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NEWS STREAM
Kushner's Business Dealing Under Scrutiny; Trump Jr. Trip To India Raises Ethical Concerns; China Warns Trump Over Possible U.S. Metal Tariffs; Students Lead Call For Gun Control; U.K. Researcher Sentenced For Dark Web Sex Crimes; Oxfam CEO Questioned Over Haiti Scandal; Concerns Growing Over Turkey's Media Crackdown; Migrants Abandoned At Sea By Traffickers. Aired at 8-9a ET
Aired February 20, 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: Beyond Russia -- CNN learns the Mueller's team is interested in Trump's son-in-law's business with non-Russian investors. Promoting Trump
properties, Trump Jr. is in India to attempt to make some profitable deals. And charm offensive, we look at softer power moves that North Korea is
using at the Olympic Games.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: And we begin with the CNN n exclusive on the investigation into Russian meddling in the U.S. election. Special Counsel Robert Mueller's
interest in President Trump's son-in-law now extends beyond Russia.
Sources say Jared Kushner's business dealings during the presidential transition are now under a microscope. Now let's get the very latest from
our White House correspondent Abby Phillip. She joins us, of course, from Washington.
Abby, Robert Mueller is now eyeing Kushner's business dealings beyond Russia in places like China and Qatar. What are sources telling CNN?
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Sources are telling CNN that Robert Mueller's investigative team is looking into these meetings
that Jared Kushner would have had during the presidential transition, when he was apparently having dozens of meetings with officials from
representing foreign governments, but also having meetings about his private business interests, including 666 Fifth Avenue property in New York
that has been rife with debt and financial troubles.
Now in some of those meetings with Chinese investors and Qatari investors, one of them at least happened about a week after the election and on the
other appeared to have fallen through.
But still on those meetings are raising some new questions about whether Robert Mueller is expanding his probe and expanding it into a terrain that
President Trump once called his redline.
Let's listen to what he told the New York Times last year about what would happen if Mueller look into his business dealings and that of his families.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT, CORRESPONDENT, THE NEW YORK TIMES: If Mueller was looking at your finances and your family finances, unrelated to Russia, is
that a red line?
MAGGIE HABERMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Would that be a breach of what his actual charge is?
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I would say yes. I
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: The question now is what would President Trump do about it if that is, in fact, the case. We also are getting a response here from Abbe
Lowell, Jared Kushner's lawyer is pushing back on this reporting.
He wrote in a statement to CNN, another anonymous source with questionable motives now contradicts the facts and all of Mr. Kusher's extensive
cooperation with all inquiries, there's not been a single question asked or documents sought on the 666 building or Kushner Company deals, nor would
there be any reason to question these regular business transactions.
Now that statement, we know is what it is. But we also had heard from our sources that while Mueller has not asked specifically for interviews with
Kushner Company executives, he has began asking questions about these meetings of people who have gone in with interviews of him in recent
months.
LU STOUT: The probe is widening Kushner under pressure and it's getting increasingly personal for the U.S. president. Abby Phillip reporting live
from the White House, thank you.
And now to another issue involving possible conflicts of interest within the Trump family, the president's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr. is in India
where he is scheduled to have dinners and fires of Trump from departments.
And his presence there is fueling ethical concerns guarding the links between President Trump and his family business. CNN New Delhi Bureau
Chief Nikhil Kumar joins me now live from the Capitol. And, Nikhil, why is Donald Trump Jr. in India? What does he really have to achieve there?
NIKHIL KUMAR, CNN NEW DELHI BUREAU CHIEF: Well, he's here, Kristie, to promote and fund business with the Trump globalization, this is their
biggest international market. You know, they follow attempt that we know about (Inaudible) the name to local developers who then build properties
under the Trump name.
And then does one Delhi, where we are. It has been built. There is property in Mumbai, there is one in (Inaudible). And he out promoting
these projects, as you mentioned he is having, you know, we know about two.
One today, in fact, the City of Kolkata, and then one at the other week, that we know about in Delhi. And this is with investors and people who
have booked apartments in these Trump properties.
And he's also going to be doing a speech at the end of the week. There is a business summit in Delhi where Prime Minister Modi is going to be
speaking. And just before he speaks, Donald Trump Jr. will also be speaking.
[08:05:00] So he is here doing both things. He is promoting the properties and then speaking at the summit at the end of the week.
LU STOUT: Nikhil, the video you just sent, we see you attempt to doorstop Don Jr. but he's not answering your question. Is there a perception in the
end that buying or investing in a Trump branded product means find access to the Trump White House?
KUMAR: Well this goes -- you know, this goes to the heart. Your question goes to the heart of the ethical concerns over here. So he is -- you know,
before he arrives, I'm going to hold up, you know, these newspaper ads. Trump has arrived.
And as you can see below the fold very prominently, Donald Trump Jr., and the property developers have told us that out on the Trump named
properties. It means that they can charge 30 percent to 40 percent more than they otherwise would be able to.
And this was all kinds of questions about the ethics. And as you say, I only try to ask him this question this morning when he went to Delhi, he
didn't answer.
And it's -- you know, he's doing this in a country that over the years has become increasingly close to diplomatically to the United States and his
father the President of the United States.
And then at the end of the week -- you know, the speech that I mentioned in the beginning, it's about from what we know from (Inaudible) by the
organized conference about reshaping in the Pacific ties, so it's that foreign policy speech.
And so there is all kinds of questions about as to where the promotional activities sort of stop, sort of blurs with the fact that his father is the
president of the U.S., and the people who are investing in this, are they investing?
Are they buying these or they trying to get access to the Trump family? That is a very important question. They will be meeting him. These have
been promoted in the ads as an opportunity to meet Donald Trump Jr.
Are people doing this because they want to meet the son of the president of the U.S.? That is a very, very big question, and a very, very big concern.
LU STOUT: Yes, a lot of questions, a lot of ethical concerns about these business. But as we seen earlier, that photograph of Don Jr. taken earlier
today in New Delhi, just slashing a thumbs-up sign, that he is exuding confidence.
Nikhil, we will leave at that. Thank you so much for joining us today. Nikhil Kumar, our Bureau Chief in New Delhi, reporting live for us.
Now China is warning that it will take action if U.S. adopts a tougher stance on trade. On Friday, the U.S. commerce secretary recommended heavy
talks in steel, and aluminum imports against foreign suppliers.
So far, the response from Beijing has been muted, thanks in part to government offices being close over the Lunar New Year. But you can be
certain. If the talk goes through, China is not going to take it lightly. Matt Rivers reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TRUMP: We also face rival powers, Russia and China that seek to challenge American influence values and wealth.
MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: China and Russia, both be viewed as threats by the Trump administration, but in no way are they equal. In
fact, China is nearly $560 billion more important. That is how much more the U.S. trade with China than with Russia in 2016.
And that staggering amount of money supports entire industries in the U.S. Start with the simple soybean, $14 billion worth was unloaded at Chinese
ports like this one in 2016, good enough to make it the top U.S. export to China last year.
The Chinese soybean processing industry is already the largest in the world and it's going to keep getting bigger, and American farmers are well
positioned to take advantage of that growth.
The U.S. Soybean Export Council expects U.S. exports of soybeans to keep rising for at least the next 20 years. And it's not just farmers reaping
the benefits.
PAUL BURKE, U.S. SOYBEAN EXPORT COUNCIL: Your diner and your doctors, and your -- and other companies.
RIVERS: Which is why all this talk of a looming U.S.-China trade war is both biggest concern. A U.S. trade investigation into Chinese intellectual
property fetched new duties on Chinese aluminum foil imports and a formal national security strategy document that referred negatively to China, no
less than two dozen times, could signal what many have long awaited.
Hard-line rhetoric on the campaign trail turning into harder line policy, but China won't take that line down. The Soybean Export Council was told
as much by Chinese officials during a September meeting.
BURKE: If there was a increase trade tensions, if there -- that soybeans could likely be a potential target in any type of Chinese retaliations.
RIVERS: Restrictions on market access could devastate U.S. industry and it's not just soy, other industries and companies could be government
targets, too. Think Apple or Boeing, or only Cisco, pawns in a potential trade with lots of influence back home.
RANDALL PHILLIPS, AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE IN BEIJING: They understand very clearly the political pressure points in the U.S., whether it's in
Congress or in local statehouses, and certainly to the White House.
RIVERS: A recent survey shows the majority of U.S. companies in China think trade between both countries isn't fair. They want things to change,
but nobody wants to trade a war.
[08:10:04] To achievable both, adding new U.S. policies will have to walk a fine line, as then flake of soybean. Matt Rivers, CNN, Qinhuangdao, China.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: Another point of contention between Beijing and Washington, China has called on the U.S. to severely punish the man who broke off the
thumb from the Terra-cotta warrior statue on loan to the Philadelphia Museum.
Now police say that the man was taking his picture with the 2000-year-old statue when he snapped of the thumb and put it in his pocket. China is now
sending two experts the $4.5 million old statue.
To the State of Florida, now where new details are emerging about the gunman at the center last week's devastating school shooting that left 17
people killed. Nineteen-year-old Nickolas Cruz got hold of at least 10 firearms in the lead up to the attack.
Surviving students meanwhile are stepping up their call for political action to try to prevent the violence from happening again. Rosa Flores
has this report from Parkland, Florida.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CAMERON KASKY, SCHOOL SHOOTING SURVIVOR: My friends and I, my community and I, have stare down the barrel of an AR-15 the way you have not. We
have seen this weapon of war mowed down people we know and love the way you have not. How dare you tell us we don't know what we're talking about?
ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Survivors of the high school massacre in Florida demanding that lawmakers make changes to America's gun laws after
they horror they lived to tell about.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Never again should a student be silenced by gunshots. Never again should anyone fear going to school.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The time for change wasn't now. The time for change was years ago.
KASKY: Are you for taking steps to save us or are you for taking NRA blood money? We are not letting the United States be run by that terrorist
organization.
FLORES: In Washington, D.C., a group of teenagers staged a protest outside the White House, lying on the ground for three minutes to symbolize how
long it took the killer to gun down 17 students and teachers last week.
ALEX WIND, FLORIDA SCHOOL SHOOTING SURVIVOR: I want to see action. I don't want to see talk. A 19-year-old who can't purchase an alcoholic
beverage should not be allowed to purchase an AR-15, a weapon of war, a weapon of destruction. It's absolutely absurd.
FLORES: A new national poll shows that 77 percent of Americans do not think that Congress is doing enough to prevent mass shootings, with 62
percent saying President Trump could do more.
As for how to solve the problem, the majority of Americans think more effective mental health screenings and treatment could have prevented the
massacre, while 58 percent think that stricter gun control laws could have had an impact.
The White House announcing that President Trump supports efforts to improve the federal background check system, that after speaking with Senator John
Cornyn on Friday about the bipartisan bill he's introduced that would strengthen how state and federal government report offenses that could
prohibit people from buying a gun.
But President Trump's only action on guns since taking office undid restrictions aimed at mental illness, and the president's proposed budget
would cut millions from existing background check systems.
All this as CNN is learning more about the confessed killer. A law enforcement source says he purchased at least 10 rifles in the last year.
But the buying spree did not set off any red flags with authorities, the killer appearing in court Monday for the second time. He kept his head
down and said nothing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: That was CNN's Rosa Flores reporting, and do join us for a special CNN town hall with those ho have been affected by the Florida
shooting it's called, Stand Up: The Students of Stoneman Douglas Demand Action.
It airs live on Thursday, 10:00 am in Hong Kong, 9:00 p.m., Wednesday in New York. You are watching News Stream right here on CNN.
And still ahead, a British researcher is sentence for horrific crimes committed on the dark web. And in Turkey, six journalists are jailed for
life on charges related to the failed 2016 coup as CNN speaks to the daughter one of those jailed.
[08:15:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LU STOUT: Coming to you live from Hong Kong, welcome back. You are watching News Stream. Now, in the U.K., a university researcher has been
sentenced to 32 years in prison for what's being described as warped and sadistic sex crimes committed on the dark web.
According to the U.K.'s National Crime Agency, the NCA, 29-year-old Matthew Falder blackmailed his victims and forced them to send sickening sexual
images to him.
The NCA says that Falder also discussed torture, rape and pedophilia on Internet forms, even managed to evade authorities for years, using a string
of online aliases.
Also in the U.K., a former soccer coach described by judge as a sheer evil, has been sentence to 31 years in jail for child sexual abuse. Barry
Bennell now was found guilty of abusing 12 boys between 1979 to 1991.
From prison, a watched by a video link as victims read statements, detailing how this abuse had wrecked their lives. The judge added, while
Bennell might have once appeared like a God to his victims, in reality he was the devil.
Oxfam says it is investigating 26 new cases of sexual misconduct since news of the Haiti sex scandal broke. The British charity's chief executive
appeared before parliamentary committee and apologize for remarks he made appeared to downplay the scandal.
CNN's Phil Black is keeping developments and he joins us live from London. And, Phil, what did the Oxfam boss say about the scandal and the damage --
the human damage his charity cost?
PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kristie, you are right. He apologized. He apologized a lot. Mark Goldring really spent the morning
as a punching bag. He was repeatedly hit by questions criticizing Oxfam studies. Many of them had taken place before he took on the post as Oxfam
boss in 2013.
But in every case, he accepted the criticism, he apologized and he promise to do better. Specifically on the Haiti scandal of 2011, with seven Oxfam
staff who are investigated for misconduct, including the use of prostitutes.
He said that Oxfam at the time was wrong to let some of those people resigned. They were wrong to not inform the Haitian authorities at the
time of specifically what happened and they were wrong not to be more candid, open and transparent about the details of the case. Take a listen
to a little of what he said to the committee just a short time ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK GOLDRING, CEO, OXFAM GB: My colleagues at the time made a sector decisions as to how public to got, not all organizations choose to go
public at all. With hindsight, they made the wrong call as to how public to be. They should -- if we were going to -- if we will culpable which we
were, they should have been completely transparent.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACK: So we also heard more about the complexities and the challenges the cost that Oxfam is now facing. As a result of the scandal, as you touch on
the Oxfam boss, there have been 26 new cases of misconduct reported within the organization just since the story broke.
A range of cases, most of them part of this international program, 16 others in the U.K., some of them historic people who would prepare to come
forward before but have done so.
Now some more recent and also arrange of seriousness from the most serious to lesser, financially, they revealed that 7000 individuals had recently
just in the last couple of weeks canceled their regular donations to the charity.
[08:20:02] That's on top of Oxfam having already voluntarily said it will bid for U.K. government money until it gets his house in order. All of
this, a sign, Kristie, that the organization is paying something of significance financial costs while it deals with all of this internally.
Kristie.
LU STOUT: Yes, and the grilling that the Oxfam chief got today, that's part of an ongoing probe by MPs with the International Development
Committee. Who also we're going to hear from, in the end, what will they achieve?
BLACK: So, they said they will look at the Oxfam case specifically, specifically Haiti in 2011 but this afternoon, we are also going to be
hearing from the heads of other significant charities as well because there is an understanding that this is something of a sector wide issues, not
specific to Oxfam.
Although that particular case clearly blew the lid off it, what they do believe is that that reveals a wider problem of vulnerability within the
aide sector to people who are prepared to move into a workforce, and exploit the most vulnerable people on the ground.
So the goal of all of this is as it is for Oxfam as it is for the government in the wider sector will be to try and create a situation, try
and reform the sector in such a way where safeguards are in place to prevent that sort of behavior in the future. Kristie.
LU STOUT: Phil Black, live in London for us, thank you. Concerns are growing over the Turkish government crackdown on the media. Experts are
calling life sentences impose on six journalist accused of involvement in a 2016 coup and unprecedented assault on free speech. CNN's Arwa Damon
speaks to the daughter of one of those jailed.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The photographs are of happier times, moments that may be forever lost for Sanem Altan and her father Ahmet.
He is a renowned author and journalist, the former editor of a liberal newspaper that fell out with the Turkish government. "Maybe he's being
made to pay the price of this now," Sanem speculates.
Ahmet Altan, his brother and four other journalists and media company employees were convicted on terrorism charges. Found guilty of being
members of the media wing of the Gulen movement that Turkey says is behind the failed July 15th coup and that they knew about the coup beforehand.
The six were handed an aggravated life sentence, meaning they must serve 40 years, and they have denied all of the charges. "The silliness will end.
There is no judicial base," Sanem says, It seems that at this moment we don't find justice in Turkey, but that can change at any moment."
Turkey, no matter who its leader, has historically ranked among the top countries with the most journalists behind bars, and this post coup
crackdown is causing the nation to come under some very serious and scathing criticism.
Human rights groups have also decried the ruling. Amnesty International whose chairman in Turkey is also awaiting trial said it sets a chilling
precedent for scores of other journalists facing trial on similar trumped up terrorism charges.
For the Turkish State and those who fervently support it, it's black and white. An associate professor and lawyer Salman Dgol (ph) argues that
Turkey is justified in its actions.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think for Turkey the -- you know, some of the media outlets tried to destroy the fact that as if there was no coup attempt in
Turkey. There was a coup attempt. It was so serious.
DAMON: And he says those sentenced have a chance to appeal.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not the last decision. There will be an appellate process of this but we should bear in mind that being a journalist is not a
kind of shield for us, so it can be an academic mission, you can be a journalist and you can be a soldier. Coup is coup.
DAMON: For those who say they are the scapegoats paying the price. There is a little logic left. "I'm not scared for myself," Sanem says, "I'm
scared for us all. I have 10-year-old daughter, of course I'm scared. This cannot go on like this." Arwa Damon, CNN, Istanbul.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: And separately, the president of Turkey has announced his country's army will encircle the Syrian City of Afrin in the coming days.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan says it will prevent arms shipments getting into the Kurdish YPG militia.
On Monday, it appeared Kurdish factions and forge an alliance with forces loyal to the Syrian government. Turkey has warned Syria of quote,
disastrous consequences, a fix sentence support for the Kurds. Ankara reviews YPG as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party, which has been
leading inside Turkey.
This week, the CNN Freedom Project has been following migrants escaping the dinghy abandoned in the Mediterranean by human traffickers. The
International Organization for Migration says young teenagers are the most vulnerable. Isa Soares brings us some of their stories.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[08:25:00] ISA SOARES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Smugglers abandoned this dinghy of the coast of Libya, no engine, no paddle. Humanitarian Organization
proactive open arms, rescued 695 migrants in this deadly sea in the space of one week.
But these Mediterranean waters have claimed more than 400 lives in 2018 alone, according to the International Organization for Migration or the
IOM. For most, the panel begins before boarding a dinghy. In Libya, 80- year-old from Ivory Coast tells about her experiences of the five months she's spent waiting and worrying.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Speaking Foreign Language)
SOARES: Violence and a lack of dignity, but the abuses don't end there. Migrants between the age of 14 to 17 are most at risk with nearly nine of
10 exposed to human trafficking along the central Mediterranean root, according to the IOM. Soliman (ph), knows it well.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking Foreign Language)
SOARES: As each step of this journey through Mali and Algeria, Soliman (ph) says they had to find the money to pay for the next step. But as he
tried to leave Libya...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking Foreign Language)
SOARES: Soliman (ph) says he (Inaudible) have been sold and board by gangsters in the city of (Inaudible), their business, exhorting money from
defenseless migrants.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking Foreign Language)
SOARES: After several months of torture, Soliman (ph) says he was out, thanks to payment of $1,000 made by his family. But he says hundreds were
left behind many have been imprisoned.
According to the Italian government, the number of migrant arrivals dropped by 70 percent since July of 2017, while some in Europe may have applaud
this drop, thousands of migrants are now in Libya, trapped in limbo, huddled in fear. Isa Soares, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: And tomorrow we'll bring you the story of 140 migrants rescued from the Mediterranean Sea. They were abandoned after months of abuse at
the hands of human traffickers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: After 10 hours in rough waters, 140 migrants traumatized and shaken are rescued by volunteers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking Foreign Language)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: We will hear more about their story and their new found freedom at this time tomorrow only on the CNN Freedom Project. And March 14th is
the second annual My Freedom Day.
And CNN is partnering with young people around the world for a student-led day of action against modern-day slavery. Driving My Freedom Day is a
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. Still ahead, Zimbabwe says farewell to one of
Africa's most well-known opposition leaders, Morgan Tsvangirai lay in to rest in his home village. Coming up, we have a look at the legacy he
leaves behind.
[08:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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.
The U.S. special counsel investigating Russia involvement in the U.S. election is now looking the business dealings of the president's son-in-
law. Sources familiar with the probe say it includes discussions that Jared Kushner had with potential investors from China and Qatar during the
presidential transition.
President Trump's eldest son is in India for a week-long trip that includes a speech at a business summit along with India's prime minister. Donald
Trump Jr. will also dine with buyers of apartment in Trump-branded Towers. And that is fueling ethical questions about the links between the president
and his family business.
About 100 students who survived last week's school shooting in Florida are boarding buses in the coming hours to go to the state capital. They are
planning to hold a rally to demand lawmakers consider gun control legislation. On Monday, demonstrators stage this lying outside the White
House.
A British university researcher has been sentenced to 32 years in prison for sadistic sex crimes committed on the dark web. Twenty-nine-year-old
Cambridge graduate Matthew Falder forced his victims to send him sickening images and managed to evade authorities for years using a string of online
aliases.
The people of Zimbabwe has said goodbye to one of Africa's most well-known opposition leaders, Morgan Tsvangirai. He died last week after losing a
battle with colon cancer at a critical juncture in the country's history.
CNN's Farai Sevenzo joins us now live with more on the story. Farai, tell us what is happening today. How is Zimbabwe paying tribute to Morgan
Tsvangirai?
FARAI SEVENZO, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kristie, they have been paying tribute to him, of course, since he died last Wednesday of
colon cancer, as you say, at only 65. Morgan Tsvangirai was to Zimbabweans the man who in the words of one of his lieutenants, raised his head and
looked the dictator in the eye. There was no opposition politics before Morgan Tsvangirai's movement for democratic change.
He not only gave the country a new constitution in 2000, but he gave the idea that Robert Mugabe was not an all-powerful God. We should be avoided
at all mistakes. And I remember too that he was one of the first people to put himself in the light in terms of beating, in terms of prosecution, in
terms of treason trials.
And of course the greater good came to Harare not just to praise him, but to bury him in Buhera, his southeastern Zimbabwe household home state of
the village (INAUDIBLE) today. Many people attended including Raila Odinga who say at his funeral that Morgan's victory was stolen here in 2008, as
was mine in Kenya.
And of course, Kenya (INAUDIBLE) opposition and Zimbabwe's opposition have this one thing in common, that is in 2008, Raila Odinga became prime
minister of a coalition government. And in 2009, Mr. Odinga was (INAUDIBLE) tell me and my producer here in Kenya, that Morgan Tsvangirai came over to
seek an advice on former Zimbabwe's coalition government of 2009.
So, as we say, today, the 20th of February, this is one more thing to tell you, which is a kind of irony of historic (INAUDIBLE), if you will. It is
Friday, it is February 20th. And today, Morgan Tsvangirai went into his grave. Tomorrow, February 21st, will be Robert Mugabe's 94th birthday.
LU STOUT: Wow, two significant events there. You covered Morgan Tsvangirai and the opposition movement in Zimbabwe. You were there
[08:35:00] at Tsvangirai's highly-charged political rallies. What was that like to experience?
SEVENZO: It was incredible because when you think of a party forming out of nothing, out of a dust of oppression, and then suddenly seeing millions
of young men and women following it, saying that they do not abide to Robert Mugabe's constant preaching about liberation struggles, that they
were born free, that they are looking for jobs, that their degrees mean nothing, it was electrified.
And one of the most remembering things now of Morgan Tsvangirai is that in 2008 when many of these young revolutionists, sort of activists, were being
disappeared and murdered, he would (INAUDIBLE) at every single graveyard no matter how far it was to give a unity to some unknown little man who have
been distributing pamphlets (INAUDIBLE).
So I found him to be very much a man of the people, very poorly educated, not like (INAUDIBLE) and Robert Mugabe, but as we heard in yesterday's
massive kind of farewell to him in Zimbabwe Freedom Square just outside of Harare's (INAUDIBLE) hotel from Nelson Chamisa, the man who is taking over,
that while he wasn't educated, he had degrees and decency, he had degrees in how he took to the common man. And that was his touch, which the
opposition will be solely missing in this 2018 year of another great election in Zimbabwe.
LU STOUT: Farai, you described him as a man of the people. He was a mine worker. He was a fighter, an opposition leader, of course. What do you
think will be the legacy of Morgan Tsvangirai?
SEVENZO: Well, I mean, really, before we get carried away with all the praise that people have been hearing, they are obviously quite a lot of
mistakes that he made. When he was in the coalition government in 2009, he had a tiny majority of (INAUDIBLE), but no laws were enacted.
He spent his time being distracted by the very real kind of experienced politicking (INAUDIBLE) and of course his real legacy really is that he
gave the country a new constitution that do not rely on just one minor one party. He gave Zimbabweans an idea that it is possible to be in opposition
for the right reasons.
Even the president, the current president, called him a brave man. And he say that he believes from his point of view that he was right. But of
course, we have a political kind of election year. Whatever (INAUDIBLE) say right now (INAUDIBLE) months time.
I am sorry, it is a bit windy in Nairobi, but his legacy will be one of bravery and courage in the face of great diversity. And it is possible that
Zimbabweans will have a long way to go to (INAUDIBLE).
LU STOUT: Farai Sevenzo reporting live for us the comprehensive picture of Morgan Tsvangirai. Thank you so much for that. Take care.
North Korea went all out for the Pyeongchang Winter Games, sending hundreds of athletes and officials, but how does Kim Jong-un benefit from the charm
offensive? We are going to look into that, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LU STOUT: Coming to you live from a misty Hong Kong. Welcome back. This is "News Stream."
Ivanka Trump is to be in Pyeongchang for the Winter Games closing ceremony on Sunday. South Korea's foreign minister was asked if she will be
discussing possible
[08:40:00] North Korea-U.S. talks. South Korea will only say she will address mutual interest between Washington and Seoul. Joint military drills
are to resume once the games are over.
Now, it is not clear how North Korea will react to those joint drills. Pyongyang has been supportive of the Pyeongchang games, even sending high-
ranking officials and, of course, its art troupe as well. But there is a purpose for this charm offensive. Will Ripley has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A scene unimaginable just months ago. North Koreans performing in South Korea at
the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics. Missile launches, nuclear tests, and escalating tensions have largely defined the Kim Jong-un era.
Now, the North Korean leader is launching with some call a charm offensive, sending his sister, Kim Yo-jong, to lay the groundwork for an inter-Korean
summit, sending his art troupe, athletes, and cheer squads to show the softer side of what the U.S. calls a tyrannical regime.
South Korean journalist, Kang Jin-gyu, says North Korea is waging a P.R. war with a different war, soft power.
KANG JIN-GYU, JORNALIST FROM SOUTH KOREA: Beforehand, they see North Korea as a rogue state of trying to build a nuclear weapons in violation of the -
- your nation agreements. But when they see the actual people performing right in front of them, I think they start thinking, wow, they are -- so,
they're the (INAUDIBLE), you know.
RIPLEY (voice over): South Korea-based teacher, Dave Beck, skipped a hockey match to watch the North Koreans perform.
DAVE BECK, SOUTH KOREA-BASED TEACHER: South Koreans and North Koreans seemed to really kind of respect each other. It was kind of cool.
RIPLEY (voice over): The Korean people share centuries of heritage. The last seven decades of division a mere blip on the radar. But since the
Korean war, the two cultures have only grown farther apart.
(on camera): Some South Koreans already know what it's like to live and work alongside their neighbors from the North. At the Kaesong Industrial
Complex, that closed about two years ago, as tensions escalated.
(voice over): Kaesong was an economic and political experiment that fell apart. A case study in the difficulties of merging capitalism and
socialism. I visited in 2015 and saw North and South Koreans working side by side, producing some of the products now banned under crippling
international sanctions.
Kim Ik-kyum used to work at the Kaesong Industrial Complex. He and hundreds of other South Koreans lost their jobs in early 2016.
The two-year period has been so long for the workers, he says. There has been so much suffering. I hope they will use this opportunity to reopen the
Kaesong Industrial Complex soon.
Capitalizing on the Korean detente may not be the primary goal. But if nuclear tensions ease, there is money to be made, which may explain why
cash-trapped North Korea is on a mission to win over South Korean audiences, one performance at a time.
Will Ripley, CNN, Gangneung, South Korea.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: And that is "News Stream." I'm Kristie Lu Stout, but don't go anywhere, "World Sport" with Amanda Davies live from the Winter Games in
Pyeongchang is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:45:00] (WORLD SPORT)
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