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Memorial Held For Bus Crash Victims In Italy; Jordan's Syrian Border Closes; NBC Miniseries To Depict Hillary Clinton; More Advanced Cancer Screenings Could Save Lives; Leading Women Flashback; Zhang Xin; Bradley Manning Verdict Due Today; EU Chief Diplomat Catherine Ashton Meets With Mohamed Morsy

Aired July 30, 2013 - 08:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


KRISTIE LU STOUT, HOST: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. And welcome to News Stream where news and technology meet.

Now the army private behind one of the biggest military leaks in U.S. history will soon learn his fate. The verdict in Bradley Manning's trial is just a few hours away.

The EU's top diplomat meets Egypt's deposed president Mohamed Morsy.

And from lunch with the president to her own miniseries, why Hillary Clinton is back in the spotlight in a big way.

Now, this man is accused of the largest leak of classified information in U.S. history. And later this Tuesday, army private Bradley Manning will learn if he has been found guilty of aiding the enemy.

Now Manning has already pleaded guilty to several lesser charges related to the leaks, but if convicted of the more serious charge at his military trial, he could face life behind bars.

Now when he was serving in Iraq three years ago, Manning was accused of sharing three-quarters of a million pages of classified documents and videos with WikiLeaks, the anti-secrecy website. And the documents contain details about U.S. battlefield actions in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as activity of the U.S. State Department around the world.

And then, the then U.S. secretary of state Hillary Clinton said that the leaks put lives in danger and threatened national security. But when Manning entered his guilty pleas earlier this year, he explained that he did not believe the information would harm the U.S. if it became public. He said he was depressed with the situation in Iraq and simply passed on information that upset or disturbed him.

Now our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr has been following all the developments in this case for us, and she joins us live from Washington.

And Barbara, the verdict, it will be out in about five hours from now. What could we hear?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kristie, if the judge - and there is no military jury here, strictly a military judge, if the judge finds manning guilty of aiding the enemy, as you said, this 25- year-old private first class will spend most likely the rest of his life in prison. That would be the ultimate sentence for him.

He had plead guilty to some lesser charges. If the judge accepts that, he could get 20 years in prison.

So everyone is watching very carefully.

Manning has made the case that he had one motivation, the prosecution isn't seeing it that way, obviously.

LU STOUT: Yeah, tell us more about how Manning himself and the defense explained why he did it.

STARR: Well, he and his attorneys are trying to make the case that he went to Iraq in 2009, saw how things were going and became distressed about it and started downloading information and gave it to WikiLeaks, but the prosecution says too bad. You are a traitor. You betrayed your country. And they have made the case that some of the information at WikiLeaks wound up in the hands of al Qaeda and even Osama bin Laden, they believe. So they are making the case that he did real damage.

So far, however, no one has been able to make any direct connection that any of Manning's information would have led or did lead to the death or imminent danger of anyone. That certainly has not broadly come out in public. That's a case the government has tried to make.

LU STOUT: That's right. You have to improve intent or harm when it comes to that most serious charge in aiding the enemy.

How did the prosecution try to build a case to prove that he did just that?

STARR: Well, again, they went through it all and pointed to the fact that al Qaeda could get its hands on these documents. Anybody could get their hands on these documents that were classified. And it is a crime to leak classified information to someone not authorized to receive it, to knowingly and willfully do that. And I think there's no dispute that Manning did that.

Another interesting point here, however, is the judge is not exactly totally buying the government's line entirely. She has already said she will take about 112 days off any sentence that Bradley Manning gets because of the conditions he was held in when he was arrested. And he was held at a military facility here in the United States, stripped naked for several months. The prosecution said it was because he was a suicide risk, the judge says that wasn't the right thing to do.

LU STOUT: Yeah, interesting statement there from the judge.

Edward Snowden, how is he weighing on this case? And should the upcoming Bradley Manning verdict be a warning about what could be ahead for him?

STARR: Well, that's a difficult comparison to make, because of course Edward Snowden is a civilian. If he comes before the American legal system, it will be in the civilian legal system. Manning, as a member of the army, being tried under military justice. The rules are very similar. But there are some potential differences.

I think most people would tell you it underscores the raging debate in the United States right now between personal privacy, personal privacy about your information, and the need for national security. That may be the underlying theme between both of these cases.

LU STOUT: Yeah, global interest in both cases. The upcoming verdict in the Bradley Manning trial expected in just under five hours.

Barbara Starr reporting, thank you.

Now after WikiLeaks published reams of documents relating to the war in Afghanistan in 2010, the web site became famous around the world. And so did the man at its helm, Julian Assange. Now WikiLeaks have never confirmed Bradley Manning was the source of the leaks, but Assange has reportedly repeatedly spoken out in support of Manning.

And he did an interview on Monday with CNN's Jake Tapper.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JULIAN ASSANGE, WIKILEAKS FOUNDER: But the alleged statements that he made, yes, he was willing to take that risk from his alleged statements, because he believes apparently that the result is so important. And we call those types of people that are willing to risk -- not be a martyr but to risk being a martyr for all the rest of us, we call those people heroes. Bradley Manning is a hero.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Now, Assange, he went on to describe the case against Bradley Manning as a serious of attack on freedom of information and investigative journalism.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ASSANGE: Now, the aiding enemy charge is a charge -- it's a military- based charge but it applies to all of us. It's one of the few cases where the U.S. military can prosecute anyone under this. The precedent will be set where if you give information to a publisher, to a journalist, and they publish, then anyone in the world can read it and the U.S. military is saying that means the enemy can be aided because al Qaeda, for example, could read that information.

So, this is a really serious attack. It is the most serious attack the administration is pursuing in its war against investigative journalism. It will be the end essentially of national security journalism in the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Now Julian Assange there.

Now one person who will likely be paying very close attention to the verdict is Edward Snowden. He is wanted by U.S. authorities for leaking information about secret surveillance programs. Snowden remains in the transit area of a Moscow airport seeking asylum.

Now turning now to Egypt where European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton met with ousted president Mohamed Morsy on Monday. They talked for two hours at an undisclosed location. And afterwards, Ashton said that Morsy is well and keeping up with events through newspapers and television.

Now Ashton is the first high level international official to meet with Morsy since he was overthrown by the military on July 3 and later taken into detention.

Now pro-Morsy groups say that they will keep up the pressure on the streets despite clashes that killed dozens of people over the weekend.

Now Arwa Damon has the latest for us from Cairo. She joins us now. And Arwa, what did Ashton say about her meeting with Morsy?

ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, she stayed fairly tight-lipped about it, bearing in mind that she is navigating some pretty sensitive territory. But take a listen to what she was willing to disclose.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CATHERINE ASHTON, EUROPEAN UNION FOREIGN POLICY CHIEF: I said that I would not come unless I could see him. And that was freely offered to me. I also told him in my two hour conversation that I was not going to represent his views, because in the circumstances he cannot correct me if I do it wrong.

We talked for two hours. We talked in depth. He has access to information in terms of TV, newspapers, so we were able to talk about the situation. And we were able to talk about the need to move forward.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DAMON: Catherine Ashton also spoke about the need for this to be an Egyptian process, emphasizing that she was not here to necessarily guide or advise the key players, but rather just to listen to them.

Also, she reiterated the need for an end to all violence and carefully cautioned the interim Egyptian government and the security forces about restraining from excessive use of violence, especially following the clashes that took place over the weekend that left dozens of pro-Morsy supporters dead.

Now she is actually taking part in a second press conference alongside Egypt's interim vice president for foreign affairs, Mohamed ElBaradei. He was saying just a few moments ago that Egypt really faced three main challenges: one was to stop all violence, the second was to create an all- inclusive process and implementation of a political road map and lastly that Egyptian society needed to learn how to live in a cohesive and all- inclusive manner.

But it does remain incredibly difficult to see how Egypt is going to come out of this impasse despite the efforts by Catherine Ashton and all of the other players who are involved here, because both main sides are so hardened in their positions against one another. Simply put, the pro-Morsy camp, the Muslim Brotherhood are adamant that he be reinstated. And that, of course, is a non-starter for the other side, Kristie.

LU STOUT: Yeah, but as you mentioned, the point of Ashton's trip there in Cairo is a listening tour just to get a sense of what both sides are thinking right now.

And meanwhile, Arwa, the situation in the Egyptian capital today, have you seen more Morsy supporters take to the streets?

DAMON: Well, the Morsy supporters have effectively dug in in two main camp sites. We were there yesterday where they have begun - or have been, rather, erecting more barricades to try to service something as an early warning to the security try to come in and clear them out. The medical staff there, volunteer staff, trying to beef up their makeshift clinic.

They also have been calling for more marches, more demonstrations later on this evening. So the potential for more violence, for more chaos most certainly does exist despite the fact that all parties here are trying to at least publicly call for a return to calm - an effort to restore calm.

But again, you have the pro-Morsy camp that is adamant that it will continue with its sit-in unless he is reinstated and in power. The other side just as equally adamant that these demonstrators need to pack up and go home, or else they may have to try and go in and forcibly clear them to restore at least some sort of semblance of calm and order to the streets.

So again, it still remains an incredibly volatile situation here.

LU STOUT: Got it. CNN's Arwa Damon reporting. Thank you.

And you're watching News Stream. And coming up, we'll take a look at a daring prison break in Pakistan. Officials say at least 175 inmates escaped, several of them said to be high-profile militants.

And we'll take a look at why the number of Syrian refugees crossing the border into Jordan is dropping dramatically.

Also, Hillary Clinton goes back to the White House. And we'll read between the lines.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back. You're watching News Stream. And you're looking at a visual version of all the stories we've got in the show today.

Now we started with the end of the Bradley Manning trial and the wait for a verdict. And later on in the show, we'll tell you about how over 100 children were rescued in a sex trafficking crackdown in the U.S.

But now to Pakistan and a massive prison break. Now it happened as Taliban militants attacked a jail in the northwest of the country. The chief minister of the province says 175 prisoners escaped, including 35 described as high-profile militants.

Now Saima Mohsin joins me now live from CNN Islamabad. And Saima, I mean was is this audacious prison break a sophisticated attack?

SAIMA MOHSIN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Not sure about how sophisticated it was, Kristie. They certainly came with a lot of explosives to bomb their way into the prison. They - as our understanding is from a bomb disposal unit expert who was in the - on site at the prison, they told us that they diffuse a 20 kilogram bomb at the prison gate, another large bomb in the jail superintendent's office right inside the jail, and they discovered later on an ambulance full of chemicals and explosives.

So they certainly came well prepared. They came with a plan.

If you look at who actually escaped -- this is one of the largest prisons in the country, certainly the largest in the region. It has 5,000 inmates. But they only took away 175 prisoners, of which 35 are high profile militants. They certainly knew who they were going for and who they wanted to get out of there.

LU STOUT: And the Pakistan Taliban, they have claimed to be behind this attack. And I have to ask you about the timing, because this prison break, it comes on the same day as Pakistan's parliament is set to elect a new president. Is the timing more than a coincidence here?

LU STOUT: Well, CNN has spoken to the Pakistan Taliban through our contacts. And they claimed responsibility, they said that they sent seven suicide bombers and they're claiming that all the men that were freed are their men and they will be returning back to the Taliban work with them.

Was this a message? No doubt about it. On the eve of the presidential election, on the eve that Pakistan is celebrating developing democracy in the country, which has been a long struggle, the Pakistan Taliban reminds the state, reminds the military, the police force that they are very much there and they can carry out audacious attacks like this.

LU STOUT: And Saima, tell us more about Mamnoon Hussain, Pakistan's likely new president.

MOHSIN: Yes, he's the frontrunner that's always been tipped. Whoever it would have been, actually Kristie, that represented the party - the party candidate from the PMLN, which is Nawaz Sharif's government that is in government in Pakistan. He is the frontrunner. He's a Karachi businessman, a man who is respected for his development in business, but also a shrewd move from the government placing a man from a province that they don't have a stronghold in. It's the PPP and MQM Parties that have power there and have taken the government there. So shrewd move from Nawaz Sharif.

But, just to let you know, once and if he does become president he will have to resign from his post in the party -- he's a member of the PMLN - because the president is not supposed to be partisan - Krisie.

LU STOUT: All right, Saima Mohsin, joining us live from CNN Islamabad. Thank you.

Now for the first time in three years, Palestinian and Israeli negotiators have come together for direct talks. Now the two sides dined with the U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Washington on Monday night. Jill Dougherty reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Three years since direct Mideast peace talks broke down yet again. Secretary of State John Kerry is hoping this time could be different.

JOHN KERRY, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: I think reasonable compromises has to be a keystone of all of this effort. I know the negotiations are going to be tough, but I also know that the consequences of not trying could be worse.

DOUGHERTY: Just hours before Israel's representatives Tzipi Livni and Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat were scheduled to sit down for a working dinner at the State Department, Kerry introduced his new Mideast envoy, veteran diplomat Martin Indyk.

MARTIN INDYK, U.S. MIDEAST ENVOY: It's been my conviction for 40 years that peace is possible.

DOUGHERTY: 40 years of violence and little progress in creating a Palestinian state existing side by side with Israel is the sobering reality.

The negotiators must solve five key issues in order to ensure a two state solution: borders, security, refugees, the status of Jerusalem, and Palestinian recognition of Israel as a Jewish state.

Both sides are pledging to stick with negotiations for at least nine months.

JEN PSAKI, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESWOMAN: If we're making progress and we're continuing to make progress, this is not a deadline, it's not a stop end, it's just an agreement to continue to work through that time period.

DOUGHERTY: Reaching agreement will be a 24/7 operation from here on out says one Mideast expert. And the leaders of the Palestinian territories, Israel as well as President Barack Obama has to give it their all.

AARON DAVID MILLER, FORMER MIDDLE EAST NEGOTIATOR: Abbas has to own them, Netanyahu has to own them, and ultimately, ultimately the president of the United States, who is probably going to have to close this deal in a high profile, high risk Camp David like summit, is going to have to own it too.

DOUGHERTY (on camera): So Monday night the working dinner, Tuesday talks on procedure how they'll hold the next round of substantive talks that are expected to take place in the Middle East.

Jill Dougherty, CNN, The State Department.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now in Italy, relatives and friends gathered in mourning for the 38 people killed in a bus accident near Naples. Now funeral services were held in a sports hall not far from Sunday's tragedy. Prime Minister Enrico Letta attended the service. And the government declared Tuesday and national day of mourning.

The bus plowed into several cars before plunging off a highway bridge. It was carrying Catholic pilgrims who were returning home after visiting a shrine. And the cause of the accident remains under investigation.

Now later here on News Stream, Syrian refugees scramble to cross into Jordan every day. And we'll tell you why the number of those crossing the border is falling.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Coming to you live from Hong Kong, you're back watching News Stream.

Now one-time political rivals and allies and now lunch buddies. Now the former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton paid a social visit to U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday. And the two met for lunch at the White House. And there has been a lot of speculation about whether they discussed the 2016 presidential election or Mrs. Clinton's potential candidacy. But a White House spokesman dismissed the idea, saying that their lunch was chiefly social.

Now Hillary Clinton has been tight-lipped about her political future, but her past will soon be fodder for the small screen. Now Jake Tapper tells us about a new miniseries chronicling her life in the White House and beyond.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Clinton, a name in the national spotlight since as long as any 25-year-old can remember. His campaign, his campaign, his scandal, her campaign, her cabinet appointment and, well, you get the idea. And now as the glare of 2016 lays in wait for Hillary Clinton's possible presidential journey, Hollywood is seeking to capitalize on it all.

NBC announced over the weekend it will produce a four-hour miniseries based on the former first lady and the role of Rodham will go to Diane Lane. Her most recent role was as Superman's earth mom in "Man of Steel" this summer. Perhaps more relevant, she played a secret service agent looking into a murder at the White House in the 1997 Wesley Snipes thriller "Murder At 1600."

This latest project will return Lane to that setting with a different kind of scandal at foot, the one involving the president and Monica Lewinsky. NBC says the miniseries will begin at that period in time and proceed through today.

BRIAN STEINBERG, SENIOR TV EDITOR, "VARIETY" MAGAZINE: She's a compelling figure, she's polarizing sometimes and she has been in the public eye for years making controversial decisions.

TAPPER: Lane is far from the first to portray HRC. Emma Thompson played a Hillary like character in the film version of "Primary Colors," a fictionalized story based on the Clintons.

"Saturday Night Live" had Amy Poehler face her character head on in 2008. And more recently, Sigourney Weaver, stepped into her pant suit to play a strikingly familiar character in the 2012 series "Political Animals." Weaver's character was divorced and of course the real Clintons remain together and at least one of them has given thought to who could best portray them in the movies.

Bill Clinton sat down with Hollywood producer, Harvey Weinstein on CNN last year.

HARVEY WEINSTEIN: If I were to make a movie about your life, who would you want to play you, Mr. President?

BILL CLINTON: Gosh, I don't know. I don't know. I would trust your judgment more than mine on that.

WEINSTEIN: Brad Pitt, George Clooney.

CLINTON: Too good looking, but you could put bulbous things on his nose, do make-up on him.

WEINSTEIN: And Hillary, who would you have play Hillary in this movie?

CLINTON: Meryl Streep.

STEINBERG: It's very challenging project for any actor or actress to play this large of a personality who has had a big hand in running the country and the world.

TAPPER: There are, of course, any number of potential problems in producing a film about a character who in real life maybe trying to cast herself as commander in chief. Conservatives are suspicious that this NBC miniseries will be a puff piece, one that serves as an infomercial for the Clinton candidacy. NBC insists it will be, quote, "even handed" in terms of criticism and praise when it comes to dealing with Clinton and her work.

(on camera): And we should also note that CNN Films is planning a documentary project on Hillary Clinton by Academy award-winning producer Charles Ferguson. And since it's a documentary, of course the role of Hillary Clinton will be played by Hillary Clinton.

Jake Tapper, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: All right, you're watching News Stream. And just ahead, activists and diplomats say that Jordan has all but closed its borders with Syria. Amman says otherwise. A look at where that leaves the families that keep coming.

And 105 children, some as young as 13, are safe today after being rescued by the FBI. The CNN Freedom Project has the story of the agency's largest child sex trafficking crackdown to date.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. You're watching News Stream. And these are your world headlines.

Now the European Union's top diplomat says that Mohamed Morsy, the deposed president of Egypt, is well and is following events on his country on TV and in newspapers. Now Catherine Ashton met with Morsy on Monday. And she says weeks of unrest in Egypt must be resolved by the Egyptian people themselves.

Now Taliban militants staged an attack on a jail in northwest Pakistan that held suspected terrorists. The local police chief says 175 prisoners escaped, including 35 considered to be prominent militants.

A memorial service has been held in southern Italy for 38 people killed when a bus plunged off a highway bridge on Sunday. Now the vehicle was carrying pilgrims returning from a visit to a Catholic shrine.

Now tourists are being evacuated from the western part of Thailand's Koh Samet Island after an offshore pipeline leaked oil into the bay over the weekend. Now authorities say around 5,000 liters of crude oil were spilled and the pipeline's operator says it is working with the Thai navy to clean up the mess.

The United Nations says the number of Syrian refugees crossing into Jordan each day is now less than 5 percent of what it was earlier in the year. Now activists and diplomats say that the Jordanian government has closed most of its border. Now Amman says otherwise.

And our senior international correspondent Nick Paton Walsh is just back from the border. He joins me now live from Beirut.

And Nick, you've learned about the hellish journey that Syria's refugees are making to cross the border.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it was always a nightmare for the many thousands at one point who would journey through Syria's violent areas to get the Jordanian border and then often find themselves herded into massive camps.

But remarkably those numbers have dropped off enormously to about a 100 for the last couple of weeks a huge staggering drop and we've learned that many people on the other side of the border are enduring terrible conditions as they wait to be allowed across. And that may not happen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WALSH: This is no place to walk - Jordan's far eastern border. But some have no choice. It's their only way out of Syria. From war torn Homs, Aleppo, Damacus, into Jordan, a country exhausted by a flood of refugees.

The army wants us to see this welcome, but there's something wrong with this picture.

(on camera): The journey through this desert heat must have been hellish for them. And you can only imagine what they left behind to endure this. But this is the last point on the Jordanian-Syrian border that they are allowed to cross. Diplomats and activists telling us they've shut most of the rest of the border.

(voice-over): This is the other side of the story - the Syrian town of Tal Shahab (ph) just meters from the Jordanian border, that dotted line of trees. No refugees are crossing here. Hundreds stranded, activists told us, not allowed to travel the remaining meters into Jordan.

They sent us this video of the squalor they endure nearby, living under trees among trash, the regime nearby and safety tortuously close, but out of reach.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): We fled Aleppo six weeks ago, our homes destroyed, our young men and children killed, and we have nothing. King Abdullah of Jordan, help us. Open the border and help us. Our children are getting sick.

WALSH: One local Syrian rebel leader tells us the Jordanian army has expressly told rebels not to escort refugees to the border as they will not be allowed to cross.

They told us 15 days ago they were closing the border as Jordan couldn't take any more refugees, he says, and hadn't got international support they were promised. No one can come in now unless they're bleeding heavily. Many who try are captured by the Jordanian army and taken back to Syria. The UN has also noticed a change.

ANDREW HARPER, UNHCR REPRESENTATIVE TO JORDAN: Over the last two weeks, we've seen the numbers drop dramatically. Earlier in the year, it was running at about 2,000 to 3,000 people crossing every night. That dropped down to about 500. Now we're only seeing about 100.

We know that there's tens of thousands of people who would want to come across and they're not coming across. So why is that? We're trying to make sure that the restrictions are certainly not on the Jordanian side.

WALSH: This is one reason why Jordan might want less refugees. One year ago, Zataari was built to hold 5,000 Syrians. Now, it holds 23 times that number, a fraction of the half million in Jordan.

But a top border official denies there's any closer and says violence in Syria can cause numbers of refugees to fluctuate.

GEN. HUSSEIN AL-ZYOUD, COMMANDER, JORDANIAN BORDER SECURITY (through translator): We've not received any order to close the border from any official inside Jordan. If 100 are allowed across, that does not mean the border is closed. There is a reorganization of our work.

WALSH: But something must be wrong if this really is the only way out.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALSH: Now everyone we've spoken to that border is effectively closed bar the dozens let across. Nothing, many explain the Jordanian position has been the country simply can't take any more and they're doing what Turkey has done, restrict the flow, what Iraq has done, restrict the flow. The real problem, though, is people of course are fleeing the endless violence inside Syria and they have only one place to go and that's Lebanon already, many say reeling, a 4 million population with a million Syrians on top.

Remarkable words yesterday, we heard the United Nations, the man heading the UN's investigation into war crimes inside Syria, Paolo Pinheiro, remarkable words from him as to exactly what level of fatigue is doing to a climate of impunity inside Syria. Let's hear what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAULO PINHEIRO, INDEPENENT INTL. COMMISSION OF INQUIRY: Syria is in free fall. Relentless shelling has killed thousands of civilians and displaced the populations of entire towns. An untold number of men and women have disappeared while passing through ubiquitous checkpoints. Those freed from detention are living with the physical and mental scars of torture.

Hospitals have been bombarded, leaving the sick and wounded to languish without care.

With the destruction of thousands of schools, a generation of children now struggle to obtain an education.

Civilians are the real victims of this prolonged war. Crimes that shock the (inaudible) have become a dreadful daily reality in Syria.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALSH: Now, as you hear there the violence is not letting up at all. In fact in many ways it's worsening as the world runs out of even potential solutions. There are over two million people displaced inside Syria. Where did they go? Did they languish like people we just saw on Syria's borders with countries that don't want them to come in or are they pushed through the porous border into Lebanon?

A conflict which is just, many think, getting started and so many people just trying to flee and finding that simple task, many would think, even harder Kristie.

LU STOUT: Yeah, and because of so many factors a desperate situation is just getting worse.

In your video report just then, we saw that stunning aerial footage of the Zaatari refugee camp. I read that's become so big, it is now Jordan's fourth largest city.

Now Nick, did anyone expect that Zaatari would grow to be so big, so fast?

WALSH: I mean, Jordan has a history of welcoming refugees across the region - Palestinians, Iraqis. So I suppose when Syria began, there was expectation they would see a number of Syrians. But I don't think anybody really anticipated 3,000 every night. That was a few months ago. That's what caused Zaatari to massively grow.

I remember going there earlier on this year. We went back a month later to discover it had almost doubled in size. I mean, that view you saw aerial, that gives you a real idea of the scale. They simply couldn't back then build accommodation fast enough.

That's changed because of what we've just been describing, the enormous drop in people crossing the border. That's going to make the Jordanian government significantly happier, much less of a problem for them to deal with, but still there are people on the move inside Syria, as you've just seen, who cannot cross the Jordanian border to safety on the other side away from Syria, Kristie.

LU STOUT: All right, Nick Paton Walsh reporting, thank you.

Now since the start of the Syrian crisis more than two years ago, neighboring countries have seen the number of people living in their borders swell. And talking about Jordan, its population is about 6.2 million. And the UN has documented some 506,000 Syrian refugees there. And so the influx, which is just the available data, is not far from representing a tenth of Jordan's population.

Now the case of Lebanon is starker still. Its population is just over 4 milion people and the government there has received more than 650,000 Syrian refugees.

Now 105 children, some as young as 13, are safe today after the FBI rescued them from sex trafficking operations. Now Joe Johns has details on the agency's largest such crackdown to date.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The FBI recorded and provided video of the operation to the public. The numbers for just 72 hours of work are staggering, investigations in 76 cities, 105 teenagers between the ages of 13 and 17 pulled out of the world of prostitution, 150 suspected pimps arrested.

RONALD HOSKO, ASSISTANT FBI DIRECTOR: This operation targeted venues where girls and adults are operated for commercial sex. That includes street tracks, truck stops, motels, casinos, Internet sites, social media platforms, and the like. JOHNS: More and more, authorities treat young prostitutes as victims, as opposed to perpetrators. The FBI provided this interview with a woman now 21 who described the hopelessness she felt in the sex trade.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You are at the bottom of the bottom. And you have nobody to go to, not even to go to for help, for a hug.

JOHNS: The breakdown of the targeted cities in Operation Cross Country tells a lot. San Francisco had some of the highest numbers, 12 juveniles taken off the streets and 17 alleged pimps arrested, in Detroit, 10 juveniles, 18 alleged pimps, Oklahoma City, three juveniles and 13 alleged pimps, arrests in Atlanta, Jackson, Mississippi, Reno, Nevada.

JOHN RYAN, NATIONAL CENTER OF MISSING AND EXPLOITED CHILDREN: It's consistent with what we receive on a monthly basis in terms of reports of potential child sex trafficking. It's across the country. It's in every community, every state. It's not unique to any one part of the country or region.

JOHNS: Authorities say it's not uncommon for suspects and victims to be identified around big athletic events such as the Super Bowl and the NCAA Final Four.

HOSKO: We see gathering of people with excess money and interested in the festivities and the frolic that go around high-profile sporting events.

JOHNS: Some teenagers who were rescued from this lifestyle return to it, which is the most troubling thing of all. If you see a kid out streetwalking, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children says you need to pick up the phone and get them some help.

John Johns, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And you can find out a lot more about human trafficking and what you can do to help at our website. There are details about how widespread it is around the world and with some individuals and organizations are doing to fight it. It's all at CNN.com/freedom.

Now still to come here on News Stream, for the first time Cuban boxers are being given the chance to back a punch in a semi-professional arena. Stay with us to find out what's behind the revolution in the ring.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Now if you have ever dreamed of becoming a billionaire, you might want to take some tips from Zhang Xin. Now the Chinese real estate magnate is richer than some well known moguls including Donald Trump, Stephen Speilberg and Oprah Winfrey.

She's been generating a lot of buzz online since we first aired her story on our Leading Women series. If you missed that, here's another chance to hear her rags to riches tale. The SOHO China CEO sat down with Pauline Chiou.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULINE CHIOU, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Travel to Beijing or Shanghai these days and Zhang Xin's work is all around you.

ZHANG XIN, CEO, SOHO, CHINA: It's the tallest building we've ever built. Nobody really came up with three manmade mountains, right. So that's what we thought it was, oh, this is amazing.

CHIOU: Her ambition and creative vision is the force behind SOHO China, one of the country's most prominent property developers, known for its large architecturally daring projects -- 16 in Beijing, 12 in Shanghai, and 1 in Hainan.

Zhang founded SOHO with her husband Pan Shiyi in 1995, a far cry from her first job on a factory floor.

XIN: I think everybody comes from nowhere, that's the thing about China right, everybody comes from -- nobody comes with money. Our generation. We were lucky to be alive.

CHIOU: What is it about China and the women of your generation that allows them to achieve that highest level?

XIN: I think women of our generation went through cultural revolution, went through hardship, went through -- coming from nowhere and suddenly see, you know, China has been given so amazing opportunity. So women just seized the opportunity, or people just seized the opportunity. And in this regard, I think women in China are given more opportunities than outside. And that's why you see more self-made billionaires -- women billionaires than elsewhere I think in the world.

CHIOU: Zhang brought to the table experience in banking and a love of design. Her husband had ambition and business savvy. Together, they built SOHO China into a company worth more than $3 billion.

To rise to the top, Zhang says women must be fearless and go for their dreams even if it means resisting social norms.

XIN: Hardly any men, no matter how well to do, you wouldn't think that, oh I'll stay at home, but a lot of women, despite being very smart, well well educated, still at some point decide oh it's more comfortable to stay at home. Those are the real barriers stopping women to go far.

CHIOU: When you go into a room for negotiations, I imagine you're walking into a room of mostly men and probably men who are mostly older than you. As a woman, as a CEO of SOHO, how do you approach that situation when you walk in the door?

XIN: I don't think about -- you know, those are the moments I don't think of myself as a woman, you know, I'm just coming in to do a deal. I need to get it done.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And for more on Zhang Xin or any of the women we're featuring on the series, log on to CNN.com/leadingwomen. And while you're there, you could also find out what six leading lawyers in the UK and U.S. think should be done to right a gender imbalance in the legal profession.

And next week on Leading Women, we'll introduce you to Dennis Morrison, she is the CEO of the Campbells Soup company.

Now coming up here on News Stream, amateur Cuban boxers are finally given the chance to take their game to the next level. We'll tell you what changes are happening in Cuba's boxing arena.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Now Cuban boxing is finally going pro, or at least semi- pro. It's a break from more than 50 years of government policy that only allowed athletes to compete as amateurs. Now that meant winning fame, but not fortune.

Now Patrick Oppmann explains the change and what's behind it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Spectators at boxing matches in Cuba just can't help themselves. Nearly everyone here seems to have advice or an opinion. The passion for boxing is part of Cuban's DNA, says one of the island's champion fighters.

JULIO CESAR LA CRUZ, CUBAN BOXER (through translator): The main thing about boxing in Cuba is it's in your heart and blood. You fight by always attacking.

OPPMANN: But lately Cuban boxing has been taking some hits.

Cuban boxers disappointed in the last two Olympic games. High level affections and lack of resources have diluted the once reliably stellar national boxing team. For boxers, the choice has long been to fight for the government or leave.

(on camera): Under Fidel Castro's revolution took power, he declared that Cuban athletes could no longer compete professionally. Sports heroes here could win gold medals and glory, but not big paychecks.

(voice-over): But Cuban boxing is finally undergoing changes. Boxers, for the first time, are fighting in the World Series of Boxing, a semi-pro league that officials say will raise the level of competition.

ALBERTO PUIG, CUBAN BOXING FEDERATION (through translator): They will train differently, learn a different way of fighting. We will get to know this and not be surprised by it when we fight in the Olympics.

OPPMANN: Cuban boxers are also expected to earn more in the league, reportedly up to several thousands dollars a month, hardly the huge purses professional boxers take home, but a fortune in Cuba where most workers earn less than $20 a month.

Cuban fighters will now box without shirts or head gear and battle for five rounds instead of just three, the norm for amateur competition.

CESAR LA CRUZ (through translator): It will be a change. And we are training to fight more rounds. It will be a different experience, but we will face it with our best efforts and do the best for our people.

OPPMANN: And if the name the Cuban team has chosen is any indication, perhaps regain some lost glory. They will be called The Tamers.

Patrick Oppmann, CNN, Havana.

(END VIDEOATPE)

LU STOUT: All right, time for the global weather forecast. And after a pipeline break, we know that oil is coating parts of the Thailand coast. Let's get details now with Samantha Moore. She joins us from the world weather center - Samantha.

SAMANTHA MOORE, CNN WEATHER CORRESPONDENT: We're talking about a pretty immense oil spill here doing damage to all the wildlife. This is about 140 kilometers southeast of Bangkok. And we have some pictures coming in of that waves of crude oil moving onshore, just coating these formally pristine beaches full of that black crude. And it's just such a shame to see this happen. A lot of tourists have canceled their trip and left home early as this cleanup is underway.

In fact, you can see the guys in these Hazmat suits out there, some 300 naval workers trying to clean up this sludge, sift it out of the sand. And this was 50 tons of crude oil.

Comparing this to the DeepWater Horizon oil spill, you may remember, in the Gulf of Mexico, that was estimated to be some 585,000 tons, this is 50 tons. So that spill was over 11,000 times bigger.

But nonetheless just such a shame to see this. And definitely will have an economic impact on the residents in this area.

So how would the weather impact the cleanup efforts here? Well, you can see the location southeast of Bangkok here in Rayong just south of Rayong. The temperature is 27 degrees. The winds are calm. We're mostly cloudy, but we do have more storms in the forecast, more thunder storms as we head into Wednesday and Thursday.

So we're going to have to keep our eye on the weather developments here as they could impact the cleanup efforts across the region.

You can see we have those monsoonal rains in force. So that's going to keep us very wet here.

Also stretching on up along that same stationary boundary we've had in northern China. We've had tremendous flooding there.

And in between we have high pressure in place, making things hot and hazy and humid for places like Shanghai where the heat continues here.

And that heavy rain extends across much of northeastern China into Japan where they've had a lot of rainfall. 123 millimeters of rain here in that location in Japan. And that's caused some flooding in Yamaguchi. You can see just how widespread the flooding is as this river overflows its banks near Hagi City in Japan. So a real hazard just trying to make your way around that area.

And more rain in the forecast as well.

So it isn't just all the flooding rain we have seen here, it is also the heat in Shanghai. 39 degrees on Tuesday, that's several degrees above the average. Similar conditions in Beijing, 4 degrees above average.

And the heat will continue, unfortunately here, Kristie, as we head into the next few days. So it's going to go down in the record books in Shanghai. We have now had more days - 35 degrees days in July than we've ever had before. So a new record going down in the books, Kristie.

LU STOUT: All right. Heat and heavy rain here in the region. Samantha, thank you.

Now it is common knowledge that cigarette smoking, for example, it greatly increases one's chances of getting lung cancer, but when it comes to lung cancer there are some screenings often yield false results. And some people get treated who don't need it. So the doctor is now focusing and figuring out just who ought to get screened and how closely.

Now our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta explains why that might save lives.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONNA CRAIG, LUNG CANCER SURVIVOR: Perfect. This is me every morning.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Swimming. It was something Donna Craig never thought she'd be able to do as a lung cancer survivor. She's still going strong at 81, spending lots of time with her children and her grandsons.

You see, Craig was a smoker for most of her adult life. Then an ad in the local newspaper caught her attention.

CRAIG: It said, "If you smoked a long time, we're looking for you." So I thought it wouldn't hurt. So I signed up and had the first scan negative.

GUPTA: She went back the next year.

CRAIG: Second scan, negative.

GUPTA: And a year later.

CRAIG: Third scan, large tumor. I still had no symptoms of any kind. If it hadn't been for that test, I wouldn't be here.

GUPTA: Craig was screened at MD Anderson Cancer Center for a national study...

DR. REGGIE MUNDEN, LUNG CANCER SPECIALIST: When the patient comes into the scanner here...

GUPTA: ... where she got a spiral CT scan, just like this one.

Knowing who to screen is vital. Because there's a high false positive rate, which can lead to invasive procedures, even surgery for patients who turn out not to have cancer.

Recent studies, including the one Donna participated in, show if you focus on current or former heavy smokers, the downside is smaller. More of the suspicious findings really are cancer.

(on camera): So just by figuring out who to screen, in this case heavy smokers, you can make a huge impact.

DR. RONALD DEPINHO, MD ANDERSON CANCER CENTER: Amongst the smokers, we can identify those that are knocking on cancer's door, enlist those into even more intensive screening -- which at this point is spiral CT, a CAT scan, X-ray of the test -- that identifies lesions that could be suspicious.

GUPTA (voice-over): While lung cancer is the biggest killer of men and women, as far as cancer goes...

MUNDEN: Typically do when you see this.

GUPTA: ... Dr. Reggie Munden says diagnosing early can change that.

MUNDEN: If you catch it late, the chances of surviving the disease are poor.

DEPINHO: So just by shifting the stage, you have an opportunity to impact on 175,000 deaths per year.

CRAIG: Hi, honey. I'm sorry I missed Paul's call.

GUPTA: Today, Craig is more than seven years cancer-free.

CRAIG: It feels wonderful. I feel very, very lucky and very grateful.

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now, in addition to the more advanced screening for people most likely to get lung cancer, doctors are also working on a new blood test. It can identify patients with cancer at least a year before clinical symptoms appear.

And that is News Stream. World Business Today is next.

END