Return to Transcripts main page

NEWS STREAM

Philippine President to Touchdown in Beijing; Melania Trump Defends Husband, Criticizes Media; Iraqi Forces Meet Heavy Resistance in Push to Mosul. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired October 18, 2016 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:05] KRISTIE LU STOUT, HOST: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong, and welcome to News Stream.

Iraqi forces keep pushing to retake Mosul, but ISIS is putting up a stiff fight to keep its final stronghold in Iraq.

Donald Trump's wife defends the GOP presidential candidate, telling CNN he is right to lash out at the media.

And Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte heads to Beijing as he shifts the country's allegiance

to China and away from the United States.

Iraqi forces are pushing ahead with a battle that is pivotal in the global fight against ISIS. They are trying to take back the city of Mosul, the

last major ISIS stronghold in Iraq, but the terrorists are putting up a fierce resistance. They are setting trenches on fire to obscure their

positions and fighting back against the Iraqi army with mortars, as well as suicide bombers.

The U.S. says that there are up to 5,000 ISIS fighters inside Mosul, but they are outnumbered by Iraqi-led ground troops and coalition support by as

much as 18-1.

Now, for the very latest, let's go straight to our Nick Paton Walsh. He is near Mosul. He joins us live. And Nick, again, ISIS fighters are greatly

outnumbered here, but you witnessed how determined they are to fight back. What have you seen?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Certainly, the progress that Iraqi and Iraqi Peshmerga forces said was happening yesterday is said

to be continuing this morning, we are being told they've moved into the one village down here called Qarac Kosh (ph) on the way towards Mosul and

continue to maintain a presence on this main road towards that key city, as well, but when ISIS cede that territory, they don't disappear entirely.

They hide in tunnel networks or buildings to the sides of that main road and make their presence very clearly felt, as we saw yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WALSH: They have been waiting for years to finally push through the lines and take on ISIS' brutality. When the day came it was still a dusty, slow

grind -- Peshmerga into the desert to plank a main road to Mosul, distinctive American vehicles with Western occupants in their convoy.

Air strikes often hitting the places they were headed to first. Hopes ISIS might not fight for the tiny settlements around Mosul quickly dashed.

(on camera): This is the first village they moved down the road toward Mosul and they are encountering pretty heavy resistant returning fire with

what they have --

(voice over): -- which are often blunt and old.

They want this over -- fast. Suddenly, there's panic. They spot a car, a suicide car bomb racing towards them. It's ISIS. One, two rockets try to

hit it. The third is lucky.

They push on towards the main prize, the road itself to Mosul flanked by oil fires, lit by ISIS and air strikes piling in regardless, shells still

landing near the Peshmerga -- a casualty taken away.

Down on the main objective, the road itself, ISIS sent two car bombs at them and attacked from both sides.

(on camera): The Iraqi military too, at some point, will have to push down here towards Mosul but this has been an effort with much international

support, a lot of coalition planning, American air power.

Shut the doors.

Whoa.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's yours.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stay in the car, now.

WALSH (voice over): ISIS still everywhere, even in the hills. They give chase to one man, an ISIS fighter. He shoots a Peshmerga.

Pesh is down.

Humvees rescue him and they hunt on. An ISIS fighter pops up from a tunnel, shoots, he blows himself up. A tenacity and desire to die that will surely

slow and bloody the fight ahead.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[08:05:24] WALSH: Now, Kristie, we've heard some interesting news in the last hour or so from the Turkish prime minister saying that Turkish jets

are part of what we hear above us intermittently. The coalition air power that is hammering ISIS as the Iraqi and Peshmerga forces advance.

Now, as we can't tell can't tell if these jets we've seen or heard are Turkish. And there's a big political game afoot here. Ankara, President

Erdogan and very emphatic that they will be part of this Mosul operation, despite Baghdad saying they want them nowhere near Iraqi territory at all.

So a lot of controversy here between the political side of the rhetoric, the ground operation continuing, though, at relative pace. Hard to tell

what sort of quality of security the forces get as they move forward, as you saw in that piece, but they are taking village after village moving

this way.

The smoke along the horizon does suggest a continued tempo of advance, because smoke normally suggests that's where the fighting has headed. But

still, they are far away from the main city itself of Mosul, 1.2 million civilians trapped in there, according to aid agencies.

We simply have to see whether or not they become human shields caught in the cross fire, or allowed humanitarian corridors from which they can exit

to some of the refugee camps, minimal as they are, around Mosul -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: Vivid battlefield reporting from Nick Paton Walsh reporting live for us from near

Mosul, Iraq. Thank you, Nick.

Now, thousands of Kurdish Peshmerga forces are heavily involved in this battle for Mosul and Brigadier General Sirwan Barzani leads a battalion of

Peshmerga soldiers. He joins me now live from near Moqtar (ph) in Iraq.

Sir, thank you for joining us. How do you plan to defeat ISIS in Mosul?

SIRWAN BARZANI, PESHMERGA BRIGADIER GENERAL: Yes, hi. Thank you.

As you know, we started as a Peshmerga jointly with the Iraqi army yesterday, the huge operation to Mosul. And yesterday we finished our

target as a Peshmerga in sector 7. We liberate nine villages in seven hours. And today there is no operation of Peshmerga, so we will wait to

the next operation for Peshmerga. But the Iraqi still they are continuing from the south from Qayyara, up to the north and also from Guar (ph) to the

west.

LU STOUT: You are liberating villages. You're making progress. But how do you plan to defeat ISIS while also protecting civilians who are in the

middle of this battle?

BARZANI: Really, there is, of course, there is two camps under construction between KRG and the United Nations for the civilian, but we

have experienced before because already in my sector, sector six, we are more than 42,000 civilians approaching our front line. And we're receiving

them. So we hope that all the process will be the same, but the villages we liberated yesterday was the villages, but there was no -- any civilian.

All of them, they are in Irbil. But, of course, when we go closer and closer to Mosul, especially in Caracos (ph), so they will be also closer to

Mosul, there will be more civilians for sure, as you know there is more than 1.5 million civilian inside Mosul.

So we hope we can receive them and put them in safe area.

LU STOUT: So, to confirm, and as you move closer to Mosul and to the center of Mosul, is civilian protection a major part of your military

strategy?

BARZANI: Of course. This is one of the part of our strategy as a military, as a Peshmerga, even there is a committee with the Iraqi army and

the coalition to protect the civilian. But at the end, so they are under ISIS control, so we don't know how they will act and they can move from

there safely to the Peshmerga area, or the Iraqi forces area, or they will keep them there, so this is something under Daesh control.

But, the rest, of course, we have our plan to receive them, to save those civilian people.

LU STOUT: And ISIS, they are hiding out and they are fighting back. They are using mortars, suicide bombs. Are you seeing strong resistance from

ISIS as you move into Mosul?

BARZANI: For sure. So the operation last day was not so difficult as before for the Peshmerga, but, of course, respecting Mosul, because the

capital of the Islamic State, Mosul, so they will be heavy fighter, heavy war for sure, because if they're losing Mosul it means they are losing

everything. So we think so.

Of course, all the tactic of Daesh, most is in under tunnels and also the suicide bombs, or let's say front, face-to-face, or the front line to

stopping Peshmerga operations, they cannot, of course.

But for the (inaudible) and fight in the tunnels and suicide (inaudilbe) so, of course, they will do more and more, even yesterday there was many,

many suicide, but thanks to god -- so the help of the coalition and the air strike was very good, Half an hour or so the Peshmerga anti-tank weapons

was very effective yesterday.

[08:10:57] LU STOUT: Do you have a timeline for this battle? When do you think your Peshmerga forces, along with Iraqi and coalition forces, will

defeat ISIS and take back Mosul?

BARZANI: Really, I think to reaching Mosul as a city, as a town, will take approximately two weeks, but for inside Mosul as a town, really is not so

clear yet. I think there will be two months, but depends on the weather, because as you know, we're going to winter time and they will be rain and

foggy days. So, of course, it's better -- they will delay us because they will be less air strike against them with bad weather. So this is maybe

they will delay the operation, but nobody knows.

This -- you know, the fight against this terrorism is not easy. My expectation two months for inside Mosul, but the winter, of course, the

weather is one of the factors that can delay the forces.

LU STOUT: This will be a long and tough battle. You're saying about two months. And, sir, we've also learned that Turkey says that their air force

is participating in the Mosul operation. What is your reaction to that announcement?

BARZANI: Really, we don't have that, so they are, of course, Turkish times and the forces, but the part of the coalition and this is something related

between, you know, between Baghdad and Ankara for the central government. So we as Peshmerga commanders or forces, we don't have any idea about what they will happen, the future with the

Turkish forces.

LU STOUT: All right, Sirwan Barzani, a brigadier general of the Kurdish Peshmerga, thank

you so much for joining us here on CNN.

BARZANI: Thank you.

LU STOUT: And while the world's attention is focused on the fight for Mosul, there has been

this unexpected development in Syria. The skies are actually quiet over the battered city of Aleppo. Russia's defense minister says that Russia

and Syria paused their bombing campaign starting at 10:00 a.m. local time.

Now, residents of the city are confirming that, saying that they have not heard any air strikes. Now, Russia earlier said that there would be a

pause on Thursday for only eight hours to allow rebels and wounded civilians to leave the city through corridors.

The United Nations, though, says that that is just not long enough to carry out any aid operations.

Now, CNN's Ian Lee is following developments from Istanbul. He joins us now live. And Ian, how I mean, how is this very brief pause in the

fighting going to help the people of Aleppo?

IAN LEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kristie, it's described by the Russians as a good will measure. And it was just this morning that we

heard that the Russians weren't going to be carrying out any air operations today, that the skies would be clear.

Now, we don't know if this is going to extend until Thursday until that 8:00 a.m. when it begins, that operation where these corridors will be

open. Russia is saying that there will be a total of eight corridors. You have six for civilians, as well as two for rebel fighters.

They are saying that the rebel fighters will be able to leave the besieged eastern part of Aleppo and go west into other rebel-held areas, that they

will be able to take their weapons along with them, and that the Syrian forces will pull back so they are allowed to do this.

They say they are giving them this much warning so that they can gather the wounded, the sick,

and prepare to mobilize them for when this corridor opens.

Now, we haven't heard from any commanders on the ground if they are going to take advantage of them or really if they are going to trust the Russians

and the Syrians to open these corridors to let them through, or if these commanders will go through or if they will stay and fight.

So there's a lot of questions at this hour about what exactly this means on Thursday.

LU STOUT: Yeah, and this eight-hour good will gesture, this pause, it comes after that horrifying video came out showing the aftermath of a

strike in Aleppo, which wiped out and killed 20 members of the same family. Tell us what happened.

[08:15:11] LEE: That's right. And there are some very disturbing video that we have been seeing coming out of children being their bodies laid

down on the sidewalk. And sadly, this is an image that we've seen over and over again in Aleppo, children being killed, civilians being killed, 20

members, as you said, of this family were killed. The two youngest were just six weeks old, a boy and a girl.

And so this is a humanitarian tragedy that we're seeing. And we've heard from the UN envoy

to Syria saying that if there isn't a permanent cease-fire, if there isn't humanitarian aid delivered, that Aleppo will be essentially wiped out by

December.

So a very ominous warning there as once this window, this eight-hour window on Thursday is

closed, no telling what is going to happen, likely a continuation of these deadly air strikes -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: And remind us why. I mean, why is it that Aleppo has been subjected to such harsh bombardment? Why is Bashar al-Assad so determined

to take this city?

LEE: Aleppo is a key part in this battle, in this civil war for Syria. It was the economic hub before the civil war took place. It is crucial

strategically, as well, in the western part of Syria, and Syrian government forces, along with their allies and Russia have been battling to gain

control of this city for years.

And the rebels have been very defiant in this besieged part, not very large, fighting fiercely. Now, there has been movement in the front lines,

the rebels at times have been able to break the siege to get supplies in, but it really is a back and forth, and in the meanwhile, you just see on a

daily basis multiple air strikes just pounding away, grinding this city really and killing hundreds and thousands

of civilians in the process.

LU STOUT: Yeah, and after this eight-hour pause in the fighting, the violence will go on. Ian Lee reporting live for us. Thank you, Ian.

Now, turning now to Yemen, where a 72-hour cease-fire is due to begin on Wednesday night. Now, the UN says that the pause in fighting is to allow

humanitarian aid to reach all parts of the country.

The U.S., UK, and UN are all pressing for talks to end the violence between the Iran-backed

Houthi rebels and Yemen's government, which is backed by Saudi Arabia and several other Arab countries.

Now, you're watching News Stream. And still ahead in the program, Melania Trump is speaking out to defend her husband, Donald Trump, as he steps up

claims that the elections are rigged.

And making friends with China. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte says that is exactly what he plans to do on his first state visit to Beijing.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:20:18] LU STOUT: All right, coming to you live from Hong Kong, you're back watching News Stream. And get ready for some potential fireworks.

The third and final U.S. presidential debate is set for Wednesday.

Now, new polls show Hillary Clinton is leading Donald Trump ahead of that showdown in Las Vegas, but Trump is stepping up claims that the election is

not a fair fight.

Now, for more, here's our Manu Raju.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: They even want to try to rig the election at the polling booths. People that have died 10 years ago are

still voting. Illegal immigrants are voting.

MANU RAJU, CNN CORREPSONDENT (voice-over): Donald Trump ramping up his unfounded claim that the election is rigged.

TRUMP: You look at what's going on in St. Louis and many other cities. There's tremendous voter fraud.

RAJU (voice-over): His willingness to accept the election result if he loses now in question.

KELLYANNE CONWAY, DONALD TRUMP'S CAMPAIGN MANAGER: Mr. Trump would if there is absent overwhelming evidence of any kind of fraud irregularities.

RAJU (voice-over): Trump frustrating many Republican leaders who have rejected his allegations of rigging. The Republican nominee also

intensifying his feud with House Speaker Paul Ryan after he said he wouldn't defend Trump.

TRUMP: Maybe he wants to run in four years or maybe he doesn't know how to win. Maybe he just doesn't know how to win. I mean, who can really know?

RAJU (voice-over): Trump taking his race against the establishment and Hillary Clinton a step further in Wisconsin.

TRUMP: It is time to drain the swamp in Washington, D.C.

RAJU (voice-over): Trump proposing a package of ethics reforms aiming to tackle corruption in Washington, including tighter restrictions on members

of Congress and White House officials taking on jobs as lobbyists.

TRUMP: This will go a long way to ending our government corruption.

RAJU (voice-over): A proposal sparked by his accusations that the FBI and State Department engaged in a criminal conspiracy.

TRUMP: This is felony corruption.

RAJU (voice-over): After newly released documents suggest a top State Department official pressured the FBI to declassify an e-mail about

Benghazi that was on the private server Clinton used while Secretary of State, possibly in exchange for offering to help station FBI agents

services.

MARK TONER, STATE DEPARTMENT DEPUTY SPOKESPERSON: The allegations of any kind of quid pro quo is inaccurate. There was no quid pro quo.

RAJU (voice-over): Clinton is not commenting. She's been off the campaign trail for days preparing for tomorrow's final debate. Clinton's campaign

now setting its sights on historically conservative states as she widens her lead in the polls, deploying her daughter Chelsea, Michelle Obama and

Bernie Sanders to Arizona in hopes to turn that red state blue.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And CNN's Manu Raju joins me live from Las Vegas, the site of Wednesday's debate. And Manu, got to ask you about these new reports out

there that Donald Trump would be willing to meet with Vladimir Putin. What is Trump driving at here?

RAJU: Well, he's been making this claim for some time that he believes that the president has been weak in dealing with foreign leaders and Putin

being one of them.

Trump, of course, said a lot of good things about Vladimir Putin, praising him as a good leader, even a stronger leader than the president, but I can

tell you, a lot of Republicans in particular don't like Donald Trump talking about Putin in these terms. They view him as an authoritarian

dictator type leader, they want to go after Putin, have a firmer line with him, not view

him as a friend and a potential ally, given the U.S. and Russia are at odds on a lot of key issues.

So if he's saying he may want to meet with Putin before, possibly getting sworn into office if he

wins in November, a lot of Republicans are scratching their heads at that remark, Kristie.

LU STOUT: And Hillary Clinton, as mentioned in your report just now, we have got new developments in this FBI investigation to her use of a private

email server while she was at the U.S. State Department, but with so many issues at play here, especially with Donald Trump really in the

spotlight, how much is that email server issue really weighing on the race now?

RAJU: Well, each additional development just keeps that issue in the news, and the real concern for her is that it really eats into the biggest

concern that she has going forward with voters is whether or not she's been honest or trustworthy.

Now, her numbers nationally and in battleground states, voters overwhelmingly do not believe

she's been honest or trustworthy and continue to question her use of the private email server and whether or not she sent private information or her

office tried to pressure folks to not allow her to continue to use that and send classified information only will hurt her in that regard.

But clearly she's been benefited quite a bit by the fact the focus has been on Donald Trump and his own controversies, Kristie.

[08:25:11] LU STOUT: All right, of course, all of that is going to be brought up in the third and final debate there in Las Vegas. Manu Raju

reporting live from Vegas for us. Thank you, Manu, take care.

Now, Melania Trump, she has broken her silence to defend her husband. She sat down for an interview with our Anderson Cooper.

Now, several women have accused Donald Trump of sexual misconduct since the 2005 audio

was published. He denies those allegations and Mrs. Trump says Access Hollywood host Billy Bush

baited him into the conversation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MELANIA TRUMP, DONALD TRUMP'S WIFE: I said to my husband that, you know, the language is inappropriate. It's not acceptable. And I was surprised,

because that is not the man that I know. And as you can see from the tape, the cameras were not on, it was only a mike. And I wonder if they even

knew that the mike was on, because they were kind of a boy talk, and he was led on, like,

egged on, from the host to say dirty and bad stuff.

Well, I see it how the media is portraying. I see how they are reporting and what they want to say and what they don't want to say. They go in,

just for example, he makes a speech 45 minutes long, they take a sentence out, and they go on and on and on about that sentence, nothing else.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: And tune into our coverage of the debate starting Wednesday. Wwe'll be live in Las Vegas leading up to the debate, which airs 9:00 a.m.

Hong Kong time Thursday morning, 2:00 a.m. in London, right here, of course, on CNN.

Now, the battle for the Iraqi city of Mosul is intensifying and there are rising concerns for families who may be forced to leave their homes. We'll

have a live report from neighboring Jordan.

And Duterte's pivot to China. The Philippine president is about to arrive in Beijing, but

what could this state visit mean for the region? We'll look at that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(HEADLINES)

[08:30:58] LU STOUT: As the Iraqi army army closes in on Mosul to rid out ISIS, the UN is warning of a potential humanitarian crisis. It believes up

to a million civilians will try to flee the violence, even though the government is asking them to stay home. And there are rising concerns for

those who may be held hostage by terrorists.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LISE GRANDE, UN HUMANITARIAN COORDINATOR FOR IRAQ: They are at extreme risk for cross fire, from barrage, there are reports that ISIL has

contaminated large parts of the city with booby traps. We're afraid that people could be expelled forcibly by ISIL or they could held as human

shields. Any way you look at it, civilians who are there right now are at extreme risk.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Now, extreme dangers and risks for the people inside Mosul. For more on the story let's bring in Jomana Karadsheh who has reported

extensively on the plight of those displaced by war. She joins us now from Amman. And Jomana, we've heard from a number of UN officials and they are

saying the protection of civilians in Mosul is absolutely critical. It has to be part of the military strategy to retake Mosul.

The brigadier general for the Kurdish Peshmerga says it is. But in the fog of war can they

assure the civilians will be protected?

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Kristie. This is something that you've heard the humanitarian aid organizations,

you've heard the UN, others really calling for the protection of civilians, saying how at risk they are, whether they stay or whether they leave.

We've heard assurances from the Iraqis, from the Kurds, all those involved in the operation, saying that the protection of civilians is a priority,

but if you look at their situation -- now whether they stay or they leave the city, they are at such extreme risks.

Now, we've heard officials asking them to stay in their homes. Of course, this could prove to

be quite unreasonable as the fighting gets closer and closer to the populated areas. We've also heard officials asking them to raise white

flags on top of their homes. Now, that could be dangerous because ISIS could attack people for doing that.

And as you mentioned earlier, of course, the concern that ISIS could use people as human

shields. And also safe routes, how will they escape the city with the fighting getting closer to them in the coming days and weeks, what will

people do, we've heard the reassurances from Kurdish and Iraqi officials that people will be provided with that safe passage, but according to aid

officials, now these safe routes haven't been pre-announced because they are concerned about ISIS attacking these safe routes out, so they are

saying for now they are not going to pre-announce them. There will be ways to pass that on to the population on how they leave.

But one of the biggest concerns, Kristie, is, of course, what happens after that and we'll have to wait and see now how this battle will unfold. Of

course, they have all these plans laid out and this could really change, depending on how the battle unfolds in the coming days and weeks.

LU STOUT: Yeah, in terms of a timeline, the battle could take weeks, it could take months. And the operation is kicking off ahead of the winter

season. So, if and when waves of people are forced to flee Mosul, where can they go for much needed shelter and help? Where can they go?

KARADSHEH: Well, right now the United Nations and aid organizations have set up several sites. These sites are around the Mosul area. And these

sites have been -- they've working on this for a few months to have them ready for the people fleeing.

Now, what happens as people flee, they have to be vetted. They go through security screening before they are taken to these camp sites that have been

set up. And according to UN officials, what happens is depending on where people end up, if they are in an area of operations for the Peshmerga, they

go through security screening through the Peshmerga forces, if it's an Iraqi security force area of operations, it is the Iraqis who will do the

vetting. And it's usually of the men. And families will be taken into these locations, into the sites that have been set up.

The main issue, Kristie, is the capacity. We have heard the UN and aid agencies say right now at this point in time they are ready to host about

60,000 people. Of course, this is just a fraction of the numbers that we could see fleeing in the coming days.

As you mentioned earlier, they expect that they could be looking at a figure of up to 1 million people who could flee. Now they say the issue

has been a shortage in funding, they have been calling for funding, more money to try and set up these locations, but it has been a very slow

process.

Now they are working around the clock to set up about 20 sites to prepare that to host about

400,000 people in the coming weeks -- Kristie.

[08:35:55] LU STOUT: Wow. I mean, they have shelter for 60,000 people, but anywhere

between 400,000 to a million people could be displaced by the fighting. They are going to have to ramp up capacity fast and soon. Jomana

Karadsheh, we'll leave it at that. Thank you so much for your reporting. We'll talk to you again soon.

Now, any moment now, Rodrigo Duterte is due to land in China, becoming the first Philippine

president to visit Beijing in years. And what makes this visit all the more intresting is both countries are indeed locked in that bitter dispute

over competing claims in the South China Sea.

But the outspoken Duterte insists that this trip is about making friends.

Matt Rivers reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A crucial state visit amidst the struggle for

power in the South China Sea as Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte makes his first official visit to China.

Historically Manila and Washington have been in lockstep and are treaty allies, but Duterte has been increasingly critical of the U.S. and could be

looking to cozy up to China and its vast economic power.

The meetings come as the territorial mess in the South China Sea continues. Six different countries have overlapping claims, including China and the

Philippines. Manila brought the issue to the International Court of Arbitration in 2013. In August, it ruled China was breaking international

law by seizing territory and building artificial islands in the region.

China refused to participate in the tribunal proceedings and called the ruling invalid, saying it had no binding force.

President Duterte has said he'll stand by that ruling when he meets with Chinese leaders, but

told Chinese state media outlet Xinhua that he prefers negotiation to confrontation.

RODRIDO DUTERTE, PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES: There's no sense in going to war. There's no sense in fighting over a body of water.

RIVERS: Many have speculated that President Duterte would be open to bargaining over the disputed territory, as he has taken a more pro-China

stance in his foreign policy. That's a stark contrast from his pro-U.S. predecessors, says former CNN Beijing bureau chief Jaime Florcruz.

JAIME FLORCRUZ, FRM. CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: He wants an independent foreign policy, he wants The Philippines to be self reliant, and yet he's

turning to China.

RIVERS: Independent of what he calls U.S. influence over Filipino actions. Duterte canceled next year's military drills between the two, and while the

treaty alliance remains, his sentiment seems clear.

Shortly after the arbitration ruling on the South China Sea came down in the Philippines'

favor, officials put up an anti-riot net here outside the Filipino embassy in Beijing. Since then, the relationship certainly appears to be getting

warmer, but that dispute still exists, so for President Duterte, the question is how willing is he to put that aside in exchange for a longer

lasting and potentially more lucrative relationship with China?

Matt Rivers, CNN, Beijing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: You're watching News Stream. We'll be back after this short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:40:35] LU STOUT: Welcome back. Now Batman, of course, is an iconic character, but he's gone through some massive changes over the years. For

decades, this was the common view of Batman, a comedic figure thanks to the light-hearted 1960s TV show. And then in the '80s, that image was

transformed by The Dark Knight Returns.

Frank Miller's story portrayed a dark and serious Batman, an image that's influenced recent film versions of Batman.

Now CNN Money's Frank Pallotta caught up with Frank Miller at New York comic-con to talk about his work.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRANK PALLOTTA, CNN MONEY: One of your most famous works is The Dark Knight Returns. And Batman is going through kind of like a renaissance

right now. What do you think makes Batman such a mythical character that is really just grabbed the consciousness of the nation?

FRANK MILLER, COMIC BOOK ARTIST: Batman is always going to have a comeback inside him. You can tell his origin in a sentence. His parents were

murdered, and his motive is that simple and clear. Doesn't get -- you don't have to use radiation, you don't have to use anything. You don't

even have to use another planet. It's that simple. He was devastated, decided to set the world straight, had the resources and the will to do it.

PALLOTTA: You've had so many big works in your life -- The Dark Knight Returns, 300, Sin City, bringing Daredevil to where it is today. What's

the work you're most proud of looking back?

MILLER: I'd have to name two things, one, Sin City, the entire run was just an exploration and is an exploration that is my -- I consider my main

body of work. As a single contained piece of work without question is 300, simply because 300 is the best story I ever got my hands on.

PALLOTTA: Did you ever expect them to be as popular as they've become via the movies when you were creating them for the graphic novels?

MILLER: I never expected to work in movies. You cannot do creative work and expect success. You aren't really leading a proper creative life if

you do it with your only goal being for it to be successful. In other words, getting a wide audience and making a lot of money and making you famous.

You have got to have a story that's burning inside of you that hurts until it comes out.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Frank Miller there.

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

END