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NEWS STREAM

North And South Korea Meet Again At The DMZ; Warnings Intensify Against Possible First Strike; U.N. Urges Return To Be Voluntary, Safe, Dignified; U.S. Government Shutdown Deadline Looms; Why Ohio Still Loves Donald Trump; Salvadorans Targeted In U.S. Immigration Changes. Aired at 8-9a ET

Aired January 17, 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: Talks on two continents over North Korea, including 20 foreign ministers considering more sanctions, while a report is released on new

hacking attacks from North Korea targeting crypto currencies. And a deal for the Rohingya to return to Myanmar, but the U.N. warns against forcing

them back to an unsafe situation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: We begin with talks on two continents aimed at easing deep concerns over one country, North Korea. Now, Pyongyang could face tougher

sanctions if it doesn't halt its nuclear program.

Foreign ministers from 20 countries met in Canada on Tuesday. They agreed to consider sanctions that would go beyond U.N. Security Council

resolutions.

Now, China says that smacks of a cold war mentality. But, America's top diplomat said it is time to talk to the North, but there are conditions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REX TILLERSON, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: A sustained cessation of North Korea's threatening behavior is necessary -- is a necessary indicator of

whether the regime is truly ready to pursue a peaceful, diplomatic resolution to the security threat that it has created.

Our nation must remain united on sustaining pressure until North Korea takes concrete steps toward and ultimately reaches denuclearization.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Rex Tillerson there. In the past several hours, the two Koreas met at the DMZ. In a sign of progress, Seoul has agreed to return the

bodies of four North Korean nationals found off the coast of South Korea.

Now, CNN's Paula Hancocks is in Seoul for us. She joins us now. And, Paula, again more high-level talks taking place today between North and

South Korea. Tell us about the progress being made in terms of warming relations, as well as getting North Korea to the games.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kristie, those talks have just ended and there has been significant progress. This is what we've heard

from the South, that North and South Korea will actually walk out at the opening ceremony of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics together.

They will march out under a unified Korea flag. It's what we saw in Sydney in the year 2000 for the Summer Olympics -- a flag of an undivided Korea.

Now, they've also agreed that North and South Korea will have a joint women's ice hockey team. So this will be a team with players from both

North and South Korea.

In addition to that, we understand there will be 30 people for a taekwondo display, 230 for a cheering squad. We knew, already, 140 for an orchestra.

So a significantly large delegation will be coming from the North to the South.

They have agreed that it will be a transportation over land. So they will cross through the DMZ, the demilitarized zone between North and South

Korea, just on the western right of the Peninsula.

And in addition to that, this is quite interesting, they've agreed that South Korean ski athletes will actually travel North and they will do a

joint training session at Masikryong Ski Resort. This is the ski resort that opened shortly after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un took power.

He has been filmed up there opening it, certainly something he's proud of, so South Korean athletes will be going to North Korea to have some kind of

joint training, as well. So this has all just come out in the past few minutes. Fairly significant agreement on a number of issues there,

Kristie.

LU STOUT: Yes, absolutely. A number of issues and agreement, greater inter-Korean cooperation linked to the games. And as North and South

continue to plan, what's going to happen in Pyeongchang, South Korea's allies, including the U.S., voicing concern at the separate dialogues

taking place in Canada. What's being said over there?

HANCOCKS: Well, that's right. These are allies of South Korea, and while certainly the United States has publicly been saying they support these

talks, we're hearing from the likes of Japan, for example, the foreign minister there saying that the international community has to be clear-eyed

about this.

They have to be clear-eyed about North Korea's motivations behind these talks, the foreign minister saying that it is not the time to ease pressure

towards North Korea.

It is a sentiment that is being echoed amongst a number of allies there. And U.S. Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, saying the same thing.

All agreeing there needs to be continued pressure, although Secretary of State Rex Tillerson did say it is time to talk, potentially, but the North

Koreans have to make steps to show that they are serious about talking.

[08:05:04] So you really have two very different meetings going on at this point, one here on the Peninsula that's just wrapped up. In terms of what

we've heard from the South Korean side, it couldn't have gone better.

They have agreed on everything, almost, that the South Koreans were proposing. But then in Canada, you're hearing some very strong words of

caution. Kristie.

LU STOUT: All right, Paula Hancocks reporting, thank you. Now as, Paula, said some are hailing the talks as the most significant thaw in years.

Still, allies are wary.

The U.S. military has moved more firepower into the region. Now, one option against North Korea is called a bloody nose. That's that limited

military strike to send a message. But some former generals are saying, don't go there, as we hear now from CNN's Brian Todd.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Warnings are now intensifying against the idea of a possible first strike by the U.S. against Kim Jong-un's regime.

After President Trump bragged that his nuclear button was bigger than Kim Jong-un's and the North Korean leader's newspaper just responded that

Trump's boast is quote, a spasm of a lunatic.

Several former U.S. admirals and generals are now appealing to President Trump's team to exhaust every diplomatic measure possible before striking

North Korea.

They're responding to a recent Wall Street Journal report, saying the administration is considering a limited first strike on North Korea to send

a signal to Kim that there's a price to pay for building his missile and nuclear programs.

The former commanders' warnings are stark. What do you think the response from the North would be? What kind of casualties are we talking about?

RET. ADM. MIKE SMITH, FORMER CARRIER STRIKE GROUP COMMANDER: You know, we're talking about hundreds of thousands of potential casualties in Seoul,

Korea, because the North Koreans have a range of artillery available to them that they can just immediately respond before there's anything we can

do to stop them.

TODD: And Admiral Mike Smith says, the North Koreans could attack South Korean ships or American bases with their submarines.

A former top Pentagon official, Van Jackson, is adding to the warnings, writing in Politico, the downside ranges from a cycle of retaliatory

violence to outright nuclear war, targeting U.S. territory.

And Democratic Senator Martin Heinrich of the Arms Services Committee has written to Defense Secretary James Mattis, warning that Kim Jong-un would

perceive any strike, even against a single target, as the opening salvo in a war. What might U.S. forces target in a so-called surgical strike?

RET. GEN. JAMES "SPIDER" MARKS, FORMER HEAD OF U.S. MILITARY INTELLIGENCE IN KOREA: Most likely preemptive strike would go against nuclear

development facilities and known missile launch sites and those mobile sites that exist, those capabilities that exist. And there would be a

strike against those artillery pieces that are located close to the DMZ and can launch and attack Seoul.

TODD: One analyst who doesn't call for an immediate strike says the U.S. still shouldn't be scared off a first strike by potential casualty counts

in Seoul, saying he believes North Korean artillery could not hit the entire South Korean capital and an American strike could be carried out

efficiently.

EDWARD LUTTWAK, AUTHOR, STRATEGY, THE LOGIC OF WAR AND PEACE: We would not require days of bombing or weeks of bombing. The number of targets is very

limited. If you want to get rid of the nuclear capability, that you can do in one day. And you can do it without great deal of reinforcement, either.

TODD: The wild card is a young, volatile leader in Pyongyang whose possible response to a first strike is very hard to calculate for U.S.

officials.

Some analysts believe that the culture of North Korea's regime dictates that Kim Jong-un would have to respond to violence with at least equal

violence.

That he would be simply under to much pressure from his military elites, who are obsessed with their own survival, to not hit back hard. Brian

Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: There are concerns for the well-being of hundreds of thousands of people after Myanmar and Bangladesh struck a deal to repatriate Rohingya

refugees, 650,000 people have fled this brutal military crackdown in Myanmar, seeking refugee in Bangladesh.

And many are now at one of the world's biggest refugee camps in Cox's Bazar. Both countries released details of this plan on Tuesday. It calls

for the return of Rohingya refugees to Myanmar within the next two years.

Bangladesh will set up five transit camps. The Rohingya will go from the transit camps to reception centers in Myanmar. This plan applies only to

Rohingya who fled Myanmar after October 2016.

The U.N. says some 220,000 Rohingya were already in Bangladesh before that date. The repatriation process is due to start next Tuesday. Amnesty

international has said the plans are premature and has raised concerns over the safety of the return refugees.

Now, the United Nations secretary general says the worst situation would be to move people from camps in Bangladesh to camps in Myanmar for a long

time, which would not allow for them to regain their normal lives.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONIO GUTERRES, SECRETARY-GENERAL, UNITED NATIONS: We believe it would be very important to be fully involved in the operation to guarantee that

the operation abides by high -- by international standards.

[08:10:07] What is it that is essential on these is to make sure that the return is voluntary. It's in safety and dignity. And that people are

allowed to come back to their places of origin, which means that the huge effort of investment, because there's a lot of reconstruction to be done,

and a huge effort of reconciliation is need to allow it to take place properly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: The U.N. secretary general there. Now, the U.N. has warned that Palestinian refugees could soon lose vital public services, including

education and health care.

The U.S. is holding back half the money it planned to give a U.N. agency that supports those refugees, some $65 million. The U.N. secretary general

says the cut could further destabilize the region.

The U.N. Relief and Works Agency says it will launch a global fund-raising campaign. Now, for more on this, let's go straight to CNN's Ian Lee, who

joins us from the Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem.

And, Ian, tell us more about the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, and what impact this American holdback in aide is going to have on its work and the

scores of people it helps.

IAN LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kristie, Chris Gunness, the spokesman for UNRWA, says that this is the most severe financial crisis that the

agency has faced. You know, UNRWA supports over 5 million Palestinian refugees in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Gaza, here in the West Bank and in

camps like the one behind me.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LEE: Aida refugee camp in the West Bank, home to 5,000 people. History and symbolism are important here. When war erupted in 1948, Palestinians

in their hundreds of thousands fled or were expelled off their lands moving to the West Bank and Gaza, and neighboring countries.

Return to their old family home now in Israel was blocked. The United Nation Relief and Works Agency or UNWRA was created to look after these

refugees. International Rights Lawyer Mohammad Abu Srour says, people would struggle if it was taken away.

MOHAMMAD ABU SROUR, LAWYER: Many of the people would lose their own job. Many of the refugees they will cut -- they will lose like the opportunity

to get more services. It will speak about sanitation, it will speak about the health care, it will speak about the education.

LEE: UNWRA says it educates more than half a million children. Over 3 million people receive health care and almost 300,000 received other relief

services like food aid and work.

The agency relies on over $1 billion to maintain services of which the United States roughly donates 30 percent. President Trump put UNWRA on

notice earlier this month, tweeting, with the Palestinians no longer willing to talk peace, why should we make any of these massive future

payments to them. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu agrees and says, a new agency should pick up reasonability.

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: The perpetuation of a dream of bringing the descendants of refugees back to Jaffa is what sustains its

confidence. UNWRA is part of the problem, not part of the solution.

LEE: Mohammad Abu Srour sees Trump funding tactics as one simple thing.

SROUR: This is blackmail and this is like threatening at the same for us we don't want like up state, like money, we want like our dignity and our

right.

LEE: The fate of Palestinian refugees once more front and center in the conflict.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEE: And Kristie, there's a lot of concern in countries like Jordan and Lebanon. These are countries that are already under the strain of refugees

coming in from neighboring Syria. And they are concerned that this could lead to more instability.

As far as UNWRA is concerned, they're looking for other aide from elsewhere, talking to other donor nations to see if they can help fill that

hole that is left by the United States.

They say the schools are going to remain open, the health are going to remain in place, and the 30,000 employees that they have, they say they're

going to try to make sure that they still get their paychecks, although it is going to be difficult.

Now, Palestinian leaders have condemned this, saying -- one saying that Palestinians can't be a bargaining chip in negotiations. They've warn of

instability. As far as Israeli leaders are concerned, they welcome these measures by the United States. Kristie.

LU STOUT: Yes, but as you report, UNWRA needs to cover the shortfall, just the lives of so many people -- vulnerable people at take ere. Ian Lee

reporting for us live. Thank you. You're watching News Stream.

And after the break, Steve Bannon, the former White House chief strategist appears before the House Intelligence Committee. Why it's been described

as unprecedented by a top U.S. Democrat?

[08:15:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: All right. Coming to you live from Hong Kong. Welcome back. This is News Stream. Now to the U.S. and the ongoing Russia investigation,

Steve Bannon, the former White House chief strategist, refused to answer a broad range of questions when he appeared before lawmakers on Tuesday.

The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee called his refusal unprecedented and accused him of agreeing to a gag order. Bannon's

attorney says he will answer questions when he is interviewed by the Special Counsel, because executive privilege would not apply. Democrat

Adam Schiff says he won't accept Bannon's silence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D), CALIFORNIA: If the White House is permitted to maintain that kind of a gag rule on a witness, no Congressional

investigation could ever be effective.

So this obviously can't stand. We expect to have Mr. Bannon back in. We hope very soon, with a different position by the White House, because this

position is completely unsustainable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: And it's a critical week. Washington faces a deadline to avoid a government shutdown. It all comes down to lawmakers on both sides

approving a spending bill. At the Heart of the argument is reaching a deal on DACA, the Deferred action for Childhood Arrivals.

Democrats say they won't vote for a spending bill without some protection for the so-called DREAMer immigrants. And the U.S. president's alleged

vulgar comments on immigration are only making talks more difficult. Here is, Abby Phillip, with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN CORRESPONDENT: House Republican leadership now attempting to go it alone to avert a shutdown, deciding their best

strategies to rally support behind another short-term spending bill to keep the government funded for another month.

The problem? The chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus says his members are not yet on board, warning that, currently, just based on

the number of noes and undecideds in the Freedom Caucus, there's not enough support to pass this with GOP only votes.

REP. TED YOHO (R), FLORIDA: I hate to have a temporary spending bill. This is the fourth one since the end of September, first of October. It's

crisis management at its worst.

PHILLIP: Republicans hoping to pressure Democrats into backing the short- term fix by attaching the number of incentives to the continuing resolution, including nearly $3 billion to keep the popular Children's

Health Insurance Program funded for six years. The proposal would also delay a number of key Obamacare taxes.

Meanwhile, Democrat leadership continuing to push for a deal that would protect DREAMers. In the Senate, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell urging

lawmakers not to rush a DREAMer deal, despite the fact that he needs at least nine Democratic votes to save off a shutdown.

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R), KENTUCKY: It is clear that Congress has at least -- at least, until March, at a minimum, and possibly even longer, to reach

a compromise that resolves the DACA question. There is no reason why Congress should hold government funding hostage over the issue of illegal

immigration.

[08:20:00] PHILLIP: The cosponsors of a bipartisan immigration bill rejected by President Trump last week expressing frustration at Mr. Trump's

sudden change of heart.

SEN. DICK DURBIN (D), ILLINOIS: We call him two days later, Senator Graham and I, and say, we've done it. We've met your criteria. We have a

bipartisan bill. We're ready to go. And then to be called into the president's office to explain it to him, and find that we've been

sandbagged.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: Yes, I think somebody on his staff gave him really bad advice between 10:00 to 12:00 on Thursday.

PHILLIP: Both senators grilling Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen at Tuesday's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing about her

insistence that she does not recall President Trump using the word shithole at last week's Oval Office meeting.

KIRSTJEN NIELSEN, UNITED STATES SECRETARY, HOMELAND SECURITY: The president used tough language in general, as did other congressmen in the

room.

PHILLIP: Nielsen's testimony prompting this rebuke.

SEN. COREY BOOKER (D), NEW JERSEY: Your silence and your amnesia is complicity. When Dick Durbin called me, I had tears of rage when I heard

about this experience in that meeting.

And for you not to feel that hate and hurt, and that pain and to dismiss some of the questions of my colleagues, saying, I've already answered that

line of questions, when tens of millions of Americans are hurting right now because of what they're worried about, what happened in the White House.

That's unacceptable to me.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: That was CNN's Abby Phillip, reporting there. And you've got to check this out, an exchange between U.S. President Donald Trump and CNN's

Chief White House Correspondent, Jim Acosta. Now this came during a photo op in the Oval Office next to the president of Kazakhstan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Mr. President, did you say that you want more people to come in from Norway? Did you say that you wanted more

people to come in from Norway? Is that true, Mr. President?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I want them to come in from everywhere, everywhere. Thank you very much, everybody.

ACOSTA: Just Caucasian or white countries, sir, or do you want people to come in from other parts of the world, whether people of color?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Jim, thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Well done, Jim. Now it's that sort of no-nonsense bared knuckle approach from the U.S. president that attracted voters to Donald Trump in

the first place. Now, Saturday marks one year since his inauguration.

All this week, CNN is looking at what impact his presidency is having in the U.S. and overseas. Ohio was one of the states that pushed him to

victory, fueled in part by Democrats who crossed party lines. CNN's Martin Savidge went to Ohio to find out if they would do it all over again.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Anywhere you look in Youngstown is a reminder of what's been lost. Factories, jobs, the city's population is

down by almost two-thirds from the 1950s. The economy wasn't just disappearing here, so was a way of life.

RICK GREEN, IRONWORKER: And I realized that the core foundation of our country is slipping away.

ANNA PARA, RETIRED, MOTHER OF FOUR: I mean, it got to a point where I did not like the direction that my country was going.

SAVIDGE: The answer for many was Donald Trump. In 2016, according to the Mahoning County Board of Elections, approximately 7,000 registered

Democrats switched parties to become Republicans.

DERRICK ANDERSON, PASTOR: He said he was going to make America first and he was going to bring jobs back.

GENO DIFABIO, MACHINE SHOP WORKER: Donald Trump said you're in lousy trade deals. We fix that, the jobs can come back.

JUSTIS HARRISON, STUDENT: Something that he said that really sticks with me, is that he wants to give the power back to the American people, and

that's something that I can certainly get behind.

SAVIDGE: I'm with a pastor, a stay-at-home mom, a student, a machine shop worker, and a union member, Democrats who were raised in Democrat families

who crossed over to vote Trump.

(on camera): We're one year -- one year in. How's he doing?

GREEN: Fantastic.

PARA: Great. Better than I ever would have dreamt and I mean that sincerely.

SAVIDGE: Really?

PARA: Oh, yes.

SAVIDGE: Derrick?

ANDERSON: Yes, I agree.

PARA: Absolutely.

ANDERSON: Yes, he's doing wonderful. He's staying on task.

SAVIDGE: We start with a hot-button topic of the moment.

(on camera): How big an issue to all of you is immigration?

DIFABIO: Huge.

PARA: Huge.

SAVIDGE: Really, in Youngstown, Ohio?

GREEN: Absolutely, and as far as I'm concerned they're stealing jobs of rightful citizens.

SAVIDGE: It's also about something else Trump voters say is important, rules and respect.

HARRISON: I feel like when people come here illegally that's just very disrespectful. You don't respect our laws and you shouldn't be able to

come here free willing like that.

SAVIDGE: A year later, they all still want the wall. As for the president's inflammatory tweets and speech, Geno says he used to cringe,

not anymore.

(on camera): So, you don't cringe anymore because you've grown numb to it or...

DEFABIO: No, not numb at all. But I know what he's done and I'm starting to get an inkling why he uses Twitter in the way he does because if all he

had to rely on is what people say about him, oh my God. I might not like the guy and I love the guy. I love the job he's doing.

SAVIDGE: Justis met Trump at a rally and says he not a racist.

HARRISON: He was just the nicest person and honestly, he could -- if he was a racist, as everyone paints him out to be, he could have just walked

right past me and not even said a word.

SAVIDGE: What about the lies?

(on camera): Well, let me ask you this. Do you think he is a liar?

DIFABIO: Do I think he's lied, no, but he's fallen short on some of his goals. We all do.

SAVIDGE: Economically, they say things are getting better. The stock market and their home values are up.

GREEN: Industries are booming everywhere I've seen.

[08:25:00] SAVIDGE: I look around here and I don't see a boom.

GREEN: Well, in this area, no. But I feel like there are small businesses that are starting to pick up.

SAVIDGE: Derrick says Trump's tax reform will fuel the recovery.

ANDERSON: If you expand your business in the inner city so then my community will benefit from this tax cut.

SAVIDGE: Do you think the media gives the president a fair shake?

HARRISON: I don't think so at all.

PARA: No.

SAVIDGE: One year later, these voters couldn't be happier. They see achievement. Most of all, they see a president like them.

PARA: And he's like tenacious sometimes and says stuff off the cuff like we do. Like real Americans do, you know. We're not perfect. I'm tired of

suave, I'm tired of polished, I'm tired of the teleprompter, you know, I am. I want my country back.

SAVIDGE: Martin Savidge, CNN, Youngstown, Ohio.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: These Trump roundtable discussions are utterly fascinating. You heard how immigration remains an important issue for trump supporters.

Last week, the White House announced the end of a policy granting temporary protected status to more than 250,000 people who fled civil war and natural

disasters in El Salvador. Patrick Oppmann reports on the consequences this could have on a country already struggling with poverty and violence.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ex-gang members seek forgiveness and a future at this San Salvador church. They are all foot soldiers of the

Barrio 18 Gang, a heavily armed and sophisticated criminal organization that helps fuel this country's annual quadruple digit body counts.

Member of the Barrio 18 Gang and their rivals, MS-13 cover themselves in tattoos to show their life-long allegiance. Ex-member Will, doesn't want

us to use his last name grew up in Los Angeles before run-ins with the law there, led to his deportation back to El Salvador.

He tells us that the Trumps administration plan to revoke temporary protected status from Salvadorans will only add to the bloodshed.

WILL, EX-MEMBER, BARRIO 18 GANG: It was chaos. So, bringing over 200,000 some people here after so many years, that is only going to create more

poverty, more violence and more crime.

OPPMANN: For decades, El Salvador has been racked by some of the world's highest murder rates. Much of the violence had been driven by young

Salvadorans who fled civil wars and natural disaster. Then grew up and joined gangs in the U.S. and were deported back here.

Already in January, there had been about ten homicides per day police say. El Salvador government has taken Mano Dura or iron fist approach telling

police to shoot it out with gangs, who are often heavily armed than they are. While on patrol, Subinspector (ph) Juan Carlos Valiente never let go

of his Israeli made assault rifle.

JUAN CARLOS VALIENTE, SUBINSPECTOR (PH), (through a translator): They are well armed and violent, he says of the gangs. But we are more than capable

to combat these groups in the streets.

OPPMANN: People stop by police are search for gang related tattoos. Human rights groups say police have executed suspected gang members simply for

having the wrong ink, to a cut or sneakers. The police here defend their use of force, and say these groups are terrorists.

Back in the church, reformed gang members are saying El Salvador needs to give them economic opportunities. The church has a bakery for former gang

members to work at.

While we were there, police show up to search the church, they go away when they see our cameras. Ex-gang member say they can never leave their old

life behind. No one wants to hire them and people are still afraid.

WILL: They do not believe in second chances. They believe that once you are a gang member, you are damned.

OPPMANN: These men say they have renounced El Salvador's bloody gangs, but they are still waiting for their shot of redemption. Patrick Oppmann, CNN,

San Salvador.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: You are watching News Stream. And still ahead, analysts say North Korean-linked hackers are going after crypto currency investors.

We'll give you the latest on the story.

And also, up next, the Dutch have defended their land from the threat of floods for centuries. We're going to take a look at how cities in the

Netherlands are built to withstand the risk of rising sea levels.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:30:00] KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN NEWS STREAM SHOW HOST: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. You're watching "News Stream" and these are your world

headlines.

Progress at the third round of talks between Pyongyang and Seoul. North and South Korea will enter the opening ceremony of the Winter Games together

under the Korean unification flag. The two sides have also agreed to form a joint women's ice hockey team and North Korea will send a cheering squad.

Amnesty. The U.N. and others are raising concerns now that Myanmar and Bangladesh have made a two-year timeline to send 650,000 Rohingya refugees

back to Rakhine State. Amnesty International says the plans are premature. The process will start next Tuesday.

Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong has been sentenced to three months in prison for his role in the 2014 Umbrella Movement protest. Wong

was sentenced for contempt to court after he and other demonstrators ignored an order to vacate a protest site. This is the second time he's

been jailed in the past year.

North Korea has repeatedly denied involvement in international hacking, but experts have said for a while now that Pyongyang has been mining bitcoin,

demanding it as ransom payment or just stealing it. And now a new attack has been linked to North Korea. CNN Money's Sherisse Pham reports.

SHERISSE PHAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A new report has found North Korean hackers targeted bitcoin investors and exchanges just as bitcoin was

hitting recorded highs. Cybersecurity firm Recorded Future said malware used in the attacks is similar to malware designed by North Korean hackers,

used in the 2014 hack of Sony Pictures and more recently in the massive ransomware attack known as WannaCry.

The new malware was created late last year, right before bitcoin hit an all-time high of nearly $20,000. The report didn't say how successful the

hackers were or how much was stolen. North Korea has repeatedly denied involvement in international hacking attacks.

Now, news of these latest hacks come as South Korea steps up security at exchanges and is even considering banning cryptocurrency trading. That

could spell trouble for the global bitcoin market.

Recorded Future saying, if North Koreans can no longer hack South Korean cryptocurrency exchanges, they'll likely start targeting bitcoin exchanges

in other countries. Kristie?

LU STOUT: All right, CNN's Sherisse Pham there. Now, for a country that mostly lies below sea level, the prospect of rising ocean and climate

change is serious, but the the Netherlands is combining centuries of knowledge with new innovation to help prepare for the future. Matt Rivers

has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): There's a saying in the Netherlands, God created the earth, but Dutch created the

Netherlands. This nation of 17 million people sits at the mouths of three major rivers and much of the country lies below sea level. For centuries,

the Dutch have had to defend their land from the water.

MARC WALRAVEN, STORM SURGE BARRIER EXPERT: We founded this country by making land of it, by dredging the water out of it, but 53 was really the

moment that this government decided, we won't have this anymore.

RIVERS (voice over): That's Marc Walraven, an expert in storm surge barriers. He's referring to the great flood of 1953. That disaster killed

more than 1,800 people a prompted

[08:35:00] a major overhaul of the nation's flood defenses. Dikes and dams were rebuilt and reinforced. But by 1987, the decision was made to build a

movable sea barrier by the busy port of Rotterdam. Those fully-automated white gates rarely close, but early this January, they shut in a heavy

storm for the first time in 10 years.

WALRAVEN: It really touches the Dutch people, because this is something we always fight against (INAUDIBLE) close (INAUDIBLE). So a lot of people come

over here and watch it from the hill and watch it from all locations. That's pretty nice to see.

RIVERS (voice over): People come from all over the world to learn water management from the Dutch. Not all of the lessons are as large as the

(INAUDIBLE) barrier. Smaller innovations like this floating park and pavilion also help the Dutch deal with the danger of flooding.

FRANS VAN DE VEN, EXPERT ADVISOR, URBAN LAND AND WATER MANAGEMENT AT DELTARES: The Netherlands is what we say, and I think it's true, it's the

safest delta in the world. The flood protection levels we use here are way beyond flood protection levels that are being used elsewhere in the world.

RIVERS (voice over): Frans Van De Ven is an urban water management expert. The key, he says, is to plan for flooding in comprehensive and

multifunctional ways. This basketball court, for example, can fill with water when it storms, and then slowly release it into a nearby canal.

Similarly, this car park was designed to also serve as a reservoir. It can collect 10 million liters during a downpour, taking pressure off the sewer

system. And even these seemingly simple sidewalk tiles can help catch rain.

VAN DE VEN: In the past, we tended to push the water away, only protecting ourselves from the water, but nowadays, we see water as a resource and

living with water is pleasant and brings benefits rather than threats.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: You're watching "News Stream." And as the world is paying more attention to alternative sources of energy, interest is growing. And up

next, we'll take a look at how the so-called big boys of energy are attracted to solar power.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Just imagine if thousands of households can depend entirely on solar power and it won't cost energy companies more than traditional fossil

fuel. Well, that could already be happening, as the energy industry's biggest players are pumping millions into solar. Isa Soares has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ISA SOARES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Out on the open water, a diver suits up for his mission and plunges beneath a murky surface. This isn't a

deep sea expedition. It's a suburban London reservoir. And it's where a company called Light Source is engineering this, a 23,000-panel floating

farm, capable of powering nearly 2,000 British homes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We think this could be expanded across the world. The Light Source (INAUDIBLE) solar revolution. I believe they're the vanguard

of the solar revolution.

SOARES (voice over): And it's a revolution now worth gambling on. Last month, BP made a $200 million investment in light source, a move back into

the renewable energy sector the company had all but forgotten.

(on camera): About a decade ago or so, BP seemed to shy away from renewables. Why you getting back into the game?

[08:40:00] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We believe that low carbon transition is real. It's happening. And as you look forward, you're also seeing solar

becoming the fastest growing part of the energy complex.

SOARES (voice over): In the past four years, global solar capacity has tripled. And in many places like here in the U.K., solar energy at times is

cheaper than coal and nuclear power.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Solar, historically, has been pretty small until about five years ago, where we saw a huge influx of new solar development

here. We constructed and built eight sites between 2015 and 2017.

SOARES (voice over): Even though the weather may be more foggy than sunny, the U.K. ranks sixth in global solar power production.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's the speed at which solar is deployed. It's the speed at which the technology prices have come down that has really

surprised some of the larger parts of the industry. One of these panels just over 10 years ago would have cost about $1,000. Today, they're closer

to $80.

SOARES (voice over): It's Chinese manufacturing that led to a price plummet. The country has doubled its solar capacity in 2016, flooding the

market with cheap solar panels.

Oxford scientist Dr. Henry Snaith says prices could still sink further if the industry shifted away from using silicon, traditionally the main

ingredient in most solar panels.

In the basement of the university, he and his students have harvested minerals called perovskite, that he says could be twice as efficient.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If we move away from silicon and just process perovskite on its own, we can process it directly on glass, so you can

imagine having see-through windows that are also producing power. We can imagine making clothing that is coated in perovskite PV. This may be

especially suitable for the automotive industry as well, in coating electric vehicles in photovoltaic converters.

SOARES (voice over): Last month, Snaith received $50 million grant to bring perovskite-coated panels to market. (INAUDIBLE) has funded his

research. (INAUDIBLE) says behind big oil's latest bet on renewables lies an age-old motive.

(on camera): What is compelling from PV's point of view, with solar energy?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What you would expect to see in any investment. Returns.

SOARES (voice over): Isa Soares, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:45:00] (WORLD SPORT)

END