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Hillary Clinton's Pneumonia Forces Halt in Campaign; South Korea's Plan to Defend Against North Korean Missile Program; Markets Down Over Fears of U.S. Federal Reserve Rate Hike; A Virtual Japanese High School. Aired 8:00a-9:00a ET

Aired September 12, 2016 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:23] KRISTIE LU STOUT, HOST: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong, and welcome to News Stream.

Now, with less than two months before the U.S. presidential election, pneumonia forces Hillary Clinton to cancel a campaign trip to California.

North Korea says severe flooding has killed more than 130 people and makes a rare appeal for relief.

And one man's quest to change the treatment of disabled people in China by traveling across the whole country in his wheelchair.

Hillary Clinton has canceled a campaign trip to California so she can recover from pneumonia. She was diagnosed on Friday, but her campaign only

disclosed the illness on Sunday after video surfaced of Clinton following a 9/11 memorial event.

Now she stumbled and had to be assisted into a waiting van after she left the ceremony early. CNN's Jeff Zeleny has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hillary Clinton off the campaign trail this morning as she recovers from pneumonia, canceling a

two-day trip to California. His health thrush into the spotlight after her aide said she became overheated and dehydrated while attending the 9/11

ceremony at Ground Zero.

This video shows Clinton leaving early and as she tries stepping into her van, she wobbles and slumps. Secret Service agents and aides quickly

grab her and hold her up.

Two law enforcement sources telling CNN she appeared to faint. Then Clinton taken to her daughter Chelsea's apartment three miles away. More

than an hour later, Clinton emerged smiling.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's a beautiful day.

ZELENY: Even taking a picture with a young girl before climbing into her motorcade and heading home. Her campaign says she was even playing with

her two grandkids inside.

Yet hours later, her doctor revealed the 68-year-old was diagnosed with pneumonia two days earlier after an evaluation for her prolonged

cough.

Despite the diagnosis on Friday, she continued a grueling schedule, holding two fundraisers in New York City, a large national security

briefing and press conference along with an interview with our own Chris Cuomo and other media outlets.

Donald Trump just feet away from his rival at Ground Zero unusually quiet over her diagnosis after speculating about her health for months.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't think she doesn't have the stamina. Hillary Clinton does not have the stamina. Watched

Hillary who doesn't have the strength or the stamina.

ZELENY: Republicans close to the Trump campaign telling CNN, they want to be respectful of the health issue. Staff and campaign surrogates

instructing supporters not to post anything negative on social media.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And that was CNN's Jeff Zeleny reporting. And since that report was filed,

Donald Trump has told Fox News that he doesn't know what's going on with Hillary Clinton's health

but hopes she gets well soon. He says he had a physical last week and will release the results of that exam soon.

Now, for a closer look now at Clinton's pneumonia diagnosis and her recovery process, let's go straight to CNN's chief medical correspondent

Dr. Sanjay Gupta. He joins us live from New York.

And Sanjay, thank you so much for joining us. Of course, the world knows now Hillary Clinton has pneumonia. What kind of medical guidance is

she likely getting from her doctors?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, the guidance that it sounds like she got even back to Friday was to rest,

recovery, rehydration, and also to be taking antibiotics, which is typically something used for bacterial pneumonia.

So there's no magic formula, Kristie, when it comes to these sorts of things, but this idea it's a serious diagnosis. It's not something to be

taken lightly and resting typically while taking these medications is going to be the general guidance that doctors are going to provide.

LU STOUT: The debate has been swirling over medical records and releasing them. I mean, how much should voters in America know about a

candidate's health?

GUPTA: You know, this is something I've been reporting on for years. I mean, I think when it comes to job of president and vice president even I

think there is a certain right to know, maybe not everything. I mean, I think there's some privacy that, obviously, makes sense. But anything that

could affect the job, any kind of diagnosis that might be significant. I think something like this, especially when someone is sort of taken off

the scene for a period of time as a result of the pneumonia, those types of things probably need to be disclosed.

So there's no requirements for that as things stand now, whether it even involves having

an independent panel of doctors look at the medical records and draw conclusions, I think even that

would be helpful.

Right now there's such a collegial relationship between candidates and their doctors, oftentimes they are friends. It's really hard to get

objective data, objective knowledge out of what is released, what little is released about the candidates.

LU STOUT: And a medical perspective check here, I mean, we know that pneumonia, this is a very serious illness, it's worrying, very worrying for

Hillary Clinton, who is, like her rival, over 65 years old, Medically how concerning is it?

GUPTA: Well, you know, I think this is a very treatable thing. This is -- pneumonia is a

serious diagnosis, you're absolutely right. But it's also treatable. We know that people over the age of

65 are going to be more vulnerable to pneumonia, so from an age perspective it's not that surprising, especially given her grueling schedule that she's

had. And, you know, that can put you at risk, as well. So not entirely surprising that she has pneumonia.

I think that with antibiotics and with the rest and recovery that we just talked about, I think she could actually make a full recovery, and it

take a matter of days or maybe a week to do so. But again, it's one of those things that you also can't blow off, you know, you've got to actually

be seen, you've got to be checked, follow the guidance, otherwise it could become a lot worse.

LU STOUT: And also the video that we saw of Hillary Clinton stumbling before she got into her campaign van, what was the cause of that, was that

due to her pneumonia, was a combination of a very demanding schedule and her pneumonia, or is it something else?

GUPTA: Well, you know, Kristie, I can only tell you what we've heard from the campaign. When you watch that video, it's quite noticeable. I

mean, there's nothing equivocal about this. And you know, it's even more than just a stumble, you can see she's having clear difficulty even taking

a couple of steps, very unbalanced at this point. The picture that we sort of hear from her doctors as well as the campaign is, look, she has

pneumonia, the pneumonia because of the fever, because of the disease, can make you be dehydrated. She's on medications, one for an underactive

thyroid, that medication can make you feel overheated. She's increased her

decongestants, her anti-histamines. They dry out your sinuses, but they also can dry out your body and that can make you feel dehydrated and have a

low blood pressure as a result, as well, and even be sedating.

So, they paint a sort of picture of a combination of all these things together really cause her to

have these symptoms. But again, we're only watching a video. Anything that we say big or small is purely speculative.

I have not examined her. This is what we're hearing from the campaign and the doctor.

ANDERSON: All right, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thank you very much indeed for joining us, take

care.

GUPTA: You've got it, Kristie, thank you.

ANDERSON: Now, meanwhile, in the wake of North Korea's first nuclear test that took place on Friday, Clinton released a statement condemning the

action. She discussed the situation in an interview with CNN's Chris Cuomo. And we want to note their discussion was filmed performed before

her pneumonia diagnosis became public.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: North Korea.

HILLARY CLINTON, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Yes.

CUOMO: There is now word that, not only was this a test, but it could be a sign that they could have a warhead, a small one, in a shorter time

frame than had been reasoned -- recently expected.

We remember with Syria the line in the sand that the president drew.

CLINTON: Mm-hmm.

CUOMO: When you look at North Korea, if you were president of the United States, what would be your line in the sand that, if this supposed

madman in North Korea gets a weapon, that if he crosses this line, it's no longer just about sanctions?

CLINTON: Oh, I absolutely believe that it has to be made very clear we will not allow North Korea to have a deliverable nuclear weapon, and we

will approach this from a number of perspectives.

I have had conversations in the past with the Chinese about North Korea. Up until relatively recently, I think they were under the impression

that they could control their neighbor, and they didn't want to crack down because they saw it as a useful card to play. He gets a little crazy, maybe

the South Koreans will, you know, move toward them a little bit. He gets a little crazier, maybe they can make some deals with the Japanese about some

things they want.

It was a -- it was a strategic calculation. It's not that way anymore. The current leader is unpredictable for both the Chinese and the rest of

us. The current leader is clearly intent upon ignoring pressure, advice of any sort coming from anywhere else.

And so we have got to make it clear missile defense is going in as quickly and broadly as possible.

Our message to the North Koreans and everyone else listening, they will not be permitted to acquire a nuclear weapon that has a deliverable

capacity on a ballistic missile.

And we have got to start intensifying our discussions with the Chinese, because they can't possibly want this big problem on their

doorstep.

[08:11:03] CUOMO: When they say to you, what does that mean they won't be allowed to have one?

CLINTON: Well, we're not going to go into all the details. I mean, obviously, that's not something that I have the right to do or the

responsibility at this moment to do.

But that will be the policy of my administration, because I don't think we're going to make progress -- I mean, adding additional sanctions

and doing it the way that we did, that I led with Iran, did have a big impact, because they worked.

The Chinese have been awfully leaky. You know, the regime lives off of luxury goods and the kind of benefits that they then can use to, you know,

reward their loyal followers. We have never been able to fully cut that off.

And so we will do more on sanctions, because that's part of an overall strategy, but that's not enough.

(END VIDEOTAPE) LU STOUT: Hillary Clinton speaking with Chris Cuomo there.

And just to repeat, that interview took place before Clinton's stumble at the 9/11 commemoration service and before her pneumonia diagnosis has

been made public.

Now, there has been widespread condemnation of the nuclear test. The UN is pleading with Pyongyang to reverse course. And there's a push for

even tougher sanctions against North Korea, but Seoul has a military plan in place in case those efforts fail with a key ally backing it up.

Paula Hancocks has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: "Ready to fight tonight": the U.S. military motto in South Korea. More than 28,000

personnel ready to defend their ally at a moment's notice.

Now South Korea says it has a plan of its own. The defense ministry says it's planning for the worst case scenario, assuming North Korea is at

least physically ready for nuclear test number six.

The deputy defense minister saying we need to be aware that the biggest threat to the U.S.-South Korean alliance is Kim Jong-un himself,

who considers nuclear and missile as a tool of survival for the regime. The military says it may they imminently feel threatened by North Korea's

nuclear weapons, they will directly target the leadership, meaning Kim Jong-un himself would be fair game, not the first time Seoul has threatened

this.

The panel also includes surgical missile attacks and exclusive special warfare units.

Experts say it will be far more surprising if South Korea didn't have a war plan.

DANIEL PINKSTON, TROY UNIVERSITY: A president would want to have that option and make that decision, and so that would be one potential option

and not presenting that to the president, not training for it and having that capability would be a mistake.

HANCOCKS: South Korea's military says they are developing an operational plan with the U.S., which does include the process of

preemptive strikes, publicly putting North Korea on notice. But actually launching a strike is unpalatable to most leaders with expectations of

ensuing an all-out war and mass causalities on both sides, miscalculation seems more of a concern.

PINKSTON: One side might begin to act for limited gains or limited objectives, and then on the other side retaliates that spiral could happen

very quickly.

HANCOCKS: Pyongyang has long claimed that the only reason they are developing this nuclear and missile program is to defend themselves against

U.S. aggression. They also appear unconcerned by the prospect of further sanctions. On Sunday, they called that prospect laughable.

Paula Hancocks, CNN, Seoul.

(END VIDOETAPE)

LU STOUT: And amid the nuclear dispute, North Korea has been contending with deadly floods. The UN citing figures from Pyongyang says

at least 133 people have been killed.

Now, Chad Myers has been tracking the rain in that region. He joins us now.

And Chad, it's pretty incredible that North Korea is being direct and open about the severity of the floods. What more have you learned about

what's happening there?

[08:15:01] CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, we've seen some pictures and it really is a stark reminder of what can happen when a

tropical cyclone comes on land and kind of sits there and dies.

If you remember, we talked about this a couple weeks ago, Lion Rock, Tropical Cyclone Lion

Rock. It was a typhoon for a while, coming across Japan, kind of dying off and just turning into a

tropical storm or what they call over there a tropical cyclone.

Here is the river that is being flooded here. It is the Tumen River. There is an area here of higher elevation through North Korea right through

here. What happened was that as the storm moved on up even toward Russia, the backside of the storm continued to push moisture against those

mountains. And so the flooding happened to the west into the city here. And there are some significant pictures.

Let me take a look at some of these here, we'll show them to you. The flooding is going to last a long time. We've seen quite a few press

releases from North Korea talking about how they are sending their men and women up there to help reconstruct this. Houses are gone. They will

rebuild. They will rebuild the city, and they need some help up there. I mean, all these men and women are

going to have to rebuild what they think now will be almost 10,000 homes that were destroyed, maybe somewhere between 6,000 and 10,000 homes that

were destroyed, and so they are going to go up there and do that.

Here's how Lion Rock occurred. It happened down here, it went south of Japan, then back up and around hit the northern island there of Japan

eventually died over Russia. But it was the backside of the storm, it was the wrap around part of the cyclone, of the typhoon, and that was the real

issue, that wrap around part put up to about 200 to 400 millimeters of rain in the

mountains and all that water went back downhill. It went right down into the river Tumen River and the Tumen river is the one that has flooded.

Now, we expect there was probably some other flooding around, as well, because there were some very heavy rainfall amounts all across that region

as that storm hit -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: You know, Chad, tens of thousands of people have been left homeless. It's going to get cold there pretty soon. So, how much time

does North Korea have to rebuild those homes before the bitter Korean winter sets in?

MYERS: You know, you're probably talking less than two months. Because let's say, you know, the middle of November, we're already in

September -- you have October, November, and all of a sudden the cold north winds become violent there across northern sections of Asia as a cold front

rolls through northern China and then down here. So temperatures will be down probably below sea, below zero sea for most of the evening hours in

the middle part of November.

Here we go. I want to talk about something else here, I'm kind of throwing you a loop here, but this is a major super typhoon just developing

here called Meranti (ph) and it's heading somewhere in the neighborhood of Taiwan, very close to what Napartak (ph) did. We'll keep you advised on

that, as well -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: Yeah, absolutely. And we'll probably need an update from you tomorrow night. Chad Myers reporting for us. As always, thank you,

take care.

Now, you're watching News Stream. Still to come on the program, counting down to a cease-fire. People in Syria are waiting to find out if

it will really happen and what it will mean to them.

Also ahead, France's prime minister warns the country is still a target for terror after police stop two suspected plots in just the past

week. An update is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:20:33] LU STOUT: Coming to you live from Hong Kong, you're back watching News Stream. Now the French prime minister is warning the nation

to be prepared. Manuel Valls says the country remains a target for terror, and that attacks are being thwarted every day.

Now just this past weekend sources say police arrested a 15-year-old suspected of planning a knife attack in Paris. And a woman was charged for

what prosecutors says was a plot to attack the Notre Dame Cathedral.

Jim Bittermann is following the situation from Paris. He joins us now live. And Jim, a very stark warning from the French prime minister. What

more did he say about the threat France is facing?

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, he made it clear that this is the maximal threat, as he put it. The fact is that when

he started numbering the number of jihadis that are in Syria, 700, and the number of people that the French authorities believe are being

radicalized, 15,000 across the country, you sort of get an idea of the kind of problem the authorities here are facing.

Basically, I think he was trying to warn people that this is an ongoing thing that the government is still trying to get its hands around

that we've seen a number of attacks this summer.

One of the things that happened over the last few days, for example, that Notre Dame, that attempted attack at Notre Dame cathedral, it was

clear that that was related to other attacks that took place here. One of the women that's in custody now and being questioned, in fact, had a

boyfriend who carried out that first attack earlier in the summer against two policemen and then later on she had a second boyfriend, second

boyfriend. He was first one was killed in the first attack, the second boyfriend turned out carried out that attack against the priest --a priest

up in Rouen, and he was also killed by police.

But there's a kind of a network here that's developed. And it's developed around French national, who is in Syria currently. Rasheed

Khaseem (ph), who went to Syria, a former social worker here in France, went to Syria with his wife and children, and according to authorities he's

the one that's remotely controlling some of these attacks that are going on now -- Kristie?

LU STOUT: And Jim, a 15-year-old, a minor was arrested over the weekend suspected of planning a terror attack. I mean, is this a reminder

of the threat posed still by radicalization inside France?

BITTERMANN: Absolutely. This is something that the government would like to go after.

By the way, that 15 year old was also related to Rasheed Khaseem (ph). The authorities say he was in contact one way or another with Khaseem (ph)

in Syria. In any case, yes, they are trying to stop the kind of radicalization that takes place on the internet. And it's going to be a

subject that President Hollande brings up at the European summit coming up this week. To figure out a way to make internet operators more responsible

for the kinds of things that are happening on their company sites, on their various encrypted sites that are allowing young people to be radicalized as

they are -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: All right, Jim Bitterman reporting live for us from Paris. Thank you, Jim.

Now, it is mid-afternoon in Syria where a cease-fire is set to begin at sunset. The 48 hour truce is meant to allow humanitarian aid to reach

civilians in besieged cities. But ahead of that truce, bombs have been raining on Idlib and Aleppo. Activists say airstrikes on this market

killed more than 60 people.

Now, it's a very different scene in Damascus suburb of Dariyah (ph) where the President Bashar al-Assad performed prayers on the first day of

Eid al-Atta. Until a few weeks ago, his regime had held the opposition stronghold under siege for nearly four years.

Now, some rebel groups have already said that they are skeptical of the truce because they don't trust the Assad regime. Let's bring in Arwa

Damon. She joins us now live from the Turkish, Syrian border. And Arwa, assuming that the truce is going to go into effect, when it does, what will

it mean, what will it do for the people of Syria?

ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, there's a few steps that need to materialize for the truce points to sort of move

forward. First and foremost, you need a cease-fire to actually happen For a period of 48 hours. That is supposed to allow for humanitarian aid

to reach besieged areas like Aleppo, but the issue some of these rebel groups have is that the agreement does not say that humanitarian aid must

reach all of the besieged and needy areas in Syria. But the initial 48- hour period at the very least is not just going to allow humanitarian aid to reach some parts of the country, but is also going to give people much

needed peace of mind.

I mean, just imagine living day in, and day out under constant bombardment. You don't get to survive one explosion, one attack, and then

breathe a sigh of relief that you and your loved ones made it through, because the next day tends to bring with it even more violence.

After this initial 48 hour time frame, there's going to be another period of seven days. And if the cease-fire actually holds for that long,

that is when the U.S. and Russia will begin some sort of collaboration when it comes to targeting ISIS, but also targeting the group

that was formerly known as the Nusra Front, that old al-Qaeda affiliate that has been trying to rebrand itself by breaking ties with al

Qaeda and changing its name. The U.S. and Russia, however, still deem it to be a terrorist organization. And rebel groups, other rebel groups, say

that if they are deliberately targeted, if this group formerly al-Nusra Front is deliberated targeted, that is going to weaken the opposition

because they are amongst the strongest fighters against the regime, so they feel as if this agreement very much would potentially swing the battlefield

in the regime's favor. But, of course, all of this is assuming that the cease-fire even materialized and even actually holds, Kristie.

LU STOUT: That's right. Even hours before the cease-fire there have been air strikes in Syria and also we've been screening the video from this

Damascus suburb of Bashar al-Assad performing prayers on the first day of Eid al-Hatta (ph). And I wanted to ask you, what is the message he's

trying to send with that?

DAMON: He not only performed Eid prayers, and there's also footage that was broadcast by Syrian state television that showed him walking

through the ruins of that Damascus suburb.

This is very much the regime putting out that message saying we have won in this area. We are

in control. Dariyah (ph) was one of the first areas that had peaceful revolutions and demonstrations against the regime back in 2011. It is also

one of the first areas that then saw an armed opposition because of the relentless targeting that happened within it.

It is also one of the areas that is basically been under siege, was under siege since 2012. People there starved. They went without water,

food, medicine, for years. Struggling just to get by on a daily basis to the point where residents will tell you they were so

suffocated by the regime that eventually opposition groups within the area locally negotiated something of a truce with Assad's government that

allowed for fighters to leave, move to Idlib province and residents to be relocated to

other parts of the country.

For the government of Syria, this is a strong message to those who stand against it, but also those who support it. For the opposition,

seeing those images is a very, very bitter moment. It is a moment that signals their defeat in this one part of the country, but most certainly

this is the government sending out a message in just the hours before the cease-fire is meant to take hold that they are very confident in their

position in Syria.

LU STOUT: Arwa damon reporting. Thank you, Arwa.

Now, in Turkey, a fresh round of purges in the government has drawn protests in southeastern provinces. The state run Anadolu Agency reports

28 mayors have been fired, 24 of them are accused of ties to the Kurdish militant group, the PKK, others are said to be linked to the exiled cleric

Fatullah Gulen who has been blamed for a failed coup in July. And since the coup attempt, more than 81,000 government workers have been fired.

Now, hundreds of thousands of people have rallied across Catalonia calling for a break away from Spain. And here you can see protesters

waving what's known as the Estelada flag, a symbol of Catalan independence. Local leaders say that they want to turn the region into an independent

state by next year, but the caretaker government in Madrid opposes the move.

Catalonia is home to 7.5 million people with its own language and culture and makes up one-fifth of the Spanish economy.

You're watching News Stream. And still to come, they are a generation that prefers the

solitude of home to the social pressures of modern day society, but now some are reaching out to

Japan's young recluses. We'll tell you how coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(HEADLINES)

[08:33:12] LU STOUT: Now, world markets all seeing red on Monday thanks to investors expecting an increase in interest rates by the U.S.

federal reserve. Our CNN Money Europe editor Nina dos Santos joins us now with more on the story -- Nina.

NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN MONEY: Thanks so much, Kristie.

Yeah, well it is a sea of red across the board if you take a look at markets that have already traded on this Monday's session like those in

Asia or those really saw some heavy losses. You can see the Shanghai composite down nearly 2 percent. But the heaviest losses were incurred

over there in Hong Kong where you are, where the Hang Seng fell about 3.3 percent.

And here in Europe, those markets taking their cues from the heavy losses that we saw a few hours ago in Asia. Currently off the intraday

lows, but still down around about 1.5 of 1 percent and the negativity is by no means what it was in the United States a couple of hours ago when we

checked in on the futures markets in my show, but it's still pointing towards a negative start for trading later

on when Wall Street gets started.

And that is also on the back of a really torrid session on Friday when those U.S. markets lost a

couple of hundred points.

Now, the big question you probably have for me is why are these markets selling off. A lot of it has to do with a growing recognization

that now that Labor Day weekend has come and gone, people are back on their desks on Wall Street and across the city of London, the era of cheap

stimulus, cheap money from the world's central banks is probably coming to an end and add to that the fact that more people are saying that they may

well be starting to price in a potential rate hike from the federal reserve in the United States this time next week. Well, that is where the

nervousness is coming from.

And on that last point, there, from the fed what we already saw at the end of last week, the start of this nervousness in markets was an otherwise

dovish member of the fed's rate setting committee indicating that perhaps September or at least sooner rather than later could be a time to start

considering yet again raising rates in the world's biggest economy.

Now, later on today we're expecting three more rate setters on the fed's rate setting committee to give their verdicts on where the economy is

heading and you're going to be listening and seeing a lot of economists across the major financial capitals, but they are listening out for any

clues as to which direction interest rates could go.

I should point out a lot of economists are saying they are only expecting that there's a 30 percent chance that the fed will raise rates

next week. That 30 percent chance, some say, is more likely than it was before.

[08:35:37] LU STOUT: Big losses across the board ahead of that big announcement from the fed. Nina Dos Santos reporting for us. Thank you,

Nina.

And we will have much more in the markets with CNN Money with Maggie Lake in the next

hour right here on CNN.

Now, when you think of a high school class, I mean, these kinds of images come to mind, but for thousands of Japanese teenagers, this kind of

close proximity social setting can be simply overwhelming. Now, some are trying to help Japan's reclusive generation by enrolling them in a virtual

high school. Will Ripley reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Japan's conformist classroom setting has changed little over the years. Compare Japanese

students today to almost 25 years ago -- the same uniforms, long hours, even mandatory cleaning duty -- a disciplined, demanding environment, much

like Japanese society itself.

Traditional school left Ikimo Shimizu (ph) increasingly frustrated, telling his father it was all a

waste of time.

MAKOTO "MAK" SHIMIZU, FATHER: He was in a situation to pretend to get along with people around him.

RIPLEY: Mak Shimizu worried about his son's future.

SHIMIZU: Not going to high school or not graduating high school or college would be a bad thing for him in the long term.

RIPLEY: you were afraid he would drop out?

SHIMIZU: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

RIPLEY: Withdrawing from school and society is a documented social phenomenon in Japan. They even have a word for it here, Hirikiko Mori

(ph). Reclusive teenagers and young adults who hole up in their homes, sometimes for years, avoiding face-to-face contact.

A new Japanese government survey says 541,000, more than half a million teenagers and young adults are Hirikiko Mori (ph). And that's

actually down from the last survey six years ago. Those who study the problem say Japanese anime, manga, and video games allow some to escape to

a fantasy world, a world that only comes to life at special events like this, where fans are free to dress like the characters they idolize. This

is where Takeshi Natsuno searches for students who may be on the verge of dropping out.

TAKESH NATSUNO, BOARD MEMBER, N HIGH SCHOOL: we welcome the students which cannot fit into the standard program.

RIPLEY: Natsuno is on the board of N High School, a fully accredited virtual high school hoping to identify, educate, and develop unique talent.

Oh, this is the English class, okay.

Students learn using a smartphone and computer app, sometimes even virtual reality.

NATSUNO: We have to make our course very enjoyable and very fun, very attractive.

RIPLEY: Like a video game.

NATSUNO: Like a video game.

RIPLEY: Shimizu enrolled as a freshman.

So, this is your school?

IKUMI SHIMIZU, N HIGH SCHOOL FRESHMAN: Yeah.

RIPLEY: He often finishes a full day's classwork in less than an hour, allowing the 15 year old to work part-time as an IT engineer and

compete in global hacking competitions.

Shimizu says he tries to see friends once or twice a week, but spends most of his time in this tiny Tokyo apartment.

Do you worry about the social aspect, meeting other teenagers, that sort of thing?

IKUMI SHIMIZU (through translator): That's what my parents worry about a lot, he says, but I don't worry about it. I don't really like to

communicate with other people.

His parents hope learning in the virtual world will lead to success in the real one.

Will Ripley, CNN, Tokyo.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: You're watching News Stream. And still to come, an epic journey across China all done in a wheelchair. Follow one man who wants

people with physical challenges like him to be treated like everybody else.

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[08:40:47] LU STOUT: Welcome back.

Now, how far would you go to support a meaningful cause? Well, for one man in China, his answer is more than 5,000 kilometers. He's traveling

from Beijing to the country's southern tip in Hainan using only his wheelchair. It was Tran Pong's (ph) quest to raise

awareness on the treatment of disabled people in China and here is his incredible journey.

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UNIDENITIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

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LU STOUT: What an amazing man. That was Tran Pong (ph), who has traveled more than 5,000 kilometers across China in his wheelchair to raise

awareness on disability. And according to the China Disabled Persons Federation, there are 85 million people in the country with disabilities.

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

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