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David Beckham's Legacy; Cleanup Begins In North Texas; Syrian Refugees Reach 1.5 million; Witness Protection Loses Two Former Terror Suspects; $1 Million Jewelry Heist Strikes Cannes

Aired May 17, 2013 - 08:00:00   ET

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


PAULINE CHIOU, HOST: I'm Pauline Chiou in Hong Kong. Welcome to News Stream where news and technology meet.

The Syrian government may be turning the tide against rebel forces.

Protests flare up inside a Chinese city as residents of Kungming voice their opposition to a new petrochemical plant.

And you won't believe what this astronaut says is the weirdest thing about being back on Earth.

The Russian city of Sochi is at the center of the latest peace efforts on Syria. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon met there today with Russia's foreign minister. After their talks, Sergei Lavrov defended his country's weapons cooperation with the Syrian government. He says the delivery of air defense missiles are part of a signed agreement and that they do not give the Syrian government any advantage in its fight against the opposition. The UN Secretary-General will meet next with Russian President Vladimir Putin on this very same issue.

Fighting continues to rage in the Syrian capital. And it appears the government may be gaining the upper hand there in the ongoing battle with rebels. As ITV's Bill Neely reports from Damascus, President Bashar al- Assad looks relaxed and confident.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL NEELY, ITV NEWS: Echoing across Damascus, the noise of war and of a dozen artillery and air strikes. Volley after volley, fired by Syria's army into suburbs held by rebels. And overhead, a MiG war plane prepares to bomb the country's capital.

It's not new, it's not surprising, what is new is that government forces appear to be gaining the upper hand on rebels in Damascus. Heavy weapons and a heavy use of militias are giving President Assad's men momentum.

In the latest sighting of Syria's leader, he appears confident in t- shirt and jeans enjoying the applause of supporters, smiling and chatting before leaving in a Porsche, a war leader who looks like he hasn't a care in the world.

His ministers appear just as confident.

FAISEL AL MEKDAD, SYRIAN DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER: Momentum is absolutely on our side. We have new tactics. It is because we have new means and ways of combating these groups.

NEELY (on camera): The battle for this suburb of Damascus is fairly typical. Around 200 rebels have been holding it for three months now. They are surrounded by pro-Assad fighters who have been making gains and who believe they'll take it back soon.

(voice-over): Rebels, meanwhile, are demonstrating their own ruthlessness. The 11 men on their knees are about to be shot by the Islamist behind them who is accusing them of a massacre, one of many brutal videos rebels have posted this week.

On the streets, though, rebel weapons -- this is the site of a rebel mortar attack today -- are proving no match for the regime's.

War planes and artillery shells dominate the capital for now.

Bill Neely, ITV News, Damascus.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHIOU: The United Nations says 1.5 million Syrians have fled the civil war, that's one out of every 15 citizens. In addition to Turkey, many are seeking safety in Lebanon and Jordan. And this chart shows the number of registered refugees since December of 2011. It does not include people still waiting to register, but it gives you a sense of this escalating exodus.

At this time last year, the UN counted nearly 60,000 refugees. By January 9th of this year, it hit half a million. And since then, the UN says it has registered about 250,000 people every month. And it warns that the real number of people seeking safety could actually be much higher.

Now to China where a large demonstration has taken place against plans to build a chemical refinery. It happened in the city of Kunming, the capital of Yunnan Province. Our senior international correspondent Ivan Watson is monitoring this from our bureau in Beijing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Demonstrators in the southern Chinese city of Kunming defied a huge police presence and crackdown on Thursday and turned out into the streets more than 1,000 of them to voice their opposition to a plan for a controversial new oil refinery and chemical plant that they fear will pollute their city with a carcinogenic chemical known by the acronym PX. And they came out despite at least some arrests of some of the demonstrators to voice their opposition.

Take a look at this clip that was posted on YouTube showing one of the demonstrators confronting the mayor of Kunming who came out to speak to some of the protesters.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I have a few demands. First, media should be allowed to report this event and let people hear our righteous appeal. There must be a public vote on the project that involves every citizen. All procedures of the vote should be under supervision and the result must be made public through media and internet.

Third, peaceful protests like this one in Kunming are protected in any other country. You can persuade us in a nice way, but it's not right to stop us, separate us, and lock us down.

WATSON: Now this is the second public street protest this month in Kunming against this controversial oil refinery.

Now earlier this month, the city authorities and some of the state corporations that are behind the oil refinery project, they came out and tried to assure the population that the refinery would not pollute the city. But there's -- it's clear that there's a fair amount of distrust among some of the natives there, many of them saying we don't want the air in our city to turn as gray and polluted and toxic as it is here in Beijing.

As you can see, it's a very smoggy day here, some days clearly unhealthy here. The environmental movement here is growing. There are growing incidents of public dissent, people very worried about the environment simply because it is a matter of public safety and health for the Chinese population.

Ivan Watson, CNN, Beijing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHIOU: Let's go back to our top story now which is the situation in Syria. On Thursday, Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington where both leaders, again, called on Bashar al-Assad to step down. Senior international correspondent Nic Robertson joins us now now live from the Turkish province of Hetai (ph).

Nic, Turkey would like to see more concrete commitment from the west, but what realistically would be the most likely scenario?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the scenario that seemed to be emerging, and this was perhaps one of the reasons why Prime Minister Erdogan was in Washington meeting with President Obama is that there is a growing consensus that there needs to be a political path to peace in Syria and that this should take place under the auspices of the United Nations. This was something that Secretary of State John Kerry talked with Russian President Vladimir Putin just over a week ago and began to lay the groundwork. Now various meetings have been happening and taking place.

And really from President Obama's point of view, he needs to know that he can count on Prime Minister Erdogan's support. And Prime Minister Erdogan looking to President Obama to play a strong role in these talks to help the Syrian -- the opposition and the government there come to some kind of peace terms.

That doesn't appear to be likely and imminent in terms of peace and an end to fighting in the country, but this is what is beginning to happen. So the best, perhaps, Prime Minister Erdogan can hope for is that this conference that may happen towards the end of May, early June, that's where it's being talked about, that would involve the nations around Syria as well as key stakeholders like the United States, like Russia, like Britain, like France, that this will -- this conference will make progress.

That is perhaps the best realistically that he can hope for at the moment, Pauline.

CHIOU: Nic, in this conference that's supposed to take place in the next couple of weeks we don't even know exactly where it will be. It may be Geneva, we're not quite sure yet. But it is supposed to include the Syrian government and the opposition.

Do we expect any real progress this time around?

ROBERTSON: The fact that some of the talk about this conference is perhaps already played down to a degree in that it won't be a conference that's held with the sort of key leaders, if you will, is an indication that it really will be a preparatory step. And that does seem to be realistic in trying to set expectations that there is a deep dislike within Syria, within the sort of opposition on the street, if you will, that they don't want to have anything to do with President Bashar al-Assad. Russia, who has been a staunch supporter of Assad's leadership isn't prepared to say publicly at this stage that he should go, that he should step aside, which is what the United States is saying.

So getting these -- getting the sides to come together will be difficult.

But it in this perspective if you will, when the United States, France, Britain, others have been trying to build a consensus among the opposition, the opposition alone, it has been a huge struggle to get that consensus political, military, on the street consensus in the opposition. Now imagine trying to bring them together with representatives of Assad's government and you can begin to see how complicated it will be to make any steps forward.

But the international opinion is gaining strength that something must be done, that it has to be a political process and this is because the consequences of the fighting in Syria are overspilling out of the country - - witness here in Turkey just last weekend, a bomb exploding, two bombs in the town of Reyhanli close to the border, 51 people killed. And that the consequences for the region and internationally are growing and becoming more obvious and more stark, Pauline.

CHIOU: And Nic, thank you very much for bringing us the latest on the Syria situation. Nic is in Hatai (ph) which is on the Turkey-Syria border.

And still ahead on News Stream, a string of tornadoes in the U.S. state of Texas leaves a trail of destruction captured in these images.

A witness security program is designed to protect U.S. citizens from terror, but now a new report suggests that the program may actually be flawed.

And later, we'll take you to Somalia where rights groups are reporting an alarming rape crisis.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHIOU: You're watching News Stream. And you're looking at a visual version of all the stories in our rundown today. We started with the situation in Syria. And later we'll talk about David Beckham's retirement, but now let's go to the aftermath from a string of powerful tornadoes in the U.S. state of Texas.

Rescuers are still searching for seven people, at least 16 tornadoes tore through the northern part of the state on Wednesday. Local authorities say they will not give up, but as Victor Blackwell shows us, the damage is extensive.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN CORREPSONDENT: Sheriff Roger Deeds has seen tornado damage in Hood County before, but this -- this is more than damage, this is catastrophic.

ROGER DEEDS, HOOD COUNTY SHERIFF: I've seen bad, but this is about as bad as it gets.

BLACKWELL: This is the Rancho Brasos (ph) community of Granbury, Texas, once a mix of single story houses and mobile homes, but 200 mile an hour winds have transformed them into a scramble of metal and glass and simple reminders of how quickly life can change.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh my god.

BLACKWELL: The National Weather Service estimates more than a dozen tornadoes touched down Wednesday in North Texas. It appears that at least one stayed awhile.

STEVE BERRY, HOOD COUNTY COMMISSIONER: They usually go street to street or it jumps and it goes, you know, neighborhood to neighborhood. In this case, this neighborhood of about 110 homes it seemed to just set down on top of it.

I feel really an empty feeling in my stomach, because the fact is this was someone's homes.

BLACKWELL: When there are so many homes and so many cars that are damaged and just completely destroyed -- like this one, you can see that the air conditioning unit off the foundation, the windows bursted out. I mean, this house will have to be demolished. It's easy to get lost in how large it is.

But then you see something like this, just a child's drawing -- red, pink and blue hearts -- children lived in this community. They lost their homes. Some of them maybe have lost family members. These are families that have to start over. This is more than just pictures of devastation on television, people now have to find a way to build a new normal for their lives, for their children.

There is so much work to do and with optimism, Sheriff Deeds believes they will rebuild.

DEEDS: We're taking care of business, taking care of the people, and we'll continue to do so.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHIOU: Let's get more on this situation in Texas and go live to Mari Ramos at the world weather center.

Mari, I used to live in Texas in the Houston area and I remember maybe one or two tornadoes a year, but not 16 all at once. What do you make of this whole situation?

MARI RAMOS, CNN WEATHER CORRESPONDENT: You know, it was just the setup that happened there across Texas. We had an area of low pressure, an upper level low, some strong winds, a lot of moisture coming in from the south. It had been very hot, just all of the ingredients came together to give us the sort of -- as you know, Texas does have quite a few tornadoes. It's actually one of the top states in the U.S. as far as tornado frequency. What is rare about these tornadoes, 16 of them as the National Weather Service is saying, it's also the intensity, that particular tornado that reporter was talking about was graded an EF-4. That would be a devastating on this tornado scale.

Look at the winds, 267 kilometers per hour to 322, that would be in this range right in here. That is why we are seeing so much devastation.

And you know, Pauline, it's -- it's so scary to think of the kind of damage -- and we have some pictures to show you of some of that damage. The kind of damage that can happen when you have a tornado like this. You know, I was listening to an interview on our sister network CNN U.S. And there was some witnesses saying that they put victims in a truck, in the neighborhood. When they came out, everything was destroyed and that the kind of just horrific injuries that people had -- bones sticking out of their bodies, serious head injuries, a little girl with all of her teeth knocked out -- just so scary.

And tornadoes can happen anywhere in the world. They are much more common in the U.S., of course, but wherever you are, just be weather area and try to find a safe place, shelter, that you can maybe try to survive this kind of situation. It's just so scary to think that, you know, things like that.

And these images are from a tornado chase. I do not recommend that you take pictures of a tornado. I recommend that you take shelter right away.

Come back over to the weather map over here.

Nothing too bad today, but it's still very warm and humid across much of the U.S. Sunday and Monday are going to be critical days again for the possibility of tornado outbreaks across this region. Some strong storms on Saturday, but Sunday and Monday I think will be the days to watch for the possibility of severe weather across those areas.

Very quickly with my last few seconds I want to show you some pictures from -- this is from China. We've had some reports of some pretty heavy rainfall across these areas. Look at these pictures. This is from Hunan Province. Look at the bridge just completely washed away by the water. The last couple of days they've had tremendously heavy rain across these areas. We've been focusing a lot, of course, on what happened -- what was happening in Bangladesh and Myanmar and India, because of the tropical cyclone, but these areas were getting pounded with 200, 300 millimeters of rain over and over and over.

We're starting to see condition fortunately improving there, but you can see how much rainfall actually fell. And it is pretty significant indeed.

And this is in Hunan Province and also neighboring Wendong Province (ph) had some significant rainfall there too.

Let's go ahead and head back to you now.

CHIOU: OK. Thank you very much, Mari.

We're going to stay in the United States. And the witness protection program or the witness security program protects people with important information for federal cases. And CNN has learned that U.S. marshalls lost track of two former participants who were known or suspected terrorists. Joe Johns explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was a program meant to gain important information about terror and terrorist plots, putting former known or suspected terrorists into the witness security program and giving them new identities in exchange for valuable information.

But a new report from the Justice Department watchdog found a gaping loophole that led to two former, or suspected terrorists going missing, a loophole that created what the inspector general called, quote, national security vulnerabilities. The President wasn't commenting Thursday in what could turn into another national security issue for his administration.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you comment on this witness protection program (inaudible)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you, guys.

JOHNS: The issue, the Justice Department was not, quote, authorizing disclosure to the terrorist screening center, which advises names that should be on the no-fly list or selectee lists. The result, it was possible for known or suspected terrorists to fly on commercial airplanes in or over the United States without security officials knowing.

Yet another example of law enforcement agencies failing to share information. It came up first at 9/11 and has reemerged as recently as the Boston Marathon bombings.

Testifying Thursday, the FBI director didn't comment directly on the IG report, but said, "problems still exist."

ROBERT MUELLER, FBI DIRECTOR: If they had had some leanings -- or more than leanings, but some participation, discussion or what have you about participating in terrorist events, they may well have come across our radar screens, but we would not have had sufficient information from a variety of sources to be able to confirm that.

JOHNS: More trouble as of July 2012. The U.S. Marshall service said it was unable to locate two former participants in the witness security program, also identified as known or suspected terrorists. The FBI claimed there was no immediate threat. Law enforcement officials said two individuals who went off the radar screen have since been located and insist they are not fugitives.

DOJ say the two completed obligations to the U.S. by cooperating in investigations.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHIOU: That was Joe Johns reporting there.

The Justice Department says it screens people and adds that no terrorism-linked witness has ever committed an act of terror after entering this witness protection program.

We are just getting reports in of a massive jewelry heist in Cannes in the south of France. According to Agence France Presse, police in Cannes say more than $1 million worth of jewelry made by the Swiss watchmaker and jeweler Chopard has been stolen from inside a hotel.

The AFP reports the jewelry was supposed to be loaned to movie stars walking the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival which began earlier this week.

We will bring you more on this story and more details as soon as we get them. You are watching News Stream right here on CNN. And coming up next, suffering in silence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you do report a rape, there's much of a chance of you ending up in jail as the perpetrator.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHIOU: We'll have an exclusive report from Somalia on what many are calling a rape crisis.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHIOU: 1,700 women were victims of rape in camps in Somalia's capital last year, that's according to the United Nations.

And rights groups say they could be just the tip of the iceberg, that's because reporting a rape in Somalia could lead to severe consequences for the victim.

In her exclusive report, Nima Elbagir talks to victims and shows us what's being done to fight the problem.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(CHILDREN RECITING IN UNISON)

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In a Mogadishu classroom tucked away from the world, this class is practicing spelling. At the back, the baby of the class, a six-year-old, isn't quite keeping up, but is happy just to clap along.

(APPLAUSE)

ELBAGIR: Ranging in age from six to eleven, these girls all have one thing in common: they have either been raped or suffered through the rape of a loved one. Even the six-year-old is a rape survivor.

Next-door in the clinic adjoining the class, a seven-year-old and his mother are in for checkup. The mother was raped, and then watched, helpless, as her son was molested. Too afraid to seek help, she did what she thought would help: wash her sons wounds with hot water and salt for four, excruciating days until they were found and brought here.

(CHILDREN SINGING AND CLAPPING)

ELBAGIR: This is the Elman Peace and Human Rights Center. Founded in 2011, this is Somalia's first rape crisis center. For the safety of the center's staff and the victims, we agreed not to reveal the location of the centers we visited.

(on camera): When you hear the numbers, they're pretty extraordinary: 1700 rapes in camps in Mogadishu alone.

ILWAD ELMAN, ELMAN PEACE AND HUMAN RIGHTS CENTER: And also that it's not just in the IDP communities, too. It's very much the host community is also affected by rampant abuse of sexual and gender-based violence.

ELBAGIR (voice-over): Rape in Somalia carries huge social stigma, and after more than two decades of war, there is no way of knowing how many women are suffering in silence. For the first time in decades, there is reason for optimism here: a newly-appointed and popular president and increased security.

Yet, the plight of Somalia's women has seen little improvement. Earlier this year, Lul Ali Osman Barake made headlines when she reported her rape at the hands of men she claims were government soldiers.

"They took turns to rape me," she told us, "only stopping when they thought I was dead." When she reported the crime, it was Barake who was arrested and convicted of defaming a government institution.

Eventually, she was freed after a huge international outcry, but she tells us her attackers have yet to face justice.

The United Nations says 70 percent of the rapes perpetrated in Somalia are carried out by men in military uniform. The Somali prime minister admitted to us that they have a problem.

ABDI FARAH SHIRDON, PRIME MINISTER OF SOMALIA: There has not been effective government in Somalia for so long time. But really, now we are organize ourselves, and I think that we will disconnect from the future -- from the past.

Essentially, we have nominated a new police commissioner, judiciary is in reform, and we are really having -- we are constituting a new policy for making women -- our women and children safer than ever.

ELBAGIR: But activists say the damage has been done.

ELMAN: I think it's become a lot harder for women to report rape. One clear message was sent to them, that if you do report a rape, there's much of a chance of you ending up in jail as the perpetrator.

ELBAGIR: And often, the same woman is raped repeatedly by different perpetrators. "Powa" (ph) agreed to talk to us as long as we concealed her identity and referred to her by a pseudonym. After being raped, she told us, she fled her home for what she thought was a new beginning in another part of town.

In her new home, and in spite of being pregnant with the first rapist's baby, she says she was attacked again.

The UN is due to send in a British-funded team of experts on sexual violence to support the Somali government in establishing protection mechanisms, but that will take time and money in a country that has so many pressing needs.

ELMAN: I think that this newfound stability and these new steps -- this new progress that has been made by Somalia that the entire world is celebrating, because it is, indeed, worth celebrating, that it has to be something that everybody has access to and that ten years ago and today shouldn't be the same for the woman that was disregarded either way.

ELBAGIR: For now, they're relying on themselves and each other to rebuild their lives as best they can.

Nima Elbagir, CNN, Mogadishu.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHIOU: You are watching News Stream. And just ahead, a hunger strike at the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba reaches day 100 with more controversy.

And CNN's Freedom Project presents a special documentary on the fight against human trafficking in the Philippines. We'll show you a part of that documentary called The Fighters. Stay with us for that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHIOU: I'm Pauline Chiou in Hong Kong. And you're watching News Stream. Here are the world headlines that we're following.

More than 1.5 million refugees have fled the violence in Syria. That new figure is from the UN. And it comes as UN chief Ban Ki-moon holds talks in Russia on the Syrian conflict. He says a conference to end the war must happen as soon as possible.

At the same time, U.S. President Barack Obama met on Thursday with the Turkish prime minister. Both leaders renewed calls for Bashar al-Assad to step down.

At least 20 insurgents have been killed as Nigeria carried out an aerial bombardment of suspected militant camps in the northeastern part of the country. Defense officials say the raid by the Nigerian air force is part of a massive deployment of forces against the Boko Haram insurgents.

Seven people are still missing in the aftermath of a series of killer tornadoes in the U.S. state of Texas. 16 twisters ripped through northern areas of the state during a seven hour period on Wednesday, reducing neighborhoods there to rubble and also leaving six people dead. A massive cleanup is now underway.

Bangladesh is also cleaning up after Tropical Cyclone Mahasen hit the country's coast, but there is relief the damage wasn't as bad as predicted. Still, at least 12 people were killed and thousands of homes were damaged, but by moving northward, Mahasen pulled its punch before hitting Bangladesh.

All week, we've been building up to a special documentary right here on CNN. It's called The Fighters. And it looks at how the Philippines is fighting back against human trafficking and how activists are trying to convince the champion boxer Manny Pacquiao to join the fight.

It's been in the works for two years now. Here's a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's morning in Manila's north harbor. At the halfway house for human trafficking victims, the Visayan Forum staff is already busy. Overnight, the Filipino coast guard uncovered three suspected trafficking rings on a ship heading to Manila.

CECILIA FLORES OEBANDA, VISAYAN FORUM FOUNDATION: Of course, you know, in every operation you put your life in danger, because we don't know who is with the traffickers.

We just pray first before we go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oebanda and her anti-trafficking organization have answered the prayers or more than 15,000 girls and young women trapped in modern-day slavery.

OEBANDA: Let's go. Go. Go. Go.

It's really exciting. It makes my heart, you know, beat faster and, yeah, every minute for me counts.

OK, let's go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They've conducted thousands of operations like this before. Many of the victims rescued shared stories of horrific abuse while hidden away in back rooms and brothels.

With thousands of passengers headed off the boat in a matter of minutes, Cecilia and the team must act quickly if they hope to catch the traffickers.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

OEBANDA: I'm nervous, but they're not (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

It's around 50 percent (inaudible). Traffickers sometimes try to fight back. The first thing that struck me is the group that's in the middle, which actually shows very, very young children.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHIOU: That's a clip there from the CNN Freedom Project documentary called The Fighters. Let's give you a bit more on this now. My colleague, Isha Sisay, sat down with the main subject of this documentary, the activist Cecilia Flores Oebanda, who you saw there. They talked about what keeps her motivated to continue the fight against human trafficking in the Philippines.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OEBANDA: What keeps me going is that the children, the (inaudible) really one to five. And the idea that there are more children there waiting to be saved it really keeps me going every day.

ISHA SISAY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: As I see you've been doing this for a long time. What is the biggest challenge you have found, the biggest challenge you face in this fight?

OEBANDA: Well, the biggest challenge is that there are a lot of people who want to stop me from doing this. There are a lot of, you know, underground criminals that want to close up our office and to stop for saving these girls. And for me, this is the greatest challenge that I face every day in my life.

SISAY: And what kind of things have they done to try and make life difficult for you?

OEBANDA: Well, they send -- you know, they send threats. They send death threats. They destroy your reputation. They discourage you to continue your work, but for me this is my life, this is the air that I breathe. And I keep fighting until the last drop of my blood.

SISAY: But it's not just you, because you have children as well. You're a mother as well as this fighter. Do you ever worry for your own personal safety and the safety of your children?

OEBANDA: Well, actually fear comes to me in the early stage when I do my work. I think the first time that I really feel scared is when I -- the first time that I get my death threats. And after that, when I cross the bridge and say that this is my life and I want to continue to fight, then everything is just gone and focused on saving the girls.

SISAY: We saw in the documentary that you teamed up with boxer Manny Pacquiao to take the fight to a different level. What difference has that made to your efforts?

OEBANDA: It has a lot of impact, because Manny Pacquiao has helped me to create legislation that definitely change the regulations, that change the policy, that change the program of the government. And for me, I (inaudible) really the purpose of everything, because (inaudible) what we're doing is to just to catalyze change, but at the end of the day it's really the government need to sustain and to create the huge impact (inaudible) up the effort that we started.

SISAY: And do you feel the Philippine government has really come to grips with the problem they have there within their borders? How committed are they.

I know they passed the legislation, but you can pass the legislation, where's the will. Do you feel there's the will?

OEBANDA: There is still a lot of challenges, but I feel that they're trying their best to (inaudible) the problem, to respond to the problem. There are still a lot of things that we need to be done together not only by the government, but the whole society itself, the whole Filipino to understand how vulnerable Philippines are to human trafficking to slavery, especially that our people is main source of migrants all over the world.

But I see changes in the government, of political will. I think we're going there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHIOU: And you can see much more of Cecilia's work, because part one of The Fighters already aired in the last hour, but you can catch part two on Saturday night at 7:00 pm Hong Kong time. You can also go to CNN.com/thefighters to check out our exclusive online content. You'll find plenty of clips from the documentary and much more at CNN.com/thefighters.

More than a decade after it opened, the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba still houses 166 inmates. They were detained in the U.S. war on terror, but many are caught in a legal limbo with no clear end in site. A massive hunger strike is now in its 100th day. And the center's medical officers say they have to force feed nearly a third of the strikers.

CNN's Chris Lawrence reports that has provoked a huge controversy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: CNN got a firsthand look at the shackles, tubes and liquids now being used to feed 30 detainees who refused to eat.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This end goes into the nostril.

LAWRENCE: A tube goes up their nose, down the throat and into their stomach, then supplements are pumped in for 30 to 45 minutes. Some of the 100 hunger strikers refuse food, but will drink supplements if ordered to. But these 30 have to be forced.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's kind of a tough mission. This is kind of an ugly place sometimes.

LAWRENCE: That's the detention group's senior medical officer speaking for the first time since the medical profession condemned tube feeding.

(on camera): Are you concerned that the American Medical Association has come out against this practice?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Again, there's lots of politics involved. And I'm sure they have, you know, internal politics that they need answer to as well.

LAWRENCE: He has to remain anonymous for security reasons, but as a doctor he stands by the methods used at Guantanamo Bay.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's very easy for folks outside of this place to make policies and decisions that they think that they would implement.

LAWRENCE: The hunger strike marks its 100th day Friday. It shows no signs of stopping.

CNN obtained hand written letters from one of the detainees. One reads, "be tortured and stay detained."

Another quotes a French writer about how "your very existence becomes an act of rebellion."

He sounds hopeless when he writes, "the commissions are a joke. If you lose, you go to prison for life. If you win, you're held indefinitely for life."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don't have a goal to, quote, break the hunger strike. We do have a mission to preserve life through lawful means.

LAWRENCE: But defense attorneys say shackling a detainee and snaking a tube into his stomach is inhumane.

CORI CRIDER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY FOR SAMIR MOQBEL: You don't get farther than about here into your throat before the tears just start streaming down your face.

LAWRENCE: GITMO officials showed us the numbing gel they offer and say the tubes are thin and lubricated.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nobody has expressed to me that this hurts.

LAWRENCE: Attorneys claim their clients say otherwise.

CRIDER: He said he'd never felt such pain like that in his life.

LAWRENCE: And that's amazing when you consider the fact that the client she's talking about has been detained here for 11 years. We're learned that the hunger strike has now jumped from 100 to 102 detainees. It's the largest level in about seven or eight years.

Chris Lawrence, CNN, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHIOU: And we have this news just in to CNN. At least 48 people have been killed in attacks in Iraq, 40 of those deaths came from two roadside explosions in Baqubah. The bombs blew up outside a Sunni mosque and south of Baghdad. At least eight people were killed in another roadside bombing. So far, no one has claimed responsibility. We will try to bring you more information as soon as we get it.

News Stream will be right back after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHIOU: Let's go back to our visual rundown. And we've shown you those protests over a petrochemical plant in China. Later, we'll hear from Canadian astronaut and social media star Chris Hadfield on his return to Earth. But now it's time to talk about one of the biggest stars in all of sport, David Beckham.

The tributes are pouring in after the former England captain announced he will retire from football at the end of the season. But Beckham's influence extended far beyond his sport.

Don Riddell has more on Beckham's legacy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DON RIDDELL, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: There were highs and lows, there was rejection and redemption, triumph and disaster. David Beckham's career on the football pitch often read like a Hollywood script. And off the field, he has lived a Hollywood life. His 1999 marriage to the Spice Girls pop star Victoria Beckham propelled him onto the global stage. And from there, he cultivated an image and a brand that's made him one of the most recognizable athletes on the planet.

Football was always the foundation. He only played for the world's biggest teams -- Manchester United, Real Madrid, the L.A. Galaxy, and Paris Saint-Germain. And he won titles with all of them, not to mention the 115 times he played for England, a team he also captained and scored for at three World Cups.

That gave him a fanbase all over the world. And his clean cut family man image proved irresistible for some of the biggest brands. At one time or another, Adidas, Pepsi, Gillette and EA Sports have all been associated with him. And the British government acknowledged that he played a key role in winning the Olympics for London in 2012.

All the while, he was becoming a brand name in his own right, reportedly earning over $46 million last year alone.

As football managers from the west coasts of England to the USA praised him for his work ethic and leadership abilities, legion of female fans were swooning for his good looks. And he was always giving them something new.

The boyish blonde locks gave way to a catalog of different styles -- the mohawk, the mullet, the cockatoo, the corn rows.

And they were always accompanied by a cutting edge wardrobe. Beckham was a style icon who wasn't afraid to push the envelop.

He may not have been the world's best orator, but he's real. He's self effacing and likeable. Through his football academies, Beckham has given back to the community that gave him so many opportunities and he's touched thousands of lives through his charity work supporting UNICEF, the fight against AIDS, and malaria. He donated is his Paris Saint-Germain salary to good causes.

At 38, he's ready for a new career, but it's one that he started many years ago. His playing days are over, but he's likely to find that he'll be in more demand now than ever before.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHIOU: Now Alex Thomas joins us live from London with more on his resignation, or his retirement rather.

Alex, you've interviewed David Beckham. And you've followed his career from the very beginning. What are your thoughts on his legacy?

ALEX THOMAS, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: I think David Beckham's legacy on the pitch will be of someone that raised the bar when it came to how to kick a ball. It might seem a very simple thing and obvious when we're talking about football, but he is famous -- and all his managers have said this -- for practicing hour after hour long after his teammates had gone home sometimes just to get the act of kicking the ball over vast distances to an absolute pinpoint, down to an art.

Despite this, he won't be in the highest category of great footballers, but very good ones.

Also just his personal charisma, from meeting and interviewing him on several occasions, notably before his second season at Real Madrid. He had his own meeting room, above a department store in Madrid just up the road from the Santiago Bernabau stadium. He wanted a check, a camera shot that we'd set up before we started the interview, had a real eye for detail (inaudible) other people gave him credit for. Knew exactly what message he wanted to get across in every interview he did.

Incredibly handsome. I'll never forget, Pauline, a boss saying to me, you know, Alex, I thought you were a good looking guy until I saw you next to David Beckham. And that just about sums it up.

CHIOU: Yeah, well I bet everyone pretty much gets that kind of comment when you're compared to David Beckham.

Well, let's look at the rest of the sporting world and turn to the NBA. Who is through to the next round of the playoffs?

THOMAS: Well, the San Antonio Spurs are the third team through to that penultimate round in those NBA playoffs, Pauline. They beat Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors in game six, clinching the series 4-2. The Spurs not outscored in any of the quarters.

Let's take a look at the action here in the third when Kawhi Leonard throws down the slam as part of a combined 30 points with Tiago Splitter. San Antonio galloping away for a 12 point win.

Tony Parker had 13 points and eight assists while Tim Duncan, top scorer for San Antonio with 19. A 94-82 win puts them through to the Western Conference Final where they'll face the Memphis Grizzlies.

The other only semifinal still unresolved is between the Knicks and the Pacers. Game five was in New York. And Carmelo Anthony finally came up with that big performance he's been under pressure to produce. A game- high 28 points for Melo. The Knicks controlling this one from start to finish, never behind. They won 85-75.

But Indiana take a 3-2 series lead back to their home court.

Not looking good for the Knicks.

More in World Sport in just over three hours time, including Pauline, an exclusive interview with Italy's controversial football star Mario Balotelli.

CHIOU: OK. Looking forward to that. Can't wait. See you for World Sport. Thank you, Alex.

And you are watching News Stream. Just ahead, he's the man who came back from space a star. Astronauts Chris Hadfield speaks about his newfound internet fame and explains the trouble with talking on Earth. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHIOU: It is time for the new movie minute. Vin Diesel and his crew of street racers are back for a sixth time. Let's take a look at that and the rest of this week's movies.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS MOZINGO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fast cars and big stars new at the movies this weekend. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Vin Diesel are back behind the wheel in Fast and Furious 6. The high speed sequel makes its world debut in the UK and Ireland.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This whole bird riding thing is new to me.

MOZINGO: Epic is an animated family film with an environmental message. It's premiering across much of Central and South America as well as Austria, Germany and Switzerland.

UNIDENTIIFED MALE: You can't repeat the past.

You can't repeat the past.

MOZINGO: Gatsby was indeed great in its debut weekend, now it's expanding internationally to nearly 50 countries, including France, Israel and India.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our ship shall go down without her captain.

MOZINGO: And Star Trek Into Darkness is also going global, premiering in 30 more markets worldwide including Hong Kong, North America and Russia.

I'm Chris Mozingo, and that's your new movie minute.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHIOU: Now to some people, Chris Hadfield will forever be known as the singing astronaut. His cover of David Bowie's Space Oddity now has nearly 13 million views on YouTube. It seems like Hadfield's internet fame came out of nowhere, but the first Canadian commander of the International Space Stations says he went into orbit with a plan. Hadfield had flown in space twice before. And he wanted to share this trip with as many people as possible.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS HADFIELD, CANADIAN ASTRONAUT: The experience of leaving Earth is still very new for humanity. For 21 years, I've been traveling around the world trying to explain what it's like to fly in space and why we're doing it. And what it means to people. And what it means to our species.

And so I resolved before launch that, yes, we need to keep our crew healthy, yes we need to keep the spaceship healthy, we need to do all the science that is tasked to us, but at the same time, we need to share this experience with everyone, with the people that pay for it, with the people that benefit from it. We need to make this a shared experience.

And it's way too good a thing to keep to yourself. And fortunately now with the incredible accessibility of social media, which -- you know, I'm in my 50s. I should be, you know, someone who is stiff arming social media and leaving that to the 20-somethings. But I recognized a couple of years ago with, of course, looking at it and with my kids telling me, you know, how out of touch I was, that this is a way that a lot of people can share in the experience directly.

And not just, hey, we're doing and experiment today, but hey, look I have calluses on the top of my feet, or wow you should see what I just saw out the window. Or, god I feel sick today, because I'm re-adapting to space, or whatever.

To share the experience and I think it was one of my objectives, but I think the measure of number of people that are following it, that are actively responding to it right around the world is a real measure that we successfully shared it. And I'm really pleased about it, because it is just too good an experience to keep to yourself. And the more people to see it and understand it, I think, the more the benefits of space exploration will roll back into daily life for all of us.

Right after I landed, I could feel the weight of my lips and tongue. And I had to change how I was talking. I hadn't realized I'd learned to talk with a weightless tongue. So it -- the subtle things and the big things are taking some re-adaptation to get used to. And they're coming back one by one.

Weightlessness, it -- I mean, weightlessness is really just a superpower. You can fly effortlessly. And it's a wonderful liberating feeling. But the reality of life for everyone is here on Earth. And this is where all the people that I love are. And so I'm re-adapting to it physically and mentally. And we'll get there soon.

But to have had the opportunity for five months of my life to flip things weightless in front of myself and experience the joy of that is something I'll do my best to express to people and explain and describe for the rest of my life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHIOU: And we're living vicariously through you.

Even though Hadfield is back on Earth, he will continue sharing his images from orbit. He says, "I took a few thousand more photos in space than I was able to post, so I'll try to update from here on out with at least one per day." And we look forward to that.

That is News Stream, but the news continues right here at CNN. World Business Today is coming up next.

END