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Quest Means Business
IMF Head Urges Rate Cuts, Quantitative Easing in UK; OECD Outlook; OECD's Gurria Says Europe Should Focus on Growth, Not Debt; Nissan's Outlook; Italian Earthquake Aftermath; Growth Projects in Italy; Euro and Yen Fall; Facebook Falls Sharply Again; The Millennials: Awards Night for Intern Latin America's David Lloyd; Egypt To Hold a Landmark Post- revolution Presidential Election on Wednesday and Thursday; 100 Soldiers Killed As a Suicide Bomber Infiltrates Parade Rehearsal for Yemen's National Unification Day; Ambassador to Afghanistan, Ryan Crocker, To Resign For Health Reasons; Tiny Space Capsule Carrying Supplies Launched to Rendezvous with the ISS
Aired May 22, 2012 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MAX FOSTER, HOST: The global recovery is underway. The OECD wants action from EU leaders.
Facebook's star is falling. Shares slump for a third day.
And Juventus rejuvenated. The football club's president tells us how he's rebuilt the brand.
I'm Max Foster, this is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.
Good evening. Strong headwinds require strong action. That's the warning from the OECD head ahead of Wednesday's EU summit. Tonight on QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, the director general says these are the words he wants to hear from EU leaders tomorrow.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANGEL GURRIA, SECRETARY-GENERAL, OECD: We now have the big bazooka fully loaded and ready to shoot should anybody mess with any of my children.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Well, there you are. The head of the International Monetary Fund says the UK has the tools stimulate growth, meanwhile, and it's time that it used them. In London today, Christine Lagarde said the UK's recover has failed to take hold.
To push it forward, she's urging the Bank of England to cut its key interest rate below the current historic low of half of one percent. She also said it might be time to restart the UK's quantitative easing measures. Lagarde acknowledged the work that has already been done to cut the UK's budget deficit.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTINE LAGARDE, MANAGING DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND: When I think back myself to May 2010, when the UK deficit was at 11 percent, and I try to imagine what the situation would be like today if no such fiscal consolidation program had been decided, I shiver.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: UK finance minister George Osborne says the country is on the brink -- or on the right track, rather, with its austerity measures, and the money saved will help bolster the recovery.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE OSBORNE, UK FINANCE MINISTER: The IMF could not be clearer today. Britain needs to deal with its debts, and the government's fiscal policy is the appropriate one and an essential part of our road to recovery.
It enables interest rates to stay low. It means we can use the credibility we've earned for the government's balance sheet to support lending to businesses, new housing, and more infrastructure.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Well, the global recovery is gaining momentum, but it's fragile and could be derailed by the crisis in Europe. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has offered its prescription for Europe on the even of a summit in Brussels. Let's take a look, then, at the latest projections.
The OECD sees an uneven picture, really, around the world. It expects the eurozone economy to contract 0.1 percent this year. That's a big turnaround from the 1.5 percent growth seen in 2011. And it's -- and it's also the only major region where unemployment, actually, is expected to rise, exceeding to -- exceeding 11 percent, actually, in 2013.
Now, the OECD expects Japan, there to return to growth this year, with the pace of expansion easing off in 2013. It expects unemployment there to remain steady at around 4.5 percent.
And over in the United States, he sees an even more solid recover that gathers steam, actually, in 2013. In terms of unemployment there, well, the rate will continue to fall as the US economy recovers.
Angel Gurria is the OECD's general -- or secretary-general and, speaking from Paris, he told me he wants European leaders to focus on the long-term when they meet in Brussels on Wednesday.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GURRIA: Well, basically, as you know, this is only 24 hours before our own ministerial council meeting, but also before the Europeans are going to get together to talk about, hopefully, growth. Hopefully, they will not be captured again by the short-term issues of the Greek debt or the debt of some of the other countries or the pressures on the market or Spain or Italy.
But -- so, the most important thing is now, the short-term measures that we're recommending are structural changes.
FOSTER: If there's one thing that you want to hear out of the ministerial meeting tomorrow -- because they're not going to achieve everything that you want -- if there's one thing, what do you want it to be?
GURRIA: I'd like to say we have put together all our weaponry. We've put together all our gunpowder. We now have the big bazooka fully loaded and ready to shoot should anybody mess with any of my children.
I'd like -- we have a firewall in Europe with the FSF and the ESM and a firewall in Washington with the IMF, and we have the EIB, which can really be very effective in financing infrastructure.
And then we can -- and the ECB, which just by intervening in the markets with the finance -- with the liquidity of the commercial banks, put up a trillion euros over a month's period and to stabilize the market. It was a game changer. Well, this is the kind of game-changers that the ECB could work also in the bond market in the yields of these countries, which are of concern.
Now, I'm talking about Spain and Italy, not about Greece, because about Greece, of course, we'll know. But in the case of Greece, after the 17th of June -- or rather, before that -- we have to provide them with a way out, not of the euro, but a way out of their own crisis.
FOSTER: Are you going to get agreement? Because it really looks now as if they can't even agree on anything.
GURRIA: I think we now have a better shot at getting the balance right. And at the same time, I think that it is that these differences are not so great and not so wide. I think what you have is a better -- view, a more balance view, both -- on both sides of the issue, and both a greater willingness to compromise simply because the stakes are so high.
Now, so what I'm saying is, put out the bazookas, put out awesome firepower, put it together, show that you're willing to use it, but also give signals about the medium and the long-term.
This is where you go structural. This is where you go for education, for innovation, for green growth, for competition, for flexibility in the labor market, for flexibility in the product markets, for R&D. This is where you go for the universities, for the tax structures, et cetera.
FOSTER: You're also talking about the global implications of what's happening here in Europe, because you're now concerned, aren't you, about the recoveries in Japan and the US being blow off course by all of this, unless it's resolved?
GURRIA: Yes, Max. This is why this is so important. This is not just a euro problem.
We have seen -- accumulate the debts of a few countries in there, but then calculate the losses that we've seen in the bond markets, in the stock markets, in the commodity markets in terms of loss of jobs and loss of growth, and you will see that the price of not getting right has been a multiple of the debt that we're talking about here. Certainly of the debt of Greece.
So, you really have now very clear evidence that leaving things for later has a very high cost. And then, the expectations of what you have to perform in order to clear the markets is more and more onerous every time.
And it does affect the markets in the United States, it does affect the markets in emerging economies, it does affect the market in Japan, et cetera. We see that every day. There's no longer this decoupling thing. It's no longer just Europe by itself.
FOSTER: You've predicted a lot of gloom, right now, for the Western economies, but can the emerging economies do enough to keep the global economy balanced?
GURRIA: In the case of the developing country, or the large emerging economies, they've really become the engines of growth of the world economy, but we can't put that onus on their shoulders. They can't be the ones who get us out of this -- of the doldrums.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Well, let's get a CEO's perspective on all of this, because Carlos Ghosn is the president and CEO of Nissan-Renault. He spoke to our Andrew Stevens after the unveiling of Nissan's new Hong Kong headquarters. He admitted that Europe will be a problem this year, but it's just one part of a bigger picture.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CARLOS GHOSN, PRESIDENT AND CEO, NISSAN-RENAULT: I am still optimistic for the outlook. I think 2012 is going to be another record year for the car industry. Last year, the industry has produced and sold about 76 million cars. We are on a trend of 79 million this year.
ANDREW STEVENS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Why?
GHOSN: Well, because yes, Europe is going to be a problem. You're going to have a decline in the car market in Europe. But Japan is going to be better than last year. We need to understand that Japan has been in a disaster last year.
The United States is in a recovery mode, 1 million additional cars this year, compared to last year. China, even though the growth in China has slowed down, there is still growth, 5, 6 percent of 17 or 18 million car markets is still an additional million cars. Brazil is going well, India is going well, Russia is going well, the Middle East is coming back.
STEVENS: Emerging markets still very much the key.
GHOSN: Exactly. Emerging markets still in the growth. Obviously, it could -- it would have been better with Europe not dragging down the growth.
STEVENS: Let's talk about Europe. How bad do you think it's going to be? Because this -- you had record car sales in Europe last year.
GHOSN: Yes.
STEVENS: The euro crisis rumbles on.
GHOSN: Yes.
STEVENS: How bad is it going to be this year, or can you still dodge that bullet again?
GHOSN: No, I think in 2012, we're going to have a recession in Europe. It's obvious. We're seeing the number, anyway. They don't look good. We're talking about minus 4 percent for the car market in Europe, between minus 3, minus 4 percent.
But it's a completely different situation from the northern part of Europe or southern part. Northern part of Europe, you're at zero. Southern part of Europe, you are at minus 15, minus 20 percent.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Head of Nissan, there, speaking earlier.
Now, an earthquake in the industrial heartland and a forecast of further economic contraction. We speak to Italy's minister for economic development about the road to recovery, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FOSTER: Italy's prime minister has declared a state of emergency in northern parts of the country devastated by Sunday's earthquake. Mario Monti promised more help for businesses damaged by the tremor in Italy's industrial heartland.
The magnitude 6 quake killed 7 people and destroyed homes and factories, and the government says 11,000 people have been left homeless. The area's famous cheese industry has also suffered a severe setback, with hundreds of thousands of wheels of Parmesan destroyed. With each wheel worth around $900 US, producers say the total cost could be over $255 million.
The family-run Caretti factory has lost 20,000 wheels of Parmesan. Davide Caretti says that's around two years' worth.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVIDE CARETTI, FACTORY OWNER: This is the bank, right, of our family. Of all our lives. And now, it is destroyed.
ALESSIO SCALAS, FARM LOBBY GROUP: We made more or less 100,000 -- million euro of damage in ten warehouses in dairies here in Emilia-Romagna. It is the district where we produce the main cheese. We call it the King of the Cheese, and it's a very important district for the economy of this region.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Well, the quake comes on top of what's already shaping up as a difficult year for Italy, bogged down in its fourth recession since 2001. Italy's economy is set to decline even more than previously thought, according to the latest official forecast, and Italy's minister for economic development, Corrado Passera, joins me, now, live. Thank you very much, indeed for joining us --
CORRADO PASSERA, ITALIAN MINISTER FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: Thank you.
FOSTER: -- Minister. The situation after the earthquake looks so damaging after we see those images and hear those stories from the factories. Are you able to put some sort of cost on that, and what are you able to do about rebuilding that area?
PASSERA: Not easy to make any estimates, but for sure, people are reacting very courageously, and reconstruction is already underway. You will see that this earthquake will, let's say, disappear soon from the landscape.
FOSTER: So, you're not too worried about the longer-term economic harm?
PASSERA: Absolutely not.
FOSTER: OK. And in terms of building Italy's economy up, I know that you've been pushing for this growth strategy that Europeans are talking a lot about right now. Feeling that you've been confirmed in that right? Correct?
PASSERA: Now everybody agrees that growth is at least as important as austerity. But it was not that way until a few months ago, and we are paying the cost of it.
FOSTER: So you've been suggesting investing in infrastructure.
PASSERA: For example, growth -- there is no silver bullet to create growth. There is no easy recipe. But for sure, infrastructure, reinforcing the efficiency, the productivity of a country is very important to foster growth.
That's the reason why we launched a major effort, and we already announced almost $30 billion worth of projects already financed, already underway in the last few weeks. But making the country more effective means also working on education, the mechanism, and on company competitiveness.
And that's why we are investing on innovation, internationalization, that for a country like ours is very important. Italy is still one of the countries that is exporting -- must -- the growth in export is growing -- is the highest. Italy remains one of the top manufacturers in the world, so we are pushing there most of our efforts. We have to --
FOSTER: So, you have invested in infrastructure and you've still got a debt problem. Isn't there a message there, as well?
PASSERA: Yes, and we have to attract private money. We have to use European money in the best possible way. We have to use all that money that was accumulated in the past and not well-used, because sometimes in infrastructure, the problem is not always the lack of resources, but is the duration -- the red tape, the duration of the authorization mechanism.
FOSTER: And there's a lot red tape in Italy, and there's a lot --
(CROSSTALK)
PASSERA: Many decisions --
FOSTER: -- some of --
PASSERA: -- already decreased. Two of the decreases have been on simplification, and the effects are already there.
FOSTER: One question about -- a lot of people would agree that you borrow to build infrastructure, but it does come to the point where you're borrowing and building and borrowing and building, where you can't borrow any more. And the feeling is that Italy has borrowed too much. So, at what point do you stop borrowing to pay for infrastructure?
PASSERA: Already stopped. We are -- we will be --
FOSTER: But how are you going to pay for future projects, then?
PASSERA: That's why I said we have to attract private money, we have to add some public money, but at the end, the commitment we took with our partners and with the markets is that by next year, our accounts will be in balance.
FOSTER: But define --
PASSERA: Very few countries will say the same.
FOSTER: Define private money. Whose cash is this?
PASSERA: Infrastructure is the roads, is --
(CROSSTALK)
FOSTER: Private companies?
PASSERA: -- the airport, is private companies. We are attracting people from all over the world on a number of major infrastructure projects that pay for themselves.
Sometimes the government has to add something, but this money is already part of a commitment we took with Europe to decrease, gradually, our total indebtedness -- public indebtedness, because company and households have not very much indebted in Italy while the rest of Europe is another story.
And the deficit -- for example, the deficit target we have for next year, as I said, we will be amongst the very few countries with our public accounts in balance.
FOSTER: This is what everyone wants to hear, because the big fear is that whilst you may be able to absorb a Greece collapsing, you can't absorb an Italy collapsing in Europe.
PASSERA: Don't even mention --
FOSTER: Can you --
PASSERA: Don't even mention it.
FOSTER: Can you reassure people watching that Italy's economy is going to be OK on its own?
PASSERA: Absolutely. That's the commitment we took. That's why the credibility came back, because through structural reforms -- we approved a pension reform that is probably the most sustainable in Europe.
And the parliament followed, the people followed, the social parts followed. So, Italy has been able, at the end of last year, the beginning of this year, to take very structural decisions to put public accounts under control that was the prerequisite, and to launch a number of growth projects and initiatives that will make the recession shorter, not longer, as you said, than expected.
FOSTER: Corrado Passera. Thank you very much indeed for joining us.
PASSERA: Thank you.
FOSTER: That's a look at how things in Italy are looking and how they're trying to foster growth there. Well, coming up, Christiane Amanpour continues the conversation in her exclusive interview with Italy's foreign minister.
Also, Turkey's president, Abdullah Gul, on the eurozone crisis, as well as the humanitarian crisis in neighboring Syria. That's "Amanpour," right after QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.
A Currency Conundrum for you, now, where cash meets plastic. Which one of these countries was the first to circulate plastic bank notes for every denomination? Was it A Hong Kong, B Brazil, or C Australia? Keep watching, we'll have the answer later in the show for you.
Let's take a look at the currency movements right now. The euro and the Japanese yen are falling heavily against the US dollar, mostly over concerns about Europe's recovery and a downgrade by Fitch for Japan. Both currencies are down by around two thirds of one percent, and the pound is also slipping against the dollar by around one third of one percent.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FOSTER: Facebook is down again. On its second full day of trading, shares are hovering around $32, well below last Friday's IPO price of $38. Maggie is New York. What an extraordinary story this is turning out to be.
MAGGIE LAKE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh, one hot mess, Max. A lot of finger-pointing going on about it, too. It was the most anticipated IPO, and pretty much bungled by all accounts.
You're right, it's down another -- about 6.5 percent. Seems to be finding some sort of at least short-term floor at about $30. We'll see if that holds.
Let's start off with the NASDAQ, where there were terrible technical glitches and problems. Today, they had their annual shareholders' conference call, very brief, they didn't take any questions. But the CEO did admit that mistakes were made, but he reaffirmed that the NASDAQ marketplace itself is sound.
The SEC head, Mary Schapiro, meanwhile, coming out of an unrelated testimony in Congress, said that they are going to be looking into the matter, reviewing the NASDAQ incident and the -- and a lot of the issues surrounding the Facebook IPO.
And Morgan Stanley, of course, the lead underwriter, egg on its face, too, playing some deep beds. A lot of questions today about whether they mispriced this thing, misjudged the amount of demand.
And also, interestingly, reports that their own internet analyst was downgrading his revenue estimates just as this thing was going public and questions about how widely that information may or not have been disseminated. So, all three of those characters and, of course, Facebook itself all trying to play some defense here today.
One thing, though, Max, if we take a step back. Why this matters is that there's a lot of concern that this is yet another incident that's going to damage the confidence of the individual investor out there, who is already, frankly, wary of the stock market and the fairness of the system itself, of the marketplace itself.
If you take a look at some of the comments that we've been getting on CNN's website today, that certainly seems to be the indication. Here are a few, just to give you an idea.
"It was a good harvest for some. Sadly, there are those who haven't figured out the casino is rigged," one wrote.
Another said, "Facebook is becoming the new pets.com." Not what Facebook employees want to hear. You'll remember, that was a dot-com top of the bubble, the internet bubble.
And this is our personal favorite in the newsroom. "A Zucker is born every day."
A lot of mixed opinion about where the fair price of this should be. One analyst said, listen, it's in weak hands right now, they can't stand the losses. There's a lot of sort of fast money moving around.
And retail investors, who may ultimately still want to maybe take a nibble at this, just don't know where to get in. It's just too messy. So, we expected it to be volatile, Max. No one quite expected it to look like this.
FOSTER: And will it keep falling? We'll keep across it. Maggie, thank you very much, indeed, for that.
Well, Mark Zuckerberg may be on a two-day losing streak, but for our Millennials, winning is a way of life. And one of our Millennials, David Lloyd, is no exception.
His first victory was the one that got his business going. He quit his job on the Merrill-Lynch trading desk and set up his own company, Intern Latin America.
Then late last year, he won a $40,000 grant from the Chilean government, 650 other start-ups were in the running, and it got him the attention of the "Financial Times."
Now, he's up for another gong, the Talent and Innovation prize at the TIC Americas Awards. This time, he's up against thousands of competitors. So tonight, on awards night, his winning streak faces its toughest challenge yet.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They are young and confident, educated and ambitious. Born in the 1980s, they are the new generation entering the workforce, and their thirst for success knows no bounds. They are The Millennials.
Previously on The Millennials, David Lloyd told us he never rests on his laurels.
DAVID LLOYD, MANAGING DIRECTOR, INTERN LATIN AMERICA: We're still a long way away from where we want to be and there's a great deal of potential here, still, to realize.
(LATIN MUSIC)
UNIDENTIFIED CORRESPONDENT: Cartagena, paved with cobblestones, decorated with vibrant color and music. This is Colombia's tropical city right on the Caribbean. Visiting for the Summit of the Americas is US president Barack Obama.
Also in town with a smaller delegation, but still hoping to make an impression, is our Millennial, David Lloyd.
LLOYD (through translator): Did I speak well?
JOHANNA MOLINA, COLOMBIA DIRECTOR, INTERN LATIN AMERICA (through translator): Yes, you spoke well.
LLOYD (through translator): Because I felt a bit nervous.
UNIDENTIFIED CORRESPONDENT: David's here for the Talent and Innovation Challenge of the Americas, better known as TIC, a competition that rewards young Latin American entrepreneurship.
LLOYD (through translator): What did you make of it?
MOLINA (through translator): I thought you were great.
UNIDENTIFIED CORRESPONDENT: David's facing stiff competition from other start-ups in Latin America, but now feeling closer than ever to the $3,500 prize, he wants to win it.
LLOYD: It was fantastic to be nominated. I think around 4,000 young people applied for this competition, and we're in the final 36 teams. My Colombian business partner, Johanna Molina, put a huge amount of effort into our application, and it was fantastic to get selected, so now it'd be really great to win it.
UNIDENTIFIED CORRESPONDENT: David knows a thing or two about competition. Only last year, he beat 650 candidates to receive a $40,000 grant from Strata, Chile, a government program. Now, in true Millennial style, he wants more.
LLOYD: This would be third validation, so it would mean a lot in terms of external validation. Obviously, external validation only goes so far. We know we're doing a good job, so even if we don't win, we are very happy with how things are going. But obviously, it'd be great to win.
UNIDENTIFIED CORRESPONDENT: As the event kicks off --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Good afternoon to you all. We're officially opening the Forum of the Youth of the Americas and the awards ceremony for the TIC Americas.
UNIDENTIFIED CORRESPONDENT: David is calm, grounded. His optimism never falters.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you think you can win this?
LLOYD: Yes, I think we've got a good chance.
UNIDENTIFIED CORRESPONDENT: As his category is announced --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Let's find out who is the winner of the first national prize for Talent and Innovation. The prize goes to --
(FANFARE)
UNIDENTIFIED CORRESPONDENT: And with the dramatic pause out of the way --
(APPLAUSE)
UNIDENTIFIED CORRESPONDENT: -- the winner can finally be revealed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Intern Latin America.
(APPLAUSE)
UNIDENTIFIED CORRESPONDENT: As they get up to receive their award, relief and pride are evident in their faces. But always the realist, David knows this is just the beginning.
Next week, on The Millennials. In Johannesburg, Milli gets down to serious business as she prepares to launch her new blog.
And in London, Joe swaps an office for the bar as he lets his hair down with friends. That's next week on The Millennials.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: And from one Millennial to a whole team of them. Juventus are champions of Italy once again, and its president tells us where the club goes from here, after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MAX FOSTER, ANCHOR, CNN INTERNATIONAL: And from one millennial to a whole team of them. Juventus, the champions of Italy once again and its president tells us where the club goes from here -- after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FOSTER: Welcome back. I'm Max Foster . These are the main news headlines this hour.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
Egyptians are set to go to the polls on Wednesday and Thursday for a landmark post-revolution presidential election.
The turn-out is expected to be high with both religious and secular candidates running. If there's no outright winner, a run-off will be held in June.
Yemen has marked its National Unification Day with a military parade in the capital. On Monday, a suicide bomber infiltrated the rehearsal for the parade and killed more than 100 soldiers. Yemen blames a branch of al- Qaeda and is vowing to crush it.
The U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan is resigning. The state department says Ryan Crocker will step down this summer for health reasons. He'd have been in the job for a year. The U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan is leaving his post at around the same time.
Authorities have determined there was no bomb on-board the U.S. Airways flight from North Carolina to Paris. The flight was diverted to the U.S. State of Maine after a female passenger handed a note to the flight crew indicating she had a device implanted in her body.
The passenger did not say the device was a bomb or a threat. Authorities say the incident does not appear to be terror-related.
A tiny space capsule is on target to rendezvous with the International Space Station. A rocket carrying the capsule launched this morning from Florida. A private company named SpaceX built the craft. It's carrying supplies for the station.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Juventus may have lost the Italian cup over the weekend but its president doesn't mind too much. That's because they secured the lead title the weekend before their first scudetto in nine years.
The club still belongs to the Agnelli family, famous for running fields. And Andrea Agnelli says he's changed everything, from the playing squads to the board and staff. Alex Thomas sat down with the president of the London Business Schools Global Leadership Summit.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALEX THOMAS, SPORTS CORRESPONDENT AND CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Andrea, commiserations about the Coppa Italia but Juventus are Italian champions once again. You must be pleased with the season.
ANDREA AGNELLI, PRESIDENT, JUVENTUS: If you would have asked me in September, I mean, end of the year, you win the scudetto and you lose the Coppa Italia finals, I would have signed on it a hundred times. No question about it.
So, we're extremely proud of what we've done. I think it's beyond extraordinary result. Let's say, we've just missed a little topping on the cake and then we might leave it for next year.
THOMAS: Lots of praise to the manager, Mr. Conte, but it's a team effort. But it's a team effort -- the whole club. How did you do it.
AGNELLI: It's been a very tough couple of years. I think, what we found -- what I found when I got there in 2010 was the end of the cycle. So, we knew, we had to restructure the whole team. So, we had -- if you just think about the first team, we've changed 20 pairs into 25. And the five that stayed belonged to the 2006 very strong squad.
There's been a lot of changes in the management within the company and we are talking about $200 million business. So, we've got a new Commercial Director, a new Communications Director. We've got a new Sports Director.
There's been lots of changes and what I tried to do is I tried to revive the pride of being a Juventus. And remember that, you know, Juventus has one objective which is victory. And we all have been proud to achieve that in only two years.
THOMAS: You're in a historic and famous football brand. You've won so many Italian championships. Only two champions league titles though. You're back in the top competition. Is that a real key for your events next season.
AGNELLI: I don't understand what you're -- if you mean to takes -- takes part in every single competition with ambitions of winning it. What I think you're going to have to have, like most of the European top teams, is to be competitive constantly.
And what I mean by competitive constantly is to being able to reach the victory of the various competition you're playing at in March and April. That's when the season turns around. If you're competitive constantly year and year, then I'm sure you'll get there.
THOMAS: Juventus has got Buffon, Pirlo but it's not a totally star- studded squad. Are you going to continue that philosophy.
AGNELLI: I think the philosophy we went for is that one. We might not be full of stars but we're full of wannabe stars. And when you get a profile player at the age of 25, 24, 26 -- I mean, here's Arturo Vidal -- going to become a star. He's 24. He's got over 40 caps in his national team. He can be a star.
THOMAS: Tell us about Alessandro Del Piero. We've seen the end of an amazing events in his career, haven't we.
AGNELLI: I think, Alessandro, as I said many times, will always represent Juventus. I mean, I've always remembered Platini and Boniperti. And you can think of Scirea. He is one of the forever Juventus players. He's being our captain for 10 years -- and what a finale. I mean, he left lifting the trophy. I mean, that's an amazing story.
He had to stadium for himself for 15 minutes. I think we'd always have to be grateful to him. He actually gave us so many joys.
THOMAS: And, finally, the controversial topic -- was that Juventus' thirtieth scudetto or was that twenty-eighth.
AGNELLI: Well, for the official record, it's twenty-eighth. For every single Juventino in the world, it's the thirtieth. It's a very "touch" matter, I would say. We do live with feelings, you know. When I say one of the privileges of managing Juventus is managing people's dreams and emotions. In our emotion, our feelings, we have 30.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Well, there's our sports and things. And some of tonight's "Tweets From the e Top" as well. There's Tony Fernandes, the owner of the English premiere league QPR has been tweeting at some of the team's fans. Some of them are upset at having move seats to make way for new family area.
And Tony wrote to one of them, saying, "We want to create a family stand like most established clubs. It's tough in the 300 of you -- tough on the 300 of you but we have to build one. Hard to please everyone," he says.
Also, in the world of football, Sepp Blatter is tweeting. The President of FIFA made reference to last year's leadership controversy. He twitted, "Things have changed a lot already compared to last year's Congress. Our ship is back in calm waters."
And from football to the final frontier, the CEO of SpaceX, Elon Musk, has been tweeting during his big launch day. He wrote, "Falcon flew perfectly. Dragon in orbit. Feels like a giant weight has just come off my back."
And if you're wondering what dragons and falcons have to do with space, well, all will become clear.
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The Private Sector is officially off and running in the space race. We'll show you how they did it. Next.
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FOSTER: The altitude stays (ph). Currency Conundrum. Earlier, we asked you, "Which country was the first to circulate plastic bank notes for every denomination. The answer is C, Australia. By 1996, every kind of Australian dollar bill was being made in polypropylene. They are cheaper to make and more hard-wearing than paper notes.
And here they are from one of our team -- an Australian member of the team. And they have little windows in them as you can see. They feel quite plasticky but, also, slightly papery so it's a bit confusing.
A privately-funded space capsule, meanwhile, is hurtling towards the International Space Station at this hour. It was launched early on Tuesday morning from Cape Canaveral in Florida. And if it gets there safely, it will make space flight history. John Zarrella has the story for us from Florida.
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JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: History is certainly in the making as the Dragon Spacecraft now in orbit is heading for the International Space Station.
(Voice-over): This is a total sea change in the way space flight has been for the last 50 years. NASA is turning over to private companies flying both cargo and, eventually, astronauts to the International Space Station so that it can use its limited dollars in order to eventually fly astronauts to an asteroid or onto Mars.
(On camera): So, this is the first major step in achieving those goals. Only four nations -- only four governments in the world: Russia, the United States, the European Union and Japan have the capability of doing what SpaceX is attempting to accomplish.
And this first big step getting off the ground this morning was applauded by both the head of SpaceX and by NASA's administrator.
ELON MUSK, CEO, SPACEX: Most of the company have gathered around mission control, so -- and really think that the fruit of -- they are seeing the fruit of their labors and wondering whether it's going to work and there's so much hope riding on on that rocket.
(voice-over): So, when it worked and Dragon worked, and solar rays deployed and people saw their handiwork in space and operating as it should -- I mean, it was tremendous elation.
CHARLES BOLDEN, ADMINISTRATOR, NASA: What's really important is not control as much as it is. The fact that the United States will once again be in the lead, we'll be providing our own vehicles to take our own astronauts and cargo to the International Space Station.
It's fine to rely on partners but that's not where the greatest nation in the world wants to be. We want to be taking astronauts and cargo on our own vehicles. Today was a huge day in the step to getting there. So, you know, we're on the way and people should hang with us.
ZARRELLA (voice-over): Before you can say that this mission is a complete success, the couple of big hurdles yet to overcome. The Dragon capsule is going to have to rendezvous with the Space Station. Then, there'll be a series of checkouts to make sure all of the autonomous systems are working. They'll fly the Dragon underneath the Space Station.
If all that is a go, then very early on Friday morning, they will attempt to berth with the Space Station.
(On camera): Unlike a docking, what will happen is Astronaut Don Pettit on the Station will reach out with the ISS' robotic arm. He will grab the Dragon capsule and, very slowly, bring it in and then berth it to the Space Station.
And that then will complete, pretty much, the most difficult parts of what is clearly a very historic mission. John Zarrella, CNN Miami.
FOSTER: What a mission is it. Jenny Harrison relying on satellite imagery all the time, of course, from the weather center. So, you're grateful for these trips.
JENNY HARRISON, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Oh, that's right. I so am grateful. I'm grateful for a lot of things, I am, yes. But, you're quite right.
FOSTER: I'm grateful for the weather you're giving me. I blame you for the rain but I thank you for the sunshine, too.
HARRISON: Yes, I'm sure. I get blamed for lots of things. But, I'll tell, you're right, I mean, look at the weather across much of Western Europe. My goodness, finally, the rain has cleared when a moment too soon, it's been coming down for weeks now.
We've got a little bit of high pressure which, by the way, to the north, and it's going to become more extensive over the next few days. But there's no system across the Central Maine (ph), that looks like it'll bring with it some very heavy amounts of rains and strong winds as well.
But it's really about the temperatures. Look at this, 24 Celsius. That's the current temperature in London. When you think, it's coming up to 8:00 in the evening, it really is very warm indeed. Twenty-nine in Berlin. Just 20 Celsius in Warsaw. And then when we head to the south, you can see this cool air. And this is where we have that area of low pressure. So, temperatures there, just you can see, in the high teens Celsius at best.
And we have seen some rain on the northern side of that low. That is what this is. It's not coming in from the west that we've seen for weeks and weeks now. Just I said, it's coming from the system which is sitting across Central Aries.
And because of the wind and the direction of the wind, we have got some very, very warm weather. And, so that means, temperature is above average and good sunshine as well. It'd be returning to average gradually as we go through Thursday across Northeastern Aries of Europe.
But this system here, that is moving. As you can see, eastward, it's heading across into the Balkans and also across into Turkey. Some very strong thunderstorms in the mix there. In fact, we have got some warnings in place as well, particularly from this one system -- very heavy rain. We could be seeing some damaging hail at the same time.
But look at these temperatures. This is the trend for the next couple of days. Basically, all of these is showing as temperatures above average. Then the green beginning to filter in again as that system brings the winds in from a different direction.
Look at this, London, for the next couple of days. Maybe just a hint warmer on Thursday. And Friday, 21 degrees Celsius. They're still above average even though it's going to cool back down. Same in Paris, still above average even though by Friday, the temperature is at 23.
And then also, Berlin, nice couple of days ahead. And then Friday, it will certainly cool off. It will stay with that until a change in direction of the wind. There are those rain charts (ph), everything pushing eastwards. And then, there are your Wednesday temperatures. Meanwhile, 29 across in Madrid. Max.
FOSTER: Jenny, thank you very much indeed. Now, next, the world's most valuable brands -- why technology in women could be a company's best assets.
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FOSTER: Now, Facebook's fortunes are under intense scrutiny this week. The company's share price fell 11 percent on Monday. It has finished just above $34. One question hanging over Facebook's stock price is how much more -- more room there is for its user base to stand.
There's one, in fact, limiting query and that's the social network's ban in China. In a country with strict web censorship, Eunice Yoon tells us, the government isn't alone in tackling concerning content.
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EUNICE YOON, CORRESPONDENT, CNN BEIJING (Voice-over): Images of military tanks rolling in Beijing sparked rumors of a coup in China before proven false and stamped off. Thanks in part to self-described rumor hunter, Dou Han hang.
DOU HANZHANG, FOUNDER, RUMOR REFUTING ALLIANCE (through translator): No matter the circumstance, spreading rumors is wrong.
YOON: The Internet researcher heads up the Rumor Refuting Alliance, a group of journalists, lawyers and other citizens who pledged to root out rumors on the Internet here. The Chinese Internet is heavily-policed by censors who often scrub the web of sensitive keywords like "The Dalai Lama" or "military coup".
(On camera): Social media sites allow net-savvy citizens to dodge the controls and spread information fast before the government tightens its reins again.
(Voice-over): But a amid talk of political in-fighting ahead of a leadership transition, these sites have come under greater restrictions in a country that already bans players like Facebook.
JEREMY GOLDKORN, FOUNDER, DANWEI.ORG: Facebook would have such an added layer of scrutiny as a foreign player. And Facebook is already well- known for being a tool used by revolutionaries and activists. And that's not something the Chinese government wants in China.
YOON: Dou denied his group is backed by the government or are censors, but the former editor at state-run news agency, Xinhua, thinks the Internet, with its half billion users, needs controls.
HANZHANG (through translator): If anything, there are too many platforms for discussion which has led to an increase in rumors. Without regulations of social media, people can curse others anonymously, destroy reputations and spread rumors freely.
YOON: So, this is a rumor.
HANZHANG: Yes.
YOON: Over the past year and a half, Dou has enlisted nearly 500 supporters who gave his group tips. His rumor hunter scrutinize photos like in the case of the false military coup and sometimes travel to investigate cases before posting their findings.
Those found to have spread rumors have faced punishments. Accounts are deleted and, sometimes, there are arrests. Dou says, China needs more rules to prevent unnecessary scares. Yet, some here argue, the tight controls are the reason so many buy into the rumors.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): If something is spread on the Internet, I tend to believe it as true because the government may not speak the truth.
YOON: Yet, in Dou's playbook --
HANZHANG (through translator): Rumors don't reveal the truth. They cloud the truth.
YOON: The mantra of his Truth Squad is towards to hunt down rumors no matter where they lead. Eunice Yoon, CNN Beijing.
FOSTER: Well, tech companies have come out on top in a survey of the world's most valuable brands. Apple though maintains the top spot. The iPad make a boost of its brand value by 19 percent in the past year to $183 billion.
IBM came in secondly. They grew 15 percent to nearly $116 billion and overtook Google which drops down to third place.
Now, Eileen Campbell is the Chief Executive of Millward Brown, the company that conducted the survey. She joins me now live from our studio in New York. Thank you for joining us. Interestingly, it's not just tech companies that have done well but companies that use tech -- companies like Burberry. So, it is all about technology.
EILEEN CAMPBELL, CEO, MILLWARD BROWN: Exactly. What we've seen is that technology has actually become a great facilitator of everything in our lives, even our identities. If you think about it, we project our personal identity through things like Facebook, using tools that companies like Apple make.
FOSTER: And in terms of the global presence here -- I see big American companies doing well as they always do in these surveys. But interesting to see an African company coming through to the top hundred for the first time. Was that something that you really noticed.
CAMPBELL: Yes, we were really excited at Millward Brown about the future prospects of Africa. As matter of fact, we think that Africa may very well be, sort of, the next brick. I mean, it wasn't just MTN that made the listings this year but also Africa's contribution to other brands' success. For example, Airtel which is an Indian brand but is investing really heavily in Africa.
FOSTER: And in terms of other secrets to success -- if you drill down into the brands -- if you looked, it's interesting that 77 percent of companies in the top 100 had women on their boards. So, female directors seem to add price value somehow. Can you help explain why.
CAMPBELL: I think there are a number of studies that have shown that some of the traits that consumers are looking for in companies like social consciousness, contribution to society, seem to be better reflected in companies that have female directors.
So, it's not just our brand ranking but a lot of other information that seems to support that.
FOSTER: Okay, Eileen Campbell. Very interesting stuff. Thank you very much indeed for joining us from Millward Brown with that look at the world's top brands. We'll be back in just a moment.
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FOSTER: Well, Facebook is down again on its second full day of trading. Share is down almost eight percent today, way below last Friday's IPO price of $38, at of course.
Billions of dollars being wiped off Facebook's market caps since Friday. And the man behind the first Internet company to list publicly, AOL, says Mark Zuckerberg should not be distracted by the market tumult.
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STEVE CASE, FORMER CEO AND CO-FOUNDER, AMERICA ONLINE: Ultimately, the markets go up and down. We saw that with AOL as we went in public for 70 million. In fact, later, it was $150 billion. So, we went from a couple of hundred thousand users to 20 million users.
And as long as you keep focusing on the product and keep innovating, that's really what matters. You can't really pay too much attention to the stock price.
FOSTER: I bet he thinks about it though. Well, it is officially the tallest tower in the world now. And, today, the Tokyo Skytree opens to the public at 634 meters. It's twice as high as the Eiffel Tower in Paris. It took four years to build and cost more than $800 million.
And the Skytree will provide broadcast transmissions and being accompanied by shops, restaurants, an aquarium and observation decks. It's expected to attract 32 million visitors in its first year alone. But there might be a wait as tickets are already sold out until July.
A piece of history there. And that is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS. Thank you so much for watching. I'm Max Foster in London.
Egyptians are set to go to the polls on Wednesday and Thursday for a landmark post-revolution presidential elections. The turn-out is expected to be high with both religious and secular candidates running. If there's no outright winner, a run-off will be held in June.
Yemen has marked its National Unification Day with a military parade in the capital. On Monday, a suicide bomber infiltrated the rehearsal for the parade and killed more than a hundred soldiers. Yemen is blaming a branch of al-Qaeda.
U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan is resigning. The state department says Ryan Crocker will step down this summer for health reasons. He'll have been in the job for a year.
Facebook shares are heading for second day of shock losses. They're hovering around $32 well below Friday's IPO price of $38. And U.S. Financial Watchdogs says it needs to examine issues surrounding the company's IPO.
All those glitches on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange when shares were launched on Friday.
A tiny space capsule is on target to rendezvous with International Space Station. A rocket carrying the capsule launched this morning from Florida. A private company named SpaceX built the craft that's carrying supplies for the station.
A look at some of the stories we're watching for you on CNN. "Amanpour" is next.
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