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Prime Minister Erdogan Returns To Turkey; Djokovic Battles Nadal For Spot In French Open Final; Central European Flood Waters Head North; White House Defends Prism Program; U.S. Adds 175,000 Jobs In May; President Obama, Xi Jinping To Begin Talks In California Today

Aired June 07, 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.

Turkey's prime minister is back on home soil and he's using his return to demand an end to days of furious protests.

Two newspaper stories fueled debate over the right of the U.S. government to spy on its own citizens' activities.

And from Russia without love, Vladimir Putin and his wife are splitting up.

We begin in Turkey where Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has returned to Istanbul after four days abroad. The prime minister is about to speak at a European Union conference in Istanbul. These are live pictures that you're seeing. Other speakers are up first. And of course we're following that closely for any comments that he makes about the unrest.

Now while he was away, those protests against his government continued in parts of the country. And at times it turned violent.

In the hours since he's been back in Turkey, Mr. Erdogan has called for an end to protests. He's also announced that accusations of excessive police force against demonstrations will be investigated.

For more now, let's go to Ivan Watson who is live in Istanbul.

Ivan, what kind of response are you seeing from the demonstrators ever since Mr. Erdogan has come back home to home soil?

IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the protests are clearly still underway. And the -- some of the responses are interesting. You know, I talked to a small business owner, a taxi station dispatcher, who told me, Pauline, that he was frustrated that the demonstrators in Taksim are still barricading roads and it's not allowing traffic to circulate. But he also said that he was very disappointed with the statements of the prime minister at Istanbul Ataturk Airport at around 3:00 in the morning today, local time. He said he sounded like a dictator and he wasn't backing down. And that indicated that this confrontation would likely continue, which has done some serious harm to the economy, certainly here in Istanbul.

In his speech to the crowd after what has been a deeply embarrassing week for the Turkish prime minister as well as for his supporters, the Turkish prime minister did try to reach out to the so-called other 50 percent that did not vote for him in the 2011 elections. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN, TURKISH PRIME MINISTER (through translator): My brothers, some people are saying that the prime minister has been saying that he is only Turkey's 50 percent prime minister. We only said that we are servants of 76 million people until today. We served our people from farthest west to the farthest east coast without differentiating any one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: But, you know, he also singled out some new targets in Turkish society in that very speech, notably pointing out the CEO of a major Turkish bank, Guaranteed Bank, who had come out to protesters and identified himself as a fellow chepulger (ph), that's the word that means riffraff that the Turkish prime minister has used to refer to the anti- government demonstrators. And he was very dismissive of a bank head associating himself with riffraff and vandals.

So we got a lot of mixed messages from the prime minister in his return to that heroes welcome, Some conciliatory and some characteristically aggressive -- Pauline.

CHIOU: Now, Ivan, the initial issue that sparked these protests about a week ago was the planned destruction of a park in order to build a shopping mall. But there are deeper issues. What are they? And why are protesters so angry?

WATSON: You know, it runs the whole gamut. It's -- some are just frustrated after 10 years with the overbearing lecturing and rhetorical style of the Turkish prime minister, others very concerned about the lack of consultation and community outreach when it comes to these massive urban development projects, others concerned about infringements on democratic freedoms and human rights in the country.

But I think one point that we can look at is the evolution of Erdogan and the Justice and Development Party that he founded that has been in power now for more than a decade. And there was a very interesting op-ed by one of the former lawmakers from the Justice and Development Party published today, Swat Kaniclioglu (ph) who left the party and stopped being a lawmaker about a year or so ago.

And in this op-ed, he describes, basically, how he had been one of the liberal champions of the Justice and Development Party which succeeded in breaking the stranglehold that the military had over Turkish politics and instituting a number of democratic reforms in this country, but then he describes a hard turn away from this reform process in the last couple of years and a purging, he claims, of centrist and liberal voices in that party.

And he says, you know, the members of that party and Erdogan himself should not be surprised that liberal voices in Turkey, centrist voices in Turkey have rushed to throw their support behind the protesters over the course of the last week because they see themselves as being very betrayed by a party that has instead swung to the right and has put a great deal of pressure on things like the media in the last couple of years and seems to have given up on a process of pushing Turkey towards democratization and joining the European Union.

That essay coming out at a time when Turkey -- when the Turkish prime minister is about to address an assembly including the European Union's commissioner for expansion of the EU Stefan Filay (ph) -- Pauline.

CHIOU: Yeah, and we will take him live as soon as he speaks and see whether or not he addresses the protests.

Ivan, thank you very much for explaining the situation and explaining the evolution of the sentiment there over the past 10 years.

Ivan Watson there live in Istanbul.

Well, Mr. Erdogan returned home as the conflict in Syria casts a shadow over parts of his country. Ben Wedeman reports from the once peaceful border town of Antakia.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Antakia's old bazaar shows no signs of the unrest that has racked this city and Turkey over the last week.

Despite all the uproar, you still need to get your shoes repaired.

The province of Hatay, where Antakia is located, is one of Turkey's most ethnically and religiously diverse provinces where Arabs and Turks, Muslims, Christians and even a small Jewish community have coexisted for generations.

"In Antakia, we don't have any problems," says shopkeeper Hasan (ph). "My neighbor here is an Alawi. A Christian works over there."

But with an increasingly sectarian conflict raging just over the border in Syria, some worry about strains to Hatay's delicate social fabric.

"They want what's happening in Syria to happen here," Ali (ph) tells me. He doesn't want to say who they are.

"The government should focus on setting its own affairs in order," says Fateh (ph), a spice vendor. "Syria isn't important, Turkey is what matters," he tells me.

But Turkey and Syria are inexorably intertwined.

The Bebal-Howa (ph) border crossing into Syria may look busy. Goods crossing here are destined to parts of Syria controlled by the opposition. But the once profitable trade between Syria and Turkey has dropped by two- thirds.

Last month, nearly 50 people were killed in twin car bombings in the border town of Reyhanli. Critics saw this as blow-back for Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's policy of supporting the Syrian uprising.

And opinion polls show a majority of Turks don't support that policy and have voiced their opposition in protests here. Could Syria be Erdogan's Achilles Heel?

KARABEKIR AKKOYUNLU, LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS: It could be accurate. It's not there yet, but it's increasingly looking like it might be his undoing. He took a big risk back in 2011 when he took a very strong side and he wanted basically invested very much in the Syrian opposition, which at the time seemed like the right thing to do.

WEDEMAN: The right thing to do at the time, perhaps, but with Syria going from uprising to sectarian war, and rising opposition in the streets, it may be time to reconsider.

Ben Wedeman, CNN, Antakia, Turkey.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHIOU: Coming up on News Stream, the political fallout from new reports the U.S. government may be accessing information about online activity.

China's president arrives in California for a summit with his American counterpart.

And a high profile split in Russia. President Vladimir Putin and his wife reveal that their marriage is over.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHIOU: Could the U.S. government be monitoring your phone calls, or reading your email? The Washington Post and British newspaper The Guardian say the National Security Agency and the FBI are intercepting online data. The reports say the intelligence agencies are tapping directly into the servers of nine leading internet companies. And they allegedly been mining that data for years now.

The program, called Prism reportedly began in 2007, but has expanded under the Obama administration. The Washington Post says this is a slide from a top secret NSA presentation that shows when each tech firm became involved here.

CNN, however, has not confirmed the authenticity of these documents.

Several companies have denied any knowledge of Prism, but the Washington Post says the program has become the leading source of raw data for the NSA and is often used in the president's daily briefing.

Now the national intelligence director has slammed the reports as misleading. James Clapper would not confirm that Prism exists, but did say classified information collection has been authorized by all three branches of government. This follows the stunning news that a secret federal court ordered Verizon to hand over millions of phone records.

CNN is also working to confirm a Wall Street Journal report that credit card data is being collected as well.

Well, these are the latest controversies that have critics asking what happened to President Obama's pledge of transparency? CNN's Dan Lothian takes a look at the fallout.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This morning, President Obama is waking up in California as a political firestorm over the government's collection of phone and Internet data intensifies.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I), VERMONT: The bottom line is that the United States government now has phone records and other records of tens and tens and tens of millions of American who have nothing, absolutely nothing to do with terrorism.

LOTHIAN: The political fallout after news that the NSA was collecting Americans' phone records from Verizon was quick. Public privacy advocates are already taking form online.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you hear me now?

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Yes, we can.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you hear me now?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your call goes through.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you hear me now?

OBAMA: Yes, we can.

LOTHIAN: A stinging editorial in "The New York Times" proclaims President Obama's dragnet and says the administration has now lost all credibility.

And the letter to Attorney General Eric Holder from the author of the Patriot Act, Representative Jim Sensenbrenner, who writes he's extremely disturbed by what appears to be an overbroad interpretation of the fact.

Even the president's liberal base piled on, "The Huffington Post" ran a photo on its cover page showing Obama morphing into George W. Bush.

But the program has its defender.

REP. MIKE ROGERS (R-MI), INTELLIGENCE CMTE. CHAIRMAN: This program was used to stop a program, excuse me, stop a terrorist attack in the United States. We know that.

LOTHIAN: The White House says these types of orders include data, not phone call, and have been a critical tool in protecting the nation from terror threats.

But some lawmakers want more answers and Attorney General Holder, already under pressure for snooping on reporters, is on the hot seat again.

SEN. MARK KIRK (R), ILLINOIS: Could you assure to us that no phones inside the capitol were monitored of members of Congress?

ERIC HOLDER, ATTORNEY GENERAL: With all drew respect, Senator, I don't think this is an appropriate setting for me to discuss that issue.

LOTHIAN: Dan Lothian, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHIOU: Let's get more now from Washington.

Chief political correspondent Candy Crowley joins us live. Candy, is all of this data mining legal in the circumstances?

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As far as we know, it is, that this all comes under the PATRIOT Act, which actually came as a result of George W. Bush when he was president. He did the same kind of data mining, but there was no court that had approved it. There was no law that protected it. So the PATRIOT Act kind of grew out of 9/11 and the aftermath and gave the government these kind of broad powers -- more importantly, interpretive powers. And that's where the president is now running afoul of some of the more liberal members of progressive groups and members of congress as well as the more libertarian groups who say, wait, this is too far. This is not what this law envisioned, this kind of broad swath of just vacuuming up information on everyone. They sort of think it should be more targeted.

But, yes, regardless of how broad this sweep is of information of Americans and also foreigners, the fact is that it is, as far as we can tell, and as far as we know legal under the PATRIOT Act.

CHIOU: And Candy, let's talk about how this information is mined, because the Washington Post and the Guardian newspaper are saying that the U.S. government is getting information from the servers of internet companies like Microsoft, Google, Apple, Facebook. Now Facebook says it does not give government agencies direct access to their servers. And Apple's spokesperson is saying that it had never heard of Prism.

So if these reports are true, how exactly would the government be getting this information?

CROWLEY: Oh, man. So far above my pay grade. I'm not really sure.

But there's sort of two different things going on here. There's Prism, which has to do with social media, which has to do with the seven internet companies that are being reported on. And then there's the sweep of phone data. So there's two different programs.

But certainly like any one anywhere that has access to the internet -- certainly the federal government does and has ways to monitor it. I don't know the ins and outs of who knows what. It is not surprising to me that a company have not have heard of the Prism program, because it's not as though they get the inner details of what the federal government is doing, nor by the way do I think that the federal government needs permission from any of these folks to do it.

But how it works, you know, I think that's what everybody is kind of grappling with, because we don't -- we're trying to have this conversation about -- well, is this an intrusion on civil liberties, or is this what we need to do to fight terrorism, but we don't know the depth of the intrusion, what's actually going on, and that's what makes it so difficult.

CHIOU: Yeah. And when you're talking about massive amounts of data, it can make Americans feel very, very uncomfortable, especially when there's this expectation, this very high expectation of the right to privacy in the U.S.

Candy, thank you very much. Our chief political correspondent. Candy Crowley in Washington. Great to see you as well.

In other news now, Syria is one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists. And French authorities are now trying to locate two journalists from that country who have gone missing in northwestern Syria. Reporter Didier Francois and photographer Edouard Elias who work for radio station Europe 1. The company says the pair were on their way to the city of Aleppo when they disappeared.

Coming up next on News Stream, the husband of Britain's queen is admitted to the hospital for surgery. We'll have a live update on Prince Phillip's condition when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHIOU: It is a beautiful Friday night here in Hong Kong. You are watching News Stream. And this is a visual version of the program's rundown on this Friday.

Earlier, we were live in Turkey with Prime Minister Erdogan's response to the unrest in his country. Later, we'll look at today's talks in California between Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Barack Obama.

But now to the health of a senior member of the British royal family. The husband of Britain's Queen Elizabeth has been admitted to a London hospital for what Buckingham Palace is calling exploratory abdominal surgery.

Royal correspondent Max Foster joins me now live from outside the London clinic with the latest on Prince Phillip's condition. And Max, what can you tell us about his situation?

MAX FOSTER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you described the detail of what we've been given, really, but we've also been told that he's going to be in for two weeks and that the operation is taking place today, probably right now. And he's going to be under general anesthetic.

This is a man who is about to turn 92, so obviously concern about any sort of big operation of this kind, whether or not an infection sets in. But certainly there is concern here. And the fact that they named two weeks as a period of time that he's going to be in shows that they do take this very seriously.

But he came in yesterday looking well. He had some tests about a week ago. Those test results came back in during the week. And then an appointment was booked in.

So he wasn't rushed into hospital, wasn't taken in, in an ambulance. He walked up these steps in quite spritely fashion, I'm told. But nevertheless, under -- or on the operating table as we speak, probably.

CHIOU: And, Max, what exactly is his illness? And how is the queen handling all of this?

FOSTER: Well, just we know that this surgery on his abdomen, and that's the amount of detail we've had. He has been in hospital several times over the last couple of years -- an infection, a heart problem, but this isn't related to any of those. This is directly in relation to the test results that he had back.

The queen hasn't visited. In fact, she has been in the area just down the road to the new BBC headquarters. So she's continuing on with her public engagements. That's her style. If she was going to suddenly rush in here, we would all know there was something wrong. So there's something in the messaging there.

Perhaps over the two weeks we would expect her to come in, but I don't think we'll expect her to come in straight away.

CHIOU: And Prince Phillip recently attended the celebration of the queen's 60th anniversary of her coronation. Was this something that was planned already to have this surgery? Or has his condition changed since then?

FOSTER: Well, we've been trying to work it out. And effectively the night before the coronation, he canceled an engagement. We know now that he lost his voice because he -- as a result of these tests he's had, he lost his voice. So the test must have been carried out either over the weekend -- last weekend, or on the Friday.

But he was there at the coronation. And he wasn't expected to speak, but this very much speaks to Prince Phillip and his public duty. He would -- I mean, that was a very significant even, that coronation service, and he would have said I have to go to that. And I suspect that this operation was booked in to happen after that event.

CHIOU: OK, Max, thank you very much. I know there are few details. And thank you very much for updating us on what's going on with Prince Phillip there.

Well, Russia's first couple has called it quits. Many Russians weren't too surprised by the announcement by President Putin and his wife of nearly 30 years that their marriage is actually over. But as Phil Black tells us, the timing of the announcement was unexpected.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It started as a pretty ordinary Russian version of date night, going to the ballet. But there's never been anything ordinary about Russia's first couple. During a break they walked into an empty room to stand in front of a camera and review the show.

"Excellent," they said.

Then the reporter asked a question, many Russians have been wondering about for a long time. "Is it true you no longer live together?"

PRES. VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIA (through translator): This is true. All my activities and work are related with the publicity, with the total publicity. Some like it. Some don't.

BLACK: Not the clearest answer. So, Lyudmila Putin had to spell it out.

LYUDMILA PUTIN, VLADIMIR PUTIN'S EX-WIFE (through translator): Our marriage is over because we barely see each other. Vladimir is completely engaged with his work. Our children have grown up. They're living their own lives. So, it just happened we both have our own lives.

BLACK: This breakup appearance was the first time they've been seen together since Putin's inauguration as president over a year ago. Over the 13 years, he has dominated political life in this country, sightings of his wife have become increasingly rare.

In 2008, a Moscow newspaper reported he was planning to divorce her and marry the Russian Olympic gymnast. Putin angrily denied that and the newspaper shut down soon after.

This time, as Lyudmila Putin confirmed the divorce, she explained, she doesn't like flying or publicity. That had to be a big problem if you're married to a plan famous for traveling across the world's largest country attracting lots of attention with highly publicized, tough guy stunts.

Despite those differences, their marriage lasted just short of 30 years. They have two adult daughters. Lyudmila Putin says her soon- to-be ex-husband is a loving father and someone she'll always be close to.

Phil Black, CNN, Moscow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHIOU: Now to Bangladesh. And this woman is known as the miracle survivor of April's building collapse. Rescued after more than two weeks trapped beneath the rubble.

Now Reshma Begum has recovered, and she has a new job. Isha Sisay has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ISHA SESAY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Remember Reshma? She's the young Bangladeshi woman who survived 17 days trapped under the wreckage of a collapsed building outside Dhaka. This was Reshma last month as rescuers pulled her from the rubble. And this is Reshma now. She walked out of a military hospital on Thursday and into a new job. She was one of several thousand factory workers caught in the April 24 collapse. More than 1,100 people died.

Trapped in a small dark space under the rubble, Reshma says she survived on a small bottle of water and several packets of biscuits she brought to work that day.

After weeks of recovery in the hospital, the teenage seamstress vowed never to work in the garment industry again. On Thursday, she was surprised to get a job offer from a five star hotel.

RESHMA BEGUM, MIRACLE SURVIVOR (through translator): Hospital officials told me you have good news. I asked what it was and they said, you got a good job. You're going to join the Westin. Are you happy? I said I am happy.

SESAY: Mangers at the Westin Dhaka introduced Reshma to a crowd of reporters on Thursday. She's now set to begin work welcoming hotel guests as a lobby ambassador.

BEGUM (through translator): They said, you have to learn more to work there. And they will train you. I said I will try my best to learn. And please, you all pray for me so I can do well.

SESAY: And the new job comes at a hefty pay raise. Reshma was earning $65 a month at the factory. She'll now earn a basic salary of $450 in her new role.

Isha Sesay, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHIOU: That's quite a pay raise there.

Well, the presidents of the U.S. and China are set to meet. Here you see Xi Jinping arriving in California on Thursday. Coming up on News Stream, we'll tell you why many are saying Mr. Xi might be the Chinese leader who can finally warm up often frosty relations.

And Central Europe remains on alert as swollen rivers threaten more severe flooding. We've got an exclusive report from the flood zone.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHIOU: I'm Pauline Chiou in Hong Kong. You're watching News Stream and these are your world headlines.

Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is back on home soil and is preparing to give a speech at an EU conference in Istanbul. Huge protests have rocked his country over the past few days killing three people and leaving more than 4,000 injured. Mr. Erdogan is calling for an end to the protests, which he says have become undemocratic.

Reports in the Washington Post and the Guardian newspapers say the U.S. National Security Agency is tapping directly into the servers of leading U.S. internet companies. While not confirming the program, the director of the U.S. national intelligence said data collection only targets non-U.S. citizens outside the country. And he says the reports contain numerous inaccuracies.

North Korea has reopened a hotline with South Korea and there are plans for talks between the two governments over the weekend. The North requested the meeting with the aim of reopening that shared industrial zone at Kaesong, which it forced to close back in April.

And the U.S. has just released its jobs figures for the month of May. 175,000 new jobs were created last month. The unemployment rate now stands at 7.6 percent. Now that's above analysts expectations around 158,000 jobs added.

Maggie Lake will break down the numbers in just a little bit on World Business Today.

Well, Xi Jinping is making his first visit to the U.S. as the president of China. He will hold a two day summit with his counterpart with Barack Obama. An editorial in the pro-Beijing Global Times says it will hopefully stand out as a milestone in the new relationship between both countries.

The two men have met before while Mr. Xi was still vice president. But unlike the last time, this sit down will not take place at the White House. The leaders have opted against the trappings of Washington for a secluded California estate.

The meeting, meant to warm up relations, will take place in the Mojave Desert at the historic Annenberg Retreat at Sunnylands. Some call it the Camp David of the west coast.

Well, former Chinese foreign ministry official Victor Gao says the U.S. and China have never held an informal summit like this before. And he hopes the setting will help build trust at the top.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VICTOR GAO, FRM. CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY OFFICIAL: This is a rate chance to President Xi and President Obama to go right to the jugular and talk about the issues without the bells and whistles and (inaudible) and the red carpets and the state dinner, et cetera, so that they can stare each other into the eye and check each other out and hopefully by the end of the meeting they can significantly improve their mutual trust with each other and will recognize each other as partners rather than adversaries.

That will create an overall much better environment for China and the United States to talk about all the differences between them and also very much focus on the common ground between the two countries.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHIOU: Now the two leaders have plenty to talk about from cyber hacking to Washington's so-called pivot to Asia.

Senior international correspondent Nic Robertson has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: He has just become president and his nation is on the rise. So what can President Obama expect when he hosts Xi Jinping this week?

PROFESSOR WENRAN JIANG, UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA: The most concerned issue, I think, on both sides would be the hot button issue to quote cliche that will the United States and China go into a new Cold War?

ROBERTSON: The two men did meet last year. Back then, President Xi was just vice president. Now, he has the power to throw Obama's pivot to Asia off balance. U.S. allegations of Chinese cyber warfare are just one of several serious wobbles that need stabilizing.

JIANG: The Chinese (inaudible) just the other way around, saying what Americans are hyping up in the cyber warfare is just simply preparation to hype up his own budget on the cyber warfare capabilities and therefore in the future blocking China's rise.

ROBERTSON: Whether it's concerns over cyber warfare, naval deployment or trade, President Xi is striking at his uncertainties far faster than his predecessors. Both of China's last two presidents waited more than three years before going to visit their U.S. counterparts.

Even so, analysts here describe President Xi as cautious.

They also say he's a pragmatist, which in the context of U.S. relations raises the question why did he send his only child to Harvard? Perhaps happy memories of his week spent in rural Iowa in 1985, studying American agriculture, courtesy of the Chinese government.

Last year, he went back to visit the family who took care of him.

Other clues to the man, to paraphrase and old saying, could come from behind him. His wife of almost three decades may be that great woman.

Ten years his junior, Peng Liyuan not only holds the civilian rank of major general, but has been a popular singer since before their marriage. A few years ago even performing in New York.

Peng is also becoming a fashion icon. Her choice of handbag as much in debate in Beijing as America's first lady's dresses are discussed in D.C.

This, too, marks President Xi as breaking from the mold. Previous Chinese leaders wives were so far behind their husbands as to be invisible.

How all this will shape his two days with Obama is hard to know, but if talk turns to the much hyped Chinese dream, the conversation may be short. President Xi has been clear, it's a strong nation and a strong military. From where he stands, the American dream is fading. And on this, anything less than agreement could herald some unsettled nights.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHIOU: Well, let's go back now to the U.S. jobs report. And we got the figures coming out just a couple of minutes ago. There were 175,000 new jobs created in the month of May in the U.S., that is up from analysts expectations. Let's go straight to Maggie Lake who joins us live from New York.

Maggie, great to see you on this show. When we peel back the layers to this, how are you reading this particular number?

MAGGIE LAKE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, Pauline, it's important to put it in the broader context. You just showed that graphic, 175,000 is better than expected, it's not as strong as that 300,000 plus we saw back in February. Those are the kind of numbers you want to see to want really feel like the U.S. economy is gaining momentum, really breaking away from that sort of sluggish recovery.

However, for the markets, it is all about expectations. And because the 175,000 is not only stronger than expectation, it was also stronger than some of the reads that we were getting from the private sector. Private sector jobs were actually 178,000.

Wall Street investors, stock investors, very concerned, somewhat of a paradox, but they're very concerned that if the economy is showing strength it may mean the Federal Reserve is going to start to ease back that bond buying, that's what the big debate in the market is.

So in a strange way, strong job growth should be very positive for the U.S. And longer term, it might be, but in the short-term it might rattle investors who are very concerned about the Fed pulling away the punch bowl.

The last thing I'll say is the unemployment rate 7.6 percent. That actually inched up a little bit. Sometimes that happens when people rejoin the hunt for a job, because they're feeling better about their prospects. We'll have to dig into the details a little bit more. We are going to be talking to John Silva, the chief economist from Wells Fargo in World Business Today just at the top of the hour. So viewers will want to stay tuned for that.

He'll dig into the details and tell us what he thinks it means for the economy and also for the Federal Reserve, Pauline.

CHIOU: Yeah, he's fantastic for insight.

And Maggie, you did mention about the concern about whether or not the Fed will tighten the taps on the bond buying program and stimulus. The Fed also has indicated that it's keeping its eye on inflation and the unemployment rate. And it doesn't want to start winding down until unemployment is about 6.5 percent in the U.S. So we're a long ways off from that.

So what's your perspective of how the Fed will look at this particular number?

LAKE: That's right, Pauline. We're a long way from them getting anywhere near restrictive with policy. And they've tried to make that really clear and saying, listen, we're going to hold these interest rates down here for a long time until we're absolutely sure.

The problem is, if they start to exit quantitative easing, we're in uncharted territory. So the hint that they're going to do it, may mean that the bond market runs ahead of them. And that's going to be the challenge for the Fed, how do they finesse that exit.

And Alan Greenspan, the former Federal Reserve chief, is even out making comments we're going to talk about on WBT, talking about the fact that we've got to start to pull back. We've got to go back to some sort of normalization. And what does that mean for bond yields?

And of course bond yield is very important. We don't talk about them all the time, but they peg -- they are pegged for interest rates for all sorts of lending, including home mortgages. And housing a big key for this U.S. economy.

So, does the market run ahead of the Fed? I think that's the question we're going to be asking John Silva in the next hour.

CHIOU: OK. And we will check in with you. And we will be tuning in, in about 20 minutes with Maggie on World Business Today.

We'll have much more on the U.S. jobs numbers on the next hour right here on CNN. Maggie will be there with the World Business Today team joined by the chief economist at Wells Fargo Ralph Silva. And you can tune in at 9:00 pm right here in Hong Kong, 2:00 pm London time.

Well, moving on now, there are threats of more floods in Central Europe. We'll have the very latest on the situation coming up next on News Stream.

And we'll survey the damage already done to one German city in an exclusive report. Stay with us.

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CHIOU: Parts of Central Europe are bracing for more flood waters. Officials in Hungary fear it could be hit with its worst floods ever in the next couple of days.

Now this is a look at some of the damage that's already been done across the region. At least 15 deaths are being blamed on the weather.

In the town of Meissen in eastern Germany, streets have been turned into lakes. Thousands have been evacuated from their homes. And it's a similar scene across the border in the Czech Republic.

700 towns have been hit by flooding there brought on by the swollen Vltava River.

In Austria, the river Danube is causing the major damage there. Officials there say the water is now receding, but roads, railways and river transport are still being affected.

The Danube is expected to peak in Hungary near the border with Slovakia tomorrow. And it could reach its highest level ever in the Hungarian capital of Budapest on Monday.

And as you can see, some rivers has spilled over their banks in rural areas of southwestern Poland.

Now the River Elbe crested in Dresden, Germany. And flood defenses saved the city center from serious damage, but outlying areas were not so lucky. CNN's Matthew Chance surveys the flood zone from above.

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MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's a city drowning in its own river. In the skies over Dresden, German emergency teams gave us an exclusive look at the flood zone and the shear scale of this European disaster.

Wow. Looking at the flood zone from the air is altogether different from the view you get on the ground. You can really see the extent to which the waters of the Elbe River here in Desden have taken control over vast areas of this historic city.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On the right side, you have one of the containers.

CHANCE: Among the debris swept downstream, we saw industrial containers. Emergency workers are worried they could contain harmful materials like chemicals or fuel. These ones were checked and found to be safe.

Further down on what was the river bank, a children's water park lies partly submerged, its once pristine swimming pools now overcome with brown slurry.

Well, rightly we've focused a lot on the human impact of these floods. Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes as a result, but the economic impact is going to be immense. I mean, just look at the scene down there, the damage that has been caused by these flood waters, not just here in Germany, across the region. It's going to run into hundreds of millions of dollars.

But for now, the focus remains on stemming the flow of Europe's powerful rivers. Officials say that not until the waters recede can the final cost of this flood be counted.

Matthew Chance, CNN, Dresden.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHIOU: Let's check in on the world weather center for more on the forecast for Central Europe. Samantha Moore is here with that.

Samantha, will this area get a breather soon?

SAMANTHA MOORE, CNN WEATHER CORRESPONDENT: You know, we are getting a little bit of a breather right now, but we still could see some areas of concern mainly with some heavy downpours from thunderstorms. So it's going to be more localized. It's not going to be as widespread. So a little bit of good news there.

But we do have another low here that is moving in through Spain. We're going to have to watch its effects as it moves to the east. And we have another trough of low pressure across Eastern Europe that will keep us unsettled.

So we don't expect to see any widespread heavy amounts of rain. But we're already saturated all across this region. So we're going to have to watch it very carefully, because even if we just see a thunderstorm, an isolated thunderstorm pop up, it could produce some heavy downpours and then we could see problems wherever that storm develops.

So here is our area of concern, of course, from the Czech Republic over into Slovakia and Hungary as well as across much of Germany.

And we wanted to take a look from Space, because it's so dramatic how much difference a month makes. So one month ago as we take a look at the MODIS satellite imagery from space, it's nice and green and beautiful here. But just a trickle of a river in between Dresden and Magdeburg.

Now we're going to show you how it looks right now. That was a month ago. And as of yesterday, you could clearly see this river from space, the Elbe River from Space.

So let's go in a little closer so you can see it. This is the before picture before we had this 150 millimeters to 250 millimeters of rain across this region. You couldn't even see the river from space if you were trying to see it. But as we take a look at the present day picture here some of these spots along the Elbe River are up to 3 kilometers wide.

So the river went from nothing to this raging river in just a period of a few weeks with all the heavy rain we have had. So here is the latest on what we are seeing here. The Danube River has already crested there in Bratislava and will continue to crest as it heads towards Budapest the beginning of next week. They could see record flooding there on Monday. So we'll have to watch that very carefully for you.

And then heading up north of Dresden now. It peaked in Dresden last night. The crest peaked there at some 8.76 meters. The record was 9.4 meters. And now it is heading on up here towards Magdeburg. So we'll continue to see that whole crest move towards the North Sea. So to the north, so downstream as we head through the weekend.

So here we're talking about this flooding concern to continue here. Here is the latest in Dresden showing it has already crested, so things will slowly start to recede. Hopefully we won't see any localized downpours here that will cause more problems. And also up river we're going to continue to see some concerns as we head into -- as I can get you up river here -- sorry about that, it will continue to crest into early next week.

So we're not out of the woods yet, Pauline, but things are at least starting to quiet down a bit with less rain in the forecast.

CHIOU: That's good to hear, but we're still going to keep an eye on things throughout the weekend. Thank you Samantha.

MOORE: Sure thing.

CHIOU: You're watching News Stream. Two of the biggest names in tennis do battle in Paris. Can Novak Djokovic upset the king of clay Rafa Nadal? Find out coming up next.

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CHIOU: And let's return to our video rundown now. Earlier, we told you that Russian president Vladimir Putin and his wife have split up, but now to sports news, the French Open will draw to a close this weekend. Thursday saw the women's semifinals. And today it's the men's turn.

Amanda Davies is following all the action and joins us live now from Paris. Amanda, what are you expecting between Nadal and Djokovic?

AMANDA DAVIES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Well, I can tell you, Pauline, the match is underway. It was fantastically described by one journalist as like having Chateaubriand for a starter, this encounter. And despite it being the hottest day of the tournament so far, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal really haven't disappointed in the early stages of the match. Both came out all guns blazing, bidding for a place in Sunday's final.

It was going toe to toe. Djokovic looked to be getting the upper hand, but then it was Rafael Nadal who actually took the first break in the seventh game of the first set. He went on to win the first set 6-4, showing no signs of the fact that it wasn't that long ago he spent seven months out suffering from injury.

But in the second set, despite Nadal getting the early break, Djokovic has shown some of the skill, some of the style, that has taken him to the world number one spot in recent times. He broke back. He then broke again. So it's him with the advantage in the second set.

And Pauline, it's just as we expected, these are two players who have met 34 times before. There's nothing they don't know about each other's games. And while Djokovic has had the upper hand in matches in recent times, the one he really wants, the tournament he really wants, is this one, the only grand slam he's yet to put in his trophy cabinet.

And in four meetings against Rafael Nadal here he's never managed to beat the Spaniard, the kind of clay as you well said. The man who has dominated here in recent times.

But basically we're setting in. We could be in for a somewhat fantastic afternoon of tennis.

CHIOU: Yeah, I would imagine. I mean, that's really the superstar match to watch. But what about the second match in the men's semifinals?

DAVIES: Yeah, well we've actually seen Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and David Ferrer out practicing earlier this morning. They're now both in the locker room waiting for their moment on court. And there are large swaths of France that are thinking the world number five against the world number eight is actually the bigger matchup today, because Tsonga is aiming to become the first man from France in 25 years to reach the final here at the French Open.

People really started to sit up and take notice when he brushed aside Roger Federer on Wednesday in his quarterfinal to reach the semifinal here for the first time. But in David Ferrer he's up against a man who slides under the radar, but puts in very, very solid performances. He's not dropped a set to get to this point so far, plays a very, very different game to Tsonga -- runs after ever ball, retrieves the ball, gets them back against Tsonga's big hitting.

And again, that one is a really, really tough one to call, but given that it's now one set all I can tell you in the first semifinal, there could be a fair few hours before Tsonga and Ferrer even make it onto court.

CHIOU: OK. Looks like it's going to be a great day, exciting day in tennis. And also great weather there.

Amanda Davies live from Paris with the latest on the French Open.

Well, he's already a global pop superstar. Now Justin Bieber is taking it to a whole other level. He's the latest celebrity to sign up for a ride on the Virgin Galactic commercial space flight. The passenger spacecraft had its first rocket powered test flight back in April. And the company hopes to begin ferrying tourists into space by early next year.

Now for a cool $250,000 you can sign up as well.

Well, finally today the swimwear competition at this year's Ms. World pageant will be a little bit more modest than usual. Organizers are going along with the Indonesian government's request that the competitors not wear bikinis. Instead, they'll take to the stage in one piece swimsuits. Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim country. And hard liners there have criticized western performers in the past for what they've called immorality.

Organizers in Indonesia say the pageant is about inner beauty anyway.

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

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