Return to Transcripts main page

NEWS STREAM

Indonesian Authorities Finds Flight Data Recorder; Donald Trump Posts Racist Ad in Twitter; Turkish Prosecutor Says Killing of Jamal Khashoggi Premeditated; Google Employees Walkout Against Sexual Harassment; No-fly Zone and Military Drills Ban on DMZ; World Headlines; Researchers Found that the World's Oceans are Taking in Much More Heat Than We Ever Thought Before; Cannabis Can Now Be Legally Prescribed in the U.K.; A.I. Humanoid Models Jewelry Line in Shanghai; Punjabi Folk Dance Spreads Across the World; New Spinal Implant Helps Paralyzed Patients to Walk. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired November 01, 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] KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN SHOW HOST: Hello. I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong and Welcome to "News Stream."

Crucial discovery, Indonesian authorities find the flight data recorder from Lion Air flight 610.

Controversial advertisement, why a Donald Trump tweet is adding fuel to the fire over the U.S. immigration debate.

And global walkout, Google employees protest how their company handles sexual harassment.

Now, al the stories in just a moment, but first, after weeks of speculation, Turkish authorities have made their first official statement

about the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. A statement from the office of Istanbul's chief prosecutor claims that Khashoggi died of

suffocation by strangulation immediately after entering the Saudi consulate on October 2nd.

The prosecutor's office said it felt obliged to release the gruesome details because of a lack of concrete results in talks with Saudi

investigators. Our Jomana Karadsheh is in Istanbul. She joins us now. And Jomana, we have learned more about the brutal circumstances surrounding the

death of Khashoggi.

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And Kristie, as you were mentioning there, there's been a lot of speculation over the past few weeks. We have

this drip feed of leaks coming out here in Turkey from anonymous Turkish officials. So, this is the first time that an official is going on the

record with the most detailed account so far of what they believe happened on that day on October 2nd after Jamal Khashoggi entered the building

behind me.

They say that this was a premeditated act, something that we've heard from President Erdogan and other officials here. They say shortly after, almost

immediately after Jamal Khashoggi entered the building that he was strangled to death. They say that his body was dismembered and destroyed.

Now, it is really unclear to us what they mean by destroyed. We're trying to get clarification from Turkish officials, but "The Washington Post" is

reporting, quoting a senior Turkish official who s telling them that one theory that they are pursuing is the possibility that acid may have been

used to dispose of Khashoggi's body, either here at the consulate or at the residence of the consul general.

They say that biological evidence that was collected from the garden of the consulate may support this theory. But, again, this is a theory at this

point. And despite these revelations, Kristie, there are so many questions that remain unanswered.

Some of the most important questions Turkish officials say, they want answers from the Saudis as where are the remains of Khashoggi and who

issued the orders to that hit squad that carried out the killing. Who dispatched them to Istanbul?

And they have put these questions forward to the Saudis. They were hoping to get the answers over the past few days during the visit of Saudi

Arabia's chief prosecutor. But he came, he left and they did not get those answers.

And according to one senior Turkish official that we've been speaking to, it seems, they say, that the Saudis were more interested in finding out

what evidence Turkey has than really genuinely cooperating in this investigation, Kristie.

LU STOUT: Now, for weeks now, we have had this constant drip feed of leaks, but still no definitive answers. Jomana Karadsheh, reporting live

for us from Istanbul. Jomana, thank you.

In Indonesia, now investigators, they have found an important clue that should help them figure out why a brand new passenger jet crashed into the

Java Sea. Search teams have recovered the flight data recorder from Lion Air flight 610. It arrived in port just minutes ago, but analyzing the

information it contains, that may take weeks, even months.

The plane went down on Monday just 13 minutes after taking off from Jakarta, killing all 189 people on board. Ivan Watson is in Tanjung Priok,

that's where the so-called black box has just arrived. And Ivan, the flight data recorder has been recovered. What could it reveal?

IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, those devices, they record scores of different data streams about how the plane is behaving, what altitude,

speed it's moving at, how its engines are functioning. I've read that they can even record whether or not the smoke alarm goes off, for example.

[08:05:00] And moments ago here at this hub for logistics, we saw that the authorities brought the flight data recorder out encased in a plastic

container with water to demonstrate for journalists here before taking it away, again, with much fanfare because there's the great hope that, A, this

will reveal something about why this brand you new Boeing 737 MAX 8 tumbled out of the sky 13 minutes after takeoff.

Also, it was no easy feat to recover this. It took days to detect the sound of the beacon, which was pinging at 3.7 kilohertz every second and then to

triangulate and locate the actual flight data recorder itself, which was buried in the sea bed 35 meters below the surface of the sea.

There were fast current, but finally scuba divers with the assistance of a submersible remote operated vehicle, they were able to reach it, dig it on

out of the mud and bring it up, as well as more debris from the plane, which is still arrayed here behind me. And more of the remains of some of

the victims, which a naval commander tells me they were pulling some of these up from the sea bed, as well.

They still have not located the cockpit voice recorder. That is going to be important because that's going to have the last communications, the last

conversations of the pilot and copilot during that tumultuous 13-minute flight before crashing. And they haven't located the main body or biggest

chunks of the plane. That remain to be done in this complicated salvage process, Kristie.

LU STOUT: Ivan, there in Indonesia you have been talking to officials, analyst. You spoke to the managing director of Lion Air earlier today. When

you talk to them, is there a dominant theory emerging about what happened to the plane or are all possibilities still the on the table?

WATSON: Well, the National Transportation Safety Committee here in Indonesia is in charge of the investigation of this deadly crash. And their

director has said that two avenues of investigation have been closed at this point. That is whether or not the runway contributed or weather

because the weather was good that the day.

Instead, they're focusing now their attention on the pilot, the aircraft itself, as well as the company Lion Air. And so earlier today, the Ministry

of Transport here issued a statement saying that a number of top executives from Lion Air had been relieved of duty temporarily as part of the

investigation. A number of members of the board of directors of that organization, as well.

And when I asked the managing director of Lion Group, which has more than 20,000 employees and owns other airlines in Thailand, in other countries as

well, Malaysia -- I asked him what does he think? Well, he was limited in what he could say because in this investigation, he's obliged to sign a

nondisclosure agreement with the authorities as part of the investigation.

They're all supposed to work together as it has been explained to me by independent aviation experts. But he said that he would like to travel to

the headquarters of Boeing to talk to the manufacturers to find out from them perhaps what could have gone wrong with the aircraft.

One noticeable thing I've learned from him is that Lion Air is still operating right now. It has, as of today, 119 aircraft, Kristie. It just

got a fresh arrival of another Boeing 737 delivered today, he told me. Not the same model as the one that crashed tragically on Monday.

But that gives you an indicator of how rapidly this Indonesian company, barely 20 years old, has been growing. He says they're getting another

aircraft every month. Could that have been a contributing factor to this terrible aviation disaster, Kristie?

LU STOUT: yes, and it raises a lot of concerns. I'm reading here from a report I got earlier in the week, 15 episodes involving Lion Air since

2005. Safety record of this airline definitely called into question on the back of that horrendous disaster earlier this week. Ivan Watson reporting

live from the scene of that crash site. Thank you so much for your reporting and we'll talk again soon.

Now, the U.S. is five days out from the midterm elections and the pressure is mounting for Republicans trying to hold on to a majority in Congress.

[08:10:01] President Donald Trump, he is on a rally blitz. Wednesday night, he was in Florida. Then he's on to Missouri, West Virginia and several

other states before Election Day. As expected, the president is using these rallies to slam the Democrats. His favorite topic, immigration. And he is

stoking fears of a migrant invasion.

But it is an ad that Mr. Trump posted on twitter that is drawing the most attention. It shows this man, a convicted cop killer in the U.S. illegally

laughing about his crimes. The ad accuses Democrats of letting criminal immigrants overrun the U.S.

Let's bring in CNN's Abby Phillip. She is live for us at the White House. And Abby, the president's midterms ad is out there and it is drawing some

serious fire.

ABBY PHILIP, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Kristie. This ad is designed to shock and it's also designed to be a closing argument for

Republicans going into the midterm elections. Now, President Trump has been pushing this message about immigration, but this ad is one of the most

controversial that we have seen in recent political history.

Meanwhile, Democrats are trying to shift the topic to health care, an issue that polls say most voters care a lot about.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIP (voice-over): President Trump embracing demagoguery, tweeting the most racially charged political video in decades, demonizing immigrants and

accusing Democrats of plotting to overrun the country with criminals. It's reminiscent of the notorious Willie Horton ad financed by supporters of

President George H.W. Bush's 1988 campaign which played directly into white fear and African-American stereotypes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Despite a life sentence, Horton received 10 weekend passes from prison. Horton fled, kidnapped a young couple, stabbing the man

and repeatedly raping his girlfriend.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIP (voice-over): A source close to the White House describing the video and President Trump's hard-line focus on immigration as an effort to

"change the argument from family unification to invasion," arguing that the inflammatory rhetoric is working to change the narrative away from health

care.

TOM PEREZ, CHAIRMAN, DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE: They have to distract. They have to fear monger. And his dog whistle of all dog whistles is

immigration.

PHILLIP (voice-over): It comes as President Trump makes a number of false claims about the group of asylum seeking Central American migrants making

their way through Mexico.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They got a lot of rough people in those caravans. They are not angels.

You have caravans coming up that look a lot larger than it's reported actually. I mean, I'm pretty good at estimating crowd size. It's a lot of

young people, a lot of young men. And they always and they have been doing this. They're pushing the women right up into the front.

PHILLIP (voice-over): The Mexican government estimates that the caravan from Honduras has dropped from about 7,000 to about 4,500 people. Those

that remain are still about 1,000 miles away from the U.S. border. President Trump admitted last week that he does not have evidence to

support the claim that middle easterners are part of the caravan.

TRUMP: There is no proof of anything. There is no proof of anything, but they could very well be.

PHILLIP (voice-over): Wednesday night, again, acknowledging he plays fast and loose with the facts.

TRUMOP: I always want to tell the truth when I can, I tell the truth.

PHILLIP (voice-over): Nevertheless, the president pledging to send up to 15,000 active duty troops to the border. About three times the amount

currently fighting terrorists in Iraq.

JACKIE SPEIER, CALIFORNIA DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSWOMAN: Sending 10,000 to 15,000 troops which means we're going to spend between $100 and $150

million so that he can have his, I guess his surprise, his October surprise.

PHILLIP (voice-over): The president also doubling down on his false claim that he can end the constitutional guarantee of birthright citizenship,

citing President Obama's executive order on Dreamers that his administration has said is legal.

TRUMP: Certainly, if he can do DACA, we can do this by executive order.

PHILLIP (voice-over): Mr. Trump attacking the Speaker of the House for challenging his claim.

PAUL RYAN, SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: You cannot end birthright citizenship with an executive order.

PHILLIP (voice-over): Meanwhile, Democrats attempting to keep the focus on health care.

JOE BIDEN, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You have the president of the United States saying we guarantee, whatever his phrase

was, everybody who is coming with pre-existing conditions is covered. Simply not true.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIP (on-camera): President Trump today is heading back on the campaign trail for that blitz of campaign rallies for election day. He's going to

Missouri this afternoon. Meanwhile, we are hearing from GOP sources that there are some places that President Trump is not welcome.

In Arizona and Nevada, two places where there are key senate races, are also places where there are high Hispanic populations. Strategists in those

states say President Trump, with this rhetoric right now, is not going to be particularly helpful to the Republican candidates there.

At the same time, Democrats are also pulling out all the stops, bringing out their most high profile surrogates, including Vice President Joe Biden

and also Oprah Winfrey. President Obama is also expected on the campaign trail in Florida tomorrow, Kristie.

[08:15:03] LU STOUT: Yes. Some powerful forces whipping up the vote on both sides. Abby Phillip reporting live for us. Thank you. You're watching

"News Stream."

And still ahead, steps towards peace, North and South Korea enforce a noo- fly zone and ban on military activity over their border. We got the details, next.

Also ahead, hundreds of Google employees around the world are venting their frustration about how the company deals with sexual misconduct.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back. A no-fly zone and ban on military drills over the heavily fortified border between North and South Korea is now in effect.

This is part of a plan to ease the long running tension between these two nations. Paula Hancocks has more from Seoul.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Kristie, this is all part of the plan that we heard last month in Pyongyang from the North Korean leader Kim

Jong-un and South Korea's President Moon Jae-in saying that they want to change the DMZ into a peace zone. They had this military pact that they

both agreed to.

So very concrete measures to try and lower the tension when it comes to the DMZ, to try and make sure the tensions in this area can't spark in the

future. There can be no miscalculations that could lead to a military escalation.

So what we're seeing today, this is November 1st, we are seeing all hostilities ceasing between North and South Korea. Now what that means in

concrete terms is that there is now a no-fly zone that extends to up to 40 kilometers from the MDL on both sides. This is the Military Demarcation

Line that is in the middle of the DMZ.

They've said also that they won't have any live fire exercises, any kind of field training within five kilometers of the MDL. That has come into effect

today, as well. Also, they've been covering some of the barrels of artillery that they have based on the coastlines. Of course, there is

artillery focused in both directions from North and South Korea. But that has been put out of use at the moment, as well.

Really, a sign that they're continuing to de-escalate and demilitarize the Demilitarized Zone. This comes just after the joint security area has had

all of its arms and ammunition taken out of it. So even though there are still guards on both sides of this border where North and South Korean

soldiers have been facing off for decades, they're not armed.

So, this is really North and South Korea pushing forward showing that this is what they want to do. It's not clear whether Washington is completely on

board with this. Certainly, there is a sense that North and South Korea are moving faster than Washington appears to be comfortable with especially

when you look at the declaration of the end of the Korean War.

Pyongyang and Seoul want to do that by the end of this year. It's not clear whether or not they'll be able to do the that because Washington isn't keen

to do it quite so quickly, wanting to see more clear cut examples and proof of North Korea denuclearization before it gives away what it would consider

to be such a big concession, Kristie.

[08:20:12] LU STOUT: Paula Hancocks there. Sexual abuse against women in North Korea is so common it is now an accepted part of everyday life.

That's according to an extensive new report by Human Rights Watch. In a study that took more than two years to compile, the rights group spoke to

72 North Korean women, four girls and 30 men.

All interviews were done outside the country and included dozens of sexual abuse victims who fled North Korea. A former police officer and a survivor

herself told CNN that 90 percent of the women she knew had been sexually assaulted and yet the government told the United Nations last year that

only five people were convicted of rape in North Korea in the year 2015.

One sexual assault survivor summed it up this way, "They consider us sex toys. We are at the mercy of men." Now, Phil Robertson, he is the deputy

director of Human Rights Watch Asia and he joins me now live from Seoul. And Phil, thank you for joining us. Your report has disturbing accounts of

widespread sexual abuse by officials in North Korea. Why is this happening?

PHIL ROBERTSON, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH ASIA: It's happening because there's a culture of impunity for officials. This is officials

governing lockups, people who are regulating markets, even train conductors on trains. These are the sort of people that are taking advantage of women

with complete and total impunity.

The women are afraid to even report these abuses to the police because the police are part of the problem. Quite clearly, this is something that the

government of North Korea has to deal with from the very top levels. They need to order an end to these kinds of abuses.

LU STOUT: If a woman in North Korea refuses a demand for sex from an official, what would happen to her?

ROBERTSON: Well, it depends on where she is. If she's in detention, she could face stress positions. She could face torture. She could face being

sent to a forced labor camp. If she's a market trader, someone who is selling goods, she could have her goods confiscated. She could face jail

time for trading because trading is still technically illegal.

There all sorts of retaliation that can be brought against these women. And these women are absolutely afraid, and so they succumb to these demands and

they've, you know, try to make the best of it.

LU STOUT: So you're sounding the alarm with this report. And as this Human Rights Watch report is released, we know that relations between North and

South Korea are warming. Does the South Korean government have any plan, any intention to press Pyongyang on this issue, this human rights issue?

ROBERTSON: Well, they should but, you know, when we tried to meet with President Moon, he refused to meet with us. You know, our executive

director is here. We saw the meeting and we want to raise these issues. It would be very easy for him to raise this kind of concerns with the North

Koreans.

And I think, frankly, the women of South Korea should demand that he do so. But we have not received much positive response from the South Korean

government that they're going to take up this or any other human rights issues at the moment.

LU STOUT: Women's voices in North Korea desperately need to be heard (ph). We thank you very much indeed for sharing your report and your findings

with us. It was Phil Robertson of Human Rights Watch joining us live from Seoul.

Now, employees of Google across Asia, they kicked off global protests on Thursday over how the company deals with cases of sexual harassment. Scores

of employees in India, Singapore and Japan, they participated in this walkout demanding change in the company.

CEO Sundar Pichai says he supports the walkout as the firm copes at the backlash of that "New York Times" investigation. That details how Google

protected executives accused of sexual misconduct, including keeping silent and doling out multi million dollar severance packages. CNN's Hadas Gold

joins me live from Google's London headquarters. And Hadas describe the scene and how many -- how many execs there are taking part in the Google

walkout?

HADAS GOLD, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: So the rain as you can see behind me did not keep the employees from protesting, from walking out. What

started around 11:00 a.m. we saw a small group come out and they've told us that there was larger groups meeting inside of the Google offices just

behind me here in Central London.

And they said that they were meeting inside and then some of them actually came out outside and some of them are still standing out behind me. You can

see them over there. And a lot of them said that they felt good support from their managers to do so.

[08:25:02] As you noted, Google CEO has said that he supported people who wanted to walkout. And we spoke to some who said that they were walking out

to protest the idea that some executives were paid off after being accused of sexual harassment. They were walking out in support of these women and

they told me that they hoped that this would be the start of a positive change not only at Google, but across the entire tech industry.

LU STOUT: Yes. It definitely triggered a pretty sizeable turn out despite the rain there in London. We've seen the (inaudible) in social media of

similar walkouts taking place across Europe, also across Asia this day.

As you reported, you know, this is a walk out that received support from the CEO of the company but will it lead to change and will it lead to

justice for the women who were harassed at Google by Google execs who received those multi million dollar severance deals?

GOLD: Yes. And that's what a lot of employees that we spoke to talked about. It almost -- one of them even said it didn't even matter necessarily

what the CEO said because it matters what happens on the ground, what happens with their managers, what happens with their relations with women.

They said a lot of them love their job. They love working at Google, but they did not like what they read in that "New York Times" report and they

didn't want to be working at a company that did so and that they hoped that this led to constructive change and that they were very happy that they

were receiving support from the managers.

Because as they understood, it would not have obviously looked good for the management of Google to be against this. So, it sort of was all a very sort

of good atmosphere here. People seemed to be resolute in what they were doing, but also very happy that their workplace was supporting them.

LU STOUT: This walkout, it sends a message, but reform is needed. Hadas Gold, reporting live for us outside Google HQ there in London. Thank you.

You're watching "News Stream."

And still ahead, a new study has some pretty stunning implications for how we predict and fight climate change. Why scientists say we have greatly

underestimated how much heat the ocean is absorbing.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. You're watching "News Stream" and these are your world headlines.

In Indonesia, the flight data recorder from crashed Lion Air flight 610 has been recovered from the crash site and brought to a port north of Jakarta.

Analyzing the data could take weeks or months, but it could provide key answers to why it crashed killing 189 people on board.

Istanbul's chief prosecutor says Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was strangled immediately after he entered the Saudi consulate there. It is

still not known where his body ended up. The Istanbul prosecutor says it was dismembered and destroyed and that all of this was done in a

premeditated plan.

[08:30:00] In the U.S., which has five days to go before the midterms, President Donald Trump is focused on stoking fears about immigration. At a

rally on Wednesday night, he told supporters that there are "a lot of rough people in those caravans from central America." Mr. Trump also tweeted a

racially charged political ad accusing Democrats of letting murderers and illegal immigrants overrun the U.S.

A new study could have major implications in the fight against climate change. Researchers led by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the

University of California have found that the world's oceans are taking in much more heat than we ever thought before. Oceans are planet earth's

biggest heat absorbers, taking in 90 percent of the excess heat trapped in the earth's atmosphere.

Levels of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the air increase as the ocean warms and releases gases, so like what a soda does when you leave it out in the

sun. So by measuring those levels, the researchers were able to take the ocean's temperature. The new study estimates that the ocean has absorbed 60

percent more heat per year than previously thought.

Joining me now is one of the co-authors on the study. Laurent Bopp is a professor at Ecole Normale Superneure. He joins us live from Paris. Sir,

thank you for joining us. Your study says, once again, that oceans have absorbed 60 percent more heat per year than previously thought. What are

the implications for climate change here?

LAURENT BOPP, PROFESSOR, ECOLE NORMALE SUPERNEURE: So the implications are not very good. Pretty bad news, in fact. It means that the climate

sensitivity, the way the earth responds to our emissions is probably higher than what we expected.

LU STOUT: And with the world's oceans taking in, absorbing and storing more heat than previously thought, what does this mean for our oceans,

these vast bodies of water and ecosystems?

BOPP: Yes, and it's also bad news for the ocean itself, bad news for the ecosystem. So there is this direct effect of warming on the ecosystems with

migrations of populations, with the effects on coral reefs, bleaching events (ph), et cetera, etcetera.

But this additional heat, this additional warming has also implications for ocean currents, for example, water masses and then that could affect the

entire food webs in the ocean.

LU STOUT: And the heat that has been absorbed and stored by the oceans, can it eventually come back out?

BOPP: Probably not over the next decade. So the residence time of heat in the ocean is very, very long. That is because the ocean circulation is very

slow. So if you take deep waters in the north Pacific, for example, they have been been in contact with the atmosphere for hundreds of years, maybe

thousands of years.

So because of this long residence time, probably it will stay a long, long time in the ocean. But that's also part of the inner self (ph) of the

system, so climate change is not only about the next decade to the end of the century, but it will affect the earth for centuries and millennium

after that.

LU STOUT: And let's talk about how you're able to reach this new calculation on the world's oceans. Are you confident that it is very

precise or do you feel that more work is needed?

BOPP: Always more work is needed. But it's a very new method and an indefinite method as compared to the other ones. So before the classical

method to measure ocean heat uptake is to measure in many, many places and then to combine all these measurements.

And of course we have a lack of coverage and so we have uncertainties. And here we take another approach. We measure, as you said, concentrations in

the atmosphere and these gases somehow they witness heat uptake by the ocean. And because the atmosphere (ph) were mixed, we don't need as many

measurements than in the ocean to witness ocean heat uptake.

LU STOUT: So the co-author Laurent Bopp joining me live from Paris. Laurent, thank you so much. Take care.

Now, medicinal cannabis is now available to patients in the U.K. The new treatment option was announced last month. It provides hope for thousands

of people battling illnesses like epilepsy or multiple sclerosis.

CNN's Eric McLaughlin joins us now live from London where she has met one of the many families desperate to gain access to the drug. And Erin, what

does the legalization of medical marijuana mean for them?

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's hard to overstate the importance of this development for those patients and their families. Some 17 years

after countries such as Canada first legalized medical marijuana, the U.K. is finally following suit starting today. Specialists will be able to

prescribe cannabis to their patients, opening up a whole new field of possibilities and research, giving hope to thousands.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAHBOOB HANIFFA, FATHER OF EPILEPSY SUFFERER: One, two, three.

[08:34:59] Aubi (ph) is the light in our house. Basically, if Aubi (ph) is happy, we are happy.

MCLAUGHLIN (voice over): Five-year-old Aubi (ph) was born partially blind. He suffers from cystic fibrosis and epilepsy. The frequent and

uncontrollable seizures worry his family the most.

HANIFFA: The first time he got a seizure, we were so scared, and we didn't know what was happening.

MCLAUGHLIN (voice over): His parents believe medical marijuana may help.

HANIFFA: He needs about three medications by the minute to keep the seizures down. The amount of medication he takes for a small baby like

this, it's a lot. And I want to try to --

MCLAUGHLIN (on camera): You want to try something else.

HANIFFA: Something else.

MCLAUGHLIN (on camera): You want to try medical marijuana?

HANIFFA: Yeah, because there's a lot of success stories. There's a lot of -- a lot of countries that legalized it. And I need to have a right to try

it in my son.

MIKE BARNES, NEUROPHYSICIAN: You have children with several hundred seizures a week and they can go down to very, very few seizures a week. On

some cases, even stop the seizure altogether. At the same time, stopping or certainly reducing the dose of their existing anti-convulsants.

MCLAUGHLIN (voice over): Aubi (ph) may now get that chance. As of November 1st, doctors in the U.K. can legally prescribe cannabis products. The full

plant will be made available for medicinal use.

British Home Secretary Sajid Javid released a statement saying,, "having been moved by heartbreaking cases involving sick children, it was important

to me that we take swift action to help those who can benefit from medicinal cannabis."

Which is vital news for Carly Jayne Barton. This is her daily routine. She admits to skirting the law for years.

CARLY JAYNE BARTON, SUFFERS FROM FIBROMYALGIA: This is (INAUDIBLE).

MCLAUGHLIN (voice over): Barton (ph) suffers from fibromyalgia, an agonizing condition in which the central nervous system misfires pain

signals around the body.

BARTON: Morphine for pain. Fentanyl for pain.

MCLAUGHLIN (voice over): Her doctors first prescribed opioid painkillers.

BARTON: Duloxetine (ph), the total (ph) is not working. If I have morphine, the morphine is not working. If I have fentanyl, fentanyl is not

working. I have morphine, have morphine, have morphine.

MCLAUGHLIN (voice over): Desperate for a solution, she tried cannabis. It did work.

BARTON: All of that is gone. But this. Just this one medicine. This is the reason I can get out of bed. This is the reason I can walk my dog. I got to

see my friends or run a business.

BARNES: There are some people like Carlie (ph) who can actually stop all the opioids they're on and replace them with cannabis which is much, much

safer. You don't die from a cannabis overdose.

MCLAUGHLIN (voice over): The global domino effect of cannabis legislation has landed in Britain. For those like Carlie (ph) and Aubi (ph), that gives

hope.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCLAUGHLIN: There has been lots of talk here in the United Kingdom about the possibility of legalizing recreational marijuana use. But at this

point, the British home secretary formally ruling that out, although campaigners hope that this is a step in that direction, once again looking

to Canada as a potential model, Kristie.

LU STOUT: But right now, it is medicinal cannabis that is legalized, available on prescription in the U.K. It's going to provide so much relief

to families and to patients. But why is this happening now in the U.K.?

MCLAUGHLIN: You know, that's a good question. It took 17 years, as I pointed out, since Canada legalized medical marijuana to get to this point.

And it's a question that many people here in the U.K. are asking, and many pointing to the sea change in public opinion that was really spearheaded

over the summer by a group of determined parents who wanted their children, many suffering from epilepsy, to be able to access this medicine.

There was a case of 13-year-old Billy Caldwell (ph) who went with his mother to Canada for cannabis oil, came back, and that oil was confiscated

at Heathrow Airport. There was a public outcry at that. The home secretary then granting a hospital here in London the license to be able to prescribe

him that much-needed treatment from there, asking the chief medical officer here in the U.K. to look into the legalization of medical marijuana.

She came back with a report saying that there are medicinal properties to cannabis and from there, that the home secretary taking the decision to

making it legal. But, really, it's important at this point. Experts have been telling me that more research still needs to be done so that doctors

feel comfortable, even though it's legal, feel comfortable prescribing this for their patients.

LU STOUT: Yeah, more research needed for something that could be a life- changing treatment for so many patients there. Erin McLaughlin, we thank you for your reporting.

You're watching News Stream. Up next, she is beautiful, she is smart, and maybe in an uncanny valley kind of way, early close to a real life person.

Up next, we're going to meet here. Her name is Sophia, the animatronic robot which has taken her first steps in fashion.

[08:40:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: All right. Welcome back. Coming to you live from Hong Kong, this is News Stream. We want to introduce you to Sophia, the animatronic robot

that kind of looks like and acts like a human. She is also a model who just appeared at Shanghai Fashion Week. In this episode of Smart Creativity, we

meet the creator behind Sophia where he explains his vision for other A.I. robots.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID HANSON, CEO AND FOUNDER, HANSON ROBOTICS: There is something strange about a machine that looks human, slightly dream-like and unreal while at

the same time evoking this idea of a future that might be transformative in a really positive sense. Like what if these robots can walk into our world

and through this kind of humanization of the technology, really care about us?

Sophia is an extremely human-like robot.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want to protect the planet we have because we don't have another one. That's where I see myself contributing to society.

HANSON: It took years to develop the kinds of material technology that are now in the Sophia robots. But we're able to with those technologies

generate more life-like expressions on much, much lower power which then let us replicate the full set of facial muscles.

And some of the work that we're doing, she will see your expressions and sort of match a little bit, and also try to understand in her own way what

it is you might be feeling.

Technology is beautiful and mysterious in an abstract way. I think we intuitively process technology the way that we process good design. She's

the one robot that dozens robots that I've designed that has become really internationally famous.

SADIE CLAYTON, ARTIST: I think she's an inspiring artist because art is about communicating an idea. If you're able to do the that through this

object, this model, this robot that has been formed who is actually now a citizen of the world, she is, again, it's still quite mind blowing, that is

super inspiring.

HANSON: I wanted her form to speak to people in something like a universal way. And so I don't know what it is about Sophia that speaks to people, but

I hope that we can develop our A.I. and robots in a way that make a deep, emotional connection.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: OK. Now to an energetic folk dance born in the Indian religion of Punjab. Now, for more than a century, Bhangra was a farmer celebration

of bountiful crops, but now its infectious beat is spreading across the world. Amara Walker explains to us why Bhangra is so addictive in today's

Iconic India.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: In the north Indian city of Chandigarh, a riot (ph) of color and happiness.

[08:45:00] In one of India's most energetic dances, Bhangra.

ISHPREET SINGH BEDI, COACH, CHANDIGARH BHANGRA CLUB (through translator): No celebration is complete without Bhangra.

WALKER: Ishpreet Singh Bedi coaches the Chandigarh Bhangra Club. He started dancing Bhangra when he was 15 and considers it a stress buster.

Bedi says the folk dance was started by farmers in the 1800s to celebrate the harvest season. Today, Bhangra has become synonymous with Punjab, a

state in Northern India.

In Bhangra, dancers wear lose fitting clothes to allow for explosive movements. The different colors of the Bhangra outfits reflect feeling of

joy and celebration while the turbans worn by the male dancers symbolize Punjab's religious and cultural heritage. The turban is usually tied using

five meters of fabric to which a fan-like adornment called the turla is attached like a crown.

BEDI (through translator): Now, every single person in Punjab is very fond of Bhangra. It has spread all over the world because of Punjabi families

migrating to countries like the U.K., U.S., Australia and New Zealand.

WALKER: On the wave of diaspora (ph), the high energy moves of Bhangra have spread beyond the farmlands of Punjab to reach the dance floors of

weddings and nightclubs and to announce to anyone who is watching that the party has begun.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: The party is definitely there in that room. That was CNN's Amara Walker reporting. There is something else we want to share with you, this

new groundbreaking spinal implant is helping paralyzed patients to walk again.

According to new research, it was published in the journal of nature, researchers in Switzerland implanted electrical stimulators that help to

carry messages from the brain to a non-damaged part of the spinal cord. First, it helps the patients to move their legs and days later they were

able to walk with limited assistance.

GREGOIRE COURTINE, PROFESSOR, SWISS FEDERAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY LAUSANNE: The idea that you are repairing the injured spinal cord. So

human we don't know (ph) the mechanism but many made (ph) models, we have clearly seen that with this type of training, the nerve fibers start

regrowing, reorganizing, that's why the brain regains control over the movements of the paralyzed leg.

SEBASTIAN TOBLER, SPINAL IMPLANT PATIENT: I feel that one year after, I progress with some movement. I am just looking forward what will bring me

the next day, the next year, 10 years afterward, what will I see in my body, new change in something who changed some new movements, perhaps. Who

knows.

LU STOUT: Incredible, this new innovation bringing about new mobility. Researches say that while these results are astonishing, they caution that

the treatment is still in its very early stages. It is not clear if it will work on everyone who has spinal cord injuries.

Now, coming up right here on CNN, we got New Day and CNN's Anderson Cooper to introduce us to the top 10 CNN heroes of the year.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:50:00] (NEW DAY)

END