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GOP Debate's Civil Tone; China's Empty Cities; New French Law Aims to Combat Food Waste, Feed Homeless; Five Years On, Fukushima Still Struggling With Nuclear Disaster. New Aired 8:00a-9:00a ET

Aired March 11, 2016 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:22] KRISTIE LU STOUT, HOST: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong, and welcome to News Stream.

Now Japan pauses to remember those lost in a massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011, a disaster that's left a vast area of land deserted five

years on.

Republican candidates tone down the rhetoric in their latest presidential debate ahead of pivotal primaries in Florida and Ohio.

And a city without people in China built during the boom, abandoned as the country's economy slows down.

And we begin with the nation pausing to go reflect on a disaster. On this day in 2011, the strongest earthquake ever to hit Japan triggered a

tsunami and it caused a meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. More

than 20,000 people lost their lives.

The Japanese prime minister there placing flowers during the ceremony to remember the victims. At 2:46 PM, the minute the quake hit five years

ago, bells rang out in Tokyo and people around the nation bowed their heads for a moment of silence.

Now, images from that day are truly horrific, the tsunami overwhelmed sea walls with nine meter high swells. There is no doubt the memories from

that day are burned into the hearts and minds of the survivors forever.

Now, this is Fukushima Prefecture. Five years later, much of the area, as you can see, remains devastated and largely empty. Tens of

thousands of people were evacuated after the nuclear meltdown, and many of them still have not been

able to return home.

Damage from the disaster is estimated at some $300 billion.

Let's get more now from Japan. Our Will Ripley joins us now live from Tokyo. And Will, it has been five years since the tsunami, a grim

anniversary. Tell us more about how it was marked today.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is a day, Kristie, that anybody was here,

3/11, they call it, really Japan's 9/11. They remember exactly where they were, what they were doing when the earthquake hit. And today at 2:46 in

the afternoon the country stopped and you saw the imperial couple, the emperor, the empress, along with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at that ceremony

in Tokyo.

But there are ceremonies all across this country, people remembering those who have died, the death count now up to 22,000 people, not only

those who died in the earthquake and tsunami but also later in disaster- related illnesses.

And of course so many communities that are still struggling right now to rebuild, Kristie.

LU STOUT: And how has this disaster from five years ago shaped the future

of Japan from its industrial safety standards to Japan's sources of energy?

RIPLEY: Well, there it has been a radical shift before Fukushima Daiichi, the nuclear meltdown that was triggered by the earthquake and

tsunami.

70 percent of the Japanese public supported nuclear energy. The numbers have now completely reversed, and the vast majority of Japanese are

opposed to nuclear power. All of the nuclear reactors in Japan eventually shut own. A handful have since restarted. But just yesterday, there was a

lawsuit to even shut one of those down. It was filed by neighbors who say they don't feel safe.

People are acutely aware that the cleanup is going to take not only decades, but there will be contamination that lingers in this country for

centuries, up to 300 years. And so, as people are very fearful, even as the government insists that Japan cannot afford to keep importing these

expensive fossil fuels. They say that the nuclear safety inspection standards are now some of the most stringent in the world, but that simply

isn't enough to convince many people here.

LU SOTUT: As you said, the cleanup will require still decades more work. But how much progress has been made in the disaster zone? How far

has it come in the last five years?

RIPLEY: It depends where you are. For example, there are some areas outside of the current Fukushima Daiichi exclusion zone that I have seen

just in my two years in Japan, some really remarkable progress from my first visit until now.

I remember driving through areas and I was astounded that there were still boats sitting more than a kilometer inland, and there were cars, and

everywhere you stepped you knew that people had died in these places. It was heartbreaking. You saw memorials all over the street that family

members had set up.

A lot of that has been cleared out now in areas where work crews have been allowed to return, but yet there are still towns and villages, the

town of Futaba (ph) that we visited, that has been untouched, virtually untouched since this disaster. Residents can only go in for five hours at

a time. A lot of the buildings still sit with the earthquake damage, compounded now by five years being

ravaged by wild animals. Wild boar have gotten into many of the houses, vermin infestations, and there's nothing that residents can do.

A lot of them aren't even going back to check on their homes anymore, because it is just too painful to return.

LU STOUT: Yeah, and more what the survivors are going through. I mean, they lost their homes. They lost their communities. They lost their

loved ones. How are they emotionally coping with all of this loss?

RIPLEY: That is perhaps what really struck me as the most devastating part of all of this, not only the families who have lost, you know, in some

cases entire families were lost because of the tsunami in particular, which as we know water is such a deadly force. But also the fact that in rural

Japan, families often live together. Parents live with their children and grandchildren. And

sometimes you have multiple generations in these larger country homes.

But these homes are now uninhabitable. And so the families have had to split. They've been forced, perhaps the grandparents are living in some

of the shoddy temporary housing, these tiny cramped housing units that were only supposed to be used for two years. The children had to take their

kids to school so they moved to a larger city and now they've restarted their lives. And so you had these families that had a tradition of living

together for generations and generations, now divided as a result of this. Sometimes they barely see each other.

So, this is the impact beyond the damage, beyond the deaths, beyond the

nuclear contamination, families have been ripped apart as a result of this. And five years later, they are still not fully back together.

LU STOUT: Yeah, it was a horrific disaster. It took thousands of lives and fundamentally changed Japan. Will Ripley reporting for us in

Tokyo. Thank you for your reporting, Will.

Now, turning now to the U.S. presidential race, and the remaining four Republican candidates had squared off in a debate Thursday night in

Florida. It was their final showdown for next week's high stakes contest in Florida and Ohio. The candidates toned down the personal attacks, but

the sparks still flew when it comes to policy.

CNN politics reporter Sara Murray has the highlights.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP, 2016 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I cannot believe how civil it's been up here.

SARA MURRAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A major shift in tone at last night's GOP debate, the rivals moving away from the personal attacks of the past...

SEN. MARCO RUBIO, (R) FLORIDA: have you seen his hands? they're like this.

TRUMP: And little Marco spews his crap.

And I call him lying Ted.

MURRAY: And toward more civil contrasts as Trump's competitors argue he doesn't have the details to back up his campaign promises.

From U.S. trade deals...

TRUMP: Trade deals are absolutely killing our country, and the only way we are going to be able to do it is we're going to have to do taxes

unless they behave.

SEN. TED CRUZ, (R) TEXAS: Donald is right, for example. He was just talking about international trade. He is right about the problems, but his

solutions don't work. The effect of a 45 percent tariff would be when you go to the store, when you go to Walmart, when you're shopping for your

kids, the prices you pay go up 45 percent.

TRUMP: The 45 percent tax is a threat. It's not a tax, it was a threat. It will be a tax if they don't behave.

MURRAY: To Social Security.

TRUMP: It is my absolute intention to leave Social Security the way it is, not increase the age, and to heave it as is.

We're going to get rid of waste, fraud, abuse and bring back business.

RUBIO: The numbers don't add up. The bottom line is we can't just continue to tip-toe around this and throw out things like I'm going to get

a rid of fraud and abuse. But you still have hundreds of billions of dollars of deficit that you're going to have to make up.

MURRAY: And Mid East peace.

TRUMP: If I go in, I'll say -- I am pro Israel. And I've told that to anybody and anybody that would listen, but I would like to at least have

the other side think I'm somewhat neutral as to them so that we can maybe get a deal

done.

RUBIO: But the policy Donald has outlined, I don't know if he realizes is an anti-Israeli policy, maybe that's not your intent. But

here's why it is an anti-Israeli polic. There is no peace deal possible with the Palestinians at this moment, there just isn't. Because there's no

one to negotiate with.

MURRAY: The audience chuckling at Trump's seemingly simple response about

whether he would close the U.S. embassy in Cuba.

TRUMP: I would probably have the embassy closed until such is time as a good deal was made and struck by the United States.

MURRAY: As Rubio jumped at the chance to weigh in on an issue that might give him a boost here in Florida.

RUBIO: Here's a good deal, Cuba has free elections. Cuba stops putting people in jail for speaking out. Cuba has freedom of the press.

Cuba kicks out the Russians from (inaudible) and kicks out the Chinese listening station in (inaudible). Cuba stops helping North Korean invade

UN sanctions.

MURRAY: The sunshine state senator looking for any opportunity to go after Trump in this do or die debate for his campaign.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Last night you told CNN, quote, "Islam hates us." Did you mean 1.6 billion Muslims?

[08:10:04] TRUMP: I mean a lot of them. I mean a lot of them. There is tremendous hatred, and I will stick with exactly what I said to Anderson

Cooper.

RUBIO: The problem is presidents can't just say anything they want. It has consequences here and around the world.

TRUMP: And you can be politically correct if you want, I do want to be so politically correct, I like to solve problems. We have a serious,

serious problem of hate.

RUBIO: I'm not interested in being politically correct, I'm interested in being correct. We are going to have to work with the people

in Muslim faith even as Islam itself faces a serious crisis within it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now, Sara Murray joins me now live from Palm Beach, Florida. And Sara, another story I wanted to dig in with you today. A

Trump supporter has been charged after sucker-punching a protester. Last week we saw that video of

a reporter being thrown to the ground by security. You have been covering quite a number of Trump rallies. Why is this happening? Are you sensing

an undercurrent of aggression at these events?

MURRAY: Well, Kristie, I do have to say that this is very different from any other presidential campaign we have covered in this year or even

in prior years. You usually don't see things like this escalate into violence, especially between the crowd and the protesters.

So, I do think that this is far more common at Trump events than for other campaigns. You know, the campaign and Donald Trump have said they

discourage this kind of behavior. But in the past, he's also said maybe protesters deserve to be roughed up. And he sometimes he will yell at his

rallies get him out of here.

So, I think probably at best they are sending mixed signals. But, you know, it is certainly not something you ever want to see at campaign events

is protesters and supporters resorting to physical violence.

LU STOUT: And contrast that to Trump at the debate. I mean, he was on that stage with Rubio, Cruz and Kasich. There was no name-calling.

There was no aggression or personal insults. Were you surprised by the civil tone of last night's debate?

MURRAY: Well, I think after the debate that we had in Detroit where it was a little bit vulgar, it was a little bit rowdy. I think, you know,

a couple of the candidates, and Marco Rubio admitted this, you know they sort of felt like they

embarrassed themselves. They felt like the dialogue did not rise to that of a presidential candidate. And I think they wanted a chance to make

maybe a more respect closing argument to these voters.

Remember, this was the last debate before places like Ohio, places like Florida vote in winner take all primaries.

Now, this is really the last opportunity for voters to see these candidates dig in on the issues that they care about and sort of contrast

on that. And I think that that's what voters got.

LU STOUT: All right. Sara Murray reporting live from Palm Beach, Florida. Thank you.

Now, the Democrats are also gearing up for what should be make or break primaries on Tuesday. Later this hour, we look at how Bernie Sanders

and Hillary Clinton are doing in the latest polls.

And Kim Jong-un flexes his military muscles again, another dangerous threat from Pyongyang is driving up tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

Plus, remnants of China's once booming property market. We take you through an empty town where dreams of prosperity went bust before they even

began.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: North Korea is once again straining the patience of its neighbors. State media say leader Kim Jong-un has ordered more tests on

nuclear weapons. Now, this comes a day after South Korea accused Pyongyang of firing short-range ballistic missiles into the sea.

These images claim to show the supreme leader watching the launch. News agencies report both China and Russia are calling for North Korea to

stop testing those weapons and return to international talks over its nuclear program.

Now, a scathing condemnation against the world's newest country. The UN says South Sudan's government let militia soldiers rape women and girls

in lieu of wages. And that is not the only atrocity the government is accused of in a new report. Now, Robyn Kriel joins me now live from

Nairobi for more on this. And Robyn, just a deeply disturbing report about rape being used as a weapon of war, being used in in lieu wages in South

Sudan. What more have you learned?

ROBYN KRIEL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this UN report alleging that South Sudan's government orchestrated a government-operated

scorched earth policy, Kristie, saying that they deliberately targeted civilians to kill, rape, and pillage.

Now, in a mere five months, the UN says that it documented in one state of the 10 states in South Sudan, 1,300 incidences of rape. And as

you said, also that governmental allied groups were being allowed to rape in lieu of wages. So startling numbers there, Kristie.

Also what we understand is that the UN, since this war broke out in 2013, the civil war broke out back in December 2013, 50,000 people have

been killed, that's according to the UN, but AFP news agency is reporting that talking to aide organizations on the ground in South Sudan

anonymously, because they don't want to be tarted, they say that that number could be closer to 300,000 in that mere two years since this has

happened since that war broke out, which is really closer to the five-year war in Syria in terms of the civilian death toll.

LU STOUT: Yeah, this is a horrendous human rights situation. And separately, there is this report by Amnesty out. It's highlighting

evidence of suffocations by the South Sudan army. What was discovered?

KRIEL: Well, yes, terrible ways to die. The Amnesty International releasing a report last night stating that in Unity State, which was

actually the same state that was documented where those horrendous rapes were occurring, 60 men and boys were deliberately suffocated by the South

Sudanese government.

And I'll read a quote from that report. Witnesses reported hearing the detainees crying and screaming in distress, banging on the walls of the

shipping container they were trapped in, which they said had no windows or other form of ventilation.

And according to one eyewitness after some hours, a witness saw the area commander order some government soldiers to open up that shipping

container and take four dead bodies out, leaving the rest of the people inside there to suffocate.

Kristie, simply horrendous. And as I said, the South Sudanese government has denied both of these reports saying that the UN report is

not genuine and asking Amnesty International to take them to the site where this alleged atrocity occurred, because they do not know about it.

LU STOUT: But these are two new reports out, latest evidence of all- out brutality in South Sudan. Robyn Kriel reporting for us live. Thank you, Robyn.

You're watching News Stream. And still to come on the program, from the outside, this it could pass as one of China's many impressive building

projects. But an inside look reveals a very different story.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:22:08] LU STOUT: Coming to you live from Hong Kong, you're back watching News Stream.

Now, China has seen an incredible growth over the past few decades. And the country has dozens of cities with populations of a million people.

But today, we are going to show you a very different kind of Chinese city, one that sprung up during the boom, but now lies empty as the economy slows

down.

Andrew Stevens takes us on a tour.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDREW STEVENS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Shen Fu (ph) New Town, a city built on hope, a monument to speculation and cheap money, born

from the construction boom fueled by China's $500 billion stimulus package in 2008.

But the one thing missing here is people. It's 8:30 in the morning in Shen Fu (ph). In another other city in the world, that would be peak hour.

Not here.

The old saying is build it and they will come. Well, they certainly haven't

come yet. Shen Fu is in Liaoning Province in northeastern China. For a decade, Liaoning and its two northern neighbors were the fastest growing in

China.

But this region has become a casualty of plunging commodity prices and stalling economic growth. It's now known as the Rust Belt.

Billoards around town show what Shen Fu (ph) should have looked like. But this is what it is: rows of stores locked up and empty, their windows

advertising what should have been there. And nowhere is that misplaced optimism more pronounced than the city center.

The American architect who designed this was asked to come up with a concept for the heart of the city. And this is what he produced, the so-

called ring of life behind this artificial lake. Well, I'm sharing this view of the ring of life with just a couple of cleaners. And if you look

at the buildings all around it, most of them are either vacant or unfinished.

And it is proving tough to fill them. 56-year-old Lee Fiu (ph) stands by the side of the road for seven hours a day handing out leaflets

advertising apartments. There aren't many takers.

At the showroom of her employer, Liaoning Tong Ching (ph), it's also quiet.

So, how much of this has been built.

The sales agents tell me in something of an understatement that this is a buyers market. They say sales started falling in 2013 and haven't

turned around.

But it is critical to China's economic growth plans that they do. Places like Shen Fu (Ph) are now a priority for Beijing as the leadership

bets on the property market to help fuel growth.

We spoke to provincial government officials about what their proposals are to try to rehabilitate these areas. They say they are still studying

the plan.

So the only concrete steps so far are coming from Beijing to turn the property market around. But in the Rust Belt, that is going to be a

monmental task.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[08:25:08] LU STOUT: Wow, empty rows, empty buildings, a lot of unsold apartment units in that report. Now for more, let's go to Andrew

Stevens live in Shenyang, China.

And Andrew, China we know has borrowed billions of dollars on property and infrastructure projects, taking on a huge amount of debt to try to

stimulate the economy. How is this all going to turn out?

STEVENS: Well, at this stage, Kristie, it's not turning out well. We're seeing the bubbles, so many bubbles, property is just one of them.

And what we're hearing from the leadership in the National People's Congress, which is on at the moment in Beijing, is that property is going

to be one of the keys to try to turn this economy around, rather bizarrely you might think.

But what they say is that China needs to get rid of this millions, tens of millions of unsold flats, this overhang of property. They call it

destocking. Once they get rid of this monumental numbers of empty flats, like we saw in that report down then in Shen Fu (ph), then you can get more

normalized property market going. There will be money to lend to people, to buy property.

When people buy property, they tend to buy things to put in that property and you get the consumer virtuous circle going: spending leading

to more buying, et cetera, et cetera. That's the plan.

But people have to buy -- or people who are buying property, need a job to do that. And where we are here in the Rust Belt, jobs are being

lost, not gained, because this is a heavy industry area and another side of this reform is getting that heavy industry scale back.

So, that's what we mean by this huge task facing the government. On one hand, they need to promote this growth, on the other hand, they're

shutting down so much of this area, because it's inefficient.

So, they've got to balance that. That is a very, very difficult task indeed.

The Premier Li Keqiang says this latest five year plan, Kristie, is crucial for China. Indeed it is, and really the jury is still very much

out whether they can achieve what they want to achieve.

LU STOUT: Yeah, a very delicate transition for China and the years ahead. And incredible evidence of just two much property inventory in that

part of China. Andrew Stevens reporting live for us in Shenyang. Thank you, Andrew.

You're watching News Stream. Still ahead in the program, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders fight for supporters as more big contests loom

on the race for the White House.

Plus, food going to waste while people go hungry. Find out what France is doing to fix the problem.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(HEADLINES)

[08:31:32] LU STOUT: During the debate, Donald Trump said he was sticking to his comment made in a CNN interview when he said Islam hates

Americans. Now this, along with his call for temporarily banning Muslims from entering the U.S., has tensions rising in the world's most populous

Muslim nation. Indonesia's deputy speaker tells Reuters he wants trade restrictions if Trump becomes president.

Now, earlier I asked CNN Indonesia's Desi Anmar about whether the election rhetoric has crossed the line.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DESI ANMAR, CNN INDONESIA: The interesting thing for Indonesians actually it's not what Donald Trump says, it is the amount of support vote

and the amount of support that Donald Trump is getting, and you know, this is perhaps, you know, showing something about the American public that is a

little bit worrying, because Donald Trump is who he is. But then the amount of public support he's getting, the amount of media attention he is

getting, it does show something a little bit like the ugly American side, the American that's loud, that's bullying, that's aggressive, that's really

out there arrogant and America being great and being better than anyone else.

And I think this is the kind of message that we're getting as opposed to Mr. Trump himself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Now, Trump's anti-Muslim comments are also sparking calls for him to be banned from Indonesia. More than 45,000 people have signed

an online petition urging the Indonesian president to bar the billionaire and his businesses.

Now, on the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, they are hitting the campaign trail hard ahead of next week's high stakes

contests. And our senior Washington correspondent Jeff Zeleny joins me from one of the state's voting on Tuesday, Illinois.

Jeff, thank you for joining us. Let's look forward to the next Super Tuesday. After that upset in Michigan, that big surprise, what is in the

forecast for Sanders and for Clinton.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kristie, there's no question that Hillary Clinton wants to try and get back on track here. She still

has a big lead in delegates, that's how the Democrats select their nominees here. So, she needs to keep winning these states.

Now, Bernie Sanders has some momentum at his back. We saw that yesterday at his rallies. He had some 5,000 people at one, some nearly

10,000 at another. Certainly big crowds here. And they want this Democratic race to go on.

So, the next series of contests in just about four days, next Tuesday are Florida, North Carolina, Illinois, Ohio, and Missouri. Bernie Sanders

is focusing on the industrial Midwest, the Rust Belt if you will, of Illinois, Ohio, and Missouri, trying to extend that win from Michigan. We

will see if he can do it.

LU STOUT: And you talked to Hillary Clinton on the campaign trail. What does she tell you about Donald Trump and his winning streak?

ZELENY: Well, it's interesting. We asked her about -- you know, what she thinks of Donald Trump and how he's doing in the Republican nominee.

And she always hesitates to play on that side. But she did say -- she said I think he has a pretty narrow base. She said he is yet to be defined in

terms of a general electorate here.

So Democrats are already starting to do that, though. They are looking into his business dealings, and they are really going to try to do

something that Republicans have struggled to do and define him to the broader electorate with those independent voters in the middle.

So, a smile came across Hillary Clinton's face when we asked is Donald Trump fully defined yet for the general election? She said, we'll find

out. Wait and see.

So, the Donald Trump we're seeing right now to this Republican primary audience may not be the same as we're seeing to a general election

audience. Those independent voters are concerned about him. And that's what we are campaign is hoping to seize on.

[08:35:26] LU STOUT: Yeah, a situation still very fluid indeed.

And if Clinton advances to face Trump, what is her weakness? Because some are saying it is her stance on trade. What are your thoughts on that?

ZELENY: Well, her stance on trade has been an issue in some of these Midwestern battleground states. And she, of course, has supported some

trade agreements. And it definitely is interesting. That's one of them.

But I still think her honesty and her trustworthiness is still the big question hanging of her campaign, or it's one of the reasons that some

independent voters have not rallied to her side here.

So that is what she is going to keep working on over the next several months or so.

But there is no doubt that if Donald Trump should become the nominee, and if Hillary Clinton should become the nominee, this is not going to be a

typical general election race that we have seen.

You know, not surprisingly, this whole race has been so unusual. And this will be unusual as well. It could put states into play that we

haven't seen for a long time. So, this will be very different general election or race in a very, very, unpredictable year, Kristie.

LU STOUT: Yeah, we're definitely getting that sense already. Jeff Zeleny, joining us live from Chicago, thank you so much for joining us.

And take care.

Now, for the very latest on the election, we invite you to check out our website, cnn.com/politics. You will find there in-depth stories,

commentary, video, photo galleries coming to you all from the campaign trail.

Now, the U.S. Department of Justice is fighting back in its bid to break into an iPhone used for a terrorist. The FBI wants the court to

order Apple to unlock a phone used by Saeed Farouq one of the terrorists in the San Bernadino mass shooting.

Federal prosecutors argue that software code is not protected by the American right to free speech. The Department of Justice writes this,

quote, "the order compels conduct, namely, the removal of barriers from Farooq's iPhone with an incidental affect on speech. That does not amount

to a first amendment violation."

Now, Apple's chief counsel called the filing deeply offensive.

Now, Apple has resisted complying with the government, because it says that would create a backdoor that could be exploited by hackers. It has

also warned that if it allows U.S. government's orders, Apple could have to apply with orders from other governments as well.

Now, a hearing is scheduled for March 22nd.

Now, coming up right here on the program, a new law in France aims to tackle the problem of food waste and eliminate hunger at the same time. It

is getting praise around the country. And we're going to tell you about it next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Now, France has come up with a way to put at least one kind of waste to good use. A new law aims to get rid of tons of unused or

expired foods, and to take a bite out of hunger as well.

Jim Bittermann is in Paris with the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM BITTERMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESDNOENT: This is probably not what you envision when you think of dining out in France: the free food

line at a homeless shelter in Paris.

Yet food charities estimate that more than 2.5 million people in France depend on food handouts in one form or another.

At the same time, restaurants, food stores and French families dump tons of still edible food products into the trash each year, something that

has produced what some say now is a sad and far too common site: scavengers going through other people's discards looking for something to eat.

Some markets and stores have tried to discourage the scavenging.

But now, in part, that is about to change. A new law here requires larger supermarkets to strike deals with local food banks to donate unsold

food to help feed those in need.

It is estimated that the French waste 7 million tons of food products each year, 700,000 tons of that is from supermarkets which typically throw

out food products when they reach their best before date. But best before does not mean spoiled. The food is still safe to eat.

One large supermarket chain, which has fought against food waste for years, applauds the new law, especially since it will clear up legal

liability issues that could arise from donating unsold food.

BERTRAND SWIDERSKI, CARREFOUR: In fact, when you have, for example, 20 days to sell a product, and if you did not sell after 15 days, what you

can do, you can cut the price and make an offer for your customer, before two days before

expiring date you just have to donate if it's safe, it's the same product.

But we are not allowed to sell the product after expiring date or after best before date.

BITTERMANN: Food banks are expecting a 15 percent increase in donations because of the new law, a law that's drawing great praise.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The law will increase in term of quantity, but also this is very important, in terms of quality and diversity.

We are currently in term of nutritional balance, we are currently facing a deficit of meat and a lack of fruit and vegetables.

Tomorrow, hopefully, this will help to push for these products.

BITTERMANN: (inaudible) and others here would like to see the French law duplicated across the European Union. But he says that the biggest

food wasters are still individuals and families, which account for nearly 70 percent of the damaged or out of doubt but still edible food that is

thrown away.

Even so, the president of the French Food Bank's calculates that the new law will prevent charitable organizations to provide 10 million more

meals each year to the needy in France.

Jim Bittermann, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: A very inspiring program there. And before we go, an astonishing

sight in nature caught on video. Now, here you can see parts of Argentina's famous (inaudible) glacier breaking apart and then crashing

into the water. Now scientists had been expecting this collapse since last month. And it was all caught on camera.

That is News Stream. I'm Kristie Lu Stout. And World Sport with Christina

Macfarlane is next.

END