Return to Transcripts main page
NEWS STREAM
Netanyahu Pitches Against Iran Deal to U.S. Lawmakers; American Team Wins eSports Biggest Competition; Violence Erupts in Ferguson; The Syrian War From the Perspective of Damascus Residents; Backlash From Donald Trumps Comments About Megyn Kelly. Aired 8:00a-9:00a ET
Aired August 10, 2015 - 08:00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[08:00:21] LU STOUT: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong and welcome to News Stream.
Now it started as a peaceful rally for a black teenager shot and killed by police one year ago before it became another night of gunfire and
violence in Ferguson, Missouri.
Now we are live in Damascus to see how Syrians are coping with the country's long-running civil war.
And an American team picks up the grand prize at The International, the year's biggest tournament in professional gaming.
Another night of street violence in Ferguson, Missouri, and it came one year after the death of a black teenager shot and killed by a white
policeman.
Now the day started with peaceful remembrances, but after dark it turned ugly when protesters threw rocks and bottles at police and then
gunfire broke out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Patient as possible.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lesson to those who are...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A lot of gunfire.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: You hear the gunfire and the screaming there all caught on tape. Now three police officers were injured. And a journalist was
attacked and robbed in a parking lot. And CNN's Sara Sidner was there when the violence broke out. And she shows us what happened.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(GUNFIRE)
SIDNER (voice-over): Gunshots ring out on the streets of Ferguson on the one-year anniversary of Michael Brown's death. Erupting into chaos
overnight when gunfire sent protesters and police running for cover.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The suspect engages them with gunfire. The plainclothes detectives returned fire from the inside of the vans.
SIDNER: St. Louis County police say officers were involved in heavy gunfire in two shootings Sunday night. In one incident, police say a
suspect shot directly at plainclothes officers with a stolen .9 millimeter.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There were four officers who were in that van. All four fired at the suspect, and the suspect fell there. He is in critical,
unstable condition.
SIDNER: We captured some gunshots on camera as I interviewed Ferguson's interim police chief.
(GUNFIRE)
SIDNER: Angry protesters clashing with police, hurtling bottles and bricks at officers. Police deploying tear gas to disperse the crowds.
Two businesses were damaged and looted. These images capture bullet holes in unmarked police cruisers caught in the crossfire.
The night of unrest following a day of peaceful vigils to remember Brown's death and the movement it started.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... two, one!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... two, one!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... two, one!
SIDNER: Demonstrators marched and observed four-and-a-half minutes of silence, the amount of time [SIC] Brown's body lay on the street after he
was shot. Brown's killing sparked outrage and protests nationwide. Though the officer was later cleared by both a grand jury and the Department of
Justice investigation, anger bubbled over. Violence then...
(GUNSHOT)
SIDNER: ... mirroring violence now, one year later.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: Alarming scenes in Ferguson overnight. CNN's Sara Sidner reporting there.
Now, the officers who fired at the man who is now in critical condition, they have been placed on administrative leave. They have
between six and 12 years of police experience.
Now all this week, CNN's senior international correspondent Fred Pleitgen will be giving us a rare look inside war-torn Syria. Our CNN team
is on the ground in the heart of the capital city of Damascus. We'll bring you the first report in that series in just a moment.
But first, let's break down how the country has descended into total chaos. Peaceful protests, they begin back in March of 2011 with Syrians
calling on President Bashar al-Assad to step down.
He refused, and now more than four years on, the country remains mired in civil war.
Now the UN says that 220,000 people have been killed in the crossfire, and more than 4 million have fled the country. And the rise of rebel
groups fighting the Assad regime have also given way to a war within a war. The ISIS insurgency has thrived in this power vacuum. Just last month, the
U.S. State Department said that more than 16,000 foreign fighters swarmed Syria in 2014, most to join the ranks of ISIS.
Now the quick rise of Sunni militants in Syria has pushed the international community to finally step in. U.S.-led coalition airstrikes
against ISIS targets in Syria began last year.
Now U.S. officials say that they could step up that air campaign in the coming days now that the Pentagon has dispatched six war planes to a
Turkish airbase near the border. But for some Syrians, talk of more airstrikes holds little promise of an end to brutal violence on the ground.
Fred Pleitgen traveled to the country's capital to see how Damascus residents are coping with the war.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[08:06:00] FRED PLEIGEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: As America wraps up its air campaign against ISIS with additional jets taking off for
the Turkish airbase in Incirlik, many people that we speak to here in the government control part of Damascus first of all believe that these
airstrikes will make very little difference. And many also feel that America's actions in Syria are aimed against the Assad government.
"America always helps the terrorists," this man says. "They're hiding behind them. America wants to change things, but doesn't do it openly."
"Airstrikes are not enough," this man adds. "Whenever the U.S. hits ISIS, they just go underground."
What you would usually find here when we came in the past to Damascus was that people were very optimistic that the civil war would be over very
soon. And when you speak to them today, they're a lot more cautious, many of them still couldn't fathom that groups like ISIS could ever make it here
to Damascus, but many people that we spoke to say they believe that the conflict will go on for a very long time.
"Everything is possible in this country nowadays," this woman says. "You can't say that something will definitely be avoided, but we hope we
can continue to stop ISIS."
When you go through the streets of Damascus, you could tell that people are trying to keep an air of normalcy. The cafe's are full, people
are out, but you can also feel that people here know exactly what's going on, on the battlefield, they keep track of things, they keep up to date,
and many of them say they hope that there will be some sort of negotiated solution to this conflict.
Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Damascus.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: Now a picture of apparent normalcy there in Damascus, but as you heard in that report a lot of skepticism about the future of Syria.
Now our senior international correspondent Fred Pleitgen is in Damascus. He joins us now live. Fred, how are Syrians reacting to the news
of the day, the news of that ramped up air campaign against ISIS with the U.S. now moving war planes to this Turkish base?
PLEITGEN: Well, it's certainly something where -- as they said before in that report, people here are quite skeptical that it'll make any sort of
difference. One of the things that we also have to keep in mind is that since we're in the government-controlled part of Damascus that people are
also seeing airstrikes that their own air force is carrying out against ISIS as well, and still what they've been seeing is that their own army,
the Syrian army, has been having a lot of trouble holding up against ISIS.
You've had the case of Palmyra, which of course fell to the extremists a couple of months ago, and then just last week there was another town in
the Governorate of Homs that also fell to ISIS as well, and a lot of Christians had to flee that town. And there's already talk of ISIS
atrocities there.
So it is certainly something where people here are getting more and more concerned about the ISIS threat.
One of the things that they, for instance, saw in the past couple of months as well was that Yarmouk, which is a former Palestinian refugee camp
that saw a lot of violence in the past also had ISIS militants move in there.
Since then apparently ISIS has left again, but it's clear that they have already infiltrated the city here to a certain extent. And while
people here don't believe they could take over Damascus any time soon, it would be strong enough to even come in here in full force, you do notice
that skepticism sort of starting to seep in, you see -- you notice that the mood seems to be getting a lot more skeptical than it was a couple of
months ago, Kristie.
LU STOUT: Now, a lot of concern about the ISIS threat. A question about ISIS and Assad. I mean, how has the overall fight against ISIS in
Syria affected Bashar al-Assad and his position in Syria's civil war?
PLEITGEN: Well, I think to a lot of people who supported Bashar al- Assad from the beginning, it has cemented that support somewhat, because a lot of people here, especially if you speak to the minorities here in
Syria, the Alawites, of course, which is the sect that Bashar al-Assad comes from, the Christians, but the Druze as well. They do believe that
the Assad regime by and large, not all of them by all means, of course, but by and large believe that the Assad regime is relaly their insurance policy
against getting taken over by ISIS.
But of course the battlefield here in Syria is a lot more messy than that. You do have a lot of other rebel groups as well, some of them
fighting ISIS on some fronts while fighting the Assad regime on other fronts. And so certainly there are a lot more players in the mix. And for
some people here in Syria, it is very difficult to see where their loyalties lie at this point in time, because also you have turf that's
changing hands very frequently with the Assad regime making gains here, losing ground here. There's a lot of shuffling that's going around,
especially if you look at the northern part of Syria.
So it does make it very, very difficult for people here on the ground.
But by and large you can tell that especially those of the minorities they really have cemented to a large extent their support for the Assad
regime if only because they fear what ISIS could bring to them if they could take over large parts of this country, Kristie.
[08:10:46] LU STOUT: Yeah, it's very, very difficult for the people of Syria to calculate what's going to come next. They're facing two very
uncertain conflicts. As you report, hope is fading for many people there in Damascus. Have you met Syrians who have said that even those in
Damascus who have said that they've had enough and they're planning, or they want to leave?
PLEITGEN: Oh, there's a lot of people. There's a lot of people that you speak to who certainly have that in their mind. And if you look at the
border crossings that go off into Lebanon, there are a lot of people who are leaving the country at this point in time, there's a lot of people who
feel that at this point in time it's not safe for them, especially if they have children to stay here in Syria. There's a lot of folks that you speak
to here who say they would love to go to Europe because they feel that in the long-term it could be unsafe for them here.
So, yes, I mean it is something that you see quite frequently.
But there's others who are holding out. I mean, by and large I have to say that even with people being more skeptical, even with the shortages
that are on here, even with gasoline being in short supply, some food being in short supply, they are trying to keep this economy running. It is quite
surprising how resilient the Syrian economy has been in the face of what's going on.
So, certainly there are still people, a lot of people who are holding out.
And one of the things that we also always have to keep in mind, Kristie, is that while millions of people have fled this country, many more
have become internally displaced, and a lot of them have actually fled to the government areas. You look at towns like Tartuffe (ph) that have grown
exponentially with many more people there than before, also Damascus, a lot of people coming here as well.
So, while many people are fleeing the country, many more are actually displaced inside the country, and that is a huge issue, not just for the
government, but also for international aid groups like the UN that are trying to keep these people fed and getting them medical supplies in water
and things like that.
LU STOUT: A riveting and comprehensive picture of life inside Syria. Fred Pleitgen reporting live from Damascus. Thank you, Fred.
Now we are following several attacks in Turkey this day. Local officials in the southeastern city of Cernak (ph), they say that four
Turkish police officers were killed by a roadside bomb. They say that the bomb was remotely detonated by a, quote, separatist terror organization.
Now meanwhile in Istanbul police have detained one of two people suspected of firing shots near the U.S. consulate today. Officials there
say that two female terrorists were behind that armed attack.
Now Turkey's semi-official news agency says there are no casualties.
Now there was also an explosion at a police station in Istanbul that wounded 10 people including civilians. A police officer and two attackers
were reportedly killed in a subsequent firefight.
You're watching News Stream. And still to come, no apologies from Donald Trump. The U.S. Republican presidential candidate says that he is
standing by his comments about a U.S. TV host.
Also ahead, South Korea responds after two of its soldiers are wounded by newly planted landmines at the North Korea border.
And President Obama is trying to drum up support in the U.S. for a divisive nuclear deal with Iran.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:15:25] LU STOUT: Welcome back.
Now the powerful Typhoon Soudelor has left a trail of destruction along Taiwan and the southern coast of China. In southern Taiwan the wind
was so strong it swept up an entire car. Just take a look.
You see in this dashcam video, we'll bring it up for you, the car is moving along a road when it runs into a powerful gust of wind and it just
disappears. And as the Twister rolls ahead, the care is swept up.
Now the Apple Daily in Taiwan reports that the car flew along with the wind for around 30 meters before landing on the side of the road. It says
that the three people inside only suffered minor injuries.
Incredible story and remarkable video there.
Now North Korea says it will start using giant loudspeakers to blare propaganda into the north after a 10 years hiatus. It comes after South
Korea accused the north of planting landmines at the border.
Now two South Korean soldiers stepped on the mines last week and they were badly wounded. The UN command has investigated and says the mines
were recently planted along a patrol route.
Now that border area is known as the demilitarized zone, or the DMZ. It was set up in 1953 when the fighting ended. And the area is intended to
be a buffer zone between the north and south technically still at war.
Now the UN command now condemns the north of violating the truce by intruding into the southern half of the DMZ.
Now for more on the latest flareup there, let's bring in CNN's Kathy Novak from Seoul. And Kathy, South Korea's response. I mean, how is
blasting propaganda through loud speakers a, what they promise, a harsh price for what North Korea did?
KATHY NOVAK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's a good question, Kristie, and it remains to be seen whether there is more to come
or whether this will be the extent when it comes to the South Korean response. We certainly had tough talk from the South Korean defense
ministry today and we had the vice defense minister on local television promising that the retaliation will hurt the North Korean military and that
it will satisfy the South Korean public.
Now there certainly will be people in the South Korean public who say that more should be done than blasting these messages across the border,
but the extent of the significance of this psychological warfare shouldn't be underestimated either. This is something that really does upset the
North Korean regime, because this, as you know, is a hugely closed off nation where the leadership of Kim Jong un tighting controls everything
that goes into the ears of its citizens. And the message is generally that the leader is not just a leader, but in fact a god.
And now some of the messages that will be being blasted in the direction of Pyongyang will be things like your leader is not doing a good
job, that there is another way out there and that your human rights are being violated.
And this is something that South Korea hasn't done in more than a decade. So we can expect that this is something that will likely upset Kim
Jong un and his regime.
LU STOUT: Yeah, it's response an example of psychological warfare against the DPRK. Kathy Novak reporting live from Seoul, thank you Kathy.
And now to U.S. politics and the uproar surrounding Donald Trump over a comment he made after last week's Republican Presidential debate. Now he
suggested afterward that if -- that it was as if a female Fox News moderator was out to get him. Trump said, quote, "you could see that
there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever."
Now his rivals say that remark crossed a line, but Trump says only a deviant would interpret it that way."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, REAL ESTATE DEVELOPER: I was going to say nose and/or ears, because that's a very common statement. Blood pouring out of
somebody's nose, it's a statement showing anger. She had great anger when she was questioning me. Only a deviant would say that what I said was what
they were referring to, because nobody can make that statement. You almost have to be sick to put that together.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: OK, Fox News Anchor Megyn Kelly, she addressed the contrversy as well.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MEGYN KELLY, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: I'm a big girl. I can take it.
As I say, I think -- I understand why people get upset, because the stakes are very high here. You know, we're talking about the Oval Office.
And they really like the candidate they like. And they don't want to see the candidate take any hits. You know, that is the way you feel and get to
feel if you are just a voter as opposed to the journalist.
We're not allowed to feel like that. We're not allowed to take those considerations into mind when we craft these debate questions. We have to
hit them as hard as we can at this stage, so the voters can figure out who is our guy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: All right, Megyn Kelly there.
Let's take a closer look at this controversy and how it might affect the trump campaign.
CNN's senior political reporter NiaMallika Henderson joins us now live from Washington. And Nia, after that comment to Megyn Kelly, is Trump
facing a backlash from voters?
NIAMALLIKA HENDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, he's certainly facing a backlash from other Republicans. We don't know yet about voters. We'll
have to see. Obviously the votes actually aren't cast until next year. So far he's been riding high on the polls. And what the polls say is going to
be the next metric of how this is actually faring with rank and file Republican primary voters.
So far what we've seen when Donald Trump has said something controversial, whether it's about illegal immigrants or whether it's about
John McCain who was a former POW. It hasn't really hurt his rise in the polls. In some ways it might have helped him.
So, we'll have to see if this is a different thing. Obviously he's gone after Megyn Kelly here as a Fox News anchor. And we know that Fox
News is watched and loved by a lot of conservatives. So we'll have to see whether or not this recent dust up, which he keeps sort of stoking hasn't
apologized for, if anything, has doubled down on it. We have to see if that actually has any impact on Donald Trump who has so far risen in the
polls because of his very plain-spoken blunt talk.
LU STOUT: Yeah, we'll have to wait and see. And I know you'll be watching the poll number very, very closely.
Let's talk about Megyn Kelly and the response to her. She has calmly responded herself. She is -- has taken the high road. Is the Republican
Party now rallying behind her?
HENDERSON: Very much so. Trending on Twitter, there was the hashtag #standwithMegyn. And lots of Republicans have come out and touted that
line, people like Carly Fiorina who of course is running for president as well in this Republican field, the only woman to do so. People like Jeb
Bush have come out and asked Donald Trump to apologize. He was disinvited from a popular conservative gathering this past weekend.
So, yes, very much people are trying to take this opportunity to really push him aside, to marginalize him. They haven't been able to do
that. So far they very much think he's a danger to the Republican brand, a danger to their prospect of gaining, you know, a good shot at the White
House come 2016. So they are very much trying to get him to disavow these statements and also sort of push him aside from the Republican Party so it
doesn't damage their brand.
LU STOUT: All right, Nia, appreciate your analysis. That was NiaMallika Henderson joining us live from CNN Washington. Thank you.
Now coming up, you're watching News Stream. And an orthodox approach to fight human trafficking. After the break, we show you how one tech
company is orchestrating a nationwide crackdown on slavery.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:25:32] LU STOUT: Coming to you live from Hong Kong, you're back watching News Stream.
Human trafficking has grown into a multi-billion dollar business. And CNN's Freedom Project is committed to exposing and combating modern-day
slavery. Our business correspondent Maggie Lake looks at how one organization is using a tech based solution to help bring down trafficking
networks inside the United States.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MAGGIE LAKE, CNN CORRESPONENT: Behind a locked door in a secret Washington D.C. location, workers patrol one of the front lines in the war
against human trafficking.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: National Human Trafficking Resource Center, how can I help you?
LAKE: It is one of America's uncomfortable truths. In almost every state, both affluent and poor, human trafficking exists.
Bradley Miles runs Polaris, the non-profit company that operates the national human trafficking hotline.
BRADLEY MILES, POLARIS: One of the functions of national hotlines is people calling with tips. And lots of people are comfortable calling a non-
profit like Polaris because we're not the government, we're not law enforcement, when they call us, their voices aren't being recorded as part
of the federal case
LAKE: Polaris had independence, but it lacked the resources to keep up with increasingly sophisticated criminals. That is until a series of
introductions began to tip the scales. In 2006, Polaris teamed up with Marc Benioff's cloud software company Salesforce.com.
MILES: Our partnership with Salesforce was started with realizing that every single hotline call that we receive, we need to collect great
data on that call. So we built out a whole customized system with salesforce's support of call tracking, data collection on that call.
LAKE: Data mining firm Palantir was next with a 1.5 million dollar donation. Google joined forces, giving the human trafficking hotline
prominent display in its search engine. Communication specialist Twilio created a short code called "Be Free" that allows victims to text message
for help. Thanks to these high tech partnerships, Polaris now has a real time picturing of trafficking in the U.S. It tells a chilling story.
It has uncovered nearly 20,000 cases of trafficking over seven years, many of them minors.
Could we being looking at a situation where big data actually helps you get the big fish, not that individual one guy but sort of the region
person who is really driving this?
MILES: What we're able to do is when you have a single national center that's looking at the 60,000 foot view of all of it at once. And
piecing all of those pictures, you begin to see patterns. You begin to see trends. So we now actually can say there are 25 distinct types of
trafficking that exist in the United States. Now we're able to understand this trend and fight the crime type by type.
What we want people to realize is stay alert, stay vigilant, know that you're probably encountering this stuff more than you think you are, and
know that a national hotline exists. You can actually be the thing that makes a difference in one person's life because you're the one who actually
took time to notice and took the moment to make the call.
LAKE: Maggie Lake, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: Now all this week the CNN Freedom Project will focus on what the business world is doing to fight modern-day slavery. You also
hear from a former child slave and from the former CEO of a well-known modeling agency
Now you're watching News Stream. And still to come, a group of U.S. lawmakers is in Israel as a vote looms on an Iran nuclear deal. We'll be
live in Jerusalem.
Plus, millions in international gaming goes to team USA. We'll tell you who they beat for the title straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:31:53] LU STOUT: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. You're watching News Stream. And these are your world headlines.
In Ferguson, Missouri people gathered to mark one year since the killing of black teenager by a white police officer. But it turned ugly
when protesters threw rocks and bottles at officers. And police critically wounded man who they say fired at them.
Now there have been at least three separate attacks in Turkey today. In Istanbul, officials say two women who were part of a far-left group,
fired shots near the U.S. consulate. One of them was detained. There was also an explosion at a police station in Istanbul that wounded 10 people
including civilians. And four Turkish police officers were killed by a roadside bomb in Cernak (ph).
Now police in Kabul say at least five people have been killed and 16 were wounded in a suicide car bombing in a checkpoint near the Kabul
airport. The Taliban have claimed responsibility. And it comes after 50 people were killed in a series of attacks on Friday.
In eastern India, 10 people have been killed in a stampede outside a Hindu temple. 50,000 people were lining up outside the temple in Darakhan
State (ph) and some attempted to jump the line and then chaos ensued.
Now the U.S. congress has five weeks to decide whether or not to approve a divisive nuclear deal with Iran. U.S. President Barack Obama
says America's credibility is on the line. He has been trying to rally support for the deal despite some pushback from lawmakers in his own
political party and from Israel.
Now Mr. Obama spoke exclusively to Fareed Zakaria.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES; The question has to be, is there in fact a better path to preventing Iran from getting a nuclear
weapon than this one? And I've repeatedly asked both Prime Minister Netanyahu and others to present me a reasonable, realistic plan that would
achieve exactly what this deal achieves, and I have yet to get a response.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: Meanwhile, several dozen Republican lawmakers arrived in Israel a short time ago. They join 22 Democratic members of Congress
already there. Now they met with Israel's prime minister who has been lobbying hard against the Iran deal.
Now for more, Oren Liebermann joins me now live from Jersualem. And Oren, Mr. Netanyahu, we know he's been very clear very vocal about what he
makes of the deal, but how does he plan to sway U.S. lawmakers?
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, here he had a chance with these 22 Democrats in Israel to meet with them, to sit down with them. He
met with them yesterday. That would be a golden opportunity for Netanyahu to see if he can sway some of those votes, to swing them from pro-deal to
anti-deal. And if he swings even a few of them, this visit from the Democrats would have to be considered a success for Prime Minister
Netanyahu.
In the meantime, he's put out statement, he's put out his statements in the media saying how bad the deal is, all of that is an attempt to keep
trying to sway any lawmakers he can against the deal. He knows he has these Republicans in today. That should be a much easier sell since many
of them already agree with him and will vote against the deal, or are expected to vote against the deal.
LU STOUT: And Oren, what impact as the visit and Netanyahu's continued push against the deal have on the already frayed relationship
between Israel and the U.S.?
[08:35:02] LIEBERMANN: Well, Kristie, there it certainly won't help. These two leaders have a very, as you said, frayed relationship and this
has played out this battle over the Iran deal has played out very publicly in the media through statements. We even saw the statements that President
Obama made about Prime Minister Netanyahu in the interview with CNN's Fareed Zakaria. This will likely keep happening since neither of these
leaders is likely to change their tack on how they're handling this deal, which is to say Obama will keep lobbying for it and Netanayahu will keep
lobbying against it. That certainly won't help their relationship, Kristie.
LU STOUT: Also, big picture, how unprecedented is this, having the Israeli prime minister, an overseas head of state, engaging with U.S.
lawmakers on a U.S. foreign policy issue?
LIEBERMANN: President Obama has said he doesn't remember anyone else doing this. Now Prime Minister Netanyahu has insisted he's not meddling or
intervening in U.S. affairs, he's simply looking out for Israel's security by making these statements, by meeting with these lawkamers.
That's a bit of a tough sell there. It certainly looks like he's intervening. And just as President Obama doesn't remember any other
foreign head of state doing this, it doesn't look like there's been any other Israeli head of state who has intervened, or at least tried to
intervene in U.S. affairs like Netanyahu right now.
LU STOUT: All right, CNN's Oren Liebermann reporting live for us. Thank you, Oren.
Now coming up right here on News Stream, it was a battle of wits and dexterity. The best teams from around the world gathered at Seattle's Key
Arena to take each other on in a virtual world. We'll update you on who won The International.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LU STOUT: Welcome back.
Now an American team has won the biggest prize in competitive video games, scooping up more than $6 million at The International.
Now the team called Evil Geniuses, they beat the Chinese team Sedeck (ph) in the final.
Now the tournament pits the best teams in the world at the game DOTA 2, it's a multiplayer battle arena game that's a little like chess crossed
with capture the flag. Even Geniuses are the first team from North America ever to win The International.
Now one of the stars at The International was 16-year-old Pakistani Said Hassan, also known as Sumail (ph). He is the youngest player on the
Evil Geniuses team, and the least experienced. He only rose to prominence earlier this year, helping his team to victory in the DOTA Asia
championships when he was only 15.
Now, he is the youngest ever champion in The International history.
Now living in Pakistan Sumail (ph) actually grew up without his own computer and even sold his bike so he can keep gaming. And it paid off.
Again, they earned $6.6 million as the winners of The International. And take a look at how that compares to other sports right here on the
chart. Australia earned under $4 million for winning this year's cricket World Cup. The U.S. team earned just $2 million for winning the women's
World Cup in football. And Jordan Speith, he took home just under $2 million for winning the masters.
And what makes this even more impressive is that The International is only in its fifth year. So the prize may only increase in the years ahead.
Now, there's now less than one year to go until the start of the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Now golf and seven a side rugby are both being
added to the program for the first time in years. However, the organizers passed up the chance to include some of Brazil's favorite sports.
Shasta Darlington has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Jumping into the abyss and harnessing the wind currents. It may not be an Olympic sport,
but it's all the rage in Rio.
So, maybe against my better judgment, I give it a try.
Oh my gosh, all right. Oh my god. OK. OK.
Once the shock wears off, amazing views of Pedro De Gavia (ph) and San Cohado (ph) beach.
And according to my guide Eddie Colliveda (ph), Brazilian paragliders have proposed to include it in the Olympics.
If this were an Olympic sport, we would be traveling 50 kilometers from one city to another. I'm loving it, but I don't know if I would want
to go 50 kilometers. That might be too much.
Finally, a smooth landing.
It was amazing. It was amazing. Once you get up there, you feel like a bird.
And we soon discover other wouldbe Olympic sports like footchu volley (ph), kind of like beach volleyball, but played without using hands or arms
invented in Rio when football was banned from the beach.
"We're fighting to make it an Olympic sport," he says. "It's beautiful to play and to watch."
Of course, it's obvious which country would win.
Another uniquely Brazilian sport Capoeira invented by African slaves to disguise martial arts as a dance, always to the twang of (inaudible).
Maybe not an Olympic sport.
"It's difficult to imagine a competition with points for this or that, who wins, who loses," he says. "But it's part of our culture."
Culture that will be on display across the city in 2016.
Shasta Darlington, CNN, Rio de Janeiro.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: Oh, great color there from Rio.
And that is News Stream. I'm Kristie Lu Stout, but don't go anywhere, World Sport with Christina McFarlane is next.
END