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NEWS STREAM

Istanbul Police Make Moves To Retake Parts Of Taksim Square; Sony Takes Aim At Microsoft's Controversial Content Policies; Flood Waters Continue Spreading In Central Europe; Tina Brown: Still Passionate About Journalism; Ken Levine Discusses Gamecraft, Developing Bioshock Infinite; The 99 Comic's Popularity Exploding In Middle East

Aired June 11, 2013 - 08:00:00   ET

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


KRISTIE LU STOUT, HOST: Welcome to News Stream where news and technology meet.

Now more clashes in the heart of Istanbul as anti-government clashes continue in Turkey.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ...innovate anymore my ass.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Apple hits back at critics as it unveils a new look for the iPhone and iPad's interface.

And we visit the real deserted island that served as the model for the villain's lair in the latest James Bond movie.

Dramatic scenes coming out of Turkey this hour as riot police confront anti-government protesters in Istanbul. About one hour ago, police started moving into Gezi Park where the majority of the demonstrators are camped out.

And this happened earlier in Taksim Square. You can see protesters throw what looks like a firecracker at an armored vehicle. Now the vehicle, it then approaches them and it fires back with water cannon, leaving them just no choice but to retreat.

Now the protesters also threw Molotov cocktails at police. And officials responded with more water cannon and tear gas.

Now Taksim Square is a popular district in central Istanbul. And nearby Gezi Park is the seat of the protests.

Now the demonstrations, they originally began over the government's plan to demolish the park to built a shopping mall. Now they have since swelled and are now focused on a number of grievances with the government.

And Nick Paton Walsh is at the CNN bureau in Istanbul, which overlooks Taksim Square. He joins us now live.

And Nick, some dramatic scenes earlier today. What is the very latest happening now from the square?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, as you said earlier, police appeared to have moved in to Gezi Park, that reasonably well populated treed areas at the center here. The argument by conservationists is it should be left alone by the Erdogan administration. They appear to have pulled back now.

But now what we're seeing is a sort of separate rally of protesters down on the ground level there to the left of the park. They've built a new barricade, now having two levels of barricade for that side road still under construction to head down to some of the most expensive hotels here in the heart of Istanbul. Things have lulled slightly. We haven't seen any particular police offensive in the last half an hour or so.

Their strategy does appear to be to be taking back most of central Taksim Square. I suspect they're also looking at those roads that run down the side as well.

And much of what they did to move toward Gezi Park happened, in fact, as Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was, in fact, speaking. And he characterized this protest much as he has before as part of a broader conspiracy about marginalist extremists, in his words, who were trying to somehow conspire against Turkey itself.

Let's hear what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN, TURKISH PRIME MINISTER (through translator): A big game is being attempted to be played in Turkey using the Taksim, Gezi Park as an excuse. Heavy damage is being given to Turkish economy. They are using the excuse of environmental sensitivity. And therefore they are trying to slow down Turkey's development such a dirty purpose is involved. And I would like to ask to appeal to my citizens to see that they are being used as part of a dirty game.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALSH: Now what we're seeing behind me too is a crowd moving around one of these armored water cannon trucks, surrounding it in effect. Earlier today clashes with protesters there caused one of these trucks to be set on fire, success Molotov firebomb cocktails thrown at it.

Police took quite awhile to put that particular fire out, significant victory for these lightly armed and poorly organized protesters here.

The question now is what happens next? Have the police achieved what they want or are they actually perhaps moving into Gezi Park. The Istanbul government has issued a series of tweets saying, no, that's not the case -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: All right. Intense clashes, day 12 of these anti- government protests in Turkey. Nick Paton Walsh with the very latest. Thank you.

Now the U.S. Justice Department is building a case against Edward Snowden, the man who acknowledges that he exposed top secret government surveillance programs. And many questions are being asked about how he could have had access to so much sensitive information. Now it's believed Snowden is still somewhere here in Hong Kong. And the Hong Kong and Chinese governments have not commented. But one Hong Kong official says Snowden could be sent back to the U.S.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REGINA IP, HONG KONG LEGISLATOR: If he thought there is a legal vacuum in Hong Kong, which renders him safe from U.S. jurisdiction, that is unlikely to be the case.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Regina Ip there.

Now Snowden has said that he expects to be prosecuted for what he did, but as Brian Todd shows us, his actions are also affecting the people he left behind.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Described as shy and self- effacing, the man who says he was the source of leaks detailing massive U.S. surveillance programs, tells "The Guardian" newspaper why he did it.

Edward Snowden says, quote, "I'm no different from anyone else."

EDWARD SNOWDEN, LEAKED NSA DOCUMENTS: I'm just another guy who sits there day to day in the office, watches what's happening and goes, this is something that's not our place to decide. The public needs to decide whether these programs and policies are right or wrong.

TODD: Snowden said that from a hotel in Hong Kong, after having left his girlfriend in Hawaii where they reportedly shared a home. She's not the only person with whom he may have severed ties by leaking and then going public.

(On camera): Edward Snowden "The Guardian" that the only thing he fears is the harmful effects of all of this on his family, some of whom he said work for the U.S. government. We've confirmed that his mother, Elizabeth Snowden, works here at the U.S. District Courthouse in Baltimore, Maryland, with the title "Chief Deputy Clerk for Information Technology and Administrative Services." Officials here said she was not available to speak to us.

(Voice-over): Elizabeth Snowden also did not return our calls and e- mails. Outside her home near Baltimore, she was no more eager to speak to reporters.

ELIZABETH SNOWDEN, EDWARD SNOWDEN'S MOTHER: Please do not get in my way. Thank you.

TODD: The "Guardian" says Edward Snowden moved to Maryland from Elizabeth City, North Carolina, where he spent his youth. CNN has learned he went to elementary and middle school in Crafton, Maryland, went to Arundel High School nearby. But according to "The Guardian" he never got a high school degree. He enlisted in the Army in 2004, was discharged the same year. He told "The Guardian" it was because he broke his legs in a training accident.

Snowden told "The Guardian" he got his first job at the NSA as a security guard. He later became an I.T. security specialist at the CIA. From there he went to a private contractor doing work for the NSA. He said his computer skills enabled him to move up quickly despite the lack of a high school degree. Before he took off for Hong Kong, he says he was making $200,000 a year.

His success surprises Joyce Kinsey, a neighbor of Snowden's mother's, who saw Edward Snowden on occasion at the mother's condo.

JOYCE KINSEY, NEIGHBOR AT SNOWDEN'S MOTHER: When you say hi to him, and everything, he'll say hi, but he's always looking down, he's not looking at you. And it's like he doesn't make eye contact. But he was very personable and very nice, and I always saw him on the computer. I could see out my window, and I could see him on the computer.

TODD: Edward Snowden told "The Guardian" he had high hopes when President Obama vowed a more transparent administration, but that he became disappointed in the president.

We've learned Snowden's name is on two contributions last year, totaling $500 to libertarian Ron Paul's campaign. Snowden tells "The Guardian" he hopes for asylum in Iceland, but he also said, quote, "all my options are bad."

Brian Todd, CNN, Ellicott City, Maryland.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now, in addition to being afraid for his family, Snowden told The Guardian that his greatest fear is that nothing will change despite his disclosures. But polling suggests most Americans may be willing to tolerate some level of government surveillance.

A new survey by the Pew Research Center and The Washington Post found that 62 percent of Americans believe it is more important for the federal government to investigate potential terror threats than to protect personal privacy. Now 34 percent said protecting privacy was more important. Now those figures have changed little since 2006 when surveillance programs under the George W. Bush administration were first reported.

Now in France, prosecutors have asked for charges against Dominique Strauss-Kahn to be dropped due to lack of evidence. Now the former head of the International Monetary Fund was charged with aggravated pimping. An investigation into sex parties at a hotel in the French city of Lilles. Now a judge will now act on the prosecutor's request.

Now the 64-year-old Strauss-Kahn was arrested in New York two years ago after an encounter with a hotel house keeper. And prosecutors later dropped charges of sexual abuse and attempted rape. And the housekeeper than sued Strauss-Kahn and a settlement was reached.

Now let's turn to Syria. And state TV reports a deadly pair of suicide attacks in Damascus. Now police source says the explosions took place near a police station. And the blasts killed at least 14 people and injured 31 others. And there have been no claims of responsibility for the attack.

Now Damascus is one of the hotspots in Syria's civil war. And clashes between government forces and rebels are constant in the suburbs.

But opposition groups say that the regime uses fighter jets and missions to tamp down a decisive battle for the capital.

Now another government offensive is being waged in Aleppo. The regime is trying to retake areas under rebel control.

And Syrian soldiers are getting help from Hezbollah fighters. It's believed that they are trying to build on momentum from the capture of Qusayr. And rebel fighters lost the strategic border city last week.

Now battles are also ongoing around Homs and Hamaa. And the U.S. may move closer to a decision on arming the rebels this week.

Now remember, all of these areas have seen fighting since 2011.

Now there are historic floods in Europe. And coming up next right here on News Stream Mari Ramos will have the very latest on flooding from the River Elbe and the Danube.

And superheroes taking the Muslim world by storm. A look at the 99, a comic book phenomenon.

And video game wars. We'll put the new Playstation and Xbox head to head.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back.

Now flooding along the swollen Elbe and Danube Rivers continues to cause misery across Central Europe.

Now parts of northern Germany are still under threat with waters from the River Elbe breaking through dykes, inundating farmland, and prompting evacuations.

Now the army is dropping huge sandbags from helicopters to shore up flood defenses. And in Hungary, the focus of sandbagging efforts is now in areas south of Budapest along the Danube.

And the capital's flood defenses held even as the river peaked at record high levels late on Sunday.

Now this has become a catastrophe across the region.

Let's get an update on the devastating floods in Europe now with Mari Ramos. She joins us from the world weather center -- Mari.

MARI RAMOS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONENT: Hey, Kristie. You know, it was the cost of these floods back in 2002 was about 11 billion euros. And some people are saying that this time around, it may be even higher than that, because so much damage has been done in some of these densely populated areas. And that really is a catastrophe in itself.

Now, it's going to take a long time to recover from this. And I want to start you off, first of all, with a picture. This is from Germany. And look at that, again, here we are seeing people evacuated. You see the homes in the background over here, just another example of how serious the situation is. The water rises relatively slowly. This is not a fast moving flood. It takes a long time for these very large rivers to rise, but then it also takes a long time for these very large rivers to fall.

Let's go ahead and review what's going on, then. We have two major rivers that we're talking about. One of them, of course, is the Danube. Now, across southern parts of Germany, what we have over here is the water levels receding. There's clean-up going on all the way back in Passau and over toward Vienna. And we're still monitoring very, very closely as the water continues to make its way farther to the south.

You mentioned Budapest, that the flood defenses held. Right along the city there, it is highly fortified. It's up to 9.5 meters, that's how high the walls are for the city in that area. The water got to about a meter below that. So they were very lucky.

In other areas where there isn't those kinds of flood defenses, the water spills out very, very quickly.

The crest itself, that highest point of the water, is now moving across southern parts of Hungary.

There has been some rains in this area, that could help bring even more water into this very large river. The tributaries are also backed up. So the major flooding, while it's occurring along the river, all of those tributaries, all of those smaller rivers that are pulling in water into these areas, those flows are also backed up and those areas are seeing flooding as well.

And notice, of course, the Danube continues flowing farther to the south into Serbia. So these areas are going to see some problems as well as we head into the weekend. And some of these areas -- into their weekend will see their higher -- or highest water levels yet.

As we turn north across Prague, like I mentioned, there the water started to go down already, but areas farther to the north, that's where you're seeing all these evacuations. When you hear about those thousands of people evacuated, it's in these areas of Eastern Germany, anywhere from Dresden all the way up into Wittenbergh.

We had a dyke the broke yesterday. It was one of those earthen dams, so the water spilled over into the city. And those people had to get out of there.

The crest itself is now moving farther to the north. As it makes its way to the North Sea, Hamburg will be the last stop here. So the water there should be cresting as we head into the weekend. Water levels continue to rise across these areas. And that is a huge concern, of course, for authorities.

As far as rainfall, well it has been relatively dry, but these areas here across south central Eastern Europe, those areas are still getting some rain showers, and that is going to continue to be a concern, because any amount of water that falls will bring some heavy rain, but the weather will improve here as those river levels continue to rise, as I explain, so at least drier weather expected in these areas, which is a little bit of good news.

I want to finish you off with a video from Russia. A little bit different when we look at this. And it's got some audio, so hopefully we'll be able to hear it.

So people are looking at this river that has gone very high, has gotten very high. And look at this, so here comes a tree. Listen to this.

Look at the bridge shaking. Listen to that sound. How scary. Sometimes we think we can maybe cross a river when it's high and the water is not high enough and it's OK. This just gives you a perfect example, Kristie, of how dangerous the situation can be.

This river, this relatively smaller river, moving quite fast as you can see. All of a sudden you get a piece of debris like this, which of course could be deadly -- no one was hurt in this incident, but just another example of how dangerous these high water levels can be and how swift and how strong that current is, even though it may not look like it from the surface.

LU STOUT: That's right, a very clear and very scary illustration of just how powerful that torrent can be.

Mari Ramos, thank you so much for sharing that with us. Mari Ramos there.

Now you're watching News Stream. And up next, another achievement for China's space program. The Shenzhou 10, it blasted off a few hours ago. And we'll look at the significance of this mission a little later right here on News Stream.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Coming to you live from Hong Kong, you're back watching News Stream. And all this week, CNN is taking a special look at superheroes.

Now you've probably heard of The Justice League and The Avengers, but what about The 99? Now this group of superheroes is becoming increasingly popular, particularly in the Muslim world. As Neil Curry tells us, The 99's creator made them with that audience in mind.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is said that all the darkness of the world could be shattered by the light in just one, pure heart.

Imagine, then, the hope that would spread if 99 of the pure-hearted came together as one.

DR. NAIF AL-MUTAWA, CEO, TESHKEEL COMICS: The world needs role- models, whether they're fictional like superheroes or real. The problem with real people is they ultimately disappoint.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These stones, they chose us to do something big.

NEIL CURRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was thinking like that, which lead Dr. Naif Al-Mutawa to create role-models to inspire his children at a time when Islamic religion and culture had become a global talking point in the wake of 9/11.

AL-MUTAWA: Instead of being of the people that complained about how my culture was being represented to the outside world, that I'd be part of being proactive and trying to redefine it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who are you people?

CURRY: The 99's powers were based on the Koran's 99 virtues of Allah, such as wisdom, strength, and generosity. But Al-Mutawa wanted them to be scene as universal powers rather than religious ideals.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's pretty clear I'm part of something bigger, a new family maybe, The 99.

AL-MUTAWA: What The 99 offer to fans that's different than D.C. and Marvel is that it's a different universe. It's based on a different cultural archetype and blueprint. The Bible, or biblical archetypes has been used for hundreds of years in fiction in the west. And very, very brilliantly so, because it uses values that the west shares with the rest of humanity. So it doesn't matter what culture you're from, it can still resonate.

And so The 99 does, it says, guess what, our values, they're the same as yours.

CURRY: The 99 was launched as a comic book in the Middle East in 2006. It's big breakthrough came when D.C. Comics agreed to a crossover miniseries in which the famous crimefighting characters of The Justice League -- Batman, Superman, and a more modestly dressed Wonder Woman -- joined forces with the heroes of The 99.

AL-MUTAWA: Those story lines start off with distrust between the two groups of superheroes and they find out that actually it's the bad guys from both universes causing the distrust. And then they fight together cape to shoulder and move it over to trust.

So it's very much about the extremists on both sides of the divide who are causing the distrust between the heroes of these two worlds.

CURRY: Little did Dr. Al-Mutawa know it, but he was beginning to attract fans in high places.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: His comic books have captured the imagination of so many young people with superheroes who embody the teachings and tolerance of Islam. After my speech in Cairo, he had a similar idea. So in his comic books, Superman and Batman reached out to their Muslim counterparts. And I hear they're making progress, too. Absolutely.

CURRY: But along with the plaudits came suspicion both from the Islamic world and the west. The animated version is now shown on TV in 70 countries, but was originally banned in Saudi Arabia. While Europe and the U.S. have been slow to embrace the Islamic superheroes.

Today, Dr. Al-Mutawa has invited a group of American students from Boston to his office in Kuwait to gauge their opinions.

AL-MUTAWA: So you guys grew up with Marvel and D.C. Comics, I'm going to take it? What do you think are similarities and what are difference between the two universes?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The character who is from the United States, he's in a car crash. He's dealing with revenge and trying to figure out how his life is going to change. He's like all-powerful. He can inflict pain on others. And it's similar to Batman who is angry about his parents dying. And they all kind of start with a conflict and figure out how they can help the world with their power or their strength as opposed to revenge or inflicting pain on others that is negative.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One of the differences I noticed was I guess there was an issue in the Islamic world that all the women were not wearing burkas, but in the United States people were upset that one of the women was wearing burkas.

AL-MUTAWA: For me, to be have been able to kind of make a dent, even if it's a small dent, in how Islam is perceived to my children, I believe - - which was my intent to begin with -- I've achieved that. And hopefully I've been able to have that influence on other children as well.

CURRY: The 99 now has a website created by Wallace and Gromit's Aardman Productions. It's been translated into Mandarin and several other languages. It spawned a theme park in Kuwait. And there's even talk of a movie.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All of us who have Mir stones (ph) need to work together to help everyone else.

CURRY: All of which has propelled Dr. Al-Mutawa himself to superhero status among many in the business world.

Neil Curry, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: You're watching News Stream. And still to come, Apple unveils a major overhaul of the iPhone software, but will the radical redesign win people over?

And put on your game face, we go inside E3, the gaming industry's big expo.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: You're watching News Stream. And let's go back to our top story now. Turkish riot police have been confronting protesters in Istanbul as anti-government demonstrations continue.

And for the latest, let's got back to Nick Paton Walsh. He is live for us from the CNN bureau in Istanbul.

And Nick, the last time we talked about half an hour ago, we saw quite visibly what appeared to be clouds of smoke behind you. What's the situation now?

WALSH: Yeah, that was a mixture when we last spoke of a barricade here where they've laid cables. The protesters set fire to them, causing a plume of black smoke. That was their mixed with the tear gas the police are now so commonly using in this square to try and push protesters back.

This has now developed into some sort of standoff happening down the side toward Gezi Park. There are protesters now using the cover of the smoke of a barricade on fire to hurl rocks at police down a side alleyway, a sort of secondary standoff we're seeing on the corner of Gezi Park.

A call in to the Istanbul governor, Gezi Park itself, that greeny wooded area where there are hundreds, maybe thousands of protesters camped out with many tents there, that will be left along, but we did see a brief flourish in which police moved into that earlier on.

But the strategy seems to be, at this point, to continue to push people away from that central area of Taksim Square. The police have already ripped down many of the protest protesters that were on the main buildings in the central square, even one, in fact, that was on this building here, too. And we're now seeing what looks like a mixture of media and protesters and some protests (inaudible) barricade now competing for the side road here.

So the police a little gentle in what they're doing. They seem to edging forward at certain times toward certain parts and then standing back. It's not clear if that is the strategy or if that's just simply how they're managing to find progress here.

But significant use of water cannon and tear gas throughout hours of clashes now. We've seen one police armored vehicle in fact taken out by protesters' Molotov firebomb cocktails, engulfed in smoke for 20 minutes to extinguish it.

There is chanting behind me now. But the numbers of protesters in the crowd here are really actually dissipating. I can't speak for Gezi Park itself, there are numbers of people on the edge of that, looking out to see what is happening.

But the real question people are going to ask is what is the police strategy for retaining control here? We've seen in the past a surge into areas by tear gas. And then everybody is gassed, then pull back. Everyone returns to where they originally were. If Prime Minister Erdogan is made the decision to move in like this, there surely must be a strategy to hold many of these areas, otherwise ahead of tomorrow's negotiations with protest leaders.

This exercise and the pictures of unrest in the heart of what is a powerhouse economy will be damaging for that administration -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: You know, the demonstrators who remain there, are up against so much. You know, the tools of the riot police, the tear gas which you're feeling the effects of, the water cannon, the armored vehicles. Can you tells us more about the protests who are still there, remaining in the square?

Who are they? And what do they want?

WALSH: Well, it's hard to speak coherently about all of them. I think those we've scene confronting the police with rocks and Molotov cocktails. Some of them were holding flags of pro-Kurdish -- Kurds being a minority here in Turkey -- and also of ultra-Marxist, Leninist groups. We can't tell if they are from those groups or simply holding their flags, but that plays into the narrative from the prime minister here that he's facing marginals and extremists facing up against him.

Those inside Gezi Park -- we were there yesterday, very peaceful, many of them form alternative political groups with people opening a library to hand out books, giving a maths lesson in Algebra, very calm atmosphere. About trying to, one person say, create an evolution of the mind. And they're trying to save the trees in the heart of Istanbul, their sort of emblematic of that alternative way of life that they see threatened by the breakaway development happening across Turkey under the Erdogan administration.

But certainly those people I think will have divorced themselves from the violence against police here, but it's been a complicated mixture, because so much of the clashes have been fueled by the heavy-handed tactics of the police we saw over a week ago. And people, of course, will be asking exactly when do these scenes behind me stop -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: All right, Nick Paton Walsh and the very latest at the show of force in the square there in Instanbul. Thank you very much for that, Nick.

Now let's take a look at some of the other headlines making news this hour. And the man who leaked details of a top secret U.S. surveillance program has checked out of a hotel in Hong Kong where he had been staying. The whereabouts of Edward Snowden, who worked as a contractor for the U.S. National Security Agency, are still unknown. He previously told Britain's Guardian newspaper he wanted to put an end to, quote, an excessively intrusive system.

Now, French prosecutors have asked for charges against Dominique Strauss-Kahn to be dropped citing a lack of evidence. Now the former head of the International Monetary Fund is among several people charged with aggravated pimping in an investigation into sex parties in the northern French city of Lilles.

Now Venezuelan state TV says security officials have foiled a plot to kill the president Nicholas Maduro. They say that two paramilitary groups were behind the assassination plans. Interior minister said police arrested nine Colombian citizens in northwest Venezuela adding that they were heavily armed and planning to head to the capital of Caracas.

Now, Apple unveiled a brand new look for its mobile operating system on Monday. And here is the current look of the iPhone's user interface. And here is what the OS 7 looks like.

Now the new interface, it has a brighter and simpler look. Let's give you the demo.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CRAIG FEDERIGHI, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, APPLE: If you pull down or tap at the top, you can now get a smart search field. From that search field, you can get one tap access to all of your favorites as well as do search and access URLs, and it's a great new interface for your tabs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Now, previous versions of iOS have been criticized for things like this, the fake wood paneling, the green felt background of the Game Center app. Now Apple boasted that iOS 7 removes elements like that.

Now, the new interface, it comes at a time when the company is under fire for not introducing any new groundbreaking products. So, when the company unveiled the new Mac Pro, one Apple executive took a big swipe at the criticism.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PHIL SCHILLER, APPLE VP FOR WORLDWIDE MARKETING: Can't innovate anymore my ass.

(LAUGHTER)

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: All right. Now iOS 7 will be available later this year.

Now, the video game industry is gearing up for a very big week as both Microsoft and Sony showed off their new consoles ahead of the E3 conventions in Los Angeles. Let's put the two new consoles head to head. Now both consoles will be out in the U.S. later this year. And the Xbox One will be out in November, while Sony says the PS4 will be on sale in the holiday season.

But the big difference is in price. The Xbox One will cost $100 more than the Playstation 4 in the U.S. Now Microsoft has also come under fire for its policy on used games. Microsoft says game publishers can block the sale of used games or potentially even charge a fee for them. You could also give a game to a friend for free by transferring it to their account, but you can only do that once.

Now, so what about the Playstation 4? Well, here is how Sony explained it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is how you share your games on PS4.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thanks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Now, who impressed the experts?

Now, earlier I spoke to gaming columnist Rob Fahey. And I asked him who came out stronger Microsoft or Sony?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROB FAHEY, GAMEINDUSTRY.BIZ: I think the thing that most people have taken away from E3 actually is Sony's performance. Sony has kind of been on the back foot for about the last five years in this industry. And they really came out storming. There's been a lot of controversy over what Microsoft announced a couple of weeks back in terms of their policies for their new console. And Sony really took the fight to them.

You saw Sony executives standing up on stage criticizing things that Microsoft was doing quite openly and really making a promise that they weren't going to copy any of those policies to their fans. And I think that's had a huge positive reaction, certainly in terms of the people that I've been talking to over the last day.

LU STOUT: And let's talk about the Xbox One, what makes it so controversial?

FAHEY: The really controversial thing about it is what it does to the concept of ownership and sharing. And that might seem like a slightly abstract thing, but it's very important to people who buy media, who are buying video games or films or any kind of media, even books, that they actually own the thing that they've bought.

And Microsoft is changing that. They're introducing policies, which effectively mean that they're restricting your ability to do fairly simple things like sharing your video games which you've purchased with your friends. If you want to do that, you've going to have to jump through hoops to do it. If you want to trade in your video games or sell a video game to a friend, you're going to have to pay a fee to the publisher of that video game. And these are all things that Microsoft is enforcing, which Sony has chosen not to.

That's what's quite controversial. And I think that's what is getting Sony a lot of plaudits at this stage that they've decided to stick to the old model rather than this new quite consumer unfriendly model of doing business.

LU STOUT: And when you look at the new Xbox and the new Playstation, how much of a difference will the pricetag make?

FAHEY: Well, the new Xbox is about $100 more expensive, which for a console which as I mentioned it's been controversial in terms of the ownership issues, it's also slightly controversial because a lot of that extra $100 that you're paying goes into Kinect, which is their motion sensing technology, which a lot of gamers, especially the kind of people who are early adopters of this technology, are not all that fond of, and television. It's a device that interfaces with your cable box and controls your television watching as well.

That's what your extra $100 is buying. And I think a lot of people feel again that's not really worth it.

So Sony, you could tell from the smiles on the executives' facing during the briefing last night that Sony really felt like they had scored a coup by delivering a console people are more interested in at a lower price point.

LU STOUT: And Nintendo, the company is expected to speak in a few hours. What should we expect?

FAHEY: Well, Nintendo has actually stayed away from E3. But they've decided instead to do an online broadcast. They do these broadcasts quite often. What we'll expect from Nintendo is just more games. Nintendo is a toy company effectively, they're a game company. And they kind of stay out of this scrapping over who owns the living room that you see between Sony and Microsoft. So from Nintendo, I would be surprised if we see anything other than just a lot more games for their platforms. That's how Nintendo does battle in this war, they just release good software. They let the other two fight it out over features and functionality.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Rob Fahey there.

Now all this week, we'll have much more from the video game industry's biggest event the E3 show in Los Angeles. We'll also bring you a look at the people who make video games. And the first of our game faces made one of the most critically acclaimed titles of the year.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEN LEVINE, CREATIVE DIRECTOR, IRRATIONAL GAMES: Hi. I'm Ken Levine. I'm the creative director of Irrational Games and the creative director on Bioshock Infinite.

Bioshock Infinite is a first-person shooter set in an alternate version of 1912 where you play a character named Booker DeWitt. He gets the job to go to this imaginary floating city of Columbia and find this woman and bring her back to New York for a mysterious kind.

The great thing about the interactive medium is that unlike all other media you don't have as much control of what might happens as you might like. And that sounds like it would be scary for a creative person, but actually I find it really exciting the fact that we don't know where players are going to be looking. We don't know what he's going to do. We don't know if he's going to go left or right, up or down, and that actually can be very challenging for us.

But it pays a dividend in the sense that when the player has a moment that's uniquely his, and I mean literally uniquely his, that nobody has ever quite encountered in exactly the same way before, they imprint upon it. It is their moment. And the attachment they get of that moment can be quite profound.

As a creator, what I love about games is we don't really know what we're doing yet. You know, every game we make we're experimenting and sort of back if you look at the Lumier Brothers (ph) or Thomas Edison at the turn of the century making films, you know, we're still back at that early, early stage where we're still figuring out our own vocabulary. And I think that's exciting because I think probably 100 years from now people will look back on us as, you know, our work is fairly crude, but we were the first ones there. I think that's thrilling.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Love hearing him talk about the gamecraft. That was Kevin Levine, the creator of Bioshock Infinite. And tomorrow, we'll get a very different view of the industry from an independent game creator.

Now three Chinese astronauts have started what is scheduled to be the country's longest manned mission ever.

The Shenzhou 10 spacecraft have lifted off in the Gobi Desert just a few hours ago. The crew is set to stay in orbit for some 15 days. And President Xi Jinping was on hand to wish them well. This is the first high-profile launch since he took office.

Now China's space program is a huge source of national pride. And it is skyrocketed over the last five decades. Now back in 1970, China became the fifth country to put a satellite into orbit independently. Now fast forward to 2003. And that's when China sent its first man into space. And right now, only China and Russia have the ability to put people into orbit.

Now the Shenzhou 10 is set to dock with Tiangong 1. That is China's orbiting space lab which launched in 2011. But it is just a prototype for a permanent space station, which China intends to build by year 2020.

Now last year, China became the third country to complete a manned docking mission. And the crew on this flight will further practice those rendezvous maneuvers. It will also test technologies needed to build a long-term space module.

Now still to come here on News Stream, we take you to Japan and tell you the real story behind this island that many of you may know is the villain's hideaway in the James Bond film Skyfall. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Now media powerhouse Tina Brown says she has not lost her passion for journalism despite more than 30 years in the business. And this week on Leading Women, part two of Isha Sesay's revealing interview with Tina Broan.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ISHA SESAY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: If there's one thing media executive Tina Brown readily admits, it's this...

TINA BROWN, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, NEWSWEEK/THE DAILY BEAST: Unfortunately taking risk comes so easily for me, that I have to be -- you know, it's about being, you can call it reckless at times. So I'm -- you know, I'm pretty reckless even now. And I have to hold myself back a little and think, wait a minute, be careful, because, you know, you can blow it too.

SESAY: But some of her risky moves over the years paid off. Take this controversial 1991 Vanity Fair magazine cover of actress Demi Moore. Renowned photographer Annie Lebowitz took the photo.

BROWN: The pregnant cover was just really because I was pregnant at the time and I'm feeling kind of rebellious about that, about getting dressed and, you know, and it was a good risk, because put on an unbelievable amount of sales. And actually it became kind of an iconic picture for women.

SESAY: Brown is now editor-in-chief of the internet based news property Newsweek Global and The Daily Beast based in New York where she lives with her husband Harold Evans.

I mean, your husband, himself, a very respected journalist. Lives here in the U.S. with you. I mean, what is that like living here as two Brits in the media here in the U.S?

BROWN: We have a most fantastic fun. I mean, we do have enormous fun. And we entertain a lot.

SESAY: Help people understand why you made the decision to become a U.S. citizen in 2005. What was that about?

BROWN: It was 9/11 that made me an American. I felt so offended by the way that terrorists had come into this American hospitality, which is so generous and so embracing, and exploded it. And I thought, you know, I care more about this country now than I do about my own. And it is my country. And I really do love living here. And although I will always feel passionate about my British heritage, I nonetheless feel now very much an American. And my kid is an American.

SESAY: You said in the past that having it all is a rather tired concept.

BROWN: I think it's a tired concept.

Listen, I had two children. And I raised them while I had my job. There isn't any easy solution. Most of the time, it's hell. It's a big mess. It's a total mess. I mean, having a job and kids is just a big mess. It's always going to be a big mess. You just have to kind of improvise, patch it together, try to get help.

SESAY: Four years ago, Brown launched herself into women's issues, organizing what's become the annual Women in the World summit and enticing A-listers like Oprah to take part.

OPRAH: This is what church needs to be. So I thank you Tina Brown.

SESAY: But she is still passionate about journalism and its future.

BROWN: So many of the young people who come in have no real journalistic background. So very often they're hungry, actually, to be mentored because they don't feel they've had any guidance.

I'd like to be seen, you know, as an innovator who did break barriers and who did create terrific journalism with great writers. I mean, that's always been what I most wanted to do. It's pretty simple. I love telling stories. And I love to see them told well.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And next week, we'll introduce you to the first female CEO of India's ICICI Bank. Chanda Kochhar is a powerful force in global finance.

Until then, log on to our website for more Leading Women, including an interview with the woman who kept the Athens Olympic Games on track. Find it at CNN.com/LeadingWomen.

Now you're watching News Stream. And coming up next, girls in America could soon be able to buy the morning after pill over-the-counter without a prescription. More on that after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back.

Now if you saw the James Bond thriller Skyfall, you can't forget the dark island that served as the hideaway for the movie's villain. Well, that island was modeled on a real island off the coast of Nagasaki, Japan. And as Diana Magnay reports, Hashima's Story is as sinister as it appears.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DIANA MAGNAY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The ruins of abandoned apartment blocks loom out of the mist. We are speeding towards Hashima Island, seventeen kilometres off the coast of Nagasaki.

It looks so eerie and so sort of desolate.

We're not traveling in quite the style James Bond did, but some of you may recognize the island from the latest Bond movie - Skyfall, the inspiration for the villain's home and place where the Bond girl meets her end built in Pinewood Studios but modeled on Hashima.

In reality this was once a bustling metropolis, nearly sixty years ago one of the most densely populated places on earth. Built above a rich coal seam, the mines here fueled Japan's wartime efforts and its post-war industrial growth. At its peak in 1959, more than 5,000 people housed in crowded apartment blocks on this tiny, 16 acre patch of rock.

Tomoji Kobata shows us where he lived in 1961.

"It reminded me of Hong Kong," he says. "Cooking hours were quite noisy, wives borrowing seasoning and exchanging food they couldn't eat. no one needed to lock the door."

X-rays in the hospital, the fated imprints of lungs still visible. Miners here regularly screened for lung diseases.

"The temperature was about 35 degrees Celsius down in the mine," he tells me. "The humidity was over 95 percent. It was like doing hard labor in a sauna."

The lure of easy money brought Kobata here, but after a year he left, conditions on the island too unforgiving.

"These steps were known as the steps to hell. And although many people describe life on the island as like one big happy family and many people said they didn't want to leave, for the Koreans, and the Chinese prisoners of war who were brought here to work in the mines during World War II, this was a form of hell.

In the peace museum in nearby Nagasaki, testimonies from some of the forced laborers brought to Hashima during the days of Japan's empire.

"The common stories I would hear from Korean and Chinese laborers was that they were enormously hungry," the director says. "They said you would feed animals more. Many tried to escape, but if they were discovered they were taken back and tortured almost to death."

A very limited part of the island, far away from the precarious ruins, is now open to visitors. In the last three years, some 300,000 have come here. And Nagasaki wants to make Hashima a world heritage site. But Korea objects.

While japan has offered a general apology for the damage and suffering caused by its colonial rule and wartime aggression, Hashima remains an eerie symbol of war-time wounds that will not heal.

Diana Magnay, CNN, Hashima Island, Japan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now a decision by the Obama administration will pave the way for minors to buy the so-called morning after pill over-the-counter. Now the U.S. Justice Department is dropping efforts to restrict sales of the emergency contraceptive.

Now let's bring in our senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen for more on this story.

And Elizabeth, good to see you.

And some background first, what exactly happened here?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right, it gets complicated, so I'll try to give a distilled version of it.

So back in 2011, the Obama administration said we do not want girls under the age of 17 to be able to buy this morning after pill in the store without a prescription for a doctor, just walk in and buy it. So this is a pill that you take within three days of having unprotected sex if you don't want to get pregnant.

And so the Obama administration has been fighting for the past several years to keep this out of the hands of girls under the age of 17 in an over-the-counter fashion. And so the news today is that they said, you know what, we're stopping our legal process. You know, we went to court to keep this out of their hands, but you know we're done, we're not going to do any more appeals.

LU STOUT: This is a huge turnaround. Why did they back down?

COHEN: Well, yeah, my colleagues reached out to the White House and they said, look, it's not a reversal, it's not a 180 degree turn, it's a -- we've just decided to stop appealing, that's -- you know, there's a distinction between those two things.

Now critics of the Obama administration have said, look, in 2011 it was before the election and in order to get elected Obama wanted to seem as if he was against girls being able to get their hands on this product so easily, but now that he doesn't have to worry about getting elected he's abandoned it. So it really depends on who you believe.

LU STOUT: Yeah, interesting how politics may have a part in this.

And finally, how soon will these drugs be available over-the-counter there in the U.S?

COHEN: Right. It won't be all that soon. And the reason why is that the company that makes Plan B has to actually apply to the Food and Drug Administration for permission to market this over-the-counter all over again. They have to start the process again. So it's not going to be on the shelves tomorrow or next week or next month, it probably won't take years, but it won't be any time really soon.

LU STOUT: OK.

And got time for one more question for you, if you will, Elizabeth. Can you tell us more about the morning after pill? Just how effective is it?

COHEN: It is quite effective at stopping a pregnancy from occurring, so it works within three days -- and the sooner you take it the better -- of having unprotected sex. And it works quite well. It doesn't have a lot of side effects. There's never really been an argument about the effectiveness or the safety of it, it's more been an argument about who should have easy access to it and who shouldn't.

LU STOUT: Because now both women and girls of childbearing age can now have access to it over-the-counter.

Elizabeth Cohen with the story for us. Thank you very much indeed for that.

Now, Twitter is all atwitter with its latest high profile addition. Her bio begins "wife, mom, lawyer," and it goes on to, "hair icon, pants suit aficionado, glass ceiling cracker" and as a teaser "TBD" as in to be determined, which leaves everybody guessing what former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's next move might be, including whether she will run for the presidency.

Now since joining Twitter only 20 hours ago, the former first lady and senator has already gained well over 348,000 followers.

And before we go, an update here at CNN. Now the office of South African president Jacob Zuma says that former President Nelson Mandela remains in, quote, "serious, but stable condition" in a Pretoria hospital. Now the anti-apartheid icon, he was admitted four days ago with a lung infection. And Mr. Zuma got a full briefing from the medical team last night.

We will continue to follow Mandela's situation and we will bring it to you right here with the very latest as we know more.

But for now, that is News Stream, but the news continues at CNN. World Business Today is next.

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