Return to Transcripts main page

NEWS STREAM

Palestinians Celebrate Cease-fire; American Fighting For ISIS Killed In Syria; President Obama Vows To Hunt Down James Foley Killers; A Look At The World's Most Notorious Football Match Fixer; Will Google Docs Unseat Microsoft Office?; A Look at the World Largest Vinyl Collection

Aired August 27, 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.

An American is killed fighting for ISIS in Syria. We'll look at the influence of foreign jihadis.

The man known as the world's most notorious football match fixer speaks exclusively to CNN.

And can Google Docs take down the mighty Microsoft Office?

President Obama is pledging to fight what he calls the cancer of ISIS. And he's promising justice for executed American James Foley.

Now officials say the Defense Department has given Mr. Obama a range of options to fight ISIS, including possibly targeting the militants in

Syria as the U.S. is already doing in Iraq.

Now an official says that Mr. Obama has already authorized surveillance flights over Syria to gather intelligence.

And with more on that, here's our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)??

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From President Obama, a threat and a promise. ??

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Justice will be done. We have proved time and time again we will do what's necessary to capture

those who harm Americans. And we will continue to take direct action where needed to protect our people and to defend our homeland. ??

STARR: But, as the U.S. prepares to potentially militarily confront ISIS, the Pentagon will say little about the reconnaissance flights

President Obama authorized over Syria. ??

REAR ADM. JOHN KIRBY, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: I am not going to talk about intelligence matters. ??

STARR: An administration official tells CNN that drones have flown over Iraq near the border with Syria to pick up whatever intelligence they

can about ISIS troops, convoys, weapons and training camps just inside Syria, anything on targets that could be hit to disrupt their brutal

campaign of murder and intimidation. ??

U.S. satellites have already gathered some information. ISIS communications are also being monitored. But now the U.S. needs to get

real-time intelligence. It will be tough. One of the type of drones being used, sources say, a Global Hawk like this. It can fly at up to 60,000 feet

and is specially equipped to gather targeting information on fixed and mobile targets, exactly the type of information on ISIS the U.S. wants. ??

Washington will not acknowledge if drones have penetrated Syrian airspace, a move that would violate Syria's sovereignty, U.S. officials

say. But once the intel is in hand, would U.S. bombers have to cross into Syria to strike? Perhaps. One option, B-1 bombers flying at high altitude

dropping precision bombs. But many say airstrikes alone will not defeat ISIS. ??

REP. MICHAEL TURNER (R), OHIO: These isolated military actions can only result in more difficulty. The president needs to put together his

national security team, the Department of Defense, and put together a plan. ??

STARR: U.S. officials say one problem with U.S. airstrikes over Syria, they might inadvertently help Syrian President Bashar al-Assad whose

forces are also battling ISIS militants.

Barbara Star, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: An American citizen has been killed in Syria fighting for the extremist group ISIS. The Syrian observatory for human rights says

Douglas McCain was killed in a battle with rival militants in Aleppo last weekend. His uncle says McCain had converted to Islam years ago and had

gone to fight as a Jihadi.

Now U.S. officials say that 1,000 people from western nations are fighting with militant groups in Syria. Atika Shubert spoke to two of them

in this exclusive report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The videotaped killing of James Foley wasn't just a message to America, it was also a

recruitment video for young men like these.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My initial reaction personally was that this was a direct justified response to the crimes of the U.S. against Islamic State.

SHUBERT: We've spoken to Abu Bakar and Abu Anwar al-Butani (ph) before, two foreign fighters inside Syria, one of them British, claiming to

be absolute believers in ISIS's Medieval view of the world.

Do you personally believe in beheading and executions like this? And would you actually partake in one?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would be more than honored to partake in an execution like this. I hope god gives me the chance to do such a thing

that brother did with James Foley, whether it be on somebody like James Foley, a soldier of Bashar or a soldier of America. My hands are ready to

do this blessed act.

SHUBERT: The Muslim Council of Britain, for example, has come out condemning the killing of Foley saying it is brutal and abhorrent and that

anybody who follows this belief is misguided. What's your response to that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Muslim Council of Britain, they are apostates, they are not Muslims. They have always fought against Islam with British

government. They've tried to stop young men going to Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and (inaudible). And they work in these so-called anti-extremes

projects. They are not Muslims. So this reaction coming from them is not surprising.

SHUBERT: Who are these young men willing to commit such brutality despite worldwide condemnation? Of Britain's nearly 3 million Muslims,

only an estimated 400 to 500 have gone to fight in Syria, roughly the same amount of Muslims who are currently enlisted in the British army.

British experts on radicalization paint a diverse picture of British Muslim extremists.

Most are single men, under the age of 30. But a significant number are older and married with children. Many are converts to Islam, or are

British born Muslims from immigrant families. Many are also deepening their extremist ideology online. Some have links to gangs and the criminal

underworld, but many are also well educated and from middle class families.

So intelligence analysts say there is no one statistical profile or trigger that leads young men to such extremes.

The last time we spoke, both insisted they would not return now. That has now changed. Abu Bakar (ph) in particular seems willing to come to

Britain and bring his jihad with him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If there is no other choice but to come back just try to stop you with the very -- with a very reasonable message, then I'll

have to do that. So I'm ready to take that step to come back if your armies, if your countries don't stop attacking us.

SHUBERT: Any fighter bringing their so-called holy war back home is exactly what many western security officials fear most.

Atika Shubert, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: The foreign recruits have helped to strengthen ISIS operations in Syria and in Iraq. Our Anna Coren is in the city of Irbil in

northern Iraq. She joins us now live.

And Anna, what more have you learned about this phenomenon of western jihadis like Douglas McCain fighting alongside ISIS militants?

ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, certainly ISIS is a magnet for these disaffected men all around the world, we're not just

talking about the United States or Europe, but other parts of the world like Australia, Indonesia, we're hearing that they're coming also from

Afghanistan, Pakistan.

This is -- this is something that is of great concern to the international community, obviously, with the threat jihadists then

returning and carrying out terror attacks in their home countries.

But Douglas McCain, 33 years old, from Midwest America, he converted from Christianity to Islam several years ago. And when he went off to join

this jihadi cause, certainly his family was devastated.

As you say, he died in fighting in Aleppo over the weekend against another extremist group. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, Kristie,

saying that there could be up to 7,000 foreign fighters waging war between, you know, Iraq, Syria, operating within what they call the Islamic State,

the caliphate.

Certainly from the Kurdish officials that we've spoken to here in Irbil they believe the entire army of ISIS is within 40,000, 50,000, you

know, soldiers. And that is a conservative estimate.

So, obviously this is a concern, and then, you know, McCain, as far as the United States is concerned, a stark reminder of the inside threat from

foreign fighters.

They were words coming out of the Pentagon, Kristie.

LU STOUT: ISIS is an army of fighters from all over the world. What kind of threat does ISIS represent today even after the start of U.S.

airstrikes there in Iraq?

COREN: Look, I think it's definitely fair to say that here in Iraq they are somewhat on the backfoot. You know, they are contained, because

of those U.S. airstrikes, 98 to date according to U.S. Central Command, the focus obviously around Irbil here, the capital of Kurdistan as well as

Mosul dam, which the Peshmerga, the Kurdish forces managed to gain back last week.

But still, this is not a force that can underestimated, not for a minute. They are changing their tactics out on the battlefield. Obviously

they can't move around as freely as what they once did, which is why we saw this lightning advance across much of the country.

We understand from intelligence officials here that they're trying to infiltrate other cities like Kirkuk, just 100 kilometers south of us.

The reason they're targeting places like Kirkuk, it's rich in oil fields, but it's also diverse, it's made up of Shias, Sunnis and Kurds, so

they don't stick out. There have been dozens of arrests in Kirkuk of ISIS members, an emir, in particular, a rather powerful and influential emir who

was there trying to recruit Sunni youths to join the ranks of fighters.

But certainly they believe that there are sleeper cells in the city of Kirkuk as well as in other cities that may not have been taken over by ISIS

as yet, Krisite, but certainly in their view, in their sites.

LU STOUT: All right, Anna Coren with the latest on the ISIS presence in Iraq, Anna joining us live from Irbil northern Iraq, thank you.

Now you're watching News Stream, and still to come, cheering Palestinians line the streets of Gaza after word of a cease-fire with

Israel, but how long will this truce hold? We go live to Gaza after the break.

Later in the show, we go to the frontlines in the war against Ebola. We'll give you an inside look at West Africa's brave doctors battling the

deadly virus on the ground.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Cheering crowds flooded the streets of Gaza as people there celebrated a new cease-fire between Israel and Palestinian leaders. And

the open-ended truce comes after more than seven weeks of heavy fighting. Hamas is calling the agreement a victory with an easing of the blockade on

Gaza among Israel's concessions, but the fact remains several of the core key issues that lead to bloodshed back in June have yet to be resolved.

Now let's go now to our senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman. He joins me live from Jerusalem. And, Ben, this is an open-ended

truce. Will it hold?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So far it's holding, Krisite. It began at 7:00 p.m. local time last night. And until now,

there have been no incidents reported by either side. Obviously the next step is that an Israeli delegation will go to Cairo where through Egyptian

intermediaries they will be trying to work out with Hamas some sort of more lasting arrangement for the Gaza Strip.

Hamas, for its part, of course is describing this cease-fire as a victory. After all, they say they did survive these 50 days of fighting

with the leadership largely intact, although we don't have a precise number of the fighters who died during this.

In Israel, the reaction has been much more low key. It's significant that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not put this cease-fire

to a vote in his cabinet, because of course many members of his cabinet are strongly opposed to a cease-fire arrangement.

Now what they have to deal with at this point is what next? We understand that as part of this Egyptian brokered cease-fire there is an

easing of the border arrangement between Gaza and Israel and Gaza and Egypt whereby humanitarian supplies, medicine and construction materials will be

allowed in and that the area where Gaza fishermen can operate will be extended to six miles offshore.

But beyond that, Hamas, for instance, was demanding a much more wide- open border between Israel and Gaza and Gaza and Egypt, they wanted the re- establishment of a seaport in Gaza, the reactivation of the largely destroyed Gaza airport.

For their part, the Israelis want a complete demilitarization of the Gaza Strip. And of course both sides are saying neither the other side

isn't going to get what they want.

So it's hard to say beyond a period of quiet what will actually be achieved in the coming days and weeks -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: And Ben, why now? Why did both sides finally agree to this indefinite truce?

WEDEMAN: Well, I, for instance, spoke with a senior Israeli official who told me that Israel had a fairly stark choice before it. It could

either reoccupy Gaza and try to destroy Hamas's infrastructure, go after its leadership, but the feeling was that in terms of lives within the

Israeli military it would have been far too costly.

So the only other option they had was some sort of cease-fire arrangement. It's rather ironic, however, that in the previous days the

Israeli prime minister was saying that Hamas's ISIS, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and ISIS is Hamas. And now, of course, he's had to make a

deal with, in his view, the devil.

Hamas -- for its part, Hamas clearly realized that it had achieved what it wanted in terms of holding the Israelis back, continuing to fire

from Gaza into Israel with mortars and rockets and whatnot, but given the level of destruction and suffering among the population of Gaza, they had

probably gone about as far as they could go without risking some sort of backlash from people there.

So both sides clearly decided enough was enough. It's time for this open-ended cease-fire. We'll see how long that actually lasts, though,

Kristie.

LU STOUT; That's right. And after 50 days of war and so many lives lost, here's hoping that this open-ended cease-fire will hold. Ben Wedeman

reporting live from Jerusalem, thank you, Ben.

WEDEMAN: Now a day after Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko met Russian President Vladimir Putin at regional talks in Belarus, Kiev has

accused Russian forces of directing artillery fire across the border into the south of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine. It is a step backward from the

Tuesday meeting between the two leaders.

Mr. Putin called those talks positive and said that both he and Mr. Poroshenko agreed on the need to renew dialogue.

You're watching News Stream. And after the break, everyday heroes risking their lives to fight the Ebola outbreak. We'll share their stories

of hope and courage when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

Now the World Health Organization temporarily pulled its health workers from a town in eastern Sierra Leone after one of its staff

contracted Ebola.

Now the move is likely to have an impact on Kailahun in one of the hardest hit areas. About half the country's suspected Ebola cases come

from that district.

Now the WHO reports more than 1,400 Ebola deaths, including 120 medical workers.

Now despite the toll on the medical community, many continue their fight to contain the outbreak.

Nima Elbagir shows us the risks these men and women take every day as they try to save lives.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Dr. Armand Sprecher could be any chief of staff in any clinic in the world, but he's not. He's

leading the team running the world's largest ever Ebola treatment center at the heart of the largest outbreak the world has seen.

A quarter of the dead are healthcare workers.

After 14 years as an Ebola specialist, Sprecher is unfazed.

ARMAND SPRECHER, MEDICINS SANS FRONTIERES: If you get here and you start working here and you're here long enough you see -- you see the

suffering and you see all of the things that Ebola can do, but you also see what's done to control the disease and you take some level of reassurance

from those procedures. And you say, OK, this is something that I can handle.

ELBAGIR: The procedures are as thorough as they can be -- goggles, gloves, plastic gowns, every inch of flesh covered. But there is always

still a risk for the staff that enter the high-risk ward that's where the Ebola cases are admitted -- men, women and children, all hoping they will

overcome the killer in their midst.

Behind the patients, bodies lined up for the morgue.

Since the center opened last week, there's been a death here almost every hour.

Across town, we went to visit Dr. Aroh Cosmas in his home. He was working at the Catholic hospital when he contracted the virus.

Miraculously, he survived, even more miraculously he has every intention of going back to work.

DR. AROH COSMAS, EBOLA SURVIVOR: This is within my -- you know, my (inaudible) trying to continue to serve Liberians. And to do my very best,

because I went there, I saw, I tested to do my very best to make sure their lives are safe, because from what I saw there I think, you know, lots

and lots -- you know, needs to be done to save hundreds, if not thousands of lives.

ELBAGIR: New tents are going up on the center's compound. They're at capacity here. And we're told these tents are also expected to fill

quickly.

Is it worth the risk?

SPRECHER: Oh, yeah. It is something that touches a very human part of us, it makes us very scared. We have to say that there's hope that

we're going to get through this. We have to be a part of that and allow people to know that life will get back to normal at some point.

ELBAGIR: It could be months before this epidemic is brought fully under control. And until then, people here will need all the help they can

get to believe going back to normal really is possible.

Nima Elgabir, CNN, Monrovia, Liberia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Wow, the medical personnel there incredibly brave and selfless.

You're watching CNN News Stream. And coming up next, we get some insight into the shadowy world of football match fixing from a man

convicted of rigging dozens of results.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

After more than seven weeks of fighting, Israel and Palestinian leaders agreed to a new open-ended cease-fire on Tuesday. So far the truce

appears to be holding. Now the deal eases border and fishing restrictions in Gaza. And some of the more complex issues have been put off until both

parties meet in Cairo for upcoming talks.

U.S. officials say an American recruited by the extremist group ISIS has been killed in Syria. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says 33-

year-old Douglas McCain died in a battle with rival militants in Aleppo. McCain's uncle says his nephew had gone to fight as a jihadi.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin met face-to-face in Belarus on Tuesday. Now, Mr. Putin

called talks with the Ukrainian leader positive, but on the ground in eastern Ukraine there are fresh accusations of Russian military involvement

in the fighting.

Afghan presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah is boycotting an audit of June's runoff election. Now the process is continuing without observers

for the other candidate Ashraf Ghani. The United Nations is overseeing the audit.

Football is the world's most popular sport, but there is a dark side to the beautiful game. Nobody knows just how far the corrupting influence

of illegal gambling reaches into football, but examples are never far away. Just this week, FIFA ordered Ghana to investigate match fixing allegations

that surfaced during the World Cup.

And now, we can exclusively bring you an interview with a man familiar with this shadowy world.

Now Wilson Raj Perumal is a self-confessed match fixer. Don Riddell met him in Budapest for his first ever TV interview where he's currently

living to avoid a lengthy jail sentence in his native Singapore.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DON RIDDELL, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: When you were watching games when you were younger, how did you feel when you were watching football and

the spectacle that you were enjoying?

WILSON RAJ PERUMAL, MATCH FIXER: I really enjoyed football, because in Singapore we -- most of us we play football, though we don't excel. The

first World Cup I saw was in 1978. I mean, you been -- when you play in a field and you want to call yourself as Mario Campez (ph) and you dribble,

pause when you score a goal and it's a lot of excitement, this.

It's a beautiful sport.

RIDDELL: How did you get into fixing matches?

PERUMAL: Well, I had my boyhood dreams like I wanted to be a soldier, but during my school days I got a criminal record. And I couldn't really

pursue what I wanted to. And then I got attracted to betting. And I didn't want to always lose, so I started fixing matches, local matches, and

I was beating the others guys by fixing matches.

RIDDELL: How many games do you think you fixed?

PERUMAL: Never really counted it, but I think it should be between 80 to 100 football matches.

RIDDELL: What percentage of matches that you tried to fix would you say actually worked out as planned?

PERUMAL: Between 70 to 80 percent of all my matches are successful. But the 20 percent boils down to the commitment of the player. There's no

litmus test to a player's honesty or to the commitment level. So they say, yes, I can do this. Not a problem. But when they go into the pitch they

take you for granted.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's clear to us this is the biggest ever investigation of suspected football match fixing in Europe.

RIDDELL: Wilson Raj Perumal has become the public face of global match fixing. In his recently published memoirs Kelong Kings, he claims to

have rigged games at the Olympics, World Cup qualifiers, the women's World Cup, the CONCACAF Gold Cup and the African Cup of Nations.

And he became so sophisticated that he was able to run a seemingly legitimate business, Football For You International, which organized

international friendlies for the express purpose of fixing the results. And in some of those games, he quite literally placed himself at the heart

of the action.

How close were you able to get to the field of play during some of your fixes?

PERUMAL: I was on the bench at times and telling players what to do, giving orders to the coach. And it was that easy. And there was no

policing, nothing whatsoever.

RIDDELL: The Zimbabwe National Team was one of Perumal's partners. In what was dubbed the Asiagate scandal dozens of players were banned by the

country's football association for fixing games.

In a separate scandal, an internal FIFA report into a number of warm- up games before the 2010 World Cup confirmed that Perumal was on the scene, concluding that on the balance of probabilities, several games were rigged

and one was, indeed manipulated for betting fraud purposes.

Let's talk about how you would fix a game. How would you approach this?

PERUMAL: Firstly, we need to know if that particular football match has got bets and the books open for these matches, that is the first thing

we have to look at.

And then we look at the team. If it is corruptible, they will (inaudible) and Zimbabwe was in turmoil at that time. So when I approach

the captain, I brought him out. We had a meal before we (inaudible) one another. I asked him if it's possible. It's like a bait. If he bites the

bait, then it's OK.

RIDDELL: So once you've had this initial conversation, then you've gauged interest from the first player you've approached, what is the next

step?

PERUMAL: I would use that person to bring in players whom he is very close to, whom the players he can trust.

RIDDELL: Does it matter which players? Are there some players on the team you would prefer to have involved in the fix?

PERUMAL: Not exactly. I'll fix matches with just one single player. It is the commitment of the player.

But, of course, we would like to have the goalkeeper, we would like to have the defenders, then the strikers.

If you have the strikers, you don't have the goalkeeper and all then you draw out a strategy whereby we are able to achieve the result.

RIDDELL: What was your most satisfying fix and why?

PERUMAL: Satisfying fix. When I was able to fix the football warm-up friendly matches, it was the summit of my business. Actually, it was very

satisfying that I was able to, because I'm a match fixer. And I'm able to fix a match of this caliber.

RIDDELL: It strikes me that you took a lot of pride in your work. Would I be accurate by saying that?

PERUMAL: Yes. I'll say I was like a businessman. It was like, I had to sit down. I had to do a lot of work on my own, write emails to this

associations and it was more like an office job, you know, at the end of the day it was a clandestine business.

RIDDELL: Some would say that beautiful sport is now a much uglier sport because of the behavior of people like yourself. How do you respond

to that?

PERUMAL: It is no longer a sport, it is more like a business now. So, I think we're just trying to make money out of this business at every

level it has become business.

RIDDELL: Do you feel any remorse or any regret for any of the things you've done, fixing games?

PERUMAL: Well, I'm sitting on the side where I want to make money, right. And I do feel sorry for certain matches that I have fixed, but

there are matches that I have fixed and I have no regret fixing it.

RIDDELL: Do you miss it? Do you miss match fixing?

PERUMAL: Not exactly. I miss gambling more than I miss match fixing.

RIDDELL: And for all that Perumal claims to have profited from his illicit activities, what does he have to show for it?

How much money do you think you made for yourself through your career?

PERUMAL: I've probably made about $5 million to $6 million.

RIDDELL: U.S. dollars?

PERUMAL: I would say around that region.

RIDDELL: And what happened to it?

PERUMAL: I lost it in gambling. I enjoy it, lost it in gambling. Had a good time. I didn't really spend on anything worthwhile. I had a

good time. That's about it. The thrill and gambling.

RIDDELL: Meanwhile, Perumal and others like him are damaging football's integrity. If fixing continues virtually unchecked the game

will lose out, too. First the fans will desert it, then the sponsors. It's a reality the authorities are slowly waking up to.

Don Riddell, CNN, Budapest.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Fascinating insight there.

Let's bring in Don Riddell now for more. He joins us live from CNN Center. And Don, you had to go to Budapest for this interview. And in

your interview with this prolific, convicted match-fixer, he says he has no regrets. I mean, he is so open, he is so brazen on camera, what was that

encounter like for you?

RIDDELL: Yeah, and he was so proud of it, wasn't he? I mean, I think that was the thing that really struck me the most, just how matter of fact

he was in talking about all of these things that he's done. And he's fixed so many different kinds of games in so many different countries and on four

continents.

It was a strange encounter. I mean, the one thing I've really thought about when I left was that actually if you strip away everything he's done,

he actually comes across and presents very well. He's actually quite likable. And of course this, I suspect, is one of the reasons why he was

able to be so successful. Con men are likable, that's exactly what they do. They take you into their confidence and you were able to work with

them.

So that was certainly a part of his personality that I think enabled him to succeed.

But he's clearly a very, very determined individual. He's very, very creative. I mean, some of his fixes really were quite ingenious. And I

think that was quite revealing.

But of course, you take a step back and you think about perhaps how likable he is and how he seemed like a nice guy, but of course what he's

doing is absolutely abhorrent. And although we're not saying that every football game is fixed, far from that, in the grand scheme of things I

suspect it's actually quite a small percentage.

But here's the problem, once you accept the concept of match fixing and that it is exists, it becomes very difficult to look at football games

and see the mistakes by players or referees and think they're genuine, because in the back of your mind is that seed of doubt. And that's very

damaging for football's integrity.

LU STOUT: You know, that interview, your encounter with him one-on- one with a con man of that level very, very intriguing stuff. Thank you so much for following that interview for us.

Don Riddell, thank you. Take care.

And Don will have much more of that interview on World Sport. It's about three-and-a-half hours from now right here on CNN.

In the meantime, you're watching News Stream, still ahead on the program Microsoft office has been a vital tool in businesses for decades

now. And Google is trying to topple Microsoft with a new mobile offering. I'll explain after the break. Stick around.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back.

Now Google launched the app Slides for iOS users this week. It is Google's free alternative to Microsoft's PowerPoint. And it means that

Google now has an app to match each of Microsoft's three big Office apps -- Word, Excel and PowerPoint. And Google's free apps even work with Office

documents.

Now for more on this high tech faceoff, let's bring in our regular contributor Nick Thompson. He joins me now live from New York.

Now, Nick, Microsoft versus Google in mobile productivity software. You actually call it one of the more interesting tech rivalries out there.

Why is that?

NICK THOMPSON, NEW YORKER.COM: Because I don't know who is going to win. This is really fascinating.

So on the one hand, you can make the case for Microsoft. You can say, look, word processing is a very intimate thing. PowerPoint is something

we're very used to. We really don't like change. Nobody is going to switch out of Microsoft. Not only that, but there are a lot of corporate

contracts. They're tied into Microsoft products, of course they're not going to switch. We're just going to use it. Microsoft has been fending

off free alternatives for 20 years. It's going to keep doing that.

That argument is totally convincing.

On the other hand, the argument for Google is basically the products that they're offering for free are almost identical to the products that

Microsoft is offering for $100 a year. So why wouldn't people switch? And Google is really good at getting you to use their stuff. They can push it

to you on Android. People are switching to phones. Now is a good time to shift.

So, both arguments for why Microsoft will sustain its lead and for why Google will completely crush them in this are totally convincing.

So I find this battle just fascinating to watch.

LU STOUT: Well, this is the thing, in the desktop world people haven't switched. We are still hooked onto Microsoft Office, even though

Google Docs has been out there for some time now. Why is that?

THOMPSON: Well, you know, for 10 years I've been sort of thinking that now is the time that Google Docs will take over. It does all -- it

took Microsoft forever to get into the cloud during that period. It seemed like Google Docs would get -- gain lots of gain. And it gained some, but

not nearly as much.

The reason Microsoft has stayed so entrenched is that it's just -- it's so familiar. We're so used to it. We spend so much time in it. We

used it when we were in college, or people used it when they were in high school. They learned the little shortcuts. They don't like to shift.

When you write, you like to use the same fonts. You like your screen to look the same.

So there are huge emotional and productivity switching costs to moving from Microsoft to Google Docs, and also for why Google Docs didn't work

quite as well. So that's why Microsoft sustained their lead. Now we'll see on phones and mobile devices.

LU STOUT: Oh, with so many things, it's inertia, isn't it. It's personal tech competing inertia.

What can Google do right now to break the Microsoft Office habit for mobile devices?

THOMPSON: Well, so they're doing the right things, right. So they have to completely match what Microsoft does, all the things that people

really care about you need to be able to do in Google Docs. You need to be able to use all of the programs. You need to be able to use them offline.

You need to be able to have lots of storage so you don't run out of space. Google is getting there, Google is doing that.

Then, probably the thing they need to do is they need to add extra value. They need to, you know, either you know force it on you through

Android, which is something that Google can do, or tie in other Google products in a way that gives it value that Microsoft can't give it. And

then they need to start wooing corporate IT departments and say, look, you can save money if you use -- if you switch to Google it'll cost you

something, but not as much as Microsoft. And they haven't done as good a job of that as Microsoft has. I mean, Microsoft has been wooing corporate

IT departments for its entire life. And it's great at that.

LU STOUT: Now Microsoft has the legacy thing going on, Google you've got to admit they're pretty brainy. Five years from now, which company

will reign supreme in mobile productivity software for our mobile devices?

THOMPSON: You see that's not fair, Kristie. I answered the first question by saying I don't know. But if I had to guess, I'm going to say

that Microsoft will hold onto its lead. I think that they -- you know, I think they're really good at a lot of things. And holding onto customers,

keeping them happy, making it seem familiar is something that they're going to -- that they're going to succeed at even as Google offers this free

alternative, which may seem identical in every way.

So I'm going to undo the mistake I made, you know, five years ago in predicting that Google Docs would usurp Microsoft Word on the desktop and

say that on mobile devices Microsoft will reign.

LU STOUT: But, you know, yeah, that's the thing. And that's a contrarian view, isn't it? Like Microsoft will continue to reign, at least

in this area, productivity, not so sexy software out there.

Nick Thompson, thank you so much for joining as always. We'll talk again next week.

Now, time for your global weather forecast. An update on that monsoon flooding taking place throughout parts of south Asia. Mari Ramos has been

monitoring it all for us from the World Weather Center. And from there she joins us now -- Mari.

MARI RAMOS, CNN WEATHER CORREPSONDENT: Hello, Kristie.

Yeah, lots going on in the world of weather.

I want to start you off giving you an update on the flooding -- the monsoon flooding across India. You know, people on alert here, because of

rising flood waters.

It's always when we get to this later part of the monsoon season when we begin to see the more serious problems.

This time around, remember before we were talking about other huge rivers that moved through this area, the Ganges, for example, moving back

over into northern India. But it's this corner right here in the northern portion of the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh and northeastern India, the ones

that really right now suffering.

The Brahmaputra River is the river that I went ahead and highlighted for you. This is the northeastern Indian state of Assam. And here you see

Bangladesh. The river moves across this entire region.

And in Assam alone, there are over 2,000 flooded villages already right alongside that river. It's a huge number. That leaves about 1.2

million people affected by flooding. Here's an example of the kind of flooding that we're seeing of people seeking higher ground. This is just

one family. You know, she takes what she has, the most precious things -- her children, of course, and then her animals because that's her livelihood

there. And this is the kind of situation that we're dealing with.

I want to show you some pictures from Bangladesh, a similar story. Here authorities struggling to bring aid and to bring food and water and to

get people out of these extremely flooded areas, as you can see. Already meager surroundings completely awash now with rising rivers. And there's

not a lot of current here. We're talking about a very flat area. The water just rises very, very slowly. And in many cases, you end up with just

little patches of dry land here and there. Here, you see some of the authorities trying to get some relief to people, the ones that are

stranded.

But we're talking now easily 1 million plus people in India and a similar number now in Bangladesh as they try, as you can see there, to kind

of hold the river back as much as they can.

When you look at the satellite image over here, you have again more wet weather coming across this area. The monsoon in full swing in the

river basins, as I just showed you, already full. So not just the rain that is falling now, but the rain that has fallen throughout the entire

monsoon season just really taking a toll across this region.

The heaviest rain in the next 24 hours will be across here near Hyderabad, which they really do need the rain because the monsoon there has

not been as active.

I want to show you the Philippines also because they're getting some very heavy rain. We have another tropical wave that will be moving through

here, another one that's moving into southern parts of China and northern parts of Vietnam, that will bring you some heavy rain across those areas as

well.

Switching gears, a quick update on Bardarbunga. Remember, we haven't talked about this volcano as much in the last couple of days. But I just

want to remind you that the alert level is still orange. There have been a few strong earthquakes, Kristie, two of them in the fivish range in the

last two days. And that, you know, is having seismologists and volcanologists there saying, you know what, it's not over yet, an eruption

could still happen. And they're definitely monitoring what happens there in Iceland.

As we head to Europe, we have some scattered rain showers moving across eastern Europe. And the biggest change here will be the cooler

temperatures that are affecting the eastern portions of the continent.

Last but not least, I want to take you back to Cali, Kristie. There are, you know, already big waves across much of the west coast of the U.S.,

but now we're getting into the dangerous range. That didn't stop these people from taking a plunge.

You know, waves as high as 10 feet have been affecting the coastline because of Hurricane Marie. People are still out there giving lifeguards,

you know, say, hey, you know, what stay out of it. This is only for -- nobody should really be out there right now. People are still out there.

The next couple of days -- and this is a holiday weekend. People are hoping this will stay through the holiday weekend. And I'm hoping it'll go

away, because it is kind of dangerous, but so pretty.

Back to you.

LU STOUT: That's right. Kind of dangerous, but so pretty. Thanks for taking me back to Cali. Appreciate it.

Mari Ramos there, thank you, take care.

You're watching News Stream. Still to come this hour, a musical obsession becomes a way of life. Up next, meet the man behind the world's

biggest collection of vinyl.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back.

Now it is an all-consuming passion. A man in Brazil has the largest vinyl record collection in the world. After decades of collecting, he now

owns several million albums.

And Shasta Darlington went to Sao Paulo to see what he plans to do with them all.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Zero Fretas (ph) calls himself a hunter, a hunter of lost sound.

"This is rare," he says. "I'm taking this home."

His obsession has made him the owner of the largest known record collection in the world.

"Everyone thinks I'm obsessed with albums," he says. "But really it's an obsession with memory and history of Brazil and all of humankind."

A Brazilian bus magnate who studied music composition, Fretas (ph) has been collecting records his whole life. He owned 3,000 in high school and

30,000 by the time he was 30.

The bulk of his collection estimated at 5 million is right here at a former candle factory.

Now, he wants to make them available to the public. And he's taken on 17 interns to help him do it. They clean and dust, photograph the covers,

and painstakingly catalogue each one, about 500 records a day.

They've catalogued a total of 250,000, a drop in the bucket.

But Fretas (ph) hopes to open what he'll call a musical emporium next year, a kind of listening library.

"90 percent of the time, people are looking for something from their childhood," he says. "Culturally irrelevant, but for that person extremely

important."

I ask Fretas (ph) what's been most important for him. A signed album by Brazilian classical compose Vitor Villalobos (ph) and a rare recording

of a soprano Bidu Sayale (ph) bought for $1 on eBay.

Shasta Darlington, CNN, Sao Paulo.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now that is News Stream, but the news continues at CNN. World Business Today is next.

END