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NEWS STREAM

Syrian Civilians Risk Their Lives For Bread; Benjamin Netanyahu Government Expected To Win Parliamentary Elections; Parliamentary Elections Could Be Tipping Point For Jordan's Monarchy

Aired January 22, 2013 - 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.

An exclusive look at a crucial Syrian base under siege as rebels fight what they say in the final battle for control of the north.

Also ahead, seeking security for both the country and its economy: why Israel's election is so significant right now.

And a soldier first, a prince second: Britain's Prince Harry proves he's just one of the guys in Afghanistan.

Now it has now been 22 long months since the Syrian conflict began. And rebel fighters sense that they are within sight of a major breakthrough. They believe that a helicopter base near the town of Azzaz (ph) is the government's last stronghold in the north of the country.

Now for a month, opposition troops have laid siege to it. Now they know that if they can take it, the whole of northern Syria could be theirs.

Now further south, an armed group loyal to President Bashar al-Assad took heavy casualties in a suicide car bombing on Monday. An opposition organization and state run TV, they both report at least 30 were killed.

Whatever progress the opposition is making, it's only adding to a death toll that the United Nations says to be more than 60,000. In fact, the UN high commissioner for human rights now says that figure could be an underestimate. And in this CNN exclusive, Ivan Watson joins rebels as they strive to put at least part of Syria safely under their control.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Here in the north, rebels call it the final battle. It is a modern-day siege of what rebels say is the last government controlled position in northern Syria.

For more than a month, lightly armed rebels have hurled themselves against this heavily fortified helicopter base located barely 15 minutes drive from the border with Turkey.

The Menag (ph) air base is surrounded on all sides. Several hundred loyalist troops, backed by dozens of tanks, continue to hold out.

It's from here in the olive groves that the rebels are laying siege to this air base. They're currently targeting it with mortars fired from the distance and helping sight with this telescope right here. And we can hear the defenders inside firing outgoing rounds. And we can actually see three of the helicopters parked there on the tarmac.

A commander named Abu Jalan (ph) tries to call in sniper fire against targets in the base.

Videos shot by rebels give us a tiny glimpse of what life looks like in a military base located deep in enemy territory.

This soldier escaped from the base and defected four days ago and now hides his face for safety.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I wasn't afraid when the rebels shot at us. But when we heard them yell Allahu Akbar (god is great) all of us were scared."

WATSON: But the rebels have also suffered losses. Several senior commanders have been wounded, leaving this man, a surprisingly shy defected army pilot in his 20s in charge of one of the main rebel brigades. He shows us one of the giant cannons his men have capture from the Syrian army, a weapon he soon plans to use against his enemy.

Why is this airbase so important to you?

"Because it's the regime's last position," he says. "We have to get rid of it to get rid of its evil."

Less than a year ago, Syrian rebels were being hunted in their homes. Now they lob shells and wait, eager for the day they can claim to be undisputed rulers of the north.

Ivan Watson, CNN, Syria.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STOUT: Now one opposition group says that at least 110 people were killed in violence across Syria on Monday. Now meanwhile Russia has sent two planes to Beirut, but Lebonese officials expect them to pick up more than 100 Russian nationals fleeing Syria.

And Nick Paton Walsh joins us now live from Istanbul in neighboring Turkey with the latest. And Nick, Russia is bringing out some civilians from Syria. What's happening here and why?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's deeply symbolic. Russia, of course, being a stalwart military and diplomatic ally of the Assad regime throughout this 22 month old conflict now. They're bringing out 104 people, according to Lebonese officials. Russian officials saying many of them are women and children, stressing these aren't including their diplomatic staff at the embassy. And they do have thousands of people inside Syria. So it's very much a small amount of that, a fraction. But the symbolism is enormous, because Russia has at length discussed its preparations for evacuation, but actually not started to do it. Now this isn't, in their mind, an evacuation, but it looks like it for those outsiders.

And after months in which Moscow has made remarks that suggest they think the rebels could win, question the effectiveness of the Assad government, it's another sign of how they're losing faith in the Damascus regime. And of course, these people have, in fact, been unable to leave Damascus International Airport, because it's under rebel attack. They've had to cross over into neighboring Lebanon under their own steam. And now Russia presumably pushed into having to assist them because they simply sat there in Beirut -- Kristie.

STOUT: Can you tell us more about what they were fleeing from, more about that heavy fighting in Damascus, and also about the violence across Syria this day?

PATON WALSH: Certainly. I mean, there is intense clashes around Damascus now in the suburbs. The regime desperate to keep control, seemingly unable to launch large ground offensives and retake area, and instead intensely pound them.

Let's look at the effects of one rocket explosion in the suburb of Damascus. You can see there really the quite remarkable power of that rocket explosion, another sign of the heavy weapons that U.S. officials have been warning could be being news as the Assad regime finds itself increasingly on its back. But that looked like what you'd refer to as a SCUD type missile, though it's not exactly what it was. But the devastating firepower there quite remarkable.

We've heard stories in the past few days about civilians ground literally into that dusty area that's now becoming Dariyah (ph), the heavily fought over suburb near Damascus. And reports today and yesterday that even some of the rebels are getting close to an eastern district very close to center of Pojobar (ph) unconfirmed. But if that's the case they're really close to the heart of the capital indeed, Kristie.

STOUT: Yeah, incredibly video there, the rocket fire in that suburb of Damascus.

And lastly, on the diplomatic front, Lakhdar Brahimi, is there any hope that he can somehow broker and end to all this fighting?

PATON WALSH: The Arab League has suggested recently that that's not really going to happen. He made that lengthy period of a month's worth of shuttle diplomacy, many hoping that Moscow were somehow trying to convince Assad to agree to some sort of political concession that might see a transition out of this, but it failed resolutely to be honest. And after Assad's speech recently in which he's seen more defiant than ever saying he was never going to go anywhere, state media began even to mock Mr. Brahimi referring to him as an aging tourist who had an all expenses paid trip to various capitals.

So diplomacy looking really fragile if not, frankly, fruitless at this time, Kristie.

STOUT: And now we're 22 months into the conflict. Nick Paton Walsh reporting, thank you.

Now earlier, we saw Ivan Watson getting the perspective of rebel fighters in the north of Syria. And in the capital Damascus, ITN's Bill Neely has been accompanying pro-government troops. And no matter what side of the divide, the plight of Syrian civilians in the crossfire is a recurring and harrowing theme.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL NEELY, ITV NEWS CORRESPONDENT: They're about to risk their lives to run a gauntlet of gunfire. They're at a front line in Syria's capital and they are ready to cross it. Coming the other way, a group that's taken the same gamble. They all live in a rebel held district where food is scarce, so they run back and forth to get some. They wait for gaps in the gunfire, but you can feel their fear and they are weary. They've endured this every day for six weeks.

Then it's time to go. They head for the dead ground hugging the wall, clutching their bread.

Once they cross, the battle begins again. The regime's men and rebels at close quarters, very close.

War for control of Damascus hinges on a few crucial battlegrounds like this one where the rebels in one stronghold -- and they are just around that corner -- are trying to link up with others just a mile away. If they break through, then the battle is taken to the very center of this city.

But these men are not regular soldiers. They're locals, trained for a month and given weapons by the army. Some are students, living through history if they're lucky. This is deadly. It's a war across wasteland for an entire suburb. Hundreds of thousands used to live here, but back streets are deserted now, exodus again in the Middle East.

We're taken to another front line position, through holes smashed in walls to a war of snipers and single shots. Rebels are just across the street. From the regime's sniper position, they see a rebel gunmen use a mirror to spot his enemy.

It's a fight for survival. At the bakery, the demand is intense. People fear flour may run out soon. Then back they go to brave the gunfire again to feed their families.

Do you believe it will end soon?

"We pray it will," he says. "God willing."

But on the streets of Damascus, people are dying every day in a war that has now claimed close to 70,000 lives. These men believe they're fighting terrorists, rebels a brutal dictator. And in the middle, caught in the crossfire, Syrians are running for their lives.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STOUT: Bill Neely there.

And he encountered just some of the people still risking their lives inside Damascus. There are of course hundreds of thousands of Syrians displaced by the violence. And more than half a million refugees who have fled to neighboring countries. To find out how you can help those in need, visit our impact your world site. You can find it at CNN.com/impact.

Now you're watching News Stream. And still ahead, Israelis vote today in parliamentary elections. And we will go live in Jerusalem for the latest.

And next door in Jordan, protests suggest that Wednesday's results could be more uncertain. Our reporter in Amman tells us why the country waits on a knife's edge for its elections to play out.

And it was all hush, hush, but now we can bring you an interview with Britain's Prince Harry on the front line in Afghanistan.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

STOUT: Welcome back.

You're watching News Stream. And this is a visual rundown of all the stories we are covering today. We've told you about what is being called the final battle in northern Syria. Later, we'll hear from Prince Harry about his experiences in Afghanistan.

And now to Israel. Our voters are going to the polls in national legislative elections. 34 parties are in the running from all ends of the political spectrum, but pundits are already predicting a winner. Likud Beitenu, the right-wing political coalition led by these two men the currently Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former foreign minister Avigdor Leiberman.

Now analysts say their alliance will likely get the most seats of any party in the Knesset, Israel's parliament, but the number is expected to be considerably smaller than they had originally hoped.

Now, regardless of the outcome, Israel's next government will face some tough issues, among other things, the country is wrestling with a large budget deficit.

Let's go live now to Atika Shubert in Jerusalem. And Atika, from your position, what kind of turnout have you seen so far?

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We've seen really good turnout, actually. We've been kind of going from polling station to polling station all day. This is our third one. And you can see behind me there's actually quite a line of people. In fact, official figures are that about 38 percent of eligible voters have already come out to cast their vote. And that's up from the last election, which had just about 34 percent at around this time. So voter turnout does seem to be good.

The question is, what is the driving issue, and what parties are they voting for? We're not going to have those results in the exit polls until later tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MANNA ADEL, PALESTINIAN HISTORIAN: Yeah, unfortunately in this country things are going from bad to worse. And I expect also that the next government will be more to the right-wing, not trying as the previous one to solve the Palestinian issue, that issue of occupation. That's why I say I'm frightened as a citizen of Israel I'm frightened, as a Palestinian living in Jerusalem I'm frightened.

ELLY GORODETZER, ISRAELI-AMERICAN SETTLER: If we don't settle the land, then the land is not ours. But I don't trust Benjamin Netanyahu, because he can say one thing today and he's done other things in the past.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHUBERT: Those are two thoughts that -- bites that we got from voters at our last polling station. And they are completely opposing point of views as you can see. One was a Palestinian historian, a Palestinian with Israeli citizenship who said that he fears for more right-wing government. And then from another voter, an Israeli-American settler who said he wants to see an expansion of the settlements, but that he doesn't trust the government to do that either.

So it's interesting to see that you have two opposing point of views, but both don't want to see Benjamin Netanyahu back in as prime minister. So we've got some very interesting variety of viewpoints out here, Kristie.

STOUT: Just as we heard just then.

Netanyahu is expected to come back as the head of a coalition, a more hawkish coalition. So what does that mean for the peace process?

SHUBERT: Well, it could mean that we see him being pushed further to the right. And this is something that analysts have said might happen depending, of course, on the votes that come in today.

The reason for that is, of course, that he called this early election hoping to have a stronger base. But recent -- the most recent polls show that he may actually lose seats. Now if that happens, it means he's going to have to rely on a much more fractured coalition, possibly relying on more right-wing parties that want even more extreme measures than his own. And that -- he may have to make some compromises there.

That doesn't seem to bode well for the peace process. But again, it all really depends on what kind of numbers come in tonight.

Remember, 15 percent of the voters in the last poll were undecided. So there are still a few possibilities for surprises here.

STOUT: All right, Atika Shubert joining us live from Jerusalem, thank you.

Now voters in neighboring Jordan will go to the polls a day later. And Wednesday's parliamentary elections are taking place at an extremely sensitive time for a nation that is pivotal in the Middle East. And Mohammed Jamjoom explains what is at stake.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MOHAMMED JAMJOOM, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Calls for boycott less than a week before Jordan's parliamentary elections.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are here to protest at the prices, which have become very high for people -- oil prices, fuel prices.

JAMJOOM: Jordan's Muslim Brotherhood, which organized this rally, feels its been treated unfairly. The group's leaders say that a new electoral law does not guarantee equal representation.

This boycott has Jordan on edge, threatening to undermine the legitimacy of an election meant to showcase promised reforms.

The outcome of this election, the country's first since the Arab Spring, is key for this volatile region. Allies like the U.S. are watching closely. Jordan is the most stable and non-threatening country bordering Israel.

In a capital blanketed by banners, a mood of cynicism remains. Jordanians will vote in the midst of an economic crisis, one so dire that violent clashes broke out in November when an end to fuel subsidies was announced.

The government maintains it is committed to free and fair elections. European Union observers are even on the ground to try to ensure a fair and transparent voting process.

Still, for many, that's not enough.

LAMIS ANDONI, JORDANIAN ANALYST AND COMMENTATOR: The regime has to understand that it has to take the basic demands (inaudible) for change, for accountability, for wider representation, for transparency seriously.

JAMJOOM: And you feel they haven't taken it seriously?

ANDONI: I'm not sure. I'm not sure.

JAMJOOM: Uncertainty aside, analysts and commentator Lamis Andoni tells me that while there is anger and apathy among potential voters here, the outlook isn't critical, yet.

ANDONI: If they -- the economy continues to deteriorate, then we'll have a dangerous situation, not from the Brotherhood itself, but from an uprising of the hungry.

JAMJOOM: Campaigning continues as uncertainty grows, especially for the youth of the country, acknowledging the seriousness of the problems they face.

ABDULLAH SHAMI, FOUNDER OF CAFE POLITIQUE AMMAN: Lack of trust. Lack of belief that there is a bright future for them. People don't have job security. People leaving universities are not finding jobs.

JAMJOOM: The kind of problems many say Jordan just can't afford at such an important time.

Mohammed Jamjoom, CNN, Amman.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STOUT: Now no man has ever won the Australian Open three years running. And Novak Djokovic's attempt to become the first to pull off the feat continues as he reaches the semifinals. An Australian Open update is after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

STOUT: Coming to you live from Hong Kong, you're back watching News Stream.

Now Novak Djokovic is just two victories away from doing something that no man has done in the Open era. And Pedro Pinto joins us now with more -- Pedro.

PEDRO PINTO, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kristie.

Novak Djokovic moved a step closer to becoming the first male player to win the Australian Open three years in a row. He booked his place in the semifinals of the grand slam tournament thanks to a victory over Tomas Berdych. Even though he had played a five hour, five set marathon in the previous round, the world number one still had enough energy in the tank to dispatch his Czech opponent.

He won in four sets.

Up next for the Serbian star, a battle with David Ferrer who came back from two sets down in his quarterfinal to beat Nicolas Almagro.

One the women's side of the draw, Maria Sharapova set up a semifinal date with Li Na after an emphatic victory over Russian compatriot Ekaterina Makarova. The world number two won 6-2 and 6-2, setting a record for the least number of games lost while reaching the semifinals.

As far as her next opponent is concerned, I can tell you Li Na had earlier defeated Agnieszka Radwanska.

UEFA president Michel Platini has spoken out for the first time about a recent high profile case of racism in football. In an interview with the French radio station, Platini praised A.C. Milan player Kevin-Prince Boateng for walking off the pitch after being racially abused during a friendly earlier this month.

You may recall the Ghanian midfielder decided to leave the game against Pro Patria after being subjected to monkey chants. He was followed off the field by his teammates and the match was abandoned.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter had said a couple of weeks ago that players shouldn't take matters into their own hands, but Platini has a different opinion. This is what he said, and I quote, "it was wonderful. I really liked it a lot. I even called A.C. Milan to congratulate them," end quote.

The Frenchman did at the UEFA already had regulations in place should racial abuse take place during Champion's League or Europa League games. Fans will be warned twice through the public address system. If their behavior persists, then the match referee can call the game off.

We're going to have to change something, that is what Kobe Bryant told reporters after the Lakers lost again in the NBA on Monday night. In what was a clear message to coach Mike D'Antoni, the L.A. superstar stated the team has to change its style and slow down its tempo.

Their latest defeat came at the hands of the Chicago Bulls. The game was close for awhile. Bryant scoring two of his 16 points on the break. But the Bulls took control down the stretch. Jimmy Butler with the steal and then he takes it down the other end for the big dunk.

With Derrick Rose still absent, Kirk Hinrich at the point guard position had a big night. He finished with a team high 22 points.

Chicago continued to build on their lead and extended it to double digits with various players contributing. They actually had six players with 10 points or more. The Lakers lost their sixth consecutive road game 95-83 the final score.

PJ Carlesimo led the Nets to their ninth win in the last 10 games as Brooklyn beat their local rivals the Knicks at Madison Square Garden. This contest went down to the wire. Amare Stoudemire tying it up at 70 with two of his 15 points. New York struggled to contain Nets sharpshooter Joe Johnson, though. The former Atlanta Hawk nailed some big buckets from downtown in the fourth quarter, helping the visitors take a four point lead.

The Knicks stayed within striking distance, thanks to JR Smith and his jumper. But Johnson responded. A tough fadeaway shot, giving the Nets a one point lead with under 30 seconds to play. JJ had 25 points.

Brooklyn added a couple of free throws, meaning the Knicks needed a three pointer to send the game into overtime, but as you just saw, JR Smith missed from long range. Final score, the Nets winning it by three.

And that is a quick look at sports for now. Kristie, back to you in Hong Kong.

STOUT: All right, Pedro, thank you.

And when News Stream continues, the questions after the crisis in Algeria, with the hostage death toll raised and others still missing we'll find out what's being done to prevent a repeat.

And the serious side of Prince Harry. As the young royal returns from a tour of duty in Afghanistan, we'll get an inside look at his life in the armed forces.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

STOUT: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. You're watching NEWS STREAM, and these are your world headlines.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STOUT (voice-over): Now as the violence continues in Syria, Russia is sending two planes to Lebanon to evacuate more than 100 Russians who want to get away from the conflict. Now (inaudible) activists say at least 30 pro-regime forces were killed in Hama on Monday.

A suicide car bomb exploded outside the headquarters of an armed group loyal to President Bashar al-Assad.

And voters in Israel are going to the polls today. They are expected to keep Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in power. The right-wing political coalition he formed with former foreign minister (Inaudible) Lieberman is expected to come out on top.

A British woman has been sentenced to death in Indonesia for smuggling drugs into Bali. Police say that she is 56 years old and was arrested in May with nearly 5 kg of cocaine in the lining of her suitcase. The lawyer has said that there will be an appeal.

According to a report police today by a U.N. agency, nearly 200 million people worldwide are unemployed. Almost 40 million people have given up looking for work. The International Labor Organization says young people come off worse with almost 74 million between the ages of 15 and 24 out of work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STOUT: A four-day siege at a gas facility in the Algerian desert claimed the lives of at least 37 foreign hostages. And on Monday, Algeria's prime minister provided details about the attack. But there are still a lot of unanswered questions.

CNN senior international correspondent Nic Robertson joins us now live from London to bring us up to date on the search for the truth.

And, Nic, any more clarity on the lives lost and the raid itself?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, there is a few details -- or are a few details that are emerging yet to be fully run down. But from our sources in Algeria, we're learning that one of the captured militants at the plant was, in fact, a former bus driver at the plant.

Now we need to do more checks on this information. But that's something we're learning at the moment. And of course, the prime minister of Algeria yesterday, saying that there are still five missing foreign workers in the plant. The outlook for them probably at this time doesn't look particularly good.

We understand that the operation to try to find them or recover them is still ongoing. We know that so many of those workers heard around the plant, when they heard that there were gunshots, when they heard that there were terrorists on the site there, they head to that, perhaps making the search a little harder this time.

But also we're beginning to hear a few more details from some of the people who survived the very traumatic hostage-taking. This now from a Filipino survivor.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSEPH BALMACEDA, SURVIVOR (through translator): I don't know how many there were because I bent over. I don't know how many of us Filipinos were taken. My head was down. When the car exploded, I couldn't see anything in front. All I saw was what was behind us.

My aim then, since I was alive, was to fight until the end. This was it. I would escape, even if they would shoot at me. Even from afar, I could see the government forces. I was told to lie on the floor and to roll over.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: So there's clearly a lot more to be learned and a lot more to be revealed by the Algerian authorities as they continue this investigation. But at the moment, that death toll of foreign workers stands at 37. But with those five missing still, it looks like that number may yet climb, Kristie.

STOUT: Yes, and the information coming in, an interesting detail just then, that one of the militants involved in this siege may have been a bus driver who worked at the plant.

Could that give us an indication about how the militants were able to penetrate the facility and get past the high security there?

ROBERTSON: Well, it would certainly give an indication of why we've had report from some of the people who were taken hostage, that it appeared that these militants knew where they were going, knew where the foreign workers lived on this vast and sprawling site, which is exactly something you would expect the militants to have planned and prepared in advance.

And we know that these groups or this particular group that has claimed responsibility had ties with Al Qaeda. And Al Qaeda uses very much these same tactics in Afghanistan. The Taliban there getting people inside military bases, inside government establishments to provide information to attackers who will then follow on later.

So really this is -- this is very much out of the Al Qaeda playbook. How did they manage to get past the tight security? Well, perhaps they had information about that security as well and allowed them to get around it.

And certainly that environment since the French forces went into Mali, just south of Algeria, should have meant for those security forces that they were on a much higher alert and should perhaps have even toughened their defenses. It's not clear if they'd done that at that time.

STOUT: And Nic, because of this four-day standoff, the world has learned a lot about the militants which claimed responsibility for the attack, this Mokhtar Belmokhtar. Where is he now? And how much of a threat is he today?

ROBERTSON: He's believed to be in Mali to the south. He's been there for some time. He certainly does represent a threat because, although in September he was sort of pushed out of Al Qaeda by Al Qaeda, he really is now very much aligned with them and is part of the sort of broader Al Qaeda network across the Islamic Maghreb, the north of Africa there.

He has known ties and connections to Al Qaeda affiliates in Libya and in other parts of the region. And it's through these networks and affiliates that he poses a threat, as we saw in Algeria.

He's able to influence and control a group of armed militants who were able to work in another country on a pre -- what appears to have been a preplanned mission of some complexity that was even planning to take some of the hostages outside of the country to use outside of Algeria to use them as bargaining chips.

So this is a sophisticated operator who has an extensive background in Al Qaeda and its radical beliefs and in militant ideology and has many connections throughout the region, that stretch not just through the north of Africa, but will undoubtedly lead perhaps not directly, indirectly, to Al Qaeda central in Afghanistan-Pakistan.

STOUT: Oh, an unsettling profile there. Nic Robertson, joining us live, thank you so much for that insight and analysis there.

Now Britain's Prince Harry, he is returning from a five-month tour of duty in Afghanistan. And he served at Camp Bastion as a pilot on an attack helicopter. And our Max Foster brings us an interview that Harry gave to the media while still stationed in Afghanistan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAX FOSTER, CNN HOST (voice-over): They call this VHR, very high readiness. It might look like downtime, but the call to fly can come at any time. It happened once in the middle of an interview.

PRINCE HENRY OF WALES: It wasn't done in the wrong way, but it was just --

FOSTER (voice-over): It wasn't just being able to do his job that made Harry value his deployment to Afghanistan so highly. It was the simplicity of his life out here.

FOSTER: Prince Harry stayed in these simple containers when he was here in Camp Bastion. It's a far cry from the palaces he grew up in.

FOSTER (voice-over): And when he was working overnights, things were even more basic.

HARRY: This is my bed. I don't really make it when I'm down here, which is a joy (inaudible) made, a paradigm (ph) phone. So this is as much privacy as one would get.

FOSTER (voice-over): It was while he was out here that Harry received news that his sister-in-law, the Duchess of Cambridge, was expecting a baby.

HARRY: (Inaudible) uncle. (Inaudible) forced to publicize it when they were and but that's just the media for you. And I just only hope that she gets the necessary protection to allow her, as a mother -- mother-to-be -- to enjoy the privacy that that comes with.

(Inaudible), that's the thing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible) is --

FOSTER (voice-over): Harry's own privacy is clearly a concern for the prince as well. And he made little attempts to hide it.

HARRY: I never wanted you guys to be out here. But there's was an agreement made to invite you out on the -- on the -- on the deal that you - - that the media didn't speculate before my deployment. That's the only reason you guys are out here.

FOSTER (voice-over): Back home, the media glare will inevitably be brighter and the pressure back on to find a partner.

HARRY: You hopefully find the right person and everything feels right, then it takes time, especially for myself and my brother. You know, you're never going to find someone who's going to jump into the position they would -- that they would hold, simple as that.

FOSTER (voice-over): Perhaps Harry's main interests himself will be getting back out to the front line as soon as he can -- Max Foster, CNN, Camp Bastion, Afghanistan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STOUT: This is NEWS STREAM. And still ahead, it was the brand that changed the face of video games in the U.S. And now the American division of Atari is filing for bankruptcy. But it's not game over yet.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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STOUT: Now when you've reached the top of your game, there is one big question most people ask: what's next? Well, this week, our leading women open up about just that. And they are the business tycoon Guler Sabanci and artist Bharti Kher. Becky Anderson and Felicia Taylor have more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible).

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST (voice-over): In more than 30 years at Sabanci Holding, Guler Sabanci has risen from a management trainee at the tie division to chairwoman and managing director of the entire group of roughly 56,000 employees.

She assumed the post in 2004. She's often been on the global power lists, recognized for her leadership of the Turkish industrial and financial conglomerate. She's also well-known for giving back.

GULER SABANCI, SABANCI HOLDING: Life is meaningless if only if you are only making money. It is important; it is essential. But it is not enough.

ANDERSON: You do so much philanthropy. You spend so much of your time -- some 50 percent, I think you've told me -- and -- on your sort of charity work and your foundation work, the university.

How important is that to you?

SABANCI: I feel it is -- it is not something special. It is something that it is supposed to be.

My grandfather started it. My grandmother donated all her wealth to our foundation. And my uncles continued.

This is calligraphy letters (inaudible) contemporary artist (inaudible).

ANDERSON (voice-over): That legacy is visible at this museum. It was once a family home. And today it's open to the public.

SABANCI: We have the books here. So the rare books you can only display two pages, right; whereas if you focus on that, you'll see the whole book.

ANDERSON: That's fantastic.

ANDERSON (voice-over): (Inaudible) go beyond the cultural. She's a big supporter of Girls Not Brides, which fights against child marriages. In 2010-11, she won a Clinton Global Citizen award for her efforts and was also recognized last year.

SABANCI: And President Clinton and his team are doing an incredible job on really motivating us.

ANDERSON (voice-over): And there's also her push for more level playing field for women in the workplace, she says, through business practices at her company and support of community efforts.

SABANCI: Not every woman has what I had. So if I could do something to help them, that should be also my duty.

ANDERSON: What do you hope that you're going to leave with this?

SABANCI: What I believe strongly is that I took the flag from my uncle and my cousins; others will take the flag from me. And so that it's continues (inaudible) as I said, it's in every turn is very important. It's crucial. And that is -- that is our duty for going forward.

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FELICIA TAYLOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Felicia Taylor.

For artist Bharti Kher, a new creation can begin on paper and continue to evolve in various forms, even after it comes to life.

BHARTI KHER, ARTIST: This is one of the first works I made with the really large bindi works. And when I look at it now, it seems like kind of very different. I was using only ready-made colors. And now I make my own colors.

TAYLOR (voice-over): Bindis are the forehead decorations worn by South Asian women. Kher makes her own versions and uses them in much of her work, seen here at her studio in Delhi.

KHER: Find our own fabrics, use our own glues and we've made our own dyes and stuff like that, the shapes and I keep it simple. I use the snake, the circle and the arrow. And the arrow being, of course, your journey; the snake being the beginning, the (inaudible) sperm and then the spot. The spot is the universe.

TAYLOR (voice-over): She also uses everyday objects and materials in her pieces.

KHER: This is nice. This is like a -- this is like somebody's hair. It's like a -- like a ponytail.

TAYLOR (voice-over): Her art can also be considered avant-garde, like this piece, featured at a London exhibit.

KHER: This piece is "Warrior with Cloak and Shield." The title sort of suggests that, yes, she's got a fight or she's going to do something. But of course, these huge antlers and her shield is just really a shirt that she perhaps would use to cover up.

Art really does answer those fundamental questions or it seeks to ask, you know, to answer those questions of who are we, why are we here and what are we doing on this planet.

TAYLOR (voice-over): Kher's success means creating, exhibiting and speaking about her work globally.

KHER: When I finish a piece, it's really -- it's like if this was me and I saw this in a gallery, would I stop the (inaudible) this work for longer than five minutes, or even 20 seconds?

TAYLOR (voice-over): And after more than 20 years as an artist and great success, she's not ready to stop creating and promoting the arts at home.

KHER: I think there's a lot of really interesting work here and a lot of really good artists in India. (Inaudible) within our lifetime that people realize that culture is really an important part of society, because it defines us.

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STOUT: And there's more on the series online. Just head to CNN.com/LeadingWomen. And next month, we'll meet two new leading women, the Brazilian pop star Daniela Mercury and Greek shipping magnate Angeliki Frangou.

Now the U.S. presidential inauguration, it was full of pomp, ceremony and seriousness. Let's check out Barack Obama's expression here. But if you look behind him, that is just one of the many unplanned moments that were caught on camera. And up next, we take a look at some more.

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STOUT: Welcome back. Now a tech icon is in trouble again. The U.S. arm of video game pioneer Atari filed for bankruptcy. Now the creator of Pong and many early games is trying to break apart from its French parent company. Atari was bought by the French firm Infogrames back in 2008. But the company has been unprofitable for years.

And now the U.S. arm wants to break free and utilize the Atari name, logo and catalog of classic games. So there is hope for Atari. But this isn't the first time the company's been in trouble. Atari grew rapidly in the 1970s and early '80s. And anyone growing up in that era will probably remember these sounds.

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STOUT (voice-over): Ah, to feel that controller. Now Atari games, they were popular in the arcades and at home. But then they released a game based on the movie, "E.T." Atari bet heavily on the game, but it was widely criticized and helped lead to the company's downfall.

By 1984, Atari technically did not exist. Its parent company sold it off in parts and since then the name has changed hands several times. Now we'll see who grabs the Atari name this time around.

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STOUT: Now some 1,000 flights canceled since Friday out of Heathrow alone, hundreds more from other European airports because of the winter weather. Let's get the latest now with Mari Ramos. She joins us from the World Weather Center.

Mari?

MARI RAMOS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey, Kristie, yes. You know, it's hard to imagine, 1,000 (inaudible) -- that's thousands of people that were stranded at the airport at Heathrow alone. That's not even counting the flight delays and everything else that's been going on. Now they had a problem in London again today, this time because of visibility.

That has improved significantly in the last few hours, now that the sun has come out a little bit more and the temperature has risen just above freezing. You're right at 2 degrees now, compared to -1 earlier today. This is the thing right here, visibility 7 kilometers. That's still not great. But this morning it was less than half a kilometer.

And the ceiling, remember, we talked about the cloud ceiling before, that bottom portion of the cloud as you look up. It was only at 100 feet and that reduced visibility significantly and they had to cancel and ground a lot of flights and just slow down the rate of aircraft that were taking off and landing at the airports across southern parts of the U.K.

So, yes, it's a little bit better but then it gets worse again. So this afternoon should be a little better than what we had yesterday. Pretty cold across much of Europe. I want to show you some pictures of other delays. This is from Germany. They're still having some big delays across many central European airports.

This is in Frankfurt. Looking slightly better today, there's still some snow on the ground. They're still deicing the aircraft. And that does take longer. And another problem is visibility. Look, you can barely make out that plane there in the background. And that's a concern. So that leaves thousands more people that are stranded and just saying, really, when is this going to stop?

You know what, unfortunately, this winter weather is here to stay and we're going to go ahead and hang onto those very cold temperatures across the region.

I want to show you the radar from the U.K., still some snow here in areas to the north. That means more snow is accumulating, even though temperatures rise above freezing, overnight it's going to go back below freezing. And anything that's on the ground or anything like that will again refreeze.

And so the problem with icing remains. Notice a lot of moisture here across western France and northern parts of Spain. And still a lot of snow across central Europe, as I was telling you.

Frankfurt will get maybe another 2 cm of snow, maybe another centimeter in Munich, so not as much as before, but we're still hanging onto that snow in our next weather system is this one right over here, pretty vigorous at that, very windy.

And we're going to see some problems associated with this weather system as well, as it drops down into the central Mediterranean. A lot of moisture coming back up across central Europe with more snowfall expected there. That's that. Let's go ahead and roll the pictures that I have for you now from the other side of the world, also some big delays across parts of China.

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RAMOS (voice-over): No, do not adjust your TV set; that is what it looked like. Hard to imagine driving in those kinds of conditions, extremely dangerous, in fact. They had to close down many railways and streets and roadways because of the poor visibility. This seems to be a recurring problem there are ice warnings.

There are fog warnings. There are poor visibility warnings across this region. This is in central parts of China and it is affecting millions of people there. We go from dirty air to -- come back over to the weather map -- dirty map.

Take a look at this picture, Kristie. This is from Jakarta. Remember we've been talking about the massive flooding that they've had to deal with over the last few days. You see the buildings here in the background. This is just one river.

And look at this, all of this that you see here, that is garbage, this garbage that kind of came into the river with -- because of all of that flooding that they had over the last few days. It has improved flooding wise but now they have this massive cleanup that they have to undertake. Back to you.

STOUT: Yes, they have a huge cleanup effort ahead, and I wish them the best of luck as they take that effort on. Mari Ramos, thank you so much.

Now the nation watched as U.S. President Barack Obama was publicly inaugurated for a second term on Monday. And the big event may have been carefully planned and choreographed. But when there were thousands of cameras pointed in one direction, even the smallest details can and will be captured. Now Jeanne Moos gives us the best oddball moments from the inauguration.

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JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was a day that got off with a bang --

-- not that bang. The bangs on Michelle Obama.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And the bangs. Let's not forget the bangs.

MOOS (voice-over): It was also a day of odd couples. Beyonce and Jay-Z rubbing shoulders with Newt Gingrich and Callista. Audio difficulties forced Beyonce to pull out her earpiece.

But she still nailed "The Star-Spangled Banner."

The president, on the other hand, blew one little word as he took the oath.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The office of President of the United States --

MOOS (voice-over): No stumbling by Sasha as she literally skipped and ran from place to place. Sasha gyrated, Malia danced as they waited for the festivities to begin.

Sasha kept picking at him, wiping something off her coat.

When the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir sang, the president or may not have wiped a tear from his face. A second later, he definitely winked.

Singer Kelly Clarkson's rendition of "My Country, 'Tis of Thee" got a one-word review from Senator Chuck Schumer.

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER: Wow.

MOOS (voice-over): Of course, there were a few media flubs.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's Morgan Freeman, I think.

Bill Russell -- I'm sorry.

OBAMA: The freedom of every sole honor.

ANDERSON: He continued -- I stopped, but it continued -- welcome back to our -- welcome back to our continuing coverage.

MOOS (voice-over): And boy, did it continue.

From famous faces.

HILLARY CLINTON, SECRETARY OF STATE: Hello, hey, how are you all? Hi.

MOOS (voice-over): To the unknown anti-abortion protester in a tree.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What about the babies?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Inaudible) sounds like whether or not it's going to (inaudible).

MOOS (voice-over): When he finally climbed down a police ladder, the crowd cheered his arrest.

CROWD: Go to jail! Go to jail!

MOOS (voice-over): There were plenty of solemn moments, for instance when the president paused after making his last inaugural speech.

OBAMA: I want to take a look one more time. I'm not going to see this again.

MOOS (voice-over): He spent almost 30 seconds gazing back at the sea of speculators. But solemnity gave way to fist-pumping and the kids taking kissing pictures of their parents.

As for Michelle Obama's outfit, it was by American designer Tom Brown. And whether you like it or not, it could have been worse. Imagine these other designs by Brown. Instead of the Obamas, it could have been the inauguration of the Munsters -- Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

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STOUT: Now you may have briefly caught our favorite moment in Jeanne's story. But we're going to bring it to you once again. It is Malia Obama and this epic photobomb. You see her here getting in front of her sister so she can't take a picture of their parents kissing.

Now Malia is not the first kid to ruin this special moment for her parents. But few get the chance to photobomb the President of the United States on Inauguration Day.

Go Malia!

And that is NEWS STREAM. "WORLD BUSINESS TODAY" is next.

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