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Quest Means Business
Johnson & Johnson Vaccine Found Suitable For Emergency Use In U.S.; Ghana First Country To Get Vaccines From COVAX; Business Leaders Urge Congress To Pass Biden's Relief Plan; Woods Revolutionized The Game Of Golf, Will His Injuries Change Everything For Him?; Facebook Pledges To Pay For News On Its Platform; Heroes For Grandma Earth: The Children Environmentalists Of The Yucatan; IATA To Ask Governments To Issue Digital Vaccine Credentials. Aired 3-4p ET
Aired February 24, 2021 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[15:00:32]
JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: A solid rebound for U.S. stocks with the Dow leading the way. It's all about economic recovery stocks:
energy, industrials, financials that are lifting us high, but what a turnaround in the session.
Investors looking past the risk of inflation and of rising interest rate, at least for now.
Those are the markets and these are the main events.
Help is on the way. The first vaccines from COVAX arrive in Africa; while Johnson & Johnson's shot clears a major hurdle.
Jerome Powell tells Congress he won't be rushing to raise interest rates.
And never break the chain. Joe Biden wants to prevent supply shortages from hurting the U.S. economy.
Live from New York, it's Wednesday, the 24th of February. I'm Julia Chatterley and this is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.
A good evening and welcome once again welcome to QUEST MEANS BUSINESS tonight. A crucial vote of confidence in Johnson & Johnson's COVID vaccine
offers new hope in the developing world.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says the vaccine is safe and effective clearing the way for its authorization there. But the J&J vaccine
will almost certainly prove more important elsewhere.
The F.D.A. found the vaccine was more than 80 percent effective against severe disease in both South Africa and Brazil, both of those countries are
struggling with new highly contagious strains of the virus.
Johnson & Johnson's vaccine also has some distinct advantages. It only requires one dose and it is less expensive than most of the other ones now
available. It can also be shipped and stored in a normal refrigerator rather than at subfreezing temperatures.
Roughly one billion doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine are on order, about half of those going to COVAX, which is the initiative working to
bring vaccines to developing nations.
The European Union has ordered 200 million doses. The African Union and the United States has each ordered around 100 million doses.
Let's talk this through. CNN medical analyst, Dr. Celine Gounder joins us now.
Dr. Gounder -- Celine, great to have you on the show with us.
I just listed them, so many benefits there, not only for nations in the European Union, in the United States, but also in the developing world,
too, which is critical particularly at this moment.
DR. CELINE GOUNDER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Julia, I really think this is an amazing breakthrough to have a vaccine that is one dose, does not require
deep freeze temperatures and that is highly effective.
I think it's really important for people to understand that in clinical trials, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was shown to be a hundred percent
effective in preventing hospitalization and death if you waited 28 days until after the vaccination to measure that.
And I say 28 days, no vaccine at all will work instantaneously. Every vaccine takes some time to have some effect. And so, it is similar with the
Pfizer vaccine and with the Moderna vaccine and this really does make this new vaccine equivalent to the others that have already been granted
Emergency Use Authorization in the U.S. with respect to prevention of hospitalization and death.
CHATTERLEY: This is such a crucial point because if we look at the baseline efficacy rates, one could look at Moderna, one could look at Pfizer which
were in the 90 percent region and look at Johnson & Johnson and go hang on a second, this one isn't quite as good.
But I think to your point, we have to look at how good it is at preventing hospitalizations and severe illness, but we also have to compare and
recognize that we're not comparing like for like given that the Johnson & Johnson was challenged as a vaccine far later and at that point we were
dealing with variants of the virus.
GOUNDER: That's a really important point. So we may not have seen those same numbers with Pfizer and Moderna, had those been tested in Brazil and
South Africa after the emergence of these variants.
But again, big picture, we vaccinate to prevent hospitalization and death, we don't vaccinate to prevent the sniffles or a mild cough.
And so for the outcomes that truly matter, all of these vaccines were equivalent and highly effective.
[15:05:03]
CHATTERLEY: So for those that are vaccine hesitant, we know that particularly in the United States, but also around the world, let's be
clear, there are those that are very hesitant to get a vaccine at this moment.
If they are looking at this and saying, which one should I get? Is there a better one here? Is the message any one of these vaccines will help protect
you if you catch this virus?
GOUNDER: Yes, I think the message is whatever vaccine you can get your hands on first, that's the vaccine for you.
I was having this conversation with my husband earlier today. He's not a healthcare worker. He doesn't fall into the priority group, so he'll be
later in line to get vaccinated. And I said to him, hey, if J&J, if that's the vaccine that's available to you first, that's the vaccine you should
get because it is safe and it is effective.
CHATTERLEY: Dr. Fauci who obviously is incredibly well known, I think around the world as well, did an interview this week and he suggested that
even once you're vaccinated, you're still going to have to wear masks, you're still going to have to careful around your family.
And I'm sure a lot of people who listened to that and went, hang on a second, if I've gone through the effort of getting vaccine, I've taken the
two doses or the one dose and I still have to do all the things I am doing now, why am I taking the vaccine? What's your response, Celine?
GOUNDER: Well, you're taking the vaccine so you don't get really sick and die. I mean, it is as simple as that. That's why you're taking the vaccine.
It's not just so that you don't have to wear a mask anymore.
I mean, that would be great if we can get enough science, enough data to demonstrate that that would be safe.
I would also break it out a little further in terms of once you're vaccinated what is safe to do. If you're around other people who are
vaccinated, if everybody in the group has been vaccinated, you don't really need to wear a mask.
But if you are around other people who have not been vaccinated, that's where the concern lies, and that's the situation in which even if you have
been vaccinated, you do need to continue wearing a mask.
CHATTERLEY: And for those that are watching around the world that are concerned perhaps about the variants that are operating in their particular
region or highly prevalent in their region, what's the message once again about these vaccines?
GOUNDER: So we are still seeing that these vaccines remain highly effective against protecting even against the variant strains with respect to
hospitalization and death, so while we may see a bit of a trend towards them being less effective and particular against milder infection, at least
for now, they remain very effective to prevent the severe consequences of COVID that we're really seeking to prevent here.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, so I've asked you lots of different questions all with the same answer, which is, if you have the opportunity, get the vaccine,
whatever the vaccine is. I think that's the bottom line.
GOUNDER: That is the bottom line.
CHATTERLEY: CNN medical analyst, Dr. Celine Gounder, great to have you with us. Thank you for that.
Now, the data from South Africa bodes well for the J&J vaccine impact throughout the continent. Africa's C.D.C. Chief told this program last week
that it will be a crucial component of their rollout.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. JOHN NKENGASONG, DIRECTOR, AFRICA CENTRES FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION: To have been given one dose, it provides a unique and
remarkable opportunity to rule out vaccination, as well. I mean, in terms of refrigeration, it offers us a very attractive vaccine to roll out into
the remote areas.
So we remain encouraged with what we are seeing with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHATTERLEY: And help is already on the way. Ghana became the first African country to receive the COVID-19 vaccine under the World Health
Organization's COVID program today.
A huge shipment of Oxford-AstraZeneca doses arrived this morning as David McKenzie reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is the moment when those 600,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine arrived in Ghana, the very first of the
COVAX initiative, which is a global initiative to get vaccines to low and middle-income countries.
You can see the level of pomp and circumstance getting those vaccines in.
Earlier, they left the Serum Institute in India and there will be many countries in the coming weeks, particularly in the African continent who
will receive vaccines through COVAX.
Now, this is both a moral issue, say World Health Organization officials, but also a public health issue. They say that if any one country still has
transmission of COVID-19, even if other countries have been vaccinated, it gives the virus an opportunity to continue to mutate and more variants to
come through, which could put everyone at risk.
The Trump White House largely ignored COVAX as it was set up, but the Biden White House has been much more active and engaging and just in recent days,
G-7 countries announced $4 billion of additional funding to COVAX and vaccine facilities like it to get vaccines predominantly, the AstraZeneca
vaccine, into countries to start this vaccination drive, the largest, say UNICEF, in modern history.
David McKenzie, CNN, Johannesburg.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[15:10:19]
CHATTERLEY: The Fed Chair speaks and the markets listen. Jay Powell is reassuring investors for a second straight day as he testifies before
congressional committees. That's next. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to QUEST MEANS BUSINESS. The Federal Reserve Chairman is once again calming markets with his commitment to a full
economic recovery.
The Dow, S&P and NASDAQ all up as we speak on the second day of Jay Powell's testimony on Capitol Hill. The Dow got an early boost when Powell
again signaled the Fed is in no hurry to raise interest rates. He did also warn that some jobs lost during the pandemic will never come back.
Now, some of America's top business leaders are urging Congress to pass President Joe Biden's stimulus plan. More than 150 CEOs signed a letter to
lawmakers saying, "The American Rescue Plan provides a framework for coordinated public-private efforts to overcome COVID-19 and to move forward
with a new era of inclusive growth."
Tom Steyer is an entrepreneur who ran for President as a Democrat in 2020. He is also founder of Next Gen America, a coalition that encourages young
people to get involved in politics.
It is great to have you on the show, Tom. I've often watched you say on many occasions that we are seeing a rebellion of the younger generation
against what they are being left by the older generation, whether that's student debt, a weakened climate, a national debt.
Through that prism, is it right to be spending another $1.9 trillion at this moment?
TOM STEYER, FORMER DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I think that, Julia, the Biden-Harris Campaign ran on delivering support to suffering
Americans in this pandemic, and they're keeping their promise with this plan.
And by the way, the people who are disproportionately suffering in this pandemic are young people. So we need to get to the future for young people
to get past this pandemic and really that's what this plan is.
So, yes, they're doing the right thing by young people and young people definitely support COVID relief and you know, this is entirely consistent
with what Joe Biden ran on and what he promised, so he is living up to his promises in the campaign.
[15:15:10]
CHATTERLEY: I mean, one of the most contentious parts of this is perhaps raising the minimum wage. It is currently $7.25, although many businesses
are already paying more than that.
There is talk of $15.00 minimum wage, but of course, it is sporadic. You understand better than most. The benefits at the lower end of the economy
for workers that that will perhaps provide, but at the same time, for small businesses paying that kind of level of wage is also a huge challenge.
Where do you lie on this issue?
STEYER: I'm definitely in favor of the higher minimum wage. I've been fighting for $15.00, I think over a decade alongside working people in this
country.
You know, what we've seen is when the living wage is actually fair, in fact it raises the economy that the concerns from small businesses are vastly
overblown.
And in fact, Julia, if you go back a few decades and keep the value of money constant, in fact the minimum wage would be higher than $15.00 if we
equilibrated it to the 1969 American minimum wage.
So in fact, a $15.00 minimum wage is not only fair, it is very consistent with the minimum wage that existed generations ago and it is necessary,
literally to lift millions of people out of poverty.
CHATTERLEY: The Congressional Budget Office said it could cost up to 900,000 jobs, Tom, it is obviously just one assessment of an economy.
But you used a separate term there which was the living wage and do you think we need to be talking about this more because coming into this
crisis, we already had what -- 40 percent of the American population that couldn't have a $400.00 check. That shouldn't be happening in the richest
nation in the world.
STEYER: No, it shouldn't. And in fact it is absolutely critical that we have much greater equality in terms of economics and earning across our
society.
And the bluntest and most powerful tool for that really is the minimum wage, but if you look across our society, Julia, and I know you have, so I
don't mean to be condescending in any way, but you look at how many people can't afford food, if you look at how many people who can't afford housing.
You know, the basics of life -- healthcare.
You understand when we talk about economic inequality, we're not just talking about comparisons, we're talking about huge numbers, millions, tens
of millions, hundreds of millions of Americans who can't afford what we consider the necessity of life.
And actually, governmental action is critical. It sets the framework to have the kind of society that we want, and this is a perfect example of
where government needs to step in and redo the frameworks so we have a much more just society.
CHATTERLEY: How do you pay for that? How do you pay for a rebalancing of the financials because we simply haven't seen that in this country for
decades and decades? Is it about higher taxes on the richest? And you are one of them.
Can we still have the level of entrepreneurship, of business building, of creating some of the biggest businesses in the world while having a more
fair society?
STEYER: Look, I've said for a long time, Julia, that I believe I should be paying higher taxes and that I think it's only just.
But I want to take you back to the most famous time when people -- when somebody raised wages. Henry Ford raised wages I think in 1910 to $5.00 a
day. And everyone was like you're going to bankrupt the whole country with that kind of behavior.
And he said, actually, I'm going to stimulate buying power across our society, which is exactly what happened. So this idea that somehow we need
to starve working people in order to have a successful society makes no sense in the real world.
The kinds of societies that work well economically are more just, more equal societies that have a much bigger and much more inclusive middle
class.
CHATTERLEY: You know, I mentioned Next Gen in the introduction to this which is trying to empower younger people to have a say in politics and to
have a view and we are seeing a greater degree of activism, but we are also seeing greater divides in society and there are many reasons for that.
Whether it is inequality or social media or extremes of views.
How do we encourage people to be more proactive in society but without fostering greater divisions, because it does feel like we're at a very
dangerous point in time in society.
STEYER: Well, Julia, let me just say, Next Gen focuses on American voters who are 18 to 35. It is the biggest age group in America, the millennials
are bigger in number than the boomers.
It's the most diverse generation and it includes Gen-Z, biggest and most diverse generation in American history, the most progressive generation in
America. Voting at half the rate of other American citizens originally, because they didn't think the system worked. They thought the system was
rigged against them, and they didn't want to participate.
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STEYER: So from Next Gen's perspective, what we do is not try and convince them to have different opinions. The only thing we try to convince them of
is that if they participate as a group, if they register and get involved politically and vote, then that actually changes the outcome, that
democracy works, but it only works through participation.
And in 2020, we had the highest turnout of young voters in American history, so in fact, Next Gen is the biggest youth empowerment effort in
American voting history, and 2020 was proof that it has to happen, and when it does happen, it has absolutely critical impact.
CHATTERLEY: I couldn't agree more with you. It's a sidebar, but it is also very connected. What we've seen in the last few months is part of the
rebellion that we began by talking about in financial markets in things like GameStop and the rally and then the collapse that we saw in that
price.
Also, in sort of anti-establishment assets like Bitcoin and crypto. As an entrepreneur and a very wealthy one at that, do you have a view on crypto
currencies? Bitcoin, for example? Because we have seen a lot of people wading in in this market right now, I just sort of wonder what your take
is.
STEYER: Look, I think it is fair to describe crypto as people opting out of traditional financial systems, an alternative to traditional financial
systems, and so, you know, -- for a whole bunch of reasons.
So, in fact, the thing that -- the success of cryptocurrencies that it is pointing out is that there are a large number of people in our society, but
actually across the world who are choosing to believe in a private system of finance as opposed to one that is run and regulated by governments.
And that's exactly consistent with what happened in GameStop, where a group of people felt as if the existing financial system, the stock market was
rigged by insiders against everybody else and they sort of organized online to try and push back against some insiders who were vulnerable and to show
that the system wasn't fair.
We're seeing this kind of populism, this kind of anger at rigged systems across the board. You know, not just in these instances, but much more
broadly in the basic political movements including Mr. Trump that we've seen over the past decade.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, read the tea leaves and see the messages in what we're seeing in financial markets and beyond.
Tom, fantastic to have you on. Thank you so much for joining the show this afternoon. Tom Steyer there.
STEYER: Julia, thank you for having me.
CHATTERLEY: Thank you. All right, in a short while President Biden will sign an Executive Order aimed at tackling a worldwide crunch in
semiconductor chips.
It is part of larger review into possible cracks in critical U.S. supply chains, such as the production of batteries and pharmaceuticals.
President Biden hopes that finding vulnerabilities now could help the U.S. avoid shortages in the future. Many companies say they could lose billions
of dollars from the chip crisis.
Ford says, production this quarter could drop by a fifth. GM already to trim output in the United States, in Canada and Mexico. And Sony warns the
situation is so bad it might not have enough Play Station 5s in time for Christmas.
Wow, now that is disaster.
John Harwood is in Washington, D.C. for the United States, steady on, John, I know you're probably devastated about that last point. But this is an
incredibly serious subject, and it is something that we need to tackle immediately, shoring up supply chains not just in terms of chips, but to
the point I mentioned there, pharmaceuticals, PPE. We saw that during the pandemic.
JOHN HARWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. And first of all, let me say, Julia, I experienced the difficulty of getting an Xbox for one
of the kids in my life last Christmas. You still can't get one.
But, you know, what President Biden is focusing on is not exactly the America First that Donald Trump talked about. Some of Donald Trump's aides
talked about pulling supply chains back en masse into the United States. That's not what Biden is talking about.
Biden is talking about avoiding potential choke points at key moments for the economy, some of which we saw during the pandemic, the difficulty of
getting PPE because of the disproportionate supply from China, the same with some pharmaceutical products that the United States needed, difficulty
in getting them.
Now automakers are experiencing that with the shortage of chips, potential problems down the horizon with flat screen televisions, for example.
So what Biden is trying to do is institute a review that would last a year to identify what those vulnerability points in the supply chain are and
what you can do about them, how you can diversify, how you can get rare earth materials from Australia, for example, instead of from China if they
become unavailable from China. That's what the President is exploring and that's what he was talking about with a bipartisan group of House and
Senate members this afternoon.
[15:25:07]
CHATTERLEY: Yes, fantastic work and it is good that we're looking at this right now. John Harwood is in Washington, D.C. for us.
If anyone is watching and can help with that Xbox, please, you contact John on social media. John, good luck with that. He is gone.
All right, shares in FireEye, SolarWinds and Microsoft are higher following yesterday's Senate hearing on the SolarWinds hack.
The cyberattack was one of the biggest in U.S. history affecting at least nine Federal agencies and 100 private companies.
Speaking on "First Move" earlier, the CEO of FireEye told me how the hack was first detected.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEVIN MANDIA, CEO, FIREEYE: One of our security staff noticed a new phone being registered from one of our employees, just called him up and said,
hey, listen, you just logged in, did you register a new phone? Yes or no? And that person said, no, I didn't. Well then, who did?
We knew we had unauthorized access on our network at that point.
CHATTERLEY: I know your focus on what the focus of yesterday's hearing was is how can we improve this process? Because you identified this, Microsoft
obviously was involved. You were then letting know -- your clients know look, potentially there has been a breach here, SolarWinds was obviously
involved as well, but that's a chain of command that quite frankly is relatively slow in the face of something so huge.
How can we improve this? The first has to be communication and disclosure.
MANDIA: Yes, absolutely. One of the things that happens right now is when you're hacked and you know it, it's a real lonely planet, and you have
liabilities that come at you, the investigations are complex.
If we wait to get Intelligence from companies that are compromised and they do a full-blown investigation and then disclose, we're waiting too long.
So one of the many things that we have to do in many different nations is figure out how do we get actionable Intelligence into the right agencies
fast so you can safeguard your private sector and safeguard governments.
And that's a lot of the conversation we had yesterday at the Senate Intelligence Committee is how do we have threat sharing almost in real-
time, that's confidential, so we can kind of put shields up against all of the attacks and all of us be as secure as the person who knows the most
about a particular threat.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHATTERLEY: All right, still ahead, we bring you the latest on golf legend, Tiger Woods and what law enforcement now says about that horrific car
crash.
Stay with us. That's next
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:30:00]
CHATTERLEY: Hello, I'm Julia Chatterley. And there's more QUEST MEANS BUSINESS in a moment we'll have the latest on Tiger Woods' condition and
what his injury could mean for the world of golf.
And CEO of "Time" on the future of the media industry and Facebook's pledge to pay for news on its platform.
These are the news headlines this hour.
U.S. President Joe Biden's pick to lead the CIA is skating through his confirmation hearing today.
William Burns signaled he would intensify focus and energy on China and Russia. If confirmed he would be the first lifelong diplomat to direct the
spy agency.
New York prosecutors have subpoenaed financial records pertaining to Steve Bannon's crowd funding effort to build a border wall. Former president
Donald Trump pardoned his one time chief administrate strategist in January but that did not protect Bannon from a state investigation.
He and three others are accused of defrauding donors of more than $25 million.
A long-awaited U.S. intelligence report on the murder of "Washington Post" journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, could be released as soon as Thursday.
The CIA had concluded without publicly sharing evidence that he was killed in 2019 on the orders of Saudi crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. He's
denied any personal involvement.
Brisbane, Australia is the preferred host for the 2032 Olympic Games. The international Olympic committee made a unanimous choice to move the process
along citing, quote, "the uncertainty the world is facing right now."
It will be the first summer games in austral since Sydney in 2000.
Investors (ph) say the car crash that sent Tiger Woods to the hospital was purely an accident. They won't press charges against the golf legend who's
recovering from serious injuries.
Police say Tiger was driving on a dangerous stretch of road when his SUV crossed the median, struck a curb and careened out of control.
Doctors performed extensive surgery on his leg and ankle inserting a rod and pins.
Los Angeles county sheriff says it's "nothing short of a miracle," quote, that Woods is alive.
But the question now is how his injury will impact his future and that of the world of golf. There's no question that he revolutionized the game and,
of course, boosted viewership.
Just take a look at this graph showing how TV ratings for PGA tournaments surged whenever he was winning. And the trend is clear; viewership surges
on the years that Tiger won.
For the latest, let's bring in WORLD SPORT's Don Riddell. He's interviewed Tiger Woods several times. Don, great to have you with us.
Tiger's had I think so many phases in his life as he's come back from both personal and physical challenges. What do you make of this latest event and
who he is as a person fighting back from this?
DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: Well, the event is awful. And I think the more we hear about, the worst it seems to get in terms of how bad it could
have been.
I think the more I hear about the accident and the more I learn about it and speak to people who've been there and visited the crash site, you
realize how incredibly lucky he is.
One of his rivals on his tour, Rory McElroy has been saying he's not superman, he's just a human being and we're very lucky to still have him
and his kids are very lucky that they didn't lose their dad yesterday.
This is just an absolutely seismic event in the world of not just golf, but sports.
Tiger Woods completely revolutionized the game of golf when he burst onto the scene in the late 1990s. He transcended the game. He's one of the most
famous athletes that you'll find on the planet.
And the world of golf owes so much to Tiger Woods. People are perhaps wondering today what's golf going to be like if Tiger doesn't play anymore
or if he doesn't return to the tour, I think people need to just take a moment and think about what he has given to the game.
So many of the young players now took up golf because of Tiger Woods, because they were inspired by him. So many of those players are now
millionaires many times over because of what Tiger Woods did to the game, in terms of just bringing such a massive new audience to the game.
[15:35:00]
And there's something about Tiger in his later years that, whether he's winning or losing, there's always interest around him. People who've been
around him on the tour, players, caddies, executives, they said they've never seen anything like it.
It is one thing for people to be interested and to root for somebody who's successful but when that person is then not successful or when he has bad
rounds of golf to somehow still be as exciting and as interesting -- very, very unusual.
So he's a once in a generation if not once in a lifetime kind of athlete.
CHATTERLEY: We don't want to think about it now, we just want to think about his recovery and wish him all the well. But to your point about how
pivotal, how inspirational to those that have risen up in the industry but also to viewers.
We showed that chart of just what happens, the magic that happens in terms of TV viewership when he's winning; he's compelling, whether you love him
or you're sort of conflicted about what he's done in his past and who he is, he's a compelling person to have on a golf course.
RIDDELL: Yes. And it's not just the winning, it's the way he plays. It's his attitude, it's the showmanship, it's the theater that he brings to it.
Some of his biggest moments -- I think the Masters Tournament where he had that extraordinary shot on the 16th green and he chipped it in from a
ridiculous position and it rolled and it rolled and then it just paused on the lip of the cup just long enough so you could see the Nike swish and
then it dropped.
That is what a Hollywood director would do, and here it was happening live in real-time. Just such an energizing athlete.
And if you speak to the golfers today, many of them have been interviewed in press conferences today. And they're all saying this is not about can
Tiger Woods come back and play, when will he be able to get back? This is about just kind of wishing this man just all the best and a speedy
recovery.
It's still so early. We're not even a day-and-a-half since this happened and I think we still have an awful lot to learn about his injury and his
recovery and what that might look like.
We must remember his age, 45. We must remember all of the injuries that he's suffered throughout his career and all of the major surgeries he's
already undergone throughout his career; on his knee, on his back -- five back surgeries, the most recent of which was just a couple of days before
Christmas.
All of that is a factor in what he's going to be able to achieve after this point.
If you're going to write anybody off it wouldn't be Tiger Woods. He's the king of the comeback. We look at what he achieved at the Masters in 2019
winning a fifth green jacket 11 years after his previous major victory.
And, of course, we all know what happened in between with the injuries and, of course, with the collapse of his marriage which was very well documented
by media outlets all over the world.
But what's golf going to look like without Tiger? It's just too soon to know.
CHATTERLEY: Yes. We don't want to ask that question either. We just send him and his family and all those around him huge love and support and
healing thoughts.
Don, good to have you with us. Thank you for that.
Now there's a chance you might have first heard the news about Tiger Woods on Facebook.
Well, now the company pledging to invest at least a billion dollars in the news industry. This, of course, after a high-profile row over the issue
with Australia.
Facebook briefly blocked news content on its platforms in the country in response to a draft law that's since been amended. It says it's negotiating
with publishers around the world to help support journalism.
The row, though, has raised major issues about the changing nature of journalism and crucially who pays for it.
For more on that let's bring in Edward Felsenthal, he's the CEO and Editor- in-Chief of "Time." Edward, fantastic to have you on the show.
So much to talk about, not only "Time" itself. But I do want to just get your views on what we've seen in the last few days with Facebook in
Australia.
Are you as a publisher and a creator of news content in favor of these social media platforms paying for the news that appears on their sites and,
of course, that draws eyeballs and advertisers' money too?
EDWARD FELSENTHAL, CEO & EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, "TIME:" Well, Julia, these are not just tech companies, they're really also media companies.
CHATTERLEY: Right.
FELSENTHAL: They publish massive amounts of news, opinion, information just as you do, we do. Only unlike CNN and "Time," they do it through algorithms
and AI.
And the result has really been twofold. One is they've built massive businesses in part off the hard work of the humans who do what we do with
very little of the cost.
And second, because they don't fact check or have effective filters, they've contributed to a huge misinformation problem.
[15:40:00]
So this news out of Australia is really significant, really important. We'll see where it goes.
But these are the biggest we've ever seen by big tech to pay for journalism and may be the start of addressing some of the problems we've seen.
CHATTERLEY: So, I'll take that as a hypothetical yes. They should be doing more to perhaps (inaudible) for the content.
FELSENTHAL: Hypothetical yes. There's lots --
CHATTERLEY: There we go.
FELSENTHAL: Yes.
CHATTERLEY: Now, of course, there will be people saying -- "Time" has, I think, as a brand has chosen to see what we've seen in terms of the mass
disruption as an opportunity as well as a challenge.
There will be those that are saying hang on a second, your model is facilitated by being backed by a whopping great billionaire in the form of
Marc Benioff, of course. Some others might say that comes with its challenges, too.
What's your response to those that say perhaps this is the only way for media to survive going forward?
FELSENTHAL: Well, we have wonderful owners in Marc and Lynne Benioff. We do our journalism with complete editorial independence, they're incredibly
supportive of the work we're doing, the impact we're having, the evolution of the business.
They have a long-term view, they're long-term owners which, for those of us have been in a quarter to quarter public company environment -- this is a
really challenging time. These are challenging times in the media business, and that long-term perspective is -- essentially you're seeing lots of
different models now.
Certainly, you hear the concerns about billionaire owners but there's concerns about all forms of ownership. I've been in the public company
environment and there are pressures there. And we're just lucky.
We've got believers in the brand, believers in the business supportive of what we do. And there's just going to be a lot of evolution, many forms of
ownership. I'm on the board of a local non-profit, that's one form.
So it's challenging but really exciting time in our field.
CHATTERLEY: So let's talk about that then. Because, to your point, trust in content, trust in media has never I think been more pivotal at a time of
great division in society. And you as a brand, again, I think have navigated that incredibly well.
How does this tie into "Time 2030" when I know you're going to produce a decade of content on helping people navigate what the post-COVID world is
going to look like?
And this is not about politics. This is about inclusivity, about building a better world. Talk me through "Time 2030," Edward.
FELSENTHAL: Our whole -- we're really excited about this mission. And in many ways our entire approach has changed and the pandemic has changed
everything.
It's illuminated along with the riot at the Capitol and so many other headlines we've seen over the last year just how deep and vast the crises
we face as a society are, how many they are, multiple crises all at once.
It's really an unprecedented time in the world as we're seeing all these problems, so many problems in our society that have been right there in
front of us but not really dealt with. A health crisis, a trust crisis, an inequality crisis, a climate crisis, an economic crisis, a crisis of racial
injustice, democracy. I mean this is certainly the most challenging time in the world in my lifetime.
And so we've changed how we think about our coverage to address these crises head on and really focus in a sustained way. We've committed to ten
years of reporting on these massive challenges.
We're also excited to launch -- you mentioned politics. Of course we've long done political coverage.
We're going to launch "Time Business" in April with a great new editor from the "Wall Street Journal." And just looking at these intersections of the
spheres of our coverage and the crises we face. And solutions to help the world move forward.
CHATTERLEY: Yes. I'm already nervous about that "Time Business," clearly. Edward, great to have you on the show. Thank you so much. And great to get
your insights today.
FELSENTHAL: Thanks, Julia.
CHATTERLEY: Thank you.
FELSENTHAL: Great to be here.
CHATTERLEY: Likewise. The CEO and Editor-in-Chief of "Time" there. All right. Thank you.
All right. From the future of journalism to the future of our planet. We head to Mexico and a school that's helping raise a new generation of
environmentalists.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:45:00]
CHATTERLEY: "Call to Earth" is CNN's call to action for the environment.
Nothing will shape tomorrow's world more than the education of our children. In today's report we turn to Mexico and a Rolex Awards laureate
who's cultivating a new generation of future environmentalists.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARITZA MORALES CASANOVA, ENVIRONMENTALIST & EDUCATOR, HUNAB: When you can see kids, you can see how they smile and also, you can see the pride on
their eyes.
I think that kids are the best teachers because they can share their knowledge, they can share their feelings with the same language.
CNN NARRATOR, CALL TO EARTH: Maritza Morales Casanova runs an environmental learning center called Hunab on the outskirts of the Merida, the capital
city of Yucatan.
She aims to teach a generation of young people how to care for the community's fragile environment.
MORALES CASANOVA: There are schools to learn more about music and if you want to be an artist there are places where you can polish your talent.
But what happens if as a child you want to be an environmentalist?
When they come to this gate, they experience how to be heroes for Grandma Earth.
NARRATOR: Hunab was founded by Morales Casanova when she Hunan herself was only 10 years old and runs on a model of peer-to-peer learning.
MORALES CASANOVA: When we see kids sharing their knowledge the first thing that the they do is to extend the message for themselves and then to share
it through a simple way. They share the information very clear and very honest.
Right now the information about the environment is very alarmist, it's very negative around the world. We cannot think about the theory of climate
change just to scare kids about what's going to happen. What we need to do is to inspire them.
NARRATOR: Fifteen-year-old Paul (ph) grew up in Yucatan and started coming to the center from a very young age.
Before coronavirus forced the park to close to visitors, he taught weekly classes on plants and their medicinal capabilities.
PAUL (phonetic), (Speaking in Foreign Language): (Through Translator): I feel like children are the best to be taught. I would say because they are
more sensitive because an adult often clings to his beliefs or clings to his knowledge.
NARRATOR: Also 15 years old, Fedra (ph) has been attending Hunab for six years. She now teaches students about how diet impacts their environment.
FEDRA (ph), (Speaking in Foreign Language) (Through Translator): I think it's very important here at Hunab. They teach you everything about the
environment and that they also see the value in us as teachers.
[15:50:00]
NARRATOR: In its 25 years, Morales Casanova tells us that Hunab has trained as many 50,000 young people to be environmentalists.
But the coronavirus pandemic has been a real threat to its mission.
Remote learning may be a challenge but it's urgent work according to Morales Casanova.
MORALES CASANOVA: We're printing the material, sending by mail or visiting the communities so they can keep working and training us heroes for Grandma
Earth.
In a few years they are governors, they are politicians or they are entrepreneurs, we don't know. But I'm sure they are going to make decisions
that respect all living beings.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHATTERLEY: So great. And we'll continue showcasing inspirational stories like this as part of the initiative at CNN. And let us know what you're
doing to answer the call, with the hashtag #calltoearth. We'd love to hear from you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHATTERLEY: The global airline group, IATA, is calling on governments to issue digital vaccine credentials to help restart international travel when
borders reopen.
It's working on an app due out next month that would store user data about COVID tests and vaccinations.
It comes at a critical time for air travel with Heathrow saying passenger numbers have fallen to levels not seen since the 1970s.
Anna Stewart has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: 2020 was not a good year for the travel sector. That doesn't comes as any kind of surprise.
But looking at these huge losses reported for 2020 by both Heathrow Airport and the hotel group, Accor, it really puts it into perspective.
Heathrow said it was the worst year in its history. It's usually Europe's busiest airport -- in 2019 it had over 80 million passengers traveling
through it -- last year it had a little over 22 million.
Both companies have implemented big cost-cutting programs, both have shored up their balance sheets. Heathrow says it has enough cash to see it through
2023 but a note of caution on the longer-term outlook.
The recovery for these businesses and the border industry will really rely on the vaccine rollout. That is absolutely critical.
Here in the U.K. the rollout of the vaccine is quite advanced and that's one reason why the U.K. government said it might be able to lift its ban on
international travel by mid-May.
[15:55:00]
U.K. airlines noted a flurry of bookings after that announcement but whether or not people get on planes will really depend on what the travel
rules and restrictions are at that time in terms of what tests are needed and how expensive they are.
Will people need to quarantine on return home, will they need to quarantine on arrival whichever country they want to go to? And it's expected some
countries will soon require proof of vaccination.
Now to that end, IATA, the industry body, today said they are calling on governments to help them by issuing digital vaccination credentials.
This could help support the use of vaccination passport apps, it could help unlock some borders.
But so much of this is out of the hands of the industry and so dependent on the rollout not in one country but right across the world.
STEWART (On Camera): Anna Stewart, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHATTERLEY: OK. Stop me if you've heard this one before. GameStop shares have been halted. They've surged more than 100 percent in the last few
minutes. An update on what's going on. Next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHATTERLEY: We are watching a renewed spike from GameStop to end today's trading session. The company shares more than doubled, nearly all of it
coming in the last hour of trading.
Trading was halted as a result so it will finish the day up around 104 percent. Whether that means we're in for another frenzy like in January --
something we'll have to check in on tomorrow.
It's going to be interesting to watch the post-market trade as well to see if the gains we've seen in this session continue.
It is the last few moments of trade on Wall Street.
The Dow is on track for a fresh record close on its fourth straight day of gains. As you can see we're high by 1.4 percent, trading 31,975. Earlier in
the session, it did breach that 32,00 level so we'll keep a watch on that.
And as we look at the Dow components, it's not hard to see why Boeing up more than eight percent. Big gains as well from Chevron, VISA, Goldman
Sachs, big box retailers like Walmart and Home Depot trail the index.
And that just about wraps up QUEST MEANS BUSINESS. I'm Julia Chatterley in New York. The news continues here on CNN.
END
