Return to Transcripts main page

NEWS STREAM

3 Million Nepalese Estimated To Need Food Aid; Exclusive Interview With South Koreans Detained by Pyongyang; With Less Than a Week Before Elections, Parliament Race Closer Than Ever; Gunmen Killed After Opening Fire At Prophet Mohammed Cartoon Exhibit in Texas. Aired 8:00-9:00A ET

Aired May 04, 2015 - 8:00   ET

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

[08:00:14] ANDREW STEVENS, HOST: I'm Andrew Stevens in Hong Kong. Welcome to News Stream where news and technology meet.

South Korea demands Pyongyang release its citizens being held as spies. CNN has exclusive interviews with the accused.

Plus, two gunmen in Texas shot dead after they opened fired outside a Prophet Muhammed art exhibit and cartoon contest.

And CNN takes you to a place in Nepal that some aid trucks still can't reach.

We begin this hour with an exclusive report inside North Korea. CNN gained access to two of four South Korean prisoners who are being held in

Pyongyang, most on accusations of spying.

One detainee has a U.S. green card and is said to be a student at New York University.

Well, South Korea is demanding the immediate release of its citizens. A Canadian is also being held in Pyongyang.

Well, CNN's Will Ripley is the only correspondent given permission by Pyongyang to interview the South Korean prisoners. But as he reports, it's

difficult to tell if their words are, in fact, their own.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Just after landing here in Pyongyang, the North Korean government officials who we're working with flagged us to

the detainment of a South Korean citizen who is a permanent resident of the United States, that 21 year old NYU student Won Moon-joo.

We've request access, we've requested to speak with this young man who is accused of trying to cross illegally into North Korea from China. We

don't believe that he's had any contact with his family yet, although NYU has reached out to the South Korean embassy to try to get more information.

We're working our sources on the ground as well.

But we were given access, exclusive access to two other South Korean citizens accused by the North Korean government of being spies.

Will Ripley with CNN.

(voice-over): Tension fills the room in this North Korean hotel.

(on camera): How are you?

(voice-over): Kim Kuk-gi's faith could hang on every word he says.

"I wasn't tortured or interrogated", he says describing his arrest on charges of spying for South Korea. "I had to gather information", he says,

"because I was told to do so."

The former missionary made a full confession claiming he made half a million dollars working for South Korea's NIS, the National Intelligence

Service.

(on camera): The South Korean government denies that you're even a spy.

(voice-over): "The only way I can prove it is by speaking to you now", he says. "And North Korea never takes innocent people and accuses them of

being spies."

The North Korean government is giving CNN exclusive access to Kim and another accused South Korean spy Choe Chun-gil.

"I worked as a spy for the South Korean government for three years", he says.

The stories of these South Korean citizens are strikingly similar. Accounts CNN cannot verify. They say they were recruited in northern China,

close to the border, one of the rare places where North and South Koreans live and sometimes do business together.

"There are so many people just like me recruited by the South Korean NIS, most of them are working in a third country", he says, meaning China.

Both men insist they're being treated humanely. Nothing like the United Nations' recent report on human rights, claiming North Korean

prisoners are often beaten, tortured, executed.

"The outside world speaks negatively about the human rights issues here, but I'm a living witness to the reality", he says.

(on camera): To be clear, this is all coming from you. You're not being told to say this?

(voice-over): "No one told me to say this."

(on camera): Has anybody told you what to say? (voice-over): "That's a very absurd question", he says. "I'm simply expressing myself."

Choe's eyes swelling with tears reveal fear and uncertainty. Both men await trial and sentencing. Convicted South Korean spies face a life of

hard labor or worse.

(on camera): How are you feeling right now? Are you afraid?

(voice-over): "I am," he says. "But I'm determined to accept my punishment. My last message is for my daughter. I love you."

Spies or not, both men must face the hard truth: they may never go home again.

[08:05:01] RIPLEY: Right now these two men are not being kept in prison cells, they're being kept in what are described as small housing

units under guard, but allowed to go outside during the day, allowed to read newspapers and watch television.

We don't know if those are the same conditions of the 21-year-old NYU student, but we'll continue to try to gather as much information as we can

here in Pyongyang

Will Ripley, CNN, Pyongyang, North Korea.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STEVENS: Israel's president says the violent protests his country saw at the weekend reflect, quote, the pain of the community crying out over a

sense of discrimination. Ethiopian Jews took to the streets to protest a video which showed an Israeli soldier of Ethiopian descent being assaulted

by police. The soldier says he was simply trying to cross the street when he was stopped.

Well, one of the policemen seen in the video has now been sacked.

Let's go to CNN's Oren Lieberman. He joins us now from Jerusalem. And he's just been speaking with the Israeli soldier who was beaten by

police in that video that went viral -- Oren.

OREN LIEBERMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORREPSPONDENT: And it was a fascinating conversation. I got to talk to him for a few minutes. And I

asked him what happened in that video, because all we see is video. There is no audio attached to that.

He says he had what he thought was a very simple conversation trying to cross the street to get to his house about a block away. The police

officer wouldn't let him cross and he thought it would remain calm, that is to say the soldier thought it would remain calm, but it escalated.

He told the police officer there is no need to use force. I don't want this to be a fight, but the soldier there says it quickly escalated,

another police officer joined in. One has been sacked, the other police officer was a volunteer who has been removed from the volunteer force.

Meanwhile, the soldier has become a bit of a sensation here because that video has gone viral. It is the tipping point here for a number of

protests that have followed in that wake of that video.

I asked the soldier how did you feel at that moment when two police officers, two Israeli police officers, were beating you, an Ethiopian

Israeli soldier in uniform? Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEMAS FIKADEY, ISRAELI SOLDIER (through translator): There's no way to explain the feeling. Only god and I know how I felt.

First of all, it's degrading, because you're a soldier, a soldier who is serving the country. You are given all yourself and it is degrading.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIEBERMAN: It's important to note that these protests that we've seen in Jerusalem and in Tel Aviv are not simply about this video. This video

was simply the spark, it was the tipping point. There have been long simmering tensions here in Israel in the Ethiopian Jewish community since

they arrived here about 20 or 30 years ago. They feel they've been discriminated against by police and authorities. So that was all right

under the surface.

This video was the spark that started these protests.

There were Thursday night protests in Jerusalem. About 1,000 people. Those remained fairly calm up until the very end where there were some

smaller clashes.

The big one, however, was in Tel Aviv just last night. It started in the afternoon, 500 or 600 people blocking off some of the major roads in

Tel Aviv. But police were happy to say, look, as long as this remains peaceful we are OK with it. And it did remain peaceful for hours.

It looked to me like both sides showing a tremendous amount of restraint.

But as the protesters moved towards Rabin Square, which is the central square of Tel Aviv, that's where the clashes erupted, that's where it broke

out into clashes between protesters and police.

Protesters were throwing stones. They broke windows. This according to police. They damaged a few vehicles. Meanwhile, police tried to

disperse the crowd using water cannons, tear gas, stun grenades, officers on horses. It still took hours. There were still protesters in Rabin

Square until early in the morning, so it took a long time to break up the crowd. That's a symbol of how much tension there is. Prime Minister

Benjamin Netanyahu who met here today just a short time ago with the soldier and with leaders of the Ethiopian community to try to ease those

tensions and to try to solve some of the problems that are at the heart of this issue, not just video, but this simmering tension that's been right

under the service.

Andrew, that sort -- if there is a silver lining to these protests, that would be it, that these protests could be a catalyst for change here

in Israel for Ethiopian Jews.

STEVENS: And it sounds like much needed change as well.

Oren, thanks so much for that. Oren Lieberman joining us live from Jerusalem.

Well, new information coming to us as Texas police work to identify two men who opened fire at an exhibit of cartoons depicting the Prophet

Mohammed. Well, police are getting leaders on who is behind the attack. A security officer was wounded and both gunmen were killed.

Organizers billed the even as an exercise of free speech. Critics, though, denounce it as anti-Muslim.

Well, let's get the very latest now. Ed Lavendera joins us from Garland, Texas. And Ed, nearly twelve hours after that shooting, what sort

of details are we getting, if any, about who those gunmen were?

ED LAVENDERA, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we have still not been told officially who the gunmen are and the suspects are, but we do

know that we have learned from FBI officials in the state of Arizona in the Phoenix, Arizona area that FBI teams are at an apartment complex there from

what we're told that is an apartment connected to these two shooters that they are from that Phoenix, Arizona area. So that is information just

starting to develop so we'll continue to follow that here over the course of the next few hours.

But here in Garland, Texas as you see behind me the shooting scene took place just behind this row of cars that you see there. An FBI teams,

now that the sun has come up here in the North Texas area, FBI teams coming through the streets looking for evidence. And I can tell you that the

bodies of the two suspects, the two gunmen, are still laying there in the streets.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[08:10:40] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just need everybody to remain calm, be orderly. I'm going to take you into the auditorium a little further away

from the front of this building. All right?

LAVANDERA (voice-over): A deadly scene in a Dallas suburb. Two gunmen shot dead after opening fire and wounding a security guard outside an event

center where a cartoon drawing contest of the Prophet Muhammad was being held. Law enforcement officials tell CNN the entire shooting lasted about

15 seconds.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We prepared for something like this.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): The security officer, Bruce Joyner, was treated at the hospital for an ankle gunshot wound and released.

This video shows the moment gunfire erupted, an interview with the president of the organization sponsoring the event cut abruptly short as

security rushed the scene.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm sorry, we've got to stop this right now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shots fired. Shots fired.

(CROSSTALK)

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Witnesses describe the chaotic turn of events.

TOOYA ROBY, WITNESS: There were military or policemen everywhere running.

JOHN ROBY, WITNESS: Sounded like boom, boom. Then next thing, they're telling us get inside, get inside. All the officers, of course, were

drawing their weapons.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Attendees were escorted to another room in the conference center where the crowd sang "God Bless America."

(SINGING)

LAVANDERA (voice-over): The event, which included a $10,000 top prize for the best caricature of the Prophet Muhammad, was organized by the

American Freedom Defense Initiative, a controversial group which claims they are against Islamic jihad, while others call them a hate group.

Any physical depictions of the Prophet are considered blasphemous to many Muslims and have sparked violence around the world. Sponsors of the

contest billed it as a free speech event. The event featured keynote speaker and Right-wing Dutch politician Geert Wilders who is on an Al Qaeda

hit list for wanting to ban the Quran in the Netherlands.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAVANDERA: Andrew, CNN had a producer inside the event when the shooting took place. He described to us a very serious scene of law

enforcement presence leading up, then, throughout the course of the event security that was -- the security measures that were put into place. In

fact, we learned later on as well that law enforcement also had a SWAT team in the back of the building for just a scenario like this. And obviously

last night that SWAT team was needed here at the scene as two gunmen opened fire on this event -- Andrew.

STEVENS: It also sounds like a lot of members of the local community didn't want that to take place either.

Ed, we'll have to leave it there. Thanks very much for that update. Ed Lavandera joining us live from Garland in Texas.

You're watching News Stream. Coming up, we'll take you to the epicenter of Nepal's deadly earthquake. A CNN team met villagers who are

struggling to get by more than a week after the disaster. We have an exclusive report next.

And after the Nigerian military rescued women and children from Boko Haram camps, former captives recall what went through -- what they went

through at the hands of violent militants.

Plus, British voters head to the polls in a few days from now. We'll be live in London for more on the closest UK election in decades.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:15:26] STEVENS: Welcome back. It's been more than week since a powerful earthquake shook Nepal. More than 7,300 people are now confirmed

dead. And officials warn the death toll is likely to rise.

For survivors these are very difficult times.

The United Nations estimates more than 3 million people need food aid and many need it immediately. And as the rainy season approaches,

(inaudible) forced to live outdoors are now at risk of infectious diseases.

As near the epicenter of that quake entire villages reduced to ruins.

Well, Arwa Damon made her way to the decimated village of Barpak (ph), which is struggling to survive with little or no aid.

Here is her exclusive report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Massive boulders block the road, what would have been a lifeline for so many shut down. We

continue on foot. Throughout, the surreal juxtaposition of the stunning natural beauty of the landscape here and the power of its force. Uprooted

tossed trees, open gaping crevasses.

The porters were just telling us to not all go up at exactly the same time because this stairway walkway is not as stable as it used to be.

The porters also warning of constant tremors and falling debris.

We reach Mandre, seemingly deserted. Unlike other villages we've been to over the last few days, there are no shelters pitched next to homes,

just the haunting remains of lives forever altered, or forever lost.

This the grave site for three young women. A traditional necklace hands from a stick, a sign one of them was married.

A unit of Nepalese troops arrives, with very basic tools, an attempt to excavate the cadavers of livestock buried under the rubble.

But no aid, other than three tents that were air dropped days ago has made it here.

There are few villagers around, making quick trips to wash clothes or salvage what they can.

Everyone else is out in the plains," Mikhol says. They feel safer there and we soon find out why. Suddenly, the entire mountain shakes.

There was just a sizable tremor. It was absolutely terrifying, sent people in the village still running down. I cant imagine what the actual

earthquake must have been like.

As we uneasily move on we see three landslides in the distance and run into Sunil Bishokerma.

Did you feel the shaking?

SUNIL BISHOKERMA/EARTHQUAKE SURVIVOR: I am very afraid and whole body shock.

DAMON: He and his brother are also trying to make their way to Barpak. His aunt her family live there.

BISHOKERMA: Nothing, we haven't any communication.

DAMON: Oh with the whole family. You know nothing about the whole family.

BISHOKERMA: Yeah. Yeah.

DAMON: We arrive in what is left of Barpak together. The air is filled with clanking and hammering as people take on rebuilding themselves.

Even here, at the earthquake's epicenter, humanitarian aid has been inexplicably slow to arrive.

Indian army medics treat an injured child. Her head wound infected and needs restitching. The mountainside is dotted with the white stones marking

the graves of those who perished.

Sunil asks people if they have news of his family. A woman says, yes, a girl died there.

The road leading to where his relatives lived a cascade of debris.

BISHOKERMA: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

Thank god, they are OK.

DAMON: Moments later, we find their tent, his aunt runs out and throws herself into Sunil's arms. As he tries to reassure her that at least

they are alive.

Tears pour down his cousin's face. Here, the enormity of what the nation has endured evident even on the faces of those too young to fully

understand.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[08:20:15] STEVENS: Just desperate still in Nepal.

Well, Arwa is now back in Kathmandu and joins us live. It's interesting, Arwa, you described the slowness of that international aid to

a riot in places like Barpak is inexplicable. What is the government saying about it?

ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we spoke earlier today to the minister of information who is also the government spokesman.

And he got quite defensive saying that they, the government were also the victims of this earthquake, that they were doing what they can, that Nepal

was a very resource poor country. But that being said, there's been millions of dollars of aid sent here, support coming in from various

international organizations. There are so many entities on the ground and yet there seems to be this severe lack of coordination and aid is getting

caught up the bureaucratic and logistical failures.

Now matter what the government is doing, up until this stage, it clearly is not enough. Yes, it's challenging to reach those areas, but it

is not impossible.

We spend about five days in the area. And throughout all of it, the only people who we saw distributing aid, Andrew, were civilians. They were

people that had come together, friends, local groups who had just thrown whatever they could into the back of trucks. And they were getting it out

to these remote areas to a certain degree.

So if they can do it, there most certainly can be a way to put a plan into place immediately that would allow for the government to get all of

that international aid that is in country already out to these areas. It is simply unacceptable.

STEVENS: Absolutely. And the international aid has the lifting -- the heavy lifting equipment. They've got the helicopters and the like.

Arwa, but moving on from that, from what you've seen what did the people in those towns -- and let's face it Barpak is just one of, what,

perhaps hundreds/ What do those people most need right now?

DAMON: They need food. A lot of them have lost their food supplies and the earthquake is buried under the rubble of their homes.

But they also need tents, proper tents, these makeshift tents that we're seeing are not long-term, they're not a long-term solution. They are

a tarp , a few sheets of plastic at best. And these individuals are not going to be able to rebuild their homes, rebuild solid structures above

their heads for quite some time now. So they need sturdy, durable tents that can last them for, say, about a year or so until that rebuilding

effort can really take place.

We are, as you were mentioning earlier, going to be approaching the heavy rainy season. It is still bitterly cold in a lot of these areas.

They need mattresses. They need blankets. Remember, they've lost everything. They need warm clothing for the children.

The don't need, interestingly, water, at least not in the areas that we were in, because there is a lot of natural water springs that exist

there already.

But critical at this point in time is food and shelter, Andrew.

STEVENS: All right, Arwa, thanks so much for that. Arwa Damon joining us live from Kathmandu, the Nepalese capital showing scenes there of

devastation in those little villages up near the epicenter of that quake.

And remember, we are now more than one week on.

And if you'd still like to help those victims in Nepal, we do have a list of organizations that are working on the ground. You can find that at

CNN.com/Impact.

Still ahead here on News Stream, hundreds of abducted women and children have been freed from the terrorist group Boko Haram. Details of

their harrowing rescue after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:26:18] STEVENS: The view looking across Victoria Harbor to Downtown Hong Kong.

Welcome back. You're watching News Stream.

Nigeria says that it has conducted a successful rescue operation and another strike against Boko Haram militants. The military says this photo

shows the destruction of Boko Haram camps in the Sambisa forest and that children and women held as hostages were freed.

John Vause has some of the stories from those who have been saved in recent days.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A renewed offensive by the Nigerian military has Boko Haram on the run, losing territory and bringing to an end

a terrifying ordeal for almost 700 women and children.

"When the military jet went past, we heard shots," this woman says. "The Boko Haram fighter said we should stand in front of them as human

shields, but we refused.

When the bullets stopped, soldiers loaded the survivors on to pickup trucks and brought them here, a government refugee camp in the eastern town

of Yola (ph).

The freed prisoners given food, medicine, a safe place to rest.

"We mothers were hungry, so we couldn't produce breast milk and so the children were hungry, too, but it's OK now," says this mother.

Since the start of last year, Amnesty International says Boko Haram has kidnapped more than 2,000 women and girls, while older boys and men are

usually killed in front of their families. The women and girls are forced to work as cooks, fighters or sex slaves, many of them die from starvation

and disease.

This woman held out hope by listening to a secret radio. I would go hide in the forest at night and listen to the news with a few of my

friends," she says.

When she learned that soldiers were retaking towns from Boko Haram, she says "We were praying day and night for them to come save us. And if

we die in the Sambisa forest, then Allah bless our souls."

But none of those rescued appear to be from the group of 200 Chibok schoolgirls. Their abduction last year drew worldwide attention to the

insurgency, which has killed thousands and forced 1.5 million from their homes. The Nigerian army says it's confident Boko haram is now cornered,

protected only for now by a ring of landmines in a remote corner of the Sambisa forest.

John Vause, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STEVENS: So many choices and just a few days left now to decide: British voters are still sizing up the candidates ahead of Thursday's

election. We'll show you just how close it is when we come back.

And the UK also gripped by another pressing issue waiting to find out what the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will name their new princess. We'll

reveal some of the picks.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:31:32] STEVENS: I'm Andrew Stevens in Hong Kong. You're watching News Stream where -- and these are your headlines.

Two gunmen who were killed while attacking a controversial exhibit in Texas have been traced to an apartment complex in Phoenix, Arizona. The men

opened fire outside an exhibit showing cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed in Garland, Texas.

In Tel Aviv, violence at a protest at Ethiopian Jews upset over discrimination. 43 people were arrested and dozens were hurt, mostly

police. The anger boiled over after a video turned up online that shows an Israeli soldier of Ethiopian descent being assaulted by police.

The death toll from Nepal's earthquake has risen to more than 7,300. And rescue teams have yet to reach some badly damaged villages. The United

Nations estimates that more than 3 million people are in need of food aid.

South Korea is demanding an immediate release of its citizens from North Korea, CNN gaining exclusive access to two South Korean prisoners

while being detained on accusations of spying. In all, four South Koreans are being detained in Pyongyang, including one 21-year-old who is a

permanent U.S. resident and a student at New York University.

More than 6,700 migrants have been rescued at the Mediterranean Sea this weekend, according to the Italian Coastguard. There are more SOS

requests from migrant vessels and rescue operations are ongoing.

Well, new information is coming in a bout the two men who opened fire in Texas at an exhibit of cartoons depicting the prophet Mohammed. Let's

join our partner network CNN USA now for the latest.

(SIMULCAST WITH CNN USA)

[08:35:27] STEVENS: OK, just getting update there from Ed Lavandera as you saw in Garland, Texas about the two gunmen who were killed in that

shootout with police over the -- just outside the what was described by the promoters as a free speech exhibition. It was where cartoons of the

Prophet Mohammed were being drawn in a contest. Ed Lavandera saying that the bodies, both the men were wearing bulletproof vests. Of course we'll

continue to cover that story in the hours and the days ahead.

Well, with just a few days now before the general election in the United Kingdom, there's no clear winner in sight. Polls suggesting the two

leading parties, Labour and the conservatives, are neck and neck.

With more now on what could be the closest race in decades, let's go to CNN's senior international correspondent Nic Robertson. He joins us

live from London.

Getting down to the wire now, Nic, can we expect any fireworks, anything new to come from this campaign?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we certainly had some new campaign tactics over the weekend, if you will. There's no

clear leader emerging at the moment. It really does seem to be neck and neck, but we are getting some new and leading ideas, if you will, on how to

convince the electorate here that the politicians are sincere, that they should be trusted. And we certainly saw this in spades over the weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTSON: The battle for votes in Britain is going biblical.

ED MILLIBAND, LABOUR PARTY LEADER: These six pledges are now carved in stone. They're carved in stone.

ROBERTSON: Less than four days to the polls, opposition leader Ed Milliband.

MILLIBAND: I want the British people to remember these pledges, to remind us of these pledges.

ROBERTSON: The race too close to call. And here's the prime minister campaigning at another race, a bike race. His focus, though, firmly fixed

on its own finishing line 10 Downing Street on Thursday.

DAVID CAMERON, PRIME MINISTER OF BRITAIN: It is no exaggeration to say that Britain will be making an historic choice. Ed Milliband wants us

to take a sharp turn to the left.

ROBERTSON: What's becoming clearer by the day, the birth of a royal baby this weekend is looking like a far simpler affair then forming a

government at the end of this week. Opinion polls have the two major parties neck and neck, many people haven't made up their mind which way to

vote, an no party is expected to win an outright majority. It's going to be another coalition.

This Sunday, talk shows, the last before election day, battle lines being drawn. Nick Clegg in coalition with Cameron today setting out what

it will take to continue.

NICK CLEGG, LIBERAAL DEMOCRAT PARTY LEADER: Before I address anyone else's red lines, I would address mine.

ROBERTSON: The other potential king maker, Scotland's political queen, Nicola Sturgeon, head of the Scottish National Party, most likely to

lend her support to Cameron's challenger, Milliband before pulling Scotland out of the UK.

NICOLA STURGEON, SCOTTISH NATIONAL PARTY LEADER: We would seek to use the clout of SNP MPs standing up for Scotland, making Scotland's voice

heard, but also arguing for (inaudible) alternative to continue to (inaudible).

ROBERTSON: Everything about this election is different to previous, not just Scotland and the expected SNP megavictory bagging almost every

seat north of the border at Milliband's expense, but the smaller parties getting a bigger voice like the Green Party and the UK Independence Party,

which wants to pull Britain out of Europe.

So much confusion so close to the elections, Britain's cashcow, the London city markets, getting the jitters. Sterling dipping against the

dollar.

Just days to go. And whoever wins may be the last prime minister of a truly united kingdom.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTSON: And Andrew, just to give you an idea of how close the polling is, the latest Ugov voting intention poll has Conservatives at 34

percent, Labour at 33, that's pretty close. There as margin of error of about 3 percent in there. The UK Independence Party at 13 percent, and the

Liberal Democrats 8 percent, that is quite low for them compared to what we've seen in recent years, Andrew.

STEVENS: All right, Nic, thanks very much for that. What is a very, very close election. Nic Robertson joining us from London there.

You're watching News Stream. We'll be right back in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:41:27] STEVENS: Welcome back.

Well, she's greeted the world, but the world is still waiting to find out how to greet her. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have yet to

announce the name of their latest royal bundle of joy. Speculation is, though, swirling. Bettors guessing that Britain's newest princess will be

called either Alice, Charlotte or Olivia.

And finally for Star Wars fans around the world May the Fourth be with you. Well, the date is more than a catchy pun for popular science fiction

movies, the phrase was actually created in 1979 when the Conservative Party wished Margaret Thatcher a good luck on her first day in office. It soon

caught on, though, and now every May 4, fans around the world celebrate Star Wars day and of course dress up for the occasion.

This year, fans are hyped up in anticipation of December's Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The two trailers have had over 60 million views

combined on YouTube since their release.

And that's it from News Stream. I'm Andrew Stevens. Don't go anywhere. World Sport with Alex Thomas is just ahead.

END