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Will Julian Assage Keep Word? Britain Prime Minister Refuses to Budge on Brexit Plans; Backlash After President Obama Commutes Chelsea Manning's Sentence. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired January 18, 2017 - 08:00   ET

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


[08:00:15] KRISTIE LU STOUT, HOST: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong, and welcome to

News Stream.

Now, found guilty of espionage and now clemency, Chelsea Manning's sentence is commuted for leaking military secrets to WikiLeaks. But what now for

the site's founder in exile, Julian Assange?

Also ahead, Britain's prime minister refuses to budge on her hard Brexit plan. We'll look at how China is already taking advantage of that.

And out with the old, in with the new, we'll show you how White House staff will pull

off the Obama/Trump move.

And we begin with backlash facing U.S. President Barack Obama in his final days in office. Now, Mr. Obama has shortened the decades' long prison

sentence for Chelsea Manning, the former U.S. army soldier who leaked vast amounts of information to WikiLeaks. CNN's Barbara Starr tells us why this

decision is so controversial.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He broke the law.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In a stunning move, President Obama commuting the sentence of Chelsea Manning, the former Army

intelligence soldier convicted of leaking classified government documents to WikiLeaks. Manning now set to be released in May after serving 7 years

of a 35- year sentence.

SEN. ROBERT MENENDEZ (D), NEW JERSEY: I have serious concerns about equivocating sentences when national security is at stake.

STARR: The controversial decision going against the objections of Secretary of Defense Ash Carter and sending shockwaves through Washington.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For the president, especially a president who's made so much recently about the danger that WikiLeaks has posed to our national

security, to commute Private Manning's sentence I just think is very disappointing.

STARR: Manning, a transgender woman formerly known as Bradley, stole hundreds of thousands of classified military files, including videos of

U.S. airstrikes in Iraq that sparked concerns over human rights violations, and embarrassing diplomatic cables, a leak credited with putting WikiLeaks

on the map.

Manning pled guilty, convicted of multiple charges, including violating the Espionage Act.

Serving time in For Leavenworth, a men's military prison, Manning struggled with gender identity issues, twice trying to commit suicide after requests

to be transferred to a civilian prison were denied.

WikiLeaks celebrating the news, hailing Manning's clemency as a victory.

But Obama did not exonerate another famous leaker, NSA contractor Edward Snowden.

JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Mr. Snowden fled into the arms of an adversary. Chelsea Manning is somebody who was found guilty, was

sentenced for her crimes, and she acknowledged wrongdoing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And that was Barbara Starr reporting.

Edward Snowden, who you just heard mentioned in that report, has been granted an extension of his asylum in Russia. The Kremlin says it's for a,

quote, "a couple of years."

Now, Snowden has been living in exile in Russia since 2013 after leaking U.S. intelligence secrets to the media. And he tweeted in support of

Manning's clemency saying this, quote, "let it be said here in earnest, with good heart, thanks, Obama."

Now, let's bring in CNN's Nic Robertson who has been following all these developments. He joins us from outside the Ecuadoran embassy in London.

That is of course where WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has lived in asylum for years now.

And, Nic, what does clemency for Chelsea Manning mean for the fate and future of Julian Assange?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It could mean a huge change. I mean, the question of the moment is will he or won't he

leave the Ecuadoran embassy behind me here? He's been here for 4.5 years. The reason we ask that question is that just a couple of days before

President Obama commuted Chelsea Manning's sentence, Julian Assange tweeted that if Obama commutes Chelsea Manning's sentence, he will turn himself

over to U.S. authorities.

He hasn't been served -- his situation, if you will, has been somewhat unclear. His lawyers have written the Department of Justice to find out

what charges there may be against him. U.S. officials have said that he is being investigated, and he of course is holed up here inside the Ecuadoran

embassy because he is under request to go to Sweden, extradition request to Sweden to face completely separate charges there, but he fears if he does

then somehow he'll be extradited to the United States.

So, the question is now will he uphold his word? And his lawyer, or one of his lawyers at least, has tweeted that, yes, he will keep to his word of

what he has said that he will, if President Obama commutes Chelsea Manning's sentence, he will turn himself over to U.S. authorities. The

lawyers also tweeted that he feels that Assange can get a fair trial by the Department of Justice, something that the same tweet indicates that they

didn't feel that they could get under President Obama, which drives the situation to the point where it appears that Assange's lawyers are saying

that he could get a fair trial under Donald Trump's administration.

And of course U.S. intelligence officials say that Julian Assange's WikiLeaks organization has helped Russia intentionally get Donald Trump

elected by helping leak Democratic National Committee documents.

[08:06:07] LU STOUT: Yeah, any new decision will fall to the Trump administration? And a lot of factors at play on what could happen next

there. And back to Chelsea Manning. You know, she was given this decades' long prison term. When that happened, it raised a lot of questions about

the safety of leakers and self-described whistleblowers like Chelsea Manning,

like Edward Snowden. So, will this decision by the outgoing president encourage more such leaks of sensitive intel?

ROBERTSON: I think anyone in the position of leaking information at the moment would

wait to see what sort of decisions the Trump administration might take. They will certainly be hugely

aware that President Obama's, a, facing a backlash, and typically Republicans would take a tougher line on this sort of thing.

Assange himself has made the point, himself and through his lawyer, that he feels that whistle blowers, as he considers himself, Chelsea Manning,

Edward Snowden, should not face prosecution, that they're doing the world a favor.

But of course, in those 750,000 documents that Chelsea Manning leaked to Julian Assange, there was information there that's believed to have

compromised the lives of operatives overseas whose roles had to be shifted and changed. That wasn't proven in court, but that's the belief, that

people's lives were put in danger by leaking so much information all at one time.

Edward Snowden's information filtered through journalists, not all of it released in the way that Chelsea Manning's information was.

For Julian Assange, look, he's been in there for 4.5 years. Anyone else in his position would be looking for a way out. Maybe that's what we're

hearing now. Maybe this idea that he will leave and that he does feel that he could go to the United States and this would be a good time to do it.

Certainly those connections with Donald Trump not direct, but by implication of his actions, are

going to raise eyebrows.

LU STOUT: Nic Robertson reporting live for us outside the Ecuadoran embassy in London where, of course, Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder,

has been in exile for 4.5 years. Thank you, Nic.

Now, President Obama also pardoned James Cartwright. He's the former vice chairman of the U.S. joint chiefs of staff. He pleaded guilty in October

for making false statements to federal investigators in 2012. He had been questioned about leaking top-secret information on U.S. efforts to cripple

Iran's nuclear program to two journalists.

That year, a New York Times correspondent wrote a book exposing the Stuxnet program, a sophisticated computer virus that infected computers at Iranian

nuclear facilities in 2009 and 2010.

As President Obama prepares to leave office, Donald Trump is to take over on Friday. And he's already kicked off his inaugural week events with a

black tie dinner for foreign diplomats and incoming members of his administration.

Jason Carroll has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT-ELECT: I know how safe this room is. Boy, oh boy. This is one -- this place is surrounded tonight.

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With just days now to go with his inauguration, President-elect Donald Trump toasting a room of

nearly 150 foreign diplomats and ambassadors.

TRUMP: I want to thank you all for being here. We have great respect for your countries.

CARROLL: Trump introducing the diplomats to his incoming administration, touting his pick for secretary of state, former ExxonMobil CEO, Rex

Tillerson.

TRUMP: I think it's tougher than he thought. He goes into a country, take the oil, goes into another country. It's tough dealing with these

politicians, right? He's going to be so incredible.

CARROLL: Trump's welcoming tone to the foreign leaders at the exclusive dinner coming just days after he criticized major European leaders and

slammed NATO.

TRUMP: No. 1, it was obsolete, because it was, you know, designed many, many years ago.

[08:10:05] CARROLL: And now Russian President Vladimir Putin saying he is familiar with some of the unsubstantiated allegations about Trump contained

in a dossier published by BuzzFeed last week. Putin defending the president-elect, denying any Russian involvement in spying and dismissing

the notion as, quote, "rubbish." Putin claiming that the allegations of Russian intelligence having compromising material on Trump was fabricated

in order to undermine Trump's legitimacy as president.

CNN did not support the specifics of those claims.

All this as the number of Democrats boycotting Trump's inauguration grows to over a quarter of all Democrats in the House.

TRUMP: As far as other people not going, that's OK, because we need seats so badly. I hope they'll give me their tickets.

CARROLL: Many of those skipping out citing Trump's rebuke of civil rights icon Congressman John Lewis after Lewis called his presidency illegitimate.

Trump responding in a new interview.

TRUMP: We have to have a smooth transition. I think he just grandstanded, John Lewis.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And that was Jason Carroll reporting. Now two Trump transition officials tell CNN that those attending Friday's inauguration will hear a

speech written by the president-elect himself.

Now, Trump is reportedly being urged to keep representatives of Taiwan away from the

inauguration. Now, according to Reuters, China wants the U.S. to bar Taiwan delegates from attending

Friday's event. As you may recall, Trump broke precedence last month by accepted a phone call from

Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen. And that angered China. Beijing considers Taiwan a province of China.

Now, it's worth noting that as Trump prepares to take office with historically low approval ratings, President Obama is leaving the White

House with his highest approval numbers since 2009. We'll bring up the data for you. Just take a look. A new CNN/ORC poll shows 60 percent of

Americans approve of how Mr. Obama is handling his job, 39 percent say they disapprove, that puts him third among recent presidents for end-of-term

approval ratings, behind Clinton and Ronald Reagan.

Now, lawmakers in Turkey are set to vote on a plan to hand new powers to the president, and if passed, it could fundamentally change the way the

country is run.

The proposal was put forward by the party of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. It would abolish the role of prime minister. It would make the

president the sole executive authority in Turkey.

Let's get more now on the so-called power bill. Ben Wedeman is in Istanbul. He joins us now. And Ben, if this bill passes, how could Erdogan

use these new powers?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it would grant him the sort of powers and then some, that a U.S. president has according to some

Turkish analysts. But by and large, the position of president in Turkey is in theory symbolic, but in fact President Erdogan has taken advantage of

the 1980 constitution passed here in Turkey after a coup d'etat, which theoretically gave powers to the president, but until now were never used.

So he'll be able, for instance, to appoint most of the members of the constitutional court, which has an overseeing function in the Turkish

system. And so he would basically be appointing those who oversee his work.

So he would have been executive position as opposed to this symbolic one.

And of course -- but at this point we have to wait and see the numbers, the arithmetics involved in all of this, because the Turkish parliament is

currently debating it.

Now, there are 317 members of the Justice and Development Party of President Erdogan who

obviously will vote in favor. And there are also another 39 members of the Nationalist Movement Party who will vote in favor. But to pass this --

these 18 changes to the constitution, they need more than 366 votes, and it appears at this point they don't have those.

So, it will probably go to a referendum in Theory in April, and then if it passes, and it's expected to pass, they won't go into effect until 2019 at

which point, of course, President Erdogan will be able to have two more terms as president, so he could be president in theory until 2029 --

Kristie.

LU STOUT: Ben Wedeman tracking this controversial vote for us live from Istanbul. Thank you, Ben.

Now, a series of earthquakes has struck central Italy once again. Now, nine tremors have been recorded so far today. Now, the first near the

already quake-devastated town of Amatrice. The tremors felt in Rome. The U.S. geological survey says the strongest quake was 5.7 in magnitude. And

so far there are, thankfully, no reports of casualties or damage. But the metro system in Rome and some schools have been evacuated.

Now, you're watching News Stream. Still ahead right here on the program, division at the heart of the United Kingdom. Prime Minister Theresa May

faces opposition in parliament to her Brexit plan.

And as the Chinese cargo train rolls into London, China appears to be expanding its economic reach. What this epic freight journey means for

British/China relations after Brexit.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Coming to you like from Hong Kong, welcome back. You are watching News Stream.

Now, the heir to the Samsung business empire could find out in the coming hours if he will

be arrested. A judge is deciding whether to grant an arrest warrant for Jay Y Lee. He is accused of paying tens of millions of dollars to ensure

the South Korean government approves a big corporate market. It's a part of a far reaching corruption scandal that led to the

president's impeachment.

And in the past hour, Britain's prime minister has defended her plan for the UK to leave the European Union. Speaking in Parliament, Theresa May

said that she can shape a stronger future for Britain without access to the EU single market. But the prime minister had to raise her voice over some

strong opposition.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THERESA MAY, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: What I did yesterday was set out a plan for a global Britain. I set out, I set out a plan that will put the

decisions -- that will put the divisions of last year behind us that will show a vision that shows a vision for a stronger, fairer, more united, more

outward looking prosperous, prosperous tolerant and independent truly global Britain.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Let's get more now from London. CNN Money's Europe editor Nina Dos Santos is outside 10 Downing Street. She joins us live. And Nina,

wow, fireworks during question time. How well did Theresa May defend her plans for a clean break from the EU?

NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN MONEY: Well, she was quite clear here in a number -- reiterating a number of things that she said yesterday when she came out

with the biggest, most detailed comprehensive plans for her negotiations before she is set to embark upon them in about two months from now. But

very few details here given. And also, she faced a lot of criticism from the opposition

party leader Jeremy Corbyn, who called her less the Iron Lady, in reference to Margaret Thatcher, the only other woman who has occupied 10 Downing

Street thus far apart from Theresa May -- and more the irony lady, he said.

And that was in reference to the fact that the prime minister says on the one hand she wants parliament sovereignty for the United Kingdom, that's

the idea of coming out of the European Court of Justice, coming out of various parts of the EU, indeed the whole EU together, but she still is

delaying, he said, and denying parliamentary scrutiny for these plans before she starts to enact that get out Article 50 clause by which the UK

will hand in its notice to the EU.

Having said that, she said that parliament will have a chance to give proper scrutiny of her

plans when she comes back for them after this two-year negotiating process from Brussels, because, remember that both houses of parliament will get a

chance to vote on this deal in 2019. She also faced some staunch criticism from Scottish MPs here saying that Scotland overwhelmingly wants to stay

inside the EU and that tens of thousands of Scots could see their jobs disappear overnight if the UK were to forego access to the single market as

Theresa May has said they probably will do or certainly will at this point after yesterday's speech in exchange for having more control over

immigration.

She faced that down clearly saying, well look, if the Scottish National Party had its way,

already having had one referendum on independence for Scotland and now potentially agitating for a

second, well, Scotland would automatically be out of the EU, because it will be out of the UK altogether.

So not many details here. Theresa May was asked repeated by the leader of the opposition, the Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, whether she would

pay some money to the EU to keep access to certain parts of the current deal. She didn't go into that territory at all. She didn't give any

figures on the ground. And we've had some background also from various EU leaders as well. There's Jean-Claude Juncker, the head of the EU

commissioners come out and said that he wants a fair deal. He wants to make sure there's a balanced deal for the UK, but that it has to be within

the rules and that they can't start negotiating until the UK activates that Article 50.

So yet again more responses from Brussels here, banding together saying, well, the UK has to hand in its notice before we start talking about the

details -- Kristie.

[08:22:04] LU STOUT: Yeah, daunting challenges here for Theresa May in laying out the plan,

defending it, and of course carrying it through. And Brexit, though, you know, does it make Theresa May and the UK even more eager to strike a trade

deal with countries here in Asia, especially China?

DOS SANTOS: Yeah, and Boris Johnson, our the foreign secretary has already said well there are countries quote/unquote queuing up to do trade deals

with the UK. We started the week with Donald Trump, the president-elect of the United States, saying to The Times of London, that we'd love to have a

trade deal, a quick trade deal with the United Kingdom. Boris Johnson rebuffed that slightly by saying well it has to be a fair deal that works

for everybody. And also Boris Johnson is going to be in India, in Calcutta tomorrow, and he's going to be talking with business leaders over there,

that, again, part of this charm offensive to try and strike trade deals with other countries around the world.

And China, remember, takes about takes about 5.9 percent of this country's exports. So, it's one of the top five trading partners for the UK. OK,

that's nowhere near the site of the 44 percent of UK exports that go to the European Union, but still the UK has had longstanding relationships with

China. The previous conservative government spearheaded these initiatives with David Cameron and George Osbourne, the previous occupants of these two

buildings behind me. They did a lot to try and court Chinese trade. There is a lot of reciprocal investments.

And I should point out that the prime minister, Theresa May, will be en route this afternoon towards the World Economic Forum in Davos. And she is

going to have various meetings with leaders of industry, leaders of the financial sector, leaders of automotive companies, and so on, and so forth.

She will probably have a chance to interact with all sorts of heads of countries and industry. And again, you can imagine that probably trade

will come up and the idea of trading more together because it's more important for the UK. It needs to make up the economic difference when it

leaves the EU -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: Absolutely. She has to chart a new future for the UK. Nina Dos Santos reporting for us live outside 10 Downing Street. Thank you, Nina.

Now, the UK will have to work out new trade deals after the Brexit. But it looks like China already is making waves with Theresa May's government.

The first freight train traveling from China to Britain has just arrived in London, following that 19-day trip.

Now the service is part of the Chinese president's one belt-one road vision. Some are calling it the new Silk Road.

Now, the train left the town of (inaudible) on the first day of 2017, it passed through Kazakhstan and Russia before cutting straight through Europe

and then it crossed the Channel and arrived at the British capital just a few minutes ago.

Now, earlier I spoke with a partner at private equity firm Jin-Yong Cai TPG Capital. He's also the former head of the World Bank's investment arm.

And I started by asking whether this cargo train is a symbol of things to come in China's trade with the UK and the rest of the world?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIN-YONG CAI, TPG CAPITAL: The Chinese only experience, they have learned the best way to create economic growth is to create good jobs. And when

you look at the world, particularly in the emerging economies, what has been the most critical impediments for economy growth is lack of

infrastructure.

By example, it will be like Indonesia, 460 million people. The total power capacity is so small. And without basic infrastructure, you can't create

wealth. You cannot create effective demand. So the Chinese is trying to kind of use their own experience, leverage their own capital, and they're

trying to get involved in helping those countries to get wealthier, so they can become customer of Chinese products. And in doing that, they feel the

Chinese feel everyone will be better off.

[08:25:49] LU STOUT: China's cargo train is rolling into London just after the Chinese President Xi Jinping made that landmark address in Davos,

Switzerland, sort of positioning China as a champion and defender of globalization. And we are talking it, about

one belt, one road, China's desire to invest in infrastructure projects to create new consumers for Chinese products, right?

CAI: Yes.

LU STOUT: But then you also have the flipside, China's protectionist policies at home. So Xi Jinping may talk about globalization on the

podium, but is he going to budge on policy?

CAI: I think, you know, when you look at the government, their policy, their initiatives, and particularly in allowing not only foreign capital,

also the private capital in China to get into a certain sector in financial services one of them, and there are a few other sectors. I think the

intention's there, the execution has been uneven. So this is, indeed, I think given the President Xi's speech, and people are going to look forward

to seeing the action the execution. I do expect there will be further liberalization in the sectors, which have been difficult for investors to

get in.

LU STOUT: In Xi Jinping's speech, he also had this pretty thinly veiled rebuke of Donald Trump when he said no one wins in a trade war. What is

your thinking about the relationship between U.S. and China under Xi Jinping and Donald Trump?

CAI: I think there will be some kind of a learning at the beginning to figure out how to deal with each other. But I feel reasonably optimistic

because the reality requires two countries to work together. And I do agree with President Xi's statement, there is no winner in fighting a trade

war.

LU STOUT: Yes.

And finally a question about what comes next after TPP. You know the trade pact is effectively on ice. It's an opportunity for China to fill the

vacuum with its own rival trade pact. Should the U.S. be concerned?

CAI: I'm not too sure it's a rival actually. You know, I don't know if you followed this, after the initial kind of hesitation, the Chinese were

very supportive of TPP. They said once conclude negotiations, we would like to see if we can join as well.

So I feel it's not really a kind of a zero sum in this. There are different type of arrangement. And who knows what is going to happen with

TPP? Maybe U.S. will pick it up again.

LU STOUT: So are you hopeful. So it's in suspended animation. It could come back?

CAI: I think there will be a trade arrangement, is that going to be called TPP or whatever the other name is less important is more of what is it. I

think creating more of a mostly a trade relationship and creating the market environment is critical for every country to create the economic

growth.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: That was Jin-yong Cai from TPG Capital speaking to me earlier and whether China really is a champion of globalization and free trade.

You are watching News Stream. And still ahead, a deadly attack by the Nigerian army. Dozens of refugees have been killed when forces hit a

refugee camp. We'll get an update on the situation there after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(HEADLINES)

[08:33:06] LU STOUT: Doctors Without Borders has condemned the Nigeria army's attack on

a refugee camp. Nigeria says a fighter jet misfired on the camp, killing at least 53 people, wounding dozens. The Red Cross says several of those

killed were aide workers. And the army says it was targeting Boko Haram.

Now, Farai Sevenzo is following the story for us from Nairobi. He joins us now live. And, Farai, thank you for covering the story for us. Dozens of

refugees are dead. And was a horrific mistake by the Nigerian army. How did this happen?

FARAI SEVENZO, CNN CORREPSONDENT: I've got to tell you the Nigerian army is feeling

the pain of their catastrophic mistake. They have issued a statement saying when they discovered

that they'd hit the wrong camp, they were all in pain.

General Irabo (ph), who was in charge of military operations in the volatile northeast of Nigeria in Borno State, felt that there was movement

Boko Haram insurgency in the area. He sent over some coordinates to his air force. They struck two massive air bombardments and as you say, 52

people died. And we know that the aide workers have been counted about six aide workers, possibly Red Cross staff, but they are definitely volunteers,

as well, for the Red Cross, who have lost their lives and perished in this accident overnight.

LU STOUT: A tragedy for the refugees and their families, for the aide workers and their families as well.

And Farai, could you tell us more about the refugees that were at a camp in Borno State? The background here, why were they displaced?

And for those who survived this unintentional attack, what hope do they have about what's next?

SEVENZO: You have to say that this area has been under the kind of influence of Boko Haram for seven years now, Kristie. And it's possible,

too, that these displaced people, numbering 25,000 the number we got this morning from the Red Cross in the area, they have been unable to plant

their crops. They've been suffering from severe malnutrition. There is large warnings for the United Nations of near starvation in the area. So

they're basically caught in the middle between the Nigerian government determined to get rid of Boko Haram and of course Boko Haram, themselves,

who, as our viewers will know, are responsible for kidnapping nearly 200 women and girls in April, 2014.

LU STOUT: That's right. And they were the target here. The Nigerian fighter jets were trying to target Boko Haram. We know that the militant

group, they have been ramping up attacks, they, as you point out, continue to hold women and girls against their will. Why is it that local forces

still struggle to stop and contain Boko Haram?

SEVENZO: Well, for those of us who have been watching this story, there has been a definite

shift in effects, to put it that way, where the president took power in 2015, none of these girls have been

released. So far with the help of the International Red Cross and negotiators in Geneva, 21 have been released.

And I suppose the question should be asked, why such accidents don't happen more often, because this has been a relentless fight against a very fierce

enemy. Let's not forget, Boko Haram ally themselves with the Islamic State. They have no qualms about sending children strapped with suicide

bombs into markets, into churches, into mosque. This has been a very fierce enemy for the Nigerian people. And it is the first time that at

least now they have been caught in that area between the countries of Nigeria, Cameroon, and Chad in the Sambisa Forest. And it seems really

looking at it now is that it's been effective, and sadly it comes with this terrible

collateral damage that kills so many people. And we can expect these numbers to rise, Kristie.

LU STOUT: Yeah, sadly. A misfire had turned into tragedy. And Boko Haram remains a terrible threat.

Farai, thank you very much, indeed, for your reporting. Take care.

Now, a court in Pakistan has sentenced a woman to death for burning her daughter alive in a

so-called honor killing, a murder, of course, without any honor.

Harvind Bebe (ph) and her son killed her 18-year-old daughter last June for eloping against their wishes. And she showed no remorse in court.

Her son is sentenced to life in prison. Under a new law, murders in these killings are no longer eligible for pardon even if another family member

forgives them.

They face a minimum sentence of 25 years in jail.

You're watching News Stream. We'll be back right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back.

Now, we are just two days away from the inauguration of Donald Trump, an event with huge significance for the entire world. But closer to home,

inauguration day takes on a different kind of significance as the White House staff prepare for one family to leave and another to move in.

Randi Kaye has more on how Washington's ultimate moving day is pulled off.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's organized chaos inside the White House on inauguration day. By 10:45 a.m., the Obamas will likely leave the White

House for good, giving the chief usher and his staff just six hours to get the 132-room mansion ready for the new administration. Former White House

Chief Usher Gary Walters helped coordinate the moves of five Presidents including Reagan, Bush 41, Clinton, and Bush 43.

[08:40:16] GARY WALTERS, FORMER WHITE HOUSE CHIEF USHER: It's a choreograph. It's like a ballet.

KAYE: The Chief Usher has a swat team of about 90 staffers but every second counts. By the time Donald and Melania Trump return from the inaugural

parade, the White House has to feel like home.

WALTERS: Their clothes are in their closets. Their personal effects are in the bathroom. Their favorite foods are in the kitchen. We break the staff

down almost minute to minute on their activities.

KAYE: Florists, art curators, carpenters all pitch in.

With only three small elevators in the White House residence getting one president out and the other in is never easy. Depending on how much Donald

Trump is planning to redecorate, walls need to be painted, carpet change, paintings hanged, books set on shelves. The staff eats at scheduled time so

the work never stops.

The chief usher usually work closely with the first lady. Walters helped Hillary Clinton choose wallpaper and Laura Bush pick out China. But even a

dance as well choreographed as this one isn't always perfect.

In 1993, Walters lost his voice and had to write all directions on a notepad. When Bill Clinton arrived he welcomed him with a whisper. That

same year, Mrs. Clinton's inaugural ball gown disappeared during the move.

WALTERS: There was a rather frightful time for about 15 minutes until we located the dress.

KAYE: And on inauguration day in 1989, Bush 41s granddaughters surprised the White House staff by showing up 2.5 hours early in the middle of the

move. This year, if all goes smoothly, the Trumps will never know of chaos that preceded their arrival at the White House. The chief usher will meet

Donald Trump at the door and offer a simple greeting "Welcome Mr. President to your new home."

Randi Kaye, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And we have this programming note for you, Barack Obama will be holding his last news conference as U.S. president in the coming hours.

Our coverage begins at 2:00 in Washington, 7:00 p.m. Wednesday in London, 3:00 a.m. Thursday here in Hong Kong right here on CNN.

And finally with the don of a new administration, one of our own colleagues here at CNN has

delivered a sobering message about the need to continue protecting press freedom. You may remember this extraordinary scene, it occurred last week

when President-elect Donald Trump refused to allow CNN's Jim Acosta to ask a question during a news conference. Trump yelled

that CNN was quote fake news, all in relation to a report about an unverified document.

Now, our chief Washington correspondent Jake Tapper says Trump was trying to delegitimize CNN. And he told NBC's Seth Meyers that journalists need

to stick together.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're all supposed to be in this together. And you can't just like say well CNN, if you are with an

organization that's not CNN and you watch them destroy us or try to destroy us just because they don't like the story, which is again proven to be

completely true, then you're next, you're next, if you are doing your job and you have a story that they

don't like.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: And that is true.

CNN's Jake Tapper there with a message that reminds us all about the importance of free speech

and solidarity.

And that is News Stream. I'm Kristie Lu Stout. World Sport with Amanda Davies is next.

END