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NEWS STREAM
Interview with Hillary Clinton; Is BlackBerry 10 Secure?; French, Malian Troops Overtake Airport At Kidal; Smog Continues To Shroud Beijing; Egyptian President Visits With German Chancellor
Aired January 30, 2013 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KRISTIE LU STOUT, HOST: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. And welcome to News Stream where news and technology meet.
Now it is the last major rebel stronghold in Mali. And right now, French forces are trying to take the city of Kidal.
The Pakistani girl shot for standing up to the Taliban prepares to undergo surgery to repair her broken skull.
And a U.S. war vet uses his arm to wipe away a tear, an arm he received in a double arm transplant.
First, we go to Mali. It has been nearly three weeks since the start of an international offensive in the west African country. And now the French led operation is making its final push for the northern city of Kidal, the last major rebel stronghold. A French military official tells CNN that French troops are now in control of the airport there.
Now since the start of the offensive, French and Malian government troops have swept north from the capital city of Bamako, taking back these cities from Islamist militants. And now most of northern Mali had been under the control of Islamic extremists since last year.
And Nima Elbagir joins us now live from CNN Nairobi with the very latest. And Nima, French troops, again, they are now in Kidal. What is the latest there?
NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We understand, Kristie, that they are now in control of the airport. Reports we are receiving is that they didn't actually find that much resistance, which seems consistent with what the Islamist tactic have been in recent days.
They fought quite strongly in Gao last weekend, but Timbuktu, by the time the Malian troops arrived, it seemed that the French aerial bombardment had cleaned out the city of most of the Islamist presence. And this seems to be pretty much the same pattern in Gao.
Although consistently the French and the Malians have been going very carefully, Kristie. Even when they have entered a city and found that there isn't that much resistance, they have still gone step by step, because as one source told us they're not sure whether this is a retreat because they have been routed, or whether this is just a tactical maneuver on the part of the militants, Kristie.
LU STOUT: That's right, we don't know if this is a tactical maneuver or not. But as the French and Malian troops sweep step by step through the north and drive the Islamists out, any idea where they are, where they're going?
ELBAGIR: Most reports seem to point to them going further into the northeast. It's a very remote, desert region up in the mountains there. And this really is their comfort zone. So although many people have been speaking about this being the final stage of France's involvement with the pushing out of the Islamists from their city strongholds, this is now where the difficult task begins. This is terrain that the militants know very well. They're very well experienced. They're very well equipped. And now they're very much fighting on home turf, Kristie.
LU STOUT: This French led offensive, it's been going on for almost three weeks now. And now they have Kidal in their sights. As you mentioned, French and Malian troops now have the airport in their control. Any idea about how much longer this phase of the campaign will last?
ELBAGIR: Well, the French have been very categoric, Kristie. They said that their mission is to push the Islamists out. It will then become the responsibility of Mali and its African allies to hold this territory. And that's why we saw the African Union ask for pledges for their military operation on the ground. Unfortunately, they had asked for $950 million. They've only received $455 million. And when you consider that the issues regarding employment -- sorry, the issues regarding the arsenal that these troops would have access to and also just the money, the financial capability for them to be able to cross over into Mali and set up and operate there.
These were part of the reasons that we saw such a slow deploy...
LU STOUT: All right, it looks like we lost our Nima Elbagir, but she was giving us the very latest on the situation there, the battle for Mali. Nima Elbagir reporting from CNN Nairobi, our apologies there.
Now as the French troops try to secure Kidal, many residents meanwhile in the towns of Gao and Timbuktu, they are already celebrating liberation from rebel rule. But as ITN's Lindsey Hilsum now shows us many also have revenge on their minds. And I should warn you, that some of the images in her report are disturbing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LINDSEY HILSUM, JOURNALIST: The soldiers got him before he was attacked. Just as well. Vigilantes had already beaten up this man before the military rescued him. In Gao, those said to have cooperated with MUJAO, the Movement for Jihad and Unity, who ruled this city for nine months, are in acute danger now.
ABDUL KARIM SAMBA, MALI: They're from MUJAO. They're the Islamists who have gone into their homes to hide. So, we have been rounding them up to hand them over to the military.
HILSUM: Days of joy emerging into days of vengeance. On Saturday, as Malian soldiers entered the town, a jihadi fired into the crowd. The pictures are too graphic to show. He was lynched, torn limb from limb, left mutilated and dead.
Today, we saw one of the jihadi's weapons clashes. The people of Gao are full of anger about the men who used their town as a base for their war against all things Western. And there's no one here to stop them taking revenge.
We took a short tour of the destruction of Gao. Goats patrol the banks the jihadis looted and then blew up. No one is dancing at the nightclub they destroyed with rocket-propelled grenades or praying at the Catholic church which they scaled to pull down the cross. Rebuilding may be easier than repairing the damage done to people's lives and minds.
In Timbuktu today, people came out to see how the jihadis destroyed the past, as well as the present, burning the famous 17th century Islamic manuscript kept in the museum.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): They're the heart and soul of Timbuktu's people. When they hurt them, they hurt the people of Timbuktu. Everyone was crying.
HILSUM: African troops are readying to keep the peace after the French have stabilized Mali's northern city. Stopping revenge attacks against those accused of collaborating with the jihadis may be one of their hardest tasks.
Lindsey Hilsum, Channel 4 News, Gao.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: And turning now to Pakistan and an attack in the remote Swat Valley last year that shocked the world. You'll remember 15-year-old Malala Yousufzai, she was shot in the head by the Taliban for promoting girl's education. And doctors and Pakistan and England helped save her life. And now, as part of her rehabilitation, she's about to undergo groundbreaking surgery to repair her skull and restore the hearing in her left ear.
And for more on the surgery, I'm joined now live by CNN's Dan Rivers in Birmingham. And Dan, what do the doctors there saying about the procedure?
DAN RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I mean, it does sound quite an alarming procedure you first hear about it. They're going to put this titanium plate across a hole in her skull. Actually, though, it's a pretty routine procedure. They do it quite a lot here, about 50 to 60 times a year. This is a sort of worldwide center of excellence for this kind of (inaudible) of full recovery.
As well as doing this -- this surgery to fix a hole in her skull they're also going to do surgery to fix the loss of hearing in one of her ears that was as a result of the bullet that was fired into her head. It is amazing that she's alive at all, of course. The fact that they now say that she is very likely to make a completely full recovery with restored hearing as well, it's frankly incredible.
Dr. David Rosser is going to explain a little bit more about what's involved.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. DAVID ROSSER, QUEEN ELIZABETH HOSPITAL, BIRMINGHAM: It's very simply speaking, this is putting a titanium plate, specially made, custom made titanium plate over the deficit in her skull which is of this sort of size in the left-hand side of her skull. Clearly this is primarily to offer physical protection to her brain in the same way a normal skull was - - would.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RIVERS: Dr. Stefan Edmondson is one of the specialists. He's helped to make this plate. What they did was they made a 3D scan of her head on a computer, which I think we've got shots of there. You see just what a large chunk of the skull is missing. Now part of that bone was removed in the initial surgery in Pakistan, becuase they were worried about her brain swelling. So what they's done is they've made a kind of 3D print of her skull in (inaudible) missing part of the skull, if you'd like. And from that, then, they can shape this metal plate.
Dr. Stefan Edmondson explain exactly how that's done.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEFAN EDMONDSON, PRINCIPAL MAXILOFACIAL PROTHESIST: As you can see here, we've actually got the 3D model after it's been printed. We devested it, taken all support material off, and it gives us a very, very accurate boney defect of the skull. Our next step would be to take this into the laboratory and start to emulate the piece of bone that has been taken away.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RIVERS: So, some -- a couple of procedures that will take about three or four hours. And within 18 months, they think Malala could have made a complete recovery -- Kristie.
LU STOUT: You know, it is incredible the technology involved here. 3D modeling can help create a significant part of her skull.
Dan Rivers reporting for us live from Birmingham. Thank you.
You're watching News Stream. And coming up next, Egypt's embattled president heads to Berlin for talks with Germany's chancellor. But at home, protests continue.
And Research In Motion unveils the much anticipated BlackBerry 10. We'll check out its security credentials.
And watch this, a war vet wipes his brow. The amazing thing is he is a quadruple amputee. And those are two new arms. An incredible transplant story ahead right here on News Stream.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LU STOUT: Now Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy is in Germany to discuss the turmoil in his country with Chancellor Angela Merkel. And we're expecting them to hold a news conference in just a few minutes. We'll bring that to you live when it begins.
Now protests continue in Egypt's capital and several other cities. Egyptian state media quote medical workers who say two people were killed Wednesday in protest violence in central Cairo.
And the UN official says sexual attacks on female protesters in Tahrir Square appear to be increasing. President Morsy has delegated responsibility to local governors to keep in place or lift curfews that he announced on Sunday for Suez, Ismailia and Port Said.
Our senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman is in Cairo gauging the situation. And Ben, give us an update on the overall situation there in Egypt today.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kristie, while there's still ongoing clashes in central Cairo just off of Tahrir Square. And according to sources at the Egyptian health ministry, two people have been killed since yesterday in Cairo. One yesterday, and one earlier today apparently by -- died from gunshot wounds.
Elsewhere in Cairo, however, life does seem to be going on pretty much as normal. In the canal, the Suez Canal cities of Suez, Ismailia and Port Said. It's a tense situation. There, the army has been deployed in those cities, but we have been told they are under strict orders to avoid any confrontations with the local population.
On the political trend, Kristie, you have Mohamed ElBaradei, the head of the opposition National Salvation Front, has called for a dialogue between the opposition and the minister of the interior, the minister of defense, and the President Mohamed Morsy to try to bring an end to the violence that has wrecked Egypt over the last few days. No response, however, at this point from Mohamed Morsy and those other senior government officials.
Of course, yesterday many Egyptians were shocked when the minister of defense, Abdel Fatah al-Sissi warned that if the violence continues in Egypt, if the situation on the political front remains so unstable, the Egyptian state warned is in danger of collapse -- Kristie.
LU STOUT: So, we have that grim warning from Egypt's military chief. The violence continues. Egypt has been rocked by riots. So why does Mr. Morsy think it is so important to be in Germany today?
WEDEMAN: That's an interesting question. It's widely believed that he is hoping to get some financial assistance from Germany. And he has traveled to Germany with a very large Egyptian business delegation. Obviously, he is hoping that the Egyptians will -- rather the Germans will try to revive the seriously flagging Egyptian economy. So that's why he's gone there.
Now he had originally planned to be away for two days. He's first going to Germany then to France, but because of the crisis in the country, he canceled the French leg of his tour and restricted his German visit to just a few hours -- Kristie.
LU STOUT: All right. And back to the unrest happening inside Egypt. Concerns have been raised by a number of international groups about excessive police powers. Have you seen evidence of unnecessary violence?
WEDEMAN: Well, it's really difficult to gauge, because really what we're seeing is the same sort of clashes that have broken out regularly since basically the weeks after the revolution. And what I saw today was that the police were acting with a relative amount of restraint. They're firing tear gas at the demonstrators, many of whom can't be more than 12 years old. And they're exchanging rocks with them. But I did not see any excessive, or shall we say, our of the ordinary violence by the Egyptian police who don't seem to be very well trained when it comes to dealing with the crowd situations. They simply throw rocks, fire tear gas, and it's a sort of running back and forth battle that just goes on almost around the clock here in Cairo.
LU STOUT: All right, well Ben Wedeman, you are our eyes on the ground. Ben Wedeman joining us live on the line from Cairo.
Now, the UN special envoy for Syria, Lokhdar Brahimi, he says that the security council must take action immediately to stop the destruction of Syria. Now a fundraising event in Kuwait right now aims to address shortfalls in aid money for Syrians affected by the war. Now $1 billion has already been pledged by several nations attending this conference. And the goal is a billion-and-a-half. Doctors Without Borders has raised concerns about previous donations for Syria. It says most international aid so far is going to government held areas.
And now to Brazil where in the midst of a terrible tragedy some amazing stories of heroism are emerging. Now days after a fire killed more than 200 people in a nightclub, Shasta Darlington spoke to a woman who survived the fire thanks to the efforts of a stranger who didn't make it our alive.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Pamela Vedovoto (ph) is looking for the name she calls her guardian angel.
"I don't have words to thank you," she says. "If it weren't for him, I'd be in with all of those people who died. He gave me a new life."
But Jafael Diolivede (ph) himself is in the newspaper's list of dead.
Jafael (ph) and Pamela were both inside the Kiss nightclub early Sunday morning when a fire broke out. Panicked, clubgoers ran for the exit as the air filled with smoke. Pamela was pushed against the metal barrier, unable to breath.
"A girl fell under the barrier and everyone was pushing. Her neck was snapped backwards and she fell dead on the floor," she says. "Everyone was shouting help, god get me out of here. It was hell. Get me out of here."
A man who she would later discover was Jafael (ph) grabbed her and carried her towards the door. She said he pulled her yellow dress over her face so she wouldn't breathe the smoke.
"There were all these people on the floor shouting for help," she says. "And we stepped on them. All these girls in high heels."
Pamela, a 19 year old high school student snapped this photo on her cell phone just before the chaos broke out. The other young woman died. More than 230 people were killed that night, most of them from smoke inhalation and many were trampled.
This is the night club Kiss. And that right there is one of the main reasons Pamela almost didn't make it out alive. There's just one door in and one door out, not a single emergency exit.
The club was packed with about 2,000 revelers, more than twice the official capacity. Rescue workers had to tear down walls to reach survivors and get to the bodies.
Police have since arrested two club owners and two members of the band whose pyrotechnic show police believe could have started the fire. Pamela says she has no sympathy for them.
"Everyone is dead," she says. "Everyone is dead because of them. They should rot in jail. They didn't lose anyone."
But it's the thought of Jafael (ph) that troubles her the most. Monday, Pamela went to the makeshift morgue where bodies were laid out. She found his coffin and met his parents.
"I asked for their forgiveness," she says, "for not keeping him from going back in. I could have grabbed him. I could have stopped him."
Shasta Darlington, CNN, Santa Maria, Brazil.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LU STOUT: Coming to you live from Hong Kong. You are back watching News Stream. And it seems that third time is the charm for South Korea. The nation's science minister says that this rocket has successfully put a satellite into orbit.
And South Koreans, they are celebrating that liftoff. Previous attempts in 2009 and 2010 failed. President Lee Myung-bak is hailing the achievement, which comes less than one month before his term ends.
But of course, North Korea pulled off the same feat seven weeks ago. Pyongyang said that this rocket put a working satellite into orbit, though others say that the object is spinning out of control in space. Now North Korea has vowed to carry out more launches in the face of tightened UN sanctions. And both Koreas are now part of a small group of space capable countries. In addition to the handful of nations highlighted here in yellow, the European Space Agency has also sent rockets into space. Russia helped South Korea build part of the rocket sent up today, but Seoul plans to develop its own thruster technology by 2021.
We'll stay here in the Asia-Pacific region. And today just more smog choking Beijing. In fact, the latest reading online describes it as hazardous.
Let's get the very latest now. Mari Ramos joins us from the world weather center -- Mari.
MARI RAMOS, CNN WEATHER CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, that hazardous reading is about 20 times when the WHO considers a healthy standard for humans. So it is a fairly serious situation. And this is the fourth time -- actually I guess if we counted already, could be the fifth time depending on how you're counting that it reaches that level so far this year. And the year, what, is barely 30 days old. So it's a big deal.
There's the current level right at 315, at the hazardous. It had gone up to the very unhealthy, which was a little bit better earlier today, but now it's back up to that level. And probably overnight tonight it won't be very good at all. And even into the early morning hours.
This red haze that you see there, that's actually when the sun was coming up yesterday, Kristie. Isn't that crazy? This is in Tiananmen Square at the flag raising ceremony yesterday at 7:30 in the morning or so. And that's what the morning light appears like because the haze, the smog, is so thick in this region.
And this is a picture from earlier today. And again do not adjust your TV set, but if you look closely, those are buildings right there. Of course, the entire skyline obscured because of this terrible conditions that they continue to see.
And it's a combination of things. You have topography, of course, that doesn't help. You have all of the sources of pollution, including the millions of cars that are there, industry, the factories, and geography doesn't help either, because of the mountains here to the north it kind of helps trap the pollutants into this area.
But you see this right over here, that weather system coming along, that is our -- let's say our broom that's going to help clean out that mess as we headed through the next 24 hours.
Later tomorrow, that weather system will start moving across eastern China, and that will help bring improved air quality. How good will it get? Well, I can't really tell you that, but it should be better as we head into this next couple of days of the week compared to what you've had at the beginning of the week. That mixing of the air, the wind direction change, all of those things will help.
Notice across the Korean Peninsula and back over toward Japan, that weather system will also be affecting you in that region.
I want to update you on the situation in Australia. This continues to be one of our top stories. We're now at the kind of the tail end of this nasty weather that has been affecting this region. Even though the rain for the most part have ended, the river flooding does continue. And in this one town right over here, the water level went up to about nine-and-a- half meters in the river. And the situations like this were unfortunately all too common.
Now that was earlier. The water level since then has gone down about one meter. And it should -- could slowly continue kind of receding as we head through the rest of the next couple of days. No significant weather events are expected here. And that's good, right. But the river levels are still very high.
Most of them have peaked and they are starting to slowly go down, but it could take days if not maybe a couple of weeks before we see conditions returning and those river levels returning to normal levels. And so it's going to take a really long time for people to really be able to recover from the situation here.
Last but not least, very quickly, the situation in Mozambique. This right over here is the before picture, and look at the after Kristie. Really dramatic. All of this is flooding right over here -- swollen rivers, days and days of rain, just another example of what we're dealing with in Australia, how it takes weeks. This rain fell, what, maybe a week- and-a-half ago. And now is when they're seeing that massive flooding in this area. At least 40 people have been killed. And again, the before image, when you see it, very, very dry. And then the after where all of the water is across these areas.
And like I said, this is an ongoing situation and also a story that we will continue to report on. Back to you.
LU STOUT: Yeah, very striking and troubling to see those images back to back, before and after. Mari Ramos there, thank you.
And you're watching News Stream. And still to come on the program, finally, the long awaited BlackBerry 10 is unveiled, but will it save Research In Motion?
And a medical miracle, two new arms transform the life of this quadruple amputee.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LU STOUT: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. You're watching News Stream. And these are your world headlines.
Now a French military spokesman tells CNN that French forces have taken control of the airport at Kidal, the last significant stronghold of Islamist militants in northern Mali. The French led force earlier drove militants out of Timbuktu and Gao. Now donors are pledging hundreds of millions of dollars in aid for Syrian refugees at a meeting in Kuwait. Now the UN is calling for one-and-a-half billion dollars to help people who have left the country and the millions in severe need inside Syria. And this follows the bleakest assessment yet of Syria's civil war from the UN special envoy.
Australian Prime Minister Julia Guillard says the next national election will be held on September 14. Opinion polls suggest that she would lose the election if it were held today. Election campaigns in Australia usually only last about a month.
A landmark court ruling has brought a lot of disappointment to four Nigerian farmers. Now judges in The Netherlands have rejected four out of five allegations of oil pollution in the Niger Delta against oil giant Royal Dutch Shell. But in one case, the court ordered subsidiary Shell Nigeria to compensate one farmer for one case of pollution.
And now, the big moment of truth is here for Research In Motion. The company is finally unveiling its highly anticipated new smartphone operating system, the BlackBerry 10, and a new line of phones.
Now RIM first announced the BlackBerry 10 back in 2011. And it was expected to be released in early 2012, but that launch, it was delayed a couple of times. And the company said that some parts weren't available. And that the phone just wasn't ready.
Now the BlackBerry has always been synonymous with corporate users, but just how secure is the operating system? Now Nick Thompson, he is the editor of the NewYorker.com. He joins us now live with more on this topic. And Nick, before this week's launch of the BlackBerry 10, was the BlackBerry truly a secure device?
NICK THOMPSON, NEWYORKER.COM: That's a hard question to answer. I mean, security means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. But they were about as good as you can get in a phone. I mean, they really did encrypt their data. They really did give corporate IT departments the ability to wipe phones that were lost. They were very -- they very much limited the way that people could use their phones which limited all the bad stuff that we can put on them.
I mean, one of the things about security is that security is often antithetical to sort of fun and utility. It's basically a set of limitations upon the user. And that was one of the things that really hurt the BlackBerry -- you know the app store didn't develop as well and so on. And a lot of the people who work at these businesses wanted to switch to other devices. But it also did prevent the phones -- it did prevent corporate details from leaking and things like that.
LU STOUT: Now a few years ago, just for some context here, recall that India, the UAE, and a number of other country in the Middle East, they called BlackBerry a security risk since the company that makes it refused to grant their governments access to all its services. How did RIM react in the end?
THOMPSON: Well, I mean, that's funny. And to get to the different meanings of security, right? I mean, what -- they were saying the BlackBerry phones were not secure, but their definition of security is the opposite of the way that we think about security. The way a company thinks about security is that the user's information is private. The way a government thinks about security is that it can read all the information on the user's phone. So there was a real clash in what security meant.
And ultimately it seems that BlackBerry caved. They set up servers inside of these countries in the UAE, in India, that would allow the governments to read the email. So it allowed the governments to believe that they have control, which, you know -- BlackBerry just had to do.
LU STOUT: Yeah, BlackBerry did cave in. It made the headlines all over the business and corporate press.
The BlackBerry 10 is out this week. You know, that issue aside, does it have better security features? Is that something that they should play up? What do you think the business market will make of this week's launch?
THOMPSON: Well, they've done one very important thing, which is what they have done is they've taken the sort of secure BlackBerry envelope, the secure BlackBerry case, and they said, OK, you can use our software not only on BlackBerry phones, but if you some people who work for you who bring in Android phones or iPhones you can still use our software and we can secure that. So it will allow companies to -- it'll allow companies with people who have multiple phones to get on the BlackBerry system. So that's a very big deal.
They also have been certified in every way, which is good. But they also have a lot of competition. They have competition not just from iPhones, which has security arguments of its own, but also from software vendors like Good, which provide a package in which you can put secure content and put that on any other phone. And then Samsung has its own security features which it's touting and saying are superior to BlackBerry's.
So it's in a very competitive market.
Also, getting back to the point we talked about initially, one thing they're trying to do is trying to make the phones more useful, more open for consumers. They're allowing people to put more stuff on them, more apps. And every time you open a little door to make it more useful, you open the possibilities that somebody will download a virus or a worm that will cause all kinds of problems.
So they're taking some risks, but yes it is still a fairly secure phone. So they do have that selling point with corporate IT managers.
LU STOUT: You know, it's interesting that you mentioned apps, because yesterday here on News Stream we addressed what global mobile users want. At the top of the list above everything else was apps. But for corporate users, is email enough? Because that was the original killer app for the BlackBerry. Or does BlackBerry really need to deliver more app-wise to that market segment?
THOMPSON: Absolutely, they need to deliver more app-wise. I mean, yes, email was great. Email is a wonderful thing. It was very nice to be able to type efficiently. But, the reason why BlackBerry has suffered, or the principle reason why BlackBerry has suffered so much over the last few years is that what you could do with these phones was much more limited than what you could do on other phones. And even if you work for a large, important corporation, even if you have lots of secret data, and even if you really care about getting that -- keeping that protected, you also want to use EverNote, you also want to use all kinds of other apps, which could create problems. And so BlackBerry really had to get into it. They are very late.
Now they're pushing hard. They're paying developers and saying, hey, please port your app over to our operating system. They're going to launch with a fair number of apps. We'll see whether the app store can be robust. We'll see whether it takes off.
As with all app stores, it's something that builds on itself, once people start writing apps, once lots of people start buying the phones, then more people start building -- writing more apps and then more people start buying more phones.
So we'll see whether BlackBerry can reverse from being in sort of a cycle of ever more decline to one cycle of ever more growth.
LU STOUT: And finally as this week is, as the banner reads on our screens, the moment of truth for Research in Motion.
What are your general thoughts on BlackBerry 10, the new OS? I mean, can it save RIM, or is it just too late?
THOMPSON: Well, it can absolutely save RIM. I've seen demos of it. They are impressive. It's very different to see a demo on a screen and have somebody talk you through the feature sets, than it is to actually play with it and see whether it really works. The early reviews from developers are quite positive.
However, it's very hard to catch up in this market. And getting companies to shift to this is going to be a hard proposition. And they're also going to have to get all of those customers, the customers, the loyal customers who held on forever and held on to their BlackBerries to switch to touchscreen BlackBerries, right. They're moving with the BlackBerry 10 from a physical keyboard to a virtual keyboard like all the other phones, but that means that the people who are used to it, their most loyal customers, have a little barrier they have to climb.
So there is a lot that RIM is going to have to go right for RIM in the next few weeks. But so far, signs are pointing upward. Stock has gone up. People are excited. Let's see what happens today and let's watch carefully.
It's -- you know, for the first time in about two or three years I feel like there's a chance BlackBerry can make it. And I'll see whether I still feel that way in three weeks.
LU STOUT: That's right. It's good to hear. I remember last year we were using the words death spiral to describe Research In Motion. It sounds like with the launch of BlackBerry 10 things are looking up for RIM. Nick Thompson...
THOMPSON: Or maybe I've just been conned.
LU STOUT: Yeah, that's right. We'll talk again in a couple of weeks on the same topic. Nick, thank you.
Now, once the new BlackBerry is unveiled, join CNN as we speak to RIM's CEO. Ali Velshi will interview RIM boss Thurston Hines on global exchange. And you can watch the whole interview right here on CNN. You don't want to miss it. It's just over two hours from now, midnight Hong Kong time.
Now smartphone makers aren't just battling each other in stores, they're also fighting a series of legal battles that we're calling the patent wars.
Now the biggest one is between Apple and Samsung, the two leading smartphone makers. Last year, a key case in the U.S. went Apple's way ordering Samsung to pay over a billion dollars for infringing Apple's patents. Well, some good and bad news for Samsung today. Now the bad news is that a judge denied Samsung's request for a retrial, but the good news is that the judge ruled that Samsung did not willfully infringe Apple's patents. And that means Apple can't seek even more in damages from Samsung.
Now Boeing says it expects no significant financial impact from the grounding of its newest aircraft. The entire fleet of Boeing's 787 Dreamliners has been grounded due to safety concerns. And much of the focus on the Dreamliner's problems have been on the plane's batteries. Now the Dreamliner is the first aircraft to use lithium ion batteries often found in consumer electronics, but in a much smaller form. And one of the batteries started a fire on board a Dreamliner in Boston.
Now All Nippon Airways has revealed that it replaced faulty batteries on the Dreamliner last year. A spokeswoman told CNN that 10 batteries were replaced last year with some of them showing a large charge, but she said that the problems were categorized as minor. And All Nippon Airways is not required to report them to authorities.
Now, changing gears a little bit here, we have a touching story of courage now about a U.S. soldier gravely wounded in Iraq. And Lisa Sylvester tells us about a revolutionary new surgical procedure that is giving him new hope.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LISA SYLVESTER: Brendan Marrocco has had two recent miracles in his life. First, he survived. In 2009, his armored vehicle was hit by a bomb in Iraq. He lost both legs and both arms, becoming the first U.S. service member to live through a quadruple amputation. But now another miracle. Marrocco has two new arms, transplated six weeks ago by doctors as Johns Hopkins Hospital.
JOHN MARROCCO, DOUBLE ARM TRANSPLANT RECIPIENT: It's given me a lot of hope for the future. I feel like I'm getting a second chance to start over after I got hurt. I remember the -- when they had first taken the breathing tube out. I think the first thing I said was I love you. I was just happy. I was happy that surgery was over and I had arms.
SYLVESTER: A complicated surgery that involved connecting bones, blood vessels, nerves and muscles from a deceased donor.
He's only the seventh person in the U.S. to have a successful double arm transplant. For Johns Hopkins Hospital, this is the first surgery of its kind. Doctors say he was the perfect candidate -- upbeat and optimistic.
MARROCCO: Since I got hurt, I still thought of myself as being normal. I hated the word handicapped. I never really looked at it like that. So, I'm just looking forward to doing everything I would have wanted to do over the last four yeasr.
SYLVESTER: Even something ordinary like scratching his face was a victory. Marrocco says he can't fully feel his new arms, but he is gaining function. He's able to text and comb his hair. Doctors say in a few years there's very little he won't be able to do.
DR. JAMIE SHORES, JOHN HOPKINS HOSPITAL: I think he'll be able to try and throw a football. I don't know how -- if he'll be hitting a -- you know, 60 yard runs down like Joe Flacco was able to do against the Broncos, but you know -- but I suspect he'll get there.
SYLVESTER: First up on his list that he wants to do, driving his Dodge Charger SRT 8.
MARROCCO: Yeah, it's the car. I mean, I can't give up, because I haven't driven it yet. No, I think it's just kind of who I am. I never really gave up on too much that really mattered to me.
SYLVESTER: Marrocco says the first person he wants to shake hands with, that is after his doctors, country music star Blake Shelton. Right now, he can't give his mom a hug, but he can show his affection by rubbing her cheek.
MICHELEE MARROCCO, MOTHER: For now. You know, when he's able to, you know, he can't lift -- we'll get there. He's a tough cookie, without a doubt. He's not changed that. And he's just taken it and made it an art form. You know, he's never going to stop. He's going to be that boy I always knew was going to be a pain in my butt forever and he's going to show people how to live their life.
SYLVESTER: There actually was what you could call a third miracle. The nonprofit group Building Homes for Heroes, built a house for him in 2011 on Staten Island. Now take a look at these pictures. It shows the destruction caused by superstorm Sandy. But his house is still standing with only minimal damage.
Lisa Sylvester, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: Great story all around.
Now, you're watching News Stream. And up next, now U.S. sports fans, they have their eyes on a very special family feud. Brother prepares to take on brother in the Super Bowl. And we'll hear from both John and Jim Harbaugh as they try to coach their teams to victory at each other's expense.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LU STOUT: Welcome back.
Now there has been another significant case of racism at a top football game. And it nearly forced the match to be called off. Let's turn to Alex Thomas in London who can tell us more -- Alex.
ALEX THOMAS, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, hi, Kristie. American international Jozy Altidore has become the latest victim of racist chanting, although he persuaded the referee at a Dutch Cup game on Tuesday night not to stop the match. Altidore says he will pray for the guilty fans to become better people, but felt he had an obligation to ignore the monkey noises and carry on. Possibly as a result of the reaction to the walkoff by Kevin-Prince Boateng of AC Milan earlier this month, the referee had offered to stop the fixture between AZ Alkmaar and Den Bosch.
Mario Balotelli has been the victim of football racism in the past himself, but the controversial Italian striker is looking to a brighter future back in his homeland. He's expected to complete a transfer to AC Milan from English champions Manchester City later on Wednesday. The two clubs, having agreed to a fee that's thought to be around $27 million, Balotelli will go back to Italy on a four-and-a-half year deal.
Now on the face of it, there isn't a great deal in common between the two teams going head-to-head in Sunday's Super Bowl. But one of the hot talking points on the famously hectic media day was the sibling rivalry between the opposing head coaches. Jim Harbaugh is in charge of the San Francisco 49ers, while his brother John coaches the Baltimore Ravens. For now, they're keeping the banter diplomatic.
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JIM HARBAUGH, 49ERS HEAD COACH: I think I'm half the coach that he is, but I'm trying. And that might be a little bit generous, because I have less than half the experience than he does, less than half the playoff appearances, wins, et cetera. We know the task ahead of us.
JOHN HARBAUGH, RAVENS HEAD COACH: If anybody that's ever had a brother, especially close in age kind of gets it, you know, you just you know fighting for everything. You know you're fighting for the extra hot dog. And you know you're fighting for girls, you fight for everything. So we both got our girls, but we both need our victory here this week.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
THOMAS: Kobe Bryant's new role as provider not just scorer continues to benefit the L.A. Lakers. They lead the New Orleans Hornets by as many as 18 points at one stage at Tuesday nights game on the west coast. Steve Nash with two of his 12 points there.
But the Hornets stage a late recovery in this one. Grievis Vasquez putting them within touching distance later in the fourth, but less than two minutes on the clock. Bryant then finds Earl Clark with the layup. Clark with 20 points. And Kobe with 11 assists and just 14 points.
Nash got on the scoresheet again before the Lakers closed out a 111- 106 point win, which was their third in a row.
And let's take a look at a graphic that really illustrates what we're talking about, because you can see in red the Lakers defeats and the assists that Kobe made all in single digits. Then, his three double-double games in a row, the most since 2009, all green, all indicating Lakers victories.
Now let's finish with American surfer Garrett McNamara who is waiting to discover if he set a new world record for riding the highest wave. Witnesses say the wave the 45 year old raced down was 100 feet tall. McNamara reportedly traveling at more than 60 miles an hour off the coast of Portugal at a spot famous for giant waves, because of a unique underground canyon that funnels that water.
The veteran U.S. surfer holds the previous record for riding a 78 foot wave in 2011.
Kristie, back to you. That's a man not afraid of the sea.
LU STOUT: Yeah, a 100 foot wave. I think we can be impressed by that. That's pretty incredible.
Alex Thomas there, whew, thank you.
You're watching News Stream. And still to come here on the program...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: I am so looking forward to Monday when I have no schedule...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: America's top diplomat is leaving the job. And we sit down with Hillary Clinton for a look at the past and her plans for the future.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LU STOUT: Welcome back.
Now long-time Senator John Kerry has been confirmed as United States top diplomat. Now the U.S. senate voted overwhelmingly for Kerry to be the next U.S. secretary of state replacing Hillary Clinton. Now Kerry was the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee. And he has served on the senate foreign relations committee for decades and as chairman for the past four years.
Now Hillary Clinton will leave her job at the end of this week. And she has clearly been one of the most intriguing figures on the political stage. Now in an interview with CNN's world affairs correspondent Jill Dougherty, Clinton defended her legacy and talked about the future.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As Secretary of State Hillary Clinton prepares to leave office, the country that once was a beacon of hope for Democratic transition, Egypt, is wracked with turmoil. The head of the army warning the state could collapse.
HILLARY CLINTON, SECRETARY OF STATE: I hope not because I think that would lead to incredible chaos and violence on a scale that would be devastating for Egypt and the region, but there has to be some understanding by the new government that the aspirations that the people were expressing during the revolution in Egypt have to be taken seriously.
DOUGHERTY: And if there's one lingering question about her tenure, it's the murder of four Americans in Benghazi, Libya. Clinton spoke passionately about the issue last week on Capitol Hill.
CLINTON: What difference, at this point, does it make? It is our job to figure out what happened and do everything we can to prevent it from ever happening again, Senator.
DOUGHERTY: Today she maintained she was briefed on prior attacks in the Libyan city, but no one recommending closing the outpost where four Americans died.
CLINTON: This is considered in an atmosphere of a lot of threats and dangers. At the end of the day, you know, there was a decision made that this would be evaluated, but it would not be closed and, unfortunately, we know what happened.
DOUGHERTY: As Clinton leaves office Friday, the looming question is whether she'll run for the highest office. She stayed coy on her plans for 2016.
CLINTON: Well, I have absolutely no plans to run.
DOUGHERTY: But she didn't rule it out.
CLINTON: No, I am out of politics right now. And I don't know everything I'll be doing. I'll be working on behalf of, you know, women and girls. I'll be hopefully writing and speaking. Those are the things that I'm planning to do right now.
DOUGHERTY: We talked about her health, the blood clot in her head. She said she'll continue to take medication.
CLINTON: I am lucky because I've been very healthy. I feel great. I got, you know, enormous amount of energy that have to be harnessed and focused, so I'm very fortunate. And I'm looking forward to this next chapter in my life, whatever it is.
DOUGHERTY: And what of her home life? Her husband remains the most popular Democrat on the planet not in the White House. And there are now questions about daughter Chelsea following in her parents' political footsteps.
CLINTON: No, I don't know about that. I think she's really focused on the philanthropy. She and Bill and I, we are -- we just have public service in our DNA. It doesn't have to be political service.
It can be what we're doing now and what Bill has been doing now. So I think we'll work all that out. It's going to be fun to talk it through and figure out, you know, what our next adventures might be.
DOUGHERTY: What does Hillary Clinton do next Monday, her first day out of politics or the government in 20 years?
CLINTON: I think that I'm really looking forward to it. I know it sounds, you know, vague because I have never done this before in my life. So when I wake up Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, to have the luxury of nowhere to go, nothing to do, no frantic call about calling some leader about some impending crisis. I'm actually interested to see how that goes.
DOUGHERTY (on camera): OK, you wake up, maybe you stay in your pajamas. What do you do?
CLINTON: I don't know. It's been my whole life. I mean, I've had a job ever since I was 13 years old, when I wasn't in school, I was working.
DOUGHERTY: So is it going to be traumatic, you know, your Blackberry?
CLINTON: I think it's going to take some adjustment. You know, I've been talking to colleagues who left the government earlier. And the most common thing they say to me is, don't make any decisions. You have no idea how tired you are, and I think there's truth to that.
DOUGHERTY: It's three more days and counting for Hillary Clinton as secretary of state. Traditionally the outgoing secretary leaves the incoming secretary a gift, but Clinton says what she is leaving John Kerry remains between them.
Jill Dougherty, CNN, The State Department.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT; Now it remains to be seen if John Kerry can become as cool as his predecessor. Now Clinton leaves behind a legacy of great viral moments. The Tumblr texts from Hillary hit its high last year when the secretary herself sent in this parody picture. If you don't remember, the site showed made up, snarky comments from Hillary Clinton, but there was nothing made up about this picture. It shows Clinton dancing and drinking at Cafe Havana in Colombia. And clearly, Clinton had a blast as secretary of state. And if Kerry can't match her, at least we'll still have Biden.
Now the White House has been petitioned, in fact, to let the vice president star in a reality TV show.
And that is News Stream, but the news continues at CNN. World Business Today is next.
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