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NEWS STREAM

U.N. Says 19 Years To Fully Return All Refugees; Sources: Nunes Memo Could Be Released Today; Growing Concern Over U.S. Ambassador Vacancies; Woman Gives Jordan's Migrant Domestic Workers A Voice; World Headlines; Support the Ivory Ban; Winter Olympics; Nintendo's Mario Returns to the Big Screen; Revamping Social Media; Gangneung's Coffee. Aired at 8- 9a ET

Aired February 01, 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: Nineteen years, that's how long the U.N. says it will take to return hundreds of thousands of Rohingya who fled Myanmar. That country's

leader criticized for handling of the crisis -- the focus of our interview.

The White House could soon make public a memo on FBI surveillance. But is it accurate? And a special edition of the CNN Freedom Project, looking

into migrant worker abuse in Jordan and the people who are helping them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: The United Nations is warning it may take nearly two decades to return hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees back to Myanmar. The

U.N.'s Myanmar Human rights representative had this to say about the crisis that has sent many Rohingya into Bangladesh.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YANGHEE LEE, U.N. ROHINGYA ENVOY: If you add up those -- those numbers, looking at currently about 800,000 in Bangladesh, Cox's Bazar because this

would include refugees from 2016, October. It would take if you do your math, it takes 19 years to return these people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Yanghee Lee there. Now she is also critical of the Myanmar government for the continuing to say that the Rohingya crisis is

fabricated. CNN's Alexandra Field was recently in Bangladesh and saw what the refugees are dealing with firsthand. Here is her report on the crisis.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims are still living along the border in Bangladesh. Many in fear of

ever returning home to Myanmar, where they fled a military campaign that the U.S. and U.N. have called a case of ethnic cleansing -- the claim

Myanmar denies.

The U.N.'s Rohingya envoy is barred from entering Myanmar following accusations of unfair reporting. But following a visit to Rohingya refugee

camps in Bangladesh, Yanghee Lee, says the Rohingya people must now be given greater assurances of their safety and security if they decide to

return to Myanmar.

Lee went on to say she doubts the sincerity of the government of Myanmar to create conditions conducive to the return of the Rohingyas and continues to

demand access to assess those conditions.

LEE: I still hope that Myanmar revisits their decision. Because I think it is a very unfortunate decision. If Myanmar is truly saying that all of

this news is fabricated and there's nothing to hide, then international observers, international media, fact-finding mission and human rights

observers, and monitors like, myself, need to have access.

FIELD: And Myanmar government says the military campaign targeted militants who launched a deadly attack on a border post back in August and

that operations ended in September. Bangladesh and Myanmar have struck deal for Rohingyas to return home.

The process was set to begin last month but hasn't started yet. It isn't clear when it will. Officials estimated repatriation of some 650,000

Rohingyas who have fled since August will take two years.

But the U.N. Envoy says the repatriation of the entire Rohingya population on Bangladesh's border, some 800,000 people, would take 19 years by her

calculation. In Hong Kong, Alexandra Field, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now, it has been two years since Aung San Suu Kyi assumed the rule of Myanmar's de facto leader. And in that time, she's gone from

democracy icon to a figure of disdain for the way that she has handled the Rohingya crisis.

Nobel Peace Prize winner was hailed around the world for helping the country make the transition from military rule to democracy. But this

week, her reputation fell to a new low.

Former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Bill Richardson has known Suu Kyi for 30 years and told CNN that she's changed. She's become out of touch -- a

politician afraid of the military. Richardson recently resigned from an international advisory panel for Rakhine State.

But Aung San Suu Kyi has long recognized that she is a politician and clarified what that meant to her when Robert H. Lieberman interviewed her

for a film. It's called, They Call It Myanmar. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT H. LIEBERMAN, FILM DIRECTOR: Do you think of yourself as politician?

AUNG SAN SUU KYI, MYANMAR'S DE FACTO LEADER: Yes, of course, I'm a politician.

LIEBERMAN: It strikes me that you've gone beyond that and that--

SUU KYI: I think politician who had think that they've gone beyond being politicians are very dangerous.

[08:05:03] That where authoritarianism comes in. I'm just an ordinary politician.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Just an ordinary politician. Joining me now, the director of that film, Robert H. Lieberman.

LIEBERMAN: Hi.

LU STOUT: He is also a senior lecturer at Cornell University. Sir, thank you so much for joining us here at CNN. You have a pretty good sense of

Aung San Suu Kyi.

You first met her when she was released from house arrest. You interviewed her for an extended period of time and a few occasions after that. From

what you know of her and her character, are you surprised by how she has handled the Rohingya crisis?

LIEBERMAN: Well she's just a politician as she says. But it turns out she's a bad politician. I think that the story is getting it all wrong

because the focus is on Aung San Suu Kyi.

She's the person now -- the person we loved and now she's the person we love to hate. It turns out that she doesn't really have a lot of power.

The only thing she has is perhaps the ability to do some moral persuasion.

She should speak out. She hasn't spoken out. If I was one of her advisers, I would have had her fly directly to the Rakhine. So I don't

think you should be looking at Aung San Suu Kyi. I can give you insights into her.

By the way, Bill Richardson resigned -- I don't know if you know what the blow-up was about. He raised the issue of the two young Reuters reporters

who have been imprisoned.

They face up to 14 years in jail because they were investigating a mass grave in the Rakhine. And Suu Kyi doesn't suffer fools, but she also

doesn't apparently suffer criticism. Can I switch the whole program and move to the bigger picture? Would you allow me to do that?

LU STOUT: Well before you do that, I just want to ask, because you said something really interesting a moment ago, that there is this expectation--

LIEBERMAN: Go ahead.

LU STOUT: -- for Aung San Suu Kyi to speak out because she is Nobel Peace Prize winner, because she is this icon of democracy. Are you saying that

she -- she is a politician, she hasn't changed. Are you saying that it's not--

(CROSSTALK)

LIEBERMAN: She's who she always was -- that's right, yes.

LU STOUT: This is the reality of power in Myanmar, of what she has to do to toe the line with the military.

LIEBERMAN: No, I think she is the same person she always was. And then in the west, we have viewed her with a lens that we want to viewer her as.

And we've built her up in a pedestal and now we've knocked her down. I mean I do have some sympathy for her, she's in a very tight spot. She --

you know, she's got a powerful military, you know, at her back.

You know she makes a wrong turn, she's in trouble. Look, I think the power is being held by the military. They control all of the resources.

They control essentially the military, the police, the civil service, the intelligence service, they're calling the shots. And what's happened is

there were some attacks on police stations that occurred in the Rakhine. And they're almost understandable.

And the military has overreacted by far. And so we have a situation now where things have just spun out of control. There's misinformation

apparently on both sides.

We have -- I don't know what the numbers are, I thought 750,000, whatever, it is, three-quarters of a million human beings sitting in Bangladesh.

(CROSSTALK)

LU STOUT: The situation has spun out of control, right? I mean this was a police crackdown, a military crackdown that went too far, result in the

Rohingya crisis, over 800,000 Rohingya refugees.

Now we're in a situation where the international community has condemned Aung San Suu Kyi. But the greater point, has urged her to condemn the

treatment of the Rohingya.

And yet she is leader who despite her moral authority, refuses to even say under the word Rohingya. Given all of this international pressure, do you

think she would listen, based on what you know of her?

LIEBERMAN: I think she's a very head-strong woman. You know, we -- you know, we loved her because she's very good looking, she's Oxford educated.

Bit you know, she is just a politician and she's playing to the Burmese majority.

You know this is a very complicated situation and I wish I had more than five minutes. If you -- you know, we made film and they call it, Myanmar,

I could make another movie you know, They Call Her Aung San Suu Kyi.

But again, this is not the real story. She can only come out and say something. It's the military that controls everything. And the military

is talking -- and the government, whatever you want to call it, is talking about, you know, international terrorists.

Well, what they are going to do by escalating the situation is, there is a real fear that they're going to bring in the international Jihadists into

the mix. So I think we should forget Aung San Suu Kyi for the time being.

[08:10:00] You know, people feel bad, she got a Nobel Prize, well you know, tough beans. Focus on the bigger problem. Focus on the Myanmar

government.

By the way, Myanmar is suffering. You know, tourism is down. If you want to stay in Yangon, hotel prices are half of what they were before. You

know, what's really--

LU STOUT: Very nuanced stories, multiple repercussions on Myanmar's not just international stand but economy as you point out. You mentioned the

possibility of doing a follow-up film, you know, just the story of Aung San Suu Kyi. Introduce at that--

LIEBERMAN: That was a joke.

LU STOUT: We thank you for that and for sharing your thoughts with us about her. And I hope to talk again soon. Robert Lieberman joining us

live.

LIEBERMAN: Right. Bur you know, what this is?

LU STOUT: What was that?

LIEBERMAN: Can I continue? You know what this really is? This is tribalism essentially. It's something that's occurring all around the

world. It's, you know, leadership splitting people. You're even seeing it in the United States, this kind of tribalism.

And there's hate speech coming out of -- you know, out of Myanmar particularly there's a leading monk who has said something to effect

lecturing the military that you know, these Muslims are not you know, quite real people. And so this is a worldwide phenomenon.

LU STOUT: Absolutely, and it is precisely because you point out, that tribalism that's taken place, that it's not just the issue with the

military or Aung San Suu Kyi, but entire nation almost is in denial over what's happening to the Rohingya.

Unfortunately, sir, we're going to have to leave it that. Robert Lieberman reporting or joining us live from New York. Thank you so much. Take Care.

Now turning to the growing feud over that infamous Nunes memo, that alleges surveillance abuses by the FBI. The White House is trying to figure out

how and when to make it public.

Our sources say, that could happen as early as today. But the FBI has grave concerns about the mission that says in fact the memo's accuracy,

that rare public criticism is pitting the president against the new FBI director.

Now let's get more now from CNN's Abby Phillip. She joins us now from Washington. Abby, the memo is there at the White House, but when is it

going to go public?

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning. Yes, here in Washington, all eyes are on the White House today. We have heard from

sources that White House still plans to release this memo as early as today.

But that is despite, as you pointed out, the president's own FBI and Justice Department being opposed to the release of this memo. The

president has the decision in his hands even as drama broke out overnight.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIP: The ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, Adam Schiff, accusing GOP chairman, Devin Nunes of sending a secretly altered

version of his partisan memo, to the White House which alleges FBI surveillance abuses.

REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D), CALIFORNIA: This not about the facts, this is about narrative that the chairman wants to putout, misleading narrative, to

undermine the FBI, undermine the department and ultimately undermine Bob Mueller.

PHILLIP: Schiff writing in a letter to Nunes, that the changes were materially different than the version the committee approved, demanding

that Nunes immediately withdraw the document.

A Nunes spokesman acknowledging the changes, but calling them minor edits and dismissing Schiff's accusation as a strange attempt to thwart the

publication of the memo, the back and fourth unfolding a mid speculation about whether Nunes' staff coordinated with the White House on the

controversial memo.

REP. MIKE QUIGLEY (D), ILLINOIS: I asked the chairman, did he work with and I asked all the preliminaries, you know, coordinate, discuss, and he

said, not to my knowledge and I asked him, did your staff. And then he became quite agitated and said, I'm not answering that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did Devin Nunes work with anybody in the White House on that memo?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not that I know of.

PHILLIP: Nunes, was a member of Trump's transition team. And last spring, he was forced to temporarily step aside from his committee's Russia probe

amid an ethics investigation.

After rushing to the White House to discuss intelligence related to the probe, Nunes was eventually cleared, the memo setting up an unprecedented

showdown between the president and his hand-picked FBI director, Christopher Wray.

The FBI releasing a rare statement asserting that they have grave concerns about the material omissions of fact that fundamentally impact the memo's

accuracy.

It comes after the Justice Department warned last week that it would be extraordinarily reckless to release the memo without agency review.

President Trump's chief of staff is downplaying the concerns.

JOHN KELLY, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: It will be released here pretty quick I think. And the whole world can see it. $

PHILLIP: After Mr. Trump was captured an open mic Tuesday night saying this before even reading the memo.

REP. JEFF DUNCAN (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: Release the memo?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Don't worry, 100 percent.

PHILLIP: A source tells CNN, the White House may release the memo as early as today, possibly with some reductions. But it's not clear that would

address the FBI's concerns about the memo being incomplete.

And another major bombshell in the Russia investigation, the New York Times, reports that Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigators have

informed the president that they want to talk to him about the now-infamous statement written aboard Air Force One defending the Trump Tower meeting

between his campaign and Russians in 2016.

[08:15:08] The Times reports that Mark Corallo, a former spokesperson for the Trump legal team plans to tell Mueller that the White House

communications director Hope Hicks said on a conference call that Don Jr.'s emails about the Russians, promising dirt on Hillary Clinton, quote, will

never get out.

Leaving Corallo concerned that Hicks could be contemplating obstructing justice. Hicks' lawyer adamantly denying that she said that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIP: Now, Kristi, all of this is unfolding as CNN is also learning on the Russia probe that in December, President Trump had a meeting with the

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, where he reportedly asked Rosenstein if he was on his team.

Now Rosenstein testified before Congress saying that no one has ever asked him to take a loyalty pledge and this new reporting seems to contradict

that.

LU STOUT: Abby Phillip, reporting live from the White House. Thank you. And now to a growing concern abroad about vacancies at key U.S. diplomatic

posts, one year into the Trump presidency and there are still no ambassadors in some pretty critical places. Nic Robertson looks at the

impact this is having on U.S. standing across the world.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: From Belgium to Belize, South Korea to South Africa, President Trump has a problem. His embassies have no

ambassador. Nearly 40 posts vacant with around 30 still awaiting a nominee, meaning one in every five ambassadorial posts is unfilled.

A quick scroll down of the State Department home page for senior State Department officials shows us similarly scanty covering of key positions,

six of the top nine positions vacant.

Trump is a year into his presidency and has a third of fewer ambassadorial nominations in his predecessor Obama over the same timeframe. On Capitol

Hill, alarm bells are ringing.

BEN CARDIN, (D) UNITED STATES SENATOR: The Foreign Service is being hollowed out with a significantly lower number in the incoming classes,

putting at risk the next generation of leaders.

ROBERTSON: But Trump has an answer on foreign policy, only his opinion counts.

TRUMP: We don't need all the people that they want.

ROBERTSON: And during his State of the Union speech, Trump doubled down. No problem here.

TRUMP: As we rebuild America's strength and confidence at home, we are also restoring our strength and standing abroad.

ROBERTSON: At the European Union, an institution Trump criticizes, they would beg to differ. There is frustration they've been without an American

ambassador for a year. The E.U. represents over 500 million people and opposes Trump on some of his top topics, trade and Iran.

But it's in the Middle East where U.S. overseas policy seems most collectively exposed, Turkey, Jordan, Egypt, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, all

without ambassadors.

Secretary of State Tillerson meeting this week with his Qatari counterpart, saying he was as concerned now as he was six months ago that the tiny Gulf

nation's rift with regional rival Saudi Arabia.

In public remarks, Tillerson has acknowledged persistent vacancies. Some of the blame he insists lies with the Senate who are responsible for

confirming the president's nominees.

But opponents of the administration insist the problem is mismanagement at every level of the department from career officials being cut from policy

decisions to failing to fill important vacancies.

SEN. BEN CARDIN (D), MARYLAND: The foreign relations committee has promptly processed the vast majority of nominees and only a handful are

currently awaiting a Senate vote. We cannot confirm nominees who have not been nominated.

ROBERTSON: Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright has been scathing in an editorial, if the U.S. military were facing a recruitment in

retention crisis of this magnitude few would hesitate to call it a national security emergency.

Adding that, while it saddens me to criticize one of my successors, I have to speak out because the stakes are so high. Stakes that put American

lives on the line.

Turkish new Syria offensive potentially adding to risks to U.S. forces nearby. Ambassadors are no indemnity against misfortune, but they can

improve the odds. Nic Robertson, CNN, Abu Dhabi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: You're watching News Stream. And still to come, that TV station blackout in Kenya while the government shutdown its main broadcasters after

the mock swearing in of opposition leader Raila Odinga.

[08:20:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Coming to you live from Hong Kong, welcome back. This is News Stream. A Kenyan high court has suspended a government shutdown of three

television channels saying that they should be back on the air.

But the government has released this statement saying they will remain shut until further notice. The government closed the stations, they broadcast a

mock swearing ceremonial stage by opposition leader Raila Odinga. President Uhuru Kenyatta had promised to shutdown any media that broadcast

the event.

The CNN Freedom Project has worked to exposed modern-day slavery across the world. And today, we take a look at Jordan, a country with more than

70,000 migrant domestic workers, many of them, victims of abuse and human trafficking.

And one woman is fighting for their rights in giving them voice in court. Now, a warning, some of you may find the following report disturbing.

CNN's Jomana Karadsheh tells us more about this inspiring Jordanian activist and her organization's powerful work.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's a chilling and disturbing video that embodies the suffering of many domestic workers in the Middle East.

You will die. You will die, this Jordanian recruitment agency employee tells the Bangladeshi housemate.

Ignoring her desperate seat for him to stop and this man was jailed after the video circulated. She returned to Bangladesh. Cases of abuse, forced

labor and domestic servitude are common in Jordan.

Right groups have documented cases where domestic workers are deprived of food, medical treatment and lock in the house by employers who expected

them to work 16 hours a day, some 20 hours, seven days a week.

But some in Jordan are trying to change this. In 2010, Linda Al-Kalash, received a State Department's trafficking and persons hero award of her

efforts to combat modern day slavery in Jordan.

The organization she founded on 2007, Tamkeen for legal aid broke new grounds using the legal system to pursue the rights of migrant workers.

With her team of lawyers, Al-Kalash took employers to court for abuses and labor violations. Tamkeen, which means empowerment in Arabic, has become

the first call for help for many migrant workers.

LINDA AL-KALASH, FOUNDER, TAMKEEN: You feel that these people, they're afraid from everything, from anybody. And in the beginning, it was very

difficult to deal with the government, with the recruitment agency, with the employer themselves.

[08:25:00] They don't accept that anybody defend domestic workers.

KARADSHEH: Al-Kalash says things have change in recent years. She now works closely with the country's anti-trafficking unit and provides

training to its members.

Al-Kalash does not shy away from speaking her mind in a room full of members of the securities services. Colonel Haider Al-Shboul has the unit

that has investigated hundreds of cases since it was established by the government in 2013.

HAIDER AL-SHBOUL, HEAD, JORDANIAN ANTI-TRAFFICKING UNIT (through a translator): What, Linda, is talking about cannot be implemented

overnight. There are beliefs that need to be changed, that includes those of lawyers, public prosecutors and judges, and they are the one who's deal

with these cases.

KARADSHEH: According to the 2017 state department trafficking and persons report, Jordan remains a tier two country as it, quote, does not fully meet

the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, however, it is making significant efforts to do so.

One effort gaining Jordan praise, is the opening of the shelter, Dar Al Karama (ph) is the first government run facility for victims of human

trafficking. Officials say Jordan is making great efforts, striving to become a tier one country.

SUZAN KHASHBAY, MINORITY OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT (through a translator): Dar Al Karama (ph) is considered the first step in the response to the victims

of human trafficking, by providing them with a safe space will all support services. That enables the human trafficking victim to begin psychological

and physical rehabilitation.

KARADSHEH: Jordan has also been working on passing amendments to its anti- human trafficking law and the penal code to strengthen sentences for trafficking violations. But for Al-Kalash, changing perceptions and

attitudes within the society is key.

AL-KALASH: It's very important to go to the court. Why? Because it will be good lesson for employers to see that they are human. They have rights.

They can have lawyer. They can go to the court.

KARADSHEH: Al-Kalash says she will never stop fighting for the rights of migrant workers trying to change their situation one case at a time.

Jomanah Karadsheh, CNN, Amman.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Far more compassion is needed for these migrant workers. Now in part two of the CNN Freedom Project special series on human trafficking in

Jordan, Jomana Karadsheh brings us the heroin story of a survivor of domestic servitude.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KARADSHEH: Almada (ph) left a life for poverty and farming in the Philippines she says for the promise of a $500 a month salary as a domestic

worker in Jordan.

Almada (ph) said she was trapped in the hell of a foreign country she didn't know, working 17 hours a day in a remote town near the Syrian

border.

She knew that her rights were take from her. But she was afraid of going outside. Afraid no one will help her and that her life would be in danger.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: More on her experience, how she reclaimed her rights, this time tomorrow, only on CNN. The March 14th is the second annual My Freedom Day,

and CNN is partnering with young people around the world for the student- led day of action against modern-day slavery.

And driving My Freedom Day is a simple question -- what does freedom mean to you? We want to hear what freedom means to you as well. Just post a

photo or video using the hashtag, My Freedom Day. You are watching News Stream. The news continues after this.

(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.

It could take 19 years to return the 800,000 refugees from Bangladesh to their homes in Myanmar. That is according to the U.N. They fled persecution

last summer from Myanmar's Rakhine Province.

Sources tell CNN a republican memo alleging surveillance abuses by the FBI could be released later on Thursday, but a Democrat says that Devin Nunes,

the House Intelligence Committee chair, made changes to the memo before he sent it to the White House. Adam Schiff says the memo must be withdrawn

immediately.

Japan is defending retailer Muji in its fight with China. Reports say Beijing has ordered Muji to destroy a catalog which it says leaves out some

disputed islands. Muji joins a string of companies including fashion brand Zara that Beijing has criticized over its territorial claims.

Australia is trying to find out how years of government secrets ended up being sold in the second-hand furniture store. Thousands of files spanning

five governments were found. Australian Broadcasting Corporation calls the discovery one of the biggest breaches of cabinet security in Australian

history.

Years of petition and protests by conservationists have finally paid off. The Hong Kong lawmakers have voted almost unanimously to ban ivory sales by

the year 2021. British Prime Minister Theresa May is in China, and she just announced joint efforts to tackle the ivory trade as well. Here's a look

at how this ban actually targets the poachers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT (voice over): Over seven tons of illegal ivory, uncovered by police in Hong Kong last year, and one of the biggest bust in history.

These trophies from wild elephants hunted and slaughtered in Africa can fetch up to $1500 per pound in Hong Kong, making ivory more valuable than

gold.

But buying and selling ivory products has never actually been illegal here, as long as it was hunted before 1990. Until this week. On Wednesday,

lawmakers in the semi-autonomous Chinese city voted almost unanimously to close the world's biggest ivory market, a victory for long-time campaigners

like WildAid.

ALEX HOFFORD, CONSERVATION PHOTOJOURNALIST, WILDAID: Any ivory coming into Hong Kong or going out of Hong Kong is by definition illegal. Because up

until now, there has been all this confusion of paperwork and is it legal, is not illegal. So now, that removes that. So that's really important.

LU STOUT (voice over): Ninety-percent of ivory sold in Hong Kong is bought by shoppers from mainland China where sales were banned last year. Having

above board trade in Hong Kong has provided a cover for illegal imports and exports, and helped to fill the illegal killing of as many as 30,000

African elephants per year.

Ivory carvers worry that a traditional craft will be lost as ivory used for products from piano keys to chopsticks is banned. But businesses like these

that trade in pre-1990 imported ivory products have a three-year grace period until their current licenses expire.

But what grace period exists for the elephants? With three years left for the legal trade in ivory to encourage illegal poaching, does the endangered

species have that long?

HOFFORD: In certain parts of Africa, it's very unstable. There's wars, there's poverty, there's corruption. It's a very, very serious situation.

This wildlife is still getting poached at alarmingly high rates.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And this is a big victory for the elephants. Conservationist hope the ban will force ivory prices down, eventually making it

unprofitable to poach wild elephants and to traffic their ivory.

Now, a surprising court decision could affect Russia's participation in the Pyeongchang Olympics next week. The court arbitration for sport is

overturning the lifetime Olympic ban of some 28 Russian athletes.

That means their wins in the 2014 Sochi Games are reinstated and they could ask to join in the Pyeongchang Games. Eleven other athletes and their bans

partially lifted.

The IOC had sanctioned the athletes over allegations of state-sponsored doping at the Sochi Games. It says it's satisfied and disappointed by the

court's ruling.

Meanwhile, another headline moment for the Pyeongchang Games, North Korea's last few athletes have arrived. As a result of the inter-Korean talks,

they'll be marching with their South Korean counterparts under one unified flag at the opening ceremony. "World Sport" will have much more on this

historic moment as well as the reaction to the CAS (ph) decision in a few minutes from now.

[08:35:00] In 2017, Nintendo announced a profit of over $1 billion U.S., its most profitable year since 2010. Now, it's bringing one of its most

iconic figures to the big screen. Sherisse Pham has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHERISSE PHAM, CNN TECH AND BUSINESS REPORTER: Super Mario is coming back to the big screen.

(voice over): Nintendo announcing an animated movie starring its lovable plumber is in the works. Nintendo teamed up with Illumination on the

project.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice over): Holy Moly!

PHAM (voice over): That's the U.S. company behind "Despicable Me" and the "Minions" movie. So it got a good track record of turning budget cartoon

character into for box office gold.

Mario is a reliable money-making franchise for Nintendo. He was the go-to guy for Nintendo's launch into mobile gaming. The Super Mario games are the

top-selling titles for Nintendo's popular switch console. He even stole the show at the Rio Olympics closing ceremony.

But Mario's previous run in Hollywood was at the bathroom. Critics panned the live action movie and it had a 15 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

This time around, a Super Mario film will be tapping into Hollywood's appetite for reliable franchises like "Harry Potter" and "Star Wars."

PHAM: Fans will have to wait for more details though. Nintendo and Illumination staying mum for now on a release date.

Sherisse Pham, CNN, Hong Kong.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Facebook users are spending less time on the social media platform, five percent less in the past quarter. That's according to CEO

Mark Zuckerberg. He says the decline came after Facebook decided to show fewer viral videos.

The social media giant has rattled investors in recent months with the series of announcements in response to the platform's role in enabling fake

news and for meddling in the U.S. election.

This is "News Stream." Up next, fresh cup of coffee and long walks on the beach. That winning combination makes one city in South Korea the place for

coffee lovers. We are going to take you there, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: All right, coming to you live from Hong Kong, welcome back, this is "News Stream."

Now, many people look forward to forward to starting their day with that fresh cup of coffee. In one South Korean city, residents' love affair with

coffee is undeniable. Isa Soares takes us for a walk along the beach to learn about the city's history with coffee.

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ISA SOARES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Anmok Beach on the windswept east coast of South Korea. Visitors both feathered and furred are here to enjoy the

winter surf. Along the sandy stretch of the city of Gangneung, brews an unlikely love affair.

YI JONG-DUCK, DIRECTOR, GANGNEUNG CULTURE AND ARTS FOUNDATION (through translator): In the 80s and 90s, young lovers would come to the secluded

beach and buy coffee from the vending machine here. They would hold hands, drink coffee, and that's how romantic coffee culture was born in Gangneung.

SOARES (voice over): Yi Jong-duck heads up the Gangneung Culture and Arts Foundation. He says that the beach's image as a hot spot for dates soon

attracted (INAUDIBLE) coffee shops and groceries (ph). Fifty, by his estimation, in this area alone.

[08:40:00] Ask anyone to point out the man responsible for Gangneung's java boom (ph), and they might tell you to meet Kim Yong-duek for some

single (ph) origin hundred (ph) coffee at his all-in-one factory, Terarosa.

KIM YONG-DUEK, CEO, TERAROSA (through translator): When I first started in the coffee business, there weren't so many coffee shops in Gangneung. Just

vending machine coffee was back then. I was shocked by how behind Korea's coffee culture was compared with other countries.

SOARES (voice over): A former bank head, Kim says it's part of his mission to spread the word on specialty coffee. With branches across South Korea,

from Seoul to Busan, the home-grown brand is expanding overseas as well.

But Kim says he wants the flagship location right here in Gangneung to leave the biggest impression.

YONG-DUEK (through translator): For travelers today, sightseeing is obviously important, but it's also the things like the food you eat and the

coffee you enjoy that give you true happiness. I want people to form an attachment with Gangneung and remember that the coffee there was really

nice and there was something amazing in it (ph).

SOARES (voice over); In the Korean city of coffee, cold brews and lattes are perky up for sleepy seaside town. And adding a bit of romance to it as

well.

Isa Soares, CNN.

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LU STOUT: And join us tomorrow as we get out on to the ice in one of South Korea's most beloved winter time activities. And do not forget to follow

CNNVision on Instagram for more on our coverage of Gangneung Province as well as other stories.

That is "News Stream." I'm Kristie Lu Stout, but don't go anywhere, "World Sport" with Rhiannon Jones is next.

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