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Golden Globe Nominations Announced; EPA Working With China To Clean Air; Vladimir Putin Stresses Desire For Ukraine To Become Part Of Eurasian Pact; Record Low Temperatures In Jerusalem; Cooling System Failure on ISS

Aired December 12, 2013 - 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: The EU's foreign policy chief, he still wants a deal with the European Union, but will that be too little too late to stop the unrest?

Also ahead, South Africa admits the sign language interpreter, Nelson Mandela's memorial, made mistakes. We'll have the latest on the controversy that has angered South Africa's deaf community.

And clearing the air: why the U.S. wants to work with China to battle air pollution.

Ukraine's president Viktor Yanukovych is under pressure at home and abroad as defiant protesters rebuild barricades that were torn down by riot police on Wednesday. Now the U.S. says it is considering sanctions against Ukraine over the use of force against demonstrators.

Now anti-government protests continue in Kiev's freezing city center. And despite the crackdown, protesters are angry the president has favored ties with Russia over a cooperation deal with the European Union.

And we'll take you live to Kiev in just a moment, but first to Moscow. Ukraine's relationship with Russia is at the center of all this. Now President Vladimir Putin gave his state of the nation address today with a brief mention of the situation in Kiev.

So let's get more now on the reaction of Moscow from our Phil Black. He joins us live. And Phil, what is Putin saying about the ongoing protest in Ukraine?

PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kristie he mentioned Ukraine in the context of what is one of his key foreign policy goals, that is the establishment of a Eurasian union. And he was talking about the progress that has been made towards achieving that. He talked about the fact that Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan are very close to achieving economic union, that Kyrgyzstan and Armenia have begun the accession process.

And he said that these sorts of achievements in the project should make the whole idea more attractive to other neighbors of Russia, including specifically, and he mentioned Ukraine. And he made the point that long before the current political crisis in Ukraine, before the Ukrainian government decided that it would not in the near future sign trade and association agreements with the European Union that same government had declared its desire to obtain observer status within this Eurasian union, that it wanted to be at the table with Russia and the other countries part of the discussion doing individual deals and so forth with them if possible.

And Vladimir Putin said that if the Ukrainian government still wanted to do that, then he would be happy to work with them.

We impose nothing on anyone, was Vladimir Putin's comment.

He also went on to say that while Russia will continue to promote its idea of Eurasian integration, it will not do so in such a way that directly challenges or confronts the European Union. He also said that he would like ultimately for the sake of the Ukrainian people, that the crisis there be settled. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We know about all the events that are taking place in Kiev at the moment and all the political forces of the country. It is in the interest of the Ukrainian authorities to succeed. We need to work together in all these spheres. We are not obligating anyone to do anything. This is our wish, to work together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACK: So, Vladimir Putin there very much saying that he would like Ukraine at least to be in some way involved with his Eurasian integration project or union, but again refuting that initial claim by the European Union that Russia was in some way responsible for bullying the Ukrainian government into turning away from embracing European path, European integration in the near future -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: All right, Phil Black with the view from Moscow. Thank you.

Now let's bring in Nick Paton Walsh on the line from Kiev. And Nick, what is the situation right now there in the capital?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kristie, what we're seeing after standing just above central square here. And we've seen a crowd grow in number during the day, despite the low temperatures.

And I say, I was here nine years ago during the Orange Revolution in 2004. And there's a stark difference, really, to this protest. There are so many more men in the crowd, whereas nine years ago we were seeing more women, children, families even here sort of celebrating their desire for a different country. And the men dug out here often behind in many of the streets substantial barricades made of sandbags filled with snow, now frozen solid.

I've just been down in the crowds speaking to one of the key organizers of the security of these protests. He's in fact himself a veteran of the Afghan war, an old generation who fought for the Soviet Union who said to me he wants to come back down to the streets today and fight again for what he said was the patriotic feeling he has towards his country.

There's a real sense of frustration with the political process here. And one of the key questions we kept asking was, who is your leader? Who are you looking to to bring you out of this crisis? And while we've seen an array of opposition figures raise their hands at times claim to speak to the protest, they don't have a single uniting figure like the crowds did in 2004 who eventually removed President Kuchma and change the old what was considered to be the old order. But of course that's now being reembodied by Viktor Yanukovych's administration in the minds of many out here.

We are hearing from an EU spokesman that the Ukraine's first deputy prime minister is in Brussels at the moment to meet with the commissioner for enlargement to the EU, Stafan Fule. They're supposed to be perhaps discussing any future moves the government might have to take up that pact. Their refusal to join, which sparked these protests initially.

I'm also told that in fact shortly after that meeting, the commissioner had a video conference with some opposition leaders.

But I think the key question, despite these moves happening in a distant capital, that exactly what will the protesters accept as a reason to go home? The hallmark for negotiations beginning, which had always been held out by the government here, but not taken at a sincere gesture by many opposition leaders. They do seem to shift. And the idea, perhaps, the prime minister resigning to even begin that present discussion is perhaps far fetched.

So many in the street down below not necessarily expecting the negotiations will see a swift change. And they seem to want, really, a broad change in the climate in Kiev. And I think when nine years ago we saw a different generation, almost, come to the streets and simply want to see one figure removed and replaced with another who they could embody change. Now we see disenfranchisement over the entire political elite, it seems, and a general need for a shift in the country's direction away from its sort of Soviet Russian-led past towards Europe.

It's almost a -- it's a dream that they have rather than the practical reality that they're addressing. But in so many ways that's what's fueling these protesters. Some of them very young to stand out here so long, Kristie.

Our Nick Paton Walsh reporting on the political frustration and the dream, the desire for change there. Joining us on the line from Kiev.

And tensions in Ukraine have spilled over into nearby Georgia. A fight broke out in the Georgian parliament on Wednesday. And the debate turned violent when an opposition leader called for Georgia to officially support protesters in Ukraine.

Now Georgia is moving toward closer ties with the EU.

Now, let's turn to the conflict in the Central African Republic. Now Agence France Presse is reporting the U.S. military has begun air lifting troops from Burundi into Bangui. Now French and African Union forces are already in the Central African Republic trying to restore order to head off what some fear could become genocide.

Now French forces have begun disarming Christian and Muslim militias after a coup resulted in a surge of deadly sectarian violence there.

Now fear has gripped the capital of the country. Thousands of Christian civilians are afraid to stay in their homes, particularly at night. Alex Thompson has their story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALEX THOMPSON, ITN CORRESPONDENT: Welcome to Donbosco (ph). Peace and love croones out from speakers over the squalor. Inside this former Catholic institute, the last super, as hungry, scared families still stay here.

Every night, 20,000 Christians will call this place home, such is the terror.

Joris from MSF told us why.

Why are people here? Why have they come?

JORIS VAN PAUWVLEIT, DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS: People are here because especially at night, insecurity is huge. People are afraid to stay home even during the day, people stay here as you can see, but certainly at night it's not safe for many, many people. That's why they come here to find safety within the confined grounds.

THOMPSON: You get frisked for weapons at the front gate. A man suspected of being from the Seleka Christian killing militia is ejected.

"What are you going to do with that?" Says the policeman, relieving a man of his machete and his hat even as French helicopters (inaudible) from above, a military transport planes close by at the airport.

But there's football. Arsenal inexplicably well represented in this country. Stepovers and a chance to forget life outside the walls of Donbosco (ph). Yes, a change to forget life here, which is why UNICEF were distributing toys, not perhaps the most urgent need, but not insignificant.

ELOGE LUSAMBYA, UNICEF (through translator): It gives the children a chance not to think about war, explosions, everything they've gone through. At least they can do something here they can enjoy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And that was ITN's Alex Thompson reporting from Bangui.

Now this is News Stream. And coming up this hour, we'll get more on this man. Observers say that he used fake sign language at the Nelson Mandela memorial. We'll hear his side of the story.

And in Australia, a high court ruling invalidates marriages for several gay couples who recently said I do. What they are planning to do next.

And CNN's Freedom Project in Cambodia in the fight against child sex trafficking. We'll hear from a mother who says she sold her daughter's virginity.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back. You're watching News Stream.

And you're looking at a visual version of all the stories we've got in the show today. Now we've already updated you on the unrest in Ukraine where the president told the EU's foreign affairs chief that he intends to sign a trade deal with Europe.

Now later we'll look at China's persistent air pollution problem. And hear from the head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

But now let's turn to South Africa.

Now for a second day, South Africans are lining up to pay their respects to former president and Nobel laureate Nelson Mandela. Now his body is lying in state at the seat of South Africa's government in Pretoria.

Now on Saturday, Mandela's remains will be transported to his ancestral village for Sunday's state funeral and burial.

And as the nation mourns, attention is also being focused on Mandela's memorial service earlier this week and the sign language interpreter who shared the stage with family members and world leaders. Now the interpreter is defending himself after many accused him of being a fraud.

Now for more, let's got live for Errol Barnett. He joins us live in Pretoria. And Errol, the sign language interpreter, he's been widely criticized, but what is the government saying about him and his work?

ERROL BARNETT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the government, Kristie, a short while ago defended him. I'll get to that and what the interpreter said himself in just a moment.

Briefly let me explain to you what's happening over my shoulder. This is one of three loading areas for people hoping to jump on a bus and get to the Union Building to see Nelson Mandela lying in state. This is the seventh of 10 days of mourning. However, the people you see behind me have just been told that they've reached capacity for the day. Some have been waiting for seven hours, I'm told. Yet still, as you see, they're still finding the silver lining, so to speak, in being outside and that South Africans coming together today. There will be another opportunity tomorrow.

And speaking of silver linings, you could say that's what the government and this deaf interpreter are looking for as they defend themselves today. This man at the center of this controversy called in to a radio station this morning, one of our affiliates, and stood firm that he is quite skilled and qualified. Listen to what Thamsanqa Dyantyi had to say.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

THAMSANQA DYANTYI, SIGN LANGUAGE INTERPRETER: I think I've been a champion of sign language. You know, I've interpreted in many big events, not only at the event that is in question now. If you remember, I've interpreted in Ma Sisulu's funeral. If you remember, I've interpreted in many press conferences, including the presidential conference. And then there was no one at all that said I've interpreted wrong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BARNETT: And to just put that in context, when he says Ma Sisulu, he's speaking of the widow of Walter Sisulu, an anti-apartheid activist, a good friend of Nelson Mandela. He passed away in 2003. His widows passed away a few years ago.

So this interpreter saying I've done high profile events before.

Now according to DeafSA, the Deaf Federation of South Africa claimed that this man's behavior, his mannerisms, his dress, his facial expressions all exposed him as someone who is not of the skill to be on a stage with world leaders translating what they're saying for the deaf community to an audience of possibly millions.

The government under pressure from people complaining about this man responded today acknowledging there were some mistakes, but still holding firm.

Take a listen to what Ms. Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu, the deputy minister for children, women and people with disabilities said just a few hours ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HENDRIETTA BOGOPANE-ZULU, DEPUTY MINISTER OF WOMEN, CHILDREN & PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES: But we don't want him to be attacked as an individual, because he does communicate with deaf people. And there are those deaf people that understand him. Maybe they just don't speak the civilized sign language that we all want to understand. It would be wrong for us to stand here and vilify him. But it is also saying that, yes, there's a lot of bridges that did not happen. He was supposed to have been accompanied by an interpreter.

So up front, we can only apologize to the deaf community for the unfortunate -- for those who were at the stadium. And say that we did provide the interpreters for those that are outside of the country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BARNETT: This is the main topic that the people you see around me have been discussing today as they wait to see Nelson Mandela lying in state. And the reason it's so important, Kristie, is South Africans here who have been complaining about the government and the ANC saying it's a far cry from that of the day of Nelson Mandela. It's because the critics of the government allege that there's corruption, there's nepotism and that the best, the truly high skilled people in this country aren't able to make their way up because of those issues.

We interviewed the lead translator at the Deaf Federation of South Africa and she in a way -- let's go back to this theme of looking for a silver lining -- thinks that in the vein of Nelson Mandela perhaps this was his last final act for the deaf community of the country. Here's what DeafSA's lead interpreter said to me yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DELPHIN HLUNGWANE, DEAFSA LANGUAGE INTERPRETER: Perhaps it was meant to happen like this so that government, South Africa and the world get a wakeup call that you cannot just put any arbitrary person, you need to respect deaf people, they are part of our world, they are citizens and they have human rights just like the rest of us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BARNETT: In the constitution that Nelson Mandela signed for this country, which has become world famous, there are special accommodations made for a sign language -- making it official, a South African sign language. That's yet to happen, Kristie. And those supporting the deaf community feel that this incident at least has helped raise awareness and could possible result in some positive change.

Back to you.

LU STOUT: All right. Errol Barnett there. Thank you.

Now on Wednesday, we told you about a setback for gay rights in India where the top court overturned a landmark ruling that had decriminalized homosexual relationships. And now in Australia, a small window for gay couples to marry has been closed.

Now the high court has ruled that a local law legalizing same-sex marriage is invalid.

Now 7 Network's Mia Greves reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIA GREVES, 7 NETWORK CORRESPONDENT: Taking on the might of the Commonwealth was never going to be ease.

IVAN HINTON-TEOH, SAME-SEX MARRIAGE SUPPORTER: Not many Australians have to go to the high court to validate their relationship.

GREVES: Ivan Hinton and partner Chris Teoh got married last Saturday when the ATC government's laws legalizing same-sex marriage came into effect. Five days later, the high court ruled unanimously on the side of the federal government saying only it and not the territory has the power to provide marriage equality.

GEORGE BRANDIS, AUSTRALIAN ATTORNEY GENERAL: The marriage act provides that a marriage can be solemnized in Australia only between a man and a woman.

GREVES: The Christian lobby was thrilled with the outcome.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ...really love us, do you? We gave thanks (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not in accordance with Christian teaching.

GREVES: Supporters of same-sex marriage say despite today's defeat in the high court, there is a much bigger victory, the fact that more than 20 couples were able to get married is a step forward. And now they'll maintain the pressure on the federal government for another conscience vote.

ANNE-MARIE DELAHUNT, SAME-SEX MARRIAGE SUPPORTER: We've been married for a number of days. We've been together 20 years. We'll keep our rings on.

GREVES: The high court ruling also slams the door for any other state to enact same-sex marriage laws.

SIMON CORBELL, AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY ATTORNEY GENERAL: The ACT is unapologetic. We did the right thing. We did the right thing for our community.

GREVES: Mia Greves, 7 News.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now, very stressful, very difficult, that's how the pilot of Asiana Flight 214 describes trying to land the plane in San Francisco. Of course, a fatal crash ensued. Investigators are looking for answers as to what happened. We'll bring you a live update on that in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Coming to you live from Hong Kong, you're back watching News Stream.

Now the pilot of an Asiana Airlines flight that crashed at San Francisco in July has told investigators he was very concerned about landing the plane. Now Captain Lee Kang Kuk, he attempted to guide the plane without the help of the airport navigation system, which was not working.

Now three people died and more than 180 others were injured in the crash. And CNN's aviation correspondent Rene Marsh is in Washington with the latest on the investigation. She joins us now.

Rene, what more have we learned about the crash?

RENE MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kristie, you know, can you imagine you're on a plane and the pilot in the cockpit does not fully understand how the plane's automatic flight systems in the cockpit works. That's disturbing and it is exactly what new details in this Asiana crash suggest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARSH (voice-over): New video captured on airport security cameras show the heart stopping moment Asiana 214 crashed this July. It was too low and going too slow, it hit a sea wall, skidded down the runway and did a 360 before coming to rest.

Now new details about what happened inside the cockpit. The pilot flying told investigators he was uncomfortable landing visually without an instrument approach to guide him. He was a trainee on the 777, but had substantial experience in other aircraft.

On top of that, he didn't completely understand the 777's automated flight system. Investigators say he thought the plane's automatic throttle would kick in, increasing speed even in idle, but it doesn't work that way.

DEBORAH HERSMAN, NTSB CHAIRMAN: We do have an issue in aviation that needs to be dealt with, with respect to automation and performance when it comes to the interaction between the aircraft and the human being.

MARSH: Cockpit voice recorders revealed the pilots knew the plane was plunging, 52 seconds before the crash, a relief pilot in the backseat of the cockpit called out "sink rate." Warning the plane was dropping too fast. The warning repeated in English and Korean. He tried but failed to correct the problem.

CHESLEY "SULLY" SULLENBERGER, FORMER U.S. AIRWAYS PILOT: Right now, airline pilots are not getting enough in-depth training, knowledge about these complex systems.

MARSH: Investigators are also digging into whether Korean culture which puts a premium on deference to seniority played a role in the bungled landing.

SULLENBERGER: That's a problem we solve in this country about 30 years ago and we changed the cockpit culture. The captain didn't used to be approachable or listen to others. Now we have to because the accident rate demands it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARSH: Well, the hearing also focused on the airplane cabin's crash worthiness. How did the cabin seats and seatbelts hold up in the crash. Did they adequately protect passengers? What worked and what can be improved? Investigators also zeroed in on the emergency response to the crash site. We know that one of the three victims was killed when a firetruck ran over her -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: All right, Rene Marsh reporting live for us from Washington. Thank you.

You're watching News Stream. And still to come, landing a plane through thick air pollution, we'll tell you how Beijing's notorious smog is now affecting pilots.

Also ahead, crime and desperation in Cambodia, a look at CNN's Freedom Project documentary. Actress Mira Sorvino meets a mother who sold her daughter into prostitution.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. You're watching News Stream. And these are your world headlines.

Now after meeting with Ukraine's president, the European Union's head of foreign policy Catherine Ashton says she believes Viktor Yanukovych will support a trade deal with the EU. Now the president's refusal to sign the agreement has sparked weeks of mass protests in the capital of Kiev.

The South African government has admitted the interpreter accused of signing nonsense at Nelson Mandela's memorial service made mistakes, but it says that he is not a fake. A government minister says that there was no standard sign language in South Africa and deaf people use various dialects.

Now Turkey says it is temporarily closed its border crossings with Syria. It says the shutdown is because of fighting between rebel groups in northern Syria near the border. Now the move comes as the U.S. and Britain suspend non-lethal and to Syria's opposition after Islamic front fighters seized a key weapons depot held by the Free Syrian Army.

Now, Beijing's notorious smog, it means that pilots flying into China's capital will soon be required to have training in so-called blind landings. Now high levels of air pollution in Beijing and Shanghai in recent weeks forced hundreds of flights to be canceled or delayed.

Now the China Daily says from January, pilots flying form China's 10 busiest airports into Beijing must be able to land by instruments only.

Now China is trying to balance the need to reduce air pollution with maintaining super fast economic growth. And the top U.S. environmental regulator has been visiting Beijing to talk about ways of dealing with the bad air.

Now Gina McCarthy spoke to me about her mission.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GINA MCCARTHY, ADMINISTRATOR, U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY: I think as China has become more urbanized, the air pollution challenges have become much more serious. And I think they've made a much more committed effort to take a look at these issues and try to work through them, that's why EPA is here, to try to provide support to that exercise.

LU STOUT: But you're the head of the EPA in the United States. Here in China, what is the U.S. interest in China's pollution problems?

MCCARTHY: Well, China -- China pollution knows no borders just like the U.S. doesn't. And it doesn't respect it. And we want to share in information. EPA has expertise that can help.

We've had a long-standing relationship with China to share technical expertise. But the challenges are becoming greater. Their commitment is increasing. We're hear to share technology, share information, work with them to see if we can't help them work through this problem. It'll benefit China. And it clearly benefits the U.S. as well.

LU STOUT: You talk about sharing information. In concrete terms, what can the United States teach China?

MCCARTHY: Well, we have gone through this issue. We have reduced our air pollution at the same time as we have continued our economic growth. We want to bring the technologies that help to drive that success. We want to work with them to work to some planning processes to understand how they can be successful as well.

We share research. We share data. We share monitoring technologies.

One of the biggest advances that I've seen in Beijing is the development of a monitoring technology so that you can understand air quality. You can share that information with the public. You can get people engaged and you can make progress moving forward.

LU STOUT: That's right, you visited an air monitoring station in Beijing. Is it very high tech? Is it up to international standard?

MCCARTHY: Yeah, it was considerably more improved than I was here just two years ago. And a lot of it is U.S. companies that are selling products here.

As the U.S. has been pushing forward on air pollution, technologies have followed. We're now sharing those technologies, whether it's air monitoring technologies or its pollution control technologies. That's the kind of innovation we want to share with the Chinese government. And we do think that at the Beijing level as well as the federal government, the central government level, they're moving forward. They're committed. We want to be there. We want to share our technologies and we want to help.

LU STOUT: What about emission standards for cars and factories? What kind of progress is being made on that front?

MCCARTHY: Well, when China put out their five year plan in September, one of the things they committed to was low sulfur fuels. That's going to have some immediate benefits in terms of lowering PM 2.5. They've also committed to higher standards for their engines. It's been an essential component of the U.S. success.

What we realize now is that air pollution comes from stationary sources that people are familiar with, but a significant portion can come from growing mobile sources.

If you look at Beijing, that can be as much as 20 to 25 percent of the air pollution challenges because the city is filled with cars. And they have to be cleaner and cleaner.

Here in Hong Kong, what we know in Hong Kong is that up to 50 percent of the pollution comes from marine vessels. It's a large port. All of those vessels have opportunities for reductions.

LU STOUT: Got to ask you about climate change. Is China really taking that issue seriously?

MCCARTHY: Oh, I think they are. And one of the reasons why I wanted to be here is we met with MEP on the air pollution, but we also met...

LU STOUT: That's the counterpart to the EPA here in China.

MCCARTHY: Right. And the NDRC is really the counterpart for our development or agency. It also does environmental work.

The key to developing a sustainable economic growth and a clean environment is to look at all these pollutants together. Climate change is a significant public health issue. It needs to be addressed. But you want to look at it in concert with all of the other air pollutants so you develop a strategy that works for the provinces as well as the central government. That's how we're going to have success moving forward.

We think if China and the U.S. are the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions. We are the largest economies. We have the largest energy demand. If the two of us can work together, we can become a model for other countries to follow. We can make significant progress. And we need to do it in a way which really delivers both clean air and in a future that's sustainable that climate change threatens at this point.

LU STOUT: And a final question for you, as we gaze upon this smoggy skies over -- well, this is Beijing yesterday. This was Hong Kong yesterday. It's been particularly bad here. Will the air quality improve? And when?

MCCARTHY: Yeah.

Well, the air quality will improve because I think there's a concerted commitment, but it's going to take some time. Immediate changes in the fuel supply will be some relief, but it's going to take planning, it's going to take engagement of the public. It's going to take some years to work through these issues.

I think the value of having EPA come here is to say that we were there 40 years ago. We learned a lot. Technologies are available. We can make progress much more quickly if we work together on these challenges.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And McCarthy says a public outcry in the United States led to environmental laws like the Clean Air Act. And in China, the public is also crying out for change.

Now right now it is the beginning of the movie award season. Finalists for the golden globes will soon be revealed. Now just a short time ago, we know that the nominees for television were announced in Beverly Hills.

Now the film nominees will be announced any minute now. Live pictures on your screen there from Beverly Hills, California. And we'll bring you all the results a little bit later right here on News Stream.

Now it is a horrifying and yet all too frequent practice in parts of Cambodia. Every day little girls are sold to pedophiles. And a new CNN Freedom Project documentary, the actress and activist Mira Sorvina traveled to Cambodia to hear the stories of the young survivors and the mothers who sold them.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIRA SORVINO, ACTRESS (voice-over): All along the Cambodian shore these makeshift boathouses are home to thousands of undocumented Vietnamese people. They are poor, desperate and extremely vulnerable to the traffickers who come here looking for little girls. This is where we found Q's mother.

Like most who live here, she and her husband raise fish in a net under their floating house. When they couldn't make enough money selling fish, they took out a small loan with a high interest rate. It quickly grew.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At first, my husband borrowed 200 dollars. Then it increased to 500 dollars, then a 1,000. And now it's almost 10,000, 9,000 something, because of interest.

SORVINO: That's when a trafficker came calling.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They saw that I have a daughter, that's why they loaned me the money. SORVINO: She was paid just $500 for Q's virginity, not the 1,500 she was promised and only a drop in the bucket towards a massive debt that she'll never be able to pay off.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Selling my daughter was heartbreaking, but what can I say? I can't go back in time. I can't give her back her virginity. So what can I do? I love my kids. I would do anything for them. I know that I did wrong so I feel regret about it. It was because of the debt, that's why I had to sell my child.

SORVINO: Regret and guilt. But that won't erase what her little girl went through.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know my daughter is sad. I know when she hangs out with her friends, she is embarrassed and she feels shame. But I didn't have a choice. There is no bigger problem than money. All I could think about was finding the money to pay off the debt so the creditors would stop cursing me.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Such a gutwrenching story. You could find out much more on our website. Just log on to CNN.com/freedom. They have an interactive story exploring the desperate situation these Cambodian women, especially the girls, face and the factors influencing their choices. And you could also learn how you can help. Don't forget to tune in for the special documentary. It airs Sunday, 7:00 pm here in Hong Kong.

Now, coming up, something has gone wrong on the International Space Station. Now NASA says everyone on board is safe, but could an emergency space walk be needed to fix a faulty cooling system?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back.

Now the blockbuster Gravity could be one of the favorites in the race to win one of the Golden Globe nominations. The film, it of course features a spacewalk gone wrong.

But right now, there is a real-life problem on the International Space Station, an emergency spacewalk could be needed to fix a cooling pump that broke after hitting its temperature limit.

Now NASA says everyone on board is OK. Now for more, CNN's John Zarrella joins me live from Miami. And John, I mean, what happened to the cooling system. Does it pose any danger at all?

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it certainly a danger from the standpoint that there are two of these cooling pumps on the International Space Station. They're outside the space station mounted on one of the trusses.

Now, yesterday they noticed the one of them had shut down. It had reached its temperature limit and shut down. They were able to get it restarted, but it's not working right. So what NASA had to do was to take some non-critical items in three different modules, the U.S. Harmony module, the European Columbus module and the Japanese Ibo module. And they've had to cut back some of the non-critical items in those.

Now, the life support system is working fine. All of the scientific experiments that are in freezers, they're OK as well.

But NASA has got to figure out what went wrong with this pump.

It's not the first time, Kristie, that this has happened. Back in May they had an issue with one of the pumps and then back in 2010 the pump that is in there now is a replacement for one that was taken out in 2010 that malfunctioned.

But, any time you consider doing a spacewalk where you're going outside the comfort of your home, it's always risky. It's always a problem. You know, as you pointed out, the movie Gravity out there, is you know, given people a real appreciation for what astronauts and cosmonauts do. But it's something NASA's mission management team is looking at. They're actually meeting this morning and they're going to have to figure out if, in fact, they're going to have to order a contingency, as they call it, spacewalk to address the problem -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: All right, we wish them luck as they try to fix it.

John Zarrella live with the story for us. Thank you, John.

Now, Yahoo's email service has been affected by a server glitch since Monday. And some users are still having problems.

Now some account holders have not been able to access the service at all. And for others, emails sent over the past two weeks have not been appearing. Now Yahoo says it has managed to retrieve around 30 percent of the lost messages.

Now the CEO, Marissa Mayer, she posted the latest progress update to her Twitter page, but many of her followers didn't seem to like the way she did it.

Now the link she gave to users to her personal Tumblr account where there was another link to Yahoo's website. A lot of people say the extra step was simply unnecessary.

Now, heavy rains have turned deadly in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro. And coming up, we'll have the latest live from Brazil and an update from the World Weather Center. Stay with us.

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LU STOUT: Welcome back.

Now at least two people have died, thousands more are seeking shelter from torrential rain and flooding in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro. Now houses have been damaged in working class suburbs and residents have been advised to stay in doors.

Now let's go live to Brazil for an update on the situation. Shasta Darlington is following the story for us from Sao Paulo. She joins us now.

And Shasta, what is the latest on the impact of these floods?

SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kristie, it's been very serious, especially in the northern part of Rio de Janeiro where heavy rains, torrential rains and flooding submerged major avenues and subway lines, a lot of flights were canceled in the urban airport there, which meant, of course, that classes were canceled and the mayor finally just said, please, people, stay at home. There wasn't any way to get them around. And in many cases, people who had gone out had to be rescued in row boats, in jet skies, power boats. So a real scene of chaos.

And the situation even got worse then there were reports of looting. Apparently people broke in to some of the trucks and the cars that had been abandoned and they stole things like boxes of frozen chickens. Again, just these pretty horrible scenes now being broadcast around the world.

It's even more serious in cities a little further to the north and to the west where up to 4,000 people were forced out of their homes because of flooding. They're trying to find shelter. It -- there is expectation that the rains should subside for awhile. So they'll get a bit of respite. But this is all happening as Rio struggles to improve its infrastructure for the World Cup, which is only six months away, Kristie.

LU STOUT: And could this heavy rain, flooding, these scenes of chaos happen again during the World Cup?

DARLINGTON: Well, it's certainly something people are asking. We even saw some pretty stunning images of the newly refurbished Maracana Stadium completely surrounded by a lake of water.

But it's very unlikely to happen, because of the seasons. The World Cup is going to be played out in June and July, which is the winter down here in Brazil. And we get these real tropical downpours more in the summer season.

So we could very well see some rain, but not these tropical rains. So it's unlikely that it would happen. The problem is that this flooding happened after some serious improvements to infrastructure. And we're still not seeing the drainage we should. And that doesn't speak very highly of the improvements that we have been seeing, Kristie.

LU STOUT: All right, Shasta Darlington reporting, thank you very much indeed for that update.

Now let's get the latest on the conditions there in Rio. Mari Ramos joins us from the world weather center with that -- Mari.

MARI RAMOS, CNN WEATHER CORRESPONDENT: Kristie, I think there's a chance for some isolated rain showers throughout the day today. And particularly in the afternoon hours.

But as this cold front starts to move away, I think we'll start to see an improvement definitely in the weather. And today, much better than the situation that we had yesterday.

In Rio, it wasn't like they just had a little downpour that caused some flooding. They had over 120 millimeters of rain. And most of that happened in a very short period of time. When rain falls that quickly, it can flood significantly, and that's what we saw there. And a lot of these urban areas have problems with drainage, these large cities. And it can flood very, very quickly.

Now you see the weather system starting to move away. Like I said, that flooding threat will begin to diminish as that happens and the rain begins to shift north. But in areas to the north, we could see some flooding because still that's carrying quite a punch as far as rainfall, or the potential to bring some very heavy rain.

I want to take you to the other side of the world very quickly. We have a big area of high pressure across Europe. And so relatively warmer here to the south as the winds come out of the south and head north, even though it's been quite cold across these areas, but the bitterly cold air is still here in the east and that push that brings that cold air farther to the south, even as far north as North Africa. It is warmer in Moscow today than it was yesterday, also in Kiev. But notice the temperatures remained quite cold across much of the region.

I want to focus a little bit more on Southeastern Europe and also the eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East. Bitterly cold temperatures continue here. That area of low pressure that had been moving through here has brought significant rain, snow and bitterly cold temperatures. Look at this. In Van, in Turkey, 25 centimeters of snowfall. In Lebanon, six centimeters. At Beer Sheva in Israel, they had 71 millimeters of rain. That is almost an entire year's worth of rain, about two-thirds of their annual rainfall falling in just a period of 24 hours.

And then of course there was snow. Take a look at these pictures from Jerusalem, Kristie. This wasn't just like a little snowfall, this was snow coming down quite heavily across the area accompanied by very strong winds. Businesses were closed, schools were closed, the frigid temperatures are expected to continue even as we head into the weekend. Travel chaos across this entire region.

Yeah, maybe it rain -- it snows in Jerusalem about once a year. You'll get a light dusting of snow. But this is set to be probably the heaviest snowfall in decades.

And they also had record low temperatures -- .4. It's the lowest temperature ever recorded in Jerusalem since they've been keeping records in that area.

Our track of the temperatures. Yeah, a little time for a little snowball fight.

But it is quite serious with the cold temperatures here. There's that area of low pressure coming in and, you know, it looks pretty, but it is quite difficult for people to get around. And of course as we head into some of those poor areas or that flood very, very easily is becoming more difficult for people to kind of get out of this very frigid, cold water that is flooding some of these areas and of course the snow.

Back to you.

LU STOUT: Yeah, very, very difficult conditions for people in the affected areas.

Mari Ramos there, thank you.

Now, transportation security officials dealt with a unique threat at a U.S. airport recently. Believe it or not, a sock puppet monkey with an eye patch was pulled from a carry-on bag and his toy gun was seized by security.

As Jeanne Moos reports, even desperado hand puppets aren't above the law.

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JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONENT: Airport security socked it to this cowboy sock puppet for packing a pistol while being packed in a carry- on bag. And it wasn't just any sock puppet.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean to kill you in one minute, net.

MOOS: He was modeled after the one-eyed star of "True Grit" Rooster Cogburn -- Rooster Monkburn as in monkey. It's what his creator calls him.

Phyllis May sells pop culture sock monkeys out of her home in Redmond Washington. But on the way through security in St. Louis, the TSA disarmed her monkey. Drop it Rooster. Actually rooster's pistol was about this big; not nearly as impressive as the ones favored by rooster's namesake. Phyllis described the TSA agent is saying, this is a gun. Phyllis replies, it's not a gun. It's a prop for my monkey. But security confiscated it nonetheless.

The TSA's policy is that out of an abundance of caution, realistic replicas of firearms are prohibited in carry-on bags. Here is one reason.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To show you how lethal these are.

MOOS: Miniature pistols can pack a punch.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE; Here we go, cover your ears. That was a bull's eye. There is the exit wound.

MOOS: A few years back a traveler at LaGuardia had a necklace similar to this one confiscated. He was planning on wearing it in a Kanye West wrapper skirt with his niece. No dice. The sock monkey got lots of sympathy. Good job there, officer, TSA, you really protected us from that terrorist sock puppet.

Not since sock puppets were used to reenact the movie "Flight" have puppets caused such brouhaha. In aviation circles, if it hadn't been Rooster, it could have been Wonder Woman suspected of being an underwear bomber.

Moral of the story, don't let your soft puppets carry when they're being carried on.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now let's go back to California and the Golden Globe nominations. Nischelle Turner joins me now live from L.A. with the latest. And Nischelle, can you tell us which film has emerged as the movie awards frontrunner?

NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know that's a good question, because yesterday we had the Screen Actor's Guild nominations, this morning the Golden Globe nominations and it looks like this year nominations are kind of all over the place. I would say it's because it's been a really good year for film and it's just been really hard to peg who is the frontrunner, but there's definitely becoming a bit of a theme in the picture category. And that is for 12 Years a Slave. That's the big nominee for over the past two days. It was nominated in the best picture category for drama this morning as well as -- along with Captain Phillips, Gravity, Filomena and Rush.

Now there's also -- there's two different categories in the Gold Globes. There's the comedy -- the comedy musical and then the drama category.

So I want to give you an idea of the big nominee in the actor and actresses categories for them. And the best actress nominations in the drama category, Cate Blanchett was nominated for Blue Jasmine, Sandra Bullock for Gravity, Judy Dench for Filomena, Emma Thomas for Saving Mr. Banks and Kate Winslet for Labor Day.

Also in the comedy category, Amy Adams was nominated for American Hustle, July Delpy for Before Midnight, Greta Gerwig for Frances Ha, Julia Louis-Dreyfus for Enough Said and Meryl Streep for August: Osage County.

Now in the drama category for the men: Chiwetel Ejiofor was nominated for 12 Years a Slave, Idris Elba nominated for Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, Tom Hanks nominated for Captain Phillips, Matthew McConaughey was nominated for Dallas Buyers Club and Robert Redford was nominated for All is Lost.

Quickly in the comedy category: Christian Bale nominated this morning for American Hustle, Bruce Dern for Nebraska, Leonardo DiCaprio for The Wolf of Wall Street, Oscar Isaac for Inside Llweyn Davis and Joaquin Phoenix for Her.

There were some -- I guess some people could call it snubs. Maybe you call them omissions. No nominations for Lee Daniels The Butler. No -- for best picture. Also no nomination for best picture for Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom.

All right, Nischelle Turner with the nominations. Thank you very much indeed.

And that is News Stream, but the news continues at CNN. World Business Today is next.

END