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First Move with Julia Chatterley

Inside Haiti's Capital; A Rare Insight Into The Work Of Police Overrun By Gangs; U.S. Department Of Justice Sues Apple; Antony Blinken In Egypt; Blinken Says Talks Are Getting Closer To A Temporary Ceasefire; IDF Arresting More Than 600 In Al-Shifa Raid; TSMC Details On Its Global Expansion Plans; Fani Willis Pushing For Trump Trial Before Election; New York Attorney General Preparing To Seize Some Trump Assets; NATO Delegation Visits Ukraine; Russia Launches Largest Missile Attack On Kyiv; Miniaturizing Robotic Surgery; Ohtani's Interpreter Fired. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired March 21, 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 HOST: Democratic Congressman Andy Kim of New Jersey, congratulations.

JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN HOST: It's 6:00 a.m. in Shanghai, 3:00 p.m. in Los Angeles, and 6:00 p.m. here in New York. I'm Julia Chatterley. And wherever

you are in the world, this is your FIRST MOVE.

A warm welcome once again to FIRST MOVE. And here's today's need to know. Haiti's hell, a rare insight into the work of police in a capital city

overrun by gangs.

Cut to the core, the U.S. Department of Justice accusing Apple of using its grip on the global smartphone market to raise prices and hurt rivals.

And a Shohei showtime scandal, the baseball superstar's long-time friend and interpreter fired amid accusations of a massive theft. All that and

plenty more coming up.

But first, Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, still without a functioning government, still racked by violence with gangs controlling most of the

territory.

Our David Culver spent the day with national police travelling in their armored vehicle. This is what he found.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID CULVER, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Here in Port-au-Prince, there are no front lines. The boundaries, they are blurred and they are constantly

shifting. And when you're with Haiti's national police force, one that is facing struggle and setback and diminishing resources, you realize just

what they're up against, and that is constant gang activity.

We're driving through areas that are highly contested between different gangs and the police. And they're trying to hold them back time after time.

And yet, these attacks are constant and they come at all hours. The police often, especially with armored vehicles like this, are able to push them

back.

The issue comes in holding that space and keeping it secure. They don't have enough resources to do that. Many of them have told us that's where an

international mission would help. As of now, though, they have to go in, push back, and then move on to other areas where gang activity has broken

out.

It's incredible to be inside this tank of sorts and to realize just how much it has seen. Evidence of that is along the windows. The glass,

bulletproof in theory, but certainly has taken a lot of beatings.

David Culver, CNN, Porter Prince, Haiti.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHATTERLEY: Washington says it rescued more than 90 U.S. citizens from the country on Thursday. That's 160 American evacuees since Sunday.

And now, to the blockbuster 88-page U.S. antitrust lawsuit that took a bite out of Apple's share prize today. Attorney General Merrick Garland

announcing the charges in Washington, D.C., alleging that Apple retains its position as a global smartphone giant by stifling competition and

innovation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MERRICK GARLAND, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: As our complaint alleges, Apple has maintained monopoly power in the smartphone market not simply by

staying ahead of the competition on the merits, but by violating federal antitrust law. Consumers should not have to pay higher prices because

companies break the law.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHATTERLEY: Apple who shares far more than 4 percent on the news, is out with a strong defense of its business, defying and denying all allegations,

saying "this lawsuit threatens who we are and the principles that set Apple products apart in fiercely competitive markets."

An admission there, perhaps, of the threat this lawsuit poses to the Apple ecosystem and the way the app store works, just as iPhone sales globally,

of course, come under a bit of pressure with a marked slowdown in China.

Now, speaking of China, Apple CEO Tim Cook was actually in Shanghai to open a new store when the news hit. He also posted a video on Weibo with the

Chinese actor and TV star Zhong Kai in a further bid to woo Chinese consumers. Apple, of course, just the latest big tech firm to be targeted

by the Biden administration, the company also the target of E.U. regulators, too.

Joining us now, Bill Baer, a former U.S. assistant attorney general in the Justice Department's Antitrust Division. He's now a visiting fellow at the

Brookings Institution. Bill, fantastic to have you with us. The key part for me, actually --

BILL BAER, VISITING FELLOW, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: Good to see you, Julia.

CHATTERLEY: Great to have you. The key part for me and what the attorney general said there was when he used Apple's own words against them. I'm

just going to play that for our viewers.

[18:05:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GARLAND: In 2022, Apple's CEO was asked whether Apple would fix iPhone to Android messaging. The questionnaire added "not to make it personal, but I

can't send my mom certain videos." Apple CEO responded, buy your mom an iPhone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHATTERLEY: Ouch. Bill, how convinced are you by this complaint and the accusations?

BAER: It reads as a pretty damning indictment, not just of Apple's behavior, but the difference between Apple when it faces the public and

talks about what it's doing, and when they talk internally about what's the most profit-maximizing strategy they can follow, regardless of whether it

benefits or injures consumers.

And this complaint basically says, on balance, Apple has done a lot of things that hurt consumers, limit competition, lock us into the iPhone,

which is a device I have, and I respect Apple for developing it. But limiting our ability to move elsewhere, to communicate with other people,

is not in the consumer interest. It may be in the shareholder interest for Apple's many shareholders, but that's not what competition policy is all

about. It is having free markets and having a lot of competitors and making it be better every day. And this complaint says that's not that Apple has

been about it.

CHATTERLEY: Yes. The sort of accusation is that we've all been forced to become -- being forces to become Apple addicts because it's so easy. You

have an iPhone and you have an iPad and you have an Apple Watch and they all work really easily. And if you've got friends that you want to

FaceTime, for example, it's just easier to do it, similar phone, iPhone to another iPhone.

But to your point, and this is crucial, you to prove customer harm that they had the ability to perhaps to limit access, to raise prices for

consumers, even in this sort of ecosystem, an Apple bubble. Is it going to be easy to improve that? And sort a bigger picture, how long does it take

to push this through and actually get some form of remedial action, perhaps, from Apple?

BAER: Well, as somebody who spent a lot of time dealing with complex American litigation, including antitrust litigation, nothing happens

quickly here. So, we've got not months, but years of litigation. And the government's job and this 90-page complaint does a pretty good job of

laying out the facts that they have discovered will be to show that Apple has systematically sought to limit competition, to deny consumers choice in

order to make more money at the expense of a competitive marketplace.

CHATTERLEY: The irony here is that we always look at some of these companies that grew over the last sort of two decades in particular of

beneficiaries of what happened with the action against Microsoft, and I mean what it was, 20 years ago now, the iPod had to be able to operate on

Microsoft's operating system. Good luck trying to see the reverse of that today.

Is that kind of a comparison valid when you're trying to fight this argument? Because I sort of look at the share price today and it was fine,

it was down four percentage points, but in the grand scheme of things it was nothing to your point that this is going to take years to act upon.

BAER: Right. Well, first of all, I think the Microsoft comparison of two decades ago is dead on. Microsoft had a dominant monopolistic position in

operating systems. The Justice Department brought an antitrust suit. The courts said, you know what, Microsoft was unlawfully trying to maintain its

monopoly by limiting opportunities for people developing competitive browsers, for example.

And once that case was settled and Microsoft agreed to remove certain restrictions, it gave Apple an opportunity with its iPod to actually let

people using Microsoft's operating system to access music. And so, Apple was the beneficiary 20 years ago, 20-plus years ago, of effective antitrust

enforcement. And now they are engaged in quite comparable restrictive behavior, just like Microsoft two decades ago.

And this is what antitrust is all about. It's preventing dominant companies from building some kind of wall around their dominance so they can stay in

a position where they can make a lot of money, but they don't have to respond to a competitive marketplace.

[18:10:00]

CHATTERLEY: Yes. So, Bill, you and I can reconvene on this in 2026 or 2027 and find out what the result is.

BAER: Exactly.

CHATTERLEY: Yes. Bill Baer, former assistant attorney general in the Justice Department's Anti-Just Division. Sir, thank you so much for your

time.

BAER: Thank you.

CHATTERLEY: OK. Let's move on now to the Israel-Hamas War. U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken says talks are getting closer to a temporary

ceasefire in exchange for the release of Israeli hostages.

America's top diplomat was in Egypt holding talks with government leaders. It's just one stop on his latest tour of the Middle East to try to stop the

fighting in Gaza.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We've been working, as you know, with Egypt, with Qatar, and with Israel to put a strong proposal on the

table. Hamas responded to that. The negotiators continue to work. The gaps are narrowing, and we're continuing to push for an agreement in Doha.

There's still difficult work to get there, but I continue to believe it's possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHATTERLEY: Meanwhile, the IDF say they've arrested more than 600 people in the operation at Gaza's Al-Shifa Hospital. The arrests are said to

include senior Hamas officials. CNN cannot verify these claims. Jeremy Diamond is in Jerusalem for us.

I was looking at some of the other comments that he made there, and I think he made it quite clear. He said, there's still real challenges. We've

closed the gaps, but there are still gaps. Jeremy, we feel like we've been here before. Do you get the sense that this time is different?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's hard to tell. I mean, there certainly is momentum behind these negotiations, but it is always not until

the last minute that we actually know whether or not a deal has actually been reached or can be reached, but certainly the secretary of state

indicating that there is real progress being made, that gaps are narrowing, but that there still is some distance to go.

All of this as the Israeli military is now in its fourth day of an ongoing major military operation at Al-Shifa Hospital.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DIAMOND (voice-over): A crowded stairwell at Al-Shifa Hospital. Dozens of women and children await Israeli military instructions. For four days,

thousands of civilians have been trapped here as the Israeli military raids the hospital, targeting Palestinian militants allegedly operating inside

the medical complex.

Soldiers are everywhere, the voice on the loudspeaker warns. If you leave the premises, the soldiers will shoot you. We have warned you. We have come

here in order to get the Israeli hostages. Then we will let you go.

Soon, word of evacuations begins to spread. Now, they are forcing out the women. The voice behind the camera says, we don't know where they're going

to take us.

The Israeli military says they have killed more than 140 militants in and around the hospital and attained these five men described as senior terror

operatives among more than 600 suspects the Israeli military says they've detained. Eye witnesses say medical personnel and other civilians have also

been rounded up.

Outside the hospital, the fighting continues, as seen through the lens of Hamas militants who have been targeting Israeli tanks and troops around the

hospital complex. Israeli airstrikes reducing parts of the surrounding Al- Rimal neighborhood to rubble, sending thousands fleeing south. It's a journey marked by the sights and smells of death.

We walked over the martyrs who are dead in the street. People are reduced to body parts, this woman cries, where is the humanity?

The newly displaced arrive on foot in Central Gaza carrying only backpacks and plastic bags. Children clutching dolls and stuffed animals. Others

like, this mother and her triplets, arrive with nothing at all.

Tanks and artillery were firing at the buildings around Al-Shifa and forcing people to leave the buildings, she says, they make them leave with

nothing on them. Nothing. No pillow. No blanket. Not even water.

Nuzha (ph) isn't just fleeing the fighting. But the starvation that has left her eight-month-old babies thin and frail.

You can see them, she says, each of them is not even two kilos. Eight months old and not even two kilos. Anyone who sees them would think they're

only two months old, and they are eight months. It's a catastrophe. No water. No food. And siege and gunfire.

[18:15:00]

But her journey is not over yet. She is heading further south in search of food and shelter, no longer taken for granted in Gaza.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DIAMOND (on camera): Meanwhile, an update for you on those two dozen Palestinian patients being treated in East Jerusalem and Tel Aviv hospitals

that we brought you earlier this week. The Israeli government now says that it will not send those patients back to Gaza until the Israeli Supreme

Court has ruled on this. They've asked the Supreme Court for 30 days to respond after Israeli human rights groups filed a petition demanding that

the Israeli government stop its plan to deport them back to Gaza. Julia.

CHATTERLEY: Yes. And Jeremy, that was great work on you, highlighting their plight too. Thank you so much for that update. Jeremy Diamond in

Jerusalem there. Thank You.

All right. Coming up here on FIRST MOVE, we've got rare access to the world's largest chipmaker, Taiwanese giant TSMC details on its global

expansion plans and more.

Plus, meet MIRA. How this pint-sized portable robotic device hopes to revolutionize surgeries in the not-too-distant future, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to FIRST MOVE. And a good Thursday evening to all our First Movers in the U.S., U.K., and cross Latin America. And TGIF if

you're waking up with us somewhere in Asia.

A major market move tops our "Money Move" today. All the major U.S. averages rallying on Thursday. The Dow Jones industrial is hitting a record

high just below that 40,000 milestone. The S&P and the NASDAQ also hitting fresh record highs.

It's a follow-on rally effectively we saw on Wednesday too with investors cheering the expectation of three rate cuts from the Federal Reserve this

year despite them raising their inflation forecasts. The stocks also that helped the Dow to near 40K in today's trade, well, Goldman Sachs up 4

percent, followed by Home Depot and Caterpillar.

The big laggard of the day, Apple, as we've already discussed, falling some 4 percent after the U.S. Justice Department filed an antitrust suit against

the firm. Apple's market cap losing over $100 billion on the news.

[18:20:00]

And a bit of early spring IPO fever on Wall Street too, Reddit's mascot Snoo. Yes, Snoo, ringing the opening bell at the NYSE as shares of the

online forum website made their market debut. Shares were priced at $34. They closed up almost 50 percent as you can see there. Over $50 a share.

Wowsers. Left some money on the table there.

Now, demand for A.I. powered technology is booming and TSMC in Taiwan is riding the wave. The world's largest chipmaker is expanding its global

operations while managing competitive, technological, and geopolitical risks along the way. Our Will Ripley was granted rare access to the

company's HQ in Taipei.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is Taiwan's epicenter of technological revolution where precision meets

innovation and tiny chips power big dreams. This is TSMC, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, commanding more than 50 percent of the

global market, producing more than 90 percent of the world's most advanced chips.

RIPLEY: To say it's difficult to gain access to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company would be the understatement of the year or maybe two

years because that's about how long it's taken my team and I to get permission to come here.

Behind these walls, some of the world's most advanced, highly secretive technology. It's so secret you have to check your phone, your laptop,

anything that emits a signal just to walk through the door.

RIPLEY (voice-over): As demand for A.I. driven technologies soars, TSMC is the go-to global manufacturer, sending stocks skyrocketing. The company's

workforce, 77,000 strong and growing. A far cry from its humble beginnings in 1987, says the senior vice president of human resources, Lora Ho.

RIPLEY: What is it like to run HR for what is arguably the most important company in the world right now?

LORA HO, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES, TSMC: I think now HR is very different than the HR then because we are fast expanding our global

footprint.

RIPLEY (voice-over): TSMC says it needs to hire thousands of new employees over the next few years to fill chip factories or fabs under construction

right now across Taiwan and around the world.

Last month, TSMC opened its first fab in Kumamoto, Japan with the help of billions of dollars in government subsidies. They're also building new fabs

in Dresden, Germany and Phoenix, Arizona.

RIPLEY: What's the most challenging location where you're trying to build a factory right now?

HO: I think Arizona is more difficult. Regulations and the culture is different. We have to adjust to local culture and different employees.

RIPLEY: Why the decision to do the more advanced technology in Arizona?

HO: Our leading-age customers are mostly American companies. So, to serve their needs in their home country, that's the objective.

RIPLEY (voice-over): That Arizona fab is facing chronic delays.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need some more help with it though, for sure.

RIPLEY (voice-over): The price tag skyrocketing. Making chips outside of Taiwan and making them profitable will likely require huge government

subsidies.

KRISTY HSU, DIRECTOR, TAIWAN ASEAN STUDIES CENTER, CHUAN-HUA INSTITUTE FOR ECONOMIC RESEARCH: The estimated cost in the U.S. compared with Taiwan is

about 40 percent more expensive. But right now, because of the inflation, all these kinds of issues, and right now they think it's probably two times

or three times more expensive.

RIPLEY (voice-over): TSMC's overseas expansion must overcome massive hurdles. An expansion world leaders say is necessary to protect the global

chips supply chain from potentially disastrous disruptions. We got a taste of that during the pandemic, months-long waits for new phones, laptops and

other tech.

Any major disruption could mean waiting years for cutting-edge tech. Taiwan is a volcanic island prone to earthquakes, typhoons, and other natural

disasters.

HO: There's earthquake, for example, earthquake. I think all engineering knows it needs to go back to the company soon. It doesn't matter what time

it is, if it is midnight, they will come back.

RIPLEY (voice-over): Perhaps the biggest threat to TSMC's supply chain, also one of its biggest customers, rising tensions with China. The

company's stock is surging anyway, as other nations scramble to catch up with Taiwan.

HO: I don't think it would take away the strength, because we are still very highly concentrated in Taiwan, and the most leading-age technology

were absolutely starting from Taiwan.

RIPLEY (voice-over): Beyond its core semiconductor business, TSMC is exploring new frontiers in advanced packaging, paving the way for enhanced

processing power and energy efficiency, pushing the boundaries of what's possible in today's fast-moving world of tech.

Will Ripley, CNN, Taichung, Taiwan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHATTERLEY: That was a fascinating comment, two to three times more expensive right now to build a fab or a factory in the United States versus

what it costs to build in Taiwan.

It goes back to what the Intel CEO was saying to us yesterday about the importance of the U.S. Chips Act and those subsidies. It's still not a

level playing field. Fascinating.

[18:25:00]

All right. Heading into the weekend, it's the weather hangover. Australia's Northern Territory continues to see leftover rain from Former Tropical

Cyclone Megan, as Japan experiences some snow at higher elevations. But spring is taking hold with more cherry blossoms blooming across Japan.

Chad Myers joins us now. So, there we go. We can either talk about snow again or we can talk about spring blooms. I'm in a happy place.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Exactly. You know, it's -- they're going to get some rain in Kyushu and that that's good because they want the rain for

the farming, but they don't want it at their peak of cherry blossom season and you knock all the blossoms off. So, that's one of the things.

Here we go. Down to Australia here. The rain has been heavy at times, at least 100 millimeters in many places here in the Northern Territory. But

the heaviest rain falls still to come for places down to the south. Alice Springs. You have another 100 millimeters before this finally stops.

Now, that the ground is wet, that wet ground evaporates its water. The water gets back into the clouds and it just makes more rain, kind of like

this never-ending cycle.

The good news is, though, for Formula 1, we still look great here in Melbourne. Temperatures are going to be in the lower 20s and I don't even

see a shower at all for Free Practice 1, 2, 3 or through the race. Just going to be really late at night for us here in the U.S.

Snow across parts of North Korea and also even into coastal Russia. A little bit of snow, as you mentioned, above about 2,000 meters here just to

the west of Tokyo, but not seeing significant anything in Tokyo.

There's the heavy rainfall for Kyushu. And we talk about that because the cherry blossoms move from south to north across Japan, from about where we

are now and then finally on up toward the north into Tokyo into early April. Couple of warm days, though, in a row start to really bring these

blossoms into bloom.

Look at this warm day in Beijing for today, 23, that's 10 degrees above normal. And Shanghai, 24, yes. So, I guess it cools down to normal, but

we're talking Fahrenheit. This is 18 degrees above normal Fahrenheit. 10 degrees above normal Celsius. So, some warm days in a row for parts of

China. Julia.

CHATTERLEY: Yes, the Shanghai sizzle. Chad Myers, thank you so much for that.

MYERS: You bet.

CHATTERLEY: We're back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:30:00]

CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to FIRST MOVE. And a look at more of the international headlines this hour.

A federal judge in Jackson, Mississippi has handed down sentences to the last two members of the so-called Goon Squad, a group of law enforcement

officials found guilty of torturing two black men early last year. Brett McAlpin, the highest-ranking officer at the crime scene, was sentenced to

more than 27 years in prison and Joshua Hartfield was sentenced to a 10- year prison term.

Wales has become the first European nation to elect a black leader. Its Parliament chose Vaughan Gething as the First Minister on Wednesday. He won

the Welsh Labour Party leadership contest over the weekend. His election also means that for the first time all the heads of government within the

U.K. are either women or people of color.

In the State of Georgia, sources say District Attorney Fani Willis is planning to put Former President Donald Trump on trial before the November

election. Willis narrowly avoided being disqualified from the case over her romantic relationship with the former lead prosecutor.

And the New York State attorney general taking steps towards seizing some of Former President Donald Trump's assets. He's facing a Monday deadline to

pay the almost half a billion-dollar bond in his civil fraud case. Kristen Holmes has more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With just four days to pay the at least $464 million bond, Former President Donald Trump's

panic mode does not appear to be easing up. Posting to Truth Social today that the amount ordered by the judge was too high for bonding companies,

adding that "putting up money before an appeal is very expensive."

With New York Attorney General Letitia James already taking the first steps to seize Trump's assets if he's unable to post bond, Trump has been

publicly defiant.

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: We're fighting it out with them. We have a lot of cash and we have a great company, but they want to take it

away or at least take the cash element away. Billions of dollars in value, billions of dollars in properties, but they'd like to take the cash away so

I can't use it on the campaign.

HOLMES (VOICE-OVER): As Trump seeks solutions, his campaign also facing a cash crunch, struggling to chip away at President Joe Biden's significant

financial edge. Trump's campaign and joint fundraising committee raised a combined $20.3 million dollars in February, ending the month with $41.9

million in the bank. While an increase from January, the numbers lag behind Biden's, whose political operation raised $53 million last month and ended

February with $155 million cash on hand.

Meanwhile, with Trump's legal fees still looming over him, his leadership pact spending more on legal expenses than it took in last month. Biden not

only outpacing Trump at the bank, but also on the campaign trail, making an appeal to key voting blocs.

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: I need you. I need you badly. I need to help -- Kamala and I desperately need your help.

HOLMES (voice-over): While former President Trump has largely stayed behind closed doors since clinching the Republican nomination, swapping

rallies for donor meetings and the golf course. Trump has only visited one battleground state since Super Tuesday.

TRUMP: Hello, Georgia. I'm thrilled to be back.

HOLMES (voice-over): And held a campaign event for his hand-picked Senate candidate in Ohio before the primary in that state. In the same stretch of

time, Biden has visited every top battleground state but one.

BIDEN: You're going to be building the future here in Arizona, and Arizona is building the future.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES (voice-over): Now, a NATO military delegation has visited Ukraine for the first time since Russia's full-scale invasion. As the war

continues, it's become increasingly clear how much support Ukraine still needs from its allies.

One major roadblock, the lack of additional military funding from the United States, where funding has been tied up in Congress now for months.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told my colleague Richard Quest he thinks the U.S. will still come through.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENS STOLTENBERG, SECRETARY GENERAL, NATO: It is serious that the U.S. Congress has not been able to make a decision to provide military support

to Ukraine. But the reason why I continue to believe it will happen is that there is a big majority in the U.S. Congress for support Ukraine. It's

about turning this majority into a vote. And at some stage, I believe the U.S. Congress will be able to do so. So, this is not charity. This is an

investment in U.S. and NATO security to provide support to Ukraine.

[18:35:00]

CHATTERLEY: Yes. And Fred Pleitgen has more on this, and the urgency of additional support, particularly after overnight missile strikes on the

capital, Kyiv.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After more than a month of relative calm, Ukraine's capital once again

under sustained Russian missile fire. More than one dozen injured, mostly from falling debris, as the Ukrainians shot the missiles down.

This is a ruthless extermination of the Ukrainians and an attack on the civilian population that was just sleeping, this man says.

We feel hatred, terrible hatred, he says. This is not fear, this is hatred towards Russia generally and everyone in particular.

Russia's new missile blitz on Ukraine's capital coming just as Vladimir Putin was officially announced as the winner of the Russian presidential

election, which was never in doubt.

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): The elections have shown that Russia today is one big, friendly family. We walk together on

the historical path chosen by us, confident in ourselves, in our strengths, and in the future. Thank you.

PLEITGEN (voice-over): But some Russians fear their path, after Putin's victory, could lead them straight into military service and the

battlefields in Ukraine.

As Russia burns through soldiers while achieving only minor gains. And the Russian Defense Ministry says they will drastically increase the size of

the Russian military by tens of thousands of troops.

SERGEI SHOIGU, RUSSIAN DEFENSE MINISTER (through translator): The plan is to form, by the end of year, two combined arms armies and 30 units

including 14 divisions and 16 brigades.

PLEITGEN (voice-over): All this as the Ukrainians are already drastically outmanned and outgunned, ammunition stocks running dangerously low, Kyiv

says.

The E.U. now wants to step up and use profits from Russian assets frozen in Europe to pay for arm in Ukraine.

While the Kremlin is threatening to retaliate, the Ukrainian say they'd welcome the measure, with the U.S. funding still held up by House

Republican leadership, even though National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, on a visit to Ukraine, said he remains hopeful.

JAKE SULLIVAN, U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: From our perspective, we are confident we will get this done. We will get this aid to the Ukraine.

PLEITGEN (voice-over): Just hours after Sullivan's remarks, Putin's missiles came raining down on Kyiv, a reminder that when it comes to

getting weapons stocks replenished, the Ukrainians don't have a moment to lose.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Berlin.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHATTERLEY: OK. Coming up for us on FIRST MOVE, a tiny surgical robot, out of this world, literally. Its precise performance, 250 miles above Earth,

and its potential benefits for many patients, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:40:00]

CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to FIRST MOVE. Miniaturized robotic surgery, that's the mission of Virtual Incision, a firm that's garnered

international attention for carrying out this groundbreaking surgery in space.

The world's first miniaturized robotic-assisted surgery device is called MIRA. That's easier. It's operated by doctors back on Earth, and it

successfully completed this demo in zero gravity at the International Space Station. And this technology could be assisting surgeons in hospitals

sooner than you think. U.S. regulators, the FDA, authorized MIRA to be used in colon operations.

And joining us now is the CEO of Virtual Incision, John Murphy. John, fantastic to have you on the show. I'm so excited about this for two

reasons. The first thing I thought was MIS, Minimally Invasive Surgery. So, smaller cuts and robots we know can help with that. But then you're trying

to make the robot itself simply more versatile and portable. Walk us through this.

JOHN MURPHY, CEO, VIRTUAL INCISION: Yes, thanks so much for having me. It's great to join you on FIRST MOVE, Julia.

You know, I've been CEO for over a decade now at Virtual Incision. I'm sitting in this beautiful new headquarters building here in Lincoln,

Nebraska, because we're actually a spin-out of the university in Nebraska. And we've been building smaller and smaller and smaller robots really in

support of our mission, which is quite audacious really, it's to make every operating room robot ready.

So, we knew we needed to get small. There's great mainframe robots pioneered by companies like Intuitive Surgical on the market today, and

they've done incredible work. But we know if you want to get to the other 90 percent of ORs and the other 90 percent of procedures that don't today

have access to such robotic devices, we need it to be small and portable and be able to have easy setup and be able to form this type of minimally

invasive surgery in any setting.

CHATTERLEY: Yes. So, the key statistic there was that 90 percent of U.S. operating rooms don't have access to this minimally invasive surgery today

because the setup is complex, it requires dedicated space. Explain the beauty of what MIRA provides and allows us perhaps to get away from all of

that infrastructure that's required for robotics today.

MURPHY: Yes. You know, MIRA itself is pretty a special system. It's got all the visualization and precision and control that you'd expect in a full

robot-assisted device. But it can be set up in 10 minutes in any operating room. It doesn't need draping.

And our first procedure, we consider the marquee procedure in soft tissue surgery is in colon resection, which is a multi-quadrant procedure. So,

even out the gate here, we're going to be performing multi-quadrant surgery and have further indications for things like gynecology, surgery,

hysterectomy, and the like, and further work in general surgery for hernia repair and gallbladder removal. So, we're just at the start of this

journey, but I think it's a very exciting path forward.

CHATTERLEY: Just on a very basic level, I saw that it weighs around two pounds.

MURPHY: Yes.

CHATTERLEY: And also, if we talk about sort of the instrument itself, the movements are clearly far more dexterous than human hands. And obviously,

the small size of this allows it to get into very small places, which is what we're saying about the colon.

MURPHY: Yes.

CHATTERLEY: It's those factors, I think, that make this so much easier. How easy is it to clean? How quickly could you go from one patient to

another, particularly given it's clearly portable, given the weight of it?

MURPHY: Yes, you know, it goes through a regular sterilization process, and it's just presented to the operating room in a surgical tray.

CHATTERLEY: Wow.

MURPHY: And I think you're hinting at the easy use here because you've got these two arms with a bipolar grasper and a molar polar scissors in each

hand, so you can perform electrosurgery task needed in MIS procedures.

[18:45:00]

But you always have this beautiful camera, always between your arms, always perfectly triangulated. And surgeons, whether they're laparoscopic trained

or robotic trained, tend to pick this up very easily and be able to move this device anywhere in the abdomen for a large range of procedures down

the road.

CHATTERLEY: Yes, I was going to ask, how easy is it for a surgeon to be able to use? What was the point that you were making with the sort of

demonstration that you did in zero gravity in space?

MURPHY: You know, we've got a nice heritage of working with NASA in the company. And so, this was a great opportunity to kind of create space MIRA,

which is just an offshoot of MIRA itself, but it fits the NASA specs to get inside a space station experiment locker.

But, you know, to be able to, you know, survive the robustness of a rocket launch on a Falcon 9, and then to have six surgeons be able to perform

simulated surgery tasks, all sitting here in Lincoln, up on the space station was tremendous.

But it leads us to one day thinking about remote surgery across all types of environments. It could be a rural setting in the United States where you

have a specialist at our hub and a simplified robotic setup at the patient's side. But also, you know, on mission work and in any operating

room. That's our longer-term vision, you know, from making every OR robot ready.

CHATTERLEY: Yes, you could drone this into remote places in the wild and have a surgeon far away operating it. I think this is the definition of

cool, John, on every level.

What's the cost of one of these MIRA robot instruments and --

MURPHY: Yes.

CHATTERLEY: Yes, go on. Answer that question first, please.

MURPHY: Yes, yes. I think it's an important question. Will be quite a bit significantly less than mainframe robotics, but probably a premium to

laparoscopic surgery or straight stick surgery. But you know, in order to be able to do procedures inpatient but also in the hospital, all outpatient

department, also in the ambulatory surgery center and in all sorts of outside U.S., important markets, we need to be very, very cost competitive

and have an economic solution for all of these settings, you know.

CHATTERLEY: Can you give me a ballpark figure or you're going to avoid the answer, which I understand? I've got to ask.

MURPHY: Yes. Well, we're just going into commercialization now. We're going to just 10 sites in the United States this to start colon surgery

around the U.S. And we'll have a full commercial kind of offering figured out here once we go through that process, I think.

CHATTERLEY: Fine. So, you have a date to come back and tell me when you can tell me the price. Very quickly, how --

MURPHY: Absolutely, absolutely.

CHATTERLEY: Time until you can really expand this very quickly, John, and training time. How long does it take to train a surgeon to use this?

MURPHY: Yes. You know, we've been really happy to see surgeons within five minutes or so being able to perform pretty nice laparoscopic type training

tasks. And then, they'll go into a very regimented training for about a day and a half, where we have a simulator, they'll do some dry lab and some wet

lab types of training. And then, we'll proctor for a few surgeries once they get going at the first site. So, that's what we'll be really testing

in our first access sites later this year in the United States.

CHATTERLEY: Awesome. I can't wait to hear more. Keep us posted, John. Thank you for the work that you and the team are doing. It's, like I said,

cool on every level. The CEO of Virtual Incision there, John.

MURPHY: Thank you so much, Julia.

CHATTERLEY: Thank you, yes.

OK. If you've missed any of our interviews today, they'll be on my X, on Instagram pages. You can search for @jchatterlycnn.

In the meantime, coming up, it's showtime for Shohei. But today, it's not just about the Seoul series. He's hitting the headlines for a very

different reason. We'll discuss.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:50:00]

CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to FIRST MOVE. Baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani in the spotlight again today, but not for his performance on the pitch. His

long-time friend and interpreter was fired by the L.A. Dodgers amid accusations of a massive theft. Ohtani's legal team is claiming he stole

millions of dollars and placed bets with a bookmaker who's now under federal investigation.

Don Riddell joins us now. Don, we've spoken about his sporting prowess. We've spoken about his wife. This was not what I was expecting to talk to

you about this week. What more do we know about what may have happened here?

DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: Not at all, Julia. This really is the mother of all curve balls. As you say, we knew that Shohei Ohtani was going to be

a massive story in Major League Baseball this season, but we couldn't have imagined that this would be the story.

He is one of the most talented players of all time. He's being paid $700 million by the Dodgers. But after Wednesday's season opener, he became

caught up in something potentially quite serious. Let's start with how the Dodgers are presenting it.

This is what they're saying. Otani's long-time interpreter and friend, Ippei Mizuhara, has been fired over what is being described as massive

theft. But the story initially was a bit different to that. Ohtani's spokesman originally told ESPN that Ohtani sent money to cover Mizuhara's

gambling debts.

But later, Ohtani's lawyers said that their client was a victim of this massive theft. This all played out on the first day of the new season. It

initially came to light because federal investigators are looking into an illegal gambling operation in California. That was first reported by the

L.A. Times.

According to ESPN, Ohtani wired $4.5 million to the alleged bookmaking operation. Mizuhara originally told ESPN in a pretty lengthy interview that

the transfers were to cover his losses. He said that Ohtani had "zero involvement" in the betting and none of the bets were on baseball. Mizuhara

also told the ESPN that he didn't know gambling was illegal in California. And whilst Ohtani wasn't happy about his debt, he decided to pay it off for

him.

But as ESPN were getting to ready to publish the story on Wednesday, Ohtani's lawyers sent out this statement saying, "In the course of

responding to recent media inquiries, we discovered that Shohei has been the victim of a massive theft and we are turning the matter over to the

authorities."

Then on Wednesday, Mizuhara walked back much of what he just told ESPN saying Ohtani had no knowledge of his gambling activities debts or efforts

to repay them. CNN is attempting to contact Mizuhara, no comment yet from Major League Baseball.

Mizuhara was in the dugout for Wednesday's season opener against the Padres. He was seen smiling and talking to Ohtani. He even did some

translating for him. But Mizuhara was fired by the Dodgers after the story came out.

And I suspect, Julia, that this is just the beginning. I think there's lots more that we're going to hear about this, and it has the potential to be an

absolutely massive baseball story.

CHATTERLEY: Yes, a curve ball indeed. Don, I think perfectly put.

RIDDELL: Yes.

CHATTERLEY: Great to have you with us. John Riddell there.

And finally, on FIRST MOVE. Just take a look at this.

[18:55:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One of the things that you all have enabled me to do. Something that I wasn't able to really do much the last few years,

especially not like this. I have used like a mouse stick and stuff, but now it's all being done with my brain. If you all can see the cursor moving

around the screen. That's all me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHATTERLEY: Just to give you a sense of what you're seeing there, that man is playing chess and he's moving the pieces with his thoughts using a brain

ship implanted by Neuralink, Elon Musk's biotech startup.

Neuralink released the video to unveil its first ever human user, a 29- year-old man paralyzed below the shoulders from a diving accident. He says while there is room for improvement, the brain chip has already changed his

life. He may come under a lot of fire, but this is a thank you Elon Musk moment.

And that's just about wraps up the show. Thank you for joining us. We'll see you tomorrow.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:00:00]

END