Return to Transcripts main page

NEWS STREAM

Apple Unveils Big Changes in iOS 10; Russia Accused of Hacking WADA; China's Homegrown WWE Super Star; Typhoon Meranti Heading Towards Mainland China; For Now, Syrian Ceasefire Holding. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired September 14, 2016 - 08:00   ET

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


[08:00:27] KRISTIE LU STOUT, HOST: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong and welcome to News Stream.

Now, Super Typhoon Meranti batters Taiwan. And now the powerful storm is heading straight for China.

Now, Syria's ceasefire appears to be holding, but aid still hasn't reached those who need inside the country.

And Apple's mobile software gets a makeover. We'll run through what's new in iOS 10.

Now, the year's most powerful storm is headed straight for mainland China. Super Typhoon Meranti first hit southern Taiwan early Thursday morning

local time carrying tremendous rain and wind. Just look at that huge storm surge on your screen.

Now meteorologists said that Meranti originally had the strength of a category 6 hurricane if the scale went that high, but right now it is still

the equivalent of a category 5 storm.

Now, storm chaser James Reynolds is no stranger to extreme weather. He joins us now on the phone from Kenting (ph) in southern Taiwan.

And James, what was it like to be there on the ground as the super typhoon moved through Taiwan?

JAMES REYNOLDS, STORM CHASER: Hi, Kristie. Well, it's been a long, exhausting and very stressful day. When there's a category 5 super typhoon

heading their way, it's very frightening position to be in.

You know, this storm is one of the strongest storms on record to pass this close to southern Taiwan. And we were battered by strong winds, torrential

rain, flying debris for much of the morning. Thankfully, the storm is moving away and things have improved dramatically here, Kristie.

LU STOUT: Yeah, the storm has moved away from the island, but you had a chance to drive around Kenting (ph) there in southern Taiwan, to survey the

damace. What have you seen there?

REYNOLDS: Well thankfully, I'm pleased to report that most of the damage I've seen is pretty superficial D downed trees, a few signs knocked over.

Kating (ph) is no stranger to very powerful storms, they've been hit in the past, and the general infrastructure in Taiwan is very much geared up to

deal with the wind. It's the heavy rain, flash floods, and mudslides on the other hand, which can pose a serious and more imminent threat.

LU STOUT: You say that the infrastructure is geared up to deal with the high winds from a storm like this. How prepared were the people there?

How prepared were the residents for this major super typhoon?

REYNOLDS: It's D I like to call a grim routine for the people in Taiwan. They get hit by Typhoons every year. So, it's a case of, you know, take

down all the fragile objects and signs and things which could easily blow away. The authorities seal off all access to beaches and the coast. The

government gets to work to get those people up in the hills and in vulnerable villages to a safer location until the storm has passed.

LU STOUT: Now, after hitting Taiwan, it's on its way to Fujian Province in China. Your thoughts on how the community there should best prepare for

the arrival of Meranti?

REYNOLDS: Yeah, this is a real concern that this typhoon has taken quite an unusual track. They normally pass right over the middle of Taiwan first

and are substantial weaker before hitting China. This one has been skirting and maintained a lot more strength than the people in that area

are accustomed to.

And every time just a weaker tropical storm hits Fujian we seem to see terrible headlines of many people killed by flooding and strong winds. So,

the government need to take this very seriously and I imagine they are.

LU STOUT: All right, James Reynolds reporting for us. Thank you very much indeed for that.

Now, CNN's Chad Myers is tracking the storm from the CNN world weather center. And Chad, when the super typhoon hits Fujian, what kind of impact

is it going to make?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, we're going to push a storm surge into the city. And what we're talking about is a population of 5 million

people in the way of a potential storm surge of five to 10 meters. So, all of a sudden, everyone that's within that level, that seal level has to move

away from the ocean, move away form the bay, move away from the rivers, because all of this water is going to get shoved into the bay.

I'll get to that in a second. That's (inaudible) right there.

Here's Taiwan, there's the storm. It did skirt just to the south of Taiwan, although some of the eyewall did get to right where James Reynolds

was yesterday. Not the wind speed of that 300 kilometers per hour, that was just offshore.

Here's where it's going now. 215 kilometer per hour storm about to make landfall right on top of the city here.

Here's the typhoon history. No category three's landfall has ever made landfall here, greater than 200 kilometers per hour. But there it goes.

And it will eventually die. It will not be a significant storm in three or four days, but it will be a significant rainmaker in the next few days.

And that's where the flash flooding is going to come in.

A couple of things I can show you where the rain is going to come through, right through the city here. There could be 500 millimeters of rainfall as

this storm comes in.

Now, I want to show you the live radar. Here's the eye coming in on the live radar. This is a long loop. This is like 24 hours worth of radar

here.

There's the eye, coming up here, moving just to the south here of Kanting (ph), which is right where our reporter was just now. And it's continuing

to move back into the bay, back into the warmer water and then right toward the city.

And let me D one more thing I want to do, I want to take you to what that city looks like, and I want to talk to you about what a catcher's mitt

looks like.

Here's what we have, Kristie, all of these people right through here 5 million people live in this area. You can't evacuate 5 million people. I

talked to a reporter just on the ground there. They're saying the traffic is tremendous, people trying to get out of the way. There's just stop and

go, but mainly just stop.

So all of a sudden all of this water, five or 10 meters worth of water it's going to try to flow into this area all the way up into these bays, into

these rivers. And that's where the real threat is going to come in. Water is so powerful.

Now you know we're going to have, you know, 200 kilometer per hour wind. And that will tear things apart.

But buildings will withstand that. Most of them will. And if you get hit by a 10 meter storm surge, those buildings are going to be destroyed.

There's nothing that can hold on. The water is so much heavier than air. So that water hitting the buildings or hitting anything D whether it's the

marina district or even up by the airport, there's going to be such significant damage to buildings, people, infrastructure, because of the

storm surge itself, the salt water that's going this way. Then it's going to rain. And all the fresh water is going to flood this way.

So this town is in a lot of trouble.

[08:07:34] LU STOUT: Yeah, 5 million people can't evacuate, but let's hope that they can move to higher ground. Chad Myers reporting for us. Thank

you so much. And take care.

Now, a ceasefire in Syria appears to be holding for a second day, but aid has yet to reach hundreds of thousands of people who need it. The UN

special envoy for Syria says aid convoys have been awaiting Syrian government approval to enter rebel-held east Aleppo. He says he expects

that approval soon.

Arwa Damon joins me now live from the Turkish-Syrian border. And Arwa, aid is desperately needed. When will the regime and various rebel groups allow

aid into Aleppo and other besieged areas? When is that going to happen?

ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We don't know, Kristie, at this stage. The aid organizations are all in a very frustrating holding

pattern at this stage. They'd actually moved trucks well ahead of the ceasefire being implemented in the hours before it actually went into

effect on Monday hoping to be able to move those trucks across the Turkish border and have them make their way towards rebel-held Aleppo that is an

area that is under siege by government forces, pretty much as soon as it became evident that the ceasefire would be taking place. Well, that hasn't

quite been what is happening.

With the government in Damascus saying that especially when it comes to aid that would be crossing over from Turkey, all of this has to be coordinated

through Damascus. And because no one group controls the roads, the different roads that this convoy could be taking into eastern rebel-held

Aleppo, it basically means that all parties have to be on board, permissions need to be secured from all sides, because the convoy will be

going through multiple checkpoints controlled both by different rebel elements as well as the regime.

And this was really meant to be one of the key events to have take place once this agreement was implemented. And you can just imagine how

difficult this wait is for those who are in besieged parts of the country.

Yes, there is such great relief to a certain degree, because they no longer hear that absolutely horrifying, incessant buzz of fighter jets overhead.

They're no longer experiencing the same intensity of aerial bombardment, but at the same time they are still lacking basic things and that aid is

not reaching them just yet. It's all stuck in this bureaucratic political process.

[08:10:01] LU STOUT: Yeah, the aid is on standby. It's on hold because of this bureaucratic process and yet there is this ceasefire, a fragile one at

that, but it is still holding. It's been in place since Monday. What's the latest thinking about the future of that ceasefire and whether it can

evolve into a long-term truce?

DAMON: I think at this stage, the vast majority of Syrians that you will speak to, Kristie, will tell you that the best that they can do is just

take it hour by hour, day by day. They have been through this before. They know how it ends, whether these ceasefires last for days or at times

even for weeks, eventually all of those in the past have ended up being broken, violence has intensified, more lives have been lost.

And that is one of the main reasons why there's very little confidence in these types of agreements. But people will continue to take whatever

little it is that they can. They will, for this brief period of time, allow their children out into the streets to be able to play.

Now, there's a few crucial things that we will be seeing unfolding if, in fact, this ceasefire does continue to hold. Once we hit the 48 hour mark,

it will then start a time for a seven day period in total, after which we should be seeing another step being taken by the U.S. and the Russians that

will involve some sort of intelligence sharing when it comes to going after ISIS targets, as well as the group that was the al Qaeda affiliate formerly

known as the Nusra Front that has rebranded itself by breaking with al Qaeda and renaming itself Jubhat al-Sham (ph).

Now, the issue is that both the U.S. and the Russians deem this entity to be a terrorist organization. This is of great concern to the rebels,

because when it comes to the forces that exist that oppose the Syrian government, this group is one of the strongest. It has the best fighters.

It has proven to be essential in some key battles such as the last time when the siege of Aleppo was broken.

So the rebels fear that if the U.S. and the Russians collaborate to try to take out this group, (inaudible), then it is going to basically leave them

more vulnerable and it will potentially allow for battlefield gains to be made by the regime.

And that's another reason why there's so much skepticism, because this is very fragile. And there's so many points at which this could very easily

be broken.

LU STOUT: Arwa Damon reporting live for us. Thank you, Arwa.

Now, former Israeli president and prime minister Shimon Perez is in critical, but stable condition after a stroke on Tuesday. Now, doctors for

the 93 year old say he is in intensive care at a hospital near Tel Aviv. They say at this stage there is no need for surgery.

Now, we are expecting an update on his condition in less than an hour from now. And for the latest, CNN's Oren Liebermann joins us now live from Tel

Aviv. And Oren, what is the latest on the condition and health of Shimon Perez?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: As you mentioned, Kristie, the big update here will come in less than an hour. They're

setting up for that press conference here just a short distance from where I'm standing. You can probably hear them mike checking. But just a short

time ago we got an update from the spokeswoman for former president Shimon Perez who says doctors are now discussing and will continue to discuss and

maybe later today decide whether they can further bring Perez out from under sedation. Less than 24 hours after he suffered a major stroke, that

will be a significant sign of improvement D a small but significant sign of the way that Perez's health is trending.

We know he went to the hospital less than 24 hours ago, some time before 8:00 last night. At that point he was fully conscious and in stable

condition. And just a short time later we got another update from the hospital, he had been sedated and intubated.

Those hours were critical where we waited for any update we could get. And there was very cautious optimism. His family saying they were trying to be

optimistic. There are some very difficult hours ahead, some very difficult decisions to be made. Then we got word, as we came here early this morning

that his son, who had been by his side, when Perez had been brought a little bit out from under sedation, his son had been able to squeeze his

hand and Perez had responded. That was early this morning. And that was a very good sign, a trend in the right direction from what we know, from what

we can tell and from what the spokespeople for him are telling us that trend is continuing, his doctor decide whether to continue to bring him out

from under sedation. That will be the focus of the press conference. That will be the big update in the health of Shimon Perez less than 24 hours

after he suffered this major stroke.

We did also speak with the Israeli ministry D minister of health, who said he was here praying for him. He also says there is a bit more reason to be

optimistic today than he would have been yesterday.

So, still in cautious, tense hours here less than 24 hours after this stroke, but at least the health trend for Perez seems to be moving in the

right direction D Kristie.

LU STOUT: All right, cautious optimism in Tel Aviv. Oren Liebermann reporting for us live. Thank you, Oren.

Now, police in China's Guangdong Province are offering large rewards for information leading to the arrest of five men after violent demonstrations

in the village of Wukan.

Video and photos posted online show people hurling rocks at riot police as they protested the arrest of village leaders.

Wukan has been a center of resistance to local authorities since 2011 when mass protests over land rights and corruption won it a degree of autonomy.

Witnesses tell CNN the village is still in police lockdown.

You're watching News Stream. Still to come, there's a new man at the helm in Europe's football governing body. Next, find out who is replacing

disgraced Michel Platini as UEFA's new chief.

And, medical data of star U.S. athletes exposed to the public. We'll tell you who is being blamed for the leak.

And a makeover for the Apple devices. We'll look at what the new iOS 10 has to offer.

(COMERCIAL BREAK)

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

Now meet the new man in charge of European football's governing body D Alexander Ceferin of Slovenia has beat out Netherlands Michael Van Praag to

become UEFA's new president.

Now Ceferin is Slovenia's football chief and has been a member of FIFA's disciplinary committee. He takes over from Michel Platini who was banned

from football for four years for receiving improper payments.

Now, football may be a global game but the heart of the sport lies in Europe. UEFA is the most powerful of the regional bodies that make up FIFA

overseeing 55 national football associations across the continent.

The jewel in their crown: the UEFA's Champion's League. It features the best clubs and players in the world. Stars like Christiano Ronaldo and

Lionel Messi all play in the tournament. And on top of that, the last three teams that won the World Cup are all from Europe. They are Germany,

Spain, and Italy.

Now, the World Anti-Doping Agency is accusing Russian hackers of stealing medical data from its database.

Now, some of the files belong to Olympic stars, including tennis player Venus Williams and U.S. gymnast Simone Biles.

The criminal group behind this, known as, quote, Fancy Bear, is also thought to have hacked the U.S. Democratic National Committee back in June.

The Russian government is denying any involvement in the hack.

Now, CNN senior international correspondent Matthew Chance has more from Moscow.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Already, the Kremlin has rejected outright the allegation that this latest hack has anything to do

with them. A spokesman said that we can say without hesitation that any involvement on the part of official Moscow, the Russian government or any

Russian secret services is strictly out of the question.

That's become a standard Kremlin response to the growing number of hack attacks in which Russian-backed organizations are being blamed.

Now, it's a group calling itself Fancy Bear that says it carried out the WADA attack to show, in its words, proof of famous athletes taking doping

substances. Fancy Bear is one of two main hacking groups, the other one known as Cozy Bear, known to researchers since at least 2008 and linked by

law enforcement officials to the Russian security services. Experts say there's not much digital or technical evidence for that link. The hackers

are highly skilled at hiding their origin.

But there's plenty of circumstantial evidence pointing to Moscow. Firstly, the hackers use expensive digital tools, state-of-the-art technology, which

may indicate state backing. They also attack political, not economic targets. They're not criminals trying to empty your bank accounts. And

most interestingly, they tend to target individuals or targets aligned with Russian interests. They target the critics, the rivals, the enemies of

Russia, not its supporters.

The latest WADA attack is a good example of that. Recently, of course, Russian athletes were banned from the Olympics and the Paralympics under

allegations of state-sponsored doping. To many, this looks like a clear cut case of digital revenge.

Matthew Chance, CNN, Moscow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[08:21:18] LU STOUT: Now Samsung is racing to replace millions of Galaxy Note 7 phones after they started catching fire. Now the company says its

come up with a way to fix the problem by updating the phone's software. Samsung says it will role out a fix in South Korea next week that will stop

the batteries from charging above 60 percent.

Now, Samsung is in the middle of recalling 2.5 million Note 7 phones globally. Dozens of users complain that their phones caught on fire while

charging. Authorities are warning people to note use their Note 7s in planes or on public transportation.

Now on Friday, Apple will release the iPhone 7, but existing iPhone users can start seeing big changes by installing iOS 10, a major update to the

iPhone and iPad system software.

Now, if you notice that the slide to unlock screen is gone? Don't worry, that's one of the new features.

Now, some other notable changes, an overhaul to iMessage.

But there were some problems with the update. Some users say it disabled their services temporarily. Apple says that issue should be fixed now.

Now, let's get more on iOS 10 from tech journalist Charles Arthur. He's also the author of "Digital Wars: Apple, Google, Microsoft and the Battle

for the Internet." He joins us now via Skype.

And Charles good to see you. Thank you for joining us.

A lot of changes with the new operating system, arguably the most dramatic: iMessage, it now has stickers, even apps. How big is this?

CHARLES ARTHUR, TECH WRITER: It sort of sounds (inaudible) stickers in iMessage, but that's a feature of a lot of the really big messaging apps,

in Asia especially, that you can buy stickers, that you can send D in effect you can send apps to your friends. And those have become multi-

billion dollar businesses for them.

So, the fact that with Apple you can now on iOS 10 if you update, you can buy these stickers from various companies, or you can send apps to people

actually turns it into a platform in its own right. And that's going to be one of the most interesting things to watch, I think, about how Apple's

services story develops.

LU STOUT: Yeah, making iMessage look and feel a lot more like Line or WeChat. And not just iMessage, but apps like Uber can appear inside Maps

and Siri, and you don't have to open Uber to call an Uber. So, is Apple now opening up its walled garden here?

ARTHUR: It's an interesting question as to how much of a walled garden it has been, because they've always been very welcoming to all sorts of third-

party apps, because that builds the strength of the platform.

The issue about how walled of a platform they are is about them not allowing other apps come with defaults. And that's still the case. You

can delete the maps app, you can delete the mail app, but if you actually want to send email then you still actually need to reinstall the mail app.

So, they're welcoming third party apps, they're including them more (inaudible), but to the extent that they still want to control the

experience, they're not opening up in that sense.

LU STOUT: Now, we know that iPhone and iPad sales have been slipping recently. So, will the new iOS 10 drive people, maybe even force people to

buy new iPhones and iPads?

ARTHUR: Well, it's quite interesting. There are about 670 million iPhone in use at the moment, according to (inaudible) former Wall Street analyst

who follows Apple very closely, about 225 million iPads. Most of D Apple sold a billion iPhones in total, so about two-thirds of them are still in

use. But some are too old to be able to take this update, so anything from the 4s and earlier, from 2011, those won't be able to take the updates.

It could well drive a lot of people to update their phones or their tablets, especially if they want to get this iMessage functionality, to be

able to send stickers. I think that will actually drive a number of tablet sales, for sure.

[08:25:10] LU STOUT: And another change that's generating a lot of noise is one of the most basic D no more slide to unlock. I mean, it seems that

the new iOS is making a lot of changes that are forcing people to break their habits and even our muscle memory.

ARTHUR: These are quite subtle changes. I mean, one of the things is now you have the homescreen when you just sort of lift the phone up it realizes

that it's been lifted by the sense in the change in movement. And the camera, rather than having to slide up to get it, you now slide sideways,

which seems to me a lot simpler.

But, yes, there's no slide to unlock anymore, you simply D you either have the fingerprint sensitive touch ID home botton, or else you slide to the

right and put in your PIN.

So, it's not quite slide to unlock, you either have the camera or else you have the fingerprint.

But of course a lot of the phones that they sell, and indeed the iPads now, all of them now have fingerprint sensitive home buttons. So, that's not

such a big wrench if you bought a phone in the last couple of years.

And the fact is, a lot of people have bought their phones in the last couple of years, hundreds of millions of people have joined the Apple

ecosystem in the past two years.

LU STOUT: That's right. Charles Arthur, walking us through the new iOS, thank you so much, Charles, take care.

You're watching News Stream. Still to come in the program, Donald Trump, he's unveiling a plan to make child care more affordable. Plus, Barack

Obama hit the campaign trail for Hillary Clinton, what he had to say about Trump.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(HEADLINES)

LU STOUT: Now, Donald Trump is positioning himself as a family man, and his daughter is pitching in with the campaign. Now on Tuesday, Trump

unveiled a plan aimed at making child care more affordable and was joined on stage by his daughter Ivanka who helped designed the policy.

Now, for a look at that, and what else Trump is doing on Wednesday, Brian Stelter joins me now live from New York. Brian, welcome back to the

program. Good to see you.

Donald Trump unveiling his big child care plan while positioning himself as a family man, because he's using his daughter to pitch in with the

campaign. How effective is this strategy for Trump?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN MEDIA CORREPSONDENT: That's right. Trump continues to surprise, sometimes taking positions that are not normally Republican

positions. He is promoting a child care plan that some conservatives do not like, but he's using the Dr. Oz who, a day time talk show all about

health to promote that plan today. He's going to tape that appearance in about an hour. It'll air on TV across the U.S. tomorrow.

He's also going to Flint, Michigan later in the day.

But let's talk about that child care plan first. By appearing on stage with his daughter, Ivanka, who is beloved by so many people he's really

trying to appeal to women voters. Now here's part of what Trump said about his plan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Many Americans are just one crisis away from disaster D a sick kid, a lost job, a damaged home.

There is no financial security in our country, especially anymore.

But that will change under our pro-family plan. And just take a look, it's pro-family. It's pro-child. It's pro-worker.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STELTER: Hard to be anti-family, hard to be anti-worker, right. But I was struck by the image he was going for there with his daughter Ivanka. You

know, his wife, Melania, has not really been appearing with him on the trail. She's not appeared in public since that troubling, kind of

embarrassing Republican national convention speech two months ago when it was revealed that parts of her speech were plagiarized from Michelle Obama.

So, his daughter, helping him out D his daughter will also be with him today on Dr. Ox.

LU STOUT: And, Brian, as you mentioned just a moment ago, we learned that Trump is going to release his medical records on TV on the Dr. Oz show. I

mean, this is a popular talk show in the United States.

I mean, why this format? And is it appropriate for a U.S. presidential candidate?

STELTER: In some ways this is classic Donald Trump, using the television medium to promote himself and to cite his own health and wellness.

I'm told by a Trump campaign spokeswoman that they'll then be putting out more physical information, results from his recent physical later this

week, most likely tomorrow, maybe not until Friday.

This is an effort to show that Trump, who is 70-years-old, is fit for the presidency. So far, there's only been a one page doctor's letter, a letter

that was called ridiculous by a lot of readers, because it described Trump as the most D the most healthy person ever to run and be able to serve as

president.

Of course, that's not possible to know unless you've diagnosed every previous president.

So, by releasing more information later this week, the campaign is trying to implicitly say Trump is in a better position, more fit, than Hillary

Clinton.

They, of course, are being careful not to talk directly about Clinton's health, other than wishing her well during her bout with pneumonia, but by

talking about Trump's health, he's making an implicitly contrast to Clinton.

LU STOUT: Now, let's talk about both of their media strategies this week. And we know that, you know, Hillary Clinton, she is not on the campaign

trail. She's still recovering from pneumonia. But she is outspending Donald Trump 7 to 1 on TV ads this week.

She may not be on the campaign trail, he is. He is going to be on Dr. Oz. I mean, looking at both of these candidates and how they are using the

media this week, which one has the edge?

STELTER: This is the ultimate test of the effectiveness of television advertising. Because Clinton is outspending Trump by, you know, in such a

remarkable way D as you mentioned 7 to 1 in some ways. We havenOt seen this before in presidential elections. Normally the spending is more on a

level playing field.

So, if Clinton is not able to succeed with all these TV ads, it's going to mean a lot for the future of political TV advertising.

And, you know, some local TV stations are actually feeling the pinch, because they had planned on having more ads from the Republican nominee

than he is actually buying, they're actually feeling it in their budgets.

However, on the state level, Senate and House races, there still is a lot of political ad spending. And Clinton, of course, spending tens of

millions of dollars on ads. But Trump, for now, holding his firepower.

LU STOUT: Yeah. And the media landscape is already changed because of these campaigns.

Brian Stelter reporting live for us. Thank you so much, Brian. Take care.

Now President Barack Obama did not hold back his criticism of Donald Trump while campaigning for Hillary Clinton in Philadelphia. Now, he launched

one attack after another against the Republican candidate. He also had high praise for Clinton who is, again, at home sick with pneumonia.

Phil Mattingly has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I really, really, really want to elect Hillary Clinton.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORREPSONDENT (voice-over): Dubbed Hillary Clinton surrogate in chief, President Obama blasting Donald Trump's qualifications

to replace him.

[08:35:01] OBAMA: One candidate who's traveled to more countries than any secretary of state ever has, and the other who isn't fit in any way, shape

or form to represent this country abroad and be its commander in chief.

One candidate's family foundation has saved countless lives around the world. The other candidate's foundation took money other people gave to his

charity and then bought a six-foot tall painting of himself.

MATTINGLY: Obama rejecting Trump's claim he is fighting for the working class.

OBAMA: This guy who spent 70 years on this earth showing no concern for working people. This guy suddenly going to be your champion?

MATTINGLY: And discrediting Trump's portrayal of the economy.

D. TRUMP: We have a false economy. We have a bad economy.

OBAMA: By so many measures, America's stronger and more prosperous than when we started out on this journey together.

MATTINGLY: Obama's case bolstered by new U.S. Census numbers, showing the middle-class wages rising for the first time since the recession and

poverty rates dropping sharply.

The president also slamming Trump for his praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

OBAMA: Their nominee is out there praising a guy, saying he's a strong leader, because he invades smaller countries, jails his opponents, controls

the press and drives his economy into a long recession.

MATTINGLY: Trump fighting back on social media, tweeting, "Why isn't Obama working?" And "Russia took Crimea during the so-called Obama years. Why

does Obama get a free pass?"

Obama pressing the media to do more to hold Trump accountable.

OBAMA: Donald Trump says stuff every day that used to be considered as disqualifying for being president. And, yet, because he says it over and

over and over again, the press just gives up and they just say, "Well, yes, you know, OK."

We cannot afford suddenly to treat this like a reality show.

MATTINGLY: Trump keeping up his attack on Clinton for calling half of his supporters deplorable.

D. TRUMP: Well, my opponent slanders you as deplorable and irredeemable. I call you hard-working American patriots.

MATTINGLY: And continuing to go after his rival over her one-time use of a private e-mail server.

D. TRUMP: This is far bigger and a far bigger scandal than Watergate ever was.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: You're watching News Stream. And coming up, this man is slated to become the next pro-wrestling super star in his native China. We'll tell

you how WWE is pushing into the world's largest markets.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back.

Now, the pro-wrestling world is looking to drum up new business in China. Now the entertainment company WWE is hiring Chinese performers to attract

new fans.

Now, one of them made his big debut over the weekend in Shanghai. Matt Rivers has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A Swiss superman, a Celtic warrior, a man who defies gravity, and for the first time a homegrown hero.

ItOs Saturday night in Shanghai and World Wrestling Entertainment, WWE, has come to China. Larger-than-life characters with over the top personalities

battling it out in the ring, entertaining thousands of fans. The pro- wrestling company has stepped up its efforts to expand in the middle kingdom this year.

A big part of that strategy, 23-year-old Wang Bin. 6-foot 2 and 220 pounds, WWE wants to make him its first Chinese superstar.

WANG BIN, WRESTLER (through translator): IOll be having my debut WWE match in my motherland. IOm so excited and very happy.

RIVERS: In addition to Wang, WWE announced last week it signed seven more Chinese performers to developmental contracts. With backgrounds ranging

from boxing to dance, theyOll join Wang at the WWEOs training facility in Florida next year. But developing them into full-fledged OsuperstarsO is a

process that could take years.

WWE needs to make its existing product appeal to Chinese fans now. In June, the company struck a deal with a Chinese streaming service to carry its

signature programs live each week with mandarin commentary. ThereOs also an aggressive social media strategy

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have to use WeChat, Weibo and Youku-Tudou to deliver a lot of our short form content and engage fans. Ever since we started

putting together our social media team, we saw a significant increase in our fan base. Right now weOre over half a million fans across three

platforms,O said Jay Li, Vice President, WWE China.

RIVERS: Half a million in a country of 1.3 billion means thereOs lots of room to grow. But Li knows just how to pitch WWE to the Chinese audience.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OKungfu novelO D and that would be the word that I give to friends who ask this question and they get it immediately. They say, Ooh

yeah, we get it. ItOs scripted entertainment thatOs full of action,O said Li.

One of the WWEOs biggest superstars told us he saw so much potential in China, he learned some Chinese.

JOHN CENA, WWE WRESTLER: I know that in Mandarin, Oyou canOt see meO is (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE). And I came back to China in June and I

talked to our digital people, and I said I'm so sorry for saying it wrong. They said no, no, no, no, Chinese fans loved you for it. So you now have

to say it wrong every time.

RIVERS: Wang BinOs match in Shanghai on Saturday wasnOt televised. ThereOs much more training he needs to go through before being ready to perform on

WWE TV. The company also needs to decide whether to make him a hero or villain.

BIN (through translator): I donOt really have a preference. I think that will slowly come. Right now I have to have more matches and show off

myself, then figure out which character suits me the best.

RIVERS: And having homegrown super stars will definitely give these loud and loyal fans even more reason to cheer, and potentially a billion more a

reason to start watching.

Matt Rivers, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: I would love to see that in China.

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

END