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First Move with Julia Chatterley
NATO Summit Begins as War in Ukraine Continues; Erdogan Agrees to back Sweden's Bid to Join NATO; Bildt: NATO Should Support Ukraine as much as Possible; Inside Amazon on its Prime Day Shopping Bonanza; Felton: AI will help Personalize Website Experience; Transgender Partnership Sparks Bud Light Boycott. Aired 9-10a ET
Aired July 11, 2023 - 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: A warm welcome to "First Move" great to have you with us for an hour of high powered diplomatic
deliberations just ahead, meeting greeting leaders of the 31 NATO members and more gathering in Lithuania for a crucial two day Summit the urgent
question of how to handle Ukraine's future membership remains front and center?
NATO Secretary General promising a "Clear path forward" Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, though demanding a more urgent definitive timetable,
criticizing NATO on Twitter and suggesting in this case that uncertainty is weakness.
Still, new defense commitments to Kyiv have been announced the Lithuanian lowdown just ahead plus, Turkeys turn, Turkish President Erdogan suddenly
dropping his opposition to Sweden's accession to NATO.
The final roadblock to getting all Nordic nations under the NATO security umbrella, Erdogan hoping to advance Turkey's bid to join the EU in return.
New U.S. weapons sales commitments to Turkey on their way too Sweden also promising closer economic ties to the country.
Former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt will join us later to discuss all the details surrounding that. And in the meantime, primed for Prime Amazon
kicking off this year's Prime Day sales event, a critical test of consumption strength globally and also, of course, a gauge of Amazon's
online.
Amazon Senior Vice President for worldwide operations will be along to discuss Prime's promise and how generative AI yes, you can count on it
might transform the online shopping experience.
In the meantime, its prime time on Wall Street too ahead of the U.S. stock market open futures in the green after Monday's advanced too. This week is
all about Wednesday's U.S. inflation reading and in the meantime, a mixed day as you can see across Europe.
UK stocks currently unchanged in the session bond yields there soaring to 15 year highs on record wage growth. More for the Bank of England to do in
terms of rate hikes and Asia advancing Chinese stock on the rise after Beijing's fresh support to its ailing property sector the HANG SENG there
the outperformer.
A busy day as always, and we do begin in Vilnius, President Joe Biden welcoming the Turkish President's about turn on Sweden's bid to join the
alliance.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: And this historic moment, adding in Finland and Sweden to NATO is consequential. And your
leadership really matters.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHATTERLEY: Sweden's application of course must now be approved by the Turkish parliament. Nic Robertson joins us now. Nic positive momentum as
far as some Sweden's entry, future entry into NATO is concerned, far more complicated the diplomatic dance taking place over how Ukraine evolves in
their relationship with NATO and clearly presents a Zelenskyy wanting concrete details.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, he's saying in his tweet, which does sound quite sharp that this is discussion, but it's being
had a without Ukraine in the room.
And it's always been the position of Ukraine's allies that the future of Ukraine would be discussed with Ukraine in a room that was visibly actually
the war in Russia. But Zelenskyy seems to be taking exception that their future as a member of NATO is being discussed without them in the room.
And that's given that, at this meeting of NATO, there will also be a special Ukraine NATO meeting and an order or meeting where President
Zelenskyy will be in so he's saying this is discussion is happening without us.
And his point, quite simply, this is discussion about a path to become a NATO member, not about becoming a NATO member. And you know, if you look at
President Zelenskyy's track record through the war, it has been very demanding of allies and partners.
But it's generally been calling for what has later become very clear that Ukraine needs in terms of weapons and ammunition. One of the reasons
potentially that they're struggling at the moment in their fight against Russia to push them back, is because the weapon supplies have been slow in
coming initially.
So when President Zelenskyy says we need this now we need to know about Ukraine's NATO membership now. This is the type of language he's used all
along to try to get what he wants. I think he very clearly understands the issue for NATO.
That if Ukraine was to come in right now, then that would invoke Article V and all the other NATO members would be in a war with Russia I think he
understands that but I think he wants this higher degree of certainty.
[09:05:00]
I think we need to go to need to check his language. At the end of the Summit, he generally comes into these issues hot and hard. And speaking in
a very tough language and at the end will sound more diplomatic is what I expect.
CHATTERLEY: A brilliant communicator I think all the way along and to your point he's asked for things ahead of time and forced the conversation
earlier that then is presented, whether that's weaponry or beyond what's the best they can hope from this meeting?
ROBERTSON: Security guarantees political, military economic, because that's what seems to be on offer. That's what's been discussing. You know
President Biden at the weekend speaking about the possibility of in Israel type scenario where you get the high tech weapons.
You get the training for the high tech weapons. You get to know that the full military muscle and potential to supply that to you is standing right
behind you. So that's some of the language obviously, some of this may come out in bilateral relations rather than sort of as multilateral, all of
NATO, all speaking with precisely the same voice.
But that commitment of money and high tech weaponry to continue will allow Ukraine better to plan because clearly, it doesn't look like it's going to
take back all the territory at once this year, better plan ahead for next year and the following years.
But what he's looking for -- Zelenskyy is looking for is that absolute concrete language that gives them that knowing hundred percent guarantee
that the door to NATO opens pretty much as soon as the door to the war closes. And that don't seem to be where we're at the moment.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, uncertainty is weakness. To quote him in that tweet, some greater clarity required. Nic Robertson, thank you. OK, now to some
potential wartime profiteering. Some well-known Western companies are accused of not keeping their word after vowing to pull out of Russia.
Researchers at Yale found big firms like Heineken, Unilever and Mondelez have not joined the corporate Exodus. Matt Egan joins us now. Matt, I
remember talking to companies at the time and they were saying, look, it's complicated. They have Russian workers to protect as well. What did this
research find?
MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Well Julia, this corporate exodus from Russia really is unprecedented. And it began in the days and weeks after the war
started. And it really dealt a serious financial and even symbolic blow to Moscow.
But now we are learning from this research from Yale Professor Jeff Sommerfeld. That is some companies are still very much in Russia.
Sommerfeld's research found that several consumer facing companies including Unilever, Philip Morris, Mondelez, Heineken, WeWork and Nestle.
That all of them despite the fact that they promised to either completely get out of Russia or at least drastically scaled back their presence there.
All of them are very much still inside of Russia. Now Sommerfeld told me that Heineken in particular is the poster child for this, even though
Heineken promised to leave Russia.
Here we are about 14 months later, and Heineken still has according to Yale, seven breweries in Russia, 1800 employees there. And Sommerfeld says
that he wants consumers to realize that if they're supporting these brands, they are supporting something that fuels the Putin regime.
He told me "It's beyond disappointing. It's shameful and unethical. They're breaking their promises. They are functioning as wartime profiteers". Now
this research from Yale is based on whistleblowers, corporate documents on the ground experts, students who are even inside of Russia, and media
reports.
Many of the companies that were named by Yale who got back to us, as we reported on this, they did point out this issue that you flagged, Julia,
which is that it's complicated. It's not easy to get out of Russia, there are regulatory restraints.
Heineken, for example, told me that they think the war in Ukraine is a, "Terrible human tragedy". They say they are committed to getting out of
Russia. They even have a deal to potentially sell their presence in Russia. But that deal has not gotten regulatory approval just yet, Julia.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, it is complicated. And the Russians change the law as well to make divestitures more difficult. So you have to literally walk away
from those assets rather than be able to sell them off.
So it is complicated by that. But if you're offering new products, and expanding your range, for example, and I think that's a different thing.
Did any of those companies not respond at all, Matt, at least for now?
EGAN: Yes. There were a few that we didn't hear from, I think that one of the other recurring themes from companies that we did hear from is that
they don't want to hurt innocent people here. They don't want to hurt some of their customers in Russia.
They don't want to hurt their employees in Russia. And so they're trying to figure out a way to leave and not add to the instability but what's
interesting here is when I raised that point with the Yale Professor Jeff Sommerfeld you know he said that is actually the point.
[09:10:00]
The whole point, in his view of this exodus is to pressure Russian society to make the average person in Russia aware of the war to actually feel the
impact to have their daily lives disrupted. And he said, ultimately, the goal is to have the people aware of that, and ask why this is happening and
really put pressure on the Russian Leader Vladimir Putin himself.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, it's an argument that I think can be made in the early days of the war. 500 plus days later, it's a different question. And a
different answers, perhaps too. Matt great report thank you, Matt Egan there!
A day of disruption and resistance is what Israeli protesters are calling it they're ramping up demonstrations against government moves to overhaul
the Israeli judicial system. Critics say it will undermine democracy. Police have arrested 66 people so far this Tuesday. Hadas Gold is in the
Ben Gurion Airport, and joins us now live. Hadas I can see you can barely hear me talk to me about what people they're saying and how many people are
gathered?
HADAS GOLD, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Yes Julia we're at Ben Gurion Israel's main airport. And as you can tell protesters have essentially a
rival level and they've essentially blocked the lanes of traffic here will be arriving to pick up.
Now we know that there are other protesters elsewhere in the airport, as well as in cars walking the streets. And this is part of this national day
of disruption protests began early this morning. They were at the Supreme Court. They were in the north of Israel. They've been in downtown Tel Aviv,
and they're going to continue throughout the day.
Now, we have been covering these protests now for months. But the reason that they have a renewed vigor to that today is because last night the
coalition government push forward with the legislation of this judicial overall had been frozen for several months after that massive general
strike in March.
Shut down everything in the country, including the McDonald's. The Defense Minister has come out against the judicial overhaul. There have been
attempts at negotiation, but those failed. And so now the coalition government, we have made the record in a piecemeal fashion, I apologize if it's getting super loud here. The protesters
clearly are reacting to something we know there is a massive police presence here.
So truffle back, somewhere in the crowd, the police are moving to arrest people, as you said, you know, there been more than 66 arrests. There have
been at least a dozen injuries in light condition. But you can feel that the emotion and the intensity is definitely aping up here because of the
legislation that was passed last night.
Now it's just one aspect of this overhaul has to do with Supreme Court, and whether they can decide the government actions are unreasonable. But it
almost doesn't matter what that legislation would have meant, because of this massive overhaul package for these protesters. That is unacceptable.
And that's why they're coming out in force. And they're coming out so much to enforce some of them are even saying they're planning to fix in downtown
Tel Aviv to really maintain an even more permanent residence.
They say they don't plan on backing down until this traditional overall is completely off the table. But the coalition Benjamin Netanyahu that while
they've changed aspects of that legislation they're pushing forward with it, Julia.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, so it seems the protests will continue. Hadas thank you so much for that and protect your voice and to shout over that noise Hadas
Gold there. OK straight ahead, a major move to kick start the NATO Summit we'll discuss what President Erdogan's about face means Sweden, Former
Prime Minister of the nation after the break.
And later time for Prime; Amazon's annual two day shopping event underway and AI is already helping to get those products to your door. The company's
Senior Vice President for worldwide operations joins us next.
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CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to "First Move" a major hurdle has been cleared in Sweden's bid for to membership.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JENS STOLTENBERG, NATO SECRETARY GENERAL: This Summit is an historic Summit because we have already made an agreement that ensures that Sweden will
become a full-fledged member of the alliance. And this is good for Sweden. It is good for Turkey. It's good for the whole NATO alliance.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHATTERLEY: On the eve of the Summit in Lithuania, the Turkish President agreed to support Swedish membership. President Erdogan had blocked Sweden
from joining NATO for more than a year. And earlier Tuesday, U.S. President Joe Biden called the President's move a historic moment, saying he's
confident the Turkish parliament will approve Sweden's application. Arlette Saenz joins us now.
Arlette it's not just about Sweden, of course, we continue to bring the focus back to Ukraine. And I think the difficulties in agreeing the path
forward for Ukraine and even coming up I think with a statement on how that will proceed. And the United States I think at the forefront of that?
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes Julia, you know, President Biden is really hoping with this Summit to show this strengthen
and united front for the NATO alliance. The fact that Turkey made that stunning reversal and moved ahead with approving Sweden to join the
alliance is one of those signals of unity that the White House is trying to promote, as the Summit has kicked off today.
But there is already a major flash point emerging around the idea of Ukraine, eventually joining NATO. Now President Biden, before even coming
to the Summit said that now is not the time for Ukraine to join the alliance.
He cited the fact that war against Russia is still ongoing. And because of NATO's Article V, if Ukraine were to join that would dive these NATO
countries directly into conflict with Russia. That is something that the President and other allies don't want to see at this moment.
The President's also argued that there are so reforms that Ukraine needs to make before they can join the NATO group. And earlier today, National
Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said that the NATO allies are going to try to send a positive and unified signal towards Ukraine when it comes to a
pathway towards membership.
But we've already heard an incredibly fiery response from Ukrainian President Zelenskyy. He is set to arrive here at the Summit today and in a
tweet earlier this morning Zelenskyy said that it's absurd that there would not be any timetable laid out for a possible invitation or membership into
NATO.
Zelenskyy has really been seeking security guarantees and a clearer pathway, clearer timeline laid out for when that joining of NATO could
potentially happen. That's also something that some Baltic countries have called for as well as they want to see an early timetable for Ukraine's
entry into the alliance.
But the White House and President Biden have simply been sticking by their stance that now is not the time to join. National Security Adviser Jake
Sullivan would not set a timetable for when the U.S. believes Ukraine can join NATO.
But this certainly will be an issue that will come up as President Biden sits down for a one on one meeting with Zelenskyy tomorrow. Now in just a
few hours, President Biden is also set to meet in a bilateral setting with Turkish President Erdogan after Erdogan had made that announcement say that
he will approve Sweden's accession into NATO.
That of course will still have to go through the Turkish parliament still has to have a series of votes. But it's worth noting what a remarkable move
that is? If you just think a little over a year ago both Finland and Sweden both countries that are typically non-aligned sought their membership in to
NATO.
[09:20:00]
Now they're moving one step closer, really expanding the NATO alliance even further one of those strengths of unity that the President is trying to
stress during his two day trip here.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, one trip, certainly for that more progress required Arlette Saenz, great to have you. Let's talk more about that. Joining us
now is Carl Bildt. He's the former Prime Minister of Sweden and he's the co-Chair of the European Council on Foreign Relations, sir, fantastic to
have you on the show.
Let's talk about the Turkish about turn, having suggested that they wanted to extract perhaps some closer alignment with the EU suddenly turning
around hours later and saying fine, we stepped back. What do you make of it?
CARL BILDT, FORMER PRIME MINISTER OF SWEDEN: Well, I don't think they step back entirely. There was a problem, where the talks were complaining with
Sweden that we'd been somewhat perhaps somewhat too lenient with the PKK terrorist organization and that was taken into account by the Swedish
government and action was taken.
And I think that satisfied the Turkish authorities, then they were also keen to reinvigorate their relationship with the European Union, which is
centrally a good thing, not an easy thing has to be said, but essentially a good thing for strategic reasons.
And the Swedish government was able to make some political move in that direction as well. So I think that was a meeting of minds at the end of the
day, or after the bumpy period to put very mildly.
CHATTERLEY: I think that's very mild. What else because it was a moment of it was a moment of maximum leverage, after a year for Turkey at this
moment? So whatever they wanted to extract now was the time. You've talked about, obviously, the Swedish moves.
And I think that did and I agree with you assuage some of the concerns, what else ahead of that meeting, particularly with them? The two
Presidents, the U.S. President, of course and President Erdogan?
BILDT: Yes, but I think if you look at the historical record of President Erdogan as a negotiator, and he often starts out by asking for the move,
and often does that in fairly harsh language as well. But at the end of the day, is offered a fairly realistic operator.
And so at the end of the day, he found that, yes, Sweden has met and is meeting the core target concern on PKK. Not more than we are doing. And
secondly, he was able to get some language on the EU relationship, which remains to be seen what they mean. But it's a political signal that could
be of some important further down the line.
So yep, it was, as you said, bumpy that were a mild way of putting it. I agree with that. But at the end of the day, we are where we are, which is
highly satisfactory, I think, from both points of view.
CHATTERLEY: And the Russian response. What about repercussions there, they suggested that Turkey itself is sort of heading into unfriendly nation
territory, is that something else that President Erdogan can manage?
BILDT: Well, there have been some developments in the last few days prior to the NATO -- meeting where President Erdogan made a number of moves that
had made the Russians extremely upset.
CHATTERLEY: Yes.
BILDT: Releasing prisoners from the assault and signed an agreement with Ukraine on the development or production of drones in Ukraine. So I see
that Foreign Minister Lavrov has been calling anchor several times and saying I don't like what you're doing. But instead, President Erdogan goes
to Vilnius and acts there.
I think that's an important thing. Let's see what that means. Then, of course, we have had some sort of more verbal statements by -- , Moscow
against our NATO membership. But I think it's good to stay with that. They have no means of reacting and a reason to do it either by the way.
CHATTERLEY: If Sweden's hopes to join NATO have been bumpy, then how would you describe Ukraine's efforts are very fiery. I think President Zelenskyy
coming into this meeting demanding a concrete timeline and path for entry, and assurances, I think security insurances.
BILDT: Yes, and I mean, it's difficult not to have sympathy with him. He is fighting a war for the survival of his nation, and he wants to have as much
support as he can get. And I think NATO should give as much as possible. Membership tomorrow might be difficult for a number of reasons.
But I should be clear pathway. And then I think the most important thing is to get as much concrete support now, military, get financial support, all
of the things that are needed for Ukraine to win this particular war. And then, of course, they will be welcome in later, and I would hope, further
down the line in the European Union as well.
CHATTERLEY: President Biden coming into this meeting said, Well, I think every other leader including President Zelenskyy knows which is that it's
not feasible to allow Ukraine to enter NATO before the end of the war for all sorts of military reasons clearly.
[09:25:00]
Was he right to state it though in such stringent terms, or could he have been more diplomatic. It sort of created an equal and opposite response, it
seems from President Zelenskyy.
BILDT: Yes, it did and they both have, of course, to take the respective domestic constituencies into account. I think Kyiv, Zelenskyy knows roughly
where things are. And of course, he wants to have as much as out of this NATO summit, as he can both in terms of the verbal assurances, verbal
assurances also concerning what's going to be in the future.
But then what more can be given in terms of military supplies and financial support? And I'm fairly certain that the end of this meeting, there will be
something that sort of meets the key demands of everyone, including all of those Europeans, who are extremely keen to give Ukraine as much support as
we can.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, I wonder whether NATO membership in a strange way is a moot point after what we've seen from the Russian army in Ukraine, because
if this performance has anything to go by there. They appear simply incapable of taking on a current NATO nation, or one that's even more
closely aligned in the case of Ukraine. Is that too strong a statement to make?
BILDT: -- telephoned some thought -- .
CHATTERLEY: Oh, I think we've lost him. Carl, can you hear me, no, OK, interesting, way not to answer the question, as well, great to chat to him
Carl Bildt, Former Swedish Prime Minister and co-Chair of the European Council on Foreign Relations. We thank him there.
OK, coming up on "First Move", a chip plan called off why Foxconn is dropping nearly $20 billion partnership in India, the details next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:30:00]
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to "First Move", and a top tier Tuesday on Wall Street to U.S. stocks on the rise for a second day as investors gear up for
a key read on U.S. consumer inflation. On Wednesday Fed policymakers also out in force this week, many of them expressing the need for higher
interest rates to help bring inflation further down.
Second quarter earnings season also coming into view, major banks began reporting results on Friday of this week and companies in the news today
include Microsoft it's announcing a new unspecified round of job cuts on top of the 10,000 layoffs announced earlier this year.
The new cuts will affect customer support and sales teams when we get any further details on that we will let you know, in the meantime, Foxconn,
pulling the plug, on a major project in India. The Taiwanese company best known as a phone manufacturer of the Apple is backing out of a $19 billion
partnership to build a chip factory in Asia's third largest economy.
Anna Stewart joins us on this. Anna, I have to say they've got previous what do we know about the reasoning behind this decision?
ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER: Well, this deal was huge $19 billion. You can imagine that disappointment probably from the Indian government. Although I
have to say they're saying this doesn't make any difference to their ambitions to be you know a tech manufacturing hub in the world.
What went wrong here because Foxconn has a presence in India? It knows how to do business in India. It's got multiple facilities and two states. This
is the statement we had from them saying both parties so it and Vedanta which is the Indian company, it was partnering with mutually agreed to part
ways.
This is not a negative. There was recognition from both sides that the project wasn't moving fast enough. And they now say they will apply for a
government program that subsidizes the setting up of a chip or electronics display factory. As you say the slight disappointment here is Foxconn does
leave in its wake sort of trail of failed relationships.
That sounds like a terrible boyfriend, isn't it? Really, if you look back at Wisconsin, the factory that Foxconn had promised back in 2017, that were
going to be a $10 billion investment. Four years later, a few empty buildings and nothing else. And it all really collapsed. They signed a new
deal with Wisconsin, but it was a fraction of that initial investment.
And just a couple of weeks ago, there was that story about Lordstown Motors filing for bankruptcy and actually accusing their former partner and major
shareholder Foxconn of helping their financial ruin. Foxconn denies this but there is no doubt that they do have this slightly awkward history now
of some failed relationships.
And I think if they sign a future deal with any government, I wouldn't be surprised if someone said show me the money before they get too excited,
Julia.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, it doesn't sound like a bad boyfriend. It sounds like an ex, Anna. -- Well, there are some great cause conditions in there as well.
Thank you for that. OK, coming up after the break hundreds of thousands, millions of boxes. It doesn't come any bigger than Amazon and on one of the
busiest days of the year for sales. We're live inside a fulfillment center finding out how it all works, that's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:35:00]
CHATTERLEY: And welcome back, have no doubt Amazon addicts will be furiously scaring their screens as the annual Prime Day shopping event gets
underway. Last year 200 million Prime members worldwide bought over 300 million items. It makes you wonder how the workforce copes.
Well, here come the robots in 2022, 1 billion packages making up an eighth of all orders worldwide was sorted by one of these. Robin, the robot is an
integral part of Amazon's broader handling systems. Logistics, of course play a crucial part of the company's operations as it integrates artificial
intelligence further into the business.
It's also managing a multitude of other changes, including reducing its headcount post pandemic. And John Felton is Senior Vice President for
Worldwide Operations at Amazon. And he joins us now from their facility in Melville in New York, John, fantastic to have you on the show.
Let's talk specifically about the prime event to begin, I've seen it compared to Christmas in July. Just talk about the volumes you're expecting
and how that compares to the rest of the year?
JOHN FELTON, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF WORLDWIDE OPERATIONS AT AMAZON: Yes, I think Christmas in July is a good explanation for it. It's our annual
event we're now going into our ninth year of having Prime Day. And it's something that we get excited for every year. It's the whole idea of Prime
Day is about how do we say thank you to our most loyal customers, our Prime members.
And the best way we do that is by giving them a trucking amount of value. Last year, Prime members saved over $1.7 billion on Prime Day. And this
year, we're hoping to have even more savings. We've got more deals than ever before. We're doing Prime Day in 25 different countries. And so we're
really excited about how it's going and we're excited for a great two days here.
CHATTERLEY: Is there a pattern in where you see the biggest bump in terms of sales over this two day period? And how do you coordinate the logistics
for the delivery of that accordingly?
FELTON: Yes, it's a pretty good I mean, it ramps up kind of during the day. And so the daytime is definitely more you see a little bit of bump kind of
as you go into the evening hours. One of the fun stats that I have, actually, Japan, the last minute of Prime Day in Japan is the biggest I've
ever of the product.
I'm not sure I can explain why that is, but it happens every year. So it's a fun little bump at the end. But the logistics side, I mean, a lot of the
while I'm here in Melville, New York. And a lot of the magic happens here. And it's really is our employees that is what makes it special here.
And they get excited for Prime they just as much as Prime members get excited. And so we'd love the employee experience. I was talking to a bunch
of employees yesterday, and they just get fired up to deliver for customers. They're excited about that. One of things I'm really proud of
when you think about kind of the employee experience, Amazon is about great pace.
We now have $19 an hour, which is over $1 more year on year, we've got great benefits sort of day one. And so we really do think about kind of
what's the right thing for the employee, we are really focused on up- skilling. And so we've made an up-skilling pledge of over $1.2 billion.
And that's an incorporated kind of pre paying for college tuition or incorporates really thinking about how do we help with GED's? How do we
feel for English as a second language? And also how do we help with kind of people on their Amazon career path? And so what does it mean it gives us
thinking about kind of maybe I can go from an hourly associate pick into a maintenance tech or robotics tech.
And so a lot of different ways of thinking about the career path at Amazon but it really is Prime Day is special because the employees and that's what
makes me happy to have a lot of fun.
CHATTERLEY: Does that mean a lot of overtime John, do you pay them overtime?
FELTON: When necessary? We try not to but when necessary. Everyone is earning overtime and time and a half pay which does get people excited for
--
CHATTERLEY: I'm sure, but you try not to pay them overtime because you just don't want to burn people out. Is that the message?
FELTON: We don't want to burn people out, yes.
CHATTERLEY: Yes.
[09:40:00]
FELTON: We like to have the 40 hour workweek but times like this where there's more volume we will pay time and a half and employees do get
excited about that.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, I mentioned that robotics stat, which was an eighth of the packages that you delivered on an annual basis in 2022 were sorted filtered
by robots. Is that a job that used to be done by some of those workers? Or is it just facilitating the same number of workers and just making them
more efficient?
FELTON: Yes, the way we kind of think about robotics and kind of Amazon has been, I think, the number one job creator across the world in the last
couple of years. And that's as we've been investing in robots. And so robotics just helps our employees do their jobs better. So behind me, you
see both employees, and then there are robots that are moving the shelves around.
And so what it used to happen be the employee would have to walk many miles a day. And now there's now the robots will bring the items to the
employees. So they can focus on picking and stowing. And so it's that collaborative robotics that makes jobs safer, makes jobs more productive,
and makes jobs easier that we're really focused on.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, I love the point that you make about safety as well, I'm sure you as I'm certainly we in the United States are watching the
negotiation between Teamsters and UPS. They represent around 340,000 UPS workers. And this is something that's existed for many years at UPS.
But John, I have seen people referring to this as perhaps an eye into the future of what a unionized Amazon workforce would look like. How closely
are you following that? And what's your view on that? Is unionization better for workers? Or do you think Amazon workers are better without it
and why if so?
FELTON: Yes, so we're, talking about UPS, UPS has been a longtime partner, a very good partner of ours, and so we're watching it closely with them.
The good news for when I think about my network is over the last few years, we've built kind of the transportation capacity, nearly the size of UPS.
And so vast majority of packages that we deliver, especially on Prime Day, are delivered through our network and so we think we'll be impacted by any
sort of kind of worker disruption a lot less than other people. But UPS has been a great partner over the years, and we continue to work very closely
with them.
CHATTERLEY: And the unionization threat?
FELTON: For me, I love the kind of direct connection that I have with my employees. And that is what yesterday, I was talking to a lot of employees
around here, and they're excited for Prime Day, they're excited about kind of what we're doing. They love the great pay, they love the benefits.
They love the environment here. And so feel really good about having that direct connection with our employees. And that's where we think we want to
go.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, interesting. I've heard of certainly business leaders who say they like the consolidated message of a union, but your touch point
with workers as an interesting counter. Let's talk about AI because I know artificial intelligence, automation, that kind of technology is long.
We're talking decades, it had been in use at Amazon across the business, but generative AI specifically, John, talk to me about that in terms of the
customer experience and to make the question more specific. Let's think Amazon Prime 2028. So five years ahead, what generative AI going to mean,
for the customer experience?
FELTON: Yes, it's going to change a lot of things we're very excited about kind of where generative AI is going. I think the last couple months has
changed a lot of people's thinking about what this could do is you said earlier, Amazon has been using AI for decades.
And when I think about kind of my business, I've got a supply chain optimization technology team that has to manage kind of, we've got a
catalog of over 400 million items. And so we're thinking about what is the forecasting, what is the buying that we need to do on 4 million items.
And we have to do that every day. And so the AI that is used, there is going to be very deep, very impressive technology. We also think especially
on Prime Day personalization, that it uses a lot of the AI technology that we have, and your website experience is going to be personalized to you
even better than it was before because of AI technology.
The robotics that we talked about, we've got 750,000 mobility robots running around the world. And that all uses AI technology for kind of how
do we kind of synchronize them and get them moving in the right way. And then my last one that I get excited about is what we call fleet age, which
is on our vans in our last mile fleet.
And that helps our mapping and our routing. And so it is understanding kind of where we're doing. And then routing improvements just improves the fuel
efficiency, improves the carbon impact that we have of our routing. So we're kind of AI, it's been amazing and incredibly helpful for us.
And I agree with you kind of where we're going in the future. I think it's going to change the game for how you think about shopping, how you think
about productivity, with software development, there's just a lot of goodness, that's going to be coming from that.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, and search because I know a lot of people search on Amazon before they get to other browsers. And sometimes that can be a little
prospect. So any help on the search function, and functionality for AI and perhaps some of the feedback from customers would be useful too. John, can
we expect that hallucination free?
FELTON: Yes, there's a lot that we're investigating, and it can I think, as we've kind of described it, there's kind of different layers in that
application layer of -- how we're going to use generative AI is going to change the game on a lot of things?
[09:45:00]
How do you think about kind of what your shopping assistant really looks like? How do you think about what customer service really looks like? There
are a lot of improvements that we're going to become at rolling out over the coming months and years that I think are going to be really changing
how people think about shopping on Amazon and how people think about interacting with Amazon?
CHATTERLEY: Final quick question, Prime 2023 is going to be bigger than 2022.
FELTON: That's the hope we've got more deals than ever before. And so as I said earlier, kind of Prime members save $1.7 billion last year, and I'm
hoping they save even more this year. And so it's been amazing to kind of see some of the deals that we have. We've got -- off the top selling toys,
up to 75 percent off Amazon devices.
There's amazing deals that we have. But the fun part about Prime Day is there's a deal for everybody. I know I've got friends who they use it for
to go buy their more toothpaste, the more shampoo that you get your everyday essentials you've been on deal. And so that's the fun part of --
something for everybody.
CHATTERLEY: Fantastic, they should have you out there advertising. John, great to chat to you thank you good luck.
FELTON: Exactly, thank you so much --
CHATTERLEY: -- John Felton there, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Operations at Amazon, thank you. Still ahead let no idea on food waste, go
to waste will introduce you to a biotech startup helping to keep food fresher for longer in developing making, after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to "First Move", cutting down on food waste is a worthy goal all over the world. It's especially welcomed there in
developing countries where a lot of precious produce spoils before it even gets to market. And you buy tech startup has found an ingenious way to pack
fruits and vegetables to keep them fresher for longer. Their story is today's global connections.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice over): Deepak doesn't just have one new idea each day, he has five.
DEEPAK RAJMOHAN, FOUNDER AND CEO OF GREENPOD LABS: By writing like 5 or 10 new ideas every day, you get a curiosity and you think about new ideas
constantly that become a muscle memory for you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice over): A few years back one particular idea stuck with Deepak which caught the attention of the World Economic Forum
and earned him a $100,000 prize.
RAJMOHAN: Just looking at the fruits and vegetables, it's a living being when you transport and trade living being controlling that life is very,
very critical. So research in the science understanding of those packaging is very, very limited.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice over): About a third of food we produce is lost or wasted worldwide. In developed countries, consumers usually waste food
by letting it spoil after bringing it home. But in the developing world, it's often lost because these countries don't have ways to refrigerate
produce before it reaches customers.
[09:50:00]
To address this Deepak launched Greenpod Labs, a biotech startup that prevents produce from rotting by rethinking the way it's packed. Greenpod
Labs created the sachets which contain a formula of volatile plant extracts. They're packed into produce cartons, and according to Deepak can
slow down the rate of ripening quite up to 60 percent.
RAJMOHAN: The one on the left are mangoes where our product was integrated. One on the right are mangoes without the product so you can significantly
see how the firmness everything's maintained.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice over): Just like us every plant has its own immune system. And by studying them individually, Deepak's team devised a
way to activate it naturally.
RAJMOHAN: Farmers, traders, exporters, retailers -- all those customers to understand their perspective on food waste and food loss. It was very clear
that customers did not want a cold storage replacement because the operational expenses were so high.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice over): Customers like Arjun cared more about their immediate challenges. As a trader he buys fruit from farmers and
sells it in nearby cities, meaning the road conditions have a huge impact on business.
ARJUN KAPSE, FRUIT TRADER: We have been working mostly in the northeast. It is considered one of the most difficult groups because the produce isn't
fresh by the time we reach the places it doesn't get the price it should be getting.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice over): Arjun has only been using the Greenpod sachets since January. But he says they've reduced the spoilage rates by
about 75 percent. Arjun only trades regionally but a handful of Greenpod Lab clients export internationally.
RAJMOHAN: I start with a small idea, but if you pursue that relentlessly and with a passion, I think you can solve majority of problems.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHATTERLEY: The Bud Light boycott building sales have dropped by more than 28 percent over the last four weeks after a backlash against the brand's
partnership with a transgender influencer. For more details, Ryan Young has this report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A culture war is brewing over Bud Light, dividing beer drinkers as much as the country is itself.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Unlike anything I've ever seen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't -- drink Bud Light, Miller Lite, Coors Light it doesn't matter.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you don't like what somebody's selling. Just don't go there, -- about everything that goes on in the world.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I celebrated my day 365 a womanhood.
YOUNG (voice over): The -- stems from Bud Light shortly in partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, the Fury from the right enough to
dethrone Bud Light as the best selling beer in America for the first time in two decades. The controversy has taken center stage in Nashville, where
two country music's biggest stars Garth Brooks and Kid Rock have bars just steps away from each other on Broadway.
BILL FLETCHER, CEO OF FLETCHER RIDGE & CO.: What's fascinating to me is that right here on Broadway in Nashville, Tennessee. The culture wars have
come down to two big personalities in this town. It illustrates the way the whole country's responding to the transgender acceptance.
YOUNG (voice over): Garth Brooks says he plans to carry the beer at his jet to open bar.
GARTH BROOKS, MUSICIAN BAR OWNER: I'm a bar owner now. Are we going to have the most popular beers in the thing? Yes, I get it. Everybody's got their
opinions, but inclusive is always going to be me.
YOUNG (voice over): A block down Broadway, Kid Rock made his feelings know when he posted this video shooting up cases of Bud Light. Despite the
online bravado and talk of a boycott, Bud Light was available when CNN stopped and recently, it is not clear if the ban had been lifted.
Or if there ever had been one to begin with. Nashville Marketing Executive Bill Fletcher says the whole country seems to be engaging in the same
heated conversation.
FLETCHER: With Kid Rock you have this dark angry finger pointing, shooting a gun at a Bud Light can and Garth Brooks is hey, I love everybody and
openness and acceptance. And I think it's what you've seen in the country, going back to African, Americans to gay people when that's transgender.
YOUNG (on camera): Here on Broadway, were fans from all around the world come to maybe listen to some music and drink some beer. This Bud Light
controversially has left a bad taste and a lot of fans mouth.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's quite simple. People just don't want it shoved down their throat.
JAMIE ODREN, NASHVILLE TOURIST: No Bud Light, because it's like I have grandchildren. We don't need to put that in the young kid's heads.
YOUNG (voice over): In Chicago at 2Bears tavern, a bar that caters to mostly gay patrons. They also feel strongly about not serving Bud Light
anymore. But for the opposite reason, they believe the brand left Dylan Mulvaney alone on an island to face a mountain of hate.
[09:55:00]
MARK ROBERTSON, OWNER OF 2BEARS TAVERN GROUP: To be a true ally means that you don't push us behind the scenes and say well I'm going to give you some
money but I really don't want you to be front and center or public.
YOUNG (voice over): But in some Nashville bars the backlash against Bud Light was hardly filled.
SAM MCCOLL, GENERAL MANAGER OF 3 CROW BAR: We had one guy who said, I refuse to drink that anymore. One guy and everybody else in the bar kind of
rolled their eyes at him.
YOUNG (voice over): And there were plenty of bar hoppers on Broadway. You were simply ready to move on.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's move on and have let's party were in Nashville.
YOUNG (on camera): Are you not bothered at all by this Bud Light controversy you're like that?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, not at all. I don't --
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHATTERLEY: I was going to say something, but on that note, I'm just going to, we're just going to move on. But it isn't beer and burger and to the
show. It's a little early for me, but if you're feeling puckish. May I invite you to check out Burger King latest offering in Thailand?
There's no meat involved, just 20 slices of cheese and the bun of course. I suspect that technically makes it a cheese sandwich but details demand for
the so called real cheeseburger is apparently off the charts, mainly thanks to viral videos of people eating them on social media.
Now I did some analysis 381 calories for a Burger King cheeseburger and I believe each one of those little cheese slices is 113 calories so I make
that 2260 calories for the cheese alone. Pretty good luck with that. That's it for the show. Well "Connect the World" is up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:00:00]
END
