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Oscar Nominations Announced; Heat Forces Suspension of Play At Australian Open; UN Grills Vatican Over Child Sex Scandal; Fallujah Under Fire

Aired January 16, 2014 - 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. And welcome to News Stream where news and technology meet.

Now Fallujah again under fire. We'll tell you about one Iraqi man who dared to go back to the city after paying a heavy price to help the Americans one decade ago.

The UN grills the Vatican over allegations that it protected pedophile priests.

And how many Oscar nominations will American Hustle grab? We'll see the nominations announced live in just over half an hour from now.

Now the numbers are staggering. In the first two weeks of this year alone more than 500 civilians killed in acts of violence across Iraq. Now the website Iraq Body Count provided those figures, which underscore fears that the country is quickly spiraling into a sectarian war.

Now since Wednesday, at least 61 people have died in bomb and gun attacks in Baghdad and elsewhere.

And in Iraq's volatile Anbar Province, government forces continue to battle both al Qaeda fighters and local Sunni militiamen. Now people in the cities of Ramadi and Fallujah have been fleeing, but one man returned to Fallujah to get his family out. And he paid a heavy price for cooperating with U.S. forces in the city 10 years ago.

Now despite the risks, he went back to Fallujah anyway. Michael Holmes picks up his story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Back in 2004 as the insurgency in Iraq grew, al Qaeda fighters in Fallujah were striking American forces daily, IEDs a favorite weapon.

Omar Hameed was a local cop in Fallujah back then, but he hated what the extremists were doing to his city and his people so he decided to help the Americans. Even now, he does not regret what he did.

OMAR HAMEED, FRM. IRAQI POLICEMAN (through translator): Yes, of course, fighting against al Qaeda is right, because they are killing civilians, soldiers, police, innocent people and those who work with the U.S. Marines.

HOLMES: Omar shows us photographs with his American colleagues and letters of commendation from several U.S. officers praising his intelligence work, describing how he saved Iraqi and American lives.

The insurgents were less pleased with his work, but they were patient and got their revenge in 2009.

HAMEED (through translator): I left my home in the morning to get some shopping. And when I was driving, suddenly it blew up. I lost my legs and got major damage in my wrist.

HOLMES: In the years that followed, Omar steered clear of Fallujah, returning every month or so in secret to see his family for a day or two.

It worked until those al Qaeda-linked fighters came back in numbers and locals started to flee.

On January 4, when the militants were back in Fallujah, Omar risked a trip to the city to get his family out. The gunmen caught him. Omar thought he was a dead man.

HAMEED (through translator): They told me you are Omar, you are working with the American troops and Iraqi police. They tied my hands to my back and took me to (inaudible) controlled.

HOLMES: Omar says the militants were pleased with the results of the bombing that maimed him. It wasn't until his tribal leaders had made some calls that they eventually let him go, saying life with his injuries was a fitting punishment for his work with the Americans.

Today, still fearful, Omar and his family move from house to house, well away from Fallujah. He has his application in for U.S. asylum, because of his work with the Americans and the clear risk to his life. As with many other Iraqis, though, the paperwork has stalled. he's heard nothing in a year.

HAMEED (through translator): No future. There's no future for my children. My children cannot go to their schools. I cannot work in Fallujah. And also I cannot work in Baghdad, because of the militia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Michael Holmes reporting there.

And he joins me now live from Baghdad. And Michael, is Omar's story just repeated again and again across Iraq, the story of Iraqis who helped the Americans a decade ago, they paid the price for it and are just stuck in limbo waiting for news of help or asylum?

HOLMES: Yeah, that's a pretty good summary of it, Kristie, yeah. There are thousands of Iraqis who worked with the Americans, helped them out over the course of the war who are still waiting for the bureaucratic process to move. It is doing so at a snail's pace.

Recently, there have been efforts to push it along a little bit.

But Omar, he's had his papers in for a good few years now. And he hasn't heard a thing in a year.

There's plenty -- I remember going out embedding with the U.S. military, all those translators, all those people who worked in those military bases, they're the ones now who are known to a lot of these insurgents who are seeking revenge and so they're having to go into hiding and sort of move around and wait for that paperwork to come through -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: Yeah, it's just shameful to hear how bureaucracy is standing in the way of him getting just a better, more secure life.

Michael, you watched the last U.S. troops leave Iraq back in 2011. Two years on, more than a few years on, is the situation worse there for the people of Iraq?

HOLMES: Yeah, I guess I first came up here with the marines during the beginning of the war in 2003 and came back every year, twice a year for a month-and-a-half at a time. So compared to most of those visits, if you go back to 2006, 2007 I guess you can say no it's not as bad as those deadly days. But it is slipping. And it's slipping fairly rapidly since the Americans left, particularly in the last year. There was a period there were, you know, there was relative quiet, or if you like relative security. But it is slipping rapidly now.

I mean, you look at what happened yesterday with that string of bombings around Baghdad and also elsewhere in the country and even today there's been (inaudible) Baghdad mercifully quiet (inaudible).

We got in video just in the last hour or so of just an example of the drip, drip of violence. And this was in Fallujah at a girl's school. The kids aren't going to school at the moment, because of the unrest. But a mortar landed there, wounded the local caretaker, if you like. Other people went in to help him and a second mortar landed, killed two people and wounded another.

This is the sort of thing we're seeing right around the country. In Anbar Province today around the areas of Fallujah and Ramadi, there's been a fair bit of military action as well, but not in Fallujah, of course, where the al-Maliki government has said it's going to give the tribes the chance to work it out there for themselves when it comes to those al Qaeda- linked fighter, Kristie.

LU STOUT: Yeah, and yesterday was a particularly brutal day.

Michael Holmes reporting live form Baghdad on the growing violence there in Iraq. Thank you, Michael.

And Michael has been blogging about his experiences during this latest trip to Iraq. And he compares it to the situation when he was there about two years ago last.

Now you can read his observations. You can see his analysis on his blog. Just go to CNN.com/Holmes.

Now for the first time, the Vatican is facing a grilling from UN officials over allegations that it protected pedophile priests and its own reputation at the expense of child rape victims.

Now the hearing is currently underway in Geneva. Now the Catholic church has already faced legal action in child abuse cases in a number of country. Pope Francis has called for stepped up efforts to protect minors and rebuild the church's reputation since he became pontiff back in March.

Now the new pope stepped into his role vowing to stamp out Child sexual abuse. And our senior Vatican analyst John Allen has more for us now on today's hearing. He joins me live from Rome. And John, at this hearing underway this day in Geneva, what kind of questions are being asked there?

JOHN ALLEN, CNN SENIOR VATICAN ANALYST: Hi, Kristie.

Well, this is a very unusual day. I mean, this is a normal hearing of the United Nations committee on the rights of the child to monitor implementation of that 1989 convention. But this is the first time that senior Vatican officials have appeared before the panel to answer questions, very tough questions it should be said, about the church's record on child sexual abuse.

So the kinds of questions they fielded this morning included incidents in both Ireland and Spain in which children in church run orphanages were subjected to various kinds of abuse, in some cases even sold into basically human trafficking.

They took questions about a Polish Archbishop, a papal diplomat in the Dominican Republic who was accused of the sexual exploitation of minors. And one bit -- one news flash from the Vatican's response to that question is they have now vowed publicly that that Polish archbishop and former papal diplomat is going to be subjected to a criminal procedure in the Vatican which could end, if he's convicted, in him doing time in a Vatican jail.

They've also taken questions about why UN and international standards on child abuse have not been written into canon law, that's the body of law that governs the Catholic Church.

Now they're on lunch break now. The Vatican is expected to come back this afternoon and start providing answers to some more of those questions.

Early indications are the critics of the church's track record are not going to be satisfied. We already had a statement from the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, one of the leading victim's advocacy groups in the United States that has said the Vatican's answers this morning, and in particular the fact that the Vatican said it is not directly responsible for supervising the more than 400,000 Catholic priests in the world, that that responsibility falls to local bishops, this advocacy group said that that's a disappointing answer and they want the Vatican to take greater responsibility.

So whether or not these answers are going to satisfy everyone remains to be seen, Kristie, but nevertheless it is great theater simply seeing Vatican officials compelled to give answers in a setting like this.

LU STOUT: And leading up to the hearing, and since he became pontiff, Pope Francis has addressed the sexual abuse scandal. He has updated the criminal code. He has set up a commission et cetera. But how far is he willing to go to actually crack down on rogue priests and to actually punish the abusers?

ALLEN: Well, Kristie, you're right. I mean, Francis has vowed to be a reformer on the sex abuse issue. And he's taken several steps. But I honestly think that from the critics' point of view, the real issue here is not so much the church's willingness to crack down on rogue priests, the church has committed itself to a zero tolerance policy for sex abuse, and I mean, these days it's crystal clear that if you are a priest and you sexually abuse a child you're going to lose your priesthood quite probably and you're certainly going to be turned over to the cops and prosecuted in criminal courts wherever you live.

I think the issue and the litmus test for whether Francis' reform is going to be real is not so much whether he'll crack down on priests who abuse, but whether he will crack down on bishops who cover it up. There are a number of bishops in various parts of the world, including in the United States, who have been accused of not reporting charges of child abuse to the cops, not taking the steps they should with regard to their clergy who face allegations.

There's a bishop in Kansas City in the States, for example, who plead guilty to a charge of child endangerment because he didn't turn over to authorities a charge of abuse against one of his priests. And to date, none of those bishops have been disciplined either under Pope Benedict or now under Pope Francis.

I think that's what people are waiting to see. If one of these bishops, who was accused of dropping the ball when allegation of abuse surfaces, whether he will be called on the carpet by this pope. And if that happens, then I think the takeaway will be that the Francis reform is real.

LU STOUT: John Allen, our senior Vatican analyst joining us live from Rome, thank you very much indeed for your analysis there.

Now one lawmaker's proposal has gay parents on edge in Russia. We'll tell you why some now live in fear that their children could be taken away. That story up next.

Also ahead, while some are having fun in Australia's really searing heat, play had to be suspended at the first Grand Slam tennis tournament of the year.

And the wait, it is almost over, this year's Academy Award nominations will be announced within the hour and we'll bring it to you live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back.

Now with just three weeks to go until the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, a huge security operation is in place in the region, but there are fears that militants of the North Caucuses region could try to disrupt the games.

On Wednesday, security forces carried out an anti-terror operation in the Republic of Dagestan some 550 kilometers away from Sochi. And state media report four militants and three Russian security force members were killed.

Now Russia's parliament is looking into new legislation that would give more power to security forces and tougher penalties for those who carry out deadly attacks.

Now in the runup to the games, Russia's so-called anti-gay propaganda law has generated international criticism. And now Russian politician is pushing for a new law that is further outraged the gay community.

Now Phil Black meets one St. Petersburg couple who say they are now living in fear.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: These people behave, act and sound like a family, but we can't show their faces or mention their names, because they fear the consequences of people they know learn they are a family.

These two women love each other and are raising a daughter together. I ask them to describe what it's like living as a gay family in Russia.

"To be silent," she says.

Her partner agrees.

She says you have to hide and live in fear someone at work will discover the truth. She says that would be a threat to her job.

Like many gay people here, they believe intolerance, discrimination and violence have spiked since the introduction of a law, which makes it illegal to promote the idea of gay equality to children.

That law has been condemned by many western governments, but some Russian politicians want to go further.

Parliament member Alexei Geravlov (ph) has pushed for legislation that would strip gay people raising children of the right to be parents. He tells me only traditional forms of family are acceptable in Russia.

He says, "a mother and a father, that is normal for us. We think on this, Russia is on the right path compared to the west."

Geravlov's (ph) first draft didn't get enough support in parliament, so he plans to try again with a new version, a law that would deny custody to any parent who leaves a heterosexual relationship to pursue a homosexual lifestyle.

That description fit this family. The child was born when her biological mother was married to a man. Both women say they love Russia, but would have to consider leaving if the draft law becomes a reality, because they say to live in hiding illegally is unthinkable.

"For our family, that would mean living a lie," she says. "We all know it is impossible to raise a child in a lie."

It's not yet clear if the new proposed law has enough support to pass parliament or how it would be enforced if it does. But these parents believe the fact it is even being discussed shows that some politicians are actively working to further repress the country's gay community.

Phil Black, CNN, Moscow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: You're watching News Stream. And still to come, two hot to play, some matches are put on hold at the Australian Open as temperatures soar above 40 degrees Celsius.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

And time now for your global weather forecast with a focus on those deadly floods in Indonesia, which have displaced tens of thousands of people there. Details with Mari Ramos. She joins us from the World Weather Center -- Mari.

MARI RAMOS, CNN WEATHER CORRESPONDENT: Kristie, they are right smack in the middle of the rainy season right now. And it's really taking a toll, particularly across central and eastern parts of Indonesia.

I want to take you to this area right in here, North Sulawese (ph) province. Let's go ahead and go right to the pictures, because they are very dramatic indeed.

The latest numbers indicate that 13 dead, two missing and about 40,000 people have had to be evacuated. In that particular city of Manado (ph), four main rivers have already overflowed. And that is taking a toll on the entire population.

One of the areas is completely isolated, leaving about 1,000 people stranded. And it really is a team effort, because military, police, search and rescue teams and volunteers are all trying to get to the people most affected by the flooding. The worst part is, is that they are still going to be looking at more rain across this area. Like I said, they're still in the middle of the rainy season.

When you come back and look at the satellite image over here, notice all of the moisture across this entire region. There's Manadu (ph) right there, that city we were talking about. Notice the rain, though, continuing to spread across this entire area, including the Philippines. And we're going to talk a bout that in just a moment.

But we have a persistent trough in place, an area of disturbed weather. And December through February, the wettest months of the year so we have a long way to go when it comes to seeing any kind of significant relief for people across this part of the world.

Watching that area of low pressure just to the east of the Philippines, it keeps meandering back and forth, but not going anywhere far away enough to give you a break from the nasty weather.

Now this medium right over here means that joint typhoon warning center is thinking, there's about a medium chance that this could develop into a tropical cyclone over the next couple of days. The main concern is whether it develops or not is going to be the proximity to the Philippines, to areas that are inundated already by heavy rain and areas affected by Typhoon Haiyan. And we have pictures to show you from that as well.

In Tacloban, that area hat became so familiar to so many of us after Typhoon Haiyan has been widely affected by heavy rain again. Some of the tents came down. There's a lot of people that are displaced still. The rain has been relentless. We're expecting even more rain as we head through the next couple of days.

Come back over to the weather map, with my last minute I want to talk to you about the situation in Australia. The heat wave continues. We have a front approaching. And that is going to be the gamechanger, Kristie.

Today is going to be a critical day as far as fire danger across the entire southeastern half of the country. That's is going to be a huge concern. We can make it through today, Friday will be much, much better.

Temperatures again were soaring. Melbourne actually hit 44 degrees, 43.9. That's pretty significant. And you know, as we heard they stop play. I wanted to show you the wet bulb globe temperature, what they actually use to measure it, a little bit different than just a regular old thermometer. We keep hearing about this over and over. It measures not only temperature and humidity, but also how much sunlight is coming down, what the wind is doing and it's that combination of things that they use to measure the so-called heat stress. And that is why they said it was much too high and decided to stop play.

Back to you.

LU STOUT: Yeah, that's how they measure it. Temperatures, as you've been reporting, will eventually drop. But still, as you said it, they have to get through play today.

Mari Ramos, thank you.

Now let's get more now on how the heat impacted play at the Australian Open in Melbourne. Amanda Davies joins me now from CNN London with that -- Amanda.

AMANDA DAVIES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kristie.

Yeah, we've been hearing from a lot of the players. They've really been struggling over the last few days because the temperatures have exceeded 40 degrees, as you were hearing. But the good news that finally organizers of the Australian Open called a halt to play as Mari said there. They activated the tournament's extreme heat policy. This year, implementing the policy has been at the discretion of the tournament referee. And organizers have faced a lot of criticism over the last couple of days for not using it. Players have been fainting and vomited on court.

But at just before 2:00 pm on Thursday, temperatures were reaching 42 degrees Celsius, or 107.6 degrees Fahrenheit. Play was halted and the roofs were closed on the two main arenas.

The full schedule didn't resume for four hours until the temperature dropped somewhat. It's the first time in five years that the policy has been used.

And after the decision, the Belgian ladies player Kirsten Flipkens tweeted "finally, play suspended because of the heat. Heat policy should have been in two days ago already #burning #crazy #nothealthy."

And Sports Illustrated's Jon Wertheim, I'm told me earlier, he can't understand why they waited so long to suspend the play.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JON WERTHEIM, SPORTS ILLUSTRATED: It's just not right to make players go out and compete in this kind of -- in these kind of conditions. And also remember, I mean there are ball boys, 10, 11-year-old ball boys here, there are officials and obviously the fans as well. I just -- I'm absolutely dumbfounded again, and a lot of the players are as well why they were permitted to play, you know, yesterday, Tuesday and even for the first three hours today under just absolutely -- I mean, it's just oven like conditions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DAVIES: Well, the heat policy didn't help the 2008 champion Maria Sharapova, because the rules state that already started sets need to be completed before players can leave the court.

The Russian battled for three sets against the heat and Karin Knapp. She eventually won through 10-8 in the third set. The match lasted three hours and 28 minutes. Can you believe it in that heat?

Sharapova looking for her first major title since the French Open in 2012. Afterwards, she said she was grateful for all the intense training after her shoulder injury, which she felt really helped her get through the tough temperatures.

In terms of the other results -- the defending ladies champion Victoria Azarenka got past Barbora Zahlavova Strycova in straight sets. The fifth seed from Poland Agnieszka Radwanska also through to the third round.

And it was another good day at the office for the top men. World number one Rafael Nadal eased passed the home favorite Thanasi Kokkinakis, Andy Murray and Roger Federer also made it through without dropping a set.

It has to be said one of the players has been affected by the heat is Andy's brother Jamie. He was treated for heat stroke after his doubles match earlier in the day and wasn't able to sit and watch Andy's match.

Another line from Melbourne to bring you, for the first time, a man has been arrested and charged for courtsiding. And that is a practice used to commit betting fraud. A 22-year-old British man was arrested by police on Tuesday for the relatively new offense, which sees people exploit the delays between on court action and live television broadcast. The practice involves a spectator at sports events using or passing on data for bets to be placed on in-game markets before bookmakers receive the same information.

It's a problem that tennis is getting more and more to grips with as is cricket and football.

It's not match fixing, I have to stress, Kristie. But still definitely something that could escalate into a much bigger problem. But there will be more on all those stories in World Sport a little bit later on.

LU STOUT: All right, thank you very much indeed for that. Amanda Davies there. Take care.

Now coming up next on News Stream, celebrities hoping for a golden statuette keenly await the announcement of nominations for the Academy Awards. We're going to bring that to you live coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

Now top Vatican officials are being questioned at length today about child sex abuse in the Roman Catholic Church. A UN committee in Geneva is trying to determine what the church did and what it failed to do. Officials became aware of pedophile priests.

Now the Vatican has been heavily criticized for covering up for known abusers.

Now a UN-backed tribunal is opening at The Hague. The assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri. A massive car bomb killed Hariri and 21 others in 2005. Now four Hezbollah members have been charged and are being tried in absentia.

Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone has been ordered to stand trial in Munich on bribery allegations. He was charged in relation to an alleged $45 million payment made to a German banker in connection with the sale of a stake in the motorsport. He has denied any wrongdoing.

Now domestic workers in Hong Kong are demanding justice for an Indonesian woman who claims that she was beaten and tortured by her employers. Now she is now in hospital in Indonesia and reportedly is barely able to walk due to her injuries.

Now according to local media, a second Indonesian domestic helper has complained about this particular Hong Kong family.

Now a little bit earlier, I spoke to Hong Kong based attorney Mel Boase who says sometimes it's the employment agencies that are the problem.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MEL BOASE, LAWYER: Agencies are actually in control of the girls. They're the ones there who recruit them, bring them in. The girls, of course, are all strangers to Hong Kong when they first arrive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: That was attorney Mel Boase speaking to me earlier. His advice to the Hong Kong government, to greater protect these workers is to make sure they have money saved for a flight home.

Now new revelations have emerged about the snooping power of the U.S. National Security Agency. Jim Sciutto has more from Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CORREPSONDENT: Already monitoring telephone lines and the Internet, according to The New York Times, the NSA has now bugged 100,000 computers around the world.

It's a secret technology used only overseas, says the NSA, gives the agency the ability to monitor machines and use them to launch a cyberattack. And the NSA can access them even if they aren't connected to the Internet. Using radiowaves transmitted by devices secretly inserted into the computers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why are the doors open?

SCIUTTO: It's a technology that could be straight out of a James Bond film.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can someone tell me how the hell he got into our systems? He hacked us.

ALAN PALLER, SANS INSTITUTE: People believe that an air gap is the best defense. If you're not connected to the Internet, nobody can get to you. This shows that that's not true.

SCIUTTO: These revelations come as the president is set to announce reforms to the NSA's powers on Friday. The headline, bulk collection of phone metadata will continue, though with additional safeguards.

The president will appoint a public advocate to take part in the secret foreign surveillance court.

He will also set limits on spying on foreign leaders and negotiate agreements with allies on what surveillance is acceptable and what is not.

Senator Bernie Sanders, long a critic of the surveillance, says the reforms don't do nearly enough.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS, (I) VERMONT: I think what we have to do is to make sure that at a time of exploding technology that we figure out ways to make sure that the government does not know about all of your phone calls, your emails, the websites.

SCUITTO: It was NSA leaker Edward Snowden who brought the NSA surveillance powers into the open.

EDWARD SNOWDEN, NSA LEAKER: End mass surveillance.

SCIUTTO: And a new poll by Quinnipiac University shows that most Americans consider him more of a whistleblower than a traitor by 57 percent to 34 percent.

The president's review panel recommended some 46 reforms to NSA intelligence gathering. It's becoming clear the president will not accept many of them. But this is not the final word. He may turn to congress for further guidance. And some lawmakers, including Representative Adam Shift, have already proposed new legislation imposing new guidelines on the NSA.

Jim Sciutto, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: You're watching News Stream. And up next, Hollywood is no doubt waiting anxiously for the announcement of this year's Oscars nominations. We'll take you live to Beverly Hills as those names are unveiled right after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back, you're watching News Stream. It is Thursday morning in California. And the time is coming for film buffs the world over. The nominees for this year's Academy Awards will be announced soon in Beverly Hills, California.

And when they will be presented, they will presented by the actor Chris Hemsworth as well as the head of the Oscars group.

Now, there are a number of movies who are expected to be best picture contenders, including American Hustle, Gravity, 12 Years a Slave. We know that American Hustle was a frontrunner at the Golden Globes, but we'll see if it will take as many nominations there and the Oscars when the nominations get announced soon.

Now presenting this year again actor Chris Hemsworth and the Oscar's chief Cheryl Boone Isaacs. And they will take to the stage very shortly.

And there they are now. Let's listen in.

CHERYL BOONE ISAACS, PRESIDENT, ACADEMY OF MOTION PICTURE ARTS AND SCIENCES: Hello, everybody. Good morning and welcome to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. I'm Cheryl Boone Isaacs, president of the Academy. Thank you. I want to thank everyone for joining us for these exciting announcements, celebrating the heroes of movie making. And lucky for us, we have a superhero here with us today.

Ladies and gentlemen, the very talented Chris Hemsworth.

CHRIS HEMSWORTH, ACTOR: Thank you very much, Cheryl, and good morning, everyone.

ISAACS: Let's get right to it. The 2013 nominees for best performance by an actor in a supporting role are - Barkhad Abdi in "Captain Phillips," Bradley Cooper in "American Hustle," Michael Fassbender in "12 Years a Slave," Jonah Hill in "The Wolf of Wall Street," and Jared Leto in "Dallas Buyers Club."Chris.

HEMSWORTH: Thank you. For best performance by an actress in a supporting role, the nominees are -- Sally Hawkins in "blue Jasmine," Jennifer Lawrence in "American Hustle," Lupita Nyong'o in "12 Years a Slave," Julia Roberts in "August: Osage County," and June Squibb in "Nebraska."

ISAACS: For best original song, the nominees are -- "Alone Yet Not Alone" from "Alone Yet Not Alone," music by Bruce Broughton, lyric by Dennis Spiegel, "Happy" from "Despicable Me 2," music and lyric by Pharrell Williams, "Let It Go" from "Frozen," music and lyric by Kristen Anderson- Lopez and Robert Lopez, "The Moon Song" from "Her," music by Karen O, lyric by Karen O and Spike Jonze. And "Ordinary Love" from "Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom," music by Paul Hewson, Dave Evans, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen, you may know them better as U2, lyric by Paul Hewson.

HEMSWORTH: For adopted screen play, the nominees are -- Richard Linklater, Julia Delpy and Ethan Hawke for "Before Midnight," Billy Ray for "Captain Phillips," Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope for "Philomena," John Ridley for "12 Years a Slave," and Terence Winter for "The Wolf of Wall Street."

ISAACS: For best original screenplay, the nominees are -- Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russell for "American Hustle," Woody Allen for "Blue Jasmine," Craig Borten and Melisa Wallack for "Dallas Buyers Club," Spike Jonze for "Her," and Bob Nelson for "Nebraska."

HEMSWORTH: For best animated feature film we are pleased to nominate "The Croods," Chris Sanders, Kirk De Micco and Kristine Belson, "Despicable Me 2," Chris Renaud, Pierre Coffin and Chris Meledandri, "Ernest & Celestine," Benjamin Renner and Didier Brunner, "Frozen," Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee and Peter Del Vecho, and "The Wind Rises," Hayao Miyazaki and Toshio Suzuki.

ISAACS: For best documentary feature the nominees are -- "The Act of Killing," Joshua Oppenheimer and Signe Byrge Sorensen, "Cutie and the Boxer," Zachary Heinzerling and Lydia Dean Pilcher, "Dirty Wars," Richard Rowley and Jeremy Scahill, "The Square," Jehane Noujaim and Karim Amer, "20 Feet from Stardom," nominees to be determined.

HEMSWORTH: For best foreign language film the nominees are - from Belgium, "The Broken Circle Breakdown," from Italy, "The Great Beauty," from Denmark, "The Hunt," from Cambodia, "The Missing Picture," and from Palestine, "Omar."

ISAACS: For best achievement in directing, David O. Russell for "American Hustle," Alfonso Cuaron for "Gravity," Alexander Payne for "Nebraska," Steve McQueen for "12 Years a Slave," and Martin Scorsese for "The Wolf of Wall Street."

HEMSWORTH: For best performance by an actress in leading role the nominees are -- Amy Adams in "American Hustle," Cate Blanchett in "Blue Jasmine," Sandra Bullock in "Gravity," Judi Dench in "Philomena," and Meryl Streep in "August: Osage County."

ISAACS: For best performance by an actor in a leading role the nominees are -- Christian Bale in "American Hustle," Bruce Dern in "Nebraska," Leonardo DiCaprio in "The Wolf of Wall Street," Chiwetel Ejiofor in "12 Years a Slave," and Matthew McConaughey in "Dallas Buyers Club."

HEMSWORTH: And finally we are pleased to announce that the films selected as the best picture nominees for 2013 are -- "American Hustle," Charles Roven, Richard Suckle, Megan Ellison and Jonathan Gordon (ph) producers, "Captain Phillips," Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti and Michael De Luca producers, "Dallas Buyers Club," Robbie Brenner and Rachel Winter (ph) producers, "Gravity," Alfonso Cuaron and David Heyman producers, "Her," Megan Ellison, Spike Jonze and Vincent Landay producers, "Nebraska," Albert Berger and Ron Yerxa producers, "Philomena," Gabrielle Tan, Steve Coogan and Tracey Seaward producers, "12 Years a Slave," Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremey Kleiner, Steve McQueen and Anthony Katagas producers, and "The Wolf of Wall Street," nominees to be determined. For the complete list of all the nominations, please visit oscar.com.

ISAACS: And join us Sunday night, March 2nd, to celebrate these incredible artisan films at the Oscars. See you then.

LU STOUT: And there you have the nominations in from the Academy Awards. You just heard the lineup for best picture. Among those include American Hustle, Dallas Buyers Club, Captain Phillips and Gravity.

We also heard the nominations for best actor -- Christiane Bale, Bruce Dern in Nebraska, Leonardo DiCaprio who of course won for his role playing in the Martin Scorese movie Wolf of Wall Street, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Matthew McConaughey who also won a Golden Globe award.

Under best actress, Amy Adams. She received a nod. Cate Blanchett, Sandra Bullock, Judy Dench, and Meryl Streep.

Now John Williams, he received yet another nomination at the Oscars, this time for his original score from the film The Book Thief. And that gives the composure the second most Oscar nominations in history only behind Walt Disney. And CNN's Kyung Lah has his story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): "Superman", "Indiana Jones", "Harry Potter." You don't even have to see them, you know their music. Composed by John Williams, the most Oscar nominated man alive. This year for "Lincoln."

JOHN WILLIAMS, FILM COMPOSER: Forty-eight nominations is -- it's a hard thing to get one's mind around, I think. Because I think things like, how could anybody be that old?

LAH: Oscar is a very old friend to 81-year-old Williams. They've had a courtship since the 1970s.

WILLIAMS: What made it a good tool for me in the film was that the two notes could be played note, note, or note, note, note, note. Or very fast, very soft, or very loud, in your face.

LAH (on camera): Two notes in "Jaws," five notes in "Close Encounters."

WILLIAMS: Those five notes. LAH (voice-over): It is an outer space where Williams soared. "Star Wars" is the best selling film score of all time and still celebrated in his live performances.

WILLIAMS: It's a wonderful sight at the end to turn around and see them all waving these light sabers. You couldn't plan it. You couldn't say, I'm going to write something today that 30 years from now people will be celebrating in some fashion. Impossible.

LAH: The five-time Oscar winner credits hard work and the fortune of a good friend, a 40-year partnership with Steven Spielberg that persevered even when Williams felt he couldn't match the director's work in "Schindler's List."

(On camera): You asked Spielberg to find somebody else.

WILLIAMS: I said to him, Steven, this is a great film. And you really need a better composer than I am for this film. And he sweetly said, yes, I know, but they're all dead.

LAH: How do you keep the energy, the creative juices going?

WILLIAMS: It's better not to keep your eye on the finish line so much. Better to keep your eye right from what's in front of you at the moment.

LAH (voice-over): A life philosophy that keeps him enhancing those cinematic moments. That soar into movie history.

Kyung Lah, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now let's bring in the chief film critic for New York Magazine David Edelstein. He joins me live from our New York studio. Thank you so much for joining us. And you heard the lineup delivered just then. Did anything surprise you?

DAVID EDELSTEIN, NEW YORK MAGAZINE: Oh, my god, I've been writing down like crazy. A lot of stuff surprised me. First of all, so many great actors were not nominated who were expected to be nominated. Robert Redford, who cleaned up a lot of the critics prizes was thought to be a lock at one point for the Oscar, not just for a nomination.

My favorite performance of the year was Joaquin Phoenix's in Her.

But the biggest -- and he was not there -- the biggest surprise was Inside Llewyn Davis, the Joel and Ethan Coen movie, apparently the Academy did not like this movie at all. The critics adored it. It's very bleak. Oscar Isaac did not get a nomination, they didn't get a nomination for screenplay. It seems to have been shut out all the way down the board.

A lot of film critics, anyway, are going to be talking about that.

LU STOUT: Yeah, a number of big names shut out. Yeah, go ahead, you were going to say?

EDELSTEIN: Well, I didn't hear the name Emma Thompson. Am I wrong about that?

LU STOUT: No, her name was not stated.

EDELSTEIN: She was thought to be a shoe-in for the film Saving Mr. Banks. I didn't think it was her best performance and I'm kind of happy that she won't -- I think she's a great actress and I'm kind of happy she won't be recognized for this one.

Amy Adams, who was thought to be a long shot, who is stupendous has racked up a ton of nominations is, you know -- has suddenly shot to probably the number two position. I think Cate Blanchett is going to get it. Everybody kind of knows she's going to get it.

But I'm very happy for Amy Adams, she works really hard in that movie. (inaudible) American Hustle, four categories, four categories in American Hustle. This is big. Nobody expected Christian Bale to be nominated for best actor, OK.

So you have that, you have Amy Adams, you have Jennifer Lawrence, that everybody expected, and Bradley Cooper. Four -- the four major acting categories, one of each. I think that's great news. They're all so good.

LU STOUT: Yeah, and American Hustle. I mean, the movie received a lot of nods. In fact, we just did some tabulations a moment ago. It was American Hustle and Gravity. They are the frontrunners with 10 nominations each. Which one do you think will hold (inaudible) at the Oscars?

EDELSTEIN: I don't know, I find it hard to believe that the Academy won't recognize 12 Years a Slave. What I think about the film, and I have problems with it, it's such an important movie in terms of distilling, you know, the essence of the horrific, horrific period in our country's history that has been pretty much unexplored on film. And I think that there are a lot of, you know, very left liberal members of the Academy who thinks this is a movie that will represent them well.

Otherwise if they go for the popcorn film, they'll go for Gravity, which everybody seems to love. My favorite, of course, is American Hustle.

But my favorite film of the year, Her, is also nominated. I don't think it has a snowball's chance in hell, but I'm very, very happy to see it nominated.

LU STOUT: Yeah, among the nominations for best actress, and you were waxing poetic about Amy Adams. You know, she in the list there. I mean, who do you think ultimately deserves the award?

EDELSTEIN: Who do I think deserves it? I think Amy Adams deserves it. I don't think there's any chance that she's going to get it. Cate Blanchett for some reason, it's a very showoff role in Blue Jasmine. She's doing a version of Blanche Dubois, the difference being that Tennessee Williams loved Blanche Dubois. Woody Allen hates the character of Jasmine. And you know you can really see the acting in the performance. It's -- sometimes the words go to actors where you can see the acting. And Cate Blanchett I think has had it locked up with all the critic societies, the Golden Globes. I don't see how anybody is going to beat her.

Though -- and, you know, Meryl Streep. I'm surprised she was nominated. She's gotten some really rotten reviews for her very extravagant turn in the movie -- whatever it's called, you know -- August Osage County, yeah. I'm mercifully repressed it.

But, you know -- but Julia Roberts really has the lead in the movie, you know. I mean, really the daughter is the protagonist in the film, not the mother. But the studio made a decision to push her for best supporting actress. Guess what, she's in there. I don't know what she's doing in there. I think she's really good in the movie.

In some ways, she's better than Streep, because if you've ever had the misfortune to see Julia Roberts on stage, she will stink up a theater. She has no voice. She doesn't know how to move. But she is a master of the closeup. She's really, really good in August Osage County. It's a mature and a deep and an angry performance. I loved her in it. I don't think she's going to win, but I think that it's a -- you know, it's interesting she's been nominated in that category.

LU STOUT: And we have to talk about best actor. You did mention that Robert Redford shut out from that list, which is a big shocker. But do you like the short list?

EDELSTEIN: It's an insane category this year. Any other year 10 actors who, you know who were potential nominees would have won. It's insane. I have never seen so many great performances in a single category. I do not know who is going to win. I really don't.

I think Bruce Dern has a very, very good chance. He's lovely in Nebraska. And the Academy nominated Alexander Payne, which I did not expect, as -- you know, for best director. And, you know, that may carry him.

Chiwetel Ejiofor, an extraordinary actor, an actor long overdue for stardom. is this his best performance? I don't really think so. If 12 Years a Slave sweeps, then it's quite possible that he'll win.

My money would be on Bruce Dern at this point.

LU STOUT: Interesting.

EDELSTEIN: But I'm not betting.

LU STOUT: I also want to ask you a question about best animated movie. You know, you got the expected names in there. There's Frozen, the big movies that did well like Despicable Me 2. But also Wind Rises, which is likely to be the last movie of the celebrated Japanese animation artist...

EDELSTEIN: I hope not, but that's what he says.

LU STOUT: We hope not, but that's what he says, because he has said - - and it's been reported that he's retired. Which movie in this category will take the Oscar? Which one should?

EDELSTEIN: Well ,Frozen will take the Oscar, because it's made hundreds of millions of dollars and everybody in Hollywood loves it. The Wind Rises is a gorgeous, profound, melancholy, strange movie. It's animation for grownups. I would never take a child to see it, not because it's violent, but because it's so twisted and so ambivalent about its subject. It's a great, great movie. So many of Miyazaki's movies -- Spirited Away, Totoro, have been masterpieces. This is another one.

I don't think it has any chance to win.

LU STOUT: All right, David Edelstein, love your reviews always. Thank you so much for making yourself available to the international. Really enjoyed that. Thank you so much. Take care.

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

END