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The Plight of the Rohingya; FBI, NSA Director Set to Testify Before Congress Today; Theresa May Announces Article 50 Timetable; Father of Orly Airport Attacker Says Son Not Terrorist. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired March 20, 2017 - 08:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[08:00:12] KRISTIE LU STOUT, HOST: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong, and welcome to News Stream. Now the FBI director will be questioned by

lawmakers in just a few hours over Russian interference with the U.S. election and, President Trump's claims that his predecessor wiretapped him.

North Korea tested a new rocket engine while the U.S. secretary of state visits Beijing.

And the plight of the Rohingya. A UN official shares with me harrowing accounts of brutality in Myanmar.

OK, we've got details on the stories in a moment. But first we begin with breaking news out of London this hour. The British prime minister has set

a date to trigger Article 50. Now, Downing Street has confirmed that date will be next Wednesday, March 29.

Article 50 is the formal notification of the UK's intention to leave the European Union and that will kickstart some two years of Brexit

negotiations.

Now, let's go to Max Foster in London with more. And Max, this is it. We finally have a date on when the British government will trigger Article 50.

MAX FOSTER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Also a day on Britain will leave the European Union. So that will be the 29 of March or 28 of March,

depending on how you calculate these things, March 2019. So truly a historic moment. And we just had a statement actually from the secretary

of state for exiting the European Union, that's David Davis, saying we are on the threshold of the most important negotiation for this country in a

generation.

We know that Donald Tusk's office has been informed. He's the European Council president.

So, this process will start next week, so a very big moment for the UK, but also for the European Union. And David Davis points out that this is

something they want to work for every part of the United Kingdom, which is interesting because we know that Scotland doesn't want to leave the

European Union, so this is going to be a big part of the negotiation.

But they also want it to work for the European Union, because this is an organization, a continent that Britain is going to have to have a

relationship with after all of this is said and done. So very, very complex set of negotiations on so many different levels, but it starts next

week, Kristie.

LU STOUT: The Brexit process starts next week. It will involve a lot of complicated negotiations, as you point out. How long will this process

take? And when will it be effectively over?

FOSTER: Well, it will be over in two years, because that's the process they follow through. They could possibly extend it if a deal hasn't been

agreed, but everyone involved in those negotiations in the European Union and here in the UK need to agree to that. Even if they do agree to it,

it's got to be approved by many heads of state in the European Union, also the British Parliament as well. Ultimately, if an agreement isn't reached

then Britain will come out of the European Union, will have to rely on World Trade Organization rules.

And actually the British government has said they are pretty open to the idea, perhaps part of the negotiation there, but that potentially could

happen. They are going to leave almost certainly in two years time unless they find some sort of agreement.

We also heard today that Theresa May has written off the idea of an early election here in the

United Kingdom. There was a suggestion that to get the mandate for her Brexit negotiations she should have an early election. They said there's

no chance of that, and I think that's probably because it will cause another layer of chaos to this whole process.

LU STOUT: That's right. Two significant news lines coming out of Downing Street this morning. Max Foster reporting for us live. Thank you.

Now, in the U.S., the Trump administration is beginning what is perhaps its most pivotal week

so far. The FBI Director James Comey is set to testify today in front of the House Intelligence Committee.

Now, lawmakers will grill him on Russian meddling in the U.S. election campaign as well as

President Trump's claims that President Barack Obama wiretapped the phones at Trump Tower.

Here's Joe Johns.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The bizarre saga of President Trump's explosive claim that he was wiretapped by President Obama last year

comes to a head today. FBI Director James Comey expected to publicly debunk the president's unproven allegations. Lawmakers investigating the claim

repeatedly saying there is no evidence.

REP. DEVIN NUNES (R-CA), INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: Was there a physical wiretap of Trump Tower? No, there never was.

REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA), INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE RANKING MEMBER: I hope we can put an end to this wild goose chase, because what the president said

was just patently false.

JOHNS: Trump's unsubstantiated claim straining diplomatic relations with two of the United States' strongest allies. The president even joking about

it on Friday during a state visit by German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

[08:05:07] TRUMP: As far as wiretapping, I guess by, you know, this past administration, at least we have something in common perhaps.

JOHNS: The FBI director will also face questions about Russia's interference in last year's election and possible collusion between Russian

officials and the Trump campaign, a key point of partisan disagreement.

CHRIS WALLACE, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Any evidence of any collusion?

NUNES: I'll give you a very simple answer: no. There is circumstantial evidence of collusion. There is direct evidence, I think, of deception.

JOHNS: Lawmakers expected to grill Comey on the extent of Russia's election meddling. Last June, the Democratic National Committee was hacked. Later,

WikiLeaks released the stolen e-mails, an attack targeting Hillary Clinton that then-candidate Trump embraced.

TRUMP: Russia, if you're listening, I hope you're able to find the 30,000 e-mails.

JOHNS: The U.S. intelligence community overwhelmingly concluding that the Russians intentionally tried to sway the election in Trump's favor. Adding

to the intrigue. recent controversy surrounding Trump's former national security adviser and attorney general, both under fire for misleading

regarding their contact with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

The Comey hearing could overshadow today's confirmation hearing of Trump's Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch. Gorsuch expected to face tough

questions about his views on the president's travel ban and Roe v. Wade.

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D), CONNECTICUT: That kind of out-of-the- mainstream thinking will cause me to filibuster and use every tool I have

at my disposal to block his nomination.

JOHNS: Both hearings some as Republicans are under pressure to change the health care bill that could be voted on later this week in the House.

RYAN: And very impressive with how the president is helping us close this bill, making the improvements that we've been making, getting the vote.

JOHNS: CNN's latest whip count has 26 Republicans leaning or voting "no," which could doom the plan to repeal and replace Obamacare.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now let's go back to those hearings on alleged Russian meddling. Within the hour, President Donald Trump tweeted this. He said, James

Clapper, the former U.S. Director of National Intelligence and others stated that there is no evidence POTUS," presumably meaning President

Trump, "colluded with Russia. This story is fake news and everyone knows it!" Exclamation point.

Now, the Kremlin has also dismissed these allegations. It says all this attention is just hysteria about an American internal affair.

Nick Paton Walsh joins us now live from Moscow. And Nick, as we wait for James Comey to testify on possible election interference by Russia. What

is the latest word from Moscow?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNAITONAL CORRESPONDENT: As you just said, they are considering this an internal matter and their point that this is all

hysteria is well known. Nothing more to add were the comments from the Kremlin spokesperson a matter of hours ago and days ago he

referred to the accusations against them as, quote, a broken record.

So, they're pretty clear to maintain a scornful distance from all that's being broadcast towards them from the Beltway where that very partisan

sense of rancor is setting in these hearings that are just under an hour away now.

They claim, in fact, they're not even going to be watching here. I have to say that sounds like a slight exaggeration. They say they're to busy, but

I'm sure there will be television sets on inside the Kremlin waiting to see if FBI director James Comey and Admiral Mike Rogers of the NSA have

anything new to say in terms of details, perhaps about hacking, perhaps about alleged interference in the 2016 electoral process, or perhaps about

collusion between Russian officials and those around Donald Trump.

But they've maintained a distance. They've denied everything. And you might also say, Kristie, that's it's worked two ways for them. Perhaps,

although they deny these allegations, they relish the idea that they will be able to influence the Washington political process

from afar, but also, too, this has kind of hemmed in Donald Trump's policy options right now. He may have sounded favorable towards Vladimir Putin

during the campaign, and even still now at times calling him just a tough cookie over the weekend. You might consider that to be a compliment, but

now anything from the White House that possibly suggests they might like to move closer towards Moscow's positions on things like the Middle East or

Ukraine would be met with a tide of suspicion.

And again these accusations of collusion, of meddling, brought to the surface again.

So, the years ahead now potentially complex, certainly, for Washington and Moscow's relationship to say the least.

LU STOUT: So, is the mood there changing in regards to President Trump? Because for a while, there's been almost at least if you just look at

Russian state media just this euphoria about Donald Trump. Is that euphoria waning?

WALSH: Well, Russian state media has a pretty serious monopoly here. I mean, since i left here about 15 years ago it's changed dramatically.

There are very few independent voices. So, yes, it's kind of pretty much kind the only voice you hear here and it was very positive for Donald Trump

for a while. It sort of eased off the gas on that slightly, I think, as this scandal has begun to unfold. And perhaps possibly, too, as Moscow

begins to realize that maybe Donald Trump won't be finding it so easy to move closer towards their positions on certain key issues.

But I think some people in the street are bemused at the idea that Russia could perhaps have quite such extraordinary influence on the multi-billion

dollarAmerican electoral process and some, too, I think also as well just over the years here, perhaps finding America's policy and positions

increasingly alien to how they feel.

But this isn't really on the forefront of people's minds right here. It's not featuring in the

newspapers much. It's not really been much on television so far today. It is something which the Kremlin are keeping a distance from, that's

reflected, perhaps, in what we see in the media and elsewhere.

LU STOUT: Nick Paton Walsh live for us from Moscow. Thank you.

Now, let's turn now to CNN's U.S. justice correspondent Evan Perez. He joins us from our Washington bureau. And Evan, so many questions here from

alleged wiretapping to Russian meddling in the election. What are the key answers we're looking to get from the FBI director?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN CORRESPONENT: Well, Kristie, one of the few answers that we are expected to get - clearly we expected is that James Comey, the FBI

director and the NSA director Michael Rogers are going to be able to say that this unproven claim by President Trump that President

Barack Obama wiretapped him in Trump Tower is simply not true.

After that we expect that the answers are going to get a lot more tricky. This is a hearing before the House intelligence committee, which is doing

a wide ranging investigation of Russia's attempted influence on the 2016 election, but so is a Senate committee and so is the FBI. And what Comey

is worried about is affecting not only what his agents are doing, but he's also mindful about getting the FBI dragged into yet another partisan

controversy after the uproar last year in the Hillary Clinton private email server investigation.

We know that Democratic lawmakers really want Comey to talk about repeated contacts between Trump associates and people who are suspected of having

connections to Russian intelligence. On the other hand, Republicans they want Comey to say that at least so far investigators haven't found

any evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government.

LU STOUT: Yeah, but there has been so much chatter in the last few months about Russian meddling in the U.s. election.

PEREZ: Right.

LU STOUT: So is there a sense of just anticipation there in Washington that this hearing, which is going to kick off in just a couple of hours

from now, could unearth an actual real smoking gun that proves, yes, there was some level of collusion here?

PEREZ: Well, you know, that's the big problem is I think there's been a lot of buildup towards this hearing because Comey in particular has not

said a great deal in public since this all came to a head.

We expect, though, that the FBI is goinsg to have a problem here in describing what they know.

First of all, there's still a lot that they don't know. This is an ongoing counterintelligence investigation that is still in its early stages, and

these are investigations that sometimes take years to complete and often don't result in charges.

So I think a lot of folks might get disappointed today, because there's a lot Comey and Rogers

will not be able to talk about.

LU STOUT: Evan Perez reporting. Many thanks indeed for that.

And do stay with CNN for the live coverage on the house hearing on Russia. It starts 9:00 p.m. in Hon Kong, that's 1:00 p.m. in London right here on

CNN.

Now, meanwhile, President Trump is being challenged on the foreign policy front as well. Analysts are scrambling to assess North Korea's rocket

capability after the country claimed to successfully tested a new engine.

Pyongyang calls it a great leap forward. South Korea agrees that, yes, some progress has been made. Now, the test follows a string of ballistic

missile tests by North Korea. And while it maintains that its space program is peaceful, better rockets could potentially help

Pyongyang develop an intercontinental missile.

Now, North Korea's test came just hours before the U.S. secretary of state met with the Chinese

president. The growing threat of Pyongyang was, of course, high on the agenda and throughout Rex

Tillerson's first trip to Asia as well.

Will Ripley has more from Beijing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORREPSONDENT: Kristie, these meetings between U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and China's two top diplomats plus the

Chinese president Xi Jjnping really could have gone either way considering what was happening leading up to Secretary Tillerson's arrival here in

Beijing.

Of course there was that tweet from Donald Trump essentially placing much of the blame on China for the escalating tension with North Korea and even

before that there was the pledge by candidate Trump to label Beijing a currency manipulator and he even questioned the One-China policy, which

drew a very swift and harsh response from Beijing and, of course, Trump later backed down on that issue.

But the U.S. is also holding its ground on things that China is unhappy about, like the THAAD

missile defense system with components still arriving in South Korea. And the U.S. also insisting that it will continue joint military exercises with

South Korea even though Beijing says that is what is causing the escalating tension on the Korean peninsula. The U.S. would argue that China is not

using its economic leverage over North Korean leader Kim Jong-un as North Korea's only meaningful trading partner. So, the two sides pretty far

apart on how denuclearize the Korean peninsula, but they did agree, and they said so in their public statements in Beijing, that the two countries

need to work together along with South Korea and Japan to try to rein in North Korea as they continue to develop their nuclear program.

And, of course, another troubling development at the very same moment that Secretary Tillerson was meeting with President Xi, North Korean state media

announced a new type of rocket engine being tested. That wasn't publicly acknowledged. And as far as we know, plans are still in the

works for President Xi to travel to the United States sometime next month for a meeting with President Trump. And it's how that conversation goes

that will really be the important indicator of U.S.-China relations moving forward in the Trump administration - Kristie.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[08:16:06] LU STOUT: Will Ripley there.

Now for the reaction in South Korea, Alexandra Field joins us live from Seoul. And Alex, what

did we learn from North Korea's new rocket engine test?

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, if you take North Korea's word it, their state news agency is saying that you will soon see the

significance of this, that the world will soon see the significance of this. South Korean officials have a different

tact, but they are saying that this is an indicator of progress

They say it appears that North Korea has tested a new type of rocket engine, one that includes a primary engine with four other auxiliary

engines. They say that more analysis is needed in order to determine the thrust of that engine and, therefore, its potential uses. But there are

military analysts and weapons analysts who are weighing in saying that the test of this engine could signal a step forward in

North Korea's stated ambition of test launching an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of carrying a nuclear-tipped warhead all the way

t|the continental U.S.

Of course, this test comes on the heels of other recent tests. Just in the last month, Kristie, we've seen two different rounds of ballistic missile

tests. These tests are primarily significant because they show that the base of this missile program has really accelerated within North Korea and

it also shows that they have made advancements with their missile and nuclear program.

These recent tests have involved both solid-fueled missiles and also mobile launchers, both of

which suggest to analysts that North Korea is looking at various ways to launch missiles more quickly in order to evade attempts at detecting those

missile launches - Kristie.

LU STOUT: And your thoughts on the timing of the tests. I mean, it took place right after, as you point out, a string of weapons tests by the DPRK,

but it also took place just hours before America's down to meet with the Chinese president. Did North Korea attempt to and actually succeed in

upstaging this very important meeting?

FIELD: Look, from North Korean state news there was no mention of that meeting, but cleraly to anyone who was watching this it seemed time for

maximum provocation to have this kind of test at the same time that the top U.S. diplomat was visiting with officials in Beijing. And, of course, you

know, we can't say enough that Beijing is North Korea's closest ally in the region.

U.S. officials were there to apply pressure to Beijing to really enforce the sanctions that are in place. Chinese officials also saying to the U.S.

that there are steps that they could take, like stopping the joint military drills with the South Korean military, which seem to provoke the North

Koreans every year.

The U.S. has said that that is not an option.

What North Korea did succeed in doing by conducting this test at the same time as the Tillerson visit was that they illicited reaction. You had U.S.

President Donald Trump saying about Kim Jong-un that he seems really, really quote bad behavior out of North Korea.

That test came just a day or so after U.S. Secretary Rex Tillerson said that it was clear that 20 years of diplomacy toward North Korea had failed,

that it was time for a new and different approach and it while he said that right here in South Korea that he also acknowledged that a military option

could be on the table if North Korea threatened forces here in South Korea, U.S. or South Korean forces, or if they accelerated their weapons program

to the point where the U.S. felt they had no other recourse.

Those kinds of words certain to get North Korea's attention, then after that you do see this engine test, which has, again, elicited a response not

just from the U.S. but other countries in the region as well, Kristie?

LU STOUT: That's right, despite tough talk from Tillerson, North Korea just went ahead with this new weapons test, this rocket engine test.

Alexandra Field reporting live for us from Seoul. Thank you.

Now, still ahead right here on the program, we got new information about the man who attacked a soldier at a French airport. What his father is

saying about the possible motive.

And chilling accounts of violence inside Myanmar's Rakine State. We speak to a UN representative who has heard these stories firsthand from Rohingya

refugees.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:22:08] LU STOUT: Coming to you live from Hong Kong, welcome back. You're watching News Stream.

Now, the U.S. president is set to host Iraqi prime minister Haider al-Abadi at the White House on Monday. Iraq's fight against ISIS said to be high on

the agenda. Now, the country is in the final stages of eliminating ISIS and is hoping for financial support from the

U.S. and allies.

Mr. Abadi is to address the U.S. Institute of Peace and talk about the strategy to finally defeat ISIS.

The father of the Paris airport gunman says his son was not a terrorist. He says Ziyad Ben Belgacem attacked a soldier because he was drunk and on

drugs.

Now, tests did show that the attacker had alcohol and traces of cannabis and cocaine in his system. Now, two other soldiers shot and killed him

during the attack at Orly Airport on Saturday.

Now, let's go to our Jim Bittermann for the latest from Paris. He joins us now. And Jim, what more have you learned about the attacker and his

possible motive?

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, he said when he attacked the woman soldier or tried to get her gun away from him, he

said I'm here to die for Allah, so I think that's why police believe that he was a terrorist. His

father may say he's not a terrorist, but the fact is he was certainly a criminal known to police. 39 years old. He had been sentenced to a third

of his lifetime in prison for various crimes including armed robbery and bank robbery and -- and drug dealing.

So he was a criminal known to police. Police believe that in the years of 2011 and '12 when he was in prison he was radicalized. They kept him under

watch. He was not the subject of the intelligence services file s, these kind of files that are kept on the most dangerous and most radical -

potentially radicalized people. He was not the subject of one of those files and there will probably be

some questions raised about that.

But he was the subject of police searches. They searched his apartment in 2015, found nothing. What's kind of unclear, although alcohol and drugs

may have had had a hand in this, but what happened on Saturday morning exactly, because he got -- he was in the midst of a routine traffic stop by

police. He struck the police officer and ran away. And then stole a car. And in the midst of all of that, he called his father and said to his

father I've just done something really stupid, and I apologize to you. I'm sorry, dad. And I'll see you.

And in fact what he did after that was to go to the airport, try to wrestle the soldier's gun away and the other soldiers with the woman soldier who in

fact shot him dead with eight shots.

So he was under the influence of drugs and alcohol. That had something to do with it, but it's not real clear why he suddenly adopted this radical

line, Kristie?

LU STOUT: Got it. And given this attack that happened at Orly Airport and all the recent violence there, security must have turned into the key issue

in France's presidential election.

[08:25:08] BITTERMANN: Well, it is. And, in fact, there's a debate tonight. One of the first debate, the real first presidential debates is

going to take place tonight with the first five of 11 candidates that are running for the presidency. And this is almost certainly to come up in the

midst of the debate. It's not the central subject of the debate, but it's certain to come up because I think it's one of the controversial things

here about whether President Hollande has done enough to maintain security, although something like this, an attack against a soldier is almost

impossible to prevent.

And, in fact, the soldiers did exactly what they were supposed to do. The gunman was -- was shot dead before he had a chance to take out anybody

else.

So, the fact is that things worked pretty well, although there may be questioning about this intelligence service, the S file that should have

been kept on this individual who was obviously known to police and thought to be radicalized by police - Kristie.

LU STOUT: So, intelligence perhaps a work in progress, but in terms of the response, security was at the prime ready to go. We know that a state of

emergency remains in force there. What does that mean for daily life in France? Do you sense and do you see a greater security presence on the

streets?

BITTERMANN: Oh, absolutely. I mean, there are soldiers and these military patrols are everywhere, as there's a lot more police presence as well, but

the fact is I think some of this is not seen and that is that police under the emergency powers are able to pretty much wiretap at will. They can put

people under house arrest without necessarily going to judicial authorities.

There's a number of steps that they can and have been taking, and in fact things have been relatively calm here. There will have been a number of

attacks, but attacks have been foiled or have been stopped at very early stages. There was the attack in -- the other day, on Friday, and a young

school student came in to attack and perhaps to seek vengeance on some of his fellow students. That's not really listed as a terrorist offense,

though, and I think the -- the terrorism attacks have to some extent lessened.

So, the government does get some credit for that and I think probably the state of emergency with the increased intelligence gathering powers is

something that has helped that out - Kristie.

LU STOUT: All right.

CNN's Jim Bittermann reporting live from Paris for us. Thank you, Jim.

Now, turning to India where a Hindu nationalist is now the leader of the country's most populous state. Yogi Aditynanath, dressed here in a saffron

colored robe, he was hand-picked by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Their party won in a landslide victory in the state election, home to some 200

million people.

It has more people than the entire country of Brazil.

Now the Yogi is a controversial figure. Opponents have accused him of making inflammatory speeches against Muslims.

Now, you're watching News Stream. And still to come, giving a voice to a persecuted minority. We speak to the UN official investigating Myanmar's

alleged government crackdown against Rohingya Muslims. She shares some of their stories next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(HEADLINES)

[08:31:45] LU STOUT: I want to turn to Myanmar now where Rohingya Muslims continue to flee their desperate situation. They're escaping violence in

Rakine state, pouring into neighboring Bangladesh. And now aid agencies are asking for reinforcements.

The International Federation of the Red Cross is making an emergency appeal for more than

$3 million for the border district of Coxis Bazaar (ph) to ensure new arrivals receive food, shelter and clean water.

Local volunteers will also be trained to give psychological support.

Now for many Rohingya refugees who have fled the Rakine State, they say that they have escaped a fate worse than death. Now, they have detailed

allegations of indiscriminate killings, gang rapes and violence to the UN special rapporteur to Myanmar.

Now, Yanghee Lee visited a camp in Bangladesh recently, meeting with dozens of Rohingya who had made it across the border. And I spoke with her

earlier, asking her to describe some of the harrowing accounts of alleged brutality.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

YANGHEE LEE, UN SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON MYANMAR: I have spoken to more than 140 individuals. One of the story that really haunts me a story of a

mother who - I have pictures of the son, who she thought everybody escaped from the burning house, when she

started to hear crying and screaming, and she went back and she found the boy in flames, and it really is in my mind and I can't get that little

boy's burnt body off my mind.

And what really struck me is when old men started to break down in tears front of me and sob. And this is - you know, the men have great pride and

they do not show tears in front of woman and in front of a foreign woman for that matter, and they were breaking down and crying and telling me that

they have seen their whole family killed in front of their eyes and there is really no hope for them.

LU STOUT: You write that you heard allegation after allegation of horrific events like the

slitting of throats, indiscriminate shootings, setting alight houses with people tied up inside, throwing very young children into the fire. It goes

on and on, harrowing account after harrowing account. Why is this happening? Is this a government purge? Is the government of Myanmar

trying to expel ethnic Rohingya from the country?

LEE: We have to remember that prior to October 9 incident there was systematic discrimination against the Rohingya's by policy, law and

practice. And this has led up to 2012 violence and 2014 violence and now this incident sparked something called a clearance operation which led to a

complete lockdown for four months whereby these incidents, these allegations took place.

LU STOUT: You describe a clearance operation under way targeting Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar. Does this amount to genocide?

LEE: I wouldn't use that word right now, but it does from what the allegations I've heard and

from where I saw it, it could amount to crimes against humanity.

[08:35:02] LU STOUT: How much support is there for a commission of inquiry? This is the highest level human probe into the abuses facing

Rohingya Muslims and their treatment in Myanmar.

LEE: Well, I have called for a COI, but international community really did not have the appetite for a COI, so the resolution is stating a different

language. And we have to see what the resolution or the consensus is formed around this new resolution.

LU STOUT: There's still no appetite for a commission of inquiry, so for those countries that say Myanmar is not ready yet. Aung San Suu Kyi is not

ready yet. It's still a very fragile democracy. It doesn't need to be hurt by some sort of a damning UN report. How do you respond to that?

LEE: When there's 77,000 people running away from their hometown, leaving everything and the estimated figure is about 1,000 dead during this four-

month lockdown, I think that that's a little too many numbers that the international community should really step up to the plate and do what they

are trying to say to promote and uphold human rights and not just in words but really walk the talk.

LU STOUT: And your thoughts about the leadership of Aung San Suu Kyi. She's been under fire for not doing enough on the Rohingya issue. What can

she do and what should she do?

LEE: Well, I think that she should and could speak up a little bit more, at least to address the

human rights violations that are occurring, not only in Rakine and the Rohingya. There's a lot of human rights violations and abuses are

occurring currently in Northern Kachine (ph) and Northern Shan (ph). But I'm afraid the military still has a stronger hold on Myanmar. And we have

to remember that the military is in control of the - of 25 percent of the parliament, of the ministry of home affairs, the border guard, and the

defense.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And that was the UN special rapporteur to Myanmar Yanhee Lee speaking with me earlier.

Now, CNN has reached out to Myanmar's government for a response, but is yet to hear back.

In the past, it has denied systemic violence, but it describes military clearance operations to find militants involved in a deadly attack on

border guards last October.

You're watching News Stream. Still ahead, two U.S. cities want a refund for the money that they spent to protect the U.S. president and his family.

A look at the hefty bills just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back. Now, Hillary Clinton is letting the world know she's ready to step

out of the woods back into the spotlight. She, the defeated Democratic nominee for U.S. president, spoke at a St. Patrick's Day event in

Pennsylvania on Friday, and since her November loss, she has been spotted a few times hiking in New York, but has mostly kept a low profile. And as

she told the crowd those days are over.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, FRM. U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: I'm ready to come out of the woods and to shine the light on what already happening around kitchen

tables, at dinners like this to help draw strength that will enable everybody to keep going.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Now since his inauguration, President Trump has often spent his weekends in Mar-a-Lago, Florida. And the first lady and their son Barron

are living in New York.

Now, in both cities, officials say that they've had to carry a hefty security bill and they have had enough.

Sara Ganim has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA GANIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): We want our money back. That's what the New York City Police Department and Palm Beach County officials

are saying, asking to be reimbursed for the millions of dollars, the cost of protecting the president, his family, and their homes.

In a letter to New York congressional members last month, NYPD commissioner James O'Neill wrote, "Funding will be critical to insure New York City can

allocate the personnel and resources that are necessary to keep the city and all of its residents safe."

Mayor Bill de Blasio talked about this situation back in December.

MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO (D), NEW YORK CITY: We have never had a situation where a president of the United States would be here on such a regular

basis.

GANIM: During the transition period from Election Day to inauguration day, O'Neill says the cost of security Trump Tower and the area around it added

up to $24 million. Palm Beach County officials say they spend an estimated $60,000 in over time every day Trump spends in Florida, protecting Trump

while he is at Mar-a-Lago, that's a bill local taxpayers will have to pay if the federal government or Trump himself doesn't reimburse.

Supporters of the president says he's often working during his trips to Mar-al-Lago, even calling it the winter White House. But the president

himself had harsh words for his predecessor' predecessor's trips.

Back in 2011, tweeting this, "The habitual vacationer Barack Obama is now in Hawaii. This vacation is costing taxpayers $4 million."

During the election, Trump also told the "The Hill," quote, "I would rarely leave the White House because there's so much work to be done." So far,

Trump has spent more than one-fourth of his time in office at Mar-a-Lago. There are more moving parts for the Secret Service when it comes to the

first family. Trump has multiple homes. His adult children frequently travel, and his wife, Melania, and their son, Barron, live in New York

City, a decision the NYPD says a cost the department up to $146,000 a day.

Sara Ganim, CNN, New York.

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LU STOUT: And that is News Stream. I'm Kristie Lu Stout, but don't go anywhere. World Sport with Alex Thomas is next.

END