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NEWS STREAM
Remembering Lives Out Short In Florida Shooting; Ramaphosa Tells CNN: It's A New Era For South Africa; Munich Security Conference Opens; Body Of Worker Returned To Philippines From Kuwait; Indonesian Migrant Worker Dead After Abuse, Activists Call for Protection; World Headlines; Lunar New Year; Pyeongchang 2018. Aired at 8-9a ET
Aired February 16, 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: Community mourns as they remember the victims of Florida's school shooting. Hope for a new era in South Africa as the new president
takes over, his State of the Union in a few hours. And arrests over migrant abuse, we follow up on cases in the Philippines and Malaysia, and
speak to a victim turned activists.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: We begin with a community in mourning, a nation in disbelief after 19-year-old former student admitted to the horrific school shooting
in Florida.
We are learning more about the 17 victims who include a star high school swimmer, a student who had volunteered after hurricane Irma and a Chinese-
American boy whose family should be celebrating the Lunar New Year. Rosa Flores, share some of the tragic stories for us now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want you to know that you're not alone in your grief. We're all grieving with you. The entire country is grieving with you.
ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A sea of candlelight flooding an outdoor park as thousands gathered to remember the 17 lives lost in Wednesday's
massacre.
FRED GUTTENBERG, JAIME GUTTENBERG'S FATHER: I sent her to school yesterday. She was supposed to be safe. My job is to protect my children.
Don't tell me there's no such thing as gun violence. It happened in Parkland!
FLORES: Parents holding their children close as students and friends reunited. But in the wake of the tragedy, many are turning their grief
into calls to action.
ISABELLE ROBINSON, STUDENT WHO SURVIVED MASSACRE: This shouldn't be a fight between two different parties. This should be a coming together
where we all realize that something is wrong.
CARLY NOVELL, STUDENT WHO SURVIVED MASSACRE: This happens over and over again. And people are dying, and it, like -- it seems like it doesn't
matter. Because, like, what are thoughts and prayers going to do when people are already dead?
FLORES: As this community looks to move forward, authorities are digging deeper into the killer's past. New documents obtained by CNN show that
police visited the killer's family home 39 times since 2010, for calls including domestic disturbance and mentally ill person.
BRODY SPENO, SHOOTER'S FORMER NEIGHBOR: The police were here almost every other week, like, that's kind of how we knew he moved because, like, police
stopped showing up there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Really?
SPENO: Yes. He was always -- like always getting in trouble. He was, like, an evil kid.
FLORES: Investigators are piecing together a disturbing portrait of the killer's fascination with guns. A former neighbor took this video, shot a
few months ago, showing the killer in his backyard brandishing a gun.
Authorities also discovering these disturbing images on a second Instagram account, showing the killer wearing a mask and a, Make America Great Again,
hat. In one picture, an arsenal of firearms are displayed on his bed, another taken through the scope of a gun.
The killer also espoused extremist views and violent desires online, writing on a video from Antifa, the controversial protest group, quote, F
Antifa. I'm going to kill them in the future.
But it was this post that prompted a Mississippi YouTube user to alert the FBI, quote, I'm going to be a professional school shooter.
BEN BENNIGHT, CONTACTED FBI ABOUT SHOOTER'S POST: I found that post disturbing enough that I thought somebody needed to know about it.
FLORES: The FBI says they followed up on the lead but did not have enough information to confirm the user's identity. In his first court appearance
Thursday, the killer was charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder.
Police say he has since confessed to carrying out the attack and is now on suicide watch. His public defender telling the press that the killer has
suffered from mental illness for years.
MELISA MCNEILL, SHOOTER'S PUBLIC DEFENDER: He's sad. He's mournful. He's remorseful. He is fully aware at what is going on. And he's just a broken
human being.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: That was CNN's Rosa Flores reporting there. Now U.S. President Donald Trump plans to travel to Florida to meet families, survivors and
local officials but there is no word yet on when.
And for some, actions need to speak louder than words like the mother 14- year-old Alyssa Alhadeff. Listen to what she said in her own heartbreaking words.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LORI ALHADEFF, DAUGHTER KILLED IN SCHOOL MASSACRE: How -- how do we allow a gunman to come into our children's school? How do they get through
security? What security is there?
There are no metal detectors. The gunman, a crazy person, just walks right into the school, knocks down the window of my child's door and starts
shooting.
[08:05:07] Shooting her and killing her! President Trump, you say what can you do? You can stop the guns from getting into the children's hands. Put
metal detectors at every entrance to the schools. What can you do? You can do a lot!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: Heartbreaking and harrowing call for action from Lori Alhadeff whose daughter was killed in the attack. Right now, South Africa is
waiting on its new president to deliver his first State of the Union Address.
Cyril Ramaphosa, he took the reins on Thursday, less than 24 hours after Jacob Zuma use it to pressure to step down. Mr. Ramaphosa says he will act
as a servant of the people but can he bring about a fresh art. Now let's bring in CNN's David McKenzie for more on this. And, David, how ready is
Ramaphosa to lead South Africa?
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kristie, he's been preparing this job his whole -- for this job his whole life. You know, this is the red
carpet behind me.
The State of the Nation is a kind of combination a presidential address and an Oscar's premier party. In a way, everyone will be wandering down here
in a couple of hours to cheer Cyril Ramaphosa give his first formal speech as president. Earlier today, I had a brief exchange with South Africa's
new leader.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCKENZIE: President Ramaphosa, CNN, how do you feel about today?
CYRIL RAMAPHOSA, SOUTH AFRICAN PRESIDENT: I don't know yet. I'm looking forward to this, so I will see it as it happens. But it's great excitement
in the whole country.
MCKENZIE: Is it a new day for South Africa?
RAMAPHOSA: A new era for South Africa. But we'll hear all about it in the evening.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCKENZIE: He's had an extraordinary route to the presidency. It's been a dramatic few weeks here in South Africa and let's take a look at just how
this man reached to this position.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MCKENZIE: The room packed with parliamentarians with last-minute invites. Cyril Ramaphosa...
RAMAPHOSA: So help me God.
MCKENZIE: ... sworn in as the next president of South Africa after a late- night resignation from his scandal-plagued predecessor.
RAMAPHOSA: I do believe that when one is elected in this type of position, you basically become a servant of the people of South Africa.
MCKENZIE: Relief and celebration for many in the ruling party who say this hastily organized ceremony was, in fact, a long time coming.
JACKSON MTHEMBU, ANC CHIEF WHIP: This man who for his entirety of his life has fought for the freedom of the people of this country.
MCKENZIE: A union organizer during apartheid and a protege of Nelson Mandela, he was on the fast track to becoming president. Ramaphosa became
the ANC's chief negotiator with the outgoing racist regime with a reputation of being tough, but fair.
RAMAPHOSA: The regime is determined to block any advance to democracy.
MCKENZIE: But when it came time to step down, Mandela pressured by the ANC chose another successor. Ramaphosa left government for business, becoming
one of the richest men in South Africa.
Those business ties came into question in 2012, when police brutally killed scores of striking miners at the platinum mine near Marikana. He was a
board member of a company that owned the mine.
RAMAPHOSA: The responsibility has to be collective, and as a nation, we should dip our heads and accept that we did fail the people of Marikana,
particularly the families and the workers and those who died.
MCKENZIE: He was fear of wrong doing. And by the time he re-entered politics as deputy president, many hoped he could drive the country
forward.
Instead, under the leadership of Jacob Zuma, the country faltered and entering a recession, and through Zuma's multiple scandals, court
challenges and street demonstrations like many in the ruling ANC, the once vocal Ramaphosa stayed silent.
RAMAPHOSA: South Africa must come first in everything that we do.
MCKENZIE: Now not just a party leader but the country's new president. Ramaphosa must convince South Africa, he is the leader it desperately need.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MCKENZIE: Now, Kristie, Ramaphosa has manage to keep some daylight between him and former President Zuma. The question is what will happen to Zuma?
[08:10:07] There have been moves by the Hawks, the elite crime fighting unit in South Africa to rarely respond to allegations of corruption.
Several people have been arrested, had appearances in court and millions of dollars have been seized by the asset forfeiture unit. He will have to
make in his address later today a clear statement that he'll go after that graft to convince South Africans this could be a now dispensation.
Kristie.
LU STOUT: Dave McKenzie live for us from Cape Town. We thank you for your reporting. The U.S. and Turkey say that they're taking steps to defuse
rising tensions.
THE U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson Rex Tillerson met with his Turkish counterpart in Ankara on Friday. The relationship with the NATO
allies has been strained because of support for U.S. support for a Kurdish militia in Syria which Turkey considers a terror group. But Tillerson say
to Washington, Ankara are determined to work together to defeat ISIS.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REX TILLERSON, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We find ourselves at a bit of a crisis point in the relationship, and we can go back and revisit how we got
here but we don't think that's useful. We've decided and President Erdogan decided last night, we needed to talk about how do we go forward.
The relationship is too important. It's too valuable to NATO and our NATO allies. It's too valuable to the American people. It's too valuable to
the Turkish people for us to not do anything other than concentrate on how are we going forward.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: Tillerson met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday but he broke protocol by not using a translator, and now, to the
annual security conference opening today in Munich, Germany.
There is added significance year as delegates ponder North Korea's nuclear program, and relations with Russia and its ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and
Syria. Now CNN international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson is in Munich and he joins us now for more on the story.
And, Nic, it's quite a gathering there. You've got the U.S. defense chief there, James Mattis, as well as the foreign ministers of Russia, Iran,
Turkey, the Israeli leader also at this conference. But are they going to sit down and talk about Syria?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Syria undoubtedly will come onto the agenda. It's broadly based over this three days, Friday, Saturday, Sunday
and into sort of three larger topics. European security cooperation is going to be part of the topics under discussion today.
We hear from the French foreign minister -- German foreign minister here as well. On Saturday, you'll hear from British Prime Minister Theresa May
giving an important speech for her about Brexit and about security cooperation.
We'll also on Saturday have discussions on the issue of security in North Africa. How that affects Europe's security in central and Eastern Europe
will be the topic.
And on Sunday, the discussion or the main focus will be about political tensions in the gulf. The Iranian foreign minister will speak, the Saudi
foreign minister will speak. And as you said, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is here.
The English prime minister is here. The Turkish prime minister is here. Well, the British prime minister is here. The Turkish prime minister is
here. The French prime minister will be here. The Emir of Qatar is here.
Jen Stoltenberg, the Secretary General of NATO is here. The secretary general of the U.N. is here as well. So there are a lot of big names here
and a lot of important topics to discuss.
But when it comes to issues like Syria, and I was talking with the U.S. secretary general earlier today about Syria, about the escalation of
violence there, he is very worried about Israel's confrontation with Iran right and over Syria, and he feels that could spark a crisis.
He is very concerned about that specifically was meeting with the prime minister about that and other issues. But will everyone here really sit
around a table and hammer out a way forward over Syria. No, that doesn't happen here.
These are sort of big, broad-base discussions perhaps behind the scenes you get a little more of the hard talk that's not on the stage here per se,
Kristie.
LU STOUT: Yes, another high-profile leader, the U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres also been in the Munich security conference. And you
asked him about sexual harassment and the Me Too movement. What did he tell you?
ROBERTSON: Sure. I was talking about the revelations we've learned about the sexual abuse scandal from Oxfam about how he views that from the United
Nations, how serious heat considers this issue within the U.N. umbrella. This is what he told me.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTONIO GUTERRES, U.N. SECRETARY GENERAL: Of course, they're not acceptable at all. No form of sexual harassment, or sexual abuse is
acceptable.
I think we need to be fully aware that this is a serious problem, that is everywhere, in public administrations, in the private sector, in
international organizations like the U.N., in civil society, nongovernmental organizations. There is a central question. We see a male
dominated culture in a male dominated world.
[08:15:00] And so these things happen and people are afraid to come out, to speak out, to denounce. So we need to do everything possible to change
this culture.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTSON: Well, I also asked him about the abuses that are on the record in U.N. reports of U.N. peacekeepers perpetrating sexual abuse against
women in the countries where they have been supposed to be looking after people.
He said again that this is an important issue to tackle. He said that the nations whose troops are engaged in those kinds of illegal activities will
be prosecuted by their countries but his view of how to address this broader issue of sexual attacks on women under the U.N. and aid umbrella
and he says he wants parity.
But he wants to have women in equal numbers in the field and at U.N. headquarters, equal numbers to men. This is the way he views how the U.N.
should proceed.
I put it to him that the U.N. wouldn't be very good policeman for themselves because the ingrain nature of the abuse has been going on within
the United Nations.
He said that he believed that they were heading on the right track, he said that he wants to see an end of it and he sounded very much determined to
make difference on this big, important issue.
LU STOUT: Very, very encouraging to hear and the U.N. chief say he's very determined to work on this issue, to embrace the Me Too movement, so given
the disturbing allegations of sexual exploitation in the aid sector. Nic Robertson reporting live for us from Munich. Thank you. You're watching
News Stream.
Still to come, we're going to take a look at the widespread problem of abuse of domestic helpers as the body of a Filipino made is sent home,
killed while working in Kuwait. We'll hear from her family, next.
And we'll hear from an advocate for migrant workers who says governments around the world must do more to protect domestic workers from horrendous
abuse.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LU STOUT: Coming to you live from Hong Kong. Welcome back. You're watching News Stream. As part of the CNN Freedom Project focus on cracking
down on modern day slavery, we're following the horrific death of a Filipino worker in Kuwait.
Her body was returned to manila in this emotional scene. Authorities say that she was stuffed inside her employer's freezer and kept there for
possibly as long as a year.
On the Philippines, President Rodrigo Duterte has promised to protect citizens working abroad. He has ordered a ban on sending workers overseas
to Kuwait.
Thousands of workers in the Philippines have been repatriated from Kuwait. Alexandra Field spoke to the family of the murdered woman and she joins us
now live from Manila. And, Alex, what more have you learned about Joanna Demafelis, about the life she lived and how she supported her family.
[08:20:07] ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Look, this was a woman who was full of hope. That's why she went to Kuwait. But her family doesn't
know much about what happened after she got there. There are preliminary autopsy reports now that show that her body had signs of intern bleeding.
There were broken ribs. There were bruises. Investigators say that's consistent with repeated abuse, not just a single beating. But that's most
of all that the family knows at this point. Investigators say there are still trying to track down the principal suspects in her murder.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FIELD: Joanna Demafelis was the kind of daughter who wanted to give her parents a better future. But when she left her home here in the
Philippines, she to try to do that, her mother tells me.
"She delivered herself to her death." Joanna's body has returned home but with little explanation about what happened after she left. The family
heard from her for the last time in 2016.
Her father says -- "when she last contacted us, she said she was fine. That was it." Authorities now say her body had been in a freezer for up to
a year, kept in the home where she had gone to work in Kuwait.
Her mother explains what the autopsy shows. "Her arms were broken and she had many bruises and her waist and sides, looked like they were kicked.
And they saw her body was bent forward, crouched like this."
That's all they know about how their 29-year-old daughter died so far from home. Joanna grew up here near these rice fields. In 2013, typhoon Haiyan
came through and destroyed everything. It flattened her family's entire home.
She decided that in order to help her parents rebuild, she had to find a job that will pay her more money. The only way to do that she thought was
to leave the Philippines.
The money she sent back here helped the family build a new house and put her sister through school. Her mother says, she still had many dreams for
us, to helps get out of poverty. She had so many hopes.
Joanna's death has triggered the sudden return to the Philippines of thousands of women who set out on a similar journey to Kuwait.
Philippines' President Rodrigo Duterte offered them a free flight home and a steady flight. We speak to some of the women who have returned to
Manila. What was your life like in Kuwait? How did your employers treat you?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're not treating the Filipino -- no dignity, you know. No dignity. We seem like animals. Yes, over working, no sleeping,
like that. No food.
FIELD: Michelle Gadoy (ph) ran away from her employer's home. Judy Ibaho (ph) she was hit and touched inappropriately. She ran away, too. Without
the sponsorship of their employers, they were living illegally in Kuwait and looking for other jobs.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's very hard, scared. We are not secure, especially outside. Not secure.
FIELD: The program to return the women home comes with a guaranteed amnesty from Kuwait for over staying their visas. Now that they're here,
some of the women say they still hope to return to Kuwait, legally. It's money they need.
Officials in Kuwait say they're sharing information with Filipino authorities on the investigation into Joanna's death. They insist that the
nearly 200,000 Filipinos living there have a decent life.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FIELD: And, Kristie, you could hear some of those women. You could here the fear in their voices when they talked about the difficult conditions
that they endured with some of their former employers in Kuwait.
But they expressed the same amount of fear about their future in the Philippines. Although many of them say that they want to stay here, they
did talk to me lot about not knowing how they would make ends here.
How would they ever find jobs here that would afford them the kind of opportunities that they were able to provide their families with based on
those salaries that they were earning from overseas. It is still a tough spot even for them to come home to.
LU STOUT: Yes, and it was also just both heartbreaking and chilling to see the way they reacted when you asked them the question, what were their
working conditions like when they were overseas in Kuwait.
Their president -- the president of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte, he has ordered this ban on the deployment of overseas foreign workers to the
Philippines. That's why we've seen the employees return back to the Philippines from Kuwait. He has pledged to crack down hard and to protect
these workers overseas. Will he be able to do that?
[08:25:00] FIELD: Yes, this was certainly a dramatic stand that the president spoke about. He used some very language when he talked about
bringing these workers and these women home.
A lot of them actually said to me that they were incredibly grateful, deeply grateful to the president for instituting and implementing this
program, for allowing them these free tickets and bringing them back to this country.
But the ones who did talk about wanting to return to Kuwait in the future expressed hope that would some day be a possibility for them to return
legally. They are hopeful that the conversation, the dialogue between these two countries will lead to improved conditions.
And we have seen some of that dialogue getting under way. The foreign secretary of the Philippines has spoken to the Kuwaiti ambassador to the
Philippines. They have talked about the program.
They've been talking also not just about the investigation into Joanna's case, sharing information on that part, but talking about way to improve
conditions for the workers who still live overseas.
You've got a population of some 200,000 Filipinos who are currently working in Kuwait. But this is a problem that certainly extends well beyond Kuwait
as we well know, Kristie. These are difficult circumstances to monitor because you have got women who are working in these households.
Many of them, if they're being mistreated, don't know how to turn to authorities, and they are afraid to leave their employers to try and get
the help that they might need.
It's one of the things that Joanna's parents highlighted when they spoke to me. They thought she was OK. They had a brief phone call with here in
2016 where she said everything was fine.
They now believe that that phone call was being monitored. They say that they wish that she had been more brave, that she had perhaps had the
courage or the opportunity as it were to seek help if she needed it. Kristie.
LU STOUT: Drastic steps are needed to protect female domestic workers in Kuwait and around the world. Alexandra Field, reporting live for us from
Manila. Thank you so much for your reporting.
Another horrific case of domestic worker abuse is highlighting how widespread this issue is. Migrant CARE told CNN two people have been
arrested in Indonesia after an Indonesian maid died in Malaysia. The 21- year-old worker was forced to sleep outside next to a dog. She died in hospital.
Meanwhile, the employer and her brother are under investigation for suspected murder. Migrant CARE says the body is being sent back to her
family.
Activists are pointing to these deaths in their call for more protection for migrant workers. Now, Eni Lestari, shares the International Migrants
Alliance and she spoke to me about this recent case.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ENI LESTARI, CHAIRPERSON, INTERNATIONAL MIGRANTS ALLIANCE: I feel very angry to -- you know, to witness the situation. I feel very angry to the
employer who intentionally created kind of condition to abuse her.
For whatever reason it is unforgivable, but I'm also angry the government, the Malaysian government, Indonesian government who play very naive and
teach to out reality.
They always say they do not know and they always do not want to make sure that the legal protection is ensure so we can have a proper right, so we
can go out and seek help.
You know, as simples this, if only they will have day off once a week, it will be better for her to seek help outside instead of staying and waiting
for her to die. So that has been in our campaign for a long time, even the International Labor Organization already stipulated that in 2011 through
the new convention organization workers.
But the government do not want to ratify. They don't even want to acknowledge domestic workers has been part of their economic development,
because of us, employer can work, can earn double, they can enjoy their life but yet they don't even treat us like workers.
Ideally now, just the helper who died in Malaysia actually came from very poor area in our community in Indonesia -- the area where it's the highest
ranking of human trafficking. And the poverty has caused young people, sometimes even under age to leave their homeland just to seek a better life
outside.
They know nothing better. They do not know their own rights. They just rely on broker agency to get a job. But beyond that also the fact that our
own government do not create mechanism that will ensure our protection. They leave it to broker, they leave it to private agency to decide.
LU STOUT: The idea of instituting a ban, there is news out earlier this week, Rodrigo Duterte, the leader of the Philippines wants to ban domestic
workers from the Philippines from working in Kuwait because of the death of a domestic worker there.
And a few years ago, Indonesia had put a ban on its women from working in Malaysia because of despicable cases of abuse there. That ban was later
lifted. Do bans work?
LESTARI: No. It doesn't work at all. Malaysia has been and this Indonesian government banning twice or three times already in the past
decades. They have been banning Middle East, for example, but come on, the number of domestic workers, migrant workers are increasing.
[08:30:00] Middle East has been banned for years. And you know, they have the highest number of Indonesia population. More than two million
Indonesians are in the Middle East, only less than 500,000 are documented. So the more you ban, the more number is going up and the more human
trafficking, illegal smuggling, and so on will be increasing.
So practically the ban will only create more vulnerability and create this what we call it illegal channel. And more causing us misery. So ban is not
effective. And we have been telling our government, the only way for you to deal with this situation is to have to talk to this government.
You have to create more legally binding memorandum of agreement where you stipulate our rights. How much our wages? We should have day off. We should
have proper rest. We should have proper food. You should put that in the contract for all domestic workers who are in the city, you know.
Wherever we are, for example, whether you go to Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, for example, make sure before you leave the country, our own country,
you should have a number, at least a number that you can call when you need help. You should have that, because you just do not know what's going to
happen to you. And keep that number properly. A lot of agencies take everything from us, every single paper in our bag --
LU STOUT: Including passports.
LESTARI: Including passports. So make sure that you keep that number in the most safest place that you -- or you try to memorize this number. And
then whenever you have problem, that's the number you have to call for help.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: Concrete guidance there from Eni Lestari with the International Migrants Alliance, and what's needed to stop the abuse of domestic workers.
You're watching "News Stream." We'll be back right after this short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LU STOUT: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. You're watching "News Stream." These are your wold headlines.
A Florida judge has denied bond for a 19-year-old, who police say confessed to one of the deadliest mass shootings in recent U.S. history. Nikolas Cruz
is charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder at a Florida high school. Thousands of mourners gathered for a candlelight vigil on Thursday night to
remember the students and faculty killed.
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says United States and Turkey have the same aims when it comes to Syria, the final defeat of ISIS and other
terrorist groups. Tillerson met Turkey's president and foreign minister in Ankara after weeks of strained relations. Turkey's angry over U.S. support
for Kurdish rebels.
The lunar new year brings on the world's largest human migration. Hundreds of millions of people across the region make the journey home to see family
any way they can. Matt Rivers reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[08:35:00] MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): When we turned up, (INAUDIBLE) was helping to sell a family pig for about
$500, a lot of money for a typical family in rural China. It comes at a good time, gifts for Chinese new year can get expensive.
To set the scene, we are in an extremely poor village in southern China. Most of the year, this place is quiet. Around now, i$ starts to fill back
up. People come home to see family welcomed with open arms as we were at (INAUDIBLE) house. Over some food and lots of non-negotiable homemade rice
liquor, he explained the holiday.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We Chinese have a tradition of family reunion in our hometown. We will return home. You don't really have
a choice.
RIVERS (voice over): So his entire family will soon arrive for a week's worth of eating and drinking and reminiscing. He has got 12 siblings and
the extend family that comes with that, but none can afford to live in a place they grew up.
(on camera) The house is big enough to accommodate the entire family, but the problem is if you live here, you can't make any money, so most of the
family leaves for the bigger cities to try and find work and they usually do.
The one of year they come back to visit is right now, during Chinese new year, and that's why it's so important.
(voice over): Hundreds of millions of Chinese people head home this time each year. Planes, trains, cars, all relatively comfortable, but if you got
no money, a rickety motorbike will have to do.
We saw thousands of bikes over two days out of Guangzhou. Riders outfitted for trips that can last for a day or more.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If I had more money, I will take a train. This trip is exhausting.
RIVERS (voice over): We drove along the route for hours. There are rest stops that make the trip a bit easier. Volunteers serve hot meals, run
clinics, and even fix bikes.
(INAUDIBLE) was about to take off when we met him, so we drove along in a bike of our own.
(on camera): What is the hardest part about this trip for you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): It is dangerous, especially during the holidays with so many more trucks and cars on the road. It's easy to
get into an accident.
RIVERS (voice over): But it is the only way to get home to see his family while making sure his children have a future.
(on camera): So it ends up being totally worth it in the end?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I can't make money if I stay home. I don't want my kids to be like us. Their lives shouldn't be as hard as
ours.
RIVERS (voice over): The work is hard, the journey is hard, but the lure of tradition of family is strong. When we left him, (INAUDIBLE) still had
hours to drive before reaching hoe, a rural village just like the one where (INAUDIBLE) insisted that we stay for dinner. The table will be more
crowded when the rest of the family gets home. Reunions set to be repeated all across the country.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The most important thing in life is family.
RIVERS (voice over): Matt Rivers, CNN, Guangdong Province in Southern China.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: Matt on a (INAUDIBLE) epic journey. The dumplings make it worthwhile, too.
You're watching "News Stream." We will be back right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LU STOUT: Welcome back. North Korean athletes competing in the Winter Games are certainly capturing the world's attention, but not everyone is
happy about it. CNN's Ivan Watson spoke with some North Korean defectors who have carved out a new life for themselves and they are not impressed
that the south rolled out the welcome mat.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[08:40:00] IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Hard at work in the kitchen. This dish from North Korea served up
with a smile on the sidelines of the Winter Olympics here in South Korea.
(on camera): Do you want to go see any of the Olympic sports?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): No.
WATSON (voice over): This ambivalence do to the last-minute decision to invite North Korea to the Olympics.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I was dragged around, beaten, and treated like a slave in North Korea.
WATSON (voice over): All three of these women are defectors who fled North Korea more than a decade ago.
Restaurant owner (INAUDIBLE) has mixed emotions about her homeland. She says she was almost moved to tears watching the opening ceremony when north
and South Korean athletes marched out under the same unification flag. But she insists the North Koreans will never be allowed to visit her food
stall, even though it's just walking distance from the Olympic Plaza.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): They have no freedom of movement because they're constantly being watched.
WATSON (voice over): Her friend (INAUDIBLE) warns that the smiles on the faces of North Korean cheerleaders are pure propaganda.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): All of defectors know that's a mask that the North Koreans are wearing. They're forced to smile.
WATSON (voice over): (INAUDIBLE) knows the North Korean system well. She spent 11 years as a nurse in the North Korean military. Today, (INAUDIBLE)
works to undermine the North Korean regime. Every month, she joins activists loading plastic bottles with rice and U.S. bee sticks full of
banned TV shows. Care packages sent floating downstream to hungry people in North Korea.
(INAUDIBLE), a defector and leader of a group that claims to represent thousands of North Korean defectors in South Korea, says he's angry that
South Korea's president warmly welcomed the sister of North Korea's dictator.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The North Koreans conducted nuclear tests just few months ago, and now we're marching together at the
Olympics. Is that real reconciliation? Is that really a message of peace?
WATSON (voice over): There are more than 30,000 North Korean defectors who have taken refuge in South Korea. Some, like these women, are deeply
suspicious of the North Korean government. But they say they're also worried about reports of poverty and hunger among ordinary people in their
homeland. Those shortages, a problem few people face here in well-fed South Korea.
Ivan Watson, CNN, Pyeongchang.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: And be sure to catch all the news and highlights from day seven of the Olympic Games with our team in Pyeongchang. That's in "World Sport"
with Amanda Davies, next. And that is it for "News Stream." I'm Kristie Lu Stout. We'll see you next time.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:45:00] (WORLD SPORT)
END
