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South Koreans Celebrate Parliamentary Vote to Impeach President; WADA Issues New Report on Russian Doping; New U.S. Company Seeks Out Russian Hacks to Protect U.S. Businesses; Remembering John Glenn. 8:00a- 9:00a ET

Aired December 09, 2016 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:18] KRISTIE LU STOUT, HOST: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong and welcome to News Stream.

Now, South Korea's political crisis: lawmakers vote to impeach the president over a corruption

scandal. We are live from Seoul with reaction to the fall of Park Geun- hye.

We're also following developing news on Russia's enormous doping conspiracy. A report reveals more than 1,000 Olympians were involved.

And farewell to the man who touched the sky. We pay tribute to John Glenn.

And we begin with political upheaval in South Korea. A short time ago President Park

Geun-hye apologized for causing what she described as national chaos. She spoke just after parliament voted 234-56 votes to impeach her.

Now, the prime minister has officially assumed the role of acting president. And the constitutional court must now decide whether to uphold

Park's impeachment.

There have been massive protests in the country for several weeks now with South Koreans demanding that President Park step down over a corruption

scandal. Her approval rating has plunged into the single digits. And demonstrators waited outside parliament as

lawmakers voted inside.

I want to give you a sense of the mood there after the vote result was announced.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(CHEERING)

(SINGING)

(CHANTING)

PARK WON-SOON, SEOUL MAYOR: It's a great moment of Korean and the victory of democracy, but I think it's a certain point of the total transformation

of Korean society, from all the system, (inaudible) so the people are calling the total change of Korean political systems.

UNIDENITIFIED FEMALE: I'm so happy! I'm very proud of my people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Clearly an emotional moment for so many in South Korea.

Now, CNN's Paula Hancocks is in Seoul. She joins us now. And Paula, a convincing vote to

impeach the president and also an apology from Park Geun-hye. It was an extraordinary day today in Seoul.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Kristie. And it was a very convincing vote, 234 for impeachment, only 56 against, which

basically means that an awful lot of Park's own party voted to impeach her, so certainly a great disappointment for President Park Geun-hye, as you saw

from the images there, absolute delight from those who wanted her to step down.

But of course, there is still frustration that this will be a drawn out affair. Many of the protesters we spoke to and have spoken to over past

months say that they want her to step down immediately. They want the resignation right now. But what this means is it could take another six

months.

The constitutional court will now take this on and decide whether or not they want to uphold this impeachment, if they think there's enough evidence

against Park in this corruption scandal. Otherwise, if they believe there's not, then she could actually take power again -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: OK, so politically, those are the next moves, but how has all this changed the people of South Korea? I mean, there have been these huge

protests leading up to this moment. What has been the impact of today's vote and the presidential scandal on the people and, of course, their

sense of national pride?

HANCOCKS: It really has been quite remarkable to see the massive rallies that are happening every Saturday. There's been six in a row, and they are

huge. I mean, there are hundreds of thousands of people. Organizers claim sometimes there's a million, maybe a million and a half, although police

give a more conservative estimate. But they are very peaceful. They are almost carnival like. The message is very clear and very frustrated in

some cases, saying that they want President Park Geun-hye to step down immediately. But the fact is, this is democracy at its best, seeing that

amount of people on the streets.

There have been very little trouble between the protesters and the police, for example, the police have taken a very softly, softly approach. And

this is something people are noticing here. This is something people are talking about when we see them on the streets, the fact this is their

democracy working -- Kristie.

[08:05:14] LU STOUT: There's a story of the South Korean people and, of course, there's the individual story of Park Geun-hye and her fall from

grace. I mean, this is for her a tragic turn of events. She being South Korea's first female president.

HANCOCKS: Absolutely. And the more important fact is, she came to power on an anti-corruption ticket. This is what many people felt so frustrated

about when they thought that she might be embroiled in this corruption scandal. The fact she had said she wanted clean politics in South Korea,

this is what she had campaigned on and that's what many people voted for her.

LU STOUT: Paula Hancocks reporting live from Seoul. Thank you, Paula.

Now, the World Anti-Doping Agency has released its final report into Russian doping in sport news conference in London. The extraordinary

report found more than 1,000 Russian athletes across 30 sports were involved in a massive doping conspiracy, and it was centrally organized.

Just take a listen to some of what was said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD MCLAREN, AUTHOR, WADA REPORT: An institutional conspiracy persisted across summer and winter sports. Athletes who participated with

Russian officials within the Ministry of Sport and the infrastructure, such as Rosatta, and CSP, the Moscow Lab, along with the FSB, for the purposes

of manipulating doping controls.

These athletes were not acting individually, but within an organized infrastructure.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Now for more on the report I'm joined by World Sport's Amanda Davies, who is in London outside where the conference was held, and CNN

contributor Jill Dougherty in Moscow.

Amanda, let's start with you. The report just released. Yyou spoke to its author, Richard McLaren, just a few minutes ago. The scale of this doping

scandal is huge.

AMANDA DAVIES, CNN WORLD SPORT: It is, Kristie.

I think you have to say that whilst there are no new explosive headlines out of this report, a lot of the basic facts have emerged in that initial

report from July.

What we have now is pretty irrefutable evidence, more meat on the bones, if you will, about

the scale of what has been going on within sport in Russia.

As you said, 1,000 Russian athletes, elite level athletes, involved across over 30 different sports. And it's not just the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics

that has been affected, that very much has been the focus of the last few months, but what Richard McLaren has detailed is a

process that began in 2011 and was then refined and altered to bring the unprecedented levels of success that we saw all the way through, and as

Richard McLaren put it, through until 2015.

It is now very, very difficult, you would think, for people to argue with the cases, the IOC, the International Olympic Committee, of course, being

criticized in recent times for not taking a hard enough stance. A lot of athletes were felt very let down that that blanket ban wasn't implemented

for the Olympics in Rio earlier this year.

But you would feel that the scale of this evidence now makes it very, very difficult for the international sporting organizations to argue with.

LU STOUT: All right. From Amanda Davies Ln london, let's go to Jill Dougherty in Moscow. As Amanda was saying, the latest report adds more

meat to the bones to already damning allegations of widespread state sponsored doping in Russia. How is Russia responding to it all?

JIL DOUGHERTY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, officially, Kristie, we don't have anything yet. The Kremlin has not said anything.

We did happen to contact the press secretary for the president of the Russian Olympic committee, and they said, look, this is a very long report,

we are studying it. We are going to get back eventually to you, but that may not be until next week.

I did watch a fair amount of Russian TV. They are covering it, in some cases kind of downplaying it. There were a couple of reports, one in

particular, that said, look, Americans have used drugs, other people have, and if there's any pushback, I'd have to say that it's mainly saying, look,

there may be problems, but you are picking on Russia.

I'm looking, however -- well, a good example of that would be a quote from the head of the

Russian Curling Association who said it's what we expected. I heard nothing new. Unsubstantiated allegations against all of us. If you're

Russian, then they accuse you of every sin.

But there were other people, in fact, Yelena Isinbayeva who's the famous pole vaulter who now is the head of the Rusada (ph) supervisory counsel,

that's the anti-doping body. And she said that they are going to be looking at this and we have a very big job, she said, to restore confidence

in Russia, but I'm optimistic that we can do it.

So there are some positive things being said.

We'll have to see what the Kremlin says before, essentially, it was a mixed message. Yes, we know there are individual cases of doping, but we are

going to reform.

Now that's where it gets difficult. What does the reform actually mean? But we'll get back to you when we have something from higher sources.

LU STOUT: Absolutely. And before we get any reaction from the Kremlin, you just said it just then, you know, a range of responses, from defiance

to acceptance and optimism for change.

Let's go back to Amanda Davies in London. And Amanda, after this report and hearing

that kind of reaction from Russia, even though we're waiting for official reaction from the Kremlin, what kind of additional action could be taken

against Russia and the individuals involved in widespread doping?

DAVIES: Well, this is where things really start to get interesting, don't they, Kristie? We had after the previous report, the World Anti-Doping

Agency calling for that blanket ban of all Russian athletes from international competition, that was a move that wasn't adhered to from the

International Olympic Committee. They, in many people's eyes, shirked the responsibility and left it to the individual sporting federations to make

the call. The IAAF, the athletics federation, did go for the blanket ban approach, but the majority of international sporting associations decided

not to do that.

McLaren today made a very big appeal to say please, sporting bodies pull together. We need to beat this problem. There has been unprecedented

levels of corruption and collusion really within Russian sport that has got to this point that has absolutely destroyed trust within so many of the

major international sporting events. He wants to see an end to the infighting we've seen from the World Anti-Doping Agency, to the IOC, to the

individual sporting federations, but that's a big political game and now very much attention is turning to the IOC to see what they will do.

As I said, the athletes say that they feel let down, that things haven't gone further quicker up

to this point. Of course, that's the big scale picture.

What we're likely to see, of course, is medals now from Sochi being redistributed. We've been talking about the positive tests from London and

from Sochi, none of those medals have been taken away from those who won as things stand in Sochi.

So it will be an individual level, then a major sporting level, as well.

One thing that you would say is very, very unlikely is any impact on the 2018 Football World Cup in Russia from the FIFA perspective. It really is

very close to home, and although footballers have been implicated in this report, you suspect it won't go far enough that

anything will happen to that.

LU STOUT: Got you.

So after this report, all eyes on these key sporting events and, of course, Russia and its chances

for rehabilitation. Amanda Davies joining us live from London, Jill Dougherty live in Moscow. And big thank you to you both.

Now a court has ruled in the hate speech trial of one of Europe's most controversial politicians. And up next, we're going to take a closer look

at Geert Wilders and his Freedom Party.

And their lives have been disrupted and placed in danger. We'll have civilians in Mosul see a glimmer of hope as Iraqi forces push further into

the city. We've got a rare look inside next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:16:15] LU STOUT: Coming to you live from Hong Kong, you're back watching News

Stream.

Well, Hong Kong's chief executive says CY Leung says he will not seek a second term in office. Now, Leung was elected four years ago by a 1,200

member committee. And pro-democracy activists have accused Leung of pandering to Beijing and failing to make progress of bringing universal

suffrage to the city.

Now, protesters wanted him to resign during the Umbrella Movement demonstrations, but now Leung says his family is the reason he will step

aside.

Now, turning now to U.S. politics, Donald Trump is back in New York after his latest

thank you rally in Iowa, and this as we find out he is not planning to give up his reality TV roots just yet.

Now, sources in his team confirm Trump will keep his title as executive producer of Celebrity

Apprentice, even while he serves as president of the United states.

Meanwhile, he defended his pick of business tycoons into his cabinet, the latest one, fast food executive Aandy Puzder of labor secretary. Now

Puzder is a staunch critic of efforts to raise the minimum wage.

Now, Trump also took a jab at one of his favorite targets: China.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT-ELECT: The nation of China is responsible for almost half of America's trade deficit. They haven't played by the rules.

And I know it's time that they are going to start. They are going to start. They've got to. We're all in this thing together, folks.

We got to play by the rules, folks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Now, in The Netherlands, far right politician Geert Wilders has been found guilty of insulting a group, but he was cleared on the charge of

incitement to hatred, and his lawyer says he will appeal.

Now, the case relates to remarks that Wilders made about Moroccans back in 2014. It comes as his Freedom Party soars in some polls ahead of a general

election in march.

Let's take you straight to Amsterdam. Nic Robertson is there. And Nic, Geert Wilders is guilty of insulting a group, but not guilty of hate

speech. How did the court go with that verdict?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the judges said that he'd gone beyond the bounds of freedom of speech and that insulting a

group, the Moroccans, because the call at the rally he was at that led to these charges, the call was Moroccans less, less, less was the shout back

from the crowd,

But what the judges viewed was that that wasn't an intentional situation to create hatred. They do feel that they do feel that an interview, a private

interview, had given prior to that rally did perhaps constitute, you know, something along those lines.

However, they decided to go with the lesser charge of -- lesser than inciting hatred, inciting

discrimination.

But what the judges also said was, that they felt that the trial was in and of itself enough punishment and that they weren't going to give him a fine.

However, what we've been finding here is that just being in the limelight for Geert Wilders is

enough to boost his popularity. This is what we found from the people we talked to.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Times in Holland are changing. Political upheaval is gripping remote, rural communities like this.

HENK JAN PROSMAN, CHURCH MINISTER: Wilders was -- had a vote of about 20 percent in this area.

ROBERTSON: Church minister Henk Jan-Prosman is talking about Geert Wilders, Holland's bleach blonde hair nationalist politician, many compare to Donald

Trump.

[08:20:04] PROSMAN: I think that's the same in Holland with Wilders. His voters take him serious but not literally.

ROBERTSON: Wilders has compared the Koran to Mein Kampf says Muslim immigrants are going to Islamize Holland, but he is steadily gaining

popularity.

PROSMAN: Wilders explicitly refers to the Moroccan community as a --

ROBERTSON (on-camera): Criminals?

PROSMAN: Yes, as criminals, but that's statistically true.

ROBERTSON: But in the same way that Donald Trump referred to Mexicans?

PROSMAN: For example, yes, yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They beat him up. And he has to give money. He has to give his phone.

ROBERTSON: A half hour's drive away, Cindy Von Kruistum, a financial administrator shows me where she says one of her neighbor's son was beaten

up by immigrants.

CINDY VON KRUISTUM, FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATOR: The government establishment don't listen about people on the street. They don't go on the streets.

Geert Wilders is near to people on the streets.

ROBERTSON: She, too, sees the similarities between Trump and Wilders.

VON KRUISTUM: I support him because he dares to talk about the problems we have with Islamization.

ROBERTSON: But supporting Wilders is not easy.

Comedy writer Have Van Der Hayden tells me it cost him his job.

HAVE VAN DER HAYDEN, COMEDY WRITER: I have been excluded from work from various jobs.

ROBERTSON: What frustrates him is that main stream politicians are trying to ignore a marginalized Wilders.

VAN DER HAYDEN: I'm not really a fan of Mr. Wilders. I don't like many things he is saying, but I'm a supporter of the democracy.

ROBERTSON: Wilders' comments have landed him in court more than once. Most recently accused of inciting racial hatred. And like Trump in the

spotlight, the attention isn't hurting him.

PROSMAN: The case is broadcasted live on national television. He gets the floor. The media and politicians are really doing him a favor.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTSON: So ilders supporters believe thatright now he's doing so well in the polls that come elections in March next year he could actually get

20 percent of the vote, which would leave him as the largest political party. But the prime minister here, Rutte has already said that he would

not go into a coalition government with Wilders unless he retracts some of his statements about the

Islamization of Holland and his comments about Moroccans in particular -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: Nic Robertson reporting for us live from Amsterdam. Thank you, Nic.

Now, it has been months since Iraqi troops launched the operation to retake Mosul from ISIS forces. And we're now getting a rare look at the

conditions inside and the toll on civilian lives.

A freelance photographer Gabriel Haim accompanied Iraqi special forces in their push into the city. Ben Wedeman has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(EXPLOSION)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Dazed and terrified, a young girl flees her neighborhood, now a war zone in eastern

Mosul.

(SHOUTING)

WEDEMAN: Soldiers from Iraqi Special Forces try to console her as the battle rages nearby.

(EXPLOSION)

WEDEMAN: The offensive to retake the city is almost into its third month but progress has been slow as this rare footage obtained by CNN shows.

(EXPLOSION)

WEDEMAN: ISIS is fighting back with the usual means -

(EXPLOSION)

WEDEMAN: ...snipers, suicide bombers and booby traps, while hundreds of thousands of civilians are caught in the middle trying to survive one day

at a time.

"A woman was killing by shelling," says this man, "and another woman was wounded. We just need this random shelling to stop and then we can get on

with our lives."

(EXPLOSION)

WEDEMAN: Prior to the offensive, Iraqi officials advised Mosul residents to stay home if they felt safe. Those who stayed behind, like this bearded

young man, are able to provide Iraqi forces with real-time intelligence on the enemy just a few buildings away as he explains.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kill one Daesh and now is very good.

WEDEMAN: The battle for the city is now a street-by-street slog.

(GUNFIRE)

WEDEMAN: Troops must clear every building. And they never know if what awaits them is an ambush, an IED or anxious family huddled inside.

(EXPLOSION)

WEDEMAN: So far, Iraqi forces have managed to drive ISIS out of around 30 percent of this sprawling city. Residents have come out to greet the

troops. This young man has a poem ready extolling the army and cursing life under ISIS.

"Because there was no electricity, no fuel, no medicine," he says. He finishes his poem with a kiss.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

[08:25:33] WEDEMAN: While almost everyone is quick to curse ISIS or Deash, as they call it here...

BOY: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

WEDEMAN: This bicycle repairman has a nuanced view.

"50 percent of the people in Mosul don't have a problem with ISIS. Only recently it's been hard to make a living. Life was normal. But they imposed

on us how to shave and how to dress. If you confirmed, it was fine, but if you didn't, they whipped you."

(EXPLOSION)

WEDEMAN: Among the houses in one east Mosul neighborhood, Iraqi troops found a training center for fighters. The walls full of diagrams of various

weapons.

"It's like a school for new recruits," says this officer. "Most were boys between the ages of 12 and 14, with clothing to match what many Iraqis

insist is an alien ideology."

For now, the authorities are struggling to provide the basics. This health care center is now up and running, but it's not enough.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are many patients with renal failure, chronic disease, leukemia. We have no hospital for treatment of such cases.

WEDEMAN: On the edge of the city, relief workers hand out food, water, blankets and clothing.

(CROSSTALK)

WEDEMAN: This volunteer is trying to repair the damage to the country's soul.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm from Mosul. I am Christian. I decided to help my friend, my brothers from Mosul after Deash leave.

WEDEMAN: The process of healing, of reconstruction could take a very long time, but there is hope.

(SHOUTING)

WEDEMAN: Ben Wedeman, CNN.

(SHOUTING)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now the United Nations is urging Myanmar Aung San Suu Kyi to help the Muslim Rohingya minority community and to listen to her inner

voice. The special adviser to the secretary general on Myanmar released a statement asking her to, quote, speak directly to the people of Myanmar

asking them to rise above their ethnic, religious, and other differences and to advance human dignity, harmony, and mutual cooperation between all

communities.

You're watching News Stream. Still to come, an American company is looking to Russian

hackers to keep U.S. business safe. How it's tapping their criminal talents just ahead.

Also, we remember the life of an American hero. John Glenn, the astronaut, senator, and pioneer just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(HEADLINES)

[08:32:18] LU STOUT: Russia is also accused of orchestrating elaborate cyber-attacks and meddling in the U.S. presidential election.

Russian hackers are known to be some of the world's most advanced. And one U.S. company sees their ingenuity as an opportunity. Clare Sebastian has

more.

(BEGNI VIDEOTAPE)

HILLARY CLINTON, FRM. SECRETARY OF STATE: The Russian government has engaged in espionage against Americans.

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN MONEY: Long before the U.S. allegations of meddling in the election, Russian and Russian speaking hackers were known to be some

of the most sophisticated in the world.

TRUMP: Russia, if you're listening, I hope you're able to find the 30,000 emails.

SEBASTIAN: Now in the post election, U.S., fears of Russian cyber- interference still linger, but one New York company is trying to turn the tables to take advantage of that Russian skill set to actually protect

American companies.

Cybersec is the work of New York based lawyer Arkardy Bukh who has defended some of the world's most notorious Russian cyber-criminals, bad actors of

the hacking world, some of whom he's now working with.

ARKADY BUKH, FOUNDE, CYBERSEC: Our company includes specifically hackers who have been prosecuted, some who are still wanted. We do consult with

the criminals who explain how the hacks are usually done, from the bot nets to creation of the viruses, to actual attacks.

SEBASTIAN: In Moscow, I met one of those consultants, Sergey Pavlovich, a prolific credit

card hacker back in the '90s, he has already served 10 years in prison in his home country of Belarus.

SERGEY PAVLOVICH, FORMER CREDIT CARD HACKER: I explained to him what to do to steal money from someone's bank account.

SEBASTIAN: Pavlovich is still wanted in the U.S. in connection with a major credit card fraud

ring. That hasn't stopped him publishing a book called "How I Stole a Million."

Did you really steal a million dollars?

PAVLOVICH: Yes, one million and a little more.

SEBASTIAN: And then there's Vadislav Vorahoran (ph), known online as Bad B, currently

in prison in the U.S. for selling millions of stolen credit card numbers through online forums. He told me via email that former hackers have a,

quote, mind set which allows them to anticipate all the possible attack factors. Hacking is not a skill, he writes, it's an art."

Russian hacking has been in the news a lot recently, particularly around the U.S. election. How has that impacted your business?

BUKH: Well, we get more interest.

SEBASTIAN: So far Bukh's clients have mainly been small and medium-sized businesses.

BUKH: Some banks have been inquiring, but the main problem is the issue of liability of

criminals consulting and assisting.

[08:35:02] SEBASTIAN: He's willing to take the risk, he says, because the dangers in cyberspace are growing and these people may be some of the best

qualified to stop them.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Interesting proposition there. That was CNN's Clare Sebastian reporting.

And now we want to honor a war hero who became the first American to orbit the planet. U.S. astronaut John Glenn died on Thursday at the age of 95.

He was a symbol of the space age. He'll be buried in a private ceremony at Arlington National Ceremony.

Now, Glenn had been hospitalized for more than a week, but his illness was not disclosed.

NASA sent out a tweet saying it is saddened by Glenn's death and ended with these words, "Godspeed, John Glenn ad astra (ph)," Latin for to the stars.

Martin Savidge takes a look back at John Glenn's remarkable life.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): John Glenn, one of America's first astronauts, one of seven men known as the Mercury Seven,

chosen to take part in the United States' first attempt to put men in space.

He had already made history in 1957 by breaking the transcontinental speed record, flying from Los Angeles to New York in three hours and 23 minutes.

In 1962, the military test pilot became the first American to orbit the earth. As Glenn lifted off in his "Friendship 7" capsule, fellow astronaut,

Scott Carpenter at Mission Control uttered some of the most memorable words in U.S. history.

SCOTT CARPENTER, FORMER ASTRONAUT: God speed, John Glenn. SAVIDGE: Three revolutions in four hours and 55 minutes later, he returned an instant

legend. He was awarded the Congressional Space Medal of honor. And New York threw him one of the signature ticker tape parades.

Later in life, Glenn would poke fun at the risk.

JOHN GLENN, FORMER ASTRONAUT & SENATOR: We used to joke about in the past when people would say, what do you think about on the launch pad, and the

standard answer was, how do you think you would feel if you knew you were on top of two million parts built by the lowest bidder on a government

contract.

SAVIDGE: Until Glenn's flight, the Russians had led the space race.

JOHN F. KENNEDY, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNTIED STATES: -- this decade is out...

SAVIDGE: Glenn's success bolstered America's spirit, and gave credence to President John F. Kennedy's pledge to put men on the moon. Glenn would not

be one of them. JFK ordered NASA not to fly him again. He was too valuable as an American figure. He resigned from NASA in 1964.

In 1983, the Mercury Seven were immortalized in the movie "The Right Stuff."

GLENN: I didn't much care for the movie. I thought it was dramatic enough without Hollywood doing its number on it. We had no control over that at

all.

SAVIDGE: He learned to fly as part of a college course and went on to join the Marine Corps in 1943. Glenn flew 149 combat missions in World War II

and the Korean War before becoming a test pilot.

After leaving NASA, he spent the next decade as a businessman. But in 1974, he ran and won a U.S. Senate seat from Ohio. When he announced he would

retire at the 105th Congress, Glenn had served 24 years. He was widely regarded an effective legislature and moderate Democrat.

Not everything went perfectly for Glenn. In 1984, he ran for president.

GLENN: With the nomination of my party, I firmly believe I can beat Reagan.

SAVIDGE: John Glenn never gave up on his dream of returning to space. He got to be, as he often called it, a willing guinea pig once again. At the

age of 77, he flew on a nine-day space shuttle mission. The mission was to learn about the aging process in space. The flight proved once again that

Glenn was a man who embraced a challenge.

(APPLAUSE)

SAVIDGE: In 2012, President Obama recognized that, and all of his accomplishments, by awarding the former astronaut and Senator the nation's

highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

For most people, fame is fleeting. For John Herschel Glenn, it lasted a lifetime.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: A remarkable man.

That was Martin Savidge looking back at the incredible life of John Glenn.

You're watching News Stream. And still to come, the gentle giant of the wild quietly being wiped out. A look into a very worrying report which

claims giraffes are at risk of extinction.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:41:00] LU STOUT: Welcome back.

Now, they are one of Africa's most majestic animals, but a wildlife group fears that giraffes are suffering what they call a silent extinction.

Giraffe populations have fallen by up to 40 percent over the last 30 years. And the sharp decline has prompted the International Union for Conservation

of Nature to move the species from least concerned to its vulnerable list.

Habitat loss, illegal hunting, civil unrest, they are all the biggest contributors to the giraffe population's decline.

Now sadly, one wildlife expert fears this is a problem most African nations can't handle.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THOMAS LACHER, TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY: There are many countries in Africa, which are still considered to be developing nations that have issues

associated with poverty, with trying to develop their economies, to try and enhance agricultural productivity, and so I think all countries express, at

least on the surface, a concern about these declines, but it's frequently very difficult to take the kinds of actions when you have all these other

conflicting issues that you need to deal with.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: An important report there.

Now, the feathered tail of a dinosaur that lived some 99 million years ago has been discovered encased in a piece of amber. It was found in a market

in Myanmar. Traders thought it was a curiosity or even a kind of plant, until a Chinese paleontologist looked closer.

Now, the hardened tree resin, it contains bone fragments and you can see there up close feathers, adding to fossil evidence that many dinosaurs

sported bird-like plumes.

Experts are calling it a once in a lifetime find.

Now, before we go, it's always tricky trying to upload a good passport photo, and sometimes the computer thinks that background is wrong, or your

ears aren't showing. But in the case of New Zealander Richard Lee, the system turned down this photo. Why? They said that his eyes were closed.

Only, as you can see in the photo, they are clearly open. Now, Li, who is, of course, of Asian

descent, he tried to upload three other images without success. He said he knows his eyes are small and said that he had no hard feelings over what

happened.

The New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs insists the system does not discriminate

against any particular group. It explains that the software sent out a generic error message, because there was a shadow in Li's eyes.

Now, thankfully he eventually was able to renew his passport.

And that is News Stream. I'm Kristie Lu Stout. And World Sport with Alex Thomas is next.

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