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Source: Trump to call China a strategic competitor; Trump team says Mueller obtained emails improperly; South Africa's ANC looks for new leader; Protests as Austria swears in right-wing government; Action taken after CNN report on slavery; Palestinians share pain and hope for future peace. Aired at 8-9a ET

Aired December 18, 2017 - 08:00   ET

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


[08:00:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ISA SOARES, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Isa Soares in London here for Kristie Lu Stout, a very warm welcome to News Stream.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: Security and competition are the focus as President Trump is set to review a new U.S. strategic outlook. Why China and Russia could face

new scrutiny.

The votes are in South Africa's ruling party's deciding on its next leader. But what will that mean -- any real change in the country? And thousands

protest as the right leaning coalition is sworn in to govern.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: A very warm welcome. Now, just hours from now, the U.S. president is expected to unveil his new national security strategy. This speech will

offer a window into how Donald Trump and his team view the world and how they plan to respond to potential threats.

Now CNN has learned that Mr. Trump plans to build on his America first approach which he first laid out on the campaign trail, if you remember.

One key emphasis will be on China.

Let's bring in Matt Rivers who is in Beijing. And, Matt, what are you hearing from your side that could be coming out? What relates, I should

say, to that future relationship with China?

MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well, Isa, this document is something that each U.S. president has produced going back to Ronald

Reagan. It's a formal document. We saw two during the Obama administration.

This of course will be the first during the Trump administration. And it will focus, at least in part on China. Within that America first speech

strategy from Donald Trump that you heard on the campaign trail was a consistent targeting of China.

And what President Trump has called unfair trade practices. And so, what you're going to hear from the president according to sources that have

spoken to CNN from inside the White House is labeling China what they're calling a strategic competitor.

And they're going to lay out some of those unfair trade practices that Donald Trump has talked about in the past, things like intellectual

property theft.

Things like restriction on market access for American companies here in China and really focusing on that ballooning trade deficit since 2001 since

China joined the WTO that has reached into the hundreds of billions of dollars.

And really what you're seeing there is formalization, if you will of the kind of rhetoric that we have heard from Donald Trump more so as a

candidate than as president.

But there's been a couple of investigations into Chinese trade practices over the last couple of months or so, and so this could be kind of

furthering what could be a harder line stance against Chinese trade practices.

SOARES: OK. So if there is -- if President Trump does go indeed, with his tough messages, harder line stance, what could be the reaction, Matt, from

Beijing?

RIVERS: Well, initially, you're going to get the same sort of response from the Chinese government that you always get. And it's anytime there's

trade issues brought up, you hear from spokespeople of the Chinese government saying, the only way forward is through this win-win cooperation

that they referred to, the trade between both sides is mutually beneficial.

Bit in the end, the speech really is nothing more than just words. The Chinese will react if those words eventually turn into hard line policies,

if tariffs are enacted, if for some reason the United States labels China as a currency manipulator as candidate Trump once threatened.

Then the Chinese will not take that line down and they will immediately, from people I have talked to here in China, retaliate against U.S.

businesses in a very strategic, politically calculated way.

Think of things like agricultural -- agricultural exports from the United States to China to the tune of billions of dollars a year.

That's profits that go to the middle of the United States, the country's heartland, places where Donald Trump did very well. The Chinese known that

and could very well retaliate against those kind of industries that rely so much on business with China.

SOARES: Matt, let's put some meat on the burns here. How does President Trump's relationship with Xi Jinping pay into all of these, you think?

RIVERS: Yes, you know, that's really been the wild card I think of this entire U.S.-China relationship under President Trump. I mean, we alluded

to it a little bit earlier.

But when President Trump first came into office, everyone, including us here in the Beijing Bureau, were expecting United States to really go after

China with much tougher trade policies. That's what you heard from candidate Trump.

He threatened to label China as a currency manipulator on day one in office. And he didn't do that. And part of the reason is his relationship

with Xi Jinping who went to Mar-a-Lago in April. Both men clearly got along quite well.

[08:05:00] And that in conjunction with seeking Chinese cooperation on the ongoing issues with North Korea, the Trump administration, at least in the

beginning, made the calculation. OK, we're not going to really impose a lot of punitive trade measures but that calculation seems to be changing

now.

However, Xi Jinping gets on the phone and can't convince Donald Trump to not do that, does that throw all of that off? Frankly, we're not sure but

we don't know that the relationship between these two men, does have something to do with broader U.S.-China policy.

SOARES: Matt Rivers, there for us in Beijing. We should find out what that new security strategy does, indeed, say about China. Matt, very good

to see you.

Now, meantime, Mr. Trump's lawyers are to meet this week with a team investigating possible Russian collusion in the election. CNN's Joe Johns

tells us now the White House has accused the investigators of wrong doing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Trump denying that the White House is laying the groundwork to fire Special Counsel Mueller, one day after a

lawyer for Mr. Trump's transition team accused investigators of improperly obtaining thousands of e-mails.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's not looking good. It's very sad to see that. So, my people were very upset about it. I can't

imagine there's anything on them frankly because as we said, there's no collusion. There's no collusion whatsoever.

JOHNS: Mr. Trump's lawyer, arguing in a letter to Congress that the documents provided to Mueller's team by the General Services Administration

were their property and contained materials that should have been protected by attorney-client privileged.

Mueller's team denying wrongdoing in a rare statement saying, when we've obtained e-mails in the course of our on-going criminal investigation, we

secured either the account owner's consent or appropriate criminal process, the dispute coming amid escalating rhetoric from the president's supporters

against the probe.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is an attack on the presidency at a level we've never seen before.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The fix was in against Donald Trump from the beginning.

JOHNS: Talk of firing the Special Council prompting bipartisan concern on Capitol Hill.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think that would be a mistake.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is the White House afraid of? Let's let them finish the job and get the facts.

JOHNS: Rumors about Mueller's fake coming as Republicans appear to be on the brink of passing their nearly $1.5 trillion tax overhaul.

TRUMP: This is going to be one of the greatest gifts to the middle income people of this country that they have ever gotten for Christmas.

JOHNS: Law makers are expected to vote on the bill this Tuesday but Senator John McCain will not be in attendance. McCain returning home to

Arizona Sunday after spending several days in the hospital, due to side effects from his brain cancer treatment.

McCain's doctor saying the senator continues to improve as McCain's office insists he looks forward to returning to Washington in January. Meanwhile,

President Trump speaking with Russian President Vladimir Putin again Sunday, their second conversation since Thursday.

The White House saying Putin called to thank Mr. Trump for CIA intelligence that helped foil an ISIS inspired attack against targets in St. Petersburg.

On Thursday, Mr. Trump called to thank Putin for complimenting him on his handling of the U.S. economy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOARES: And that was CNN's senior Washington correspondent Joe Johns reporting there. Now, South Africans are anxiously waiting to find out who

will be the next leader of the ruling party. And then likely successor to President Jacob Zuma.

Delegates of the African National Congress have wrapped up voting for party leader. The contest picks the deputy president against President Zuma's

ex-wife, a former cabinet minister. David McKenzie is following the conference for us in Johannesburg, he joining us now with more.

So, David, this has been a bitterly fought race between these two contenders, who are, in many ways, linked to Zuma. Which one is likely to

gain the most support? I know voting is finished. But we're waiting on the results to come in.

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Isa, in terms of who will win, isn't over until it's over. And this has been a very tense, as you say,

lead-up to this crucial elected conference of the ruling ANC.

The main contenders who run the pose of their current deputy president who has talked tough on corruption and of course, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma,

former minister, former head of the African Union and as seen potentially somewhat closer to Jacob Zuma because she is his ex-wife.

So those are the two main contenders. The delegates are milling about. The tense hours, potentially or even moments before this announcement is

made. And this is a crucial decision for all of South Africa.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

MCKENZIE: ANC delegates pray for unity before welcoming the president central to their party's decline.

[08:10:00] This is the public face of a bitter battle. The ANC has lost supporters as Zuma faces hundreds of allegations of corruption and fraud.

So delegates hope this crucial vote for his replacement as party leader will signal the reverse of their once-proud ANC, sending a message to South

Africa and the world.

They're openly disagreeing with the party's leadership. So this is democracy in action. But less than 5,000 people will make the choice for

more than 50 million South Africans. Just down the road in Soweto, on the street where Nelson Mandela lived, South Africans died in the struggle

against apartheid.

OUPA MOLOTO, ANC VETERAN: We didn't know that, what is it that we are going to meet when we arrive at the village down the street.

MCKENZIE: The survivors are disillusioned with the party of Mandela. Oupa Moloto says the ANC has lost its way.

MOLOTO: It's painful being you really have a question like that, do these people know how much we have sacrificed for this country?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He thought the same thing as well.

MCKENZIE: He says whether the deputy president or a former minister and Zuma's ex-wife win, the ANC must still reckon with the rot. And the woman

perhaps most responsible for exposing the allegations agrees.

THULI MADONSELA, FORMER PUBLIC PROTECTOR OF SOUTH AFRICA: Not all of it is about President Zuma. But is it only about President Zuma? No, that would

be a mistake because I think the waters have been poisoned.

MCKENZIE: Zuma denies all the charges of corruption and he's famous for surviving scandal. Will the ANC overcome his legacy?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCKENZIE: Well, Isa, both camps have been confident at times that they'll run away with this vote. But at this stage, it's too early to tell. The

question will be if, this is a very tight margin of victory.

Will the other side accept that or will they try and take this to the courts, like other similar decisions have happened in South Africa? But it

certainly is an important moment for South Africa investors also looking very closely as to who will win this race. Isa.

SOARES: And, David, your piece though talked about how the ANC has lost a lot of support but also they have to deal with the rot.

What is likely to happen to Jacob Zuma, meanwhile he faces hundreds of corruption allegations, and what kind of impact, David, do you have that

will have -- you think that will have on the country, indeed on the party?

MCKENZIE: I think that's an important moment for the ANC because if whoever comes in as the new leader shoves aside these allegations of

corruption against the current president, then you probably will see the ANC losing more popular support.

It's important to stress that this is, you know, the liberation party of this country -- the party of Nelson Mandela. They have had so much moral

authority over the years in this country. They are the most important electoral force still.

But they have seen that support slipping. And that has been in condition junction with these allegations of corruption against the president and

others.

If there is a move to prosecute Jacob Zuma or at least to not stand in the way of the structures of the government, that could prosecute him, then you

might find people willing to kind of forget what's happened in the past few years and run back into the large tent of the ANC. But if they don't, I

think many feel they could really slip out of power in a couple of years. Isa.

SOARES: David McKenzie, there for us in Johannesburg. Thank you very much, David.

Well, South Africa is not the only country undergoing political change. Austria has sworn in a new government. We'll tell you why protesters took

to the streets.

Plus, thousands prepare to leave Libya and goes back follow a shocking report on migrants being auctioned like cattle. We'll have the latest

next.

[08:15:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SOARES: Welcome back to News Stream. Now Austria is now the only country in Western Europe with a far right party in government. Thousands of

protesters took the street of Vienna ahead of the squaring in ceremonies as you can see there.

Sebastian Kurz, who is 31 is the new Chancellor. His conservative people's party formed a government with a far right freedom party. Well, with more,

our Chris Burns joins us from Berlin, in neighboring Germany.

An, Chris, you know, during the campaign, if I remember correctly, the far right had quite a radical agenda. They campaigned against mass migration.

They talked of an invasion, even in civil war if I'm not mistaken. Now that they're in power, what are they going to do with that?

CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Isa, it's interesting to see what kind of words we're hearing from the two leaders now running Austria.

They put their ink to this agreement, 180 pages of platform, what they want to do, which includes just cutting taxes, cutting spending, cutting

immigration, speeding up some of the returns of illegal immigrants.

That's all what a lot of authority --- politicians across Europe want to do. But what we heard during the campaign, Heinz-Christian Strache, who is

now the deputy chancellor of the -- from the Freedom Party, he was saying during the campaign that his opponent, who is now the chancellor, which has

recall was an imposter, that the real guy who wants to bring the real delivery is himself.

And he also criticized Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany for being the most dangerous woman in Europe for letting so many immigrants into Germany

in the last couple of years. So listen to what he says now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HEINZ-CHRISTIAN STRACHE, AUSTRIAN VICE-CHANCELLOR (through a translator): We stand by the European Union. We stand by Europe's plan for peace. We

see one or other positions developing and different positions which we will naturally evaluate and also look for partners here and there. That is part

of the Democratic game and reality.

SEBASTIAN KURZ, AUSTRIAN CHANCELLOR (through a translator): We have a good, strong team. Concerning my part of the team, half of it will be

women and two-thirds of the team are experts who will bring a lot of knowledge to the political leadership and regarding Mr. Strache's team, his

suggestions have been discussed here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNS: OK. So what about that team? What about the team on the freedom party side? They include the foreign minister, the defense minister and

the interior minister.

The interior minister used to be a speech writer for Joerg Haider, who was leading the freedom party back 15 years ago, when they are also a part of a

coalition government here.

And he's saying well, there's no reason to be afraid, while there are a lot of people are afraid in Austria. And also there's a lot of concern in

Brussels where Chancellor Kurz is going -- to be going tomorrow to talk to European leaders.

He is going to also be holding the rotating presidency of the E.U. in the second half of 2018. So the E.U. is going to be watching very closely, as

well as some of the other politicians across Europe to see really if they walk the walk and walk the talk about what they plan to do during the

campaign or if this platform, which is rather moderate, is actually going to be what they do, Isa.

SOARES: Yes, we shall see as well what comes out of the European Union and how they react. Chris Burns, there for us in Berlin. Thank you very much,

Chris.

Now, in the coming hours, the British parliament is to debate putting more pressure on Libya, following an exclusive CNN report on that country's

slave trade.

[08:20:00] In October, Nima Elbagir and her team saw people were being seen sold at auction. That's some of the video you're seeing there.

They were migrants or refugees, who are just trying to get to Europe. Now, the International Organization for Migration, the IOM is preparing to

return trying 15,000 people to their native country. Amara Walker talk with the spokesman for the IOM who says our report served as a wake up call

right around the world.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LEONARD DOYLE, SPOKESMAN, INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR MIGRATION: Break the story if will about a couple of months back, but just putting out a

press release and describing it isn't really good enough nowadays.

What it really took was extraordinary bravery by CNN's reporters, going into Libya, witnessing an auction of human beings and then broadcasting it.

I mean, it was just Seminole and its importance.

And it took -- it transform the debate which has been a bit toxic, to say the least about migration. Many people, a bit negative on migrants to say

the least, blaming them for the problems they get into.

And then when we saw people being sold as pieces of commerce, it changed everybody's mind and it brought Africans and Europeans together in a way I

haven't seen before.

AMARA WALKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Tell me more about that because now, the IOM is going to help repatriate 15,000 displaced people/migrants back to

their home countries from Libya. What kind of conversations had to take place for that to happen?

DOYLE: Well, IOM is working in Libya for a long time in the detention centers, helping migrants, making sure that they're safe, keeping women

separated from men and trying to improve their lot and advocating strongly for them release from these retention centers.

Now the difficulty is that that's not been happening. But once this slavery issue came to the fore, we were getting phone calls from the

director general of IOM. I got a phone call from the African Union and from the European Union. And that is what led to this.

WALKER: Was this a matter of getting those home countries to help in the repatriation process?

DOYLE: I mean I think it was -- first of all, everybody had to see that it's a disgrace for this to be happening. So, let's try and fix it. Let's

try to get these people to safety. I think once they recognized that, everybody was going to be blamed if you couldn't fix it quickly, they

quickly found a solution.

Like getting over flags allowing entry without visa, making sure that the money is there to pay for the chartered flights that are taking people

back. It is an enormous air lift as you can imagine.

And IOM has surge in many staff come from around the world to make it a success and is terribly important that any of those who are being brought

out, being -- any who are entitled to refugee status being taking aside and the U.N. refugee agency.

Any trafficked people are protected, any unaccompanied minors. It's not just a question of people putting planes. It's a question also having when

they get home to make sure that they have something to look forward to. They have a business ground or some support.

WALKER: All right. We're glad that CNN's reporting was able to affect some change. And we should mention that the U.N. estimates that there are

about 700,000 to 1 million migrants in Libya.

Many of whom are trying to make their way to Europe. They're obviously in a very vulnerable position. And of course the challenge is you know,

getting -- finding ways to either get them back to port or to their homes or keeping them safe.

We're going to have to leave it there. Leonard Doyle, we appreciate you joining us with the International Organization for Migration.

DOYLE: Thank you very much.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOARES: For an about an hour or so, I'll be speaking to a British MP for (Inaudible) who is caught for the parliamentary debate in British

parliament. I should have more than about one hour. So, you're live here in CNN.

Now there is more pushback over the U.S. decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. In the coming hours, the U.N. Security Council

called vote to reject the decision.

That wouldn't change anything but he would send a strong message of widespread opposition. Now protesters are sending their own message from

Indonesia to Pakistan to these demonstrations in Turkey. CNN's Arwa Damon travel through a refugee camp where she spoke with Palestinians who say

these are hopeless times.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Above 70-year-old's Hussein Alsans (ph) bed is a wall decoration of Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through a translator): I made it out of my love for the original place, he recalls. My love for the Al-Aqsa Mosque, for the Dome

of the Rock.

DAMON: He designed it 25 years ago, well before he lost his legs to diabetes, before he lost his sight, before President Trump declared the

U.S. would recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, driving a sharp knife into an already festering wound for Palestinians.

Three generations of the Aslans (ph) family were born here. The Qalandia Refugee Camp started as a tent city. Over the decades, its reluctant

residents built it up, adding on floors as families grew.

[08:25:00] Its densely-packed population feels like they have just been left to fester as the State of Israel thrives. "I don't cry about stones,

I cry about the place, about the place, about the memories," Hussein tells us.

The Aslans are originally from the picturesque City of Jaffa right on the Mediterranean coast. It's a total contrast from where they are now.

(INAUDIBLE) was its northernmost neighborhood, today a part of Tel Aviv, the most prominent building left of its Palestinian history is the mosque.

Outside, we meet taxi driver, Ahmad al-Sharat (ph).

His family's home was actually just down the street. The whole square here is now a parking lot. It used to be lined with homes and there was also a

school. He takes us into the mosque to see a handful of photographs, before and after.

This is approximately where we are just filming from, and you can see in this old photograph just how close the houses were to the shoreline. In

Ahmad's heart and in his mind, this is still Palestine, though, he believes that they can co-exist alongside Israel.

"I know from experience that some of them can be convince that we have rights. We can live together," he explains. "We can accept living

together. We cannot accept that they replace us."

It's a tempered view compared to that others who live within the Palestinian territories, where the experiences are just too raw like those

within the Aslan household. So, one of the last photos she has of her son.

Shehnaz Aslan (ph) wants to scream each time she remembers him. Her son was shot and killed on this building's rooftop in 2014 during a massive

Israeli nighttime raid as they searched for three missing Israeli teens.

All she wishes for the now-4-year-old her son left behind is that he will have a chance his father never did, to get an education and to live in a

Palestine that isn't consumed by the anger that eats at their souls.

"They killed my cousin, our friends," one relative jumps and speaking of the Israelis. "For me to go tomorrow and say hi to them as if nothing

happened? Impossible."

Impossible, too, for the population of Qalandia to give up on what they viscerally believe is their own land. The checkpoint here is one of the

main ones into the West Bank along the separation wall.

Clashes like these and elsewhere throughout the Palestinian territories are growing in the aftermath of Trump's Jerusalem declaration. The pain of the

Palestinians define differently for each generation, for each individual.

For Hussein Aslan (ph) now blind, but through his darkness, there is a repeating vision of the waves breaking on Jaffa's shore, of fishing, of the

era we saw in the photographs. He imagines going to Jaffa, to his house that used to be on its shore. Arwa Damon, CNN, Qalandia Refugee Camp.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOARES: Very waving report there from our Arwa Damon. Still to come right here on News Stream, the global rippling effect to the power outage at the

world's busiest airport and an alarming report from the UNICEF, toxic air is harming millions of babies right around the world. We will tell you

which areas are the worst, that's next.

[08:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ISA SOARES, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: I'm Isa Soares in London. You are watching "News Stream." These are your world headlines.

In the hours ahead, U.S. President Donald Trump is to lay out his national security strategy. America's economic prosperity is a key objective. And a

source tells CNN one key emphasis will be on China, with Mr. Trump expected to call it, "a strategic competitor."

South Africa is waiting for the results of the pivotal leadership vote by the ruling party. The African National Congress is deciding who will

succeed President Jacob Zuma as party leader. Now, the winner is likely to be the next president as well. The country's deputy president is facing off

against President Zuma's ex-wife.

Austria is now the only country in western Europe with the party of the far-right in government. Thousands of protesters took to the streets of

Vienna ahead of the swearing-in ceremony, the Conservative People's Party formed an alliance with the rightist freedom party. Sebastian Kurz, who is

just 31, is the new chancellor.

A rescue operation is underway in the Philippines after landslides buried houses in Biliran Province. State media reports 27 people are dead and 24

are missing. The tropical storm drenched the region over the weekend, triggering the landslide and the flooding.

Now, hundreds of flights have been canceled at Atlanta, Georgia on Monday, and what will be another trying day for passengers at the world's busiest

airport. Electricity is now back on from major power outage that altered airport operations most of Sunday.

The blackout caused flight cancellations and left passengers stranded in darkened terminals. You can see that all planes sitting on the tarmac. And

weather could complicate efforts to clear the backlog.

CNN's Martin Savidge is at Hartsfield-Jackson Airport. He joins me now with the latest. Martin, I can see the power is back, but how bad are the

disruptions for the thousands of passengers hoping to travel in this crucial time of the year?

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: It's pretty bad, Isa. There is no way to try to make it sound better. The power is on. Everything is

operating here at the airport as it should and flights only just a short while ago have began taking off. That of course is good news but is nowhere

near the frequency of what the world's busiest airport should be seeing.

Crowds also tell you another story here. Here is the problem. This airport handles about 270,000 people every day. Yesterday, it is believed maybe

50,000 of course didn't get to where they wanted to go because of the power outage.

They're running smack dab into the Monday morning commute here. It's business and holiday, one of the busiest travel times of the year. So

trying to squeeze those who didn't make flights yesterday on the flights today is going to be a herculean effort.

Then there is the issue of baggage. Who knows where your bag is at this point. And then on top of that, yesterday was not only a disruption, it was

frightening to many people. They say, how in the world does that happen in an airport that brags as being the world's busiest and hailed also as one

of the best? So, that's a real question mark.

It was a fire that took out the main power line, but apparently took out the backup power line. Experts are critical of that, saying, you didn't

really have a backup power line if they both went out at the same time. They're doing their best. Hundreds of flights canceled today. They hope to

be on a regular schedule by this afternoon. Isa?

SOARES: And Martin, do we know -- you talked about the fire. Do we know exactly what caused the fire? I know you said the back system failed to

work as well, but where are we on that investigation?

SAVIDGE: We don't know. That is of course a crucial question. The city will say, look, the primary concern has been safety of passengers and that has

been looked after. Maintaining security at the airport and that has been done as well. Of course, trying to get the people where they want to be.

But finding out why that fire happened, and why it happened in a way that took out supposedly all of your backup systems, the number one question

passengers will say is, are there no backup generators at this airport? It is embarrassing because Atlanta has made it a very strong point of saying,

you come to Atlanta because of the great airport.

[08:35:00] Yesterday was not a great day for that great airport by any means and they are going to be struggling throughout the week to make up

for the problems of yesterday.

SOARES: Martin, correct me if I'm wrong. Atlanta has faced similar problems (INAUDIBLE) outage, I believe, early this year and it took something like

five days to get things moving again and back to normal. You said that they are expecting --

SAVIDGE: Correct.

SOARES: -- things to return to normal by tomorrow?

SAVIDGE: Well, let me sort of clarify that. The airline is hoping to have their schedule back to normal by late this afternoon. That does not mean

that all those people who were disrupted will be getting to where they want to go. It just means that the airplanes will be be getting there.

You still have a huge backlog of people. You have a huge cost that has been incurred by the airlines. All those planes that were sitting on the ground

in some cases for hours and hours. They weren't making revenue and passengers weren't very happy.

So, you know, the problem here is that it was an outage of electricity that many people think should not have happened or at least not lasted 11 hours.

There is a lot of answers the city is going to have to come up with on that.

SOARES: Martin, you are saying it is about of course the outage of electricity, people were not expecting that from one of the world's busiest

airports. But is there a sense of perhaps of understanding sometimes these things do happen? Or are people really just spitting feathers at this

point?

SAVIDGE: You know, people are -- I mean, passengers that I have spoken with, given the ordeal that they have been through, many of them actually

slept at the airport either in the main terminal or out at the concourse. And Remember, all the businesses shut down. They didn't have access to food

or water. Eventually, the airlines were able to try to feed people.

The passengers have been remarkably patient. I would say miraculously patient. And there has been a whole army of volunteers that have come to

try to help. But everyone will excuse that and say these things happen. But what they want to know is, how come it took 11 hours for a city like this

to get the power back on at an airport supposedly one of the best in the world?

SOARES: Yes. These things do happen. But how soon can I get to my destination. That is always the question, isn't it? Martin Savidge there

for us. Thanks you very much. Martin, in Atlanta.

Now, new details are emerging about the arrest of a man in Australia, who is accused of acting as an agent for North Korea. This 59-year-old

allegedly attempted to broke a deal to raise money for the increasingly isolated regime in Pyongyang. CNN's Paula Hancocks has the very latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Australian Federal Police say that this case is like nothing they have ever seen before on Australian

soil. A 59-year-old man, Chan Han Choi, has been arrested in Sydney for allegedly being an economic agent for North Korea.

Now, we understand from Seven Network Australia that he has been charged with two unsuccessful deals which would potentially are being worth tens of

millions of dollars for the North Korea regime, but they don't know if there were more deals than that.

Now, the allegations against this man are he was trying to break the deals with international entities to supply missile technology. It is alleged

that he was trying to potentially talk about building a ballistic missile production facility, about providing missile construction plans, and even

offering the expertise of North Korean specialists, who would be able to train in a country outside of North Korea.

Now, this is a very unusual case in Sydney. It raises many concerns about proliferation from the North Korean regime. Australian police have said

that this man appear to be doing it for patriotic reasons and that he would have sold anything to try to raise revenues for the North Korean regime.

Officials here in South Korea, America, and around the world say that they believe that international sanctions are starting to affect North Korea,

that they would be feeling the economic pinch. So, in Sydney, there are concerns of how Pyongyang is trying to raise revenues to get around those

sanctions. Certainly, this is raising many concerns around the world.

Paula Hancocks, CNN, Seoul.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: You are watching "News Stream." Coming up, Prince Harry and former U.S. President Barack Obama developed a close friendship over the years.

Now, one interviews the other for a radio show. We will bring you all the details, next.

[08:40:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SOARES: Now, former U.S. President Barack Obama and Britain's Prince Harry are bringing the bromance to the air waves. The British royal interviewed

the former president in September for the BBC. Kensington Palace released this footage of the two of them warming up. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Do I have to speak faster? Because I'm a slow speaker.

PRINCE HARRY, MEMBER OF BRITISH ROYAL FAMILY: Not at all.

OBAMA: OK. Do I need a British accent?

PRINCE HARRY: But if you start using long pauses between the answers, you're going to get the face.

OBAMA: You guys have (INAUDIBLE).

PRINCE HARRY: You're excited about this. I'm nervous about this.

OBAMA: That's what quite funny. I'll interview you if you want.

PRINCE HARRY: No, no, let's keep it this way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: (INAUDIBLE) with my guest next time around. BBC is to broadcast that interview on December 27th.

Now, the new "Star Wars" movie is a force to be reckoned with at the box office. According to Disney, "The Last Jedi" brought in an estimated $220

million in its opening weekend in the U.S. That is the second largest movie debut ever in North America. The movie has made $450 million worldwide and

doesn't even open in China until January 1 (ph).

Now, for dozens of people from China, it was a lovely weekend for a stroll down the aisle. About 50 couples traveled to Sri Lanka for a mass wedding

ceremony on Sunday. It was held in the island's Buddhist traditions. Sri Lanka held the event to attract tourists, especially those from China.

Congratulations to them all.

That does it for me. I'm Isa Soares. Don't go anywhere. "World Sport with Alex Thomas" is coming up, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:45:00] (WORLD SPORT)

END