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China Trade Examined; New Government to Take Power in Myanmar. Aired Midnight-1am ET

Aired February 1, 2016 - 00:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: This is "CNN Newsroom" live from Los Angeles. Ahead this hour: Iowa eve; the campaign chatter is almost over, at least for now, in Iowa with voters poised to make their presidential choices known and the races couldn't be tighter. Plus, the Syrian peace talks are having a rough start. And, there is anything but peace on the streets in Damascus after a trio of suicide bombings kills dozens. And a mega ship getting ready to leave Chinese waters and set sail from the U.S. We are live from the deck of one of the world's biggest cargo ships.

Hello, and welcome to our viewers all around the world. I'm Isha Sesay; "Newsroom" L.A. starts right now.

Hello everyone. All eyes are on Iowa. That's where the first votes of the 2016 U.S. Presidential Race will be cast in a matter of hours, and there is no clear frontrunner in either party. Among the republicans, the latest Des Moines Register/Bloomberg Politics Poll shows Donald Trump with a narrow, as you see there, narrow, five-point lead over Ted Cruz. Marco Rubio is third at 15%, with Ben Carson behind him.

For the democrats, let's see how things stand. Well the polls show an even closer race. Hillary Clinton leads Bernie Sanders by just three points. So it is basically a dead heat.

Well the contenders are spending remaining hours ahead of the caucuses campaigning hard. The anti-establishment candidates are pushing for a high turnout, and Republican Ted Cruz is facing some heat for mailings

sent out by his campaign. They give the recipients and neighbors failing grades for not participating in earlier votes and even imply that skipping the Iowa caucuses is against the law. Now that is something that got Donald Trump's attention.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R) REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: So he is putting in houses, voter violation, and he is given people, you have an F because you haven't voted enough, down the line. I never heard of anything like this. It is so dishonest. It is so dishonest.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX) REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If you think things are going great in Washington, that we need to keep headed in the same basic direction, just kind of fiddle around the edges, maybe make a few more deals -

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No way.

CRUZ: I ain't your guy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: While the democratic candidates are taking a less confrontational approach towards each other, Bernie Sanders touted the enthusiasm of what he says is a growing base of supporters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D-VT) DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Secretary Clinton's campaign and my campaign, and she has some really good people, so I'm not knocking them, but I think the excitement and the energy is with our campaign.

SEC. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY) DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't want to over-promise and under-deliver. I would rather under- promise and over-deliver.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: Well behind every candidate in Iowa there are volunteers, thousands of them, drumming up support ahead of the caucuses. They have been working in Iowa, but they come from across the United States. Dana Bash introduces us to some of them.

(BEGIN VIDEL CLIP)

DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hustle and bustle, Ted Cruz Iowa headquarters accelerated to an all-out frenzy --

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Are you supporting Ted Cruz?

BASH: -- to get out the vote.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can see this, there is a lot of buzz here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are definitely making a lot of calls. 27,000 calls yesterday, which is just -- it beats our record.

BASH: Cruz campaign aides boldly boast about the size and scope of their operation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 2,500 yesterday, out of this office alone. We have "Camp Cruz", where a lot of the people are staying. We have two dorms, 830-plus people. When people check in, they put a pin where they are from. So we have people from California. We obviously have a lot from Texas, a lot from Iowa, Missouri, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, New York.

BASH: Still it is the candidate who has to close the deal. He did with some, but James Brabaugh isn't sold.

Are you still on the fence after hearing Ted Cruz?

JAMES BRABAUGH, UNDECIDED VOTER, IOWA: You know I think I'm probably closer.

BASH: But you're still not 100-percent sold?

BRABAUGH: Well, you know, I am going to listen to Marco here in a little bit, so --

BASH: Iowa Congressman Steve King is a veteran of caucuses and fixture on the trail with Cruz.

STEVE KING, R-IA: I'm going to pick 135,000 Republicans as the turnout. If the number goes well above that then Donald Trump has a shot.

BASH: That's because Donald Trump is trying to turn out first time caucus goers like Sue Elvin, who we met at a Trump rally.

Have you caucused before?

SUE ELVIN, FIRST TIME VOTER: No, this will be my first time. I'm really excited. I didn't ever think I would do something like this, but he's [00:05:03] certainly got me charged up.

BASH: Towanda Lopez told us she's a born again Christian, usually drawn to candidates who talk her talk, but not this time.

TOWANDA LOPEZ, FIRST-TIME VOTER: Right now, we don't need a pastor. We don't need a Sunday school teacher. We need someone who has the authority and the power and the guts to say what's on his mind.

BASH: Trump aides are somewhat secretive about their get out of the vote operation, but several Iowans here say the campaign is reaching out. The open question: will the celebrity candidate's crowds translate to votes? It may, with Stephanie Reagan Laverone. We talk to her before seeing Trump?

You're not sure if you're going to support him?

STEPHANIE REAGAN LAVERONE: Right, I'm teetering between Donald Trump and Ben Carson.

BASH: On the way out, all in for Trump.

LAVERONE: Just after listening to him and thinking about everything that he does, I just feel look he resembles the American dream.

BASH: Meanwhile at Marco Rubio headquarters --

TIM HUTCHINS, FORMER SENATOR, ARKANSAS: I learned a new word today, Marco-mentum.

BASH: Friend, like former senator Tim Hutchins flew in from Arkansas to help.

HUTCHINS: Yes, I will be driving about an hour and a half out to one of the caucuses and representing the campaign.

JILL CAPPS, VOLUNTEER, RUBIO CAMPAIGN: I've been volunteering since before Christmas. So, I've probably made close to 1,000 any way.

BASH: But now volunteers, like Jill Capps, are calling Iowans committed to Rubio to make sure they actually show up, because for all the rewritten rules in 2016 --

CAPPS: Every vote does count.

BASH: That rule will never change.

Dana Bash, CNN, Des Moines, Iowa.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: Our own Mark Preston joins us now from Des Moines, Iowa. Mark, good to have you with us. We are hours away from the Iowa caucuses. Tension obviously mounting. As Republican candidates make their final push, are they saying anything new, anything different, to sway those undecided voters?

MARK PRESTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Isha, what they're doing on the Republican side, is the race is now between just two people, Donald Trump and Ted Cruz and they're both making a push for the evangelical vote. Evangelicals here in Iowa are very influential in the caucus process. So we're seeing Donald Trump campaigning with Jerry Falwell Jr. He is the head of the largest Christian university here in the United States. At the same time you had Ted Cruz, crisscrossing the state, as well. At his side is Glenn Beck, the radio host. So, yes they're making a hard push right now. They know that a win here in Iowa would be in true instrumental as we head into New Hampshire next week and really could help define this race that has been so wide open.

SESAY: Mark, as you well know in these final hours we have seen the attacks between Ted Cruz and Donald Trump ratchet up, getting pointed and nasty. I'm wondering how this is playing with Iowa voters especially those evangelicals that you just were talking about?

PRESTON: Well, Isha, you know, I think they're used to it because, really politics here in Iowa is very much like sport. It really is beat them up and try to win. I think that's what we have seen over the past few months, and certainly in the past few days here in Des Moines. Now I will add to that though, that the Donald Trump phenomenon is something we have never seen before, something where Donald Trump has gone out and questioned whether Ted Cruz can actually run for president. Those kind of attacks we haven't seen in the past and in many ways they might have worked over the past few weeks, where we saw Ted Cruz take down a little bit but the Ted Cruz campaign organization will tell you that they have a get out the vote organization that is really superior.

So the big question, as we head into tomorrow, will the big rallies, people who show up for Donald Trump, to see him speak, will they come out to vote? We don't know that. Ted Cruz that he can get the people to the caucus sites. So we will see this tomorrow evening, whether that is true.

SESAY: That being said, that very point, as to whether Donald Trump supporters at the rallies actually make it to caucus for him, Donald Trump saying early on Sunday that he didn't have to win Iowa. Is that perhaps pointing to some doubt about turnout among his supporters?

PRESTON: Well its called expectations game because if he is out now saying that he is going to win Iowa and he loses, that will be a problem for Donald Trump. Having said that, heading into New Hampshire right now, Donald Trump is so far ahead of the rest of the pack that he is doing so well there a victory here for him in Iowa would be amazing for him because he would expect to win New Hampshire as well.

Now what Ted Cruz is trying to do is to try to stunt any kind of acceleration that Donald Trump could get out of Iowa with an Iowa win. If Cruz wins here the race will be turned on its head again and a reformulation as we head into Tuesday, Isha.

Turning to the democratic side of things, Mark, polls showing a really tight race between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. How have they used

the final hours?

PRESTON: Well they're doing get out the vote rallies, huge rallies. They've spent a lot of time on the eastern part of the state of Iowa. The reason [00:10:02] being, Isha, is there's a lot of democratic voters on that side. We saw that happen yesterday. Now, what they're trying to do is do their best at selling the message. Hillary Clinton trying to tell the voters not only a fighter for them but she has the most experience. At the same time Bernie Sanders, really, really, revving up the idea that there need to be a political revolution and he is the one that will fight for the middle class. Very similar strategies in trying to rally their caucus goers but I have to tell you, Hillary Clinton has older voters on her side here; folks who, routinely caucus for Bernie Sanders to win here in Iowa, which, very well could happen. He is going to need a strong turnout amongst college students, college students who are rallying around his candidacy. So we'll see if they actually leave their dorm rooms to come out and caucus with Bernie Sanders, Isha.

SESAY: Yes, and the point has to be made that Hillary Clinton and her organization have been in the game since 2008. They have a pretty deep organization, pretty well set up. This is going to be a really big test for them.

PRESTON: It absolutely will be. Now, a loss here for Hillary Clinton could hurt her, it certainly would not be devastating. Don't let anybody say that. As you said, not only an organization here in Iowa but she has one built across the country. But, heading into New Hampshire right now, a CNN poll shows the that, in fact, Bernie Sanders is so far ahead of Hillary Clinton. Again, a Clinton victory tomorrow night if that were to happen could change the dynamics of the race heading into New Hampshire.

That's what makes it so exciting. We're not only seeing a battle for the republican nomination, we're also seeing a battle for the democratic nomination. It really is a mazing what's going on; Isha.

SESAY: Yes, it really is. You're going to have a very busy Monday night. Mark Preston. I think you should go to bed now so you can stock up on sleep. We look forward to great analysis in the hours ahead.

PRESTON: Thanks so much.

SESAY: You know you're going to want to keep it here with CNN in the hours ahead. We will bring you all of the news, all of the action, all the drama from Iowa; but to some other news now.

A deadly bombing claims dozens of lives in Syria, even as delegates struggle to find common ground in peace talks in Geneva. ISIS reportedly is claiming responsibility for the bombings in a suburb of Damascus. 45 people were killed and another 100 were injured. This comes as a U.N. Envoy met with the Opposition delegation in Geneva Sunday. The Envoy set to meet with the Syrian Government delegation Monday. The Opposition has called for an end to air strikes and seizures as a precondition to direct talks. The regime insists the talks must come first.

Well, CNN Intelligence and Security Analyst, Bob Baer joins us now. Bob always great to have you with us. So, a series of explosions claiming the lives of dozens, wounding hundreds; ISIS claiming responsibility. What does this latest attack say about the terror group and its operations?

BOB BAER, CNN INTELLIGENCE & SECURITY ANALYST, via satellite: Well, Isha, it doesn't bode well for the attacks. The Islamic State, of course is not in Geneva, and is not going to show up in Geneva, near is al-Qaeda, Jabuti-Nusra, so they continue to fight on. And, let's not forget that the Russians continue to bomb. They're bombing Turkish allies in Syria, Saudi allies. So this thing is really a mess. I would be very surprised if next week it goes anywhere.

SESAY: You would be surprised if it goes anywhere? The bottom line is these are not groups that want to negotiate. These - as I've said, this is a death-cult. This is a nihilistic group, when we're talking about the likes of ISIS?

BAER: Exactly, Isha. This Islamic State has established a state; they're not going to give it up. They don't care what negotiations going on in Geneva. They're not going to participate. They're not going to give up land and they're going to continue to murder -- Shia in this case, like they did in (inaudible), this sanctuary that they attacked.

When you've got 90-percent of the opposition groups aren't in Geneva, that's a problem.

SESAY: The thought is that ISIS - not even the thought, I think it's quite clear from the operations, they're operating on multiple tracts. There's a track where they're looking to destabilize Iraq and Syria. They're also looking to mount these attacks against the West; as well as engineer a broader regional conflict. When you know this kind of attack that took place in the suburb of Damascus, how much closer does it move us towards that regional conflict, that all out regional, sectarian conflict?

BAER: Well I think we keep on moving closer to it. I mean, you have problems in Saudi Arabia, economic problems. The price of oil is down. You've got (inaudible) in Iran. You've got the Iranians dumping weapons into Damascus. You've got tension in the Gulf. I think every day - there's nobody - there's - nobody has any sort of diplomatic solution for this. The major parties, it's Iran and Saudi Arabia, are not talking. So, you know, I [00:15:02] understand holding these meetings in Geneva, but, overall, it doesn't look good.

SESAY: Talks in Geneva, which, if, I'm reading you correctly, don't really stand the chance of much success. So, diplomatically speaking, well, that is not going anywhere. What happens then on the battlefield? What should be happening on the battlefield, especially when you look at the kind of attacks ISIS is mounting on a day like this?

BAER: Well I think we should, first of all, establish a no-fly zone in Syria. The bombing has to stop. The Russians are every day killing dozens and dozens of civilians. There is a lot of Syrians on the point of starvation, some are starving. It's going to cause more refugees to flow into Europe. You know, Russia and the United States, for a start has to, has to, impose some sort of cease-fire. Right now Putin is not interested.

SESAY: You know, even when you listen to the politicians involved in the Geneva negotiations they seem to echo your tone, Bob. The bar seems to be set so very, very low. Some saying there won't be any kind of breakthrough for another six months.

BAER: Six more months of conflict like this in Syria, will be a, you know, the disaster is getting worse exponentially by the day. We've got 10, 11 million Syrian refugees, 250,000 dead. This country is not coming back together and, unfortunately, nobody has a plan to do something about what comes after. That's really a diplomatic solution that's going to stop this. Unless you stop the bloodshed in the Middle East the situation is going to get worse and we are going to move much closer to a regional conflict.

SESAY: It's a very, very bleak situation. Bob Baer, good to have you with us and to gain some of your insight and perspective. Thank you.

Now, dozens of people have been killed in another raid by Boko Haram in Northeast Nigeria. Take a look at this with me. This is what's left of a village near Maiduguri. Locals say gunmen opened fire on civilians before burning down homes. At least 46 people were killed in the attack, with many more wounded. People fled into the nearby bush while soldiers battled the insurgents. The village is near the largest refugee camp for those displaced by the terror group, with nearly 20,000 people housed there.

Time for a quick break. The Zika virus has no treatment, no vaccine, and it is spreading quickly across the Americas. We'll look at what is being done in the hours ahead to try to stop this disease. Plus, what's happened to more than 10,000 migrant children? They seem to have disappeared without a trace. Tensions surge in Sweden as some call for attacks on migrants. Do stay with us.

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[21:50:07] SESAY: Welcome back, everyone. (HEADLINES) The World Health Organization will hold an emergency meeting in Geneva on Monday on the rapidly spreading Zika virus. It will look at ways to combat the disease and look into a possible link with severe even fatal birth defects. The virus is carried by mosquitoes and there is no treatment or vaccine for it right now.

The WHO estimates 3 million to 4 million will be infected with the Zika Virus this year. It's been surging in Brazil, where tens of thousands have flocked for Carnival this week. Our own Shasta Darlington is in Rio de Janeiro with more on how Brazil. which will host the upcoming Summer Olympics, is dealing with the devastating Zika outbreak.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The World Health Organization gearing up for an emergency meeting on the Zika virus on Monday. Here in Brazil people are getting ready for the annual Carnival celebration; but the health crisis has cast a serious shadow over festivities. In Rio de Janeiro and also (inaudible), one of the city's hardest hit by the Zika virus and also by a sudden spike in birth defects.

We're expecting a flood of national and international visitors and officials are rushing to take steps to try to minimize contact with the mosquito that's known for spreading the virus, the Aedis Aegypti. That means they're fumigating, going door to door trying to eliminate the pools of water where these mosquitoes breed. That could be under the shower drain. It could be under potted plants. It could be in tanks of water. It is important officials say, they don't want the Carnival celebrations to be known for spreading the virus further.

There's a real sense of urgency here in Brazil, ever since the virus was detected last year and then doctors linked it to a huge surge in birth defects, known as microcephaly, babies born with small head and underdeveloped brains; and there's also a big concern because in so many cases when people have the Zika virus they don't know it because they don't have symptoms. So people are worried that expectant mothers and others could already be infected and that the numbers of microcephaly could rise.

Shasta Darlington, CNN, Rio de Janeiro.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[00:25:01] Very frightening indeed. (HEADLINES)

Now, China issues a warning to the U.S. after a warship passes through contested waters in the South China Sea. And, the view from a very different ship, indicative of truly massive trade ties between the U.S. and China; all of the details just ahead.

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[00:30:57] ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: You are watching "CNN Newsroom " live from Los Angeles; I'm Isha Sesay. The headlines this hour: (HEADLINES)

Turning to a very different kind of ship that represents a close relationship between China and the U.S., as trading partners. The Benjamin Franklin, one of the largest container ships in the world, is to set sail for L.A. It's currently in Nansha Port, in the heart of China's Pearl River Delta. Our own Matt Rivers joins us now from there. Matt, that is quite the megaship. What do vessels like this mean for trade between the U.S. and China?

MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT, via satellite: Right, well, we came on board this ship, not only because the it is enormous and why wouldn't you want to see something like that in person, but also because the shipping industry is kind of the front line between -- for trade between the U.S. and China. So here in China what we have been seeing here lately is an economic slowdown in ports like the one behind me, here in Nansha have experienced a slowdown due to manufacturing numbers slowing down, export numbers slowing down.

So the question we had, and we came on board to kind of talk to experts about, is, how does that kind of a slowdown affect a place like Iowa for example, which is beginning the 2016 presidential election in a matter of hours?

It is longer than the Eiffel Tower. It's got an 80,000 horsepower engine and weighs up to 240,000 tons. And yet thanks to the magic of buoyancy, Benjamin Franklin floats. It's leaving China soon, heading for Los Angeles. This is the largest container ship that has ever docked in the U.S.

Being on board you really get a sense of scale, mainly because of how small you feel; but for a transport ship like this one the most important figure is how much it can hold. The Benjamin Franklin can take on 18,000 containers. Placed end to end they would stretch 68 miles.

VELIBER KRPAN, CAPITAL, "BENJAMIN FRANKLIN": It's cheaper to have a bigger ship, you know. It can carry more products, you know, you have less things to pay after that.

RIVERS: Often on the other side of doors like these are things like [00:35:02] electronics, toys, clothes, consumer goods, made in China, that will sell in American stores. This is what trade between the two countries looks like. And far more stuff is exported from China to the U.S. than the other way around, the difference of hundreds of billions of dollars. That imbalance has been a source of conflict or some time. In the middle of a U.S. Presidential race it makes for easy fodder.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R) REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: They're killing us; and if you want to do business with China, it is almost impossible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIVERS: Republican frontrunner, Donald Trump, suggested slapping a 45-percent tax on Chinese goods to even the playing field but critics have attacked his idea as bad for business and bad for states. Trump's political future, along with rivals, relies in a big way on Iowa where caucuses are set to kick off in this year's presidential election and it is a state that exports billions of dollars' worth of things like crops and machinery to China each year.

U.S.-China trade is incredibly intertwined and the next U.S. president will have some ability to influence the ties and that will impact people's lives on both sides of the Pacific, which is why we are talking U.S. politicians in Iowa while we are thousands of miles away on this giant ship in the South China Sea.

Even though there might look like there is a lot of containers behind me, and there are, relatively speaking, the shipping industry actually has an overcapacity right now throughout a lot of its vessels. What we're seeing, simply put, is just not enough containers filled with exports going to the U.S. to fill up big ships like this, and that may be an issue that the shipping industry continues to deal with.

Manufacturing data out of China just released today, this morning here, local time, shows the lowest numbers, some of the lowest figures that we

have seen in the last several years. Isha.

SESAY: Interesting stuff. Matt, given that here in the United States all eyes are on the Iowa caucuses, which will be getting under way in a couple of hours, I have to ask you, given what that could mean for potential shake-up in the U.S.-China trades, a new president in the White House come January 2017, how much interest is it generating in China now?

RIVERS: I think it may not be generating as much interest as it is in other parts of the world. I think here we've talked to people here at the port and while they're generally aware of the race, they are certainly aware that whoever wins could have an impact on their daily lives, I think that for people here it feels very far away and it's something, for Chinese people, that democratic process really not something they're really very familiar with. So for now they're kind of watching with a sort of curiosity but we're still very far away from the general election. Perhaps as we get closer to November, you'll start seeing more and more people talking about it here on the street.

SESAY: Yes, very interesting. China may not be talking about the U.S. elections, but here in the U.S. very much talking about China. Matt Rivers joining us from aboard the USS Benjamin Franklin, or the Benjamin Franklin. Appreciate it; thank you.

Time for a quick break. It's history in the making in Myanmar. After decades of fighting for democracy, the country's long time opposition is finally taking power. Plus, China releases hundreds of images of the moon's surface, all in true color and high definition. You won't want to miss these images.

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[00:40:35] SESAY: Monday marks an historic day more Myanmar. Lawmakers from the Aung San Suu Kyi pro-democracy party will take power in the hours ahead. The National League for Democracy will control Parliament after a landslide victory in the November's landmark elections. But despite the big win, challenges lie ahead for the opposition party. For more let's bring in CNN's Saima Mohsin from Bangkok.

Saima, as she is constitutionally barred from taking the position of president, Aung San Suu Kyi, has already said she will be above the president. Do we know any more about how she intends to govern; what that actually means?

SAIMA MOHSIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Isha, the NLD is keeping incredibly tight-lipped about the process that's about to come. Today is the first day in Parliament, and, as you say, an historic day that is 26 years in the making; where they finally step into Parliament and take their rightful seats in the Lower House.

The first order of business was electing the Speaker of the House. now this may be indicative of how things move forward, as you are asking, you know, who is she going to surround herself with? How will she govern? She can't be president. Well, she is likely to surround herself with, of course, those people loyal of her, supportive of her throughout. 115 members of Myanmar's Parliament are political prisoners like she has been over the last quarter of a century. So first order business was electing their Speaker of the House. That is Yu Win Mint. He is a former political prisoner and NLD member.

Moving forward now, tomorrow is a rest day; on Wednesday we will see them electing a Speaker for the Upper House. So she is likely to surround herself with her supporters and obviously, speak through them via

proxy. Isha.

SESAY: Yeah. So, a number of unanswered questions beyond that of how she will govern, including what the priorities will be for the new government and how they plan to get things done.

MOHSIN: This is the big question that has been throughout also her election campaign, Isha. You know, we have really seen two sides, very distinct sides to Aung San Suu Kyi: the pragmatic politician that knows she has to play by certain rules to please the military, to please the public, to please the people at home, as well as the international community, and then the passionate, Nobel Peace Prize Winner that has been held a symbol for progress by the United Nations.

Now, of course, that's what drove her through her 25 years under house arrest, and the pragmatic politician is no doubt what got her to this stage, taking a seat in parliament. Now, a lot of people, particularly human rights watch, saying that a lot of eyes are on her. There is a burden of responsibility for them to deal with human rights abuses and, in particular, discrimination against the minority Muslim (inaudible) community.

All eyes now on Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD. Isha.

SESAY: Yes, some very interesting days and months ahead. Saima Mohsin joining us there from Bangkok. Thank you, Saima.

Well, China has released hundreds of never-before-seen, hi-def photos of the moon's surface, all shown in true color. China became just the third country to soft land on the moon back in 2013. These pictures were taken by cameras mounted on the lander and rover. China's next mission is to land on the far side of the moon, something no country has done as yet. It could launch as early as 2018. Some remarkable images there.

I'm Isha Sesay. "World Sport" is up next. Then I will be back with another hour of news from right around the world. You're watching CNN.

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