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NEWS STREAM

U.S. Calls Off Ceasefire Talks With Russia; Vice Presidential Candidates Set to Debate Tonight; Hurricane Matthew Slams Into Haiti

Aired October 04, 2016 - 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: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong and welcome to News Stream. Now, Hurricane Matthew has just made landfall in Haiti and

its impact could be life threatening.

Walking away: the U.S. calls off the Syria ceasefire in its talks with Russia, accusing it of fueling the horrific violence.

And Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton take a back seat as their running mates hit the debate stage. We'll take you live to the campaign trail.

A menacing category four hurricane ripping through the Caribbean island nation of Haiti right now, and made landfall a short time ago in western

Haiti and it is moving north expected to hit Cuba, the Bahamas, and potentially Florida. Governments and aide workers are trying to help as

many people as possible to get to safety, but take a look what this storm looks like from space: absolutely monstrous. These images captured from the

International Space Station.

Now, Haiti is the poorest country in the Americas. It is still dealing with the aftermath of the earthquake that hit six years ago and it is

particularly vulnerable to landslides.

CNN's Chad Myers is tracking the storm from the CNN weather center. He joins us now live. And Chad, Hurricane Matthew again has just made

landfall in Haiti. What kind of impact is it having there?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yeah, near the down of Les Anglais. It is putting down winds of 145 miles per hour. It's making a storm surge, which

means a salt ocean wave surge, water coming up at least five meters, so anyone between the ocean and five

meters in elevation needs to be out of the way. How can you be out of the way of 145 mile per hour wind, and then we're talking about -- you just

talked about it, the devastating rainfall making the mudslides.

Think about Haiti, a country that chopped down a lot of trees to make charcoal to heat and cook, but those lack of trees, although they've been

trying to replant, those lack of trees really create that wash away effect when the ground gets saturated.

There's the storm right there.

Now, it's not Port-au-Prince, it's not -- we're not making landfall at Port-au-Prince at 145 miles per hour. The winds at Port-au-Prince will

probably be somewhere around 140 kilometers per hour, somewhere like that.

So there's the storm. But if you have people in tent cities or even in the huts they are living in, 50,000 still not really in any significant shelter

from the earthquake, that will be a true problem. And if you talk about 500 millimeters of rainfall, then all of a sudden another problem.

By the time it gets over Cuba, still 215 kilometers per hour. Here's what has changed overnight, which was a storm that should have been out here in

the open ocean, has now turned left back toward the Bahamas and back toward Florida, back toward Cape Canaveral, back toward Georgia, and even into the

Carolinas in the United States here.

We watched the cone. This is a 230 kilometer per hour storm right now. Now, it won't be that big, but still 195 kilometers per hour running up the

east coast of the United States, will make significant damage all along the coast, whether or not it makes landfall, because it's going to be scouring

that shoreline.

So, here are the storm surges, two to three meters in Haiti. I think that's short. I think that number should be five meters deep, that's how

much the water is going to be pushing on land. It's doing it right now, right here where it made landfall, right there.

Back up to the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos, three to four-and-a-half meters, because of the way the land and the water and the shallow water

will push that water over the top.

Now, here's the problem, many of those islands aren't even five meters high. So, can you imagine the water just kind of overflowing the entire

country.

Back to Haiti now just for a second, this is the problem with the country that we're seeing right now. We're seeing that the landfall happened about

an hour ago, way down here on the tip, has now moved onshore and on land and that rain and the wind just pushing right up on the shore. 500

millimeters of rainfall locally in these areas, especially along that spine right through there and even a

couple hundred millimeters in the town of Port-au-Prince or the city of Port-au-Prince, that will cause devastating mudslides, flash flooding, and

some loss of life. We just hope that the number is not high -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: Yeah, a lot of concern about storm surge, about flash flooding, about as you pointed out the quality of the infrastructure there in Haiti

and whether it could withstand the storm.

And Chad, the area affected by Hurricane Matthew is so huge. We're talking about Haiti, Cuba, Jamaica, the state of emergency in place in a number of

U.S. states. As the storm continues to move, will it be able to weaken?

What's going to happen as it moves on?

MYERS: You know, when we talk about Lionrock hitting Taiwan, because it's so rugged mountainwise that the storm does get torn up.

Well, this storm isn't really running over much topography. Haiti, where it ran over about 1,200 meters, maybe 1,500 at the most, and then all of

this land, which is basically island nation of either the Turks and Caicos or the Bahamas, that's not anything rugged to tear the storm upso, no,

Kristie, this will not deteriorate like a typical storm making landfall, because there's just not much land there.

LU STOUT: Wow, Chad Myers reporting for us. Very worrying stuff. Thank you, Chad.

Now, another potential risk from the storm in Haiti: cholera. Now cholera, of course, is a

bacterial infection that results from ingesting contaminated food or water. And Haiti suffered an outbreak six years ago that killed at least 10,000

people. The aid group CARE spoke with CNN earlier about the potential impact of this storm.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAURA SEWELL, ASSISTANT COUNTRY DIRECTOR FOR HAITI CARE: We're definitely looking at a chance of landslides and mudslides and flash flooding, as

well, in rural areas and in urban areas and with a lot of rain always comes the chance of water-borne disease. So, it means that Haiti is a country

that has had cholera since 2010, so there's definitely a chance that we're going to see more cholera, we're going to see people's houses destroyed,

and possibly cattle lost, and really their way of making a living really is in danger right now from this hurricane.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: With the potential of infection another point of concern in Haiti.

Now, the hurricane has largely spared Jamaica. CNN's Michael Holmes is there now in the capital of Kingston. He joins us now live. And Michael,

I mean mostly spared, but conditions there are still challenging. I mean, how is this storm being felt there?

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, you know, they'd wake up this morning feeling pretty lucky here in Jamaica. Hurricane Matthew -- at one

point when it was a cat 5 could -- was on target to actually hit, a direct hit on Jamaica. Fortunately, it shifted and in the end Matthew passing

well to the east.

And we've been checking around all morning. the results have been negligible here. No reports of any significant flooding or damage. That's

not to say there wasn't heavy rain, there was on parts of Jamaica and there was some strong winds, as well.

People, they had set up a number of shelters here. Some people did take advantage of that, but because it was so mild overnight, a lot of people

didn't. They just stayed home even though there was an evacuation order in place.

So I think, you know, just talking to somebody here who was telling me, you know, the last

time we had a take this seriously warning, not much happened. The same thing happened this time, take this seriously, not much happened. He said

he's worried about the next time they are told to take it seriously. Hopefully, people will.

But a fairly calm morning here at the moment as the sun is up and day gets under way. They are

going to be checking for any reports of damage in more remote areas of Jamaica, but so far so good with the reports that have come in so far,

Kristie.

LU STOUT: Got you. So, Safe and Sound Jamaica despite this being a category 4 storm. Michael Holmes reporting for us live from Kingston.

Thank you and take care.

Now, a strong typhoon meanwhile is moving towards South Korea. The storm is called Chaba, packed winds as strong as 260 kilometers an hour, that's

equivalent to a category 5 hurricane. It weakened after passing the Japanese island of Okinawa, but it is still expected to bring heavy rain

over the next few days.

Now, U.S.-Russia relations appear to be approaching lows not seen since the Cold War. Washington has suspended talks with Moscow over the crisis in

Syria. It accuses Russia and its Syrian allies of trying to bomb civilian populations into submission. These pictures show the latest devastation inside Aleppo. Activists say bunker

buster bombs destroyed a hospital in the rebel-held east of the city, killing seven people.

Washington says Moscow has failed to uphold the cease-fire agreement.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I think everybody's patience with Russia has run out. They've also spent a great deal of credibility in

making a series of commitments without any clear indication that they were committed to following them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says at least 20 people have been killed in air strikes on rebel-held parts of East Aleppo in the

last 24 hours and at least six are reported dead from rebel shelling on government-held areas.

Now, CNN's international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson is following all this for us from Turkey. He joins us now live from Istanbul.

And Nic, the U.S. has stopped talking to Russia about Syria. How did it come to this?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, if you go back to the beginning of this year and those -- the efforts to get peace talks

under way, to bring the government side and the Syrian rebels together to have peace talks, the way that that was formulated was for the United

States and Russia to work together to get a cease-fire on the ground to bring humanitarian access across the country in Aleppo in particular more

recently beginning of this year, the efforts to get peace talks.

The way that that was formulated was for the United States and Russia to work together to get a cease-fire on the ground to bring humanitarian

access across the country in Aleppo in particular more recently, but the idea was you would use that to create an atmosphere, if

you will, of possible good will to bring the two sides together.

Now, the United States in its agreements with Russia was always relying on Russia to get

Russia to bring President Bashar al-Assad into line, into agreement. And what the State Department is saying now is, their only conclusion is that

Russia neither has -- neither the intention nor the will and ability to bring President Assad to what they've agreed.

Indeed, they go beyond that, you know, earlier this year the interpretation was the sort of reverse logic, if you will, from the United States side

that Russia didn't appear to be going for an all out military solution, therefore, it left space for a political solution, which was kind of what

the U.S. was counting on here. John Kerry was counting on this. But now the State Department is saying that Russia and Syria are clearly targeting

civilian areas and civilian infrastructure and they're pursuing a military solution trying to get tactical advantage on the ground. That is

completely contrary to what Sergey Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, agreed with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Geneva a few weeks ago

trying to get the latest cease-fire going.

So it's all grown out of that, an element of trust and faith on the U.S. side that Russia will keep good on promises and either Russia not able, or

not willing to follow through.

And now you're in a situation where how do you get some kind of cessation to get peace talks? The reality is right now, there's nothing to provide

that. So the expectation at the moment is that the fighting perhaps even intensifies. Russia and President Assad try to, you know, win more

territory more quickly on the ground.

LU STOUT: Yeah, and because of that lack of trust and the breakdown in talks, the slaughter goes on in Syria, including this deadly ISIS suicide

bombing at a Kurdish wedding party. What is the latest on the human suffering in Syria?

ROBERTSON: You know, wherever you look, wherever you look, there is more suffering. The Kurdish wedding party in the northeastern part of Syria

yesterday, it appears ISIS targeted that with at least one suicide bomber. We understand more than 30 people killed. Look at Aleppo in the past 24

hours, the Syrian Observatory group for Human Rights, a well regarded watchdog on, you know, killings and injuries on both sides of the line in

Syria, says in the past 24 hours in Aleppo at least 20 people have been killed in government air strikes. And then in the government-controlled

sector of Aleppo, in the university, six people there we're told died due to rebel

shelling.

The fighting continues without the breaks of a possibility of a cease-fire and humanitarian aid. The fighting will potentially escalate. The

government has said to the rebels in Aleppo, you can put down your weapons and we'll giveyou free passage out, that was 24, 48 hours

ago. The rebels came back and said we're not going to do that, we perhaps will go back to a situation we saw a month, a month and a half ago when the

Syrian government said we'll create humanitarian corridors in that east of Aleppo for the civilians to get out and for the fighters to get out.

The implication is, if you don't get out of the way, then the military steam roller will go full steam ahead. That's the concern at the

international community right now.

LU STOUT: Nic Robertson reporting. As always, thank you, Nic.

Now, as officials argue on the international stage, many people inside Syria, as you heard just then, they're going through what is being

described as hell on Earth. And one 7-year-old girl in Aleppo is providing a window on that horror as she and her mother have been sending out tweets,

like this one which reads, quote, "sleeping as you can hear the bombs fall. I will tweet tomorrow if we are alive."

Jomana Karadsheh managed to talk to them.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Seven-year-old Bana lives in Aleppo. She and her mother , Fatima, have become an internet

sensation after they set up a Twitter account two weeks ago tweeting daily about the horrors of their life.

This video was posted just moments before we talked to the family via Skype.

But this being Syria, it was a sporadic internet connection.

UNIDENITIFIED FEMALE: The person you're trying to reach is currently unavailable.

KARADSHEH: We managed to connect again, just on audio this time.

You're a mother of...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hear, hear, hear. Hear the bombing?

KARADSHEH: Fatima explains this was a barrel bomb very close by.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We don't have any safety place, because all the bombing is so big.

KARADSHEH: Throughout the call we could hear blasts in the background.

UNIDENITIFIED FEMALE: It is a horrible night. We are always in this situation day and night.

KARADSHEH: Fatima says her three children have known nothing but war.

The situation in Aleppo, this giant kill box, deteriorated to unprecedented levels after the

collapse of the short cease-fire last month. More than 100 children were killed in just a few days, and with the siege, eastern Aleppo is running

low on just about everything.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Their bodies are weak because there is not enough food for them. Here no vegetables, no fruit, no milk, no eggs, no any

meat, we just eat pasta and rice.

KARADSHEH: Bana, what is life like for you as a child in aleppo?

BANA: It is like monster. I don't go out, because there is always bombing.

KARADSHEH: Bana spends her days reading, playing with her younger brothers who are 5 and 3, and learning English from her mother who's a teacher.

As bad as things are now, Fatima are scared the worst is yet to come with reports regime troops are preparing for a ground offensive into eastern

Aleppo.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm afraid about that day is coming, but I hope it's not coming, because they will kill us all.

KARADSHEH: For now, Fatima continues to tweet, desperate for the world to see her children.

BANA: Morning from Aleppo. We are still alive.

KARADSHEH: And hear their voices.

BANA: We will live forever together.

KARADSHEH: Jomana Karadsheh, CNN, Amman.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Wow, a revealing and heartbreaking report of life inside Aleppo there.

Now, Afghan forces have retaken control of the center of the city of Kunduz from the Taliban, that's according to afghan officials. This video was

distributed by the Taliban on social media claiming to show its operation in Kunduz.

Now, CNN cannot independently verify it. A police spokesman says that there are still battles in and around the city, which was stormed by the

Taliban early on Monday. The group held Kunduz for a short time last year.

This is News Stream. And coming up, Donald Trump is trying to convince voters there is nothing wrong with paying as little tax as possible, while

Hillary Clinton unleashes her attacks on him.

Plus, a new study says North Korea is keeping a close eye on the U.S. election. We'll tell you why just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

Now, Hillary Clinton has bounced to a new lead over Donald Trump afterlast week's first U.S.

presidential debate. The latest CNN/ORC poll shows Clinton five points ahead of Trump, 47 percent to 42 percent. One big factor surges in

Clinton's support among men and independents. And while both candidates hope to get a boost from their running mates in Tuesday night's

vice presidential debate, a new poll shows voters are equally split on whether Tim Kaine or mike Pence will do better.

For the latest, Phil Mattingly joins us live from Virginia and that's where the veep debate is to take place. And Phil, we have got to first talk

about the big issue of the day, Trump and those tax revelations.

Trump says if he didn't pay federal income tax, that makes him a genius. B ut how is that really going down with voters, especially middle America?

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Clinton campaign believes it's a very flawed strategy, but on some level it's all Donald Trump really

has. His effort right now in the wake of this bombshell revelation that he may have avoided federal income tax for as many as two decades, it's the

only way he can fight back.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I understand the tax laws better than almost anyone, which is why I am the one who can fix them.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): Dangerous campaign liability or political opportunity?

TRUMP: I have brilliantly used those laws.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): Donald Trump hoping for the latter after the leak of a few pages of his 1995 tax returns, attempting to turn the fact that he

may not have paid federal income tax in years into a testament of his business expertise.

TRUMP: As a business person, I've legally used the tax laws to benefit -- really, I mean it's to my benefit and the benefit of my company, my

investors, my employees, my family.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): The Clinton campaign attempting to undermine Trump's spin.

CLINTON: Some of his supporters said, well, it just shows he's a genius that he didn't pay any taxes. Well, what kind of genius loses a billion

dollars in the first place?

MATTINGLY (voice-over): Painting the Republican nominee as representing the same system he claims he's going to change.

CLINTON: Trump was taking from America with both hands and leaving the rest of us with the bill.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): Trump trying to downplay the near billion dollar loss "The New York Times" reported he had leading up to 1995.

TRUMP: The conditions facing real estate developers in the early '90s were almost as bad as the great depression in 1929 and far worse than the great

recession in 2008.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): While casting himself as the comeback kid.

TRUMP: ...used the tax laws of our country and my skills as a business person to dig out of this real estate depression when few others were able

to do that. I did a great job.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): This as Trump sparks new criticism after suggesting that veterans suffering from PTSD lacked strength.

TRUMP: When people come back from war and combat and they see things that maybe a lot of the folks in this room have seen many times over and you're

strong and you can handle it, but a lot of people can't handle it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MATTINGLY: Kristie, another set of controversial comments coming at the end of a really

long week for the Trump campaign, but no issue is looming larger than the tax issue. You saw what Donald Trump's strategy is going to be going

forward, try to spin it into his favor. But no question about it, if you look at the latest CNN/ORC poll, Kristie, 86 percent of those surveyed

believe paying taxes is a civic duty, this is an opportunity for the Clinton campaign and one when you talk to her advisers you can bet they're

going to try and take advantage of over and over and over again over the next five weeks.

LU STOUT: You know, it's going to be a tall order for Mike Pence later today. He's going to have to defend statements by Donald Trump over his

taxes, his actions, as well. What else should we expect from him, his rival Tim Kaine, and the overall VP debate later tonight?

MATTINGLY: Yeah, I think you're exactly right, Kristie. The all eyes are going to be on Mike Pence here. Look, these are two polished politicians,

have a lot of debate experience, really kind of a little bit on a different page than what the headliners are, if you will. But this debate matters

for a couple of reasons.

First and foremost, you don't win a lot of votes in debates. But you can lose votes or cause

problems for your candidate. The biggest issue here is they don't want to cause problems for their candidate. But you talk about Mike Pence and what

his role is on this campaign. His role is outreach to Republicans, outreach to conservatives, and outreach to independent voters who are

looking for stability in an otherwise controversial ticket.

Obviously, Donald Trump as we've seen just over the last week, but really the course of his 15 or 16 months on the campaign trail makes a lot of

controversial statements. Mike Pence's job is to come in and try and smooth things over. He's been effective doing that on the campaign trail.

The big question, Kristie, is can he still be effective when Tim Kaine is on the other side trying to poke him repeatedly about the things Donald

Trump has said that have caused so much controversy over the last couple months, Kristie.

LU STOUT: Yeah, in a few hours you'll see just how effective he is. Phil Mattingly reporting live from Virginia, thank you.

And CNN is carrying the only debate between the vice presidential candidates. It airs Wednesday at 9:00 a.m. in Hong Kong, 2:00 a.m. in

London.

And with five weeks, only five weeks before election day, a U.S. official tells CNN that hackers overseas have been trying to break into voter

registration systems in 20 U.S. states. The Department of Homeland Security says it will assist any state that requests it, and so far 23 have

done that.

Now, last week the FBI director said no hack has resulted in information being changed and that no voting system was at risk.

Now, North Korea may already be planning a surprise for the next U.S. president. Pyongyang is expected to continue its trend of inciting

tensions around election time. The last time a new U.S. president was voted into office, North Korea welcomed him with a missile test.

Brian Todd reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A new warning that Kim Jong-un may try to provoke the U.S. and send a message of intimidation sometime in

the next month, around the time of the November election.

The warning comes from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, CSIS, and is published on its Web site, Beyond Parallel. The group says for

some 60 years, Kim, his father and grandfather have demonstrated a pattern of trying to incite tensions around the time America votes.

Just this year alone, Kim Jong-un has fired off 15 missile tests, two nuclear bomb tests, making five overall. What could be next?

VICTOR CHA, SENIOR ADVISER, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: I think it could be a sixth nuclear test. It could be launching of their

rocket to put a slight in orbit which demonstrates ballistic missile capability. Doing a major test would be a way of trying to intimidate the

incoming president.

TODD: Whoever is President will face an increasingly dangerous North Korean dictator. CIA Director John Brennan, in an interview with CNN's Erin

Burnett, said North Korea is the biggest security risk for next president. Brennan called Kim a megalomaniac, calculating and delusional.

JOHN BRENNAN, DIRECTOR, CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY: He has invested so much of his effort in building a military and nuclear capability, and he

thinks this is his ticket to greatness. I think it's his ticket to oblivion.

TODD: Analysts say one reason Kim's being provocative is to cover his flank inside North Korea and there could be good reason for that. Tonight, CNN

has learned that some North Koreans have spoken out against their regime.

CSIS commissioned a non-governmental organization to secretly go inside North Korea and talk to ordinary citizens. They showed us the hand written

results of their survey of 36 people in nine provinces. Asked what makes them most angry about their government, most of them said it's when the

regime takes away things they've earned.

CHA: If you are a farmer and you make a little bit more besides what the government asks you to make and the government takes that away, that makes

you upset, or when you collected some savings through some sort of personal enterprise and the government issues an unordinary tax to try to take that

money away from you.

TODD (on-camera): Victor Cha says the people conducting the questioning had to move fast, had to move in secret, could only spend a few minutes with

each person who they spoke to. Not only did they risk their lives doing this, but the people who participated also took huge risks. They didn't

know that the stranger asking them questions wasn't spying for the regime.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange says he will publish around 1 million documents related to three governments and the U.S. election

before the end of the year. Assange made an announcement by video link as WikiLeaks marks its tenth anniversary.

He hinted before that there will be information about Hillary Clinton, but just denied the release was geared at damaging her.

WikiLeaks stirred up major controversy in the past decade. It published voicemail and e-mail

from the U.S. Democratic National Committee hack and backlash from the documents forced the chair of the DNC to resign.

It won awards for free speech, has been nominated several times for the Nobel Peace Prize, but

there's also concern the site at times endangered people.

In 2010 WikiLeaks published nearly 400,000 military documents detailing abuse and deaths during the Iraq War. It's the largest leak of military

data in history.

But names of Iraqi civilians who helped the U.S. were also published and whistle-blowers also face prosecution. Former U.S. army soldier Chelsea

Manning, previously Bradley Manning, is serving a 35-year sentence for giving 750,000 pages of classified data to WikiLeaks.

You're watching News Stream, and still to come, she is an activist and a migrant worker who says governments treat migrant workers as an invisible

community. But Eni Lestari is determined to fight against the status quo. More from her next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(HEADLINES)

LU STOUT: Now, a harsh winter is approaching in North Korea and victims of last month's devastating floods are still in dire need of help.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent societies have released these new images from their teams working on the ground there.

The flooding killed hundreds of people and left 70,000 homeless. Many have lost their coal supplies and they are burning bits of wood to keep warm.

Clinics have also been damaged, making medical supplies scarce. And clean water supplies have been disrupted for over half a million people.

Don't talk about us without us: those are the words of Hong Kong-based Indonesian migrant worker and activist Eni Lestari who recently spoke at

the UN summit on refugees and migrants in New York. And addressing an audience of fellow migrants and world leaders, she made an urgent plea to

protect migrant workers and include migrants in the conversation about securing their rights.

Now, earlier I spoke to Lestari here in Hong Kong about her activism and address at the UN.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ENI LESTARI, CHAIRPERSON, INTERNATIONAL MIGRANTS ALLIANCE: I want them to recognize we are just not slave in their countries. We are more than a

commodity, we are more than cheap labor. We are workers and human, and something without of course with rights that they need to recognize and

respect and how they will respect us is by including our voices in the decision making.

I think the last message that I want them to recognize in the last part I put "don't talk about us without us."

LU STOUT: How important was it for them to hear this message from you? You're not only a grassroots activist, but also a former migrant worker.

LESTARI: Yeah, I'm still a domestic worker in Hong Kong. I'm still a migrant worker. So it is quite important. I'm actually very pleased to

learn that the UN appoint actually a real migrant, real refugee, to speak to the world leaders and I think it's time already for this government to

confront us.

For the longest decades, they've been ignoring our presence. Many of the government pretend

we are not even exist. Many countries don't even talk to migrants when they make policies on migrants, they just treat us as an invisible

community, and that's why I told them we are just invisible.

So it's time for them to know we are visible. There are 244 million migrants around the world. We are the actor of any country development.

We are the people behind all this global world development, and I think it is unfair for them to put us aside.

So I'm very pleased the UN nominated us to tell them it's time for you to work with us.

LU STOUT; So to clarify, you're still a migrant worker in Hong Kong and also an activist.

LESTARI: I'm a social and advocate activist.

LU STOUT: It was about 16 years ago you escaped from a very abusive employment situation, right?

LESTARI: Yes. I came to Hong Kong for the first time, knew nothing about Hong Kong, policy laws, knew nothing about employment ordinance. I was

cheated by the agency, the Indonesian government did not even provide proper orientation and knowledge skill to me to all the prospect

migrants, so we came here with no information.

The only thing we knew is what agency was telling us, what the employer was telling us, and we did.

But at the end of the day, it did not save us from any exploitation. It did not save us from being abused. And we have to find our own way, so I

run away to the Mission for migrant workers, an independent NGO in Hong Kong, who just providing services, and, as well, I get justice and health,

and that's when I realize, you know, if all these workers are properly informed before they come here, I think all the abuses can be avoided.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Incredible young woman. And that was migrant worker and activist Eni Lestari speaking to me earlier. Her speech at the UN general

assembly was watched by fellow migrants in New York and around the world online. And Lestari says that she is surprised and moved by the response,

including the growing use of her core message: don't talk about us without us.

Now, a centuries old auction house has found a new way to boost appeal to Millennials by

enlisting the help of a Korean superstar. You'll find out how that's paid off. You get that story straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: welcome back.

Now, three British scientists have won this year's Nobel prize in physics. One half of the prize goes to David Solis and the half goes jointly to

Duncan Haldane and Michael Kosterlitz for their studies in exotic phases of matter.

On Monday, biologist Yoshinori Ohsumi won the Nobel Prize for medicine for his discovery in atuophagy, which looks at how a cell consumes itself and

recycles parts of its own contents.

Now, the auction house Sotheby's has hit the jackpot thanks to this Korean pop band, a sales curated by member Top has pulled in more than $17

million, beating pre-sale estimates. As Andrew Stevens reports, Sotheby's is making a big push to reach out to wealthy young buyers in Asia.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDREW STEVENS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A bona fide superstar, a member of the wildly successful Korean boy band Big Bang.

But it was his taste in art that caught the attention of Sotheby's. The result: a collaboration that helps drawing a younger crowd to one of the

world's oldest auction houses.

YUKI TERASO, CONTEMPORARY ART SPECIALIST, SOTHEBY'S: We call young collectors under 40 years old. And in Asia over 20 percent of our clients

are young collectors, as much as 40 percent of new clients that transacted with us for the first time in Asia are young collectors. So it's a

significant phenomenon that we witness in Asia that's truly notable and influencing the entire world.

STEVENS: Spending power among Millennials in Asia can't be ignored. In China, for instance, the Boston consulting group says that those aged

between 18 and 30, their consumption rate is growing at 14 percent a year, that's double the rate of those aged 35 and older.

Sotheby's says Top represents a young breed of collectors not bound by tradition, evident in the mix of styles found in his collection.

TOP, MUSICIAN (through translator): We have both Asian and western artists. Of course, there are masterpieces by really famous virtuosos, but

I also picked young artists with young taste. I thought a lot about how these two groups would come together on the list.

STEVENS: Sotheby's says TOP's collection beat expectations, taking in nearly $17.5 million. That's welcome news at a time when the auction

house's net income is down 13 percent for the first half of the year.

Sotheby's also says this campaign was a social media success, thanks in part to TOP's near 6 million Instagram followers, but now it just needs

those likes to translate to sales.

Andrew Stevens, CNN, Hong Kong.

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LU STOUT: And finally, how quickly can you solve one of these? For the record, I did not do

this, but the Rubiks Cube has fascinated and frustrated children and adults for generations. But for some puzzle fanatics, the classic cube is easier

than child's play.

Now, this was the Rubik's cube Asian championship in Beijing over the weekend. More than 1,000 competitors, some as young as four and a half

years old, solved the Rubik's Cube in just mere seconds -- I love this guy on the screen right now.

Now, some even compete with their feet or with blindfolds on.

Cubing, apparently, has a huge following in China. There were 200 training schools in Beijing alone. It just seems like overkill to me, but wow.

It's a trend.

And that is News Stream. I'm Kristie Lu Stout. But don't go anywhere. World Sport with Alex Thomas is next.

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