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Connect the World

Russia Officially Excluded From G8; Search For Flight 370 Suspended Due To Bad Weather; 176 Still Missing After Washington State Landslide; Venezuelan Opposition Lawmaker Maria Corina Machado Ousted From Parliament; Prosecution Rests Case In Oscar Pistorius Trial

Aired March 25, 2014 - 16:00   ET

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


MAX FOSTER, HOST: Taking to the streets as family members of those lost on a Malaysia Airlines plane vent their anger. We ask the man who co-led the hunt for the wreckage of Air France Flight 447 about the challenges facing search teams.

Also ahead, protests in Egypt as hundreds of Muslim Brotherhood supporters face charges just one day after scores more were sentenced to death. We'll talk about what these cases mean for Egypt's uncertain future.

Plus...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you play Candy Crush?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah, all the time. I had to delete the app, because it was taking over my life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: As the company behind Candy Crush prepares to make its stock market debut, we delve into the sweet appeal behind today's most popular gaming apps.

ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN London, this is Connect the World.

FOSTER: Well, hundreds of family and friends of those on board flight MH370 marched to the Malaysian embassy in Beijing this Tuesday to protest against what they call an unproved conclusion. Many say they need more than just data analysis to explain what happened to some 239 loved ones on board.

Without any concrete evidence of the plane, their nightmare continues. Our Pauline Chiou has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULINE CHIOU, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORREPSONDENT (voice-over): This morning, outrage and fury as relatives face off with police outside the Malaysian embassy in Beijing.

Over 300 Chinese friends and family members of Flight 370 protesting.

STEVE, MOTHER ONBOARD FLIGHT 370: From the beginning, they hide everything. I don't think this kind of government, a liar and even murderer, can solve anything.

CHIOU: Following Monday's dire announcement by Malaysia's prime minister --

NAJIB RAZAK, MALAYSIAN PRIME MINISTER: Flight MH370 ended in the southern Indian Ocean.

CHIOU: Frustrated by Malaysia's handling of the incident, they descended upon the embassy on foot, marching over two miles after police prevented them from taking buses and blocked the embassy once they arrived.

Furious and skeptical of Malaysia's investigation, some Chinese family members released a statement, reading in part, "The Malaysian government and Malaysian military continue putting off, holding back and covering up the truth of the incident as well as trying to deceive the families of passengers and people of the entire world."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't why. I just want to see some debris off the aircraft and black box to know exactly what happened, because there are too many unanswered questions.

CHIOU: Because of the questions that still remain, some Chinese families say they're now willing to go to Kuala Lumpur in order to confront the officials there at the highest level. And now China's president Xi Jinping has sent his deputy foreign minister to Malaysia to put pressure on the government there.

Pauline Chiou, CNN, Beijing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Well, Gale force winds and rough seas forced crews to suspend the search in the southern Indian Ocean today adding to the misery of relatives desperate for news and information.

But the Australian defense minister told CNN not to underestimate just how difficult the search operation is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID JOHNSTON, AUSTRALIAN DEFENSE MINISTER: The airplanes have to spend, as I say, four hours in the air before they even get close to this region. And then they've got an area the size of, as we say in Australia, the size of Victoria to fly around. You know, this is a very, very difficult task.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Well, it's just after 4:00 am on Wednesday morning in the Australian city of Perth right now. So the search should hopefully resume in the next few hours.

Crews will be searching for evidence of the plane and that so-called crucial black box.

The black box is the name commonly used to name flight data recorders. They're not actually black, they're orange to make them easier to spot in the wreckage.

The data recorders are located in the tail of the plane where they're less likely to be damaged by an impact.

They record technical information from a flight, things like altitude, air speed, heading, air speed and heading as well as audio from the cockpit and then engines.

To help search teams find them, the flight data recorders send out a homing signal for up to 30 days after a crash. That radio ping can be detected even when it's being sent for more than 4,000 meters under water.

The U.S. is sending ships specifically designed to search for data recorders, but they won't arrive until April 5, leading them just three days to search whilst that homing signal still remains active.

In the meantime, crews will be looking for any debris that clearly belonged to the plane, but the search is far from easy.

Joining me now to talk through some of the challenges is David Gallo, a top oceanographer who helped in the search for the Titanic and co-led the successful international effort to locate the remains of Air France Flight 447 back in 2011. He's director of special projects at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts.

And David, I want to talk to you about three main issues, really, which are challenging this whole operation. And they are the sheer scale of the area, the depth of the sea, and also the weather and those currents in the sea as well.

First of all, just talk about the weather, the size of that area in relation to the weather and the currents, because it's so isolated. It's just incredibly hard to work in, isn't it?

DAVID GALLO, WOODS HOLE OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTITUTE: It is, Max. I mean, this is -- it's tough enough to work in the deep ocean and to come back with the results that you're after as scientists, but when you add some of the complexities of this region, it makes it super tough. Not impossible, but you know this region is a long way from Perth. It's about a week's journey by boat just to get out to the site.

In the Air France case, we were fairly certain we'd have most days where working would be comfortable and then a few days of really bad weather where we may have to shut down no wand then. Here, it's the opposite, it's the converse is that you're lucky to get one or two really good stretches of really good weather, but you can expect lousy weather, in some cases like yesterday we shut down altogether. So it's very difficult here.

FOSTER: This area is known for its whirlpools, isn't it? They've got these very strong currents. They're all working against each other. And they're spinning any debris that might be there around and mixing it with other debris that's already there.

GALLO: Yeah, you've got all sorts of currents going in every which way. And, you know, that -- when you're on a research vessel you'd like to be fairly stable, but especially if you're towing something beneath the ship.

The average water depth there somewhere around the order of 3,000 meters, maybe a little bit deeper than that. So if you've got that much cable behind the ship you really want to be stable. And it gets tough to do that when you're constantly buffeted by winds and currents.

And it goes -- the same thing is true for backtracking debris. If any debris if found, that's an important clue to what happened to Malaysia Air 370. And to be able to backtrack it, you pretty much have to know what the currents and winds have been doing for the last several weeks. So, you know, it's -- again it's not going to be impossible, but it's going to be tough and getting tougher by the day.

FOSTER: Particularly when you consider the size of the area as well. I think the search area is something like 1.9 million square kilometers. So to give a sense of that, it's about the size of Mexico. So you hear about all these planes involved, all of these ships involved, but you know it's still incredibly hard.

GALLO: Well, Max, you see it in practice. You see something from a satellite and it's impossible for the aircraft, no matter how many there are, to find it. You see something from the aircraft, almost impossible from the ships on the surface of the ocean to find it. It's been one thing after another that all is heading in the makes it more difficult, not easier, direction.

FOSTER: The depth of the sea, as well, because we're looking at a recovery operations, aren't we, if we listen to what the Malaysian ministers are saying. When we look at the depth of this -- 4,000 meters deep on average around there. If we consider the size of the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, 829 meters, it really does give a sense about how deep the sea is.

So even if they do locate an area where it might be, they've got to track it to the sea bed.

GALLO: Yeah, that's the tough part is going to be -- well, one is to backtrack the -- whatever debris is found, if some is found. Right now there is not a single shred of evidence, of physical evidence, that that plane impacted the ocean anyplace let alone here, but I'm assuming based on what Inmarsat yesterday, a very reputable company that we've had a relationship at Woods Hole for a long, long time.

I'm assuming they can get a last known position. That's hugely important, because it gives you the center of the haystack for which -- in which to find the bits of the needle that are those black boxes.

And then you've got to find -- somehow you need to draw the outer circle. How big is that haystack, if you had the center, how far out do you look. And that has to be derived from things like the backtracking of information.

But ultimately it leaves you to the sea surface, then you see how difficult it is to find objects under the sun up into the air. Imagine what it's like 4,000 meters deep on an underwater mountain in the pitch black. It's not easy. It's all that much more tougher.

FOSTER: And what sort of submarines are able to operate in that area? I mean, we've talked about the Air France flight and how these submarines did work there. But this is a deeper area.

GALLO: Well, parts of it are deeper. But, you know, I'm not so -- I don't find the terrain so imposing. In Air France it was some of the most rugged underwater mountains on the planet. I mean, they're incredibly steep. They range in height from 500 meters, the shallowest, to 6,000 meters. And this mountain range, it's very similar . It's a volcanic mountain range, a trans east to west called the Southeast Indian Ridge.

But we're very familiar with that mountain range. It's much more benign terrain, not easy to work but easier to work. And in general these areas are -- we go there routinely as ocean scientists to understand plate tectonics and to look for new forms of life on the planet. So we don't find that part so imposing as we do the working in the rough weather above.

FOSTER: Yeah, exactly, that's -- they've had to call off the operation several times, haven't they, because of that.

David Gallo, thank you very much indeed for joining us with your expertise.

We have much more on our website, including a report on those deep sea robots that will play a crucial part in any search. Our Rosa Flores got an underwater demonstration of how this technology works. It really is a fascinating report. So have a look at it there.

Still to come tonight, cracking down on the Muslim Brotherhood. Egypt puts the spiritual head of the group on trial a day after sentencing more than 500 people to death. We'll have the latest from Cairo.

Plus, Oscar Pistorius and Reeva Steenkamp were seen on this closed circuit video just days before she was killed. We'll look at how that's now being used in court.

And a Venezulan opposition lawmaker is ousted. The latest on the country's deadly political unrest and much more when Connect the World continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: You're watching CNN. This is Connect the World with me, Max Foster. Welcome back to you.

U.S. President Barack Obama says that Russia's annexation of Crimea isn't a done deal. After a nuclear summit in The Netherlands, Mr. Obama hinted more sanctions against Russia are a possibility.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDNET OF THE UNITED STATES: Moving forward, you know, we have said -- and I want to be very clear about this -- we are not recognizing what has happened in Crimea. The notion that a referendum sloppily organized over the course of two weeks would somehow justify the breaking off of Crimea and the annexation by Russia, you know, that somehow that would be a valid process, I think the overwhelming majority of the world rejects.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Russia last week vetoed a UN resolution denouncing the referendum in Crimea. Ukraine is submitting another one to the UN General Assembly on Thursday. The new version will not explicitly criticize Moscow.

Syrian rebels have reportedly seized a village in a border crossing with Turkey. Kasab is located in the Latakia province on the country's Mediterranean coast. Videos from the scene posted on social media website purportedly show Syrian rebels clashing with forces loyal to the government.

The area is home to -- is the home province of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and near the location where Turkey shot down a Syrian military jet on Sunday. CNN can't independently confirm the authenticity of the images.

In Afghanistan, Taliban militants have claimed responsibility for an attack on an election commission office in Kabul today. Suicide bombers and gunmen hit the building. And there was a gun battle with Afghan security forces. A government official says five people were killed in the attack.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro says three air force generals are under arrest for planning a coup. It is the latest in a broadening crackdown on the opposition after a wave of deadly street protests.

An opposition lawmaker has been stripped of her mandate and is under investigation. Rafael Romo has more on that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Maria Corina Machado introduced herself as a Venezuelan legislator at an event she attended as a guest in Peru. But the Venezuelan government says she has lost her mandate.

The president of the national assembly says that, since Machado accepted to speak last week at a meeting of the Organization of American States in Washington on behalf of the Panamanian government she was acting as a foreign official and is therefore constitutionally barred from serving as legislator.

DIOSDADO CABELLO, VENEZUELAN NATIONAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT (through translator): We are issuing orders effective immediately that Ms. Machado is not to enter again the national assembly's headquarters as a legislator, at least during the current term.

ROMO: Machado, a fiery speaker and one of the most prominent leaders of the Venezuelan opposition has strongly criticized the government of President Nicolas Maduro.

MARINA CORINA MACHADO, VENEZUELAN OPPOSITION LAWMAKERS: How do you call a regime that persecutes and has repression, that tortures students and the censorship the press, how is that regime called? It's a dictatorship.

ROMO: The government accuses Machado and other members of the opposition of inciting violent anti-government protests that have left more than 30 people dead and hundreds injured.

In fact, pro-government legislators were trying to strip her of her parliamentary immunity to charge her with promoting crime, homicide, treason and even terrorism. But now they say doing so is no longer necessary, since in their words she's no longer a legislator and has no immunity.

At a rally last month in eastern Caracas, she told CNN she's more worried about her country's future than the government's threats.

Are you afraid that you're going to be targeted by the government and end up in jail?

MACHADO: What I'm afraid is that our country to keep on going through this way of destruction, of tears, of blood, of violence that this regime has brought.

ROMO: But the threat of jail is very real. President Nicolas Maduro has already sent to jail opposition leader and former presidential candidate Leopoldo Lopez as well as two opposition mayors.

Rafael Romo, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Well, hope is dwindling in the search for survivors of a massive landslide in Washington State. The death toll remains at 14. 176 others are unaccounted for or are missing, though officials say they think many of those names of those missing are duplicated.

Ana Cabrera reports that anxious relatives are trying to remain optimistic.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRENDA NEAL, STEVEN NEAL'S WIFE: None of us feel like he's gone.

ANA CABRERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Brenda Neal's 52-year-old husband, Steven, is among those still missing after a massive landslide on Saturday in Snohomish County. This hill gave way swallowing a square mile of land and everything in its path.

BRENDA NEAL: I've been at the fire hall at midnight looking for anything. I've seen the rescuers covered in mud and the despair on their faces is very evident, that they want to help. CABRERA: Steven, a local plumber, was on a service call when the landslide hit. His daughter, Sara, describes him as a survivor.

SARA NEAL, STEVEN NEAL'S DAUGHTER: I think if anyone had a chance it would be him. I think if he was there with other people, he would keep them alive too.

CABRERA: Officials say the outlook is grim.

FIRE CHIEF TRAVIS HOTS, SNOHOMISH COUNTY FIRE DEPARTMENT: I'm very disappointed to tell you that we didn't find any sign of any survivors.

CABRERA: But volunteers taking tremendous risk combing through the mud and rubble aren't giving up hope.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We just heard this morning that another dog got rescued. If we're still finding dogs alive, why can't we be finding people?

CABRERA: Three days ago, first responders saved this 4-year-old boy taking this photo moments after pulling him from the mud.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE So, they brought him to us in the ambulance. I took all his clothes off because he was freezing. Wrapped him up and held him and told him I was a grandma and couldn't find the rest of his family.

CABRERA: Cory Kuntz lost his aunt and his home to the slurry but his uncle survived.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They heard him pounding on that roof. He had a little air pocket. My neighbors and friends came and started digging him out.

CABRERA: He and neighbors have formed their own search crew in the hopes that more will be found alive.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Well, live from London, this is Connect the World.

And coming up, another mass trial in Cairo, this time with top Muslim Brotherhood leaders on trial. So what does it all mean for the future of the country after the military coup?

Plus, text messages and security camera footage are brought in as evidence as the prosecution rests its case in Oscar Pistorius's trial.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: You're watching Connect the World live from London. Welcome back. I'm Max Foster.

Now the prosecution in the Oscar Pistorius murder trial has rested its case after more than two weeks of courtroom drama. The trial began on March 3 when Pistorius's neighbor testified she heard screams before the sound of four gunshots on the night he killed Reeva Steenkamp.

Then on March 6, the court heard from a witness who claimed Pistorius had asked a friend to take the blame after a pistol was accidentally fired in a crowded Johannesburg restaurant last year.

By the second week, the court was hearing about the graphic details of how Steenkamp died.

All that proved too much for Pistorius who vomited a number of times while the pathologist who performed her autopsy testified.

Well, the court heard a lot about events of that fatal night, including how a cricket bat was used to strike the toilet door.

But as Robyn Curnow now reports from Pretoria, the prosecution now wrapped up its case by dissecting the couple's relationship in the weeks leading up to the shooting.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBYN CURNOW, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: For nearly four weeks, Oscar Pistorius sat in the dock at times stoic as a police expert read intimate messages between the Olympian and his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in the days before he shot and killed her.

FRANCOIS MOLLER, CELL PHONE EXPERT: I can't be attacked by outsiders for dating you and be attacked by you, the one person I deserve protection from.

CURNOW: At times he was physically overcome as thousands of crime scene photos were examined in grisly detail.

Pistorius had always said the shooting was a tragic mistake, that he though Steenkamp was an intruder. And today, his defense team tried to put those social media arguments in context.

Captain Moller told the court that 90 percent of the messages between the couple were loving.

BARRY ROUX, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: It's from Mr. Pistorius to Reeva and it says, "I'm going to turn in. Wish you were here. Please send me a message to let me know you're safe."

MOLLER: That's correct.

CURNOW: But was it enough?

KELLY PHELPS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: The state's case has been heavily circumstantial so far. Those texts are the first piece of compelling evidence we have to establish some sort of motive from which his intention can be inferred. And as a result, the defense is definitely had their hardest time so far cross examining on this evidence.

CURNOW: The defense will now open its case on Friday and Pistorius is expected to find himself not just watching from the dock, but defending himself on the stand.

Robyn Curnow, CNN, Pretoria, South Africa.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: The latest world news headlines are just ahead.

Plus, many of us love Candy Crush, but would you invest in it? We look into the popular app and its upcoming IPO.

And she is one of the most powerful women in banking. We speak to Gail Kelly about success inside and outside the board room.

Another mass trial in Egypt. We'll ask where the country is heading as the crackdown against the Muslim Brotherhood intensifies.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: This is Connect the World. The top stories this hour.

Crews are set to resume their search over the southern Indian Ocean on Wednesday for any sign of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. Rough weather conditions kept planes grounded on Tuesday. Meanwhile, relatives of the missing passengers took to the streets of Beijing. They marched to the Malaysian embassy to denounce the airline in the way this crisis is being handled.

Rescuers are still searching for survivors of Saturday's mudslide in Washington State, but hopes are diminishing. The death toll stands at 14. 176 others are unaccounted for or missing, but officials say they believe many of the names on the list are duplicated.

In Afghanistan, gunmen attacked the election commission office in Kabul on Tuesday with just 11 days to go before presidential elections. Five people killed and another eight were wounded. The five attackers were also killed. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.

A U.S. official says Russia has deployed 10,000 more troops to positions along Ukraine's eastern border in the last week to 10 days. The U.S estimates that Russia now has about 30,000 troops in the area, raising concerns Moscow planes to move further into Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Ukraine's acting defense minister has lost his job over his handling of the crisis in Crimea. Karl Penhaul has more from Kiev.

(BEING VIDEOTAPE)

KARL PENHAUL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Ukraine's parliament has fired acting defense minister Igor Tenyukh, blaming him for failing to defend Crimea against occupation by Russian forces. The parliament says that Tenyukh failed to give orders to the troops there, leaving bases to be overrun or to surrender to the Russians one by one.

Ukraine's acting president has now ordered all remaining Ukrainian troops in Crimea to withdraw. In practice, however, the Defense Ministry says that no more than 4,000 troops may be coming back to Ukraine because they say that 75 percent of the fighting force there either defected to the Russians or simply went absent without leave.

The new defense minister has been named. He was a former chief of the border guard, and one of his first priorities is going to be to beef up security on Ukraine's eastern border. That is because the Ukrainian government fears that up to 100,000 Russian troops are massing just on the other side and may be preparing to invade parts of Ukraine.

In a separate development in western Ukraine, the Interior Ministry says its special forces have killed Aleksandr Muzychko, one of the regional leaders of the Right Sector party and ultra-nationalist group.

The Interior Ministry says that it wanted to arrest Muzychko on charges of gangland-style activities, but leaders of the Right Sector in Kiev say that the regional leader was taken prisoner, handcuffed, and murdered by those special forces troops.

The Right Sector leaders say that they believe that this may be an attempt by Russian sympathizers within the Interior Ministry to create destabilization within Ukrainian politics.

The Right Sector is both a political party and a para-military formation. It took a leading role in some of the protests in January and February that ended with the ouster of Ukraine's president. It has garnered widespread public support, particularly for its organizational and street fighting skills. Critics, however, do warn that the umbrella group may harbor right-wing extremists.

Karl Penhaul, CNN, Kiev.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Arab League heads of state are meeting in Kuwait for a two- day summit overshadowed by a diplomatic fallout between Qatar and some other countries in the region.

Saudi Arabia and Egypt say Doha should stop supporting the Muslim Brotherhood, which they consider a terrorist organization. But Qatar's emir hit back on Tuesday saying stability in Egypt can only be achieved if all parties are involved.

Well, that call certainly fell on deaf ears inside Egypt, where the Brotherhood's spiritual leader, Mohammed Badie, and hundreds of other supporters went on trial. It was the second mass trial in as many days, and that sparked angry protest by the group's supporters. They're calling for a nationwide protest tomorrow. Matthew Chance has more from Cairo.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the speed of these trials and the severity of the sentences have been really unprecedented here in Egypt.

The court in Minya, south of Cairo, hearing charges against 683 people, including Mohammed Badie, the spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, now branded a terrorist organization here in Egypt in connection with the violent protests that followed the removal by the Egyptian military of the Islamist president Mohammed Morsy in the middle of last year.

Defense lawyers boycotted the proceedings after the mass verdict that was delivered by the same court a day earlier in which 529 people, mostly being tried in absentia, were sentenced to death on similar charges. It's provoked widespread criticism, human rights groups branding the proceedings illegal under international law.

A spokesperson for the US State Department says she was shocked and concerned at the first trial, which lasted less than two days, and that it, quote, "did not seem possible that a fair review of evidence and testimony could have been accomplished."

The military-backed authorities here in Egypt are defending the court's actions, saying the country's judiciary is independent and that the court's decision came after careful study of the evidence.

Critics, though, say the mass trials are part of a government crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood and its supporters, in which thousands of people have already been arrested and hundreds more killed since last year.

Matthew Chance, CNN, Cairo.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Well, the mass trials in Egypt are rooted in the days following the ousting of the former president, Mohammed Morsy. He was the Muslim Brotherhood candidate who became the country's first freely-elected president in June, 2012.

A little more than a year later, following mass protests against his rule, Morsy was ousted by the military in a move that triggered widespread unrest. In the weeks that followed, hundreds of Egyptians, most of them Morsy supporters, were killed in protests against the military government. A policeman was also killed in those August riots, leading to this week's mass trial.

Well, let's find out what these mass trials mean for the future of Egypt and the Muslim Brotherhood. We're joined by two guests. Here with me in London is Abdullah El-Haddad, a Muslim Brotherhood spokesman, and in Cairo, we're also joined by political analyst and reporter Ashraf Khalil. Thank you both for joining us.

Abdullah, as you watch these events unfold over the last couple of days, what goes through your mind? Because it does feel as though things are moving very, very quickly.

ABDULLAH EL-HADDAD, SPOKESMAN, MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD: Well, it's shocking to see that the Egyptian judiciary has been transferred to an oppression tool of Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. So, instead of using --

FOSTER: So, you say they're not acting independently?

EL-HADDAD: They are not independently. This is all just a kangaroo court, the speed of which the verdict has been delivered, only two sessions, 20 minutes. Mubarak's trial was like 48 sessions and it took them more than two years.

And I just want to highlight that we have strongly condemned all these terrorist attacks against the army and against the police and we called for proper trials and proper investigations. And the people that have done all these attacks should be tried.

FOSTER: So, your point is that there's -- not enough time has been dedicated to each case here.

EL-HADDAD: The point is, anyone that opposes Abdel Fattah el-Sisi is a terrorist to him.

FOSTER: OK.

EL-HADDAD: And anyone who is peacefully protesting on the street, we have seen all these massacres and atrocities that were committed against the anti-coup protesters, who were protesting for more than nine months after the military coup in Egypt. And he is using all kinds of tools, and the Egyptian judiciary has become one.

FOSTER: Ashraf, what does this say about the judiciary? It does seem like an enormous amount of verdicts in a very short space of time.

ASHRAF KHALIL, POLITICAL ANALYST AND JOURNALIST: Well, one thing that speaks volumes about the state of modern political dynamics in Egypt is that it's actually unclear whether or not this verdict is influenced from above by the military, by the presidency.

Or whether or not this is an example -- another example, there have been several in the past year -- of the Egyptian judiciary kind of going into business for itself and pursuing its own agenda, primarily an agenda that puts it at odds with the Muslim Brotherhood.

This could very well have come from the senior judges ordering this sort of a verdict, or it may just have been this one judge taking an activist role and pushing this verdict through.

Given the nature of the very toxic relationship that developed between the Muslim Brotherhood and Mohammed Morsy on one side and Egypt's judges and judiciary on the other, it's entirely possible that this is a judicial vendetta being pursued to the extent that even Egyptian judges are willing to put forth this verdict even at the cost of their own credibility.

As has been stated, a verdict and a process that defies belief, really, that these kind of verdicts can be reached in such a short trial.

FOSTER: So if the independence of the judiciary has been undermined in this way, what solution is there here? Because it's the ultimate verdict that they've laid down. If the death sentences are actually put through, there's no way of coming back from this.

KHALIL: Well, there are a number of possibilities still ahead of us, and it is entirely possible that the vast majority, if not all of these death sentences, won't happen or will go away. There is a multi-stage appeals process, and there is also a stage where all death sentences have to be approved by Egypt's mufti, Egypt's senior religious authority.

And in many cases in the past, in the rare cases where you've had death penalties in the past, the mufti has served as a rubber stamp. He hasn't rejected any. However, if this case continues to build into an international embarrassment, the mufti and the appeals court both stand as mechanisms that could be used to make these verdicts go away.

And that might be something that is desirable by the Egyptian government, especially with we've seen the very harsh comments, uncharacteristically harsh comments, from the State Department and from other foreign governments.

So, it remains to be seen whether or not any of these verdicts will actually be carried out. But it definitely is an embarrassment for the regime.

FOSTER: What is, Abdullah, your strategy from here, then? Because you've clearly lost complete faith in the judicial system and any sort of independence within Egypt. Are you -- is your best hope pressure from the international community?

EL-HADDAD: Well, we still believe that this military coup has brought Egypt into a dark tunnel, and the only way to restore the 25th of January revolution and restore democracy and restore the basic principles of human rights and the basic principles of freedom and justice is by removing this military coup.

And they're held responsible -- Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and the military junta around him should be held responsible for the atrocities and the crimes against humanity.

FOSTER: So the previous regime, as some people would call it, put back into power? What would be your solution then?

EL-HADDAD: Well, now in power we can see the deep state of Mubarak regime headed by Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

FOSTER: Some people were very unhappy under the Muslim Brotherhood as well.

EL-HADDAD: Well, there is something called the ballot box to decide whether people are happy about it or not, and this is what democracy is about. Now, there is no democracy in Egypt. That's why we need to remove this military coup. That's why there will be huge protests tomorrow, and in the next few months, the protests will not stop peacefully until we remove this coup.

FOSTER: Do you feel deserted by the international community?

EL-HADDAD: Well, we have seen lots of double standards when we compare between Crimea and what's happened in Egypt. But we urge you --

FOSTER: What you're saying is that the international community has voiced their concern about Crimea, but they haven't stepped into Egypt?

EL-HADDAD: Well, they voiced their concern about human rights violations that happened in Ukraine generally, but they haven't said anything for the past six months, and we have seen more than 100 protesters were killed in the past six months.

And now, there is no human rights violations, women's rights violations, student rights violation, everything is just being destroyed now in Egypt. And we don't need statements. We want to see actions from Western countries, especially the US.

FOSTER: OK, Abdullah El-Haddad and Ashraf Khalil, thank you very much, indeed, for joining us, both of you.

Returning to our top story now, the search for Malaysia Airlines Flighty 370 and some news just coming into CNN, actually. The Australian Maritime Safety Authority says that despite cloud cover, it's looking like they will resume the search for the plane in the coming hours.

Gale-force winds and rough seas forced crews to suspend the search in the southern Indian Ocean on Tuesday, but apparently conditions are now more favorable. We'll have much more on this coming up on "Quest Means Business."

Live from London, you're watching CONNECT THE WORLD. After the break, she started off her career as a cashier, but now, she's the CEO of Australia's second-largest bank. We meet this week's Leading Woman.

Plus, Candy Crush is going public, but will it be as popular at the New York Stock Exchange as it is on the subway?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: Top banking CEO Gail Kelly is ranked the 62nd most powerful woman in the world by Forbes. She balances here high-flying career with a busy family life. She has four children, including triplets. Nina Dos Santos sat down with her to hear how the female touch brings her added success in her industry.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In 2002, Gail Kelly became the first woman to run a bank in Australia, a remarkable rise after starting in the industry as a bank teller in 1980.

For the past six years, she's been the CEO of Westpac, the second- largest bank in the country. Kelly is one of the most renowned executives in global banking.

DOS SANTOS (on camera): Right at the height of the financial crisis, a lot of people have been coming up with interesting theories, saying hey, if women were in charge, we wouldn't be in this position because they don't take as many risks. How much credence do you lend to that theory?

GAIL KELLY, CEO, WESTPAC: Not so much about you don't take many risks. I think if you're going to be a CEO, you're going to have to have the full spectrum of capability, and that means firstly you need to know what you're about. You need to actually understand the business that you're in.

But I think what women do often bring is a listening perspective and a generosity of spirit perspective to the way in which they go about things.

DOS SANTOS (voice-over): Generosity of spirit not often associated with banking, but for Kelly, it's part of her DNA.

KELLY: Your work's visible, as a woman. Wherever I go, people are happy to stop me and ask me a question in or outside the organization, have a chat about things. Men often are less accessible because they're seen to be more important.

That's not necessarily the way they want to present themselves, but that's sometimes how they can come across. So, I think there's a style element for women that's a great advantage if you're going to be a CEO.

DOS SANTOS (on camera): At Westpac, you set minimum targets that by 2014, which is obviously this year, 30 percent of senior management will be made up by women. Have you actually struck that target yet?

KELLY: Actually, the target was 40.

DOS SANTOS: Yes, 40.

KELLY: And -- 40. And we're over that. We're at 42 percent at the moment. But we've reset the goal.

DOS SANTOS: So, what's the ultimate target then?

KELLY: We've reset the goal to 50 percent.

DOS SANTOS (voice-over): Kelly was born in Pretoria, South Africa. She went to university in Capetown, where she met her husband.

KELLY: My husband, being a doctor, was awesome. Four children, as you say, and three of them triplets, I needed a lot of help and support at home. And he did more than his fair share -- in fact, well more than his fair share -- of everything in the home, and I could not have done what I've done without that.

DOS SANTOS (on camera): Triplets, an MBA, rising to the top of the corporate ladder to be a CEO of a world-class bank. Many people watching this show probably would like to know how you balanced all those different things.

KELLY: Well, there isn't any sort of single way to answer that. The fact that you love what you do is a big part. And I've always loved what I've done.

DOS SANTOS: So, what would be your advice for women looking on, watching this interview and thinking, I want to be in that position?

KELLY: My advice would be dig deep and gather all your courage in your hands. You've been offered this opportunity because you are worthy. You don't have to be 100 percent ready for this job. You don't have to be 80 percent ready for this job. You do need support around you and you do need a determination and a preparedness to work hard.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Well, of course, you can always read more about our Leading Women on the CNN website. Today is the 80th birthday of one of the founders of modern feminism, Gloria Steinem. You can read about her legacy online and learn how for some, at least, Steinem changed the rules of what it means to be a woman. Follow the links at cnn.com/leadingwomen.

Coming up after this short break on CONNECT THE WORLD, why are mobile phone apps so popular? As Candy Crush goes public, we look into the appeal of mobile gaming.

Plus, four men are arrested for jumping off the top of a New York skyscraper. We'll have the latest on their arrest and more of this incredible video of their jump.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: King Digital Entertainment is hoping to make a sweet chunk of change in its initial public offering tomorrow. The makers of the Candy Crush mobile game are expected to set the share price between $21 and $24. Samuel Burke reports that social gaming is still a big role of the dice for investors.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELLE DEGENERES, HOST, "ELLEN": Do you all know Candy Crush? You know this app?

(CROSSTALK)

ADAM LEVINE, SINGER/SONGWRITER: I've seen it, yes.

(APPLAUSE)

DEGENERES: OK. The people who know it are obsessed with it.

SAMUEL BURKE, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Celebrities like Adam Levine rave about it.

LEVINE: It's a recent obsession.

BURKE: Comedian Jimmy Fallon and actor Mandy Patinkin are infatuated.

MANDY PATINKIN, ACTOR: Hit that chocolate sprinkle bomb out of the way.

JIMMY FALLON, COMEDIAN: Whoa!

BURKE: Even puppets on YouTube warn about its addictive nature.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't play that game. It's not just candy, it's evil. Evil candy!

BURKE: Evil or not, Candy Crush has become a global craze, and the game's masterminds are cashing in.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Delicious!

BURKE (on camera): Here on Wall Street, investors are getting their opportunity to taste Candy Crush and parent company King Digital. But to understand just how popular Candy Crush is, you have to go underground to the New York City subways.

(SUBWAY DOOR CHIMES)

BURKE (voice-over): In the tunnels of Gotham City, Candy Crush, where users line up colored candies to win points, appears to be the go-to game.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's just trying to occupy my time on my commute.

BURKE (on camera): How often do you play it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pretty much every day when I'm on the train.

BURKE (voice-over): King says almost half of the people who play Candy Crush in the US do it on subways, trains, and buses. And the minutes definitely add up.

BURKE (on camera): Do you play Candy Crush?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, all the time. I had to delete the app because it was taking over my life.

BURKE (voice-over): Megan Rose Dickey follows online gaming for website Business Insider. Even she has issues.

MEGAN ROSE DICKEY, TECH REPORTER, BUSINESS INSIDER: I've spent like hundreds of dollars playing the game --

BURKE (on camera): Hundreds of dollars? Literally?

DICKEY: Literally.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sweet!

BURKE (voice-over): Players like Megan spend big bucks on tools that get them to higher levels. That's helped propel King to a profit of over $560 million last year. Most games struggle to turn any profit.

King could become one of the hottest internet IPOs this year. Still, investors might want to think twice.

DICKEY: Eighty percent of King's revenue comes from Candy Crush Saga. But that number has actually been declining. And they have other games, and these games are not doing as well as Candy Crush Saga. So, if their big game is already kind of slowing down, then it's not really looking too good for them.

BURKE: Gamers are fickle. Zynga's Farmville was once the hot internet game, but Zynga shares have fallen dramatically since its IPO. Even Angry Birds has struggled to maintain the buzz.

BURKE (on camera): With so many IPOs on tap this year, investors have felt like kids in a candy shop. Life may be sweet for Candy Crush now, but in the fierce world of social gaming, investors might want to settle for a less intense sugar rush.

Samuel Burke, CNN -- mmm! -- New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(LAUGHTER)

FOSTER: We just heard how addictive Candy Crush can be. Joining me now to talk about why and how long its appeal can last is games industry expert and journalist Guy Cocker. Thanks for joining us, Guy. Are you a fan?

GUY COCKER, VIDEO GAME EXPERT: I am. Yes, it's a bit of a -- in games circles, these sorts of games appeal to a massive demographic. So, there's around 94, 97 million players of Candy Crush every single day, which is absolutely phenomenal.

FOSTER: Was it -- the closest comparison would be what?

COCKER: Well, in the mobile space, games like Angry Birds have done very, very well.

FOSTER: But what sort of numbers would they have?

COCKER: In the same sort of region.

FOSTER: OK.

COCKER: So -- but the real key to this one is that it's a free to play game, and so it's been even more successful. It means that you can download the game for free, and then you essentially finance the development of it through micro transactions.

So, if you play it and you enjoy it, you buy more things in the game, and those are called -- they're in very small proportions. But only 4 percent of players actually do that. So, it's a relatively small amount of the user base actually paying for the game and financing this massive --

FOSTER: But it is making money, and quite a lot of money?

COCKER: It is. It's making phenomenal amounts of money. If you look at the traditional gaming space, the likes of PlayStation and Xbox, a massive success there is like Grand Theft Auto, which is expected to sell 30 million copies.

FOSTER: Yes.

COCKER: Now, that's selling 30 million copies, about 40 pounds. So, it's a lot more expensive. But these mobile games and these free-to-play models are the future of gaming, I think.

FOSTER: And they've got access to your phone, haven't they? Your sitting on the Tube, the subway, and you're playing it. So, that's one advantage they've got. It's also a much simpler version of Grand Theft Auto, which is a huge project.

COCKER: Yes, absolutely. If you look at the key to success of Candy Crush is it's very easy to get into. It's very easy to understand, very simple actions, you're swiping left and right. It's the sort of game that I could quite happily give to my parents and they would understand.

And that's the key, that's the secret. It's -- King.com spends a massive amount of money understanding what makes a game enjoyable, and some may say addictive as well, and then getting that to that point where people -- you're reeled in by the fact that it's free, and then once you're really into the game, that's when they expect you try and spend and all.

FOSTER: What is it about human nature that keeps you on the game?

COCKER: I guess it's that element of -- and Candy Crush does a really good job of rewarding the player, and it's got social interaction as well. So the idea, it will keep popping up and saying, do you want to try and share your high score with friends.

So it will pop up on Facebook feeds and you'll try and get your friends involved. My friends find that quite annoying when I do that, but that's the real key to the success and the growth of these sorts of games is getting the player base just as massive as possible so that although you're only taking money from the 4 percent, that 4 percent still represents, in this case, millions of people, 4 million people.

FOSTER: You talk about Angry Birds. They were big before Candy Crush. Candy Crush, presumably, has taken some of their market away.

COCKER: Yes.

FOSTER: How easy is it to lose the market?

COCKER: Well, we've seen real sort of -- these sorts of IPOs,which is what we're looking at with the makers of Candy Crush, King, they've gone wrong in the past. Zynga, Zynga was very, very complacent and very, very dependent on one game, called Farmville. And they were also dependent on a platform, in this case, Facebook.

And so, the problem with these sorts of games and these developers is they become so attached to one success, the market's very fickle, and they don't tend to buy into the other games that these game makers are making.

And so, over time, and over a relatively short period of time, they tend to migrate to the next big thing. So, that's the real concern for King at this stage.

FOSTER: And they say they invented the game, but that's a debate that's out there, I gather.

COCKER: Yes, the mobile market -- there are hundreds of apps and hundreds of games that are released every single day on the Apple app store, and there are lots of people that claim, yes, we made Candy Crush and King ripped us off. And there's loads and loads of Candy Crush copies on the app store.

The thing is that King, I think, was -- it had the marketing budget and it had the -- I guess the intelligence to market it well, and that's why it's been a real successful one.

FOSTER: Well, it's an incredible story. We'll see how the IPO goes, and probably end up going up in the current market. Guy Cocker, thank you very much, indeed.

COCKER: Thank you.

FOSTER: Now, the team at CONNECT THE WORLD wants to hear from you, facebook.com/CNNconnect, have your say. And you can tweet me @MaxFosterCNN, your thoughts, please, @MaxFosterCNN, if you've got time between games.

Take a look at this amazing shot in tonight's Parting Shots.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(WIND BLOWING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: That's how BASE jumping from the top of one of New York's highest buildings looks like. Three men snuck in through a whole in the fence last fall and made it up to the top of One World Trade Center in New York. From there, they jumped, deployed their parachutes, and landed in a nearby highway safely.

This video was posted on YouTube and has gone viral overnight, but it wasn't all good news. The jumpers were all arrested on Monday after an investigation. They were charged with burglary, reckless endangerment, and jumping from structure. Another man is accused of being an accomplice.

And authorities denounce the jumps as lawless acts that mar the spirit of the rebuilt World Trade Center. Don't try that at home.

I'm Max Foster, that was CONNECT THE WORLD. Thank you for watching.

END