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Pokemon Go Launches in Japan; Russian Reaction to Upholding IAAF Decision; Brazil Thwarts Terror Plot; Donald Trump Officially Accepts Nomination; Peter Thiel's Historic Speech at RNC Convention. Aired 8:00a- 9:00a ET
Aired July 22, 2016 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[08:00:14] KRISTIE LU STOUT, HOST: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong and welcome to News Stream.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, 2016 REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I humbly and gratefully accept your nomination for the presidency of the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: Donald Trump explains why he should be president saying that America has problems that only he can fix.
Russian track and field athletes vent their fury after their failure to overturn a ban means that they will likely miss the Olympic games in
Rio.
And, Pokemon Go hits Asia. Japanese players finally get their hands on the game. And we
will show you the incredible lengths South Koreans are going to play it.
Donald Trump has sealed his place as Republican Party's nominee for U.S. president. On the last day of the GOP convention, he fired up the
crowds, declaring that America is in crisis, and he is the only one who can fix the problems both foreign and domestic. Now that includes the economy,
trade, violence, terrorism, and illegal immigration. David Mattingly has the highlights.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONALD TRUMP, 2016 REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I humbly and gratefully accept your nomination for the presidency of the United States.
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the biggest speech of his life, Donald Trump declaring America's in crisis.
TRUMP: Not only have our citizens endured domestic disaster, but they lived through one international humiliation after another.
MATTINGLY: At times painting an exceedingly dark picture of the state of the country.
TRUMP: The attacks on the police and terrorism of our cities threaten our very way of life.
MATTINGLY: The Republican nominee speaking ominously about the dangers of illegal immigration.
TRUMP: Where was the sanction for all of the other Americans who have been so brutally murdered and who have suffered so, so horribly.
MATTINGLY: And portraying America as a broken nation that he is uniquely qualified to bring together.
TRUMP: Nobody knows the system better than me, which is why I alone can fix it.
MATTINGLY: Trump's message for the public: I'm with you.
TRUMP: People who work hard, but no longer have a voice. I am your voice.
MATTINGLY: Rejecting globalism, Trump insisting America first.
TRUMP: USA! USA!
MATTINGLY: His key theme, restoring law and order to a country he says has been overwhelmed with crime and violence.
TRUMP: The crime and violence that today afflicts our nation will soon and I mean very soon, come to an end.
MATTINGLY: Trump blaming America's ails on his rival Hillary Clinton and the Obama administration.
TRUMP: This is the legacy of Hillary Clinton: death, destruction, terrorism and weakness.
MATTINGLY: Casting Clinton as a politician controlled by donors.
TRUMP: She is their puppet, and they pull the strings.
MATTINGLY: And the Republicans as the party of truth.
TRUMP: If you want to hear the corporate spin, the carefully crafted lies and the media myths, the Democrats are holding their convention next
week. Go there.
MATTINGLY: His attacks revving up the Cleveland crowd, but the nominee showed signs of restraint, quieting calls to send Clinton to jail, instead
focusing on the fight ahead.
TRUMP: Let's defeat her in November.
MATTINGLY: And avoided his popular moniker crooked Hillary, a stark difference from his boisterous rallies.
In the longest acceptance speech in 40 years, Trump reinforced the key promises of his campaign.
TRUMP: We are going to build a great border wall.
MATTINGLY: While dialing back on others like his proposed ban on all Muslims entering the U.S.
TRUMP: We must immediately suspend immigration from any nation that has been compromised by terrorism.
Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims from entering the United States.
[08:05:07] MATTINGLY: The Republican nominee sharply criticizing America's trade deals and denouncing foreign policy of both Democratic and
Republican administrations.
TRUMP: After 15 years of wars in the Middle East, after trillions of dollars spent and thousands of lives lost, the situation is worse than it
has ever been before.
MATTINGLY: Trump making history as the first Republican nominee to embrace the LGBTQ community at a convention.
TRUMP: I will do everything in my power to protect our LGBTQ citizens from the violence and oppression of a hateful foreign ideology.
MATTINGLY: The New York billionaire completing his improbable takeover of the Republican Party, though it hasn't been smooth sailing this week.
With Ted Cruz's endorsement snub and the plagiarism controversies involving his wife. Trump and his running mate trying to project the united
front and hoping Cleveland gives him a boost heading into November.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: That was CNN's Phil Mattingly reporting.
Now, let's bring in David Swerdlick to talk about all this. And he is the assistant editor of The Washington Post. He joins us now from our
Washington bureau. David, it's great to have you back here on the program. Of course, this was Trump's big moment, his big
speech. And he painted a picture of this dark, scary, world, of an America in crisis -- lawlessness, poverty, corruption, very dystopian stuff. Is it
an effective message?
DAVID SWERDLICK, THE WASHINGTON POST: Kristie, it is an effective message. It reinforces what the two sides of the electorate have thought
coming in to this election, and Trump was able to underscore what he has been saying to his supporters that has helped him win the Republican
nomination.
Yes, many people, myself included, found the speech to be grim, dystopian, even, really emphasizing some of the negatives of what Trump
perceives is going on in the American society right now even though unemployment is down, the stock market is up, President Obama's approval
rating is up, America has done better than many countries around the world, coming out of the 2008 recession.
But, one could also reasonably read that speech as speaking exactly to the kinds of fears that many Americans have had in recent years about
immigration, about loss of jobs, particularly blue collar jobs in the manufacturing sector. So even though the speech did not paint a positive
picture of a sunny future for America, I think it was what many Trump supporters wanted to hear, and he said it in a way with just a little less
bombast than he has in recent months on the campaign trail.
LU STOUT: And want to ask you about Peter Thiel and the speech that he gave. The billionaire tech investor, he made history at the GOP
convention, announcing to cheers and applause that he is proud to be gay. I mean, what did Thiel's speech do for the party? What did it do for
Donald Trump?
SWERDLICK: Sure. So, Peter Thiel has been this sort of interesting and enigmatic figure who has slowly moved towards Trump. He's not been as
-- but he's well known behind the scenes as a Silicon Valley mover and shaker, but not that outspoken in politics, less known than figures like
the Koch Brothers, let's say.
But his speech was a landmark, as you said, the first time on a Republican Party platform -- a convention stage that one of the major
speakers on the last night of the convention has declared himself an openly guy supporter of the nominee, and then that was followed
up by Trump in his own speech saying that he was going to protect members of the LGBT community from violence.
It's at odds with the Republican Party's platform, which still espouses very strongly against
same-sex marriage, against certain rights for transgender individuals. But it does represent, Kristie, a
shift in what is clearly an issue that has moved away from traditional Republican messaging in the past, that as we move further and further into
the future and as the Republican electorate gets younger, social conservative issues like gay rights issues are just not going to be an
emphasis for Republicans to use as a wedge issue.
LU STOUT: Now, also taking to the podium last night was Ivanka Trump. I mean, she was the final Trump family member to take to the stage. And
she served, like the others, as a sort of character witness, sort of humanizing her dad.
How effective was her speech?
SWERDLICK: Well, I thought it was effective to the degree that Donald Trump's children,
particularly Ivanka Trump, have been his best and most consistent and most likable surrogates throughout this campaign.
Ivanka Trump, by all accounts, left, right and center, is someone who could potentially be a political superstar. She's charismatic. She's seen
as smart and engaging on the issues. And she has been a very solid supporter of her father's campaign.
It's clear that he trusts her that's why she was the one to introduce him last night.
Where her speech was interesting to a lot of observers, including me, was that on issues she actually sounded a lot like a Democratic candidate
-- talking about the need for working moms to have child care, talking about, you know, economic development that was going to help working
families, figuring out ways that government was going to support people who are struggling in a still recovering economy. These are not messages that
you heard four years ago at the Republican convention. But, Ivanka Trump is someone who, I think, is trying to position herself as nonpartisan. She
supports her father, but what she really supports is this Trump brand of, you know, what their vision is of moving the country forward.
[08:11:02] LU STOUT: And a final question for you, it's about Hillary Clinton and how the convention just really went after her this last week.
SWERDLICK: Yes.
LU STOUT: Lock her up was a chant that we heard all week at the convention in Cleveland.
SWERDLICK: Every night.
LU STOUT: How much -- every night. How much of Trump's campaign is running on building this animosity towards her?
SWERDLICK: Oh, that is the underlying theme of the Trump campaign. When you boil away Trump's personality, and some of the issues that have
been discussed over and over in this campaign, both candidates, Donald Trump and Secretary Clinton, have very high
negatives. Both candidates are disliked by voters on the other side of the aisle.
And both candidates carry a lot of negative baggage, a lot of, you know, scandals, or you know,
sort of scandals, or, you know, sort of scandals that come along with them from having been in the public eye for 20, 30, years.
The core message of Trump's campaign is, is that Hillary Clinton is corrupt, that she's an insider, that she's the establishment. The
establishment has failed the average person and that he's going to upend that status quo. And Hillary Clinton's message is
essentially, I'm better than Donald Trump. I'm your best alternative to Donald Trump. And that's where we're headed for the next three, four
months.
LU STOUT: All right, David Swerdlick, always a pleasure to have you on the program. Thank you for your insight and take care.
SWERDLICK: Thank you.
LU STOUT: Now do stay with us, because later on the show we'll have more on that historic address by the tech entrepreneur Peter Thiel at the
GOP convention and also that different side of Donald Trump that was revealed by his eldest daughter Ivanka right here on News Stream.
Now, turning to a new development in the search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. Officials are almost done scouring a vast region in
the Indian Ocean. If the plane is not found in that zone they say the search will be suspended, but they promise to analyze any credible lead
that may come up in the future.
Now, the flight disappeared more than two years ago with 239 people on board. The flight vanished less than an hour after taking off from Kuala
Lumpur. Investigators believe that the plane flew south to the Indian Ocean.
Now, crews have been searching 120,000 square kilometers off Australia's west coast. About 90 percent of that search is now complete.
But so far, though, no trace of the plane has been found there. But debris believed to be from the plane has washed up elsewhere, as far away as the
beaches of Mozambique in southern Africa.
Now, the killing of a social media star has once again highlighted the sanctioned murder of women in Pakistan. There have been more than 200
reported cases this year, but many more go unheard.
Now CNN intentionally -- and we do not use the phrase honor killing, because it's hard to imagine anything more dishonorable than this.
Alexandra Field looks at some of the cases that CNN has covered in the past few months, and why it is rare to see justice done.
And a warning for you, this report contains some very disturbing details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: She wanted to stand up for women who had been treated badly and dominated by society. A few hours after
posting that message, Quandeel Baloch was killed, drugged and strangled by her own brother who confessed to the crime.
The social media star with hundreds of thousands of followers now another victim.
She's among hundreds of other women killed in Pakistan every year in the name of honor, murders rarely met with justice. 18-year-old Zaneet
Rafique, married against her family's wishes. Her mother and brother confessed to killing her, tying her to a bed, dousing her in gasoline,
setting her on fire.
Ambren riasat helped a friend elope. A jurga, a local council, decided she should die. The 15-year-old burned, tied to the back seat of a
van, strangled with ropes. More than a dozen people and her mom are under arrest.
In Pakistan, the law allows families of victims to grant clemency to killers who are often also relatives, sometimes in exchange for blood
money, setting suspects, even confessed killers, free. Officials have promised reforms. Pakistan's prime minister saying in one case, such a
barbaric act is not only un-islamic but also inhuman and it is not an honor killing, it's just plain murder.
But critics say there's been a lack of action along with failures to fully prosecute suspects. They say deaths are also being underreported,
often concealed as disappearances or even suicides.
SCHAIB RAZZAQ, LAWYER: A majority of the cases, they are not brought to light, and it
is settled within that community, it is settled within that jurisdiction. Pakistan penal court most of the time is not active on any issue. Most of
the people that got killed, it's settled within the family and within the village.
FIELD: Investigators determined 18-year-old Maria Sadaqat Abassi killed herself, claims her family can't believe.
They say a group of assailants stormed into the family home after she insulted the father of
a man who was courting her. "They beat her up. They dragged her around naked and put petrol
in her vagina and then set her on fire. The police officers offered us money on behalf of the other party, but we don't want it. We want
justice."
In a rare move, police are investigating Baloch's death as a crime against the state, that could give a court the power to overrule a family's
potential desire to pardon the brother who confessed to killing his sister, the woman who wanted to stand up for other women.
Alexandra Field, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: A horrific spate of killings in Pakistan.
You're watching News Stream. And still ahead right here, we have an exclusive report on Iraqis
who are risking it all to escape the ISIS reign of terror.
And outrage from Moscow over calls to ban the entire Russian team from competing in the
Olympics. That and more on the upcoming games, straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LU STOUT: Coming to you live from Hong Kong you're back watching News Stream.
Now, in the pitch black of night, Iraqis are making a break for freedom from an ISIS stronghold.
Now, getting out of the city of Mosul, it is a matter of life or death. And night after night people are risking mine fields, snipers, and
mortar fire to escape a reign of terror. Ben Wedeman has this exclusive report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They emerge from the darkness, some unable to walk, others completely exhausted. These people are fleeing the
ISIS rule, reaching Kurdish lines northeast of Mosul. Night after night they risk mine fields, snipers and mortar fire. Risks worth taking, they
say, to escape a reign of terror.
They kill you if you don't fast, recounts this man. They kill you if you don't pray. No prison, no fines, their only punishment they have is to
kill, kill, and kill.
Many of these people are Shaback, a religious and ethnic minority that has felt much of the brunt of ISIS' draconian rule. These Kurdish positions
are just 16 kilometers or 10 miles from Mosul, Iraq's second largest city and under ISIS control since June 2014. The lights in the distance are
Mosul. Wary of ISIS infiltrators, soldiers order all adult men to remove their shirts and get down on their knees, while others search the few
belongings they could carry to confirm, as this soldier says, their identity and determine if they are with ISIS or not. For children the
experience is terrifying and traumatic.
[08:21:22] JOHN, VOLUNTEER MEDIC: It's depressing.
WEDEMAN: John is a volunteer medic from the United States.
JOHN: The kids were dehydrated, they were exhausted. You can tell they were traveling for a very long time. It's very, very stressful on children,
that -- those kind of situations. So, you can tell it really took a toll on them.
WDEMAN: Iraqi government and Kurdish forces backed by coalition aircraft and troops are preparing for an offensive to retake Mosul. When
that happens hundreds of thousands more are expected to flee the fighting. At a nearby base the children sleep while their parents recount what they
left behind.
"Our life was very hard," says this woman. "There's no work, there's nothing to buy. It was really bad."
From the base they will be moved to camps further away from the front lines. They have escaped the darkness of ISIS rule to a limbo of life as
refugees.
Ben Wedeman, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: A grim and vivid picture of survival there.
Now with just two weeks to go until the start of the summer Olympic games in Rio there is
concern, rising concern, about security. Now, police in Brazil have arrested ten people suspected of plotting to attack the games. The
suspects are described as amateurs who were inspired by ISIS.
Joining me now from Rio is CNN's Shasta Darlington. And, Shasta, do we have any more details on who were arrested, and exactly what they were
planning to do?
SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kristie, what we do know is that they were all Brazilian nationals. In fact, there
were 12 arrest warrants. 10 of them were carried out. There is still the other arrest warrants are still in effect. They're searching for those
people. This was part of a nationwide sweep.
And officials said they had actually been monitoring this group for quite some time. They communicated using messaging apps, but they didn't
actually know each other in person. And it started as chatter. They all pledged allegiance to ISIS. They celebrated over these messaging apps,
for example, after the attack in Nice, after the attack in Orlando.
But it's when they started talking about planning their ownattack, that's when police moved
in. They said one man was trying to buy an AK-47 over the internet from Paraguay. They were talking about getting training and how to use arms and
martial arts.
But, in fact, they haven't found any evidence yet of what their target might have been, Kristie.
LU STOUT: All right, some good news from Rio here, a terror plot apparently foiled. But there's still some concerns. I mean, the serious
concern raised about security, along with everything else, with the Zika virus, to crime, to all the political unrest and turmoil. Right now as it
stands, just two weeks to go. How ready is Rio?
DARLINGTON: Well you know, Kristie, the analysts we've talked to say that as you mentioned, this is actually good. It shows that Brazilians are
on top of their game. They nipped the security threat in the bud before it really developed into something bigger. And authorities themselves are
pointing to the huge deployment here on the streets in Rio. They're going to have 85,000 soldiers, police, firefighters, even traffic cops securing
these games. That's more than what we saw -- double what we saw in London. And a lot of that has already started happening.
So, while there had been this big crime wave here in Rio, some athletes were even robbed, it
looks like that is being brought under control. There are navy ships off the coast of Copa Cabana where a lot of the hotels are. The venues are
already being secured by the elite national guard. And after the attack in Nice, they really stepped up the security there. They're widening the
perimeters and implementing more security checks, and really more checks on the ticket holders themselves as they try and get in to the venues.
So, while security is really under scrutiny right now, authorities say they've got things under control. And the fact that these arrests were
made is just evidence of that, Kristie.
LU STOUT: Wow, with the Rio games now just, what, 15 days away, Shasta Darlington reporting live for us. Thank you.
Now, track and field is a popular event at the Olympics. But this time around Russia's team will be missing. And soon the International
Olympic Committee is to decide whether other Russian athletes will be banned as well.
Now, it's all part of the fallout over allegations of state-sponsored doping. Clare Sebastian has more on the reaction from Moscow.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: To the stars of Russian athletics now likely to miss the Olympics in Rio, it was a day of
anger and dashed hopes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Court of Arbitration for Sports has dismissed the request filed by the Russian Olympic committee and 68 Russian athletes.
SEBASTIAN: And none more so perhaps than two-time Olympic pole vaulting Champian Yelena Isinbayeva, who represented the Russian athletes
at the court in Switzerland.
In an Instagram post she said, "let these pseudoclean foreign sportsmen breathe a sigh of
relief and win their pseudo gold medals in our absence."
110 meter hurdler Sergei Shubenkov (ph) also posted this photo with a sarcastic caption in both Russian and English. What a shame, he said, well
done, congrats, enjoy clean sport.
The Kremlin came out almost immediately in defense of its athletes saying they had nothing
to do with doping, and expressing, quote, "deep regret about the ruling." They also said they were asking the relevant agencies here in Russia to
take a closer look at the decision.
It was a slightly less measured response from the sports minister vitaly Mutko. "Disband the IAAF," he tweeted furiously at a news
conference later still not backing down.
VITALY MUTKO, RUSSIAN SPORTS MINISTER (through translator): I think it is time to even appeal to a civil court, because it's just a violation
of their human rights.
SEBASTIAN: Irina Rodnina, a three-time Olympic figure skating champion and now a member of parliament agreed.
IRINA RODNINA, RUSSIAN LAWMAKER (through translator): Here for some reason they're punishing these guys who are not involved in anything.
They're not politicians. They have clean doping tests. They are very good sportsmen judging by their results. Or it's altogether. It's like just
because you're Russians, we're punishing you all together. That's, I'm sorry to say, a type of genocide.
SEBASTIAN: Russia's Olympic committee, which just one day earlier had announced a 387
member Olympic team, which included the banned athletes, said the decision set a dangerous precedent and it would fight for the rights of its clean
athletes to the end.
Clare Sebastian, CNN, Moscow.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: You're watching News Stream. And coming up, Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel makes history at the Republican National
Convention. We'll tell you what he said as he proudly endorsed Donald Trump for president.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(HEADLINES)
[08:31:50] LU STOUT: Now back to our top story, the final night of the U.S. Republican National Convention and Donald Trump's official
acceptance of the party's nomination for president.
Now, his daughter, Ivanka, revealed a softer side of her father, someone many only know as a
billionaire businessman.
Jason Carroll has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
IVANKA TRUMP, DONALD TRUMP'S DAUGHTER: Like many of my fellow millennials, I do not consider myself categorically Republican or Democrat.
More than party affiliation, I vote based on what I believe is right for my family and for my country.
CARROLL (voice-over): Donald Trump's eldest daughter, Ivanka, trying to broaden her father's appeal, branding him the people's nominee.
I. TRUMP: My father values talent. He recognizes real knowledge and skill when he finds it. He is color blind and gender neutral. He hires the
best person for the job, period.
CARROLL: Ivanka Trump making the case to female voters.
I. TRUMP: At my father's company, there are more female than male executives. Women are paid equally for the work that we do, and when a
woman becomes a mother, she is supported, not shut out. He will fight for equal pay for equal work, and I will fight for this, too, right alongside
of him.
CARROLL: Her speech caps four days of personal testimonies from Trump's children and his wife, Melania.
I. TRUMP: In the same office in Trump Tower where we now work together, I remember playing on the floor by my father's desk, constructing
miniature buildings with LEGOs and Erector Sets while he did the same with concrete, steel, and glass. My father taught my siblings and me the
importance of positive values and a strong ethical compass.
CARROLL: It wasn't just a family affair. Trump's business partner and personal friend of 40 years, Tom Barrack, touting a side of Trump many may
not know.
TOM BARRACK, BUSINESS PARTNER AND FRIEND OF TRUMP: He has these relentless, these relentless beautiful habits. He shows up on time. He
believes that punctuality is the courtesy of kings. He doesn't confuse efforts with results. He befriends the bewildered.
CARROLL: And in a historic moment, openly-gay tech billionaire Peter Thiel receiving a rousing response after making this statement.
PETER THIEL, INVESTOR AND ENTREPRENEUR: Of course every American has a unique identity. I am proud to be gay. I am proud to be a Republican. But
most of all, I am proud to be an American.
CARROLL: Thiel insisting conservatives are focused on the wrong social issues.
THIEL: Now we are told that the great debate is about who gets to use which bathroom. This is a distraction from our real problems. Who cares?
CARROLL: His comments come as the Republican Party is facing criticism for passing an anti-LGBT platform, which stands in sharp contrast to
Trump's views on gays.
D. TRUMP: I will do everything in my power to protect our LGBTQ citizens from the violence and of a hateful foreign ideology. Believe me.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[08:35:12] LU STOUT: And that was Jason Carroll reporting.
Now just to give you a little more context about Peter Thiel who got that high profile speaking slot there.
Now, Thiel was the co-founder of PayPal along with Elon Musk and others. He served as one of Facebook's early investors. In fact, is
sitting on the board. He is a leading figure in Silicon Valley, which is why Thiel speaking is so unusual.
Now, Silicon Valley generally isn't a place that supports Donald Trump. In fact, Trump has been attacked by many in the tech industry,
including the CEO of Facebook.
Now, last week 145 tech employees signed an open letter, warning that Trump would be a disaster for innovation.
But Peter Thiel has long been an outsider. And he is a free thinker. He has invested money in trying to make people immortal and to develop
floating cities beyond the reach of government.
Now federal agents at L.A. airport, they demanded to search the phones of a Wall Street
Journal reporter exposing a little known federal policy in the process. Maria Abdelhabib (ph), an American citizen, was detained at the airport
last week. She first refused to hand over her devices, saying that she is protected by the constitution.
But in a Facebook post, the reporter says that she was then given this document, which details how the government has the right to confiscate
phones within 100 miles of U.S. borders, essentially, it lets them search at will, even without reasonable suspicion of a crime.
The Wall Street Journal says it is disturbed by the incident.
Now, you're watching News Stream. And still to come, Pokemon is going back to its roots. Now we will have the excited fan reaction from the
launch in Japan. Keep it here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LU STOUT: Welcome back.
Now the wait is finally over for Japanese gamers. Pokemon Go has finally launched in the country. And while the original Pokemon debuted in
Japan 20 years ago, Pokemon Go was created in the United States and launched there, weeks ago.
Now here is how players are reacting.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I thought, finally it came. And I couldn't wait to download it. I was like I want to play now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I will have sleepless night from tonight. I have already found so many spots in the neighborhood.
Tonight, I will visit all those places by bicycle.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I thought my childhood dream has come true. I always wondered what if Pokemon came in to the real
world? And it happened.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU SOTUT: Now if you still don't know, Pokemon Go, it tasks players with searching for the creatures in real-world locations. And this is one
location Japanese gamers will be searching for, McDonald's. That's because it is the game's first official sponsor turning McDonald's around the
country into special locations, hotspots, in the game.
Now, Japan is the only Asian country to officially get the game. But it is not the only place in
Asia where you can play it. Now, one city in South Korea near the DMZ is becoming a Pokemon tourist hot spot.
Paula Hancocks explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[08:40:23] PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: All aboard for the Pokemon Go express. Special buses shuttle excited fans to
the only place in South Korea they can play the game that's sweeping the world. Three-and-a-half hours later, GPS kicks in, and they play.
The fishing town of Sokcho, 35 kilometers, or 20 miles, from the demilitarized zone, which splits north and South Korea is a loophole, a
glitch, a tiny area of South Korea that's not geographically blocked by the game developers as it lies just outside their index grids.
PARK YOUN-JOON, SEOUL PRESIDENT: It's pretty interesting, because it's something relates to our reality, you know. Pokemons are appearing on
our, you know, our world. I think it's awesome
HANCOCKS: Crystal Shung (ph) traveled from China just to catch a Pokemon.
So this is what Sokcho used to be famous for. It is a very popular seaside resort. As you can see in the summer sun, sea, sand, everything
you could want. But, for some visitors here today, you wonder if they've even noticed this.
You assume these players know that they've wandered onto a beach. But given the absolute concentration, you just can't be sure.
One man is milking this craze for all it's worth. Dr. Li, the Pokemon alter ego of the mayor of Sokcho Lee Byun-song (ph) is embracing his
newfound popularity. Our residents are very happy and thankful we can play this here, he says, because it's the only region in South Korea. I think we are blessed.
Local businesses are offering discounts depending on how many Pokemon you've caught. There are wi-fi zones and mobile charging stations around
town.
Pokemon Korea says at this point nothing is decided on when the game will officially launch here. Google Maps is restricted here due to
security reasons, although the government insists that is not related to any delay in launching the game.
Google is appealing to the government to release their full map data. But until the game is available across the whole country, expect the city
of Sokcho to be the holy land of Pokemon Go and expect the city to be filled with people in a world of their own.
Paula Hancocks, CNN, Sokcho, South Korea.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: And if you're just so over this, just getting tired of hearing about Pokemon Go, but
you were intrigued by the concept of exploring the real world through a mobile game, got to check out a report on Ingress. It is a sci-fi GPS
game, made by Naiantik (ph). This the same company that made Pokemon Go. Now, Ingress is so addictive that players cross countries to
play with and to meet with other fans. You can check it out CNN.com/newsstream.
And that is News Stream. I'm Kristie Lu Stout. And World Sport with Alex Thomas is next.
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