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Chinese Restaurant Cutting out Middleman; Arrests in Turkey, Belgium Ahead of New Year's Eve; Tuberculosis Making Comeback in UK; Flood Warnings For 17 Million People in U.S. Aired 8-9a ET
Aired December 30, 2015 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[08:00:36] KRISTIE LU STOUT, HOST: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong, and welcome to News Stream.
Now, as the world prepares to welcome in the new year, authorities across the world are tightening up security.
A top North Korean official is killed and speculation increases as a close adviser to Kim Jong-un dies in a car crash.
And a restaurant with no waiters in China. It uses a messaging app instead.
New Year's Eve celebrations worldwide are set to begin soon, and authorities are focused on keeping people safe.
Now, police in Turkey have arrested two suspects accused of planning an attack in Ankara. Officials say that they have links to ISIS and are being
interrogated.
Now, this comes a day after authorities in Belgium said a Muslim biker gang was plotting attacks in Brussels.
Now, two members of the Kamakazi Riders were arrested after several raids.
And police in New York say that there was no credible threat to the city but some 6,000 police officers will be sent to protect revelers in Times
Square.
Let's get more now on the arrests in Turkey. And Erin McLaughlin joins us live from London. Erin, what more are have you learned from Ankara?
ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kristie, we're getting some real alarming details out of Ankara today. According to a
statement from the governship there, they arrested two suspects. These individuals believed to be linked to ISIS. They were arrested according to
the statement as they were scouting locations for possible New Year's Eve attacks in the city.
And what they say they found on these individuals even more disturbing. They found essentially two bombs, a bomb vest as well as a backpack, quote,
ready for use with marbles and sticks as well as other bomb making materials.
Now, according to the statement the suspects are still in the process of being interrogated. The investigation still very much under way, Kristie.
LU STOUT: OK.
And separately you're also still keeping an eye on those recent arrests that took place in Brussels involving this Kamakazi biker gang. What more
have you learned about that?
MCLAUGHLIN: That's right.
Well, authorities have yet to release the identities of these two suspects arrested in Brussels believed to have been preparing possible terror
attacks over the New Year's Eve celebrations there.
But we are learning more information from authorities about their possible affiliations, according to one senior counterterrorism official in Belgium.
It's believed that they were members of a biker gang, a Muslim biker gang by the name of Kamakazi Riders. They were also thought to have had
criminal pasts, including robbery. And they were also thought to have been part of an even wider group of up to 30 individuals believed to have been
radicalized, some other members of that wider group also thought to be part of this biker gang.
And what that sort of highlights for authorities is this connection between criminality and radical Islam, which is a real source of concern for
European authorities going forward in terms of what to do about that.
LU STOUT: and we know that the terrorist threat level in Brussels has been raised to three. What additional security measures will be taken
especially now in the run-up to New Year's Eve?
MCLAUGHLIN: Well, that's right. The threat level in Brussels has actually been raised to three for police officers and military officials, the
general level in Belgium was already at three in the wake of the Paris attacks.
And they took that decision because they believe that these two suspects were in fact going to target their intelligence suggests police officers as
well as military during New Year Eve celebrations.
Also important to note regarding the Brussels plot that authorities raided several locations in different parts of Belgium and they found in those
locations -- they did not find, rather, weapons or explosives, but they did find computers as well as outfits, military -- potential military training
outfits as well as ISIS propaganda.
They believe that that plot was linked to ISIS or inspired by ISIS, but not directly linked to ISIS.
So they've discounted any connection to ISIS militants in Syria, but clearly the plot putting people there in Belgium especially everything
they've gone through in the wake of the Paris attacks on edge. And they have heightened security particularly within Brussels.
[08:05:33] LU STOUT: All right. Erin McLaughlin with the very latest on those recent terror arrests in Belgium as well as in Turkey this day.
Erin, thank you.
Now, turning to Iraq where the prime minister is celebrating a major victory against is. Haider al-Abady planted his country's flag in Ramadi
after the military declaring victory there.
Now, he's announced a public holiday on Thursday, but tribal leaders tell CNN that ISIS still controls some 25 percent of the city.
Now, Chinese state media reports say that eight survivors have been found at a collapsed mine in eastern China.
They have been trapped more than 200 meters underground for five days and rescuers drilled a hole and dropped down food after locating the survivors
using infrared cameras. But getting them out, that could take a while.
A local official says the ground is full of seeping water making rescue operations difficult.
At least one worker was killed when the mine collapsed and nine people are still missing.
North Korea says its top liaison for South Korea Kim Yang-gon has been killed in a car accident. Now, the 73-year-old has been described as
leader Kim Jong-un's closest comrade and there is a lot of speculation about what
could be going on.
Alexandra Field joins us now live from Seoul with more. And Alexandra, why are some suggesting that this car crash was no accident?
ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, Kristie, the Korean state news agency's doing nothing but heaping praise and platitudes on Kim Yang-
gon, but there are people who closely watch this region who point out that we know very little about the circumstances surrounding his death, so they
are concerned by the secrecy and they're also by the history.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FIELD: A tough North Korean official Kim Yang-gon is killed in a car wreck,
according to state news reports. But there are no more details on his death, not even a mention of where the accident happened. This has experts
on the region pointing to a pattern.
ANDREI LANKOV, PROFESSOR: If look at the North Korean history with Seoul we
can see that surprisingly large number of their high level North Korean officials have died in car crashes. There is a probability that some of
these cases were indeed bonafide car crashes. It's possible. But the frequency of such incidents in essentially a careless society is a bit
surprising.
FIELD: 1976 Vice Premier Nam-il (ph) is killed in a car crash, 2010 the head of the organizational department Ri Je Gang, 2003 Kim Yong Song (ph)
head of the United Front Department, a post later filled by Kim Yang-gon.
UNIDENITIFIED MALE: Most of these fatal traffic accidents effecting senior officials used to happen on the way to or from a party organized by Kim
Jong-il.
Now, we're seeing the same pattern developing under Kim Yang-un. I think this will be very interesting and it will be very interesting to see if
this accident indeed happened on Kim Yang-gon's way to an end of a party or top his way from an end of the year party.
FIELD: Kim oversaw relations with South Korea playing a key role in crisis talks in August helping to diffuse tensions across the border.
Is there any reason to believe that this man would be targeted, executed?
LANKOV: Well, we have seen that pretty much three quarters of the top North Korean elite of the last years of Kim Jong-il rule they disappeared.
They were executed officially, they disappeared without any traces, without any explanations.
So there is nothing surprising about it.
FIELD: North Korea is one of the most closed societies in the world. CNN cannot independently confirm any reports of executions, but South Korean
government officials say 15 high level North Korean officials have been executed in
2015.
They say the number climbs to 70 since Kim Jong-un came to power in 2011.
It includes Kim Jong-un's uncle, Jang Sung-taek, denounced by state media as
despicable human scum. The same agency heaping nothing but praise on Kim Yang-gon calling him a loyal warrior for former leaders, one of the
closest and trustworthiest confidantes of the current leader.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FIELD: And at this point Kim Yang-gon will be a state funeral, but there may
be some speculations, some suspicion concerning the circumstances of his death from
outside North Korea, the regime doing nothing to fuel those speculations, because we understand the Kim Jong-un himself will actually be attending
the funeral, Kristie.
[08:10:19] LU STOUT: And meanwhile I'm just thinking what's the feeling there in South Korea? Because there is that South Korean connection here.
Kim Yang-gon was in charge of ties to South Korea. He was a key liaison at the top. Will his death, his mysterious death have any impact on relations
between the two countries?
What's the thinking there?
FIELD: Right. He did have this very outward facing role. He had a spot on the international stage not just with South Korea, he was part of this
envoy that went to Russia just two years ago. So naturally those questions have started to crop up today. What could this mean for relations between
the two countries for continued talks?
Well, like everything else when it comes to North Korea, depending on who you ask, there are slightly different takes on this. We spoke to one
expert from a local think tank who says it is possible that if a successor has not yet been named or if a successor has not yet just been publicly
revealed that this could potentially stall diplomatic talks in the future, slow down talks between North and South Korea.
But we also spoke to somebody who said that this should have very little impact, very little bearing at all because even as the head of the United
Front Department, even as the person who was speaking directly to South Korea,
this would be somebody who is acting on behalf of Kim Jong-un and expressing his messages that can be communicated through someone else as
well, Kristie.
LU STOUT: Alexandra Field reporting. Very much indeed, thank you. Joining us live from Seoul.
Now, hundreds of protesters, meanwhile, have taken to the streets of the South Korean capital to voice their outrage over the deal that Japan struck
with South Korea over the so-called comfort women.
A weekly rally has been held every Wednesday for more than 20 years outside the Japanese embassy, but this is the first since the agreement that has
Japan paying some $8 million and neither country to criticize the other for its actions during the war.
Now activists at the rally say that they are not satisfied with the terms of that agreement.
Now, this is a story that we've been following closely here on News Stream. It is estimated that up to 200,000 women were forced to be sex slaves for
Japanese soldiers in World War II. As mentioned here on the program last night, the majority were Korean but other women they came from China,
Taiwan, the Philippines and Indonesia.
Now, Silvia J. Friedman, author of "Silence no More: Voices of Comfort Women," in her book she features some of these victims.
And we want to take a moment to tell you a few of their stories.
Now, this is Wan Eyhua (ph), she was the first Chinese comfort woman survivor to testify in public in China. She was a victim in more than one
of the 1,000 comfort stations that were set up across the country.
And here is Wang Uh-hai (ph). She was only 14 years old when she was abducted. And in her testimonial she says that each woman was raped by at
least five to six soldiers, sometimes even more, and it did not stop. After one soldier left another would come in.
And Wang (ph) she seated at the front here in this picture, she goes on to say this: the soldiers threw me out after two months I was almost dead.
And finally this Yuan Gai-lien (ph). She was 17 years old when she was forced into sexual slavery. In her own words she says, "I have suppressed
all this pain and suffering within me for 65 years."
Now, these are just a few of the thousands of stories of atrocities these women had to endure during the war.
You're watching "News Stream." And still ahead in the program, several deadly diseases once believed a thing of the past are now making a
resurgence in Britain. We'll tell you why.
And later, we take you to one Beijing restaurant that mandates all patrons come with an appetite and their smartphones. We'll explain.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:16:35] LU STOUT: Welcome back.
Now, a deadly disease is resurging at an alarming rate in the UK. Tuberculosis, or TB, was a leading cause of death in the Victorian era.
Max Foster explores why people are getting sick and what scientists are doing to stop it today.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTFIED FEMALE: Hi, I haven't got much time.
MAX FOSTER, CNN LONDON CORRESPONDENT: Scurvy, tuberculosis and scarlet fever may conjure up images of a Charles Dickens tale. But diseases of the
Victorian-era are re-merging in modern day Britain.
UNIDENTFIED FEMALE: That was, yeah a complete shock.
FOSTER: Twenty four year old Josie Garrett is nearing the end of intensive treatment for TB. She's studying for master's degree but year ago was
isolated in hospital.
JOSIE GARRETT, TB PATIENT: I contracted tuberculosis from my boyfriend. He caught T.B. from his friend. His friends contracted tuberculosis from her
dad and his dad first was diagnosed with T.B. in the 90s after traveling to India, and then it basically re-emerge again as drug resistant form of the
disease.
Up until this point, I wasn't able to work. I wasn't able to kind of socialize. I wasn't able to kind to life a normal life.
FOSTER: T.B. is one disease often synonymous with poverty affecting the most vulnerable, but health officials warn that string of the disease lie
undetected in all pass of modern society and could breakout in the future.
DR. ONKAR SARHOTA, LONDON ASSEMBLY: The bacteria of tuberculosis can infect you and stay in your body later for long time and it did becomes reawaken
again and many tested as the disease ways on the (inaudible) you main level.
FOSTER: Tuberculosis was one the deadliest diseases in the Victorian- era. Killing one in four people at one points and thousands of victims are
buried here at the cemetery. Of course the situation isn't as bad today, but there are parts of London where T.B. rates area higher than they are in
Rwanda or Iraq.
In the recent study by Britain's Nationals Health Service found out that other diseases common in the 19th century and making a comeback.
DR. NURIA MARTINEZ-ALIER, GUY'S AND ST. THOMAS HOSPITAL LONDON: Notedly there's been a huge rising as scarlet fever, 14,000 cases in the last year,
the highest since the 1960s. We have seen arise in the case of tuberculosis, we seen arrive in the cases of whooping cough. We have seen
more measles in the last 10years and we're putting the 10 years before that.
FOSTER: In fact of the last 5 years in England cases of scarlet fever have risen by 136 percent, scurvy by 38 percent and cholera by 300 percent. Both
scurvy and cholera their numbers are very slow. So, why resurgent?
MARTINEZ: Reduce that synaptic for example with measles reduce population immunity for example with whooping cough increase poverty as well as the in
plan in migration and malnutrition.
FOSTER: Two hundred years later and age of reflections poverty, malnutritions, lack of health care contributing to the rise of Victorian-
era diseases today.
Max Foster CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: such an alarming public health trend in the UK.
You're watching News Stream. And still to come on the program, no money, no problem: all you need is a smartphone and an app if you want to get
served at this restaurant in Beijing. The details and the explainer next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:23:49] LU STOUT: Coming to you live from Hong Kong, you're back watching News
Stream.
Now, the music streaming service Spotify is being hit by a massive lawsuit in U.S. federal court. A musician from the U.S. alternative rock band,
Cracker, is seeking at least $150 million in royalties for himself and other artists. He claims that Spotify has knowingly violated copyright laws.
Now, the company has responded saying it is committed to paying every penny it owes, but that, quote, "unfortunately the data necessary to confirm the
appropriate rights holders is often missing, wrong or incomplete."
Now, streaming services have been criticized for offering small royalty payments and some
megastars like Adele have kept some of their music off Spotify.
In Beijing, though, dining is going very high-tech, at least in one eatery.
Now, one restaurant in the Chinese capital is cutting out the middleman between you and your
meal. Instead, it's swapping servers for smartphones.
Our Asia-Pacific editor Andrew Stevens tried it out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDREW STEVENS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's lunchtime in Beijing and here, indeed across the country, workers are joining their friends and colleagues
for a bite to eat. But we've found a restaurant that's offering something slightly different in the dining experience. It's linking mobile technology
with the city's deep love of food.
Welcome to Renrenxiang. The first thing you'll notice about this restaurant is there's no waiters. They've been replaced with an app; but it's not just
any app. I'm now on Wechat, the most popular messaging app in China. When I say "popular", we're talking hundreds of millions of people on this. So
I've got the menu up. I've got seven choices. I'm going for the spicy beef rice noodles. It (inaudible) a bit of a discount, so all together that is
about $5.00. It's now giving me a number, which will be called out on the speakers in a few minutes and that will be my dish.
One place there are staff, the kitchen; a team of chefs turning your digital orders into your lunch.
Okay, here we are. It's been about five minutes and there's my beef with spicy noodles.
All through the power of the smartphone and a helping hand from the kitchen; but the restaurant owner is looking at cutting his overhead even
more.
[08:26:16] LIU ZHENG, FOUNDER, RESTAURANT (through translator): There will be four no's in this restaurant, that is: no waitress, no cashier, no
merchandiser and no chef. I did this because I'm following the technology development trend in China.
STEVENS: In an age where smartphones are signaling the end of face- to-face conversation around the dining table, why not take it one step further and
take out the need to speak to a waiter, too?
Andrew Stevens - delicious -- CNN, Beijing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: He enjoyed that.
You're watching News Stream. And coming up next, waters rage across parts of the central U.S. as authorities warn of historic flooding.
(COMEMRCIAL BREAK)
(HEADLINES)
[08:31:17] LU STOUT: Now deadly flooding in the central U.S. is threatening to get even worse. Heavy rain has drenched parts of the state
of Missouri. And even though the storms have passed, runoff is pouring into rivers across the region.
As our Alina Machado reports, authorities are urging people to get out of the way.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALINA MACHADO, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Missouri bracing for historic dangerous flooding, dozens of counties facing a severe threat as the
Mississippi, Missouri and Meramec rivers approach record levels.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now that the rain has moved out, the threat has changed but it is not by any means over.
MACHADO: The deadly floodwaters claiming more than a dozen lives. Many fear this is just the beginning as swollen rivers rise and crest in the next 48
hours.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're talking about almost ten more vertical feet of moving water, so the power we're talking about as well as the volume is
extremely significant.
MACHADO: The governor declaring a state of emergency and activating the National Guard as officials predict river levels could exceed the great
flood of 1993 that claimed nearly 50 lives and damaged or destroyed some 50,000 homes, the most devastating in modern U.S. history.
In the town of West Alton, near St. Louis, the mayor urging his 500 residents to evacuate after water levels over topped the levee.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is your notice that this is serious, so you need to get your final preparations and go.
MACHADO: Parts of Union, Missouri under water with homes, cars, restaurants completely submerged. And in Bourbon, one photographer even capturing video
of this cabin floating away. Authorities urging drivers to stay off inundated roadways, fearing they'll get stuck and swept away.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The vast majority of deaths we've had, and I can't stress this enough, is people driving into water, and especially driving
into water at night.
MACHADO: It's the race against time as residents and volunteers sandbag their homes and prepare to evacuate.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am worried. I just don't know what to do. And it's still supposed to come up higher. My main concern right now is just getting
our vehicle out. So that we're not -- our truck is not trapped in here.
MACHADO: Officials now watching and hoping that the levees hold.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's more just a wait and see. Once it's over, then we'll have to go from there because we really don't know what's going to
happen.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: Well, a devastating picture of the flooding across America. Meteorologist Karen Maginnis is tracking the floods. She joins us now from
the CNN World Weather Center -- Karen.
KAREN MAGINNIS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It is devastating.
Kristie, 1993, that is the benchmark for the level of flooding that we could potentially see with this system. It encompasses four states.
Millions of people in excess of 16 million people, Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Illinois. This running the length of the Mississippi River
where thousands and millions of people are impacted.
I want to show you some pictures that we have coming out of Missouri. And the helicopter here has been flying over an area around Union in Missouri
and Eureka. And people have been swamped. In some of these areas you can't even see the highways. People are trying to go through the flood
waters, which has turned deadly.
They're saying 13 people in the state of Missouri have lost their lives because they have driven through flood waters. All it takes is about two
feet of water for your car to be completely washed away.
There have been high water rescues, businesses and homes have been flooded. This is going to rival the 1993 historic flooding.
Typically we don't think of flooding across this area until the spring comes, but all the way from the arolinas to the Gulf coast to the Great
Lakes, essentially the heartland of America, also the southeastern United States either major or catastrophic flooding along many rivers.
The Missouri River, the Arkansas River, Mississippi and Ohio, to the tune of about $20 to $30
billion in 1993 that's what it costed for them to repair the levees, the infrastructure, the homes that were lost, the businesses that were lost.
This could top that.
We're looking at something that's going to take place over the next four to five days. As those rivers begin to crest, some areas like right around
St. Louis they have seen in excess of 60 inches of rainfall. Kristie, I would do the millimeters, but I didn't calculate it just yet.
But it's about -- let's say 400 -- no, it would be way more than that. But you get the idea that this is deadly and devastating.
LU STOUT: That's right. Dangerous levels of water here.
Karen Maginnis reporting. Thank you very much for that, Karen.
And take care.
Now, the U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump says his opponents are welcome to drag his personal life into the campaign. Now,
this as he calls former U.S. President Bill Clinton's indiscretions fair game. That's still ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LU STOUT: Welcome back.
Now, the presidential hopeful Donald Trump says his rivals in the media are welcome to investigate his personal life if they want.
His remarks come as he said former U.S. President Bill Clinton's abuse of women is a fair topic.
Now, CNN's Jeff Zeleny has the latest from the campaign trail.
(BEGIN VIDOETAPE)
JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Donald Trump is opening a new front in his war with the Clintons. Reviving political scandals from
two decades ago.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There was certainly a lot of abuse of women and you look at whether its Monica Lewinsky or Paula Jones or many of
them and that certainly will be fair game.
HILARY CLINTON, U.S. DEMOCRAT PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you all so much.
ZELENY: With Bill Clinton ready to hit the campaign trail, Trump said on NBC's Today Show everything is fair game in his outreach to women voters
even this.
TRUMP: Certainly if they play the woman's card with respect to me that will be fair game.
ZELENY: In New Hampshire today, Hilary Clinton ignore Trump's latest taunt.
CLINTON: OK, great to see you.
ZELENY: Her campaign issued a statement saying "Hilary Clinton won't be bullied or distracted by attacks he throws at her and former president
Clinton". The Clinton's the picture of a big happy family seen here on a Sunday stroll in New York. A historic reminder of how much time has passed
since this tense moment at the height of the Monica Lewinsky scandal raising the question of whether this old controversies still carry any
weight.
Trump once a golfing buddy with the former president told CNN's Wolf Blitzer in 2008 Clinton's impeachment was nonsense.
TRUMP: Look at the trouble Bill Clinton got into with something that was totally unimportant and they try to impeach him which was nonsense.
ZELENY: This morning he tried to explain his change of heart.
TRUMP: I'm dubbed as a world class businessman which frankly that's what I am and I get along with everybody. I get along with the Clintons. I get
along with the Republicans, the Democrats, the Liberals, the conservatives -- that was my obligation as a businessman.
ZELENY: But now Trump is butting heads. The new feud has Trump's primary fight written all over it. Few thinks rally Republicans more than taking on
the Clintons. Overnight, he tweeted, "Remember that Bill Clinton was brought in to help Hillary against Obama in 2008. He was terrible, failed
badly, and was called a racist." From name calling to nose picking, the Trump campaign once again took the low road retweeting a photoshopped
picture of Jeb Bush picking his nose. A Bush campaign spokeswoman fired back.
Out on Twitter, there were such a clatter, "Late night twitter drunk Donald is back at it". All candidates feeling the pressure.
Marco Rubio and Chris Christie also in Iowa squeezing in a final round of hand shakes and speeches of 2015.
In the New Year, Trump said he's going to open his checkbook in the final month before the Iowa caucuses. He quoted in a tweet today that he spent
less than any candidate saying "Now I will spend big in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina." He is fighting to stay out front.
TRUMP: I demand the election be today.
ZELENY: But the election of course will not be held today. It is held in five weeks when those Iowa caucuses kick off the road to the White House.
The challenge for Donald Trump is trying to ensure all these supporters. You can see them behind me here. The crown gathered here in Council Bluffs.
All these supporters in the caucus (inaudible) on the night of February 1st when these Republican voters start this presidential campaign.
Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Council Bluffs, Iowa.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: Now, a hoverboard riding priest, yep, that's right, he's been shaking things up in the Philippines. During a Christmas Eve service he
used this toy to glide in and out of rows of churchgoers singing and trying to energize the crowd.
And this video of him on that hoverboard has gone viral.
But not everyone was impressed. Now church leaders issued a statement saying he has been
reprimanded and he will be out of the parish for a while. Facebook users are coming to his defense saying they don't believe he meant any
disrespect.
And that is News Stream. I'm Kristie Lu Stout. But don't go anywhere. World Sport with Amanda Davies is next.
END