Return to Transcripts main page

NEWS STREAM

France's President Emmanuel Macron's U.S. State Visit; Iran's Foreign Minister Javad Zafir in New York; Preparation for North Korea's Kim Jung-un and South Korea's Moon Jae-in Meeting on Friday; Armenia's Prime Minister Resigned; Suspect in Toronto Tragedy will Appear in Court Today; Mass Killing Suspect in Tennessee to Appear in Court on Wednesday; U.K. Awaits for the Name of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge Third Child; World Headlines; Ride-Hailing Battle; Former U.S. President George H.W. Bush In Intensive Care; Melania's Gracious Grin. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired April 24, 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.

Pulling out the red carpet, the French president is getting top treatment on the state visit to the U.S., but the leaders have top issues, Iran,

Syria, and Russia, to tackle. The revolution is not over. The Armenian opposition wants to continue pushing for change even after the resignation

of the prime minister. And form China to Mexico, the ride-hailing service, Didi Chuxing, opens a new market and enters into Uber territory.

In just one hour from now, an official welcome ceremony will begin in Washington as French president, Emmanuel Macron, gets down to business with

Donald Trump. On Monday, it was all smiles as the pair took part of photo opportunities shortly after Mr. Macron's arrival. But today, we'll see the

leaders tackle some key issues, issues that they don't usually agree on, including Syria, Russia, and critically the future of the Iran nuclear

deal.

For more, Melissa Bell is in Paris with a French perspective on the visit, while Amir Daftari has more from Tehran. Melissa, we'll go to you first.

Now, there will be a state dinner, but President Macron, he has a pretty heavy hitting agenda with the U.S. president, inarguably at the top, Iran

nuclear deal and whether or not Macron can save it.

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Kristie. And Paris has made it clear that that is their priority. And one is trying to lower

expectation saying, "Look. The success of this visit should be judged on Macron's ability to convince Trump to stay inside the deal." And yet,

Paris has made it clear that this is their number one priority as he heads out to Washington into this very crucial day, as you say, where in the

sense it is crunch time and real business will be tossed.

There will also be that joint press conference where everything will be carefully watched. Each one of their words picked over to see what progress

has been made in particular on that crucial Iran deal. The key date, of course, is May 12th that's coming along very quickly. That is the date when

Donald Trump decides to choose to waive once again sanctions against Tehran, Kristie, or indeed to re-impose them there for placing itself

outside of the deal.

And the big question is whether Emanuel Macron can go sufficiently far to giving Donald Trump extra commitment about what France, Germany, and United

Kingdom all willing to do, whether they're willing to commit to a new set of deal within a deal to say how they will help him commit to the idea of

preventing Tehran getting nuclear weapons even before there's sort of sunset clauses of the current deal, which runs out in 2025. That's what

Washington is looking for. The question is how far Paris is willing to go without alienating all of those other parties to the Iran deal will be

crucial, Kristie.

LU STOUT: And Macron's ultimate goal here, whether or not he is able to sway Donald Trump on the issue of the Iran nuclear deal or climate change,

et cetera, that remains to be seen. But being there in D.C, part of the state visit, he will continue to build up his rapport with President Donald

Trump. What is building that relationship means for France, for French interest and influence.

BELL: Well, this relationship that he has cultivated so carefully really is about making France the leader of Europe and one of the big voices on

the world stage. It has proven remarkably successful so far, but it is a delicate balance for him to reach. I mean there is this genuine affection

clearly between the two men. But think back to that handshake that was supportive (ph). Emmanuel Macron hasn't hesitated in the sense to square up

to Donald Trump all the time.

Last time, it was a handshake. This time, yesterday, it was a kiss. You know, here in France, men will kiss one another. Emmanuel Macron gave

Donald Trump a kiss yesterday at the White House, which looked as it was fairly unexpected from the point of view of Donald Trump. You know, he sort

of squared up to him with a handshake initially. Now, he is giving him the love.

But all the while, Kristie, bringing that sort of edge to it, you know, it was so interesting to watch him walk out of that plane yesterday as he

landed for the first time in Washington at Andrews Air Force Base, saying in French something that he hadn't said in the English version of the

speech, which was, "We, the United States and France, are the guarantors of multilateralism." He is really hoping to take on this champion of

unilateralism with Donald Trump and get him to budge on some of those key issues, thus proving that his strategy of reaching out to Donald Trump was

the right one.

[08:04:57] LU STOUT: Melissa Bell in Paris. We'll move from you to Amir Daftari, who is standing by in Tehran. And Amir, as Melissa was reporting,

Emanuel Macron is there in D.C. lobbying hard to get Trump to stick with the Iran nuclear deal. We know that Iran has been doing that as well, of

course. Iran's foreign minister has been in New York. What is he saying? What has he been able to achieve?

AMIR DAFTARI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Kristie. I do say Foreign Minister Javad Zarif in the U.S. this week, trying to go on our support

talking to a U.S. network, you know, talking about the importance of the nuclear deal for the international community and how beneficial it is.

Now, for Javad Zarif, it's all or nothing with the nuclear deal. There's no space for tweaking or renegotiating. This deal took years to put together

just so that it wouldn't happen, so that the countries involved wouldn't then come back and say, "Let's tweak this or let's change that." Now, in

about an hour from now, Javad Zarif is speaking at the United Nations in New York City. So, we should learn a lot more then. Kristie?

LU STOUR: And Amir, in the event that the United States walks away from the deal, what would Iran do next?

DAFTARI: Well, just a few hours ago, President Hassan Rouhani talked about severe consequences, speaking in front of a large crowd in the Northern

City of Tabriz. The president also added that if the White House does not stick to its commitment that Iran will react firmly.

Now, the president didn't go into details on what that reaction will be, what those severe consequences will be. However, other top ranking

officials have been hinting maybe speeding up and restarting nuclear activity as they did before the nuclear deal in 2015. One thing is for sure

though, Iran is keeping a close eye on the White House today and for the next few weeks in the run up to that May 12th deadline.

LU STOUT: So, I mean, just highlighting the stakes here, could we see a scenario where Iran would walk away from the nuclear deal as well and just

set up a path of potential confrontation between Iran and the U.S. and Europe as well?

DAFTARI: Well, that's what they've been saying. They've been saying we are not going to renegotiate. We're going to walk away. There are going to be

severe consequences. In fact, the one other top ranking official talked about Iran withdrawing from another international deal and that's the NPT,

the Non-Nuclear Proliferation Treaty, which states that countries involved will not go after nuclear weapons. Iran has never said it has wanted a

nuclear weapon. But with that comment, things are off in the air now.

LU STOUT: Amir Daftari reporting live from Tehran, Melissa Bell reporting live from Paris a big thank you to you both.

Now, White House correspondent, Abby Phillip, joins me now live from Washington. Abby, we know that German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, will also

be in Washington later this week to lobby for the Iran deal. But in the mind of Donald Trump, does he regard Macron as the de facto leader of the

E.U. rather than Merkel?

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kristie. That's a very good question. At the very least, we know that the president

believes that Macron is one of the few European leaders that he actually has a good genuinely warm relationship with. I think he genuinely regards

Macron as a friend and that's in stark (ph) contrast to how he deals with Angela Merkel, which is definitely a colder relationship there.

But that being said, I think the president is aware that Macron is coming here bearing a clear message that Europe -- European leaders by and large

want the United States to stay in the Iran deal. The question is will that matter. I think Macron believes that this personal relationship is

something that will pay dividend on some of these key issues.

But President Trump has been quite stubborn on Iran. It's one of the very few things that he has not really waivered on. He has pushed back on its

own advisors who have cautioned him to move slower on pulling out of the Iran deal, who had tried to find tweaks to it that he could accept. Those

people are gone, including the former secretary of state, Rex Tillerson.

And so, Macron could be on a bit of a fool's errand here, but it's something that at the very least he might be the only person among the

European leaders who has the stature and the standing with this American president to actually have this kind of conversation with him, and at the

very least, grab his ear on the subject.

LU STOUT: Yeah. Grab his ear but may not necessarily sway him. As you say, this is a stubborn U.S. president. Let's talk details about what's going to

happen later. This is a state dinner. President Trump, his wife, Melania, hosting Emmanuel Macron and his wife at their very first state dinner

guests. What's on the menu and who else did the White House invite?

PHILLIP: Well, this is going to be a big moment for the East Wing staff. First lady, Melania Trump, has really taken on this project. She spent a

lot of time on it, personally hand picking these details here. But the president and the first lady are handling this state dinner a little bit

differently from past presidents.

[08:10:08] Usually you would see a bipartisan list of lawmakers on the left and on the right coming here to the White House for this dinner. It's an

opportunity to showcase the United States' leadership. Presidents Obama, Bush, Clinton, all would have hosted members of Republican and Democratic

leadership, but President Trump is not. There are no Democratic lawmakers going -- that are going to be in attendance. Typically, there are -- you

might find a handful of journalist coming to this dinner. That's also not going to happen under President Trump.

And remember, this is a president who has had a quite difficult relationship with the press. So, this White House is not really changing

their core positioning on some of these key issues. He's been tough on Democrats, tough on journalist, and he's keeping the state dinner on almost

solely Republican only affair.

But that being said, it will be here. I mean, this president is trying to put his best foot forward. He hoped to have the press conference with

Macron, which was scheduled to be later this morning in the Rose Garden, one of the most beautiful places on this White House grounds, but we're

expecting some rain here today, Kristie. And so, they've moved it inside to the East Room, which is no less of a beautiful room but a little bit

different here.

LU STOUT: Absolutely. The state dinner will be different for a variety of reasons as you put it. Abby Phillip reporting live from the White House,

thank you so much and take care.

The White House says that Donald Trump is approaching is a possible summit with North Korea with eyes wide open still. The U.S. defense secretary,

James Mattis, is welcoming Pyongyang's surprise announcement to freeze nuclear weapons testing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES MATTIS, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: Right now, I think there's a lot of reasons for optimism that the negotiations will be fruitful and we'll see.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Wow. Mattis was saying there was a reason for optimism. But first, the two Koreas are still busy preparing for that landmark summit

that is fast approaching. Paula Hancocks takes a look at the details being ironed out.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kristie, that is only just a few days now, until Friday, until that historic summit between North and South

Korea, the first in more than a decade. We've heard from President Moon Jae-in of South Korea that he sees it as a dive post, a stepping stone to

the next meeting between U.S. president, Donald Trump, and Kim Jung-un.

We have been hearing from the White House about that saying they're not naive in this process. They're not going to make the same mistakes that

previous administrations have made, something we have heard before and also saying they want to make sure they have concessions from Pyongyang before

they start lifting sanctions. They want to see evidence of dismantling of nuclear and missile programs.

But focusing on Friday first, this summit between Moon Jae-in and Kim Jung- un, it will be the first time these two leaders meet. And there are rehearsals over the next couple of days with both North and South Korean

officials. They want to make sure that this is picture perfect, that there are no mistakes, because this is going to be broadcast live around the

world.

Now, we understand that South Korean media, some of them will be allowed to cross the border into North Korea or the North Korean part of the DMZ,

which is highly unusual, just so that they can capture that image of the North Korean leader, Kim Jung-un, coming down and actually crossing the

border into South Korea, the first time ever that a North Korean leader is going to do that. There will be a welcoming ceremony as well.

The meeting itself clearly won't be broadcast live, but then also a banquet, in which we've been given a menu. And it's interesting to see the

food on the menu. Much of it is sourced from -- there are some from the hometown of President Moon Jae-in of South Korea but also food sourced from

the hometowns of the two previous South Korean presidents who held two previous summits in Pyongyang with Kim Jung-il, the late father of the

current leader, Kim Jung-un.

There will also be cold buckwheat noodles, which will be served from North Korea. They'll also bring the head chef down from North Korea, along with

the machine that makes these noodles. So, clearly, a lot of thought and efforts has gone into this menu to try and make it equal among North and

South Korea and also with a nod to the previous summit and history. Kristie?

LU STOUT: Paula Hancocks there. Now, Kim Jung-un is expressing his sympathy following a deadly bus crash in North Korea that killed 32 Chinese

tourists. State media report that he visited the Chinese embassy in Pyongyang and also the survivors of the crash to express his bitter sorrow.

Four North Koreans were also killed in the accident.

Armenia's prime minister has resigned, accused of a power grab that sparked 10 days of massive nationwide protest. His decision to step down came as a

surprise and what does seem to be a celebration at the capital and other cities. Paula Newton has more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[08:14:58] PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The celebrations were matched by a palpable sense of relief on the streets of Yerevan, Armenia's capital,

as a political crisis came to a swift and surprising end. In a blunt speech, the country's prime minister abruptly resigned saying, "The street

movement is against my tenure. I am fulfilling your demand."

(Inaudible) Serzh Sargsyan ended days of street protest, turmoil, and his 10-year (ph) legacy as Armenian leader. Tens of thousands have protested

what they saw as a power grab. Term limits meant Sargsyan could no longer be president. Instead, in 2015 as his term was ending, he transferred real

power to the Office of the Prime Minister. Parliament controlled by his party then elected him prime minister earlier this month.

Sparking days of contentious protest that escalated as opposition party members were detained. The symbolic leader of the protest, Nikol Pashinyan,

was promptly released and thanked those who he said made a difference on the streets. But he also appeals for calm and now some contemplation as

Armenia begins to try and work out a political compromise and has, so far, been elusive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: And Paula Newton joins me now live from London. Paula, since news of his resignation broke this time yesterday, there have been seems

(ph) celebration across Armenia. But is the exit of Serzh Sargsyan enough to pacify the protesters.

NEWTON: You know, it likely may well be. He did it so quickly and so really definitively that right now it does seem as if perhaps even the

person who had been the prime minister before will now go into that role and there will be some political compromise at the end of the day. The

crowd protest did it. You know, Sargsyan had come in really as prime minister that's so called power grab because his own party was in control

of parliament, but he was not elected.

And as you can see from all those protests, they decided, "Look, we're not going to the ballot box, but we will go to the streets and we will get what

they want." I think Sargsyan knowing that perhaps there was a slight indication of the military may also turn against them and that they did not

want any bloodshed on the streets decided it was best, especially that his party is in control in parliament for him to step aside.

But a lot had to do with the opposition of three members were arrested, very charismatic, Nikol Pashinyan, who was the opposition leader who came

out and thank the crowd afterwards. He has a lot of charisma. People do see him as an honest broker and actually wanting a compromise. So, a lot of

work ahead in Armenia but some calmer days to come hopefully as they try and figure out how to put the political pieces back together.

LU STOUT: And in the end, I mean, as you said this was a bloodless revolution. People power had pushed out this power hungry leader in

Armenia. Vladimir Putin, do you think he is watching this very closely? What could this mean for him?

NEWTON: He is watching it very closely, but it means absolutely nothing for him. And that is the shrewd calculating way in which Russia will watch

this. They did not get involved in this. They said it was an issue for Armenia. And one reason why they know that any leader that comes to Armenia

and that includes the opposition leader, Nikol Pashinyan, knows that at the long -- land lock country that it does need Russia on its side, especially

politically and militarily.

That equation, that calculus, is not likely to change in Armenia any time soon. So, on the one hand, it's said that Russia could stay on the

sidelines of this event. And on the other -- Vladimir Putin is incredibly popular within Russia. He is looking at those numbers and I don't think

he's looking at this in any way shape or form as to how the end of his own legacy would go.

I think that you can look to Armenia as what is a small and somewhat say insignificant country. And yet, when you look at geopolitics, whether it's

NATO or the Russian military or economies (ph), it does tend to show exactly how those geopolitics shape a nation. And I know if you talk to

many Armenians. They wanted this kind of peaceful -- this peaceful end to the political crisis and what they really want is some economic growth.

They had a good year last year and they definitely want that to continue.

LU STOUT: Paula Newton reporting live for us from London, thank you. You're watching "News Stream." And still ahead of the program, a waiting

game as the clock ticks down to the first court appearance of this suspect in Toronto's deadly van attack. We'll have a live report. And in Tennessee,

the manhunt is on -- is over, rather, for suspected mass killer. Police have found the man they say killed four people at a restaurant. He is due

in court tomorrow. We get the details coming up.

[08:20:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Coming to you live from Hong Kong. Welcome back. This is "News Stream." Now, in less than two hours, the man accused of driving a van

into pedestrians in one of Canada's biggest cities will appear in a Toronto court room. Ten people were killed and 15 wounded in Monday's attack.

Police say it appears to have been a deliberate act.

Canadian investigators say they are piecing together information about the suspect, Alek Minassian. The big question now is all about motive. CNN's

Alex Marquardt is standing by for us in Toronto. He joins us now. Alex, tells us more about the suspect. We know that he is due in court today, but

what do we know about him and why he did what he did?

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kristie. We're also standing by from comments from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, but we are expecting to

get more answers about the alleged attack or when he appears in court in just an hour and a half's time. That's when he'll be arraigned and that's

when we'll learn more about the charges.

But for now, motive is the big question, what led him to carry out this horrific attack. The police say that it definitely appears to have been

deliberate, but they are very quick to say that this was not driven by terror. They said this was not a national security threat, that they didn't

think that there are any other attacks out there. And as result, they have not raised the terror threat level. So, they are still very much looking to

motive, and of course, the charges that we get in around an hour and a half will indicate what they think the motivation actually was.

Now, one thing they are also looking into is what the alleged attacker, his name is Alek Minassian, as you mentioned. He is a 25-year-old male from

nearby Richmond Hill, which is a suburb of Toronto. They're looking into what he wrote allegedly on his Facebook page shortly before the attack.

He wrote about a man named Elliot Rodger. And he wrote, "All hail the supreme gentleman, Elliot Rodger." Now, Elliot Rodger is a name known to

many Americans because in 2014 he carried out an attack near UC Santa Barbara in California. It was a ramming attack, just like this one, as well

as the shooting, in which six people were killed. So, Minassian may have drawn inspiration from Roger. But for now, the question about what drove

him to do this, about his motive, remains very much unanswered. Kristie?

LU STOUT: Yes. As investigators stake out the scene and stake out his social media accounts just to get some answers here. And what was the just

reaction there in Toronto, you know, the largest city in Canada, the latest city in the long list of places around the world where a van or a car has

been used to mow down pedestrians. How are people there reacting to this vehicular attack happening in their own hometown?

MARQUARDT: Yes. You're absolutely right. I mean this has something that very sadly (ph) we've gotten used to hearing about in Europe, all across

Europe, Berlin, Barcelona, London, Nice, you name it. These European -- major European cities have seen these types of attacks time and time again

that are chocked up to terror because they are driven official say by political and religious reasons. And that's why they're not calling this

one here on Toronto terror even though it's -- this alleged attacker used exactly the same methods.

[08:25:01] Now, Toronto, as you know, Canada as you know, is a relatively peaceful place. There had been a handful of attacks over the past few

years, including one ramming attack, but people here are absolutely stunned to see this kind of thing, not just take place but to have an incredibly

high death tool, 10 people, 15 still wounded in the hospital, some in critical and severe condition.

This is Yonge Street right here, Kristie, where this attack took place. It's one of the busiest streets in the country. And this attack happened in

broad daylight at 1:30 in the afternoon on a beautiful day when people were out and about going to and from lunch through in from their businesses. It

took 26 minutes from start to fish from when the alleged attacker hopped off the curb in that white rider van and then plowed down the sidewalk

around 40 or 50 miles an hour according to witnesses who described it as a nightmarish scene as pandemonium.

So, this is a city. This is a country that is still absolutely reeling from this. And despite the fact that they are not officially calling it terror,

of course, it is eerily and darkly sinisterly similar to all those horrific terror attacks, ramming attacks we've seen not just in Europe but also in

New York last fall on Halloween day, Kristie.

LU STOUT: Yes. Absolutely. This is an act that's been described as pure carnage. We are awaiting fresh (ph) comment from Justin Trudeau, the prime

minister of Canada. Alex Marquardt on the scene for us live from Toronto, we thank you for being there. We thank you for your reporting.

Now, we are following developments in another mass killing. This one, in the U.S. state of Tennessee, the suspect there will be facing a court

appearance in the case on Wednesday. A massive manhunt and a tip from a citizen led to the arrest of 29-year-old Travis Reinking. Police say that

he opened fire at a restaurant near Nashville, killing four people and then fleeing the scene naked. He was known to law enforcement, had guns taken

away from him in the past. He is now in jail on a $2 million bond.

Now, over in the U.K., a guessing game under way over what the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will call their third child. Now, the proud parents,

they're back home with their other two children, George and Charlotte, and there will be salutes in parts of London in the next hour.

Now, let's bring in Max Foster, who is outside Kensington Palace in London. And Max, the name, what name will Kate and William choose for baby number

three?

MAX FOSTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We don't know. It's a closely guarded secret, only the family in the palace behind me know the answer to that.

They may not even have decided yet. They took a while to decide on Charlotte. If they get on that timetable, the Charlotte, we'll only find

out until tomorrow. We're also expecting some visitors today, so the Middletons perhaps, the queen perhaps. We have heard from Prince Charles,

William's father, "It's a great joy to have another grandchild. The only trouble is I don't know how I'm going to keep up with them all."

In terms of the names, we're just really going on the betting because these are all speculations at the end of the day. But these are the top names,

Arthur, James, Albert, Philip, Fred, and a very distant 250 to 1 odds with (inaudible). You can actually even bet on Prince Donald. And I'm told there

are some bets have been placed on that. So, we will see going for the outside of that.

LU STOUT: Highly unlikely, but interesting to see that in the mix. Now, Max, I want to bring up a tweet by someone who is from watching our royal

baby coverage. The celebrated author, J.K. Rowling, she said this. We'll bring up the tweet, quote, "Listening to CNN talking about #royalbaby3, and

the reporter said, "Prince Harry's route to the throne just became more difficult," as though it's an open secret. He is planning to systematically

slaughter his closest relatives." Wow -- unquote there. The wow is mine.

Max, J.K. Rowling seeming that there's some shade at you on Twitter, what is your reaction to that?

FOSTER: I know. My reaction is that if I'm going to have my comments misinterpreted and mis-repeated, then I'm fine that it will be J.K.

Rowling. But I didn't exactly say that. And actually, I'm going to get the transcripts for what exactly what I did say, but I certainly didn't say

that. The truth to say that Charlotte, you know, will keep her place in the line of succession. Harry goes down a peg. Harry doesn't really have a view

on it. I certainly don't have a view on it. So, anyway, good that she is watching, I guess.

LU STOUT: Here we go. And that's your proper response right there. And you mentioned Charlotte because she also made history with the birth of her

little brother, right?

FOSTER: Absolutely. So, the law was changed a couple of years ago, which means that after a thousand years, you know, change in the royal family is

pretty slow, Kristie. But after a thousand years, finally, the sex has been taken out of the line of succession. So, if this had happened just five

years ago, this baby would have leapfrogged Charlotte in the line of succession. But as the law stands now, she keeps her place to number four.

This baby is number five. And Harry certainly is at number six now.

[08:30:00] And so she has her claim to the throne and had a little brother. All right, Max Foster reporting live, thank you so much, take

care.

You're watching "News Stream." Still ahead, Didi Chuxing ventures into unfamiliar territory. The Chinese ride-hailing company is trying to

challenge Uber in the critical market. Keep it here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. You're watching "News Stream" and these are your wold headlines.

In the next hour, an official welcome ceremony is due to begin in Washington for French President Emmanuel Macron's state visit. After that,

matters will shift to policy talks between the French and U.S. leaders. Mr. Macron is expected to press Donald Trump on several key issues including

remaining in the Iran nuclear deal.

The U.N. secretary --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONIO GUTERRES, U.N. SECRETARY GENERAL: (INAUDIBLE). I'm not yet sure that peace --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: He is condemning the airstrikes in Yemen that had hit a wedding party on Sunday. Dozens of people were killed, including children.

The secretary general is calling for a prompt, effective, and transparent investigation.

Celebrations have erupted across Armenia. The prime minister announced his resignation on Monday. Serzh Sargsyan was appointed prime minister earlier

this month after serving two terms as president. Protesters accused the leader of a power grab which sparked 10 days of nationwide demonstrations.

Now the ride-hailing company Uber is facing a new threat in one of its largest markets. China's Didi Chuxing has now launched in Mexico. It is the

first time the company is extending or expanding rather outside of China. And even though Didi is starting out in just one Mexican city, it has big

ambitions.

And joining me now with more on Didi Chuxing and its launch in the Mexican market is CNN Money's Sherisse Pham. Sherisse, good to see you.

SHERISSE PHAM, CNN TECH AND BUSINESS REPORTER: Thank you.

LU STOUT: A few years ago, Didi quite famously was able to drive Uber out of its home market in China. Can it repeat that scenario again in Mexico?

PHAM: It certainly going to try but one of the odd things about this launch in Mexico City is that they have chosen a very small town, Toluca,

which is about 60 kilometers outside of Mexico City to launch its first operation outside of China.

Now Didi has lot of of partnerships with ride-hailing companies around the world but Mexico is the first place outside of China that it is launching

its own app base service under its own brand. It has been recruiting drivers there since the beginning of the month and they are launching its

first sort of Spanish-language app on top of Didi app in Mexico as well.

[08:35:00] But it will be going up against a massive juggernaut out there. We can't talk abut Didi without talking about Uber. And Uber has a dominant

share of the market. They have 87 percent of the market share.

LU STOUT: Yes, it's massive in Mexico. But Didi has the cash. It also has the global ambition. As of now, where in the world can you hail a Didi car

service?

PHAM: You can hail them in a lot of places as Didi very proudly likes to point out. Take a loot at the map here. What's interesting is we're going

to -- you can see the color coding here. Red are the two countries where Didi operates its own app. So that is only in China and right now in

Mexico.

Orange are the countries where Didi has a partnership with a ride-hailing - - a local ride-hailing company. So right now you can grab Didi in Canada and United States through Lyft. It also got a partnership with Ola that

allows to top rate in India, in Careem in the Middle East, in Taxify in Europe and Northern Africa and 99 is a partnership that they had in Brazil.

They also recently acquired 99 so, you know, maybe that should be an orange-reddish tinge in Brazil.

LU STOUT: Got it.

PHAM: But the other thing is, like, let's take a look now also where Uber operates. Let's pull up that map here. And what we see is that, you know,

it's a very similar layout but the massive difference you see is in Latin America, also in China. China is a dead zone for Uber because, as you say,

Didi drove them out of that market.

And when Uber was driven out of China, what they did is they took their resources, they took their staff, and they took their money and they

refocused to Latin America. That's why you see a much larger share.

LU STOUT: Sherisse Pham mapping it out for us, thank you.

PHAM: Thank you.

LU STOUT: Former U.S. President George H.W. Bush is in intensive care at a hospital in Houston, just one day after the funeral for his wife, Barbara.

A spokesman says the 93-year-old contracted an infection that spread to his blood though he is responding to treatment and appears to be recovering.

CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, says there is data that shows people can become more susceptible to infections after a big

personal loss.

Joining me now is Ed Lavandera. He joins me live from Houston, Texas. And Ed, I mean, it's just so touching and tragic at the same time. Less than a

week after his wife passed away, George H.W. Bush is now in intensive care there. How is he doing?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It was even more heartbreaking, Kristie, when you consider that he was admitted into this hospital here in

Houston on Sunday morning, just hours after returning home from College Station, Texas where his presidential library is and that is where the

burial services were held on Saturday afternoon for his wife of 73 years.

So it was after returning back home here to the Houston area that the former president was admitted here into this hospital and treated for that

blood infection.

We are told by a source close to the president that there were a couple of occasions on Sunday as he was being treated for this infection where there

was a great deal of concern as to whether or not the president was going to be able to come through that treatment, that if it becomes so severe that

is was going to take his life.

So there is a great deal of concern about his condition and how he will be able to pull through this even though the spokesman for the president

saying yesterday that after for almost 48 hours that he was responding better to the treatment and appears to be headed for recovery.

But this is a situation that is of great concern considering he has already had a history of ailments that have brought him in and out of the hospital

several times over the last few years, but even more so because of the emotional impact of what he had been through the week before, losing his

wife of 73 years.

In a statement just after her death, the former president said that he was overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and support from people across the

country here in the United States and from around the world as well. He ended that statement by saying that they were at peace and comfortable and

that the world -- the people should cross the Bush family off of their worry list.

So, that's kind of a reminder of what the president has been through here in the course of the last week. Kristie?

LU STOUT: Yes. May he continue to respond to treatment. Ed Lavander reporting for us live from Houston Texas, thank you. You're watching "News

Stream." We'll be back right after this.

[08:40:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: All right, coming to you live from Hong Kong, welcome back. This is "News Stream." Now social media is all at Twitter over a snap chat

showing Melania Trump, but she is actually smiling. Her gracious grin is getting attention for both its supposed rarity as well as its setting.

Here's Jeanne Moos.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It was one of those insignificant but irresistible moments. President Obama seated next to the

current first lady at Barbara Bush's funeral. Obama made Melania Trump smile.

And Twitter erupted it's a shame that the happiest anyone has ever seen Melania is at a funeral, even share unloaded first real smile on Melania's

face in a year and a half. Trump's supporters beg to differ. Melania smiles all the time. Do you live in a cage? Nevertheless, hash tag make Melania

smile again popped up.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She has this really genuine smile on her face. What I saw on Twitter is something like, when you go Barack you. And I just --

(LAUGHTER)

MOOS (voice over): You never go back.

(on camera): But you know, a picture isn't always worth thousands of words on Twitter.

(voice over): Video shows the smile is over a near second, seemingly just a normal reaction to some pleasantry. Someone tweeted this pop quiz, of

these two photos of Melania Trump, which one was taken at a funeral? Turns out the unhappy-looking one, the one where Melania was with her husband,

was taken during a prayer.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our refuge and strength.

MOOS (voice over): Not exactly a smiley time. Remind us back when this photo of then Secretary of State Condi Rice landed on front pages showing

how diplomatically isolated and under pressure she was.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's see how it went.

(LAUGHTER)

MOOS (voice over): Except when you see the video of that moment. Condi was actually just brushing a piece of hair off her forehead. Back then we said

--

(on camera): For more of the story, if you're secretary of state don't scratch, don't primp, and don't you dare on your fingers or your hair.

(voice over): Now you can add, don't smile to that list.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(LAUGHTER)

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:45:00] (WORLD SPORT)

END