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NEWS STREAM
Russia Investigation; CIA No Longer Arming Syrian Rebels; U.S. Health Care Reform Aired; Senator John McCain Has Brain Cancer; Human Trafficking Verdict; Minneapolis Shooting; U.S. Intel Shows North Korea Prepping Missile Test; Venezuelan Opposition Leads Nationwide Strike; Germany Choir Boys Abuse Scandal; The Quest to Store Renewable Energy. 8-9a ET
Aired July 20, 2017 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[08:00:00] (JOINED IN PROGRESS)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: . in Thailand, part of a massive criminal ring moving Rohingya refugees from Myanmar.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDREW STEVENS, CNN NEWS STREAM SHOW HOST: We're getting remarkable insight into how U.S. President Donald Trump views the investigation into possible
meddling by Russia, as well as some of those people whose names you've been hearing about in connection with this. He spoke for 50 minutes to "The New
York Times" and in that interview, the president said the former FBI director, James Comey, told him about a salacious dossier to have leverage
over him. And Mr. Trump also suggested it would be wrong for Robert Mueller, the special counsel, now leading the investigation to probe his
family's finances. But it's how Mr. Trump lashed out against his own attorney general that's perhaps most surprising.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (voice-over): Zero. So, Jeff Sessions takes the job, gets into the job, recuses himself. I then have --
which, which, frankly, I think is very unfair to the president. How do you take a job and then recuse yourself? If he would have recused himself
before the job, I would have said, thanks, Jeff, but I can't -- you know, I'm not going to take you. It's extremely unfair, and that's a mild word,
to the president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEVENS: What you're listening today is a striking change of tone on Sessions, who is one of the Trump's earliest, big name supporters. Maggie
Haberman of "The New York Times," journalist, one of journalists who conducted that interview, spoke to CNN a little earlier.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MAGGIE HABERMAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: My take on it and I think among the more terrible explanation is that what the president was referring to, and
he talked about it at the other point of the interview, was the fact that Jeff Sessions botched his testimony in his senate confirmation hearing,
where he was not forthcoming about Russian contacts with the Russian ambassador.
My read on what the president was saying was that he had Sessions made clear that he was going to admit that or had he had a concern about that in
the first place, that he wouldn't have appointed him. Look, we know that he's been angry at Sessions. Peter Baker, one of my two colleagues, the
other is Mike Schmidt, who conducted the interview with me, Peter Baker and I wrote several weeks ago that the president was fuming at Jeff Sessions.
This has been going on for quite some time over the recusal. The president sees the recusal as the original sin. What was striking and what jump down
at me was that he said it to us. I was very surprised that he said it on the record. But as you guys know, the gap between what this president says
privately and what he says publicly has always been pretty narrow, it's usually pretty consistent. But it was a remarkable disclosure and a
remarkable public rebuke.
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: It's unusual to have the president of the United States basically undermine the city attorney general.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Sure.
CUOMO: And clearly, he has no confidence in him because of the situation. It also seemed in the conversation that he looks -- you used the term
original sin. The president seems to view Sessions stepping away from the investigation as the main domino that has led to the special counsel. Is
that accurate?
HABERMAN: Absolutely. That's not even a close call. He believes that it all leads back -- Mueller leads back to Rosenstein, who leads back to Jeff
Sessions. The president really laid it out that way. He sort of unfurled how he watched this in his mind developed and what has been frustrating for
him. Look, I would just make a point. His mood was pretty sanguine.
He was very upbeat. Whatever is happening around him, he seems pretty settled in his own mind about whatever he's going to do with this White
House. He clearly knows that he cannot fire Jeff Sessions. Peter Baker and I wrote about that a couple of weeks ago. He also clearly would not mind if
Jeff Sessions left on his own accord. And that was what came through to me.
CAMEROTA: And that may happen if you're frozen out by the president. He's publicly undermining you. How long do you want to stay in that job?
HABERMAN: That's right.
CAMEROTA: Next, James Comey. He shared more of his opinion about fire FBI Director James Comey as well as what he think what the president thinks
that dossier was really about. So it was filled with salacious details unconfirmed. So the president -- this is not audio, but I'll read it for
everyone. When he, meaning Comey, brought it, the dossier, to me, I said, this is really made-up junk. I didn't think about anything. I just thought
about man, this is such a phony deal.
[08:05:00] So anyway, in my opinion, he shared it so that I would think he had it out there. One of the reporters asked, as leverage? Mr. Trump says,
yes, I think so. In retrospect. Give us more context here.
HABERMAN: I think -- I mean, he was pretty clear. What he was indicating was that he felt as if James Comey was essentially presenting him with this
information and gangling it to show that he had something on the president, I think in the president's mind, that was about keeping his own job, James
Comey keeping his own job.
But again, another remarkable (INAUDIBLE) from the president, look, he has made in fairness a series of remarkable statements about James Comey
beginning with when he fired him. But this was the first. This was a new revelation on how he is viewing that chain of events during the transition
process.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STEVENS: Maggie Haberman, one of "The New York Times" reporters who interviewed Mr. Trump. Meanwhile, there are some new developments in the
investigation of the Trump campaign's possible ties to Russia. U.S. senators will hear from President Trump's son-in-law and senior advisor,
Jared Kushner, on Monday. He is expected to testify in private. The following Wednesday, a different set of panel is scheduled to question
Donald Trump Jr. as well as the former campaign chairman Paul Manafort.
This follows as the news of the president's eldest son that met with the Russian attorney with potentially damaging information about then
presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. Manafort and Kushner attended that meeting in June of last year as well. "The Washington Post" is reporting
that President Trump has ordered the CIA to stop arming Syrian rebels who opposed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. It's a move that aligns the U.S.
much closer to Russia.
Moscow maintains the fighting and shooting before there is a political change. Sources tell the Post that Mr. Trump made the decision before he
met Vladimir Putin. The CIA has been arming Syrian rebels since 2013 under (INAUDIBLE) by Barack Obama. Let's get some more announcements (ph) now.
Ben Wedeman has reported extensively on the war in Syria. He joins us now. Ben, the program -- honestly, though, it was a bit of a failure anyway,
wasn't it?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it went through various phases, Andrew, none of them very successful. One, for instance,
the CIA spent more than half a billion dollars to train in what appear just four or five men. In other instances, some of the rebel fighters
essentially surrendered to more radical factions. In other instances, some of those more radical factions simply took all the weapons the Americans
gave to the rebels.
This was a program that was intended never really to overthrow the regime of Bashar al-Assad but rather to provide pressure to bring him to the
negotiating table and somehow work out a political solution. But in September of 2015, when the Russians became directly militarily involved in
the Syrian civil war, the whole equation changed. The U.S. backed rebels were completely outgunned, outmanned and were eventually defeated by the
Russians and the Syrians, and of course their allies, the Iranians and Hezbollah.
So it was sort of a halfhearted effort from the very beginning, backing, disorganized and divided Syrian rebels. And in the end, it really just came
to nothing. Therefore, in a sense, President Trump is merely riding the epitaph to something that was already dead in the first place. Andrew?
STEVENS: So it's more likely that -- riding an epitaph as you say, Ben, the Trump administration trying to improve relations with Russia.
WEDEMAN: I think that's part of it in the sense that clearly the Trump administration is not interested in overthrowing the regime of Bashar al-
Assad and supporting rebels that clearly have no chance at all and actually changing the regime in Damascus. It's an acceptance of reality that the
rebels simply are incapable of fighting or defeating the army of Bashar al- Assad backed by the Russians, backed by Iran, backed by Hezbollah.
And it's an acceptance of reality. Now, it's important to keep in mind however that the United States will continue to forcibly back the Syrian,
Kurdish, Arab militias that are fighting against ISIS in Northern Syria. They are not fighting the regime. They are fighting ISIS. That support will
continue. But it does appear that as far as the U.S.
[08:10:00] effort to change the regime and Damascus goes, it's at an end. Andrew?
STEVENS: Ben, thank you. Ben Wedeman joining us from Rome. President Trump has changed his mind for the third time in his many days on reforming
health care in the U.S., a signature issue of his campaign, of course. He's now urging senators to repeal and replace the current system known as
Obamacare.
On Monday, he wanted repeal only with no replacement. On Tuesday, he said he would just let the system collapse. Senate Republicans say they will
move forward with the repeal only plan next week but that now seems to be at odd with what Mr. Trump now wants.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I'm ready to act. For seven years, you promised the American people that you would repeal Obamacare. People are hurting. Inaction is not an
option. And frankly, I don't think we should leave town. Unless we have a health insurance plan. Unless we can give our people great health care
because we're close, we're very close.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEVENS: This latest line from Mr. Trump comes as the Congressional Budget Office says repealing the Affordable Care Act would increase the number of
uninsured by some 32 million people by 2026. The average premiums (INAUDIBLE) by about 25 percent in 2018. The Republican plan would slash
the federal deficit by $473 billion over 10 years.
Family, friends, and colleagues are rallying around long-time U.S. Senator John McCain who has just been diagnosed with brain cancer. (INAUDIBLE) say
there is no one tougher and that he never backed down from a fight. Chief medical correspondent and neurosurgeon Dr. Sanjay Gupta tells us about the
diagnosis.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Senator John McCain is recovering well after an operation last Friday to remove a malignant brain
tumor known as glioblastoma. With Senator McCain's permission, I spoke exclusively to two of his Mayo Clinic doctors about the details of his
care. McCain had come in for scheduled annual physical early Friday morning with no complaints except intermittent double vision and fatigue, which he
attributed to intense international travel schedule over the last several months.
His doctors ordered a CAT scan to check for anything from a possible blood collection to a stroke. Upon review of the scan, doctors called McCain who
had left the hospital and asked him to immediately return for an MRI. The scans revealed a 5-cm blood clot above the center of his left eye which
appeared to have been there for up to a week. The decision was made to perform an urgent operation. By 3 p.m., McCain was in the operating room
undergoing a craniotomy to remove the tumor.
Doctors made an incision above his left eyebrow to gain access to his skull where they bore a 2-cm hole to remove the clot and the tumor. A pathology
report revealed a primary brain tumor known as glioblastoma. It is the most aggressive type of brain cancer. It is the same type of tumor that Beau
Biden and Ted Kennedy had. With treatment which usually includes radiation and chemotherapy, the median survival is 14 months, but it can be five
years or even longer. This is not Senator McCain's first health care. In 2000, he was diagnosed with invasive malignant melanoma.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: I'm having a lot of exposure to the sun when I was very young and having fair skin.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GUPTA: Doctors removed a dime-sized melanoma from McCain's left temple. That was the most serious of several other bouts with skin cancer. When
McCain was campaigning for president in 2008, I had a chance to review all of his medical records. Details of his health since then have remained
private until just now. His doctors at the Mayo Clinic who have been treating him for several years said it was McCain's gut instinct, knowing
that something just wasn't right.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STEVENS: Chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta there. Still ahead here on "News Stream," guilty verdicts, but dozens of people accused of
human trafficking in a landmark case in Thailand. Plus, we are learning more now about the events leading up to a woman's shooting by U.S. police.
What the emergency calls are revealing.
[08:15:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
STEVENS: More than 60 people have been found guilty in Thailand's biggest ever human trafficking trial. Authorities say they ran a massive ring that
smuggled refugees. Alexandra Field tells us how the deadly operation was eventually exposed.
(START VIDEOTAPE)
ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In a jungle along the border between Malaysia and Thailand, the bodies were pulled from a mass grave. One by
one, more than two dozens. That was two years ago. Now the high court is delivering justice for the Rohingya refugees. Muslims and the minorities
would fled Myanmar amid sectarian violence only to find another kind of suffering.
The refugees trying to make their way from Myanmar to Malaysia were held and tortured in prison camps according to investigators while traffickers
demanded money from their families. Thai authorities uncovered the criminal network after finding the mass grave. Investigators later led a Rohingya
activist to see conditions at another prison camp nearby.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SAYEED ALAM, ACTIVIST, ROHINGYA ASSOCIATION OF THAILAND (through translator): I saw many people who are unable to walk. Many people didn't
have food. Some didn't have a place to take a shower. Some of them have diarrhea and high fever.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FIELD: More than a hundred suspects stood trial. A judge convicting 62 of them issuing prison sentences of four to 94 years. Among those sentenced
were authorities, civilians, police officers, and a high ranking military official. Lieutenant General Manas Kongpan was given a sentence of 27
years.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRAYUTH PORSUTTAYARUK, DEPUTY DIRECTOR GENERAL, HUMAN TRAFFICKING OFFICE (through translator): The verdict today is a way to tell the world that
human trafficking is forbidden in Thailand, and Thailand will eradicate human trafficking.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FIELD: Rohingya activist called the conviction a step in the right direction but just the tip of the iceberg. The horrors of one camp exposed.
Human rights groups believe thousands of Rohingyas may have suffered similar abuses and countless perpetrators remained unpunished.
Alexandra Field, CNN, Hong Kong.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STEVENS: North Korea could be getting ready for its next missile test. U.S. sources tells CNN that satellite intelligence is showing a launch might
happen in about two weeks. I also say Pyongyang is still working to develop missiles that can be launched from submarines. But North Korean sub has
been conducting unusual activity east of the Korean Peninsula. Let's bring in David McKenzie now. He joins us from the South Korean capital, Seoul.
David, what is this unusual activity of the sub?
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Andrew, according to U.S. Intelligence officials, the reason this is unusual is because it's a lot
further away from the mainland in international waters. Speaking to an expert on submarine activity from North Korea, they said what's interesting
here is that it's further out.
What would be more interesting is if it stays out longer because usually they said these North Korean subs, in this case, a diesel powered sub,
would go out just parole not too far out to see and then come back just a couple of days later. That taken with the fact that, as you said, the North
Koreans appear to be developing submarine-based missiles as well as this news that they could be preparing another ICBM launch is together is a
disturbing development when it comes to North Korea's missile program. Andrew?
STEVENS: What do we know about submarine-based
[08:20:00] launches of missiles? How developed is that program?
MCKENZIE: (INAUDIBLE) believe that they are not developed, not as developed as the land-based capabilities. As we've seen, they have been making in
North Korea rapid -- relatively rapid progress in developing long range and medium range ballistic missiles including multistage missiles that can be
fired from North Korea and could get, they believe, as far as the mainland Alaska already.
It is unclear exactly how developed that capability is, but there is a belief that capability is far less advanced at this point, but it does
point that they are continually pushing to increase this menace that has destabilize for sometime now. Andrew?
STEVENS: David McKenzie in Seoul. Thanks very much. Let's turn now to the United States where police are revealing more about the moments leading up
to the police killing of an Australian woman. Justine Ruszczyk was shot by an officer after she called to report a possible sexual assault. Now, we
are getting the chance to read the transcript of her emergency phone calls. Ryan Young has that report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RYAN YOUNG, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: New details in shooting of Justine Ruszczyk, the Australian woman killed by a police officer responding to her
911 call. But days after her death, Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges said the basic questions remained.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR BETSY HODGES, MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA: What happened? How is it that Justine is dead?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
YOUNG: Now revealed in the just released transcript of Ruszczyk's call to 911 about a possible sexual assault. At 11:27 Saturday night, Ruszczyk
tells 911 operator, I can hear someone out the back. And I'm not sure if she is having sex or being raped. The operator asked if she hears a woman
screaming. Yes, sounds like sex noises, but it has been going on for a while, and I think she tried to say help.
At 11:41, officers Matthew Harrity and Mohamed Noor pulled into an alley behind her home. The squad car's lights are off, according to a police
interview with Harrity. Officer Harrity driving the car says they heard a loud sound that startled him. A moment later as Ruszczyk approaches the
car, Noor shoots from the passenger seat through the open driver side window, hitting Ruszczyk. The two administered CPR, but at 11:51, less than
a half an hour from her first call, Ruszczyk is dead.
Harrity's attorney has told the Star Tribune that it is certainly reasonable for the officers to have assumed they were the target of an
ambush, citing the recent shooting of a New York City police officer just sitting in the police vehicle. But the mayor expressed the frustration to
many that Officer Noor has refused to talk.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HODGES: People have constitutional rights. We cannot compel him to make a statement. I wish that he would. I wish that he would because, you know, he
has a story to tell that no one else can tell.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
YOUNG: In Australia, Ruszczyk's family and friends gather on the Sydney Beach to say goodbye even as outrage over her killing dominates the public
and press.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAROLINE MARCUS, SKY TV REPORTER: Really bewildered that a lot of people just generally how out of control the gun situation is in the United
States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
YOUNG: Even an emotional Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull spoke out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MALCOLM TURNBULL, PRIME MINISTER OF AUSTRALIA: I mean, how can a woman out in the street in her pajamas seeking assistance from the police be shot
like that?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
YOUNG: Ryan Young, CNN, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STEVENS: Well, the streets throughout Venezuela are deserted this hour as the country's opposition leads a nationwide strike. The shutdown follows
months of protests against President Nicolas Maduro. The opposition is trying to force the president to drop his plan to rewrite the constitution.
In a symbolic referendum on Sunday, millions voted to reject that proposal. The strike is set to last for 24 hours.
We're getting more details now of a shocking report coming out from Germany. It found that hundreds of choir boys were abused over decades. The
report says a culture of violence was fostered at a top Catholic school. Let's get more now from CNN's Atika Shubert. She joins us live from Berlin.
Allegations of this sort of abuse first surfaced in 2010. Seven years later, we are getting the data. That seems to be a long time for this to
come out, Atika.
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It is a long time for this to come out. And the only reason this has come out is because
victims pressured the diocese to come up with an independent inquiry, so they appointed a lawyer, and it took several years for him to comb through
the archives of the school, going all the way back to 1945.
Over 70 years, what he found was 547 cases of violent abuse, including 67 cases of sexual abuse. And he narrowed it down to 49 perpetrators over
those years, most of them
[08:25:00] school administrators, teachers, people who worked at the school. One of the interesting aspects of this case is the fact that Father
Georg Ratzinger was the choir director, the musical director of the school. If that name sounds familiar, it is because he is the older brother of Pope
Benedict. So a lot of questions were being asked as to whether a blind eye was turned to this school in particular and what role Father Ratzinger
might have had.
When the allegations first came out in 2010, he said that he had used corporal punishment in the past. He slapped a student or two, he had said,
but that he had always regretted it and stopped using corporal punishment after 1980 when other Catholic church said it wasn't appropriate in their
schools anymore. But he denied any knowledge of any sexual abuse going on in the school. This particualr report does not implicate him in any way. It
doesn't investigate whether or not a blind eye was turned to what was happening at the school, but it does show the scale and scope of what was
happening.
What's interesting is that the school seemed to have a very split personality. On the one hand, it was world renowned for its choir. A lot of
students didn't even know the abuse was happening at all and actually had good memories of the school. Others students, however, said it was a
nightmare and described it as a prison, a concentration camp, one victim even calling it the worst period of his life. Andrew?
STEVENS: So we would like to see criminal charges. I mean, I guess many of the people who have been named have died since this goes back to 1945, but
are charges expected?
SHUBERT: Well, that's really up to the victims whether or not they want to pursue this with the prosecutor at this point or whether or not this
investigation is enough for them. You're right that a lot of perpetrators have died, a lot of abuse happened in the 1960s and 70s, particularly to
young boys between the ages of 9 and 11 who were boarding at the school.
But there are still a lot of victims alive and have spoken out. They may take the extra legal steps. What the school has done in addition to this
independent inquiry, it has actually created a fund to help some of the victims, but that also has been criticized as simply not being enough to
really replace what is a stolen childhood for so many hundreds of young boys.
STEVENS: Five hundred seventy four. Atika, thank you so much. Atika Shubert joining us from Berlin. Still ahead on the show, more on the blistering
interview that U.S. President Donald Trump did with "The New York Times." We'll take a close look at his comments and how he may be viewing the
Russia investigation now. Stay with us.
[08:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
STEVENS: I'm Andrew Stevens in Hong Kong. You are watching "News Stream." These are your world headlines. As the Russia investigation moves on,
President Trump lashes out in an interview with the "New York Times." He criticized his own attorney general, Jeff Sessions, for recusing himself
from that investigation. And he said it would be wrong for the special counsel, Robert Mueller, to investigate his family's finances.
The "Washington Post" reports that Donald Trump has ordered the CIA to end a program that supports anti-Assad rebels in Syria. The movement aligns the
U.S. with Russia's statement (ph) ending the fighting there before there is political change. Sources are telling the Post that Mr. Trump made that
position before meeting Russian president, Vladimir Putin.
Long time U.S. Senator, John McCaine, has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer. The senator and his family are reviewing his
treatment options, which may include chemotherapy and radiation.
OK. Let's get more now on that drastic change of turn from Donald Trump on the U.S. attorney, Jeff Sessions. CNN's political director, David Chalian,
is in Washington and joins us now. We got to remind ourselves that Jeff Sessions is one of the very first big name supports of Donald Trump. How
things have changed, David. But shouldn't we be surprised by Donald Trump's language by what he says about Jeff Sessions now, given that we know Donald
Trump does shoot from the hip and he wasn't happy about the recluse (ph) of the attorney general?
DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Right. I don't think we should be surprised, but I think it still deserves our attention because it's the
president of the United States who is having total disregard for the independence of the Justice Department. So, it is worse examining his words
here, even though I think you're right. He has made clear in the past that there has been reporting out there that we have never quite heard it in the
president's words in his voice the way we do.
Now, in this on the record interview from the "New York Times" that he was very unhappy that Jeff Sessions recused himself. What is odd here is that
he thinks Jeff Sessions have somehow told him in advance he would recuse himself and then he wouldn't have appointed him. That seems to suggest to
me that Donald Trump doesn't have a ton of say (ph) in the leaving of the attorney general should be independent in any way or that the Justice
Department has independent task in any way that it should just be a pure loyalist to the president. That's not how the position is designed.
STEVENS: Well, this is sort of the same line he's been using about James Comey, the former FBI director, that he was demanding loyalty of James
Comey and James Comey came under fire. Yet again, in this "New York Times" interview, Trump accused him of basically waving a dossier at the U.S.
president have full of British intelligence and threatening to use this leverage. So, he takes his job.
I mean it's interesting because you listen to Maggie Haberman, who did -- who is part of that interview. She said that Trump sounded very sanguine
and very calm and in control. But if you read what he said, it sounds like he's verging on paranoia.
CHALIAN: Well, I certainly couldn't diagnose him from sitting here whether there's paranoia or not, but it certainly does sound like a president who
is consumed by this investigation who feels under sieged by it.
So, even of there is a calm to him that you're right Maggie Haberman was describing, he clearly -- I mean this is on the day that he met with all
the senators and they did talk about healthcare in the interview, but this is after 48 hours of changing his message constantly on healthcare. And
instead, what does he focused on here? He is venting about Sessions and Mueller and Comey. This is not somebody's focus on getting his agenda
through. This is somebody focused on feeling under sieged.
STEVENS: I want to bring that point up about his change of stance on the Affordable Care Act. I mean, it's the third line he's used, different line
he's used in basically three days. Next Thursday is going to be six months of his presidency, yet no legislative achievements to speak off. Given
what we're hearing about this chopping and changing positions, David, what would you write the chances of legislative success over the next six
months?
CHALIAN: Right. It's going to tough. Today marks the six-month anniversary. Six months ago today, he stood up there at the capital and was
inaugurated. And he has not gotten a major piece of legislation through. He is at record low approval ratings in the polls, somewhere between 36 and 40
percent if you look at all of the recent polls and that is below all of his predecessors in the modern era and he is consumed by this swirl of Russia,
which seems to distract him constantly.
So, there does need to be some sort of a reset because what he has been doing in the first six months clearly is not working for him. Now, that's
not to say he hasn't had accomplishments. He has. He has gotten Neil Gorsuch on the Supreme Court. He has pulled out of TPP the way he
promised. He has pulled out of the Paris climate agreement as he's promised. The Syria strikes that he conducted were popular.
That -- it's not that he hasn't had any, but not having a major piece of legislation and for teeing up health care first and not yet being able to
get that through raises big questions about what else can be done. Tax reform, infrastructure, they're not going to be much, much easier than
health care.
[08:35:25] STEVENS: I know in the past you mentioned and obviously reflected in the approval rating, now what? 36 percent, lowest in 70 years
for a president at this stage of his presidency. The question on all this is how long do Republicans stick by him?
CHALIAN: Well, they are sticking by him. In the polling, he's still got the overwhelming support of Republicans. And I don't anticipate that
Republican elected officials are going to break with him if, indeed, Republican voters aren't breaking with him. They tend to sort of follow the
polls, not lead them necessarily. Through of those policies .
STEVENS: But 36 percent?
(CROSSTALK)
CHALIAN: Overall, but I'm saying among Republicans his base is -- but his base is largely still with him. So, yes, he is at a low point. But
remember, many, many, many of those Republicans in Congress are much more reliant upon the base showing up to help get reelected, avoid a primary
challenge on the right. They're in very safe districts than they need to worry about distancing themselves necessarily from a president at 369
percent.
STEVENS: Just very quickly, bringing this back to -- back to Obamacare, if that is a fail and if as we're being told 32 million extra Americans
couldn't go without health care, could that be the straw that breaks the bases back?
CHALIAN: I doubt it, but I also don't know that that's where we're going to end up. So, there are a few more moves that Mitch McConnell has to go
through here. It is not clear that he can get a repeal only bill through, which is what would emerge with 32 million few Americans having held
insurance. I don't know that that's where we'll end up, but I don't think the repeal of Obamacare, even if it's getting more popular, is going to be
the thing to break the back here.
STEVENS: David Chalian, political director of CNN, thanks so much for joining us.
CHALIAN: Thank you.
STEVEN: You know, someone is looking for ways to maximize green energy, but wind power by nature is notoriously unreliable. Coming up next, how Ireland
is going to solve that problem.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
STEVENS: Wind power is a clean alternative to fossil fuel as we know, but what happens when there is no wind. In Ireland, scientists are exploring a
way to supply green energy whenever it's needed. It is now Nina Dos Santos.
(START VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Electric development whose immense turbines throb like the very heart of the New Ireland.
NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As early as the 1920s, Ireland had an eye for renewable power. This is the Shannon Hydroelectric Station, still
operating today, it kick started the electrification of Ireland and was one of the most ambitious projects at its time.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were lucky that we were 100 percent renewable in those days and maybe that's our future lies as well.
DOS SANTOS: Today, the island of Ireland is still leading the way with energy innovations. EirGrid operates the national power system.
[08:40:06] DOIREANN BARRY, EIGRID, DIRECTOR: It's really about meeting supply and demand on a minute-to-minute basis.
We are doing something that's groundbreaking here. We are doing something that's very fundamental for -- not just for Ireland but for, you know,
energy users all over the world.
DOS SANTOS: The technology she's referring to is Flywheel Hybrid Storage. There's more and more renewable energy comes on to the grid. Operators like
EirGrid are searching for ways to meet clean power target while keeping supply stable for consumers. That means storing energy effectively and
efficiently for what is needed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, this is a flywheel here. It's spinning on a vertical access. We take power in from the grid to spin this off to 16,000 RPM. It's
operating in a vacuum. If the grid needs more power, we can inject it back in to the grids very rapidly and we can go from 0 to (INAUDIBLE) half a
second.
DOS SANTOS: The trend is to make the most of windy days for when there is a shortfall of clean energy off the grid. Adding flywheel storage improves
on batteries alone, which have a shorter life.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the first hybrid on flywheel on batteries in Europe.
BARRY: The big challenge at the moment is that we are looking to have 40 percent of our energy from renewable energy targets by 2020. It means that
we would need to operate the system with levels of wind of 75 percent at times. So, that represents a really fundamental change.
DOS SANTOS: The hope is that flywheel technology will give that extra flexibility to Ireland. (INAUDIBLE) are already taking their know how to
other markets.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a massive -- a massive opportunity in China. They have many wind farms built, which they cannot connect to the grid.
So, we have lots of wind farms just streaming, but they're not able to export the power on to grid.
DOS SANTOS: The renewable energy landscape is changing fast. Integration of new technologies with existing infrastructure and systems is key. In
Ireland, (INAUDIBLE) energy has passed the demo change, but the mission is to install a commercial 20 megawatt hybrid flywheel battery plant.
Another first for Ireland, it will be the only project of its kind in Europe that could be online as early as 2019.
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STEVENS: And that's "News Stream." Thanks for joining me. I'm Andrew Stevens. Don't go anywhere. "World Sport" with Christina Macfarlane is just
ahead.
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