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South Korean Prosecutors Issue Arrest Warrant for Samsung Heir; Donald Trump Provokes China, Again; CNN Question's Buzzfeed on Decision to Post Dossier. 8a-9a ET

Aired January 16, 2016 - 00:00   ET

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

08:00:12] KRISTIE LU STOUT, HOST: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong and welcome to News Stream.

Inauguration day is just around the corner for Donald Trump, but the president-elect has more provocative words for China. This, as trump

gives his thoughts on one of Europe's key leaders in a new interview.

And wanted for arrest: South Korean prosecutors are after the heir to the Samsung empire over the corruption scandal which led to President Park's

downfall.

Just four days to go until Donald Trump becomes president of the United States. And if you

thought this transition couldn't become more tumultuous, dozens of Democrats are threatening to boycott his inauguration. Now, the

president-elect has lashed out at the director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Trump has expressed his view of the German chancellor's

immigration policy as well as the UK Brexit. And to top it all off, the next U.S. commander-in-chief is engaged in a war of

words with China over Taiwan.

Under the One-China policy, Taiwan is part of China and that is recognized by the U.S., but

Trump has suggested, again, that the One-China policy is negotiable. And that has been met with anger in Beijing.

Now, here's the latest. The Global Times, a provocative mainland Chinese tabloid, but still cleared by censors, has published a skating editorial

about the incoming president. The editorial's title, quote, "Trump's shocking, amateurism and arrogance," unquote.

Now, China's foreign ministry also addressed the issue in the past few hours saying the One-China principle is the political foundation of Sino-

U.S. relations. It is not up for sale. And, quote, no one can change this.

Now, that's just a snippet of what's been heard so far.

Let's bring in Ivan Watson for more. He's here in Hong Kong. And Ivan, again, after Trump made those comments about the One-China policy, I mean,

what else is China saying. How is it officially firing back?

IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's a steady drum beat

of warnings, basically, coming from Beijing to the incoming Trump administration, most recently in response to the president-elect's

interview with The Wall Street Journal in which he was quoted saying, quote, "everything is under negotiation, including One China," referring,

as you mentioned, to that agreement that's been in place since 1979 wherein the U.S. recognizes the government in Beijing as the

only representative of China and doesn't have official diplomatic relations with Taiwan, though it

does sell weapons to Taiwan.

Well, the foreign ministry fired back again on this issue saying that, you know, Donald Trump has to follow with the pledges that past U.S.

administrations have made. Take a listen to an excerpt from this foreign ministry briefing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HUA CHUNYING, CHINESE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, (through translator): Some things are not bargaining chips or up for sale. The One-China

principle is a precondition and political foundation for China to develop relations with other countries.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: Now, the spokeswoman went on to say that if he tried to bargain with the One-China policy and with Taiwan, that Donald Trump would be,

quote, shooting himself in the foot.

The people's -- The Global Daily, another state-run newspaper, had some much harsher words for Donald Trump, warning him not to continue with his,

quote, "amateur logic and super arrogant attitude."

So, the war of words really does continue -- Krsitie.

LU STOUT: Absolutely. And as Trump continues with his war of words attacking China and

challenging China and the status quo, Xi Jinping, the Chinese president, is in Switzerland apparently ready to court the world at Davos. So how does Xi

Jinping plan to position China in this new world order?

WATSON: This is really interesting, because it's the first time that the president of China, the number one man there, Xi Jinping, is attending the

World Economic Forum in Davos. And it comes at a real time of kind of tumult in the world economic order where you have not only President-elect

Trump challenging free trade, threatening to impose tariffs. You've also had Brexit, which is breaking with the European Union trading bloc, and now

of all people you have the leader of China coming to this gathering of the leaders of the world's economies and actually possibly presenting himself

as a source of stability. And what we're hearing is that he's going to be arguing in favor effectively of free trade.

Also, this is coming at a time when the U.S. president-elect has called for an end to the negotiations for the Transpacific Partnership, and this will

be an opportunity for the Chinese leadership to push its own initiatives for regional trade blocs.

So you really do have a bit of a role reversal in that the U.S. has been seen as a force pushing for free trade and has effectively been

underwriting it, and Donald Trump has indicated that those days are probably over.

[08:05:31] LU STOUT: Ivan Watson reporting live for us. Thank you.

And as Ivan just hit on just then, China will have the global stage at the World Economic

Forum. Xi Jinping, again, will be the first Chinese head of state to attend. But he'll be out to do deals as the Trump administration looks to

tear up the Transpacific Partnership or TPP.

Now, CNN's Fareed Zakaria spoke to outgoing U.S. trade representative Michael Froman about how Mr. Trump may be weakening the country against

China.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL FROMAN, OUTGOING U.S. TRADE REPRESENTATIVE: Well, TPP was really about embedding the United States as a leader in the Asia-Pacific region.

It's a critically important region for our economy but also strategically. And it was a way of raising standards in the countries across the region.

Now, China, of course, is not a member of TPP. Some people don't recall that, but they are not a member of TPP.

But the idea was, if you could get China's neighbors to sign up to better labor and environmental provisions, better intellectual rights, opening up

their markets, putting disciplines on state-owned companies, that China would have to compete against that. They'd have to raise their standards,

ultimately, as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: And from trade deals to tirades, Donald Trump has been taking direct aim at the

director of the CIA on Twitter.

Now, in an interview Brennan urged Trump to put his confidence in the intelligence community after weeks of criticism.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN BRENNAN, CIA DIRECTOR: But what I do find outrageous is equating the intelligence community with Nazi Germany. I do take great umbrage at that,

and there is no basis for Mr. Trump to point fingers at the intelligence community for leaking

information that was already available publicly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: John Brennan there.

Now in response, Donald Trump tweeted this, using Brennan's words, quote, "outgoing CIA Chief John Brennan blasts president-elect Trump on Russia

threat. Does not fully understand," unquote. And then Trump "Oh, really. Couldn't do much worse. Just look

at Syria," and in parenthesis, "(red line), Crimea, Ukraine and the buildup of Russian nukes.

Not good! Was this the leaker of fake news?"

Now, pretty direct words there from Donald Trump. But more of a mixed message when it comes to Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Now, in an interview with the German publication Bild, Trump called her the most important leader in Europe, but then criticized her refugee policies

as a catastrophic mistake. And when asked if he trusted Ms. Merkel over Russian Presidnet Vladimir Putin, Trump was also unclear.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: Who do you trust more if you talk to them, Angela Merkel or Vladimir Putin?

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT-ELECT: Well, I start off trusting both, but let's see how long that lasts. It may not last long at all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Now, Trump also spoke about making, quote, "some good deals with Russia.""

Let's turn now to CNN contributor Jill Dougherty. She joins me now live from Moscow. Jill, good to see you. Among many topics, Trump did address

sanctions. He says he hopes to lift sanctions if Russia agrees to a nuclear arms deal. But will using sanctions effectively as a bargaining

chip here work with Putin?

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I think one of the problems, Ksristie, is that this is kind of apples and oranges. I mean, nuclear

policy has been very -- it's a very delicate issue, and it's been, you know, negotiated between the United States and Russia for years. But it's

a separate issue. And it feels very strange, I think, for a number of people who are in this field or watch it very carefully to see that you

would bring in the issue of sanctions as some type of deal.

In fact, there was some reaction from the Kremlin's spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, who said sanctions are not on the Russian agenda and let's wait

until Mr. Trump becomes president of the United States. To me that sounds like kind of a diplomatic side-step from that question.

And then there are others who are saying, you know, that trying to equate those two issues again is not going to work, because you have this

existential threat from nuclear weapons you don't have with sanctions. I mean, sanctions are not the end of the world for Russia.

So, I think that's where when youget into these details, that's where it gets very difficult to figure it out. And I think the best course is to

kind of look at what he's trying to say generally which is let's have some deals, let's get along. But when you get to specifics, no.

[08:10:07] LU STOUT: That's right. So, in general terms he says let's make some good deals. Let's work together here. But also in his

interviews on Russia, Trump was critical of Russia's military intervention in Syria, including those airstrikes in Aleppo. So, you know, where at the

end of the day, really, does Donald Trump and team Trump stand with the Kremlin? Is it more caution than a let's go this is a ready relationship?

DOUGHERTY: You know, I don't think we can judge that, either. I was watching Russian television, and granted I haven't watched everything, but

I have not seen any references to that part of it, because, of course, it is critical of what Russia is doing.

I mean, here in Moscow, if you take what they are do, they are looking at the high points, you

know, good words about Vladimir Putin, wanting to work with Russia, do deals with Russia. The criticism of NATO has gone over very well. When

you have the president of the United States, which is basically the country that is the most important part of NATO saying that it's obsolete. That's

exactly what Vladimir Putin has said. So that went over very well with the Kremlin's spokesperson.

LU STOUT: Jill Dougherty, live for us in Moscow. Thank you, Jill. Take care.

Now, all of this comes, again, only a few days ahead of Trump's inauguration. And a growing

number of Democrats say they plan to skip it.

Now, some are boycotting the event, because they say Trump's feud with civil rights icon John

Lewis went too far.

Now, it started when the congressman said he didn't see Trump as a legitimate president because of Russia's alleged meddling in the election.

Now, Trump then tweeted that, Lewis is, quote, all talk and no action.

On Sunday, Vice President-elect Mike Pence defended Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE PENCE, U.S. VICE PRESIDNET-ELECT: Look, Donald Trump won this election fair and square -- 30 out of 50 states, including Georgia, more

counties than any Republican candidate since Ronald Reagan, and to hear John Lewis, a man that I served with and that I respect, to question the

legitimacy of the election and to say that Donald Trump will not be a legitimate president was deeply disappointing to me and also to hear that

he was not going to attend the inauguration this Friday. I hope he reconsiders both statements.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Now, as of Monday morning, 24 Democratic lawmakers have said that they won't attend Trump's inauguration.

Now, turning now to South Korea where prosecutors are looking to arrest this man, the heir to

the Samsung empire. Now, Jay Y. Lee is accused of bribery, perjury and embezzlement. A judge is to decide Wednesday whether to grant an arrest

warrant, and this is all part of a corruption scandal that has rock the country.

Now, protesters for months have been taking to the streets and parliament voted to impeach the

president.

Now, let's take you straight to Seoul. Our Paula Hancocks is standing by. And Paula, tells us more about what the Samsung heir is accused of and what

could happen to him.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kristie, prosecutors alledge that Samsung gave about $36 million to foundations that

were controlled by the woman at the center of this ever widening scandal, Choi Soon-sil, the close confidant of President Park Guen-hye. And

prosecutors also allege that the reason that Samsung did this was to try and get political favors in return. They alleged that it was try to pave

the way for a contentious merger that actually solidified Jay . Lee's grip on power within the company itself.

Now Jay Y. Lee has denied those charges. Samsung has also denied the charges. They had a statement today which said it's difficult to agree

with a special prosecutor's decision because Samsung did not make contributions in order to receive favors.

So this is an ongoing process. But what we could see as early as Wednesday morning is that

Jay Y. Lee will appear in front of a judge and they will decide whether or not he should be arrested. If they decide he should, then he will be

instantly detained and then the case will continue -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: And what does this mean for the family business? Samsung is such a powerful organization. You know, it's involved in chips and

consumer appliances, technology, ship building. I mean, what kind of impact could Mr. Lee's legal issues have on Samsung?

HANCOCKS: Well, to be honest, Kristie, Samsung has been here before. Jay Y. Lee's father, the chairman of Samsung, Lee Jae-young actually arrested

and found guilty back in 2008 of tax evasion. And he was given a prison term, but it was a suspended prison term. And he was then given a

presidential pardon.

Now, this is a crucial issue because this is something that really frustrates many people here in

South Korea, the fact that many of these leaders of the so-called Chaebols, these large family-run

conglomerates quite often have got themselves into trouble and quite often they have had a presidential pardon at the end of it.

There's a feeling among some South Koreans that there's two laws: there's the law for the elites and then there's the law for the rest of the

country.

So I think this is one of the frustrations the public has been feeling. You've heard the -- the protest every single Saturday calling not only for

the resignation of President Park Guen-hye, but also for more clarity, more transparency among the leaders of these top companies -- Kristie.

[08:15:36] LU STOUT: And what impact could the fate of the Samsung heir have on Park Guen-hye and her fate?

HANCOCKS: Well, certainly, it's not necessarily good news. I mean, if this arrest warrant is issued by the judge and, of course, it is an if at

this point, then it does show that there could potentially have been come conclusion between the big business in this country and the government.

This is something that prosecutors have alleged.

Of course, President Park Guen-hye and her confidant have both denied any wrongdoing, but President Park Guen-hye is not actually cooperating with

this particular investigation at this point. Remember, she has been impeached by lawmakers in December, so just last month. Now the

constitutional court is deciding whether or not they should uphold that impeachment decision -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: All right, Paula Hancocks reporting for us. Thank you.

You're watching News Stream. And still ahead, authorities are trying to find out why a cargo

plane crashed into a village in Kyrgyzstan. We'll get an update on that next.

Also, escaping a place likened to hell itself. They may have left eastern Aleppo, but we meet the survivors who cannot forget its horrors.

And researchers are warning that coal plants planned for Southeast Asia could lead to more pollution-related deaths. That report is coming up

next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

Now, we have reported extensively on the dangers of toxic smog in Beijing earlier this month. And now Harvard and Greenpeace researchers say that

air pollution-related health problems in Southeast Asia could soar in the next decade or so. This traffic here, let's bring it up for you. It shows

the number of cool-fired plants in the region in 2011, and researchers say that that number is expected to almost double by 2030 just to meet growing

demand for energy.

Now, they warn that the number of coal emissions-related deaths could triple if more plants are

built.

Now, Chad Myers has been checking out the report. He joins us now with more. And Chad, a very, very disturbing report for many of our viewers who

live in Southeast Asia or frequently travel there. Please walk us through the findings.

[08:20:01] CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Premature deaths, that's what they are talking about. Dying because of pollution. Right now that number

of premature deaths over Southeast Asia somewhere around 20,000 deaths per year.

Now, there's not a threshold of how premature. Is it one week, one year, 10 years? We don't have that number. But the number is still a relative

term compared to how many power plants will be built between now and 2030, because the demand for electricity is going to increase by 80 percent by

then. So we will definitely need to have more power. People will be moving closer and into more cities away from the farm fields, that

urbanization that we talk about, so more plants will have to be built to keep the people warm and living in those areas.

We're not talking about China though. China's doing a pretty good job. You know, I know we hammer them a lot about their pollution, but their

pollution is going down from the power plants. They are scrubbing some of that stuff out of there. It's the new power plants that will be making the

problem in parts of Southeast Asia, down south of China where most of that growth is going to occur, and so that's where most of the new deaths will

occur. Now there, will be more deaths in China as well because this stuff floats around. It doesn't just settle out every time it rains. So this

extra pollution, this sulfur dioxide, this ozone that's coming out of the power plants will be the culprit of what's still to come.

We can see it on the ground right now. You can actually see it in Hong Kong, power -- the pollution today is right around 90, that's the number

for Hong Kong, Beijing somewhere very close to 190. And there are other places around that are still very high again

today.

That happens in the winter, because the wind doesn't blow as much, you've got high pressure over the top of it. That's the issue, that's the

problem.

It is the problem is the coal, and the type of coal, whether it's an anthracite, very, very hard

coal, not much pollution or a softer, very high sulfur coal, and then what you do with it in the smokestack as well.

So, alarming things, but we're still talking a number of 70,000 premature deaths. So, you know,

we're not talking billions of people here, but obviously still alarming to any premature deaths.

LU STOUT: Yeah, absolutely, and in a part of the world where the story has frankly been under covered. As you said, rightly so, you know, China has

confront its toxic smog problem and it is after the fact investing in green tech. That's not happening yet in Southeast Asia, so let's hope that there

will be more attention there.

Chad Myers, as always, thank you so much. Take care.

Now, at least 37 people were killed when a Turkish Airlines cargo plane crashed into a small

village in Kyrgyzstan. Now, the flight was heading to the capital of Bishkek from Hong Kong, and parts of the fuselage are scattered around the

village jutting out of the rubble. About 15 houses in this village were just completely destroyed.

Now, the minister of emergency situations says poor visibility might have been a factor here.

Now, turning now to the civil war in Syria where the fighting is intensifying north of the capital Damascus. That area has become a battle

front between rebels and the Syrian government after the President Assad's forces retook Aleppo.

The Syrian army is trying to restore a main water supply for Damacus.

Meanwhile, Turkey and Russia have agreed to invite the U.S. to the next round of peace talks scheduled for next week. But it is unclear if the

incoming Trump administration will accept the invitation.

Residents of East Aleppo who evacuated their homes last month are still reeling from their

harrowing escape from the city. Arwa Damon spoke two citizen journalists who were forced to flee and are now across the border in Turkey. One of

the men asked that we blur his face to protect his identity. Here is their story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORREPSONDENT: For those behind the cameras every strike, every heartbreak, every rescue in Aleppo seared their

soul and their psyche. Raza (ph) was trapped under a collapsed building.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): This girl and I saw was she alive and screaming mom and dad. I started to cry. As a journalist, I wanted to

leave the camera and help, but I can't forget her even now.

DAMON: Sair (ph), and Mojahed had wanted to be the last to leave Aleppo.

[10:25:04] MOJAHED, CITIZEN JOURNALIST (through translator): When I saw this bus, like any besieged person, I felt disappointment because the

international community was able to perform a miracle, but this miracle was a crime.

The miracle was saving 300,000 people from death, but the crime was forcing them out of their homes.

DAMON: For the two close friends it would end up being the ordeal of trying to get here to Turkey that they say would prove to be the most

terrifying.

The pair had paid smugglers who took them dangerously close to regime territory, refused to

answer their questions, and taunted them.

[08:25:01] MOJAHED (through translator): In this moment we thought of the worst possible options. They could hand us over to the regime. They could

kill us. They could sell our organs. They could traffic us. The last thing we thought could happen is that we would cross to Turkey safely.

DAMON: And when they got into Turkey, the smuggling ring tried to extort even more money.

THAER, CITIZEN JOURNALIST (through translator): When we entered Antakia (ph), the smuggler started messaging Mojahed and threatening him and saying

you think that have escaped. No, we will still get you.

DAMON: In their threadbare apartment, the two are constantly online, constantly following the news of Syria. For them, this is surreal.

MOJAHED (through translator): What is normal for me is if I look at a building I imagine that it is collapsed. I look at my room, I imagine it

is shelled.

DAMON: Before they smuggled here, they were able to briefly reunite with their families.

That moment when you saw your parents for the first time after years, what did you say to them?

MOJAHED (through translator): I told her this maybe the last time I see you. We are leaving and you are staying behind.

DAMON: It was not just a good-bye to their family, it was a good-bye to the city and country they love.

Arwa Damon, CNN, Gaziantep, Turkey.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now, diplomats from some 70 countries gathered in pairs on Sunday. They're trying to restart talks to end the Israeli-Palestinian

conflict. No representatives from Israel and the Palestinian Authority were in attendance. The summit concluded by urging both sides to support a

two-state solution. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the discussion useless. The Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas

welcomed it. But a prominent member of the Palestinian Liberation Organization had this to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HANAN ASHRAWI, PLO: As it turned out, this was just a proclamation of statements, of intent, of commitment to the two-state solution. It was

likely watered down because of several interventions to try to avoid concrete mechanisms or deadlines and to call on both parties to go back to

negotiations.

The issue is not negotiations per se, the issue is what is the basis of the negotiations and what is

the behavior of Israel as an occupying party.

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL (through translator): The conference convening today in Paris is a futile conference. It was

coordinated between the French and the Palestinians. It aims to force conditions on Israel that conflict with our national interests. It further

distances peace because it hardens the Palestinian's positions and helps them avoid direct negotiations

without preconditions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Israel fears recommendations could turn into a UN Security Council resolution during the last week of the Obama administration.

Now you're watching News Stream. Still ahead right here on the program, what led to Buzzfeed's decision to publish a highly controversial

unverified memo concerning U.S. president-elect Donald Trump? Now, Brian Stelter poses that question directly to

Buzzfeed's editor-in-chief. Keep it here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(HEADLINES)

[08:32:05] LU STOUT: Now, we have heard a lot about about the spread and the rise of fake news in the runup and around and even after the U.S.

election. But now, with an election in Germany approaching, Facebook is taking steps to warn people there about it.

Now, the social media site is attaching warning labels to made-up stories. The new feature was launched in the U.S. last month. And basically when

someone posts a link to a story flagged by fact-checkers, a warning pops up below it marking it as disputed information. You can also report a post

that seems questionable.

Now, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is also taking aim at what he calls fake news. You may remember last week he attacked online news site

Buzzfeed for publishing an unsubstantiated dossier funded by his political opponents. He also lashed out at our network CNN, though we did not report

any details of those memos.

Now, Brian Stelter questions Buzzfeed's decision to publish the documents. Now, take a listen to his interview the editor-in-chief of Buzzfeed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIAN STELTER, CNN MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: I'm trying to figure out if you are a "Washington Post" or WikiLeaks. It seems to me you're trying to be

both, saying, we're going to dump this document online. We don't know if it's real. We don't know if you know it's a real document. You don't know

if the truth -- you don't know if the facts on it are true or not.

That's not what The Washington Post or CNN or The New York Times would do. You all aspire to be one of the world's great news divisions. But aren't

you trying to be more like WikiLeaks in this case?

BEN SMITH, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, BUZZFEED: We are I think well within the tradition of American journalism, which is every time you use the world

alleged on your air, every time you see the word "alleged" in print or on the web, that is saying we are repeating a claim we can't verify. That is a

totally, within the standard particularly of covering law enforcement.

But, you know, you'll hear that dozens of times on CNN. You'll hear that word quite a bit in coverage.

And I think from our perspective, if you're going to say that, your obligation if you've got the indictment, you know, even if you think

there's lots there that's false and the fact you can particularly -- you can point to things that are false, if I can see it, if it's not going to

scald my eyes out, I think, I mean, it's a question to reasonably ask your audience. If I'm up here saying I have a secret document, I'm going to

summarize it but not I'm sure I'm comfortable showing it to you because I'm not sure I can trust you with it. Do you feel that you shouldn't see it?

STELTER: It's not about trusting the reader. I mean, let's put on screen what you said to the audience at the time.

SMITH: What do you mean it's not about trusting the reader?

STELTER: You said, "Americans can make up their own minds about the allegations about the president-elect that have circulated around the

intelligence community."

But how can they make up their own minds without providing reporting to them? Without, you know -- how do you expect your readers to make up their

own minds?

SMITH: I think that I would say is that, I think -- it's -- if you're going to report on a document, the presumption is that you share the

document with your audience, let them know what you know.

STELTER: So, that's where this is really interesting, right? I would say and I think you and I agree on this, big old fashioned established news

organizations start from the premise of, why should we share this?

SMITH: Yes.

STELTER: You start from the premise of, why shouldn't we?

[08:35:02] SMITH: Why should we suppress this? Yes, that's where I start from.

STELTER: And you use the word "suppress".

SMITH: That's a little tangential. Why shouldn't we share that? Yes.

STELTER: It's, OK. But that's a fundamental -- and that's a profound difference that we're describing between legacy media and digital media.

SMITH: I think that's right.

STELTER: So...

SMITH: But I don't think it's a difference of values. I think we are trying to best inform our audience, to be true to our audience, to treat

our audience with respect. I think you are too. I think these are different traditions of that.

But I think that conflation of that, with deliberate deception, is really inappropriate. We put that -- we put this out with a very clear summary of

what it was, where it came from and we really stressed that there were false things in this document...

(CROSSTALK)

STELTER: You did. But why not publish a full reported explanation to the reader about what you've learned so far, what's false in it? Why not help

them understand what they were seeing in this memo?

SMITH: I mean, I don't think that you or I or the FBI apparently can say with great confidence that either they have stood this up or knocked it

down.

STELTER: There were some details that we both know were false. You could have annotated that. You could have put a lot of redactions.

SMITH: I think, right. I think there are levels of how many reductions, of how much annotation. We did point out that things that we really, were

very, very confident were false, in part to say to the reader, caveat...

STELTER: You did a little bit of that. Let's be honest, you rushed this out. CNN published and you published a couple of hours later, trying to get

this on the Internet as fast as possible.

SMITH: I mean, it is both of our jobs to be fast and accurate as we can.

STELTER: Accurate and then fast.

SMITH: I think -- yes, of course.

STELTER: So, Sean Spicer, another Trump aide, tried to conflate what CNN published and what BuzzFeed published. Let's take a look actually what

Sean Spicer the next day.

SEAN SPICER, INCOMING WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The fact that BuzzFeed and CNN made the decision to run with this unsubstantiated claim is a sad

and pathetic attempt to get clicks. The report is not an intelligence report plain and simple.

STELTER: Were you trying to just get clicks?

SMITH: I mean, I think Sean quoted me as he continued there in saying it was unverified. I think -- you know, there's obviously an attempt to divide

the press, to turn us on each other and to turn reasonable differences about editorial decisions into screaming matches between us on this show. I

think that's a trap that the media has obviously repeatedly fallen into over the last couple of years, but I think it's better not to right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Incredible discussion and debate on journalism and ethics right there. That was our Brian Stelter speaking earlier with Buzzfeed's editor-

in-chief. And you should watch the full interview. You can find it on our website, just go to CNNMoney.com. You'll find it there.

Now, Donald Trump's reaction to the Buzzfeed controversy has provided some solid material for Saturday Night Live. And it went after Trump, again,

this weekend, mocking his first news conference in months. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEC BALDWIN, ACTOR: God, I'm loving this press conference. I love the press. I respect the press. Let's take another question from the press.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi, yeah, Is'm from Buzzfeed.

BALDWIN: No, no, no, not you Buzzfeed. You're a failing pile of garbage. And you want to know why? Because I took your quiz yesterday and I'll tell

right now, I am a Joey, I am a Rachel.

Who else has a question. I love the press.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, Jim Acosta, CNN.

BALDWIN: No, not CNN either. You're overrated. You're fake news. I tried to watch your network last night and there was just some crazy blond

woman spouting lies.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That was Kellyanne Conway.

BALDWIN: Oh, right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: And Trump reacted. He tweeted about this sketch saying this, quote, "NBC News is bad but Saturday Night Live is the worst of NBC. Not

funny. Cast is terrible. Always a complete hit job. Really bad television," unquote.

You're watching News Stream. Still to come right here on the program, we've all heard of the income gap, but how wide has it become? Coming up

we have a stunning new look at the difference between the world's wealthiest and poorest.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:40:33] LU STOUT: Now a stunning new characterization of the rich/poor divide. Oxfam says that these eight men now have as much money as the

world's poorest 3.6 billion people.

Now the group released its annual inequality report just as world leaders kick off the World

Economic Forum in Davos. And the report says the richest 1 percent has had more wealth than the rest of the planet since 2015. In the U.S. the top 1

percent control about 42 percent of the wealth. And, yes, you may have noticed, everyone in the grid is male.

Oxfam says that there is a big gender disparity here of the 1,810 billionaires around the

world, 89 percent are men. The director of campaigns and policy at Oxfam says the leaders at Davos need to pay attention to this issue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATTHEW SPENCER, DIR. OF CAMPAIGNS AND POLICY, OXFAM: What matters is that they do debate this issue, and that when they go home they play their

important part in correcting this warping of our economy, that they pay their fair share of taxes and the companies that they run and represent all

overseas pay their fair share, and the governments hold them to those decent standards so that we can have a human economy and an economy that

works for everyone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: A human economy. Now, we're going to have much more on the World Economic Forum on CNN Money, that's kicking off in about 20 minutes

from now: 10:00 p.m. Hong Kong time, that equates to 2:00 p.m. in London.

Now before we go, I want to take a moment to remember this man. The Chinese linguist Jo Yong-guan. He is the father Pinyin (ph), and if you

ever tried to learn Mandarin Chinese you know that Pinyin is a way to convert Chinese writing into Romanized words so that you can just read them

aloud.

Now, here's a very, very simple explanation without the intonation symbols. If you've never seen these characters there's no way that you can read them

and pronounce them. But if you change them into Pinyin you can say them.

Chun Jie Hui jia, means returning home for the Lunar New Year.

Now, the system was adopted by China in the late 1950s and is credited for boosting literacy rates there. And the inventor, Jo Yong-guan, he passed

away Saturday in Beijing, one day after his 111th birthday.

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

END