Return to Transcripts main page

NEWS STREAM

China says it has fulfilled its responsibility in promoting solution to the North Korean nuclear issue; General John Kelly is officially the new White House Chief of Staff; Ongoing violence in Venezuela; Australian Police carried out raids in connection to a terror plot; Taiwan hit by back to back storms. Aired at 8-9a ET

Aired July 31, 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] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN NEWS STREAM SHOW HOST: Kristie Lu Stout in Tokyo and welcome to "News Stream." Japan and the U.S. is calling other countries to

increase pressure on North Korea after its latest missile tests.

Ten people are killed in violent protests in Venezuela after President Nicolas Maduro wins the vote boycotted by the opposition.

And General John Kelly is set to become President Trump's new chief of staff. Can he bring some peace to a chaotic White House?

And we begin with contrasting tones when it comes to what should be done about North Korea following its latest long-range missile test. The U.S.

and Japan want to increase pressure on Pyongyang and the White House says China must do more. But Beijing says the issue wasn't caused by China and

it says it's already doing its part. As world leaders engage in a battle of words, people who live close to North Korea's testing ground fear that

things can go wrong at any time.

A flash of light in the night sky above Japan. Although not confirmed, it's believed by some weapons experts to be the first glimpse of North Korea

second ICBM test as the missile just landed just 200 kilometers off the northwest coast of Japan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEFFREY LEWIS, MIDDLEBURY INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: Several people have located exactly where those cameras are and then you can tell

from the angle that that's precisely where the missile came back in. And you can actually measure how fast it's going and it's moving. It's going

like five kilometers per second so that's pretty definitely the ICBM warhead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STOUT (voice-over): Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe quickly condemned the test and after a phone call with President Donald Trump on Monday. He

said the U.S. and Japan have agreed to take further action to protect the Japanese people and the allies.

Pyongyang is about 1,200 kilometers away from Tokyo. It would take a missile five to 10 minutes to fly above the skies of this city. The fear is

not that Tokyo would be targeted but that something could go wrong.

Multiple tests this year sparked deep concern in Japan as well as civil defense activity. In March, Japan held its first evacuation drill to

prepare for North Korean missile. And in a show of force on Sunday, Japan's air self-defense force, South Korean forces and two U.S. Air Force B-1B

bombers carried out a joint drill in the airspace between Kyushu and the Korean Peninsula.

The second ICBM test comes at a period of political instability inside Japan. On the same day of the second North Korean ICBM launch, defense

minister Tomomi Inada announced her resignation amid allegations that she helped suppress sensitive defense documents. She has since returned a

month's pay to the government.

Foreign minister Fumio Kishida has stepped in to fill that additional role. The senior adviser of Prime Minister Abe insists there is no vacuum in

Japan's national security.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOMOHIKO TANAGUCHI, SENIOR ADVISER TO PRIME MINISTER ABE: Foreign Minister Kishida is among the longest serving foreign ministers not only in Japan

but across the world. And so he has seen the picture himself and fairly well, and I don't think the change of the head of the ministry could any

way affect negatively the overall capacity of Japan's Armed Forces.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STOUT (voice-over): But assurances from the government are offering little solace to worried residents of Tokyo.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I'm very worried. I'm surprised that North Korea has this many missiles. Since it is our neighboring

country, I'm concerned that war could take place and we may get involved anytime.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Some say we should have our shelters. The advise over to use maybe there is no other way than escaping

through underground.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STOUT (voice-over): For many in Japan, the danger is real. North Korea is no longer an abstract threat.

So, what can be done this threat? Well joining me now is Alexandra Field from the South Korean capital of Seoul, and Alex, Donald Trump is convinced

that more international pressure, especially from China can solve the North Korean problem but can it?

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You've certainly heard President Donald Trump say that before along with other top administrators, top

members of his administration, Kristie. The fact though is that even President Donald Trump is becoming increasingly frustrated with the

Chinese. We saw those tweets that he sent out after this second ICBM missile launch over the weekend saying that China has done nothing in terms

of North Korea, except for talk.

What is he talking about there? Well, we know that China earlier this year cut back on coal imports from North Korea. With that said, there is a trade

relationship that

[08:05:0] continues to flourish. China remains the largest trade partner for North Korea overwhelmingly. And China did respond after this latest

ICBM launch condemning North Korea for the provocative action and underscoring the line that this missile launch test is a flagrant violation

of international sanctions.

That said, we're also getting a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs today in which China is defending the steps that they've taken.

They say this, "China has fulfilled its responsibility in promoting a proper resolution to the North Korean nuclear issue and our efforts have

been clear for all to see. The issue was not caused by China and its resolution requires multilateral efforts."

If we look into that, what are they talking about here to pull that apart a little bit? This is a reference again to what we have heard from Beijing

repeatedly. This proposal that Pyongyang would freeze its nuclear and missile development program, in exchange they want to see the U.S. and

South Korea stop these military exercises that so enraged Pyongyang.

That's really been a non-starter for the U.S. but it is a position that Beijing is holding firm to it seems at this point, something that again the

U.S. and South Korea have not been responsive to. But China not directly addressing the tweets from Donald Trump but certainly makin their point

further they are defending the efforts that they say they've taken here, Kristie.

STOUT: And Alexandra, I'll ask you about the THAAD anti-missile missile defense system which has been very controversial there in South Korea. With

each missile test by Pyongyang, is there still opposition to deploying the system there in the south?

FIELD: Something has to change at this, right Kristie, because you've seen more than a dozen ballistic missile launches since the start of the year.

Well you have seen the Trump administration cling to this position that China was going to be key in terms of using the leverage that it has to

rein in North Korea. We're seeing that nothing has worked.

Even the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley is saying that she is not calling for another U.N. Security Council meeting to address the threat of

the ICBM because despite all the meetings, despite all the sanctions, despite all the resolutions, North Korea continues to flout these

international sanctions acting with impunity as she puts it.

So South Korea is modulating or modifying its response to some extent after these two ICBM test in just the last three weeks. You've got a president

here who represents the Democratic Party who had come into office just a few months ago advocating for campaigning for more direct dialogue with

North Korea. More talks with North Korea he sees that as the path toward de-nuclearization.

He has extended that offer to the North Korean government. That offer has not been met with any kind of response. So now in light of this latest

launch, you're seeing the president here in South Korea sticking somewhat different positions here. He's saying that he is moving ahead to work with

the U.S. to deploy other parts of this very controversial missile defense system.

A part of an effort to beef up the deterrence in this region despite objections from countries like Russia and China when it comes to the

deployment of THAAD. And you also, Kristie, now have the South Korean president saying that he is looking to work with the U.S. to expand the

capability of the South Korean arsenal of missiles. They're looking at -- trying to increase the allowable payload of these missiles.

So, this threat from these ICBMs is real. The threat from the North Korean regime certainly real and you do see that the South Korean government is

now taking concrete steps to beef up defenses here.

STOUT: Yes, absolutely. The response by U.S. allies in the region very real as well. Alexandra Field reporting live for us in Seoul. Thank you so

much.

Turning now to crisis in Venezuela. The opposition is vowing more protest today after Sunday's controversial election. President Nicholas Maduro is

claiming victory after voters elected a new assembly to rewrite the constitution. The opposition boycotted the vote and is calling the election

illegitimate. There were more violent protests on Sunday. At least 10 people were killed.

Let's bring in Leyla Santiago who is in the capital Caracas. She joins us now, and Leyla, President Maduro is clearly claiming victory but how many

Venezuelans avoided or boycotted this election?

LEYLA SANTIAGO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well that right now a back and forth between the government and the opposition. The government saying that more

than 8 million people came out to vote, the opposition claiming that it was much less than that in reality saying that it was less than a third of that

number.

Now, we had 19 million people eligible to vote yesterday, but what were seeing right now is that back and forth as I just mentioned. The government

wants to make sure that this comes off as a legitimate vote that it legitimizes President Maduro and his new constituent assembly that could

rewrite the constitution. That is what is setting the scene for much of the uncertainty that really can be felt on the street of Caracas this morning.

STOUT: And Leyla, there is talks that United States sanctions

[08:10:00] on Venezuela over oil imports. What impact is that going to have on a country already in such deep economic turmoil.

SANTIAGO: Yes, and Kristie remember, Venezuela was once one of Latin America's wealthiest countries because of that oil. The United States is

one of the markets for Venezuela's oil and while President Trump has talked about sanctions as per sanction in place for 13 individuals tied to

President Maduro. Those are sanctions that are in place for particular people.

The threat to actually move forward with sanctions that could impact the economy is something that could come very soon according to sources that

CNN has talked to. And as you mentioned, this is already a collapsing economy. The hospitals are full. The shelves in many of these grocery

stores that you got to for very basic supplies are empty.

While we were on the streets walking around, it was very easy to find people digging through trash just to find something to eat.I spoke to a

cancer patient who didn't have very basics. We're talking about acetaminophen, basic pain reliever that she could take just to be able to

cope with this deadly illness.

STOUT: There is desperation among people there in Venezuela and there is anger on the streets. We know that election day was marred by civil unrest

and deadly clashes. Leyla, is there fear that the situation could get somehow even worse?

SANTIAGO: When you talk to both sides, both sides seem to have some sort of hope that perhaps change will come but both sides are obviously looking

for very different change. In just a matter of hours, we expect the opposition to take to the street yet again. We heard leaders last night

talking about it via social media and you know, these are protests and rallies that include people of all ages.

I talked to a 12-year-old boy who was making a Molotov cocktail to throw at the National Guard upon arrival. You are seeing that desperation. You are

seeing that frustration among not only some of the adults here but also a generation, youth, that have never experienced the Venezuela that once was.

They want to be able to make a living and buy simple things, simple things like food and medication, Kristie.

STOUT: A 12-year-old making a Molotov cocktail has gotten to this. Leyla Santiago reporting live for us from Caracas. Thank you so much for your

reporting and take care.

In Australia, police won't comment on a new report that says a planned terror attack was to use poison gas. "The Australian," a major newspaper

there reports that it was intended to kill people in an airplane by placing an explosive device that would release the gas. Now police have arrested

four people during raids in Sydney over the weekend and there is extra security at major airports.

Let's get the very latest on the investigation. Sherisse Pham joins us live from Sydney, and Sherisse, there were several people arrested in Australia

today, what's the latest?

SHERISSE PHAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Kristie, the latest that we have here is that the four people who have been arrested they have not yet been

charged. They were arrested on Saturday but under counter-terrorism laws here in Australia, they can be held up to a week before charges are brought

against them.

Now, we did talk to St. Vincent Hospital and they told us that a 39-year- old man who was injured in the raid that took place at a three Hills home, which is a suburb here in Sydney, he was treated and then he was released

into the custody of police. That is what we know about the men that have been involved in these raids.

Now, the other thing that we know is that this was a plan to bring down a passenger plane and kill innocent civilians. So obviously the security here

at the airport has been beefed up. We were here earlier in the morning. It was a chaotic scene here early this morning. Lines wrapping up and down and

around the corners and also out the door, down the sidewalk. The sidewalk ran out of space, and then onto the streets.

That really cleared up towards the day as, you know, officials here at the airport were able to move people through lines quickly. But listen,

Australian travelers, if you're going on a domestic flight, which is where security has been beefed up, not only international flights but als

domestic flights.

Usually in Australia you can walk up to the airport 45 minutes before your departure time and you will be fine. Today, people were telling us they

were coming two and a half hours ahead of time and those measures are going to be in place for the foreseeable future, Kristie.

STOUT: So travelers should definitely budget a little bit of extra time if they're approaching or using the airports there in Australia. This comes

just a month after ISIS claimed

[08:15:00] responsibility for an attack in Melbourne. What does that mean for the overall security level in Australia today?

PHAM: We talked to a counter-terrorism security expert just an hour ago actually and the threat level in Australia remains at probable. That is a

threat level that has been in place for several years. What we're seeing over the years and you know, federal officials are -- the government and

federal officials are saying that this is the 13th credible terrorist attack that had been thwarted since 2014.

And what they are now seeing is that the time it takes between a tip off and a disruption or a movement or an arrest is getting a lot shorter. So,

in this most recent raid that happened over the weekend, we talked to police official who told us look, this happened very, very quickly. So the

time between the tip off and the time between the raid that happened on Saturday, that was very short.

Now, Kristie, the question that remains is, were they linked to overseas terrorist organizations? We should know more in the next few days.

STOUT: All right, Sherisse Pham reporting live for us in Sydney. Thank you Sherisse. Take care. And just ahead here on the program, U.S. president

Donald Trump begins a new week with a new chief of staff. Can General John Kelly bring order to a chaotic White House?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

STOUT: All right, welcome back. Now let's go to one of our top stories this hour. Diplomatic fallout over North Korea's latest long-range missile

test. U.S. President Donald Trump spoke by phone with the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. They agreed to ramp up economic and diplomatic

pressure. The White House says China must do more, but Beijing says it has fulfilled its responsibility in promoting a solution and it says the

problem was not caused by China.

Now, as a new week begins in Washington, the White House is hoping to get beyond last week's chaos. President Donald Trump suffered an embarrassing

defeat when the U.S. Senate failed to repeal Obamacare. He also continued a very public feud with his attorney general and dumped White House Chief of

Staff Reince Priebus.

Now, General John Kelly is the new White House chief of staff. He is taking over starting today. His marching orders, to bring new order to the Trump

administration. CNN White House correspondent Sara Murray joins us live. That's quite a priority for him to do. Can he do it?

SARA MURRAY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's a great question. Look, he begins in a very big job starting today. He'll be sworn in this

morning and that's going to be followed by a cabinet meeting, but the question on the top of everyone's mind if the same one on the top of yours.

Does John Kelly or does really anyone have what it takes to install some order into what has become a very wild West Wing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Reince is a good man. John Kelly will do a fantastic job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MURRAY: President Trump turning to retired four-star General John Kelly for help rebooting

[08:20:00] a stalled White House agenda and reining in a chaotic West Wing. That's after Reince Priebus became the latest in a string of high-profile

Trump official to be pushed out in the first six months.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICK MULVANEY, WHITE HOUSE BUDGET DIRECTOR: I think the president wants to go a different direction, wants a little bit more discipline, a little more

structure in there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MURRAY: It remains unclear how Kelly's appointment will impact the chain of command at the White House and if the former Homeland Security chief

will exert any influence over the president's own behavior including his use of tiwtter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COREY LEWANDOWSKI, FORMER TRUMP CAMPAIGN MANAGER: You have to let Trump be Trump. Anybody who thinks they got to change Donald Trump doesn't know

Donald Trump.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MURRAY: The president remains at odds with many in his party over his repeated public attacks on Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEFF SESSIONS, UNITED STATES ATTORNEY GENERAL: Well, it's kind of hurtful but the president of the United States is a strong leader.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MURRAY: The two men are expected to come face to face today at the president's cabinet meeting. Trump also turning to healthcare this weekend,

blasting the Senate's failed efforts to dismantle Obamacare tweeting, unless the Republican senators are total quitters, repeal and replace is

not dead.

Despite the fact that it would have had no impact on Friday's defeat, the president also urging GOP leadership to change the Senate's rules so

legislation can pass with a simple majority saying that Republicans look like fools who are just wasting their time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: You know I said from the beginning let Obamacare implode and then do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MURRAY: Trump also threatening to end subsidy payment to insurance companies and even eliminate some health benefits for members of Congress

if the bill is not passed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MULVANEY: What he's saying is look, if Obamacare is hurting people and it is, then why shouldn't it hurt insurance companies and more importantly

perhaps for this discussion, members of Congress.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MURRAY: Senator Susan Collins, one of three Republican senators who voted against repeal says Trump's threat wouldn't change her vote.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R), MAINE: We need to go back to committee, to the health committee and the finance committee, identify the problems,

carefully evaluate possible solutions through hearings and then produce a series of bills to correct these problems.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MURRAY: Now, in addition to the domestic agenda and organizational issues here in the West Wing, John Kelly is also taking on his new job as the

administration confronts a number of foreign policy challenges including the escalating tensions with North Korea as well as the relationship

between the U.S. and Russia.

We're still waiting on word from the White House when exactly President Trump will sign this Russia sanctions bill, back to you.

STOUT: A number of new challenges for the new face in the Wet Wing. Sarah Murray reporting, thank you.

Now, as Sarah just said the White House is also grappling with a diplomatic standoff with Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered

Washington to cut more than 700 staff from the U.S. diplomatic missions. That move appears to be in retaliation. The first sanctions of President

Trump is to sign into law.

Now, for the very latest on this story, Claire Sebastian joins us now live from Moscow. And Claire, 755 American diplomats must go. Putin has

responded to the sanctions bill in a very aggressive way here.

CLAIRE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, 755 is certainly a big number, Kristie however you look at it, that by our calculations according to the

numbers from the Russian president is more than half of the U.S. diplomatic mission in Russia. But the Russian rationale behind it is that this would

cut the number down to 455, which is the same name number of Russian diplomats or diplomatic personnel I should say that it has in the U.S.

And we've had some clarifications from the Kremlin on what this would actually mean, how this will be administered. They said that the U.S. gets

to decide who exactly is affected by this and it won't just be diplomats. It will be those without diplomatic status, technical staff and also

Russians who are working for the U.S. diplomatic mission in Moscow and the three other continents around Russia.

So there are perhaps two mitigating factors around this very big number but the U.S. State Department has said that this was uncalled for. It said it's

assessing the impact of this and how to respond and if it does respond, Russia says it reserves the right to take countermeasures in return.

Now President Putin said he didn't want to do that and he thought that would be damaging to Russia and international relations but the options is

on the table. And you know, another potential irritant in this relationship certainly from Russia's point of view is that Mike Pence is in the Baltics

at the moment visiting Astonia. He has had some very strong words this morning and over the weekend about Russia calling them the greatest threat

that the Baltic nations face. An unpredictable neighbor.

And he had this to say, Kristie, about the relationship with Russia. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And to President Donald Trump, the United States of America rejects any attempt to use force,

threats, intimidation,

[08:25:00] or malign influence in the Baltic States or against any of our treaty allies. To be clear, we hope for better days, for better relations

with Russia. The recent diplomatic action taken by Moscow will not deter the commitment of the United States of America to our security, the

security of our allies and the security of freedom loving nations around the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SEBASTIAN: To be fair, Russia has also said it hopes for better days that there area with the U.S. where it hopes they can continue to work together,

but neither side is budging, Kristine, so we this standoff and potentially more reciprocal sanctions could come.

STOUT: Yes, hoping for better days and the relationship has fallen to such a degree. Claire Sebastian reporting live for us from Moscow. Thank you so

much. Take care. You're watching "News Stream" live from Tokyo.

And still to come, it has been a double dose of stormy weather for Taiwan. The island has been battered by typhoon Nesat and tropical storm Haitan.

We'll take a closer look at what's causing this severe weather.

Plus, a key Brexit deadline finally announced by the British prime minister. Find out when freedom of movement between the E.U and the U.K.

ends, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

STOUT: I'm Kristie Lu Stout live in Tokyo. You're watching "News Stream" and these are your world's headlines.

China says it has fulfilled its responsibility in promoting a solution to the North Korean nuclear issue. This comes up as U.S. President Donald

Trump accused Beijing of not doing its part. Mr. Trump talked to the Japanese prime minister by phone, both agreed to ramp up pressure on

Pyongyang. North Korea test fired a long range missile on Friday, one it says could reach all of the U.S. mainland.

There is a new sheriff in town, Washington, D.C. that is. General John Kelly officially begins work as the new White House Chief of Staff. He

replaces Reince Priebus who was dumped just last week. White House is hoping that Kelly can bring order after a chaotic week for the Trump

administration.

Australian Police carried out raids in Sydney in part of the investigation into a terror plot. They say that they stopped an advanced plant to take

down a plane, but won't comment on the details. They've arrested four men over the weekend and has added extra security at major airports.

At least a hundred people were injured in Taiwan this weekend after the island was hit by back to back storms. Thousands were forced from their

homes and businesses were shut as Typhoon Nesat

[08:30:00] and Tropical storm Haitan made landfall bringing in torrential rain. It is the first time in 50 years that Taiwan has issued alerts for

two major storms at the same time.

Let's get more now on the storms that hit Taiwan with CNN's Chad Myers. And Chad, Taiwan has been really hit hard here. What's the latest on conditions

there?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Getting better now, Kristie, and you know Taiwan will get hit with three or four typhoons a year but rarely do you

ever get two within 24 hours, one coming in from the east, another coming in from the south. One meter of rainfall in some of these areas in Taiwan.

They will still be recovering for days from this rain before finally all gets back out to the sea or into the street.

This was a one-two punch as we would say one coming in from the southeast here that was a pretty big storm for a while. A 180 kilometers per hour for

a while, and then moved over to Taiwan and even at the northern section of Taiwan, which was most populated up at Taipei, had quite a bit of wind

damage. And then it moved on shore into China and died.

Another storm came up. Haitan came up from the south and from the southwest and into the southern part of the island nation and then finally, all the

way across back into China again. Here are some of the pictures. Here is what happened. The video I think that you showed earlier was most

impressive, were there was so much water in these cities. Power lines are down. People are being evacuated still from the water that is still going

up. This was such a significant storm.

That is the wind damage that you see there, the power lines down. It will take a long time to get that power back up. And this is in the fairly

populated areas. If you think about the mountainous areas, the recovery will take weeks to months from the storm as the wind was significantly

higher. The higher you go in elevation the significantly higher the wind speeds are as well.

It could have been 200 km/h at times up there on the spine of Taiwan so, still recovering. It will be a while. And we have another storm that we're

watching. And this could not probably affect Taiwan but certainly could affect Honshu upward Japan. Here's the storm as way back out to the west as

the rain continues for China from the last two storms.

The next storm is back out here, a super Typhoon well out to the west were Taiwan is picking up not much more rainfall -- parts of China still picking

up about 250 mm. There is no roof. We may be talking about this for a while. This is a super Typhoon very well defined. You can certainly see the

eye right there and the forecast is for a slight turn to the north and to the northwest from here. And if that happens, China is not in the way.

Japan is actually in the way here, although forecast to get into cooler water and die off. That is not always a perfect scenario. The forecast can

go one way or the other. We'll keep watching it for Japan as well, Kristie.

STOUT: It is indeed typhoon season in the region with a super typhoon information. Right now, Chad Myers reporting. Thank you so much Chad. Take

care.

Now free movement of E.U citizens to the U.K. will end in March 2019. The office of Prime Minister Theresa May confirmed it after days of

speculation. There had been conflicting statements from members of the conservative cabinet in recent days and the rights of E.U. citizens are one

of the top priorities in Brexit talks with Brussels.

For more on this, let's bring in CNN diplomatic editor Nic Robertson who joins us live from Downing Street. Nic, freedom of movement is and has been

a fundamental right in the E.U. but that will soon come to an end in the U.K.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, and now we have a date for it, and this is the same date, the end of March 2019, which is the two years --

the end of a two-year period that's allowed for the negotiations for Britain to leave the European Union. However, there is a lot of discussion

about a transition period on the end of the that, that it may even take, you know, a little bit longer to essentially, you know, organize all the

details.

But what's being said very clearly here by Downing Street is that if you are an E.U. citizen arriving off to -- in Britain after the end of March

2019, it won't be the same process that it is today until that date that is you arrive, you show your passport at passport control and you come into

the country. There will be a process of registration that begins on that date, the beginning of April 2019.

Now, will there be a transition period to allow businesses as the prime minister have said to allow a situation that isn't similar as she has said

to falling off a cliff a limited period to sort of smooth away from being a member of the European Union to leaving the -- to being, you know, no

longer being a member.

[08:35:00] What all the details of the committee going to be contained in that transition period. That's a lot of information that we just don't have

yet. But some details have been put forward by the home office, by the home secretary, Amber Rudd, last week that gives us an indication but not all

the information gives us an indication of the process that E.U. citizens will go through. Those living in Britain and those that want to come to

Britain after March 2019.

STOUT: So we have this firm date, March 2019. There is also discussion over transition period, but in practical terms, what does this mean for

E.U. citizens already living in the U.K. and British citizens in the E.U., what do they need to do now to prepare themselves for this new upcoming

reality?

ROBERTSON: Well what the home office, Amber Rudd, said last week was, you know, E.U. citizens who are living in Britain now or arrived here before

this date, they didn't specify the date last week but now that date appears to be the end of March 2019. They will be able to apply for settled status

in Britain if they've been here for over five years. So there'll be a period of grace of up to two years to allow people to sort of go through

that process of applying for settled status.

But what's unclear in these new details is that after, as an E.U citizen, if you arrive in Britain after the end of March 2019, of course you will be

committed to come into Britain and you will be registered coming into Britain. But will you be allowed to apply for settled status further down

the line? And that is unclear. And one of the reasons that it is unclear is because all negotiations with the European Union haven't been completed and

this whole idea of a transition period and what that contains and what it means legally and what the ramifications are is just unknown territory at

the moment.

So, very clearly if you are an E.U. citizen who's lived five years in the U.K. prior to the end of March 2019, you can apply for settled status and

will be entitled to it. If by the end of March 2019 you haven't been here the full five years as anticipated, you will be given a period of grace to

meet that period. But what happens to those other citizens who were arriving in after them and their status? Many, many other questions as well

around that. That's a very sort of simple version if you will, Kristie.

STOUT: Yes, really appreciate your clarity in this very still unclear situation. Nic Robertson reporting live for us from 10 Downing Street.

Thank you, Nic.

Now, allies from a distant war commemorating a somber anniversary in Belgium. Today marks the 100th anniversary of the horrific World War I

Battle of Passchendaele, the casualties immense, half a million Allied and German soldiers. The Prince of Wales and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge

joined thousands of relatives of those who fought in the first World War battle as well as the Belgian king and queen. We'll be back right after

this.

[08:40:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

STOUT: The butterfly is one of nature's most beautiful creatures but its numbers are dwindling and many rare species are fast disappearing along

with thousands of other pollinators. Dan Danahar teaches children in Brighton, England about biodiversity and his community work has attracted

rare butterflies back to city landscapes.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN DANAHAR, CONSERVATIONIST: I'm Dan Danahar and I'm an advocate of Butterfly Haven because I know that if we get things right for butterflies,

we get things right for the rest of our lives too. Honestly, I fell in love with butterflies at age of 13 and since then it's been the love of my life.

Butterflies have a multitude of different roles. Some might just be pollinators as adults. Some might be food for various predators. List all

those roles altogether that make these ecosystems services that you and I depend on.

In urban environment we see real drop in butterfly numbers. One of our fundamental problems is loss of habitat. We attempt to de-farm the country.

What we really need to do is put habitat back.

So for example, in front of my house, there is a lawn between my house and the road. We planted it out with wildflower plants, and that can make a

real difference.

But the Butterfly Haven created at Dorothy Stringer School was the first to be done in the city of Brighton and Hove.

If you see any bees or any butterflies, make a note.

We've been here earlier on the year and we looked at the bees and the butterflies.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're also reporting this, right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's this one here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's the Meadow Brown.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Meadow Brown.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So I'm still waiting to see it through.

DANAHAR: Using the tally system to record data, we now do environmental science for our Year Seven pupils, which allows kids to get out and they

record butterfly numbers, bee numbers. They look at plant identification.

Biodiversity is really at a bad time globally. We need to get a generation of individuals aware what's going on so that when they get older, they will

make a difference.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And then those a couple (INAUDIBLE) what's that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are they rare?

DANAHAR: No, they're not rare but they're beautiful, aren't they?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

DANAHAR: Since 2007, we've seen 29 species of butterflies come here. That is a massive contribution for such a small site.

Well, guys, you've done brilliantly today. And do we love butterflies and bees?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE/FEMALE: Yes.

DANAHAR: Great!

There is tons and tons of room for wildlife in our urban environment. Throughout my life, I've walked around cities and looked in parks and seen

real opportunities for habitat restoration that isn't there at the moment.

One of the best things that you can do if you're trying to create a habitat of butterflies is to use your local prominence plants, things which will

grow in the wild locally. So really, it's all about making their habitat so that we can get the animals back.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STOUT: That was a brilliant initiative there. And that is "News Stream" live from Tokyo. I'm Kristie Lu Stout. "World Sports" with Christina

Macfarlane is next.

[08:45:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[WORLD SPORTS]

END