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NEWS STREAM
Koreas To Hold First Summit In More Than A Decade; Former Trump Campaign Aide Vows To Defy Mueller Subpoena; Video Captures Airstrike In Ghouta Just Meters Away; Syrian Girl Plea For Peace Captures World's Attention; Ex Russian Spy Critically Ill After Exposure To Substance; Jailed Seductress Offers Election Info For U.S. Asylum. Aired at 8-9a ET
Aired March 06, 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: Big diplomatic moves on the Korean Peninsula, as the North and South Korean leaders agreed to meet and Pyongyang promises a host in
nuclear tests.
Double agent critically I'll -- a former Russian spy and his daughter are in a British hospital after exposure to a suspicious substance. And ethnic
cleansing, forces starvation. Let's speak to a top human rights official who says Rohingya are still fleeing from Myanmar.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: And we begin with those major diplomatic moves announced in Seoul after that historic meeting between Kim Jong-un and top South Korean
officials in Pyongyang.
South Korea saying its President, Moon Jae-in will sit down with his North Korean counterpart at a summit next month in the DMZ. This will be the
first summit between the Koreas at such a high level in more than 10 years.
A South Korea special envoy also says Pyongyang has agreed to freeze its nuclear and missile tests while dialogue is ongoing and has expressed a
willingness to talk to the U.S. about denuclearization and normalizing relations.
Now this appears to be a very big moment for the Korean Peninsula. Now John Delury is an associate professor at the Yonsei University Graduate
School of International Studies. He joins us now from Seoul via Skype.
And, John, wow, again, we have Kim Jong-un and Moon Jae-in, they've agreed to meet to this -- to appear at the summit next month in April. Kim Jong-
un says he's willing to start talking about denuclearization. Is this a major breakthrough?
JOHN DELURY, PROFESSOR, YONSEI UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL OF INTERNATIONAL STUDIES (via Skype): You know, I think this does come as a bit of a
surprise. You know, things have been moving very rapidly as it should be covering since the beginning of the year in terms of the two Koreas coming
together, having this dialogue.
It happened here in Seoul. Now on the envoy went to Pyongyang. April -- I think it is earlier then certainly I was anticipating and I think most here
in South Korea were anticipating for a possible meeting -- initially there was a committee August.
So it seems like the foot is on the gas again in terms of Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong-un, really taking dialogue to a level that we haven't seen before
in terms of anyone really talking with Kim Jong-un in terms of foreign leaders.
LU STOUT: The dialogue is reaping fruit -- bearing fruit very, very quickly at a pace that you are not expecting. Let's talk about what Kim
Jong-un is thinking right now.
I mean, he is now willing to start talking about denuclearization. Kim Jong-un is ready to effectively consider giving up his plans to become
nuclear state. Why?
DELURY: Well, I think we have to be careful, you know, those about who parse North Korean language carefully day-by-day or week-by-week. I think
many North Korean experts, when we see this statement, it's positive in the political context of what's going on.
It gives the Trump administration some room to say great, you're willing to talk about denuclearization, that allows us to now engage you in what would
be preliminary talks, not a formal negotiation because Kim Jong-un has said yes, denuclearization can be part of our discussion.
That is significant in the diplomatic context. If you really look carefully, so far the South Korean version of what Kim Jong-un says,
however, it's not entirely new statement.
I mean the North Koreans have always said, that the reason they have their nuclear deterrent is because there is a nuclear threat and a hostile policy
directed against them by the United States. And if that threat were removed, they would no longer need the weapons.
So to some extent, this is a reiteration of something that the North Koreans have said but again, context and timing matters and this opens up
the possibility for some more diplomacy.
LU STOUT: But as you said, this is the kind of thinking that you are anticipating -- the thinking on North Korea's part that there's no reason
to have nukes if security is guaranteed.
Then focuses the attention to the United States and Donald Trump, this is a U.S. president who has in the past, threatened to totally destroy North
Korea but he's also said that he's open to talks. So which Trump is going to come forward now? Will Trump consider this progress? Will he pivot to
talks?
DELURY: Well that may be harder to anticipate that your other question of what is in the mind of Kim Jong-un because as you say, you know, Donald
Trump has put forward many different messages in terms of North Korea, what he thinks the problem is, and what the solution could be.
[08:05:05] From saying I would talk to him --Kim Jong-un, I think that is a possibility to saying, you know, there's military solution out there and
that is where were heading if diplomacy doesn't work to saying, you know, for a while it was China.
China can solve this problem, so it is difficult to anticipate. I was impossible to anticipate that President Trump will respond but again, given
many statements by the Trump administration officials, recently the statement by Kim Jong-un, gives them room to at least probe and test direct
talks at a high level between Americans and North Koreans, just like the South Koreans and the North Koreans are engaged in.
And I think there's a pretty strong argument to be made to at least test that hypothesis and see, you know, what the North Koreans are willing to
do, what the piecing of it is and you know, the Trump administration could probe I think along those lines.
LU STOUT: All right, very interesting time in the Korean Peninsula. John, thank you very much indeed. We may very well talk again in Seoul, in late
April when that very high level summit is due to take place. John Delury joining us live, thank you.
Now, U.S. President Donald Trump, he hasn't responded at least yet to the news coming out of the Korean Peninsula. We're also waiting for him to
respond to a series of bizarre interviews that was given by one of his former campaign aides.
I am talking about Sam Nunberg. He says that he won't comply with the grand jury's subpoena in the ongoing Russia probe. And he has some choice
words for President Trump as well. Abby Phillip has more of what's being described by many as a very public meltdown.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Former Trump campaign aide Sam Nunberg threatening to defy a grand jury subpoena to testify this Friday and daring
Special Counsel Robert Mueller to arrest him.
SAM NUNBERG, FORMER TRUMP CAMPAIGN AIDE: They want me over at the grand jury. Screw that. Why do I have to go? Why? For what?
PHILLIP: Mueller's team has subpoenaed all communications Nunberg has had with 10 different individuals since November 2015, including President
Trump. Nunberg, later signaling that he may be open to complying.
NUNBERG: I was thinking, to save time -- I've been advised against this, maybe I'll give them my password, my e-mail password. Because what do I
have to go...
ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: So then you're going to comply?
NUNBERG: Then I would comply, yes.
BURNETT: So now you're saying you might comply.
NUNBERG: I have no problem complying in itself. What I'm not going to do is sit, Erin, for 15 hours.
PHILLIP: Nunberg, who says he's already spoken with Mueller's team once, making a series of explosive claims about the investigation.
NUNBERG (via phone): Trump may have very well done something during the elections with the Russians. They know something on him. And, Jake, I
don't know what it is.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: They know something on him?
NUNBERG: Perhaps I'm wrong. But he did something.
PHILLIP: At other times, Nunberg, insisting that the Trump campaign did not collude with the Russians.
NUNBERG: The idea that we were the Manchurian candidate? Gloria, we were a joke. Everybody was laughing at us. The idea that we were colluding
with the Russians? Give me a break.
PHILLIP: Nunberg also making this unsubstantiated claim about President Trump's knowledge of a now-infamous June 2016 Trump Tower meeting between
Don Jr. and Russians promising dirt on Hillary Clinton.
TAPPER: President Trump says he knew nothing about the meeting. Do you -- do you think that that's true?
NUNBERG: No.
TAPPER: You don't think that's true?
NUNBERG: No. It doesn't. And, Jake, I've watched your news reports. You know it's not true. He talked about it the week before.
PHILLIP: Nunberg seemingly referencing these remarks from two days before the meeting.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I am going to give a major speech on probably Monday of next week. And we're going to be discussing
all of the things that have taken place with the Clintons. I think you're going to find it very informative.
PHILLIP: That speech never materialized.
REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D), CALIFORNIA: Was that because the Trump Tower meeting didn't produce what he hoped it would produce?
PHILLIP: The ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, telling CNN he hopes to interview, Nunberg, about the claim, but the Republican
leading the committee's investigation signaling otherwise.
MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So your expectation this is winding down?
REP. MIKE CONAWAY (R), TEXAS: I said earlier, we're closer to the end than we are the beginning.
PHILLIP: Earlier in the day, the White House rejecting Nunberg's allegations.
SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: He hasn't worked at the White House. So I certainly can't speak to him or the lack of
knowledge that he clearly has.
PHILLIP: But inside the West Wing, sources tell CNN, multiple officials were closely watching Nunberg's free-wheeling interviews, calling them
bizarre and nuts. Nunberg even attacks the White House press secretary in another interview.
NUNBERG (via phone): If Sarah Huckabee wants to deploy or start debasing me. She's a joke. OK, fine, yes, she's unattractive. She's a fat slob.
OK, fine. But that's irrelevant. Her -- the person she works for has a 30 percent approval rating.
PHILLIP: CNN's Erin Burnett asking Nunberg very directly about his mental state.
[08:10:01] BURNETT: Talking to you...
NUNBERG: Yes.
BURNETT: ... I have smelled alcohol on your breath.
NUNBERG: Well, I have not had a drink.
BURNETT: You haven't had a drink?
NUNBERG: No.
BURNETT: So that's not...
NUNBERG: No.
BURNETT: So I just -- because it is the talk out there. Again, I know it's awkward. Let me just get you the question. So you have kind of...
(CROSSTALK)
BURNETT: You haven't had a drink today?
NUNBERG: My answer is no, I have not.
BURNETT: Anything else?
NUNBERG: No.
BURNETT: No?
NUNBERG: No. Besides my meds.
BURNETT: OK.
NUNBERG: Antidepressants, is that OK?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: There was a moment there. Abby Phillip reporting. Now at last, humanitarian aid finally reaches civilians living in hell in Eastern
Ghouta. But the convoy was not able to give them everything they need.
Also ahead, a former Russian double agent is found unconscious on a bench in Southern England. And now British counter-terror officials are getting
involved.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LU STOUT: Coming to you live from Hong Kong. Welcome back. This is News Stream. Now the Russian military says it is offering rebels and their
families a safe exit from the besieged Syrian enclave of Easter Ghouta.
It is an area that just saw its deadliest stay since that ceasefire began on February the 24th with 100 people killed on Monday. That is according
to the Syrian American Medical Society.
Also on Monday, the humanitarian aid convoy was finally able to reach the war ravaged region but because of the heavy shelling, the convoy had to
pull out before completely unloading. And just to show you what they all up against, this video was posted on Twitter by the Syrian White Helmets.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking Foreign Language)
LU STOUT: And right there you see an airstrike hit a building nearby. You can hear a child screaming in terror in that video, a man flees with him in
his arms. Eastern Ghouta is on a series of last rebel strongholds.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
It has been under siege for more than four years now and the last two have been particularly barbaric, as civilian endure and onslaught by the Syrian
regime. Sam Kiley has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SAM KILEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Eastern Ghouta under attack. Some 400,000 people lived here but they've been bombarded for two weeks by Syria's
government and its Russian allies.
This is the Russian and Syrian version of a ceasefire demanded by the U.N. Security Council. Syria's government agreed to allow a first convoy of
humanitarian aid in more than a month.
[08:15:04] But removed badly-needed medical supplies like trauma kits.
ALI AL-ZA'TARI, U.N. HUMANITARIAN COORDINATOR (through translator): We are hoping to enter without shelling sounds because there must be a respect to
the ceasefire, especially this is a humanitarian convoy heading with a big number of civilians, to help civilians.
KILEY: And the needs are intense. This is now an every day scene in Eastern Ghouta. Frantic rescues no match for a ruthless military campaign.
BASHAR AL-ASSAD, SYRIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): The humanitarian crisis that the West talks about every once in a while on all levels is a
lie. It's a very silly lie, as silly as the western officials that talk about it.
KILEY: Assad's forces have claimed to have taken parts of Eastern Ghouta and provoked fears of reprisal killings against civilians. Mahmoud Bwedany
has been sheltering in a basement for 13 days.
MAHMOUD BWEDANY, EASTERN GHOUTA RESIDENT: So they will take prisoners. They will torture people, they will -- I can't imagine what they can --
what they can do because we've seen what they are capable of. They have no respect for their own people.
KILEY: But there is dwindling hope for survival or of any help from outside. That's why activists wrapped the bodies of these children in U.N.
sacks. Sam Kiley, CNN, Beirut.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: Deeply unsettling image there, reporting by Sam Kiley. Now some of the most powerful voices in the ongoing Syrian conflict are coming from
those who are among the most vulnerable.
Bana al-Abed is a Syrian refugee who first capture the world's attention with her heartbreaking tweets about the bombing of her native Aleppo.
And on Sunday night, she took center stage at the Academy Awards with singer Andra Day and the rapper Common during their performance of the
Oscar-nominated song, Stand Up For Something.
After the war to Turkey, Bana, continue to tweet asking world leaders to help the children of Syria. She also wrote a book called, Dear World: A
Syrian Girl's Story of War and Plea for Peace. She was featured in the movie cries from Syria. Now Bana, she sat down with Isha Sesay.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ISHA SESAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What was it like for you when you were in Aleppo, do you remember?
BANA ALABED, SYRIAN REFUGEE FROM ALEPPO: It was really hard. A lot of people and children were dying. Some of their -- some of children lost
their parents. I hope we will stop it and we all live in peace.
SESAY: Do you remember what the scariest thing was that you experienced when you were in Aleppo?
ALABED: When my friend Yasmin (ph) died. She was my best friend. When she died, I looked at her and cried, and I told God at night, please I
don't want any of my family to die.
SESAY: If you could say one thing to all the leaders who are may be watching this -- this conversation that we're having, what would you say to
them?
ALABED: You are just watching. Children are dying. We should all stand together and I hope we can help children around the world, so children can
live in peace. And we should be strong to help them, so we can live in peace and all of us be happy.
SESAY: I hope so, too. You're a very special girl and I hope everybody listens to what you have to say.
ALABED: Thanks.
SESAY: Thank you.
ALABED: Thanks.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: Wow. Such eloquence from an 8-year-old girl and there are things that you can do to help those trapped in war-torn Syria. Just visit
CNN.com/impact and learn about the organizations providing lifesaving assistance to those inside the country, and those who have fled.
British investigators are trying to figure out what substance landed a former Russian double agent and his daughter in the hospital and now
counterterrorism officials are helping out in this case.
Bystanders, they found Sergei Skripal and his daughter unconscious and critically ill on a shopping center bench in Southern England.
Investigators say that the two were suffering from exposure to an unknown substance. The Kremlin isn't saying anything about it.
[08:20:01] Now all of this has been playing out in the medieval city of Salisbury. Our Senior International Correspondent Nick Paton Walsh is live
there for us now. And, Nick, walk us the through the police and now counter-terror response at the current condition of Skripal and his
daughter.
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we are hold all the way from knowing the full picture of what happened behind me
on Sunday afternoon.
You can just see the bench where Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, visiting from Russia were seen fully and critically ill, losing
consciousness, her -- she left to hospitality following (Inaudible).
And now of course, police having corner that area on late this Monday afternoon in protective code have gone through the trashcans behind me,
still coordinating off the pizza restaurants, and the nearby bar meals, presumably looking for evidence there, to exactly where they may have been,
what might have happened to them.
The broad question is what is that unknown substance but that has not stopped the broader question here about political ramifications because
from Britain's foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, responding to an urgent question about Russia policy in the British House of Commons.
He said that they would, quote, be a robust response if Russia is found to have been involved in the script file case. I should point out, too,
though, he does go on to say, what they cannot point -- they're not, quote, pointing fingers as we cannot.
But he wants to make it cleat that governments around the world should had not taking some lives on U.K. without expecting that to go under punished.
So clearly, Boris Johnson, wanting to won Russia who have over the past actions have caused a great deal of concern in British official and public
circles here.
But also the same time, to have been absolutely clear, he is not in possession of kind of the full facts or the evidence here. Now, we heard a
number of times from Wiltshire police, the most recent statement that says, nothing new to what we have known in the last 12 hours or so.
They have said that some of the emergency personnel who attended the scene retreated one, (Inaudible), that two of Skripal's family members are still
ill -- seriously ill in hospital. And of course tests continuous.
I should point out the nature of the police response so far appeared to be predominantly local, which may suggest that the broader fears about this
being a counterterrorism investigation I.E., a state-sponsored assassination haven't necessarily be realized an investigation yet.
We are waiting to hear get more information from Wiltshire police at this point. But Sergei Skripal, himself, an absolutely fascinating character,
in 2006 he was accused according to the Russian-state media are convicted of spying for Britain's MI6 and swap, four years later despite of four
Russians held in Russian custody, swap for 10 Russians held in U.S. custody.
But then chose to live his life out here in quite Salisbury, quite so what substance that put him and his daughter in a critically ill condition that
actually was is the broad question here. And does that suggest any third- party militias in Rome. Kristie.
LU STOUT: Yes, what them ill, we still don't know. Nick Paton Walsh reporting live for us. Thank you, Nick. A woman who calls herself a sex
coach says that she inside a knowledge of Russia's meddling in the U.S. selection. The catch, she is behind bars in Thailand and once U.S. silent
in return for revealing that information. Ivan Watson has her story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: She describes herself as a seductress, a relentlessly self-promoting 21-year-old named Anastasia Vashukevich with
the social media stage name Nastya Rybka, this Belarus-born woman claims to have evidence of Russian meddling in the U.S. election.
The question, is this a desperate ploy to get out of jail, or as her friend claims, is this young woman truly in danger because she knows too much?
MARIA SKULBEDA, FRIEND OF NASTYA RYBKA: First, they are in danger. Second, they have the information. And third, we are afraid of their lives
-- really afraid of their lives. We don't know what's going to happen.
WATSON: For days, Vashukevitch and several Russian friends have been held at this jail in the capital of Thailand where visitors are not allowed to
bring cameras.
I just came out of this detention center where I spoke with Anastasia Vashukevitch. It was loud and hot, and chaotic, and talking through the
bars, she says that she witnessed meetings between the Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska and at least three Americans who she refused to name.
She claims they discussed plans to affect the U.S. elections, but she wouldn't give any further information because she fears she could be
deported back to Russia.
Her claims might not hold much water if it wasn't for this. Photos published on her Instagram account of Vashukevitch alongside Russian
billionaire Oleg Deripaska.
[08:25:00] Deripaska, a one-time business partner of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort -- he's pleaded not guilty to charges related to
money laundering and other alleged crimes discovered during the investigation into Russian meddling.
Vashukevitch's posts show Deripaska on board his private yacht meeting Russia's deputy Prime Minister Sergei Prikhodko. Two powerful Russian men
overheard in one video discussing U.S.-Russian relations.
Vashukevitch wrote about the meeting using altered names in this book. Deripaska denies meddling in the U.S. election and says Vashukevitch was
never his mistress.
A spokesman writing, this is clearly an attempt by Anastasic Vashukevitch to politicize the accusations of the Thai police. And here's where the
story gets really weird.
Last month, Vashukevitch was in Thailand with a Russian sex coach Alexander Kirillov, running a week long sex training course that teaches, among other
things, tips for dating.
On the last day, Thai police burst into the hotel arresting Vashukevitch, Kirillov and eight others for working without a permit. Ukrainian-American
Pavlo Yunko traveled from New York to attend the course.
PAVLO YUNKO, UKRAINIAN-AMERICAN TOURIST: I was there just to have a good time.
WATSON: And then the police showed up?
YUNKO: And just police showed up.
WATSON: In the days that followed, Yunko says he hand-delivered this letter from the sex teacher to the U.S. embassy in Bangkok requesting
asylum in exchange for recordings Vashukevitch says she made of alleged Russian government crimes.
And embassy spokesperson says since Vashukevitch is not a U.S. citizen, this is matter for the Thai authorities. Supporters now deliver food to
their friends in jail where Vashukevitch's offers to help U.S. investigators have apparently gone unheard. The jailed seductress and the
sex teacher recognize soon they may be deported back to mother Russia. Ivan Watson, CNN, Bangkok.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: You are watching News Stream. And still ahead, a top U.N. official says that Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh is now the site of the biggest
refugee camp in the world. People are still arriving with weeks before the rainy season. My interview with Andrew Gilmour, straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:30:00] KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN NEWS STREAM SHOW HOST: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. You're watching "News Stream" and these are your world
headlines.
The Russian military says it is offering rebels and their families a safe exit from the besieged Syrian enclave of Eastern Ghouta. The airstrikes
continue despite a U.N. ceasefire resolution passed more than a week ago. According to the Syrian-American Medical Society, 100 people were killed in
the region on Monday.
A source tells CNN the woman found with a critically ill former Russian spy is his daughter. Both were found unconscious on a shopping center bench in
Southern England. The source says Sergei Skirpal's daughter was visiting from Russia. Investigators believe the two are suffering from exposure to
unknown substance. British counter terror police are assisting in this investigation.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un will meet next month in the first Korea Summit in more than a decade. The
announcement in Seoul comes after high-level South Korean delegation met Kim in Pyongyang. An official also says the North has agreed to freeze
nuclear missile test while dialogue is ongoing.
Andrew Stevens is in Seoul following all this. He joins us now. And Andrew, I mean, you were listening in, closely following that Blue House briefing
earlier today. A number of major breakthroughs announced after that meeting in Pyongyang.
ANDREW STEVENS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely. Major breakthroughs considering just a few months ago, it was sabre-rattling, tensions are
rising to critical levels between U.S. and North Korea. And now this major diplomatic push.
I mean, North Korea has agreed first and foremost to meet the United States to talk about denuclearization, Kristie. They said they want an open-ended
dialogue on this. And they also said that while that was going on, they would freeze any provocative actions. They explicitly said that there would
be no missile launches, there would be no nuclear weapons testing.
So it gives you an idea of just how significant this is. There are always caveats to this of course and the other announcement is also a caveat.
North Korea is saying they are prepared to denuclearize but the security has to be guaranteed. Any military threat has to be resolved.
That explicitly say what military threat but you could think of a number. One of them would be more than 20,000 troops -- U.S. troops in South Korea.
So, there is that diplomatic front, Kristie. The mere fact that the two leaders of North and South Korea actually meeting is a major step forward.
LU STOUT: That's right. A major step forward. Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong-un planning to meet at the DMZ in April. This is progress from North-South
relations. Is this also seen as progress for the Trump administration?
STEVENS: Well, it looks like it. I mean, (INAUDIBLE) says one of the reasons that Kim Jong-un has changed track is that the sanctions are having
a deep impact on the economy. Others would say this is actually -- Kim is more interested in adopting most states in that matter and being treated as
a serious world figure.
But the point is that the Trump administration has wretches up the economic pressure significantly on the North Korean regime. It has managed to push
China into a much more aggressive stance on what China allows across its border and what China does as far as the U.N. sanctions are concerned.
So put those two together, there have been significant moves made by the Trump administration. Of course, there has been talk of military strikes,
quite serious talk of military strikes. Now, it is difficult to know combined whether this actually had an impact on Kim Jong-un's decision.
This is an absolute dictatorship. We don't know why he particularly changed his mind on this.
But he did make it clear at the start of the year he wanted to see the Koreas come together. We saw him sent a delegation to the Winter Olympics.
His sister came with that. She met the president here. The president responded. Now, we have this breakthrough. So there is very much diplomatic
push.
LU STOUT: Absolutely a breakthrough. There will be talks. There will be hotline setup. And there is now North Korea willing to start talking about
denuclearization. Andrew Stevens reporting live for us from Seoul. Thank you so much. Take care.
Turning now to the Rohingya crisis.
STEVENS: Thanks, Kristie.
LU STOUT: Seven months since a brutal crackdown by Myanmar's military, Rohingya refugees are continuing to pour into neighboring Bangladesh.
That's according to Andrew Gilmour. He is the U.N. assistant secretary general for human rights. And I spoke to him as he wrapped his four-day
trip to Cox's Bazar. I asked him what he witnessed inside those camps.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDREW GILMOUR, ASSISTANT SECRETARY GENERAL FOR HUMAN RIGHTS, U.N.: The authorities of Bangladesh and the humanitarian agencies have done a
tremendous job in welcoming them. But I have to say that the flimsy bamboo and (INAUDIBLE) at the moment are in significant danger
[08:35:00] of being swept away when the rain starts which could happen in about three weeks' time. When the rain starts, there will be flooding.
There will be landslides and maybe death from both of those.
On top of that, there is real danger that there could be a cholera outbreak because the fecal flood that is already present in the water level has
contaminated fresh water and therefore will provoke something far worst in terms of public health.
The camps are currently highly congested. At the minimum, I believe that the camps need to be slightly decongested. Therefore, family to be moved
out. But actually the Bangladesh authorities have assured me that they are planning to do that.
LU STOUT (on camera): Many of the Rohingya refugees, they do not want to live in these overcrowded camps. But many of them also don't want to be
repatriated, sent back to Myanmar. So where can they go to?
GILMOUR: It's not just that they are currently in a (INAUDIBLE) the largest refugee camp in the entire world. But the exodus, the ethnic
cleansing inside Myanmar is continuing. That is what I have (INAUDIBLE).
A number of refugees who have crossed in the last few days, they are fleeing rape on a really significant level, it seems. Continued killings.
And a policy of forced starvation which seems to be designed deliberately to prevent the remaining Rohingya, those who did not flee in September last
year, starting in August.
But those who remained are currently being (INAUDIBLE) and that is very, very serious. It means that there could be no question of anybody
repatriated at this stage.
LU STOUT: You described this policy of forced starvation, ethnic cleansing. Is genocide taking place?
GILMOUR: We cannot determine genocide. It has to be done legally. There has to be proper investigation. That hasn't been done. There is certainly
talk of that.
LU STOUT: You know, this disturbing accounts from the Rohingya who have fled Myanmar, who are in Cox's Bazar dealing with very dire situations in
these overcrowded camps, when you speak to them, how much hope do they have? Do they feel that they will have a better future?
GILMOUR: That is the exact question that I asked (INAUDIBLE) stuck in my mind, women that I spoke to, and I asked them, what hopes they have for the
future. The reply one was, well, the ways we have, possible ways that we have, any hope at all.
LU STOUT: The government of Myanmar denies that it is persecuting the Rohingya. It remains unmoved by the plight of Rohingya refugees. What can
be done to change that way of thinking?
GILMOUR: You are right that they are denying it. And they are banning the U.N. Human Rights Office from going there. They are preventing us with
every measure possible. There is even a fact finding commission that has been sent out in order to look into what is going on. Not surprisingly we
feel there is no authorization for them to visit, we as U.N., because they don't want them to find the facts.
So there is a lot that they are hiding. So when they deny it, I would say, if you deny it, then let us in to see the truth. Otherwise, I have to say
we are going to believe that hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees would have an entirely different version.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: My conversation with Andrew Gilmour of the United Nations there.
You are watching "News Stream." Still to come, they say necessity is the mother of invention and it is hard to argue in this case. We will meet a
young inventor whose mother's illness inspired him to help fight the spread of disease.
[08:40:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LU STOUT: Coming to you live from Hong Kong, welcome back, this is "News Stream."
Now, imagine being able to predict where an outbreak of a deadly disease will occur next. Now, that is what a young inventor set out to do, after
his own mother was struck by illness. Our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta introduces us to him now as part of the CNN's series called
"Tomorrow's Hero."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Outbreaks of dengue fever can ravage entire communities in developing countries. But not if you
detect the disease early on. That's why tomorrow's hero, Rainier Mallol, is working to ensure these types of outbreaks can be contained.
RAINIER MALLOL, CNN TOMORROW'S HERO: When I was 14 years old, my mother was infected by a disease called dengue. It it's not treated fast, it
actually can lead to death. I wasn't able to do anything. I was powerless.
My name is Rainier Mallol and I am 26 years old. My invention is a platform that allows public health professionals to predict where the next outbreak
is going to happen, effectively allowing them to save resources and save more lives.
The first thing that you see when you open the platform is this big colorful map of the current situation of the location which you are in. So
for the case of dengue, you can see in the map, the people that were infected, the current outbreaks that are active in the area, the
predictions for the next three months. If a new case is reported, it automatically goes to the platform.
We have a system that obtains 276 different variables. And we take all of those variables and we put them in artificial intelligence that is able to
understand patterns. It analyses the data. But most importantly, it gives you a prediction, with more than 88 percent accuracy.
If you don't know when or where the next outbreak is going to happen, then you invest resources blindly, costing more and being less effective. So
now, public health officials have a very strong weapon against multiple diseases. This is only the beginning. Dengue is just a start.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: And that is "News Stream." I'm Kristie Lu Stout, but don't go anywhere, "World Sport" with Rhiannon Jones is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:45:00] (WORLD SPORT)
END
