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Donald Trump Signs New Travel Ban; India Giving Former Child Slaves Future Through Education; Japan's Gold Leaf Ice Cream. 8:00-9:00a ET

Aired March 7, 2017 - 08:00:00   ET

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


[08:00:45] KRISTIE LU STOUT, HOST: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. And welcome to News Stream.

Now, the first part of a controversial American missile defense system arrive in South Korea. We'll get reaction from Seoul, Tokyo and Beijing.

Donald Trump signs a new travel ban, but the media is not allowed cover it.

Meanwhile, his staff continues to stand up for his baseless claim that President Obama wiretapped Trump Tower.

And how India is giving former child slaves a future through education.

The U.S. has made good on its promise to deploy a brand-new missile defense system to South Korea. The THAAD, or terminal high-altitude area defense

system, is designed to shoot down incoming missiles. The delivery has been planned for months, but it comes after Pyongyang has test fired four

ballistic missiles of its own. And that has seen growing concern across the region over North Korea's rapid push to develop more advanced weapons.

But when it comes to this anti-missile system, reaction varies. Now, we have correspondents from three different nations to explain why.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Matt Rivers in Beijing.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Will Ripley in Tokyo.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Paula Hancocks in Seoul.

It's been in the works for months, but now a U.S. defense system that's designed to shoot down missiles from North back in the works for months,

but now a U.S. defense system that's designed to shoot down missiles from North Korea is here in South Korea. The first elements of THAAD have

been flown in on Monday night.

Just hours after, in fact, Pyongyang launched four ballistic missiles, which landed in the waters off Japan defying international sanctions.

Now, the they spoke last week. They said they wanted this to happen as soon as possible. The official line at this point is it will be fully

operational as early as July. Now, opinion here in South Korea is split. The military wants it, opposition parties don't want it. The residents who

will be living but certainly there are others in the region who are not happy.

Let's go to Matt Rivers in Beijing.

RIVERS: Simply put, Beijing is not happy with this deployment. In fact, you could argue that

they're probably downright angry about it because the view here is that this move is nothing more than a thinly veiled attempt by the United States

to upset the strategic balance in this part of the world, to further cement U.S. military influence in this region.

Officials here say they understand South Korea's security concern, but argue the only true way to solve the North Korean nuclear issue is through

direct negotiation, anything else, they say, will only make the situation worse.

Most of the missile tests that North Korea conducts fly towards Japan. So, for the latest from there, let's hear more from Will Ripley.

RIPLEY: I'm at the Japanese defense ministry in Tokyo. And this underscores the threat that

the region is facing. These two PATRIOT missile interceptors are a key line of defense for the more than 20 million people to the Tokyo

metropolitan area if North Korean missiles were to come raining down.

But this system is not fool proof. It has highly sophisticated radar, but if North Korea were

to fire multiple missiles at once as they did during their most recent test, this system could be overwhelmed. That is why the Japanese prime

minister Shinzo Abe calls it one of the most severe threats that Japan has ever faced from North Korea. He was reassured by President Trump that

Japan and the United States will work together very closely and they'll share information with their counterparts in South Korea.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: OK, for additional analysis, Matt Rivers joins us from Beijing and Alexandra Field is standing by in Seoul.

Let's go to Alex first. And Alex, imagining worst case scenario here, could THAAD when it's fully up and running, could it actually save South

Korea from an attack from North Korea?

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, Kristie, people in South Korea have certainly tried to imagine that worst case scenario. The fact

is when you're talking about the proximity of North Korea to when you're imagining the worst case scenario, they could wage various rockets to wage

an attack on South Korea. Specifically, when it comes to ballistic missiles, this is a

system that's designed to intercept short range ballistic missiles and intermediate range ballistic missiles and intermediate range ballistic

missiles. It is a system that's been tested by the U.S., but is in use in other places.

But there are certainly questions about whether or not launching a number of missiles at once could overwhelm the system making it uneffective and

unable to intercept a missile. That's a question that's been asked by analysts who are looking at the fact that North Korea did launch those four

ballistic missiles all at once just yesterday.

Were they looking at their capability to do a multi missile launch that would perhaps be effective in overwhelming a system like this?

The other thing that you have to take into consideration with THAAD, though, Kristie, is the fact that it is not designed to intercept long-

range ballistic missiles.

We know that Kim Jong-un said at the start of the year that he has plans to soon test intercontinental ballistic missile capable of carrying a nuclear

tipped warhead all the way to the continental United States. No, THAAD would not be the most effective line of defense for something like that.

That's not what it's designed to do.

But, the proponents of this system say the fact that it will be located so close to North Korea, installed so close to North Korea, is extremely

helpful because of the radar that is a part of the system. That means the radar could quickly detect a missile launch from North Korea, the data

transmitted by THAAD could then be used to communicate with other missile defense systems farther afield in the Pacific region, say in Japan or in

the U.S. based in Guam, and those systems could then be activated to try and intercept longer-range missiles, giving more people more protection,

Kristie.

LU STOUT: Got it. So, THAAD effective in some situations, but definitely not fool proof.

Now, let's go over to our Matt Rivers who is standing by in Beijing. And Matt, we know that Chinese officials are not proponents of the THAAD

system, and they say that the only way to ease the North Korean threat is via direct talks with the regime.

But who do they think should be doing the talking, China or the United States?

RIVERS: Well, officially what you have heard from the Chinese for a long time now is that there should be a return to the six party talks, those

talks that failed back in the mid-2000s that tried to get North Korea to halt its nuclear weapons development program. It did appear to make some

progress and then those talks ultimately ended up falling apart.

What China has said is that those talks should resume. But there's no question that Beijing thinks that it is the United States that should be

leading these conversations, and frankly those talks wouldn't work unless the United States were willing to sit down with the Kim Jong-un regime and

directly negotiate and maybe come up with some kind of a deal, because frankly when you hear Kim

Jong-un talk, he talks a lot about the United States. China says without the United States and the key role that they play in this ongoing

situation, there really wouldn't be any effective talks to be had.

So, when it comes to the united states, according to China anyway, the key player in any future negotiations., Krsitie.

LU STOUT: Got it.

Matt Rivers reporting live from Beijing, Alexandra Field live from Seoul, a big thank you to both.

And we're getting more details about Pyongyang's latest missile launch, technical details. And for analysis, let's bring in weapons expert Melissa

Hanham. Melissa joins us now live.

And Melissa, pictures of the missile launch, they were released today by North Korean state media. You and your fellow analysts have been just

pouring over these photos. What did you see? What did they reveal?

MELISSA HANHAM, JAMES MARTIN CENTER FOR NONPROLIFERATION STUDIES: Well, the photos we've received so far are still a little bit grainy, but it

looks like what these are are probably extended range SCUD missiles. So, these are relatively reliable missiles, but they have an extra range that

typical SCUDs that North Korea has used in the past don't have.

LU STOUT: You've identified these as extended range SCUD missiles. This is what was fired or test fired on Monday and today we know that the THAAD

missile defense system arrived in South Korea. How effective would that system be in the event of another missile test?

HANHAM: Well, the radar will be useful in detecting the missiles and they'll be able to start

practicing how they may Intercept. The activity that's happening now is interesting for us to study because it's not so much about the technology

of the missile. They've tested this kind of SCUD ER before. It's more about how the humans part of the problem are being utilized.

So, at this point they're testing the units on how to deploy them in the field. They're actually practicing what it would be like to have a war.

So, we're actually learning more about how North Korea would prepare to set up and launch these missiles. The THAAD radar will give them some

information about that after the missiles are launched, and they'll also be practicing on how to intercept them.

LU SOTUT: Got it.

So it was not just a practice for the technology, but also for the act of deployment itself.

And given what you know about North Korea's weapons technology, do you think North Korea could out-smart the THAAD system, especially by doing

what it tested on Monday firing multiple rockets at the same time?

[08:10:10] HANHAM: That's definitely what they're trying to do.

You know, ballistic missile defense systems are still new and relatively untested no matter what kind of system you're talking about. They go

through a series of tests. But in any test, you know, you know where the missile is going to be and when it's going to be there when the intercept

happens. In a real life war situation, you don't have that benefit of foreknowledge and so launching as they did last year three at once and now

four at once, what they're trying to do is overwhelm the capability of the South Koreans to respond in the interception phase of the ballistic missile

defense.

LU STOUT: And as such, North Korea is making progress on its missile program. We know it's out to develop and ICBM that could reach the United

States.

North Korea has also conducted five nuclear tests. So, Melissa, how close is North Korea to

attaching a warhead to a missile and delivering it to a target?

HANHAM: Well, they've shown us through photographs and videos that they have essentially all the components they need to build an IDBM. They

haven't actually tested one yet, but we know from defectors, high level defectors, that Kim Jong-un wants to test in 2017. It's likely that we

will see a test. It's also likely that that test will fail, whether they would be crazy enough to attach a warhead to

that, I don't care to hypothesize.

You know, in the past countries have done that. China, for example, in 1964 put a live nuclear warhead on a missile, which it flew over populated

areas. There's no way for those on the outside to know the difference between a test like that and an act of war. North Korea doesn't have the

territory that China did, for example, so I hope that they would never do something like that, but there is a fear that that is something they would

want to do, especially as the west continues to go to North Korea to prove its capabilities. We're definitely seeing them ramp up in their propaganda

demonstrating.

So, for example, when we said, well, they don't have a re-entry vehicle. There's no way they

could have an ICBM, they started doing re-entry simulations and demonstrating them for us as proof.

So, what I really hope doesn't happen is that we goad them into testing something like that.

LU STOUT: Absolutely. We want to avoid that scenario complately.

Melissa Hanham, we'll leave it at that. Thank you very much for joining us here in the program, and take care.

Now White House aides are defending President Trump's claims that Barack Obama ordered

a wiretap of Trump Tower last year. And coming up right here in the program, we'll tell you why

the FBI is not publicly commenting on the matter and why the bureau is looking to the Justice Department to speak up.

Also ahead, rebuilding a broken childhood. We visit a school in India giving former child slaves a second chance at a better future. Keep it

here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:15:24] LU STOUT: Coming to you live from Hong Kong, welcome back. You're watching News Stream.

Now, U.S. president Donald Trump has revised his controversial travel ban, but that has not silenced his critics who say the new one still targets

Muslims.

Now, these protesters, they gathered on Monday outside the San Diego International Airport. Meanwhile, White House aides are defending Mr.

Trump's explosive claims that President Obama had Trump Tower wire-tapped during the campaign. Now, President Trump has yet to offer any proof. And

the FBI has been largely silent on the matter, at least publicly. Joe Johns tells us what went on behind the scenes.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): FBI Director James Comey was, quote, "incredulous," after President Trump's weekend Twitter tirade,

accusing former President Obama of wiretapping his phones during the 2016 election, a person familiar with the matter told CNN.

Comey, concerned that the president's unfounded allegation would make the FBI look bad, directed staff members to reach out to the Justice

Department, asking them to publicly knock down the president's story. The Justice Department's silence on the matter now frustrating Comey.

SPICER: We've only heard unsubstantiated anonymous sources make those claims. I don't think Director Comey has actually commented.

JOHNS: White House press secretary Sean Spicer doubling down Trump's accusation, but he, like the president, offering no proof.

SPICER: There's no question that something happened. The question is, is it -- is it surveillance, is it a wiretap or whatever? But there's been enough

reporting that strongly suggests that something occurred.

JOHNS: As for the fate of President Trump's relationship with the FBI director...

SPICER: I haven't asked him that yet. And I think, obviously, he's focused today, first and foremost, on this -- this effort to keep the country safe.

JOHNS: Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly says he doesn't know anything about the president's charge but he, too, is backing Trump's explosive

claims.

JOHN KELLY, SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: If the president of the United States said it, he's got his reasons to say it. He's got some convincing

evidence that that took place.

JOHNS: Meanwhile, the president circumventing cameras for the rollout of travel ban 2.0.

REX TILLERSON, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: This revised order will bolster the security of the United States.

JOHNS: Signing his executive order behind closed doors, the White House releasing one photo. The revised 90-day ban includes six instead of seven

Muslim-majority countries.

Iraq, a crucial partner in the fight against ISIS, is now off the list, after the president's advisers urged him to remove it. The order now

clearly stating that current visa holders and those with a green card from the six countries can travel to the U.S., and Syrian refugees are no longer

banned indefinitely.

JEFF SESSIONS, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: This executive order responsibly provides a needed pause we can -- so we can carefully review how we

scrutinize people coming here from these countries of concern.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: CNN's Joe Johns reporting there.

Now, I want to get more now from CNN's Ben Wedeman. He joins us live from Irbil in Northern Iran. And Ben, we heard just in passing in that Joe

John's report just a little bit on why Iraq was removed from the new executive order. But give us more of an explanation, the context here.

Why is Iraq off the list now?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, for one thing, after it went into effect on the 27th of January the Iraqi government was enraged

by the fact that Iraq was included in this list of banned countries. We saw the Iraqi parliament voting to implement reciprocal

measures against U.S. citizens. Now that was a non-binding vote.

Nonetheless, the Iraqi government was pushing hard to get Iraq removed. And we also know that the Iraqi government made commitments to provide more

information to the U.S. authorities on any Iraqis who are applying for visas. So they appear to be much more willing to cooperate with the

Americans when it comes to the vetting process.

But beyond that, it's important to keep in mind that there are more than 5,000 U.S. military personnel in this country playing a key role in the war

against ISIS. Many Iraqis felt that Iraq has been one of the biggest victims,if not the biggest victim of ISIS and,

therefore, Iraqis should not be victimized because they are fighting and dying to destroy the terror organization - Kristie?

LU STOUT: Absolutely. And as you point out, Iraq is a critical ally in the battle against ISIS. So, what's the latest on the battle to retake

western Mosul?

[08:20:04] WEDEMAN: Well, what we've seen, Kristie, in the last day and a half is dramatic advances by as you point out, Iraq is a critical ally in

the battle of ISIS. What's the latest on the battle to retake western Mosul?

That's where it's believed many of the ISIS fighters are concentrated. In the last 24 hours or so Iraqi forces have been able to take a neighborhood

just adjacent to the old city, it includes a series of important government buildings including the central bank of Mosul as well as the Mosul museum

which in February of 2015 was vandalized and looted by ISIS extremists.

So symbolically it's been quite an eventful 24 hours. And we've seen the Iraqi prime minister, Haider al-Abady, make a surprise visit to the forces

in Mosul. There he called upon ISIS fighters to give up. He said, they just have a simple choice: come out with your hands up and we'll treat you

fairly or we'll kill you - Kristie.

LU STOUT: Ben Wedeman reporting live from northern Iraq for us. Thank you, Ben.

Now, in a rare meeting top brass from the U.S., Turkish and Russian militaries have been

sitting down in Southern Turkey. They're discussing the security situation in Syria and Iraq.

Now, the talks come as ISIS loses ground in both countries ad a day after Turkey said it would

reach out to Russia and the U.S. before carrying out strikes against Syrian Kudish militia in a former ISIS stronghold.

Now, imagine your childhood snatched away from you. Now for children forced into labor

at an early age, that nightmare is an everyday reality. Now, one school in northern India is helping victims break the shackles of modern-day slavery

using education to give hundreds of former child slaves a new future.

Now, CNN's Ravi Agrawal visited the Schools for Freedom. He joins me now from New Delhi with the story. And Ravi, this is an incredible program.

Tell us how it's saving children from slavery.

RAVI AGRAWAL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Kristie. What Schools for Freedom is trying to do is to ensure that the next

generation finds a way and a voice to be able to say no to bonded labor. As one official from that organization told me education is the best

vaccination against slavery. Listen in.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(CROSSTALK)

RAVI AGRAWAL, CNN NEW DELHI BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): Meet Sitara. She just loves to dance.

(SINGING)

AGRAWAL: At schoolyard games, she more than holds her own.

(CROSSTALK)

AGRAWAL: In the classroom, she's a top student.

Sitara is Hindi for star. She is a shining success story of a group called Schools for Freedom.

(CROSSTALK)

AGRAWAL: This is a school of boys and girls who are singing, reciting poetry and enjoying themselves. They have rich futures ahead of them.

When you speak to them, though, you learn that some of them are hiding dark pasts that no child and no family should ever have to go through.

Just one year ago, Sitara was working at a brick kiln like this one. It was dusty unforgiving work, she says. It was bonded debt labor. But let's call

it what it really is, slavery. And its prevalent across these parts of this Indian state with 200 million people.

(LAUGHTER)

AGRAWAL: Sitara's parents were enslaved there, too. They haven't forgotten their own daughter was sucked into bonded labor to help pay back their

debt.

(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

UNIDENTIFIED GIRL: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANUAGE) AGRAWAL: "They used to beat me at the brick kiln," Sitara says. She hated her life then.

Here's Sitara's mom. She isn't sure how old her daughter is, 13, she reckons. Sitara thinks she is 15. Time blurs out here. Her mother tears up

when she recalls watching her daughter be beaten.

"What can you do when you are in debt," she says?

A big part of the solution is awareness and education. And that is a battle led by people like Peggy Callahan.

(LAUGHTER)

She is the co-founder of Voices for Freedom, which runs and sponsors Schools for Freedom.

(on camera): How important are these schools for villages like this?

PEGGY CALLAHAN, CO-FOUNDER, VOICES FOR FREEDOM: They're all important. They're all important because the parents will risk everything to try to

get their kids educated. So they will move forward even when they are afraid of the slave holder when the slave holder is threatening them they

have the courage to do what it takes to free themselves and get their kids educated. Because the bottom line, education is the greatest vaccination

against slavery. All over the world. And it is working miracles here.

[08:25:01] AGRAWAL (voice-over): The miracle isn't complete. At this village we visited, Callahan says 84 people have found a way out of bonded

labor. A few dozen are still trapped. How do they get freed? Sometimes they pay off their debt, sometimes charities intervene, and sometimes it can be

just understanding their rights and just saying no.

One of the people still enslaved is this boy Papu (ph), who is just 12. We're not showing his face.

Here, he tells me the masters at the brick kiln beat him if he skips a day at work. He shows me his fingers. They are almost sandpapered by brick. He

has cuts and callouses. When he walks, his bare feet betray the scars of his life.

(CROSSTALK)

AGRAWAL: But they haven't broken his spirit. Papu (ph) tells me he sneaks in an hour a day at the classroom. Sometimes when the other kids line up to

wash their hands, he joins in. The children get free hot lunches at the school.

It's a marvel to see these kids fight the odds and still smile.

At night, Papu (ph) practices the alphabet in dim light. He dreams of being a teacher someday.

And here's Sitara again, cooking for the family. She knows her parents need to work late. Every day is hard in this village. Even when they're free,

there are a million reasons for these children to just give up, to despair, and yet...

(CROSSTALK)

AGRAWAL: The school is an example for Sitara. The Sitaras are an example for the Papu (ph). This is what freedom looks like. This is what can be.

(CROSSTALK)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AGRAWAL: Kristie, now we reached out to the Indian government with a very simple question and it's a question we have asked them before: why is

bonded labor still taking place in India? And why, more importantly, are children being sucked into this dreaded practice.

Now the Indian government wasn't able to respond to our question today, but they have in the past responded to this question when we posed it to them,

and their answer has been along the lines of saying that India has great problems when it comes to illiteracy and poverty and that those are factors

that lead to the conditions that we're seeing in the piece that we've just been watching.

Now while that is a deflection on the Indian government's part, it is true that there are few other countries in the world that have a problem on the

scale of which India does when it comes to those issues. There are nearly 300 million Indians who are illiterate, a similar number of Indians live in

poverty. And when you have people in those kinds of conditions, they are ripe for being exploited in the way in which we saw Sitara's parents being

exploited, or Papu (ph), our character in that piece, Kristie.

So, this is a question we're going to keep exploring here at CNN to try and understand what's being done to stop bonded labor in India.

LU STOUT: Absolutely. And thank goodness for innovative programs like Schools for Freedom which you profiled in that piece, but yes, child

slavery needs to stop right now. Ravi Agrawal reporting live for us from New Delhi. Thank you.

Now, March 14th is My Freedom Day, and CNN is teaming up with young people around the world for this unique student-led day of action against modern

day slavery. And students been sending us videos explaining what freedom means to them. And we want to hear what freedommeans to you as well. Just

post a photo or video using the hashtag #myfreedomday.

You're watching News Stream. Still ahead on the program, a diplomatic dispute between Malaysia and North Korea. What's at the center of the

conflict?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(HEADLINES)

[08:32:01] LU STOUT: Diplomatic relations between North Korea and Malaysia are at a new low. The two nations are at odds over the investigation into

the murder of Kim Jong-nam, the half-brother of North Korea's leader. And now, that dispute has escalated into dueling travel restrictions.

Saima Mohsin has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAIMA MOHSIN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kristie, this is incredible high stakes diplomacy in a tit-for-tat reciprocation between Pyongyang and

Kuala Lumpur. And Malaysia shows no signs of yielding to any kind of pressure tactics from North Korea. Now, North Korea Tuesday through its

state news agency KCNA aannounced that it was temporarily barring Malaysian citizens from leaving the country until there was guaranteed fair

settlement of the case involving its diplomats and citizens in Malaysia.

Then, Malaysia's prime minister reciprocated by doing the same. North Koreans are no longer

allowed to leave the country and they say until their citizens are allowed to return home.

Now, the prime minister also used strong language saying that this was an abhorrent attack effectively holding citizens hostage and contrary to

international law.

Now, this, of course, follows a weekend of a flurry of extraordinary circumstances. Malaysia expelling North Korea's ambassador to Kuala

Lumpur, giving him 48 hours to leave labeling him persona non grata. North Korea reciprocated by doing exactly the same thing calling Malaysia's

ambassador to Pyongyang persona non grata and giving him 48 hours to leave.

But citizens of both countries remain in each country and now are unable to leave.

In the meantime, of course, the investigation continues. Kim Jong-nam bound to be killed using VX nerve agent, a chemical weapon. His body

remains at a mortuary in Kuala Lumpur waiting for next of kin to identify him - Kristie.

LU STOUT: Saima Mohsin there.

Now if you've ever visited Japan you know it's all about the food. The country is known for its culinary creativity. And coming up, the story

behind a gold covered ice cream cone has become an internet sensation.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:36:32] LU STOUT: Welcome back.

Now, it is an app inspired by a tree and it's making a world of difference to Malaysians who are

trying to find service providers. Now, on this addition of Road to ASEAN, we lookat how this bit of technology could be paving the way for a network

across the region.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: In Malaysia's capital, Kuala Lumpur, Iwan (ph) is looking to get her air conditioner cleaned.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What we used to do was to call my aunties, my uncles, my parents, everything. There was someone that know of any cleaning

companies where everybody recommends (inaudible).

LU STOUT: And now, instead of relying on word of mouth, she is booking a trusted service provider through an app called Service Hero.

The idea behind the platform came from a tree.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was trying to find an air con service repair person. I can't find anyone on Google. And I rang up my auntie. And her advice to

me was to go outside of my apartment where there would be sign boards attached to trees.

And I thought that was ludicrous, right, that we were in Malaysia where mobile phone penetration rates are so high, yet there were people still

suggesting that we go from tree to tree to look at sign boards.

LU STOUT: Here is how it works. Simply log on and type in what you need in the search bar, like AC cleaning. You will get a list of vetted service

providers or heroes who then bid for the chance to come to the rescue.

For Iwen (ph), it is the guys from Mr. Green.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The home services sector is huge and fragmented in this part of the world. Our platform allows visibility of a quality standard

that makes the search for a provider much more reliable.

LU STOUT: And it's not just home repair, there is an array of services available on the app from cleaning to fitness classes. While the platform

makes life easier for the customer, it is also helping boost small businesses, giving them a distinguishable face in the crowd.

For Carmen (ph), she started her personal training business struggling to find clients, but now she's getting several potential new clients a day.

CARMEN LIM, PERSONAL TRAINER: I started with nothing. If I didn't use Service Hero, I think I wouldn't be a personal trainer anymore.

LU STOUT: For contractor Hin Construction their profits soared more than 40 percent just a year after joining the platform.

UNIDENITIFIED MALE: The benefit is with these apps we can reach out more to other people. Of course people can know us more and we will either

reduce our traditional way of doing services.

LU STOUT: Service Hero is now also available in Thailand and Singapore with ambitions to

expand further across ASEAN, or the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a very exciting time to be in ASEAN where there's a big movement away from more traditional industries into a more knowledge-

based economy. We have got great talent. We've got low program. We have low costs here. We've got government support. We have a rising awareness

by the public about these emerging technologies.

LU STOUT: For Service Hero, it's all about connecting on micro scale, customer with service provider, solving real world problems and at the same

time building a network of individuals and businesses across the wider ASEAN region.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: It's a good idea.

Now, finally, an ice cream cone has become a hit on the internet. Now, it's pretty simple, vanilla soft serve covered in a sheet of gold. It all

started in Kanazawa, Japan, a town that has made gold leaf for hundreds of years.

CNN's Will Ripley tells us about the craft behind this new trend.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

Gold leaf is a very Japanese traditional craft.

(SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

RIPLEY: Kanazawa has a 400 year relationship with making gold leaf. And Hakuichi is one of the biggest companies in Japan doing so. But they

struck gold, so to speak, when Tatsuo (ph) came up with this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was very unique product for them, maybe they never seen before.

RIPLEY: He's He's referring to gold leaf ice cream.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One day my assistant reported me there was so many line waiting for the gold leaf ice cream. So, I went there and it was so

surprising.

We didn't advertise at all.

RIPLEY: It's an ice cream cone that's taking over the internet: vanilla soft serve with an entire sheet of gold so what exactly does gold taste

like?

UNIDENIITIFIED MALE: I love it.

RIPLEY: Well, at $7 a cone, it's tempting not to bite into gold. Come rain or snow, this corner

shop always has a line. Whether or not Tetsuo (Ph) realized it, he brought an unexpected new a perhaps declining trade. But the delicacy of creating

gold leaf remains unchanged.

UNIDENITIFED MALE: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

RIPLEY: Sitomu (ph) is a Shokunan (ph).

UNIDNENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

RIPLEY: There you have it. Decades of expertise and the quiet pursuit of perfection on your next ice cream cone. It's an Instagram photo worth its

weight in gold.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: It's beautiful, definitely. But I just like, you know, chocolate vanilla

swirl.

Now, that's it for News Stream. I'm Kristie Lu Stout. But don't go anywhere. World sport with Christina Macfarlane is next.

END