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World Headlines; Rohingya Refugee Crisis; Controversial Cartoon; New iPhone Announcement Coming; When Beards Rule. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired September 12, 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 LU STOUT, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong and welcome to "News Stream."

Monster storm, the U.S. east coast prepares for one of the strongest hurricanes in decades as parts of Asia brace for a potentially devastating

super typhoon.

Merely civilians, Vladimir Putin says Russia has identified the two suspects accused of the Skripal poisonings.

And cartoon controversy, an Australian newspaper comes out with bold response to what's being called a racist cartoon of Serena Williams.

For the second time in a week, extreme weather is posing a threat in both the Pacific and the Atlantic. First, officials in the Philippines and Hong

Kong are on alert as a super typhoon takes aim at Southeast Asia. More than 40 million people could be affected, and more on that in just a moment.

But we turn now to the United States and to Hurricane Florence which the National Weather Service is calling the storm of a lifetime. This Category

4 hurricane is right now bearing down on the southeast where it is predicted to be one of the strongest storms to hit the region in decades.

In South Carolina, local roads have been redirected away from the coast and residents are being urged to get out while they still can. And in North

Carolina, a blunt warning from the governor of that state.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROY COOPER, GOVERNOR OF NORTH CAROLINA: The waves and the wind, this storm may bring is nothing like you've ever seen. Even if you've ridden out

storms before, this one is different. Don't bet your life on riding out a monster.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Now, some people are staying put even though there are orders to evacuate. Martin Savage reports from North Carolina.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARTIN SAVAGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's the question everyone asks. Are you staying or going?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am definitely leaving. It's going to be that, no doubt, yes.

SAVAGE: Dava Villapiano has also made up her mind.

DAVA VILLAPIANO, RESTAURANT OWNER: Oh, I'm going. I'm definitely going. I was here through Bertha and Fran and several others, but this is not the

same kind of storm.

SAVAGE: She owns the silver dollar bar and grill where the last of the boards are going up on the windows and the last of the food is coming out

of the fridge.

VILLAPIANO: If it comes in as a four, this could be, you know, the whole island could be decimated.

SAVAGE: Carolina Beach is under a mandatory evacuation order. And the order is simple. Leave. If you are here after 8:00 p.m. Wednesday, you're

on your own. At the local gas station, you find folks who are definitely out of here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you don't get out, you'll going to be a casualty, plain and simple.

SAVAGE: And you find some who still seem undecided.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I may change my mind, but right now, I plan on riding it out.

SAVAGE (on-camera): So we got I tip in town. As cliche as this sounds, that on this particular street, there is a whole group of neighbors that

have bonded together and apparently they're going to stay.

Are you staying or going?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, we're headed out. We're going the take the smart route.

SAVAGE: -- she was the little one then.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, exactly. Sitting here without power for about five days doesn't seem like a great idea.

SAVAGE: But in a nearby garage, I find friends Bill and Stan and they're staying and they won't be alone.

How many people do you think are going to be staying?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's see. We have one, two, three, four, five -- we have about five to six right in the cul-de-sac are staying.

SAVAGE: The guys laugh about it, but both say there getting calls and texts from friends begging them to leave.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People are calling me saying, don't stay, don't stay. This is going to be a killer.

SAVAGE: The pair have a brand new generator and joke about a fridge full of beer, but there is this seriousness as to why they want to ride it out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to stay here and protect what I have and stay with my neighbors and help out if I can on the island.

SAVAGE: Back on the beach, I find Danielle Moody, sitting all by herself at the water's edge. She moved here just 20 days ago.

What are you going to do?

DANIELLE MOODY, RESIDENT: You know, we're going to have to seek shelter. We're going to go and stay with some family inland.

SAVAGE: She and her fiance just finished building their dream home and now have to leave it behind. She's here for a few last moments of peace.

MOODY: I just wanted to get one more glimpse of it.

SAVAGE: She's going and worries a lot of what she's looking at my soon be gone.

[08:05:03] SAVAGE (on-camera): The decision of whether to stay or go is finally going to be made for a lot of people at 8:00 eastern time because

that is officially when the curfew goes into place and it's expected at the same time the bridge to the mainland will shut down. After that, they're on

their own. Martin Savage, CNN, Carolina Beach, North Carolina.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Florence is still expected to make landfall Thursday night into Friday morning, but the track of this storm has shifted slightly. And for

more of that, let's bring in meteorologist Chad Myers. And Chad, you're tracking the storm, what do you see right now?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It's still on track for the next 48 hours to do exactly as we expected two or three days ago. The models have done a

fabulous job. But overnight, all of a sudden the models aren't going straight any more. The models are stopping very close to land and then

trying to turn to the left.

Do they stay offshore? Some of them do. Do they go onshore? Some of them do. So, all of a sudden what we thought was a slam dunk, here it is, get

ready, batten down the hatches for certain people. Now all of a sudden, millions more may be in the way of a turning storm -- 215 kilometers per

hour moving to the west northwest at 17 miles per hour, 27 kilometers per hour.

The Weather Service hurricane hunter aircraft, 204 kph just now, that was about 15 minutes ago as they fly through the storm. Here's what we knew. We

knew this was going to be right near North Carolina but what we didn't see yesterday because the models didn't show it yet, the European and the

American model, is that the storm is going to turn to the left.

It's going maybe parallel to shore and scour the shore with hour after hour of wind with meters of storm surge trying to knock down homes and whatever

else is there because water has a lot more power than wind when it comes to beating on you. If you can stand by in the ocean, try to stand with your

back against the wave and see how much power that water has.

And finally, somewhere north of Charleston or maybe very near it, as we work our way into Sunday. A long-term event with long-term consequences and

significant rainfall likely even to half a meter in some spots. Here is the European model. Taking it right here to Wilmington, North Carolina. It's

exactly what we expected, 48 hours from now.

But it was supposed to go that way and now all of a sudden it's offshore and maybe making the way down towards Savannah. The American model doing

the same thing. Hey, we're in agreement, but all of a sudden not in agreement any more, taking it down to the south and away.

So that is why the models have changed so significantly overnight and that's why the forecasts have changed and so how many millions of more

people have to wake up this morning and go, wait, I wasn't in this yesterday. How am in this now? Because the models have changed.

LU STOUT: Yes, the models still very much fluid there. An as United States is bracing for Hurricane Florence and its arrival an even stronger super

typhoon is barreling through right here in Asia. How powerful is Mangkhut going to be when it makes landfall?

MYERS: You know, the benchmark is Haiyan and we're not going to get to Haiyan, I don't believe, but the water is so warm, 280 kph right now moving

west at 19. There is Manila and boy, you know, this thing is just -- it's on a path to somewhere, whether it's Hong Kong or the Philippines or

somewhere, it is going to be a very large and dangerous storm.

Even at Hong Kong, this is now the joint typhoon warning center's forecast, nothing to do with the United States. This is JTWC. At 165 kph, very close

to Hong Kong, and that's 96 hours from now as we work our way into the beginning of the weekend. But 270, 260, and then making landfall here, not

that far north of -- there is Manila.

So on the top of the island here, and then finally sliding off and then eventually, maybe even turning on up into China with significant rainfall

because the storm will eventually kind of die as tropical cyclone. But you still have all that humidity in there.

All that moisture, is still in the storm and as it moves on shore, that's where we could actually see on up even towards Shanghai, we could see

significant flooding in the forecast. Right now, we're worried about the wind and the surge. We don't want surge into Hong Kong harbor that

certainly be possible. You could see two or three meters if this track holds up. We'll keep watching.

LU STOUT: Wow, a lot of weather, dangerous conditions, extreme weather in both the Pacific and the Atlantic. Chad Myers across it all for us. Chad,

thank you.

U.S. President Donald Trump, he is promising an all-out response to Hurricane Florence. He says that the safety of the American people is his

highest priority.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We are sparing -- we are totally prepared. We're ready. We're as ready as anybody has ever been.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[08:10:02] LU STOUT: OK, but during that same briefing about Florence, Mr. Trump praised his administration's response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto

Rico last year where we now know some 3,000 people died. And he has reiterated that praise in just the last hour on Twitter. Abby Phillip joins

me from the White House this morning.

And Abby, with the preparations for this big storm, Florence, it's on its way, President Trump did that -- he praised his government's response to

Maria in Puerto Rico despite that very, very grim death toll. What has he said and what has been the reaction?

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: So that's right, Kristie, yesterday President Trump had a briefing with his FEMA administrator Brock

Long about this storm coming toward the U.S. east coast, warning people to be prepared. But he also took an opportunity to defend his administration's

response to a storm that hit around this time last year and caused a massive catastrophe in Puerto Rico.

Now, president trump has been called on to address this new death toll of about 3,000 people who died as a result of that storm. But instead, here is

how he described his administration response to Hurricane Maria.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I think Puerto Rico was incredibly successful. The job that fema and law enforcement and everybody did working along with the governor in

Puerto Rico, I think, was tremendous. I think that Puerto Rico was an incredible unsung success.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIP: And President Trump doubled down on that just in morning, issuing a new tweet saying that we got a pluses for our recent hurricane work. He

talks about Texas and Florida, but then of Puerto Rico he says this, "We did an unappreciated great job in Puerto Rico even though an inaccessible

island with very poor electricity and a totally incompetent mayor of San Juan."

Now, this is the president both doubling down on his own assessment that his administration did well despite all of the other assessments frankly to

the contrary, but also blaming in many ways the pre-existing infrastructure problems of Puerto Rico, the fact that Puerto Rico is in fact an island.

You know, I think what's happening here is that President Trump is not willing to accept the sort of after action report which even, you know, the

governor of Puerto Rico has now come back and said, you know, we could have done things better. President Trumps not agreeing with that right now.

And it comes at a time when the federal government is trying to get ahead of this impending storm coming at the Carolinas, coming at Virginia in the

next coming days and I think President Trump wants this narrative about his disaster preparedness response to be only positive and not taking into

consideration some of the criticisms that have been coming in recent weeks.

LU STOUT: Yes. So positive that he would give himself and his team an A plus on twitter. And Abby as you know, hurricane season is very often a

critical test of the U.S. presidency. It's a way the showcase crisis response. It's a way also to show political support. It's now, believe it

or not, only a year and a half into the Trump presidency. Outside looking in, how has President Trump performed?

PHILLIP: Well, it has been in some ways a mixed bag. His first year in office, he dealt with back to back storms. Storms that hit Florida and

Texas and Puerto Rico, back to back. And that was one of the challenges with what happened in Puerto Rico. According to some of these reports that

have looked at that response, they just weren't ready to deal with storms hitting at almost the same time.

Now it seems very much the administration is cognizant of some of the issues there. But there are two buckets of concern here. There is one, what

the sort of administrative response is going to be, making sure that the supplies are there and ready. Making sure that the first responders are

ready.

And also, there's the issue of President Trump's own response. Can he be the sort of voice of the federal government? Can he adequately show empathy

for people in the path of a storm? And I think those are the two kinds of things people are looking at here. And I think this is going to be a

critical test for President Trump and how he demonstrates competency on both of those fronts, Kristie.

LU STOUT: Absolutely. Abby Phillip, reporting live for us from Washington, thank you.

Now, a new CNN poll shows that more Americans approve of special counsel Robert Mueller's handling of the Russia investigation than Donald Trump's.

Fifty percent approved of Mueller's work on the investigation, but just 30 percent of Americans approve of the way the president is handling the

controversial probe.

And Americans are now evenly split on the question of impeachment. The number of those that believe the president should be impeached has risen

since June when 42 percent said he should be removed from office. As of now, Democratic leaders have shown no interest of pursuing impeachment.

But the president says if they take control of Congress, it will be a top agenda item. Meanwhile, we've seen a grassroots hunger for change in the

Democratic Party heading to November's midterms. Miguel Marquez reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[08:15:05] AYANNA PRESSLEY, DEMOCRATIC U.S. CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: We have arrived. Change is coming and the future belongs to all of us.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ayanna Presley, the 44-year-old Boston City counselor thrust into the national spotlight after defeating another

equally progressive Democrat, 10-term Congressman Mike Capuano.

REP. MIKE CAPUANO (D), MASSACHUSETTS: (Inaudible) the district just is very upset with lots of things that are going on. I don't blame them. I'm

just as upset as they are.

MARQUEZ: Presley campaigned on her personal story, raised by a single mother, the survivor of sexual assault. Her slogan, "Change Can't Wait"

captured liberal anger and a desire for a more aggressive stance against President Trump and the Republican Party.

PRESSLYE: -- than with our rights under assault, with our freedoms under siege, but it's not just good enough to see the Democrats back in power,

but it matters who those Democrats are.

MARQUEZ: The district is deep blue, liberal, an area once represented by John F. Kennedy. Presley's stunning primary win follows several similar

progressive outsider victories.

Political newcomer and Democratic socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez pulled off a major upset in defeating more moderate and New York power breaker Joe

Crowley.

ANDREW GILLUM, DEMOCRATIC U.S. CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: I want to be their governor, too.

MARQUEZ: Andrew Gillum, the first Africa-American major party nominee for Florida governor embraced progressivism to pull off a surprise upset in a

competitive Democratic primary.

STACEY ABRAMS: DEMOCRATIC U.S. CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: Hello, Georgia Democrats.

MARQUEZ: And Stacey Abrams, a rising star in the Democratic Party could become the first African-American female governor of Georgia.

Is there something bigger going on in Democratic politics?

PRESLEY: There is. I do believe that there is a paradigm shift that is occurring. And there are winds of change that are afoot.

MARQUEZ: Presley's district like others that have produced upsets this year is racially diverse, nearly 60 percent minority. Still Capuano was up

by double digits in polls leading up to Election Day.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Overall, the population is majority minority in the district, but when you get down to who is registered to vote and who

actually votes and then who votes in democratic primary, historically that's been actually majority white.

MARQUEZ: Voters torn between an incumbent they trust and a challenger representing a new voice.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm leaning towards Presley.

MARQUEZ: Why?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I really like her story. Capuano is great, but I think I resonate with her story.

MARQUEZ: Presley's story, a shocker even to her. A friend took cell phone video when Presley got word that she had done the unthinkable.

PRESSLEY: It seems like change is on the way.

MARQUEZ: With no Republican challenger in the general election, she will represent Massachusetts 7th district next year when she'll be expected to

turn the slogan into action. Miguel Marquez, CNN, Boston.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: The Russian president says Moscow knows the suspects the U.K. has named with the Novichok the poisoning, but says they aren't criminals.

The latest, just ahead.

Plus, a big move by Pope Francis to address the escalating abuse scandal plaguing the Catholic Church. The latest from Rome, is next.

[08:20:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back. Now, in an unprecedented move, Pope Francis has called on all the president of Catholic Bishops Conferences around the

world to meet at the Vatican in February to address the escalating abuse scandal engulfing the Catholic Church. Our Vatican correspondent Delia

Gallagher has more now from Rome. She joins us now. Delia, again, this is an unprecedented move by the pontiff. Why and what should we expect?

DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kristie, we call it unprecedented because it's a worldwide meeting. You know, we have seen

meetings of representatives of bishops conferences from the United States back in 2002 with John Paul II -- most recently from the Chile Bishop's

Conference with Pope Francis coming to discuss sex abuse in their individual countries.

But one of the problems that the sex abuse scandal has raised for the Catholic Church is what to do the on a worldwide scale, something that are

mandatorily enforced guidelines both for dealing with priests who have committed sex abuse and for bishops who have covered up.

And that question of what they call bishops' accountability, how to deal with bishops who moved knowingly abusive priest around, and how to hold

them accountable? What is their punishment? What happens to them? All of that is still not transparent and it has to happen at the Vatican level.

So, it's a positive sign albeit some people might say a bit late for the pope and the Vatican to be calling all of the representatives of the

Bishop's Conference worldwide next February. We might say that just tomorrow there is going to be an important meeting, Kristie, with two

representatives, the president and vice president of the U.S. Bishop's Conference to discuss with Pope Francis the situation in the United States.

That's a highly anticipated meeting given everything that has come out of the United States. And one of the things that they want to talk about with

the pope is this issue of holding bishops accountable. This is kind of where we're at this stage after 16 years of publicly dealing with the

question of sex abuse. It's about bishops who knew and what's going to happen to them.

So one of the things that the U.S. bishops want to talk to Pope Francis about and it might feed in them to the February worldwide meeting is what

do we do about this The Vatican says they have an office here. They can do it, but what is the process for reporting and certainly victims groups are

saying what is going to be the punishment? How are they going to be held accountable? Kristie.

LU STOUT: Yes, you mentioned that upcoming meeting, you know, ahead of this global bishop's meeting just announced, taking place in February there

at the Vatican. The pope will be meeting with U.S. leaders of the church, that just happening in a couple of days, and there have been some very

explosive allegations about church leader in America, you know, about abuse and also about cover-ups, as well. What more can you tell us?

GALLAGHER: Well listen, here is what is really important right now, is that we have the Pennsylvania grand jury report that has come out detailing

horrendous abuse on the part of priests and knowledge of that abuse on the part of bishops.

We can already see with the example of the Archbishop of Washington, D.C., Cardinal Wuerl, who just announced yesterday that he is going to come back

to the Vatican. He was just here last Thursday talking to Pope Francis about what he should do because he's at the heart of this debate. And the

pope say go back and talk to your priest about your future.

Well, in less than a week, he has announced that he's coming back to the Vatican to talk about resignation. He turned 75 three years ago. All

bishops have to submit a resignation at 75, but the pope hasn't accepted it yet. So what this points to is that people are going to want to see that

bishops and cardinals are being held accountable for what they did and did not do in the past.

And particularly with Cardinal Weurl's resignation, it's going to be indicative of what the Vatican intends to do because do you just allow them

to resign? Do they stay a cardinal but they move out of their position in their archdiocese? What happens to them? And some victims groups are

already saying we don't just want them to be allowed to resign. We want them to pay for what they did. So for that, we're going to have to see what

the pope's response is, Kristie.

LU STOUT: Absolutely. Delia Gallagher, reporting live from Rome, thank you. Now, President Vladimir Putin says Russia has identified two suspects

accused of poisoning Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia with that Novichok nerve agent in Salisbury, England back in March. The president

said the suspects are civilians, and not criminals.

[08:25:01] He made these comments in front of the Eastern Economic Forum where he's been hosting Asian leaders in an effort to build ties and to

promote investment in Russia's east. CNN's Matthew Chance is in Moscow with much more. Matthew, Vladimir Putin has finally weighed in on the two

Russian nationals charged in the U.K. for the poisoning of Sergei Skripal. And Putin's response, do you believe It represents a significant shift in

position? How so?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it does because it's for the first time the Russians acknowledging that these two individuals, Alexander

Petrov and Ruslan Bashirov, actually exist. Previously, the Russians had insisted that those names were meaningless to them and that the identities

that have been circulated, the photographs that have been identified and circulated by British investigators.

They had no meaning attached to them and so, this is the Russians for the first time saying that they have identified these individuals, but they're

in no way accepting any kind of responsibility for what took place in Salisbury saying these people were essentially innocent, that they're

civilians, denying that they had anything to do with Russian military intelligence.

And Vladimir Putin in these comments that he made in that (inaudible), the Eastern Economic Forum, encouraged the two suspects to come out to the

media and to tell their own story. And indeed, within an hour or so of Vladimir Putin making those comments, one Russian state television channel

broadcast what it said was a telephone conversation that one of his correspondents had with Alexander Petrov, that's how they were identified

him.

He was the last one of the suspects and in that telephone conversation recording that they broadcast, you can hear Mr. Petrov saying that he's got

no comments at the moment, but he may speak to the media in full next week.

And so a lot of interest in this obviously, domestically here in Russia and also British and around the world because this poisoning in Salisbury of

the Skripals back in March and the subsequent poisoning of British citizens after that.

It has been a massive diplomatic incident for Russia. It's provoked the expulsion 153 diplomats from more than 20 countries. That United States has

imposed punitive sanctions on Russia because of its alleged use of chemical weapons.

And so, it's going to be really interesting if one of these suspects or both of them do come out and speak to the media to hear what their version

of events are Why were they in Salisbury for that very short visit in march just before the Skripals were poisoned with that substance, Novichok.

LU STOUT: Yes, it would be very interesting to hear how they attempt to explain it all. Matthew Chance reporting live for us from Moscow. Matthew,

thank you.

You're watching "New Stream." Still ahead, the World Economic Forum is being held in Vietnam. All eyes on Myanmar's de facto leader. Will Aung San

Suu Kyi finally address the U.N. report accusing military leaders of genocide, that's coming up.

[08:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

What is being called the storm of a lifetime is taking aim at the southeast coast of the United States. Hurricane Florence is on track to slam into the

region late on Thursday or early Friday, bringing heavy rain and dangerous winds that could affect some 30 million people.

Russian President Vladimir Putin says Moscow knows the identity of the two men Britain accuses of poisoning Sergei Skripal and his daughter in England

earlier this year. Speaking at the Eastern Economic Forum, Mr. Putin said the suspects are civilians and that there is "nothing unusual or criminal

there."

Southeast Asia is bracing for super typhoon Mangkhut. It is equivalent to a Category 5 hurricane right now. It could affect more than 40 million across

China and the Philippines. The storm is on track to make landfall in southern China on Monday.

Now to Vietnam, where Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi is attending the World Economic Forum in Hanoi, she has addressed the event twice already

but has so far not addressed the U.N. report that was released two weeks ago, saying that several Myanmar military leaders should be investigated

for genocide against the Rohingya.

At the event, CNN's Alexandra Field sat down with the foreign secretary of Bangladesh, a country who has seen many of the Rohingya refugees. She joins

us now live from Hanoi. Alex, thank you for joining us. What did the foreign secretary tell you about the fate of hundreds of thousands of

Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh?

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kristie, it has been more than a year since they fled violence in Myanmar, taking shelter in

Bangladesh. You will recall it was just a couple of months after that that much to the alarm of human rights group, Bangladesh and Myanmar had agreed

to a plan to work toward the repatriation of all those who had fled.

That hasn't happened all these months later. When I spoke to the foreign secretary, he said that he and officials in Myanmar were working towards

this, and that he recently traveled to Northern Rakhine State to see exactly the condition that the Rohingya Muslims ran from and to see how

exactly Myanmar might be ready to receive those who would want to return now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHAHIDUL HAQUE, FOREIGN SECRETARY OF BANGLADESH: So we saw the trail of devastation. It's pretty empty in all the build ups, military build ups,

camps and other things.

FIELD (on camera): And yet this deal has been in place since last November to repatriate hundreds of thousands of Rohingyas. Is Myanmar ready to

accept these people?

HAQUE: They did build some reception center, houses. The work is on but there is a lot to be built. It's not a question of building the house. It's

a question of building the trust. For that, we have been saying that themselves need to come to Cox's Bazar, the government officers, and tell

their own people what they're doing and when they go back, how they will be treated.

FIELD (on camera): Why isn't the repatriation happening? Because the Rohingyas don't yet want to go back or because Myanmar's government has not

met the conditions to ensure their safety?

HAQUE: I think it's a mix of both. If you go to the camp and ask them, the old would say that they want to go back, but they want to go back in the

right condition.

FIELD (on camera): Based on what you saw, based on what you were shown, have the conditions been met?

HAQUE: I think there's a lot to be done.

FIELD (on camera): It was just two weeks ago that a U.N. fact-finding mission said that Myanmar's top military general should be investigated and

prosecuted for genocide. Are you assured of the safety of hundreds of thousands of people should they return to Myanmar?

HAQUE: Myanmar government in writing and in agreement assured their safety and security. So it's there on the piece of paper.

FIELD (on camera): Is a piece of paper enough?

HAQUE: I think it's a commitment between two states. You know that there subsequently a signed agreement with UNHCR and UNDP. So, it's also a

commitment between the international committee and Myanmar and between the two states. So, I think how they will do it, we can only say and see and

judge ones they do it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FIELD: That delegation from Myanmar could visit the refugee camps in Bangladesh as soon as October. The foreign secretary says that some 3,000

Rohingya Muslims have been cleared to return to Myanmar, but he couldn't begin to give a timeline for when that process could start to happen.

And Kristie, U.N. agents have also said that they will be working with Myanmar in the return process. They want to ensure that anyone who returns

returns in a safe and dignified way.

[08:34:58] But they say that there is still progress that needs to be made in a number of key areas when it comes to ensuring the safety and the

rights of those who do choose to return to the place that they ran from.

LU STOUT: Yeah, and the fate of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees still hanging in the balance. Alexandra Field reporting live for us from

Hanoi, thank you very much indeed for bringing that interview for us. Take care.

Now, a cartoon, not a very funny one, of the American tennis player Serena Williams, it has been generating outrage around the world. Many see the

depiction as racist depiction of an athlete. And the man who drew it and his employers, they defied international criticism on Wednesday when they

published this today. They also doubled down in their defense that it is not racist. Reporter Brett McLeod tells us why.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRETT MCLEOD, REPORTER: One of Australia's most popular cartoonists, drawing fire from the world's most popular author.

MARK KNIGHT, CARTOONIST, HERALD SUN: Well done on reducing one of the greatest sportswomen alive to racist and sexist tropes. To have JK Rowling

trolling me is -- well, it's something I didn't expect in life.

MCLEOD: The Harry Potter writer just one of thousands who had taken to social media, condemning this depiction of Serena Williams at the U.S.

Open. Her reaction, the cartoonist didn't anticipate.

KNIGHT: One of the greatest players of all time who I had admired and drawn many times having a dummy speech. And I can say that when I drew the

cartoon, it was like, yeah, that's not bad and off it went.

MCLEOD: The U.S. Association of Black Journalists referenced a racist past when it called it a repugnant cartoon which exudes racist and sexist

caricatures of both women, but Williams' depiction is unnecessarily sambo- like.

KNIGHT: Her facial expressions are one of somebody having a dummy speech. I don't know how I could have done it any other way.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I support him on it. It's a great cartoon. I don't think there's any racism in there at all.

MCLEOD: Mark Knight has the support of his news corp chiefs who dismissed the online attacks.

DAMON JOHNSTON, EDITOR, HERALD SUN: In this world of perpetual outrage where people are looking for victimhood, nothing surprises me.

MCLEOD: The daughter of civil rights activist Martin Luther King called that response unfortunate, without consideration for the painful historical

context of such imagery.

KNIGHT: Look, I'd say in my defense, I've done -- I'm not a racist. I've done cartoons supporting Adam Goods in his situation. My family are worried

and upset at the threats that we're getting. Is it going to affect me in the future? Maybe it will. Maybe I will have to pull my punches.

MCLEOD: He'll leave the last word to his famous cartoon piece (ph).

KNIGHT: What have you gone and done now?

MCLEOD: Brett McLeod, Nine News.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: This controversy is going to simmer on and on. You're watching "News Stream." Still to come, vacation time is over. Now, T.V. shows are

back with their new seasons and some hosts are back with a little something extra. That's next on "News Stream."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Coming to you live from Hong Kong. Welcome back. You're watching "News Stream." A faster phone with a bigger screen. That is what Apple is

set to unveil later today. The company's new phone is going to be called iPhone XS. That's according to Bloomberg that claims to have seen leaked

photos.

[08:40:02] Lower cost phones will get upgrades including new colors, and the Apple watch is likely to get a few minimal changes, but expect to pay

more for all the devices. Apple makes this announcement at this time of the year, ahead of the holiday shopping season. We're going to have more on

this story in just about 20 minutes on "First Move with Julia Chatterley."

Now, it is still about 10 days before the fall officially begins for at least half the world. But this game show host is already welcoming the

season in a pretty warm way. Fans have all kinds of things to say about it. Jeanne Moos has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You know what's not in "Jeopardy?" Host Alex Trebek's brand new beard. It's a hit. The game show

once paid homage to his moustache with a montage (ph).

Now bearded Trebek says he just meant to regrow another moustache.

ALEX TREBEK, TELEVISION PERSONALITY: Things got a lot out of hand. These hairs kept attracting friends.

MOOS: And viola, for the 35th year of "jeopardy," a beard. Wow, reminds me of Sean Connery. The older the better, yum, yum. Hashtag Alex Trebeard took

off. And when the votes were counted, the beard won by more than a hair. Is he following in the follicles of Stephen Colbert?

STEPHEN COLBERT, COMEDIAN: Came in all white.

(LAUGHTER)

COLBERT: Evidently talking about Donald Trump for two years has made my mouth old.

(LAUGHTER)

MOOS: These hosts tend to go away on break and come back hairy, polling their fan base. Thirty-seven percent said yes, beard.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Twenty-four said, no beard. Seventeen percent said, that is not a beard.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And 22 percent security stop that hobo.

MOOS: Colbert said though the beard sort of won, the popular vote --

COLBERT: My wife at the electoral college.

(LAUGHTER)

MOOS: And she found none too happy, unlike this "Jeopardy" fan who tweeted, Alex Trebek is looking like the sexy brother of Santa Claus.

But if you want a beard that looks like it belongs on Santa himself --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I forget that I have the damn beard.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I'm surprised that no one has said to me, hey, dumb ass --

(LAUGHTER)

MOOS: Gillette reports the average number of times men shave has fallen to 3.2 times a week and razor sales are down. Someone suggested Trebek should

look like letter man by December. If nothing else --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The beard.

MOOS: Gives hosts something to stroke between jokes.

COLBERT: The hearings are being headed.

MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I look like a civil war statue.

MOOS: New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:45:00] (WORLD SPORT)

END