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France, Germany Propose Ukrainian Peace Plan To Russia; Jordan`s Fight Against ISIS; Twitter CEO Vows To Do Better Against Trolling; Interview with Earth Primer Creator Chaim Gingold; Venezuela`s Condom Shortage; Flight Data Recorder Reveals Engine Problems In TransAsia Flight Crash

Aired February 06, 2015 - 08:00   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 as Eastern Ukraine reels from more fighting, a flurry of diplomatic activity is taking place across Europe to end the crisis.

Now Twitter`s earnings beat expectations, but the company`s effort to battle online abuse is coming under scrutiny.

And combining textbooks with games. We look at an app that teaches you about the Earth by letting you play.

And we begin this hour with urgent efforts to resolve the fighting in eastern Ukraine.

Now leaders from the U.S., Europe, Ukraine and Russia are all holding various meetings aimed at finding a peaceful solution.

Now the Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel and the French President Francois Hollande, they are set to arrive in Moscow soon. Now the leaders

say that they are hoping to secure a ceasefire when they meet with the Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Now this follows their urgent talks with Ukrainian leaders in Kiev on Thursday.

Now meanwhile, the U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, he`s in Munich, Germany today for the city`s annual security conference.

Now the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko are also attending.

And the U.S. Vice President Joe Biden is in Brussels meeting with leaders from the European Union. Now they are discussing solutions to the

escalating conflict in eastern Ukraine.

Now the UN high commissioner for human rights says at least 224 civilians have been killed in eastern Ukraine in the past few weeks.

Now senior international correspondent Nick Paton Walsh has been following developments from the ground.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Whatever comes out of the peace talks in Moscow, so many ways the violence here is completely

disparate, it seems, to that sometimes late, it seems, diplomatic process.

We`ve seen the violence escalate ourselves over the past week. That town Debaltseve in which people are discussing the potential for a

humanitarian corridor to let civilians leave, well we were there over the last weekend, saw all the shells come in, people sheltering underground.

The next day that building they were sheltering in was hit.

Periodically people have tried to flee through the main humanitarian corridor, the one road that heads north towards Artemivsk (ph), but

sometimes it`s blocked from shelling and there is I think a real sense of a lack of coordination between Ukrainian and of course the separatist side

who they`re fighting there as well.

So, any ceasefire deal will be hard, frankly, to implement. There are so much heavy weaponry in use around that area.

But we are also seeing the de facto hiving off, frankly, of the separatist held areas. Behind me, is an office where if you are a

Ukrainian and you want to go into separatist held areas, or in fact leave them, you have to get a pass from this building behind me.

Now few people have managed to do that. It is a complicated, lengthy process. And when you cross that partition into separatist held areas, you

often go through Ukrainian border guards themselves.

So you get the feeling that Ukraine is perhaps willing to allow Russia effectively, or the separatists -- the separatist minds to deal with the

mess that is now Donetsk city itself, heavily shelled, much damage to infrastructure across that region.

And of course that will play into those peace talks.

The reality on the ground, Frankly, is that it`s going to be hard to imagine a situation where those separatist held areas choose to be governed

by Kiev again. The violence has been such -- and frankly Russian intervention has been so extraordinary to this point.

Those peace talks will of course try and leave Kiev comfortable with the resolution. But it`s the violence on the ground here that is

escalating and defining its own rhythm with increasingly confident, very well equipped, at times well disciplined separatist forces taking a lot of

territory. That`s going to be -- or the diplomats have to try and address not to try and renew a ceasefire agreed last year that never really took

off.

A very complicated task ahead for the French, German and Russian leaders.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, (inaudible), Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now earlier, our chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour spoke to NATO`s supreme allied commander in Europe. He

said separatists have been pushing the frontline further into Ukraine with strong support from Russian forces.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. PHILIP BREEDLOVE, NATO SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER: So we see a push pretty much all along the front, but in several areas to make it a

more contiguous area, we see a strong offensive in that.

We do see strong Russian-backed forces in the attack. We see support from Russian forces in key enabling areas, like air defense, artillery and

others. But it is a serious situation, especially in and around the town of Debaltseve.

AMANPOUR: Many people are now saying listen, please, let Ukraine defend itself. Ukraine is begging to be able to defend itself better. It is

clearly outmatched by the kind of personnel and equipment that Russia is sending the separatists and there`s a lot of conversation about now lethal

defensive weapons to the Ukrainians.

BREEDLOVE: So it`s important to agree with what you first said and that is that the Ukrainian people do have their right to their self-defense

and the tools that are out there for that self-defense include those that you speak of.

But we have to remember that the -- that the guiding principle is that the solution to this problem in Eastern Ukraine has got to be diplomatic

and political.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Now Moscow denies sending in troops and weapons and says it supports a peaceful resolution to the crisis in Ukraine.

Now CNN`s chief U.S. security correspondent Jim Sciutto has more from Kiev.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We have the French and German leaders arriving in Moscow shortly. They`re describing this as an effort to end a

war in Europe, end the horror on the ground, Germany`s Chancellor Angela Merkel says. The focus now is on resurrecting a peace agreement negotiated

in September. The trouble is they`re going to be sitting across the table from the man, Russian President Vladimir Putin who they accuse of breaking

that peace agreement.

No question here about who they assign blame to for an acute escalation on the violence on the ground just in the last several days --

that is Russia, that is President Putin.

So minor progress today. Ceasefires in some of the towns worst hit. But the worry is that with each of these smaller ceasefires, that the

frontlines move further ahead. That leaves more territory under, in effect, Russian control.

And two questions still not answered. One, will there be another round of economic sanctions against Russia, but also unresolved will the

U.S. send military aid to Ukrainian forces. That decision still has not been made.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Jim Sciutto there.

Now to Jordan and a promise for more attacks on ISIS after Thursday airstrikes in Syria. Now the air mission targeted ISIS arsenals and

training centers and was named Operation Moaz Martyr after the Jordanian pilot who was burned to death by the extremist group.

Now Jordan says it will keep pounding ISIS until it is destroyed.

Now the father of the slain pilot told CNN the king has promised to strike the ISIS stronghold of Raqqa in Syria.

Now there have been some unconfirmed reports of explosions in that city in the last few hours.

Now as for the battle on the ground Kurdish Peshmerga forces are the ones fighting ISIS in northern Iraq. They say that they`re making

progress, but desperately need more weapons.

Phil Black reports from Irbil just outside the battlefield.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Sunset falls in this corners of northern Iraq. This is is one of the front lines in the battle

against ISIS. Just over there, across that river, marks the start of what is still ISIS-controlled territory just on the edges of Iraqi Kurdistan.

Across the bridge, that village beyond.

From there, we are told, ISIS almost daily launches mortar fire, rocket fire, and small arms fire in this general direction. And

occasionally, once a week or so, we are told, makes a concerted effort to cross that river, the River Zab, to try and push back the Kurdish forces.

SAID MAHMOUD, PESHMERGA FIGHTER (through translator): A couple of nights ago, it was raining. They crossed the river by boat. We fought them

until morning. When our reinforcements arrived, we forced them to the other side of the river. Aircraft were attacking them.

BLACK: This sector of the battle zone, as the Peshmerga call it, is about 75 miles long, 120 kilometers, following the banks of the river.

Fortifications like this are dotted along it, and it`s from these positions that they now maintain their defense.

These Peshmerga fighters are so far the most effective ground troops in the international coalition, trying to force ISIS back from these lands.

They say they are proud to play that role, proud to be fighting with what they describe as the free will.

But when you talk to people here, they also speak of great frustration. They say they have the manpower, the commitment, the desire,

but they do not have the weapons they need to fight effectively.

SIRWAN BARZANI, KURDISH COMMANDER: What we need, we need heavy machine guns, we need weapons. We need far more cars. We don`t ask even about the

tanks. But we need the rest. We need all kinds of weapons, because we don`t have it, really.

BLACK: One of the real threats to the fighters around here are IEDs, improvised explosive devices, roadside bombs. Kurdish officials tell us

that they are responsible for as much as 70 percent of the Kurdish fighters` casualties. One thing they really want are armored vehicles,

armored personnel carriers.

Everywhere, you see people building them now, themselves, retrofitting armor onto civilian trucks, retrofitting turrets and shooting positions

onto other armored vehicles that they have captures from ISIS.

Now, as nighttime is really beginning to fall, this is the time when the Peshmerga, the Kurdish fighters, are feeling most alert, because this

is the time when ISIS, more often than not, tries to infiltrate, cross the line into Kurdish-controlled territory.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Phil Black reporting from Irbil there.

You`re watching News Stream. And still to come this hour, new clues in the crash of TransAsia flight 235. We are live in Taipei with details

from the plane`s black boxes.

Also ahead, Twitter reports mixed results in its fight against trolls. We`ll have details of a leaked memo from the company`s CEO.

And paying a high price for safe sex. Condoms are the latest item in short supply for Venezuelans. We`ll explain.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back.

You`re watching News Stream. And you`re looking at a visual version of all the stories we`re bringing to you today.

Now we`ve already told you about those urgent talks to end the crisis and the violence in Ukraine. And later, we`ll look at how Twitter`s CEO is

taking personal responsibility for online abuse.

But now let`s turn to Taiwan where investigators are learning more about the final moments of TransAsia Flight 235. Now they say the pilots

fought to fix problems with both engines before the plane crashed. It happened shortly after the flight took off.

Now there were 58 people on board. And so far, 35 people have been confirmed dead. Fifteen survived, many with injuries -- that`s according

to Taiwan`s official news agency. Eight people are still missing.

Let`s go live now to Taipei. CNN`s David Molko is there. And David, please walk us through what does the black box data reveal?

DAVID MOLKO, CNN CORREPSONDENT: Hey, Kristie, absolutely remarkable to have this much information just two days after the crash both from the

flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder.

The aircraft, the ATR-72, the twin turbo prop, designed to fly on just one engine. The problem here, according to investigators, there were

issues with both engines.

So let me walk you through it. Keep in mind all of this happened in less than three minutes. The plane was airborne for under three minutes.

The emergency, investigators say, started about 30 seconds after takeoff. There was an alarm, a warning related to the right engine. A

little bit after that, though, they say, there was some discussion in the cockpit about shutting down the opposite engine, the left one.

The flight data recorder shows that did eventually happen. I talked to one of the lead investigator, said did the pilots shut it down? Could

it have been something else? And his words he said, well, there`s no automatic throttle. So either somebody had to shut the engine down, or

there may have been something mechanical. They wouldn`t specify any further on that point.

Investigators say what happened then, neither engine was generating thrust. The pilots -- this is one we heard that call to air traffic

control, "mayday, mayday, engine flame out." According to the cockpit conversation flight data recorder information, they tried to restart that

left engine, the one that had been shut down. They were able to do so, but it was too late. We saw that harrowing video of the plane crossing the

highway and ending up on its back in the river.

Kristie, a few key other bits of information coming in right now, one from civil aviation authorities saying that pilots from TransAsia,

specifically ATR pilots, this type of aircraft, are going to have to undergo oral and written exams in the next few days, in the next four days.

If they do not pass, they will not be able to fly. We just got a response in now from TransAsia. They say they are fully cooperating with that

request. They also say they are bringing in an international aviation safety team to conduct a yearlong evaluation of the airline -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: So, new testing for its pilots in the wake of this terrible tragedy. And the painful search goes on for the victims. What`s the

latest on that?

MOLKO: Yeah, Kristie, truly a grim, painstaking search. Eight people remain unaccounted for this evening here in Taipei. We are down by the

river earlier today watching dozens of divers go through the water.

The reason it is taking so long, divers were saying, the visibility below the surface next to nothing. In places where it was shallow enough,

they were walking arm in arm actually linked together using their feet to feel the bottom of the riverbed to see. And that is actually how they

recovered one of the bodies there today. That search, of course, continuing, scaled down in the evening hours. We expect it to pick up

tomorrow -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: And you`ve also been hearing some incredible stories of survival. What can you share with us?

MOLKO: Yeah, certainly incredible stories of strength and resilience in the face of this tragedy when you see those images of the plane on its

back under the water. It is amazing that anybody survived. Of course, the fact that one of the emergency exits was above the water line certainly

helping that.

I`m in front of one of the hospitals actually here. Some of the survivors, including the taxi driver and his passenger are both here.

A little update on a few of them. The taxi driver told today by the hospital, by his doctors, he could get out of bed and more around a little

bit. We`re also getting an update, Kristie, on the family, one of the youngest, the 15-month-old toddler who was on that plane with his father

and mother. And you saw those pictures of him being carried in his father`s arms and then carried up the river banks in the arms of a rescuer.

He had a fever. He had some pneumonia. We are told the good news, according to a statement from his father Brian that he is out of the ICU.

Apparently the first thing he was asking for was to be held by his mother - - Kristie.

LU STOUT: What an extraordinary story there. And thank you for giving us the update on the toddler. Thank you.

David Molko reporting live from Taipei.

Now, one survivor says that he told some fellow passengers to unbuckle their seat belts shortly before the crash. And he believes that saved

their lives.

Now his story has caused a bit of controversy in the aviation world. Now CNN`s Randi Kaye looks at other flights when seat belts came into play.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(SCREAMING)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is what can happen 30,000 feet above the ground, chaos inside American Airlines flight 280

flying this past December from South Korea to Dallas when the Boeing 777 suddenly dropped over Japan, passengers panicked and pulled out their cell

phones to record the drama.

MARC STANLEY, PLANE PASSENGER (voice-over): All of a sudden, there was a big drop in service and materials. My iPhone, everything started flying

all over the place.

KAYE: Some screamed, others cried as the plane cried. Food and trash spilled into the aisles. The plane made an emergency landing in Tokyo. Five

people taken to the hospital. If the passengers and crew hadn`t been wearing their seat belts, it could have been much worse.

(on camera): The FAA says each year approximately 58 people in the United States are injured by turbulence because they`re not wearing their

seat belts. Between 1980 and 2008, the FAA recorded three fatalities and found two of the three with respect wearing seat belts even though the seat

belt light was illuminated.

(voice-over): In 2013, this Singapore Airlines flight from Singapore to London hit terrible turbulence just as flight attendants were serving

breakfast. The plane reportedly dropped 65 feet, injuring 11 passengers and one crew member. Food flew, coffee hit the ceiling. One passenger told

reporters anything that wasn`t tied down hit the ceiling as the plane dropped.

ALAN CROSS, PLANE PASSENGER: Suddenly it felt like we were in an elevator and somebody had cut the cable.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my god! Oh, it`s an accident.

KAYE: When Asiana flight crashed, a 16-year-old actually survived, only to be run over by an emergency vehicle responding to the scene. The

NTSB found had those two passengers been wearing their seatbelts, they likely would have remained inside the plane and survived.

Seat belts may help passengers survive, but in some cases, they can trap them in their seats. On Wednesday, this TransAsia Airways plane

crashed into the river shortly after take-off in Taipei. With the cabin already chest-deep in water, rescue crews found passengers tangled in their

seat belts, hanging upside down. One 72-year-old man said he helped save four people by undoing their seat belts. He says they would have died if he

hadn`t moved quickly.

Randi Kaye, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: You`re watching News Stream. And up next, we head to Venezuela where a basic form of birth control is running out of supply and

becomes impossible to afford. Now Venezuelans have trouble getting condoms when we come background

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

Now a semifinal match at the Africa Cup of Nations had to be temporarily suspended after violence erupted in the stands. Now Ghana was

leading host nations Equatorial Guinea near the end of the second half when fans from the losing side began tossing bottles and trash at Ghana fans and

players.

(BEGIN VIDEO CILP)

GARY AL-SMITH, SPORTS JOURNALIST: What happened was that the Ghana team was given a penalty early on in the first half, which angered the home

fans. And then from there, it went haywire. Ghana scored a second and then a third. But by that time, the crowd were incorrigible and every

decision the referee took was met with missiles, you know, beers and bottles of water and things that were being thrown from the northwestern

side of the stadium.

And there was also a small pocket of Ghanian fans in the stadium who were accosted and beaten, and in some cases stoned during the game. And

that was when the helicopters had to come in and disperse them because what was happened was that the Ghanian fans had to be moved from where they were

onto the field and the match had to be stopped.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: What a scene.

Now after the game, players from the Equatorial Guinea team apologized for the violence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EMILIO NSUE LOPEZ, EQUATORIAL GUINEA FORWARD (through translator): We are very proud of our performance. We had reached the semifinals, which is

historical for us. Congratulations to Ghana. And to say sorry to the CAF, to everyone for the incidents that happened today. We know that in the

football world, this shouldn`t happen. I apologize.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Now Ghana eventually won 3-0 and moves on to Sunday`s final against Ivory Coast.

It is the first time the team has reached the final in 33 years.

Now to Venezuela where economic troubles are affecting people in a very personal way. Now the government has cut many imports to make up for

money lost due to the collapse in oil prices. And that`s made some items difficult to get.

Now Rafael Romo reports that birth control has become extremely expensive, if you can find it at all.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORREPSONDENT: Shortages that in Venezuela now reaching the bedroom.

Venezuelan consumers complain condoms and birth control pills are nowhere to be found. CNN visited eight different pharmacies Caracas, the

Venezuelan capital. Four had no condoms at all, and the other four had limited availability.

This pharmacy worker says they used to sell several brands. Now there`s only one available and the price has more than doubled since

November.

The availability of condoms, this pharmacy manager says, went down in early January. They haven`t received any supplies in the last two weeks.

Venezuelans are turning to Medicalo Libre (ph), or free market, a website similar to eBay where consumers can buy or sell all kinds of

products.

A subscriber is selling a box of 36 condoms for 4,750 Bolivars, the Venezuelan national currency. That`s a whopping $755 at the official

exchange rate. It`s also 85 percent of the Venezuelan monthly minimum wage.

President Maduro announced last year the construction of a condom factory to supply the domestic market, but quality and production levels

are not meeting goals.

Public health experts worry the scarcity of contraception methods may have long-term consequences.

MAGDYMAR LEON, REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH EXPERT (through translator): What are the implications? One is that the individual the means to control the

decision to have children or not. That right is lost.

On the one hand, the ability to protect oneself from sexually transmitted diseases is also lost.

ROMO: A World Bank study shows Venezuela has the fifth highest teen pregnancy rate out of 21 Latin American countries. The HIV infection rate

is also a serious concern for public health analysts, a risk that can only increase unless Venezuelan authorities take measures to address shortages.

Rafael Romo, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now you`re watching News Stream. Ahead in the program, tackling trolls.

Now Twitter has a big problem and its CEO admits they are not doing enough.

And blending science education and games. We talk to the developer about what inspired him.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

Now the leaders of Germany and France are due in Moscow shortly to meet with President Vladimir Putin. They held talks with Ukraine`s

President on Thursday. Two leaders will present a peace proposal to end the conflict in Eastern Ukraine that`s already left more than 5,000 people

dead.

TransAsia Flight 235 had problems with both engines before it crashed, that`s according to officials. Taiwan`s aviation safety council says the

stall alert sounded just 37 seconds after the plane took off. At least 35 people died in the crash. Rescue workers are trying to find eight people

who are still missing.

U.S. officials tell CNN that Jordan has completed more air strikes against ISIS targets in Syria, the second round of attacks after learning

that the brutal execution of a Jordanian pilot. Amman has promised military action until ISIS is eradicated. And Jordan is one of a handful

of Middle Eastern nations taking part in the U.S.-led military coalition.

And the keenly awaited U.S. jobs report for January has just been released. The U.S. government says that the economy added 257,000 jobs

last month. That` better than the 233,000 jobs that economists had predicted.

We`ll have much more on the U.S. jobs report in World Business Today about 30 minutes from now.

Now, Twitter beat expectations this week with its quarterly earnings, but all eyes instead are in how it handles online abuse.

Now Twitter faces a backlash for not cracking down on internet trolls, those who use Twitter to unleash harassment and abuse.

In an internal memo obtained by The Verge, Twitter CEO says he has personal responsibility for the failure to protect users. He says this,

quote, "we suck at dealing with abuse and trolls on the platform and we`ve sucked at it for years. I`m frankly ashamed at how poorly we`ve dealt with

this issue during my tenure as CEO."

He says that they are going to start kicking trolls off Twitter and making sure that when they issue their ridiculous attacks nobody hears

them.

Now there had been plenty of high profile cases of abuse on Twitter. The vocal feminist and critic Anita Sarkeesian is frequently the target of

insults and death threats on the site. Just Tuesday, she tweeted this, quote, "on days like today as I watch the torrent of hate roll in, I have

to remind myself that this isn`t normal. It should never be normal. It`s absurd."

And Zelda Williams, the daughter of actor and comedian Robin Williams, she left Twitter temporarily last August after being sent mean-spirited

messages following her father`s suicide.

So the Twitter trolls could be scaring new users away and improving user growth is key for the company.

But its latest figures show that the site lost 4 million users from the previous quarter.

Now let`s bring in Nicholas Thompson now. He is the editor of the New Yorker.com. And Nick, that internal memo by the Twitter CEO, I mean,

rather harsh self criticism there. What do you make of it?

NICHOLAS THOMPSON, NEW YORKER.COM: It was an extraordinary memo. I mean, you rare see a CEO inflicting so much -- you know, so much criticism

upon himself and upon his company. He took it very personally.

Now he did say it`s his fault so that he wasn`t able to do this and that they`re going to take very quick corrective action.

So I think you can read a couple of things from this. One he does feel strongly about this. And, two, he`s acknowledging what everybody has

been saying for a long time. Twitter needs to do a much better job of doing this.

So, perhaps now Twitter will really work to limit trolling, though it`s a very hard thing to do.

LU STOUT: Yeah, and trolling is a major problem on the platform. Why is that? Why does Twitter struggle to get rid of the abuse?

THOMPSON: Well, a couple of reasons. Number one is Twitter is built on anonymity, which is a good thing and a bad thing. And when people are

anonymous and when it`s very easy to create an account. It`s very easy to create an account, say nasty things and have nobody be able to trace it

back to you in real life. So that allows people to do that.

Secondly, there`s something of a culture of trolling on Twitter. You know, sharp comments, nasty comments, a lot of them get retweeted, a lot of

them bring attention to the users.

So there`s a culture of doing this. And it`s just built up and built up.

Now, the other reason why it`s hard to stop is that it`s very hard to tell what is trolling. You know, what is a joke? What is hate? What

crosses the line? Do you ban anybody who says something critical? Well what kinds of conversations does that then stop?

Twitter`s initial perspective, and it`s a very San Francisco free speech perspective has been let`s let everything go. And that`s fine and

it creates a trolling problem.

The opposite end of a spectrum is let`s stop everything. We can`t have this happening. That, then, cuts back on a lot of conversations too.

So what Costolo has said is that he`s going to basically move where Twitter is on this spectrum of you know whether you ban speech or whether

you allow all speech. It`s a very complicated balance.

LU STOUT: You know, dealing with the trolls, major issue for Twitter. Another challenge for Twitter is just simply growing its user base. I

mean, Instagram has more users than Twitter. I mean, why is it struggling on this front?

THOMPSON: Well, in part because of the trolls, right.

They`re -- what Twitter has done is it`s attracted a relatively small -- I think it`s about 285 million people who are very active on the service

and use it a lot. And it has not been able to grow that number. And that has upset Wall Street and that is why its stock has declined over the last

year.

What`s very interesting about what Twitter is trying to do is they`re saying, hey, wait a second. We shouldn`t just be making money off these

people inside of our platform, our tweets show up everywhere. You know, they show up on TV. They show up on other websites. Let`s figure out how

to make money off of that.

So there`s a very interesting economic strategy going on with Twitter right now to try and expand the reach of its advertising and the ways it

pulls in money. And the sort of success there and the early optimism is one reason why despite some of the not so great numbers, Wall Street was

very -- was relatively enthusiastic about the earnings call yesterday.

So, Twitter is at a very interesting juncture right now.

LU STOUT: Yeah, indeed.

Nick Thompson, thank you so much.

Nick Thompson, of course, is the editor of New Yorker.com joining us live from New York. Until next time, take care.

Now you`re watching News Stream. And still to come on the program, taking learning to the next level. How a computer scientist came up with a

way to explain how the Earth works by letting you play with it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back.

Now plenty of video games allows you to create your own cities or even empires, but now a new app is taking that to the next level by letting you

play with the Earth and learn how our planet works in the process.

Now Earth Primer is a virtual geology textbook for the iPad. It teaches users about the planet by creating volcanoes, sculpting mountains

or raising the sea level.

Now earlier, I spoke with its creator Chaim Gingle and asked him how he came up with the idea.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHAIM GINGOLD, CREATOR, EARTH PRIMER: One of my big inspirations for this project is this book that I really loved when I was kid which is David

McCauley`s (ph) The Way Things Work. And I loved how he playfully and visually explains how so much of the world works. And as a computer game

designer I wanted to capture the playful explanatory power of something like that book, but combine it with the power of the computer to simulate

and make things interactive.

LU STOUT: You know, with Earth Primer, we can create volcanoes and sculpt mountains. And it`s amazing from a user`s perspective. I can only

imagine from your point of view as the developer it must have been very, very labor intensive. How long did it take you to create it?

GINGOLD: Well, it`s been in the works for over four years I`ve been working off and on. So there`s a lot of -- a lot of work in it.

LU STOUT: And have you tested Earth Primer with students? What do they make of it?

GINGOLD: People seem to have a lot of fun. It`s been really fun to watch the comments on internet and get feedback from people where they say,

you know, I got this thing and my four-year-old loves making Volcanoes and I`m also really enjoying it too. So I`m excited about how people are

talking about they`re playing it with their kids.

You know, kids are enjoying it by themselves and their parents and them together.

LU STOUT: And do you think Earth Primer is picking up a larger discussion among educators about why there should be more game-like aspects

to learning?

GINGOLD: I think there`s been a lot of interest in computers and education since the beginning of computers. And I think that it`s tapping

into this curiosity about how computers can be used in education.

LU STOUT: And do you find that educators and parents really like Earth Primer, but are some looking at the way that their students or kids

are using it and saying they`re having too much fun? How can fun be learning?

GINGOLD: Well, you know, I had this conversation earlier today with someone who -- so people wanted to review it. You know, in the sort of --

as an instructional -- as in this piece of instructional technology and it doesn`t really fit. It`s not an instructional technology. It`s an

experience where you learn by having fun, right.

I want people -- for me, I want people to have fun, get excited about geology, learn something about the natural world, and gain a sense of

wonder.

LU STOUT: Now the app is very beautiful, it`s very engaging, it`s really well designed. Do you plan to bring this approach to other subject

or other topic areas? And what would those topics be?

GINGOLD: You know, I think that that might happen one day. I need to finish my PhD first. But I`m really excited by the response that it`s been

getting, like some people from Khan Academy are very, very into this project. And I think that if -- my hope is that if this gets enough

positive attention, then people will look at it as a template and hopefully build, you know, the equivalent of, you know, a chemistry primer or, you

know, a physics primer.

You know, I own every single David McCauley (ph) book, you know, all the different subjects. Why not -- why can`t I make as many different

primer books, right, that are interactive?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now that was Chaim Gingold, the creator of Earth Primer. It`s on the App Store for the iPad right now.

And that is News Stream. I`m Kristie Lu Stout, but don`t go anywhere, world sport is up next.

END