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First Move with Julia Chatterley
Gangs, Militias, And Police All Wrestling For Control Of Haiti's Capital; 80 Percent Of Port-Au-Prince Now Controlled By Gangs; WTO Director-General Talks About Haiti's Dire Situation; Trump Unable To Secure Massive Bond; IDF Releasing New And Unverified Images Of Their Current Military Operations; Biden Speaks To Netanyahu For The First Time In Over A Month; Putin Officially Secures Fifth Term In Office; YouTube's A.I. Content Labels; Princess Kate And Prince William Near Farm Shop; WTO Director-General Discusses Falling Forecasts And Galvanizing Growth; WTO Applauds Recent Agreements Helping Poorest Nations; Water Bottle Controversy. Aired 6-7p ET
Aired March 18, 2024 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[18:00:00]
JAKE TAPPER, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: "The Whole Story," justice delayed, the story of C.J. Rice will air at 8:00 p.m. on Sunday night only on CNN.
Until tomorrow. You can follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, formerly known as Twitter, and on the TikTok @JakeTapper. You can follow
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JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: It's 6:00 a.m. in Beijing, 10:00 p.m. in London, and 6:00 p.m. here in New York. I'm Julia Chatterley. And
wherever you are in the world. is your "First Move." Yes.
And a warm welcome once again, welcome to "First Move." And here's your need to know. Gangs, militias, and the police all wrestling for control of
Haiti's capital. David Culver is live from Port-au-Prince.
The IDF releasing new and unverified images of their current military operation in Gaza's Al-Shifa Hospital. It comes as President Biden speaks
to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu for the first time in over a month.
And Former President Donald Trump is unable to secure a massive bond in his civil fraud case. According to his lawyers, the question is what now? All
that and more coming up.
But first, to the violence engulfing Haiti's capital. Gangs continue to unleash attacks as militias and what's left of the police try to block
their advance. Haitians in some of Port-au-Prince's wealthiest neighborhoods have now been targeted too, with at least 10 people killed in
the chaos.
The United Nations estimates around 80 percent of the capital is now controlled by gangs. David Culver is there, as I mentioned, and visited a
police station that's under constant threat.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID CULVER, CNN SENIOR U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So, police stations like this one here in Port-au-Prince are main targets for gangs. They feel
like as soon as they can get hold of a station like this, they can then take siege and take control of much of the community. And they've tried
coming after this one many of times.
Reinforcements have been built up not only because of the police, but because of the community. They've built barricades all around here. For the
police station to function properly, they need to rely on the community and to have these almost vigilantes building a lot of the barricades to keep
out any gang members.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHATTERLEY: And David joins us now. David, I know we've seen several of these police stations attacked or burned down over the last couple of
weeks, but I just want to get your experience talking to the civilians that have got caught in the crossfire here. I know you've been speaking to both
the elderly and the very young who've been injured as a result of the violence that we've seen. What can you tell us?
CULVER: Yes, really, Julia, no one is shielded from this surge in violence that is taking Haiti's capital city, Port-au-Prince, really under a tight
grip over the past two weeks in particular. And to your point, the folks who are feeling the brunt of this are everyday people who live in this city
and who have now been forced to move, at times, from home to home to home, campsite to shelter.
And we caught up with some who are now in the hospital, because as you pointed out, they end up in the midst of the crossfire. And it's
interesting, having gone into one hospital that's run with -- by Doctors Without Borders, and to talk to the patients there, it was tough to find
somebody who was not in there because of a gang violent related injury.
A vast majority are gunshot victims. And one of the women was an 86-year- old who we met with. She was going to the market. Was out there and shot right in the leg and ended up being local journalist who brought her to
that hospital.
Now, what's even more tragic is she's not quite sure how she's going to get back home or even if she has a home to go back to or if that's been taken
over by gangs. She also says her loved ones really aren't comfortable coming to visit. And that's because that hospital is located in a really
precarious area. It's essentially nestled between rival gang territories and, at times, police were able to take hold of it. But the vast majority
of the time it becomes just a battleground.
And so, for even the medical staff to have to go in there every single day, it's a challenge to the point, Julia, where they even will have some who
are able to sleep on site and may not even get back to their own families. But it shows you just the level of dedication needed and it's -- the
desperation that's playing out here, Julia.
CHATTERLEY: Yes. David, I just wonder who people actually trust to defend them in these kinds of circumstances, because particularly when you're
talking about the wealthier neighborhoods now being attacked, being looted, I mean, these are arguably the people that could afford to hire their own
private militias and security and that, in many ways, provides some level of protection, but it also potentially also escalates the violence. Who do
people trust to take care of them in this situation?
CULVER: Neighbors helping neighbors.
CHATTERLEY: Yes.
[18:05:00]
CULVER: Yes. Yes. I mean, that's -- you bring up such a great point because that played out about three miles from where we are and it was in an area
this morning where you have a more affluent community for sure. And yet, they too were dealing with this attack and onslaught by gangs at 5:00 in
the morning. And they were terrified. And you don't have the comfort and ability to pick up the phone and call police because police are so
stretched and resources, and even sometimes don't even have the fuel to get to those emergencies.
So, you turn to those who live next door to you. And a lot of them have created these almost self-defense brigade like systems where some are
armed, others are just manning different barricades at every entry and exit to their community and they rely on each other so as to protect one
another.
And even to keep those staff 24/7, you have to think about how you get food to those individuals who are on the front line, so to speak. Well, it's the
community that will create their own sort of tax collection like system, and they'll go door to door, and they'll try to get anything from a few
dollars to some soda, whatever it takes to bring some sustenance to those who are actually trying to block the gangs from spreading their reach and
encroaching on everyday life here in Port-au-Prince.
It is an incredible struggle. And yet, you also have these refugees, Julia, who have found themselves refugees within their own cities. And they've had
to go to these different sites and we even met some who were in the midst of a school that has now turned into a makeshift campsite. And you have
about a dozen classrooms in that school, but more than 1,500 people who have just crammed in to make it their temporary home.
And what's a struggle for them is not only do they face the gang violence being there, but they also face now confrontations from the locals who live
around that area and who say, we don't want more people coming in because it will attract more gangs to come into our area. So, they're feeling it
from all sides and it becomes for them an increasingly dire situation, especially, Julia, when you consider getting food and medical supplies to
those locations is an incredible challenge right now.
You've got the U.N. trying with the air bridge. It's up and going. But as soon as it comes into Port-au-Prince, how do you get it through the gang
territories, past the barricades, and to those who really need it most?
CHATTERLEY: Yes, yes. Fractures in society are clear for everybody to see, and it's good to have you there to help tell the story. David, stay safe
yourself, please. Thank you, for now. David Culver there.
Now, the global community is watching with growing concern at the horrifying scenes we're seeing in Haiti. World Trade Organization Director-
General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala talked to me earlier today about the dire situation in the country and her hopes for a better future there.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NGOZI OKONJO-IWEALA, DIRECTOR-GENERAL, WTO: As one of the least developed countries, we would be very sad to see the continuing conflict and chaos
that seems to be taking hold in the country, and we would hope that a solution can be found so that it can return as a full-fledged trading
member of the WTO. We wish the Haitians well, and we wish an end to the internal conflict that is going on there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHATTERLEY: And there's plenty more of my conversation with the WTO director-general there, Dr. Ngozi, later in the program. We discuss why her
organization remains cautious on the outlook for global growth and trade.
For now, we'll move on. Donald Trump's lawyers say they can't find an insurance company to underwrite his bond in the civil fraud judgment
against him. His lawyers say 30 companies have refused to secure it. This is, just to be clear, for his $454 million judgment in New York from last
month. The former president and his company have until March 25th to post the bond. Katelyn Polantz joins is us now.
Kate -- just, Katelyn, just to take a step back. He's appealing this ruling, of course, but he's got to hold a state at bay in the interim and
stop them from enforcing it, and the way you do that is to post a bond. The problem is, I think this is an enormous sum of money, and even
underwriters, I'm sure that he's going to, have financial limits.
KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Exactly, Julia. This is really the end of the line when you lose a lawsuit like this.
Either the people who win, which in this case is the New York attorney general's office, the State of New York, they get to come in and enforce
that judgment, collect on it, seize assets, seize properties. And that judgment is a $454 million at this point, plus an additional $10 million
because of the findings against Donald Trump's two sons, who also have a role in his company, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump.
And so, that $464 million, they either are going to seize that, or Donald Trump has to post a bond. That's where he's running into trouble right now.
The deadline for him to do that is at the end of the month, right around March 25th, so about a week away. His team has approached 30 different
underwriters for a bond, and they have all said no.
[18:10:00]
One of them, an insurance broker who works with Trump, has told the court that this is a practical impossibility to get a bond of this size. It's
nearly a half billion dollars, and the way that these underwriters work is they want money backing that in cash. That is a lot of money in cash, if
that's what Trump would need to post for the bond.
They're unable and unwilling to take real estate, which is what he has in many of his assets, instead to underwrite the bond. Or separately, some of
the underwriters would have policies that wouldn't allow them to offer a bond of this size. They wouldn't go much over $100 million.
So, there is some time left for Trump to figure this out if he wants to keep appealing this and doesn't want to have this lawsuit judgment enforced
against him by the State of New York. But he is running out of time, and this is a bit of a difficult situation now for the former president, not
just in this lawsuit, but as all of his legal issues come to roost at this time.
CHATTERLEY: Yes. Underwriters want liquid assets. They want cash and they want stocks. And there's not many people that have got, what, half a
billion dollars in liquid assets like that just hanging around. We shall see. Katelyn Polantz, great to have you with us. Thank you for that report
there.
Now, Israel sending a team to Washington to discuss the fate of Rafah and the 1 million plus civilians sheltering there following the first phone
call in more than a month between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Joe Biden.
Now, White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan clearly outlined the difference of opinion on this subject at Monday's press briefing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAKE SULLIVAN, WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR: Many times, I hear an argument that says, if you don't smash into Rafah, you can't defeat Hamas.
I say that is a straw man. Our view is that there are ways for Israel to prevail in this conflict, to secure its long-term future, to end the terror
threat from Gaza and not smash into Rafah. That's what we're going to present in this integrated way when this team comes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHATTERLEY: I mean, while Israel launched a second major military operation at the largest hospital in Gaza, claiming the Al-Shifa hospital is being
used by senior Hamas terrorists. The Palestinian Health Ministry says many died there on Monday, where an estimated 30,000 people are now sheltering.
Jeremy Diamond joins us now. Jeremy, there will be some viewers getting a deja vu sensation because, of course, this hospital was the one that came
under fierce scrutiny back in November when the IDF went in there again under the same context, saying that they were targeting Hamas fighters.
What do we know about the operation this time around? And of course, we've got images now too, unverified of course, of the operation once again
there.
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right. Well, the Israeli military launching a very significant military operation overnight at Al-
Shifa Hospital and in the surrounding Al-Rimal neighborhood. But this time it comes in the context of 30,000 civilians believed to be sheltering at
that hospital.
And as the Israeli military approached using not only ground troops, but tanks, armored vehicles, and also appearing to carry out several airstrikes
in the area. They say that they were carrying out an operation targeting Hamas militants who they say were sheltering at the hospital, using the
hospital's grounds to carry out their operations.
The Israeli military says that it killed some 20 militants, including a senior Hamas operative, and they also showed video in which they say that
they found weapons and ammunition that was found on the grounds of the hospital. Hamas also said that it engaged in firefights with Israeli forces
in the area around Al-Shifa Hospital.
But what is also clear, from eyewitnesses on the ground, is that there was not only significant damage to the hospital complex itself, with the
surgical building being set on fire as a result of what one doctor said was Israeli missiles hitting that building, but also airstrikes in the Al-Rimal
neighborhood.
We saw video with large plumes of smoke in the area -- in that neighborhood, there was also significant damage to buildings in that area
with bodies of the dead and the injured being recovered covered in dust. The Gaza Ministry of Health also saying that rescue workers were unable, in
the initial hours, to actually get to those buildings to rescue people who were trapped under the rubble.
Now, as you said, the Israeli military previously conducted a significant operation at that hospital back in November, where it uncovered what were
tunnels beneath the grounds of the hospital, but they were not able to fully prove out their claim that that hospital was being used as a major
command and control center for Hamas.
But obviously, this operation having major implications for the civilian population in Northern Gaza, where we know that humanitarian conditions
have been spiraling downward quite rapidly. Thousands of civilians were spotted today leaving that area headed for Central Gaza, where the Israeli
military is also conducting operations over the course of the last week. Julia.
[18:15:00]
CHATTERLEY: Jeremy Diamond, thank you.
Now, Russian President Vladimir Putin has officially secured a fifth term in office, allowing him to stay in power until at least 2030. His win was a
foregone conclusion with most opposition candidates dead, jailed, exiled, or barred from running.
China and North Korea congratulated Vladimir Putin on his win, while the U.S. criticized the contest. One White House spokesperson saying it was
"neither free nor fair." Matthew Chance reports from Moscow.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As he basks in the glory of a fifth term, President Putin is lashing out at U.S.
criticism that his carefully choreographed reelection was neither free nor fair, instead, taking a swing at the U.S. political system, suggesting
court cases involving Donald Trump were politically motivated.
VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Can it be considered democratic to use administrative resources to attack one of the
candidates for president of the United States? The use of the judicial system, this has become simply ridiculous and a disgrace in front of the
whole world.
CHANCE (voice-over): Officially, the Kremlin says it has no preference who's the next U.S. president. And amid a costly war in Ukraine, Donald
Trump's claims he would end the fighting quickly if elected may play into the Kremlin's hands, pressuring Ukraine into a peace deal favoring Moscow.
The idea the U.S. and the West should back off military support for Ukraine to prevent escalation is also a theme Putin is pushing after his recent
election win.
PUTIN (through translator): The conflict between Russia and NATO will be just one step away from a full-scale World War III.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: I will prevent and very easily World War III, very easily.
CHANCE (voice-over): That overlapping rhetoric is now fueling concerns among western officials of repeats of the damaging Trump-Putin relationship
of Trump's first term, in which then-President Trump backed Putin over his own intelligence services on the issue of Russian election interference.
More recently, instead of criticizing Putin for the recent death in an Arctic penal colony of Alexei Navalny, Russia's most prominent opposition
leader, Trump compared it to his own legal battles. The sudden death of Alexei Navalny has made me more and more aware of what is happening in our
country, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.
And this was Putin after his election win on Sunday night, mentioning Navalny by name for the first time.
PUTIN (through translator): As for Mr. Navalny, yes, he passed away. It is always a sad event. And there were other cases when people in prisons
passed away. Didn't this happen in the United States?
CHANCE (voice-over): In a country shocked by the death and after an election condemned by independent monitors as unfair, it's one comparison
with the United States the Kremlin is happy to make.
Matthew Chance, CNN, Moscow.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHATTERLEY: OK. Coming up for us, filtering the fakes. YouTube taking measures to ensure A.I. content is labeled appropriately. Plus, elections,
wars, workers' rights, and national security risks. The impact on trade, challenging. The director-general of the WTO discusses falling forecasts
and galvanizing growth. That's coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:22:05]
CHATTERLEY: And welcome back to "First Move." And to all our viewers in the U.S., U.K., and Latin America, we hope you're having a wonderful Monday
evening. And for all our First Movers across Asia, happy Tuesday, and most importantly, happy first day of spring.
And there's a bit of an early spring fever on Wall Street too in today's "Money Move." The major average is pushing higher thanks to big tech gains.
Google's parent company, Alphabet, rising more than 4 percent on reports that its Gemini artificial intelligence technology could soon power new
features in Apple's iPhones.
And in video shares rising as the company's annual developers conference kicked off in California. The company unveiling brand-new artificial
intelligence led chips. And green arrows to start the week across Asia, the Nikkei rising more than 2 percent ahead of the Japanese Central Bank's big
interest rate decision, that happening in just a few hours' time.
The Bank of Japan may finally move on from negative interest rates and hike rates, even just a little bit for the first time in 17 years. Wow.
Now, speaking of artificial intelligence, critics have long warned that it will become impossible to tell the difference between what's real and
what's not? Well, now the video sharing giant YouTube is rolling out new policies to help inform viewers and be more transparent. The site is now
requiring creators to label A.I. generated content.
Clare Duffy joins me now. Clare, in a world where we have -- half the world, at least the voting population heading to the polls this year, this
is incredibly timely. My question is, how does it work in practice? And what are the consequences for creators if you don't label content?
CLARE DUFFY, CNN BUSINESS WRITER: Right, Julia. So, starting today, when creators go to upload a video in YouTube's Creator Studio, they'll see an
option to disclose if that video contains realistic A.I. generated content. So, that could include images, video, or audio. They'll see a question
asking them whether, for example, their video makes it appear as if a real person said or did something that they didn't do. And if creators
repeatedly failed to add that required disclosure to realistic looking A.I., they could face consequences, including potentially losing the
ability to monetize or make money from their videos.
Now, it's worth noting that creators won't be required to identify not realistic A.I. generated content. So, for example, if I created a video
that shows me on the moon, riding a unicorn using A.I., that is not going to need a label according to this new YouTube policy. And for users, what
they're going to see on their end is now a new generated label that will show up most often in the description of videos. But for potentially
sensitive topics like politics, you mentioned the upcoming election, that label will appear more prominently on the actual video player.
So, YouTube certainly trying to make an effort here to ensure that users aren't misled or potentially confused by very realistic A.I. generated
content, which is now so easy to access and create.
[18:25:00]
CHATTERLEY: Yes, I'm still stuck on the you on the moon riding a unicorn. Quite frankly. But the line between that and something that's sort of less
obviously completely fake and created is a blurred one, I think, but this is a good effort. We'll see how it goes. Clare Duffy, thank you so much for
that. And that image, of course, which is priceless.
OK. Let's move on. Tropical Cyclone Megan has made landfall in Australia, packing winds of 140 kilometers per hour. Just to give you a sense, that's
the equivalent of a category 1 hurricane in the Atlantic Ocean.
Now, parts of the country's northern territory could see more than a month's worth of rain. Chad Myers joins us on this. I mean, that kind of
windscreen -- wind speed can blow trees over, it can attack dwellings, clearly, and we must be talking about flood risk, Chad, too.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Sure. Yes, of course. And that storm surge, all that wind blows that water on land and up onto the shore, kind of that
bubble of water that follows a tropical cyclone onshore with it.
This thing made landfall 16 hours ago, and it still likes a very, very healthy little center there. I mean, this thing has not fallen apart in any
stretch of the imagination. Really very close to Centre Island was the landfall.
But a wind gust of 170 kilometers per hour, that was the highest gust. And it is still raining. Look at Centre Island, 586 millimeters of rainfall so
far in three days. That is 24 basic inches of rainfall in 72 hours, and it's still going to rain. Because it isn't really raining itself or dying,
we are still going to see 250 to almost 500 millimeters of rain across the Northern NT. This is going to be a flood maker, I'm afraid.
Down to the south, cold front comes through, make some rain for you, Melbourne, but this is really not going to be a major event other than
about a 10-degree cool down. We'll take that because it has been so ridiculously hot still for this time of year. But how about 17 for
Wednesday? I don't feel a lot cooler than the 37 you had last weekend. Sydney, you're down to 21 for the end of this week.
Back up to the north here, we'll see a little bit of cooler air come into parts of Japan again, just a couple of degrees. But what you'll notice on
this map, still the snow coming across parts of North Korea, into Vladivostok, and also into the western prefectures here of Japan.
It seems like I've been talking about the snow now, the same areas getting snow for months, and it has been months. This is like a lake effect snow
event in the U.S., but it is a sea. This is a much bigger area of water than Lake Erie or Lake Ontario or Lake Superior that we have here in the
States. It's 12 degrees though. And Osaka's temperature is still going to be well above Tokyo's freezing point. So, yes, the snow will be Nagano
where the Olympics were in those higher elevations, above 2,000 to 3,000 meters, that's where the heaviest snow will be over the next couple of
days.
We will keep an eye on Megan. This is a really big event here, I think. Going to make some significant flooding in places that need the rainfall at
times, but you don't need a half a year's worth of rain. A half a year in three days, and that's what they got. Julia.
CHATTERLEY: Absolutely don't. We'll continue to watch Cyclone Megan. And I'm perfectly comfortable, by the way, talking about skiing in Japan, in
March, even while we're talking about spring. Perfectly comfortable. Chad Myers, thank you for that.
We'll be back after this. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:31:38]
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to "First Move." And a look at more of the international headlines this hour. The U.S. Supreme Court is once more
blocking Texas from enforcing a controversial immigration law. The state law allows officials to arrest and detain people suspected of entering the
country illegally, raising fears of racial profiling. This latest halt will remain in place while legal challenges play out. It did not include an
expiration date.
Iceland is facing its fourth volcanic eruption since December. Barriers have been keeping the country's main airport safe. The eruption is
threatening the Blue Lagoon, a very famous tourist hotspot. Tourists there have had to be evacuated multiple times in recent months.
And the world's oceans have broken heat records every single day for the last year. Human caused global warming has been boosted by the recent El
Nino phenomenon, which in turn supercharges ocean heat. One specific area of concern, the North Atlantic. Temperatures have been running particularly
hot in that area, which is a key spot, too, for hurricanes.
And new pictures have emerged after the Princess of Wales' reported abdominal surgery reportedly taken over the weekend. I'll describe it for
you now and we'll bring those images to you when we get them.
Prince William and Princess Kate appear to be leaving a farm shop in Windsor. They're smiling and holding hands. It follows, of course, wild
social media speculation about the couple. And this comes after that edited Mother's Day photo, which, of course, caused huge controversy. CNN's world
historian Kate Williams joins us now.
Kate, I'll go even further. And these images have first been seen on TMZ or TMZ online. And now, of course, they're blanketed across the Internet. Kate
looks fit. She's carrying a bag herself. She's sort of bouncing as she's walking. I will note that TMZ also said that they went immediately to the
metadata to check this video to check the authenticity as best they can, which say something else. But it does. And is the first time that we've
seen her walking outside of a vehicle since, what, December.
KATE WILLIAMS, CNN ROYAL HISTORIAN: Yes, the last time we saw her, Julia, was at Christmas. We hadn't seen her since. Then she was in hospital in
January. And then, we were told she wouldn't be out and about until Easter on engagements. And then there was this radio silence in the palace into
which all these conspiracy theories rushed. The Mother's Day photo last Sunday was supposed to stop them, it just fueled them.
And then there has been a flurry of activity over this weekend, hasn't there? There have been sources saying she might come out on Easter. There
have been sources saying she's going to come back to work after the children go back to school on April the 17th for the Easter holidays. And
then there was a reported visit to the Windsor Farm Shop. There wasn't any footage initially. And now, there is this photo that's taken by the member
of the public, and they've checked the stats, as you say, and it was taken on an iPhone and looks completely authentic.
So, certainly, people are going to be thrilled to see Kate looking so well, smiling, carrying a bag, up and out after what must have been pretty tough
abdominal surgery. It looks like her recovery is going very well. But this has been damaged limitation from the palace because the strategy so far has
not been successful. All these rumors were out there, all these very damaging rumors. And I think, you know, this is their strategy. And what we
probably will see in the next couple of weeks is a more formal picture of Kate, perhaps with some thank you cards, and a little bit of a statement.
[18:35:00]
CHATTERLEY: Yes, I was about to say, I mean, again, if people go on the internet, they can see these pictures, because they've now gone wild and
they're being retweeted and reshared on social media. We, as a news organization, goes through a whole host of checks and balances and
approvals before we could share those images with you. So, you'll get a sense very soon once we've been through that process.
But I think the fact is, Kate, as you've said, the conspiracy theory surrounding Kate have been wild over her health, over the status of her
relationship with the Prince of Wales, with William, obviously exacerbated in the face of that Mother's Day photo, as you described, that was then
doctored, and that then set everybody that was sharing those conspiracy theories on social media off again.
Do you think this now draws a line, under at least some of that, that we've seen her walking, we've seen her looking obviously very healthy, I think,
from the videos that I've seen?
WILLIAMS: Yes, I think this does. Obviously, some of the wilder statements were suggesting she wasn't in the country. They were suggesting that, you
know, she was no longer with us. It's very clear that she is in good health. And I think that, you know, she's recovering. She's recovered very
well from obviously what was pretty hard surgery.
So, I think it does draw a line, but I think there's, there is more that the palace needs to do. I think, essentially, we see a difference here
between the Princess of Wales and the king. Now, the king is head of state. We do have to have more updates, but their strategy of doing a few pictures
of him with some thank you cards that Camilla said a few things about him, that really worked to make it clear that everyone thought that the king was
what he said he was doing, recovering from his cancer.
But with Kate, because it was silent, everyone just panicked, and the internet went wild. And when William didn't attend the funeral of his
godfather, King Constantine of Greece, it just went totally crazy. And what's happened is that Kate herself, I think, was very distressed by all
this. She was hoping to have a quiet recovery, and it was all this just very distressing. She felt that -- you know, she felt very bad about this
whole photo. I don't believe that she did doctor it. I think she took the fall for someone else, but she felt very bad about that. And then, you
know, it all made everything worse.
So, really, I think that this does stop some of it, but they do need to do something a bit more formal than a visit to a Windsor farm shop. They do, I
think, need to have a bit more of a formal photograph. But, you know, the - - just the -- things have changed. Whatever photograph they put out has got to be very careful, they've got to be very careful that it is totally
trustworthy, not a single bit have changed, not a single bit of even a red eye, because there is this now distrust there's been after that Mother's
Day photo, which just caused total chaos.
And as you say, you know, the internet's gone wild for the Kate theorist, even Kim Kardashian said she was looking for her. So, this is what the
royals want to stop. They want to stop this and quell this, so they can have the focus on their work and their causes.
CHATTERLEY: Yes. Four more photo, please. Not doctored to your point I think in any way beyond the ordinary enhancements that get done, and it is
seen as acceptable, certainly in the industry. Kate, do you think trust has been broken? You pointed out the difference in handling, and of course,
King Charles is the head of state. So, that's a different, perhaps, scenario in terms of what it means for the public and his decision to share
some details and updates versus the sheer level of privacy surrounding Kate and the lack of information. And then to your point, the bungling of the
process of providing some form of information.
Do you think lessons have been learned? And perhaps any situation that arises with Kate as one of the most photographed women in the wild, the
interest is huge, they caught that interest on social media, perhaps when things do happen, even whether it is health related or otherwise the
handling of this will be different?
WILLIAMS: I feel so sorry for Kate. I mean, surgery is tough for anyone. It's tough on the body. It can be very tough on the mind. And what she
needed was peace and quiet, but she wasn't protected. They -- the way they -- Kate, as you say, is so photographed, so loved. Everyone was thinking
about her. And the internet and all the conspiracy theories rushed into the vacuum.
You know, royals always doctor photos. The Christmas photos of the Wales, Louis was missing a finger, and there was a sort of foot coming out of
nowhere, and no one normally minds. But with everything that had gone on, that photo was seen as really a great problem. The agencies with Jewett,
AFP, the very reputable agency, said that Kensington Palace was -- they compared them in trust -- levels of trust to the agencies from Iran and
North Korea. Now, that's really a very -- you know, very bad comparison.
So, you know, there have been problems. There have been a lot of problems with the strategy. No PR official would advise someone to do radio silence
like this. They would advise a few little updates like the king had. I think lessons have been learned. I think above all, this has been very hard
for Kate, but it has been because people have been very worried about her. They've been concerned about her. She wasn't there. They're worried about
her.
[18:40:00]
But overall, I think that it's William who needs to think very carefully about this strategy. It's William who needs to think forward --
CHATTERLEY: Yes. Kate, I have to I have to interrupt you. I would keep talking to you for the rest of the show, but I've run out of time. We hope
it came from a place of care. But yes, it sort of fell into a vacuum. We wish her well. Kate Williams, thank you for your insight as always.
We're back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to "First Move." Now, while economists continue to debate the probability of a soft economic landing, much of the outlook for
growth is dependent on free and robust global trade.
And on that score, the World Trade Organization still sees major challenges ahead, including high inflation, tighter central bank monetary policy, as
well as the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, not to mention worsening climate change.
I talked to WTO director-general about their falling forecasts. And despite the challenges of finding consensus in a year where half the world is
headed to elections, their recent success in helping poorer nations catch up. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OKONJO-IWEALA: I definitely think, Julia, that the risks are to the downside, unfortunately. In fact, we're -- we'll have a new forecast --
straight forecast on the 10th of April.
But looking at the numbers of our trade barometer we just released on the 8th of March shows a little bit of uptick of activity in the first quarter
of this year. But, you know, the risks are all to the downside. So, we still feel that the forecast of 3.3 percent growth or goods trade that we
made this year is likely to fall far -- quite far short of that.
And it's because of all these tensions that you see. We see in the Red Sea what is happening, the fact that the diversions through the Cape of Good
Hope add considerably more time to transport of goods than previously. And more days means more costs.
Luckily, the impact has not been as bad, Julia, as one would think, because I think that businesses are managing their supply chains a bit better. They
have more inventory. We also have more container ships on the market. So, freight costs have not gone up as much as we would expect.
[18:45:00]
We mustn't also forget climate change. You see what's happening in the Panama Canal, the drought. You know, canal closures at some points and, you
know, ships of a certain size are having difficulty being allowed through.
CHATTERLEY: It's clearly a tough time to make any form of agreement. We've got half the world this year going to elections. We have leaders that are
hyper vigilant. I think about labor and particularly pleasing the working public at this moment. It's a tough time for consensus too at WTO.
Having said that, what were you most happy with coming out of the last meeting that was held, what, a month ago?
OKONJO-IWEALA: You mentioned all the tensions and the conflicts that are now there. You also mentioned the fact that more than 60 countries going
into elections and, of course, concerns about domestic constituencies. You know, farmers going on strike in many countries. You also have high
inflation, high food prices. So, a lot of tension domestically that members have to watch out for.
And against that kind of backdrop, I think it's been quite -- MC13 was taking place in a difficult time. But that is why I feel quite happy that
we had some good successes. We have a dispute settlement system. The only place in the world, really, where members can bring trade disputes against
each other. And that system needs reform. And we were able to make some progress on that reform and to bring it to the 13th Ministerial for
blessing by the minister, so to speak, to let us know whether we're on the right track.
So, they did bless some of that work done. We are not there yet, by any stretch of the imagination, but we are well on our way. And they confirmed
their desire for us to complete the reform process by 2024. That's by the end of this year.
We also succeeded in reaching an agreement that 28 of our members, who are the poorest, the least developed countries, have been negotiating with
others for 10 years, and that is to give them additional time when they graduate out of least developed country status, to benefit from all the
concessions that the poorest countries benefit from at the WTO. We were happy to see that closed. I think for developing countries, it was a very
good out tick (ph).
CHATTERLEY: I sort of see the world in two terms, sort of pre-2024 presidential elections in the United States and after. Reaching some kind
of consensus and agreement surely gets more difficult if we have a President Trump in the White House who, for want of a better word, has been
pretty rude about the WTO and is threatening now 60 percent tariffs on China.
Does it get more difficult generally, whether it's on the economics or on the agreements that the WTO in that scenario in your mind?
OKONJO-IWEALA: Well, Julia, the way I look at it is this. Regardless of who wins the election, I try to focus on the issue of what are the reforms that
the WTO needs to do and to accomplish to remain relevant in the 21st century? And I think that's what we should worry about and do the work we
need to do anyway.
CHATTERLEY: I think you would agree with me that it does matter in terms of the tone that the world takes on this kind of an agreement. But we'll move
swiftly on. Do you think there is a way to accept and adopt a new global consensus, though, on trade that does put more emphasis on the worker,
perhaps even puts more emphasis on national security too? Because we are seeing that all over the world, whether it's the United States, whether
it's China and beyond, and these are some of the biggest players in the world.
Whether that can be established without bringing back the barriers to trade that, you know, the WTO spent three decades trying to reduce and
successfully doing so?
OKONJO-IWEALA: When we talk about labor, each and every agreement we reach, I always think about, what does this mean for labor?
CHATTERLEY: Yes.
OKONJO-IWEALA: On the issue of national security, yes, we also have to think of ways in which our agreements can be sensitive to issues of
national security. Of course, the WTO agreements spell out under what circumstances members can invoke national security concerns. Those are
quite clear. But I always insist that countries know their national security concerns best, but invoking those concerns should not mean that
they have to be a result of protectionist measures.
Again, I do not see the two as, you know, tradeoffs with each other. I think you can protect your national security and do so in a manner that
does not result in anti-competitive behavior.
CHATTERLEY: 75 percent of world trade today takes place in some form on WTO terms. That's an enormous statistic and I'm not quite sure how the world
would work without the WTO. What would that look like?
[18:50:00]
OKONJO-IWEALA: Well, thank you, Julia, for saying that. I think it's something that most people don't realize that WTO rules, govern most 75
percent of world trade, as you said. That's the rules and the tariff schedules that members have committed to at the WTO.
So, if you remove that, it would be every country on its own and people could set whatever tariffs they wanted on each other's goods. And I think
that would be quite chaotic. So, it's almost like the air you breathe. That's what -- the people don't notice it, but actually world trade takes
place on WTO terms, and it would be very unruly without it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHATTERLEY: Economic oxygen. Thank you to Dr. Ngozi there.
Now, coming up for us, a controversy over water bottles. That's the reality for one Chinese firm and it's weighing on the wealth of China's richest
man. For details, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHATTERLEY: China's richest man under pressure for not being patriotic enough. At the center of the complaint, package design. Zhong Shanshan owns
Nongfu Spring, China's largest maker of bottled water. His critics are saying the bottles, featuring temples in eye grabbing red, are borrowing
from Japanese culture. Marc Stewart has more from Beijing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARC STEWART, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: If you live here in China, there's a good chance you drink Nongfu Spring bottled water. It's the
country's biggest maker of bottled water and sold on almost every street corner, including here in Beijing.
The company is owned by China's richest man, but his wealth has been shrinking fast in recent weeks thanks to an unexpected backlash.
Zhong Shanshan is facing online attacks accused of being not patriotic enough in part because of the designs of some of his product packaging.
On the bottles you can see a temple. You can see a crane. Some Chinese people feel these images are inspired by Japanese culture. Now, that's
upsetting to some people because of longstanding animosity between the two countries.
Some Chinese people even claim the red bottle cap resembles the shape of the Japanese national flag. CNN has reached out. Thanks. Nongfu Spring for
comment.
STEWART (voice-over): A perfect storm that has triggered a nationwide boycott, with people uploading videos of themselves pulling Nongfu Springs
water off store shelves, all in the name of patriotism.
All of this is proving to be a heavy blow to business. The online campaign has cut into Nongfu sales as well as its share price, wiping about $3
billion dollars off its market capitalization since the end of February, according to a CNN calculation. But views on the streets are much calmer.
[18:55:00]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We should have a fair and just attitude. We shouldn't be intensifying conflicts. That serves no good for
our own government either.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Maybe it is inspired by Japanese architecture, but it could also be inspired by traditional Chinese
architecture. If you look back in history, didn't Japan learn from China too? I think it's wrong to be connecting product design to politics.
STEWART: As Beijing tries to rally behind the private sector in the midst of an economic slump, many worry this war on bottled water could see the
business community's confidence dry up even further.
Marc Stewart, CNN, Beijing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHATTERLEY: The red top feels harsh. OK. Anyway, finally, on "First Move." Feast your eyes on this. You're looking at a blooming marvelous evening in
Washington, D.C., where cherry blossoms are out for all to see. And it's happening much earlier than usual.
The U.S. capital has experienced one of its warmest winters on record. Temperatures raise to 80 degrees Fahrenheit. That's nearly 27 degrees
Celsius by late January. This year's peak bloom is the second earliest on record, the first March 15, 1990. And that just about wraps up the show.
Thank you for joining us, and I'll see you tomorrow.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
