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World Headlines; Syria Fighting; French Convict Escapes Prison; Going Green. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired July 2, 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)

ANNA COREN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Anna Coren in Hongkong. Welcome to "News Stream." Clear victory, a new president for Mexico at a time of

violence and corruption. Ahead, his plans for dealing with the U.S.

Expanding its ballistic missile program, new satellite images show North Korea continuing work on weapons facilities.

And the search continues for 12 boys and their football coach stuck in a Thai cave system for more than a week.

He is a leftist populist who has been compared to Donald Trump because of his fiery rhetoric and attacks on the status quo. Well, now Mexicans are

waking up to Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador as their president-elect. It appears the third time is the charm. He's been running for the office for

over a decade. Well, many are calling his win a revolution.

But can he really tackle deep-rooted corruption and poverty as he has pledged? Well, CNN's Patrick Oppmann is in Mexico City for a look at what's

ahead. Patrick, Lopez Obrador won by a landslide, capturing more than half the vote. How significant is this victory?

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well you know, the Mexicans, at least those who slept last night are waking up to a vastly different political

landscape, Anna. And even though the polls favored Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador for weeks, people were so shocked. They were shocked by the size of

his victory. Many people here expected that there could be some sort of vote rigging at the last minute, which there are accusations of that having

taken place in past elections.

And so one that the candidates -- the other candidates came out and dropped out so quickly and were very conciliatory and wished Lopez Obrador luck and

the fact that he just destroyed the ruling party here, the PRI, that has overseen this country for most of the last five decades. You know, he's

going to be the first leftist leader of Mexico in modern times. So, it really is something shocking. He has promised a revolution. And now comes

the tough part, actually delivering on those promises.

COREN: You know, let's talk about that because the 64-year-old, he certainly has tapped into the populist anger there in Mexico. How will he

govern?

OPPMANN: You know, he really tapped in to this growing anger over corruption, over the rising crime. It has become so much more dangerous

here under the last presidential mandate of violence taking place. Over 100 candidates alone during this election were killed. That just goes to show

that it's not just the populist that's being attacked.

So, Manuel Lopez Obrador has said that he can tackle this. That he will be frugal. That he will get rid of the presidential plain. That he will not

live in a residential palace and he will set an example.

But so far he has really not provided many specifics. Corruption here is so epidemic. But he said last night when he accepted the presidency that he

would be tougher on his family and the people who rose up with him, that he would set an example, that unlike previous administrations, the people who

around him would not benefit, and that is certainly a change for Mexico.

COREN: We know that Donald Trump congratulated Mexico's president-elect last night, but considering the challenges facing the United States-Mexico

relationship, what sort of relationship is he and Donald Trump expected to have?

OPPMANN: Just because the fact that these countries are neighbors, Mexicans are conscious of the fact that they need to have good relations

with the U.S. They are renegotiating the NAFTA Trade Deal right now. It is just a matter of fact that they need to -- somehow just need to grit their

teeth and get along with U.S. But Lopez Obrador is saying he is going to be different than the previous administrations.

He's not going to put up with what he called Trump's bullying. He said that Mexico will not be a pinata for President Trump. But he did say last night

that he hopes to have a good relationship and then there is something that President Trump said that on twitter last night when he congratulated

Manuel Lopez Obrador and said that he hoped to work together with him.

[08:05:06] You know, there is something of a honeymoon period right now, Anna. I don't know how long it's going to last. These are men who do not

put up with criticism, do not put up, both of them, with people questioning them and it just seems to be a matter of time before the clashes begin.

COREN: Yeah, only time will tell. Patrick Oppmann, good to see you. Many thanks for your reporting.

Well, with Lopez Obrador promising big changes for Mexico, let's bring in CNN's chief international anchor, Christiane Amanpour with more.

Christiane, Lopez Obrador, he swept a victory by tapping into that populist anger as we discussed with Patrick. It was a clear rejection of the status

quo by the people. Why now?

CHRISTIANE AMANPOU, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Well, you're absolutely right. I mean, rejecting the two main parties, bringing a

leftist leader into Mexico for the first time in decades, which has energized the grass roots, his base. He has put some fear and trepidation

into the more elites of Mexico, as you can imagine.

The questions that you were asking Patrick, there is no real detail as to how he is going to pay for a lot of the ambitious social reforms and other,

you know, crackdowns on corruption and also on violence, of course. And the endemic poverty that plagues so much of Mexico.

But you know, this is not the first of these different elections in Latin America. We just saw a new sort of populist be elected in Colombia and

we're not sure what he's going to do also to meet the needs of peace in Colombia and whether he'll hang on to the peace deal that the previous

president, the outgoing President Santos struck with the far guerillas.

So then when you come to Mexico, really the question is how is he going to deliver on his promises there? What is going to be his relationship with

the United States and President Trump? One of the key things to remember is that one of the reasons Pena Nieto and his party was sort of disregarded by

the voters was because of a perception that they had played too cozy to President Trump or rather had been humiliated by President Trump.

You remember President Trump went to Mexico before the election in the United States and he talked about the wall and he was very aggressive there

in his rhetoric and he got no push back at the time from the president. And that didn't sit well at all with the Mexican people.

So just to highlight what a very difficult job Mexico will have to have a, you know, a sovereign and nationalist Mexican foreign policy at the same

time trying not to come across as either a lap dog for Trump or so hostile that Trump sort of goes to war rhetorically against the new Mexican

leadership. So, it will be a difficult road ahead, especially as they try to, you know, renegotiate NAFTA.

COREN: Yeah, it certainly is a delicate balance. Christiane, you mentioned some of those endemic problems Mexico is facing -- corruption, violence,

poverty. I mean, Lopez Obrador, he now has a sweeping mandate. What do you think he will do?

AMANPOUR: Well, again, you know, people have spoken very loudly. He got that overwhelming landslide. People are fed up with the corruption. They're

fed up with the violence. I mean, it's just never ending over there in Mexico and they want somebody who can take on the status quo. But the truth

of the matter is it's a very unwieldy and unprecedented coalition that AMLO, as he's nicknamed for his acronym, that he has taken on their leftist

unions, their very far conservative groups, there is religious groups.

It is sort of quite unwieldy, and it will depend on how much he has to -- red meat he has to throw at various members of his coalition and what

actually will be able to be accomplished. But what's clear is that people, as you've seen now over the last two years since 2016, whether it's in

Britain with Brexit and the United States with Trump, in Colombia, in Mexico with their new right and left now populist presidents who have been

elected, people are demanding something different.

And it's not at all clear and this is absolutely crucial to understand that populist leaders have the answer. It is not at all clear that they have

those answers. And in the meantime, you're having the populist-in-chief, the nationalist-in-chief President Obama try to essentially reorder the

world, have a new whole world order whether it's his neighbors to the north and south, whether it's the European Union, whether it's with China and

it's very unclear at this point where all the pieces are going to fall.

So, in Europe for instance, you have some pretty big markers coming up. You have NATO. You have -- we don't know whether Trump is going to sort of

throw a flame in that as he did in the G7 summit last month in Canada. You have his upcoming meeting with President Putin and what kind of deals he

may be striking with Putin and over Syria notably, for instance. You have his attempt and now openly members of his leadership, his administration

talking about regime change in Iran.

[08:10:04] We don't know where that's going to lead. And we don't know where any sort of denuclearization in terms of substance and timeline is

going to work out with North Korea. So, all these massive things not to mention a trade war with, you know, countries such as China and the

European Union and Canada, we just don't know where all these pieces are going to land. But we do know that it's a whole new attempt to shake up the

world and figure out what's going to come next. We don't, as I say, there doesn't seem to be a massive strategy afoot.

COREN: Christian, I guess what is clear is that this result has upended Mexico's political establishment. Should the elites of Mexico, the

establishment, be worried?

AMANPOUR: Yeah, probably. I mean, as I say, it's a very different and unwieldy coalition. These people who voted for him overwhelmingly are by

and large the youth and many others who have become just fed up with this constant status quo that doesn't deliver in terms of reducing corruption,

in terms of the violence and indeed in terms of the poverty in many of the pockets of Mexico.

So, what will he do about taxes? How will he go about paying for these ambitious social programs? Certainly the elites in many, many parts of the

world are, you know, are sort of on the back foot right now.

COREN: Christiane Amanpour, as always, great to get your perspective. Many thanks for joining us.

AMANPOUR: Thanks Anna.

COREN: Lopez Obrador addressed one of the big issues impacting his country's relations with the U.S. He spoke of how immigration should be

done by choice not necessity. Meanwhile, many undocumented families who arrived in the U.S. from Latin America remain split apart. Well that's

despite President Trump's signing an executive order halting the forced separation of parents from their children. Well Kaylee Hartung has the

details of one mother's journey to see her daughter again.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAYLEE HARTUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We witnessed this intensely emotional episode at Miami International Airport on Sunday evening as Buenaventura

wrapped her arms around her 7-year-old daughter, Janne, for the first time in 60 days. I want to give you some more perspective on this family's back

story so you can better understand the emotions of this moment in which we saw laughter and tears.

It was on May 1st that Buena and her infant son made the trip to the United States in hopes of giving her family a better life. A decision was made

that her husband and her 7-year-old daughter would stay behind and follows a short time after. But in that time between, this family member's arrival

in the United States, U.S. policy changed and unbeknownst to Buena, her daughter was separated from her father when they arrived at the border.

The father, shipped to a detention center in Georgia. The daughter, sent to Michigan. The process of unifying this family, difficult and complicated of

course -- Buena was allowed to speak to her daughter once a day for a couple minutes a day. Buena, being able to come in contact with her because

she was here in Miami with family, who the young daughter was able to get in touch with.

Now, there was tremendous happiness through the process of reunification today but also a sadness for this family because the family is not yet

whole. As I mentioned, the father still being held at a detention facility in Georgia. His fate in this country not yet known.

Buena also shared with us another emotional piece of advice in which she said any families wanting to seek a better life for their family just as

she did, she said they need to find another country other than the United States. She says the laws here are too harsh and people don't have a heart.

Those the emotions of a mother just reunited with her daughter.

(END VIDEO TAPE

COREN: Well, that report from Kaylee Hartung in Miami, Florida.

Well, the Trump administration is working on a bill that would grant the president broad powers to increase tariffs without congressional approval.

A White House official confirms the bill would say the U.S. is not going to abide by some key standards set by the World Trade Organization. According

to a report by Axios, the bill would allow the president to ignore rules that countries cannot set different tariffs outside free trade agreements

and would let the president ignore tariff ceilings agreed to by nations in the WTO.

As the U.S. President looks to expand his powers, the global trade clash is heating up. Canada is imposing $12.5 billion worth of tariffs on American

products including coffee and catsup in retaliation for the Trump Administration's deal and aluminum tax.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRYSTIA FREELAND, CANADIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: Our approach is that we will not escalate but equally we will not back down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COREN: But come Friday, it's trade with China that will be front and center. Well, that's when the U.S. is set to slap tariffs on tens of

billions of dollars worth of Chinese imports, the same day China plans to retaliate in kind.

[08:15:08] Well meanwhile, just one week from today, President Trump intends to announce his pick for the Supreme Court. And the battle for who

will replace Justice Anthony Kennedy is reviving the debate over abortion rights. CNN's Abby Phillip reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Trump gearing up for a week likely to be dominated by his search for Supreme

Court justice after spending the weekend speaking to key allies and advisers including White House counsel Don McGahn about the crucial

appointment.

The president telling reporters he narrowed his list to 25 candidates to five main final lists, although he says he expects to interview six or

seven people before announcing his selection next week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESDEINT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have to pick a great one. We have to pick one that's going to be there for 40 years, 45 years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIP (voice-over): "The Washington Post" reports that President Trump has told advisers he's looking for a candidate who is extraordinarily well

qualified and not weak.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEONARD LEO, SUPREME COURT ADVISER TO PRESIDENT TRUMP: It's about having judges on the court who are going to interpret the constitution the way

it's written.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIP (voice-over): But the key issue for a number of Americans whether the president's nominee would vote to overturn abortion rights.

(BEGI VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you looking for somebody who would overturn Roe versus Wade?

TRUMP: Well, you know, it's a great group of intellectual talent, but we really -- they are generally conservative. I'm not going to ask him that

question by the way. That's not a question I'll be asking.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIP (voice-over): President Trump downplaying the importance of the issue despite repeatedly citing his opposition to abortion as a main

deciding factor during the election.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: How important is that issue to you now when President Trump picks Supreme Court justices? Would that be a litmus test?

TRUMP: It is.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you want to see the court overturn Roe versus Wade?

TRUMP: Well, if we put another two or perhaps three justices on, that's really what's going to be -- that will happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIP (Voice-over): Key Republican senators Susan Collins telling CNN that a nominee who would vote to overturn the landmark decision would not

be acceptable.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R), MAINE: I want a judge who will apply the laws to the facts of the case with fidelity to the constitution. Roe versus Wade is

a constitutional right that is well established.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIP (voice-over): Collins and fellow Republican senator Lisa Murkowski are both being eyed as potential no votes given their past support for a

woman's right to have an abortion.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MARIA CANTWELL (D), WASHINGTON: My colleagues on both sides of the aisle know this vote could be one of the key votes of their entire career.

If they vote for somebody who is going to change precedent, it could be a career-ending move.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIP (voice-over): Both women voted to confirm President Trump's first Supreme Court pick Neil Gorsuch. The senate only needs 50 votes to confirm

a Supreme Court nominee, meaning that if all but one Republican vote along party lines, they will not need any Democratic support.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COREN: Reporting from Washington.

The around the clock search for a missing Thai football team heats up. Rescue divers reach a strategic junction as they push deeper into the cave

network. We go live to Thailand.

[08:20:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COREN: Welcome back to "News Stream." New satellite images suggest North Korea may be expanding its ballistic missile program. Well pictures appear

to show construction finishing on a facility in the city of Hamhung. According to researchers it's called the Chemical Material Institute. Well,

take a look at these pictures. The image on the left was taken in April. The one on the right shows the new building in June.

The plan is believed to make carbon composite parts for solid fueled missiles. On Sunday, U.S. and North Korean officials met in the

demilitarized zone to discuss denuclearization. Well to help break all this down, our Will Ripley joins us from Beijing. Will, how damning is this

North Korea missile intelligence and what does it reveal?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I mean, if you listen to what President Trump said, Anna, after the summit in Singapore that the threat -

- nuclear threat from North Korea was over, a statement that has since been dialed back by the U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and others, it might

seem somewhat damning to look at this intelligence, but North Korea has not agreed to disarm.

They signed a broadly-worded statement saying they would work towards complete denuclearization but they never said that they would stop the mass

production of missiles that Kim Jong-un ordered in his New Year's address. They're basically doing what they say that they were going to do, which is

to build more missiles and to continue to expand their nuclear programs, something that's written into their constitution.

But this flood of U.S. intelligence is also indicating not just expansions at that missile factory but also potential underground nuclear facilities

where plutonium and uranium are being enriched secretly. And there's even a report in "The New York Times" that there might be a new nuclear reactor

under construction. This is different from the reactor in Yongbyon, North Korea's only known nuclear reactor that fuels its nuclear program to

actually make it more efficient for North Korea to produce nuclear weapons.

So when you put all that together, what it shows is that the U.S. negotiators led by Secretary Pompeo are really going to have a lot on their

plate when they sit down with the North Koreans in the very near future, we have learned, because their going to have to get specific commitments on

allowing inspectors in, verifying denuclearization claims, verifying the number of warheads that North Korea possesses even as U.S. intelligence is

now saying that they also suspect North Korea may actually be planning to hide some of this, to deceive the United States in their words.

COREN: Yeah. You think they would want an explanation and want it very, very fast. The U.S. National Security adviser John Bolton told "Face The

Nation" that North Korea could dismantle all its nuclear weapons in a year, that's very aggressive and that the U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo

who, as we know, is in charge of the denuclearization process will continue talks when he flies to Pyongyang later this week. Will the images that

we've seen change things?

RIPLEY: I think what is happening here and there has been some speculations because a number of intelligence officials have been leaking

these images to various U.S. news outlets, is that the United States is trying to send a message through the media to the North Koreans ahead of

this next round of negotiations, that they are aware of what they feel could be some clandestine operations in their nuclear program.

And so the Americans expect to bring it up with the North Koreans to say this is what -- this is the intelligence that the United States has

gathered since the summit and here is what we expect in order for this process to move forward.

So perhaps at the conclusion of this meeting with Secretary Pompeo depending on how many details are actually revealed, maybe we'll know

whether this is a process that continues moving forward with good momentum as President Trump claimed he hoped it would after the summit or if this is

a real stumbling block here.

COREN: Will Ripley, joining us from Beijing. Many thanks. Good to see you.

Well, some breaking news coming into CNN and what could be a major development in the investigation surrounding the U.S. President. Donald

Trump's long-time personal lawyer is breaking his silence. Well Michael Cohen is suggesting that he is willing to cut a deal with the government.

The FBI raided the Cohen's office earlier this year. One source told CNN that documents seized included information related to Stephanie Clifford,

better known as porn actress Stormy Daniels.

She alleges she had an affair with Trump back in 2006. The White House has denied that affair ever occurred. Well, Cohen reportedly telling ABC News,

my wife, my daughter, and my son have my first loyalty and always will.

[08:25:00] I put family and country first. He added that when he learns what charges may be filed against him, he will lean on the guidance of his

new counsel. We'll have more on this developing story in the hours ahead.

Well, in northern Thailand, Navy S.E.A.L. divers searching for missing soccer team in a complex cave system within a kilometer of where they

believe the 12 boys and their coach are thought to have taken refuge. Well for more on the critical next steps, we're joined by Mark Phillips live in

Chiang Rai us. Mark, we're at the end of day nine of this massive search operation, but news that divers are getting closer must have raised

spirits. Tell us, how long is it going to take them to get to this chamber, this cavern known as Pattaya Beach?

MARK PHILLIPS, CNN PHOTOJOURNALIST: Well, at the moment Anna, nobody knows quite for sure how long it's going to take actually to get into the last

chamber, the one they've been trying to get to for the last week, which is known as Pattaya Beach chamber.

At the moment they're pushed up to a T-section and then they're trying to move around the T-section and actually dig a larger hole in the cave so

they can get people through. But at the moment the water is too strong to push on through. There had been -- they've pushed into the cavern about a

kilometer and a half and they're stationed a small control station in the cave so they don't have to keep coming backwards and forwards.

COREN: Mark, what sort of conditions are these divers facing?

PHILLIPS: The risks that these divers face, first of all, the water is incredibly dirty in there because of all the runoff that's come through the

place. And also there is strong rip tides that can pull the divers through as well. And also just getting, you know, the darkness. They can't really

see their hand in front of the face though the conditions have been improving in the last couple days as they've been trying to pump water out.

And that's the big thing recently. The pumps have been actually working for the last three days and things have been actually getting better in the

sense that the water level is dropping slightly. They say they're pumping out about around 1.5 million liters of water an hour which is incredible

amount of water at the moment.

COREN: Yeah, it's absolutely phenomenal. And Mark, you have been there from the very beginning. Authorities maintained that the 12 boys and their

coach are still alive. What makes them so confident?

PHILLIPS: I think the Thai authorities just don't want to believe that they're gone at the moment, so they truly believe that they can find these

young men. They think they probably have their best chance because they are local boys. They do know the caves and they're fit. They're fit, young --

they played on a football team. They're fit, young men so they feel that they have all the best possibilities of survival.

But as time goes by, yeah, the authorities and everybody else is getting concerned. So, the question is when they hit Pattaya Beach cave or that

cavern, if they don't find the boys then the big question what then? The Thais will keep on searching. There's a large international community down

here. We have the Americans, the Australians, the Chinese, and the Swedes. So, everybody is behind this effort. And also the nation is behind this

effort and they really want this to succeed, Anna.

COREN: Mark, we just want to thank you because you're not only reporting but you're also filming down there in Chiang Rai and also to your wonderful

producer, (inaudible) who has been working around the clock. Many thanks to both of you for bringing this story to us from Chiang Rai.

Well, a controversial Philippines politician has been assassinated. This video was shot in the moments before Tanauan City mayor Antonia Halili was

killed by sniper fire. Now, you don't actually see him getting hit, but later in the video you hear a shot ring out followed by (inaudible).

The late mayor strongly supported President Rodrigo Duterte's bloody war on drugs (inaudible) thousands of drug users and dealers killed by police and

vigilantes. Philippine police have convened a special task force to investigate his killing.

Well after the break, we'll tell you how one of France's most notorious criminals escaped from prison this weekend for the second time in five

years.

[08:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Anna Coren in Hong Kong. You're watching "News Stream." These are your world headlines.

Mexicans are waking up to a new president-elect, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. He appears to have swept Sunday's election with over 53 percent of

the vote. It was his third run for president. The leftist veteran politician has pledged to stamp out corruption and tackle poverty.

New footages emerging of migrant families being reunited after they were separated by President Trump's zero-tolerance policy. This video shows a

Guatemalan mother seeing her 7-year-old daughter for the first time in two months. Many families still remain separated and opponents of Mr. Trump's

policy criticized the slow return of migrant children to their relatives.

Analysts say these satellite images show North Korea is expanding a facility that makes parts for ballistic missiles. Last week, they emerged

showing new infrastructure at nuclear facility. On Sunday, U.S. and North Korean officials met at the Demilitarized Zone to talk about

denuclearization.

The European Union may have reached an agreement on how to handle the migrant crisis, but that has not helped German Chancellor Angela Merkel

back home. German media reports say Interior Minister Horst Seehofer is now threatening to resign because of her migration policy. He says he may also

resign as leader of the conservative Christian Social Union which could put the future of Merkel's fragile coalition government in jeopardy.

Thousands of Syrians are arriving at the border of the Israeli- controlled Golan Heights. They are fleeing fight in Daraa Province where Syrian

government forces (INAUDIBLE) to retake the region from rebel groups. Activists and monitoring groups say nearly 220,000 people have been

displaced. Israel says it will not let Syrian refugees in but will provide aid.

Let's go to CNN's Oren Liebermann who is live for us from the Golan Heights. Oren, hundreds of thousands of displaced people, many of them

heading to where you are. What is going to happen to them?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: More than 200,000 displaced, according to the United Nations, a small fraction of those have come here behind me

across from the border separating Syria from the occupied Golan Heights.

They have set up essentially small tent cities, one of which you can see here behind me, three or four tents from where we are standing. We can see

four or five more these little tent cities where displaced Syrians have come to try to find some sort of safety.

Israel has transferred some 60 tons of supplies in recent days to these displaced families. That's to include food, baby food, clothing, as well as

footwear and some 300 tents to make sure these families can survive here for the time being.

But as you point out, Israel has said it will not allow these Syrians to enter Israel because of security reasons at this point. Anna, the aid is a

continuation of what it is called here "Operation Good Neighbor."

Israel has over the last few years provided some supplies, humanitarian supplies to displaced Syrians here across the border and Syrians here who

are generally fighting the regime or oppose the Syrian regime.

[08:35:00] COREN: Oren, as the days, the weeks pass, is it likely that Israel may allow some Syrian refugees into the country?

LIEBERMANN: That's a very difficult question to answer right now. So far, Israel's policy has been and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu just

reiterated this yesterday that no Syrians will be allowed in. Israel says that's for security reasons. But Netanyahu also made clear that the policy

of helping those Syrians who have come to the security fence here, who come to the area will be given aid.

In fact, six Syrians were allowed in for medical reasons just a couple of days ago. Four of those were children who suffered some either moderate or

severe wounds in the shelling and the bombing that's going on in Daraa which is about 50 kilometers from where we're standing right now.

So, as of this point, it doesn't seem like Israel will change its policy, but the entire situation right here behind me is shifting. We'll see if

Israel's policy at some point in the future shifts to accommodate.

COREN: Oren Liebermann joining us from the Golan Heights, many thanks for that.

In France, a notorious gangster is once again a wanted man. Our Ana Cabrera has more on his prison break.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANA CABRERA, CNN JOURNALIST AND ANCHOR (voice over): A stunning jailbreak, purportedly filmed from behind bars. CNN cannot independently verify this

video, but these shaky images appear to show the moments gunmen arrived to free this man, Redoine Faid, France's most notorious gangster.

His accomplices hijacked a helicopter and forced the pilot to fly to a prison near Paris. There they staged a diversion then smuggled the 46-year-

old out of a visiting room before fleeing by air.

Police later found the burnt-out chopper in an area northwest of Paris. The pilot was released unharmed. The fugitive and his men were nowhere to be

found. Sunday's spectacular escape is shockingly not the first for this criminal mastermind. In 2013, Faid held four guards at gunpoint in a

detention center in the northern city of Lille then burst his way into freedom, detonating explosives to destroy five fortified doors. A witness

described the dramatic scene.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I first saw a prison guard walked by followed by someone dressed in civilian clothes who was holding a

gun to the guard's head, so I got a little scared and I hid in a room.

CABRERA (voice over): At the time, Faid's lawyer said he was not surprised his client broke out.

JEAN-LOIS PELLETIER, LAWYER FOR REDOINE FAID (through translator): He is also a young man, remarkably intelligent, and he is using his intellect to

serve his ambitions. And I think he has so many years in prison behind him that he thought it was one too many.

CABRERA (voice over): The Frenchman is a self-styled modern-day gangster, often taking inspiration, he says, from Hollywood movies. He once wore a

hockey mask during a heist like Robert De Niro's character in "Heat" and brazenly attacked armored trucks and other targets.

But for those who suffered his bravado, he is a real-life villain. The parents of a French policewoman killed in one of Faid's robbery attempts

were devastated by the news. CNN affiliate VFM reported, now once again free and once again the subject of an international manhunt, his victims

must wait for justice.

Ana Cabrera, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COREN: Still ahead, the CNN series "Going Green." Can innovators make urban sustainability possible? One man in Beijing thinks he can by bringing

the farm into the city.

[08:40:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COREN: Well, it's one thing to run a successful business, but it's even more challenging trying to do it in a sustainable way. In our series "Going

Green," we meet five innovative heroes creating sustainable solutions around the world. We start in Beijing where an investment banker turned

urban farmer is hoping to change the future of agriculture.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STUART ODA, CO-FOUNDER AND CEO, ALESCA LIFE: I think a lot of people when they think about agricultural technology and urban farming, they think

about farming on rooftops or farming on balconies. And we're trying to show that you can take any space in the city, whether it's an underground unused

parking structure like our farm here in Beijing or a second-hand shipping container or even an office or restaurant corner.

My name is Stuart. I'm from Alesca Life. And we turn unused shipping containers and parking structures to urban, sustainable farms. I'm a former

investment banker turned urban farmer. So I have had a very big career change. One of the big inspirations for me is that agriculture is a very

big industry. Almost a third of the entire global economy is related to the agricultural supply chain.

The current agricultural industry is incredibly resource intensive and it requires a lot of logistics in order to get the food that's produced to the

consumers that can enjoy them. And so our hope is to be able to grow food more localized and also be much, much more efficient in the process.

So this is the seedling area where all of our plants start out their journey. Our technology is actually quite simple. It's something that has

been innovated over the past decades. We use hydroponic system that allows us to recirculate the water and by controlling the environmental

parameters, it allows us to grow 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. And we can accomplish all of these without the use of any chemical pesticides.

Some of our big champions include Marriott Hotel, Westin, as well as Shangri-La. And the big hotel brands currently are really trying to find

ways in which they can integrate green, sustainability, healthy lifestyles into their operations, into their buildings directly into their menus.

My hope for the future is a world in which agriculture and urban lifestyle can coexist. I truly believe that the next billion will be fed on farmland

that will require virtually no land, no water and no chemical pesticides. And I'm very excited about this future.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COREN: That certainly is impressive. Well, that is "News Stream." Thanks so much for your company. I'm Anna Coren. Don't go anywhere. "World Sport"

with Christina Macfarlane is coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:45:00] (WORLD SPORT)

END