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NEWS STREAM

Donald Trump Set to Meet with Japanese Prime Minister; Baidu's Driverless Car; President Obama Meets with Angela Merkel in Berlin; World Leaders Worry About U.S. Commitment to Paris Accords

Aired November 17, 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.

A taste of diplomacy: Donald Trump prepares to welcome Japan's prime minister, his first meeting with a world leader as president elect. But

his presidency is casting a lond shadow over a global climate change deal. We've got details on that straight ahead.

And the children of Aleppo, many of them have grown up never knowing peace.

The Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is on a mission to safeguard a longstanding alliance with the U.S. under a Trump presidency. Now, the

U.S. president-elect will host Mr. Abe at Trump Tower in the coming hours. Mr. Abe's goal here as a senior adviser told News Stream is to find the

same wavelength with Trump.

Now the backdrop of the meeting, Trump's campaign rhetoric, which alarmed many people in Japan. Candidate Trump suggested Japan and other allies

should pay more for their defense, among other things, and that has many Japanese citizens worried.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I am honestly surprised. It was totally out of my expectation. I hope our peace and safety won't be

affected, but we could be greatly impacted.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): The Trump administration would not be

friendly to Japan. I'm worried.

UNIDENITIFIED MALE (through translator): Trump wants Japan and South Korea to take care of our own defense and security by ourselves. We're worried

about that. TPP will be destroyed. The U.S. will be much more protectionist. It won't be good for our business.

If he succeeds to solve the U.S. people's frustration, the people's view will be shifted outward again. But as long as we see what he said so far,

we can't expect very much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Now, CNN's Andrew Stephens is following developments. And he joins me now from our bureau here in Hong Kong. Andrew, details of this

upcoming meeting between these two leaders are unclear, apparently. In fact, there are reports of confusion

behind the scenes. What's going on here?

ANDREW STEVENS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Kristie. As of yesterday, the Abe team didn't know when they were going to meet Donald

Trump, indeed where they were going to meet Donald Trump, and who was actually going to be invited to that meeting. And it does seem to fit to

something of a pattern with the transition team. There have been reports in

newspapers that it is a mess, the transition, at the moment, although Donald Trump has been tweeting to say everything is going smoothly.

But certainly in situations like this, it's usually the State Department that shepherds these sorts of meetings through, and the State Department

hasn't been involved in any of this. So that has been a concern. In fact, we've been hearing also stories, Kristie, that world leaders wanted to ring

to congratulate the president-elect on his election victory but didn't know who to call and found it quite

difficult in some cases to actually get in touch with Donald Trump.

So at this stage, it's not yet clear when and where that meeting will be held. And Mr. Abe is due to touch down in New York shortly.

LU STOUT: Yeah, reports of confusion aside, this meeting is scheduled to take place in the hours ahead at Trump Tower.

The Japanese prime minister will then be the first global leader to meet with the president-elect. Why does Abe want to get first word with Trump?

STEVENS: Well, so much rides on this partnership between the U.S. and Japan. 70 years of peace and enormous economic prosperity in Japan has

been underpinned by the relationship with the United States. Indeed, Mr. Abe was one of the first people to ring Donald Trump to congratulate him.

And they did have a 20-minute meeting -- conversation, at which this meeting was planned. Mr. Abe is on his way through to Peru for the APEC

meeting, Kristie.

So it is a very, very important meeting for Japan, also for the U.S. and its plans for not only

Japan, but for the rest of Asia. And that is why Mr. Abe wanted to get in first to see the president-elect.

But as your reporter earlier pointed out, there has been a great deal of noise, a great deal of

concern in Japan about what's being said on the campaign trail.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEVENS: Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is making every attempt to preserve Japan's relationship with its most important political and diplomatic

trading partner, the United States. Normally, a Japanese leader would wait for the inauguration of a new U.S. president before seeking a meeting, but

these are not normal times.

SHINZO ABE, JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER (through translator): The Japan/U.S. alliance is the axis of Japan's diplomacy and security. The alliance is

only alive if there is trust between us.

TRUMP: I will get rid of those tariffs in Japan.

STEVENS: Tokyo has been rocked by Donald Trump's explosive comments on the campaign trail, raising fears that the new administration could turn its

back on the alliance.

Trump has hinted he could withdraw U.S. troops from Japan unless it paid a bigger share of

their upkeep and suggested that Asian countries could provide their own nuclear defense against North Korea.

TRUMP: North Korea has nukes. Japan has a problem with that. I mean, they have a big problem with that. Maybe they would, in fact, be better

off if they defend themselves from North Korea.

CHRIS WALLACE, FOX NEWS: With nukes?

TRUMP: Including with nukes, yes.

STEVENS: And then there's Trump's signature opposition to global trade deals, including

the President Obama-led Transpacific Partnership, which has had the wholehearted support of Mr. Abe.

TRUMP: I'll take jobs back from Japan and every other country that's killing us. I'll bring the jobs back.

STEVENS: But Abe advisers say Tokyo is looking beyond what they describe as campaign

rhetoric.

TOMOHIKO TANIGUCHI, SPECIAL ADVISER TO JAPANESE PM: We're looking at the future. And no matter what any candidate says during a campaign, today is

the first day of the rest of his administration.

STEVENS: The first step of that first day for Japan, to build a working relationship. Abe has already praised what he described as Trump's, quote,

extraordinary talents as a businessman.

TANIGUCHI: This is going to be very much a classic ice breaking opportunity for both of these people.

STEVENS: Analysts say don't expect any key decisions to come from this meeting, but with

regional tensions on the rise from North Korea's nuclear program to China's expansion into the South China Sea, it is likely to provide the first

indication of what Donald Trump's Asia strategy will look like.

The world is watching.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STEVENS: And, Kristie, the optics here are so critical. Just how does Mr. Abe and Donald

Trump work together? And what is it going to mean for the broader relationship? We have seen Donald Trump walking back some of his more

controversial comments about the U.S. role in the world, in a Trumpian world.

But certainly Mr. Abe has a lot riding on this meeting in establishing a firm personal friendship is very important to the Japanese leader.

LU STOUT: Yeah, the optics of this meeting is certainly very important when the world is watching. Andrew Stevens reporting live for us. Thank

you, Andrew.

Now, climate activists are also on edge over a Trump presidency. Diplomats have been meeting in Morocco to put into action their pledge to limit

global warming, but that's another area of uncertainty when Trump occupies the Oval Office. Isa Soares explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ISA SOARES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Trump is not a name leaders want to discuss here, but among the diplomacy and the smiles, they are

quietly sweating over his skepticism on climate change and there's no avoiding it.

(on camera): Can you comment on the election of President-elect Trump in the United States:

BAN KI-MOON, U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL: I'm sure he will understand this, listen and he will evaluate his campaign remarks.

SOARES (voice-over): The fear here is that the president-elect could undo the climate change agreement signed by nearly 200 countries last year in

Paris.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are a little bit worried, but we are going to -- the system of legislation could may not allow him to un-do the gains from the

successful Paris summit.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's momentum with or without the U.S.

SOARES: They have reason to worry. The president-elect has called climate change a hoax, created by and for the Chinese, in other words to make U.S.

manufacturing non-competitive. He has even hinted at cancelling the Paris agreement and reviving the U.S. coal and gas industry.

(on camera): In legal terms, U.S. President-elect Trump could not pull out of the Paris agreement. He would have to trigger Article 28. That's the

provision within the actual agreement, and that could take as many as four years, by which point his term will have ended. But there's a much quicker,

faster way if he wants out. That's simply to ignore the commitment set in place by U.S. president Barack Obama.

(voice-over): U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry wants to avoid this at all costs.

JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: No one has a right to make decisions that affect billions of people based on solely ideology or without proper input.

SOARES: Europe, too, is pushing for this, sounding alarm bells and calling on Trump to stick to the accord.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need the United States on board and we will do any effort to have them on board and to convince them that this is a win-win

policy.

SOARES: But while many at the conference are optimistic the president-elect will change his mind, some of his supporters here are hoping he doesn't

budge.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We stand in solidarity with president-elect Trump and this will be the first step toward doing it. This is our shredding of the

documents.

SOARES: Isa Soares, CNN, Marrakesh, Morocco.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: As we just heard, Trump's past claims include that global warming is a hoax created by China. At that same climate change conference

in Morocco on Wednesday, the Chinese vice foreign minister responded. He said climate change is not a hoax. In

fact, he said in the 1980s it was the U.S. and the EU that helped make China aware of the issue.

He urged Republicans in the U.S. to stay on board with efforts to combat global warming.

Now, Trump is also shaking things up at home, aiming to keep an election promise to keep lobbyists out of his presidential team.

Now, CNN's Sunlen Serfaty reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORREPSONDENT (voice-over): President-elect Donald Trump's transition team now moving to uphold this campaign promise.

TRUMP: We are going to drain the swamp.

SERFATY: Unveiling a new lobbying ban, requiring anyone under consideration for a job in the Trump administration to sign a written pledge to terminate

their lobbying. And when they leave office, they will be banned from being a lobbyist for five years.

MILLER: We talk about draining the swamp. This is one of the first steps.

SERFATY: But as they make headway on some aspects of the transition, other parts are still slow moving. Trump's team has not yet contacted the

Pentagon, State Department or other federal agencies to inform them about the transition, with major Washington agencies saying they're still left in

the dark.

But Trump's team says they're moving forward on this today, readying to announce their so-called landing teams, made up of transition staff that

will deploy and interact with the Department of Justice, State, Defense and national security with other agencies to follow.

SEAN SPICER, CHIEF STRATEGIST & COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, RNC: We made tremendous progress in giving the president-elect some ideas about how to

move forward with his core team and potential members of his cabinet.

SERFATY: Today in Trump Tower, a flurry of meetings lined up for the president-elect, including South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, a former

Trump detractor...

GOV. NIKKI HALEY (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: That's not who we want as president.

SERFATY: ... now under consideration for secretary of state.

Meantime, new reports suggest that Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump's husband, could likely wind up with top national security clearance and become a key

adviser to Trump. Trump's team rejecting concerns over nepotism and a potential conflict of interest.

SPICER: Jared's, obviously, been a very important part of this campaign, and he's someone that the president-elect trusts very much. But what that

role is, like anyone else, is going to be up to the president-elect.

SERFATY: The transition team continuing to dispute reports of internal disarray and infighting.

CONWAY: It's false to say it's not going well.

SERFATY: This as the head of the transition, Vice-President-Elect Mike Pence, sat down with Joe Biden Wednesday. Biden promising his successor

that he'll be available 24/7 for advice.

BIDEN: No administration is ready on day one. We weren't ready on day one. But I'm confident on day one everything will be in good hands.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: That was CNN's Sunlen Serfaty reporting there. Defeated U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has made a public speech for the

first time since announcing she had lost the election to Donald Trump. Clinton admitted making an appearance at the Children's Defense Fund gala

wasn't the easiest, adding that were times in the past week where she didn't want to the leave the house.

But she told people disheartened by the result to keep fighting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, FRM. SECRETARY OF STATE: I know this isn't easy. I know that over the past week a lot of people have asked themselves whether

America is the country we thought it was. The divisions laid bare by this election run deep. But please listen to me when I say this: America is

worth it, our children are worth it. Believe in our country, fight for our values, and never, ever give up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Hillary Clinton there.

You're watching News Stream. And still to come, we take you to the Syrian city of Aleppo, where children have grown up knowing only a world of

violence.

Also ahead, how will the incoming U.S. president respond to North Korea's nuclear ambitions? Why Donald Trump's election victory is sparking

uncertainty over future U.S. policy.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Coming to you live from Victoria Harbor here in Hong Kong. You're back watching News Stream.

Now, U.S. President Barack Obama is set for his final meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. now, the leader he describes as his closest

international partner. And the two shared dinner after Mr. Obama's arrival in Berlin on Wednesday. And they will meet for bilateral talks in the next

hour.

Now CNN's senior international correspondent Atika Shubert joins me now from Berlin with more on the story. And Atika, as you know, and as we've

been covering for awhile now, there is rising global anxiety about trade, migration, terrorism. How will these two leaders address those issues and

chart a future relationship?

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Now, that's a really good question. And I think that's what they're going to have to figure out over

dinner last night, the meeting today, and again dinner tonight. There's a lot of time for both of the

leaders. And it shows just how close they are.

But just as you heard from Prime Minister Abe's people in Japan earlier, there is a lot of concern about what President-elect Donald Trump will do,

whether he's going to actually implement a lot of what he said on the campaign trail.

The Transpacific Partnership, for example, he says he wants to tear up and throw out. But also here in Europe, particular concern over NATO, saying

that -- Donald Trump has said that the U.S. should take a backseat on NATO, that means allies like Germany need to step up.

And of course perhaps what really hits close to home for Chancellor Merkel is the fact that Trump really gives a boost to a lot of these far-right

nationalist groups that have pegged their popularity on sort of identity politics. And she may run again next year. She faces a general election

in which the Alternative for Germany Party has seen a huge resurgence.

And so now she has to sort of become the defender of a liberal democracy, of this defense of

globalization with a public that seems increasingly reluctant to believe in the benefits of it.

LU STOUT: Yeah, there's so much riding on her right now. She is seeking another term. How do you think this visit and this trip by Barack Obama

will affect her political fate and also expectations for her to remain a voice of global stability?

SHUBERT: President Obama is a popular president here. Some here were disappointed that

he wasn't able to accomplish everything they had hoped. Remember when he came here as a candidate in 2008, tens of thousands showed up on the

streets of Berlin just to hear him. But he remains popular.

And there is concern about Donald Trump. So she sort of carries on the defense of his legacy, President Obama's legacy here in defending the

rewards of globalization, even as she has to sort of say, yes, there have been inequalities, people have been left behind, let's take

a look at that.

But she really is the sort of stabilizing force in the European Union. She's the strongest leader here. And she faces so many challenges in

addition to that.

Of course, Brexit, Britain exiting from the EU.

So yes, you're right. There's a lot riding on her shoulders. She hasn't officially announced her candidacy for next year, however if is widely

expected. A senior politician in her party has said she will run again. And clearly a lot of people are looking at her to sort of hold the center.

LU STOUT: Atika Shubert reporting from Berlin. Thank you, Atika.

Now, more lives have been lost in the Syrian city of Aleppo as the air force resumes its bombing campaign there for the third straight day.

Activists say at least seven people have been killed and at least 30 wounded in more than 40 air strikes.

Just a day ago, nearly 90 people were killed. Medical facilities were attacked, including a children's hospital.

Now, the bombardment has left parents struggling not only to find a place that's safe, but to get food and medical care for their children.

Will Ripley has some of their emotional stories.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The children of east Aleppo are too young to remember life before this. Life before the planes dropping

bombs on their homes, hospitals, schools. Too young to understand why anyone would do this. How anyone could do this.

The girl under the red blanket was too young to die. She was just one of the children killed Wednesday. One of dozens of people killed on day two of

the Syrian regime's latest aerial assault on the rebel-held city.

MOHAMMED EDEL, FATHER-TO-BE: Today, Aleppo has suffered a very bloody day.

RIPLEY: Mohammed Edel is a teacher about to become a father. His wife is 7 months pregnant. It's a boy.

EDEL: I'm going to be a daddy. I'm going to have a baby. So, I'm afraid that my wife die under -- when she's giving birth.

RIPLEY: Like most expecting moms in east Aleppo, she suffers from malnutrition. Her doctor has no prenatal vitamins to prescribe. The

pharmacies, like the markets, are nearly empty.

EDEL: The few things which are available in very little amounts are super expensive.

RIPLEY: Every parent wants the best for their children but in east Aleppo, even the basics are out of reach. One can of baby formula costs $20. Twenty

times the daily income of some families.

MONTHER ETAKY, FATHER: Baby girl died because of -- because there's no healthy food for her.

RIPLEY: Monther Etaky is an activist, he sees far too many children, far too young to starve. He's grateful his 4-month-old son is still breast-

feeding.

ETAKY: When you are looking to your son and just pray to not get sick because if she gets sick, never find medicine for him.

RIPLEY: Are you more worried about your son getting hit with a bomb or you're worried about him running out of food or getting sick?

ETAKY: I'm not getting him of the house at all. I'm just hiding him in the safest room.

RIPLEY: But even the safest rooms cannot withstand the most powerful bombs being dropped on east Aleppo. These children are too young to know what it

really feels like to be safe.

Will Ripley, CNN, Istanbul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Terrifying scenes there.

Jomana Karadsheh, as you know, she's been reporting on the humanitarian crisis in Aleppo. She joins us from Amman, Jordan. And Jomana, the

bombardment of eastern Aleppo has been so brutal as we saw in Will's report just then. And we know a children's hospital has been targeted in this

latest offensive. Is there any safe place, any safe shelter for civilians there?

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, when you ask people, Kristie, they would tell you that there really is nowhere safe that

is left for them in eastern Aleppo. There are really no red lines in this conflict. People have been targeted in their own homes, killed while sleeping in their own homes.

We've seen schools being targeted and of course medical facilities time after time have been repeatedly hit, 126 attacks, to be precise, according

to the World Health Organization, have been documented against medical facilities across Syria.

We've seen hospitals, not just in Aleppo, and other parts of the country being hit more than

once even. And of course, when it comes to Aleppo, we know that there is this real dire need for the

health services there, for the medical facilities and we're just seeing them being targeted over and over again. And we've heard from watchdog

groups earlier this year that they believe that a lot of these attacks are deliberate attacks, systematic attacks, but so far, no one has

been held accountable for these attacks that could be considered war crimes here, Kristie.

And just to update you on the situation in eastern Aleppo today, we've spoken to residents and activists. As you mentioned earlier, at least 40

air strikes, several neighborhoods in eastern Aleppo have been pounded yet again for the third consecutive day. And the latest casualty figure we are

getting from members of Syria's civil defense, also known as the White Helmets, they say at least

21 people have been killed and dozens more injured so far today in the last several hours of this renewed assault on eastern Aleppo.

But they expect, Krsitie, that this number could rise. They say that a lot of people might

be trapped underneath the rubble.

LU STOUT: So the death toll will rise as the bombs rain down on Aleppo. And Jomana, there's also the issue of malnutrition and mass starvation,

those are additional concerns as well.

KARADSHEH: Well, as you heard there in Will's report a little earlier, Kristie, that is another major concern. So, people are terrified of this

renewed military assault, but they're also running out of food and all kinds of basic necessities in eastern Aleppo. We've heard the warning from

the United Nations last week saying the last of the food rations were being distributed in eastern Aleppo and that people are running out of all kinds

of food.

Whatever they have left is the little that people stored over the past few months. Now the last time any significant amount of aid was able to reach

eastern Aleppo was back in the middle of July. So supplies are running out. And whatever is really left on the market, and that's not much

according to activists and residents that we've spoken to. They say that there's no

fresh fruit, vegetable, things like eggs are not available.

So people are surviving on things like rice and pasta that they've saved, and on the market, whatever is left, Kristie, and it is very little, like

the meat for example, is $40 a kilo, something the majority of the people of eastern Aleppo cannot afford anymore.

So there is this real fear of this mass starvation scenario, and it looks like it's something

that the humanitarian aid organizations are saying that they cannot see a resolution for this crisis so far as we're seeing this intensified renewed

assault on eastern Aleppo.

It is looking near impossible for any aid to reach the people of eastern Aleppo -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: So the people of eastern Aleppo, they're left hungry, helpless, and terrified. Jomana Karadsheh reporting for us live. Thank you, Jomana.

Now, the president of the Philippines says that his country may leave the International Criminal

Court following Russia's example. Now, it comes after President Vladimir Putin ordered Russia to

quit. The ICC has 124 member countries and deals with cases such as genocide and war crimes.

Just days ago it handed down a damning verdict on Russia's annexation of Crimea. Moscow says the ICC is ineffective and after 14 years it handed

down only four sentences, but spent more than a billion dollars.

Now, still ahead here on News Stream, world leaders are dealing with new uncertainty in the wake of Donald Trump's victory. But experts in South

Korea say are some of the biggest concerns there.

Plus, it's a chance to not get behind the wheel and let a computer do all the work. The new driverless car a Chinese tech giant is taking for a

spin.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(HEADLINES)

LU STOUT: A delegation from South Korea is in the U.S. to meet with Donald Trump's transition team. And they are sure to have a lot to discuss after

Trump suggested the country is getting a free ride from the U.S. when it comes to defense.

Paula Hancocks sat down with three experts on the region: an American, a South Korean, and

a North Korean national.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Trump is president-elect. What was your initial reaction?

JOHN DALURY, YONSEI UNIVERSITY: First thought was shock. Even though I'm an American in Asia, I think a lot of Asians felt the same.

PARK HWEE-RHAK, PROFESSOR: We don't know how Mr. Trump would handle the nuclear issues. It is the number one threat to our country.

KIM KWANG-JN, INSTITUTE FOR NATIONAL SECURITY STRATEGY: For me, of course, I thought surprise and some worries because of his remarks during the

election campaign.

HANCOCKS: What do you think the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un would feel about this? Is this good for him?

PARK: Well, Trump said during his campaign that there is the possibility of, you know, U.S.

troop withdrawal from South Korea. North Korean media said that she's wise man, and Trump wise.

DALURY: He's giving very mixed signals about Kim Jung-un. Actually, he's spoken probably more respectfully about Kim Jong-un than any public

official in the United States -- or public personality in the United States so far. You know, so -- but then he's also been very harsh and biting and

insulting. So which way is he going to talk about Kim Jong-un if he does? They're going to be listening very closely for that.

KIM: Kim Jong-un is, I think, tried to be very cautious and to not want to move first because he knows the temper and characteristic of Mr. Trump.

That could be a similar to them that means they both could be very unpredictable and dangerous.

HANCOCKS: If you were a Trump adviser, I mean, what's the one piece of advice you would give to President-elect Donald Trump, looking at Korea,

knowing what you know about North and South Korea?

PARK: Someone else start. That's a good one.

KIM: I will volunteer. I think that Mr. Trump should play hardball. I think that he should ask review for consideration of the military options,

including preemptive strikes.

PARK: You know, North Korea is always there. And again and again they proved that they cannot be trusted. So we don't need to be changed.

DALURY: A president needs to take this really seriously and read the binder and meet and benefit from expertise, that's the first point.

But the second point is he should put down that binder and look at the problem in very different ways. And I do think he is equipped, uniquely,

to look at this problem with fresh eyes.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And that was our Paula Hancocks hosting that round table discussion.

You're watching News Stream. Coming to you live from Hong Kong. And still ahead, another company is joining the race to put driverless cars on the

road. We take one of the vehicles out for a spin in China.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

And this just in to CNN from Kosovo, now police say that they have stopped a series of terror attacks planned by ISIS. And one would have targeted

the Israeli football team and their fans during Saturday's match against Albania. Police say that they arrested 19 people who were coordinated by

two ring leaders in Syria.

Police there seized weapons, explosives, and extremist religious material during the raids.

Now, the Chinese tech giant Baidu is taking on Tesla in the driverless car wars. Matt Rivers got to ride in one of those vehicles in Ugian (ph).

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: This is what it looks like when you let a computer take the wheel.

It's very bizarre.

And this is the latest from Chinese tech giant Baidu: a self-driving car. We zip down the road at a healthy 50 kilometers an hour, steered straight

by a series of camera, sensors and this spinning LIDAR -- think radar, but with lasers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's continuously scanning, and the result is showing in run time on this (inaudible) in the back.

RIPLEY: What's it scanning for?

UNIDENITIFIED MALE: It's looking for all the objects and anything that's 3D detectable.

RIPLEY: That's Wesley Shao (ph), a senior project engineer. When he says 3D detectable, he

means anything a human driver would see, like a traffic light.

Reassuring when we actually see the red light and come to a nice slow, safe stop.

This was a highly controlled course: no real surprises, no sudden slamming on the brakes. These cars aren't ready for the public yet, because in

order for this to work, Baidu has to make these unquestionably safe.

Progress has been made, but there is a long way to go.

JING WANG, GENERAL MANAGER, BAIDU: Our goal is to make it better than any human driver in the world.

RIPLEY: This is Jing Wang. He runs the project.

WANG: Within five years, we are going to make at least one (inaudible).

RIPLEY: Smaller, faster, and safer.

WANG: We're trying very hard to show the real capability that autonomous driving car is safer

actually than a human driver.

RIPLEY: Convincing consumers used to control is a tall order, especially because driving in one of these is weird.

So this whole experience is kind of odd because on the one hand, it feels like any other driving experience you've ever had, but on the other hand,

right now the car is doing a U-turn on its own. And that is very difficult to describe. It's kind of bizarre and oddly normal at the same time.

But companies are betting big that people like me will get over their unease. By 2021, big players like Uber, BMW, and Ford say they'll have

their own self-driving cars on the road. Baidu wants to begin mass producing that same year, one of the largest investments they've ever made.

WANG: 10 years away, most -- a majority of cars produced in that year will be autonomous driving -- fully autonomous driving.

RIPLEY: A glimpse into the future. Still lots of cars, but drivers optional.

Matt Rivers, CNN, China.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: So bizarre and normal at the same time. Good description there by Matt Rivers.

Now, one of Donald Trump's new appointments is attracting plenty of controversy. The choice of Steve Bannon as chief strategist. Now, Bannon

is best known for running the alt-right website Breitbart.

Anderson Cooper spoke to conservative radio host and Trump critic Glenn Beck about what Bannon's new role could mean for the presidency.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Before this election, obviously you made it clear you were not a Trump supporter. You were out there campaigning --

first time you had ever actually campaigned for a candidate Ted Cruz, who actually visited Donald Trump today, I'm told, at Trump Tower.

Late last week you said that President Trump deserves a chance and that you're going to stand with him. Has something changed in your mind? Or

are you saying that as president-elect he deserves that change.

GLENN BECK, CONSERVATIVE RADIO SHOW HOST: We have two responsibilities when it comes to an election as citizens. We have the responsibility to

vote and then to honor that vote, even if we disagree with it. Tthat doesn't mean that we blindly follow, it just means we can't afford the

president to fail. We can't afford any president to fail.

It's getting worse and worse, And Anderson, you know -- you and I have talked several

times. I am concerned about the tenor of the nation and especially when it comes to the press on this

particular issue when it comes to Bannon.

The alt-right is real. And it's maybe -- I don't even know, maybe 1 percent, 3 percent of the Trump vote. So we're talking anywhere between

300,000 people to 1.5 million people maybe. That's a lot of people, but it is not the Trump crowd. They are being influenced without knowing it. And

for the media, who is distrusted on both sides, but mainly on the right, to be talking about Bannon and to be talking about the alt-right, I really

truly fear that this is going to be something they don't listen to and they don't hear the warning. In fact, they dismiss it.

So, I want to be really careful on what is said.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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

END