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NEWS STREAM
Prince Harry Engaged To Actress Meghan Markle; Pope Francis Meets With Myanmar Leaders; Highest Warning Issued For Bali Volcano; Conyers Quits House Judiciary Committee; Police Detain Teacher In Kindergarten Abuse Case; State Media: Pakistani Law Minister Resigns; World Headlines; Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are Engaged; Going Green; Meet Tuzki The Rabbit. Aired at 8-9a ET
Aired November 27, 2017 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[08:00:00] KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong, and welcome to News Stream.
Pope Francis visits the mostly-Buddhist nation of Myanmar with the military accused of persecuting hundreds of thousands of Muslim Rohingya.
On highest alert, a volcano in the Indonesian island of Bali has already set ash kilometers into the air, closing the airport. And the rabbit
emoticon had views 20 million times a day on WeChat and its parent company that has just been valued higher than Facebook.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: OK. Details on the stories but first the breaking news, of a royal engagement, Prince Harry is set to marry American actress Meghan
Markle in the spring. Max Foster has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MAX FOSTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They're maybe an unconventional couple when it comes to moiety but by all accounts, this marriage is welcomed by the
royal family.
Meghan Markle will be the first American Samarian to the Royal family since Wallis Simpson famously wed King Edward VIII 81 years ago, forcing his
abdication from the throne.
As well Simpson, Markle is divorce, bon and raised in Los Angeles by her African-American mother and white father. She rose to fame as one of the
stars of the American TV show, Suits. It was a long distance affair at first with Markle based in Toronto where Suits is filmed.
The relationship was kept mostly under wraps until a tabloid attacks on her background, prompted Prince Harry to take the unprecedented step of issuing
a sharp statement, warning the press to back off his girlfriend, calling out one tabloid for racial undertones.
Harry said a line had been crossed. In an interview with Vanity Fair magazine, Markle said the couple met in London in July 2016. They were
introduced by mutual friends. Reportedly that Harry's request and quickly learns they share philanthropy was a common interest.
MEGHAN MARKLE, AMERICAN ACTRESS: Women make up more than half of the world's population and potential. So it is neither just nor practical for
their voices, for our voices to go unheard at the highest levels of decision-making.
FOSTER: Along with the duke and duchess of Cambridge, Harry has worked to raise awareness of mental health. Recently speaking about the effects of
the death of his mother, Dianna has on him.
PRINCE HARRY, PRINCE OF WALES: I always thought to myself, you know, what's the point of bringing out the cause, what's the point of bringing
out something that's only going to make you sad, it is not going to change it, it is not going to bring her back, and when I start thinking like that,
I can really be damaging.
FOSTER: Talk of an engagement, ramped up when Markle quit her job on Suits in October. When she was pictured with her dogs in London, a move to
Kensington Palace looked imminent, in a time when the monarchy is eager to stay relevant, Meghan Markle could be just the spark it needs. Max Foster,
CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: OK. Now Pope Francis is Myanmar right now and he is walking this diplomatic tight rope as he carries his message of peace. He arrived
in Yangon to throngs of his supporters. He is the first pope to visit the country.
Earlier he met with Myanmar's military chief and on Tuesday, he will meet the de facto of Myanmar Aung San Suu Kyi. Nobel Peace Prize winner widely
accused of not doing enough to stop the violence at Rakhine State has caused more than 600,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee into a neighbor in
Bangladesh.
The Pope has been advised not to use Rohingya when meeting Myanmar's government officials. Vatican correspondent Delia Gallagher is in Yangon.
She joins me now live and, Delia, how usually he can't use the word Rohingya -- how does Pope Francis plan to address the Rohingya crisis as he
meets with leaders there in Myanmar?
DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Kristie, the pope has use the word Rohingya from the Vatican before and so he has come here I
think with everybody very well aware of where he stands on that position.
But he had come here to speak to the government leaders, to the military leaders of Myanmar. And so clearly, as advised by his cardinal here, he
wants to avoid using any language that for them is considered inclinatory.
If the pope's larger purpose in all this is to achieve some dialogue with leaders in this country to achieve a solution to the Rohingya problem, he
clearly have to be welcomed here.
He has to be able to sit down at the table, as he did with the generals just a few hours ago. This was a surprise meeting, it was originally
schedule for Thursday at the Vatican, announced it today.
It was supposed to be a day of rest for the pope, instead he met straight away with the generals. We don't have a lot of information of the meeting.
We know it took 15 minutes and that Vatican associate just got.
[08:05:00] The great responsibility that the authorities in this country have during this time of transition. So you don't hear a lot of very
general language but the larger point is, the meeting itself happens.
And what Francis is kind of mode himself around is to be able to sit down at the table. That's why he has come here, that's what he's done today
with the military general. That's what he'll be doing tomorrow with Aung San Suu Kyi and the other government leaders. Kristie.
LU STOUT: And of the pope pushes to hard on the Rohingya crisis with these government leaders and military leaders in Myanmar. Could there be
blowback, could the Catholic -- could the greater Christian community inside Myanmar suffer as a result?
GALLAGHER: Well, that was obviously the concern going in. But you know, the pope is very a savvy person. As they say -- and everybody kind of
knows where he stands on the issue. And his point now is to try and offer a solution for peace.
So his language is about peace and reconciliation. One of the ways that he is doing that in addition to speaking with government leaders is
speaking with the religious leaders here, you know. This is a predominantly Buddhist country.
There is a supreme council of Buddhist monks which are very influential here. The pope will be meeting with them on Wednesday. He is kind of
bringing in the whole inter-religious aspect to try and in fact, a kind of greater change.
These are the people with influence there. It's a rising Islamophobia in this county. So the pope is working the religious angle.
As you might expect with religious leaders here, Buddhist leaders here in Bangladesh, Muslim leaders and trying to also get them on board to have a
whole change of society's way of thinking about a minority Muslim population. It's larger than just the political question obviously.
Kristie.
LU STOUT: And there are Myanmar Catholics make up just over one percent of the population. So is the primary reason for Pope Francis to be here in
Myanmar, the Rohingya issue -- is this the activist pope we're seeing working in Myanmar.
GALLAGHER: I think for sure that is one of the major motivations for him. He has Aung San Suu Kyi twice at the Vatican. He has a relationship with
here. She is in difficulty as well, having been criticized heavily in the west for not speaking out against the military.
I have no doubt that he has come here as well in trying to help support her and trying to use her to help this burgeoning democracy in this country.
Now the pope is all about relationships and he does not want to cut anybody off. So he is not going to take a harsh political stance with any of the
leaders. He's going to try and encourage them forward on apostrophes.
Of course we know his attention to refugees all -- in all places around the world and certainly here with the case of the Rohingyas. He'll be meeting
with the group of them on Friday as well in Bangladesh. Kristie.
LU STOUT: So I mean this is a tricky visit but also potentially very, very impactful one as well. Delia Gallagher reporting live for us from Yangon.
Thank you for your reporting.
Now it is still not clear if the pope will make a direct request for the Rohingya to be treated with compassion. As Ivan Watson explains many
people inside Myanmar see the Muslim minority as a threat.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Funeral for a fallen man. This was the scene in January after the brazen daylight shooting of a well-known lawyer
in Myanmar.
The victim Ko Ni was an outspoken member of Myanmar's tiny Muslim religious minority. His daughter says he was gunned down while cradling his 2-year-
old grandson outside Yangon International Airport.
YIN NWE KHAING, KO NI'S DAUGHTER: When I turned around and looked and my father was on the ground. So I just ran and help him. But at the time
there is no sign of life.
WATSON: Ko Ni's killing came during a surge of religious tension in this overwhelmingly Buddhist country. A phenomenon CNN reported on two years
ago. Who is threatening Buddhism in this country?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Muslims.
WATSON: Muslims only make up around five percent of the population, but some Buddhist monks preach that they pose an existential threat to the
country.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We are worried they will explode our ethnic heritage, cultural buildings, religious monuments and our
brotherhood when they carry out suicide bombings.
WATSON: Nowhere is this fear of Muslims more acute than in Rakhine State where a deadly attack by Rohingya Muslim militants against security forces
last August triggered a campaign of reprisals. More than 600,000 Rohingya Muslims has since been driven from their homes across the border to
neighboring Bangladesh.
Refugees accuse the military of torching their villages, mass rape and murder. Myanmar says it's fighting against a terrorist insurgency and
denies deliberately attacking civilians. The U.S. and the United Nations call it ethnic cleansing.
There is little public sympathy in Myanmar for the Rohingya. For decades, authorities labeled them illegal immigrants and denied them citizenship.
[08:10:00] The Rohingya crisis has raised fears among other Muslims in Myanmar who do enjoy full citizenship rights.
U THAN AUNG, IMAM (through a translator): The hate speech overwhelmed the minds of most of the people in Myanmar. If you look at these people, it's
all because of fear. And because of this fear, they are afraid of us and we are afraid of them.
WATSON: In 2015, there was hope that the election of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi would calm religious tensions. The murdered Muslim
lawyer Ko Ni was one of her top legal advisers and a defender of the Rohingya Muslims.
Aung San Suu Kyi's government labeled his killing an act of terrorism. A trial of several suspects is underway. But even one of Aung San Suu Kyi's
Muslim supporters argues the political climate in Myanmar is toxic.
U AYE LWIN, MEMBER, ADVISORY COMMISSION ON RAKHINE STATE: They keep on using religion as a political tool. And there are a lot of traps so she
has to be very careful. So I'll be very blunt, if she come out and defends the Muslims, it will be political suicide for her.
WATSON: Ko Ni's daughter warned her father to be more careful about challenging Buddhist nationalists. For that he may have paid the ultimate
price. Ivan Watson, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: Now Indonesia is on high alert after warnings of a major volcanic eruption on the resort island of Bali.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: Mount Agung is spilling smoke and ash thousands of meters into the air following multiple volcanic blast at the weekend. Indonesian
officials issued a level four notice, the highest possible.
On Monday indicating the potential for another larger eruption. A video release by the country's disaster management agency shows thorns of mud and
volcanic debris on the mountains. Bali's international airport was closed on Monday, leaving tens of thousands of passengers stranded and wondering
how to get home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was an eruption. We have nor been notified but frankly, the ashes are way too high. (Inaudible)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible) -- everything was closed, so I got it very late. We have gotten no information because the gates and the part to
check in is closed indefinitely. So we don't know what's the plan. But most likely we have to stay over night.
LU STOUT: Authorities have ordered anyone within a 10 kilometer radius of the peek to evacuate. Tens of thousands of people are now in shelters like
these. And according to a spokesperson for the Disaster Management Agency, they are waiting to be allowed home. Experts say Indonesia should be well
prepared.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Indonesia has a 127 active volcano which means they were active about the past thousand years or so. So this is actually a
pretty normal scenario for Indonesia and they're very used to erupting volcanoes, the very experience.
LU STOUT: Mount Agung has been dormant for more than 50 years. It last erupted in 1963, sending ash as far as the capital, Jakarta, destroying
many villages and taking the lives of more than 1,700 people.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: Now meteorologist Chad Myers' modern day activity from the CNN World weather center. He is joins us now and, Chad, the Bali Airport is
closed. Thousands of travelers are stranded, tens of thousands of local residents have been evacuated, how long is this volcanic activity going to
go on for?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Wow. The one in 1963 lasted for a year and not making the ash in the atmosphere that long but think about old -- the
Icelandic Volcano that closed out European airspace for a month or two.
That is certainly not out of the question. It's all about the wind direction. Where does the wind pushed the ash and there is a true concern
that it may hang over Indonesia for quite some time.
And I'll get to in a second, why that is so important with a jet engine but for now, this is the airspace that is not open. Kristie.
LU STOUT: Got it. And you know, so far we have seen huge amount of smoke and ash...
MYERS: Yes.
LU STOUT: ... forced thousands of meters into the air, that's why that airspace is close, and a map behind you. What part are we going to see the
hot lava? I mean the severe eruption phase?
MYERS: Well actually that would be a good thing for air travel, bad thing for the residents that live there. It is the wind blowing the ash around
now.
But as these changes to an active, like you said lahar, volcano lava, magma coming out of the cone volcano. That is the next step up. And I hope it
calms down before it get there.
Because lahar as we saw the flooding, that was because the -- the volcano itself is so hot and is putting ash into the air, you can get thunderstorms
developing because of that.
[08:15:00] Then you get the ash fall downwind but you also can see the pyroclastic flow. This is what you do not want for anyone there in that
area.
This is the most significant problem that we are looking for, that lahar, the volcano that mature stage volcano, you certainly do not want to get to
there. So let me take you to this graph.
This is why you do not want to fly into volcanic ash. It is the leading surfaces. It is well -- you do not want to take in, all of a sudden, can't
see out of the windscreen because it looks like frosted glass.
You do not want to take and put any type of that erosion. Think about pumice stone. Think of what it does to the dead skin on your heel, it does
the same thing to the skin of an airplane. And I will take you to the engine.
This is truly why you do not want to get into volcanic ash. The engine is hot, the leading surface, the cowl certainly will get some damage but it is
the melting on the inside.
This ash gets so hot again, it actually melts again, it erodes it, it takes it like a -- like a pumice stone and erodes the metal inside the engine
itself and then when it comes out the back, comes out the nozzle, it can reformat into hard lava, look what these pictures look like.
This is what an inside of an engine and jet engine will look like flying through that debris, flying through that ash, I do not want to be in that
airplane.
Certainly not because there have been instances where all of the engines have stalled getting into too much ash. The airspace is done, you do not
want to be in it. You need to be patient, or maybe just -- if you are planning a vacation for New Year, you may want to think something
different.
LU STOUT: Yes, really appreciated that what you explain there. Just the risk of the hot ashes is not just a visibility issue, it could lead to
mechanical failure. Chad Myers reporting for us. Thank you so much, Chad. Take care.
MYERS: You're welcome.
LU STOUT: You're watching News Stream and still to come, shocking stories of abuse at a Beijing based kindergarten are rocking China.
We've got the latest on what happened and the investigation next. Pakistan's law minister steps down to put a stop to national protests where
demonstrators were demanding his resignation.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LU STOUT: Coming to you live for Hong Kong, welcome back, this is News stream. Now U.S. Democrat representative, John Conyers has stepped down
from the House Judiciary Committee.
But he says that he will stay in Congress and will fight the sexual harassment allegations against him. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi at
first appeared to defend Conyers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NANCY PELOSI, HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: We are strengthened by due process, just because the one is accused and that one accusation is that, too. I
think there has to be. John Conyers is an icon in our country.
[08:20:00] He has done a great deal to protect women. People do the right thing in terms of what he knows about his situation but he is entitled to
due process, but women are entitled to due process as well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: OK. But later, Pelosi appeared to temper her praise. On Twitter saying this, that no matter how great an individual's legacy is, it
is not a license for harassment.
Meanwhile, U.S. Senator Al Franken just the allegations against him before his return to the Senate. Multiple women claimed Franken touched them
inappropriately. He says he does not remember groping women but feels embarrassed and ashamed.
Franken says he has no plans to resign and he talked about the photo where he appeared to groped the news anchor Leeann Tweeden, the first woman to
accuse Franken of misconduct.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. AL FRANKEN, MINNESOTA: Embarrassed is that -- I am ashamed of that photo. She is -- you know she did not have any ability to consent. She
had every right to feel violated by that photo. I have apologized to her and I was very grateful that she accepted my apology.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: Now meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump is tacitly supporting Alabama's Senate candidate Roy Moore who faces multiple allegations of
misconduct or abuse when he was in his 30s.
As Boris Sanchez tells us, Mr. Trump's push to get all possible Republican votes for the tax reform bill is raising concerns within his own party.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Trump returning to the White House on Sunday with no shortage of items on the agenda and no shortage of
controversy either.
On Sunday the president dug his heels stopping just shy of endorsing embattled Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore in that he did race in
Alabama.
The president took to Twitter to attack Doug Jones, Roy Moore's opponent. He writes quote, the last thing we need in Alabama and the U.S. Senate is a
Schumer-Pelosi puppet who is weak on crime, week on the border, bad for our military and our great vets, bad for our Second Amendment and wants to
raise taxes to the sky. Jones would be a disaster.
This simultaneously happening as other Republicans, establishment Republicans are calling for Roy Moore to drop out of this race altogether
as Senator Lindsey Graham put it on the State of the Union on Sunday.
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: From a Republican point of view, I do not see what winning -- I do not know what winning looks like with Roy
Moore.
If he wins, we get the baggage of him winning and it becomes a story every day about whether or not you believe the women or Roy Moore, should he stay
in the Senate, should be expelled.
If he lose, you give the Senate seat to Democrat at a time we need all the votes we can get. The moral of the story is do not nominate somebody like
Roy Moore.
SANCHEZ: All of this unfolding as a make or break week unfolds for Republican, specifically when it comes to tax reform, the Senate could
potentially vote on a bill as early as Thursday. So the president is heading to Capitol Hill early in the week for the third time in just a
little bit over a month to meet with Senate Republicans to discuss tax reform.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: And that was our Boris Sanchez reporting. Now Mr. Trump also faces pushback for choosing the head of the Office of Management and Budget
to also run the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
A lawsuit has been filed to stop that appointment. The outgoing agency director had handpicked his successor and now there is a legal fight over
who has the final say.
A Chinese police had detained a female teacher for allegedly abusing kindergarten students. At least eight children at the Beijing based school
were allegedly drug and molested.
One parent told reporters that the children were found with multiple needle marks. She said that they were forced to strip and then examined by a
naked adult male stranger. Now her story horrified the country.
The National Education Ministry has started its own investigation. RYB education which runs the school says it fired the detained teacher as well
as the principal.
Last week, we reported on China's crackdown on human rights lawyers. We showed the conversations as some detainees had with our, Matt Rivers.
Dozens of activists, bloggers, feminists, artists and lawyers were arrested in President Xi's cracked down. Some said that they were traumatized in
secret prisons.
The Ministry of foreign affairs finally responded to CNN after that report was publishing saying this quote, China is a country with the rule of law
and all criminal suspects are guaranteed legal rights.
It also said foreign media should respect China's judicial sovereignty. Now order has returned to the streets of the Pakistani capital after the
resignation of the country's law minister's.
[08:25:00] Zahid Hamid's decision follows deadly protest demanding his ouster of what many demonstrators called blasphemy. Sophia Saifi explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SOPHIA SAIFI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Anti-government protest that had paralyzed the Pakistani capital of Islamabad had finally been called off by
its leaders who belong to a fringe Islamic party in country.
Now these protests had been calling for the resignation of the law minister for the past three weeks while they held (Inaudible) at an important
interchange between the capital and its twin city of Rawalpindi.
The government had initially refused to give in to that demand but after clashes on Saturday morning, which police suspend their operations against
these protester that left over 100 people injured. There were some casualties.
We woke up this morning with news that the law minister has himself given his resignation to the Prime Minister on the ground for keeping peace in
the country.
Now if you go back to October last month, the protest himself -- the protest is actually clean, the government had committed blasphemy on the
grounds that they were trying to change it all by law maker, regarding the finality of the prophets, Muhammad as the last prophet of God in Islam.
The government had denied this. There has been a complete stalemate initially that said that this never happened. It then said it was a
clerical error. Whatever the case was, it led to massive protest which then mushroomed across the country on Saturday.
It actually took the military to step and a chief of army start to speak to the prime minister to find a facility of dialogue between the protesters
and the government for this protest to be called off.
Now there is a lot of speculation on the ground. You know, social media was blocked off for 24 hours. News channels -- there was a blackout in
news channels for 24 hours.
This has led to a lot of unease, a lot of rumors flying around here on the ground, in the capital and a lot of contemplation as to what will happened
to an already fragile government and democracy in Pakistan. We're going to have to monitor it for the hours to come. Sophia Saifi, CNN, Islamabad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: Now there is still no official claim of responsibility for Friday's attack on a mosque in Egypt, 305 people were killed. According to
Egyptian authorities, at least one of the terrorists was carrying an ISIS flag. Egypt declared three days of mourning. The president ordered
warplanes to strike terrorist outposts.
You are watching News Stream and up next, joining Britain's royal family, American actress Meghan Markle gets (Inaudible), Kensington Palace and
Prince Harry.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN NEWS STREAM SHOW HOST: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. You're watching "News Stream." These are your world headlines.
Pope Francis held a short meeting with Myanmar's military commander and other top generals after arriving in Yangon. Pope Francis is visiting
Myanmar at a time of heightened religious tension. More than 600,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled violence in Rakhine State into Bangladesh. The
Holy See calls it a courtesy visit.
Air travel in Bali came to a stop after a volcano sent thick clouds of ash thousands of meters into the sky. Forty thousand people have been forced
out of the danger zone, but authorities say more people need to leave the area.
Law and order has returned to the streets of Pakistan's capital Islamabad after the country's law minister stepped down. Zahid Hamid's resignation
follows deadly protest demanding his ouster over proposed bill to soften electoral laws. Demonstrators call the proposed change blasphemy.
Prince Harry is officially engaged to American actress Meghan Markle. Kensington Palace says the engagement took place earlier this month, and
the couple are to exchange vows in the spring. Prince Harry is fifth in the line to the British throne. Prince Harry and Markle were introduced by
mutual friends in July of 2016.
Joining us now from Buckingham Palace is CNN's Erin McLaughlin. Erin, thank you for joining us on the story. After much, much speculation and waiting,
the royal engagement was finally announced earlier today. Give us all the details.
ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There is so much speculation surrounding this engagement, Kristie. Media crews have been
camping out for the past few days outside Kensington Palace in anticipation. Finally, this morning, Kensington Palace releasing a
statement as well as a tweet about the happy news saying that Prince Harry asked Meghan Markle to marry him in London earlier in the month.
He also asked her parents for permission. Her parents releasing a statement of their own today congratulating them saying, "we are incredibly happy for
Meghan and Harry. Our daughter has always been a kind and loving person. To see her union with Harry who shares the same quality is a source of great
joy for us as parents."
We have also heard from William and Kate. They released a statement of their own saying we are very excited for Harry and Meghan. It has been
wonderful getting to know Meghan and to see how happy she and Harry are together.
Now, all eyes will be on Kensington Palace in the next 30 minutes or so. We are expecting a photo call with both Meghan Markle and Prince Harry. Of
course, all eyes will be on the ring there as well. Kristie?
LU STOUT: (INAUDIBLE) when that happens, the wedding. Erin, when is it going to be? And based on what we know about Prince Harry and Meghan
Markle, what kind of wedding are they going to have?
MCLAUGHLIN: Well, the wedding is expected in spring 2018. An exact date was not given by Kensington Palace this morning. They said that the details for
the event will be announced, "in due course." So we don't really know what to expect in terms of where are they going to have the wedding. Given that
Prince Harry is fifth in line for the throne, the pressure is on for him to have something traditional.
So it's possible that the couple could even get married perhaps, say, in Malibu, in California. Meghan Markle is an American actress from
California. It's possible they can have the wedding there. We just don't know. We are going to have to wait and see.
Worth noting though that so far this announcement has been very traditional in terms of how Kensington Palace has sort of tweeted it out, provided
statements, provided a photo call. So it seems that Prince Harry is following in the footsteps of Prince William and how he announced his
engagement to the duchess of Cambridge.
LU STOUT: Tell us more about Meghan Markle. You mentioned she's an American actress from California. As she is preparing for a very new life, a
different one, a royal life, how is she handling the attention and how is Harry sort of guiding her through this transition?
MCLAUGHLIN: Meghan Markle is, as you said, an American actress, so she is no stranger to the spotlight. She had that high profile role on the hit
show "Suits" that was out of Canada, out of Toronto. But, you know, this will be a very different life for her. She is American. She will be moving
to a completely different country.
On top of that, you have royal protocol which of course is going to get -- going to take some time getting used to, getting adjusted. So no doubt, as
you point out, Kristie, that Prince Harry will be helping her throughout that process. We know that he has been very protective of her in the past,
last year releasing a scathing statement, really admonishing the media
[08:35:00] and how they were sort of pounding (ph) her as well as her family. So we can expect to see more of that protective behavior when it
comes to Meghan Markle from Prince Harry, I think, going forward. But really at this point with this announcement, they are choosing to step into
the spotlight with again that photo call that we are expecting shortly so all eyes can see the ring and see the happy couple together. And people
here really see this as a modern fairy tale and they cannot be happier for the couple. Kristie?
LU STOUT: Congratulations to the happy couple. Erin McLaughlin, we thank you for your reporting. Take care.
Now, you're watching "News Stream." Up next, a little white rabbit has taken over the internet in Asia, especially a certain social media platform
in China. Just ahead, we are going to meet Tuzki, once a university student doodle has now sent some 20 million times a day.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LU STOUT: Welcome back. Now, one way to go green is to drive an electric car, but just how practical are these vehicles? How far can they go? In our
"Going Green" series, we meet a couple intent on driving their car in a global adventure.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am very passionate about electric vehicles. I wanted to go out there and prove that electric vehicles can do just what
combustion engine vehicles can.
My name is Chris Ramsey and my wife and I just driven two-thirds of the planet in electric car.
So the Mongol Rally is a drive from London all the way to Southern Siberia. I decided it would be a great idea to drive in my fully electric Nissan
Leaf. And this is the first time ever an electric car has ever actually take a part in this Rally and complete it, I am happy to say (ph).
Because we are driving about 80 to 90 miles per charge, it forces us to stop in places where other Rally teams would just drive through. And that
was just domestic park sockets (ph) in cafes, restaurants, fire stations, all these amazing, wonderful places. But it really was a (INAUDIBLE).
The charging cable. This really was our lifeline and allowed us to plug into domestic sockets all over Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Russia.
So here we are at the (INAUDIBLE).
A hole in Azerbaijan.
Just stunning. Look behind me.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People all the time surrounded the car and wanted to find out more. They pop up the engine base, you look for an engine, and
there is no engine. And, like, what is this thing? You're plugging it in and it's like -- they think it's something from outer space.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The environmental impact that we had is evident. So we have driven this 10,000 miles with tail pipe emissions. And obviously all
the other Mongol Rally teams have been burning fuel (ph) all along the way.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) Mongol Rally team. Looks like we are a lot far behind.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They spend somewhere (INAUDIBLE)
[08:40:00] $2,300 in fuel where we spent only $105 in (INAUDIBLE).
I want to inspire and make the public out there want to look at what we've done. To think this person can drive from London to Siberia in electric
vehicle. I can drive (INAUDIBLE). I can drive to the city down the road.
Electric vehicles are a viable solution for more people in this today, not in the future, not 10 years down the line. They are more viable today.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: And last stop on our program, if a picture is worth a thousand words, the animated rabbit you're about to meet might be worth a few
million.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let's go! Come on!
LU STOUT: This guy is Tuzki. He may not be a household name in the west, but he is a superstar in China. Tuzki is the default sticker on We Chat,
sent 20 million times a day on social media. He is also available on (INAUDIBLE), KakaoTalk, and Facebook.
MOMO WANG, ANIMATOR AND CREATOR OF TUZKI: Half of the emoticons are used for message like good night, like a happy birthday.
LU STOUT: Tuzki is a peculiar rabbit, loves to drink milk, but hates alcohol and carrots.
WANG: When he wants to communicate with people, he use body language. He doesn't have a nose, doesn't have a mouth. He has only two eyes on the
face.
LU STOUT: Before achieving world fame, Tuzki was a humble doodle. Animator and illustrator Momo Wang created Tuzki in 2006 and posted him on her blog.
She was just an undergraduate animation student at the time. And her followers fell in love.
It wasn't long before Turner, CNN's parent company, bought the rights to him. Tuzki has become a powerful moneymaker. Companies like Motorola and
KFC have used him to promote their products. There is even a Tuzki theme restaurant and cafe in Shanghai.
In 2018, he is going to star in a major film. Thanks to Tencent Productions. That's the studio (INAUDIBLE) company that owns WeChat.
WANG: I am so excited because for every animator, to see your character in a big movie, that will be your lifetime dream.
LU STOUT: Whether on the big screen or on your mobile screen, Tuzki helps lighten the mood and express what can't be said in words. In a world that's
talking less and messaging more, characters like Tuzki may be just what we need to truly connect.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: And that is "News Stream." I'm Kristie Lu Stout. "World Sport" with Don Riddell, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:45:00] (WORLD SPORT)
END
