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NEWS STREAM

ISIS Fighting Back in Battle for Mosul; Super Typhoon to Make Landfall in Northern Philippines; Pro-Duterte Protesters Clash with Police Outside U.S. Embassy; Melania Trump Defends Husband, Blames Billy Bush, Media. 8:00a-9:00a ET

Aired October 19, 2016 - 11:00:00   ET

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


[08:00:08] KRISTIE LU STOUT, HOST: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong and welcome to News Stream.

Heavy fighting on the way to Mosul. Iraqi and Peshmerga forces push toward the last stronghold of ISIS in Iraq.

Anti-American protests outside the U.S. embassy in Manila as the Philippine president is in

Beijing to forge closer ties with China.

And Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump prepare for their final debate with just three weeks to go before the presidential election.

Iraqi forces are closing in on the outskirts of Mosul in their push to retake the last major ISIS stronghold in the country. Military leaders are

reporting strong gains to the north of the city. They say more villages are being recaptured. Dozens of ISIS fighters have been killed, and a

large number of weapons destroyed.

In some areas, though, they are facing tough resistance. An Iraqi official says some troops have been surrounded by terrorists about 20 kilometers to

the south.

And for the very latest, let's bring our Clarissa Ward. She joins us from near Mosul. And Clarissa, it's day three of the offensive, Iraqi forces

are reporting progress. What is the latest on the operation?

CLARISSA WARD, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kristie, We're here with the Peshmerga forces at their front line position. Essentially,

their closest front line position to the city of Mosul. Mosul is about eight miles behind me, but if you look at our other shot that we have got

set up for you, you can see in a little bit more detail the town that is really just behind me

down that hill. That town is still under ISIS control, and all day today and throughout part of the night, as well, we have seen coalition forces

bombarding that town with artillery.

Also in the last couple of hours we've heard roughly three air strikes, trying to soften targets around the edge of the town that will allow

Peshmerga forces and other forces who may be joining them, such as U.S. special forces who are assisting, mostly advising and assisting from

behind, but they are out and about with Peshmerga forces in small groups of about a

dozen or so.

We presume that they will start to push in on this town behind me, which is under ISIS control, some time in the next couple of days, but I think what

it goes to show you and what it illustrates is that even though there has definitely been a string of successes on the

battlefield for coalition forces, as many as 14 villages now liberated, this is a marathon, Kristie, and not a sprint. It is going to take time to

soften and take all these villages surrounding Mosul before you then start to push in to the center of the town.

And that is undoubtedly, you can hear there that, I think, may have been another air strike, but that is where the heaviest fighting will likely

take place, in the center of the town.

Now, you did mention Iraqi forces facing some pretty stiff resistance to the south of Mosul, namely in the city of Qarakosh (ph) which is a

Christian town, and also near the town of Nimrod.

So it's a very kinetic, active situation on the battlefield, but certainly the worst of the fighting, likely, has yet to come -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: You report this is a marathon, it's not a sprint. We have learned that it could take up to two months for forces, anti-ISIS forces,

to retake the city of Mosul. You know, when ISIS militants are so vastly outnumbered, why that timeline? What are the main challenges ahead?

WARD: It's a really good question, Kristie, because there's only 5,000 to 7,000 estimated ISIS

fighters inside the city of Mosul. That is nothing compared to the tens of thousands of forces who are now involved in this fight to take back the

city, but the real problem you have is that ISIS fighters are not wearing a uniform. It's very easy for them to essentially disappear into the

civilian population -- don't forget, 1.2 million estimated civilians living in the city of Mosul.

And this makes it a very difficult balancing act for coalition forces, because on the one hand

they want to get ISIS out of there. On the other hand they, don't want to destroy the city to the point

where those 1.2 million people are essentially forced to leave the city. They are very much hoping to

avoid the kind of dire humanitarian crisis that we've heard predicted by many, Kristie.

LU STOUT: And CNN has already encountered civilians who have fled their villages near Mosul. What's going to happen to them? What kind of

humanitarian support and aid is available for them?

[08:05:08] WARD: Well, the real concern at the moment is that the humanitarian aid is not being set up quickly enough to match the pace of

the operations. So, let me give you an example. We passed on our drive here to the front lines a small camp that is being built, presumably could

house maybe a few thousand people, but that is nothing compared to the tens of thousands, possibly even hundreds of thousands, who may be flooding

into these Kurdish areas once the heavy fighting hits the center of Mosul.

Kurdish forces understandably say we can't take anymore people. We have already taken so many since ISIS captured the city of Mosul two and a half

years ago. We've reached our limit.

So what you have potentially is a very dangerous situation where nobody wants to prepare for all those potentially hundreds of thousands of

civilians who could be flooding out, because what they want to do, what they are hoping to do, is allow them to stay in their homes. And so you're

seeing, I think, more strategic targeting when it comes to air strikes. When it comes to artillery, trying, essentially, not to destroy the entire

city.

But as we both know, Kristie, in actual fact once that fighting really starts in earnest in the city center, you're talking about battling street

for street potentially. It is tough to imagine how civilians will be able to remain in their homes.

So, a lot of aid workers and agencies on the ground here very concerned about what lies ahead -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: Absolutely. Deep concern for civilians inside Mosul.

Clarissa Ward reporting for us live near Mosul. Thank you, Clarissa.

And now the battle for Mosul, it marks a significant phase in the overall fight against ISIS in Iraq and syria. The terror group has been losing

territory. You can see here that the area under its control has shrunk to the parts marked in red.

Now, in just over a year ISIS was kicked out of three key cities in Iraq. And last month, it lost

control of Syria's border with Turkey.

Then over the weekend, Syrian rebels drove ISIS out of Dabiq (ph), a town believed to be the site of an apocalyptic battle.

And now ISIS is facing the invasion of Mosul, its last major stronghold in Iraq.

And even as ISIS retreats, there is fear among Iraqis that the militants could return. Arwa Damon met with residents of one village who told her

the horrors of life under ISIS and how scared they are still.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): We just came across this group of people. They're from one of the villages nearby.

We were actually on our way towards one of the Iraqi army Ninth Division position.

According to what these gentlemen were saying, and we can go now and talk to some of the women as well, their village was liberated by the forces

about two days ago. All these people were actually living under ISIS.

And then today they heard a rumor that ISIS was returning. So they all actually fled their village and have now ended up here and are waiting for

permission to go back home.

And so what these women are saying is that ISIS actually reemerged from some of the orchards, some fighters did.

And so they ran out. She doesn't even have her shoes on as you see this. They lived under ISIS. They now have to flee. I mean this is one of the

ongoing catastrophes of this war.

They're talking about the fact that the children are hungry. And she's saying every day they would say come to us. They would say do you have

guns? Do you have mobile phones? Give them over. Whoever they found a mobile phone they would kill. They starved us. They killed people that

would smoke.

And they were so happy then when the army came in. And then ISIS reemerged.

They're saying come on, let's go, let's go. And they're going back to their village. Most of the families are returning. And the Iraqi and Kurdish

commanders who we spoke to say that there was no ISIS counterattack.

But you heard what they were saying to us. You saw how scared they were. And this just shows you the psychological and other trauma that they have

been through where just the rumor that ISIS has returned sends them running for their lives.

Arwa Damon, CNN, Kenesh (ph), Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And while fighting intensifies around Mosul, the skies above Aleppo to the west of Syria have fallen silent for now.

Now people in rebel-held east Aleppo tell CNN there have not been any air strikes since Tuesday morning. Moscow announced Russian and Syrian forces

would temporarily halt strikes to allow rebels and civilians to leave. And a pause comes ahead of an eight hour truce planned for Thursday.

But the UN says it does not have the security guarantees it needs to carry out humanitarian operations there.

The president of The Philippines is on the second day of his trip to China. He is trying to forge closer ties with Beijing while threatening a break

with this country's closets ally, the United States.

Now meanwhile back home in Manila, protesters who support his latest moves clashed with police leaving dozens of people injured.

Our Alexadra Field has been following the story for us. She joins us now live. And Alex, tell us more, what led to these violent clashes outside

the U.S. embassy today in Manila?

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, these are demonstrators who are echoing some of these very strong sentiments that you've heard articulated

by Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, who at one point said that U.S. President Barack Obama could go to hell, threatening to break off the

relationship with the U.S. You have this crowd of people who are outside the embassy who also want to see a more limited relationship between these

two countries.

It got violent when police stepped in, tried to step these protesters back. And that's when

you saw a clash between these two groups erupt.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FIELD: A frightening scene in the Philippines as a police van plows into protesters during an anti-U.S. rally outside the U.S. embassy.

The van first backs up into the crowd and then quickly pulls forward, catching demonstrators under the wheels.

ISABELLA MOHTANO, JOURNALIST: We're seeing about two meters from the main entrance of the U.S. embassy. At that point, police fired teargas to

disperse the crowd. The crowd got even more violent, and at that point a police mobile started backing up against the crowd.

FIELD: Manila police say rowdy protesters were trying to topple the van, telling CNN Philippines the driver may have panicked.

Dozens of protesters and police were injured in the chaotic rally. About 1,000 protesters gathered to demonstrate what they call an unequal foreign

policy between the U.S. and The Philippines, traditionally, staunch allies.

President Rodrigo Duterte aims to distance The Philippines from the United States. He's currently in China trying to forge closer ties there. The

Manila demonstrators hurled red paint at the U.S. embassy logo. 21 people were arrested. Police say they are investigating the confrontation.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FIELD: And, Kristie, you had the Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, who's obviously had these very strong words against the U.S. We haven't

yet heard his comments about these protests today. We know again that about two dozen people were arrested as a result of the protests. We'll

hear more from the president, his reaction while he travels through China.

LU STOUT; Yeah, terrifying video there of these protesters being mowed down outside the U.S. embassy there in Manila.

Alexandra Field reporting for us live. Thank you, Alex.

Now, Matt Rivers he has been stationed, meanwhile, in Beijing. And earlier I talked with him about what President Rodrigo Duterte hopes to gain with

his visit to China. And here is how he explained it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDEN: Well, the first thing that he keeps saying is he wants stronger bilateral ties, but more specifically he's talking

about commercial agreements. It was with state media in an interview that was published within the last few days with CCTV that he said that China

was The Philippines' economy's only hope, which is really, really strong language.

And so coming here, he wants to tap into China's vast economic potential, but also kind of

sidestep the issue that really is the elephant in the room right now, and that would be their overlapping territorial claims in the South China Sea.

LU STOUT: And what is China want to get in return?

RIVERS: Well, China will, being China, they are not really as forthcoming as President Duterte

has been, but most analysts would tell you that it's likely that China will ask for some concessions from The Philippines.

They want to leverage their economic might in order to gain some more leverage in the

Scarborough Shoal, that area that China seized in 2012, that had previously been claimed by The

Philippines, still is claimed by The Philippines. And what China, most experts will tell you really wants to do there is eventually build an

artificial island, because if it were to do so and be able to put military technology on that island, it would really enhance their strategic

capability in the South China Sea to the point that the United States has actaully called it a red line.

That's probably more of a longer term down the road kind of goal. In the short term, China

probably wants to open the doors for negotiation with The Philippines and see what they can get the Philippines to agree to when it comes to perhaps

giving up some of their sovereignty at the Scarborough Shoal.

LU STOUT; And with the balance of power in the South China Sea at stake here, of course, the United States is watching this very, very closely.

How could this visit reshape the relationship between the U.S. and The Philippines?

RIVERS: Well, what you have seen over the course of the relatively new Duterte administration is a very sharp pivot away from the United States

and towards China. He has increased his negative rhetoric against the United States. And it's really important to remember that the Philippines,

historically, have been one of, if not the strongest ally for the United States in Southeast Asia. They are treaty allies. And so the United

States certainly not looking at this pivot towards China with any favorable light.

In a way, Kristie, this is kind of like a zero sum game between the Chinese and the Aamericans in the South China Sea. Anything that benefits the

Chinese is likely to be to the detriment of the Americans.

LU STOUT: Matt Rivers there speaking to me earlier.

Now, Ecuador has acknowledged it cut off Julian Assange's internet access. The foreign ministry says the wealth of documents published by WikiLeaks

has affected the U.S. election campaign and that Ecuador does not interfere in the electoral processes of other countries.

Now, Assange has been living in the Ecuadorian embassy in London the last four years. WikiLeaks recently published emails that were apparently hacked

from Hillary Clinton's campaign.

The U.S. government says it believes Russia is behind the hack in an attempt to affect the

presidential elections.

Coming up here on News Stream, we go live to Las Vegas for a preview of what is sure to be a

fiery final debate of the U.S. presidential campaign.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Coming to you live from Hong Kong, you're back watching News Stream.

Now, the third and final debate of the U.S. presidential election is set to take place in Las

Vegas later on Wednesday. Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton is leading in the polls, but she will likely be on the defense over revelations in

hacked emails from her campaign.

And the Republican candidate, Donald Trump, he is still reeling from sexual misconduct claims against him.

So, what can we expect from this debate? Now, CNN's Manu Raju is in Las Vegas, He joins me now live from the venue. And Manu, ahead of the

debate, there are new campaign controversies for both the candidates. They are, of course, going to factor in this

debate, right?

MANU RAJU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, absolutely, you expect those to come up. And for Donald Trump, the stakes are enormous. This is his last, best

chance to turn around his campaign after perhaps one of the rockiest months of any presidential candidate in recent memory.

Poll after poll now shows him losing this race, including in some conservative-leaning states. So, the question is, can Donald Trump reverse

his downward slide?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAJU: Ahead of tonight's final debate, Donald Trump throwing a Hail Mary, going after Washington and intensifying his unfounded claim that the

election is rigged.

TRUMP: They even want to try and rig the election at the polling booths.

RAJU: Even calling on his supporters to monitor polling places.

TRUMP: People are going to be watching on November 8th.

RAJU: And doubling down on his media conspiracy theories.

TRUMP: There's a voter fraud also with the media because say so poison the minds of people by writing false stories.

RAJU: The GOP nominee pledging to shakeup Washington.

TRUMP: It is time to drain the damn swamp.

RAJU: Now promising if elected he will push for term limits for members of Congress, a populist proposal that has yet to succeed.

TRUMP: Decades of political failure and special interest collusion must and will finally come to an end.

RAJU: Trump opting not to respond to President Obama, who ridiculed the billionaire's voter fraud accusations.

BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You start whining before the game is even over, if whenever things are going badly for you and you

lose you start blaming somebody else, then you don't have what it takes to be in this job.

RAJU: Instead announcing that he's bringing Obama's Kenyan-born half- brother Malik, a Trump supporter, to tonight's debate.

Trump and Hillary Clinton head into tonight's final debate with looming controversies. Undercover videos released Tuesday produced by discredited

conservative activist James O'Keefe suggest it was Democratic operatives working for the Clinton campaign instigating violence at some Trump

rallies.

HARRY REID, (D-NV) SENATE MINORITY LEADER: It is not hard to get some of these -- to pop off.

RAJU: Both the DNC and the Clinton campaign deny any involvement. And those on the tape deny any of the proposed schemes ever took place.

Meanwhile, Trump is facing accusations from at least nine women who say he made unwanted advances without their consent.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These are people who are trapped. Put his hands under somebody's skirt on an airplane.

RAJU: Trump rejects those claims, but Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid blasting Trump's behavior.

REID: It is kind of a sickness.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RAJU: Now, Hillary Clinton has been off the campaign trail for the last several days preparing for this debate. She's trying to actually fine tune

a message aimed at courting some of those core conservative, moderate voters in an effort to flip these Republican leaning states and make them

democratic come November.

But one thing, Kristie, we have not heard the Clinton campaign or Hillary Clinton herself address all these revelations from these WikiLeaks emails.

They've got these internal Clinton emails. We'll see how she deals with that tonight -- Kristie. Absolutely.

Just in the hours ahead, the final showdown there in Las Vegas. Manu Raju reporting for us. Thank you, Manu.

Now, earlier I spoke with Keith Richburg. He's the director of the University of Hong Kong's journalism and media studies center and former

Beijing bureau chief for the Washington Post and started by asking whether this unpredictable campaign is being felt in Asia.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEITH RICHBURG, UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG: Oh, absolutely. Everybody is confounded by this, not just Americans, everybody I talked to, they wonder

how did American democracy get to this state. You know, I've been in Asia for a lot of these elections going on. I've been around the world for

others, and every one seems to be somewhat bitter and contentious, but nobody's ever seen anything quite like this, where all the norms are tossed

out the window. Every week there's a new scandal.

I mean, who would have thought, we're not even talking about the fact that Trump didn't pay taxes anymore because that story's old history now because

so many other things have happened in the interim. And it used to be people looked at American democracy as good or bad, it was something that

they actually looked forward to. You know, people really got engaged four years ago during the 2012 election or in 2008, the world was really

watching this spectacle. But this time people are kind of just appalled and wondering what happened.

LU STOUT: And let's talk about what's at stake in the event of a Trump presidency. I mean, he has been very vocal, tough on trade about an

America first type of approach to foreign policy. If he does, indeed, become president of the United States, what does it mean for Asia?

RICHBURG: Well, absolutely. Asia probably would be affected as much as everybody, except perhaps Mexico. He has already said he's going to put a

whopping 45 percent tariff on goods coming in from China. He's going to start a trade war, basically, with China, which would have ripple effects

all across the region.

He has said that Japan and Korea must pay more for the U.S. military bases there. And he has indicated, although he's backed away from that somewhat,

that he wouldn't mind if they decided to develop their own nuclear weapons.

He wants to put a ban on somehow -- and this again, it's morphed the more he speaks about it, but a ban on people from countries with large Muslim

populations or a ban on people coming from countries with terrorism. That might affect countries like Indonesia and

Malaysia. That would have ripple effects throughout ASEAN.

You know, everything he talks about, you know, really would have a huge impact on ASEAN, on Asia, on the China relationship. And the more he does

this America first policy, which means pulling back, the more that means China will be able to get a big footprint into Asia.

[08:25:LU STOUT: And in the event of victory for Hillary Clinton, would that necessarily mean continuity or more of the same in terms of relations

between the U.S. and Asia?

RICHBURG: Well, it would mean more continuity from the Obama administration, because she was the first term secretary of state. I think

Asia would get a high priority, because people forget, she was the architect of the pivot, the whole strategy of pivoting to Asia. So she

knows Asia.

On the other hand, because of the primary challenge from Bernie Sanders, she's been pushed to the left on trade. She was for the Transpacific

Partnership before she was against it. And so now it will be interesting to see how she gets out of this verbal box. Does she try to renegotiate it

and a lot of the countries like Japan have said there is no renegotiation, it is what it is. She needs to see if she can get

that Transpacific Partnership back on track without alienating the left wing of the Democratic Party.

And she'll be a lot tougher, I think, on human rights with China, for example. I mean, she was the one that went to China during the women's

conference and said women's rights are human rights.

Beijing doesn't particularly like Hillary Clinton. But on the other hand, she's the devil they know, to use a phrase that Donald Trump used in the

debate.

LU STOUT: That's right. And speaking of debate, we're just hours away from the third and

final U.S. presidential debate. What will people here in Asia be looking out for?

RICHBURG: Oh, it's going to be a real spectacle. And one of the other things they're going to see if Donald Trump comes out swinging the way he

did before. If China is always worried that they are going to get mentioned, they got mentioned a lot in the first debate in a negative way.

They were accused of stealing our jobs and manipulating their currency.

On top of that, I guess everybody wants to know is this really the end of Donald Trump. Can he make a comeback? He's had probably the worst October

of any presidential candidate in history, and so people want to really see does this guy have a chance of coming back or is Hillary Clinton going to

be measuring the drapes in the oval office after this, which is a good possibility after this debate.

For Hillary, people are going to see is she going to go high, is she going to try to go for an overarching national message to try to really just run

up her victory, or is she going to respond tit for tat any attacks that come her way. So it's going to be a fascinating spectacle. We get to

watch it in the morning in Asia, so we can have our coffee and breakfast and watch this

show going on.

And it will be a fascinating show. The last debate, last chance to change the trajectory of this

race before voting starts.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Keith Richburg there. And a reminder that the final presidential debate again just hours away. We are live in Vegas with full

coverage. It starts 11:00 p.m. Wednesday in London, that's 6:00 a.m. Thursday in Hong Kong right here on CNN.

Now, you're watching News Stream. And coming right up, a super typhoon is pounding the Philippines right now. We'll get you an update on the current

conditions.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(HEADLINES)

[08:31:34] LU STOUT: Now, this super typhoon is pounding The Philippines with powerful winds and torrential rain. Haima is the equivalent of a

category 5 hurricane and is barreling across the northern island of Luzon.

The Philippines was just hit by Typhoon Sarika earlier this week. That storm killed three people

when it swept north of Manila. Almost 3 million people are expected to be affected by Haima.

Now, a lot of the storm's effect, it depends on exactly where it makes landfall in the coming hours. And storm chaser James Reynolds is in the

northern part of the country. He joins us now.

And James, please describe the conditions you're seeing and feeling out there.

JAMES REYNOLDS, STORM CHASER: Evening, Kristie.

Well, the typhoon is really starting to make its presence felt over the last couple of hours. The winds have really escalated. It's starting to

get noisy on the very, very dark and lowly streets out there in the city of Tugegara (ph) where I am. And if this storm carries on track, it could

pass right over this city and we're going to see much more violent winds and rain over the next few hours to come -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: Now, the Philippines is, of course, no stranger to big typhoons. Are residents there prepared for yet another major storm right on the back

of Typhoon Sarika?

REYNOLDS: Yeah, this is real typhoon alley up here. And as you mentioned, Sarika just made

landfall about four days ago. Driving up over the last couple of days, you could still see the influences of that storm. The river levels are very,

very high. And this part of The Philippines is very prone to flooding, so this is a real concern with the storm coming so soon after,

you know, Sarika, which was just a couple of days ago.

LU STOUT: Yeah, you mention the dangers of flooding. And let's talk more about multiple

dangers here and the communities most vulnerable in The Philippines to the storm. I mean, is it people in the low lying coastal areas, they are

vulnerable to storm surge, or the mountainous regions, where you have the landslides?

REYNOLDS: Well, the coastal region in this part of The Philippines is very remote. There's only literally a handful of small villages. The bulk of

the population lives about 50 kilometers inland in Cagayan Valley, which has numerous sizable cities and towns, a large agricultural area. And then

further to the west on the other side of Luzon is more populated mountainous area, which in the past has seen very, very bad disasters with

flooding and landslides.

So, there's going to be a big concern over the typhoon. It's going to dump a lot of rain on saturated ground. So, it remains to be seen how bad the

situation will be tomorrow.

LU STOUT: Yeah, you have a lot of concern for this big typhoon. And you are a very experienced storm chaser and extreme weather reporter. I've

got to ask, how have you individually prepared to cover the storm and to also stay safe in the process?

REYNOLDS: Yeah, the storms coming in in the middle of the night, that makes my job a lot harder when you can't really see what's going on so

much, but I play it very safe, especially with these big super typhoons, which hit The Philippines. I found myself a solid concrete hotel. It's got elevation to protect me from the flooding. And

really that's the best I can do and just hope for the best and, you know, prepare for the worst.

LU STOUT: Yeah, hunker down, and stay safe. Thank you very much indeed for that, James Reynolds reporting. Take care, James.

Now, let's get more now from CNN meteorologist Jennifer Gray. She joins us now from CNN Center. And Jen, what are you seeing about this storm?

JENNIFER GRAY, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, Kristie, it should be making landfall within the next three to four hours. And just like your guest

said, unfortunately happening during the overnight hours, which makes things even more frightening. Winds of 250 kilometers per hour right now.

This is a super typhoon, gusts of 305 kilometers per hour.

I guess the best news is, it's moving quickly. And so this isn't just going to sit on top of The Philippines, it is going to get in and out

rather quickly.

But with that said, it is very powerful and we're going to have a lot of storm surge, as well as

flooding. And so that's two of the major concerns, as well as the wind, of course.

So it is going to be moving in and out within the next 12 hours or so, and then making a second landfall very close to Hong Kong. And so that's one

thing we'll be watching very closely as we get into the next 24 hours or so, and then quickly losing steam beyond that.

So when we talk about this storm, we are going to see a lot of rainfall. Here's the rainfall accumulation. Look, some areas getting anywhere from

250 to almost 500 millimeters of rain over the next 48 hours. So you can imagine we are going to see quite a bit of flooding, as well as those

landslides.

And then current winds, you can see the strongest winds right around that center, that eye wall, and then as it moves on to the west, we'll continue

to see those winds finally start to die down once it passes.

But like your guest said, as well, this is known as typhoon alley. They receive a lot of very strong typhoons, especially during the fall months,

and, in fact, you don't have to look back very far to see two impacts just like we've seen with this one. Our second impact was a super typhoon right

on the heels of another one. It happened back in 1998. We had two big typhoons happen within a week or two of each other.

Again, it happened in 2011, and then, of course, now we are here again this week seeing our second typhoon in just about a week or so.

So, Kristie, this is going to be a big one, a lot of impacts right around that eye wall, right around the center, we could see catastrophic damage --

Kristie.

LU STOUT: All right, Jennifer Gray there, catastrophic damage it is anticipated here. Many thanks indeed for your analysis on typhoon alley,

latest one to hit The Philippines.

Now this was the scene outside Hong Kong government buildings that happened earlier today as pro-Beijing protesters, they rallied against the swearing

in of two pro-democracy legislators. And inside the legislative council, pro-Beijing lawmakers they also protested by walking out of the meeting,

stopping pro-democracy lawmakers Yao Wai-ching and Sixtus Leung from taking their oaths.

This comes right after the high court refused the government's request for a last minute injunction to prevent the swearing in.

Yao and Leung departed from script during their oaths last week and were told they have to do an official oath to take their office.

You're watching News Stream. And still to come, the Billy Bush hashtag that's taken off in

the wake of CNN interview with Donald Trump's wife.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: welcome back.

Now, a manned Chinese spacecraft has successfully docked with the country's new space lab. The Shenzhou 11 took off from the Gobi Desert on Monday

with two astronauts on board. They plan to stay in the lab for 33 days running various experiments. It is China's first manned space mission

since 2013.

Now, the lab is called the Tiangong 2, which translates as Heavenly Vessel number two

Now, China is hoping to launch its first space station within about eight years.

Now, finally the new host of The Today Show in the U.S., well the news host, well, Billy Bush, he is leaving the program over that tape, the 2005

tape that showed him and Donald Trump making those aggressive and lewd remarks about women.

Now, Trump's wife, Melania Trump, defended him in an interview with CNN and that inspired a hashtag that's gone viral.

Jeanne Moos has that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: On SNL --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Your beautiful, dutiful Melania.

MOOS: Melania Trump was portrayed as if she were ready to dump the Donald. But in real life, Melania didn't just stand by her man.

BILLY BUSH, FRM. TODAY SHOW HOST: How about a little hug to the Donald?

MOOS: She partially blamed Billy Bush for leading her husband on.

MELANIA TRUMP: Lead on, like egg on from the host to say dirty and bad stuff.

MOOS: But nobody had to egg on the Internet. Instantly a new hashtag was born -- #BillyBushMadeMeDoIt. As in when Trump cheated on his first wife

with second, #BillyBushMadeMeDoIt. Or Ryan Lochte just changed his story, he now says #BillyBushMadeMeDoIt.

You know how Trump is always saying...

DONALD TRUMP: This whole election is being rigged.

MOOS: So, of course, someone tweeted, "Now we all know who's rigging this election. #BillyBushMadeMeDoIt."

Even noted Hillary supporter Cher got into the act. "How can Trump stand up to Putin if he couldn't stand up to Billy Bush?"

This four-year-old tweeted, "#billybushmademeputthispapertowelovermyhead."

Billy is being bush whacked. John Oliver show did a segment.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At Billy Bush being creepy with everyone.

BUSH: How do you feel about your butt?

JENNIFER LOPEZ, ACTRESS/SINGER: Are you kidding me? You did not ask me that.

BUSH: I did.

MOOS: Now, they can add the 2005 bus scene.

BUSH: Let the little guy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, let's let the little guy in.

MOOS: Melania had a name for what her husband engaged in on that bus.

MELANIA TRUMP: Kind of boy talk. Boys talk.

MOOS: With a 59-year-old boy? Blame it on the 33-year-old. "President Trump, why did you nuke Brussels? #BillyBushMadeMeDoIt."

Though the Donald sure seems to be the alpha.

DONALD TRUMP: Come on, Billy, let's go.

MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN...

DONALD TRUMP: That's better.

MOOS: ...New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And that is News Stream. I'm Kristie Lu Stout. But don't go anywhere, World Sport with Amanda Davies is next.

END

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