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Day Two Of Pistorius Testimony Adjourned Early; Search For MH370 Black Boxes Search Against Time; Typhoon Peipah Set To Rock Philippines; Afghan Girl Sold As Bride At Age 6; Can Adam Scott Repeat As Masters Champion?

Aired April 8, 2014 - 8:00   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 a court hears Oscar Pistorius finally speak about the night he shot and killed his girlfriend. We'll bring you his testimony live when it resumes shortly.

The search continues, but no new pings have been heard in the Indian Ocean bringing us no closer to discovering where Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 is.

And Microsoft ends support for Windows XP, an operating system still widely used around the world.

OK, Oscar Pistorius, he is on the stand right now. Let's go live to the court in Pretoria where he is testifying for the second day in a row.

(OSCAR PISTORIUS TRIAL)

LU STOUT: Very emotional testimony there from the South African athlete Oscar Pistorius. You could hear him weeping still.

He described the night he shot his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp dead. Pistorius said this, quote, "before I knew it, I had fired four shots at the door. My ears were ringing. I couldn't hear anything."

He later said, "I didn't want to believe that it could be Reeva inside the toilet."

Now that was very significant testimony. This is the first time Oscar Pistorius has spoken in public about her death.

Now earlier in the day, he testified about his relationship with Reeva Steenkamp. He also testified about his mental state the night he shot her after mistaking her for an intruder. Now Oscar Pistorius, he's been giving evidence now for a second day at his murder trial.

Now you're watching CNN News Stream. We'll be back right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Moments ago, we heard emotional and detailed testimony from Oscar Pistorius detailing the night he shot and killed his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, at times weeping in court. He described how he shot Reeva Steenkamp dead. He said, quote, "before I knew it I had fired four shots at the door. My ears were ringing. I couldn't hear anything." He also said this, quote, "I did not want to believe that it could be Reeva inside the toilet."

Now this is the first time Oscar Pistorius has spoken out in public about her death. Earlier today, he testified about the nature of his relationship with Reeva Steenkamp saying that he was besotted with her.

He also testified about his mental state he shot her about the feeling of a vulnerability after mistaking her for an intruder in his home.

Now the South African athlete Oscar Pistorius, he's been giving evidence now for a second day at this murder trial. On Monday, he apologized to the family of girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

Now, let's turn to the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which disappeared 32 days ago. Now underwater pulses detected over the weekend have not been heard since. Investigators hope the signals were coming from the missing plane's black boxes, but the batteries on the pingers could expire at any time.

Australian authorities coordinating the search say that they are racing against time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID JOHNSTON, AUSTRALIAN DEFENCE MINISTER: You can be assured that we are throwing everything at this difficult, complex task in these -- at least these next several days whilst we believe the two pingers involved are still active.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Now today's search focused on one area of less than 78,000 square kilometers. That is a sizable reduction.

Now remember the search is in an extremely remote part of the Indian Ocean and started on March 18. It shifted north 10 days later, but the search area covered a whopping 319,000 square kilometers. Underwater efforts began on April 4. The search still covered about 217 square kilometers.

Now this is about a third of that size.

But officials say they need to narrow that area even more.

Now let's get the very latest now from Perth, Australia, that's where the search effort is all being coordinated. And CNN's Erin McLaughlin is there.

And Erin, where are we now in the search for more signals?

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kristie.

Well, a focus of this operation very much on that American run towed ping locator on board the Australian vessel the Ocean Shield. Angus Houston, the man responsible for this multinational search effort, briefing reporters earlier today, breaking the news that they have yet to acquire another signal. Take a listen to what he had to say."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANGUS HOUSTON, CHIEF COORDINATOR, JOINT AGENCY COORDINATION CENTER: The locator pinger work continues. There have been no further contacts with any transmission and we need to continue that for several days right up to when the point at which there's absolutely no doubt that the pinger batteries will have expired.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCLAUGHLIN: All right. Now the Ocean Shield is still out there combing the waters in a ladder-like formation, trying to detect any other potential black box signals. And the authorities here saying this is absolutely critical to the search effort. They need more information to narrow down the field, without which Angus Houston saying later that this is looking like it'll be a very long underwater search, Kristie.

LU STOUT: Search teams are out there. They're trying to pick up more signals. But overall, how optimistic, how cautious are authorities about the signals that have already been picked up?

MCLAUGHLIN: Well, at the moment they are -- I would say they're being cautiously optimistic. They're saying that this is their most promising lead. The signal that they managed to pick up is 33.2 kilohertz in frequency. The signal that they were expecting is actually 37.5 kilohertz in frequency. Angus Houston at the press conference earlier today addressing that discrepancy saying the manufacturer said that that difference can be attributed things like battery life and the conditions underwater. So they're still considering this their most promising lead at the moment, Kristie.

LU STOUT: All right, Erin McLaughlin there, really appreciate the update. Erin reporting live from Perth.

You're watching CNN News Stream. We'll be back right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

Now we are learning more details today about the relationship between Oscar Pistorius and Reeva Steenkamp. The Olympic athlete is testifying in his murder trial. He read out phone messages between he and Steenkamp earlier today. And just a few minutes ago, he gave an emotional account of the very night he shot her dead.

Now the search area for Flight 370 has significantly narrowed. But teams have been unable to relocate underwater pulses heard over the weekend. Now sophisticated listening devices are in the water, but the batteries powering the pingers may already be drained.

NATO says tensions in eastern Ukraine are of great concern. Pro- Russian protesters have taken over government buildings in three cities in Ukraine. In a speech on Tuesday, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen again warned Russia not to intervene.

Microsoft has officially stopped issuing security updates for Windows XP, that means any devices running XP are potentially vulnerable to hackers. Now the 12 year old operating system is still widely used around the world. It is estimated that 95 percent of ATMs still use Windows XP.

Now, back to the race against the clock to find Malaysia Airlines flight 370. Now teams are listening for a pulse coming from this device. Now the pinger is attached to an aircraft's black boxes. And Randi Kaye shows us how the beacons work.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If search teams in the Indian Ocean are hot on the trail of Flight 370's black box this man would know it. He's president of the largest manufacturer of black box pingers.

ANISH PATEL, PRESIDENT, DUKANE SEACOM: It is activated by this water switch. And on this side is the lithium battery.

KAYE: Anish Patel invited us to Dukane Seacom in Sarasota, Florida, where they turn out about 100 of these underwater airplane beacons daily. Authorities believe it was one of his team's pingers on board the doomed flight. He also told us authorities allowed him to listen to the pinger sounds just detected over the weekend.

(On camera): So you actually heard the pinger sound that the ship picked up?

PATEL: They've sent us some data.

KAYE: And how did it sound to you?

PATEL: Just like one of our pingers.

KAYE (voice-over): What does one of their pingers sound like? Listen.

(On camera): So it's instant. As soon as it hits the water it starts pinging.

PATEL: That switch doesn't take a lot of water to activate. It's designed that way. It's fool-proof as much as possible.

KAYE: So if this were in an airplane and hit the ocean this would start immediately, this pinging sound.

PATEL: If it was not damaged in the incident you saw how quickly it began to ping. KAYE (voice-over: In perfect conditions the pinger's pulse can travel as far as two and a half nautical miles. Ocean caverns and cliffs, even vegetation can get in the way, though, limiting that distance.

Before any beacon is shipped from here its sound output is measured in one of these huge 50,000 gallon tanks. It's lowered into the tank through the floor above. Surrounded by hydrophones, ultrasonic readings are recorded on this computer.

(On camera): This pinger is from TWA Flight 800 which went off the coast of New York back in 1996. Now this company made this pinger but after it was recovered they got it back. Now this one was found in shallow water but they are designed to function in water as deep as 20,000 feet.

(Voice-over): But what about the frequency? Crews at sea picked up a slightly lower frequency than the pinger's standard frequency of 37.5 kilohertz. Patel says water temperature can shift the frequency.

(On camera): It's so distinct, right? There's nothing else that would sound like this with this frequency.

PATEL: 37.5 kilohertz was selected because it is unique from the background noise in the ocean.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: But finding the black boxes does not mean the mystery of the missing flight will be solved. The cockpit voice recorder is only required to keep the last two hours of communication. MH370 likely flew much longer than that. Earlier conversation would have been taped over. But the flight data recorder retains the last 25 hours of information. So that device could allow investigators to piece together more of this puzzle.

Now a few minutes ago, we heard very emotional testimony from the Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius. He described the night he shot his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp dead last year. This is the first time he has spoken out in public about her death.

CNN's Robyn Curnow has been following the trial. She joins me live from outside the court in Pretoria.

Robyn, you were there and you heard that deeply emotional testimony. He -- Oscar Pistorius at times breaking down in tears.

ROBYN CURNOW, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, he had been largely composed throughout the day, his voice often steady, but it was when he got through those very crucial details of what happened that night, how he reacted, what he did, and of course those shots. And then, of course, the description of how he tried to get to his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp and realized he had shot her.

It was then that he started crying, sobbing uncontrollably. The judge took a unilateral decision to adjourn. The court broke for a few minutes. Coming back, Oscar Pistorius's defense said, listen, I've seen him outside, his shirt is wet from crying so much, and a good conscience he couldn't ask his client to come back to the stand. So what we see now, court adjourned for the day, Oscar Pistorius will continue that very powerful testimony tomorrow.

Now in terms of what all of this means, the impact on a legal level, not on an emotional level, let's get Kelly Phelps, our legal analyst from the University of Cape Twon. How has this all played out for you, and how do you think the judge is reacting to all of this?

KELLY PHELPS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, I think actually his response when speaking about the actual moments when he killed her and the immediate bloody aftermath of that is in keeping with some previous evidence we've heard that he's probably suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. Being forced to retread that crucial moment would certainly evoke that kind of response that's in keeping with his insomnia and the nightmares and the smelling of blood.

And certainly the court could pick up on that. Nel himself did not object when an adjournment was requested. It was quite clear that he wasn't in a fit state to continue.

And of course the impact this has is that it prohibits him from continuing to give a clear and coherent version of his events that can then form part of the court record, which is so crucial when the judge eventually makes her determination, because she can only decide things with reference to what is actually on the record.

CURNOW: That's key, obviously. But if this were, say, in the U.S. where there's a jury system there might be a different reaction or outcome to such an emotional, remorseful breakdown. Here in South Africa it's not the same. The judge is perhaps not even going to be moved by what happened today.

PHELPS: Yeah, I mean, if this were a jury system I think arguably you'd have a very satisfied defense team right now thinking that they'd done quite well. It's unlikely to have that kind of impact here.

Having said that, it has some impact. Judges aren't vessels devoid of emotion. Of course it's going to evoke some empathy, some sympathy from her, but she is absolutely equipped to separate her current sympathy with his state and his trauma from her legal determination of what was actually in his mind on the night in question. And we have no reason to expect that she will not do that as she has done in all of the other criminal cases she has presided over in her career.

CURNOW: Because legally speaking what is at stake here is intent versus negligence. And that's about his state of mind at the moment he pulled the trigger, isn't it?

PHELPS: Absolutely. Well, the intent that goes towards the murder charge is all about his state of mind. We have a subjectively self-defense in South Africa. The only thing the court needs to know is did he genuinely hold that mistake in belief.

When we then go council (inaudible) the court has to then consider was that mistaken belief a reasonable one. And only if the court finds that on the evidence that it was both genuinely held and reasonably held could he get a complete acquittal.

CURNOW: In terms of the facts, anything different in terms of his testimony? Obviously consistency is key.

PHELPS: Consistency is key. And here are certain points that I expect the prosecution will pick up on to try and suggest inconsistencies with his earlier affidavit, particularly things like having heard the bathroom door slam, having spoken to Reeva Steenkamp moments before he got out of bed to get the fan.

This is the first time we've heard that.

We don't know, though, whether the judge will construe those as inconsistencies and contradictions, or rather added detail. Because at a bail stage during affidavits, you're always giving a broad outline of events. And it is during testimony that you then layer the detail on to that version. And that will be the argument the state and defense will be having.

CURNOW: Last question, this is emotional for Pistorius, also for the families -- both sides watching from the gallery -- under cross-examination this is going to get even tougher.

PHELPS: Well, it certainly going to get tougher for Pistorius. This is not a good emotional state to enter cross-examination, but arguably it's getting a bit tougher for Gerry Nel as well, because with Pistorius in such a broken state he also has to walk a fine line to not appear like he's badgering someone who is emotionally unstable, but rather doing responsible, but searing and aggressive cross-examination. So I think he's going to be in quite an awkward position as well after today.

CURNOW: OK, Great. Kelly Phelps there from the University of Cape Town.

Now I was in court for most of the day. And what was very interesting is that Oscar Pistorius sat quite still through much of his testimony and he looked directly at the judge as he was talking, as he was going through not only the events of the February 13 and February 14, but also earlier in the morning we heard him for more than two hours read out these very intimate personal messages between him and Reeva. The defense obviously trying to build and continue to prove, they say, that they were in a loving relationship. And throughout that time, he was composed, he was looking directly at the judge.

So this breakdown, this uncontrollable sobbing right at the end of the day. It was different from much of the day's proceedings. And of course as we said with Kelly now, another big day for him, day three of his testimony. It's unclear when his cross-examination will start.

PHELPS: All right, Robyn Curnow there with Kelly Phelps, our legal analyst. A big thank you to you both.

You are watching News Stream. And still to come, up next we hear the moving story of this Afghan girl. At just 6 years old, her family sold her as a child bride. Her father says he had no choice. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Now in Afghanistan, thousands of families live in extreme poverty in refugee camps like this one in Kabul. And some feel the only way to make ends meet is to sell their daughters as child brides.

Anna Coren has the story of one little girl who was given a second chance.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In a strange building surrounded by unfamiliar faces, a little girl clings to her father's side. Her blue headscarf and red tattered dress, treasured belongings, as well as a ring she wears on her tiny finger.

This is Nagma, a painfully shy 7-year old whose dark brown eyes have witnessed far too much.

Last year this was her home. A refugee camp on the outskirts of Kabul. Her family had fled the fighting in Helmand Province, but their New Life would prove just as harsh. As one of nine children, Naghma's 3-year old brother froze to death during the brutal winter after her mother fell ill and had to be hospitalized.

Her father, Taj Mahammad, borrowed $2,500 to pay for medical bills, but when he couldn't repay the debt, he married off Naghma, then 6-years old, to the money lender's 19-year old son. "It was a difficult decision", says Taj Mahammad. "Everyone gives away their child but to give her away like that was just so hard."

While the presence of the international community in Afghanistan over the past 12 years has somewhat shifted attitudes towards child marriage, the inhumane and cruel tradition is still unfortunately common. Even more so in places like these refugee camps where economic hardship leads fathers to sale their young daughters.

When human rights groups found out, they contacted U.S. lawyer, Kimberly Motley.

KIMBERLY MOTLEY, ATTORNEY: She's a little daddy's girl.

COREN: The American attorney has been working in Afghanistan for the past five years. Her pro-bono work involves representing victimized Afghan women.

Through an assembly of Afghan elders known as Jirga, she managed to get Naghma out of the marriage and back to her family with an anonymous donor paying off the debt.

MOTLEY: I'm certainly very happy that Naghma did not have to be married off at the age of 6 so I'm pleased with that but I'd like to make sure she gets an education and that she, you know, becomes successful.

COREN: Which is the reason why they're visiting Afghanistan's National Institute of Music. It's a school that takes orphans and underprivileged children and is offering placements for both Naghma and her brother.

While touring the school, they stop in a classroom filled with rubab, Afghanistan's national instrument. Naghma's father used to be a musician and this was what he played.

"When I couldn't pay my debt I felt like I'd been thrown into the fire and then someone rescued me -- that was Kim. She has been so kind to me. I'm ready to do whatever Kim says."

And that's to make sure his children receive an education, the only chance they may get at changing the course of their lives.

Anna Coren, CNN, Kabul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Wow, thank goodness that little girl was rescued.

Now Moscow is warning Ukraine not to use force against pro-Russian demonstrators. Now Russia says a civil war could erupt if Kiev tries to quell uprisings in eastern Ukraine.

Now pro-Russian demonstrators have clashed with security forces in Luhansk (ph), one of several cities where protesters have stormed government buildings.

Now Russia's foreign ministry says it is closely watching the events.

Now, if you're using Windows XP, Miscrosoft says it is the end of the line. They have ended support for the operating system. So what does that mean? Well, it means that Microsoft will no longer provide security updates for computers running Windows XP, leaving those computers open to hackers.

Windows XP has been around for 12 years now. It is still widely used. In fact, Windows XP runs on 14 percent of all PCs. It runs in 30 percent of all retail stores and 95 percent of ATMs run Windows XP.

So what's the solution here?

Well, you've got to upgrade. Microsoft says that they will support Windows 8 until at least 2023.

You're watching News Stream. And coming up next, we'll give you a preview of this year's Masters golf tournament. Defending champ Adam Scott is hoping for another win this year, but can he clinch the title two years in a row? We'll take a look at who he is up against.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back.

Now let's take you straight to Pretoria. Live pictures there. Oscar Pistorius leaving the court room. Let's bring up the pictures for you. And let's watch.

All right, live pictures there from Pretoria. You just witnessed Oscar Pistorius leave the courtroom. We heard very, very emotional and detailed testimony earlier today within the hour of him providing details for the first time ever in public about the night he shot his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp last year.

Now to sports. A big headline this week, the first major golf championship of the season it's kicked off this week in Augusta, Georgia, though bad weather put a damper on the first day. And all eyes are going to be on Adam Scott, the first Australian to win the Masters last year. He says the win is still fresh in his mind, but fellow Australian Jason Day hopes he can take the trophy home this year.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADAM SCOTT, 2013 MASTERS CHAMPION: I'm filled with emotion coming back here. I've been able to play a few times and I can't help but think every time I walk down the 10th hole of what happened last year and the atmosphere and feelings, you know, I had and was able to share with close group of people around me who were here. So, you know, it's left its mark on me even before I'd won, but now it's such a strong impact on my whole career really.

JASON DAY, TIED FOR 2ND PLACE IN 2011 MASTERS: I always wanted to be the first Australian to win that. You know, obviously Scotty got there first, so I mean, I'm happy to be the second.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: There's Jason Day there.

Now let's get more now from Living Golf's Shane O'Donoghue, he joins us live from Augusta, Georgia. And Shane, can Adam Scott repeat as Masters champion?

SHANE O'DONOGHUE, LIVING GOLF HOST: It's a big ask, Kristie Lu. And you know the thing about Adam Scott is that he's coming in here with a lot of confidence. He was very close to winning another tournament only a few weeks ago in Bay Hill. He shot some incredible scores there. Didn't quite get the job done, but he's been working on his game, just getting ready to peak for this first major championship, as you say, of the season.

Now it's a big ask, because if he does it, he'll only be the fourth man in history to win back to back following the likes of Jack Nicholas, Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods, who is not here this week because of that operation on his back last week.

So it's a pity he's not around.

But Adam Scott is the man to beat this week. But Jason Day, you know the Australians are on a great run at the moment. He was third last week. He was tied second in 2011. He really likes this course. And a lot of people are pointing at him.

However, he has been off injured for the last six weeks, since he won a world golf championship event in Arizona.

So it remains to be seen what his form is going to be like, but they are certainly two to watch.

LU STOUT: Yeah, it remains to be seen what his form -- Jason Day's form is going to be like, but he, Adam Scott, two to watch. They are also two of seven Aussies there at the Masters. So, Shane, what are the chances that one of those seven, they are going to get a chance to wear the green jacket on Sunday.

O'DONOGHUE: WEll, that's what they all want, Kristie. You know, and that is what everyone dreams about if you're a boy growing up watching the Masters (inaudible). This is the 80th staging of the Masters tournament. And, you know, since about 1949 they have been presenting a green jacket to the winner. And it's become synonymous with I suppose immediate legendary status. So it's -- they -- you know, it's the ultimate prize in golf for these guys. It's what they all really, really dream about. Very few can actually achieve it.

And, you know, there are a lot of guys now who are in with a chance. You know, some are saying that this is wide open this year, but you know the form horses are, as you say, Jason Day, Adam Scott.

I like the form of Justin Rose as well, who the U.S. Open last year. And Rory McIlroy look very relaxed coming in here. He shot a wonderful score on Sunday. And he'd like to finally win this title having come so close in 2011.

LU STOUT: Yeah, this could be Rory's year. What about Bubba Watson, the winner in 2012. How will he fare this year?

O'DONOGHUE: He's under a little bit of pressure, more so from himself. You know, I've spent a lot of time with Bubba, and we filmed with him for Living Golf. You can see a clip on our latest show at the moment.

And Bubba is a great guy. He's a very creative golfer. He did have a win in L.A. early in the season. But you know he's the kind of guy who just puts a bit too much pressure on himself. If he can relax a little bit more and enjoy the experience -- because he doesn't have to prove it to anyone, then I think we'll see him perform up to his potential.

But last year in particular was particularly tough as the defending champion. I think another year of experience we'll see him do better in 2014.

LU STOUT: All right, Shane O'Donoghue, live from Augusta, thank you so much for a preview of the Masters. Take care.

Time now for your global weather forecast. And now we're tracking two tropical storms here in Asia. We got Mari Ramos standing by at the World Weather Center with that -- Mari.

MARI RAMOS, CNN WEATHER CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kristie, thank you.

Just watching you right now talk about the Masters I've got to tell you the rest of the week the weather looks fabulous for golf. So, I think it's going to be great there across -- here across the southeastern U.S.

But anyway, let's go ahead and move on. And you mentioned these two tropical cyclones, one right there near the Philippines, the other one right here near -- leaving the Solomon Islands. Still some rainshowers there and possibly could have an impact on Australia in the next few days.

So let's go ahead and start, first of all, with Peipah. This tropical cyclone just off the coast here of the Philippines. It has been kind of slowed down just a little bit. So it kind of stayed away from the shoreline. It should have been there by now. Fortunately it has begun to take a turn a bit more to the north. And that's significant because this turn to the north will take it hopefully farther away from land.

But it is so close to land that it's already having an affect on you, especially here across some of these islands.

High seas and high winds -- 55 kilometer per hour wind moving to the north-northwest at 17 kilometers per hour.

This is where the forecast gets tricky. Officially what we're looking at is the storm continuing to move to the north-northwest over the next couple of days. And very, very slow movement. Then it's going to move into the central portion here of the Philippines. And that's significant, because remember that this is the same area, of course still recovering from Supertyphoon Haiyan just last year. So there's a lot of people still living in temporary housing, there's still a lot of recovery that is going on. So to get significant rainfall like this could be a huge, huge concern for people in this area.

Then, after that, the storm, as a tropical storm, not as a typhoon, will continue moving inland and hopefully start picking up speed as it moves away or moves through this central portion of the Philippines over the next few days.

So, we'll have to see what happens.

Will it move farther to the south, or will it stay on this track? Perhaps it will stay just outside of here and the center of the circulation will remain over the water. We'll just have to see what happens over the next few days, but definitely a very interesting scenario here starting to shape up with this tropical storm.

The other one is tropical storm Ita. This is the one that brought all of that heavy rain, remember -- we talked about it last week -- across the parts of Solomon Islands, leaving thousands of people affected and many, many homeless.

This weather system is also moving very, very slowly. It's moving to the west, northwest at about 6 kilometers per hour, which is unusual. Basically this is telling us it's been meandering around, because it was moving south, now back up north. So it's a little bit strange.

Winds are stronger, 150 kilometers per hour. We're expecting that meandering kind of scenario that it's been having to stop and begin tracking more first toward the west and then more towards the south. That makes it very interesting and very dangerous for this area here across northern Queensland with winds close to 200 kilometers per hour in the next couple of days. So this is an area that could have rapid development and it could have big impacts across this region.

This area already has had quite a bit of rainfall so we could see the potential not only for destructive winds, high surf and storm surge, but also Kristie concern about the amount of rain that will linger here for days on end.

We'll have to see what happens over the next couple of days, but definitely two things to watch. Back to you.

LU STOUT: Indeed. Mari Ramos there, thank you.

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

END