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NEWS STREAM

Choi Sool-il Charged With Abuse Of Power; Fans Brave The Cold At Winter Olympics; Making It Snow For The Winter Olympics; American Chloe Kim Aims Snowboard Halfpipe Gold; South Africa's Ruling Party Announces Recall Of Zuma; Oxfam Accused Of Covering Up Sexual Exploitation; CNN Goes Inside Idlib After Deadly Airstrikes. Aired at 8-9a ET

Aired February 13, 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: Twenty years in jail. The confidante of the former South Korean president is sentence for her role in a corruption scandal. They want him

out.

The ANC is recalling South Africa's president, Jacob Zuma. And banning the deployment of workers to Kuwait, the Philippines decides it is too

dangerous after multiple abuse cases, hundreds are returning home.

And we begin in the South Korean capital where a confidante to the former president has been sentenced to 20 years in jail. Choi Soon-sil was

ordered to pay more than $60 million for her role in a corruption scandal that brought down outed President Park Geun-hye.

Her charges include abuse of power, coercion and fraud. CNN's Paula Newton is following the story for us and she joins us now live from Seoul.

And, Paula, 20 years in jail, this is a significant sentence for Choi Soon- sil. How did the court reach this decision and what does it mean for her friend -- the former President of South Korea, Park Geun-hye?

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so interesting today when you think the prosecutors that ask for 25 years, they ended up getting 20, a sever

punishment. It took almost -- it took well over actually two hours. They read all of the charges out, 18 counts, which mounted to fraud and bribery,

and corruption.

You know, this is just an incredible case that continues to grip this country. And really, it has lead to so much political upheaval, the

fallout of which we are still seeing here.

And you asked that very important question -- you know, Kristie, there aren't many that could knock and North Korea out of the headline here.

But even just a small amount of time, and this trial did it. And the reason is because they are looking to that trial, Park Geun-hye, the former

president here who remains in custody, on trial, really it's an epic trial, a verdict expected later this year.

And some are looking to this verdict -- the verdict of her confidante, a very bizarre relationship between the two that ensued, within this verdict

to say that perhaps, the judgment on South Korea's former president might be quite harsh.

LU STOUT: And, Paula, another significant figure sentenced today in South Korea, the billionaire boss of Lotte, now facing jail for bribery. What

exactly is Shin Dong-bin accused of?

NEWTON: You know, Lotte, again was convicted of bribery. He -- two and a half year and will now have to face $6.4 million. He was accused of

bribing Park Geun-hye's confidante, Choi, then at that point getting in return for giving millions to her foundation, in return government getting

a government license for a duty-free business, one that can be incredibly lucrative here in South Korea.

For that, you know he had told CNN last year and told our, Paula Hancocks, that he did not expect to go to jail, certainly did not expect to be

incarcerated because he had done nothing wrong. He remains in custody at this moment, Kristie, and his lawyers tell us that he does intend to

appeal.

LU STOUT: And both this court decisions is today, they come shortly after another story you reported on Jay Y. Lee, the heir of Samsung walking free

from prison. It is all providing kind of a mix picture, so what is the overall view right now inside South Korea, about the country's battle

against graft, bribery and corruption?

NEWTON: Yes, it was interesting to see the relief from that suspended sentence from the heir of Samsung, how the business elite greeted it with

relief. And yet, average South Koreans greeted it with a lot of disdain and just thought, hey, this is going to be more of the same -- reform will

never happen to our politics and our economy.

I think at this point, Kristie, the jury is out literally and figuratively. You know, Park Geun-hye remains certainly in custody and the trial

continues.

And I think many people are skeptical that even though they may get these top sentences, that they will end up being pardoned that somehow this

intimate relationship between government and politics working hand in glove for the elites here will just continue on and on, and on, and many people

calling for reform.

[08:05:08] You would have to say though, when you look at 20 years today for Park Geun-hye's confidante, an extraordinary sentence by any measure

really, and so, it will be interesting to see if these sentences, if these prosecutions will actually help to reform the economy.

I want to know, Kristie, that the Samsung heir was actually quite contrite coming out of prison saying that he needed to reflect. What does that mean

because certainly in a lot of editorials, many thought that it just meant he was going back to business as usual.

LU STOUT: Paula Newton reporting live in Seoul for us, thank you. Maybe bitterly cold and windy in Pyeongchang, South Korea but that is not

stopping fans from soaking up the Olympics spirit at the Winter Games. Here is Paula Hancocks.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is the Olympic plaza. This is in Pyeongchang, South Korea. It is where the opening ceremony for the Winter

Olympics was held.

This is also an area where fans are congregating now, some of them going inside to watch at big screen to see the events that are on going. And

this is also where some of the man's buy tickets.

There is not a lot of people here as you can see. We understand from officials that they have actually missed targets. They sold about 85.9

percent of tickets at this point. They wanted it to be higher.

If ever a couple issued that they have to deal with, the cold for example is being bitter cold over recent date. Today is a little bit better, and

of course, the wind also just affecting the fans, and also the athletes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We Canadians. We can handle this. It is a little windy, especially for us with our underwear, you know, the shooting really

is affected by the wind but actually better.

HANCOCKS: A lot to be made of the cold and the winds, how you are coping with that?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am wearing four or five layers actually.

HANCOCKS: Some of the fans we have spoken to say that the atmosphere here is very good. And the Korean volunteers are being very helpful and despite

the cold, they are determined to enjoy themselves.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As you can see, we are well prepared for it. So I am fully loaded and I am ready for the occasion.

HANCOCKS: How are feeling? How do you feel with the cold?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's warm than yesterday.

HANCOCKS: There has been plenty of politics in this Olympics. Some of the fans are saying, enough with the politics. Now let's focus on the

Olympics. Paula Hancocks, CNN, Pyeongchang, South Korea.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: The winds have actually canceled races, several competitions were called off on Monday, including the women's giant slalom and another

problem for the organizers, there is little snowfall. And, Paula Hancocks, shows us how officials are working around that problem.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HANCOCKS: Snowmaking started early in South Korea this season. October saw the first artificial snow hit the ski slopes and hasn't stopped since.

Pyeongchang certainly doesn't have the same problem that Sochi and Russia had four years ago.

Any natural snow that falls here is going to stay on the ground, it is cold enough. But the issue is, there's just simply not that much natural snow.

After all, winter in Korea is the dry season.

IAN HONNY, PROJECT MANAGER, SNOW MACHINES INCORPORATED, SNOW MAKER: Yes, at least -- at least five actually, before that, too.

HANCOCKS: Ian Honey is the project manager for the SMI snowmakers. His company has already made snow for five Winter Olympics. He started

preparing for Pyeongchang three years ago.

HONEY: Here it's all 100 percent man-made snow. And as I said we've had great temperatures, we've been really lucky.

HANCOCKS: So, none of this is natural snow then.

HONEY: Pretty -- yes, 98 percent would be man-made.

HANCOCKS: This has been the scene for months in Pyeongchang, mountainsides wrapped in a mist of man-made snow. So, how do you actually make it?

HONEY: Where doing very similar to what mother does. We're taking -- we're taking water and were forcing it into the atmosphere. And we're

getting a -- we're generating a crystalize structure.

But the structure that will generate is more consistent structure. They basically, they're all the same, where natural snow is -- every flake is

different.

HANCOCKS: Tourists don't seem to mind the snow is man-made, and as for which is better, natural or artificial, these two ski instructors say there

is no contest.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Artificial snow is good for skiing more, then, because we can more speeding, they're really good.

HANCOCKS: And speed is what Olympic athletes want. Well, no doubt, he has seen enough whether they approve of Pyeongchang snow. There have been some

heavy snowfalls in recent months. A few weeks ago, there was a rush to preserve the snow after it fell, carving it into massive blocks.

We now see why as the snow festival opens, massive sculptures towering over children who are more interested in the snow than the art. So, while it

may not always look like the Winter Wonderland you'd expect from the Winter Olympics.

[08:10:02] The organizers say they're ready, let the games begin. Paula Hancocks, CNN, Pyeongchang, South Korea.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: The games have begun, there is snow. Let's get an update on the event. There is the Winter Games. Amanda Davies joins us now live from

Pyeongchang.

Once again, Amanda, good to see you. We have got to talk about Chloe Kim. She is only 17-years-old but she wow the crowds, she clinched the gold.

How impressive was her performance today?

AMANDA DAVIES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, hi, Kristie. I have to tell you, it is actually snowing as we speak. It's very fine and it's blowing around

but there is snow in the air.

But, yes, let's talk about what happened after the Phoenix Park center earlier, Chloe Kim. Look at the people who work close to athletes in the

run-up to this game. She was absolutely up there. She looks depart. She sound depart.

All of her performances in the run-up to the games had been so, so impressive. But there was so much focus, so much attention on this 17-

year-old who, yes, form the United States.

But her parents are from here in South Korea so much hope, so much expectation and she absolutely pulled it out the bag when it mattered.

We've seen in recent days, there are a lot of the favorites, the big names heading into these Winter Olympic event, haven't quite lived up to

expectations but she absolutely relished this moment.

And put it in a near perfect performance and just kept on going. She pretty much secured gold from her first run but didn't want to settle with

that and kept ongoing to secure that first Olympic gold medal, a 17-years- old.

And it's quite incredible, she has had a long way for it. It sounds ridiculous, she is only 17-years of age. But you might remember that Chloe

Kim was performing well enough at age 13 to qualify for the Olympic Games in Sochi.

She wasn't old enough to then be allowed to actually go and compete, though she used base, she used as a springboard to continue to improve. And you

really do think this is the start of what could be something really, really special for her.

LU STOUT: Yes, it's great to see this teenage sensation fulfill her Olympic destiny. Let's talk about the Austrian sensation, Marcel Hirscher,

the ski legend. He only today -- finally got his gold-medal. Tell us about him.

DAVIES: Yes, an athlete very much of the opposite end of this spectrum really in terms of his experience in the run-ups to these games. Marcel

Hirscher was built really as the greatest alpine skier never to have won an Olympic gold.

He really is a hero from Austria, in terms of where he is from. He actually described as he walks around at Wolfsburg in Austria, it's like

Wayne Rooney when he used to walk around Manchester, when he was at Manchester United.

A little bit outdated but you get the picture. He is a record six high, overall World Cup who -- this is his third Olympic Games. And up to this

point have been relatively disappointing. In the Olympics, he secured a silver in Sochi.

And all though he was playing down, expectation ahead of the (Inaudible), he took part and today the alpine combined, which is a combination of a

downhill run in the slalom.

He was actually 12th after the downhill but really, really stepped it up in the slalom to finally secure that gold in the first of actually four events

for him over the next couple of weeks. So possibly, a bit of frightening warning shots and so the rest about what could still be to come from him.

LU STOUT: All right, Amanda Davies, reporting live from Pyeongchang and enjoy the snowfall by the way. Amanda, take care.

Turning now to stunning political developments in South Africa -- a short time ago, the country's ruling African National Congress announced it is

recalling President Jacob Zuma. Now Mr. Zuma has faced multiple allegations of corruption in his nine year tenure.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ACE MAGASHULE, SECRETARY-GENERAL, AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS: The decision by the NEC to recall its deployee was taken only after exhaustive

discussion and the decisions of the NEC provide, we believe certainty to the people of South Africa at a time when the economic and social

challenges facing the country require urgent and resolute response by all sections of society.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: OK. So what happens next? David McKenzie joins us for that angle. He joins us live from Johannesburg. And, David, so NEC, they made

their announcement. As expected, they want Jacob Zuma be recalled, or in their speak, to step down.

[08:15:00] But on what terms will Zuma agree and what happens next?

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, certainly the ball is then Jacob Zuma's court and NEC announcing that recall of Jacob Zuma, extremely

important political moment in South Africa in the ANC headquarters behind me.

Now what they said was that they had multiple attempts to persuade Jacob Zuma to go almost shuttle diplomacy ongoing between senior members of the

ANC and the embattled president.

He kept on saying at every turn it seems that he wanted three or six months, and then he could handle the part, then he could transition to a

new president.

But this was clearly a fugitive, damaging president for the ANC politically, they are departed to recall him and that means, according to

the ANC's own constitution, that he should step aside.

But again, whether he does or not, it is another matter, again, it could move on to parliament and an even more bitter fight. Kristie.

LU STOUT: So the ball in Jacob Zuma's court but reminds us, why is Zuma now being recalled by his own party? What are some of these allegations

against him?

MCKENZIE: Well, there are multiple allegations of corruption over the years, and also, multiple accounts of fraud and racketeering. That is sort

of being held back by the prosecuting authorities and that is sort of the tip of the ice berg.

There are almost seemingly endless scandals registered to Jacob Zuma when it comes to allegations of corruption and cronyism. He had denied these

over the years but again, the ANC has seen its popularities wave in South Africa.

The party of Nelson Mandela really being represented by a man that most people, you speak to at least, believe is a crook. Now they said that they

wouldn't necessarily given a timeline to resign but they expect it and answer tomorrow.

And while they did in that meeting sort of continue to praise the president of South Africa. They did say that they want Cyril Ramaphosa, the new

president of the ANC to give an all important state of the nation address in parliament.

So (Inaudible) for Jacob Zuma, and really, it's where that he will decide between himself or the party in the coming hours. Kristie.

LU STOUT: David McKenzie reporting live from Johannesburg on the political drama in South Africa. Thank you. A former top manager at Oxfam says that

she reported cases of sexual exploitation by aide workers but the British Charity Commission failed to respond.

Now this comes after Oxfam was accused of covering for staff and paid prostitutes in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake, some said to be underage.

The Haitian president has strongly condemned Oxfam. Criminal charges there are now being considered.

Now meanwhile, the deputy chief executive of the charity has resigned. CNN's Erin McLaughlin is following all of this Oxfam's headquarters in

Oxford.

And she joins us now. And, Erin, this abuse scandal continues to grow. What is the latest on all these cases and the investigation itself?

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kristie, we are now hearing from Helen Evans, she was the former head of Global Safeguarding for Oxfam

between the 2012 and 2015.

She is now a whistleblower, saying that she was brought in to Oxfam in the wake of that Haiti sex scandal. She was brought in to implement

Safeguarding measure to prevent sexual exploitation and sexual abuse by Oxfam employees.

And one of the first thing she did and this role she said was to implement reporting procedures and once those procedures were implemented or began to

be implemented, she said that it quickly became apparent that what happened in Haiti was not an isolated case.

In a statement that she tweeted, she provided figures of backing up that assertion. She said that between 2012 and 2013, some 12 allegations were

reported.

Between 2014 and -- sorry, 2013 and 2014, that number went from 12 to 39 allegations reported, so between 2012 and 2014, a total of 52 allegations.

Now of those 52 allegations, 20 allegations were either fully or partially substantiated.

She also went on to say that in February of 2015, three allegations were reported, sexual abuse or sexual exploitation in one day. She gave an

extensive interview to Britain's channel four television. Take a listen to what she had to say about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am thinking of the email that you wrote into alignment in February 2015 where you talked about three allegations in a

single day.

[08:20:00] Do you remember those allegations?

HELEN EVANS, FORMER HEAD OF GLOBAL SAFEGUARDING FOR OXFAM: Yes, very much so. That was one of woman being requested to have sex in around

humanitarian response by another aide worker.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This was the woman who was receiving Oxfam aide?

EVANS: Yes. And another where a woman had been coerce to have sex in exchange for aides. And another one where it come to attention that a

member start have been and struck off sex abuse and have this place out and then concerns about what he might do and that was the three allegations in

one day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCLAUGHLIN: She said she also raise concerns over instances or allegations of children as some as young as 14-years-old having been at abused inside

Oxfam charity shops -- Oxfam charity shops found on high streets throughout the U.K.

They allow children as young as 14 to volunteer. She said she raise concerns about bad as well as all of these allegations but she feels that

not enough was done by Oxfam, not only Oxfam but also the British government. Kristie.

LU STOUT: Well, the abuse allegations are shocking and this could just be the tip of the iceberg. Erin McLaughlin reporting live for us from Oxford.

Thank you for your reporting.

You are watching News Stream. And still to come on the program, we got an exclusive look inside Idlib Province where the situation is so dire, that

someone calling it serious latest version of hell.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Coming to you live from Hong Kong. Welcome back, this is News Stream. Now on serious civil war, rebel held Idlib Province has been on

the target of a renewed military offensive by the Assad regime.

CNN is the first international news network to go inside Idlib concerning warplanes bombarded the area last week, targeting markets, homes, even

hospitals. Arwa Damon has this exclusive report from inside a hospital in Idlib.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this tiny chest heaves with each breath. He was form during a week that even by Syria's ungodly standards

was especially punishing. His mother -- Hanan's (ph) body still trembles.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Speaking Foreign Language).

DAMON: And that's not because she was born prematurely. It's because the hospital he was at was bombed. The British (Inaudible) into the magnitude

of the horror, the fear.

[08:25:00] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking Foreign Language).

DAMON: There were around 300 people, staffs, patients in intensive crisis and the most precious invulnerable. This was one of the few remaining

functioning hospitals in the area but nothing in Syria is secret. This is where they have the incubators. Hanan (ph) remembers just grabbing his

fragile body, wrapping it in whatever she could find and running through the chaos.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Speaking Foreign Language).

DAMON: In despair of just five days. Six medical facilities in Idlib Province were targeted in air strikes. This is the lower level,

underground.

And this is where they used to do all of the main emergency surgery that is also where right now, their pulling whatever equipment salvage.

Staffs here want to remain anonymous. This small center in (Inaudible) has already been targeted twice this year. That's what Al-Warma (ph) says.

They announce online that they were closed and began operating in secret.

Days before we arrived as doctors were treating the wounded from an air strike in a market, the facility was hit again. The death from the market

were outside, now buried, not in graves but somewhere in the crater left behind.

This is a population field like it's on borrowed time. Saeed Haktab (ph) was on a makeshift underground bunker with neighbors when an alleged

chlorine strike to the place. He vomited, couldn't breath and though, that's it, my number is up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking Foreign Language).

DAMON: Luckily, many of the women and children here had fled to just days before. The (Inaudible) impacted in an empty field. There is still a

little bit of sort of an accurate flinch.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking Foreign Language).

DAMON: And yet, had been six days. Two members of the civil defense team who responded were also affected.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking Foreign Language).

DAMON: Ramhi, remembers shaking uncontrollably, feeling like he was screaming, take off the mask. But one could hear him. Mahmoud though

there was among those treated in the toxic attack, only to the killed within days in a strike, as he was loading grain nearby. He is almost

matter-of-fact and accepting Syria's ineffable fate for those who refuse to leave their land.

Warfare have long been a science of methodical cruelty, as the world looks on, and Syrian endorse one of the bloodiest weeks of this conflict.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Speaking Foreign Language).

DAMON: Hanan (ph) watches her baby fight in one of the last remaining facilities where he even stand a chance. So what kind of a world are these

baby fighting to live in.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Speaking Foreign Language).

DAMON: Arwa Damon, CNN, Idlib Province, Syria.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: The death of Filipino worker in Kuwait has prompted the government of Philippines to ban foreign domestic workers from going there.

It's meant to protect people from abuse but is this the right solution? We're going to explore that question ahead on News Stream.

[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.

The confidante of South Korea's former president Park Geun-hye has been sentenced to 20 years in jail. Choi Soon-sil is charged with abuse of

power, coercion, fraud, and bribery. The billionaire chairman of the Lotte Group, Shin Dong-bin, was also sentenced to jail after being found guilty

of bribery.

Japanese skater Kei Saito has been suspended from the Winter Olympics, the first athlete at the Pyeongchang Games to be disciplined for a doping

offense. His tests turned up signs of a masking agent. Saito says that he was surprised by the result and insisted he did not knowingly take drugs.

A short time ago, South Africa's ruling African National Congress announced it is recalling President Jacob Zuma. Mr. Zuma has faced multiple

allegations of corruption in his nine-year tenure. He can either resign or face the no-confidence vote in parliament.

As many as 10,000 Filipinos working in Kuwait are expected to take up an offer from the Philippine government for a free flight home. President

Rodrigo Duterte has banned deploying overseas foreign workers to Kuwait after the death of several women.

On Wednesday, the body of a 29-year-old domestic worker was found inside her employer's freezer. Her family lost contact with her in May of 2016.

Abuse of domestic workers is pervasive in east Asia but is a ban an effective solution?

Let's bring in Claire Hobden. She is a technical officer for vulnerable workers with the International Labor Organization. She joins us live from

Geneva. Claire, thank you so much for joining us here in the program. Do you believe that Mr. Duterte did the right thing to protect workers in the

Philippines? Is a ban the right solution?

CLAIRE HOBDEN, TECHNICAL OFFICER FOR VULNERABLE WORKERS, INTERNATIONAL LABOR ASSOCIATION: First of all, than you for having me. The Filipino

government is clearly using whatever tool it has in its possession to try to protect its national -- its foreign domestic workers abroad. He

(INAUDIBLE) that it's as a ban, simply means that it's going to remove Filipino domestic workers from exposure to the kinds of abuse that you can

see in private households.

But of course this won't prevent the Kuwaiti government from seeking domestic workers from other countries of origin. So, it's not a long-term

solution. It won't replace the measures that should be taken in the country of destination.

LU STOUT: Let's talk about the problem itself. I mean, yes, it was the grizzly discovery of a body in a freezer that prompted this ban, but this

is not the first time foreign domestic workers have died or have been abused in Kuwait. I mean, just how widespread is this problem of migrant

worker abuse there?

HOBDEN: Well, it's very difficult to quantify the extent of the problem. We know that there are around 600, 700,000 migrant domestic workers in

Kuwait. We also know that they were excluded from labor protections for a long time although that has now changed with some measures that were taken

in 2015.

And the idea that domestic workers work behind closed doors and they represent really sizable workforce in Kuwait, means that it is very

difficult for the government or anyone else to monitor the extent of the abuses that take place within these households. It is one of the main

challenges actually everywhere.

LU STOUT: Yes, absolutely. Just to clarify, it is not just workers from the Philippines who are vulnerable to this type of abuse.

HOBDEN: Oh, absolutely.

[08:35:00] The domestic workers from all over the world and many countries (INAUDIBLE) domestic workers to Kuwait specifically into the Gulf, more

generally Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh. There are more and more countries in fact that are being sourced for domestic services in countries

that have these really sizable and growing care needs.

LU STOUT: And abuse of domestic helpers from all over the world is tragically common in the Middle East and throughout, for example, in east

Asia. Why? Why is this happening?

HOBDEN: Well, we know that there are about 67 million domestic workers in the world and the vast majority of them remain excluded from labor

protections. And the reason why they are excluded from labor protections often comes down to the basic discriminatory social norms.

The fact that domestic work is still not really considered real work and that domestic workers are not really seen as real workers, combined with

the fact that it's a sector that is really predominantly females, so it really has to do also with the position of women in society.

It is largely migrant workforce which is the case in some countries that also links up to discriminatory perceptions of migrant workers. So there

are all sorts of (INAUDIBLE) that relate ultimately to social norms and behaviors (INAUDIBLE) level.

LU STOUT: So the root of the problem is this discriminatory attitude towards domestic workers. So is the solution here shoring up the dignity of

domestic workers and how do we go about (INAUDIBLE)?

HOBDEN: Well, absolutely. I think domestic workers around the world are going to work to earn an income like everybody else to support their

families. And they often do it knowing that they are going to face extreme strenuous conditions and often very abusive ones.

So, they are really coming face-to-face with abuses that they don't have all that much control over. And they need government to extend labor

protections and to implement, you know, different systems to ensure that the councils are able to comply with these labor laws.

So really it boils down to the household, how are households going to learn to respect domestic work, to see it as dignified work, then ultimately

these workers are providing really the most essential care services to our households.

They are cleaning, they are cooking, they are taking care of our children and our parents. So, it's really a question of raising the level of dignity

(INAUDIBLE).

LU STOUT: Yes. As you put it, it's all about respect for migrant workers, for domestic workers, to understand that they deserve basic human rights as

well as dignity. Claire Hobden of ILA, thank you so much for joining us in the program. Take care.

You're watching "News Stream." Still to come right here on the program, Barack and Michelle Obama is the first couple in Washington for eight

years, now their memory will live on in the U.S. National Portrait Gallery.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: All right, coming to you live from Hong Kong, welcome back, you're watching "News Stream." Now, the Obamas are back in the spotlight.

Former U.S. President Barack Obama

[08:40:00] and his wife, Michelle, they unveiled their official portraits for the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery in Washington. They each

selected their own artist. Both are African-Americans known for their unique styles. The former president chose Kehinde Wiley and Michelle Obama

picked Amy Sherald.

(START VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Let's face it, Kehinde, relative to Amy, was working at a disadvantage because his subject

was less becoming.

(LAUGHTER)

OBAMA: Not as fly. Michelle always used to joke. I am not somebody who is a great subject. I don't like posing, I get impatient, I look at my watch,

I think this must be done. One of those pictures must have worked, why is this taking so long?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: While he is famous for painting his subjects in the style of old masters, among his portraits, musician Michael Jackson.

Britain's Prince Harry and his bride-to-be Meghan Markle are in Scotland visiting Edinburgh Castle. Since announcing their engagement, Miss Markle

has had the Midas touch when it comes to retailers.

Everything apparently she wears sells in hours, become known as the Markle sparkle. We will look into that in just a moment. CNN's Anna Stewart joins

us now live from Edinburgh (ph). And Anna, we had another opportunity to admire the royal couple. Describe the scene for us.

ANNA STEWART, CNN PRODUCER: It was fantastic. This is actually their fourth official visit. He has taken her to Nottingham, Brixton, Wales.

Meghan Markle is getting a crash course on the U.K. ahead of the royal wedding. We announced -- 94 days, Kristie, so everyone is extremely excited

here.

Now, they were welcomed today by a military band and a local celebrity. Let me introduce him. Maybe you can see pictures right now of the Shetland

pony, Corporal Cruachan IV, the mascot for the royal (INAUDIBLE) of Scotland. It was a fantastic sight and strange moment of all this.

They also met tons of well-wishers on the way in and Meghan Markle was talking to everybody as she went in. Kristie?

LU STOUT: Absolutely adorable. Was it just mirrors the pattern on Meghan Markle's coat, kind of, you know, in alignment with the Shetland pony? I

don't know if that's part of the Markle sparkle as you put it. Tell us more about that. You know, what she wears, it grabs people's attention. It goes

viral. Is it big boost for brands?

STEWART: It's massive. The Markel sparkle power is real, Kristie. And you're right, she was wearing a tartan coat, very (INAUDIBLE) to Scotland.

She probably didn't realize she would be matching a pony quite as much as she did, but I can tell you the coat was from Burberry. She was wearing a

handbag by a Scottish brand called Strathberry. She has one of the four. When she last wore them, they sold out within hours.

And this is the Markle sparkle effect (INAUDIBLE) jean and again (INAUDIBLE) sales (INAUDIBLE) sooner than planned simply because she wore

that jeans. Kristie?

LU STOUT: The Markle sparle in effect. Anna Stewart covering it all, thank you so much. Anna, take care.

And that is "News Stream." I'm Kristie Lu Stout. don't go anywhere. "World Sports" with Amanda Davies is next.

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