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Sri Lanka's Government Asks Muslims To Avoid Gathering For Friday Prayers; The Strongest Cyclone In Mozambique's History Strikes The Already Devastated Country; North Korea Says Peace And Security On The Korean Peninsula Will Entirely Depend On Washington's Attitude. Aired: 8-9a ET

Aired April 26, 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: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong and welcome to NEWS STREAM. On high alert. Sri Lanka's

government asks Muslims to avoid gathering for Friday prayers. Bracing for survival. The strongest cyclone in Mozambique's history strikes the

already devastated country. And a new blame game. North Korea says peace and security on the Korean peninsula will entirely depend on Washington's

attitude.

The government of Sri Lanka is asking Muslims to avoid gathering for Friday prayers as the Prime Minister warns that the terror threat has not passed.

A government official asked Muslims to show solidarity with Catholics in the wake of Sunday's deadly attacks. A suicide bomber who attacked the

Shangri La hotel on Easter Sunday has been named as Zahran Hashim. That's according to Sri Lanka's presidential media team, and that's a name that

was previously known to government officials.

At least 70 people have now been detained suspected of helping the suicide bombers who targeted churches and hotels. The death toll has been lowered

significantly from 359 down to 253. The Health Ministry said the numbers have changed because many of the victims' bodies were severely damaged.

A police source says investigators found bomb making plans as well as the components at a house they raided south of the capital. That discovery

will do little to allay the concerns of people in the capital of Sri Lanka, Colombo.

Almost a week after those horrific attacks, the fear in the streets is palpable. Ivan Watson is there finding empty streets and empty shops.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Any normal day of the week, this shopping street would be full of pedestrians. But shopkeepers

who are here, they say that most of the shops, more than half appear to be closed and there are a couple reasons: there are fears that the terrorist

bombers could strike again, and there are fears that Muslims in this community could be targeted in revenge attacks.

And today empty?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Today empty.

WATSON: Because of fear. People are afraid.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Afraid.

WATSON: Yes. How does it feel?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a little bit unnerving, I guess. We're leaving the city like now, we're getting in a train.

WATSON: Don't be fooled by the music playing over the loudspeakers because I'd say that half the stores in this shopping mall are also closed right

now, and here's part of why. The U.S. Embassy in Colombo put out this warning saying quote, "Terrorist groups continue plotting possible attacks

in Sri Lanka." They could target without warning -- tourist locations, transport hubs, markets, and shopping malls. The list goes on.

WATSON: The Sri Lankan Security Forces are on high alert. We see them deployed all throughout the capital, Colombo; at checkpoints, checking IDs,

stopping cars and searching them and that's because there is real fear that there could be a second wave of terrorist attacks and they're deployed here

in front of a mosque, a Sufi Muslim mosque.

Now the ideology of hate and extremism that is proposed and spread by ISIS, they hate Sufi Muslims. They consider them heretics and thus, they are

also a potential target. The Catholic Church in Sri Lanka has announced that it is suspending all Church Services until April 29th amid these

security threats and the Sri Lankan Minister of Muslim Affairs has urged Muslims to stay home, not to go to mosque and not to attend Friday prayers

for fear of further terrorist attacks.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: That was Ivan Watson reporting and the investigation is revealing more details about the attackers. Ivan joins us now live from

Colombo, and Ivan, more suspects remain at large of what is the latest on the arrests as well as the investigation.

WATSON: Well, at least 70 people detained by police. They are looking at a lot of relatives of some of the suspected suicide bombers. We've heard

from the President's media team here that the leader of National Thowheed Jamaat, that is this homegrown Islamist extremist group that has been

accused of carrying out the Easter Sunday bombings that the leader of that organization, Zahran Hashim, that he is believed to have been one of the

bombers of the Shangri La Hotel, which is some distance from where I am right now in the background there.

[08:05:05] WATSON: A high level Intelligence source has said that they are almost 75 percent convinced that they have identified him as one of the

Shangri La Hotel bombers. I do have to say that amid the different strands of the investigation and what is clearly a substantial terrorist conspiracy

when you have between eight to ten potential suicide bombers who blew themselves up on Sunday, that some of the information we've gotten from

different parts of the security apparatus and the government has been contradictory at times, as have other basic statistics like the death toll,

which went from 359 people killed as of Thursday, to suddenly being revised by the Health Ministry to a much lower number of casualties, 253 victims

killed.

The explanation being that unfortunately, many of the victims, their bodies were torn apart and that the forensics investigators were counting pieces

as separate victims. But that is an example of how this process and getting the facts out has been complicated and a sign of how overwhelming

it has been for the security establishment and frankly, the state here in Sri Lanka -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: Yes, Ivan, a downward revision in the death toll raising a lot of questions about credibility, about the scale and complexity of the

investigation as well. Ivan Watson reporting live for us. Thank you.

Let's bring in Hilmy Ahamed, the Vice President of the Muslim Council of Sri Lanka. Sir, thank you for joining us. You have condemned these

attacks. You said that these extremists do not represent Islam. How concerned are you about a backlash, about retaliation against Muslims after

these attacks?

HILMY AHAMED, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE MUSLIM COUNCIL OF SRI LANKA: We certainly think that, you know, there could be retaliation. But you know,

the last three days have shown that no major incident has been reported, which is comforting. And we only now fear that vested interests might take

advantage of this and try to create chaos in the cities.

LU STOUT: So Muslims have been asked to stay low, to not gather for Friday prayers. You were saying that there have been no incidents against Muslims

in recent days. But how are you going to move forward here? You know, how are you talking with other Muslim leaders, other individuals in the

community about responding to what happened last Sunday, and the most important thing to try to prevent that horrific extremist violence from

happening again?

AHAMED: Yes, you know this particular assault came as a total shock for the Muslims. The Muslims never anticipated this kind of terror to be

committed by anybody calling themselves Muslims.

Throughout Sri Lanka's history, the Muslims have been a peace loving group. And even during the 30 years of war, none of them took up to arms, even

though a whole community was expelled from their homes in the north. But to see the -- you know, we also feel very guilty, that we didn't do enough

to prevent this, because we should have been a little more vigilant knowing very well, that some of them were using social media to create hate.

LU STOUT: Sri Lanka, as you say, is a peace loving nation, but there should be more vigilance. So, how? What should people be vigilant for?

What should they be on the lookout for to identify extremism in your country?

AHAMED: Basically, you see, we are a small community, and we know that the radicals may be maximum of 200 across the country. So out of two million,

200 is a very negligible figure. And they should have monitored them. They should have mobilized our mosques to ensure that there was no

radicalization of the youth.

You know, as we know, that some of them even traveled to Syria to join with ISIS, but you know, they were brought back and rehabilitated.

LU STOUT: Yes, I mean, they represent a very, very, very small portion of the community and yet it involved some pretty prominent individuals. You

know, two of the suicide bombers involved in these attacks are members of a prominent and wealthy family. Their father, a spice tycoon named Mohamed

Ibrahim, did you know this family and do you know how they came to be radicalized?

[08:10:08] AHAMED: Yes, that is a huge mystery. I personally didn't know the family, but I knew of the person because he is a fairly well-

established spice merchant and people claimed that he was the third largest spice exporter from Sri Lanka.

And to see with the ISIS claim, a lot of the puzzle seems to be fitting in because ISIS has always been targeting, not the poor, but you know, well-

educated, middle class youth. So almost all the suicide bombers, other than Zahran fit that category of people.

LU STOUT: Hilmy Ahamed, we thank you for joining us. Take care.

AHAMED: Thank you.

LU STOUT: Now, in Mozambique, the strongest cyclone ever to hit the country has demolished homes and knocked out power. Cyclone Kenneth made

landfall on Thursday after killing three people in the nearby island nation of Comoros. Now although the winds have died down, a Red Cross official

warns that heavy rain will happen over the next few days that could bring a second wave of destruction.

Chad Myers joins us live from the CNN World Weather Center, and Chad, not that long ago, we had Cyclone Idai, which caused hundreds of deaths in the

region. Could this storm, Kenneth be just as devastating?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely. Except that we don't have the population density where Kenneth hit, so there's some good news there.

Compared to millions of people, we think somewhere around 700,000 people are affected. But this is a much bigger storm than Idai.

This was a 220 kilometers per hour storm. Here it was yesterday, about this time, coming and going to the west making landfall to the north of

Pemba. Remember now, this is south of the equator. So the winds are actually going what we would consider the wrong way.

If you consider a northern hemisphere hurricane, this winds go the other direction because we have a different Coriolis force here. But we know as

this made landfall that there was a storm surge along the coast between five and seven meters high that's just wave after wave of higher waves

pushing things down, knocking people backwards.

And also as you mentioned, a lot of rainfall. Wind surge and rain and then flooding. Mudslides expected. This isn't very topographical here. The

highest mountain in the area that's going to get a lot of rain is going to be somewhere around 800 meters high. Here is the rainfall that we already

have seen -- 250 millimeters along the coast. But the problem is what happens next.

The storm truly isn't moving very much. We're going to see the rainfall continue here. This is a big storm, Category 4 storm -- according to our,

let's say a hurricane scale in the Atlantic. What happens here?

Mozambique, it's one Category 1 every nine years. We've had two, Category 1 -- two, and then a four here just in the past six weeks. So yes,

devastating area. Now the good news is the rainfall that came from Idai is not in the same area that the rainfall is coming here from Kenneth. So

that's something, a piece of good news. And then as the storm continues to roll up onto the north, we will see the rainfall spread out just a little

bit.

There you see the -- that would be the center of what was Kenneth as it moves away for the next five days, but we're still going to pick up

somewhere in the neighborhood of 500 millimeters more of rainfall in the area that will eventually have to run down into the ocean.

Finally now, the good news is most of this area is National Park. So some of the rainfall will soak in. But no one is going to ever soak in a meter

of rainfall in any one area. It is going to run off and there will be massive, massive flooding -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: Kenneth is a ferocious storm. There will be massive flooding. Chad we appreciate the update. Thank you. You're watching NEWS STREAM,

and up next. Kim Jong-un says when it comes to the nuclear tensions on the Korean Peninsula, the ball is in the United States' court. Now, what he

says might happen if the U.S. does not change its attitude. Also ahead Saudi Arabia under scrutiny. Trial documents raise new questions about

this week's mass executions.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:21:37] LU STOUT: Welcome back. Some strong comments coming from Kim Jong-un after a Summit with the Russian President. The North Korean leader

says peace and security on the Korean Peninsula will entirely depend on the future attitude of the United States.

Now, that's according to North Korean state media, which quoted Kim as saying that "The U.S. acted in bad faith at his last round of talks with

President Trump," and suggests progress towards denuclearization is in danger of being lost.

Meanwhile, we have learned that the U.S. has an outstanding bill for $2 million from North Korea for the medical treatment of Otto Warmbier. The

American college student was comatose and North Korea released him from custody in 2017. He died shortly after the U.S. brought him home.

Warmbier's parents say that he was beaten and tortured in North Korea, sources say U.S. diplomats had to promise to pay that $2 million as a

condition of his release.

Joseph Yun was the diplomat who went to Pyongyang with orders to bring Otto Warmbier home, and Joseph joins us now and sources also tells us that he

was the one who received that bill. He joins us now from Washington. Ambassador Yun, thank you so much for joining us. I understand that you

cannot comment on the specifics, but the bill for payment, this $2 million payment was given to you in North Korea. Can you describe what your

instructions were when you went to North Korea to retrieve Otto Warmbier?

JOSEPH YUN, GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, thank you, Kristie. Good to be here. I mean, as you stated, you know, I really cannot comment on any kind

of diplomatic negotiations and details of those. But what I can tell you is that yes, in 2017 -- June 2017, I went to North Korea, on the

instructions from then Secretary of State Rex Tillerson who asked me to bring Otto Warmbier, who was very sick at the time.

And you know, before I went there, North Koreans gave me no sign that he would indeed be released. So once I got there, I had to do some

negotiations. And I was -- and he did come out very, very unfortunately, he died six days later. And so this just really remains a very sad story

in our North Korean dealings.

LU STOUT: It is a very sad story. The U.S. President Donald Trump has taken to Twitter this morning U.S. time to tweet about this. And he writes

this, he writes, quote, "No money was paid to North Korea for Otto Warmbier, not $2 million, not anything else." He goes on to say, "This is

not the Obama administration," et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

Ambassador Yun, is it true that that no ransom was paid?

YUN: Well, certainly you know, I was a Special Representative for North Korea Policy until a year ago when I left the State Department, I retired

then and when I was a Special Representative for North Korea Policy, we had a number of Americans in prison in North Korea, I think four in total, and

we never paid any ransom money. No money ever exchanged hands. Certainly, when I was there.

LU STOUT: And the fact that North Korea presented you this bill, this bill for $2 million for the hospital care of Otto Warmbier, a U.S. citizen who

they detained and was comatose. I mean, that just seems to be so remarkably brazen. Were you shocked by that?

[08:20:20] YUN: Well, again, Kristie? I cannot publicly comment on whether they did present the bill or not.

LU STOUT: Okay. Now, North Korea has taken hostages before and other U.S. diplomats from Bill Richardson, Bill Clinton. They have managed to secure

their release -- ransom payments -- is this how North Korea does business with hostages?

YUN: Well, I do think there has been past history of U.S. government, not just in North Korea, but elsewhere, having paid some ransom money. This is

a tough, tough issue. How to deal with that.

You know, we have a life and death situation and we have families here. So it is not really black and white as what we would like to think. And

certainly, it would be very nice if every country had the policy of not paying, but some of course to pay, or this don't, and we are always caught

in this dilemma.

LU STOUT: Ambassador Joseph Yun, we thank you for joining us. Take care. The Russian President, he is now in Beijing for China's second annual Belt

and Road Forum. And this year, Vladimir Putin is just one of 37 leaders from all around the world in attendance attracted by the possibility of

securing billions of dollars from China for new infrastructure projects.

Many critics say what Beijing is really doing is building a debt trap. Andrew Stevens is there in Beijing with more. Andrew, good to see you, One

Belt One Road. It's been slammed is China's exercise of debt diplomacy. So did Chinese leaders including Xi Jinping, do they adequately address

those concerns today?

ANDREW STEVENS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they certainly address those concerns, Kristie, and as you say this debt trap diplomacy has been labeled

by its critics has been getting more and more criticism, not just in the U.S., but from other parties as well.

Think about it this way. It's been five and a half years since the Belt and Road Initiative was first launched, Kristie, and this was really the

foreign policy centerpiece of Xi Jinping. The idea was to create a network which stretched right through Central Asia, right into Europe, into Africa

and into Southern and Southeast Asia, and it was a network of infrastructure.

It was pipelines, it was roads, it was a maritime passage. It was a digital platform as well. So Beijing has been pushing this forward and

forward. But we have had this issues where countries which have taken loans from China have not been able to repay them. And as a result, China

has scooped up what many see as very strategic assets and case in point there, Sri Lanka, China now has a 99-year lease on a major shipping

container terminal on the east coast to Sri Lanka, after Sri Lankans failed to pay off the loans, those loans taken to actually build this facility in

the first place.

So Xi Jinping stood up today in front of 37 world leaders, including Vladimir Putin, as you say, including the Prime Minister of Italy,

including many Asian and African leaders, really to throw out an olive branch to try and sort of create a Belt and Road Initiative 2.0. Listen to

what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

XI JINPING, PRESIDENT OF CHINA (through translator): We must strive to achieve high standards, benefit people's livelihood and achieve sustainable

goals. We will introduce rules and standards that are generally supported by all parties, and promotes enterprises to follow the generally accepted

international rules and standards, while respecting local laws and regulations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEVENS: So Xi Jinping really outlined a whole list of promises, Kristie. He is talking about more transparency, because there has been a lot of

condemnation, about corrupt lending practices between China and other countries. He is talking about financial sustainability, which is

shorthand basically for saying that countries which do take Chinese loans, those have to be able to pay them back. He is also talking about more

green -- taking more effort to make sure there's a green side of this, that environmental concerns are addressed.

And of course, he is talking about international law as well. So he is really putting that out there, and if you think about it, this is such a

key issue for Xi Jinping. Look at the numbers so far. As I said, it's been going for five and a half years or so. He has already -- or China has

already signed something like 170 agreements with 122 countries, and so far pledged investments that have totaled around about $90 billion. So it is a

big deal.

[08:25:10] STEVENS: It remains a big deal and China wants, as Xi Jinping says, and he often says when he talks about economic issues about trade,

about other issues, China wants a win-win. Whether he gets a win-win with this, whether the details actually match the rhetoric, we're hearing and

Beijing remains to be seen, but certainly China at this stage is addressing this course of criticism about the Belt and Road Initiative -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: Yes, and as you point out, it is such a very big deal. A lot of interest from One Belt, One Road, a lot of concern. This is China's bid

for geopolitical influence after all. Andrew Stevens reporting live from Beijing. Thank you so much.

Now, thanks to China's vigorous investment in the region, the city north of Manila will soon be home to a gleaming new airport, residential

neighborhoods, as well as shopping malls. But it remains to be seen whether or not it might hurt the Philippines in the long term. Matt Rivers

has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It was U.S. military power in the heart of the Philippines. For decades, Clark Air

Base was the largest American base outside the U.S. Veterans Anthony Grimm and John Gilbert remember it well.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was a little America. It really was.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIVERS (voice over): The town is still called Clark, it still has a VFW post. But the base is a memory. The Americans left in 1991.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, after Vietnam, we no longer needed those bases. They were not a critical asset.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIVERS (voice over): So the old base sat idle for years, but not anymore.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So this is going to be a major hub not just in the country, but in the entire region.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIVERS (voice over): It will cover more area than Manhattan. Skyscrapers, a new airport, residential -- billions of dollars of investment and who is

helping build it?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RIVERS (on camera): You are seeing more of a Chinese influence here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh sure.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot of a lot of projects.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIVERS (voice over): Chinese money has poured into the Philippines recently joining other firms already here. This company owned by a Chinese

government is building a road, half mile away, steel going up isn't from Pittsburgh. The fact that I'm surrounded by Chinese steel and that China

is one of the biggest country investors in this new city is remarkable given the state of relations between the Philippines and China just a few

years ago.

Sino-Filipino relations hit rock bottom in mid-2016 after Manila took Beijing to international court over artificial islands China has built and

militarized not far from the Filipino coast. About that time, though, came a new President, Rodrigo Duterte.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RODRIGO DUTERTE, PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES: I announced my separation from the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIVERS (voice over): Duterte said that in Beijing and soon cozied up to China. China has since pledged tens of billions of dollars to projects in

the Philippines whose supporters call healthy, necessary loans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VINCE DIZON, BASES CONVERSION AND DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY: The sheer scale the China brings is something that not a lot of countries can bring to any

economy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIVERS (voice over): But some see that spending as dangerous should anything go wrong with repayments, Manila could be beholden to Beijing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONIO TRILLANES, PHILIPPINE SENATOR: It's the ultimate symbol of the eventual subjugation of the Philippines towards China.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIVERS (voice over): China has doled out hundreds of billions in similar loans to developing countries across Asia and Africa and the U.S. has

warned of debt trap diplomacy. Beijing recently took a 99-year lease on a key port in Sri Lanka after the government there defaulted on Chinese loans

used to build it.

The Duterte administration argues the Philippines is different and faces no such threat. Plus the U.S. still has a defense treaty with Manila. But in

this zero-sum game for influence, when America gives room, China will try to fill that void. Matt Rivers, CNN, Clark, the Philippines.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: You're watching NEWS STREAM and still to come, a CNN exclusive. Allegations of torture and coerce confessions leading up to one of the

largest mass executions in the Kingdom known for harsh punishment. We will be live with Arwa Damon after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:31:29] LU STOUT: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. You're watching NEWS STREAM and these are your world headlines. Muslims in Sri Lanka are

being warned not together publicly for Friday prayers, as the Prime Minister says the terror threat has not passed. Catholic Church services

in Colombo have also been suspended until Monday. At least 70 people have been detained since the Easter Sunday attacks and the death toll has been

lowered from 359 to 253.

In northern Mozambique, and the strongest cyclone ever hit the tree has demolished homes and knocked out power. It comes just weeks after the

country was devastated by Cyclone Idai. A Red Cross official warns that heavy rain from Kenneth over the next few days could spark widespread

flooding.

French President Emmanuel Macron is pledging tax cuts through appease yellow vest protesters and they have been marching for almost six months

now. Demonstrators want him to address widespread social inequality. Mr. Macron's measures will reduce income taxes, reform the pension scheme and

invest more in early childhood education.

Now to Saudi Arabia, and CNN has obtained documents that raise new questions about this week's mass executions there. Hundreds of pages of

trial document suggests that confessions may have been coerced, and that many of those who were executed repeatedly maintained their innocence.

CNN senior international correspondent, Arwa Damon is in Istanbul. She joins us now and Arwa, CNN has obtained these documents. What did they

reveal?

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kristie, obtained by our very own Tamara Qiblawi exclusively and they show a very disturbing

pattern that is something that organizations like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have been trying to shed a spotlight on for quite some

time. And that is this systematic use of torture to try to obtain a forced confessions.

Now, we have the court documents for about 25 of those 37, who were executed. The documents we have are about three cases and if we just use

one of these cases, as an example, it was pertaining to anti-government demonstrations that took place in an area called Awamiyah back in 2011-

2012.

The city itself is predominantly Shia, and the demonstrators there are portrayed in these court documents as being very violent, as wanting to try

to fully bring down the establishment. Some of them are even accused of undertaking homosexual activities, which is something that is illegal and

punishable in the Kingdom.

But what makes this very revealing is that the documents show that in court itself, a lot of these defendants told the judge that their confessions

were obtained under torture. There is the example of a 27-year-old man who is slightly blind and deaf, who tells the judge that these were not his

words, that this was not his confession.

There is the case of another man who was detained when he was just 17 years old. His father was representing him in court. And his father tells the

judge trying to portray this image of his son as being, you know, very well-mannered. He easily says, you know, yes, he did go to some of the

demonstrations, but not for more than five minutes. He talked about how you know, his son had a bright future ahead of him. He was a diligent

student.

[08:35:10] DAMON: And his son was detained actually in 2012 at the airport as he was on route to enroll in university in the United States. The

father tells the judge and this is again according to these court documents, that his son was subjected to psychological and physical abuse

which drained his strength. That the interrogator dictated the confession to the accused and forced him to sign it so that the torture would stop and

that's why he tells the judge his son signed this confession.

What we don't see in these court documents, at least on what the Saudi authorities have not responded to our questions about is whether or not

these allegations of torture were ever actually investigated -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: Wow, disturbing details from these court documents about those disturbing and brutal mass executions that took place earlier this week.

Arwa Damon reporting live for us. Arwa, thank you. Now Britain's Prince William is in Christchurch, New Zealand meeting with survivors of last

month's terror attack.

A lone gunman killed 50 people at two mosques during Friday prayers, and the Prince earlier spoke at the Al Noor Mosque where most of those victims

died. He says that the gunman was driven by a warped ideology, which must be defeated.

Prince William also shared or traditional Maori greeting with the New Zealand Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern during his visit, and Kensington

Palace released a video of the Prince sharing this really poignant exchange with the little girl who was wounded in the Christchurch mosque attacks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED GIRL: Do you have a daughter?

PRINCE WILLIAM, DUKE OF CAMBRIDGE: Do I have a daughter?

UNIDENTIFIED GIRL: Yes.

PRINCE WILLIAM: Yes. She is called Charlotte.

UNIDENTIFIED GIRL: What's her name?

PRINCE WILLIAM: Charlotte. She is about the same age as you.

UNIDENTIFIED GIRL: Charlotte.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: The Duke of Cambridge also paid his respects at a memorial in Christchurch in honor of the victims of the devastating earthquake in 2011

that killed 185 people. You are watching NEWS STREAM and still to come, some call him Donald Trump's most feared rival in the 2020 race. And the

President is already letting the insults fly. The newest Democratic contender is responding next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Now, we are back, and we've got a health check on the U.S. economy. First quarter GDP numbers have just been released and they show

economic growth surging ahead at 3.2%. That is up an entire percentage point from last quarter even better than analysts expected.

So what's behind the growth? Be sure to tune in to "First Move" with Julia Chatterley, that happens about 20 minutes' time.

Now, the former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden now officially has the attention of President Trump after the announcement of his 2020

presidential run. Now, CNN has learned that Biden is the rival President Trump fears the most. In fact, we are told he often asks about Biden's

strengths in political meetings.

And in a Fox News interview earlier, Trump criticized Biden's intelligence calling him Sleepy Joe and said that he wouldn't know how to deal with

Chinese President Xi Jinping.

CNN's Arlette Saenz joins us now live from New York and Arlette, Joe Biden, he is the race and his rivals, in particular, the POTUS Donald Trump,

they're already firing back.

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: That's right, Kristie, and right out of the gate, Joe Biden tried to frame his campaign as a rebuke of

President Trump saying that this is a battle for the soul of the nation.

[08:40:10] (BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

SAENZ (voice over): Joe Biden shaking up an already crowded primary.

SAENZ (on camera): How does it feel to be the front runner?

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, it's real early. I tell you what, this is going to be who not only who can win -- who is the best

person to lead the country.

SAENZ (voice over): CNN has learned that Biden's candidacy is making President Trump fearful. The former Vice President's early campaign plan

targeting voters in the rust belt and Midwest leading in traditionally blue states like Pennsylvania that Trump flipped in 2016.

Sources tells CNN Biden is a frequent topic within President Trump's political meetings and the President spent months pulling advisers on

Biden's chances of winning the Democratic primary.

Another strategy, Trump working to highlight internal divides between former Vice President and other candidates within the field.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It looks like the only non-sort of heavy socialist, he is being taken care of pretty well by the

socialists. They've got to. Our former Vice President.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ (voice over): President Trump warning of a nasty primary writing, "If you make it, I will see you at the starting gates." Inside a Delaware

pizza shop, Biden's response, short.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: Everybody knows Donald Trump.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ (voice over): Hours later, Biden still on Trump's mind. In a late night interview with Fox News.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

CLIP: I think that, you know, when you look at Joe -- I've known Joe over the years. He's not the brightest light bulb in the group, but he's a

pretty sleepy guy.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: Tell the general I said hello, will you?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ (voice over): Within hours of being in the race, Biden's past is exposing potential vulnerabilities, including his handling of Anita Hill's

testimony during the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings, Biden expressing regret for Hill's treatment at an event last month.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: To this day, I regret I couldn't come up with way to get her the kind of hearing she deserved.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ (voice over): Biden's campaign says he recently reached out to Hill.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was a private discussion, but they have spoken.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ (voice over): But Hill says it wasn't enough, telling "The New York Times" quote, "I cannot be satisfied by simply saying I'm sorry for what

happened to you. I will be satisfied when I know there is real change and real accountability." With a late start to the race, Biden kept his first

day on the trail with a fundraiser in Philadelphia at the home of a media executive.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SAENZ (on camera): Now one big question for today is how much Biden raised in that first 24-hour period and then just a few hours, he is going to be

making his first television appearance on ABC's "The View." We'll see if he answers any more of those questions -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: Yes, it will be interesting to see if he's going to get more support. There are a lot of questions about his political past, Anita Hill

as well. Arlette, thank you so much. Take care.

And that is it for NEWS STREAM. I am Kristie Lu Stout, don't go anywhere though, "World Sport" with Amanda Davies is next.

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