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Zuckerberg Stands His Ground, The Facebook CEO Responds To Mounting Controversies In An Exclusive CNN Interview; No Punishment, Why Some Critics Say Donald Trump Is Putting Saudi Arabia First After His Latest Comments On Jamal Khashoggi; Investigating Hillary Clinton, New Reporting Suggests, The Us President Wanted The Justice Department To Prosecute His Rival. Aired: 8-9a ET
Aired November 21, 2018 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KRISTIE LU STOUT, HOST, NEWS STREAM: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong and welcome to "News Stream." Zuckerberg stands his ground. The Facebook CEO
responds to mounting controversies in an exclusive CNN interview. No punishment. Why some critics say Donald Trump is putting Saudi Arabia
first after his latest comments on Jamal Khashoggi. And investigating Hillary Clinton? New reporting suggests, the US President wanted the
Justice Department to prosecute his rival.
A crumbling stock price, backlash over the handling of Russian interference, a new report that claims rivals in the tech world were
targeted and growing questions about his leadership. That is the world that Facebook's CEO Mark Zuckerberg is facing today as he tries to restore
confidence in the social media giant that he co-founded.
In an interview you will only see on CNN, Mark Zuckerberg is striking back at its critics defending what he continues to say is the overwhelming good
that Facebook provides to millions worldwide. But Zuckerberg's claims are being tested yet again as we learn that a child bride in South Sudan was
sold on the platform.
A children's rights organization said, the 16-year-old girl was bid on by five men. But one of the group's director said was his words, "Reminiscent
of later day slave markets. Facebook says it removed the post as soon as it became aware of it, but that came some 15 days after the bidding began
and after the girl was married.
CNN'a Laurie Segall conducted the interview with Mark Zuckerberg, a CNN exclusive. She joins us now live from New York. Laurie, good to see you.
What did Zuckerberg tell you about his leadership during this testing time at Facebook?
LAURIE SEGALL, SENIOR TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Look, I think that a lot of questions about his leadership and power and you had this bombshell
"New York Times" report that came out and said that Facebook hired an opposition research firm to go after critics like other tech companies in
short source. You had it talking about how they didn't get on top of Russia interference.
So I had him respond to a lot of that. But also, I think there were real questions about what happens to Cheryl Sandberg, you know, his number two,
because although she didn't come out of these reports looking great so, you know, I had the opportunity to sit down with Mark and we spoke about quite
a few issues about Facebook's future.
But I started with asking him about what is going to happen with his top leadership. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
SEGALL: There are a lot of questions now about Cheryl Sandberg's role in the latest controversy. Can you definitively say Cheryl will stay in her
same role?
MARK ZUCKERBERG, CEO AND CHAIRMAN, FACEBOOK: Yes. Look Cheryl is a really important part of this company and is leading a lot of the efforts to
address a lot of the biggest issues that we have. And she's been an important partner for me for ten years, and, you know, I'm really proud of
the work that we've done together, and I hope that we work together for decades more to come.
SEGALL: Are you going to make any changes? Not even looking at this crisis, but looking at a lot of the different ones over the last year, are
you making any changes in your top leadership?
ZUCKERBERG: Well, if you look at the management team at the end of 2018, you know, it's quite different from what it was at the beginning of the
year. On the product and engineering side, I completely restructured things. So I think we're leaving this year with a much stronger team in
place.
SEGALL: But you are CEO and Chairman of Facebook. That's an extraordinary amount of power, given that you rule a kingdom of two billion people
digitally. Shouldn't your power be checked?
ZUCKERBERG: Yes. I think that ultimately the issues that we're working on here, things like preventing interference in elections from other
countries, finding the balance between giving people a voice and keeping people safe, these are not issues that any one company can address, right?
So when I talk about addressing these, I always talk about how we need to partner with governments around the world, other companies and nonprofits
and other sectors.
So, yes, I don't think fundamentally that we're going to be able to address all of these issues by ourselves.
SEGALL: So you are not stepping down as Chairman.
ZUCKERBERG: That's not the plan.
SEGALL: That's not the plan. Would anything change that?
ZUCKERBERG: I mean, like eventually over time. I mean, I'm not going to be doing this forever. But I certainly - I'm not currently thinking that
that makes sense.
SEGALL: This idea of transparency is important and we keep hearing it but then you have these reports coming out that say something otherwise.
So how do you ensure that you do win back public trust? I think this is an incredible pivotal point for the company and for you as a leader because it
certainly seems over the last year, we haven't stopped hearing about one thing after the next.
[08:05:09]
SEGALL: That shows otherwise that the company hasn't been as transparent?
ZUCKERBERG: Yes, well, look, there are always going to be issues. But if you're serving a community of more than two billion people, there's going
to be someone who is posting something that is problematic, that gets through the systems that we have in place no matter how advanced the
systems are.
And I think by and large that a lot of the criticism around the biggest issues has been fair. But I do think that if we're going to be real, there
is this bigger picture, as well, which is that we have a different world view than some of the folks who are covering this.
SEGALL: But if we've given the world a voice, look at what's happened in the last year. You've had elections in the last year, elections
manipulated, hate speech that's gone viral and turned off-line. It certainly seems like this mission has been accomplished in many ways and
there's a whole new set of problems that perhaps, you guys didn't foresee.
And now we're in a very complicated place where there's not an easy solution.
ZUCKERBERG: Yes. These are complex issues that you can't if fix. You manage them on an ongoing basis. But look, do you think that the world is
better with everyone having a voice and having the ability to express their opinion and being able to connect to who they want? I don't think we're
going back to a world where there were just a handful of gatekeepers who got to control what ideas get expressed.
SEGALL: And Facebook is a new gatekeeper.
ZUCKERBERG: But even if we could, I am trying to make it so we're not. I mean, that's why making it so that we're building these independent
governance mechanisms and things like that are really important and that's work that I really care about.
But I think that the world will keep on moving in this direction. More people will keep on getting a voice. I think that that is good. And I
think there are certainly going to be issues that we need to work through over time, but I think that while we are doing that, we can't lose sight of
all of the really positive things that are happening here, as well.
Even if you just think about the economic impact of what we're doing, you know, we serve 80 million small businesses around the world. About half of
them have told us that they're hiring people because of using our tools and that without Facebook and the tools that we provide, that their business
would be significantly smaller and they wouldn't be hiring as many people as they are.
SEGALL: Given what you know now, can Facebook effectively be a part of politics and can you guarantee that you can control it?
ZUCKERBERG: Well, I think it's a positive force because it gives more people a voice.
SEGALL: But it's also given nation states a voice, too, in our democratic process.
ZUCKERBERG: And that part needs to be managed really carefully, but I mean --
SEGALL: And you're confident that you guys can do that?
ZUCKERBERG: With the right support from governments and partnerships and a ton of investment on an ongoing basis, I think we can stay ahead of these
sophisticated threats. So we're not done here. We need to keep on making sure that we stay one step ahead.
SEGALL: The "New York Times" called it delay, deny, deflect, the motto for how Facebook leaders handled the last couple of years in crisis. What do
you think the motto should be? What will it be going forward?
ZUCKERBERG: It's learn from the issues that we face and focus really intensely on making sure we resolve them, even if it's going to be long and
painful, even if it's going to take a year or two to get on top of some of these really complex issues. I mean, even if the solutions are never
perfect, these are really important things for society and I just want people to know that we take this incredibly seriously and are very focused
on this.
And I think over the last couple on of years, we've made a huge amount of progress and I'm very proud of that.
SEGALL: Have you as a leader looked at yourself in the last year and reflected and made some hard challenging changes? Because you look on the
outside and there are a lot of people questioning your leadership, questioning this company. Have you personally changed in any capacity to
be able to be better equipped to handle Facebook now rather than the Facebook that you built in your dorm room?
ZUCKERBERG: Absolutely. I mean, I'm always thinking about this stuff and I think the biggest learning for me, which I'm too slow to, is that when
you connect 2.5 billion people, you're going to see all the good that they're capable of and incredible things, but you're also going to have all
those people who just try to use those tools to subvert the same ideals that we care about.
And now, you know, we're taking that lens towards everything that we're doing and not only trying to build the good to empower people to give more
people a voice, but in everything that we do, we're working to make sure that those tools can't be misused and I think that that's something that
we're going to come out of this episode, this series of challenges that we're dealing with and this will be baked into the DNA of the company, of
how we operate.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
SEGALL: Certainly an important time and it's interesting, if you go inside of Facebook and I've been working on a documentary on Facebook, so I've
been going in for the last couple of months.
[08:10:05]
SEGALL: There are all these signs historically on the all that have these mantras of make the world a better place and make it safe and this and
that. And, you know, it's interesting to see the contrast on the outside with us hearing and seeing the way that this extraordinary platform has
been weaponized and to see some of the worst of humanity.
So he's got a very, very big challenge ahead of him and I think a lot of folks are looking at Facebook and questioning that mission that he's always
had about making the world more open and connected.
LU STOUT: Yes, and Laurie, I loved how you phrased that last question to him about how it's different leading Facebook now comparing to when he was
putting it together in his dorm room way back when.
Mark Zuckerberg, in that interview, he basically told you he is standing his ground, he is not going anywhere anytime soon. But on camera, at least
to me he appeared visibly nervous at times. I know that you've talked to him multiple times over the years, is this the most challenging, most
testing time that Mark Zuckerberg has ever faced?
SEGALL: It's interesting because I feel like I walk into his life in these very dire moments because the last time I was sitting down at Facebook was
during the Cambridge Analytica scandal where people were outraged, and I think the idea for Mark Zuckerberg is to not have to speak out only when
there is just this horrific scandal because it seems like it's one crisis after the next.
And I'll tell you this, I don't think he's so comfortable being in front of a camera. He's an engineer you know, and a very behind the scenes person.
But he doesn't get a choice I think at this point to be behind the scenes.
This company is simply the too important, whether it's speaking to reporters or speaking to the public or having that accountability, as you
heard me say, you rule a kingdom of two billion people digitally. So he got to I think step into himself as a leader and someone who is more
comfortable having a public profile.
LU STOUT: Yes, issues are getting bigger and bigger and bigger to fill. Laurie Segall, thank you so much for bringing that exclusive interview to
us. We appreciate your reporting. And Laurie has a new series, it's called "The Human Code," which just launched. She sit down with the most
influential leaders in Silicon Valley who share their thoughts on where technology is headed and how it will change our lives. You could check it
out at cnnbusiness.com.
We are getting a clear picture of how slowly Facebook responded as a young girl in Africa was being auctioned off on the site. CNN found that Voice
of America published a report detailing the auction for marriage on November 6th. That's three days before Facebook removed the post.
Let's bring in CNN business and technology correspondent, Samuel Burke, and Samuel, thanks for joining us. You've learned additional details on
Facebook and how it handled this shameful auction of a girl on this platform. What can you tell us?
SAMUEL BURKE, BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: Very troubling details. Remember that this post detailed that the girl was sold for
marriage in exchange for 500 cows, three cars, and $10,000.00. But we have now learned that there was this Voice of America report out and this is
incredibly troubling to think that it wasn't just because Facebook's algorithms missed this or that their security team missed this.
That there is actually a report out on November 6th, but they didn't take it down until November 9th. But what is even more troubling is the fact
that this post originally went up on October 25th, Kristie. That means this post was up for 15 days. Think about that. Fifteen days.
On top of that, there's other troubling information. We wanted to know how Facebook found out about this post in the first place and we've learned,
according to somebody familiar with the takedown process, taking down content at Facebook, that Facebook found out about this post from a local
Kenya media report.
In other words, the work of journalists, but the reason that is so troubling is because Facebook is constantly telling us, we have 30,000
people on our security and protection team. We have all this technology that we're investing and artificial intelligence will help us take down
this content.
But think about that, none of that helped them in this case. It was the work of journalists that flagged that content to Facebook and only then did
Facebook swiftly take it down, but it really calls into question everything that we've been talking about and things that Laurie has been asking Mark
Zuckerberg like she just did in that interview about how - not just this company, but how the larger tech sector is going to handle this type of
terrible content online.
LU STOUT: Yes, and this, about this latest revelation, is just one of many disturbing revelations about Facebook. Sam, do stay with us. We want to
get your thoughts on the bigger picture for Facebook, as well as the wider tech sector. We know that investors have been punishing Facebook stock and
that the numerous scandals that the firm has been dealing with since its peak in July, shares of the social media giant have plunged some 40%.
The recent decline comes as the company deals with the fallout from that "New York Times" report.
[08:15:03]
LU STOUT: Now, let's go back to Samuel Burke. And Samuel, the list goes on. Fake news, election interference, online abuse, human trafficking
even. This accumulation of bad press has investors effectively turning on Facebook.
BURKE: And that's really the key word is the "accumulation." I wish I could say it was this one important story about the girl in South Sudan but
it's really so many stories like these and the fear from investors that Facebook will have to spend more time and more money focused on privacy,
taking down these terrible posts instead of being focused on ads the way they have been in the past years.
As a result, we see the stock down and that's really bringing down a lot of the social media companies as people look and face the fact that there's
going be more regulation, that these companies can no longer push these aside that's why you see so many if not all of these tech companies down,
each of their for their own reason.
The Facebook reason you just mentioned; Amazon, they're worried about their next quarter; Apple, weak demand for the iPhone; Netflix, increased
borrowing costs and Google, they're worried about ads shifting Google. At the end of the day, there's a different story for each of these and that's
why you're seeing it affects the entire market, Kristie.
LU STOUT: Yes, it will be interesting to see if those red arrows will define the tech sector for some time to come. Samuel Burke, reporting live
for us. Samuel, as always, thank you.
You're watching "News Stream" and still ahead, punishing his political rivals. New reports are out about the lengths Donald Trump wanted to go
to, to get back at his adversaries. And Donald Trump brushes off claims that the Saudi Crown Prince knew in advance about the killing of Jamal
Khashoggi and this is the reason why.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Because it's America First to me. It's all about America First.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: Coming to you live from Hong Kong, welcome back. This is "News Stream." We have two major stories and they share one major link, namely,
the Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed Bin Salman. The first is the murder of journalist, Jamal Khashoggi. Sources tell us that the CIA has assessed
with high confidence that the Prince was involved in the killing, but US President Donald Trump is refusing to take action.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: They didn't make a determination and it's just like I said, I think it was very - maybe he did, maybe he didn't. They did not make that
assessment. The CIA has looked at it, they've studied it a lot. They have nothing definitive and the fact is, maybe he did, maybe he didn't.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: Now, one thing that is clear, Saudi Arabia's role in the war in Yemen were horrifying new details were emerging about the deaths of
innocent people. The charity, Save the Children says 85,000 children under the age of five may have died from extreme hunger or disease in just three
years.
[08:20:06]
LU STOUT: We are covering all sides of the story. CNN's Ben Wedeman is in Beirut, but let's start with Arwa Damon in Istanbul. Arwa, you know, he
may be citing America First, but what does he mean? Why is Trump not willing to blame the Saudi government for the killing of Jamal Khashoggi?
ARWA DAMON, SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Well, if you look at the rhetoric, Kristie, it very much boils down to money and effectively,
the President, the White House has turned this into something of a transaction, sending a message out to the world that if you have invested
hundreds of billions of dollars in the United States, whether it's in arms deals or other investments, as President Trump continues to remind
everybody that Saudi Arabia has, you can effectively get away with murder.
We have heard President Trump repeatedly say this is all about America First feeling that he can't afford that America can't afford jeopardize or
even remotely shake or threaten its relationship with Saudi Arabia because he does believe that Saudi Arabia acts as a counterbalance to Iran in the
region and that Saudi Arabia has an ability to try to potentially destabilize oil prices.
But it really boils down to money and jobs in this perception that should the United States even remotely try to put pressure on the Saudi government
to actually come clean on exactly what happened and hold the actual powers that gave that order accountable, well, that is something that President
Trump doesn't really hold in that high regard, and the issue, is the message also that this sends not just to the Saudi government, but to other
governments around the world who may potentially now feel as if they, too if they have enough investment in the United States, enough of a
transactional relationship with the United States, they, too, can basically carry out these types of horrific assassinations with impunity.
Now, when it comes to Turkey, we did hear from the Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu prior to the statement by the White House, prior to
President Trump's remarks where he had said that, yes, he understands that the West and that the United States do not want to jeopardize their
relationship with Saudi Arabia. Turkey most certainly, he said, does not want to jeopardize its relationship with Saudi Arabia.
But at the same time, he has vowed that Turkey, at the very least, does want to stick by its principals and they are calling for an international
investigation into all of this, Kristie.
LU STOUT: Yes, for US President Donald Trump, alliances are transaction. Arwa, thank you. Let's go to Ben now, and Ben, the murder of Jamal
Khashoggi, has this been a game changer for the war in had Yemen?
BEN WEDEMAN, SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Well, initially, one would have concluded that when the United States discontinued in-air
refueling of Saudi-led coalition aircraft over Yemen and after Germany, for instance, canceled arms sales to Saudi Arabia, but certainly from President
Trump's statement last night and his words to journalists on the -- at the White House, it does not appear to be the case.
And certainly, he didn't put any pressure in that statement on Saudi Arabia to do something about bringing this horrific war in Yemen to a close, which
was just to stress the Mohammed Bin Salman connection. His brain child launched in April of 2015 when he was the Defense Minister at the age of
30.
Now, regarding this Save the Children report, it's important to keep in mind that they've estimated, and it's only an estimate, that around 85,000
children have died between April 2015 and October of this year as a result of what is called severe acute malnutrition, which in plain English is
starvation.
And that number dwarfs the 10,000 killed in military action, which really does stress the point that this isn't so much a conventional war, but
rather a siege from the Dark Ages where starvation and disease are being used along with, of course, high tech weapons supplied by the United States
and Europe to drive a rebellious population into complete submission.
LU STOUT: The war in Yemen has taken such a brutal toll, especially on children. Ben Wedeman reporting live for us from Beirut. Arwa Damon in
Istanbul, a big thank you to you both.
Donald Trump is facing opposition to his stance on the Khashoggi murder even from within his own party. Now, this is the reaction from one leading
Republican voice, Lindsey Graham.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LINDSEY GRAHAM, US SENATOR, SOUTH CAROLINA, REPUBLICAN: Saudi Arabia needs us more than we need them. That's not too much to ask an ally not to
butcher a guy in a consulate. This is not World War II, so I'm not going to look away at what MBS did. I think he did it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[08:25:02]
LU STOUT: Senator Ran Paul tweeted this, quote, "I'm pretty sure this statement is Saudi Arabia first and not America first. I'm also pretty
sure John Bolton, who is America's national security adviser, wrote this."
While Bob Corker said this, quote, "I never thought I'd see the day a White House would moonlight as a public relations firm for the Crown Prince of
Saudi Arabia." There may be a dangerous new twist to those "lock her up" chants so popular at Donald Trump rallies.
A source tells CNN that the US President actually wanted to have his political rival, Hillary Clinton, prosecuted. The source says he
repeatedly pressed then White House counsel Don McGahn to lean on the Justice Department and on multiple occasions, the source said that the
President raised investigating Clinton with the Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.
"New York Times" reports that Mr. Trump also wanted to prosecute another political rival, former FBI director James Comey. Our CNN's Kaitlan
Collins is with the President in West Palm Beach, Florida that's where Mr. Trump and his family are spending the Thanksgiving holiday this week, and
Kaitlan, thank you for joining us.
Apparently, according to the source, Trump wanted to do it, but he could not. What more did you learn about Trump's frustrated desire to prosecute
Hillary Clinton and James Comey?
KAITLAN COLLINS, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Well, we know the President has had this desire for some time now. He's made it quite
public, not only in his tweets, but also on the debate stage as a candidate, and now we are learning that it became a real thing when he was
President and in charge in the White House and instructing his aides including the White House counsel Don McGahn to carry out these orders.
Now, this reporting shows that McGahn refused the President's request, outlining in a memo exactly what it would do to the President if he did
request that the Justice Department investigate not only the former FBI Director James Comey, but also his former political rival Hillary Clinton,
and he essentially outlined this in a memo not only saying the legal challenges it could present, but the political challenges that it would
pose for the President including a possible impeachment charge if the President did move forward with this.
We know the President has brought this up several times throughout his time in office. Not only that, but also criticizing the FBI Director
Christopher Wray saying he didn't believe he was tough enough on James Comey and Hillary Clinton, as well as that was a frequent criticism of his
with the Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
So this seems to be a pattern here with the President. But now, the question is where does it go forward from here? Because we know two
things. One, that James Comey is a witness against the President in Robert Mueller's investigation and two, that Don McGahn, the White House counsel
who stopped the President from doing this, is no longer in that position at the White House, having left in recent months and that he also sat down
with the special counsel for more than 30 hours, something that our reporting show unnerved President Trump because he didn't know the extent
to which his former White House counsel sat down with Robert Mueller and his team.
LU STOUT: Kaitlan, it was Don McGahn who told Mr. Trump that Presidents cannot do this. Presidents did not order prosecutions. Is this yet
another example of Trump officials saving the President from himself?
COLLINS: It does seem to be and it fits that narrative, that narrative that President Trump loathes so much, that there is this idea that there
are people working in this administration, whether it's the West Wing or the Justice Department or where ever that are trying to restrain him and
rein him in from making the decisions that he wants to make.
But this only seems to further that narrative with Don McGahn and this is the second time that Don McGahn has been involved in a story like this.
The first one was when it was reported that President Trump tried to fire the special counsel Robert Mueller and essentially that Don McGahn refused
to do so when President Trump instructed him to carry this out.
There have been similar stories about not only Don McGahn, but the Deputy Attorney General, Rod Rosenstein and several other officials in this White
House, whether it's about Justice Department matters, political matters, military orders with the Defense Secretary James Mattis and several others.
It does seem to further that narrative.
But the question is what is the difference now that people like Don McGahn no longer work in the White House, Jeff Sessions is no longer in charge of
the Justice Department and instead President Trump has put a loyalist in that position, Matt Whitaker, the acting Attorney General which raises its
own scrutiny, and likely that scrutiny is only going to intensify now that this report and this public - what the President tried to do with Don
McGahn is out there.
LU STOUT: That's a big question, would the loyalist push back? Kaitlan Collins reporting live for us. Thank you so much and take care. You're
watching "News Stream." And ahead right here on the program, tensions as you know, they are high between the US and China, but there could be signs
of an olive branch from Beijing. We'll tell you more about that, next.
[08:30:00]
LU STOUT: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. You're watching "News Stream," and these are your world headlines. US President Trump is facing
opposition even within his own party over his loyalty to Saudi Arabia following the murder of journalist, Jamal Khashoggi. Sources tell us the
CIA has assessed with high confidence that Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman was involved in the killing. Despite that, Mr. Trump says that quote, "We
are staying with Saudi Arabia."
Officials in Afghanistan have raised the number of officials killed in the suicide bombing in Kabul to 55. The attack on Tuesday targeted religious
scholars gathering to mark the birthday of the Prophet Mohammed. There has been no claim of responsibility.
In a move that's seen a as a blow to Russia, Interpol has elected acting head, Kim Jong Yang to take over the role of President. The South Korean
is replacing Meng Hongwei, who China recently detained for alleged corruption. Former Russian Interior Ministry official Alexander Prokopchuk
had been tipped on take on the role.
President Trump and the Chinese leader Xi Jinping, they are set to meet at a G-20 Summit later this month. It could be awkward. A trade war and
tensions in the South China Sea have soured their relationship between the world's largest economies, but as CNN's Ivan Watson reports, there could be
signs from an olive branch from China ahead of the big meeting.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
IVAN WATSON, SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Take a look at this. We're giving you a motor boat vantage point view of the USS Ronald Reagan.
So this is a nuclear powered American super carrier and right now, it's anchored right off the coast of Hong Kong. This is significant for a
number of reasons.
First of all, tension has been growing between China and the US in recent months. US and Chinese Navy warships have been shadowing each other in the
South China Sea, which China claims virtually all for itself amid objections from the US government. There's also a trade war being waged
between the two governments and just two months ago, China refused to allow another American warship to make a port of call at this Chinese city.
But now the Ronald Reagan is here with two other American warships. Now, on Tuesday, this ship allowed a visit from a senior Chinese military
commander and some believe that this may be an olive branch coming from China ahead of an expected face-to-face meeting later this month between US
President Donald Trump and the Chinese leader Xi Jinping that's scheduled to take place in Argentina at a G-20 summit. Ivan Watson, CNN, Hong Kong.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
LU STOUT: The Trump administration has released a report accusing Beijing of doing little to fix what it's calling unfair trade practices.
[08:35:10]
LU STOUT: This 50-page report says this, quote, "China shows no signs of seizing its policy and practice of conducting and supporting cyber enabled
theft and intrusions into the commercial networks of US companies." Unquote. This comes just weeks ahead of a meeting in Argentina between the
leaders of, of course, US and China.
Now, think about all the mobile electronics that you own. Most of them are produced in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen. So are the copycats.
Now, Matt Rivers introduces us to a man who shows us how easy it is to make your own smartphone in China's biggest gadget market.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
MATT RIVERS, CORRESPONDENT, CNN: They say imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, and in China, it can also be a form of innovation. Take
one look around Huaqiangbei Bay and you'll see what I mean.
In a city that produces most of the world's consumer electronics, this shopping district is its heart. A wholesale market where vendors sell any
and every type of tech component you can imagine.
These guys are selling sensors.
Most are parts you and I wouldn't even begin to recognize. But this man does. Andrew Huang, who goes by the name "Bunnie" is a self-described
hardware hacker who knows this place inside and out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDREW HUANG, AMERICAN RESEARCHER AND HACKER: It's like a wet market. Like, you go to a stall to buy a port or you just want to go buy vegetables
and then so each of these will specialize in some particular trade of some particular component.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RIVERS: Any sort of consumer electronic you can dream of, a tablet, a drone, could probably be built here from scratch. Today, "Bunnie" is going
to start with just one smartphone. He buys parts from a number of stalls. To me, all this is daunting, the domain of the MIT graduate, but to people
here, it's just a Monday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HUANG: In the west, tech is day-ified. It's almost like a freeze to the tech, here's an everyday thing. It's not scary to take something apart.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RIVERS: That's another thing people do here. Take things apart. Once you do that, you know how it was produced and then you might just, say, come up
with a better or cheaper way to make that very same thing. Some call that copycatting or at the very least trademark infringement. Here, it's open
source innovation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HUANG: So what happens, you come out with an idea and someone copies it. But usually, they don't just do a straight copy, they'll add their
improvement to it. But fair game is fair. You take their improvement and now you can take their improvement and you can improve upon that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RIVERS: And figuring out what makes your competition's product tick is easy. Bonnie shows us that very Chinese concept in the most American of
places.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HUANG: Weld some parts, while I fuel up, build up.
RIVERS: That's true.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RIVERS: It takes a bit of trial and error.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HUANG: Running code.
RIVERS: It just snaps together.
HUANG: It just snaps together like that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RIVERS: But before too long --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HUANG: Using this coin here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RIVERS: We've got a working smartphone. Selfies and all. Imitation, innovation, whatever you call it, there is ingenuity here. So come on down
to the Huaqiangbei Bay market with your next big hardware idea. Just don't expect someone not to copy it. Matt Rivers, CNN, Shenzhen.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
LU STOUT: You've been warned. Now, discover more of the unique and emerging tech breakthroughs developed in China's Silicon Valley with Matt
Rivers in this special program. It's called "Innovate Shenzhen." You can check it out Thursday, 6:30 p.m. Hong Kong time, 10:30 a.m. in the morning
in London only on CNN. You're watching "News Stream." And still to come, "Going Green." We're going to meet a 17-year-old working to stamp out the
use of plastic bags in Abu Dhabi.
[08:40:00]
LU STOUT: All right, coming to you live from Hong Kong, welcome back. This is "News Stream." Now, a 17-year-old has become the youngest ever
recipient of the prestigious Abu Dhabi awards after making thousands of paper bags and distributing them to local grocery stores. And now, he
wants to do even more to help the planet. We meet an ambitious paper bag boy in our third installment of "Going Green."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MASTER ABDUL MUQEET ABDUL MANNAN, YOUNGEST RECIPIENT OF ADU DHABI AWARDS: Everything on the earth can be recycled, but not time. My name is Abdul
Muqeet. I'm 17 years old and I'm also known as the paper bag boy. Plastic bags take 500 to 600 years to decompose.
The environment is a gift from God to us. We can't just take it for granted. So in the beginning when I started making paper bags, I
essentially just used staplers. After that my father told me that staple is like not a very good idea and he told me to use glue.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I remember, the boy was making some bags out of my old newspaper.
MANNAN: After you stick your handles, your bag is ready. It can be used when you're going to the grocery or when you go to the supermarket for
small stuff.
In the place called Varanasi in India, we made 500,000 paper bags, and then they distributed the paper bags all around the city of Varanasi.
We keep going at this pace, we all will suffer the future, there will be less oxygen produced because of deforestation. Many animals will keep on
dying. The food chain will be affected. From many angles, we all suffer if we don't save the environment.
Plastic bags are still used on a huge basis. People are still not yet aware of the harms of plastic bags. People should be made aware. I still
have a lot of work to do. And until plastic bags are completely wiped off of the Earth, I'll keep working.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: Now, when you think of termites, you may imagine underneath that mound a micro world where life exists on a tiny insect level, but you
couldn't be more wrong. Researchers have discovered this termite megalopolis in Brazil. It is the size of Great Britain.
The mounds are taller than any person. While they may look like nests, they're actually leftover waste from when the insects build their networks
of underground tunnels. This is one of the biggest structures built by a single insect species, and get this, it is still occupied, which means it's
still growing. And that is "News Stream." I'm Kristi Lu Stout. But, don't go anywhere. "World Sport" with Alex Thomas is next.
(SPORTS)
[09:00:00]
END
