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NEWS STREAM

Source Close To North Korea Pence Visit A Missed Opportunity; Kim Jong-un's Mysterious Sister Grabe Headlines; Athletes Battle Bitter Cold And Strong Winds; U.S. Officials Reveal Intel In ISIS Leader's Whereabouts; Both Flight Recorders Recovered From Russia Crash; Oxfam Denies Allegation Of Cover-Up; Zuma's Fate Could Be Decided At ANC Meeting. Aired at 8-9a ET

Aired February 12, 2018 - 08:00   ET

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


[08:00:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong and welcome to News Stream.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Historic trip -- a high-level North Korean delegation returns home after a visit to South Korea for the Olympic Games. What does it mean

for diplomacy in the days and weeks ahead?

New intelligence about the head of ISIS and how he was seriously wounded and out of action for months, and how Facebook dealt with the turmoil

following the 2016 U.S. election, fake news, and other issues. Wired interviews 51 current and former employees and speak to the editor who got

the story.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: We could call this the Winter Olympics a big first. Host nation South Korea claims its first gold medal of these games, a U.S. woman is the

first female figure skater from her country to land a triple axel at the Olympics and a unified Korean ice hockey team makes its Olympic debut.

But sports got the Olympic making headlines at the games, the unprecedented diplomatic back and forth between North and South Korea has been stealing

much of the show.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence avoided the North Korean during his visit to the Olympics, but he tells The Washington Post, the U.S. may be ready to

talk to Pyongyang.

However, Secretary Of State Rex Tillerson apparently says, not so fast. CNN's Will Ripley is in Pyeongchang with more. And, Will, you've got the

vice president in the U.S. telling The Washington Post that talks in North Korea are possible. Rex Tillerson is kind of undercutting that. How

significant are these comments and how is North Korea interpreting it all?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Vice President Pence spoke with Josh Rogin from The Washington Post, also a CNN contributor, on Air Force Two on

the way back.

And he said that he had a breakthrough -- a mini breakthrough, perhaps, with President Moon Jae-in, where the United States essentially agreed to

endorse South Korea's engagement with North Korea and a potential summit in Pyongyang with President Moon and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

With the condition that no money be exchanged, no under-the-table payments be made, as there have been with previous summits, sometimes totaling

estimated hundreds of millions of dollars paid to the North Koreans.

And also, the United States insisting here that the policy of maximum pressure, which means sanctions and diplomatic isolation that that policy

continue, that the tension be ratcheted up, but allowing South Korea to move forward with these talks to see where they may go.

I spoke with a senior North Korean diplomatic source with close knowledge of North Korea's thought process, who told me that look, they're skeptical

about this.

They've heard messages from the United States saying they're willing to engage before, only undercut by a tweet from President Trump. The North

Koreans here also believe that the vice president acted in a very undignified manner at the Olympics.

He skipped out on events hosted by South Korea's president that events feature that involved the North Korean delegation. Perhaps most

infuriating to the North Koreans and many people here in South Korea, as well, the vice president chose to stay seated when the unified Korean

Olympic team walked out during the opening ceremonies.

In the words of this diplomatic source, that was essentially the United States, instead of acting like a big brother, taking the low road. And

there were other examples as well that the North Koreans felt really didn't adhere to the Olympic spirit.

You know, meeting with North Korean defectors, bringing as an official guest the father of Otto Warmbier, the American college student who died

after being released from North Korean custody who went into a vegetative state when he was being held there.

And even just the repeated statements from the vice president here in Pyeongchang blasting the North Korean regime, so this source is basically

saying it was a really a missed opportunity.

There could have been a small moment, maybe standing for the unified team, maybe a handshake could have happened somewhere along the way, that could

have started to build a bridge between the United States and North Korea.

Because all the stakeholders here involved know that if there is no meaningful engagement eventually between Washington and Pyongyang, then any

deal that the South Koreans hammer out really isn't going to hold much water, Kristie.

LU STOUT: Will Ripley, reporting live for us from Pyeongchang, thank you. Now, despite stealing the international media's attention, the woman

leading the North Korean delegation is somewhat of a mystery. Paula Hancocks has more on her.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kim Yo-jong's every move is being filmed, analyzed, judged.

[08:05:00] Three days of the world's media running after the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. And still, we know very little about the

woman who has stolen the headlines at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.

Believed to be around 30-years-old, she studied in Switzerland like her brother and is the youngest of seven siblings, according to experts who

follow the family closely.

What is clear is she has her brother's absolute trust, the first member of the Kim family to venture South since the Korean War in the 1950s.

Also clear, she was the one in charge on this trip, as shown when 90-year- old Kim Yong-nam, senior by title and age, tried to give up the most prominent seat to her when they first arrived.

Kang Myung-do was the son-in-law of a former prime minister in North Korea. He defected in 1994, but is known to have contact with some of the elite

inside the country.

KANG MYUNG-DO, FORMER MEMBER OF NORTH KOREAN ELITE (through a translator): As Kim Yo-jong is the only family member around him, he says, it wouldn't

be an exaggeration to say that Kim Jong-un rules the country A to Z through her. That's why many North Korean officials see her as having a similar

status to the North Korean leader.

HANCOCKS: Kang says anyone who wants to meet Kim Jong-un has to go through his sister. Promoted last year to the Politburo, the senior body of North

Korea's Communist Party, Kim Yo-jong manages his public events often seen close to his side.

So what do South Koreans think of the first sister? This man says, "I hardly know anything about her except that she has direct authority on the

man at the top."

"She's the first one to come here from the Kim bloodline," this woman says, "and she came instead of Kim Jong-un. I think things will improve now."

Not everyone agrees. Some South Koreans are furious that a relative of a man they see as the enemy has been welcomed into their country.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She is not coming. She is the dictator's sister. I'm sure she is exactly like Kim Jong-un. She is not looking at the North

Korean people.

HANCOCKS: Some reports suggest that Kim yo-jong briefly ran the country in 2014 when Kim Jong-un was taken ill with either gout or diabetes. And Kang

says that if something were to happen to the North Korean leader, you cannot rule out the possibility that Kim Yo-jong could take power quickly.

Paula Hancocks, CNN, Pyeongchang, South Korea.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now, we've been talking a lot about how this is one of the coldest Olympic on record. Strong winds also causing major problems at the

games. Let's bring in World Sport's Amanda Davies live from Pyeongchang.

And, Amanda, these high winds, they are causing havoc as well as pretty some hazardous conditions out there. How concerned are the athletes and

the coaches about the strong winds there in Pyeongchang?

AMANDA DAVIES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, think it's fair to say that since everybody arrived in Pyeongchang, from kind of the start of last week,

athletes and members of teams have been getting here across the border.

Yes, people knew they were coming to a Winter Olympics, but nobody quite expected it to be as cold as it has been. It is brutal and it's not the

real temperatures, it's the wind.

There's a Siberian wind blowing in that is really making the feeling kind of kind of minus 25 to minus 30 degrees Celsius and that is what has been

causing the problems in recent days. We knew it was coming.

It's cranked up considerably from Sunday into Monday. I've been revisiting my days of geography at university with this anemometer. And where our

Olympics studio is here, we've had gusts of about kind of late 30s to 40s per hour.

But we're relatively low compared to the top of the mountains where the alpine events are taking place. They've been gusts there of kind of late

70s, early 80 kilometers per hour, and that is why twice in two days, we've had the two big skiing events, the men's downhill yesterday and the women's

giant slalom today canceled.

And, you know, for the serious alpine skiers who do that world cup circuit week-in, week-out, they are used to events being canceled because of the

weather, because of fog, because it's too snowy, because of the wind.

That happens and rescheduling takes place. So Mikaela Shiffrin, who everyone was really excited about seeing today, she actually said, it's a

bit of a bummer, but I just go back to my hotel, I refocus, I re-prepare, and it's all about taking part in the competition on Thursday.

They feel it's safety first, rightly. These sports are really, really dangerous, the speeds that they go. You need to put the safety first. The

questions have been asked about the women's slopestyle -- the snowboard slopestyle, which did go ahead early this morning despite the conditions.

[08:10:03] Five out of 25 -- only five out of 25 of the athletes made it down their first run without falling. And a few of the commentators said

that they feel that perhaps that one should have been postponed.

Jamie Anderson, who actually took gold, she said, yes, it was tough, it made a difference. Scores were lower than they say, in Sochi four years

ago.

And the International Ski Federation have come out and said, you know, we do not take risks with our athletes. We absolutely will not run an event

where we feel that we cannot guarantee the safety of the athletes. But there's no doubt it's added an extra dimension to the proceedings, Kristie.

LU STOUT: Absolutely. You've got to protect the safety and well-being of the athletes. And I know you're keeping a very close eye on the inter-

Korean women's hockey team.

They are protected from the strong winds, but they have the weight of symbolism on their shoulders, they have another match underway, this after

that big loss to Switzerland at the weekend. How is the team doing now?

DAVIES: Yes, this is a team and a story that really has, you know, transcended the Olympics, hasn't it -- the late edition to the South Korean

women's hockey team of those North Korean players, because of the agreement that this would be the first unified Korean team at an Olympic games.

It's very much a step forward from that opening ceremony, where we saw the two teams from North and South Korea walking side by side. This is them

playing as part of the same team will all challenges that that brings, different language the late editions of team tactics, an understanding of

the players.

And when we were there at their opening game against Switzerland, you really did get the feeling that despite maybe the uncertainty and the

criticism of this as a political move and the run-up to the games, the players had grasped the concept of the bigger picture and what it meant

their role in history.

So they were beaten in that first game, as you said, eight-nil. They did have high hopes for this game against Sweden, because they played Sweden in

their only warm-up game in the run-up to this game. They lost, but it was 3-1.

But I have to say, not even half way through, they're currently five-nil down. But they know that there is a much bigger issue at stake in this.

LU STOUT: Yes, absolutely. Amanda Davies live from Pyeongchang, thank you. It is day three of the Pyeongchang Winter Games. A lot of thrilling

action, all the highlights ahead on World Sport, taking place just under 40 minutes from now.

Now, in an interview with an Israeli newspaper, U.S. President Donald Trump is quoted as saying that he's not sure if Israelis and Palestinians are

committed to peace and said that both sides need to make compromise to reach a deal.

The comments come as there are rising tensions between Israel, Syria, and Iran. Israeli forces attacked targets in Syria including aerial defense

batteries that came after an Israeli fighter jet went down under anti- aircraft fire from Syrian forces and an Iranian drone reportedly breached Israeli air space.

Much of the conflict happened in the skies above the Golan Heights, a disputed region regarded by the international community as Israeli occupied

territory.

Now, U.S. officials are revealing intelligence that may explain why ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi disappeared last year -- widely consider the

world's most wanted man. Al-Baghdadi avoided detection by the U.S. coalition for several months, even with a 25 million bounty on his head.

Senior international correspondent Nick Paton Walsh joins me now with more on the story. Nick, what more have you learned about the ISIS leader,

namely, how and where he was wounded?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, these U.S. officials have a high degree of confidence based on information they seem to have got from

ISIS detainees and refugees from those areas that in May of last year around or near Raqqa.

An air strike -- and it's not clear if Baghdadi was the target or, quote, collateral damage from a different air strike was hit and the injuries were

serious enough that he was out of his normal role for four or five months.

And that would be an important time for the so-called caliphate back then. Their capital or what they called their capital, Raqqa, where the injury

took place, was being encircled by U.S.-backed Syrian-Kurdish forces and a lot of American air power, and also, too, the Old City of Mosul was in fact

finding itself slowly falling out of ISIS' hands.

They were certainly on the back foot. The key question here is exactly who fired this air strike. And that's not clear at this point. Around that

time, the Russian government in June subsequently claimed that they had in May, launched an air strike near Raqqa that had killed or wounded Baghdadi.

But given these U.S. officials don't have a precise time frame for when these injuries occurred, they can't glue one or two together. They can't

work out if it was one of their attacks or that Russian thing.

[08:15:00] They're not particularly confident that the Russians were behind all of these. The key issue, though, of course is exactly where might he

be now?

And the money now appears to be mostly pointing towards the Jazeera area, which is a sort of pretty sparsely populated stretch of desert on the

Syrian-Iraqi border. That's the best hunch as we speak. Kristie.

LU STOUT: There's a hunch but he remains at large despite that $25 million bounty on his head. Why is it that al-Baghdadi has been so elusive and so

difficult to capture?

WALSH: Because I think, frankly, he is man who while he was working in the Iraqi insurgency developed a lot of ways of keeping himself discreetly

hidden. He made one public appearance in July and has since then vanished.

I mean, he's sort of kind of a symbolic figure head really, frankly, than a man who has a day-to-day role of coming out in public and delivering

instructions.

And of course, partially I think, some might say, for the insurgency itself -- sorry, for the terror group itself that is ISIS keeping him alive and

keeping him out of harm's way in some sense what they would like to consider to be a small victory of sorts.

So the longer he stays alive, the longer he's available to evade capture, they can kind of begin to feel that element of their caliphate is managing

to sustain itself.

Plus frankly, this is a man who has been injured certainly this once, other of course, perhaps may have been once before he's certainly hunted

constantly, and as far as they can tell, still alive. But in May of last year, was very close to being killed.

LU STOUT: Nick Paton Walsh reporting live from London. Thank you. You're watching News Stream. And still to come, we are on the ground at the site

of that plane crash near Moscow for the latest investigation.

Also next, Oxfam is under fire after a news report alleges that the aid agency knew its worker were hiring prostitutes and tried to cover it up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Coming to you live from Hong Kong, welcome back. This is News Stream. Instigators in Russia are still searching the remains of a crashed

passenger plane near Moscow.

The plane had just taken off from the Russian capital, headed for the City of Orsk when it disappeared from radar. Our senior international

correspondent Fred Pleitgen has the latest from the scene.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRED PLEITGEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Russian investigators and the search and recovery crews have made a good deal of headway since the

Antonov 148 came down here in the Moscow region in the afternoon hours of Sunday.

The authorities now saying that they found both the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder, and at least about the cockpit voice recorder

are saying that the device is in what they call satisfactory condition, which obviously means that they hope to get some valuable information from

these two device to see what went wrong with this flight and why it came down so shortly after it takeoff.

Another important clue that the investigators say that they have found is, in the impact site, a crater that they say is about 25 feet wide and around

about five feet deep.

[08:20:05] Of course there was some speculation in the early minutes and hours after this crash took place about whether the plane might have

disintegrated in midair or only have been destroyed upon impact on the ground here outside of the Russian capital.

Now, so far, what the Russians are saying is they're investigating at possible causes for this crash pilot error, a technical malfunction, but

also, not ruling out that the weather might have played a role.

Of course, we do know that there some pretty heavy snow showers going on at the time of the crash on Sunday. (Inaudible) has to be said that there

were other planes that were taking off and landing at the same time.

Now, the Russians have also extended the search area and made it wider. They're using helicopters to see if they can find out any other clues.

But they also say that despite all of these search and recovery efforts going on, right now for them, the highest priority is helping, comforting,

and supporting the families of 71 victims of the folks who were on that flight. Fred Pleitgen, CNN, in the Moscow region, Russia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now, the British government is confronting Oxfam over allegations that its staff hired prostitutes while in Haiti on aid work.

An investigation by The Times alleges the agency knew about it and tried to cover it up but Oxfam denies that. Erin McLaughlin reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Eight years ago, Haiti was struck by a devastating earthquake. Hundreds of thousands of people killed, more than

a million displaced. Aide workers flocked to the ravaged nation.

Some of those who came to help now accused of abuse. The Times newspaper in London obtained access to a confidential Oxfam report, the product of

its won internal investigation.

According to The Times, the report reveals that seven Oxfam employees staged orgies with prostitutes and that minors may have been among those

sexually exploited -- the center of the investigation, Oxfam's country director here talking to CNN in 2010 about the challenges of working in

earthquake-ravaged Haiti.

ROLAND VAN HAUWERMEIREN, FORMER OXFAM COUNTRY DIRECTOR: Haiti I have to make a choice between trying to save lives of thousands of people and

putting my staff at risk.

MCLAUGHLIN: CNN has not been able to reach Director Roland van Hauwermeiren for comment and he has not spoken publicly about the

investigation. And the other six employees involved were either fired or allowed to resign.

Now Oxfam is accused of covering, up their misconduct. British and Haitian authorities say they were not notified of the alleged wrongdoing.

BOCCHIT EDMOND, CHIEF OF MISSION, HAITI AMBASSADOR TO UK: Of course it was a cover-up. And it is unfortunate to even mention that that cover-up went

all the way up -- all the way to the top.

MCLAUGHLIN: Oxfam has apologized, but denied any cover-up. In a statement, the aide group said accusations that underage girls may have

been involved were not proven.

WINNIE BYANYIMA, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, OXFAM INTERNATIONAL: We're working on the culture. A culture of zero tolerance to sexual harassment, sexual

exploitation and abuse is taking time, but we're going to step up.

MCLAUGHLIN: Oxfam relies on public goodwill, relies on donations, it relies on people visiting its charity shop, such as the one you see behind

me. It also relies on government funding. Every year, Oxfam receives $42 million of taxpayer money. Now all of that could be in jeopardy. Now

British authorities say they're considering cutting Oxfam's government funding.

PENNY MORDAUNT, BRITISH INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT SECRETARY: It doesn't matter whether you've got a whistle blowing hotline. It doesn't matter if

you've got good safeguarding practice in place. If the moral leadership at the top of the organization isn't there, then we cannot have you as a

partner.

MCLAUGHLIN: And now Haiti's ambassador to the U.K., tell CNN that criminal charges are being considered for those employees implicated in the Oxfam

investigation. Erin McLaughlin, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: The fate of South African President Jacob Zuma is expected to be decided at the ruling of African National Congress Party on Monday. David

McKenzie joins us now live from Pretoria with the details.

And, David, the ANC's to decision-making body is meeting now to and finalizes the issue of Jacob Zuma. How do they plan to do that?

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they plan to do that by potentially recalling the president of South Africa. We have seen a steady

stream of luxury vehicles heading into the hotel behind me.

And this top 80 or so members of the ANC would like to be dealing with the celebrations of Nelson Mandela's centenary, but in fact, what they're

dealing with is a recalcitrant president who's refusing to go.

For about a week now, we've had the situation that the leadership of the ANC, including its President Cyril Ramaphosa, appears to be trying to nudge

Zuma out to his face years of corruption scandals. And at this stage, they haven't been successful. So this urgent meeting was called for them to

discuss this matter.

[08:25:04] It's a key test of the ANC, those facing elections next year, and the opposition is also circling. They said that Jacob Zuma shouldn't

be allowed to hold South Africans hostage/

And that the reported negotiations that have been ongoing to try to secure some kind of sweetener, if Zuma resigns, they say well that's unacceptable.

Reportedly, he's asked for more protection as he leaves office. Well, the opposition is saying the only protection he should get is the inside of a

jail cell. Kristie.

LU STOUT: If Jacob Zuma is asked by his party to resign, would he have to comply with that? Or could he refuse and play hardball?

MCKENZIE: Well, it's a political decision if they ask him to go in this meeting behind me. It's not a constitutional one necessarily. So the

president is within his rights to refuse to go. You're right.

It would be a precedented -- precedent-setting event if he says no. And it would then move to parliament where already there's a no-confidence vote

scheduled for later this month. But then the ANC will face the humiliation of being seen to follow the opposition's lead in trying to kick Zuma out.

It's worth reminding the viewers that President Zuma has survived, sometimes just, several votes of no-confidence, he is a man with a very

limited political maneuvering. But at this stage, he's managed to use his maneuverability just to say no and not leave office, despite the damage

it's steering to Nelson Mandela's part. Kristie.

LU STOUT: Let's talk about Cyril Ramaphosa, the leader of the ANC, he's the one who says that this issue about Jacob Zuma has to be finalized for

the sake of the people of South Africa. We know over the years, many South Africans have become disillusioned by the party. Is the ANC now under

Ramaphosa, the action is taking place today hanging that view?

MCKENZIE: Well, if its successful, I think what many South Africans, there will be a return to the broad umbrella of the ANC. If Cyril Ramaphosa can

get Zuma out which is way the broad was bound to.

He has state his reputation as the new party leader on the line by saying that they will deal with this matter, that they will, as you say, finalize

it today, one way or another.

But if President Zuma digs in, and in the past he's shown that he's more worried about his own political survival than necessarily the good of South

Africa, then it really could be very damaging to Cyril Ramaphosa as a politician and not just South Africa as a country. Kristie.

LU STOUT: David McKenzie live from Pretoria, thank you. You're watching News Stream. Turbulent times at Facebook. Wired magazine is out with a

special report on how the platform is dealing with the turmoil. We're going to hear from the editor of Wired, Nick Thompson, next.

[08:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN NEWS STREAM SHOW HOST: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. You're watching "News Stream" and these are your world headlines.

A senior diplomatic source close to North Korea is calling the U.S. vice president's visit to the Winter Olympics a missed opportunity, after Mike

Pence spoke out strongly against Pyongyang. The source says even a small gesture of respect could have led to a diplomatic opening.

U.S. officials are revealing intelligence that may explain why ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi disappeared last year. Several U.S. officials who

spoke exclusively to CNN said al-Baghdadi was wounded in an air strike in May of last year near Raqqa, Syria. They say that he was sidelined for

several months. It is unclear if the airstrike came from Russian or coalition aircraft.

Russian investigators have recovered both the flight recorder and cockpit voice recorder from a crashed passenger plane near Moscow. The plane had

just taken off from the Russian capital headed for the city of Orsk when it disappeared from radar. All 71 people on board the passenger jet were

killed.

Here in Hong Kong, the city is mourning the death of 19 people who were killed when a double-decker bus crashed and flipped on to its side. Out of

respect, the government has canceled Saturday's lunar new year fireworks display over the harbor. The 30-year-old driver of the bus is in police

custody and faces charges of dangerous driving.

Facebook has been under fire for the spread of fake news, disturbing content, and political bias on its platform in the past two years. And now

Wired magazine just released an in-depth report on the company and how its CEO is trying to steady the ship.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK THOMPSON, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, WIRED: I think that Fred Vogelstein and I wrote this story together, and the picture we got from all the people we

talked to was that a company that just wasn't prepared for what happened.

They kind of coasted along for most of their existence believing that what's good for Facebook is what's good for the world. And then suddenly,

that belief was kind of crushed as they saw what happened during the American election.

They saw Russian manipulation and they use of the platform spin out of control in certain ways. But, what we also learned while working on it is

that there is a very real sense that Facebook is now taking this seriously and taking steps in the right direction.

LU STOUT (on camera): Yes, what's good for Facebook certainly hasn't been good for original content providers and for journalism. Facebook has been

accused of killing the original content business.

And yet it attempts to, you know, express its appreciation for journalism, right, you know, with the Facebook journalism project, et cetera. How would

you characterize the true nature of the relationship between Facebook and journalism?

THOMPSON: It's complicated and interesting. And it's one of the this that drew me in. So the people at Facebook really do like journalism. They

really do want Facebook to be a tool of civic engagement. But they also became absolutely the dominant force in the news industry, and they

flattened the distinctions between high-quality publishers and low-quality publishers.

They made it so that basically everything looks the same. And they didn't do that out of malice. They did it just out of thinking it's an open and

democratic platform. So one of the consequences is that you could start a fake newspaper and get as much attention as if you had started a real

newspaper a hundred years ago and had a great brand.

So, kind of by their product decisions, they made it hard for the media industry to thrive and then they also made it easy for kind of fake news to

prosper. So that was one of the kind of original sin of the last couple of years.

LU STOUT (on camera): After Trump won the race, Zuckerberg dismissed the role that Facebook and fake news played in the election. How did that go

down internally inside Facebook?

THOMPSON: Oh, that was one of Zuckerberg's worst mistakes. So the election happens, and Facebook clearly plays a significant role. You can't say

whether they tilted it to Trump or whether they didn't tilt it to Trump, it's an impossible question.

But it was clearly a massive force in the America election. And right afterwards, Zuckerberg kind of did some back-of-the-envelope math and

decided that fake news was a very small percentage of election content and made the statement saying, oh, it would be pretty crazy to think that fake

news influenced the election.

And inside of Facebook, people went nuts. They were so upset. They were frustrated. They thought, this guy just doesn't get it. And so quickly,

they had to try to flip him. One executive said to us on background, we had to flip him or else we would head down the pariah path that Uber was on.

And so they got Zuckerberg

[08:35:00] to kind of turn around and to say -- to seem a little more remorseful and a little more thoughtful about it. And so then Facebook

started having internal conversations about what they could do.

One of my favorite quotes in the the story comes from a moment there were another employee -- Facebook employee was watching Zuckerberg and said he

was reminded of Lennie in "Mice and Men," the man who's just way too strong and keeps killing things because he doesn't understand his own strength.

LU STOUT (on camera): So, can Facebook turn itself around? Can Zuckerberg redeem himself?

THOMPSON: Yes, I think, absolutely. I think that what Zuckerberg has done over the last year and a half is really go through a learning experience. I

mean, he's thought a lot about the platform's influence. He's thought about its role in elections, its role in journalism, its role in our own

individual lives, and whether it can make us depressed and lonely.

And so Facebook is a series of algorithms. And you can go in and change the algorithms and you can change the incentives. And every single thing you do

is complicated. Every single thing has consequences beyond what you expect.

But what we've seen in the last few weeks is Facebook saying, OK, we're going to start changing the algorithms that affect journalism. We're going

to start changing the way our platform works for people.

And I think all of those changes are motivated by good and are thought through. So I actually think that you are going to see a very different

Facebook in a year from the one you saw last year.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Nick Thompson, editor-in-chief of Wired magazine there.

Now, this next story is about a homeless man in France who was using social media to show people what it's like to live on the streets of Paris. It's

not easy and his followers are paying attention. Melissa Bell has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MELISSA BELL, CNN PARIS CORRESPONDENT (voice over): He's a homeless man who has become a Twitter sensation. But it's not Christian Page's first

improbable change of fortune. He used to be a sommelier in a posh Parisian restaurant until the loss of his job, divorce, and depression led him to a

life on Paris' streets three years ago. The hardest thing, he says, is the isolation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNTRANSLATED).

BELL (voice over): To avoid that, Christian uses the free Wi-Fi that Paris provides and Twitter where he has become something of a star, collecting

22,000 followers in the space of just a few months.

He describes it as a homeless man's diary in which he can tell of his daily struggles while he waits for authorities to find him some proper housing.

Like where he's tried to sleep and how authorities have placed strategically positioned flower pots to prevent him from coming back. In

one tweet posted on Christmas Day and re-tweeted 2,000 times, Christian showed the lengths that authorities were prepared to go to to keep homeless

people away from spots they might find comfortable.

The heat from the metro, he says, is what attracts the homeless here. The spots now has been cleared of the fence which was removed just a day after

Christian's tweet, perhaps proof that Twitter is allowing him to make a difference.

Including on a small scale as a result of his high profile, he regularly receives gifts like these rechargers for mobile phones which he shares with

other homeless people. Twitter is a medium that has allowed him to share both love and angry outbursts, but most of all, just to share with others

once again.

Melissa Bell, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Wow, powerful story using social media to bring about greater compassion and understanding. You're watching "News Stream." We got much

more after this short break. Keep it here.

[08:40:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: All right, coming to you live from Hong Kong, welcome back. This is "News Stream."

Now, NASA says it's keeping its eye on what could be the most famous piece of space junk in the universe. Of course, I'm talking about SpaceX founder

Elon Musk's Tesla roadster. It was launched into space on Tuesday on board SpaceX's rocket, the Falcon Heavy.

Musk himself admits that the car was a silly stunt, but NASA is taking it seriously. The space agency says it is tracking the object so it is not

confused with an asteroid. And you can see the roadster there piloted by that "Starman." It's actually a mannequin in a space suit.

And you may be able to spot the roadster from down here on earth. This is footage posted by the Virtual Telescope Project. It's said to show the

Tesla cruising across the cosmos.

Now, Kensington Palace has released new details about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding, including a way for the public to share in their

big day. CNN's Max Foster has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAX FOSTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're starting to get a better sense then of the shape of the royal wedding day. The service will start at noon in

St. George's Chapel in Windsor Castle. The couple will say their vows in front of the archbishop of Canterbury. He's the most senior official in the

church of England.

This isn't a state occasion, because Prince Harry isn't in direct lien to the throne, but it is a big national occasion, which is why it's being

presided over by the archbishop of Canterbury. Now, approximately an hour later after the couple are wed, they will leave the castle in the carriage

and they'll process through Windsor in a carriage procession.

The palace said in a statement that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are hugely grateful for the many good wishes they have received since

announcing their engagement. They're very much looking forward to the day and to be able to share their celebrations with the public.

And huge crowds are expected to see them in the carriage procession. Once they get back into the castle, they'll join the congregation for a

reception in the grand St. George's hall, which is usually used for state banquets.

And in the evening, there will be more private affair hosted by Prince Charles, for the couple's close friends and family. We are heading towards

May the 19th, and we're getting a better sense of how the day will look.

Max Foster, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And that is "News Stream." I'm Kristie Lu Stout, but don't go anywhere, "World Sport" with Amanda Davies is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:45:00] (WORLD SPORT)

END