Return to Transcripts main page

NEWS STREAM

Despite Missing Deadline, U.S.-Iran Continue Talks; Dozens of Yemeni Civilians Killed in Saudi-led Airstrikes According to International Red Cross; Iraqi Troops Liberate Tikrit; Unprecedented Handover of Power in Nigeria as Muhammadu Buhari Unseats Incumbent; The Trevor Noah Controversy. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired April 01, 2015 - 08:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


[08:00:15] KRISTIE LU STOUT, HOST: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. And welcome to News Stream where news and technology meet.

Now a major blackout in Turkey leaves commuters stranded, but what caused the enormous power cut?

And we'll look at how Andreas Lubitz's medical problems could have been overlooked before he crashed a passenger plane into the Alps.

And as China eases back on its one child policy, we'll look at the damage it may have caused.

OK, I'm Kristie Lu Stout here in Hong Kong. You're watching News Stream. We'll get straight to our top story in just a moment.

We have Hala Gorani with the very latest on the Iran nuclear talks. There is renewed optimism behind these talks. The deadline was extended to

today. The talks underway with the P5 plus Tehran nations.

We have Hala Gorani standing by. And Hala joins us now.

And Hala, with this sense of renewed optimism, will there be a deal in time?

HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the objective of this round of talks was never for a deal, it was for some sort of framework of

understanding, as they were calling it, in order to form the basis, to establish the foundation of a permanent deal, the deadline for which is at

the end of June.

Now it does appear as though the expectations are being lower here for what we might expect in Lausanne, Switzerland. Initially, we were expecting

perhaps more details, something a little bit firmer than what we might at the end of the day end up with, which is according to at least some

sources, some Iranian sources, might be just some sort of press statement or press release, even though the hope was for when this all began about

seven days ago was to come up with something a little bit more tangible that they said would form the basis for a firm agreement at the end of the

month of June.

Now, one of the important developments over the last 24 hours is that three of the foreign ministers here among the P5+1 have actually left Lausanne.

They have deputies or heads of delegations representing them.

Laurent Fabius, for instance, the French foreign minister is gone. Sergey Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, has left as well. So has the Chinese

foreign minister.

Now, behind me at the Beau Rivage palace, this beautiful building behind me, is where John Kerry and the foreign minister of Iran Zarif were meeting

this morning again, a little bit at the beginning of this afternoon. We understand that meeting has ended. And the big question is going to be,

Kristie, whether or not at the end of the day, an announcement, any kind of announcement, comes out of this building, comes out from the U.S. secretary

of state and the Iranian delegation in order to establish some sort of basis for talks going forward.

LU STOUT: Now Hala, there are a number of outstanding issues here. Uranium enrichment has been one of them, sanctions reduction, bomb

technology transparency. What does it look like -- which issue is emerging as sort of the key hurdle at this stage of negotiations?

GORANI: Well, it appears as though we're hearing as though sanctions are really turning into the big issue here. The Iranians have said for the

last number of weeks that they want all sanctions lifted at once, that they want, because they will be establishing a number of steps that would truly

scale back, they say, their Iranian program, that they would like for the P5+1 to show good faith as well in the lifting of UN security council

sanctions.

Now western countries have said, well, listen we can't really do that, because we need to be able to verify that you are complying with the terms

of any deal. So we're not going to lift all at once these UN security council sanctions that are very difficult to reestablish, by the way, if

there is failure to comply with the deal. It takes a very long time to go through the UN security council. And Russia, of course, has veto power

there.

You mention stockpiles, that's another big outstanding question. What do the Iranians do with existing stockpiles. They've said over the weekend,

we're not going to ship them outside the country. There are other ways to deal with that question, namely to reduce the potency of what they have in

terms of uranium in order to make it much more difficult to transform their stockpiles into a weapon.

So you have these outstanding questions. We're hearing, though, some positive signs we heard from the Iranians over the last 24 hours, even the

Russian minister Sergey Lavrov over the last 24 hours that there appear to be agreements on the key points.

But we've heard that in the past. Nothing has come out of it. We're still all standing out here, me and about 1,000 other members of the

international press corps here waiting for any word from the building behind me on whether or not we'll hear something today -- Kristie.

[08:05:17] LU STOUT: All right, Hala Gorani there live in Lausanne. Many thanks indeed reporting on this renewed optimism and this new deadline

approaching with these talks. Thank you very much indeed.

It has taken years for the talks to get to this point. So clearly, the Obama administration would prefer not to walk away empty handed.

Now CNN's Jim Acosta is at the White House. He joins me now live. And Jim, I mean, no deal at all would make it very difficult for President

Obama to ward of congress, but now there is this renewed optimism in the talks in Switzerland, so what's the current view in the White House right

now?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kristie, the White House is adamant that President Obama is not going to accept a bad deal with Iran. Last

night the president in fact held a video conference call with his national security team in the situation room with Secretary of State John Kerry and

Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz on the big screen. They're obviously leading the U.S. side of the talks in Switzerland.

And at this point, senior administration officials have told me they cannot say whether or not they will reach a breakthrough at these negotiations.

The one thing that the White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest made clear to reporters yesterday is that the U.S. is prepared to walk away from these

talks. He also said that the options, further sanctions and military action against Iran remain on the table should these talks fail. And

there's obviously a lot at stake for Secretary Kerry.

But we should point out for the president obviously as well. After these talks missed their deadline yesterday, the Republican National Commitee

here in Washington put out a statement saying the president had crossed another red line. So if you think that the Republicans are going to give

the president a break, even if he does what they want and walk away from these talks -- guess again. He's not going to get a break from the

Republicans here in Washington, Kristie.

LU STOUT: We know the White House's view on the talks. We know the view of certain congressional leaders there in Washington about these talks, but

what about the American people. Are Americans in favor of reaching a nuclear deal with Iran?

ACOSTA: You know, Kristie, they are. There was a Washington Post poll that came out just yesterday that showed that 59 percent of the American

people, according to this survey, support these talks and they would like to see the U.S. forge some kind of deal with Iran to constrain its nuclear

program.

On the flip side, though, we should point out the numbers of that poll also point out that Americans are skeptical that this agreement could actually

block Iran from achieving a nuclear weapon.

So I think that what that does show is that Americans are war weary, of course. They don't want to see the U.S. exercise that military option that

the White House is talking about and that they do want to pursue negotiations, but of course after decades and decades of mistrust and after

even going back to the hostage crisis in 1979, Americans are still deeply skeptical of the political leadership in Tehran and they're not sure

whether or not Iran will hold up its end of the bargain.

LU STOUT: All right, Jim Acosta, joining us live from the White House. Thank you, Jim.

Now the Israeli prime minister is calling on the international community to insist on a better deal with Iran on its nuclear program.

Now we heard from the U.S. House Speaker John Boehner and the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyhau standing together in Jerusalem earlier today.

Now Boehner, also a strong critic of these nuclear talks with Tehran, is visiting to underscore the strong bonds between the U.S. and Israel.

And today the International Criminal Court is officially recognizing the Palestinian Authority as a member. It means the ICC now has jurisdiction

over alleged crimes in the Palestinian territories. The ICC has already opened an inquiry, which could pave the way for a possible war crimes

investigation against Israel.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the inquiry an outrage.

Now let's turn to the crash of flight 9525. Now the head of Germanwings' parent company has promised to help the families of those who were on board

for as long as they need.

Now the CEOs of Lufthansaa and Germanwings visited a memorial near the crash site in the French Alps. Lufthansaa has now acknowledged it knew the

co-pilot suffered severe depression during his training in 2009.

Now all this happening as investigators deny reports that they have cell phone video of the final moments before the crash.

Now for more, here's CNN senior international correspondent Fred Pleitgen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): A chilling discovery purportedly pulled from the wreckage of Germanwings

Flight 9525. Cell phone video shot from inside the cabin purportedly captures the chaos and horror of the final moments before the crash. French

magazine Paris Match and German newspaper Bild say they've seen the video recovered from a memory card by an investigator, though a French official

says the reports are, quote, "completely wrong and unwarranted." The publications say from watching the video, it's disturbingly clear the

passengers knew what was about to happen.

[08:10:08] JULIAN REICHELT, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, BILD ONLINE: It's very shaky. It's very chaotic. But there are some things that are very much in line

with what we know about the investigation so far.

PLEITGEN: According to Bild and Paris Match, as the plane descends, screams can be heard with cries of "my God" in several languages. Metallic bangs

can be heard more than three times, which they believe is the captain trying to break his way back into the cockpit with a heavy object.

Towards the end, a heavy shake, reports say, as the cabin abruptly jerks, presumably as the plane's right wing scrapes a mountain. The screams

intensify, then silence.

Lufthansa's CEO, visiting the crash site this morning, to pay his respects. This just a day after the stunning revelation that Lufthansa knew Andreas

Lubitz had a history of psychological problems before he deliberately crashed the jet. In 2009, Lubitz told his flight training school he

suffered from, quote, "a previous episode of severe depression."

JIM PHILLIPS, GERMAN PILOTS ASSOCIATION: If they withheld information intentionally, that's not good.

PLEITGEN: Lufthansa says Lubitz provided that information in medical documents he submitted to resume flight training. After taking a break for

several months, he was cleared to fly shortly after.

CARSTEN SPOHR, CEO, LUFTHANSA AIRLINES: All the safety nets we are so proud of here have not worked in this case.

PLEITGEN: Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Cologne, Germany.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: That was CNN's Fred Pleitgen reporting.

Now Lufthansaa says it has handed over the documents to the Dusseldorf prosecutor to further help in the investigation.

Now you're watching News Stream. And still to come after almost a year of battle, Iraq's prime minister declares Tikrit liberated, but the fight

against ISIS is not over. We'll have a live report next.

And Nigeria has a new president. We'll have more on Muhammadu Buhari and this huge milestone for democracy in Nigeria.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back.

Now Iraq, pockets of resistance remain in Tikrit a day after the prime minister declared the city was liberated from ISIS control.

Now Tikrit had been in ISIS hands since June. Now a series of U.S.-led airstrikes played a key part of the military operation. The interior

minister says they expect the whole city to be fully liberated in the coming hours.

Now a CNN team has now arrived in Tikrit. Senior international correspondent Arwa Damon filed this report just a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We're in Tikrit city center, this is the main road that leads through it. The tank behind me right there

is one of those belonging to the Hashd, the popular movement units. You also have Iraqi police.

That building, we were told, had a sniper and a suicide bomber in it.

And over here, you see what was Tikrit's governorate (ph).

Now we were told that this is an example of one of the many buildings that ISIS fighters had booby trapped. Inside here, one of the majors was telling

us, that as one of their officers stepped onto the stairs, they detonated. The stairs themselves had been in lane with explosives. Two officers were

killed in here, three were wounded.

Further down, you can see smoke continuously rising. This is a scene that you see throughout the entire city. That is because, according to what we

are being told, there are so many IEDs, so many bobby trapped homes that in some cases, they cannot be diffused. Forces are being obliged to detonate

them in place. There are some homes that are actually on fire in the distance.

Now moving throughout the city, the devastation, the destruction is pretty widespread. We also were earlier inside the presidential complex. There,

what were Saddam Hussein's palaces, many of them bearing the scars of what seems to have been the aftermath of massive explosions, bombing by both

coalition and the Iraqi Air Force.

Now we are still hearing sporadic bursts of gunfire, explosions in the distance. We're being told that there are small pockets where ISIS fighters

are still holding out, not very large in number, though, at this stage, and the Iraqi security forces most certainly confident that they will

eventually be able to secure the entire city. As you were saying earlier, the prime minister already declaring victory. But given the widespread

devastation, given the costs that just this city alone has already paid in the fight against ISIS, well, this is pretty much what victory at this

stage looks like.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[08:16:30] LU STOUT: Now Arwa has been following the fighting inside Iraq for some times now. Volunteers have successfully fought ISIS in other

Iraqi cities, but their victories have come at a heavy price.

Now she recently spoke with the family of a promising student who traded his life at university for death in battle.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAMON: This is his nephew.

About to defend his master's thesis, he went to battle and died defending his country. Muhammed Hamid Ali (ph) has also buried two of his sons, one

killed by al Qaeda in 2007, other its successor ISIS.

The endless pain of continuing loss and hardship wearing down on the 71- year-old retired teacher. He taught and watched most of those buried here grow up.

"They defended their country, but we need someone to protect Iraq. We fought for Iraq," he pleads. "How can you watch us be slaughtered?"

150 dead, the most recent price this town, among the few Sunni areas to stand against ISIS, paid to break the terrorist's seven month siege.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We (inaudible) afraid. If we're afraid, they're going to kill all of us.

DAMON: Not much of a choice in the nation where devastation and death tend to repeat themselves.

The damage here was done when a vehicle was detonated right there and that damaged this building, this fighting position, so that's why that building

is damaged.

This was one of their key points, there were quite a few fighters that were killed here. And you can still see the traces of the defensive positions

with the old sandbags, the holes in the wall that they used to shoot back at the ISIS fighters as they continuously tried to advance.

There is pride in their victory, but also a sense of resignation common among many Iraqis, rebuilding once again, knowing war may not spare them,

or the ones they love, the next time.

Arwa Damon, CNN, Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: A moving and deeply human report on the cost of war.

You're watching News Stream. And still to come on the program, a challenger's victory: in Nigeria, a new president may have made history

through the ballot box, but he faces old challenges in his new job.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:22:48] LU STOUT: Coming to you live from Hong Kong, you're back watching News Stream.

Now Nigerians are celebrating what has been a smooth transfer of power. Now President Goodluck Jonathan has conceded defeat to his challenger

Muhammadu Buhari. Now Mr. Jonathan made the call well before the country's electoral commission confirmed the results. It is the first time that an

incumbent has been voted out of office.

Buhari says it's a testament to his country's progress after decades of political turmoil.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MUHAMMADU BUHARI, NIGERIAN PRESIDENT-ELECT (through translator): I know the ones who are (inaudible) to see who is good (ph), we are peaceful, we

can carry out a representative (inaudible). Number one, that we are a people who have embraced democracy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Nigeria faces serious challenges. And with Boko Haram militants on the offensive, it may be Buhari's military background that attracted so

many voters.

Michael Holmes has more on that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Muhammadu Buhari is a familiar name in Nigeria. The 72 year old a former military leader. He

seized people of the country in the early 1980s in what he described as a war on indiscipline, only to have it seized from him less than two years

later.

But Buhari stayed in the spotlight. He has run for president four times since the country moved to democracy in 1999 with three losses under his

belt, this election is very different.

Boko Haram is running rampant in Nigeria's primarily Muslim northeast, destroying villages and killing thousands, kidnapping many more.

Goodluck Jonathan, a Christian, has been criticized for not doing enough about the militant group's growth there and seemingly ineffective military

efforts have allowed much of the region to slip from his control.

Buhari, who is a Muslim from the norther may be just the man to bring the security bakc to the region.

BUHARI: It amounts (inaudible) opportunity, whether I was a former military officer or a (inaudible) through and through, one that is

insecurity of this country. Let's take the priority.

[08:25:08] HOLMES: He is armed with a military background and an army pining for change.

Backed by a united opposition and its newly formed All Progressives Party, many see him as the military answer to a military problem.

Michael Holmes, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And this programming note for you. In his first interview since winning the election, Muhammadu Buhari speaks with their chief

international correspondent Christiane Amanpour. That's exclusively on Amanpour. It's coming up at 7:00 p.m. in London and Abuja only on CNN.

Now an update on Tuesday's standoff in Turkey. The prosecutor who was held hostage in that courthouse siege in Istanbul has died.

The two gunmen who took him captive were kille during a shootout with police. now the Turkish president spoke to reporters on Tuesday night

calling the suspects terrorists.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TAYYIP ERDOGAN, TURKISH PRESIDNET (through translator); After gunfire was heard from inside, security forces stormed the room and according to the

information provided by the Istanbul police chief, two terrorists were killed, our prosecutor was shot three times in the head and twice in the

body.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Now the prosecutor had been working on the controversial case of a 15 year old boy who died from injuries suffered during anti-government

protests in 2013.

You're watching News Stream. And still to come, we go live to Jerusalem where two vested parties are closely watching this Iran nuclear talks in

Switzerland. Just ahead, a look at what kind of reaction we can expected to see from Israel if a deal is reached.

Also after the break, we've got the latest from the French Alps where recovery teams are retrieving the remains of victims from that Germanwings

plane crash.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

Talks on a framework agreement on Iran's nuclear program continue in Lausanne, Switzerland one day after a self-imposed deadline passed. The

foreign ministers of China, Russia and France have left the venue of those talks, leaving lower level diplomats in their place. Now CNN's Hala Gorani

says the timing of sanctions relief for Iran is among the remaining sticking points.

Now the CEOs of Germanwings and its parents company Lufthansa visited a memorial near the crash site of flight 9525. Lufthansa promises to help

the families of the victims for as long as they need.

A new president has taken the helm in Nigeria. Opposition candidate, the retired major general Muahmmadu Buhari has defeated incumbent Goodluck

Jonathan by about 2 million votes. Buhari will be sworn in at the end of May. And one of the biggest challenges he faces will be ending Boko

Haram's campaign of terror.

Dozens of civilians are among the casualties after a week of Saudi-led airstrikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen. The United Nations says 62

children are among nearly 200 people killed. According to a Saudi source, almost all air defense systems in Yemen have been destroyed.

Now Israel's prime minister has been outspoken throughout these Iran nuclear talks. And he's fofered more criticism today saying that world

powers should strive for a better deal with Iran. What does he mean by that?

Let's go to Oren Liberman for more. Oren, what does he mean by a better deal?

[08:30:55] OREN LIBERMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kristie, at this point Benjamin Netanyahu has realized he can't stop a deal, he can't prevent a

deal, so he's been pushing on specific points on this deal. He wants t he deal to limit Iran's nuclear infrastructure. And he wants to see fewer

centrifuges, fewer research, no underground facilities, that's where he's been focusing his efforts on this point trying to limit the specific points

of this deal and make it more favorable to Israel and more tough on Iran moving forward, Kristie.

LU STOUT: And Oren -- Oren Lieberman joining us live from Jersualem. Many thanks indeed for that.

Now let's go back to the crash of Germanwings flight 9525. Now the CEO of Lufthansa visited a memorial site near the crash where he thanked recovery

teams. And he promised to help the victims, the families of the victims for as long as they needed.

(BEGIN VDIEO CLIP)

CARSTEN SPOHR, LUFTHANSA CEO: We are just very, very sorry that such a terrible accident could have happened in Lufthansa where we put so much

focus on safety. We are sorry for the losses that occurred. And there's just no words to express this.

(END VIDEO CLIP

LU STOUT: Now the CEOs visit came a day acknowledged it knew the co-pilot suffered severe depression during his training in 2009, but when he faced a

barrage of questions from reporters, he walked away without answering them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SPOHR: Merci beaucoup. Merci.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sir, when did you find the 2009 email from Lubitz...

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Spohr, why did it take you so long to publish the email?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is no questions and answers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Now recovery teams in the French Alps say that they are beginning to look for passengers' belongings. Now hat includes cell

phones.

Now police say some have already been recovered, but have not been analyzed. And they dispute medial reports that the flight's final moments

have been caught on video.

Now meanwhile, an eyewitness to the crash is telling his story. Now here's CNN's Karl Penhaul.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KARL PENHAUL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Just above the hills of this sleepy farming villages, shepherd Jean Varrieras says he witnessed the

final seconds of flight 9525.

"I saw the plane heading down along the valley and I said my god it's going to hit the mountain. I ducked my head and said that's going to be

spectacular. But then it seemed to veer left, then after that I saw the smoke," he says.

He was walking his dogs when the Airbus slammed into a ravine 10 kilometers, just over 5 miles, northeast of here. That was a week ago.

Ruggest mountain terrain, freezing weather and gusting winds have made recovery operations treacherous. But rescue chief captain Yves Naprachu

(ph) believes the most painful task may soon be complete, way quicker than initially forecast.

"We may still have two days work to recovery body parts still at the site, then we'll begin recovering personal belongings. By Sunday or Monday, we

should have gathered up the bodies and possessions," he says.

The priority now is shifting to finding the plane's flight data recorder still missing. Investigators have a hunch it may be buried.

"Once all the body parts are removed, we'll begin to rake to remove gravel and pieces of soil. Everything will be raked to see if the black box has

been buried," he says.

Until now recovery teams had to chopper in to the crash zone, but on Tuesday for the first time a team of 35 rescuers, including investigators

and experts mountaineers drop in by 4x4, thereby speeding up their efforts.

Back to base, that's another day combing for wreckage and remains comes to a close.

Captain (inaudible). He's telling me that today the winds were up to about 80 kilometers an hour, about 50 miles an hour. And at some point it was

just too tough almost to stand up, that's why his crampons and his ax came in handy.

Like the other men, he's taking this job very personally. He vows he'll do his best to bring all the remains down from the mountain.

"The families have the right to the truth and to find their loved ones, that's why we're giving 200 percent. We're working for the families," he

says.

Back on his farm, Jean Varrieras still shaken up.

"You just can't imagine something like that. One day it will come back to haunt me and give me nightmares. I'm never catching a plane again," he

says.

For him and the families of the dead, that nightmare may never fade.

Karl Penhaul, CNN, France.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:37:38] LU STOUT: Welcome back.

Now Amazon wants to make sure its customers never run out of toilet paper or their important household items. Now the company has a new device.

It's called dash. It's a small wi-fi enabled button that let's customers ad detergent and various other products to their Amazon shopping cart with

just one click.

One the buttons can be stuck or hung on appliances, cabinets or anywhere else in the house: coffee, juice, paper towels, even dog food, some of the

other items you can also order from the Dash. And if you're an Amazon Prime member and you want one, well Amazon is handing them out for free.

And by the way, Amazon insists that this is not an April Fools joke.

Now the man replacing Jon Stewart as host of The Daily Show hasn't even taken over the popular program yet, but he's already caught up in

controversy. Sara Sidner shows us how some of Trevor Noah's old jokes on Twitter are being labeled offensive by many who want to know more about

him.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA SIDNER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Comedy Central is hoping this 31 year old comedian from South Africa will be the new king of news

satire like Jon Stewart. Trevor Noah has only been on the Daily Show three times.

JON STEWART, HOST, DAILY SHOW: We're always excited on the show to find new talented voices that can contribute to our program. So we are very

pleased to welcome our newest contributor from South Africa, Mr. Trevor Noah.

SIDNER: But within 24 hours of the announcement that Noah is the next Daily Show host, he's gone from comedy darling to demonized for some of his

old jokes on twitter.

May 2014, "behind every successful rape billionaire is a double as rich Jewish man #beatsmydreidel"

In 2009, "Almost bumped a Jewish kid crossing the road. He didn't look before crossing, but I still would have felt bad in my German car."

And in 2011, "oh yeah, the weekend, people are going to get drunk and think that I'm sexy, signed fat chicks everywhere.

LIZ SHANNON MILLER, INDIAWIRE: The fat chicks of the world don't need to be reminded that they're seen as less -- seen as inferior to not fat

chicks. That kind of humor doesn't necessarily play in the Daily Show context.

SIDNER: Thus the Twitter firestorm. New Daily Show host Trevor Noah is callous Jew basher on Twitter. The Anti-Defamation League chimed in as

well, wishing Noah success, but adding in part "we hope he will not cross the line from legitimate satire into offensiveness with jokes calling up

anti-Semitic stereotypes and misogyny."

Some media critics pounced saying Trevor Noah is on the wrong side of the line between funny and offensive.

[08:40:12] MILLER: Honestly, I was more offended by how the jokes weren't that good.

SIDNER: But he has plenty of supporters who enjoy roasting the media.

@ScottEWeinberg tweets, "morons dig through comedian @TrevorNoah's back tweets, discover lots of jokes. What a scandal. And CNN is on it."

One critic says Noah's biggest problem, most Americans just don't know who he is.

HOWARD BRAGMAN, REPUTATION.COM: This guy 24 hours ago was a relatively unknown guy in the United Sates. He'd only been on Jon Stewart's show

three times. And now he's going to be heading really the flagship show for Comedy Central. And you can expect a great deal of scrutiny.

SIDNER: Comedy Central is standing by their man, saying Trevor the talented comedian with a bright future.ms012050

Trevor Noah himself tweeted " to reduce my views to a handful of jokes that didn't land is not a true reflection of my character nor my evolution as a

comedian."

Welcome to America, Trevor, where the biggest sin is not being funny.

The good news, even Jon Stewart bounced back from Death to Smoochy.

Sara Sidner, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Good point, Sara, there,

Now last year Google sent everyone on a Pokemon quest and this year for April Fools there's someone running around famous landmarks. If you use

Google Maps, you might come across this special pin. And once you click on it, you can play Pac Man on the streets of your city.

Now the icon on the bottom also starts the game.

Now other companies are joining in on the pranks. The shoe brand Mismoose (ph) released a selfie shoe promo video. Samsung unveiled the world's

first smart knife and ended their blog post with a cheeky happy April Fools.

And that is News Stream.

END