Return to Transcripts main page

NEWS STREAM

Two Police Officers And Passerby Killed In Belgium Shooting; North Korea Dispatched Top Aides To Talk Trump-Kim Meeting; Search For MH370 Ends After Four Years; Italy's Political Uncertainty Spooks Investors; Eight Thousand Starbucks Shutting For Anti-Bias Training; Resident Flee Fast Flowing Lava; Turbulent Month In Gaza; China's Tech Giants Join World's Most Valuable Brands; Musk Versus Media. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired May 29, 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: On route to New York, North Korea sends a top official to the U.S. The search ends, a private company looking for a missing Malaysian

airliner calls off the hunt. And renewed threat, Hawaii's Kilauea sparks new evacuations, and surging lava flow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Those stories in just a moment. But first, we go to Belgium, where authorities say a shooting in Liege may be terror related. Two

police officers and a passerby were killed when a gunman opened fire near a high school this morning.

A spokesman for the local prosecutor's office says the attacker has been, quote, neutralized. CNN's Nina dos Santos has more on this where she joins

us now live from CNN London. Nina, tell us more about what happed in Liege, and why it may have a link to terror.

NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kristie, it seems though 10:30 a.m. local time, an individual basically approached two police officers

under the knife, and stabbed them in the back it seems, killing both of those two police officers, and then he made off with their firearm.

And he shot on a passerby who was in stationary vehicle with that firearm, killing that individual, a 22-year-old man, and then he also entered a

school where he apparently took a woman hostage. Belgian media say that that woman was the janitor, the cleaner of the school.

She was taken hostage, and eventually, the police managed to surround the building. There was a shoot-out. Two more police officers were wounded,

though not fatally, and they took down this individual who is apparently now deceased.

That brings the death toll to three, two police, one passerby, but also a fourth individual who was the attacker. So far, there is no particular

word on his motive.

But Belgian media, this is unconfirmed at present, is seeming to indicate that he was a prison up until this weekend. He was released on temporary

release just yesterday. So there's going to be a lot of questions about who this individual was, and what exactly his motive was to kill three

people.

LU STOUT: Absolutely, a lot of open-ended questions. The identity of the gunman and motive as well. Nina dos Santos reporting for us, thank you.

Now, North Korean officials, they have been fanning out across the globe as they try to negotiate with the U.S. to make the summit between Kim Jong-un

and Donald Trump actually happen.

North Korea's top official on relations with the South, Kim Yong-chol is traveling to New York with a stopover in Beijing, while Kim Chang-son, a

close aide to Kim Jong-un is in Singapore along with U.S. officials.

And meanwhile, talks at the DMZ are ongoing. Matt Rivers is tracking developments from Seoul, and he joins me now live. And, Matt, top North

Korean officials have been deployed, fanning out across the world, including this Kim Yong-chol now on route to the U.S. Tell us about him

and his objective.

MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kim Yong-chol is often called Kim Jong-un's right-hand man, he's the former spy chief, he's often referred to

as the top nuclear negotiator. And we had an idea that he was fanning out to this in diplomacy when he was spotted by news cameras at the Beijing

airport.

Typically that's what diplomats will do from North Korea, they have to transit through Beijing before going somewhere else, and we actually got

confirmation from the President of the United States himself.

Let me read you a tweet from the President this morning, he wrote, we have put a great team together for our talks with North Korea. Meetings are

currently taking place concerning summit and more, Kim Yong-chol, the Vice Chairman of North Korea heading now to New York, solid response to my

letters. Thank you.

So what we're hearing there from the President is that Kim Yong-chol is going to New York. We're not sure who he's going to meet with there yet.

But you can imagine it's going to be someone quite senior in the U.S. government, because Kim Yong-chol is quite senior in the North Korean

government.

So that's the latest in this fanning out as you put it, Kristie, rightly so, that we've seen from the North Koreans on the DMZ. We've got American

delegates, and North Korean delegates working out a possible agenda for this summit down in Singapore.

There's a North Korean delegation meeting with an American logistics team trying to figure out where, and how, and when, and all of those little

details that are so necessary. But Kim Yong-chol is certainly the most important figure that we have seen going all the way to New York. And what

he does in the United States, everyone will be very close watching.

LU STOUT: Absolutely. And meanwhile, the Japanese Prime Minister, he does not want to be left out. We've got Shinzo Abe speaking to Donald Trump by

phone. We know that he wants to get Donald Trump's ear especially before the arrival of the top North Korean official let along the big summit in

Singapore.

[08:05:00] What do you think was said on that phone call?

RIVERS: Well, I think first and foremost to try to figure out when they're going to meet. There's some speculation that Trump and Abe could meet on

the sidelines of the G7 in Quebec next week, you could also have Prime Minister Abe going to Washington, D.C. before this summit.

But similar to what you see China do with the North Koreans, that's what you're seeing a Japanese do with the Americans. You know, if the three

main players in all of this have been North Korea, South Korea, and the U.S., the Chinese, and the Japanese certainly have lot at stake here.

And so what you're seeing both sides do, Japanese with the Americans, and the Chinese with the North Koreans is go to them. Get on the same page.

Make sure that their strategic interests are going to be represented at the summit because the big fear for a government like Shinzo Abe's would be

that it's left aside.

It doesn't have a place at this table, and Japan has -- you know, don't forget Japan is the country that has seen those North Korean missiles fly

over its northern island.

And so there's a lot at stake here for Japan, where traditional allies with the United States, and so Shinzo Abe doing his best to make sure that Japan

and the United States are on the same page before this historic summit if it in fact happens.

LU STOUT: Matt Rivers live in Seoul for us, thank you. Now, after four long years the search for Malaysian Airlines flight 370 is coming to an

end. A private operation to locate the missing plane has come up empty, and Malaysian authorities say there will be no more extensions. Anna Coren

has more.

ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kristie, this has been such a long and painful journey for the families of the 239 people on board MH370, believed

to have crashed in the Southern Indian Ocean. And as the latest operation by a private U.S. company wraps up, the search may officially end, but the

families' suffering continues.

Four years on, they still have no answers, no clues as to what happen to their loved ones. And there's a real fear this tragedy will just become

another footnote in history.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COREN: A routine Malaysian Airlines flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing would rock the aviation industry. And shatter the lives of the families of

the 239 people on board. Flight MH370 vanished on the 8th of March 2014 less than an hour after takeoff. These were the last communications with

air traffic control.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Malaysia 370 contact Ho Chi Minh 120 decimal 9, good night.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good night Malaysia 370.

COREN: Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah was flying the Boeing 777 when it vanished from radar. Mounting speculation the disappearance of this ill-

fated flight was in fact a deliberate act.

A massive search immediately focused on the South China Sea. But a week later, tracking data released by Malaysian authorities revealed the plane

had flown up to eight hours in the opposite direction before crashing in the Southern Indian Ocean of the coast of Western Australia.

One of the most challenging and exhaustive searches in history began. With the initial search sign roughly half the size of the United States.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're not searching for a needle in a hay stack. We're still trying to define what a hay stack is.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The lost of MH370 is the most bizarre mystery ever in aviation, and arguably probably one of the most bizarre mysteries in any

field at all.

COREN: In an Australia-led search, experts honed in on 60,000 square kilometers of seabed, 2,000 kilometers off the coast of Perth.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If there's a plane down there, you know, we will see it.

COREN: Using sonar equipment and autonomous underwater vehicles they navigated trenches, volcanoes, and underwater mountains, searching for a

debris field up to six kilometers below the surface.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're looking for small features similar to something like this pixel.

COREN: But more than a year into the search thousands of kilometers away debris from MH370 began washing up on the coast of Africa, an island in the

Indian Ocean.

As the underwater search drag on the Australian, Malaysian, and Chinese government funding the $150 million operation decided it had gone on long

enough, officially ending the search in January 2017, devastating families all over again.

Earlier this year a private U.S. company took up the search on a no- find, no-fee basis. But after five months it too has failed to produce any

results, and it's ending its operation.

If the Malaysian government decides to end the search, and there's no further search, then I will be very angry, says Jiang Hui who lost his

mother. We cannot accept this kind of outcome. For KS Narendran whose beloved wife was aboard MH370, he is also pleading for the Malaysian to

keep searching.

KS NARENDRAN, WIFE OF MH370 PASSENGER: Do not give up the search.

[08:10:01] Stay focused on finding what really happened, finding the plane, and finding the truth.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COREN: The desperate pleas from the families to continue that search. Now, despite mixed messages from the Malaysian government, it has ruled out

a renewed search for the wreckage saying the families need closure.

But the relatives we've spoken to say they feel a real sense of anger, and betrayal, and abandonment particularly by the Malaysian authorities, that

promised it would never stop searching until if found the wreckage of MH370. Kristie.

LU STOUT: Anna Coren there. Now, in Europe, investors are on edge over fears that Italy's political turmoil could go on for months. On Monday,

Italy's President asked former IMF official Carlo Cottarelli to form an interim government after previous attempts from populous parties failed.

If Mr. Cottarelli wins parliamentary approval for his policies, he has promised fresh elections early next year. But at this stage, he looks

unlikely to win the parliament's endorsement, meaning that Italy could be heading back to the polls within months.

And all of this uncertainty is weighing on investor confidence. Stocks in Milan are down sharply. Let's get the very latest from Barbie Nadeau in

Rome. And, Barbie, it seems that Italy is indeed heading for new elections, but the question is when?

BARBIE NADEAU, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: That's absolutely right. And when is a very important question because of how these parties will play this

campaign whether they will continue -- the populists will continue their anti-Euro rhetoric. We saw so much in the campaign season leading up to

that March 4th election.

Or whether they'll temper a little bit after they see what that result -- what the results of that was. You know, we've talked to a lot of Italians

to see what they really think about the Eurozone, and just to try to take a measure of the population. Let's listen a little bit to what they had to

say to us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NADEAU: The latest last resort for Italy's political crisis is a man they called Mr. Scissors. No, not this one. This one. Carlo Cottarelli, a

former director of the International Monetary Fund who earned his nickname Mr. Scissors for his severe cuts in public spending has been given the

mandate to form a caretaker government that will guide the country towards new election.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking Foreign Language)

NADEAU: He knows global markets are worried, but he says the economy is growing. Adding that he will guide a moderate government where Italy's

role in the European Union remains essential.

Cottarelli came to power after populous parties that won March elections on Eurosceptic campaign promises failed to form a government. Steve Bannon,

President Trump's former adviser has been especially interested in the rise of populism in Italy which he is here to support.

STEVE BANNON, FORMER WHITE HOUSE CHIEF STRATEGIST: This populous movement is a global movement. It's to show the world that every day men and women

can take control of their lives, take control of their countries.

NADEAU: It is clear that this country is in political chaos. Staying in the Eurozone which is what E.U. countries that use the Euro as their

currency call themselves is no longer something people take for granted here. I asked Italians in Rome whether they want to stay in or get out of

the Eurozone. Dentro or fuori as they say it here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dentro.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Al fuori.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Al fuori.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dentro.

NADEAU: Italians are clearly divided when it comes to the Euro.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NADEAU: As you see, Kristie, I mean, Italians really don't know what they want, which I think makes it very difficult when you're going into an

election, whether it's in September, or whether it's early part of next year.

LU STOUT: There is so much uncertainty. Barbie Nadeau reporting live from Rome, thank you. Now, the E.U. wants to ban single-use plastics items to

help save our oceans. The plan would ban about 10 products that make up roughly 70 percent of all the litter in E.U. waters, things like straws,

plastic straws, and cotton buds.

The rule would also make plastic producers pay for waste management as clean-up efforts. The proposal will need all member states approvals to

pass. Now here's a sense of just how much plastic waste that we pump out while we go about our day.

Now these are all common plastic items designed for one-time use like plastic straws. Every day in the U.S. alone people throw away about 500

million plastic straws. That's enough to circle the earth twice.

And then you have plastic bags, we use approximately 500 billion plastic bags in a year worldwide. And while we can reuse them, the average working

life of a bag is about 15 minutes. There's also the problem with convenience, you know, if you're feeling parched, many of us just go out

and buy a new bottle.

[08:15:04] About 100 billion plastic drink bottles are in fact sold in the U.S. in 2014. So, how do we move beyond plastic? Well, we can stop using

straws, we can bring our own bags, and we can also do something as simple as stop chewing gum. Gum is made of synthetic rubber, which is a type of

plastic.

CNN is raising awareness of the problem by marking World Oceans Day, that's happening next week. We are asking students around the world to have a

zero plastic lunch. That's a lunch with no single-use plastic items. Now for more on this initiative, please go to CNN.com, and use the hashtag

#ZeroPlasticLunchDay.

You are watching News Stream. And still to come right here on the program, Starbucks is closing up shop in the U.S. at least for a few hours to give

its employees there racial bias training, what sparked the mandatory education, next.

And this is the scene right now live video of Hawaii's Big Island where lava from the Kilauea Volcano has triggered new evacuations. We've got an

update in just a moment right here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Coming to you live from Hong Kong, welcome back. This is News Stream. Ethics experts are sounding the alarm on Ivanka Trump, of course,

the daughter of the U.S. President who has hold 70 trademarks in China, and on items like kitchenware, furniture, and cosmetics.

Because Ivanka Trump and her husband serve as White House aides, and Donald Trump is continuing trade talks with Beijing, some critics say that her

business there could pose a conflict of interest.

Now the President of the Ivanka Trump brand, Abigail Klem, says that the fashion line regularly files for trademarks, especially in areas where

trademark infringement is common.

Now to a bizarre story out of Northern California. Police there say that these two people kidnapped, and tried to deport a Chinese man who was a

student at the flight school they ran. CNN's Kyung Lah has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JONATHAN MCCONKEY, MANAGER, IASCO FLIGHT TRAINING SCHOOL: You are in my (BLEEP) custody now. Do you know what that means? I will forcibly remove

you from here.

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The threat is unmistakable on the audio file. A man who the Record Searchlight Newspaper identifies as Jonathan

McConkey is a manager at IASCO Flight Training school. He's recorded threatening a Chinese student at the flight school with deportation inside

the student's own apartment.

MCCONKEY: Your ass is getting on plane right now, or I'll break your (BLEEP) arm. You better believe I'm (BLEEP) threatening you. And the

United States government needs you out of this country right now. You understand?

KELSI HOSER, ADMINISTRATION DIRECTOR, IASCO FLIGHT TRAINING SCHOOL: You are here illegal.

MCCONKEY: Do you understand why we come in here?

HOSER: If you don't go with us, you go to jail.

LAH: That woman appears to be Kelsi Hoser, an English and Mandarin speaker, and the flight school's director of administration. But police

say they don't know what motivated Hoser and McConkey.

[08:20:02] The Chinese student reportedly had a year-long visa that was still valid. IASCO Flight Training school caters to Chinese students and

is own by a Chinese company, Jiutian International Flight Academy.

On its own promotional video on Facebook, it projects a warm atmosphere, a home away from home for the Chinese students quite a contrast to this.

MCCONKEY: Hey, listen to me, I've got your (BLEEP) passport. You are leaving now. Immigration will (BLEEP) take to you jail. Get your (BLEEP)

together. You have five minutes.

LAH: The student somehow managed to call his brother in Shanghai who then called the Redding Police Department. Officers stopped all of this from

happening at the Redding Airport.

Hoser and McConkey were arrested for conspiracy and kidnapping, they since posted ban. We did managed to reach Hoser by telephone. She did not have

any comment. Kyung Lah, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now officials in the U.S. are pushing back against reports that they've somehow lost nearly 1,500 migrant children. The Department of

Health and Human Services says that the children are not missing, rather they are unaccounted for because their sponsors have refused to respond to

follow-up calls.

Sources in the shelters for the children tell CNN some sponsors could be undocumented as well. And don't want to interact with U.S. immigration

officers.

Now thousands of Starbucks shops are shutting today in the U.S. to give mandatory anti-bias training. The giant coffee chain face protests and

accusations of racial profiling last month after the arrest two of African- American men in Philadelphia.

The manager called police because the pair were sitting in the store without placing an order. They said they were waiting for a friend.

Senior U.S. Correspondent Alex Marquardt is live in Philadelphia for us. Alex, thank you for joining us. We know thousands of stores will be closed

today for what Starbucks calls anti-bias training. What does that entail?

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR U.S. CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kristie, this was the Starbucks store in Philadelphia where the incident took place. Of course,

it was caught on camera, and quickly became a viral moment, causing outrage all across the country, all around the world, really.

And what Starbucks realized not only was this a P.R. disaster for them, but this was very much a teachable moment, if you will, for them. So they're

undertaking today, May 29th, this afternoon all across the country, a very structured anti-racial bias training for their employees.

Now just to break it down for you, this is going to take place over four hours while the stores are closed, some 8,000 -- 8,000 stores will be

affected, 175,000 employees will be going through this training, and two other quick numbers for you, it's going to cost the company $12 million.

And just to put sort of the presence of Starbucks in perspective around the world, some 100 million people are going to Starbucks stores every single

day. Now, the training as I mentioned is going to be quite structured. It's going to be broken down into three parts.

The first is a video that will the walk employees through the training. It's going to be hosted by the rapper, Common, as well as Starbucks Founder

and Chairman Howard Schultz, and the current CEO Kevin Johnson.

It's also going to feature a documentary film by a well-known filmmaker named Stanley Nelson who has done films in the past on the African-American

experience, on racial bias.

And then these small groups of employees will be able to talk to each other about the racial bias they've experienced, what they've seen, and what they

would like to see happen going forward.

Now, Kristie, we should also note that in addition to these 8,000 Starbucks-owned stores, there are also 7,000 more that are licensed, and

most of those today will not be shutting down.

But what Starbucks is trying to do today, they say is to create what they're calling a safe third place. You've got the home. You've got the

office. They want to make a third place where people feel welcome to come. Kristie.

LU STOUT: Got you. The training is happening today. We're going to see soon whether it's enough to quell the public anger that is still out there.

Alex Marquardt, live from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, thank you so much for your reporting. Take care.

And now to the U.S. State of Hawaii and the Kilauea Volcano that is continuing to put communities at risk. This is a scene right now in the

Big Island. And authorities there, they are going door to door telling residents to evacuate their homes due to the fast-moving lava flow. CNN's

Miguel Marquez has the latest.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is far from over for the residents of Hawaii. In the last 12 hours, some eight fissures have -- on the 24

have become reactivated, pouring lava on the streets like this. This is part of fissure eight.

And we're seeing it even fountain very heavily off in the distance there. In total, about 10 homes were destroyed in last 24 hours in Leilani

Estates, 41 homes total destroyed, 82 structures, and it's not just the lava here.

[08:25:03] We are 20 to 25 miles away from Kilauea itself. Scientists now are watching that volcano to see what it will do, watching that crater.

The crater has actually in size from about 12 square acres to over 90 square acres in the last three weeks.

As it increases, all of that material falls into the crater, and they are concerned that a much larger eruption will occur down the road. They are

trying to measure how much magma is moving up from below, and figure if it is being blocked. So far they see no blockage, but they are concerned.

The summit of Kilauea since all this began has sunk five feet, back to you.

LU STOUT: Miguel Marquez reporting there. Now, in Gaza, the militant group Hamas which has vowed the destruction of Israel says it is moving

towards nonviolence.

Just ahead, could changing tactics help or hurt the Palestinians' case in lifting the Israeli blockade? Plus, Elon Musk, he wants to put the heat on

journalists after some less-than-stellar press, we explain, after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. You are watching News Stream, and these are you world headline.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: North Korea's top official on relations with the South, Kim Yong-chol is reportedly traveling to the U.S. This comes as the U.S. and

North Korea hold meetings in Singapore, and the Korean Demilitarize Zone ahead of a possible June 12 summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un.

The Belgian prosecutor's office says a shooting in Liege may be terror related. Two police officers and a passerby were killed when a gunman

opened fire near a high school this morning. Authorities say the attacker has been neutralized.

The Israeli Prime Minister says defense forces will respond with great force to 27 mortar shells fired out of Gaza into Israel. The IDF says most

of the launches were intercepted by the Iron Dome aerial defense system. Israeli media reports when the shells landed on the grounds of a

kindergarten by there are no reports of injuries.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: For years Palestinians have fought for their right to return to lands, their families either fled, or were expelled from. During Israel's

founding 70 years ago, for years, they've been calling for an end to Israel's blockade of Gaza put in place after Hamas took control of the

territory more than 10 years ago.

The Israeli government says the blockade is designed to stop the smuggling of arms into Gaza, but it's at the center of a bloody confrontation.

[08:30:00]

Sam Kiley reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Shot, they say, by Israeli soldiers, they hop along, defiant. The poster boys for the

latest attempt to break Israel's blockade of Gaza. Seized on by militant groups scrambling to exploit the propaganda advantage of Israel's killing

of dozens of civilians who activists say were unarmed.

"We will continue our marches despite the huge differences in the balance of power. One thing that the Zionist enemy does not have and we have is

determination, will, and sacrifice," he says.

That sacrifice meant that on May the 14th, 62 people were killed and more that 2,700 injured when demonstrations erupted over the opening of the U.S.

Embassy in Jerusalem. By attempting to break out of Gaza, with what are billed as nonviolent protests.

The U.S. blamed the deaths not on Israel but on Hamas, the militant group which rules the two million residents of the besieged Gaza strip, agreeing

with Israel that protesters were trying to storm the border fence. Israel also claimed that Hamas was inciting demonstrators to break through and

conduct terror attacks.

But after years of violent struggle, does nonviolence as a tactic to take on Israel threaten Hamas as much as Israel itself?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now the current situation in the Middle East doesn't allow Hamas to use violence. And it's better for it to adopt this for

ideology because it will gain more international support and also gain support from Gaza people.

KILEY (voice over): Hamas, which the U.S. and Europe designate the terrorist group, agrees that Israel's bloody reaction to the Gaza

demonstrations has been a propaganda coup.

MAHMOUD AL-ZAHAR, HAMAS LEADER: We are very sorry about our victims. This is a very important point but I think it is good for the people to believe

that Israel is a peaceful system and only the aggressive side is from Hamas and the armed struggle.

KILEY (voice over): Do you think you could get rid of it through nonviolence because violence doesn't work?

AL-ZAHAR: People are understanding that they are starting by all means the first time or the first steps by peace within (ph). If they feel (ph) --

naturally they are going to defend themself by all means including the armed struggle (ph).

KILEY (voice over): The support for this extreme position is waning in Gaza, even among the parents of victims of Israeli bullets like Ibrahim. He

was shot in the head, age 17.

He said there must be two states living peacefully in the 1967 borders, which are recognized by the whole world. But as long as there is pressure

on Gaza, there must be problems in Israel.

(on camera): Hamas has only embraced the doctrine of nonviolence in the short term and it certainly wasn't their idea in the first place. But it

has served to expose the idea that the Israeli defense forces who are responsible for imposing the siege on Gaza have no idea what to do when

confronted by it.

(voice over): On Israel's side, there is a growing recognition that nonviolence pose as a danger.

YAAKOV PERRY, FORMER HEAD OF ISRAEL DOMESTIC INTELLIGENCE AGENCY: Non- violent steps are easy to handle by Hamas or by a terrorist organization and almost impossible to handle from our side, from Israel's side. If a

million or half a million will decide to walk from Gaza to Jerusalem, it's a very, very complicated, almost impossible to tackle or to handle.

KILEY (voice over): But Hamas's long-term agenda is not freedom for Gaza, it is the destruction of the Jewish state and it remains committed to using

violence to achieve that aim.

Sam Kiley, CNN, Gaza.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Halfway around the world, El Salvador has reputation of being one of the most violent countries in Central America. And CNN's Nick Paton

Walsh got exclusive access to an elite police squad that fights gangs, but some former members of the controversial unit are said to have its own dark

past.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It's an undeclared war here in El Salvador. Elite police against MS-13, a

gang menace that beheads, rapes, and terrorizes. And it's America's war too, because President Trump has declared MS-13 animals that must be

eliminated and these men are fighting with U.S. money and help.

(on camera): We're headed now to one of the scenes of the more prominent killings deep inside gang territory, carried out by what locals say was

effectively a police death squad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[08:35:04] LU STOUT: Tune in on Wednesday to watch the rest of Nick Paton Walsh's exclusive report on El Salvador's controversial gang crackdown.

Only on CNN.

Still to look right here on "News Stream," Tesla's CEO Elon Musk is taking aim at journalists after criticism of his companies from the media. How he

plans to put the spotlight on the press, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back. Here is another show of China's growing influence in trade. Two of its biggest tech companies, Tencent and Alibaba, are now

in the top 10 most valuable brands in the world.

Tencent has soared its way into fifth place, beating out Facebook with a brand value of $170 billion. Tencent of course owns "WeChat" among several

other internet services, online games, and apps. And Alibaba is gaining ground in Latin America with AliExpress quickly becoming the goal (ph) to

e-commerce platform there.

Now, a New York Times reporter is calling Tesla's CEO Elon Musk, quote, the Donald Trump of Silicon Valley, after his recent attacks against the media.

And here is the tweet that started it all.

Elon Musk, he took aim at the press by threatening to create a site where the public can rate the credibility of every journalist. The billionaire,

he was at it again over the weekend, calling newsrooms, quote, bleak. Musk attacks come amid growing concern of production problems at Tesla.

Keith Richburg is a director of the Journalism and Media Studies Center at University of Hong Kong. He joins me now here in Hong Kong with more on the

story. Keith, thank you so much for returning and for joining us. Elon Musk's idea. You know, he said he wants to invent a ranking system for

journalists, but could that actually be a good idea?

KEITH RICHBURG, DIRECTOR OF JOURNALISM AND MEDIA STUDIES CENTER, UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG: I don't think so. I think it's both a dumb idea but also a

dangerous idea. I think it's a dumb idea because look, I mean, every news organization, every mainstream media organization already has comment

sections after every story that's published.

So readers can go on in real-time and comment on whether that story is accurate or inaccurate, et cetera. Newspapers already have very rigorous

fact-checking systems. They already have very rigorous correction systems. So if newspapers get it wrong, if news media sites like CNN or others get

it wrong, we correct it right away.

So, I mean, the idea -- and also there are a lot of sites already out there that are already fact-checking what journalists do. It's dangerous because

it only fuels into this whole idea that the media is losing credibility. People like Elon Musk, you know, he has 21 million followers on Twitter.

Donald Trump has 56 million followers on Twitter, possibly more.

These are people who can bypass the media. So what's going to happen simply by this new thing that Elon Musk is talking about is simply that his cult

of followers can simply go in and trash any article that's critical of Elon Musk.

LU STOUT: As you rightly point out, there are a number of resources already out there that do gauge the credibility of news articles,

clippings, PolitiFact, et cetera. And, you know, the motivation behind Elon Musk here, it was not the concern about the quality of journalism, it was

about negative coverage of Tesla that fueled his tirade against the media, including this tweet, let's bring it up for the viewers.

This is what Elon Musk believes happens in a news room. He tweeted, quote, problem is journalists are under constant pressure to get maximum clicks

and earn advertising dollars or get fired.

[08:40:04] Tricky situation as Tesla doesn't advertise but fossil fuel companies and gas diesel car companies are among the world's biggest

advertisers, unquote.

Now, Keith, this is not how journalism works, is it?

RICHBURG: It is not. And obviously Elon Musk, despite what he said in another tweet, he has never spent any time in a news room. Obviously,

newspapers, news organizations, news TV networks like CNN, they obviously don't write favorable stories about the fossil fuel industry, they don't

write favorable stories about the car industry.

So, you know, he is upset because the news industry covered the story of a self-driving car that had an accident. And his question was, why are they

covering this when there are so many accidents caused by, you know, caused by drivers of cars? He doesn't seem to understand what the news industry

does.

We don't cover, you know, the millions of people who have accidents every year in driving cars. We cover self-driving cars that have an accident

because that's news, that's unusual. But what he's trying to do is kind of turn that on its head.

He's got this huge legion of followers, so anything that he creates that supposed to be a self-checking thing is basically going to be a way for his

followers to troll the media and basically try to discredit them.

LU STOUT: Yeah. And his followers have targeted a number of journalists in recent days. As you point out, there is a distinction between press and PR.

But just to defend Elon Musk just for a moment, you know, he did provide some clarity to his recent comments about the media.

He said that he's not trying to discredit all media outlets. In fact on Twitter, he said this, quote, please stop assuming I'm against all

journalists. This is not true. Something needs to be done to improve public trust in the media, unquote.

Now, Elon Musk, we know that he also made a donation to PolitiFact, a fact- checking website. Keith, what are some of the other ways individuals, you know, especially individual like Elon Musk, what can they do to support

quality journalism?

RICHBURG: Look, journalism is losing money now. Journalism is in financial crisis now. One thing that someone like Elon Musk as a billionaire could do

would be to donate to some of these philanthropies that are out there that are trying to create philanthropic journalism.

One thing Elon Musk could do would be what Jeff Bezos did which is buy a newspaper. Jeff Bezos bought The Washington Post. What Elon Musk could do

is buy a newspaper and then leave it alone. Leave it alone to do real independent journalism, but use his billions to create kind of a financial

runway to allow them to kind of experiment and find a new business model.

But to kind of create this kind of thing he wants to call Pravda, which is going to basically like unleash his trolls to criticize journalism that he

doesn't like, I don't think that's the way to go. There's a lot of ways he could support independent journalism with his money. I don't think this is

the way to do it.

LU STOUT: Yeah, perhaps not a way to do it. But, you know what, I appreciate Elon Musk stirring up this debate. And Keith, thank you for

joining us to talk more about it. Keith Richburg of Hong Kong University.

And that is it for "News Stream." I'm Kristie Lu Stout. Don't go anywhere. We got "World Sport" with Christina Macfarlane, next. Keep it here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:45:00] (WORLD SPORT)

END