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NEWS STREAM

President Xi Tightens Grip With The New Team; Xi Sets Reform And Anti-Corruption As Key Goals; Two Republican Senator Trump Is Debasing The Country; U.S. Forces Were Gathering Intel On Terrorist Leader; Kenya Readies For Controversial Repeat Election; World Headlines; Venezuela Crisis; America's Opioid Epidemic; Hashtag "Alert the Daycare Staff." Aired 8-9a ET

Aired October 25, 2017 - 08:00   ET

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


[08:00:00] ANNA COREN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Anna Coren in Hong Kong, welcome to News Stream.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COREN: China's president cements his position by introducing a new line up of leaders without an obvious successor, raising questions about just how

long Xi Jinping will keep his grip on power.

Well, the U.S. President continues to fight with members of his own party, after two Senators fiercely criticized his behavior. And the worsening

crisis in Venezuela takes its toll on those most vulnerable countries' suffering children.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COREN: He's already the most powerful man in China, now President Xi Jinping is breaking with convention, introducing a new lineup of top

leaders without a clear successor. When the seven men theme was unveiled apart from Mr. Xi and Premier Li Keqiang all were new faces.

And crucially, they are few years away from the informal retirement age of 68. Well let's find out what this all means. Matt Rivers joins us now

from Beijing.

And, Matt, President Xi unveiled his leadership team today. We have know of his successors we just while brags with precedent, doesn't really as a

surprise considering how much power Xi has amassed.

MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's a great point, Anna. No, really it doesn't come as a huge surprise. We were saying yesterday that we were

expecting lots of friendly faces towards President Xi to appear in that leadership committee.

In fact, the whole last week really here in China has been really about President Xi formalizing the amount of political power that he has been

able to gather over the last five years, and now the question becomes, what does he do with it?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RIVERS: The most powerful man in China strode on stage Wednesday led by their unquestioned leader, President Xi Jinping. The public revealed that

his top leadership team wrapped up a week that has driven home only one message, this is Xi Jinping's China.

Xi kicked off the 19th Party Congress last week with a marathon three and- a-half hour speech that had former leader Jiang Zemin, 91-years-old, checking his watch. But the rest sat ridged listening as Xi argued that

the stronger the Communist Party, the stronger China will be.

In that speech, he said in part quote, in politics, military and academia, from east to west, and north to south, the party leads everything in the

country. His call for absolute government control is reminiscing of Communist China's founder, Chairman Mao Zedong.

This week, Xi now joins him in Party scripture. Delicates voted to enshrine Xi Jinping's thought as it's called into the party constitution,

pulling Mao saw his ideology institutionalized in this way.

Few could have predicted Xi's rocketing into the history books when he took over in 2012, commanding a country and a party raft with corruption. But

through it all, his belief in the party didn't waiver.

JAMES MCGREGOR, CHINA ANALYST: He is a true believer. He is trying to save the party and in the process save China, but it's all about the party.

RIVERS: The last five years, I've seen Xi use an anti-corruption campaign to solve an obvious problem but also, critics say to bring down or force

out potential rivals, which leaves us to this. The new standing committee, the top decision-making body in the country filled with people loyal to Xi.

The Seven new members of the standing committee have a lot in common. For starters, they are all men in their 60's, they're long-time party insiders

and for Xi, there is no doubt that the other six are in lockstep with his agenda making him arguably the most powerful Chinese leader since that guy

right there, Chairman Mao Zedong.

So what's a leader to do after amassing all this political capital? Xi Jinping will likely use it to continue his big initiatives over the last

five years. Expect China to engage more in the international community when Xi saying China could become the center of the world while expanding

its military.

And also, expect the continued silencing of any political dissent or jailing of political and human rights activists and the censorship of both

state media and social media. In short, Xi is now powerful enough to steer this country in the way he sees best.

MCGREGOR: We're going to be sitting on the edge of our chairs here, watching where he goes with all of this.

RIVERS: And we may well be watching what Xi does for a long time with no obvious successor in the Standing Committee, Xi could be setting himself up

to remain the most powerful man in China for a long time to come.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[08:05:00] RIVERS: Well, you know, Anna, I want to bring up one really important point here and that's with all this power that Xi Jinping has and

he does have a lot of it, he could be doing a lot more to promote women and ethnic minorities in this country into positions of power in government.

And just speaking of women alone, on the 204 member central committee of the Communist Party, you have less than a dozen women. In the Politburo,

25 members you have one woman.

And on the committee that matters more than any of them all, the Standing Committee has seven-member Standing Committee, zero women and there never

have been any women on that committee. So Xi Jinping has a lot of power but how we plans to use it is how we should judge him.

COREN: Well, that's a female representation improves over his second term but, Matt, I ask you, Xi spoke after introducing the new committee members

saying a new era needs a new look and even more needs new accomplishments. We have spoken a lot about what he has achieved in the last five years,

what is Xi referring to here?

RIVERS: Yeah, I think he just wants to continue to put China's mark, China's imprint on the rest of the world. I mean, he is looking to

continue to provide successes to his domestic bases as any politician would.

And so he wants to do things internationally like have more of a say in the international community to expand his military internationally. China just

opened up their first military base overseas near Djibouti.

But domestically, he also wants to continue his fight against poverty. He wants to lift people out of poverty which is his big thing here that is

talked about within China.

So he wants to keep giving deliverables to the people of China because of there's one thing that Communist Party values more -- more than anything

else, it's the continued existence of the Communist Party. And the only way to do that is if you keep your base happy despite the increasingly

authoritarian tone of his rule here.

COREN: Matt Rivers joining us from Beijing. Many thanks for your reporting. Well, earlier, I spoke to Robert Lawrence Kuhn, a long-term

advisor to the Chinese government, by telling me how President Xi Jinping is being securing his grip on power.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERT LAWRENCE KUHN, AUTHOR, HOW CHINA'S LEADERS THINK: President Xi Jinping is the most powerful leader of China since Mao Zedong that his

various title as sort of general secretary of party, president of the country, chairman of the military commission has been amplified

substantially in the last year or a year ago.

He was pronounce core -- C.O.R.E of the party which is a very important designation but the most important thing occurred yesterday actually when

he is thought of Xi Jinping bought on socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era that will praised was enshrined in the

Constitution.

And that would be Core sets him way of Bob, the other senior leaders were as in the past, he was first among equals as general secretary, that is now

no longer the case.

COREN: I just want to discuss this point by not having a potential air that in the line out, some analysts are saying that Xi is throwing out the

rulebook and ensuring that he will stay in power after 2022. What your response to that?

KUHN: You know, this is a very important question and the point really becomes mute and this is what a lot of analyst don't get, why his name

being in the Constitution, it doesn't matter who the leader is in the future. He could step down.

He could appoint another general secretary but for the rest of his sentient life, he will likely be the arbiter because his name is in the Constitution

and so that is a very significant point.

Now whether he maintains the position of general secretary in 2022 from the term is an open question. But there's no question in terms of his

overarching authority that will continue...

COREN: Robert if I can just jump in there. As you say, Xi is now the most powerful leader the in China for decades, you know him, you have sat down

with him many times. What does he plan to do with all that power domestically and internationally?

KUHN: There were 14 points that are -- are the core is political thought. I can break it down into maybe four bigger categories. First is people

orientation which is domestic and improve the lives of the people.

Second is the rejuvenation of the Chinese nations and make China a major world power. He talks about China coming to the center stage of the world.

It's a long-term process, it's between 2020 to 2035, and 2035 to 2050 but the trajectory is there.

And then an addition to that, the critical importance of comprehensive reform which affects everything, enables trying to go and the fourth.

[08:10:00] I would point is the overarching importance of the party in running China and the importance of renewing the party with his

anticorruption campaign. So those four elements I think are the essential elements of his philosophical thinking.

There are challenges. China has challenges internally. President Xi talks about that. He doesn't shy away from it in terms of pollution, in terms of

social imbalances, in terms of industrial overcapacity, financial risks in the system, to do off balance sheet assets.

Many, many things that are problems they have to deal with but now it's on Xi. I mean there is no -- there is no looking to someone else. I mean, he

is the boss. He is always authority.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COREN: Long-time advisor to the Chinese government, Robert Lawrence Kuhn stating to me a little bit earlier. Well, China says it has released Hong

Kong bookseller and Swedish citizen Gui Minhai from jail. But his family said they don't know where he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COREN: His daughter Angela Gui says Swedish officials in Shanghai got a phone call from someone claiming to be Gui saying he was with his sick

mother. But she says her grandmother is not I'll and her father isn't there.

Gui is one of five Hong Kong booksellers who first disappeared in late 2015. There were allegations Chinese officials had abducted them over

their kill or books about the Chinese leadership. Gui then turned in Chinese custody last year. He was jailed for his alleged involvement in a

hit-and-run case.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COREN: Plus, China's president cements his power. The U.S. president is facing scathing attacks from members of his own party. Republican Senators

Jeff Flake and Bob Corker accused Donald Trump of debasing the nation. Neither is seeking reelection.

Mr. Trump tweeted a short time ago, the reason Flake and Corker dropped out of the Senate race is very simple, they had zero chance of being elected.

Now acts so hurt and wounded. The last hour, Senator Flake responded on CNN's New Day.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. JEFF FLAKE (R), ARIZONA: I can tell you, it's very difficult to be reelected in the Republican Party right now in Arizona in particular if you

are -- it doesn't matter so much the policy is capture your voter, if you wish the president and I can't be with the president at all times.

I'm sorry, I just -- I think that when the president is wrong, you have to call him out and sometimes he is wrong, and that's what I try to point out

in the speech yesterday.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: And so, are you an outlier, senator, in the Republican Party now? I mean what about that second half of what the

president just tweeted, the meeting with the Republican senators yesterday outside of Flake and Corker, what they loved, with standing ovations and

great ideas for the USA. Is that how you see it?

FLAKE: I'm not going to strike a private meeting. I can just say that a lot of my colleagues are sure of the concerns that are raised on the floor

yesterday and I believe that more of them will speak out in the future. I hope that we've reached a tipping point of some type where we don't

continue to normalize by being silent the kind of behavior that we have seen.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COREN: Let's get the latest now from CNN's Joe Johns who joins us live from Washington. Joe, this scathing criticism of the President Trump, many

people are saying about time someone within the party speaks up but will this have an effect on other Republicans?

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That is the question, isn't it? And a huge question as to whether this is actually a tipping point, the president

obviously making the case that is all about politics and these senators were not going to get reelected in the mid-terms next year.

The president indicating that his meeting with all of the consumers on Capitol Hill yesterday went meeting with all of the Republican senators on

Capitol Hill yesterday, like wow.

Here's a tweet, the meeting with Republican senators yester outside Flake and Corker as laugh fest with standing ovations and great ideas for the

USA.

And our reporting indicates that it was for the most part, positive and that there wasn't really any controversy to speak up. Nonetheless, you do

have these two Republican senators with just freewheeling personal criticism of sitting American president from their own party.

They are free to speak their minds because they are not running for reelection but that could also mean a change in the arithmetic in the

United States Senate.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FLAKE: There's time for our complicity and our accommodation of the unacceptable to end.

JOHNS: Outgoing Senator Jeff Flake fiercely denouncing President Trump's policies and behavior as dangerous to democracy and calling on his fellow

Republicans to do the same.

FLAKE: When the next generation asks us, why didn't you do something, why didn't you speak out? What are we going to say?

JOHNS: Flake railing against the politics of the era of Trump, the undermining of Democratic ideals.

[08:15:00] The personal insults and what he called the flagrant disregard for truth and decency.

FLAKE: Reckless, outrageous and undignified behavior has become excused and countenance as telling it like it is when it is actually just reckless,

outrageous and dignified -- and undignified.

We were not made great as a country by indulging in or even exalting our worst impulses turning against ourselves, glorifying in the things that

divide us and calling fake things true and true things fake.

JOHNS: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell praising Flake but punting when by reporters how the party would respond.

UNIDETIFIED FEMALE: At what point do you have an obligation as a leader of this party to weigh-in on this very on these very serious criticisms of the

president?

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL, SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: I have an obligation to do is try to achieve the greatest cohesion I can among 52 Republicans to try

to achieve for the American people the agenda that was set out to achieve.

JOHNS: Flake sweeping indictment coming hours after Republican Senator Bob Corker also blasted Mr. Trump.

SEN. BOB CORKER (R), TENNESSEE: The president has great difficulty with the truth. I don't why he lowers himself to such a low, low standard and

the basis our country in the way that he does but he does.

JOHNS: The retiring Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman expressing concern that the United States position in the world is suffering under

President Trump.

CORKER: The world leaders are very aware much of what he says is untrue. He purposely is breaking down relationships we had around the world that

have been useful to our nation.

JOHNS: Their feud reaching a boiling point with the president responding to Corker's attacks in a series of tweets again calling him little -- the

White House brushing off the criticism as petty while welcoming the decision of the senators to retire.

SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, PRESS SECRETARY, WHITE HOUSE: I think that they were not likely to be reelected and I think that shows that the support is

more behind this president than it is those two individuals.

JOHNS: A source familiar with the president's thinking says he is in high spirits after Flake's announcement. An ally of Mr. Trump's former chief

strategist also celebrating saying, Steve Bannon added another scalp to his collection as another establishment domino falls.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNS: But these two senators are not going anywhere anytime soon. They are expected to be on Capitol Hill working in their job until January of

2019. The president and the administration need to get anything pass the go strictly along party lines. Anna.

COREN: Good luck with that. Joe Johns, good to see you, many thanks for that. Well, U.S. soldiers killed in ambush in Niger early this month. We

are gathering Intel on a terrorist leader. Well, that's according to three military officials.

One telling CNN is quite probable someone in the village ticked off local ISIS fighters, then attacked and killed four Americans and five Nigerians.

Our Michelle Kosinski has the latest on the investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Three weeks after a firefight in Niger left four U.S. soldiers dead, only now are details beginning to

emerge about what they were doing and how this escalated.

Military officials now tell CNN the 12-man special operations task force working with an additional 30 Nigerian troops had been on a mission to

gather intelligence on a senior terrorist leader in the area, not to kill or capture but to seek information.

And according to other officials this particular U.S. team had only been in Niger for a matter of weeks. It's with their first or second patrol.

As Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph Dunford alluded to in a wide-ranging press conference their mission may have kept them

movement somewhat fluid. Dunford himself has questions about the course they took and decision-making.

JOSEPH DUNFORD, UNITED STATES JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF CHAIRMAN: Did the mission of U.S. forces change during the operation? Did our forces have

adequate intelligence, equipment, and training? Did they decide to do something different than the original patrol with department forces? Those

are some of the key questions that the investigation is looking to uncover.

KOSINSKI: He did share some more elements of the timeline. On the morning of October 3rd, one day before the ambush, the U.S. and Nigerian team left

Niger's capital on Niamey on the route to an area near the village of Tongo Tongo for an intelligence gathering mission.

DUNFORD: They did not expect resistance from this particular patrol at least when they first planned it.

KOSINSKI: The next morning October 4th, the troops felt the villagers were delaying their departure, perhaps the first indication something was wrong.

By mid-morning the U.S. and Nigerian forces left the village and were heading back to their operating base when up to 50 ISIS-affiliated fighters

attacked them with small arms and rocket- propelled grenades.

The U.S. soldiers fought back but were in unarmored vehicles and only had light weapons such as machine guns. They requested help an hour later.

[08:20:00] DUNFORD: My judgment would be that that unit thought they could handle the situation without additional support.

KOSINSKI: A drone arrived overhead within minutes and captured video of the scene. French jets swooped in an hour later. So two hours after the

firefight began but did not drop bombs because they couldn't tell the enemy at friendly forces apart.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Something that you also can't underestimate is how chaotic an incident like this.

KOSINSKI: The firefight was tough lasting several hours from mid- morning into the evening of the fourth. Still unclear why and how Sergeant La

David Johnson was separated from his team and not found until two days later by Nigerian forces. Dunford says U.S. troops were involved in that

search from the moment Johnson was missing until the end.

Also now an official tells CNN that this team had made a stop in a second village as they were on their way back to their base, something that the

Pentagon made no mention of in their description of this timeline.

In fact, right now, there are many even basic questions that the Pentagon cannot answer, at least not publicly. Things like, where exactly was this

team when they were attacked. How far away were they from their base? Were they wearing body armor?

But someone who is likely to get some answers soon is someone who's been extremely vocal about needing more information. That is Senator John

McCain.

He and the Senate Armed Services Committee are going to be briefed by the Pentagon on Thursday although it will be classified. Michelle Kosinski,

CNN, the State Department.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COREN: Well coming up, as Kenya prepares for a second take of its presidential election, why opposition leaders are broad calling this re-

tape ballot and the tensions surrounding the vote, that's next.

Plus, later in the program, a heartbreaking look at a preventable tragedy in Venezuela, the most vulnerable are being hurt by the country's crisis.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COREN: You are looking at the beauty life of Hong Kong as the Camera pans across Victoria Harbour. Welcome back to New Stream live from Hong Kong.

Well, several countries have been hit by a major ransomware attack.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COREN: It works by locking down your computer and demanding money to free your files. Well this time around, it managed to take hold of computers by

posing as an Adobe update called Bad Rabbit struck transit companies in Ukraine and hit Russian media.

It's also been detected in the U.S., Germany and Japan. There are some reports of vaccine is already being found. Well, now from a Russian online

victim who were accused of being on the offense.

[08:25:00] In the U.K., law makers are asking Facebook information about ads linked to Russia. They were bought during the last year's Brexit

referendum. Officials want information regarding that targeting of these ads and examples of pages said out by Russia linked accounts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COREN: We're now turning to Kenya where controversial -- controversial repayment of its presidential election will go ahead on Thursday and made

unusual circumstances.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COREN: The Supreme Court put a ruled on an election challenge because not enough justices side up on the session and opposition leaders have called

for a boycott of the rerun vote, the main opposition candidate Raila Odinga even withdrew from the race in protest.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COREN: Well let's get a look at the tensions around this election. Our Farai Sevenzo joins us from Nairobi with the very latest. Sevenzo, this

election is taking place after the filed court been not enough judges turned up to hear it. Is this not fast?

FARAI SEVENZO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Anna, it's a point of contrition here. I mean we woke up this morning expecting a judgment on

this emergency petition to delay these elections because no one is very happy with the Electoral Commission.

They are saying the Electoral Commission is not ready. They are saying the returning haven't been sanctioned by everybody but of course, as you

rightly say, Anna, when the judges announced their decision this morning, it was only to say that they could not reach the majority's decision.

There are only two judges out of seven that attended and we had the drama last night of one of the judge's personal driver being shot at and

(Inaudible), is now in hospital recovering from that assault.

And we can only speculate as to what would've happened if the lady judges all had been in the car -- so at the moment going ahead with these

elections, Anna. We are expecting a nonsense from President Kenyatta himself.

Meanwhile, Mr. Odinga is heading to rural part -- another rally for his supporters and of course, this election, if it does go ahead tomorrow,

Anna, it will have just one candidate and many people, in all the oppositions strongholds consumer in the West and all along the coast, will

not be participating in protest.

COREN: Well, Farai, protest are already taking place and certainly doesn't vote well for tomorrow's election with the fear that they will turn

violent.

SEVENZO: Anna, that is the greatest fear. It's a long shadow of expectation about elections in Kenya. Remember, 2007 and 2008, more than

1,000 people died and also remember that there are 44 different tribes in this country.

And the country is yearning for some kind of direction. We have been in this impulse now really, I have been covering this election since way back

in June. August wasn't out.

And now, this election is going ahead without one of the main candidates and that will spark great deal of soul searching amongst Kenyans.

But most importantly, even some of the observers who are here in August are not coming because of fear of security. So, this is going to be

(Inaudible) few days, Anna, for the nation of Kenya.

COREN: Yes, fearful into what will happen tomorrow. Farai Sevenzo, thank you so much for bringing us up to date. Well, still to come on News

Stream, the cost of Venezuela's political turmoil is being paid by children and extraordinary report in a desperate situation in a Venezuela hospital.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:30:00] ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Welcome back. I'm Anna Coren in Hong Kong. You are watching "News Stream." These are your

world headlines.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has unveiled the new lineup for the Politburo Standing Committee. Among the six men who will help him run the country,

none is young enough to be considered a clear successor. The president's term is expected to end in 2022.

Two Republican senators delivered (INAUDIBLE) attacks on Donald Trump Tuesday, the same day the president was on Capitol Hill pushing his tax

reform plan. Both senators, Bob Corker and Jeff Flake, accused the president of degrading the country. Neither lawmaker will be running for

reelection.

Three military officials say the American soldiers killed in an ambush in Niger were gathering intel on a terrorist leader. One of the officials says

the soldiers were coming back from reconnaissance mission when they stopped at a village and that it's highly probable someone may have tipped off

local ISIS fighters who then attacked.

Several countries have been hit by a major ransomware attack. It works by demanding money to your files after locking down your computer. Called "bad

rabbit", it took hold of computers by posing as an Adobe update.

Now to Venezuela where political chaos is coming at a terrible cost. Widespread shortages of food and medicine have sent thousands of people

into desperation, none more so than those in this report by Paula Newton. And a warning here, some of these images are very disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The searing reality of Venezuela's upheaval reveals itself right here, in a tender

moment between mother and son. Both know it's his only comfort. There is precious little else here to help him.

Davis Perez is a very sick 14-year-old boy. Yes, he's 14. He lost 22 pounds in two months in hospital. Painful ulcers in his mouth, meaning he can only

take in liquids. Spots that hurt like severe burns cover his body.

"He can't sleep, he can't even touch his skin," his mother tells me. "It hurts so much he's like a burn victim. Its very bad," she says. "There's no

medicine."

Davis is in renal failure and needs dialysis to survive. Dialysis that in this hospital is not compromised by old filters and contaminated water. He

is now suffering from a bacterial infection that his mother Sandra says has spread. There is no replacement catheter or even a surgical theater to do

the procedure. This is Davis as a healthy teenager now barely recognizable and clearly in pain.

"I have to find strength where I don't have it," Sandra tells me. "It hurts to see him like this. I never thought he would go through this. I tried to

give him strength to go forward with me." She tells me, "I want everyone to see what's happening with us here."

We visited this pediatric hospital in downtown Caracas a year ago. Hospital staff was improvising, lacking everything from antibiotics to surgical

gloves. Even the ceilings in intensive care were crumbling. A symptom of plunging oil prices which took Venezuela's with it, making things like food

and medicine a luxury. The government denies the crisis and said it is exaggerated by the media.

And this year when we returned, conditions had only gotten worse. The director of this pediatric kidney unit tells CNN infected children

including Davis were isolated and that is infection was under control. However, she said they lack basic supplies and Venezuela's ministry of

health has not responded to the hospital's request for thos supplies. The ministry did not respond to CNN's request for comment.

The director says eight children have died so far this year and Davis is one of them. A few weeks after we left his bedside, he died of hypovolemic

shock. His blood levels were too low. His mother says he was in pain to the last

[08:35:00] and she blames the government. Sandra says she's sad, angry, and has an enormous emptiness in her heart and her soul.

Paula Newton, CNN, Caracas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COREN: A tragic story. Well, President Donald Trump is expected to declare the opioid epidemic in the U.S. a national emergency this week. Well, some

experts say its the deadliest drug crisis in America's history. Last year, overdoses killed more people in the U.S. than guns or car accidents.

New Hampshire has one of the highest death rates in the country and no one knows more about the crisis than the firefighters on the front lines. CNN's

Chris Cuomo rode along with them.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN JOURNALIST (voice-over): New Hampshire has seen a huge spike in opioid overdose deaths. Five hundred people a year in this small

state. Addiction is becoming the new normal. These days, the Manchester Fire Department responds to more overdoses than fires.

Just walking down the street, you are libel to see an overdose. This one right in front of a children's karate studio in Manchester. Fire department

soon arrives to administer Narcan, a drug that brings a seemingly dead man back to life.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Out. I mean out. It wasn't like you were, you know, you were out, so you need (ph) Narcan but --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The time has come (INAUDIBLE).

CUOMO (voice-over): Saving this life is the easier part of the problem. Getting the man to save his own life, that is the real challenge. Chris

Hickey (ph) is the Manchester Fire Department's head medic.

CHRIS HICKEY (ph), HEAD MEDIC, MANCHESTER FIRE DEPARTMENT: So you got a total of nine milligrams before you woke up. The most we can give is 10.

Nine is a lot. He'll live. He might have some, you know, brain issues because of the lack of oxygen for how long he went, but he'll live.

CUOMO (voice-over): That man very well could have died without those nine milligrams of Narcan. That's the brand name for the drug, naloxone, which

literally brings overdosed victims back from death's doorstep.

HICKEY (ph): You put it in one nostril, block it. You give half the fluid that's in here. And you switch over to the other nostril, squeeze it, and

give the rest of it. It's the quickest thing closest route right to the brain.

CUOMO: What does it mean to you that you will find someone who even though they know, they just popped up and look into your eyes and you saved their

life that they should be dead, they still use?

HICKEY (ph): I think if you ask me or anyone of the guys here on the job that same question two years ago, we've have been pretty upset. But what we

know now about the problem, how it truly is a disorder and it's not something they can control, like once opioid get their hooks into someone,

it's very, very hard to get those hooks back out.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COREN: Chris Cuomo reporting there. You can learn more by visiting our website including what makes these drugs dangerous and what is being done

to combat the spread. It's all at cnn.com/opioids. "News Stream" returns after this short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:40:00] COREN: As we all know, President Trump used Twitter to attack variety of foes. But he may have met his match in one senator from his own

party. Bob Corker launched his own Twitter attack with a hashtag that is delighting critics of the U.S. president. Jeanne Moos explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Trump has bragged about using tweets to defeat his enemies.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I am able to go bing, bing, bing and I take care of it.

MOOS (voice-over): Well, now the president is getting binged back.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): Its a shame the White House has become and adult daycare center.

MOOS (voice-over): With a hashtag created by Republican Senator Bob Corker.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Hashtag, "alert the day care staff."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Hashtag, "alert the day care staff."

MOOS (voice-over): Hashtag of the year, crowed Trump critics. Best hashtag ever. It unleashed a barrage of baby-centric imagery from president

escaping from daycare to a cartoon outfitting him in dog cones to keep him from tweeting. Pacifiers were plentiful including a binky adorn with

presidential seal.

Though Trump supporters told Senator Corker to stick a cork in it with pacifier pictures of their own. Children also came up in a question the

senator was asked about the president.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you think he's a role model to children in the United States?

SEN. BOB CORKER (R), TENNESSEE: No.

MOOS: But maybe somebody should have alerted the daycare staff last year when Senator Corker was introducing then candidate Trump.

CORKER: The reason you love him so much is because he he loves you.

MOOS (voice-over): And Trump called Corker --

TRUMP: Great guy. Great guy. Great person.

MOOS (voice-over): Their hug was a bit stiff and their handshake was a classic Trump grab and yank. Sort of like this Twitter feud. The daily show

enabled fans to experience Trump's Bob Corker tweet storm the way it's meant to be read, in a child's scrawl. They call it make Trump tweets eight

again, while Seth Meyers imagined him tweeting on a typewriter.

SETH MEYERS, COMEDIAN: I hate losers. Sad.

MOOS (voice-over): Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

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COREN: Donald Trump just tweeted a response to Jeff Flake with an 18 percent approval rating in Arizona. It said, a lot of my colleagues have

spoken out, really? They just gave me a standing (INAUDIBLE). Well, that's "News Stream." I'm Anna Coren. Don't go anywhere, "World Sport" with Amanda

Davies is next.

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