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The Elder Poet Of Zaatari; Does NSA Use Angry Birds To Spy?; Ukrainian prime minister resigns; Google Glass gets facelift; Pharrell's Hat; Leading Women: Renee Marsh

Aired January 28, 2014 - 8:00   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.

Ukraine's parliament repeals a controversial law, but is it enough to end the anger on the streets?

Now new allegations suggest that the NSA can spy on you through the game Angry Birds.

And you're looking at the newest design for Google Glass, but is it enough to make the device more socially acceptable.

Now Ukraine's prime minister Mikola Azarov has announced he will step down to try to ease the political unrest that has rocked the country for two months. But there is no word yet on whether President Viktor Yanukovych has accepted the resignation. And just hours ago, the Ukrainian parliament voted to repeal controversial legislation limiting protests.

Now anger over those laws fueled the violent clashes of recent days.

Now CNN's Diana Magnay is following the latest developments. She joins me now live from Kiev.

And Diana, will repealing the protest law ease this crisis?

DIANA MAGNAY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kristie, it'll go some way, I suppose, to easing the tip of the problem, the tip of the iceberg. It was those laws which caused all the violence at the last week. It was those laws which effectively criminalized each and every person who decided to come to a protest or wear a -- you were criminally libel if you wore a helmet or a mask or if you had sound equipment or if you were a foreign organization operating here, then you were labeled a foreign agent.

It involved crackdowns on the media, on people's right to assembly. So they were very draconian laws and they had made people very angry. And they were effectively what sparked the violence of recent days.

But people didn't come out on the streets two months ago because of those laws, they came out here because they wanted fundamental changes to the Ukrainian political system. And really because they wanted President Yanukovych to go.

So at the moment what we've seen the parliament do is sort of cosmetic procedures in terms of the real desires of the people.

As for the prime minister's resignation, well his job had already been offered to one of the opposition leaders anyway, so it was pretty untenable.

This is what the head of the Nationalist Party, the Sbota (ph) Nationalist Party had to say about his resignation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OLEG TYAHNYBOK, UKRAIN PARLIAMENT MEMBER (through translator): Obviously that was done for the government to escape responsibility and escape the hearings in parliament. We've expected such a move from them, because every time we've brought up a question of government resignation and the responsibility of some ministers for all that's going on in Ukraine, we understood the authorities were looking for them as favorable options for them to escape political and criminal responsibility.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MAGNAY: Now, Kristie, the parliament right now are drafting up a law that will look at a possible amnesty for those who were detained over the last two months. In exchange, we believe for the protesters to clear the squares and the buildings that they occupy not just here in Kiev, but across the whole of Ukraine. But I've just been down to the square and said if there's an amnesty for political prisoners are you going to leave? Everybody unanimously said no we're not going to leave until the president goes.

So even though today to the people out there represent a step in the right direction, it doesn't represent the end of this crisis however much President Yanukovych may hope it does.

LU STOUT: But what has been the reaction among the demonstrators, especially in light of the news that there is this possible amnesty being discussed and the end of this protest law?

MAGNAY: Well, again, they're pleased, but the amnesty and the protest law -- people have been -- people have only been detained because of reasons that they consider here to be wrong.

So this is just reversing measures that the government took during this protest, while this protest was ongoing. But the fundamental grievances that these people have predate all of that. So, sure, this is a step in the right direction, but it's not enough.

And I think we should also mention what's going on on the bigger international scale at the moment. Right now in Brussels you have President Putin meeting with the president of the European Commission and also with Catherine Ashton, the EU's high representative who will then be traveling on to Kiev later on tonight to try and put pressure on the Ukrainian president to resolve this crisis peacefully.

But President Yanukovych has already tended to listen to what the Russian president says rather than to his own people. So a lot will depend on their discussions over the next few days, I would imagine Kristie.

LU STOUT: All right, Diana Magnay reporting live for us. The latest on the political crisis there in Ukraine, likely to drag on despite these key concessions granted today. Thank you very much indeed Diana.

Now the U.S. President Barack Obama is getting ready to lay out his agenda for the next year. Now several hours from now he will deliver the annual State of the Union Address to a joint session of congress. Now after a string of disappointing setbacks in 2013 and an approval rating at 44 percent, some analysts say tonight's speech could be a defining test for Mr. Obama.

Now with more on this speech, senior White House correspondent Brianna Keilar joins me now live from the White House. And Brianna, what will be the core message from President Obama?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The core message, Kristie, will be decreasing the disparity between the rich and poor. And one of the president's biggest announcements tonight, we are learning this morning will be on the minimum wage. He's going to announce that he's going to announce that he's increasing the minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10, but this is only going to be for employees of federal contractors. And it's only going to be for new contracts. So you're talking about tops less than a million Americans would be the expectation. And this is something that will be phased in over time.

It's a small chunk of the American population and really a sign of the tough odds President Obama faces in pushing his agenda as he's up against a divided congress.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR (voice-over): President Obama pushing forward in his bid to close the gap between rich and poor. He'll tell lawmakers tonight, he's not waiting on them to raise the minimum wage. At least for Americans working on government projects. His executive action will force any company signing a new contract with the feds to pay workers at least $10.10 an hour. Almost $3.00 more than the current federal minimum wage. Janitors and construction workers all seeing a boost in pay, according to the White House. It was just one vow from last year's State of the Union.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: -- raise the minimum wage to $9.00 an hour.

KEILAR: That didn't get traction in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. Remember that passionate call for a vote on new gun laws?

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The families of Newtown deserve a vote.

KEILAR: It failed. And the push for an immigration overhaul?

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Now is the time to do it. Now is the time to get it done.

KEILAR: Stalled on Capitol Hill. Now Obama wants action and with the clock ticking on his second term, he's ready to tell Congress to get on board or step aside.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm also going to act on my own if Congress is deadlocked.

KEILAR: Executive actions, rallying businesses, colleges and local leaders to the cause, and developing programs that don't require Congressional approval, all part of Obama's plan to bypass Congress.

JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: He's an American citizen. And it stands to reason that he might be frustrated with Congress since most American citizens are.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: So what will not be in the president's address tonight? Well, a whole lot of foreign policy is what we are expecting, despite the fact that the civil war in Syria rages on and the situation in Iraq is unraveling.

Kristie, we do expect he'll address Iran, that he will say to congress no new sanctions while this tentative temporary nuclear agreement is in place. And we also know that he will address Afghanistan. Winding down the war there and that the U.S. should refocus on the issues of returning veterans.

But huge headlines for foreign policy, we're not expecting that.

LU STOUT: Now Brianna, as you said in your report the president wants action, but the clock is ticking. He's likely to use his executive powers in the months and years ahead. After this address, how will the Republican party respond to his words?

KEILAR: Well, that's actually something that's taking shape this morning. Some of them are bristling at this announcement on the minimum wage. Some House Republicans were showing signs that they actually wanted to negotiate on this and they don't feel that it's productive when President Obama goes around them to do something. There's obviously so much distrust between Republicans and President Obama.

But we are expecting -- I think this is pretty fascinating -- the official rebuttal tonight -- and there are a few -- but the official one will be coming from a House Republican, the top ranked woman in that conference. She is a mother of three small children. And to that end, I think we're also going to be hearing President Obama addressing women's issues tonight. I think this is something that through this rebuttal and through what President Obama will say working women's issues is something that will come to the forefront tonight, too.

LU STOUT: Looking forward to hearing both the speech and the rebuttal. Brianna Keilar live in Washington for us, thank you.

And as Brianna just mentioned, Mr. Obama, he failed to get many of his key priorities through congress last year. And add to that the lengthy government shutdown. CNN's Candy Crowley reports Mr. Obama is hoping to turn around what was a frustrating year.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This year's "State of the Union" night features a second-term president looking to his legacy and a supporting cast looking to get re-elected. Advantage to President Obama, who will be immediately elevated by the grandeur of tradition, and one of the handiest tools in a presidential arsenal, the power to set the agenda.

PAUL BEGALA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: The most important time to set that agenda is at the "State of the Union" speech. So in that sense, it is the most important day that we know about that's coming in 2014. So he'll use that to revivify his second term.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We can get this done.

CROWLEY: The president could use some revivification. There were victories but most of 2013 got away from him. After his convincing re- election, the president thought congressional Republicans would be more amenable to his agenda. They were not. The early months were consumed by deficit and spending arguments.

The Boston marathon bombing in the spring dominated the headlines and reawakened that post 9/11 sense of vulnerability. Some were brought the exposure of a secret U.S. government program to collect phone data on most calls in and out of the U.S. and an even response to a coup in Egypt, public disagreements with Israel and an on again, off again strike, against Syria's chemical weapons. October brought...

REPRESENTATIVE JOHN BOEHNER (R), HOUSE SPEAKER: This isn't some damned game.

CROWLEY: A government shutdown that hurt Republicans mostly, but everybody a little and the granddaddy of all agenda busters.

OBAMA: That's on me.

CROWLEY: The incompetent rollout of the affordable care act, which hurt the president a lot.

OBAMA: There was a time when I was a young invisible. After five years in this office, people don't call me that anymore.

CROWLEY: Politically, 2013 was the coolest year for the president. He has the poll numbers to prove it and an agenda that mostly didn't happen.

OBAMA: That I will faithfully execute --

CROWLEY: Presidential second terms are so often downhill trips. There is a name for it, second term curse. To shake it off, this president is in dire need of a better economy and a clean run for his health care law to bolster his poll numbers and then a change-up. In politics that mean either double down on your efforts or pivot. Sounds like the president will choose both, work with Congress to get what he can. Go around them with executive power to go and get what he wants.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He will go everywhere he can to try to move the ball forward.

CROWLEY: Tuesday night, President Obama walks up to the House podium and into American living rooms to outline his agenda under the shadow of weak approval ratings and a ticking clock. Seated in the House Chamber will be progressives, previously known as liberals, disappointed in the president for not being more aggressive with Republicans and moderate Democrats facing their own tough re-election battles in conservative states the president lost and Republicans that might win a Senate majority this year.

All of that would mean during the last two years of his tenure, President Obama would be dealing with a Republican-controlled Capitol Hill. No pressure.

Candy Crowley, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And CNN will bring you comprehensive coverage of President Barack Obama's State of the Union Address. Wolf Blitzer, Anderson Cooper and Jake Tapper will be leading our coverage. It kicks off before the address 8:00 pm in Washington, that's 9:00 am in Hong Kong.

You're watching News Stream. And coming up, a New York Times reporter is on his way out of Beijing. Just the latest foreign journalist whose visa renewal is tied up. We'll tell you what could be behind the issue.

Syria's civil war has forced young and old from their homeland. We'll tell you the incredible story of this elderly refugee who says he is more than 100 years old.

And it is highly addictive, it's played by smartphone users around the world, now allegations that intelligence agencies try to use Angry Birds to gather data about users. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Now let's turn to a topic we have highlighted here on News Stream: the pressure put on foreign journalists. It's an issue that really came to a boil last month.

The U.S. vice president Joe Biden criticized China's treatment of American journalists during his visit to Beijing. At the time, several journalists from prominent news organizations were facing unexplained delays in renewing their visas. And now the New York Times says one of its correspondents will be forced to leave China this week.

Austin Ramsey, he tweeted this photo on Friday. It appears to show furniture moved out of his home in Beijing. Now China says it will not complete processing Ramsey's application before his temporary visa expires on Thursday and adds that Ramsey broke the rules last year by using a journalist visa issued when he was with a previous employer.

Now the Times says it filed the proper paperwork last June and says Ramsey would be the second Times correspondent in 13 months forced to leave the mainland. And calls it, quote, "the latest sign of official displeasure with the newspaper."

Now the president of the Foreign Correspondent's Club of China sees a troubling trend. Now Peter Ford is also the Beijing bureau chief for the Christian Science Monitor. I spoke to him earlier as part of my program On China.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETER FORD, CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR: This year, of course, was unprecedented, the sort of pressure they got on the New York Times and Bloomberg, both of which had written about the private financial affairs of relatives of senior leaders. The entire bureaus for those two organizations were implicitly threatened with expulsion because they had to wait for their visas until the very, very last minute.

And The New York Times is still waiting for three visas that it has not got. They have not been able to get Austin Ramsey in or Chris Buckley or indeed their Bureau Chief (inaudible) doesn't have a proper visa.

So, I think it's a clear attempt in the absence of any official explanation as to why they had to wait this long, it certainly feeds suspicion that it's retribution for the content of their coverage.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Now China blocked Bloomberg's website back in June 2012 after it published a piece about the business interests of President Xi Jinping's extended family. It blocked the New York Times four months later following a story on the wealth of then-premier Wen Jiaobao's family.

Now Times correspondent Chris Buckley was forced to leave China that December.

And we've also seen China crack down on media coverage of sensitive trials. Our David McKenzie was recently roughed up by security outside a Beijing courthouse while trying to report on the trial of a high profile activist.

But despite it all, correspondents say it's worth it.

Charles Hutzler is the China bureau chief for the Wall Street Journal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHARLES HUTZLER, WALL STREET JOURNAL: If you're asking whether the pressure or intimidation somehow affects what we produce, I don't know of a foreign news organization or a single correspondent who won't go after the big story. We're all there to get the best story that we possibly can and to report on China and all of its complexities.

The government makes it much more difficult and we often have to work very hard to compensate for the lack of information that we're getting from the government by digging deeper to understand the government's perspective. But we're all just there to report the news and as full a fashion as we can.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: And you can hear more of my conversation with Hutzler, Ford and also Hong Kong University's Jing Chan (ph) in the February episode of On China, it takes a closer look at investigative journalism in China. Until then, you can get more online at CNN.com/China.

Now Syrians of all ages have been made refugees by the devastating civil war. And after the break, we'll meet one man who has lost everything, but still has a lot of wisdom to share.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

Now a senior aid to Egypt's interior ministry has been killed in Cairo in what state media are calling an assassination. Now this comes as Egypt's deposed President Mohamed Morsy headed back to court today for charges related to a jailbreak in 2011. Now Mr. Morsy was ousted in a military coup one year after becoming Egypt's first democratically elected president.

Now the army chief who helped depose him was given the go ahead yesterday by the country's military leadership council to run for president.

Now Field JAMESall al-Sisi has yet to announce whether he will run.

Now Syrian peace talks continue this week. And this man, the mediator Lakhdar Brahimi certainly has his work cut out for him. I mean even he acknowledges that progress has been slow.

Now just now, the Syrian opposition delegation says that today's afternoon session has been canceled due to disagreements over the basis of the discussions.

Now so far the talks have yielded an agreement to evacuate some women and children trapped in the besieged city of Homs, so it hasn't actually happened yet.

Now aid organizations say that the agreement does not go far enough. They are calling for access to Homs for humanitarian aid convoys to deliver much needed food and medicine.

Now the civil war has forced more than 2 million Syrians to flee their country. And at one camp in Jordan, Atika Shubert met perhaps one of the oldest refugees. He has little more than the clothes on his back and memories of the life he left behind.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDNET: Jabaari Alawali has a voice for poetry. It wavers with age, but his audience doesn't mind.

(APPLAUSE)

SHUBERT: When is your birthday?

JABAARI ALAWALI, SYRIAN REFUGEE: (through translator): I'm (inaudible), but probably I'm (inaudible).

SHUBERT: Most elderly relatives are left behind in Syria, but some, like Jabaari, struggle to make the 10 hour walk across the desert border into Jordan. In Zaatari, vulnerable cases are given wheelchairs and extra care, but since he fled Syria, Jabaari find it difficult to even stand outside his new home.

ALAWALI (through translator): He (inaudible) beggars out of his people.

I left my home, I left my three houses, I left everything behind.

Even if I had 100 houses here, 100 houses here in the camp it won't be like home.

SHUBERT: Jabaari has little more than the clothes he wears, but his memory is rich. And he recites for us this poem by renowned poet Ahmed Shawki.

ALAWALI (through translator): Peace from the northern wind that swept through Zaruda...and tears would be everlasting...on, Damascus.

SHUBERT: Before I go I just wanted to say thank you very much, shukrem (ph), shukrem fatir (ph).

ALAWALI (through translator): You are very welcome.

SHUBERT: And I want you to know that no matter what happens you have a very rich life.

ALAWALI (through translator): It's enough to see you.

SHUBERT: It's been an honor for me.

As we leave, Jabaari slowly comes outside. And we walk together past a handful of his many, many grand and great-grandchildren for a special occasion -- a photograph of a proud man far from home.

Atika Shubert, CNN, at the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: An incredible story there.

Now you are watching News Stream. And still ahead, have you ever played Angry Birds? Well, leaked intelligence documents suggest that the U.S. and Britain have tried to use popular games to spy on you.

And Google keeps an eye on fashion. Glass gets a little bit hipper in this makeover.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

Now Ukrainian lawmakers have voted by an overwhelming majority to repeal the country's anti-protest laws. Now the vote came only hours after prime minister Mikola Azarov that he had submitted his resignation in the bid to ease the political crisis.

Now former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy returns to court today for charges connected to a jailbreak in 2011.

Also today, a senior aid to Egypt's interior minister was killed in Cairo.

U.S. President Barack Obama delivers his State of the Union Address Tuesday evening in Washington. And much of the focus will be on jobs, America's income gap and the U.S. economy.

Now the president is set to announce that he will raise the minimum wage for some workers by executive order bypassing congress. He is also expected to call for a wide ranging immigration reform.

Now newly leaked intelligence documents have some worrying allegations for users of smartphone applications including the popular Angry Birds game.

Now they say U.S. and British spy agencies are using the apps to mine personal data.

Now for more on these latest NSA spying claims, let's bring in our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr. And Barbara, tell us more about this latest revelation.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kristie, let's start off with a company in Finland that produces the Angry Birds game says it is not giving user data to any government. But you might wonder now, given all of this, whether when you log on to your smartphone is the U.S. government watching the apps you log on to.

LU STOUT: And what kind of data can be gleaned from apps like Angry Birds?

STARR: Well, I guess we don't have the package here that we were going to, so let me just briefly explain. What we're talking about is the ability of the National Security Agency of the U.S. government and possibly the British government as well being able to look at the apps and derive user data, everything they want to know about you if you are a potential terrorist threat. Let's go to the package that we prepared for people to watch.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STARR (voice-over): Angry Birds, one of the most popular game applications, has been downloaded more than 1 billion times. But the next time you open it up, could the NSA be tracking you?

According to "The New York Times", the NSA is trying to collect and store user data from apps. "The Times" says the classified program focuses on so-called "leaky apps" that spew everything from user smart phone identification codes to where they have been that day.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you want to track what people are doing on the Internet, you have to move to apps. I think that's what's driving NSA to track apps.

STARR: In response to "The Times" story, the NSA issued a statement saying, in part, "any implication that the NSA's foreign intelligence collection is focused on the Smartphone or social media communications of everyday Americans is not true."

At the White House, more pushback.

JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We are not interested in the communications of people who are not valid foreign intelligence targets.

STARR: The report is based on documents said to be leaked by Edward Snowden. In one document, which could not be verified by CNN, the effort is described as a "Golden Nugget". Information that could be connected includes location of users, networks to which they connect, Web sites visited, buddy lists and downloaded documents.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This would need really tight controls to make sure they weren't taking advantage of it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STARR: And in the latest development, it looks now like there will be a new director of the NSA, the National Security Agency, that runs all of this. The current director, General Keith Alexander long scheduled to retire, that was expected. It now looks like a navy admiral, Vice Admiral Michael Rogers, if confirmed by the U.S. Senate will take over for him. Rogers, a trained cryptologist and intelligence officer -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: All right, Barbara Starr there with the very latest on the NSA and its alleged data collection reach. Barbara, many thanks indeed for that.

Now U.S. authorities have arrested the CEO of the Bitcoin exchanged called Bitinstance where people can buy the virtual currency. Now prosecutors say that Charlie Shrem helped launder more than a million dollars worth of Bitcoins on Silk Road, it's a black market website used to sell drugs and weapons, among other things. They say that Shrem sold Bitcoins knowing that they ended up in the hands of drug buyers and sellers.

Now on Monday, I told you about Google's latest purchase DeepMind, it's a software company that specializes in artificial intelligence. Well, we want to take a closer look at artificial intelligence and why DeepMind might be just so valuable.

And who better to talk to than our resident expert Nick Thompson. He joins me live from New York. He's, of course, the editor of the New Yorker.com. Nick, thank you so much for joining us once again.

And tell us, what is the current state of artificial intelligence? What is it capable of doing today?

NICK THOMPSON. NEW YORKER.COM: Well, it's a little bit hard. I mean, artificial intelligence perhaps more than any other tech field gets caught in these cycles of overhype and then despair, right? And this has been going on since the 1950s that computers will be able to think like humans. And we've almost got a breakthrough and then, oh, wait it doesn't really work that well. And we keep cycling in and out.

And at the moment, there's a lot of excitement over technologies like deep learning. And the thought is that computers are getting more and more like humans and able to think like humans and able to learn from their mistakes. And we're heading towards a world that's like the movie Her.

But, on the other hand, despite all that excitement no one has actually seen an app that really does this. Nobody has actually seen it work in practice.

So it's a little hard to know where we are.

LU STOUT: You know AI, you're right, has fallen victim to the hype cycle over the years. And there is a lot of hype right now about DeepMind. And your thoughts on what makes this company acquisition worthy for Google. I mean, is it doing something truly differently?

THOMPSON: Well, we don't know, right. There aren't products out on the market. So DeepMind is a company that Google just bought for hundreds of millions of dollars, you know, huge acquisition. The largest -- I believe it's the largest acquisition they've ever made of a European company.

What they do is they try to make computers that think like humans. So they try to make software think like the human mind. And all of the magic of the human mind and how we learn, how we evolve. And they're trying to incorporate that.

But there are lots of people trying to incorporate that. Are they better? It's hard again to tell from the outside. What we do know about them, it's probably valuable to Google, is a, they have extremely intelligence co-founders with an extremely impressive past. That's something.

And we also know that Facebook wanted to buy them. And there's nothing that's going to get Google more interested in buying a company than Facebook trying to buy a company, right? Google and Facebook are both, in different ways, trying to organize all the information in the world. Artificial intelligence can help you do that. Google would not want Facebook to have an AI breakthrough.

LU STOUT: You know, we know so little about DeepMind, but just let's have fun and speculate a little bit here, how could Google use DeepMind's artificially intelligent technology?

THOMPSON: Well, OK. So what's coming -- and so Google has all of this different information coming in to its computers, right? It's the information about the words that we type on the internet and that, you know, is a relatively simple problem compared to what we have now.

So now we have all this information coming in from sensors, right, so it's just about nests. So it knows all the information about your home and about your habits. It has self-driving cars. So eventually we will have all the information about where people are going.

It's going to have all of these different kinds of information coming into the company. It's going to want to sort through and categorize this information as best it can. So having artificial intelligence that can take process, understand and adapt as all these different complex forms of information come in, get them to sort of work in parallel with each other so that Google can serve us what we need, organize that information and then sell ads against it, that's what Google wants.

LU STOUT: and one more question for you, Nick, what about the ethics of AI? We've talked about machine morality before right here on News Stream, but what about the reality of a thermostat, for example, that is artificially intelligent?

THOMPSON: Right. This is a huge question, and actually one of the most interesting lines that's been reported about the DeepMind acquisition is that Google is going to set up some kind of ethics board to evaluate artificial intelligence. We're rapidly approaching the era where our devices are as smart as we are. Eventually we'll get to the point where they're smarter than we are.

Google has also just bought a whole bunch of robot companies, including military robot companies. So if you think about the paring of software that thinks like humans and the purchase of robots, military robots, you suddenly get into a weird situation where you start thinking about a world where we have robots that think like us except they do it a lot better. That is the world that Ray Kurzweil, who works at good and runs a lot of this, has written about and imagined. And in that world, you need to think very seriously about how you treat those robots, what rights they have, and how those robots should treat us and how they change. That's very hard stuff. It's good that Google is getting on that topic early.

LU STOUT: Yeah, very good news indeed. Deep thoughts about deep mind. Nick Thompson, thank you as always and take care.

THOMPSON: Thank you, Kristie.

LU STOUT: Now more on Google, Google wants to make its wearable tech more chic and less geek. So it's revamping Google Glass.

Now Laurie Segall shows us the new designs.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAURIE SEGALL, CNN MONEY: Google announcing the new style Google Glass. Now the idea is to make you look a little less cyborg and to accommodate those who wear prescription glasses. There are four new frames coming out today. and they're all, I would say, a little more hipster.

You've got the ball, the curve, thin and the split. Now they're also launching some new styles of sunglasses for the outdoor Glass enthusiast, but the technology, I hate to disappoint you, it's going to be the exact same as before. The same plastic projector is going to sit in front of the lenses to do the things that allow you to take pictures, look at maps. And the changes are to just add a little bit of style.

Now rumors emerged last year that Google might be partnering with trendy eyeglass maker Warby Parker for glass designs. But Google tells us that these were made in house by Google designers. And, you know, Glass has faced a little bit of ridicule in the past about looking clunky and not really having any obvious need.

JON STEWART, THE DAILY SHOW: Have you ever thought the real problem with Google is it's too far away from my face.

CONAN O'BRIEN, CONAN: They're already introducing another device to be worn on a different part of your body.

STEWART: The world's largest database of people whizzing in public.

But now it'll be like they're peeing right in your eye.

SEGALL: But last week we showed a need, we reported on a firefighter who was trying to use Glass to help map the blueprints of burning buildings. Very interesting application.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, Glass. Show floorplan.

SEGALL: But Google has also got competitors. Now, at the Consumer Electronics Show this year, we saw quite a few of them, like these. And Samsung smart glasses are reportedly in the works to come out as soon as this year.

As of right now, Google Glasses are still not available to the general public, but as they get to the mass market they're definitely trying to get them a little more hip.

Laurie Segall, CNN Money, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now Apple sold a record number of iPhones in the last three months of 2013, but that wasn't enough for investors who expected even more. Now Apple recorded a profit of $13 billion, better than expected, but roughly the same as a year ago. As Apple's growth has slowed, its easy to forget just how big the company has become.

But this might help to put it into perspective for you. Now last week, Microsoft reported record quarterly revenue of more than $24 billion, but Apple's revenues from iPhones alone was over $32 billion.

And if we put it another way, the iPhone made more money in one quarter than the whole of Microsoft ever has.

Now Silicon Valley, it's often seen as a man's world. But up next here on News Stream, meet the Intel boss aiming to change that. Renee James shares her thoughts on the gender divide and more. Stick around.

(END VIDEOATPE)

LU STOUT: Welcome back.

Now on Leading Women this week, we hear more from Renee James. She is the president of Intel, the world's largest computer chip maker. That makes her won of the few Leading Women in tech.

Now here, she tells Poppy Harlow about her thoughts on gender bias.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's a familiar logo and sound -- chipmaking giant Intel, founded in 1968. For the first time in history, a woman is at the helm.

RENEE JAMES, PRESIDENT, INTEL: An Intel-based phone.

HARLOW: Part of the two-person leadership team President Renee James and CEO Brian Krzanich.

JAMES: Two people in one role. I report to Brian, but the two of us run the company in our executive office. And so the rest of the company all reports to the two of us.

Now we're going to lead the industry into a new era of computing.

HARLOW: It was perhaps inevitable James would run a tech company. She grew up in California's Silicon Valley, the epicenter of the world's leading tech companies. And there's also this.

JAMES: My dad is a mathematician. And I definitely had this, I'm not going to be like dad, which is funny because I am exactly like dad.

We chose to continue to expand our data center business.

HARLOW: I met up with Jane at the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit in Washington, D.C., an annual gathering of top business execs and aspiring leaders.

Women in technology, especially in your part of the tech sector...

JAMES: ...in hardware are just far too rare, they are. We have to keep young women engaged.

So it's -- we have two points of loss where we lose women in technology. One is early on, about middle school, and the other one is when they leave for -- you know, to have a family.

HARLOW: Is it also about the messages that...

JAMES: It's about the message, yeah, that it's OK to be smart, that it's cool.

Affordable genomic (Ph)...

HARLOW: As a woman in high tech, James says as she rose through the ranks she experienced gender bias, even unstated.

So what did you do? I mean, did you address it head on?

JAMES; I always had this sense that if I made about being a women, that would be worse for me. So instead, I have to focus on the behavior or the issue. So, what I would do is I would call out for the haters.

HARLOW: Among her many accomplishments, last year U.S. President Barack Obama named James to his national security telecommunications advisory committee..

Do you purposefully hire women ever in part because they are women?

JAMES: You know, I don't. I didn't ever want to be hired because I was a woman. I never wanted to be promoted because I was a woman. I never wanted to be given anything because I was a woman. I didn't want people to think I was a woman. I was like, no.

HARLOW: James credits running track and field in high school and college for giving her discipline, which has gotten her far.

JAMES: No one is ever going to tell you what the future is going to be. So when your gut instinct is you're on to the next big thing, you have to imagine success and work backwards, you know, to what are you going to do to make that be the outcome.

Anything is possible until it's not.

It's a very, very interesting product I think.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Wise words on visualizing success there.

Now you can read more on our website about Renee James and her push to take Intel into the world of wearable tech. Just head to CNN.com/leadingwomen.

You're watching News Stream. And just ahead, Steve Jobs once said the iPhone is the best iPod ever made. And now Apple's other products are taking a big bite out of the MP3 player. A look at the numbers.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Now we don't often show you videos shot two years ago, but this video has just come to light and it is simply incredible. An Australian woman cheated death as she jumped onto a moving freight train.

Now the woman seen here, she's standing on the platform. She jumps into the space between the two carriages. And from this angle, it is hard to tell where she landed, or whether she survived.

Now her friend here apparently just gasps in shock. And after the train disappears, she is seen here lying on the tracks miraculously she's alive. Now she gets to her feet and she stumbles to the platform. She was taken later to the hospital with minor injuries and released the next day.

Incredible video there.

Now we've got winter weather really setting in throughout parts of the U.S. and Europe. The deep freeze continues. Details with Mari Ramos. She joins us at the World Weather Center -- Mari.

MARI RAMOS, CNN WEATHER CORRESPONDENT: I'm still gasping at that video, Kristie, that woman and the train. Oh my gosh.

Anyway, let's go ahead and look over here at the weather. Let's start in Europe. There's a couple of things going on that I just want to quickly update you on.

First of all, that big, you know, weather system, the next one that's been moving across the UK and Ireland and northern France, that system is starting to wind down just a little bit, but it is moving farther to the south.

Now across France we had some strong winds, moving very high waves also in through the Bay of Biscay here. And then over into northern parts of Spain.

And then, as we head over into central Europe -- we almost have a dividing line, picture it right around here where the very cold air that came down from the north is. And what we have is those very cold conditions. Munich is at 0, Berlin is at minus 1, but look at Paris and London, they're still well above freezing. And then the coldest air is back over here toward the east.

So where you have that moisture meeting with the cold air that's where you're going to have the heaviest snowfall.

And then you have the cold air making its way all the way down into southeastern Europe. And that's where we're seeing the really heavy snow, because we have ample moisture coming in off the Black Sea and off the Mediterranean and more snow is on the way.

Take a look at these pictures. Remember we were talking about earlier in the week and last week how this would be the first big snow storm that you were going to have. And look at Bucharest, completely blanketed in slow, about half a meter of snow has fallen in higher elevations and Bucharest proper probably a little bit less, but it's enough to really almost paralyze the city. And across the region many towns are completely blocked off, roads are closed, people are without power in many cases and there is more snow on the way and that is a huge concern for people in this area, because it's not over.

If you come back over to the weather map over here, let me go ahead and show you, look at that, Bucharest became -- get another 24 centimeters of snow, farther north another 10. And look in Sarajevo, we can still see eight additional centimeters of snowfall.

So a lot going on here and it's not quite over yet.

Then we head to the U.S. where again an arctic blast is moving here rivaling the polar vortex. Look at the temperature in Chicago, minus 24, but it feels like minus 34. In temperatures like this, skin freezes in about 15 minutes. So pretty significant stuff. They had to close schools there.

Schools are closed anywhere from San Antonio through New Orleans and even in portions here of the Deep South in Atlanta because it -- we're expecting some wintry conditions. Already we're starting to see that pop up across the satellite image. What happens is you get all that moisture from the Gulf of Mexico and that very cold air coming in from the north. The result is going to be snow, ice, maybe mixing in snow and ice, very cold rain depending on the location.

And we've can even see not snow just here in Atlanta, we're over across the region over 2,000 flights have already been canceled, Kristie, that's pretty significant -- or almost 2,000 flights.

But we can see snow all the way to the beaches that normally don't see snow like Wilmington or maybe places like Raleigh. So pretty unusual situation. And yes it is another snow day in Houston, which is very unusual.

I want to show you something that it's a little bit unusual, not something you see every day, at least I don't. Take a look, these are called snow rollers. And they form -- this is in Ohio -- and they form where you have to have a snow that is till kind of moist but not too wet and then you have to have a certain amount of find. And what happens is the wind begins to pick up the snow and it starts to roll, almost like those -- like the snowballs that you would see in cartoons, you know, when the ball starts rolling. This is kind of it. But it leaves a hole in the middle until it gets too big and then they can't handle it anymore.

But I think that was pretty cool stuff. And if you have great pictures to share with us, send them to iReport. We want to know what's happening where you live .

Back to you, Kristie.

LU STOUT: I can't believe they occur naturally. Snow rollers, they're absolutely enchanting. Wow. Mari Ramos, thank you very much for that. Take care.

Now award shows are always a great time to check out what the stars have on from Lorde's black fingerpaint to of course Daft Punk's robot helmets. Now Sunday's Grammys had a pretty unique style. But as Jeanne Moos tells us, one star's head gear was the topper.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You'd think Pharrell Williams had two heads -- by how much fuss everyone made over his hat.

Pointing out the similarity to Smokey the Bear, making Canadian mounty comparisons.

The co-hosts of "The Talk" paid homage to the half-worn at the Grammys, by trying to imitate it.

When's the last time you heard a hat get enthusiastic applause.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: His hat was an even bigger winner.

MOOS: Close second in the winner department was Arby's for the hat joke heard around the world. "Hey, @pharrell, can we have our hat back?"

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And he actually responded to that say, you all trying to start a roast beef.

MOOS: Pharrell thought the Arby's roast beef joke was well done.

PHARRELL WILLIAMS, SINGER: It's cool, man. Thank you. I appreciate it.

MOOS: His hat has it own Twitter account, who gave a shout-out to the hats worn by Yoko Uno and her son, and bragged, I'm definitely more fashionable than Madonna's grill -- fighting commentary for a hat.

"BuzzFeed" speculated on things that might be hiding under Pharrell's hat, a dancing baby, Justin Bieber's Lamborghini.

(on camera): Pharrell needs is a hard hat to wear over his Grammy's hat, to protect from all the mockery.

(voice-over): One critic tweeted, "Pharrell hat looked like a big toe."

Yes, well, at least this is a designer big toe.

WILLIAMS: It's Vivian Westwood. It's a buffalo hat.

MOOS: Featured in the Malcolm McLaren music video, "Buffalo Gals," considered classic really hip hop.

(MUSIC)

MOOS: The hat do-si-do'd up the runway in Vivian Westwood's 1982-'83 fall collections.

(on camera): Bored with your old hat? You too can own the exact same hat that Pharrell wore to the Grammys for mere $157.

(voice-over): They call it the mountain hat on Westwood's World's End Web site, that was also known as the jelly mold hat. Even Daft Punk's helmets couldn't compete with Pharrell's hat. It inspired Neil Patrick Harris to tweet, "Only Pharrell Williams can prevent forest fires."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And the Grammy goes to --

MOOS: Pharrell's hat.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To me, it looks like Smokey the Bear, and Dudley Do Right had a biracial baby.

MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: It kind of does, right?

Now finally we're going to go through Apple's results when we noticed something. Now Apple said that they sold more iPHones, iPads and Macs in the last quarter than it did last year. But iPod sales are sharply lower. Now Apple sold just 6 million iPods in the last three months. And if you wind the clock back five years, Apple sold 22 million iPods in the same period.

Now it might be inevitable, but it is a significant decline for a landmark product.

Now the iPod, it turned Apple from a computer company into a personal electronics company and helped set up along the way to becoming at one point the most valuable company on Earth.

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

END