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Taiwan Government Protests Deportation of Citizens From Kenya to Mainland China; Donald Trump's CNN New York Town Hall; al Qaeda Making Resurgence in Afghanistan. Aired 8-9a ET
Aired April 13, 2016 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[08:00:15] KRISTIE LU STOUT, HOST: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong and welcome to News Stream.
Now, Taiwan citizens arrested in Kenya and forced to fly to Mainland China. Their government calls it a gross violation of basic human rights.
Afghanistan warns that al Qaeda is growing again inside its borders.
And Donald Trump's children have a chance to defend their father during a CNN town hall.
And we begin with a diplomatic storm that spans from Asia to Africa. Taiwan is accusing Beijing of overstepping its legal bounds after dozens of
Taiwan citizens were deported from Kenya to Mainland China.
Now, a Kenyan court had acquitted them of fraud charges, but a Chinese official suggests that they may now face prosecution in China.
This cell phone video, it was purportedly taken inside a jail in Kenya showing some of the detainees resisting deportation. Earlier I asked
Taiwan lawmaker Freddy Lynn about reaction to the case at home.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FREDDY LIM, FOUNDING LEADER, NEW POWER PARTY, TAIWAN: We are worried a lot about that happening more frequently lawmakers. We are NPP, as lawmaker,
we have strongly urged that the Chinese government communicate through all channels so that the Taiwanese in China (inaudible) protection of human
rights as well as (inaudible) visitation rights to their families and Taiwan officials and let these people return to Taiwan as soon as possible.
This brutal way of Chinese government is not uncommon. And it has been criticized in the international community. But at this point, we still
have to worry about that through the brutal way the Chinese government wants to intimidate Taiwan's democracy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: That was Taiwan lawmaker Freddy Lim speaking to me earlier.
Let's get more on the official reaction from Taiwan. And joining me now from Nairobi is John Chen. He is a representative of the Taipei liaison
office in South Africa and he joins us now.
Mr. Chen, thank you for joining us. And, first, can you please clarify how many Taiwanese workers are still in Kenya? How many Taiwanese workers have been deported to China?
JOHN CHEN, TAPEI LIAISON OFFICE IN SOUTH AFRICA: Five are still held in Kenya. And altogether, conjectively (ph), 45 common citizens were sent to
China instead of Taiwan, the home country of their origin.
LU STOUT: And for those who have been deported, where are they now? Have they arrived in mainland China?
CHEN: Yes. They have arrived in China already.
LU STOUT: And what have you been able to hear about how they are being treated and whether they will face prosecution in China?
CHEN: I am not 100 percent sure about their destiny in China. And we have contacted the authorities concerned, to alarm to the size of the
(inaudible). And according to the communication, those who have been sent to China are under investigation. And without request, they welcome Taiwan
to send over an expert or a couple of experts to participate in the investigation.
But it's not sure for how long they would conduct this investigation and when they will be returned to Taiwan.
We certainly request that they be returned to Taiwan as soon as possible.
LU STOUT: You have made this request. But in addition to that, what is the
Taiwan's plan here to bring the Taiwanese workers, 45 of them, back to home soil?
CHEN: Can you say that again.
LU STOUT: What is Taiwan's plan to bring 45 deported Taiwanese nationals back to Taiwan?
CHEN: After they will send back to Taiwan we will investigate the goings on of what they did when in Kenya. And if necessary, they will be sent to
court for the investigation.
[08:05:07] LU STOUT: Okay. What is your thinking about why China is doing this? Because these Taiwanese workers, they went through the legal process
in Kenya. They were they are acquitted there. They had been deported in China. Why is China doing this right now?
CHEN: They -- for those who have been acquitted by Kenyan court, they shouldn't be tried again, because that would be double jeopardy. And for
those still under investigation in China, they should been deported to China. If they are to be deported, they should have been deported to
Taiwan where they are from instead of China.
LU STOUT: And what is the level of concern and fear among fellow government officials in Taiwan, the people in Taiwan, about these
deportations? I understand many people are outraged and fearful about what could happen to them if they travel beyond Taiwan?
CHEN: This has become a burning issue in Taiwan. And I believe every citizen of Taiwan knows of this case. This case of this kind would serve
as kind of deterrence for potential (inaudible) tourists to come over to Kenya, because they would risk being arrested or detained without the legal
process.
LU STOUT: Mr. Chen, we will leave it at that. Thank you very much for joining us. That was John Chen Taipei liaison office in South Africa
joining us live on the line from Nairobi in Kenya. Thank you.
Now, let's get the view now from Beijing. Our correspondent Matt Rivers is there and he joins us now.
And Matt, as you heard just then from Mr. Chen of the Taiwan liaison office he says that the Taiwanese workers, they have already been deported have
arrived in mainland China. But he's not sure about their fate, under destiny in
China. What are your thoughts on this? What will happen to them on mainland Chinese soil?
MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Chinese officials have not really given a lot of details as to their plans for the people that have been
deported here. But what they have said is that are investigating these Taiwanese nationals for crimes they have allegedly committed, because in
the words of Chinese officials, these crimes that they are allegedly to have committed while in Kenya, the alleged victims of those crimes, for the
most part, were from here in mainland China.
So that, according to Chinese officials, give them some sort of jurisdiction in order to investigate these people. So, I think what you
can expect here in China is that these people will remain detained here in China until the Chinese officials feel satisfied that their investigation
has run its course.
But there is something else going on here as well, Kristie. As we have talked about before, and that is the one China policy. And so the other
thing that Chinese officials have said is that it is their view that Taiwan is a renegade province. And that anyone who lives in Taiwan is in
actuality a Chinese citizen.
So, if Kenya were to deport a Chinese citizen, they would not go to Taiwan, they would come here to China.
Now, as to why Kenya felt the need to deport these Taiwan nationals, even though they were already acquitted of crimes in Kenya, that's another
question altogether.
But that is the view here in China.
LU STOUT: And that's the next question I want to explore with you. The fact that Kenya handed over these Taiwanese workers to China, you know,
many believe it was so please China. How much influence, how much leverage does the Peoples Republic of China have on countries across Africa?
RIVERS: There is no doubt that China's imprint in the continent of Africa and specifically in the country of Kenya has been growing as of late. It
was just a couple of years ago that China announced a $5 billion plan to improve the infrastructure within Kenya.
That's not to say the other commercial interests that they've invested and the aid that they've given the country.
And so there's no doubt that China is certainly making its presence known in
Kenya. But to say that is the reason that these Taiwan nationals were deported from Kenya, I don't think anyone can affirmatively say that that
is the reason.
But there is no doubt that China has a growing influence in countries like Kenya.
LU STOUT: All right, Matt Rivers reporting live from Beijing for us. Thank you very much indeed for that.
Now, there are new nuclear fears on the Korean peninsula this hour. The South Korean military is on alert for what it suspects will be another
missile test by Pyongyang.
Now, this one is especially alarming, because U.S. officials think that the North may be ready to try out a mobile ballistic missile launcher. And
there are fears it could put the U.S. mainland within range.
Paula Hancocks reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[08:10:03] PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kristie, a military official here in South Korean tells us that they are closely
monitoring for a possible fifth nuclear test by North Korea, or a ballistic missile test or even a mobile ballistic mobile launch. That would be the
first time that North Korea had carried that out.
Now, this was after we asked them about a CNN report that U.S. intelligence satellites have spotted activity that Pyongyang is possibly preparing for
one of those mobile launches, the first ever.
Now two U.S. officials say it could be a Musudan (ph) missile, which could reach Guam. Less likely it could be a KN08 (ph), which or one that could
hit the Pacific Northwest of the U.S. or even a KN14 (ph), which was believed to be
unveiled at a military parade last year. Experts say it may have a further reach, although they don't know much about that missile.
Now, of course U.S. officials caution that North Korea may not launch anything at all, but at this point officials here in Seoul, officials in
Washington, appear to believe that the best course of action is to take Kim Jong-un at his word when he says that he wants to do more missile and
nuclear testing so that they can be ready for any eventuality -- Kristie.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: All right. Paula Hancocks there.
Now, in the last hour, the British prime minister appeared before lawmakers during his weekly prime minister's questions. David Cameron, he quickly
deflected attention away from the personal fallout over his link to an offshore fund that was set up by his late father.
Now, lawmakers, they took Mr. Cameron to task over his connection to the Panama Papers scandal earlier in the week.
But the word from the floor of parliament today very much about Mr. Cameron getting ahead of that issue.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID CAMERON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: The honorable lady makes an important point, which is we need to make sure that all the evidence coming
out of Panama is proper investigated. That is why we have set up a special cross-agency team, including the crime agency, the HMRC, and other relevant
bodies to make sure we get to the bottom of what happened.
But she is right to reference the fact that these organizations are operationally independent. It would be quite wrong for a minister or a
prime minister to order an investigator into a particular building in a particular way. That is not a rubicon we want to cross in this house.
So empower the national crime agency, empower the HMRC, give them the resources and let them get on with the job.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: And that was the British Prime Minister David Cameron answering more questions in the wake of the Panama Papers scandal.
Now, operations at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport have returned to normal after part of the main terminal was evacuated on Tuesday.
Now, authorities say a suspicious man was brought in for questioning while a bomb squad went through his luggage.
No explosives were found. But the man remains in custody while police determine why he was at the airport.
A second arrest was made at a train station not far from the airport, but it's unclear if the two are connected.
Now, police in Belgium have arrested and charged two more men in connection with last month's bombings in Brussels. They also say the man they most
wanted to catch is now in custody.
Now, authorities have identified Mohamed Abrini as the man seen wearing a hat in security camera footage taken just before the Brussels airport
attack. He was arrested on Friday. And now CNN has obtained footage from inside the apartment he's thought to have used.
Kellie Morgan has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLIE MORGAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is the building where Mohamed Abrini spent his last night of freedom. The next day, as he walked
along this busy little street, just 20 meters away, police pounced on him.
Later that night they raided the apartment he'd just slept in. The front door was also dusted for fingerprints. The woman who lives here arrested
but later released without charge.
We were invited into the building by the man who filmed the raid, her neighbor, Joseph. We go to a park away from his home where he feels more
comfortable talking to us.
And he explains how he saw Abrini in his neighborhood, though he didn't recognize him.
JOSEPH, NEIGHBOR (through translator): He shaved his beard, cut his hair real short. Now that I have seen his picture all over the media, it's like
a flashback. I saw him last week, a few days before his arrest, but I didn't recognize him. It was very brief. I saw him when I was going back
home. I wish I had recognized him.
MORGAN (voice-over): As for the woman Abrini stayed with, she told CNN's French affiliate she didn't know he was a wanted man but wouldn't speak to
us to confirm her story.
The woman told Joseph that she met Abrini at a local cafe here near the fresh food market and they got talking. She'd just bought a new TV and he
acted the Good Samaritan and offered to help her carry it home.
JOSEPH (through translator): I think Abrini was trying to hide himself. He found a naive women. He tried to be friendly to her and tried to pretend he
didn't have a place to go.
[08:15:02] MORGAN (voice-over): It illustrates how one of the most wanted fugitives in Europe evaded authorities by hiding in plain sight, moving
around in regular neighborhoods, living amidst unassuming residents.
JOSEPH (through translator): I live alone but all the other apartments are couples. We are all in shock. The situation is so complicated. We are all
collateral damage.
MORGAN (voice-over): Joseph wants people to know his neighborhood is not a hotbed for alleged terrorists.
JOSEPH (through translator): Since Friday, my life has become a nightmare. My girlfriend doesn't want to see me anymore because she says I live in a
neighborhood where there could potentially be terrorists.
"You live with terrorists," she said.
It's unfair.
MORGAN (voice-over): Yet another way Abrini has left trauma in his wake.
Kellie Morgan, CNN, Brussels.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: You're watching News Stream. And still ahead, a new warning from Afghanistan's defense minister. He says the terror group that
triggered the U.S. invasion after 9/11 is gaining strength inside his country.
Plus, a terror group turning victims into weapons. The tactic by Boko Haram that is costing more young children their lives.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LU STOUT: Coming to you live from Hong Kong, you are back watching News Stream.
Now, there is an alarming resurgence of al Qaeda in Afghanistan, that's according to the country's defense minister.
He says al Qaeda's renewed partnership with the Taliban is of great concern.
Now, Nick Paton Walsh spoke with the defense minister about how the terror group is regrouping.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
[08:20:17] NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SR. INTL. CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Remember why the United States came to Afghanistan?
Well, Al Qaeda are back and thriving, a big threat, finding safe haven here, according to Afghanistan's defense chief. Even U.S. officials here
admit there's a lot they don't know and there could be hundreds of Al Qaeda core members here.
MOHAMMED STANEKZAI, ACTING AFGHAN DEFENSE MINISTER: They are really very active. They are working in quiet and deal organizing themselves and
preparing themselves for more bigger things.
They are working behind other networks again, giving them the support, giving them the experience they had in different places.
They are not talking too much. They are not making too many press statements.
(CROSSTALK)
STANEKZAI: Yes. It is a big threat.
WALSH (voice-over): A big threat, they say, because the Taliban, who was said to have regretted harboring bin Laden, have again decided to get close
to Al Qaeda.
STANEKZAI: The big cover is Taliban because they are enabling the Al Qaeda and the ISIL and the...
WALSH: The phrase "renewed partnership" is what John Campbell (ph) used, the former U.S. commander here.
STANEKZAI: And because as you know, they need the fighters. They need the support and the experience and they need recruitment from other places.
This is why that they impressed them.
WALSH (voice-over): Alarms were raised by a 30-square mile camp found and obliterated by Afghan and U.S. forces in a remote part of Kandahar late
last year, revealing Al Qaeda's true strength to Afghan and U.S. officials.
MAJ. GEN. JEFF BUCHANAN, DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF, U.S. FORCES IN AFGHANISTAN: Very sophisticated ties back into Al Qaeda and a subset, which is called
Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent.
To find them in Afghanistan also caused us quite a bit of concern.
If you go back to last year, there were a lot of intel estimates that said that, within Afghanistan, Al Qaeda probably has 50-100 operators or 50-100
actual Al Qaeda members in Afghanistan. Well, at this one camp, we found more than 150.
So I think that...
(CROSSTALK)
WALSH: ...gap in your knowledge as to...
BUCHANAN: I think there is. I think that, you know, there's not thousands of them but clearly in remote parts of Afghanistan there are Al Qaeda
leaders that we're concerned about and what they are capable of doing.
WALSH: And they are plotting still attacks against the West?
BUCHANAN: Absolutely.
WALSH: That's their core concern?
BUCHANAN: That is their core concern. They have made those announcements and they've never backed off of it.
WALSH: Well, clearly attacks the West, one matter of concern about Al Qaeda's resurgence here. But there is another spinoff and that has
potentially an enormous impact on what is the key tenet of U.S. and Afghan policy here with the Taliban and that's to find some sort of diplomatic or
negotiated settlement with them.
Now they're clear; the U.S. and Afghanistan, that that can't happen until the Taliban renounce, quote, "international terrorism," but it seems quite
the opposite is happening with this renewed partnership they have with Al Qaeda.
They have, in fact, made the new deputy of the new Taliban leader is a man called Siraj Haqqani, who U.S. considered to be the leading facilitator of
Al Qaeda in Afghanistan.
It does seem the Taliban and Al Qaeda are getting closer together rather than further apart although some officials insist they're a moderate
Taliban who still want to see some kind of peaceful settlement.
But as the Taliban expand in the territory they control here, there are fears that buys more space for Al Qaeda to potentially plot attacks outside
of Afghanistan and again find themselves safe havens here, 15 years after the U.S. intervened to try and catch bin Laden.
Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Kabul.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: And from the fight against al Qaeda in Afghanistan, I want to take you now to the heart of war against Boko Haram.
Now, David McKenzie traveled to northern Cameroon near the border with Nigeria. And he joins me now live from Johannesburg.
And David, you went into the front line against Boko Haram. What did you see?
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kristie, what we saw is in a region that's in crisis, Boko Haram surfaced some years ago in
Nigeria, but it spread its tentacles into four countries -- Chad, Nigeria, Niger, and of course Cameroon.
And though the multinational force that is pushing against Boko Haram has squeezed them into
smaller territories, they are now desperately using asymmetrical attacks, it seems, which has really affected these areas horribly.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MCKENZIE (voice-over): Crossing into Nigeria on foot with Cameroonian soldiers, headed to remote outposts overlooking the fight against ISIS-
affiliated Boko Haram, the world's deadliest terrorist group.
The soldiers say their forward operating positions on the mountain come under frequent attack.
Boko Haram fighters are based in these villages in the valley. But the trouble is that positions like this can be ineffective against an
increasingly unconventional fight.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One day they use unconventional attack, the next day an ambush, the following day suicide bombers.
[08:25:27] MCKENZIE (voice-over): So Boko Haram still slips past the soldiers into villages like this one, where they burnt out the pastor's
house, destroyed the church, kidnapped scores of girls.
And further from the front, in cities like Maroua, they use abducted girls to kill.
Young women came into this market, pretending to sell wares to these vendors, the explosion so extreme it blew off the roof. Ten people were
killed. A new report says that increasingly girls and young women are being used in these attacks.
(voice-over): The UNICEF numbers show that the attacks have increased tenfold with Cameroon targeted the most. Now the market is often empty.
Abdulrahman (ph) witnessed the last attack.
ABDULRAHMAN (PH), ATTACK WITNESS: Since that day, when I see a young lady or a girl I don't know, I am afraid..
MCKENZIE (voice-over): Even if it they escape abduction, young girls like Matawasa (ph) suffer. Both her parents were shot by Boko Haram.
MATAWASA (PH), BOKO HARAM SURVIVOR: When they attacked, we ran into the forest with people we did not know. I don't want to go back to my village.
The war is there.
MCKENZIE (voice-over): More than a million children like her have been displaced by this war.
To protect their school on the edge of the red zone, vigilante teams patrol, setting up checkpoints armed with rudimentary weapons. They check
every stranger to stop terror attack, especially girls.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (inaudilbe) Boko Haram has changed the way we perceive strangers. We don't want to be this way, but we don't (inaudible).
MCKENZIE (voice-over): It's a society turned on its head. Girls should be protected; here in the far north of Cameroon, they are feared.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MCKENZIE: And as they squeezed Boko Haram, there are hundreds, perhaps even thousands, Kristie, of girls who are still kidnapped by the terror
group. When they escape they are often feared by their communities, because they feel maybe they are brainwashed even though generally those
girls just want to get home to their families and to safety -- Kristie.
LU STOUT: You know, the actions of Boko Haram absolutely despicable. They are kidnapping girls. They are raping them. They are also using them as
suicide bombers. Boko Haram must be stopped. So, why is it that local forces struggle to stop Boko Haram?
MCKENZIE: Part of it is geography. These -- the sort of fulcrum of the countries that meet where we were there in Cameroon. It is a porous
border. Though there are those positions, like you saw at that forward operating base, there are ways to sneak into the villages, attack, raid,
steal children, and then run off.
And because Boko Haram has changed somewhat, it was at one point almost a conventional fighting force, now they have these small cells spread
through the villages and then they send the girls out as, quote, unquote suicide bombers. It is extremely difficult to change this.
One of the solutions they feel isn't military, it is really developmental, getting into these areas,
developing schools and livelihoods, that's incredibly difficult to do and takes time. But really this crisis has been ignored by the world. You
know, the UN itself, the amount of money they need to do this work, it's only fractionally funded. And really it hasn't seen the level of attention
we have seen in other crises around the world.
LU STOUT: So appreciate deeply your reporting. And a reminder of the crisis and the threat that is Boko Haram.
David McKenzie reporting live for us. Thank you.
Now, you're watching News Stream. And still to come, it is indeed all hands on deck for Donald Trump and his presidential campaign. His family
took the stage at CNN's town hall and they spoke about their personal experiences with the Republican front-runner.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(HEADLINES)
[08:33:04] LU STOUT: Donald Trump has been railing against the Republican Nationa Committee, accusing them of stacking the rules against him. And he
kept up that rhetoric on Tuesday evening when he was joined on stage by his family for a special CNN Republican town hall.
Michelle Kosinski has that for us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: You don't think the RNC wants you to get the nomination?
DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: No I don't think so.
MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Republican frontrunner Donald Trump calling out the Republican National Committee during CNN's town hall
Tuesday night, accusing them of conspiring to keep him from clinching the GOP nomination by denying him delegates.
TRUMP: I won Louisiana. I won it easily.
COOPER: You won the popular vote.
TRUMP: I won the popular vote. And because of all these shenanigans that goes on --
COOPER: You call them shenanigans, but those are the rules. Didn't you know them?
TRUMP: I know the rules very well. But I know that it's stacked against me by the establishment.
KOSINSKI: Trump alleging the Republican Party is, quote, "100 percent" controlled by the RNC and that rules were changed to stop him.
TRUMP: They changed the rules a number of months ago.
COOPER: About eight months ago.
TRUMP: That's not very long ago.
COOPER: But you had a lot of time to prepare --
TRUMP: Do you know why they changed the rules? Because they saw how I was doing and they didn't like it.
KOSINSKI: Trump's family later joining the candidate onstage, Trump's daughter taking on critics who say their father is disrespectful to women.
IVANKA TRUMP, DONALD TRUMP'S DAUGHTER: He always taught me that there wasn't anything I couldn't do. And I don't think that is the message a
father would relay to a daughter who he didn't believe had the potential to accomplish exactly what her brothers could.
KOSINSKI: Both pointing to upbringing of evidence of an equal opportunity father and business mogul.
TIFFANY TRUMP, DONALD TRUMP'S DAUGHTER: My father since I've been a little girl has always just inspired me and had so much faith in me to be the best
person I can be, the best woman I can be.
KOSINSKI: Trump admitting that when it comes to debates, his family sometimes wishes sometimes he would lighten up.
TRUMP: They always say, be nicer on the debates. I say, wait a minute, they're coming at me from all these different angles. How can I be nice?
But Melania in particular would say be nicer in the debates. I said I can't do that. I have to win first.
KOSINSKI: Donald Trump Jr. agrees.
DONALD TRUMP JR., DONALD TRUMP'S SON: Everyone talks about that tone. But there also comes a time where you have to put the hammer down. There comes
a time where being nice and trying to do all this stuff, when people are laughing at your face, you have to actually fight back. And that's what's
so important about what he does.
KOSINSKI: Trump's wife Melania pushing her husband to act for presidential.
COOPER: How would you like him to be different?
MELANIA TRUMP, DONALD TRUMP'S WIFE: Just to use nice language.
COOPER: Better language.
MELANIA TRUMP: Sometimes better language. Not all the time. Sometimes I agree with it.
COOPER: Someone yelled out something at one of his rallies.
MELANIA TRUMP: Correct, and he repeat it.
COOPER: And you were upset with that.
MELANIA TRUMP: Yes. And I was thinking just don't repeat it because next day the press all they will talk about the word, inappropriate word, and
that was correct.
KOSINSKI: And on changing his tone, Trump says he can switch it up any time.
TRUMP: It is easy to do. It is easier to do it the way I behave right now.
COOPER: So why not?
TRUMP: Because I have two more people I have to take out.
(LAUGHTER)
KOSINSKI: But when it comes to the re-tweeting that sparked Trump's recent war of wives last month with Ted Cruz, Trump says, yes, it is the re-tweets
that usually get him in hot water and that it is all his own doing.
TRUMP: During the evenings after 7:00 or so, I will always do it by myself.
COOPER: Do you ever want to say to him put the mobile device down.
MELANIA TRUMP: If he would only listen. I did many times. And I just say, OK, do whatever you want. He's an adult. He knows the consequences.
KOSINSKI: But it is the special bond they say they all have with their father that Trumps it all.
DONALD TRUMP JR.: He's just always had so much love for us and this whole family. He's an amazing guy, one of my best friends in the entire world,
maybe my best friend in the entire world.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: And that was CNN's Michelle Kosinski reporting.
And it will be Ted Cruz's turn Thursday 9:00 a.m. Hong Kong time. He will be joined by his wife Heidi at his CNN town hall.
And Friday morning, don't miss the democratic presidential debate as Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders face off live from New York, that's at
9:00 Hong Kong time only on CNN.
Now, as journalists we are often told in a half joking way when you publish an article online, don't read the comments. Now, the reason, so-called
trolls who post dismissive or insulting comments often targeting the writer or other readers
Now, one organization, The Guardian, has investigated some 70 million comments posted over its site the last decade. And today, it says almost
1.5 million have been blocked because they are abusive or off topic.
And two other findings as well, of the 10 regular writers most abused within the comment section, 8 are women, and the two men are both black.
And the 10 regular writers who got the least abuse? All are men.
Now, it is one of the most famous rifts in rock music, but the question is did Led Zeppelin really write the beginning of Stairway to Heaven? That is
a question the court will consider. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:40:02] LU STOUT: All right, some news coming in to CNN. A train controller has been arrested in Germany accused of playing computer games
at the time of a train crash, which killed 11 people. It happened earlier this year.
Now, a statement emailed to CNN said the controller had been detained on suspicion of manslaughter and gross negligence. And the statement went on
to say this, quote, the investigation shows the accused had violated operational rules during the morning of the crash by switching on his
mobile phone, launching an online computer game and playing until shortly before the collision of the trains.
Now, the crash in February, it happened about 60 kilometers southeast of Munich. And police said at least 24 people suffered severe injuries,
another 61 had less serious injuries.
Now, it is fair to say that Led Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven is one of rock's most famous
anthems. And the famous opening guitar riff, it is instantly recognizable. But those few bars have
landed the group in court.
As Paul Vercammen explains, a jury will be asked to consider whether parts of the song were
stolen from a much less famous band.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The lawyers for the surviving members of Led Zeppelin say this suit relies too much on hyperbole and hearsay and
gossip. \ But the lawyer for Randy California, he's the guitarist, the singer/songwriter for the group Spirit, he says just listen. The songs are
just too much the same.
(MUSIC)
VERCAMMEN: The lawyer of the estate of Randy California will not reveal how much he is
seeking, just that he wants Randy California to get credit.
But in the music business if you get credit for song writing that can be extremely lucrative.
Now, this case is going to go deep into the weeds of song structure. In fact, the judge has said, yes, these songs do share what's called a
descending four chord chromatic progression. But he said there are way too many other similarities and that's why they will go forward with a trial in
May.
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LU STOUT: And that was CNN's Paul Vercammen reporting there.
Now, the copyright trial is scheduled for May 10. And you may remember Brother Cream, Hong Kong's own celebrity cat. I paid him a visit on
Tuesday, but he didn't appear to be too happy, perhaps that's because the feline celebrity and his owners are getting evicted from his convenience
store home, the latest victims of Hong Kong's rising rent prices.
Now Brother Cream will have to leave the iconic storefront by next month.
And that is News Stream.
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