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NEWS STREAM

Thai Protesters Ask Military To Join Them; Explosions Outside U.S. Airbase In Japan; China Scrambles Jet To New Air Defense Identification Zone; Cold Temperatures For Much Of Northern Hemisphere; Transfer Of Leadership for Pakistan?s Military; Syria?s Lost Generation; Is Racism Growing In France?

Aired November 29, 2013 - 08:00   ET

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

PAULINE CHIOU, HOST: I?m Pauling Chiou in Hong Kong. And welcome to News Stream where news and technology meet.

Protesters in Thailand call on the army to join them and bring down the prime minister. She says she?s willing to talk, but is not leavi. ng

Plus, their young lives have been scarred by war, now the UN has a warning for the future of Syria?s refugee children.

And is racism on the rise in France? We ask people on the streets of Paris to share their perspective.

Bangkok?s army hadquarters is the latest target of anti-government protesters. Hundreds force their way into the compound, continuing their push to unseat Thailand?s Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. They asked the military to help them overthrow the government. A defense ministry spokesperson says protesters left peacefully after a couple of hours.

Well, all this week, protesters have surrounded a string of official buildings in the capital. The demonstrations are unfolding in the heart of Bangkok. And some governments have issued travel warnings to tourists.

Today, protesters gathered outside the prime minister ?s party offices. And another of today?s targets, the army headquarters in the center of the city. It?s near the democracy monument where about 100,000 people rallied on Sunday.

And about 2 kilometers away, protesters cut electricity to the national police headquarters on Thursday.

Well, Yingluck Shinawatra survived a no confidence vote in parliament on Thursday. And today, she spoke to CNN?s Anna Coren.

Anna joins me now live from Bangkok.

Anna, what did the prime minister have to say?

ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Pauline, the prime minister basically said that she was very much in control of the situation despite the scenes that we are seeing unfolding here in the capital.

I mean, this trouble is virtually on her doorstep. You mentioned the army headquarters, that is not very far from government house, which is where we are standing, which is where the prime minister and her cabinet work from.

At the moment, it is surrounded by hundreds of police as well as barricades and razor wire. They?re going to do everything in their power to stop protesters from coming here.

But as you mentioned, they?ve already occupied government buildings and ministries, they have been protesting at the democracy monument now for months, that is very much, you know, the focus of these mass demonstrations.

The prime minister wants these demonstrations to end. She says they are hurting Thailand. Let?s take a listen to what she told us a little bit earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

Y INGLUCK SHINAWATRA, PRIME MINISTER OF THAILAND: We think that at the Thai people, we would like to protester that this stop the protesting and we can be D because you already expressed your conditions and the government would like to open the dialogue and talk to them and also will be D can find a solution together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COREN: She is calling for dialogue, but the people are not listening. In fact, Pauline, they are planning on staging much larger demonstrations over the weekend, in p articular on Sunday. They had something like 100,000 people turn out last Sunday and organizers of these protests say they want to see similar numbers if not more, not just here in Bangkok, but also across the country Pauline.

CHIOU: Yeah, Anna, it has seemed that the protest movement has gained momentum in the past couple of days. When you actually talk to them on the streets, are they growing more confident in their push to try to unseat the government?

COREN: More confident and also more brazen. You know, just the fact that they scaled the gates of the army headquarters in broad daylight. And in actual fact, the military almost allowed them, you know, into the compound.

The addressed them in a very peaceful manner, you know. They had to listen to what they said, their demands, their requests. And as you mentioned in their introduction, they had asked the military to come and join their fight, join their plight. The military obviously said, OK, you ?ve made your point, it is now time to leave. We are here to support the government.

But the fact that they are doing this just shows that these protesters really are here to prove a point. They want the government to resign, her cabinet to resign an d for there to be political reform, Pauline, in this country.

CHIOU: All right, Anna, thank you for following the latest from the demonstrations and also bringing us that interview from the prime minister.

Anna Coren there live in Bangkok.

Now to the latest fallout over China ?s new air defense identification zone. Japan says it?s open to dialogue with Beijing, but China appears to be digging in. On Thursday, it sent fighter jets into the area in what it called a defensive measure.

Japan, South Korea and the U.S. have ref used to recognize the new zone. And South Korea says it is considering expanding its own air defense zone in retaliation.

Well, the Chinese English language newspaper Global Times had a strong response to Beijing?s critics. In an editorial on Friday, the paper said, quote, Owhat we should do at present is to firmly counter provocative actions from Japan. And we are willing to engage in a protracted confrontation with Japan. Our ultimate goal is to beat its willpower and ambition to instigate strategic confrontation against China.O

Now this article said that it does not see the U.S. as a primary threat and that China?s intentions are ultimately peaceful.

Well, at the same time, an annual military drill between the U.S. and Japan is underway of f the coast of Japan, serving as a reminder of the close ties between these two nations as strong allies.

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden will head to the region next week and the air zone dispute is sure to dominate talks here.

Let?s bring in our Pe ntagon correspondent Barbara Starr now.

Barbara, how forceful do you think Biden will be on this issue of China?s new air defense zone?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Pauline, you know the Chinese are saying that they are on high alert, but the allies in the region and Vice President Joe Biden are lining up to challenge that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STARR: Navy fighter jets roar into the Pacific skies, it?s a scheduled exercise by U.S. and Japanese forces testing the ability to respond to a crisis. But China?s declaration of a new air identification zone requiring aircraft to obey Chinese rules is causing these war games to take on a new significance.

Vice President Joe Biden will arrive in Beijing next week. A senior admi nistration official says the vice president will, quote, seek clarity regarding the Chinese intentions about an area the U.S. considers international airspace.

Even Caroline Kennedy, the new U.S. ambassador to Japan, is weighing in on the Chinese restriction zone, part of a dispute with Japan about who owns these remote islands in the East China Sea.

CAROLINE KENNEDY, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO JAPAN: This only serves to increase tensions in the region.

STARR: The U.S., Japan and South Korea have all flown aircraft into the restricted zone without notifying Beijing authorities, a violation of China?s new rules. The Chinese military says it sent fighter jets on patrol into the zone to monitor planes flying there.

VICTOR CHA, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC AN D INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: When the Japanese continue to fly in this area, the Koreans continue to fly into their overlapped area with the Chinese, sooner of later the Chinese are going to start scrambling jets to intercept these aircraft. And that is where you have the potential for not a military conflict, but some sort of accident, some sort of mistake that could then lead to a real crisis in the regions.

STARR: A Chinese foreign ministry official made clear, Beijing isn ?t budging.

OWe also asked Japan and the United States to reflect on themselves,O he says, Ocorrect the error, stop making irresponsible accusations against China, stop creating frictions and put an end to statements and actions that may harm regional stability.O

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STARR: So one of the big questions now is what does happen next. Some analysts say China may be assessing whether it overplayed its hand from a military point of view. Would it really seek to engage all these countries in the region, which are in such opposition to what it did. The rhetoric from Beijing, though, still pretty hot D Pauline.

CHIOU: All right, Barbara, thank you very much for giving us the perspective from Washington.

Well, professor Shen Deng Lee (ph) of Footan University (ph) believes the air defense zone is part of President Xi Jinping?s effort to reshape China?s foreign policy. He says it looks to be China?s latest attempt to stress sovereignty and stability.

You can read more of the opinion piece on our website at CNN.com.

Well, there was a security scare in Japan on Thursday. Two explosions went off outside an American airbase near Tokyo. And authorities found a mysterious device near the site. U.S. and Japanese authorities are now investigating, but as Karl Penhaul discovered, many questions still remain.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KARL PENHAUL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A bomb squad on the move. It?s just after dawn and Japanese authorities are on alert after explosions close to the Yokota U.S. Air Force Base. Police threw up a cordon.

Nearby, residents say they heard two loud blasts just before midnight.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): There was a sound of something exploding. It wasn?t something blowing up, but more like a sound of rockets going off.

PENHAUL: Factory worker Daisy Gonsaga (ph) thought it was part of Thanksgiving celebrations on the base.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMA LE: Like a fireworks bomb, like that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Around 11:30, there was a sound like this and then the whole apartment shook.

PENHAUL: Police and bomb squad teams have been combing this area fields and wooded land. And they now confirm that they found two steel tubes attached to wires, a battery and a crude timing device. They believe that is part of a homemade mortar system.

There was no sign any projectiles flew into the base, home to some 3,500 servicemen fr om the U.S.?s 374th Airwing.

A spokesman for the U.S. Air Force said there were no explosions inside the airbase itself and no reports of damage or injuries.

The incident came a week after U.S. Ambassador Caroline Kennedy visited Yokota Base. U.S. Vice President Joe Biden is scheduled to visit Japan next week. The Japanese and U.S. navies are currently conducting joint exercises.

There have been similar incidents in the past, most recently in September. Previously, ultra-leftist Japanese guerrilla groups have claimed responsibility.

Such actions are more a political protest against U.S.-Japanese military cooperation than a series strike to cause destruction or death.

Karl Penhaul near the Yokota Airbase, Japan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHIOU: Just ahead on News Stream, a media scrum as Charles Saatchi arrives at a London court to testify at the fraud trial of two former personal assistants.

Some soul searching in France amid claims that racism is on the rise.

And Syria?s lost ge neration: more than a million children are refugees. We?ll have more on that and their plight coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHIOU: You?re watching News Stream. And you?re looking at a visual version of all the stories we have in the show today. We?ve already told you how protesters in Thailand are trying to escalate their efforts to oust the prime minister. Later, we?ll show you the plight of Syria?s young refugees of war.

But now we want to update you on a high profile trial in London.

Businessman and art collector Charles Saatchi has arrived at a London courthouse to testify against two former aids accused of fraud. The sisters are charged with embezzling over a million dollars from Saatchi and his ex-wife, the celebrity chef Nigella Lawson.

Well, Saatchi ?s accountant claims the former personal assistants spent huge sum of money on luxury goods paid for on his company credit cards.

For the very latest now, CNN?s Max Foster joins me live from outside Isleworth Crown Court in London.

Max, what has ha ppened so far today in court?

MAX FOSTER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORREPSONDENT: Well, Charles Saatchi has just appeared only very briefly, though, because the court then broke up for lunch a few minutes ago. But he described how the family was very close to these two sisters, one side of her housekeeper, one is a nanny and as the children got older they actually transformed their roles into being personal assistants D very close to the family.

There were other personal assistants as well, but these two are on trial because they?re accused of fraud, so spending a huge amount of money on the company credit card. They claim that Nigella Lawson knew about it and was hiding a drug habit from her husband. But he says he didn?t know anything about this and wasn?t really aware of all the details.

So a lot of the questioning here has been about what Charles Saatchi knew and when. So when they were speaking to the accountant, questions like did you let Charles Saatchi know that this money was being spent. There was an awareness that Charles Saatchi had put the credit limit up, for example, on one of the credit cards. But he didn?t know the detail of what they were spending their money.

So despite the fact they were spending more than a 100,000 pounds a month, Charles Saatchi wasn?t aware necessarily of the figure or what they were spending it on. The accusation is that it was to sustain their luxury lifestyle, but the two sisters arguing that actually a lot of it was for the family as part of their work and they would go on holiday, for example, with the children and take the children abroad.

So they?re trying to get into the nitty-gritty of where this money was going and who was spending it and on what.

They did say that Nigella Lawson and Charles Saatchi didn?t buy things themselves, this team of PAs bought things for them. So, there is a gray area here, Pauline.

CHIOU: Max, the sisters are being accused of spending more than their annual salaries. I mean, you just told us how much they had spent per month . And they worked for the couple for more than four years. So even though Charles Saatchi says he didn?t know the details about what was going on, how could they have allegedly gotten away with this for four years?

FOSTER: Well, this is the extraordinary thing, isn?t it? I mean, spending more than a million dollars on one credit card over the year and him not having any knowledge about what they were spending it on does seem extraordinary, which is why there?s so much fascination in this, and certainly the defense and the prosecution are going through that detail as they go.

A lot of people don?t necessarily look at all of the credit card detail. When they?ve got staff that?s possibly the argument. And he?s a very wealthy man. But it does seem extraordinary over a period of four years.

The two sisters deny all of these charges, because they say it wasn?t fraud. And certainly they did work very hard for the family. The accountant today saying that they lived and breathed the Saatchis. So they worked very hard. And they were insulted at the idea that they committed fraud.

And the defense also arguing that this isn?t an appropriate case at all, because really what Charles Saatchi and Nigella Lawson are doing here D or certainly Charles Saatchi D they?re using arguments in court, they can?t get done for libel as it were in court, they?re using it to air their grievances. So it?s an inappropriate use of court time.

But Nigella Lawson so far hasn?t had a chance to give her side of the story at all so far. She?s certainly not coming across well in the press when you repeat these allegations, but the expectation is that she will at some point appear. The defense certainly want that. So we?ll wait to see what she has to say about all of these allegations about her private life and how she ran her household.

CHIOU: Yeah, and Max I was going to ask you will she in fact be called to testify? And what has she said so far about some of the details coming out in court?

FOSTER: She said absolutely nothing throughout this whole process, even going back to the photograph, which was published, of Charles Saatchi with his hand to her neck. That?s when this whole scandal really erupted. And Charles Saatchi has said previously that that was around the time that he heard about these allegations of her drug abuse.

She didn?t say anything then. She hasn?t said anything during this trial. We?ve heard a bit from him today, also from an email that he sent her earlier in the week accusing her of having a daily drug habit. She hasn?t said anything yet, though.

So if she is called to the court and she does turn up, then that will be her opportunity to say something. She can?t actually say anything outside the court at this point, because it?s an ongoing trial and that?s not allowed under UK law, Pauline.

CHIOU: OK, Max, thank you for all the details so far in this very high profile trial in London.

Well, coming up next on News Stream, is racism on the rise in France? We hit the streets of Paris to hear what the French have to say.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHIOU: The world was shocked earlier this year when a French far right politician compared the justice minister Christiane Taubira, pictured here, to a monkey, among other racist insults.

Some say racism in the country is on the rise.

Jim Bittermann is in France where rights groups are planning rallies against racism this weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It was the shocking montage that pushed politicians and the public over the top: the Facebook page of a far right politician, which compared France?s justice minister, who is black, to a monkey.

The National Front Party suspended the politician, but the incident prompted further insults directed at Christiane Taubira and a great deal of soul searching about exactly how racist France may have become.

Many worry that the attacks on the justice minister represent a growing and very public racism in France, which has included everything from racial taunts on the football fields to the government statistics, which indicate that anti-Semetic and xenophobic attacks last year were up 23 percent compared to the year before.

Those who study the question say racist insults have become part of the everyday discourse.

PAP N?DIAYE, HISTORIAN: Racist slurs that used to be absolutely uncommon in France are becoming more and more common, if not more and more accepted in French society and growing parts of the French society. So there is a lot to worry about.

BITTERMANN: One person who has a front-row seat on the issue is Jeremy Mani who runs a company that moderates and deletes racist and other objectionable comments from media websites and social network pages. Mani says the recent attacks against the justice minister led to a 10 percent spike in the number of openly racist comments.

JEREMY MANI, NETINO: There is a rise of social media and the rise of the use of social media in France, it become an (inaudible) for racist behavior.

BITTERMANN: And he believes that while the economic crisis may be one cause of rising intolerance, another is the openly anti-immigrant stand of French politicians.

The far right National Front Party of Marine Le Pen, once almost banished from mainstream politics here, is now consistently rising in public opinion. One recent poll indicates that 42 percent of the French could now vote for a National Front candidate in coming elections.

And while the party denies it is racist, and insists that racism is not on the rise in France, it makes no bones about the fact that it stands against immigration.

FLORIAN PHILIPPOT, VICE PRESIDENT, NATIONAL FRONT: To be against immigration is not being racist. I believe the French understand it better and better, than it?s a dishonest and defamatory claim made by politicians.

BITTERMANN: But many would disagree, including organizations like SOS Racism. It?s one of the dozens of groups which will be marching this weekend against racism.

HADRIEN LENOIR, SOS RACISM: We can?t let this situation get worse. And as we hear racism more, it?s important that the silent majority puts a stop and makes their own voice of tolerance and positive values heard.

BITTERMANN: But as much as mainstream leaders here insist that something has to be done about growing racism, few have an idea about exactly what, except driving the point home in the schools and in home that like it or not traditionally almost all-white France has now become a multi-racial society.

Jim Bittermann, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHIOU: So, how is this issued viewed from the streets of France? CNN asked people in Paris whether they believe racism is on the rise in their country. And here is what they had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I don?t really fear rising racism. It?s always been there. The people used to be disciplined about it and didn?t actually say what they really thought.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don?t think that France is more racist today, but I think there is more fear about Islam.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I don?t think racism is rising. It has always existed (inaudible). However, there is a problem with the media and how they give too much attention to (inaudible) around the country. That allows and encourages people to have racist ideas.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I?ve seen an evolution in how people in power communicate, but also on the Internet where people really abuse their freedom of speech. They say everything and anything about different French communities, whether they are black, Arab, Muslim, or others.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): If you take the metro or the bus anywhere, you don?t see any French people anywhere. People with French origins, native born French people, there is more and more immigration and enough is enough.

We should be able to get together as French people. I have nothing against immigration, but we can?t abuse it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I think that racism is on the rise in France, mostly since Sarkozy was in power when most minorities were stigmatized. It?s now OK to be racist, but there is no reason for a republic that defends liberty, equality and brotherhood to just sweep equality aside.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHIOU: Still to come on News Stream, civil war has torn Syria apart. Millions have fled, nearly half of them children. Now the UN warns the conflict could create a lost generation. We?ll have more after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHIOU: I?m Pauine Chiou in Hong Kong. You?re watching News Stream. And these are your world headlines.

More anti-government demonstrations in Bangkok today. Protesters forced their way into army headquarters asking for military support to help remove Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra from office. A defense ministry spokesman says the demonstrators did leave peacefully after a couple of hours. The prime minister tells CNN her government is ready to talk to those rallying against her.

Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych says Kiev needs financial support from the European Union before any trade deal can be signed with the bloc. Protesters have been demonstrating in Kiev since Yanukovych abandoned planes with the EU last week. He wants closer ties with Russia instead. Members of the EU are holding out hope that the president may eventually change his mind.

Two men accused of killing a British soldier outside a London barracks have denied the charges at the opening of their trial in London. Michael Adebolajo, seen here in court in Kenya in 2010, and Michael Adebowale also deny charges of attempting to murder a police officer and conspiracy to murder a police officer. Lee Rigby, a father of a child, was killed in a frenzied machete attack outside the Woolwich barracks in southeast London in May.

Iran?s representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency says Iran should implement the nuclear deal negotiated in Geneva by the end of December or early January. Iran agreed in talks with six world powers that it would pause development of its nuclear program in return an easing of economic sanctions.

The UN refugee agency is out with a new report on Syria and the war?s devastating impact on children. It says more than 1 million children have fled the conflict so far, that?s nearly half the entire Syrian refugee population. Most of the refugees, 800,000, are in Lebanon followed by Jordan and Turkey, which each have more than half a million. Tens of thousands are in Iraq and Egypt.

The UNHCR says the flood out of Syria has skyrocketed this year. The UN estimates nearly a million Syrians left between January and the end of May.

Now if the trend continues, more than 3 million will have fled by the end of this year.

The mass displacement is creating a lost generation of Syrian children. CNN?s Mohammed Jamjoom has their story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MOHAMMED JAMJOOM, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You can hear the blasts, but these Syrian children unphased. As some ride bikes playfully past storefronts both shuttered and scarred, others calmly describe what they?ve seen.

?One I saw a head fly by,? says one.

?The first time we were afraid,? says another boy, ?now we?re used to it.?

Then, a huge explosion nearby.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go, go, go.

JAMJOOM: They scramble to find safety. They?re unharmed, at least not physically harmed.

Later, one boy is asked if anyone taught him to dive to the ground the way he did.

?No, all by myself,? he states proudly.

Like so many other Syrian children, they learn about life and death far too soon, and all on their own.

Countless futures have been destroyed, the circumstances so dire there are now well more than 1 million children refugees. It?s why the UN is sounding the alarm, releasing a new report urging the world to act in order to save, quote, ?traumatized, isolated and suffering Syrian children from catastrophe.?

Close to 400,000 of them now live in neighboring Lebanon, if you can call this living -- huddling in the Baca Valley?s (ph) makeshift camps, playing inside its half-built schools, surviving wherever and however they can, the alienation and agony apparent.

You see their suffering throughout the streets of the capital as well. I?m in the heart of Beirut?s commercial district. In the past four blocks that I?ve walked, I?ve come across 10 Syrian children, all under the age of 7, begging alongside their mothers.

Then there are the children trying to support their families. Many shine shoes, several, like 12-year-old Ali (ph), sell tissues.

He tells me his home in Idlib was destroyed, that he?s been in Lebanon for all of three days, that he, his mother and sister have no other choice.

I ask if he can go to school here.

?How am I going to go to school?? He shoots back.

Later, with startling directness he says, ?I have to work. I have to make money. If I don?t, how are we going to make it??

Life doesn?t get much harsher. And it?s clear devastation comes in many forms for what is rapidly becoming a lost generation.

Mohammed Jamjoom, CNN, Beirut.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHIOU: The UN high commissioner for refugees says the international community has to step up to end this humanitarian crisis.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONIO GUTERRES, UN HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES: It is clear that international community cannot think that the countries of the region by themselves will be able to cope with this challenge without massive support, much more massive than in the past, without massive support from the international community it will be impossible or the countries of the region to respond to this challenge and there is a risk for the asylum space in the area to (inauible).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHIOU: You can tune in tonight for special coverage of Syria?s refugee children. Connect the World will have more on the plight of these very young victims traumatized by war. It airs at 8:00 pm London time.

Protests have broken out in Egypt?s capital and other cities. It?s the latest show of anger by Morsy supporters. They?re upset about a crackdown on demonstrations and a stiff prison sentence for a group of female protesters.

Ian Lee has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)??

IAN LEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These 14 women are the latest to be tried in a government crackdown on Islamist in Egypt. The women claimed to be innocent, peaceful protesters, demanding the return of ousted president Mohamed Morsy.

The government disagreed, sentencing them to 11 years in prison for an array of charges including incitement to violence. ??Egypt's prisons are swelling with similar prisoners. Massive anti- government protests triggered a military coup last July, setting in motion a series of deadly clashes between security forces and Morsy supporters.

Hundreds would be killed in the roundup. The more recent government crackdown is angering citizens. Thousands of protesters swarmed downtown Cairo as anger grows over a new law restricting protests. ??What you're seeing now is illegal. A demonstration has to be registered with police three days prior and can be canceled anytime if it threatens security, lending itself to broad interpretation. ??

"There's no such thing that we have to get their permission before going out to tell them that I'm going to protest against them and against the law they want to impose," she says. ??

The Egyptian government says the law ensures order. Convicted protesters can receive up to five years in prison and thousands of dollars in fines. Many Egyptians are fearful of a return to the police state of former President Hosni Mubarak. ??

HEBA MORAYEF, DIRECTOR, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH EGYPT: I think what this protest rules show is that the hard lined security agencies are the ones calling the shots because the Ministry of Interior wanted this new law to legitimize a crackdown on protests.

LEE: There is fear among these protesters that the gains of the revolution are being eroded. In the meantime, protesters continue as new factions denounced the government. The country's leaders are working to pass a constitution that will eventually lead to elections. Possibly then the street will be quieter. ??

Ian Lee, CNN. ??

(END VIDEOTAPE)

?CHIOU: Coming up on News Stream, there are new fears that North Korea may be restarting a nuclear facility. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHIOU: It is arguably the most powerful position in Pakistan. Today, Lieutenant General Raheel Sharif has become the new chief of the country?s army. Our Saima Mohsin was there as he was sworn in.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAIMA MOHSIN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT:

SAIMA MOHSIN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: More than 4,000 people had been invited to military headquarters in Rawalpindi to witness the handing over ceremony of one chief of army staff of Pakistan to another. Amongst the people here, senior military officials from all the armed forces and school children to.

The ceremony includes a handing over a cane, which symbolically represents the Pakistan army.

So one chief of army staff, outgoing General Ashfaq Kayani is handing over to General Rasheel Sharif.

Now he steps in to this role at a time when Pakistan is talking about negotiations with the Taliban dealing with militant Waziristan, which is spreading now through the country. But the government is adamant it wants to talk to the Taliban.

All eyes are on General Raheel Sharif. Pakistan has spent most of its history under the rule of military dictators. People are watching to see how this chief of army staff will play out his role.

Saima Mohsin, CNN, Rawalpindi, Pakistan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHIOU: The nuclear spotlight has been on Iran in the past couple of weeks, but experts are also worried about developments in North Korea. The International Atomic Energy Agency is warning that movement at the Yongbyon nuclear facility suggests that Pyongyang is making efforts to restart an aging reactor

CNN?s Pauline Hancocks has more now from Seoul.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The United Nations has confirmed what U.S. think tanks had been suspecting for months, that North Korea is in fact trying to restart it Yongbyon nuclear facility. The head of the UN nuclear agency, the IAEA has told members on Thursday that satellite images appear to show releases of steam and water, but since the IAEA is not physically on the ground and has no access to the site, it cannot know for sure if Yongbyon is in fact working once again.

Inspectors were expelled back in 2009.

Despite earlier disabling the plant, North Korea decided back in April that it would restart it once again during increased tensions on the peninsula.

Meanwhile, two UN groups have been touring the country during harvest time in September and October and say that food production is estimated to have increased by 5 percent this year. But malnutrition in infants remains high and food shortages are prevalent across the country.

Some 84 percent of households are believed to have borderline, or poor food consumption.

Paula Hancocks, CNN, Seoul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHIOU: The CNN Freedom Project was created to shine a light on modern-day slavery. Today, we look at how child sex traffickers have used advances in technology to their advantage and how the anti-trafficking community is fighting back.

Chris Wheelock has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What state do you live in? What do you look like? Texts sent to a 14-year-old girl?s cellphone, a stranger in pursuit of personal information.

CHRIS WHEELOCK, CNN CORREPSONDENT: As this news report shows, mobile phones, social media, chat rooms and even online gaming sites are now fertile ground for recruiters in the dark and dangerous world of human trafficking and child sex exploitation.

RONALD HOSKO, ASST. DIR. FBI CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIVE DIVISION: The pitches tend to be lower threat to begin with where the girls are enticed with compliments or offers, do they want to make some money.

WHEELOCK: Ellen Bell leads the SAGE Project in San Francisco, helping victims of human trafficking overcome and manage their long-term trauma.

ELLEN BELL, AGE PROJECT: The sex industry is a big business. And big business has a big foothold in our country. There?s a lot of money being made.

WHEELOCK: And not just in the U.S., technology has allowed the spread of the child sex industry around the globe.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As soon as I go online, they come to me. Ten, hundred, every hour. So many.

WHEELOCK: Dutch nonprofit Terre Des Som (ph) is using a new tactic, going after the demand side of the equation.

They created a virtual child online using sophisticated technology to catch pedophiles and it worked.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I?m not real. I?m a computer model.

WHEELOCK: Sadly, in the real world, girls quickly become a commodity once ensnared by a pimp or trafficker.

BELL: Unlike drugs, you can resell human beings over and over again.

WHEELOCK: It?s so profitable, San Francisco police investigator Brian Peagler says he?s seen a shift away from the drug trade into sex trafficking by gangs he and his partners have investigated for years. The FBI agrees.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So on one girl, I mean, a guy can make $600,000. If you get four or five girls, you know, you?re making a very good living.

MARK LATONERO, USC ANNENBERG SCHOOL: Law enforcement will probably be the first to tell you that they can?t arrest their way out of this problem. If the private sector can link up with law enforcement, with humanitarian rights organizations, with researchers and really work together, I think that?s really the way forward to solving this issue.

WHEELOCK: Mark Latonero leads a team of researchers investigating the relationship between technology and human trafficking.

LATONERO: The only problem is there is that there is so much data that it is physically impossible for the human brain to comprehend it all.

WHEELOCK: That?s where tech firms like Microsoft, Google and many others are stepping in to help aggregate data, isolate trends and develop ways to thwart the cime.

He anti-trafficking community agrees. Collaboration is key to countering the rising and increasingly sophisticated use of technology to facilitate human trafficking.

BELL: Well, as far as the technology problem, I think that is something that we really have to work out with our law enforcement and our community partners and the tech industry as to what is the best way to outsmart the traffickers.

But I think also we have to think differently.

WHEELOCK: As Bell points out, even after the pimps, johns and traffickers are arrested and jailed, the victims of human trafficking face a lifetime of recovery. There is no delete button to wipe away the experiences and the nightmares they?ve endured.

Chris Wheelock, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHIOU: To find out more about this report and other Freedom Project initiatives, be sure to check out our website CNN.com/Freedom.

And we?ll be back in a minute-and-a-half.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHIOU: Last month, Cylcone Phailin swept through the Bay of Bengal. Officials in eastern India say relatively few lives were lost because of mandatory evacuations. And they?re pushing to people to get out of the way of every cyclone that comes towards the area. But Wednesday of this week, 27,000 people had been evacuated as another cyclone approached. And there were plans to move 120,000 more, but the storm fizzled out on Thursday as it approached the coast, leaving some residents to wonder if those extreme measures are always necessary.

Sumnima Udas has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUMNIMA UDAS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: On the beaches of Machilipatnam in Andhra Predesh state, only the guards remained. Cyclone Lehar, the third tropical cyclone to hit this eastern Indian state in the last seven weeks expected any moment. Fearing the worst, mass evacuations ordered.

The winds are really starting to pick up now, but as you can see, the authorities aren?t really taking any chances. They?ve completely cleared out the beach, the police are here as well patrolling the coastline. They?ve said they?ve removed everyone who had been by here, just to make sure no one is by the sea as the cyclone hit.

But when it hit, no one noticed. Cyclone Lehar weakened from a category 3 to a mere tropical depression. At a fishing village nearby, confusion as some wonder if it?s still best to leave their palm tree leaf huts behind and move to concrete buildings, while others wonder what the fuss is about.

Fisherman Prekash (ph) and his family lost their fishing boat, nets and much of their belongings in the first cyclone of the season, still recovering, this time they?re not taking any chances.

?We were just beginning to restart our lives. We were beginning to fix our damaged boats and now the authorities are saying another cyclone is coming,? he says.

Those who are willing to go evacuated in school buses, some 40,000 people moved to safe houses in this district alone.

We?ve seen one bus go already and this is the second bus that they?ve tried to load up, but as you can see it?s half empty. They?ve managed to convince some of the women and children to go, but a lot of the fisherman themselves have decided to stay back and watch over their belongings.

The fisherman say they live by the sea, and because of the sea, so strong winds and heavy rain are a way of life. Still, disaster management officials go door-to-door to convince the reluctant residents.

PUSHKAR KUMAR, DISASTER MANAGEMENT OFFICIAL (through translator): Even when Cyclone Phailin came and we tried to evacuate people, they refused, so we took them to shelters by force. That?s why we saved so many lives back then.

UDAS: This time, it?s their choice, he says, but he has orders to take as many people as he can.

The village high school converted into a temporary shelter, mainly women, children and the elderly have come. They?re being fed and looked after.

They and the officials here know India has been lucky, but better to be safe than sorry, they say.

Sumnima Udas, CNN, Machilipanam, Andhra Pradesh, India.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHIOU: And let?s stay with the weather theme. If you?re heading to Europe, you may want to pack a few more extra layers. Tom Sater is live at the World Weather Center with more ? Tom.

TOM SATER, CNN WEATHER CORREPSONDENT: Yes, Pauline. In fact, across much of the northern hemisphere the mercury is dropping. But we expect that this time of year, although in some cases a little bit cooler, really, than average. It kind of plunged of some cold air, look at this, and moisture with it as well. It looks much worse than it is, really. There is some rainfall in parts of the UK. We?ve got high wind warnings, extreme northern areas of Scotland, but really with the occasional valley of rain or even some high elevation snow it?s not going to really create much of an impact.

Current wind chill feels like 10 in Paris and London, Berlin 2, Copenhagen as well; Vienna 1; -3 in Kiev. And the temperatures go all the way down into northern areas of Africa where it will remain a little cooler than average.

Mililiana (ph) right now in Algeria is at 5.5 degrees. That is cool for Algeria.

We?ve got cold air that?s going to continue to make its way southward. And another area of low pressure continues to develop, this one again in the Mediterranean bringing some rains to areas of Sardinia, Corisca. It?s been dropping some higher elevation snow. 44 centimeters snow depth right now in parts of Italy.

And we?ve received this picture from an iReporter for the first snowfall in parts of Kosovo there, kind of beautiful actually this time of year.

Temperatures or Saturday, will try to rebound someone. Madrid 12 degrees, Vienna 5, Kiev 2, Bucharest 1, Istanbul getting up to about 11 degrees. But it?s going to remain a little cooler than average.

The satellite picture showing clear skies, much of eastern and southern areas of China. Notice the patchy cloud cover, this is a sign on Satellite of cold air. We call it cold cumulus. And there?s no doubt about it as the colder temperatures, 5 to 8 degrees colder than average, under the influence of high pressure the winds will lighten, but the clear skies will allow the temperature to drop.

In fact, in Hong Kong, take a look at this, we talked about 24 hours ago 12 degree low temperature when the average is 19. The coolest temperature so far this autumn, only 1 in Shanghai.

Saturday?s high temperatures look like this: Hanoi 24 degrees, 21 in Taipei an Hong Kong, Tokyo only 13 will do it for a high temperature.

In the U.S., the storm system that kind of gave travelers a little bit of a wrench in the wheel, if you will, has seen better condition for any returning flights after the holiday weekend. We do have a few lake effect snow showers. Overall the amounts were not that great. In parts in New York State, 11 centimeters, getting up to 25 or 30 in Pennsylvania, much more to the north in the prairies of Canada.

But let me take you down to Key West where for 233 days the temperature stayed above 21 degrees Celsius or 70 degrees Fahrenheit, but last night it dropped down, the first time in those days. In fact, the record was 240 and that went back to 1965.

Temperatures on Friday, 15 degrees in Atlanta. And speaking of Atlanta, Pauline, it was the coldest Thanksgiving Day in Atlanta in 100 years. The temperature dropped to 22 Fahrenheit, which is -5.5 Celsius. How about that?

CHIOU: On now, I hope your turkey and stuffing weren?t too cold.

SATER: Oh, no, just throw another log on the fire, right?

CHIOU: OK. Key West looks like the place to be.

OK, thanks so much, Tom. We appreciate it.

Well, don?t write it off just yet, the closely watched comet of the century may have survived its encounter with the sun. For a little over a year, astronomers have been keeping an eye on Comet ISON. Yesterday, it swept some 730,000 miles over the sun?s surface. Scientists say most of its icy surface broke up as it made its way around the sun, but NASA believes some of ISON?s nuclear may still be intact so stay tuned.

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

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