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NEWS STREAM

Apple Unveils New MacBook, Maps App; UN Report Reveals Syrian Army Torture of Children; Australian Coroner Reports Azaria Chamberlain Killed By Dingo; Russia-Poland Meet In Crucial Euro 2012 Math

Aired June 12, 2012 - 8:00   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. Welcome to News Stream where news and technology meet. And we begin in Syria where there are new fears that the government is abusing and even torturing children as fighting escalates around the country.

A mother's 30 year wait for justice. Decades after a dingo made off with her baby, she hears an emotional ruling by an Australian coroner.

Marching against Russia's Putin: thousands of anti-government demonstrators rally in Moscow.

And taking on Google: Apple unveils its brand new maps app. We'll tell you what it has that Google Maps don't.

Now the Syrian regime of Bashar al Assad is facing grim accusations that it is putting children directly in harm's way. Now for the first time, a United Nations report puts the Syrian government on its annual list of shame. It accuses Syrian troops and pro-government militias of using children as human shields and of brutally torturing and killing them.

Some 15 months of relentless violence is ramping up and UN observers say that shelling has rained down on towns in central, eastern, and western Syria. And they say military helicopters are joining in the onslaught. Now UN officials fear that many women and children are trapped in the besieged areas.

Now the U.S. is also expressing alarm.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VICTORIA NULAND, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESPERSON: That the regime may be organizing another massacre, this time in the village of in al Heffah in Latakia Province as well as in the towns of Deir al-Zour, in Daraa, in Homs, in Hama, and in the suburbs of Damascus. UN military observers have been trying to make their way into al Heffah in particular and they've been blocked by regime forces and barred from the town which is yet another violation of the regime's commitment to cooperate with the UN supervision mission inside Syria.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Now U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland there talking about fears of an imminent massacre in the town of al Heffah. Now it is in Syria's northwestern Latakia province. It's near the Mediterranean coast. And it appears to be turning into a new front against the Syria regime. Now fighting is also intensifying in the opposition stronghold of Homs Province, which has been under siege for months now.

And south of Homs, the Syrian capital Damascus is increasingly in the crosshairs. Now so far it has escaped the intense military pounding that Homs has endured, but as Ivan Watson reports daily power outages, protest strikes and fighting in the capital suburbs are taking a growing toll.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is a Syrian rebel ambush, a roadside bomb hitting a convoy of buses carrying Syrian troops. The rebel's camera catches soldiers running for cover in the suburb of Duma, just a few miles from Damascus.

The sound of fierce fighting echoing across Damascus at night has shattered the security bubble in the capital. Syria experts say the battle for Syria's two largest cities has begun.

PETER HARLING, INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP: We've seen events pick up on the ground with more and more clashes occurring in areas of the country which the regime claims to control and in particular the largest city Aleppo, the country's economic capital if you will, and the administrative capital Damascus. In both places we've seen not just more armed clashes than ever in the past, but also a revival of the protest movement in its peaceful dimension.

WATSON: A secretly filmed activist video shows the historic Hamadia Bazaar (ph) in the heart of Damascus shuttered, a strike staged by shopkeepers two weeks ago in protest against a massacre of civilians in the village of Houla allegedly by pro-government militia.

HARLING: This is really a very strong signal suggesting that the historical alliance between the regime and the business establishment of the capital is at least partially broken.

WATSON: The strike spread to neighborhoods in Aleppo prompting government troops to lash out and force merchants to reopen their shops.

HARLING: What we see is the regime whose narrative boil down to us or chaos, but increasingly what we see is them and chaos. The regime has been incapable of imposing law and order.

WATSON: More than a year of violence compounded by economic sanctions is taking its toll on ordinary Syrians. Prices of basic commodities and fuel have skyrocketed. Activist-journalists sent us this video of a woman complaining that she can only afford to feed her children rotting onions and stale bread warmed over a wood fire, because she can't afford to buy cooking fuel.

The Syrian regime is still far from defeated. It still have fervent supporters and vastly better weapons than the rebels. But with its soldiers now using the main sports stadium in Damascus as a staging ground, the image of a government in control has started to crack.

Ivan Watson, CNN, Istanbul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And now we want to take you inside Syria and the images you're seeing courtesy of photojournalist Robert King. He risked his life to show the world the truth about what is happening there. And these pictures, they were taken in a makeshift clinic in the Homs Province, it's an area under siege from government troops for months.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT KING, PHOTOJOURNALIST: Doctor, what has happened here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know. It's the army of al-Assad.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Any hospital in Syria, they will kill the wounded.

KING: Even the children?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Even the children.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: And photojournalist Robert King joins us now live from Beirut. And Robert, could you first comment on this UN report accusing Syrian troops of killing, of torturing children. Have you witnessed the killing and torturing of children inside Syria?

KING: I have witnessed the killings of children inside Syria. I have not witnessed the torture of children inside Syria. And when I witnessed the killings of children it was only because I was inside the field hospital at the time the children were brought in for treatment.

LU STOUT: And these children who were killed, were they children who were caught in the crossfire, or children who were targeted, who were executed?

KING: Well, a little bit of both, you know, in Taftanaz during the massacre there, there was a few children that were executed. In al-Quseir, the children were randomly targeted, but targeted in the sense that it was collective punishment for being associated with the revolution.

LU STOUT: Could you tell us more about the circumstances in which these children were targeted? Were they being held in front of their parents and then executed in such a way?

KING: You know, these children that I photographed in al-Quseir were wounded by mortar and rocket attacks. And some of the children were wounded while fleeing their village while it was coming under attack from the Assad regime.

Once again, I did not personally witness the torturing of children. I would have intervened if I had witnessed such horrors.

LU STOUT: OK, you described there in al-Quseir that the children were wounded, some of them eventually died in hospital while their homes became under attack. In your footage just then that we had a chance to air, we could see just the medics, the doctors scrambling at the scene. Could you describe their work and what they're up against?

KING: They're between a rock and a hard place. It's quite difficult to conduct so many life saving operations with so little equipment. You know, they're holding a desk lamp to illuminate the operating table. It runs on a generator. Some of the surgeons were veterinarians. They're learning as they go. And they lack basic medical supplies, even plasma is in short supply. And they treat asthmatics, diabetics, all kinds of you know common illnesses and sicknesses along with more traumatic related injuries related to war.

LU STOUT: You know, the video that you're sharing with us from the front lines inside Syria. I mean, it's gripping. They're horrific and now being released for the world to see. You're thoughts on the impact your images of the conflict will have on the fate of Syria and the people who are suffering?

KING: Well, I hope that my images would tell the story of the Syrian people to the public so they could make informed decisions. So I hope that my images inform the populous so that they may make better informed decisions on this and other issues of combat.

And I also would hope that these images would become a historical reference that would prosecute Assad for war crimes against humanity.

LU STOUT: I also wanted to get your thoughts about how is it that Assad continues the violence. In fact, the violence has escalated despite the images that you provided and through YouTube after two massacres violence on the rise, a UN reported the killings and targeting of children. Why does he chose to escalate the violence?

KING: I don't know exactly why he chooses to escalate the violence, but I'm assuming he's losing grip on power and it's his last desperate effort to appease the -- his supporters and to drag his country into a full-out civil war. There's much -- you know, very similar to a scorched earth policy. You know, if he's going to leave, he will leave the country in ruins.

LU STOUT: And Robert, you risked your life to document the bloodshed and the mayhem inside Syria. Describe how are you able to get out of the country?

KING: We moved -- it took a long time to get out of the country. The roads were blocked. There was a lull in the fighting. And we eliminated a lot of risks involved that would allow us safe passage. And during that lull we moved with the wounded. And crossed over the border in the darkness of night.

LU STOUT: And Robert, one last question for you. I understand that you've been covering conflict and wars for two decades now. How does what you have witnessed inside Syria compare to everything else you've witnessed.

KING: I -- 20 years, two decades I've been covering conflict. And I've never photographed so many wounded children and have never experienced such a -- you know, just indifference between the public. I was amazed. I photographed children wounded in Sarajevo and moved nations into action, but here in Syria you have wounded children every day and nobody seems to care. It's horrifying.

LU STOUT: Let's change that feeling entirely. It's horrifying what we're seeing the images inside Syria, images that you've been able to share with the rest of the world. We need to get everyone just to be able to pay attention to the atrocities that are taking place inside. And Robert King, we thank you for your report. Robert King joining us live from Beirut there.

You're watching News Stream. And still ahead, we follow police in California as they track down sex traffickers.

And we go to Moscow. Thousands of people right now, they are marking Russia Day with protests. And they want Russian politics to change.

And they say you can never be too young or too thin, but we'll show you this the new Apple laptop and it looks to tick both boxes. Stick around.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back.

And turning now to a heartbreaking case that has captured international attention for more than three decades. In 1980, an Australian woman claimed that her baby daughter had been taken away by a type of wild dog called a dingo and now 32 years on a murder trial and four inquests later, an Australian coroner has finally confirmed that. Now earlier on Tuesday, she ruled that the death of two-month-old Azaria Chamberlain was indeed the result of being attacked by a dingo. And Azaria's mother, Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton was convicted and later exonerated in the case. And today's ruling ends a long and traumatic legal battle.

She joins us now from outside the court in Darwin, Australia. And Lindi, welcome to News Stream.

Please, give us your reaction to the ruling?

LINDY CHAMBERLAIN-CREIGHTON, AZARIA'S MOTHER: Well, it's been a long time coming, obviously, but I finally got someone with common sense and the abilities to research and read and come to an intelligent finding. And I wonder if that's because it was a lady.

LU STOUT: I'm sorry, what did you mean by that?

CHAMBERLAIN-CREIGHTON: Well, we've had men all the way through so far. And you know when you get a coroner who goes to sleep at the front and lets the evidence go on around them and decides what the findings is going to be beforehand and I was waffle on about the size of Sir Lancelot chooses (ph) it really makes you wonder whether they are on the same page. And between Coroner Barrett (ph) who got it almost right in the first place and this lady there has been a lot of water under the bridge. And not all of it clean water.

LU STOUT: That's right. And this lady, the coroner who spoke today, she spoke when she delivered the ruling with so much emotion.

Now Lindy, 30 years ago this case had divided your country. And many Australians, they couldn't believe that a dingo, wild dog, can just take a baby away. Do you think all of Australia believes you now?

CHAMBERLAIN-CREIGHTON: Oh, I know they don't. I've seen some of the chat rooms. And there was one on blog page, one of -- a radio comedian who apologized for what she thought and people could go in and make comments on what she said and one of them that went in said I made up my mind years ago and I'm not about to change it now.

So you know there's always going to be people like that. And you have to feel sorry for minds that are so closed they can never take new information that they didn't know. And in a case with so much evidence and so many changes, well there is no way the media can report on everything that happens in court.

So there's a lot of information that the public didn't get to know the intimate details. And so they questioned and jumped to conclusions. And that is why Ms. Morrow (ph) said today that there are a lot of misconceptions even now floating around and that's why she had been so careful and so succinct with their report going right from the first inquest right through the royal commissions and appeals and inquests and through an inquest you actually only have to have on the balance of probabilities. And she said that on her research this had gone far beyond that.

And she really covered all the bases for anybody what wanted to look at that. And it's something that a lot of people have known for a long time. And in even the northern territory initially said it's Lindy or a Dingo, but when they removed me and said, no, she's innocent and we acknowledge that then they just refused to acknowledge that it was a dingo. And we just had to wait until there was people who had not been involved in this case before to come to the territory before we could actually reopen it again.

And now...

LU STOUT: Lindy...

CHAMBERLAIN-CREIGHTON: ...New Zealand lawyer...

LU STOUT: ...you were speaking about these perceptions. And I want to ask you about your thoughts of the media. And the media's role in these misconceptions. Of course the case has transfixed media around the world. It was in fact turned into the movie Cry in the Dark with the actress Meryl Streep playing you. Do you think those type of media portrayals and movies and mini-series in Australia, do you think that harmed your effort to clear your name and to get the truth out?

CHAMBERLAIN-CREIGHTON: The initial docudrama done that was not good, the Frank Moorhouse drama. They hadn't -- they didn't present both sides. They only presented basically the crown case and it wasn't based on evidence. Then Kevin Hitchcock's documentary did a tremendous amount to take away some of those misconceptions. And then the movie the Cry in the Dark with Meryl Streep, you know, that of course changed a lot of people's opinions for the better, but still there were many that didn't. And then both the opera and the mini-series with Miranda Otto and Craig McLaughlin (ph) in it, they also swung some public opinion. So things had not been harmful at all.

And I mean, the media like anyone else there's the good and the bad in it. There was good cops, bad cops; good media, bad media. I have to say, though, the lady that apologized today out of the media was only the second one ever to do so. And good on her for that.

LU STOUT: And one more question for you.

And good on her for that.

I wanted to ask you a personal question about how you personally remember and honor little baby Azaria and how you describe her to her siblings?

CHAMBERLAIN-CREIGHTON: Well, of course the boys both remember her. With Carlia (ph) she's kind of funny and says well she's my older sister but I still think of her as my baby sister it seems, because she's a baby. She's younger than me. And it wasn't kind of real to Carlia (ph) until we went out to (inaudible) with her one time and then she said she suddenly realized what she had missed and, you know, tea parties, playing house, all the things that she could have and would have done with a sister. And that really brought it home to her.

But I think the family recognizes she would have been very like Aiden (ph) to look at apart from what I was wearing I in photographs it's impossible to tell apart as babies, she and Aiden (ph). And so I don't -- I don't think those memories will change for any of us. We just choose to think of the happy times, the nice times, and not dwell on the horrible events of her death.

But...

LU STOUT: Melinda, yours is an incredible story...

(CROSSTALK)

LU STOUT: And also -- yes, I'm assuming that you want to direct our audience to your website. I understand you do have a website up. It's under your name, LindyChamberlain-Creighton.com, be able to find more details there. Thank you for sharing your story, a story of justice after 30 years an incredible one.

Go ahead.

CHAMBERLAIN-CREIGHTON: Yes. And you just gave the wrong web address. It's just www.lindychamberlain.com. But my book is now available on eBook anywhere you can buy eBooks. It's changed its name. And it's updated. It is now called A Cry in the Dark.

LU STOUT: OK.

Lindy, thank you....

CHAMBERLAIN-CREIGHTON: Sorry, I -- the movie is called A Cry in the Dark.

LU STOUT: OK. Thank you.

Understood. Thank you.

All right. Let's take you next to the U.S. state of California. And there the police, the FBI, the community of Orange County they've all come together to fight human trafficking. And they've set up a joint task force to catch the people forcing women and girls into the sex industry. And today in Freedom Undercover, Martin Savage takes us on patrol.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hope in my car and...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: See it on the east side of the street? This is where a lot of people get picked up. Deals are negotiated.

MARTIN SAVAGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The vice unit for the Anaheim police department is hunting for pimps. This is the unit's goal as a member of the Orange County human trafficking task force. And today's operation is taking investigators to the streets. It's a slightly different scenario than what we saw when we first met the unit last year.

Shane contacted a woman who was offering services online. In the delicate dens over the phone he got her to agree to provide sex for money.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How much for an hour. Still 160? OK. And that's full service, right?

SAVAGE: And one he made sure he knew what was being offered is by asking about the one thing that would only be used if sex were taking place.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do I need to bring condoms or do you already have them? You have them? OK.

SAVAGE: This is Anaheim's way of making sure a criminal violation is recorded before contact is even made.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Investigator (BLEEP). I will be calling back a female.

SAVAGE: Shane then got a hotel room and told the girl he would wait for her there. What she doesn't know is that she's not meeting a client, but six undercover investigators: an FBI agent, patrol officers, and a victims services representative.

In that operations, a 17-year-old girl showed up for Shane's date. The unit put her in touch with victims services and tracked down the man they believe was forcing her into prostitution, making it human trafficking. He's currently facing a three year sentence for pimping and pandering.

Today's operation takes the team directly to the source.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to have a couple of my officers posing as undercover Johns. And we're going to try and contact some girls that are out working the street and hopefully turn them to find their pimps.

And we'll just try and get a couple right off the bat.

SAVAGE: The unit is split up into five undercover vehicles. And they're patrolling one of two streets they call prostitution tracks. We're riding along with Sergeant Craig Friesen, the head of the vice unit and the only one whose face we can show you.

SERGEANT CRAIG FRIESEN, ANAHEIM POLICE DEPARTMENT: You know, there are tell-tale signs you look for. Girls just walking up and down the street with really no purpose to where they're walking. For the most part we're looking for you know she flagging down other cars, is she getting hit up by other cars.

Yeah, I got her now. She's walking southbound passed the Moonlight towards the Covered Wagon now Johnny. Black purse, pink shirt, and black shorts.

SAVAGE: Is there something in the way they look or in the way they act?

FRIESEN: It's really by just going by your training and experience and your gut feeling. The guy in the red car, for instance. Don't know for sure that he was out there looking for prostitutes, but everything he's doing is mirroring what we're doing and we're looking for prostitutes.

SAVAGE: After about an hour of searching, the undercover office who was posing as a client has found a potential date.

FRIESEN: We have units set up for all the directions that you can leave from. And we'll follow him while he works his negotiation with the girl in the car and then get them pulled over and then begin out investigation.

SAVAGE: It all seems pretty clear, but as this team knows well, you never know where an investigation may lead.

For the CNN Freedom Project, I'm Martin Savage.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And tomorrow Martin will be back as Anaheim police, they try to break a case that tests their ingenuity.

Now still to come here on News Stream, a protest in Moscow: thousands march in protest of Russian President Vladimir Putin's third term in office.

And it is a big game for Euro 2012 with Russia playing against co-host Poland. And we'll tell you what is at stake. Stick around.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. You're watching News Stream and these are your world headlines.

Now the United Nations is accusing soldiers in Syria of using children as human shields. And the report says those as young as nine have been killed, maimed, arrested, and tortured. Now activists are also accusing the regime of using helicopter gunships to fire on towns.

Now in the past half hour, the Australian mother who was wrongly convicted of killing her own daughter has told me that she's glad a coroner confirmed what she has said all along. Now earlier today a coroner ruled that dingo, which is a wild Australian dog, killed two-month-old Azaria Chamberlain in 1980. It ends one of the country's longest running mysteries.

Now the governor of Afghanistan's Bagland Province (ph) tells CNN that 80 to 90 people are dead following two earthquakes there. Now the magnitude 5.4 and 5.7 quakes hit the mountainous area on Monday. Now the governor says it is unlikely any survivors will be found.

And thousands of people are gathered in central Moscow. The opposition planned the rally this Russia Day to protest against President Vladimir Putin's third terms in office. And protesters say elections held in March were not free and fair. Many are calling for political reform, including new elections.

Now Russia is also playing in Euro 2012 today. And Amanda Davies joins me from London with more on that -- Amanda.

AMANDA DAVIES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kristie. Great color you've decided to wear, by the way. This one is a huge game. Victory for Russia will mean they all but qualify for the next round, but the co-hosts Poland will really be looking for a first win after opening with a draw against Greece.

The thing with this batch, though, is that there is so much more than just a football. Pedro Pinto has more from Poland.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PEDRO PINTO, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Government and police officials have warned that this is probably their biggest security challenge during Euro 2012. We'll have 10,000 Russian fans at least in the city center here in Warsaw. And word has it they'll be marching here to the stadium with banners, with flags celebrating Russia Day.

We also know that the Polish people aren't too happy about it, because you have a look at the history between these two nations and there is a lot of tension there. A lot of people here in Poland and in Russia still at odds about who's to blame for that small air crash a couple of years ago. Then there's the history of tension between the communist era.

And the historians among you would have heard about the battle of Warsaw back in 1920. They call it here the miracle of Vistula as the Polish army was able to beat the Bolshevik army, that's what the local media has picked up on to hype this match up.

Let's start with a few of the headlines that they've been using over the last couple of days. This is the tabloid Sunday Express. And they say "Faith, Hope, and Smuda," Smuda is the name of the national team manager.

A couple of weekly publications have also picked up on this rivalry. We have the local Newsweek saying "Battle of Warsaw 2012" with a picture of Smuda there in uniform.

Wprost, another highly known weekly publication here going with "Wake- up!" an appeal to the Russian team. Can you imagine -- to the Polish team, rather. Can you imagine Euro without the Poles? Russia or Death, that's what they're saying here on the cover of this magazine. So you can really get an idea of how intense this rivalry is.

That's what the media is doing. If you ask the authorities, though, they're doing their best to diffuse the tension.

EWA GAWOR, DIR. WARSAW'S SECURITY AND CRISIS UNIT (through translator): I'd ask them to observe the law and warn them that in the case of any violations police will intervene. We have told them what is legal in our country and what should be avoided.

ALEXANDER SHPRYGIN, RUSSIAN FOOTBALL FAN ASSOCIATION (through translator): This is not a march. The word march has military connotations. It would be more appropriate to call it a walk. Our intentions are friendly. We want to mark Russia's national holiday and demonstrate support for our team.

PINTO: The president of the Polish Football Federation, Grzegorz Lato, has also asked everyone to remain calm, adding that politics and sports really shouldn't mix. As far as the action on the pitch, there's a lot of pressure on the Polish national team. They know they need to avoid defeat to their rivals here at Warsaw's national stadium if they want to continue to have any hopes of making it to the knockout stages of a major tournament for the first time since 1986.

That's the latest from Warsaw. Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DAVIES: Well, let's just remind ourselves how things stand in Group A heading into the second round of games. There we are, Russia sits top with three points. Greece and Poland have one each. The Czech Republic bottom on zero points at the moment. Though Greece-Czech Republic of course the other game on Tuesday.

But in terms of what happens on Monday night, the much anticipated clash between England and France ended in a 1-1 draw. But the story of the night had to be in Kiev. The hosts Ukraine, they came back from a goal down to beat Sweden 2-1. And the hero, as always, this man here, Andriy Shevchenko.

There we are. There we go. Try again. There we are. Andriy Shevchenko, the 35-year-old scoring twice with two quick headers to give his country three points in their first ever match at the European Championships. At first as co-hosts has to rank as one of the highlights of a glittering career for one of Europe's greatest strikers. It seemed almost 15 years since he scored a hattrick for Dynamo Kiev, but the new camp in Barcelona -- that's saw him move to Milan where he won Serie A, the Champions League and the European Footballer of the Year award.

And his career appeared to be on the wane after a disappointing spell at Chelsea, wasn't even tipped to start last night's match with Sweden, but he did. And went on to cement his status as arguably the best player Ukraine has produced since the fall of the Soviet Union. It's there we are.

Now they've had to wait for it, moving on, but the celebrations are well underway after a Hollywood ending for the L.A. Kings in the NHL on Monday night. They claimed their first ever Stanley Cup title, finally getting the series winning victory in game six against the New Jersey Devils. Their 45 year wait for the cup came to an end with their 6-1 defeat of the Devils in game 6 to clinch the title 4-2 and erase the painful memories of the Kings' last trip to the finals in 1993 when they fell to the Montreal Canadians. It was the Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick that lifted the Conn Smyth trophy as the playoff MVP.

So celebrations in Hollywood, Kristie, but it's now all eyes on the NBA. Their finals get underway, of course, later on Tuesday.

That's it for me, for now, back to you.

LU STOUT: Ooh, looking forward to that. Amanda, thank you very much. Take care.

You're watching News Stream right here on CNN. And just ahead, she is miles ahead and a pioneer on the track. It's the Venezuelan race car driver who is a leading woman in more ways than one.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Live from Hong Kong you're back watching News Stream.

And this week as part of CNN's Leading Women series we meet Milka Duno. Now she is a Venezuelan race car driver who is making inroads on the track. And as Felicia Taylor finds out, Duno has the speed and the know- how to lead the pack.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FELICIA TAYLOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In a sport dominated by men, she is in a league of her own.

MILKA DUNO, DRIVER: I like to drive. I like to do a good job. I like to win races.

TAYLOR: With more than 100 races and eight major wins to her credit, she is considered among the most prolific and versatile female race car drivers in the sport.

DUNO: It doesn't matter the gender. It doesn't matter a woman or a man. They've got (inaudible) determination.

TAYLOR: She fell in love with cars in her native Venezuela while taking joy rides in her parents Chevrolet. Today, she races all over the world, and often exceeds 200 miles per hour.

What did your parents say when you decided to go from naval engineering to stock cars?

DUNO: (inaudible) study so much, study so much and now you're going to race cars.

TAYLOR: This former model turned race car dynamo is Milka Duno.

Miami, playground of the chic: from the people to the cars, this U.S. city is all about style. It's here we find Milka Duno cruising around her adopted home town in an exotic Lotus sports car.

DUNO: The Latin people have a lot of talent. We do everything with passion from inside. We have to feel emotion. We have -- this is why we're so explosive. We can show that we love or hate. We don't have a fake face.

TAYLOR: Duno's love for speed began in 1998 in Venezuela after she was invited to a driving clinic.

DUNO: I didn't know anything about racing. And I participate. I was the only woman. I started to win some races.

TAYLOR: She became hooked.

DUNO: I came to the United States for racing school and two weeks later they call me to form a driver. This is why I say it was my destiny. I didn't know that I was going to be a race car driver.

TAYLOR: To see what life is like for the professional race car driver, we join Duno at the Daytona International Speedway in Florida during a series of practice sessions as she prepares for a coming race.

Her days start with a drivers meeting.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Spotters, you're going to play a very important role over the next three days, because you're the people...

TAYLOR: This is all leading up to the season opener in the ARCA Racing Series, a stock car competition with a $35,000 prize.

And tell me what your day has been like so far today?

DUNO: Oh, after the driver meeting we were working on the car. It's a new car and we have to try everything and test everything. The engineer was making many changes. We wanted to be sure that the car was good when we go out to the track.

TAYLOR: Duno is relatively new to stock car racing compared to other types of racing that she's done. Though she is familiar with the track here. In 2007 she finished second in the 24 Hours at Daytona Race, the highest finish by a female driver.

Her crew chief says it all comes down to determination.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Her competitive spirit is second to none. I don't think there's a man in this garage that has as much competitive spirit as she does.

TAYLOR: During one of the practice sessions, Duno posted the fastest lap among the drivers, circling the two-and-a-half mile track in 48.3 seconds.

DUNO: It's a very complex sport. You need to have good preparation, physical preparation. You have to have good training. You have to have concentration level. You have to study. You have -- it's not only gas and break like the people think, no you have to study so much about the cars, know about the car.

At the end, you need so many things working right to win a race.

TAYLOR: Milka Duno isn't just gusty, she's also smart. The former naval engineer has four masters degrees, three of them earned simultaneously.

It seems Milka Duno has never met a challenge she couldn't overcome, including a career behind the wheel.

DUNO: We have more expressive mechanics, race car driver, astronauts, everything. We can do everything that we decide that we want to do.

TAYLOR: In the coming weeks we'll see Milka Duno at the Daytona race that she's practicing for and also give you more insight into the world of auto racing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And for more of our reporting on CNN's Leading Women, just check out our website cnn.com/leadingwomen.

Now Apple unveiled new laptops and a new operating system, but we'll tell you whether new maps application could be a very significant change.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back.

And time for your world weather, focused this time on China. Let's kick things off with Mari Ramos, of course. She joins us from the world weather center -- Mari.

MARI RAMOS, CNN WEATHER CORRESPONDENT: Hey Kristie, yeah China continues to get some very heavy rain particularly along the eastern portions of China. I want to go ahead and start you with Taiwan as well, because we're still seeing tremendously heavy rain that extends along that frontal system that has been affecting the area. This is a picture from Taipei. And you can see the ongoing rescues that have been happening across this area.

Now at least four people dead reported by local media in Taiwan, many more injured in landslides in that region. In Taipei proper they had over 274 millimeters of rain. That's pretty significant. That's only in a 24 hour period. Trying to imagine that much rainfall. And unfortunately along this frontal system we're still going to see much more rainfall in for Taiwan, particularly over the mountains and over toward that eastern side eight, maybe 15 centimeters now out of the questions still for that region.

You can see that frontal area still bringing some very heavy rain here back over toward southern parts of China, Hainan, and then over even into northern parts of Vietnam. So the potential for flooding remains.

I do have some pictures to show you from another landslide, this one taking place farther inland in Hunan. And this is pretty significant, because again we're dealing with some very treacherous conditions. That's a mattress that man is pulling out. This is somebody's home, somebody's belongings that are completely shredded by the power of the mud and the water that came tumbling down. Hundreds and hundreds of rescues like the ones that you see there trying to get people out of flooded areas and into higher ground. We are expecting -- in this case the rain for the most part has stopped, but what you're looking at there is pictures of a dam that broke and flooded the town, flooded the city. And just an example, yesterday we were talking about how so many dams and reservoirs were already so full and extra strain is placed on them when you have such torrential downpours.

Well, come back over to the weather map over here. Again, the area for the potential for flooding will be along the coast back over toward Taiwan. And then over toward parts of western Japan, particularly the islands here across the southern portions of Japan I should say. So watch out for that.

We're also looking at a potential tropical system here, actually it already has formed. This one is just to the south of Guam. And we're monitoring this storm, Guchol, because even though right now it's still a tropical storm we're expecting it to continue intensifying and move in the general direction here of East Asia, still very far away. Don't worry about it too much for now if you're in the Philippines or in Taiwan, but just keep an eye on this over the next few days. And as we head into the weekend this may become a more important weather maker by Thursday or Friday. So of course we'll keep you posted and let you know what happens with that.

Switching gears we head to the to the side of the Pacific and actually to the western United States. I don't know if you've seen these pictures or heard about this fire in Colorado. It's already one of the largest in the state's history, over 150 square kilometers have already burned. It's just outside of the densely populated area of Ft. Collins, Colorado where the leading edge of the fire over 100 structures have burned and one person has died.

I want to show you a picture from this area right here. This is at the Horse Tooth Reservoir. You can see these amazing images. It almost looks like a movie set.

And let's go ahead and roll the pictures from Colorado there. It really is amazing, Kristie. In some cases, this fire has been moving at about half a mile every single hour. It is zero percent contained. And like I said one person has already died. Very dry conditions.

And one of the problems they're having here in Colorado is that not only are they in a drought, but this is a problem happening across many parts of the U.S. There's this beetle invasion, these beetles that eat the trees. The tree dies. And so you have all of this dry wood, this dry timber there that is just ready to go up in smoke. Add that drought, dry conditions, low humidity and winds and what you have is a disaster in the making, that's precisely what we're seeing here in Colorado.

Back to you.

LU STOUT: Dry and dangerous conditions. Mari Ramos there, thank you.

Now Apple fans may be worrying about their bank balance after the tech giant unveiled a range of new products at its annual developers conference. And they kicked it off with a surprise speaker.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SIRI: Hello. And welcome to WWDC. I'm Siri, you're virtual assistant. And today I was asked to warm up the crowd, which should be easy since the high will be 75 degrees.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Rim shots there.

Now Apple showed off the latest version of its iPhone and iPad operating system. And among the new apps in iOS 6 is Passbook, which holds everything from boarding passes to loyalty cards in digital form. iOS 6 will also have a tighter integration with Facebook.

Now Apple also unveiled the latest in its line of MacBook Pro computers. The new MacBook Pro has a much sharper display and is much thinner than before. And that's because it does not have a disk drive.

Now there are many new products and services unveiled, but I just want to focus on one -- Maps. Now right now the Maps app on your iPhone or iPad uses maps provided by Google, but starting with iOS 6 it uses maps provided by Apple. So why does it matter who provides maps for your mobile device? Well, it turns out this change actually means quite a lot. It's another sign of the growing divide between Apple and Google.

Now Google, of course, has Android, it's own mobile operating system and Google Maps for Android has what its iPhone counterpart does not. For example, turn by turn navigation which is what you see with a stand alone GPS device. Now Apple's new maps takes the same feature to the iPhone without relying on Google.

But there are still features Apple does not have in its app, like Google's street view technology. Now you might have laughed when you saw one of these cars rolling down your street, but the street view camera cars, they were a very visible symbol of the money Google poured into its map system. And without their own fleet of cars with cameras, it's something Apple can't match just yet.

But why invest so much money in maps? Well, they are a moneymaker. Now Google built its business on selling ads that were relevant to what you're searching and the same is true for maps. And companies can pay to put their logo on Google Maps or for prominent placement. If you're looking for a restaurant in the area, it can direct you to one that paid for an ad. So it's a valuable revenue stream that Apple seems to want a cut of, or at least doesn't want Google to profit from.

Now one other way Apple and Google differ is how they name their mobile operating systems. Now Apple's latest is simply called iOS 6, while versions of Android are named for deserts. And Apple used Siri to take a few shots at their rivals.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SIRI: Hey, any of you guys been working with ice cream sandwich or jellybean? Who is making up these code names, Ben & Jerry? But seriously, I am excited about the new Samsung -- not the phone, the refrigerator. Hubba, hubba.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Now remember there is a very serious patent battle taking place between Apple and Samsung, their CEOs were ordered to meet to discuss their differences. So maybe next time Apple should let Siri should speak for it.

Now that is News Stream, but the news continues at CNN. World Business Today is next.

END