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FBI Director Admits to Investigation into Trump Campaign Ties to Russia; Remembering Northern Irish Political Leader Martin McGuinness; U.S. Bans Most Electronic Items on Flights from 10 Middle Eastern Airport. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired March 21, 2017 - 08:00   ET

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


[08:00:51] KRISTIE LU STOUT, HOST: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong and welcome to News Stream.

Now, the U.S. introduces strict new security measures on flights out of the Middle East: virtually any electronic device other than your smartphone

cannot be taken into aircraft cabins.

The FBI director says they are investigating ties between Donald Trump's presidential campaign and Russia and denies that there's any evidence that

Barack Obama wiretapped Trump.

And looking at the life of a pivotal and controversial figure in Northern Ireland. Martin McGuinness dies at 66.

The Trump administration is rolling out a new travel-related restriction targeting eight Middle Eastern and North African countries. Now, airlines

are being ordered to ban nearly all electronic items from the cabin of direct U.S.-bound flights from 10 specific airports, including Dubai, the

world's third busiest airport.

Now, the list of airlines affected by this include Emirates, one of the world's biggest airlines, as well as Turkish Airlines, Etihad and Qatar

airways.

And if you are flying on one of these airlines out of eight countries, you will not be able to bring anything larger than a smartphone into the cabin

- no tablets, no laptops, game consoles, cameras, anything that isn't a smartphone or medical device must be checked.

Now, airlines have been given 96 hours to comply with the ban.

Let's bring in our aviation correspondent Richard Quest who joins us live from Kuala Lumpur. And Richard, the airlines and the airports being

affected by this new measure. How are they responding? What does this mean for them?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, to start with, there's

confusion over exactly the range, depth and breadth of this new ban. And certainly if you take, for example, aircraft and airlines from Qatar, from

Etihad and from Emirates, these are huge carriers.

Remember, Emirates is actually the largest airline in the world in terms of revenue, seat miles, or available seat kilometer miles. So, it's a vast

enterprise. And most of the passengers flying many of these airlines are transferring through, whether it be through Dubai, Abu Dhabi or Istanbul, because Turkey is also on this list.

And it means that passengers will have to have checked their major electronic items at the point of departure. And that might be many hours

and many miles and many journeys away before they actually get to the final point of departure to the United States.

So, still a lot of confusion over how this is going to work. and absolutely surprised, Kristie, that this came out of nowhere. Nobody knew

it was coming. Nobody got any inkling of what was about to happen. And more importantly, so far we have no reason as to why this has been

introduced now.

LU STOUT: And this measure, as you said it came out of nowhere. A lot of confusion. I just want to get your thoughts on the wisdom of this new

security measure. Is it needed? Can it be effectively implemented?

QUEST: Those in the industry I've spoken to say, clearly, the American security authorities obviously have information that they believe warrants

this draconian and drastic act. But what they also say is there are a thousand and one ways around this.

For instance, by all means, put your larger electronic items in the hold, but they can be controlled from an iPhone or from a cellular phone that's

in the cabin. And no one is quite sure exactly what would count. So tablets would count, but some tablets are also phones and some sizes -- you

get the idea. This is going to be a minefield in terms of implementing.

And what some of the Middle Eastern carriers are now looking at, ways in which they can take the electronic goods off people in their Middle Eastern

hub, store them in the hold, but give them back further down when they get to the United States.

I think that the logistics of this are a nightmare. We've seen it before. The UK tried this back in 2004, 2006. We saw it with liquids and gels. At

best, these sort of massive restrictions can only be truly implemented on a temporary basis. And even then, they are highly disruptive.

The logistics of this going to be a nightmare. You heard it straight from our Richard Quest reporting live for us from Kuala Lumpur. Richard, thank

you, as always.

Always great to have Richard on board. Our apologies for the technical glitches there, but most of the analysis there we heard it loud and clear.

Now, meanwhile, White House is battling this political firestorm. The director of the FBI confirmed on Monday the bureau is looking into ties

between Trump associates and Russia during the 2016 election campaign.

FBI chief James Comey and National Security Agency Director Mike Rogers testified in front of the House intelligence committee. The FBI

investigation leaves a cloud of uncertainty over the Trump administration. As the White House plays defense, the president used a campaign style rally

to focus attention on the new Republican health care bill.

Here's CNN's Joe Johns.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Donald Trump dodging the biggest challenge to rock his administration at a campaign rally Monday

night.

JAMES COMEY, FBI DIRECTOR: The FBI, as part of our counterintelligence mission, is investigating the Russian government's efforts to interfere in

the 2016 presidential election. And that includes investigating the nature of any links between individuals associated with the Trump campaign and the

Russian government and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and Russia's efforts.

JOHNS: FBI Director James Comey and NSA director Mike Rogers facing five hours of questioning before the House Intelligence Committee.

REP. ADAM SCHIFF, (D) CALIFORNIA: President Obama could not unilaterally order a wiretap of anyone?

COMEY: No president could.

JOHNS: Comey rejecting Mr. Trump's baseless claim that former President Obama wiretapped his Trump Tower campaign headquarters.

COMEY: I have no information that supports those tweets. The answer is the same for the Department of Justice and all of its components.

JOHNS: The White House trying to dismiss much of Comey's testimony.

SEAN SPICER, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I think there's a lot of areas that still need to be covered. There's a lot of information that still

needs to be discussed.

JOHNS: Continuing to deny any coordination.

SPICER: You can continue to look for something, but continuing to look for something that doesn't exist, doesn't matter.

JOHNS: And incredibly, refusing to back off the president's bogus wiretapping claim.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is the president prepared to withdraw that accusation and apologize to the president?

SPICER: No, we started a hearing. It's still ongoing. And then, as Chairman Nunes mentioned, this is one in a series of hearings that will be

happening.

JOHNS: President Trump's official government Twitter account firing off defensive tweets in real time throughout the hearing, leading one lawmaker

to press Comey to clarify the record.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is the tweet, as I read it to you, "The NSA and FBI tell Congress that Russia did not influence the electoral process," is that

accurate?

COMEY: We've offered no opinion, have no view, have no information on potential impact, because it's never something that we looked at.

JOHNS: Comey also revealing the intelligence community has come to at least one clear conclusion. Russia's interference in the election was primarily

driven by Vladimir Putin's disdain for Hillary Clinton.

COMEY: Putin hated Secretary Clinton so much that the flip side of that coin was, he had a clear preference for the person running against the

person he hated so much.

JOHNS: Meantime, Republicans trying to deflect from the investigation. Instead, focusing on leaks and who revealed former national security

adviser Michael Flynn's identity.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One thing you and I agree on is the felonious dissemination of classified material, most definitely, is a crime.

JOHNS: With the president's government account even suggesting Obama might have played a role in the leaks, tweeting, "FBI Director Comey refuses to

deny he briefed President Obama on calls made by Michael Flynn to Russia."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: That was CNN's Joe Johns there.

Now, Russia, meanwhile, has denied meddling in the U.S. election. And CNN's Fred Pleitgen is in Moscow for us reporting. And, Fred, the Kremlin

said that they wouldn't be watching the hearing, of course, no doubt, they were watching. How is Moscow taking in the news from the FBI that yes

indeed there is a Russia probe?

[08:10:00] FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, in a nutshell, Kristie, they're not taking it in very well. And it's

interesting because first all of, they said they wouldn't be watching the hearing. And it really seems as though right now they are doing everything

they can to comment on it as little as possible.

There was a conference call a little earlier today with the spokesman for Vladimir Putin with Dmitry Peskov where he asked them - where we asked him

exactly that question. What do they make of the hearings. And especially of the fact that for the very first time the FBI had said that, yes, there

was an investigation ongoing into the possible ties between Trump campaign operatives and the Russian government.

The spokesman said that he believed that these hearings were going around in circles. He said he feels that some of the people who were in those

hearings were simply trying to confirm their own allegations. He feels that there was nothing new coming out of that.

And finally he also said, Dmitry Peskov did, that he believed this is not something that is constructive for relations between the United States and

Russia. But he also made very clear when answering our question that he was tired of having to comment on this subject.

So, you can feel a growing sense of frustration here in Moscow with this, obviously, recurring

theme. Russians, obviously, were hoping to have better relations with the U.S. at this point in time of

the Trump administration.

One of the things that they've been saying is that they believe their country is being singled out, demonized and they say that the current

discussion that's going on in the U.S. is humiliating for the United States, Kristie.

LU STOUT: Wel, this team will recur again in the future. We know that Comey warned that attempts for Russian to meddle are, in his words, not

likely to stop.

What is known about the methods, the spycraft, that Russia has been using to target the U.S. political process?

PLEITGEN: Well, obviously it's a very murky world, the world of wiretapping and possible government involvement in all of that.

One of the things we have heard over the past couple of weeks is that the Russian military came

out and said it wanted to increase its cybercapabilities. And of course, one of the entities that the U.S. intelligence services were blaming for

some of the things that were apparently going on in the U.S. was the Russian military intelligence services.

Now, if you speak to experts here in Russia who sort of deal with that topic, or investigative

journalists who deal with that topic, they claim that there could also be some impulses for things like this coming from the Kremlin itself. But

they also say that the actual hacking would be done by private companies that would do this. One of the big catch phrases that you hear all the

time is plausible deniability, the fact that no official link could then ever be made or would be difficult to make any sort of link to any sort of

official entity here in Russia.

And it's interesting when you hear the statements coming out, Russian politicians, senior Russian politicians always say, look, nobody from

official Russia was involved in any sort of hacking that might have taken place in the United Staest. So you always have that element that they seem

to try to preserve of that plausible deniability, Kristie.

LU STOUT: Yeah, an effective spy has to cover his or her tracks, right?

Fred Pleitgen reporting live for us from Moscow. As always, thank you very much indeed.

Now, Iraq's prime minister says the U.S. has promised more support in the fight against ISIS. He made the statement after meeting President Trump at

the White House.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson plans to host members of the global

coalition to defeat ISIS to review the campaign. 68 nations are in that coalition.

Now for more, I want to bring in Arwa Damon from Irbil in Northern Iraq. And Arwa, a significant presence of nations going to be represented at this

anti-ISIS summit to take place later today in Washington, but what impact at this anti-ISIS summit to take place later today in Washington. What

impact is it going to have on the front lines in Iraq and in Syria?

ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, when it comes to an immediate impact, it's probably not going to have a very significant one

unless we see some sort of decision that greatly changes the dynamics on the ground. But right now

you have a scenario in Iraq where the Iraqi security forces, backed by the coalition, with U.S. advisers, are fairly deeply entrenched in the battle

to liberate what remains of western Mosul, arguably the toughest part of the fight that lies ahead.

And then, of course, you have the ISIS presence in Syria and the battle for Raqqa. And a lot of key decisions that need to be made when it comes to

what kind of a force is going to advance on that city given that the city is surrounded by various different forces, all of which have their various

different international backers.

So it's a very complicated landscape. And ultimately, of course, when we talk about trying to defeat ISIS, let's bear in mind that it's not just

about defeating ISIS territorially, it's also about trying to defeat the ISIS ideology which many will argue is potentially going the even bigger challenge.

LU STOUT: The Iraqi prime minister, we know that he met with President Trump at the White House. How committed is President Donald Trump to

support Iraqi forces in the fight against ISIS and ISIS ideology?

[08:15:03] DAMON: Well, if you look at the rhetoric that's come out, both from Prime Minister Abady as well as the White House a statement put out by

the White House. It seems as if this was initially a very positive meeting. He expressed a sense of optimism when it came to U.S. support and

that perhaps he would be seeing even more U.S. support moving forward. There is this sense that President Trump does recognize the importance of

Iraq, at least the Iraqi prime minister hopes so. And of course the role that Iraq has played not just in terms of trying to get rid of ISIS within

its own borders, but also being a regional player.

The Iraqis are fairly reliant on the U.S. at this stage when it comes to their fight against ISIS given the presence of U.S. advisers on the ground

and coalition support in the air, but the United States also does realize that it needs to continue to support the Iraqis in this effort, because

again it's in no one's interest to see ISIS pushed out of Mosul presence on the ground.

The United States also does realize that it needs to continue to support the Iraqis in this effort because, again, it serves no one's interest to

see ISIS pushed out of Mosul, eventually pushed out of Syria in terms of being physically defeated there only to have it re-emerge as yet another

entity that's potentially even more powerful, even more deadly as we have seen the previous incarnations of ISIS do in the past.

LU STOUT: Arwa Damon reporting live on the line from northern Iraq. Thank you, Arwa.

Now, there is growing international concern about North Korea's nuclear ambitions. What new intelligence suggests when we come back.

And from militants to peacemaker, a look back on the life of one of Northern Ireland's most controversial politicians.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

Now, in just two days, the U.S. House of Representatives are to vote on a bill to replace Obamacare.

Republicans leaders unveiled some major changes to the plan to try to win support within their own party. But they're still facing an uphill battle

to push it through.

Our Suzanne Malveaux reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're going to negotiate and it's going to go to the Senate and back and forth. The end result is going

to be wonderful and it's going to work great.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Trump ramping up pressure on House Republicans ahead of Thursday's vote on the American

Health Care Act.

TRUMP: Thursday is our chance to end Obamacare and the Obamacare catastrophe.

MALVEAUX: The GOP revealing last-minute tweaks to the bill overnight, hoping to appease both conservative and moderate Republicans who are on the

fence, to get the 216 votes needed for the bill to pass.

REP. PAUL RYAN (R-WI), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: Every change we make conforms to the Senate rules we have to play by.

MALVEAUX: Now, the bill allows states the option of receiving federal Medicare funding as a block grant instead of a set amount per enrollee,

something conservatives have been asking for. It also allows states to require able-bodied Medicaid recipients to work for their insurance, and

aims to repeal Obamacare tax increases this year instead of 2018. The House also sets aside $75 billion in tax credits, to help seniors buy their own

policies, after analysts predicted big cost increases for older Americans, under the initial bill. They are leaving the details to the Senate.

[08:20:46] RYAN: All these changes that have been added, we're doing to make sure they're done in such a way they can't get filibustered and we

feel really good where we are.

MALVEAUX: It's still unclear whether the revisions to the bill will sway enough Republicans to ensure it will pass on Thursday. During Monday's

closed-door meeting, the White House is arguing to conservative lawmakers that the time for negotiation on the bill is over.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And that was CNN's Suzanne Malveaux reporting.

Now, the president's eldest daughter, Ivanka Trump, will be getting her own office in the White

House. A senior administration official says she'll seek a security clearance, but will not be a government employee. The first daughter has

been an informal adviser to her father appearing alongside him at several major meetings.

Now, the Trump administration is deal with a growing threat from North Korea. Intelligence appears to show Pyongyang is expanding its capacity to

produce nuclear weapons.

Will Ripley has more on how the Trump administration is responding to the growing threat.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONENT: North Korea clearly top of mind for the Trump administration right now after Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's

visit to Beijing. Donald Trump, the U.S. president, tweeting about North Korea, then talking about it on Air Force One, and he even mentioned it

during a rally in Louisville, Kentucky, on Monday.

TRUMP: North Korea.

North Korea. I'll tell you what, what's happening there is disgraceful and not smart, not smart at all. So many different problems.

RIPLEY: What we're not hearing from the Trump administration right now, specifics. What is their plan for dealing with North Korea. We know that

the top nuclear inspector for the United Nations, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, spoke with the Wall Street Journal

over the weekend saying hat North Korea has doubled the size of one of its main nuclear facilities, the Yonbyon facility. This allows North Korea to

produce more plutonium. And they're also producing more uranium right now, two major components in nuclear weapons.

Sources in the State Department are telling CNN that that rocket engine that was tested over the

weekend could potentially fit on an intercontinental ballistic missile, taking North Korea to their ultimate goal of having an ICBM with a nuclear

warhead that could reach the mainland United States.

The U.S. and China have very different views about how to solve this problem. China thinks the U.S. needs to stop joint military exercises with

South Korea and sit down at the negotiating table.

But the U.S. thinks that China needs to use its economic leverage over North Korea and to punish Chinese companies that are still doing business

with Pyongyang, despite U.S. sanctions.

We still believe that there is a meeting that will happen early next month between Chinese President Xi Jinping and President Trump in the United

States. And that's when the two leaders can over those proposals and try to come up with a plan for denuclearization as North Korea keeps making

more progress - Kristie.

LU STOUT: Will Ripley there.

Now, in South Korea, the rapid fall from grace continues for South Korea's ousted president. Park Geun-hye has met with prosecutors for the first

time since she was removed from office. As she arrived for questioning, Park apologized to the people of South Korea and promised to fully

cooperate with the investigation.

The ex-president is at the center of a corruption scandal involving a close confidante and leading business figures. And it is possible she could be

charged.

South Korean goes to the polls in May to elect a new leader.

Now, people in France are talking about Monday night's presidential debate. It was the first time the top five contenders faced off on television. Now

populism has swept into mainstream politics in France. And all eyes are watching how it affects the election next month. Here's CNN's Melissa

Bell.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MELISSA BELL, CNN PARIS CORRESPONDENT: This is a French political campaign like none other, and like no one can remember here in France, already

shaken by the populist wave that appears to have swept the Western world.

Tonight, for the first time in the Fifth Republic, before the first round of a presidential elections, the leading candidates held a live televised

debate. It was focused on the issues and what each candidate offered for France, what each candidate would bring to the country as its president.

For the last few weeks, the presidential campaign has been dominated by the judicial troubles faced by Francois Fillon, the Republican candidate, the

traditional right candidate, and the far-right's Marine le Pen.

Tonight, this was a debate about issues and issues that went to the heart of what kind of country France wants to be.

The question of the burkini and whether it should be allowed on French beaches has dominated French politics for many months now, and it was

central to the conversation tonight. Have a listen.

[08:25:41] EMMANUEL MARCON, FRENCH PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (through translation): The trap into which you are falling, Madam le Pen, with your

provocations, is to divide society, meaning that more than four million French women and French men, whose religion is Islam, and are not dividing

society but live in our republic, you're making them an enemy of the Republic. Well, I say no.

BELL: Plenty of tension there in those exchanges, tension in the speeches of all five candidates who knew especially for Emmanuel Macron, the leading

centric independent candidate. This was really his debate to lose. For the time being, the polls suggest that he will be facing off with the far-

right's Marine le Pen in the second round of the election, with, again, this historic situation where the two candidates, the Socialist and the

Republican, representing the two parties that have essentially shared power for the last several decades fairly excluded from the political debate,

excluded also, according to polls, from that second round. Can Emmanuel Macron keep his campaign on track and keep this shift going, that is the

question for the coming weeks.

But at the end of tonight's debate, in which really no killer lethal blow was delivered to any of the candidates, it is one that he seems to have

gotten past for tonight. Emmanuel Macron and Marine le Pen looking at the moment like they'll be facing off in that second round, presenting to the

French electorate two different versions of what they believe France should be.

Melissa Bell, CNN, in Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Still ahead, paying tribute to Northern Ireland's Martin McGuinness. We'll have more on this controversial political figure and the

legacy he leaves behind.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(HEADLINES)

[08:31:09] LU STOUT: He was the one-time IRA commander who became pivotal in bringing peace to Northern Ireland. And today, tributes are flowing in

for Martin McGuinness who has died at the age of 66. Now, our international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson looks at why McGuinness was

so controversial.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): Martin McGuinness was never in any doubt about what he wanted, an end to British

rule in Northern Ireland.

MARTIN MCGUINNESS, FORMER NORTHERN IRELAND DEPUTY FIRST MINITER & FORMER IRA COMMANDER: In Ireland, they believe the British government should have

no part to play and in the life of the silent, that we believe the silent should be free.

ROBERTSON: McGuinness was born into poverty in Londonderry, in a city that would become the cradle of the Republican movement in the province. In the

late 60s, Londonderry's Catholics took to the streets demanding civil rights and an end to Protestant dominance in Northern Ireland.

McGuinness joined the IRA to fight, the Irish Republican Army to fight.

MCGUINNESS: It was 1969, whenever it erupted.

(GUNFIRE)

ROBERTSON: By 1972, on Bloody Sunday, when British paratroopers fired on angry demonstrators, killing 13 unarmed civilians, McGuinness had risen to

be an IRA commander.

In early '80s, McGuinness became an elected politician for Sinn Fein, the political wing of the IRA.

But even as the IRA launched bombing attacks in Northern Ireland and mainland Britain, McGuinness was talking with British officials, a risky

initiative.

MCGUINNESS: We were dealing with very devious people who had the capability if they chose effectively to destroy me, as a Republican, and the fact that

they bring back a set of circumstances where I could lose my life as a result of my participation in these talks.

ROBERTSON: His risk eventually paid off. The 1998, Good Friday Peace Agreement called for power sharing between Catholics and Protestants.

Vindication came at the ballot box. Sinn Fein's popularity soared, the most powerful Catholic party in Northern Ireland. In a new power sharing

government, McGuinness rose to be deputy first minister, the first in his party to shake hands with Queen Elizabeth. A testament to how far this

Republican terrorist had come.

But after years of power sharing with Protestants, he abruptly resigned.

MCGUINNESS: I believe it's the right time to call a halt.

ROBERTSON: It was all the more shocking, because he appeared so visibly weak. He was ill. It was the last roll of the political dice. A Republican

through and through.

MCGUINNESS: I've always believed in myself. From the day that I stood with the young people and the old people of Londonderry and through storms

during the battle of the bog side, it was from that moment on that I believed in myself, that I believed that we could achieve important things.

ROBERTSON: A belief he never let go.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And for more on this, Nic robertson joins us from CNN London. And Nic, McGuinness was the former IRA commander turned peacemaker. You

had the opportunity to sit down to talk to him. What was he like as a man?

ROBERTSON: He had a humor. He had a charm. He had charisma. He was a man that could very easily communicate his ideas and his thinking. He

always struck me as somebody that, you know, that could, because I heard from so many other people that he could also command fear in people. I

could certainly see that.

But this was a man who was attuned to getting his message across and was -- and knew how to do it in a friendly, charismatic way.

As much as his legacy as a terrorist within the IRA, you know, he -- that he had this legacy of fear about him as well. But this was a man who was

an effective communicator who knew how to build trust.

LU STOUT: Earlier today, the British Prime Minister Theresa May said on the passing of McGuinness that, quote, this is the man who played a

defining role in leading the Republican movement away from violence.

But how did McGuinness come to believe that in the end, peace must prevail?

ROBERTSON: He would describe it as, you know, as a recognition that this was the better way forward. The reality was the IRA was in a war with the

British military, that the IRA was compromised, that there were so many sort of people in it, spies if you will, who would give intelligence to the

British forces that would lead to so many of the IRA's operations being compromised.

But also there was a realization on McGuinness's side that the British military couldn't win against the (inaudible). So that these were his

words, so effectively to advance the idea of a united island, which is what he said he was fighting for, he had to do it by other means. And the IRA

was as a military organization had gone about as far as it could.

So he made this transition, recognizing that this was going to be a better way to achieve what he wanted to achieve.

LU STOUT: Nic Robertson reporting live from London. Thank you.

You're watching News Stream. And up next, fixing a financial anomaly. We'll look at how tech start-ups in Singapore are trying to tap into a

market where bank accounts and credit cards are simply not the norm.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: welcome back.

Now, some of the world's fastest growing economies can be found in Southeast Asia. But most people in the region don't have bank accounts or

even credit cards. Tech start-ups may be the answer for boosting financial inclusion and pushing regional growth, a trend that we're seeing in Singapore.

Now, we explore all that in this addition of CNN's Road to ASEAN.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[08:40:00] LU STOUT: Aaron has earned thousands of points collecting crystals in this popular mobile phone game. He is about to beat his best

friend's record when the free demo expires but, like most people in southeast Asia, he has no credit card or bank card and he can't pay online.

So it's too bad this time.

ANNOUCER: Game over.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: About a third of adults in southeast Asia have a bank account. Only 3 percent of adults have a credit card. What that means is

there is a huge number of people in this region who are online and connected and want to transact but don't have a way to pay online.

LU STOUT: Southeast Asia boasts a $2.5 trillion compete but without bank accounts, hundreds of millions of people remain locked out.

Singapore-based startup, Code a Pay, has created a platform to allow them to spend money online.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The contribution startups like us are making is drawing people into that Internet economy sooner and help grow that Internet

economy sooner and I think that will have tremendous welfare benefits.

LU STOUT: Take Spotify as an example. Code a Pay allows users to pay their subscription fee using mobile phone credit.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Another example would be paying at a convenience store. So you can make a purchase online, walk in to, say, 7-Eleven, pay for that

purchase, and it will be delivered.

LU STOUT: Startups are every evolving, embracing tech innovations like Bitcoin and eWallets to further boost financial inclusion. And Singapore is

proving to be the ideal place to innovate.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have $225 million Singapore dollars of incentives schemes to support banks establishing their R&D centers to work with

startups so we can have an evolution that is part of the process.

LU STOUT: International tech investment is pouring into the city state.

Mega firms have backed Code a Pay seeing Singapore as a jumping off point towards an emerging Asean.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The startups come here and bring their idea and commit in Singapore and test it here. Singapore will be a place where the startup

will start the journey and end up in Asean and the Asian market where they'll scale for larger deployment.

LU STOUT: Bringing more people into the online economy could mean a multi- billion-dollar boost to Asean's bottom line, but with cash still king, the region looks to tech startups to open the online marketplace to all.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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

END