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NEWS STREAM

Militia Groups Claim to Know Whereabouts of ISIS Leader; President- Elect Trump's Transition Defends Process; Japanese Prime Minister to Meet with Trump; China's Obsession with Trump. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired November 16, 2016 - 08:00   ET

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


[08:00:23] KRISTIE LU STOUT, HOST: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong and welcome to News Stream.

Now, turbulence in team Trump. Reports of infighting plague the president- elect as he tries to form a cabinet. This as Trump prepares for his first face to face meeting

with the world leader. We'll speak to an adviser to Japan's prime minister.

And hunting down the head of ISIS: militia groups fighting for Mosul may know the whereabouts of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Now, we are on the verge of critical decisions in the U.S. In the next few days, president-elect Donald Trump is expected to announce who is in his

cabinet. Now his choices will send a message loud and clear to leaders around the world how he intends to lead, but as CNN's Sunlen Serfaty

reports, the selection process has turned ugly. Infighting has hit the Trump transition team.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President-elect Donald Trump's transition team continues to turn over, now purging key members of

their staff.

MIKE ROGERS, FRM. REPUBLICAN CONGRESSMAN: Sometimes in politics there are people who are in and people who are out.

SERFATY: Multiple sources saying Trump's son-in-law and close adviser, Jared Kushner, is at the center of the in-fighting and trying to oust all

Chris Christie associates from the team.

ROGERS: The people who have been asked to move on have some relationship with Chris Christie. In my case, I was hired by him. And so there's a whole

series of about five of them that fit that criteria that were asked to leave in the last few days.

SERFATY: Kushner has a complicated history with Christie. His father, Charles, a real-estate developer, spending a year in jail after being

prosecuted by Christie, then a U.S. attorney in 2004, for tax evasion, witness tampering and illegal campaign contributions.

But a high-ranking Trump insider is dismissing reports of infighting and says the purge of Christie loyalists is being mischaracterized.

Trump, too, is pushing back, defending the transition as "very organized process taking place as I decide on cabinet and many other positions. I am

the only one who knows who the finalists are."

Meanwhile, a source with close knowledge of the transition says that Kushner could likely end up with a top national security clearance as a key

adviser to Trump, fueling concerns over nepotism and a potential conflict of interest as Kushner's wife, Ivanka, will manage Trump's empire. And as

the waiting game continues over key cabinet slots, a potential roadblock for one of Trump's top contenders for secretary of state, former New York

Mayor Rudy Giuliani. According to transition sources, Giuliani's lucrative consulting firm is being looked over by Trump's transition team, to whether

his business ties with several foreign governments would complicate his confirmation.

SEN. RAND PAUL, (R) KENTUCKY: Well, I think it is worrisome some of the ties to foreign governments, because that was a big complaint about many of

us with Hillary Clinton.

SERFATY: Meantime, Donald Trump breaking protocol, again, as president- elect. Ditching his press pool of reporters, slipping out for a late-night steak dinner with his family Tuesday.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: That was CNN's Sunlen Serfaty there reporting.

Now, team Trump may be in turmoil, but the president-elect is about to meet the leader of a key U.S. ally in the Asia-Pacific region -- Japanese Prime

Minister Shinzo Abe. Mr.Aabe and other Asian leaders have been rattled by Trump's campaign rhetoric.

Now, Japan was alarmed at Trump's suggestion that it is riding on America's security commitments.

Now, let's bring in Tomohiko Taniguchi, special adviser to the cabinet of Japan's prime minister and a professor at Japan's Kato University. He

joins us now live.

Mr. Taniguchi, welcome to the program.

Prime Minister Abe, he will be the first Asian leader to meet with Donald Trump. What is that meeting going to be like? Is Mr. Abe going to be able

to strike a good rapport with the new president-elect?

TOMOHIKO TANIGUCHI, SPECIAL ADVISER TO JAPANESE CABINET: First of all, timing was very good. This week was the long schedule was the APEC meeting

that is going to take place in Peru, to which Shinzo Abe has been supposed to join and go, and we will have to stop over for

refueling in the United States. And during the phone conversation between the two leaders, there was a natural agreement between the two that let's

have it in New York, and that's going to happen tomorrow. New York standard time.

LU STOUT: OK. But your thoughts about the personalities of these two leaders. And when they sit down and talk, is this going to be a friendly

encounter?

[08:05:12] TANIGUCHI: This is going to be the first encounter, of course. And I can tell you, Mr. Abe, Prime Minister Abe, has been very much

thrilled and excited to see President-elect Trump, because he is looking at a long-term calendar, sort of, that in two, three, four years even that

Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister Abe, will have to work with the president of the United States, new president

Donald Trump. And I think this is going to be a very good opportunity for both these leaders to get to know each other well.

LU STOUT: Yeah, and it's going to be an opportunity to talk about security. Is there a concern about the security alliance, especially after

Trump suggested that the Japanese should go it alone in the region?

TANIGUCHI: Well, in in terms of the cost of covering the U.S. forward deployment, Germany covers 23, Korea 26, but in the case of Japan, the

Japanese government is covering 54, more than a half of the cost of U.S. forward deployment. And when it comes to the U.S. commitment in Japan, it

is not just about Japan, needless to say, it is about a broad Indo-Pacific, Asia

Pacific, region. And so long as the United States commits itself in providing security to this broad region, I think what matters is location,

location, location.

So, Japan can provide the United States with the best place for them to forward deploy their

forces.

LU STOUT: When you talk about location, that's also brings up the issue of proximity to North Korea. I mean what does Japan want to hear from the new

president-elect, from Donald Trump, on that issue?

TANIGUCHI: Well, I can tell you, there will be no bullet points emerging from the first bilateral meeting between the president-elect and the

Japanese prime minister. I would say that the time is going to be used for these two men to exchange views, a whole sorts of views, from domestic

challenges in both countries, to international.

So, any specificity might be discussed, but in broad terms, it's going to be very much important for them to tune their wavelengths, if you like.

LU STOUT: OK. So it will be just a broad, long ranging discussion, just the beginning of securing this relationship between these two world

leaders, one of them a very new one. Mr. Taniguchi, we'll leave it at that. Thank you very much indeed for your thoughts.

Now, the situation, meanwhile, in Afghanistan will be one of the major challenges facing the

incoming American president. As Ivan Watson reports, Donald Trump will be commander-in-chief amid a conflict with a dubious distinction.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It is America`s longest war, the conflict in Afghanistan. It begun 15 years ago,

after the September 11 terror attacks orchestrated by Osama bin Laden. The al Qaeda was a guest and ally of Afghanistan`s ruling Taliban in 2001.

Less than a month later, U.S. warplanes attacked the Taliban and after barely six weeks of airstrikes, the Taliban was on a run, abandoning Kabul

to Afghan fighters allied with the U.S.

(on camera): I was here on a day 15 years ago when U.S.-backed rebels liberated the Afghan capital. It was a day of hope and euphoria coming on a

back of a swift military victory. I did not expect it would lead to 15 years of constant war.

(voice-over): In the years after their defeat, the Taliban regrouped and fought back against new Western-backed governments in Kabul. And now, in

its 15th year, the war against the Taliban has caused at least 2,380 American lives, killed of tens of thousands of Afghan civilians and caused

an estimated $780 billion taxpayer dollars.

And yet, Afghanistan was barely discussed the recent U.S. presidential debates, though Donald Trump did say this to CNN in October 2015.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT-ELECT (via telephone): I would leave the troops there begrudgingly. I`m not happy about it, I will tell you. But I would

leave the troops there begrudgingly, yes.

[08:10:02] WATSON: There are currently around 9,800 U.S. troops stationed in Afghanistan, as well as several thousand other foreign troops from the

NATO military alliance. Most of the conflict is now being fought by Afghan security forces. Today, the Afghan capital is plagued by kidnapping, and

it`s also the frequent target of Taliban and ISIS terror attacks.

NAJIB SHARIFIA, DIR., AFGHAN JOURNALISTS` SAFETY COMMITTEE: I could never imagine, you know, that the Taliban will be back at the gates of Kabul.

WATSON: Political analyst Najib Sharifia, he was just 19 years old the day U.S. airstrikes drove the Taliban from the city.

SHARIFIA: It was probably the happiest day of my life.

WATSON: But his expectations for Afghanistan have shrunk with time.

SHARIFIA: The assumptions that Afghans had from the United States is this the world`s most powerful and richest country. It will come to Afghanistan

and it would rebuild Afghanistan, things that not turned out to be the way we thought.

WATSON: Though Afghans voted successfully in several national elections over the years, success of Afghan governments have been plagued by

allegations of rampant corruption and infighting. The last 15 years brought education for millions of girls, construction of highways, airports and for

the first time, a national cellphone network.

But many of these advances are now at risk. The Taliban controls or now battles to control territory that`s home to more than a third of the

country`s population, according to U.S. military estimates, including this former U.S. outpost west of Kabul, abandoned by U.S. troops to the Taliban

several years ago, and now dissolving into the dust of a country often called "the graveyard of empires".

COL. RICK FRANCONA (RETIRED), DEFENSE ANALYST: If the Trump administration made a decision that they were going to pull out its forces, I think there

would initially be a collapse of the Afghan government in Kabul and we would see the Taliban probably swift into power again.

WATSON: When President-elect Trump takes office, he`ll face a difficult question here, should he keep risking U.S. lives and treasure on what often

feels like America`s forgotten war.

Ivan Watson, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now, Barack Obama is paying tribute to Democratic ideals in Greece, the birthplace of democracy itself. And speaking in Athens a short

time ago, Mr. Obama thanked Greece for its many contributions to the world and he tellingly made reference to NATO and concerns about its direction

under his successor.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And today's NATO, the world's greatest alliance, is as strong and as ready as it's ever been.

And I am confident that just as America's commitment to the Transatlantic alliance has endured for seven

decades, whether it's been under a Democratic or a Republican administration, that commitment

will continue, including our pledge and our treaty obligation to defend every ally.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Mr. Obama heads to Berlin later this hour. Our international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson is standing by in Athens. He joins us now.

And, Nic, there have been very heated protests during this visit and we heard Obama speak earlier. And he has talked about democracy and he warned

against crude nationalism. Is his message being heard?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: About 6,000 Communist demonstrated, about 5,000 anarchists demonstrated last night when President

Obama was at a state dinner. Some distance away, the there were additional police on the streets, about 5,000.

Six arrests made last night, of all those different protesters, absolutely common here in Greece, and as President Obama said, you know, part of

democracy is the right to stand up and say what you want to say about your politicians. He says sometimes it's messy and the arc of history isn't

actually straight.

Well, maybe it did take a little bend last night when about 100 or so demonstrators did head off to have a confrontation with police. Tear gas

fired, rocks were thrown. It was small and over quickly, so by Greek standards, very, very minimal demonstrations.

Is President Obama's message being heeded here? Absolutely, a hugely warm reception when he gave that 45, 50-minute speech. Every time he mentioned

a Greek word, every time he mentioned how a Greek dish he'd eaten back home in the United States, there was a

huge round of applause.

He spoke about the need for democracy. He spoke about how the power really lies with the people, about Greece being the cradle of democracy, two and a

half thousand years ago, and how he sees a future for the United States being based around having friendly nations, having friendships with

nations, democracies, as well.

He pointed to NATO. He pointed to how these sorts of nations solve problems through talking,

not war, and held up the Iranian nuclear deal as an example of that. Clearly a message there for President-elect Trump in that.

And he talked about climate change, as well, democracy allows for scientific study, not for sticking to ideologies or dogma. Again, that

seemed to be subtext for President-elect Obama, wake up and listen to what I'm saying.

So perhaps some tweaks to a speech he that didn't expect to be giving in this context, but here

in Greece it went down pretty well.

[08:15:01] LU STOUT: OK, so well received there in Athens. Up next we know President Obama will go to Berlin. To what degree will that visit

highlight the growing importance of Angela Merkel, the German chancellor and her role during this time of high anxiety about migration and security?

ROBERTSON: Sure, well, the migration issue did come up in President Obama's speech, praising Greece, saying that they cannot be alone in Europe

in trying to deal with the migrant crisis. Italy and Germany, as well, he says share that burden, but it must be a burden shared more broadly across

Europe.

The Greeks will be looking to President Obama to take his message of the importance that

austerity alone cannot bring prosperity, something they hope will translate in his conversations

to Angela Merkel and European Union, looking more -- looking at Greece to see what it has achieved already in terms of its economic structural

reforms and the fact that its economy is beginning to pick up.

They will hope that that becomes part of the message.

President Obama, when he speaks to Angela Merkel, will recognize that he's speaking to Europe, perhaps Europe's most powerful leader, but European at

a time of turmoil. And for European leaders writ large, Angela Merkel, as well, recognizing that perhaps the aberration of the Brexit vote this

summer was not so much an aberration, that President-elect Trump's vote as well, some seeing the

the similarities there that there is a very important message of unity for security and prosperity between the United States and Europe, so President

Obama will be hoping that that is something that Angela Merkel and her leadership can endure and can foster those ideas.

LU STOUT: That message of security, but above all unity. Nic Robertson reporting live for us,

thank you.

Now, you're watching News Stream. And still to come, violence has indeed returned to Aleppo as for the first time the Syrian president talks about

the victory of Donald Trump.

Plus, new clues in the hunt for the leader of ISIS. What militia forces in Iraq are saying about his possible whereabouts.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is speaking out about Donald Trump's victory for the first

time. In an interview with a Portuguese TV station, Mr. Assad suggests that he would be ready to cooperate with the incoming American president if

he delivers on his promise to battle terrorists.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BASHAR AL-ASSAD, PRESIDENT OF SYRIA: We're very cautious in judging him, especially as he wasn't in a political position before, so we cannot know

anything about what he is going to do. But if -- let's say if he's going to fight the terrorists, of course, we're going to be aligned, naturally

aligned with the Russians, with the Iranians, with many other countries who want to defeat terrorists.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: As you just heard there, Russia is a major ally in the Syrian president's fight, but it

denies it is behind the latest air strikes on Aleppo. The Russian military says it is targeting terrorists further south in the provinces of Homs and

Idlib. After a three-week pause, Aleppo is again under heavy bombardment. And an activist group says at least eight people were killed on Wednesday.

For more now on how people in Aleppo are coping, let's go straight to Jomana Karadsheh. She has reported extensively on the Syrian civil war.

She joins us from neighboring Jordan.

And Jomana, the nightmare has returned for the people, for the families of eastern Aleppo. What's the latest on the bombardment?

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kristie, a truly devastating day, a terrifying day for the residents of eastern Aleppo.

According to activists that we've spoken to, they say that the bombardment today has been really intense.

They are talking about war planes dropping bombs, helicopters dropping those indiscriminate barrel bombs and heavy artillery shelling targeting

several neighborhoods of besieged eastern Aleppo.

The hardest hit neighborhood was (inaudible) neighborhood. And there we are told the focus was also in an area where there are five medical

facilities in that area. According to activists, Kristie, so far at least 21 people have been killed in the shelling and the bombings campaign today,

and more than 50 others were wounded.

Amongest those killed, there are at least four children that activists say have been confirmed killed in these air strikes and the shelling today.

Just to give you an idea, it was so intense today that rescue workers had a really difficult

time trying to reach some of those areas, and we are told by activists and aid groups that at least one medic and one ambulance -- one medic was

killed and one ambulance driver was wounded today.

As we heard yesterday, Kristie, from the Syrian regime, from their state television, they are saying that they have started what they are calling a

preliminary operation into eastern Aleppo, saying that there will also be ground movement on several fronts to tighten the siege on eastern Aleppo.

So it seems, yes, that this nightmare has returned to eastern Aleppo and the residents of eastern Aleppo, but this might just be the beginning.

LU STOUT: And I've seen these reports of a hospital being hit in Aleppo and this coming at a time when medical care is already sorely lacking

there. And Jomana, this is part of a pattern, isn't it, a pattern of regime forces targeting medical facilities.

KARADSHEH: Kristie, we are getting these reports that in one of the neighborhoods today that was really hit in eastern Aleppo, the one that

really endured some of the worst of the violence today, that a children's hospital, according to a medical aid group, saying that this hospital was

also hit in this barrage of barrel bombs that targeted that area.

One doctor sending out a plea saying that him and other doctors were in the basement of

that hospital and saying that it just did not stop today.

And as you mentioned, this is just the latest in a series of these attacks, one after the other, that we have seen targeting medical facilities across

the area. We are especially seeing this also in Aleppo, where you're talking about more than a quarter of a million people who are in desperate

need of medical help, medical attention, and there are only estimates there of about 25 to up to 30 doctors

there to treat this population of more than 250,000 people. So they really cannot afford to be losing these medical facilities.

But this is something that we have seen time and time again, and it seems that no one is being held accountable for what we have heard aid groups and

the United Nations say in the past could be considered war crimes here if these were deliberate attacks, and no one has been held responsible for

these continuous attacks -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: You've seen this, as you point out, time and time again, and the human tragedy just drags on there in eastern Aleppo. Jomana Karadsheh, we

thank you for your reporting. Take care.

Now turning now to Iraq, and the battle for Mosul. Now, one of the city's neighborhoods

that were taken from ISIS just days ago has come under attack. And officials say at least two people were killed and seven wounded after ISIS

fired several mortars.

This is video of the area before the assault. Iraqi troops have been facing fierce resistance as they try to push toward the city center.

Now, militia groups helping in the fight to retake Mosul say that they may know where the leader of ISIS is hiding. They say Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is

in northern Iraq close to the Syrian border.

Now for more, I want to bring in CNN's Phil Black. He joins us live from Irbil in northern Iraq. And Phil, what is the latest on the whereabouts of

the leader of ISIS?

PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kristie, the last time we believe we heard from him was at around the start of this month with an

audio message that was rallying the troops, if you like, rallying his supporters in Mosul to not give up any ground against the much more

significant and much larger combined force that has been bearing down on them over the last four weeks or so.

And we're told that that did actually have something of an impact on the spirit of the ISIS fighters on that time and since.

But now here we are a few weeks later and as you mentioned, those popular mobilization units, they were largely Shia militia that have been

incorporated into the Iraqi state as paramilitaries, which now answer directly to the Iraqi prime minister. They say they have intelligence,

which indicates that he is to the west of Mosul in a section of ground between two towns roughly an hour's drive apart.

Now, this is the area of territory that these particular paramilitaries are responsible for clearing and they say they have intelligence that says that

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is somewhere there, but they don't say where, they don't say what the nature of that intelligence is.

And crucially it hasn't been backed up or supported by other departments or ministries of the

Iraqi government. The Iraqi defense ministry, for example, has told us that they believe, their intelligence suggested, that Baghdadi was, in

fact, in Mosul around the time that the operation started to clear the city and the surrounding region. That was four weeks ago now, and then shortly

after that, he left heading west and they lost sight of him after that.

Where he went after that, well, it could be a wide area of ground because if you keep heading west, you hit the Syrian border and ISIS-controlled

territory on the other side.

So what we have heard from U.S. officials consistently is that their working theory is he does indeed move around a lot, that he shares his time

between locations in Syria and ISIS-controlled Iraq, as well, that he is very careful, that he uses very strict security operational procedures to

maintain a low profile and ensure he doesn't become vulnerable of the possibility of an air strike or some sort of special forces operation to

take him out.

So the truth is, we still don't really know, but from this one faction and the coalition that

is bearing down on Mosul, they say they have identified this relatively small area of territory to the west of the city -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: All right, we don't know exactly where he is, but the hunt is on for the ISIS leader.

Phil Black reporting live, thank you.

Now, you're watching News Stream. Coming to you live from Hong Kong. And still to come, racist and bigoted. Accusations thrown at the alt-right

movement and to the man appointed as Donald Trump's chief strategist. We've got more on that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(HEADLINES)

[08:31:36] LU STOUT: Now, Donald Trump's appointment of Steve Bannon as his chief

strategist has generated plenty of outrage. Now, the head of Breitbart News has been tied to the so called alt-right movement. Now, it opposes

immigration, multiculturalism, has been accused of promoting white supremacy, Islamophobia, anti-feminism. Tom Foreman has this look at the

alt-right.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: For some of the people that are most concerned about Donald Trump's election, it really comes down to one term:

alt-right.

GAVIN MCINNES, HOST, GAVIN MCINNES SHOW: we just won the lottery. We just stole America back.

FOREMAN: Loud, assertive, often shocking and never apologetic, the alt- right movement has been hugely energized by the election of Donald Trump.

ALEX JONES, INFO WARS: It's now time for the return of men.

FOREMAN: Alt-right stands for alternative right, and it refers to people who think traditional political conservatives are too timid, too tame, too

accepting of the status quo, unwilling to engage uncomfortable topics like what they call racism against white people.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And that happens all the time to white people in black neighborhoods. They don't just get uncomfortable, they get screamed at.

What the (expletive deleted) are you doing in this neighborhood? Get out of here.

UNIDENITIFIED MALE: But the fact is, there's a demographic struggle going on, and it's real. And I think we should be real about it.

FOREMAN: That's Richard Spencer, who coined the term alt-right.

UNIDENITIFIED MALE: The fate worse than death.

FOREMAN: His website features a slick video urging white people to defend America against multiculturalism.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a country for everyone, and thus a country for no one. It's a country in which we, ourselves, have become strangers.

FOREMAN: The Breitbart website, which has been tied to the alt-right movement, suggests alt-right adherence are mostly white, mostly male,

middle American radicals who are unapologetically embracing a new identity politics that prioritizes the interest of their own demographic.

So, when other Americans protest the election results -- the alt-right sees more of what they've seen all along: an ocean of enemies of white men, and

the movement never hesitates to attack its foes, whether African-American, Latino, feminist.

PAUL WATSON, INFOWARS.COM: This radical feminism, a refuge for fat, ugly women who

can't attract high value men. The stereotype generally holds true because they look like swamp donkeys.

FOREMAN: Only a tiny slice of Trump voters would likely call themselves alt-right, but many share the desire to disrupt Washington.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I love that voting him in is really sticking it to the establishment.

FOREMAN: And for the alt-right, that matters more than the man.

WATSON: This is about a movement. It's not about a demagogue. It's not about Donald Trump. It's about reinvigorating the American dream. It's

about ultimately saving western civilization.

FOREMAN: All of this is very disturbing to some folks in the rest of the political spectrum, and that's the catch: the more they are upset, the

more the alt-right celebrates.

Tom Foreman, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And that report by Tom Foreman. You just saw the alt-right commentator's name is Richard Spencer, well Twitter has now suspended his

account, and those of his think tank, The National Policy Institute, as well as his online magazine Radic's Journal (ph).

Now, previously Twitter banned the account of the tech editor of Breitbart News. He was accused of online harassment of the Ghostbusters actress

Leslie Jones.

In India, a government plan to tackle corruption is having unintended consequences. The decision to scrap the 500 and 1,000 rupee notes plunged

the country into economic chaos. Cash shortages and long ATM lines are being reported across India. Ravi Agrawal has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAVI AGRAWAL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: If you want to gauge the mood of a country, speak to the taxi drivers, or in New Delhi, the auto

rickshaw guides.

I hail one of the three wheelers for myself. Meet Servaish (ph). He's 22 and has been driving

these taxis for five years. I ask him a common question in these parts.

Can I ask how much you were making in a day before all of this happened?

1,000 rupees.

And how much are you making now?

500 rupees.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 500 rupees.

AGRAWAL: That's because India has a cash crunch.

Scenes like the one behind me have become common across India. Long queues of people lining up to exchange their old notes for new ones at banks and

ATMs, but really this is just one side of the story.

The reality is that hundreds of millions of Indians, nearly half this country's population, is

unbanked and that means they have no bank accounts, no credit cards, everything they buy and sell is in cash.

And that's people like Servaish (ph). He's never been to a bank. He lives day to day on small change from his job. And because the rich have less

cash, less is trickling down to him.

India's move to change currency notes was designed to crack down on rich people with hordes of cash, what's known here as black money, income that

is off the books and untaxed. But only 3 percent of Indians qualify to pay income tax. Servaish is part of the other group, the 97 percent.

"What's income tax?" He says. "I can barely make ends meet anyway."

A small snack during the day, samosas and tea, is a luxury in times like these. He's been struggling to get rides all day.

Are you still in favor of Mr. Modi's move?

Yes, he says. The fat cats will suffer. They are hording cash. How long can you survive on half pay, I ask?

Let's see, he says.

As evening falls, Servaish (ph) keeps cruising for a ride. While India cracks down on corruption, people like Servaish (ph) are collateral damage

this week, and their stories seldom told. But I'm struck by his optimism. I guess the night is darkest before the dawn.

Ravi Agrawal, CNN, New Delhi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: You're watching News Stream. And still ahead on the program, China's bizarre fascination with Donald Trump. We'll tell you why netizens

there are making comparisons between this bird and the U.S. president- elect. Stay with us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[08:40:06] LU STOUT: Now the world is waiting to see how Donald Trump's presidency plays out. In the meantime, the man himself is becoming a

figure of rather bizarre fascination in China. Here's Jeanne Moos.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What do a pheasant and kid speaking mandarin have to do with the perception of Donald Trump being

China?

TRUMP: China. China. China.

ALEC BALDWIN AS DONALD TRUMP: It's pronounce "Gina".

MOOS: While the Ginese seemed captivated by both Trump's grandchild and his lookalike. The crest of the golden pheasant residing in a Chinese zoo bears

such a striking resemblance to the Donald's hair that the pheasant's photo went viral.

A bird lover in the U.S. actually made an attack ad featuring a golden pheasant.

ANNOUNCER: He has threatened to ban all big migration.

ANNOUNCER: Huge flocks of birds migrate here every year. They bring bird flu, eat our worms.

MOOS: But enough with Trump's golden mane and the golden pheasant.

How we're going from pheasants to peasants.

(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

MOOS: Trump's grandchild reciting a Chinese poem called "Sympathy for the Peasants" has aroused sympathy for the president-elect in China.

On Weibo, China's version of Twitter, comments range from "Impressive. You go, girl." To, "The talent for marketing must be genetic, huh? She just

melted countless Chinese people's hearts."

(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

MOOS: Arabella's mom, Ivanka Trump, posted videos of her then-4-year- old then speaking mandarin months ago, but they've just now gone viral in

China. Ivanka told "The South China Morning Post", "I have an incredible Chinese nanny who is teaching her."

In this video, Arabella portrays a white rabbit.

(SPEAKING FOREING LANGUAGE)

MOOS: A white rabbit, a golden pheasant.

ANNOUNCER: Is this who you want as the next president of the United States?

MOOS: Apparently so. He's now president-elect.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: That bird is amazing.

Now, city officials in Fukuoka, Japan are setting a high bar for efficiency. This massive sinkhole that appeared just over a week ago is

now completely repaired. Here on your screen you can see the before and after pictures. Quite a turn around there. Sub-contractors worked around

the clock to fill it in with sand and cement and in less than a week the road reopened to traffic.

The hole was some 30 meters wide and 15 meters deep. It even swallowed traffic lights

and cut power to 170 homes. Look what they did there. Tell that to your local city officials when it seems they can't fix that annoying pothole.

That is News Stream. I'm Kristie Lu Stout, but don't go anywhere. World Sport with Amanda Davies is next.

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