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NEWS STREAM

New York Searches For Missing Autistic Teen; Malala Yousafzai Meets Queen Elizabeth; Wildfires Rage Across Southeastern Australia; Edward Snowden Denies China, Russia Obtained Classified NSA Documents

Aired October 18, 2013 - 08:00   ET

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

MONITA RAJPAL, HOST: I'm Monita Rajpal in Hong Kong. And welcome to News Stream where news and technology meet.

Devastating wildfires rage in the Australian state of New South Wales.

Edward Snowden denies he gave sensitive documents on secret U.S. surveillance programs to Russia or China.

And lost in a city of millions of people, the search is on for an autistic teen who went missing in New York.

We begin in Australia where the fire season is getting off to an early start and frightening start, we should say. Authorities say it could be the worst in a decade. Nearly a 100 fires are burning in the state of New South Wales. Many homes have been lost. The crisis has so far claimed the life of at least one man who died defending his home from the flames.

It's too early at this point to get a complete picture of the scale of destruction from the bush fires, but officials warn that as more areas are inspected, the damage toll is likely to rise.

Well, let's take a closer look now at where all of this is happening. The fires are raging across the southeastern state of New South Wales. A NASA satellite produced this image of smoke from some of the fires. And NASA says there were 90 different fires raging at one point. Right in the middle of this massive plume of smoke is Australia's biggest city Sydney, the city known around the world for its beauty covered in a thick veil of smoke.

Well, to the west of Sydney in the Blue Mountains, hundreds of residents spent the night in evacuation centers on Thursday. 7 Networks Hugh Whitfield reports from one hard hit community there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HUGH WHITFIELD, 7 NEWS CORRESPONDENT: The pain of losing everything after the day from hell at Mount Victoria. In this one straight, seven houses are flattened, yards blackened, cars a wreck.

ROWLEY CLARKE, RESIDENT: Obviously took out half a dozen or so houses in this street. And was sort of hit and miss which ones went and which ones didn't. There are houses that you would expect to burn that didn't.

WHITFIELD: Michael Reeson returned today. Yesterday, he was here trying to get his daughter out before police ordered them to go.

MICHAEL REESON, FIRE VICTIM: Next minute the police come down and just say we've lost control and told us to get out. And basically we were throwing everything in our cars over the next five minutes. And that was it. And we heard last night that the place had been burned down.

WHITFIELD: Somehow, Margaret Gough's house is still standing even after embers melted her skylight and began burning her living room fire crews managed to save it.

MARGARET GOUGH, RESIDENT: My house, we've got the shell, haven't we? And inside will have to be gutted. And that -- we've got a good starting point.

WHITFIELD: Some of her rescued animals, like these opposums, survived the fire, some not.

Last night, crews battled to put out burning embers, a fight that's far from won. 85 fighters were on the ground today battling to bring it under control.

STEVE PARROTT, FIREFIGHTER: Very tough terrain. So the winds changing on us all the time. And it's giving us variable conditions, so we pump hard out and it flares up on us again.

WHITFIELD: Investigators believe the blaze started in yesterday's strong winds when a falling tree brought down power lines on Mount York. That power poll is less than a kilometer away on the next ridge over, but by the time the fire reached this street in less than two hours, it was a firestorm so hot that this car windscreen didn't shatter, it melted.

Leaves on the trees show the direction of the fire -- they're baked in place. Residents' resilience just as stubborn.

GOUGH: We live in the Australian bush, we've got to -- you know, it's a tough life.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GORANI: 7 Networks Hugh Whitfield reporting there.

Well, let's get more now on this fire there. Mari Ramos is at the world weather center with more details. And they're saying that this is fire season, but we're looking at it could still get a lot worse and a lot longer.

MARI RAMOS, CNN INTERANTIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, because we're just at the beginning of the warmer season in Australia. And as these temperatures begin to rise and conditions remain dry, it could be a huge concern. The fire season in this part of Australia goes from October all the way to the month of February. So it's a long way to go. And like you mentioned, we are only at the beginning.

Let's talk a little bit about what's causing these fires. OK, here's a simple example of what you need for the fire. You need your fuel, which in this case, of course, is all the material there, the trees, the bush, the scrub, the grasses, those things. You need oxygen, of course, for the fire to burn. And you need the heat.

And the heat, in this case, is whatever started the fire. As we heard in that report, possibly power lines that came down and the wind.

And the wind, which is not pictured here, in this simple schematic is the biggest concern. And I want to show you some pictures that we have from those areas that show you the wind. And Monita, we keep hearing over and over about what a huge factor this has been. This has been I think the aggravating factor in all of this when we talk about wind.

Today, the winds are relatively lighter than they were over the last couple of days. But as we head into later on Sunday and into Monday, not only are temperatures going up, but we're going to see the wind going up one more time.

I want to take you away from those pictures for just a moment, because I want to show you these quotes that came from firefighters in that area from the New South Wales fire and rescue service. I have never seen anything like this in terms of wind.

This is a person that has been there for 27 years, by the way, and he says I feared for the safety of our crews.

On their Facebook page, they also said -- he added, I had to kneel down or I would have been blown off my feet.

So when you're talking about winds close to 90 kilometers per hour and possibly even higher. This is what firefighters are having to deal with.

Springwood firefighter Darren Moallem said it was just life in the end. There were so many people not knowing where loved ones or neighbors were.

Think about this, they're going house to house trying to get people out as soon as possible, because the fire is moving so quickly.

And bush fire officer Greg Hopcroft said, "there was thick black smoke everywhere. The fire was traveling so fast I couldn't keep up with host fast it was going down the road."

So the flames and the smoke moving faster than firefighters can move. That's how serious the situation has been over the last couple of days.

So, we had a front come through, that has helped ease the winds. But as I was saying, there's another cold front coming in. And the winds will begin to shift out of the north and that fire danger will also continue to increase as we head over the next couple of days.

Here's the warm front moving away. Here's the next front coming through. Here's the break in between. You can see it in the satellite image. If -- this next cold front, unfortunately, doesn't bring us anything as far as rain. Look Saturday, Sunday and even Monday remaining dry. And the temperatures gradually on the rise as well. That's going to be a big concern for people in this part of the world over the next few days.

And one more thing, remember that thing I said about the oxygen, Andrew Sullivan from the bush fire dynamics and application group said that there are two things that really worry him about fire fights -- fires in Australia, bush fires. One of them is spot fires, which means when you get those embers lifted up, they can travel up to 30 kilometers in some cases, which is amazing to think that fire embers can travel that fast.

And the other thing he said, there's something called escape fires -- when they think the fire is out, it doesn't have any oxygen, but it continues to burn. And then when you get the wind that comes in that adds the oxygen and the fire can spread again.

So even though they're getting a handle on it right now, that's why they're so concerned about the weather coming up in the next couple of days -- Monita.

RAJPAL: Right. Mari, thank you very much for that.

Let's turn now to some new developments in the story about U.S. intelligence leaker Edward Snowden. In an exclusive interview with the New York Times, Snowden says there's no chance China and Russia obtained the secret documents he leaked. The former National Security Agency contractor says he did not take any U.S. national security documents with him to Russia. He insists he gave all the classified documents to reporters while he was here in Hong Kong.

Journalist Glenn Greenwald says Snowden's claims are credible.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GLENN GREENWALD, JOURNALIST: Whether he took any to Russia, I obviously can't say for certain, but I know for certain that his intention was to undermine the ability of states to engage in mass surveillance, not to help states do so by giving documents to other governments. So it's certainly credible. There's zero evidence that he ever gave any documents or let any of those documents out of his control despite the desire of people in the media to simply assert it without evidence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJPAL: Well, that was the columnist Glenn Greenwald there.

CNN's Phil Black joins us now from Moscow. Phil, what's the word from where you are?

PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Monita, Edward Snowden is clearly responding to what has been one of the most persistent criticisms, perhaps assumptions that have been made about his decision to come to Russia, that by coming here he has turned himself into a Russian intelligence asset, that inevitably whatever information he had or was carrying is now in the hands of the Russian government.

But in his interview with the New York Times, which took place over an encrypted online service, Edward Snowden says that is not possible, because he says he left all of those classified documents with journalists in Hong Kong as you mentioned.

He said there were no copies. There was no reason, no advantage, no value in bringing copies with him.

He is also confident that the Chinese government wasn't able to access that information. He says that he could protect that information from the Chinese government, because he knew the Chinese spy agency's technical capabilities.

It all very much matches with what Edward Snowden's father said to me when he was here in Moscow earlier in the week visiting his son. Lon Snowden said that his son had absolutely not had any dealings with Russian intelligence services and that Edward had assured him that he had not been debriefed by any intelligence or security organization since he fled the United States -- Monita.

RAJPAL: So we know, Phil, that Snowden is -- Edward Snowden is now in Russia. He was granted temporary asylum. What do we know about what he's up to these days?

BLACK: Still no great deal, really, Monita. His location remains a secret. His father said to me he is happy, healthy, free to move around as he chooses to do so. He said he doesn't have to work, because he has a strong network of support both here in Russia and elsewhere in another country or other countries. But he didn't specify precisely who is supporting Snowden in this way.

He did say that Edward Snowden is out of the leaking game. He's not going to reveal any more classified U.S. information. But he wants to remain an active voice in the ongoing public conversation about electronic surveillance and privacy issues that is now going on in the United States - - Monita.

RAJPAL: Phil, thank you. Phil Black there in Moscow.

Coming up here on News Stream, a Norwegian citizen of Somali descent is under the radar in the Nairobi mall attack. We'll bring you the latest on the investigation there.

Two years on from the fall of Moammar Gadhafi, has life changed in Libya?

Plus, this Greenpeace activist is charged with piracy in Russia. His family talks exclusively to CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

RAJPAL: You are watching News Stream. And this is a visual version of all the stories we've got in the show today. We began with the fires raging across parts of Australia. Later in the show we'll look at what happens now that the U.S. fiscal crisis has been temporarily averted.

But now we have an update on the attack at the Westgate Mall in Kenya. Counter terrorism sources in Kenya tell CNN a Norwegian man of Somali descent is being investigated as a possible suspect in last month's attack. And he may have ties to a top terror leader.

Nima Elbagir has more on these latest developments. She joins us now from Nairobi -- Nima.

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Monita, we understand that Norwegian intelligence authorities are currently in Nairobi pursuing these lines of investigation. Kenyan counterterror has told us that the suspect a Norwegian of Somali descent of involvement in the Westgate mall, but they also believe that he could be the link between al Shabaab in general and that high level al Shabaab Ikrima, who is the target of the failed U.S. Navy SEAL grab attempt a couple of weeks ago.

And up until this point, the U.S. has maintained that their interest in Ikrima has nothing to do with ties to the Westgate mall, but the more we hear about Ikrima and the fact that he also carries Norwegian residency, the more the sense is growing from our intelligence sources here that he is a crucial linchpin in the broader al Qaeda terror network.

As we understand it from friends who grew up with Ikrima here in Nairobi, he speaks six languages that include Norwegian, Arabic, Somali, and Swahili, which is what is spoken here in Kenya. And therefore he's the main point guy between al Shabaab here and al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. But also the al Shabaab and al Qaeda affiliates beyond Kenya into the broader east African region, Monita.

RAJPAL: Yeah, what's particularly concerning and frightening about this development is that it goes on to show if it indeed is true, it goes on to show just how widespread the web of al Shabaab is all the way to Norway even.

ELBAGIR: Absolutely. And that's always been what al Shabaab has been very good at doing at -- almost, you can say pitching above their weight in is that they have been very good at recruiting disenfranchised, dissatisfied youth not just in the Somali Diaspora, but you know we have a Brit here, a convert to Islam in Mombassa, he is accused of -- he's standing trial for alleged involvement in a foiled al Shabaab plot that was intending to target westerners at hotels in that coastal Kenyan city of Mombassa. And he is also believed to be linked to Ikrima.

So it really gives you a sense of how broad this network is. And we've seen the CCTV footage that shows that those Westgate attackers were in direct communication with people outside of that mall. And intelligence sources here say that the intercepts of -- on those phone lines show them that these phone calls were coming from all over the region, Monita.

RAJPAL: Nima, what more do we know about this Norwegian, Somali suspect? And whether or not he was known, or how well known he was to Norwegian and Kenyan authorities, intelligence authorities I should say?

ELBAGIR: Well, we have his name that intelligence sources are asking that we don't pass that on given the delicate stage it's at in the investigation. But those we've spoken to here say that they had him on their radar. They were aware of him. And then they say when he went to -- when he was in Norway that's where the trail dried up. So their worry is that there isn't enough cooperation, that there aren't enough lines of communication.

Now that this is as they see it a global problem they feel that there needs to be more done to share information between the various intelligence authorities, Monita.

RAJPAL: All right, Nima, thank you for that. Nima Elbagir there live for us in Nairobi.

Now in the capital of neighboring Uganda, the U.S. embassy has issued an alert to Americans. It says it's looking into reports an attack similar to the one at the Westgate mall could occur in Kampala. An embassy statement says there are no specific details about any date or location. One U.S. official with direct knowledge of the information tells CNN the notice was sent out of an abundance of caution.

You're watching News Stream. After the break...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): It hurt me. All my friends looked at me in a weird way, asking me what had I done? Why the police? And I could not answer because the police took me by the hand and they were saying we have to go. We have to go.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJPAL: Anger on the streets of France after a 15-year-old girl is detained on a school trip and deported. Did authorities cross the line? We'll bring you more after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

RAJPAL : It's two years this weekend since the death of Moammar Gadhafi in Libya's revolution. And many areas are still controlled by powerful militia groups, as senior international correspondent Nic Robertson reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: For almost two years, this man, Hasham Bishr, has been running security in Libya's capital. He takes credit for freeing the prime minister after he was recently kidnapped.

HASHAM BISHR, HEAD, SUPREME SECURITY COMMITTEE (through translator): It was accepted that it was a coup. I called my group and set up an operation room to handle the situation.

ROBERTSON: We meet in the garden of his Tripoli villa. He is not a general, not a police chief, but commands militias.

So this makes you the most powerful man in Tripoli, even Libya if you can rescue the prime minister?

BISHR (through translator): I am not the most powerful, but we got help from a lot of our relations and information. It's been two years in the capital Tripoli. So we managed to provide security as possible.

ROBERTSON: Bishr adopts a modest tone, yet his powerful militias should have been dissolved months ago.

But as I found out firsthand, Bishr's influence in this city ranges far and wide. It all began when we spotted a fire at the foreign ministry just over there. It came out of nowhere, engulfing the government building close to our hotel. I took a camera to get a closer look.

Within a few minutes, we were surrounded by vigilante thugs. They didn't have identification papers, they weren't wearing uniforms. They took away the camera and demanded we went with them. And it wasn't until I mentioned Bishr's name and friendly locals arrived that the situation began to diffuse. A few hours later, Bishr had our camera returned to us.

At moments, it felt like a kidnapping. This chaos, the clearest sign that dozens of militias and vigilante groups are still at-large in Libya, two years after the overthrow of Moammar Gadhafi they've refused to give up their guns and join the national army or police, because the real battle for power in Libya has yet to begin.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): There is an Islamic current within Libya that doesn't want the state to rise. This is what is hindering the country.

ROBERTSON: This government security official wants his identity hidden, because what he says could cost him his life -- that al Qaeda in Libya is getting stronger, attracting hundreds of sympathizers from neighboring countries.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): They want to establish Libya as a religious state. They have recently threatened to destroy the interests of the European or American firms in Libya. We expect there will be trouble.

ROBERTSON: Bishr, who is accused by some of failing to integrate militias fast enough, say it's slow going because the new police are failing.

BISHR (through translator): From the security committee decided to combine these units, a large number of their members were enlisted into training, which resulted in a security vacuum in the capital.

ROBERTSON: A security vacuum that's already led to the kidnapping of a prime minister and leaves many worrying of an even bigger power play yet to come.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Tripoli, Libya.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RAJPAL: Coming up here on News Stream, the Greenpeace activists being held in Russia for protesting oil exploration in the Arctic.

And fiscal crisis averted for now, but what's next for the U.S. after that bruising budget battle. We'll take you live to Washington for the latest.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

RAJPAL: I'm Monita Rajpal in Hong Kong. And you're watching News Stream. These are your world headlines.

Kenyan sources say a Norwegian citizen of Somali descent is being investigated as a possible suspect in the Westgate mall attack. Norwegian and Kenyan counterterror officers believe he may have ties to one of the most dangerous commanders in the Somali military group al Shabaab. At least 67 people were killed in the siege in Nairobi last month.

Edward Snowden says there's a zero percent chance Russia or China got their hands on classified documents. The U.S. intelligence leaker told the New York Times he gave all his classified documents to the media before he left Hong Kong. Snowden is currently in Russia where he's been given temporary asylum.

China's economy powered ahead in the third quarter, delivering its fasted growth this year. Output between July and September was up 7.8 percent from a year earlier. And the government says the country should hit its growth target for the year.

Thousands of people have been forced out of their homes as wildfires continue to rage in Australia's New South Wales. One person is confirmed dead. And it is believed hundreds of homes have been destroyed. Intense heat and strong winds are hampering rescue efforts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOEL KURSAWE, NEW SOUTH WALES RURAL FIRE SERVICE: In days like we saw yesterday here in New South Wales, and particularly in and around Sydney with the extreme weather conditions, we saw wind gusts of an excessive 90 kilometers an hour, coupled with temperatures more than 30 degrees in a lot of those areas. The winds and the bad weather conditions that we saw hampered efforts to use helicopters and aircraft to tackle these fires. It really was some of the worst conditions we've seen in a very long time. And crews arrived at a number of locations to find many houses on fire. It really comes down to just trying to do the best that they can.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJPAL: Turning to Russia now where 30 activists from the environmental group Greenpeace have been detained for one month. Among them is Greenpeace ship captain Peter Wilcox. His wife and daughter spoke exclusively to CNN's Ivan Watson.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Gunshots in the Arctic: this was supposed to be a routine Greenpeace protest against a Russian energy giant drilling for oil in the Arctic Ocean. But the September 18 protest took a horrible turn, Russian authorities arrested 28 activists and two journalists aboard a ship owned by the environmentalist group Greenpeace. A court later charged them with piracy. Authorities claiming their actions endangered the oil rig's crew.

Among the detainees, an American, the ship's captain, Connecticut native Peter Wilcox.

MAGGIE WILCOX, PETER WILCOX'S WIFE: The situation he's in now is just way too extreme.

WATSON: Maggie and Peter Wilcox got married nearly eight months ago. Speaking exclusively to CNN, she shows me the last post card she received from her husband sent during a stop over in Norway on the way to the Arctic.

WILCOX: His last sentence is it should be a cool action if the Russians can keep their sense of humor.

WATSON: But no one is laughing now as members of the Arctic 30 face up to 15 years in a Russian prison.

Wilcox spent decades with Greenpeace protesting to protect the environment.

WILCOX: We all like to think we try to make the world a better place in our own small way, but it's rare for someone to devote their whole life to this. And Peter has.

WATSON: For his 18-year-old daughter Natasha, a college freshman, hearing her father called a pirate is a shock.

When you saw your father with handcuffs there, what kind of feeling did you have?

NATASHA WILCOX, PETER WILCOX'S DAUGHTER: Angry.

WATSON: Anger, huh?

N. WILCOX: Yeah.

WATSON: Is there a message you'd want to send the authorities in Russia right now?

N. WILCOX: I would ask them to open a dictionary and read the definition of piracy.

WATSON: In fact, Russia's powerful president Vladimir Putin told journalists last month it's obvious Wilcox and the other activists are not pirates. But that hasn't stopped a Russian judge from denying bail to the Greenpeace prisoners.

Natasha says Russian authorities have not let her speak to her father since his arrest.

N. WILCOX: He's a dad and he's a husband. He's a brother. And he's more than just someone who was in charge of a crew who scaled an oil rig.

WATSON: For now, Peter Wilcox, also a prisoner and an alleged pirate whose family can do little more than wait and hope for their captain to come home.

Ivan Watson, CNN, Bristol, Rhode Island.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RAJPAL: Washington is looking ahead to the next round of budget battles, but there are hopes it won't be as nasty or expensive as the last one. It's estimated that October's partial government shutdown cost the country billions and may have squandered international good will as the prospect of a debt default loomed.

With the immediate threat gone for now, President Obama is challenging lawmakers, particularly Republicans, to change tactics and work more cooperatively in upcoming budget negotiations.

But the road ahead is unlikely to be easy after such a politically bruising few weeks. Jim Acosta reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, everybody in Washington was sort of anticipating that the president would strike a bipartisan tone in the hours after the shutdown ending. But instead, he gave Republicans a stern lecture. That is an indication that while the shutdown is over, this White House is anticipating many more battles to come.

(voice-over): Listening to President Obama chatting with the Italian prime minister, it sounded as if he was ready for a vacation in Tuscany.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He will not have to twist my arm to come to try to get me to come to Tuscany again sometime in the near future.

ACOSTA: But the president has no room on his plate for pasta, not when he set his sight on passing a budget for immigration and, even a farm bill in less than 90 days.

OBAMA: We could get them done by the end of the year if our focus is on what's good for the American people.

ACOSTA: A task the president may have made more difficult for himself after railing against Republicans over the shutdown.

OBAMA: You don't like a particular policy or a particular president? Then argue for your position. Go out there and win an election.

ACOSTA: But he may get help from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell who told "The Hill" newspaper, "There will not be a government shutdown. I think we have fully now acquainted new members with what a losing strategy is."

Former GOP vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan called for bipartisanship in upcoming negotiations.

REP. PAUL RYAN (R), WISCONSIN: We want to look for ways to find common ground, to get a budget agreement.

ACOSTA: Tell that to Texas Senator Ted Cruz whose office told CNN he is not ruling out another shutdown.

The president could also have a fight on his hands over his next pick for secretary of homeland security, Jeh Johnson, a former military lawyer and Obama campaign fund-raiser said at a conference earlier this year, the day will come when the U.S. must declare the war against Al Qaida over.

JEH JOHNSON, PROSPECTIVE HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY NOMINEE: We must no longer consider ourselves against Al Qaida and affiliated groups, and I think Benghazi is what I'm talking about, because you can't label the Benghazi attack as something conducted by Al Qaida and associated forces. It was more of a mixed bag.

ACOSTA: And that's not all, the administration still has to fix those health care website glitches.

JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Nobody is more insistent that that work be done and the experience be improved than the president.

ACOSTA: The president is scheduled to formally nominate Jeh Johnson as the next secretary homeland security at a ceremony here at the White House later on this afternoon. But already, a key senator on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Republican Jeff Sessions, has called Johnson's, quote, "deeply concerning." And referred to the Department of Homeland Security as perhaps the most mismanaged in the entire federal government.

Jim Acosta, CNN, The White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RAJPAL: Well, early this week we showed you the power of a devastating storm in India. Even though Cyclone Phailin has passed, the impact will be felt for months to come as hundreds of thousands of people try to rebuild their lives.

Sumnima Udas visited a coastal fishing village to find out how survivors there are coping.

(BEGIN VIDEOATPE)

SUMNIMA UDAS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Pulling together, even in the most desperate times a reason to celebrate. Fishing hamlets like this bore the brunt of Cyclone Phailin's fury. All 200 boats here damaged.

Fisherman Diariah (ph) shows us what's left of his boat.

"The sea is our god," he says. "If we go out to fish, we'll have food. Otherwise we die. We are the product of the sea."

No functioning boats, fishing nets also rendered useless. Most here remember the 1999 cyclone which hit the same area, killing 10,000 people. This time, though, countless survived thanks to early warnings.

He says, "the government workers came to our village with hailers (ph) and said let's go, let's go and took all of us to a shelter."

Happy to be alive, but frustrated with how little is left.

When Nam Nama (ph) returned from the safehouse, she (inaudible) what used to be her strewn across the beach.

"It's all gone," she says. "The water came to here and pushed everything through the roof."

Possessions worth her entire life savings now washed way.

Nama's (ph) son Nirai (ph) says what we're seeing around us is actually an improvement after four days of cleanup.

"When we came back after the cyclone, this whole beach was like a ghost town," he says. "Most of the boats had sunk five to six meters under the sand. We had to dig all of them out."

When the cyclone hit, locals here say the strong wind from the coast carried some boats half a kilometer inland and into this village. They've completely cleared out this area now, but they say much of their belongings have been destroyed.

In this village of 5,000 people, 80 percent of the homes damaged. Locals were quick to return from the shelters, but the bright colors of the homes do not reflect the mood here. They wait stoically for promised food aid.

On the fourth day, some relief: the government is distributing 50 kilograms of rice per family. But what good is rice without fish, they ask? Their only source of income.

"It's a pitiful condition. I cannot survive on small bits of food," she says. "We have lost everything. We are crying inside."

Their resilience is commendable, but the pain still palpable.

Sumnima Udas, CNN, Noyanuka Village (ph), Odisha, India.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RAJPAL: You're watching News Stream. Ahead, the desperate search for a missing autistic teenager who hasn't been seen for two weeks.

Plus, she was hanging with the Obamas last week. And today, Pakistan education campaigner Malala Yousafzai is meeting the queen. We'll take you live to London for that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

RAJPAL: French students have taken to the streets in anger over the treatment of a 15-year-old girl who was seized by police while on a school trip and then deported to Kosovo. She and her family were found to have been staying in France illegally.

The events have reignited France's long running debate over immigration. Fionnuala Sweeney reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FIONNUALA SWEENEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Protests in Paris as high school students clashed with riot police. Thousands of young people hit the streets of the French capital on Thursday outraged over the recent deportation of at least two foreign students.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Our country should be about liberty, equality, fraternity.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): We are against expulsion. And we don't agree that a person who is integrated is sent back to her country she doesn't even know.

SWEENEY: One of the students at the center of the controversy is Leonarda DiBrani, a 15-year-old girl of Roma descent. Earlier this month, she was taken off a school bus during an outing with classmates. DiBrani deported along with her family to Kosovo.

LEONARDA DIBRANI, DEPORTED (through translator): My home is not here. My home is in France.

SWEENEY: DiBrani and her family had been in France illegally since 2009. Their legal appeals for asylum exhausted. But the teenager said she felt ashamed at being detained in front of her classmates.

DIBRANI (through translator): It hurt me. All my friends looked at me in a weird way asking me what had I done. Why the police. And I could not answer, because the police took me by the hand and they were saying we have to go. We have to go.

SWEENEY: DiBrani's case has reignited debate over French immigration policies. And (inaudible) interior minister Manuel Valls is in hot water with the press and some lawmakers in the governing Socialist Party, though conservatives say police were simply carrying out the law.

Valls has now launched an investigation into the family's deportation. The French prime minister told parliament the teen and her family could be readmitted into the country.

JEAN-MARC AYRAULT, FRENCH PRIME MINISTER (through translator): If a mistake has been made, the warrant for expulsion from the country will be canceled. This family will come back. And its situation will be examined and reexamined with regards to our rights, our principles and our values.

SWEENEY: Some opposition lawmakers warn reversing the deportation could send a damaging message that illegal immigrants are welcome in France. Meantime, DiBrani is calling on French President Francois Hollande for help.

DIBRANI (through translator): I want to tell Mr. Hollande to get us back in France as soon as possible, because I don't want to lose my school.

SWEENEY: Fionnuala Sweeney, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RAJPAL: Switching gears, last week she sat down with the Obama family at the White House. Today, Pakistani education activist Malala Yousafzai met with the Queen of England, "as you do." Queen Elizabeth was said to be very impressed by Malala's bravery and invited her to attend a reception for youth education and the Commonwealth at Buckingham Palace.

Well, but it's just one of many high profile events Malala has attended lately. For more, CNN's royal correspondent Max Foster joins us now live from London with that.

Max, and it seems as though she made quite an impression on the queen, especially during the meet and greet.

MAX FOSTER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. They spent a lot of time together. And this is going to become, I think, sort of iconic image. You got an icon of two women, one in her teens, one in her 80s, both iconic figures coming together. And the queen, of course, famous over the decades for having these photographs with these iconic figures.

So I think it was a real moment.

And it was really big personal moment as well for Malala who has had this extraordinary journey over the last year since she was shot in October last year in Pakistan, of course. She's become this symbol of education for all. And she says that she wanted to take that message to a higher platform.

Interesting, though, Monita, she had to miss a day of school to do that today.

But it really was an extraordinary moment in the palace. And I think those images really will live on.

RAJPAL: Yeah, it certainly I think is a good enough reason to say you're not able to come to school today.

But queen not the only royal that's been busy today. Tell us a bit about the Duchess of Cambridge. She's been up to something.

FOSTER: Yeah, absolutely. She's been showing off her sporting prowess. It was her first solo engagement since she had Prince George. She's out at the Olympic Park. And she was -- she ended up playing volleyball with this team of future paralympic and Olympic hopefuls, but she did it in these very tight jeans, jeggings -- I know that you know all about these things, Monita -- and some very high heels.

So people were pretty amazed at her sporting prowess. And also how fantastic she looks considering she only recently had a baby. So, that was the sort of showbiz end of things.

Here, meanwhile we had that big iconic moment.

And I have to tell you, Monita. There was a classic Prince Phillip gaffe as well today. He was chatting to Malala. We asked Malala, you know, what did he say to you? And Phillip said, well, you know, a lot of British kids go to school, because their parents sort of get tired of them, that's the reason they go to school here.

RAJPAL: Well, he is 92. You've got to forgive him for that, I guess.

We're also pretty impressed with your -- speaking of prowess -- with your fashion prowess. But, you know, we'll leave it at that.

Max, thank you very much for that. Max Foster there live for us from Buckingham Palace.

Now in New York massive search is underway for a missing autistic teenager. 14-year-old Avonte Oquendo has not been seen since he ran out of his school two weeks ago. Authorities say the teen cannot communicate verbally.

CNN's Don Lemon spoke with his parents.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Inch-by-inch, street corner by street corner, seemingly everyone in New York City looking for missing 14-year-old Avonte Oquendo.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Avonte, it's mom.

LEMON: In Queens, near the school where the autistic boy was last seen two weeks ago, search vans broadcast his mother's voice in hopes he may recognize it and come to them.

(on camera): How did you come up with that message?

VANESSA FONTAINE, MOTHER OF AVONTE OQUENDO: That is something that I tell him when he comes home from school. I always say, hi, Avonte, because I want him to give the response hi mom. Sometimes he tells me, hi, mom.

LEMON (voice-over): This surveillance video was the last anyone was seen of Avonte. He can't communicate verbally.

Investigators say after approaching a security guard who didn't let him exit the school, he found a monitored side door and vanished.

FONTAINE: He is not supposed to be running to the halls without supervision. He is not supposed to be letting -- walk out the door and you're not stopping him.

LEMON: New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly does not believe the security guard is at fault.

RAY KELLY, NYPD COMMISSIONER: We see the actions of the security guard on film and also statements by the security agent and other people that we believe there wasn't any ongoing --

LEMON: A source close to the investigation tells CNN searches are concentrating on a five-block area around the school with particular focus on a marshy landfill, thinking cameras don't show the child headed to the neighborhood but he headed towards the water.

But Avonte's father believes he's elsewhere.

DANIEL OQUENDO, FATHER OF AVONTE OQUENDO: I look at part of their job to do that but I'm pretty sure he is not there. He doesn't like he -- doesn't kind of feeling towards water, large bodies of water. He wasn't about that.

LEMON: Water, an ominous fear for these parents. For now, they are keeping positive, trying to find one young boy among millions.

One family with an entire city behind them.

Don Lemon, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RAJPAL: You're watching News Stream. Coming up next, normally found in deep seas near Alaska, why has this whale washed up in Southern California?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

RAJPAL: Welcome back.

If you'd like to own a bit of U.S. presidential history, your chance is coming up. Memorabilia from President John F. Kennedy is on display now in New York ahead of news months auction. The sale is timed to mark the 50th anniversary of JFK's assassination in Dallas. It will include mementos with a unique Cold War prominence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GREG ROHAN, HERITAGE AUCTIONS: It was commissioned by President Kennedy to Tiffany and Company who made the silver calendars in the beautiful box and he gave them to his trusted, most important advisers who helped him on the Cuban missile crisis.

It's immensely historic item and very few of them were of course made.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJPAL: The items reflect not only some of the most defining moments of JFK's presidency, but also his every day life. The auctioneer says the November 23 sale should fetch at least half a million dollars.

Now you're looking at a moment of history here. On the left is Harry Wilson becoming the youngest player -- ever player to ever to play football for Wales. It's a moment that made his family proud, but also made his grandfather very rich. Jim Boulden explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM BOULDEN, CNN CORREPSONDENT: On Tuesday night, 16-year-old Harry Wilson came on for Wales with a few minutes to go in its World Cup qualifier in Belgium. And back in Wales, his proud grandfather became a lot richer.

PETER EDWARDS, HARRY WILSON'S GRANDFATHER: I didn't expect it for a few years, yes.

BOULDEN: Peter Edwards always hoped grandson Harry would play for Wales, but thought maybe it would take a few more years. Though he saw something special when Harry was a toddler.

EDWARDS: He was crawling after the ball in the living room. So I just saw the (inaudible) he might play for Wales.

BOULDEN: Proud granddad went to a local betting shop and put down 50 pounds, around 80 U.S. dollars today, a wager that his grandson would play football for Wales. So bookmaker William Hill took the bet.

EDWARDS: And he offered me odds of 2,500 to 1. So I thought I best take it.

BOULDEN: Granddad Peter waited and kept working as an electrician. But now with his grandson taking the field for Wales, he collects 125,000 pounds, around $200,000 on that bet. And 62-year-old grandad Peter is retiring a year early, just as 16-year-old Harry's international career takes off.

Jim Boulden, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RAJPAL: And something fishy is going on in California. For the second time this week a rare sea creature has been found. So what's bringing them close to shore? CNN's Casey Wian investigates.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It started when a snorkeler came across this 18-foot creature that's likely an example of what ancient mariners called sea serpents.

JIM DINES, NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM, L.A. COUNTY: They seem kind of sea monster-ish, and so it catches a lot of attention. And it's exciting for the scientists, too.

WIAN: Normally found only in the deep ocean, this oarfish was in just 15 feet of water off Catalina. Two days later, this bizarre looking animal washed ashore across the channel on Venice Beach. It's believed to be a rare saber-toothed Stejneger's beaked whale. It's usually found in much colder waters and almost unheard of in southern California.

NICK FASH, EDUCATION SPECIALIST, HEAL THE BAY: They're never seen around here. And to have something this unique wash up, which is a once in a lifetime so far experience for me, was a real treat.

WIAN: Manhattan Beach surfers are used to seeing great white sharks, but not this many.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I've been seeing an abnormally high quantity of great white sharks out here lately. So I figured I'd take a stand- up paddle board out, put my GoPro camera on my head and see if I can get some footage.

WIAN: Did he ever.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Holy (EXPLETIVE DELETED). He's checking me out. Whoo! Oh, my God, right under the board. Oh, my God, look at that. I'm (EXPLETIVE DELETED) shaking like a leaf.

WIAN: So what's going on here?

ALEX ARONOFF: I'd say something along the lines of a global climate change. The temperature of ocean currents are definitely changing up a bit.

COURTNEY BELLIG: I don't know. It sounds scary, though, especially with the great whites. I have four little kids out here and I tell them not to go in the water.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sharks!

WIAN: Scarier than any shark sighting for southern Californians is a theory about the oarfish. There's a Japanese legend that oarfish beach themselves to warn of an impending earthquake. And, in fact, dozens of them did just that in Japan about a year before the devastating Fukushima quake and tsunami in 2011.

DINES: Usually there is some truth behind every legend. In that particular instance, I don't know, it seems a little far-fetched.

WIAN: Scientists don't know why all of this is happening. For now, the Catalina oarfish has been dissected, cut in pieces and frozen so its flesh can be boiled off later and its skeleton reconstructed and mounted. Wonder if that will keep the earthquakes away.

Casey Wian, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RAJPAL: Finally, staying in the United States, Goblin Valley in Utah, known for an incredible landscape of rock formations, but it will never be the same again. A group of hikers who celebrated toppling over a Jurassic era rock formation in Utah park have found themselves in trouble with the law. The men were busted after posting video on Facebook. They're now facing possible felony charges for destroying the 200 million year old sandstone boulders known as Goblins.

And that is News Stream. But the news continues right here at CNN. I'm Monita Rajpal. World Business Today is next.

END