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U.S. Health Care; Trump White House; Failure to Repeal Obamacare; Pakistan Criticized Over "Revenge Rape"; Pakistani PM Resigns; Japanese Defense Minister Forced to Resign; Restrictions at Al-Aqsa Mosgue; CNN Freedom Project Going Green. Aired 8-9a ET
Aired July 28, 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)
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN INTERNATIONAL: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. Welcome to "News Stream."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. DAVID PERDUE (R), GEORGIA: The ayes are 49. The nays are 51. The motion is not agreed to. The amendment is not agreed to.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: In a stunning vote, U.S. Republican senators fail in their seven- year quest to repeal Obamacare. The new White House communications director savages his colleagues in a profanity-laced tirade to a reporter. And
Pakistan's prime minister resigns after the country's Supreme Court disqualifies him from office.
Republicans in the U.S. senate have failed in their effort to repeal Obamacare, something that they promised to do for the past seven years.
Despite having full control of the White House, the senate and the house, they could not agree on reform of the U.S. health care system.
So the leadership attempted to pass a so-called skinny repeal, dismantling only some aspects of the law. But in a stunning twist, even that measure
failed by a single vote. All of that was happening as infighting in the White House was in full view.
The new communications director, Anthony Scaramucci, savaged two of his senior colleagues in a profanity-laced interview. But let's take off with
that dramatic vote in the senate. Phil Mattingly recaps what happened.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PERDUE: The ayes are 49. The nays are 51. The motion is not agreed to.
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN U.S. CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Republican Party seven-year effort to repeal Obamacare collapsing after a
dramatic senate floor vote that dragged on into the early morning.
In the end, it was Senator John McCain who cast the decisive final no vote, siding with fellow Republicans Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins, who voiced
their disapproval on every measure voted on this week.
Republicans' last ditch effort, the skinny repeal amendment, voted down 49- 51.
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY), MAJORITY LEADER: This is a disappointment. I regret that our efforts were simply not enough this time.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): McCain rejecting desperate pleas from Vice President Mike Pence and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, even
taking a call from President Trump, according to a source. But none of it, swaying the veteran senator, lived up to his nickname, the maverick.
SEN. TED CRUZ (R), TEXAS: Tonight was an unfortunate night. It was a sad night. But I don't believe this journey is over.
MCCONNELL: So now, Mr. President, it's time to move on.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): The vote capping off a day of uncertainty as Republicans shuffled back and forth from meetings on the senate floor
desperately trying to wrangle the votes for a skeleton repeal bill designed simply to move the process into a conference with the house. But
(INAUDIBLE) failure was sewn early Thursday evening as McCain joined colleagues castigating the bill and the process.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: We've got to have Republicans and Democrats sit down together and come up with a bill that gets a majority in both
houses.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): McCain's close friend, Senator Lindsey Graham, making clear the merits of the bill were lacking.
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: The skinny bill is policy, is a disaster. The skinny bill as a replacement for Obamacare is a fraud.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): Each seeking assurance from House Speaker Paul Ryan at the house would not pass the senate bill the senate Republicans were
trying to pass themselves. Ryan eventually relenting, saying the house was willing to go to conference.
But it wasn't enough for McCain, who said in a statement at the speaker's assurance, quote, did not ease his concern that this shelf a bill could be
taken up and passed at any time.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: And you heard it from Mattingly's report there that Republicans in the senate were effectively trying to pass legislation that they did not
want to become law. Instead, they want to pass it so that they could then work with the house on adjustments. So this is a mechanism.
It's known as a conference committee set up to resolve disagreement between the house and the senate. It meant that the vote was less about what was in
the bill and more about just keeping it going through congress. But some Republicans were opposed to this tactic. Lindsey Graham said this, quote, I
am not going to vote for a bill that is terrible
[08:05:00] policy and politics just to get something done. Despite that, Graham later did vote for the bill. So, what was in the skinny repeal?
Well, the bill took away some parts of Obamacare but not all of it. According to the Congressional Budget Office, it would have left 15 million
more people without health insurance and could raise premiums by 20 percent next year.
It has been a tumultuous week inside the White House as well. The new communications director, Anthony Scaramucci, is locked in an open feud with
some of his colleagues. He phoned The New Yorker's Ryan Lizza, and went on a profanity-laced tirade. Now, Lizza, who is also a CNN contributor, laid
it out for us for Anderson Cooper.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR AND CONTRIBUTOR: I want to read part of what Scaramucci said to you, quote, Reince is a blanking paranoid schizophrenic,
a paranoiac, he said. He channeled Priebus as he spoke. Oh, Bill Shine is coming in. Let me leak the blanking thing and see if I can blank block
these people the way I blank blocked Scaramucci for six months. Didn't Scaramucci say that they were actually friends just last week at the press
briefing?
RYAN LIZZA, CNN CONTRIBUTOR AND CORRESPONDENT: He did. He did. He said there was no friction between them and they fight like brothers. But at the
end of the day, they're brothers. And over the course of the last week, I think Anthony Scaramucci has become increasingly convinced that every
negative story about him, somehow, Reince Priebus was behind.
When he got out of that dinner with Trump and Sean Sean Hannity from Fox News, he saw either my tweet or other people asking him about the dinner,
and I think he got a lit$be angry and sort of wanted to know who leaked that to me and called me. And the first part of the conversation I had with
him was just about who leaked it, who leaked it, and trying to get me to tell him that.
And frankly, Anderson, you know, I tweeted that. It wasn't a significant enough scoop to write a story about. It's sort of interesting who the
president is having dinner with, but I didn't think it was a big deal, but he did.
ANDERSON: I want to read another part of the conversation that you wrote up for "The New Yorker," quote, I asked these guys not to leak anything and
they can't help themselves. You're an American citizen -- he was talking to you -- this is a major catastrophe for the American country. So I'm asking
you as an American patriot to give me a sense of who leaked it.
Obviously you didn't end up giving him your source.
LIZZA: I did and I told him, you know, what I would tell anyone. If he tells me something in confidence, if he tells me something off the record
or on background, I'm not going to go then to some other White House official and, you know, sell him out and tell -- and reveal that he was the
source for something.
COOPER: He also had some choice words, I guess you'd say for Steve Bannon. And I guess if you can --
LIZZA: Yes, choice words. You're going to make me read this one.
COOPER: Yes. Use your judgment on this one.
LIZZA: Yes, you got to be careful with some of these. They're pretty salty. So, yes, we were talking about, you know, I was talking to Anthony about,
you know, the coverage and profiles about him and, you know, whether he would cooperate or not.
And he compared himself to Bannon and he said, I'm not Steve Bannon, I'm not trying to blank my own expletive. I'm not trying to build my own brand
off the blanking strength of the president. I'm here to serve the country.
So he was really ripping in to him saying, you know, he's someone that is more out for himself, craving the media spotlight, and that he, Anthony
Scaramucci, was going to try and stay more behind the scenes, you know, leave it to viewers to decide if that's what's happened over the last week.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: OK. So now the response from Anthony Scaramucci. He tweeted this, quote, I sometimes use colorful language. I will refrain in this arena, but
not give up the passionate fight for Donald Trump's agenda, unquote. He has this, quote, I i made a mistake in trusting in a reporter. It won't happen
again.
Early on Thursday, Scaramucci called in to CNN's "New Day" for another remarkable interview where he compared his relationship with Reince Priebus
to the biblical brothers, Cain and Abel. In the bible, Cain killed Abel. Scaramucci did not explain who he was comparing himself to, but here, Jake
Tapper focuses on another part of that conversation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAKE TAPPER, CNN CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Perhaps the most telling part of the interview had nothing to do with all this drama between
Scaramucci and Priebus, but rather it was this moment when Scaramucci -- when discussing presumably Priebus, but perhaps others in the Trump
administration as well.
ANTHONY SCARAMUCCI, WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR (voice-over): There are people inside the administration that think it is their job
[08:10:00] to save American from this president. That is not their job. Their job is to inject this president into America.
TAPPER: Contemplate that. Quote, there are people inside the administration that think it is their job to save America from this president, unquote.
Scaramucci is not wrong here. He is 100 percent right. Not about what the job of administration staffers are, their allegiance should be to the
nation and the constitution, not to any specific president.
But about the fact that there are people in the Trump administration who, quote, think it is their job to save America from President Trump. Many of
them appointees of President Trump. The communications director cited this fact as a complaint.
SCARAMUCCI (voice-over): It is not their job from the establishment through calcification to sit there and try to withhold the president --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
SCARAMUCCI (voice-over): -- to rein him in or do things to him --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
SCARAMUCCI (voice-over): -- slow down his agenda. That's not their job.
TAPPER: Let's take a moment to acknowledge and contemplate this very striking truth delivered by Mr. Scaramucci today. What are these Trump
officials doing to rein in President Trump and why do they feel the need to do so?
Why are they so concerned about the president's behavior that they think they have to, quote, save America from this president? Save America from
what? What are they so worried about, these, quote, people inside the administration? Contemplate that fresh truth from the new White House
communications director.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: Truth from Jake Tapper there. Now from the infighting at the White House to the Republican's failure to repeal Obamacare. Let's talk
with CNN's Athena Jones. She joins us live from Washington. Athena, for so many years, Republicans have tried and tried to get rid of Obamacare. That
failed last night in a dramatic fashion. This is a huge blow to Donald Trump. How is he taking it all in?
ATHENA JONES, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kristie. You're right, it is a huge blow to the president and to the White House. They have struggled
now more than six months into the job to show they can get big things done legislatively. The only legislative success so far really is senate
confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch and that is of course not a bill, it's an approval which the administration has gotten a lot of
credit for.
But they're still expected to keep these campaign promises that not only President Rrump run on, but that Republicans have been running on, as you
mentioned, for the last seven years. The president was up late clearly watching this vote, eagerly anticipating it. He responded on Twitter in the
early morning hours not long after the bill went down. He said on Twitter that three Republicans and 48 Democrats let the American people down.
And as I said from the beginning, let Obamacare implode, then deal. Watch. So, the president clearly wanting to publicly blame and shame those
Republicans who stood in the way of getting this bill -- moving this bill forward. What's so interesting is, number one, what's going to happen to
health care? What's going to happen to the Republican health care repeal effort? The White House signaling that they're ready to move on to focusing
on tax reform.
The senate has signaled that they're ready to move on to a defense authorization bill. And also what might change in the future. We know that
while the president did make phone calls and occasionally mention the need to repeal and replace Obamacare on Twitter and had Republicans over to the
White House for various lunches and the like, he never hit the road into big, long, sustained sales pitch for this health care reform.
We saw Vice President Mike Pence going up to the hill repeatedly to try to get this through but all those efforts fell short. And so this raises big
questions about the president agenda going forward and his ability to carry out. Kristie.
LU STOUT: Yes, also raising questions -- all the infighting happening at the White House from Trump versus Sessions, Scaramucci versus Priebus. How
is the White House trying to manage all this chaos?
JONES: Well, the question, I think, Kristie, is whether they're managing this chaos. As of right now, it doesn't really look like they are. We know
that Anthony Scaramucci has said publicly, he said, I believe, during that 30-minute phone interview he had yesterday on "New Day," he talked about
how he had just spoken to President Trump and kind of gotten the go ahead to say some of the things he had to say.
It's clear that Scaramucci has Trump's support. What isn't clear is whether the president wants to see this level of infighting. We know now new press
secretary, Sarah Sanders, has said that the president likes to see healthy competition. He believes that competition breeds good result. But it's not
clear that he wants to see this level of public infighting and back stabbing and profanity-laced tirades like we saw Anthony Scaramucci give
[08:15:00] in a phone call with "The New Yorker." So big question marks about how sustainable this level of public infighting is going to be.
Kristie.
LU STOUT: Turmoil at the White House and more. Athena Jones covering it all for us. Thank you, Athena.
The Trump administration's hope for improving U.S.-Russia relations. That seems to be disintegrating. After the U.S. congress voted to slap new
sanctions on Russia, the Kremlin has reacted angrily. Russia says it will seize two U.D. diplomatic properties and it is ordering America to bring
hundreds of its diplomats home.
The Kremlin says that by September the first, the U.S. will be limited to 455 diplomats, matching the Russian diplomatic core in America. The
ambassador to Russia has launched a protest.
You're watching "News Stream." Up next, disqualified from office. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif steps down after a decision from the Pakistani
Supreme Court. What sparked the ruling and what it means for Pakistan next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LU STOUT: Coming to you live from Hong Kong. Welcome back. You're watching "News Stream." Now, Pakistan's government is coming under heavy criticism
over a horrific report of so-called revenge rape. Village elders ordered the rape of a 17-year-old girl after her brother was accused of raping
another girl. And out there (ph) questions over just how much is the government doing to protect the country's women.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): What some call justice in this rural town in Pakistan defies belief. Last week, a 17-year-old girl was raped on the
orders of village elders here. Her rape in this room, punishment for a crime her brother was accused of committing. He was said to have raped
another girl aged just 12. That girl's family went to the elders to seek justice.
SALMAN SUFI, DIRECTOR GENERAL, CHIEF MINSTER'S STRATEGIC REFORMS UNIT: When the elders met, they decided that the best answer for rape can be a rape.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): Yes, the penalty for one rape, according to the elders of Muzaffarabad in Southern Pakistan, should be another, the
rape of the accused's sister. The teenager went to a center for rape victims run by Salman Sufi to report the crime.
SUFI: Both of the girls were victims of the so-called justice system, the rule of justice system that they have in that rural area, which is illegal
in the constitution of Pakistan. There is no legal standing for it.
The villagers simply sometimes do not have money and access to justice, and they simply do not want to go through the routine matter of naming and
shaming the victims with what they believe, that if the victim's name will come out in public, it will mean that their family is being shamed.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): More than 20 people have since been arrested by police. On Thursday, the chief minister of Punjab promise,
quote, exemplary punishment for those who carried out what he called
[08:20:00] a heinous incident. It's not the first time a woman has been raped as a former punishment in Pakistan. Fifteen years ago, Mukhtar Mai
was gang raped by the orders of a tribal court after her brother was wrongly accused of having a sexual relationship with a woman in another
tribe. She tweeted on Wednesday, we are still in 2002. Yasmeen Hassan grew up in Pakistan. She says the government needs to do more to prevent laws
against rape.
YASMEEN HASSAN, GLOBAL EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, EQUALITY NOW: Last year, they amended the rape laws to have stricter penalties, better system of justice
for girls to be able to testify for their rapists. But this law was just not used yet. This 12-year-old child was raped. The correct thing to do
would be to seek justice through the justice system. Instead, there were village elders who ordered a rape of another innocent young girl.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): A crime in the name of so-called justice.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: And a sickening one at that. Now, the Pakistani prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, has resigned after the Supreme Court disqualified him from
office. He is expected to move out of the prime minister's residence in the next few hours. The court ruled that Sharif was dishonest to parliament and
to the judicial system. The decision follows an investigation into his family's finances stemming from last year's Panama papers leak.
The stunning ruling means he cannot hold any parliamentary position, lead his political party or be involved in election campaigns. He is essentially
cut off from the political scene where he has been a dominating presence for quite some time. Andrew Stevens has more on Sharif's long and turbulent
career.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDREW STEVENS, ASIA PACIFIC EDITOR, CNN INTERNATIONAL (voice-over): Known as the lion of Punjab, Nawaz Sharif is one of Pakistan's richest people. He
held several posts in the Pakistani government in the 1980s before being elected prime minister in 1990. A few years into his term, then president,
Ghulam Ishaq Khan, dissolved the government alleging mismanagement and corruption.
But Pakistan's Supreme Court declared the president's move unconstitutional and the charges false. Sharif was reinstated but he and Khan both resigned
two months later to resolve a political stalemate. Sharif was reelected prime minister in 1997, but two years later, in the midst of awakening
economy, more accusations of corruption and a dispute with India, he was overthrown in a coup led Pervez Musharraf.
In the wake of his ouster, Sharif was charged with hijacking and terrorism and sentenced to life in prison. The charges stemmed from his attempt to
prevent Musharraf's plane from landing in Pakistan when the aircraft was dangerously low on fuel. But he would serve only a few months behind bars.
In a deal broke (ph) by the Saudi royal family, Sharif was released from prison and spent the next seven years in exile in Saudi Arabia. The Suprene
Court eventually reversed Sharif's conviction, committing him to run for office once again. In 2007, he spoke to CNN about his vision to lead the
country again.
NAWAZ SHARIF, FORMER PRIME MINISTER OF PAKISTAN: We have to be clear that there has to be rule of law in Pakistan. The constitution has to be
respected. The judiciary has to be independent. The press has to be free. There is no compromise on these principle and (INAUDIBLE) at all.
STEVENS (voice-over): But Sharif had to wait some five years for his return to power. In 2013, he was elected prime minister for the third time. But
after failing to complete a single one of his terms, Sharif is now disqualified from holding any other parliamentary position. And with no
chance now to redeem himself politically, Sharif's legacy is likely to remain overshadowed by allegations of corruption. Andrew Stevens, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: Now, China is coming up strongly against the U.K. after recent comments by the British foreign minister. It's all about the contentious
South China Sea. Beijing claims territory there but several countries disagree and that has led to disputes. On Thursday, Boris Johnson said
Britain would send two aircraft carriers to the area. A few hours ago, the Chinese foreign ministry responded.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LU KANG, SPOKESMAN, CHINA FOREIGN MINISTRY (through translator): As countries in the region work together to preserve and promote peace, stability, and prosperity, certain outside countries are determined to stir
up trouble in the South China Sea.
Whatever banners these countries or officials claim to uphold and whatever excuses they claim to have, their track record of bringing chaos and
humanitarian disasters through their so-called moral interventions in other parts of the world is enough to make nations and peoples in the region
maintain high detriments.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[08:25:00] LU STOUT: That was the spokesman for China's foreign ministry on the South China Sea dispute.
Meanwhile, in Japan, another embarrassment for the prime minister. A member of his cabinet has been forced to resign after charges she suppressed
documents. Kaori Enjoji has details on why Japan's defense minister is gone.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAORI ENJOJI, REPORTER, CNBC: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe facing one of his biggest setback since taking office nearly five years ago. His
defense minister, Tomomi Inada, announced her resignation on Friday. It came amid allegations that she was part of a cover up about the dangers the
Japanese peacekeepers face in South Sudan.
The findings of an internal probe also announced on Friday were critical about disclosure practices at the defense ministry. Inada denied direct
involvement but took responsibility for the lack of oversight in her ministry and resigned. This issue along with allegation of (INAUDIBLE) in a
separate school scandal have sharply lowered Abe's approval ratings which are hovering around just 30 percent.
Abe's liberal democratic party suffered historic defeats in recent local elections. Initially, it looked like the prime minister would try to way
through until a cabinet reshuffle next week, but it seems the fallout was too big. On top of that, questions are being asked about Abe's personal
judgment in placing so much confidence in Inada. She was his protege, groomed to be in the prime minister's own words, a very strong candidate to
replace him in the future.
All of this comes amid heightened national security risks from nuclear threat from North Korea and territorials disputes in the South China Sea.
Speaking to reporters immediately after Inada's resignation, the prime minister apologized to the nation. For the time being, the current foreign
minister, Fumio Kishida, will serve as interim defense minister until a formal announcement is made. That announcement is expected to come next
week when Abe is expected to reshuffle his cabinet in an attempt to reverse his plunging popularity. Kaori Enjoji, CNN, Tokyo.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: After months of heated and often violent demonstrations, Venezuela is banning all protests ahead of a major vote this Sunday. But
that is not likely to stop the opposition, which is calling for a mass protest in the coming hours despite the ban.
There were deadly clashes in the streets of Caracas on Thursday and a general strike caused many businesses to close. On Sunday, voters will
elect a special assembly to rewrite the constitution. Opposition leaders see the vote as a power grab by President Maduro.
Here on "News Stream," tensions in Jerusalem and a heavy police presence at the holy site. We'll go there live to bring you the latest on the situation
there.
[08:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LU STOUT: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. You're watching "News Stream." These are your world headlines. Republicans in the U.S. senate have failed
to reform the U.S. health care system. In a surprise move, John McCain and two other Republican senators voted with the Democrats to defeat the
amendment, 51-49. President Donald Trump says that they let the American people down.
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has resigned after the Supreme Court disqualified him from office. The ruling follows an investigation into his
family's wealth. A follow-up from last year's Panama papers leak.
China and certain countries are determined to stirrup trouble in the South China Sea. The Chinese foreign ministry made that statement after British
Foreign Minister Boris Johnson said the U.K. would send two aircraft carriers to the area.
At least 54 people are injured after a train accident in Barcelona. Video posted on Twitter shows damage to the front of the train. The crash
happened during rush hour early Friday at Estacio de Franca, a major railway station in the Spanish city. Authorities are investigating the
cause.
Israeli police are not allowing men under the age of 50 into al-Aqsa Mosgue in Jerusalem. The decision was taken after clashes between Muslim
worshipers and Israel security forces on Thursday. The latest, two police officers were killed near the site two weeks ago. Oren Liebermann is there.
He joins us live. Oren, after Thursday's clashes, there is heavy police presence today. What's happening right now behind you?
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it should be said that there was heavy police presence. Because of what happened here yesterday not that far
from where we're standing, in fact, of this road towards the lines getting into the old city, there was an expectation that there would be widespread
clashes that might get violent between Israel security forces and Palestinian protesters.
Instead, it has become what you see here behind me. While there was a crowd of perhaps thousands that came out to worship outside the old city, most
left quickly, quietly, peacefully. A few dozen it looks like at this point perhaps a hundred at most have stayed around in a non-violent
demonstration. They faced off a short distance from police, 20 to 30 feet apart.
But that's how it stayed and it has to be said against all expectations police were ready for some confrontations. At least here in the old city of
Jerusalem, those didn't materialize as the worship -- the midday prayer, which was the focus of concern dissipated, disbursed fairly quickly and
quietly.
There have been other demonstrations throughout the West Bank, those that have such a fairly common Friday protests and demonstrations. Our focus
today was on the old city of Jerusalem, where it was far quieter than expected. Kristie.
LU STOUT: Despite fears and concerns for potential clashes today, the scene not tense. What is the potential for scuffles to take place on Friday
prayers?
LIEBERMANN: Well, especially after the last two weeks in Israel's recent removal of those security measures, that's why the expectation here was so
high. Yesterday's afternoon prayer was the first time Muslim worshipers agreed to go in after the security measures were removed. But it didn't go
as smoothly or as peacefully as was expected.
Israeli police continue to block off one of the entrances and the tension from there spread. That's why police added extra officers throughout the
old city of Jerusalem and expected today to be a tense day. It simply was intense. Was there unease? Yes, certainly, that's not uncommon here, but it
was certainly nothing close to what was expected. doesn't mean all the tension is gone. It is still a tense city. Now, we have to wait and see how
it develops over the weekend and where we stand next week.
LU STOUT: Got it. There is unease but certainly the temperature has lowered, which is good to hear. Oren Liebermann, reporting live for us from
Jerusalem. Thank you so much and take care.
All this week, the CNN Freedom Project is exposing the use of children and bonded laborers in the brick kilns of Cambodia. It is grueling work for
little pay that traps entire families in a cycle of debt. But one young man managed to help his family and turn his own life around. Alexandra Field
reports that he is now a national kickboxing champion.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is fight night in Phnom Penh. And he's the man of the hour, (INAUDIBLE), a 22-
year-old local kick boxer comes in at 112 pounds. Last year, he won big, becoming a national champion in his weight class.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I dreamed of becoming a boxer.
FIELD (voice-over): His nights in the spotlight are a fight for a better life. Far from the one he lived two (ph) years ago working under the
scorching Cambodian sun.
[08:35:00] UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): My family was very poor. My father had died and my mother didn't have a job, so I started working in
a brick kiln.
FIELD (voice-over): It seemed like a lifeline in exchange for the work for brick kiln owner who lend family a thousand dollars to survive.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): This is my mother. This is where I grew up. This area used to have a lot of brick kilns.
FIELD (voice-over): Cambodia's brick industry is booming on the backs of laborers who tell us they struggle to keep families afloat and pay the
debts.
NALY PILORGE, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, ADVOCACY FOR LICADHO: This debt will be carried on to their children. So it can be generational.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): It's very rare for workers to be able to pay off their debts. For every 100 workers, only two could pay off
their debts because they owe a lot of money but earn very little.
FIELD (voice-over): Determined to get out, (INAUDIBLE) family pitched in. His mother and his two teenage brothers, the youngest just 13 at the time.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): My 13-year-old child works very hard making (ph) bricks and shouldering clay into the machine. We were very
miserable.
FIELD (voice-over): (INAUDIBLE), a fighter at heart, worked his way into one of the kilns most lucrative jobs, chopping wood for $4 a day. A year
later, his family had worked off thee debt and earned their freedom.
Just few years later, the whole country is watching You Tube on championship kick boxer from Thailand. This time, he's taken down. But he
hopes to one day become a boxing coach. He says the sport has made his life brighter. Alexandra Field, CNN, Phnom Penh.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: An uplifting story there. For more on modern day slavery in Cambodia's brick kilns, take a loot at a virtual reality report. You can
find out on cnn.com/vr. You can also find resources on how to help the victims of modern day slavery in human trafficking. You can find it at
cnn.com/freedom.
A tropical paradise (INAUDIBLE) plastic pollution. Still to come, one man's mission to make sure the sun, sea, and sand in this island in Panama aren't
ruined by plastic packaging.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LU STOUT: Welcome back. With its crystal clear water and white sandy beaches, Bocas Del Toro, could be called a paradise. But with tourism comes
wastes, leaving this Panama medium island is inundated with plastic packaging. The problem has prompted one resident to come up with a novel
solution.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERT BEZEAU, CREATOR OF PLASTIC BOTTLE VILLAGE: My name is Robert Bezeau. I live on this beautiful island of Bocas Del Toro, Panama. I'm here working
to try to find solution to the invasion of the plastic bottle. Planet earth went through stone age, ice age, and now going through plastic age.
We receive here about 100,000 visitors per year. If each visitor drink two, three drinks per day,
[08:40:00] that's one to 1.5 million bottles per year. So we are left with two options. Reduce or reuse. The decision was to reuse and to show people
how to reuse the plastic bottles to build homes.
The benefit of using plastic bottle to build houses. Number one is the insulation. Each bottle is like a bubble of air. Number two, eliminate the
plastic.
In your lifetime, you will consume between 10 and 14,000 bottles, so if you live inside the house that contained that numbers of bottle, you will
eliminate your plastic footprint and you will become plastic neutral.
Why is a plastic bottle round? Why can't the bottle be shaped for something that will be useful in the future? Why not bricks? If it adds square
shoulders and if it adds hole at the bottom, that means that the cap could enter in the back of the next one tight (ph) and you could plug (ph) the
bottle one behind the other one, make rows like bricks.
There are seven types of plastic that exists. This is the number one. Very easy to identify because the DEP (ph) plastic is transparent. Look at the
number two. Look. Crystallized, broken in little pieces. In the sea, this will fool the fish. They think it's algae and they will eat that type of
plastic.
So, if fish eats plastic, human eats plastic also. My dream would be to have enough plastic bottle village on earth to pick up all the bottle that
are near the sea and on the beaches and everywhere.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: The solution would be so simple if you just ask the right questions. And that is "News Stream." I'm Kristie Lu Stout. But don't go
anywhere. "World Sport with Christina Macfarlane" is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:45:00] (WORLD SPORT)
END