scored 12 nominations including for best picture. "Belfast," "Dune" and

"West Side Story" also nominated for best picture.

The nominees for best actor include, Will Smith for his role in "King Richard." And Denzel Washington in "The Tragedy of Macbeth."

And the best actress nominees include Nicole Kidman, Olivia Colman, and Penelope Cruz.

The Academy Awards are set to take place on Sunday, March 27th.

And that's it for the show. I'm Alison Kosik. Feel free to reach out to me on Instagram and Twitter, @alisonkosik. Thanks for joining us.

"Connect the World" with Becky Anderson is next. And I will see you tomorrow.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:00:00]

END