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First Move with Julia Chatterley

Russia Launches Retaliatory Strikes on Ukraine; Russia Cancels Grain Deal, Draws Global Condemnation; Heat Records Broken Across the World; Gene-Edited Chickens make their Debut; Mystery Object Sparks Space Speculation. Aired 9:25-10a ET

Aired July 18, 2023 - 09:25   ET

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

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[09:25:00]

JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN HOST "FIRST MOVE": I'm Julia Chatterley in New York and a warm belated welcome to "First Move", now just 24 hours after a

Ukrainian attack on the Kerch Bridge from Russia to Crimea. Russian forces fired back, explosions are reported in Odesa early Tuesday morning

following retaliatory drone and missile strikes.

Now the Ukrainian Air Force also said it destroyed six cruise missiles launched from a Russian ship in the Black Sea, although falling debris

still damaged infrastructure at Odessa's port. The strikes came just a few hours after Russia refused to extend a crucial agreement to let ships

carrying Ukrainian grain pass safely through the Black Sea.

[09:30:00]

The United States says it will provide a further $250 million to support Ukraine's agricultural sector.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAMANTHA POWER, ADMINISTRATOR OF USAID: The idea that Putin would play roulette with the hungriest people in the world at the time of the greatest

food crisis in our lifetimes is just deeply disturbing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHATTERLEY: My next guest is Ranch Owner and Philanthropist, Howard Buffett. He's seen firsthand just how important supporting Ukraine's

farmers, is to the world's food supply. The Howard G. Buffett Foundation created in 1999 focuses on food security and conflict mitigation.

Pivotal concerns, not only for Ukraine, of course, but for the numerous countries that rely on Ukrainian exports. Last year, the foundation devoted

$150 million to humanitarian efforts in Ukraine, from food assistance and reconstruction to helping farmers, plant harvest, and exports their crops.

This year, it expects to double its donation. And Howard Buffett, Chairman and CEO of the Howard G. Buffett Foundation join us now. Howard, fantastic

to have you on the show once again, I want to begin with Russia's decision to terminate at least for now their participation in the Black Sea Grain

Deal.

It was widely telegraphed, I think over the past few weeks, and it's been met with international condemnation, your response?

HOWARD BUFFETT, CHAIRMAN AND CEO OF HOWARD G. BUFFETT FOUNDATION: Well, I think it'll be incremental impact will be incremental compared to when it

occurred originally, but it'll certainly have impact. But you know, last October, the daily inspections were at 11 or recently, they're down to two.

So Russia has already used the inspection process to delay the shipping of grain.

And that's had a big impact last October, they're shipping around the 4.23 million metric tons in May, in June, they're shipping about a little bit

over a million metric tons. So they've already slow this process down to a very minimal pace. So I think there's been some adjustment over the last

six months, but of course, it'll still have impact.

CHATTERLEY: Yes, it's hard to say it has an impact not only on those that are hoping to receive this grain, but on the farmers in Ukraine that have

to make decisions on what to harvest, when to harvest and what to plant, ultimately too? I mean, that's directly where you're involved with the

foundation, trying to understand how they mitigate the impact of this?

BUFFETT: Well, of course, we've supported farmers in a number of ways in terms of providing equipment, so they can harvest, so they can plant

fertilizer seeds. But farmers have made a pretty big shift in Ukraine in terms of what they're producing. They're looking at how to produce crops

that don't require as much fertilizer, that maybe are easier to store, easier to ship.

So you've seen a big shift from some crops like corn or to soybeans and rapeseed. So it's already had a big impact on what Ukraine is producing.

CHATTERLEY: Can you tell me about the donation that you made as well back in May of this year in conjunction with the agricultural, the R&D

agricultural firm, Corteva Agriscience? And it was to provide winter oil seed rape to some of the smaller Ukrainian farms and these are pioneer

seeds.

Just describe, to me the importance of that donation to what you're saying with the adjustment that's taking place in order to what to plant?

BUFFETT: Was easy to talk about getting fertilizer and seeds out to farmers, but then you have to talk about how does it really get

distributed? So we needed to find companies that could get the distribution process, right. And we focused on farmers that 500 hectares or less,

because I think the smaller farmers oftentimes have a harder time getting financing, keeping the financing.

And you know, when they lose something, it's a little bit harder for them to recover. So we focus on the small farms, we got a lot of seed, lot of

fertilizer out. We also had a huge vegetable seed program. And those vegetable seeds were distributed in a lot of the food boxes that went out

along the newly liberated areas and the front lines.

So people could plant gardens, which sometimes is the only way that they can have access to the food.

CHATTERLEY: You are just there, Howard, I just want to get your observations as well. I know you were in Kherson too, in the aftermath of

the Kakhovka Dam catastrophe and the collapse there. And you actually quite, I'll call it critical of the international response amid the

challenges, the extra challenges that the Ukrainians were facing at that time.

Can you just describe what you were seeing and in many ways, how that ties to the challenges that you were describing there if the smaller farmers and

just trying to get help and support wherever it comes from?

BUFFETT: Yes, I was amazed that the fact that and it doesn't mean there weren't some organizations there. But I didn't see any international

organizations assisting with the flood recovery, which was really shocking to me.

[09:35:00]

But you know this is the third time I've been on the front line and nothing has changed that much. You still see the shortages are of ammunition,

Ukraine is still fighting. In a very difficult situation, their artillery won't reach the same kind of distances that Russia's artillery will reach

so Russia can pick out their supply lines.

And Ukraine has difficulty picking up the Russian supply lines. I mean, the big difference is air superiority. The Russians have significant air

superiority, which it's very difficult for Ukraine to advance in any significant way. I mean, if you look at the Gulf War, we flew five weeks of

100,000 sorties and dropped 88,000 tons of bombs before we ever sent a tanker silver forward.

And Ukrainians are up against attack helicopters and jets that really making it difficult to advance. So I think this is going to be a real

slugfest, and as Congressman said, you know, Russia has had six or seven months to prepare for this. So they are prepared for this and it's going to

be, it will not be the same as the original assault when the Russians first invaded.

CHATTERLEY: I've ever -- remember, when we had our last conversation, you said that Ukraine has been given enough support to fight the war. It's not

being given enough support to win the war. And I think President Zelenskyy has made that point about air superiority now for many, many months.

Did you sense when you were there, deterioration in morale? If you judge the three times that you said you'd be on the frontline, what's the shift,

if any that you've seen among those that you've been speaking to?

BUFFETT: I don't think that Ukrainians have lost any morale. I don't see anything that demonstrates that there will be broken, it's amazing how

strong Ukrainians have remained and how they have fought. I mean, this has been a war on civilians, a war on global food security, freedom, democracy,

sovereignty.

And as they continue to attack civilians, at an unprecedented rate, no one is breaking, and no one is showing that they will break. I mean, I think

that this is one of the things that are been amazing about this Russia's invasion into Ukraine is how strong Ukrainian people have remained. And I

don't see anything that demonstrates or shows that is going to change.

CHATTERLEY: That's an important message to send, I want to circle back and sort of finish on where we began, which was on this Black Sea Grain Deal.

How optimistic are you that Russia will come back to the table and sign up to this deal in some form? And how far should negotiators go with Russia's

demands in order to facilitate that, in your mind, based on what you've seen?

BUFFETT: Well, it's very hard to gauge because, you know, the Russians claim one thing, and sometimes the facts are a little bit different. So how

far we go with Russia and how far those negotiations go. But as long as it's fertilizer, and its agricultural products, you know, we need to work

with Russia or, you know, the individuals need to work with Russia, they can make this change.

And, you know, that will have a lot of impact as well on global food security. So those types of concessions or agreements make sense. But some

of the things that Russia demands don't make sense. I mean, we're going to war, and there's an unprovoked war, you know, Russia is should not be in a

position to negotiate beyond what makes sense in terms of the system with global food security.

And they're going to constantly try to get more and I think there has to be pushback on that.

CHATTERLEY: Can't argue with that, in the vein of tackling food insecurity around the world. I'm going to spend most of the rest of the show today

talking about the extreme weather that we're seeing around the world. I just wanted to get your take on that and the challenges that's presenting

for farmers that you see obviously in the United States, but even beyond how worried are you by what we're seeing and the impact that's likely to

have?

BUFFETT: Well, it clearly has an impact. And I think, you know, it becomes more local and regional, depending on what the weather has been. But you

know, we went through here in the Midwest went through a very dry period, and now we're getting some pretty heavy rains.

And you know, the way crops work is they need rain when they need it. So it isn't like you know, the rain today makes up for what you needed two or

three or four weeks ago. So I think it's getting harder to predict the kind of crop production that we're going to see.

I mean, you know, Brazil's having a record corn crop. Our corn and soybean crops have come back up into the 55 percent good excellent rating, which is

a big improvement over two weeks ago.

[09:40:00]

So you can recover but you know you really need a more consistent weather pattern or we have to build to have confidence in your production.

CHATTERLEY: Yes, the lack of predictability is huge problem. A crystal ball please would be helpful at this moment, because in absence of anything

else. Howard, thank you so much, once again, for talking to us, your wisdom, your insights, and the work that you and the foundation are doing.

It's great to chat to you and we'll speak soon. Thank you.

BUFFETT: Thank you very much.

CHATTERLEY: Thank you. OK, coming up on "First Move" unrelenting heat waves around the world. Italy, even being described as a giant pizza oven a live

report, from Rome, next.

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CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to "First Move", and recapping our breaking news now from the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea. A U.S. army

soldier is believed to be in custody in North Korea after he crossed the military demarcation line. And official tells CNN he's low ranking and they

aren't identifying him until his family has been notified.

The United Nation's Command which police's the Joint Security Area between both nations said the incident happened during a public tour and any

further details on that we will bring them straight to you. For now let's talk about the wild weather we're seeing around the world, beginning here

in the United States a whopping 65 million people from California to Florida facing soaring temperatures and heat alerts.

The mercury in Phoenix, Arizona reached a scorching 114 degrees Fahrenheit on Monday, tying a record of 18 consecutive days over 110 degrees. Just to

give you a sense that's 43 degrees Celsius and that record is expected to be broken once again this Tuesday. Now across the Pacific in Asia, China

just recorded its highest temperature ever.

A blistering 52 degrees Celsius in the Northwest and Southern Europe is also sizzling was 17 nations under high temperature alerts, wildfires now

raging in Spain, Greece and Switzerland. In Italy a severe red alert advisory has been issued for 20 cities including the capital Rome and that

means even healthy people are at risk.

[09:45:00]

Barbie Nadeau joins us now. Barbie, just describe what it's like being in the city at this moment and what are authorities trying to do to help

people stay cool?

BARBIE NADEAU, CNN REPORTER: It's hot, I mean, there's absolutely no question. It is really, really, really, really oppressively hot right now.

And authorities are just telling people to do exactly what these people behind me are not doing which is to stay out of the sun at this time of the

day and to stay hydrated.

Now, Southern Europeans who are used to the hot weather know how to do that. They don't go out in the middle of the day. They eat light, they

don't drink a lot of alcohol they stay hydrated. And so the authorities are trying to deal with the tourists and trying to make sure that they follow

that same sort of rhythm that you have to follow if you're going to spend time in Southern Europe and especially during our summer like this.

Now, we don't know yet if we broke any records here in Rome that the forecast was that we will hear that a bit later today. And, you know, this

is the hottest day of this particular heat wave. This is the second heat wave of the summer. And we don't know if there's just another one around

the corner, Julia.

CHATTERLEY: Yes, that's the problem, isn't it? I was reading some of the British press this morning. And actually one of the British newspapers was

calling Rome, the infernal city a play on the eternal city describing the high temperatures. What other press saying about the heat wave that Italy

specifically is experienced?

It was being described as one of the nations in Europe at least its most at risk of climate change. How is it covered in the press? How does the

government talk about why this is happening?

NADEAU: Well, you know, there's a lot of focus always on a reaction, instead of being proactive about these things. You know, it's really,

really hot. Everyone's running your air conditioners at full speed at low temperatures. You know, the Italian Health Ministry put out 10 points

today, in order to try to beat this heat wave.

One of them was to not run your air conditioner so low, not when you get into the house to run it low. That obviously all contributes to the problem

of climate change those types of things that people are talking about, but always talking about it after it's too late. You know, we don't have

cooling stations, cooling centers in Italy.

There aren't places where people can go necessarily outside of like a shopping mall to cool down. So it's always sort of this reaction. We know

it's going to be hot. It's always hot this summer in Italy, because it's a few degrees hotter than usual. You know that we got government, people now

trying to think about ways in order to try to change the infrastructure, how to deal with this in a different way.

But it's always a reaction. It's not really being proactive. And I think that's the global problem that we're all facing right now at the end of the

day, isn't it?

CHATTERLEY: Yes, absolutely is. I mean, in England, they will be described as a good summer to have this kind of hot weather. But at some point, it

gets uncomfortable, Barbie, great to have you with us. Thank you so much. Let's bring in CNN's Chief Climate Correspondent Bill Weir now.

Bill, always great to have you. I mean, you can summarize the crazy weather that we're seeing around the world. But the bottom line is it's actually

just beginning. It's just beginning to warm up.

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: Exactly, we're in July.

CHATTERLEY: Yes.

WEIR: And normally, when you look at the northern hemisphere charts, they don't peak until August the beginning of September. And especially when it

comes to sea surface temperatures, they are off the charts breaking records by five full degrees. In a space word scientists are used to seeing a

broken by half a degree maybe and that would be extreme.

Of course, the global average temperature that record which stood from 2016 was broken on July 3. It has not dipped below that since. So we were way

above that the El Nino force that's happening now. We went from a La Nina cooling system in the Pacific now to a warming El Nino is just pushing

these temperatures off the charts.

And that means that the predictions are that half of the planet will be in a severe marine heat wave by August or September as well. And that is our

weather engine, right so much of meteorology comes from those systems and we're seeing these big heat domes now just sit over southern Europe over

the southwestern United States, Western China there. This is what climate change feels like.

CHATTERLEY: Yes, and if you're hoping for respite in the short term, it's not coming. Let's hope it pushes for more action. Bill, good to have you

Thank you, Bill Weir. We are back after this, stay with CNN.

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[09:50:00]

CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to "First Move", and it's a tentative Tuesday at least on Wall Street but the DOW is set up now for the seventh straight

session. The S&P and the NASDAQ still near 15 month highs too. News today that U.S. retail sales also rose for the third straight month is helping

boost the case that many are now making for a soft U.S. economic landing.

Goldman Sachs is now lowering the odds of a U.S. recession over the next year to just 20 percent or this is the bank earnings continue Bank of

America and Morgan Stanley both reporting better than expected results. But Morgan Stanley is still feeling the effects of the investment banking

slowdown.

It's trading revenue, also slumping more than 20 percent last quarter. Now from stocks to flocks, a genetic revolution is taking place in the poultry

industry. A new more humane method of hatching chicks is being well hatched. Anna Stewart has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER (voice over): It's the girl, well in this laboratory the males will not be coming out of their shells only female

chicks hatch here. Females are preferred for their taste, egg laying ability and economic value. So the poultry industry kills billions of male

chicks every year, through what many consider to be inhumane culling methods banned in Germany and France. But technology is poised to end the

cruelty.

YUVAL CINNAMON, CSO OF POULTRY BY HUMINN: So what we're trying to do is to give a solution to the probably most devastating animal welfare issue

worldwide, which is the culling and sorting of the old male chicks in the layers industry.

STEWART (voice over): How do they do it? Gene editing, they alter the DNA of hens so only female chicks hatch in the first place.

YAARIT WAINBERG, CEO OF POULTRY BY HUMINN: The males stopped developing very early upon induction, very early in embryogenesis, meaning that they

are not fully developed to fall into a chicken, they don't hatch.

STEWART (voice over): They do this by exposing the gene edited eggs to blue light. This activates a kill switch that affects only male chick embryos.

CINNAMON: Were able to confirm that indeed the eggs which carry the genetic trait, namely the male embryos. They indeed stop developing at a very early

stage of embryogenesis while the unmodified female layers normally hatch in becomes a lame, a chicken.

STEWART (voice over): The global demand for eggs is expected to increase until 2035. According to Huminn putting millions more male chicks on the

line, a fate this lab hopes to prevent by 2025 when they go to market with their technology. Anna Stewart, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHATTERLEY: And finally, what on earth is this? A large golden object has washed up on a beach in Western Australia. Now as you can see, it's a

partially crushed metal cylinder of some kind. It's actually taller than a person and it's covered in barnacles, which tells you it's been in the sea

for quite some time.

Now the mysterious discovery is the talk of the town in Green Head where locals have been told to keep away for their own safety. Space experts have

been shedding light on the find. They suspect it might be part of a rocket which never made it into space and crashed to the ground without burning

up.

[09:55:00]

On -- now nevertheless Australian police, the military and maritime experts are all on the case. So hopefully we'll find out exactly what it is and why

it's there soon enough, I think a quick call to NASA might help too.

Quite frankly, could drop it landed in the water, and you wouldn't know much about it. That's it for the show. If you've missed any of our

interviews today, there'll be on my Twitter and Instagram pages you can search for @jchatterleycnn. "Connect the World" is up next.

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[10:00:00]

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