Return to Transcripts main page

NEWS STREAM

Israeli Synagogue Attack Victims Identified; Ukrainian Government Cuts Off Services To East; Buffalo Pounded by Snow; Bill Cosby Faces More Accusations of Rape; North Korean Defector Illuminates Harrowing Journey To Seoul; Interview with Wickr CEO Nico Sell

Aired November 19, 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.

Now Israel takes action after a deadly terrorist attack at a synagogue. I'll bring you the latest from Jerusalem.

Plus, a crippling snow storm paralyzes parts of the United States.

And it's an app for people who prioritize their privacy. I'll speak to the CEO of Wickr.

Israel is vowing a strong response to Tuesday's deadly terrorist attack at a Jerusalem synagogue. Now security has been stepped up across

the city after police say four rabbis and a policeman were killed by two Palestinians armed with knives and a gun.

The assailants were shot and killed at the scene.

Now a spokesman for the Israeli government says security forces are on guard for possible copy cat attacks. The violence has pushed tensions

between Israelis and Palestinians to the brink as Atika Shubert now reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Today, early morning prayers at the scene of a horrific terror attack inside this West Jerusalem synagogue.

Mourners watch in grief as the victims' bodies are carried outside and laid to rest. Four rabbis killed, three of them Americans with dual

citizenship, Aryeh Kopinsky, Kalman Levine and Moshe Twersky.

A police officer Zidan Saif was critically wounded during the attack and later died in hospital.

Back in the U.S., a vigil in Boston for Twersky.

UNIDENTFIED MALE: I will always remember Moshe for his modesty, his brilliance, his smile and his kindness.

SHUBERT: Relatives remember Levine as a gentle man with a calling.

JONATHAN BEIN, RABBI KALMAN LEVIN'S BROTHER-IN-LAW: As beyond horrific as this is, for Kalman to live and die in the land in Jerusalem in

prayer that's the way we'd all want it to happen.

SHUBERT: But as some mourned, others up in arms. Palestinian protesters clashed with Israeli security forces in the West Bank who fired

tear gas. The attack ratcheting up fears of increasing violence in a city already reeling from weeks of unrest.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas strongly condemned the attack on civilians, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowing

to settle the score with every terrorist ordering the demolition of the slain attacker's homes in East Jerusalem.

President Obama saying too many have died on both sides. BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think it's important for both Palestinians and Israelis to try to work together to lower

tensions and to reject violence.

SHUBERT: But in Gaza, celebrations, revelers wielding axes, throwing candy, waving posters of the two Palestinian assailants. So far, no group

has claimed responsibility for the attack.

MICKY ROSENFELD, ISRAELI POLICE SPOKESMAN: Part of the ongoing investigation is leading us to believe that the two suspects, the two

terrorists worked on their own, that they planned the attack ahead of time...

(END VIEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Now, Atika Shubert joins me now live from Jerusalem with more on the attack and Israel's response.

Now Atika, the city there is on edge after the killings, but why are Israeli authorities moving to demolish the homes of the attackers?

SHUBERT: It is a city on edge, but demolishing the homes of the attackers is actually a very long-standing policy here by Israeli

authorities, it's considered to be a deterrent to try and prevent other attacks from happening, but the reality is it obviously hasn't deterred the

attacks so far. And critics call it collective punishment essentially.

We've already seen overnight the demolishing of one suspect's home, the attacker -- the October 22 attack on a light rail train station here

that killed two people, including an infant. That -- the attacker was killed at the scene and his home was demolished overnight, reduced to

rubble.

So it's a long-standing policy here. But whether or not it's effective is another thing.

LU STOUT: And Atika, Netanyahu, he accused Palestinian leaders of incitement. How are they responding to that charge? And how are they

addressing the violence?

SHUBERT: Well, we've already heard from Mahmoud Abbas, President -- Palestinian Mahmoud Abbas. And he has already very strongly condemned the

attack. And in fact it's interesting, it's -- even though Prime Minister Netanyahu has said that Mahmoud Abbas is inciting these attacks. His own

intelligence chief has come forward. Netanyahu's chief has come forward Netanyahu's intelligence chief to say that that's not the case, that in

fact Mahmoud Abbas is not stoking tensions. Violence is the last thing he wants to see.

And that was all happening within an internal security meeting apparently, those discussions were happening.

So, it's not a uniform opinion here about that. And it's pretty clear that the Palestinian Authority has roundly condemned this attack. And many

Palestinians as well have condemned it. There is a noticeable silence among many Palestinians here who even though they feel that the occupation

is grating on them and they understand perhaps why these attacks are happening, nobody here wants to see an attack on a place of worship.

LU STOUT: Atika Shubert reporting live from Jerusalem. Thank you very much indeed for that.

Now since peace talks collapsed in April, there has been rising violence between Jews and Palestinians. In June, three Israeli teens were

abducted and killed in the West Bank. A Hamas leader said some of its members were responsible. In July, a Palestinian teen was abducted in

Jerusalem and burned to death by Israeli extremists.

Also in July, Israel launched a military campaign against Hamas in Gaza. More than 2,000 Palestinians and 70 Israelis were killed.

In October, a Palestinian driver rammed his car into a crowd at a Jerusalem train stop, killing two people including a 3-month-old girl. And

two weeks later, two more Israelis were killed in a similar ramming attack.

And earlier this month, an Israeli soldier was killed in Tel Aviv, an Israeli woman was killed in the West Bank in Separate stabbing attacks.

Let's turn now to Ukraine where the line between peace and what the Ukrainian president calls total war grows thinner by the day.

Now western nations have sanctioned Russia for its role in the crisis. And President Vladimir Putin today accused the U.S. of trying to subdue his

nation and warned U.S. officials to stop interfering in Russian affairs.

Now for more, let's go to our Phil Black who is live for us in Donetsk. He joins us now.

And Phil, what is the level of fighting inside Ukraine?

PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kristie, it is pretty intense as it has been for the last few weeks, but in a very particular

way.

Over the last couple of weeks and even the last few days, the fighting has intensified in the sense that a lot of ordinance is being tossed

backwards and forth b each side, huge amounts of heavy weapons fire. We've been listening to it just through the last minutes here in Donetsk, coming

from the direction of the Donetsk airport, which certainly remains a hotspot for violence.

It is having an impact in the sense that there are casualties both civilian and military. The Ukrainian government says two of its soldiers

were killed just in the last 24 hours. But, it is not particularly well targeted fire. There's a lot of ordinance being thrown. It doesn't appear

to be hitting anything of value for much of the time.

And so what that means is that the battle lines, the front lines, they're not changing. Neither side is claiming or giving up territory.

But of course there is the concern that that could change, because the Ukrainian government, NATO, and European observers on the ground all saying

there is evidence of big numbers of new troops, the suspicion of course is that they have come from Russia, that the separatists and Russia deny that.

That hasn't stopped the Ukrainian government predicting, as you said, the possibility for total war, which it says it is now preparing for, Kristie.

LU STOUT: Now Phil, how is all the fighting affecting daily life there in Donetsk?

BLACK: Well, up until fairly recently it's mostly been the countryside of these separatist held areas that have really felt the brunt

in terms of living conditions, quality of life, daily sufferings and difficulty. These are the towns and villages that effectively became the

front lines. They got trapped in the no-man's land between the two fighting sides.

But those difficulties are now definitely spreading to the capital of this region Donetsk. Here in the city today, much of the city is without

water. There is growing difficulties, there are growing difficulties particularly for older people here who have not received pensions for

months. And now because of a decree issued by the Ukrainain president on the weekend, they're not longer able to access the savings either.

The Ukrainian president has ordered the few remaining banks here to close up. So, that means they can't access their accounts.

So, a growing number of people are now relying upon handouts of food, charity if you like, largely funded by a local wealthy oligarch. So these

difficulties are increasing. They look set to do so in the short-term. And it has become very much a responsibility for the separatist government,

which is probably the thinking behind the Ukrainian government's decision, its decree in the first place to thrust the burden of government upon the

separatists and see how they like it.

In the meantime, the separatists say they expect to be start paying pensions and other government salaries soon. It still hasn't happened just

yet, Kristie.

LU STOUT: All right, CNN's Phil Black reporting. Many thanks indeed for that update.

You're watching News Stream. And still to come this hour, tens of millions of vehicles were set for recall in the U.S. after authorities

determine an air bag threat is more serious than previously thought.

And clashes broke out in Hong Kong overnight after authorities cleared some pro-democracy protest sites. Hear what a student protest leader has

to say.

Also ahead, a deadly snow storm is blasting the eastern United States. Our meteorologist is on the ground with the latest after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back. You're watching News Stream. And you're looking at a visual version of all the stories we've got in the show today.

Now we've already told you how Israel is responding to Tuesday's deadly terrorist attack at a synagogue.

And later, we'll tell you about an app. It's billed as a top secret messenger.

But now to icy temperatures gripping much of the United States and winter hasn't even officially arrived yet.

Now the situation is especially dire in upstate New York where a powerful snow storm is blamed for at least five deaths in Buffalo.

Now CNN meteorologist Jennifer Gray is there with the very latest. Se joins us now.

And first, Jennifer, how does it feel out there?

JENNIFER GRAY, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, it feels cold, for sure. At least we don't have the blowing snow in our faces. We were in blizzard-

like conditions when we first got out here.

I don't know right when you first talked to me if you saw that dump truck past me. That's very important, because what's happened here is you

have had so much snow in such a concentrated area -- five, six feet -- the plows have been plowing these streets and then piling it up on the sides of

the streets. And if we turn around this way, you can see one of these piles right here. It's as high as the street sign.

And what they're doing is they're getting bulldozers, dumping it into those trucks, hauling it off elsewhere because the stuff is not going to

melt until we get this next wave that's going to come later tonight into tomorrow. And unfortunately the storm has already proved deadly.

Oh, OK, I don't think we have that piece ready for you. So, I'll just keep explaining what's going on out here.

What we're dealing with is basically a huge lake effect snow event and this is very, very localized. You only have about 10 to 15 miles of where

you see snow like this. So, you can basically go from the airport where there's only about an inch of snow, travel less than three miles and you're

in 50 inches of snow. And so that's the kind of snowstorm we're talking about -- lake effect snow where the lake is warmer than the air above it.

It creates instability. The winds push it downwind off of the lake and it dumps right over the land.

So I think we have that piece ready. Let's toss to that now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GRAY(voice-over): Overnight more record- shattering lake-effect snow paralyzing parts of western New York. Buffalo now in a state of emergency

as the governor deploys the National Guard for help.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a very serious storm.

GRAY: Up to six feet of snow and climbing. First responders carrying patients to the hospital on foot. The snow so deep in some places

snowmobiles can't operate.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's probably heavier than anything that we have seen in over 40 years.

GRAY: From the sky, a wall of white. On the ground...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That is the garage door.

GRAY: ... the snow is piling so high, so fast, it comes crashing into this home.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's horrendous. It really is. We're going to make history.

GRAY: The snowfall up to five inches an hour, crippling emergency personnel. At a firehouse in the heart of a storm, a mother delivers her

baby girl.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We could not get her to the hospital. She was born. She's safe and she's healthy.

GRAY: Near Buffalo, an 81-year-old man died after first responders were unable to get him to the hospital in time. The man, one of three

people dying of cardiac arrest Tuesday while shoveling. The residents scrambling to dig themselves out.

The near white-out conditions already causing one deadly car accident and leaving the Niagara University women's basketball team stranded along

the I-90 corridor. The team finally rescued nearly 24 hours later.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRAY: And Kristie what we're seeing now is basically a break. We're going to see this pick up again tonight through tomorrow. We could see an

additional two feet of snow. This could possibly go down in the record books and people are just now getting out of their homes. They're starting

to shovel some of that snow. All you can see are the tops of their heads. So that's how deep it is and then with an additional two feet possible,

unfortunately this is going be a mess.

Temperatures are going to get back up into near 60 degrees, though, already by Saturday. So by the weekend, all of this could be gone.

LU STOUT: But still in the meantime extreme conditions tanks to this lake-effect snow.

Jennifer Gray reporting live at the scene there in Buffalo. Thank you.

Now, Netflix is postponing the launch of a new standup comedy show featuring the U.S. comedian Bill Cosby in the wake of new rape allegations

against him, Now the web streaming service declined to comment further, but some are saying it is a sign of just how damaging the resurfaced

allegations have been for Cosby. He denies them and has never been charged in any of the alleged incidents.

Nonetheless, former model Janice Dickinson is merely the latest woman to come forward. Now CNN's Jean Casarez has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For Bill Cosby it has been a week of allegations from women who say they were sexual assaulted in

the past by the comedian. Many claim they were drugged.

BARBARA BOWMAN, COSBY ACCUSER: I never saw any drugs but I would wake up completely confused, half dressed, and knowing that my body had been

touched without my permission.

CASAREZ: Bowman says she went to Cosby's New York apartment alone and that Cosby flew her all around the country as he performed at various

venues. She says the advances were unwelcome.

Also speaking out, Joan Tarshis.

JOAN TARSHIS, COSBY ACCUSER: We went up to his bungalow afterwards. He made me a drink and very shortly after that I just -- I passed out. I woke

up or came to very groggily with him removing my underwear.

CASAREZ: Tarshis says that in 1969 she voluntarily saw Cosby again when he invited her to a performance. After accepting drinks at his hotel

and in a limo, she says she woke up the next morning with him in his bed.

Ironically, Cosby released a comedy album that same year titled "It's True, It's True", joking about that very issue.

BILL COSBY, COMEDIAN: You know what? You know anything about Spanish Fly? No, tell me about it. Well, there's this girl, Crazy Mary, you put

something in her drink, man, she's --

CASAREZ: But with all the allegations and even after Andrea Constand went to police saying Cosby medicated and fondled her in 2004, the district

attorney of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, at the time, Bruce Castor, said there would be no charges. Constand and Cosby settled a civil suit out

of court for an undisclosed sum in 2006. Also in 2005, Tamara Green on "The Today Show" with a similar story.

TAMARA GREEN, COSBY ACCUSER: He had gone from helping me to groping me and kissing me and touching me and handling me.

CASAREZ: In 2005, Cosby spoke out for the first and only time, telling "The National Enquirer", "I am not going to give in to people who try to

exploit me because of my celebrity status."

Now nine years later, Cosby's attorney, John Schmidt, has responded to it all with this statement. "Over the last several weeks, decade-old

discredited allegations against Mr. Cosby have resurfaced. The fact that they are being repeated does not make them true."

Jean Casarez, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: You're watching News Stream. After the break, an exclusive from CNN's David McKenzie. He talks to a North Korean defector who is

making a dangerous journey across China. Failure could mean years behind bars or worse.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

Now a UN committee has taken the first step in holding North Korea accountable for alleged crime against humanity. They voted overwhelmingly

in favor of a draft resolution referring the regime to the International Criminal Court.

Now the vote is only a recommendation. However, only the UN security council has the authority to refer North Korea or its leader Kim Jong un to

the ICC.

Now the country has repeatedly denied any human rights abuses.

Now North Koreans desperate to leave the country must depend on Chinese human smugglers known as snakeheads. Now CNN got a rare

opportunity to speak to one defector in the middle of his journey to freedom. And David McKenzie has this exclusive report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In a remote border region of northeast China we've set up a clandestine meeting with a North

Korean refugee escaping through China transported by people smugglers known as snakeheads. We can't show you his face. For safety reasons, we'll call

him Lee.

"I was coming over into hiding," Lee tells me. "I was here one day and there the next."

Lee says he was a North Korean soldier, but won't say why had had to flee leaving his wife and child behind him in one of the most closed

societies on Earth.

"I knew they wanted to capture me," he says.

Lee is on an epic dash for freedom. To get out, he must travel thousands of miles by road, switching cars each day to avoid detection,

across the whole of China through the northern part of Laos into Thailand and then Seoul.

He will owe the snakeheads thousands of dollars for the trip.

But his biggest fear is the Chinese government. If they catch him, they'll likely send him back to the very regime he fled.

PHIL ROBERTSON, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: China is frankly shamelessly violating its international obligations. China has ratified the refugee

convention and should be treating these people who are fleeing from North Korea as refugees.

MCKENZIE: But China calls refugees like Lee illegal economic migrants, barring the UN refugee agency from helping Lee and thousands like

him.

A recent UN inquiry on human rights on North Korea slams China's actions.

The UN report says that China could be facilitating North Korea's crimes against humanity by sending the refugees back. They say that when

they get back they could face imprisonment, torture and possibly even death.

At best, defectors say, refugees are often disappeared into North Korea's face complex of prison camps.

China says the UN report politicizes human rights issues and says allegations are, quote, "unfounded."

Activists believe that China is afraid of opening up its borders because millions of refugees could flood in.

And every single North Korean that makes it out to tell their story, damages the images of Kim Jong un's totalitarian state.

ROBERTSON: Kim Jong un and the people around him realize that the stories that were coming out are also a threat to their control, because

people are now able to see that the North Korean government has been lying to the people for all these years.

MCKENZIE: Until he reaches South Korea, Lee says he's too afraid to tell his whole story.

He says he wants to meet again in Seoul in safety if he can complete his nightmarish journey.

David McKenzie, CNN, northeast China.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: A powerful report there.

You're watching News Stream. And still to come, Japanese company Takata is under pressure to issue a nationwide U.S. recall. Now the

regulators think problems with its airbags may be worse than initially thought.

Plus, internet privacy and security should be big concerns for all of us. And we'll speak to a CEO who has built an app to ease those fears.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

Now security has been boosted in Jerusalem. And the Israeli government is vowing a strong response to Tuesday's deadly terrorist attack

at a synagogue. Now four rabbis and a policeman were killed. Prime Minister Netanyahu has ordered the demolition of the slain attackers'

homes.

Now at least five people have died in a vicious snow storm that's blasted the northeastern United States. Now Buffalo, New York is one of

the hardest hit areas. Authorities have seen at least 1.8 meters of snow and more is expected. Now all 50 U.S. states recorded temperatures below

freezing on Tuesday.

Officials from Iran and six world powers are meeting in Vienna with the goal of striking a deal on Iran's controversial nuclear program. Now

the UN security council's five permanent members plus Germany want Iran to scale back its uranium enrichment in exchange for ending sanctions.

Monday is the self-imposed deadline for reaching an agreement.

A Cuban doctor treating Ebola patients in Sierra Leone is the latest health worker to contract the deadly virus, that's according to Cuban state

media. Now he's currently receiving treatment in Sierra Leone, but is expected to be transferred to a hospital in Geneva, Switzerland.

Now the U.S. government is asking for a nationwide recall of vehicles equipped with Takata airbags. No so far, 8 million cars across the United

States have been affected. Worldwide, that figure nearly doubles for more than 14 million vehicles.

And one of the many worries here, the Japanese company says it doesn't have enough airbags to immediately fix the cars that have already been

recalled.

Will Ripley has more from Tokyo.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: With word coming in that perhaps millions more drivers may be in danger because of these exploding airbags,

getting answers from the airbag manufacturer Takata at their headquarters here in Tokyo is proving to be more difficult.

The company is not making anybody available to speak to us on camera today, only issuing a two sentence statement, saying, quote, we are working

to get more direction from the U.S. authorities. We are dealing with the recall expansion and working together with automakers as needed. The

recall already affects 8 million vehicles made by 10 different auto manufacturers, but making this recall nationwide means even more will be

affected, even more dealers will have to figure out a fix and even more automakers are scrambling right now to try to get answers for their worried

customers.

Honda tells us they, too, are working to get more information and we'll do whatever they can to work with the government and Takata to bring

about a solution.

But what exactly that solution will be, well, that's the question that we want to ask Takata. And so far have not been able to get answered.

Will Ripley, CNN, Tokyo.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now police in Hong Kong have started clearing out another pro-democracy protest site. They posted a copy of the court injunction in

the district of Mongkok earlier on Wednesday. On Tuesday, police did the same in Admiralty where the majority of protesters have been camped out for

eight weeks.

The scuffles broke out in Hong Kong overnight when a small group of protesters stormed government headquarters. As you can see, they use metal

barricades to smash through a glass door.

Now police say they have arrested six people. The violent act is being condemned no only by the Hong Kong government, but also by supporters

of the Occupy Movement. In fact, student protest leader Alex Chow is urging fellow protesters to stay focused on the mission.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEX CHOW, HONG KONG FEDERATION OF STUDENTS (through translator): (inaudible) how ridiculous the government is when they (inaudible) power or

even using (inaudible).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Now Chow blamed poor communication for that isolated act of violence and that is out of character for the student protesters who have

been using their social media savvy to organize and rally supporters from the very beginning from mainstream Twitter to off the grid FireChat to

Wickr, a peer-to-peer encryption app.

Now the company says downloads have jumped 300 percent in Hong Kong during the protests.

Now the Wickr App uses several layers of encryption. Accounts are bound to a specific device, ensuring anonymity, and messages get wiped out

after they expire.

Now let's hear from the CEO of Wickr now. Nico Sell joins me now live from New York. Nico, thank you so much for joining us here on CNN

International. And my first question to you is why are you wearing sunglasses?

NICO SELL, CEO, WICKR: It's just one of the ways that I keep my digital footprint small. I think it's not something that everyone can do,

but I've been lucky enough to have any pictures of myself on Facebook or the internet at this point, at least my eyes. And it's just one way I can

keep my digital footprint smaller.

LU STOUT: Now you've put it in your own words that you are, quote, very paranoid. Why? And how far do you go in addition to wearing the

sunglasses to protect your identity and to protect your privacy?

SELL: So, I've been lucky enough to be educated by the very best hackers in the world. And that's where I've learned things like how easy

it is to eavesdrop on regular cell phone calls and listen to regular text messages. And so these are things that I don't do without encryption

unless I assume that it's something that could be on CNN.

And also things like protecting your birth date and your birth location. That, along with photos are easy ways that identity thieves can

steal your financial and health care identity.

I also boycott Facebook and don't use Skype or anything like that, because I read their privacy policies and don't want anyone else owning my

personal information or photos.

LU STOUT: Yeah, it's pretty incredible how you're able to really whittle down your digital footprint that way. It's something that maybe a

lot of people would like to do, but we find very difficult to do.

But you're trying to help us out with the ap that you created. Tel us more about Wickr and why you created it?

SELL: And so Wickr was created -- my founders and I were brought together by very strong belief that private correspondence is a universal

human right that's extremely important to a free society. And in fact we consider it the most powerful non-violent weapon that we can give to

people. And so I think what's going on in Hong Kong right now is exactly why we made Wickr.

At the same time it's meant for my kids and all of our kids to use hundreds of times a day to share pictures and conversations with their

friends.

LU STOUT: I want to get just more of your thoughts about how it's been used among the pro-democracy protesters here in Hong Kong. And how do

you feel about Wickr being used as part of Umbrella Movement?

SELL: We're really proud of it. I think this -- like I said, this is what it was meant for and I think it's in general been a very peaceful

protest and we're about peaceful evolution more than revolution. I think that's the way that we can go in the future. And opening up communications

is a great way to do that.

LU STOUT: Now me, like many of our viewers, other consumers out there, are very curious about Wickr, but my social network isn't there. So

how do you plan to compete against the likes of, for example, WhatsApp, which has the network, it has the vast user base and also just announced

that it just switched to end-to-end encryption. How do you compete against them?

SELL: Well, it hasn't switched to end-to-end encryption. It may be, you know, bought someone. And I think that's a great start. The more

encryption than we can have around the world the better off that we are.

We tell people to start with their closest friends and those closest to them, because it's easy to get them in the network. And it's a great

way to start.

And what we see is that so far we've been the last man standing. We're the only encryption app that hasn't had a zero day against it. And

we think that we'll continue that way, because we run a zero knowledge system and we're not holding any data on our servers and we don't make

money by selling PII or personal information. And so these are things that are unique to us and we think -- you know we've seen exponential growth and

it continues.

If SnapChat -- if WhatsApp was developed years before us. And we consider ourselves the kind of new version of messaging.

LU STOUT: Now a final question for you. It's been well over a year since the Snowden revelation on data surveillance. And I have the sense

that in general just mainstream consumers still don't really care as much as they should about surveillance and privacy. So what's your thoughts on

this? And what will it take for mass consumers to finally take their digital privacy seriously?

SELL: Yeah, a really good question.

And I think that how we're going about it is by trying to make the best messaging app. So PC Magazine just rated us number one beating

WhatsApp, SnapChat, Skype and Google. So, we are trying to win on features alone and get everyone in the system and using Wickr just because it's the

number one messaging app. We've got more stickers and filters and self- destructing messages.

And then the security and privacy are more just what I consider good customer service. You can trust that we're not going to lose, use or abuse

your data and that's unique and people will stay with us for that reason.

And so I think that, you know, it's really about making it an empowering product instead of something that's good for you to do.

LU STOUT: An empowering product, a very lofty goal indeed. Nico Sell, CEO of Wickr, thank you so much for joining me to talk about your app

and also about the general state of surveillance out there. Thank you and take care.

SELL: Thanks, Kristie.

LU STOUT: Now you're watching News Stream. We'll be back right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: And finally, the new CNN Hero of the year has just been named. Anderson Cooper made the announcement Tuesday night at a ceremony

in New York.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Ladies and gentlemen, the 2014 CNN Hero of the Year is Pen Farthing.

PEN FARTHING, 2014 CNN HERO OF THE YEAR: Wow, this is -- I'm absolutely loss of words. This is absolutely amazing.

I really would like to thank everybody whose vote to the Nowzad charity and what we do in Afghanistan and believing in us. And I'd also

like to thank all the others heroes who in this room for doing what they do to make this world an absolutely better place. So thank you guys for doing

what you do. Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: And you can see the entire event CNN Heroes: An All Star Tribute. It's happening Sunday December 7 right here on CNN.

And that is News Stream. I'm Kristie Lu Stout. But don't go anywhere. World Sport with Amanda Davies is next.

END