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North Korea Fails Latest Missile Launch; Kenya Hides Extent of al Shabaab Attack in Somalia; According to New Report North Korea Worst Slavery Offender; Gender Gap in eSports. Aired 8:00a-9:00a ET

Aired May 31, 2016 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:16] KRISTIE LU STOUT, HOST: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong and welcome to News Stream.

Children among the dead as an air strike flattens an area near a Syrian hospital. At least 23 people were killed.

North Korea tries and fails once again to launch a missile, but South Korea and Japan remain on alert.

And he's likened to sporting idols Michael Jordan and Lionel Messi. We'll hear from esports own legend who goes by the name Faker.

And we begin in northern Syria. Russia is denying claims its warplanes bombed civilian areas in the city of Idlib. At least one of

those airstrikes reportedly occurred near a hospital. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says at least 23 people have been killed.

Now for more on the story, let's bring in our senior international correspondent Fred Pleitgen. He joins us now live from London. And Fred,

there has been this air strike near a hospital in Syria. What more have you learned about the attack and who may be behind it?

FRED PLEITGEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A lot of things unclear about the air strikes, what exactly they hit. It appears as though

all of this happened late afternoon yesterday and at least one of these air strikes hit near the hospital grounds there in Idlib. There were some

reports initially saying that the hospital itself was hit, now it appears as though it's becoming clear that it was an area very close that hospital

that was hit.

Again, as you said, 23 people were killed, some seven of them the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says, were women and children. So,

certain a very high toll, and you know this area, Idlib is one where you do have the presence of the al Qaeda wing in Syria Jabhat al-Nusra, but at the

same time, it is also an area that has actually been fairly quiet over the past couple of months where there's been very little fighting, also very

little air raids as well.

And so certainly the air strikes that you're seeing right now do appear to be a major escalation that is going on there. The people there

on the ground that we've been hearing from are saying that they were -- more air strikes than they've seen in a very, very long time. Some people

say it was seven, other people say it was ten. And as we've seen by this death toll, they are having a devastating affect on the people in in that

area.

Again, it's unclear who actually conducted those air strikes. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights saying they believe it could have been

Russian warplanes behind this. The Russians themselves came out with a statement vehemently denying that saying they had no planes in that area

conducting any operations whatsoever, Kristie.

LU STOUT: Fred, this deadly air strike is part of a major escalation coming after a key negotiator of Syria's main opposition resigned. What

does all this mean for talks and for peace in Syria?

PLEITGEN: It doesn't mean anything good for the talks, and it certainly doesn't mean anything good for any sort of process of peace or of

cease-fire in Syria. You have the cessation of hostility that's supposed to be in place that was negotiated by the U.S., Russia and other parties in

Geneva and Vienna. And it is one that has been in trouble a very long time.

You have battles that were going on and are still going on around Aleppo.

The Damascus area is actually holding a little bit better. And you know from having been in Damacus recently when that cessation of

hostilities does hold in the areas that it does hold, it really is a huge benefit to the population.

Now, in other places, as we can see by the example of Idlib, it's not holding at all. And the big problem with all of this is, is that while

it's supposed to be in place, there really isn't any sort of momentum on the diplomatic front. The parties are nowhere near agreeing to

any sort of political way forward in this, and then you had the main negotiator for the opposition

Muhammad Allush (ph) resigning saying that the Syrian government wasn't abiding by the ceasefire in many places, saying that political prisoners

haven't been released, that civilian areas are still being targeted, that aid isn't getting to a lot of the areas that are besieged.

And so you can see there are still a lot of underlying problems that simply make a political way

forward and any sort of reconciliation almost impossible at this point in time. That, of course, puts a strain on the ceasefire as there are more

and more breaches, Kristie.

LU STOUT: All right. CNN's Fred Pleitgen reporting live for us. Thank you, Fred.

Fighting is intensifying in the Iraqi city of Fallujah. And we're now hearing reports of civilian deaths there. The Iraqi army is trying break

through the ISIS defense to get to the city center, but that's where the UN says ISIS is holding hundreds of people as human

shields.

Others have been killed by heavy shelling. Let's get more now from our Ben Wedeman. He's who has covered Iraq extensively. He joins us now

live from Rome.

And Ben, the battle for Fallujah is certainly escalating as well as concern for the people, for the

families who are trapped inside and desperate to get out. What's the latest?

[08:05:21] BEN WEDEMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right,

Kristie. We understand that there was a four-hour battle between ISIS and the Iraqi armed forces to

the south of Fallujah, where apparently ISIS was trying to counterattack the Iraqi forces say that they inflicted heavy casualties on ISIS. They

did not, however, mention what sort of casualties they suffered from it.

But, yes, the UNHCR is reporting as far as the civilians go, that several hundred people are being held as human shields by ISIS in Fallujah

proper. They say that 3,700 civilians have been able to leave the city since the fighting began on the 22nd, or rather, since the offensive was

declared on the 22nd of May.

But also some troubling information, the UNHCR is putting out, they say that 500 men and boys above the age of 12 are currently being held by

the Iraqi security forces for what they call security screening, Because, of course, the Iraqi forces are very worried that among the civilians there

may be some ISIS members or sympathizers.

We understand that 27 out of those number of civilians have been released so far, but it is this separation of families, the women are

waiting in these camps for their men folk to rejoin them, that causes tension and a lot of anger and frustration among the civilians from

Fallujah who have sought refuge on the side of the Iraqi government with their saviors, so to speak.

LU STOUT: Yeah, growing concern and fear for the fate of civilians inside Fallujah. Ben Wedeman reporting. Thank you.

Now, the mission to take back Fallujah has forced thousands of people out, and CNN is sharing

some of their stories. You can read "Voices from Fallujah" by going to CNN.com. You'll find ind it there.

Now, a South Korean military official says the north attempted to launch a missile Tuesday, but it appeared to be unsuccessful, said to be

the fourth such launch failure. Now, the string of missile tests is believed to be part of the north's efforts to advance its weapons program.

Now, CNN's Paula Hancocks joins me now live from Seoul, South Korea. And Paula, I understand that you have new information, not just about the

failed test earlier today, but about a senior Chinese official -- or senior DPRK official who has been visiting China and the meetings under way. What

can you tell us?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Kristie. This has just been confirmed now on the China side that Ri Su-

yong, who is the former foreign minister of North Korea up until earlier this month was in Beijing today. We understand he arrived in Beijing with

a delegation this Tuesday. He has met with senior Chinese officials, according to

official statements from Beijing, and saying that the two sides, North Korea and China, will uphold the traditional friendship, and also crucially

saying that they will strengthen their exchanges. They will strengthen their cooperation and make more of an effort to solidify and develop their

bilateral ties.

Obviously, very interesting considering the relations between Beijing and Pyongyang have been pretty dreadful over recent months And certainly

since Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader took power, they have just progressively soured. Kim Jong-un and President Xi Jinping haven't even

met yet, even though the North Korean leaders have been in power four years. So, a very interesting development there that it appears as though

Beijing and Pyongyang are at least outwardly showing signs that they are pulling closer together once again -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: And Paula, tell us about the failed missile launch that took place earlier today and what it means for Kim Jong-un and his

determination to have an increasingly advanced missile program.

HANCOCKS: Well, this happened in the early hours of Tuesday morning, Kristie, and it shows that despite what Beijing says, what the

international community says, North Korea is intent on continuing to develop its nuclear and missile program.

Now, we believe according to local media reports that it may have been an intermediate missile, the Musudan (ph), bu that at this point is not

confirmed.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HANCOCKS: The Musudan, an intermediate range missile North Korea is believed to have unveiled at a military parade in 2010. It's lower range,

but Japan and South Korea in its sites, its upper range could make U.S. military bases in Guam a target. But so far it doesn't work, not through

lack of trying.

North Korea launched three Musudans in April. Tuesday's may have been its fourth.

At a G7 meeting last week, U.S. President Barack Obama pointed out even failures are dangerous.

[08:10:19] BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: North Korea is a big worry for all of us. They're not at the point right now where

they can effectively hit U.S. targets. But each time that they test, even if those tests fail, they learn something.

HANCOCKS: Another missile test in tandem with North Korea offering military talks with the south, an offer made more than once in recent

weeks, but rejected.

Seoul says without denuclearization on the table, there's no point in just talking.

JOHN DELURY, YONSEI UNIVERSITY: North Korea typically has sort of doves and hawks flying at the same time. So, even when they are doing

things like testing weapons, they are also testing the waters to see who will talk.

HANCOCKS: But Seoul in is in no mood to talk. Japan also increasingly concerned by

Pyongyang's testing, the military moving moving PATRIOT missiles to its defense ministry Monday night in anticipation of Tuesday's launch.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HANCOCKS: Kim Jong-un continuing as he means to, continuing to work on that missile development -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: All right. CNN's Paula Hancocks joining us live from Seoul. Thank you.

Now, North Korea is also in the news for another reason: it ranks the worst in the world on a new slavery index, which is published by the Walk

Free Foundation.

Now, more than 4 percent of people there are thought to be slaves. Worldwide the report estimates that nearly than 50 million people are

enslaved.

The report says most of in India, China, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Uzbekistan. Hong Kong is also criticized, it's ranked as one of the worst

when it comes to abolishing modern day slavery. And it shares that distinction with North Korea.

Now, I spoke with Matthew Friedman of the Mekong Club, a nonprofit organization that fights slavery.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW FRIEDMAN, CEO, THE MEKONG CLUB: What you have is a country that doesn't respect human rights and we see this both in country and out

of country.

So you see a certain number of North Korean workers that are being sent to Africa, and they're actually working in factories and in mines and

certain conditions, but they're not getting paid. The money is going to be North Korean government. So, that's the reason you're seeing so many

people from North Korea in this kind of a situation.

LU STOUT: And when we look at this map, we can see clearly it's not just North Korea. I mean the (inaudible) of modern day slavery it's is

huge, it's happening everywhere in virtually every country around the world?

FRIEDMAN: Yeah, I think there's probably maybe Antarctica is the only place in the world that you wouldn't have slavery. But just about every

other country has some form of slavery.

Now, when we're talking about slavery, what we're talking about is a situation where a person doesn't get paid and they can't leave the

situation because of debt or threat or something else, and that exists in almost every country in the world.

LU STOUT: Modern day slavery is particularly prevalent here in the Asia-Pacific region. What are the factors that explain or predict why this

would be happening here?

FRIEDMAN: Well, two things. One is there's a huge number of people here in Asia. You have China and you have India, you have populations that

are immense. At the same time you have feudal systems in a lot of these countries that haven't been completely dismantled. So you have systems of

exploitation that go back generation and generation.

LU STOUT: What about factors like corruption, governance, lack of transparency?

FRIEDMAN: Yeah, all of those things have always been there. And those facilitate the process of people being able to be enslaved because

basically they have people making a lot of money and they're paying for law enforcement or labor organizations not to come in and look at this, then

basically they're not going to look at this.

And so corruption is one of the fuels for allowing for human trafficking to take place.

LU STOUT: Now, in the index, China actually has a better ranking than Hong Kong. Why is that?

FRIEDMAN: China actually for the last 15 or 20 years has been working on coming up with laws. They've done a lot of raids and rescues. They are

looking at their shelter system. They're kind of stepping up realizing that this is an issue that they consider to be somewhat important.

Now, the difficulty with China is, translating some of that policy down to 1.3 billion people. So, it's a big challenge to be able to do

that.

LU STOUT: Tens of millions of people are living in slave-like conditions, are in forced labor today. I mean, the challenge is so huge,

so daunting. What is your message to modern day abolitionists, to organizations that are trying to fight this?

FRIEDMAN: Well, let's put this into perspective. The new number at 45.8 million, the number of people that are helped globally is about

50,000, which is about 0.1 percent.

LU STOUT: Yeah.

FRIEDMAN: So there's about, I don't know, 10,000, 20,000 people like me whoa re out there doing this type of work. What we need to do enlist

the private sector to be a part of the process and the general public.

Were need an abolitionist movement the way we did 150 years ago in the United States, or 200 years ago in the UK to get people to step up, to

understand we're talking about slavery here. We're talking about something that's so big and so important, so relevant that we have to have everyone

do something.

So even if you do one thing, if 10 million people do 10 million small gestures that adds up to

something quite big. And that's really the message now. We have to go and get everyone to accept a little responsibility for this.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And such an important message it is. That was Matt Friedman of the Mekong Club speaking to me earlier.

Now, hosting the Olympics, that is a very challenging task for any country, but crisis-ridden Brazil has been hit especially hard by its own

perfect storm of troubles. We've got the the latest details ahead.

Plus, the government of Kenya kept quiet about an attack on its troops in January, but

CNN spoke with families who are demanding answers about their loved ones. As we learn just how big a defeat it was.

That exclusive report straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

Now, after months of secrecy, we are now learning more about an al Shabaab attack on Kenya's

military, an attack that took place back in January.

Now, Kenya's government has said little about the assault which took place in Somalia. But the heavy toll it took, that is becoming much

clearer.

Robyn Kriel has this exclusive report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They was telling us this is now my home.

ROBYN KRIEL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: the photos he sent home told his family he was brave, but in his personal life, Corporal James

Sitoti Kuroni (ph) didn't like conflict.

JACKQUELINE NASEKU KURONI, SOLDIER'S SISTER: He was always joti (ph). He had a permanent smile.

KRIEL: His job was to drive tanks out of the al Adi Base in Southern Somalia. His pictures showed what he called his new home.

KURONI: I don't know (inaudible), however we'll fill that gap.

KRIEL: On January 15th, Kuroni's camp was attacked by al Shabaab militants. His family didn't hear from him again.

Kenya's defense force brought four caskets home with full military honors but Kuroni was not

among them. The Somali government says there were an estimated 200 Kenyan soldiers at the base the day of the attack, but the Kenyan government

released no details of what happened, no official death toll.

But four months after the attack, a picture is emerging of heavy losses as body after body is quietly released for burials across the

country. Kenyan media documented at least 30 funerals.

The terror group al Shabaab posted this propaganda video showing the attack, and the

brutal way wounded and surrendering Kenyan soldiers were simply shot dead.

al Shabaab claims more than 100 Kenyan soldiers were killed, at least 50 Kenyan casualties can be counted in the video, but the death toll may

be even higher than that claimed by al Shabaab.

Two officials familiar with the recovery operations have told CNN that the Kenyan death toll

from that day is at least 141, making this attack the bloodiest defeat for the Kenyan military since independence.

The Kenyan Defense Force would not respond to repeated CNN requests for comment. One blogger who posted photos and information about the

attack was arrested under a rarely enforced national security law, but it was later released by the Kenyan government without charge.

[08:20:44] PETER PHAM, DIRECTOR, ATLANTIC COUNCIL'S AFRICA CENTER: Although they cite national security reasons, in fact what they end up

doing is creating an opportunity for Shabaab in many cases to propagandize their victories, perhaps exaggerate them, but there's no way of countering

that narrative because there is not real narrative coming from the government.

KRIEL: After seven DNA tests James Sitoti Kuroni (ph) was finally identified. A tree like this one, will be planted near his grave site, but

James' sister still has many questions.

KURONI: We would like to know who are these people they are together, or how many were they? It is a question which will live in our minds

forever, because you even if you got your body, what about the rest? How many are there? How many were they rescued? How many are they in charge?

You know, you don't know.

KRIEL: For now the story of the Kenyan soldiers who fought and bled that day is being told not by the country they died serving, but only by

the families of the dead and theterrorist group they'd sworn to fight.

Robyn Kriel, CNN, Marok (ph) Kenya.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now, protesters in Brazil are demanding justice for a 16- year-old girl who says she was gang raped. Police say at least 30 men took part in this attack and the victim described the horror of what happened

after video of the assault was posted online.

Shasta Darlington has more from Rio de Janeiro.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A case that has caused shock in a country accustomed to a relatively high level of

violence, now the 16-year-old victim is speaking out in an interview with CNN affiliate TV Hecord (ph). She says she's afraid justice will never be

done.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): If I have to wait for the justice system, they've already shown me that nothing is going to happen.

I am waiting for the justice of god that might be delayed but never fails.

DARLINGTON: This all started last week when a 38-second video emerged on the internet

reportedly posted by one of the suspects. It shows the victim naked and unconscious. You can hear men's voices in the background bragging about

how more than 30 people have had sexual intercourse with her. In the interview she also spoke about that experience.

UNIDENTIIFED FEMALE (through translator): I fell asleep and woke up in a completely different place, with a man under me, one on top of me and

two holding me down on my hands, many people laughing at me, and I was drugged, out of it. Many people with guns, boys laughing and talking.

DARLINGTON: Over the weekend there were numerous protests across the country. Here in Rio de Janeiro, a city that's going to be receiving

hundreds of thousands of visitors for the Olympic games in just two months' time. Protesters took to the beach. They hung up laundry lines with

clothes painted red, undergarments painted red. In Brasilia, hundreds of protesters carrying flowers held back with pepper spray as they tried to

storm a part of the Supreme Court.

Police on Monday launched a new raid in the western -- the western Favela here in Rio de

Janeiro where the incident took place. They have six arrest warrants and orders from the interim president on down to try and capture the suspects

and quell the protests.

Shasta Darlington, CNN, Rio de Janeiro.

And violence is just one of the problems Brazil is grappling with ahead of the Olympic Games. The country is also facing political turmoil,

which appears to be going from bad to worse.

Brazil's transparency minister resigned on Monday after less than three weeks on the job. He was in charge of fighting corruption, but

recordings recently emerged suggesting that he tried to derail a corruption investigation months ago.

A spokesman says that conversations were taken out of context.

Now add that to Brazil's failing economy and the outbreak of the Zika virus and the country's long list of troubles has people wondering whether

the 2016 Rio games are cursed.

Now for more on the story here's Ivan Watson.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[08:25:03] IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's hard not to be seduced by Rio de Janeiro. This spectacular city soon

to be the host of the 2016 Summer Olympics. Two months before the start of the games, construction crews are putting in the final touches at the

Olympic venues.

GUSTAVO NASCIMENTO, HEAD OF THE OLYMPIC VENUE MANAGEMENT: Everything is going to be ready on time. We're going to deliver the parts fully

commissioned in the 24th of July.

WATSON (on camera): But despite Rio's beauty, the city and Brazil as a whole are facing some pretty daunting challenges. A whole series of

unexpected setbacks, leading some to wonder, are Rio's Olympics somehow cursed?

(voice-over): Just days ago, a warning from more than 100 international doctors, calling for the games to be postponed or moved,

because the mosquito borne Zika virus could threaten and expected half million foreign visitors.

That view rejected by the World Health Organization, which does advise pregnant women to avoid the Olympics entirely, because of the risk of

severe deformities to unborn children.

And then there's the political and economic crisis. Turmoil after Congress suspended Brazil's elected president in an impeachment process

last month. And high-level corruption scandals, during the worst economic recession in generations, which has left more than 10 million Brazilians

unemployed.

The economic hardship aggravated Rio's endemic problems with violent crime. Daily gun battles between police and drug gangs in the city's

impoverished favelas, as well as a surge in robberies. This month, members of the Spanish Olympic sailing team mugged at gun point.

FERNANDO ECHEVARRI, SPANISH OLYMPIC SAILOR: We just turn around to see what was happening. We saw the pistols.

WATSON: Olympic sailors also worried about Rio's notoriously polluted bay, a dumping ground for much of the city's raw sewage.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We don't want to swim in it.

WATSON: Rio's mayor warns this isn't a first world city.

MAYOR EDUARDO PAES, RIO DE JANEIRO: Don't come here expecting that everything will be, you know, perfect. We live in a country that has an

economic crisis, a country with lots of inequality. With all the problems we have seen concerning corruption, bribes. But the city will be much

better than it was when we got the games.

WATSON: But even one of the mayor's new infrastructure projects is now a deadly failure.

(on camera): This brand-new spectacular cliff side bike path was supposed to be a showcase project for the Olympics. Instead, it became a

tragic setback when the waves took out part of the trail, killing two people last month. In the turbulent run up to the Olympics, a virtual storm

of bad new that leads you wondering what could possibly happen next.

Ivan Watson, CNN, Rio de Janeiro.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Brazil is just up against so much.

You're watching News Stream. And still to come on the program, he is the best player in one of

the most popular games in the world and his skills have launched him to fame earning him celebrity status even outside of esports. We'll hear from

the legendary Faker, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(HEADLINES)

[08:31:44] LU STOUT: Now, all week we are looking into esports and the players that turn gaming into craft and become stars in the process.

Now, one of those stars is the League of Legends number one player. He's known at Faker.

Now, he's won several world titles as well as the hearts of millions of fans.

Now, Paula Hancocks catches up with the South Korean esports celebrity.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HANCOCKS: Mobbed at the airport, a sporting legend meets his fans.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Faker, I love you.

HANCOCKS: This is Faker, a 20-year-old world champion known as the god of League of

Legends, one of the most popular video games around the world.

"I never dreamed of becoming a pro gamer," he tells me. "So, I never imagined becoming world champion. But I do like the attention and respect

I get from so many people."

And he certain does get attention. In South Korea, he is a superstar. Tickets to watch him play live are coveted, fans excited just to get close

to the legend himself.

"I like faker, because he makes so many surprising moves," says this man.

This woman says, "I like his sometimes tough and reckless behavior during the game."

You know, one of the things that strikes me as soon as I walked in here, was there's an awful lot of women in the audience. Video gaming here

in South Korea is not just for the men, but these people here in the audience of the lucky ones. They are able to see this in person. I'm told

that as soon as his tickets go online, on sale, they sell out in a matter of minutes.

For those not lucky enough to are here in person, full coverage plus commentary, Korean or

English, is available at the touch of a button.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Really wants to kill bank. He's going for it!

HANCOCKS: Two cable channels are dedicated entirely to esports, one of them is available in 17 countries. And that's not even taking into

account the live stream channels online.

One place you would not expect a video game a champion to be, throwing the first pitch at a

baseball game. Not his natural habitat, but it does show how big a celebrity Faker is here.

But what about questions as to whether esports is a real sport?

"I think online games are very similar to sports," says Faker. "In the way that people enjoy it together, and there are competitions.

Winning is similar to winning a sports game," he adds, "except it's a feeling in the brain instead of something physical, like soccer."

Since his debut just three years ago, Faker has played with SK Telecom, rejecting lucrative

offers from Chinese teams and enjoying many nicknames -- not only God, but the Lionel Messi or

Michael Jordan of his game.

Paula Hancocks, CNN, Seoul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: OK, there in Palula's reports report you just saw some of the best esports players in the world, and you may notice all of them are

male, and that's not unusual at all. Among the top 100 players in last year's League of Legends championships, exactly zero are women.

There's even a gender gap among the characters that appear in games.

Now, one academic study finds that in a sample of 150 top games, only 15 percent of characters are female, and it's not because men like playing

video games more than women. Now, according to a study by the Pew Research Center, 48 percent of U.S. gamers are actually women.

So, what's stopping female gamers from going pro? Well, I took that question to Lydia Pickknell and asked about her experience as a top esports

coach.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LYDIA PICKNELL, OWNER/MANAGER, PARADIGM: I think there's just a lack of female role models at a high level. We don't have a lot of females that

are players, coaches or managers that are there for people to look up to. Nobody wants to be the first person to break that barrier, face abuse, face

the kind of hostility that something different will get for being the first at something.

[08:35:43] LU STOUT: Do female competitive players encounter any hostility in the

esports world?

PICKNELL: Yes and no. It depends on how you kind of portray yourself. Like, anything that's different at first will always be kind of

treated badly.

Last year I received death threats just for being in esports. I've had rape threats. I've had just these crazy things that have been

happening, just because people aren't really used to, you know, a female being out out there and like it's -- I think part of it is because a

lot of gamers don't have the social skills developed yet, a lot of them are younger or they're just a different generation that when something is

different their first reaction is to be hostile towards that person.

Somebody that I look up to is Lady Gaga. And for the reason is like there's just one saying that every time I hear all this that I always I

think in my head is, if you don't have any shadows you're not standing in the light. And I remind myself of that every time somebody says something

to me.

But I've had amazing support, too. At the Smite world championships in January myself and Paradigm, we were signing autographs four hours in

the lobby of event center to fans over playing a video game which was amazing. I've had people come up to me crying saying they've never met a

woman that's that far into esports, and they're freaking out about it. And I was like, honey, I play a video game.

LU STOUT: Now esports competitive players are right now predominantly male, and esports

audiences are definitely very male right now. Do you feel that that is changing, though? Are more women showing up as spectators?

PICKNELL: I think it is changing. I think because it is such a new industry, and it is going to be huge. It's growing rapidly. The thing

about esports is there's no physical barrier to stop men and girls from competing. There's no reason why a woman can't be as good as a man at a

game.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And that was Lydia Picknell over and manager of Paradigm speaking about the gender gap in esports. And we're going to have more on

the players all this week. Tomorrow we show you the intense training these gamers go through to stay at the top.

Now, after the break, the following story -- armed with tranquilizer guns and they're roaming the grounds of a Buddhist temple, it's definitely

not the typical scene for a place of worship in Thailand. We'll explain.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:40:01] LU STOUT: Now, welcome back.

A U.S. zoo is standing by its decision to kill an endangered gorilla after a little boy entered its habitat. The zoo's director says 17-year-

old Harambe was dangerous and disoriented and that the boy's life was at risk.

But critics say shooting the Silverback was an unnecessary use of force. Many people are blaming the boy's mother accusing her of

negligence, but police say that there are no plans to charge her at this time.

Now, it is mayhem inside a popular Thai temple where tigers are on the loose. The government is trying to capture and move 137 of them, because

of concerns they're being mistreated. But monks inside the Bangkok shrine have apparently set some free to slow the process

down.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Calm turns to chaos at a Buddhist temple in Thailand as wildlife officers armed with tranquilizer guns tried to capture dozens of

tigers held there in captivity.

Wappaluong Tabua Temple (ph), known as tiger temple, is a popular tourist spot a few hours

from the capital Bangkok, where visitors pay to stroke and feed the chained up tigers.

More than 2,000 wildlife officials and police descended on the temple on monday to seize some of the 137 tigers and take them to a refuge. But

they say when they arrived at the temple, many of the animals had been set free from their chains.

ADISOM NUCHDAMRONG, THAILAND DEPT. OF NATIONAL PARKS (through translator): We had to resort to legal measures by obtaining a court

order, which the temple can not obstruct, but they still managed to obstruct through other means, such as letting the tigers roam

free in the cage to make it harder for us to work.

LU STOUT: Authorities have already have taken away eight tigers and say they will continue to remove the rest.

Thailand's wildlife conservation office says the tigers pose a danger to visitors and they were

being mistreated. The temple's vice president denies that they're doing anything illegal or dangerous. The temple says it is a sanctuary for wild

animals and warns losing the tigers will impact the local economy.

But Thailand says it is starting to take a tougher stance on animal welfare after increasing

international pressure to take action against wildlife trafficking and the mistreatment of animals.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now, from calm to chaos in that Thai temple.

Now, in the U.S., a former attorney general says Edward Snowden did the country a public service when he leaked classified documents on the

National Security Agency. Eric Holder says Snowden's actions raised a national debate and prompted changes, but he added, his methods were

illegal.

Holder says Snowden should return to the U.S. to face trial.

Now in response, Snowden posted this tweet, a timeline on a change of attitudes towards his actions. Now, Snowden notes back in 2013, some

called what he did treason. But now three years on, attitudes seem to be softening.

And that is News Stream. I'm Kristie Lu Stout, but don't go anywhere. World Sport with Riannan Jones (ph) is up next.

END