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NEWS STREAM

Crowds Sing For Nelson Mandela; "Ecuador Will Not Be Blackmailed," Says Government; Brazil Top Uruguay 2-1 To Reach Confederation's Cup Final; 50,000 Protest On Streets Outside Confed Cup Semifinal Match; List Of Missing Continues To Grow In India's North; Egyptian President Promises To Fix Mistakes Made In First Year

Aired June 27, 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: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. And welcome to News Stream where news and technology meet.

Now South Africans continue to gather outside the hospital where Nelson Mandela is said to be on life support.

Gay rights supporters cheer in the United States after key rulings on same-sex marriage. We'll look at what happens next.

And one of the greatest streaks in sport is broken as Roger Federer loses in Wimbledon's second round.

South Africans and people around the world continue to pray for Nelson Mandela. An official Tells CNN that the former South African president is on life support in a Pretoria hospital. And his daughter says, quote, anything is imminent.

Now family members, government officials and church leaders have been visiting his bedside. And after seeing Mr. Mandela on Wednesday, South Africa's current president Jacob Zuma canceled a trip to Mozambique.

Now a growing crowd of well wishers has been gathering outside the hospital.

Now Robyn Curnow is also there. She joins us now live. And Robyn, can you describe the scene around you?

ROBYN CURNOW, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's quite powerful. What has defined this morning the last few hours in front of this hospital is singing. South Africans have been coming here, groups of different South Africans: the ANC, the party of Nelson Mandela, has just left here. They were singing old struggle songs, revolutionary songs. Earlier on, some children, small little 4-year-olds and 5-year-olds came singing "Nelson Mandela, Nelson, Nelson Mandela we love you, we love you."

It really seems that this nation is trying to sing him into health. And if the worst happens they're going to try and get over their grief through song. It's very powerful.

LU STOUT: Yeah, a powerful moment to witness, uniting through song during this delicate time. And we know that the U.S. President Barack Obama is also in the region now. Do you know if Mr. Obama plans to visit South Africa?

CURNOW: President Obama has just recently made a comment in Senegal where he is, saying that he will be visiting South Africa over the coming days. It's unclear if his schedule will change, if Nelson Mandela passes on, but he has said that he will be here in the coming days.

He also paid tribute to Nelson Mandela saying he is a personal hero, but I'm not unique in that regard, I think he's a hero for the world. And if and when he passes, his legacy will live on.

So, you know, this is a man who means so much to so many people. And all of them are gathering here and across the world waiting, of course, for news. He's still in a critical condition. We understand he's still on life support. And you know his family have also visited here, all aspects of his family, from his wife's family -- Graca Machel's family, from the family to his first marriage to Evelyn from his family from his second marriage, to Winnie, they've all been gathering here. So, too, has the South African President Zuma. He left about half an hour ago.

So there is this sense of people gathering around his bedside. It's unclear what that means.

Also, remember, his daughter Maki, coming out on the state broadcaster saying on the radio that he's still very critical and that really anything is possible.

LU STOUT: As you said, Jacob Zuma has canceled his trip to Mozambique. You've been witnesses friends and relatives coming over to visit Mandela there on life support in the hospital. And Robyn, this is a very tricky question, it's a very, very delicate question. If a decision is to be made about continuing life support for Nelson Mandela, who would make that decision?

CURNOW: You know, it is a tricky decision. And I think, you know, if any family members were listening to us, they'd be horrified, you know -- the international media or even people outside the immediate inner circle are even asking that question. There is such sensitivity to the issue of his health, to the issue of what decisions need to be made. Really, this family is quite struggling, is quite angry with people, even anyone outside here saying what's going to happen, are you going to make a decision?

When I spoke to the family over the weekend, they said rather cyptically he would make that decision. He would know when to bow out. But the fact that he is on a ventilator, you know, is there going to be a decision to switch off. You know, we just can't speculate.

You know, in some cultures maybe it is the wife's decision to do that. Here within the Mandelas, within the Xhosa culture, within South Africa I think there will be more consensus with all aspects of the family here, and also remember with the tribal elders back in the eastern Cape who will also, I think, be party to any decision that's made, but it'll be taken, I think, by the family as a whole. And of course this is a very big family. And there are also a lot of differing opinions within this family.

So, you know, this is an incredibly sensitive difficult time, and I think, you know, there's no easy answers here for anybody.

LU STOUT: No easy answers. Robyn Curnow joining us live from Pretoria, thank you so much for that.

Now as you just heard, the U.S. President Barack Obama says that his thoughts and prayers are with Nelson Mandela and his family. Now Mr. Obama has been speaking at a news conference in Senegal alongside the country's president Macky Sall. And Senegal is the first of three African nations the U.S. president is visiting in a weeklong trip to discuss trade, development and democracy.

Mr. Obama says that despite Nelson Mandela's ailing health, he still plans to travel to South Africa in the coming days.

Now White House correspondent Brianna Keilar is traveling with the U.S. President. She joins us now live from the capital Dakar, the capital of Senegal. And Brianna, what else did President Obama say about Nelson Mandela?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Kristie, it was really interesting. He reflected a lot about his personal connection to Nelson Mandela long before he ever met the man. He talked about when he was in college at Occidental College in California in the 80s that he was inspired by Nelson Mandela's anti-apartheid message. This is something that he's written about in his book, "Dreams From My Father," where he talks about speaking publicly about this. And he said today just a short time ago at this press conference here in Dakar that he didn't imagine at the time that Mandela would ever be released.

And for him, he said that it showed promise and possibility in the world that that could happen obviously with Mandela going on to lead the country of South Africa.

He did say that he'll be going to South Africa still. He's here in Senegal now. The next stop on his seven day trip is to be South Africa and then Tanzania. But at this point, Kristie, while the White House isn't saying officially that they are considering changing the itinerary, they are monitoring this situation very carefully. They're obviously trying to be respectful. You heard about the sensitivities there that Robyn in South Africa talked about. And so, no doubt they are considering contingencies at this point, but as of right now his itinerary is set and continues to be so.

LU STOUT: And while there in Senegal, answering a number of questions at that press conference, what did the U.S. president say about the NSA leader Edward Snowden?

KEILAR: Now this was fascinating. I think what he said about this may have been the quote of the day. Snowden, who currently is still believed to be in Russia -- and there's been some question, especially in past days as there was discussion of him perhaps leaving Russia -- President Obama said I'm not going to scramble jets to get a 29-year-old hacker, something he delivered pretty wryly I will say during this press conference.

He said the real focus here is the damage that has already been done and the vulnerabilities that this process -- that Edward Snowden, what he revealed about these NSA programs, the vulnerabilities that that showed, trying to make sure that this doesn't happen again and trying to make sure that these vulnerabilities are patched up.

He also said -- he was also asked about whether or not he had called President Xi or President Putin because of their involvement in this, because Hong Kong allowing Snowden to leave and China's role in that and Russia allowing him to come into the country. And obviously there's been frustration in the Obama administration about that.

He said, I haven't called them, because I shouldn't have to. This is a routine issue of extradition. And he said he didn't want to elevate it to the level of letting it get involved in all of the other important business that he has with China and Russia. He said he didn't want to be wheeling and dealing on other issues because of trying to get this young man, as he put it, and I'm not going to scramble jets to get a 29-year-old hacker, Kristie.

LU STOUT: Interesting words there. Brianna Keilar joining us live from Dakar, thank you very much indeed.

Now let's take you live to Ecuador. Officials from the government, they are speaking right now. They are expected to address the issue of the fate of Edward Snowden, the NSA leaker. Let's listen in.

BETTY TOLA, ECUADORAN SECRETARY FOR POLITICAL AFFAIRS, (through translator): ...one, ratified in article four of the foreign law. And therefore, it is pointless to try to misrepresent any state who is going to consider his asylum.

It has been pointed out also that, like in every other country, the (inaudible) government deserves information and opposes strongly such statements. When this information is used to hide human rights breaches, that is when it is a problem. And also when it's in breach of a sovereignty of other states, and also when it hampers the decisionmaking for granting asylum.

It's worthwhile to point out that the statements of Mr. Snowden are in relation to revealing and leaking secrets (inaudible) operation. And he's charged with offenses which could be covered by the Inter American Commission of Human Rights. (inaudible) ratified by the U.S.

FERNANDO ALVARADO, COMMUNICATIONS SECRETARY FOR ECUADORAN PRESIDENT (through translator): In the face of the (inaudible) and the threat by certain political sectors, by the media, by the U.S. media, which has put pressure to our country, Ecuador says that we do not accept any threats and pressure from anyone. We do not deal or trade in our principles no matter how important the trade advantage will be. This was granted as a (inaudible) for countries fighting against drugs.

This became soon a new instrument of blackmail. As a result, Ecuador renounces fully and an irrevocable way such statements. Ecuador offers the U.S. economic aid of $23 million a year, which is similar to the one we used to receive from the U.S. for benefits -- trade benefits.

Also, anything we are fighting against torture, (inaudible) killings and any degrading acts against humanity.

Citizens of Ecuador and of the whole world -- Ecuador is one of only seven countries which has ratified all the human rights instruments. And we request in a friendly way to the U.S. to ratify at least any of these, starting by the Inter American Commission of Human Rights, or the San Jose Agreement as the basis for the Inter American system or coalition for human rights.

We understand that there must be mechanisms to fight against terrorism, but we cannot accept that using them, human rights are not respected.

We would like to express our affection and respect for the U.S. country, which always kept excellent relations with the U.S. And we understand, also, the (inaudible) they have been subject to. We would have liked that with the same urgency that they have demanded to have Snowden handed over, (inaudible) communication by the U.S. embassy in Ecuador. We would like many of the (inaudible) Ecuadorian fugitive sheltered in the U.S., especially the corrupt Ecuadorian bankers who led the country in 1990 to bankruptcy, we would like them to be also extradited from the U.S. and sent to Ecuador.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Ladies and gentlemen, good morning. Thank you very much dear colleagues..

LU STOUT: All right, comments there from the Ecuadorian government. You heard just a moment ago comments about Ecuadorian fugitives in the U.S. and Ecuador asking for them to be extradited back to Ecuador. Of course, the context to all this, the NSA leaker Edward Snowden is seeking asylum from Ecuador. Also in that statement from the Ecuadoran government live in Quito we heard, quote, we do not deal or trade in our principles not matter how important the trade advantage might be.

Our Paula Newton is in Quito, Ecuador. She was also listening to that press conference just then. She joins us now. And Paula, your take on what we just witnessed.

PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Certainly, the Ecuadoran government trying to get full political mileage out of possibly accepting Snowden here. You know, this is very popular in some countries in South America and in the street. When you stand up to the United States, and by saying that we won't be blackmailed, they are really trying to poke a finger at the United States and saying, look, you can't be hypocritical about human rights. We will determine the Snowden issue on our own in our own good time and do not try and blackmail us with a trading relationship.

To put that into context, Kristie, the United States is Ecuador's largest trading partner. And we here at CNN have spoken to business people who have a lot to lose if for some reason the United States -- if it goes that far. And the United States then feels that it needs to penalize Ecuador over this.

But I think the best way to put this into context, Kristie, is to hear what Brianna Keilar just told you from Africa and to say that President Obama basically said I'm not scrambling jets for a hacker. What does that mean? That means that Edward Snowden, if he can find safe passage to Ecuador, can make it here and then Ecuador is free to negotiate as they will, determine his -- the value of his asylum, if they think it is a worthy case and he will stay here.

I think at the bottom line, we have seen from the Ecuadorans, that they will use this to their political advantage, what works best for their domestic politics here and in the broader context for politics in South America. And they're basically saying, we believe that Snowden does not deserve to be sentenced to life for something like this, for essentially doing a service to the world and the American people by determining that their government is spying on them in this way.

We still, though, bottom line, Kristie, as you know from Moscow, no word on exactly where Edward Snowden is and if and when he will be coming here to Ecuador -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: All right, Paula Newton joining us live from Quito, Ecuador, thank you.

You're watching News Stream, we'll be back right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back. And you're watching News Stream.

You're looking at a visual version of all the stories we've got on the show today. We've already told you about U.S. President Barack Obama's trip to Africa. A little bit later, we'll take you to Wimbledon where there have been a number of shocking crashouts.

But now, let's turn to the United States. Now the nation's highest court has given gay rights activists a reason to celebrate. Two decisions by the Supreme Court on Wednesday are seen as the biggest victories yet for same-sex marriage.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CROWD: DOMA is dead. DOMA is dead. DOMA is dead. DOMA is dead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: The court struck down key parts of the Defense of Marriage Act, known as DOMA. Now it denied federal benefits to same-sex couples by defining marriage as only between a man and a woman. And the ruling means that gay and lesbian couples can now claim things like tax breaks, health insurance and pensions. But it is unclear how soon they will get them.

Now the courts other ruling paved the way for California to resume same-sex marriages.

Now both decisions were close with the justices ruling 5-4.

Now that mirrors the national divide. Some 55 percent of Americans say same-sex marriages should be recognized, that's according to a recent CNN/ORC poll. And as Jake Tapper shows us, attitudes have changed dramatically in just a few decades.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JAKE TAPPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What's remarkable is not the celebrations, the couples lining up on the courthouse steps in San Francisco, joyful hugs in New York City...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have to get married now.

TAPPER: ...or the tears of joy on the steps of the Supreme Court where the plaintiffs in the case took a call from President Obama on live television.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, Mr. President.

TAPPER: What's remarkable, for those of us over 30, is the relative quiet among the opponents of same-sex marriage. For many supporters of same-sex marriage, today was a long time coming, but in the scope of history America has had a remarkably short change of heart on the issue The 1969 riots at the Stonewall Inn in New York's Greenwich Village was the first time the idea of gay rights percolated into the mainstream, though it certainly was not embraced. It wasn't until the 1990s that even discussing same-sex marriage began to pick up steam in the popular culture.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tonight at dinner I'll tell my mother I'm gay.

TAPPER: And on this, both supporters and opponents of gay and lesbian rights agree: the entertainment industry did a lot to change minds It was through the medium of television that millions of Americans first had gays and lesbians in their living rooms. RUE MCCLANAHAN, ACTRESS: I can accept the fact that he's gay, but why does he have to slip a ring on this guy's finger.

TAPPER: The Golden Girls launched in 1985 had a gay character in the first episode. And the topic was frequently discussed throughout the run of the series.

ESTELLE GETTY, ACTRESS: Everyone wants someone to grow old with. And shouldn't everyone have that chance?

TAPPER: Back then, 1985, 82 percent of the public opposed same-sex marriage, 11 percent supported it according to a Los Angeles Times poll.

In 1994, Pedro on The Real World: San Francisco introduced a gay man with HIV/AIDS to millions of then-teenagers. He died that year and was praised by President Clinton.

BILL CLINTON, 42ND PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Pedro became a member of all of our families.

TAPPER: But despite his praise of Pedro, President Clinton soon signed the very same Defense of Marriage Act that was struck down today, the law declaring that as far as the federal government was concerned, marriage was between one man and one woman Ellen DeGeneres came out in 1997 just one year later.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know, it must be very painful to feel like you don't fit in anywhere.

ELLEN DEGENERES, COMEDIAN: You're starting to bum me out.

TAPPER: And these proclamations of normalcy about what was called the love that dare not speak its name changed attitudes and prompted more real gays and lesbians to embrace their identities.

In 2004, the year the Bush campaign used the issue to drum up opposition to Democrats, Will and Grace was nominated for nine Emmys. And same-sex marriage was declared legal in Massachusetts. Several others states followed in short order, and public opinion moved quickly, too.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do we want?

CROWD: Equality.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When do we want it?

CROWD: Now.

TAPPER: And while the Supreme Court doesn't always align with public opinion, today's verdicts would seem to suggest the court is not immune to changing attitudes either.

Jake Tapper, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: But within the U.S., opinions on same-sex marriage vary depending on where you live. Now here you can see the 12 states that permit same-sex marriage highlighted in yellow.

Now California is expected to join that list again soon. And the states in red ban same-sex marriage.

Now keep that in mind when you look at these numbers. A recent CNN poll found that 63 percent of Americans in the northeast approve of same- sex marriage. In the west, it's 58 percent.

Now it drops in the Midwest to 51 percent. And in the south, it's 49 percent.

While gay rights activists and supporters consider Wednesday's rulings a win, they say that the battle is not over.

Let's bring in justice correspondent Joe Johns. And Joe, let's start first with the proposition 8 ruling. In California, how soon will same-sex marriages resume there in that state?

JOE JOHNS, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: This is a work in progress, Kristie. It's kind of all over the place. There are some people who say the clock started ticking yesterday and it could be as soon as 25 days from now. The people in the state of California are saying they would like to start it a lot sooner.

Part of this has to do with when a federal court out there can lift a stay on same-sex marriages so that legally you can get going with this. And the question is whether you can actually start marrying people before the paperwork is done at the court. So we'll see.

LU STOUT: And also a process of waiting to see after the DOMA ruling as well. I mean, when will federal benefits for same-sex couples be extended, especially to states that still have a ban on same-sex marriage?

JOHNS: Right. That, again, is an open question. We do know that federal officials are saying they want to move expeditiously, certainly the attorney general of the United States, Eric Holder said that just yesterday as well. But there are about 1,000 federal benefits that were cut off by the Defense of Marriage Act. And now they have to go back, open up the law, and make it possible for those same-sex marriage couples to get those benefits.

There's also a question of tax law and whether individuals who are already married, but weren't getting those benefits, can reach back and now for a few years previous actually get paid by the IRS for things the IRS previously took away. That's a complicated subject too.

LU STOUT: Yeah, and there's also the issue of benefits to same-sex military spouses. What is the Pentagon saying about that?

JOHNS: Frankly, I can't tell you what the Pentagon is saying about that, but it does appear that this administration is trying to move quickly. They were always in support of this. And in fact, if you remember, the administration refused to defend this law, the Defense of Marriage Act, in court. And that's how we got here.

So, the administration has always been on board with the position that the court took yesterday. And saying they're going to try to move fast.

LU STOUT: All right, Joe Johns joining us live from Washington. Thank you so much for that.

Now the United States is one of three countries where same-sex marriage is legal in some places, but not all. Now the other two are Brazil and Mexico. It is legal nationwide in these 14 countries. And the most recent additions include France, New Zealand and Uruguay.

And as that list grows longer, the New York Times' Nate Silver says that the number of people living in places that allow same-sex marriage has doubled in the span of just one year.

Now still ahead here on News Stream, the Egyptian president tells the nation that continued unrest threatens to paralyze the country. We'll tell you what he's doing to address the ongoing protests.

And survivors of the deadly floods in India search for their missing loved one. We'll share their stories.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong, you're watching News Stream. And these are your world headlines.

Now this just in to CNN, the South African President Jacob Zuma says that Nelson Mandela's condition has improved overnight. Now earlier, Nelson Mandela's eldest daughter said, quote, "anything is imminent." Now she adds that the family is still holding out hope. The 94-year-old former president is said to be on life support in a Pretoria hospital. And President Zuma has canceled an official trip to Mozambique. He made the decision after visiting Mr. Mandela on Wednesday night. Mandela's condition is still critical, but he said to be stable.

Barack Obama says his thoughts and prayers are with Nelson Mandela and his family. The U.S. Presidnet is in Senegal where he was greeted by President Macky Sall. It is the first leg of a weeklong trip to Africa to discuss trade, development and democracy.

Now Kevin Rudd was sworn in as Australia's prime minister earlier this Thursday. He challenged Julia Gillard for leadership of the ruling Labor Party on Wednesday and he won. Gillard resigned after the party vote and announced that she is retiring from politics.

Now it's been one year since Mohamed Morsi became president of Egypt. And he is acknowledging mistakes have been made. Addressing a divided nation on Wednesday, he vowed to correct those mistakes. And he ordered government ministers to appoint advisers who were under the age of 40 so that young people can assume a bigger role in running things.

Now thousands of people are still stranded in northern India trapped by landslides and flash flooding. Now Nic Robertson has been talking to some of those who made it to safety, but are still worried about those left behind.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Battered, bruised in a clinic, this college lecturer is (inaudible) away. He hasn't seen (inaudible), doesn't know where they are or how to find them.

He is not alone.

(on camera): Three people missing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Eight.

ROBERTSON: Eight people.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 25 people.

ROBERTSON: 25.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 25 people. They went together in our temple. We got only five people information out of them.

ROBERTSON: You're missing how many people?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 10.

ROBERTSON: 10 people?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

ROBERTSON: And are you getting any information?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

ROBERTSON: No information.

(voice-over): It's hard to keep count. Everyone it seems is looking for someone.

(on camera): This is your parents?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

ROBERTSON: And how long have you been looking for them?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: About one week. Last communication was on the 16th. (inaudible) tell them (inaudible).

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Lists of those local authorities can account for appear to be of little help to many. And frustrations are rising with officials and journalists alike.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (inaudible) temples, that boulders have come down -- that roads were destroyed, instead of taking photographs of those things, they should have taken the (inaudible).

ROBERTSON: At relief centers, police are taking details of the missing, relaying them to army bases helping pilgrims still stuck in the mountains. But resources to scour river banks and boulder fields are scarce. And the pressure for answers is mounting.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The number of people missing peoples are increasing.

ROBERTSON: Many people have contacted us, he adds. I don't have the exact number, but we are registering them fast.

(on camera): There are still an estimated 6,000 people stuck in the mountains, but the numbers arriving here at these relief camps is slowing to a trickle and with it hope of finding more survivors is waning.

(voice-over): This couple count themselves lucky, they've just arrived in town, tell us they have lost everything except their children. He describes a sudden, massive wall of debris and water hitting his shrine- strewn village. Anyone outside, pilgrim or villagers, he says, were swept away. How many missing, no one knows. The suffering here far from over.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Rishikesh, India.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now, gripping stories of survivor and suffering and scores of people still awaiting rescue from these monsoon floods. Let's get the forecast for India with Mari Ramos. She joins us from the world weather center -- Mari.

MARI RAMOS, CNN WEATHER CORRESPONDENT: Hey Kristie. Once the monsoon starts, the rain goes on for weeks at a time. They are getting some breaks in the weather, though, it's not as if it's going to rain all the time 24/7, but there is rain in the forecast every single day as we head through the next four to five days. At times that rain will be locally heavy in some of those areas hardest hit.

I want to show you something that kind of helps illustrate how difficult and why it's so difficult to get to those places that we've been talking about. And this is something a little bit different, it's from the India National Remote Sensing Center. And we're going to show you a little bit of before and after. This right over here is a before picture. This is what one of the hardest hit areas there can look like. And I want to show you the rivers right in there. And you can see the towns.

And look at what's happened after. The river has completely taken over the town. There are barely any buildings that are visible. There's only a little bit of buildings here on the southern side of the mountain.

Again, we we move this over to the side, you can see what the before looks like. The confluence of two rivers. There you see the river on one side. These are all buildings, all of those completely gone as you can see right into the after image.

This is a disaster. This is a situation that was repeated over and over and over across different parts of India. This is just one town in one river valley there. Just kind of gives you an indication of how hard it is.

This picture right over here is an after picture of the town. And actually this building is still visible in those before and after images that I was showing you there. And this is what the town looks like now.

It really is quite a hard situation. You're looking at it here from the north looking toward the south. So the water came in from here and headed that way and continued moving along that region. It really is a serious, serious situation.

The mountains are so treacherous here, Kristie, and that's why it makes it so difficult. This is a roadway. And look at this, this is close to the Nepal border over toward the north. There's the river toward the bottom. Look at the cars on this side. There's people trying to walk across. And then cars on the other side. And that huge, just almost as if someone took a rake and just scraped the mountainside down all of this trailing all the way down toward the river bed. That is why it's so hard to get around. And this is on a clear day.

So imagine once you see more -- and this other picture, this also in that same general area -- remember when we saw those buildings collapsing into the water? Well this is what's afterwards now. So this is pretty serious as well.

But anyway, this is why it's so difficult. Whenever you start to see mist or fog or wind or clouds or rain into these very rugged mountain areas, it makes it very difficult for those helicopters to fly into those areas.

You saw the roadway, so many of them have been destroyed, so it makes it even more difficult.

Scattered rainshowers, three to five centimeters of rain not out of the question here. Also, you can see that there's heavier rain farther to the south. This is where most of the monsoon action is right now. The satellite image shows us the same kind of situation into this region here.

So in the forecast, yes, there is more rain. Some of that rain will, at times, be locally heavy. We're starting to see a pretty good burst right over here just north of New Delhi into some of those areas affected by flooding. And remember, the flooding is not only in the north, we have seen some significant flooding also along coastal areas here including Mumbai. And you can see that in our warnings right over here across India to the north and areas farther to the south.

So this is very significant and still definitely an emergency situation, even though it's been over a week-and-a-half already since it happened. Back to you.

LU STOUT: Yeah, still an emergency situation there in northern India. Mari Ramos, thank you.

Now let's go back to Egypt now and the promises by President Mohamed Morsi to correct mistakes he made in his first year in office. Now there were clashes on Wednesday between Morsi supporters and protesters north of Cairo. And more anti-government demonstrations have been called for Sunday.

Now Reza Sayah is following the story for us in Cairo.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It was a night of ugly violence last night between supporters and opponents of Egypt President Mohamed Morsi. At least one person killed, more than 170 people injured in clashes in the city of Mansoura in northern Egypt. State media reporting the two sides going at it using rocks, Molotov cocktails and other object.

This could be a glimpse of what's coming on Sunday, the one year anniversary of Mr. Morsi's presidency. But not everyone is planning to celebrate. The opposition, the president's critics, the liberals, the moderates who claim the president and the Muslim Brotherhood have hijacked the revolution and sidelined everyone else, they're planning mass demonstrations against the president as part of a campaign that started a few months ago with a petition drive calling on the president to step down and demanding new elections.

Organizers of this campaign claim that they've gathered roughly 20 million signatures. If that's true, that's roughly 7 million more signatures than Mr. Morsi won votes last year when he became president.

There's deep concern that there's going to be violence on Sunday that's why all eyes were on President Morsi last night as he made a televised address to the nation. Could he be able to say anything to ease the tension in this growing conflict?

President Morsi began his speech with a conciliatory tone. This was the president playing the role of peacemaker, extending an olive branch to the opposition, calling for peace and unity. Then he shifted his focus and was very critical of factions that he described were trying to undermine democracy -- remnants of the Mubarak regime, that's who President Morsi blamed.

And he also acknowledged that he'd made mistakes, but he said it was important for Egypt to move forward.

His critics say that's still not enough to ease and pacify the anger of the opposition. Again, that's why all eyes are on Sunday where a potential showdown is coming between the two sides.

Reza Sayah, CNN, Cairo.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now you are watching News Stream. And still to come, Roger Federer, Maria Sharapova, Lleyton Hewitt, all top names in the world of tennis and all out of Wimbledon. Christina Macfarlane will have the details of a wild Wednesday on court next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back. You're watching News Stream.

And let's go back to our visual rundown of all the stories in the show. In a few minutes, we'll look at the man behind art that we see all the time without realizing it, a man who makes court sketches. But now to sports and a look back, an incredible day at Wimbledon.

Just look at all the big names that tumbled out of Wimbledon on Wednesday -- Sharapova, Azarenka, Tsonga, Wozniaki, Federer, Ivanovic, Hewitt, Jankovic, Cilic, it's a list that many -- includes many of former world number ones all gone on a day of upsets and injuries at the All England Club. But as shocking as the results were, by far the biggest shock was the fate of the man many regard as the best ever to play the game: Roger Federer.

Now quite simply, Roger Federer does not lose in the second round of grand slams, from Wimbledon in 2004 to the French Open a few weeks ago, Federer reached the quarterfinals of those grand slams and every single one in between, 36 tournaments in all, stretched over nine years. But that all ended on Wendesday when Federer was beaten by Serhiy Stakhovsky, ranked just 116 in the world.

Now let's bring in World Sports Christina Macfarlane. She's standing by outside the All England Club. And Christina, it was absolutely crazy, a number of top players are now out of Wimbledon, including Roger Federer. What happened? And could this be the beginning of the end for his career?

CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kristie, it was just an unprecedented day in Wimbledon's history yesterday and the most serious of which of course was the dethroning of the Center Court king Roger Federer. As you mentioned before, it ended his run of 36 consecutive quarterfinal appearances, but also it was his earliest exit from Wimbledon since 2002 just over a decade ago.

And most extraordinary of all was that he was out to a man ranked 116th, Serhiy Stakovsky of Ukraine who, let's face it, he outplayed Federer yesterday. He hit 72 winners, which was just remarkable for a man who we've never even heard of before.

But what of Roger Federer's future? Well, he was talking in his press conference yesterday, being asked if it was the end of an era, but he refused to say it was. He said he still has plans to go on and play for many years to come and that this certainly wasn't a moment for panic.

But it does raise the question, once again, as to whether Roger Federer is coming to the end of his run here as the champion, not only at Wimbledon, but over the whole of tennis. And let's remember that he also turns 32 in August. So many people saying that his game is slipping on the downward slope now rather than the up. And everything that's happened this week would lend precedence to that, Kristie.

LU STOUT: Yeah, it was a stunning loss for Federer, and also there at Wimbledon some players are complaining about the conditions of the grass court surface. Do they have good reason to be complaining?

MACFARLANE: Well, when you look at the stats, there were seven players that went out through injury. That's never happened at Wimbledon before in any round of the competition. And among them were the world number two Victoria Azarenka. She's a top two player who for a top seed has never been in the history of the game that a two seed has gone out of a grand slam and has dropped out midway through a competition for 31 years.

Also Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, world ranked number six, was out of the competition.

Azarenka was very critical about the grass yesterday. And her criticism was echoed by Maria Sharapova who was also defeated in a real shock yesterday against the world 131. So many people -- many of the players lending precedence to the fact that the grass was slippery.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARIA SHARAPOVA, 2004 WIMBLEDON CHAMPION: I buckled my knee three times, that's obviously my first reaction. You're -- and because I've just never fallen that many times in a match before.

VICTORIA AZARENKA, 2-TIME WIMBLEDON SEMIFINALIST: I don't know if it's the court, if it's the weather, I can't figure it out, but it would be great if, you know, if the club or somebody who takes care of the court just will examine, you know, try to find an issue.

CAROLINE WOZNIACKI, FORMER WORLD NUMBER ONE: I definitely slipped straight on, which, you know, I wasn't expecting. Normally on the grass you can expect to slide on the sides with your foot, but not really when you have a full grip underneath with your shoes, you know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: And Kristie we can tell you that the grass was examined after the number of criticisms that there were. And Wimbledon released a statement just last night saying that the court preparation had been exactly to the same meticulous standards as the previous years. And that they're almost identical, in fact, to last year. The groundsman here, as well, coming up and saying that he was 100 percent confident and happy in the playing surface.

So, the players may say it's the grass, but it could be down to other factors, including just the sheer number of tournaments that they have to play and the fact that they haven't had enough time to move from the clay court to the grass courts here at Wimbledon, Kristie.

LU STOUT: Got it. Christina Macfarlane joining us live, thank you.

Now over the past few weeks, we've been showing you the protests that have broken out all over Brazil as people voiced their opposition to spending billions of dollars to host major sporting events. But while the protests go on, so, too does the Confederation's Cup, a warm-up tournament for next summer's World Cup.

And World Sports Pedro Pinto gave us a look at what life is like in Belo Horizonte before a big match.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PEDRO PINTO, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: A new day in Belo Horizonte with protests on the horizon. With home favorites Brazil playing Uruguay later in the day, we had been told to expect disturbances at their team hotel in the morning.

But all was quiet, much to the relief of these fans who had come to simply catch a glimpse of their heroes.

The center of town was a different story, though. Thousands of locals gathered to continue to drive home their message that the Brazilian government should be spending billions on public services, not stadiums for the World Cup next year.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Everything needs to change, especially from a political standpoint. We need to restructure it all.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): We are here, because we are tired of the political injustice in this country. We want a better society. And we are all together to try to change it ourselves.

PINTO: We're now here at the Praca Serchi (ph) in Belo Horizonte. it translates into the seventh square, one of the most important in town. And this is where people are congregating. You can see here they're asking for justice. They're asking for less corruption. And they're all going to get together here, march together to the stadium, which is six, seven kilometers away. That's where they're expected to face some resistance from police. And we're hoping there won't be any violent clashes there.

There's less than an hour left for kickoff. I've just been speaking with some of the military police agents here. And they say that fortunately, there aren't any clashes with protesters. They say what really has helped is the fact that you can only get around the perimeter of the stadium if you have a ticket or one of these.

That's the situation on this side. We're going to check if it's any different on the other side of Mineirao Stadium right now.

The other side was also trouble free right before kickoff. But with 50,000 protesters planning a march to the stadium, some clashes were inevitable. Police had to use tear gas to disperse several pockets of demonstrations close to the ground. And there were outbreaks of violence.

Inside the stadium, Brazil managed to book a place in Sunday's Confederation's Cup final, but that show piece in Rio de Janeiro will also become the next target for those wanting their voices to be heard. For Brazil's police, it seems certain more unrest lies ahead.

Pedro Pinto, CNN, Belo Horizonte.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: As Pedro told us there, there was some good news on the pitch for Brazil. They beat Uruguay 2-1 on Wednesday. Paulinho headed home the winner from Neymar's corner with just four minutes to go.

Now that match does have a fairly significant history. Now the last time Brazil hosted the World Cup in 1950 they met Uruguay in the tournament's final match. Almost 200,000 people crammed into the stadium, a record attendance for a football match that stands to this day. And to the horror of the crowd, Uruguay won.

Brazil went on to win the World Cup a record five times, but they have never won it on home soil. They will get their chance to correct that at next summer's World Cup.

Now you're watching New Stream. And coming up next, you probably do not recognize this man, but you'll have definitely seen his work. He was on the show just a few minutes ago. Let's just say he never forgets a face.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Live from Hong Kong, you are back watching News Stream.

Now an update to a story we told you about earlier this week on the program, the American executive who said he was being detained by his employees at a factory in Beijing has now been released. Now this was Chip Starnes on Monday. He said workers would not let him leave factory grounds because of a pay dispute. Now he is the president and co-founder of the company Specialty Medical Supplies China.

And Starnes has now reached an agreement with the workers. Officials say 97 employees signed a new compensation agreement. And Starnes was free to leave after being held for six days at the factory.

Now earlier in the show, we told you about the historic rulings on same-sex marriage in the United States. Now no cameras are allowed in the Supreme Court chambers, so we showed you these sketches. Now you may have noticed the name in the corner there, Bill Hennessy.

Now Tory Dunnan caught up with him to find out what it's like to capture courtroom drama with drawings.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TORY DUNNAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Be careful what you do in front of Bill Hennessy. He never forgets a scene or a face.

Do you always get the big moment? Or have you ever missed it?

BILL HENNESSY, COURTROOM SKETCH ARTIST: I would say I've never missed the big moments.

DUNNAN: Hennessy is tasked with translating courtroom happenings into sketches you've probably seen before.

HENNESSY: Now this was a great one. This was funny. OK, this is just -- this was a crazy situation.

DUNNAN: The eyes of the courtroom, especially when no lenses are allowed.

HENNESSY: I really feel like I'm the camera that's not there.

DUNNAN: His career launched with an unexpected phone call while finishing up art school.

HENNESSY: So the woman from the office came to the door and just said I've got a TV station on the phone, does anybody want to draw in a courtroom? And I thought sure I'll do that, at least once I'll do that.

DUNNAN: At least once turned into thousands of times.

From the iconic Bill Clinton senate impeachment trial to the Unibomber, even Michael Vick's dog fighting case.

HENNESSY: As he stood there, I noticed the detail on the back of his hand was a tattoo of Superman, the Superman emblem. I thought, wow, what a contrast.

DUNNAN: While this may have fallen into his lap, Bill Hennessy says it's really the perfect fit, that he's always been a swift sketcher. He's captured some dramatic courtroom scenes and other scenes really, at times in less than a minute.

But there are still challenging moments.

HENNESSY: There's a huge gap between the needs and it's hard to make a living and survive that way. And the media is going the other direction.

DUNNAN: Still, Hennessy grabs his sketching tools, trying to keep this ancient medium relevant in a video centric era.

HENNESSY: It's pastels and color pencil and watercolor and, you know, regular old paper, and...

DUNNAN: Tory Dunnan, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now Japan is famous for its robots. Some are cute, some are creepy, and we'll let you decide which one this is.

I vote for cute.

Meet Kibo Robo, a talking robot reportedly bound for space. He's said to be heading to the International Space Station in August. He will talk with the Japanese Astronaut Koichi Wataka. Of course Kibo Robo will not be the only humanoid robot in space. NASA's Robonaut has been on the ISS since 2011.

And while we're on the subject of robots on Space, do you remember HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey, we've got some news about the man who thought it all up. When NASA's sun jammer solar sail mission blasts off into deep space at the end of next year, media reports say it'll be taking a small piece of the sci-fi author Arthur C. Clarke with it.

Now a few strands of Clarke's hair will be carried on the solar powered spacecraft.

Now the sun jammer project is named after a story written by Clarke in 1964.

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

END