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Russia Retaliates; Russian Spy Poisoning; Palestinian Protest; Korea's Diplomacy; Australian Cricket Scandal; Cambridge Analytica's Influence In Kenya; Celebrating Easter Week; Thailand Bus Fire; Malaysia's Anti-Fake News Bill Sparks Concern; U.K. Deposit-Return Program Tackles Pollution; Cleaning Up The Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired March 30, 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)

ANNA COREN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello. I'm Anna Coren in Hong Kong. Welcome to "News Stream." Ambassadors summoned. Russia said it had no choice but to

close the Saint Petersburg U.S. consulate and kick out diplomats in retaliation for American actions.

(INAUDIBLE) crowd of Palestinian are protesting Israeli's appropriation of land and there has been some casualties.

And plastic pollution. There's a growing mass of waste in our oceans. But there's hope. We look at some major enough (ph) solutions.

The Kremlin says Russia was forced to expel 60 U.S. diplomats after the U.S. kicked out the same number of Russian diplomats earlier this week.

However, the spokesman adds Russia still wants good relations.

Moscow had also shut down the U.S. consulate in Saint Petersburg. Despite that statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry just summoned the ambassadors

of the countries that took, quote, unfriendly actions against Russia over the Salisbury nerve agent attack.

And add to all of this, a test launch of a Russian missile nicknamed "Satan 2." Let's get much more of Russia's action with our Phil Black who joins us

from Moscow with the very latest. Phil, we knew that Moscow would retaliate. So, no one can really be surprised by Russia's actions, can

they?

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, indeed, that's true. This was the very least that was expected in response to that coordinated effort by the

United States, U.K. and its allies to expel Russian diplomats or suspected spies. Russia was always going to at least do what it calls reciprocity.

That is one for one, tit-for-tat.

And so that's what it's in the process of doing. It announced the measures against the U.S. first yesterday, getting that out of the way because the

U.S. had taken the strongest action against Russia.

And now as we speak it seems there is something of a queue forming outside the foreign ministry building here in Moscow as other high-ranking

diplomats from the other countries involved in this active solidarity with the U.K. are being summoned one at a time to be told the measures that will

be taken against them.

But we already know, according to the foreign minister here, Sergey Lavrov, he says, they are responding in kind. So, again, more tit-for-tat. More one

for one. But the message from Russia as you already touched on there is, we didn't want to do this. We don't want to do this. We want good relations

with everyone.

Russia continues to believe it is the victim in all of this. Unfairly accused, it says, of using a chemical weapon in Salisbury. It says it had

nothing to do with it. There has been no evidence. And now the U.K. and the U.S. are pressuring their allies to gang up on Russia in this unfriendly

way, Anna.

COREN: And Phil, we thought that U.S.-Russia relations were bad under President Obama and his administration and yet despite what Russia says

about wanting good relations with the United States. Both governments from the U.S. and from Russia are saying the situation is at an all-time low. Is

that an over-exaggeration?

BLACK: No, that really is fact. It wasn't that long ago just before the Trump administration came into office in the United States that Russia

believed there was a chance that under President Trump, relations between the two countries could improve.

You might recall that at the end of President Obama's administration, he announced an expulsion of a number of Russian diplomats over alleged

meddling in the U.S. election there and Russia initially didn't respond. It held fire in the hope that under President Trump, things would get better.

But what transpired was the U.S. Congress taking the power away from President Trump to lift sanctions on Russia by locking it in to Congress

itself. Only it has the say to do so. And so that also locked these two countries into ongoing poor relations.

But what U.S. officials and others in the west would say is what we've also seen since then is persistent bad behavior from Russia and that is why the

U.S. and other countries are now continuing to take action against Moscow. Of course as we've touched on, Moscow denies all of this and insists it is

the victim of some sort of anti-Russian western conspiracy, Anna.

COREN: And Phil, we've just learned that Russia has tested a missile. What details do you have?

BLACK: So an ICBM, an intercontinental ballistic missile that has been working on for some years now.

[08:05:03] The NATO designation for this particular weapon delivery vehicle is "Satan 2" which sounds pretty ominous. We understand they've

successfully test fired today. They've conducted tests before. We can't comment really on the timing of this.

As I said, it is an ongoing weapons program. Tests like this do take time to organize. But the timing will be noted, I think, with some people that

Russia has fired, this weapon while at the same time it's calling ambassadors into its foreign ministry to expel diplomats from this country,

Anna.

COREN: The timing is indeed very interesting. Phil Black from Moscow, great to see you. Many thanks for that.

For more on the international impact, our diplomatic editor Nic Robertson joins us from Jerusalem. Nic, we know that the U.N. secretary general has

described this crisis between Russia and the west as something reminiscent of the cold war. Is there a feeling that this is spinning out of control?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: What the secretary general at the U.N., Antonio Guterres, went on to say was that what's

required of this time is a mechanism to deal with this deterioration in the relationship.

And if you listen to what the Russian deputy foreign minister had to say to the U.S. ambassador, Jon Huntsman, in Moscow yesterday, one can begin to

see why he may be -- the U.N. secretary general may be ringing the alarm bells.

What the U.S. ambassador was told in Moscow yesterday was there could be, if there are further diplomatic actions taken in the United States against

Russia, that there could be a serious deterioration in global stability. That is a very worrying sort of phrase for international diplomats to hear.

When we try to look at this and say as Antonio Guterres framed his answer here, about was this sort of another cold war, if you will, he drew the

differences, and broadly speaking most diplomats see the cold war as a sort of bipolar situation between the United States and the Soviet Union where

other countries lined up.

Now you have countries of great power like China. That was so much smaller player back during the cold war. You have Brazil, India. You have a

multipolar global system. But what Guterres is saying is the problem, those mechanisms during the cold war that existed to defuse situations and head

off possible confrontation, those fell by the wayside because the cold war was deemed to be over.

It's a new situation now, that he says requires mechanisms, a la back in the day with the old cold war, to deal with that. That's his concern. Anna?

COREN: Would you say that relations between Russia and the United States are at an all-time low?

BLACK: They certainly have the potential to go lower. I mean that was the implication from the Russian Foreign Ministry yesterday. They do appear to

be in a bad situation. What we seem to be heading into right now is that reciprocity of equal and opposite and equal reaction from the Kremlin

towards all those different countries that took diplomatic action against them.

However, it was interesting to note today that the British ambassador was called in along with some of those other ambassadors to the Russian Foreign

Ministry today, and he spoke when leaving the foreign ministry. He was asked about what he had heard. And I draw attention to him being drawn back

in, called back in to Russian Foreign Ministry, because that tit-for-tat expulsion of British diplomats has happened.

And he said this, he said, we will study what I have been told and make our decision accordingly. So he doesn't indicate what he has been told but the

very fact that he has been called back in gives the impression that there is something about the relationship that Britain needs to adjust itself to

subject to what he was told at the foreign ministry today.

So, yes, the relationship between the United States and Russia is in a bad place. Yes, it could get worse. And yes, we're likely to see Russia try to

figure out how it can sort of divide this international resolve it sees in front of itself. So one of the things that it's trying to do is deny its

involvement in the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia.

But on call into question, Britain's hand in it, Britain's way of handling it overall. And so, you know, I think this is a direction we may be headed

in. But of course all these countries have the option as well to respond to Russia with other diplomatic or financial mechanisms they may choose.

COREN: Nic Robertson, as always, we appreciate your perspective. Nic Robertson, joining us there from Jerusalem.

We also have an update on that former Russian spy and his daughter poisoned in England. Sergei Skripal remains in critical condition more than three

weeks after the attack. But his daughter, 33-year-old Yulia Skripal, is out of critical condition. The hospital says she is responding to treatments

and improving rapidly.

[08:10:02] Clashes are breaking out now on Gaza's border with Israel with tear gas in the air and reports of several Palestinians injured. This as

Palestinians launch their annual protest demanding the right to return to land now inside Israel. Tensions are especially high for this year's

demonstration which are expected to go on for the next six weeks.

Let's get the very latest. Our Ian Lee joins us from the Israeli-Gaza border. Ian, we're getting reports of escalating violence. What can you

tell us?

IAN LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Let me just show you, give you the scene for you really. Right here we have thousands of Palestinians who come out for

this demonstration. And you can see that they are stopped down there. That's where a road is and just beyond them, a couple hundred meters, is

the fence that separates Gaza from Israel.

And then on the other side of that, you can probably see a dirt berm. And that is where the Israeli army has positioned itself. We've been down in

there and really all throughout the day, we've seen tear gas, we've seen rubber bullets, and we've also live rounds. About two hours ago, there were

just so many casualties coming in that they were putting two, three people inside the ambulances and sending them to the hospital.

At one point, there were just so many casualties that there weren't any ambulances around so they had to treat the people there. We had seen the

tensions ease just a little bit. They pulled back from the fence at one point at the height of the clashes, they were just meters away from the

fence.

Now it seems to have calmed down just a little bit, although from time to time, we are still seeing puffs of tear gas and we're hearing cracks of

bullets, presumably warning shots flying overhead. We've heard now from the Palestinian Ministry of Health that five people have been killed, over 500

injured. Quite a large number and still fairly early in the day.

COREN: Well, the Israeli defense minister said that Hamas' leadership is risking your lives, talking to the protesters. These protesters are

planning on certainly being where you are and at the other camps along the border for the next six weeks. Will they last six weeks and what are they

hoping to achieve?

LEE: When you talk to people, you know, they say that they're going to be out here for six weeks, but we'll see. That really will be a test for them

for the resolve if they can keep up the numbers. Likely we'll see an ebb and flow, lower numbers during the week with a rise on the weekend.

But the Israeli military had made it very clear that this fence is their red line. If anyone gets close, they're willing to use live fire to push

the people back, to stop them, and they've killed a number of people since then. They say that they have hundreds of snipers up and down this border.

There's camps like this all up and down this border and they say that they will stop anyone who tries to breach their sovereignty. But Hamas has said

that this is a peaceful demonstration. They've called for a peaceful demonstration. They say that they want the people to come out to show a

show of force to the international community that the Palestinians hadn't forgotten their land.

But when you have the Israeli military very adamant that they will not let anyone get near that fence and then you have all these protesters out here,

you're going to get incidents where you have casualties as well as fatalities.

COREN: Yes. As we know, these things certainly have the potential to turn very ugly very quickly. Ian Lee, joining us from the Israeli-Gaza border,

many thanks for that update.

Chinese envoy says his country will help work toward denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula. He made the comment while filling South Korea's president

in on this week's surprise meeting between Xi Jinping and Kim Jong-un.

Let's bring in our Paula Hancocks who joins us from Seoul. Paula, what are we learning about the details from this meeting?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anna, we know that the meeting lasted for about 70 minutes in the previous day or so. The top

Chinese envoy had also been briefing the foreign minister, the national security adviser, and really telling everybody what happened, giving

details of that surprise meeting between Xi Jinping, the Chinese leader, and the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, earlier this week.

There was also some positive remarks from Yang Jiechi that the Chinese envoy talking about how China would do what is necessary and would help

toward denuclearization, toward peace on the Korean Peninsula.

Also saying that they had a good in-depth discussion on how they can best make sure that these next two summits go well and improve the situation.

[08:15:00] You have the inter-Korean summit coming up in April between the South Korean president, Moon Jae-in, and Kim Jong-un. And potentially in

May, you have the U.S. president, Donald Trump, meeting with Kim Jong-un.

Now this is what China wanted. They wanted the South Koreans. They wanted the Americans to be talking to North Korea but at the same time, they have

also now made sure that Xi Jinping was the first global leader that Kim Jong-un met in reaffirming that position as the main ally, the main trading

partner of North Korea. Anna?

COREN: And Paula, from what you are saying, considering you lived in Seoul for many, many years, does it appear that the groundwork is being laid for

these historic meetings which as you mentioned are coming up between Moon, Kim Jong-un and potentially Trump and the Korean leader, North Korean

leader?

HANCOCKS: Yes. The inter-Korean summit is the -- the plans seem to be progressing fairly well. They've got the date, April 27th. They're having

another meeting at the DMZ next week and certainly there will be one more after that. So they are getting through these logistics slowly but surely

and it does appear as though that will -- that will progress as expected.

It's less certain what's going to happen with this Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un meeting. We heard -- we've really heard from the South Korean

delegation at the time saying that it would happen by May. It was an acceptance by Mr. Trump that really took many by surprise, reportedly from

within his own administration as well. We didn't hear from North Korea in response to that for some time.

So that at this point we have very few details on. In fact, we don't even know where in the world it will actually be held. But certainly there does

feel seem to be this momentum working towards the inter-Korean summit and with that -- with that meeting between the Chinese leader, the North Korean

leader.

We're now hearing Japan potentially wants a meeting as well. And to that note, the South Korean foreign minister, Kang Kyung-wha, actually spoke to

her Japanese counterpart this Friday afternoon, a matter of hours ago, to sort of brief him on exactly what had happened at this China-North Korea

meeting and to make sure that everyone was in the loop.

There had been many Japanese reports that the Japanese prime minister, Shinzo Abe, was feeling out of the loop when it came to this. So there's

really this diplomatic flurry seen gaining momentum to make sure everyone is on the same page and at least publicly saying that they're all fully

supportive of what is happening at this point. Anna?

COREN: Paula Hancocks, great to see you. Many thanks for that update.

Australia's cricketers are back on the field but minus some of their best players who have been banned for cheating. We'll hear from the fans, next.

Plus, new questions over Cambridge Analytica's influence in the Kenyan politics. That's coming up.

[08:20:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COREN: Welcome back to "News Stream" live from Hong Kong. Australia's cricket team has returned to the pitch for its first match since three

players were banned in a cheating scandal. The current test match against South Africa is also Darren Lehmann's last as the team's coach.

He is stepping down in the wake of the scandal. The ball-tampering revelation led to Steve Smith being sacked as captain. It also prompted a

series of sponsors to withdraw their support, including Australia's Commonwealth Bank, sporting brand ASICS, and the Magellan Financial Group.

Cricket is all about the fans. Our David McKenzie has been talking to them at the game in Johannesburg.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): The fans are screaming in for this all-important final test match between South Africa

and Australia. But the series has been overshadowed, of course, by this ball-tampering scandal. Three of the Australian players sent home in

disgrace. Many of the fans saying it's about time that this issue was dealt with.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's severe but they have to do something to eradicate this from the game.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Obviously, you don't want it happening at international level because you want them to be role models to younger children.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) for giving the punishments and hopefully it can be stamped out of the game, you know. We need to get stamped out of the

game and other boards need to follow suit.

MCKENZIE (on camera): South Africa's captain has expressed sympathy for the Australians but ultimately they want this to be about the cricket. If

South Africa can pull it off, this will be their first test series win at home against Australia since the end of isolation.

David McKenzie, CNN, Johannesburg.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COREN: The name Cambridge Analytica was barely known a few weeks back. Of course, that all changed when one of its former employees accused it of

manipulating U.S. voters by exploiting their Facebook data. Now in Kenya, questions are being asked about the company's influence there. It follows

reports that the country's president was a client. CNN's Faria Sevenzo has this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FARAI SEVENZO, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Nairobi, thousands of miles away from the offices of Cambridge Analytica, when the

political consultancy firm revealed an undercover news team that Kenya's current president was a client.

Their managing director claimed, the Kenyatta campaign which we ran in 2013 and 2017 for Kenyatta, we have rebranded the entire party twice, written

the manifesto, done research, analysis, messaging. I think we wrote all the speeches and we staged the whole thing. So just about every element of this

candidate.

These are polarized elections, full of animosity, and questions are being raised now over how big Cambridge Analytica's reach was.

(on camera): Kenyans are painfully aware of the dangers of negative campaigning given the history of violent elections in this cuntry. And of

course they want to know what it is Cambridge Analytica for their government and what impact that had on Kenyan democracy.

Have you heard of Cambridge Analytica?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I have.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Those are the guys who manipulated -- in a way manipulated the elections.

SEVENZO (voice over): You think they gave Mr. Kenyatta a fair advantage?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know the substance to that story, but if it is, then it's unfortunate.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It brings the results into question. The whole electoral infrastructure in relation to the elections which were held last

year must be fully audited. I think we'll see the footprints of Cambridge Analytica.

SEVENZO (voice over): Images of Kenya's president appear on Cambridge Analytica's website as well as on that of parent company, SCL, where these

images have since been removed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let's not absolve Kenyan politicians of their role in this because Cambridge Analytica didn't pay themselves. They paid a foreign

company to come to Kenya.

SEVENZO (voice over): This video appeared on social media. It made astounding claims about the opposition leader.

RAILA ODINGA, FORMER PRIME MINISTER OF KENYA: Whenever you try to Google Kenya, you -- the first greeting was Raila and all that trash about me.

SEVENZO (on camera): And you think it contributed to ethnic tensions in this country?

ODINGA: Certainly and loss of lives. I think very many innocent people lost their lives as a result of that negative campaign. (INAUDIBLE) by

Cambridge Analytica. Somebody needs to take responsibility for this.

SEVENZO (voice over): We arrived at President Kenyatta's party headquarters to try to find some answers.

RAPHAEL TUJU, SECRETARY GENERAL, JUBILEE PARTY: We hired them to do analysis, a focus of discussion, focus of discussion results because they

did have that expertise. They did demonstrate to us that they have that expertise.

SEVENZO (voice over): And that was it?

[08:25:00] TUJU: That was it.

SEVENZO (on camera): No sort of strategy to be completely negative about the opposition?

TUJU: No.

SEVENZO (on camera): And you don't know where all these videos were around in the 2017 campaign?

TUJU: We have no idea. We saw them. Some of them when they were sent out to us.

SEVENZO (on camera): Now it's possible that in this investigation, there's going to be a massive paper trail that leads right here. To Jubilee

headquarters. What would you say to people who are worried about things like that?

TUJU: It doesn't bother me because in our engagement with SCL, which you say is related to Cambridge Analytica, in our engagement at no time did we

ask them to do any kind of data mining.

SEVENZO (on camera): Why don't you want to find out who they are and who their parent company is?

TUJU: No. This is not necessary. It's not my business to find out who else are your business associates, is it?

SEVENZO (on camera): If those business associates have such a terrible reputation in terms of negative campaigning, would you hire them again in

2022?

TUJU: No, I would not. And I would not so much because of the reputation. I would not because I don't have time to be dealing with all these side

issues. I have to deal with my core business, and my core business is to run a campaign and win an election.

SEVENZO (on camera): The fallout over Cambridge Analytica's tactics is far from over for this East African nation. And time will tell when the Kenyans

get the answers they're looking for.

Farai Sevenzo, CNN, Nairobi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COREN: And Cambridge Analytica has denied any accusations of wrongdoing. The company has suspended its chief executive since the undercover report

aired.

Christians around the world are celebrating Easter week. Today, congregations mark Good Friday, the day they believe that Jesus was

crucified. In the Philippines, worshipers carry large wooden crosses through the streets, many whipping themselves as a way to share the pain

suffered on the cross.

Southern Mexico is also known for its elaborate mock crucifixions with worshipers parading a statue of Jesus to the town's cathedral.

A plan to crack down on fake news might sound like a good thing, but a proposal in Malaysia has many journalists worried. We'll find out why,

next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COREN: Hello. I'm Anna Coren in Hong Kong. You are watching "News Stream." These are your world headlines.

The Russian Foreign Ministry just summoned the ambassadors of the countries that took, quote, unfriendly actions against Russia over the Salisbury

nerve agent attack.

[08:29:58] The summon comes after Russia says that it is expelling 60 American diplomats and closing the U.S. consulate in Saint Petersburg. All

this in retaliation for Washington taking similar action.

Violence is breaking out now in Gaza's border with Israel with several people injured and being taken away by ambulance. This as Palestinians

launched their annual protest demanding the right to return to land now inside Israel. Organizers say the protest will go on for the next six

weeks.

Police in Thailand say a bus fire has left at least 21 Burmese migrants dead. The bus was heading to Bangkok when the fire broke out. About two

dozen passengers managed to escape before the flames spread. The cause is under investigation.

The term "fake news" has been bandied around by leaders from U.S. President Trump to Philippine Leader Rodrigo Duterte. Now the Malaysian government

led by Prime Minister Najib Razak is proposing a new anti-fake news bill which could land people six years in jail. Some in the media industry are

worried about what the law could be used for. So what are their concerns?

To tell us all about it, CNN's Marc Lourdes joins us now. Marc, tell me, how do the Malays you know feel about this anti-fake news law that is being

proposed which will give the government sweeping powers to imprison those deemed guilty of creating or spreading fake news?

MARC LOURDES, DIRECTOR, CNN DIGITAL ASIA: Well, Anna, the big concern around this new bill that's been proposed is the fact that the phrase "fake

news" has very broad definition. So because the bill doesn't go into detail about what fake news is, it leaves a lot open to interpretation, and the

fear is that fake news will be what the government deems it to be.

In fact, just last week, deputy minister in Najib's government said that the 1MDB investigation, any news on it would be considered fake if it's not

verified by the government. So there's deep concern about potential misuse of this law to stifle dissent and free speech.

COREN: As you mentioned, the Malaysian prime minister, Najib Razak, has been plagued by years long financial scandal where he has been accused of

misappropriating billions of dollars. So, why is he doing this now?

LOURDES: Well, there are elections around the corner and a lot of the people that I spoke to in Malaysia have said that the timing of the tabling

of the bill in parliament is very close to the election season.

And if you look at the whole fake news dilemma and you see how Malaysia has been doing it, it seems like it's being -- it's coming out at a time that's

very close to the elections and there are fears that this could lead to a stifling of opposition parties of people campaigning on the political trail

to stop them from speaking out about things that the current government would not want them to speak about.

COREN: Marc, as we know, the term "fake news" has been coined by President Trump and seems to have caught on certainly for some leaders here in Asia.

They've jumped on that bandwagon. Is there a fronting (ph) trend occurring here?

LOURDES: Well, if you look at Southeast Asia, the phrase "fake news" has caught on in the worst possible manner. You see the Myanmar government

using fake news to describe a lot of the international coverage about the Rohingya crisis.

Over in Cambodia, President Hun Sen has slammed a lot of the media calling them fake news as well. And in the Philippines, President Duterte has used

the term to describe the coverage of Rappler, among others.

And the similarity between all of this is that just like President Donald Trump, these leaders are using that phrase not to describe actual fake

news, the kind that's produced in a Macedonian content factory but more news that they don't agree with. So that is a huge concern in this part of

the world and in this region.

COREN: Certainly challenging times for independent media and freedom of expression. Marc Lourdes, great to have you with us. Many thanks for that.

The scale of garbage floating in our oceans is more than double the size of Texas, but there is hope. We'll hear from the people working to clean our

seas. That's next.

[08:35:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COREN: In the U.K., environmental campaigners are welcoming a new plan to tackle plastic waste. The government says too much plastic litter ends up

in the ocean. It wants to give consumers an incentive to recycle empty bottles instead of throwing them away. Erin McLaughlin has more on how it

works.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The world's oceans are under threat by plastic bottles. Water bottles, soda bottles,

they seem harmless, but experts say amount to one-third of all plastic waste found in the seas. Compounding the problem, it takes longer to

degrade in the ocean than on land. Bits of plastic even found in the bellies of birds.

SHARON GEORGE, COURSE DIRECTOR FOR ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY, KEELE UNIVERSITY: We are treating that as a disposal commodity and actually

they're not. Plastics are incredibly long lived but we're using them for a single use items and we really need to change that from a producer and a

consumer point of view.

MCLAUGHLIN (voice over): Now the British government is trying to do just that. They are looking for feedback on a proposal that has worked for other

countries.

(on camera): The proposal is simple. You buy, say, a bottle of water from the store, you pay extra for the plastic. You drink the water then you

return the plastic bottle and get the surcharge back. They're still deciding on the amount of the surcharge but countries have charged

everywhere from 10 to 50 cents.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a good move. I guess the only thing is whether people will actually take them back.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Seen it in other countries. Seen it in Denmark. They do it and it's like almost a hidden cost. I think it's quite good.

MCLAUGHLIN (voice over): When it comes to recycling, the U.K. is behind much of the rest of the world.

GEORGE: Most of our plastic has been going to countries like China. Well, the markets are now changing and that is becoming more difficult for the

U.K. to do. So we need to radically rethink what we're doing.

MCLAUGHLIN (voice over): About 40 countries in 21 U.S. states pay back for return plastic. Norway recycles 97 percent of its plastic bottles. Compare

that to the U.K. with the bottle recycling rate of 74 percent.

Program costs hundreds of millions of dollars to implement and even more to maintain. But to environmentalists, for the health of the world's oceans,

it's worth it to get the U.K. going in the right direction.

Erin McLaughlin, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COREN: Everyone certainly needs to play their part. Well, here's a sense of the scale of pollution in our oceans. A garbage patch floating in the

Pacific is about three times the size of France. Isn't that frightening? But one team says they have a plan to clean it up. Our Kristie Lu Stout

spoke to the founder of Ocean Cleanup Project about their work.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BOYAN SLAT, FOUNDER, OCEAN CLEANUP PROJECT: Yes. So in order to prepare for the cleanup, over the past three years we've done extensive

reconnaissance of this area, of this Great Pacific Garbage Patch. We've found there's actually way more plastic in that area than what we really

thought. Up to 16 times more mass of plastic is floating out there. It is 1.8 trillion pieces of plastic weighing around 80,000 metric tons.

It also is increasing so we've seen exponentially increase in the amount of plastic which means it's just going to be getting worse and worse and worse

unless we clean it up. So I think to solve this problem we need to do two things. On one side, we have to cut the stores and prevent more plastic

from entering the oceans in the first place.

[08:39:59] On the other hand and that's the part we work on is we also have to clean up the legacy, the 60 years of damage that has already been

done which doesn't go away by itself.

So, at the Ocean Cleanup, we've developed a patented technology that uses very long floating barriers in a U-shape that floats around, part by the

natural ocean currents, and act like a funnel to first corral the plastic before we then can take it out and ship it to land for recycling. And we

calculated that with a fleet of 60 of such cleanup system, we should be able to clean up about half this Great Pacific Garbage Patch every five

years.

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN NEWSTREAM HOST: That sounds really, really promising. But what about the problem of micro plastics? Will your cleanup solution be

able to clean up these very, very tiny plastic particles out there in the oceans?

SLAT: One of the most important findings of the study we published last week is that just under one percent of the mass of the plastic is contained

in those very tiny pieces. So actually most of the mass is still floating around in these large objects and of course by removing those, we prevent

the creation of all these micro plastics.

LU STOUT: And as you clean up these vast amounts of plastics and micro plastics from the world's oceans, what are you going to do with it?

SLAT: So we can actually recycle this. So we've developed some processes for that. And the intent is actually to make new products out of this and

with that be able to fund the operational costs of the cleanup fleet.

LU STOUT: So what do you recommend, sort of the little fixes, the little changes that we can do with our daily lives to make a big impact for the

world's oceans?

SLAT: Sure, individuals can definitely do their bit (ph) too by just making sure that as little disposable plastic has been used, as well as

that doesn't end up in the environment, for example, through littering.

LU STOUT: When the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is again the size of the country of Mongolia, are you really confident that one we can eliminate it?

SLAT: Sure. That's why we do what we do. Of course, you know, the more you get out, the less you get out, because you're kind of thinning out the

patch. Obviously to go from 80 percent reduction to 90 percent reduction takes as much effort as going from zero percent reduction to 50 percent

reduction.

So, we will never be able to get every last kilogram, every last piece of plastic out of that patch but really the goal is to get to, say, 90, 95

percent reduction, which we think we can achieve by the year 2040.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COREN: What amazing work. Congratulations to them. That was Boyan Slat of the Ocean Cleanup Foundation speaking to our Kristie Lu Stout.

That is "News Stream." Thanks so much for your company. I'm Anna Coren. Don't go anywhere, "World Sport" with Alex Thomas is coming up next.

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[08:45:00] (WORLD SPORTS)

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