Return to Transcripts main page

NEWS STREAM

Kobe Bryant's Epic Final Game; Clinton, Sanders Hold Competing Rallies Ahead of Tonight's Debate; Video Proof of Chibok Girl's Surfaces. Aired 8:00a-9:00a ET

Aired April 14, 2016 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:01:40] I am Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. And welcome to News Stream.

A glimmer of hope: parents of the missing Chibok girls see the first proof of life in two years.

Close encounter: the U.S. says these Russian jets passed too close to their ships.

And an amazing end for an amazing player. Kobe Bryant caps off a 20- year career by scoring 60 in his final game.

A newly obtained video is providing a mix of hope and despair exactly two years after hundreds of school girls were abducted in northern Nigeria.

Now these people are witnessing proof of life, the first sign that at least some of the more than 200 girls abducted by Boko Haram are still alive.

And we are told that this is a mother whose daughter was among those taken when militants stormed the school in Chibok.

Now the second anniversary of the abduction is being met with demands that the government do more as the movement has become known to Bring Back

Our Girls.

Nima Elbagir, producer Stephanie Basari (ph), and videographer Sebastian Canooks (ph), brings us this exclusive report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Lined up against a yellow wall, 15 girls, only their faces showing. An off-camera voice asks

each girl what's your name.

Is that the name your parents recognize?

Where were you taken from, the voice asks?

Chibok school, and the date, they say, is the 25th of December, 2015.

This video was obtained by CNN from a person close to the negotiations to get these girls released. For the parents it's finally a glimmer of hope

these girls are still alive.

Two years ago we met Mary Ashia (ph), Rifkatu Ayubsa, and Yala Galang (ph) on our visit to Chibok after the abduction of their daughters and more

than 200 other girls. We asked them if they recognize any of the girls in the video. They lean closer. Another girl is identified, Howa (ph). One by

one they name all 15 girls. But one mother, Yala (ph), realizes her daughter isn't there.

The off-camera voice asking the questions is familiar to CNN as that of Boko Haram spokesman, Abu Zinnira. A source close to negotiations

between Boko Haram and the Nigerian government said the video was provided by the terror group as an ask for show of good faith. Nigeria's information

minister told CNN they have received the video but are still reviewing it.

LAI MOHAMMED, NIGERIAN INFORMATION MINISTER: You study the video. You follow the questions who are asked in a rather very controlled environment.

That we are a bit concerned, too, that after two years in captivity the girls in the video were under no stress whatsoever. There has been little

transformation to their physical appearance.

ELBAGIR: Is your government negotiating with Boko Haram for the release of these girls?

MOHAMMED: There are ongoing talks. We cannot ignore leads. But, of course, many of these investigations are, you know -- cannot be disclosed

openly because it would also endanger the negotiations.

ELBAGIR: We took the video to a classmate of the Chibok girls. She'd been at home with family the day the other girls were kidnapped. For her

safety we're not showing her face and not using her name. She told us there's no doubt these are some of her kidnapped classmates.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): These two were prefects. Watching the video I'm reminded of how we used to play together, how we

used to do chores, do our homework.

ELBAGIR: She says seeing her friends again will likely give her nightmares.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Sometimes still, if I hear news about them I have bad dreams and I wake up crying.

ELBAGIR: The video ends with a girl addressing the camera with a message to the Nigerian government. We are all well, she says pointedly,

perhaps suggesting girls not seen in this video. She then delivers what sounds like a scripted plea urging the Nigerian government to fulfill

unspecified promises.

For the mothers of these girls rapidly becoming women far from home the video is overwhelming. They say they just want someone to bring their

daughters home.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: It's just gut wrenching to see their reaction there. Our senior international correspondent Nima Elbagir joins me now live from that

Nigerian capital of Abuja.

And Nima, it is just heartbreaking to see the mothers view that proof of life video. But there is hope that their daughters ares till alive.

So, what is being done to save them?

ELBAGIR: Well, you saw the Nigerian information minister there talk about the ongoing

negotiations, even as he tried very much to caution that they have been down this road before, that there have been other aborted negotiations.

But as we understand it, this video was passed on at the beginning of this year. We are now

three months in and there does seem to be a process where ransom demands, figures have been bandied back and forth, and also names of Boko Haram

operatives that the group would like released. So, it does feel like there is momentum.

The issue is, of course, that for the Nigerian government, the precedent that this sets is having to be balanced against the realities of

the domestic and international pressure. Because no amount of success on the battlefield, and there have been successes. They have significantly

eroded Boko Haram's territory in the northeast, but no amount of successes will overshadow the reality of these 219 missing girls, even as the

Nigerian government seeks a military solution.

As time ticks by, it just gives Boko Haram a stronger hand in so any ways. And you saw the anguish of the parents there. Imagine that now that

they know that there is hope, that their daughters are still out there, and many of those we spoke to say that their hope is that this video will

increase that pressure on the Nigerian government to seek a negotiated solution. That's what the parents say they now want, Kristie.

LU STOUT: And Nima, this video, it was made months ago and yet it was not until now

and CNN when you and your team there on the ground screened the video to the parents. So, where is the government? I mean, what kind of

communication, what kind of support are they giving to the parents of the missing?

ELBAGIR: That, again, goes back to the crux of the heartbreak here that the parents feel abandoned. Even just to get them to come and speak

to us, their first reaction was we're so tired, we're so tired of being spoken to and asked to speak and appearing on

camera, and they felt that none of this really had taken them any closer to their ultimate goal.

The other issue here that's causing a lot of consternation is that President Muhammadu Buhari and a lot of his cabinet are not in country for

these commemorative services. They are not here for the second-year anniversary, even though back in January, he tasked his military, his

entire infrastructure to finding these girls their utmost priority.

It's just such a difficult situation that's unfolding here. And it's very important to keep just pulling people back to the main issue, as we

hear the conversation about the rights and wrongs of ransoms and negotiated solutions versus the military solution, it comes back to what you saw

there, Kristie, parents who have not seen their daughters for two long years.

And now, finally believe that perhaps there could be hope out there.

[08:10:36] LU STOUT: All right, CNN's Nima Elbagir reporting on the agony caused by Boko Haram. We thank you for your reporting.

And CNN will stay with this story asking tough questions about what is being done to rescue these girls. And do join us for full coverage on the

already second anniversary of their abduction here and on CNN.com.

And can you ask Nima about the story in a live chat. You go to Facebook.com/CNN Friday 7:00 p.m. in the UK and Nigeria. And that would be

2:00 a.m. in the morning Hong Kong time.

Now turning now to a growing diplomatic storm that stretches from Asia to Africa, Kenya says it followed international law when it deported dozens

of Taiwan citizens to China.

Now, Taiwan says some 45 of its citizens have been flown from Kenya to Mainland China in recent days, and as you can see here, hoods were placed

over their heads as they arrived Cn china and were led away from the plane.

Now, the group was acquitted of fraud charges in Kenya, but a Chinese official suggests they may face prosecution in China.

Taiwan has slammed the move, calling it an abduction by the mainland. It is demanding a, quote, rational explanation from the Kenyan government.

Now, what makes this row even murkier is China's growing influence inside Africa. Now, Beijing has invested billions of dollars in Kenya,

which is a supporter of the One China policy and does not officially recognize Taiwan.

Now, I discussed the China/Africa link earlier Keith Richberg, the former bureau chief for The Washington Post in Nairobi, Hong Kong and

elsewhere.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEITH RICHBURG, FRM. NAIROBI BUREAU CHIEF THE WASHINGTON POST: This happened for a variety of reasons, and there are so many layers of

complexity to this story, it could fill a novel or a spy novel.

You know, China is huge in Africa. And China has been going on this huge building binge, and Kenya has been one of its biggest partners in

Africa.

When the current president Uhuru Kenyatta first came into office, one of his first trips his first year in office was to Beijing where he got the

red carpet treatment. That was also Xi Jinping's first full year in office.

You know, the prime minister of China then Li Keqiang then went to Kenya the following year in 2014, and they signed something like 17

agreements, including building a new railroad that is going to connect Nairobi to the port city of Mumbasa, setting up an African -- a new African

development bank. China is going to be contributing a lot to African peacekeeping forces.

There's an enormous amount going on there in terms of trade and total trade with the entire

continent was up to like $200 billion a year.

And the other reason that African countires like Chinese investment and involvement is because unlike with the U.S., unlike with the UK and the

European Union, Africans get Chinese aid and investment and trade with no political strings attached, no one is hectoring them about human rights.

That's why Xi was treated like, you know, a conquering hero when he came to African for a summit a year ago.

So, you know, you've got to put all of this in context. So, when Africa gets a message from the Kenyan authorities that they want the

Taiwanese shipped back, they are no doubt going to send them back in a real hurry, no questions asked.

LU STOUT: And as a result, a number of people inside Taiwan are afraid of traveling to Kenya, because of these deportations. Should they

be afraid of traveling elsewhere in Africa?

RICHBURG: I think they have to be. And in fact, I would expand that to say, you know, a lot of Chinese traveling around, Taiwanese -- Chinese

carrying other passports need to be afraid.

The other piece of this puzzle, the other context to put this in, is China under Xi Jinping lately has been acting incredibly aggressively about

going after people they consider dissidents or wanted inside of China regardless of where they are in the world and regardless of what passports

they hold.

The case of the Hong Kong booksellers that you did a lot about on News Stream, don't forget one of them was picked up right here where I am in

Thailand and taken back to Mainland China. And he was a holder of a Swedish passport.

Another one of those Hong Kong booksellers had a UK passport.

But, you know, once the Chinese authorities decided that they violated laws inside of China, you know, they have been going -- they have been

using this territorial judicial -- I guess you would have to call them renditions to go after people and bring them back for trial in the

mainland.

So, yes, Taiwanese traveling abroad need to be worried everywhere, and not just in Africa, I would think, but particularly there in Africa where

China has this huge economic leverage.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[08:15:08] LU STOUT: And that was Keith Richburg, former Washington Post bureau chief in Kenya, Hong Kong and elsewhere discussing China's

growing influence in Africa.

Now, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the Zika virus does in fact

cause microcephaly, a rare birth defect that leads to babies being born with abnormally small heads.

Now, the CDC says its conclusion marks a turning point in the Zika outbreak, but their study's lead author says key details about the link are

still unknown including whether a woman's stage of pregnancy at the time of infection affects whether her child will be born with microcephaly.

Now, the World Health Organization reached the same conclusion about this connection last week. Unlike, the WHO, however, the U.S. experts say

they can't yet confirm a link between Zika and Guillain-Barre syndrome.

You're watching News Stream, and still ahead on the program, basketball great Kobe Bryant says good-bye with a stunning performance.

And we will show you how he ended his 20-year NBA career.

Also ahead, Ted Cruz sharpens his attacks on Donald Trump. We will tell you what the Texas senator is accusing his Republican rival of now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

Now it can be tough to see a sporting legend at the end of their playing days, older, slower, struggling to match the heights achieved

during their career.

Now, all that makes Kobe Bryan's final game all the more remarkable. He poured in 60 points while leading his L.A. Lakers to victory against the

Utah Jazz, thrilling a crowd that included stars like Jay-Z, Jack Nicholson. And it was the finale of a glittering career that spans some 20

seasons. And it ends with Bryant scoring more points than any NBA player managed in a single game this season.

Now, sitting alongside the actors, the musicians and sports stars at Bryant's final game are fans from China. Now, one group alone brought 150

Chinese tourists to the game. It's a sign of how big of a following Kobe Bryant has in China. And Matt Rivers explains why.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As basketball becomes more and more popular in

China, NBA stars have become towering figures, few more so than that guy right there, Kobe Bryant.

He lords over the courts in Beijing, front and center in a Nike ad presiding over pickup games.

"He has many fans here in China," says a Ni Hau Te (ph), 24-year-old teacher. He helped spread this basketball craze.

Ni (ph) is like so many other young Chinese who grew up watching Kobe dunk on their TV screens. The Chinese love a champion, and Kobe fit the

bill.

But he's loved here for more than just what he did on the court, Kobe has come to China every

year since 2006, hosting camps like this one in Shanghai.

He played on the gold medal U.S. team in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and he's even learned some mandarin along the way.

And all that time spent here in China has paid off for Kobe literally. His number 24 jersey is everywhere here. In fact, it's been the top

selling NBA jersey than any other players since 2008.

Zho Del Lee (ph) says Kobe is the best player since Michael Jordan, an inspiration, an ode to hard work and perseverance. That's the focus of

this Kobe ad Nike just released here in China.

KOBE BRYANT, L.A. LAKER: I demanded greatness.

RIVERS: An intense work ethic, a champion and a player who realized the game had gone

global, that's why China loves Kobe and why he will be watching pickup games here for a long time to come.

Matt Rivers, CNN, Beijing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And while Kobe Bryant was playing his final game, the NBA's best team was making history. The Golden State Warriors won their 73rd

game of the season, breaking the 20-year old record set by Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls.

And we will have all the highlights from that game and much more on World Sport in about 20 minutes.

Now, Moscow is denying its done anything wrong after the U.S. accused the Russian military of staging several aggressive flybys near an American

warship.

And there you see it. The Russian jets making passes near, very near the destroyer, The Donald Cook, in the Baltic Sea earlier this week.

Now one plane, in fact, it came within 23 meters.

Now, encounters between U.S. ships and Russian aircraft, they are not unusual, but the U.S. says these flights were dangerously close.

The Russian president, though, says that they were within the rules.

Now, Vladimir Putin has been hosting his annual phone-in show in the last couple of hours. The TV Marathon, it features him answering questions

from citizens.

Now, let's bring in our CNN international correspondent Matthew Chance from Moscow with more on this.

And Matthew, Putin has been fielding a lot of questions, questions about his policies, about his private life, even. What have been some of

the highlights?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. Well, it was a couple of themes that have been touched on, particularly foreign policy.

Vladimir Putin talking about Syria saying that he hasn't just abandoned the country, that Russia hasn't just abandoned it. But they've left the Syrian

army in a position to carry out operations with the support of Russian forces that remain there.

He was pretty upbeat about the economy, although he acknowledged that there were problems, of course, with the economy, which has been in a deep

economic recession for a couple of years now.

Real incomes are down 4 percent he said, unemployment is up 5 to 6 percent.

You're right, he was also asked about various other things, one of them was his private life. It was a slightly awkward moment. Vladimir

Putin doesn't talk very often about his private life, but one of the questioners calling in asked him about when he would announce a new first

lady for Russia, in other words, when he was going to get married.

He said that his private life does not affect the exchange rate of rubles to dollars or the oil price, but he said maybe one day I'll satisfy

your interests. And so I think, you know, there's been a number of highlights throughout this media event so far. It's called The Direct

Line, people can call in from around Russia and ask the president of the country a question directly.

There are also people in the studio audience. It's meant to give the impression of a sort of ad hoc, you know, kind of spontaneous event. But

in fact behind the scenes, the suspicious is it's very carefully orchestrated indeed, Kristie.

[08:25:19] LU STOUT: All right, Matthew Chance reporting live from Moscow with that. Thank you, Matthew.

Now, if you text regularly, you know it's common to use all caps when you really want to emphasize something, but one government agency

apparently missed that memo. Now, the U.S. National Weather service has always used all caps in its reports, but now it plans to stop shouting

updates at you. Starting next month, in fact, it will begin using a calmer, mixed case voice.

Now, this change, it took quite awhile to happen. And our meteorologist Chad Myers joins us from the CNN weather center with more on

this. And Chad, why did it take so long for them to phase out the upper case alerts?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It always takes longer when there's money involved and when it's taxpayer money to get these older machines to

print on the upper and lower case and to read the upper and lower case. That's not -- really, everything could type in the upper case, but it's the

one machine talking to the next, the second machine, the second reading machine couldn't read

the lower case until just now.

Now understand, in 1985 I was still using punch cards, not even a keyboard. We were dialing in

using AOL to try to communicate. So this is a slow process when it comes to spending money.

From the 1990s, they thought about it and they said, you know what it's okay, we'll just keep using it.

Finally now after texting, when people are really texting all these letters and not just typing them on a computer is when it really kind of

hit home and they said, okay, we thought about this in 1990, now it's 2016, let's finally get to this. Let's say -- and they finally are.

I am not sure that it's that that much easier to read. It's still courier font, not really an easy to read font, but least now they won't be

shouting.

They still will, Kristie, shout at you when it says a tornado on the ground. They will still shout a few things like tsunami on the way, that

kind of thing will be still be shouted, but some things do go out of style -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: Got you. And they do need to work on a typeface next.

But you know this has been tradition, Chad. You know, issuing forecasts in all caps. The tradition for the U.S. National Weather

Service. Are you going to miss it?

MYERS; I'm not. Even though I started this, this is called AWHIPS 90 (ph), I worked for the National Weather Service back in the 80s building

this process, now AWHIPS 2 (ph), the new process, the new getting into the 21st Century finally. I think, though,

that it's a matter of the acronyms that the U.S. government uses.

NOAA, N-O-A-A, Department of Commerce -- DOC -- those are always in caps. So I think this is going to be kind of hard to put away, but I will

get used to it.

LU STOUT: All right, Chad Myers there reporting. Thank you so much. Take care, Chad.

Now, you're watching News Stream. Still to come, we are going to talk about Ted Cruz. He's getting personal in a CNN town hall with his family.

And while the war intensifies between Donald Trump and GOP party leaders, we've got the latest from the U.S. campaign trial straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(HEADLINES)

[08:32:12] LU STOUT: Now, we are just days away from the next contest in the U.S. race for president at Tuesday's high stakes New York primary.

Republican Ted Cruz took the stage at a CNN town hall accusing frontrunner Donald Trump's campaign of bullying.

Now, as for Trump, his main target these days appears to be his party's nominating process. But amid the war of words, he may now have one

less thing to worry about. Sara Murray has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA MURRAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sources confirm to CNN Trump's campaign manager will not be prosecuted for battery, following this

altercation with former Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields back in March. Fields, who could seek defamation charges against Corey Lewandowski,

tweeting, "Office of prosecutor asked two weeks ago if I'd be OK with an apology from Corey. I said yes, but haven't heard back about it."

On the campaign trail, tense moments outside a Trump rally in Pittsburgh, as hundreds of angry protestors clashed with Trump supporters.

Police in riot gear tried to keep the peace.

Inside, the frontrunner intensifying his war with the GOP.

TRUMP: The Republican system is a rigged system, folks.

MURRAY: And doubling down on claims his party is conspiring to block him from the nomination.

TRUMP: The bosses and the establishment and the people that shouldn't have this power took all of the power away from the voters.

MURRAY: Republican Party Chairman Reince Priebus firing back.

REINCE PRIEBUS, REPUBLICAN PARTY CHAIRMAN: The rules are not being changed in order to injure or benefit anybody. They are what they are.

MURRAY: At CNN's town hall, Trump's main rival, Ted Cruz, railing against Trump tactics and accusing his supporters of threatening delegates.

CRUZ: They're acting like union boss thugs.

Well, I spoke yesterday to the chairman of the Republican Party in Colorado. Trump supporters put out his home address, put out his phone

numbers. He got thousands of phone calls. He got death threats. Trump supporters were telling his supporters to go to their house and bring their

guns.

Look, violence doesn't belong in democracy, and the Trump campaign encourages it over and over again.

MURRAY: And on a lighter note, Cruz's wife shared how the couple met.

HEIDI CRUZ, WIFE OF TED CRUZ: It really was love at first sight.

MURRAY: But it was their 5 and 8-year-old daughters that stole the show.

T. CRUZ: Caroline's Daddy-daughter picnic at school, which featured all the dads running and playing games, and...

CAROLINE CRUZ, TED CRUZ'S DAUGHTER: My favorite.

T. CRUZ: ... your favorite was that she got to dress up Daddy in, like, this pink boa and these, like, big goofy-looking underwear and...

C. CRUZ: And that's why I had on the videotape the whole time.

T. CRUZ: Uh-oh.

C. CRUZ: And now -- and now it's a class video that they're sending out to all the parents.

T. CRUZ: Oh really?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Breaking news for Ted Cruz there.

Now, on the Democratic side, the candidates have just hours to go before their final debate ahead of the New York primary, and our senior

Washington correspondent, Joe Johns, joins me live from Brooklyn where CNN is hosting the big event.

And Joe, the debate, it's happening there in a few hours later today. Set the stage for us.

[08:35:16] JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kristie, this is where it all begins this evening. And I think when you look at this, it's a

critical time for both of the candidates.

Hillary Clinton has been leading in the polls by double digits for weeks, though this morning her campaign is trying to tamp down expectations

that is going to translate into a double digit win for her in the New York primary. If you have any question about the level of support for Bernie

Sanders here, you have to look no further than a monstrous rally last night here in New York City.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLINTON: I am so glad to be back in the Bronx.

JOHNS (voice-over): Rivals Hillary Clinton and Senator Bernie Sanders both hosting dueling New York rallies ahead of tonight's CNN Democratic

presidential debate.

CROWD: Bernie! Bernie! Bernie!

JOHNS: Sanders revving up a massive crowd estimated by organizers to be above 27,000 in Washington Square Park. Sanders receiving a rock star

welcome with celebrities before he aggressively went after Secretary Clinton.

SANDERS: Our differences with Secretary Clinton go beyond how we raise money. It goes to an issue which the media doesn't cover. That is our

disastrous trade policies, which are costing us millions of jobs.

JOHNS: Clinton making the case to voters in the Bronx, urging them to back her over Sanders.

CLINTON: I was honored to be your senator for eight years, and if you will give me the honor of your vote on Tuesday, we will continue to make

life better.

JOHNS: And keeping her attacks on the Republican hopefuls.

CLINTON: One of them denigrates New York values. Mr. Trump wants to set Americans against each other. He wants to build walls. I want us to

build bridges.

JOHNS: Tonight's high-stakes debate comes as the heated war of words between Sanders and Clinton intensifies.

SANDERS: I have my doubts about what kind of president she would make.

JOHNS: And accusations from the Sanders campaign that the primary process is weighted in favor of Clinton.

JANE SANDERS, BERNIE SANDERS'S WIFE: It's not a democratic way to carry out an election.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: All right, Joe Johns reporting live ahead of the big debate there in Brooklyn. Thank you, Joe.

Now, Thailand welcomes in its new year with the world's biggest water fight, but it's making less of a splash this time around. Now, when we

come back, we will tell you why there's an uneasy feeling as the Songkran festival gets under way.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:40:00] LU STOUT: Welcome back.

Now, a photo gallery on our website, it gives you a look at a revived practice in China. It introduces you to some of the country's child

brides. These are girls as young as 13 getting married and often mothers in some poor and rural communities. It also examines how China's gender

imbalance, how millions more men than women plays a role in this phenomenon. You can find it at CNN.com.

Now, put down the champagne and break out the water pistols, because Thailand's unique new

year's celebration it's all about making a splash. But a shadow is hanging over this year's Songkran water festival, a once in a generation drought.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LUS TOUT: Water, water, everywhere, and in Thailand, there's barely enough to drink. But to splash, plenty.

This is Songkran, Thai new year, also known as the world's biggest water fight -- buckets,

hoses, balloons used to drench thousands from top to toe. It's meant to purify you.

So, what is wrong with this picture? Well, Thailand is in midst of a crippling drought, the worse in decades. Temperatures in some parts are

hitting 40 degrees Celsius, but people and even animals need to cool down.

So, instead of canceling the festival the prime minister has shortened it by a day. It is simply too valuable.

Tourism officials expected to generate almost half a billion dollars. And with the drought costing Thailand about six times that amount, it's

money desperately needed as they wait for June's rainy season.

NEIL TOUSSEL, ENGLISH TOURIST: Yeah, you've have got to look after water for farmers, but people need to let off steam and have that once a

year enjoyment and finding that balance I hope they manage to do it.

LU STOUT: And it's finding that balance, which is forcing organizers to be a little creative.

These elephants, they are no water wasters. Their handlers have trained them to slurp up less and most importantly spray to hit.

So, every creature, no matter how great or small, helps cool the scorching drought.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Aren't they beautiful?

Now, the festival, it wraps up on Friday. And Thai officials believe it will draw in close to half a million tourists for just those three days.

And that is News Stream. I am Kristie Lu Stout. And Alex Thomas is next.

END