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Houthis Say They Shot Down Coalition Airplane; Hundreds of Migrants Rescued off Indonesia; Pope Francis to Visit Cuba; Slavery at Sea; Protests Over Burundi Election; White House Story about Bin Laden Untrue?; Highlights of "CNN WORLD SPORT". Aired 8-9p ET
Aired May 11, 2015 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN HOST (voice-over): I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong and welcome to NEWS STREAM.
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STOUT: Yemen's people wait for relief as fighting intensifies a day ahead of a planned cease-fire.
Held captive on a ship for six years: we begin a special look at slavery in the fishing industry in Asia.
And the Chinese company that took its employees on holiday, all 6,000 of them.
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STOUT: We begin the hour in Yemen, where Houthis say that they have downed an F-16 fighter jet. The rebels claim they brought the plane down on
Sunday as the Morocco reports it lost contact with one of its fighter jets.
There was still no word on the fate of the crew. For its part, Saudi Arabia says the coalition launched some 130 strikes in just 24 hours of the
weekend. This is what remains of the home of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, which was hit on Sunday. And all this comes ahead of a cease-fire
that is set to start on Tuesday.
Senior international correspondent Nick Paton Walsh is monitoring developments out of Yemen. He joins us now actually from Beirut.
And, Nick, first let's talk about this claim that the Houthis rebels, they say that they shot down an F-16 fighter jet.
Any more details on this?
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SR. INTL. CORRESPONDENT: Well, at this stage, the Houthis are using on social media and one of their TV stations just to try
and corroborate that particular claim. It does seem to be the case. Moroccan state media has said they're not aware of the fate of the pilot
because the accompanying jet was unable to see if that pilot was able to eject. But Houthi officials are saying to us that, yes, in fact, he was
killed in that particular incident.
Now seems to be over the area of Sa'dah, that's on the southern side of the Saudi border of Yemen, a key focus of airstrikes in the past 24 hours
because it is the Houthi stronghold, where the Saudis say many of their leaders are holed up, where much of their infrastructure is based. And
they clearly think this uptick in military activity, despite the use of the Houthis as the downing of this F-16 to try and recalibrate the succession
of who's winning on either side here, this is certainly a Saudi bid to intensify military operations ahead of that cease-fire -- Kristie.
STOUT: There has been an uptick in activity inside Yemen. We've learned that the home of Yemen's former president was leveled on Sunday.
What happened?
WALSH: It seems to have been hit by multiple strikes. And of course the question here is, well, why civilian infrastructure being hit. Well, the
Saudi response to that is these are being used as command and control areas. So as always for their campaigns, the difficulty for the force
doing the bombing is to ascertain quite what they can hit and to seal their military objectives whilst not causing large amounts of collateral damage.
Now lots of intense criticism of the Saudi Air Force for its activities over Sa'dah, particularly the short window established for civilians to
vacate that area and it's a huge obviously province, hundreds of thousands of people living there who've got nothing to do with the fighting because
as we've seen across Yemen, since this campaign began. But leaflets were dropped hours ahead of a deadline, saying now it's time to get out.
So obviously as we edge towards this cease-fire, it's commonplace to see militaries raise their level of activity for more intensively because
people are trying to create the reality on the ground it may have to live with for days if not weeks ahead after the hostilities actually end.
The key issue always is, though, with this kind of violence flares up, does it actually jeopardize the idea of a cease-fire going forward? Can that
cease-fire actually hold or is it just a flurry ahead of that silence -- Kristie.
STOUT: The violence has flared and meanwhile the Saudi king has backed out of a summit in Washington due to take place during that much-anticipated 5-
day cease-fires to start on Tuesday.
Why did the Saudi king back out?
WALSH: On the surface, he's saying he's got too much on in Yemen, which to some degree is justifiable. There are about (INAUDIBLE) cease-fire,
humanitarian cause is a large amount of aid the Saudis say they want to try and get in. Obviously their adequate deputies there you think to run this.
But I think many analysts are looking at his decision to stay away from these Camp David accords, a hugely symbolic meeting, at least for the White
House, but they wanted to bring in their Sunni Gulf allies around, shore up promises of security assistance,
[08:05:00] reassure them publicly ahead potentially of the technical details being finally conquersized (ph) of a nuclear deal with Iran, assure
their Gulf Sunni allies that they still got a strong cooperation with them.
But one of the key figures, whose presence was lauded by the White House as recently as Friday is simply said he's not coming. I think many are
interpreting that as a gesture and that the Saudis are unhappy, both with the general tone of Washington's rapprochement with Iran but also with the
kind of security assurances they're getting from Washington ahead of this particular meeting.
They seem to want significantly more than Washington's willing to give; Washington, of course, caution a delicate balance. They're too close to
the Saudis. That might hurt the Iranians, jeopardize the nuclear deal. But I think unfortunately what's Barack Obama had hoped would be a clear
moment of symbolism at Camp David surrounded by his Gulf Sunni allies is going to be certainly hamstrung by the absence of a key player there --
Kristie.
STOUT: CNN's Nick Paton Walsh.
Of course, all lines on this story out of Yemen, many thanks indeed for your reporting.
And now to a rising wave of refugees leaving Bangladesh and Myanmar by sea. Just in the last few hours, reports that migrants have landed on the shores
of Malaysia and separately hundreds are rescued off the northern Indonesian coast.
As senior international correspondent Ivan Watson reports, many of them are likely Rohingya Muslims fleeing persecution in Myanmar.
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IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Indonesian and Malaysian authorities say more than 2,000 migrants have been rescued at sea
in a period of just 48 hours. More than 1,000 of those migrants landing. At the Malaysian tourist resort island of Langkawi, and the rest apparently
arriving on the other side of the Malacca Straits around the Indonesian district of North Aceh.
Indonesian officials tell CNN that many of the migrants include women and children and they were exhausted after apparently being adrift at sea for
days with very limited supplies of food and water.
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is calling this a dramatic development and part of a larger trend that the UNHCR has been documenting
with some 25,000 people embarking on this dangerous journey by sea just in the first three months of this year alone. And that's an increase of more
than two times the number that the UNHCR documented in the same period of 2014.
The UNHCR says 40-60 percent of the people making this dangerous journey come from the Rohingya Muslim community in Myanmar. That's an ethnic and
religious minority that is largely denied citizenship and equal rights by the government in Myanmar.
Now we traveled in the fall of last year to Myanmar's Kayin State, where we met some of the more than 100,000 Rohingya Muslims who have been made
homeless by a simmering conflict in that region in the last couple of years. People who said that they had been evicted from their homes and
confined to displaced person camps. Every person we talked to said they knew somebody who was planning to or who had previously embarked on this
dangerous naval journey to escape the difficult conditions there in Myanmar.
The UNHCR says at least 300 people were killed, died according due to difficult conditions on that perilous maritime voyage in the beginning of
2015 and increasingly it appears that smugglers are turning away from over land routes to the naval route. The UNHCR says that these migrants suffer
extortionary rates at the hands of smugglers and they're also subjected to human rights abuses by the smugglers including rape -- Ivan Watson, CNN,
Hong Kong.
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STOUT: And turning now to another refugee crisis, the one in Europe. Now the E.U. Commission is set to propose a new quota system requiring all E.U.
countries to take in a certain number of asylum seekers. And this comes as more and more African migrants are traveling across the Mediterranean to
reach Europe.
Germany backs a new proposal but the U.K. staunchly opposes the plan.
You're watching NEWS STREAM. Still to come on the program, exposing slavery at sea. CNN's latest "Freedom Project," one fisherman explains how
he was held captive and was forced to work as a slave for six years.
And a special meeting between Pope Francis and the Cuban president: why Mr. Castro says he is still impressed with the head of the Catholic Church.
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[08:11:31] STOUT (voice-over): Welcome back. You're watching NEWS STREAM. And you're looking at a visual version of all the stories you've got in the
show today.
Now we've already told you about the fighting that's escalating in Yemen and a little later we'll bring you the first part of our "Freedom Project"
investigation into slavery in the fishing industry here in Asia.
But now to the Cuban president's visit to the Vatican.
Pope Francis was a key figure in pushing for closer diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba. And on Sunday, President Raul Castro
was at the Vatican and personally thanked the pope for his efforts.
Mr. Castro was very impressed at that meeting, saying, quote, "that the pope continues to speak like this, sooner or later I will start praying
again."
Now Raul Castro's trip becomes the head of the pope's planned visit to Cuba later in the year. Let's bring in Ben Wedeman who is in Rome more on the
story now.
And, Ben, so Raul Castro apparently has a new outlook after meeting with Pope Francis. Tell us more about the meeting and just how the pontiff
inspired him.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the meeting, Kristie, took place 55 minutes yesterday, 55 minutes is actually a lot of
time. Normally the pope doesn't give heads of state that much time.
Afterwards, the Vatican put out a statement describing the meeting as "very cordial," but it wasn't until Raul Castro went to meet with Matteo Renzi,
the Italian prime minister, afterwards and held a joint press conference where it became clear just how impressed he was.
He, during this press conference, for instance, he stressed that he, like his brother, Fidel, both went to Jesuit school. And he said that when the
pope goes to Cuba in September, that he said, "I will go to all of his masses with satisfaction."
Went on to say that "I left the meeting this morning extremely moved, very impressed by his knowledge, his wisdom, his modesty and by all his
virtues." And he referred to what he also said during that press conference. But let's listen to the entire statement he made.
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RAUL CASTRO, PRESIDENT OF CUBA (through translator): I said that if the Pope continues to talk as he does, sooner or later I will start praying
again and I return to the Catholic Church -- and I am not kidding. I am a Communist. The Cuban Communist Party did not allow it. But it is being
allowed now. It is a step forward.
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WEDEMAN: So that definitely is a bit of an about-turn for a man who, of course, for much of his adult life, has been a disciple of Karl Marx, who
famously discourage religion as "the opiate of the masses" -- Kristie.
STOUT: Incredible quote there from the self-proclaimed Communist, inspired by the pontiff -- Ben Wedeman reporting live for us from Rome, thank you.
The CNN "Freedom Project" is turning its spotlight on the issue of slavery at sea.
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SAMART SENASOOK, TRAFFICKED FISHERMAN (through translator): I was about to jump into the sea, to kill myself. My friend held me back. Otherwise I'd
be dead by now.
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STOUT: A fisherman, he was duped into forced labor and he recalls the horror that he endured for years. Now his ordeal is sadly all too common
even now.
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STOUT: The CNN "Freedom Project" is our ongoing mission to bring an end to modern-day slavery and human trafficking and this time our focus is slavery
at sea. Now there are some 4 million ships in the global fishing fleet and three-quarters of them operate in Asian waters; 90 percent of the workers
on board their ships are small-scale operators from developing nations. Roughly 10 percent of the population makes its living in the seafood
industry.
In a recent crackdown on illegal fishing, the Indonesian government called in fishing ships and have found thousands of men being forced to work as
slave labor. One fisherman who just made it home after six years in captivity shared his story with Saima Mohsin.
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SAIMA MOHSIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Who is here is tired of this reporter?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Speaking foreign language).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking foreign language).
MOHSIN (voice-over): "I am," almost every single one replies.
More than a dozen men crammed into a room, filmed by Thailand's Channel 3. Just one fisherman is allowed out to buy food. The TV reporter convinces
him to let them in.
It's a makeshift jail, a virtual cage in the basement of a fishing company on an Indonesian island. Local police say they've nothing to do with it.
The fishing company detaining says they've been here only two days for questioning. But these men say they've been here three months.
The team takes photographs, notes down names; they'll try to find their families to tell them they're still alive. The jail is on Benjina Island
in Eastern Indonesia, one of many places where Indonesian authorities have recently intercepted boats on charges of illegal fishing.
The vessels are often manned by fisherman from across Southeast Asia, many of whom say they're being used as slave labor.
Further west on Ambelau Island, a boat was forced into port and the entire crew held for questioning. Among them, Samart Senasook, now back home in
Thailand, he recounts his nightmarish experience on board the ship. He tells me how he barely slept between long shifts on deck. He tells us he
injured his hand; he thinks the bone was broken or tendon
[08:20:00] torn, but was forced to carry on working. He and the others say they were often beaten by the captain.
SENASOOK (through translator): He kicked and punched me and my nose and mouth were bleeding. I still have blood clots in my teeth and my jaw hurts
every time I chew.
MOHSIN (voice-over): In desperation, he wrote an open letter to the Thai prime minister, asking for help, signed by dozens of others from
neighboring countries. That got him freed from Indonesian custody and flown to Thailand in March.
Samart says he wanted to escape but told us the captain held on to all the workers' documents. Besides, he says, the captain gave him a seaman's
passport with a false name on it, a paper document that can easily be forged.
SENASOOK (through translator): I kept thinking about my family. There were times I was about to jump into the sea to kill myself. My friend held me
back. Otherwise I would be dead by now.
MOHSIN (voice-over): He breaks down. We give him a moment, but six years of abuse has taken its toll.
SENASOOK (through translator): I felt so desperate. I have to move solid frozen blocks of fish 20-25 kilos. Sometimes it was thrown and hit my
body. I was forced to work in a freezer room for long hours. I wanted to die. My body couldn't take it anymore. I cried countless times.
I was doing it for the money. They said, "You could have big money." But I ended up in debt, at nowhere.
MOHSIN (voice-over): A commission seat to the agent, a payment for bringing the workers to the boat, paying money to be used as slave labor.
Samart has finally got new documents. He's sleeping in a labor rights group's office with the help of activists here. He's fighting a legal
battle for compensation. He won't name the company, fearing he won't be paid, or worse, a backlash.
Activists estimate potentially there could be up to 3,000 trafficked victims working on boats in these seas.
PATIMA TANGPRATYAKOON, THE LABOR RIGHTS PROMOTION NETWORK (through translator): Initially we found homeless Thais on the islands with no food
and then we started to find graves of perished sea crew. And it turned out there are so many on Benjina Island alone we found more than 70. So we
decided to do our best to bring back those who are still alive before they die just like the others.
MOHSIN (voice-over): As well as Thai fishermen, there are workers from Cambodia, Lao and Myanmar. And, sure, Samart's story isn't new. We heard
it so many, many times before and that is the tragedy. It still goes on.
SENASOOK (through translator): Many of my friends died in Indonesia. And their graves were marked with the wrong names. Like, if I died, my grave
would not bear my name but it would bear someone else's.
I'm speaking to you on behalf of many lost souls who could not come home.
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STOUT: A moving and powerful report there with CNN's Saima Mohsin.
Now she joins me live from Bangkok and, Saima, slavery at sea is affecting thousands of individuals. It must be stopped.
What is the government there in Thailand doing to end this type of forced labor?
MOHSIN: Well, the harsh truth, Kristie, is until very recently not a lot, not enough. And that's why we've seen scenes like that and heard stories
from Samart. So what they've done very recently, just at the beginning of April, is start to talk about measures to prevent further trafficking
happening, measures like a port out, port in inspection. Now what that will be is people going on board the ships, checking who's on board. Are
they who they say they are? Are they being forced to work under false names? How many are there when they go out? And how many are they and are
they the same people when they come back in?
Another very important measure that they're planning to implement hasn't been done yet, by the way, Kristie, is to install VMS, a vessel monitoring
system, a kind of GPS if you like on board boats that implementation is key. Will it happen -- Kristie.
STOUT: And also what, if anything, is being done to warn and to educate the fishermen? The unsuspecting fishermen that could be trapped in forced
labor at sea?
[08:25:00] MOHSIN: As far as I'm aware, there haven't been any kind of publicity campaigns to raise awareness amongst the general public, but
there are certain problems that the government says it's planning to run later in the year to try and reeducate its own staff. And that seems to be
a problem as well. Its own staff needs to understand the seriousness of this and the fact that they need to address this.
But one of the problems we found, Kristie, here is that there are so many different departments, so many different government ministries involved
there seems to not be one coherent message running right through the Thai government down to the people -- Kristie.
STOUT: I'm just so stirred and so moved by the report that you filed of this man, six years a slave at sea. And he was one of the lucky ones
because he managed to escape -- Saima Mohsin reporting, live for us from Bangkok, thank you so much for that, Saima.
Former captives like the ones you just met face a long transition to normal life and activists say that governments are not making it any easier. Our
"Freedom Project" series continues on Tuesday. Saima tells us it comes down to how former slaves are viewed in countries like Thailand.
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MOHSIN (voice-over): We contacted the police officials involved in taking Samart and other fishermen's statements. Two officers told CNN there are
many cases that aren't being recognized as victims of trafficking. They added, "This doesn't mean it's the end of the investigation and things may
change."
But for the time being, Samart and many others like him aren't considered victims.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STOUT: And you can watch her report right here on NEWS STREAM this time tomorrow.
Coming up on NEWS STREAM, protesting Burundi's president: hundreds of women fill the streets of the company's capital to defy the government and
voice their opposition to his bid for a third term in office.
And blowing the lid off the Osama bin Laden raid: we'll speak to a journalist who says the U.S. lied about the circumstances of the death of
Osama bin Laden.
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STOUT: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. You're watching NEWS STREAM, and these are your world headlines.
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STOUT (voice-over): Houthi rebels in Yemen say they shot down an F-16 fighter jet that was taking part in a Saudi-led coalition airstrikes over
the weekend. As a Morocco reports it lost contact with one of its fighter jets. There is still no word on the fate of the crew.
And this comes just ahead of a five-day cease-fire set to begin on Tuesday.
Almost 900 people have been rescued from boats off the northern coast of Indonesia and many of them are thought to be fleeing persecution in
Myanmar. Separately more than 1,000 migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh have landed on the coast of Malaysia.
Eurozone finance ministers are meeting on Greece's ongoing debt problems. The group of leaders are deciding whether to help Athens by granting the
indebted nation more loans. And it comes just one day before Greece is due to make another $830 million loan repayment to the IMF.
The African nation of Burundi has been hit with violent clashes in recent weeks as demonstrators protest the president's plan to run for a third term
in office. In response, East African leaders are set to hold a summit in Tanzania this week to discuss a solution to end the unrest in Burundi. Now
for more on the story Robyn Kriel joins me now from Nairobi, Kenya.
And, Robyn, I understand that hundreds of women there in Burundi, they have taken to the streets to speak out against the president.
Why do they feel compelled to defy the government over the president's reelection plans?
ROBYN KRIEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, yesterday, Kristie, when these women took to the streets about 300 as you said, it was Mother's Day. And what
they said was that they were protesting because they're mothers and that their children were dying in the streets. We know of at least 19 people
who've been killed in violence on the streets. Some as a result security forces, others as a result of vigilante violence from both the opposition
parties and the current ruling party.
Yesterday the Mother's Day was the reason that they took to the streets yesterday and indeed we have heard that there are ongoing protests even
today in some neighborhoods in the capital, Bujumbura.
STOUT: And Robyn, I'm trying to get just the mood inside the country. We know that the government has denounced the protesters, calling them
terrorists over a dozen people have been killed in the protests.
Do the demonstrators do the people fear for their safety and security?
KRIEL: Yes, a number of people fear for their safety and security. That's why we've been seeing so many refugees, about 50,000 in total, streaming
across various borders into Rwanda and neighboring countries such as Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
But also I understand an enormous amount of tension on the streets, barricades set up by protesters to try to stop the police from entering
certain neighborhoods, we've heard that police have been firing live ammunition in some cases, water cannons, tear gas to try and disperse these
protesters.
There's been a ban on protests by the president as you said, him calling them terrorists, which is why the women went out yesterday because so many
men have been shot and killed in the violence. Perhaps the women thought that they would have a lighter touch and that police would be slightly less
violent with them, as they have been on the men.
STOUT: And the issue at the heart of all this violence is there is a two- term limit in Burundi.
So why does the president feel entitled to run for another term?
KRIEL: Well, it's been much confusion actually; the constitutional court, in fact, ruling on behalf of the president, saying that he did have -- that
he was able to stand for a third term as it was because what the president and his ruling party say is that his first term in office was because he
was voted in by the parliament as part of the Arusha agreement agreed after Burundi's civil war, not by the general public. That's the president's
side of things.
However, what the opposition party and critics are saying is that he had -- that this is a violation of the constitution, that a president's only
allowed to stand for two terms and that the United States as well as the African Union and indeed some of the East African states have also
condemned his running for a third term, despite the fact that the constitutional court, which some have state could have been manipulated,
had ruled in his favor.
STOUT: All right. CNN's Robyn Kriel, reporting for us on the political violence that has gripped Burundi, many thanks indeed for your context and
insight there.
You're watching NEWS STREAM right here on CNN. We'll be back right after this.
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STOUT (voice-over): Coming to you live from Hong Kong, you're back watching NEWS STREAM.
Now the story was gripping from the moment we first heard it four years ago this month: Osama bin Laden had been killed by U.S. Navy SEALs who swept
in under the cover of darkness and raided his hideout in Pakistan. Now the details of how it all happened are being questioned by a distinguished
journalist who says that much of what we've been told is simply not accurate. Now that journalist is Seymour Hersh and he presents an
alternative version of what happened the night bin Laden was killed in an article for "The London Review of Books," and he joins us now live from
Washington.
Seymour Hersh, thank you so much for joining us here on CNN International. I've seen your report online but please walk our international audience
through your report, the main points of it.
How did the White House lie about the operation that killed bin Laden?
SEYMOUR HERSH, JOURNALIST: Well, I don't know what -- when we say "lie," I don't know if the president knows he's not telling the truth. He's just
been given a briefing and he's relying on other people's information.
So I'm not calling the president anything. I'm just saying that the story that came out was not true. And simply the main facts are that we didn't
do it by ourselves; we did it with the help of the Pakistani leadership, the general who led the army, a general named Kayani, and the general who
led the intelligence service then, a general named Pasha. Both were ended up working with us to help get bin Laden. Otherwise, you have a sort of a
strange story, the two groups of American SEALs come into a compound 40 miles or so from Islamabad in a country with which we're not at war and go
in and whack a guy, kill bin Laden and no security, no cover, no air cover? They just went in by themselves. The story had problems from the very
beginning. The Pakistanis made it possible. We worked with them.
Our SEALs are great. They did a good job. The president didn't order the raid. He did say let's do it. They killed him. After that, everything is
sort of not true.
STOUT: You report that there was no firefight at the compound and the burial at sea, that never happened.
HERSH: Well, what happened is the way it was described is that there was - - that they -- the SEALs -- one of the -- in a memoir by -- written by a man named Bissonnette, he writes that there was an intense firefight and
they killed some couriers that were allegedly there, there was shooting back and forth. I'm sure bullets were fired because soldiers laid down
ground fire when they come into make sure. But there was no fire -- the only victim was a woman shot in the leg even by haps by a spare -- a spray
bullet in the spare -- you know a bullet that just got away from one of the soldiers.
It was a walk-in. They landed; they went into the -- they walked in with the intelligence services of the Pakistanis helping us into bin Laden's
prison, if you will. They went up some stairs. If you remember the story, we had to blow doors, sealed doors. The sealed doors were there because he
was a prisoner. And we went in and shot him, period. End of story.
STOUT: You're reporting that Pakistan's ISI, the intelligence service, knew as early as 2006 that bin Laden was in Abbottabad, Pakistan, and that
the U.S. paid a reward to former Pakistani intelligence officer to find him.
He was kept a prisoner by Pakistan, as you said. If that's the case, why? Why did Pakistan keep him prisoner in that compound in Abbottabad?
HERSH: Well, I really don't know every answer to that. I'll tell you some of the most obvious answers, one of which, of course, is the Saudis, as I
write in the story, were very anxious that the Pakistanis not share him with us. The Saudis did not want an American intelligence team
interviewing bin Laden to find out who gave him money back in 2001 at the time of 9/11 because I assume that -- everyone can just assume that a lot
of money was flowing all the time from various Saudi princes into bin Laden's pockets to underwrite what he was doing. So that's one obvious
thing.
The other one is once you have him, you have leverage if you're the Pakistani intelligence and military service. You have leverage over the
Taliban both in Afghanistan and Pakistan, who support bin Laden and also the various jihadist groups in both countries. They have leverage. You
can say to these -- and this -- all of this I wrote. There's a lot of reasons to keep him there. There was a walking; by that, I mean somebody
from
[08:40:00] the Pakistani intelligence service did come in, did get a large chunk of that reward. And for the longest time, we were thinking of trying
to do it on our own but we realized the president was always asking questions and we realized that we had no choice but to go to the Pakistanis
and tell them, look, we know the game is up. You've got this guy, hiding in plain sight right there, right in the middle of a resort town basically,
in the foothills outside of Islamabad, Pakistan's capital.
And from there, we got cooperation totally.
STOUT: Now this is a startling report, a bombshell report.
Seymour Hersh, what can you tell us about the source and why this is surfacing now?
HERSH: Well, the story makes clear there is a primary person quoted by me. But I've been in this business a long time. I've done many stories with
that primary person. But I also know how to vet information. And the story makes clear that I was able to vet this information, not only with
Americans who are knowledgeable, who are still inside, so it's very dicey to talk about that. There's still in the government. But also inside
Pakistan, and I do quote a Pakistani general named Arani (ph) on the record -- and this is after an exchange back and forth of phone conversations and
many emails that every word was said carefully and vetted by him to the point that of course we knew. We -- the former general of the head of the
ISI said we in the community understood there had been a walk-in and we understood that our government was helping you do this.
So I had a lot of backup information for what I wrote. It wasn't just a question of relying on one person, obviously.
STOUT: And the White House, have you reached out to them and what are they saying about your report?
HERSH: No comment. They're giving guidance apparently. I understand they are giving guidance that it's not true but they're saying nothing on the
record. They're giving background guidance. I don't know what it is, but they're saying nothing on the record. Obviously in hopes that by saying
nothing, they can keep this story kept to a minimum.
STOUT: Well, your report's a startling report worth a read. You can find it online, "London Business Review (sic)," a review of both --
(CROSSTALK)
HERSH: No, no, no, it's the "London Review of Books," yes, yes, please.
STOUT: -- "London Review of Books," my apologies for that -- Seymour Hersh, veteran journalist, fact checker, thank you very much indeed for
joining us here on NEWS STREAM.
That is NEWS STREAM. Unfortunately, we won't bring you the story of the Chinese company that gave thousands of its employees one big holiday.
You're going to see that story in just about an hour from now on "WORLD BUSINESS TODAY." So stick around for that.
In the meantime, "WORLD SPORT" with Alex Thomas, that is next.
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ALEX THOMAS, CNN WORLD SPORT HOST: Hello and welcome to CNN WORLD SPORT, I'm Alex Thomas in London.
With Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo among those caught up in a looming strike by Spanish footballers, La Liga bosses and club owners have been
holding an emergency meeting in Madrid. The row was over La Liga's plan to negotiate future media rights collectively instead of club by club.
The new deal is being proposed as a law; it's been put before Spain's parliament. One of the things the Spanish Football Federation, the
governing body, is unhappy with is the amount of money it will get from the new agreements. It has called for a suspension of all football from May
16th.
This strike is backed by the Spanish Footballers Union and leading players like Lionel Messi. The LFP, Spain's football league, which runs La Liga
and other professional competitions has already announced legal action against the federation's strike threat.
Earlier I spoke to former Barcelona marketing director, Esteve Calzada. He told me the row was about egos as much as money but should get resolved in
time.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ESTEVE CALZADA, FORMER BARCELONA MARKETING DIRECTOR: This exposure opportunity to try to make a point and to make your case, I am actually
quite optimistic in terms of this being solved with similar situations in the past. Obviously it's not good for Spanish football. But at the end of
the day, I want to see that once this has been fixed, we'll end up having the right model and with the (INAUDIBLE) in a more fair way and smaller pin
to have more money to buy better players and try to have a more even competition.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
THOMAS: Esteve Calzada speaking to me a little bit earlier.
On the pitch, the top football divisions in Spain and France have all but wrapped by Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain respectively. PSG need a
point from their remaining two games and Barca require one more win.
Here in England, Liverpool's players gave Chelsea a victory parade before the perennial league (ph) game with Stamford Bridge. When the action
started, Blues skipper John Terry put the home side ahead just five minutes into the match. His opposite number, Steven Gerrard equalized for the Reds
but 1-1 wasn't a good enough result and almost certainly miss out on next season's Champions League.
The Brazilian international figure continued to play well again in that game and you can read an exclusive interview with the Liverpool start if
you go to our website cnn.com/sport.
Well, unlike Liverpool, Manchester City have guaranteed their spot in next season's Champions League after a 6-0 hammering of Queen's Park Rangers.
Sergio Aguero open the scoring for City as early as the fourth minute. And the Argentina star went on to play in a hat trick in the second half.
City are in second place in the table, 3 points ahead of Arsenal, who have two games in hand. The defeat for Queen's Park Rangers means they have
been relegated.
The head of Mercedes Motor Sport, Toto Wolff, says Nico Rosberg's win at the Spanish Grand Prix is good for the team and could signal another close
battle for the driver's title, having secured pole position, Rosberg led from start to finish on Sunday, frustrating his teammates and the current
championship leader, Lewis Hamilton. Last season's world champion also had to battle with Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel, who overtook the British driver
at the first corner and Hamilton needed a better pit stop strategy to regain second place before the end.
Fernando Alonzo didn't get that far, overshooting his pit crew at the track where he suffered serious injuries during pre-season testing. He
eventually retired with brake issues. Romain Grosjean wasn't much safer in the pit lane. But Rosberg had no dramas at the head of the field, claiming
his first race victory of the season.
Golfer Rickie Fowler was recently branded "overrated," but not any more and LeBron James overruled his coach and Cavs fans are glad he did.
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THOMAS (voice-over): Hi and welcome to CNN WORLD SPORT. I'm Alex Thomas. Welcome back.
The Los Angeles Clippers can reach the Western Conference finals on Tuesday after another win over the Rockets in the NBA playoffs. But the series
between the Bulls and the Cavaliers could not be closer. Let's go live to my colleague, Coy Wire, at CNN Center and Coy, we saw very different games
on Sunday night, didn't we?
COY WIRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: About as different as the hairstyles on the top of our heads.
Chicago was up 2-1 in their series with the Cavs. The Bulls had momentum going into this game after Derrick Rose's big buzzer-beating, game-winning
3-pointer on Friday. But they were in big trouble Sunday.
Down by 2 with 12 seconds left, Derrick Rose sit crossover here, drives to the rag, brings his team back, ties it up at 84. Then 1.5 seconds left,
one shot for the win, who should get the ball? The man that can do it all. There he is, King James, fade-away, money. Look at that. That's his third
career post-season game-winning buzzer-beater tie-in with Michael Jordan, one more time. Oh, that's pretty.
Now that last play wasn't actually drawn up believe it or not to go to King James. Listen.
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LEBRON JAMES, CLEVELAND CAVALIERS FORWARD: To be honest, the play that was drawn up, I scratched it. And I just told Coach, just give me the ball and
you know, we either going to go in overtime or I'm going to win it for us. It was that simple.
WIRE (voice-over): Just give me the ball, Coach. All right. The Clippers- Rockets game Sunday night didn't have quite the same drama as the early one but it did have dunking, DeAndre Jordan out there, doing his thing,
elevating, levitating, dunking on the Rockets like he was out there playing in a video game.
Jordan finished with 26 points; the Clippers rout the Rockets 128-95, taking a 3-1 series lead and they look to end it all and stick a fork in
Houston Tuesday night. Now two more games on tap tonight, each feature in the top seeds from eve conference who were both trailing 2-1 in their
series. The Warriors and league MVP Steph Curry have been ice cold but they'll try to warm it up in Memphis against the Grizzlies and the Hawks up
against the ropes in Washington against the Wizards, where Paul Pierce hit that last second game winner in the last game out. Both of the underdogs
in these series have a shot to pull ahead 3-1 if they win their next games. Can they? That's the big question. We shall see. But you got to love NBA
playoffs -- Alex.
THOMAS: And the key to a CNN WORLD SPORT tomorrow because, Coy, I'm sure it's going to bring us the latest on those playoff games.
Thanks, Coy.
WIRE: You're welcome.
THOMAS: Let's stay in the United States for arguably the most thrilling ever-finished tour, players championship often dubbed the fifth major of
men's golf. Rickie Fowler won it silencing his peers, who recently voted him the joint most overrated player on the PGA Tour in an anonymous survey.
Three strokes back overnight, Fowler produced the best-ever finish in the tournament's 41-year history, sending four birdies and an eagle in the
final six holes to move from -6 to -12. It was a target that Spain's Sergio Garcia was able to match, although he needed this, astonishing 44-
foot birdie putt at TPC Sawgrass' famous 17th hole to do it.
Great reaction, the pair joined at -12 by Kevin Kisner. He missed the chance to take the title on the last, his birdie putt slipping by. So to a
3-hole playoff, it was total shots, not sudden death, Garcia eliminated, leading Kisner and Fowler back at the famous island green on the 17th, both
players hit good tee shots. You can see Fowler's was closest. The young American, the only one of the two, to hold his birdie putt, taking his
second PGA Tour
[08:55:00] title just days after that secret overrated poll.
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RICKIE FOWLER, GOLF PRO: Yes, I'd say this is a pretty big one. So I'm happy the way this is going to be the one to look back on for so I felt
really good all week. My game saw very good. I struggled a little bit the last two days, just terrorizing greens. But I had a lot of confidence
coming off the last week and pretty fun. This is special.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
THOMAS: Andy Murray says don't write off Rafa Nadal for the French Open later this month, despite his first-ever victory over the Spaniard on a
clay.
Murray, the World number 3, made a lightning start in the final of the Madrid Masters, at times overpowering his muscly Spanish opponents. The
Scot admitted afterwards Nadal didn't seem at his best. An unforced error gave Murray the first set, 6-3. It was even more one-sided in the second
set, which Murray took by six games to two. It was his second successive title on play. And his first-ever in a Masters event. And I wonder he
wrote, "Marriage works" on the camera lens and he recently tied the knot with Kim Sears. Murray then speaking on the phone with our own Patrick
Snell (ph).
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDY MURRAY, PRO GOLFER: So it's been a good start to married life on and off the court. I met with one or two on clay before Munich last week. So
get a couple in the last two week is fantastic and I think for athletes when things are good away from the court and your personal life is under
control and you're happy, it does make a difference to the way that you perform.
So yes, it's been a good start so far.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
THOMAS: Yes, have to get top athletes humans do.
That's it for your CNN WORLD SPORT. I've got another for you in just under two hours' time. "WORLD BUSINESS TODAY" is live, next. Bye-bye.
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