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NEWS STREAM

New Democracy Party Win Narrow Parliamentary Election In Greece; Muslim Brotherhood Announces Victory In Egyptian Presidential Elections, Shafik Disputes Claims; A Look At Social Media Aggregate App Flipboard; Rodney King Leaves Behind Unexpected, Unwanted Legacy

Aired June 18, 2012 - 08:00:00   ET

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


KRISITIE LU STOUT, HOST: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. And welcome to News Stream where news and technology meet. And we begin in Greece where the race is on to form a new government. And the president says it is imperative that happen today.

Plus, Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood claims victory in the runoff election. But will the country's next president have any real power?

And we take a look at an app with a unique look. We'll hear from the founders of Flipboard.

Now Greek voters have spoken. And over this hour we will dig into what it means for Greece and for the EuroZone. Now the voters handed the pro-bailout New Democracy Party a narrow victory in Sunday's parliamentary election. Now that means party leader Antonis Samaras will have three days to try to form a coalition government.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONIS SAMARAS, NEW DEMOCRACY LEADER: Today, the Greek people express their will to stay anchored with the euro, remain an integral part of the EuroZone, honor the country's commitments, and foster growth. This is a victory for all Europe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Now New Democracy won 30 percent of Sunday's vote, that translates into 129 seats in Greece's 300 member parliament. It's not enough for an outright majority.

Now in second place, the anti-bailout party Syriza which won 71 seats. The socialist PASOK party finished a distance third. And both New Democracy and Syriza picked up more seats than they won in last month's parliamentary vote, which failed to produce a government. And Syriza is now saying it will not join a coalition government led by New Democracy.

Let's got to Matthew Chance in Athens for more on what this all means -- Matthew.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kristie, thanks so much.

Well, the negotiations being led by Antonis Samaras, the leader of the biggest party after these Greek elections, the New Democracy Pary, have already begun with the other parties that have finished secondary places in this general election, a very controversial election which has been watched all over the world.

The first meeting with the leader of the Syriza coalition of the radical left, Alexis Tsipras, that's now come to an end. And as you mentioned Mr. Tsipras refusing to join a government of national unity with the New Democracy Leader. That's expected though, because the Syriza leader had already said that he intends to lead the opposition in this country, his party, ideologically opposed to the direction which is supported by New Democracy. They believe that Greece should turn its back on the austerity measures that have been forced upon the country by international creditors. New Democracy, of course, support those austerity measures and intend to implement more of them. But it was never a great likely that they were going to join together in a coalition government.

Now the New Democracy Leader has to turn to the other smaller parties and start negotiations with them, which is what it's now doing, to try and attract enough support so that he can garner 151 seats in that parliament behind me. He already has, as you said, 129 under his belt. And so it is not far for him to go to do that.

But, again, those negotiations are not a done deal. They might prove very tricky indeed. Constitutionally, he has three days to quorum a government and the expectation and the hope is that he may have completed his negotiations before then -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: All right. Three days to do it. Matthew Chance on the story for us. Many thanks indeed Matthew. Now Greece's uneasy vote of confidence and austerity, it was enough to spur some confidence in the global stock markets. This is how the major markets in Europe and Asia have fared today with Hong Kong and Tokyo finishing up more than 1 percent. In London, the FTSE 100 up about .3 percent. The future Dax gaining about .6 percent. And we'll find out what Wall Street makes of that election result in just over an hour's time.

Now in the days ahead, Greece is facing some very key deadlines. Now by the end of June, further budget cuts will need to be finalized if Athens is to meet its bailout terms. If politicians can't agree, the European central bank could cut off funding to Greek banks that are already cash starved.

Now two months later in August, Athens is set to redeem almost $5 billion worth of sovereign bonds. And some analysts warn that this payout could make basic supply like food and medicine unaffordable.

Now the world is watching to see if the worst case scenario can be avoided, and if so, how? Now Richard Quest joins us live from Athens to discuss what happens next. And Richard, your thoughts here, will Greece be able to form a functioning government that can implement the Troika's demands? Can they do it?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that is -- that is the question, Kristie. Yes, I think they probably can form a functioning government and will, because there's a new seriousness from all the leaders. Syriza says they won't take part in a national government, or a coalition government, but that's nothing new. We knew that last night. And we've known that all along. The question is whether PASOK goes in, because Syriza won't. In any event, keep an eye on Samanas, he's the one to watch.

Now you talk about those deadlines that are coming up. The real truth of this is there's always a deadline. It's a deadline for Troika quarterly review, it's a deadline for Troika payments, it's a deadline for bond rollover and redemption. So there's always going to be another deadline that forces the issue and makes them concentrate on what needs to be done.

The largest and most important issue so far and that we need to watch, the former government, minority or coalition, and how far they will go to change the terms of the bailout. Everything else is window dressing, ultimately.

And when you talk finally about the market rally, I've no hesitation in believing it is an inch thick and a mile wide, it will disappear rapidly at the first sign that this deal or that this election goes off the rails.

LU STOUT: You know, Richard, there was a headline out there that I'd think you'd appreciate, "Drachmagedon Has Been Avoided." Your thoughts on Greece remaining in the euro seems to be staying in the euro at least for now, but what is the risk of a Greek exit at this point?

QUEST: Citigroup this morning in its note to analysts said -- a note to the market, said they had not -- I was surprised -- they had not changed their assessment. They still had a 50 percent to 75 percent risk that Greece would leave the euro. Now Barclays and others say the chance of another election or the so-called Grexit has retracted somewhat.

I'd put it another way, going into this election, we really were standing on this precipice, looking over waiting to see if Greece was going to fall. Now I would say we're not standing on it, but we're still, you know, looking very carefully, still not certain that actually -- and we are by no means away from the barrier and back to the grounds of safety.

LU STOUT: All right, Richard Quest, reporting live for us from that balcony top there in Athens. Thank you, Richard.

You're watching News Stream. And coming up next, we'll have more on Greece's parliamentary elections and more on how financial markets are reacting to the outcome.

And as world leaders are meeting for the G20 summit, will the results in Athens impact their strategy to solve the EuroZone debt crisis?

Also ahead, despite all the economic turmoil Greece does have a reason to celebrate. Its team has advanced to the quarterfinals of the Euro 2012.

Plus, Egypt's leadership fight, it's more than a battle between two candidates. The country's military forces are staking a (inaudible).

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: All right, welcome back.

And to Egypt now where the vote count is underway in the country's runoff presidential elections. The Muslim Brotherhood is claiming victory for its candidate Mohammed Morsi, but rival contender Ahmed Shafik said votes are still being tallied in his stronghold.

Now whoever wins the election may end up fighting for power with this man: Egypt's military ruler Mohammed Hussein Tantawi. This, after the military council issued a decree on Sunday granting itself sweeping powers over the future government. Now the declaration gives the military control over all laws and budgetary decision in the country. And some say it would strip the newly elected president of much of his authority.

Now Ivan Watson joins me now from Cairo. And Ivan, whoever will be the next president, how much power will he actually have?

IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's a very good question that I think a lot of Egyptians are also asking right now as well.

It does appear that Mohammed Morsi's campaign is projecting victory. And we were just in Tahrir Square where hundreds of his supporters were celebrating very enthusiastically despite the fact that official results are not out yet and despite the fact that the Shafik campaign is disputing those claims and in fact projecting its own victory.

According to the state al-Ahram newspaper with 25 million votes counted it is saying that 51.7 percent of the vote went to Mohammed Mori, the other 48.2 percent of the votes going to Ahmed Shafik, the former air force general and former prime minister of deposed president Hosni Mubarak.

Now whoever the president is, this election is rather unprecedented, because it's taking place in a constitutional and parliamentary vacuum. Just days before voters went to the polls, a Supreme Court decision dissolved the parliament. And in these victory celebrations people were both happy and also very frustrated with the arm. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I'm very, very, very, very, very, very happy. The age of Egypt.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is no parliament and there is no constitution and we need to make this constitution very quickly and we need to fight with the army to gain our you can say our winnings, our profits from this battle here in Egypt.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: The votes aren't even done being counted and already Morsi's supporters are drawing the battle lines, because in the past 24 hours the military, the ruling military council has announced an addendum to a constitutional declaration in which it is declaring itself the commander in chief until a new constitution can be written. It is saying that the new president cannot unilaterally use the armed forces or security forces without the ruling military council's permission first. And the military council has already assumed the powers of the dissolved parliament as well.

From my perspective, it looks like the military council is trying to kneecap the post of presidency, neuter it before the president, new president has even been declared -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: Yeah, this military power play has completely eclipsed the overall election process. Just then we heard from two Egyptian voters who were happy with the vote. But to what degree is that the mood of a nation? I mean, was the turnout lower during this second runoff election? Did a number of Egyptians simply turn away and simply boycott the vote over the weekend?

WATSON: Certainly we didn't see the same lines and the same enthusiasm, the lines wrapping the block of polling centers that I saw here in the first round of parliamentary elections. And perhaps the fact that that parliament, which was recently elected, was dissolved migh have something to do with that.

A lot of Egyptians told me they didn't like either candidate. They were voting for one or the other because they were scared of the candidate's opponent. And we also saw the launch of a boycott movement. Some of the same revolutionaries who captured the world's attention in Tahrir Square a year-and-a-half ago, they got their elections, but because they were so angry at the behavior of the ruling military council and the two candidates they were boycotting entirely. So you didn't have quite the same mood of celebration.

But we do have to point out this is probably the first time in Egyptian history that a president is being elected by the people and that nobody knew the outcome of the election as it was being carried out -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: That's right. This is a history making event. Official results due out on Thursday. Ivan Watson live from Cairo, thank you.

Now activists are slamming the UN's decision to suspend its observer mission in Syria. And one opposition group says 80 tanks are in Tafas in Daraa province. And regime forces are shelling the town. At least three people are reported killed there.

Now also in Daraa in the city of Daeel there are reports of explosions on the ground and low flying war planes overhead. The UN says efforts to rescue civilians from the besieged city of Homs have been unsuccessful. Activists report at least 51 people were killed in violence across Syria on Sunday. And the UN says its unarmed observers were unable to properly monitor and report on the situation due to rising violence forcing it to suspend the operation.

And the head of the UN mission to Syria, Robert Mood, made a plea for an end to the fighting, calling on the parties to take immediate action to ease the pain of Syrian's trapped in the violence. He says the UN supervision mission in Syria stands ready to monitor their release once the decision is taken by the parties.

And you're watching News Stream. And still ahead, another golf major, another maiden victory. America's own Webb Simpson walks away with the U.S. Open title. Now this, plus all the latest from Euro 2012 when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

Now at the halfway stage of the U.S. Open golf championship, Tiger Woods looked as if he would end his long wait for another major title, but instead America is cheering on a new winner. Alex Thomas is in London with more on that and the rest of sport -- Alex.

ALEX THOMAS, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kristie. For the ninth time in a row the golfing world is celebrating a first time major winner. Webb Simpson claimed victory in the U.S. Open at San Francisco's treacherous Olympic club course.

Four years since his last major triumph, Tiger Woods out to bag one of the sport's big titles once again. So the challenge for the world number one quickly faded in the final round. He was six over par after 10 holes and ended up tied for 21st at seven over par.

Jim Furyk was the overnight leader and stayed in front until hooking a tee shot at the 16th hole into the trees. His round of 74 left him three over par in a five way tie for fourth place. Meaning it was 26-year-old American Webb Simpson who stormed through the field to lift the U.S. Open, his first major success, a two under par round of 68 gave him a one stroke victory from Michael Thompson and 2010 champion Graeme McDowell.

And after picking up that gleaming trophy, Simpson spoke to the host of CNN's Living Golf show Shane O'Donoghue and he told him how thrilled he was.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WEBB SIMPSON, 2012 U.S. OPEN CHAMPION: I'm pretty excited. I'm pretty worn out. It's just a long week, a grueling week on your mind. And this place is hard to walk, so physically it's a tough week as well. But I couldn't have imagined that, you know, I'd be a U.S. Open champion this early in my career. But I'm thrilled and excited as can be.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

THOMAS: The Miami Heat are two wins away from becoming NBA champions after seizing the lead in their final series against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Let's pick up the action in the third quarter, a three pointer and the foul to Derek Fisher as Oklahoma take a 10 point lead.

Later in the quarter, the Heat go on a run of 15-3. LeBron James draining this three just before the buzzer goes. The Thunder stay hot on their heels in the fourth.

Here's James Hardin in transition, lobs it to Kevin Durant for the dunk.

Now with five minutes left, Miami responds. Dwayne Wade with the basket and the foul. A three point play. Although Oklahoma still won't be shaken off. Russell Westbrook pulls up for the jumper to cut the Heat's lead to just one point.

It's all to play for in the final 20 seconds. Still, Hardin trying to draw the foul, but ends up committing one. And James making one of the resulting two free throws.

Moments later, the Thunder turn the ball over and when Wade stopped with a foul he makes both his free throws. Miami going on to win 91-85. And they lead the series 2-1.

In football, the defending champion Spain must avoid defeat to Croatia later to be guaranteed a place in the Euro 2012 quarterfinals. If the Spanish win, Italy can also reach the last eight by beating Ireland in the other Group C contest.

Fans still reeling from the shock exit of The Netherlands who crashed out of the so-called group of death on Sunday night after recording their third straight loss. Portugal and Germany qualifying for the quarterfinals from that Group B.

But by winning the group, Germany have set up an intriguing quarterfinal encounter against Greece. Greek fans celebrating their teams unlikely qualification from Saturday, which was hailed as a welcome relief from the nation's controversial austerity measures.

Kristie, back to you.

LU STOUT: All right. Alex, many thanks indeed.

Now the quote, "why can't we all get along?" Those are words immortalized by Rodney King. Now he was the man who came to symbolize America's racial tensions as videotape beating at the hands of Los Angeles police have sparked deadly riots in the U.S. And now he's been found dead at the bottom of his swimming pool at the age of 47.

Nick Valencia looks back on his troubled life.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was this scene caught on camera that would turn Rodney King's life in Los Angeles upside down. In 1991 King led police officers from the LAPD on a high speed chase after leaving a friend's house during a night of drinking.

RODNEY KING: I had a job to go to that Monday. And I knew I was on parole and I knew I wasn't supposed to be drinking. And I'm like, oh my god.

VALENCIA: What transpired in its aftermath changed the dialogue on race in America. King 25 when the incident happened was nearly beaten to death. He was in surgery for five hours. He admitted he should have stopped the car.

Following a three month trial, three of the officers involved in the beating were acquitted on charges of assault with a deadly weapon and excessive use of force. The jury was deadlocked in the case of the fourth officer.

The verdict sparked riots across Los Angeles and the United States. In L.A. rioters ran through the streets looting businesses, torching buildings, and attacking those who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. At least 50 people were killed and $1 billion worth of property was damaged.

As the riots entered their third day, Rodney King emerged to plead.

KING: Can we all get along?

VALENCIA: In the years that followed, King struggled to leave his past behind.

DR. DREW PINSKY, CELEBRITY REHAB: You don't want to be a part of this do you?

KING: I wasn't expecting to get tossed in history like that, you know, and personally hit happens to us unexpectedly to some of us. And I was one of the unexpected ones to survive through it.

VALENCIA: In his later years, Rodney King battled addiction to drugs and alcohol, never quite escaping the demons that caused his infamous encounter with the Los Angeles police officers.

Nick Valencia, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now straight ahead, we'll have much more on the election results in Greece, including how it will play out and reaction in Berlin. We'll be taking you live to the German capital.

Now also ahead, is this app turning over a new leaf for social media? We'll speak to the founders of Flipboard.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

Now the head of Greece's pro-bailout New Democracy Party called it a victory for all of Europe. And voters have his party a narrow lead in Sunday's parliamentary vote. And that is easing fears that Athens could leave the EuroZone. New Democracy's Antonis Samaras now has three days to form a coalition government.

Now the Muslim Brotherhood is claiming victory for its candidate in Egypt's runoff presidential election, but rival Ahmed Shafik is not conceding. He says votes are still being tallied in his stronghold. And Egypt's military rulers have issued a decree that makes sure real power still lies with them and virtually strips the newly elected president of his authority.

Iran is meeting with world powers in Moscow for talks on its disputed nuclear program. This is the third round of negotiations on the matter with discussions last month failing to reach a breakthrough. Now western powers believe Iran may be trying to build atomic weapons, something it denies. Israeli president Shimon Peres has told CNN that time is running out for the country.

Now Saudi Arabia's royal family is to begin the process of selecting a new crown prince following the death of Naif bin Abdulaziz. Funeral services were held in Mecca on Sunday. Naif had served as Saudi Arabia's interior minister since 1975 and also acted as the country's deputy premier.

Now Greece is expected to top the agenda as world leaders gather in Los Cabos, Mexico for the group of 20 summit. And they face a challenging task, coming up for a viable strategy to ease the debt crisis that has ravaged Greece and other EuroZone nations.

Now the June 20 summit is happening as the world's rich and poor nations are feeling the sting of financial turmoil in Europe. And White House correspondent Brianna Keilar joins us now live from Los Cabos, Mexico.

And Brianna, what's the latest?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kristie, from the White House there's certainly a feeling of relief when it comes to the election in Greece. It's seen really as a referendum on keeping Greece in the EuroZone. But this is really a fleeting moment. The EuroZone crisis continues. It will be top of the agenda here at the G20 summit in Los Cabos, Mexico. And while the White House is really downplaying that we'll be seeing any solutions coming from European nations, predominantly because there are only four of the 17 EuroZone nations here in attendance. But keep in mind some of those are powerhouses. Of course, Germany is here. France is here. Italy will be here as well.

And what the U.S. is really looking for is kind of a message, if you will, from these EuroZone nations. They want to know that something will be done. And they're looking at least abstractly for some of a commitment, but really pointing to that meeting that we'll be seeing, the EU meeting toward the end of the month in Brussels for some sort of more formalized solution on the EuroZone.

This is a very big deal, though, the EuroZone crisis. Maybe a lot of Americans it doesn't really resonate with them, because there's a sense that it's something happening over there. But the president's reelection hinges on the U.S. economy. And the U.S. economy at this point hinging on what happens with the EuroZone, Kristie.

LU STOUT: And Brianna, when U.S. President Barack Obama meets with the Russian president, what will they discuss?

KEILAR: A number of things. And this comes, of course, at a moment of a lot of tension between the U.S. and Russia. Iran will be discussed, of course, because as we speak, as the G20 summit gets underway so do those talks in Moscow in fact involving UN security council nations, Russia and the U.S. among them, and Iran trying to discourage Iran from pursuing its alleged nuclear weapons program.

But Syria is really going to be the big issue. And this is the one that has the most, I guess you could say, of a sticking point between the U.S. and Russia. The U.S. really wants to see Bashar al-Assad go in Syria. And Russia doesn't see it that way. Russia very suspicious. Putin certainly very suspicious of the U.S. And Russia has not only financial interests in Syria, but also military interests. There is of course that naval station run by Russia on the Mediterranean and Syria. And as we speak there are two war ships, two Russian war ships heading for that naval station.

So I think what we're kind of expecting here is not necessarily any sort of warm fuzzy moment, Kristie, to be sure. This may actually be very much a practice in awkwardness, this meeting that we'll be seeing later this morning.

LU STOUT: Yeah, we'll be looking out for those awkward smiles for the cameras. Brianna Keilar joining us live from the site of the G20 meeting. Thank you.

Now let's find out how stock markets are reacting to that other top topic being discussed at the G20, that tight election result in Greece. Nina Dos Santos joins us live from London. And Nina, global markets, they had a bit of a relief rally earlier, but what is the situation now?

NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, the situation is awfully familiar, isn't it? We were here in the same position, let's say financially speaking when I was anchoring from Madrid exactly one week to the day when we found out that Spain has asked for a bailout. And we had a similar sort of reaction didn't we? A bit of a relief rally and then a couple of hours into the trading session everything seemed to have petered out and then we got volumes thinning off and everything became slightly more unstable.

Basically what we're seeing here there are a number of questions that remain unanswered at this point, namely OK, yes, New Democracy did manage to come in, in first position, but it doesn't have anywhere near the kind of percentages that it would need for an overall majority. And so as such what we're going to see is coalition forming -- coalition formation taking place over the next few days, a lot of horse trading. And that's what traders are telling me, we really don't know what kind of concessions that are going to have to be made here.

Also, we don't know exactly what New Democracy may or may not say to other EuroZone partners to try and soften the stance when it comes to those austerity measures and the conditions of the bailout that Greece had been given.

Let me bring you some notes from some of the analysts that have been commenting on this situation so far. And Deutsche Bank has been saying what we're seeing here is policymakers driving, but without a road map going forward.

There's a lot of people here on this trading for here in the city of London, this is Capital Group, London Capital Group on that Kristie, and they've been saying well first of all the issue surrounding Spain haven't been resolved and the issues surrounding Greece haven't been resolved. At the moment, it's not even clear whether central bankers are going to step up to the fore and try to solve this EuroZone crisis -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: You know, it's interesting that you mentioned Spain because it seems that the attention has really shifted to that country. We watched today's Spanish bond yields reaching a new high.

Nina, your thoughts on Spain? And will it become the fourth euro member to need external funding?

DOS SANTOS: Well, it's already said that it's going to become the fourth EuroZone member to need external funding. The only difference is, is that Spain is trying to pitch it not as a country bailout, but rather as a bailout for its banking sector. Indeed, they're trying to avoid the terminology bailout altogether. What they've officially called it repeatedly is a credit line, but we still don't know how much money Spain will need.

We do know that the EuroZone finance ministers have committed about $125 billion to throw at the problem for the moment, but I was just talking to the chief executive of this very company where I am at the moment, this is a company that does $4 billion worth of trades every single day, Kristie. And what he was saying is given the fact that Spain's 10 year yield is trading at around about 7 percent for the second time in just a week, well what he's saying is people could be getting scared about haircuts being put on the table here. This means investors having to swallow losses on their investments. The big economies like the fourth largest EuroZone economy like Spain that is a real knock to confidence if people are thinking that, Kristie.

LU STOUT: Indeed. Nina Dos Santos watching the markets for us. Many thanks indeed.

Now the path of austerity in Greece has long been championed by the German Chancellor Angela Merkel. And Diana Magnay, she is live in Berlin to tell us the mood there this Monday. And Diana, I can only guess that Germany must be delighted with the Greek election outcome.

DIANA MAGNAY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I think delighted, Kristie, is a little strong. Bear in mind that Samaras is only at the starting point of having to try and form a coalition. No one yet knows what the make-up of that coalition will be. And Antonis Samaras is also somebody who during the majority of time spent trying to work on this bailout together with Greece was against PASOK's initiatives and against the bailout. So, you know, some of the commentators have called this really the lesser of two evils. But certainly this is probably preferred election outcome depending on how the coalition is now formed.

But actually what you've got from Germany is a sort of degree of silence, the sort of waiting to see what happens next. There's been a lot of discussion about whether there will be any leeway from the German chancellor on the degree to which the bailout can be sort of renegotiated. He's made it very clear that it can't be, but there has been some chats most specifically from her foreign minister that perhaps the time frame on the implementation of the bailout might be stretched, even though the substance itself would not.

Now there is sort of contradictory messages coming, but I would imagine that no one is really going to give much clear indication of what and how the bailout sort of might be stretched until a coalition has been formed and until the Troika then sits down together with that coalition. Until that point, especially with the chancellor and the finance minister at the G20 summit in Mexico you're probably not going to hear very much from the German government anyway.

LU STOUT: So Germany cautiously watching the horse trading right now in Greece. Diana Magnay on the story, thank you very much indeed for that.

And still to come here on News Stream, social media served up magazine style. That's Flipboard. And I'll be talking to its co-founders after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back.

Now it's billed as the world's first social magazine, I'm talking about Flipboard. It's a news reader filled with everything your friends are sharing online creating a magazine out of real-time social media content and news. Now I'll tell you what the Flipboard looks like from my perspective. And true to its name as you can see you flip through pages of content. So instead of scrolling down the time line, you turn page after page of social updates, articles, and photos as if it was a magazine.

Now the app made its debut in 2010 just a few months after the original iPad was unveiled. It's also available on the iPhone and more recently on Android handsets.

And to tell us more about Flipboard are its co-founders. We've got Mike McCue and Evan Doll who join us now live from our New York bureau. And a big welcome to you both Mike and Evan.

And first, quick question for you Mike. We've got to walk through your key metrics. How many people right now have downloaded Flipboard. And do you also measure how many flips you get every month?

MIKE MCCUE, FLIPBOARD INC. CO-FOUNDER AND CEO: Yes, well, the last time we talked about our metrics was the beginning of the year. We have about 8 million people total who have downloaded. You're going to see us come out with some new metrics probably later on this summer after we come out with our Android release. But it's about 8 million people at the beginning of the year. And we had about 2 billion flips per month. And that has been growing dramatically since then.

We're on about one in about every 10 iPads at the moment.

LU STOUT: All right. And Evan, you're the design guy. So tell me about your approach to design. What principles of magazine and print media to you apply to Flipboard?

EVAN DOLL, FLIPBOARD INC. CO-FOUNDER: Sure. A big part of what we were thinking about when we designed Flipboard is that the web is now integrated into people's lives at a whole new level. They're using their iPads on the beach. They're using it on treadmills. They're using it on the train. And they're using it to connect with people who are sharing lots of content. It's sort of becoming really pervasive and really also overwhelming.

So what we wanted to do was allow you to bring all these things you care about together into one place and really cut it down to the most important things and allow you to focus on what's most meaningful to you on a daily basis.

LU STOUT: And a question to both of you, I mean Flipboard has a lot of reach in the tablet market, namely the iPad. And do you think that as such there will be room for individual news apps in the future? Or do you think Flipboard will crowd out the New York Times app, the NatGeo app, even the CNN app?

MCCUE: Well, I think you're going to see lots of different news apps that will continue to be popular on the iPad and the iPhone. What Flipboard is really trying to do is bring all of the things that you care most about in one place, in one app. So, you know, you're going to see -- you see that to a certain extent with a browser for example. You'll still have these individuals apps if you really care about a particular brand you'll always want to check that particular app. But then Flipboard is really going to look at news as well as all your social networks -- Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Flickr, you know, et cetera, and bring those all together in one place for you.

LU STOUT: A question for you, Evan. Flipboard right now seems to be focused mainly on the user experience. Where do you get your design inspiration? And to what degree do you allow the user to dictate the user interface design?

DOLL: Sure. I mean, so design isn't just about how it looks, it's about how it works as well. So we see Flipboard as providing some simplicity from a visual perspective, but also kind of simplifying your life. It's about beauty and about brains as well.

So, you know, one thing we try to do on Flipboard is lean on the recommendations of your friends, you know, so the people you trust are sharing things that we think you might care about that's a very strong indicator to us about what's going to be relevant for you.

So it's not just about algorithms and you know really brainy computers under the hood, it's also about people and using people's (inaudible).

LU STOUT: And, Mike, there is no advertising on Flipboard, so how do you plan to make money? And when will you start making money?

MCCUE: Actually there is a little bit of advertising now. We're just getting going. Basically our model is to enable publishers to produce great content on Flipboard and then be able to monetize that content with full page print style ads. We took a queue from the magazine. You know, people really love big pages of content and then big pages of advertising. And so we're really trying to model after that. And so we'll enable these publishers to sell these ads and then we get a revenue share as a component of that.

LU STOUT: And who do you think is your biggest competitor, because you're not the only social media or news aggregator app out there. There's also Zeit (ph) which incidentally CNN acquired recently for $20 million. What's your thinking about the playing field out there?

MCCUE: Well, you know, there are a lot of folks out there -- you know, the iPad has created an explosion of new kinds of apps. You have a lot of news aggregator apps. You also have a lot of social aggregator apps. Flipboard is really the only one that's doing both. You can actually flip through all your news, but also very importantly the things that your closest friends are sharing with you -- pictures from vacations, you know, music that people really love, all that you can get in that magazine format on Flipboard.

LU STOUT: All right. Mike McCue and Evan Doll, co-founders of Flipboard. Thank you so much for joining us here on News Stream and introducing your app and telling us what's next for your company. Good luck. Take care.

Now we'll take you next to Myanmar where opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, she is continuing her historic tour of Europe. In fact, she's been traveling oversees for awhile now. She has a stop over in Dublin today. And there she will be presented with an Amnesty International award. And Suu Kyi's trip to the Irish capital, it follows her visit to Norway where she delivered her Nobel speech over the weekend more than two decades after she won the peace prize.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AUNG SAN SUU KYI, MYANMAR OPPOSITION LEADER: As the days and months went by and news of reactions to the award came over the airwaves, I began to understand the significance of the Nobel Prize. It had made me real once again. It had drawn me back into the wider human community. And what is more important, the Nobel Prize had drawn the attention of the world to the struggle for democracy and human rights in Burma. We were not going to be forgotten.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Now there may be a chorus of people waiting to meet the pro-democracy leader in Dublin, but there is one notable supporter who is already used to dealing with his own legion of fans: U2 front man and activist Bono. And he's rolling out the red carpet, reportedly whisking her off on his private jet touching down in Dublin where he will host a tribute concert in her honor.

Now still ahead here on News Stream, watch this space. China aim to put its own space station into orbit. But find out why this mission is already being called historic.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Live pictures of Hong Kong outside our studios here. And in Hong Kong a t1 Typhoon warning signal has been raised. Again those are live pictures of Victoria Harbor not (inaudible) the storm coming in just yet, just the cloudy skies up over IFC building.

Now the typhoon one signal is up because of a nearby tropical storm. And Mari Ramos joins us now with more from the CNN world weather center -- Mari.

MARI RAMOS, CNN WEATHER CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kristie. Yeah. You know, it doesn't look too bad out there in Hong Kong. A little bit of cloud cover. You might get some rain. But the storm is far away enough that what you're getting is the (inaudible) from the storm. In other words, that sinking air, so not a lot of rain is expected. And actually when the storms get this close to Hong Kong, but not close enough to bring your rain, what you end up with is sometimes you get some pretty bad air quality. So that's going to be something to monitor over the next day or so.

This is a storm right here. It is Talim. It is the one that caused you all that rain, or the same system I should say, that caused you all that rain over the weekend, especially Saturday there over Hong Kong. Winds right now at the center of the storm are close to 80 kilometers per hour, gusting to about 100. And you can see the circulation right here in the South China Sea. Hainan will probably get some rain from this, also parts of Vietnam. And you can even see a little bit of that flow effecting Luzon here. So there, already a weather maker when it comes to Tropical Storm Talim.

We're not expecting this to become a typhoon. But I don't think that's going to matter too much in this case, because the main problem with Talim will be the amount of rain that we're expecting, particularly along the path. The center of the storm will stay over the water, we think, but close enough to land that across eastern China here and possibly over Taiwan the rain could be significant enough to cause flooding, maybe even mudslides. So we need to be extra careful when it comes to this storm even though it is only -- and I hate saying only a tropical storm. It is quite the weather maker we think over the next few days.

As far as rainfall, well we could be seeing in some cases 8, 15 maybe isolated areas of 25 centimeters of rain along the coast of China here and eventually into parts of Taiwan. So we'll monitor that. And also watch out for that outflow there also for the Philippines.

Now before we get to our other storm, the typhoon that is moving across southern parts of Japan I do want to just stay in China for just a moment, because we've had some serious flooding again, this time in the northeast. I want to show you a few of the pictures that we have from this area. This is from the flooding -- you know, when I tell you how dangerous it is for people to try to drive through flooded roads, not only does it mess up your car like you see here, but you can end up -- you could kill yourself, because you don't know what's in the water, you don't know if the road is even down there anymore because you can't see it so it does become extremely dangerous.

Not only the cities have problems, there were problems in the outskirts. The next piece of video shows us the problems with the flooding in the agricultural areas. And that right there, that's hail. And that's another sign of series and severe storm and that is disastrous for plants and crops there.

Come back over to the weather map over here very quickly. This is the typhoon I was telling you about, this one affecting parts of Japan. We're expecting Guchol to have pass fairly close. Winds already close to 200 kilometers per hour. And it is expected to continue tracking northward here and possibly have a direct impact on Japan as we head through the next day or so.

Let's go ahead and check out your forecast.

Kristie, this next piece of video is really something else. Get ready. This is from Minnesota. Just yesterday you can see this huge storm that was forming. It almost looks like a mothership cloud, sometimes it's called -- you can see it right there -- the storm itself was a severe storm that formed. You can see not only the wall cloud there, but you can also see bits of the funnel that begins to form as this moves through the -- oh, there's the funnel definitely. You can hear the winds and you can see the lightning in the background. Really amazing footage. I know those storm chaser wannabes out there are just drooling over these images right here. Extremely dangerous conditions. There were no reports fortunately of serious injuries, though.

Back to you.

LU STOUT: Yeah, it's incredible. Every time we air these storm chasing videos I think we should have a disclaimer as well. You've got to be careful. Riveting stuff, but be careful.

Mari Ramos there. Thank you and take care.

Now China has completed its first manned docking in Space. It was an automatic maneuver, but still an important milestone. The Xinua news agency reports that the crew of the Shenzhou 9, or the Divine Vessel spacecraft has entered the Tiangong-1 module, or the Heavenly Palace.

Now this is a crucial step toward creating the country's first space station that China hopes to put in orbit around year 2020. Now China's progress comes as U.S. scales back its manned space program because of budget cuts and shifting priorities.

And on board is China's first woman to travel into space. Liu Wang. And her presence on the mission has been praised as a breakthrough for women in the field. But despite excelling as a fighter pilot and now tychonaut, as space traveler, some reports have suggested that's always enough. For example, Reuters quotes the China Daily which says in order to qualify as a female astronaut in China you must be married and preferably be a mother. Not that either of those mattered to previous women in space.

Now other reports say a woman apparently can't have any tooth decay or scars and must have fresh breath.

Now while health factors are taken into account for both men and women, some people on social media sites, like China's equivalent of Twitter Sino Weibo, have called into question whether or not there's too much focus on unnecessary factors.

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

END