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NEWS STREAM
Paul Manafort Receive 47 Months In Prison; After all the chaos and misery, Hundreds Of ISIS Fighters Surrender, But Some Say The Defeat Is Only Temporary; Families Of MH-370 Passengers And Crew Still Search For Answers; In The Philippines, A Measles Outbreak Has Already Killed More People This Year Than All Of Last Year. Aired: 8-9a ET
Aired March 08, 2019 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KRISTIE LU STOUT, HOST, "NEWS STREAM" (voice over): A surprising judgment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER, CNN: Paul Manafort received 47 months in prison.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT (voice over): A sentence many call shockingly lenient for Donald Trump's former campaign manager.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D), CONNECTICUT: This sentence failed to do justice to the very serious crimes that Manafort has committed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT (voice over): After all the chaos and misery, hundreds of ISIS fighters surrender, but some say the defeat is only temporary.
And five years on --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have not said goodbye. It's still, "See you when you come back."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT (voice over): Families of MH-370 passengers and crew still search for answers.
LU STOUT (on camera): I am Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong, and welcome to "News Stream." A miscarriage of justice, disrespect for the law, a joke.
These are some of the reactions to the sentence given to President Trump's former campaign chairman.
Now, Paul Manafort was handed down 47 months in prison on Thursday for financial fraud, that's a far cry from Federal sentencing recommendations
that were as high as 25 years. Manafort's crimes were discovered during the Russia probe, but they were committed before he worked for Mr. Trump.
But the sentencing was only a halftime in Manafort's legal battles. He is facing another sentencing next week which could add years to his prison
time.
Jessica Schneider joins us live from Washington with more, and Jessica, the prison term just given to Manafort from Judge Ellis, that was far lighter
than what was expected.
JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CORRESPONDENT, CNN: It was, Kristie. So this was round one of the sentencing. The sentencing itself took nearly three hours, but
many are criticizing the sentence itself for falling far short of what was expected. The Judge, of course, sentenced Paul Manafort to just less than
four years in prison.
It is the longest sentence to date stemming from Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, but since prosecutors were pushing for close to 25
years, critics are slamming the sentence as just too lenient.
And meanwhile, the President has remained silent on this.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
SCHNEIDER (voice over): President Trump's former Campaign Chairman, Paul Manafort, sentenced to nearly four years in prison for tax and bank fraud.
Far less than the sentencing recommendation of 19 to 24 years. District Court Judge T.S. Ellis III, a Reagan appointee, calling those guidelines
excessive but stressing that Manafort's crimes were clear and undeniably serious. A number of Democrats criticizing the sentence as excessively
lenient.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BLUMENTHAL: This sentence, in my view, failed to do justice to the very serious crimes that Manafort has committed, as well as his utter disrespect
for the law.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHNEIDER (voice over): Prior to his sentencing, Manafort seated in a wheelchair, asking the Judge for compassion, remarking, "The last two years
have been the most difficult of my life. To say that I feel humiliated and ashamed would be a gross understatement."
But Manafort did not express any regret for his crimes, something Judge Ellis later said surprised him, but did not impact Manafort's sentence.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEVIN DOWNING, PAUL MANAFORT'S LAWYER: He made clear he accepts responsibility for his conduct.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHNEIDER (voice over): Manafort's lawyer echoing one of President Trump's main talking points after the sentencing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DOWNING: There is absolutely no evidence that Paul Manafort was involved with any collusion with any government official from Russia.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHNEIDER: The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Adam Schiff, criticizing the remark as a deliberate appeal for a pardon. Prior to
Manafort's sentencing, White House counselor Kellyanne Conway telling reporters she had not discussed a pardon with the president and has not
heard him role one out.
KELLYANNE CONWAY, COUNSELOR TO DONALD TRUMP: It did seem that what the sentence may be was much more than perhaps other people get for bigger
crimes.
SCHNEIDER: President Trump has expressed sympathy for Manafort, saying this when asked about a possible pardon last November.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The question was asked of me by "The New York Post," and I said, "No, I have not offered any
pardons." And I think they asked for whatever, "Would you?" I said I'm not taking anything off the table.
SCHNEIDER: President Trump's lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, telling the Associated Press, "I feel terrible about the way Manafort has been treated. He's not a
terrorist. He's not an organized criminal. He's a white-collar criminal. The man was treated this way because he wouldn't lie."
(END VIDEO TAPE)
SCHNEIDER: Now, as part of this nearly four-year sentence, Manafort will receive credit for the nine months that he's already served in solitary
confinement. Manafort will also have to pay $25 million in restitution to the government, and of course, he'll get that second sentence next week
from a Washington, D.C. judge for the two crimes he's pleaded guilty to. That judge has been tough on Paul Manafort, so the sentence could be more
substantial and it could be stacked on top of Manafort's nearly four-year Virginia sentence -- Kristie.
LU STOUT: >> Jessica Schneider reporting, thank you. Now, let's dig deeper into the political and legal repercussions of the sentencing. We're
joined now from Washington by CNN's legal analyst and former Federal prosecutor, Shan Wu; also with us is CNN senior political analyst, John
Avlon. He's speaking with us from New York. Hello to you both. Thank you for joining us and Shan, let's start with you, on the lightness of the
sentence. Manafort, he was at one point facing up to, what? Twenty four years in prison. So why did he get 47 months?
SHAN WU, LEGAL ANALYST, CNN: First, I want to say I was out on a very low limb yesterday predicting only six to eight years, but even that was too
high. So that was a very light sentence.
I think what we see here is that the Manafort team, the legal defense team did have some luck in drawing Judge Ellis. If we go back to the beginning
where they were facing these two charges, they chose to bifurcate. They chose to fight on two fronts, one in Virginia, one in D.C.
[08:05:10]
WU: At the time, all of the people second-guessed that. Why open up two different fights when you can have just one. They may have chosen right in
hindsight because they drew Judge Ellis there.
They seem to read him very well. He gave us some hints that he thought maybe Manafort would not have been scrutinized as carefully were he not
part of the Mueller probe if Mueller was not trying to have him flip and that seemed to carry over into the Judge's sentence.
He seemed to really buy the defense team's argument that there was a disproportionality about the potential sentence. As you know, Kristie, the
sense --
LU STOUT: Got it, so the defense team -- yes, they read the judge very well. In the end, they got this soft sentence. And, John, this very
shockingly lenient sentence sent shock waves through the political world. What do you make of it and the message it sends?
JOHN AVLON, SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, two things. First of all, it does recall an old adage by one of the lowest lights in American politics,
Roy Cohn who said, "Don't tell me what the law is; tell me who the judge is." Roy Cohn obviously, not only counsel to John McCarthy, but also to
President Trump earlier in his career.
Judge Ellis's decision -- and again, this isn't over, there's another sentencing coming up next week, so it's not the totality of time he will
serve -- was a landmark in cluelessness because of this indelible phrase. Paul Manafort's quote, "otherwise blameless life." That phrase is not a
punch line, but it should be.
You're talking about a guy who founded the former, you know, what is known as the Torturers' Lobby, somebody who has committed tax fraud on a sort of
an industrial scale, someone who lied repeatedly to prosecutors after comping a deal, somebody who has been involved in nefarious things from
jump including accusations surrounding his behavior during the campaign and his fealty to former Ukrainian and Russian clients.
So the idea that Paul Manafort has an otherwise blameless life shows that Judge Ellis apparently has not done pretty cursory reading on how Paul
Manafort has lived his life.
LU STOUT: Yes, these are some pretty serious crimes and yet, Judge Ellis handing him down 47 months in prison. This is, again, only round one, but
then there's talk about the possibility of a pardon. So Shan, I want to get your thoughts on that. We know the Democratic Representative from
California, Adam Schiff called a statement read out by Manafort's lawyer after this soft sentence was issued, called it a deliberate appeal for a
pardon. Does it seem more likely now that Paul Manafort will get a Presidential pardon?
WU: I think they've set the stage to help him with that. I think they were careful before the sentencing to really focus more on Judge Ellis and
as soon as they got past that hurdle, I think that statement on the steps of the courthouse was obviously directed at President Trump.
I think it gives the President some cover because he's certainly going to spin this as, "Oh, this was a slap on the wrist. It shows it wasn't that
serious of an offense, therefore, I am deservedly going to pardon him." So I think, it actually helps them with the pardon argument.
LU STOUT: And, John, we're still waiting to get that positive tweet from the U.S. President this morning. Any signs that he's given along the way,
signs that a pardon is a strong possibility for Manafort?
AVLON: Well, he has said that he wouldn't take anything off the table. He's praised Manafort in the past for not flipping, using language more
familiar to viewers of mob movies than typically Presidents of the United States. Again, there is this other sentencing coming down. He may, as
Shan says, say that this vindicates me and my position.
It also could be a de minimis enough sentence that it's difficult to pardon a person for it. But I think the other thing it does is really call into
question, not just the judge's decision, but the larger disparity in sentence in America where you have got some folks going to prison for life
for buying marijuana or for small misdemeanors, but this really large scale sort of industrial tax fraud is greeted with a slap on the wrist despite
the career of the individual and the stakes involved in the crimes he has been implicated in. Some of which are the more serious in some respects
may be coming next week.
LU STOUT: Yes, and there's already been a lot of outrage expressed after this sentencing. And, Shan, the story is not over yet because of what's
happening next week. Manafort facing a different judge next week to be sentenced on conspiracy and witness tampering convictions. Could he get
substantial prison time for that?
WU: He could, and it's so interesting, John's point about the disparity because the whole point of the sentencing guidelines, originally, was to
eliminate that. But now, they are more advisory, and so this is an example of what can happen.
So that gives a lot of discretion to the judge in D.C. and, interestingly there, I haven't completely finalized the guidelines calculations, but
those actually could exceed the statutory cap. So therefore, she really has perhaps up to 10 years. I don't think she's going to give him 10 years
consecutively, but I think it's possible that she will run some time concurrent and probably add a little bit more time consecutive, so I'm
looking for that.
[08:10:05]
LU STOUT: Got it and again, we're only on halftime on this. We're going to see what's happening next week. But Shan and John, thank you so much
for joining us and take care to you, both.
President Trump is seizing on comments that his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, made under oath to Congress comments an administration official now
tells CNN the Justice Department may investigate as perjury.
The President cited the U.S. network, MSNBC in a tweet saying this, quote, "Cohen's lawyer contradicts Cohen's testimony about never seeking a
presidential pardon," unquote. Now, here is what Cohen said in that testimony.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL COHEN, FORMER PERSONAL LAWYER TO DONALD TRUMP: I have never asked for nor would I accept a pardon from President Trump.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: Now, his current lawyer now admits that Cohen did ask his attorney at the time to find out if a pardon was possible, but insists
Cohen did not lie because he asked while Cohen and Trump were coordinating their defense.
Meantime, Cohen is suing the Trump organization. The President's former fixer says after he started cooperating with Federal investigators, the
company stopped paying his legal bills as required under his contract.
Now, Cohen says that he is owed nearly $4 million. A lawyer for the Trump organization says it doesn't owe Michael Cohen one penny calling the
lawsuit a desperate money grab.
Now, the U.S. Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her fellow Democrats looking to move forward now after the House overwhelmingly passed a broad resolution
condemning hate. It follows a week of bitter infighting within the Party over how to respond to comments by Representative Ilhan Omar linking Jewish
money to congressional support for Israel.
Pelosi says she believes Omar's comments were not intended to be anti- Semitic.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), SPEAKER OF THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: One resolution addressing these forms of hatred not mentioning her name
because it's not about her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: Now, the resolution was revised and expanded repeatedly this week and it wound up condemning hatred towards Jews, Muslims, African-
Americans, Latinos, Native-Americans, Asian-Americans, Hindus, Sikhs, the LGBTQ community as well as immigrants. Twenty three Republicans voted
against it claiming it was too broad. They wanted it focused only on anti- Semitism.
Now, a top U.S. General is making a warning that the threat from ISIS is far from over. Just ahead, CNN's Ben Wedeman spoke with some of the
fighters fleeing Baghouz, Syria who are still clinging on to their toxic ideology.
Plus, it's been five years since Malaysian Airlines flight MH-370 disappeared and little more than debris has been found since. The search
for answers to this devastating, ongoing mystery, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:15:00]
LU STOUT: We've made it to Friday night here in Hong Kong. Welcome back. This is "News Stream." Now, North Korea is finally acknowledging the
second Summit between Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump ended quote, "unexpectedly" without an agreement.
A report from the state news agency, KCNA says the public at home and abroad are feeling regretful and blaming the U.S. for the failure. It also
attacked what it called Japanese reactionaries for applauding the lack of agreement calling it quote, "Detestable, just like those who deserve a slap
on the face, " unquote.
Now, the fight to retake ISIS's last remaining enclave in Eastern Syria is grinding on. In the past day, people were still fleeing Baghouz in waves,
but the top U.S. General in the Middle East is now warning that the remnants of ISIS are positioning themselves for a potential resurgence.
Hundreds of fighters have surrendered to U.S.-backed forces, but General Joseph Votel says ISIS is making a calculated move.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEN. JOSEPH VOTEL, COMMANDER OF UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND: Reduction of the physical caliphate is a monumental military accomplishment, but the
fight against ISIS and violent extremism is far from over.
Recent observations by our men and women on the ground highlight that the ISIS population being evacuated from the reigning vestiges of caliphate
largely remain unrepentant, unbroken and radicalized.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: You heard it there, "unbroken and radicalized," and that's also what Ben Wedeman found when he spoke with some of the fighters who
surrendered.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
BEN WEDEMAN, SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, CNN (voice over): In defeat, gone is the bravado, the cockiness. In defeat, the men of the so-
called Islamic state bow their heads and cover their faces, a sharp contrast from the shrill triumphalism of ISIS's early days.
"We couldn't fight anymore so we surrendered," Akhmed Asirian (ph) says. In the last few days, hundreds of ISIS fighters have surrendered to the
U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces. Some have yet to give up. This video shot Wednesday of the group's last enclave shows men on foot and
motorbike moving about in broad daylight.
Vanquished ISIS maybe yet, Ahlmar (ph), a Palestinian refugee who grew up in Syria, hasn't given up. He concedes defeat today, but not tomorrow.
"Maybe the Americans rule the world today," he tells me. "But God almighty promised the Muslims that in the end, the world will be ruled by Islam."
Their state is close to death, not their delusions.
"Despite the war and all the problems imposed upon it, I think the Islamic state was a success," Feeraz (ph), an Iraqui tells me. "No one gave it a
chance to offer anything to the world."
The state where men claim to rule in the name of God and women obeyed, is on the brink of extinction, and the children and the women are paying the
price. Caked in dust, dazed and confused, hungry and thirsty, scrambling on to trucks normally used to transport livestock bound for camps to the
north. In defeat, misery is their lot.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
LU STOUT: Powerful reporting there from Ben Wedeman and his team. And Ben joins us now live from Eastern Syria. And Ben, these ISIS fighters, you
know, they tell you that defeat is only temporary. The top U.S. General Votel says that they do remain a threat, but what is their game plan and
how do they plan to surge back?
Okay, unfortunately we just lost that connection with Ben Wedeman. He was reporting from Eastern Syria and we'll try to reconnect with him as soon as
we can.
Now to move on to a grim anniversary this day. It is one of the biggest mysteries in aviation history. Today, Friday, it marks five years since
Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappeared without a trace, and there are still more questions than answers.
The plane, it was on its way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board when it vanished. The families of the passengers and the crew,
they continue to search for answers. The Prime Minister of Malaysia promises to continue to trying to find out what happened, even though the
official search is long over.
The mystery began in March of 2014. It was a routine flight. Malaysia Airlines flight 370 took off from Kuala Lumpur, it headed for Beijing, and
roughly 40 minutes later, the plane appeared to change course and it vanished from radar soon after. The search began almost immediately, and
weeks later, Malaysia's Prime Minister announced that MH-370's flight had ended in the southern Indian Ocean.
[08:20:10]
LU STOUT: In July of 2015, a part of the plane's wing called a flaperon was found over Union Island in the Indian Ocean. It was later confirmed to
be from MH-370 and since then, several more pieces of debris, possibly from the missing plane, have been discovered.
The official search for MH-370 came to an end last May after more than $150 million and countless hours spent, there is still no definitive answer to
the basic question, what happened?
Our aviation correspondent, Richard Quest has been following the story since the very beginning. He joins us now from London. And Richard, five
years on, the plane is still missing. Do you think it will eventually be found?
RICHARD QUEST, AVIATION CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Yes, I have always said that I think it will be found and they might have done a good job of finding it
this time. The last search which Ocean Infinity, the private company was underway, they were pretty much forced to stop by the Malaysian government
who almost refused permission for that search to continue.
They were making good headway and good progress and the progress that has been made does lead to a particular area of the southern Indian Ocean where
they believe the plane rests. Finding it requires a level and a degree of sophistication of search that perhaps we just don't have yet.
But I do think they will find it one day and that will be the only determining factor on -- to bring a conclusion as to what happened. Let me
be clear about this, Kristie, there are plenty of theories. There's lots of conspiracy theories. There's lots of rumors. There's lots of gossip.
There's quite a bit of evidence. But there's no conclusion as to what happened.
LU STOUT: And there's still that lingering concern out there to the traveling public that this could happen again. Richard, could a plane go
missing again?
QUEST: The likelihood, the strict likelihood of it happening again is very, very remote. Because of new technologies that have been introduced,
new ways that the planes, instead of reporting position every 30 minutes now report every 15, every 10, sometimes every few seconds with the latest
technology.
Secondly, you've got new flight boxes being generated, some in the future that will eject from the aircraft. The black box will automatically send
signals if it finds itself in distress. So look, a lot of work has been done. By far, I'll be blunt, it's taken way too long and it's too slow and
it's too little, but the chance of another MH-370 in exact circumstances is remote.
Now, don't get me wrong. Remember the recent crash of a plane which they've only just recovered the flight data recorders out of water. When
things go down in water, it's very difficult to find.
LU STOUT: And on this anniversary and as we wait for definitive answers as to what happened to this flight, we think of the families left behind and
we think of the 239 people who vanished. And Richard, you interviewed one of the pilots just weeks before the plane disappeared. you must have
constantly thought of him while reporting on the story all this time.
QUEST: I did. We did it for a business traveler program a few weeks earlier than that. And when I think about it, I mean, having flown in the
cockpit with the copilot, having -- and here you see that particular trip. He had only been flying for a matter in that particular plane of a matter
of weeks, but if you look overall at all the passengers, the youngest was a matter of a couple of years, the eldest was in their 70s, 80s -- if you
look at the range of people that were on that plane and you look at the geopolitics that took place between China, Malaysia, Australia and you look
at the way it all played out, nobody intended for this to become a circus.
The Malaysians didn't intend for it, but that's what it became. It was an absolute shambles the way it was handled. Now, in the future, one hopes it
will be done much better, but I do believe -- I do believe that one day they will find the plane.
LU STOUT: And, Richard, your advice to those out there to those who have closely followed this story, they want more information and analysis, and
there's a lot of ludicrous theories out there, conspiracy theories out there, what's your advice to them?
QUEST: I would refer them to my book, "The Vanishing of MH-370." but besides that, read the report. If you've got time and you've got the
energy, read the two reports. The Australian Transportation Safety board did their version of accounts and the final official report was produced by
the Malaysians.
[08:25:07]
QUEST: It's a work of -- it's quite a work of substance running to more than 400 pages, but it will dispel you. Any idea that this plane is on an
island with the passengers being held hostage or that they were kidnapped or that it was a makeup or -- I'm not even going to give ground to these
theories because they're so ludicrous and I'll be blunt, offensive in the memory of the 239 people who died.
LU STOUT: Absolutely. So many people desperate for information, but especially for the families as the mystery goes on. Richard Quest, we
thank you for your reporting. Take care.
QUEST: Thank you.
LU STOUT: Now, CNN is marking five years since the disappearance of Flight MH-370 with a special report. CNN's Martin Savidge looks back at one of
the greatest mysteries in aviation history.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CORRESPONDENT, CNN (voice over): Minutes after the transponder stops, the 777 makes an unexpected turn heading west and way
off course.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETER GOELZ, FORMER MANAGING DIRECTOR, NTSB: That the plane turned immediately after the transponder went off is completely inexplicable and
very worrisome.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE (voice over): Peter Goelz is a former managing director of the NTSB.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOELZ: We don't know whether this was done voluntarily, whether it was done under duress. We simply have no idea.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE (voice over): No idea what really happened but Goelz sees a red flag.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOELZ: It was completely out of the ordinary that there was no distress call.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: Tune in, Friday at 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time, that's Saturday 11:00 in the morning in Hong Kong for "Vanished: The Mystery of Malaysia
Flight 370" with Martin Savidge, only here on CNN.
You're watching "News Stream" and still ahead, Philippine health officials race to vaccinate citizens as the death toll mounts from a measles
epidemic. That story is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LU STOUT: I'm Kristi Lu Stout in Hong Kong. You're watching "News Stream" and these are your world headlines. Some U.S. Democrats and legal experts
are appalled by Paul Manafort's lenient sentence. President Trump's former campaign chairman was handed down 47 months in prison on Thursday that's
for bank and tax fraud, but the sentence is a far cry from Federal recommendations that said he should get at least 19 years. Manafort faces
sentencing in another case in Washington next week.
A widespread power outage has left much of Venezuela in the dark. Nicolas Maduro's government says it is due to sabotage at a key hydroelectric power
station. The country's Vice President told state run TV that the outage has led to the President closing schools in public as well as private
sector workplaces.
[08:30:05]
LU STOUT: Our CNN teams in Caracas say power came back on briefly in the capital before going out again. Ahead of a crucial vote in Parliament next
week, the British Prime Minister Theresa May has given a speech in a pro- Brexit town, urging lawmakers to back her Brexit deal or risk the U.K. never leaving the European Union. She also told the E.U. to make
concessions on the key issue of the Irish backstop.
In the Philippines, a measles outbreak has already killed more people this year than all of last year. Health officials say at least 261 people,
mostly children have died in 2019 alone while 2.6 million children in the country are at risk of contracting measles.
The International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent is working with the Philippines Department of Health to immunize children across the
country's hardest hit regions over the next year.
Let's bring in Philippine Red Cross Chairman Richard Gordon. Richard, thank you for joining us. Why is this happening now when the vaccine has
been out there for years widely available, why are we seeing this outbreak?
RICHARD GORDON, CHAIRMAN, PHILIPPPINES RED CROSS: Totally unacceptable particularly in the Philippines, although it's happening in other parts of
the world. In the Philippines, this is happening because I think we've been very lax in terms of the vaccination program, but it has been
dramatically exacerbated by the fact that there was a largely untested drug which was even clarified by the sellers, that drug called Dengvaxia that it
could cause harm.
In the process, many deaths occurred and it was blamed on that drug. So many of the parents got afraid to bring their children or to allow their
children to be vaccinated, not to mention the fact that in other countries there is a campaign against vaccinations, so I think it is totally
unacceptable.
LU STOUT: Yes, there seems to be two issues here. One is boosting vaccine confidence. The other one is just getting kids vaccinated. We're
reporting that 2.6 million children in the Philippines remain at risk. How do you plan to immunize all those unvaccinated kids?
GORDON: Well, the Department of Health is doing its level best now. It's trying to close the gap. We are also helping out. I just met, for
example, with the midwives, the doctors, the nurses, we are getting our acts together. All of our volunteers are on the ground. We're now in
seven provinces and we've already vaccinated about 12,600 plus people and I think as we go along, we were in the Visayas and the center of the
Philippines the other day and we're going to be in other parts of the country, so we're addressing this as quickly as we can.
LU STOUT: Good to hear and that's the other part of the battle is trying to get rid of that skepticism and restoring vaccine confidence. We know
confidence fell, as you mentioned a moment ago, after that dengue fever vaccine scandal of 2014 in the Philippines. How do you rebuild the trust
after something like that?
GORDON: Well, you know, we are telling people that this vaccines have been there for the last so many years, several decades. They have been tried
and tested, you know, one Dengvaxia should not ruin the case, and a lot of people dying and they're getting scared because right now, there are more
deaths in the first two months than in the deaths last year.
You know, last year we only had 202; now, we are 261. There are more cases; 380% rise in cases. So we're spreading the word around and we are
trying to get more people to understand this problem.
LU STOUT: And Richard, just the fact that measles cases are spiking, not just in the Philippine but around the world, does that anger you as a
public health official?
GORDON: Definitely. I'm a volunteer for the last 50 years, and it's -- I'm chagrinned. It's totally crying for something to wake everybody up
from this shoot work. I'm reminded of the 1917 fatal disease called flu where about 50 million to 100 million people died and the world hardly even
realized that it happened and we should be learning from these lessons and it could be any number of diseases that can occur. Tuberculosis is on the
rise, also, and we're looking at polio. We're looking at other things. So we want to be part of the solution, so we will continue to do so.
LU STOUT: Well, good luck with that. This is a wake-up call, vaccinate your child. Richard Gordon of the Red Cross, thank you for joining me.
GORDON: Thank you very much.
LU STOUT: Still ahead right here on "News Stream." Marching for Gender Equality around the world. Protesters mark International Women's Day.
We'll have a live report from London. Keep it here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:35:00]
LU STOUT: Welcome back, and the U.S. Jobs Report for February has just been released. The U.S. economy added 20,000 jobs last month. That is
far, far lower than expected. Economists had, on average, expected about 185,000 jobs. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate ticked down to 3.8%. CNN
is going to break down the U.S. Jobs Report in the next hour on "First Move with Julia Chatterley" that's 10:00 p.m. in Hong Kong, 9:00 a.m. in New
York only on CNN.
Now, protests and celebrations marking International Women's Day is happening this Friday all across the world and this year's theme calls for
a more gender balanced world. In Spain, you see protesters clashing with police during a march for equality. While in Australia, Prime Minister
Scott Morrison sparked outrage by saying men shouldn't have to make way for women's empowerment, and in the U.K., the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle
is taking part in a panel discussion to mark International Women's Day. So let's bring in Max Foster live for us in London. Max, the Duchess is
hosting this greatly anticipated event on this Women's Day. Who is there and what's up for discussion?
MAX FOSTER, ANCHOR, CNN: Well, another former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard is on the panel, also Amy Lennox, who is a famous feminist
and pop star of course. What we're told is these are female thought leaders that have been brought together to discuss a range of issues
affecting women today.
So it's obviously to talk about the importance of International Women's Day, but also they want to bring a spotlight to the obstacles which still
affect female empowerment across the world including access to education and limitations within employment. So it is going to be interesting to see
what she has to say here.
This is a Duchess that doesn't do TV interviews, doesn't really do much media, but what she does do is these sort of extreme ends of appearances if
you like, is getting involved in panels which Royals never do. They might give a speech every so often, which is very controlled, but she's confident
enough on this issue to go in there and ad-lib, effectively, and respond to questions and respond to points made by other members of the panel.
So it will be very interesting what she has to say. It's also quite a diverse panel, a diverse group of people she's speaking in front of, as
well. So the issues of diversity may come up, not just in terms of a mixture of women and men within organizations and educations, but also
different sort of minorities.
LU STOUT: Yes, it will be fascinating to hear what Meghan Markle and the other panelists will say about issues like gender diversity, about female
empowerment and in the backdrop, too of that news, Max is something you've been looking into closely about this battle between Buckingham Palace and
online trolls and abusers, how is the Royal Family beefing up its response to this?
FOSTER: Well, they've effectively had enough of particularly racist and sexist trolls on social media, so they are deleting comments. They're
blocking accounts. They are pre-blocking emojis of knives and guns which suggest violence towards the Royal Family, as well. They want to have a
free and fair conversation on their social media platforms, but at the same time, as our research shows from yesterday, a small group of racist trolls
are actually driving a lot of the agenda here and they just don't want to give them a platform any more.
And the way that feeds into today's International Women's Day is that one of the core narratives that the trolls are exploiting is this idea that the
Duchess of Sussex is at war with the Duchess of Cambridge. There's no evidence of that whatsoever. If there is any tension between the families,
it's between the brothers.
[08:40:07]
FOSTER: So it's a fundamentally sexist narrative and Meghan is furious that this keeps persisting. Reality is, that narrative does well in the
tabloid newspapers, as it always has even going back to Diana's day. It did well. But she thinks it's unfair, it's wrong, and she's going to
perhaps speak to that today. Certainly, the portrayal of women in the media, which she's pretty attune to right now.
LU STOUT: Yes, and this day, she will not be silenced. Meghan will have a chance to speak out, ad-lib about issues that she's very passionate about
and good for her. Max Foster, thank you so much for your reporting and take care.
Now, in Australia, the Prime Minister Scott Morrison, his comments have been sparking some outrage after saying this on International Women's Day.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCOTT MORRISON, AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER: We want to see women rise. But we don't want to see women rise only on the basis of others doing worse.
We want everybody to do better.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: Okay, so the logic there, as you can imagine, Twitter just lit up with criticism over those comments. The Australian senator, Sarah
Hanson-Young tweeted this, quote, "Men who are threatened or worried of women achieving equality is the bloody problem," unquote.
Now, Independent MP Karen Phelps gave the Prime Minister the emoji treatment posting a single wide-eyed shocked face in response to his
comments. Morrison has long been criticized for the lack of female representation among his Party's leadership.
Do you remember those boys from Thailand who were trapped in a cave last year for nearly three weeks? Their story is now coming to Netflix. The
streaming service has signed a deal with the company representing the boys.
As you may recall, the boy's football team was exploring a cave with their coach when flood waters trapped them deep inside and they were finally
rescued after 18 days. The boys and their coach plan to donate 15% of what they make to help the government deal with future disasters.
An unmanned SpaceX capsule is about to splash down into the Atlantic Ocean at any moment after a short stay at the International Space Station.
You're looking at live pictures on your screen from near Cape Canaveral in Florida of that splashdown due to take place. The Crew Dragon will have
completed a first of its kind test mission. Let's just witness this moment as it happens.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... begins to expand as they capture more air further decelerating the Dragon vehicle down to the Atlantic Ocean. Really
can't ask for a more picture perfect shot than that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And, yes, all four chutes now deployed. It's going to continue to descend. It is going to continue to slow down and ultimately
splash down in the Atlantic there. We're now under a kilometer in altitude, just about 750 meters to go.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In case if you're just joining us, you can see on your screen there, Dragon has just reentered the Earth's atmosphere after
departing from the International Space Station. We have a gorgeous shot of four healthy parachutes deployed and slowing the vehicle down as it is
approaching the surface of the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And it is continuing to descend under those chutes. We just passed 500 meters, everything continuing to go look good via reports
to all the flight control teams. Now we're at about 400 meters and just passing 300 meters, continuing to descend. We might be right on time. We
were planning on splashing down at about 5:45 a.m. Pacific and we're getting real close to that bingo time. Just passed 200 meters.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And we have confirmation that Dragon is now under a hundred meters above the surface of the ocean.
[08:45:14]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Next up, standing by for splash down. And there we have confirmation of splash down. Dragon has returned to Planet Earth. It
is now back home and you can see on your screen are two fast boats racing out to the capsule now in recovery.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That splashdown came right on time.
LU STOUT: And there you have it, we just witnessed history. The SpaceX Crew Dragon, which is unmanned, but built to carry crew on board, has just
floated down. A beautiful splashdown from the International Space Station and that was a historic first. Its historic first test flight. And that
is "News Stream" and I'm Kristi Lu Stout. Got to go. "World Sport" is next.
(SPORTS)
[09:00:00]
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