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Ivanka Trump's First Official International Visit; North Korea Stages Artillery Drill, U.S. Moves in Warships; Ending Slavery in the Amazon. 8a-9a ET

Aired April 25, 2017 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:14] KRISTIE LU STOUT, HOST: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong and welcome to News Stream.

A show of force across the Korean peninsula. The North stages a huge artillery drill as the U.S. moves in warships.

Also an ISIS stronghold from space. CNN has exclusive satellite imagery showing the fight to

retake Raqqa, Syria.

And the first daughter makes her first official trip abroad. I'll tell you about her aim as she sits alongside Germany's Angela Merkel.

Pyongyang celebrating one of its most important days of the year as a tense military standoff unfolds on the Korean peninsula. Now the U.S. Navy has

docked a powerful submarine in the south and sent warships on separate drills with Japan and South Korea. As the North marks the 85th anniversary

of the founding of its army, Seoul says that Pyongyang carried out a large scale artillery drill.

Now, CNN is covering this with correspondents in both the north and the south. We have got Will Ripley inside Pyongyang, Alexandra Field is

standing by in Seoul. And Will, we'll start with you.

Now, how is North Korea marking this 85th anniversary of its military and could it use the occasion to take some sort of provocative action?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, they did take provocative action, Kristie. North Korea, according to the South Korean

intelligence conducted a massive exercises involving hundreds of soldiers testing long range artillery. And this, of course, is troubling because

North Korea has a lot of long range artillery pointed directly at the Seoul metropolitan area with tens of millions of people potentially in its path.

Analysts actually say that the conventional North Korea weapons could be more dangerous in the short-term than North Korea's nuclear weapons which

are still under development. They have not conducted their sixth nuclear test, although analysts believe they could push the button at any time on

that. And there were other celebrations marking Army Day as well, not just a provocative show of force. a wreath laying ceremony to honor the scores

of North Korean soldiers who died in the Korean War and other conflicts, including the fight against the Japanese occupation.

And also there were celebrations, dancing in the streets of Pyongyang. Thousands of people, both professionals and students, had the day off from

work, but they came out into the streets and they danced together. These types of celebrations are, if not mandatory, certainly strongly encouraged for people who live in the North Korean

capital, Kristie.

LU STOUT: No nuclear tests conducted today, but provocative action was taken in the form of that artillery test by North Korea. Let's go to

Alexandra Field in Seoul now. And, Alex, provacative action perhaps by America, one of the U.S.'s most powerful submarines, a nuclear submarine,

has been surfacing off the coast of South Korea in Busan. Also, you got those joint naval drills under way. Tell us what's happening.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, the South Korean officials here have been poised for more provocative measures from

Pyongyang this month, particularly surrounding this holiday that Will was just talking about. But they've been working with their allies, the U.S.,

to beef up deterrent measures in the face of those provocations which we've previously seen, in which they anticipate seeing. So, you do have this

submarine that has reached the southern part of South Korea. It's one of the U.S.'s most powerful submarines, it's capable of carrying some 154

Tomahawk missiles.

Now, you've got one U.S. official in Washington saying that this should send a strong message, that it is a warning sign, a powerful deterrent, a

show of strength, a flexing of muscle. But you do also have U.S. naval officials saying that this submarine is in the area as part of a routine

stop, that it is not there to participate in training exercises, it is there for a previously

scheduled stop, but still its very presence should serve to underscore and underline the close nature of this alliance between the U.S. and South

Korea and the power that is shared among them in working to deter the North Korean nuclear threat and the threat of the use of other more conventioned

kinds of weapons.

At the same time, you've had this continued show of force from the U.S. and South Korea. They continue to participate in these joint military

exercises, which continue to enrage Pyongyang. And you also at the same time have joint military exercises between Japan's military and the U.S.

military, all sides here. These three allies working together to really try to send a powerful message. They do not want to see conflict on the

peninsula. They do not want to create conflict of the peninsula.

They hope that their presence will be a message of deterrence that would caution against any

hostile action or further provocation from Pyongyang, Kristie.

[08:05:02] LU STOUT: Got it.

Now, let's go back to our Will Ripley in Pyongyang as Alex's reporting we've got the show of force today, large-scale military drills underway in

the peninsula. And Will, Donald Trump has been talking down Kim Jong-un saying, quote, I'm not so sure he's so strong like

he says he is.

And we'll have to ask you, how would people there in Pyongyang react if they heard that?

RIPLEY: Well, they won't hear it. The North Korean state media doesn't report about President Trump's tweets or the comments about their

leadership. They do report about the military activities of the U.S., not only in the waters off the

Korean peninsula, but also in Syria.

Of course, the Syrian missile strike was viewed as a veiled threat to the North Korean regime.

When I asked North Koreans if they have a message for the U.S. president, in fact, I was speaking with a family just today, they said that they think

that President Trump needs to better understand the North Korean people and their resolve and their loyal devotion, they say, to their supreme leader

Kim Jong-un.

Now, they call it single-hearted unity here, much of the world considers this an authoritarian regime where political dissent is not tolerated, so

people only publicly would say they have unanimous support.

But when you ask people on the streets, they say that they are 100 percent behind their leader. When I ask if they think they're being taken down a

dangerous path, they say absolutely not. They say they have faith in their government, they have faith in their country's nuclear arsenal and in their

very large standing army, more than a million people and more than 6 million if you count paramilitary and reserve forces.

So, there's a lot of confidence on the streets of Pyongyang that if there was a military confrontation with the United States, that North Korea would

come out on top. They don't believe that they are outgunned even though the U.S. has clearly substantially more fire power. They are warning the

United States and President Trump not to test their resolve.

LU STOUT: All right, Will Ripley reporting live for us from inside North Korea and Pyongyang. Alexandra Field live for us from Seoul. Thank you to

you both.

Now, remember, there has been a steady buildup of tension between the White House and

North Korea. The North has fired a ballistic missile just three weeks after the U.S. president took office. And since then, Mr. Trump has

criticized Pyongyang repeatedly on Twitter at one point accusing it of, quote, playing the U.S.

Then earlier this month, we saw North Korea showing off several new missiles at its annual

military parade.

So, how much of a threat does the north actually pose? Now, for in depth analysis of its weapons arsenal, let's go straight to Michael Dusman. He's

with the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation studies. He joins us live from Monterey, California. Michael, thank you so much joining us here

on CNN.

First in this arsenal, let's talk about this Musudan, this mid-range North Korean ballistic missile. Tell us about its reach and its capability.

MICHAEL DUSMAN, JAMES MARTIN CENTER: Well, the Musudan is classified as an intermediate range ballistic missile. It can travel 3,500 to 4,000

kilometers, which puts Guam and the large marine corps and air force base on that island within range of

the missile.

It can probably carry a nuclear warhead from what we've seen that North Korea has shown us,

it is quite possible that they could make something small enough to fit on a missile of that size.

LU STOUT: You mentioned the Musudan is capable of hiding Guam. That's where U.S. forces are based.

Up next let's talk about the Pukgukson 1 (ph), another North Korean missile that's been tested in newer type intermediate range ballistic missile, it's

submarine-launched and it's also solid fueled. Why is that significant?

DUSMAN: The Pukguksong 1 is significant for two reasons, as you mentioned. Firstly, it's a submarine launched missile which gives the North Koreans,

theoretically, a second strike capability. What that means is that in the event of tensions or hostilities on the Korean peninsula, they could put

the submarines out to sea and it would be hard for us to find that submarine. And then even if we destroyed all of their land based missile,

they would still have at least one nuclear weapon in reserve.

Secondly, as a solid fuel missile, it is much easier to store. Unlike the North's liquid fueled missiles, they can store it fueled, which means that

it is easier to transport and it needs less support equipment.

We've also seen this missile...

LU STOUT: Easier to avoid detection, too. And how worrying are these, as they're called, submarine-launched ballistic missiles. Are North Korean

submarines difficult to detect?

DUSMAN: Well, North Korea's submarines are all what we could call diesel electric submarines. They can travel slowly under water on battery power

or perhaps a day or more, very quietly. But after that, they have to come near the surface and recharge the batteries with a noisy diesel engine.

Also, we've only seen one of these submarines so far are all what we could call diesel engine. Also, we've only seen one of these submarines so far.

And it only has one missile tube. So, it's hard to really consider this an operational capability rather than something they're working on still.

[08:10:26] LU STOUT: Got it.

So far we talked about two missiles that have been tested. And there's a lot of attention, a lot of discussion on intercontinental ballistic

missiles, ICBMs. These are the missiles that could, if successful, actually reach the mainland of the United States. Your thoughts now on

when will North Korea will test fire an ICBM.

DUSMAN: Well, technically they could probably test fire one tomorrow or today. They've had the missiles on display since 2012. We've seen Kim

Jong-un touring locations where they have the missiles stored and they look real. So, they could test one next week. They could test one next

year.

But part of the problem is that for them testing an ICBM would be very politically costly, because they would see a lot of new sanctions from us

and from other countries. and it would also use up a lot of fuel. And the question is when will they be willing to take that risk.

LU STOUT: So, technically they're able to test fire, as you said, an ICBM in just a matter of days or months. The roadblock here, the stumbling

block is cost, but also the intention here of wanting to test fire an ICBM, is the main reason for having one of these things not put a conventional

weapon on it, but to actually put a nuke on it, to actually launch a nuclear strike?

DUSMAN: Well, one thing I would - sorry, but one thing I would add on testing is also that there's not necessarily any guarantee that it would

succeed.

If we go back to the Musudan for a moment, they test-fired that at least six times in the

past two years, and it has only succeeded once. So, some of the ICBMs they've shown us which use similar technology are not necessarily going to

be very successful. But going to the nuclear issue - I'm sorry, you were going to say?

LU SOTUT: But the point that you were trying to say is that, in the event of an ICBM test, no guarantee it would be successful, but it could be the

beginning of a string of tests.

Michael, we're going to have to leave it at that, but thank you for joining us here on the progra. Michael Dusman is a weapons expert joining us live

from Monterey, California. Thank you so much and take care.

Now the Syria now, and the city that ISIS considers the capital of its brutal self-declared caliphate of more than three years, Raqqa, has been

the clutches of the terror group. The city has been largely cut off from the rest of the world. But CNN has obtained exclusive satellite images,

which are giving us rare insight into Raqqa.

Nick Paton Walsh reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The final target in the war on ISIS, their capital, Raqqa. So wretchedly isolated, held hostage in

terror, the closest we get to it is from space in these exclusive satellite pictures taken for CNN. Here, two checkpoints in the street and nearly an

ISIS flag. Precision strikes cutting its people further off from the world.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Life is not life. Life is death. We are besieged. We can't leave or walk around. Anyone who breathes is

slaughtered.

WALSH: She escaped a day earlier and describes from safety to the north the claustrophobic, paranoid world of living with ISIS in streets covered by

massive (inaudible), put up across this central market to hide ISIS fighters from coalition drone cameras overhead. Another escapee describes

how ISIS fighters (inaudible).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): The foreigners treat residents very well. But the Syrian ISIS members, they are very aggressive with

people.

WALSH: ISIS used their own drone to film the damage from coalition strikes, part of a slow net slipping over the city. Images of life inside Raqqa are

rare. By one occasion, filming the panic of residents trying to flee. Only seconds of horror filmed here as ISIS have just told them the dam at Kapca

(ph) to the west might break open, flooding Raqqa. It never happened, like so much of their propaganda. The dam was fine.

But to the west, fierce fighting backed by U.S. special forces has drawn the noose yet tighter. These coalition backed fighters to the west, north

and east are about to move in from the south. Then the noose will be complete and the countdown begins to when these distant streets are open

for the world to see again.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[08:15:19] LU STOUT: Wow, a rare snapshot from space of life inside Raqqa. Nick Paton Walsh is live for us in Irbil, Iraq. He has more on this

report. And, Nick, I mean, this is a city that's been held hostage by ISIS. But in your report and through that satellite imagery, we see signs

of life in Raqqa. We know that it's been encircled by coalition forces and anti-ISIS fighters.

What's going to happen next? Is there going to be a major battle ahead, a battle for Raqqa?

WALSH: Well, that's absolutely the next stage in the coalition offensive to oust ISIS from

northern Syria, absolutely. They are soon potentially to move around the south, encircling the city. But the analysts who looked at those satellite

images for us did point out, as you say, that there are quite vibrant signs of life. It doesn't feel, they say, from space certainly

like a city under occupation or a city under siege that you can see even down near the damaged bridge, how a variety of what they call slipways have

actually emerged on the river bank, which allow access to vehicles, potentially to load things onto boats, to get items across or people across

that river despite the bridge having been blown.

So, yes, certainly signs of life inside that city. The siege for it will be extraordinarily complicated, perhaps less so than the still ongoing

battle for the largest city ISIS held in Iraq, and that's Mosul, not that far comparatively from where I'm standing here in Irbil.

But Raqqa itself the last symbolic city. They will entirely hold ISIS and their self-declared de facto capital. So, you can't imagine they will put

up a light fight for it - Kristie.

LU STOUT: Absolutely, Nick Paton Walsh from Irbil. Thank you, Nick.

You're watching News Stream. And still ahead, President Donald Trump is looking to make a deal to avoid a government shutdown. Now, he's already

signaling a willingness to compromise.

And one of the most influential women in the White House sits down with one of the

most powerful women in the world. We'll tell you what happened when Ivanka Trump visits Berlin.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: All right, coming to you live from Hong Kong, welcome back. You're watching News Stream.

In just four days, President Donald Trump will mark his 100th day in office, but before he reaches that milestone, he has a crucial deal to make

with congress to avoid a government shutdown this week. Joe Johns has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Trump signaling a willingness to drop his demand for Congress to include a down payment for

his border wall in this week's must-pass spending bill.

SEAN SPICER, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We feel very confident the government is not going to shut down.

[08:20:02] JOHNS: The president now telling conservative journalists he is open to delaying wall funding until September's budget negotiations, just

hours after touting the importance of a wall on Twitter.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer calling the decision good for the country as skeptical Republicans also welcome the shift.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R) SOUTH CAROLINA: I'm for a wall where it makes sense. A 2,200-mile wall doesn't make a whole lot of sense. There's not a

big appetite for that.

JOHNS: The administration continuing to insist that, ultimately, Mexico will foot the bill for the wall.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Why has there been a discussion about shutting down the government over paying for the wall?

Isn't Mexico supposed to pay for the wall? SEAN SPICER, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Well, I think, Jim, the

president has made very clear that initially, we needed to get the funding going. And there will be several mechanisms to make sure that that happens.

JOHNS: But the president is trying to deliver on one of his key campaign promises, proposing to slash the top corporate tax rate from 35 percent to

15 percent. He will unveil details of a tax cut plan tomorrow, setting up a potential clash with Republicans concerned about the impact these cuts will

have on increasing the deficit.

STEVE MNUCHIN, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: The tax plan will pay for itself with economic growth.

JOHNS: The administration arguing that the sweeping cuts, which go beyond a plan put forth by House Speaker Ryan will pay for themselves, a theory

economists don't buy.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration hitting five Canadian companies with stiff tariffs of up to 24 percent on lumber shipped into the U.S. Commerce

Secretary Wilbur Ross saying, "It has been a bad week for U.S./Canada trade relations," stoking fears about a future trade war with America's second

largest trading partner.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And that was CNN's Joe Johns reporting there. As President Trump pushes to

build his wall, his daughter Ivanka is looking to build bridges relations with German Angela Merkel. In fact, in the last hour, the two women

appeared at an event in Berlin. It is no secret the German leader's relationship with Mr. Trump got off to a rocky start.

But some are speculating Ivanka, not Donald Trump, could soon become Germany's closest ally in the White House.

Now, Atika Shubert joins us from Berlin with more on this. And Atika, Ivank Trump is there in Berlin. This women's summit has already started.

How has she been received so far?

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's gotten off to a little bit of a rocky start. She was asked straight off the top if she was

representing her father, the people of the United States, or her business.

She made very clear she was not here for her business and that she was here to listen and learn and bring back ideas from some formidable panel.

Chancellor Merkel is there at the panel with her as well as Christine Lagarde of the IMF.

But it's much more than about women's empowerment. As you point out, this also has a lot to do with politics and strengthening the relationship

between the United States and Germany.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHUBERT: When President Donald Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel finally met face to face at the White House last month, the awkward body

language between them spoke volumes. And the frosty press conference afterwards, well, there was still a long list of issues that two leaders

did not see eye to eye on.

From the U.S. trade deficit with Germany to Trump's conflate that Germany, quote, "owed vast sums for NATO."

Social media took the internet memes to mock the awkwardness including Ivanka Trump before she was made an official White House seated prominently

next to Angela Merkel, arguably the most powerful woman in the world.

But the video from the meeting shows the chancellor and the first daughter swapping notes and sharing a lot. In fact, it was Chancellor Merkel's

office that reached out to the White House asking if Ivanka Trump could personally arrange for a meeting on business skills training with the

president.

Just one way analysts say that Merkel is methodically trying to break the ice with President Trump.

THOMAS KLEINE-BROCKHOFF, FORMER GERMAN PRESIDENTIAL ADVISER: I think there is a sort of an attempt at understanding trump here. And understanding him

is understanding the people around him and that includes the family.

Her sense seems to be that an avenue into the White House is through Ivanka Trump.

SHUBERT: Since that White House visit, President Trump has called Chancellor Merkel nearly every week on issues big and small for European

elections to how to handle Russia and Syria. For Merkel it is at least a start to building a relationship with President Trump.

KLEINE-BROCKHOFF: She test the water, she is analyzing the man. She is trying to find out what she can do with him, how he takes, how he

understands issues. She's deliberate and slow. She even in small circles makes no value judgment about Donald Trump. She just says this is how he

takes. You see a political plumber at work.

SHUBERT: Testing the pipes seems to be working. Now, Ivanka Trump has been personally invited by Angela Merkel to attend the W20,a woman's leadership

summit in Berlin. Varnishing the first daughter's role as presidential adviser, and perhaps, one more step in improving Berlin's relationship with

the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SHUBERT: This is clearly in one aspect about politics, it's also an opportunity for Ivanka Trump to show that she's done her homework, she

knows her numbers on women's empowerment issues and entrepreneurship, not just in the U.S. but around the world and to show that to hold her own with

some of the most powerful women in the world, Kristie.

LU STOUT: Yeah, but as you pointed out, the end of the day, this visit is about politics, so what is the mood there in Germany? How much hope do

people there have that after this trip Ivanka Trump would somehow compel her father to have a more ideal relationship with Angela Merkel?

SHUBERT: Well, you know, one of the newspapers here had a headline calling Ivanka Trump the first whisperer, if you would, somebody who was able to

communicate more directly to President Trump. But I think it's clear that the relationship has already improved. And that may or may not be directly

to Ivanka Trump, but perhaps more to Chancellor Merkel's very methodical way of how she has tried to lay things out with the Trump administration

and show them that there has to be a good working relationship.

As far as what Germans think, you know, I have to say that at the panel discussion they had there was a bit of a murmur in the crowd when Ivanka

Trump said her father was a champion of women's rights. And she was asked directly by the moderator to explain, then, her father's attitude towards

women and some of the comments he has made in the past.

But she said, listen, I've heard the criticism from the media, but in her personal experience and in the experience of the thousands of women that

have worked with her father, she said, that he is somebody who believes in the potential of women and believes they can do just as good a job as any

man.

LU STOUT: That would have been an interesting moment to witness there in the summit. Atika Shubert reporting live for us from Berlin. Thank you.

Now, in neighboring France, the presidential election campaign was put on hold for a somber tribute. The two candidates, Marine Le Pen and Emmanuel

Macron, attended a ceremony honoring the police officer killed in last week's terror attack on the Champs Elysees. Macron and Le Pen came out on

top in Sunday's first round presidential vote and will face each other in a runoff on May 7.

You're watching News Stream. And coming up, she lifted the lid on the crackdown on gays

in Chechnya. Now, one Russian reporter is finding out she has become a target. We have the frightening follow up after this short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(HEADLINES)

[08:31:12] LU STOUT: And now a frightening followup to a story that we've been following out of Russia: a journalist who exposed a wave of attacks

against gay men in Chechnya is now in hiding, fearing for her life. Death threats made by Muslim clerics have been broadcast on television.

Now, Matthew Chance brought us the details of the anti-gay crackdown, has more now on this

latest disturbing development. He joins us live from Moscow. And Matthew, this reporter bravely reported on this brutal gay crackdown in Chechnya.

and she is in hiding, what did she tell you?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, well, it's very difficult, obviously. And these threats that have been made against

journalists have to be taken very seriously in a country where reporters are routinely beaten up and even killed for their work. This latest round

of threats comes amid the reporting of those allegations of a gay crackdown or a crackdown on gay men in Chechnya. Muslim clerics in that mainly

Muslim republic in southern Russia are calling for retribution against the instigators of the reports, the newspaper which first carried them, Novo

Gazetta (ph) is saying that that is an incitement to the massacre of journalists.

And now, as you mentioned, the main Chechnya reporter on that newspaper is fleeing the country.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHANCE: This is what's happening on the streets of Chechnya, a lawless Russian republic for gay men are allegedly are being abducted and tortured.

CNN obtained this cell phone video from one victim who told us of horrifying abuse.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They tied wires to my hands and put metal clip to my ears to electrocute me. When they shock you, you jump higher above the

ground.

CHANCE: Chechen authorities denied gay men like those we met even exist there. And now the Russian reporter who first exposed the gay crackdown is

also living in fear, forced into hiding amid terrifying death threats.

ELENA MILASHINA, RUSSIAN JOURNALIST: This is the first time when they got that threat, that kind of threat when 15,000 people got together in the

mosque and announced actually they had on all the staff in Novaya Gazeta, and it's last forever, it count the last (Inaudible).

CHANCE: The threats made by Muslim clerics in Chechnya were rebroadcast on local television but it's just leaders are shown addressing thousands of

faithful condemning the reports of a gay crackdown and demanding retribution against those spreading what they call gossip and lies.

It's a threat journalist in Russia particularly at Novaya Gazeta take seriously. In 2006, their star Chechnya reporter Anna Politkovskaya was

shot dead in Moscow but her desk is still kept as a shrine.

But since 2000, at least five other journalists at the same newspaper have also been killed in mafia style hits. A sign of how dangerous reporting in

Russia can be and how brave are reporters like Milashina to continue despite the risk.

MILASHINA: The only way that can stop their people who might possibly think of murdering my colleagues is to show them that there will be that one.

CHANCE: Like you're prepared to pick a line for that deal.

MILASHINA: Yes, absolutely. If that makes me much stronger than my enemies in Chechnya.

CHANCE: Strength to defend the persecuted there in the face of the gravest threats.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHANCE: Well, the response of the Russian authorities I think has been pretty unsatisfactory. The Chechen government say they don't even

acknowledge that gay men exist in that republic. And the Kremlin says that they are against any action that could endanger the safety of journalists.

But they say they've got no confirmation that any gay men have been abused in that Republic.

It's hardly very reassuring in a country which is, of course, one of the most dangerous for

journalists.

[08:35:30] LU STOUT: Yeah, a deeply disturbing report on multiple fronts. Matthew Chance reporting live from Moscow. Thank you.

Now, you're watching News Stream. And still ahead, a family in Brazil is finally free after two years of forced labor. How they finally managed to

escape slavery on a cattle ranch.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back. You're watching News Stream. Now, a family in Brazil spent years working on a cattle ranch without being paid. In fact,

the rancher said they owed him money.

Now, they're finally getting some justice. Shasta Darlington reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In a small town of Arapaima, the streets turned into mud and laundry flaps in the

breeze.

But for this family, it's a little patch of paradise.

It's Saturday lunch time when we visit. Luis Cardoso Da Silva, or C. Luis (ph) and several of his eight children sipped chilled Coca-Cola and feast

on rice, beans and fried liver, the kind of normal life they tell us that they haven't seen for a long, long time.

LUIS CARDOSO DA SILVA, RANCH WORKER (through translator): I want to spend more time here at home, maybe line up a little something close to my

family. There would be nothing better than that.

DARLINGTON: We met C. Luis (ph) and some of his family three days earlier, in entirely different circumstances. One of Brazil's four mobile units

tasked with cracking down on labor exploitation around the country found them living and working on a nearby ranch.

They tell inspectors they haven't received money for two years.

ANDRE WAGNER, MOBILE UNITED COORDINATOR, LABOR MINISTRY (through translator): They sleep here. The corral is right here next to them. This

is a chute where the cattle are removed and put on trucks. Basically, sleeping like animals.

DARLINGTON: The mattress that C. Luis (ph) and his wife share below the cattle chute, surrounded by pools of fetid mud. So, Luis, a fence maker,

says they had to buy their own tools. And instead of paying salaries, he says the ranch owner paid them in food and accused them of owing him money.

DA SILVA (through translator): Here, we get up early. By 7:00, we're already working and come back for lunch and then we go out again until 5:00

or 5:30. Every day, that's our work. And at the end, we don't have any money. We don't have anything.

DARLINGTON: He says he couldn't leave because he feared for his family. Mateus Canudo is just 16. He mends fences.

MATEUS CANUDO, RANCH WORKER (through translator): You pull out the wires, dig holes, you put the posts. The work covers the food.

[08:40:07] DARLINGTON: The task force comprised of labor inspectors, federal police and prosecutors, say it's one of the worst cases they've

seen in years. They're even filing criminal charges.

ADRIANA SCORDAMAGLIA, FEDERAL PUBLIC PROSECUTOR: We found group of people living in animal pens, without mattresses and toxic pesticides near the

locations where they work. I'm confident I have enough evidence to take them to justice.

DARLINGTON: A judge is reviewing the charges. The first priority however, removing the family from the ranch. They load up a truck with their few valuables.

DA SILVA (through translator): When I left there, my heart opened up. It was a pleasure to get back to my house with my family. So many things have

changed.

DARLINGTON: A house that C. Luis (ph), nearly 70, rents in town for his youngest children, paid for with his government pension.

MARIA DALVA SOUSA GOUVEA, RANCH WORKER (through translator): I took a bath. I went to pick up my son. He was sleeping when I arrived and I picked him

up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I drink chilled water since there you can't. There isn't any. We've just been watching movies since we didn't

have a TV there.

DARLINGTON: The best news comes a few days later, when the ranch owner's family agrees to pay roughly $38,000 in back wages and penalties for pain

and suffering.

Money they'll use to finally buy a house of their own, a safe haven for their future.

Shasta Darlington, CNN, Arapaima, Brazil.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Wonderful to see that smile there.

Now, tomorrow, meet the Dominican fryer on the front lines in the battle against labor exploitation in the Amazon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENITIFIED MALE: Slavery is a system, and it has several roots - impunity, greed, vulnerability, misery. If you don't address at the same

time all of it, you will have probably the same persons coming back to the same cycle of enslavement.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Fighting to end that cycle, to rescue the workers exploited to produce Brazil's famous grass-fed beef. That story tomorrow on The CNN

Freedom Project.

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

END