Return to Transcripts main page

NEWS STREAM

South Korea Cracking Down On Selfie Sticks; Yao Ming Discusses Wildlife Conservation; Battle For Kobani Not Over; Japan In Danger of Massive Volcanic Eruption; Naoshima Island Remakes Itself Using Contemporary Art; Myanmar's Heroin Crisis

Aired December 03, 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 while leaders discus the battle against ISIS, we get a rare look inside the war torn city of Kobani.

Yao Ming speaks to us about his latest passion: saving wild animals from poaching.

And why South Korea is cracking down on selfie sticks.

We begin the hour at NATO headquarters in Brussels where U.S. secretary of state John Kerry is chairing a meeting of some 60 countries,

members of an anti-ISIS coalition.

Now they are discussing plans to stop the jihadists from gaining more ground in Iraq and Syria, but while diplomats are debating military

strategy in Belgium, over in the besieged Syrian border town of Kobani, the front line of battle has been scarred by the savagery of ISIS. Our Nick

Paton Walsh gives us a rare look inside the city.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We've been taken down this street towards the eastern front line behind those curtains they

have put up to protect them from snipers by Botafe (ph) and Medea (ph) who were two of the female YPG fighters escorting us down there.

And this is near the eastern front where there's been much more intense fighting in the past three or four days.

And while we get differing figures from whoever you speak to you here about quite how much of the city is controlled, and you see here quite

remarkable devastation caused by the explosives used. What's quite clear is that ISIS are far from giving up on this fight, in fact trying to take

ground every day. Their move towards the official border crossing three or four days ago, that was a substantial advance. They tried. They were

beaten back. But each night, particularly last night, we heard very intense clashes further down this street towards the eastern front here.

You can hear the -- you can see the absolute devastation here as we get closer towards ISIS's positions here to the northeast of the city.

Some of this caused by airstrikes, but some, too, from the daily constant, sometimes every five minute thump of mortars, some homemade by

ISIS that have been pounding into Kobani for months now.

We can see Turkey literally just behind us. But here, they're edging through this wreckage closer and closer to the places where ISIS are trying

to push forward.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Scenes of utter destruction there inside Kobani. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh spent two days in the embattled border town. Let's cross

over to him now. He joins us live from Gaziantep in Turkey. And Nick, in your report you point out ISIS positions in the northeast of the city. Is

it still possible that ISIS can take all of Kobani, despite the pressure from YPG fighters and the coalition?

WALSH: I think fundamentally unless there's a big change in coalition strategy it's going to be very hard for ISIS to take all of Kobani, because

each time they seem to amass or move in on certain areas using heavy weapons or tanks, that's when the coalition are able to target those ISIS

assets. And it's a remarkable, Kristie, that on the ground to actually feel what a coalition airstrike is like when you're close to it.

It was still over a kilometer away during the night. There were a number of occasions where on the nights we spent in there when you hear the

jets come in and the thud of the blast -- sudden three blasts in succession, it shakes the walls, the floor your sleeping on as well.

Remarkable amount of firepower being used by the coalition.

But that itself is not blunting ISIS's bid to try and take more ground. What was remarkable when you are in there is to see, in fact, that

really ISIS have more of the city than the Kurds have maintained for some period of time. The figure of 40 to 50 percent said by many of the Kurds

inside that city and judging where we saw the front lines to be, closer to the center than we had originally thought.

Yes, ISIS are still very much in that fight there despite weeks now of coalition intense airstrikes -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: ISIS still active, still very much a threat there in Kobani. Nick Paton Walsh reporting live from Gaziantep in Turkey. Thank

you, Nick.

Now Ukraine's energy ministry says emergency repairs are underway at a nuclear power plant. Now the problem was first reported on Tuesday, but

the government says there is no radiation leak.

Now the energy minister says there is a short circuit in the power unit. It's expected to be repaired by Friday. Now the difficulties have

caused an electricity shortage in Ukraine.

Now heroin addiction has become an epidemic in Myanmar. Now the country has long been part of Asia's golden triangle, one of the continents

major regions of opium production. And now, as Ivan watching reports, church groups in Myanmar's northern Kachin state are using unconventional

methods to try to tackle the problem.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Singing for salvation: in this bamboo chapel in Myanmar's northern Kachin state, men perform a

musical prayer and hope for a better life.

This is no ordinary christian congregation. These men are all heroin addicts. And they're now living inside a walled compound. Look at this

door, there's no handle and it's locked from the outside.

This is all part of a drug addiction treatment center that uses a method that could be described as captive rehabilitation.

Some patients here say they need confinement to prevent them from running away. The Christian pastor in charge tells me if addicts can't

control their urgers, there are other methods they can use.

This is a penalty box.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

WATSON: Wow.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. In drug bazaars near remote gemstone mining towns where law enforcement seems non-existent,

church groups have taken matters into their own hands, preaching to men who shoot heroin out in the open.

Church leaders say the heroin epidemic raging here leave them no other choice.

REV. SAMPSON HKALAM, KACHIN BAPTIST CONVENTION: No other choice. No other choice. But inside our community, every family has (inaudible) you

know, drug probram.

WATSON: Reverend Sampson Hkalam runs the largest group of christian churches in the region.

HKALAM: Oh, I've been 65 percent or 70 percent young people use drug.

WATSON: Kachin state is a remote region of remarkable natural beauty. But the Kachin people are an ethnic Christian minority in this majority

Buddhist country. And for much of the last half century, this state has been a battle group between Kachin rebels and government forces, though the

single government rehabilitation center here offers traditional methadone treatment to heroin addicts...

This is the prayer room.

...more than a half dozen new church-run rehab camps like this one take a very different approach.

So, you replace Methadone with what?

HKALAM: With Bible, with the Bible scripture, singing.

WATSON: But the preachers who run these treatment centers say they face an uphill battle. This needle strewn cemetery brings the scale of the

heroin epidemic home. Against this macabre backdrop of death and drug abuse, we encounter two men in the middle of their heroin injections.

Are you OK? Is your arm OK?

This man tells me he's a 30-year-old farmer who shoots up at least three times a day buying heroin for just around $5 a dose.

"If I have money, there's no limit to how much heroin I'll take," he says.

They leave their needles in the hay and ride off just hours away from their next heroin fix.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: What a sight.

Now for more, Ivan joins me now here in Hong Kong for more on the story. And Ivan, these church groups and their community groups, they are

providing treatment centers, but they're doing something else, aren't they? They're raiding suspected drug dens.

WATSON: Yeah, I was really surprised to hear this. Some of the church groups have actually acted almost as vigilantes carrying out their

own raids, confiscating their own narcotics, setting fire to them, detaining addicts and drug dealers in some cases and handing them over to

the police, almost taking the law into their own hands. So, really dramatic steps being taken.

And because they accuse the police of not doing enough to crackdown on the heroin use. And to give you a sense of how bad it is, we went to

Machina University (ph) and we found garbage cans overflowing with syringes in the bathrooms of the university, something I've never seen on any

university campus anywhere else in the world.

LU STOUT: Is there a complete security void there? I mean, your package where you see people openly shooting heroin out in the streets.

You just described needles everywhere. Is there simply just no law enforcement on the scene to deal with this?

WATSON: Not in the state capital Machina (ph) where we were, but certainly there are several of these open drug bazaars according to many

eyewitneses around the jade mines. It's very linked to the mining industry there, which is very lucrative and profitable and part of how people can

afford the heroin.

But in those places, according to many eyewitnesses and videos that we saw, wide open drug bazaars shooting galleries where the church groups have

gone to he extreme step of walking in there to preach to people as they are actually injecting and shooting up. And we asked the Myanmar police about

it, why aren't you doing anything there? And they said it goes back to the insurgency with a catch and independence army not having fully control

there.

Kachin nationalists, they accuse the government of actually practicing a form of ethnic cleansing by allowing the drug trade to go on so openly.

That's something that the Myanmar government, of course, denies.

LU STOUT: There's lack of security, lack of a crackdown. It looks like a heroin epidemic in Kachin state. Is the worst yest to come?

WATSON: Well, something that was striking, some of these pastors who are doing this kind of captive treatment of addicts -- and they're learning

as they go along, they've said. They've learned you can't put 90 of them into one of these locations, because they'll organize and some of them will

break free. And that evidently happened in Machina at one of the centers.

But one of the pastors we talked to said he only has a 5 percent success rate of treating addicts with the words, the scripture, the words

of the Bible rather than traditional Methadone treatments. So that gives you a sense of what an uphill battle they're fighting there.

LU STOUT: Yeah, an uphill battle indeed. Thank you so much for your reporting on the dark and devastating drugs issue there in Myanmar. Ivan

Watson there, thank you.

Now you're watching News Stream. And still to come on the program, WildAid's biggest friend ambassador swings by CNN. And hear why Yao Ming

says fighting ivory poaching is so close to his heart.

Also ahead, gauging Japan's volcano risk. Millions are living next to the equivalent of ticking time bombs.

And, it's a country big on selfies, so why is South Korea cracking down on the selfie stick. We'll explain.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back.

Now earlier this week, we brought you a special report on South Africa's effort to battle poachers and to protect endangered rhinos. Now

the illegal trade in rhino horn is fueled by an insatiable demand here in Asia where it's considered a sign of wealth and believed to have medicinal

value.

Now there is no scientific evidence to support claims that it has healing properties, but rhino horn can still fetch more than $5,000 an

ounce on the black market., that's more than four times the price of gold and roughly equivalent to the price of cocaine.

Now the conservation group Wild Aid says when the buying stops, the killing can too.

Now retired NBA star Yao Ming is a celebrity ambassador for WildAid. And his 2012 visit to Africa is the subject of a new documentary, it's

called The End of the Wild.

I caught up with the committed conservationist and asked about his efforts.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

YAO MING, WILDAID AMBASSADOR: The whole experience amazing. I have a chance going to Africa, spend time with the local people and the wild

animals.

It's some experience you cannot have every day.

Of course, we have our mission there to witness those situation there -- approach a dead animal. And the reason for that is because there's

demand in worldwide for the animal product such as ivory or the rhino horn.

LU STOUT: When you were in Africa, you had these very personal encounters with the animals. What was it like to touch an elephant and to

pet a baby rhino? MING: The rhino and also the elephant in people's mind is huge, big. Well, you're going to think well I'm big, maybe you know they are maybe 10

times bigger than me. And even that, I think they're still very gentle.

I feel they have the personality just like us, just like us. Some of the rhino and elephant are very funny. Some of them are very shy. You

know, they like to stay behind. And they have a good memory, too, know who are the people who treat them very well like the ranger or the conservation

servicer in Africa take care of them. You know, they will show their appreciation to people. I mean, that's just like human society.

LU STOUT: Well, in Africa you also saw some pretty ugly scenes. I mean, you saw dead animals. You saw the victims of poaching. Was that

tough for you to see?

MING: It was very tough for those two years ago.

I don't want to flash back to that memory, it's very bad. But it just for me just thinking it's good enough for me just thinking, you know, why

that don't happen. And of course the reason is because of tusk, because the horns of the rhino.

Those products is not really necessary for our survival, but it's more about people's habit. And that is the habit that we can control ourselves.

LU STOUT: Can you explain the buying? Because for an international audience outside China, we don't understand why do Chinese people want to

buy elephant tusks and rhino horns.

MING: The ivory is sometime -- in ancient China, ancient world that's representative of a personality. I mean, wealth people, powerful people.

LU STOUT: Status.

MING: Status, right.

And that's why people are buying that when you have enough money to afford it.

But back to 1989, late 80s, ivory trade already been banned in the Mainland, but it's still part of this legal trade happening in China which

is a lot of lay people confused a little bit, which part is legal, what other side is illegal.

And if we can have, you know, government to make clear policy and everything is illegal, that would make much easier to people to think of

this market.

On the other hand side that I think we'll have to look at those pictures. I think that's much -- those pictures are much stronger message

compared to those numbers on a paper. No, I can tell you that is 100,000 elephant being killed in Africa a year, average 15 minutes a kill. But

those numbers never strong, never strong as the picture we can bring back.

I hope the people can help us to spread a message and simple as just to spend money on there.

LU STOUT: I mean, your challenge has been how do you convince over a billion people in China to break with tradition and to stop buying these

illegal animal products. What do you think is the best strategy for you so far? And are people listening?

MING: We have experience before on shark fins, that is also another - - much earlier -- a couple of years ago we had very successful shark fin the demand that almost 50 percent in the world.

We want simply to copy this model into Athens and rhino to protect those animal.

Spread the message is our goal right there just like today, I very appreciate you can have us on here to talk about this. And I believe, I

have faith for the people of the younger generation. You know, today people not only place for the wealthy and the fortune. And they're looking

for something good fo society.

I mean, the people not only spend money for a fancy car or luxury house or whatever they're looking for to helping people.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Agreed. And that was wildlife advocate Yao Ming speaking to me earlier.

Now you're watching News Stream. And coming up next, Japan's Mount Fuji hasn't blown its top for centuries, but experts warn that a major

eruption could hit any time. The results catastrophic. We'll find out what's being done to prepare.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

Now living near an active volcano would seem to be a dangerous choice, but more than 13 million people have made their home in Tokyo just two

hours drive from Mount Fuji.

As Will Ripley reports, an eruption would be disastrous.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hikers had no warning, Mount Ontake exploded in seconds, raining down rocks, volcanic ash and toxic gas.

Japan's deadliest eruption in almost a century took 57 lives.

As bad as this was, volcanologists say future eruptions could be far worse.

No traffic, no electricity, no water.

YOSHIYUKI TATSUMI, KOBE UNIVERSITY: That's right. So we completely lose our daily life.

RIPLEY: Yoshuke Tatsumi Kobe University study analyzed volcanic activity. He and other scientists say Japan is due for a massive eruption,

one that could make up to 95 percent of the country unlivable.

This study says most of Japan's 127 million people are at risk. Statistics show the odds are about 1 percent over the next 100 years.

What does 1 percent really mean?

TATSUMI: That may happen next day or tomorrow.

RIPLEY: To put that in perspective, Kobe, Japan had a similar 1 percent chance of a major earthquake in 1995, just one day before a 7.2

quake destroyed more than half the city, killing 6,400 people.

Scientists say a huge eruption could kill millions. Japan is densely populated, sitting right on the ring of fire with more than 100 active

volcanoes.

"We're always preparing for an eruption, says Hada Kazuo. He's part of a new Mount Fuji task force.

"If and when Fuji erupts, loudspeakers would blast evacuation orders to some 1.2 million people.

The mountain is one of Japan's most popular tourist sites.

When you come here, do you every worry about an eruption?

"I don't think it'll happen while we're here," says this father.

TATSUMI: Current system provid no warning.

RIPLEY: No warning?

Tatsumi says there needs to be a better volcano alert system.

TATSUMI; We should know the risk.

RIPLEY: He also says the risk of an eruption should not stop people from enjoying Japan's natural beauty, breathtaking scenery that sooner or

later could come with a price.

Will Ripley, CNN, Mount Fuji, Japan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Coming up, selfie takers and makers beware, South Korea is cracking down. Why selling this seemingly helpful little extension pole

could land a person in prison. we'll explain.

And 20 years on, we look back at the original Sony Playstation.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

Now Iraq's interior ministry says a woman held by Lebanese authorities is not the wife of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Earlier reports said

the woman detained is married to al-Baghdadi, but Iraq says he's believed to have two wives and that the woman in question has a different name.

Now the U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is chairing a meeting of diplomats from about 60 countries. They are discussing strategy to defeat

the jihadist group ISIS. Now talks are taking place at NATO headquarters in Brussels.

Now Ukraine's fuel and energy minister says emergency repairs are being done on a nuclear power plant. Now the government first reported an

accident on Tuesday and says there is no radiation leak. The energy minister say it's a short circuit in the unit and it is expected to be

repaired by Friday.

Now, anyone who has struggled to take a selfie has likely considerd using one of these. Let me show you how it works. You put your phone in

the holder and then you just adjust this stick as needed.

Now the handle, it has a button right here that controls your phones camera using Bluetooth, but as Saima Mohsin reports that is now a problem

in South Korea.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAIMA MOHSIN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's a popular pasttime and people in Seoul claim to be the founding mothers and fathers

of the selfie.

UNIDENFITIFED MALE (through translator): I bought a selfie stick and use it when I'm out with my girlfriend. I want the background to be

included when I go out to tourist attractions, so I use a selfie stick which can frame a bigger picture."

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I always take a selfie when I look good. When my makeup or clothes look good and I'm going out. I

don't have a stick, but I think it's cool.

MOHSIN: Here in Korea, this global pasttime is facing a crackdown, well at least the selfie stick is. Is it became it's annoying,

narcissistic and looks slightly odd?

Or is it because it's more fun watching people struggle to get the shot, all fingers and thumbs while they strike a pose?

No, the Korean government says that it's concerned that Bluetooth selfie sticks may interfere with industrial, scientific and crucially

medical equipment, so it's cracking down to ensure that every stick and retailer is registered and certified.

Bluetooth selfie sticks operate on a frequency of 2.4 gigahertz, same as your wi-fi router at home with a range of 10 meters.

But the concern is that uncertified sticks might exceed that limit and interfere with nearby equipment.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): My friends told me about this and I thought I better go buy one quickly.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I hadn't heard about the government crackdown and I had no idea the sticks can affect medical

equipment.

MOHSIN: Any retailer importing or selling selfie sticks without government certification could face a fine of up to $30,000 or three years

in prison. Time to take taking a selfie in Seoul very seriously.

Saima Mohsin, CNN, Seoul, South Korea.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now, as you heard some claim South Korea is home of the selfie, but where did the selfie stick come from? Now according to

research by Google, it is a phenomenon fueled by Asia.

Now people in Indonesia led the way. Now Google notes a rise in selfie stick searches there around July of 2013. But, as you can see by

the green line here, it really took off in Malaysia earlier this year.

Now Indonesian interests peaked just a few months later, but it still remains relatively flat in the United States as shown by that line in red.

And now, Google says the Philippines is the king of the selfie stick. Now the trend is still new, but the device itself is not. Professional

photographers usually referred to it as a monopod.

Now, we have a major tech milestone to tell you about, because 20 years ago today the Sony Playstation went on sale in Japan. It was Sony's

first ever videogame console.

Now Ridge Racer was one of the first games released for the Playstation. Let's compare it to a modern PS4 game Drive Club that was

just released a few months ago. You can really see how far videogames have come in 20 years when you put the two side by side.

Now with Sony's fortunes have waned, their gaming dominance has been a rare bright spot for the company. The Playstation 2 is the bestselling

videogame console of all-time.

But what most people don't realize is that Sony owes its place in gaming to Nintendo. Now the two Japanese companies originally planned to

team up to produce a CD Drive for one of Nintendo's consoles, but Nintendo pulled out of the deal and an angry Sony promised to go it alone and

produce their own console to battle Nintendo, the Playstation.

You're watching News Stream. Still ahead on the program, CNN visits a Japanese island revived by, among other things, giant pumpkins. We've got

that story next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: On Japan's Naoshima Island new and old collide as modern art dots ancient landscapes.

Now CNN's Paula Newton visited an island revived by artistic expression.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE0)

PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Getting here isn't just about the voyage, the escape from Japan's urban sprawl to its southern

sea sprayed coastline in the Seto Island Sea. No, arriving at Naoshima Island feels more like a passage through time and perception, your senses

challenged the minute you set foot on terra firma here.

What can seem common is placed in astonishing contrast. And the natural Japanese beauty here displays quite a canvas for a remarkable

collection of contemporary art.

This art island is an ambitious three decade endeavor to bring art, culture and nature into harmony all the while setting out to revive

livelihoods on this gracious island. The charm here, contemporary art is everywhere, but set really in the middle of nowhere.

The benefactor here is Benese Holdings (ph), a Japanese education and publishing powerhouse with an intrepid vision, making Naoshima an art

utopia.

Kunjiro Kanashiro is an executive with Benese Art Site (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The most important theme here is to find new value in yourself by confronting high art and beautiful old

Japanese landscape. People who have rich experiences in life can feel the message of the creator of high art. We provide the opportunities for more

people to understand high art by presenting art pieces in this kind of place.

NEWTON: And they are only getting started. Witness Claude Monet Water Lilies, more classic than contemporary, exhibited here

unconventionally in a cavernous underground bunker bathed only in natural light.

The artistic development of this island is still in its early stages. A few decades back, it was in full decline: industry, the fishery, its

young people looking to leave. Now, Naoshima has been revived by art tourism.

Toshihiko Okuda ermembers the bleak days well. He is one of the early backers of this art island even though he readily admits he didn't know a

thing about modern art. He is now the head of the island's tourism association.

Are you proud of what this island has turned into?

TOSHIHIKO OKUDA, PRESIDENT, NAOSHIMA TOWN TOURISM ASSOCIATION (through translator): Yes. I'm very proud of my island. I love living on this

island. We have clean air great fish and now so much worldclass contemporary art. It is a great island.

NEWTON: The founders of this art concept say the value of this island is not in its multimillion dollar collection but in the showpiece that is

Naoshima and its people, how they transformed the island and themselves. They tell me this is the virtue of Japan itself.

Paula Newton, CNN, Naoshima, Japan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: What a breathtaking place.

And that is News Stream. I'm Kristie Lu Stout, but don't go anywhere. World Sport with Laura Rutledge is next.

END