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NEWS STREAM

Scott Morrison Is Australia's New Prime Minister; Immunity For National Enquirer's David Pecker; Jeff Sessions And President In War Of Words; Sexual Abuse Victims Calls For Action From The Pope And Vatican; Another Airstrike In Yemen Killing Fleeing Families; One Year On And The Struggle Continues For Rohingya Refugees; Hawaii Braces For Hurricane Lane; White House On El Salvador Cutting Ties With Taiwan; Saving Nemo. Aired 8- 9a ET

Aired August 24, 2018 - 08:00   ET

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


[08:00:00] KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong and welcome to "News Stream."

Leadership change. Australia lands a new prime minister, the sixth in a decade.

Sounding the alarm. Sirens blare in Hawaii as Hurricane Lane brings heavy winds and rain.

And saving Nemo. A biologist and school children are trying to save the clown fish from extinction.

Scott Morrison has been sworn in as Australia's new prime minister after the ousting of his predecessor, Malcolm Turnbull, in a bruising power

struggle within the ruling liberal party. And here is how it all played out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT (voice-over): It's wintertime in Australia and Malcolm Turnbull's ruling liberal party has kicked him into the cold.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Insurgency is the best way to describe it. Deliberate destructive action.

LU STOUT (voice-over): Treasurer Scott Morrison, now prime minister after MP's revolted against Turnbull's climate change goals.

SCOTT MORRISON, PRIME MINISTER OF AUSTALIA: There's been a lot of talk this week about whose side people are on.

LU STOUT (voice-over): Australia's fifth prime mister in as many years, the outgoing Turnbull, the latest victim of an ongoing ideological dispute

over our warming planet. In the capital, Canberra, the political climate has been red hot all week.

Monday saw then Prime Minister Turnbull try to save his job by backing away from the Paris Climate deal, but it wasn't enough to stave off a coup led

by right winger Peter Dutton who forced two leadership ballots. The first on Tuesday. Turnbull clung to power.

MALCOLM TURNBULL, FORMER PRIME MINISTER OF AUSTRALIA: What I'm endeavoring to do is to obviously ensure that the party is stable, to maintain the

stability of the government of Australia. That's critically important.

LU STOUT (voice-over): But the prime minister's allies began to jump ship.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A cannibalistic behaviour of a government who is eating itself alive.

LU STOUT (voice-over): And finally on Friday, Scott Morrison emerged as the compromise between the party's warring left and right. Time up for

Turnbull, whose self-styled progressive politics never quite fit with many in Australia's mainstream conservative party. He will quit parliament

leaving serious questions whether an unelected prime minister will stand up to public scrutiny.

An election must be held by May. For now, the ruling liberal party has settled the questioning of its leadership but crippling drought and winter

time bush fires are keeping climate change in the spotlight in Australia, an issue that has dogged each prime minister to be sacked since 200 --

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The "Associated Press" report said the "National Enquirer" kept a safe containing documents

on hush money payments and stories that the magazine bought rights to and killed to protect Donald Trump in the run-up to the 2016 election. The

magazine --

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT (on camera): OK, our apologies for the technical issue just then. But going back to what happened earlier today, the political change, the

leadership change now in Australia, just to follow up to that, the ousted Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has tweeted in the last few hours thanking

the Australian people and saying that it has been an honor to serve as their prime minister.

Now, turning now to the story on everyone's mind in Washington in particular. Now, federal prosecutors, they have granted immunity to the

publisher of the "National Enquirer" in return for cooperation with the investigation into hush money payments to women who alleged affairs with

President Donald Trump. That is according to the "Wall Street Journal."

AMI CEO David Pecker, a long time friend of Mr. Trump's appears to have corroborated Michael Cohen's claim that Mr. Trump knew about the payoffs.

The "National Enquirer" is known to very damaging stories in a tactic that's known as "catch and kill."

The "Associated Press" reports that the newspaper kept a safe, a physical safe, with damaging documents inside. CNN White House correspondent Abby

Phillip joins us now live from Washington with more. And Abby, wow, some really interesting reports emerging about this American tabloids boss David

Pecker, what he knows and what he is giving up for immunity?

PHILLIP: Absolutely Kristie. It has been a damaging and damning week for this White House and it's only getting worse. There are new bombshells

emerging especially about this arrangement with the president's friend David Pecker and the "National Enquirer."

Now, all of this is happening around these alleged hush money payments that the president's former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, made to women who

alleged that they had affairs with Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIP (voice-over): The "Associated Press" report said the "National Enquirer" kept a safe containing documents on hush money payments and

stories that the magazine bought rights to and killed to protect Donald Trump in the run-up to the 2016 election.

[08:05:08] The magazine's publisher, David Pecker, has been friends with President Trump for decades.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I've always said, why didn't the "National Enquirer" get the Pulitzer Prize?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIP (voice-over): But the American media CEO was reportedly granted immunity in exchange for cooperating in the investigation into Mr. Trump's

former personal attorney, Michael Cohen. The details of Pecker's deal made public by the "Vanity Fair" and "Wall Street Journal" just hours after the

president vented his frustration about people "flipping."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Everything is wonderful and then they get 10 years in jail and they flip on whoever the next highest one is, or as high as you can go. It

almost sort to be outlawed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIP (voice-over): According to Cohen's plea deal, Pecker helps deal with negative stories about Mr. Trump referred to here as individual one,

by buying and burying them. Sources telling CNN that Pecker gave details about the payments Cohen made to women who alleged they had affairs with

Mr. Trump and that the president had knowledge of it.

After pleading guilty, Cohen testified in open court under oath that the president directed him to make the hush money payments to influence the

2016 election.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: The truth is, he lied about this. You guys should own it and move forward.

KELLYANNE CONWAY, COUNSELOR TO PRESIDENT TRUMP: Lied about what? I'm sorry, lied about what? I'm not going to sit here and listen to that.

CUOMO: He knew about what Michael Cohen was doing with this women and the payments. He lied about not knowing.

CONWAY: No, no. The president said he knew about it after --

CUOMO: I know and that's a lie.

CONWAY: -- the payments were made.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIP (voice-over): The White House continues to insist the president only learned about the payments after they were made. But a secret audio

recording released by Cohen proves otherwise.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

MICHAEL COHEN, FORMER ATTORNEY FOR TRUMP: I need to open up a company for the transfer of all of that info regarding our friend David, you know, so

that -- I could do that right away. I've actually come up --

TRUMP: Give it to me.

COHEN: And I've spoken to Allen Weisselberg about how to set the whole thing up with funding.

TRUMP: So what are we going to do?

(END AUDIO CLIP)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIP: And the "New York Times" is also reporting that state investigators in New York are considering bringing charges against the

Trump organization yet another front in many illegal battles facing the president right now.

In addition to that, President Trump is heading to Ohio later today, and he'll appear in public for the first time since Michael Cohen made these

claims about him in court in his plea deal as it relates to those hush money payments. The president will appear with his wife First Lady Melania

Trump today, Kristie.

LU STOUT: Yes, but the hush money payment saga just keeps on unfolding and unfolding and meanwhile, the attorney general of the United States, Jeff

Sessions, has apparently had enough of Donald Trump's attacks. How is sessions hitting back?

PHILLIP: That's right. Well, this is really extraordinary. One of the few times that we've heard Jeff Sessions responds directly to something that

President Trump said. Trump in an interview indicated that he believed Jeff Sessions never took control of the Justice Department after he was

appointed.

He is still angry about Session' recusal and Sessions has responded saying, "I took control of the Justice Department the day I was sworn in which is

why we've had unprecedented success in effectuating the president's agenda. While I'm attorney general, the actions of the Department of Justice will

not be improperly influenced by political considerations."

There you have Jeff Sessions insinuating that he president's anger with him has to do with his unwillingness to defend the president against political

attacks. But President Trump is also firing back this morning on twitter. He sent out a series of tweets aimed at Jeff Sessions, quoting Sessions'

statements to him and essentially saying, you know, Jeff Sessions should do more to prosecute the president's political enemies.

He says, "Open up the papers and documents without redactions." He's referring here to some efforts by Republicans to get Sessions to release

documentations related to the Clinton investigation. And the president adds, "Come on, Jeff. You can do it. The country is waiting." So this back

and forth is really extraordinary. It's happening in plain sight between two people who you can imagine can easily pick up the phone and talk to

each other.

In fact, Jeff Sessions was here at the White House just yesterday for meetings on a different issue and we do not believe that either him or the

president spoke to each other in any capacity during that time. Kristie.

LU STOUT: Yes, but that tweet storm likely to continue. Abby Phillip, live from the White House for us, thank you.

Now, as the White House deals with turmoil within its walls, the Secretary of State is headed to North Korea. Mike Pompeo and his new special

representative to North Korea, Stephen Biegun, will go to Pyongyang next week.

It will be Pompeo's fourth trip to the North Korean capital, but State Department officials say that there are no plans for a meeting with Kim

Jong-un. The North Korean leader snubbed Pompeo during the last round of meetings, which sources say went, quote, "as badly as it could have gone."

[08:10:02] Now, this hour, survivors and activists from the group ending clergy abuse, they have been speaking from Dublin and they have a message

for Pope Francis and the Vatican ahead of the pontiff's visit to Ireland this weekend. A call to take action.

Now the pope will meet with survivors of sex abuse by priests, and his trip could mark a defining moment in the crisis that is rocking the Catholic

Church around the world. Earlier this week the pope did break his silence on the issue, following revelations about decades of abuse by predator

priests in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, but many survivors say those words were not enough.

CNN's Phil Black is in Dublin following the pope's trip there. He joins us now, and Phil, the painful specter of child sexual abuse is looming large

over this visit. What are abuse survivors sharing with you?

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kristie, their stories are harrowing. I think as you'd expect, the trauma long lasting and it's why this was

always going to be a key test for the pope, a difficult visit, because there has (inaudible) so many people in this country who have suffered and

are suffering as a result of sex abuse within the church.

That report in Pennsylvania that you mentioned, that simply fueled the sense that the pope must be seen to finally respond in a really meaningful

way to this issue because the victims believe that for far too long the Vatican has handled this issue and handled it very poorly. The pope has

written an extensive, in many ways, unprecedented apology and it has been noted here and appreciated by some.

But as you touched on the real sense from victims, is that this is no longer the time for words. What they want to hear from the pope is action.

A firm commitment as to how he and the church are going to handle this issue going forward.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLACK (voice-over): There is no polite easy way to explain what happened to Darren McGavin on the grounds of this church when he was a child.

DARREN MCGAVIN, VICTIM: He put me over the table. And he had the vestments too, the ropes and the vestments and he -- he tied my hands to my legs over

the table and began to rape me.

BLACK (voice-over): From the age of 7, Darren was abused several times a week for more than four years by Tony Walsh, one of Ireland's most

notorious pedophile priests.

MCGAVIN: On one occasion I was raped with a crucifix.

BLACK (voice-over): Walsh destroyed Darren's life. The years since have been consumed by trauma and mental illness.

How old are you now?

MCGAVIN: I'm 46 years of age and have been medicated since I was 12. Twelve years of age. So -- like, when's it going to stop? Like, when is it

going to stop? I don't know.

BLACK (voice-over): This is just one victim's story in a country deeply wounded by the horrific legacy of priests abusing vast numbers of children

and often getting away with it. It will be the defining issue for Pope Francis when he visits once proudly Catholic Ireland.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do this in memory of me.

BLACK (voice-over): Where many churches are now largely empty, where the institution is struggling for purpose and credibility.

MARIE COLLINS, VICTIM: I went to the hospital when I was 12, just turned 13, and I was sexually assaulted by the Catholic chaplain.

BLACK (voice-over): After decades recovering, Marie Collins has become a powerful voice for reforming the church's culture. Last year, she walked

away from a Vatican panel advising Pope Francis because nothing changed and she wasn't satisfied with his recent written apology.

COLLINS: We have the pope the other day and a strong letter, a lot of it is good, but unfortunately, he still says we're working on finding a way to

hold people accountable. We're decades on. You can't still be working on it.

BLACK (voice-over): Darren McGavin wanted to show us another painful location. In Phoenix Park, where Pope Francis will say mass he takes us to

a dark gully.

MCGAVIN: And then he laid me down on the mattress.

BLACK (voice-over): Another place where he was raped by the priest he'd once trusted.

MCGAVIN: I didn't even get a sorry. He didn't even say sorry like --

BLACK (voice-over): Darren and other victims say apologies are important, but from the pope, they also want firm policies to ensure no one suffers

like this again.

(on camera): Now, everything the pope says, Kristie, will be watched and examined very closely along with every symbolic gesture, but the demands

from survivors and victims are -- well, they're pretty clear. What they want is a zero tolerance approach to this sort of abuse enforced by the

Vatican across the church globally.

So, compulsory reporting of suspected abuse, accountability for abusers and those who try to protect them. And the victims say that anything less than

this will be deemed as the pope failing to finally -- failing to grapple with this issue in a satisfactory way, Kristie.

[08:15:13] LU STOUT: Phil, horrendous details of child sexual abuse and the lack of accountability. Phil Black reporting live for us from Dublin.

Thank you.

You're watching "News Stream." Still ahead right here on the program, a (inaudible) Houthi-controlled media in Yemen. They say that 22 children

were killed by a Saudi-led airstrike as families fled their homes. One survivor is now asking is nowhere safe for us? An update, just ahead.

Plus, facing an uncertain future and a struggle for survivor, one year after brutal violence forced a mass exodus of Rohingya refugees from

Myanmar, one rights group says that the world has failed to act.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back. Now, in northwestern Yemen, 30 people including 22 children have died as airstrikes led by the Saudi coalition hit near the

port city of Hodeidah. The Houthi-controlled Health Ministry says the majority of them were from four families who were fleeing their homes. Nima

Elbagir has this update.

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kristie, another attack on a car carrying fleeing civilians, killing children, this time, in

the strategic district leading to Hodeidah, the strategic port city's airport. Hodeidah has been a point of intensifying airstrikes as both

parties in Yemen flee a civil war struggle to take that city.

It has also been the site of continuing blocks of both aid and supplies and real focal point for the concern of the international community is the tap

of aid and much-needed supplies going into Yemen has been blocked on and off as control has volleyed back and forth between the U.S. backed Saudi-

led coalition and the Houthi forces on the ground there.

This comes of course just after the bus attack that killed children in the northern province of Saada and while the Saudi-led coalition continues its

investigation into that and against the backdrop of intensifying pressure from U.S. lawmakers after CNN revealed that the bomb in the attack that

killed the school children was U.S. made.

In an emotional phone call, a family member of the family that was killed in this recent attack told CNN, it feels like nowhere is safe. He told us

that this family, his family were fleeing because they wanted to save their lives from a previous airstrike in which four people were killed, and

that's what displaced them to this new district where they were finally killed. He said, it feels like nowhere here in Yemen is safe. Kristie?

[08:20:06] LU STOUT: Nima Elbagir, there reporting. Thank you. Now, the Saudi-led coalition did not immediately respond to CNN's request for

comment on Thursday's airstrike.

Saturday marks the one-year anniversary of Myanmar's violent crackdown that sparked one of the worlds of worst humanitarian crises. On August 24, 2017,

militants attacked government troops in northern Rakhine state. Security forces respond by launching a clearance operation that sent hundreds of

thousands of the Rohingyas running for their lives.

Nearly three quarters of a million refugees have fled across the border to Bangladesh in the past year. The U.N. says the vast majorities are women

and children and more than 40 percent are under the age of 12. It has been a daily struggle for survival for the Rohingya. A stateless minority

already described as the most persecuted people on Earth as they continue to face disease, starvation and right now it's the middle of monsoon

season.

As if that weren't enough, many Rohingya women had already endured the unimaginable by the time they arrived. The U.N. says that they were

subjected to rape, violence and torture at the hands of Myanmar's military, and their babies, a painful reminder of that. Some of them are now talking

publicly. CNN's Alexandra Field has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In these vast refugee camps in Bangladesh, many women and girls harbor a painful secret. They are

survivors of what the U.N. calls widespread sexual violence against the Rohingya, allegedly carried out by the military in Myanmar last year.

Rape was thought a calculated tool to force them from their homes -- claims the government denies. More than nine months on, a number of babies have

been born as the result of rape. Little Yazmin (ph) was delivered in June. Her mother Meher (ph says she was raped by soldiers who set fire to her

village in September.

MEHER, RAPE VICTIM (through translation): They demanded to rape me in exchange for sparing my children's life. I agreed to them.

FIELD (voice-over): Filled with shame, Meher tried to keep what happened from her husband.

MEHER (trough translation): I told my children not to tell their father about the incident, but they did anyway. Because of that, my husband wanted

a divorce, but he couldn't leave me as I had no parents.

FIELD (voice-over): Women who survive rape in this community risk being shunned even by their families. For Meher, the baby would be a painful

reminder of the horrors left behind.

MEHER (through translation): I tried a lot to abort this child, but abortion was not possible. I went to the nurse and took pills for abortion.

But they didn't work as they were supposed to.

FIELD (voice-over): Around 60 babies are born to Rohingya women in refugee camps in Bangladesh each day according to UNICEF. The number of pregnancies

resulting from rape is unknown.

PRAMILLA PATTEN, U.N. SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE ON SEXUAL VIOLENCE IN CONFLICT: Some, I'm told, are hiding their pregnancies, but I'm also told

that many are simply having deliveries in their home, in their camp unattended or sometimes with local midwives.

FIELD (voice-over): Meher gave birth alone in this small bamboo shack. She and her husband have now forged a bond with their new child in these most

difficult of circumstances.

MEHER (through translation): Yes, I love her. My husband also loves her now though he couldn't accept her at first. He adores the baby when she

smiles and plays.

FIELD (voice-over): But the worry for some is the stigma these children could face when they grow up.

BEATRIZ OCHOA, ADVOCACY MANAGER, SAVE THE CHILDREN: The greatest concern of the babies left behind is that they could grow up with a stigma or a

label attached to them, which is the last thin we would like to see for these babies.

FIELD (voice-over): For Yazmin (ph), this could be one of the many challenges she will face in the years ahead as she learns to call this

refugee camp home. Alexandra Field, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now, CNN has asked Myanmar's government for a response to the story. Here is what a spokesperson said, quote, "There is no evidence that

Myanmar soldiers committed any human rights violations in the response to the terrorist attacks of 2017. We have recently formed a new independent

commission which will investigate alleged rights abuses in the Rakhine State including rape and we will treat any case in accordance with the rule

of law."

Amnesty International says Saturday's anniversary marks a shameful milestone for the world's failure to act or hold those accountable for

crimes against humanity.

[08:25:00] And joining me to talk more about the Rohingya crisis is UNICEF's spokesman in Bangladesh, Alastair Lawson-Tancred. And Alistair ,

thank you for joining us. It has been almost one year after the mass influx of scores of Rohingya into Bangladesh. What are conditions like for the

child refugees there?

ALISTAIR LAWSON-TANCRED, SPOKESPERSON, UNICEF: Well, there is good news and bad news, really. On the good news side, these children have had --

children under 14 at least -- have got access to education. They've got access to child-friendly spaces which are critically important in a very

crowded refugee camp.

I think the concern of UNICEF though, is very much towards adolescent children. And by adolescent children, I mean teenagers from 13 years

onwards because although they had access to adolescent clubs and to some extent they've had counseling for the trauma they experienced when they

left Myanmar, they still have no formal education.

And I think one of the pushes of the aid agencies, especially UNICEF in the year and months ahead, will be to try and ensure that these children, this

lost generation, as we call it, will get access to some kind of education because if they don't, then they risk becoming very disaffected. And that's

bad news bearing in mind it's already pretty tough in the refugee camps as it is.

LU STOUT: Absolutely. You mentioned adolescence are vulnerable. Are teenage girls the most vulnerable among Rohingya refugees?

LAWSON-TANCRED: Well, teenage girls (inaudible) certainly have a hard time. We met a group of teenage girls just the other day actually and they

said that there were several concerns that were thought (inaudible). One, they wanted access to education, which we talked about. Two, they said they

wanted access to better sanitation because there is very little privacy for most of these girls when they go to the toilet.

And three, interesting enough, they'd like to have smaller families. And it's interesting (inaudible) that one of the big drivers for change in the

camps are young people. And they're pushing -- they're not afraid to make their voices heard and that some of them are pushing for change. But we're

talking about a very conservative Muslim society here that it's not going to be -- it's not going to happen overnight.

LU STOUT: Of course and fortunately aid groups like UNICEF are on the ground. You've been providing some much-needed support and aid for the

refugees and child refugees, but they've remained stateless. You know, they are stuck in these camps. Is there a sense of despair among the Rohingya in

Cox's Bazar?

LAWSON-TANCRED: I think there is. I think I'd be misleading you if I said there wasn't. Certainly among teenagers there is a sense of hopelessness,

but their statelessness as you said, brings so many problems. I means that you can't get a passport. It means it's very difficult for refugees to get

out of the camp.

Some of them are working in the camps, but not officially, and it's just a very, very grim existence. And add that to bad weather when it rains. A lot

of water leaks through their roofs and danger of water-borne diseases. The danger when it's windy. The roofs of their houses can be blown off.

But the dangers of their houses could be flooded or suffer from landslides. So, it's a tough existence in the camp and especially disparaging for

teenagers because as I said, they don't have this access to education on top of all of those things.

LU STOUT: Yes, a very tough existence for the child refugees and teenage refugees there in Cox's Bazar. We'll leave it at that. Sir, thank you so

much for joining us here on the program.

You are watching "News Stream." we'll be right back after this short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:30:00]

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN NEWS STREAM SHOW HOST: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. You're watching "News Stream" and these are your world headlines.

Hawaii is being hit with heavy rain from Hurricane Lane. The storm could remain a threat for days and authorities are urging people to take shelter.

(INAUDIBLE) landslides and forced road closures on the big island.

Now, CNN's Miguel Marquez joins us live from Pahala on Hawaii's big island. And Miguel, I mean, Hurricane Lane, it is bearing down on Hawaii. Can you

describe the conditions there?

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, well, right now, on the big island, things are pretty darn calm. It was raining extraordinarily

hard earlier in the evening. They've had, in the last 24, 48 hours, over 60 centimeters of rain on some parts of the big island here.

Some of those parts that were hit most hard by the rain were south of Hilo, the Puna district and Pahoa, those areas that had to suffer through the

lava and the volcano over the last several months.

So, people really taking heed here. One of the major roads was closed by a slide. There were some evacuations that -- not mandatory in Hilo that were

done overnight. But for the most part, Hawaii seems -- the big island, at least, seems to have skipped most of the worst of the wind and the rain and

that sort of hurricane-like environment.

There's a tropical storm warning now for the big island. But the big question is, where is this hurricane headed? It's moving northward towards

Oahu, that's where Honolulu is. It is a very big city, obviously 400,000 people there. They are bracing for it, taking every precaution.

The governor of Hawaii telling people, be prepared to be without food or water for two weeks. In some of these areas, in some of these islands, if a

road washes out, if those lines come down, trees come down, it can strand whole communities for quite some time. Kristie?

LU STOUT: Miguel, it's good to hear that the big island has managed to avert disaster. We know that officials there in Hawaii, they have been

going all out, warning everyone, residents and tourists, about the dangers here, to get prepared. In Oahu and Honolulu, are people there prepared for

the storm?

MARQUEZ: As prepared as they can be at this point. If they're not prepared, it's almost too late now, because it's going to come in in the

next several hours. The one big question about this storm is it is moving so slowly, just a few kilometers an hour towards the north, and if it takes

a very sharp left turn and moves farther west, then maybe the worst will be spared.

Oahu will be spared the worst, but it is not clear. It could just keep drifting north. It is strengthening as a storm, which means that it could

power north, right into Oahu as well. That would be the worst-case scenario.

So, authorities taking no chances with this. It is a giant, powerful storm that even though we were, you know, several hundred kilometers away from it

here, we are feeling the effects of it for the last 48 hours. Kristie?

LU STOUT: Yes, (INAUDIBLE) there not taking chances. Hoping everyone potentially affected are prepared for this storm. Miguel Marquez reporting

live for us from the big island, thank you.

Now, we have meteorologist Chad Myers standing by. He joins us from the International Weather Center. Chad, you heard from Miguel's reporting just

then. The question now, will Oahu be spared? You're tracking the storm. What do you see?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST AND SCIENCE REPORTER: There is no way to know that. Right now, there is just not a chance that we know that Oahu is

in the clear, because we always talk about this American model versus European model.

The American model turns the storm right back towards Maui. Now, the European model makes a completely different scenario and turns it left,

sends it way out into the Pacific. So, right now, 195 kilometers per hour, gusting to 240, and as Miguel said, only moving northward at 8 kilometers

per hour.

It is forecast by the Central Pacific Hurricane Center to turn to the left. They are following the European version of this forecast model, but there

are other models that still take this very close to this big island.

The threat, Kristie, even if it does make landfall, the threat really isn't a wind event. The threat with this is a flooding event. There have already

been reports of 800 millimeters of rainfall near Hilo, Hawaii just with this storm and it's still 300 kilometers away.

[08:35:03] So, the rain is going to continue to come down. The wind will blow. These are tropical storm force winds, somewhere in the 60 kilometer

per hour. Honolulu can take that. That's not a big deal. Kauai can take that. Otherwise, this is the issue, we are going to see high surf, four to

seven meters worth of surf here coming onshore in very low land.

I mean, Honolulu, take a look. Waikiki is right there. The beaches, maybe two feet -- two-thirds of a meter higher than the beach. So, you get a four

foot or four meter or seven meter wave, wow, that's just going to be really devastating for some of these coastal areas.

The flash flood warnings are still continuing for Hilo. Obviously more rain still to come. This is 500 millimeters or more still to come with this

storm. So, yes, the rain is coming and there is more weather back out to the east of there and to the west of there as well here into the central

and western Pacific.

LU STOUT: Got it. It's the flooding risk that makes this storm a real threat especially for places like Waikiki and Honolulu, as you point out.

Chad Myers reporting for us, as always, thank you.

MYERS: You're welcome.

LU STOUT: Now, China is condemning criticism coming from the White House directed at El Salvador which decided to cut diplomatic ties with Taiwan in

favor of establishing a relationship with Beijing.

The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it is, quote, natural and sensible for El Salvador to establish diplomatic relations with China based

on the one-China principle.

The White House released this statement a few hours ago saying this, quote, the El Salvadorean government's receptiveness to China's apparent

interference into domestic politics of a Western Hemisphere country is of grave concern to the United States, and will result in a reevaluation of

our relationship with El Salvador, end quote.

You're watching "News Stream." Still to come, saving the clownfish. Efforts are underway to keep the creature made famous by the movie from becoming

extinct.

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LU STOUT: We made it to Friday night here in Hong Kong. Welcome back. This is "News Stream."

First, there was the animated film classic "Finding Nemo." And now schools in Australia are trying to save him from extinction. The tiny colorful

clownfish is under threat in part because of climate change but also because in the years following the movie, people wanted them as pets. Ivan

Watson has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Meet the humble clownfish. Though small in size, it's one of the most instantly

recognizable inhabitants of the world's coral reefs. A fish made famous by the 2003 animated film "Finding Nemo."

The movie told the story of a father searching for his son, Nemo, after he's captured from the wild. But "Finding Nemo" box office success has had

some unintended consequences.

KAREN BURKE DA SILVA, MARINE BIOLOGIST: After the film "Finding Nemo," there was a drastic spike in the number of fish that people wanted for

their aquarium.

WATSON: Karen Burke da Silva is a marine biologist and the co-founder of a program called "Saving Nemo."

[08:40:03] BURKE DA SILVA: And the places that they were getting the fish actually was from the wild. And as the numbers kept coming out of the wild,

they started getting very, very small in some places and, in fact, in certain areas became locally extinct.

WATSON: Students at The Belgian Gardens Primary School in the Australian city of Townsville are trying to change that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At the top, there's a little orange clownfish. It's really tiny. It's like a dot. Can you see it?

WATSON: Oh, wow! It's really small, yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah.

WATSON: As part of the "Saving Nemo" program, these children are helping breed baby clownfish.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We breed them so we can give fish that we breed to people who want clownfish and so that they don't have to take them out of

the wild.

WATSON: The clownfish raised here are eventually traded away to pet shops in exchange for aquarium supplies.

WATSON: Where are the eggs?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Those little bubbles.

WATSON: Unfortunately, the clownfish is now facing an even bigger challenge. Climate change. Rising temperatures around the world are

bleaching. In other words, killing off coral and sea and anemone, the habitats clownfish call home.

Marine biologist Jodie Rummer says it will take more drastic action to protect the clownfish.

JODIE RUMMER, MARINE BIOLOGIST: The way to protect them is really, really big solution, and it has to do with kind of ending our reliance on fossil

fuels. That's directly related to the warming of the oceans, the emissions into the atmosphere.

WATSON: For newcomer, the story of the little star of "Finding Nemo" may have another surprising plot twist.

DA SILVA: I'm not sure if everybody knows that clownfish are hermaphrodite.

WATSON: All clownfish are born male. Some eventually transform and grow into bigger females.

DA SILVA: Females are the largest there, the top fish in the anemone, everybody wants to be the female.

WATSON: It could make the next "Finding Nemo" sequel a very different movie.

Ivan Watson, CNN, Townsville, Australia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: A beautiful and uplifting story. Do join Ivan this weekend for a special report. It is called "Race to Save the Reef." It premieres Saturday

at 8:30 in the evening Hong Kong time. That's 1:30 in the afternoon for folks in London.

That is "News Stream." I'm Kristie Lu Stout. But don't go anywhere. "World Sport" with Amanda Davies is next.

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[08:45:00] (WORLD SPORT)

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