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Venezuela Opposition Leaders Seized; Hong Kong Activists Call For Criminalization Of Tracking; Los Angeles Strikes Deal With Ioc On 2028 Games; Gold Panning Makes A Comeback In Italy; Scaramucci's Ouster Provides Material To Comedy Shows. Aired at 8-9a ET
Aired August 01, 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)
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Ivan Watson in Hong Kong. Welcome to "News Stream." A new report says President Trump
dictated a misleading statement about his son's meeting with the Russian lawyer. It comes amid more chaos in the White House. The president's new
chief of staff removed Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci after just days.
And in Venezuela, the family of two opposition leaders say they have taken from their home by the country's intelligence service.
President Donald Trump insists there is no chaos at the White House. But he is waking up today with key players moving in and out of top positions and
a political problem that could potentially turn into a legal one. Trump's lawyers have so far claimed that none of the allegations surrounding
Russia's interference in the last election have any potential to cause legal problems for the president himself, but that may be changing.
"The Washington Post" reports that the president may have helped draft a misleading statement about his son's reason for participating in a meeting
with a Russian lawyer during the campaign.
Senior Washington correspondent, Joe Johns, is with us. Good morning, Joe. You know, the president has been treating -- treating, rather, a great day
at the White House and no White House chaos, but it certainly look like trouble when we woke up on this side of the planet to learn that his
communications director had just been fired 10 days after he was hired. Have you ever seen anything like this taking place in the building behind
you?
JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Honestly, I have not, and I can tell you I've been here, about half a dozen presidents in Washington
D.C., at least, a very unusual development, quite frankly, because of the speed with which the communications director left and also the chief of
staff here, Reince Priebus at the White House.
Meanwhile, Ivan, there is question of deception, at least, alleged deception or concealment, you might call it, or is there some other
explanation for the stunning revelation about the administration's response to a report in "The New York Times" regarding the president's son, Donald
Junior, and his meeting with a Russian lawyer.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHNS (voice-over): "The Washington Post" reporting that President Trump personally dictated his son's misleading initial statement about the reason
for the June 2016 meeting with the Russian lawyer. It all happened on Air Force One while the president was returning from the G-20 Summit last
month, the process President Trump overruled his advisers who were advocating for full transparency directing the statements to describe the
focus of the meeting being about adoption of Russian children.
Trump Junior's own e-mails released days later show that the meeting was actually about providing the Trump campaign with incriminating information
on Hillary Clinton from the Russian government. It remains unclear if President Trump knew this at the time. "The Washington Post" reports that
White House advisers now worry that the president's direct involvement leads him needlessly vulnerable to allegations of a cover-up.
JAY SEKULOW, CHIEF COUNSEL, AMERICAN CENTER FOR LAW & JUSTICE: I wasn't involved in the statement drafting at all nor was the president. I'm
assuming that was between Mr. Donald Trump Jr., between Don Jr. and his lawyer.
JOHNS (voice-over): After vehemently
[08:05:00] denying that President Trump was involved last month, one of the presidents private attorneys refutes "The Washington Post" report in a
statement saying, apart from being of no consequence, the characterizations are misinformed, inaccurate, and not pertinent. The stunning revelations
coming after the president bowed there was no chaos at the White House, tweeting that it was a great day, despite another major shake-up.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I have no doubt that he will be an absolutely superb chief of staff.
JOHNS (voice-over): Communication Director Anthony Scaramucci ousted by the new chief of staff, General John Kelly, after only days on the job.
Scaramucci's brief tenure marred by a vulgar tirade about his White House colleagues and amplified in a bizarre interview on "New Day."
ANTHONY SCARAMUCCI, FORMER WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR (voice- over): As you know from the Italian expression, the fish stinks from the head down. But I can tell you two fish that don't stink, OK? And that's me
and the president.
JOHNS (voice-over): Negative media coverage of the attacks on Reince Priebus and Steve Bannon eroding the president's trust in Scaramucci.
SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The president certainly felt that Anthony's comments were inappropriate for a person in
that position.
JOHNS (voice-over): Despite the president's own history of vulgar comments.
TRUMP: Grabbed by (beep).
JOHNS (voice-over): Which led to a rare apology in the final stretch of the campaign.
JOHNS: Two sources close to the White House tell CNN that the president was initially amused with Scaramucci's comments and only more or less decided
that he had a problem because it appeared that Scaramucci was overshadowing him. This new chief of staff is expected to reign in the free-for-all, if
you will. Here at the White House, he is ordering all staffers to report directly to him. Ivan.
WATSON: An important contacts there, Joe, reminding us that you report on seven different administrations and you have not seen anything quite like
this ever before. Thank you. Joe Johns, live from the White House.
Now, for another side to the White House political drama, were are going to turn out to CNN's Shimon Prokupecz. He joins me now from New York. And from
what I understand, Shimon, you have fresh reporting on President Trump's brand-new chief of staff, John Kelly, who was sworn in just Monday,
yesterday. What's the latest?
SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: That's right, Ivan. Well, this sort of dates back to when the FBI director, former FBI Director James
Comey, was fired. And what we've learned is that the day he was fired by President Donald Trump, John Kelly, the now White House Chief of Staff,
actually called Comey to express his anger, his frustration over the way in which the president fired him.
It was a conversation that occurred while Comey was in route back to Washington on May ninth. When Comey was in Los Angeles, there are spooks
here speaking to FBI agents, he learned that he had been fired by watching the news. Essentially he was in a room talking to other agents when he saw
the flash come on the screen that he had been fired. This greatly, were told, upset John Kelly and he called Comey really to express his anger, his
frustration at the way the president had treated him. Ivan.
WATSON: Yes, it was really memorable way of firing somebody. But, Shimon, I understand you've been told that General Kelly, he went even further in
that phone call with the former FBI director.
PROKUPECZ: Yes, it was during this phone call. What were told occurred was Kelly had even suggested or told Comey that he was willing to resign from
his post as the head of the Homeland -- Department of Homeland Security. You know, he has been there for -- since the administration came into power
here and he sort of was running this agency and he had built a relationship with Comaey during the time.
And really, he was so angry and he expressed, contemplated even the idea that he may resign just in solidarity to Comey. We're not sure. Our
sources, you know, basically cautioned us that they weren't even sure that Kelly was serious about this. But, you know, Comey tried to calm them down
and basically said to him, look, don't resign and let's see how this plays out.
WATSON: All right. Shimon Prokupecz, live from New York with fascinating details on this very dramatic political situation. Thank you, Shimon.
PROKUPECZ: Sure.
WATSON: Now, as the U.S. diplomatic row with Russia deepens, President Trump so far has remained silent, but Vice President Mike Pence, he
continues to hold a firm stance on Moscow. At a news conference in the former Soviet republic of Georgia, Pence criticized the Kremlin saying,
it's destabilizing activity and support for rogue regimes needs to change. He also says that Mr. Trump will approve sanctions on Russia soon. So,
let's get the latest from Moscow now with CNN's Clare Sebastian. Great to see you, Clare. Now, what are --
[08:10:00] seeing (ph) some of the first signs of the Kremlin following through on these tit-for-tat sanctions with Washington, and we're going
back to Washington's decision, the outgoing Obama administration, to close two Russian diplomatic compounds in December of 2016 and expel 35 Russian
diplomats, what's the latest on what Moscow is doing?
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: All right. Well, Ivan, Russia is also closing two U.S. diplomatic compounds as direct retaliation
to these measures that you mentioned back in December. That takes effect from today. It does appear that it is taking place, that the U.S. is
complying with that order.
You've seen pictures today of trucks moving out of that one of those properties (INAUDIBLE) country house in the northwest of Moscow, some
activity going on there. There was some confusion around this because U.S. embassy spokesperson told us that they were actually blocked from accessing
that property on Sunday and all of yesterday. Russia denies that.
They are sending some mixed messages surrounding that. And this activity is happening all the while, while the State Department and the U.S. embassy
try to assess what the impact might be of the second retaliatory measure that Russia has taken which is cutting the U.S. diplomatic presence in
Russia by around 60 percent, 755 staffs will be cut. We know that the U.S. get to decide who -- that is not just diplomats, but people with non-
diplomatic status, technical staff, and local Russian hires.
We do expect a bulk of that number might be local Russian hires. But we don't know who yet so it is difficult to assess what kind of material
impact that will have, on how the mission here operates. Certainly, the fact that this takes effect today, the cut to the personnel takes effect
September first, so we still see how that shakes out. Ivan.
WATSON: So, Clare, what kind of response are we getting from the Trump administration to these latest moves by the Kremlin?
SEBASTIAN: Trump himself has not said anything at all, but we are hearing, Ivan, as you said from the Vice President Mike Pence, who is currently on a
tour of eastern Europe, and he is sending a very clear signal, not only by what he says, but by why he is saying it.
He's today in Georgia area, former Soviet state right on Russia's border, a country on Russian's border. As you remember, a very blood war around this
time nine years ago over territory in that country. Vice President Pence said today that he stands with Georgia against Russian aggression.
He talks about destabilizing actions by Russia and Ukraine and support for rogue nations like Iran and Syria. He reiterated and he said that President
Trump does intend to sign that sanctions bill in order to try and convince Russia to alter its path. He spoke about he sees that relationship
developing. Take a listen.
MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We hope for better relations with Russia. But the recent diplomatic action taken by Moscow, I
can assure you, will not deter the commitment of the United States to our security, that of our allies, and the freedom-loving nations around the
world like Georgia.
SEBASTIAN: The Kremlin told us today that while they have no problem with U.S., the U.S. forming bilateral relationships with its neighbors, it does
have concern (INAUDIBLE) expansion of alliances. Georgia is very clear that it would like to become part of NATO. The U.S. vice president today
reaffirming that the U.S. supported in that.
They are even holding joint military exercises as we speak. Vice President Pence was there speaking, addressing the troops. It is sending a very clear
signal, as I said, Ivan, not just in what he said, but why he is saying it.
WATSON: That's right, Clare. And Moscow's position is that the expansion of NATO is a threat to its interests and is also very concerned about U.S.
participation behavior in its former spirit influence, including the former Soviet republic of Georgia. That's Clare Sebastian, live from Moscow. Thank
you very, very much.
Now, another challenge that the U.S. faces abroad, well, that's North Korea. The U.S. military has detected what it calls unprecedented submarine
activity carried out by Pyongyang. A U.S. defense official says there is also evidence North Korea conducted a missile test in Sinpo, the fourth
this year.
At a cabinet meeting, President Donald Trump told a reporter, the U.S. can handle North Korea, but he did not provide any specifics. Let's bring in
Alexandra Field. She is live from the South Korean capital, Seoul. Good to see you, Alex. So, explain to us. Why is this test raising concern and what
exactly does it tell us about the kind of progress North Korea is making with its military technology?
[08:15:00] ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: OK. Ivan, we talk all the time about the fact that North Korea has relentlessly pursue
the development of an ICBM. They were able to show the world that they could successfully test such a missile, not once, but twice in July. The
turnaround time between these two tests was very quick.
But what we can gather now is that they are also trying to show the world that they are capable of attacking not just on one front by land but also
by sea. So the test that was conducted on land has to do with their CB (ph) technology. It was a test of a component that will be needed to fire a
missile from a submarine.
North Korea has in fact actually test fired missiles from submarines in the past. But U.S. intelligence assessment is that that program is still in its
early stages. The country is believed to have to have about 70 vessels in its submarine fleet, although many of them are considered to be old and is
not considered likely that many of the submarines would actually be capable of firing an a missile.
But this is an important avenue of pursue for North Korea because of course being able to launch a missile from the sea gives them greater mobility and
it gives them a greater elements of unpredictability. Ivan.
WATSON: All right. Alex, thanks very much for that update, live from Seoul.
Now, from North Korea, we go to its huge neighbor to the north, China. That's where the focus of the leadership today is the military. The
People's Liberation Army marks 90 years since its founding. President Xi Jinping spoke at Beijing's great hall of the people, stressing the
Communist Party's control over the military.
He also referenced the army's increasing role overseas, saying it will never let anyone separate any piece of land from China. So how does China's
military compared to others? The People's Liberation Army is the largest military force in the world. It is made up of more than 2 million active
troops and China has more than 13,000 pieces of artillery, nearly double that of the U.S.
But the U.S. is still the world's preeminent military power. It has 11 active aircraft carriers and more in production. In comparison, China has
only just launched its second aircraft carrier and the ship will not be ready for action for a few years. The U.S. can move its warships to Asia in
just a matter of weeks. Earlier this year, the USS Carl Vinson was sent to the South China Sea and then to the Korean Peninsula.
Still ahead on "News Stream," a dramatic new development in Venezuela. Reports that two top opposition figures have been seized by the
intelligence service. We'll be live in Caracas, next.
And hundreds of people are in court in Turkey over last year's failed coup. We'll have the latest on the story that is gripping the country.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WATSON: Welcome to CNN's "News Stream," broadcasting live from Hong Kong with the view
[08:20:00] of the lovely harbor there.
Now, in Venezuela, the family of two major opposition leaders say the men have been taken from their homes by the intelligence service. On the right
is video released by the wife of Leopoldo Lopez. It shows him being taken away in car marked "Sebin," an abbreviation for Venezuela's intelligence
service.
The pictures on the left are from the press office of Antonio Ledezma. Both he and Lopez had been under house arrest. Let's go straight to Caracas and
join Leyla Santiago, who is live there now. These were dramatic detentions taking place in the middle of the night of these two prominent opposition
activists. What more can you tell us about this and what it suggests about the political turmoil there going forward?
LEYLA SANTIAGO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: When you look at the video from Leopoldo Lopez, you look at the time stamp, that was 12, right around midnight. So
this was in the middle of the night that they were taken out of their homes. You see him come out with the group going to a car marked "Sebin."
That is the acronym for the intelligence agency here in Venezuela.
And then you go to the Ledezma video where you can actually that he is taken out by a group in his own pajama. And when you listen to it, I'll
also translate what you hear, you can actually hear a man saying (inaudible), yelling for help, and you hear the woman that is capturing
this on her cell phone saying, dictatorship, dictatorship, and alerting the neighbors that they are taking Ledezma away, away from his own home now.
His wife not too long ago spoke and she says, the world needs no more proof of what is happening here. And she continued to call Maduro, President
Nicolos Maduro's government, a dictatorship. Now, I want you to listen to what his daughter had to say.
CHRISTIE LEDEZMA, ANTONIO LEDEZMA'S DAUGHTER (through translator): We would like to formally denounce and Antonio Ledezma, a former mayor of Caracas,
was kidnapped once again. He was taken from his home today, early this morning. He was in pajamas. We don't know where he was taken. A group of
men came with their faces concealed and in camouflaged and they took him.
They have kidnapped him once again. We hold the regime responsible for his light and physical integrity. We are making this accusation public, for all
Venezuela and entire world, because they are still violating Antonio Ledezma's human rights and of all Venezuelans. So we hold the regime
responsible for the life of Antonio Ledezma.
SANTIAGO: And, Ivan, these are pretty big names. When you go to the streets to listen to what the opposition has to say in this protest, you often see
Leopoldo Lopez's face on t-shirts, on signs. People talk about him as sort of the voice that support this opposition.
And when we have contacted the Venezuelan government to find out where are they, why are they in custody, they have not given an official response.
Ledezma's family believe that Ledezma anyway is one of the prisons here, but we are still waiting to get more clarity from the Venezuelan
government.
WATSON: And what's noting, it's only 8:00 in the morning there. This seems to have taken place in the middle of the night. But these detentions,
Leyla, they come after this controversial election on Sunday of a constituent assembly.
This was criticized greatly by a number of international observers, and the new assembly is essentially supposed to replace the existing elected
national assembly. How exactly is that going to work and that could that lead to more conflict in the streets?
SANTIAGO: The constituent assembly which resulted from that election on Sunday, the government tells that they will be gathering on Thursday. Yes,
they will be tasked with rewriting the constitution. And they will have the power to begin doing that as soon as they want to. And that also gives them
the power to get rid of the national assembly should they choose to.
But how quickly this will happen and what will unfold on the streets of Caracas, the streets of Venezuela? It is really something that will have to
wait and see. Opposition leaders already on Twitter are saying we are not backing down. This morning, we've heard from several of them saying,
continue the fight. We have to wait and see how quickly this happens and what unfolds, but the opposition is bowing not to bow down here.
WATSON: All right. Leyla Santiago, live from Caracas. We look forward to more of your very important reporting on the political developments there
in the days to come.
To Turkey now, it is holding the largest mass trial over last year's failed coup with nearly 500
[08:25:00] people accused in court. A Turkish news organizations says the charges include trying to assassinate the president and leading an armed
terrorist organization. Around 250 people were killed in the attempted coup which took place just over one year ago.
To help explain this development is Ben Wedeman. He is live in Istanbul. Tell us more about the accusations facing these hundreds of suspects then
and the kind of climate in Turkey as this important trial gets underway.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There are 486 people on trial. Although some of them are being tried in absentia including of
course Fethullah Gulen, the Turkish clerk who is now living in self-imposed exile in the United States and who is accused of being the mastermind
behind the July 15th failed coup here.
Now, the indictment is 4688 pages long. Among the defendants in addition to Fethullah Gulen is the former head of the air force, senior generals, as
well as the pilots of the F-16 planes which on the night of July 15th last year bombed three times the Turkish parliament. Now, 249 people were killed
in this failed coup.
As you mentioned before, they are accused of trying to murder the president of the republic, violating the constitution, overthrowing the government,
and some of them of course are facing jail sentences. Basically, life imprisonment without the chance of parole. And as the defendants were being
walked one by one into this specially built court, there were people there who were (inaudible) throwing rocks at the defendants, many of them were
relatives of those who were killed in the failed coup attempt.
Some of them calling for the restoration of the death penalty for these defendants. Of course, Turkey abolished the death penalty in 2004, but it
is a very emotional trial. There is not much public support for these defendants. In fact, the leading opposition party here, the Republican
People's Party, actually has requested to be one of the complainants in the case against these 486 defendants. Ivan.
WATSON: You know, Ben, in its recent history, Turkey has a history of these massive investigations and trials of alleged coup plotters in the past.
There were military officials who were also put on trial, and they were being charged in cases that many interpreted as being organized by the same
followers of Fethullah Gulen when that reclusive cleric was actually a political ally of now President Erdogan.
There was a lot of criticism in those days that the prosecution and the evidence being brought forward was basically not very professional. Are
there any signs that perhaps the authorities have learned from some of the mistakes of the past when they go forward with the investigation of this
very deadly, very clear coup attempt?
WEDEMAN: Well, in this particular instance, they do have a lot of video evidence, communications intercepts and whatnot, that would make the case
strong. Of course, we are talking about a lot of people, 486 people. In today's proceedings, for instance, are simply to certify the identity of
the defendants in this case.
Now, there is a very good possibility among the 486 people. There are people who are being faced with shaky evidence, but it does appear that for
the main participants in this failed coup attempt, there is a lot damning evidence against them. Certainly, for instance, the F-16 pilots who bombed
the parliament, there is not much question about who was behind that.
Having said all of that, of course there are trials ongoing in Turkey at the moment, where it does appear that the state is using somewhat shaky
evidence. And of course, I am referring to the case of the staff members of the Hurriyet (ph) Newspaper. That trial is still ongoing. It had one its --
the last session was last Friday where it does appear that the evidence is somewhat flimsy.
But in this particular case, I think the government not only is confident in its evidence, it's also confident in public support for the prosecution
of these defendants. Ivan.
WATSON: That's right. Probably hard to find a strong supporters of the Gulen movement in Turkey who are willing to show their faces confidently
today.
[08:30:00] That's Ben Wedeman, live from Istanbul. Thank you very, very much.
You're watching "News Stream." Coming up, exciting news for Los Angeles and parents, the two cities look like they're close to becoming the choice for
the Olympic Games, more on that next, stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WATSON: Welcome back to the program. I'm Ivan Watson in Hong Kong. You're watching News Stream and these are your world headlines.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WATSON: The Washington Post reports U.S. President Donald Trump got personally involved in crafting his son's response to Donald Trump Jr.'s
meeting with a Russian lawyer.
The president's lawyer earlier said, Mr. Trump had no involvement. The revelation could put President Trump on the radar of the special council's
investigation on Russian meddling.
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence has more tough talk for Russia. Speaking in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia, Pence said, he hopes for better days
with Moscow. They called on it to stop its destabilizing activity. Pence says that President Trump will approve a fresh sanctions bill on Russia
soon.
In Venezuela, the family of two opposition leaders says, the men have been seized from their homes by the intelligence service. On the right is video
release by the wife of opposition icon Leopoldo Lopez, the pictures on the left from the press office of Antonio Ledezma. They were both under house
arrest.
Hong Kong lawmaker Dennis Kwok and anti-trafficking activist are calling on the government here to criminalize human trafficking. They want the
government to introduce measures that specifically address the issue.
Hong Kong's government argues local laws cover the actions committed by human traffickers such as physical abuse and false imprisonment. Hong Kong
is one of the few places in Asia that does not criminalize human trafficking, and the strong criticism from around the world.
The U.S. listed Hong Kong as a quote, tier to watch list country in this year's trafficking imprisons report, saying some policies create
vulnerabilities for workers to be exploited.
Now, a new deal between Los Angeles and the International Olympic Committee seems to have set the location of two Olympic games, Los Angeles is likely
to host the 2028 games, meaning Paris as a clear road towards getting them in 2024. Erin McLaughlin has the city's reaction.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, French President Emmanuel Macron says that he welcomes this deal between the city of Los Angeles and IOC.
[08:35:00] It was effectively paves the way for Paris to host the Olympic game in 2024. For Paris, organizers say it was always 2024 or nothing at
all. They say there are several reasons for that.
The Logistics of the situation that say that the two signs that they have planned for permanent structures, the Olympic village, the aquatic center,
only available for 2024, not available for 2028.
They also say that the year carries enormous sentimental value for the city old mark. A hundred years since Paris last hosted the Olympic Games in
1924. This really is an extraordinary situation.
A three way negotiation currently on going between L.A., Paris and the IOC, now this latest deal between L.A. and the IOC amounting to in advance of
$1.8 billion, this after other bidding cities backed out in July, including Boston, Budapest, Rome, citing cost concerns.
The next steps in all of this, not completely finalized just yet. There will be an IOC meeting in September where a vote is expected.
Erin McLaughlin, CNN Paris.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATSON: No doubt, each and every athlete will be looking for gold when they make it to those games. But you don't have to be an Olympian to get
your hands on the precious medal.
If you head over to Italy, you can try you luck at an old tradition. In his second report in this program, the excellent correspondent Ben Wedeman
has more.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There's a rush -- well, more like a leisurely stroll for gold in Northern Italy, 65-year-old pensioner
Giancarlo Rolando has been panning for flakes of gold in the Elvo River, south of the Alps since the 1980's.
GIANCARLO ROLANDO, GOLD SEEKER (through a translator): It makes a difference because my pension is a bit low, he says. Bruno Martini runs
the association of seekers of Biella, this northern Italian province.
He explains that the river when high, deposits gold flakes when the current slows. He starts by picking up the stand, removing the rocks and takes it
to the river to pan.
BRUNO MARTINI, GOLD SEEKER (through a translator): I'm optimistic because certainly there is some gold, he says. A least there should be. He did
find a few specks.
WEDEMAN: Now, you're only allowed to pan five grams of gold a day. That's about .176 ounces and we're told nobody ever finds that much gold in one
day here, even though I did find some myself.
However, if you were to be incredibly lucky and manage to get 5 grams a day every single day without a break, without a day off for 13.2 years, you
might make your first million dollars but I suggest you keep your day job.
ARTURO RAMELLA, PRESIDENT, WORLD GOLDPANNING ASSOCIATION: And what we can see is the rocks here...
WEDEMAN: In the nearby hills composed of millions of rocks, Arturo Ramella explains that this was a massive Roman gold mining operation covering more
than 20 square kilometers or more than 12 miles in the second and first centuries B.C. Thousands of men literally slaved away here, separating the
stones from the gold-bearing sand.
RAMELLA All these piles of cover stones are remains of the Roman gold mine.
WEDEMAN: The gold found here, he says, helped finance the Roman conquest of the Iberian Peninsula. Today, the search for gold is mostly a hobby.
Eight-year-old Giacomo comes here with grandmother, what he finds, he keeps. Is it tiring, I ask.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE, (through a translator): No, it's fun, he says.
WEDEMAN: English teacher Dario Zanetti, got gold fever after his mother Christmas paid for a gold panning course in Germany.
DARIO ZANETTI, GOLD SEEKER: I mean, it's also about, you know, the adventure. You know, it's like, you know, being in America and the gold
rush be view and so, you just enjoy that wonderful experience.
WEDEMAN: And even for Giancarlo who says he sometimes pays for car repairs with his earnings, the real pleasure of panning doesn't have a monetary
value
ROLANDO, (through a translator): You just hear the sound of the water, he says. There's the sun, the wind, tranquility.
WEDEMAN: And that is worth far more than gold. Ben wedeman, CNN, on the Elvo River in Northern Italy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[08:40:00] WATSON: A reminder, we could all use some more tranquility in life. Next in the program, saying farewell to the Mooch. We look at how
comedy shows are handling the brief tenure of now former White House communications director, Anthony Scaramucci.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WATSON: Welcome back to News Stream. He lasted on the job for just under two weeks. But former White House communications director, Anthony
Scaramucci had comedy shows jumping into overdrive. Jeanne Moos has more.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He says we're just getting thehangof repeating his nick name.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The mooch!
MOOS: When suddenly...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Mooch is toast.
MOOS: His political obituary read July 21st to 31st, an entirely coincidentally, the Harvard law school alumni directory erroneously listed
Anthony Scaramucci as dead.
Read one tweet, Mooch has direct deposit didn't even kick in yet. Scaramucci found himself on a 2003 movie poster, How to Lose a Guy in 10
Days.
The film star, Kate Hudson posted a version calling it, the number one comedy in America. How to Lose Guy became, How to Lose a Job in 10 Days.
What will comedians do without those moochal (ph) bizarre mooch quotes.
ANTHONY SCARAMUCCI, FORMER WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: If you want to eat an elephant, you've got eat it one bite at a time.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Don't bother, dude, that elephant is eating itself.
MOOS: New techniques were invented to cover his potty mouth.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to play the sound of a rooster and you can figure out what word he was using. (Inaudible).
MOOS: The news that Mooch is out means the loss over job for another guys.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I could barely tell where you end and I start.
MOOS: Mario Cantone from Sex in the City had a bright future ahead impersonating a Mooch on the president's show.
MARIO CANTONE, AMERICAN COMEDIAN: I love the president.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I love you.
CANTONE: I love you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I love you.
CANTONE: I love you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I love you
CANTONE: I freaking love you.
MOOS: Mario knew his days could be numbered.
CANTONE: Then you got to strike while the iron is hot. Who knows if it will be here in October.
MOOS: October? He didn't make it to August. The White house is just like odds.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my! People come and go so quickly here.
MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATSON: And that is News Stream and much like Mr. Scramucci, I'm out of here. I'm Ivan Watson. World Sport is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WORLD SPORTS)
END
