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French Ship Picks Up Underwater Signal in Mediterranean; Turkish Military Attacks ISIS Near Aleppo, Iraq Preparing for Attack on Fallujah; North Korean Government Backs Donald Trump; Leave Campaign Proposes Britain Adopt Australia-like Immigration Policy. Aired :8a-9a ET

Aired June 01, 2016 - 08:00   ET

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


[08:00:15] KRISTIE LU STOUT, HOST: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong and welcome to News Stream.

Now, an update on a story just in to CNN a short time ago, a French navy ship has picked up an underwater signal that could be from one of the

flight data recorders of crashed EgyptAir flight 804. Now, that is according to a statement from the Egyptian committee investigating the

crash.

Now, the plane was lost over the Mediterranean on its way from Paris to Cairo late last month. 66 people were onboard.

CNN's Ian Lee joins me now live from Cairo. And Ian, we know that the clock is ticking to find these critical black boxes. Is this it?

IAN LEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORREPSONDENT: Well, Kristie, that's what investigators hope, that it is the signal to the black box.

That plane crashed, EgyptAir flight 804, two weeks ago. And they have about 30 days of battery life on those black boxes. So, they are hoping

that this is the signal from one of them.

The signal was detected by the French naval vessel La Place (ph), has special senate was detected by a French naval vessel with special

underwater listening equipment that can detect items on the seafloor. And so investigators are now hoping that they can verify the signal as being a

part of the wreckage.

They do have a submersible there that belongs to the Egyptian ministry of petroleum that could potentially go down to the depth, that 3,000 meter,

10,000 feet, to investigate this.

So right now they're hoping that this is the big lead that we've been waiting for in this investigation.

LU STOUT: And, Ian, if this is, indeed, verified, and the black box, or one of them is found, what happens next? I mean, where will it go for

analysis?

LEE: Well, Egypt is taking the lead on this. And they hope to have, that this black box will give them the clues into what happened to that

plane.

As of now, the only information we really have about the final moments of the plane comes from the ACAR system, which is a system that sends

signals from the plane to the ground during the flight, and that system has told us that there was smoke detected in the lavatory as well as in the

avionics as well as detecting some sort of problem with the heating element on the co-pilot's window. That's it.

So, we're hoping that once they're able to analyze these black boxes, first of all, they need to determine if they're able to get information

from them and that they are not damaged beyond repair.

But if they are able to get the information, then it will give us real answers into what took down that plane, what was the cause of the crash.

LU STOUT: And we are waiting for a verification on this new signal picked up. It could be from one of the plane's black boxes. And as we

wait for that, we know the search is under way, it has been underway for a long time now, and a lot

of debris has been recovered already. Remind us what has been found so far?

LEE: Yeah. A lot of the debris has been relatively small, and personal effects -- whether it's a handbag, we've also seen a pillow, a

blanket, but nothing really large.

It's believed that the fuselage of the plane is resting at the bottom of the sea, and that's another crucial piece of the evidence that they're

going to be looking for.

Also, they're going to be looking for the loved ones of those passengers who died aboard that flight. 66 people, and only small pieces

of the passengers have been found, according to the morgue here in Cairo, saying that none of the pieces weigh more than a kilogram.

So, hopefully they'll also be able to recover the bodies and get those to the families as well.

LU STOUT: All right, Ian Lee reporting for us. Breaking news from Egypt. Many thanks indeed for that.

Now, turning to Syria. A hospital director says over the last two days at least 58 people have been killed in air strikes in the city of

Idlib, nearly 300 are wounded. He tells us an attack that hit near a hospital has forced that facility to close.

A new hospital nearby was also damaged but luckily no one inside. Now, rescuers are still trying to pull victims from the rubble and the

death toll is expected to rise.

Now, we'll cross the border in Iraq. UNICEF says 20,000 children are among the civilians that are now trapped in Fallujah. Iraqi forces are

trying to retake the city from ISIS, and they're next step is to push into the heart of the city.

But military analysts say that this will not be without costs. Civilians are being used at human shields. Iraq says ISIS is using suicide

car bombs and snipers to try to drive its forces back.

And meanwhile in Syria, another battle with ISIS. The Turkish military says it killed 14 members of the group north of Aleppo.

Now, our senior international correspondent Fred Pleitgen has been covering the battle against ISIS. He joins us now live.

And Fred, first, let's talk about Fallujah. I mean, can there be at all a safe way out for the 50,000 civilians including scores of children

still trapped inside?

[08:05:16] FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Realistically, there probably isn't, Kristie. Realistically, it would be

very difficult to get out. Because on one hand, of course, we heard ISIS is at least using some people as human shields and therefore not even

letting them exit the city and. At the same time, you have the Iraqi security forces also backed by those Shia militias closing in on the city

from various fronts.

And the most intense that we've been hearing about in the past couple of hours seems to be from the north of the city where the Iraqi security

forces say that they have we've been hearing about in the past couple hours seems to be from the north of the city where Iraqi security forces say they

have taken back some villages there, some territory around there.

But the going, quite frankly, is still very tough. They are saying that ISIS is launching counteroffenses, that ISIS is using things like

suicide attackers, vehicle bombs, and snipers to try and stop the advance of these Iraqi security forces, so therefore it is going to be very

difficult for these civilians to get out of there, and really many of them are at this point just hoping for the best.

Now, one of the really disturbing things that we've heard just a couple of hours ago from the United Nations is they say about 20,000

children are also still among those who are trapped inside, and they fear that ISIS might be trying to recruit some of them or force some of them to

fight along ISIS fighters against these advancing Iraqi security forces. That, of course, would put these children even more at risk than already

are.

So, a very bleak picture from a battle that at this point in time is shaping up to be very tough and very bloody, especially once the Iraqi

security forces manage to get inside the town of Fallujah and we can expect urban combat to

happen there, Kristie.

LU STOUT: Such a disturbing report that you cited there from UNICEF on the situation there in Fallujah. You are also monitoring operations

underway in Syria, including an alliance of U.S.-backed Kurdish and air forces. They've launched this offensive in the north of the country.

What's the latest on that front?

PLEITGEN: Yeah, that is actually a very, very important one, and one from we are hearing, one that's been shaping up over the past couple of

weeks, sort of quietly while the world's attention has been focused on places like Fallujah, on places like Raqqah.

The reason why that area above Aleppo is so very important is that it's one of last sort of swaths of land that ISIS still controls there

directly at the Turkish border. And one of the things ISIS does is it replenishes its fighters from there. A lot of people who come from the

outside, a lot of foreign fighters, some European, some of them from other places, come through that area. They infiltrate through the Turkish

border, and that's something where the U.S., Russia, but also the Syrian opposition have said, that border needs to be shut down.

It needs to stop ISIS from getting through there.

The latest we're getting is that there are intense battles going on there, that this coalition consisting mostly of Kurdish forces and also

some Arab tribes as well, has managed to take back from 16 villages and farms, but it also seems as though that is a battle that will still take a

considerable amount of time to actually achieve that objective of trying to seal that border.

But again, it is really one of those things that we cannot state enough how important that would be to seal off ISIS's access to Turkey to

try and resupply its fighters -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: Yeah, and thank you for emphasizing that point.

Fred Pleitgen reporting on these multiple battlefronts against ISIS. Thank you, Fred.

Now, some of the Syrians who have escaped war in their country have landed half a globe away in South Korea. They're trying to build a new

life there, but dozens find themselves stuck in an airport in Seoul.

Paula Hancocks reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Incheon in Seoul, repeatedly voted one of the best in the world. But it's a place of limbo

for these men, appealing against South Korea's decision to refuse them refugee status.

Legal cases are ongoing, so they're hiding identities.

One of their lawyers says up to 180 people are in this waiting area meant for 50. The Justice Ministry tells us there are only 116, many of

them have been here for months.

No beds. No windows, a fast food burger and drink three times day. The meat is Halal, so most eat just the bread.

The man filming this is Mohammed, one of 28 Syrians here. He's in his early 20s and fled Aleppo after his home was destroyed and the Assad

government called him up for his military service.

"It's impossible for me and my friends to return," he says. "Some are running away from the army, some running away from the government or

military service. We ran because we don't want to be a part of the war. We don't want to hold a gun."

The Justice Ministry rejected his application six months ago, because he didn't come from Syria directly but from a safe country. He traveled

through Turkey and China.

Mohammed's lawyer tells me, China forcefully repatriates North Korean defectors because they don't consider them refugees and an Amnesty report

claims Turkey has banishing about 100 Syrian refugees a day since January. The claim these countries are safe is illogical.

Mohammed says he decided to come to South Korea as he couldn't bring himself to try and reach Europe.

"I have friends who died in the sea," he tells me. "I'm so sad about it. I just couldn't try, because I saw my friends and thousands of other

people drowning in the sea."

The justice ministry declined our request for an interview, and also for access to the would-be refugees citing security concerns, but they did

say for those who didn't want to stay in this waiting room they were able to stay in the transit area, but at their own expense.

As for the waiting room, the Justice Ministry says the airlines operations committee is responsible. The AOC is asking the government to

take responsibility, and the lawyers say unhygienic conditions are making some of their clients sick.

Since 2014, hundreds of Syrians have been allowed into the country under humanitarian status. The justice ministry says they have no benefits

except basic health care and only three have been granted full refugee status in 20

years.

But for Mohammed, he's still waiting to hear if he's even allowed to apply.

Paula Hancocks, CNN, Seoul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[08:11:22] LU STOUT: Now, police in Germany say that they have received 14 reports of sexual assaults at a music festival. Now, the

attacks took place near the town of Darmstadt over the weekend. Three male asylum seekers from Pakistan

are under arrest and police are looking for more suspects.

And this just in to us here at CNN. New GDP numbers from Brazil. As expected, the economy shrank 5.4 percent in the first quarter year on year.

This is just more negative growth for a country that is already dealing with a host of problems as it gets ready for the Olympic Games.

Now for more on the story, CNN correspondent Shasta Darlington joins me now live from Rio. And Shasta, I mean, your thoughts on the latest

reading on Brazil's economy?

SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kristie, this is bad news. It is expected, as you said, but it just confirms we're

moving into a second year of recession and it really isn't over yet to the point that

people are calling this a depression, the worst economic performance in a century.

And this is, of course, playing out on the global stage as Rio gears up to host the first South American Olympic games. The whole world is

watching. And this has been to a certain degree that ticket sales have really been hit hard because Brazilians can't afford to buy them. They

have got high inflation, high unemployment.

And it's in stark contrast to when Rio won its bid to host these games back in 2009. The economy was booming. Brazil was the B in BRICs, it was

selling commodities to China hand over fist. Of course when China stopped buying, that really hit the economy hard here, and then it was really

exacerbated by a number of poor decisions.

So, again, with the economy tanking like this, Brazilians aren't celebrating the fact that they're going to have this huge sporting event in

their backyard to the point that ticket sales are at 67 percent, that's much lower than we saw in London. Organizers are insisting that Brazilians

are late buyers, that it will pick up getting closer to the games, but they're only two months away.

And this is just one of many problems plaguing the games. We have the Zika virus, which is threatening to keep international visitors away.

There's the political chaos, which has also distracted people here, prompted numerous protests,

and, also, raised concerns internationally.

The president has been suspended facing an impeachment trial that will likely play out during the Olympics and the interim president really hasn't

inspired confidence that he's going to get the economy back on track. So, we could see protests and economic turmoil again right in the middle of the

Olympic Games, Kristie.

LU STOUT: Yeah. I mean, international concern is definitely there, but you've got to think and feel for the people of Brazil. What is the

reality for people there? I mean, the economy is in such deep recession. The leadership to somehow help fix it is in disarray. How are they coping

through this mess?

DARLINGTON: That's the real problem, Kristie. I think everyone asks, will they pull off the Olympic Games? Yeah, they will. The venues are on

schedule, the -- only a few athletes have pulled out because of the Zika virus. They are still expecting half a million visitors to pour into the

city here.

The problem is, when it's all done, Rio and Brazil will be back in the same situation.

The investor confidence is so low -- there had been hope that with a change of government investor confidence could pick up, we could see

companies hiring again, but in the three weeks since the interim president has been in office, two -- I see two ministers have been forced to step

down amid, releasing of these wiretaps that show they could be trying to block corruption investigations.

So, there's really not a whole lot of hope that things are going to come together quickly, Kristie.

[08:15:19] LU STOUT: Yeah, it's a very, very difficult time for Brazil. Shasta Darlington reporting live from Rio. Thank you, Shasta.

And we will have much more on the GDP numbers just out of Brazil, and how investors are reacting to the country's faltering economy. That's

going to be coming up on CNN Money with Maggie Lake in about 45 minutes from now.

Now, still ahead right here on News Stream, a deadly heat wave in India is dragging on and on. How people there are dealing with the record-

breaking temperatures.

Plus, we've got the latest in the debate on whether Britain should leave the European Union. How the leave campaign says it plans to handle

Europe's migration crisis.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

Stream.

Now, a new CNN poll of polls shows Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump in a tight race should they face each other in a general election this fall.

Now among registered voters, Clinton holds a 2-point lead.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump lashed out not at Clinton but at reporters. He spent 40 minutes at a news conference on Tuesday launching an aggressive

verbal assault on the media over how they've covering of his donations to veterans.

Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You keep calling us dishonest press, the disgusting press.

DONALD TRUMP, 2016 REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, generally speaking that's 100 percent true, go ahead.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I disagree with that, sir. And if I can ask you this question, it seems as though you're resistant to scrutiny, the kind of

scrutiny that comes with running for the president of the United States.

TRUMP: I like scrutiny. But you know what -- when I raise money - excuse me, excuse me. I've watched you on television. You're a real

beauty.

But what I don't want is when I raise millions of dollars have people say, like this sleazy guy right over here from ABC. He's a sleaze in my

book. You're a sleaze, because -- you know the facts and you know the facts well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Now, meanwhile, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has has taken a stand against Trump in his media offensive. Bezos sounding more like a newspaper

owner than a Fortune 500 chief when he condemned Trump's attack. Of course, he owns the Washington Post. And he also took aim as the Silicon

Valley venture capitalist Peter Thiel.

Now the billionaire Thiel, he's been at the center of controversy over his decision to back that lawsuit against Gawker. Now, here's more of what

Jeff Bezos has to stay on stage at the RECO conference about the right to the press.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEFF BEZOS, AMAZON CEO: It's just a fact that we live in a world where half the population on this planet, if you criticize your leader,

there's a good chance you'll go to jail or worse, and we live in this amazing democracy with amazing freedom of speech, and a presidential

candidate should embrace that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[08:20:09] LU STOUT: Now, Donald Trump has been vocally critical of The Washington Post, Amazon as well as Jeff Bezos personally.

Now, the Philippines' controversial president-elect is taking his own shot at

his country's journalists. At a news conference, Rodrigo Duterte said reporters killed in the Philippines were often corrupt. He was asked how

to protect press freedom after a crime reporter was killed in Manila last week. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RODRIGO DUTERTE, PHILIPPINES PRESIDENT-ELECT: Just because you are a journalist, you are not exempted from assassination. If you're a son of a

(EXPLETIVE DELETED)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Wow.

Now, a journalist union in the country calls those comments, quote, "appalling."

Now in about three weeks from now, Britain will vote on its future in the EU. And with that in mind, the leave camp is pushing this new

immigration policy. It's pitching an Australian-style system where those applying for skilled visas need to achieve a certain number of points.

They score higher if they're proficient in English and have advanced education.

Now, CNN Money Europe editor Nina Dos Santos has been following this story. She joins us now live from London.

Nina, we know the leave camp has launched this immigration manifesto. Walk us through the key points.

NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN MONEY: Yes, this is particularly significant, Kristie, because it really is the first concrete proposal here that the

leave campaign is putting forward to try and curb immigration. Immigration a really hot button issue, and it is the issue of the leave campaign

whereas as the remain campaign is focused on economic arguments instead.

What they're talking about here is introducing a so-called Australian- style visa system here, which means that the applicant would be graded by points, and you get the number of points based on your skills. So, your

education and the type of job that you're used to doing. Does it meet the needs of the country?

But also, your age and one of the criteria that they're advocating putting forward is fluent command of English. They're saying that if the

UK were to leave, were to leave the European Union in this upcoming vote, Kristie, they'd want these rules put in place by 2020.

And basically what it's designed to do is to try and match the skill set of the people who are entering the country, with the jobs that are on

offer, and also because of the age perspective, to try and deter people from coming to the UK for

health tourism reasons because they need operations on the free national health care system, or, also, because they want to claim benefits, because

they're out of work.

But this is also being viewed as a very significant leadership challenge potentially to the current Prime Minister David Cameron, because

it's being championed by Boris Johnson, the former mayor of London, and a justice minister who Michael Gove, a fiercely a euro skeptic here. And

David Cameron has long found migration a thorn in his side. For many years promising to try and cut net migration down to 10,000 people for the UK.

That is impossible, because this is a country that reserved over 300,000 people.

But what they're also saying here is that they want commonwealth citizens, so citizens of the commonwealth that the UK has ties with to have

the same rules as EU citizens. So, on one hand at the moment, EU citizens are able to freely come and work here in the UK. What they're saying is,

if they were to see the UK leaving the EU on June 23rd, those EU citizens should not have that access as of 2020. They should be graded in a point

system that would be fair both from the Commonwealth and also from the EU.

There's a few flaws to this plan, Kristie. On the one hand, people from the

commonwealth, very often those commonwealth countries are from developing nations. So they'd have a very different skill set. And people don't yet

know what this would mean for the hundreds of thousands of millions of people who are EU citizens

who live in the UK They have mortgages in the UK. They have families in the UK,

and they have jobs. There's a big question mark over some of the potential flaws of this plan.

LU STOUT: Yeah, and immigration continues to be a core issue in the overall

Brexit debate. Nina dos Santos reporting for us live from London. Thank you, Nina.

Now, a blistering heat wave has killed hundreds of people in India and temperatures there aren't expected to cool down anytime soon. Now, despite

the heat, many people are toiling under the sun all day, just to make ends meet.

Sumnima Udas reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUMNIMA UDAS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's simply unbearably hot. You can't really see it, but you sure can feel it. And it feels like

you're sitting in an oven with hot wind blowing at you from day to night.

"It's very hard to work like this. It's sweaty. Sometimes we get dizzy. Every summer I get seriously ill, Mohammed Zarqas (ph) says.

But he has no choice. His family depends on him, so he cycles, earning less than $5 a day.

I've only been walking about ten minutes right now and I'm already soaking. It's hard to imagine how daily wage laborers who have to work in

the sun all day and don't have access to modern amenities like air conditions, fans, and many times even water. How they deal with it.

Most Indians live in villages where some 300 million don't have access to electricity. Many don't have running water, either, which means long

walks in scorching heat. In rapidly expanding cities like Delhi, pollution and the

sheer number of people only making things worse.

And the worst affected are the daily waged laborers, toiling away in the sun with no labor laws barring them from doing so in such punishing

temperatures.

"What can we do? We have to work to fill our stomachs. This is our karma, I guess," he says.

India recently recorded its highest-ever temperature, mercury in one town shooting up to 51 degrees Celsius, or 124 degrees Fahrenheit. Even

when the sun sets, for the hundreds of thousands of homeless, like Zarqir (ph), there's no respite.

The only hope now, the much-anticipated monsoon rains due in June and thankfully this year it's expected to be above average.

Sumnima Udas, CNN, New Delhi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now, for a closer look at the heat wave, let's bring in our meteorologist Chad Myers. And Chad, why is it just so dangerously, so

insanely hot in India right now?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Because it is so dangerously, insanely dry on the ground, Kristie. they go hand in hand.

If you take a brick and put it outside in the sun and it's dry it's going to get very hot. If you get a wet brick and you put it right to that

same dry brick and you step on both, the web brick is going to be cooler, because evaporation

is taking some of the heat out of the brick.

Well, this entire country is like a brick right now and it's all dry.

There has been an, as you said, an insane heat wave going on because of the insane drought that has gripped this country for so very long, for

years now. The only true hope is away from these 40s, and you said, 51 degree high temperature -- not heat index, that's just the air temperature

on the thermometer in the shade. So you can imagine what that would feel like in the sun.

You need the rain to fall to get the ground damp, to get the ground to evaporate, to cool that air. It's just like getting a damp towel and

putting it on yourself, wiping it on. You're cooler when that water is evaporating.

The ground will be cooler if we get any water to evaporate. And I don't see significant rains, especially into central and northern India,

for the next few weeks. We need to get this monsoon push up there and it's not even forecast. We're not supposed to be there yet.

Yes, getting rains across the deep south, but this isn't the area that has seen so much of that deadly heat, Kristie.

LU STOUT: All right, Chad Myers there reporting on the intense heat wave in India. Thank you very much indeed for that explainer. Take care.

Now, the Japanese military has now joined the search for that 7-year- old boy who has been missing since Saturday. He vanished after his parents left him along this stretch of mountainous woods, which is also bear

territory. And they left him there as a form of punishment. Now, 200 people are now looking for the boy, but there is no sign of him yet.

Rescuers are concerned be a the cold night temperatures as the boy was only wearing light clothing.

You're watching News Stream. And still to come on the program, we introduced you to the stars of esports. That story yesterday. And today

we're going to show you just how much work professional gamers put into their craft.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(HEADLINES)

[08:32:17] LU STOUT: Now, all of this week we've been showing you stadiums packed with screaming fans and players desperately trying to win

the game. And it's all found in esports tournaments.

Now, it is undeniable that competitive gaming is now a global phenomenon, but many still question if esports can be considered a real

sport.

Don Riddell looks for an answer.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: This is a sport and these are the athletes.

Neither concept sits comfortably with a generation which regarded video games as antisocial and sedentary, but a new and digital generation,

the Millennials, see things very differently.

CRAIG LEVINE, ELECTRONIC SPORTS LEAGUE AMERICA: And it's about dexterity,

decision-making, reflexes, teamwork, all goes into sort of being the best in the world.

There's real competition happening here, and that's what makes it so exciting for fans. You know, if you talk to any of the top players here, I

think if you asked them if it was a sport, everyone would just say, look around.

RIDDELL: This was the scene at one of the biggest esports tournaments in the world: the Intel Extreme Masters in March. The world's best gamers

going head to head in team oriented computer games like League of Legends and Counterstrike.

15,000 fans were packed into the arena in (inaudible) and millions more were following the action online.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Beautiful stop as he gets on the plank.

GREGORY BRYANT, INTEL: There wre people lined up outside around the block down the street, probably half a kilometer waiting to get into the

event. The energy is palpable. I mean, it as exciting as any professional sporting event I've ever been to, whether football, basketball, you know,

pick your sport.

MARTIN VETTORI, ESPORTS SPONSOR: There are the same emotions like in traditional sports. They're really, they really put some emotional effort

into it. They really -- they build costumes around it and I thought, okay, there's so much power, so much engagement at the events.

RIDDELL: You only have to look around in this bar called Battle and Brew to see that esports is going mainstream. The whole place is a haven

for esports fans, but now that's reaching the masses, what do we call these young men and women? Are they gamers? Players? Or athletes?

United States immigration has already decided in 2014, Korea's Choi Seong Hun was one of the first to enter the country on an athlete's visa.

CHOI SEONG HUN, PROFESSIONAL STARCRAFT PLAYER: If you stop playing one or two days your hands kind of get like slower. So you have to play

every single day, if it's not much. So I usually try to play it consistently, and the rest of time I just do whatever I want to do.

RIDDELL: Just like real sports, they've had to deal with doping and match fixing scandals in esports, but unlike other professional athletes,

they are far more committed to their craft.

SAM MATHEWS, FOUNDER AND CHAIRMAN FANATIC ESPORTS TEAM: You just have to think about the amount they train. These guys are training eight hours

a day, sometimes training themselves another two hours on top of that on their own time, up to 10, 12 hours a day of gaming just perform that one

better movement, or that one skill shot better or the way they interact with their team and the synergy they have, the communication.

RIDDELL: There's no doubt about their skills in the highly competitive and commercial world of esports, but varsity programs now

recognize it, too. At Robert Morris University in Chicago you can study on a scholarship program in esports.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think everyone has a misconception what a gamer is, that they're eating Cheetos and guzzling Mountain Dew or Red Bull and

they're sloppy. And that's not the case. The gamers that we have here for our varsity

program are serious. It is a real skill and it's a real ability, so the same way I give a scholarship for a women's soccer player, why shouldn't we

do that for a video game player and be competitive and successful?

RIDDELL: Putting on a track suit doesn't necessarily make you an athlete, or video games a sport, but the skill, the reflexes and the sheer

mental will of these top players might qualify them as superhuman. And bottom line is that it doesn't really matter, some of these guys are

already demanding seven-figure salaries and are revered by their fans all over the world.

CARLO RODRIGUEZ, TEAM OWNER: It's completely relevant, right? At the end of the day, I don't care if we call it a sport or not, we just -- we

are an entertainment company, right? Why these people want to watch Gladiators in the past or why people want to watch football players, it is

entertaining, right. Who cares if it it's a sport or not, right?

RIDDELL: Its popularity is growing at a geometric rate. A young, global audience is hooked and engaged with the product in ways that other

sports can only dream of. Whatever this is called, so-called real sports are sitting up and paying attention.

Don Riddell, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now, as you can see clearly, competitive gaming does have a physical element just like traditional sporting events. Esport athletes

display incredible speed and skill. In the strategy game StarCraft II players

often use something called actions per minute or AMP to determine level of skill.

This shows just how fast pro players reflexes can be. Top StarCraft players, they can reach 600 APM, that means in one second, they are

planning and executing 10 actions.

And now esports players, they have to train carefully, constantly repeating these rapid movements often leads to wrist injuries, and that

could jeopardize their gaming careers.

Now, staying ahead of the pack in esports is not easy. And just like in football and basketball, sometimes it all comes down to finding the

right teammates.

Now, tomorrow we're going to tell you more about the top games in esports

and the top teams that compete at them.

Now, still ahead right here on News Stream, Donald Trump has received a glowing endorsement, but it probably won't get him far in the U.S. We'll

tell you who is singing his praises.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back.

Now, we told you earlier how the latest polls show Hillary Clinton with a slim margin over Donald Trump, in a head-to-head matchup. Now, the

survey shows Trump with an edge when it comes to creating jobs and handling ISIS, but Clinton leads on handling an international crisis, including when

nuclear weapons are concerned.

Now, that may be why Trump isn't saying anything about his latest presidential endorsement. As CNN's Jeanne Moos reports, the unlikely

praise comes from a news sight controlled by North Korea.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You've got to hand it to Donald Trump. He sure used his hands a lot.

TRUMP: He said bend like a pretzel. They are such liars. The worst.

MOOS: But these magnificently expressive hands are what rival Marco Rubio had the nerve to call small.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And you know what they say about man with small hands. You can't trust them.

MOOS: Well, trust Trump to pick up the gauntlet.

TRUMP: I've always had people say, Donald, you have the most beautiful hands.

MOOS (on camera): We tried to maintain a hands-off attitude about this story but when the Donald jumped in, so did we.

TRUMP: He said I have small hands. They are not small, are they? I've never heard -- I've never heard that one before.

MOOS (voice-over): Oh, yes, he did, says the editor of "Vanity Fair," who once described Trump as a short fingered Vulgarian.

JOHN OLIVER, HOST, "LAST WEEK TONIGHT": And ever since the editor Graydon Carter says he receives envelopes from Trump always with a photo on

which he circles his hand to highlight the length of his fingers. Usually with a note reading, "See? Not so short."

MOOS: Actually quite short, the editor wrote back to Trump. Others have piled on. A Web site called shortfingers.com post what seem to be real

and Photoshopped photos emphasizing Trump's hands.

The New Republic said his tiny fingers resembled cocktail weenies while the Web site Gawkers suggested Trump endorser Chris Christie's hands

are even smaller than the Donald.

One commenter suggested Russian leader Vladimir Putin also has short fingers, as if all tough guys have a small hand complex to make up for. Bur

Trump supporters are more interested in shape than size. Specifically the V for victory. And maybe your hands might seem smaller if they got this much

exercise.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And finally, the world's longest railway tunnel is finally opening in Switzerland. It cuts travel time for passengers through the

heart of Europe and provides a better route for heavy freight trains.

Now, rail operator SPB says the initial plans were first dreamed up back in 1947.

Now, there are two 57 kilometer long tubes. Eventually, it'll be host to 325 freight and passenger trains per day. And passengers will be able

to enjoy a high speed journey of up to 200 kilometer an hour.

And that is News Stream. I'm Kristie Lu Stout, but don't go anywhere. World Sport with Alex Thomas is next.

END