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NEWS STREAM
Syrian Rebels Temporarily Take Over Syrian-Israel Crossing; Turkish Prime Minister Due Home Today; Breast Milk Flavored Lollipop; Japanese Company Telepathy Aims For Google Glass Alternative; Interview with Jon Huntsman; Temporary Injunction Allows 10-year-old To Get On Adult Lung Transplant List
Aired June 06, 2013 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULINE CHIOU, HOST: I'm Pauline Chiou in Hong Kong. Welcome to News Stream where news and technology meet.
A short-lived, if symbolic victory for Syrian rebels as Syria's civil war appears to edge ever closer to Israel.
Turkey's prime minister returns home today where he'll find the protest movement against his rule shows little sign of slowing down.
And former U.S. ambassador to China Jon Huntsman tells us how he thinks Chinese president Xi Jinping will handle this week's visit to the United States.
The violence in Syria is threatening to spill over into Israeli controlled territory. Here, you can see the Syrian city of Quneitra in the distance. There are ongoing clashes there between Syrian rebels and government troops.
The city lies next to the Israeli occupied Golan Heights. And in the last few hours the Syrian government says its troops have secured the crossing which rebels claimed to have taken over earlier today.
Now here's a look at where it's situated on the map. The crossing is the only one between Syria and the Israeli occupied Golan. It sits on the armistice line. A source watching from the Israeli controlled side saw Syrian rebels open fire on the army which responded with tank fire to push the rebels back from the crossing. That was earlier today.
Now Israel and Syria are still technically at war. And the violence in Quneitra is heightening concerns in Israel.
CNN's Elise Labott is in the Golan Heights right now. And she joins me live.
Elise, from your vantage point, what have you been seeing and hearing?
ELISE LABOTT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Pauline, you can see the border crossing is just right behind me. And you can see smoke billowing up. Earlier this morning, as you said, there was a lot of gunfire between rebels and the regime. The rebels we understand initially had taken over the Quneitra border crossing and the surrounding area. And now we understand that the regime has retaken that area.
We can hear a lot of gunfire in the area. We do understand from the Israeli defense force that some mortar shells, some fire had fallen across the Israeli border. Israeli tanks had been patrolling the area. They don't seem to be there right now. But certainly they're watching it very closely.
CHIOU: Now Quneitra is on the Syrian side right near that border. Why is it a strategically important city in the conflict?
LABOTT: Well, Pauline, it's actually a very symbolic area for Bashar al-Assad. As you said, this is the only border crossing between Israel and Syria. And Assad used that to say that he was control of the Golan Heights, he was control -- in control over that area between Israel and Syria. And so that's why symbolically it's very important.
It is an artery from the north to the south, but not the main artery. That is the artery from Jordan. But it does travel from Damascus and to the south, so it is an important area.
But certainly it is of more symbolic importance in terms of the border with Israel for the regime.
CHIOU: And Elise, there must be so much concern that this conflict is spilling over the borders as we've seen with Turkey and Syria. So if it, in fact, does spill over into the Israeli side, what kind of precautions is Israel taking?
LABOTT: Well, obviously Israel is concerned about some spillover.
I would say that the main concern is really in the south on the border with Lebanon that weapons are reaching Hezbollah fighters and then rockets and missiles, per se, that they can shoot across into Israel. Here on the border with Syria, Israel is concerned about some spillover, concern about some of that fighting and gunfire reaching across this armistice line. The north -- Israelis have been building a fence around there. Tanks have been on patrol in the area. And so certainly it is something they're watching.
And this morning Israeli defense force officials tell us that they are taking precautions. They've told farmers in the area not to go up to the border, because of some of this shelling that is falling across this side. So they're all taking all precautions on all of their borders.
But I would say the south is really the one that they're most concerned that those weapons would reach Hezbollah, because right now here in Quneitra, the rebels seem more concerned with overtaking the regime than they do with engaging Israel, but it does put Israel in a very difficult position in terms of having to deal with the rebels and who might overtake the area.
CHIOU: This is a very fast moving story so far today. Elise, thank you very much. That's Elise Labott there in the Golan Heights.
Now Turkey remains tense with protesters returning to the streets for a seventh straight day now. The demonstrators have various grievances, but they are united in their dissatisfaction with the prime minister Erdogan. Mr. Erdogan is due to return from North Africa later on today. He has previously dismissed the protests as the work of, quote, extreme elements and marginal groups.
It is unclear what effect Mr. Erdogan's return will have on the unrest. He is expected to land in Istanbul. And that's where we find our own Becky Anderson.
Becky, what should we be expecting later on today from the protesters?
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that is the big question. Ahead of this much anticipated return from North Africa of the prime minister here it is a relatively quiet day here in Taksim Square and the flashpoint of Gezi Park. I'll just get (inaudible) open up for you.
This has been the scene of mass protests in Istanbul, as you know, over the past six days. Gezi Park over there where you see the trees has been the flashpoint. That story of the excessive commercialization of public spaces has been one that has really sort of set these protesters alight as it were. And you've seen tens of thousands of people in this square, and as we've been reporting over the past six days protests across the country and some 67 of the 81 provinces.
But as I say, it is a relatively quiet day on this square here today. People walking around. There's music. There's still people in their tents, there's still people who will be affiliated with protests groups selling things that protests have been buying, also, though, just people wandering around and tourists here today.
So, Prime Minister Erdogan returns today. And many people assuming that he will speak. We don't know whether he will. He scheduled to be back sometime this evening.
His deputy leader of his party, though, has said to those of his supporters who may have been thinking of mobilizing in support of the prime minister's return. He said on television here in Turkey that the prime minister doesn't need a show of support. There was talk yesterday that as many as a million people at one stage could mobilize in support of the prime minister and go out and meet him at the airport as he comes back into the country.
But no news as of yet that that may happen. As I say, the deputy has said he needs no show of support.
There has been news overnight of the death of a police officer who died during a protest in one of the southern provinces last night. That being reported by a semi-official news agency. CNN can't stand it up, but that news agency is one that we use as a source.
That would be the third death during this period of intense protests. Two protesters have died, of course, in some 4,500 odd people have been injured in these attacks.
It remains to be seen what happens this evening. Peaceful here and peaceful around the country as things stand at present. But what happens when the prime minister comes back is yet to be seen -- Pauline.
CHIOU: And Becky, the prime minister will be returning to a situation where thousands of union workers are striking. How widespread is this? And what impact is it having across the country?
ANDERSON: Yeah, two days of official strikes in the past two days. You had two of the biggest unions out. And here in Taksim Square and reflected in Gezi Park yesterday were tens of thousands of people. You saw medical students and medics in their white coats. You saw teachers. I mean, it was a real sense that people were out and protesting.
Again today, the official strike, the official two-day period of strikes now over. So they will await the arrival of the prime minister, anticipate that he will say something at this point, although we don't know whether he will or not. And protesters here will decide what happens after that.
The government here at least dividing the groups who've been protesting into two. They say there is a protest group here effectively run by what's known as the Taksim Platform, which is a coalition of groups who have been protesting the development of this area. They say that that's one group who have an official gripe, as it were.
And the government has said, look, we can do more to consult, make clear our plans to that group.
And then they say there's another group of what they call radicals and left-wingers. And they say they have no official position here. And those are the people that they say they are not prepared to put up with when they are protesting.
So, again, we await the prime minister's arrival this evening. And protests may or may not continue off the back of that.
CHIOU: OK. Becky, thank you very much. That's Becky Anderson there. Trying to get a pulse of the situation on the ground in Istanbul.
Well, thousands of people have been hurt in these protests which spread from Istanbul to the capital of Ankara. And all across the country, three people have been killed.
Turkish media have just reported the death of a police officer, which Becky had just mentioned. He is said to have fallen into a construction site while chasing protesters. The other two deaths were of demonstrators. One was a young man in Antakia. His family tells our Ben Wedeman that the prime minister is to blame.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The chant is loud and clear. Thousands in the southern Turkish city of Antakia gathered to voice one demand: Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan must go.
In a late night demonstration, men and women, young and old, have joined a movement that sprang to life last Friday in Istanbul.
Antakia has seen violent clashes since then, clashes that have already claimed one life here.
Friends and relatives had come to pay their condolences to the Chomert (ph) family. 22-year-old Abdullah Chomert (ph) was killed Monday in Antakia in southern Turkey when police clashed with demonstrators who had come out in Solidarity with the protesters in Istanbul. He was hit in the back of the head with what his family says was a tear gas canister. This picture, provided by a relative, shows a massive wound to the skull.
His mother, Hadija (ph), recalls begging Abdullah (ph) not to go back to the demonstrations but he insisted he had to go because it was his destiny to help bring about change, a destiny his grieving mother finds hard to comprehend.
"The killer of my son was Tayyip Erdogan and senior security officials," his father tells me, referring to the prime minister. "They're responsible for his death."
On the spot where he died, friends have set up a makeshift memorial. People here have no doubt who killed Abdullah (ph) at close range.
(CHANTING)
WEDEMAN: Turkey's deputy prime minister expressed sadness over the death. And an official autopsy is underway. But these witnesses and his family say no one in authority has approached them to investigate the circumstances of Abdullah's (ph) death.
This sudden outpouring of anger at a prime minister some Turks feel is revealing an authoritarian streak, is expressed in many ways. The late night demonstration was followed by raucous motorcades through the streets.
It's not clear on the streets of Antakia where there's demonstrating against Erdogan or celebrating the fact that their voices are now being heard.
Ben Wedeman, CNN, Antakia, Turkey.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHIOU: Coming up next on News Stream, fearing the worst: residents of the German city of Dresden brace for flooding as waters in the swollen river Elbe reach their peak.
Chairmen, presidents and CEOs are in the Chinese city of Chengdu for the fortune global forum. Our own Kristie Lu Stout takes the pulse with former U.S. presidential candidate Jon Huntsman.
And Myanmar's best known face declares her aspirations for the presidency. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHIOU: You're looking at a visual rundown of all the stories we're covering for you on this Thursday's News Stream. Earlier, we told you how the violence in Syria is edging ever closer to Israel. Later, we'll get former U.S. ambassador to China Jon Huntsman's take on Xi Jinping's upcoming trip to the U.S.
But now to flooded cities in Central Europe where river levels are still rising. Towns and cities across Central Europe are threatened by flood swollen rivers in the coming hours and coming days. And already, flooding has brought misery to the Czech Republic where almost 20,000 people have been evacuated from their homes.
In Slovakia's capital of Bratislava, many suburbs are already underwater. And they're bracing for what could be even worse flooding.
And preparations are being made in Hungary to deal with the flood wave from the River Danube which is timed to reach the capital of Budapest on Sunday.
Let's get more on the forecast for this region with Mari Ramos live at the world weather center. And Mari, how does the weather outlook look? Because I'm hearing that there may be rain in the next couple of days?
MARI RAMOS, CNN WEATHER CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, I think the rain forecast is still going to be -- it's a little early to be able to tell exactly how much rain will fall, but late into Sunday and into Monday is when we start to see again the possibility of some heavier rain showers in these river (inaudible) areas that could be significant. So that's definitely something to monitor.
Right now, just scattered rain showers, I think, over the central eastern side of Europe.
Now you were talking about, Pauline, about those river level forecasts. When we talk about forecasting for river levels, there is -- you know, you can be pretty precise with it, but there could be also some changes that happen depending on rainfall, like you mentioned, that could change it, depending other areas where, let's say, the river would -- if it has levees, if they break, for example. Those things like that could really change how quickly or how early or how late some of these rivers actually crest.
When we talk about the Danube right now down here toward the bottom, the crest is already back out into this eastern portion, past Vienna, on this eastern side of Austria. Bratislava, you mentioned, some suburbs already flooded in that region.
We're expecting that crest to actually happen into the weekend -- I should say within the next 24 hours. So by Friday and into Saturday. And further downstream as we head into Budapest, probably not until Sunday or Monday.
And in those levels, in Bratislava, should be just under those 2002 levels, which is still pretty significant flooding.
And remember, we're not just talking about the capital, we're talking about thousands of kilometers of land around -- or the river banks. Those areas are getting flooded. They don't have flood defenses for the most part. A lot of small towns and cities there, and also a lot of agricultural areas that have been damaged by the flooding. And that could really take a longer toll through these regions.
The crest for the Czech Republic like you mentioned here, it's the water levels starting to go down along the Vltava. As we head into the Elbe river, you can see right over here the crest expected to move now into southern parts of Germany -- or I should say southeastern side here of Germany near the Czech Republic border. This is going to be critical. The levels here are rising very, very quickly and expected to remain quite high even as we head into the weekend. And the highest portion, that crest, continues to move farther and farther to the north.
This is what the satellite image looks like. And you can see there's just a little bit of cloud cover over these areas. So at least the weather has been cooperating somewhat. Most of the rain showers farther to the east. And just even then, only pop up thunderstorms.
In the next 24 to 48 hours, scattered rain showers over these affected areas. It's now going to be into the weekend, or until the weekend where we really begin to see a few more -- a bit more in the way of problems.
One of the questions that we get all the time, Pauline, is does this have to do with climate change? I want to tell you a couple of things about this before we move on. You can't really say that the flooding that we have in Europe is directly linked to climate change, but scientists have been saying for quite a long time that events like this could become more common as the Earth continues to warm. As the temperatures are warmer, you have more moisture in the atmosphere, that can lead to very heavy rainfall very quickly like what we saw that happened along this central portion of Europe, which is what precipitated this massive flooding that we're dealing with now.
So those are the kinds of things that we will be watching. Now we'll be talking a little bit more about climate change and how that could be linked to a situation like this. But remember, you can't link any particular event to climate change per se.
But yes, extreme events such as this flooding and the rain that caused this flooding could become more common, of course, as temperatures, global temperatures rise. Back to you.
CHIOU: OK. That's good context there.
Mari, thank you very much. Mari Ramos is keeping her eye on the water levels as we're expecting them to peak pretty soon.
And you're watching News Stream. A judge's ruling might be the key to saving this little girl's life. We'll tell you why coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHIOU: We have a very lovely Thursday night here in Hong Kong. Welcome back to News Stream.
We have an update now to a story we first told you about last week. A court in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania has issued a ruling that could save a young girl's life. Sarah Murnaghan is in desperate need of a lung transplant, but the number of children's lungs available through organ donation is very small, so her parents have argued that their child, and others like her, should be added to the waiting list for adult lungs.
Jason Carroll has more details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SARAH MURNAGHAN, NEEDS LUNG TRANSPLANT: Whoo!
CARROLL: This was Sarah Murnaghan's reaction after getting word a federal judge has temporarily helped her win a victory in the battle to save her life.
S. MURNAGHAN (singing) : Twinkle, twinkle little star...
CARROLL: In the late stages of cystic fibrosis, she desperately needs a lung transplant. Having been on the children's donor list for 18 months. Wednesday, her parents filed a lawsuit against The Department of Health and Human Services to get her included on the adult list. Current policy prevents children under 12 from being on the list.
But late Wednesday Judge Michael Bailson issued a ten-day restraining order directing the department to immediately cease application of the under 12 rule as to Sarah Murnaghan so she that can be considered for receipt of donated lungs from adults.
FRAN MURNAGHAN, SARAH'S FATHER: What the judge is allowing to happen today is allow her to be on equal grounds with the other folks -- the adults.
CARROLL: As Sarah became sicker over the past few weeks, the Murnaghans appealed Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to change the policy . Sebelius said it was not within her power to immediately change it.
KATHLEEN SEBELIUS, HHS SECRETARY: The worst of all worlds in my mind is to have some individual pick and choose who lives and who dies. I think you want a process where it's guided by medical science and medical experts.
CARROLL: Secretary Sebelius also saying there are 40 adults currently in Murnaghan's region in need of a transplant. But the Murnaghans say Sarah is so sick it is likely she'll still be at the top of the adult list. Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey says federal guidelines have to ensure fairness to both children and adults.
SEN. BOB CASEY, (D) PENNSYLVANIA: You have to be able to work within the rules but also to make the case when you believe that children could be adversely impacted by the policy.
S. MURNAGHAN: I lost two teeth.
CARROLL: Time for Sarah still running out, but the Murnaghans believe now she has a fighting chance.
Jason Carroll, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHIOU: You are watching News Stream. And coming up, they are set to sit down far from the White House, but can the leader of the U.S. and China see eye to eye?
Also, Aung San Suu Kyi has gone from political prisoner to member of parliament. Now she hopes to be president next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHIOU: I'm Pauline Chiou in Hong Kong. And you're watching News Stream. And these are your world headlines. Syrian government troops are engaged in clashes with rebel forces in southwest Syria just across from the Israeli controlled Golan Heights. Syrian state TV says government forces have retaken a crossing that had been seized earlier by the rebels.
Turkey's prime minister returned home today after the biggest public protests against him in 10 years. Recep Tayyip Erdogan had been on an official visit to North Africa and has dismissed protesters as extremists. There have been widespread calls for Mr. Erdogan to resign. And more demonstrations are expected in the hours ahead.
More rain is forecast this weekend for parts of Central Europe that are already suffering from severe floods. At least 15 people have died in the worst flooding in more than a decade in that area. The river Elbe is expected to reach its highest level later Thursday in just a few hours near the German city of Dresden.
Chinese President Xi Jinping is scheduled to visit one of the centers of the ancient Mayan civilization today. Xi will tour the world heritage site with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto.
President Xi is on a three day trip to Mexico. And earlier this week, the two leaders signed trade agreements on energy, mining and education.
And later, Mr. Xi will fly to the United States. He is set to meet President Barack Obama in California on Friday. The leaders will discuss issues from cyber security to trade.
Let's bring in Kristie Lu Stout right now. She is live in Chengdu, China for the Fortune Global Forum. And Kristie, you spoke with someone there who knows both the U.S. and China very well.
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORREPSONDENT: I did, indeed. And so many issues to get to. And you're right, I'm here in the beautiful city of Chengdu in southwestern China, home to about 14 million people. It is the site of the Fortune Global Forum. And hundreds of top level executives have flown all over the world to come here to talk to each other and to explore how to operate in China and how to succeed here.
Now the theme of the summit is China's new future, but the focus and the buzz of the summit has been something a little bit more near-term -- the U.S.-China summit to take place in California this weekend where the U.S. President Barack Obama will sit down with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping for unscripted, informal talks again there in Sunnyland.
So we know that Peng Liyuan, the Chinese first lady will be there, but we also learned that Michelle Obama, the American first lady, will not.
Now her no show is one of many issues that I explored with the former U.S. ambassador to China and American politician Jon Huntsman.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JON HUNTSMAN, FRM. U.S. AMBASSADOR TO CHINA: Oh, I think having all four of them together would have been -- would have been good. Again, there's the symbolism of the two, you know, first couples, the most important relationship of the 21st Century today. That's never been seen before.
LU STOUT: Now the U.S.-China summit will be an unscripted affair, very casual. Chinese leaders are not known for veering off script. How will Xi Jinping perform during the summit?
HUNTSMAN: Well, I don't know that Hu Jintao would have been able to pull it off. Jiang Zemin was somewhat successful with President Bush at the ranch, although they spent very limited time together.
My sense having interacted a bit with Xi Jinping is that he has the confidence, the personality, the ability to engage, and also a big picture vision of where he'd like to take the relationship.
LU STOUT: Another priority for the Americans is addressing cyber attacks. Cyber attacks on American targets linked to the Chinese military. How receptive will Mr. Xi be on this issue?
HUNTSMAN: It will get first rung billing this time, as well it should. And the fact that it does, I think, will sort of promote greater focus from the Chinese side, because China can't dodge it any longer.
When you have the American business community that all of a sudden screams outrage about something that's been around for a long time, but nobody has done anything about, we've entered a new period here.
But when you have intellectual property theft, which is done through cyber means, but also the old fashioned espionage way as well, and when it costs the United States of America several hundreds of billions of dollars per year in injury, that's a big deal.
LU STOUT: And the outcome of the summit, should we expect any deliverables? Or is it more about setting a tone and developing that sense of chemistry?
HUNTSMAN: Chemistry is a big part of relationship building, which is a big part of trust. But let's face it, you know, to get things done in the real world, I have to understand what your political constraints are. And Obama's going to have to walk away from these couple of days understanding what the political realities of Xi Jinping are, his position, his network, his ability to get things done.
And Xi Jinping similarly is going to have to understand Obama's political constraints. So if after a couple of days, you've got a deeper, more meaningful relationship. You've got trust where you can call each other first name basis kind of thing, that would make the two days in California very productive indeed.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: All right. And that was Jon Huntsman speaking to me earlier. It was really interesting to get his personal insight into Xi Jinping. And that was Jon Huntsman speaking to me earlier. It was really good to get his personal insight into Xi Jinping, a man he has met before who says he has the confidence, the personality, and the ability to be able to engage with the American president again in a very unformal setting, quite unlike his predecessor Hu Jintao who had that state dinner, this is a more informal setting.
And it'll be interesting to see how the two world leaders will interact side by side against two days of meetings, six hours of talk time between both of them. And they need to reach a mutual understanding.
Back to you, Pauline.
CHIOU: Yeah, it will be very interesting to see, Kristie, because usually Chinese leaders are so heavily scripted.
I want to shift gears a little bit and talk about tech, Kristie, because we know in China that Twitter and Facebook are blocked, but I understand that they are not there at the forum. What exactly is going on?
LU STOUT: Yeah, it was very interesting. Earlier today, I was moderating a panel discussion. And Gua Ping (ph), one of the rotating CEOs of Huawei was there. And he noted that there was wi-fi in the room. So I turned on the wi-fi on my tablet computer. And sure enough, I could access Twitter, I could access Facebook, I could access YouTube, all three are sites that are usually blocked in China.
Now I talked to the conference organizers here at the Fortune Forum at Chengdu, and they said that this was something that they had organized in advance of the summit for the 600 high level executives, the delegates who have come here.
So, for the half billion people out there in China, the netizens of China who want to access the internet, they still have a fettered, restricted internet, but at the site of the Fortune Global Forum here in Chengdu, at the Shangri La right over there, there is unfettered access to the internet, but only for a couple of days.
Back to you.
CHIOU: All right, so just that small little opening there, but perhaps a small step of progress. All right, Kristie, thank you very much. That's Kristie Lu Stout there at the Fortune Global Forum in Chengdu, China.
Well, Britain's Guardian newspaper reports the U.S. government is secretly collecting records of phone calls made every day by millions of Americans. It says the National Security Agency obtained a top secret court order in April. It requires the phone operator Verizon on an ongoing daily basis to give the agency information on all telephone calls in its system over a three month period ending July 19.
The Guardian goes on to say the numbers of both parties on a call are handed over. So are the location and the duration of the calls, but not what is said in the conversation.
Now, CNN has not been able to independently verify the report. A senior Obama administration official said all orders from the foreign intelligence surveillance court are classified, but did note that general information of this type has been critical in protecting the nation from terrorist threats.
We have also requested comment from the FBI, the National Security Agency and the CIA. Verizon, which has about 100 million U.S. subscribers has declined to comment.
To Myanmar now where Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has declared she wants the top job. At the World Economic Forum, the former political prisoner says she wants to be president and she's calling for changes to the constitution so she can run in elections planned for 2015.
Andrew Stevens has more from Myanmar's capital.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDREW STEVENS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi dispelling any lingering doubts about her presidential ambitions. I want to be president, I'm quite frank about that. She told everybody here at the World Economic Forum in Naypyidaw, in Myanmar on stage with a senior government minister.
Now the opposition leader who was only released from house arrest after 15 years in 2010 was elected to the parliament in April of last year. But she faces a major obstacle in the form of the constitution. It has been specifically written so she cannot run for presidency, because her husband, her late husband and her two children have foreign passports.
So there would have to be a constitutional change here in Myanmar to allow her to run for presidency.
But certainly she maintains an enormous following across the country. And as she has now made very, very clear, she wants to top job.
Andrew Stevens, CNN, Naypyidaw, Myanmar.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHIOU: And in just the last hour, Aung San Suu Kyi has again addressed the issue of her political ambitions at the World Economic Forum.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AUNG SAN SUU KYI, MYANMAR OPPOSITION LEADER: So I said I might as well be honest and say, yes, I do aspire to the presidency as I should as a leader of a political party that is going to take part in the electoral process.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHIOU: And that is Aung San Suu Kyi once again, the Nobel Laureate. And also announcing her intention to run for president some day.
Well, after months of tensions, North and South Korea have agreed to hold talks about reopening their shared manufacturing zone. The Kaesong Industrial Park is a major symbol of cooperation between the two Koreas, but activity there was halted in April when North Korea barred South Koreans from entering and pulled out its own 50,000 workers. Pyongyang proposed the meeting on reopening Kaesong in a statement carried by North Korean state run media.
South Korea accepted. And has proposed a date of June 12 to start discussions.
Well, still to come right here on News Stream, a makeshift shelter in Thailand. These dogs were destined for Vietnamese markets, but we'll tell you why their rescue doesn't guarantee a much better fate.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHIOU: It has been a little more than two years since the raid that killed Osama bin Laden. Now we are learning new details about the possible leak of top secret details about that night. Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The top-secret raid by Navy SEALs and the CIA to get Osama bin Laden became an international thriller in the movie "Zero Dark Thirty." But an even bigger mystery? How did the filmmakers, especially producer Mark Boal, find out so much about the mission?
MARK BOAL, PRODUCER: We gathered as many firsthand accounts as we possibly could from people who had direct knowledge of the events that we portrayed. But, beyond that, I won't get too specific about who those people were.
STARR: But Congressman Peter King says the CIA privately told him secrets were spilled against the rules. And the chief offender may have been the CIA and its director, Leon Panetta.
An early draft of a Pentagon report made public by a watchdog group says Mark Boal was allowed into what should have been a secret CIA ceremony acknowledging those who participated in the raid and -- quote -- "During the awards ceremony, Director Panetta specifically recognized the unit that conducted the raid and identified the ground commander by name."
The Navy community Seal Team Six and the commanders were all supposed to have their identities kept secret. A source close to Panetta says the final Pentagon report won't deal with what Panetta did during his time at the CIA. He says the director was told everyone in that room had the necessary security clearances, and Panetta never knew Mark Boal was there.
(on camera): CNN has not independently confirmed what this watchdog group says. It's a draft Pentagon report. But a former CIA official insists that no classified information about the bin Laden raid ever made it into the general arena.
Barbara Starr, CNN, The Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHIOU: Britain has publicly acknowledged a longstanding debt to thousands of Kenyans. It's offering compensation to many of those who suffered under British colonial rule. The government is settling claims of torture and other kinds of abuse inflicted on Kenyans who fought against British rule in the 1950s. The total settlement is around $30 million.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAM HAGUE, BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY: We understand the pain and grievance felt by those who were involved in the events of the emergency in Kenya. The British government recognizes that Kenyans were subject to torture and other forms of ill treatment at the hands of the colonial administration. The British government sincerely regrets that these abuses took place and that they marred Kenya's progress towards independence.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHIOU: Last year a British court ruled that three elderly victims of torture could sue the UK over actions that took place more than 50 years ago. The Kenya human rights commission has estimated that about 90,000 Kenyans were killed or injured during what was called the Mau Mau Uprising.
Thailand is trying to crack down on the illegal trade in dog meat. Earlier this week, we exposed how each year tens of thousands of dogs are transported from Thailand through Laos into Vietnam where they are sold for slaughter. Thai authorities have been able to block some shipments, but even when dogs are rescued their fate can be uncertain.
And we want to warn you, this report by Anna Coren contains some strong and very disturbing images.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: With the skin hanging from their frail and skeletal bodies, many of these dogs are simply waiting to die. A bony ribcage slowly moves up and down as this animal takes its final breath.
The staff at the shelter in Nakhon Phanom in northeast Thailand have done everything possible to try to minimize the suffering. But these dogs have already endured a living hell.
In the last two months, they were rescued along with thousands of other dogs that were being illegally smuggled from Thailand to Vietnam where dog meat is considered a delicacy. They were crammed into small steel cages, a dozen dogs to a cage, broken bones and crushed skulls a common injury.
JOHN DALLEY, SOI DOG FOUNDATION: You know, they could be on these trucks and in these cages three, four days, five days.
COREN: And this is happening...
DALLEY: Without food and water.
COREN: ...weekly?
DALLEY: Yeah.
COREN: If not daily?
DALLEY: Yeah, yeah.
COREN: Thai authorities intercepted several trucks, part of their ongoing effort to combat smuggling. They brought the dogs to this facility that was already overflowing. And to make matters worse, there was an outbreak of disease, claiming the lives of 780 dogs last month.
The Soi Dog Foundation that runs the shelter flew in vets from the U.S., the UK, and the Philippines to help local staff with the crisis.
How does that make you feel when you see dogs in such bad condition?
MARISA GOUDIE, WORLDWIDE VETERINARY SERVICE: Yeah, it's really heartbreaking. There inherently still wanting to trust humans after everything they've been through.
COREN: While fatalities have drastically reduced, the suffering isn't over yet.
Each and every one of these dogs has been through such a traumatic experience to get here and they're still not in the homes straight. They've all had either pneumonia, distemper or pava virus (ph). And these are considered the healthy ones.
Now almost anywhere else in the world if these dogs weren't found homes, they would be euthanized. That's considered the humane option, but not here in Thailand. It's against their beliefs.
And western vets respectfully adhere to the wishes of their Buddhist colleagues.
HALEY WALTERS, WORLDWIDE VETERINARY SERVICE: Here, we can only give palliative care, so we try to make them as comfortable as possible, give them pain relief. The really skinny ones, they get a cardboard bed and some kind words. That's the saddest thing here that we can't help them on their final journey.
COREN: Even for the healthy dogs, the future is grim. They need to find loving homes, but it's only the cute and fluffy ones that are adopted. The rest like these see out their final days never leaving the concrete floor of a shelter.
WALTERS: It's a huge problem. If we could stop the root of the problem, which is the dog-eating trade, then we would stop all of this.
COREN: But for now, the multimillion dollar dog meat industry continues to thrive in parts of Asia, a harsh reality for the animals affectionately referred to as man's best friend.
Anna Coren, CNN, Nakhon Phanom, Thailand.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHIOU: You are watching News Stream. And we'll have some tech news for you after the break. We know that Google has developed a pair of glasses that will also act as a computer, but they're not the only ones working on technology you can wear on your head. We'll tell you about the company to give Google Glass a run for its money coming up next on News Stream.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHIOU: And this news is just coming in, Agence France Presse is reporting that Austria will withdraw its troops from the UN peacekeeping mission in the Golan Heights following fighting between Syrian rebels and regime forces in the area. They are quoting government officials.
Now the Austrian army's participation in the UNDOF mission can no longer be maintained for military reasons, that's a quote from the chancellor as well as the vice chancellor. They said that today in a statement.
In other news now, let's return to our video rundown. Earlier, we told you about Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi's plans to run for Myanmar's presidency, but now we want to turn our attention to Japan and a new addition to the fashionable wearable tech field.
You've probably heard of Google Glass, the wearable computer device that Google hopes will be the next tech craze, but a company called Telepathy in Japan is developing what it hopes will be a competitive alternative. And here's Diana Magnay.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DIANA MAGNAY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The future of tech is in wearable technology. So for example whether my jacket could one day charge my phone, or I'm sure you've heard of Google Glass which can read your emails to you, show you where you're going and also take video from their glasses that you're wearing.
Well, we're in a small startup rented space here in the heart of Tokyo. We're about to meet the man who says he's going to give Google Glass a run for its money.
Takahito, how are you doing?
TAKAHITO IGUCHI, CEO TELEPATHY: It's nice to meet you.
MAGNAY: Nice to meet you.
IGUCHI: Wow.
MAGNAY: What are you seeing?
IGUCHI: Oh, my god.
MAGNAY: Oh, my goodness.
(LAUGHTER)
IGUCHI: OK. You can try it.
MAGNAY: Thanks.
This is a prototype. For now, there's no build-in camera, so the image I'll be seeing comes from the camera on this Android device.
IGUCHI: You be -- you can see the screen -- can you see?
You can?
MAGNAY: Oh, I can see something -- ah, there. What's that? Yeah, now I can see -- now I can see something. I can see myself.
IGUCHI: Yeah, yeah.
MAGNAY: As a Manga cartoon character.
IGUCHI: Yes.
MAGNAY: Here's how it's meant to look, according to Telepathy's slick promotional video, the world as normal with a little box in the corner which can stream what you see real-time to a friend's device.
In reality, though, it's not quite like that yet.
It's not quite balancing in a way that I can always see the screen. Ooh, now I can see myself, but not in Manga, form.
IGUCHI: OK. I can change that Manga mode.
MAGNAY: I want to be Manga.
IGUCHI: Yeah.
MAGNAY: There we go.
The device responds to a few simple hand signals in front of the camera, but we can't show you what they are yet, the company wants to patent them first. This won't go on sale until 2014.
And this is the very sensitive part that actually we can't do close- ups of in case...
IGUCHI: It's top secret.
MAGNAY: In case someone steals it.
IGUCHI: Yeah.
MAGNAY: Well, we don't want that to happen.
But this is obviously something that I could take photographs of and videos of people when they didn't want me to.
IGUCHI: Yes.
MAGNAY: There is a significant privacy concern involved.
IGUCHI: Yes. In a bar, or the car, the -- if you wear this kind of device, maybe that is scary for the other person so that we make the -- put the hand on the camera and some LED or a kind of signal will appear that means I don't take anything.
MAGNAY: Oh, so people will know that if you're wandering around with this device and there's a blue light coming out of it that it's not recording.
IGUCHI: Yes.
MAGNAY: Like the red light on a camera.
IGUCHI: Yes.
MAGNAY: That's not on, it's on...
IGUCHI: Not kind of -- kind of...
MAGNAY: In short, there's less functionality than Google Glass, it's just videos streaming or snapshots with lots of funky filters, but all the same privacy concerns. Possibly, though, a cooler design.
IGUCHI: Google Glass is very good for the (inaudible) people. IQ of 200 people, that is (inaudible), but we focused on the fashionable people.
MAGNAY: Do I look cool?
IGUCHI: Yeah, you look so cool, very suitable for you.
MAGNAY: Wow, I can see it.
IGUCHI: You're a terminator.
MAGNAY: I am the terminator.
IGUCHI: Yes.
MAGNAY: Well, so far I'm -- I can't see very much.
IGUCHI: Yeah.
MAGNAY: Diana Magnay, CNN, Tokyo.
IGUCHI: My company, Telepathy...
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHIOU: She looks like she's having fun with that, though.
Well, there is new evidence that our ancient cousins go back even farther in time than we though, by millions of years. Scientists have discovered a nearly complete skeleton of a primate so small it would fit into the palm of your hand. It was found in a lake bed in Central China and dates back some 55 million years.
This is an artist's rendering of how it might have looked. The discovery reported in the journal Nature suggests that ancient primates, which led to today's monkeys, apes, and humans, emerged in Asia, not Africa, after the extinction of the dinosaurs.
Well, fast food restaurants in the U.S. have been busy coming up with new gimmicks to sell their products, but a new take on the classic lollipop stands out. Jeanne Moos has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Flying pizzas, hands- free Whoppers, cronuts. It's been a weird phase in food. It just got weirder with the introduction of breast milk lollipops.
JASON DARLING, FOUNDER, LOLLYPHILE: It's sweet. It's got some nutty hints to it.
MOOS: But don't cry, baby. He's not stealing mommy's milk just imitating it.
DARLING: There's sugar and flavor. There's no breast milk in them, I promise.
MOOS: Jason Darling is the founder of an online store called Lollyphile. It specializes in lollipops with weird flavors aimed at adults, such as Chocolate Bacon and Wasabi Ginger. Recently, a couple of Jason's friends started breastfeeding.
DARLING: So I asked my friends if I could try it. And they said yes. And it was pretty amazing.
MOOS (on camera): Jason had mothers share their milk with his flavor specialists so they could recreate the taste.
(voice-over): Now he's selling Breast Milk lollipops four for 10 bucks.
But at least his lollipops exist. That's more than you can say for the hands-free Whopper holders.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (singing): I need my hands.
MOOS: The video tells a whopper. It was mean as a joke, produced in Puerto Rico to celebrate the brand. Critics on Gawker compared to it a horse's feed bag.
Meanwhile, we in the media feasted on another viral creation, the Domino's Pizza drone, designed to deliver pizzas. This video was created for Dominos in the U.K., and while they didn't call it a stunt, Dominos in the U.S. distanced themselves from it. Using drones for commercial purposes like this would not fly in the U.S.
But these are flying off the shelves.
(on camera): You probably never wondered what you get when you combine a croissant and a doughnut.
(voice-over): It's called the cronut, and even the editor of Zagat got in line at the New York City bakery that sells out of them every morning.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you like it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I love it.
MOOS: They sell for 5 bucks a piece, but on Craigslist entrepreneurs willing to wait in line resell them for $20 and up.
The cronut gets competition this week from Dunkin' Donuts, when the glazed bacon sandwich is introduced.
(on camera): You know, they say there's a sucker born every minute.
(voice-over): But usually, they don't taste like breast milk. The breast milk idea doesn't bother us. It's what Jason did after the bulldog licked the lolly.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHIOU: That's one way to express yourself. The moms out there will know what I mean.
And that is News Stream, but the news continues right here at CNN. World Business Today is coming up next.
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