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The National Thowheed Jamaat Was Planning A Second Wave Of Attacks Across Sri Lanka, People In Northern Ireland Prepare To Say Goodbye To The Journalist Killed By The New IRA; North Korea's Leader Prepares To Meet With The Russian President For The First Time. Aired: 8-9a ET
Aired April 24, 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, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST, NEWS STREAM (voice over): A frightening discovery.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The National Thowheed Jamaat was planning a second wave of attacks across Sri Lanka.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT (voice over): And the government says some suspects are still on the run.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUWAN WIJEWARDENE, SRI LANKAN DEFENSE MINISTER: The government has claimed responsibility.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT (voice over): Sending off Lyra McKee. People in Northern Ireland prepare to say goodbye to the journalist killed by the new IRA.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What we're seeing is a new breed of terrorists coming through the ranks.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT (voice over): And the big arrival.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This invitation from Vladimir Putin has been around for some time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT (voice over): North Korea's leader prepares to meet with the Russian President for the first time.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The Kremlin says that the primary focus of these talks will be denuclearization.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT (on camera): I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong and welcome to NEWS STREAM. Sri Lanka on high alert this hour as we learn new details
about the attackers behind the Easter bombings. A high level intelligence official in Sri Lanka tell CNN that a local extremist group had plans for a
second wave of attacks. And as investigators come under fire for ignoring warnings ahead of Sunday's bombings, Sri Lanka's President is now asking
the Defense Secretary and the Inspector General of Police to resign.
Meanwhile, the Country's Defense Minister is providing new information about the local group he says carried out the suicide attacks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WIJEWARDENE: There are two groups from what we gathered, the National Thowheed Jamaat. I think there has been a group that has split from that
main body and they have basically -- that is the group that has become quite extreme and from what we have gathered is that their thinking is that
only Islam can be the only religion in this country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: Ivan Watson is in Negombo, Sri Lanka, it's about an hour's drive north of Colombo. It's also where more than 100 people were murdered
inside the Saint Sebastian Church on Sunday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Sri Lankans are conducting funerals for the victims of the Easter Sunday attacks. One
after another, there's barely time for everybody to properly grieve.
This is taking place in an atmosphere of real insecurity. There are police and soldiers posted everywhere here in Negombo as these men carry the
coffin of a child for burial.
There are real concerns that there could be additional threats to the Christian community that has been so viciously targeted. We've heard a
controlled explosion of a suspicious object in this area in the last couple of hours.
Now, the clergy of the Catholic Church have been urging their communities to be peaceful and calm. This amid a claim of responsibility from ISIS,
claiming responsibility for these unspeakable atrocities.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: That was Ivan Watson reporting from Negombo in Sri Lanka and Ivan joins us now live. Ivan, it's been a day of burials, as well as new
lines in the investigation, we learned that India shared specific warnings about possible attacks in Sri Lanka ahead of the bombings. So why didn't
government officials in Sri Lanka act on that intelligence?
WATSON: I don't know, but it was a fatal Intelligence failure. And if you need proof, I'm standing next to 41 freshly dug graves, Kristie, and
they're just a fraction of the innocent people who whose lives were destroyed in these terrorist atrocities that took place on Easter Sunday.
And we've got information from the Indian government that there were three warnings, naming specific churches and hotels and that the final warning
came about an hour before the first bomb exploded on Sunday. And the Sri Lankan government is trying to deal with this. We know that the President
has formally asked for the resignation of the Defense Secretary, the Inspector General of the Police. The government here has apologized. And
they're taking quite seriously the threat that they believe may still be out there as that's why these funerals have been conducted amid so much
security, and it's just really hard to watch because here people have had their families ripped apart by these suicide bombers.
[08:05:11] WATSON: And the priests who are conducting these funerals are asking them to quickly disperse immediately after they're buried for fear
that large groups of people could be targeted by more of these members of this -- I don't know what else to call it, but a death cult.
Sri Lankan suicide bombers identified by the authorities here whose profile is that these people were upper middle class people. They were educated.
One of them said to have studied in the United Kingdom and then done postdoctoral studies in Australia. Another one, a couple, a married
couple, a man described as the mastermind according to an adviser to the President by the name of Insan Seelavan, who was identified by court
documents as one of the bombers in the Shangri La Hotel on Sunday.
And I believe we have some footage of suspected bombers carrying a heavy backpack -- a heavy backpack in the elevator there from security camera
footage that we can show. And that is a kind of backpack that we saw in a separate security camera video here in Negombo at the Saint Sebastian
Church.
There are similar profiles now that we're seeing of the weapons that were used here and this alleged mastermind, his wife, is believed to have
detonated explosives at a subsequent police raid on Sunday at their residence, an explosion there that killed the wife, a sister and at least
three police officers, and also suggests that the conspirator expected a police raid at that location after the initial wave of explosions on Sunday
-- Kristie.
LU STOUT: Ivan Watson there live in Negombo reporting on new lines in the investigation, the warnings and the victims of that horrific attack. Ivan,
thank you. Now we know that ISIS made that claim of responsibility for these attacks. That claim has not been verified. But we want you to look
at this. It's a map of ISIS and its affiliates.
According to the U.S. State Department, the terror group is spread across the eastern hemisphere from Northern Africa to the Middle East and to Asia.
But its influence goes even further. Now, let's bring in CNN terrorism analyst Paul Cruickshank. He joins us live from New York. And Paul, thank
you for joining us and let's zero in on that new reporting from CNN.
Indian Intelligence, we learned they warned officials in Sri Lanka of potential attacks and this was based on information gleaned from an ISIS
suspect. Does that indicate to you a significant link to ISIS?
PAUL CRUICKSHANK, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Quite possibly a significant link to ISIS and of course ISIS, put out that claimed responsibility, that video
yesterday and according to CNN reporting that video indeed shows the suspected ringleader -- one of the suspected suicide bombers, Zahran
Hashim, that doesn't mean that ISIS necessarily coordinated and planned this attack or had advanced knowledge. It is possible that the attacks,
the cell managed to send them the video and establish contact only after the attack.
But also certainly possible that they did play a planning coordination role. The Sri Lankan Prime Minister yesterday talking about foreign links,
foreign involvement, training, overseas travel, coordination, all of that pointing to an international terror conspiracy that the Sri Lankans have
said several dozens of the nationals have joined ISIS in Syria.
So quite possible that some of them may have managed to get back to Sri Lanka or have helped plan this from overseas, Kristie.
LU STOUT: And Paul, the significance of this, if the ISIS link in Sri Lanka is true and that they played a significant planning and coordination
role would that make the Easter Sunday bombings across Sri Lanka the group's most deadly attack outside Iraq and Syria?
CRUICKSHANK: Yes, I'm by some margin, this would be the deadliest international terror attack thus far. Security officials actually believe
that ISIS' international attack planning capabilities have been degraded in recent years, because they lost control of all that territory in Syria and
Iraq. They've not managed to kind of have so many foreign fighters coming in that they can train and that they can recruit for attacks and send them
back.
But this is very, very concerning indeed. And when you look at the conflicts in Syria and Iraq, there around 40,000 foreign fighters that
travel to join ISIS while security officials believe as many as 10,000 or perhaps even 30,000 of those are still alive and the worry is that they're
going to be the officer class of future terror networks.
[08:10:06] CRUICKSHANK: That these are individuals who acquire terror skills in Syria and Iraq, and a Rolodex of contacts that could be useful
for them in planning international terror in the future. This really did come out of the blue -- this attack in Sri Lanka -- yes, there were those
specific warnings that were shared by the Indians, but for people in the terrorism studies field, people like me, this was very, very, very
surprising. There had just not been much jihadi activity at all, in Sri Lanka.
And so it suggests perhaps that ISIS managing to transplant their international terror campaign to new parts of the world, parts the world
perhaps where there's lax security than say in Europe, or places like that. And there does seem to be some connectivity with the information CNN is
learning to India that there was this ISIS suspect arrested in India who was able to provide information before the attacks about the suspected
ringleader, who eventually kind of helped plan the attacks.
That connectivity to India, very concerning indeed, because if there is an international terror ISIS node in India that's helping to provide training
for some of these fighters inside Sri Lanka and that's what the CNN reporting has put out so far, then that is a very worrying trend indeed.
LU STOUT: So ISIS, even in defeat remains a threat because as you put it, its international Rolodex of militants they you can call upon around the
world, especially in Sri Lanka. Let's talk about the threat in Sri Lanka that remains. How great is the likelihood of another attack taking place
after the Sunday bombings?
CRUICKSHANK: Everybody is very, very worried about that. So worried that somebody -- an attack cell is still at large, that they may have
explosives, some of the bomb makers may still be out there. One of the most concerning things about this attack cell that we're learning is that
they were mostly very well educated from elite families, university backgrounds, some had studied in the U.K., Australia.
Well, that reminds me of the Al Qaeda generation of terrorists, middle class, elite generation of terrorists. They were the generation that
managed to pull off the 9/11 attacks, the 7-7 bombings in the U.K., people with significant skills who have the capacity to put together various --
the sort of ambitious terrorist conspiracies.
If ISIS are starting to attract these sorts of people into their ranks, that's a very worrying development and up until now, many of ISIS' recruits
have been from less privileged backgrounds, less well educated backgrounds, people with backgrounds in criminality. If people with university
backgrounds are starting to get involved in their international terror attack planning, then we may be about to live through very dangerous times.
LU STOUT: Well, the Caliphate may be over, but the ISIS threat for the reasons you laid out is far from over. Paul Cruickshank, thank you so
much.
Now, the death toll in these horrific bombings that targeted several hotels and churches now stands at 359. Some foreigners and many Sri Lankans dead.
Dileep Mudadeniya is an executive at Cinnamon Hotels and Resorts. The Cinnamon Grand in Colombo was one of the targets in Sunday's attacks and he
joins us now, and Dileep, thank you for joining us and our condolences to you and your colleagues.
When the bombing took place at your hotel. Tell us what happened to your colleagues and your guests. What did they experience?
DILEEP MUDADENIYA, EXECUTIVE, CINNAMON HOTELS AND RESORTS: It is actually an unprecedented event. And we have been actually in the tourism industry
for last over 30 years and we haven't seen such an incident in the past.
So in that context, this is the first time hotels in Colombo -- three hotels were specifically targeted. So obviously, we have certain crisis
communication plans in place, and in terms of a man-made or natural disaster.
So the teams are properly briefed on that, so immediately after the incident took place in one of our restaurants on the lower ground area,
then the immediate attention was to take -- rush all the injured and they have gone to the hospital as early as possible. So I'm proud to say that
our entire team, the hotel without even thinking twice, they were able to do that and evacuate everyone in the private vehicles, all of the vehicles
that were there in not less than 30 minutes for the respective hospitals.
LU STOUT: Your team followed procedures and yet, I understand that you lost members of your team to this act of terror. How many colleagues did
you lose and where were they with this bombing took place?
MUDADENIYA: So it is basically a breakfast restaurant. We have actually over 10, 12, 14 restaurants or eating outlets in Sri Lanka in Cinnamon
Grand. So we basically have one called the breakfast restaurant called Taprobane and that is where it took place.
So we actually lost five of our colleagues, some dedicated workers and staff who had been there, associates for a long period and about another 10
of them are injured. So we actually share our grievances for the families. And so that is something which we have not expected before.
[08:15:10] LU STOUT: This attack took the lives of five of your colleagues, it took the lives of hundreds across the country, and despite
that your hotel, the Cinnamon Grand is continuing its operations. Why is that?
MUDADENIYA: That's the way it should be. I think the hospitality industry should be resilient. Tourism industry is the number one in the foreign
exchange in the country and that is the industry that can actually bring reconciliation for the entire Sri Lanka.
You know, you can give employment for people like unskilled, semi-skilled and skilled staff, and all around the country. And that's the industry
that can rebound fast as possible. We saw that when the war ended in 2009. And, you know, if you look at five of our staff, three of them are actually
our Muslim brothers, and they have actually sacrificed their lives -- three out of the five people.
So it has nothing to do with the racial inflicting here, it's basically we are all working as a family. And it's very important that we start our
operations so that people who are depending with us, you know, in terms of direct and indirect supplies, our jobs, over a thousand people, their
families, all of them depend on this industry, and so it's very important for us to go back and start our operations as early as possible, so that,
you know, we can go back with the life as you know, restore the life early as possible without giving into such threats.
LU STOUT: Dileep Mudadeniya, we thank you for joining us and sharing your story with us. A daunting task ahead to rebuild and to heal. Take care.
MUDADENIYA: Thank you very much.
LU STOUT: Dozens of children were killed in the horrific Easter Sunday attacks and CNN's Nick Paton Walsh spoke with a father who suffered the
unimaginable loss of two of his children.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Over 300 lives lost. One father we spoke to, an American investment banker, Matt Linsey,
lost both of his teenage children that he had taken with him on a holiday that began in Vietnam and ended up in the Sri Lankan upmarket hotel of the
Shangri-La that was torn apart, along with their lives, by two blasts that hit the breakfast buffet, an extraordinary loss for Matt. He found some
time to speak with us earlier.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATT LINSEY, SRI LANKA ATTACK SURVIVOR: The bomb went off and they both were running toward me. And I'm not sure whether that's what killed them
or not. We started -- and I knew there would be another bomb because there always are at these things. Another bomb went off and --
PATON WALSH: So your instinct was to get out.
LINSEY: Yes, as soon as possible --
PATON WALSH: To move them with you.
LINSEY: Yes, maybe I should have just stayed and covered them with my body.
PATON WALSH: And there was the second blast near the elevator.
LINSEY: They both were unconscious. My daughter seemed to be moving. My son wasn't. A woman offered to take my daughter downstairs to the
ambulance. I needed help moving my son. Someone helped me move him down the stairs. And they both ended up in the same hospital.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PATON WALSH: His voice is hoarse from yelling, from standing in the hospital, shouting for help to try and find both of his teenage children.
An unimaginable, unfathomable sense of loss he is feeling and that his family obviously is feeling now.
But he was full of nothing, as you heard there, but a message of love after this event and of praise for the U.S. officials at the embassy in Colombo
that helped him, that are helping now repatriate his two lost children and got him home, away from the continued threat inside of Sri Lanka.
Devastating loss, one family there, I think really bringing home exactly what this sort of murderous, senseless violence does to a basic family unit
-- Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: A funeral is underway in Northern Ireland for the journalist Lyra McKee. McKee was shot and killed during a riot in Londonderry last
week. The funeral is being attended by Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May and her Irish counterpart Leo Varadkar. Now, the new IRA has
apologized for McKee's death, and the 57-year-old woman who was arrested on Tuesday has been released unconditionally.
Our international diplomatic editor, Nic Robertson is in Belfast. He joins us now and Nic, the funeral is taking place today. Who was there? Are
leaders across the political divide in attendance?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: They are and that in itself is a symbolism of Lyra McKee's life of writing, her short life, I
think we should note here as well, 29 years old when she was killed by a terrorist bullet just a few days ago.
The idea that politicians should come together here, Northern Ireland's politicians is symbolic of the divide that she reached across in her
writing the way that she could touch people all across the community here.
But the fact that you have the British Prime Minister, the Irish Prime Minister, the Irish President, even the representative of the U.S.
Consulate here in Belfast, that they should all be here is an indication of just how much Lyra McKee meant to the community and the significance of her
death.
[08:20:10] ROBERTSON: Her sort of post peace process generation, and she was a rising star of that should be struck down and shot by teenagers who
were also from that same post peace process generation is giving a great cause and concern for worry for a lot of people here about the re-rise of
terrorism or these types of government, at least.
The police have so far not been able to bring anyone to justice for this. So the message that we're going to hear from the pulpit and we're hearing
from the pulpit today is a message of sorrow and grief for Lyra's partner, for her family, but also a message very clearly, for the politicians here
that in the words of Lyra's friends, the committee here, the young generation here doesn't need guns in people's hands. They need jobs. They
need education. And that is what many people here hope will be the legacy, that the legacy of her death will be a better future here, but we're a long
way from that at the moment.
LU STOUT: Nick Robertson reporting live from Belfast. Thank you. You're watching NEWS STREAM right here on CNN, and still ahead on the program,
rescue teams, they are racing against the clock in Myanmar after a mudslide buried miners there.
Also Kim Jong-un abroad. He is headed for a Summit with the leader he has never met one-on-one before. Is he sending a message to Donald Trump?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LU STOUT: All right, coming to you live from Hong Kong. Welcome back. This is NEWS STREAM. Now, in Myanmar, volunteers are racing to find
survivors after a mudslide buried workers at a mine in the north of the country.
Now state media reported at least three people are confirmed dead, more than 50 are believed to be under a so-called mud lake and the workers
there, they were mining jade, part of a massive but notoriously corrupt industry in the Southeast Asian country.
By one estimate, the jade industry in Myanmar was worth about $31 billion back in 2014. That is nearly half of the country's official GDP in the
same year. But the hefty profits are flowing to pockets of the political elite and armed groups without being taxed. Plus, a jade money helps fund
the country's long running conflict in the north.
Now, the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has arrived at the Russian city of Vladivostok ahead of his Summit with President Vladimir Putin.
[08:25:05] LU STOUT: The two leaders, they are set to meet there for the first time ever on Thursday but they do not plan to sign any agreements or
make a joint statement. Our senior international correspondent Matthew Chance joins us live from Vladivostok and Matthew, why is Russia rolling
out the red carpet for Kim Jong-un?
CHANCE: Well, I think it's important for Russia. First of all, they say that the focus of these talks are going to be North Korea's
denuclearization or the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula as they phrase it. And that's something that the Kremlin is genuinely concerned
about, because North Korea is right next door and Moscow is not comfortable with the idea of a nuclear armed North Korea, although it's pretty
realistic, in the sense that it doesn't think it's going to secure a total disarmament of North Korea, but it wants the situation to stabilize and
perhaps the status quo to be maintained, at the very least. And so that's what it's going to be talking about.
But I think from Moscow's point of view, the value of this kind of meeting, particularly in the aftermath of the breakup of the nuclear talks between
Kim Jong-un, and President Trump, the last round of which, of course, failed dramatically in in Vietnam in February, is that it shows that Russia
is able to reassert itself or assert itself rather, in international diplomacy and on the international stage.
You know, Moscow, particularly under Vladimir Putin, the Russian President has been time and again saying, "Look, you know, we should have a seat at
the top table diplomatically. We're a major power, a great power, a superpower," and this is Vladimir Putin once again spotting an opportunity
to underline that and carrying through with this first meeting with Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader.
LU STOUT: So, Matthew, when Kim Jong-un and Vladimir Putin steal the global spotlight and meet for the first time face-to-face tomorrow, what
will Kim asked for and what is Putin likely to offer?
CHANCE: Well, it's a good question. I mean, what can Kim Jong-un get from Russia? Well, you know, they can certainly get diplomatic support, you
know, political support. You know, they want to show the North Koreans that is Kim Jong-un, in particular, wants to show that he's not isolated
internationally, and that he doesn't just have China as an ally. And perhaps he's sending a message to China, as well as the United States.
He doesn't just have China to depend on. He's got a powerful backer in Russia as well. And so he's certainly going to get that kind of support.
In terms of economic support there, which is what North Korea, of course needs more than anything else. It's got huge economic problems, and is
suffering from some mass hardship, not clear if the Russians are going to be able to offer much in terms of actual hard cash.
I mean, look, they backed the UN sanctions designed to hit North Korea economically. They've been known to turn a blind eye to those sanctions in
the past in some circumstances. And of course, they're a venue, a major venue for North Korean migrant workers, which are an important source of
cash for the North Korean government. And we can expect to see more of that, but they're not going to be able to deliver much apart from kind
supportive words from the Kremlin.
LU STOUT: Got you. Well, the big Summit takes place tomorrow, Matthew, we will talk again then. Matthew Chance reporting live from Vladivostok.
Thank you. You're watching NEWS STREAM and still ahead, Sri Lanka blocks social media platforms in the wake of the devastating Easter Sunday
attacks, but isn't enough to stop terrorist propaganda.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:31:05] LU STOUT: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong, you're watching NEWS STREAM and these are your world headlines. A funeral is underway at
Belfast Cathedral, Northern Ireland for journalists Lyra McKee. You're looking at live pictures of the memorial service underway on the screen.
Leaders of Britain and Ireland are attending the service. McKee was killed by indiscriminate gunfire during a riot in Londonderry last week. The new
IRA has apologized for her death.
A Hong Kong judge has jailed a prominent group of pro-democracy activists for their roles in the Umbrella Movement rallies of 2014. A retired
sociology professor, a law professor and a retired pastor were sentenced to up to 16 months each. It comes amid bit growing concerns of what activists
say is a decline in freedoms here in Hong Kong.
Fourteen people are still missing after Monday's 6.1 magnitude earthquake in the Philippines. Aftershocks forced the suspension of a search for
people believed to be trapped in a supermarket where several parties were found. Sixteen deaths have been confirmed so far.
A high level intelligence official in Sri Lanka tells CNN, a local extremist group had planned a second wave of attacks following Sunday's
bombings. Officials are under fire for mishandling Intelligence that warned the repeatedly of possible attacks. The President has now asked the
Defense Secretary and the Inspector General of Police to resign.
New Zealand and France now working together to ban the use of social media for acts of terrorism. New Zealand's Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern
announced that she and the French President Emmanuel Macron are planning to co-chair a meeting in Paris next month that will bring together global
leaders and tech companies. So the goal here, to stop sites like Facebook and Twitter from being used as a tool to organize and promote violent
extremism.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JACINDA ARDERN, PRIME MINISTER, NEW ZEALAND: We are looking to seek that companies take on a role and responsibility as much as governments do.
That's the kind of collaboration they have been seeking and that is what we were responding to.
I've spoken to -- I've spoken to arrange -- I've engaged with Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft, Google, and there'll be a few others. You know, I have
to say that the response that we've received so far has been really positive. Now, as I've said, you know, no tech company, just like no
government wishes to see violent extremism and terrorism online.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: ____ is a senior researcher with the Center for Policy Alternatives in Sri Lanka. He joins us now from Sydney, Australia. Thank
you for joining us. And first, why did the Sri Lankan government banned social media immediately after the terror attacks? The real reason why?
SANJANA HATTOTUWA, SENIOR RESEARCHER, CENTRE FOR POLICY ALTERNATIVES (via Skype): Well, I can't speak on behalf of the government and I have no
divine insight into what may have caused them to ban social media, but I think widely accepted, and to a great degree true also is that the volume
of misinformation just after the initial attacks on Sunday -- on Easter Sunday -- was such that I there was an abundance of caution and concern, I
suppose from government that it would lead to even more violence on the ground in a context of unprecedented chaos and concern on the ground. And
this may have well led them to block social media with a view to controlling or containing that flow of misinformation, which otherwise
would have added to their problems.
LU STOUT: Got it. So a concern about how viral content could incite even more violence perhaps prompted the ban. What about distrust in the
platform's themselves, you know, when you have social platforms like Facebook that are not able to adequately police themselves? You know, is a
government partly correct to go ahead and ban social media as an essential duty to protect the people?
[08:35:06] HATTOTUWA: Well, I think that there are two different concerns there. That's a leading question, I think, yes, there is a growing concern
even in the country around the fact that social media and the toxicity of content in social media contributes to this kind of instability in society.
But the attacks on Sunday had nothing to do in terms of a causal relationship with the kind of content on social media in the country.
I think the concern was what gave -- what the attacks gave rise to and in that sense, I think, as I say, an abundance of caution and concern. This
is the second time the Sri Lankan government has blocked social media in response to violence on the ground. I think the concern that some of us
have is that the longer the block is in place, the harder it becomes for people on the ground to react to and push back against misinformation and
rumor.
And there's also a growing anger around the grief of those, you know, reeling from this catastrophe and the inability to communicate with members
of family both in Sri Lanka and abroad as a consequence of the block. And there is a real concern, and that is metastasizing into an anger against
the government.
LU STOUT: And also would a social media ban even be effective? We understand that it is still in place, we also understand that Sri Lanka has
a big problem with fake news and misinformation. But would a social media been even be effective in dealing with that? With solving that?
HATTOTUWA: No, it's not. It's plaster. I think the problems as you hinted at in your question are systemic. A much longer in the making and
will endure far beyond the immediate attention on the catastrophe that has befallen the country. These are concerns that have been articulated in
many fora for many years and not unlike the kind of discussions you're having in the United States and in Europe around the detrimental effects of
social media on electoral processes and campaign, so those concerns will continue and the block is not really any kind of meaningful solution to any
of that.
LU STOUT: Got it. Sanjana Hattotuwa, thank you for sharing your thoughts with us on how a social media ban wouldn't be effective in dealing with the
problem, also raising additional concerns about censorship and civil discourse, the freedom of social discourse in Sri Lanka. Thank you so
much, sir. We'll talk again later.
Now there's much more to come right here on NEWS STREAM. Keep it here. We'll be back right after the short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LU STOUT: All right, welcome back. Coming to you live from Hong Kong. This is NEWS STREAM. Now the Middle East imports more than 80 percent of
its food, and now a smart greenhouse near Abu Dhabi is producing fresh vegetables in the desert. Matt Rivers has this "Innovative Cities" report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): These tomatoes are ripe for the picking, but they're growing in the middle of the desert
where conventional farming is impossible. Just outside of Abu Dhabi, a local startup Pure Harvest Smart Farms is developing smart greenhouses.
The idea is to use technology to allow agriculture to flourish.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SKY KURTZ, CEO, PURE HARVEST SMART FARMS: The reason for pursuing this is I wanted to do something impactful. This one solution tackles food
security. It tackles water conservation, economic diversification and sustainability all with one hammer.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[08:40:13] RIVERS (voice over): Despite the Middle East harsh climate where summer temperatures can reach up to 120 degrees Fahrenheit,
conditions inside this greenhouse are optimal. An advanced system known as Controlled Environment Agriculture automatically adjust sunlight,
temperature and humidity based on data and measurements.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAJED HALAWI, CHIEF OF STAFF, PURE HARVEST SMART FARMS: So the way it works is that there are sensors inside the greenhouse. So there's a
variety of different sensors. So for instance, we measure the temperature, we measure the humidity, we measure a few critical data points. And this
as you know, effectively the Internet of Things. There are certain elements in our facility where we just track how they perform.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RIVERS (voice over): Although the system is automated, human intervention is still necessary for quality control.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAN PRINS, HEAD GROWER, PURE HARVEST SMART FARMS: So I'm the mediator in between. I transfer what the plant tells me to the technology. It is a
very innovative sector. There are thousands of people working worldwide.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RIVERS (voice over): And experts say that a complete transformation of farming as we know it is yet to come.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HEITOR PELLEGRINA, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS, NEW YORK UNIVERSITY ABU DHABI: There are benefits from having both traditional and modern
types of farms, because they provide different types of food in terms of quality.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RIVERS (voice over): But change is already coming to the United Arab Emirates, which currently imports more than 80 percent of its produce, a
model that is both costly and hard to sustain.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PELLEGRINA: For the Middle East to achieve self-sufficiency, which can shelter the region from potential problems of supply of food
internationally.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RIVERS (voice over): And while the technology is still in its early stages, innovations in agriculture could see benefits on a global scale.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PELLEGRINA: In terms of the global threats to food security shows that the production of food will have to double by 2050. We will have modernize the
technology in agriculture.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RIVERS (voice over): Propelling agriculture to new heights, and it could all start with these tomatoes. Matt Rivers, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: Now and from that to this, a popup poop museum has launched in Japan. Yes, I said poop. And the 10-year-old inside me is laughing
manically. Now the museum is encouraging travelers to get over their shyness about unko, that is yes, the Japanese word for poop, but you won't
find any dirty brown stuff in this building, only colorful poop, cute poop is allowed.
Visitors can even draw artistic representations of their own bowel movements and then share them on social media, of course. Weird,
wonderful. And I want to go there.
That is NEWS STREAM. I am Kristie Lu Stout, but don't go anywhere, "World Sport" with Amanda Davies is next.
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