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Chinese Authorities Right Eastern Star Cruise Ship; MERS Outbreak Spreading In South Korea; Edward Snowden's Impact On U.S. Policy; Vivid Sydney; Millions Of U.S. Federal Worker Information Compromised by Hackers. Aired 8:00a-9:00p ET

Aired June 05, 2015 - 11:00   ET

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

[08:00:09] KRISTIE LU STOUT, HOST: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong, and welcome to News Stream.

The U.S. government says it was a target of an enormous hack, and it blames China. It comes on the second anniversary of Edward Snowden's NSA

leaks. And we'll look at how Snowden has changed the way we view privacy.

And turning one of the world's most famous buildings into an art installation. We'll speak to the designer of this light show in Sydney.

It's being called the biggest breach ever of the U.S. government's computer network. Hackers have stolen the personal information of 4

million current or former federal employees. And some U.S. intelligence officials tell CNN they believe the hackers are compiling a database for

the Chinese military.

Now China says the allegations are irresponsible and counterproductive, but did not directly deny the claim.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HONG LEI, CHINESE FOREIGN MNISTRY SPOKESMAN (through translator): China resolutely tackles cyber attack activities in all forms. China

itself is also a victim of cyber attacks. We are willing to have global cooperation in this field to build a peaceful and safe, open and

collaborative cyberspace.

We ask the United States not to be so skeptical and stop chasing the wind and clutching the shadow, but instead add more trust and cooperating

in this field.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: And we'll bring you more from Beijing in just a moment, but first I want to tell you more about how this hack attack happened. U.S.

authorities only discovered the breach while trying to toughen their cyber defense system. It took them a month to learn that sensitive data had been

compromised. While lawmakers says it shows those security upgrades are overdue.

Athena Jones has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The U.S. government is struggling to assess the damage. Officials revealing possibly the biggest cyber attack

on the U.S. government ever reach their critical computer networks.

Two distinct attacks crept into the federal system. Sophisticated and undetectable for months, all the while stealing information from the

databases of virtually every government agency.

Sensitive information from up to 4 million current and former federal employees, now in the hands of hackers, including employees of the

department of defense, the Social Security Administration, and even potentially President Obama.

Officials say there could be millions more.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These networks are so vast, they are really geographically dispersed. They're very, very difficult to be able to

protect. And the reality of it is you can't prevent these attacks.

JONES: The suspect, according to authorities, a superpower, the People's Republic of China. According to officials, evidence points to

hackers working for the Chinese military who may be compiling a massive database of critical information on Americans.

Now, federal employees being cautioned to check their bank statements and get updated credit reports.

MARIE HARF, STATE DEPARTENT SPOKESPERSON: We continue to update our security, but it is a pretty significant challenge.

JONES: Hackers have targeted the American government before. Just this week, investigators say Russia attacked the IRS and made 100,000 tax

returns vulnerable to criminals.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And that was Athena Jones reporting.

Now news of the breach comes just as the New York Times reports that the U.S. National Security Agency is actively searching internet traffic to

find evidence of hacking from abroad. And by tracking information that hackers steal, the NSA could be indirectly collecting the private data of

millions of Americans -- personal email, trade secrets, business dealings and so on.

Now, according to the Times, the NSA has acknowledged internally that tracking overseas hackers, quote, pulls in a lot.

Now a U.S. government spokesman told the newspaper that it should come as no surprise that the U.S. collects intelligence on foreign hackers. He

is quoted as saying targeting overseas individuals engaging in hostile cyber activities on behalf of a foreign power is a lawful foreign

intelligence purpose.

Now a former chairman of the U.S. House intelligence committee says the program was not designed to spy on Americans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE ROGERS, FRM. CHAIRMAN, U.S. HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: Now remember in the old days, spies used to try to get the code clerk in the

embassies, because that's where all that secret information would go into the embassy. And if you could recruit the code clerk to give you the codes

you could crack it and you could catch the Russians spying or the Chinese spying or the North Korean illegal activity. All of that has changed in

the age of the internet.

So, that information is still dangerous to the United States. And it's coming in to the United States in a volume that is staggering.

So candidly, they're not interested in what you're shopping for online, they're interested in trying to catch and wean down this

information that we know will have a negative impact, including the Chinese stealing and building this database of Americans that's unprecedented.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[08:05:11] LU STOUT: But China says it is also the victim of cyber attacks.

Now, let's bring in CNN's David McKenzie now from Beijing. And David, it's interesting, as you pointed out earlier. I mean, China is rejecting

the cyber attack claim from the U.S., but not outright denying it.

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORREPSONDENT: Well, that's right, Kristie. They're not denying it. They're kind of skirting the issue in

terms of culpability.

But the Chinese are saying that in fact the U.S. shouldn't be so skeptical, in their words, and that they shouldn't be effectively grasping

at straws. They say in general that there hasn't been any direct evidence that Chinese are hacking the U.S. And they say because of the complex

nature of hacks, someone can hack from one location, but say they're in another location.

So, yes, in general the Chinese have said repeatedly, they're not involved in any of these hacks, Kristie.

LU STOUT: Now, both the U.S. and China are engaged in cyber espionage and cyber activity of this sort. But what is the thinking inside China

about the reasons behind this cyber attack program? What's the motive? What is usually the main motive of cyber attacks that originate in China?

MCKENZIE: Well, the main motive is probably dual, that's what most analysts say, and just where you look, where these alleged attacks are

going.

So in one case, you've got standard intelligence gathering that many countries around the world probably do, or do do according to analysts, by

going in and tying to get access to give them a competitive edge in a national security standpoint.

Then another aspect of this seems to be quite positively linked to China in many allegations. That is the Chinese government, particularly

through its military, accessing sensitive and corporate information and then giving it over to state-owned enterprises.

You've seen allegations of hacking of aerospace, of nuclear power plants, of strategic corporations in the U.S. that potentially is trying to

get blueprints and R&D, and then hand it over to give China a competitive edge in business.

Now that is where the allegation is slightly different against China than it is against the U.S. and others, Kristie.

LU STOUT: Now, the cyber attack has put the focus back on China's cyber attack motives as well as its cyber attackers. Tell us more about

this secretive hacking group, the PLA unit 61398. You've reported on them.

MCKENZIE: Well, that's right. We've reported on them. We had an interesting run-in with the security outside the alleged building where

they operate in Shanghai.

Now that group, otherwise known as the comment crew, is allegedly a building housing military officials of the Chinese government who are

designed and operating to hack in to the U.S. and others.

You saw the U.S. Justice Department indicting five members of the People's Liberation Army saying that they were involved in these hacking

attacks to try and get a competitive edge over U.S. corporations. In that case, they gave specific examples in that indictment of how perhaps this

hacking had given companies like solar companies and others in the U.S. a disadvantage when they dealt with Chinese companies in negotiations and in

other things.

So, the Chinese have long denied this group exists, but the indictment certainly went into very specific detail. Obviously, this kind of to and

fro war of words between the two sides means that there can be no sitting down at the table and kind of developing a ground rules for cyberspace

between China and the U.S.

LU STOUT: All right, David McKenzie reporting live for us from Beijing. Thank you, David.

Now all this week, we've been putting a special focus on cyber security. And later in the show, we look at the legacy of the man who

started it all.

Two years ago today, Edward Snowden exposed secret dealings at the U.S. National Security Agency, and raised alarm bells about Americans'

private information.

And after the break, a live report from Seoul where the deadly MERS outbreak is shutting down schools and driving others into self-quarantine.

We've got the details ahead.

And 20 years after the war ended, we revisit Sarajevo ahead of a weekend visit by the pope.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:11:18] LU STOUT: ...outbreak is spreading. A defense officials says a Korean airman stationed at a U.S. airbase there has tested positive

for the respiratory disease. He remains in isolation at a military hospital on that base.

Meanwhile, police vow that they will use force if anyone suspected of having the virus disobeys self-quarantine orders.

Let's get the latest now from Anna Coren. She joins me now from Seoul.

And Anna, with MERS now reaching a U.S. base in South Korea, it just begs the question, can authorities get this outbreak under control?

ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Kristie, they're certainly struggling to keep ahead of this viral disease, which really is

spreading on a daily basis, creating so much fear and panic here in South Korea.

That soldier on that U.S. air base, he has been confirmed with MERS, taking the number to 41 confirmed cases.

He, of course, is in isolation along with about 170 people who have also been quarantined who visited him.

But we're getting word that he had no contact with any of the U.S. soldiers on that base. They were all South Korean.

But certainly we're also hearing from the mayor here in Seoul who has criticized the response of the South Korean government, calling it

inadequate and that very -- lack of transparency. He really has said that they have not dealt with this well.

He is now saying that they will declare war on MERS. Of course, this is after a doctor attended a meeting, a public meeting here in Seoul with

1,500 other people, unknowingly he had MERS, but it's since been revealed that he did. So those people have now been asked to self-quarantine.

So, really, Kristie, it is creating a great deal of panic and fear, people wearing face masks, people not sending their children to school,

more than 1,300 schools, universities, kindergartens, have been temporarily closed.

So, people trying to contain the situation, but really we're getting these daily reports of more people who are infected.

LU STOUT: And what are health authorities there recommending to the people of South Korea what they must do to prevent the spread of MERS?

COREN: Well, look, the symptoms of MERS are very much like flu or cold symptoms, so fever, shortness of breath, running nose, those sorts of

things. So people are being told to go to the doctor, to make sure that they haven't developed this viral disease, which as we know is potentially

fatal. Four people have died to date, many of them in their 70s, and those with preexisting conditions. So that should be noted.

But it is potentially fatal. So, people are being asked to wear masks. They're being asked to I guess avoid that public contact if

possible.

Some are saying it is -- it has been blown out of proportion, that this is not an airborne disease, but the fear here, Kristie, is that there

is no vaccine for MERS, so people are taking it very seriously and trying to contain it as best they can.

LU STOUT: Yeah, no vaccine, no cure. This is a disease on the move there in South Korea. Many thanks indeed for your reporting. Anna Coren

joining us live from Seoul.

Now in darkness and in treacherous conditions, rescuers are guiding 137 stranded climbers down Malaysia's Mount Kinabalu, that's according to a

local official.

This video was reportedly taken from the base of the mountain as the earthquake struck, causing rock slides that blocked trails. 10 injured

people have been taken off the mountain, and Sabah's tourism minister says quakes in the area are not common.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MASIDI MAGJUN, SABAH STATE TOURISM MINISTER: Very rare, actually. I mean, there would be a very light tremor from time to time from

(inaudible), but they are -- you know, they are so, so minor that people don't actually worry about that. But this time around, this (inaudible).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Now, the tourism minister also tweeted that the earthquake destroyed a major landmark previously formed by the twin peaks of the

mountain. He says bad news confirmed, part of the iconic donkey's ear of Mount Kinabalu is gone due to the strong tremor this morning.

Now, turning now to the cruise ship disaster in China. And recovery crews have just pulled six more bodies from the Yangtze River, bringing the

total confirmed deaths from Monday's accident to 103.

Workers have managed to turn the Eastern Star upright in an elaborate operation. Some 339 people are still unaccounted for. Only 14 survivors

have been found.

Our senior international correspondent Ivan Watson has been following developments from the rescue site. And he filed this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Chinese work crews have completed the very difficult job of turning over a mostly submerged 75

meter long ship in the moving waters of the Yangtze River, turning it over 180 degrees. It was upside down, now it's finally right-side up. But now

they face the additional challenge of trying to drain much of the water from this vessel so that they can then embark on another difficult job, and

that is recovering what are believed to be the bodies of hundreds of passengers who were trapped inside when a strong storm helped capsize this

vessel on Monday night.

Families of some of these passengers, most of whom were believed to be senior citizens on what was supposed to be an 11 day holiday cruise,

hundreds of these relatives have descended on the city of Jiani. Many of them have been provided housing, hotel rooms, by the local authorities, but

some of them are frustrated and of course anguished with the scale of this disaster and have been voicing their frustrations.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): We demand a thorough investigation into this incident of factors other than natural causes.

What's more, we already absolutely believe that human error was the main cause.

WATSON: Now, city officials have been briefing some of the relatives. They've also been summoning some of them to government offices for blood

tests, presumably to help with the eventual genetic identification process of some of the victims of this disaster.

We have heard also, however, that some of the relatives have drafted a letter and submitted it to the officials in the city of Nanjing, that's the

point of origin for what was supposed to be an 11 day cruise demanding a swift return of bodies to their families, also asking for an investigation

and clearly not satisfied that this was simply an accident due to natural causes. They're questioning why other ships in the Yangtze River at

roughly the same time in the same region pulled over for safety reasons while this ship disastrously kept steaming ahead.

In the meantime, we've also scene some poignant shows of support. School children here in Jianli hanging hundreds of yellow ribbons outside

their schools in a show of sympathy and support for the victims and the families of what is likely to become one of the deadliest maritime

disasters in recent Chinese living history.

Ivan Watson, CNN, Jianli, China.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And this just in to us, the entire body of that ship, the Eastern Star, has now been lifted out of the water, that's according to

Chinese state media. And this will allow the rescue workers to enter the ship and to search for the remains of the passengers cabin by cabin.

You're watching News Stream. Still to come on the program, Sarajevo then and now. We revisit the Bosnian capital 20 years after the civil war

ended and ahead of a visit by the pope.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:22:05] LU STOUT: Coming to you live from Hong Kong, you're back watching News Stream.

Now, the pope is to visit Bosnia-Herzegovina this weekend, a country still divided along ethnic lines years after a civil war.

Nic Robertson has this look back at the Balkan conflict ahead of the Catholic leader's trip.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Pope Francis arrives here at Sarajevo airport Saturday morning. It's 20 years now since the

Dayton peace deal ended the war here.

Bosnia's Muslims, eastern Orthodox Serbs and Croatia Catholics agreed to stop their fighting.

Back then, the city was under siege.

The UN ran the airport, aid were targets, the terminal got shot and shelled.

Back then, I was a producer and the drive Pope Francis will take to Sarajevo City was one of the scariest things we used to do.

Back then, the road crossed over the front line through no man's land, sometimes gambling with your life.

There was a Serbian sniper positioned right around here. Some people never even made it into the city. In the summer of 1992, ABC producer

David Kaplan was shot and killed right here. And I remember in a 14 day period that summer 12 journalists were either shot or shelled, killed or

injured.

But today, much has changed. The pope will pass these shiny new buildings, many here hoping he will help bring more progress.

So when the pope comes, what do you want to hear him say? What's his message that you want to hear?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want peace between Muslims and other religion and that's it. I want to stop war.

ROBERTSON: Reminders of the war are still here. This building is untouched, but many, like the hotel here, have been rebuilt. During the

war, this road here became known as sniper ally. CNN camerawoman Margaret Moth was shot just over there.

It was a desolate place. The UN in armored vehicles, civilians left shot at the roadside. Snipers always looking for easy prey. Mortars could

land any place, any time.

That one landed right here just outside the TV station where we had our offices. And driving further into the city, it became even more

dangerous.

At the same intersection today, no one's afraid of being shot. They do have really serious concerns about where peace they have is going, about

nationalist politicians and about corruption.

[08:25:04] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, we have like a lot of politicians, like corrupted and everything. So, we don't -- we can't -- I

mean, if someone sent us money from other countries I mean, they'd take it and that's it.

ROBERTSON: And the pope can help sort this out?

UNIDENITIFIED MALE: I don't think so.

ROBERTSON: The pope is coming to encourage peaceful coexistence, he says. So much blood was spilled here. This city alone more than 11,000

killed.

That's where we used to live, the Holiday Inn, right on sniper alley, right by the front line.

Back then, shell-riddled by Serb tanks.

Corridors, rooms smashed, often no water. Right outside the city was being destroyed. The parliament building, shelled, shot and on fire.

Today, the same view from my room. The parliament is fully repaired.

The building is being used to govern Bosnia again, and this is right where the war started in 1992. No (inaudible) dead worked down here. Now,

it's beginning to look like a modern metropolis.

But looks here are deceiving.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 20 years later, we are still suffering here. And I don't think -- I can't see any future here.

ROBERTSON: You can't see a future?

UNIDENITIFIED FEMALE: I have two kids, and I still can't see any future for them.

ROBERTSON: The last time a pope visited Sarajevo it was two years after the war, 1997. It was Pope John Paul II. He's remembered by a

statue.

Pope Francis wants his legacy to be more than symbolic. He wants real reconciliation, real breaking of boundaries for a real peace. It's going

to be a challenge.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now, incredible reflections there.

You're watching News Stream. And still to come on the program, two years since whistle-blower Edward Snowden made his stunning revelation,

there is a U.S. surveillance program, what impact has he made? We'll explore that after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

Now Chinese officials have rejected a U.S. claim that the hacking of American government computers originated in China. U.S. investigators say

the personal information of millions of current and former federal employees was stolen. And sources tell CNN they believe the hackers are

building a database for the Chinese military.

A South Korean defense official says a Korean airman stationed at the Osan U.S. Air Base has tested positive for the MERS virus. He remains in

isolation at a military hospital on that base. 41 cases of the virus have now been confirmed in South Korea. Four people have died.

Rescuers are guiding 137 stranded climbers down Malaysia's Mount Kinabalu, that's according to a local official. They were stranded after a

powerful earthquake. And this video was reportedly taken from the base of Mount Kinabalu as the tremor struck, causing rock slides that blocked the

trail to the summit.

Now, it has been two years since Edward Snowden first began his campaign to expose secret dealings at the U.S. National Security Agency.

And this week's groundbreaking reform U.S. Patriot Act can be said to mark a victory for his mission.

Now in an op-ed in the New York Times, he praises the changes which restricts the NSA's authority to collect and store data on American's phone

calls. He writes this, quote, two years on, the difference is profound. In a single month, the NSA's invasive call tracking program was declared

unlawful by the courts and disowned by congress.

Now, Ben Wizner is a legal adviser to Edward Snowden. He's also the director of the speech privacy and technology project of the American Civil

Liberties Union. He joins me now live from New York.

Ben, thank you so much for joining us again here on CNN International.

And again, two years ago today, that was when Snowden started to reveal the full scope of the NSA surveillance program. Did you ever

imagine the impact those revelations would have today?

BEN WIZNER, ACLU: Candidly, I did not. And I think that Edward Snowden says it best in that op-ed piece that you showed that's published

today around the world in many languages. This is the power of an informed public.

When those stories first began to appear in June of 2013, the defense that we heard from U.S. officials, which was accurate, was that the

programs that were being revealed had been approved by all three branches of the U.S. government -- by an intelligence court, by the congress and by

the executive.

But look at what happens as soon as the public was brought into the conversation. All three branches of the U.S. government have reversed

course. The president who once defended some of these programs has said they're not necessary. Congress has passed the first significant

intelligence reform since the 1970s. And last month, a federal court in New York said that one of the programs had been illegal all along.

I don't think any of this could have happened without these revelations.

LU STOUT: The public is informed and the leaks just keep coming.

Now we have newly published Snowden documents about cyber surveillance, these secret memos that allow the NSA to hunt on internet

cables without a warrant and affecting Americans on American soil. Your thoughts on this latest leak and its significance.

WIZNER: Well, I want to clarify one thing, there's no ongoing series of leaks, as you describe, these are all documents that were provided in

June of 2013 by Edward Snowden to journalists. And the documents that are published today in the New York Times are actually from 2012.

But I think the most -- this is a complicated story. The most important fact I would say here is that we shouldn't be finding out about

this years later based on these disclosures. If the NSA, which is a foreign intelligence agency, is going to play this role of essentially

scanning all internet traffic and storing information not just on foreigners, but on American citizens, this is something that we ought to be

debating publicly.

There was nothing in this story that was a national security secret. And there's no reason that we should be reading about this years after this

program was started in the New York Times instead of debating it as a democratic country.

LU STOUT: And your thoughts about the so-called USA Freedom Act. It was a pretty huge leap for congress to reform NSA surveillance programs,

but is it at the end of the day a small step in what's needed for NSA reform?

WIZNER: You know, I would say that I have very mixed feelings about this. You know, on the one hand, I can't say in good faith that this one

act of congress is significant reform in the context of the threats that mass surveillance poses for free societies.

On the other hand, it's really a watershed moment, at least in U.S. politics. This is the first time since the 1970s that congress has acted

to restrict rather than to expand the power of intelligence agencies to conduct surveillance.

This would have been unthinkable years ago. It used to be, at least for the last decade since 9/11, that if national security officials said we

need this authority because of terrorism, legislators would jump or they would hide. And now we saw a bipartisan coalition in congress stand up to

those kinds of claims and allow facts to take precedent over fearmongering.

So, I think that the fact that congress did this is more significant than the details of the bill.

LU STOUT: Got it.

And another question for you, final one, the fate of Edward Snowden, is there a sense of growing momentum, a growing conversation there in the

United States to allow Edward Snowden to return home?

[08:35:07] WIZNER: You know, I hope so. I can't speak for government officials. I think that every day that goes by, every victory in the

court, every change in congress, demonstrates that what he did he did in good faith, that his actions have served the public interest. I think that

history generally is much kinder to whistle-blowers than it is to overblown claims of national security. And it's really my hope that he won't spend

the rest of his life in exile from the country that he loves.

LU STOUT: All right. Ben Wizner of the ACLU, and legal adviser to Edward Snowden. Many thanks indeed for joining us here on CNN News Stream.

WIZNER: Thanks, Kristie.

LU STOUT: Now Julia Angwin co-authored that report on the NSA's internet spying activity that was released in the New York Times this week.

We spoke to her earlier this week here on News Stream about ways to protect your privacy online. If you missed that segment or any other part of our

special coverage, just head straight to our show page on CNN.com. You could also see how China's so-called Great Cannon tries to control the web.

It's all at CNN.com/NewsStream.

Now the United States has just released its jobs report. It said the U.S. economy added 280,000 jobs in May, that is better than the 222,000

some economists had expected.

Now the U.S. government says the unemployment rate is now 5.5 percent. We'll have much more on this jobs report in World Business Today with

Maggie Lake in less than half an hour from now.

Now you're watching News Stream. And still to come on this program, adding a bit of razzle dazzle to Sydney's famous opera house. We'll tell

you who was behind this incredible art and light show installation and how they made it happen.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

And here in Hong Kong, this city is famed for its light show, but we're going to show you something even cooler: Universal Everything is a

company that likes to play with technology to push the limits of design. And they took Sydney's iconic opera house from this to this all with the

help of some old fashioned tools and the spirit of innovation.

Now their project is part of a two week culture and arts festival called Vivid Sydney.

I recently spoke with Matt Pike. He's the founder and creative director of Universal Everything. And asked him what challenges he faced

in creating and projecting an animated light show on such a unique building.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATT PIKE, UNIVERSAL EVERYTHING: The Sydney Opera House is a hugely iconic and also a very great building in terms of its shape and form. So,

the challenge for us was really how we can work with such an unusual dynamic curvaceous building. And we looked at the sort of overall shape,

but also the separate panels and many of the animations that we developed responded to that shape in different ways in terms of using the curvature

of the building or using the multifaceted nature.

LU STOUT: And the animation is 100 percent hand drawn. Why did you make that decision?

PIKE: I think we've always been interested in three things as a studio. One is drawing, two is architecture and three is moving image. So

it kind of combined those passions into one.

And I -- you know we work a lot in CGI, but I really like the idea that we could take a technique that is around 100 years old, you know,

pioneered by people like Walt Disney, and take that hand-drawn animation technique and apply it to the modern world with modern cultural influences

that we all have.

So, it's a very laborious time consuming method compared to kind of computer-based methods of today.

What was very beautiful as a creative process was how everybody responded to the shapes and forms of the building with the drawings, that

people drew shapes that kind of dripped off the curves, off the roof of the building. People drew things, which bounced across and ricocheted around

the inside of the building. And that kind of playfulness and that kind of hand-drawn kind of charm really worked well against the sort of futurism of

the architecture.

[08:40:37] LU STOUT: And how have audiences responded to the installation?

PIKE: Yeah, the feedback has been great. You know, people saying I've never seen anything like it before. It makes me view the Sydney Opera

House in a completely new way. People pleasantly surprised that the technique that we've used.

LU STOUT: Now this is a multimedia project, so what kind of music accompanies the animation?

PIKE: We thought why don't we go with a handmade soundtrack, you know. The animation could have been made 100 years ago. So let's use a

simpler technique for the sound. So, my brother, who is the composer on all of our projects, he composed the soundtrack using hand-played piano.

So, he played piano in response to the animations, but then we manipulated that using modern studio techniques to turn it into something more

contemporary.

LU STOUT: Do you plan to do this again? And if so, how could you push the envelope?

PIKE: Well, yeah, this is actually the first projection project we've accepted. We've been asked to do many, because we were waiting for kind of

right building. And this is -- you can't get much better than Sydney Opera House.

So we're certainly planning to explore projection onto architecture more, but architecture and moving image combined is the kind of core of our

studio's practice.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Beautiful animation there.

That was Matt Pike, the founder of Universal Everything speaking with me earlier.

And be sure to check out Vivid Sydney. If you happen to be in the area, it runs through Monday, and most of the exhibitions, talks and

performances are all free.

And that is News Stream. I'm Kristie Lu Stout, but don't go anywhere. World Sport is up next with Patrick Snell at CNN Center and Alex Thomas in

Berlin, the site of this weekend's Champion's League final.

END