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NEWS STREAM

Activists Shelling In Eastern Ghouta Despite Ceasefire; CNN Report North Korea Sends Chemical Weapon Part Of Syria; U.N. We Can't Keep Everyone Safe; CNN's Nima Elbagir Poses As A Migrant; Students Return To School In Two Weeks After Massacre; U.S. President's Inner Circle Shaken By New Revelations; Ghani Offers Recognition Of Taliban As A Political Party. Aired at 8-9a ET

Aired February 28, 2018 - 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)

ANNA COREN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I am Anna Coren in Hong Kong, and welcome to News Stream.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COREN: The fighting continues, hardly any let out for the people of Eastern Ghouta in Syria despite what was supposed to be a pause in

fighting.

No other word but genocide, Nobel laureates visit Rohingya camps in Bangladesh, and so the situation is even worse for them. And returning to

Parkland -- students are heading back to school, two weeks after gunman killed 17 of their classmates and teachers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COREN: We begin this hour in Syria where a Russian sponsored five hour truce in a besieged Damascus suburb is once again been reach.

Activists are saying missiles and mortar shells rain down Eastern Ghouta during the second day of the so-called humanitarian ports. The Syrian

government blames the rebels.

While the rebels say civilians don't want to leave because they fear arrests, and so far, these little sign that humanitarian corridor are

actually going to open up.

Well, let's bring in senior international correspondent Sam Kiley, who joins us live from a neighboring Turkey. Sam, this Russian declared

humanitarian pause, has anything actually been achieved in two days?

SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I think what has been achieved by it and there is no taking away from this is that there has been

a significance but not overwhelmingly powerful decline in the level of violence being visited on the people of East Ghouta by the Syrian and the

Russian air forces.

In other words, in comparison to what it was like before the U.N. Security Council resolution on Sunday, calling for an absolute cease-fire and then

the Russian offer of this this five hour humanitarian pause, it was a lot worse.

But that does not mean that things have got a whole lot better. The whole of East Ghouta has been affected and continues to be affected by

airstrikes, by artillery attacks, by rocket attacks, some have been continued during this so-called force, and many of course continuing

immediately after.

We were in contact with somebody -- a local journalist on the ground and we could hear the aircraft very close overhead. And he said that the bombing

had resumed just after 2:00 local time.

But the Russians do say that as to the Syrian government -- does the Syrian government, that it is rebels that are holding up the effort to evacuate

civilians through humanitarian corridor.

But that corridor leads directly into Damascus held territory, into the government held territory, and people don't want to run into it. That is

first point to make all that.

The second is that in the past, there had been efforts to try to make humanitarian corridors available to very severely injured and other a very

ill people to get to medical help outside of the besieged East Ghouta and the government regime has held that up to the point in which several --

many, many instances, patients have actually died before they could of been transferred.

And that was during the period of relative calm when East Ghouta was supposed to be one of the de-escalation zones as a result of a Vladimir

Putin led a Russian-led series of peace talks that the Russians try to get up the ground.

Of course, the other one of those major de-escalation zones was Idlib, and as, Arwa Damon, has been reporting from over the last few weeks, that too

has been subjected to some devastating air attacks. Again, by Russian and Syrian air forces. So there's been a slight reduction in violence but not

overwhelming.

COREN: Sam Kiley, I appreciate the update, thank you. Well it appears that North Korea is also involved in a Syria's Civil War. Just days after

Syria was accused of carrying out a chlorine gas attack in Eastern Ghouta, a U.N. Security Council diplomats told CNN, North Korea has been sending

supplies to Syria that could be used to produce chemical weapons.

Well, Syria has repeatedly denied it uses chemical weapons and Russia said, it is the rebels who have been. Well, all of these has raised concern

about the situation in Syria, as well as North Korea being able to scoot around sanctions. Our Ivan Watson has more from Seoul.

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, CNN has gotten to look at parts of a confidential, yet to be published United Nations

panel of expert report, which alleges that North Korean has been sending ballistic missile specialist from the latter half of 2016 and in 2017,

several time to Syria.

[08:05:08] It also alleges that North Korea has been sending supplies that can be used for producing chemical weapons to Syria and a diplomat on the

United Nations Security Council has also told CNN that these that these supplies include acid resistance tiles, valves and thermometers.

If this is in fact true, this could be in violation of United Nations Security Council resolution dated back to 2006, which prohibits North Korea

from developing or exporting this type of ballistic missile technology and chemical weapons technology, of course.

Now, the report also has denials from Syria that this is taking place, that North Korean missile experts are in Syria arguing that the only experts

there are currently described as sports trainers, which is taken at phase value would suggest that North Korea is unusually committed to helping

Syria develop its sports program in the middle of a raging Civil War.

In the meantime, there is other fresh evidence that has come out suggesting that North Korea may be violating other United Nations Security Council

resolutions.

Japan's Foreign Ministry published photos from a couple of days ago of what its aircraft photographed is a Korean tanker ship known as the Chon Ma San,

docked side-by-side in the East China Sea with a Maldives flag tanker, the Xin Yuan 18 in what the Japanese government alleges is a ship-to-ship

transfer presumably of fuel, which could be in violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions.

We've seen previous photographs like this published by the U.S. government also by Japan. The U.S. government just last weekend published new

sanctions targeting dozens of North Korean companies and ships including this ship, the Chon Ma San, which was accuses of trying to circumvent

United Nations Security Council resolutions. Anna.

COREN: Ivan Watson, joining us there from Seoul. Well, a warning from the U.N., for the tens of thousands of Rohingya refugees facing a devastating

monsoon season. We can't keep you all safe.

Refugees living on over crowded camps in a Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, now 700,000 people left Myanmar over the past six months trying to get away

from the violence. Well now, the U.N. warns the refugees, their makeshift shelters could be swept stripped away when heavy rain turns the ground to

rivers of mud.

Landslides and flooding could also block roads into the camps. Aide can't get in and disease spread quickly. Well, three Nobel Peace winners are

joining forces to call on a fellow laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi and the Myanmar military to end what they calling, crimes against humanity and

genocide against the Rohingya.

The three women won from Yemen, the other from Iran, and other from the U.K., visited Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh this week. They met the Bangladeshi

prime minister who promised to find a solution to the crisis. Well, here is what one of the Nobel Peace laureate had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAIREAD MAGUIRE, NOBEL PEACE LAUREATE: They are all ruling people. This is what genocide is about. As the human family responsible for all the

little children in the world, we refuse this genocide policy of the Burma east government. They will be taken to the ICC and those who are

committing genocide will be held possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COREN: That was Mairead Maguire, there. Well, earlier I spoke with another one of the Nobel Peace prize winners, Tawakkol Karman, who sees a

Yemeni journalist, politician and activist recognized her work on women's rights.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TAWAKKOL KARMAN, NOBEL PEACE LAUREATE: You can't imagine what we saw, what we listen. It is much brutal than we expected. It is much brutal than

have been recorded or published by media. It is a really genocide -- there is no other word, there is no other definition. We visited two camps.

Two camps that we visited and there are thousand people, they are. Not to be kidding, this is where they send (Inaudible) -- most of the women, they

were raped.

Hundred woman we meet, all of them been raped. All of their housed have been burned. And some of their kids have been take from their hands and

thrown to the fire.

[08:10:04] And some of them thrown to the -- their fathers and mothers have been slaughtered. All of them, they broke my heart. The most important

thing -- you know, she is 19-years-old, she is a mother. She was raped. Kids have children.

They slaughtered her children. They slaughtered her husband and her father, and her mother and throw it to their face. And they took her baby

to a (Inaudible), and throw here in the fire and burning her house. So it showed really ugly genocide.

Where is the world -- the world is watching. All of these strive when they will rule to stop this genocide. We are in the 21st Century, is it

acceptable, after the all the treatment, after all the agreement for the human right, after committing and we witnessed genocide.

COREN: Tawakkol, you are holding Aung San Suu Kyi to account, obviously, Myanmar's de facto leader and a fellow Nobel Peace laureate, you have asked

her to condemned the violence, something she hasn't done or resign. Are you appalled by her behavior?

KARMAN: Yes. We didn't asked her to condemn -- to just condemn, no. It's more than that. She is the chancellor. She is the first responsible

person in Myanmar government. She has to act now to stop this genocide.

She has to act now to return those people to their villages, to their houses. She has to act now to give them all their right that the gain with

their equal intervention, she should act now. Otherwise -- or she can resign.

COREN: And you have spoken to the Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Obviously, there is an agreement between Bangladesh and Myanmar

about the read, the repatriation of the Rohingya. That has been delayed. Why is that happening and what did she say about this humanitarian crisis?

KARMAN: Bangladesh is the only country in the region who sign on the International Criminal Court. We chose to help. If you help raise a file

a trial the harming ventures in Myanmar in the International Criminal Court because she has this very strong -- to achieve justice, please do.

So, Bangladesh has a very important chance for all human being to achieve justice through the International Criminal Court. Bangladesh has the

because it is the only country who know (Inaudible), which is the International Criminal Court.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COREN: That was Nobel Peace prize winner Tawakkol Karman speaking to me a bit earlier. We are getting details about the 110 schoolgirls who abducted

in Nigeria. The government released the names of the missing girls who vanished after suspected Boko Haram militants attacked the school last

week.

They are all between the ages of 11-years-old to 19-years-old. Families are furious. The government isn't doing enough to find the girls. But the

government says the air forces spent 200 hours searching for them.

Well, CNN's Nima Elbagir went undercover to expose the dangers many migrants face in the journey from Nigeria to Libya to Europe.

Well, posing as a migrants to so-called pusherman or human smugglers told, Nima, she would probably be raped on ever leg of her journey and she

shouldn't fight back.

Well, earlier, she witnessed a slave auction in Libya where migrant men was sold-off to the highest bidder. Nima, spoke with The Daily Show host,

Trevor Noah, about what can be done to keep this issue front and center.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TREVOR NOAH, HOST, THE DAILY SHOW: Well, people who see these stories on the side of the world -- I mean, after your report came, people were

hashtaging, many of us felt helpless because you are. Is there anything person on this side of the world can do to help in any way with the

situation?

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I mean, we are, I think, is so delightfully grateful that you -- you know, you had me

on tonight because as long as we keep reminding people that this is still happening. Because I think at the time, everybody heard all these noise.

NOAH: Right.

ELBAGIR: And we all thought, well, something -- someone and somewhere, I don't know who is but someone is doing something good on it.

[08:15:00] NOAH: Right.

ELBAGIR: But of course, no one was. The Security Council met four times and they still haven't -- they still haven't found an effective way through

this. But I think, if we keep reminding them that we care, then I think ultimately, they will be forced to do something.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COREN: Well, in her next report, Nima, called out with a young man who tried unsuccessfully to reach Europe last year. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking Foreign Language)

ELBAGIR: The last time we saw Victor (ph), he was lying on the floor of a Libya Detention Center, just rescued from slavery, begging to be sent back

home. Now, he is back in Nigeria but have he found his happy ending? How do you feel coming back here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot of people lost their lives over there. I am happy that I didn't lose my life. I am back home now, so I can also take

another step. So I am happy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COREN: Well, rightful for his life but still struggling to survive. See more the Victor's (ph) story this Thursday, only on CNN.

Well, CNN is partnering with young people around the world for a student- led day of action against modern-day slavery on March 14th. And in advance of My Freedom Day, we asked actress and U.N. Goodwill Ambassador Ashley

Judd, what freedom means to her.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ASHLEY JUDD, U.N. GOODWILL AMBASSADOR: Hi, I am Ashley Judd and I believe that all human beings have inherent dignity and deserve to be free. And

freedom means freedom from harm, emotionally, physically, spiritually and mentally.

I am a sex and labor slavery abolitionist and I believe that all folks everywhere are entitled to their bodily integrity and their sexual economy.

And that's why I am an abolitionist.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COREN: And what does freedom means to you? Share your story using the hashtag My Freedom Day. Still ahead here on CNN, the Afghan president is

taking extraordinary measures to broker peace with the Taliban.

Ashraf Ghani is offering the insurgence. That is next. Plus, an emotional return to student at a high school in Florida after, two weeks after a

gunman killed 17 people, all their friends or their teachers. We are in Parkland, Florida after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COREN: Welcome back to News Stream. Students are returning to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida, two weeks after a gunman killed 17

people, their classmates or teachers. And there is a range of emotion ad they head back to the scene of the massacre. Well, CNN's Dianne Gallagher

has this report.

(BEGIN VIDEDOTAPE)

TYRA HEMANS, STUDENT, MARJORY STONEMAN DOUGLAS HIGH SCHOOL: First time walking to the gates and hearing the bells ring, this going to be a

dramatic shift in the hallway. Like, we are going to feel the presence of emptiness.

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Thousands of students returning for the first time to a campus that just two weeks ago, they ran

away from in terror.

[08:20:06] JACK MACLEOD, STUDENT, MARJORY STONEMAN DOUGLAS HIGH SCHOOL: We've seen what the end of the world looks like for some 17 people.

CONNOR DIETRICH, STUDENT, MARJORY STONEMAN DOUGLAS HIGH SCHOOL: Our grades aren't as important as they used to be to us. Our lives and the lives of

our friends are what take priority right now.

GALLAGHER: And while some are ready...

MACLEOD: I guess there's a certain feeling of, you know, relief that I am going back to school. That, you know, we are going to return today to

normality and stuff like that.

GALLAGHER: Others aren't quite sure.

KAI KOERBER, STUDENT, MARJORY STONEMAN DOUGLAS HIGH SCHOOL: How do you even begin to comprehend all the empty desks and all of the friends people lost,

and everything else? How do you return to normalcy after that?

GALLAGHER: Teachers like Darren Levine also unsure about what to expect.

DARREN LEVINE, TEACHER, MARJORY STONEMAN DOUGLAS HIGH SCHOOL: There's no playbook for this. There shouldn't be a playbook for this. And we're

going to take it as it comes along every single day.

GALLAGHER: The school reopening, as law enforcement sources tell CNN the massacre's death toll could have been even higher. The killer still had

180 rounds when he dropped his rifle and fled out of the building, blending in with the fleeing students.

And investigators say that hurricane-proof glass the killer failed to break may have prevented him from using a third-floor window as a sniper's perch.

Now, this week, the schedule is shorter. Students cannot bring backpacks, and security will be, quote, at an all-time high.

ISABELLA PFEIFFER, STUDENT, MARJORY STONEMAN DOUGLAS HIGH SCHOOL: I know I have a lot of friends there and my friends are going to be there. So I'm

comfortable going back in. But there's always going to be, like, that sense of anxiety starting at school just because it was the place of a

school shooting.

GALLAGHER: Preventing other school shootings now a rallying cry for much of the Stoneman Douglas student body.

CROWD: Hey, hey, ho, ho, the NRA must go!

GALLAGHER: But Wednesday, for at least half a day, the focus is here.

LEVINE: We're going to come back as a class, and we're going to continue on.

KOERBER: We're more connected than ever, obviously, and I don't think anything is ever going to change. You know, we're going to be a

brotherhood until the day we die.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COREN: Dianne Gallagher, reporting live there. Well, now to Washington where stunning new revelations about Donald Trump's son-in-law and the

Russia investigation are rocking the White House.

CNN has learned the Special Counsel is now investigating the president's dealing -- business dealings with Russia before the 2016 campaign. Abby

Phillip reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Multiple sources tell CNN that investigators for Special Counsel Robert Mueller have been asking witness

about Mr. Trump's business dealings in Russia, before the 2016 campaign as he considered a run for the presidency.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I have no deals there. I don't know anything. I have no investments in Russia, none whatsoever.

PHILLIP: Sources say questions from investigators include the timing of Mr. Trump's decision to run for president, any potentially compromising

information the Russians may have had about him, and why efforts to brand a Trump Tower in Moscow fell through. Mueller's team also focusing on the

financing of the 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow.

MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT, REPORTER, THE NEW YORK TIMES: If Mueller was looking at your finances and your family's finances, unrelated to Russia, is that a

red line?

MAGGIE HABERMAN, REPORTER, THE NEW YORK TIMES: Would that be a breach of what his actual charge is?

TRUMP: I would say. Yes, I would say yes.

PHILLIP: The Russia probe gaining steam as the political future of President Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner remains

uncertain.

The Washington Post reporting that foreign officials from at least four countries have discussed ways to manipulate Kushner by taking advantage of

his complex business arrangements, financial difficulties, and lack of foreign policy experience.

The Post also reporting that White House officials were concerned Kushner was naive and being tricked in conversations with foreign leaders.

SHANE HARRIS, NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER, WASHINGTON POST: Jared Kushner was also having his own conversations with foreign officials. And people

in other countries and was not reporting those in the normal channels to White House officials.

PHILLIP: The story came hours after news that Kushner's top-secret clearance was downgraded after months of delays in completing his

background check.

REP. CHRIS COONS (D), DELAWARE: For him to be the person who's carrying forward an important peace plan in the Middle East at the same time that he

lacks a top security clearance, I just don't think that's workable.

SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: He is a valued member of the team, and he will continue to do the important work that he's been

doing since he started in the administration.

PHILLIP: One of President Trump's closest aides, White House communications director Hope Hicks, also under scrutiny. A source tells

CNN that Hicks admitted during more than eight hours of testimony before a House panel that she's had to tell white lies for the president but says

she has not lied about substantive issues.

Committee members say Hicks would not answer questions about her time in the White House or her role in drafting a misleading statement about Donald

Trump Jr.'s 2016 meeting with Russians promising dirt on Hillary Clinton. Democrats on the committee demanding more transparency.

REP. MIKE QUIGLEY (D), ILLINOIS: Anyone who doesn't answer questions, they ought to be subpoenaed.

REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA), RANKING MEMBER, INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: This is not executive privilege. This is executive stonewalling.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COREN: Abby Phillip reporting.

[08:25:00] Authorities said the Taliban have kidnapped 19 people in the southern region of Kandahar, among those taken, five police officers.

It comes as the country's president is offering to recognize the Taliban as a legitimate political group as a step toward possible peace talks. Well,

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh joins us now live from London.

And, Nick, Ashraf Ghani offering peace talks without condition with the Taliban and certainly, a change intact in the current climate for the

Afghan president who has referred to them in the past as terrorist, what has changed?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There are two broad sweeping things here. It is a pretty substantive of element to be honest because only 30

days ago, that we have Donald Trump to say that there is no time for peace talks after expected bombings in the Kabul capital.

Today, Ashraf Ghani is not only suggesting that talks could happen without precondition as sweep were about a decade's worth of caveats have been put

in place by the Afghan and American governments before talks can start.

He is saying the Taliban can be a recognized physical party, yes, too, but could also possibly have even an office in Kabul. And I will put with us,

were permanent outpost in the capital for the first time since they ran it in 2001.

So it is an enormous change on while for the Afghan government. It may take some American officials perhaps in Washington by surprise.

I can tell you that have been exposed in Kabul, callable, it always hope that the idea of peace talks would return to before, after Donald Trump's

very stark comments. I must say that monitor in chief has backed-up some Afghan officials, when he said talks are off the table.

But also, too, I think, why are many asking why is this approach being made right now, and it doesn't calm the position of strength, the district

controlled by the Taliban have risen, according to latest figures, the number of Afghan security forces dying, fighting the Taliban.

Well, that should be classified by the Afghan government. Well, it's not necessary but it is going down on taking the most secure parts of the

capital. It is not a good time but now is the time Ashraf Ghani thinks perhaps it's time to talk peace without any preconditions. Anna.

COREN: And, Nick, today, the Taliban have actually refuse direct talks with the Afghan government and as you mentioned, just last month, they

carried out those two deadly attacks claim more than 100 lives -- the annual suicide bombing in the attack on the Intercontinental Hotel. Why

would they come to the table now?

WALSH: I mean, I should say in the past, there have been secret talks. Some of them actually even, you know, concourse by media organizations in

the past. But they never went anywhere. And that in the past was because the Taliban, frankly, was winning militarily.

And these always say, you know, the Americans have expensive watch but we have the time, knowing fully well that Barack Obama's surge, up until about

2012 will eventually going to go home when the American scope there was limited to some degree.

They may perhaps have heard Donald Trump's speech, something that he means but he is going to stay the course but I think possibly, at this stage two,

the (Inaudible) because they were in kind of a competition to be the lowest point of extremism with ISIS, who were behind some of their attacks you see

in Afghanistan now, as well, more brutal ones.

Taliban response, some were saying, kind by equal brutality and also to Taliban themselves, of course, their Al-Qaeda affiliate leaders and their

military commander, and even some say, its leader, himself, took his own life in a suicide bombing recently. They don't look moderate.

They are winning, some say militarily, I think it will be a far reach perhaps then to decide to suddenly, quote, go soft and comes to the

negotiation table. But frankly, we don't know. There may be some other logic behind this.

The president may believe the Taliban is more willing to talk peace. And this is perhaps appeal to a sense of nationhood in Afghanistan. But

frankly, after so many decades of war there, it is perhaps tough to think that's off the table, that people sitting round together will necessarily

require the guns out fast. Anna.

COREN: Nick, we always appreciate your insight. Nick Paton Walsh, good to see you. Thank you. Well, you are watching News Stream here CNN. Still

to come, we'll take you to Mumbai where thousands off fans have gather to mourn a Bollywood icon.

[08:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Welcome back. I'm Anna Coren in Hong Kong. You are watching "News Stream" and these are your world

headlines.

Well, day two of a Russian-sponsored five-hour humanitarian pause in Syria is over, but there hasn't been much of a break in fighting in eastern

Ghouta. Activists in the rebel-held area say shelling continued for the second straight day. Government and rebel forces blame each other for the

violation.

A new U.N. report is raising concern about chemical weapons in Syria. A diplomat who has seen the report tells CNN that North Korea has been

sending supplies that can be used to make chemical weapons, and that missile experts had been visiting the Syrian military. Syria denies it uses

chemical weapons.

Three Nobel Peace laureates are calling on Aung San Suu Kyi to act now to end the Rohingya refugee crisis. They visited Bangladesh and met with the

prime minister. All three laureates call what is happening to Rohingya nothing less than genocide.

Well, Apple is the latest company to cave to China's cyber security regulations. Any iCloud account registered in mainland China is removed to

state-run Chinese servers. Well, that means the Chinese government has jurisdiction over user's iCloud data as well as the digital keys to unlock

encrypted files. And it's making privacy advocates and human rights groups very nervous.

Matt Rivers joins us from Beijing to tell us more about this. Matt, break it down, because it certainly does sound frightening. What does it mean for

companies like Apple?

MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, well, for companies like Apple, I mean, this really for the company itself is a public

relations nightmare in the sense that Apple is going to pride itself on promising users that their data is safe, that they value privacy.

And when you're operating in China, that's just not really something that you can promise anymore, under the current Xi Jinping regime. So what's

going on here is that Apple says it's complying with a new cyber security law that took effect here in China that requires big companies like Apple

to store their data here.

And so what that practically means is that if you use iCloud servers, where you keep phone numbers, you keep things like photographs, videos, if you

use that service and your iCloud account is registered here in China, then your data that is on the iCloud system will now be stored on servers that

are actually owned and operated by the government in a province called Guizhou.

So it is effectively a state-run company. That obviously has privacy advocates extremely concerned because you also don't have the kind of

privacy laws here in China. If the Chinese government asks for certain data, it is up to Apple to give them that data.

Apple basically said, look, this is the only way that we can continue to operate here in China. There are two different concerns here. I mean, what

Apple said, let me read you what they said, Apple has not created nor we requested to create any back doors and Apple will continue to retain

control over the encryption keys to iCloud data.

So what they are saying there is that they still hold the keys to their data, if you will, but what critics are saying is, look, the Chinese

government under law can ask for those encrypting keys and that could unlock all user data that is stored on these servers.

So there are serious privacy concerns here, Anna, and Apple is going to have to fight that on a public relations standpoint moving forward.

COREN: And have to there are some pretty angry Apple users in China. Matt, tell us, how will this affect people, companies doing business in China

moving forward?

RIVERS: Well, it's not only Apple that is dealing with this. Microsoft and Amazon, they also have to move some of their data storage here to China.

But really, this is just a theme.

[08:35:00] If you are a big multinational company and you want to work in China, you're going to need to acquiesce to Chinese government requests.

You know, for all the talk that Xi Jinping goes out into the world and talks about being a champion in free trade and global trade, this is one of

the most protectionist countries in the world.

If you want access to the Chinese market, you have to play by Chinese rules. And those rules are incredibly protectionist. If you're a

multinational company, you're going to have to give something up to be here, whether you're an auto company and you're in joint venture with a

Chinese firm or you're a tech company that now has to store its data in China.

This is not something that any of these companies want to do, but the lure of the Chinese market, the lure of the economy here and the dollars that

the consumers can spend with these companies is just too high to ignore.

COREN: Matt Rivers joining us from Beijing. Many thanks for that. You're watching "News Stream" on CNN. Still ahead, fighting back against the

world's plastic binge. We meet the retailers who are banning it altogether.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COREN: There is an outpouring of grief across India for the funeral of film star Sridevi. The 54-year-old actress died suddenly on Saturday while

attending a family wedding in Dubai. Thousands gather in Mumbai to pay their last respects to the woman who has been described as the queen of

Bollywood. Andrew Stevens has this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDREW STEVENS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A fitting tribute to a true queen of Bollywood. The flower-laden carriage bearing the body of

Sridevi wrapped in Indian flag made its way slowly through the streets of Mumbai.

Thousands (INAUDIBLE) for hours in the scorching heat to bid farewell. Regular movie lovers, politicians, and Indian film royalty, all came to pay

their last respects. A heartfelt loss to many here, still in shock after the news of her death in Dubai on Saturday. Police say she fell unconscious

in a bath and drowned.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My love for her. I used to love her like anything. Just only one name from (INAUDIBLE). Sridevi, Sridevi.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE).

STEVENS (voice over): (INAUDIBLE) Bollywood (INAUDIBLE) Aishwarya Rai, Sushmita Sen, and Madhuri Dixit in the traditional mourning color of white,

paying tribute to a star who in many ways paved the way for their own glittering careers.

Sridevi whose name in Hindi means goddess was Bollywood's first female movie superstar. But she was much more than that. She was also a

trailblazer. In patriarchal India of the 1980s, she broke the mold. Her characters were strong and independent. She could carry a movie on her own,

something which was virtually unknown in India at that time.

Smart, funny, and sexy. Sridevi sealed her status as a sex symbol in the 1987 movie "Mr. India," dancing in the rain with an imaginary lover.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She is dream girl for everybody. As a child, I have been watching her films growing up.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why India --

STEVENS (voice over): And Sridevi transcended audience boundaries. In a career that began at the tender age of 4-years-old,

[08:40:00] she first conquered her home market in southern India before taking Bollywood and the rest of the country by storm. And as testament to

her enduring appeal, she took 15 years out of Bollywood at the height of her fame to raise a family, before returning in triumph in 2012.

Her last movie, "Mom," was completed just last year. It was her 300th appearance on the silver screen. For her fans, that was nowhere near

enough. Sridevi was put to rest with full state honors.

Andrew Stevens, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COREN: Well, the United Nations has sounded the alarm on plastic waste, calling it a planetary crisis. Well, now some retailers are taking action

against the plethora of plastic by banning it altogether. CNN's Isa Soares reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ISA SOARES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Plastic, a constant presence in the convenience of our daily lives. But the planet is paying a high

price for our throwaway culture.

From coffee cups to water bottles, some eight million tons of plastic trash leak into the ocean each year. And of the estimated 8.3 billion metric tons

of plastic ever produced, only nine percent has ever been recycled. But the war against the world's plastic binge is gaining momentum. With governments

and big retailers under growing pressure to reduce waste, and thing more sustainably about disposal packaging.

Ekoplaza Supermarket in the Netherlands is hoping it can bring about change and aisle at a time. This is the world's first plastic-free supermarket

aisle, organic and a little lane of hope where customers can buy a wide selection of groceries, all a hundred percent plastic-free.

As a co-founder of the campaign group, "A Plastic Planet," Sian Sutherland is hoping to take this global. This she tells me is a game changer.

SIAN SUTHERLAND, CO-FOUNDER, A PLASTIC PLANET: Right now, you will go into a supermarket, you have no choice but to take home that shed load of

plastic that you don't want.

So all we wanted was to say, in a day where you can buy gluten-free, fat- free, dairy-free, all of these things free, just give us one aisle. And that aisle is a cause of symbol. It's a symbol of what change can be in the

future. It's a symbol of what the future of food retailing will be.

RICHARD ECKERSLEY, CO-FOUNDER, EARTH, FOOD, LOVE: Great. Thank you.

SOARES (voice over): Also at the vanguard of the growing anti-waste movement is an unlikely eco warrior. Richard Eckersley is a former

Manchester United footballer who recently set up the U.K.'s first zero waste shop: Earth, Food, Love in Totnes in the southwest of England.

ECKERSLEY: So I wanted something to contribute. I wanted to contribute and I wanted to use the resources that I have gained in football supporting to

something. And this would seem like a perfect fit. It's just trying to provide people with everything that normal comes with plastic, without

plastic basically.

SOARES (voice over): Here, customers are encouraged to bring their containers and fill them up with as many as 200 organic products from dry

foods to washing up liquid, and it seems it's catching on.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have just wandered in here for the first time, so I just bought a few herbs and paper bags. But I will definitely be back with

all of my containers because I think it's a terrific idea.

SOARES (voice over): Sian says the momentum is here to stay and that most sustainable materials we can use to replace plastic already out there.

SUTHERLAND: Paper, card, wood pulp, grass, glass, tin, not plastic lines, aluminum. Now, there are so many other materials. There won't be one thing

that directly replaces plastic. It will be a platter of things, many different things.

SOARES (voice over): Outside the box thinking, the majors help break our plastic habit.

Isa Soares, CNN, Totnes in the southwest of England.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COREN: That is "News Stream." I'm Anna Coren. Thanks so much for your company. Don't go anywhere, "World Sport" with Rhiannon Jones is coming up

next.

[08:45:00] (WORLD SPORT)

END