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U.S. Secetary of State Reaffirms America's Commitment to Japan; U.S.'s UN Ambassador's Criticism of Russia a U-Turn on Past Statements; Trump Administration Promises New Sanctions for Iran; Uber CEO Drops out of Presidential Advisory Board. 8:00-9:00a ET

Aired February 03, 2017 - 08:00   ET

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


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

A man with a machete puts the Louvre on lockdown. The attack in Paris seems to have targeted soldiers and a terror investigation is now underway.

Plus, the U.S. and Japan affirm an unwavering alliance. Donald Trump's top defense official travels to Tokyo.

Meanwhile, the U.S. president prepares to meet with business leaders just as he gets the first jobs report of his team.

An investigation is underway after an attack at a prominent landmark in the heart of Paris. Authorities say a man wielding a machete rushed a group of

soldiers near the Louvre museum. And here, you can see police running to the scene.

One soldier opened fire, wounding the attacker. Around 250 visitors were evacuated.

Now, let's take you outside the Louvre. Melissa Bell joins us now live. And Melissa, just a moment ago the U.S. president has commented about the

incident in Paris on Twitter. And he says this, quote, a new radical Islamic terrorist has just attacked the Louvre museum in Paris. Tours are

on lockdown. France on edge again.

And Melissa, we know that the French prime minister has called the incident there terrorist in

nature, but what are the indications that this is indeed a terror attack?

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRDESPONDENT: As you say, French authorities have been very clear about this, and they made that announcement fairly quickly, that

this was indeed an attack of a terrorist nature. In fact, already a terrorist investigation has been opened. So the clearest indication, if

you like, that French authorities are convinced have no doubt that this was terrorist in nature. They have allowed very few details to filter through,

however, about the man himself. What we know is that just around 10:00 a.m. here this morning in Paris this man who is carrying backpacks, who was

wielding a machete lunged towards the soldiers who guard the Louvre as part of the anti-terrorist heightened security operation that is ongoing here in

France ever since the 13th of November attacks.

There are extra numbers of soldiers on the streets of France, extra numbers of policemen. And of course, places like this, the Louvre, which are such

symbolic landmarks in the Frenchcapital are particularly well guarded.

Now what we know is this man went for the military personnel who were on guard, wounding one of them to the head, another soldier then shot the man.

He's said to be in a critical condition, although he did not die from his injuries.

So clearly what he has to tell authorities will be very important. And we'll know a lot more about his motivations, who he is and why he chose to

carry out this attack.

A second man has also been arrested, although French police explained that they don't know

yet precisely what his links are to the man who carried out the attack.

LU STOUT: Melissa, you're live at the scene of this violent incident. What is the situation there at the Louvre? Has the museum and the area

around it been cordoned off?

BELL: It's been entirely cordoned off. And you actually can't get inside the Louvre at all. The investigation was set up very quickly after this

assailant or attacker was neutralized, to use the French term, was shot, and -- and the area secured.

But, of course, the 250 visitors who were inside at the time of the attack were very quickly

taken to safe areas of the museum. Now a bunch of them who came out, we were able to speak to. They said that they were kept informed about what

was going on. They were later evacuated and have since been allowed back in to collect their belongings. So another

indication that police feel that everything is under control here.

And I should add that those backpacks that the man was carrying were then found to be empty. They did not, in fact, contain explosives. So it

appears that this situation here is under control.

And, of course, there will be many questions about who precisely this man was, was he acting alone? You know, France has been relatively safe for

many months. Now the last terrorist attack, the one that actually made it through, the one that wasn't foiled was back in July in Nice, so it had

been some months.

The regularity of terrorist attacks until then had been much more frequent. There was a foiled attack, of course, back in September. But France has

known a period of relative calm in this terror story that has gripped it now for the last couple of years.

Clearly, coming as it does in this electoral period, there's going to be an awful lot of attention on exactly what happened in the Louvre behind me.

Was this man acting alone? Was he acting on orders? That is part of what the investigation will be looking into.

France's interior minister is back on his way to Paris, and a meeting will be held this afternoon and the interior ministry and trying to get to the

bottom of precisely what happened.

[08:05:43] LU STOUT: All right, Melissa bell live in Paris for us. Many thanks, indeed, for your reporting.

Now, the attack at the Louvre Museum comes as Paris heals from that 2015 massacre that saw 130 people killed. Now, political analysts told us about

how French lawmakers have responded to the terror threat.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JULIEN THERON, UNIVERSITY OF PARIS: To extend the length of the state of emergency

and the parliament approved it massively until next July 17, meaning after our presidential campaign. The second element that the government also

reviewed the kind of terror attacks emergency plan, adding a level to this plan, and reaffirming the interest of the presence of soldiers in the

street, because it was kind of controversy where the soldiers needed in the street or the

police a sufficient.

So we see this today. The military reacted very quickly. And that the personnel working for the Le Louvre reacted pretty well, too, and the

criminal police already working on the case. So we see that the French authorities are acting quickly to these kinds of events now.

(END VIDOE CLIP)

LU STOUT: And that was political analyst Julien Theron in Paris.

Now, in Eastern Ukraine, a fragil ecease-fire is hanging in the police as each side accuses the

other of violations. Moscow is condemning what it describes as barbaric attacks by the Ukrainian army. At the same time, Kiev is accusing pro-

Russian separatists of carrying out artillery strikes on residential areas.

Meanwhile, the United States is striking a tougher tone with Russia. In a sharp departure from

President Trump's campaign rhetoric, the new U.S. ambassador to the UN pledged to keep U.S. sanctions in place over Russia's actions in Ukraine.

Now, that U-turn from the Trump administration will come as welcome news to leaders in Europe. And they are gathering for a summit in Malta. We have

CNN's Nic Robertson there with the latest. CNN's Claire Sebastian is live from Moscow with the Russian reaction.

Let's start with Nic. And Nic, a lot on the agenda there in Malta. But first, how are EU leaders

addressing Russia and the flare-up of fighting in Ukraine?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is something that they want to see stop, of course. France and Germany have a lot

invested in that as part of a Normandy Four along with the Ukrainians and President Putin, the Normandy

Four that helped set the terms and set up the Minsk agreement which is what European governments say that Russia must

abide by before European sanctions can be lifted so they have a firm line on that.

Their agenda so far today has been -- has been on migration. They have been talking about

migration in this part of the Mediterranean here and trying to help the Libyan governments and

Lsibyan coast guard control their land, interrupt smugglers and address the migration issue, but

there's a lot of thought and focus here about what's going on in the White House and precisely that.

What is the White House thinking about any number of issues? Russia that it seems to have done a U-turn on, that there's been a change in their view

apparently in some parts of the administration on Israel.

What we've heard from the French president when he arrived here this morning was that he doesn't really know and understand quite what the White

House position is on NATO. And that was something that the British prime minister said that she would brief her EU counterparts on this morning.

We don't know the details of that briefing.

But another point that the French president raised when he arrived here today is that Europeans feel that they are under threat from this White

House, that they feel that this White House is hostile to them. The French president said that what President Trump needs to understand is that the

Europeans are united, and if he can't accept that, then we have no future with President Trump.

The European parliament went even further writing to the president of the European commission and the European Council both here today telling them

that the expected White House pick to be the U.S. ambassador to the EU, a gentleman called Ted Malik, is unsatisfactory and unacceptable, because

he's hostile, they believe, to the EU. So we're expecting them to talk this afternoon more about -- about the White House, about President Trump's

presidency, what they can expect, what their positions should be.

But the overriding message coming from the sort of bigger European states here is that they need to have united because they have uncertainty about

the White House view to the EU, Kristie.

[08:10:20] LU STOUT: Yeah, especially given the mixed signals that they're getting from the Trump White House. And let's bring up Clare Sebastian.

She joins us from Moscow.

And Clare, this is a very curious trend here. Trump at one point he seemed friendly with Vladimir Putin and then we have his UN ambassador in Nikki

Haley blasting Russia for taking Crimea. So, how is the Kremlin taking all this in?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Kristie, it's interesting, we get the sense that the Kremlin are trying not to let these comments

spiral out of control. Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, saying just an hour or so ago that he didn't indulge in optimism around this

from the beginning even. They say that, however they do disagree strongly with Nikki Haley's comments on Ukraine, Russia is sticking to its position

that it believes Ukraine is responsible for this latest escalation.

Of course, Ukraine saying the exact opposite.

And on the sanctions issue, obviously we saw yesterday that modification to -- to one U.S. sanction on Russia over FSB -- business with the FSB. That

was presumably to benefit U.S. businesses doing legitimate unsanctioned business in Russia, but an initial wave of optimism over that seems to have

evaporated now. Obviously, President Trump saying that he's not easing anything and Nikki Haley, the UN ambassador, saying that sanctions that she

believes shouldn't be lifted until Crimea is returned to Ukraine.

Dmitry Peskov, when asked that by CNN's Matthew Chance last night said we care, but not that much. So, you can see the Kremlin really keeping its

cards very close to its chest on this. But this is clearly is a significant U-turn by the Trump administration.

LU STOUT: All right. And from Clare Sebastian in Moscow, let's go back to Nic in Malta. And Nic, the greater issue of Donald Trump, you mentioned a

moment ago about just how to deal with the hostility that he's expressed towards the EU in the perspective of EU leaders gathering there in Malta.

We know that he has closed the door on refugees, he has supported Brexit. He has slammed NATO. So how will leaders there come to terms with Trump

and his world view?

ROBERTSON: Well, a big concern obviously last weekend the travel ban on refugees and on

people from seven Muslim-majority nations. That's a concern because Europeans believe that enables the sort of rise of the right wing

popularist parties here. There are elections, as we know, this year in Holland within a couple of months, in France a few months after that and Germany a few months after that. All those countries seeing a rise in that

type of politics. And they -- and we've seen these political leaders, Geert Wilders in Holland and Marine Le Pen from France, sort of embrace Trump's message, and particularly this ban that came in

place last weekend, to raise their standing in the polls. That's a concern for the mainstream leaders here, because they see these challenges as

disruptive, not just to the politics of their own countries, but disruptive to the point of breaking the European Union

because these nationalist politicians would like to see their countries leave or at least change the European Union. So you have that.

And then there's the outright hostility it feels from a German perspective, at least, from the White House. President Trump saying that he believes

that Germany only fosters the European Union as a way to take business away from the United States, that his business advisers in the White House are

saying that -- that the EU is pegged too low in the trade imbalance between the United States and Germany. The U.S. is at a deficit there, and that's

because, you know, Germany is essentially manipulating the value of the euro.

So, you know, some real fundamental issues here. Europe feels it's under pressure and under threat, but coming back to that pick for EU ambassador,

that's a very strongly worded letter that's come from the members of the European parliament, you know, on the left, on the center and on the right

of that parliament, and they quote what Ted Malik is -- what they say has said before, you know, which he was involved in bringing the European Union

down, and he thinks he can tame this union.

They find language like that outrightly hostile. And this is really the atmosphere into which these leaders will meet and discuss this issue later

today, Kristie.

LU STOUT: All right, Nic Robertson joining us live from Malta and Clare Sebastian in Moscow, a big thanks you to you both.

Now, Romania's prime minister is calling for calm after large protests on the streets of

Bucharest turned violent. Now, thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of the nation's

capital to protest a government decision to decriminalize corruption that costs less than $48,000 worth of damage. That could end some

investigations and see some people released from prison.

Now, two anti-right police and three protesters were injured during the clashes.

Iran's foreign minister says the country is unmoved by threats after Mr. Trump warned that all options, including military ones, are on the table

when dealing with Iran. Now, meanwhile, sources say the White House is expected to impose additional sanctions on Iran.

Now, the escalating tension is all in response to Iran's missile test that took place on Sunday. Tehran insists the missile tests are for defensive

purposes.

And joining me now from London with analysis is CNN's Clarissa Ward. Clarissa, thank you for joining us. Donald Trump, he, of course, took to

Twitter to repeat his tough stance on Iran for that missile test saying that Iran is playing with fire. They don't appreciate how, quote, unquote,

kind President Obama was to them, not me, exclamation point.

So, Clarissa, the response here from the Trump White House. How far will Trump go to take action against Iran?

[08:16:02] CLARISSA WARD, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kristie, that's the question that everybody is asking themselves right now, because

as the rhetoric continues to ratchet up, it appears that the White House, or Trump administration, may be almost painting themselves into a corner

here.

Let's go back and look at what happened earlier this week. We saw NSA Director General Flynn kind of march into a briefing and announce somewhat

theatrically that Iran had been put on notice for testing this missile.

Iran, of course, has said that this is for defensive purposes, it is not technically in contravention of the Iran nuclear deal. And then Donald

Trump, the president, went one step further and said that the military option is not off of the table. So the question now is the White House now

setting a red line for themselves. What happens now if Iran tests another missile?

You mentioned earlier that sanctions against Iran are believed to be -- are expected to be imposed against Iran later today. Those sanctions are

actually not that different to some sanctions that the Obama administration had levied against Iran some years ago. And they are not expected to make

a huge impact fiscally, but certainly we find ourselves ratcheting up and up with the rhetoric.

Now, the one thing all of this war between the two sides. And I should say Iran has also chastised President Trump, accused him of what was the phrase

breathless ranting. He -- one supreme leader adviser called General Flynn an inexperienced person who has made an illogical claim.

But so far, Kristie, we haven not seen either side say, you know what, let's rip up with the Iran deal. We heard President Trump attack the Iran

deal over and over again on the campaign trail. We're hearing him ratchet up the rhetoric now, but we haven't yet heard heard the administration yet

say we're going to decimate that deal. So a lot of people is waiting to see what is going to happen next.

LUS TOUT: Yeah, a very key point to raise there: no mention of scrapping the deal just yet despite all that rhetoric that we've heard.

And I also wanted to get your thoughts on just what Iran is thinking at this moment, Clarissa. I mean, Iran, all along insisting its missile tests

are for defensive purposes. After Donald Trump sent out that tweet, its foreign minister weighed in on Twitter, too, saying this, "Iran unmoved by

threats as we derive security from our people. We will never initiate war. We can only

rely on our own means of defense," unquote.

So, Clarissa, does that mean that Iran will continue, it will go on with its missile activity?

WARD: The message that the Iranians are sending out appears to be clear. They will continue to test these missiles. They are not in contravention

of the Iran nuclear agreement. They are for defensive purposes.

I do think that what we saw on Twitter there from Iran's foreign minister did seem to indicate a

somewhat more conciliatory tone. We will never use our weapons against anyone except in self-defense. And as always with these things, the same

is when you're trying to understand what President Trump is saying, you need to look it through the lens of how much of this is for a domestic

Iranian audience who maybe have strong feelings about the U.S., a lot of negative sentiment. How much of it is posturing, sort of asserting Iran as

a strong country that will not be bullied by the new American president, and how much of it is genuine rhetoric that could actually threaten the

underpinnings of this historic Iran deal.

For now, it seems that both sides are really relying on rhetoric that is intended to ratchet up tensions and speak to a more domestic audience, but

that, it is not an impossible situation that when one finds themselves somewhere down the line having to take more drastic actions, Krsitie.

LU STOUT: Got you. Clarissa Ward, really appreciate your analysis here. Thank you. Take care.

WARD: Thank you.

LU STOUT: Now, it looks like Mr. Trump may be changing his stance toward Israel. And coming up, what the White House now says about Israel's plan

for new settlements. We'll be live in Jerusalem.

Also ahead, the U.S. new defense secretary reassures American allies in Asia. What he told the Japanese prime minister about America's commitments

to Japan under the new Trump administration.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:22:33] LU STOUT: Coming to you live from Hong Kong, welcome back. You're watching News Stream.

Now, the White House has discouraging words for Israel. It says settlement activity in the West Bank could potentially hurt the peace process. The

Israeli prime minister had announced plans to build the first new settlement in nearly 20 years. And the two leaders are to meet latef this

month.

Now, let's get more analysis from Ian Lee in Jerusalem. And Ian, this apparent turnaround in tone from the Trump White House, from strong support

for Prime Minister Netanyahu to this warning about settlements. How -- how do officials there interpret that?

IAN LEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kristie, Right now officials are downplaying this, but you're right. When Donald Trump came

into office, it seemed like Israel had a green light for settlement expansion in the West Bank, in East Jerusalem. They have announced over 6,000 housing units since President Trump came

into office, but now we're hearing from the White House, they are saying pump the brakes a bit. And in the statement they

say, while they don't believe the existence of settlements is an impediment to the peace process, the

construction of new settlements or expansion of existing settlements beyond their current borders may not be helpful in achieving that goal.

So it does seem to be a bit of a turn from what the Trump administration has been saying, although they added that they haven't -- they do not have

an official stance towards settlements yet.

Israeli officials, again, downplaying that. One official saying that the White House itself holds that the settlements are not an obstacle to peace

and they never have been. It must be concluded, therefore, that expansion of construction is not the problem.

Well, this came -- this statement came out on the same day that Rex Tillerson took the reins of the State Department. He spoke with Prime

Minister Netanyahu. Also on that day, President Trump spoke with King Abdullah, likely to talk about the settlements, also likely to talk about other thorny issues to dealing with Jerusalem.

But we've heard from the prime minister, we've heard from President Trump. They hope to hash all this out and get a clear picture of where the two

countries relations will lie going forward when they meet on February 15th.

LU STOUT: All right, Ian Lee reporting live first for us from Jerusalem. Thank you, Ian.

Now, a nervous Japan has been reassured by the U.S. defense secretary that under the new

Trump administration America will be standing by it.

Now, James Mattis is in Tokyo right now where he met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. And Mattis told Mr. Abe that the he says the U.S.,

quote, stands 100 percent shoulder to shoulder with you and the Japanese people. Mr. Abe says he is convinced the two countries could uphold an

unwavering alliance.

Now President Trump had concerned Japan by suggesting that it should pay the U.S. more for the defense it provides. CNN's Muhammad Lila is in Tokyo

and he joins us now with more on the story.

And Muhammad, James Mattis is there. He is reaffirming America's commitment to Japan, but, again, President Trump did say that Tokyo as well

as Seoul should pay more for their own defense so where does that stand now?

MUHAMMAD LILA, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kristie, this is a trip to reassure people to Japan and South Korea that the United States

would uphold its treaty obligations to come to the defense of both countries if they face any acts of aggression, and that is the

message line that retired General Mattis has been putting out, not just in South Korea, but also here in Tokyo.

Here's a little bit of the exchange that was made public today with Mattis as well as Prime Minister Abe.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KOBE ABE, PRIME MINISTER OF JAPANE (through translator): I'm hopeful that with U.S. Secretary of Defense Mattis or with the Trump administration

we'll be able to show that the U.S.-Japan alliance is an unwavering one.

JAMES MATTIE, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: I want there to be no misunderstanding during the transition in Washington that we stand firmly

100 percent shoulder to shoulder with you and the Japanese people, Mr. prime minister.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LILA: And the reason that reassurance is so important, Kristie, is because in this region as well as, you know, many other parts of the world, people

here are grappling with this new Trump administration, and perhaps a higher level of unpredictability than previous U.S. administrations.

And during the presidential campaign, President Trump came out and said that he thought perhaps Japan and South Korea should have their own nuclear

weapons as a deterrent and that they should be footing the bill for American presence here on the ground in Japan and in South Korea. Of

course, we know there are 50,000 U.S. service members here in Japan right now. It's home to the navy's seventh fleet and there was a lot of concern

about whether Japan would be forced to pay more for those troops to be here to provide protection to Japan.

Now, we don't know if the retired General Mattis, the Secretary of Defense, brought up

that payment system with Japan's prime minister tonight, but we do expect that that conversation

would have taken place tonight if not perhaps tomorrow when he meets with the defense minister. And, of course, there will be a press conference

where I'm sure that will come up tomorrow. But, of course, behind all of this is the fact that the United States through this trip and through Mattis' trip has reaffirmed that they will uphold all

of their defense treaty obligations, both in South Korea and here in Japan.

LU STOUT: All right. Muhammad Lila reporting live for us from Tokyo. Thank you.

Now, just before visiting Japan, Mattis was in South Korea where he assured officials that the

U.S. will deploy the THAAD missile defense system. And China has blasted those remarks. A foreign ministry spokesman stated once again that China

firmly opposes the THAAD system. Beijing considering it a threat to its own national security interests.

And North Korea is warning THAAD is pushing the Korean peninsula to the, quote, brink of a nuclear war. But it's worth noting how this system

actually works.

Now, THAAD, it stands for Terminal High Altitude Area Defense. Each system has five major

components -- interceptors, launchers, radar, a fire-controlled unit and support equipment.

Now the radar first detects an incoming missile. And those manning the system identify the

threat, then a launcher mounted to a truck fires an interceptor. You can see it in action right there on your screen.

The system is designed to shoot down short, medium and intermediate range ballistic missiles.

Now, we are currently waiting for the U.S. jobs report to come out. And employment is going to be a major topic today for Mr. Trump as he prepares

to talk to influential CEOs at his business council advisory meeting.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(HEADLINES)

[08:32:32] LU STOUT: And the first U.S. jobs report under President Trump has just been released and the U.S. economy added 227,000 jobs last month.

Economists surveyed by CNN Money had expected a rise of 175,000 jobs. Now, the unemployment rate, that has risen to 4.8 percent. We'll have much more

on CNN Money. That's happening in about 30 minutes from now.

Mr. Trump is about to meet with several influential CEOs for their take on the economy. But

some of those high-profile seats are going to be empty. Now, the Disney CEO Bob Iger won't be going because of scheduling conflicts. And earlier

Uber, CEO Travis Kalanick announced that he is pulling out of the group. Now, Uber got caught in the huge backlash around Mr. Trump's travel ban and

Kalanick was pressured about his spot on the council.

Now, let's get an in-depth look at this council. Nicholas Thompson is the editor of Wired magazine. He joins us from San Francisco via Skype.

Nick, so good to see you. First...

NICHOLAS THOMPSON, WIRED: Good to see you.

LUS TOUT: Who is still in Trump's business advisory council? And what does this group actually do?

THOMPSON: Well, the group is set up they are set up to advise Trump on the American economy and also particularly where the economy is growing. And

it's actually still full of luminaries. You still have Jamie Dimon, you still have Jack Welch, you still have the CEOs of Walmart, Pepsico, all

kinds of companies, and lots of financial services people. Where you really have the problem is in the tech industry.

LUS TOUT: NOw, Uber, we know that Uber has pulled out of the advisory body completely. Is this all because of the political pressure, the delete Uber

campaign?

THOMPSON: There's a lot of political pressure coming to Uber, and there's a lot of political pressure in Silicon Valley where most of the companies

are opposed to Donald Trump in sort of a core sense, many of them are run by immigrants, a lot of them have immigrants working for them, and most

importantly they have a lot of young people who live in Silicon Valley, who live in California, who are quite culturally opposed, politically opposed

to Donald Trump. And so what's happened at all of these companies is that there's been a little bit of an uprising of the junior employees. So that

is (inaudible) CEO of Uber got in lots of trouble in a couple of ways.

Well, one, he was perceived that they were profiteering off the protests over the ban in the airport protest where they sort set special prices for

people trying to get out of the airport. And then secondly a lot of the engineers at Uber said what are you doing? Why are you advising Donald

Trump.

So, he's sitting at 200,000 people deleting their apps as part of the protest and these essential employees who are so hard to recruit, so hard

to retain up in arms asking them how they could stay on this advisory council and so he decided to drop out.

[08:35:06] LU STOUT: And, Nick, despite the -- as you put it, uprising in tech, Elon Musk says he will still attend this meeting. And he also issued

a statement, we're going to bring it up for our viewers now, saying this: that "advisory councils simply provide advice and attending does not mean

that I agree with actions by the administration," unquote.

Elon Musk also says that he plans to take his travel ban objections directly to President Trump. But, Nick, will Trump listen?

THOMPSON: Well it's not clear whether Trump will listen. You can absolutely understand Elon Musk's position, which is, look, Elon Musk has

spoken out against a number of Trump policies and has part of the group that's been criticizing the ban. But he also wants a place at the table.

He wants to say things to Trump, he really wants Trump to understand the importance of solar energy, for example, and space exploration. And the

thing about Elon Musk is that he is almost a demigod in Silicon Valley, and so he can kind of do what he wants without having to worry that his

employees are going to quit. They're so eager to work with him.

He's very special. So he went on Twitter and said, hey, everybody, give me ideas, join the debate. I think he actually -- I think he's handled it

well. I don't think there is going to be a backlash against him.

LU STOUT: Yeah, so either through statements or through boycotts, you know, a number of tech companies, top firms here, are taking a stance Trump

and especially his immigration ban: Microsoft, that company published an open letter asking the Trump administration to consider exceptions for

visa-holding workers and students. They also issued this statement saying this, that they are deeply valued contributors to the innovation, research

and business acumen of our nation. They served these critical roles in the successful operations of American companies. Nick, these are powerful,

very valuable American tech firms, but can they sway President Trump?

THOMPSON: Well, it's not clear. I mean, they are not just powerful American tech firms. You know, they are the largest and second largest,

the fourth largest and the sixth largest companies in the world by market capitalization. There is so much money and so much

influence. These companies are huge. And they care about this at a very deep level.

Half of the billion dollar companies that have been founded in American have been founded by immigrants. You know, half of the companies in

Silicon Valley are founded by immigrants. There is a huge immigrant culture in the tech community and in this very fast growing part of the

economy.

That said, it's not clear how much influence they will have with Donald Trump. Clearly he's going to want the economy to grow, clearly he's going

to have incentives to have these companies do well. But as we've seen, he's a president with his own opinions who won't necessarily be swayed by

these writers and these protests.

LU STOUT: Nick Thompson, always enjoy talking with you. Thank you so much. Take care.

THOMPSON: Thank you.

LU STOUT: Now, designed in California and assembled in India? Well, an Indian government official tells CNN Money that Apple plans to begin making

iPhones in the city of Bangalore.

That's India's burgeoning tech hub.

Now, the deal reportedly comes after months of talks. And so far, Apple has declined to comment.

You're watching News Stream. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back. Now CNN anchors and correspondents have been reflecting on the people who touched their lives the most last year. And

in this installment of My Hero, Christiane Amanpour tells us who she admires and why.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[08:40:20] AMANPOUR: David Attenborough is the voice of our planet to umpteen generations of people not just in England but around the world who

have grown up watching those amazing natural and wildlife programs that he's been producing.

First of all, they are beautiful. They really resonate. They show us all the beauty, the

hope, the life, the future of our world, and they are a perfect antidote to the really dark politics that we're living through right now.

David Attenborough turned 90 this year, and he shows no sign of slowing down.

You turned 90 this year, and you are still going gangbusters. What is the secret of your

passion and your energy still today?

RICHARD ATTENBOROUGH, ACTOR: Well, I think it helps to be interested in what you're doing. And, of course, an awful lot of people, including me,

would actually pay for what I'm doing, to be truthful, and so why stop.

AMANPOUR: Why he's a hero to me is because he keeps going and not just to go and take pretty pictures around the world, but to say something about

our endangered planet, our endangered species of animals and plants and the human species, and he probably has done more than any single individual to

crystallize for the world why taking climate change seriously is a moral and an existential imperative.

And I interviewed him several times, including at the Paris climate change conference where they finally did come up with this historic legislation to

try to protect our world a little bit. As much as many, many people had a very positive effect on that whole debate. So that's why he's my hero,

because he's not a young man anymore, but he is still fighting the good fight.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Absolutely.

Now, deep in the bottom of the Indian Ocean our research team has found a piece of a lost continent. Now, according to a new report it was

published in Nature Communications. It is part of an ancient super continent that existed more than 200 million years ago. Now, it's right underneath Mauritius,a popular vacation destination, so they

have named it Maritia. And they know that it was part of a separate continent because of the age of the rock. It was some 3 billion years old.

Now, the oldest rocks on Mauritius are 9 million years old.

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

END