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U.S. Announce THAAD Operation Within Days; Speculation Over Next North Korean Nuclear Test; What's the Future for AI?; White House Released Tax Wishlist. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired April 27, 2017 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:20] KRISTIE LU STOUT, HOST: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. Welcome to News Stream. An exclusive inside North Korea. CNN questions a

top government official who offers a warning about future nuclear tests. This as U.S. says part of its anti-missile defense missile system will be

up and running in South Korea in just a matter of days.

And why China's biggest search engine is so fascinated with AI. Hear from Baidu's chief executive on the rise and rise of artificial intelligence.

And we begin on the Korean peninsula where the U.S. is pushing with measures to protect its ally while the North promises to keep developing

its weapons programs.

A U.S. made missile defense system is being deployed in the South. The original plan was to have it ready by the end of this year, but now we're

being told it will be operational in just days.

Now still, after weeks of tough talk and shows of military strength, the U.S. is now leaning toward diplomacy and sanctions to pressure Pyongyang.

In a rare move, all U.S. Senators were briefed at the White House on the standoff. Some said that they felt reassured, but most said they didn't

learn anything new.

Now, let's get the latest from both sides of the Korean Peninsula. Will Ripley is inside Pyongyang. Alexandra Field is standing by in Seoul. And

Will, we'll go to you first. Will, you've spoken to a DPRK government insider, a North Korean human rights official. What did Suk Chul-wan (ph)

tell you about the state of affairs there?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kristie, he is the top ranking human rights official here in North Korea. But he was given

authorization to speak to us on a variety of topics, and certainly there is much to discuss right now. So, I began with that massive military exercise

here in North Korea and asked exactly what kind of message this country is trying to send.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RIPLEY: Still no official reaction inside North Korea to that White House meeting of U.S. Senators, also no response to reports from the White House

that they're considering placing this country back on their list of state sponsors of terrorism. You remember North Korea was on the list for 20

years beginning in 1988 after bombing of a Korean airliner, and ending in 2008 when they agreed to begin dismantling their young beyond nuclear

facility which we now know is very much backed up and running. I also spoke with the North Korean government official, it's very rare that we get this

kind of access. He's one this country's top human rights officials, but he was authorized to speak on a variety of topics including the escalating

military situation.

The North Korea army, staging what it describes as its largest ever military drill. North Korea's Supreme Leader, Kim Jong-un, is seen ordering

a barrage of artillery fire: 300 long-range, self-propelled guns, submarines, bombers, masses of soldiers, all of it a direct warning to the

U.S. And President Trump says, the North Korean government official given rare authorization to speak to CNN.

"This exercise is a direct response to acts of aggression by the United States," says Sak Tol-wan. A dramatic show of force, shown triumphantly on

state T.V., far less provocative than what many had been bracing for: North Korea's sixth nuclear test.

A test, the Trump administration warns would have grave consequences. U.S. intelligence believes the nuclear test is no longer imminent, something

North Korea won't confirm. Suk says the timing has nothing to do with mounting international pressure.

"The nuclear test is an important part of our continued efforts to strengthen our nuclear forces," he says. So, are you saying that North

Korea will conduct another nuclear test? "

As long as America continues its hostile acts of aggression, we will never stop nuclear and missile tests," I asked about the three Americans

currently being held in North Korea: Tony Kim, Otto Warmbier, and Kim Dong- chol. Suk, cannot provide specifics on their cases but says they're living under the same conditions as other North Korean prisoners even though

they've kept in separate facilities.

A recent U.N. Human Rights report accuses North Korea of arbitrary detention, torture, even executions, claiming people are thrown in prison

camps without due process. A lot of defectors have claimed inhumane treatment of North Korean prisoners. "I strongly deny any statements made

my defectors," he says. "Those people are criminals who ran away, they're paid to lie, and encouraged by the U.S. and their followers." These are

accounts from hundreds of defectors, and North Korea refused to cooperate with the U.N. investigation. If your country has nothing to hide, why not

let inspectors in to see for themselves?

"The U.N. wants to politicize the human rights issue, use it to interfere with our internal affairs," he says. "Their reports are nothing but

fiction." Here, he says, human rights mean defending this socialist society and its Supreme Leader at any cost, even if it could trigger a nuclear war.

When you look at military drills like the one that happened in South Korea shortly after the North Korean drill, this is exactly why North Korea says

they are pushing forward to develop the nuclear program.

They see the United States and South Korea working together, trying to send a message that the South Korean forces are backed by the full firepower of

the U.S. And if you compare the weaponry, the capacity, obviously, the U.S. really has North Korea out-gunned. They feel the faster that they can

develop a workable Intercontinental Ballistic Missile with a nuclear warhead capable of reaching the mainland U.S., that kind of nuclear weapon

would be their ace-in-the- hole to prevent what they feel is an imminent invasion by U.S. lead forces.

Will Ripley, CNN, Pyongyang, North Korea.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[08:05:09] RIPLEY: Kristie, tonight North Korea released a new propaganda video. It's now circulating. And it shows the Pukguksong missile in a

simulated attack on the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier and also on Washington.

Of course, propaganda is one thing, actual missile launches are another. And we just don't know if or when North Kkorea will do that, although this

official did say it could happen at any time.

LU STOUT: Yeah, the Pukguksong missile is a submarine launched missile believed to be fueled by solid fuel, making it even harder to detect.

There in Pyongyang, Will, the North Korean government official told you nuclear tests will, quote, never stop.

So, what do we know about North Korea's plans for another nuclear test?

RIPLEY: Well, according to U.S. intelligence analysts who have obviously the world is really scouring the satellite images of the Pongae Rhee (Ph)

nuclear test site, they believe that there has been some digging activity at the site in recent days, which would indicate that

a nuclear test is not imminent in the view of U.S. officials. Now, North Koreans are not confirming this,

of course. They have said for a number of months a nuclear test is imminent. And there was a time several weeks ago when many analysts were

in agreement that it looked like there was equipment and personnel in place to push the button on the sixth nuclear test at any time.

Now that has apparently dialed back, but the North Koreans strongly insist it has nothing to do with international pressure, that it's not because of

President Trump or the potential ramifications from Chinese President Xi Jinping. They say that they will conduct that test when they're ready. It

seems as if right now analysts believe this site is not ready.

LU STOUT: Will Ripley reporting live from Pyongyang, thank you.

Let's go to our Alexandra Field standing by in Seoul. And Alex, South Korea and the U.S., they continue to roll out, to put this THAAD anti-

missile system into place in the South. What's the latest on that and when will it be fully operational?

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, there's been a lot of talk, Kristie, about what the strategy in terms of dealing with North Korea would

be from the Trump administration. But what we've seen clearly all along since the beginning was this affirmation that they would move forward with

the plans to deploy this controversial system, this missile defense system.

The first pieces of the system actually arrived on the peninsula back in March. And then in the last day we saw those parts being moved to the

deployment site. Now we've had word from the U.S. Pacific Command commander that this system will actually be operational in just a matter of

days. That means ready to react. And again, this is a system that's designed to intercept missiles that could be coming North Korea.

The U.S. contends that this is purely a defensive measure, meant to protect the security interests

of their allies, both South Korea and Japan, and also the U.S.'s own national security interest.

However, it is again a controversial system. It has raised objections from Russia and China who see it as an effort from the U.S. to box them in,

contain them in their own region. They've said that radar could be used perhaps to spy on neighboring countries despite the fact that U.S.

officials have said this is purely defensive.

And Kristie, this system has even been protested domestically. There are people who live in the

village who do not want to see this system put into place. This word coming - that it will quickly be operational, well ahead of the previously

stated deadline which was the end of this year.

LU STOUT: That's right. The rollout continues despite that, as you report, the pockets of resistance inside South Korea. In the last week,

Alex, we have heard the threats. We have seen the video of the significant military muscle flexing. Is this all going to add up to all-out conflict?

What do military leaders from the U.S. and South Korea say about what they want to achieve right now?

FIELD: Look, certainly nobody wants to see conflict, but these have been tense times on the peninsula. First of all, this is a typically tense

time, a tense season where you've got these military training drills that happen annually and that does contribute to the tension every year on the

peninsula.

But you do have these added factors where you've seen this rash of ballistic missile launches, from North Korea, their often state intention

of trying to develop a nuclear warhead capable of reaching the U.S. And then you've had this pushback from the Trump administration as they up the

defense here in the region, not just with this missile defense system, but also with moving the USS Carl Vinson towards the waters off the Korean

peninsula, that's a U.S. aircraft carrier strike group and then the positioning of this very powerful submarine at the southern port here in

South Korea.

So, there was a lot of tension about whether or not someone might act or somebody could misinterpret an action, and that could lead to some kind of

conflict.

There's also been the drumbeat coming from Washington that the era of strategic patience had ended and that all options were on the table. That

was certainly contributing to the climate of tension.

So all eyes really, Kristie, were on the White House when this unusual meeting happened just

yesterday where senators were summoned to the White House to be briefed on the situation. But ultimately, what you got in the aftermath of that was

some pretty measured words from both the secretary of state and secretary of defense. These are people who have again said that the U.S. is going to

look for new and different approaches to dealing with North Korea, but ultimately after this meeting what they said was that it remains the goal

of the Trump administration to see the de-nuclearization of the peninsula and that the path forward right now would be to work with the those in the

region, that would be namely China, to continue to apply economic pressure and diplomatic pressure on North Korea, hoping to isolate them, and hoping

that that might force some kind of cooperation here, Kristie.

LU STOUT: And thank you for spelling that out quickly. I mean, just because - despite the tensions here, the goal here at the end of the day is

just to remove the nuclear non-proliferation angle.

Alexandra Field reporting live for us, thank you.

Now, few of us have the chance to visit North Korea, but virtual reality brings you closer to it than an ever before. You can join us on an

immersive look at thousands of people taking part in a mandatory dance to celebrate the Kim dynasty. You can watch it on your computer or phone or headset, go to CNN.com/VR.

And as if regional tensions weren't already nearing a tipping point, another touchy diplomatic situation is brewing in Asia. Now, this involves

the U.S., China, and Taiwan. In an exclusive interview with Reuters, Taiwan's president is not ruling out another phone call with Donald Trump,

but the last time Beijing was furious.

David McKenzie has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The president of Taiwan in an interview with Reuters claimed that they have closer relations

with U.S. government officials. She also said that she could conduct another direct phone call with President Donald Trump.

TSAI ING-WEN, PRESIDENT OF TAIWAN (through translator): We are, of course, looking forward to the opportunity to communicate more directly with the

U.S. government during important moments and regarding key issues. We also don't exclude the opportunity to

call President Trump himself, but it depends on the needs of the situation and the U.S. government's consideration of regional affairs.

MCKENZIE: It was a phone call with President-elect Trump, which caused a great deal of

consternation here in Beijing and led to questions over whether Trump would recognize the so-called One China policy.

Later on, he did just that, saying again that the U.S. sees Taiwan as a part of China.

In that interview, the president of Taiwan also said that she believes Xi Jinping should show more flexibility when it comes to cross-straits

relations and said they could be looking to buy F-35 advanced fighters from the U.S., a move that would certainly rankle Beijing.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: David McKenzie there.

Now, it seems the U.S. has one eye on Pyongyang and the other on Moscow. That, as Washington makes a powerful new display of its military might . It

sent some of the world's most advanced combat jets to fly the skies over Estonia, a country right on the doorstep of Russia.

Now Frederik Pleitgen got this exclusive look at the mission.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): America`s newest weapon, the F-35, in the skies over Eastern Europe, right

where confrontations with Russia frequently happen.

CNN was given exclusive access to the U.S. stealth combat jet`s first ever forward deployment. Training with allied air forces is central experience

for the crews, a pilot tells me.

BRYAN BLACKBURN, U.S. AIR FORCE: We`re continuing to forward deploy and bolster our native allies. And so, it`s just our cooperation and to bolster

the NATO alliance.

PLEITGEN: We rode along on a tanker plane refueling the F-35 as they transited to Estonia -- a country on the border with Russia and worried

about Moscow`s aggressive posture in recent years.

(on camera): With the deployment of the F-35, the U.S. is sending a very clear message both to Russia but also to its partner nations, that it`s

willing to put its newest and most advanced asset into this area to make sure it`s allies are safe.

Russia`s air force is increasingly flying planes like the nuclear capable TU-95 bomber around this area. NATO jets often scrambling to intercept

them.

President Trump has only recently stopped calling the NATO alliance obsolete. Now, the F-35 deployment, another welcome sign of American

commitment, Estonia`s defense minister tells me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is very important to send this message, that this is the border of NATO, this is the eastern border of (inaudible) that is we

are ready to protect them.

PLEITGEN: As part of this deployment, the F-35 crews get to know this contested airspace and practice cooperation with other NATO air forces. As

tensions with Moscow show no sign of easing, this plane could become a staple of NATO`s eastern fringe.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Estonia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU SOTUT: Now, still ahead right here on News Stream, President Trump is approaching 100 days in office. And while he's tried to brush off the

milestone, his administration appears to be paying close attention.

Also ahead, Syria accuses Israel of a missile strike near the Damascus airport. We'll get reaction from Israel and a live report from Jerusalem

next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:17:29] LU STOUT: Live from Hong Kong, welcome back, you're watching News Stream. In just two days President Donald Trump will mark 100 days in

office. He's tried to down play the significance of the milestone, but it has been a very busy week at the

White House.

Now, the administration has tried to showcase its efforts to move forward on the president's

agenda. Joe Johns has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to do something really big.

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After much hype, the White House unveiling a one- page summary of President Trump's tax wish list, which

includes slashing tax rates for corporations; reducing the number of tax brackets; and doubling the standard deduction for individuals. The skeletal

outline would mainly benefit wealthy Americans and is devoid of any details of what it would cost and how it would be paid for.

STEVE MNUCHIN, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: This will pay for itself with growth and with reduced -- reduction of different deductions and closing

loopholes.

JOHNS: Many economists are challenging this as a magic wand of growth saying the cuts could increase the national debt by trillions. A reality

that would make Trump's tax goals a tough sell with fiscal hawks in Congress and goes against the president's repeated pledge to reduce the

deficit.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It will simplify the tax code. It will grow the American economy, and all of this does not add to

our debt or our deficit.

JOHNS: Democrats immediately calling the administration's bluff.

REP. NANCY PELOSI, (D) CALIFORNIA: They're saying, "Oh, the growth in the economy will cover it." But the fact is, it never has.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a plan to help the wealthiest in this country, the wealthiest corporations in the world, at the expense of our nation's

deficit.

JOHNS: One of the many unknowns: how the Trump businesses stand to benefit from these steep cuts, given the president's refusal to disclose his tax

returns.

MNUCHIN: The president has no intention. The president has released plenty of information.

JOHNS: Meanwhile, the White House announcing that the U.S. will not immediately pull out of the North American Free Trade Agreement after

speaking to the leaders of Mexico and Canada. This comes only hours after White House officials told CNN that the president was considering an

executive order to withdraw from the deal.

The White House also eager to show progress on health care.

REP. CHRIS COLLINS (R), NEW YORK: The big block that we need to come over is the Freedom Caucus. And certainly, some indications are that that's

moving in the right direction.

JOHNS: Republicans publicly posting their amendment online for the House to review, as it remains unclear if moderates will sign onto the changes or

how soon they'll take it to a vote.

Trump's big push to show action in the final stretch on display Wednesday when senators were bussed to the White House for a classified briefing on

North Korea. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle say little was learned.

[08:20:23] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was -- it was an OK briefing.

SEN. TAMMY DUCKWORTH, (D) ILLINOIS: I seriously felt like I could have gotten all that information by reading a newspaper. It felt more like a

dog-and- pony show to me than anything else.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And that was Joe Johns reporting. And Joe joins us now live from the White House. And let's talk more about that briefing on North

Korea at the White House. We had Senators, not just the Democrats, from both parties said they didn't learn anything new. Just then we heared from

Tammy Duckworth, the Democrat, she called it a dog and pony show. So, how is the White House trying to position it today?

JOHNS: Kristie, I think they are trying to position it much in the same way they did

before the senators came over here, and that was to say that it was important to impress upon the

United States Senate and others the gravity of the situation and the seriousness of the administration's resolve to try to change the dynamic

even though there wasn't a whole lot of information. There's also some thought here that the senators coming here to the White House actually sent

a message to North Korea, and that would be equally important as well, Kristie.

LU STOUT: Yeah, it's the beginning of another workday there at the White House. And, yes, we hear that car alarm in the background where you are.

North Korea on the agenda for folks there as well as NAFTA. And in the last hour, Donald Trump sent out tweets. We're going to bring them up to

our global audience saying this, quote, that I received calls from the president of Mexico and the prime minister of Canada asking to renegotiate

NAFTA rather than terminate. I agreed subject to the fact that if we do not reach a fair deal for all, we will then terminate NAFTA. Relationships

are good. Deal very possible, unquote.

So Joe, regarding NAFTA, Trump says basically he wants to mend it, not end it, even

though he said it was job killer, he called it the worst trade deal ever. So, why the change of heart?

JOHNS: Well, one correction there as to the president's tweet, Canada and Mexico long ago agreed to renegotiate, so there's nothing new. As to the

change of heart, it's been long wondered whether the president was just using withdrawing from NAFTA as a bargaining position to start out. And

the problem is that on Capitol Hill many Republicans have been expressing a lot of concern about the possibility of withdrawing from NAFTA and what

that would mean for closest trading partners as well as what that would mean for imports and exports to our trading partners from the United

States.

LU STOUT: All right, Joe Johns live from the White House, thank you.

Now, a huge explosion has rocked the area near the Damascus international airport. Syrian state TV reporting that the blast was caused by Israeli

missiles. Israel would not confirm or deny that, but its intelligence minister did say this, saying the move would be, quote, compatible with

Israel's defense policy.

How so

IAN LEE, CNN INTERNAITONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kristie, what we're hearing is that several missiles went from the Israeli-controlled part of

the Golan Heights goal on heights and struck what was a military site according to Syrian state media. And this is consistent because we've

seen over the past year, years strikes carried out inside Syria.

Now, Israel has neither confirmed nor denied them except for last March when they did say they conducted an air strike to take out advanced weapons

they say were going from Iran to the Lebanese militants Hezbollah. And that has been something consistent we've heard

from Israeli officials. They fear that Hezbollah could get more sophisticated weapons, including more sophisticated missiles. They're also

concerned about Hezbollah and also Iran having soldiers along the Golan part of the border that butts up to Israel. So, there are these concerns

and so they have carried out these strikes in the past. Again, they usually don't confirm them, but this latest statement from the minister of intelligence, Israel caught saying that it

is compatible is something unique we haven't seen before.

LU STOUT: Israel has done this before. Now we have an official saying that it's compatible with policy. And if what happened to the airport in

Damascus was indeed an Israeli strike, will Israel continue its campaign against Hezbollah inside Syria. And that means with the support of Russia?

[08:25:10] LEE: Well, Israel says that they coordinate closely with the Russians when it comes to this sort of thing. They don't want a mishap in

the air. And Israel has said that they will go after what they perceive as threats from any sort of sophisticated weapon going from Iran or anyone

else to Hezbollah because they truly believe Hezbollah is one of the main threats to the country right now.

But Syria has retaliated. Just last March they fired surface-to-air missiles, one of those missiles was intercepted by an Israeli arrow missile

defense system, one was shot down, all their planes returned safely. But Syria has said they are willing to shoot down these Israeli planes if they

violate their airspace. Israel responded by saying that if that's the case, then they will take out all Syria's missile defense systems.

So, there is a bit of tit for tat there. But don't expect this to end any time soon, Kristie.

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

Now, Turkey has detained more than 1,000 people after dozens of raids across the country. It is the largest such roundup since Turkey's

president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan gained new powers in a recent referendum. 9,000 security forces were also suspended. And Turkey says those detained

and suspended are suspected of ties to a U.S.-based cleric Ankara accuses of orchestrating last year's failed

coup attempt.

Now, you're watching News Stream. Still ahead right here on the program, unbroken, the woman forced into slavery for three decades and how she found

the enormous courage to claim back her life.

And things like smart assistants, smart driving cars becoming increasingly commonplace. so, what can China's Baidu bring to the table in terms of AI

development? We'll find out.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(HEADLINES)

[08:31:04] LU STOUT: And now to a story of a woman whose life was quite simply just stolen from here. Lupita Perez Castillo was just 10 years old

when a woman came to her village and offered the mother money for her. And that led to year, many years, decades as a sleeve.

Our Rafael Romo has her story as part of CNN's Freedom Project.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SENIOR LATIN AMERICAN AFFAIRS EDITOR: Life's simple freedoms, a walk in the park, ice cream on a sunny day, still seem foreign

to Lupita Perez Castillo.

LUPITA PEREZ CASTILLO, MEXICAN SLAVE FOR 30 YEARS (through translator): They took away my innocence and the hope of being a self-assured person.

ROMO: Lupita says she was kept as a slave for more than 30 years. Her story begins as a 10-year-old girl living in an impoverished community in Vera

Cruz, Mexico. That's when she says a woman accompanied by a translator approached her mother, offering the recent widow money in exchange for

Lupita.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): And they told her mother that they were going to take her daughter with them and send her to school and

that they were going to send Lupita's family her monthly salary. They also gave her mother some money at that moment.

ROMO: Once taken to the new family, Lupita said she was forced to do housework and care for the other children, she was not paid and she

remembers the lady of the house gave her only leftover scraps to eat, and not giving her a bed.

CASTILLO (through translator): She would say that we indigenous people were used to sleeping on the floor like animals. She had a sofa but wouldn't let

me use it because she said I was going to ruin it.

ROMO: Lupita said she tried to escape several times, but nobody in the new city understood her indigenous dialect and she was punished for trying.

CASTILLO (through translator): They would pull my hair. Sometimes when I had to take frozen meat out of the freezer, they would hit me with it in

the head.

ROMO: It wasn't until she was almost 40 that she got the opportunity to finally break free.

CASTILLO (through translator): That night, the lady's son, the youngest, the one I used to babysit, had an accident. She went to the hospital and

that's when I escaped.

ROMO: Her captor was convicted of slavery and forced domestic work charges. Still after three years, transitioning into a life of freedom is proving

difficult for Lupita.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): She couldn't stop. If we went to a restaurant, she wanted to do the dishes. If we traveled and stayed at a

hotel, she wanted to do the beds, wanted to do chores. They really stole 30 years of her life from her.

ROMO: Lupita has been in therapy for some time. Because she was held captive for nearly three decades starting when she was a child, she never

learned to make her own decisions, manage her own money and have a sense of self-worth.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you ask what your favorite ice cream flavor, chocolate or strawberry, she says, what do you want it to be?

ROMO: Now 43, Lupita has a paying job, working as a seamstress, and she's hoping to make up for lost time.

CASTILLO (through translator): My dream is to study nursing. It was my dream since I was a little girl. I'm trying hard. I'm reading because

that's the only thing I want to do, even if I never make it.

ROMO: A dream deferred by a nightmare no one should ever have to face.

Rafael Romo, CNN, Mexico City.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And tomorrow at the Freedom Project, Rafael meets a woman who was rescued

from a life of forced prostitution.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: . ..was forced to work in an alley in (inaudible), a notorious red light district in Mexico

City.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Those of us girls who were new would stand at the entrance. They would show us off as if we were

merchandise.

ROMO: Nelly says she was forced to have sex with 30 to 40 men every night for a month

until a police raid finally set her free.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[08:35:06] LU STOUT: And find out how Nelly went from surviving to becoming a successful entrepreneur. An incredible story. Find out Friday

right here on The CNN Freedom Project.

Now, you're watching News Stream, and still to come, we hear from the CEO of Baidu, why the company is investing in artificial intelligence and

(inaudible) and how it plans to take on an increasingly crowded race for AI.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back. Now, self driving cars, smart homes, smart assistants, artificial intelligence has been integrated into so many facets

of our lives now. And Baidu, China's biggest search engine, is one of the country's leaders in AI development.

Now, in this episode of Talk Asia, CNN Robin Li tells Matt Rivers what aspects of AI are sparking the interests of Baidu.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBIN LI, CEO, BAIDU: We started to use deep learning back in about 2012. AI was not that sexy because people thought there's no real use case for

AI.

But over the past five years I think we see a lot of use cases. That's why we started to aggressively invest in AI, especially deep learning. And now

we have the so-called Baidu brain as our AI platform with capabilities like image recognition, voice recognition, natural understanding and user

profiling.

MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What is your end game with AI? I mean, is it - will it become the profit generator for your company

moving forward?

LI: Yeah, I think it's actually a natural evolution. We started with a search engine, but if you think about the innovations over the past 15 to

20 years in computer science, almost all of the innovations are related to search. Now today we see that AI is the new electricity, which means it's

going to be the infrastructure, it's going to change industry after industry. And we are at the center of that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Baidu is doubling down on AI, but it is a tough and highly competitive field. So how will Baidu compete against the greats?

Let's go to Wired editor-in-chief Nick Thompson. He joins us from New York via Skype. Nick, welcome back.

We know that AI research is a crowded field. You know, you've got Google, Deep Mind, Facebook, Open AI, IBM, Microsoft, et cetera. You know, Baidu

may be big in China, but how does it compare with the global tech greats in terms of AI?

NICK THOMPSON, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, WIRED: It's a little hard to tell, because artificial intelligence operates in the background of more or less

everything that all of these companies do right now. And it's hard to sort of lift up the hood and figure out exactly what it's doing at Baidu. What

we do know is that they made a huge investment, put tons of people on it, but they also don't have as many operational products that are selling

that well as, for example, Google and Amazon do.

So, my instinct is that Baidu is running hard, but it's a little behind.

LU STOUT: Yeah, and it's another stumbling block for Baidu is its chief scientist recently resigned. This is Andrew Ng. He resigned earlier this

year. And he was the AI whiz, a Stanford computer scientists. He put AI for Baidu on the map. I mean, how big a loss is that for Baidu?

[08:40:03] THOMPSON: I think it's a big loss. When he was hired, it was a huge deal, and then he was giving interviews up until, I don't two weeks

before his departure about all of his big plans. So, there's something a little it mysterious about why he left, what happened, and what's going on

there.

So, I think that does actually look fairly bad for Baidu, but we'll know a lot more when the full story comes out.

LU STOUT: Yeah, absolutely.

Now, let's step back a little bit and talk about AI in general and consumers. Do we want AI? And we know companies from Baidu to Google to

Facebook have been putting some big money into artificial intelligence. But do we want it? Do we need it?

THOMPSON: Yeah, we absolutely want it. I mean, it is the new electricity. It is what is going to make our computers better and all the things we want

our computers to be better at, is absolutely the changing the way we talk to our computers. It's going to behind self-driving cars. All of the

great advances in computers will be because of artificial intelligence.

Now, there is a counter argument that -- there will be great economic and cultural disruption. But to the extent we want technological progress,

which I think we do, we want artificial intelligence behind a lot of it.

LU STOUT: Yeah, and it's already available in a very basic smart phone consumer level in the form of AI assistance. And there's so many out will

with Amazon Alexa with the Amazon Echo, Apple Siri, Google Now, Microsoft Cortana, Bixby with Samsung, et cetera. There's so many players. Not all

these players are going to exist years on out, right?

THOMPSON: No, many of them will not exist. I think unfortunately what will probably happen is what happens so frequently in technology is the

assistant field will head towards monopoly or duopoly. There will be one or two or maybe if we're lucky three assistants. And it will not be that

competitive a marketplace.

Right now, Amazon is probably ahead. Amazon and Google certainly are the two companies that are ahead. We just had news this morning it looks like

Amazon will be adding a screen to their home assistant, which is probably a useful way to convey certain kinds of information. So, you have to hope

that there will be a highly competitive marketplace, lots of companies duking it out, offering different services. Probably because of the way

technology works, there will just be a few.

LU STOUT: All right, Nick Thompson editor-in-chief of Wired joining us live from New York via Skype. Thank you so much. Take care.

THOMPSON: Thank you, Kristie, great to be here.

LU STOUT: And be sure to catch the rest of the interview with the Baidu CEO Robin Li on Talk Asia. It's going to air again 12:30 this Saturday in

Hong Kong.

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

END