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Pope Visits Auschwitz; Hillary Clinton Officially Accepts Democratic Nomination; In Guangzhou, "World's Saddest Zoo"; Skepticism over Russian/Syrian Humanitarian Plans in Aleppo. Aired 8:00a-9:00a ET

Aired July 29, 2016 - 08:00   ET

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

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, 2016 DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I accept your nomination for president of the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Hillary Clinton makes history and hits out at Donald Trump as she tries to become the first female president of the United States.

The pope makes his first trip to Auschwitz, paying tribute to those who lost their lives at the notorious German Nazi concentration camp.

And he's been called the world's saddest polar bear. We see what's being done to help this animal living in dire conditions at an aquarium in China.

The face of American politics forever changed Thursday night on the convention floor in Philadelphia, that's where Hillary Clinton officially

accepted the Democratic Party's nomination for president. She is now the first woman to head the presidential ticket for a major party in the United

States.

Now Clinton delivered a nearly hour-long speech. It reflected on her life and her goals for the American people. She also took aim at her Republican

rival Donald Trump.

Now CNN senior Washington correspondent Joe Johns was there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It is with humility, determination, and boundless confidence in America's promise that I accept

your nomination for president of the United States.

(APPLAUSE)

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hillary Clinton drawing a sharp contrast with Donald Trump's vision for America.

CLINTON: Don't believe anyone who says "I alone can fix it." Those were actually Donald Trump's words in Cleveland. And they should set off alarm

bells for all of us. Really? "I alone can fix it"? He is forgetting every last one of us. Americans don't say "I alone can fix it." We say "We'll fix

it together."

JOHNS: Repeatedly slamming Trump.

CLINTON: We heard Donald Trump's answer last week at his convention. He wants to divide us from the rest of the world and from each other. He is

betting that the perils of today's world will blind us to its unlimited promise. He has taken the Republican Party a long way from morning in

America to midnight in America.

JOHNS: Questioning his judgment.

CLINTON: Imagine if you dare, imagine, imagine him in the Oval Office, facing a real crisis. A man you can bait with a tweet is not a man we can

trust with nuclear weapons.

JOHNS: Knocking Trump's understanding of the issues.

CLINTON: Now, Donald Trump, Donald Trump says, and this is a quote, "I know more about ISIS than the generals do." No, Donald, you don't.

(LAUGHTER)

CLINTON: You didn't hear any of this, did you, from Donald Trump at his convention? He spoke for 70 odd minutes, and I do mean odd.

(LAUGHTER)

(APPLAUSE)

CLINTON: And he offered zero solutions. But we already know he doesn't believe these things. No wonder he doesn't like talking about his plans.

You might have noticed, I love talking about mine.

JOHNS: Clinton also using her speech to praise Bernie Sanders and reach out to his supporters.

CLINTON: I want you to know I've heard you. Your cause is our cause.

(APPLAUSE)

JOHNS: Hoping to broaden her base with all voters.

CLINTON: I will be a president for Democrats, Republicans, independents for the struggling, the striving, the successful, for all those who vote for me

and for those who don't, for all Americans together.

(APPLAUSE)

JOHNS: Clinton's daughter, Chelsea, introducing her mother.

CHELSEA CLINTON, HILLARY CLINTON'S DAUGHTER: People ask me all the time how does, she do it?

How does she keep going amid the sound and fury of politics? Here is how. It's because she never, ever forgets who she is fighting for.

[11:05:13] JOHNS: The nominee herself acknowledging the history of the moment.

CLINTON: Standing here as my mother's daughter and my daughter's mother, I'm so happy this day has come. I'm happy for grandmothers and little girls

and everyone in between. I'm happy for boys and men, because when any barrier falls in America, it clears the way for everyone. After all, when

there are no ceilings, the sky is the limit.

(APPLAUSE)

JOHNS: One thing Hillary Clinton did not address head on was the issue of voter trust, which has dogged her throughout the primaries. But she seemed

to be making the case for herself that what is more important.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And that was CNN's Joe Johns reporting. Now, one of the most poignant speeches at the convention on Thursday came from the father of a

U.S. soldier killed in the Iran war. Khizr Khan, a Muslim who lost his son in a suicide bombing in Baghdad 12 years ago, appealed to voters to support

Hillary Clinton.

He accused Donald Trump of smearing fellow Americans who belong to religious minorities.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KHIZR KHAN, FATHER OF MARINE KILLED IN IRAQ: Donald Trump, you're asking Americans to trust you with their future. Let me ask you, have you even

read the United States constitution? I will -- I will gladly lend you my copy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Meanwhile, Donald Trump told supporters at a campaign rally in Iowa that he wants to hit the DNC speakers who criticized him. He focused

on one speaker, but his campaign didn't reply to requests to clarify who that person is. Here's what Trump had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: The things that were said about me, I wanted to. I wanted to hit a couple of those speakers so hard. I would have hit them -- no, no. I was

going to hit them -- I was all set. I was going to hit one guy in particular, a very little guy. I was going to hit this guy so hard his

head would spin, he wouldn't know what the hell happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: The Trump campaign has since issued a statement slamming Clinton's acceptance speech, and in it Trump's senior policy adviser Steven

Miller writes this, quote, "Hillary Clinton's speech was an insulting collection of cliches and recycled rhetoric." He goes on to say, "she

spent the evening talking down to the American people she's looked down on her whole life."

Now Pope Francis made a historic and powerful visit to the Auschwitz- Birkenau memorial in Poland, the former World War II concentration camp. And estimates of those who were killed run into the millions, mostly

European Jews.

And one of the prison cells he visited once held a Catholic priest who volunteered to take the place of another prisoner set to be executed. Pope

Francis remained silent the entire visit.

Now Pope Francis is in Poland to mark world youth day at a Catholic pilgrimage. Let's get more on her visit from our Vatican correspondent

Delia Gallagher. She joins us now live from Krakow.

And Delia, I mean, it's powerful imagery there. The world watched earlier today live the pope walking in silence, praying around the camp in

Auschwitz. He gave no speech but that visit spoke volumes.

Tell us what was the pontiff's message?

DALIA GALLAGHER, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kristie, the pope said before this trip that he wanted to go to Auschwitz in silence. He didn't

want to give a speech. He didn't even want to have a lot of people around him. He said he wanted to enter, pray, and pray that god would give him

the grace to weep.

And as you saw, that is what he did. He spent his time in prayer, first at Auschwitz, and then moving to Birkenau.

In terms of his message, I would say it is one of memory and mercy. Memory, of course, in these places. It is important, just the gesture that

the pope is there. He has spoken about memory to the Polish authorities when he arrived here on Wednesday evening and he spoke last night to the

youth about the importance of memory, of knowing your history.

why do you need to know your history? Obviously so it will not be repeated.

But at the same time, the pope says, with memory has to come forgiveness, forgiveness for the atrocities that have been committed, or in the case of

the kids, he said, you have to show mercy to one another, as god has shown mercy to you.

So, the pope's overall theme not only for this morning's visit to Auschwitz and Birkenau, but also for this entire trip coming at this very critical

time for Europe on a number of fronts is certainly one of mercy. This is the year of mercy for Pope Francis, the idea of forgiveness -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: A very somber visit there to Auschwitz-Birkenau on day three of the pope's visit to Poland. And while there, he continues to urge mercy

and compassion for migrants.

Tell us more about his message to the people of Poland and to the pilgrims there for World

Youth Day.

[08:10:33] GALLAGHER: Well, on the question of immigration, of course, this is a question not just for Poland, it is a question for all European

countries. At this time they're grappling with how to handle immigrants and asylum seekers. And Pope Francis has been very clear that he would

like to see an open door policy.

Now, there are two caveats to that. One is that when the pope is in a host country he doesn't try to hammer too hard on internal politics, but as this

is also European question, the pope again to the polish authorities said they have to have a spirit of readiness to welcome the immigrant.

At the same time, Pope Francis recognizes, and he said to Polish authorities, that it is a complex question, and that the conflicts that are

occurring in those countries from which immigrants are coming also needs to be addressed by the international community.

So he struck a balance in his message, but we all know that Pope Francis is very much in favor of keeping an open door policy. Of course, he's the

pope, so that's easy for him to say. It's got to be the politicians who figure out how to work that on the grassroots level.

He mentioned it again to the young people in a different way, but the same concept. There are young people here from 187 countries around the world.

He said get to know each other. You are all brothers and sisters. So starting at a grassroots level with this new generation, which is so

important for our future, this is where the pope wants to start sowing those seeds of peace.

LU STOUT: Delia Gallagher reporting for us live from Krakow. Thank you, Delia.

Now, the United Nations is telling Russia to stay out of humanitarian operations in Aleppo. Now, Russian and Syrian forces say that they would

set up several safe corridors to help civilians escape Syria's largest city that's been under siege. But the UN special envoy to Syria says

establishing relief routes should be left to them. That's because men under 40 would stay because they don't know what will happen to them if

they enter government-held territory.

Now, the UN also says that the city will run out of food within weeks, as the Syrian army, backed by Russia, the cuts off vital supply routes to

neighborhoods under rebel control.

Now, Clarissa Ward joins us live. She was in Aleppo reporting there just a few months ago. And Clarissa, again, Syria and Russia they say the

corridors are open. They say it's safe to leave. But there is there any sign of people leaving Aleppo?

CLARISSA WARD, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, no. At this stage, Kristie, it appears that those corridors still, in fact, are not open and

there's still a big question mark here for a lot of the residents. If they do leave the city, will they ever be able to come back? Are they

essentially forfeiting their rights to continue to live in their own homes?

We also heard that from State Department spokesman yesterday from the U.S., saying essentially, what should be happening here is that corridors should

be open to allow food and aid in to rebel-held Aleppo to the people in their homes who need that aid.

What seems to be happening, actually, is that Russian and Syrian forces are calling for people to leave their homes to get that aid. So there's a lot

of suspicion from people who are on the ground inside rebel-held Syria as to what these humanitarian corridors will actually look like, and whether

they would want to take them.

Now at the same time, of course, this is basically a matter of survival at this stage. You have an estimated 300,000 civilians who are trapped in

this part of rebel-held Syria. According to the UN, food prices have surged by 300 percent, Kristie.

Most people there, it's important to remember, do not work, do not have jobs, do not have disposable income. There's a shortage of water. There's

a shortage of diesel. Diesel, of course, is what keeps the generators going. The generators are what keeps the hospitals running. And the

hospitals, meanwhile, are being bombed relentlessly. We're hearing reports that four hospitals have been hit in just the last week.

So, we should be clear that the situation which has been a dire situation in Aleppo for months

now, now appears to be approaching a crisis point, Kristie.

just desperate and dire situation inside Aleppo, a city that's been just constantly pounded by regime forces for months now. And there's new drone

video that's emerged showing us what the picture looks like inside Aleppo? Have you seen it?

[08:15:00] WARD: I have. And I think it's just extraordinary. You know, I want our viewers to have a sense of what Aleppo used to be like. It's

Syria's most populous city, it's the hub of trade. It's bustling. Now look at it. It is essentially an apocalyptic moonscape. Much of it has

just been reduced to the ground. You can see there's no color anymore. There's few buildings anymore. The only sign of life for these government tanks

shooting around these rebel-held areas.

It's difficult to describe in words, having just been there a few months ago and seen already how intense the devastation was, to see this new drone

video which the Syrian army appears to have released as a kind of mark of celebration that they have now cut off rebel forces there.

And to see the change, and to see the devastation from that drone perspective where you see

how vast it is, how massive it is. And of course, the question becomes how on Earth can you ever begin to rebuild this, let alone call it any kind of

a victory, Kristie.

LU STOUT: Yeah. I mean Aleppo once a vibrant city, once a major economic hub, now it's a wasteland. And Clarissa, separately, but staying in Syria,

reports that the Nusra Front has split from al Qaeda. How significant is this development and what does it mean?

WARD: Well, this is an interesting one, because it's been in the pipeline for awhile, but essentially we heard yesterday, Abu Mohammed al Julani

(ph), who is the head of the al Nusra Front, announced that they would be splitting, or decoupling from al Qaeda. A lot of people saying that this

is just opportunistic, that this is words, that this is an attempt to stave off a proposed joint U.S./Russian bombing campaign that would target Jubhat

al Nusra.

And certainly there doesn't appear to have been, Kristie, any big shift in their ideology. Julani (ph) began his speech by thanking al Qaeda head

Ayman al Zawahiri. He also quoted Osama bin Laden.

But at the same time, I have been talking to a senior leader from this group, and it's clear they are trying to telegram something to the outside

world. They are trying to present themselves as rational actors. They are trying to say to the outside world that they have no intention of launching

attacks outside of their base in Syria. And they're also trying to show that they are putting the needs of the Syrian people ahead of their own

political agendas, so to speak.

But as with all these things, only time will tell whether these are just words or whether there's any real significance to this shift, Kristie.

LU STOUT: All right, Clarissa Ward reporting for us live. Thank you, Clarissa.

And you're watching News Stream. And still to come, there is just one week until the Rio games kick off and we'll take you live to Rio to find out how

last-minute preparations are going.

Plus, Turkey's post-coup crackdown goes on. And there are allegations of torture. CNN speaks to the families of detained soldiers.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:20:03] LU STOUT: Coming to you live from Hong Kong you're back watching News Stream.

Now, the Rio Olympics kick off exactly one week from today. And the road to get there has not

been easy. The nation has struggled with security concerns, the Zika outbreak and more recently

complaints that the Olympic Village wasn't ready.

Now, days ago team Australia spoke of blocked toilets, leaky pipes and exposed wiring. But the organizers now say that all the amendments to the

living quarters are complete and the village is in normal operational mode.

Now soon, hundreds of thousands of tourists and athletes will be at Rio Olympic stadiums and

venues, and authorities have to prepare for any possible accident or event.

Now, Rosa Flores got exclusive access to a hazmat drill at a Rio hospital. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: CNN getting exclusive access to a fire drill, involving firefighters.

Now here is the scenario, they tell us that the scenario is an explosion, an explosion has happened. These firefighters have brought in a

firefighter who is hurt. He's brought in to this tent for triage, and you can see that all of these are hazmat, and medics, as well.

And this is triage, this is where they are assessing the situation, figuring out what is wrong, and also, if there is anything toxic involved

that they have to handle.

Now, what's going to happen is, they are cutting his clothes at this moment, assessing the

situation, and he's actually going to be hosed down.

Now, these are very tense moments right now, because not only are they protecting themselves from whatever is on the body, they're also trying to

protect the victim, in this case a firefighter.

Now in the meantime there are other patients also coming in, in this drill. You can see in this case, it is a woman who has been injured.

Now, she is actually conscious. So she's speaking, medics here and hazmat team members are asking her questions and trying to assess her situation.

Now we've learned that there will be 146 ambulances on the ready during the Olympic Games

throughout the city of Rio, four of those will be dedicated to anything involving chemical, nuclear or biological.

Now as you can see he is being moved to the next level of this phase, of this triage. And what

this means is now he is ready to be taken by the medics and in to the hospital.

Now, once inside the hospital he would be taken to whatever unit he needs the most, whether it be ICU or for any kind of surgery.

But the key thing here is the following: these drills are paramount, because the lessons learned here could mean life or death during the

Olympic Games.

Rosa Flores, CNN, Rio de Janeiro.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Wow, quite a display of readiness there. Now, Rosa Flores is in Rio. She joins us live with more. And Rosa as we can see, they want to

prove that they're ready, that they've been going through the drills. Security is on alert.

But do Brazilians and visitors, and that includes the athletes, of course, does everyone feel safe in the city?

FLORES: You know, that's a great question. And let me approach it this way. What visitors Brazilian spectators will be able to see out on the

street are 85,000 soldiers, law enforcement officers, firemen, who will be patrolling, making sure that the venues are hardened and secure.

What they won't see is what is being done behind the scenes, by intelligence officials. We're told that intelligence sharing is happening

among Brazil, and foreign countries to make sure that they can anticipate any sort of attack, so that they can act upon any intelligence from any

participating country regarding a possible attack.

So, Kristie, it's really important to understand that there are so many different threats that they are trying to assess and prepare for. Just

like you saw in that drill, there are very intense moments. Thousands of people have been running these drills not only on the safety aspect, but

hazmat, preparing for terrorist attacks, for nuclear attacks, for biological attacks, and they're taking them very, very seriously.

As you saw, I talked to some of the medics there and some of the hazmat personnel. They tell us they have been doing these drills over and over

and over, learning from them, and almost like rehashing the drill to make sure that they improve their process.

In the case of an emergency, drills like those could save a life -- Kristie.

[08:25:04] LU STOUT: All right Rosa Flores, reporting for us live from Rio. One week to go. Thank you, Rosa.

Now, Turkey's president is looking to tighten his grip on power after this month's failed coup. A Turkish official says that he now wants the

country's army and intelligence agency under his personal control.

Meanwhile, Turkey's foreign ministry says it has sacked almost 90 of its workers since the attempted takeover. Now it's part of an ever widening

crackdown across the country. And some of the media, schools, even hospitals have been shut down. Thousands of people are in custody, mostly

members of the military.

Ian Lee talked to some families of the detained soldiers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IAN LEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: private Umut Tuna just finished basic training when the young soldier was ordered to mobilize in a coup,

says his sister. Now his fate and the fate of over 1,000 conscripts is unknown.

"He called me from the police station," Tuna's sister tells me. "He wasn't aware of the coup. He was told he was going out for a drill. He is very

scared. He is only 20 years old."

Outside Saliverie (ph) prison, dozens of families wait hoping their loved ones will be released soon.

This mother worries how she'll feed her two children.

"My husband is completely innocent," she says. "My children cry out for their father. I need my husband back. He's our sole bred winner."

Sukru Espoglu drove across the country to camp outside the prison with his wife. He marched against the coup, not knowing his son was on the other

side.

"We didn't hear from our son when the coup began," he tells me. "We went to the square to perform our democratic duty. The next day, we were told

our son had been arrested."

In Turkey, every able-bodied young man is conscripted into the military. Soldiers are taught to follow orders. So on the night of the coup when

their commander said go, they went. But according to the families, many of their sons were left in the dark.

On July 15, excuses ranged, we're told, from a terror attack to military drills. Thousands of soldiers mobilized to oust President Recep Tayyip

Erdogan, but it quickly failed. And over 9,000 soldiers were taken into custody.

Those appearing on TV were bloody, bruised, and scared.

Pictures of detainees flooded social media. Rights groups condemned the treatment. Amnesty International claims some soldiers, especially senior

ranking, are being tortured, which includes stress positions, denying food, water or medical treatment, beatings and rape.

The government shot back in a statement calling the allegations unsubstantial and unfounded adding that the accusation detainees are

subject to rape are completely fictional claims, and only amount to aspersion.

The families outside the prison believe their sons, fathers and brothers will be released, but their main worry now is about the future. Will their

loved ones be branded as traitors for just following orders?

Ian Lee, CNN, Turkey.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: You're with News Stream. And after the break, we go to Indonesia. Now, the government there is standing firm as human rights

group express outrage over the execution of drug offenders.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(HEADLINES)

[08:32:03] LU STOUT: The Indonesian government is defending its tough stance on drug trafficking after four prisoners convicted of drug related

crimes were executed by firing squad early on Friday.

Human rights groups are outraged.

Paula Hancocks reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kristie, four convicted drug traffickers have been executed by firing squad and 10 more

had a very sudden and unexpected reprieve. Indonesian officials saying of those that those cases will be decided on at a later date and executions

will be carried out at an appropriate time.

Human rights groups, though, have condemned the death penalty being carried out on those four, condemning the government of President Joko Widodo.

Amnesty International saying, quote, "any executions that are still to take place must be halted immediately. The injustice already done can not be

reversed, but there's still hope that it won't be compounded."

One Indonesian, three Nigerians have lost their lives. The legal team of one of those Nigerians, Humphrey Jefferson Ejike, says that he was unjustly

killed as they believe that the legal process was still ongoing. They say that there was strong evidence of torture. He was not given a fair trial.

The government denied those accusations in subsequent appeals.

The lawyer also mentioned the increased security and secrecy surrounding these executions compared to those of last year, saying that he was

watching live television with some of the families of those who were executed and that is how they found out the executions had taken place.

Now the Indonesian government says that they are working within international law. The Foreign Ministry spokesman says for Indonesia, the

death penalty is a positive law that is still effective here. The United Nations disagrees.

FARHAN HAQ, U.N. SPOKESMAN: Under international law, if the death penalty is to be used at all, it should only be imposed for the most serious

crimes, namely those involving intentional killing. Drug crimes are generally not considered to meet this threshold.

HANCOCKS: Indonesia insists it is fighting an all-out drug war, a drug emergency under the two years, less than two years that President Joko

Widodo has been in power, there have already been 18 executions -- Kristie.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Paula Hancocks there.

Now, still to come right here on News Stream, it has been called the world's saddest zoo. Now, we're going to show you the conditions inside

China's grand view aquarium as hundreds of thousands of people sign an online petition for it to be shut down.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:36:13] LU STOUT: Welcome back.

Now in the heart of Guangzhou, China lies a shopping center that's causing an international uproar. Now, the reason, it houses what's been called the

world's saddest zoo. Now, the star attraction a polar bear who's been living in miserable conditions.

Let's bring up the video for you. You can see that there is no light, no natural light for it. Its habitat is cramped. There is no escape from the

crowds. And sadly this bear is one of several animals stuck in the Grand View Aquarium, including young beluga whales, walrus calves and arctic

foxes.

Now, Animals Asia wants the facility closed. And so far more than half a million people have signed the online petition.

I spoke with the organization's animal welfare director about the zoo's conditions.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVE NEALE, ANIMAL WELFARE DIRECTOR, ANIMALS ASIA: It's a poor facility, really. It's, as you can imagine, a lot of these animals are inside of a

glass tank, so it's all indoors. So it's holding animals in an incredibly unnatural situations. And then, it's really designed for the public to see

the animals rather than for the animals to be in any kind of comfort or any kind of environment, which they would be used to or would replicate their

sort of natural environment.

So, it's of major concern for us due to the welfare of these animals, which are likely to be suffering due to the conditions of there being expected

to live within.

LU STOUT: And because of your deep concern for the welfare of these animals you've been reaching out and speaking directly to the aquarium.

What kind of advice are you giving them?

NEALE: With all of the facilities that we come across like this within China then we always try to reach out to them. And actually, in most

cases, it's very difficult to develop any kind of dialogue. And, to the credit of Grand View, they have actually reached out. They've come back to

us and said, look, please come and give us some advice on the management of our animals.

And so I've actually visited the facility twice in the last couple of months and we have provided them with some very basic information about

the natural history, the natural behaviors of some of the animals that they have to try to get them to think a little bit more about some of the things

that they could do to try to increase -- improve the welfare of the animals that they're housing.

And then giving them some examples from around the world, where some basic enrichment items have been given to animals such as the polar bear in this

case, to improve their welfare.

So they have actually listened to our advice, and are asking us for more advice. So in that sense, you know, they go one step further than many

other facilities within China.

LU STOUT: Yeah, it's good to hear that they're being receptive. But what does an animal need when it's living in captivity? Of course it's more

ideal for it to be living in the wild but in the case of the polar bear, what does it require?

NEALE: Polar bears now in good facilities are provided with incredibly extensive enclosures. They're provided with pools they can swim in.

They're provided with all kinds of different types of environments, so some rock substrates where they can do some climbing, some areas where they can

be in the shade, some grassed areas, some sandy beachy areas. These are the type of enclosures now which we're seeing in good zoos that keep polar

bears, because we know that they require a lot of resources to be able to keep them healthy and to keep them happy.

Whereas, the facility in Grand View, which is very similar to many other facilities within China, unfortunately, provides none of that whatsoever --

it's a concrete enclosure, with a small pool for the polar bear to swim in. But that's pretty much it.

LU STOUT: Animals Asia has put up an online petition calling for the closure of the Grand View aquarium. And over half a million people have

signed it, which is a tremendous response. But what is your goal now? Is it for the closure of the aquarium, or to introduce better living

conditions for the animals already in captivity?

[08:40:07] NEALE: Ideally, we would like to see the -- these animals removed from this facility. I mean this would be the best outcome.

Obviously, taken from that facility and maybe put into another facility where they could have improved welfare.

Reality is, I don't think that's going to happen. As Isay, we've met with the management of Grand View a number of times, and they have said to us

although they want to improve the welfare, they have no -- they're not looking towards closing the facility down or moving the animals elsewhere.

I think short-term wise, yes, we know the animals are staying and we want to help improve the

facility. We would like to see that in the long-term we can continue these pressure to get them to agree with us that the animals can't stay at that

facility.

(END VIDEOATPE)

LU STOUT: And that was Animal Asia's Dave Neale speaking to me earlier just describing the conditions for animals at the Grand View Aquarium in

Guangzhou and efforts to improve the facilities there and elsewhere in China.

Now, Chinese state media reports that scientists have found the world's deepest underwater sinkhole in the South China Sea.

Now scientists used an underwater robot to determine its depth an incredible 300 meters. Now, below 100 meters, it's mostly free of oxygen

so life is not likely to survive there.

Now, the blue hole in the Bahamas, the dean's blue hole as it's known, was previously thought to be the deepest underwater sinkhole at over 200

meters, but now the Dragon hole in China, that's what the locals call it, that is now carrying the title.

Now finally, Finland's 100th birthday is coming up, and its neighboring country Norway has

huge plans for a birthday gift. In fact, it's a mountain of a gift. Norway's considering giving away the summit of Halti Mountain, that would

make it the tallest point in Finland.

Now let's zoom in for you. You can see on the map, Halti is on the border of Norway and Finland, but now the Norwegian prime minister says the border

could possibly shift to let Finland have it.

Now plans not yet set in stone yet, but Norway is looking into it.

And that is News Stream. I'm Kristie Lu Stout. But don't go anywhere. World Sport with Riannon Jones is next.

END