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Yemen's Government Resigns; Saudi's King Abdullah Laid to Rest; YouTube Stars Interview President Obama; Deadline Passes With No Word On Fate Of Japanese Hostages

Aired January 23, 2015 - 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 Saudi Arabia pays respects to King Abdullah and prepares to his successor. We'll examine the global implications.

Also ahead, fate unknown -- the deadline passes for two hostages held by the terror group ISIS.

And, Yemen's government collapses. What will fill the power vacuum?

World leaders and thousands of mourners have gathered in the capital of Saudi Arabia to honor the life of King Abdullah.

The 90-year-old monarch passed away early Friday local time after battling pneumonia.

Now the funeral began less than an hour ago with prayers.

Now the king is to be buried in the House of Saud cemetery in Riyadh. Afterwards, members of the royal family will pay their respects to the new

monarch.

Now let's get more now with Becky Anderson. She's following the very latest from CNN Abu Dhabi. She joins us now.

And Becky the funeral for the king has been a rather simple and modest affair. Could you describe the proceedings for us?

BECKY ANDERSON, HOST: Yeah, and that was expected: a short, simple service with little sign of emotion, no eulogies nor any tributes. It was

in the imam Turkey mosque. He was, as you rightly suggest will now be buried elsewhere.

Perhaps slightly surprising for those who are unaware of tradition there, but very similar to the proceedings back in 2005 of King Fahd who

Abdullah, of course, succeeded.

World leaders are making their way to Riyadh. And I'll talk about reaction from around the region and the world shortly. But we saw in

attendance at the funeral service the emir of Kuwait, and next to him the king of Bahrain and the emir of Qatar, a clearly and understandably strong

showing from the GCC.

And given this funeral happened, what, 14 hours after the initial announcement of the king's death. He was 90. And it appears died of

complications from pneumonia. It is perhaps understandable that not everybody who wants to be in attendance has already arrived. But the idea

being that those who don't make the funeral will be arriving over the next hours and days to pay their condolences to the Saudi royal family --

Kristie.

LU STOUT: Full attendance at the funeral service today. Becky Anderson reporting live for us live from Abu Dhabi. Thank you, Becky.

Now let's take a closer look at King Abdullah's legacy. Now he ascended the Saudi throne in August of 2005, ushering great expectations.

Two months later, in his first televised interview as king Abdullah told ABC's Barbara Walters about his dream of reforming and expanding women's

rights in the country.

He said this, quote, "I believe strongly in the rights of women. I believe the day will come when women drive."

And while that day never came in his lifetime, he did make it possible for women to vote and to run in local municipal elections. He was also the

first Saudi monarch to appoint women to government positions.

Also under his rein, Saudi Arabia opened the first co-ed university, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology. And he started a

scholarship program to help young people study abroad, making it possible for more than 100,000 Saudi male and female students to attend American

universities.

Now let's bring in CNN senior international correspondent Nic Robertson. He was in Saudi Arabia for the funeral of King Fahd in 2005.

And Nic joins us now live from London.

And Nic, will there be a smooth political transition now in Saudi Arabia?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We're seeing it already. I mean, this is precisely what's happening. This is essentially

the moment that, you know, Saudi Arabia's leadership knew that this day was coming and the most important thing for them is for continuity, for a

smooth process to show their population, but more importantly the region and the world, that things will continue, that continuity is maintained in

Saudi Arabia. Don't expect any radical big changes in policy, particularly international external policy.

In the short-term what may happen in the future is more likely to be gradual.

You know, what King Abdullah understood is that to change a country you need to grapple with the education of the young. And so his policy of

providing so much opportunity for education, co-ed education inside the country groundbreaking was his efforts to change the fact that he came up

short on trying to push ahead reforms that would allow women to drive underscore the deep cultural, if you will, ties that the country has to its

past and its inability to shift the population and other key players who've had a more traditional education inside Saudi Arabia.

So, you know, in this context he was seen as a reformer inside the country. His gains as viewed from outside may seem modest, but really that

underscores the nature of where Saudi Arabia stands today. And if you want to look at his sort of modus operandi, if you will, in terms of countering

conservative values, the flogging handed down to a blogger, 1,000 lashes to be metered out at 50 a week. The king intervening after the first week,

putting a hold on it. The second week putting a hold on it.

So, this was a man who was in a way still here fighting the system in the last weeks of his life -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: The games were modest, but King Abdullah was seen as a reformer. What about the new king of Saudi Arabia? Is he as interested in

political and social reform as his predecessor?

ROBERTSON: You know, it's very hard to know precisely what is going to be the agenda of the new king. In Saudi terms, the ideas are not

shared broadly outside a key people within the royal family. so it's very hard to judge that.

But what we really can expect is continuity and not a great deal of change. Huge pressing issues for this king. To the north you have an Iraq

that Saudis see as much more influenced by Iran than it was in the past, a growing problem with ISIS. They attacked the border with Saudi Arabia in

the past few weeks killing and injuring Saudi border guards. That's an issue.

King Abdullah has decided to beef up the military defenses in Saudi Arabia with $150 billion spend over the coming years, significant. They

want a much more aggressive policy in taking down, if you will, President Bashar al Assad in Syria than the west wants. They wanted King Abdullah

wanted to put 50,000 troops inside Syria to take care of that issue.

They're being very forward leaning on tackling ISIS. They feel that ISIS and its global caliphate plans are a direct threat to Saudi Arabia,

because they would target the two holiest sites in Islam, Mecca and Medina.

So this, again, is a strong reason for the Saudi leadership to tackle ISIS.

To the south, Yemen: they would see the Houthis -- the Saudis would see the Houthis as being backed by Iran. The Houthis bringing the latest

instability to Yemen.

So, you know, the views from Saudi Arabia are to a prism of concerns about Iran, concerns about stability and concerns about stability in the

region.

All of this on the king's plate, but he's not likely to change course radically. The shifts perhaps we will see them come more slowly, Kristie.

LU STOUT: A number of significant challenges confronting the new king.

Nic Robertson reporting live from London. Thank you, Nic.

Now also this hour, concern over the fate of two Japanese hostages after a deadline to secure their release has come and gone.

Now ISIS had demanded Japan pay a ransom of $200 million. Now the militant group publicly threatened to kill the men.

Now after the ransom deadline passed, ISIS was reportedly to release a statement. That was some hours ago now.

Now CNN's Will Ripley is following developments from Tokyo. He joins us now. And Will what is the latest word about the hostages?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Seven hours after that deadline has come and gone, Kristie, the Japanese government still cannot make contact

with ISIS. But the terror group is able to make contact with another Japanese presence, a Japanese media outlet, NHK, the public broadcaster,

coming out with a report today that they have been emailing back and forth with ISIS. ISIS telling the television station that they will be coming

out with a statement and also refusing to comment when questioned about any negotiations with the Japanese government.

Now Kristie, this is really raising some serious concerns here in Tokyo, because if Japanese officials' best efforts, including reaching out

to intelligence sources in Turkey and Jordan, couldn't get ISIS to respond, but yet ISIS is so eager to speak with a broadcaster then perhaps that $200

(sic) extortion attempt, the video, perhaps they weren't ever really expecting to get that money. Maybe this was all about publicity, something

that might be even more valuable to them right now considering that the coalition against ISIS says thousands of their soldiers have been killed,

their numbers are down. What they may need is recruits.

And we know the sad, sick reality is, is that people tend to join ISIS in droves every time they put an execution on video. They've done it five

times to five westerners since August. And there are serious fears here in Japan tonight, Kristie, that two innocent men could soon be added to that

awful list.

LU STOUT: Yeah, Syria's fears and concern, and the mother of one of the hostages has been pleading for mercy. What is her message to the

hostage takers?

RIPLEY: Kenji Goto's mother, a courageous woman -- Kristie, I don't know how she was able to do it, but she stood in front of a row of dozens

of cameras today. And she made an emotional plea, a plea directly to ISIS for the safety of her son. Take a listen.

It's not, Kristie, so I'll tell you...

LU STOUT: That was CNN's Will Ripley reporting from Tokyo. Our apologies for the technical disruption there.

Will, you wanted to continue with your point?

RIPLEY: I just wanted to tell you, Kristie, we didn't have that sound, but the mother told ISIS directly. She said, "my son is not your

enemy. He is not an enemy of anybody. He is there to report."

And she also revealed, Kristie, a very sad and new detail that Kenji Goto's wife is at home right now caring for their newborn baby, a child

that was just two weeks old when Goto took his trip to Syria in late October just adding to the layers of tragedy to this whole situation.

LU STOUT: Thank you for summarizing what was said in that mother's video. A plea for mercy, tremendous grief but also bravery as well in that

video.

Will Ripley reporting live from Tokyo for us. Thank you, Will.

Now you're watching News Stream. And still to come on the program, Yemen's government calls it quits as rebels take over the capital. A look

at who is actually in control in Sanaa just after the break.

Also ahead, Thailand's former prime minister now faces an impeachment. And that's on top of criminal charges that could put her away for years.

Details ahead.

And Microsoft has unveiled its new virtual reality platform HoloLens. Later this hour, we take a look at how the headset stacks up against the

competition.

(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 started with reaction to the passing of Saudi king Abdullah. Later in the show, we will continue to look at his legacy. We'll be

speaking to the Arab Affairs pundit Sutan al-Qassemi.

But now, Yemen is plunging into further turmoil. Now the U.S. embassy in Yemen is pulling out more staff as the country plunges into chaos.

Now the resignations of Yemen's president and other government officials on Thursday have created a power vacuum in the capital Sanaa.

Armed Houthi rebels have taken over the streets as Nick Paton Walsh reports there is uncertainty about what comes next.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A day of stark political change and consequence here in Yemen. The president, prime

minister and cabinet have, we've heard now from multiple sources, resigned.

Now this is after days of turmoil here in the capital, the sound of gunfire, shelling, but a political deal that last night seemed to provide

some kind of roadmap ahead, requiring the Houthi militia in many key government buildings to withdrawal and release the presidential chief of

staff in exchange for huge political concessions from the government that looked like it might save the situation.

But clearly today it began to falter. We're hearing the sound of gunfire now in parts of Sanaa. Clearly that deal faltered and now the

president, prime minister and cabinet no longer wants to continue in their roles.

A letter put on Twitter by the minister of information -- I should say now, former minister of information Nadia Sakkaf said that they no longer

want to be part of what they considered, and I'm paraphrasing here, to be illegal political process and wanted no longer a part of what would come

now in the future.

Clearly, concerned at the future now. And we do not know quite what comes after President Hadi.

Obviously, the dominate force on the streets has been the Houthi political movement here. Possibly some analysts suggests that it's the

speaker of parliament who is said to be a loyalist to the former Prime Minister Saleh who may assume technocratically the role of president in the

days ahead. But we haven't heard from the Houthis yet. They have been very successful in moving across the capital late last year, successful in

putting great pressure politically and on the streets against this government and now it seems causing that government to no longer want to

continue in its rule.

A huge issue here for the United States. This is key ally in the war on terrorism. And now who do they call, frankly? The Houthis, one of

their slogans is death to America. They're not overtly anti-American here when we speak to them, but they may have a challenge in forming a

relationship with the United States in the days or months ahead.

A day of stark change here in Yemen that will have huge consequences for U.S. counterterror policies.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Sanaa, Yemen.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now former Thai prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra has been impeached over a controversial rice subsidy program. Now critics say the

program wasted billions of public funds for Yingluck's own political gain.

Now Thailand's military appointed lawmakers have voted to impeach her. The move was largely symbolic. But it does ban her from politics for five

years.

Separately, Yingluck faces criminal charges carrying a maximum of 10 years in prison. She was removed from power last year and denies any

wrongdoing.

And you're watching News Stream. And coming up next, we'll look at some memorable moments from Barack Obama's YouTube interviews and talk to

one of the stars about her time with the U.S. president.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

Now on Thursday U.S. President Barack Obama faced a special interview panel. Now three YouTube creators, Bethany Mota, GloZell Green and Hank

Green, they had some hard questions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GLOZELL GREEN, YOUTUBE CREATOR; How can we bridge the gap between black African-American males and white cops?

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We always have to just remind ourselves that the overwhelming majority of police officers, they

are doing a really tough job and they're doing it well.

A lot of the way to solve this is to improve training so people can be aware of their biases ahead of time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Now other questions were asked about Internet security, same-sex marriage and terrorism. And the trio also asked questions raised

by their own audiences.

Now, interviewing the U.S. president is not easy even for a YouTube star used to having millions of social media fans.

Now I'm joined now by GloZell Green with more on her day at the White House. And she joins us now live.

GloZell, thank you for joining us here on CNN International.

And you tackled a number of issues with Mr. Obama: race relations, Cuba, gay rights, but the day after the interview, this is what's trending

around the world. Let's play the clip.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GREEN: I have green lipstick. One for your first wife -- I mean, I mean...

OBAMA: Do you know something I don't?

GREEN: Oh, for the first lady...

OBAMA: One for the first lady.

GREEN: ...and the first children.

OBAMA: Oh, I'm too...

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Now it's an innocent slip up. I thought POTUS's reaction was very charming. But what was going through your mind after that?

GREEN: I thought I was just going to die. I thought they were going to be like, get out of here. You know. I probably won't be invited back.

So I'm glad it was towards the end.

But, yeah, I wish there was like a lever and I could just drop through the floor. I didn't want to stay out there after I messed that up so bad.

LU STOUT: Now your first question to President Obama was about the Sony hack. And I want to thank you for doing that. You know, it's a

really important question. And I wanted to hear what he had to say about that. And you posed it this way. You asked if the United States basically

adequately protected Sony or not.

Did you like his response to your question?

GREEN: Did I like -- what you think I'm going to say no I didn't like what the president said? So, of course, I loved what the president said.

He is just perfect.

So, I'm glad that he did answer it. And I do believe that they're going to do better to protect our freedom of speech and our rights to --

because that affects everybody who has a camera that's putting anything out, especially on the Internet.

LU STOUT: I could tell you're a big fan of Barack Obama. I encourage everyone to go online to the YouTube clip and to hear his response. It

seemed like he kind of was diffusing responsibility a little bit there.

But you made him respond to some very thoughtful questions. You got some great answers from him. You even made him laugh, especially when you

gave that zinger putting the dick in dictator, et cetera.

All in all, what was it like to interview that U.S. president?

GREEN: All in all what was it like to interview the president of the United States? It was incredible, because coming from a time where my mom

was telling me about segregation and we've come from that point to I went to both inaugurations with my mother to interviewing the president. I also

have a clip on my channel where she's just like oh, I can't believe it. So -- and she had the church praying for me. Well, the church was praying for

President Obama, because they know me. So it was just amazing moment in time. So I'm excited and I was happy.

And I hope that he felt that it was a great thing to do after the interview.

LU STOUT: Yeah, you've interviewed the president. He made you another YouTube series of panel discussions again. This is a first. It

could happen again.

You know, we've seen your clips online. You've eaten a bathtub of Fruit Loops. I mean, GloZell what's next for you? What's your next big

challenge?

GREEN: My next big challenge, well -- well, I don't think you get any bigger than challenging interviewing the president of the United States.

So I had to think of something that's going to top that.

What could top that? I don't know. Maybe I'll go visit the king and queens somewhere in Europe.

LU STOUT: And make sure you bring your camera, put it only.

GloZell Green, we'll leave it at that. Thank you so much. And thank you for sharing your story with us. Take care.

You're watching News Stream -- bye bye -- still to come in the program here, Microsoft made a bold leap forward with their holographic headset and

our regular contributor Nick Thompson will tell us how it stacks up against its rivals.

Also ahead, we look back on the legacy of Saudi King Abdullah. He has been praised as a reformer, but just how much change did he bring to his

conservative kingdom?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

Now world leaders and thousands of mourners have gathered in Saudi Arabia to say farewell to King Abdullah. The 90-year-old monarch passed

away early Friday local time after battling pneumonia. The king is to be buried in the House of Saud cemetery in Riyadh. Afterward, members of the

royal family will pay their respects to the new monarch.

Now a deadline set by ISIS for Japan to secure the release of two hostages has expired. A statement from the militant group is expected

soon. Now ISIS had asked Japan to pay a $200 million ransom. The Japanese government says it will not comment on the situation at present.

Now divers have retrieved eight more bodies from the wreckage of AirAsia flight 8501. They include three women and a boy. Now the search

operation has now been suspended until weather conditions improve. Indonesian authorities say 67 bodies have been recovered so far.

Now the U.S. is withdrawing more staff from its embassy in Yemen's capital as the country falls into further turmoil. On Thursday, Yemen's

president resigned along with the prime minister and the cabinet. Now they stepped down amid pressure from Houthi rebels who have taken up key posts

in the capital.

More now on our top story, the transition of power in Saudi Arabia. Now King Salman has taken the throne of the oil rich nation following the

death this morning of King Abdullah.

Now the Saudi Royal Palace will open its doors after the funeral so members of the public can swear allegiance to the new king.

Now former U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia Robert Jordan talked about his experience dealing with King Salman.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT JORDAN, FRM. U.S. AMBASSADOR TO SAUDI ARABIA: King Salman is a very respected figure in Saudi Arabia. He was a governor of Riyadh

province for 30 years. I dealt with him a great deal during our efforts right after 9/11. I think he will continue much of King Abdullah's

policies probably with a slightly different tone, although he is -- he's someone whose sons, by the way, are western educated and very impressive --

one of them was a Saudi astronaut, and the other one has been the deputy minister of petroleum, another one runs the family publishing empire. They

are quite literate, quite well educated and western in their thinking.

So, I think we will -- we may be well surprised at what King Salman can do.

I think a lot of it will be more jockeying in the subordinate roles to King Salman.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: All right, now the death of Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah is also being felt in the financial world. Even with the smooth transition of

power expected in Riyadh, the price of oil on a steady decline for months changed course after news of his death surfaced. Now Brent Crude has risen

to over $49.

Now here for more on the death of the Saudi king and what's next for the kingdom Sultan al-Qassemi. He is a commentator on Arab affairs. He

joins us now live from Boston.

Thank you for joining us here on CNN. And Sultan, first, your thoughts on the legacy of the late Saudi King Abdullah. We know that he

sought to modernize the kingdom. But how much change did he actually bring?

SULTAN AL-QASSEMI, ARAB AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR: Well, you have to keep in mind that Saudi Arabia is a very difficult ship to steer. First of all,

it's a massive kingdom. It lies in a very difficult part of the world. When Saudi King Abdullah took the reigns in 2005 officially, it was a very

different kingdom to what it is today.

Today you have a significant number of women in the Saudi parliament. There is supposed to be universal suffrage in Saudi Arabia sometime later

in 2015. The Saudi king tried to introduce a number of reforms, but it is not as easy because of the various -- because of the structure of the

country. You have various forces kind of pushing and pulling: you have the tribal forces, you have the religious clerics and the regional situation

made it also very difficult I think for the king.

LU STOUT: Yeah, there will be a lot of challenges ahead for Saudi Arabia's new king. Do you think King Salman will attempt to try to press

for more reform in the conservative kingdom? Or is he more about maintaining stability in Saudi Arabia?

AL-QASSEMI: I think the number one challenge now for Saudi Arabia is the region. You have deteriorating situation in Yemen over the past two

weeks just since the late King Abdullah was admitted to hospital Yemen has turned upside down. The country is almost on the verge of being a failed

state. There was a coup attempt in the country. ISIS is wrecking havoc in again Iraq on Saudi Arabia's border. So the country is I think surrounded

by challenges.

So I do believe that the number one priority for the new Saudi King Salman would be foreign policy.

LU STOUT: OK, there will be a number of challenges ahead in the region. You mentioned Yemen. You mentioned ISIS. Regionally, it's been

said that King Abdullah's biggest priority was to confront Iran. Now how will that power struggle play out under King Salman?

AL-QASSEMI: Well, as you know the negotiations were taking part, I think, in secret between the Iranians and the Americans, something that did

not please the Gulf countries, especially Saudi Arabia at all.

And so I expect now that the Saudis try to take a more interest, maybe, in the outcome of these talks and perhaps expect the Americans to

include them, because it is seen as one of the greatest threats and challenges to Saudi Arabia.

LU STOUT: And additional challenges. Of course, oil prices, they have spiked after news of -- not spiked, but they've been I guess volatile

moving up and down since the news. Unfortunately, we're going to have wrap it at that. But thank you very much for joining us.

Sultan al-Qassemi, commentator, joining us from Boston.

Now let's go straight to Davos. This is why I had to cut short that interview. We know that business and government leaders around the world.

They're there. And the French president Francois Hollande is among them. He's speaking now. Let's listen in.

(WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM PRESS CONFERENCE)

LU STOUT: Emphasizing the global threat posed by terrorism. We've been listening to live comments from Davos, Switzerland of the French

president Francois Hollande.

Now you're watching News Stream. Still to come on the program, tech pundits, they're giving a thumbs up to Microsoft's HoloLens, but is this

really a lifechanging technology or simply a fun, but kind of disposable invention? Stick around.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back.

Now Microsoft has generated a lot of buzz with its HoloLens unveiled on Wednesday. It essentially lets you put on a pair of goggles and then

you see virtual objects superimposed on the actual environment. Now that is an exciting concept, but it's not new. Last October, Google invested

over $500 million into the startup Magic Leap.

Now let's bring in our regular contributor Nick Thompson. He is the editor of New Yorker.com. And he joins us now live.

And Nick, early reviews of HoloLens, they're really strong. How impressed are you by this new Microsoft offering?

NICK THOMPSON, EDITOR NEW YORKER.COM: I think -- you know, I haven't actually demoed the physical device, but the people who have reviewed it

have been stunned by it. This has been a great launch for Microsoft. Microsoft does not traditionally wow the tech crowds, it does not

traditionally wow gadget reviewers, but they handled this extremely well. The demos are extremely impressive. People have gone and they have, you

know, they've had repair men appear while they fixed light switches or while they've augmented motorcycles.

So, so far it looks very impressive.

On the other hand, having a mindblowing demonstration is easy and making an actual product is hard. So, we don't know what this is going to

be. But so far so good for Microsoft.

LU STOUT: OK. Unfortunately, we're going to have to leave it at that. Nick Thompson, thank you so much for joining us. And I'm looking

forward to our next conversation.

That is News Stream. I'm Kristie Lu Stout, but don't go anywhere. World Sport with Amanda Davies is up next.

END