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NEWS STREAM

Intelligence Suggests North Korea Could Fire Multiple Missiles; Flipboard To Allows Users To Become Content Curators; Tampa Children Kidnapped Found In Cuba, Returned to Grandparents; Malaga Protesting Last Second Loss To Dortmund; Near Record Heat Sweeps Through South Asia

Aired April 10, 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. Welcome to News Stream where news and technology meet.

Now fueled and believed to be ready launch, North Korea's neighbors prepare for the worst as the U.S. says Pyongyang could fire a test missile at any time without warning.

Now calls for better background checks for American gun owners. We hear from former Democratic congresswoman Gabby Giffords, herself a victim of gun violence.

And is this app the newest threat to mainstream media? We'll discuss Flipboards new curation feature with the CEO.

Now U.S. radars and satellites are honed in on an area of North Korea's East Coast where it's believed a ballistic missile could be launched at any time. Officials still say it is likely to just be a test, but North Korea's neighbors and the U.S. are not taking any chances.

South Korea has posted emergency plans in major cities directing residents to underground shelters in case of a disaster. And Japan has deployed missile interceptors to three locations in and around its capital Tokyo.

And the U.S. has readied its PATRIOT missile batteries at its military base in Osan, South Korea. It has also sent a missile defense system to its base on Guam. And a week ago said it was sending a war ship and a radar platform closer to the North Korean coast.

Now Jim Clancy is monitoring developments from our bureau in Seoul. He joins us now live from the South Korean capital. And Jim, no missile test today as of this moment, but what is the latest thinking from Seoul about just how far North Korea is willing to take this?

JIM CLANCY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, I had a chance to sit down with the Unification minister today and talk about some of these topics. And he was very clear that South Korean officials are convinced there is going to be a test launch. They don't necessarily want to see it, but they're stuck with that notion.

The North isn't saying anything very interestingly. And if you take a look at a map, it was revealed today the town where this might be launched, and it happens to be the same place where the USS Pueblo, if our viewers remember that incident, that U.S. spy ship that was boarded and seized by the North Koreans, it was held there at that town of Wonsan for some period of time.

That is believed to be where these mobile missile launchers are located, perhaps not in that exact spot, but in that area.

Now when we talk to the information -- rather the Unification minister today, we asked him what is the real risk here that we could have an all out conflict. Here is what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RYOO KIHL-JAE, SOUTH KOREAN UNIFICATION MINISTER (through translator): It is impossible for war to break out on the Korean Peninsula unless North Korea makes unreasonable and irrational decisions. The U.S.-South Korea alliance creates a strong deterrence and also China and Russia will never allow war to break out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CLANCY: Not taking any chances with that, though. The foreign ministry today approached both Beijing and Moscow asking them to intercede and tell the North to cool down the provocations on the Korean Peninsula -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: OK, not taking any chances, but as we heard from your interview with the Unification minister, not expecting all out war.

Now you just gave us details about the anticipated missile launch site. What more do we know about the type of missile technology that would likely be used in a test if and when a test takes place?

CLANCY: They suspect it's what's called a Musudan missile. There's a lot of different names for it. This is a missile originally developed by the Russians. It was used -- launched from a submarine. And then the company, the Russian company that designed that missile was hired by the North Koreans to further refine it. The North Koreans worked on the project as well, modifying it into a medium-range land-based missile that could be fired from a mobile launcher.

Now prototypes of those were seen in some recent parades about a year ago in Pyongyang. And not a lot is known about it. It's known -- it's suspected that it's range is from 3,000 to 4,000 kilometers. It's thought that it can carry a one ton warhead, but that really depends on what the range they're trying to reach is.

One of the reasons that the U.S. and the South Koreans are so interested in this, and that they've moved radar ships, Aegis destroyers close to the scene is so that they can monitor it, learn more about this missile -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: And also the political situation inside North Korea. I mean, we have Kim Jong-un, this young, 30 year old untested leader. Even though we've been through this round of war mongering before, he hasn't been through this round of war mongering before as the leader of North Korea. Is the tension helping him politically? Is it boosting his credentials, especially among the so-called hardliners in North Korea?

CLANCY: It may be. There are some people that think he has family members that are behind him, older family members, related to his father, who are pushing him forward on this. But, you know, they're pushing him pretty far out on a limb. The point is that as he walks out on that limb, how easy is it for him to get back, because thus far when you analyze all the threats that he has made, all the demands that he has made, and you put it up against the reality.

In other words, after all of this rhetoric is it likely that the UN security council is going to say, well, let's lift the sanctions on North Korea? No. Is it likely that the White House is going to say, we need to sit down right away with the North Koreans and give them a peace treaty? Not very likely.

So you can see that if nothing comes from this, it's going to be a rather difficult walk back for young Mr. Kim -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: All right, Jim Clancy joining us live from Seoul, thank you as always.

And we have this just into us here at CNN. Word from a senior Pentagon official has told CNN's Barbara Starr that there is intelligence indicating that North Korea could be planning, quote, multiple missile launches in addition to the two Musudan missiles that we were talking just then with Jim Clancy that have been seen by satellite imagery in the east coast of North Korea. Again, this is according to a senior Pentagon official telling CNN that North Korea could be planning, quote, multiple missile launches.

In fact, saying, quote, "we think they may do multiple firings."

Any more information or developments on this story of course we'll bring it to you right here on CNN.

Now meanwhile, South Korea is blaming the north for last month's massive cyber attack. Now this is finally the first official accusation from Seoul. Remember, more than 48,000 computers went black on March 20. The targets included major banks and broadcasters.

Now a South Korean investigation says that the malignant codes used in that attack are similar to ones used previously by the North. Now a Science Ministry official says that North Korea spent at least eight months preparing.

Now Seoul has blamed Pyongyang for hacking incidents in 2012 and 2010. North Korea denies the allegations. There has been no immediate reaction to the latest accusation.

Now South Korea says that the North routed the attack through more than 10 different countries, initially tracked the hack to an IP address in China. And a couple of days later, Yonhap reported that police traced the codes to the U.S. and to Europe. Now Hackers can often use computer addresses from other countries to hide their tracks.

Now many in North Korea remain desperate to leave their homeland. Now those wishing to flee are often helped by activists who operate an underground railroad. And if they are caught, they face possible torture, even execution.

Now CNN's Anderson Cooper spoke to the maker of this documentary movie. It's called Seoul Train -- S-E-O-U-L -- which shows just how dangerous the journey is. It follows four adults and a two-year-old toddler as they try to make their escape.

And in this next clip that we're going to show you right now, they've made it across the border into China all the way to the gates of a Japanese consulate. But a warning, some viewers might find this difficult to watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As a result, the child and woman were left outside. we told them that once they crossed that gate they would be safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: That's just distressing and ultimately just very, very heartbreaking to watch and to see. Those are Chinese guards who pulled the women and the child, again a two-year-old toddler away from the gates. Now China's government doesn't consider North Korean refugees deserving of asylum.

And one of the filmmakers behind the documentary, his name is Jim Butterworth, he spoke to Anderson Cooper about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM BUTTERWORTH, DIRECTOR/PRODUCER, SEOUL TRAIN: In this situation if they're caught and sent back to North Korea, they'll face almost certain execution. I mean, at worst they're going to be sent to a labor camp from where they'll never emerge. I mean, they have a very, very bleak existence and this is why they go to that extreme to try to leave.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: But why are they taking such a hard stand against North Koreans who try to defect?

BUTTERWORTH: Well, overall, I mean if you look at the big picture, China does not want the North Korean regime to collapse, that would mean unification, but before that occurred you'd have millions of desperate, hungry refugees streaming across the North Korean border into China, upsetting a region that's already politically unstable to some extent inside China.

But then, once you have unification, you'd have this democratic government right on the Chinese border, perhaps U.S. troops located right on the Chinese border, that's not something that they want.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: It's just chilling to imagine what happened next to that woman and that little girl. And you can see more of Anderson Cooper's interview with the filmmaker Jim Butterworth online. Just go to CNN.com/AC360.

Now, in Eastern China this day, two more people had died from the H7N9 bird flu virus, bringing the total death toll in the outbreak to nine out of a total of some 28 reported cases. The World Health Organization says that there is no evidence of sustained human to human transmission so far. But there are now some suspected cases of possible limited transmission between close family members. Now these cases are still unconfirmed. And health officials, they are investigating.

Now in the U.S., the debate is raging over gun control. And coming up next right here on News Stream, Chris Cuomo looks at how the existing system for background checks works in one U.S. state.

Allegedly kidnapped by their own parents and then rescued from Cuba, an exclusive report on how our own team tracked down the family hiding out in Havana.

And with more and more people watching their favorite shows online, do you still need a TV in your home?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back.

And right here is a visual rundown of all the major stories we're covering for you this hour. Now earlier, we told you about U.S. intelligence suggesting that North Korea could launch a ballistic missile, perhaps a number of ballistic missiles at any time. And later, we'll tell you exactly how the U.S. is preparing for that possibility. But now, let's turn our attention to the gun control debate that is raging in the United States.

Now an overwhelming majority of Americans support new and tougher background checks for gun purchases, that's according to a recent CNN/ORC poll. Now lawmakers don't seem to be on the same page. They are still arguing about whether or not to even begin debate on gun law reforms.

But a bipartisan deal is in the works. It focuses on expanding background checks on gun buyers. And of course there were already rules in place, some vary from state to state.

Now CNN's Chris Cuomo shows us the current process in New York.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Chris...

MIKE MARINELLO, GUN STORE OWNER: Mike, what can I do for you?

CUOMO: I'm looking for home protection shotgun.

MARINELLO: OK. I'm going to bring you down to the shotgun section.

CUOMO (voice-over): Seems simple. But there is more to it than you might think.

Every purchase from a licensed dealer requires a federal background check.

(on camera): Are you under indictment? No. Have you ever been convicted of any felony? No.

(voice-over): Twenty-seven personal questions, including criminal and mental health history, all requiring government confirmation. Add potential state and city laws, thousands across the country, and it could feel like an obstacle course.

MARINELLO: There is a background check for the rifle. And if you live in a city, there's a rifle and shotgun card. Then, if you have a pistol, there is a pistol license.

CUOMO: But this pales in comparison to the pain the nation felt on December 14th in Newtown, Connecticut. The most vulnerable victimized by dangerous weapons in the wrong, sick hands.

CNN's latest poll shows people want it to stop.

Calls to do something, resulting in demands for expanded background checks, despite the fact that they wouldn't have stopped the Newtown shooter. BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We know that background checks can work, but the problem is loopholes in the current law lent so many people avoid background checks all together.

CUOMO: Gun control advocates want all gun sales, not just those by dealers, subject to background checks.

COLIN GODDARD, BRADY CENTER TO PREVENT GUN VIOLENCE: This background check law that we're talking about is enforcing the law.

CUOMO: Colin Goddard works for the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence. He is a gun violence victim, shot four times at Virginia Tech six years ago.

GODDARD: How are you supposed to know if someone has a felony record? How are you supposed to know if someone's got a restraining order, or someone's got a dangerous mental illness without doing a background check? You're supposed to look at them really hard?

CUOMO: Gun rights advocates fear checking all sales could lead to a national gun registry and maybe confiscation. The larger concern, making harder to buy a gun lawfully may not stop massacres and handgun violence.

Before owning this Long Island gun story, owner Mike Marinello was a police officer for 11 years.

(on camera): In your experience as a cop, did that hold true?

MARINELLO: In 11 years, I never had a legal pistol licensee uses a firearm in a crime.

CUOMO (voice-over): Gun control advocates say the nearly 2 million people who've been denied guns is proof of effectiveness.

DAVID KEENE, NRA PRESIDENT: Most of those, in turns out, were not on prohibitive list. Most of them were false positives, or name looked like somebody else. There was records in there that were incomplete.

The first thing you to have do is take the system have you and get it fixed, and make it work.

CUOMO: Mike says the big issue isn't the law, but enforcement.

MARINELLO: If somebody comes in, and they're hell-bent on buying a gun, we let them fill out the form and they fail. And in a perfect world, Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms will go arrest that person.

CUOMO (on camera): That's the big catch, right?

MARINELLO: Current laws on the books would make the state the safest in the Union if they were enforced.

CUOMO (voice-over): In my case...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This transaction is a proceed. CUOMO: -- the system worked. After 25 minutes of completing forms and waiting for approval, I had my shotgun.

(on camera): Thank you very much.

(voice-over): Chris Cuomo, CNN, Merrick, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now, the White House also wants to close loopholes on sales at gun shows, among other things and is making an increasingly emotional pitch to pressure Republicans. And later on Wednesday, First Lady Michelle Obama will speak in Chicago, a city plagued by gun violence. And her husband has visited two states that suffered recent mass shootings.

The National Rifle Association, meanwhile, opposes the new gun laws, but another group hopes to be a counterweight to the NRA.

Now, Americans for Responsible Solutions was founded by former Democratic congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. Now she was shot in the head two years ago in a shooting rampage that killed six people. And Dana Bash spent time with Giffords and her husband Mark Kelly. And she joins us now live from CNN Washington -- Dana.

DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kristie, I should start by saying what they are asking for -- and you'll see this in my report -- is for expanded background checks. And we can report now that there is expected to be a deal announced later this morning here in Washington between a key Democrat and a key Republican saying that they have a bipartisan compromise to expand background checks on -- at gun shows and also on internet sales. So that we're going to see later today. It is a key breakthrough and it will certainly start the Senate debate on a different tone and a different note than people thought just even 24 hours ago.

But talking about Gabby Giffords, Kristie, she still has a lot of trouble speaking, but she actually has made considerable progress, especially in the last three months. And those around her tell me they think it's because she's reengaged in public policy and politics.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BASH: The Sandy Hook shooting in December spurred Gabby Giffords and husband Mark Kelly to take a stand.

GABRIELLE GIFFORDS, FRM. U.S. CONGRESSWOMAN: Sandy Brook.

MARK KELLY, RETIRED NASA ASTRONAUT: Sandy Hook.

GIFFORDS: Hook.

BASH: Brain damage from Giffords' gunshot wound makes it difficult for her to find words, even Sandy Hook.

GIFFORDS: Sandy Brook.

KELLY: For Sandy Hook.

GIFFORDS: OK. Handy brook.

KELLY: Sandy Hook.

GIFFORDS: Hook.

KELLY: Sandy Hook Elementary. You know, it's something we just can't - - 20 first graders...

GIFFORDS: First graders died.

KELLY: In their classrooms.

GIFFORDS: Awful.

BASH: The couple originally called for a ban on assault weapons and limits to high capacity magazines. Giffords made a dramatic plea to senators.

GIFFORDS: Be bold, be courageous. Americans are counting on you.

BASH: But they now admit there are limits to what is politically realistic.

(on camera): If you want to name the number one thing Congress could do to prevent the kind of violence that you were the victim of, what would it be?

GIFFORDS: Background checks.

KELLY: Yes. Certainly. Without a doubt.

BASH: Giffords has learned to navigate an iPad for e-mail with her left hand because her right hand is paralyzed but most of her communicating with former colleagues, pressing them for new gun laws, goes through Kelly mostly on the phone.

(on camera): I've seen it written that there's irony that you are such a good spokesperson for new laws to curb gun violence because you can't speak very well.

KELLY: Yes. I guess that's kind of -- maybe it's bad irony. I don't know. It's stink, though. It's something that...

GIFFORDS: Stinks.

KELLY: It stinks. It stinks.

BASH (voice-over): There is no question the gun culture is deeply ingrained in Giffords. It has to be to still exposed herself to guns, even after her near fatal shooting.

(on camera): What's it like to sit and hear the gunshot go off? Does it startle you?

GIFFORDS: No. No.

KELLY: Well, I think that's because Gabby doesn't remember the gunshot going off the day she was injured. Right? You don't remember that?

GIFFORDS: No.

BASH: It's your hope to be able to shoot a gun again?

GIFFORDS: No, I don't know.

BASH: Not a big priority in your life right now?

GIFFORDS: Yes. Not really.

KELLY: Not at the top of the list.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BASH: And we are going to have a lot more on Gabby Giffords' personal struggle and recovery, including, Kristie, whether or not the 42 year old Giffords who actually she was going through fertility treatments to have a baby when she was shot, whether she may still try to have a child of her own.

LU STOUT: We're looking forward to more reports about Gabby Giffords. Thank you very much indeed for sharing with us her thoughts, her optimism about the prospects for tougher gun control measures there in the U.S.

Dana Bash joining us live from Washington, thank you.

Now let's turn now to London where members of Parliament are preparing to hold a special session to pay tribute to Margaret Thatcher. Now preparations are also underway for Thatcher's funeral which will take place one week from today. And the queen will be among those attending the service at St. Paul's Cathedral. It will be the first time she's gone to the funeral of a former prime minister since Winston Churchill's in 1965.

You're watching News Stream, still ahead a worldwide effort gets some help from the worldwide web. Now the fight against human trafficking is getting a boost from Google.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Coming to you live from Hong Kong, you're back watching News Stream. Now only two more places remain up for grabs in the last four of the Champion's League, although one of the quarterfinal losers is refusing to go quietly. Let's join World Sports Alex Thomas in London to explain -- Alex.

ALEX THOMAS, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, hi, Kristie. Malaga's president Abdullah al Thani says his team were beaten because of injustice and racism and is planning to ask UEFA to investigate their Champion's League defeat at Borussia Dortmund.

The Spanish underdogs were 2-1 up and course for a fairy tale win when Dortmund scored twice in added time at the end of their quarterfinal second leg match.

Muttering afterwards about an alleged conspiracy, Malaga were exasperated that officials hadn't spotted Dortmund's winning goal was offside.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MANUEL PELLEGRINI, MALAGA COACH (through translator): There was, in effect, no referee, really, on the pitch in the last seven or eight minutes of the match. And in such a situation, of course, the home team has the advantage. It doesn't really help, then, having a team of five or six referees on the match. Of course, in such a situation, it is difficult to hold on to a lead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

THOMAS: Speaking at a football conference for the sport's decision makers, UEFA's general secretary Gianni Infantino denied there was a conspiracy. He said match officials would always make mistakes, adding I could understand that when you lose a match in the 93rd minute emotions come up and you say things you don't really think.

Well, Tuesday night's other quarterfinal was almost as entertaining. Real Madrid were 4-0 on aggregate at one stage, before three second half goals from Galatasaray raising the prospect of a shock comeback. However, Christiano Ronaldo's second goal of the night in the dying seconds saved his team's blushes and left manager Jose Mourinho praising the fervor of the fans in Turkey.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSE MOURINHO, REAL MADRID MANAGER (through translator): We would like to play every game on this pitch. It is the perfect atmosphere to play football, but I don't think the players of Real Madrid felt the atmosphere. Who felt it? The players of Galatasaray.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

THOMAS: The other quarterfinals are later on Wednesday. Bayern Munich with a 2-0 lead away to Juventus. And it's 2-2 ahead of Barcelona's second leg with Paris Saint-Germain. And before facing his old side, PSG star Zlatan Ibrahimovic faced Pedro Pinto and his quick-fire questions.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PEDRO PINTO, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: What's your biggest weakness?

ZLATAN IBRAHIMOVIC, PSG STRIKER: Then I have to think long.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

THOMAS: Just a little teaser. You can hear the full thing on our world sport show later in the day at those times.

Now, it's feeling like old times in the golf world the day before the Master's tees off. The first time in years that Tiger Woods starts the year's opening major as world number one and red hot favorite.

Bubba Watson is the defending champion. He famously broke down in tears after victory 12 months ago. And Bubba was blubbing again on Tuesday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUBBA WATSON, GOLFER: I told him that I was going to go home and wrap Caleb up in it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm glad I asked. Thanks, Bubba.

WATSON: Me too.

(LAUGHTER)

WATSON: Out of respect, out of honor -- I'm want to finish this one - - try to. Out of respect and honor for the Augusta National, and one of the greatest clubs we have, and one of the greatest tournaments, out of respect for them I didn't do any of my funny antics that I normally would do. And so the only I did was wrap Caleb within it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

THOMAS: And we'll be live to Augusta in World Sport in three and a half hours time, by which stage Bubba should have stopped crying. For now, back to you in Hong Kong.

LU STOUT: That's right, an emotional moment. But just increases his likeability. Alex Thomas there, thank you.

Now the U.S. is again on alert in case North Korea test fires a missile. And up next right here on News Stream, we look at the Pentagon's preparations and how it could react.

And an internet giant tackles a giant problem. Google joins the global fight against human trafficking.

(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 senior Pentagon official tells CNN that North Korea could be planning, quote, multiple missile launches in the coming days, that would be in addition to the two missiles on its east coast the U.S. officials say Pyongyang could test launch at any time. South Korean officials had earlier said North Korean missiles could be ready to launch as of today.

Now state media in Iran are reporting at least 37 people are dead and more than 850 injured following Tuesday's powerful earthquake. The USGS measured the quake at magnitude 6.3 and about 100 kilometers from the Bushehr nuclear plant. Officials say there was no damage or radioactive release at the facility.

U.S. President Barack Obama has approved a new aid package for Syrian rebels. Officials say it could include military equipment of a defensive nature like body armor and night vision goggles. Last month, the U.S. approved the first direct humanitarian aid for the rebels, including food and medicine.

Now last tell you more about how the U.S. is preparing for a possible missile launch by North Korea. And Chris Lawrence, he has this look at the Pentagon's possible reaction and plans.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The U.S. has been poring over the latest satellite images of North Korea and the intelligence assessment is, they have likely completed all preparations to launch. An administration official says the missiles have probably received their liquid fuel.

Even though the U.S. has no way to confirm that information on the ground, the military is sending a clear message to Kim Jong-un. It's not when you launch the Musudan missiles, but where. If a test missile flies out over the water, the U.S. Pacific commander does not want it shot down.

ADM. SAMUEL LOCKLEAR, COMMANDER, U.S. PACIFIC COMMAND: I would not recommend that. If we have any predetermined INW (ph), we will have a good -- we should have a sense of where it's going to be aimed.

LAWRENCE: But if it's aimed over land near Japanese territory, interceptor missiles could be used to destroy it.

LOCKLEAR: And if it was defense of our allies, I would recommend action.

LAWRENCE: Admiral Samuel Locklear said this launch could be different from previous tests, when the U.S. had significant indications on what was about to happen before liftoff.

LOCKLEAR: To understand the direction of the launch, where it was at.

LAWRENCE: U.S. radars will calculate their trajectory of North Korea's new road mobile missile. But Locklear admits the U.S. won't know as much as soon.

LOCKLEAR: In this case, in the scenario we're in, we're probably looking at being able to see it being in a general location, and then to sense a launch.

LAWRENCE: Will North Korea launch or stand down? Locklear says it's hard to read Kim Jong-un.

LOCKLEAR: His father and grandfather as far as I could see always figured into their provocation cycle an off-ramp of how to get out of it.

And it's not clear to me that he has thought through how to get out of it.

LAWRENCE: And U.S. officials believe that this launch could happen without a standard mariner's notice. That's a warning to ships and planes to avoid a specific area during a specific time, because that's where the missile could land. It's also a warning to the world, a heads-up, so to speak, that a launch is imminent. North Korea has issued those mariner's warnings in the past, but this time U.S. officials say they're operating under the assumption the North may not issue a warning.

Chris Lawrence, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now, let's go back to our visual rundown of all the main stories we're covering today this Wednesday on News Stream.

And earlier we explored the U.S. gun control debate. And we heard from former U.S. congresswoman Gabby Giffords and her call for stricter background checks on gun owners. Now, I want to tell you about another story that has gripped the media and the U.S., the abduction of these two little boys.

Now they were taken from their grandmother's home in Florida, allegedly kidnapped by their own parents who then sailed with them to Cuba. Now they are now back safely in the United States after Cuban authorities tipped off their counterparts in the U.S.

John Zarrella has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: From her home in Tampa, Patricia Hauser placed a 911 call.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 911, what is your emergency.

PATRICIA HAUSER: Yes, hi. My son-in-law just kidnapped my two -- my two grandchildren. They've been in my state custody.

ZARRELLA: That was last Wednesday, another in a series of desperate events involving Joshua Hakken, described as an anti-government protester, and his wife Sharon. The couple had just lost parental rights back home in Louisiana. Authorities say Hakken kidnapped his children Chase and Cole from the home of their maternal grandparents, the Hausers, who had been given state custody of the boys.

The same day the boys were abducted, the family pick-up was found at Madeira Beach not far from St. Petersburg. Surveillance video showed Hakken and his wife Sharon at a dock in Madeira preparing a sail boat, The Salty. As Tampa police hunted for Hakken, his wife, and the two boys, they knew they were dealing with a man who could pull off a daring escape.

DET. LARRY MCKINNON, HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY SHERIFF'S SPOKESMAN: We've said all along that, you know, making irrational decision doesn't always make you unintelligent. I mean, we know he's a very intelligent individual. He's an engineer.

ZARRELLA: To say what they did was risky is an understatement. In the 25 foot boat they sailed in rough waters for days before turning up in Cuba. The Hakken saga began nearly a year ago in Slidell, Louisiana. Police there responding to a disturbance at a hotel say they found weapons and drugs in the Haken's (ph) room. The children were there with them.

What concerned authorities just as much was how the Hakkens were talking.

DET. DANIEL SEUZENEAU, SLIDELL POLICE SPOKESMAN: They were speaking some bizarre terms to the officers in reference to traveling across country to beat the Armageddon. Things were just very strange.

ZARRELLA: The children were taken and put in foster care out of concern for their safety. Two weeks later, according to Louisiana authorities, Haken showed up at the foster home with a gun demanding his kids. He ran off when 911 was called.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 911. Where you're emergency.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I need a police. I need a police. I have a guy at my house with a gun.

ZARRELLA: It was some time after that the boys were sent to their grandparents.

It's not clear how Hakken and his wife had planned the abduction and escaped to Cuba, or what they may have planned to do once they got there.

John Zarrella, CNN, Tampa.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now the Hakkens, they were hiding out in Havana, but our very own Patrick Oppmann, he managed to track them down. And here is how he did it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is how we started our search for American fugitives Joshua and Sharon Hakken. Right now, we're heading out to the Marina Hemingway just west of Havana. It's one of the larger marinas in Cuba. It's also where a lot of foreigners go to keep their boats here and where they stay when they're coming to Cuba.

To get past the marina security, it helps to keep your camera out of view.

The guards soon tell me to leave.

We're being bothered now by the security. They're asking us to leave.

(SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

OPPMANN: We're outside the Marina Hemingway where there's a lot more security than when we were here earlier. Then we were just able to drive in, and immediately start looking for the Hakkens' boat. We went back up in this area here and there are dozens of boats from the United States, but none that match the description that we had gotten from police.

All of a sudden, we got to the last boat slip that we saw The Salty. It really stood out, because there's one much smaller boat, and it was really beaten up. And as soon as we got there and started filming, I saw Josh Hakken get out of the boat.

You know, he asked me who I was.

I said I was an American reporter.

He confirmed who he was. And then immediately got back in the boat.

Cuban authorities came out immediately, some of them packing pistols, and told us that we needed to leave, but we were able to convince them before they kicked us out that allow me to go up without a camera and speak to Josh Hakken. They were obviously keeping a very close eye on him, but they let us go up to the boat and he wouldn't speak to me, but his wife confirmed to us that both their sons were with them and as she said, they're doing fine.

Patrick Oppmann, CNN, Havana.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now Joshua and Sharon Hakken, they are now in a Florida jail. They face federal and state charges, including kidnapping, auto theft and child neglect.

You're watching News Stream. And coming up next, putting the power of media curation at your fingertips. We'll speak to the co-founder and CEO of Flipboard.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back.

Now instead of picking up the morning paper, reading it over a cup of coffee, many people today get their news on their tablets instead. And that means they get stories from multiple sources at the same time. A number of news aggregation apps help people to do just that. Now one popular option is Pulse. It is a free app for Android, iOS, and Windows 8. And Pulse has about 20 million users.

Here is what it looks like. It -- you can choose the sources that you want to follow and then it brings you new headlines and top stories.

Now another option is Zite, which I should mention was acquired by CNN in 2011. It also is free. It runs on Android, iOS and Windows Phone. Now Zite says it tailors story selection for you. It learns what you like to read and personalize feature picks.

And last but not least, Flipboard. It is a free app for Android and iOS. It recently announced it has more than 50 million users. And it is unveiling a new version with a new curation feature that allows anyone to run their own magazine inside the app.

It's a development that's prompted some to call it a major threat to established media brands online. In fact, one commentator called Flipboard, quote, "a giant iceberg lurking in the path of the media." Wow.

Now CEO and co-founder of Flipboard Mike McCue joins us now live from New York. Mike, good to see you. Congratulations with the launch of Flipboard 2.0.

And using it, I've noticed that the biggest chance is curation. User now, they can become creators of online magazines. They can become publishers themselves. And it's pretty cool, but why would an average person want to do that?

MIKE MCCUE, CO-FOUNDER, CEO FLIPBOARD: Well, you know, if you really are interested in places that you might want to visit someday, or perhaps you're going to be remodeling your house and you want to sort of save and collect great ideas for remodeling, or if you're really into a hobby like you're into sailing or horseback riding, you can build your own personal magazine now on Flipboard 2.0 out of all the things that you love and think are important about that particular topic. And then you can share that magazine with the world, with your friends, or you can just keep it private and use it as your own personal collection.

So it's a really cool new feature that people are loving in this new release.

LU STOUT: So you can create your own magazine. It can be a scrapbook, it could be a brag book, whatever it is, but is there an appetite out there for people to subscribe to those curated magazines?

MCCUE: Absolutely. There have been hundreds of thousands of magazines already created so far by our readers around the world. And we're seeing magazines for all sorts of different things, magazines that are for, for example, professional equestrian, you know, riders. It could be for travel guides around -- for cities around the world like Barcelona and London. We've seen magazines get created by teachers who are, you know, organizing content for their students, magazines by cancer researchers who are pulling together great content around the cancer genetics.

So, yeah, there's a -- I think what we're finding is that a lot of people have a lot to say. They have a lot of desire to curate and organize content. They don't necessarily want to create a blog. It's -- you know, that's a little too technical for them. This gives them a very easy way to do that.

LU STOUT: And can there be big money to be created here through curation. Can those who decide to create their own magazines inside Flipboard be making money, revenue with you?

MCCUE: Well, yes. You know, we focus by -- our fundamental principle and big reason why we started the company is that we believe that it's extremely important for high quality journalism and great content to thrive online. And I think that the future has never been brighter for publishers. And we work very, very closely with the publishing world. We have over a thousand different publishers that we partner with around the world to help them get their content out to a new generation of readers who are discovering their content on these mobile devices, on these social networks and make that content look great, monetize it with beautiful full page ads, and really take their media operations into a new realm.

LU STOUT: Now you didn't quite answer my question there about revenue plans for curation. Do you have anything in the works?

MCCUE: Well, you know, we are thinking a lot about how we could allow people, individuals, who are creating magainzes to be able to generate revenue, but our first priority is enabling the publishers whose content can get curated within these magazines to generate revenue. That's priority one.

And then we'll take a look at ways that we could enable, you know, individual readers to ultimately participate in that economic scenario in the future.

LU STOUT: OK.

And even though that, you know, this new curation function, it's been called the great iceberg in the face of media. You've made it quite clear, you know it is about the content afterall. You're working with mainstream media as well as encouraging your users, average users to become their own publishers in their own right.

So is your competition, then, other news aggregators like Pulse and Zite and even, this is more interesting I think, other curation sites, social network sites like Pintirest and Tumblr. Are you really going after them?

MCCUE: We're not really trying to go after anybody. You know, we really believe in the concept of a magazine. You know, if you go to any newsstand today you'll see magazines for practically anything you can imagine, but that world of those print magazines is declining. And what's happening is that people are getting their content from these mobile devices and social networks. And what we want to do is give publishers a way to have that content be just as great at what you see in those great magazines on the newsstand, but have it work across this new world of mobile and social. So, that's really been our primary focus.

And when we think about it for our readers, it's about collecting all the things that they love -- pictures of their friends and their kids, great articles about an industry that they're into, you know, great movies and podcasts and music for a hobby that they have, you know, and pulling all that together in one single place.

So there's really nothing else like it. It's a new way of thinking about a magazine.

LU STOUT: Yeah, it is. It's interesting. And I'm thinking about starting my own magazine, but FYI it's going to have CNN content all over it (inaudible) as expected..

Mike McCue, CEO of Flipboard, thank you so much. Take care and good luck.

MCCUE: Thank you. It was great to be here, Kristie.

LU STOUT: Take care.

Now their motto, "don't be evil." And now Google is helping fight a crime that affects and estimated 20 to 30 million people around the world: human trafficking. Now the company has donated $3 million to help launch a new anti-slavery hotline. The Global Human Trafficking Hotline Network run by the nonprofit Polaris Project, it will work to share data and cooperation in the fight against modern-day slavery. It joins together organizations in the U.S., Southeast Asia, and Europe. And Google says it wants to help what it calls the good guys use technology better so they can work faster than the culprits of this crime.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JARED COHEN, GOOGLE IDEAS: Now one of the intended impacts of this is to both have an impact in demonstrating the power of integrated data in combating $32 billion illicit industry in the world. But we also hope that this proves the viability of using data driven approaches to disrupt illicit networks of all kinds.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Now CNN's Freedom Project is continuing the fight to end modern-day slavery. It is a fight that needs the support of businesses and governments everywhere. You can get more at CNN.com/Freedom.

You're watching News Stream. And still ahead on the program, TV without a TV. More people are pulling the plug thanks to mobile technology.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back to News Stream. Let's start with a weather check this time around with record heat being reported in south Asia, details with Mari Ramos. She joins us from the world weather center -- Mari.

MARI RAMOS, CNN WEATHER CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kristie, yeah definitely. The temperature is rising quickly. April tends to be the hottest month of the year in south Asia. We're talking about India, Bangladesh, as we head over into Sri Lanka, because the rains have stopped, the angle of the sun has changed a little bit as we head to the summer months, but the monsoon season has not started just yet.

Let's go ahead and take a look at some of the daytime highs that we had just yesterday. Look at Kolkata, that's 40 degrees. New Delhi got to 38. Yeah, these are not records, but they're close to record high temperatures. Dhaka, 37. And guess what, today, the spring heat, is on again. I think we're looking at our day time highs right now.

Actually, New Delhi got up to 36 already. Kolkata got up to 35. So slightly cooler, but still so hot across these areas, especially as we head into the interior portions of the subcontinent here.

Hot also as we head over into Bangkok. Look at Chiang Mai, usually in the mountains it should be a little bit cooler than that, but they're also waiting for the rain even now.

As we head over toward east Asia, the weather actually a lot quieter. It did cool down just a little bit. We're going to start to see a warm-up as we head through the next 24 to 48 hours overall across much of the region here.

This is 19 in Hong Kong, 9 in Beijing. Pyongyang and Seoul both coming in at 6 degrees. But your daytime highs are closer to maybe 10 degrees. So it's actually been pretty quiet weather wise across this region.

Tokyo, you're looking at 10 right now.

Let's go ahead and look at the satellite image. And we have a little bit of an area of low pressure right here that's bringing in some gusty conditions across northeastern China. There were some reports of snow showers coming in acrross the North here and then back through the Korean Peninsula actually just partly cloudy skies and more on the way of cloud cover as we head back over toward Japan, particularly over Honshu.

So these are the snow showers that were reported in this area here across northeastern China. We have been watching for that possibility of dust that we were talking about yesterday. Most of that stayed south here, moved out into the Yellow Sea, and then pretty much dispersed over parts of western Japan yesterday. So it didn't really cause too much. It was all pretty much embedded along this cold front here.

So those cooler temperatures prevailed through the day and the overnight hour on Thursday, but your daytime highs will definitely be on the rise.

Let's go ahead and head back to Hong Kong now.

LU STOUT: All right. Mari Ramos there. Thank you, take care.

Now many of us used to plan our evening around our favorite TV shows, sitting down with family or friends to watch. But these days many people are likely to turn to their mobile devices to get their TV fix. So where does that leave traditional television?

Zain Asher has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZAIN ASHER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It wasn't that long ago that almost every household had a land line connected to the world through plugs and wires. But the rotary soon came and went. The phone became mobile. And now the television is doing the same.

Nielson, a consumer research group, says more of us are watching TV without a TV on laptops, tablets, phones, anywhere but here, and often at a fraction of the cost.

PROF. ROBERT THOMPSON, SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY: The old idea of waiting until something is on to watch it is something that many viewers, you know, simply don't feel the need to tolerate anymore.

JOHN MCKINNEY, ASHE AVENUE: Absolutely. I see everything that, you know, everybody else does pretty much.

ASHER: John McKinney owns a computer service company in Brooklyn. He still has a TV, but it's hooked up to his computer and game console.

MCKINNEY: Really, I got frustrated with the cable company. Like, I just had -- I was tired have having bad hardware and bad customer support and just, you know, spending over $100 a month on, you know, hundreds of channels that I wasn't even watching.

ASHER: 5 percent of Americans are now disconnected, two-and-a-half times the number five years ago.

DHIYA KURIAKOSE, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY STUDENT: I'm graduating in broadcast television journalism and I don't own a TV, so that's saying something.

ASHER: What Nielson calls the zero TV generation tends to be younger and more comfortable with content on the go. As more Americans disconnect, experts say it's the cable companies who could be left holding the bag.

THOMPSON: These operations are going to have to come up with ways to get their material available in some way that's going to make them money on all kinds of different devices.

JOHN BERGMAYER, ATRORNEY: They make their living delivering content to people. And if people are getting their content another way, they might find themselves cut out.

ASHER: The decades (ph) families, friends, co-workers would watch the same programs on TV's schedule and then talk about it at work, at home, and on the phone.

MCKINNEY: Yeah, I mean, the thing that happens now is like if you watch, say, the new episode of Game of Thrones, then you're going to go on Facebook and talk about it or tweet about it or something.

ASHER: A new and different social conversation. Zain Asher, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: So, in the last few minutes, we've learned about the anticipated end of television. Just moments ago, we heard from the CEO of Flipboard about its new content curation feature that lets the Average Joe become a publisher and run their own magazine. Well, here on News Stream, we welcome this glimpse of the future. Media platforms come and go. Change is inevitable, but it's quality content that will bring the punters back.

And that is News Stream, but the news continues at CNN. World Business Today is next.

END