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Aired August 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."

They have no shame. The U.N. Special representative on Myanmar says China and Russia should act on the Rohingya crisis.

Many, many more deaths. The Puerto Rican government increases casualty numbers from Hurricane Maria nearly 50 times.

And air pollution, it's not just making us sick, it's reducing our intelligence. More from the scientist behind this study.

She fell from grace with much of the international community because of her silence over the Rohingya crisis, but Myanmar's de facto leader, Aung San

Suu Kyi, is keeping her Nobel Peace Prize. Now, the institute's director told CNN, we continue to call on all involved in Myanmar to ease the

suffering the Rohingya. But he says, there is no provision to strip a winner of their prize.

Now, the democracy icon was awarded the honor back in 1991 in part for interest (inaudible) society in which Myanmar's ethnics groups could

cooperate in harmony, but that isn't what has happened. And now, efforts by the U.N. Also are blocked. CNN's Richard Roth has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Despite a devastating report out of Geneva by the U.N. accusing military leaders in Myanmar of genocide-style intent,

the U.N. Security Council failed to hold anyone accountable at a meeting on Myanmar, no surprise, considering big power divisions regarding Myanmar.

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., Nikki Haley, said the Myanmar leaders in general should be held accountable.

NIKKI HALEY, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: We are now all armed with the devastating eyewitness accounts of the Rohinga, which lead us to the

follows conclusions -- children, babies, women and men suffered unspeakable crimes. The attacks were planned, premeditated and coordinated. The

perpetrator was the Burmese military and security forces. The whole world is watching what we will do next, and if we will act.

ROTH: The reason the Security Council has not yet acted, China and Russia blocking any attempt to refer this issue to the International Criminal

Court for prosecution. China's deputy U.N. ambassador said, now is not the time to put pressure on the leaders of Myanmar.

WU HAITAO, CHINA DEPUTY AMBASSADOR TO U.N. (through translator): Given the current situation, the international community should cherish the hard-

earned progress and give full understanding to the great difficulties faced by countries concerned and continue to provide constructive assistance

instead of simply putting pressure on them.

ROTH: The government of Myanmar has rejected and the U.N. commission. It's U.N. ambassador broke down emotionally at one point when discussing a

terrorist attack that Myanmar says rebels are responsible for and he disputed the findings of the report.

HAU DO SUAN, MYANMAR AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: This action raises serious question about the objectivity, impartiality and sincerity of that fact-

finding mission.

ROTH: Western countries have been unable to convince China and Russia to act on Myanmar. The U.N. had its goodwill ambassador for refugees, Kate

Blanchett, appear at the Security Council table.

KATE BLANCHETT, U.N. GOODWILL AMBASSADOR FOR REFUGEES: Together, we need to change the future of Laila, of Yusef, of Bulzahar (ph), and of the

Rohinga living in Myanmar, in Bangladesh and beyond. There are no shortcuts. There are no alternatives. We have failed the Rohingya before.

Please, let us not fail them again.

ROTH: the U.N. secretary general said U.N. member countries should seriously consider the findings of that U.N. report and he urged Myanmar to

cooperate, but member countries have heard those please for months. Richard Roth, CNN, the United Nations.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: For more, I'm joined now by Yanghee Lee, the U.N. special rapporteur of human rights in Myanmar. Yanghee, thank for joining us once

again on the program. Despite that damning U.N. report accusing the military, the top leaders in Myanmar, of genocide, we know China and Russia

blocking any attempt to refer the issue to the ICC. What's your reaction? And let's be honest here. Were you dreading that this would happen?

YANGHEE LEE, U.N. SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN MYANMAR: It was expected. China and Russia would always react like this as they have in the

past when it comes to issues of Myanmar. What is very disappointing is that the members of the Security Council, notably the five P members, in which

in particular it will be China and Russia.

[08:05:05] I think they should have more shame. They have no shame. I'm being very, very harsh. But you know, it's about time that people start to

really call a spade a spade, and tell the P5 members that if they do not want to uphold the charter of the United Nations, they have no business

sitting in those very important places.

LU STOUT: You're not mincing any words here. You're saying Russia and China have no shame. Is there any way they can change their position? We

have heard passionate please from you, from CNN journalists, and from human rights activists, from even the celebrated actress, Kate Blanchett. And

yet, China and Russia won't budge. Is there any way they can be compelled or convinced to act on Myanmar?

LEE: Well, it's always -- it's always possible for them to change their mind and I just want to bring it to their attention that, you know, China

has -- is espousing to be one of the greatest leaders of the world. It is. It's, you know -- they're espousing to become G2 and one of the great

leaders in the world, but that doesn't just mean economic or financial leadership. It means leadership on all grounds and really showing the

responsibility when it comes to protecting and upholding and promoting human rights of people all over the world.

LU STOUT: So at this point, what's the best way forward?

LEE: The U.N. Security council must refer this to the ICC. Otherwise, they will have this as a legacy for generations to come. In the meantime, I have

called for an accountability mechanism to be set immediately, and I'm hoping that this September human rights council resolution will support

this and member states will support this, because we need to continue collecting evidence.

Now, another point is, I think of member states do know this, is the application of universal jurisdiction. It means that any country in the

world can decide to apply this into their domestic court and pursue this. And I really do hope that one country in the near future will have the

courage to come up and try to say, hey, we will apply universal jurisdiction.

The third thing that I would like to emphasis is there needs to be targeted sanctions for those people who are responsible for these atrocities, crimes

against humanity, war crimes and possible genocide. This not only includes the military but also members of the civilian government.

And if I may add, Kristie, and I have reiterated this in the past, I've emphasized this. I'm going reiterate that the U.N. needs to do a real deep

soul-searching and embark in an independent investigation in how the U.N. did not respond or could have done to prevent the crisis in Myanmar.

LU STOUT: You've laid out a number of concrete steps necessary to take for accountability and to address what has happened in Myanmar. Yanghee Lee,

thank you so much for joining us here on the program.

LEE: Thank you very much.

LU STOUT: Puerto Rico has sharply increased the official death toll from Hurricane Maria. The government now says 2,975 people died as a result of

the disaster. That's almost as many people who were killed in the 9/11 terror attacks and 46 times higher than the previous official figure

released by the government. The revised number is in line with estimates from a long-awaited study released Tuesday that was commissioned by the

government of Puerto Rico.

Now, CNN's Leyla Santiago was one of the first journalists to report that the government's initial figures did not match the loss and devastation she

was witnessing. She joins us now live from Washington. Leyla, thank you for joining us. As you know, of course, the new figure, it's 46 times larger

than the previous toll that released from the government of Puerto Rico. How can there be such a huge difference?

SANTIAGO: Well, we should point out after those investigations that CNN did, other media outlets did, other studies that came out, that's when the

government of Puerto Rico said, OK, finally, we're going to look into this. We're going to commission this study out of George Washington University.

That will be the official study that we will accept.

And once they made that announcement they said they were not going to touch the death toll number. So that really hasn't changed since actually

December and they sort of were strong in making that statement, saying nothing will change in February when announced at George Washington

researchers would have access to all the data from the government of Puerto Rico and the government's cooperation to sort of get to the bottom of this.

[08:10:10] LU STOUT: And this revised figure, it's a recognition of what you have long reported that this death toll as a result of Maria would be

much higher than officially reported. Why did it take so long for authorities to accept this?

SANTIAGO: Well, again, there was mounting pressure, not only from media but politicians, a lot of families who lost loved ones that wanted a sense

of closure, a sense of acknowledgement, really respect for their loved ones. But I should point out, Kristie, that this is a statistical analysis,

just like the study out of Harvard, just like out of Penn State.

So, this still isn't what many are craving that acknowledgement, a list of numbers. This is not a case-by-case. George Washington University

researchers are not publishing a list of 2,975 names or deaths here. That's still does not exist. This is only phase one of the study. So they haven't

talked to any family members or reached out to anyone to get that deeper understanding that so many are looking for to have something that matches

what you're showing right now, these images that are still seared in the minds of so many Puerto Ricans, because many are still sort of living with

the impact and the trauma of life after Maria.

LU STOUT: Yes. And they still need help to rebuild. Puerto Rico needs tens of billions of dollars from the U.S. Congress to recover and rebuild. Do

you think this new revised number would help the island -- secure the fund it desperately needs?

SANTIAGO: Right. You know, I don't know. I'm not sure about that. But I will say that in a recent report to Congress, Puerto Rico earlier this

month did acknowledge that just statistically there were over 1,000 deaths after Hurricane Maria. So whether or not they'll get the money, I don't

know. That decision is yet to be made, but they are certainly already using a higher number than the official death toll was to make their case, and

what a case they have, because remember Maria is not the only storm looming over this crisis there. They are $70 billion in debt

What this study did do was point out some of the factors that played a role in that difference in numbers. They talked about how Puerto Rico was only

prepared for a category one storm when Maria struck the island. They talked the need for better communications and then made a set of recommendations

to improve that. You know, recommendations are great and it's a start, but will Puerto Rico have the money to actually carry out those recommendations

and take action to possibly prevent deaths in the future?

LU STOUT: Yes. It's almost a year since the hurricane hit and still the need is so great in Puerto Rico. Leyla, you have covered this story

tirelessly. We thank you for your reporting. Take care.

SANTIAGO: Thank you.

LU STOUT: You're watching "News Stream." Still ahead on the program, a shocking upset in Florida's primary race as President Trump issues a stark

warning to his supporters.

Plus -- after being sidelined for months, Canada rejoins NAFTA talks before a crucial Friday deadline.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:15:43] LU STOUT: Coming to you live from Hong Kong, welcome back. This is "News Stream."

Stunning upsets and historic results. Americans went to the polls in major primary elections on Tuesday that could prove crucial for November's

midterm elections. In Florida, Tallahassee mayor, Andrew Gillum, won the Democratic primary for governor. He is a progressive backed by Senator

Bernie Sanders and is now the first African-American nominee for the state's highest office.

And in Arizona, Congresswoman Martha McSally defeated two hard-line conservatives winning the Republican nomination for the senate seat being

vacated by Jeff Flake.

U.S. president, Donald Trump, did not endorse anyone in the race, but he gave McSally a shout out at a recent event. And meanwhile, Mr. Trump is

sending out a warning to his supporters. He says, there will be violence if Republicans lose control of congress in November's midterms. Mr. Trump

mentioned Antifa. It's a loose collection of anti-fascists groups who regularly stage counter protest against white supremacist and neo-Nazis.

Those comments made to a group of evangelical Christian leaders behind closed doors. He urged them to get his Republican base out to vote.

And President Trump is also promoting an unsubstantiated conspiracy theory about Google. He is claiming search results are rigged against him and

other conservatives. Google denies the accusation. CNN's Hadas Gold has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HADAS GOLD, CNN MEDIA AND GLOBAL BUSINESS REPORTER: President Donald Trump has renewed his claims of bias against Republican and conservative media on

the Internet, accusing Google of suppressing conservative voices. In a series of tweets on Tuesday, Trump claims that Google searches for Trump

news only results in stories from, quote, "fake news media" and quote, "rigged so almost all the stories are bad."

Trump even questioned whether Google's alleged actions were illegal. Now, this is a long-running charge among conservatives and Trump supporters that

Internet and social media companies like Twitter and Facebook are suppressing conservative viewpoints because of their own internal liberal

bias.

Today, Google denied that politics played a role in search results saying, quote, "search is not used to set a political agenda and we don't bias our

results towards any political ideology. Every year we issue hundreds of improvement to our algorithms to ensure they service high quality content

in response to users' queries. We continually work to improve Google search and we never rank search results to manipulate political sentiment."

Trump's tweet appears to stem from an unscientific study published by a conservative news site which was then picked up by Fox Business host and

the president's close friend, Lou Dobbs. The study labeled nearly every mainstream news outlet in the United States from Reuters to CNN as left

wing. A number of smaller sites including some that spread conspiracy theories like Infowars were labeled right wing.

Then Google is secretive about its algorithm and that has had some critics to claim that the tech giant is editing out conservative sites from search

results. White House economic advisor, Larry Kudlow, told reporters outside the White House the administration plans to do some investigation, some

analysis into the issue, but he did not elaborate further.

This debate on social media filtering will soon spill into the halls of Congress. Executives from Google along with Facebook and Twitter have been

asked to testify in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee. That hearing is expected to take place September 5th. Hadas Gold, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And down to North American trade talks as U.S. and Canada work to salvage NAFTA before Friday's deadline. After being sidelined for

months, Canada's negotiating team rejoined talks with the U.S. and Mexican counterparts on Tuesday, just one day after the U.S. and Mexico announced

their own trade deal.

The Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he is encouraged by the progress being made. CNN's Paula Newton joins us now from New York with

more. And Paula, can Canadian officials reach a compromise in time to keep the country in NAFTA?

PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kristie. Good to see you. You know, the issue here is that the president has set up a

cliffhanger. They had been speaking for literally months. A lot of work has been done. A lot of progress made. There are key issues, about a handful of

them, that still need worked out.

And I know you're looking at the clock, Kristie. It is Wednesday morning and they want a deal done and essentially marathon negotiations lasting

until Friday.

[08:20:00] One of the key things the president has spoken about in terms of Canada all the time is the fact that their dairy sector, when it comes

to terms of letting U.S. producers have a level playing field in Canada is not working. They call that the supply management system in Canada. Listen

to Justin Trudeau to hear what he said about that.

JUSTIN TRUDEAU, CANADA, PRIME MINISTER: My position on defending supply management has not changed. We will defend supply management. We have been

encouraged by the progress made by our NAFTA partners over the past weeks. This was an important step to moving forward on renegotiating and improving

NAFTA.

NEWTON: You know, improving NAFTA, Canada had been in on the negotiation while they weren't at the table. They had been told exactly how

negotiations were going. In fact, what the U.S. and Mexico have agreed to, Canada is telling me, look, we are largely in agreement. We still have to

see the details, but these are good things. The problem is there are those key issues between the U.S. and I would say quite specifically the U.S.

President and Canada and these will still be tough issues to try and get any compromise on.

LU STOUT: Yeah.

NEWTON: Still, though, Canadian officials do remain optimistic and they said we'll have a better idea perhaps by tomorrow as to whether or not they

can actually get to that deal. And I have to tell you, Kristie, we're not talking about a deal that's all, you know, tidied up, T's (ph) crossed, I's

(ph) dotted. We're talking about a handshake deal, but it seems at this point all parties are willing to go for that basically because the

president has this self-imposed deadline, which is really focused them on.

LU STOUT: Yeah. He said the clock is ticking. That deadline is coming up on Friday. We've seen the video and you played the sound bite there from

Prime Minister Trudeau trying to keep that brave face, encouraged by progress, but there's a lot of sticking points, as you laid out. What's at

stake for Canada? What would a world without NAFTA mean for Canada and its economy if there is no deal?

NEWTON: Yeah. In term what's it actually means materially, economists would shutter to think. I mean you're talking it could take a hit anywhere

from 1 to 1.5 percent of GDP. There are other trade rules in place. It doesn't mean that Canada is going to stops trading with the United States,

but it definitely means a hit to the economy.

Donald Trump knows that they -- he has some key leverage points when it comes to Canada. NAFTA means much more to Canada than it does to the United

States. Having said that, though, here's the thing. Justin Trudeau was not going to lose political points by standing up to the United States in this

trade deal and he mean what's he says. If he doesn't get the deal that he wants, they will walk away from the table.

And by the same token, Kristie, you know we're heading into midterms here in the United States. When you talk about swinging states in those border

states, places like Wisconsin, these are huge issues when it comes to American voters and they don't like the fact that there is now this

uncertainty hanging over NAFTA.

So, while as whole it would hurt Canada quite a bit, you know, Canada continues to make the point that look, Canada is still the U.S.' largest

customer. The U.S. exports more to Canada than to any other nation and they feel that that will give them some leverage at the table.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Yes. You raised a very, very interesting point. There's a lot at stake for Donald Trump and for the United States as well. Paula Newton,

we'll leave it at that. Thank you so much. Take care.

Now, Brazil is sending more troops to its northern border to quote, "guarantee law and order" as thousands flee Venezuela in the ongoing

migrant crisis there. And in Colombia and Peru, officials say that they will now share information identifying Venezuelans who tried to claim

residency in both countries, something that is not allowed.

Meanwhile, the U.N. says that Nicaragua is facing a human rights crisis, to do (ph) a violent government crackdown on decent (ph). A report published

by the U.N. Human Rights Office finds 300 people have died and thousands have been injured since April when protests began over pension reforms.

The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, is condemning this week's violent anti-migrant protests saying hate has not place in her country. Far right

demonstrators took to the streets after the fatal stabbing of a German man in a brawl. Two men, one from Iraq and the other Syria, they've been

arrested in connection with the attack. Atika Shubert has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A mob of thousands in the streets of Chemnitz shouting Nazi-era slogans, targeting immigrants and refugees. Some

gave Nazi salutes, a brazen violation of Germany's tough laws against hate speech. Fireworks were launched as weapons, bottles thrown, injuring 20

people including two police officers.

Police now admit they underestimated the crowds and anger, temporarily losing control of the streets in this violent revolt against Germany's

refugee and immigration policy.

[08:24:59] Chancellor Angela Merkel has faced intense political pressure after opening Germany's doors to more than 1 million asylum seekers, many

from Syria. At a presser (ph) with his Irish counterpart, Germany's foreign minister trying to explain what happened.

HEIKO MAAS, GERMANY, FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): It is intolerable what happened. It is the task of the state to shed light and

investigate crimes and also hold perpetrator to account. And this is why Germany has not presented itself in the best light. I don't believe that

this reflects the reality in Germany.

SHUBERT: Now, this is where it all started, in the East German town of Chemnitz. This is a spot where according to police a fight broke out

between five individuals around 3:00 a.m. on Sunday morning. A 35-year-old German man was killed, stabbed to death. Later on, police arrested two

individuals, a Syrian and Iraqi on suspicion of murder.

[CHANTING]

SHUBERT: That triggered calls on social media to take to the streets, including this Facebook post with a photo of the blood-stained crime scene

from the anti-immigration party alternative for Germany. What was supposed to be a spontaneous demonstration on Sunday afternoon against Germany's

refugee policy had become an angry mob with hundreds shouting foreigners out and this is our city.

Police had promised to regain control of the streets. But Monday, it happened again with even bigger numbers. What is behind the lawlessness and

will it spread on the streets of Chemnitz? Residents tell us what they think.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I just don't think it's so good that this murder was manipulated. I find it very frightening to now hear

people saying we must defend our city. I find it really frightening when I saw the videos today chasing down foreigners. It sent shivers down my

spine.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): In Chemnitz, we stand for humanity and solidarity, the togetherness and against agitation, against

the raging mob, which portrays Chemnitz as a racist city.

SHUBERT: East Germany long been at the heart of the country, simmering anti-immigration movement chafing under the policies of the federal

government, but the chaos in Chemnitz has been the most serious manifestation of that public anger so far. Atika Shubert, CNN, Chemnitz,

Germany.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: You're watching "News Stream." Still ahead, we already know what air pollution can do to our lungs. But now, researchers say toxic air can

cause far deeper economic and social damage in the already vulnerable impact on our physical health. More on the landmark new study, after the

break.

[08:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN NEWS STREAM SHOW HOST: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. You're watching "News Stream" and these are your world headlines.

The Norwegian Nobel Institute says it will not strip Aung San Suu Kyi of her 1991 Nobel Peace Prize. Myanmar's de facto leader has come under fire

for her silence on the Rohingya crisis. The U.N. Security Council, meanwhile, failed to hold anyone to account on Tuesday despite a

devastating report by the U.N. accusing Myanmar's military leaders of genocides.

Puerto Rico's governor has revised the official death toll from Hurricane Maria to nearly 3,000. The huge jump compares to the previous official

death toll of just 64. The revised figure is in line with estimates in a study by George Washington University, commissioned by the Puerto Rican

government.

Referencing the church sex abuse scandal, Pope Francis says he has asked the church in Ireland to remedy the failures of the past. In his weekly

address, he said his recent meeting with abuse survivors left a profound mark on him, adding that he begged the lord for forgiveness. He did

reference claims that he knew about abuse cover-ups.

Chronic exposure to air pollution isn't just bad for our lungs. According to a new study, breathing dirty air is linked to a steep reduction in test

scores. Nikhil Kumar has more on the study that tracked nearly 32,000 people in China over a four-year time frame.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIKHIL KUMAR, CNN NEW DELHI BUREAU CHIEF: Breathing in dirty air could reduce brain power. That's according to a new study which says air

pollution has a significant impact on our cognitive abilities. The research published in the Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences shows

prolonged exposure to air pollution cause a steep reduction in verbal and math test scores.

Researchers looked at data from China covering more than 30,000 people whose test scores between 2010 and 2014 were mapped against the exposure to

short and long-term air pollution.

Here's the sobering finding. Both verbal and math test scores went down as the exposure to air pollution went up. When it came to other (ph) test

scores, the link was particularly stark among older, less educated men.

Now, this is only the latest in a series of warnings about the impact of air pollution. The problem not just in china but across large parts of the

industrialized world including here in the India capital, New Delhi. Come winter, this city is often enveloped in a thick, choking smog, the result

of (INAUDIBLE) and little planning for its environmental fallout.

The World Health Organization says that nine out of every 10 people on the planet breathe air containing a high level of pollutants with the worst

affected regions being Africa and Asia. In fact, the WHO says all of the world's 20 most polluted cities are in developing countries.

And the problem isn't just limited to major cities. A study earlier this year found that 75 percent of air pollution-related deaths in India were in

rural areas. Warnings have been repeatedly sounded about the impact on our lungs.

In Delhi, sometimes the air is so bad that breathing it is roughly equal to smoking more than 40 cigarettes a day. But as this latest study shows, the

health effects of air pollution can extend beyond our lungs into our brains.

Nikhil Kumar, CNN, New Delhi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: That is a landmark study. Now, the author of the report, Xi Chen, joins me live from Beijing to shed more light on his findings. Sir,

thank you for joining us here on the program. We already knew air pollution is bad for our lungs, but our brains as well? What prompted you and your

team to investigate this issue?

XI CHEN, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF GLOBAL HEALTH POLICY AND ECONOMICS, YALE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH: Kristie, thanks for having me. So this -- we

looked at many individuals over a period of time about their test scores as a result of air pollution, both short-term and long-term, and we tried to

complement the previous studies that only look at narrowly defined health defects.

As we know, cognition is the most important dimension of human capital, which is also an important engine of economic growth. So if there's a big

impact of environmental stressors on cognition, cognitive decline, then that suggests that the governments need to even strengthen or tighten the

environmental policies. So we need to recover (ph) the hidden cause there as a result of air pollution.

LU STOUT: Absolutely. I also imagine that there are just horrified parents around the world, you know, in Mexico City, in New Delhi, in Beijing and

elsewhere who are concerned about the study, but who is the most vulnerable? Is it older adults who are more affected or children, younger

people?

CHEN: A good question.

[08:34:57] We find that the effect towards older adults are the most severe, especially older men who receive less education. And for the young

children, the effect is smaller, but still very significant.

And as they accumulate more pollutants or when they are growing up, the effects are stronger. That's very worrisome because if you only have a

short-term, in fact, you can wear a face mask or install air filter to avoid the exposure. But if it is long-term, then the public policies need

to really address this issue by cleaning the air.

LU STOUT: You mentioned that older men are more vulnerable to the negative cognitive effects of air pollution. You also mentioned, you know, those who

are less wealthy are very vulnerable and presumably that's because they are forced to work outdoors and hence they have more exposure.

Could I ask a different follow-up question? Alzheimer's and dementia and the other mental health diseases of this kind, could they be the result of

long-term exposure to air pollution?

CHEN: Yes. That's a great question. As we know, dementia and Alzheimer's disease, they are very costly. This will drive up the health care costs a

lot. And there's a growing evidence in the medical literature showing that long-term exposure to air pollution may affect the chance of being --

having the dementia and because -- especially for small particulate matter.

They can transmit through the air and go directly into the blood vessel or into the brain. There is some evidence showing that. So it will change the

chemistry in the brain and have long-term consequences like neurodegenerative diseases such as dementia.

LU STOUT: This is very alarming stuff. Xi Chen, you and your colleagues at Yale School of Public Health as well as at Peking University, you are

warning the world about it. So, what should we do? You know, how do we fight the negative cognitive effects of bad air and air pollution?

CHEN: So I think the governments should take stronger measures. I think in a lot of countries, such measures, policies are still very loosened. For

example, in the Trump administration in the U.S., they relaxed the environmental policies.

They relaxed the fuel efficiency standard for automobiles. And also, they released the emission standard for the coal burning power stations, which

is very alarming because that will flood American communities with very dangerous pollutants.

So the government needs to take action. But one thing very special for air pollution is that there's no border for pollution. You cannot build a wall

to avoid being affected. There should be global action, take global action to address that as important global health issue.

And we know that every one -- every nine deaths every year in the world is because of air pollution. And this should be one of the things that can be

avoided, like air pollution and smoking.

LU STOUT: Very, very well said. Yes, Xi Chen, very, very well said. You cannot build a wall to contain pollution. This is a global crisis. Thank

you so much for joining us here on the program. Xi Chen joining us live from Beijing. He is with Yale University.

CHEN: Thank you.

LU STOUT: We got more "News Stream" coming, right after this.

[08:40:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: And that is Hong Kong on a Wednesday night. Welcome back. You're watching "News Stream."

Outrage is growing in Japan and around the world after the owners of a Tokyo aquarium deserted the facility leaving helpless animals to fend for

themselves. Lynda Kindade reports on the plight of an abandoned and lonely dolphin known as Honey.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LYNDA KINKADE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Alone and abandoned. Honey the dolphin swims in her tank at a deserted aquarium in Japan. With no companions, no

visitors in the stand, it's a lonely existence for the bottlenose dolphin who once lived in the open ocean.

The aquarium in the city of Choshi just east of Tokyo shut down in January because of a lack of visitors. Since then, employees have been feeding

Honey and the other animals left behind including 40 penguins and hundreds of fish and reptiles.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I did not expect that the animals will be abandoned. However, even in February, people were able to

see there were still animals in the park. So I started researching and found out that the negotiations to transfer them had not progressed.

KINKADE: City officials say they have not been able to contact the owners of the aquarium about what they intend to do with the animals. And as word

spreads about the derelict condition, public outrage is growing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): The aquarium is an agency dealing with animals. So it's their responsibility to explain what they're

going to do with Honey and the other animals.

KINKADE: Animal welfare activists say Honey is showing signs of stress.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I think dolphins staying like this without swimming effects their mental health badly.

KINKADE: Honey's fate, it seems went from bad to worse. She was captured in an annual dolphin hunt in 2005 in the port of Taiji and featured in the

film "The Cove." Many dolphins are killed for their meat and some are sold to marine parks like Honey. The Japan Association of Zoos and Aquariums has

since agreed to stop buying dolphins from there.

Social media users are spreading Honey's story, trying to find her a new home. But until then, she continues to swim in solitude waiting on a rescue

from a species that has already let her down.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I see Honey as a symbol of both the problem of having animals in captivity and the problem of what happens

when they are put on display.

KINKADE: Lynda Kinkade, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Such needless neglect. There needs to be a new home for that beautiful creature.

Finally, the K-pop group BTS, they broke the all-time record for biggest YouTube debut of all time, smashing the record held by Taylor Swift. The

group's music video for its song called "Idol," rocked up a whopping 45 million views in the first 24 hours alone. And as of this hour right now,

it has clocked over 101 million views since its release on YouTube less than a week ago.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

LU STOUT: It's sketchy. They're cute. I can see the reasons why. Taylor Swift set the previous record in 2017 for her music video "Look What You

Made Me Do." It was matched 43.2 -- watched 43.2 million times back in the day.

Now, that is it for "News Stream." I'm Kristie Lu Stout. Don't go anywhere, though. We got "World Sport" with Alex Thomas coming up, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:45:00] (WORLD SPORT)

END