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NEWS STREAM

Korea Talks Will Focus On The Winter Olympics; Trump: "Fire And Fury" Book Full Of Lies; U.N. Security Council To Hold Meeting On Iran; Erdogan And Macron Meet For Talks On Syria And Iran; World Headlines; Protests in Pakistan Over Trump Accusation; "Bomb Cyclone" Pounds Northeastern U.S.; U.S. Economy Adds 148,000 Jobs in December; Golden Globes 2018. Aired At 8-9a ET

Aired January 05, 2018 - 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 ANCHOR: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong and welcome to News Stream.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: A thaw in relations between North and South Korea just weeks before the winter Olympics. Will these be the peace games? Fire and Fury,

the book on Trump's White House already getting a fierce response even before its official release, and pro-government protests in Iran, as the

U.N. Security Council prepares and discuss unrest caused by anti-government rallies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: At 10:16 Friday morning, South Korea received a message by fax. For the first time in more than two years, the North had agreed to official

talks at the border. South Korea says it will take place on January the 9th. That's next Tuesday. One day after the birthday of Kim Jong-un.

They are to be held at the peace house on the South Korean side of the DMZ. The last time anything like this took place was in December of 2015.

Deputy Ministers met at the Kaesong Industrial Zone jointly run by the two countries. But soon after, Pyongyang started ramping up its weapons test

and the industrial park was shut down.

The catalyst for this week's thaw on relations seems to be next month's Winter Olympics. Kim Jong-un has said he hopes to send a delegation to the

games to be held in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

And for months, South Korean President Moon Jae-in has said the North could participate. CNN spoke with Mr. Moon back in September.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOON JAE-IN, SOUTH KOREAN PRESIDENT (through a translator): I believe that Pyeongchang Winter Olympics will also be able provide an opportunity to the

entire international community.

I hope that North Korea will also participate, which will provide a very good opportunity for inter-Korean peace and reconciliation. And to do

this, we are closely consulting and cooperating with the IOC.

Right after the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics, two years later, 2020 Summer Olympics will be held in Tokyo and the 2022 Winter Olympics will be

held in Beijing.

In two years term, the Olympic Games will be held in Korea, Japan and China, and I believe that this can provide a good opportunity to build

peace and cooperation within the northeast Asian region.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: South Korean President Moon Jae-in there speaking to CNN's Paula Hancocks. Now, one country that's not quite impressed by the talk of

peace, Japan. The defense minister says it will keep up with the pressure on North Korea.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ITSUNORI ONODERA, DEFENSE MINISTER OF JAPAN (through a translator): North Korea goes through phases of apparent dialogue and provocation. But either

way, North Korea is continuing its nuclear and missile development. We have no intention of weakening our warning and under surveillance.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Now, let's take you to the South Korean capital and to someone who report from North Korea numerous times, Will Ripley joins us live from

Seoul. And, Will, the talks between North and South are on, they are taking place next Tuesday. What's the former end? Who's going to be

there?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, this will be happening, Kristie, in Panmunjom, which is you probably seen the blue buildings that are basically

straddling the demilitarized zone that separates the North and South.

Half of the blue building is in the north. Half of the blue building is in the south. Now the talks are actually going to be happening about 40

meters from there in a separate building.

So on the South side, so North Korean officials will be walking over the demilitarized zone very close to the area, by the way, where that North

Korean soldier defected when he ran across the border and was shot five times late last year.

But this time, they will be crossing for a very different purpose, to sit down and hammer out the details of bringing over a North Korean delegation

here to South Korea for the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.

Obviously, this is something as you heard, President Moon Jae-in has advocated for. He was elected on a platform of engagement with North Korea

and, frankly, he's had a very difficult time following through with that, given the fact that North Korea has conducted 16 missile tests just during

the Trump administration.

Since February of last year, 23 missiles fired into the air. And so now this is a -- this is a big political win for him and frankly also, a big

political win for North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-un.

Because he has the opportunity to have his athletes competing and certainly marching on a global stage and President Moon, and President Donald Trump

agreed to postpone the joint military exercises that were due to kick off during the Paralympics. They have been moved to a date later this year.

[08:05:00] And so at least for a moment, a pause in the joint military drills and we haven't seen any ballistic missile tests as of yet from North

Korea despite those reports out of the United States that at one point, they believed a launch was imminent.

LU STOUT: A win for South Korea. A political win for the North as well. You know, Trump have tried to take credit for this. But we know that the

U.S. is not a part of this, the talks to take place.

So is the decision-making about not just peace -- well, yes, about peace, the nuclear standoff, is it now firmly in the hands of just these two

players -- Pyongyang and Seoul?

RIPLEY: I think that the United States remains a key player here. And that's why you heard President Moon offering some diplomatic praise for

President Trump, kind of re-enforcing some of the messaging from the Trump administration.

Including the U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis who said that if President Trump's maximum pressure wasn't being placed on Pyongyang, and in

fact, China just announced additional enforcement of sanctions to kick in, in the coming days that are going to further try put the economic squeeze

on the North Korean government and their nuclear program.

Then the U.S. and South Korean officials are agreeing that perhaps Kim Jong-un may not have been so willing to offer congratulations and best

wishes for the Pyeongchang Olympics and to consider sending a delegation over.

But the North Koreans, even though they continue to grow their nuclear arsenal, they have always stated, Kristie, that their ultimate goal is

peace on the Peninsula, it's just their view of having obtain peace is to grow their nuclear arsenal, which seems counterintuitive to the view of

much of the rest of the world.

LU STOUT: And many people around the world are wondering still why did North Korea agree to these talks? And some analysts say it's because Kim

Jong-un wants to drive a wedge between Seoul and Washington or help shore up his domestic popularity at home with North Korean athletes at the games.

Your thoughts on this, what does North Korea want? What does Kim Jong-un want?

RIPLEY: Well, the sense I've got in the discussions with North Korean officials as recently as a few weeks ago is that, at some point, the North

does want direct talks with the United States.

It's going to be difficult to happen with the current administration considering the rhetoric and the insults that have been hurled, and perhaps

the lack of credible, the mistrust on all sides here.

But, you know, North and South relations are important. But the United States is allied with South Korea. They have troops in South Korea and for

any sort of peace deal down the road to work, it would have to involve the United States and its allies.

But at least at the moment, these are going to be talks between government officials from the North and the South, and the discussions are going to be

mainly focusing on the Olympics for now.

The question, will there be future talks? How long will these talks last - - this initial round? And will they move to other topic, such as the divided families in the North and South, inter-Korean relation, they have

said are a key focus.

And of course the nuclear program is the big -- the big point of dispute. And both sides really aren't budging on their views on nuclear weapons,

Kristie. North Korea says their nuclear arsenal is not negotiable, it's not a bargaining chip.

The U.S. and South Korea, and Japan have said they refuse to accept a nuclear North Korea. So we need to watch what happens with these talks on

Tuesday and we need to see what happens after the Winter Olympics are over.

Will more talks be, you know, on the forecast for 2018 or will we just go back to the status quo which is, you know, military escalation, once again.

LU STOUT: Will Ripley, reporting live from Seoul. Thank you so much, Will. Now, the U.S. and South Korea, they have agreed to put a pause on

joint military drills during the Olympics.

In a phone call, Donald Trump also told Moon Jae-in, he would send representative to the games including members of his own family.

Meanwhile, Washington has agreed to start talks to renegotiate a trade dale, an initial agreement was signed back in 2007, something Mr. Trump has

called, horrible and a job killer. South Korea is now the sixth largest U.S. trading partner.

Now, turning now to a bombshell new book that the White House has dismissed as complete fantasy and offered a defense tooth and nail, Michael Wolff's,

Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House, is topping the best seller list even before it was officially released.

Wolff's claims chaos in the White House and he raises questions about President Trump's alleged effort to intervene in the Russia probe. We

should note that some of Michael Wolff's reporting has been corroborated.

And some errors have been identified. The author appeared on NBC's Today Show. He was asked about the president saying the book is full of lies.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL WOLFF, AUTHOR, FIRE AND FURY: INSIDE THE TRUMP WHITE HOUSE: One of the things we have to count on is that Donald Trump will attack. He will

send lawyers' letters. This is a -- a 35-year history of how he approaches everything.

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE, CO-ANCHOR, THE TODAY SHOW: Do have you recordings of some of these interviews and some of these conversations?

WOLFF: Well, I work like every journalist works. So I have recordings. I have notes.

[08:10:00] I am certainly and absolutely in every way comfortable with everything I have reported in this book.

GUTHRIE: Would you release any of those recordings since your credibility is being questioned?

WOLFF: My credibility is being questioned by a man who has less credibility than perhaps anyone who has ever walked on Earth at this point.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Wolff is standing by his reporting. CNN Joe Johns joins us now with more from Washington. Joe, we know that President Trump has been

trying very hard to discredit and to block this book. What's the latest?

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's very true. We just have a lot going on, on this story here in Washington today. We have reports of the

president attempting to allegedly exert more influence on the Russia investigation.

We also have the book, Fire and Fury, coming out four days early. It's going to be released for sale about an hour from now, even though the

president's attorneys have attempted to block publication. The president for his part has doubled down in his attacks on the book.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNS: President Trump attacking the new tell-all book that is claiming chaos inside his white house, calling the expose phony and full of lies

before lashing out at his former chief Strategist Steve Bannon, nicknaming him Sloppy Steve.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did Steve Bannon betray you, Mr. President? Any words about Steve Bannon?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't know, he called me a great man last night. So you know, he obviously changed his tune pretty

quick.

JOHNS: The Trump administration attempting to discredit the book which contains stunning new allegations about the president's first-hand

involvement in crafting a misleading statement about the now infamous June 2016 meeting between top Trump staffers and Russians.

Wolff writes that president insist that the meeting in Trump Tower was purely and simply about Russian adoption policy. That's what was

discussed. Period. Period.

Even though it was likely, if not certain, that the Time's had the incriminating e-mail chain, in fact and it was quite possible that Jared

and Ivanka, and the lawyers knew the Time's had this e-mail chain.

The president ordered that no one should let onto the more problematic discussion about Hillary Clinton. Wolff goes on to write that the

president's lawyers thought the statement was an explicit attempt to throw sand into the investigation's gears.

And that one of the president's spokesmen quit afterwards because he thought it was obstruction of justice. According to the New York Times,

Special Counsel Robert Mueller is now examining this statement.

SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The president weighed in, as any father would, based on the limited information that he had.

JOHNS: The Times reports that Mueller is also aware of an unsuccessful attempt by the president to stop Jeff Sessions from recusing himself.

TRUMP: I am disappointed in the attorney general. He should not have recuse himself.

JOHNS: According to the Times, Mr. Trump, ordered White House Counsel Don McGahn in March to lobby Session against recusing. When McGahn was

unsuccessful, Mr. Trump erupted in anger saying he needed his attorney general to protect him. The president lashing out at Sessions after then

FBI Director James Comey's May 3rd Congressional testimony.

SEN. CHUCK GRASSLEY (R), IOWA: Is there an investigation of any leaks of classified information relating to Mr. Trump or his associates?

JAMES COMEY, FORMER DIRECTOR, FBI: I don't want to -- I don't want to answer that question.

JOHNS: Two days after Comey's testimony, the New York Time's reports that an aid to Mr. Sessions approached a Capitol Hill staff member asking

whether the staffer had any derogatory information about the FBI director.

The Justice Department denies this account. According to Fire and Fury author Michael Wolff, the president referred to Comey as a rat.

Another name Wolff allegedly overheard in the White House, Jarvanka, a nickname coined by Bannon to describe the president's daughter Ivanka and

her husband Jared Kushner.

The first family and Bannon shared a contentious relationship described by Wolff as a death match due in part to the conviction that Bannon had played

a part in many of the reports of Kushner's interactions with the Russians.

Wolff writes that Jared and Ivanka exhibited an increasingly panic since that the FBI and DOJ were moving beyond Russian election interference and

into family finances. Ivanka is terrified said a satisfied Bannon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNS: The president has no on-camera events today. We only expect to see him as he leaves for Camp David. He is expected to spend both today and

tomorrow huddling with Republican leaders and the vice president in a retreat. Back to you, Kristie.

LU STOUT: Yes, as mentioned in your reporting, Joe, Donald Trump has -- you know, he's given the nicknames. He has a new nickname for his former

top aide Steve Bannon, now calling him Sloppy Steve.

And this represents the schism, you know, that is now so out in the public. There in Washington, just how common is such a public and acrimonious

political split?

[08:15:03] JOHNS: Acrimonious is the word. And it's very uncommon for other people who've held the office of president and sat in the Oval

Office. But for this president, from time to time he has lashed out.

Still, it's remarkable, given the fact that the president was very complimentary of this man, Steve Bannon, while he worked here at the White

House and even on Bannon's departure, the president appeared to try to keep the peace.

Now, though, a huge split. It also appears that Bannon has tried to patch it up a bit on the radio speaking just yesterday being complimentary of the

president.

Nonetheless, you know, we have this and there is still a possibility, certainly, that these two men could patch up because that's happened

before, even when the president has shared harsh words with other political figures in Washington.

LU STOUT: Wow. So they could still kiss and make up? That would be quite another fresh drama to cover. Joe Johns, reporting live for us from a

wintry White House. Thank you, Joe, take care.

And now to fresh pro-government marches in Iran. Firebrand cleric Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami led Friday prayers at Tehran's Grand Mosalla

mosque.

He often leads prayers or gives sermons during turbulent times. It comes as U.N. Security Council prepares for an emergency meeting on the anti-

government protests that broke out last week.

That meeting was requested by the U.S. The White House has encouraged the anti-government demonstrators and accused Iran of restricting free speech

by blocking social media sites.

At the height of these protests, Iran blocked access to apps like Telegram and Instagram which are yet used to organize rallies. But protesters used

Virtual Private Networks or VPNs to get around the restrictions.

And now the market for VPNs is heating up, since selling that software was made illegal. Now one protester tells CNN, getting around censorship is a

priority. U.S. says Iranians are using VPNs to access social media pages where the State Department was communicating with the protesters.

Let's turn now to the upcoming U.N. meeting, the reaction to it, the dynamic inside Iran. Fred Pleitgen, joins us now live from London.

And, Fred, we've got again this U.N. emergency session coming up on Iran, there is these new U.S. sanctions targeting Iranian entities. What impact

does this going to have in the protests and the regime?

FRED PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I mean, I think that the Iranian government and generally, those in power in Iran are going to once again

lay blame on the United States for inciting some of these protests and some that they have been saying over the past couple of days.

In fact, that firebrand cleric that you were talking about, Khatami, he was saying today in one of his sermons, he believed that a lot of this is a

plot by the United States, Israel and Saudi Arabia.

That's obviously something where the U.S. says that's simply not true. However, the U.S. has said that, yes, of course, they are encouraging the

protesters. They want all of this to continue.

And one of the things, I think, the U.S. is going to be pressing for at this U.N. Security Council meeting, is they're going to say, look, free

speech and right of assembly is something that needs to be able to take place.

And that's something that European Nations have said as well. They differ with the United States on how to react to this crisis. They believe the

United States is probably going a little bit too far in what it's calling for there in Iran.

But at the same time, of course, it does have a certain impact on the ground on whether or not there's going to be additional protests in Iran.

What is going to happen at that Security Council meeting, and then also these new sanctions as well, Kristie.

LU STOUT: You know, Iran, as you had mentioned has accused the U.S. of inciting the protests, it's also accusing the U.S. of quote, grotesque

meddling through social media. Your thoughts on the social media angle? What kind of role has that played in these protests?

PLEITGEN: Social media has certainly played a large role in these protests. I mean look, these protests, it's what we have been saying over

the past couple of days. Every one of these demonstrations in and of itself wasn't very big.

They were very widespread across the country. And that's not necessarily something that could happen, if you don't have social media to try and get

these people to meet there and then to talk about them and to call for further action as well.

And the U.S. has made no secret of the fact that it's still trying to communicate, even with some of these restrictions that have happened,

through, for instance, VPN, with some of the protesters in Iran and is trying to encourage them.

So it is no secret, that yes that is taking place to what extent that plays a role, to what extent a lot of these grass roots coming from inside Iran

will be Iranian authorities have said, that yes, they do believe, that some of it was started also by people there on the ground.

They say that former officials may have been involved in it as well. And, generally, look, if we look at the beginning of the protests, in Mashhad at

late December, those were some protests that were actually called for.

Many people say, by some hard line politicians that then simply got out of control. Where then people said, look, we're not going to protest against

one or the other political conviction here in Iran.

[08:20:00] We want to protest against the entire power structure. So, yes, there certainly has been some social media activity. How big a role that

has actually played from the west is really unclear at this time. Kristie.

LU STOUT: Got it. Fred Pleitgen, reporting live for us. Thank you, Fred. Now let's get the latest in the situation from inside Iran. CNN producer

Shirzad Bozorgmehr joins us from Tehran. Shirzad, Friday prayers in Iran today but have you seen any rise in either pro or anti-government protest

activity?

SHIRZAD BOZORGMEHR, CNN PRODUCER: There were -- There were pro-government demonstrations, a small one, after the sermons were delivered, after the

prayers were done. There were more people than usual attending the Friday prayer.

The prayer leader, who is one of the most hard-line people in the establishment, was very vehement about the fact that he claimed that the

United States and Saudi Arabia were behind everything.

The United States he said planned it and Saudi Arabia funded it. Kristie, we talked about this to several people and one of them -- yes, go ahead.

LU STOUT: Yes, sorry to interrupt there. Just want to hear it straight from you in Iran and the voice of the protesters there, you know this

accusation from Iran leaders there saying that American leaders have been encouraging and even inciting the protests in Iran. When you talk to the

protesters there in the country, are they taking any accuse from the U.S.?

BOZORGMEHR: Definitely not. Definitely not. They are actually -- in the sermon, he said that the prayers said that we should not listen to the

voice of foreigners, especially not the United States. We talked to people at the prayer. One of them, (Inaudible), said the following.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think that the solution is in change. I think the solution is to big bad breath to the people. There are lots of

solutions to that. Absolutely, we have to be thinking of them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: All right.

BOZORGMEHR: Kristie.

LU STOUT: And that's, Shirzad Bozorgmehr, reporting live for us from Tehran. Many thanks, indeed, for your reporting and giving us the latest

on the protest today -- pro-government protests inside the country.

You are watching News Stream. Still to come, Turkish President Erdogan and French President Macron hold talks in Paris. We'll have a live report

after this. .

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:25:00] LU STOUT: All right, coming to you live from Hong Kong in a Friday night, welcome back. This is News Stream. Now Turkish President

Recep Tayyip Erdogan is now in Paris meeting with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron.

The conflicts in Syria and Iran are expected to be high on the agenda. These two leaders will hold a joint conference when that meeting is over.

Now joining me now with more is CNN's Melissa Bell in Paris. And, Melissa, a lot on the agenda for this meeting, Iran, Syria, press freedom. What is

going to come out of these talks?

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, are you quite right, Kristie. First and foremost, Iran, which has forced its way on this agenda, it's

important for Emmanuel Macron.

As you know, he was the first western leader that Hassan Rouhani reached out to had a phone call to weighed in to those protests in Iran and Recep

Tayyip, the one of course is an important player in that region.

That will be atop of their agenda, also Syria and also the question of the Americans moving their embassy to Jerusalem. These are some of the topics

that they will be touching on.

But more profoundly perhaps, Kristie, this is a relationship that matters to Europe, because Recep Tayyip Erdogan, because Turkey is such a crucial

ally in the fight against terrorism but also in the battle to try and deal with the migrant crisis that has so shaken the EU over the course of the

last year.

And yet this has become a very frosty relationship as a result of that failed pushback if 2016 in Turkey and the subsequent crackdown and the

alleged human rights abuses.

This is 140,000 people that have been either sacked or suspended from their jobs within the country since that failed push and it is 50,000 people that

have been arrested.

Now, Elysee, assure us that Emmanuel Macron will be raising these delicate issues with his Turkish counterpart, reminding him of the importance of

human rights, and respect him.

To be fair, this is something that Emmanuel Macron has done before. You remember that last summer, when he received the Russian President Vladimir

Putin, he really didn't beat around the bush.

And in front him -- in front of the assembled ranks of the journalists berated him about various human rights abuses within Russia.

So this is something we expect to hear from Macron, again today, the Elysee, assures us they will -- this will happen. We'll be allowed in, in

a short amount of time in the Elysee. The two men have had a meeting. They've had lunch, and they will be having a press conference in a little

while.

LU STOUT: Emanuel Macron will not shy away from tough issues when he meets with Erdogan. Melissa Bell reporting for us live from Paris. Thank you.

You are watching News Stream. Just ahead, the U.S. is making good on a promise to suspend millions of security aide to Pakistan. We will look at

the growing anger inside the country spurred by a message from the U.S. president.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:30:00] LU STOUT: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. You're watching "News Stream." These are your world headlines.

North Korea has agreed to hold talks with the South on January 9th, that's next Tuesday. One focus is to be next month's Winter Olympics in South

Korea. The North has said it hopes to send a delegation to the games. This week, a hotline that has not been used for almost two years was

reactivated.

The author of the a bombshell new book called "Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House" is defending his work. The Trump administration has been

trying to discredit the book, saying it's a total fabrication, but the author says he has recordings and notes. Some of these claims have been

corroborated, but some errors have been identified.

This is day three of probe government marches in Iran. As in other turbulent times, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei led prayers to Tehran's grand

Musalla mosque. The U.N. Security Council is to meet in the coming hours to discuss deadly anti-government protests that broke out last week.

The U.S. is making good on its threat to suspend millions of security aid to Pakistan. This comes after President Donald Trump accused Pakistan of

giving safe haven to terrorists. A protest in the town along the border with Afghanistan. Some men carrying banners inscribed with slogans like

"Death to America" and "Long Live Pakistan." A protester told CNN, we lost 70,000 people in the war against terror and we are still not trusted.

Now, CNN's Nick Paton Walsh is in our London Bureau. He joins me now. He has more on this growing international feud. Nick, this move by the U.S.,

by suspending security aid to Pakistan, will this somehow induce Pakistan to take more action against terror?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It is always unclear. This is not a new tactic. This is historical (INAUDIBLE) by now,

elements of the U.S.-Pakistani relation, look at the context here. If we're going to win in the war in Afghanistan, the argument has always been you

have to stop Afghan Taliban and their brothers and the Pakistani Taliban from helping each other.

It often involves one going across the border into the other to get some kind of safe haven or training or re-equipping, depending on whether the

Pakistan or Afghanistan are experiencing the biggest security crackdown at that time.

The theory is, in the American view, that Pakistanis should be doing more to attack the Taliban on their own soil, make that no longer a safe haven,

and therefore make it easier for a crackdown to happen in Afghanistan, for that to be sort of a finite (ph) moment for Afghanistan insurgents, to give

them nowhere to run basically.

The argument has always been the Pakistan also to have an agenda in weakening Afghanistan, that's what the Afghans certainly say, in keeping

the Taliban relatively fluid and also having other militants who can carry out their will there. Pakistan vehemently denies that.

Now, the point here is that the U.S. is for quite some time been giving hundreds of millions of bullets to Pakistan to boost its military to enable

them to go into the tribal areas along the Afghan border and take on those insurgents.

The Obama administration began to free some of that aid because they did not believe Pakistan was earnest or adequate in its efforts. The Trump

administration is frankly the key it seems at this stage in terms of what they are willing to actually do. Remember they have limited options in

terms of what they are prepared to do with troop numbers on the ground.

They decided to possibly increase the kind of freezing going on at that Pakistan security aid. The exact numbers aren't entirely clear but it

pretty much seems to be a lot of it. Pakistanis are deeply concerned. They will release a statement from the Pakistan prime minister office saying

that arbitrary deadline, unilateral pronouncements and shifting goalposts are counterproductive in addressing common threats.

But still in the past, sometimes, we have seen the Pakistani military move totalistically (ph) to try to keep the Americans happy, perhaps military

operations against some elements of the insurgency. We also seen the Pakistani nationalism comes to fall, and then say frankly the Americans

simply don't understand the sacrifice that Pakistan has been making.

Remember they have lost a lot of troops in this operation. And two, many civilians have died because of the reprisal bombings the Pakistani

insurgents carry out in populated areas, Kristie.

LU STOUT: So you have this public shaming earlier this week of Pakistan by Donald Trump on Twitter. Donald Trump has made good on his threat to

suspend aid to Pakistan. Pakistan has reacted. It seems that it's trying to keep the relationship in place. Where do relations stands now? It hasn't

worsened to the point of threatening corporations on intelligence in fighting terror. Has it?

WALSH: You have to bear in mind, the American focus in Afghanistan sort of comes and goes to some degree. Sadly as often do, the administration in the

White House. Now, when Barack Obama came in, it was very much in his mind, Iraq was the bad war so to speak and Pakistan was the good war. He launched

the search.

He did pretty well but he wouldn't keep the application for the entire eight years of him being in office, so American focus and troop numbers

massively lessened when we saw Donald Trump take power early last year. That said, the situation has significantly worsened, too.

[08:35:00] So Donald Trump in his own announcement of his policy said, I thought we needed to get out, but actually I realize now we need to stay.

Bear in mind his key national security advisers Jim Mattis, H.R. McMaster, and Chief of Staff John Kelly, all three personally are very invested in

Afghanistan.

McMaster served there. Sadly John Kelly lost his son, a marine, in fighting to a landmine in Afghanistan. So they see its importance. They presumably

know that ISIS are really getting a foothold back in that state. They know the opium trade there is funding the Taliban and would eventually somehow

find its way to America shores.

They have argued, I think, that they need to continue their application. The problem is, their options are limited. They're not going to be able to

put 100,000 troops on the ground to try and really regain security, so they have to use special forces. They have to use Afghan security forces that

have tried often and failed sadly at times to regain security. So pressuring Pakistan is perhaps the first obvious easiest move.

The Pakistan as I say would need to do something to try to quiet the American anger for their action relatively soon. It may be totalistic or

symbolically. They will simply say, you know what, Trump administration is not popular globally. We think we can buy this out. Maybe we can handle not

having so much money for the next few years.

Because they simply probably don't want to stir the (INAUDIBLE) of their insurgency in the tribal areas because they fully well know that brings

suicide bombings back against military and civilians targets around Pakistan. It's a serious, frankly, almost impossible quandary at times.

Kristie?

LU STOUT: Nick Paton Walsh reporting live for us from London. Thank you, Nick.

The northeastern U.S. is now shivering with freezing temperatures and biting winds. And for millions of people, that has little relief from the

so-called bomb cyclone that has pounded the region. About 30 centimeters of snowfall in Boston, more is in the forecast. That storm hit as far as south

as Texas.

In fact, sea turtles had to be brought indoors to protect them from the weather. The National Park Service says the creatures are quote, cold

stunned and need to be kept in warm play pools until they're back to normal. Oh my goodness, that's so precious.

And this just into us, U.S. jobs report. The U.S. has added 148,000 jobs in December. The unemployment rate, that remains at 4.1 percent. Now, this

latest numbers come a day after the Dow Jones hit a new milestone across the 25,000 mark. We'll have analysis on "CNN Money" with Zain Asher at the

New York Stock Exchange.

This is "News Stream." And coming up, it is going to be a night of A-list stars, glamorous gowns. The red carpet has been rolled out for this

weekend's Golden Globes. But will the show hit a more sober note after the Harvey Weinstein scandal? We'll take a closer look, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: All right, coming to you live from Hong Kong, welcome back. This is "News Stream." Hollywood's award season kicks off Sunday with the 75th

Annual Golden Globes. This year's nominees for best drama include a fairy tale made for adults and (INAUDIBLE) same-sex love story. But cinema could

take a back seat to politics and women's rights with the "Me Too" movement to dominate the show. Here is Isha Sesay.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ISHA SESAY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It was no surprise that Hollywood loved "La La Land" last year.

[08:40:00] Dripping with all the glitz and glamour of cinema's golden age. Nominated for seven awards at the Golden Globes, it won all seven. This

year, a different kind of film is topping the list with seven nominations. "The Shape of Water" is more creature feature than broadway musical. And

while Hollywood has long snubbed horror films at award season, Guillermo del Toro has re-imagined the creature from the black lagoon as a love

story.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).

SESAY (voice over): Another unexpected romance is also up for best picture. This one featuring a same-sex couple.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Call me by your name and I'll call you by mine.

SESAY (voice over): "Call Me By Your Name" is a coming of age story where a professor's son falls in love with a doctoral student. Also in the run

for best picture, this foul-mouthed drama.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) why don't you put that on your good morning Missouri (INAUDIBLE) wake-up broadcast.

SESAY (voice over): "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri" follows a mother's struggle to find her daughter's killer. While many critics praised

the film, some people have criticized its handling of racism.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are 400,000 men on this beach.

SESAY (voice over): And Christopher Nolan's World War II epic "Dunkirk" is also up for best picture. And it is a favorite among many movie critics.

Nolan is up for best director as Steven Spielberg for "The Post."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: New York Times was barred from publishing any more classified documents dealing with the Vietnam War.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you publish, you will be at the Supreme Court next week.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Meaning?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We could all go to prison.

SESAY (voice over): The film chronicles The Washington Post while it was led by its first female publisher, portrayed by Meryl Streep, who is

nominated for best actress in this role. She made ways at the last Golden Globes for using her speech to condemn then President-elect Donald Trump

for imitating a disabled reporter.

Just months after Trump's victory, the 2017 award season was painted with anti-Trump overtures. A year later, this season is cast in the shadow of

the "Me Too" movement with sexual assault allegations against movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, who has denied the claims, and several high-profile

actors. Some critics expect the "Me Too" movement could be in the award show spotlight.

DAVID EDELSTEIN, FILM CRITIC: Every holiday movie season, people ask my least favorite question. Who will win the Oscar? I generally say, beats me.

But this year, I have a ready answer. Someone not charged with sexual harassment.

SESAY (voice over): Isha Sesay, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: David Edelstein is right. And that is "News Stream." I'm Kristie Lu Stout, but don't go anywhere, "World Sport" with Alex Thomas is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:45:00] (WORLD SPORT)

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