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China Fires Back After Trump's Critical Tweets; Iraqi Assault on Mosul Slows Down; Human Rights Watch Documents System of Torture in China's Shuanggui System; Manuel Valls Announces Candidacy for French Socialist Party Nomination; South Korea's Biggest CEOs Questions by Parliament. 8:00a-9:00a ET
Aired December 06, 2016 - 8:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[08:00:24[ KRISTIE LU STOUT, HOST: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong and welcome to News Stream.
Now China fires back after Donald Trump doubles down on his attacks against Beijing.
Also, an unprecedented site in South Korea: the nation's top business leaders are grilled by lawmakers over possible links of a presidential
corruption scandal.
And this picture is worth a thousand words. We are looking at Europe's rapidly changing political landscape.
A diplomatic faux pas or a calculated tactic? Now, regardless of why Donald Trump took a recent phone call from the president of Taiwan, Beijing
is making it clear it is not happy about it. Now, China's People's Daily is running a scathing editorial saying that Trump and his team should
realize making trouble for China-U.S. ties is making trouble for themselves.
But that hasn't fazed supporters of Donald Trump. A former Trump economic adviser said, quote, if China doesn't like it, screw them. But the White
House shares Beijing's concern.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Some of the progress that we have made in our relationship with China could be undermined by this issue
flaring up. It is also unclear how the people who live in Taiwan benefit from this issue flaring up. The response from the Chinese government in
the aftermath of this call has primarily been to ratchet up up the rhetoric against Taiwan.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: Trump and China, it's getting complicated. Let's get analysis. And bring in Alexandra Field live from Beijing.
And Alex, the Obama White House says that the United States is still very much committed to a one-China policy, but is that enough to reassure
Beijing.
ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Look, they're furiously trying to reassure
Beijing that that is and should be enough. And we know that for right now perhaps it is. But you have a new administration that comes to power at
the end of January.
Right now it is the Obama administration that is in power in Washington. They are the ones
in the White House. They are the ones in a position to send this very clear message to China that
they plan to protect this One China policy, that it remains in place.
But we know with President-elect Donald Trump that he has vowed to have an unpredictable foreign policy. And even before taking office he has proven
to be unpredictable with that protocol shattering phone call and with the series of tweets that have certainly raised alarm bells for officials here
in China.
So, what you had today was the spokesperson for the White House coming out trying to again publicly reassure officials in Beijing that the policy
remains firmly in place, saying that Trump's actions could lead to tumult, could create problems in this longstanding relationship between the U.S.
and China and specifically create problems in terms of the progress that the White House says that the Obama administration has made in dealing with
Beijing during their tenure.
Earnest also went on to say that officials in the White House have spoken, or officials in Washington, rather, have spoken at least twice to officials
in Beijing.
Publicly, officials in Beijing have offered a somewhat muted or tempered response to these
controversial actions from Trump and his transition team. They have affirmed the need for this bilateral relationship. They have urged the
incoming Trump administration to uphold the One China policy. That's what they're saying publicly. But, Kristie, we know that state news has been
taking a much harsher line warning the Trump administration about what they expect to see when that administration does come into power in Washington.
LU STOUT: Absolutely. And the contrast is so extreme, isn't it. You mentioned that more tempered, muted response after Trump's controversial
phone call with Taiwan. That we heard from the ministry of foreign affairs. But what is Chinese state media saying?
FIELD: Right. They are the mouthpiece for the Communist Party, and there have been a number of scathing editorials that have come out in the
aftermath of that phone call and also of those tweets. You've got People's Daily which is the official newspaper of the Communist Party that you
pointed out calling that phone call despicable and the fact that it was followed up with those tweets showing that Trump in their opinion did not
understand the consequences of the phone call.
You now have another scathing editorial coming from the Global Times, which is a
very nationalistic paper, also of course part of the state-run news here and they are not only sending a message to Trump saying there are those on
his transition team that are arrogant and ignorant of the policies and the relationships between the U.S. and China.
But they're again sending a strong message to Taiwan. At one point in one of these op-eds they say The People's Liberation Army has the ability to
destroy Taiwan's military within hours before U.S. help could even arrive. So, they are really attacking this on two fronts. One sending a clear
message to the incoming message to the Trump administration, and two, sending a message to Taiwan and really slapping them on the wrist for this
breach of protocol that's been in place for so many decades now, Kristie.
LU STOUT: Harsh rhetoric from China. Alexandra Field reporting live from Beijing, thank you.
Now, South Korea's political corruption investigation hit a new, unprecedented stage. The country's top corporate leaders are being grilled
in a parliamentary hearing. Lawmakers want to know if President Park Geun- hye ever pressured companies into making donations for favors.
Now, meanwhile, Park announced earlier that she will accept the result of Friday's impeachment vote.
Now Paula Hancocks has the latest. She joins me now live from Seoul. And Paula, we have South Korea's titans of industry. They have been grilled in
this corruption hearing. What are they saying?
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kristie, this started about 12 hours ago. And it's still going at this point. Of
course, they've had breaks and a couple of the older CEOs have been excused now for their age and also failing health. But the younger ones, there's
no such luck. They are continuing to be grilled by these lawmakers. And what they've said so far is they've given donations and they have
contributed to these non-profit foundations that President Park Geun-hye's confidant was in charge of.
But they say that they haven't done anything wrong. All the executives say that they didn't do it in return for favors and they didn't receive favors.
But it has been quite an interesting day, we've seen certainly the Samsung executive Jay Y. Lee has been particularly aggressively questioned by some
lawmakers. He did admit at one point that his company had given money to the daughter of the Choi Soon-sil, or at least in support of her. This is
the confidant who is at the center of this scandal.
Jay Y. Lee saying that he didn't know about it at the time and saying he was sorry that his company is involved in this, but certainly this is
unprecedented to see effectively the most powerful men in Kouth Korea being so publicly grilled like this and it is on live television around the
country -- Kristie.
LU STOUT: Yeah, and just how -- has been the reaction in South Korea, because this is extraordinary. We have some of the most powerful business
leaders in South Korea appearing in public, being forced to answer really hard questions about the presidential scandal.
HANCOCKS: We did speak to a few people on the streets of Seoul this evening. Of course, it's not a scientific poll in any way, but those that
we spoke to said that they quite frankly didn't believe what the executives are saying.
The trust in these big conglomerates here in South Korea is pretty low at this point. It's long known that there's this connection between big
business and the governments here in South Korea, and many people in the public are fed up with this collusion that's seen as between government and
big business and certainly at a time when President Park Geun-hye's approval rate is down at 4 percent, incredibly low, the lowest of any South
Korean president, any big business that's seen as cooperating with her is also going to have that adverse effect that it already has.
So, the trust here in these big so-called (inaudible) is certainly low, Kristie.
LU STOUT: Yeah, there is an erosion of trust in big business in South Korea, and also an erosion of trust in Park Geun-hye. We know that she
faces an impeachment vote this Friday. What's going to happen? What will be her fate?
HANCOCKS: Well, we did hear indirectly from President Park Geun-hye today. We heard from one of the ruling party members, and he said that he had met
with her and he said that President Park was going to wait and see what happened in this impeachment vote, what has to happen for the
impeachment process to go forward is for two-thirds of parliament to vote against President Park. And Park has said that if that happens she'll then
wait and see what the constitutional court says.
So, effectively she is saying that she will wait for this process and see what happens, which is
obviously not what hundreds of thousands of protesters want to hear. They want to hear a clear
resignation. They want her to resign immediately, which is what they've been saying for six weekends in a row now with organizers saying close to a
million or more than a million people have been on the streets each Saturday. So this isn't going to placate many people, but certainly it is
going to be a crucial week for President Park -- Kristie.
LU STOUT: All right, Paula Hancocks, live in Seoul. Thank you.
Now, on top of its political crisis, South Korea says its military intranet has been hacked. The defense ministry says malicious codes were found and
that some military data, including confidential information, was leaked. The ministry says it assumes North Korea is responsible, and there's been
no comment from Pyongyang.
Now, the world's major powers continue to squabble over the future of Syria and the city of Aleppo.
On Monday, Russia and China vetoed a UN security council resolution that called for a seven day cease-fire in Aleppo. In the city itself, Russian
officials say rebel fire hit a Russian mobile clinic killing two medics. Meanwhile, the Syrian government continues its bombardment of eastern
neighborhoods.
Now Russia, of course, has been a major player in Syria's civil war, but not just on the battlefield. Fred Pleitgen is in Aleppo with more on
Moscow's role.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[08:10:41] FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: As an aide worker tries to humor children in a former Aleppo battleground district,
only a few yards away Russian soldiers are in a serious mood, embedded with the Syrian army trying to push rebels out of the whole city.
Government soldiers not shy to praise Moscow's involvement.
"The Russians are our brothers,"he says. "Their superior technology and air strikes have made all of the difference for us sweeping these areas."
The Syrain army sems on the verge of ousting rebels from all of Aleppo, but only a little over a year ago it seemed Bashar al-Assad's military might
collapse.
Then Russia entered the conflict in late-2015, quickly changing the tide They are on the verge but only a year ago it seemed that Bashar al-Assad's
military may collapse. Then, Russia entered the fight in late 2015 and quickly became a powerbroker in the Middle East. Signaling diplomacy in
Syria will only happen on its terms, not America's.
SERGEY LAVROV, RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): John Kerry at our
meeting in Rome relayed the American proposals, which were in line with approaches long defended by our experts involved in conversations with the
Americans.
PLEITGEN: A heavy-handed approach and a mounting civilian death toll has led the U.S. and
UN to call for investigations into possible Russian war crimes in Syria, a claim the Kremlin denies.
The Russians starting their own efforts to win hearts and minds.
The Russian are showing that they are taking much of the initiative in the battle for Aleppo, not just supporting the forces of Syrian President
Bashar al-Assad, but also by providing aid like this massive convoy that's about to head into the eastern districts of Aleppo.
The aid comes with a message, "Russia has always been doing this work of offering aid for
those who need it," this commander says. "We help anyone who is in need."
And that message resonates with some people here, like Mustafa Jumo (ph) who we found cleaning up what's left of his belongings after the rebels
lost control of this district.
"We are very grateful to the Russians and Comrade Putin," he says. "The Russians will never let us down."
But Russia's new foreign policy prowess comes at a price. On Monday, several military
medics were killed and wounded when a mortar struck their mobile clinic, a reminder of the dangers of
Moscow's Syria engagement even as the momentum on the battlefield is going their way.
Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Aleppo.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: In neighboring Iraq, the fight to drive ISIS out of Mosul is now targeting the western half of the city. These are some of the people
displaced by the battle, but they are just a fraction of the estimated 1 million people still inside the city.
Now, it's been nearly two months since the battle began to expel ISIS from its last stronghold
in Iraq. The Iraqi air force dropped leaflets today telling residents that a victory could come soon.
Let's get more now from CNN producer Salma Abedlaziz. She joins us from Irbil east of Mosul. And Salma, I understand that you are talking to
civilians who are trapped inside Mosul. What are they saying?
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN PRODUCER: That's right, Kristie. We've spoken to about a dozen civilians. These are people who are still in ISIS territory.
They are behind enemy lines, and they tell us they feel depressed. They thought they would be liberated in just a matter of days. In reality
they've been caught in the cross fire now for almost a month and their stories are heartbreaking.
Let me just share a couple of their stories with you. One mother, she told us through tears that her home has become a prison for her and her family.
They have to hide in one corner of the house where there is no windows so they don't get caught into incoming fire.
Another man said I shouldn't be speaking to you, I could be killed by ISIS for speaking to a
journalist, but my hope has faded. And I want to tell the Iraqi army we're dying in our home. This battle is moving too slowly. And that's exactly
the point, Kristie. The advance that we saw early on in this offensive when it started in October has now slowed significantly and
that means that civilians are paying the price, Kristie.
LU STOUT: Yeah, civilians are paying the price, they're terrified, they're trapped. They've been
in this situation now for eight weeks, and I understand the paceof the offensive has slowed down significantly. Do we know why?
[08:15:04] ABDELAZIZ: That's exactly right. In the beginning, the Iraqi army and the coalition were fighting in these open lands, these open fields
where air strikes were significant where there was little civilian population and they've entered Mosul. They've entered that urban
battleground and the streets are tight and the houses are packed and ISIS has spent two years preparing for this fight. They are deeply entrenched.
The Iraqi army tells us they have used hundreds of car bombs. They've planted snipers on the rooftops of civilian homes and they've even used the
residents as human shields. And so the army has to move slowly and meticulously as they try to clear these areas, but they also have to be
aware of the fact that this is a battle that is happening on the doorsteps of residences. That means mortar rounds are falling near children, near
families.
And as this battle continues, this battle which is expected to take many more months -- so far we've only seen a small sliver of neighborhoods in
the east that have been retaken by the Iraqi army and it will be much longer before they sweep the entire city. And while this happens,
civilians will be caught in the middle -- Kristie.
LU STOUT: That's right, this is shaping up to be a long, drawnout conflict and the number of civilians trapped and losing hope. Salma, we thank you
for your reporting. Take care.
Now, you're watching News Stream and still to come in the program, China is trying to clean up its corruption problem, but a shocking report claims
torture plays a major part in the crackdown. We'll hear from Human Rights Watch next.
Plus, Manuel Valls is no longer that prime minister of France. Instead, he's waging a battle to run as the Socialist Party's nominee for president.
That straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LU STOUT: Coming to you live from Hong Kong, you're back watching News Stream.
Now, Chinese President Xi Jinping made it his goal to wipe out corruption. But Human Rights Watch just released a damning report on the horrific means
it says is being used to achieve that. It describes Shuanggui as the Chinese government's secret detention system. And the report alleges that
it is incredibly abusive.
Now, this is the first time personal accounts from detainees have been documented and they describe how they've tortured into making confessions
and how these so-called admissions of guilt are used in court.
Bo Xilai, a former politburro member was sentenced to life in prison after reportedly confessing during Shuanggui.
Now, Sophie Richardson, China director of Human Rights Watch, spoke to me earlier about the
practice.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SOPHIE RICHARDSON, CHINA DIRECTOR, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: They're abused via sleep deprivations, extreme temperatures, beatings, some of the same ill-
treatment that we've documented in the normal criminal justice system, but here people literally have no recourse. They've gone down into this black
hole and there's no way for them to come back out until they have confessed to the standards of the people that are holding them.
What we have pieced together shows not only an increase in the number of cases of Shuanggui since the anti-corruption campaign started, but we're
talking about we're talking about roughly 300,000, 350,000 people who in 2015 were sent into the Shuanggui system, were disciplined by the party,
and some of those cases were then forwarded on into the formal judicial system.
So, it's not a small number of people. And bear in mind that this applies to all 88 million party members, that's a big number of people. And we'll
probably never know just how many of them actually went through Shuanggui and how many of them had cases that went into the court system or didn't,
but we think that there are probably significant numbers of people who have been sent down this black hole with no recourse.
Combating corruption requires an independent professional judiciary. It requires full, fair defense rights for detainees, for suspects, you know,
it requires an independent media that can track cases, but the court is really a judicial system that can ignore political pressures or withstand
them regardless of what the evidence says.
And the problem with Shuanggui, our main recommendation is that it be abolished immediately, is that in fact it creates more even latitude for
these cases to be decided on the basis of people's political status rather than on the basis of evidence. And so really unless and until Xi Jinping
and Wang Xishen (ph) abolish the Shuanggui system, China is going to be dealing with a serious corruption problem for a long time to come.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: And that was Sophie Richardson, China director for Human Rights Watch. You ca read more about Shuanggui on our website CNN.com.
Now, former UN Secretary-general Kofi Annan says Myanmar is promising to let aid workers
into the volatile northern Rakine State. Now, rights groups have been reporting a brutal crackdown on the state's Rohingya Muslim population. It
includes allegations of mass killings, rape, villages being destroyed.
Now, families have poured into neighboring Bangladesh as the UN special adviser on the prevention of genocide calls for an investigation.
The French left is facing an uphill battle to stay in power in the face of a growing right. Manuel Valls says that he will seek the Socialist Party's
nomination for president and has stepped down as prime minister. Now, in his place, Bernard Cazeneuve is now prime minister. Valls made his
announcement from the same town where he served as mayor.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MANUEL VALLS, FRENCH PRIME MINISTER (through translator): I want an independent France, independent, inflexible on its values when facing the
China of Xi Jinping, the Russia of a Vladimir Putin, the America of Donald Trump and the Turkey of Recep Erdogan.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: But if Valls becomes the Socialist Party's nominee, he will be up against the
right-wing National Front and Marine La Pen.
But the Front already has a lot of competition from a strong conservative base led by Francois Fillon.
And here to unpack all of this is CNN's Melissa Bell who joins us live from Paris.
And Melissa, first, Manuel Valls, we know that he is not guaranteed to win the Socialist primary. They are the candidates, but is he the party's best
bet in this race?
MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He is definitely the man who is leading the polls as the party enters its primary campaign. The vote will come at
the end of January, just as we just saw with the Republican Party here in France, Kristie, they'll be voting in two rounds as is traditional in
French elections.
Eight candidates so far have thrown their hat into the ring, of course, including Manuel Valls. He leads the pack for the time being. And yet, he
does face an uphill struggle, first of all, because the left has rarely been as divided as it today as it gets to the end of this five-year term
with Francois Holland who is proving one of the most unpopular presidents since World War II. It is a party that is divided between left and right.
It is a party that finds it difficult to speak with any pride about its record over the course of the last five years.
Manuel Valls, of course, is closely associated with that record, Krsitie, also, he's a representative of what is the right wing of the Socialist
Party. Will he be able to gather the rest of the party around him? That, at this stage, is far from certain.
LU STOUT: Yeah, and also given this mood of anti-establishment politics, it seems that voters in France like in the U.S., are fed up with old
political names. Already, Nicolas Sarkozy, Alain Juppe, Francois Holland, are out of the race. So, do establishment politicians stand a chance here?
BELL: There is this wave, this desire for change, this sweeping France just as we've seen it sweep other countries. And the ones who are likely -
- looking likely to be the biggest victims of that are, of course, the ruling party, the Socialists and that record that I was telling you about
just a moment ago.
That need for rupture, that desire for change, everyone had expected until just a few weeks ago that Marine Le Pen, whom you mentioned and her far
right, would be the ones to benefit the most. Indeed, it's what she told CNN just a couple of weeks ago. She feels that her time has finally come
and she will ride that populist wave all the way to Elise Palace.
But what she hadn't anticipated is that on the right, the traditional right, the Republican right would emerge, as you mentioned, ahead of
Nicolas Sarkozy, a man that no one quite saw coming, Francois Fillon. He and Marine Le Pen are not expected to go head-to-head if you listen to the
polls in the second round of the presidential election, very difficult to see from
where we're standing today how anyone who had anything to do with the party that's been in power for the last five years could challenge either of them
to that position in the second round.
Still that is what Manuel Valls is hoping to do, which is why he has now stood down. France is looking at its new prime minister, Bernard
Cazeneuve, a man will hold the job for just five months because that is when the country will be voting to decide who will lead it for the next
five-year term, Kristie.
[08:26:05] LU STOUT: Five months away, the big vote. Melissa Bell reporting live from
Paris. Thank you.
Now, Italy's prime minister is also stepping down, but his resignation has been delayed. The president asked Matteo Renzi to stay until the country's
budget is approved. Renzi announced that would step aside after voters rejected a referendum on changing Italy's constitution.
Now, few saw Brexit, even fewer saw Donald Trump winning the White House, but populism is indeed on the rise in the west, most evidently in Europe.
Here's Nic Robertson.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Italy's Prime Minister resigns. Europe's roller-coaster relationship with the E.U., takes a dive.
Trump-type populism is shaking up Europe's politics. Hours earlier, Austria elected a new president. Europe's leaders rejoiced. Austrians rejected the
nationalist candidate with Nazi connections. France's President declaring the Austrian people have chosen Europe. What the Austrians chose, though,
was no mainstream politician. Alexander Van der Bellen is Western Europe's first ever Green Party president. He is pro-E.U. But this is the first time
neither of Austria's two principal political parties have not held the presidency.
In Italy, Renzi who tried to reform the country's bloated bureaucracy and boost the economy is victim of leftists and nationalists who want out of
the European Union. France's hard right nationalist, Marine Le Pen, who is running for president next year, was quick to grab gains for her own
campaign from Renzi's loses. She tweeted, "The Italians have moved away from Renzi and the E.U. We must listen to this thirst for freedom and
protection of nations."
At E.U. HQ in Brussels, finance ministers dismiss worries of a hit on the euro, but Italy's struggling banks may yet need Brussels' help baling them
out. And for Italy's populists, that's a contentious issue.
Meanwhile, here in London, more discord. The Supreme Court is deciding whether or not British lawmakers could potentially block Brexit. It will
add to the growing uncertainty about the future of the European Union. Passions here for and against Brexit are high, and every indication now,
similar sentiments are spreading.
Nic Robertson, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: You're watching News Stream. And coming up, the Trump family and its business empire. Why new questions are being raised about Ivanka
Trump's role in the transition.
And the danger of fake news. How lies told on social media are having very real and very dangerous consequences.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(HEADLINES) . [08:32:45] LU STOUT: Now, Donald Trump's daughter is at the center of
possible conflicts of interest. Now many people want to know what business did Ivanka have sitting in on a meeting with the Japanese prime minister?
Christina Alesci has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CRISTINA ALESCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: New details about Ivanka Trump's own business deal have complicated Donald Trump's efforts to address conflicts
of interest. Ivanka's company confirmed it's in the final stages of signing a lucrative licensing deal in Japan for her clothing line. The problem? Her
company was negotiating the terms when President-elect Trump included Ivanka in a face-to-face meeting with the country's prime minister, Shinzo
Abe.
MICHAEL O'HANLON, SENIOR FELLOW AT BROOKINGS FOREIGN POLICY PROGRAM: To be in official meetings with foreign leaders does come a little bit too close
to the possibility of people seeing her as advancing her own business interests through the mechanism, through the vehicle of the American
presidency.
ALESCI: Now, Ivanka, along with her husband Jared Kushner are house hunting in Washington. Adding to speculation that Jared might land a spot in the
White House. And then, Ivanka might advise her father's administration. All this makes for a weak so-called wall between the president-elect and his
family business. And Donald Trump's informal discussions with foreign leaders isn't helping. The president-elect made history by speaking to the
President of Taiwan.
O'HANLON: No American president or president-elect is known to have spoken directly with a leader of Taiwan since 1979.
ALESCI: Almost immediately, reports surfaced about the Trump organization's potential deals there. That left the transition team scrambling to make
clear the organization isn't planning any new projects there. But those aren't the only places where potential conflicts loom. In the Philippines,
home to a Trump Tower, newly- elected leader Rodrigo Duterte has been criticized for encouraging widespread executions of supposed drug
offenders.
RODRIGO DUTERTE, PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES: If the criminals there are killed by the thousands, that's not my problem.
ALESCI: The State Department has condemned the killings.
JOHN KIRBY, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: We continue to be deeply concerned by reports of extrajudicial killings by or at the behest of government
authorities in the Philippines.
ALESCI: But Trump hasn't condemned them. The two men recently spoke. According to a statement from the Philippines government, Trump praised
Duterte for tackling the drug problem in, quote, "the right way," and invited him to visit Washington.
[08:35:05] DUTERTE (through translator): Love live Mr. Trump.
ALESCI: Cristina Alesci, CNN Money, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: Now, here on News Stream we have continually covered the rise of fake news during the U.S. election campaign. And some have even suggested
that such stories helped propel Donald Trump to victory, but now in Washington, D.C., we have seen an instance of fake news leading to real
violence. Police say a man opened fire inside a restaurant after reading a fake story claiming that Hillary Clinton and her campaign were involved in
a child sex ring inside.
Brian Stelter reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN STELTER, CNN MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Fake news, real gunfire. A North Carolina man arrested in a D.C. pizza shop after brandishing a gun, telling
police he was there to investigate a conspiracy theory called Pizzagate.
UNIDENITIFIED MALE: One of the host runs up and he's like, did you see that guy? He had a big gun.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We actually thought initially that he was a staff member because he
was walking straight for that back room, staff member, you know, kind of looked at me and indicated that this was a gunman.
STELTER: Edgar Welch, appearing in court this afternoon. According to police, Welch said that he had read online that the Comic Ping Pong
Restaurant was haboring child sex slaves, and that he wanted to see for himself if they were there.
The suspect said he was armed to help rescue them. The accusation came from this unhinged story that originated online days before the election
that Hillary Clinton and her campaign chairman John Podesta were operating a child sex ring. The lie took root in the digital swamps of Twitter and
far right wing websites.
ALEX JONES, INFOWARS: We're not covering Pizzagate enough, even though we covered it ever day to expose the Satnnism and the occult and the code
words for pedophilia.
STELTER: October 30, a Clinton hating, Trump loving Twitterer claimed a police source said Clinton was at the center of a pedophilia ring, others
latching on to this, seemingly hoping it was true, scouring dark corners of the web for possible clues.
This is how conspiracy theories are threaded together lie by lie. Eventually a name stuck: Pizzagate. And the believers started harassing
the owner of the pizza place.
JAMES ALEFANTIS, OWNER, COMET PING PONG: We've received many, many, many calls but really they are from around the world so we didn't expect anyone
to come.
STELTER: On Sunday, the suspect fired his weapon. No one was hurt.
With detectives still on the scene in D.C., Pizzagate believers were already claiming that this real development was just part of a cover-up.
MIKE CERNOVICH, DANGER AND PLAY: The media is claiming that this is because of Pizzagate. This is very dangerous fake news. Anybody claiming
today that the gunman today at Comet Pizza had anything to do with Pizzagate is lying.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: And that was CNN's Brian Stelter reporting there.
You are watching News Stream. And still to come, the kangaroo caught in the act. One man punches above his weight to protect his dog. That story
is next. You don't want to miss it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LU STOUT: Welcome back. Now, next year's Academy Awards will have a new host, late night host and famous prankster Jimmy Kimmel. It will be
Kimmel's first time hosting the Oscars, but he was widely praised for his job as host of the Emmys. He tweeted this, quote, "yes, I am hosting
the Oscars. This is not a prank. And if it is, my revenge on the Academy will be terrible and sweet.," unquote.
Now, you probably won't won't see the star of our next story making an appearance at the Oscars. Jeanne Moos reports an Australian man who did
not pull any punches when it came to protecting his dog.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[08:40:22] JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They were in Australia hunting boar. But what happened was anything but boring.
Greg Tonkins (ph) went running to rescue his dog Max from a kangaroo that was holding the dog in a headlock. Tonkins approached. The kangaroo
released the dog. And the two squared off, man versus marsupial.
Kangaroo reacts with a, "you did not just do that" look of disbelief before turning tail.
Round one goes to the man.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's exciting. So he launches a right hand to the kangaroo's snout.
MOOS: But the fight overthrowing that punch heated up as the video went viral.
MOOS (on camera): So the question is, did the guy do the right thing by punching him?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
MOOS: He didn't?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. Poor kangaroo. Kangaroos are beautiful.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I don't think he hurt the kangaroo.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's somebody that needed to protect his dog.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I think it's a happy ending.
MOOS (voice-over): But there was also an unhappy ending. The hunt was organized to fulfill a wish for 19-year-old Kylum Barwick (ph), who
suffered from a rare form of cancer. A few months later, and just a few days after marrying his sweetheart in his hospital room, he died. Those on
the hunt say Barwick thought the kangaroo encounter was the highlight of the trip. The story packed a punch. A kangaroo can be extremely dangerous
between its claws and its kick.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, wait a minute. This is my husband.
MOOS: They can also be extremely well built. Check out Roger the muscular marsupial. It turns out the dog owner who punched the kangaroo is a keeper
at an Australian zoo. Taranga's (ph) Zoo is reviewing events and will consider any appropriate action.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good day, mate.
MOOS: When encountering a kangaroo, caution is advised.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There you go.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How did you get punched by a kangaroo?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Really hard.
MOOS: This guy's probably saying something similar to his buddies.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: It's the way the kangaroo just flexes his pecks like that.
OK, now before we go and just in time for the holiday season, Amazon has a new bricks and mortar store in Seattle. And selling point here no checkout
lines or registers. It says customers can check in with an app, grab what they need and just walk out.
Amazon claims it can track the items through computer vision and deep learning technology. For now the store is only open to Amazon employees.
And for the rest of us it opens early next year.
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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