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High Profile Arrest, Philippine Journalist And Duterte Critic, Maria Ressa Is Detained On Cyber Libel Charges; Intention To Sign - U.S. President Donald Trump Signals He Is Willing To Agree To A Deal To Avoid Another Shutdown; A Rare Big Cat Sighting - Biologists Capture Footage Of A Black Leopard In Africa For The First Time In More Than A Century; CNN News Alert: President Donald Trump Will Sign That Compromise Deal On Border Security, Even Though It Falls Well Short Of The Money He Had Wanted For A Border Wall With Mexico. Aired: 8-9aET

Aired February 13, 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 Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong and welcome to "News Stream." High profile arrest, Philippine journalist

and Duterte critic, Maria Ressa is detained on cyber libel charges. And intention to sign, U.S. President Donald Trump signals he is willing to

agree to a deal to avoid another shutdown. And a rare big cat sighting - biologists capture footage of a black leopard in Africa for the first time

in more than a century.

And we begin in the Philippines where a high profile journalist and one of "Time" Magazine's 2018 People of the Year is under arrest. Rappler CEO

Maria Ressa was served with a warrant at the company's headquarters in Manila earlier today. Rappler says the cyber libel charges are related to

an article it published in 2012.

Ressa is an outspoken critic of the Philippines' President, Rodrigo Duterte and she was a longtime correspondent for CNN. Alexandra Field is live for

us here in Hong Kong. She has been following the story, and Alex, Maria Ressa has been arrested in connection with cyber libel. Can you walk us

through the charge and what this means for her?

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Yes, it should be considered a stunning charge by many, but it won't come as a surprise to those who have

closely followed the charges that have been lodged against Maria Ressa and her organization, Rappler before. We're waiting to find out whether or not

she will make bail this evening, that's a matter of getting it done before the courts close just about now.

Otherwise, Maria Ressa, a journalist prominent enough to be named "Time" Person of the Year just last year would spend the night behind bars.

Activists and supporters already vocally coming to her defense. They are viewing the latest charges as another sign of an attack by President

Rodrigo Duterte's administration.

They see this as an attempt to stifle the press, to stifle a journalist and an organization who have been so fiercely critical of that administration,

particularly of the war on drugs.

This charge specifically, the latest as we said, Maria Ressa has faced a number now has to do with cyber libel. It relates specifically to an

article that was published by Rappler in 2012 some four months before the cyber libel law even went into effect.

Previously, investigators said that she couldn't be charged with this because the article had been published before the law went into effect.

That has now been reversed because of updates that were made to the article in 2014. The arrest warrant was given to Ressa today. She did stop to

speak to the cameras before heading off to go to try to make bail. Here is what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARIA RESSA, CEO, RAPPLER: What I know is I have not gotten an official copy of the DOJ indictment. We would have the chance to file a motion for

reconsideration. We should. The fact that an arrest warrant has been issued, well, really interesting, and I will follow. I was just shocked

that the rule of law has been broken to the point that I can't see it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FIELD: Ressa certainly now ready to fight the latest charges. She is fighting previous charges. Back in November, she turned herself in in

relation to another arrest warrant that had to do with tax evasion charges. At the time, she and Rappler said that there was no foundation of course to

those charges, flatly denied those charges, saw them as being politically motivated along with supporters and activists who have come to her defense

and to Rappler's defense, repeatedly.

She has called the previous charges ridiculous. President Duterte's administration has said that charges against Rappler and Ressa are not

politically motivated. Of course, Kristie, we have to point out that we know that President Rodrigo Duterte has taken personal offense to Rappler's

reporting on him in the past and he has gone so far as to personally take steps to bar some of Rappler's access to his administration's events.

LU STOUT: Alexandra Field reporting. Thank you, Alex. A lawyer for Rappler, J.J. Disini joins us now on the phone from Manila. Thank you for

joining us. Again, Maria Ressa has been arrested, she stands accused of cyber libel, how do you respond to the accusation and her arrest?

J.J. DISINI, LAWYER FOR MARIA RESSA (via phone): So the arrest was quite unusual. The arresting officers actually entered the Rappler offices after

office hours and therefore that creates complications because the courts are not open all night.

And therefore, it becomes difficult, if not impossible for her at this point to post bail. And therefore, it seems like she will be spending the

night in the custody of the National Bureau of Investigation.

The charges, as has been explained earlier, seem to be politically motivated. The particular theory that is something espoused by the

Department of Justice is something that is quite unique.

[08:05:07]

DISINI: In fact, they're saying that the republication or the changes made in 2014 have to do constitutes a republication of the libel, but what

happened in 2014 was merely a punctuation change, so there was nothing -- if the libel had been committed way back in 2012, a change in punctuation

couldn't have republished that libel.

LU STOUT: That's right and in March of 2018 that was when the NBI reopened the case. You're saying that Maria Ressa, she was arrested after hours, no

opportunity to post bail, as a result she is spending tonight behind bars. After tonight, legally, what's next for her?

DISINI: Well, what's next is the fight is now with the court. As she mentioned, we were actually waiting for the official copy of the Department

of Justice which we only received yesterday. And we were in the process of filing a motion for reconsideration to the resolution, but we were unable

to do so because apparently they had filed the indictment directly with the court.

LU STOUT: In a sound bite that we played just moments ago from Maria Ressa, right before she was arrested, she talked about her concerns about

the rule of law in the Philippines. We know that Maria Ressa is facing a number of charges against her, not just cyber libel, but also tax evasion

et cetera, are you confident that you can successfully defend her or are you concerned about the other greater more powerful factors at play in the

Philippines?

DISINI: I mean, I think we always need to be mindful of the things that are going on in the background with respect to this case. Rappler has been

under a microscope, and it seems to be behind the activities of Rappler insofar as they have been critical of the administration, so I do have

faith in our judges and I would like to think that we would get some even handed justice when we file our motions in court.

LU STOUT: All right, J.J. Disini, legal counsel of Rappler joining us on the line from Manila. Thank you.

DISINI: Thank you.

LU STOUT: And this just in, we've just learned that it looks like President Donald Trump will sign that compromise deal on border security,

even though it falls well short of the money he had wanted for a border wall with Mexico. Joe Johns joins us now from Washington, and Joe,

President Trump said he is not happy with the border deal. Now, there are these indications that he is going to go ahead and sign it?

JOE JOHNS, SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Right, that is the indication we get from CNN's Dana Bash who says, people who have spoken

with the President say he expects to sign this bill in order to avoid yet another government shutdown. We also have to throw in all the disclaimers

as we do in reporting on the President.

And those disclaimers include that the President reserves a right to change his mind, nothing is written in stone until he sends it out on Twitter, but

the indication is yes, the President will sign this bill, and it's important to say, I think, Kristie, that there are a number of reasons why

he's kind of got to sign the bill.

Republicans on Capitol Hill as well as the President's staff understand that some political damage was done to the President in the last shutdown,

the longest shutdown in government history and because of that, they did not want to go down the same road again, Kristie.

LU STOUT: Yes, so Trump wants his wall, but he also apparently seems like he's willing to compromise to avoid another shutdown. Could you give us

the details of the measure because it would provide just over $1 billion to fund this wall? That is far less than what Trump wanted.

JOHNS: Precisely right. $1.4 billion to fund 55 miles of the wall along the Rio Grande River, and the President had been asking for $5.7 billion

for much more of the wall, so they're kind of going backwards on this right now.

However, it's important to say that the President never believed, and pretty much articulated this publicly, never believed that this committee

on Capitol Hill-- Democrats and Republicans working together -- was going to come up with the kind of numbers that he says he needs to build his wall

as has been related by the Army Corps of Engineers.

So the likelihood is that the President is fully prepared to reach into other sources, other pots of funding in order to try to cobble together the

money he needs to do what he says he wants to do, Kristie.

LU STOUT: Got it. But if and when President Trumps signs this border deal, is it going to look like a win for the Democrats? Could he face

backlash from his own base?

[08:10:07]

JOHNS: Right. Definitely backlash from his own base. A lot of people have been suggesting that he not do that. However, the understanding here

is that it's not soup yet once the President signs the bill.

So he's already gotten a bunch of bad headlines here in Washington by people reporting that the President essentially got rolled. Nonetheless,

at the end of the day, he's hoping to be able to win back a little bit more by either declaring an emergency and getting money from the Department of

Defense to move forward.

And even then, though, there could be a number of court proceedings. There could be a little challenge to all of this which could tie up the

President's ability to use funding from other sources, so yes, it's a problem for him. It's a problem for his base. The President promised this

again and again on the campaign trail. And it doesn't look like, at least right now, that they have the wherewithal to get everything they want.

LU STOUT: Got it, but for the time being, right now, it's still sources say we're still waiting for that Presidential tweet. Joe Johns reporting.

Big new developments from the White House. Joe, thank you.

Meanwhile, President Trump, he seems to be more upbeat on striking a deal with China.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Things are going well with China. China wants to make a deal very badly. I want it to be a real

deal, not just a deal that makes -- you know, cosmetically looks good for a year. We have a chance to make a deal, a real deal with China. We've

never been in this position before. We've always been the lame duck.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: And Mr. Trump has offering an apparent olive branch in the ongoing U.S.-China trade war saying that he could let a March 1st deadline

slide if the two countries appear close to making a deal. This, as his Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin is in Beijing for more talks.

But the U.S. has previously threatened to hike tariffs if there is no agreement and that remains on the table.

The U.S. trade war might have been a hot topic in 2018, but a lot of Chinese internet users were banned from talking about it. In fact, it was

one of the most censored topics on China's social media app, WeChat last year.

A year-long research project by Hong Kong University tracked more than 4,000 public WeChat accounts covering daily news throughout 2018 and the

finding, more than 11,000 articles were censored. Here is the professor who spearheaded the research.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KING-WA FU, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, HONG KONG UNIVERSITY: One of the top among the long list is the U.S.-China trade war issue, so we find quite a

number of censored posts related to this topic about the Huawei and also ZTE, the company the issue and also about the arrests of Meng Wanzhou, and

also related to some of the discussion about the U.S. trade war issues.

One of the examples that I want you to pull here is the U.S. Vice President Mike Pence's speech in early November who was heavily criticizing China's

trade practice and also in many other areas.

Based on our study, we find a substantial increase in the amount of the censorship shortly after his speech.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Now, WeChat is the primary news source for many in China. Major news sites including the "New York Times" and "The Guardian" are blocked in

the country.

Venezuela's self-declared interim President says all humanitarian aid will enter the country next week despite the government blockade. Juan Guaido's

comments came while attending a rally in Caracas on Tuesday.

Four days now, U.S.-backed humanitarian aid has been stockpiled at the Colombian border. The government of the current President, Nicolas Maduro

is telling Venezuelans that the supplies are contaminated. The desperation seems to be getting worse with each passing hour.

This week, we brought you reporting from the Colombian border where some women have been forced to give up their careers and sell their bodies to

feed their families.

And now CNN has gotten a look inside one of the country's decaying hospitals. Sam Kiley has more.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In heavily guarded hospitals, the government here, wants to keep visitors out, and

it's shameful secrets in.

A failed economy now being crippled by American sanctions has starved hospitals of drugs and the very necessity of life itself, food.

Like us, its smuggled in by volunteers. If the government got hold of these essential supplies, these aid workers believed, they would be stolen

and sold on the black market.

Angie cannot leave the hospital. She lives on a ventilator. Incredibly Venezuela's President has closed the country's borders to foreign aid.

[08:15:05]

KILEY (on camera): The entire structure is dependent on outside charity help precisely because the government refuses to take it. It will not

accept that it needs help because that means the government admits that it's failed.

KILEY (voice-over): Antonella is six and she has a tumor in her neck. She's terminally ill, and there are no cancer drugs to buy her a little

extra time. It's her mother though who is getting treatment today. She fainted from lack of food when she arrived at the hospital. Now she's

recovering on a drip. It's just saline solution. So, this handout is just in time.

In every room here, small donations are welcomed. Staff here tell us that only three of 18 operating theatres are working, that this is the only

Pediatric Surgical Unit left in the capital, and that 500 children are on its waiting list.

One doctor quickly writes a shopping list of desperately needed supplies. She can't show her face for fear of being punished for doing this. The

U.S. and many other nations blame President Nicolas Maduro for scenes like this, and they support his rival Juan Guaido.

U.S.-led efforts to cut off Maduro's access to foreign currency are intended to drive him from power. That might work eventually. In the

meantime, it can only deepen the suffering.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

LU STOUT: Desperate scenes from inside that decaying hospital and for more, we're joined now by Sam Kiley. He joins us from Caracas and Sam,

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

We have heard from the opposition leader, Juan Guaido, he has made this pledge that international aid will come into the country if and when that

happens, will it make any difference to the lives, the patients, the children you saw inside that hospital?

KILEY: Well, at an initial level, Kristie, it probably will because for example, cancer drugs, we've also heard from people suffering from HIV who

desperately need anti-retrovirals, those are relatively small packets, if you like. They're relatively easy to get a large amount of life changing

medicine into the country. Although the needs, of course, across the nation are huge.

But then you have the issue of food. The level of food that's being stockpiled, the sorts of stuff that's being stockpiled at the moment in

Cucuta in Colombia is negligible. It's really not going to make any difference at all to long-term existence of people here, which is extremely

desperate. You have to think that if three million people have left this country as a consequence of economic collapse, not as a consequence of an

earthquake or a tsunami or a Civil War, but of just economic fragmentation and complete implosion is going to take a great deal of time to be able to

repair that.

And that can only be done if there is a radical shift in policy here. So the aid, really, is being used by the opposition and they say they're going

to have a concerted effort to push it into the country on the 23rd of this Month, Kristie. The aid is really being week used as a pressure point for

the military with Juan Guaido reaching out constantly to the military saying, "Join us. Turn against Maduro because it's your families that are

suffering, too."

And so that is really is issue of aid here. Yes, it's important in a humanitarian sense, but the scale of the problem here really cannot be

solved with a few trucks or even many dozens of trucks coming in from Colombia or elsewhere, Kristie.

LU STOUT: Got it. International aid is much needed, but the situation, the problem here is far larger than that. Sam Kiley reporting for us from

Caracas. Sam, thank you.

You're watching "News Stream" and still ahead, as U.S. President Donald Trump prepares for a critical meeting with the leader of North Korea,

America's top commander on the Korean peninsula has a sobering warning.

Plus, a show of defiance from Iran with ballistic missiles on display for all the world to see. We're live in Tehran, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GENERAL ROBERT BRUCE ABRAMS, COMMANDER OF U.S. FORCES KOREA: I remain clear-eyed about the fact that despite a reduction in tensions along the

DMZ and the cessation of strategic provocations, coupled with public statements of intent to denuclearize, little to no verifiable changes has

occurred in North Korea's military capabilities.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: The top U.S. Commander on the Korean Peninsula there with that sobering assessment ahead of a second summit between President Donald Trump

and North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un. The high stakes meeting in Hanoi, Vietnam, is now just two weeks away.

Sources tell CNN that one of things that U.S. negotiators are asking for is a list of North Korean nuclear scientists to learn who is behind its

nuclear program.

Another missile program in focus, Iran's. Tehran showed off its ballistic missiles for the world to see and vowed to build up its weapons

capabilities despite U.S. sanctions. Meanwhile, the U.S. Vice President and the Secretary of State are in Warsaw, Poland. Live pictures there on

your screen of Mike Pence there in Warsaw, Poland and he is there seeking to turn up the heat on Iran at a conference on the Middle East taking place

in that country.

Now, Mike Pompeo says he expects, quote, "real progress," even though tensions linger with the E.U. after Washington decided to withdraw from the

Iran nuclear deal.

Our senior international correspondent, Fred Pleitgen is standing by in Tehran, but first, let's go straight to Atika Shubert in Warsaw and Atika,

Mike Pompeo is there in Poland. Mike Pompeo is there as well, to discuss Iran, so how are they going to turn up the heat and how will E.U. partners

respond?

ATIKA SHUBERT, SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Yes, it's interesting. Ostensibly, this is a Middle East peace and security

conference that will be discussing among other things, the Israeli- Palestinian peace process, Syria, but the reality is this is pretty firmly focused on Iran and specifically the U.S. rallying its allies to contain

Iran.

And, you know, the U.S. has some very strong support from Israel. Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu will be coming to this conference. But

you're absolutely right, it's the E.U. that's the problem here because European allies do not agree with the U.S. policy to abandon the JCPOA

nuclear agreement.

As far as the E.U. is concerned, that remains the best way to keep Iran from gaining nuclear weapons and we do see some signs of that friction

here. The fact that there are 60 governments represented at this conference, but France and Germany will not be sending their Foreign

Ministers and the Head of Foreign Policy for the E.U., Federica Mogherini is also not coming.

Now, they are sending a delegation here, but it's just not quite at the same level, and I think that goes to show, there is some tension there

about how exactly to deal with Iran.

LU STOUT: Let's go straight now to Fred Pleitgen standing by in Iran. And Fred, as the United States in Poland ramps up the pressure on Iran, we know

that Tehran is defiant and in fact, showcasing its weaponry. What have you seen?

FRED PLEITGEN, SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Yes, they certainly are. You know, one of the interesting things that we heard

earlier today as we were at a meeting with Iran's Foreign Minister, Javad Zarif and he was asked about the conference that's currently going on in

Warsaw, and he essentially, very strongly laughed it off and he said he believes that that conference is, quote, "dead in the water and dead before

it even began" especially because of what Atika was just talking about, that lacking support especially from European nations.

At the same time, you're absolutely right, the Iranians very much digging in and saying their ballistic missile program, which is at the heart of

much of the confrontation between the United States and Iran is certainly not something that is going away. They say, it is going to expand. Here

is what we found.

[08:25:01]

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

PLEIGEN (voice over): Iran flexing its military muscle, launching missiles which the Islamic Republic says, have become more lethal in past years.

At this arms expo in Tehran, a spokesman for the Elite Revolutionary Guard Corps praising the weapons. "The Islamic Republic of Iran is able to

respond on the same level to any threats against it," he says.

On display, ballistic missiles with ranges up to 2,000 kilometers or almost 1,300 miles, capable of hitting targets in many places in the Middle East,

and highly maneuverable cruise missiles with a range of several hundred kilometers according to Iran's Armed Forces.

Hossein Kanani Moghaddam is a former Senior Revolutionary Guard Commander who used to meet regularly with Ayatollah Khomeini. He says Iran's

missiles are key to its defense and bargaining power.

"One of our policies to counter the sanctions is to expand our missile program," he says. "This is exactly the path we're following. The more

they increase the sanctions, the more we will boost our missile capabilities."

For the first time, Iran recently revealed a video of a secret missile assembly factory. The U.S. says, Tehran is breaching U.N. resolutions by

bolstering its missile programs, a claim the Islamic Republic rejects.

PLEITGEN (on camera): The Iranians say their missiles are vital to this country's defense, and they say that they have every right to not only to

maintain but to also enhance both the range and the quality of their missile arsenal.

PLEITGEN (voice over): Israel says Iran's ballistic missiles are unacceptable threat to its security and that Trump administration has hit

Tehran with crippling sanctions, also citing its ballistic missile program.

National Security Adviser, John Bolton, ripping into Iran's leadership.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN BOLTON, U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: Iran continues to seek nuclear weapons to intimidate peaceful people all around the globe and

ballistic missiles to use as delivery systems.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PLEITGEN (voice over): Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons but it's not backing down from its missile program, a major factor driving the

confrontation between Iran and the U.S.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

PLEITGEN: Kristie, I just found quite an interesting poll recently, support for Iran's missile program among Iranians apparently stands around

95%.

So despite all the trouble they're getting abroad, especially from the United States over that missile program, certainly Iranians still very much

seem to support it, Kristie.

LU STOUT: Got it. Let's take things back to Atika Shubert in Warsaw, and Atika, we know that Secretary Pompeo is there not just to put the pressure

on Iran, but also to reengage with the region and to draw influence away from namely Beijing and Moscow, is that right?

SHUBERT: Exactly, and Secretary Pompeo has said this previously in Budapest. He said it again here in Warsaw. This is really about the U.S.

reengaging with Central Europe and pushing back on Russian influence and China influence, specifically on Huawei and he mentioned it last night in a

press conference. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE POMPEO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We've made known the risks that are associated with that, risks to the private information of the citizens of

the country and risks that comes from having the technology installed and network and systems.

As a sovereign nation, when other countries will choose the technology that they want to have deployed inside of their country. We've also made clear

that if they make certain set of decisions, that it will be more difficult for the United States Department of Defense to work alongside of them, that

is, we will never put our equipment in a place which would present risk to our technology.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHUBERT: So you can hear there, Secretary Pompeo really putting pressure on Poland and other countries here to stay away from Huawei, making it very

clear that the U.S. will not be putting its telecommunications next to any Huawei telecommunications set up here, as well. So quite a bit of pressure

from the U.S. on that.

LU STOUT: Yes, Trump foreign policy on display there in Poland with repercussions all over the world. Atika Shubert reporting live for us from

Warsaw. Fred Pleitgen live from inside Iran in the capital, a big thank you to you, both.

You are watching "News Stream" and keep it here because we're going to bring you an amazing find for animal researchers. An extremely rare

sighting of the endangered black leopard roaming a trail in Africa. We'll have a live report from Kenya.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong, you're watching "News Stream" and these are your world headlines. High profile Philippine journalist and

Rappler CEO Maria Ressa has been arrested in Manila. Rappler says the cyber libel charges are related to an article it published in 2012. Human

rights groups say the accusations are an attempt to silence the news site over its criticism of the government.

President Trump will sign that compromise deal on border security according to two sources who have spoken with him directly. That despite a clear

statement from the President that he is not happy about the agreement. It falls well short of the $5.7 billion he had demanded for his border wall

with Mexico.

A group of prominent French journalists said that their secret Facebook group was created to have fun, but their online harassment of women wasn't

funny and it went on for years. Several of these men have been suspended and one could lose his job.

Melissa Bell explains the "League of LOL."

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

MELISSA BELL, CORRESPONDENT, CNN (voice over): For many years, the only people aware of their existence were the victims - women journalists

mainly, but also LGBT journalists and journalists of color who were harassed violently online by a secret Facebook group that was formed in

2009 and made up of some 30-something high profile but anonymous mainly male journalists who called themselves the League of LOL, or laugh out

loud.

Victims have accused the LOL league of orchestrating targeted harassment campaigns that would result in streams of vitriolic messages on social

media platforms like Twitter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEA LEJEUNE, JOURNALIST: We were younger than them, and we were just starting to be journalists. So we didn't have confidence after that. The

thinking is when this stuff happened, at first you're shaking, you're blushing. You don't know how to respond. You try to respond with humor.

You try to respond, also, with logic, but it doesn't work. You cannot focus on your work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BELL (voice over): It took 10 years, and this article by the French newspaper "Liberation's" fact checking website for the group to be exposed,

and for the names of its members to be revealed. Among them, two journalists at "Liberation" itself, in what many are describing as France's

own #MeToo moment.

CNN reached out to Facebook, but on Tuesday had received no response. Many of the journalists involved have now apologized, like "Liberation's"

Vincent Glad, the group's founder, who wrote that he was presenting his most sincere apologies to those who were harassed by the League of LOL.

"What happened was intolerable, and I was responsible, or "Les Inrockuptibles," David Doucet who wrote that he did not think of the extent

of the trauma that his victims had suffered. There are, he wrote, "No excuses. I am sorry." Too little, too late for many of their employers,

like "Liberation," the French music magazine, "Les Inrockuptibles", and the advertising group, Publicis, who are either laying off, or suspending those

involved.

[08:35:01]

BELL (voice over): "Liberation" has also opened an internal investigation. And France's anti-racism body has called for the Paris prosecutor to

investigate as well.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEJEUNE: I think it's right, that they should be named and shamed in article in order to - to make their firms, their newspaper react. But the

thing is, I don't like people to be harassed on the internet, even if it's them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BELL (voice over): It's unclear whether the original Facebook group has now been closed. But those responsible now say they're ashamed, although

many wonder why it's taken 10 years for them to feel that way.

Melissa Bell, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

LU STOUT: For the first time in more than a hundred years, we have got photographic evidence of a black leopard living in Africa. Now, scientists

got rare video of the animal, after months of watching and waiting near a wilderness camp in Kenya.

The mythical leopard, also known as black panthers, are described as critically endangered. Let's go straight to CNN's Farai Sevenzo. He is

live for us in Nairobi, Kenya and Farai, this is such an incredible story, how was this beautiful creature spotted again after more than a century?

FARAI SEVENZO, CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Kristie, this is just part of the world we live in. It's full of incredible wildlife discoveries, almost on a

daily basis.

Whether we're mourning the death of the last white rhino, and here we are discovering the first, as you say, black leopard in over a hundred years.

Ambrose Letuai is a Kenyan conservationist -- a young man up in an area called Samburu, and there he was talking to one of the elders who said,

"Yes, we've always seen black leopards around here. There is a couple of them. They move around this area in this village, they're always attacking

our goats and our cattle," and from that information, he set up those remote control cameras that you might have seen on wildlife programs to see

they capture this creature, and of course, the rest is history, and San Diego Zoo together with the people up there in the Samburu area have

discovered for the first time, as you say, in a hundred years, a black leopard.

Now, whether this is an anomaly of pigmentation or melanin, it makes those leopards spots disappear despite the phrase "a leopard cannot change its

spots." It's a very exciting discovery for everybody who watches wildlife and conservation.

And Kenyan conservationists are now saying, this is a very important discovery which says we have to balance development with conservation.

At the time moment, the Kenyan government is thinking about plowing a railway through the national parks, making more developments for hotels,

areas which traditionally belong to wild animals. It is going to be a very fascinating story to watch whether this animal has a mate, and of course,

tomorrow is Valentine's Day, it would be great to find two black leopards for the price of one.

LU STOUT: Perfectly timed for February the 14th, and this is such a thrilling discovery, Farai, but does this sighting, should it raise hopes

that the population of black leopards out there is on the rebound in Kenya?

SEVENZO: Well we have been more to hear from the scientists who have been doing very long, detailed explorations into this. But as I say, many of

them say black leopards arise from an accident, an anomaly of melanin and the absence of it, rather.

So if there are more out there, as long as leopards exists, then we can safely say, but the black leopards are bound to pop every now and again,

and surely, if this is happening in Kenya, imagine what might happen in South Africa or any of the other wildlife centers, Kristie.

LU STOUT: All right, wow, such an incredible creature. Mysterious, beautiful, elusive and finally spotted after a hundred years. Farai, thank

you so much for reporting on this for us. Farai Sevenzo reporting live from Nairobi.

You're watching "News Stream" and still ahead right here, every dog has its day, and for a pooch named King, it came at the yes, Westminster Dog Show,

but the competition, it got a little rough for one contestant. Keep it here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Another sparkling night here in Hong Kong. Welcome back. This is "News Stream" and now, he's defended the galaxy. He cracked the whip on

Nazis and he told a terrorist, quote, "Get off my plane." It's none other than this guy, Harrison Ford. Now, you may not know about his other enemy,

climate change.

He spoke to our Becky Anderson on the beaches of Dubai.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BECKY ANDERSON, ANCHOR, CNN: How long have we got to fix things?

HARRISON FORD, AMERICAN ACTOR: It's not geological time. It's really the urgency is in getting started to scale and moving it to scale as quickly as

it needs to happen. We haven't got much time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Harrison Ford also tells Becky how things are going between him and Donald Trump. You don't want to miss it, 7:00 p.m. in Abu Dhabi, 11:00

p.m. in Hong Kong on "Connect the World."

Now, we've all done it, turned to take that one last picture as we left our vacation spot. But the Mars Rover Curiosity has us all beat. It did take

this 360-degree panorama of the Martian landscape it has explored for the past year before heading on to its next site and you can see ridge lines in

the distance and the desert-like terrain where it has already found evidence of ancient lakes.

Now, meanwhile, NASA will discuss the status of the Rover opportunity in a live announcement in just a few hours. Now, the last time NASA heard from

that Mars Rover was back in June 2018 as a dust storm was hitting the planet.

He is the closest thing to royalty in the canine world and he is now being crowned as America's top dog, King, that's his name, a wire fox terrier,

won Best in Show at this year's Westminster Kennel Club Show in New York. It is the 15th time a wire fox terrier has won.

But there was a bit of doggy drama. One finalist was disqualified over a conflict of interest involving its owner and the judge.

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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