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Stranded In The Storm, Thailand Faces The First Tropical System To Make Landfall There In Decades During Peak Holiday Season; Pressuring The President, U.S. Democrats Come Out Swinging As They Take Control Of The House Of Representatives; Politicians Plundered, Credit Card Details And Phone Numbers Of Some 100 German Lawmakers And Public Figures Are Posted Online. Aired: 8-9a ET
Aired January 04, 2019 - 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 Kristi Lu Stout in Hong Kong and welcome to "News Stream." Stranded in the storm, Thailand faces the
first tropical system to make landfall there in decades during peak holiday season. Pressuring the President, U.S. Democrats come out swinging as they
take control of the House of Representatives. And politicians plundered, credit card details and phone numbers of some 100 German lawmakers and
public figures are posted online.
And we begin in Thailand where a rare tropical storm is slamming the southern gulf coast, unleashing heavy rains and powerful winds. Pabuk made
landfall on Friday afternoon leaving thousands of people stranded after authorities were forced to suspend flight and ferry services. Officials
are warning of flash floods and mudslides.
Let's chat with Chad Myers who joins us live from CNN's Weather Center with more on the storm. And Chad, Pabuk is said to be the worst storm in
decades to hit Thailand. What does it look like now?
CHAD MYERS, METEOROLOGIST, CNN: That's right, Kristie. Because it is so far south, only about 8 degrees north of the equator and typically, you
need a lot of coriolis force to get these things going, but almost 90- kilometer per hour now, slamming the coast. Slamming the coast of an area right through here. There's the eye of it right there.
An area that's rich in aquaculture and fishing and not so much over here like near Phuket and the islands over here where you expect all of the
tourists to be. This is a very flat and straight coast, where if you look at even a Google Earth, you will see pad after pad of rice paddies all the
way through the area.
The people here now are watching this wind and rain and also making some pretty significant flooding in the area. Almost 300 millimeters so far and
the storm is only half on land.
You get up into the mountains and some of these areas are going to see some pretty significant mudslides, I believe, as this keeps going. Heavy rain
and flooding, mudslides in the mountains, of course. High surf and storm surge in those areas, in those fishing villages and also the strong winds
all across the entire country, really about the southern half of the country.
Right now, it's a 95-kilometer per hour storm. A much bigger storm earlier in the day, you can see how the reds and the yellows are going away because
it is now on land. A typhoon, tropical storm, cyclone, hurricane -- they're all the same thing. But you really need to be over water for the
storm to grow.
Now that the eye is over land, it is going to die off a little bit. Now, that's not saying it is not going to get stronger as it gets back over
water on the other side, but a 95-mile-per-hour storm, it's not going to get less than 85 as it makes its way over the entire country there and that
eventually turning up and becoming a 96 hours of 55-kilometer per hour storm.
But there it is. Because it is so far south, because typically they'll run up here towards Da Nang or Ho Chi Minh City, it had to go under - it had to
go under the area here, under Ho Chi Minh City and then kind of curve to the north even to get to Thailand, that's why it's so rare for a storm not
to be on land at some point in its life and then as it gets to Thailand, obviously, it should be dead by now.
But this storm was not. The water was very warm, and we're still going to see an additional 150 to 250 millimeters of rainfall. We will be hearing
more about mudslides in the next coming days -- Kristie.
LU STOUT: Yes, this storm - it may not be a super typhoon, but it is a slow-moving storm. It's a big rainmaker. It's going to present a lot of
dangers like mudslides as you just said. Chad Myers reporting, thank you.
MYERS: You're welcome.
LU STOUT: Now, it is quite literally trouble in paradise for tourists in Thailand right now. Dozens are stranded in some of its world famous beach
destinations as Pabuk pummels the country during peak tourist season. Now, we managed to get ahold of an American tourist trapped in Thailand's second
largest island. Her name is Miranda Abidyer. She had traveled to Koh Samui to celebrate her husband's 30th birthday. Let's talk to her now.
Miranda, thank you for joining us. You know, first, can you describe what you're seeing, what you're hearing, what does this storm feel like?
MIRANDA ABIDYER, TOURIST STRANDED IN KOH SAMUI: Hi, Kristie. Thank you. It's surreal, really. I came for my husband's you know, 30th birthday as
you said, hoping to relax and found out about the storm, really just a little late.
We tried to get flights trying to get off the island. There were no ferries left. So we ended up doing and restock our family's supplies and
we've been indoors for most of the time since.
[08:05:06]
ABIDYER: You know, I think it was at first - I was going to be coming to Koh Samui that hasn't been the case. We are so now without power and
water, and it's 100% humidity, so it's quite hot.
It's completely, you know, variable condition, confident we're going to make it out. But it's definitely not what we imagined when I booked this
holiday for my husband's birthday.
LU STOUT: Yes, this was supposed to be a holiday to celebrate your husband's 30th birthday. Now, it's turned into this. You're staying
indoors. That's good. You're staying safe, but have officials there gotten in contact with you to offer any information or help if the
situation gets worse?
ABIDYER: So we aren't staying in a resort. We're in a private villa. So I think we missed some of that communication. But the Thai people have
actually been really nice. They've all been really optimistic. I think it's really lessened our fear and stress, and you could probably hear
through my voice that I've - you know, we could be in this situation. We're looking pretty positive.
I think that was kind of after talking to some of the locals and seeing how they were handling it because most of the news that we got on it was what
you were reading it yourself with some of the news on Twitter. The communications haven't been that much, but the Thai government has sent out
good communications on this is where the storm is going. So we have preparations for that.
There are evacuation centers on the island. But I think where we are is quite sturdy. So we're lucky to be somewhere about a kilometer from the
sea. So we've decided not to go there. It wasn't a mandatory evacuation, but I know that they did set up quite a few places for people that weren't
able to get off the island.
LU STOUT: Now, Miranda, thank you so much for sharing your story with us and to you and your family there, and to all local residents, please do
continue to stay on alert and stay safe. Take care, Miranda.
ABIDYER: Thank you. Bye, Kristie.
LU STOUT: Now, we are also monitoring global markets. They seem to be doing a little bit better after a number of issues sparked Thursday's
tailspin. From Apple shock revenue warning earlier to the week, to China's stuttering economy - 2019 is offering little comfort to global investors,
but now, that the U.S. and China are planning new talks to resolve the trade war, the mood seems to have been boosted.
As you can see in Europe, key indices there all in the green. Here in the Asia-Pacific, markets closed mixed on Friday. The NIKKEI took a hit down
2.25%, but the other markets, including Hong Kong and Shanghai, yes, they finished higher.
Over in the U.S., major indices saw a 2% to 3% plunge on Thursday. But futures are looking up with just 90 minutes to go until the opening bell.
The new U.S. jobs report comes out in about 30 minutes. Investors will find out whether the U.S. labor market held up during December stock market
declines.
CNN's chief business correspondent, Christine Romans is in New York. She joins us once again, and Christine, it looks like global stocks, they've
bounced back a little bit. You know, quite symbolically, you're wearing green right now. Perhaps the futures are looking good. Is it going to
sustain throughout the day?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Look, I want to be really clear about that bounce back you're seeing. Sure, it says 300
points on the Dow Jones Industrial average, but that's taking back just less than half of the losses from yesterday.
What we've seen, Kristie, are shallow rebounds and oversold sell-offs. We've gone from ten years of the stock market basically going up where
anytime you had a pullback, there was the buy - the dip mentality to now the mentality is sell the rally.
And so that is a real changing point, heading into 2019 and there are a lot of uncertainties that are driving that. When you look within tech which
has been a leader, so much of the advance over the last ten years, tech is now the leader on the down side.
That Apple warning was a real shock and we know that there could likely be more companies who issue similar warnings. This is Apple over the past
year, down 17%. When you look at Apple over the last four years, you have got more than two years of gains simply wiped away. So that is
troublesome.
Yesterday, the biggest one day decline with six years for Apple shares, and when you look at the S&P information technology index, that was the worst
day for that index in seven years. There's some big names in there.
So suppliers around the world who are tied to this sector really concerning about Apple's warning and what it means. You know, Apple has got its own
problems relying so much on the iPhone, an expensive product that, you know, for India, for example, an iPhone costs, I think half of an annual
salary or something.
So, you know, they've got their own business model problems with that slowdown in China are a real big concern. We're going to have in less than
21 minutes, we're going to know what the job situation is in the U.S. that could be a driver in the near term of trading activity today.
But, again, I think, Kristie that investors should realize that the rebounds have been shallow, the sell-offs have been fierce and you've gone
from this buy the dip mentality to sell the rally mentality. I don't see anything changing that in the very near term here.
LU STOUT: Got it, Christine Romans live from New York for us. Christine, thank you.
ROMANS: You're welcome.
LU STOUT: Now, joining us now via Skype is economist, Linda Yu. She is also the author of "The Great Economists," and she joins us now. Linda,
welcome back.
[08:10:04]
LU STOUT: First, let's talk about China. As Christine was talking about, that Apple shock announcement earlier in the week, Apple really spooked the
markets when it cut its outlook citing weak Chinese demand. I wanted to explore the Chinese consumer with you right now. Why - what is happening
in China? Why are they tightening their belts right now?
LINDA YU, ECONOMIST AND AUTHOR: They are tightening their belts because economic growth has slowed quite a lot, and actually, we all know the
headline figures in terms of growth. But I think the really key figures are around retail sales and of course, household income.
So retail sales, the later speaker showed grew at 8.1%. Now, for most economies, that would be very fast, but for China, that's the slowest pace
since 2003. So what that's really picking up is that as the economy slows, and China is trying to rebalance towards becoming a more middle income
country dependent on its own consumers, that kind of transitions structurally hard.
So what you find is that, well, people, they are not seeing their wages go up as fast as it has before and they are taking on more debt and that is of
course going to dampen consumption especially worrying for the government.
In fact, they are so worried about how much this inability to sell via exports and relying on its own consumers is going to be given consumer debt
and slowing wage growth is that they are implementing a massive tax cut this year, a fiscal stimulus to the order of 1% of GDP, just to boost
consumption.
So I think, that's why they are tightening their belts a bit, and then of course, as your correspondent there just mentioned, it is also partly of
course, Apple, but I would not limit this to Apple at all. I think other businesses are going to be affected as well.
LU STOUT: Yes, a number of businesses and brands around the world are exposed to the Chinese consumer, offering sort of a ray of hope here, at
least this day for the time being. Trade talks, I mean, we know that the U.S. and China has been confirmed, they will meet Monday in Beijing for two
days of talks. Yes, it's a low level delegation, but they are talking.
Markets surged after the announcement, should be we so optimistic here?
YU: I think we should be optimistic. Well, I think we have no choice, but to be optimistic because there's only 90 days with the U.S. and China to
come up with a resolution, because this is also what's dampening global markets. This old lone trade war would actually mean all of Chinese
exports to the United States would be subject to 25% tariff and of course, there's also reciprocal taxes to be imposed by China.
So that's going to affect what? Three to four percent of global trade, and so, can they come to a quick trade agreement? My guess is yes, because a
lot of the talks are going to focus on market opening, so that would be a way for the U.S. to sell more goods into China, have fewer restrictions in
terms of Chinese markets.
That could be done fairly quickly. That doesn't have to be a big comprehensive agreement, but what they will likely sweep under the carpet
and not be able to deal with are things like intellectual property rights protection. The kinds of significant market opening that American
companies want and protections from the legal system, that's not going to happen quickly.
But remember, the U.S. is gearing up towards the 2020 election cycle, and so I would think that the economy needs to look pretty good going into
that, so there is an incentive actually from the American side to come to an agreement.
LU STOUT: Good point, you know, IP remains a big sticking point, but 2020, the election coming up, that's a big incentive to get a deal here. And
finally, Linda, before we let you go. It's the start of a new year, we've got to get the global economic outlook for 2019, there are so many open
questions about U.S. politics, about China slow down, the trade war, even Brexit - what should we expect?
YU: Volatility. So it is going to be a pretty choppy start to the year and probably continuing through.
What you see now is the global economy turning, and this is of course led by the United States economic growth, probably peaked in the middle of last
year, that's when most of the big fiscal stimulus package worked its way through the economy, so we are not likely to see significantly higher
growth this year.
Remember, that growth is over 4% in the middle of last year on an annualized basis, so that means, it's not a bad thing to go into the down
part of a cycle, but it is a bad thing if you are at the down part of the business cycle and this is the U.S. really leading the global economy and
then you get the geopolitics thrown and U.S.-China trade war. You have Brexit tensions. You've got elections in Europe in May. You've got any
number of issues -- geopolitical issues that could really make the down part of the economic cycle worse.
And I think this is why all of these tensions are coming at a very unfortunate time especially as investors are looking at global markets and
saying, "In the down part of this cycle, she will be taking some profit." And then of course, that's also going to accelerate any feeling of decline.
So I think 2019 is going to be a bit volatile, but Kristie, what some investors have always said, sometimes, when the cycle is on the down side,
that's often a good opportunity ...
[18:15:10]
YU: ... to buy, but just beware, I think you'll have to be quite careful because it is going to be a bit uncertain, and certainly through the first
part of the year.
LU STOUT: Absolutely. There may be opportunities, but be cautious, 2019 is going to be a year of uncertainty. Linda Yu, as always, thank you for
joining us. Until next time, take care.
Now, you're watching "News Stream" and still ahead, gridlock in Washington - the government kind as the shutdown enters its second week, Congressional
leaders head to the White House for another situation room meeting with the President. We'll bring you the latest twist in the standoff.
And 30 years since Tiananmen. Ten years since the Xinjiang riots. There is a host of sensitive anniversaries coming up in China. How the great
fire wall is likely to flex its censorship power, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LU STOUT: All right, quite a dramatic scene back there. Coming to you live from Hong Kong, that's the harbor front out there. Welcome back,
you're watching "News Stream" and now, let's go straight to Washington where a lot has changed, but a lot has stayed the same, as well. Now,
what's new?
Well, the Democrats now control the U.S. House of Representatives. What's the same, the government shutdown, still in place and entering its second
week. And late last night, lawmakers passed two bills to reopen the government. President Trump has vowed to veto them because they do not
include funding for a border wall with Mexico.
Lauren Fox joins us now from Capitol Hill in Washington. Lauren, good to see you again. We know that congressional leaders from both parties are
set to meet with the U.S. President at the White House later today. Is there going to be progress?
LAUREN FOX, POLITICS REPORTER, CNN: Well, Kristie, that is what we are watching this morning, but there is not a whole lot of optimism that the
outcome today will be any different than that situation room meeting on Wednesday.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
FOX (voice over): Democrats wasting no time after taking control of the House for the first time in eight years. Passing a series of bills aimed
at ending the government shutdown without any money for the President's border wall.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NANCY PELOSI, SPEAKER, U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: What we're asking the Republicans in the Senate to do is to take yes for an answer. We are
sending them back exactly, word for word, what they have passed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOX (voice over): A handful of Republicans joining the Dems in support of the bills, which would reopen all of the Federal agencies that have been
closed for two weeks and fund the Department of Homeland Security for another month.
But even before the votes were cast, the White House vowing to veto the legislation, which Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said he will not
bring for a vote in the Senate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITCH MCCONNELL, MAJORITY LEADER, U.S. SENATE: The Senate will not take up any proposal that does not have a real chance of passing this chamber and
getting a Presidential signature.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[08:20:10]
FOX (voice over): As nearly 800,000 Federal workers remain furloughed or working without pay, both sides digging in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think the President has made it very clear. No wall, no deal.
PELOSI: We're not doing a wall. Does anybody have any doubt that we are not doing a wall? So that's it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOX (voice over): But two Senate Republicans who are up for re-election next year in states where President Trump lost, breaking with the President
and their party on their shutdown strategy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CORY GARDNER, U.S. SENATOR, COLORADO, REPUBLICAN: I don't think shutting down the government is the right way to do this. So let's fund the border,
let's fund border security.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOX (voice over): Collins telling "The Washington Post," "I see no reason why the bills that are ready to go and on which we've achieved an agreement
should be held hostage to this debate over border security."
Nevertheless, President Trump is not backing down, making a surprise appearance in the White House briefing room to make his case for the wall.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I have never had so much support as I have in the last week over my stance for border security, for
border control and for, frankly, the wall or the barrier.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOX (voice over): But the President and his Press Secretary quickly leaving without taking questions. The standoff continuing as a new reality
begins in Washington for President Trump.
House Democrats now in the majority and armed with subpoena power pledging oversight of the Trump administration vowing to investigate everything from
alleged connections between the Trump organization and Russia to the President's personal finances.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
FOX: Now, Kristie, Democrats this morning are not wasting any time. They are going to unveil a far reaching bill that includes ethics reforms,
changes to how voters can go to the polls as well as a provision that would require the President and future Presidential candidates to release a
decade of tax returns.
So as the shutdown rages on here in Washington, Democrats trying to get on with their governing majority in the House.
LU STOUT: Yes, and they plan to use their new majority power. And Lauren, let's talk about Nancy Pelosi. She has returned to her historic role as
the first female Speaker of the House. How is she going to manage this relationship between Congress and the Executive Branch?
FOX: Well, I think that's what everyone is waiting to watch, but you know, in her first press conference last night, she was very clear. The
President doesn't get money for the border wall and you have to remember, she is managing both moderates in her caucus as well as new liberal members
in her caucus, people who won in districts that the President won in.
So she has to be very careful, you know, in balancing that difference, very similar to what John Boehner had experienced back in 2011 when Republicans
took the House back.
LU STOUT: Lauren Fox, reporting. Thank you so much, Lauren. Take care. Now, a lawyer for Paul Whelan, an American citizen charged with espionage
in Russia said on Thursday that he has filed an appeal in court against Whelan's detention without bail which he called unwarranted and excessive.
Whelan has been sitting in a Moscow jail since his arrest last week. He is also a British citizen and the U.K. foreign offices, it is also providing
him with consular support.
Canada says 13 of its citizens have been detained in China since December 1st. That's when with Canadian officials arrested the Huawei executive,
Meng Wanzhou at the request of the United States. Some experts suggest the Chinese government could be retaliating over Meng's arrest. Eight of 13
Canadians have since been released, but Beijing continues to hold former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig and businessman, Michael Spavor accusing
them of threatening China's security. Canada is demanding their immediate release.
The U.S. State Department has urged Americans travelling to China to quote, "exercise increased caution." It warns that Beijing could use so-called
exit bans to prevent Americans from leaving China. The advisory said this, "That the bans could be used coercively to keep U.S. citizens in China for
years." And Chinese officials are firing back.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LU KANG, CHINA'S MINISTRY OF AFFAIRS SPOKESMAN (Through a translator): The travel warning issued by the U.S., frankly speaking, does not stand. On
the other hand, in recent years, the U.S. has used various excuses to place obstacles for Chinese citizens entering the U.S. and conduct checks with no
reason. This is a problem America should attend to and rectify.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: The State Department advisory warns that Americans could be detained in China without access to U.S. consular services.
Now, China has a big year ahead - 2019 is a year of sensitive anniversaries which in recent years has les led to mass internet control or tightening of
the great fire wall. It is 10 years since the Urumqi protests and riots, which led to an internet blackout across the whole of Xinjiang province, an
area of some 20 million people. It's 30 years since the Tiananmen square massacre when troops cracked down on student and worker groups protesting
in Beijing.
[08:25:05]
LU STOUT: And it's been 60 years since Tibet Spiritual Leader, the Dalai Lama fled into India after an unsuccessful revolt against Chinese
occupation.
It's not great using the Chinese internet, the best of times, but what is it going to look like this year? Now for a preview, we are joined by CNN
digital's James Griffiths and James, thanks for joining us.
But before we look forward, let's look back you know, because as mentioned, this year is the 10th Anniversary of the Urumqi riots in Xinjiang. Remind
us what happened to the Uyghur internet ten years ago?
JAMES GRIFFITHS, DIGITAL SENIOR PRODUCER, CNN: It basically disappeared. After the Urumqi riots, China took the entirety of Xinjian province offline
for almost 12 months and you know, that was a huge disruption to people's lives.
Some people had to trek for, you know, hundreds of miles to the nearest province to keep running their business or just to check e-mails. And when
the internet did eventually come back online, all of the sites that catered to Uyghur people or focused on Uyghur culture or language and things like
that, most of them had disappeared.
And anyone that tries to opens one now, they're viewed with suspicion. There is a kind of view that they are promoting separatism or promoting the
type of rhetoric that China feels led to the riots in 2009.
LU STOUT: And if China's great fire wall could do that back in 2009, what can it do now in 2019?
GRIFFITHS: Yes, I mean. 2019 is going to be a massive advertisement for the power of the fire wall, basically. You know, every sensitive topic you
can think of has a big anniversary this year and the censors are probably going block, you know, I wouldn't be surprised that they block coverage of
all of them.
And you know, there will be a lot of dedicated clever people trying to stop them doing that, but the money is pretty much on the censors, I'm afraid.
LU STOUT: And there are a number, as you point of sensitive anniversaries this year, including, arguably the most sensitive one, the 30th Anniversary
of the June 4th crackdown and massacre in Tiananmen Square. What are the chances that activists in China could even succeed in getting past the
censors?
GRIFFITHS: Well, I mean, in previous years, June 4th and basically the week around June 4th has been nicknamed "Internet Maintenance Day" in China
because so many websites get taken offline or they deliberately take themselves offline because it's easier to just not publish anything than
that which angers the censors.
And you know, it's been a wall of censorship every other year and that's when the anniversaries are nowhere near as sensitive, while people will
definitely try and organize around June 4th from outside of China and also a limited organization within it, I'd be very surprised if I saw much
mention of it on the actual Chinese internet itself.
LU STOUT: And what does the great fire wall in 2019 mean not just for China, but for the rest of the world? Is this an opportunity for China to
showcase and export its model of internet control worldwide?
GRIFFITHS: Yes, China has been putting a lot of energy into exporting the firewall, but in terms of technology and also the ideology and the politics
behind it, we saw that in Vietnam this week when a cybersecurity bill that was drafted and seems to have been based on China's own cybersecurity bill
went into effect, and that bill actually came out of a training session that was held for Vietnamese officials in Beijing, one of many that
training sessions that China does for politicians, journalists, you know people that work in the IT industry.
And we don't really know what happens in these sessions, but they always seem to turn out to be more severe censorship in the countries that people
are from.
LU STOUT: China's great fire wall, already a big influence worldwide. James Griffiths, thank you.
GRIFFITHS: Thank you.
LU STOUT: You're watching "News Stream" and still to come, hackers target politicians and public figures in Germany. What investigators are now
saying about the latest major data breach?
And December was one of the worst months for the U.S. stock market in decades, but how strong was employment during this key holiday season? We
have got the latest U.S. jobs numbers that are about to be released. We'll have them for you just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:30:00]
LU STOUT: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. You're watching "News Stream" and these are your world headlines. The tropical storm Pabuk has
made landfall in Southern Thailand unleashing heavy rains as it moves northwest right now. Thai officials say it will probably be downgraded to
a tropical depression, but officials are warning of flash flooding and mudslides.
Just hours after the Democrats took control of the U.S. House of Representatives, lawmakers passed two bills to reopen the government. The
White House said it will veto the legislation. President Donald Trump will meet with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other congressional leaders in a
few hours. They are attempting to find a solution to the shutdown now entering its second week.
In Germany, hackers have targeted hundreds of politicians and public figures. A left party spokeswoman tells CNN the hackers leaked private
information like credit card details and e-mail addresses of more of about 100 of its politicians. CNN's Nina dos Santos has been following the story
closely. She joins us live from London.
And Nina, tell us more about exactly who was targeted in this data breach and what kind of personal information did these hackers gain access to and
share with the world?
NINA DOS SANTOS, CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Thanks, Kristie. Well, this is a significant breach here. The German authorities stopping short of calling
it a full on hack attack until they can determine exactly who was behind it and what their motivation was.
But either way, as you mentioned, hundreds of political figures from all sides of the German political spectrum have seen some of their personal
information including names, addresses, e-mail addresses, credit card information, in some cases private chats with family members and even
family photos exposed via a Twitter account that has 17,000 followers.
Now, this particular Twitter account it seems has been disseminating this information since late last year, in the month of December in an advent
calendar format, revealing various bits of information about various different people in the run up to the Christmas holidays, but the actual
attack was only really found out about yesterday evening.
Now, since then, we've heard joint press conferences with members of the German military saying that they have not been affected, but the Interior
Minister saying that it was originally thought that only the AFD, the far right party of Germany was immune to this attack. The Interior Ministry
actually saying that, in fact, it is all sides of the German political spectrum.
I should also point out that the Chancellor's office, Angela Merkel's office has said that no sensitive data seems to have been published from
there -- Kristie.
LU STOUT: Now, this data breach is affecting hundreds of high profile Germans, including politicians. It's alarming this is not the first time
that the government has been targeted?
DOS SANTOS: That is right. In fact, the German government was targeted last year and most famously back in 2015. The Bundestag, the German
Parliament had a huge amount of data stolen. And it was never really understood exactly where that data went and what was done with it, and
there's a bit - parts of it may find their way into the political sphere at politically expedient moments remains a question for authorities in Germany
and indeed, for the field.
Remember that, of course, Germany is a significant target. It knows that it's a significant target largely because of the pivotal role that Germany
plays in the European Union at a time, of course when the E.U. is dealing with contentious issues like Brexit.
It's also a key in the NATO sphere as well, and NATO itself has faced cyberattacks like these in the past. And Angela Merkel is coming towards
the end of her time as her long tenure as Chancellor.
So for all of these reasons, Germany and its political figures have long known that they could be targets for cyberattacks like this. Now, I've
been speaking to members of the cyber community who are looking at the metadata behind this Twitter account.
[08:35:07]
STEWART: And which disseminated all of this information and interestingly enough, what they have been coming back to me with is saying that this
looks like a particularly unsophisticated attack. It may well have just used holes in passwords and lack of two-factor authentication settings on
some of these politicians' e-mail accounts and Twitter accounts, so the link to those e-mail accounts and their telephone numbers, as well.
But obviously, all of that still has to be ascertained and the Germans are investigating at this hour -- Kristie.
LU STOUT: Yes, but if that's true, this is an unsophisticated data breach that resulted in this that speaks volumes about the quality of the cyber
defenses there in Germany.
Nina dos Santos reporting for us, live. Nina, thank you.
The U.S. jobs report for December has just been released. The U.S. economy gained 312,000 jobs last month. The unemployment rate is now up slightly
to 3.9%. Eleni Giokos joins me now live from the New York Stock Exchange, more on this, Eleni. The jobs report is out. Walk us through the numbers.
ELENI GIOKOS, AFRICA CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Yes, exactly, I mean, as you say, 312,000 jobs created in December. There was an expectation that we would
see around 176,000 jobs created, so this definitely way above expectations.
So the jobs market here in the United States remains really hot. And remember, this comes all at a time when people are really concerned about a
slowing in the economy.
When you've got a good jobs number coming out in the month of December, that's of course, indicative that perhaps it's not going to be as bad as
people thought.
What is interesting, though, is you have got the unemployment rate that has ticked up to 3.9% from 3.7%. So that definitely coming in worse than
expected, but when you look at the overall jobs growth, definitely positive.
You saw growth coming through in construction, in healthcare, the likes of manufacturing and even retail posting quite a big job's number growth over
the month.
People who are expecting more on the retail front because a lot of part- time jobs should have been coming through in December because of the holiday season. But nevertheless, definitely coming in better than
expected.
And of course, another big number that we always look at is the participation rate. The labor force participation rate. That increased to
63.1%, so that's better than people had anticipated as well, but lots of really good nuggets of positivity coming through, Kristie, at a time where
we see a lot of volatility in the market and people waiting for some good news.
LU STOUT: Yes, and this seems to be good news. Solid numbers for December, this is a month U.S. companies were still hiring, unemployment
rate is still relatively low, but what about going forward, is the labor market going to perform continually well throughout 2019?
GIOKOS: Exactly, that's a really good question. Now, I am just looking down here, at some more of these numbers that have come through. I mean,
when I say how could they lead the way in terms of new jobs - 50,000 new jobs coming through for the month of December? Construction posting 38,000
new jobs in December.
People were really worried about construction jobs coming under pressure which of course is a really good barometer in terms of how people are
looking at construction.
Remember, if you're building, it means you're feeling positive, it means you're putting cash into infrastructure and property, so you're feeling
optimistic.
But really important to note is that we had a very big blow yesterday on the manufacturing side of things in the United States yesterday. The ISM
number which is a major of manufacturing growth in the country came in far worse than people had anticipated.
In fact, it was the biggest drop that we've seen since the financial crisis. It's still growing, it's not contracting, but it also is showing
that in the future, we might see a bit of pressure coming through there. It's a really important number to look at, so hopefully there is going to
be good news and not bad news going forward, Kristie.
We will be looking out for all of these things. Thanks.
LU STOUT: Yes, absolutely. Eleni, parsing the numbers for us. Thank you so much. We're going to have so much more on the U.S. jobs report along
with the opening bell on Wall Street coming up on "First Move." It starts in about 15 minutes. You're watching "News Stream" and still to come, that
new Chinese moon rover isn't just a hit with scientists. The social media crowd is going wild over Jade Rabbit 2.
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[08:40:00]
LU STOUT: Welcome back, now, the world's newest social media sensation is delighting its earthly followers from the far side of the moon. Tens of
thousands of space lovers are following the moves of China's successful moon rover, Yutu-2 or Jade Rabbit 2.
The rover has its own account on China's popular social media platform, Waybo. And this is a big departure from China's usually secretive
communications about its space program.
Now, Chinese space officials are following the lead of their U.S. counterparts with the huge popularity of NASA's Mars rover Twitter
accounts. The Chinese rover is beginning its search for water and other resources there on the lunar surface.
Harbin is the largest city in the northeastern region of China. It hosts the world's biggest snow and ice festival every year and we have some
pretty spectacular pictures to show you from there.
Michael Holmes takes us on a tour of the city of ice.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
MICHAEL HOLMES, CORRESPONDENT, CNN (voice over): Welcome to Ice and Snow World. It's an annual festival of ice sculptures and colorful lights in
China's northeastern city of Harbin or ice city as the locals call it.
On display, there are cathedrals and palaces more than 10 meters high alongside smaller, more delicate exhibits. It's hard work for the
sculptors, but the reward of having a guaranteed audience to admire their creations makes it all worthwhile.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GUAN HONGLIANG, SCULTOR (Through a translator): Unlike other sculptures, which are always placed somewhere after being finished and we do not know
who will see them, we know that the ice and snow sculptures here will definitely be seen by lots of tourists.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES (voice over): The ice festival attracts more than a million Chinese and international visitors to Harbin every year, and not even the subzero
temperatures manages to dampen the party atmosphere.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We made sure to wear lots of clothes to keep warm, but I think we could use some more, but I think it's definitely worth it
because I don't think there are many places in the world where you can see the things that we can see here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES (voice over): The festival will remain open until February when temperatures start to warm up. Michael Holmes, CNN.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
LU STOUT: And that is "News Stream." I'm Kristi Lu Stout, but don't go anywhere. "World Sport" with Amanda Davies is next.
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