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Donald Trump Delivers Speech to Joint Session of Congress; LG Hopes New Flagship Phone Is Hit; Cleaning Dian Lake. 8:00-9:00a ET
Aired March 01, 2017 - 8:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[08:00:13] JONATHAN MANN, HOST: I'm Jonathan Mann in Atlanta. Welcome to News Stream.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is our vision. This is our mission. But we can only get there together. We are one people,
with one destiny.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MANN: Donald Trump striking a dramatically different tone in his first speech to congress, promising the United States can fix its problems by
working together.
Hello and welcome. A call for unity from someone who has been called one of the most divisive, polarizing U.S. presidents in history. During his
first address to the congress, Donald Trump asked lawmakers to set aside their differences to help fix America's problems.
Tuesday, the president was spotted sitting in a limo that would take him to Capitol Hill. Look there, it's as if he's rehearsing his lines in the back
seat.
In congress he struck -- he stuck rather to the script, avoiding the combative rhetoric of his recent speeches. As are a result, Mr. Trump
delivered the most optimistic address of his presidency so far as CNN's Joe Johns reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Trump striking a more presidential and optimistic tone...
TRUMP: I'm here tonight to deliver a message of unity and strength.
JOHNS: ... in his hour-long speech to a joint session of Congress.
TRUMP: It is a message deeply delivered from my heart.
JOHNS: Off the top, the president condemning the surge in hate crimes since he took office.
TRUMP: Recent threats targeting Jewish community centers and vandalism of Jewish cemeteries, as well as last week's shooting in Kansas City, remind
us that, while we may be a nation divided in policies, we are a country that stands united in condemning hate and evil in all of its very ugly
forms.
JOHNS: Spending much of his speech laying out a very ambitious agenda.
TRUMP: Everything that is broken in our country can be fixed.
JOHNS: His solution: an echo from his campaign, "America first."
TRUMP: Buy American and hire American.
JOHNS: And once again, using national security as the basis for his proposed border wall with Mexico.
TRUMP: We want all Americans to succeed, but that can't happen in an environment of lawless chaos.
We will soon begin the construction of a great, great wall along our southern border.
JOHNS: The president touting his deportation efforts of undocumented people with criminal convictions.
TRUMP: We are removing gang members, drug dealers and criminals that threaten our communities and prey on our very innocent citizens.
JOHNS: And defending his controversial travel ban, halted by a federal court weeks ago.
TRUMP: It is not compassion but reckless to allow uncontrolled entry from places where proper vetting cannot occur.
JOHNS: But signaling that he might be open to compromise on immigration.
TRUMP: I believe that real and positive immigration reform is possible.
JOHNS: The president told network news anchors before the speech that he's open to a legal status for millions of undocumented immigrants if they
never committed a crime.
TRUMP: I believe Republicans and Democrats can work together to achieve an outcome that has eluded our country for decades.
JOHNS: ON health care, the president laying out five points for a plan to replace Obamacare.
TRUMP: We should ensure that Americans with pre-existing conditions have access to coverage.
JOHNS: Arguing that people should be able to buy insurance across state lines and leaning on tax credits to ensure that Americans can afford their
premiums.
TRUMP: It must be the plan they want, not the plan forced on them by our government.
JOHNS: The president also announcing a huge plan to boost the nation's infrastructure.
TRUMP: I will be asking Congress to approve legislation that produces a $1 trillion investment in infrastructure of the United States, financed
through both public and private capital, creating millions of new jobs.
JOHNS: On the war against ISIS, the president using this controversial reference.
TRUMP: Radical Islamic terrorism.
JOHNS: Even though sources say his new national security advisor urged him not to use "radical Islamic terrorism" in his speech, because it alienates
Muslims.
TRUMP: Extinguish this vile enemy from our planet.
[08:05:01] JOHNS: The president ending his speech with a very emotional moment, honoring the widow of Ryan Owens, a Navy SEAL killed last month in
Yemen, saying he was part of a highly successful terror raid.
TRUMP: Ryan is looking down right now. You know that. And he's very happy, because I think he just broke a record.
For the Bible teaches us there's no greater act of love than to lay down one's life for one's friends.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MANN: We'll be speaking to Joe later in the program about how lawmakers on Capitol Hill are
reacting to the speech, but first let's find out how it's being received around the world.
CNN's Matthew Chance is live in Moscow for reaction from the Kremlin, Oren Liebermann will joins us from Jerusalem.
We start, though, with John Defterios in Beijing.
Mr. Trump kept largely to the themes he said in the campaign, promising to boost American jobs. He zeroed in on the trade deficit, though, and said
the U.S. has lost 60,000 factories since China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001.
CNN Money emerging markets editor John Defterios is in Beijing and has been watching
along with us. And so the trade deficit came up more than once, once again that remarkable statistic, but no pillorying China as a currency
manipulator, no talk about punitive double-digit tariffs. How is this speech going to be received in Asia?
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: Well, indeed, Jonathan (inaudible) tone. But this is an America first policy by Donald Trump, and
I think international trade is right there at the top of his business agenda, if you will.
But he has a long list of things he wants to get accomplished, that's why here in Beijing and
throughout Asia they will probably suggest step by step going forward. He wants to reverse Obamacare, the $1 trillion infrastructure spending that
Joe Johns was talking about. He wants to redo the U.S. corporate tax code to make America more competitive right now. But he did mention trade
three times. And he (inaudible) business, the tax code and the loss of jobs. Let's take a listen of what he had to say on the trade deficit.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Our trade deficit in goods with the world last year was nearly $800 billion. And overseas we have inherited a series of tragic foreign policy
disasters.
Solving these and so many other pressing problems will require us to work past the differences of party. It will require us to tap into the American
spirit that has overcome every challenge throughout our long and storied history.
(END VIDEO CLP)
DEFTERIOS: Jonathan, he was suggesting also that the dying industries of America will roar back to life. These are topics for Michigan and Ohio,
Pennsylvania, states that he secured.
Let's clarify the one figure he tossed out there. $800 billion for the trade deficit in 2016 was actually (inaudible) half (inaudible). And why
Beijing is quite worried on products like Chinese stell going into the United States in the future. (inaudible) but it's perhaps in the cards...
MANN: Our apologies to John in Beijing and to you. Some transmission problems there. Obviously, we'll work on them and try to get them fixed.
Notably absent from the president's speech, any direct mention from Russia given the ongoing investigations into the Trump's team's ties to Moscow,
that's worth noting, but there may have been a message or two nonetheless.
Let's get more from CNN's Matthew Chance in Moscow.
Matthew, the president said America is willing to find new friends and to forge new partnerships where shared interests align. Will that be read, do
you think, as a signal in the Kremlin?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, I think it is being read as a signal in the Kremlin. In fact, the Kremlin have already said in
response to a question about that issue this morning on their daily conference call. They've said that basically there are a number of issues
where they believe that the United States and Moscow and Russia can cooperate and
coordinate and the main one, of course, is international terrorism, the Kremlin saying this morning that without the two biggest countries working
together, the U.S. and Russia, it's impossible to be effective in this war on terrorism.
And so even though the R-word wasn't mentioned by Donald Trump, by President Trump, I think there are those in the Kremlin that saw some hope
that there can be a relationship, there can be a deal between these two countries.
Although, this all adds to the kind of mixed messages that the Kremlin have been kiting from the Trump administration over the past couple of weeks.
On the one hand, these relatively positive sounds. On the other hand, Donald Trump mentioning NATO, affirming his support for the western
military alliance, something that he's spoken against in the past, and something that won't have made the Kremlin very happy at all to hear this
president in particular adopting a more convention, traditional position on NATO when it comes to western leaders.
[08:10:27] MANN: And as much as words about NATO, the president is now planning a
massive military spend up. How is that going to be received in the Kremlin? I mean, is Russia going to feel targeted by that?
CHANCE: I think inevitably that it will be. I mean, remember, the -- the spending increase that Donald Trump is proposing, which I think is $54
billion, is about the same size. It's bigger, in fact, than the entire Russian defense budget and so we're talking about an enormous upsizing of
the amount of defense spending in the United States if it goes through.
There's already been some comment in the Russian daily newspapers. This is a -- Trump is
pushing Russia, according to a daily newspaper this morning, into an arms race. And this budget increase could provoke new conflicts. That's not an
official position of the Russian government, but it is a commentary in a leading Russian newspaper this morning, which often
reflects the view of the Kremlin in its pages. And, so, yes, in short, there is a great deal of concern about this increase in spending when it comes to the military
budget in the United States. And -- and a fear that, you know, that the Russians may be pulled into an arms race of the kind that -- that spiraled
out of control in the Cold War.
MANN: Matthew Chance in Moscow. Thanks very much.
A country that did get a direct mention in the speech: Israel. President Trump touting the
achievements of his first week in office said he has reaffirmed America's, well, he calls it unbreakable alliance with the Jewish state.
Oren Liebermann is in Jerusalem and joins us now. Oren, the very first remarks he made in that speech were attacking anti-Semitism in the United
States. This at a time, of course, when the president has been very, very friendly towards Israel and has hired a very, very friendly ambassador to
Israel. The speech, I imagine, has got to be cementing the impression that this is going to be a very supportive administration.
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORREPSONDENT: Especially with that mention of anti-Semitism right at top. That's something that - there were
plenty of critics here who said that President Donald Trump never fully addressed or was delayed in addressing it, or didn't address it enough, so
to see very strong comments right at the top of his speech condemning anti- Semitism was something that was welcomed across the political spectrum.
There are people who want to see action to follow up such strong words, investigations and prosecution of those carrying out either vandalism of
Jewish cemeteries or calling in bomb threats to Jewish community centers across the U.S., but that was exactly the right way to start the speech
when it came to winning over some of that pro-Israel crowd.
There was another mention of Israel later on in the speech where he talked about sanctioning those who in any way support Iran's ballistic missile
program. That's something that would have made Prime Minister Benjanmin Netanyahu very happy. He's made it clear he sees eye to eye with Trump on Iran and he would have welcomed, or welcomed
those comments calling out Iran for pursuing ballistic missiles and making sure that Israel and the U.S. stand
together in opposition to that.
MANN: Now, President Trump is at the same time talking about dramatic cuts in the budget for the U.S. State Department and for U.S. foreign aid. It's
no secret Israel is the largest recipient of U.S. aid in the world. Is there any reason for anxiety, do you think?
LIEBERMANN: And Trump has made some here nervous with those comments. And it was right before he spoke to the AIPAC crowd that he said that some
foreign countries will have to pay back the foreign aid they get from the U.S. Israel and the U.S. just signed the largest foreign military aid deal
ever, $38 million over 10 years. That deal kicks in next year.
Trump walked back those comments a few months ago. There isn't that much nervousness here about Israel's relationship to U.S. foreign aid, because
Trump is seen as being very pro-Israel and it would be quite a shock if he in any way limited or cut down that $38 billion aid deal.
But there are still people watching him here, that's because his Middle East policy hasn't yet been fully set out, it hasn't been clearly laid out
yet, so it will be something that's watched. But I don't think there's too much nervousness in the government that there will be a
cut to that $38 billion deal or other aid deals that may come along.
MANN: Oren Liebermann in Jerusalem. Thanks very much. So, is all of this pointing to a
more presidential U.S. president? Donald Trump is calling for unity in a divided congress. We'll see how the Democrats are responding when we come
back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[08:16:51] TRUMP: A new national pride is sweeping across our nation, and a new surge of optimism is placing impossible dreams firmly within our
grasp. What we are witnessing today is the renewal of the American spirit.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MANN: Welcome back. Republicans are applauding that speech by President Trump, but as you might imagine Democrats are a little less enthusiastic.
They picked former Kentucky governor Steve Bashear to respond on behalf of the party. Among other things, he took a jab at the presidnet's ability to
defend the U.S.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVE BASHEAR, GRM. GOVERNOR OF KENTUCKY: And I know that protecting America is a president's highest duty, yet President Trump is ignoring
serious threats to our national security from Russia who is not our friend while alienating our allies who
fought with us side by side and are our friends in a dangerous world. His approach makes us less safe and should worry every freedom-loving
American.
Instead, President Trump has all but declared war on refugees and immigrants. Look, the president can and should enforce our immigration
laws, but we can protect America without abandoning our principles and our moral obligation to help those fleeing war and terror, without tearing
families apart, and without needlessly jeopardizing our military men and women fighting overseas.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MANN: The Democrats are skeptical, but it seems Donald Trump really is trying to reset his image with an optimistic first speech to the congress.
We heard Joe Johns report earlier. Joe joins us now live from the White House.
And, Joe, let me ask you just the most basic thing. Have you ever seen or heard Donald Trump like this before?
JOHNS: It was pretty extraordinary, wasn't it, when you think about it, Jonathan. It was sort of a high-hinded good tone speech where Donald Trump
reached out to both sides. So it was a bit unusual when you compare that to his tone on the campaign trail that could be coarse at time and ad
libbed. He could sound angry. So it's a very different Donald Trump than we've seen publicly.
Now I can tell you, though, if you ask if I've ever seen him like that before, in private as a businessman Donald Trump could be very charming.
So it's just a little hard to -- to get all of these images in line. There are several different men in there, I guess, you would have to say.
MANN: Several different men talked about several different subjects. Style aside, what was the biggest headline? I mean, were there any
surprises in what he was telling the congress?
JOHNS: Well, I think there were a few. First, the call for unity because Donald Trump has been somewhat of a divisive figure and he's played very
much to an audience on the right, even after taking office. His suggestion that it was time to put trivial fights aside, because so far this White
House has appeared willing to jump into trivial fights if they deemed it
necessary.
So I think those are two important things.
A variety of other things. I mean, there were little surprises here and there on immigration, on health care, but flog extraordinary and out of the
way because it's such a big picture speech, and the devil is always in the details, of course. The congressional leadership is coming over here to
the White House today to try to sit down and get down to business.
MANN: Well, that, in fact, seems to be the one consistent thing, the one trend that carried
over from the campaign into and including this speech which is the details weren't there. I mean, when you talk about the big challenges that are
ahead for this president - Obamacare, tax reform, budget measures, were there any details?
JOHNS: Yes. A few details. One of the most interesting things was the president's embrace of tax credits, which was sort of a tip of the hat to
House Republicans. This is on health care, also on the issue of expanding health savings accounts. Another tip of the hat
to House Republicans on health care. On immigration, the president went a little further in a meeting with television anchors
here at the WhiteHouse yesterday than he did in his actual speech.
Nonetheless, a sense that the president would like to see the outlines of immigration reform
coming together.
So those are the kinds of things we heard, not a whole lot on tax cuts. And we know that's coming down the pike very soon. So we've got a few
details, but not very many.
MANN: Now, people around the United States were watching people around the world were watching. But you mentioned them twice. I'm just curious about
whether the president's real audience was Republican lawmakers in attendance.
JOHNS: I think that's true. I think the most important audience he had to reach last night was House Republicans. They needed some policy guidance.
They also needed some rhetoric and they needed some sense that the president was going to work with them and reach out to them and also help
them push through this rather ambitious agenda, because they are very much tied up in knots on certain subjects. They are having a real problem
trying to figure out how to handle the president's call to both get rid of and replace Obamacare.
So that's a big problem for them. And then they are going to have to juggle the tax cuts because
we're talking about so much money when the president wants to pay for defense, you know. He wants to put a big number into defense spending.
There's a lot to talk about on Capitol Hill and he really needs Republicans as his foot shoulders pushing that agenda.
MANN: And what about the Democrats? Does a speech like that set them even further back?
JOHNS: Well, the Democrats are still trying to find their way because they were, I think, thrown off balance by the election and the fact that Hillary
Clinton is not president. There was so much surprise there.
When you see Steven Beshear, the former governor of Kentucky, who is out of office now but was a big supporter of Obamacare and in his view did quite
well with Obama's signature health care plan in that state as the person who is responding, in some ways it's kind
the not very forward looking for the Democrats simply because the Kentucky governor they had on TV last night was the former governor.
So Democrats are still trying to find their way. Nonetheless, they are planning on putting up a fight as they see fit, John.
MANN: Joe Johns live in Washington. Thanks very much.
President Trump also used his speech to call attention to crime committed by undocumented
immigrants, and he described a new office he's forming to support the victims.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I have ordered the Department of Homeland Security to create an office to serve American victims. The office is called VOICE, Victims of
Immigration Crime Engagement. We are providing a voice to those who have been ignored by our media and silenced by special interests.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MANN: The president also talked about his stepped-up enforcement of immigration laws and border security saying he's answered the call of the
American people.
Two teenagers whose mother was deported were listening as the president boasted of his
immigration plans. Our Polo Sandoval spoke to them.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Jackie and Angel Rayos Garcia traveled 2,300 miles from their Phoenix home to Washington to hear the president
speak after the deportation of their mother under his new immigration policy.
JACKIE RAYOS GARCIA, MOTHER DEPORTED: It was really sad see how people were blinded. It was sad seeing how people agreed with him.
[08:05:06] SANDOVAL: President Trump's rousing speech to congress taking place on the mother's 36th birthday.
J. GARCIA: Told her happy birthday and that I loved her a lot and that I missed her.
ANGEL RAYOS GARCIA, MOTHER DEPORTED: She told us that she's really proud of us.
SANDOVAL: We first met Guadalope Rayos Garcia in Sonora, Mexico earlier this month just after immigration officials acted on a 2013 order to deport
her. The 36th-year-old was arrested in 2008 and later pleaded guilty to making up a Social Security number on a job application. That's a non-
violent felony. Immigration and customs officials detained Vayos Garcia (ph).
TRUMP: We are removing gang members, drug dealers, and criminals that threaten our communities and prayer on our very innocent citizens.
A. GARCIA: What he said, like, we was just - it was a lie. It's not just the bad people he's taking out, it's just everyone in general.
SANDOVAL: Arizona congressman Ruben Gallego hopes to send this message to President Trump.
REP. RUBEN GALLEGO, (D) ARIZONA: These are kids and that his policy really has destroyed their lives. His policy did not make, you know, this country
safer deporting Guadalupe.
SANDOVAL: Working to get Jackie and Angel's mother back home to the U.S., but with a 10 year ban in place before she can legally reenter. Chances
are many more birthdays will be celebrated apart.
A. GARCIA: We're not afraid and we're going to stand up for our community.
J. GARCIA: I won't stop fighting until things change.
SANDOVAL: Polo Sandoval, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MANN: And we have this just in, a new report by the UN's independent international
commission of inquiry on Syria is drawing attention to human rights abuses by the factions fighting there. The report accuses both Russian and Syrian
forces of carrying out daily air strikes that have claimed hundreds of lives and reduced hospitals, schools and markets to rubble. It also says
the Syrian government used chlorine bombs in residential areas resulting in hundreds of civilian. It doesn't spare
the rebels either, saying they have, and here's a quotation, consistently shelled civilians in western Aleppo City, firing indiscriminately in
attacks that killed and injured dozens, including women and children. The UN estimates that more than 400,000 Syrians have died in the conflict since
2011.
Back to our top story now: Americans talking about the president's speech last night. Up next, real-time reaction from those who watched at home.
We'll break it down.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(HEADLINES)
[08:31:17] MANN: Back to our top story now, Americans who watched President Trump's address seemed to like what they heard. A new CNN/ORC
poll found about seven in 10 said the speech made them optimistic about the direction of the country. Tom Foreman has the play-by-play reaction from
thousands who tuned in.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: More than 39,000 people cast about 15 million votes moment to moment, telling us what they thought of the speech.
The line goes up if they like it, down if they don't. Democrats in blue, independents in purple, Republicans in red.
And the president had them all pointing the right direction early on, when he talked about hate crimes. Watch the lines.
TRUMP: Recent threats targeting Jewish community centers and vandalism of Jewish cemeteries, as well as last week's shooting in Kansas City, remind
us that while we may be a nation divided on policies, we are a country that stands united in condemning hate and evil in all of its very ugly forms.
(APPLAUSE)
FOREMAN: That is what any president would want. Look, everybody's clustered together here, up in the positive territory.
But these moments were very hard to come by, especially when he talked about policy. Yes, they agreed when he talked about helping out veterans.
Yes, they agreed a little bit when he talked about jobs. We saw plenty of area where is they disagreed, particularly on policy, and particularly when
he brought up Obamacare.
Watch the lines.
TRUMP: Tonight, I am also calling on this Congress to repeal and replace Obamacare.
(APPLAUSE)
FOREMAN: Yes, big applause line in the room. They all jump up. But, look, Democrats hated it. Independents didn't like it. Interestingly, the
Republicans in our sample, look at that, they're falling off, too.
At no point did these lines ever cross. Democrats never liked it more than independents. Independents never liked it more than the Republicans. And
interestingly enough, men always liked what he had to say more than women did.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOREMAN: Tom Foreman reporting there.
You're watching News Stream. Coming up, we'll get some insight into LG's new smartphone as well as how the South Korean company is doing rival
Samsung's recent troubles.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[08:35:56] ANDREW STEVENS, CNN MONEY: Kunming, the capital of China's Yunnan Province. This metropolis of some 4 million people has something
Beijing and Shanghai do not. Dian Lake, one of the largest fresh water lakes in the country, a source of local pride and of shame.
So polluted from decades of raw sewage and industrial runoff, its waters remain unfit for human contact.
Officials have been trying to resurrect Dian Lake for years, we're told. And Kunming's waterfall park, which just opened this year, is the public
face of their latest efforts. This is entirely man-made. The falls a part of a (inaudible) project that draws water from a reservoir more than 100
kilometers upstream. It's pumped into canals and through underground pipes, spilling over the falls into the Panlong River (ph) and eventually
Dian Lake.
Near the boats and buoys, we meet ecologist He Shuzhuang. Despite evidence of progress, government officials don't want to talk about their $150
million plus plan to flush the lake like a giant toilet.
So, instead, we tag along with the professor and his students. In the lab, we learned Kunming's story is pretty simple. Too many people, too must
waste.
HE SHUZHUANG, ECOLOGIST (through translator): The pollution of Dian Lake started in the 1980s and the pollution treatment didn't begin until the
1990s. It's been 20 years, the most serious polluted period was between 2000 and 2005.
Pollution here translates to heavy metals in the soil, antibiotics in the water, and most of all green sludge, algae that chokes out anything and
everything looking for oxygen.
It's hard to believe that not so long ago, spots like this one are more garbage dump than garden. The stench was unbearable, the water black.
But it's not enough just to increase the water flow in a place that often suffers from drought, conservation is also key.
WANG HUANXIAO, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, GREEN KUNMING (through translator): First, we get to save the limited resource, second, we can cultivate the value
that people should save water, which I think is a better idea.
STEVENS: Wang, who advises environmental NGO Green Kunming and has consulted for the official cleanup efforts, sees the diversion project as a
step in the right direction.
While the government has set a target to make Dian Lake swimmable by 2020, it's clear that innovation here is very much a work in progress. The hope
among those who want to see this place renewed that the beauty of nature, whether organic or manufactured, will help Kunming and its people move into
a cleaner future.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MANN: Andrew Stevens.
All week we've been bringing you the latest from the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, one
of the tech industry's most important annual gatherings. It's where many of the biggest names show off their latest smartphones. LG electronics
thinks consumers will be paying close attention to their phones, to how safe and reliable products are this year.
Our Kristie Lu Stout had a chat with the president of LG.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is LG's new flagship smartphone, the G6 has a taller screen which is ideal for
streaming media, looking at photos and has a dual rear camera, and, yeah, it's waterproof.
After the G5 failed to entice buyers, LG needs a hit, so can this be it?
Well, here at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona I caught up with the president of LG's
mobile division Juno Cho to find out.
JUNO CHO, PRESIDENT, LG MOBILE DIVISION: This time we thought we address to those mainstream consumers who wants to have a niche for fundamental
things like bigger screen but not bigger phone, or longer battery life, or, you know, multimedia functions pretty much good sound quality and all
those.
[08:40:14] LU STOUT: So, the focus address to those media streaming, also the form factor. I mean, the screen is pretty - it takes up a lot of real
estate. And it's very tall. Taller screens, is that the future of smartphones?
CHO: Well, we think it's going to be - kind of mainstream directions so that you can have a larger screen, but thinner so that easier to hold. And
it's easy to manipulate. So, we believe this is going directions.
LU STOUT: When you launched this device here at the Mobile World Congress, you emphasized battery, reliability and testing. Was that a dig at
Samsung?
CHO: Well, not really.
LU STOUT: Or you learned lessons from Samsung?
CHO: Well, of course. I mean everybody learned a lesson from that incident. But then again battery life and safety of the phone is so
fundamental for phone industry.
LU STOUT: LG and Samsung, you have been rivals for decades in South Korea. What is the feeling internally at LG? Is there a little bit of sympathy
about the troubles that Samsung is going through or you kind of feel, look, this is a competition and this is an opportunity for us?
CHO: Well, we were frankly speaking -- we were alarmed actually.
LU STOUT: Alarmed?
CHO: Yeah.
I mean, we've been also trying very hard to really put a lot of stuff in the battery and also the phone, so this might happen. So this kind of
wake-up call for us, so we spend a lot of time to really a to make a better designs in terms of structures and better batteries and a lot of that focus
is in here.
LU STOUT: LG has been bleeding cash. You need had a hit here. So far the reviews are in. Do you feel you have a hit with this new flagship phone?
CHO: Well, we've seen. Yeah, we feel confident that we're on track. We are hitting a soft spot for multimedia consumers with this phone.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MANN: Hitting a soft spot. Juno Cho, president of LG electronics speaking with our Kristie Lu Stout at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
And that brings us to an end of this edition of News Stream. I'm Jonathan Mann. Don't go away. World Sport with Amanda Davies is next.
END
