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Interview with Endless Computers CEO; Antarctic Ice Shelf Disappearing; Ramadi Falls to ISIS; Hacker Claims to Have Taken Over Control Of Plane Using In-Flight Entertainment System. Aired 8:00-9:00 ET

Aired May 18, 2015 - 8:00   ET

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

[08:00:18] KRISTIE LU STOUT, HOST: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. And welcome to News Stream.

A huge setback in the battle against ISIS. Now the terror group seizes the strategic Iraqi city of Ramadi. Could Iran help Baghdad win it

back.

Plus, stranded at sea for months. We'll show you what some migrants are enduring as European and Asian leaders talk about ways to ease the

crisis.

And hear why NASA says this 10,000 year old ice shelf may disappear before the end of the decade.

Civilians are running for their lives as ISIS retakes the Iraqi city of Ramadi. And some now fear that those who remain will face a bloodbath

in the coming days.

Iraqi soldiers in retreat left behind heavy weapons, missiles and armor, effectively resupplying the Islamist terror group.

And this image from ISIS, it shows some of the Iraqi military vehicles that they have taken over.

But the U.S. and Iraq, they both say that the fight for the city is far from over. Iraq's prime minister is sending in reinforcements, both

Shia and Sunni. But that comes with its own problems.

Senior international correspondent Nick Paton Walsh is monitoring developments from Beirut and he joins us now.

Nick, what is the situation the ground right now in Ramadi. Are there still pockets of resistance there?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's not said to be entirely homogeneously under the Islamic State's control, but there are

advisers to the Iraqi government and officials from there talking about how militarily it is under ISIS control. They are, it seems also trying to

move east further towards Fallujah as well expanding their influence.

But the real fear I think now is for those civilians left inside who ISIS believe may have loyalty towards the Baghdad government, they of

course face the strong risk of execution. ISIS has done that before in towns that's moved into 500 lives said to have been lost in the last 24, 48

hours.

The question, of course, being at what stage was it inevitable that Iraqi security forces would need to withdraw? And at what stage could

further reinforcements have been sent from Baghdad?

This campaign by ISIS has been months potentially brewing. The last assault was extremely severe and perhaps to some degree unexpected. But

there's been a lot of fighting for Ramadi in the past months or so.

Now that Shia militia go to make up the bulk of the force potentially that's being sent in by the government to try and retake it, that's no an

easy task at all. This is a densely tight urban area or city that used to be nearly a million strong. The question is exactly what does that mean

for the Sunnia-Shia balance that's so delicate in Iraq at this stage to see a Shia militia moving in to try and retake a predominately Sunni city --

Kristie.

LU STOUT: And also just to take us back for a moment, why did Ramadi fall to ISIS? Is it due to the fighting strength of ISIS, or the

capability of Iraqi forces?

WALSH: Most likely a mixture of the two. It'll take days, I think, for the autopsy of quite how this strategic disaster really befell both the

coalition campaign against ISIS and the Baghdad government's bid, frankly, to defend itself on its western flank.

But I think many look at how ISIS were it seems perhaps OK to have the narrative turn against them for the last month or so, allowing people to

speculate about the fate of its leadership and perhaps then biding their time to launching what was over the weekend a very decisive assault using

bulldozers to move away defenses, multiple suicide bombers, substantial numbers of militants moving straight in to the heart of the city.

And then there is of course the enduring question about the readiness and resupply of Iraqi security forces. They had some of the more elite

divisions in that city, the golden division, one of the best of the best of Iraqi special forces. And there are social media pictures of them high

tailing it out of the city.

A lot of armor left behind, a lot of military equipment in the Anbar operation center there in Ramadi or nearby it left behind, too. That will

assist ISIS in its future combat operations. There will be a lot of digging into exactly how much the Iraqi government feared this could

happen. How much they did. And how much this was a case of Iraqi security forces abandoning positions or simply not having the ammunition or supplies

to continue the fight they've been trying to maintain now for weeks -- month perhaps -- Kristie.

[08:05:00] LU STOUT: All right, CNN's Nick Paton Walsh reporting on the fall of Ramadi. Thank you, Nick.

Now U.S. officials are pouring over evidence seized in a raid they say killed a key ISIS commander identified as Abu Sayyaf.

Now the raid was carried out in Syria.

Now CNN's Sunlen Serfaty is standing by at the White House with more on this story. And Sunlen, it was a U.S. special ops raid that killed this

key ISIS commander. Tell us about the raid. How did it unfold?

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Krsitie, we're told the President Obama made the call himself the decision to move forward with

this secret mission in Syria. And that comes after the unanimous recommendation of his national security team here at the White House. And

we're starting to hear all of the dramatic and details of this mission that certainly underscores how risky and dangerous it was sending U.S. special

forces into the heart of ISIS territory.

At times, the U.S. forces engage in some hand-to-hand combat. We're told that this was originally a capture mission intended to capture Abu

Sayyaf, but when he engaged U.S. forces, that is where U.S. forces made the decision to kill him -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: So, we have the special ops raid in Syria leading to the killing of a key ISIS commander as well as the capture of key information

about the militant group. And at the same time, Ramadi has fallen to ISIS in Iraq. So what is the view there in Washington about the overall fight

against ISIS?

SERFATY: Well, it's interesting because U.S. officials in recent days and weeks had really been downplaying the importance and the significance

of the control of -- of who controls Ramadi. And Secretary of State John Kerry responding overnight in South Korea to the moves on the ground in

Ramadi as ISIS takes control there, he says that he's confident that in the days ahead they can go ahead and make the gains by ISIS and reverse those

gains.

And the Pentagon also similarly saying that there's ebbs and flows on the battlefield and that they're confident in the days ahead that they will

be able to reverse those gains.

Now, recently on Friday evening the White House announced, Kristie, that they are increasing and expediting weapons shipments to Iraq to help

with this fight -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: All right, CNN's Sunlen Serfaty reporting live from the White House, thank you.

Now, back to Iraq. Reuters quotes the U.S. military saying coalition forces have launched 19 airstrikes on ISIS targets near the city of Ramadi

over the last 72 hours, but the airborne offensive wasn't enough to keep ISIS forces from seizing control. The ISIS victory was ultimately clinched

by explosive laden bulldozers and vehicles driven by suicide bombers.

Now Anbar is the Sunni heartland of Iraq. And some analysts say that whoever controls its capital Ramadi controls the rest of the province.

Our senior international correspondent Ivan Watson, who has reported extensively from Iraq, spoke to me about its strategic placement.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's the capital of Iraq's predominately Sunni Anbar Province. Now it is also the headquarters

of the Iraqi military in Anbar Province. And that has now fallen to ISIS. So that's a big symbolic blow.

And then there's the geography. Look on the map here. Ramadi in better days it took me only an hour to drive from Baghdad to Ramadi on the

highway. It gives you a sense of how close it is to the Iraqi capital.

If you look directly east along the highway, you have the town of Habbaniyah, that's still in Iraqi government hands and it is home to an

Iraqi military base.

But the next town over, you may remember the name, Fallujah. That hasn't gotten a lot of press recently, but it's been in ISIS hands for

months now. And it gives you a sense of how carved up Anbar province is into pockets of government control and ISIS control.

LU STOUT; And now that Ramadi is in the hands of ISIS, this is a huge symbolic and military setback for the Iraqi government and its forces.

Does it mean that they have to rely further on Iranian-backed Shia militias to fight ISIS?

WATSON: In fact, the now exiled leadership of Anbar Province has made a call, backed by the Iraqi prime minister, calling for the Shiite militias

to please come in and help. And this is also a setback, because there had been calls for just the Sunni forces of Ramadi to defend that city, to not

bring in the Shiite militias.

Ramadi is where the Sunni awakening, the Sahwa (ph), began 10 years ago and helped oust al Qaeda from there.

And just to give you another sense of how hard it will be for government forces to win it back, it took the U.S. military, with all the

backing of the marines, the air force, months to clear al Qaeda from that in 2006, dozens, scores of American casualties.

Winning it back will be very difficult and the loss of it, the Sunni forces that lost it, they prove that they will need the Shiite militias,

who were seen by many Sunnis -- distrusted by them. They will need their help. And it also indicates that they think that the Shiite forces, the

militias, are better equipped and better armed, perhaps, than the Iraqi government, the military, the police.

[08:10:22] LU STOUT: And it's been, believe it or not, 10 months since the start of U.S.-led airstrikes against ISIS in Iraq. And today we

have Ramadi in the hands of ISIS. You point out Fallujah, Mosul as well, what went wrong and what can the U.S.-led coalition do now?

WATSON: I think it's showing the limits of American air power, coalition air power. It can do damage. It can incur casualties, but it

can't stop ISIS when they attack with waves of suicide bombers in armored vehicles, in construction equipment.

From what we heard, they attacked simultaneously from different points around Ramadi, suicide bombers blowing open fortifications. And that is a

force that I think any fighting force would have a very difficult time defending themselves against people who are willing to die to try to take

out a road block.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: That was Ivan Watson on the challenges ahead and mapping out the significance of the fall of Ramadi.

Now to Yemen and a Saudi-led coalition unleashed another round of airstrikes in the country less than a day after humanitarian ceasefire

ended.

Now the strikes targeted an airport in the southern port city of Aden on Monday. And two local government officials tell CNN a Houthi fighter

was killed.

Now the UN envoy to Yemen had called for a five day ceasefire to be extended to allow more aid into the country.

Now you're watching News Stream. And still ahead, tens of thousands of migrants are flooding into Europe from North Africa, often at great risk

to their lives. And now EU ministers are meeting to look for solutions.

And its an all-too similar story in Southeast Asia. How Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand are working to address their migrant crisis next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Now European foreign and defense ministers are meeting in Brussels now to discuss the growing migrant crisis in the Mediterranean.

More than 400 migrants were rescued off the Libyan coast over the weekend and taken to Italy. And those numbers are only expected to rise in the

coming months.

Now let's head straight to Italy for the latest. CNN's senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman joins me now live from Rome. And

Ben, as EU leaders debate immigration, waves of people from North Africa, they're arriving in Italy every day. Tell us their story.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kristie, first of all let's talk about those ministers in Brussels, the defense and foreign

ministers of the EU who are discussing this crisis, they're looking at ways, for instance, to impose quotas on EU countries to accept a certain

amount of migrants. They're looking at perhaps military action against the traffickers who make this possible.

They are also looking at increasing a naval and air presence in the Mediterranean for an expanded search and rescue operation.

What they're not looking at, however, is how to solve the problems that led these tens of thousands of people to leave their homes in the

first place.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[08:15:12] WEDEMAN: They arrive on the shores of Italy, huddled masses of Eritreans, Ethiopians, Sudanese, Syrians and others yearning to

be free of war, of oppression, of poverty and hopelessness.

The latest to arrive 407 men, women, children and babies picked up off the Libyan coast by a ship run by a search and rescue charity, the so-

called migrant offshore aid station, or simply MOAS.

Imad, an Arabic teacher from Syria, came with his family of seven. His odyssey began four years ago and isn't over yet.

"I went to Libya to get away from the war in Syria," he tells me. "And then war broke out in Libya. My brother had a car workshop in

Benghazi, but it was robbed. He lost everything."

He hopes to join relatives in Germany.

From the ship, Mohammed (ph), also from Syria, says he paid $1,200 for the journey from Libya.

28-year-old Fartoum (ph) from Eritrea fled his country to avoid open- ended military service, mandatory for every Eritrean man and unmarried woman between the ages of 18 and 50. He hopes to find work in Italy as a

blacksmith.

The number of migrants expected to arrive in Italy will probably increase every month until late Autumn. And as those numbers go up it's

expected that among ordinary Italians, the milk of human kindness could go sour.

From behind the fence, Messina residents watch as the latest migrants disembark. Some political parties in Italy are calling for a crackdown on

immigration.

Marika (ph), a teacher, isn't opposed to immigration, but acknowledges it's a sensitive issue.

"At this moment of crisis in Italy, it's easy to say we don't want them," she tells me. "It's a way to get support from the part of the

population that's against immigration."

For now, though, the milk of human kindness is plain to see.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WEDEMAN: Now, Italians would like the EU to do much more on this. But even within the EU itself there's much disagreement. The British, for

instance, say they will not accept more migrants as part of this effort to resolve the crisis. The Germans, for instance, are opposed to any sort of

military action against the human traffickers.

So we may simply have as the months go by more inconclusive EU meetings -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: Yeah, as you point out EU leaders may discuss the issue of migrant quotas, sharing the responsibility, but the underlying issues: war,

violence and hopelessness there's no way they could tackle that.

Ben Wedeman reporting live from Rome. Thank you, Ben.

Now Southeast Asia is dealing with a migrant crisis of its own. Malaysia is planning to host foreign ministers from Thailand and Indonesia

on Wednesday to address the problem. Now Thailand says it will also hold a conference on the issue later this month.

Now the countries have been accused of turning away boats carrying ethnic Rohingya migrants from Myanmar and economic migrants from

Bangladesh.

Saima Mohsin takes a look at the influx of refugees stuck at sea without a place to call home.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAIMA MOHSIN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They've been out at sea for around three months, and there are other boats like theirs carrying

countless more like them. It's hard to monitor how many, but activists and officials say that at least 25,000 Rohingya have fled Myanmar and migrants

left Bangladesh this year alone.

We're heading out for another day of searching for these Rohingya refugees and Bangladeshi migrants on these boats. Now we spent eight hours

at sea yesterday searching for them, but simply couldn't find them. Human Rights Groups are describing them as human ping pong between Thailand,

Indonesia and Malaysia.

The United Nations says its increasingly concerned at bout the plight of these migrants and refugees stranded in the Andaman Sea and Strait of

Malacca unable to find a permanent home.

Now, the Thai government has announced a conference on this boat crisis and other human trafficking and slave labor crises affecting

Southeast Asia.

The UN has spoken directly to the prime ministers of Malaysia and Thailand as well as key officials in Bangladesh and Indonesia to stress the

need for the timely disembarkation of migrants and to encourage participation in the upcoming regional meeting in Bangkok. Above all,

emphasizing the need to protect lives and uphold international law.

A lot of discussions and little action while these men, women and children float on hope someone will give them a place to call home.

Saima Mohsin, CNN, in the Andaman Sea off Thailand.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[08:20:34] LU STOUT: Now you're News Stream. Still to come on the program, this man told the FBI he took control of a passenger plane not by

breaking into the cockpit, but by hacking into the flight's computer system.

We've got the details next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

In the U.S., trains are running again between Philadelphia and New York after last week's deadly derailment of Amtrak Train 188. Some

investigators are still looking into what caused that crash. And they have asked the FBI to investigate a mark on the train's windshield. At least

two trains near the crash site had reported that they were struck by projectiles.

But a transport official tells CNN there was no record of the engineer on the train telling dispatchers that his train was struck.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT SUMWALT, NTSB MEMBER: We really want to chase this lead down. We heard from the assistant conductor that that's what she believed she

heard was some conversation about that. And we now see a mark on the windshield that we want to look at. So we're going to look at everything

at this point.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Officials have said that they were studying the possibility that the mark was made by a projectile or even a bullet.

A cyber security consultant in the United States claims that he hacked into the computer system of several commercial flights and he claims he

took control of at least one plane. But some have serious doubts that he was even able to do that.

Now CNN's Evan Perez has more on this revelation and he joins us now live. Evan, first walk us through the claim. What exactly is the hacker

claiming he can do to a passenger plane?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, his name is Chris Roberts, and he is a cyber security researcher. And he says that modern planes have

huge vulnerability for hackers. According to him, he says there's a huge - - there's a security hole in in-flight entertainment systems aboard three types of Boeing aircraft, and one model made by Airbus.

He says hackers can actually take control of these aircraft. The FBI is now investigating him for potential computer crimes aboard these

flights.

According to a search -- this is all according to a search warrant that was filed in court, Roberts told the FBI in February and March in

interviews that he's hacked into planes while in flight up to 20 times, including at least once making a plane do a lateral move.

Now we should say that we've not verified -- no one has actually verified whether Roberts actually can do any of this. And he's not been

arrested. We have a statement from Boeing. They say there's no danger to passengers, quote, they say in-flight entertainment systems on commercial

airplanes are isolated from flight and navigation systems.

And Roberts over the weekend says that the FBI has it all wrong. He tweeted, quote, over the last five years my only interest has been to

improve aircraft security given the current situation I've been advised against saying much -- Kristie.

[08:26:06] LU STOUT: Yeah, the FBI, as you report, they are investigating Chris Roberts. Roberts claims that he's a sort of a -- they

call it a white hat hacker. He wants to improve security, that's why he did this. But he first shared news of his alleged hack on Twitter before

informing the government. So what is his true motivation here?

PEREZ: Well, you know, that's a great point, because there's other security researchers that have found this exact vulnerability, or say that

they've found the same vulnerability and what they did is they went to the FBI. They went to the authorities, to the airline manufactures, to the

aircraft manufactures and they've shared their research, because they say they want to try to fix the problem.

Roberts has gone a different route. He's actually been tweeted, even while on a flight, which is how he got onto the FBI's radar and why he

could potentially be in trouble, Kristie.

LU STOUT: Now, back in April, I recall the reports coming out of Washington of a U.S. government report warning that a hacker could take

over an aircraft through its wi-fi network. So, in light of that report and also this alleged hack, what is being done to defend and to shore up

the IT systems of commercial planes?

PEREZ: Well, you know a couple of things are being done. The FBI and the Transportation Security Administration have warned airlines to be on

the lookout for passengers who might be trying to access these boxes, these -- the control boxes that are right below the seat of the plane -- of

passenger -- where the passengers sit, which could possibly be used to control the IFEs, the in-flight entertainment systems, and then hack into

the aircraft. And then hack into the aircraft. So that's the one thing they've done.

They've also asked the airlines and the aircraft manufacturers to come up with fixes.

Now as we've pointed out from Boeing, and also Airbus, they say this is highly unlikely. The FBI is still investigating this, because they say

technically it is possible, and so now they want to make sure that nobody can do this.

LU STOUT: Yes, thank you very much indeed for your reporting on this. A very concerning development. Evan Perez, live from Washington, thank

you. Take care.

You're watching News Stream, and still ahead new worry over Antarctica. An important ice shelf is disappearing. We look at what it

could mean for the rest of the world.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:30:43] LU STOUT: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. You're watching News Stream. And these are your world headlines.

Reuters reports the U.S. military says over the past 72 hours coalition forces have launched 19 airstrikes on ISIS targets near the city

of Ramadi. But the airborne offensive was not enough to keep ISIS forces from seizing control of Anbar's provincial capital. And this video shows

Iraqi soldiers retreating from the city.

EU foreign and defense ministers are meeting in Brussels to discuss how to handle the continent's growing migrant crisis. Tens of thousands of

migrants have crossed the Mediterranean so far this year. And countries in southeast Asia are preparing to hold similar talks as they struggle with an

influx of refugees from Myanmar and Bangladesh.

An explosion has rocked the regional office of a Kurdish political party in Turkey. At least six people were wounded, that's according to the

Kurdish People's Democratic Party. It is not known who was responsible.

In less than an hour, the UK House of Commons is to sit for the first time since the general election. Prime Minister David Cameron's

Conservatives surprised the pollsters by winning a majority. And he is expected to renew his election pledge to boost funding for the national

health service.

The situation is still tense in Burundi. Just days after an attempt to overthrow the government.

Now small groups of protesters have been on the streets of the capital, but so have a number of soldiers trying to guard against violence.

Now President Pierre Nkurunziza resurfaced on Sunday, but he said very little about last week's failed coup. And protests leading up to it were

over his plans to seek a third term in the upcoming elections. Now the Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta is urging him to postpone that vote.

In the U.S., police say that they have arrested nearly 200 people in the wake of Sundays biker gang shootout in Waco, Texas. At least nine

people were killed and at least 17 were injured. Now police say they expected trouble when the gangs arrived at the restaurant where it

happened. Officers were quickly on the scene say they responded when the violence broke out and escalated in the restaurant's parking lot.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SWANTON: Our officers moved in. Our officers did fire. So we have officers that are involved as well in shooting some of the biker gang

members.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was really, really scary. We didn't know somebody was going to come back. They said people outside the doors had

guns. It was scary.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Now, no officers were injured in the gun fight. The 192 people arrested face charges of engaging in organized crime.

And now, a warning from NASA. The U.S. space agency says one of Antarctica's giant ice shelves is rapidly melting and could disappear

within the next five years. It says the Larson B ice shelf, which has been around for at least 10,000 years, is shrinking due to climate change.

Scientists say the shelf holds back glaciers, and without it global sea levels will rise faster.

Now they note that what's most surprising is how quickly the changes are happening.

Well, NASA's frosty warning has been one of the most read stories on CNN.com. And CNN meteorologist Tom Sater explains some of the climate

changes that are putting the ice shelf at risk.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM SATER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Let's head down to Antarctica. And you can see the peninsula here.

This is the Larson shelf, There are three. There is Larson A, which disintegrated in '95; Larson B, this is the one we're talking about now;

and then Larson C, this is quite large here. This is an ice shelf. It floats on the water. It is stable, but it is showing signs of thinning.

So when we talk about this. Take a look, just on Larson B itself, over 11,000 square kilometers in '95. And of course as it continues to

fall apart and disintegrate, 3,400 back in 2002, and currently just 1,600. This is amazing. These are pictures.

This is the ice shelf, too.

Now, this does not add to the rise in the water. This is like having an ice cube in a glass of water, so the volume remains the same. But one

this breaks apart and you can see from 2002 and then it becomes almost transparent -- even in the winter it can refreeze and you'll see it here on

this picture in April 2002, but you cannot repair this. It's irreversible.

Once this is lost and that allows the glacier to rapidly increase in its loss of ice, and that increases the waters to rise.

Now this is interesting, because this report comes in after this one just two weeks ago. NOAA reporting that CO2, carbon dioxide, the number one

element in greenhouse gases, reached an all-time high in the planet. Over 400 parts per billion. That hasn't happened in 650,000 years, believe it

or not. We know that from core samples.

First month ever topping 400. Pres-industrial age. It was only 280, so obviously man is doing something here. And there's 40 global reports

around the world.

When you look at global warming as well, you can see that's increasing. So all of the elements, yep, they prove us show us what we're

learning day in and day out when it comes to these ice shelves and glaciers.

Real quickly for you back to Antarctica, in purple you're going to see all these glaciers that are melting. Every one of these is melting meaning

it's losing its ice shelf. So we're going to continue -- and they know this, too, by measuring with lasers and satellites, that these valleys are

getting deeper, which means they're losing their ice and that's causing the sea level to rise.

So the statistics really are something, because we could add 1.2 meters of water to the oceans, which would drown out most of your coastal

cities, although that's going to take some time not only decades, it could take hundreds of years.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[08:36:06] LU STOUT: And once it's gone it's irreplaceable. Very disturbing and important report there by Tom Sater.

Now you're watching News Stream, and still to come how do you bring the internet to the billions who don't have internet access? One company

says the endless computer is the answer. We'll hear from the CEO after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back.

Now how do you bring the internet to the billions around the world who don't have an internet connection? Well, one company says they have the

answer by putting the best of the internet in a box. The endless computer is a low cost PC that doesn't need the internet, it plugs into a TV and has

copies of sites like Wikipedia that users can access offline. And it all runs on an entirely new operating system that's designed to be easy for

first time computer users.

Now CEO Matt Dalio recently spoke to me about the challenges of building Endless Computer.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATT DALIO, CEO, ENDLESS COMPUTERS: Yeah, we actually started on Android. We had no intention of reinventing any wheels. We wanted this to

be as easy as possible. And what we found was that Android is fundamentally a mobile operating system and not a desktop operating system.

And so what we did was we took Linux, which has historically been an incredibly powerful operating system and an incredibly complicated

operating system because it's been for engineers by engineers and we went and we made it as simple as a tablet.

LU STOUT: Now, a challenge when it comes to bridging the digital divide is computer literacy. So, is Endless Computers, is it easy to use?

DALIO: So, it's something that requires zero training. You can sit someone down, teach them how to click with a mouse. What we go to at the

end was something that we have dropped into thousands of homes, thousands of families, into 100 classrooms in Guatemala, into refugee camps in

Jordan, and we don't do training any of those places, and every single one of those places people who have never used computers before are up and

running in no time.

LU STOUT: Let's talk about apps, because you have apps for games and recipes and you also have apps for maternity and teeth health. And I find

that very, very interesting. Is this -- are these examples the type of apps that work and that are needed in developing countries?

DALIO: Yeah, well what we found was -- so we have all the basic apps, right. Of course a browser and word processor and you can open PowerPoint

files and Excel files and all the basics. I'm on Skype right here on Endless OS, right on our operating system.

But what we found was that there's a need for another ecosystem of applications that people here in the developed world don't need, that

people there do need the single biggest of which is, is that without internet connectivity a computer is pretty useless these days. If you go

boot up your Windows machine. And so you go to these places and most people don't have good internet connections. If any internet connection at

all.

And so what we were able to do was go and dump onto each device effectively, and it was offline ecosystem of applications. So, an entire

encyclopedia, Wikipedia, it's five times the size of Encyclopedia Brittanica. We have Khan Academy in there, so that's K-12 education

preinstalled on every computer.

And then what we did was we went and asked what are the more deeper needs that you have? What are the fundamental needs? And we found things

like I want health information. I don't have health -- any health information. So we went and made a health application that let's people

search for any ailment, any medicine, any first aid issue.

Mothers were saying I would love information about how to, you know, take a tear off my child, raise my child, what is good pregnancy practices?

And when we basically just dumped it full of an ecosystem of applications and that's an ecosystem that is getting more and more robust with every

passing day. And if people ever plug it into the internet, intermittent internet, it automatically is available for download. And so it's really

effectively an offline ecosystem of applications that are relevant to their lives.

[08:41:29] LU STOUT: And based on your field research, what is the single most popular application among digital have-nots in the developing

world?

DALIO: Wikipedia many would tell you, but actually we have a whole pile of games in the operating system, racing games, all sorts of different

things. The single most popular game among the kids is a math game where numbers fall from the sky and you will see a crowd of kids around this

table shouting numbers at each other.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: I love that story. And that was Matt Dalio, CEO of Endless Computers speaking to me earlier.

Now his team will arrive in Mexico on Wednesday to distribute the very first batch of Endless Computers.

And that is News Stream.

END