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Iowans Set to Elect in U.S.'s First Primary; Myanmar's NLD Begins Appointing Cabinet Positions; How Was The Zika Overlooked So Long? Aired 8:00a-9:00a ET

Aired February 01, 2016 - 8:00   ET

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

[07:58:41] KRISTIE LU STOUT, HOST: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. And welcome to News Stream.

Now, the road to the White House begins today in Iowa. Bernie Sanders tries to topple front runner Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination,

while Republican candidates hope to break out from the crowded pack.

Months of campaigning and hours of debates and they all come down to this. It is decision day in the U.S. state of Iowa, and voters there will

have the nation's first say on picking the presidential nominees.

It is an early test for White House hopefuls. In the past, those that did poorly in Iowa often dropped out of the race.

Now Clinton is determined not to repeat what happened eight years ago when she lost to Barack Obama in Iowa. But this time around, she and

Bernie Sanders are locked in a close battle.

Now CNN's Jeff Zeleny has more on the Democratic race.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HILLARY CLINTON, FRM. U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: And I think we can have...

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A furious fight to the finish.

CLINTON: I will fight for you in the White House.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS, (I) VERMONT: It sounds like you want to make a political revolution.

ZELENY: Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders circling Iowa one last time. The closing stretch is all about campaign mechanics.

[08:00:07] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are just calling to make sure we have your support.

CLINTON: Let's start a storm of movement toward the future that we want to make together.

ZELENY: It is the Superbowl of politics. But the season isn't over, it's just beginning. The test of campaign organization will set the tone

for the rest of the 2016 race. Sanders announced a Sunday bombshell. He raised $20 million in January, an average donation of $27.

Big crowds throwing their support behind their candidate.

SANDERS: Never in a million years would I have thought this possible.

ZELENY: Soaring crowds for Clinton too.

Even as the State Department email investigation hangs over the campaign.

CLINTON: This is very much like Benghazi. Republicans are going to continue to use it, beat

up on me. I understand that.

ZELENY: The race could be decided by one key demographic: women voters.

Sanders holds a large lead among women under 45, Clinton has the same edge among women over 45.

Amy Geider (ph) supported Clinton eight years ago in Iowa. Now, she's leaning Sanders.

So, do you think she would be disappointed to hear that? I mean, someone who caucused for her eight years ago is now unsure if they're going

to caucus for her this time?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, yeah, she would probably be disappointed. I mean, I would be.

ZELENY: But Marcela Nicola (ph) says it is pastime to shatter that glass ceiling.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it is history in the making and I hope we're part of it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And that was CNN's Jeff Zeleny reporting.

It is fair to say America's voting system is complicated. So, how will the process play out in

Iowa today? Now, Jonathan Mann, how of CNN's Political Mann, explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JONATHAN MANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: First, the caucus goers gather in a public space, like a high school gymnasium. Each candidate has a

representative who speaks on their behalf, trying to sway undecided voters and everyone else too. It looks like the speeches are done.

Now the voters are headed for their respective candidates' corners. George Washington has the most support with seven of our faceless little

people. But the caucus isn't over yet. It's time now for community discussion and persuasion. Jefferson's supporters are headed for the

Washington corner with cupcake and every reason they can imagine for their rival supporters to join them. And they have succeeded in convincing one

Washington supporter to move over to the Jefferson camp. They don't actually have eyes, but Lincoln supporters seen an opportunity, and one of

them is headed over to Jefferson's camp armed with evidence of Lincoln's achievements and every argument he can summon up.

But, no, the Washington supporter who defected to Jefferson is going back to the first President's corner, and he's taking a Lincoln supporter

with him. So the tally is now eight for Washington, four for Jefferson, and just three for Abraham Lincoln. Does anybody want to change their votes?

No. So, it looks like the caucus is over and George Washington will have his cupcake and eat it too. If they had mouths, they'd be smiling.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Jonathan Mann there.

Now, the Republican candidates are making their final push across Iowa as well. The latest poll, it shows Donald Trump with a lead, but not by

much.

CNN's Sunlen Serfaty has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP, 2016 REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You haven't had a winner in Iowa in 16 years. We're going to have a winner, you better

believe it.

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Republicans in Iowa are waking to the final pitches from 12 GOP hopefuls.

SEN. TED CRUZ, (R) TEXAS: I want to ask everyone here to vote for me 10 times.

SERFATY: The presidential candidates in red spreading across the Hawkeye State, arming themselves with pointed criticism and humor.

CRUZ: The next cycle I think Lady Gaga is running.

SERFATY: Donald Trump is only five points ahead of Senator Ted Cruz in the most recent Des Moines Register poll and the front-runner is feeling

the heat.

TRUMP: You know, he wants to pretend he is Robin Hood. He is going to protect everybody from Wall Street.

SERFATY: Continuing to suggest Cruz has an in with big banks.

TRUMP: He forgot to mention that he has borrowed a lot of money at almost no interest from Goldman Sachs and from Citibank

SERFATY: And may not even be eligible for the presidency.

TRUMP: If you become the candidate, it's possible you can't even run, according to a lot of people.

SERFATY: Cruz rolling out conservative celebrities to strike back.

PHIL ROBERTSON, DUCK DYNASTY: All you ladies, that would be a duck call.

SERFATY: From Duck Dynasty star Phil Robertson.

ROBERTSON: Let's try one pore time to get Trump, let's call Donald Duck, to come to meet with Cruz and debate.

SERFATY: To radio host Glenn Beck, begging Iowans not to vote for Trump.

GLENN BECK, CONSERVATIVE RADIO SHOW HOST: For my children's sake, please, dear god, if you're thinking about it, go to the bar tomorrow

instead.

SERFATY: With so many other candidates polling in the single digits, there's still a large percentage of Iowa voters who, if swayed, could turn

the tide for one of the front-runners.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO, (R) FLORIDA: We cannot win if we are divided.

SERFATY: Still, no candidate is giving up hope.

JEB BUSH, 2016 REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I believe I'm going to win the nomination.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[08:05:02] LU STOUT: And that was CNN's Sunlen Serfaty reporting.

CNN has comprehensive coverage as the race for the White House heats up. Just log on to CNN.com/politics for the very latest from both sides of

the aisle.

And do stay with us as voters make their choice in Iowa. You are going to see the results and

full analysis right here on CNN.

You're watching News Stream. And still ahead on the program, another side of China's slowing economic growth. How the world's shipping lines

are being affected by declining demand in China.

And the Republican candidates, they are making their final push across Iowa as well. We'll show you the polling.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back. And let's return to our top story this hour. Of course, the Iowa Caucuses, they begin in earnest today. And the race is

tight in both parties, but it seems especially so for the Democrats.

And the latest poll, it shows Hillary Clinton in a dead heat with Bernie Sanders. And a short time ago, Hillary Clinton spoke to Alisyn

Camerota on CNN's New Day. And they talked about the scandal around Clinton's private email server.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: There is nothing new. And I think the facts are quite helpful here.

It's a little bit like what the Republicans and others have tried to do with respect to Benghazi, just a lot of innuendo, a lot of attacks. And

I just know that after I testified for 11 hours, answered every question, nothing new came up. And most voters have made up their minds. And I'm grateful for that.

The same here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Hillary Clinton there.

Now, the Republican candidates are making their final push across Iowa as well. The latest GOP polling, it shows Donald Trump with a lead, but

not by very much. Now, Sunlen Serfaty is live for us in Iowa. And Sunlen, the GOP contest is effectively between two individuals. It's Donald Trump

and Ted Cruz.

What would a win in Iowa mean for their respective campaigns?

SERFATY: Well, for both of them it would give a lot of momentum. As you said, this is really a two-man race between them. Those polls raelly

show them neck and neck.

But equally important, really, is the battle for third here. If Marco Rubio is able to make a strong showing and close the gap between the other,

that can do a long way to alter the dynamics of this race.

LU STOUT: And also, let's talk about Marco Rubio. He is expected to come in third in the GOP race. Could that actually be a good for his

campaign?

SERFATY: Absolutely.

You know, Marco Rubio has invested a lot in New Hampshire, so if he is able to come out of Iowa with a lot of momentum here, he will do very well

in New Hampshire. His campaign is hoping that will give him a lot of momentum, a push of energy, a push of media attention, and really steal

that away from other candidates.

He is running as the establishment candidate in that lane to be the alternative to Donald Trump, to be the alternative to Ted Cruz.

Coming out of here with a lot of media attention. The wind at his back, so to speak, could do

his campaign a wonder of good.

LU STOUT: All right, Sunlen Serfaty joining us live from Iowa, marking the true beginning of

the 2016 race to the White House. Thank you for Sunlen.

Now, authorities across the Americas, they are working to go stem the spread of the Zika virus. In just a few hours from now, the World Health

Organization is hosting an emergency meeting. The mosquito-born virus has been linked to a neurological disorder in newborns and that has prompted

travel warnings for pregnant women.

Now, meanwhile, Peru and Jamaica reported their first cases of the Zika virus over the weekend.

Now Portugal also reported six cases.

And in all of those instances, the patients recently returned home from trips abroad.

The Zika virus, it was first identified in Uganda almost 70 years ago. And CNN's David McKenzie joins me now from the Zika forest. And, David,

why is it called the Zika forest? What have you learned about the origins of the virus?

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we are actually at the Ugandan Bio Research Institute. We're in the forest all

morning working with researchers to understand how it is that this Zika virus took so long to be noted.

In fact, they identified the Zika virus, Kristie, here in Uganda in 1947. It took more than 60 years for it to be causing a pandemic,

initially in Micronesia, and then spreading towards Easter Island, and into Brazil where it now is taking so much attention and causing so much alarm

because of its possible link to birth defects.

You know, I was just in lab, in a bio hazard room in this building behind me where some of the most deadly of the viruses are studied like

dengue, yellow fever, and of course Zika. But for many years, they sort of largely ignored Zika, because of the mild symptoms. But viruses here

spread -- come up and unnoticed almost all the time. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JULIUS LUHWAMA, LEAD RESEARCHER, UGANDA VIRUS RESEARCH INSTITUTE: We don't know for sure, we don't know completely what is in these forests. We

have not done enough. We can't say we know anything.

Every other year we come across new viruses. In the last five years or so, almost each year we come across a new virus in this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCKENZIE: Well, Kristie, that scientist telling us what they really need is on the beginning of

detecting a virus, they need the tools and the funding to try and understand how it might eventually become deadly, because there have been

several viruses of this kind transmitted by mosquitoes like the (inaudible) sort of was latent or at least not getting noticed for many decades. And

then, possibly because of a mutation on the Asian strand, causing alarm bells to ring as it had a bit of pandemic broke out in Brazil and

potentially beyond -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: Why is it that the pandemic, the current one, seems to be centered in South America as opposed to the origin of the Zika virus there

in Africa?

MCKENZIE: Well, I think it is partly what I described, that there are two be two strains of this virus, one African, one Asian. So, that answers

part of the question.

Another answer to the question is the way the world has changed in the last few decades that we are so much more connected, and someone can come

from here where I'm standing, get almost anywhere populated in the world within 24 hours. That provides the virus chain either from the physical

mosquito being on a plane and moving across to another location, or from an infected person going to a place where a similar mosquito might then bite

them and then reinfect others.

The reason it took so long partially is because here in Uganda, the Zika virus was generally amongst animal populations, monkeys, a zoonotic

(ph) virus. At some point, it jumped over to infect humans more regularly. And that is why this is garnering so much attention. But it's not means

the first time this has happened. And it certainly won't be the last time that something like this will bubble under for a long time before it gets

noticed.

LU STOUT: All right, David McKenzie there tracing the origins of the Zika virus live in Uganda for us. Thank you for that report.

Now, at least 46 people have been killed, and dozens wounded, when Boko Haram militants burned a Nigerian village to the ground. Now the

militants attacked just after evening prayers. They began shooting the villagers and setting homes on fire.

Witnesses say the gunmen arrived on motorcycles. Some of the villagers fled to the nearby bush when the attack began.

The military says three female suicide bombers were intercepted and their explosives detonated.

The terror group aims to impose a stricter version of Sharia law across Nigeria.

Now, after decades fighting for democracy and Myanmar's long-time opposition leader has finally taken power. We have got the details

straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:18:10] LU STOUT: Well, a dramatic view outside our studio coming to you live from Hong Kong. You're back watching News Stream.

Now, this is the man trying to find common ground among those fighting in Syria's civil war.

In a few hours from now, the UN special envoy Staffan de Mistura will hold a fresh round of talks with Syria's main opposition group called the high

negotiations committee. They say that they want an end to the attacks on civilians.

But even as the UN envoy brokers peace talks over how to put a stop the country's civil war, the violence in Syria is picking up. ISIS has now

claimed responsibility for Sunday's triple bombing outside Damascus that claimed dozens of lives.

And for more on the bombings and the potential impact on the peace talks, CNN's international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson joins us now

from Geneva. And Nic, there has been sort of a stuttering start to these talks there in Geneva. What's the latest, what's the forecast for the

talks?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONALCORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Kristie, I guess you could say that the talks actually get going proper for real, for real

as in both sides have actually come here to the UN in about three hours time if that happens. It is is expected to happen. The High Negotiating

Committee got into Geneva over the weekend.

They had a meeting at their hotel, or at least some of them had a meeting at their hotel with Staffan de Mistura there, the -- as you were

saying, the UN's chief negotiator here whose job it is, is to bring these two sides, the opposition and the Syrian government closer together.

He's expecting to meet with the opposition here at the UN in the next couple of hours.

So, when that happens, you could say that it's actually has begun, because he met with the Syrian government delegation on Friday.

Now, stuttering, because he was expecting to meet with the Syrian government delegation earlier this morning as well. That didn't happen,

we're told. That was because the meetings got out of sequence with the opposition. So, it looks like we're moving in the right direction at the

moment, Kristie, and also on the side you have to say that today there's also been a meeting between the deputy Russian foreign minister responsible

for the Syria talks and his U.S. counterpart have met to discuss the situation here. So there's stuff that's happening in the margins.

And slowly, slowly, slowly we're getting to, I guess you can say, the beginning of the talks for

real, Kristie.

[08:20:32] LU STOUT: And Nic, the relentless violence in Syria, there was that triple bombing by ISIS in a suburb of Damascus. What impact could

that have on any peace talks for Syria?

ROBERTSON: Well, ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack. They were attacking a Shia shrine. The Shia shrine is something that draws

the protecting that Shia shrine is something something that draws in Shia supporters from all around the region to the government side, to President

Bashar al-Assad's side.

So, in some ways the commonality of ISIS attacking the government and others around the country, you would think on the surface might bring both

the opposition and the government together. But it is unlikely at this stage, because there's so much mistrust.

But it is not unusual at the beginnings of peace talks in the critical moment during talks whether

those on the fringes of the talks, if you will, and those not invited at all like ISIS to try to destabilize the whole situation, to derail the

talks before they get going. And that's what this appears to be.

But as we can see, the talks slowly, slowly beginning to edge forward. So, at this time it doesn't seem that that attack at the moment is going to

have a significant impact as far as we know.

ANDERSON: And, Nic, these talks will be very tricky when they begin in earnest, especially over the issue of Bashar al Assad and the role that

he would play in the country's future.

What's the latest thinking on how that issue could be resolved?

ROBERTSON: It's really not clear how it is going to be resolved. A lot of it comes down to semantics. The opposition see that they are coming

in here, say that they're coming in here, to work towards a transitional government.

The government on their part is sort of working under the language of a government of national unity. What is being said clearly by the UN is it

is up to the Syrians to get in here, both sides, under no preconditions whatsoever. To get in here. And it is up to the Syrians themselves to

decided the future of the country. And it is sort of being left with that kind of open and easy to interpret or can be interpreted positively for

both sides. But the real nitty-gritty of how they are going to get around that issue.

You at the moment, that still seems a long way down the track. But if they get towards it, then, you know, I think than everyone here would judge

that the talks are actually beginning to work even if even if they begin to get close to answering it, it's such a struggle to get to this point, and

such a long-term process that everyone here is engaged in.

ANDERSON: That's right, very slow, incremental process here. Nic Robertson reporting live from Geneva. Thank you, Nic.

Now, China has issued a warning to the U.S. after an American navy destroyer skirted a disputed island in the South China Sea.

Now, Beijing says the ship violated Chinese law by entering its territorial waters. The chain is also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan.

The U.S. says it deliberately sent the USS Curtis Wilbur to within 12 nautical miles to challenge what it calls excessive maritime claims. China

says the move was dangerous and irresponsible.

Now, lawmakers from Aung San Suu Kyi's pro-democracy party have taken their seats in the new parliament. The National League for Democracy has

the majority. And after a victory in November's landmark election, but despite leading the party that won the vote, Aung San Suu Kyi is

constitutionally barred from taking the position of president.

Saima Mohsin reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAIMA MOHSIN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: An historic day for the Burmese people. Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD today as they finally

stepped into parliament to take up their seats, 26 years in the making of course. The last election in 1990 was when the NLD won, but was swept

aside by the military.

Today, they finally went into parliament.

It was a brief session of the lower house. They elected their speaker of the house, an NLD member, another former political prisoner as well,

Owin Minter (ph). He is now the speaker of the house for the lower house. A rest day Tuesday. And then the upper house will meet Wednesday, of

course, while they now carry out this transition of government. They need to do this by the first of April.

While they do this, a lot of high expectations. Human Rights Watch saying the Burmese people and the international community has high

expectations of this Nobel Peace Prize laureate. But who exactly is going to lead this party and govern the nation?

Is it going to be the Nobel Peace Prize winner, the symbol of progress, as the UN calls Aung San Suu Kyi, a person that has fought for

political freedoms and against human rights abuses? Or is it going to be the pragmatic politician that we have seen over the last few years that has

who fought hard to gain that right to enter parliament.

Of course a lot of challenges ahead. Human Rights Watch saying that it is time now for this new government to revoke human rights abuses,

political prisoners. More of them should be freed. And, of course, discriminatory laws against the Muslim Rohingya populations that are

effectively held in camps, are not recognized as Burmese citizens. They, too, should now be recognized and given the

citizenship and rights they deserve too.

Saima Mohsin, CNN, Bangkok.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[08:25:58] LU STOUT: It remains to be seen who the NLD will nominate for president, but it won't be Aung San Suu Kyi. She is barred from taking

the post because the constitution says the president cannot have children who are citizens of another country.

Now, the military is widely thought to have drafted the role with her in mind.

Now, whoever becomes president will have a lot on their shoulders. There are racial tensions in

this country of 53 million people. And Myanmar still refuses to recognize the Rohingyas as citizens.

Now this ethnic minority faces restrictions in work, travel and education. As you heard, just in from Saima Mohsin, that has been

criticized by rights groups around the world.

Now, breaking news from the world of sports now. Manchester City say that Pep Guardiola will be their new manager starting next season.

Guardiola may be the most coveted coach in world football. He won the champions league twice with Barcelona before moving to Bayern Munich,

leading the club to the last two league titles holding a commanding lead in the current campaign.

We're going to have much more on Pep Guardiola's move in World Sport in about 15 minutes from now.

After the break, we will take you on board one of the biggest shipping containers in the owrld hours before it sets sail across the Pacific. Just

find out what this massive ship has to do with voting underway in the United States.

Also ahead, some of the biggest names in Hollywood, they turned out for this year's Screen Actors Guild Awards. And we'll tel you who took

home a trophy.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:30:52] LU STOUT: Iowans wil soon have the nation's first say in the race for the White House, picking their choices for party nominee. And

one issue that has figured in on the campaign trail, trade relations between the world's two biggest economies, China and the U.S. It is worth

hundreds of billions of dollars a year.

Now, a large container ship called the Benjamin Franklin has just set sail from China on its way to Los Angeles and the journey is being seen by

some as a litmus test for what's ahead when it comes to trade between the two countries.

And before it set off, Matt Rivers was on board.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kristie, before we get into the nitty-gritty of the reporting, we thought it would be interesting to show

you what the bridge of one of the largest container ships in the world looks like.

This is the control center for the captain. Constant radar monitoring. This screen shows every other ship in and around the Nansha (ph) port where

we are right now.

And if you walk over this way, you can see the incredible amount of containers that are getting set to be put on board ships to be sent off

somewhere as part of Chinese trade.

It is an incredible part of the economy here. But as the economy begins to slow down, as growth begins to slow, the big question is how

China will react? And how it will impact other places that China trades with, like the United States and, more specifically in the state of Iowa

where the U.S. presidential election is about to kick off.

It's longer than the Eiffel Tower. It has got an 80,000 horsepower engine and weighs up to 240,000 tons. And yet, thanks to the magic of

buoyancy, the Benjamin Franklin floats.

It is leaving China soon, heading for Los Angeles.

This is the largest container ship that has ever docked in the U.S.

Being on board, you really get a sense of scale, mainly because of how small you feel. But for a transport ship like this one, the most important

figure is how much it can hold. The Benjamin Franklin can take on 18,000 containers. Placed end to end, they would stretch 68 miles.

VELIBOR KRPAN, CAPTAIN, BENJAMIN FRANKLIN: It is cheaper to have bigger ships. It contains more products, you know, you have less things to

pay after that.

RIVERS: Often on the other side of doors like these are things like electronics, toys, clothes,

consumer goods made in China that will sell in American stores. This is what trade between the two countries looks like.

And far more stuff is exported from China to the U.S. than the other way around, a difference of hundreds of billions of dollars. That

imbalance has been a source of conflict for some time.

And in the middle of a U.S. presidential race, it makes for easy fodder.

DONALD TRUMP, 2016 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: They are killing us. And if you want to do business with China, it is almost impossible.

RIVERS: Republican frontrunner Donald Trump suggested slapping a 45 percent tax on

Chinese goods to even the playing field. But critics have attacked his idea as bad for business and bad for states.

Trump's political future, along with his rivals, relies in a big way on Iowa where caucuses are set to kick off in this year's presidential

election. And it's a state that exports billions of dollars worth of things like crops and machinery to China each year.

U.S.-China trade is incredibly intertwined. And the next U.S. president will have some ability to influence those ties. And that will

impact people's lives on both sides of the Pacific, which is why we're talking about U.S. politicians in Iowa while we're thousands of miles away

on this giant ship in the South China Sea.

And so clearly the port here in Nansha (ph) remains busy. But just how busy other ports

around the country will remain moving forward is a bit of an open question. We saw some manufacturing data released this morning that shows some of the

weakest numbers we have seen in years. And, Kristie, just another sign of China's gradual economic slowdown.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Matt Rivers there.

Now, China has smashed an enormous Ponzi scheme thought to have scammed investors out of

billions of dollars. 20 people have been arrested. Now, the company Idsubal (ph) is accused of promising hundreds of thousands of clients a

healthy return on their money, as much as 15 percent.

Now Chinese media reported its boss and partners are accused of embezzling more than $7.5

billion to pay off existing customers.

An old tradition is about to change at one of Judaism's holiest sites. Now men and women will be permitted to pray together in a

designated space at Jerusalem's western wall. Now, orthodox standards have long governed the historic plaza. And, as you can see here, it is split in

two to separate male and female worshipers.

But a new prayer space allowing them to pray together will be made permanent. Now, this landmark decision is infuriating many orthodox

members of the Israeli government.

Now, activist group Women of the Wall, they have been a loud voice in this clash of beliefs. Their protests often caused such a stir that police

are needed to hold back irate Orthodox worshipers.

As their members celebrate Israel's decision, one particular tweet stands out. Now this is posted just after Martin Luther King Day and it

reads this, quote, "hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s words speak volumes to us still."

You're watching News Stream. Still ahead on the program, diversity took the spotlight at this year's Screen Actors Guild Awards. Why some say

the Oscars should take note.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back.

Now, Hollywood's award season is in full swing with some new trophies handed out over the weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK RUFFALO, ACTOR: No way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: That is a breathless Mark Ruffalo who stars in the film Spotlight. Now, the movie took the top prize at the Screen Actors Guild

Awards on Saturday night winning for outstanding cast in a motion picture.

And the crowd was on its feet when Leonardo Di Caprio won the best actor award for the grity drama The Revenant. After winning the Golden

Globe and now the SAG award, many say that this could be the year Di Caprio finally takes home an Academy Award.

Now, you may remember the Academy Awards have drawn criticism for a lack of diversity in film nominations. But it was a different story at the

SAG awards.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to diverse TV.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: And that's the British actor Idris Elba who took home two Screen Actors Guild Awards. The supporting actor win for the film Beast of

No Nation, and a lead actor win for a TV movie or miniseries for Luther.

The singer and actress Queen Latifa won for her role in HBO's biopic Bessie. In her acceptance speech, she urged viewers to just do you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUEEN LATIFA, ACTRESS: And I hope that anyone out there who does not come in the

package that people say you should, keep fighting for it. Flip those rocks over. Keep pushing, keep turning. You can do it. You build your own

boxes, not people. So knock that thing away and do you! Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Well said.

Now a snowstorm is headed for the U.S. state of Iowa just as voters there prepare for the first

contest in this year's presidential race.

The Iowa caucuses start less than 12 hours from now. Now, CNN meteorologist Chad Myers is

tracking the storm. He joins us now.

And Chad, is the storm going to be big enough to disrupt the caucuses?

[08:40:00] CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It will be big enough to stop the candidates from getting home tomorrow. This is the storm that

actually starts late tonight, around midnight. So, all the reporters are freaked out about this. And the people in Iowa are saying, going to have

to find my pants and go hunting. This is a blizzard for Iowa, but I tell you what I grew up in Nebraska, which is the next state over here. And you

kind of get excited about a blizzard, or a snow storm, because you go out and play in it.

Now, you get a blizzard in Washington, D.C. or New York City like we had last week and it shuts the place down. In Iowa and Nebraska, you slow

things down for a couple of days and you're all back together again.

We will see snow coming in around midnight local time, that's around I guess by 5:00 tomorrow GMT.

You start to move that across parts of Iowa and then it starts to pile up and really begin to blow. Winds will be 40 to 60 kilometers per hour as

it begins to march across parts of Nebraska, Iowa, and into Minnesota.

So, yes, a big snow event could be 12 inches, which is somewhere in the neighborhood of about 20 to 30 centimeters of snow across parts of

northwestern Iowa. And that snow continues all the way up into Minnesota.

Will it affect the voters today? No. Will it affect everyone trying to get out of Iowa tomorrow? Absolutely.

LU STOUT: Copy that.

Chad Myers there with the forecast and a bit of Nebraskan perspective. I appreciate that. Thank you, Chad.

Now, CNN is closely following the presidential nomination race in the U.S. state of Iowa. Voting begins in a few hours. We will have full

coverage starting at 8:00 a.m. Hong Kong time. That's 9:00 a.m. in Tokyo, only on CNN.

Now, that is News Stream. I'm Kristie Lu Stout. But don't go anywhere. World Sport is going to have much more on Manchester City's

appointment of Pep Guardiola next.

END