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China Lifts Ban On Gaming Consoles; Chinese Stocks Close Down After Government Programs End; U.S. President Visits Ethiopia; Chris Froome Wins Tour de France; Interview with Honest Trailer Creator Andy Signore; U.S. Set to Release 2014 Trafficking in Persons Report. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired July 27, 2015 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:51] KRISTIE LU STOUT, HOST: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. And welcome to News Stream. Now, another sharp fall for China's markets:

Shanghai sheds over 8 percent.

The first U.S. president to visit Ethiopia calls on an ally in the fight against terror.

And a good day for Chinese gamers as the government finally lifts a ban on video game consoles.

The fear is back in China's stock markets, and that is fueling anxiety for investors around the world. The Shanghai composite closed Monday's session

down 8.5 percent. That is the biggest daily percentage to climb since 2007.

Now the route resumed after two weeks of relative calm, but China's markets have been extremely volatile all year. Our Asia-Pacific editor Andrew

Stevens joins us now with more. 8.5 percent. This is such a dramatic fall. Walk us through the market route and what triggered it.

ANDREW STEVENS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, this is the fascinating question. What actually trigger seeing we had, as you say,

three weeks of relative calm. Really you need to put this all in perspective, go back a few weeks. And if you take a look at what's been

happening in this market, really, Kristie, since it hit this peak back in June.

We saw this sharp, sharp selloff, 18 sessions -- less than three weeks -- it was down 32 percent. The government steps in, a lot of measures to

stabilize the market. It worked up 16 percent in the last weeks, you talked about, and then today, boom, down 8.5 percent.

The trigger is a difficult one to identify at this stage. It could be a number of things. Some people are talking about the fact that weaker than

expected economic numbers, the fact that profits aren't quite a strong with Chinese industrial companies as people want to see, which of course rolls

into how bigger issue the Chinese economy is at the moment.

The other thing, which I suspect maybe more likely, it's very difficult to quantify, is the fact that we saw -- when the market was going up, that was

because the government was introducing so many measures. Three weeks of calm. The government steps back at the start of a new trading week to see

whether it's had the desired effect. And guess what, everyone is back in selling again.

It says that the retail investors are still very, very uncomfortable -- remember, they borrowed money to actually buy stocks. A lot of them did

that. They want to get out. This martian (ph) trading so to speak.

So that could be it.

LU STOUT: Let's talk about this interesting period in the graph right around here leading up to what happened today, the brutal selloff. What

kind of measures did the Chinese government introduce to intervene and try to bring some stability to the markets?

STEVENS: Yeah, I mean, it was extraordinary what they did. They threw everything at the market.

And, you'll remember, it wasn't that long ago the markets it was a rout. It was out of control selling.

So the government did a fairly disjointed initial reaction to it. So there wasn't sort of a cold and (inaudible) approach. They tried this. They

tried that. But basically in the end, they injected money pretty much into the market for the state institutions to buy stocks, to put a floor under,

$200 billion they're talking about up until last week. They also lowered interests rates, of course, which didn't really work. They banned people

from selling stocks if you were a big shareholder you weren't allowed to sell stocks. And of course a lot of the companies -- at one stage half the

companies listed in China were suspended from trading, so you couldn't sell if you wanted to.

There are all the measure they took, and it obviously worked, but artificial.

LU STOUT: Yeah, given all those measures, they were able to introduce some measure of stability to the market. Call it artificial. Today, we see

investors are definitely very nervous and questions being raised about the overall health of the Chinese economy.

What's your read on that?

STEVENS: Well, the economy is weak. And it's getting weaker, that's what the official stats are telling us. The degree of weakness is where the

ambiguities start coming in.

Chinese Q2, the second quarter GDP, the broadest measure of economic growth, down at around about 7 percent or so. If you look at unofficial

forecasts, a lot of private independent economists now look at things like electricity consumption, rail traffic, passenger cars on the road, little

things like that, the amount of cargo actually imports. They put all those together and they come up with number which are around 4 or 5 percent.

So, no doubt the trend is down and weakening, though if you see sort of a bad number, to get that sort of reaction in the day it looks unlikely.

But, you know, it just feeds into everything -- the general sort of discontent if you like.

One more point, important to remember, not that many Chinese, relatively speaking, own stock. In the U.S. perhaps 50 percent -- I think at 40

percent is the last number, 40 percent of people in the U.S. own stock. In China, it's less than 10 percent.

LU STOUT: Yeah, key to understand all the exposure from all of this.

A lot of questions about where this is going to go next, and what the Chinese government can do at this point. Andrew Stevens, thank you.

STEVENS: Thanks, Kristie.

LU STOUT: Now, NATO ministers, they are set to meet on Tuesday after Turkey called for emergency talks. The Turkish government says it plans to

address its growing security threat.

Now, Turkey is recently ramped up its efforts to fight terrorists, launching airstrikes on ISIS in Syria and bombing Kurdish positions.

And it comes during a wave of violence in Turkey.

Our senior international correspondent Arwa Damon has been following the latest developments from Istanbul. She joins us now live.

And Arwa, why is Turkey calling for emergency NATO talks? What does it want?

ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it seems at this stage that perhaps Turkey, at least security wise, feels as if it is, one,

vulnerable and also according to statements being put out by the Turkish government, wants to explain what its strategy is and kind of bring

everyone on board when it comes to other NATO allied members.

Turkey is (inaudible) both of these fronts, having opened them nearly simultaneously. You have Turkish fighter jets now bombing ISIS positions

inside Syria. This is sure to make Turkey more vulnerable when it comes to retaliatory attacks by ISIS. The population split as to whether or not

Turkey should have been getting more involved, or not, many of them feeling as if the Turkish government is perhaps responsible for not dealing with

the threat being posed by ISIS previously, many even blaming Turkey for the emergence of ISIS in and of itself, giving that it basically turned a blind

eye for years to foreign fighters coming across its border.

Then you also have the highly contentious issue, as well, of Turkey going after the PKK, the Kurdistan Worker's Party, which it considers to be a

terrorist organization, bombing their positions in the mountains in Northern Iraq. And this has always been a fairly divisive issue, but

especially so right now given the fact that the pro-Kurdish party is now in parliament as a party having fared very well in the most recent

parliamentary elections.

And also the role of the Syrian Kurdish fighting force when it comes to the battle against ISIS in Syria as well.

You have a very muddy and murky situation now to say the least. Turkey perhaps feeling and wanting to be able to clarify why it is simultaneously

going after both these organizations that, at least, considers to be a domestic threat when it comes to Turkey's own national security, but

wanting to make sure that all NATO allies are on board, and perhaps also looking for more support, Kristie.

LU STOUT: So, we have Turkey going after both ISIS and the PKK, as you point out a very contentious issue inside the country.

Arwa Damon reporting live from Istanbul, thank you.

Now, Barack Obama is in Ethiopia this hour for the second and final leg of his east Africa tour. He is the first sitting U.S. president to visit the

country, a trip made in part, because Ethiopia is uniquely positioned to be the lynchpin in the battle against the al Shabaab insurgency.

Now that was one of the topics covered when Mr. Obama met with the Ethiopian prime minister Heilie Mariam, a short time ago. Now those

bilateral talks also touched on regional security threats as well as human rights.

Now the president also spent two days in Kenya where he vowed to step up support for the battle against the region's growing terror threat.

It was underscored over the weekend. Al Shabaab says it is responsible for that deadly attack on the up market Jazeera Palace Hotel in Mogadishu. Now

police say at least 15 people were killed when a suicide bomber drove a vehicle loaded with explosives into the hotel's front gate.

The militant group says it was targeting western diplomats.

Now Ethiopia's soldiers have played a big role in the African Union's peacekeeper mission in Somalia. As our Robyn Kriel reports, this fighting

contingent is now using Mr. Obama's landmark visit to appeal for more American help.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(SINGING)

ROBYN KRIEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Al Shabaab militants wait to ambush an African Union convoy in southern Somalia. The attack went largely

unnoticed until this gruesome terror video appeared online. The al Qaeda- linked group claims they've killed dozens of Ethiopian troops. Identity documents purport to show the dead.

The Ethiopian military is regarded as the most disciplined, effective and battle hardened among the 22,000 troops of the African Union's mission to

Somalia. Their mandate is peace enforcement. Their contribution to fighting al Shabaab hasn't gone unnoticed.

U.S. President Barack Obama thanked Ethiopia for its leadership and cooperation last year.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our counterterrorism cooperations and the partnerships we've formed with countries like Ethiopia

will be critical to our overall efforts to defeat terrorism.

KRIEL: Those efforts have ramped up just this month with a new ground offensive by African forces and U.S. airstrikes.

MATT BRYDEN, SOMALIA SECURITY EXPERT: Obama traveling to Ethiopia, I think, is an indication of continued U.S. Engagement, possibly some increase and

also signaling awareness that more needs to be done. That the last few years of combined regional and international efforts to contain al Shabaab

haven't done enough, and it is time to step up both campaign against al Shabaab and to support the countries that are on the front lines.

KRIEL: The Ethiopians believe they can teach the Americans a thing or two about achieving that.

GETACHEW REDA, ADVISOR, ETHIOPIAN GOVERNMENT: The United States has to do some learning as to how on the ground and understanding on the ground would

better inform whatever decisions they make.

KRIEL (on camera): He adds that the two countries have a long way in addressing what he calls their differences in approach. When pressed on

that, it said that the African Union's war against al Shabaab in Somalia is the cheapest, most effective war against militant Islam in the world. But

the countries fighting that war, including Ethiopia, need more support, in terms of financing training and equipment. As one Western diplomat told us,

it's our treasure, but it's their blood.

(voice-over): A high price to play for the long-term goal of peace in Africa.

REDA: Peace in Somalia would also have dividends to the rest of the region.

KRIEL: And the rest of the world. Ethiopia wants to be more than a military enforcer. It wants to be the regional power broker too. And it wants the

U.S. to listen, understand and support it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And for the latest, let's go now to our correspondent following developments from the capital of Ethiopia, CNN's Robyn Kriel joins me now

live from Addis Ababa. And robyn, the bilateral meeting, it wrapped up just a few hours ago. And after Sunday's terror attack in Somalia, of

course, security was at the top of the agenda.

KRIEL: Yes. and that was one of the major reasons we believe, Kristie, that President Barack Obama visited this region apart from obviously the

historic ties that he has with Kenya, his father being Kenyan and him being the first sitting U.S. President to visit these two countries. Security

would be one of the major lynch pins for his visit. And Ethiopian playing a very large role.

Of course, yesterday, the suicide bombing that occurred at the Jazeera Palace hotel in Mogadishu just highlighting the fact of just how much al

Shabaab, the terror group here in East Africa, one of the major terror groups, I should say, has been hitting the headlines and has been able to

ramp up its efforts, especially this past Ramadan where we saw a number of bloody attacks.

LU STOUT: Yeah, in addition to security in the battle against al Shabaab, Mr. Obama also raised concerns about human rights and governance in

Ethiopia. What did he say?

KRIEL: Well, interestingly, Kristie, what he -- what President Obama clarified, and it came out quite stark, really, because we've been speaking

to human rights organizations and journalists, he -- President Obama went on to try to explain exactly what terrorism in the eyes of the United

States is, saying that -- it's how that they define a particular group's activities. If they're just talking about issues that are in opposition to

ruling government, we tend to be protective of them and not to label them as terrorist organizations.

Now, when you look at some of the charges that have been leveled against, say, journalists here in Ethiopia, being charged with terrorism as well as

opposition groups, this was a nuanced way, I believe, of President Obama being able to tackle the issue of human rights, but at the same time

stating that terror -- labeling everyone as a terrorist organization when they're simply in opposition to you, not necessarily using a violent

struggle, is a very dangerous thing.

LU STOUT: Robyn Kriel reporting live for us from the capital of Ethiopia, thank you very much indeed for that.

You're watching News Stream. Still ahead on the program, the U.S. is set to release its annual report on human trafficking. We'll have a look at

what to expect.

Also ahead, gamers in China can now legally buy consoles, but does the end of a 15 year ban also mean an end to black market buying?

Also ahead...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That shot was awesome.

[08:15:00] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Movie trailers always make big promises. Coming up, hear from the man who decided to make trailers that tell you

what a movie is really like only on CNN.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back.

Now CNN's Freedom Project highlights efforts to end modern-day slavery around the world. And the UN's labor agency says that there are more than

52 million domestic workers around the world that activists say that in many countries, especially in Asia, they receive no legal protection.

As a result, many are trapped in cycles of abuse with nowhere to turn.

Now a warning, some of the images in this report are disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Doused in boiling water, beaten with sticks, threatened with murder, just a few examples of the physical and mental abuse as told by

migrant domestic workers in Asia and the Middle East.

A photo exhibition in Hong Kong this month, taken by award winning photographer Steve McCurry aims to expose the extent of that suffering.

SUSI, AUSED DOMESTIC WORKER (through translator): Every day was only four hours of sleep. She hit me everywhere on my body --my back, my face. She

also kickedme. When I worked, she would yell at me. I aws very scared, but I couldn't escape. She wouldn't let me go out.

LU STOUT: This Indonesian worker who goes by the name Susi is profiled in the exhibit after she was repeatedly attacked and threatened by her Hong

Kong employer.

SUSI (through translator): I was afraid of dying, because I have a son waiting for me at home. I'm here in Hong Kong just to earn some money.

She said she could beat me to death and beat my family. I'm terrified, so I had to listen to her. She treated me not like a human, but like a slave.

LU STOUT: Susi managed to escape after a year, but her employer, Mrs. Law Wan-tung went on abuse fellow Indonesian worker Erwiana who was

hospitalized after months of torture. Mrs. Law was later convicted of multiple charges and sentenced to six years in jail.

But many other workers who face such abuse will probably never see justice serve.

ELIZABETH TANG, INTERNATIONAL DOMESTIC WORKERS FEDERATION: Domestic workers are the most vulnerable group of workers, because they're

invisibles, they are isolated, and they are usually from minorities or migrant commnities.

LU STOUT: One victim in the exhibit, Samasri (ph) says she was scaled with boiling water by her Malaysian boss. Sritang (ph) said she had a searing

hot metal fork pressed into her skin while working in Taiwan.

In Saudi Arabia, Harietan (ph) says that she was hit in the head with a metal pipe and left permanently blind.

Another victims, now known as Pavitra (ph), was raped and made pregnant by her employer in Oman, then jailed for seduction for five months.

KAREN EMMONS, EXHIBITION PRODUCER: The horrors that they had gone through, I wanted people to know. I wanted to reach out to people who can make a

difference and reach out maybe to employers to tell them somebody is watching.

LU STOUT: Focusing attention on the misery that goes on behind closed doors is the main aim of the project, to press governments to do more to

protect domestic workers who come to their country in search of a better life.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[08:20:03] LU STOUT: That's a powerful exhibition. If you're in Hong Kong, don't miss it.

Now log on to the CNN Freedom Project website. And there, you can find more about the migrant domestic workers profiled in that exhibition as well

as others around the world. And their stories all online at CNN.com/Freedom.

Now later this hour, a look at what we can expect from a key report on human trafficking. It's due out in just a few hours. Find out where 188

countries stand when it comes to their effort to fight modern-day slavery.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

Now in China, it's great news for console manufacturers. China announced it is lifting its nationwide ban on consoles and games. After 15 years,

gamers in China can finally buy a videogame console legally. But old habits die hard. And as Will Ripley now explains, that might mean the

video game black market is going to stick around.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: On this street in Beijing, well known to hardcore gamers, you'll find plenty of shops openly selling gaming

consoles, even though they've been banned here in China for more than a decade.

This shop has been around for 11 years. And you can see they have the latest consoles from Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony. All of these were

technically illegal before the ban was lifted. They were smuggled in from Hong Kong, the U.S. and sometimes Japan.

But buying from the black market does come with risks. These machines come without a warranty and pirated, unlicensed games on DVD may or may not

work. That's all changing now that China is lifting its longtime ban on consoles after a successful pilot program last year.

Shop owners like Su Yun Ping (ph) will no longer have to sell smuggled consoles or do all the maintenance themselves. And Chinese gamers will now

be able to register their devices and play on international gaming networks.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): It's great news, great for the Chinese gaming market. I'm a gamer myself. If there is an official

Chinese version, I will go for it.

RIPLEY: One thing that's not going away, Chinese censorship. The government will still be heavily regulating content. You know, a lot of

the most popular games are quite violent. And so they probably won't be sold legally here in China, or if they do want to sell something like Grand

Theft Auto or Call of Duty, they'll have to censor a lot of the content.

Gamers say getting rid of China's outdated ban on consoles is long overdue. Manufacturers are certainly more than ready to tap into the Chinese market,

which is on track to become the number one gaming market in the world.

Will Ripley, CNN, Beijing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now Sony is hoping Asia can give the Playstation 4 a boost with its new virtual reality headset. Now, VR is enjoying a renaissance with

everyone from HTC to Facebook producing headsets. But Sony's Shuhei Yoshida told us he's hoping they can succeed by appealing to Asian tastes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHUHEI YOSHIDA, SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT: We expect Project Morpheus will give additional push for PS4 adoption in Asia, especially because, you

know, Project Morpheus and virtual reality allow people to be with, you know, game characters and virtual idols. And these things, you know, the

Asian people love. And they enjoy, you know, games based on anime or comic book. And those virtual characters live inside of virtual reality.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Compelling strategy.

Now that was Sony's Shuhei Yoshida speaking to CNN.

Project Morpheus is set for release early next year.

Now one of the world's biggest eSport organizations just announced drug tests for its professional gamers. Now starting next month, Electronic

Sport League will be testing for performance enhancing drugs like Adderall, but why?

Well, some eSports can be physically and mentally demanding. In fact, top players of the strategy game StarCraft are known to perform more than 300

clicks a minute, that means that they have to plan and execute strategic moves in less than a second for hundreds of times a minute. And with

hundreds of thousands of dollars at stake in professional game tournaments, ESL is looking to catch anyone using drugs to give them an edge.

You're watching News Stream. Still to come, the U.S. will soon release its country by country assessment on the global fight against human

trafficking. We have a look at what to watch for when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

Now Chinese stock market suffered their heaviest losses in years on Monday. The Shanghai composite closed 8.5 percent lower. The tech heavy Shenzhen

index fell 7 percent, and the selloff reflects growing concerns over the Chinese economy.

Now the U.S. President is in Ethiopia on the second and final stop of his visit to Africa. He met with the prime minister in the capital Addis Ababa

a short time ago. They discussed the effort to combat terrorism and regional security threats.

The Taliban claimed that it has released more than 100 Afghan police officers who surrendered in northern Afghanistan. A provincial police

spokesman says a local commander struck a deal with the Taliban after days of heavy fighting. An investigation is underway.

Bobbi Christina Brown, the daughter of late singer Whitney Houston, has died. She had been in a medically induced coma after being found

unresponsive in a bath tube. She was 22 years old.

Now the U.S. State Department is set to release its annual report on human trafficking in less than two hours. The Trafficking in Persons, or TIP

report, analyzes the effort of 188 countries and territories in fighting human trafficking. It is rated on a tier system with one being the most

compliant, three being a worst offender.

Now Thailand, Malaysia, Venezuela, Gambia were demoted to the bottom tier in 2014. Our global affairs correspondent Elise Labott joins us from the

U.S. State Department in Washington for more on this story. And Elise, every time this report is released, it reveals a number of data points,

including the countries that are not doing enough to fight slavery today. What are you looking for this year?

ELISE LABOTT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kristie, I'm looking to see if some of those countries that were moved last year to tier three from the tier

two watchlist such as Thailand and Malaysia, if they've taken any efforts to improve their situation, particularly the number of prosecutions that

might improve the situation on trafficking.

I'm also looking to see who was on the tier two watchlist last year that's been downgraded. We're talking about countries like Belarus, Comoro

Islands, Belize, things like that.

So, we're looking to see both about countries to see if they have improved their situation to move up a little bit, or if they -- you know, a lot of

these countries, if you're not on -- if you're on the tier two watchlist for a few years, and you haven't made an effort you automatically get

downgraded.

So, you know, a lot of countries take efforts in the final months before this report comes out. But unfortuantely for them, that clock ends at the

end of 2014, so this is really judged about what happened last year.

LU STOUT: So, the migrant crisis here in Asia that has put a lot of scrutiny, a lot of attention on Thailand and Malaysia, that's where those

mass migrant graves were reportedly found. So, given the timing, will that not be reflected in the report this year?

LABOTT: It won't be reflected. And so it will be -- that will be in next year's report.

But Malaysia has taken some efforts, the Thais say they have taken some efforts -- I'm not really sure if there had been some real demonstrable

changes in Thailand.

But, you know, it's not only about what countries are able to do, it's really the efforts that they make. And so if it's obvious that a country is

making efforts and still is combating this problem, then the United States takes that into consideration while making the rankings. And then will

increase their resources to a country.

So, these aren't really only in terms of naming and shaming countries, but if the U.S. sees that countries are making an effort, it really is trying

to get all the resources to that country so they can help improve their situation.

LU STOUT: All right, Elise Labott reporting for us live from Washington. She'll be back on CNN reporting live for us with the TIP report is

launched, is revealed 10:00 p.m. Hong Kong time. Thank you, Elise.

Now cyclist Chris Froome captured his second Tour de France title on Sunday. He is the first British cyclist to win the race twice, but it

wasn't a smooth ride. The 30-year-old faced accusations of doping due to his dominant performance, especially in the mountain stages. And Froome

was even a bused by spectators along parts of the route.

But he confronted the controversy head on from the winner's podium.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS FROOME, 2015 TOUR DE FRANCE WINNER: The maillot jaune is special, very special. I understand its history -- good and bad. I will always

respect it, never dishonor it and I will always be proud to have won it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[08:35:02] LU STOUT: Nairo Quintana of Colombia finished second. Alejandro Valverde of Spain was third.

Now many of us become excited over an exciting movie trailer only to be let down by the actual film. Now, coming up, we speak to the guy whose

disappointment inspired the popular YouTube series Honest Trailers.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back.

Now a movie about a tiny monster is a huge hit in China. Monster Hunt has become the top grossing Chinese film ever, raking in more than $200 million

in its fist two weeks.

Now Lost in Thailand from 2012 was the previous Chinese language record holder.

Now the new fantasy martial arts film was directed by the creator of Shrek.

Now Hollywood has been teaming up with Chinese film companies as it tries to get a bigger share of its box office. Now China is the world's second

largest movie market, and it is growing quickly. Ticket sales topped $3.5 billion in 2013, that's up 28 percent on the previous year. And according

to reports, Chinese moviegoers have already spent $3.3 billion at the box office in the first half of this year.

Now Chinese audience love foreign films. Fast and Furious 7 made a whopping $250 million in its first eight days in China. And last year,

Transformers: Age of Extinction was a smash success. It was shot extensively in China.

But Chinese regulators allow only 34 foreign films to be shown in theaters each year.

Now a huge part of the cinematic world's success hinges on movie trailers, but sometimes the previews can be misleading, confusing, or just plain

boring.

Now one team decided that trailers should be a true reflection of movies. I spoke to one of the creators of Honest Trailers about his witty take on

the film industry.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDY SIGNORE, CREATOR, HONEST TRAILERS: So, Honest Trailers started with Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.

From the billion dollars (inaudible) of George Lucas comes the chance to relive the biggest letdown in movie history.

SIGNORE: I feel like everyone was so excited for that movie when it first came out. And so here many years later now with the history of knowing it

wasn't that great of a movie, they were releasing this trailer for the 3D redo. And I just found it really funny, because the trailer almost tricked

me again where they showed sort of the cool scenes of the movie, but they didn't show any of the senate meetings and the council meetings and all

the, you know, very boring tedious stuff.

And so the idea then triggered in my head well what if we just did the honest trailer.

And get ready for an hour-and-a-half for people standing in semi-circles, council meetings, different council meetings and sitting.

All the stuff that basically the audience hated and knew going in. And it really then spurred from there of, well, let's do this with Twilight and

Titanic and figure out how would a movie really market it to the audience if it was honest.

LU STOUT: Yeah, and that's what we love about Honest Trailers is that you're not sarcastic and mean, you're just pointing out these fascinating

truths. Is it hard to strike that balance to be kind of brutally honest without being insulting?

SIGNORE: Yeah, I mean, there are certain movies like I remember Transformers 4.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A (inaudible) against all odds to sound intleligent.

MARK WALBERG, ACTOR: That is a super simplex theater projector. It's very rare.

Who taught you how to solder a circuit? Me. That's what I do.

SIGNORE: That was a really tough one for us, because it was hard to not be mean, because it is what it is, it's a giant chaotic toy commercial without

much -- you know, you don't really know what's happening in this movie.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, get ready for another sequel that you hoped would be better, but instead shoved the same exact thing down your gullible

throats.

SIGNORE: There are certain movies where it's like I don't think we're being mean. I think that movie -- you go, you turn your brain off and you

watch robots rolling around and you're not sure which robots are rolling onto who, but you know, it's popular, so we call it out for what it is.

LU STOUT: Do you have a favorite Honest Trailer?

SIGNORE: Probably -- I've been asked this a bunch now and it's tough. But one of the -- probably the hardest ones was when we started doing the first

good movie. And I would say it was back when we did like The Dark Knight and Avengers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE; Battles so action packed you won't even ask yourself how are they even all talking to each other without ear pieces?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do it. No, wait. Stark, these things are still coming.

SIGNORE: And so those to me were sort of successes in my eyes because we were able to sort of take a good movie, but not feel like were just

nitpicking it and bashing it for no reason. So, I'm proud of those early ones, because it really helped -- it really helped pave the way for the

show.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jurassic Park 3D -- oh man, what an awesome shot. Oh, look at how the banner falls. Oh, I've got to watch this movie again.

SIGNORE: We love these movies. We're not trying to just tear them apart to be mean. There are a couple of movies we've done that to, but overall

it's really about we just want to give, you know, our hearts -- movies that we love to, you know, be shown.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And that was Andy Signore from Honest Trailers. Now his team's brutally honest descriptions are so popular that the directors of Captain

America: Winter Soldier said that they tried their best to Honest Trailer proof their film.

Now the result, it got a glowing review from Screen Junkies.

And that is News Stream. I'm Kristie Lu Stout. But don't go anywhere, World Sport with Christina Macfarlane is next.

END