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First Move with Julia Chatterley
Harris CNN Town Hall in Three Hours; Trump Campaigns in Georgia; The Atlantic: Trump Wants Generals Like Hitler's; Five Dead in Turkey Terror Attack; New Strikes Across Israel-Lebanon Border; Thousands of N. Korea Soldiers in Russia; Blinken in Middle East to Push for Ceasefire; Tesla Stock Up More than 10 Percent; CNN Correspondent Held Captive by Militia in Sudan for Two Days; President of Singapore's Water Campaign. Aired 6-7p ET
Aired October 23, 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 ANCHOR: -- Anderson Cooper will moderate the discussion. I'll be here before and after to help discuss what we're watching for. Look
for it all tonight right here on CNN. The news continues on CNN with Wolf Blitzer in The Situation Room.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, CNN's live town hall with Kamala Harris is now just three hours away. The vice president preparing to field
questions --
JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN ANCHOR, FIRST MOVE: It's 1:00 a.m. in Ankara, 9:00 a.m. in Sydney, and 6:00 p.m. here in Washington, D.C. I'm Julia
Chatterley. And wherever you are in the world, this is your "First Move."
And a warm welcome to "First Move" once again. And here's today's need to know. Town Hall test, three hours from now, Kamala Harris faces voters here
on CNN, in the battleground State of Pennsylvania. Meanwhile, Donald Trump campaigning in Georgia. The polls still have the neck-and-neck with 13 days
to go.
Terror in Turkey. An aerospace firm is targeted leaving five people dead. The Turkish president calling it a heinous terrorist act.
Troop transfer. The U.S. says at least 3,000 North Korean soldiers are in Russia with a high chance they join Russia's fight against Ukraine.
And --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
THARMAN SHANMUGARATNAM, SINGAPOREAN PRESIDENT: It's not an infinite resource, it's a finite resource. So, we've got to value water.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHATTERLEY: Water warning. Demand for fresh water will outstrip supply by 40 percent by the end of the decade without a dramatic global rethink. We
discuss potential global solutions with the president of Singapore. That conversation and plenty more coming up.
But first, to the U.S. presidential elections. Just three hours from now, Vice President Kamala Harris will take questions from voters at a CNN Town
Hall. She has everything to play for, as a new CNN Poll of Polls shows Harris remains tied with her presidential rival.
Meanwhile, the former president is campaigning in Georgia, as his team fights serious claims from a former chief of staff. Retired Marine Corps
General John Kelly warning about a second Trump term while speaking to The New York Times.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN KELLY, FORMER CHIEF OF STAFF FOR PRESIDENT TRUMP: Certainly, the former president is in the far-right area. He's certainly an authoritarian,
admires people who are dictators, he has said that. So, he certainly falls into the general definition of fascist, for sure.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHATTERLEY: This as The Atlantic reports that while he was president, Trump said, quote, "I need the kind of generals that Hitler had, people who
were totally loyal to him that follow orders." The Trump campaign denies the allegations.
Harris' responded, saying a second term -- Trump term would have even fewer guardrails.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT AND U.S. PRESIDENTIAL DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE: We know what Donald Trump wants, he wants unchecked power. The
question in 13 days will be, what do the American people want?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHATTERLEY: For more on all this, we're joined by Stephen Collinson. Stephen, great to have you on. Let's talk about the CNN Town Hall that
Harris is going to lead tonight. Who's left to convince? Because we do have undecided and persuadable voters in the room, who's left to convince and
what does the message have to be?
STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS SENIOR REPORTER: It really is difficult to think that anybody, given the campaign we've had, given the fact that
Donald Trump has been on the stage now for nine years has really not yet decided whether or not they're going to vote for him, but the campaigns
think there are not necessarily people who might change their minds, but they're trying to get people out who might not actually be planning to
vote. That could be the key to this election.
This is going to be very interesting because during her fairly short campaign, Kamala Harris has not often taken direct questions from voters,
especially on television and we've seen in some of her past interviews she has stumbled, she's got caught up on policy issues, offered Trump something
that he could exploit. So, it's going to be very interesting to see how she responds to this.
Having said that, the more interviews she does, the better she actually gets at this. So, I think we're going to see her talk autocracy and
groceries, she'll definitely refer to the scandal that's blown up in the last few days over Trump's comments about the generals, but she has to
address the things that people really care about. And the top of that list is the price of food, housing, cars, credit cards, that kind of stuff.
CHATTERLEY: Yes. I mean, the stuff that is and comes down to affordability and the price of putting food on the table, which we continue to talk about
as a key and defining issue. And the former president continues to lead her on.
[18:05:00]
What about those comments from the former president's former White House chief of staff, General John Kelly, when he suggested that the former
president has fascist leanings? It's not just about who you choose for your president, surely, it's who they're going to be able to surround themselves
by once they're in the White House. It sort of plays to the message that the Harris campaign and Harris herself has used over the past 10 days or
so, which is the former president is a threat to democracy. They've chosen to come back to this message. Do you think it's a strong one in the final
two weeks?
COLLINSON: I think it's a strong one in the sense that they believe that this is an existential moment for the United States. If you're thinking
about some of those suburban voters in key swing states, in areas around Philadelphia where she'll have the town hall meeting, character issues
could be something that perhaps changes their mind or gets them out to vote for Harris when they weren't necessarily going to do it.
We saw Liz Cheney, the former Republican congressman, campaigning with Harris, talking to Republican women specifically in those suburban areas,
saying that they really need to vote even if they disagree with Harris on fundamental ideological issues.
But can you imagine another country, another election, another political figure when the former top aide to that person comes out and effectively
says he's a fascist, he admires some of the things about Hitler, and we're still asking whether that's going to affect the result of an election? I
think it gets to the point of how Trump has polarized this country and how changed American politics are in the era in which he's been running for
three now presidential elections.
CHATTERLEY: There is no bar with the former president. And I should reiterate again the Trump campaign has denied making those comments.
Stephen Collinson, great to have you. Always done. Thank you.
COLLINSON: Thanks.
CHATTERLEY: And you can watch the CNN Presidential Town Hall moderated by Anderson Cooper right here. It airs live at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time. That's
9:00 a.m. in Hong Kong.
Turning now to a brazen terror attack on Turkey's largest aerospace firm. Officials say two assailants opened fire and set off explosives at the
firm's headquarters near Ankara. At least five people died, 22 others were injured, some seriously.
Turkish officials say the Kurdistan Workers' Party, a group Turkey considers a terrorist organization, is likely behind the attack. Salma
Abdelaziz has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Turkey is reeling after an attack on an aerospace company just on the outskirts of Ankara, the capital. We do
have social media video to show you of the moments of this attack.
It's been geolocated and verified by CNN. And in this video, you can see a huge explosion. You can hear the sound of it as well. And then, you can see
those -- that plume of smoke going up in the air, and then an individual appears who is carrying or looks to be carrying a weapon. You can hear the
sound of gunfire ringing out.
Now, images like this are absolutely can send shock waves across Turkey. It is no stranger to terror attacks, but it hasn't seen one like this in
recent years, authorities say that two assailants, two attackers were killed, a man and a woman, and that a judicial investigation is underway to
identify those who are behind this attack.
Now, the location is extremely significant. This aerospace firm is state owned. It also provides military supplies, drones, airplanes to Turkey's
military. One analyst described it as the crown jewel of Turkey's defense industry. President Rajab Tayyip Erdogan has issued his condolences to
those who were killed and said the attack targeted the survival of the country and the peace of Turkey.
Salma Abdelaziz, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHATTERLEY: Turkey's defense ministry says its aircraft struck PKK targets in Northern Iraq and Syria late Wednesday. The strike's an apparent
retaliation for the terror attack.
Now, over the past few hours, there's been a new exchange of strikes across the Israel-Lebanon border. You're looking at images showing a major strike
on a Southern Beirut suburb. It came as we heard reports that an Israeli strike targeted a pro-Iranian broadcaster in the Lebanese capital. Israel
also reported projectiles from Lebanon landing south of Tel Aviv.
As violence flares, the U.S. is making a new diplomatic push. The U.S. secretary of state, Antony Blinken, is in the Middle East calling once more
for a ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza. Jeremy Diamond has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, Secretary of State Antony Blinken is making his 11th visit to the Middle East since the
beginning of this war, but he appears to be coming up empty handed once again.
[18:10:00]
On Tuesday, he sat down with the Israeli prime minister for over two and a half hours trying to convince the Israeli prime minister that now is the
moment in the wake of the killing of Yahya Sinwar to end the war in Gaza and strike a deal to bring the hostages home, but the tone and the wording
from the Israeli prime minister and his office in the wake of that meeting was very different from what U.S. officials would have hoped.
The prime minister's office putting a lot of emphasis on the ongoing fight in Gaza, the potential for Israeli strikes against Iran, and only offering
really just a fig leaf to this idea of ending the war in Gaza in the wake of Sinwar's killing, saying in this statement that Sinwar's killing, quote,
"is likely to have a positive influence on returning the hostages and achieving Israel's goals in the war in Gaza." Not quite a firm commitment
to getting back to the negotiating table.
We also know that the secretary of state pressed on the humanitarian situation in Gaza, and the reality is that we are watching that despite
these efforts by the United States, they say that Israel is taking some steps to improve humanitarian conditions in Gaza, but it's clear from on
the ground that we are nowhere close to that situation getting resolved.
Instead, the Israeli military is stepping up its military offensive in Northern Gaza, where we are getting reports every single day of civilians
being killed in these strikes, killed by gunfire, and also, of course, that very little to no aid is actually making its way there as hospitals are
also facing very dire conditions.
In Lebanon, we're also watching the Israeli military continuing to carry out heavier strikes not only in Southern Lebanon, including in the historic
City of Tyre, but also in the Lebanese capital of Beirut once again.
And so, it's just clear that, for now, there is no real sense that things are going to de-escalate in this region for the moment. But nonetheless,
even as the secretary of state tried to press on these kind of immediate term goals, he also is looking longer-term. And that's what he was doing in
Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, as he sat down with the crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, to talk not only about this opportunity to end the war in Gaza,
but also to think about the day after the war in Gaza.
And there's no question that Saudi Arabia is likely to play a strong role there. The question now, though, is when will we actually get to that day
after the war?
Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Tel Aviv.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHATTERLEY: Our thanks to Jeremy there. Now, U.S. officials are confirming earlier reports by Ukraine and South Korea that North Korean troops are
being sent to train in Russia and could be sent to fight for the Kremlin in Ukraine.
The White House says at least 3,000 North Korean soldiers arrived in Russia's far east earlier this month. This, after video shared by Ukraine,
appears to show those soldiers being given gear and uniforms. Will Ripley has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At this remote Russian military base, a convoy of what appears to be North Korean
troops training in a barren, bleak stretch of wilderness, deep in Russia's far east.
CNN geolocated this video. Sergeevka Training Ground near China and North Korea, the frontlines of Ukraine more than 4,000 miles away. Ukraine is
where South Korean intelligence says these soldiers are going. 1,500 now, as many as 12,000 could be deployed, South Korean media says. Some seen
here, supposedly just days ago, getting their Russian military uniforms.
The audio muffled, the language sounds like Korean. We can't independently verify this video provided to CNN by the Ukrainian government. They also
shared this, a uniform sizing questionnaire dated last week in both Korean and Russian for hats, headgear, uniforms, and shoes.
RIPLEY: Why would Kim Jong Un be sending troops to Russia and to Ukraine?
DANIEL PINKSTON, LECTURER IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, TROY UNIVERSITY: So, if Russia is successful, then, you know, the North Koreans could follow
soon, and it could be a very dangerous situation.
RIPLEY (voice-over): As Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin deepen their anti- U.S., anti-West military partnership, a terrifying scenario, says Ukraine's president.
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: We know about 10,000 soldiers of North Korea that they are preparing to send fight against us. And this is
the first step to a world war.
RIPLEY (voice-over): At the United Nations, no comment from North Korea.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- such groundless stereotype rumors aimed at smearing the image of the DPRK.
RIPLEY (voice-over): They've been busy lately blowing up border roads with South Korea. Just days after supposed South Korean drones dropped
propaganda leaflets on Pyongyang, North Korea's capital, almost at Kim's doorstep.
[18:15:00]
CAPT. CARL SCHUSTER, (RET.), FORMER DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS, U.S. PACIFIC COMMAND JOINT INTELLIGENCE CENTER: His regime is very even beyond normal
levels of paranoia right now.
RIPLEY (voice-over): This week, Seoul summoned Russia's ambassador, condemning what could be North Korea's largest ever overseas deployment.
Bigger than the 1973 Yom Kippur War and Vietnam, says this retired South Korean lieutenant general.
LT. GEN. CHUN IN-BUM, SOUTH KOREA ARMY (RET.): So, this could be a real serious problem for the entire world.
RIPLEY (voice-over): A problem compounded by a massive influx of North Korean weapons into Russia. Reports of 70 shipments of shells, missiles,
and anti-tank rockets since August 2023. Not to mention North Korean ballistic missiles, which Ukraine says have killed civilians, including
children.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHATTERLEY: And Will joins us now. Will, a fascinating report. 3,000 troops feels, in some way, symbolic, but when you start to talk about
12,000 troops that the South Koreans are suggesting, 10,000 that we heard the Ukrainian president suggest there, then you start to talk about it
having a dramatic impact, a truly dramatic impact if they end up on the battlefield.
RIPLEY (on camera): And the troops are one thing, but we know, Julia, that North Korean weapons, as you just saw, have also ended up on the
battlefield. And so, what South Korea is concerned about here is that Russia may be sharing weapons technology with North Korea, and the North
Koreans might be getting real-time battle data about these weapons that they've been selling to Russia now for well over a year, according to the
U.S., South Korea, and others even though these two countries, despite the video evidence and satellite images, have continued to deny it.
It certainly is an interesting moment here because South Korea now saying that they are considering a reciprocal response, whether it be diplomatic,
economic, or even military actions. So, you could have a situation where now Seoul, which is one of the world's largest arms suppliers itself, it
has held off on supplying lethal weapons to Ukraine for use against Russia. But now, they're saying, in Seoul, that lethal weapons are back on the
table. So, you can imagine this scenario where you might actually have South Korean military personnel, you know, doing reconnaissance in the
region.
South Korean weapons being used and the North Korean troops and weapons on the other side. I mean, some are almost comparing this to a mini proxy war,
if you will, from the Korean peninsula now to Europe and the frontlines of Ukraine. It is really quite an alarming development. And of course,
analysts also saying that the lessons that Kim Jong Un could learn from Vladimir Putin's operation in Ukraine if, in the end, Putin is able to
seize some territory at all of this, which of course, the U.S., Kyiv, you know, they've said that they're going to try to do everything to stop that.
But if Putin is successful in the end, that sends a very strong message to Kim Jong Un when it comes to his own, you know, simmering and, in fact,
even exploding confrontations with South Korea because Kim's been busy blowing up bridges and rail links with the South. He's basically listed
South Korea as enemy number one, very paranoid right now, as you heard that analyst say, with those leaflets that were dropped on the North Korean
capital, very close to these elite neighborhoods.
So, it's a really pretty quickly ratcheting up situation. And then, of course, the other of course, country watching all of this very closely,
Julia, would be China, and Chinese President Xi Jinping to see how all of this is playing out.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, it's a fascinating regional perspective on this. I guess one could also argue that it's a sign perhaps of Russian weakness that
they're having to go to the North Koreans in the first place to get this kind of support, but not weak enough for the Ukrainians, I think, at this
moment. Will, great to have you on. Thank you. Will Ripley there in Taipei.
All right. Straight ahead, Tesla traction. Elon Musk's EV firm beating on earnings. It says a cheaper car is on its way next year.
Plus, a frightening new report on water scarcity. The president of Singapore urging nations to fix a worsening crisis that could place half of
the world's food supply at risk. We discuss, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:20:00]
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to first move live from Washington, D.C. In today's Money Move, U.S. stocks retreat, Tesla earnings beat, and a Tokyo
IPO treat.
The major U.S. averages finishing Wednesday firmly in the red as the benchmark U.S. bond yields touched their highest levels in three months.
The NASDAQ fell more than 1.5. percentage. You would imagine tech stocks sensitive to this.
Stocks in the news include aerospace giant Boeing, the company posting a more than $6 billion quarterly loss and warning it will continue to burn
through cash next year, only down 1.7 percent. McDonald's also off more than 5 percent. U.S. health officials still probing an E. coli outbreak
linked to quarter pounders. Dozens of fallen ill. One person has died.
And in Asia, another day of games for Chinese shares. The Hang Seng outperforming up on more than 1.5 percent. Japanese stocks losing a little
bit of ground there. That was the pre-market open. We'll see what happens today. But a mega market debut for Tokyo Metro. Shares in the Japanese
subway operator rallying more than 40 percent on its first day of trade.
And in other businesses news, shares of Elon Musk's EV firm Tesla up more than 10 percent. Oh, look at that, almost 12 now in afterhours trade, after
the release of a market friendly earnings report. Earnings beating expectations, revenues coming in a touch light, but the firm remains on
track to roll out less expensive vehicles in the first half of next year. Elon Musk upbeat on the earnings call too.
Dan Niles joins us. He's the founder of Niles Investment Management. Dan, I'll tell you what I saw from the numbers specifically, the gross margins
X, some of these green credits, I think investors probably like to look at that after months of price cuts. What did you make of it all?
DAN NILES, FOUNDER, NILES INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT: You're absolutely right, Julia. If you look at automotive gross margins, excluding the tax credits,
they came in about 17.1 percent. People were thinking that would be about 14.4. And that's why they beat the earnings per share number by over 20
percent.
More importantly is the fact that they guided to vehicle deliveries up slightly for this year, but 20 to 30 percent growth for 2025 with these new
low-cost vehicles coming onto the market. And so, I think that's what really got people excited and moved the stock from being up high single
digits to up in the 12, 13 percent range or so in the aftermarket as we see it now.
CHATTERLEY: Valuation is such a difficult one with Tesla, because you're paying for the leadership in Elon Musk, your Sort of buying into an option,
I guess, on whatever drives growth going forward, whether it's energy storage, self-driving cars, robots, the robotaxis that we just heard about.
What do you tell clients when you discuss this one?
NILES: Well, you have to have a very high-risk tolerance. And so, to put it in perspective, if you look at the stock during the 2021, you know,
hysteria with easy money and meme stocks, et cetera, the stock got up to about $410 a share. If you look at where the stock bottomed at, it got down
to about $108 a share as the Fed was raising rates. And so, you got absolutely hammered.
Now, the stock is doubled from there. Obviously, the Fed's now cutting rate, cutting again. But if you look at the stock from that peak level, and
where it closed today, it's down about 48 percent. Magnificent Seven, to put it in perspective, are up 69 percent. And the S&P over that period is
up 24 percent.
[18:25:00]
So, with Tesla, I think you can take whatever risk you want. But for me, it's you put it -- you make it a small portion of the portfolio, as you
said, the valuation with the P.E. of over a hundred times. Auto companies to put it in perspective, for your viewers, have P.E.s less than 10 times
and the S&P is right around 25 times.
So, you're really betting as you bet on things like full self-driving, autonomous robots and robotaxis withdrawing to come over the next couple of
years.
CHATTERLEY: Yes. I mean, you make those comparisons and it's sort of eye watering, quite frankly, however optimistic and enthusiastic you are about
this company, about the technology. I have to say, though, I do get a lot of people contacting me and saying they're already using the self-driving
facilities on these Tesla's and they're taking them on long journeys. So, get up to speed on that in particular.
Something else I think that investors surely want to understand is what the impact of Elon Musk's support for the former president, is the campaigning
that he's doing. And ultimately, I think what the impact on Tesla is going to be. And, you know, for non-unionized labor in Tesla, it's been a
relative challenge compared to some of the big car makers. Dan, what's your sense of the direction perhaps for Tesla based on who wins this election?
NILES: Well, look at it this way. It's absolutely ridiculous that Elon Musk was not invited to an EV summit hosted by the current president. Now,
he's the leader in the EV space. And so, that tells you how much pressure the current administration has put on him, which is also driven his
political views to some extent, and you can't blame him. And so, I think if you have a change in administration, that's going to help tech stocks in
general, because don't forget, pretty much all of the Magnificent Seven are getting sued for something by the Justice Department of the FTC.
And obviously, Republicans are a lot more for, you know, lot less regulation, and that will help other sectors as well, such as banks, for
example.
So, this election is likely to be -- right now, if you look at the way stocks are acting, things like bank stocks, et cetera, they're discounting,
a switch to more of a Republican led government, whether you, you know, like it or not, or believe it or not, that's what the stock market is
discounting. So, if you end up with, you know, a disappointment in that front, Tesla stock will probably, you know, go down initially.
But I think over the long run, it really doesn't matter, you know, who becomes president, because if you look at, you know, periods of time it
shrugs that stuff off pretty quickly, and then you go back to fundamentals of how's the economy, wherever interest rates, where's inflation, and
that's what you start to focus.
CHATTERLEY: Yes. Businesses manage regardless of the political environment. Interesting, your point though, about sort of less regulation
under a Trump presidency, sort of less support for green technology and investment, one could argue as well, but we'll leave it there. We've run
out of time. We'll reconvene on that one. Dan Niles, great to have you. Niles Investment Management there.
All right. Tropical storm has made landfall in the Philippines, bringing winds and heavy rain. Homes flooded, prompting dramatic rescues from the
nation's Coast Guard. Schools and offices are shuttered across the main island too.
Chad Myers joins us now from Atlanta. Chad. These are pretty dramatic scenes. What does the forecast look like?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Another 200 to 250 of rain, between eight and maybe 10 inches of additional rain still to come on top of land that
had already has been completely saturated.
Now, the storm isn't a wind maker. It is entirely a rainmaker. That's where the rain is going to be for the rest of today into tomorrow. There's going
to be so much rainfall with this, and spots have already picked up over 700 millimeters of rainfall. And if you don't know how long a yardstick is or a
meter stick is just take 75 percent of it. And that's pretty much what you're going to see on the ground already. And that has to run off.
The storm is likely to take a little turn toward Da Nang away from Haikou, and then so it still the Bakio area could pick up that 200 millimeters of
rainfall over the next just couple of days because we're on the other side. Now, the rain is coming around the backside, not from the front side, which
is much less populated on the east than it is on the west. So, really, the worst of it for the bigger population is right now still to come over the
next couple of hours.
So, we now are up to a Signal 3. We were only Signal 2 yesterday. This is really a wind event here. But yes, now three events. We talked about them
yesterday. There's Trami. Here's one out in the Pacific, still likely to accelerate. And then Dana in the Indian Ocean.
Dana could be a significant storm. We talked about this yesterday, how big this thing looked, how much like a saw blade it looked, and it didn't get
any worse overnight. So, much precip, and now the forecast is for this to be 130, not the 60 that was the forecast from the Joint Typhoon Warning
Center yesterday.
[18:30:00]
So, a lot of warm water, a lot of energy, not a lot of shear, and into a place that is highly, highly populated up here with that rainfall. Another
200, maybe 250 millimeters of rain to come, but I think this will be a surge and a wind event rather than the rain event that we're having in the
Philippines. Julia.
CHATTERLEY: And we'll continue to watch it. Chad, great to have you. Thank you. Chad Myers there.
MYERS: You're welcome.
CHATTERLEY: More "First Move" after this. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to "First Move" with a look at more of the international headlines this hour. Both the U.S. and Israel are issuing
security alerts about a potential terrorist attack in Sri Lanka. The U.S. embassy says it received credible information that popular tourist sites
around Arugam Bay could be targeted. All U.S. citizens are urged to avoid the area until further notice. Israel is telling its citizens to leave the
southern and western coasts immediately.
King Charles and Queen Camilla have left Australia and arrived in Samoa. Charles will be attending the Summit of Commonwealth Nations as part of the
visit. A key part of the summit's agenda will be protecting the oceans, and during his stay, Charles will also be offered the title of High Chief.
In the last hour, NASA's SpaceX Crew 8 has undocked from the International Space Station. The three NASA astronauts and one cosmonaut have completed a
seven-month expedition. According to NASA, they're bringing back important and time sensitive research. The splashdown time is expected to be early
Friday morning off the Coast of Florida.
Now, it's been revealed that CNN's Clarissa Ward, her producer, and cameraman, were held captive for two days while on assignment in Sudan. The
incident happened earlier this month. They were in North Dafur on their way to Tawila. The city has become a refuge for people trying to escape the
violence from the country's civil war.
[18:35:00]
Clarissa wrote about the experience in an article on cnn.com and joins us now from London. Clarissa, great to have you on the show. Classic in what
you wrote about this experience. You said, as a journalist, one never wants to become the story. But the experience does and is instructive in
understanding the complexities of the conflict, the challenges of getting food and aid to those who need it and getting the story out to the world.
Because we just haven't been talking about this really for the last 18 months and it's another devastating crisis.
CLARISSA WARD, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Julia. I mean, there's a reason that Sudan has been called the forgotten war. It has
been overshadowed by the conflicts in Gaza and in Ukraine. But when you talk to organizations like the U.N., they will tell you that in terms of
the numbers, Sudan is the world's largest humanitarian crisis at the moment, not just in terms of the violence, the vicious war crimes, but also
this cruel confluence of disease, displacement, and famine.
Famine was declared in the Zamzam Camp for displaced people just outside of the besiege City of Al Fashur in Darfur back in August. It's the first time
a famine has been declared in four years, and this is a manmade famine. So, we were really determined to try to get as close as we could to that story,
to Darfur, where I must say, almost no international journalists have been able to get to, not for lack of trying, but simply because the two main
warring factions have not allowed journalists access to Darfur.
Our goal was to get to Tawila, as you mentioned, which is controlled by a neutral group known as the SLM, the Sudan Liberation Movement.
Unfortunately, however, our hosts did not arrive at the meeting point when they were supposed to and we were picked up by another militia and spent,
as you mentioned, that 48 hours in captivity, Julia.
CHATTERLEY: And, Clarissa, people should read it, just to understand, as you said, you don't want to be the story, you want to help tell the story
of the -- of what the people there are suffering, the individuals themselves.
But it is quite poignant, you are a mother, you have three children, could you just describe what that was like, and also, how you managed to -- and
how you feel subsequently?
WARD: I think in the moment, of course, as a mother, my only focus was on my children and all of us were thinking about our family members and
feeling very anxious about the fact that we didn't know when we would be able to talk to them or see them again. We didn't know what messages they
might be getting. So, that, of course, gives you even more anxiety.
As the only woman, I was, of course, very mindful of the fact that we were being held out in the open. I was limiting how much water and food I took
in because there was no private place to relieve myself. But honestly, Julia, as you said, once it was clear that we were going to be released,
once it was clear that we were not going to be harmed after a couple of pretty fraught moments early on.
Then I think the prevailing feeling was one just of bitter disappointment, because we didn't set out to be the story. We wanted to tell the story. We
wanted to give the world a better sense of what is going on in Darfur, which has literally been like a black hole in terms of information, in
terms of people on the ground living through this vicious civil war, getting their stories out there and heard by the world. Ultimately, we
failed in doing that. We really grappled with whether we should even talk about what happened to us, and we only did it as a way to kind of initiate
a broader conversation about the situation in Darfur, particularly now with rainy season coming to an end, with fighting ratcheting up again, and with
the specter of a broadening famine looming. Julia.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, and it's important that we continue to talk about this, talk about their situation, and it's unfortunate that your experiences
forced it onto the agenda. It's a reminder that we need to remember these forgotten places. Clarissa, thank you for joining us. We appreciate your
time.
All right. Coming up, humanity is in the middle of a water crisis. I spoke with Singapore's president about the challenges, but also how we can fix it
collectively. More from our conversation after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:40:00]
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to "First Move." Humans have disrupted the global water cycle for the first time in history, that's according to a pretty
frightening new report from the Global Commission on the Economics of Water. It warns a water disaster will affect economies and lives the world
over. President Tharman of Singapore co-chairs the commission and he says all is not lost, but only if humanity works quickly.
I asked President Tharman just to talk about the water crisis and help us understand the problem.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
THARMAN SHANMUGARATNAM, SINGAPOREAN PRESIDENT: Water is now an existential problem. It's not about which country of which community gets hit by the
next drought or flood, it's not just about the growing scarcity that regions of the world are facing, some of the poorest regions in fact, it's
now a global issue. We face a problem to do with the destabilization of the global water cycle and the interaction that it has with climate change and
the loss of the world's biodiversity.
CHATTERLEY: Just to reiterate the headlines on this report, more than half the world's food production will be at risk of failure within the next 25
years if we don't take action. Demand for fresh water will outstrip supply by 40 percent by the end of the decade, because as you said, our water
systems are being put under on such unprecedented stress.
And I think part of the challenge here is we're underestimating how much water individuals need on a daily basis. And we've been underestimating it
for a long time.
SHANMUGARATNAM: I think the basic challenge is that people have always thought of water as coming from a tap. It actually doesn't come from a tap.
It comes from a whole ecosystem. This is a challenge which can be addressed. If I have to think of it together with climate change and the
loss of biodiversity, water should be low hanging fruit because the technologies exist -- the, we know what the policies required are, although
by -- in large part, they have not been put into place. And we know that there's entrepreneurship and capital waiting on the side.
So, we've got to bring that together, bring technology, entrepreneurship, and policymaking together to solve this crisis. And by solving water, we'll
be helping to solve for climate change at this moment.
CHATTERLEY: At this moment, we're subsidizing agriculture around the world to the tune of, what, $700 billion a year. And that, I think, encourages
water waste. We've got 80 percent of water waste used by industries around the world that isn't recycled. I think I understand what you're saying,
that there are practical solutions and you can give Singapore as an example, but how do we create a system or a market that sort of prices or
values water appropriately and also tracks its use, I think, on a fundamental level at the same time?
[18:45:00]
SHANMUGARATNAM: Well, you've hit the nail on the head. First, we've got to price water properly. Price water to reflect the fact that it's not an
infinite resource, it's a finite resource. So, we've got to value water. And the very few countries that currently price water properly and then
subsidize the poor, subsidize small folder farmers, subsidize those who won't be able to afford the full price. It can be done. Singapore does it,
a few countries in the developing world do it, from Chile to Kenya. A few of the advanced countries do it.
But by and large, water is being grossly underpriced around the world. And that encourages its profligate use its waste. And most importantly, if you
don't price water, you don't provide an incentive for innovation either. And innovation is half -- is the better half of the story.
The first half is about the challenge, the scarcity, the droughts, the floods. The second half is innovation. You might have to also use the
revenues you get to subsidize innovations because innovations, at the early stage, don't yet have the scale to bring costs down and make them
competitive with the legacy systems. It's the same thing with climate change. If you want green technologies to be more widely used, we need
scale. And that's why it needs both the public and private sector to be part of this.
CHATTERLEY: How do we do this at scale? And where do we start? Because I think the Singaporean example is a great example. You've educated the
population. You've subsidized water saving technologies. I think two-thirds now Singapore's surface area is used for water storage. It works, to your
point, if we go back to the money at the core of this for a richer nation, how do we scale this and create some degree of balance between richer
nations and poorer nations?
SHANMUGARATNAM: If you think about food systems, because that's probably the largest dimension of change that's going to be required, when you think
about the new cultivation methods, the new irrigation methods that are available, to use less -- to use water far more productively in farming.
Some of the best examples come from the developing world, but they can be scaled up. They can be scaled up so as to may be made affordable everywhere
in the world, including by small farmers, not just the largest. We know of new seed varieties, for instance, for rice. Rice cultivation, as we've
known it for hundreds of years, has to change. You can no longer cultivate rice by simply flooding the fields.
And we've got to also think very hard about switching crops and switching our diets, because we cannot reach net zero and we cannot achieve a water
sustainable water ecosystem without shifting our diets. We've got to progressively reduce the share of our diets that is animal-based towards
plant-based, fermentation-based, and all the other interesting ways in which alternative proteins are being developed.
CHATTERLEY: You know, I look at the degree of politicization in the world, of fragmentation in the world, and the challenges we face today are
numerous. How do you ensure that countries can work together, whether it's a big country like the United States and China or India for that matter?
How do we all come together on something as important as this when there's so much we disagree on at this point in time?
SHANMUGARATNAM: I think water can be in a very useful arena for a revitalization of multilateralism. It's unlike many other areas, something
which nations can see a direct self interest in. Farmers benefiting, poorer communities benefiting, and rural communities benefiting from, private
enterprise seeing opportunity to invest. Nations themselves benefit from solving the water crisis through innovation and by scaling up innovation.
And every nation, obviously, benefits if we can slow down climate change.
So, self-interest is at the heart of what we do. of realistic multilateralism. And I think there's a very tangible self-interest when it
comes to solving the world's water crisis. Self-interest of the part of the big powers, but also self-interest of the part of all smaller and mid-sized
nations.
So, it's not just out of the goodness of our hearts that we have to cooperate, it's not just to benefit some other part of the world, although
we should be doing that, it's also because of national self-interest. So, I think water is a very good example of how we can rekindle multilateralism,
and I don't have to say multilateralism is not dead. It's still alive and kicking.
[18:50:00]
CHATTERLEY: You're an optimist, sir. And I love it because we need some optimism in the world right now. Mr. President, fantastic to chat to you. I
hope we get to meet in person very soon. And I appreciate your leadership on this. An incredibly important report. Thank you.
SHANMUGARATNAM: Thank you very much.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHATTERLEY: OK. Coming up next, Sterling Erling, a spectacular performance by Haaland in the Champions League. We'll have all the action as Manchester
City cruise to victory, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back. And a fantastic night for Manchester City in the Champions League. They beat Sparta Prague 5-nil. Superstar striker Erling
Haaland was on particularly impressive form. He scored two of those goals, including a stunning acrobatic volley.
Don Riddell is here with more. I'm not doing it justice. I've watched it a few times. Wow.
DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: I know, Julia, and you've got to watch it a few more times to just try and comprehend how on Earth he did it. Because
when you look at the ball and where he was and how high it was, it just seemed absolutely impossible that anybody could put this ball in the net.
But Erling Haaland, we all know, he's kind of a freak of nature. So, we shouldn't be surprised when he's able to do things like this.
But look at this, the ball was -- well, it was kind of too low for a header, too high for a volley. It was behind him as well but somehow, he
kind of like pulled off this aerial back heel to put it into the back of the net. And, you know, even he afterwards looked a bit kind of sheepish,
almost like, like I don't know how I do it, you know. But of course, nobody's really surprised. Just absolutely amazing.
There are some kinds of goals that are unusual and quirky that have nicknames. So, we talk about an Olimpico if it's scored direct from a
corner. A Panenka is an audacious penalty or a Rabona is a very, very creative and theatrical goal. I don't think we've got a nickname for
something like this, Julia. So, I mean, maybe they'll call it an Earling or a Haaland. But just such a cool moment.
Of course, as you say, a 5-nil win. He scored two. He's now scored 13 goals in 12 games again this season. So, Erling Haaland doing absolutely
brilliantly. And by the way, this marked the 26th consecutive game that Manchester City had not lost a game in the Champions League. That is a new
record. Guess who they were tied with on 25? Their local rivals, Manchester United.
So, yet again, Manchester United have one more reason to hate the blue half of the city, just all in all, a great night for City and Earling Haaland.
CHATTERLEY: I was frantically trying to come up with a name there, but I just can't. I don't think he was looking at the ball. I don't understand
how that's possible. I saw that Pep Guardiola was asked whether it was normal and he said, for a human being, I think not. It's unbelievable.
RIDDELL: Yes, I know.
CHATTERLEY: And we'll leave it there.
RIDDELL: It was so ugly, it was beautiful.
CHATTERLEY: Exactly. Don, great to have you. Thank you.
RIDDELL: All right.
[18:55:00]
CHATTERLEY: All right. And on to a "First Move" of a historic kind. Superstar LeBron James and his son, Bronny, have officially become the
first father-son duo to play together in a regular season NBA game. The Lakers hosted the Minnesota Timberwolves in Los Angeles on Tuesday for the
opening day of the NBA season. And as expected, LeBron James appeared in the starting lineup. He was joined by his by his 20-year-old son in the
second quarter, the final score was Lakers 110, Timberwolves 103.
And finally, on "First Move," we bounce from basketball to baseball. And how do you turn 50/50 into nearly $4.4 million? Well, the answer is you add
a bit of Shohei Ohtani into the mix. The ball he made baseball history with has just made history of its own, going for a record-breaking sum at
auction.
The $4.4 million price tag shatters the previous record of $3 million for a home run ball. Ohtani scored his 50th home run of the season with the ball,
the same season in which he stole 50 bases, something never done before in Major League Baseball.
And he's not done. Ohtani's L.A. Dodgers are set to face the New York Yankees in Game 1 of the World Series on Friday. Yes, we can't wait.
And that just about wraps up the show. Thank you for joining us. Stay with CNN, though, and the Kamala Harris Town Hall in just two hours' time. We'll
see you tomorrow.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:00:00]
END
