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First Move with Julia Chatterley

Russian Missile Strike Eastern City of Kramatorsk; Bank of England Hikes Benchmark Interest Rate to 1 Percent; Central Banks are Boosting Rates as Inflation Strikes; Fertilizer Maker Yara still Operating in Ukraine; Travel Recovery Drives Strong Growth at Booking Holdings; Russian Cosmonaut Formally Takes Command of ISS. Aired 9-10a ET

Aired May 05, 2022 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN HOST, FIRST MOVE: You're watching CNN. I'm Julia Chatterley in New York. If there is hell in the world it is in Azovstal

heartbreaking words from a Ukrainian official as heavy shelling continues at the steel plant in Mariupol. Images reveal what hundreds of civilians

have endured now for weeks and months relentless bombardment by Russian forces. And meanwhile inside Ukrainian troops try their best to lift

morale.

That was soldiers singing the Battle Hymn of the Ukrainian army. The words it is sweeter for us to die in battle than to live in chains as dumb

slaves. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says more than 340 people were evacuated for Mariupol to Zaporizhzhia Wednesday. During

his nightly address Zelenskyy called for a ceasefire to allow more civilians to escape.

Russia claims that will open humanitarian corridors from the Azovstal steel plant, but a commander inside the complex says the Russians have violated a

truce pledge to allow those civilians to leave. And in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions the Ukrainian military says Russian forces have had no

success penetrating frontlines over the past 24 hours. They say, a total of 11 attacks have been repulsed "Still the Russian offensive continues".

Drone footage shows devastation from airstrikes on a small town in the east, and more attacks on civilian infrastructure too. New video showing

Russian forces destroying a bridge and a railway in the central city of Dnipro. Scott McLean is in Lviv with the latest.

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Julia, yesterday Ukrainian troops reported extremely heavy fighting from the Azovstal steel plants, a co-commander of

the Azov regiment which is leading the fighting, there was practically begging the United Nations and the international community to do something

to intervene to allow people to get out.

The fighting was so intense at one point that the Ukrainians actually said that they lost contact with their fighters on the ground, though they were

able to restore it later in the day. The Foreign Minister of Ukraine said that fighters continue to hold out in the last remaining stronghold of

resistance in Mariupol.

Ukraine says that Russian fighters are trying to storm the plant though Russia denies that strongly. Late last night the Russians did seem to

extend an olive branch saying that today tomorrow and Saturday, there would be humanitarian corridors in place to get people out from underneath of

that plant.

They said that their troops would retreat they would hold their fire and that civilians would be allowed to go in any direction they so choose

either toward Russia or toward Ukrainian held territory. You recall that earlier this week, more than 100 people were successfully evacuated from

under the plant with the help of the United Nations and the Red Cross.

And yesterday, the Ukrainian President said that almost 350 people were able to evacuate from the broader city though not from the steel plant

itself. We have no word yet on the success or failure of this evacuation mission. Today though, the last time there was a successful mission. We

also heard radio silence.

The last word that we have heard from the plant though is not an encouraging one though, and that is that shelling overnight was nonstop

Julia.

CHATTERLEY: And of course that Azov Commander from within there is suggesting that the Russians have broken that truce if we get any more

details on that we will bring it to you. For now Russia missiles a stuck residential area in the City of Kramatorsk in the east, Sam Kiley, is

there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Kramatorsk was hit overnight with at least six missiles now; they have had clearly a

devastating impact. This is a heating a pumping station sewage area, the size of the building would indicate that it was in no way could have housed

any kind of military equipment.

LUDMYLLA, KRAMATORSK RESIDENT: I just got lucky. I went to the bathroom. I heard a bang. I sit down on the bed and it hit me and all the furniture

fell down.

KILEY (voice over): But the scenes here are absolutely extraordinary the way that these trees have been completely decapitated torn to shreds and

the same goes also for these homes.

[09:05:00]

KILEY (voice over): Now, amazingly, very few people here, considering the scale of the damage were injured, and none were killed. They were 25

injured six have been hospitalized one is in a critical condition. And the reason for that is that at least two thirds of the City of Kramatorsk has

already left but this without any question is yet another strike by the Russians on a civilian residential area. Sam Kiley, CNN, Kramatorsk.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHATTERLEY: Impassioned words today from the President of the European Commission on atrocities still being uncovered in Ukraine. Ursula Von Der

Leyen saying the world will never forget the crimes being committed by Russian troops during the more than two month old conflict.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

URSULA VON DER LEYEN, EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT: To see the mass graves to see the body bags to see the scars and wounds in the houses and

hospitals that have been shelled the kindergartens, the schools, it is atrocious. It is a war crime on an everyday basis that Russia is

committing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHATTERLEY: This week, the EU proposed a ban on imports of Russian oil by the end of this year as punishment for the Ukraine invasion. But the list

of member states who are not yet on board with the ban seems to be growing all this is OPEC Plus meets today to discuss the global energy supply

situation.

And Anna Stewart joins us now on this. Anna, as you and I have long discussed. It's an ambitious decision to try and enact an oil embargo but

not if you can't get consensus among all the states. What are we hearing about the horseplay or the negotiations behind the scenes to try and get

this agreed?

ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, even in the last 24 hours, the list of holdouts is actually growing and that's after this big proposal was

announced by the EU Commission and yesterday we had a tweet from the Czech Republic's Prime Minister, a lengthy one but it said the Czech Republic

will have to apply for an exemption before the capacity of oil pipelines from other countries is increased in oil imports to the Czech Republic are

secured from other sources.

IE we want the nitty gritty of where the additional oil will come from, and crucially actually how it will get to certain countries? This adds to

Slovakia and Hungary who have both said that a one year extension which was being proposed for some countries yesterday isn't enough. They say they

need a minimum of three.

And then Julia Bulgaria's Deputy Prime Minister speaking in local media yesterday and saying that if other countries ask for an extension or an

exemption, so will they. So that list is just growing so really doesn't look like it's going to get the support, it needs to be enacted as an EU

wide policy.

CHATTERLEY: It's fascinating because our regular viewers, Anna will know that we spoke to the German Finance Minister this week, and he said, look,

we're ready to do this today. But we're not going to act alone. And the argument could be made here that even if you don't enact an oil embargo,

you can substitute if you're able to do this, you can just move away from Russian oil, and you can buy from elsewhere. To what extent or not perhaps,

as the question goes, can OPEC Plus potentially help here?

STEWART: Well, there's the question of can they and as the question of will base so the meeting today, we don't expect them to announce a big ramp up

of capacity, we expect them to continue with a very gradual increase the monthly one that we've seen in smaller OPEC members, as you know, are

actually struggling anyway to meet their existing commitments.

The fact of the matter is that the larger members of OPEC do have the spare capacity. I mean, I think the EU imports around two and a half million

barrels a day of oil from Russia, while the capacity within OPEC is for an additional 4 million barrels per day from Saudi Arabia from the UAE, also

from Iraq.

So the capacity is there. We just don't expect it to come through from OPEC, particularly, of course, the China and COVID lockdowns mean that

demand is actually quite soft when you're looking at the global picture. So we don't expect any big moves there today, Julia.

CHATTTERLEY: Yes, I was say the energy prices, reflecting that fact to not expecting anything from OPEC and very little movement on a relative basis

as well after the oil embargo announcement earlier this week to tells you something. Anna Stewart thank you for that!

China's economy in reverse gear as COVID locked down strike the heart of its giant services sector, closely watched data for April showed the

sharpest monthly contraction on record. Selina Wang joins us now from Kunming, China, where she is in quarantine. Selina Wang significant chunk

of the economy of course, the services sector but what more can you expect in light of the lockdowns and the restrictions that we've seen?

SELINA WANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what that number really hammers home is that zero COVID is just pummeling all aspects of China's economy. That

services sector, as you say, is all important. It accounts for more than 50 percent of China's GDP and more than 40 percent of its employment and we

saw the numbers there we saw it contract at the second sharpest pace on record.

This comes shortly after we got the factory data showing that the factory sector had contracted for the second straight month. This is as we are

seeing COVID lockdowns across China impacting these lock downs or full or partial lockdowns impacting at least 28 cities impacting up to 185 million

people.

[09:10:00]

WANG: That is more than half of the U.S. population these lockdowns, not only snarling supply chains, disrupting people's lives, hurting the

economy. These companies they were already dealing with these rising energy and raw material costs. On top of that they've got these lock downs and

shutdowns; it's hard for them to continue operations.

But they cannot just easily pass those additional costs on to consumers since these lockdowns are impacting consumer sentiment as well. They're

pushing down consumer demand. We just saw the numbers come out of this past Labor Day holiday seeing that spending was down by more than 40 percent.

We are seeing investment banks slashed their predictions for China's GDP growth. Numera is saying that there is growing risk of a recession in the

second half of the year. And if there's any evidence that leadership is growing concern, well, just last week, Xi Jinping himself said that the

country needs to go on an all-out infrastructure spending spree to try and boost growth.

CHATTERLEY: The problem is that racked up more debt to your point, as you said, it's over half of the nation's GDP over 40 percent of employment too

which always rings alarm bells for me. And I think the collapse that we're seeing second only to what we saw in February of 2020, when the COVID

outbreak first began and we watch what was going on in China.

I guess the obvious question is what support measures not yet enough and tough for you to gauge when you're locked in your own room at Selina? But

what about the possibility of perhaps easing up some of these restrictions in the face of the pressures that we're seeing or is it more of the same

particularly for Beijing now too?

WANG: Exactly. Well, to go to your point there on the small businesses, I mean, the support that's been given to them by and large is not nearly

enough to help them to compensate them for how much these lockdowns have impacted them.

In terms of easing up these restrictions, while China's leadership has says they are doubling down on zero COVID. They even called it a "Magic weapon"

to keep China's COVID cases low. And this zero COVID strategy it's also been tied directly to Xi Jinping's leadership and outside of observers of

China very much see that he is not going to let up on the strategy, at least not until the very all important party congress coming this fall in

Beijing.

Even though they're only reporting about 50 COVID-19 cases a day they are aggressively ramping up restrictions effectively shutting down the largest

district which is home to key business and diplomatic areas, telling residents to work from home shutting many of the transportation lines,

they're rolling out its sixth round of mass testing of more than 20 million residents six rounds.

And based on CNN's calculations, just one day of mass testing for Beijing is costing the city more than $10 million. Beijing has also indefinitely

banned in restaurant dining. They've announced closures of large entertainment venue sporting venues. So continuing to see this disruption

on people's daily lives and unfortunately, there is no end in sight Julia.

CHATTERLEY: No end in sight. Massive infrastructure spending to combat the discomfort and then the pain in the interim it continues. Day 13 Selina,

you're getting there, Selina Wang thank you for that. Let me bring you up to speed with some of the stories making headlines around the world.

The W.H.O. says the real death toll from COVID is likely three times higher than officially reported. According to new data nearly 15 million people

died by the end of 2021, about 10 million more than the official tally. The World Health Organization says nearly half of the previously uncounted

deaths were in India.

The British Prime Minister has met with his Japanese counterpart for talks on trade and security. Boris Johnson and Fumio Kishida were expected to

discuss a new defense deal as well as Russia's war on Ukraine. Earlier Mr. Kishida also urged London to invest in Japan and announced plans to reduce

dependency on Russian energy.

Israeli Police and Palestinians clashed earlier Thursday in a prayer hall at the Al Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem. It's Israeli Independence Day

and groups of Jews visited the holy site. Police say Palestinians were shouting and throwing objects at them before officers entered the mosque.

Israeli forces fired rubber bullets and flash bang canisters. They say one officer was slightly injured. No Palestinian injuries were reported.

OK, so head to Singaporean Banking Giant DBS warns the Ukraine wall will cause a global slowdown. We've got the CEO and the Head of Norwegian

Fertilizer Giant Yara on working with Ukrainian farmers to avert a food crisis. That's next stay with CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:15:00]

CHATTERLEY: Welcome back! To a tightrope walk between inflation and recession the Governor of the Bank of England framing the challenge for

most global central banks today, the Bank of England raising base rates by a quarter percent to 1 percent its fourth consecutive hike. It follows the

Federal Reserve which yesterday hiked rates by half a percentage point promising more half point moves but nothing more aggressive for now that

notable bit of softening of the Feds tone helped trigger a relief rally on Wall Street Wednesday.

The Fed seems to understand that tightrope walk it's facing and the dangers of over tightening as global growth slows as we've been discussing its

evidence in the day too. Day two as U.S. stock futures softer. German factory exports show a drop of more than 6.5 percent in March. New numbers

from Turkey show inflation hitting their 70 year highs and as we mentioned earlier, China's services sector contracting last month at its second

sharpest pace on record unprecedented times for investors and for the global financial sector.

The CEO of Asia Based Banking Giant DBS put it perfectly by saying "The world has changed dramatically in the last three to four months". He says

the war Ukraine is triggering a massive global slowdown DBS recently reporting a 10 percent drop in first quarter profits so significantly above

expectations. The bank says future results are tough to forecast. DBS bank CEO Piyush Gupta joins us on the show now.

Piyush always fantastic to get your insight and wisdom here on the show, can we start first with what we're seeing from global central banks having

to hike rates to control inflation? But at the same time recognizing I think, to your point, that growth is slowing in an incredibly uncertain

environment to boot? What do you make of what we're seeing?

PIYUSH GUPTA, CEO, DBS BANK: Well, it is tricky for central banks Julia. Because, you know, clearly the specter of stagflation is on us. And what

that means is if growth rates are coming off, you need accommodative policies. On the other hand, the social politics of every country mean that

you have to be full is very focused on the patient agenda.

As you know, in Singapore, they may actually start typing sooner than most. But more recently, even central banks like the Reserve Bank of India

yesterday, surprised with mid-cycle tightening. And of course, you have the other side of the coin, which is the PBOC, which has continued to pursue an

accommodative monetary policy.

But on balance, I think both central banks are inclined to start putting their foot on the pedal. Now this obviously has consequences for the

investment environment is what's intended to be. And therefore I worry a little bit about the impact on the investment cycle in the months to come.

[09:20:00]

CHATTERLEY: You've described it as a massive slowdown, and you touched upon what Singapore is doing to try and contain rising prices India too. We've

got the war in Ukraine as one part of it, which is precipitating what we're now calling a global food crisis. But it's not the only pricing pressures

that we're seeing.

At the same time, you have to balance that with the sheer uncertainty that's created by this and perhaps the confidence not whether it's for

consumers or businesses too just make it specific for what you're seeing in your region specifically?

GUPTA: Well, all of the above. So in the first place, it is not just an energy price crisis, it has attendant consequences on the entire commodity

complex. And I really worry about food, because food prices for very specific items are beginning to shoot up quite markedly.

And I worry later in the second half of the year; you might actually start seeing the consequences of that in most of the countries in our region. So

that's one part of the problem. The second part of the problem is about you alluded to, markets have sold off. And so there is a huge crisis of

confidence.

And that shows up in just animal spirits, people are not investing, or individuals not investing, putting money to work. And as a consequence,

consumption demand is slowed down. So if you look at the major engines of growth for our region, exports, somewhat slow partly has been driven by the

COVID lock downs in China.

Consumption demand is slow, partly because this confidence issue. And the investment cycle, like I said, it's going to be a little bit uncertain on

the back of interest rate increases, and therefore most of our general drivers abroad have some question marks on them as we step into the back

end of the year.

CHATTERLEY: It's interesting, isn't it? Because when I looked at what your results showed, you can see the sort of pullback in activity in investment

banking, the fact that some of the wealth management clients are clearly saying, look, we're not sure about putting cash or, or capital to work at

this point, but the loan growth actually remains quite strong.

So I guess what leads what, in my mind is one of the critical questions for you? Do we see some of that confidence come back? And what does it take? Or

do you start to see the slowing and perhaps on the loan demand too is the smaller businesses go? OK, we're really catching a cold now as well.

GUPTA: Well, when I said that things are uncertain is because the--

CHATTERLEY: Crystal ball time.

GUPTA: You know I'll tell you an ironic thing, though, because commodity prices are up in nominal terms alone, demand is up. You know, if you had to

finance a barrel of oil, it costs 60 bucks, now it costs 110 bucks. And therefore, that actually helps and loan demand the value of demand or the

volume.

And so that is a consideration. However, I think, if global GDP is off by a percentage point is both IMF and World Bank suggest, then it is likely that

loan demand will start tapering down in the back end of the year.

Now, the flip to that those in our part of the world, China accounts for a lot and if the Chinese markets have bottomed down, and you start seeing

some pickup in the stock market in China, that might bring consumer confidence back.

And that could have a positive impact on the investment environment. The other thing that is happening is x China, countries are opening up for

travel. So the COVID seems to and people are started figuring, you know, you live with COVID.

But as a travel picks up, that also tends to help consumer demand. So like I said before, this sort of tools and all the ups and downs. I mean, they

both - values at this point.

CHATTERLEY: Yes, it's fascinating with so many questions based on that. What's the bigger concern to you, perhaps over tightening in the United

States, for example, that pushes North America perhaps closer or into recession, or the adherence to zero COVID in China, and perhaps not enough

stimulus in the form of infrastructure spending, perhaps, or simply that they can't, because they're spending such long periods in lockdown, the

slowing of which side? And the risks are greatest in your mind amid this level of uncertainty? I know it's tough to call.

GUPTA: Well Julia, I think for Asia in general, you know, both things matter. If you look back at 2013, the U.S. tightening the taper tantrum led

to a significant outflow of dollars from the region. And therefore central banks and governments had to react very positively. So obviously that could

be a concern.

At the same time, China continues to be our largest trading partner for most of ASEAN, and therefore slowdown in China is consequential as well. So

it's really a strange situation of both things do matter to us.

Having said that, I do think most Asian countries today are a lot more robust than they were five years ago at the taper tantrum.

[09:25:00]

GUPTA: Foreign exchange reserves are high. And I think, therefore, the capacity to withstand higher rates or an issue in the U.S. is probably a

little bit more than it was. Whereas the demand side from China because it reflects on consumer confidence immediately could have a slightly larger

impact on the region.

CHATTERLEY: Yes, we call it a tightrope at the beginning of the show here. And it's it feels thinner than that, quite frankly, it feels like a thread.

I would not be forgiven if I didn't ask you about the future of your crypto retail consumer offerings. I know it's a challenge.

And I've certainly had word from some startup funds in the region that are saying, look, actually, Singapore is not that friendly anymore. And perhaps

we need to move over and some I know have moved to Dubai. Piyush is it a technology issue? That means you've delayed this? Or is it a regulation or

both? And is the promise of a crypto offering from DBS coming if not this year, in 2023? What can you tell me?

GUPTA: Julia, we do have a crypto offering already except it's focused on accredited investors. So people who have the means as well as the capacity

to be able to deal with the speculative asset class. And it's doing extremely well. We have about a billion dollars of assets under custody in

crypto coins. We continue to expand that offering.

What I had contemplated was being able to take it beyond accredited investors into the mass market. And we figured that this something that

we're not likely to be able to do this year partly reflects regulatory concern about taking it to investor base that might not be suitable for it.

And partly is just that it takes somewhat longer from a technology standpoint to get all our ducks in a row. So it is something that is not

off the table. We will come back and consider it was probably like to happen a year from now rather than now.

CHATTERLEY: Yes, and the idea of protecting less sophisticated investors seems reasonable, I think, to me and to others. Piyush always great to have

you on the show thank you very much for your time! Piyush Gupta the CEO of DBS--

GUPTA: Pleasure to be on.

CHATTERLEY: Stay well fair, thank you. More after this stay with us!

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:30:00]

CHATTERLEY: Welcome back! And a reminder of our top stories today. Ukrainian Commander inside the Azovstal plant in Mariupol saying there is

fierce fighting going on as we speak. Officials say Russian forces were repelled yesterday after they breached the perimeter of the complex.

Russia claims it will open evacuation corridors for civilians from the plant today. But there is no sign yet any civilians have been able to

leave. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said 344 people were evacuated yesterday from Mariupol and the surrounding areas.

In the East Russian missiles struck a residential area in the City of Kramatorsk in the Donetsk region, at least 25 people were injured and six

were taken to hospital. Now, as we were just discussing looming food crisis as war rages on, Ukraine and Russia are key to the global food system.

Together, they make up around 29 percent of global wheat exports 19 percent of world corn supplies and 80 percent of world sunflower oil exports

released they did before the war began.

Now as costs continue to rise, one of the world's largest fertilizer makers is still operating in Ukraine. Yara which was founded in 1905 to solve the

emerging famine in Europe is supplying farmers still tending to their fields despite the dangers.

Before the war broke out, Yara CEO Svein Holsether sounded the alarm on food crises. In March, he told investors it's no longer whether there will

be a food crisis, but rather how large it will be? And he joins us now.

Svein great to have you on the show! I want to begin in Ukraine firstly, because I know you have employees there, but also because I believe you are

also managing to get fertilizer in what can you tell us what's safe to tell us?

SVEIN HOLSETHER, CEO, YARA: Thanks for having me, Julia. And let me first just say that I'm deeply concerned about the events unfolding in Ukraine,

and we condemn the Russian war. And what's happening on the ground there is it's deeply disturbing. It's heartbreaking.

And in addition to this, it has ripple effects throughout the whole world of the food system. And as you just went through the importance of both

Russia and Ukraine on the global food system is very large.

And fertilizer is a key part of this, because 50 percent of the food that is grown in the world is a direct result of fertilizer. And then for us,

it's about helping the Ukrainian farmers to keep up their production, which in this period is extremely challenging.

I mean, farmlands are being used as battlefields, we see pictures of farmers in bulletproof vests, and we see and hear stories of mines in the

field. So the farmers and, and tractors and equipment being used for odor and purpose system farming.

So this is an extremely challenging situation. But we're extremely impressed by our Ukrainian colleagues with the courage that they're showing

in being out there in the fields, helping the farmers and trying to maintain - production at as high level as possible in these very

challenging circumstances.

CHATTERLEY: Yes, it's incredible bravery. And it's such vital work to your point. And as we all were discussing, with regards to the broader food

crisis, both in Ukraine and beyond. I believe your team also at huge risk, have managed to get 120 trucks of fertilizer into Ukraine to try and

provide support to these farmers.

Again, I appreciate your to be very careful what you say for security reasons. But can you just give us some perspective on how much that is

relative to what you would ordinarily have been delivering in a normal year and what you're hearing from the Ukrainian farmers?

HOLSETHER: Sure. After three weeks following the outbreak of the war, everything stopped. And then we started to get a lot of contact from the

distributors from the farmers to try to maintain at least some supply for - to support into the growing season.

And while the normal ways of getting fertilizer into the country are cut off, and we've had to find other ways to bring fertilizer in it's still

small compared to where it should be but it's making an impact and as you pointed out to - 120 truckloads of fertilizer and then it's about getting

that to the distributors not in the fields.

[09:35:00]

HOLSETHER: And we're following that with our people to make sure it's then also used as efficiently as possible, because with lower supplies, it's

also about helping with agronomic advice.

We get the most out of every nutrient that we can bring into Ukraine now using digital tools to optimize the use of the fertilizer to get as much

crop as possible. But this is an ongoing work in order to get this out to the farmers.

And then it's also about growing the food, are the farmers able to get access to fuel? If we get a crop of size, are we able to then get it out of

Ukraine? And I was in contact with David Beasley just off the World Food Program just last week.

In Odessa and what was happening now is that the inventories and their ships in the port of Odessa that are not able to get out of Ukraine now

with food to the rest of the world. So it's incredibly complicated. And we all have a role to, to play to try to get as much production as possible at

this moment.

CHATTERLEY: I mean, we heard recently from the Ukrainian Agriculture Minister, and he said he believed that farmers had managed to plant around

20 percent for the spring season of what they would have done normally.

So that gives us I think, a sense of, of what they are managing to achieve, but also what they're not. You know, we were just showing images of some of

your facilities, Svein, and you mentioned it at the beginning of the interview too the prospect of mines the challenge the security issues.

Are you concerned that your people that are transporting these fertilizers in but also your facilities there are target? And how do you protect them?

HOLSETHER: Well, and this is extremely difficult. And I'm so impressed by the courage demonstrated by our colleagues and what they're doing every day

to support food production. And it's part of a bigger purpose as well, we're purpose driven company. And our mission is to responsibly feed the

world and protect the planet. So it's straight to the core of what we want to do to provide more food for the population.

And that calling is what is driving the organization. But again, this is above and beyond the call of duty to get out there and to support the

farmers and imagine also the challenges and the dangers of the Ukrainian farmers that they're facing every day.

So we will do whatever we can. We have trained our people with in order to deal with this. But at the end of the day, the risk and the pressure around

there, it's unimaginable really.

CHATTERLEY: Svein I want to talk to you about something else that we're seeing as well. And its puts the whole picture together. We are seeing huge

inflation in agricultural prices. We're also seeing accelerated production too for those farmers that think perhaps they can help.

They can also benefit from the high prices. We're seeing soaring fertilizer prices, as demand for that increases as well as a result of the extra

planting. I just - I fear and I wonder and I looked at your results, which was spectacular, too.

And it sort of brought it home to me again. Is there a concern of price gouging going on? Are there middlemen certain people in this process that

are perhaps benefiting to an extraordinary amount from what's going on? And how do we stop that?

HOLSETHER: Well, right now transparency, traceability being open about what is happening and raising the issues that we're faced with right now. And

yes, food prices are going up. And that's driving demand for fertilizer.

And in addition to Russia being a key producer of agricultural products, they're also a supplier of nutrients. So they're set to grow food

fertilizers. So there's a shortage of that as well and that everything is driving up the prices at this moment.

But we have to also keep in mind what happened with the food crisis back in 2007 and 8 with very high prices over three quarters of the increase in

food prices were a direct result of the lack of flow food, export bans and so on.

And that's also happening in today's environment. But as you pointed out, the profits are up. It's a direct result of higher crop prices driving

demand, but we've also been very clear that not how we want to make money. It's about supporting the farmers, helping to increase yields.

[09:40:00]

HOLSETHER: And but also to then when they do make more money also to contribute to society. So we're announcing another $25 million of Pfizer

donation in coordination with the World Food Program.

And we did that back in 2020, as well, in connection with the COVID where we were able to with our $25 million contribution, help farmers grow more

food. And we saw in countries in Africa, where we were able to bring that product in.

We were able to triple the maize yields in the first season, and these farmers were able to produce the extra yield that they were able to get was

enough to feed a million people for a whole year.

And we can do the calculation, you know, what does it mean to produce that much more food locally? Well, if we look at the numbers in World Food

Program have to pay to feed people on the ground; it's about 50 cents a day. So it's about $180 million of value.

So it's also about using the profits to do something meaningful, and that can help to lessen their back and this is a call to everyone. The World

Food Program is $10 billion short of funding now.

And that's really what needs to be done short term.

We'll do our part also call for action from other businesses, and wealthy individuals and governments to rapidly move to bring up the funding.

CHATTERELY: To step up. Yes, and to your point as well. When three quarters of previous price increases are down to barriers, we have to remove those

barriers or not put them up in the first place. And thank you for the $25 million donation to the World Food Program.

I was going to mention it if you didn't. Great to chat to you thank you for what you and your team are doing! Svein Holsether there, the CEO of Yara

we'll stay in touch, more after this stay with CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHATTERLEY: COVID clouds are out globetrotting is back travelers making up for the past two years lining up trips with a record $27 billion with

booking holdings last quarter. That's up 129 percent from a year earlier.

The firm own sites including booking.com, Kayak and Priceline and sees a key trend across its brands this year is a strong rebound in Europe.

Joining us now Glenn Fogel CEO and President of Booking Holdings, Glenn Great to have you with us!

And oh boy what a difference a year makes? I feel like this is going to be a very different conversation COVID or otherwise macro economical

certainty.

[09:45:00]

CHATTERLEY: The message is people just want to get back out there and travel, I think and then your numbers reflect that.

GLENN FOGEL, CEO AND PRESIDENT, BOOKING HOLDINGS: Well, thanks for having me. And yes, we absolutely are seeing that it was a record for us, we've

never had that level of bookings before. And it's continuing in April.

Now, we're still seeing very strong numbers. And we also are seeing our summer bookings, being well ahead of where they were in 2019 at this time.

So these are all positive signs of people wanting to travel and getting out and trying to catch up, as you say, for the last two, two and a half years.

CHATTERLEY: Glenn, you're often described as a U.S. company. But I think what our viewers and I often remind them, what we need to remember about

yours is I believe that about 90 percent of your revenues are generated internationally versus within the United States.

So you have an incredibly strong sense of, of where perhaps the greatest demand is coming from, and perhaps areas where it's slope? Can you give me

so the correlation between the bookings that you're seeing, perhaps, and the COVID restrictions that still remain in place? Clearly a very different

picture in parts of Asia compared to places like the West, the UK where you don't even have to do a COVID test now to get in?

FOGEL: Yes, that's absolutely right. Asia is the lag is definitely slower than the rest of the world, U.S., Western Europe doing very well, Eastern

Europe coming back. Obviously, the horrific war in Ukraine put a little bit of a damper on Eastern Europe in the beginning of the war in March, but

things were recovering there, too. And your point about restrictions is very important.

Because when people feel safe to travel, and when governments reduce or eliminate restrictions, that's when people start traveling more. And you're

right about in terms of requiring tests or not, one of the things that I'm still baffled by is the fact that to travel to the U.S.

You need to get a test the day before you travel, which is not being seen most of the world. And it's really hurting in terms of the U.S. incoming

travel from people outside the U.S. European can say listen to much trouble. I'm not going to go to the U.S.; there are lots of parts of the

world to go to. And we'll go to other places. So I hope the administration will make some changes there.

CHATTERLEY: Can you quantify the dampening affect that that's having? Do you have any sense Glenn just based on what you're seeing elsewhere in the

world because it is a fascinating point?

FOGEL: You know, it's hard to it's hard to know what people would do if the rules were changed. But I can just say generically that I came back from

Amsterdam last Friday, and that meant Thursday night, Friday, five o'clock flight.

So I had it six o'clock Thursday, because it'd be within 24 hours, I had to go find a place to get a test, make sure that it came back negative, then I

can come home. It's annoying, and I just don't see the real benefit to it. And we're not seeing in most of the world. So I do wish the Biden

Administration would re-examine this.

CHATTERLEY: Yes, maybe I'm oversensitive to it as well, having gone through the same process in the last week. You mentioned also some of the

challenges as a result of what we've seen in Ukraine, Russia.

And I know, at least for those two nations, it's a very tiny part of the business but more broadly for Eastern Europe and the sort of fear or

chilling factor that we saw initially. To what extent has that recovered? Can you give us any perspective?

FOGEL: Yes, no, this has been a horrific thing. And when the war first broke out, of course, the first thing I thought about was not the amount of

business we would lose it was halfway, keep our people, our employees in Ukraine safe.

What can we do and we're able to get the women in our organization able to be able to relocate them in safer places, the men of course, who are of the

age where they must remain in Ukraine, they already in Ukraine, that was the first thing.

But we also thought what can we do to help the people of Ukraine? So working with our partners, we created a no commission platform where people

who are refugees from Ukraine, going to select countries in Europe, we have homes and hotels that people can use if you're a refugee for free, or

greatly reduced amount of money.

And we now have over 30,000, Ukraine, refugees have been able to take advantage of this platform and find a place where a bed, a roof over their

heads, a private bathroom, things they really need so they can figure out what they're going to do next.

And we're expanding it. And we just had an agreement with Hilton, and Krista Senate, the CEO there, what an incredibly great guy. Hilton's

participating with us, we created a new platform.

We're working with the UN High Commission for Refugees, that's their refugee agency, and working with NGOs, to be able to find which refugees

need housing the most. And those people are going to be able to go through our platform to Hilton Hotel.

That has been designated to be able to take in some refugees, and we really want to expand this further. So doing what we can, and yes, I worry about

the travel business too. Of course, I'm concerned about what is the impact on our numbers.

Eastern Europe is coming back now. It was hurt at the beginning, but the first thought in my mind was helping the people before being so terribly

affected by this.

[09:50:00]

CHATTERLEY: I mean, guy, that's a brilliant response. And I'm sure if there are people watching that could perhaps benefit from that facility, they can

find it on booking.com. The website, is it obvious on the landing page, they can go to Ukraine.

FOGEL: You're looking it's not our end, don't forget now we have the NGOs participating, they're going to - they're vetting the people to make who

are the people who need this, who are the refugees that really need it.

That's really the best way we can do this. Because what we really want to do is have a system that is fair, equitable, and making sure we're giving

the most help to the people who need it the most.

CHATTERLEY: And Glenn very quickly, your workers, they're the ones that remained, how are they doing?

FOGEL: It's hard. Look this is a terrible situation for so many people. And it's interesting, the dichotomy between so many people excited about

traveling our business people are exciting to see the world again, travel, see your friends, family enjoy life.

In other parts of the world it's not the same. And it's you watch it on your television or wherever you get your news and it's really striking the

tip and happy people traveling and join other people it's tough.

CHATTERLEY: We'll keep talking about it, Glenn, congrats on the growth of the business and what you're seeing in the recovery and also, thank you for

what you're doing for those suffering. Glenn Fogel CEO and President of Booking Holdings there thank you, more after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHATTERLEY: Welcome back! Brazil's President lashing out at American Actor Leonardo DiCaprio his recent comments about the importance of the Amazon

rainforest in the climate crisis, with deforestation of the Amazon advancing at a record pace.

DiCaprio is actively urging Brazilians to vote in that country's election in October, but President Jair Bolsonaro has allowed expensive development

of the Amazon since 2019 has pushed back. He denounced the actors remarks about the Amazon is nonsense. And said DiCaprio should "Keep his mouth

shut".

And now, high above Brazil onboard the International Space Station this is spirit of cooperation despite events back on Earth. Right now four

astronauts are on their way home after spending half a year on board.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And the Crew Dragon from the International Space Station the orbital outpost completes their six month mission.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHATTERLEY: The returning crew capsule is expected to splash down off the Florida coast early on Friday. Before leaving NASA astronauts Tom Marshburn

formally handed control of the space station to Russian Cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev. The friendly handover was especially meaningful given the war in

Ukraine raging below them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM MARSHBURN, NASA ASTRONAUT: And I relinquish control of the command of the space station to you.

OLEG ARTEMYEV, RUSSIAN COSMONAUT: --thank you for friendship it in the unbelievable time together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[09:55:00]

CHATTERLEY: And that's it for the show. If you've missed any of our interviews today they will be on my Twitter and Instagram pages shortly you

can search for @juliachatterleycnn. We'll see you tomorrow. "Connect the World" is up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:00:00]

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