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NEWS STREAM

Russian Opposition Leader Alexei Navalny Detained; Can Plastic Eating Wax Worms Save the Planet?; Theresa May Scrambles to Save Conservative Government. 8:00a-9:00p ET

Aired June 12, 2017 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:33] KRISTIE LU STOUT, HOST: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. And welcome to News Stream.

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny's wife says that he's been detained on the day Navalny is supposed to lead anti-government protests.

Bombs continue to shake Marawi (ph) as the fight to defeat ISIS continues in a city in the southern Philippines.

And we speak to one soldier facing charges in South Korea. His crime, he's gay.

Just hours ago, the wife of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny tweeted that her husband was suddenly detained at his home in Moscow. He

was supposed to be heading this anti-government protest in Russia's capital right now.

Now, Navalny made a call action on his online channel, telling his supporters to go out and organize protests this day. Now supporters in

some 200 cities and towns across Russia responded.

That channel was supposed to be live streaming the protests, but it's gone dark.

Let's go straight to CNN's Diana Magnay in St. Petersburg for more on the story. And Diana, Alexei Navalny, the key opposition figure at the center

of all this, let's get the latest on him and also the protests he called for today. What's happening?

DIANA MAGNAY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, let's start here in St. Petersburg where organizers have made good on their promise to try and

shut down this protest and arrest people who came out, and that is what they have been doing. Here are the riot police, and they have been

streaming a steady stream of protesters who they have detained. Two buses are waiting on the outskirts of town to take them away. And people have

actually been fairly sanguine about that arrest process, been saying, well, last time they were arrested for just three or four hours, so what do we

care?

It is a show of defiance by the few thousand who have come out today to demonstrate turning to Alexei Navalny himself, every single protester who

comes out in all of these 200 cities the Navalny campaign hope - he hopes will be a way of putting pressure on the Kremlin to allow him to run for

the presidency.

It is unclear at this stage whether he'll be put on the ballot, but clearly what he was hoping to do today would be to appear in front of the Moscow

demonstration.

It was allowed, the authorities had given him permission to hold a demonstration on the outskirts of the town far away from the center. And

last night, Navalny said, actually, we're going to hold the protest in the main streets going up to the Kremlin where today, National Day, was being

held. And there are all sorts of other festivities for this national holiday.

And that, of course, puts the Kremlin on edge. Last night you could see sandbags and all sorts of other defenses put up on that main thoroughfare

for the Kremlin. But so far the majority of the protests seem to have been here in St. Petersburg - Kristie.

Sorry, the majority of the arrests.

LU STOUT: And as you pointed out, the protests are taking place there in St. Petersburg but also all across Russia, you've reported that the wife of

Alexei Navalny has said that he had been detained this day. Are there fears that there are going to be a wave of

arrests, because the last time he called for massive demonstrations against the government, there were hundreds of arrests.

MAGNAY: Absolutely. There have already been hundreds of arrests here in St. Petersburg. There has been this live stream from the Navalny campaign

which was shut off about an hour ago showing the demonstrations, which started off in the far east of the country, of course, over the

last few hours. They were fairly moderate in size. Last time in March that Navalny had called for demonstrations, tens of thousands of people

came out across the country. And I think the Kremlin was taken aback by the scale of the demonstrations.

And the demographic is very interesting, Kristie, because it's a lot of young people, young people who are fed up with what Putin and the Putin

administration is offering them, many of whom haven't actually known any other leader than Vladimir Putin. And another great sore point, really for

protesters here beyond corruption, which, of course, is Navalny's main point.

We're just wondering what that bang was, but it's difficult to tell.

Beyond corruption, a crackdown on internet freedom is also something that a lot of young people here are complaining about. And that is a very

interesting thing, because Navalny's campaign has very much been driven through internet, through YouTube. And many of these young people don't

watch the propaganda that is on Russian television and get their news from YouTube and the doom of the Russian parliament is actually currently trying

to look into ways to crack on internet usage. For example, to bar ways of anonymously accessing the web, and That is another reason that people are

coming out today to demonstrate, Kristie.

LU STOUT: And Diana, these are protests, as you point out, for internet freedom, these are protests against corruption, against the government.

Why did Navalny yet again call for these protests across Russia today in St. Petersburg and elsewhere? What is his objective?

MAGNAY: What is their objective? Well, their objective is to make their voices heard against corruption predominantly and to say that Vladimir

Putin should not be the only option when they go to vote next year.

But I think what is important to say is the scale of these demonstrations, and they are the largest scale demonstrations since 2012, the start of

Vladimir Putin's last term. They are still small compared, of course, to the population of Russia. Even though it is young people who are coming

out today, there are still far, far more young people who either don't care about politics or who feel very strongly pro-Putin.

So, it may look here today as though this sort of anti-Putin sentiment is growing, and of course the Kremlin is concerned that it is growing, it

still is only a small percentage of the population of Russia, of course, Kristie.

LU STOUT: Got you. Diana Magnay reporting live for us from St. Petersburg on the sweeping

anti-government anti-corruption protests taking place across the nation. Thank you for your reporting.

Now, turning now to Philippines where hundreds of civilians are trapped by fighting in the southern city of Marawi. Government troops are battling is

affiliated militants there for more than two weeks. Anna Coren has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A column of thick, black smoke rises from the rubble after another round of airstrikes pummel the

ISIS stronghold. But this isn't Mosul or Raqqa, where the war against ISIS rages in the Middle East, but rather the city of Marawi on a southern

island Mindanao in The Philippines.

For the past three weeks, more than 400 militants fighting under the black flag of ISIS have been locked in urban warfare against The Philippine armed

forces.

While they are taking heavy losses from the military's aerial campaign, wiping out roughly half the fighters, the militants have killed more than

50 soldiers in urban warfare - snipers, booby-traps and IEDs claiming the most casualties, according to officials.

The government says fighting conditions have been particularly difficult. 200,000 people have fled the fighting, but the mayor of Marawi says 2,000

civilians may still be trapped in the city.

And the militants, holed up in schools, mosques, and high-rise buildings, are using the local population as human shields.

"We hope there would be peace because it's Ramadan and we should be celebrating," says this woman, "but instead, many people have fled and

family members are dead."

The militants, led by the local (inaudible) and Abu Sayyaf groups, which have pledged allegiance to ISIS, have been joined by fighters from

Indonesia, Malaysia, Chechnya, Yemen, Saudi Arabia.

The rise of ISIS in the southern Philippines seems to have caught the country's president Rodrigo Duterte off-guard with critics complaining his

controversial war on drugs has blinded him to the home grown threat of terrorism that's now a risk to regional security.

Visiting injured troops, President Duterte who declared martial law from Mindanao, claims ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi specifically ordered the

attack.

RODRIGO DUTERTE, PHILIPPINES PRESIDENT: Baghdadi (inaudible), the leader of the ISIS, has specifically ordered terrorist activities here in The

Philippines.

COREN: U.S. special forces have been called in to assist, although Duterte claims he never

approached America for help.

And while officials hoped the fighting would be over by independence day, the battle rages on.

Anna Coren, CNN, Hong Kong.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[08:10:03] LU STOUT: The British prime minister is navigating a perilous path to remain in power. Theresa May faces a make or break moment when she

meets conservative back benchers in the coming hours. She is trying to prevent a revolt among party members who are furious that they lost their

majority in parliament. To cling to power, the British prime minister is trying to cobble together an alliance with a small Northern Ireland party,

the Democratic Unionist Party, in order to get her agenda through parliament.

Now, the partnership is likely to complicate Brexit negotiations. The DUP has voiced opposition to the way the prime minister wants to leave the EU,

but Theresa May says she will press on.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THERESA MAY, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: There is a job to be done. And I think what the public wants is to ensure that the government is getting on

with that job. I've appointed cabinet ministers today. I'll be meeting with my cabinet tomorrow. On Tuesday, I will be going to France for

meetings with President Macron. These are important in getting on with our preparations for the Brexit negotiations, but also dealing with the

challenges that people see in their every day lives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: It is a big day in Westminster. CNN's Oren Liebermann has the latest for us from 10 Downing Street. Oren, good to see you.

Theresa May is still holding on to power for now. How is she trying to shore up support?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it seems there are two groups she's focusing on, first are the political rivals within her

party, the big names, Boris Johnson, foreign secretary; David Davis, the Brexit secretary. And so far, she has their support. And it seems they

realize that the to challenge her leadership now introduces more insecurity and more instability and would do further damage to the party.

So they are trying to avoid that. And then, as you point out, coming up in a few hours, will be

the critical meeting with back benchers. Again, so far she seems to be on OK ground there because the leader of that committee, Graham Brady, has

said there's no appetite now for another election, and that may be the strongest thing going for Prime Minister Theresa May right now, simply that

there's no appetite to put the country through another election.

She's still in a very sensitive position, has to manage a lot of different concessions here. Any step could be a critical one, but at least in these

first critical hours she has the support of the back benchers as well as support of her political rivals. It's a start, but perhaps one that could

be all too fleeting, Kristie.

LU STOUT: And there's the question mark hanging over Brexit talks, negotiations are quickly approaching. How will Theresa May approach that?

and will they start as planned next Monday?

LIEBERMANN: So far there's been no indication that she wants to delay the start of Brexit talks in just a week. There have been some overtures from

the EU that she has the option of delaying and perhaps could push them back. But she realizes that even if she delays the beginning, the end has

a hard deadline. So, any delay here simply burns up the time she has for the negotiations.

She may very well have to change her approach. She had the so-called hard Brexit approach, and yet that's losing favor among essentially a de facto

coalition where she needs the Northern Irish DUP and they want a soft Brexit. She may have to moderate her stance there. If so, though, she has

made no indications of how she might do that yet.

LU STOUT: All right. Lren Liebermann reporting live from 10 Downing Street. Thank you.

Now, they have gone from minor players to potential kingmakers in Westminster. Nic Robertson joins us for more on the unlikely rise of the

Democaatic Unionist Party party from Northern Ireland. Nic joining us live here. How will Theresa May's alliance with the DUP affect the fragile

peace process there?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it potentially can have quite an impact. It depends on what the nature of the agreement is

that Theresa May strikes with the DUP. What do they want in return for that political support they say they are going to give her? If it's such

things as more money for education, more money in Northern Isreland, more money for hospitals, that's something that could have broad appeal here.

But the real concern is because the politics are so divided - you have the DUP on one side, the unionist party want to maintain that union with Great

Britain. On the other side, you have the nationalist parties, Sinn Fein being the biggest one, both parties did well in the elections here, but

what that meant was the middle ground didn't do very well so the parties are polarized. And what the nationalists ultimately want is to unite

Northern Ireland with the Republic of Ireland.

Right now, talks to get the power sharing government here back up and running are underway. They are just beginning to restart today. Nothing

has taken place yet, but expected later this afternoon. And that requires a sort of an independent arbiter in the middle, if you will. And that

nominally has been a representative from British government, the secretary of state for Northern Ireland.

However, when the DUP is doing deals with the government, that means that person, James Brokenshire is not viewed in any way even by the middle of

the road parties here as independent.

So, it means getting the talks here for the assembly up and running. It makes those harder and it raises many other concerns about what the DUP is

going to want from Theresa May. Are they going to want things that further the unionist agenda? And if that happens, then of course that casts pall

over the assembly here and many other things as well.

LU STOUT: That's right, the DUP, they have a very strong hand right now. And there are concerns amongst the more liberal conservative MPs that the

DUP will demand a scaling back on some key social issues like gay rights and abortion. Is that on the table?

ROBERTSON: Yeah. Look, the politics of Northern Ireland are really traditionalist particularly when it comes to the unionists. I mean, many

sort of view them as being sort of 20 or 30 or so years behind the mainland, and in many ways they are. The DUP opposes abortion. The DUP

opposes same-sex marriage. These are things that most parties, all parties on the mainland, have moved on, and, you know, maybe 20 or 30 years ago

they would have been positions that would have been supported by voters, but not anymore, so in that way the DUP is an outlier. So, by Theresa May

sort of getting their support, more moderate conservative politicians in, for example, Ruth Davidson, the leader, the very successful leader of the

Scottish Conservative Party who delivered Theresa May 12 conservative seats from Scotland, which wasn't expected, better than their expectations, is in

a same sex relationship.

So, it is an anathema to - would be an anathema to her and many other conservatives, for Theresa May to rely on support for what many people see

from a party that many people see as being very much behind the times and socially extremely conservative.

LU STOUT: All right. Nic Robertson reporting live from Northern Ireland. Thank you, Nic.

And while Theresa May reels from last week's election, the party of French President Emmanuel Macron is set for a big win in parliament. The centrist

won more than double the votes of their closest rival in the first round of voting. And they are projected to win over 70 percent of the seats in the

lower house. After next Sunday's final vote, the prime minister praised the results.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EDOUARD PHILIPPE, FRENCH PRESIDENT (through translator): My dear fellow citizens, France is back. For the past month, the president of the

republic knew how to embody confidence, will and boldness in France as well as on the international stage. As for the government, its composition

shows a radically new grouping, and it is determined to serve France and to respond to the French people's expectations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Meanwhile, Marine Le Pen's far right party is expected to come in third place, and she is blaming that on low turnout.

Now, coming up right her on News Stream Donald Trump unleashes a new Twitter outburst, this time directed at James Comey over his memo leak.

We've got that story next.

And California's powerful economy allows it to say no to a lot of President Trump's policies, whether it's trade, climate change or clean energy, we'll

hear from the governor happy to go it alone.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:20:41] LU STOUT: Welcome back. In the U.S. Russia investigation it's Donald Trump versus James Comey. Now, the president is slamming the former

FBI director's testimony in a new Twitter outburst. As Jason Carroll reports, some lawmakers worry that Mr. Trump's penchant for talking about

the probe could make his situation worse.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Trump on the defensive, retweeting a TV news clip downplaying the chances of his

impeachment just one day after lashing out at his former FBI director, James Comey. The president suggesting Comey acted illegally by leaking his

notes about their conversations, calling the FBI veteran "cowardly."

TRUMP: No collusion. No obstruction. He's a leaker.

CARROLL: After Comey revealed, under oath, that he leaked the memos in hopes that it would lead to the appointment of the special prosecutor.

COMEY: I needed to get that out into the public square. And so I asked a friend of mine to share the content of the memo with a reporter.

CARROLL: Comey testifying that the president asked him to let the investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn go, a

charge President Trump flatly denies.

TRUMP: I didn't say that. I mean, I will tell you, I didn't say that.

CARROLL: The president's son appearing to contradict his father's denial in a new TV interview.

DONALD TRUMP JR., DONALD TRUMP'S SON: When he tells you to do something, guess what? There's no ambiguity in it. There's no, "Hey, I'm hoping. You

and I are friends. Hey, I hope this happens, but you've got to do your job." That's what he told Comey.

PREET BHARARA, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY: When I've been reading the statements about how the president has been contacting Jim Comey over time, it felt a

little bit like deja vu.

CARROLL: Fired U.S. attorney Preet Bharara alleging Sunday that he also had uncomfortable interactions with the president before he was let go.

BHARARA: He called me in December, essentially just to shoot the breeze. It appeared to be that he was trying to cultivate some kind of relationship.

CARROLL: Bipartisan lawmakers now calling on the president to turn over tapes, if they exist, of his conversations with Comey almost one month

after Trump tweeted they may exist.

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R), MAINE: I don't understand why the president just doesn't clear this matter up once and for all.

LANKFORD: That I hope there are recordings, for Jim Comey's sake, if that's out there. But I doubt that they're really there.

SCHUMER: If there aren't tapes, he should let that be known. No more game playing.

CARROLL: A number of Trump's team insisting that disclosure could happen soon.

JAY SEKULOW, MEMBER, TRUMP LEGAL TEAM: The president said he's going to address the issue of the tapes, the -- whether the tapes exist or not, next

week.

GRAHAM: You're your own worst enemy here, Mr. President. Knock it off.

CARROLL: Senator Lindsey Graham encouraging the president to stop discussing the investigation.

GRAHAM: You may be the first president in history to go down because you can't stop inappropriately talking about an investigation that, if you just

were quiet, would clear you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions says that he will testify before the Senate intelligence committee this week about the ever

widening Russia probe. What is not clear is whether he will answer questions in public or behind closed doors. Until his offer this weekend,

Sessions had been scheduled to appear in open session between two other committees. Senators are expected to question him about his meetings with

the Russian ambassador and about Trump associates and Russian meddling in last year's election.

Now, the U.S. state of California is loud in its opposition to President Trump's policies on climate, health care, and energy. And with the sixth

largest economy on the planet, other countries are listening as the Golden State goes it alone. Kyung Lah has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GOV. JERRY BROWN, (D) CALIFORNIA: We're not opposing for the sake of opposition. I'm opposing to uphold the truth.

KYUNG LAH, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The truth, says California's governor, is what drives his opposition to President Trump. Jerry Brown,

the head of the most vocal state resisting Trump...

BROWN: Thank you for being here.

LAH: ...now calling open season on the White House withdrawal of the Paris Accord. The governor continuing cooperation in a climate deal with a German

government. The German Environment Minister in San Francisco instead of Washington.

BROWN: But this is very good that we're here.

LAH: That comes fresh off a weeklong trip in China where Gov. Brown signed green technology agreements, expanded climate deals, and met with President

Xi Jinping in what could be mistaken for a visit by a foreign head of state.

You're the governor of the state. The president of this country has directed our policy to go a different way.

[08:25:20] BROWN: Well, we're in a very unusual, unprecedented situation in America. We've never had a president like Donald Trump. And, in fact, he

stands against the world and he won't be able to stand, I don't think, much longer.

LAH: Since Trump's election, California has been ground zero for the opposition. The overwhelmingly Democratic state legislature working on a

flurry of laws, from one that makes the entire state a sanctuary for immigrants to proposing its own single-payor health care system.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: California, in many ways, is out of control.

LAH: President Trump unable to ignore the state's rebellion, pledging to pull federal funds from California if the state doesn't fall in line.

TRUMP: If we have to, we'll defund.

XAVIER BECERRA, CA ATTORNEY GENERAL: If you don't get in our way, no problems. If you want to get in our way, that's where I come in.

LAH: He is Xavier Becerra, California's attorney general -- the top cop in the state brought in by Gov. Brown in part because of his two decades in

Washington as a congressman, now spending much of his time in his new job filing lawsuits defending California's path away from Washington.

BECERRA: California is a forward-leaning state and it's worked. We're prepared to resist any effort to diminish the rights of the people of the

state of California.

LAH: California's leaders leveraging their state's economic heft. In the last seven years, the world's sixth largest economy created more jobs than

most other states.

As powerful as California is, can one state make much of a difference?

BROWN: One state can by getting other states to follow and getting other countries to join in in this coalition. Yes. If we were isolated --

California all by itself -- no, we couldn't have the impact. But we're not isolated.

LAH: A battle cry as California leads in the fight ahead.

Kyung Lah, CNN, Sacramento, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Well, the South Korean military is being accused of carrying out a homophobic witch hunt. When we come, why some soldiers say they are

being targeted because of their sexual orientation.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(HEADLINES)

[08:31:16] LU STOUT: In South Korea, military service is mandatory for men. Now, some soldiers say that they are being persecuted just for being

gay.

Paula Hancocks reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Protesters call it a homophobic witch hunt, targeting gay soldiers within South Korea's

ministry. The military says that is not true and they're following the law.

Human rights groups say at least 32 soldiers have been charged since March when a video was posted on social media showing two male soldiers having

sex, sparking a military investigation. Homosexuality is not illegal in South Korea. Homosexual activity is illegal within the military, punishable

by up to two years in prison. All men have to serve around two years within the military as part of the conscript system.

This soldier, we will call Sergeant A, has been charged for having sexual relations off base with a soldier from a different unit. He says he was

interrogated by military investigators, some of the questions too sexually explicit to repeat on air.

"The atmosphere was very oppressive, very humiliating. They told me I had to give up my phone so they could copy the data. When I asked what would

happen if I didn't give it to them, they said my unit would find out I'm gay."

Human rights group, Amnesty International, says the South Korean government has been slow to respect and protect the equal rights of LGBTI people in

society at large, calling this military investigation a bigoted hunt.

"In a divided country," Sergeant A tells me, "I thought it was my responsibility to serve in the military. My sexual orientation has nothing

to do with that."

The military and defense ministry declined our requests for interview, referring us to a statement from April which states, "To keep the military

community sound, and given the special nature of military discipline, sexual relations with same-sex soldiers is being punished as disgraceful

conduct under military law."

The head of the Military Human Rights Center for Korea accused the military of using gay dating apps to track homosexual soldiers down. He says the

military punishing homosexual activity is medieval.

"Why is the military not punishing illegal action between heterosexuals," he asks, "like rape, assault, abuse? Why are they punishing consensual

activities between homosexuals?"

(on camera): One soldier has already been convicted of same-sex activity, given a suspended prison sentence, just last week, for violating the

military penal code.

Sergeant A, for one, among others, is asking whether or not it would be better for the South Korean military to focus on an actual threat, like

North Korea, rather than a perceived threat from within its own ranks.

Paula Hancocks, CNN, Seoul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Monday marks one year since the government massacred 49 people at Pulse, a gay nightclub in the U.S. state of Florida. And crowds

gathered outside the vacant building for a vigil overnight. The club owner announced last month that she planned to turn the building into a

permanent memorial.

The governor of Florida declared Monday Pulse Rembrance Day. And cities around the U.S. are also set to pay tribute.

June is gay pride month. And there have been marches across the U.S., including this one, the Equality March for Unity and Pride that took place

in Washington on Sunday.

Now, buildings around the world also have lit up in solidarity. Now, this is Tel Aviv's city hall

decked out in colors of the rainbow.

In Canada, the Alberta legislative building also had a similar display. And in India, the U.S. consulate in Mumbai is embracing the rainbow and

equality.

Now, you're watching News Stream. And coming right up, our addiction to plastic. And if the waste doesn't end up polluting our cities and oceans,

it sits for years in landfills. The scientists say a plastic eating worm could offer a new solution. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:32:23] LU STOUT: Now, coming to you live from Hong Kong during a typhoon, no less, welcome back. You're watching News Stream.

Microsoft has unveiled its latest console. It's called the Xbox One X. It's designed to be an upgraded version of current Xbox One, that means it

can play all existing Xbox One games except they will look better on the new machine.

It is capable playing games at 4K, otherwise known as ultrahigh definition. It will compete with rival Sony's Playstation 4 Pro. And Microsoft, it

needs all the help it can get. Xbox sales have lagged behind the PS4, while Nintendo is off to a great start with its new console, the Switch.

Now, last up here on News Stream, an accidental discovery that could help us solve our global plastic problem. The woman you're about to meet,

Frederica Burdacini, is a scientist, and amateur bee keeper. She found the pets infesting her beehives had an appetite for more than just wax, they

also love plastic. Asked her about the hobby that led to this amazing find.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FEDERICA BERTOCCHINI, AMATEUR BEE KEEPER: I'm a bee keeper. It's my hobby. And I keep my beehives at home, not all of them, some of those

(inaudible) bees. I keep them at home. I store them there for the winter. In the spring in cleaning them, I found honey combs were invested by these

wax worms, which is not a surprising, because these wax worms at a plague for bee keepers.

So, actually they grow on the honeycombs, feeding on honey and wax.

So, I clean the honeycombs, put the larvae in a plastic bag and leave them there. And after awhile I came back and I found the plastic bag riddled

with holes, and the larva that these worms were all around in my place.

LU STOUT: And to confirm, these wax worms they didn't just chew through the plastic, they actually digested it?

BERTOCCHINI: Well, at the time I didn't know. That's why I called up my colleague (inaudible) in Cambridge. And I said, Paulo (ph), we need to

check this out. So, we had to actually do some proper lab work to investigate this. So, it's not chewing, it's biodegradation.

LU STOUT: So, how long does it take for wax worms to digest a plastic bag compared to having a plastic bag decompose on its own.

BERTOCCHINI: So, a plastic bag -- the whole plastic bag we never tried. But what I can tell you is if you put some worms in a plastic bag, in 15,

20 minutes they just come out and make these holes. So, it's fast.

LU STOUT: That's incredible, so takes about 15 minutes. And again, how long does it take for a plastic bag to decompose?

[08:40:11] BERTOCCHINI: Oh, I think we're talking about hundreds of years.

LU STOUT: Wow, that's a huge difference. Can these plastic-eating wax worms save the planet? Can they rescue us from our plastic addiction?

BERTOCCHINI: That's a great question. We don't know. So, as a scientist we always be careful, because this was the observation proved by laboratory

experiments. Now, from there, the possible application of bug technologies is

going to pass some time. So the idea clearly won't be to use the worms themselves but to find the molecules responsible and then use those as a

tool to biodegrade plastics.

LU STOUT: So, what would be the best way to extract what is needed out of these wax worms to decompose plastics and to deliver that powerful

technology from nature?

BERTOCCHINI: We start from the worm, that's for sure. But then the idea is to isolate the molecules, study them, use biotechnology to reproduce

them in vitro and then reproduce them, make them in vaster scale. And then the point, once we characterize all these, we'll have a tool.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Remarkable, right? That was my conversation with Fredrica Bertocchini there. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says as many

as a trillion plastic bags are used each year and only about 5 percent are recycled. Now, as she mentioned, scientists are a long way off from doing

this. But just imagine the implications if they could isolate the process that the worms are using to digest the plastic.

Perhaps the a lesson from nature could help save us from ourselves.

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

END