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OIC Meets To Decide Syria's Fate Within Organization; Olympians Make News After The Games; A Look At Challenges Facing Rio for 2016 Olympics; Japan Facing Floods; U.S. To Test Experimental Hypersonic Airplane

Aired August 14, 2012 - 08:00   ET

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


KRISTIE LU STOUT, HOST: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. And welcome to NEWS STREAM, where news and technology meet. We begin in Syria where the violence continues as Islamic heads of state address the crisis.

And cheers, but also jeers: Mitt Romney's new running mate Paul Ryan is cut short on his first day of solo campaigning.

And New York to London in less than an hour? Could this be the future of aviation? We'll take a closer look at the X-51A Waverider.

Now the sounds of shelling and gunfire are ringing out again across Syria. Opposition activists say dozens of people have been killed today one day after 114 people died in Damascus, Homs, and other cities across Syria.

Now the suburbs of the capital in a southern town are enduring heavy shelling today. The continued fighting comes as a top UN official arrives in Damascus to draw attention to the deteriorating humanitarian situation.

Now Syria's former prime minister who defected to Jordan, meanwhile, says the regime is losing control.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RIYAD HIJAB, FORMER SYRIAN PRIME MINISTER (through translator): I can confirm to you given my experience and the position I had, that the regime's morale, economy, and military has completely collapsed and is only in control of no more than 30 percent of Syrian lands.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Now Syria tops the agenda at an emergency summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. Now heads of state from 57 member nations are gathered in Saudi Arabia's holy city of Mecca for the two day meeting. They're expecting to formally approve Syria's suspension from the OIC in response to the regime's attacks on its own people. Now summit host Saudi Arabia is one of the most prominent countries backing the Syrian opposition.

Now also at the summit, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad. Now he has been a staunch ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. So will tension between Iran and Saudi Arabia play out at this summit of Islamic leaders?

Now our senior international correspondent Nic Robertson, he joins us now live from Jetta, Saudi Arabia. Nic, I even understand even before the summit began OIC foreign ministers they agreed to suspend Syria. But where does Iran stand on the issue?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Iran very much objects to that. This extraordinary summit that's been called of these nations represent 1.5 billion Muslims around the world an exceptionally large organization, outside of the UN the largest international organization, so that gives you some scale of its size and impact globally.

Iran stands opposed to the Saudi position for the majority position. The Iranian foreign minister was quoted in the Syrian news agency as saying that the countries of the OIC should stand together, should join hands. This conference is being held under the banner, if you will, of Muslim unity. But it seems to be anything but a unified position. Iran is adamantly opposed to tossing Syria out of the OIC, opposed to its suspension from the OIC.

So it seems that the grounds before the leaders, the heads of state, begin their meetings later this evening in Mecca, it seems the grounds are already set. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president has said that he has come here to Saudi Arabia at the invitation of King Abdullah, but at his invitation he says he will lay out Iran's position and Iran's views. But it seems unlikely there's going to be a compromise of this issue of Syria and its suspension, Kristie.

LU STOUT: A compromise, as you say, is unlikely. We're seeing this division between Iran and Saudi Arabia, division between a Shiite Muslim state and a Sunni Muslim state. Is the conflict inside Syria raising sectarian tension across the region?

ROBERTSON: It is. It's raising many sectarian fears. Saudi Arabia and its allies, Qatar and others in the Gulf, Kuwait really look at the past decade in their region and look at the way they see that Iraq has slipped under the influence of Iran and Iran's growing power and influence in the region as something that must be stopped. And Iran is a strong ally of Bashar al-Assad, so is its proxy Hezbollah in Lebanon.

These are seen a potentially being instabilities that could become more unstable if sectarian tensions rise as certainly evidence of sectarian tensions surfacing over the past months inside Lebanon. There's concerns of sectarian tensions could be ignited through this conflict in -- inside Iraq as well where sectarian tensions still play out on a daily basis as they have done for almost the past decade. So the concerns are that this could escalate.

It's difficult to see how this conference will come to a unified position on Syria other than one that might offer Bashar al-Assad some -- some way out of the situation, the corner that he's painted himself into.

But Saudi -- but Iran just last week, its officials were in Damascus, its foreign minister and other senior government official parliamentary speaker were really raising the rhetoric and saying that they were going to stand behind Syria. The Saudis, the Kuwaitis, the Qataris for example, they say that they're not raising funds and giving money directly to the rebels and certainly not buying them weapons, they say. But that is very much the widely held view inside Syria and certainly a view that Iran holds as well.

And this certainly is a lot of public support for the Sunnis, the majority in Syria, by the Sunnis in the rest of the region here -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: And Nic, this apparent agreement to suspend Syria from the OIC. I mean, what affect is that going to have on the Syrian uprising itself. Is this merely a symbolic act?

ROBERTSON: It does feel very symbolic at the moment. I mean, certainly we're seeing a real increase in the sort of diplomatic pressures and the positions being taken. As I say last week Iran ratcheting up the rhetoric, holding the United States responsible for what it called war mongering in the region. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton meeting with Turkish officials over the weekend in Turkey. The British contributing more aid to humanitarian support, communications support for Syrian rebels.

But what impact can this really have a statement like this? It will only have an impact -- and I think everyone recognizes this, it will only have an impact if it resonates with Bashar al-Assad, meaning that his days are numbers, he needs to cut a deal, he needs to get out, allow the country to move forward. And allow internal discussion between the parties in Syria to begin to take place. Hard to imagine that against the current backdrop.

But it will only have an impact if it moves Bashar al-Assad's thinking. And it's really not clear that it will when it's got friends like China, Russia and Syria -- and Iran apparently. He doesn't have the inclination to move yet, it appears.

LU STOUT: All right. Nic Robertson reporting for us live from Saudi Arabia. Thank you, Nic.

Now inside Syria, the rebels are claiming a huge coup. Now this video was posted by the rebels. It shows what they say is a Syrian military jet bursting into flames on Monday. Now the rebels say they shot the jet down. They say that they have captured the pilot. Now the Syrian military says a technical failure caused the crash. It also says a search is underway for the pilot who ejected safely.

Now over the past few weeks, our very own Ben Wedeman has been reporting from inside Syria. And up next, we'll take a look at what he went through to bring us his amazing footage.

Plus, we'll take a look at the credentials of Paul Ryan. Why some critics say that he lacks the necessary foreign policy experience to be U.S. Vice President.

And super high speed air travel could become reality as the Pentagon gets set to test the WaveRider.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Now just a few weeks ago, Syria's northern city of Aleppo was the country's commercial center. And now Syria's largest city has caught in a tug of war between the rebels and the regime. Now Ben Wedeman and his crew, they were able to get inside Aleppo and escape safely. As you will see, there were moments of extreme tension and unexpected hospitality.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. We're going into Aleppo in this very roundabout route. So we had two cars going to Aleppo, but the other car apparently got bad -- bad (inaudible) and therefore it's kaput. It's not going to make it. So now we're six people crammed into this little van.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ...right here.

WEDEMAN: They are literally just a few meters from our destination here in Aleppo.

Run out of gas.

We're pushing it up a hill. I don't know where we're going to get any petrol.

All right, we made it. We left our safe house at 11:00 in the morning. And it's 10 minutes past 10:00 at night. And we finally made it to Aleppo.

All right, we're now going in the direction of Salaheddin, which of course all the fighting is taking place. What we're going to do is go to the Mush Hud (ph) neighborhood which is adjacent to Salaheddin. There we'll get out and make our way slowly and cautiously toward Salaheddin, which the rebels say they've largely retaken. But, you know, if you have to take everything they say -- everyone says with a great big sack of salt.

He's saying at the intersection go faster.

OK, we're going through an intersection where he says to drive fast. So, time to get on the gear.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Put your foot down, mate.

WEDEMAN: We're just going through this intersection. OK, now we're good, we're good. It was just that road here.

OK, he's saying here there's a sniper that's shooting.

OK, he's saying you want to go back and drive fast through the intersection, because there's a sniper. He said, get down.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a sniper.

WEDEMAN: Get down. Get down. Get down.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, mate.

WEDEMAN: That's all right. You're fine.

Come down, just get down.

OK, even if it's uncomfortable, just get down.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How are you going to do this?

WEDEMAN: All right. OK. We made it. Past that one.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can see some of this (inaudible)

WEDEMAN: OK. Well, maybe now is a good time to get out, get our bearings.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, OK.

WEDEMAN: Well, what are you doing Kareem (ph)? OK, he's going to take us between the buildings, probably we'll park the car there and -- allahu akbar.

I met Hanadi (ph) who insists she and her family of six will not leave.

I ask her where the front line is, but she brushes off the question saying she's become accustomed to the shelling

I ask her where the front line is. But she brushes off the question saying she's become accustomed to the shelling.

Her son, one-and-a-half year old Abdel Renni (ph) seems confused and squeezes my hand tightly.

A two minute walk down the street, an apartment building was hit in an air strike.

This building, or rather what's left of this building which really isn't much, is in an area where civilians are still living. And of course among the ruins we found a French book and somebody is studying English, the life of William Shakespeare.

Residents say two bodies remain buried inside.

Here's the somewhat absurd nature of this situation. Here we are, we came in this door just because there were air raids going on in the neighborhood. We came inside. This nice gentlemen first gave us water, then gave us juice, and now gave us tea. Now we're staying inside, because they're shooting up the street, but the hospitality does not stop when the fighting goes on.

We're leaving Aleppo for the second time. We're taking a route that we're hoping will get us to our safe house faster, but it looks like the route we were going to take they're saying -- they're saying don't go that way.

We're hearing some shooting in the distance and some boom booms.

OK, all right. Plan B -- plan A has quickly melted into plan B. And now we don't know where we're going. OK, now we're going on to plan C. And it looks like...

(SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

OK, we was saying it's a nisami (ph). Nisam (ph) means two things -- system, normal or regime. So we thought we were driving through a regime area. Plans A, B, and C melted, evaporated. We're shot at by snipers. So now we're going back to plan D, which is the long way out of here, which takes hours. However, it is relatively safe.

No way it's really safe, but anyway we'll cross our fingers.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Amazing footage from inside Aleppo and the dangerous journey in and out of the city. Now coming up right here on News Stream, not the moment he dreamed of: protesters try to hijack Paul Ryan's solo debut as Mitt Romney's running mate in the race for the White House. And we'll bring you that next on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Beautiful night here in Hong Kong. You're back watching News Stream.

Now Paul Ryan had a bit of a rough start to his campaign to become the next U.S. vice president. The congressman was heckled at his first solo appearance since becoming Mitt Romney's running mate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RYAN: I think it's...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you going to cut Medicare?

RYAN: I think it's become...

(CROWD NOISE)

RYAN: So.

CROWD: USA, USA, USA, USA.

RYAN: You know, it's funny...

CROWD: USA, USA.

RYAN: It's funny, because Iowans and Wisconsinites, we like to be respectful of one another and peaceful with one another and listen to each other. These ladies must not be from Iowa or Wisconsin.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: And that was Ryan's reaction after his speech was interrupted at the Iowa State Fair. The protesters were shouting stop the war on the middle class. And as you see two women, they also tried to climb onto the platform before being carried away by police.

Now Ryan is also facing criticism from some Obama supporters who say he lacks the foreign policy experience necessary to become vice president. Jill Dougherty examines Ryan's credentials.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DOUGHERTY (voice-over): Paul Ryan lives and breathes domestic policy not international issues as he noted in the speech last year.

RYAN: Why would a House Budget chairman be standing here addressing a room full of national security experts on American foreign policy?

DOUGHERTY: Obama supporters say Ryan has a thin resume on international issues, a charge Barack Obama, himself, heard when he ran in 2008. But Mitt Romney brushes that off.

ROMNEY: He has the experience and judgment, capacity and character to become president.

DOUGHERTY: This seven-term congressman from Wisconsin, chief architect of the Republican plan to balance the budget, sees a link between America's economic policy and its national security.

RYAN: If we fail to put our budget on a sustainable path, then we are choosing decline as a world power.

DOUGHERTY: Paul Ryan has seen some of the world: Afghanistan, Iraq, Vietnam several Middle Eastern countries, seven Congressional trips, 18 countries in 14 years. On Afghanistan, like the man with the top of the ticket, he's criticized President Barack Obama's planned withdrawal of U.S. troops. But Ryan said the U.S. can save a trillion dollars by winding down the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. And Congressional Democrats and the administration agree.

On China, Ryan's less of a hawk than Romney, who wants to designate Beijing as a currency manipulator. He wants more money for the military, less for the State Department, but he got in hot water when he accused generals of lying in telling congress defense cuts were the right thing to do. He later said he misspoke.

What would Paul Ryan advise Mitt Romney to do on Iran or on Syria? He's never been tested on those issues, but he will be now.

Jill Dougherty, CNN, the State Department.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now one brief note on the U.S. election, CNN's own Candy Crowley will be the first woman in 20 years to moderate a presidential debate. Now she will take charge of the second debate on October 16.

Now does flying from New York to London in one hour seem impossible? Well, if a team of U.S. aerospace engineers has anything to do with it, long haul flights could one day be a thing of the past.

Now today, the Pentagon is set to test the WaveRider, it's an unmanned hypersonic plane, to see if it can sustain speeds of five or more times the speed of sound for several minutes.

Now Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr joins me now with more. And Barbara, can you walk us through what exactly will take place during this test flight later today?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kristie. Well, it will be off the coast of California. A B-52 Bomber that's been converted to handle all of this will carry this unmanned vehicle, if you will, under its wing. And it will fire it off. The test will be to see if this WaveRider can fly for 300 seconds at essentially Mach 6, which is over 4,500 miles per hour. If it all works, its another step down the road to trying to develop what is called hypersonic flight.

For the U.S. military it's really important, they say, because if they could do this, they could make missiles, they could make airplanes, they could put these things around the world within minutes, faster than an enemy could react, that's what the U.S. military is looking for. It still, though, could take years to develop if it works -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: So for today's test to be deemed a success, it needs to fly 300 seconds at hypersonic speeds. How close are we to seeing this technology move from test flights to real-world use?

STARR: Well, I think most people will tell you it would take a number of years, because there's a lot that needs to be done. This is very much a small scale test, kind of a proof of concept if you will, to see if it all works. They've done some of it before. They've run into technical problems that they don't really talk about. They want to try this again and see if they can make it work.

It's definitely the path to innovation and technology in the future. And if they can make it work, it does have that implication for civilian commercial air travel, which would really be remarkable -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: Yeah, it could usher in a whole new era of travel. Barbara Starr joining us live from the Pentagon, thank you very much for that.

STARR: Sure.

LU STOUT: Now you may have heard us use the term hypersonic several times. Now supersonic is going faster than the speed of sound, hypersonic is going some five times faster than the speed of sound. So now you know.

Now up next, let's go from London to Rio. Brazil gets ready to host the next summer Olympics. But will four years be enough time to prepare? We'll look at the lessons learned from London 2012.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

Now leaders of Muslim nations have gathered in Saudi Arabia's holy city of Mecca for an emergency summit of the organization of Islamic cooperation. Now the heads of state are expected to formally approve Syria's suspension from the organization in response to the Syrian regime's harsh crackdown in the country. Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who is also at the summit opposes that.

Now U.S. congressman Paul Ryan has been heckled at his first solo appearance since becoming Mitt Romney's presidential running mate. Now two women disrupted Ryan's speech in the state of Iowa before being carried off by police. President Barack Obama is also campaigning there on a three day bus tour.

Now five minutes at five times the speed of sound, that's what the Pentagon is hoping for today as it tests the WaveRider, an unmanned hypersonic plane. If successful, the test, it could usher in a new era of flight, bringing missiles or airplanes to the other side of the world in just a matter of minutes.

Now a strong earthquake has struck far off the east coast of Russia. The USGS put it at a magnitude 7.7. As you can see, it hit closer to Tokyo than the Russian capital. But the quake was quite deep at 625 kilometers, so Japan did not issue a tsunami warning. And there have been no reports of damage or casualties.

Now let's stay in Japan with more on the reports of heavy flooding there. Mari Ramos joins us from the world weather center -- Mari.

MARI RAMOS, CNN WEATHER CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kristie, yeah, you know, areas of western Japan in particular have had some very heavy rain not only in Japan, but also across portions of both North and South Korea.

Let me show you the areas that have been affected first of all. Here across northeastern parts of Asia, you see these areas in the darker shades of the reds and then the hot pinks? Those are areas identified by satellite to have more than 100 to 200 millimeters of rain. In fact, some places across Japan in particular in the last 24 hours have had -- look at this, over 100 millimeters of rain actually measured. So some of these areas may have had in fact even more than that. Hiroshima over 85 millimeters of rain.

You want to see what this looks like on the ground? Take a look at these pictures that we have from that region. You know, an all too familiar sight, unfortunately, remember those pictures that we saw earlier this month of cars submerged in water and water in some cases up to the rooftops, pretty dramatic stuff. And rescues that were ongoing as people were trapped by the high flood waters.

Kyoto and Osaka, they said to have had more rainfall in one hour than almost in the last 25 years. And you can see how high the water was in some of those regions. At least one person, according to Avian NHK (ph) was killed in Osaka Prefecture, and a woman was found in a canal also.

Drowning is one of the biggest concerns, of course, when you're talking about high water. But there are other hazards as well, things that may actually be in the water as you saw there, and also the risk for electrocution when you have all those power lines that are down. And of course water comes into contact with electricity.

So, be extra careful. There are still some advisories posted, particularly here as we head back over this western side of Japan for the possibility of rain, and also for mudslides, that's a huge concern here, because the ground is already so saturated. So be extra careful with that.

We can't ignore, of course, what's happening here in the Philippines. You can see that broad area right there of disturbed weather. Maps, or course, are tropical cyclones. Now they are still monitoring places across the Philippines and the aftermath of what happened last week.

This right here, for example, is an area in metro Manila that is prone to landslides. And you can see why. It's on an incline. It's near water. And here's been so much water across these areas lately in some very heavy rainfall. Some areas here of Luzon have had in the last 24 hours over 170 millimeters of rain. And as this tropical cyclone gets closer, that is even a bigger concern.

Manila has a yellow rainstorm warning still for the next 30 minutes or so. That means maybe getting 15, 20 millimeters of rain in just a period of an hour. Any amount of rain that falls here is a concern.

Even though the storm is expected to track to the north of Luzon, watch out for heavy rains here across both sides of the strait. And then watch out to see what's going to happen with this storm as it gets closer into parts of China.

Now Hong Kong s still too early to tell if this is going to affect you. It looks like in this case it might be moving a little farther to the north. We'll just have to see how it all pans out for you guys in Wendong (ph) province, maybe Fujian (ph) province could see the affects of the storm in the next couple of days.

Right now, by the way, winds are closer to 80 kilometers per hour. Back to you.

LU STOUT: All right. Thank you there. Not liking that forecast. Mari Ramos there. Keep tabs on that for me. Thank you, take care.

Now to Brazil now where the official Olympic flag has arrived in Rio de Janeiro, site of the next summer games in 2016. Now the flag was carried off the plane by the city's mayor who says it's arrival marks the start of a period of transformation for Rio.

Now organizers of the games face a series of challenges, which is known there in the city to have a poor infrastructure as well as heavy traffic. And despite those challenges, authorities insist that Rio will rise to the task. But as the first South American city to host the games, will it face an uphill battle?

Alex Thomas assesses the potential problems and looks at the lessons that can be learned from the London Olympics.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALEX THOMAS, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Most people have branded the London games a huge success. Rio are the next hosts. They've had observers here to see how London has done things. And now they have four more years to act on the lessons they've learned.

But the biggest challenge will be just to do something different. As the first ever South American Olympic host city, Rio is already unique. But here are four key areas that I feel Brazilian organizers need to focus on.

After London's security contractor failed to provide enough guards, thousands of extra police and soldiers were drafted in. Because of that, Brazil's deputy sports minister, Luis Fernandez told me that they won't rely on a single firm to provide security.

What started out as a negative for London turned into a positive with the public enjoying seeing British troops out and about and at checkpoints. That won't be the case for Rio, though, after a military dictatorship ruled the country for two decades from the 1960s to the 1980s, they don't really want to see soldiers back on their streets.

Rio's biggest concern: Olympic insiders have told me the Brazilian city is even further behind than Athens was in 2004 when the Greek capital had to rush to be ready. Despite Londoners' fears, this city's aging transport system coped well with the millions of visitors. But visitors to Rio say it takes hours to get through immigration at the airport and the sprawling city is hard to get around.

Now organizers say they've come up with a high performance transport ring to solve that. And the other ace up their sleeve is that they're also hosting the 2014 football World Cup. By having to get ready for that major sporting tournament two years earlier, it should also speed up construction for the 2016 Olympics.

London decided to use as many existing venues as possible and build fewer new ones, cutting costs and meaning that almost everything got finished on time and on budget. They were even able to hold testament in most of the stadia. The plus points for Rio 2016 are the iconic venues they already have: the Maracana Stadium, which once hosted a football World Cup final, and for the beach volleyball the famous Copa Cabana Beach.

However, rugby and golf have both been added to the list of sports for the next Olympics. And that's caused difficulties, especially the golf project which has many outstanding issues. The venue and the location of it haven't even been listed on the official Web site.

This could be Brazil's biggest strength. Organizers plan to harness the spirit of the Rio carnival to turn the Olympics into a giant party. Previous games have shown that rows over transport and infrastructure are quickly forgotten. It's the fans and the athletes that make an Olympic games. That we know no Michael Phelps in 2016 and possibly no Usain Bolt either. It's out of their hands, but Rio officials will hope that new sporting superstars emerge over the next four years.

The bottom line is, if you get terrific Olympic performances cheered on by large and enthusiastic crowds, you won't go far wrong.

Alex Thomas, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Great atmosphere there.

Now after two weeks of non-stop action in London there is still some Olympic stories making news. And Pedro Pinto joins us from London with more -- Pedro.

PEDRO PINTO, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kristie. South Korea finished in third place in the men's football tournament at the Olympics, but one player hasn't been allowed to receive a medal. Park Jong-woo helped his team beat Japan in the bronze medal match, but the Internaitonal Olympic Committee has withheld his prize since the player has been accused of displaying a politically charged banner. He is alleged to have held up a slogan supporting Korea's sovereignty over a disputed island chain that is also claimed by Japan. His coach said the whole thing was unintentional, claiming the player got the sign from a fan and did not make it himself.

There was a heroes welcome for Afghan Olympic Tae Kwon Do bronze medalist Rohullah Kikpai on Tuesday. He won his country's second ever Olympic medal in London. And his feat was celebrated as he returned to Kabul. Hundreds of people greeted him at the airport, and thousands more cheered him on at the city's sports stadium.

Nikpai received a phone call as well of congratulations from President Hamid Karzai after winning that historic bronze medal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROHULLAH KIKPAI, OLYMPIC BRONZE MEDALIST (through translator): Thank god that we managed to achieve a bronze medal at the Olympic games. I'm glad that I succeeded in raising and introducing Afghanistan's flag once again on the world stage.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PINTO: Two tennis players who could have medal hopes for Rio de Janeiro in four years time clashed in the final of the WTA tour's Roger's Cup on Monday. Petra Kvitova faced Li Na in Montreal. The Czech star looking for her first title of the season, won the first set 7-5, but then she slumped in the second. And Li took full advantage, taking control and winning the first 16 points of the set as she jumped out to a 4-0 lead.

Last year's French Open champion went on to take the set 6-2.

There was another twist in this tale, however, Kvitova regrouped and regained the advantage. The 22 year old would go on to claim her first title of the season and first ever on North American soil. Li lost her third final of the year 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 the final score.

Some baseball for you. The two teams in the American League faced off on Monday night in New York. The Yankees took on the Rangers. And they went ahead in the bottom of the third thanks to a grand slam from Nick Swisher.

More from the Bronx bombers in the bottom of the sixth inning. Eric Chavez getting some wood on a pitch from Ryan Dempster who had a game to forget on the mound for Texas. That made it 6-2.

There was still time to add some more insurance to that lead. Swisher again picking up an RPI. Derek Jeter coming around to score. Yankees beating the Rangers 8-2.

Finally, it's usually pretty cool to have a nickname, but you regularly don't get to choose it yourself unless, of course, your name is Jose Mourinho. For years the Real Madrid manager has been known as The Special One, a name he coined for himself when he arrived at Chelsea. While the Portuguese coach has won the Champion's League twice and is the only manager to pick up league titles in the top three leagues in Europe: England, Italy, and Spain.

So when in a Portuguese TV interview he was asked what he thought about his Special One nickname, he proposed that it should be changed to the Only One, because that might be more appropriate. Though I can't wait to see if that catches on.

So the Special One to the Only One, Jose Mourinho, he likes his nicknames.

LU STOUT: Yeah, he's a confident one, that's for certain.

PINTO: Yes, he is.

LU STOUT: Thank you very much -- yeah.

Pedro Pinto there, take care.

You're watching News Stream. And coming up next, an advertising powerhouse in France shares the secrets of her success. And one is never give up. We'll introduce you to this week's Leading Woman next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Now as part of our Leading Women series, we want to introduce you to a powerhouse in the advertising world and an advocate for women's rights in the workplace. Mercedes Erra is the co-founder of a leading advertising group in France that's known for reinventing some of the world's most iconic brands.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Paris: almost a brand in itself as the most romantic and fashionable place on Earth. No wonder some of the best brains in global advertising call it home, including Mercedes Erra.

MERCEDES ERRA, EURO RSCG WORLDWIDE: When I have one idea with one business, I am sure.

LU STOUT: Among her many titles, co-founder of BETC, the flagship agency for one of the largest advertising groups in France. The company she leads worked with more than 80 of the 100 largest advertisers, including Coca-Cola, IBM, Volvo, and Disney.

ERRA: I know I have a talent for this work.

LU STOUT: She is confident.

ERRA: Just normal woman can achieve big jobs exactly as a man.

LU STOUT: And wants more women in executive in advertising.

Executive, mother of five, wife to a stay at home husband, meet Mercedes Erra.

Among the bistros and boutiques, the St. James Club is a small haven for Mercedes Erra. Favorite spot for a meeting to staff and clients. She is a whirlwind of activity.

ERRA: The job is the most difficult (inaudible) to be my assistant, because they have to say stop. It's impossible. We cannot finish at 12:00 tonight.

LU STOUT: As the E in BETC, Mercedes Erra runs and equal opportunity office with a strict code of excellence. Her trademark platinum blonde hair and intense drive, Erra is the queen of brand strategy in another-wise male dominated industry in France.

ERRA: The job is feminine job, but the power is masculine power. And I think here it's not masculine or feminine power, it's about men and women together and it changed the way we invent the agency.

BERTILLE TOLEDANO, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, BETC EURO RSCG: She fight for everything. She fight to be -- to be accepted, because it was a male agency and it was something like male power there. And she happened to make it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Castle burning, we like that. Everybody screaming, lots of blood, boom, explosion.

TOLEDANO: If you look at the brands of -- that she's managing, these brands have gained so much values in so difficult time.

LU STOUT: Erra is credited with rejuvenating Avian. Her agency created the ad spot roller babies for the bottled water giant. It made the Guinness Book of World Records in 2009 as the most watched red commercial.

She is a master of reinventing brands with her team focused on diversity for McDonalds, and a romantic vision for Air France.

ERRA: Sometimes, to be (inaudible)

LU STOUT: On this day, Erra and her staff are preparing an advertising pitch for Louis Vuitton. It has been a surprising professional journey.

ERRA: I never imagine I work in a (inaudible). I don't understand nothing about trade, (inaudible), I'm so stupid things.

LU STOUT: But once she started, Erra built her career on a simple principle, being responsible starting at the agency Satchi and Satchi (ph).

ERRA: When people want responsibility, you can have immediately many responsibility because you are rare. Because people doesn't want too many responsibilities. You know after 14 years, I am the general manager for the agency, but I don't -- I don't do anything for this, I was responsible. And it's very simple.

LU STOUT: Erra became the first woman to be elected president of the French Advertising Agencies Association and wants to change the face of power within her industry and beyond.

ERRA: I consider it's a problem, I think, of right for woman. If we change the relation we have with this kind of problem, I think, I am sure the world change.

LU STOUT: In the coming weeks, you'll find out more about Mercedes Erra from her brainstorming process to what her employees think of their confident leader.

ERRA: When I am writing the (inaudible) OK, I am the boss. In the day you have to invent some idea, you have to find a client and this for me is (inaudible).

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And we will hear more from Mercedes Erra over the next few weeks. But if you can't wait that long, head to our website and find out more about our Leading Women from around the globe. It's at CNN.com/Leadingwomen.

Still ahead here on News Stream, undercover kitty: how scientists are helping us see through a cat's eyes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Rover Curiosity continues to send back some amazing pictures from the Red Planet. Now these are the first high resolution images around the landing site in Gale Crater. And it looks similar to the American southwest. U.S. President Obama, he called the mission control team, offering his congratulations and telling them to let him know if it turns out that Curiosity is not alone.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If in fact you do make contact with Martians, please let me know right away, because I've got a lot of other things on my plate, but I suspect that that will go to the top of the list.

(LAUGHTER)

OBAMA: Even if they're just -- even if they're just microbes, it will be pretty exciting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Now the president also gave a shout out to Mohawk guy, I'm talking about Bobak Ferdowski, the flight director. He became an internet hit with his haircut. And the presidnet noted that NASA engineers are a lot cooler than they used to be.

Now they may look adorable like Misty right here, but we never really know what our feline friends are up to when they leave the house. And now, researchers at the University of Georgia are lending a helping paw in the form of a kitty cam. Jeanne Moos has the pictures.

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JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ever wonder what cats do when they think we're not looking? Me neither. But thanks to kitty cams hanging off their necks, now we know. They're jumping over fences. They're scrambling across roofs. They're hiding under cars and growling at dogs.

University of Georgia researchers teamed up with National Geographic to put critter cams on 60 pet cats. Got to love those whiskers. The video was eye-opening for the owner of Booker T.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I knew his favorite place to go was down in the storm sewer. And now, I know what the storm sewer looks like.

MOOS: And when Booker T stopped for a drink, you could almost taste it. Then there was the cat that stumbled on a tree stump full of checks mix to chew on.

But the most popular prey for cats in the study, lizards. That's a lizard in his mouth, turns out there was a lot of bird watching but less bird killing.

Birds accounted for only 12 percent of the creatures killed. The study resulted in cat calls ranging from virtual killing machines to secret world of slaughter. Though only 44 percent of cats did any hunting when left outside.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: An average of two prey items per week.

MOOS: That probably doesn't count the cat that attacked in a possum that came too close to the cat's home. Chief researchers Carry Ann Lord (ph) said most cats lift their prey after they killed in.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Rather than bring it home as a gift for the owners.

MOOS: It doesn't take a kitty cam to know that cats turn up in weird places. Like the ceiling of the university for peace in Costa Rica. One of the most common places they hang out seems to be under cars. One of the cats gave the undercarriage of this truck a closer look than most mechanics would.

Perhaps the most emotionally devastating revelation of the study, say it isn't so, four of the cats were found to be leading double lives. Cheating on their owners.

Archie the tubby was caught on kitty cam at a neighbor's house. These two-timers are getting...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Food but also love and affection and a place to sleep during the day.

MOOS: As for the owner...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel like one of those women on the talk show, you know. My husband has two wives. My cat has two families.

MOOS: Get your mind out of the sewer.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And that is NEWS STREAM, but the news continues at CNN. "WORLD BUSINESS TODAY" is next.

END