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Sweden Drops Rape Investigation Against Julian Assange; President Rouhani Faces Serious Challenge For Reelection; The Hanging Coffins of Sagada, Philippines; Philippines, China Meet Over South China Sea. 8-9a ET

Aired May 19, 2017 - 08:00   ET

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


[08:00:08] KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. Welcome to News Stream. Now, Sweden drops the rape

investigation against Julian Assange, so can the WikiLeaks founder leave Ecuador's embassy for the first time in five years?

Donald Trump sets out on his first international trip, but he can't escape his problems at home.

Also, election day in Iran. President Hassan Rouhani faces a serious challenge from his

right.

In a significant development, Sweden has dropped its long running rape investigation into WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. Now, shortly after

the announcement, he tweeted this photo from inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London.

Now, he has been living there since 2012 after seeking asylum from the rape investigation and after he published classified U.S. documents online.

Now, CNN's Erin McLaughlin joins us now from outside the embassy. And Erin, the investigation has been dropped by Sweden, but what are the

chances that Assange will be able to walk out of the embassy behind you in the coming days?

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kristie.

Oh, those chances seem pretty slim. The Swedish prosecutor gave a press conference earlier today making it clear that the decision to drop the

investigation was not because Swedish authorities had determined Julian Assange's innocence or guilt, but rather because they are unable to pursue

the case.

They do, however -- the Swedish prosecutor making clearing, reserve the right to reopen the case should Julian Assange ever return to Sweden before

the statute of limitations on the charges runs out -- not charges, rather he has not been charged, on the allegation.

Nevertheless, Julian Assange and his legal team are treating this as a victory. They have long held that this investigation is politically

motivated as well as unnecessary and disproportionate.

That being said, I was speaking to his lawyer earlier today, and she made it very clear that things still stand in the way here, particularly when it

comes to the UK arrest warrant. There's an arrest warrant out for his arrest pertaining to his inability to show up to court here in London years

ago. And the Metropolitan Police releasing a statement making very it clear that they plan to execute that arrest warrant.

There's also the matter of the ongoing case in the United States and Julian Assage made it very clear that all along that was his motivation for

seeking asylum here at Ecuadorian embassy, the possibility that he could be extradited to the United States.

So, those concerns still very much at play, according to his lawyer who I spoke to earlier today.

LUS TOUT: Got it. So, despite that photo of an elated Julian Assange that was posted online on his Twitter account, both Assange's legal team they

know that he is not in the clear just yet.

Erin McLaughlin reporting live from outside the Ecuadorian embassy in London, thank you.

Now, in just a few short hours from now, Donald Trump will board Air Force One and head to Saudi Arabia. It will be his first trip abroad since

taking office.

Now, the visit is supposed to be a reset for the embattled president to spread a message of unity, but the turmoil in Washington, of course, that

is likely to shadow him while he is away.

Now he is making five stops beginning in the Middle East where he'll be visiting Saudi Arabia, Israel and the West Bank. Then it is on to Europe

to meet with the pope and finally he will attend summits with NATO and G7 leaders before returning home.

Now, Mr. Trump's national security adviser is calling this trip unprecedented.

Nic Robertson is in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia which is about to welcome the U.S. president and he joins us live. And Nic, what are expectations there among

the Saudis about what this trip will accomplish?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think they're taking Trump's national security adviser General McMasters, and raised him

one. They're calling this historic. Here is the headline on one of the major newspapers here, a picture of King Salman here and

the headline, history will be written here.

What this means is that the Saudis believe that when President Trump comes here, that they can reset the relationship between the west and the Muslim

and Arab countries. They feel President Trump is capable of doing that, that he has the character to perhaps bring compromise to the Palestinian-

Israeli conflict, perhaps over time help to be able to deliver peace there.

They expect to want him to be tough on Iran. All those clouds that are dogging him in Washington at the moment, when he arrives here, they'll be

blown away as he drives down the highway, and I'm looking at one of them here beside me, there are American flags, Saudi flags down the side of the

road. You see on the big billboards at the side of the road, pictures of President Trump and King Salman side by side. So, it's a very, very

warming message.

The Saudis really rolling out the red carpet. There will be 35 or more Muslim, Arab and regional leaders here.

But President Trump is going to deliver a message to them which will have to be very nuanced if it's going to fly. And certainly McMaster, national

security adviser, said that it will be respectful. But this message is going to go thus: you as the leaders in the Arab and Muslim world need to

spread a peaceful, tolerant message of Islam.

Now, that might sound very easy to say that. But of course these leaders already believe that they are. So, this is a narrative coming off the back

of Trump's campaign when it was so critical of Muslims and his travel ban when he came into office that that might be hard

for some to swallow. The risk there that he sort of tips off a finally tuned message.

But the Saudis believe that he can make a difference, and that's why they're willing at the moment, it seems at least, to put all that negative

rhetoric on the campaign trail, to put that behind them at the moment -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: But Nic, as you point out, nuance is required for this visit and for that big, expected speech that president Trump is going the make.

President Trump not known for nuance. So have Saudis factored in the potential that he could go off message?

ROBERTSON: You know, it's a gamble and it's a risk, isn't it? I mean, he's delivering that message that's about Islam. This is the Saudi

Arabia's home to the two holiest sites in Islam. King Salman is the custodian of those two holy sites, so he has a very, very big position

within Islam, not a religious leader, of course. And the experience of leaders like Theresa May who was lambasted in the press in Britain after

seen holding hands with President Trump outside the White House, then negative reaction back in the UK she'd cozied up to him. She came home

faced with that travel ban. That was seen as negative.

Angela Merkel didn't get the handshake that her visit, getting close with Trump at the White House didn't go down well back home.

S, you know, there's a narrative there that leaders might be guided by and be a little bit cautious. But at the moment I have to say you get the

impression that the Saudis are throwing caution to the wind on this one. They're kind of -- it's a big roll of the dice, but they're gambling that

this can go well for them in the future.

Look, they want Palestinian-Israeli peace deal, they're going to push him heavily for that. They want a strong message sent to Iran as well.

They're going to push him heavily and may find the door open as well on that one, Kristie.

LU STOUT: All right, Nic Robertson reporting live for us from Riyadh. Thank you.

A pivotal presidential election is under way right now in Iran. The polls there close in about

90 minutes. And voters are deciding where they want Iran to stand on the international stage.

Now, Becky Anderson is there in Tehran. Let's go to her now for an in- depth look at the race -- Becky.

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And, Kristie, the timing of Trump's trip to Saudi, Iran's foe, not lost on people who are voting in

what is this incredibly important election.

Today we are in Tehran. We're at the iconic Hosseinei Arshad (ph). For years, this religious foundation, associated with Iranian intellectuals

like Ali Shariati (ph) who used to actually lecture here. but today it is a busy polling station in the 12th presidential election in Uran.

As I said, the stakes couldn't be higher. The choice, incumbent, Hassan Rouhani, the moderate pragmatist, the man who of course signed the nuclear

deal with the west in 2015, and a man who sees engagement with the west as a win-win. He cast his ballot here earlier on

today.

His opponent, the hard line of favorite Ebrahim Raisi an ideologue and protege of Iran's powerful supreme leader Ali Khamanei, during campaigning,

has lambasted the nuclear deal without actually calling for its termination.

So, this election will shape not just Iran's domestic policy for the coming years, but it has a huge bearing on foreign policy, too.

By all accounts, turnout is very high across the country, not least here in Tehran. Our Frederik Pleitgen is at another polling station in Tehran.

Let's turn to him now. And Fred, explain where you are and what the atmosphere is like there amongst voters?

[08:10:13] FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESOPNDENT: Yeah, hi, Becky. I think you put it exactly correctly. The turnout here is very,

very high. And I think you can see behind me the line here in front of this polling station. And if we pan over to the other direction you can

see that it's actually going very, very far here into this courtyard that you have here.

This is a school where this polling station is here. And I can tell you, and you'll know from your position as well, Becky, that it's really,

really, really hot today in Tehran. The sun is really beating down.

Now, we've been here for I'd say about six hours so far. And this line has been this long the

entire day.

And so people keep going in. There's some people that we've been speaking to who say that they've been standing out here for two to three hours

simply to cast their vote.

It's a little more in the early morning hours, but it continues to be a steady and very large stream coming in.

And people that we've been speaking to say exactly what you just mentioned. They say to them, this is a pivotal election, especially because of the

fact that of course the two main candidates, Ebrahim Raisi and Hassan Rouhani have these very divergent policies as far as the economy is

concerned. Hassan Rouhani for more engagement with the west and internationally for getting the economy engaged as well whereas Ebrahim

Raisi wants more self-sufficiency.

And people that we've been speaking to here say they understand how important this election is going to be. They understand how this could

change the course for Iran in the next couple of years. And that's why many of them say they don't want to be complacent. And that's why they're

willing to stand out here for such a very long period of time to cast their ballots.

It's really interesting to see the sense of urgency that many of these voters have. And that's certainly what they've been saying to us, the

people that we've been speaking to in the hours, again, that we've been out here and observing what's been going on here, Becky.

ANDERSON: And Fred, some talking of what is being called here the Trump effect, certainly in the run-up to this vote. Explain exactly what they

mean by that.

PLEITGEN: Well, look, I mean, many of the people here say that the turnout here looks extremely high at this point in time. And I think that one of

the things that they say is that a high turnout is usually quite good for the moderate candidates, for Hassan Rouhani in this respect or in

this election. And that's because usually what you have is that the more conservatives, they tend to have a higher turnout as is. They are people

who go to elections. They are people who usually don't get complacent, whereas the more moderates, they've been say in past elections, we feel

that sometimes we've been complacent. There are they say a higher turnout today certainly is something that could prove to be very good for the more

moderate camp.

But it's something that we really don't know. I mean, the past couple of days, you've seen high turnout at rallies for both the moderates and the

conservatives. It's really been very interesting to see the ferocity that these campaigns have been fought with. I mean we were just a couple of

nights ago at a Rouhani street party that went on in the middle of the night, that's something that's almost unheard of in this country, but

certainly going on right now.

ANDERSON: Yeah.

Partying and politicking on the streets of Iran. All right, Fred, thank you for that.

Kristie, let me give you a sense -- and our viewers of course -- of the atmosphere here in what is this sort of religious community establishment.

This opened its doors at 8:00 a.m. today, that is about eight-and-a-half hours ago now. We are expecting the voting to end or certainly it's

scheduled to end in just over an hour's time. But I am told by the organizers here that should there still be people who want to cast their

ballot, they will likely extend the voting hours, not just here, but all around the country, and we're told where the diaspora is voting around the

world as well.

So, people absolutely being given the chance to cast their vote.

It is -- I'm getting smiles from people as I look around the room here. It is a really good-natured environment here. Let me tell you, it is very,

very hot outside, it's hot in here, but it's very, very hot outside.

And as Fred rightly pointed out, people have been standing in line for three, four hours? Yes, three, four hours to get here.

There is a queue still about a half mile around the block, snaking around this building. It is remarkable.

The result will gradually be released as the counts in the 63,000 polling stations are completed. And should there be, of course, no outright

winner, this election will go to a second round next week -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: Remarkable voter turnout behind you, what has effectively become a two-man race. The outcome will have such an impact on generations to

come.

Becky Anderson reporting live for us. Thank you.

Now, you're watching News Stream. And up next, China is staking out its position on a few regional disputes. And coming up, a crucial meeting

about who has sovereignty in the South China Sea and another about missile defense in South Korea.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: North Korea seems to be getting closer to building a weapon with intercontinental reach. Now, earlier this week, Pyonyang carried out

what's been called its most successful missile test either. And now U.S. officials tell CNN early analysis shows the missile had a successful

reentry into the Earth's lower atmosphere, that is a requirement for any missile aimed

at hitting a long distance target.

Now, tension on the Korean peninsula is just one of the sources of friction in Asia, another the

territorial disputes in the South China Sea. And both issues are on Beijing's agenda as Chinese President Xi Jinping hosts an envoy of the

South Korean president and Chinese officials held their first direct talks with The Philippines in regards to the South China Sea.

Now, let's bring in CNN's David McKenzie who joins us live from Beijing. And David, a lot to get to in terms of Chinese diplomacy this day, but

first the South Korean envoy is there in Beijing. Are these nations able to talk through and resolve the THAAD issue and move forward?

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No, I think it's a fair step, Kristie, and these are very significant diplomatic developments here

today in China. You had that special envoy of the new South Korea president here meeting with foreign ministry officials and with President

Xi Jinping.

What it does is opens the door I think into diplomacy and to try to ease the tension, warm up

relations between South Korea and China which has really struggled because of that deployment of the THAAD anti-missile system, which the U.S. has

placed it in South Korea to protect against North Korea.

China has repeatedly said it doesn't want that. It's even done unofficial sanctions, as it were, against South Korea because of that.

But President Xi Jinping alluding today that it could be a step towards warming those relations, easing the tensions and possibly negotiating some

kind of an agreement on the THAAD issue -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: Also this day, China and the Philippines are for the first time, they held high level

direct talks on the South China Sea issues. Has anything changed?

MCKENZIE: Well, what has changed, imagine, Kristie, a year ago if we had been speaking about this issue, there is no way one could have guessed at

this point you'd have face-to-face talks between the Chinese and the representatives of the Philippines here in China as a way to kind of

resolve the issues. It shows, many say, that China's power in this region is unstoppable.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(MUSIC)

[08:20:07] MCKENZIE (voice-over): Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte touring a Chinese warship. The optics are clear, the two countries are

growing closer.

It's a dramatic turnaround. In 2016, the Philippines won in court an arbitration case against the Chinese over disputed islands in the South

China Sea, infuriating Beijing.

The ambassador of the Philippines to China told me that Duterte shelved that ruling, in part, because the U.S. didn't have their back.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's why the president kept asking the U.S. ambassador, are you with us or not. He did not get a clear answer. The

strategic answer was simple, don't put your eggs in one basket.

MCKENZIE: The military alliance compelled the U.S. to defend the Philippines in an attack. In a statement, the U.S. State Department told

CNN that the alliance is, quote, "ironclad." "Our dependability and reliability has an ally have been established over decades."

But in the South China Sea, China has succeeded in turning dispute sandbanks into islands, then military inspiration.

GEN. JAMES "SPIDER" MARKS, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: That genie is out of the bottle. The islands they have created, the developments that they've put

down, the roots they are planting here in the South China Sea, are forever.

MCKENZIE: And China's military keeps getting strong. Chinese President Xi Jinping is personally overseeing a modernizing air force and navy, who are

launching their first home-grown aircraft carrier.

President Trump seems reluctant to push the South China Sea issue as he depends on China to help pressure North Korea to stop its nuclear program.

So analysts say China is freer to expands it's hard and soft power in the region.

But Duterte is welcoming billions in Chinese investment after the military shift.

(on camera): A cynic might say that the Philippines has sold out its sovereignty in the self-China sea to get investment from China.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the misunderstanding. We are trying to get investigates in China but not at the price of our sovereignty.

MARKS: They have been a worldwide global influence economically for the longest time. They are now creating a proportional military capability to

exercise that element of power in a way that can be perceived and should be perceived as a threat.

MCKENZIE (voice-over): It seems that, in Asia, the might of China's military and the lure of its money is hard to counter.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCKENZIE: Well, several analysts have told me that America's move to kind of ease pressure off the South China Sea issue has left this opportunity

open for China to really rush in, and because at least the perception is the Trump administration is not as interested in

pushing this issue, the other countries that might lay claim to those areas of the South China Sea certainly have less power when it comes to

negotiating anything with China -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: Yeah, and so China is undeterred. And it will continue building out in the South China Sea. David McKenzie reporting for us live. Thank

you so much.

Now, since taking office, President Rodrigo Duterte has led a major crackdown on drug users in the Philippines, and now he is setting his

sights on a new target: smokers.

Rodrigo Duterte signed an executive order this week banning tobacco smoke in public. Smokers will, however, be permitted to light up in officially

designated areas. And people caught violating the order could face a $100 fine, even jail time.

Now, Venezuela is a country on the brink of collapse. There have been violent anti-government protests nationwide for months and this week

looting and unrest in the state that is on the border with Colombia.

The government says thousands of troops are being sent to (inaudible) to deal with the worsening crisis. A teenager was shot and killed there on

Wednesday, bringing the total death toll in the past six weeks to at least 43.

Now, meanwhile the U.S. has frozen the assets of eight members of Venezuela's Supreme Court and barred American citizens from financial

transactions with them. Officials say the justices made rulings that undermine the authority of the country's democratically

elected legislature.

Now, the government is cracking down and intimidating journalists, even taking CNN sister network CNN en Espanol off the air.

Nick Paton Walsh went in to Venezuela undercover to avoid arrest, and much of his filming was done covertly. And a warning, this report it contains

graphic images.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Pain is never worse than when it's needless. Danielle is 14 and elsewhere would probably

have kept her leg. But in Venezuela vital medicine for chemotherapy is short. And so with the odds the bone tumor in her leg wouldn't spread.

"Just a little cold water," the doctor says. "Careful," she cries. It was removed yesterday but often happened with amputations strangely, she can

still feel it.

"It feels strange," she says, "because I feel a leg that isn't there. It's gone."

Does it make you feel angry as a doctor, a procedure like this is necessary when you can prevent it if you have the right medicine?

ROSA SILVA MARTINEZ, DOCTOR: Yes. That is very sad for us.

WALSH: This is a society crumbling from inside where a government who tried to control everything from wages to health care to food prices now seems to

control nothing. Where the body of a murder victim lies in the streets of Valencia, now a common curiosity and rather than a scandal.

Doctors sneak us in to a public hospital to show why diseases now this once oil-rich nation thought to have vanquish decades ago are coming back.

Wounded protesters making do with water bottles to drain gunfire wounds. "The medicines were brought by my family members," he says, "in fact, they

also have bought the water to bathe me. Everything."

The doctors who once enjoyed modern sanitary conditions are now themselves at risk of infection and they say when patients die from waiting.

"When there was looting last week in Valencia," the doctors says, "11 dead arrived here. The wounded arrived at about 9 o'clock and they can't get

medicine. They will be treated for some 12 hours later. People die here from gunshot wounds because we can't treat them."

Patients wait for hours for the universal free health care the socialist government once promised. Yet now its mismanagement means it cannot pay

for. Instead, they seek to conceal the embarrassment even firing the health minister after revealing child mortality and malaria figures. So now there

is silence rather than an end to the suffering.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Valencia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[08:27:21] LU STOUT: It's just heartbreaking to witness such pain, suffering, needless chaos there in Venezuela. And the government of

Venezuela has repeatedly said its problems have been exaggerated by hostile foreign media. He says the drop in the price of oil and actions by

opposition friendly tycoons have contributed to the problems you witnessed just there.

Now, a friend of the fired FBI director James Comey is breaking his silence. And just ahead right here on the program, he tells us what's

really behind Comey's relationship with Donald Trump and why Comey was so bothered by this now infamous hug. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(HEADLINES)

[08:32:01] LU STOUT: Now, CNN's Joe Johns, he is at the White House, he joins us now live.

And Joe, after, wow, what a week. President Trump finally took some direct questions from the press. How did he do?

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think time will tell, quite frankly. There have been so many explosive assertions, allegations, disclosures,

just over the last week. And the White House was already embattled. I think people around the world know that.

The president for the first time addressing questions from reporters about his interactions with the now fired FBI director, and also just giving some

candid remarks about what he thinks about the investigation into Russian meddling in the United States election.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think it divides the country. I think we have a very divided country because of that and many

other things.

JOHNS (voice-over): President Trump slamming the appointment of a special counsel as bad for the country.

TRUMP: I respect the move but the entire thing has been a witch hunt and there is no collusion between certainly myself and my campaign but I can

always speak for myself and the Russians, zero.

JOHNS (voice-over): The president clearly distancing himself from his own campaign. Mr. Trump also denying reports that he tried to interfere in the

FBI's investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you at any time urge former FBI director James Comey in any way, shape or form, to close or to back down the investigation into

Michael Flynn?

And also as you --

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: No. No. Next question.

JOHNS (voice-over): But after days of conflicting accounts about why he fired Comey--

TRUMP: I was going to fire Comey, my decision.

JOHNS (voice-over): -- the president is now putting the blame back on a memo written by the deputy attorney general calling for Comey's dismissal.

TRUMP: Director Comey was very unpopular with most people. I actually thought when I made that decision -- and I also got a very, very strong

recommendation, as you know, from the deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein.

JOHNS (voice-over): But Rod Rosenstein gave senators a very different story when he briefed them Thursday.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He did acknowledge that he learned Comey would be removed prior to him writing his memo.

JOHNS (voice-over): This as a friend of Comey is breaking the silence in a new interview with PBS Newshour about his conversations with the now-fired

FBI director.

BENJAMIN WITTES, COMEY FRIEND: Trump fired Jim Comey because the most dangerous thing in the world if you're Donald Trump is a person who tells

the truth, is dogged, you can't control.

JOHNS (voice-over): Benjamin Wittes recounting the day of that now famous public embrace between Comey and the president at a White House reception

shortly after the inauguration.

WITTES: Comey really did not want to go to that meeting. He just really doesn't believe that the president and the FBI director should, you know,

have any kind of social relationship or, you know, shows of warmth.

[08:35:05] JOHNS (voice-over): Wittes describes in detail why Comey was reluctant to attend. And though 6'8, he even tried to blend in with the

curtains in the back of the room in hopes he would not be spotted.

WITTES: Trump singles him out in a fashion that he regarded as sort of, you know, calculated.

TRUMP: He's become more famous than me.

WITTES: What he told me was that he was -- it was bad enough that he was there, it was bad enough that there was going to be a handshake but, you

know, there really wasn't going to be a hug.

And so if you watch the video, he extends his hand and Comey's arms are really long and he extends his hand kind of preemptively and Trump grabs

the hand and kind of pulls him into a hug but the hug is entirely one- sided. Comey was just completely disgusted by --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Disgusted?

WITTES: -- disgusted by the episode. He thought it was an intentional attempt to compromise him in public.

JOHNS (voice-over): Wittes says Comey tried to establish boundaries with the president.

WITTES: He saw his role as protecting the FBI from the White House.

JOHNS (voice-over): Wittes said President Trump called Comey once as he was about to board a helicopter.

WITTES: To his surprise, there is no urgent matter at all; the president just wants to chitchat. And he was bewildered by it and, again, thought it

was quite inappropriate that, you know, he doesn't think the president and the FBI director should be chitchatting.

He interpreted it as an effort to kind of be chummy and kind of bring Comey into the fold.

JOHNS (voice-over): CNN's Pam Brown has reported that Comey was so uncomfortable with these interactions that he rehearsed what he would say

with his team before meeting with the president.

Sources say the president's allies are now trying to convince him that he should stop complaining about the Russia investigation while his advisers

are looking for an outside legal team to represent the president through the special counsel's investigation.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNS: Now, President Trump is said to be very close to naming a new FBI director. Sources tell CNN the front-runner for that job is former United

States Senator Joe Lieberman, though some Democrats have expressed some reservations.

The president is set this afternoon to fly off in the first leg of this nine-day trip starting in Saudi Arabia, away from the White House, not away

from the controversy -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: Yeah, so much more news to come, to be generated next week. Wow, Joe Johns, we'll talk again soon. Take care.

Now, you're watching News Stream. And still to come, we will take a macabre look at an ancient tribal tradition in the Philippines, the hanging

coffins of Sagada. That after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: All right, coming to you live from Hong Kong, welcome back. You're watching News Stream.

Now, if you are on holiday, this may not be your first choice for a day out: the hanging coffins of Sagada in the northern Philippines is an

unusual day trip that explores the ancient burial rites of a local tribe tehre.

Now, tradition dictates that coffins be hung high up, attached to the side of a cliff.

Now, Destination Philippines explores one of the world's most curious practices.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[08:40:03] SIEGRID BANGYAY, SAGADA RESIDENT: Sagada is one of the municipalities in Mountain Province.

We are about 5,000 feet above sea level, a 12-hour ride from Manila.

I'm Siegrid Bangyay. I'm a native here of Sagada.

Tourists expect to see the waterfalls, rice terraces. People come here because of its uniqueness in the weather, which is different from the

weather in most part of the Philippines. It's a little bit higher and it's colder.

Hanging coffins is a traditional burial here done in Sagada. A lot of foreigners, and also Filipino tourists come up just for that. It's a

unique way of burial compared to other places.

The traditional way of burial hanging coffins are burying on the caves is still being practiced. Until now, actually the latest was 2009. This is

(inaudible) who was buried down here in Echo Valley. And they've been doing this for 400 to 500 years now.

One of the purposes of being buried in the hanging coffin is they are still in commune with the living with the villagers or the community.

Sagada is isolated, and it's so hard to reach, and I think the length of travel helps in the preservation of our culture and traditions.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: How eerie and beautiful at the same time.

Now, finally, he was an artist whose gritty, groundbreaking work often challenged the establishment. But now decades after his death, Jean

Michel Basquiat has become an exclusive member of the artistic elite. This painting of his, it's of a skull from 1982 has been sold for more than

$110 million. Now, that is a record for an American artist at auction. The buyer was a Japanese billionaire. Only a handful of other works have

ever broken the $100 million mark, putting him in the same league as Pablo Picasso.

And that is News Stream. I'm Kristie Lu Stout, but don't go anywhere. World Sport with Amanda Davies is next.

END