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NEWS STREAM

Moon Jae-in to be South Korean President; Yates Says She Warned White House about Flynn; Judges Appear Divided on Trump's Travel Ban; Obama Speaks at Global Food Innovation Summit; Wife of U.S. Citizen Detained in North Korea Speaks to CNN; North Korean Threat a Key Issue in South Korean Election; Jakarta Governor Found Guilty in Blasphemy Trial. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired May 9, 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]

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KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong.

IVAN WATSON, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Ivan Watson in Seoul. Welcome to NEWS STREAM.

Exit polls show Moon Jae-in is expected to become South Korea's next president to fill the power vacuum left by impeached Park Geun-hye.

LU STOUT: And former acting U.S. attorney general Sally Yates said that she warned the White House about the national security adviser's dealings

with Russia.

So why did it take the White House over 2.5 weeks to fire Michael Flynn?

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LU STOUT: We'll go live to Ivan in South Korea in just a minute.

First, former U.S. President Barack Obama will speak any moment at a Global Food Innovation Summit in Milan. He's expected to talk climate change and

food security. We will bring you the highlights of that speech throughout the hour.

First, over to Ivan Watson in Seoul -- Ivan.

WATSON: Thanks, Kristie.

Here in South Korea, it looks like Moon Jae-in is poised to become the country's next president. The results of a major exit poll came out in

just the last hour. It shows Moon holding a double-digit lead over his closest rivals. According to that exit poll, he has more than 40 percent

of the vote.

The Democratic Party candidate takes a moderate approach towards North Korea. He supports dialogue with Pyongyang. Whoever wins will replace

Park Geun-hye, who was removed from office in March, accused of corruption.

Let's go to Paula Hancocks, who joins me from the center of Seoul.

Good to see you, Paula.

Let me first ask, the results haven't been finalized yet; but if, in fact, it does turn into a victory for Moon Jae-in, how much of a change in the

political landscape is that for South Korea?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Before I get to that, let me update you. We just had a speech from Moon Jae-in; he's basically at the national

assembly. He's been in the situation room at the Democratic Party. And he gave an acceptance speech, a victory speech, which he said was not a

victory speech.

But he said as expected, this was a landslide victory. He then did go on to pull himself back a little bit and say these are only exit polls but

pointed out that, if we are to win, I think the victory was achieved from desperation.

This, of course, going back to what you just mentioned, the fact that this election has had to be called because of the massive corruption scandal

that's been gripping this nation, the fact that for many months now there's been a power vacuum within South Korea.

This is why the turnout was high, for people going to these elections and many South Koreans are telling me they are hoping this election will draw a

line under that period of South Korean history and they're hoping that they can move on from this and certainly Moon Jae-in is hoping that he's the man

to move them on -- Ivan.

WATSON: And worth noting in early voting, a quarter of the electorate cast their ballots to give a sense of some of the enthusiasm to vote in this

election.

Paula, tell us about Moon Jae-in himself as a politician, as a person.

HANCOCKS: Many people assumed that the reason he got so much support or appears to have done is because he was the opposite to start with of the

former president, Park Geun-hye.

His politics were diametrically opposed. His personality was different. Certainly there has been a political backlash against Park Geun-hye's

party, although their candidate in the exit polls appears to have come in second at this point.

That was one factor. He is pro-engagement with North Korea, he's pro- dialogue. He was part of the sunshine policy, which was basically the economic integration between South Korea and North Korea about a decade

ago. Certainly there are many people who support him for his economic pledges, for pledges that he will create jobs.

Many of the people who voted for him, from what we're hearing, and many people who supported him are young people, young people who are finding it

difficult these days in this country to get a job. Youth unemployment is rising, almost doubling within the last year alone.

Certainly this is the case that they have made for voting for someone like Moon Jae-in, not necessarily North Korea, which most people outside of

South Korea assume people would be voting on. They are voting on economy, jobs, reform --

[08:05:00]

HANCOCKS: -- and a clean candidate. South Koreans want a clean, non- corrupt president -- Ivan.

WATSON: Paula, it's so striking that, in 2012, the last presidential election, Moon Jae-in ran against Park Geun-hye. Now look at where these

two politicians are today.

She's in jail, facing trial on charges of corruption and abuse of power. He now looks poised to become the next resident of the Blue House, the

presidential palace, which has been empty for some time now.

HANCOCKS: That's right, a huge difference in just four years. There was a spectacular fall from grace for Park Geun-hye. Certainly Moon Jae-in,

according to many experts, did well because he was so verbally against what she was doing.

Just here in Guantaman (ph) Square, this is where many of those anti-Park Geun-hye rallies were taking place, where hundreds of thousands of people

came out into these candlelit vigils every Saturday night for months on end, to try to oust her from power.

He came to some of those. He was very visible in opposing her not only in the election four years ago but wanting a clean president, wanting to make

sure there was no corruption within the Blue House.

Worth noting, of course, Park Geun-hye does deny all the charges against her. Certainly from Moon Jae-in's point of view, he does seem to have

galvanized the youth vote. He seems to have excited voters.

I've been to a couple of his events. As soon as he gets out of the car, there is screaming. It's almost like a pop star for some people. There is

real excitement among certain parts of the society for this candidate.

Of course, many of the elder people of South Korea, some of those don't trust him. They want North Korea to have a hard line. They want a

hardline policy against North Korea. They are concerned about national security. They don't believe Moon Jae-in is the man to give them that.

WATSON: All right.

That's CNN's Seoul correspondent, Paula Hancocks, live now.

And you'll be following the official results as they come in. Thank you very much, Paula.

Now the results of this election may have ramifications outside of South Korea. Joining me now to help explain that is Professor Daniel Pinkston of

Troy University.

Thanks for joining me.

First of all, if it does in fact look like Moon Jae-in may become the next president of this country, he'll face some serious challenges on the

international front. Notably, he'll be caught between, on the one hand, South Korea's kind of perennial problem -- that's Kim Jong-un to the north

of the DMZ -- and then the commander-in-chief of South Korea's closest ally, who is now Donald Trump, who ruffled feathers during this campaign.

That will be a difficult tightrope to walk, won't it?

DANIEL PINKSTON, TROY UNIVERSITY: Yes. I think Moon will be under a lot of pressure domestically to try to reduce tensions and reduce the animosity

with North Korea. However, North Korea will have to reciprocate.

Secondly, the U.S.-South Korean alliance is a pillar of South Korea's national security policy. Managing that relationship will be very

important. It's important for every president in South Korea. Moon will not abandon the alliance.

However, there are a number of issues that have to be addressed; the missile defense system, special measures agreement, which is the cost of

burden sharing between the two allies. The agreement expires in 2018. A new one has to be negotiated. So those problems have to be managed.

Moon has to manage the economic relationship with China. There's a number of tensions and problems there.

WATSON: China has effectively imposed a form of economic sanctions, though it hasn't announced it, on South Korea.

They're hurting, aren't they?

PINKSTON: That's correct. A lot of South Korean businesses have been impacted. There's a lot of trade and investment with China (INAUDIBLE),

department stores have been closed down in China, their retail businesses. So this has hurt South Korea at a time when the economy has moved into a

slow growth phase.

People are concerned about jobs and unemployment, the cost of education; young people are having difficulty getting jobs out of college. So Moon

will be under pressure to address these issues.

WATSON: Now as chief of staff to a president years ago, Moon Jae-in helped organize a summit with the North Korean leader at that time, Kim Jong-il.

What does that say about his approach to this difficult neighbor to the north?

PINKSTON: I think Moon, if he is president -- looks like that's going to happen in the coming hours -- he'll be willing to initiate some

reconciliation offers towards Pyongyang.

Of course, he's not naive. I don't think he's going to be weak on security. The kind of programs that were pushed forward about 10 years

ago, it's a different time. North Korea has moved and made a lot of progress on their nuclear and --

[08:10:00]

PINKSTON: -- missile programs. So it's a different type of threat.

Nevertheless, if they can reach some kind of detente and reduce tensions, I think Moon will try to initiate that. But it's contingent on what North

Korea does. It takes two to tango. So we will just have to watch and see.

WATSON: Dan, it was remarkable, if you read North Korean state media, to hear them heaping vitriol on conservative candidates in this South Korean

presidential election while not ever really acknowledging that people here have the freedom to vote, which they don't really have in North Korea.

And, in a backhanded way, kind of endorsing left-leaning candidates for president of this country. That's kind of a remarkable position that

Pyongyang is taking.

PINKSTON: Yes, it's not unprecedented, though. In past elections, going back decades, North Korea has tried to impact or influence the elections

through either intimidation or through some kind of dovish policy to try to influence the electorate. I think it's been pretty unsuccessful, though.

The South Korean electorate is very sophisticated, has a vibrant civil society. People are well educated and well read. There's a number of

domestic issues that, in fact, influence their electoral choices, I think, in a much greater way than North Korea does.

So despite the rhetoric coming out of Pyongyang, I don't think they would overturn or be able to change an election to some outcome that it wouldn't

be otherwise.

WATSON: Finally, what about that relationship between South Korea and the U.S.?

Yes, treaty allies; some 30,000 U.S. troops here but also moments of confusion when it comes to statements that the U.S. president has said

about South Korea, about having to pay for the THAAD anti-missile program, about suggesting that South Korea was once part of China.

How much of a concern is the U.S. president for South Koreans today?

PINKSTON: Well, I have read and heard a lot of the statements coming out of the White House. I haven't met the president personally and I often

have trouble understanding what he says and what he means.

And then that's also compounded when it's translated into Korean. The languages are very, very different. There's a different kind of political

culture. So that type of signaling, which is new and unprecedented in the U.S., that kind of communication style, I think, rubs a lot of Koreans

wrong. So the signaling and the mixed messages can be problematic because the U.S. needs to signal resolve towards adversaries and reassurance of

allies.

And when the messages are unintelligible or there's questions or suspicion about the intent and the credibility of the U.S., it damages the reputation

and it makes it more difficult for people at the working level, the military commanders, like the Pacific Command or United States Forces

Korea, the ambassador of the State Department here, it just makes their job more difficult in having to explain this to the Koreans.

WATSON: OK. Daniel Pinkston from Troy University, thank you very much for your analysis.

You're watching NEWS STREAM. I'll toss it back to Kristie in Hong Kong.

LU STOUT: Ivan, thank you. Thank you for raising those important questions about what a Moon Jae-in victory would mean for relations with

the U.S., China and, of course, South Korea's own resolve dealing with North Korea. Ivan Watson reporting live, thank you.

You're watching NEWS STREAM. Still ahead, the U.S. president Donald Trump is pushing back against testimony from a former acting attorney general.

What Sally Yates revealed about conversations between a top Trump adviser and the ambassador of Russia.

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LU STOUT: You're watching a special edition of NEWS STREAM. I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong.

WATSON: And I'm Ivan Watson in Seoul, on the day that South Korea chooses a new president.

Now, Kristie, you might like this.

We have results from a major exit poll and it came out in just the last hour, showing Moon Jae-in poised to become South Korea's next president.

According to that poll, he holds a double-digit lead over his closest rival. The Democratic Party candidate takes a moderate approach toward

North Korea.

He supports dialogue with Pyongyang and has questioned the U.S. deployment of a missile defense system to South Korea.

Got a little ahead of myself because, Kristie, it's apparently a cool thing to vote in this election.

On social media, South Koreans are sharing photos of their hands marked with the ballot stamp. According to local reports, this is the first

presidential election since authorities lifted the ban on these voting selfies in an effort to boost turnout. And turnout appears to have been

boosted.

LU STOUT: Something we should expect in a highly networked and wired-up South Korea. Ivan Watson there, thank you. We'll check in with you a

little bit later.

Now turning now to the U.S. investigation into alleged contacts between Russia and Trump campaign associates.

President Trump fired off a series of tweets on Monday, trying to dismiss testimony by former acting attorney general, Sally Yates, on Capitol Hill.

She testified for the first time about contact between former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, and the Russian ambassador to the United

States.

CNN's Jessica Schneider joins us now live from our New York bureau with more.

And, Jessica, a lot to impact from yesterday's testimony by Sally Yates.

What were the key takeaways?

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kristie, former acting attorney general Sally Yates laid it all out for lawmakers. The key

takeaway is that she warned the White House, she says, three separate times about Michael Flynn's misstatements, about his conversations with the

Russian ambassador.

This was at the same time that Sally Yates laid out that chain of events leading up to Michael Flynn's eventual ouster.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SALLY YATES, FORMER ACTING U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: We felt like that it was critical that we get this information to the White House. We believed that

General Flynn was compromised with respect to the Russians.

SCHNEIDER (voice-over): Sally Yates testifying that she urgently warned the White House on three separate occasions that former national security

adviser Michael Flynn misled Vice President Pence about his conversations with the Russian ambassador.

YATES: Not only did we believe that the Russians knew this but that they likely had proof of this information. And that created a compromise

situation, a situation where the national security adviser essentially could be blackmailed by the Russians.

SCHNEIDER (voice-over): Her testimony directly contradicting the White House's muted account in mid-February.

SEAN SPICER, WHITE HOUSE SPOKESPERSON: The acting attorney general informed the White House counsel that they wanted to give, quote, "a heads

up" to us.

SCHNEIDER (voice-over): Yates explaining that she stressed to White House counsel Don McGann that Flynn had engaged in problematic conduct just two

days after President Trump's inauguration.

YATES: We told them we were giving them all of this information so that they could take action.

SCHNEIDER (voice-over): But President Trump didn't take action, waiting 18 days to fire Flynn, only after Flynn's false statements became public.

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D), CONN.: Michael Flynn might still be there but for "The Washington Post" report that, in effect, shamed them into getting

rid of him.

SCHNEIDER (voice-over): President Trump attempting to downplay the hearing in a tweet storm Monday night, pointing to former Director of National

Intelligence James Clapper's testimony that he had seen no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia before he retired in

January.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), S.C.: Is that still accurate?

GEN. JAMES CLAPPER, FORMER DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: It is.

SCHNEIDER (voice-over): But Clapper noted that he was unaware of the FBI's investigation until it was announced publicly by James Comey in March.

Hours before the hearing, CNN learned that President Obama warned Trump against hiring Flynn just two days after he was elected when the two men

met in the Oval Office.

SPICER: President Obama made it known that he wasn't exactly a fan of General Flynn's, which is, frankly, shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone

that, given that General Flynn had worked --

[08:20:00]

SPICER: -- for President Obama, was an outspoken critic of President Obama's shortcomings.

SCHNEIDER (voice-over): Press secretary Sean Spicer continuing to blame Obama for the Trump administration's failure to properly vet Flynn.

SPICER: If President Obama was truly concerned about general Flynn, why didn't he suspend General Flynn's security clearance?

SCHNEIDER (voice-over): But Clapper challenge that assertion, saying Flynn's high-profile position would typically require extensive vetting.

CLAPPER: The vetting process for either a political appointee or someone working in the White House is far, far more invasive and far, far more

thorough than a standard TSSCI clearance process.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCHNEIDER: Now the White House continues to avoid questions on this, instead deflecting them. The White House not answering why exactly it took

18 days between Sally Yates' warning to White House counsel until General Michael Flynn eventually did resign as national security adviser.

The White House only pointing out that General Flynn that whole time did have a prior security clearance from the Obama administration -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: Questions may be deflected by the White House for now but the investigation will go on. Jessica Schneider reporting for us, live from

New York, thank you.

Yates was also grilled on her refusal to defend President Trump's original travel ban. She stood by her decision when challenged by Republican

senators. The Trump administration has since dropped that first order but a second-scaled down version of the ban is also facing a legal challenge.

Joe Johns reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Trump's inflammatory rhetoric about Muslims putting his revised travel ban

in jeopardy again.

TRUMP: Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.

JOHNS (voice-over): Several judges pointing to the president's own words as evidence the executive order was intended to target Muslims.

JUDGE HENRY FLOYD, 4TH CIRCUIT U.S. COURT OF APPEALS: Shortly after the executive order two was signed, Sean Spicer said the principles remain the

same.

JOHNS (voice-over): The White House countering that the court should not question the president's national security decisions based on past

statements.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is not a Muslim ban. Its text doesn't have anything to do with religion, its operation doesn't have anything to do

with religion.

JOHNS (voice-over): One judge expressing concern about the future implications of using the president's previous comments to evaluate future

policies.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can we look at his college speeches?

How about his speeches to businessmen about 20 years ago?

Are we going to look at those, too?

JOHNS (voice-over): Another noting that President Trump has never walked back his Muslim ban promise.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's never repudiated what he said about the Muslim ban. It's still on his website.

JOHNS (voice-over): The White House promptly removing that reference after Monday's media briefing.

SPICER: I'm not aware what's on the campaign's website. You'd have to ask them.

JOHNS (voice-over): President Trump's travel ban also a contentious topic on Capitol Hill.

YATES: I believed that any argument that we would have to make in its defense would not be grounded in the truth.

JOHNS (voice-over): Former acting attorney general Sally Yates defending her decision not to enforce the first version of the president's travel

ban, saying it was not based on politics.

YATES: I made a determination that I believed that it was unlawful. I also thought that it was inconsistent with the principles of the Department

of Justice.

JOHNS (voice-over): Yates insisting she did her job by looking at the intent of the order.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R), TEXAS: Are you aware of any instance in which the Department of Justice has formally approved the legality of a policy and

three days later the attorney general has directed the department not to follow that policy and to defy that policy?

YATES: I'm not but I'm also not aware of a situation where the Office of Legal Counsel was advised not to tell the attorney general about it until

after it was over.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And that was Joe Johns reporting.

The former U.S. president, Barack Obama, is set to speak any minute now at the Seeds and Chips 2017 Global Food Innovation Summit. Nic Robertson is

in Milan. He joins us now.

And, Nic, why is Obama planning to speak on this topic, the future of nutrition?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, it's a subject that's clearly key to him. There were initiatives, 2009, when he came into

office; Feed the Future was one of them Michelle Obama helped sort of push along the Healthy Hungry-Free Kids Act of 2010.

But at the core of all of this is the COP 21 climate change agreement of 2015, the signature overseas achievement by President Obama.

And what this conference is about and what his keynote speech here is all about is getting on the agenda the fact that climate change is affecting

the way that food is being produced, that the growth of the population around the world continues and that plans need to be made for how to have a

healthy, nutritional future, how everyone should have access to food, how to achieve that, different ways of --

[08:25:00]

ROBERTSON: -- growing food, different techniques.

So gathered here, you've got government ministers; you've got business leaders; you've got innovators in the food industry. And really President

Obama has been brought in here, if you will, to stimulate that dialogue but, at the same time, it gets to those issues that are key and important

for him, like that COP 21 agreement in Paris, the climate change agreement, which President Trump has said that he would like to dismantle.

So for President Obama, in a way, it's to put perhaps his own voice back on this issue that's very important for him, particularly at a time when on

the domestic agenda his Affordable Health Care Act is being deconstructed by the Trump administration as well.

LU STOUT: So this speech is all about lifting his voice to speak on behalf of the need of food security, given the threat of climate change.

But by giving this much-anticipated address there in Milan, is this also a sign that the former U.S. president is ready to step back firmly into the

spotlight?

Are we going to see more such speeches ahead?

ROBERTSON: He does have a speech lined up later this month in Scotland. And that will be at a time when President Trump is actually in Europe as

part of his first overseas trip, which takes him to Saudi Arabia, Israel, the Vatican, Brussels as well as Italy, the big G7 summit there.

So it does appear that President Obama, for the time being at least, does still want to have his voice heard. Oftentimes we find that, once

presidents leave office, they tend not to speak out, at least critically, of the new administration. They let them get on with the job.

And President Trump has been very critical of President Obama, so perhaps I think we can measure, by his words today -- this will be President Obama's

first overseas major speech, public speech since leaving office -- I think frankly we can measuring by his words, reading between the lines, perhaps,

of how he wants to characterize what he thinks the new administration is doing.

Obviously, that will be a very sensitive issue. But we heard just last week from Hillary Clinton, voicing her concerns. So perhaps President

Obama's voice is going to be heard more loudly going forward, certainly this month on the world stage, it seems to be, Kristie.

LU STOUT: All right, Nic Robertson, reporting live from Milan, Italy, where we're waiting for Barack Obama to return to the stage, to that podium

there, to talk about sustainable food supplies and climate change.

Thank you, Nic.

You're watching NEWS STREAM. Still ahead.

WATSON: After the break, another American citizen detained in North Korea. The wife of Kim Hak Song tells me her harrowing story.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:30:00]

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WATSO: Welcome back to the program. I'm Ivan Watson, broadcasting live from Seoul, South Korea -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: And I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. These are your world headlines.

(HEADLINES)

WATSON: Thanks, Kristie.

A foreign agent or a political bargaining chip?

The fate of yet another U.S. citizen detained in North Korea now hangs in the balance. North Korea accuses Kim Hak Song of hostile acts against the

government. He's now the fourth American held in North Korea.

Analysts say they're being used as pawns in the tense standoff between Washington and Pyongyang. Just days after this latest arrest, I spoke

exclusively to Kim Hak Song's wife. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WATSON (voice-over): Imagine finding out your spouse was just detained in North Korea. That's what happened to Kim Mi-ok last weekend, after she

waited at a train station in China for her husband to return from a business trip to North Korea.

KIM MI-OK (PH), KIM HOK SANG'S WIFE (from captions): I waited until the last passenger left the train. The train doors (INAUDIBLE) he didn't come

out.

WATSON (voice-over): On Sunday, North Korea announced Kim's husband, Kim Hak Song was detained, suspected of hostile acts against the government.

His wife says he's been falsely accused. Here's her message to the North Korean government.

KIM (from captions): I hope this detention issue is solved in a humanitarian way and he is sent back to our family. Members of our family

are waiting.

WATSON (voice-over): Kim's husband is an agricultural expert and Christian evangelical pastor as well as nationalized U.S. citizen.

WATSON: Pyongyang?

KIM: (Speaking foreign language).

WATSON (voice-over): He was in North Korea, teaching techniques for growing rice at Pyongyang University of Science and Technology. The North

Koreans detained Kim barely two weeks after they detained Tony Kim, another U.S. citizen, who was teaching at the same university.

There are at least two other U.S. citizens in North Korean custody. Business man Kim Dong-chul and university student, Otto Warmbier, each

serving sentences of at least a decade of hard labor, their plight complicated by the ongoing confrontation between Washington and Pyongyang

over North Korea's nuclear weapons program.

This worried wife has a message for her husband.

KIM (through translator): Honey, I believe 100 percent that you (INAUDIBLE). I hope you stay strong there and hope you can (INAUDIBLE) our

family very soon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WATSON: Certainly an agonizing position for her to be in, for the loved ones of these detainees in North Korea.

And now to help understand a little bit more about this, I'm going to speak again with Professor Daniel Pinkston from Troy University.

Not only are you a long-time resident of South Korea and an expert on the Korean Peninsula, you also happen to be a U.S. citizen.

Would you feel safe traveling to North Korea, given the recent detention of two Americans in a period of just over two weeks?

DANIEL PINKSTON, TROY UNIVERSITY: Well, I've been to North Korea before and I felt safe there as far as my physical safety.

However, we have to be aware there are risks when you travel to North Korea. The legal code is very different and certain types of behavior that

would be acceptable in other countries, in Western liberal democracies, would be considered political crimes. So you could come under charges that

are considered to be very serious.

That said, I'm not speculating or accusing these detainees of having committed any crimes. But once you have been charged, the court system is

very different.

[08:35:00]

WATSON: You can't exactly call a lawyer once the North Koreans detain you, can you?

PINKSTON: They get a lawyer but it's a lawyers' association that works for the state and is guided by the party. So the courts, the lawyers and

everything else in North Korea, they are supposed to enforce party guidance. So it's different from a court system in the West, where a judge

or a jury will weigh the evidence and try to decide who is right and who is wrong.

But in this case, they are supposed to enforce the party discipline and the party policies. So there's almost 100 percent conviction rate, I would

say.

WATSON: U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Nikki Haley, has suggested that these detained Americans could be used as bargaining chips.

Do you see that kind of strategy on behalf of Pyongyang?

PINKSTON: Well, the supreme leadership in North Korea has the authority to pardon these detainees. So of course, I would believe, as we've seen in

past cases, that they could be pardoned and released for some quid pro quo. What that might be, I don't know. That would be subject to negotiation.

It also serves as a signal internally that no one is above the law, Socialist law in North Korea. So we'll have to see. It's very unfortunate

for those individuals and for their families; it causes a big headache politically, diplomatically and legally. So hopefully there will be some

traction and progress on the cases.

WATSON: Certainly once the North Koreans detain you, it can take, at the minimum, months for release of a U.S. citizen, as past history has shown.

Daniel Pinkston, professor from Troy University, thank you for sharing your insight there -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: All right, Ivan Watson there.

With South Korea poised to name officially a very new president. Now let's go straight to Milan. Former U.S. President Barack Obama is giving a

speech right now on food innovation. Let's listen in.

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And the Global Innovation Summit, I also want to give some credit to your former prime

minister, Matteo Renzi --

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: -- and your former mayor, Letizia Moratti (ph), for their efforts in making the 2015 Milan Expo possible.

And I want to acknowledge Ambassador Doug Hickey, who did great work for us at the United States pavilion at the Expo.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: I want to thank Rula (ph) for the kind introduction and Morgan (ph) for the outstanding leadership that she is already showing.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: Now let me, first of all, say that the last Obama that was here was Michelle Obama. And I know that --

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: -- I know she is the bigger star but she sends her greetings.

I am very happy to be back in Italy. Years ago before anybody knew who we were, Michelle and I took a trip through Tuscany and it was one of the most

romantic vacations we ever had.

During our first term in the White House, we brought our girls to see the glories of Rome. Two years ago, Michelle came here to Milan -- and I

promise you that we're going to be coming to Italy a lot in the years to come.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: I have joked before that, although I don't have the good fortune of having Italian ancestry, I do have a name that ends in a vowel.

(LAUGHTER)

OBAMA: I was raised in part by my grandmother, my Nona, so I feel a great affection for the Italian people.

And the truth is, the United States would not be where it is today without the contributions of generations of Italian immigrants, who --

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: -- who often arrive with nothing and had to endure discrimination but through faith and hard work and love of family, went on to succeed in

every walk of life and they made America better and stronger for it.

And I think I can speak on behalf of all Americans when we say thanks to Italy for the incredible hospitality that you've shown our service members

and their families in Italy over the decades.

In a few moments, I'm going to be joined by Sam Cass, my great friend, who I've known for a long time. And he's become practically family to us.

When I was in the Senate and Michelle was working, as well as raising two small girls, Sam Cass came in and started --

[08:40:00]

OBAMA: -- cooking with us, teaching us how to eat healthier and making Michelle more relaxed, which made my life better.

(LAUGHTER)

OBAMA: We ended up taking him with us to the White House and he ended up helping to shape America's nutrition policies so that millions of young

children could eat healthier meals. He changed America.

LU STOUT: Opening remarks there from former U.S. President Barack Obama, Obama returning to the stage, returning to the spotlight without his

necktie, to address a food innovation summit in Milan, Italy.

Talking about, later on in his speech, he's expected to talk about the search for sustainable food solutions, given the threat of climate change.

We'll continue to monitor the speech for you, any additional newslines, we'll bring it to you right here on CNN.

Now here in the region, Jakarta's governor, known as Ahok, has been sentenced to two years in prison for insulting Islam. He was convicted for

quoting the Quran during his 2016 re-election campaign. Indonesia is the world's largest Muslim country.

Ahok is a Christian. Experts say the guilty verdict and the trial itself are examples of Indonesia's growing religious conservatism. Ahok has

denied the charges and will appeal the court's decision.

The trial partially stemmed from public pressure. Ahok first became governor of Jakarta in 2014, he was a rarity in Indonesian politics, a

Christian and also a minority ethnic Chinese Indonesian. When he ran for reelection in 2016, he quoted from the Quran to prove that there were no

restrictions on Muslims voting for a non-Muslim politician.

But after an edited version of his speech went viral, hundreds of thousands of Muslim Indonesians took to the streets in protests, calling for Ahok to

be jailed or even executed. Ahok was later charged with blasphemy. Conservative Islamist groups pushed against his reelection and Ahok lost in

a runoff vote last month.

Now let's go back to Ivan in Seoul.

WATSON: Thanks, Kristie.

Before we go, a final recap of our top news story this hour. It looks like Moon Jae-in is poised to become South Korea's next president. He gave what

appeared to be a victory speech to supporters in Seoul a short time ago after a major exit poll showed him holding a double-digit lead over his

closest rival.

The Democratic Party candidate takes a moderate approach toward North Korea. He supports dialogue with Pyongyang and has questioned the U.S.

deployment of a missile defense system to South Korea.

And that is NEWS STREAM. I'm Ivan Watson in Seoul.

LU STOUT: And I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. "WORLD SPORT" with Amanda Davies is next.

END