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Germany, France Advance; Hong Kong Residents Protest For Democracy; Google Wear's First Smartwatches Reviewed; Tourist Trade Aims To Show All Of Brazil; Former French President Sarkozy Under Investigation; What is Footvolley

Aired July 01, 2014 - 8:00   ET

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AMARA WALKER, HOST: I'm Amara Walker at CNN Center. Welcome to News Stream where news and technology meet.

On the anniversary of the day Hong Kong was handed back to China, protesters take to the streets to demand more freedom from Beijing.

Also, Germany struggled, but finally find a way past Algeria at the World Cup.

And we get a review of the first two Android wear smartwatches.

Well, huge crowds have been on the streets of Hong Kong today. It's part of an annual rally calling for democratic reform. Want to show you

the scene right now. And they are protesting against what some see as Beijing's increasing interference in Hong Kong's political affairs.

The rally follows an unofficial referendum on the right of Hong Kong residents to elect their own leader. That poll was dismissed by China's

government as illegal.

Now July 1 has special significance in Hong Kong. It's the day the region was handed back to China from Britain.

Now this year on the 17th anniversary, there is growing discontent over what some perceive to be China's heavy-handed influence. A few weeks

ago, Beijing issued a controversial white paper warning that Hong Kong does not have full autonomy.

Many residents fear Beijing will further crackdown on freedoms in the city.

Let's go straight to the streets of Hong Kong now. That is where Anna Coren has been following the developments.

So, Anna, it's all about their autonomy and having a direct democratic system.

ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, absolutely, Amara. The people here are calling for full democracy.

We spoke to the organizer -- one of the organizers of this protest march. He said we're sick and tired of this pretend democracy that we

apparently have.

There's a chief executive here. His name is CY Leung. And many people believe that he is just a puppet of Beijing.

What these people want is universal suffrage, which has been promised to them in 2017 and up to the candidates to be elected by the people and

not by Beijing, which is currently the status quo.

So, these people, tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands according to organizers at least 300,000 have turned out for this protest

march that started, mind you, at 3:00 in the afternoon. It's now just gone 8:00 p.m. and they marched several kilometers through the heat, through the

humidity, through the pouring rain to the center of Hong Kong here where things are a lot quieter now, things have sort of, you know, calmed down,

speeches are ongoing and will continue to go on for some time.

But they are angry about that white paper that Beijing issued last month in which officials, judges we're told they need to be patriotic.

Basically it was a reminder of who is in charge. China saying we are in charge and you're autonomy, which you've been enjoying for the last 17

years is at our discretion.

So, the people here don't want that anymore. They want full democracy. And they want the chief executive to deliver that to Beijing

and for that to then become part of the election, that universal suffrage in 2017. So these are effectively then elections of the people, by the

people -- Amara.

WALKER: And tell us more about Beijing's response. We mentioned that Beijing has called this unofficial referendum illegal. What can you tell

us about Beijing saying that voters will see reform in the 2017 election?

COREN: Well, look, we know that China hates any political instability, certainly hate any opposition whatsoever, you know. It's been

operating as a one country, two systems, that how Hong Kong has managed to get through, you know, since the British handed her back to the Chinese in

1997.

But, you know, what is happening here in Hong Kong with the angering officials in Beijing, we know and we understand from social media that

anything to do with the 1st of July protest march has been censored. You cannot type that in to social media, nothing comes up.

You know, the Chinese government, as we know, likes to have history disappear. And certainly they don't want people in the mainland seeing

what is taking place here in Hong Kong, because that then give people ideas.

But certainly from that white paper that they issued, it really was a veiled threat, that we are in charge. We will determine how you live your

life, to a certain extent, how much autonomy you have. And as far as the people here in Hong Kong, you know, they do not like it. They do not

identity themselves with the mainland whatsoever. If anything, it's two very separate countries.

This is something that China does not want and will do everything in its effort, really, Amara to shut it down.

So, as to what that means for this movement, as to what that means for universal suffrage really remains up in the air.

WALKER: OK, Anna Coren live for us there in Hong Kong as we take a look at those live images of pretty large crowd gathering for this pro-

democracy march. Anna, thank you.

Well, China's state media has warned Hong Kong residents against embracing the pro-democracy movement. And later we'll take you live to

Beijing to find out how officials are reacting to today's demonstrations in Hong Kong.

Well, a Palestinian news agency says a little known group is claiming responsibility for the deaths of three Israeli teenagers. Their bodies

were found on Monday not far from the West Bank town of Hebron. They had been missing for nearly three weeks.

Overnight, Israel ramped up air strikes on targets in Gaza in apparent retaliation. And Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Hamas will

pay for the boys' deaths.

Now Hamas denies any involvement in what happened. And it says if Prime Minister Netanyahu brings a war on Gaza, quote, "the gates of hell

will open to him."

Ben Wedeman joins me now near Hebron. He's next to the field where the teens' bodies were found -- Ben.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Amara, right behind me in fact is the spot where about between 5:00 and 6:00 p.m. -- I'm just

going to step out of the way of the camera -- 5:00 and 6:00 p.m. Monday evening the three bodies were found.

This is a fairly remote area outside to the west of the city of Hebron. According to Israeli press reports it was a civilian volunteer

from a nearby settlement that initially found what appeared to be clothing in this field and they brought in the police and the army to have a closer

look and they found the three bodies. We saw one of the holes where at least we understand two of the bodies were found. It's a fairly shallow

hole with rocks around it. But it does look like it was dug several days ago, if not weeks ago. The kidnapping took place on the 12th of June. And

according to Israeli security sources and the police, they believe that the three boys were killed soon after they were abducted on the evening of June

12.

Now as far as Israel's reaction, at the moment we understand processions are about the make their way from the three separate towns of

the boys. They will be meeting up in the town of Modi'in, which is halfway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv for a funeral where we expect thousands of

people to attend. In addition to Israeli President Simon Peres and the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Now as far as the next steps go for Israel, we do know that overnight there were at least 34 air strikes on Gaza. There are also a variety of

missiles and mortars fired out of Gaza into Israel.

After the funerals today, the Israel cabinet will be meeting to consider, to ponder their next moves. There's apparently a lot of

disagreement within the Israeli government, for instance the economy minister Naftali Bennett is calling for a large-scale military operation in

Gaza and demanding the death penalty for anyone convicted of a terrorist murder of an Israeli.

Others, for instance, the defense minister is calling for the construction of a settlement in the memory of the three teenagers, but we

understand justice minister Tzipi Livni is opposed to that because it will make basically it's making politics out of a national tragedy.

But we do expect the situation to get more difficult. Certainly, it does appear that the focus will be on Gaza, because over the -- since the

12th of June hundreds of Palestinians, including senior members of Hamas have already been arrested in the West Bank, but of course Gaza remains

under the rule of Hamas. And last night we heard Israeli deputy defense minister Danny Danon say that after this, Israel's goal is to eradicate

Hamas -- Amara.

WALKER: You talk about these air strikes that occurred overnight in Gaza. The two suspect's home were also destroyed. But we mentioned this

report, Ben, that this little known group apparently claiming responsibility. What is Israel saying about its evidence, or how convinced

is it that Hamas is just truly behind the abduction and killings of these boys?

WEDEMAN: What they point to is the role of two individuals who have gone missing since the kidnapping took place, Marwan Qawasmeh and Amer Abu

Eishe. These are two residents of Hebron who are affiliated with the Hamas movement.

So this is really the link they make to Hamas.

But there is not -- there's not unanimity among Israeli security officials as to whether they were acting simply independently in this case

or they were taking orders from the senior echelons of the military wing of Hamas. It's not altogether clear.

Now regarding this claim, it was reported in the Ma'an News Agency, which is a Palestinian news agency, which published this claim by a group

called Ansar as-Dawla al-Islamiya, the supporters of the Islamic State, a group we've never heard before. But they claimed responsibility for the

kidnapping and the killing of the two teenagers -- three teenagers, excuse me -- and also said that they would quote, unquote "slaughter the

Palestinian Authority."

There have been a variety of claims since the kidnapping occurred on the -- the kidnappings occurred on the 12th of June. And it's really hard

to verify. But as far as the Israeli government is concerned, they believe Hamas was behind the kidnappings and the killings. And it appears that

that is basis of their actions certainly within the last 24 hours and going forward as well -- Amara.

WALKER: And the funerals of those three teenagers we'll get underway shortly, as you mentioned. Ben Wedeman, thank you for that live report

near Hebron in the West Bank.

All right, still to come, Team USA has defied expectations at this year's World Cup, but will they have what it takes to advance to the

quarterfinals when they go head to head with Belgium later today?

Plus, all eyes may be on Brazil's showcase stadiums this week, but after the break we'll bring you to the country's lesser seen urban slums.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALKER: Welcome back.

Two big European teams are in the quarterfinals of the World Cup, but their African opponents made it difficult for them.

France took on Nigeria in Monday's first match. It took the French almost 80 minutes to make the breakthrough. Pogba got the first after a

mistake from the Nigerian goalkeeper. And France added a second in stoppage time after an own goal. France wins 2-0.

All right, meanwhile Germany took on Algeria, a team that the Germans have surprisingly never beaten before. And they struggled to find the

breakthrough as Algeria's goalkeeper pulls off a string of stunning saves. The two teams were goalless after 90 minutes and the match went to extra

time where it took the Germans less than two minutes to take the lead.

Andre Schurrle flicks the ball home for his first goal of the World Cup. The Germans continue to press a tired Algerian team that was just

trying to hold on. Schurrle was involved as Ozil slammed home the second goal. And, yes, Germany beat Algeria 2-1 and will face France in the

quarterfinals.

All right, now looking ahead to the knockout matches today. First up Argentina taking on Switzerland, then it's Belgium versus the United

States.

Alex Thomas joining us now from Rio de Janeiro with all the excitement and fun.

High there, Alex.

ALEX THOMAS, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Amara.

Yes, you mentioned the excitement of yesterday's round of 16 matches. And today we see the end of the round of 16. The two final matches before

we will know the eight teams through to these World Cup quarterfinals here in Brazil. And after seeing one of those games on Monday go to extra time,

I wouldn't be at all surprised if both the matches do the same, so tight are the contests.

Argentina against Switzerland is the opening game, as you mentioned. A 1:00 kickoff time local. And it's going to be in Sao Paulo.

I'm speaking to you from Rio. Sao Paulo only around a seven hour drive away from here, slightly further south, slightly cooler, which is

certainly help the European team.

This is the world number fives in Argentina against the world number six. You don't need to call for an ambulance as it screams past for Lionel

Messi. He's been in sensational form for Argentina with four goals so far. Although Switzerland have a little ace up their sleeve as well in the form

of Shaqiri who scored a hat trick against Honduras as well.

And then later on in Salvador, kicking off at 5:00 this evening Brazilian time, it is Belgium against the United States. Belgium will be

the hot favorite, but America have defied expectations to qualify from a very, very difficult group.

Although some interesting stats about the USA. The second lowest possession from all the teams in the group stages. And only nine shots on

target so far, the lowest of any team through to the knockout round. So the USA know they have to up their game if they're to get past Belgium, but

there is certainly the whiff of a possible upset in the air, especially when you consider that Vincent Kompany, Belgium's hugely inspirational

leader is an injury doubt for this game. And we know that Thomas Vermaelen, another defender for Belgium, is already out Amara.

WALKER: OK, Alex. And we also have to mention there is another scandal brewing off the pitch. And this time it involves Cameroon. Tell

us more.

THOMAS: Yeah, what a shame we can't just talk about the football at this World Cup. Another controversy rearing its head with Cameroon's

football association releasing a statement saying its ethics committee is going to look into allegations of match fixing surrounding its national

team. They finished bottom of Group A, losing all three of them matches and scoring just one goal, a really dire performance for such a talented

squad. And now I said Cameroon's own FA admitted that they could well have been match fixing in the air. They've described their team as having seven

bad eggs, although they haven't named any particular players despite the team's woeful performances.

They lost 4-0 to Croatia and had a man sent off in that game as well, something that was predicted by an alleged match fixer, a famous one who

has written a book as well. And there's been no direct comment from FIFA, the world governing body and World Cup organizers yet, although there will

be a media briefing in the Maracana stadium here in Rio behind me later. And we might find out a little bit more then, Amara.

WALKER: Yeah, a lot of drama on and off the pitch. Alex Thomas, thank you for that update.

Well, you know the World Cup is an opportunity for Brazil to show off everything it has to offer. It's also an opportunity for visitors to see a

side of Brazil up close that many outsiders never see.

Isa Soares takes us to a favela or shanty town in Rio de Janeiro.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ISA SOARES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Outside one of Rio de Janeiro's most exclusive hotels and a world away from his upbringing, Bruno

picks up his tour group for the day, switching between Spanish, Hebrew and English.

BRUNO, TOUR GUIDE: My name is Bruno. I'm 28-years-old, born and raised where you are going to visit -- favela.

SOARES: He takes them uphill to favela Josihna (ph), the biggest in Rio de Janeiro and a place he knows all too well.

BRUNO: Don't worry about taking a picture or walk with your phones. We don't steal iPhones here. Here, even though it's a favela, it's one of

the safest place I feel myself.

OK, let's go guys.

SOARES: On arrival, the group expands with tourists from Britain, the U.S. and Australia. For Bruno and tour co-owner Carlos, it's time to begin

breaking misconceptions.

BRUNO: By giving yourself a chance to understand the other side of Brazil society, when you make a tour like this.

SOARES: The view from the top is the first wakeup call for these tourists. perfect for selfies, not so much for living in.

Soon, this view is crushed, though.

As he takes them through the tiniest of alleys to the heart of the neighborhood.

BRUNO: So you wanted to show all sides of Josinha (ph). We do have a beautiful view on the top. We can see the beach. We do have a really good

bottom where people have all the businesses and all the happiness. We do have all these colorful area here. And then we do have a bad thing.

So we cross all sides. You can see around here is all the colorful stuff. It's a makeup, I would say.

SOARES: It doesn't take long for the group to see this favela unmasked. The alleys become wooden walking boards. the smells become

overpowering, a reminder for the group where Bruno grew up.

BRUNO: I had to lie about my address. I had to lie about getting a job. I could not tell my friends that I live in a favela. I had to be

somebody I am not.

So now when I'm not from here, but I don't live here anymore. When I bring people here, I tell them, look, that's where I come from.

SOARES: Both Carlos and Bruno don't sugarcoat their trip. They like to bring tourists deep inside these communities, deep inside these favelas,

so they can really see for themselves what it's like to live here. They want to expose the poor infrastructure and a lack of investment.

It's the reality that Bruno does not shy away from. But one he's trying to change with his business. Everyone and his team is a local. And

the money made helps his community thrive.

In his case, both small businesses and capoeira dancers have a chance of turning a profit, ultimately helping them stay on the right path.

The prize of the tour is for the tourists to see firsthand what it's like to live here. It is a social experience. And doing so, they're

trying to demystify the idea what it's like to be and to live in a favela.

Isa Soares, CNN, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALKER: All right, after the break a CNN exclusive. We'll hear from the Sudanese Christian woman sentenced to death for her faith and then

released. She's speaking out about giving birth in prison and why she still fears for her safety.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALKER: Mariam Yehya Ibrahim is now out of prison, but she is far from feeling safe. The Sudanese Christian woman who was sentenced to die

for her faith and then released is facing a new charge and an uncertain future. CNN's Nima Elbagir spoke with Ibrahim over the phone about her

ordeal and the affect it's having on her family. Here is her exclusive interview.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This picture of Mariam and her legal team was taken the day she was released from prison. After

facing death by hanging for the crime of abandoning the Muslim faith, she thought she was finally free.

A day later, and she was back in police custody.

MARIAM YEHYA IBRAHIM, SENTENCED TO DEATH (through translator): To be honest, I'm miserable. I left prison to bring together my children and

settle down. I find myself in jail today in a jail tomorrow.

ELBAGIR: Mariam spoke to us over the phone from a safe house in Khartoum where she's being kept over fears for her safety.

Mariam, you and your family have been through such an ordeal.

IBRAHIM (through translator): When I was in prison, I was only thinking about my children and how I was going to give birth. I was most

scared of giving birth in prison. I give birth chained, not cuffs, but chains on my legs. I couldn't even open my legs for the women have to lift

me off the table.

ELBAGIR: Because of the circumstances under which she was forced to deliver, she tells us doctors fear the baby might never be able to walk.

And then you -- you were released from prison, but now you're waiting to find out your fate from another charge that's been brought against you.

IBRAHIM (through translator): We went the VIP departures hall waiting to check in. Then suddenly a group of around 10 to 15 officers came. One

of them took all our paperwork and even my husband's passports.

ELBAGIR: her new crime, the Sudanese government says is traveling on falsified documentation.

IBRAHIM (through translator): How could my paperwork be wrong? My paperwork came from the embassy. It can't represent correct and it was

approved by the South Sudan ambassador and the American ambassador.

ELBAGIR: For now, she tells us she and her family are waiting to find out her fate.

Are you afraid?

IBRAHIM (through translator): We don't even have a defense.

ELBAGIR: Her family's lives once more in the hands of the Sudanese authorities.

Nima Elbagir, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALKER: Coming up on News Stream, huge crowds defy Beijing and march for democracy in the streets of Hong Kong. But how will China respond?

And former French President Nicholas Sarkozy gets grilled by investigators. Will it derail his hopes of making a political comeback?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALKER: Welcome back. I'm Amara Walker at CNN Center. You're watching News Stream. And these are your world headlines.

The Palestinian news agency says a little known Islamic group has claimed responsibility for the deaths of three Israeli teenagers in the

West Bank. The Israeli prime minister has blamed Hamas for the killings. Hamas denies involvement.

Now overnight, Israel carried out air strikes on Gaza. And today medical sources say Israeli forces shot dead a Palestinian man.

Iraqi lawmakers gathered today for the first time since parliamentary elections in April, but the session was delayed after 90 members failed to

return from morning break. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki had been expected to call for the formation of a new government. He is under pressure to be

more inclusive of Iraq's Sunni minority.

And France and Germany left it late at the World Cup. Two goals in the last 10 minutes took the French past Nigeria. And the Germans were

taken to extra time by Algeria before eventually coming out on top 2-1.

Well, tens of thousands of protesters have hit the streets of Hong Kong today. They want more control over their own government and for

Beijing to loosen its grip. The annual July 1st rally is held on the anniversary of the day Britain handed control of Hong Kong back to China.

Let's get more now on those rallies in Hong Kong and what China thinks about the demonstrators' push for democracy. David McKenzie joining us

live with the view now from Beijing.

So, David, obviously Beijing opposed to these pro-democracy marches. So how does Beijing interpret this policy of one country, two systems?

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think one way of saying how they interpreted it, yes, they might be opposed to the

tens of thousands of people marching, but those people are in fact marching and that is just a clear sign on one level -- maybe on a superficial level

-- of the one country, two systems policy.

If you had a handful of people, even one person get out onto the street with a placard here in Beijing talking about democracy, they would

be pretty quickly detained and possibly face a jail sentence.

So, there is that level of the system at play.

One way they are trying to deal with this, though, is in the state media. Here is the Global Times tabloid. It's a state media taking often

more sort of extreme view, I would say. But they do say here in the headline in Chinese that radicals have hijacked the agenda, the debate in

Hong Kong.

You know, as Anna was saying earlier now, if there's any searches here in the mainland arm social media, they are blocked out. So in a way

they're trying to insinuate this is a smallscale thing, that is hijacked by radicals. Obviously the tens, probably hundreds of thousands of people in

Hong Kong show that this is a very big issue for Hong Kong citizens. But it's definitely a different sort of viewpoint here from Beijing, of course.

WALKER: Yeah, and we are taking a live look there of the crowds that are still gathered there in Hong Kong.

David, this unofficial referendum that took place. 800,000 registered voters turned out. That was about 22 percent of the registered voters in

Hong Kong. Beijing calling it illegal. So where do things go from here? Is it highly unlikely that China will listen at all to these voters?

MCKENZIE: Well, they won't listen to them, certainly not on the referendum side, because the Chinese government, as you say, saying this is

illegal and not constructive. The Hong Kong government also saying this was even by the admission of the organizers, more a way to sort of take the

pulse of public opinion.

According to those organizers they say it proves that there's a vast number of people in Hong Kong who want to see universal suffrage, one

person, one vote in Hong Kong. And also for Hong Kongers to have the ability to choose who they will vote for. And that's the more crucial

issue at play here, because currently the chief executive of Hong Kong is a Beijing supporter. There's no real option for the leadership in Hong Kong

to be someone who might be anti-the Communist Party.

It does boil down to the fact that Hong Kong, from the point of view of the Communist Party, is part of China. And in terms of international

law, part of China. So effectively they have the final say on matters in Hong Kong.

That white paper that has been spoken about a great deal, the reason that ruffled so many feathers in Hong Kong was because it reminded people,

in the words of the language there, that ultimately the authority of Hong Kong rests with the Communist Party here in Mainland China. And if it

comes to a showdown between protesters and the Chinese government here in the mainland, they might take the view that 1.3 billion people here in the

mainland is by far more important than, say, 7 million in Hong Kong who might have a different viewpoint on democracy.

So we can only expect a hardline view, I feel, from the Xi Jinping government if this would escalate further.

At this stage, certainly they are allowing these protests to happen as they have previous protests on this matter. And they're saying one

country, two systems but certainly on their own terms and they're not crossing any kind of red lines that might put the Communist Party in a

difficult position.

So the next few months, I think, will be even more crucial to see just how far these activists will go.

WALKER: All right, with the view from Beijing. David McKenzie thank you for that.

Well, Japan's cabinet adopted a dramatic reinterpretation of the country's pacifist constitution during an emergency meeting held earlier

today. Now this will allow troops to be deployed to defend Japan's allies for the first time since World War II.

Now in a news conference earlier, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe stressed that Japan would not take part in multinational combat operations like the

U.S. led invasion of Iraq in 2003. But, we have yet to see whether his words will appease thousands of people who have taken to the streets in

protest.

Now to break down what the changes are all about and why they have upset so many people, Will Ripley checked out a demonstration outside the

prime minister's residence earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What many consider a political victory for Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is not coming

without a considerable amount of criticism and protests on the sidewalks in front of the prime minister's office and residence. Tens of thousands of

people have lined the streets here for several days now, all of them gathering here this week, holding out signs like this one saying No Abe,

signs expressing their extreme dissatisfaction with this groundbreaking change to the interpretation of the Japanese constitution, a change that

for the first time since the end of World War II will allow Japanese soldiers to engage in combat missions overseas in defense of their allies.

It's a very controversial idea here in Japan called collective defense. Some of these signs say "Don't send our soldiers off to war,"

"don't send them off to die." A very passionate protest that caused one man to light himself on fire at Japan's busiest train station in a very,

very public and ghastly display of some of the fierce opposition that exists in this country over soldiers engaging in anything other than pure

self-defense.

But nonetheless, change is coming. And it puts Japan with many of its key allies, including the United States, which has supported this all

along.

But the protests continue here outside of the prime minister's residents.

Will Ripley, CNN, Tokyo.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALKER: France's former president Nicolas Sarkozy has been held for questioning today. Investigators want to know if he received a tip about a

separate inquiry into the financing of his 2007 campaign. Let's find out more now from our senior international correspondent Jim Bittermann who is

live now in Paris -- Jim.

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Amara. In fact, the president went in -- former president went in about 8:00 this morning

and has yet to come out. He's been questioned by an investigating judge who is, as you say, looking at whether or not he got secret information on

the judicial inquiry that was being conducted against him by other judges back related to his campaign financing back in 2007.

Now, it should be said that there is a number of -- there is a layering of various kinds of investigations going on here. First, there

are those campaign violation investigations. And then there is this one which has started in 2013 with some eavesdropping that took place, some

phone tapping that took place on Nicolas Sarkozy's telephone and his lawyer's telephone.

Now his lawyer has also been called in. Judge -- the supreme court is under suspicion. And the lawyer for the Supreme Court has also been called

in for questioning. All are said to be involved -- it's alleged that they were involved in some kind of a tipoff to Sarkozy in exchange for Sarkozy's

offer of a position in Monaco to the supreme court judge.

Whether any of this pans out remains to be seen. There have been a number of different investigations, like I say, that have been launched

against the former president, none of which have come to anything. So we'll see if this one goes any further.

WALKER: All right, Jim Bittermann watching the developments there in Paris. Thanks a lot, Jim.

All right, still to come, are smartwatches about to hit it big-time? The first two smartwatches running Google's new software, they're out. And

we'll hear about them from someone who has got them both.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALKER: Well, some call her casino magnate Steve Wynn's heir apparent, but Linda Chen says she's happy to be right where she is and

that's as chief operating officer for Wynn Macau. She tells CNN's Kristie Lu Stout in today's Leading Women how she cracked the glass ceiling in the

gambling Mecca.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In the flashy high adrenaline world of top tier hotel casinos, men sit firmly in the top spot.

But when it comes to the new frontier of gambling in the Chinese enclave of Macau, the Wynn Resort's chairman looked at chief operating officer Linda

Chen to help steer his operations to success.

LINDA CHEN, WYNN RESORTS: When we first came to Macau, it was more about gaming. And, you know, the aspiration for Macau and the reason that

we wanted to be here is taking it to the next level. You know, Vegas, we look at it, it's -- you know, it's no longer gaming it's about the

entertainment.

So that's what we wanted.

LU STOUT: The Taiwan born Cornell and Stanford educated Chen was no stranger to the industry when she joined Wynn Macau in 2002 and quickly

found herself rising the ranks.

You steadily ran up the chain of command to make it all the way to number two in the company. How did you position yourself to achieve that?

CHEN: I don't know if I ever looked at it as I want to be what number in the company. But I love the business. I have a passion. So I did

well, because I really do want to make a difference in this industry. I believe people always say, you know, you have to be prepared for the

opportunity. So that's where it worked for me.

And when this opportunity came up to come to Macau I took the challenge, you know, and I wanted to see what I can do and make a

difference.

LU STOUT: In the 12 years she's helped spearhead operations, Macau's gaming popularity has fueled the industry. Its influence seeing Wynn's

profits surge 92 percent in 2013's last quarter alone.

Naturally, it's a region that chairman and CEO Steve Wynn has his focus firmly on.

How would you describe your working relationship with Steve Wynn?

CHEN: He's always been a mentor, but he's always also somebody I aspire to. His vision and, you know, kind of passion with this business is

something that I look up to every day.

When he designs something he captures the whole emotion. He thinks about the client, the employees, the whole I guess aspect of our business.

I guess it's the Kool-Aid we drink, so it's something that rubbed off. You know, I go around, I look at things and I say, oh, you know we could do

this better if we did this.

LU STOUT: Will you be the successor to Steve Wynn?

CHEN: Mr. Wynn is very young. He's not ready to be retired soon.

LU STOUT: But everyone calls you the heir apparent.

CHEN: I hope he works for another 30, 40 years. And I'll be right alongside with him.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALKER: Great answer. Mr. Wynn is still very young.

All right, well you know right now it's all about the fall in Brazil, but after the break we'll take a look at another sport that's grown out of

the beautiful game. And it's one you may not have ever heard of.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALKER: Well, last week Google unveiled the future for Android. They want to put it everywhere. Google showed off Android for TVs, Android for

the car and Android for your wrist. Smartwatches are expected to be the next big battleground for tech companies. Apple is reportedly set to

unveil one soon.

Now the first two watches running Google's Android Wear are out and our next guest has already tested them.

David Pierce is senior reviews editor at The Verge and he joins me now live from New York.

David, it's great to have you.

So, tell me about Android Wear. What can these smart watches do? I mean, do they actually tell time as well?

DAVID PIERCE, THE VERGE: They do tell time, which is you know sort of exciting and a little bit of a miracle for some of these devices. But,

Android Wear is really about small bits of information. It's fundamentally about notifications, so if you get an email or a text message or a snapchat

or anything you get on your phone now comes to your wrist. And the idea is that you take your pocket -- or you take your phone out of your pocket much

less throughout the day. You can just sort of flip over on your writs and look and be done and move on with your day.

It's less disruptive -- there are a few things you can do, like you can say, OK Google and then take a note. My watch just went off when I

said that. Or you can set reminders for yourself or you can send text messages. But it's fundamentally about receiving little bits of

information from Google, whether it's the weather of an email or just about anything else you can think of.

WALKER: OK. Well, you know whatever I wear a bit clunky plastic watch it's usually for the fitness tracker telling me how many miles I've

run, how many calories I've burned. Tell me about these watches and their health functions. Are they any good?

PIERCE: They're OK. They're going to get better, I will say, that's going to be a big focus for these things, because the market that we've

seen is that there is a huge market for these fitness tracker devices. And specific fitness tracker devices are going to get smaller and they're going

to basically become invisible within bracelets and rings and all sorts of things like that.

With watches, they're going to have to do more and more interesting things. And Google and Apple in addition to having wearables have also

both talked about fitness as a big thing. They both have platform level fitness and health parts of what they do. And so it's going to be

integrated into this. It's going to take some time.

But even now, the Samsung watch that I'm wearing, the Gear Live, has a heart rate monitor on it and a step counter. And the heart rate monitor is

good. The step counter is hilariously inaccurate. But they're clearly important features of what they're doing here. And it's going to get

better. And I think is a real part of why people are going to like this stuff.

WALKER: David, hold up your watch. Let's see how big and clunky it is.

PIERCE: So it's not -- it's not terrible. It's not small. The real problem is that it's not particularly nice looking. Like I wear a watch

ever day. And it tells me the time, but it's mostly because it is nice looking. I wear it because I like it, because it goes with my outfit.

WALKER: Right. It's a piece of jewelry. Exactly.

PIERCE: Exactly.

And that's the problem with these first ones is that they just don't look very good.

WALKER: Well, you know, we're talking about these first two Android Wear watches that are now out, but it seems a lot of people are talking

about Motorola. Tells us more about that one.

PIERCE: So the Moto360 is interesting because it's fundamentally a watch. I talked to folks at Motorola at Google I/O. And I asked them how

did you start making the Moto360. And they were like, well, we built a watch and then we figured out everything else we can do on top of that.

And I think that really resonates with people where when you draw a watch, when you think of a watch it looks a particular way, you know, it's slim

and it's round and it has a face and it just feels and looks a particular way.

And I think the only way to get on people's wrists for a company like Motorola or if it's apple or Samsung, or LG, the guys who are trying now,

it's going to be to make something that you want to wear first of all, especially because Android Wear, most of the time you're not doing

anything, most of the time it's just a watch. You're not designed to look at it 1,00 times a day. It's just there when you need it or when it needs

you. But it's designed to just be something nice you wear all the time. And the first two tries really aren't something nice you want to wear all

the time. But the Moto360 has a real potential to be that. And I think that's why it's so interesting.

LU STOUT: Yeah, it definitely looks a bit more sleek and most aesthetically pleasing to the eye, but this is just another excuse for us

to be addicted to all of our electronics and instead of texting all day or swiping and opening your phone you're going to be walking around looking at

your wrist.

Let me ask you, what's the verdict, are smartwatches, you know, are they ready to go mainstream?

PIERCE: Today? No, I don't think so. But I think there's a much bigger path forward for this kind of thing than we thought. I think with

smartwatches before, they were essentially a computer on your wrist. And that was kind of what people always thought they were going to be. They

were going to be big and clunky and do 1,000 things, most of which you don't want. Some of them have cameras, which I still don't understand at

all.

But I think what we're going to have now is these things that just offer you small bits of information throughout the day. When you check the

time it's also going to show you the weather, or it's going to show you traffic to your next appointment. And things like that I think people will

really get behind. And then they can add fitness trackers to it and just be sort of out of the way most of the time, but just do slightly more --

when they can marry that with good hardware and really good battery life, which is a key thing -- the watches I'm wearing now last a day. And

watches are not allowed to last a day.

But once we've worked all that out, I think there's a real future for smartwatches for a lot more people than might think they want it right now.

WALKER: Yeah, watches are a piece of jewelry, so they've got to look good as well.

David Pierce, senior reviews editor at The Verge, David, thank you so much for joining us.

PIERCE: Thank you.

WALKER: And let's talk about the weather now. And some severe weather in the United States. Samantha Moore at the World Weather Center

with some tornado video.

SAMANTHA MOORE, CNN WEATHER CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And we have had severe weather off and on for the past four days. So it has really wrecked

havoc across the plains and in the Chicago land area as well. In fact we had over 500 storm reports yesterday alone and then add them all up from

the last few days and they are taking a toll on many people.

Take a look at this tornado, this is out of Harrison County, Missouri. It was said to have a surface circulation for about five minutes. So it

didn't last long. And we didn't have reports of any damage, but it was an impressive looking wedge tornado as it moved very near I-35 in Harrison,

Missouri.

Thank goodness there wasn't any damage there.

And then other severe storms produced a lot of lightning. We're going to take you into Chicago where this is what, look at that, made connection

there. Incredible. They had literally thousands of lightning strikes throughout the course of the evening, one right after another. That's the

Sears Tower that you see being struck repeatedly there. It was the Sears Tower, now they call it the Willis Tower.

But impressive indeed. And now the severe weather will be moving to the east today. So we'll expect to see more in the way of lightning and

severe thunderstorms, large hail, gusty damage and winds and even the threat of tornado from Buffalo down through Columbus, Ohio, Louisville and

then back into the Memphis area where we've had incredible flooding so far this week.

This system is critical, the position of this system as it moves to the east, because it will likely intercept what we are seeing here, a

tropical depression, not named yet, but probably could be named yet today as our first tropical storm of the season. We're thinking probably by this

afternoon.

And that trough of this front, that's what a frontal system is, is a trough of low pressure, is going to likely direct this right up the east

coast just in time for the Fourth of July holidays. Tropical storm watches already in place here from Fort Pierce to Flagler Beach. And that means

here Amara that we'll likely see tropical storm conditions within the next 24 to 36 hours. So we could actually see our first hurricane of the season

born on the Fourth of July.

WALKER: Oh boy, a lot of severe weather. Samantha Moore, thank you.

Well, you know, even non sports fans have been turned into football fanatics during this World Cup, but in Brazil the roots of football run

deep. And it's even lead to a new hybrid sport on the beach. It's called Footvolley. Our Fred Pleitgen gave it a try.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRED PLEITGEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Brazil is known as the home of football, so it's no wonder they even turned volleyball into

soccer.

The game is called footvolley, played on the beach of course.

Selmo Tarnopolsky has been competing on the Copa Cabana for decades.

"A footvolley player has to have skill and endurance," he says. "He has to be able to run on the beach and have great control of his head and

feet."

Getting started isn't easy, as I find out when Selmo tried to teach me.

You're allowed to play the ball with your feet, knees, chest, shoulder and the head. After a little training it was time for my first match.

Full of embarrassments, but also firsts.

There we go.

First touch.

This is what it looks like when the pros go at it.

This is star player Leo Tugarao (ph) and his signature move, The Shark Attack.

Footvolley was invented on the Copa Cabana and the players here say the sport is growing with tournaments around the world. Their dream is for

this game to become an Olympic event one day.

"I think some of the beach sports might be a little closer," he says. "But of course it would be amazing and maybe we're not as far off as people

think."

The players on the Copa Cabana certainly take the sport seriously enough, playing hard and fighting for each point.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Rio de Janeiro.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALKER: Looks tough. You've got to be really agile, but looks like a lot of fun.

That is News Stream. The news continues at CNN. World Business Today is next.

END