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First Move with Julia Chatterley
Donald Trump's Hush Money Trial; Star Witness Michael Cohen Testifies In Hush Money Case; Russia's War On Ukraine; In Kharkiv Area, Russia Claims To Have Taken Control Of Additional Communities; Military Ministry Led By Economist Appointed By Putin; Andrey Belousov, Appointed By Putin, As New Defense Minister; Israel-Hamas War; Attack In Rafah Killed A U.N. Aid Worker; Palestinians Escape As IDF Strikes Gaza's North, Central, And South; In Honor Of Dead Troops, Israel Observes Memorial Day; GameStop Saga Reboot; Shares Of GameStop Surge 74% As Roaring Kitty Makes A Comeback; U.S. Gulf Coast At Risk Of Flooding; Canadian Community Faces Possible Wildfire Takeover; GPT-4O Model, Latest Version Of Artificial Intelligence Revealed By OpenAI; MUGA Vs Maga; How Ukrainian Resistance Symbolized By Saint Javelin; Co-Chair Of Gates Foundation, Melinda French Gates, Resigns; Asian-Pacific Designers And Their Accomplishments Honored At The Gold Gala. Aired 6-7p ET
Aired May 13, 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 two daredevils jumped from a helicopter 3,000 feet in the air and reached a top speed of 153 miles per
hour. The duo completed the risky challenge on May 2nd.
You can follow the show on X at "The Lead" CNN. If you ever missed an episode of "The Lead", you can listen to the show once you get your
podcast. All two hours of sitting there. I'll see you tomorrow morning for coverage of the Trump trial. Until then, the news continues on CNN with
Wolf Blitzer in the "Situation Room".
JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: Hi. 11:00 p.m. in London and 6:00 p.m. here in New York. I'm Julia Chatterley and wherever you are in the
world, this is your "First Move".
A warm welcome once again to first move and here's today's need to know. Terrible Donald Trump's view of today's hush money trial where his former
fixer, Michael Cohen, said payments were made because the former president was worried about the election campaign, not his marriage.
In Gaza, another aid worker is killed. The U.N. says a marked vehicle was struck in Rafah.
Melinda moves on. The co-chair of the Gates Foundation resigns three years after her divorce from Bill Gates.
And Roaring Kitty returns. The most famous trader of the meme stock craze era is back on social media and GameStop stock has soared. All that and
more coming up.
But first, the star witness in Donald Trump's hush money trial, Trump's former personal attorney and fixer, Michael Cohen, testifying about
accusations at the heart of the case. Cohen saying earlier that when he first learned of Stormy Daniels' allegations of an affair with Trump, his
former boss told him to quote, "Take care of it."
Cohen said, he paid Daniels $130,000 in a way that would keep Trump's name out of it. And he clarified that the deal was made to protect Trump's
campaign, not his family. Kara Scannell has more.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you have to say to Donald Trump?
KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Michael Cohen, Trump's former lawyer and fixer, and now star prosecution witness, finally taking a
stand in former President Donald Trump's criminal trial. He's considered the only witness who can directly implicate Trump in the alleged crimes.
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We paid a lawyer a legal expense. It's marked out in the book,
"Legal expense." It's perfectly marked out.
SCANNELL (voice-over): Prosecutors say, Cohen paid off adult film star Stormy Daniels on Trump's behalf to kill her story of an alleged affair
before the 2016 election. Trump denies the affair.
MICHAEL COHEN, FORMER TRUMP ATTORNEY: I did it at the direction of, in concert with, and for the benefit of Donald J. Trump.
SCANNELL (voice-over): Cohen testified about notifying Trump after learning Daniels was planning to sell her story, saying that the impact on the
campaign would be catastrophic. Cohen said, Trump was angry at him for not having this under control and told him to stop this from getting out.
Cohen said, Trump directed him to try and stall Daniels from releasing it until after the election. Recalling Trump saying, because if I win, it will
have no relevance because I'm president. And if I lose, I don't even care. He claimed Trump was not thinking about his wife Melania, saying this was
all about the campaign.
Cohen reached a $130,000 deal with Daniel's attorney to kill the story. And ultimately, a few weeks before the election, Cohen had to front the money
himself. But before heading to the bank, Cohen said he had two phone calls with Trump to ensure that, once again, he approved what I was doing because
I require approval from him on all of this.
Prosecutors showed the jury call logs to back up Cohen's recollection. Cohen testified about this in front of Congress in 2019.
COHEN: Mr. Trump directed me to use my own personal funds from a home equity line of credit to avoid any money being traced back to him that
could negatively impact his campaign.
SCANNELL (voice-over): Cohen served three years in prison and home confinement for crimes, including federal campaign finance violations
related to the payoff.
COHEN: I am going to jail in part because of my decision to help Mr. Trump hide that payment from the American people.
SCANNELL (voice-over): Cohen emphasized that Trump was a micromanager, and that during his time at the Trump Organization, he answered only to Trump.
Cohen said, he had an amazing experience working for the Trump Organization for a decade, adding that he felt on top of the world when Trump would
appraise him for accomplishing a task.
During questioning, prosecutors aimed to show a pattern that Cohen helped bury negative stories about Trump, all upon Trump's direct instructions.
Prosecutors asked Cohen about his work with tabloid executive David Pecker to kill stories, including one of another alleged affair with a former
Playboy model, Karen McDougal, which Trump also denies.
[18:05:00]
Cohen discussed how he recorded a 2016 phone call with Trump where they spoke about the $150,000 repayment to Pecker for buying McDougal's story.?
COHEN: I need to open up a company for the transfer of all of that info regarding our friend, David.
TRUMP: So, what do we got to pay for this?
COHEN: Funding --
TRUMP: 150?
COHEN: Yes.
SCANNELL (voice-over): Cohen also testified about the bombshell moment when the "Access Hollywood" tape dropped.
TRUMP: When you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything.
SCANNELL (voice-over): He said Trump called and asked him to reach out to all his media contacts, and said, the spin to put on it was that this is
locker room talk, something that Melania had recommended.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: He described it as locker room talk.
MELANIA TRUMP, FORMER U.S. FIRST LADY: Yes, it's kind of two teenage boys, actually, they should behave better, right?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHATTERLEY: OK. Let's talk more about this. We're joined by author and former Superior Court Judge Thomas Moukawsher. Thomas, fantastic to have
you with us. Before we get into the details of what we learned today, can I ask you what your sense is of how Michael Cohen, former fixer for the
former president, also convicted felon himself, is coming across to the jury as a witness? Because certainly the media narrative, in particular
around this, was that it could be pretty explosive.
THOMAS MOUKAWSHER, FORMER CONNECTICUT SUPERIOR COURT JUDGE: Yes, it's very interesting to have observed what happened today with that because it was
built up and built up that Michael Cohen was going to come across as he was described by an earlier witness as a jerk. As a loud mouth and a liar and
the rest of it.
And I think that maybe the prosecutors let that happen so that when Michael Cohen actually appeared in front of the jury, he didn't seem that bad of a
guy, and was quiet and cooperative and he's reading with his glasses on and looked older and maybe a little wiser than he used to be. And I think that
that would have a positive impact on the jury.
It's the old technique that is referred to as inoculation. George W. Bush did that beautifully in his debates with Al Gore by warning everybody long
in advance that he would be a terrible debater. And so, that when he wasn't so terrible, he looked pretty good. And I think that maybe have happened
with Michael Cohen.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, in this case for the prosecutors by design. We heard in great detail today how the payment structure that were made to Stormy
Daniels via Michael Cohen were set up. I made the point in the introduction as well, and we heard it again there that Michael suggested that this and
the payments were made that they weren't about, perhaps, trying to protect his family, as I think we are going to hear the defense alleging in the
former president's defense, but that it was simply about protecting the campaign.
If you bring together all of what he said today, have we heard evidence necessary for a conviction based on the charges that the former president
faces?
MOUKAWSHER: Well, I think what they've tried to do here with the testimony is connect it, for instance, to David Pecker's testimony, the testimony
again being about that he was called in about the campaign. And so, the Cohen testimony today ties up nicely with that, and that the issue was
about the campaign.
I think the rest of it may be a little harder in the sense that there is a recording. There are some phone calls. There's certainly records that show
that the matter was recorded as attorney's fees. And there's no evidence to suggest that it was actually for any legal work that Cohen did.
So, that's important but the technicalities of it, it looks like it's just a question of what was they supposed -- what were they supposed to put down
on the books that may not make such as powerful a suggestion as does the issue about it being his family or not.
I think it's come across that it's not about his family, but then the question becomes, what did he know was being recorded? And I think that's
interesting. What was he, what did he know was being recorded in his books? And I think that's the one place that's a little trickier.
CHATTERLEY: Yes. So, I think, to your point, that's not enough and not yet on having provided the evidence required here, at least to convince an
entire jury which is what's required. Where are the openings and what openings did Michael Cohen today provide for the defense to come in after
we get that? And of course, that perhaps could be some hours yet. But what openings did you see for the defense when we have, what, six years' worth
now of podcast, interviews, a book that Michael Cohen has wrote too that do show that he deeply dislikes, in diplomatic terms, of the former president?
MOUKAWSHER: That's indeed very diplomatic because other words could be used. But obviously, the first thing they are going to do is to paint him
as a serial liar. I think that the prosecutors have tried to inoculate against that too, and they have come up with a narrative about that. And
that narrative is that Cohen is not just a basically dishonest person.
[18:10:00]
He was just slavishly obedient to a highly controlling Donald Trump, and that that's why he was willing to lie for things. But he lied over and over
again, and undoubtedly the defense is going to use that. Then they're going to suggest he had an ulterior motive.
And that ulterior motive is both revenge and money because, of course, he's been making money off of this whole thing. And they're going to suggest
that he's made money, wants to keep making money, and wants to destroy Donald Trump. So, you got that motive aspect of it.
But if I were the defense, the other thing I'd be looking at is because, as you pointed out, it's a long saga. I would be looking to catch him in basic
factual errors that he made. He was in a certain place at a certain time, or a certain document was generated on a certain date. There's a lot out
there. And if the defense can repeatedly show factual errors, that's another way to undercut a witness's testimony.
But there's no doubt that it's a -- it's going to be a dumping buckets of things over his head to make him look bad is the basic strategy, which, by
the way, they mustn't overdo because he didn't come across as badly as they thought. So, they've got to be careful not to beat him about the face and
neck too hard.
CHATTERLEY: Actually, that's such a great point, because I think there are years of evidence if you want to dredge it up to provide that, but actually
going after his character when he's presented himself as a very reasonable person, perhaps could backfire as well. So, there is a balance to find.
Great to get your perspective, sir. Thank you so much for joining us today.
MOUKAWSHER: Thank you.
CHATTERLEY: OK. Russian troops on the move in Northeastern Ukraine, and civilians there running for their lives.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking in a foreign language).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking in a foreign language).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking in a foreign language).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHATTERLEY: The town of Vovchans'k earlier is under heavy attack after Moscow launched its largest cross border offensive in years. It had been
liberated from Russian occupation 18 months ago. Now, it's the target of airstrikes and shelling once again. In a rare admission, Kyiv acknowledged
the situation in Kharkiv region, in its words, significantly worsened.
It all comes amid a major shakeup at the highest levels of Russian military too. A civilian economist is now the country's defense minister. Fred
Pleitgen takes us through the latest developments on both sides.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Russian jets bombing Ukrainian front-line positions. This video released by
Moscow's defense ministry purporting to show Vladimir Putin's troops on the offensive.
But just as Russian forces have started a new assault on the Northeastern Kharkiv region of Ukraine, Putin sacking his longtime defense minister,
Sergei Shoigu. The two last seen together at Russia's Victory Day parade last week where Putin, once again, threatened the West.
VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Russia will do anything to prevent a global conflict, but at the same time, we will not
allow anyone to threaten us.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): While the Russian army has recently made some gains, their losses in soldiers and armored vehicles have been catastrophic, both
the U.S. and Ukraine say. Shoigu often facing heavy criticism. In March 2022, he disappeared from the public light altogether, fueling speculation
Putin may have sacked him, only to resurface in a defense ministry call nearly two weeks later.
When Russia's deputy defense minister and close Shoigu ally, Timur Ivanov, was recently arrested and charged with corruption, it seemed clear the air
for Shoigu was getting thinner, Russian political commentator Sergei Markov says.
SERGEI MARKOV, POLITICAL ANALYST: One problem is corruption because now Russian military budget increased twice and arrest of the Deputy Defense
Minister Timur Ivanov shows that the level of corruption around the defense ministry is quite high.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): Shoigu will be moved to head Russia's state security council along with another sidelined former Putin ally, Dmitry Medvedev,
once even viewed as a possible successor to Putin. The Kremlin's new designated defense minister, the former minister for economic innovation
Andrey Belousov. His task? Putting Russia's army on a long-term war footing, Markov says.
MARKOV: This is a very modern war. This not only soldiers but also a technical systems, as armies of drones, and the connection between
artificial intellect and armies of drones, and rockets, missiles, and artillery systems, should play a decisive role.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Berlin.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[18:15:00]
CHATTERLEY: ? Thanks to Fred there.
And later in the show we'll hear the story of a brand making products inside Ukraine in a show of solidarity. The story of Saint Javelin is
coming up in around half an hour's time.
For now, to Gaza, where a U.N. aid worker has been killed and another injured after their vehicle was attacked in Rafah on Monday. A spokesperson
for the U.N. secretary general did not say who was believed to be behind the attack.
Meanwhile, the White House is urging Israel to connect its military efforts in Gaza to a political endgame for the Palestinian people. However, the
focus in Gaza Monday moved largely from southern to back to the north. Israeli forces ramped up attacks at a refugee camp there, saying it's
trying to prevent Hamas from regrouping.
Jeremy Diamond has more from Jerusalem.
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Julia, the Israeli military now says that it has forces from three different divisions fighting in the
Gaza Strip, both in northern, central, as well as in Southern Gaza.
In Southern Gaza, we've seen them expanding this military operation in Rafah, what was once the last refuge for so many Palestinians, about 1.4
million Palestinians. But now, the United Nations says that more than 360,000 people have fled Rafah heading for that Al Mawasi expanded
humanitarian zone, as the Israeli military is calling it.
But there, the people who have fled are finding that the conditions simply aren't suitable for the number of people who are flooding in. Inadequate
sewage infrastructure, water infrastructure, difficulty for humanitarian aid groups to get the amount of food and aid that is needed for the number
of people who are there.
The Israeli military is also now returning to the fight in Northern Gaza, in the Jabalia refugee camp, which was really the site of so much of the
fighting in the early months of the war. And the Israeli military says that they've gone back there because Hamas fighters have once again returned to
that area, which raises serious questions about the Israeli military strategy of going all in in some of these areas in Gaza, withdrawing and
leaving nothing there. A power vacuum, essentially, which Hamas then seems to fill once again.
As all of this was happening, Israel on today was commemorating Memorial Day, which is not only for fallen soldiers, but also for victims of
terrorism. And that includes, of course, those hostages who are still being held captive in Gaza. And in particular, those who are dead, whose bodies
are still being held hostage.
I spoke with the mother of one of those deceased hostages. Ayelet Samerano told me that her 21-year-old son, Yonatan (ph), who was attending that Nova
Music Festival, she would normally be at his grave site today, mourning his loss, commemorating his life, but she can't do that because his body is
still held hostage.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AYELET SAMERANO, MOTHER OF ISRAELI HOSTAGE: Where should I go? Where should I do it? I have no place to go.
DIAMOND: No place to grieve?
SAMERANO: No. All the parents were -- are going to a special place and they have the time with him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DIAMOND: And without his body being returned to Israel without that grave site, not only can Ayelet not properly mourn her son on a day like Memorial
Day, but she's also struggling to find that sense of closure. She tells me that months after the Israeli government told her that her son was killed,
that he is dead, she is still holding out hope, just a little bit of hope that perhaps, perhaps her son could still be alive. Julia.
CHATTERLEY: Our thanks to Jeremy Diamond there.
Now, some dramatic footage to show you from the collapsed bridge in Baltimore. Around an hour ago, a controlled demolition was used to
dismantle parts of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. Engineers used explosives to help free up the cargo ship that crashed into the bridge back in March.
Now, it's quite hard to believe that the 21 crew members of the Dali are still on board. They reportedly went below deck for that demolition. The
crew has been assisting investigators but union leaders say they're struggling with emotional distress. Officials say, the ship could be
refloated in two days-time, and the port's main shipping channel should reopen by the end of the month.
OK. We're going to take a break here on "First Move". But straight ahead, we're heading back to 2021. How one meme sparked a GameStop revival that we
also saw a little bit more of today. We'll explain, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:22:16]
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to "First Move", and a good morning if you are just waking up with us across Asia. In today's Money Move, it was a mixed
close to Monday on Wall Street. The Dow dipping for the first time in eight sessions as investors await this week's inflation numbers. The S&P 500 also
finished relatively unchanged. The Nasdaq posted modest gains as you can see there, three tenths of one percent.
There were also relatively unchanged moves overall in the European markets as investors wait a slew of data this week to from the Eurozone. And there
was a similar game of wait and see across Asia where Japan is set to release its growth numbers as well. Stocks closed mostly lower after China
released stronger than expected inflation data for April.
Now, talking of games, remember GameStop. Well, it just had its busiest trading day since 2022, and it gained over 74 percent. The rally was driven
by the day trader Keith Gill, better known online as Roaring Kitty.
After a three-year hiatus, he posted this meme on social media on Sunday. Now, if you remember, he was the driving force behind the retail traders
and trading that bought the stock back in 2021 and took on some big hedge fund titans in the process that had bet against GameStop. Now, the David
versus Goliath story was so dramatic that Hollywood turned it into a movie, "Dumb Money."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL DANO, ACTOR, "DUMB MONEY": What up everybody? Roaring Kitty here. I'm going to pick a stock and talk about why I think it's interesting and that
stock is, GameStop.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I love this guy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Retail traders hooked into GameStop.
VINCENT D'ONOFRIO, ACTOR, "DUMB MONEY": I think they think it's a good investment. It looks like there's one guy driving all the buying.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHATTERLEY: Now, while Roaring Kitty's latest post sparked a massive rally, shares are still a far cry from their -- well, actually it was a 483 peak
pre-stock split back in 2021.
Paul La Monica is a senior markets analysis writer at Barron's joins me now. Oh, Paul, we can reminisce over this. I don't know what to call it.
Disaster, quite frankly, but this was the guy that led the herd into GameStop and fueled, I think, at least in part, that crazy period. So, when
he posts something on social media, investors listen.
PAUL LA MONICA, SENIOR MARKETS ANALYSIS WRITER, BARRON'S: Yes, but this is what is mystifying, Julia. I understand if you're posting something on
social media that investors could get excited about because there's a take, like you're saying that this company looks undervalued again. I like what
Ryan Cohen is doing as CEO. All he did yesterday and then continuing today Was post a bunch of GIFs and movie clips and other videos.
[18:25:00]
I failed to find this to be the type of fundamental analysis that Warren Buffett was talking about at the Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meeting
last week, and I think they go a little bit more deeply into company's earnings and balance sheets than this is. It is mystifying that GameStop is
up this much on this not news. And it's driving other new stocks as well.
AMC, which is not even profitable, GameStop at least made money this last quarter. AMC surged nearly 80 percent today at a time where everyone's
talking about how this is going to be a slow Hollywood summer, you know, at the box office. I just don't get it.
CHATTERLEY: According to Know Your Meme, this is interpreted as when things get serious, Paul, to your point, when was this ever about fundamentals?
Yes, we saw Roaring Kitty present his view of why ultimately, he thought GameStop shouldn't be something that hedge funds thought the share price
would go down on.
He thought it could be bought, but ultimately, that thesis proved incorrect, and we have seen that over the last three years. This is about
pure speculation once again. Surely this has got nothing to do with fundamentals.
LA MONICA: Exactly. I just wonder though, what are you speculating about? I mean, you're speculating that Ryan Cohen, who took over GameStop and hasn't
had a conference call recently to discuss earnings has a revolving door in the C suite?
And also, I mean, this may not be all Cohen's fault, but a lot of people were praising Cohen because he's the founder of Chewy, which for a time
during the pandemic was doing really well, but that stock has tanked as well. Because much like GameStop, it's getting hurt by larger rivals. And
it's just -- I don't understand why people are treating Ryan Cohen as if he is -- even Elon Musk, who has had such great success with Tesla and SpaceX
for all of these other issues. You can't deny that Elon Musk has had amazing success with a lot of companies.
I don't think we can say the same thing with Ryan Cohen and GameStop and Chewy. Forget about that old Bed Bath & Beyond debacle as well too.
CHATTERLEY: I love that you're trying to fit some form of fundamental analysis to this story, which is, you know, clearly --
LA MONICA: There's great right here.
CHATTERLEY: -- what you do. I think there is a strategy here and it's, buy if you think the price is going up, and that's called speculation, and
there is no fundamental basis, I think, or anything's changed, quite frankly, in the last three years to give you a reason to buy this. Maybe
we're writing the sequel to "Dumb Money", Paul, and what's the title of the sequel?
LA MONICA: I joked in my story, Dumber Money. I mean, Dumb and Dumberer Money if you want to, you know, get Jim Carrey to join the cast, maybe.
CHATTERLEY: Nice. Buyer beware. Buyer beware. Paul La Monica, great to have you with us, sir. Thank you.
Now, another round of storms drenching the already waterlogged southern United States. That includes parts of Texas where hundreds of people were
rescued during torrential downpours earlier this month. The U.S. also getting its first dose of wildfire smoke, too. It's creeping in from an
out-of-control fire, threatening to overrun a small Canadian community.
Allison Chinchar is watching all this for us. Neither good signs, Allison. Walk us through it now.
ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: No. So, let's start in the southern U.S., that's where the greatest threat for severe storms is going to be
essentially from Southern Texas all the way over towards Florida and really right there along the Gulf Coast. That's where the peak is going to be.
Damaging winds, large hail and even the potential for some tornadoes.
And you can see a lot of those storms already ongoing. Lots of lightning here right there along the Gulf Coast. We have a tornado watch in effect
for portions of Florida, that's valid until 7:00 p.m. eastern time tonight. Severe thunderstorm watch farther back to the west, that includes Houston
and New Orleans, that's valid until 8:00 p.m. central time tonight.
But the other concern, yes, it's going to be flooding. It's a lot of water that's expected to fall across these regions, three to six inches, and some
of that does include those suburbs of Houston that, as you mentioned, just saw such heavy rain a little over a week ago.
Now, farther into the northern tier of the U.S., the biggest concern right now is going to be that air quality, and it's all coming from the smoke
from the fires in Canada. Here, you can see a lot of them right there. This is the focus for a lot of the smoke. So, the ones in Manitoba, the ones in
Saskatchewan, those are the ones that are really driving the smoke into the U.S.
But the more concerning fires are up here in Northeastern British Columbia, the town of Fort Nelson. The fires are only about a mile and a half out
from that town. Evacuation orders have already been issued for those particular towns.
Here, you can see again some of the fire off in the distance and all of the smoke that it's been causing in that particular community. And again, not a
good start that we're already seeing these fires really take off this early into the season.
[18:30:00]
CHATTERLEY: Wow. Allison Chinchar, thank you so much for that report. We'll continue to watch that.
And we'll be right back after this. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to "First Move" with a look at more of our international headlines this hour.
More than 300 people have lost their lives in floods in Northern Afghanistan over the past few days, and leaving hundreds injured, that's
according to the World Food Programme. The torrent swept away some roads, forcing organizations to send aid via donkey. The flooding also wiped-out
livestock and crops, further threatening an area particularly vulnerable to famine.
At least 43 people have died in Indonesia after heavy rains triggered flash floods and cold lava from an active volcano. Cold lava happens when a mix
of volcanic material and pebbles starts flowing downhill during wet weather. More than 3,000 people had to evacuate.
Georgia's prime minister says, the controversial Foreign Agents bill is expected to pass a final parliamentary vote Tuesday. The fiercely protested
measure would require organizations receiving more than a fifth of their funding from abroad to register as, "Agents of foreign influence." Critics
say, it copies a similar Russian law and could jeopardize Georgia's bid to join the European Union.
Now, OpenAI unveiling the latest version of ChatGPT Monday, GPT-4O. The revolutionary A.I. model can now use images and hold conversations, even
read out bedtime stories while detecting users' emotions. Now, good news for fans, apparently this version is free. OpenAI said it expects the new
model to become available in the coming weeks.
Clare Duffy joins us now. Clare, I read all the previews this weekend and I thought there was going to be some kind of big announcement from Apple and
how they will be utilizing chat GPT, but we didn't get that.
[18:35:00]
So, this is 60 seconds of P.R. for OpenAI. First and foremost, what did we hear from them today?
CLARE DUFFY, CNN BUSINESS WRITER: Right, Julia. Well, this new A.I. model GPT-4O is really going to take ChatGPT from an A.I. chat bot to a true
virtual personal assistant. It can have real time spoken conversations as well as text interactions. It can also interpret photos, videos, documents
and have a discussion about those things in real time.
One of the things that I found really interesting is it's also going to be able to do real time translation in more than 50 languages. I think we have
a clip we can show you of that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Speaking in a foreign language).
AI RENDERING OF UNIDENTIFIED MALE'S VOICE: Mike, she wonders if whales could talk, what would they tell us?
MIKE: They might ask, how do we solve linear equations?
AI RENDERING OF UNIDENTIFIED MALE'S VOICE: (Speaking in a foreign language).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DUFFY: So, you see there, ChatGPT listening in Italian, translating to English, listening in English, translating back to Italian, really powerful
stuff. And as you said there, this is going to be free for all ChatGPT users, which I think is really important in this moment in the A.I. arms
race when you have players like Google and Meta who are incorporating their A.I. tools into much more widely used products like Google assistant,
Facebook, and Instagram.
OpenAI wants to give people a reason to use its products, ChatGPT, Julia.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, I was about to say. I mean, that is pretty incredible. We obviously -- I can't check the accuracy of the translation there but it's a
powerful tool. OK. So, when do we think we're going to hear? Because obviously Apple has been negotiating with OpenAI, we believe, behind the
scenes. Also, with Google to potentially use one of their chat bots as well. When is this going to be super accessible and utilizable with some of
the apps that we have and use every day on our phones?
DUFFY: Yes, many of us have been, sort of, waiting with bated breath to hear Apple really articulate an A.I. strategy. We've heard much less from
Apple than many of the other big A.I. or big tech players about its plans in A.I.
But we've been expecting maybe to hear something from Apple at its worldwide developers' conference next month, so that may be where we hear
more about this potential partnership with OpenAI. And especially now, seeing this latest update to ChatGPT, you can imagine just how powerful
this could make Siri if Siri, Apple's digital assistant, gets to use some of these open a I capabilities that they've put in their latest ChatGPT
model.
Apple was really one of the first to create a digital assistant in Siri, but it's really, sort of, fallen behind in terms of its capabilities. So,
you can imagine this OpenAI technology really bringing Siri into 2024.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, you can. I mean, it's taking some time as well because they're so privacy conscious as well. It's where the data is stored and how
that's handled too. That's got to be a fundamental part of the jigsaw piece that they're pulling together here. Watch this space. Clare Duffy, thank
you.
OK. Coming up. Making Ukraine Great Again, how a symbol of Ukrainian solidarity is jumping on the American MAGA bandwagon by selling MUGA hats,
that's Make Ukraine Great Again, and a whole lot more with the founder of Saint Javelin, up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:41:02]
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back. For much of the last year, the war in Gaza has turned the world's attention to the Middle East. Yet the Ukrainians fight
on and now face Russia's intense push for territory before the arrival of American weaponry to the country.
Appalled by Russia's actions ahead of the full-scale invasion of 2022, my next guest, Christian Borys, abandoned his career as a journalist, who had
worked in Ukraine, to form what would become Saint Javelin, and what began as a run of stickers soon escalated into a team selling a whole range of
clothing around the world, even worn by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy himself.
The brand called Saint Javelin now promotes itself as an icon of resistance. Its logo nicknamed Bazooka Mary is based on Chris Shaw's
painting of the Madonna wielding a Kalashnikov created in response to the Arab Spring.
Now, on top of apparel, repurposed weaponry is also found on the site. This jewelry is made out of recycled Russian tanks and artillery shells. And
without turning us into QVC or the like, check out this Make Ukraine Great Again merchandise, putting the MUGA into MAGA, and that caught my eye in
recent weeks and why I wanted to have this conversation.
Christian Borys joins us now. Christian, great to have you on the show. There's lots of elements to your story over the past few years, actually,
that amazed me. But just quickly for our viewers, as I mentioned, Saint Javelin was born out of a picture that was made by American artist Chris
Shaw, what, 12 years ago. Then it became a symbol of resistance post 2014 in the invasion of Crimea for Ukrainian soldiers. And then of course it
evolved with the javelin weaponry from America, and then here we are today.
CHRISTIAN BORYS, CREATOR, SAINT JAVELIN: Yes. So, I used to work as a journalist. So, I covered Ukraine for a number of years. I lived in
Ukraine. And this symbol existed, and it was known amongst a pretty niche set of people, you know, journalists, analysts, soldiers, obviously.
And when I understood what was about to happen in early 2022, in January 2022, I was no longer working as a journalist, but I was still in touch
with my former colleagues, and I wanted to do something. So, I had a friend who told me that he'd actually printed those Saint Javelin stickers and he
sent them out to some people and they were putting them on their laptops and stuff like that. And I thought that that was a good idea for a
fundraiser.
So, in the meantime, I've been posting a lot about -- on my own personal socials about what I saw the Russians doing and the hypocrisy and the lies
that they were putting out there. So, I was basically building an audience to explain what I was seeing as a former journalist.
And the two things kind of coincided. So, I started the fundraiser. People had started following what I was putting out on social. And I was doing it
in a way where I was sharing a lot of memes to kind of, like, make fun of the Russians for their lies.
So, people embrace that. And then when I put out the sticker, it was just like -- it just -- everything happened very quickly, and it went global
very, very quickly. So, it's been -- yes, it's been an insane, insane couple past years.
CHATTERLEY: Part of the reason to raise money was that some of the work that you did when you were in Ukraine as a journalist was with the wives or
the widows --
BORYS: Yes.
CHATTERLEY: -- and the families of fallen service members. And you recognized even before the invasion began and you believed it would happen
that you wanted to start raising money for them. And as you described, everything took off incredibly quickly. I think within a month of what was
astonishing demand that you saw for these stickers. I think you donated $500,000 to help us help -- to help these people. Just talk us through
that, because you ended up giving them a lot of money over that period.
[18:45:00]
BORYS: Yes, so basically when it started, it was February 16th, so the full-scale invasion hadn't started. I anticipated that it would, but again,
I had -- I mean, I had no idea and I think most people had no idea that it would become what it has become, right?
So, my idea was just to do something for those people that I had met who had made a real impact on me, and I was specifically thinking about these
women that I had met and their kids. And seeing how the long tail effects of war, you know, like, we see the violence on the news, but you rarely see
what happens after the fact, right?
When someone loses their husband or their father or whatever, what happens when they try to rebuild their lives? And I was thinking about those people
and how do I try to help those people in anticipation of what I thought was going to be the Russian invasion. And it -- like, it resonated with a lot
of people very quickly.
But then when the Russians did invade, it took on a life of its own, Saint Javelin did, because we basically realized that we -- those --
unfortunately, like, those people were not the immediate need anymore. The immediate need became first aid kits, bulletproof vest, bulletproof helmet,
stuff like that. So, very quickly, yes, it was an insane time, but we were able to fund raise and donate literally $500,000 within the first month, I
think it was. Yes.
CHATTERLEY: And in total, and this was up to about a year ago, I believe you have donated $2 million and you donate around half of your profits, I
believe, because you are a social enterprise and you were employing people in Ukraine. Then it got tougher, I think, because the world's attention,
for the most part, has turned to the Middle East and what's taking place there.
And, Christian, you caught my attention with the MUGA merchandise because you were, sort of, doing a play on some of those in the Republican Party
here in the United States that were complaining about providing aid to Ukraine when there were other causes in the United States.
I just wanted to get your take on that and continuing to raise awareness for these people, for the charities, because it has got that much harder to
raise money, to provide support for these charities and these workers.
BORYS: So, our mandate -- in April 2022, I went to Kyiv and I made the decision that I was going to try to make everything that we make as Saint
Javelin, I was going to try to make it in Ukraine. So, now we make the majority of our products in Ukraine.
But what ended up happening with this Make Ukraine Great Again hat was, in the last year, what we do -- we know, like, it basically cut in half. And I
had to lay off some of our staff. So, that day that Marjorie Taylor Greene gave that press conference, one of our former staff members messaged me and
said, hey, you have to make this hat. And I had no idea what he was talking about because I hadn't looked at what was happening on Twitter.
And then I noticed just a wave of comments from people saying, Saint Javelin, please make this hat. Please make this hat. So, immediately we
decided, yes, let's make this hat. But the thing that we can do that we've been -- you know, that has become our mandate is make it in Ukraine. So, we
could easily make that hat in China or buy blanks and just print on it. And then, you know, it's at your door in a week.
The harder thing that we've done is to try to make it in Ukraine. So, those hats will be made in Kharkiv which literally, you know, three days later or
whatever it was a couple days ago, after Marjorie Taylor Greene did that press conference, the Russians have now moved in that direction.
And since we put those hats up for sale, we have been able to donate almost $15,000 towards first aid kits, like tactical medicine. Bought a truck
today for the front lines out there. We're buying a generator to help the manufacturer of the hats actually produce the hats because they don't have
enough electricity. They're running on water shortages.
So, the thing that we're able to do is actually make those -- make all those items locally. So, that's a really special part and a really
rewarding part of what we're able to do.
CHATTERLEY: Christian, thank you for your work. I hope we've helped raise awareness. We'll talk again. We'll track your progress. I wanted to talk to
you about who was buying actually and I know it was all over the world, but also some people from Russia were trying to buy at one point and people in
China as well, which was quite fascinating, but I'm -- I've run out of time. We'll reconvene. Thank you --
BORYS: Thank you.
CHATTERLEY: -- for your work.
BORYS: Thank you.
CHATTERLEY: Thank you. Christian Borys there. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:52:00]
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back. Melinda French Gates, one of the biggest names in philanthropy, is leaving the foundation she and her husband, Bill, created.
She's resigned from the Gates Foundation three years after announcing their divorce. Anna Stewart has more.
ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER: Well, Julia, it's the end of another era for Bill and Melinda Gates. Three years after they announced their intention to
divorce, Melinda French Gates is now leaving the foundation she started with her former husband. Over the last 25 years, it's made nearly $78
billion in grant payments around the world.
In a statement posted on X, she said it wasn't a decision she took lightly, but it was time for the next chapter in her philanthropy. And she has
plenty of money to get it going. Under the terms of her separation agreement, she has $12.5 billion to spend on charitable works.
And while there isn't much detail on exactly what comes next, whether she will launch a new foundation, it is clear where her focus will be. She said
this is a critical moment for women and girls in the U.S. and around the world, and those fighting to protect and advance equality are in urgent
need of support.
Meanwhile, Bill Gates also took to X, thanking his former wife for her work. Adding that he was sorry to see her leave, and assuring followers
that he remains committed to the foundation of which he will now be the sole chairman. The name of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will be
changed to the Gates Foundation. Julia.
CHATTERLEY: Thanks to Anna there.
Now, if you missed the Met Gala, never fear, we've got plenty more glamour in store in Los Angeles. Stars turned up for the Gold Gala, an annual event
honoring Asia Pacific contribution to the creative arts and more. Kristie Lu Stout has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Stars arrived at the Music Center in downtown Los Angeles Saturday to attend the annual Gold
Gala, a gathering of who's who in the Asian Pacific community. The event celebrates the nonprofit Gold House A100 list, 100 changemakers making a
significant impact in areas like entertainment, fashion, technology and more.
PRABAL GURUNG, FASHION DESIGNER AND GOLD GALA CREATIVE DIRECTOR: It's great to see that kind of visibility. There's a long way to go still, you know,
obviously we feel that way, but the progress is being made.
STOUT (voice-over): Among this year's honorees, Padma Lakshmi.
PADMA LAKSHMI, AUTHOR AND TV HOST: I just feel seen. I feel so humbled to be included.
STOUT (voice-over): And Lucy Liu.
LUCY LIU, 2024 GOLD HOUSE A100 LIST HONOREE: It's a really important time to be together in this community.
STOUT (voice-over): When it comes to Hollywood, Asians have historically been underrepresented or stereotyped, but that's changed in recent years.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hae Sung.
STOUT (voice-over): A joint study by Gold House and USC Annenberg found the percentage of speaking Asian characters in top box office films in the U.S.
rose from 3.4 percent in 2007 to 15.9 percent in 2022. The roles themselves are more complex. The age of streaming has also ushered in more
opportunities for diverse storytelling.
[18:55:00]
LAKSHMI: I think what the industry has realized is that Asian creativity and Asian talent is, A, different and, B, lucrative. You know, that's been
wonderful to. See people take chances and how we've knocked it out of the park.
JOEL KIM BOOSTER, ACTOR AND COMEDIAN: Events like this are so exciting to me because when I was coming up in this industry, I think there was a lot
of energy of like, there's only going to be one of us in the room. It's so rewarding to be in a space like this where we're all coming together and
we're all supporting each other as a community. It's not something that I grew up imagining I'd have for myself.
STOUT (voice-over): Kristie Lu Stout, CNN, Hong Kong.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHATTERLEY: And finally, on "First Move", how to land a plane without any wheels? Piloting skills were clearly put to the test after a small plane
suffered a technical glitch and had to touch down without landing gear. What was supposed to be a short flight over Australia's New South Wales
turned into an hours long ordeal in order to burn off fuel. The good news is no one was hurt, and the two passengers even managed to drive themselves
home afterwards.
All in a day's work, apparently. I think I would have needed a pretty stiff drink after that. I'm sure they did, actually. No drinking and driving.
That just about wraps up the show. Thank you for joining us. I'll see you tomorrow.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
