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World Headlines; Novichok Poisoning; China's Demands Over Taiwan; Facebook's Efforts To Crack China; Naked Yoga Arrest; Trump Responds To Release Of Secret Recording. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired July 25, 2018 - 08:00   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:00:00] KRISTIE LOU STOUT, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Kristie Lou Stout in Hong Kong and welcome to "News Stream."

Deadly election day. Dozens are killed in a bomb attack in Pakistan as voters head to the polls.

A secret tape emerges. CNN obtains a recording between Donald Trump and his former attorney about payments related to his alleged affair Playboy model.

And why the yogi has no clothes. A naked man's trip to a fitness studio was a far cry from a class of hot yoga.

Millions of voters are casting their ballots in Pakistan in one of the most consequential elections in years. But it is a day that has been marked by

deadly violence. At least 31 people were killed in a suicide attack near a polling station in the provincial capital of Quetta amid heavy security.

ISIS is claiming responsibility but CNN can't authenticate that claim. The general election marks the second democratic transfer of power in

Pakistan's history. Our Sophia Saifi is in Islamabad. She turns us now live. Sophia, a very deadly day as a nation heads to thee polls. Tell us

more about these attacks. What led to the deaths of dozens of people in Pakistan on this day?

SOPHIA SAIFI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kristie, what we know is, is that this happened in the southern city of Quetta in Balochistan and like you

said, ISIS has claimed responsibility. This was a blast on a police convoy. It appears that a police official was being targeted and it was the members

of the general public who really were among the casualties and among those injured.

Now, this is election season in Pakistan and comparatively over the past two years, Pakistan has seen a relative period of calm. There haven't been

many attacks in this country and you know, many people were expecting this to be a comparatively peaceful election cycle compared to the previous two

that had happen in 2008 and 2013.

Now, you know, just 10 days ago there was a massive blast in the town of Mastung, also in Balochistan, which left up to 150 people dead. And that's

the second deadliest attack ever in Pakistani history. So, we had around 350,000 military personnel deployed across the country, but people really

weren't -- there was always a sense of fear because, you know, considering the history of the country. But, you know, these kind of attacks over the

past two weeks have suddenly painted this election cycle as a very bloody one, Kristie.

LU STOUT: These attacks were fierce, they were expected. Unfortunately, it happened. Did the violence this day affect the voter turnout at all?

SAIFI: Well, the voter turnout in Balochistan this morning and Quetta was, you know, comparatively better. We were speaking to a reporter down there

and he said that there had been long queues super early in the morning, 8:00 in the morning. We're seeing queues in the more rural parts of the

province as well.

In the main cities of Lahore and Karachi, there have been substantial queues as well. We went out ourselves in the capital in Islamabad, but we

didn't really see that much of a voter turnout. We just speak to a couple of voters after they came out. We asked them whether they were afraid, but

they said no.

You know, there is relative -- there is enough security presence at the polling stations. They just wanted to come out, they wanted to vote, even

people in Peshawar which is another city which has a bloody history. But even then, people have been coming out to vote and make a change in any way

that they can.

LU STOUT: All right, Sophia Saifi, we thank you for your reporting this day. Sophia is reporting live for us from Islamabad.

The catastrophic collapse of a dam in southeastern Laos has killed at least 19 people and many more are still missing. The torrent swept away hundreds

of homes, submerged entire villages and displaced up to 6,000 people. A dam official says continuous rainstorm caused the breach.

The billion dollar hydro power was due to begin operations next year. Nikhil Kumar joins us now live. Nikhil, just the frantic search for the

missing that are still underway, are there more teams, more assets on the ground to help find any additional survivors?

NIKHIL KUMAR, CNN NEW DELHI BUREAU CHIEF: That's right Kristie, they are moving more teams, more assets. We know that the government is leading this

rescue down there in southern Laos. The construction company, but it's on multiple fronts, the construction company was building this dam, a South

Korean company. We know that they are sending teams, helicopters and boats.

[08:05:02] We heard from the U.N. earlier saying that among the things that they need down there, the rescue teams need, are boats and this is because

you would have seen images coming out from the area. An entire area seems to be submerged in really a sea, a muddy sea. This water has come gushing

down after the collapse of this dam submerging, as you said, numerous villages.

And so they want boats to get to the people stranded sometimes on the top of their houses and other high structures that they could find when the

water came gushing down. So, there is this rush to get down there to really rescue the people who are stranded but also to get a full sense of the

extent of this disaster.

Everything that we know about this, the dam collapsed on Monday releasing something like five billion cubic meters of water. So everything we know

about this tells us that this was really quite a large scale disaster. So yes, more assets being moved in, both as I say, to rescue people and also

to get a full sense of what happened and what needs to be done to bring people to safety and security as soon as possible, Kristie.

LU STOUT: Yes, and just looking at this scale of this disaster and the number of people affected, do you believe Laos needs additional assistance,

international help to deal with the aftermath?

KUMAR: They have appealed for international help, Kristie. And you know, as I said, among the things they need, we know about the boats. They need

food, they need water, and the government has appealed for help as they try and get the resources down to the people in those villages, at least six

villages.

The U.N. said that as many as 12,000 people could be affected by the incident. According to the U.N., about 1,500 people were displaced, but the

entire number could be as many as 12,000. So, a really, really massive disaster and that's really because this was, again, as I say, a large dam,

a section of it went down. But billions of cubic meters of water came down inundating entire villages.

The good news that we've heard is that officials down there tell us that the waters are expected to recede over the coming few days. So that could,

we presume, open up some of the areas, allow people to get out and also make it easier for rescue teams to get in and bring these people to safety,

Kristie.

LU STOUT: Yeah and bring much needed supplies like clean drinking water, medicines if needed, food. At this point, do we know definitively what was

the cause of this dam collapse?

KUMAR: Well, we know so far is that the electricity company which owns this dam to the South Korean company who is constructing this, but the

electricity company that owns that dam they have said that this was because over the previous few day there had been heavy rainfall in the area. And

one of the reservoirs had filled up beyond capacity. And that excess capacity ultimately led to the collapse of the dam.

Now of course, the specifics of how that happened, what might specifically have gone wrong with the structure, we don't know all of that. But they

have identified this one problem that the reservoir filled up. Because of that, because of too much water in the reservoir, this dam collapsed, the

section of it, releasing as I said, billions and billions of cubic meters of water causing this immense disaster in southern Laos, Kristie.

LU STOUT: Yeah, absolutely. Nikhil Kumar, appreciate your reporting on this throughout. Nikhil Kumar, reporting live for us. Take care.

We are also following a disaster that has been gripping Greece. At least 80 people are confirmed dead as multiple wildfires burn in the region around

Athens. Out here in Mati, homes, cars, completely incinerated. And for some people, survival meant they had to jump into the ocean. And Melissa Bell

has been speaking with survivors. She is on the ground in that seaside resort town of Mati, Greece that we were just showing to you then.

And Melissa, as the death toll rises, we know that the rescue work goes on. Teams are looking for the missing. Could there still be more survivors?

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, I think almost certainly this is an already very high death toll, 80 people killed in these fires since Monday.

That is almost certain to rise further, Kristie, and that is because there are still so many people missing. And you can see all around Mati where the

worst of the devastation took place. How these flames came down from the mountain towards the sea, devastating huge tracks of land, leaving some

houses in complete ruins and others next door up standing simply because of the way the wind pushed the flames.

But those flames then pushed people towards the see and that was essentially the only way out. Now, they are certainly coming back to what's

left of their houses to try and come to terms with what's happened.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BELL (voice-over): Wildfires rage across the hills surrounding Athens forcing many to jump into the sea to escape the flames. A wall of fire so

hot it melted tires of cars in its path.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I saw fire at the back of the house. After that, it came here, in the front. It was sheer hell.

BELL: And moving so fast that dozens were trapped as they tried to escape. Some of the victims in Mati to the east of Athens were found clinging to

each other.

[08:10:03] UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Yes, it's true. It seems that some of them, the deceased knew each other because they were

found in groups of three and four, so they could be friends or relatives or families who tried to protect themselves by hugging each other.

BELL: In Mati, the fire has been put out and locals like Doris Kountouriotis are returning to size up the damage.

DORIS KOUNTOURIOTIS, FURE SURVIVOR: Many people who were during the fire yesterday, they say that it (inaudible) within minutes and the temperature

was so high so nobody could do anything just in this area. As you can see, houses, cars, everything destroyed from the fire. I have lost everything

BELL: But elsewhere, the fires continue to rage as 500 firefighters battle to put out the flames. Hundreds have been evacuated and a state of

emergency has been declared. The Greek prime minister has urged people in threatened neighborhoods to flee immediately. On Tuesday, he declared three

days of mourning.

ALEXIS TSIPRAS, GREEK PRIME MINISTER (through translator): Now, it is a time for mobilization and fighting. The fight to save what can be saved, a

fight to defeat the fire. A fight to find the missing so that we don't mourn anymore lives and we may soothe the pain of those affected.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BELL: Kristie, even as the search for those survivors continues, even as Greece remains in this state of emergency and this mourning, there were

still fires burning to the west of Athens. We've been watching over the course of the last hour, helicopters making their way to the other side of

Mati carrying giant buckets of water.

We're told by the fire brigade these are preventive measures. There is no new fire around here but as you can see, this remains a volatile situation.

The temperatures are scorching and of course the conditions that allowed this to happen to begin with remain very much what they were.

LU STOUT: Yeah, major fires are still burning. The situation there is scorching, still very tenuous. Smoke is still being generated. This is

heavy smoke generated by the fire that's turned into one would presume a major health hazard. What kind of impact has that made there?

BELL: It's made things very difficult. Things are already extremely difficult for the services that find themselves so stretched by the scale

of what's going on. This is a country in a state of mourning and in a state of emergency rather, even as it is in a period of mourning, with very

stretched services being helped by E.U. neighbors trying to find survivors and to deal with any potential further fires.

One of the big questions today, Kristie, is exactly how this could have happened. For the time being, an investigation is under way with the

authorities, including Alexis Tsipras. The prime minister himself has suggested that the fact that the fires began on three distinct fronts could

prove suspicious. So we await the results of that investigation to find out whether there was any foul play at all.

But clearly, whether or not these fires were deliberately started, the conditions that allowed them to take hold so fast are what's really

worrying authorities and what means that the situation is far from being under control for the time being.

LU STOUT: Yes. So many open-ended, you know, questions, answers unknown as rescue efforts are still underway. Melissa Bell reporting live from the

fires there in Greece. Thank you.

Coming up right here on "News Stream," we got a CNN exclusive. A secret audio recording of Donald Trump and the man previously known as his fixer.

What they discussed and what it could mean ahead in a live report.

Plus, the clock is ticking for the U.S. to reunite migrant families separated by the Trump administration. We'll hear the desperate pleas of

mothers begging for their children after the break.

[0815:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: All right, coming to you live from Hong Kong, welcome back. This is "News Stream." Donald Trump's former attorney maybe sending his

strongest signal yet, that he is ready to turn on the U.S. president. CNN has obtained that secret recording between Michael Cohen and then candidate

Donald Trump two months before the 2016 election.

Their conversation seems to indicate Donald Trump knew about plans to pay off a woman who claimed that she had an affair with him, something the U.S.

president has denied. The president's current attorney, Rudy Giuliani, says no payment was ever made and argues that the tape offers no indication of a

crime.

Joining me now U.S. politics reporter MJ Lee. She joins us live from New York. And MJ, walk us through the tape and what it reveals.

MJ LEE, CNN U.S. POLITICS REPORTER: Well Kristie, you know, this tape is so incredible because for the first time we now get to be a fly on the wall

at when Donald Trump and Michael Cohen had this conversation that was supposed to be private. And now we know Michael Cohen recorded secretly and

now we can listen to it.

I want to play the entire audio recording first, but I just want to point out for our viewers that we want to be listening carefully to the very end

because this is where Michael Cohen and Donald Trump are talking about this payment to a woman who says she had a long running affair with Donald Trump

and they're discussing making a potential payment to her. Here's the audio recording.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Let me know what's happening, okay? Oh. Maybe because of this, it would be better if you

didn't go, you know, maybe because of this or for that one, you know, we could just get rid of this because it's so false with this thing. It's such

bullshit (ph). I think -- I think this goes away (inaudible).

I think it's probably better do the Charleston thing just this -- yeah. In two weeks, it's fine. I think right now it's better, you know? Okay. You

take care of yourself. Thanks again. Yeah. I'm proud of you. So long, bye. What's up, Mike?

MICHAEL COHEN, FORMER DONALD TRUMP ATTORNEY: Great poll by the way.

TRUMP: In CNN.

COHEN: Great poll.

TRUMP: Making progress.

COHEN: Big time.

TRUMP: And your guy's a good guy.

COHEN: Hello, Pastor Scott (ph).

TRUMP: No, Pastor Scott (ph). What's happening?

COHEN: Oh, no.

TRUMP: Can we use him anymore?

COHEN: Oh, yeah. (Inaudible). He -- we've told him --

TRUMP: I don't need that. (Inaudible), can we use him?

COHEN: No.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We should (inaudible) had an idea for you.

COHEN: We got served from the "New York Times." I told you this were regarding to unseal a divorce papers with Ivana. We're fighting it.

Kasowitz is going to --

TRUMP: Never be able to get that.

COHEN: Never, never. Kasowitz doesn't -- they'll ever be able -- they don't have any --

TRUMP: (Inaudible).

COHEN: They don't have a legitimate purpose.

TRUMP: So, a woman that doesn't want to be seen.

COHEN: Correct. Yes. And it's all --

TRUMP: This thing going to (inaudible) --

COHEN: For about two to three weeks.

TRUMP: All you have to do is delay (inaudible).

COHEN: Even after this, it's not going to be ever opened. There is no purpose for it. I told you about Charleston. I need to open up a company

for the transfer of all of that info regarding our friend David, you know, so that -- I'm going to do that right away. I've actually come up --

TRUMP: Give it to me.

COHEN: I've spoken to Allen Weisselberg about how to set the whole thing up with funding.

TRUMP: So what are we going to pay with?

[08:20:03] Yes, and it's all the stuff -- it's all the stuff --

TRUMP: Yes, I'm thinking about that.

COHEN: -- because, you know, you never know where that company. You'll never know where he's going to be.

TRUMP: And he gets it, right.

COHEN: Correct, so I'm all over that. And I spoke to Allen about it. When it comes time for the financing, which will be --

TRUMP: What financing?

COHEN: Well, I have to pay.

TRUMP: So, we'll pay with cash?

COHEN: No. No, no, no. I got this. No, no, no.

TRUMP: A check?

COHEN: How are you? (ph)

(END AUDIO CLIP)

LEE: Now Kristie, obviously, the quality of that recording is not perfect. Some of the -- parts of the recording are actually muddled s0o it's hard to

make exactly out what's going on. But if you were listening really carefully you may have heard Donald Trump saying the words pay with cash.

Now, this is going to become such a big sticking point and it already has Rudy Giuliani, who has the president -- representing Donald Trump. He has

been saying ever since the audio recording came out last night that actually even though the recording is not clear Donald Trump was saying the

words don't pay with cash. Michael Cohen's team is saying Donald Trump said pay with cash.

And so there's now an argument between the two legal teams on whether Donald Trump was arguing for Michael Cohen to use cash to pay off this

woman who said she had an affair with Donald Trump. Now, also in the big picture, aside from sort of the cash versus check debate, this is obviously

just a very big deal because, again, we are hearing for the first time Donald Trump discussing with his personal attorney before the presidential

election this payment to this woman.

And the key thing is that he doesn't really sound surprised. It doesn't really sound, according to this very limited recording, that he's hearing

about this for the firs time or that he is shocked to find out about these discussions of a payment. And this is in contrast to the fact that during

the campaign -- the campaign -- the Trump campaign denied allegations about this affair.

And so it is very important to note that now we have sort of the first proof of Donald Trump seeming to have known about this payment and

discussing it freely with his attorney at the time, Kristie.

LU STOUT: Okay, so this could be proof of that. What next? How could this tape turn into a potential problem for President Trump?

LEE: Well, I think you can say that this is already a problem for Donald Trump. But keep in mind that Michael Cohen, hi former attorney is currently

under criminal investigation. And as a result of that, the FBI raided his home, his hotel room, and his office earlier this year. And as a part of

that raid, they took literally millions of pieces of documents, audio recordings and other information from Michael Cohen.

So, investigators, keep in mind, are currently in possession of so much information from Michael Cohen. And this is only the tip of the iceberg.

This is only one recording from sort that massive trove of information that the FBI seized. So, at this point in time, Kristie, it's really hard to say

what other information that is potentially incriminating and unflattering for Donald Trump could come out from the information that the FBI has.

But we do know that Donald Trump's legal team has been out there saying this audio recording is really the only one that is sort of interesting or

sensitive and they are insisting that there are not going to be others. But again, we don't know for sure yet what other information could come out and

also what other information Michael Cohen might claim he has that may not be in writing, may not be in the forms of an audio recording.

LU STOUT: That's right. There could be more revelations, more tapes to come if Michael Cohen has indeed flipped on the president. MJ Lee,

reporting for us live. Thank you so much MJ. Take care.

LEE: Thanks.

LU STOUT: Now, the trade war that's been brewing between the U.S. And Europe, that's going to be the focus of talks at the White House on

Wednesday. The European Commission President, Jean-Claude Juncker, is meeting Donald Trump in just a few hours from now. The U.S. President set

the stage with a tweet -- (inaudible) on Tuesday, saying this quote, the European Union is coming to Washington tomorrow to negotiate a deal on

trade. I have an idea for them. Both the U.S. and the E.U. drop all tariffs, barriers and subsidies. That will finally be called free market

and fair trade. Hope they do it, we're ready, but they won't.

Now, he has been up and yes, tweeting about this morning as well, talking about China targeting American farmers. U.S. farmers are feeling the pain

from this trade war already and the Trump administration is preparing to inject $12 billion into agriculture to offset them. Some Republicans are

arguing that instead of handing out money to farmers, the administration needs to look at its trade policy. Some conservatives are calling his plan

welfare, one even called it, golden crutches for farmers.

Meanwhile, the U.S. government faces a Thursday deadline to reunite thousands of migrant children separated from their parents at the border.

Some of those parents say being away from their kids is just too much for them to bear.

[08:25:04] They don't know if or when they might see them again. Nick Valencia reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At the (inaudible) detention center, the stakes couldn't be higher. An audio exclusively

obtained by CNN, the anguish of parents separated from their children pours out in immigration court.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Speaking in foreign language).

VALENCIA (voice-over): The clips were recorded earlier this month at the ICE-run facility in Los Fresnos, Texas.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How old is your child?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Speaking in foreign language).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And where is your child?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Speaking in foreign language).

VALENCIA (voice-over): The audio is of two mothers that what are known as credible fear reviews. It's their last chance to prove that they have a

reasonable fear of persecution or torture if returned to their home countries. If parents like this fail, they may be faced with a heart

wrenching decision, be deported as a family or leave their children behind.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Speaking in foreign language).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What did you want to say that you weren't able to say?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Speaking in foreign language).

VALENCIA (voice-over): The proceedings take just a few minutes, stunning in their gravity, given the weight of the decision.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. Thank you. Having considered all the evidence, the court finds you have not established a significant

possibility that you could establish eligibility for asylum or withholding removal under the immigration laws of the United States.

The court hereby orders that the decision of the asylum office is affirmed and your case is returned to the Department of Homeland and Security for

you to be removed from the United States.

VALENCIA (voice-over): An audio from a second hearing detainee is so distraught over being separated from her son, she can barely continue.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Speaking in foreign language).

VALENCIA (voice-over): You don't have to speak Spanish to hear the pain in her voice.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I understand that ma'am. Is there anything you want to say regarding your case?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Speaking in foreign language).

VALENCIA (voice-over): Nick Valencia, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: You're watching "News Stream." Still to come much here in the program, investigators in Britain they warn that more vials of Novichok

might be hidden around the city of Salisbury in England and they're telling the public to be careful and to be aware. The details are next.

[08:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

A suicide bomb attack in the Pakistani city of Quetta has left at least 31 people dead and 32 injured. The police say the cause of the attack is

unknown. ISIS is claiming responsibility, but CNN can't authenticate that claim. It comes as millions of voters choose a new government today. Polls

in Pakistan closed in about half an hour.

The catastrophic collapse of a dam in southeastern Laos has killed at least 19 people. Many more are still missing. The torrent swept away homes. It

submerged villages. It displaced up to 6,000 people. Dam officials say that continuous rainstorm caused the breach. The billion dollar hydro power

project was due to begin operations next year.

Britain's top police force says that there may still be unaccounted foreign (ph) samples of a deadly nerve agent hidden around the Salisbury area in

England. That after the death of one woman and the poisoning of three other people including a former Russian spy and his daughter with Novichok. One

of the victims said that he found the nerve agent in an unopened box.

Nina Dos Santos has been following the story. She joins us now from outside Scotland Yard in London. Nina, if there's more Novichok still lying around

Salisbury, what are officials doing to try to find it and to protect the local population?

NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Large amounts (ph) in Salisbury and also Amesbury have been cordoned off in particular the property of Charlie

Rowley, which is where the bottle that contained the Novichok was found, the one that he now says having spoken to CNN's affiliate ITV News was

actually in a perfume bottle that he managed to intercepted.

He can't remember where, but he believed it was in a sealed package, and he gave it to his partner, late partner, Dawn Sturgess. She applied it to her

wrists and that had such deadly consequences.

Obviously authorities are doing all they can to try and comb the area, keep a lot of these areas cordoned off. There's a significant police operation

led by the metropolitan police with them having given over about 100 counter-terrorism officers and counter-terrorism network. They're heading

this investigation with very, very key in detail forensic ability.

But the deadliness of this particular substance is also apparent in this interview that Charlie Rowley has given to ITV News. This is how quickly,

he said, it acted upon his partner when she applied what she thought was perfume that he gave her.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHARLIE ROWLEY, NOVICHOK VICTIM: I do have a memory of her spraying it on her wrists and -- and I guess rubbing it, rubbing them together. I think

within 15 minutes, I believe Dawn said she felt that she had headache. She asked me if I had any headache tablets. I went into the bathroom and found

her in the bath, fully clothed, in a very ill state.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOS SANTOS: Charlie Rowley says that the package that he intercepted here that he found was essentially three inches by three inches. It was sealed

in cellophane wrapper. It contained small glass bottle that he believed was a branded perfume. And that he had to use an aerosol pump to actually clip

that into the bottle, if you like. The bottle was sealed.

He actually ended up spilling some on his hands before washing that substance off and that potentially may have saved his life because remember

that he survived and his partner died several days later.

Now, the backdrop to all of this is also that sources have been telling CNN that one active line of investigation filed by (ph) metropolitan police is

that there may be two teams that may well have dropped off this agent and then another hit was it may have intercepted one of the various drops to

use it on (ph) door handle which is how it believed they were poisoned.

If that is the case, that makes it effective, that makes it being more out there. Both the metropolitan police and (INAUDIBLE) police have said they

cannot guarantee there isn't anymore Novichok out in the wider area in Salisbury or in Amesbury. Kristie?

LU STOUT: Frightening to imagine that there could very well be more Novichok around Salisbury. Nina Dos Santos reporting live for us from

outside Scotland Yard, thank you.

Now, the three biggest American airlines, they are updating their websites to keep China happy. Beijing demanded they change, that they reference

Taiwan by July the 25th or risk sanctions. Let's take a look at the website for Delta. Now, in their drop down menu, they removed country designation

for both Taiwan and China. CNN's Matt Rivers has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[08:35:03] MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, without question, this airline controversy is just the latest example of a pattern

of behavior from China as of late to increasingly try and crowd Taiwan out of the international arena.

We should remind our viewers that China views Taiwan as a breakaway province, as integral a part of its country as Shanghai, for example. So

the argument that Beijing makes is that on the international stage, it should be Beijing representing Taiwan and that Taiwan should not be

operating as an independent entity.

In actuality though, Taiwan essentially operates as an independent country, even if it is not recognized as such on a formal basis. It has its own

government, it's own economy, its own business dealings with other countries. But China is trying to change that in a number of different

ways.

Consider China continuing to block Taiwan's membership in the World Healthy Organization as an example, saying it will be responsible for public health

on the island or the fact that China continues to peel away diplomatic allies from Taiwan.

In just the last couple of months, Burkina Faso and the Dominican Republic severed ties with Taiwan and established them with China instead. And then

there is the multinational corporations, the latest target of which is the airline industry.

China said you can't list Taiwan airport without the right country designation. So, for example, you wouldn't write Taipei, Taiwan, you would

write Taipei, China. And most airlines the world comply. In an exclusive interview, the foreign minister of Taiwan told us why he thinks that reason

is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSEPH WU, FOREIGN MINISTER OF TAIWAN: This is a very important issue for us to deal with. We not only deal with the airlines. There are also other

major international corporations that face the same situation.

And this is what many people describe as Chinese sharp power. They have the economic might to force other countries to do something otherwise they

wouldn't do. And this is a new situation not only Taiwan faces but also other countries.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIVERS: So he mentioned sharp power, basically China's ability to say do what we want or you can't do business in our country. It is a form of

economic bullying but it works because this is the second largest economy in the world and it is still growing.

So while airlines changing their drop down menus might not seem all that important, it is part of a continuous Chinese effort to erase Taiwan as an

independent entity on the world stage.

Matt Rivers, CNN, Beijing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now, China's foreign ministry says it approves of the website changes and also adds this. "We hope that foreign companies operating in

China respect Chinese laws and regulations, respect China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and respect the feelings of the Chinese people."

Outrage continues to grow across China after it was revealed that hundreds of thousands of doses of children's vaccines are defective. Five senior

executives in manufacture, they are now in custody along with 10 others, but the scandal may not be limited to just that one company.

Facebook has announced plans to set up an innovation hub in China. After years of being locked out at the world's second largest economy, has the

tech titan finally found a way to kind of break through the infamous great firewall? Sherisse Pham has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHERISSE PHAM, CNN TECH AND BUSINESS REPORTER: Facebook has been trying to get back into China for years. CEO Mark Zuckerberg's charm offensive

includes visiting President Xi Jinping, learning Mandarin, even taking a famous smog jog through Beijing's Tiananmen Square.

Its efforts may finally be paying off. Facebook saying this week it plans to open a "innovation hub" in the eastern city of Hangzhou. The hub would

support local tech talents similar to Facebook's innovation hubs in India and Brazil. Now, Facebook's app and website have been banned in China for

nearly a decade because of China's strict censorship laws.

If this hub opens, it would be Facebook's first official status in China. But there are already signs of trouble ahead. A public notice about

Facebook's registration of this new office has already been taken down from a Chinese government website. Kristie?

LU STOUT: Sherisse Pham reporting there. You are watching "News Stream." Still to come, a man walks into a gym for a little naked yoga. Find out

what he said to the police when he was arrested.

[08:40:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Now, Planet Fitness has chain of gyms in the U.S. It builds itself as a judgment-free zone. But workers there, they were a little bit

judgy when a man assumed the yoga pose totally in the nude. Here's Jeanne Moos.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All the toxins --

JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's a stretch even for yoga.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Amazing. Your aura (ph) is so amazing.

MOOS: More amazing than an aura is a sight of a naked guy doing yoga at a Planet Fitness gym in Plaistow, New Hampshire.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) naked yoga, I hope he brought his own mat.

MOOS: Thirty-four-year-old Eric Stagno walked into the crowded gym, took off his clothes, and positioned himself on a yoga mat.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If I have the good sense to put my clothes on before I come to the gym, then so should he.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's weird.

MOOS: Police found him naked on his knees in a yoga-type position. He was charged with indecent exposure and disorderly conduct. But everyone's

favorite part of the story, he told police he thought what he was doing was OK, because he was in a judgment-free zone.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Planet Fitness, the judgment-free zone.

MOOS: Hey, they say judgement-free, not pants-free. This is built as a gym for regular folks, not muscle-bound mirror addicts.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Looking at me. Looking at me looking at you to see if you're looking at me.

MOOS: Everybody was looking at him. Police said Stagno was in possession of a glass bong and a grinder. He did not respond to CNN's request for

comment.

No need to avert your eyes, we have no video of the nude yoga guy posing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Downward facing dog.

(LAUGHTER)

MOOS: The story had TV anchors practicing --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Namaste.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I'm not going to stay. I'm going to go.

(LAUGHTER)

MOOS: Yoga-inspired banter.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hopefully he wiped his equipment.

(LAUGHTER)

MOOS: Maybe a judgment-free zone but getting out on bail costs him 40 bucks. And isn't it weird that the guy in the Planet Fitness ad --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I felt like you. It's amazing.

MOOS: -- bears a certain resemblance to the bare naked yoga guy.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: All right, time to cast your eyes on this. We're going to return to one of our top stories this day. You know, CNN obtained the secret

recording between Michael Cohen and then candidate Donald Trump two months before the 2016 election.

The conversation seemed to indicate that Donald Trump knew about plans to pay off a woman who claimed she had an affair with him, something that the

president denied.

Moments ago, Donald Trump has responded on Twitter and saying this. "What kind of a lawyer would tape a client? So sad. Is this a first? Never heard

of it before. Why was the tape so abruptly terminated or cut while I was presumably saying positive things? I hear that there are other clients and

many reporters are taped. Can this be so? Too bad."

That's the latest comment from Donald Trump to the secret tape that was released exclusively by CNN. We will have more details in the hours ahead

for you. For now, that's it for "News Stream." I'm Kristie Lu Stout. Don't go anywhere. "World Sport" with Christina Macfarlane is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:45:00] (WORLD SPORT)

END