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NEWS STREAM
500 Feared Dead After Boat Capsizes in Mediterranean; Queen Elizabeth Celebrates Turning 90; Harriet Tubman To Grace Font of $20 Bill; ISIS Encouraging Saudis To Kill Police Relatives; Facebook Attempts To Be More Empathetic; Anders Breivik Wins Human Rights Case Against Norwegian Government. Aired 8:00a-9:00a ET
Aired April 21, 2016 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[08:00:07] KRISTIE LU STOUT, HOST: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong and this is News Stream.
U.S. President Barack Obama will pay his respect to the queen at Windsor Castle on Friday, and right now, though, he's in Saudi Arabia where
regional conflicts, Iran and the fight against ISIS are the focus of a leader's summit.
And Mr. Obama has been pushing for a more muscular approach from Gulf nations to stabilize the region.
Now, a string of sessions is taking place right now in Riyadh. And for more, let's go straight to Nic Robertson who joins us now from the
Saudi capital.
And Nic, we know that the focus for President Obama and Gulf leaders there at the summit is how to stabilize the region, but exactly how is that
being addressed?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDNET: Well, one of the things President Obama has talk about is Lebanon where Saudi Arabia
recently withdrew $3 billion worth of funding because they're concerned that that money has been going to Hezbollah. Hezbollah is fighting against
their interests in Syria, backed by Iran, of course.
United States is concerned about the political stability there for Lebanon. You can write that more broadly across the region here as well.
In Yemen, there's a temporary cease fire. Of course Saudi Arabia fighting Houthi Iranian-backed
Houthi militia there.
The concern is that al Qaeda has been growing stronger in Yemen. President Obama saying this is an opportunity now to refocus efforts
towards al Qaeda.
ISIS in the region, a big threat to these Gulf countries to the United States, to Europe, so that's on President Obama's agenda. He wants the
cooperation of the GCC, these Gulf Cooperation Countries here to focus on ISIS.
For the Saudi leadership here, very well aware of the threat of ISIS. The ISIS wants to overthrow the monarchy here. And indeed have started a
campaign recently of targeting police officers, telling family members to kill them.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTSON: In the Saudi desert, something sinister. In this video, posted by ISIS, a man is pulled from a vehicle by the people he trusts the
most: his family.
They tell him, be quiet, stand still as they pledge allegiance to ISIS, then they shoot him.
His name, Badr Hamidi al-Rashidi (ph), a Saudi SWAT squad officer. His family tells us he was killed by his cousins.
We've talked to his brothers. They're distraught, struggling to understand how in Saudi Arabia where family ties trump all else ISIS is
managing to break the bonds that bind this kingdom together, divide and conquer, separate the police from the people.
BRIG. GEN. MANSOUR AL-TURKI, SAUDI INTERIOR MINISTRY SPOKESMAN: ISIS message actually is to take the police away if their way so they could
approach innocent people and start committing terrorist crimes targeting civilians.
ROBERTSON: ISIS is hyping attacks like this one on a police inspector this month, demanding the overthrow of the royal family. The attackers
chase and shoot the officer.
But recently the attacks have taken a frightening turn: ISIS calling for fratricide.
AL-TURKI: So they shift and started calling for their supporters to attack their relatives if they are working for the police.
ROBERTSON: This young Saudi did as ISIS demanded. According to the Saudi interior ministery, shot his policeman uncle seven times point blank
before driving to a maximum security jail and blowing himself up.
ISIS is intent on ripping apart the fabric of this close-knit trusting society. The police rely on the public to turn the terrorists in. 2,500
ISIS arrests in recent years.
AL-TURKI: Well, without the public's support I could say this is very hard and very difficult, but we rely a lot on the public support.
ROBERTSON: As the battle brews, heart wrenching moments like this are becoming more common. (inaudible), a recently graduated police cadet begs
his cousin to let him live.
The Saudis say he is the third to die at the hands of a relative in recent months.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTSON: Of course, Saudi Arabia, the United States, huge allies in combating, you know, counterterrorism moves within the region, within the
world. United States relies a lot on its support from Saudi Arabia. That's going to be part of President Obama's message.
Their message back is, however, you know, Iran is a threat to stability. We want your help on that.
So President Obama in his meetings here, it's going to be a two-way conversation for sure, Kristie.
LU STOUT: All right. Nic Robertson reporting live from Riyadh for us. Thank you, Nic.
Now, as many as 500 people are feared dead after a ship carrying migrants sank. It's believed the ship went down last week in the
Mediterranean between Libya and Italy.
Now, the UN refugee agency says only a few dozen people were rescued and taken to Greece. A UN team has interviewed those survivors.
And Ben Wedeman joins us now live from Rome with more on this. And Ben, the scale of this human disaster is just staggers. We know it took
place last week. So what more have you learned about it?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we understand, Kristie, is that this occurred somewhere off the west -- the
eastern coast of Libya.
Now, according to the eyewitnesses interviewed by the UN refugee agency (inaudible) for migration, one of several boats left Tobruk in
eastern Libya carrying between 100 and 200 people.
(inaudible) Libyan coast, but precisely where, nobody seems to know. With a larger ship, which was already crammed full of hundreds of refugees,
and migrants.
Now, they were told to leave their smaller vessel or vessels to board this larger ship. And in the process, the larger ship (inaudible) sunk
very rapidly.
One Somali who survived, one of the 41 people who survived this catastrophe, said he saw his wife, his two (inaudible) drown in front of
him as this ship apparently went very quickly beneath the waves.
Now, it drifted at sea for 3 days without any food or water, before being picked up by a ship, a merchant ship carrying the Filipino flag. And
they eventually housed in a football stadium. We understand they've now been moved to hotels in Athens, but this definitely is by far the worst
disaster on the sea route between Libya and Italy within the last year -- Kristie.
LU STOUT: All right. Ben Wedeman reporting live from Rome on the staggering migrant tragedy at sea. Thank you for your reporting, Ben.
Our apology for the patchy communication line just then with our correspondent. Now, we are hearing conflicting reports about the fate of a
group of North Korean restaurant workers. Now, South Korea says that they defected, but CNN's Will Ripley inside North Korea spoke exclusively with
their colleagues who claim the group was actually tricked.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's been a mostly sleepless night for these seven women. North Korean authorities brought
them from their homes overnight for an early morning last minute interview in our Pyongyang hotel.
Hello. Hi. I'm Will.
Behind their polite smiles, a heavy burden, trying to explain how 12 of their friends were supposedly tricked into fleeing their homeland.
North Korea calls it a mass abduction. South Korea calls it a mass defection.
13 North Koreans -- 12 women, one man, lured by a life they saw on TV, movies and the internet.
"We would never leave our parents', country and supreme leader Kim Jung-un," she says.
They work at a state-owned restaurant in southern China, now closed. The women, all in their 20s, waitresses, the man, their manager.
"All of this was planned by our bastard manager and the South Koreans," she says. They say their manager lied, telling the women they
were going to another North Korean restaurant in Southeast Asia.
China has said that your friends crossed the border legally into South Korea. At some point, they had to know where they were going. Why do you
think they still went?
"They had absolutely no choice," they insist. We didn't have our own passports on us.
South Korea's unification ministry tells CNN 13 defectors voluntarily decided to leave and pushed ahead with the escape without any help from the
outside, following their voluntary request to defect, our government accepted them from a
humanitarian point of view.
North Korea is believed make millions from its dozens of restaurants in other countries. I visited this one in northeast China in 2014.
Waitresses are allowed to speak with foreign customers, making them among the most trusted citizens.
A mass defection would be a humiliating blow to Pyongyang, especially one allowed by its strongest ally, China. North Korea is facing growing
isolation and sanctions over its nuclear and missile programs, and allegations of widespread human rights abuse.
"To my loving friends, our leader Kim Jong-un is waiting for you," she says. "Parents and siblings are waiting for you. Please come back."
These are the seven left behind, left to explain why their friends are gone, left to wonder how life suddenly became so complicated.
Will Ripley, CNN, Pyongyang, North Korea.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[08:10:10] LU STOUT: Now, the mass murderer behind Norway's worst attacks since World War II claims that his human rights are being violated
in prison, and a court in Oslo agrees.
Now, Andres Breivik spends his days in solitary confinement in a cell that is luxurious by international standards.
Fred Pleitgen has more on the court's controversial decision.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Anders Breivik, one of the most notorious mass murderers in recent European history now a
winner in court. The verdict saying his human rights were violated by the Norwegian government, that's because he's kept in solitary confinement and
frequently searched.
"We litigated and claimed that Breivik's isolation in prison is too heavy in relation to Norwegian government obligation under the commission
of human rights and the Norwegian constitution," his lawyer said after the verdict was handed down.
Breivik sued the Norwegian government claiming breaches of the European convention on human rights, which Norway is a party to. In its
verdict, the court said, quote, "the prohibition of inhuman and degrading treatment represents a fundamental value in democratic society. This
applies no matter what. Also, in the treatment of terrorists and killers."
And these are the conditions Breivik is incarcerated under in (inaudible) prison southwest of Oslo. He has three cells to himself,
including an exercise area with machines. This for a man who killed 77 people in a rampage in 2011.
Eight died Breivik set off a bomb outside the government headquarters in Oslo. He then moved to Utoya Island where he gunned down 69 more, most
of them international students.
"In general, we are surprised and we disagree on the parts of the verdict against us," the government's lawyer said.
The government argued that Breivik's conditions are appropriate, saying he's still a threat requiring restrictive solitary confinement.
State lawyers say they will appeal the verdict that also requires them to pay Breivik's legal fees of around $41,000.
While there is criticism and surprise about the verdict, one survivor of the island shooting says he understands the court's reasoning.
BJORN IHLER, SURVIVOR: I don't think we should give Breivik the power to change how our system works. I think that's kind of what he wanted. He
wanted to have the power to change the system, to change our values in the way in which we treat people. And by maintaining our values and by
treating him like we treat any other prisoner, we show Breivik (inaudible).
PLEITGEN: Anders Breivik, who critics say, used the human rights trial as a platform to promote his self-declared Neo-Nazi agenda, is facing
a maximum sentence of 21 years in prison, but could remain locked up for even longer if he's still deemed a threat when that term is up.
Fred Pleitgen, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: You're watching News Stream. And till to come, we'll introduce you to the technology that has transformed the way investigators
hunt down child predators. And we head to Facebook headquarters to find out how it's
looking to make its services more empathetic. We'll explain.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:17:25] LU STOUT: Welcome back.
And now to the breakthrough technology that is slashing the time it takes for law enforcement to track down child predators. It's called photo
DNA and it's already being described as a game changer.
Now, it allows forensic investigators to mine through millions of images online faster than ever before. Investigators across the U.S. and
in more than 35 countries have adopted it so far.
Now, Lynda Kindade has more in our CNN Freedom Project report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LYNDA KINKADE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A girl kneeling on a bathroom counter, to the unassisted eye there's no way of identifying the
person taking this photo, the perpetrator exploiting this young child.
JIM COLE, HOMELAND SECURITY INVESTIGATIONS: We've got the pill bottle here. As I bring it up you'll notice the more pixelated it gets.
KINKADE: Apart from the pharmacy and a first name, Stephen, it's unreadable.
This technology can change that.
COLE: So now we can see what the medication and the first two characters of the prescription number.
KINKADE: That led detectives to this man, Stephen Keating, and they found another clue.
COLE: We had closeup image of the suspect's hand.
KINKADE: By applying filters, they can bring out the detail.
COLE: It was actually the very first time that we were able to pull fingerprints from an image.
KINKADE: so this is really strong evidence to put this offender behind bars.
COLE: Absolutely.
KINKADE: And he's now serving time?
COLE: He is now serving 110 year prison sentence.
KINKADE: And through this one case, you found out that he had other victims?
COLE: Yeah, 14 in total.
This case ended up running about two to three weeks total time.
KINKADE: In the past, how long would this have taken you?
COLE: Every case is different, but this could have easily taken months, and the even bigger issue is we may not have discovered this
material at all.
KINKADE: That's because they're seeing an explosion of images just like this.
COLE: About 500,000 a week, more than 24 million a year.
KINKADE: Breakthrough technology now slashing the time it takes officers to process them.
So you can identify more victims faster than ever. How fast are we talking?
COLE: It used to take nine months, now takes under a month.
KINKADE: Jim Cole is a special agent and supervisor of victim identification at the Homeland Security's cyber crime center. He's also a
co-founder of Project VIC, their hope is that no victim is left behind.
Using technology known as photo DNA, the system automatically categorizes what they've already seen before to focus their resources on
new cases.
With the volume of images you used to have, you would have had many victims that would have gone undetected and many cases that would have
remained...
COLE: Absolutely.
Yes, and this has helped us find and rescue more victims than ever before.
[08:20:05] KINKADE: And that technology is crucial. In the last three years, the U.S. National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
has seen reporting to their cyber tip line increased by almost 800 percent.
In 2013, the Department received half a million tip offs via phone and email. It tripled the following year. And by 2015, the number of reports
had soared to 4.4 million.
How does your team cope with the influx of reports like physically, how do you go through 4.4 million reports?
LINDSAY OLSON, NATIONAL CENTER FOR MISSING AND EXPLOITED CHILDREN: That's a good question. We use technology as much as possible.
There are some automated tools in place that help us find those jurisdictions very quickly and help us get the reports out to law
enforcement quickly.
KINKADE: Lindsay Olson, director of the exploited child division, she says last year 94 percent of the cases resulted in an international
location.
Internationally Project VIC is being adopted by other law enforcement agencies and countries around the globe. How many are you working with?
COLE: We have full deployments in Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States and 35 other countries out there that are using Project VIC
in some way, shape or form.
KINKADE: So law enforcement officers, it makes the work all the more worthwhile when they can free a child.
COLE: I've been in law enforcement for going on 25 years and this last segment of my career has been the absolute most rewarding.
KINKADE: Lynda Kinkade, CNN, Fairfax, Virginia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: Incredible technology there.
Now Friday night marks the start of Passover. It's the Jewish holiday which
commemorates how their ancestors escaped slavery in Egypt, but this year a group of rabbis is hoping to modernize the biblical story by shifting the
focus to eradicating slavery in our time.
We've got that story this time tomorrow, and you can always find out more about the CNN Freedom Project on our website. Just go to
CNN.com/Freedom.
Now, Reporters Without Borders warns that concern about the media by world leaders is eroding press freedom. Now, the watchdog has released its
2016 world press index. North Korea, Turkmenistan and Eritrea are at the bottom. Europe is the best overall with Finland, Netherlands and Norway
topping the list. Poland though, fell a whopping 29 slots.
Now, according to the group the country's conservative government is gaining more control over public media. Now, this comes a day after a poll
here in Hong Kong shows increasing concern over government control in media. According to the University of Hong Kong survey, public
satisfaction with press freedom has dropped to its lowest level since 1997.
Now, on today's page of Hong Kong's top English language newspaper, the South China Morning Post, there is an interview with its new owner,
Jack Ma, of course the founder of the Chinese ecommerce giant Alibaba.
And Ma laid out his vision for the newspaper, saying that Alibaba's resources allow The Post to report on Asia and China more accurately.
Now, Alibaba's takeover has raised concern that the paper will start to align itself more with official Beijing views. And in this interview,
Jack Ma says Alibaba's management would not take part in newsroom operations.
Now, some say media critics say that social media is keeping us from developing in real life. And to counter that, Facebook is trying to be
more empathetic. Now, Laurie Segall visited the company's headquarters for an inside look on its plan to put humanity into technology.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAURIE SEGALL, CNN MONEY: Now, with more than 20 percent of the world's population on Facebook there's a new question the multibillion
dollar tech company is asking themselves: how do you make tech more human?
ALEX SCHULTZ, FACEBOOK: We're trying to build more compassionate products and build care into the experience you're having.
SEGALL: Alex Schultz is Facebook's vice president of growth. His team's goal is to help code compassion. They're behind a new Facebook
feature you've likely seen: reactions.
SCHULTZ: The reaction's product is -- it's our response to having a dislike button. So, it's not a dislike button that you can show someone a
heart if you really love something, there's a little sad face if it's a sad memory where
you can show your support.
SEGALL: Facebook is also trying to use algorithms to make your breakup a little less painful in the digital era.
Historically, everyone who has gone through a breakup goes on Facebook, and it's like, oh, I don't want to see this person, but I might
not be ready to let him go.
KELLY WINTER, FACEBOOK: So, you can still stay friends, but you won't see their posts in your news feed.
The second one is where you can say I don't want this person to see anything that I post or unless I post it to everyone setting where the
whole world can see it, or unless I tag them in it.
SEGALL: Another feature, called on this day uses algorithms to surface your favorite memories.
What's like the actual algorithm behind a good memory on Facebook?
TONY LIU, FACEBOOK: We definitely look at things like comments, how they've engage with the different types of content. We also look at, for
instance, who did you tag in the photo? Like is it your mom or your close friend and take those signals into consideration as well.
SEGALL: Despite all these initiatives, it's hard not to see technology like Facebook as standing in the way of real world
relationships, as transforming people into pixels on a screen.
Is technology making us a little bit less empathetic?
[08:25:13] SCHULTZ: I don't think so. I think it's quite the reverse. My experience when I came to Silicon Valley ten years ago, and
I'm gay, and when i came out some people were very homophobic and some people were really great, but there was an interesting group of people that
I expected to be homophobic were actually really supportive, and the reason they changed their mind was because I was someone they knew personally and
they were connected to. And they'd seen enough of my life that they could actually have empathy for me and see that their point of view on being
homophobic was not right.
I think that what we've done with technology is we've allowed people to connect more. And I really believe that that actually drives empathy.
It doesn't bring us further apart, it doesn't make us colder.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: Making connections is human after all.
Now, you're watching News Stream. And still ahead, the Olympic torch has begun its journey to Rio. Why this year's relay has a special meaning
to thousands of refugees.
Plus, Donald Trump is closer than ever to clinching the Republican presidential nomination, but there may be a major roadblock ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(HEADLINES)
LU STOUT: And you can begin your countdown to this year's Olympic games. The Olympic torch, it was lit during a traditional ceremony in
Greece. It is now on its way to Rio ahead of the games in August.
Now, thousands of torch bearers will carry the flame. Among them, a Syrian refugee. It's part of an effort to draw attention to Europe's
migrant crisis.
Atika Shubert has more from Greece.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[08:30:03] ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Welcome to Eleonas Refugee Camp in Athens, about 1,600 people live here.
And this is where the Olympic torch will stop on its way to Rio.
Eleonas was the first official refugee camp set up last summer when the number of arrivals to Greece reached a peak of as many as 10,000 a
day.
Since then, dozens of camps have mushroomed across the country. Quite often, the numbers have overwhelmed the facilities.
Two of the camps are actually in former Olympic sites. Take a look at what we saw a few weeks ago, when we were actually able to access the
former field hockey stadium.
This is a pretty extraordinary scene. The families sleeping out here in these abandoned buildings, children, mothers.
There are now more than 50,000 asylum seekers stranded in Greece, hoping to be given a place somewhere in Europe. Greece's prime minister has
said the country has become a warehouse of souls.
For the first time in history, the Olympics will have a team of refugee athletes. About five to 12 competing under the Olympic flag. And to
focus the world's attention on the refugee crisis here in Greece the International Olympic Committee has selected a Syrian refugee currently in
Greece as one of the Olympic torch runners.
So how do people in the camp feel about this?
What do you think?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just heard that from you. I don't know. It's really nice, you know. I would love to see and I would love to share that.
SHUBERT: Do you think that by having the Olympic flame come here it will give hope?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Maybe help.
SHUBERT: Maybe a little?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
SHUBERT (voice-over): A gesture of Olympic solidarity as thousands wait for an answer.
Atika Shubert at Eleonas Camp in Athens, Greece.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: Now, Donald Trump may be well ahead of his Republican rivals for U.S. president but his battle is far from over. Even after his
landslide victory in New York, Trump could have a tough road ahead in his quest to clinch the nomination. He is now renewing his attacks in the
process, calling it a crooked system.
Jason Carroll has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONALD TRUMP, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We got Lyin' Ted. We have Crooked Hillary.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Donald Trump back at it.
TRUMP: I'd love running against Crooked Hillary.
In the case of Lyin' Ted Cruz, Lyin' Ted, lies, oh, he lies,
CARROLL (voice-over): Reviving some of his favorite nicknames less than 24 hours after delivering a more measured victory speech in New York.
TRUMP: I thought it would be very undignified for me to get up at that particular moment.
CARROLL (voice-over): The Republican front-runner doing a victory lap in Indiana and Maryland Wednesday and continuing to rail against the
Republican primary process.
TRUMP: So it's a rigged system. It's rigged for the lobbyists. It's rigged for the donors and it's rigged for the special interests.
CARROLL (voice-over): Reince Priebus fighting back again.
REINCE PRIEBUS, CHAIRMAN, RNC: It's not a rigged system. In fact, the rules are clear. I'm not going to do anything to help anyone and I'm not
going to do anything to hurt anybody.
CARROLL (voice-over): Priebus insisting that he's enjoying preparing for a potential contested convention.
PRIEBUS: I think people assume, oh, you must be miserable. I'm not pouring Bailey's in my cereal, I'm not sitting here trying to find the
Johnnie Walker. I mean, this is fun.
CARROLL (voice-over): Republican Party leaders sitting down with both Ted Cruz and John Kasich Wednesday night, as Cruz's irritation with Kasich
boiled over on the campaign trail.
SEN. TED CRUZ (R), TEXAS: John Kasich has no path whatsoever to the nomination. Now it may be that John is auditioning to be Trump's vice
president. But a Trump-Kasich ticket loses to Hillary Clinton.
CARROLL (voice-over): Kasich defending his decision to stay in the race in an interview with CNN.
GOV. JOHN KASICH (R), OHIO, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, if he's so sure of that, why is he attacking me all the time?
All I know is if we pick these two guys, according to virtually all the polls, we are going to get creamed.
CARROLL: And Donald Trump weighing in on the race this morning, taking to Twitter, as he has done so many times in the past, this time lashing out
at both Ted Cruz and John Kasich, saying, quote, "Senator Ted Cruz has been mathematically eliminated from the race.
"He said Kasich should get out for the same reason. I think both should get out."
Jason Carroll, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: And that was CNN's Jason Carroll reporting.
Now, Hillary Clinton is hoping her big win in the New York Democratic primary will translate into votes throughout the northeast. Now, a new
Monmouth University poll shows her with a 52-39 lead over Bernie Sanders in delegate rich Pennsylvania. That state and four others hold primaries on
Tuesday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: We had a really, really good day in New York yesterday. And I -- I am so grateful that the people I have the honor of representing for
eight years in the Senate gave me the chance to once again campaign in New York, listen to what's on the minds of New Yorkers and gave me such a
wonderful result.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[08:35:09] LU STOUT: Now Bernie Sanders says he is staying in the race despite steep odds against winning the nomination.
Coming up right here on News Stream, tributes across Britain as Queen Elizabeth celebrates her
90th birthday. We'll have a live report from Windsor Castle next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LU STOUT: Welcome back.
Now, Britain's longest running monarch is celebrating her 90th birthday. And all across Britain, people are sending well wishes to Queen
Elizabeth. Now, people have been lining the streets to hand her flowers and cards and of course to take pictures as she does her royal walk about.
Now, it has been a busy and event filled day. Let's go straight to the Windsor Castle where the royal family has been celebrating. And CNN's
Max Foster is there. He joins us now.
And Max, how is the queen and her family celebrating her birthday today?
MAX FOSTER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, she's marking it today and she marking it again in June which is the official big pomp and
pageantry moment really, but today is about the day she actually turns 90.
So she's spending that with family and friends. There will be a private dinner here tonight for her, but also that walk about that that
we've just seen here in Windsor which in many ways speaks to her monarchy but she's always tried to get out there and speak to the public, which
seems very normal now, but when she became queen it wasn't really a done thing, but it's appropriate that she's marking today with a walk about.
The day started really with a gun salute earlier on, but also some words from prime minister who really led tributes to her today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID CAMERON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Mr. Speaker, in 90 years her majesty has
lived through some extraordinary times in our world, from the Second World War when her parents, the king and queen, were nearly killed as bombs
dropped on Buckingham Palace, to the rations with which she bought the material for her wedding dress, from presenting the World Cup to England at
Wembley in 1966, to a man landing on the moon three years later. From the end of the Cold War to peace in Northern Ireland. Throughout it all, as
the sands of culture shift, and the tides of politics ebb and flow, her majesty has been steadfast, a rock of strength for our nation, for our
commonwealth and on many occasions for the whole world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: He also pointed out that she's the only woman ever to have driven the Saudi king as
well.
So, there's been some fun moments today. And it will continue.
President Obama flying in tonight. So he's going to come for her birthday lunch tomorrow.
LU STOUT: You know, that was a wonderful tribute just now from the British prime minister
to the queen, a tribute to her and her life and what she's witnessed these last 90 years, and calling her a quote, rock of strength. And I'm curious,
what's the feeling there among Britains about the queen this day? About her life and what she means for Britain?
FOSTER: Well, what she's often -- what he was referring to there is what a lot of people refer to is how she represents continuity so you have
different governments come and go. You have different crises that come and go, but she's the first and that's always there as the stalwart and really
keeps Britain together. And whenever she comes out for those big national occasions, you associate her with
them. So she represents something that's always there.
And we never hear about her personal opinion, so we don't really know what she thinks about anything and one of the theories is that the reason
she doesn't give interviews, for example, is that you can project your own thoughts onto her and you suddenly feel as though she relates to you. It
becomes quite complex psychology.
But it's something that has played into her popularity and she's been a monarch now for more than 60 years and she's more popular than ever. So
whatever it is she does do, it does seems to be working.
[08:40:30] LU STOUT: Yeah, it is a remarkable royal birthday this day. Max Foster reporting for us live from Windsor Castle. Thank you,
Max.
Now, after months of debate and months of controversy, the U.S. Treasury has finally announced plans to change the look of the $20, $10 and
$5 bills. And CNN's Christine Romans has more on the history behind the redesigns.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Andrew Jackson is out, Harriet Tubman is in. The abolitionist who lead slaves to freedom
with the Underground Railroad will become the new face of the $20 bill.
The first woman since Martha Washington to grace the front of the U.S. paper currency and the
first African-American ever.
It's a plans for Treasury Secretary Jack Lew. Ten months ago he made this announcement.
JACK LEW, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: The new $10 bill will be the first bill in more than a century to feature the portrait of a woman.
ROMANS: An uproar from Alexander Hamilton fans erupted, opposition to booting the nation's first treasury secretary was fierce, driven in part by
the smash success of the Broadway musical based on his life.
Even Jack Lew was a fan of the show.
LEW: It took this very good but dense biography and brought it to life for people who may not
have known anything about Alexander Hamilton coming in.
ROMANS: So, Hamilton will stay on the $10. A mural of women's rights leaders will appear on the back
And Harriet Tubman is coming to the 20.
Just how quickly this will happen is unclear. Treasury plans to unveil final designs in 2020 and wants to accelerate the process. But
extensive anti-counterfeiting measures, especially for the heavily circulated $20 bill, could add years to production.
For some, that's too long. In a New York Times op-ed, journalist Cokie Roberts calls it, quote, yet another wait your turn moment for
American women. She signed an open letter, along with Arianna Huffington, Gloria Steinem, Ellen DeGeneres and others in a last ditch effort to get a
woman on the $10 bill instead.
On a call with reporters, Treasury Secretary Lew admitted he couldn't make everyone happy.
LEW: Of course more work remains to tell the rich and textured history of our country, but with this decision our currency will now know
more of our story and reflect the contributions of women as well as men to our great democracy.
ROMANS: A great democracy that more than 100 years later will once again place a female face on its currency.
Christine Romans, CNN, New York.
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LU STOUT: And that is News Stream.
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