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Dominique Strauss-Kahn Acquitted of Aggravated Pimping; Refugees' Lives on Pause While Awaiting Asylum in Greece; Questions Surround Racial Identity of Spokane Washington NAACP Chapter President; Seoul Business Feel Effects of MERS Outbreak; The Science of Jurassic Park. Aired 8:00a-9:00p ET

Aired June 12, 2015 - 8:00   ET

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


[08:00:24] KRISTIE LU STOUT, HOST: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. And welcome to News Stream.

Now the former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn has been acquitted ending a long legal battle over accusations that he organized sex parties.

Three days prison and a fine for posing naked on a mountain -- now that is the sentence given to four foreign hikers according to Malaysian

state media.

And Jurassic World opens in cinemas. We'll speak to a paleontologist who worked on the film's dinosaurs.

He was once a contender to be the president of France and headed the international monetary fund. A sex scandal brought him down. But today,

Dominique Strauss-Kahn has been acquitted of aggravated pimping, even after the prosecution said there was not enough evidence to convict him.

Now Strauss-Kahn does not deny that he took part in sex parties, but he insists that he didn't know that the women involved were sex workers.

Let's go straight to Paris now. CNN's Jim Bittermann is standing by. And Jim, walk us through the verdict that acquitted Dominique Strauss-Kahn.

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, in fact they not only acquitted Dominique Strauss-Kahn, but 12 other people involved in

this trial. 13 of the 14 defendants were in fact acquitted by the judge. Only one, the communications director for the hotel, which was the site of

some of the sex parties, only he was convicted, and that was a one year suspended sentence.

So, in fact, I think the judge's rule here that there just wasn't enough evidence that connected any of these people to aggravated pimping,

which is the crime in France. Prostitution is not a crime. Aggravated pimping is.

Strauss-Kahn was charged with that, saying that -- in the indictment that he had organized these sex parties. He always denied that. He said

he had no idea that these women were prostitutes and as far as he was concerned no money was changing hands. Clearly it was, though, from the

testimony of the prostitutes.

But in any case, he has been exonerated, and this is the end of legal battles for Strauss-Kahn. And four years after he was first picked up by

New York City police after the charges involving the Sofitel hotel in New York City -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: Jim, he has been exonerated, but the court decision today just puts the spotlight back on him and all these sex scandals involving

Strauss-Kahn. Again, he's been acquitted, but just how much damage has been done to him and his reputation?

BITTERMANN: Well, he's been acquitted by justice, but condemned, certainly, by the court of public opinion. He's been the subject of much

derision here, characterized something of a buffoon, an animalistic sexual hungry man who couldn't keep his desires under control.

Some of that reputation comes directly from him, because of his testimony in this trial up in Lille in which he said he was a libertine,

and sure he had taken part in these sex parties. And some of the prostitutes who had taken part said he was brutal, he was like an animal.

So, his character has taken a huge hit. It's hard to imagine he would ever have a future in politics.

He took it kind of bitterly, if we can believe what we heard was the exchange right after the verdict was announced today in court. According

to our colleague said BFM television. He was heard to say as he was standing next to his daughter, all that for this. What destruction,

meaning destruction of certainly from his standpoint of his career -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: And Jim, as you said I mean it's really hard to imagine Dominique Strauss-Kahn being able to rehabilitate his image to a point of

where he was a man with major political ambitions.

So what's next for him?

BITTERMANN: Well, one of the things that's next is what he's already been doing for the last couple of years, and that is he'll probably

continue with his financial consulting work. He's constructed a company, created a company to consult with various countries and companies around

the world, give them financial advice.

He's still regarded in France by 70 or 80 percent of the France, if you believe the surveys, still regarded as someone who is an expert in

financial affairs and who probably could have done a better job of leading the economic situation in France than the man who was elected president

Francois Holande.

But in any case, he's certainly in terms of political process is pretty much excluded I think from this point.

But he will have that future probably as a consultant and financial adviser to various companies and countries around the world, Kristie.

[08:05:10] LU STOUT: Got it. Jim Bittermann reporting live from Paris for us. Thank you for that.

Now, media in Malaysia, they report that four hikers have been sentenced to three days in prison and fined more than $1,300 dollars.

This is what sparked outrage that lead to the charge of obscenity. Now it shows a group of tourists stripping naked at the summit of Mount

Kinabalu. Mount Kinabalu is considered sacred in Malaysia and some residents believe that the behavior caused an earthquake there that killed

16 people.

According to Malaysian media, the indigenous people of Sabah think the tourists angered the spirit of the mountain by disrespecting local culture.

Authorities have not released the names of the arrested foreigners.

But one woman, a British citizen, was detained this week at the airport, and three of the backpackers, two Canadians and a Dutch national,

turned themselves in.

Malaysian police are searching for the rest of the people seen in the photo saying, quote, if they are still in Sabah we will catch them.

Now in South Korea, another person has died from MERS as the country struggles to contain the virus. And that brings the number of deaths to

11. And with four new cases, 126 people are now sick with the virus.

As Kathy Novak now reports, it's also having an impact on the country's economic health.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATHY NOVAK, CNN INTERANTIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A trip to a country in crisis mode, battling to contain the MERS outbreak, a good dose of hand

sanitizer, a quick selfie and they're off.

There are free face masks for everyone, and a bus company has sanitized everything. You can smell the disinfectant.

When I arrived in Seoul, the first thing I did was take a tour on a bus like this one. And then the aisles were so packed that at some stops

people couldn't get on. We've been riding this one for about half an hour now, and the whole time there have been empty seats available.

Bus drivers noticed it too.

"I've seen a huge decrease in the number of tourists," he says. "Normally at the museum, war memorial and palaces it's so busy. These days

it's hard to even fill seats on the bus."

Even though MERS hasn't spread to the public, the fear is enough to keep many visitors away. Daniel Glifbreig (ph) thought about canceling

too.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Originally yes. And we talked a lot about with our family. But since we got here, we're not worried anymore.

NOVAK: They're getting off at Myeong-dong, a popular shopping destination. It's usually packed with people buying cosmetics, clothes and

food. Now, the shoppers are notably absent.

The Korean tourism organization says package tours from China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan are down by 80 percent compared to this time last year.

Hong Kong and Macau told their citizens not to travel here unless absolutely necessary.

The ones who came anyway are taking precautions.

UNIDENITIFIED FEMALE: We wear the mask on every public transporations, always wash our hands, because, you know, Hong Kong more

than 10 years before we have the SARS.

NOVAK: The SARS outbreak killed hundreds and had lingering economic effects.

The Bank of Korea is so concerned about the affect of the outbreak here it cut its main interest rate to a record low.

There is at least one sector doing well at the moment, it's not a bad to be in the surgical mask business.

Kathy Novak, CNN, Seoul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And now to new revelations about the co-pilot of Germanwings flight 9525 who was believed to have deliberately slammed the

jetliner into the French Alps.

Now French prosecutors say Andreas Lubitz feared he was going blind and had consulted with doctors seven times in the month before the crash.

He was alone in the cockpit when the plane plowed into the mountains in March, killing all 150 people on board.

And France has opened a criminal inquiry into the crash.

You're watching News Stream. And coming up next, changes at the top of Twitter. The embattled CEO steps down. And the founder of the social

media service steps back up.

And changes are coming in the media empire headed by Rupert Murdoch. And the spotlight is turning to expanded roles for his sons.

And China roles out the red carpet for Myanmar opposition leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[08:11:12] LU STOUT: Welcome back.

Now Twitter's Dick Costolo will step down as the CEO of the social media service.

Now Costolo had been under fire from investors for Twitter's disappointing performance. Co-founder Jack Dorsey will replace Costolo as

interim boss on July 1.

Now Costolo has come under fire as Twitter's growth lags behind rivals. It has 302 million active monthly users, and that is just a tiny

fraction of Facebook's massive user base. And it's rapidly being caught by Instagram and Snapchat, services that are much younger than Twitter.

Now Costolo promised that they would add new features to attract more users, but one analyst thinks that Twitter's very nature makes that a

difficult task.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE RANGER, UK EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, TECHREPUBLIC: It's incredibly simple. It's 140 characters which you can send out to whoever wants to

hear from you. So how do you bulk extra bits onto that? They have been working that in, you know, images or adding video as well, live video. But

every step you add to it makes it more complicated above and beyond that which was a really simple product, which is what people love.

So, it's a slightly different model to Facebook. And I'd hate to see it become Facebook, because that simplicity is what people love.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And a major shift in the media landscape with word that Rupert Murdoch is leaving as the CEO of 21st Century Fox, and his two sons

are taking on bigger roles.

Brian Stelter has that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN STELTER, CNN MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: It's a stop the presses moment for the media business. Rupert Murdoch, one of the world's most

influential media executives preparing to step down as CEO of 21st Century Fox.

Sources with knowledge of the matter say the 84-year-old media titan is ready to hand over the reigns to his sons James and Lachlan.

James will be CEO, Lachlan will be co-executive chairman alongside his father. It will apparently be a power sharing arrangement with the elder

Murdoch having final say. But it's a clear moment of generational change.

Rupert Murdoch's career began over 60 years ago when his newspaper publisher father died and left him in control of a local Australian

newspaper. Now the powerful media conglomerate includes the 20th Century Fox film studio.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And there are consequences.

STELTER: The Fox broadcast network.

The Fox News Channel.

BILL O'REILLY, HOST, THE O'REILLY FACTOR: Hi. I'm Bill O'Reilly.

STELTER: And Sky News.

His other company, News Corporation, has HarperCollins publishing and newspapers like the Wall Street Journal, Britain's Times and several in

Murdoch's native Australia.

But his rise to the top has come with many challenges. In 2011, a phone hacking scandal led Murdoch to close the British tabloid News of the

World, his pride and joy.

The powerful businessman even faced questions from British politicians.

RUPERT MURDOCH, NEWS CORP: I would just like to say one sentence. This is the most humble day of my life.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you close the paper down because of the criminality?

MURDOCH: Yes, we felt ashamed at what had happened and felt we (inaudible) bring it to a close.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People lied to you and lied to their readers.

MURDOCH: We had broken our trust with our readers.

STELTER: During that testimony, Murdoch's then wife Wendy also grabbed headlines for what she did after a pie was thrown at her husband.

Murdoch filed for divorce from Wendy in 2013. A year later, the media mogul made an $80 billion for Time Warner, the parent company of CNN. A

month later, Murdoch withdrew his bid for what could have been the biggest media merger in recent history.

Respected by many, feared by many, Murdoch's political and cultural power may soon be his son's power.

If James and Lachlan work as long as their father, we could see them at the helm for another 40 years.

Brian Stelter, CNN Money, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[08:15:04] LU STOUT: Now, American media reported a recent data breach in the U.S. government is worse than previously thought. The

American Federation of Government Employees, a union, says hackers obtained personnel data for every federal employee, ever retiree, and up to a

million former federal workers.

Now that brings the number of people affected close to 7 million.

Some U.S. officials say the hackers are based in China.

Now a measure to strengthen cyber security has failed in the U.S. Senate. Republicans tied the proposal to a defense bill opposed by

Democrats. The White House has condemned congress for playing politics instead of protecting Americans from cyber hacks.

Now Myanmar's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is on a five day visit to China. She met with the Chinese president Xi Jinping on Thursday.

And relations between the Myanmar government and China have been strained.

Some believe Beijing is hedging its bets by expanding ties with Suu Kyi and her opposition party.

Activists are calling from the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate to speak out on China's human rights record. Suu Kyi has been criticized for failing to

address some rights issues in her own country, notably the persecution of Rohingya Muslims.

Earlier, I talked to Myanmar journalist Aung Zaw about Suu Kyi's visit.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AUNG ZAW, JOURNALIST: I think since the political opening in our country, in Burma, I think China is readjusting its role in its foreign

policy of a very important country and neighboring country Burma. China has a long-term strategic interest and investment interest in Burma.

And before you can look at only the regime in China before the (inaudible) you might say. Today, since the opening of our country, there

are a lot of (inaudible) players coming out. And Suu Kyi is -- Aung San Suu Kyi is one of them. And China would like to put its political

investment in her. And she -- China doesn't want to put all eggs in one basket. China wants to expand and readjust its engagement with Burma.

LU STOUT: Aung San Suu Kyi had an audience with the Chinese president Xi Jinping. She did have the opportunity to bring up human rights. Do you

think she did?

ZAW: I doubt it. And Aung San Suu Kyi is no longer a human rights activist, nor is she an icon of democracy. She has transformed to be a

politician.

Most of (inaudible) before, I think she has proved to be a pragmatic politician. If you look at the decision -- the commission that she led in

2013, when they decided -- or she decided the Chinese-backed business -- the mining projects in central Burma, she gave the go ahead and green light

to continue mining project.

Since then, I think China realized that she is someone that they can trust and they can make a deal, and also because of coming election in

Burma, a hugely important (inaudible), because China is seeing she's going to continue to play a very influential role after the election.

LU STOUT: You say that Aung San Suu Kyi is no longer a human rights defender, but a pragmatic politician. Does that also explain her silence

on the Rohingya issue?

ZAW: Yes. It's -- there are a lot of issues, not only Rohingya issue. There are other issues like detention of political prisoners and

student activists. We now have over 100 students activists behind bar again in Burma. And she kept silence. That disappointed a lot of people

inside the country.

But again, this China trip is a hugely important inside the country. A lot of people are paying serious attention to this visit, because they

see her as one main opposition leader. And she's hugely popular inside the country.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And that was founder and editor of Irrawaddy Magazine Aung Zaw speaking to me earlier.

Now you're watching News Stream. And straight ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't have nothing now. My home, it's finished. I'm scared for my family.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Syrian migrants seek a new life in Europe. This family just one of thousands who have made the perilous sea journey to Greece.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:23:16] LU STOUT: Coming to you live from Hong Kong, you're back watching News Stream.

And you're looking at a visual breakdown of all the news stories we have for you today.

We've already told you about the hikers jailed in Malaysia. And later, the strange case of the civil rights activists who parents say she

is not black. But now, refugees from around the world are fleeing to Europe in hopes of a better future.

Now these refugees are trying to get into Europe in hope of a better future for their families. But if they make it safely to shore, they will

face hardship and overcrowding.

Isa Soares has one family's story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ISA SOARES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: He has little to smile about, but he doesn't even know it, because unlike others he's made it to

Europe unharmed.

Walk the streets of central Kos and you start to get a sense of the challenge authorities have on their hands. Just behind me, the majority of

people there are from Pakistan. This is a group of friends who have arrived from Syria. Next door, a family from Aleppo with three children.

The other two houses are being rented full of people also from Syria. And right at the far end, a group of friends from Afghanistan. All these

people desperate, looking to Europe for a way out.

The Badedkhan family from Aleppo arrived in Kos only 10 days ago, making the perilous journey from Badram (ph) in Turkey.

MEDHAT BADEDKHAN, SYRIAN REFUGEES: It's so hard, because small shipping in air, not good shipping. And seven hour on water. And all the

children and women so scared.

SOARES: Here, they're a fractured family.

BADEDKHAN: This is my cousin, this is my wife, my daughter. I don't have no mother, no father, in Syria.

SOARES: A family ripped apart by war and torn by sacrifice.

Why didn't the money come?

[08:25:03] BADEDKHAN: No money.

UNIDENITIFIED FEMALE: No money.

SOARES: Now living in this 15 euro a night apartment, they wait to be transferred to Athens.

Time is all they have here, so they tidy and dote on 6-month-old Anna (ph).

The boredom is so that even playing with pillows makes time go faster.

But a life on pause is better than one in conflict.

BADEDKHAN: I leave Syria, because I don't have nothing now. My home it's finished. I'm scared for my family.

So much war is big, big war. If you this house, if you're looking, you see people die.

SOARES: In case I still didn't understand, the grandmother, filled with emotion and anger, tells me what has been their biggest struggle to

date.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translation): The free army is hitting Bashar, and Bashar is hitting Daesh and Daesh is hitting -- it's all on top

of us. All of it is above above above and we are here all of it boom boom boom boom all of it over us.

SOARES: The Badedkhans are one of thousands of Syrian families seeking shelter here. According to UNHCR, 70 percent of the refugees

arriving in Kos are Syrian. The war back home means their asylum applications are given over other nationalities.

But others are not forgotten. And every night, as the son sets over Kos, hundreds lead to Athens. And for these refugees, this part of their

journey is just beginning.

Isa Soares, CNN, in the Greek island of Kos.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now you're watching News Stream. And still to come, caught in controversy, why this leader of a local civil rights organization in the

U.S. is being questioned about her race.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

Now a French judge has acquitted former IMF chief Dominique Strauss- Kahn on charges of aggravated pimping. He was accused of organizing sex parties with prostitutes, but insists he did not know the women involved

were sex workers. Strauss-Kahn was once thought to be a contender for the French presidency.

In South Korea, another person has died from Middle East Respiratory Syndrome as the country struggles to contain the virus. And that brings

the number of deaths to 11. With four new cases, 126 people have been diagnosed with MERS.

Malaysian media report four hikers who posed naked for photos on top of Mount Kinabalu have each been sentenced to three days in jail and a

$1,300 fine. Backpackers were from the UK, Canada and The Netherlands. Mount Kinabalu is considered sacred. And some believe the tourists'

behavior triggered this month's earthquake that killed 16 people.

Now in Spokane, Washington the president of the local NAACP civil rights organization is under fire for claiming that she is African-

American. Now the problem is, her birth certificate and her parents say otherwise.

Jeff Humphrey from CNN affiliate KXLY reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF HUMPHREY, KXLY: As president of the Spokane NAACP, Rachel Dolezal has become the new face of the area's civil rights movement.

According to Dolezal, striving for equality has made her a target for numerous hate crimes.

RACHEL DOLEZAL, PRESIDENT NAACP, SPOKANE: It's highly frustrating. It's been a stretch of years. And certainly no small amount of stress for

my kids as well as myself.

HUMPHREY: Dolezal says she's been victimized more than a dozen times in both Spokane and Coeur d'Alene, including the appearances of nooses

around her homes, yet police have made no arrests.

DOLEZAL: There's been no conclusion in any of these instances with -- that have resulted in a suspect.

HUMPHREY: And now it's Dolezal herself who is under scrutiny. In numerous postings and public appearances, Dolezal has represented herself

as African-American, including this application for a position on the police ombudsman position.

Is that your dad?

DOLEZAL: Yeah, that's my dad.

HUMPHREY: Dolezal also made claims on the NAACP Facebook page that this man is her father.

DOLEZAL: This man right here is your father?

DOLEZAL: You have a question about that?

HUMPHREY: In reality, this man, Larry Dolezal, is Rachel's father. And this is her mother Ruthanne. This birth certificate from Lincoln

County, Montana proves it.

Yes, ma'am. I'm wondering if your dad really is an African-American man.

DOLEZAL: That's a very -- I mean, I don't know what you're implying.

HUMPHREY: The implication is Dolezal has taken steps to misrepresent her ethnic background.

These are photographs of Dolezal when she was a teenager.

Are you African-American?

DOLEZAL: I don't -- I don't understand the question of -- I did tell you that, yes, that's my dad. And he was unable to come in January.

HUMPHREY: Are your parents -- are they white?

And that's when Dolezal walked away from our interview in such a hurry, she left her purse and car keys behind. Our photographer dutifully

returned them as Dolezal hid inside this clothing store.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: It's such a mind-boggling story. That was Jeff Humphrey reporting there.

Now KXLY, the affiliate also reports that the city of Spokane is investigating whether the woman violated its code of ethics.

Now, Nobel winning scientists, this man Sir Tim Hunt, who may be brilliant in his field, but his less than brilliant comments about women in

science labs has not only triggered his resignation, it has sparked a flurry of responses on Twitter with the hashtag #distractinglysexy.

Now Hunt, notoriously referred to women as girls and said, quote, "three things happen when they are in the lab. You fall in love with them,

they fall in love with you, and when you criticize them they cry." It's an actual quote.

Well, several women had these responses.

Charlene (ph), she tweeted this, quote, "the only picture I have of myself at work where my mascara isn't running from all the crying."

And this user jokes, quote, "I fell in love with this microcentrifuge. Typical woman in the lab."

Now meanwhile, Kelly (ph) says she is distractingly sexy when emptying a biohazardous waste bucket.

And Van wants to know how her male colleagues can publish anything when she shows up to work in such revealing outfits.

Now, the original Jurassic Park helped define how people saw dinosaurs. And still to come right here on News Stream now Jurassic World

is here. And I'll be asking a Paleontologist who worked on the film about the new dinosaurs.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:35:38] LU STOUT: Welcome back.

Now this is how Facebook sees the future of gaming. They unveiled the final version of the Oculus Rift on Thursday, that's the virtual reality

headset mainly aimed at gamers. It is designed to immerse players inside their games. And consumers will be able to buy the headset in the first

quarter of 2016.

Now they also unveiled a rather bizarre partnership with Microsoft. Now Microsoft says you'll be able to use the headset to play Xbox One games

by putting you in a virtual room to play those games on a virtual TV.

OK, now one of the biggest franchises in movie history is looking for another summer blockbuster with the release of Jurassic World this weekend.

It is the fourth installment in a series about a prehistoric amusement park full of dinosaurs that escape, attack and eat the park's guests.

The series, it started way back in 1993 with Jurassic Park, considered then and now a landmark visual effects film.

And while the films are fictional, they have been credited with improving the public's knowledge of dinosaurs.

And joining us now to talk about the science of the film is Jack Horner, curator of paleontology at the Museum of the Rockies in Montana.

And Jack, welcome to the program. Good to see you. Let's first talk about that giant scary hybrid dinosaur in Jurassic World -- I've seen the

trailer -- what input did you have in creating that creature?

JACK HORNER, PALEONTOLOGY: Indominus Rex. Well, the moviemakers wanted a new kind of dinosaur, a hybrid, and so I -- and they wanted one

that was a little different than T. Rex. They wanted one with bigger arms that could grab things and you know as much as being bulletproof as

possible and all sorts of -- it needed a lot of characteristics.

So, you know, it's actually possible -- it would be possible to make something like that if you had actual dinosaurs. So, we sort of mix a

bunch of genetic characters together to make you know to make a new kind of dinosaur.

LU STOUT: Yeah, and you really optimize the fright factor that way, too, really scary.

But I want to ask you about, if I may, the scientific accuracy in the movie, and how it pertains to the size of the dinosaurs. Again, the

trailer of Jurassic World, we see just a moment ago I saw it on the return monitor here, that massive aquatic dinosaur that leaps out and jumps back

into the water and splashes the audience.

I mean, how accurate is the size of that and other dinosaurs in this movie?

HORNER: Well, size is sort of relative. First off, most dinosaurs and other kinds of reptiles grow most of their lives. So, we're always

going to find larger individuals.

But, yes, the Mosasaur is -- is a stretch. It is definitely bigger than any mosasaur we found before. But, we keep finding bigger ones, so

who knows.

LU STOUT: And we've got to talk about feathers. Real velociraptors apparently they were covered in feathers, but the dinosaurs in the latest

Jurassic Park movie are without them.

As a paleontologist, does that bother you at all?

HORNER: Not at all. We have to go back -- we have to remember that first -- two things. First off, the movie -- all four movies make one

story. So, you can't invent something in one of them and then change it in another since really they're supposed to be all the same dinosaurs that we

cloned back in the first movie.

But, beyond that -- and it's explained very well in this new movie, the fact that we -- the premise is that we brought dinosaurs back from that

past, from deep time, but we didn't have -- what we did was we brought DNA back, but we didn't have a complete strand of DNA and therefore we had to

add other kind of animal DNA. And then, if you remember the first movie they actually talked about adding frog DNA to the original strand and of

course that would give you different characteristics than actual dinosaurs.

LU STOUT: Got it. The decision makes sense to go featherless because of continuity and the context of the movie.

And I have to ask you if you could bring back any dinosaur, which one would you bring back?

HORNER: Well, you definitely want one that isn't going to eat you. I would -- I guess I would bring back a friendly dinosaur like a duck-billed

dinosaur, Maiasaura, the dinosaur that I originally named. And it's the one that is a good mother, takes care of its young, that seems like a

pretty good one.

LU STOUT: And you've been reverse engineering the chickenosaurus. How close are you to actually creating it?

HORNER: Well, the chickenosaurus project is -- you know, it's a big project and depends a lot on which characters, you know, were -- we

consider major. The idea was to basically retro-engineer a bird back to an animal having characteristics like dinosaurs. And that includes, you know,

making a bird a long tail and transforming the wings back to arms and hands, giving it teeth and you know changing its head sort of.

And a group at Harvard and Yale have actually transformed the -- and figured out a way to transform the head from a birdlike head back to a

dinosaurlike head. So -- and teeth have been implanted in dinosaurs, so -- or in birds, so, you know, if you look at it as four different

characteristics, two of them have been made and so that means we're 50 percent of the way there.

LU STOUT: That's so incredible to hear the chickenosaurus is actually going to be a real thing very soon.

We're going to have to leave it at that. Jack Horner, thank you so much for joining me here on News Stream to talk about your role as a

technical adviser and consultant in all the Jurassic Park movies, including the new one, and the science, fact and fiction behind it all.

Thank you and take care.

HORNER: Thank you.

LU STOUT: Now, before we go, I want to take a moment to remember this man, the British actor Christopher Lee. He died this week. He was 93

years old. And Lee was famous for his portrayal of iconic villains. He played the vampire Count Dracula in a series of films during the 1950s and

60s. And then in 1974, he starred as James Bond's archenemy in the Man With the Golden Gun.

More recently, he took the role of the evil wizard Saruman in Lord of the Rings.

But Lee's interest lies in more than just films.

I mean, how epic is that. That was Lee's rendition of the impossible dream from his music album that came out just last year. And before that,

he also released two holiday albums of heavy metal Christmas songs.

What a dude.

That is News Stream. I'm Kristie Lu Stout, but don't go anywhere. World Sport with Amanda Davies is next.

END