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Asian Countries Concerned Over Absence of U.S. President at APEC; How Realistic is "Gravity"?; Saudis Outraged Over Sentence For Father Who Tortured Daughter

Aired October 08, 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 new details about the American raid to capture a suspected al Qaeda member from this neighborhood in Tripoli as the Libyan government demands answers from the U.S.

Outrage in Saudi Arabia over the sentence given to a cleric convicted of killing his young daughter.

And how real is the film "Gravity?" We'll speak to a man who has spent plenty of time in space, astronaut Mike Massimino.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE CLOONEY, ACTOR: Astronaut is off structure. She's lost control. She's off structure.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Now Libya is demanding answers about the U.S. raid in Tripoli. Now special forces captured this man, Abu Anas al Libi over the weekend. He is a suspected al Qaeda operative. Now Libya's government has summoned the U.S. ambassador to face questions.

And new details are still emerging about that operation and another in Somalia that did not go exactly as planned.

Now let's bring in Barbara Starr, our Pentagon correspondent in Washington. And Barbara, why did they abort that mission in Somalia?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kristie, as after action reports coming in, we are learning new details about what the SEALs were facing at the seaside compound.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STARR (voice-over): In southern Somalia, it quickly became the most dangerous mission for SEAL Team 6 since they killed Osama bin Laden, according to one senior U.S. military official. The mission: to secretly enter a hostile town, capture and bring back alive a man known as Ikrima, a top operative in al Shabaab, the Somali-based al Qaeda affiliate. A man the U.S. believes is planning more attacks.

But after the SEALs make their way to their target, a heavily defended seaside villa, they are spotted. A massive firefight breaks out as more and more militants gather. The SEALs cannot capture the target, they abort the mission.

A top Pentagon official insists the SEALs were not run off by al Shabaab fighters.

GEORGE LITTLE, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: Military personnel on this objective during the raid literally went to the door step of this al Shabaab terrorist and discovered that there were civilians in the surrounding area.

STARR: A military source says the SEALs also report they saw children at the compound, another factor in ending the raid.

And he says there are other U.S. forces nearby to respond if the fight had grown worse.

We are also getting a clearer picture of the mission in Libya. In Tripoli, Army Delta Force commandos in four vehicles surround Abu Anas al Libi, a senior al Qaeda operative, while he is still in his car. His son shows us the vehicle, shattered glass from smashed in windows, the only evidence of a very different capture mission that was successful and over in moments.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STARR: And we now know also that both Delta force and SEAL Team 6 commandos practiced and rehearsed those missions in the days and weeks before they went to Libya and Somalia -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: Yeah, a lot of planning going into those two raids. And separately, Barbara, you've learned that some 200 marines are being moved to a U.S. naval base in Italy. Why?

STARR: Right. That has not been completed yet, but marine -- they're planning to move 200 marines to Sigonella, Italy. That will put them closer to Libya. They normally operate out of southern Spain. They'll move over to Italy, we are told. This is part of a rapid response force if there was to be trouble breaking out for the U.S. embassy, the U.S. diplomatic contingent in Libya. They will have a backup force for just a couple of hours away. Precautionary move, we are told.

LU STOUT: And back to the two U.S. counterterror raids that happened over the weekend, do these raids represent a shift in tactics? Will there be more of these commando style raids ahead, especially in the North Africa region?

STARR: Well, what officials are telling us is, look, the era of the big land war, the Iraqs and Afghanistans, those are over. That's not going to happen again. So when they have these targets, they have two ways now, really, of going after them. If it is a mission to kill, then they typically will send in an unmanned drone with a missile. That's what we've seen so many times in places like Yemen where U.S. commandos cannot get onto the ground.

But in places like Somalia where in fact the very fledgling government there welcomes the U.S. assistance, expect to see more of these kinds of lightning quick raids. U.S. forces going in, attempting to capture the targets they're looking for.

LU STOUT: All right. Barbara Starr reporting for us. Thank you.

Now the U.S. will continue to work with the Somali government to battle al Shabaab. And Somalia's foreign minister says Mogadishu welcomed the U.S. operation.

Now she spoke to chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FAWZIA YUSUF ADAM, SOMALI FOREIGN MINISTER: We accepted it. We welcomed it. We are welcoming more if this will help us rid -- get rid of al Qaeda/al Shabaab.

We have a cooperation and they don't have to ask us, because we are fighting a common enemy. This is what we feel. And we are grateful for their support, otherwise the whole region will be in turmoil.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: But as we've mentioned, Libya has been less than happy about the U.S. raid in Tripoli. Now it calls the capture of suspected al Qaeda operative Abu Anas al Libi an abduction.

Now the U.S. Defense Department says that he is being held lawfully in a secure location outside of Libya. Jim Sciutto tells us what could come next for al Libi.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM SCIUTTO: Abu Anas al Libi was swooped up in minutes, but his legal case will likely stretch out for months, even years.

It all began here. Early Saturday morning in broad daylight in downtown Tripoli, al Libi is snatched by members of the elite U.S. Delta Force.

Al Libi's wife, who spoke exclusively with CNN's Jomana Karadsheh, said it happened as he returned from morning prayers.

UMM ABDUL RAHMAN, ABU ANAS AL LIBI'S WIFE (through translator): I rushed to the window after hearing a sound. I saw a Mercedes type minivan outside the house with a number of masked men and unmasked men around it. They were carrying pistols with silencers.

SCIUTTO: But she said not a single shot was fired.

RAHMAN (through translator): Everything happened rapidly. They grabbed him and shoved him in the car. I saw them doing this and saying, "get in," but wasn't sure if that was my husband. The cars then sped off like a rocket.

SCIUTTO: al Libi is now on a U.S. Navy ship in the Mediterranean. And he may stay there for days, even weeks, before he's expected to be taken to New York where he faces indictment for his alleged roll in the 1998 embassy bombing in Kenya.

What now? U.S. intelligence officers are likely interrogating al Libi before he steps on to U.S. soil and into the American legal system with all of its constitutional protections, including the right to a lawyer.

STEPHEN VLADECK, AMERICAN UNIVERSITY LAW PROFESSOR: There is flexibility for the government here. And if the real question is just where the line is and at what point we switch from military detention to civilian criminal prosecution.

SCIUTTO: The likely years away, a civilian criminal trial would mark one of the first prosecutions of a senior al Qaeda leader in a U.S. federal court, a path President Obama vowed to pursue when he took office.

Still, some lawmakers argue suspected terrorists belong in military courts, the strategy adopted by President Bush.

REP. PETER KING, (R) NEW YORK: I wish he was being tried in Guantanamo rather than the southern district of New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And that was Jim Sciutto reporting.

Now the U.S. Justice Department says that dozens of foreign terror suspects have been successfully prosecuted and convicted in federal courts since 9/11.

Now you're watching News Stream. And still ahead, we visit the Italian island where hundreds perished in the Lampedusa boat tragedy. We're going to talk to migrants who have made the dangerous journey in search of a better life.

World leaders talk trade in Indonesia. We'll have an update from Bali on the final day of APEC.

And critics are raving about the lost in space epic "Gravity," but what do real astronauts make of the movie? Find out later in the program.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANDRA BULLOCK, ACTRESS: It's down. I can't...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Give me a visual.

BULLOCK: I told you nothing. I see nothing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have a visual of Explorer?

BULLOCK: No.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(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 a little bit later, we'll look at a shocking story out of Saudi Arabia and the outrage over the sentence for a man who was convicted of killing his young daughter.

But now we go to the Italian island of Lampedusa. Now 231 bodies have now been recovered from the waters off the island after a migrant boat caught fire and sank on Thursday.

Now the tragedy has refocused global attention on the dangerous journey many asylum seekers take to reach the small Mediterranean island.

Now senior international correspondent Matthew Chance reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: At the port, body bags are filled with the latest victims recovered from the sea. This is Italy's worst migrant shipwreck, but for the island of Lampedusa it's just another painful reminder of the burden of being at Europe's frontier.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): It's a problem. I've been speaking about migrants who die at sea for years. Letting them die like this is a real shame. We should send boats to save them.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): It's obvious that the Italian state and Europe have to do something not so much here, but at the origin countries. They bring no richness to our island, just poverty.

CHANCE: This is where the new arrivals are housed, an overcrowded detention camp in the center of Lampedusa. Migrants from all over Africa and the Middle East end up here after making the perilous sea crossing. Migrants like Ali Ibrahim al Najar (ph) from Syria who we spoke to through the perimeter fence.

He told me he arrived in a fishing boat crammed with migrants, 140 in a vessel meant for 25. When they reached Lampedusa, he said, they were taking on water. The Italian Coast Guard rescued them and brought them here.

Migrant boats, often unseaworthy, are left for scrap along the shore.

Well, these are the wrecks of just some of the vessels that have brought thousands of immigrants here to Lampedusa in recent years. And many of them are very recent indeed. You can see some of the refugees have left items of clothing, a pair of jeans here. This looks like a woman's head scarf. There's some scarves over here, which I recognize from Afghanistan. And even items of food, this tin of sardines said to be from Morocco.

And you get a sense that if you imagine hundreds of people crammed onto this ship, just how desperate those making that dangerous journey from North Africa to here must be.

Desperate enough to risk their lives despite this latest tragedy for the dream of a new life in Europe.

Matthew Chance, CNN Lampedusa, Italy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit is coming to a close in Bali, Indonesia on trade and the piece of global growth dominated the talks there.

Now the U.S. lobbied hard for a free trade pact among some APEC nations. And while there was criticism of the U.S. government shutdown that forced a no show by president Barack Obama.

Now Anna Coren is covering the forum from Bali. She joins us now live. And Anna, what kind of criticism has been leveled at the U.S. there at the APEC meeting?

ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kristie, as we've been discussing, a great deal of disappointment that President Barack Obama is not here. Someone like Obama brings just so much importance and gravitas to an event like APEC that obviously there is concern about America's commitment to the region. There was one economist who has come out during the APEC summit who said this is just indicative of America's waning influence in the Asia-Pacific. And that in fact it will be China that overtakes the U.S. as the number one economy by 2017. These are some of the predictions being made.

But whether that comes true or not in that period of time, you know, it remains to be seen, but just the fact that Obama's absence is really being noticed here, you know, at the APEC summit has, I guess, a ripple effect within the region. We've seen a very active Chinese president, you know, taking center stage. And I'm sure that has upset the Americans to a certain extent.

LU STOUT: And can you get into more details about that? Exactly how has China there at the APEC forum really touted its partnership credentials to Asian leaders there, especially in light of the Obama no-show?

COREN: Well, certainly in the runup to APEC, Kristie, we had Xi Jinping address the Indonesian parliament. He's the first foreigner to do so. So that was a really big deal here in Indonesia.

He then went to Malaysia and discussed regional stability with the prime minister and the government there.

He then returned to Indonesia and signed several trade agreements here.

So certainly has been extremely active, if you like, networking with other APEC leaders and really, I guess touting China's role in the region.

It is the number one economy in the Asia-Pacific. And it certainly -- well, as far as in this part of the world it is. But it certainly is -- is one of those things where the United States and President Barack Obama would be watching this from Washington, D.C. watch how this has played out and perhaps thinking that, you know, he should have been here.

LU STOUT: All right, Anna Coren reporting live in Bali for us. Thank you.

Now you're watching News Stream. And coming up, does the new Hollywood blockbuster "Gravity" get it right when it comes to actual science? We'll hear from an actual astronaut coming up next right here on News Stream.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

Now you've probably heard that the new film "Gravity" has rocketed to the top of the box office. It set a new opening weekend record for the month of October, netting $55.6 million in North America alone. Now Warner Brothers produced the movie. And we should mention that it shares the same parent company as CNN.

Now many movie critics have hailed the sci-fi thriller, but some in the science community are pointing out factual issues. In fact, the astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson, he took to his Twitter account with his mysteries of "Gravity." Including this, nearly all satellites orbit Earth west to east and all satellite debris portrayed orbited east to west.

But NASA astronaut Mike Massamino writes this, quote, "we should remember that Gravity is a movie not a documentary. It is entertaining while also bringing the wonder of space to the big screen."

Now Massamino, he flew on two Hubble servicing missions. And he completed four spacewalks. And that's exactly what the movie's main characters are doing when disaster strikes.

So let's get more of Massimino's perspective. He joins us now live from CNN New York.

Hello, there, Mike, thank you so much for joining us. I've got to admit I have not seen the movie yet, but I've seen the trailer. So, could you just tell us, what elements of the movie Gravity are in fact very accurate?

MIKE MASSIMINO, NASA ASTRONAUT: Thanks for having me, Kristie.

The accuracy that I noticed was at the beginning when they were at the Hubble Space Telescope on the space shuttle. That was exactly what I saw when I was in space. I think they copied exactly what we had. I saw my tools. I saw the telescope. All the equipment in the payload bay just like we had it on the most recent servicing mission to the Hubble.

The space suits -- the look and feel, the views of the planet, all that stuff looked right on.

LU STOUT: So the views, the equipment, the look and feel that all was very much accurate.

Now let's talk about the spacewalk, because you, yourself, you've done some recordbreaking ones. And when you do a space walk, I mean, there's no gravity, there's no resistance, could you just describe how hard is it to do?

MASSIMINO: Well, you have to be very methodical about what you do. You don't want to move too quickly. You're -- because you're floating as you say. You are floating, so if you push off, if you make a quick motion you might regret a second later, because you might go somewhere you don't want to go. So you have to be very, very slow. You have to think about what you're doing, work with your teammates both outside the spaceship, inside the spaceship and the people on the ground.

But it's a wonderful thing to do. You know, you've trained -- in my case, trained years to do those spacewalks. And when you get to do them, it's just a -- I can't think of anything better to do for a living than go out in spacewalk and work out there in the beauty of space.

LU STOUT: And you and your peers, you make it look so effortless. But let's talk about the fear, because the fear was really depicted in the movie Gravity, the fear of just floating off into space during a spacewalk that goes awry.

Mike did you ever have that fear as an astronaut up in space?

MASSIMINO: You know, Kristie, I really didn't want that to happen to me, so my fear was don't let this happen to you. And one of the first things they showed us when I was at -- my rookie spacewalker, our instructors came in and showed us a kind of a blooper real of don't let this happen to you of astronauts in the past who have gone spinning off. And some of them are quite dramatic.

And I did not want to risk that happening. So I was particularly careful. They scared me enough so that I did not want to have that happen to me. And when we trained, we trained to go very slowly and very carefully so we wouldn't have an event where we were spinning off into space.

I can happen, you've got to be careful with it.

LU STOUT: Yeah, it's very dangerous work.

Let's talk about the look of the film Gravity. There's a lot of robots, use CGI, all used to create this sense of weightlessness up in space. If that what we see in the movie, and what we see in the trailer right now, is that an accurate representation of what the experience is really like for you?

MASSIMINO: I think it was. You know, it brought back a lot of memories to me of what it was like to be there. There's -- you know, the only sad thing about being an astronaut is that when you're looking at the beauty of the Earth, of the universe around you, I'm saying to myself how can I tell my family about this? How can I remember what this looks like.

And so for me, this is the second time that I've been in the movie theater and had those memories come back. The first was a documentary they did on our film IMAX Hubble 3D, which came out a few years ago, an IMAX documentary. And now this one. I mean, they -- I think they took exact footage from the space station of what the Earth looks like so the motion, the movement I think was -- I don't see how they could have done a better job.

I think they tried to stick and make it look as realistic as they could.

LU STOUT: It sounds like the movie got a lot of things right -- the sense of weightlessness, the movement, the equipment, the views from outer space. But, Mike, what did the film get wrong?

MASSIMINO: Well, I don't -- I would call it wrong. I think you need to remember that it is a movie. And, you know, one example is -- I don't want to give the movie away, but they go to different locations in space and I'm glad they were able to do that. It's just difficult to get from one place to the other.

On my flight to Hubble, if we were in a rescue scenario they would have sent -- they had another space shuttle ready to go come rescue us if we would have had a problem. The movie handles it a bit of a -- the rescue a different scenario.

But that was a little bit different. But I think to include all the things they wanted to show and to make the movie entertaining so it wasn't boring to the audience they took a little bit of poetic license. But it's a movie, you know, it's not a documentary. I think it's a great way to get inspired about space and then find out what we're really doing in space on the space station which we have six people are up there as we talk.

So there's a lot of exciting things going on. Use the movie as inspiration to find out more.

LU STOUT: Yeah, a point of inspiration to generate a sense of excitement. Now, some say that Gravity, the movie, has a pro-China plotline. And again, Mike, we don't want to give away any spoilers, but I was wondering if you have any comments on that?

MASSIMINO: I -- you know, I'm probably not the right guy to ask about that. I -- you know, I don't know, it's I've heard of that or even thought about that. It does include some space stuff from the country you mentioned. I don't want to give it away to people.

But I didn't really see it one way or the other being pro or against anything politically.

LU STOUT: OK. And then final question for you. The George Clooney character, it's supposedly modeled after you. Did you see yourself in Clooney?

MASSIMINO: Well, you know, I'm glad you said that, because I hope someone is taping this and I can tell my wife that you said that, Kristie. Thank you very much.

Yeah, that's a very nice compliment.

I think that George Clooney makes a very cool astronaut. And if you spread that rumor that's great. I've never met him, but I think he makes a cool astronaut.

I think for our new astronaut class, this should be required viewing just to be as cool as George Clooney is as an astronaut. He makes a great astronaut. So I'll take that as a compliment, thanks.

LU STOUT: Do you know what, like Clooney has got nothing on you, OK. So let your wife...

MASSIMINO: Oh, man. I can't wait -- I hope my wife is watching.

All right, thank you, Kristie.

LU STOUT: Otherwise known as @AstroMike on Twitter. Definitely worth a follow. Mike, thank you so much. Take care.

MASSIMINO: My pleasure.

LU STOUT: Now, about 97 percent of NASA's staff has been grounded by the U.S. government shutdown. And just ahead, we'll bring you the latest on the deadlock in Washington.

Now also ahead right here on News Stream, outrage in Saudi Arabia. Some say the sentence for a man convicted of beating his daughter to death is simply not enough.

(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 death toll has risen in the Lampedusa tragedy. Italy's Coast Guard says the number of bodies recovered from last week's shipwreck is now 231. Divers are continuing to work at the site of the disaster.

Violence broke out at a demonstration in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil when thousands of people marched in support of teachers who were demanding a pay hike. Well, after anarchists joined in, some protesters threw fireworks. Now the police fought back, firing tear gas into the crowd.

Argentina's president Christina Fernandez de Kirchner is expected to have surgery after a blood clot was found on the surface of her brain. Now doctors decide to operate right away when she reported a tingling sensation in her left arm and lost some muscle strength.

The Nobel prize for physics was awarded to two scientists for their work on the so-called God Particle, also known as the Higgs-Boson particle. Now nearly 50 years ago, Peter Higgs and Francois Englert predicted the particle's existence. Now scientists say Higgs-Boson will help unlock the secrets of how the universe works.

Now in Saudi Arabia, a murder sentence is sparking outrage on social media by those who say the punishment does not fit the horrific crime.

Now a 5-year-old girl was tortured to death. And according to a human rights official, her father has been sentenced to eight years in prison and 600 lashes as well as paying blood money to the girl's mother.

Now Mohammed Jamjoom is covering this story for us from Beirut, Lebanon. And he joins us now -- Mohammed.

MOHAMMED JAMJOOM, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kristie, outrage is right. You know, when the case of Lama al-Ghamdi first made headlines in Saudi Arabia people were outraged to hear that this 5-year-old little girl had been tortured and abused to death.

Well, yesterday it was announced that her father was convicted, was found guilty of having tortured her to death. The outrage only continued after that. Here's why.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAMJOOM: Just 5-years-old when she was beaten to death, Lama al- Ghamdi's precious smile became a symbol of unspeakable brutality. After being beaten and tortured, she lingered in a hospital for months before succumbing to a crushed skull, broken ribs and burns.

Lama's case quickly caused outrage throughout Saudi Arabia, many shocked not just by what happened, but even more by who had been accused of doing it to her. Her father, Fayhan al-Ghamdi, a self styled Saudi cleric, somebody known for preaching teaching tolerance on TV.

On Monday, a court found him guilty. Many thought he'd pay for the crime with his life. Instead, he was sentenced to eight years in prison and 600 lashes.

According to an official with a government-backed rights group, al- Ghamdi was also ordered to pay restitution, what they call here blood money.

In a conservative country where the death penalty is common, Saudi social media users were quick to express disgust.

"What kind of verdict is this?" Tweeted one.

"This is not justice," tweeted another.

Some pointed out what they called the travesty that killing Lama garnered al-Ghamdi a punishment similar to that received by a Saudi activist recently sentenced to seven years in jail and 600 lashes, convicted of violating the nation's anti-cybercrime law by running an unauthorized web forum.

Mohammed Almadi with Saudi Arabia's Human Rights Commission told CNN al-Ghamdi might have been executed had Lama's mother not ceded her original request of the death penalty and asked for the blood money instead, which he added is her right under Saudi law.

But given the memory of a tortured child, many Saudis now asking if those laws are applied fairly.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JAMJOOM: Kristie, you know, after we broke this story yesterday about the verdict I could hear the anger in the voices of Saudi activists almost immediately when they were talking about it. Well, today that anger continues. Many activists saying that this really shows that there is reform that is needed right away for the Saudi judicial system -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: Yeah, it is such a sickening story. There is anger. There is outrage across Saudi Arabia. But will there be action, will there be actual reform to change the laws in the country?

JAMJOOM: Well, here's what's really shocking about all this, and it's something I'm hearing from a lot of people in Saudi as well. Just last month, a little over a month ago, the Saudi cabinet finally approved a domestic abuse law. This was a law that was finally put on the books after years of trying there that was saying that it would penalize people that had abused their wives or their children. So the fact that this man is being sentenced, that that this verdict was issued just about a month after there was finally a domestic abuse law put in place to protect children and women there, well that really has people in Saudi Arabia angry as well. And that's one of the reasons they're saying that, you know, it's not enough to say that abusers are going to be gone after, they really need to see some judicial reform put in place in Saudi Arabia as soon as possible - - Kristie.

LU STOUT: Especially after this, a horrific story of brutality and abuse. Mohammed Jamjoom reporting for us, thank you.

Now we've told you before about China's restrictive online censorship. And the so-called great firewall there prevents people from freely accessing western social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. And censors are constantly watching Chinese social media sites like Sino Weibo for controversial comments. But just how many censors does it take?

Now the Beijing News reports that China has around 2 million people policing the Internet. That's the equivalent of almost every single person in greater Vancouver combing the Internet for comments. Or, to put it another way, China has more online censors than it does members of the military.

Now, time now for a look at the global weather forecast, especially with that storm battering China and Okinawa as well. We've got our Samantha Moore standing by. She joins us from the world weather center -- Samantha.

SAMANTHA MOORE, CNN WEATHER CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kristie, remember this time yesterday we were talking about Fitow coming on shore in China and we were talking about Danas that was moving over Okinawa. And boy did it do a number on it. You can see how quickly now it's moved into the Korean Straits, but this time yesterday it was over Okinawa. And here is some of the damage and some of the video that we've gotten as that typhoon moved over Okinawa.

We have some great video to show you right now of that storm that moved through. And you can just see how incredible those winds were. It was almost up to super typhoon strength at the time that it moved across this area. It wasn't quite, but it was close.

So incredibly destructive winds, heavy, heavy rain blowing sideways really limited that visibility down to nothing at times. So it was a really rough day with a lot of property damage. I'm sure we'll be getting reports in throughout the day -- actually the next couple of days on just the effects of Danas as it moved over the southern portion of Japan.

Now it is moving through the Korean Straits. And it's still moving at a really fast pace as we go back to the map. And you can see that it is definitely less organized than it was yesterday when it had that well defined eye. It's weakening rapidly.

Odds are it will become a tropical storm during the next update in the next few hours. We do expect to see it weaken.

But still it is a formidable force as far as the winds are concerned and it moves on up towards Mainland China. So within 24 hours, it should be about in this position.

However, it is interacting with a front here. And it's starting to become extratropical, but that can actually create some very gusty winds as well away from the center of circulation. You can see where it is now and as it continues to move on up we should have some gusts across the mainland of China that are very impressive indeed.

In fact, Tokyo with -- in the next 24 hours or so -- should see those winds up to around 76 kilometers per hour very easily there with the bay actually constricting that flow and increasing the winds over Tokyo.

So a very windy day as we head into tomorrow from this storm Danas. And we'll see some rain as well, but not the flooding rains we saw in Okinawa, because the system is losing some strength and it's moving at such a fast speed, Kristie.

LU STOUT: All right, Smaantha Moore staying across it all for us. Thank you, Samantha.

Now it is day eight of the partial U.S. government shutdown. And Democrats and Republicans still can't agree on a new spending bill. This, as an even bigger showdown approaches over raising the debt ceiling.

Now senior White House correspondent Brianna Keilar has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR (voice-over): Ramping up the pressure on House Republicans, Senate Democrats will introduce a bill today that would increase the debt ceiling for more than a year. The goal, push this hot potato issue beyond the 2014 midterm elections. The bill has no strings attached. No agreement to change Obamacare. No budgetary bartering.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I cannot do that under the threat that if Republicans don't get 100 percent of their way, they're going to either shut down the government or they are going to default on America's debt.

KEILAR: The president still says he won't bargain with the country's ability to pay its bills.

REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R), HOUSE SPEAKER: The president's refusal to negotiate is hurting our economy and putting our country at risk.

KEILAR: House Speaker John Boehner insists a debt ceiling increase without some concessions from the White House will never get past his Republicans. He says the same about a government funding bill, though, Democrats question that.

SEN. HARRY REID (D), MAJORITY LEADER: One surefire way to find out whether the bill would pass is have a vote on it.

KEILAR: Only one thing is for certain, Americans are not impressed, especially with Republicans. In a new CNN/ORC International Poll, 63 percent of those surveyed blame the GOP for the shutdown, 57 point the finger at Democrats, and 53 percent hold President Obama accountable.

Eight days into the partial government shutdown, nine days from breaching the debt ceiling, here are some ways this could all play out. Perhaps a long-term proposal like what the Senate is taking up. If that doesn't fly, there could be a short-term measure to buy time, or both sides could keep talking past each other until the U.S. defaults, and there is bipartisan agreement that would be an economic disaster.

Brianna Keilar, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now, coming up on News Stream, a case that has baffled U.S. airport officials. How did a 9-year-old boy board a flight on his own to Las Vegas without a ticket? Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: All right, it's Tuesday night here in Hong Kong. You're back watching News Stream.

Now this week on Leading Women we continue our profile of Helen Clarke the former New Zealand prime minister is currently the leader of the United Nations development program. Now it is an enormous challenge. And Clarke credits her upbringing for make her a strong and resilient leader.

Becky Anderson has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HELEN CLARK, FRM. NEW ZEALAND PRIME MINISTER: There is a call for an accountability revolution.

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: She's the third highest ranking official at the UN, appearing several times on the Forbes list of the world's most powerful women.

CLARK: I think the Forbes list has made it a big step in recognizing that there's hard power and there's soft power. Now, as head of the UN development program and chairing the development group you have soft power. I don't have executive power to go out there and say to a country do this, do that.

ANDERSON: A former prime minister of New Zealand for three terms, Helen Clark is used to operating in a public sector.

CLARK: When I started off as a young member of parliament in 1981 at the age of 31 my aspiration was to be a minister. I had never thought that I could be the party leader. But of course over time if you're in the job and you're doing it well and people start to notice, they start to talk and say why not you? The oldest question in politics, why not me?

ANDERSON: Clark's confidence likely came from her upbringing in Hamilton, New Zealand.

CLARK: Well, farming families are very self-reliant. We lived on a back road. I think I come from generations of resilient people who tend to survive through thick and thin.

ANDERSON: And five years into her position, Clark knows there's much more to accomplish before the end of her second term, but is proud of what she's done so far.

CLARK: I think that the biggest steps I've had to take here have been to try and get that results culture. Well, what do we have to show for the great effort we put in, the huge amount of money that goes through our box, what can we show that we have achieved for it?

And we can show it. But in the past, perhaps when money was easier, times were more benign, you went under the pressure to shine.

Pressure, while balancing a commuter marriage. Her husband is a university department chair in New Zealand and she lives in New York.

Despite all her accomplishments, Clark keeps her success in perspective.

ANDERSON: You can go all the way to the top of things, but one day that's going to the end. And that's going to end. And one day you're going to walk out of that big office, as I walked out of the prime minister's office or I walked out -- will walk out of this one day, and you go back to (inaudible) street. And you will drive your own car and you'll do your own shopping and you've always done these things so it's not a shock.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Very grounded and inspiring woman there.

Now ahead here on News Stream, as world leaders meet at the APEC summit in Indonesia, we give you a different view of the country, one from the sky. Now stay with us to meet the flying photographer.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Now, American football fans can be a loyal bunch, especially when it comes to their favorite team. So what happens when one group decides that a certain team's nickname is offensive? And the president of the United States seems to agree.

Well, Brian Todd has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A standoff that seems like the government shutdown, neither side budging, the president firing a news- making salvo. But this Washington drama is over the nickname of the city's NFL franchise.

Native-American groups feel they've got new momentum in their efforts to get rid of the name Redskins.

RAY HALBRITTER, ONEIDA INDIAN NATION: It's about the way our children are affected by the imagery of Washington's name and mascot.

TODD: Ray Halbritter and the Oneida Indian Nation are making a new push after President Obama's remark that if he were the owner of a team and its name offended a sizable group of people, quote, "I'd think about changing it."

The Redskins are firing back through their attorney Lanny Davis.

LANNY DAVIS, WASHINGTON REDSKINS ATTORNEY: There should not be a name change, which is not about race. It's not about disrespect. It's about loving the Redskins.

TODD: Davis cited a poll this year showing four out of five Americans don't think the Redskins' name should be changed and the only poll, which asks Native Americans specifically about it, taken almost a decade ago. That survey showed 9 out of 10 Native Americans were not bothered by the name.

(on camera): What do you make of the polling that shows -- that many Native Americans aren't offended and many others don't want the name changed?

HALBRITTER: That's a dictionary-defined offensive racial epitaph. You shouldn't be using that to sell a national sports team to America or to the rest of the world.

TODD (voice-over): NFL commissioner Roger Goodell stepped lightly into the controversy.

ROGER GOODELL, NFL COMMISSIONER: If we are offending one person, we need to be listening.

Redskins' owner Dan Snyder, one of 32 owners who Goodell works for, said recently he'll never change the name.

But the Oneida Indian Nation will get the NFL's ear soon. Both sides said they'll meet with each together about the Redskins name next month.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now driverless cars may be a few years off, but we are one step closer with this new test model from Nissan which features a driver assist system. Now Nissa says the Nissa Leaf, equipped with the system, can perform a number of functions by itself, including changing lanes, overtaking slower or stopped vehicles, and even automatically halting in front of red lights.

Now tech companies like Google have been racing to develop self- driving cars for years. And Nissan says that theirs will be on the road by the year 2020.

Now Delta Airlines is trying to figure out how a young boy got past security checkpoints and airline personnel at a U.S. airport. He boarded a flight without a ticket to Las Vegas. George Howell reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is where it all started. A 9-year-old boy walked off a light rail car Thursday and into the Minneapolis Airport with plans to travel but no ticket. He passed through the security checkpoint at the TSA screening. No problem.

(on camera): Then he continued on to the G-Concourse, specifically here at Gate G-4. But it's still unclear exactly how he got the ticket agent who was collecting tickets here.

(voice-over): What we do know is this minor did board Flight 1651 and traveled some 1,300 miles to Las Vegas. Officials say it wasn't until the flight crew became suspicious because he was traveling alone and contacted Las Vegas Metropolitan Police who took the child into custody upon landing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think they should have taken him to the tables and let him play a little, his luck was doing well, you know, once he got to Vegas.

HOWELL: Air transportation expert, Terry Tripler, says the whole thing highlights big gaps in security especially when it comes to children.

TERRY TRIPPLER, THEPLANERULES.COM: That 9-year-old child does not need identification, anyone under 18. So I can understand standing behind a family or whatever as the family is checking in and they're not aware that he's standing behind them. I can understand that. I cannot understand the Delta gate agents. This is where I put the major problem. It happened there.

HOWELL: While no one would talk on camera, we did get a lot of statements, first from the TSA essentially saying that they did their jobs. Quote, "The child was screened along with all other passengers to ensure that he was not a threat to the aircraft." And then Delta, quote, "Delta is taking this incident very seriously and working with authorities in the investigation. Due to the fact that it involves a minor, we are not commenting further at this time." For the traveling public who know the rigorous routine of airport screening..

ROSE MANFREDI, AIRLINE PASSENGER: And we have to go through taking our shoes and go through the belt, go through the thing.

HOWELL: It's a mystery how a child could have slipped through the cracks.

GORDON SELINGER, AIRLINE PASSENGER: I'm quite surprised that he got through security and all the things we as adults have to go through.

HOWELL: George Howell, CNN, Minneapolis.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Incredible story.

Now I want to tell you about a lake in Northern Tanzania with a petrifying power. Now photographer Nick Grant, he found these stone corpses along its banks. It's not clear how these animals died. Some think that the lakes mirror like surface may have confused the animals. Now the water's unusual chemical composition then calcifies their remains. And Grant says that he placed the creatures into these positions to make them look alive again.

Now, far from the discussion and the debate of the APEC gathering, all this week CNN's On the Road series bring you greater insight into the customs and the culture of Indonesia from homegrown architecture to its cuisine we explore the places, the people and the passions unique to this diverse southeast Asian country.

And today we get a bird's eye view of the country with the high flying photographer.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEZ O'HARE, PHOTOGRAPHER: It seems to me that if you don't fly you can't see the country, because from the ground if you're stuck on a road or you have to walk in somewhere most of the land is covered by forest or water. So it seems the only way to see it properly is from the air. So it just seems natural to have to learn to fly.

I'm flying the trike. If feels literally like a Harley with wings. It's like you're sitting on a motorbike and you can get an amazing view that you would never get on the road.

If the weather is good and the view is good you're always going to have a great time and take good pictures as well.

I grew up here. And I became an Indonesian citizen. So this is my country. And I'm so happy that I could live in such a beautiful country, such a varied country.

Exploring, really, is what I started to love. The first time I went traveling by myself in Indonesia was in '87. I went to Paupua. After going around there, I realized that Indonesia is amazing. And I had to do more.

Paupua is absolutely stunning. It's like the Alaska of Indonesia. It's just still mostly forest covered.

The mainland and the mountains is incredible, but then also the islands (inaudible) or the other islands around Paupua is just really, really stunning.

Thousands of islands all in chains, all different cast shaped islands that are just amazing. And some of these islands have lakes inside them as well and caves and all kinds of stuff. It's -- I have to explore more of that. I've only seen it from the air. I've never been on the ground or the water.

Once I flew over Merapi before the big eruptions. On one of the mornings that we went up there I was so close to the lava dome on the top I could feel the warmth on the side of my face.

When you're flying and seeing those places yourself and it's sometimes hard to capture to share it with others. I mean, the whole idea is to go there, fly there, take pictures from the air or from the ground or whatever, come back and be able to share it with other people so they can enjoy it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

Some awesome visuals there.

Now we will continue our on the road series focusing on Indonesia tomorrow. Anna Coren will sample the delights of Indonesian cuisine. Now it may not be as internationally well known as food from some other southeast Asian countries, but we will meet a chef who shows us why Indonesian cuisine deserve global acclaim.

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

END