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NEWS STREAM

Kurdish Peshmerga Attempt To Box ISIS Inside Mosul; Art of Movement: Migration; Egyptian Premiere League Matches as 19 Killed Before Game; Eddie Redmayne Takes Home BAFTA For Best Actor; Mohamed Fahmy's Deportation Stalled; French SWAT Respond To Shots Fired at Police in Marseilles

Aired February 9, 2015 - 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 another football tragedy in Egypt where at least 19 people were killed in clashes before a match.

We follow the Peshmerga forces trying to take back the Iraqi city of Mosul from ISIS.

And a big night for Eddie Redmayne. The Oscar nominee picks up best actor at the BAFTAs.

All Premiere League football matches have been suspended in Egypt following deadly clashes between police and football fans before a match in

Cairo.

Now the nation's health ministry says at least 19 people were killed.

Now CNN's Ian Lee has been following the story for us. He joins us now live from Cairo.

And Ian, just what brought about these deadly clashes?

IAN LEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kristie, it really began with poor crowd management. Thousands of fans trying to enter the

stadium last night, going through a very narrow metal opening, some described it as being like a cave (ph). Well, there was a search of fans,

some without tickets, trying to get in. The police responded with tear gas.

Well, witnesses we've been talking to told us that the police pursued those fans, cutting off many of their exits. That stampede that occurred

was the reason was the cause of many of these deaths as people were running for their lives. And some of the fans also said that the police really

didn't give them any warning. That all of a sudden the tear gas started to fly.

Well, the morning after, shoes laid out along the path that these people fled really shows the panic that happened. So talking to some of

the family members and friends, they're putting blame on the police and the government, especially President Abdel Fatah el-Sisi.

Now the president has said they're going to investigate and hold anyone accountable that they see at fault.

LU STOUT: And Ian, after these deadly clashes, Egypt has suspended the football league. I mean, why is that ? Are there fears of given

attention out there more clashes ahead?

LEE: Well, it is a bit tense. And after -- in 2012 there was another deadly clash between rival soccer clubs that left at least 72 people dead

and over 500 injured. After that, there were clashes in the streets between fans and security forces for days, although we're not seeing any of

that taking place this time.

But we know that the government has canceled this -- the remainder of the league, reviewing their security measures, their safety measures at

these sporting events to make sure that this doesn't happen again.

But a lot of people are wondering how it could happen in the first place. After the last deadly incident, the government said promised

reform. But it seems like they haven't delivered.

LU STOUT: CNN's Ian Lee joining us live from Cairo. Thank you.

Now Egypt is ready to hold a retrial for two al Jazeera journalists who have spent more than a year in prison. Now the family of Mohamed

Fahmy, you see right here on the screen, they call it their worst nightmare.

Now they believe that Fahmy would be deported to Canada after he renounced his Egyptian citizenship last week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADAL FAHMY, MOHAMED FAHMY'S BROTHER: The exact information we got is that the presidency is welcoming this, the prime minister and the foreign

minister are welcoming this and it's just the signature of the prosecutor that's missing. Now we are very shocked, because my brother was visited by

the authorities and they told him sign, renounce your citizenship and we will let you and Peter go, that's the only way you're going to get out of

this case.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Now the Peter he referred to there is of course Peter Greste who returned home to Brisbane, Australia last week.

Now meanwhile, the human rights lawyer Amal Clooney is heading to Cairo to try to win Fahmy's release.

Now Bahar Mohammed, who is Egyptian, is also still being held.

Now the three journalists were convicted of supporting the country's banned Muslim Brotherhood.

And now to a developing situation in France. Now police in the city of Marseilles are trying to find two gunmen who apparently shot in the

direction of a police car. Now there have been no reports of casualties.

Now France has been under a heightened state of alert since last month's terror attacks in Paris.

Now the French Prime Minister Manuel Valls is expected in Marseilles shortly on a previously scheduled trip. And our senior international

correspondent Jim Bittermann is following this story for us from Paris. He joins us now.

And Jim, what is the latest on this police operation in Marseilles. is it still unfolding?

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kristie. Yes, it is that the police are still trying to find the two gunmen who were

involved. They apparently have not, as yet. At least we don't know of any arrests being made.

Basically, all this unfolded about four hours ago when there were shots fired into the air in this very tough neighborhood in Marseilles, a

neighborhood known for its drug dealers and all sorts of mafia activities.

In any case, the shots were fired in the air. Someone called the police. And among the police responding was the regional director for

security who has apparently went to the scene and found himself under fire himself. He said there were volleys of shots fired in his direction when

he arrived. Nothing was hit, apparently. And so they called in the special SWAT teams and they are going over the area now.

The one thing that should be said is that one of the local senators down there said just a short while ago that in fact this shooting kind of

thing that goes on, shooting in the air, is the kind of thing that they hear in this tough neighborhood all the time. It's a kind of an area

that's been known for this kind of activity.

And by the way, it's also the birthplace of Zinedine Zidane, the very famous French football player -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: Appreciate the context there. Jim Bittermann reporting live for us from Paris. Thank you.

You're watching News Stream. Still to come, coalition airstrikes pound targets in the ISIS stronghold of Mosul. Our CNN crew, they are

there on the ground. We'll have their report after this short break.

Also ahead, heavy shelling in embattled eastern Ukraine leaves several people dead as western leaders race to the negotiating table to end the

crisis, we take a look at the grim reality on the ground.

And later in the hour, NBC News anchor Brian Williams cancels an appearance on a popular late night show after he announces a hiatus from

his anchoring duties. We'll have more on the controversy that has taken him off the air for now. Details ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back.

Now Jordan has made good on its promise to go after ISIS as the country erupted in fury after a Jordanian pilot was burned alive while

locked in a cage.

Now Jordan's fighter jets pounded ISIS positions over the weekend, taking part in the U.S.-led coalition airstrikes.

Another Arab ally has shown solidarity. The United Arab Emirates sent a squadron of fighter jets to assist.

Now this weekend's airstrikes hit hard at the ISIS stronghold of Mosul. A CNN crew watching nearby saw at least a dozen explosions.

Our Phil Black was there. And he talked to the Kurdish fighters about their plan to recapture the city.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kurdish Peshmerga fighters, alert, watching. Their enemy is close. A commander points out a factor complex

only a short distance away. He says ISIS is there. We hear small rounds fly overhead and Kurdish fighters respond. The exchange is no threat to this

fortified position. What the fighters do fear is the darkness of night, fog, mortar rounds and armored vehicles converted into massive suicide

bombs. They say ISIS makes use of them all.

We traveled north with Peshmerga, past the ruins of abandoned villages ISIS once controlled, and climb to the top of Mount Zartec (ph). ISIS also

held this position and its commanding view across a wind plain. The fighters point out the towns and villages, factories and roads all still

occupied by ISIS. And in the hazy distance, its greatest prize so far, the city of Mosul.

Overhead, that circling aircraft is a constant presence. We hear regular thundering explosions from the direction of Mosul.

(on camera): That's an air strike in the distance. They seem to be hitting every few minutes. Is that normal?

(voice-over): He says aircraft have been hitting the area around Mosul very hard for several days. Trenches and defenses stretch across the

countryside. Kurdish officials call it phase one of the campaign, containing ISIS, stopping its fighters advancing again. Phase two will be

very difficult, retaking Mosul.

(on camera): These Peshmerga fighters say they are willing to join any effort to free Mosul from ISIS. But the timeframe for that sort of

operation really isn't up to them. It comes down to the Iraqi government in Baghdad and its efforts to rebuild, retrain the Iraqi army, the same

military force that ran away and abandoned Mosul when ISIS first came charging through this region.

(voice-over): The Peshmerga don't want to take Mosul alone because it's an Arab city and because the Iraqi army has better weapons. As proof,

they show us this historic artillery piece. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: England. England.

It's from England?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

BLACK: How old?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 1941.

BLACK: It was made in 1941.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

BLACK: That's very old.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Maybe made in 1941 in England.

BLACK (voice-over): Not surprisingly, ammunition for this relic is hard to source. They have just 20 precious rounds left. From this vantage

point, it's easy to see the progress these fighters have made in the battle against ISIS, but also the great challenges still looming on the horizon.

Phil Black, CNN, on Mt. Zartec in northern Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And for more on the effort to try to retake Mosul from ISIS, Phil Black joins us now. And Phil, in your report we see Kurdish

forces armed with these antiquated weapons. How well armed are the Kurdish forces right behind you?

BLACK: Well, Kristie, give you a sense of this and just how close they are to the ISIS territory, what you can see all behind me there you

can't just see them, but take a listen to this. This radio is actually intercepting ISIS communications from ISIS positions out in the towns and

villages across that plain behind me there.

The fighters there tell me they listen to them on a daily basis discussing movements, supplies, even plans to attack. Just a few moments

ago, they were talking about the possibility of launching mortars, but we don't know what the target was or in what particular direction.

So you can see these forces really have established a line right up against ISIS controlled territory. From this position up here and the days

that we've spend up here now, we've seen that during the day there's not a lot of movement, ISIS is unable or unwilling, perhaps, to go out into open

territory, likely as a direct consequence of the airstrikes that have been pounding them from above for so many weeks now.

Every so often we do see the odd vehicle moving between settlements or buildings.

But what they do move, or when they do move, I should say, is in the evening. That's what these Peshmerga tell us. At nighttime, that's when

they feel vulnerable, particularly under poor weather conditions, heavy fog, perhaps even rain, those are the times when ISIS likes to test their

defenses.

But these defenses really are well and truly dug in now. They have dug in a line of defensive positions all around this territory from the

east, the south and now moving around to the western side of Mosul as well.

The goal here is to contain ISIS. They've pushed them out of Kurdish territory. They're now building these defenses to hold them here until an

operation to actually push forward and retake that city at some point in the future -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: You know, it is the Kurdish forces who are the boots on the ground. They are there at the ready waiting for the right moment to retake

Mosul. They're intercepting ISIS communications. How much coordination is there between the Kurdish forces on the ground and the coalition launching

air strikes and fighting from the sky?

BLACK: Significant cooperation, we are told. It is these fighters out there up on the front lines who identify positions. They feed that

back to their chain of command. And then we are told that that does get passed on to the coalition.

I have to say, from what we have been told by these fighters, they're not always thrilled by the speed at which these responses then come, or

even the frequency. They say they can point out to buildings and locations where they know ISIS is located, where they know ISIS has been attacking

them from, but that does not mean even once they've passed it up the chain that those sites are then hit.

There is clearly a process for determining which sites are valuable, which sites should be hit. And not all the sites that these fighters

locate and identify meet that criteria. It frustrates them a little bit. But on the whole, they are genuinely very grateful for the air support,

because I think they realize that if not for that air power they wouldn't have been able to have the same success in pushing ISIS back in the way

that they have.

But their grateful for that, but at the same time as we have been talking about, they still want more help. They want more weapons, advanced

weapons, heavier weapons, because they say that's what ISIS is coming at them with, Kristie.

LU STOUT: CNN's Phil Black reporting from the front line near Mosul with ISIS territory right behind them. Thank you very much indeed for your

reporting. Phil Black reporting there.

You're watching News Stream. And coming up next, more questions are being raised about an American anchorman's war report. And it's not known

when he might return to the news desk.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

And let's bring up a visual version of all the news that we're covering today.

Now we've already told you about the situation in Egypt after deadly clashes at Sunday's football match.

A little bit later, we'll look at the big winners at the British film industry's biggest night.

But now are Samsung's smart TVs spying on users? Now that's what some are fearing after digging through the company's privacy policy? But the

truth is a little bit more mundane.

Now this passage in Samsung's privacy policy, it raised a few eyebrows. It says this, quote, "be aware that if your spoken words include

personal or other sensitive information that information will be among the data captured and transmitted to a third party."

But it's not just Samsung here. Now we live in a world surrounded by microphones all connected to the Internet.

Now some Android handsets and watches are always listening for users to say OK, Google. The Xbox One's Kinect sensor can even listen for

commands when the console is off.

And having all of these devices always listening to you and sending data to the Internet, might sound a little bit scary. But quite simply,

this is how modern voice recognition actually works.

Now if you've ever used Siri on the iPhone, you might think that you're actually talking to your phone, but you're not. Now when you speak

Siri what actually happens is that your voice is recorded. And that recording is sent over the Internet to servers in the cloud. Those servers

are far more powerful than your iPhone so they can better understand your voice. Those servers then tell your phone what you've said so it can act

on your command.

So what Samsung is doing here is actually nothing new. And if you are worried about their TVs picking up sensitive information, just think about

all your other devices that could be doing the same thing.

Now the U.S. news anchor Brian Williams says he is taking himself off the air for several days amid mounting questions about his credibility.

The NBC Nightly News host has also canceled a scheduled appearance Thursday on the Late Show with David Letterman. All this after Williams admitted to

falsely claiming that a helicopter he was on back in 2003 while reporting on the Iraq war came under RPG fire. Now the chopper ahead of him was the

one that was actually hit.

Now CNN's senior media correspondent Brian Stelter, he has been following this controversy surrounding Williams. And Brian Stelter joins

us now live from New York.

Brian, good to see you again.

And Brian Williams, he is taking himself off the air for several days. I want to get your thoughts on how he is just managing this media

firestorm?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's definitely a crisis for NBC News. And there's a lot of folks who believe it's not been managed well.

It started on Wednesday when he apologized for his misstatement about being in a helicopter that had taken a strike from a rocket-propelled

grenade. He was not on that helicopter. That's been made very clear by the soldiers who were actually in that helicopter.

But people felt it was a halfhearted apology, because it didn't address why there were other inconsistencies in his stories in the past

dating back to the mid-2000s when he would retell his story about this Iraq war mission.

So I think every day it's gotten worse for Williams and for NBC. And that's what led to him saying over the weekend that he would take a leave

of absence from his show for several days.

In same ways, Kristie, this is just a great example of crisis management, you know. The -- one of the rules would be you get out ahead

of a story and you do as much as you can to be as honest and transparent as you can early on in order to make the story go away.

Well, in this case that doesn't seem to have happened. It does seem that there have been more questions than answers that have come up as a

result of his apology.

And now what's happening, Kristie, is you've got a lot of reporters, you know, from other news organizations like the Washington Post and Stars

and Stripes and elsewhere raising questions about Brian Williams' reporting over the years.

Meanwhile, NBC is basically just staying silent.

LU STOUT: Yeah, the criticism is mounting, that apology he delivered last week live on air apparently not enough.

On the flip side, Brian, what are supporters of Brian Williams saying and doing? What are they saying to counter the criticism and to attempt to

shore up credibility?

STELTER: Well, I think we've all had times in our lives -- I know I have -- where I've thought I remembered something over the time and then

you built up a different story in your mind to the point where 10 years, 15 years later it's an entirely different story.

You know, it all happens to us in our personal lives? But of course this is very different, this is a professional life we're talking about,

one of the most important news anchors in the United States not telling a story to his friends at a party, but telling a story to his viewers on

television.

So, I think the people that are sympathetic toward Brian Williams, the people that support him say he just made a series of mistakes and

everybody's memory goes haywire.

But I'm inclined to believe the folks who say that's not the case for journalists whose credibility and trust is the currency they have in their

business.

So I think those are kind of the two sides of this.

One point I would make is tonight for the first time Brian will be off the air, Lester Holt will be filling in for him. And we will see how

viewers react. We'll have a good sense of whether viewers want Brian Williams to be back in that chair or whether they feel that his credibility

has been too damaged for him to be there.

Journalists I think, and veterans, are probably paying more attention to this scandal than ordinary viewers of Brian Williams' program are. So

we'll have a sense starting tonight how much viewers want to see him back in the chair.

LU STOUT: There have been just growing calls, especially from his critics, to resign.

I mean, Brian, what do you think is going to happen next? Can Brian Williams as an anchor at NBC survive this?

STELTER: It's possible that he does not come back to the chair. And I say that because people inside NBC are saying that to me. They're

acknowledging it's a possibility that he won't be able to return because he will have been too scarred by this.

I think a lot of people at the same time would say we've seen a lot of public figures go through scandal and emerge on the other side. We've seen

a lot of people in public positions get second chances in life.

Maybe the question is whether journalists are in a different category, in a different class because as I said trust is our currency.

Whether you are able to come back from something like this is an unanswered question at this moment. It gets into deeper issues about

credibility and about the stories journalists tell. And that's something that a lot of people can relate to even if they're not in the journalism

profession.

LU STOUT: Yeah, it all comes down to his credibility and perceived credibility from his viewers and also the bosses at NBC News.

Brian Stelter, appreciate your reporting as always. Thank you and take care.

Now, London rolled out the red carpet on Sunday night for the 2015 BAFTA Awards. It is the highest honor handed out in the British film

industry. And among the night's top winners Eddie Redmayne. He took home best leading actor for his portrayal of Stephen Hawking in The Theory of

Everything.

Now CNN's Isa Soares takes a look at the others who landed the coveted prize.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ISA SOARES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Among this year's stars, one young faced all the hearts of fans, film buffs and BAFTA judges, having

watched him grow up over 12 years.

ELLAR COLTRANE, ACTOR: I think, you know, everyone kind of needs an outlet to explore themselves at all stages of life, but especially kind of

growing up and as a teenager.

PATRICIA ARQUETTE, ACTRESS: Can you believe they're both out of high school?

SOARES: Boyhood, earning three gongs (ph) at this year's BAFTAs.

TOM CRUISE, ACTOR: And the BAFTA goes to Boyhood.

SOARES: Best film, best director for Richard Linklater, and best supporting actress for Patricia Arquette.

Even Ethan Hawke felt like a winner.

ETHAN HAWKE, ACTOR: The idea that we would make this movie and be here at the BAFTAs, such a personal small story. How could we not win?

SOARES: There was also lots of love for the Grand Budapest Hotel.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Many of the hotel's most valued and distinguished guests came for him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I love you.

RALPH FIENNES, ACTOR: I love you.

SOARES: The Wes Anderson film picked up five BAFTAs, the most successful film of the evening. But it wasn't a night for lead actor

nominee Ray Fiennes. That distinction went to Eddie Redmayne for his performance as Professor Stephen Hawking.

EDDIE REDMAYNE, ACTOR: Really, this award belongs to one incredible family. And they're here this evening. And I would like to thank them. I

would like to thank them for their trust in us, for their generosity and their kindness.

SOARES: The British biopic also earned a BAFTA for outstanding British film and adapted screenplay.

Outside, Hawking and Redmayne were also favorites of the crowd. Lead actress nominee Reese Witherspoon found herself drowned out by the chant

and looked over for the title of leading lady, which went to Julianne Moore for her performance in (inaudible) film Still Alice.

Well, for many people the BAFTAs are a good indicator who may go on to win at the Oscars. The chief executor of BAFTA says 69 percent of the time

for the last 10 years those who have won at the BAFTAs go on and win at the Oscars.

So, while not exactly the same, it is a good indicator what may happen in just two week's time.

Isa Soares, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And if you're a fan of sushi, then you're quite familiar with this bottle. The Kikkoman soy sauce dispense is famous for its red

cap, its curved shape and has even been displayed at the museum of modern art.

Now the sleek bottle, it was designed back in 1961 by Kenji Ekuan. Now he passed away on Sunday in Japan.

Now the dispenser is one of Ekuan's most famous designs. And he won an award for it, in fact, back in 2003.

Now Kikkoman continues to celebrate the bottle's cult status. Ekuan once said this, quote, "that design is a source of life enhancement."

He was 85 years old.

More News Stream after this short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

Now gunmen have fired at a police car in the French city of Marseilles. Now according to the prosecutor's office, a SWAT team was sent

to the scene.

Now there have been no reports of casualties. It happened ahead of a scheduled trip by the prime minister to Marseilles.

Now the Egyptian government has suspended all Premiere football matches after deadly clashes between police and football fans. The

nation's health ministry says at least 19 people were killed in the violence between Sunday's match in Cairo.

In southern Afghanistan, a former Taliban commander has been killed in a drone strike. Mullah Abdul Rauf had declared his allegiance to ISIS

leader Abu Bakar al-Baghdadi. The deputy governor of southern Helmund Province says Rauf and five others were killed in that drone attack. Four

of those killed were said to be Pakistani militants.

In eastern Ukraine, there was a powerful explosion at a chemical plant in the city of Donetsk late on Sunday. A separatist official in the city

blamed the Ukrainian military. The defense ministry in Kiev, however, would not say if the military carried out an attack. Now a number of other

buildings in the area were damaged in the explosion. There were no known casualties.

Let's get more now on the violence in Ukraine's embattled east. And CNN's senior international correspondent Nick Paton Walsh is tracking

developments from Donetsk. He joins us now.

Nick, what is the latest on the fighting there?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, just to reference what you were discussing earlier, Kristie, about that explosion

on the outskirts of Donetsk, we felt it here ourselves late in the evening, shaking our windows, frankly, a blast the intensity of which we really

haven't heard here before.

Now I'm hearing from a European diplomat with pretty good knowledge of the situation on the ground here that he believes it was, in fact, an arms

depot or factory that was hit that was in separatist territory, so you can make a logical extension there that it may have been targeted and hit by

the Ukrainian military.

Now I also spoke to a senior separatist official this morning about it. And he said they were still gathering information about it.

So, an unclear picture, but one suggestion, perhaps, that that ferocity of that blast could be because the explosion hit a cache of

explosives themselves.

But we've just come back ourselves from Ugugorsk (ph), which is one of the key towns on the front line here. It is a key area that the

separatists had to take if they are to fulfill their ambitions to take another major hub known as Debaltseve and to begin to round off the

territory they hold around Donetsk.

I have to say, devastating scenes there. A nine story building with many holes from artillery strikes punched in it, lots of damage and

devastation, and a number of armored vehicles blown to pieces in a city where they lay in and around that entire town.

A lot of fighting happening there. And this morning, for the first time it seemed, some civilians going back, some fleeing for the first time

and others simply going back to see what was left, what they can salvage of their lives before fleeing for the longer term, Kristie.

LU STOUT: You know, we're hearing and looking at these scenes of damage and devastation in Donetsk. Nick, what is the level of anger

against the government in Kiev for failing to bring peace to their community?

WALSH: Well, it's a very messy picture, frankly. And you can hear the occasional thump behind me on our other microphone picked up. That's

the artillery that continues around the town here.

Now the civilians you speak to fall into many different camps. And at the start of the violence here, we saw many who felt pro-Ukrainian

sentiments, that they wanted to remain part of Kiev's government, and in fact I remember seven months ago a pro-Ukrainian demonstration happening

really here in Donetsk city itself.

That has since changed. There are some now frankly who are furious at their Ukrainian government, consider them to behind the shelling that hits

civilian areas here. And there are some frankly who just don't care about the politics and want the violence to stop.

Now obviously because the violence has increased and the separatists have increased their grip here, a lot of the pro-Ukrainian sentiment here

has ebbed and those people have fled. But it's an increasingly angry civilian population in Donetsk behind me. There used to be about a million

of them, now there's an awful lot less. And they are terrified every night from the volume of explosions we've been hearing ourselves, Kristie.

LU STOUT: And Nick, what is the rising anger and the escalating violence mean for these upcoming cease-fire talks to take place on

Wednesday this week in Minsk?

WALSH: Well, we know very little about what's going to be on the table at those talks. I'm sure many will want a cease-fire to emerge from

it. And I'm sure those four key leaders wouldn't bother attending something of that magnitude if they didn't think they would get some at

least decent upshot from it.

But the key issue is what happens on the ground before and during those talks? We have a 48 hours window now really until they start in

earnest. And we have a separatist army here, it's fair to say, that are advancing quickly. They're well equipped and are very open about their

territory and ambitions. They want to retake all of the Donetsk region. And they don't have anything near all of it at this stage.

So, we could see the Ukrainians up the ante in the next 40 hours or so trying to change the situation on the ground. The separatists could do

likewise. Both sides, I'm sure, wanting to be a good military position before they sit down in any room in Minsk, the Belorussian capital for

those peace talks. And of course civilians going to be caught continually in the crossfire there if that violence escalates, Kristie.

LU STOUT: All right, CNN's Nick Paton Walsh reporting live from Donetsk, thank you, Nick.

Now there were some strong political statements at the 57th Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. Pharrell Williams and others, they put their

protest against racism into the spotlight. Williams' backup dancers held their hands up and the gesture referencing last year's protest against

police discrimination across the United States.

But the night belonged to the British singer Sam Smith. He won four awards, including best new artist and song of the year, befittingly thanked

his ex-boyfriend for being the inspiration behind his award-winning moody ballads.

You're watching News Stream. And after the break, we head to the western United States where researchers have found a new way to track the

region's iconic big game and help preserve it. Details next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back.

Now animal migrations are one of nature's impressive sites. Now large herds can roam hundreds of kilometers across all kinds of landscape. In

this week's Art of Movement, we show you how some researchers are mapping these mass migrations to help preserve them.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: From afar, the migration of animals like elk and deer looks like an organized marathon from point a to b. But when you take a closer

look, you get a better understanding of the strategy behind the movement.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You see these animals moving through these landscapes, traveling through all these different obstacles, it really

gives you a whole different sense and appreciation of what they have to go through each year to complete these migrations.

LU STOUT: It's negative 21 degrees Celsius in the U.S. city of Pinedale, Wyoming. These men trek across the frozen plains for this: it's

one of the many trap cameras set up in the area that gives them a clearer picture of animal migration through Wyoming.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is allows us to do is not only determine how many animals are using those crossing structures, but what type of animals

and what direction they're moving.

LU STOUT: This type of information is valuable to the Wyoming migration initiative, a cooperative trying to advance the understanding and

conservation on the state's big game migrations.

The cameras give a great glimpse of how the animals move, but to learn exactly where they move you have to get much closer.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We now have GPS collars that we can put on animals that collect locations every 15 minutes or every hour.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you have that detailed movement information and it allows you to see the precise migratory path that these animals

took.

LU STOUT: That precise datum has allowed the initiative to create detailed maps of the migratory roots taken by each animal.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Once you map a route, then you can start to see some of the obstacles that these animals face. You can see where they have

to cross highways, you can see where they have to cross fences, you can see where they have to navigate through rural subdivisions, and so that sort of

detailed mapping allows you to understand where some of the solutions are to making those migrations easier.

LU STOUT: The initiative plans to compile the maps to create an atlas of wildlife migration. They believe projects like this will draw attention

to the importance of preserving migratory routes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's about a journey. And everybody is interested in journeys, or road trips, or everybody wants to go on one. And we're

able to get a glimpse or a window into how these animals journey across the landscape each year, I think it resonates with people and people are

interested with it.

LU STOUT: If the initiative is successful, more land along the migratory routes will be protected from development, allowing the movement

of these animals to continue as planned.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Beautiful scenes there.

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

END