Return to Transcripts main page

NEWS STREAM

Xiaomi Unveils Mi Note; Academy Awards Reveals 2014 Nominations; Belgian Authorities Arrest Man Suspected of Ties Coulibaly; Leading Women: Jane Fraser; Two Men Scale El Capitan

Aired January 15, 2015 - 8:00   ET

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

MANISHA TANK, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, I'm Manisha Tank in Hong Kong. A warm welcome to News Stream where news and technology meet.

Belgian police say they've arrested a man linked with this woman: one of the suspects in last week's terror attacks in Paris.

The world's third biggest smartphone marker unveils its latest handset. We'll show you what's next from Xiaomi.

And will Michael Keaton be recognized for Birdman? We'll bring you the Oscar nominations live in half an hour.

First, to the international hunt for possible accomplices in the Paris terror attacks. Belgian prosecutors tell CNN they've arrested a man in

connection with arms trafficking. They say he's linked to this woman: Hayat Boumeddiene. She is the alleged accomplice and companion of Amedy

Coulibaly, the terrorist who killed four people at a Kosher grocery store last Friday.

You're looking at new images, meanwhile, from inside that supermarket during the siege according to a French newspaper. Security forces have

identified another man who may be linked to that attack.

And we're now learning from Spanish security sources that both Boumeddiene and Coulibaly drove to Madrid just a week before the first

terror attack. Investigators say they were spotted with a third man and are now looking into what the pair did while in the city.

Sources say Coulibaly remained in Madrid a few days, but Boumeddiene is believed to have flown from there to Istanbul and then on to Syria.

Well, all of this as Paris lays more -- lays to rest more victims of the Charlie Hebdo massacre.

For the latest senior international correspondent Frederik Pleitgen joins us live from there now

We'll talk about those memorials in just a moment, but it seems that these different threads of this ongoing investigation are very important

and significant breakthroughs, it seems, today, are really now showing us that there's a web here that they're just beginning to uncover.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, absolutely. A fairly large web and something that seems as though this was a fairly

large operation, one that appears to have been planned for quite awhile actually, Manisha. You're absolutely right the authorities there in Spain

are now telling us that they believe both Coulibaly and his wife Hayat Boumeddiene actually made that trip down to Madrid on December 31 by car,

then as you said, she stayed there until January 2 when she took that flight to Istanbul and he went back to Paris.

Now, as said there was a third person who was with the two. It's unclear whether or not that third person was the man that she was spotted

with when she got into Istanbul airport or whether or not that person came back to Paris with Coulibaly. That's significant, because as you also said

there is a fourth suspect. That the police are looking for, because they found scooter keys in Coulibaly's apartment. They also found weapons

there.

They believe that this fourth person might be linked to a shooting that happened here on January 7. And the ballistics from that shooting

match a weapon that Coulibaly had with him as he held up that grocery store.

The other trail, of course, that the investigators here are following is the trail of the weapons and the trail of the money. As you said, there

is a person who turned himself in to authorities in Belgium who said that he sold Coulibaly both a Scorpion submachine gun as well as a Tokarev

pistol. And again that is significant, because the ISIS video that Coulibaly made, he seemed to have that Scorpion submachine gun next to him

and a Tokarev pistol appears to be on that CCTV video that shows Coulibaly inside the store.

So, there's a lot of moving pieces, but it appears as though authorities here are starting to piece that mosaic together and linking

Coulibaly, Hayat Boumeddiene as well as the Kouachi brothers possibly to one another.

TANK: Yeah, and already that investigation is taking them to different countries. We're seeing that in just these first few days of

this investigation happening.

Otherwise, I did mention those funerals when we came to you, Fred, some of the cartoonists being laid to rest, memorials being held. A very

somber day on that front.

PLEITGEN: It is. It is, indeed a very somber day. And it is really a remarkable move that you feel here in Paris today, that you indeed in all

of France today, because of course on the one hand you have this investigation that's going on, which is still very important. You also

still have the nation on the highest terror alert. And at the time, you obviously have the nation in mourning.

There were some very high profile funerals that happened yesterday for the police officers who were killed in the attack, a big procession there

at the national police department. And today you have the funerals for another -- one of those police officers. And you also have the funerals

for a lot of the cartoonists as well as the editors of that magazine, Charlie Hebdo, Tinou being one of them. His memorial service is on right

now. He's going to be laid to rest later today.

Also, the man known as Volinsky. He was 80 years old when the attackers went into Charlie Hebdo headquarters and gunned him down. He's

going to be laid to rest later today as well. The memorial service for him has already happened.

And then there is two other editors from Charlie Hebdo where there's also going to be memorial services today. So you can really feel the

nation taking part in all of this, the nation very sad about all of this, because we also have to keep in mind that the people who were killed were

very high profile cartoonists. And many people that you speak to in France say these are the people we grew up with. This is the magazines that we

used to read.

One of them, for instance, was on French television.

So these are people who were very, very well known and of course this country is still sickened by these terror attacks and that's why there is

such an outpouring of grief as these high profile funerals are happening today.

TANK: And indeed France is still living in the shadow of that terror threat along with many countries.

Fred, thank you very much for that. Fred Pleitgen there in Paris bringing us up to date on the investigation and those memorials today.

Well, as we said French papers report police have identified another possible accomplice in that kosher supermarket siege. And earlier, the

chief U.S. security correspondent Jim Sciutto looked into these latest developments.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is the location of an apartment thought to be Amedy Coulibaly's hideout. Find inside,

according to the French paper "Le Parisien," keys to a motorbike belonging to another man now suspected of shooting a jogger in a park last week

before driving Coulibaly to the kosher market attack.

Police believe this new suspect has likely already fled France, possibly for Syria.

The deadly Paris attacks were planned for years with orders coming directly from al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, so claimed the terror

group today.

The 12-minute video, which U.S. officials believe to be authentic, features pictures of gunman Cherif and Said Kouachi, with the group's

commander praising the attack, calling it revenge for cartoons satirizing the Prophet Mohammed.

"We clarify to the Islamic world that the one who chose the target, laid the plan, financed the operation and appointed its emir," Sheik Nasser

said, "is the leadership of the organization." But he provided no proof.

One of the plot's masterminds, he claimed, was American Anwar al- Awlaki, killed in a U.S. drone strike in 2011. Despite the video claim,

U.S. officials tell CNN it is not yet clear if AQAP executed direct command-and-control over the operation, or if it provided some training and

funding, with the attackers selecting time, place and target.

Still, the investigation has already exposed a complicated and expanding jihadi network. The man seen accompanying Hayat Boumeddiene at a

Turkish airport is tied to a Pakistani Afghan terror cell. Her companion, the kosher shop attacker, Amedy Coulibaly, pledged allegiance to ISIS in

Iraq and Syria and is known to have communicated with the Kouachi brothers.

Those CCTV images were available to French police during this siege, providing important information and intelligence before police were able to

raid and rescue many of those hostages.

Jim Sciutto, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TANK: Elsewhere, Boko Haram has released a new video that appears to show its leader praising the terrorist attacks in France. The Islamist

extremist group is behind an escalating wave of terror in northern Nigeria.

The satellite images from human rights watch are said to show widespread destruction by Boko Haram militants.

The bright red patches that you're seeing are fire burn scars, burned vegetation and damaged buildings near the town of Bagaa (ph) where it's

believed the militants carried out a massacre earlier this month.

Well, let's bring in Diana Magnay, because she's been following this story from Johannesburg in South Africa.

But Diana, I know that you've been watching, you know, more and more attacks by Boko Haram over the last year or so. They are getting -- it

seems to be getting worse. They want to take over that state.

But what's really interesting about these images, we're now seeing is, in an area where it's been notoriously difficult to get information, we now

get a sense of quite how awful this is.

DIANA MAGNAY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, you get a real sense of the extent of the destruction if you look at the before and after

how many buildings have been razed to the ground. Amnesty says it's the most widespread destruction that it's seen in all its years of covering

this five year insurgency, and it's been on the ground a lot.

I think what's also interesting, though, when you look at that satellite imagery of Bagaa (ph) is that people who have been watching this

insurgency as it unravels, to have seen satellite images of Bagaa (ph) before back in April 2013, Human Rights Watch then did a before and after,

after the town as pretty much razed to the ground and you saw similar levels of destruction.

But that time Human Rights Watch says it was the Nigerian military who were the culprits. And they were responding to a Boko Haram attack on one

of their military patrols.

Human Rights Watch say under 200 people were killed in that attack, and they are quoting local officials. Of course, this time around the

carnage unleashed by Boko Haram was far, far worse as we believe from eyewitnesses.

But I think it's important to mention that, because it does show you how both sides in this conflict have been brutalized by the years of

fighting and act with relative impunity up there, and that also the Nigerian military has been accused of grievance (ph) human rights abuses in

that region -- Manisha.

TANK: Diana, the Nigerians have called for international help. There seems to be this acknowledgment that they can't deal with this problem

alone. And that seems to be quite evident.

In the midst of that, what is Boko Haram's end game and can the international community actually do anything about it?

MAGNAY: Well, I think Boko Haram's end game has sort of morphed. I mean, they've talked about wanting to establish Shariah law, then about

trying to establish a Caliphate. Their leader praised ISIS this sort of in the middle of last year and now we see Boko Haram taking on much more

territory perhaps to mimic what ISIS is doing in Syria and Iraq.

But really they seem to be killing now because they can and because they're not really facing all that much resistance.

As to what the Nigerian military, the Nigerian government can do about it, yes, we heard from the government spokesman yesterday that some

countries had committed some kind of help, but we haven't actually got a sense that Goodluck Jonathan has gone to the international community with a

begging hand and said please come and support us.

Since the abduction of the Chibok girls, the U.S., France, the UK, China, they have committed help in the form of, for example, surveillance,

training programs, tactical support, really, to the Nigerian military. And just before Christmas we saw that the training program that the U.S. had

instituted with the Nigerians, we saw that collapse and the U.S. said that they regret it.

So, the way that the Nigerian government is taking on that aid doesn't really seem to be working. And, you know, we've said -- we've discussed

this before, but it really is problems within the way the military is managed. That means that the equipment that is needed to fight Boko Haram

on the ground in the north isn't getting there, despite the fact that this is a very rich, very powerful secular democracy that really should be able

to channel the right weapons into the hands of its troops in order to get this insurgency going.

And so this is a very largescale problem. It needs the countries around Nigeria -- Niger, Chad, Cameroon. Cameroon is doing a fairly good

job of fighting back -- but the others to become involved on a regional basis, supported, of course, by the international community with the sort

of tactical support that they are giving now -- Manisha.

TANK: OK, Diana -- Diana Magnay, thanks very much for that analysis of Boko Haram in Nigeria, a huge problem for the government there. Diana,

thank you very much.

You're watching News Stream. Coming up, huge crowds in the Philippines welcome Pope Francis. Some are hoping his visit will pave the

road for change in the country's conservative church.

And China's smartphone giant takes aim at Apple with its new handset. Is Xiaomi ready to challenge the iPhone?

Plus, Oscar nominations will becoming in this hour. Find out if your favorites are in the running for a little gold man. We'll bring you the

announcement live from Beverly Hills.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TANK: Shares in Blackberry closed nearly 30 percent higher on Wednesday. The stock price spiked amid rumors of a purchase offer from

Samsung. A Reuters report detailed a deal worth as much as $7.5 billion.

Blackberry later issued an official statement saying that it had not engaged in discussions with Samsung about a possible offer, and that sent

the shares lower in after hours trading.

So it's not the first time that we've heard rumors of a Blackberry buyout. The story of Blackberry's fall from being a tech icon is a

familiar one at this point. IDC says less than 1 percent of all smartphones shipped in the third quarter of last year were Blackberries.

The question is why Samsung might want to buy the company. And it's worth pointing out that the world's biggest smartphone maker is actually

getting smaller. IDC estimates that Samsung shipped almost 7 million fewer phones in the third quarter of last year, that's compared to the same

quarter in 2013.

They were the only one of the five biggest smartphone makers that saw its shipments actually shrink.

On the other hand, China's Xiaomi is on the rise. The world's third largest smartphone maker has unveiled its latest handset -- the Mi Note has

a large 5.7 inch display and is thinner than most smartphones on the market. And Xiaomi has in the past brushed off accusations of being a

copycat of Apple, but with the Mi Note it seems to have embraced the comparison with confidence.

In fact, its CEO Lei Jun mentioned the iPhone a few times during today's product launch.

Well, Will Ripley was there earlier and he joins me now live from Beijing.

Tell us a bit more about this new handset. And I find incredible that he actually embraced the fact that people are saying, oh, you've just

created an iPhone 6 ripoff.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. I mean it really -- it's a remarkable piece of marketing, isn't it, that you can actually build your

company's successful strategy around a technology that's been in the market for awhile, that critics and competitors say is copied technology and yet

still Xiaomi managed to make their product launches an event, much like Apple.

And Manisha, I was there sitting through this. I felt like I was at an Apple product launch. And I've been a loyal Apple user for several

years now. And as I was holding this device, I almost felt like I was cheating on Apple a bit.

Look, it's an elegant device. It's an attractive device. It was compared during the product launch several times to the iPhone 6 plus.

There were even graphics on the screen showing that it's thinner, that it's lighter, that it has a smaller body, but a bigger screen. And of course

the pricetag much different as well, $370, that's less than half what you would pay here in China for an iPhone 6 plus if you were going to buy it

without a warranty.

So, you know, those comparisons that -- you know, you mentioned the company at one point kind of brushed off. They're certainly embracing it.

And if anything, their PR machine is kind of encouraging people to think that Xiaomi is China's Apple.

TANK: Yeah, but you mentioned the price there. What's incredible, though, is this is actually different this time around for Xiaomi because

even though it's half of the price you would pay for an Apple iPhone it's actually expensive for Xiaomi.

RIPLEY: It is. It's a much higher price point than what you normally see for these devices.

And in a lot of ways, too, Manisha this -- this latest Mi Note is actually the least Apple-like device, a lot of analysts are saying, because

it does have some pieces of innovation that don't mimic Apple.

One example that was given was the camera. They point out how on the new iPhone the camera lens actually sticks out. They were making fun of

that saying that it was an unattractive feature, whereas the camera on the Mi Note is a flat camera with a stabilizer built in.

So, they were pointing out the differences. But, you know, again the feel of the event was like Apple, the presentation, the display was a lot

like Apple, and even some of their other devices.

This is the Mimi Mi box, which they hook up -- you can hook up to your TV just like an Apple TV. This is about $30, less expensive than Apple TV.

But you get the concept, I mean, there's a similarity here. They're going to a streamlined kind of simple product that looks a lot like Apple

products, which are so popular around the world.

And Xiaomi products are really popular here in China and gaining popularity globally.

TANK: Well, Will, thanks for that. And before you go, well, you needn't comment but I just want to mention, you know, a couple of days ago

a guy was caught trying to go across the border from Hong Kong to China strapped with 94 iPhones strapped to him. Maybe we'll see something

different in a year, we'll see somebody trying to cross the border with 94 Xiaomi Mi Notes attached to him.

Anyway, Will, thank you very much for that.

A reminder that you're watching News Stream.

Well, that was a very peppy high energy greeting for Pope Francis in the Philippines. We are live in Asia's most Catholic nation. That's just

ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TANK: Now, Jane Fraser is one of the top executives at Citigroup and one of the most powerful women in banking. She sat down with our Poppy

Harlow to discuss how she's managed the delicate balance between work and home life.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: She's CEO of Citigroup's consumer and commercial banking and the head of Citi Mortgage, a huge job by any

measure.

JANE FRASER, CEO CITIGROOP CONSUMER AND COMMERCIAL BANKING: Hey, how are you?

HARLOW: But Jane Fraser wasn't always sure she'd rise so high on Wall Street.

When you were working at Goldman Sachs earlier in your career, you said you loved it but you said there were no female role models who had any

semblance of a family life and a career.

FRASER: You got insight into things you can never imagine as a 20 year old ever having. But when I thought about longer run, I wanted to

have a family. And it drove me when I left business school in the states to then say, OK, it's not back into investment banking, but to move to

McKinsey.

HARLOW: She spent a decade consulting at McKinsey.

FRASER: When I became a mother and I was at McKinsey I worked the entirety of my time at McKinsey part-time as a partner. And that was

tough. It was partly tough because you see people who you have managed and you've brought into the firm then progressing faster than you, so there's

ego.

HARLOW: You got the call that you had been made partner at McKinsey when you were home with you with your first born?

FRASER: Yes.

HARLOW: What was that like?

FRASER: (inaudible) and I remember getting the phone call and just trying to hope that the head of the New York office, because I was in New

York at the time, would just get off the phone quickly because I was needing to feed the baby.

HARLOW: While raising two sons, Fraser learned the importance of saying no.

FRASER: I can remember some of my clients when I would say to them, you know, I can't do the meeting on Thursday because Thursday is the day

that I'm at home with my son.

It made you human. If you don't have humanity you're just not relevant.

HARLOW: And at the peak of the financial crisis, something had to give.

FRASER: And my husband was running a bank at the same time over in Europe. We sat down in -- it was probably Christmastime of '08. And we

said, OK, one of us has to stop for the family. And he said, OK, I want to go. I'll be the one, I'll go and do something different.

HARLOW: But something had to give.

FRASER: There was no way we could carry on.

HARLOW: But as successful as she is today, Fraser wasn't always so confident.

FRASER: I went to a school in Australia that opened my eyes. And we had an amazing head mistress there. And you know, I'd been a shy, boring,

mousy girl in Scotland, but she gave you this confidence that you should be aiming higher, you should go -- she used to always say go for it.

HARLOW: She saw more opportunity for women in the U.S. and moved her family to New York.

FRASER: I see a huge difference from Europe and the States. I wanted to move to the States. I find this is a much better environment for women,

because there are more women around. And you don't feel self-conscious about it.

Thank you.

You can't have it all at the same time. You can have it all spread over decades. And beginning to think of career and life around these

different chunks and needs and then say, OK, that's a tradeoff for now. I'll get to it later.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TANK: So be sure to check out our website. For more remarkable stories in there, you can watch our interview with Christine Lagarde, the

head of the International Monetary Fund. You'll also find our list of the most inspiring women of 2014. That's at CNN.com/leadingwomen.

Still to come here on News Stream, Pope Francis has made it safely to the Philippines. Details on his five-day visit coming up.

Plus, it's a big day for stars of the silver screen in Hollywood. This year's Oscars award nominees are just about to be announced. So we'll

bring you that announcement live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TANK: Hi, I'm Manisha Tank in Hong Kong. You're watching News Stream. And these are your world headlines.

More victims of the Charlie Hebdo attack are being laid to rest in Paris today. Meanwhile, the investigation into last week's attacks goes

on. And new information is emerging about who may have helped to carry them out. Belgian authorities say they've arrested a man linked to the

wife of one suspect. He's being held in connection with alleged arms trafficking.

Divers are returning to the Java Sea to look for more victims' bodies from the crash of AirAsia Flight 8501. These are underwater images of the

fuselage, which was located on Wednesday using a remotely operated vehicle. The plane crashed on December 28. More than 100 people are still missing.

These new satellite images from Human Rights Watch are said to show largescale destruction caused by Boko Haram in northern Nigeria. The

bright red patches are fire burn scars, burned vegetation and damaged buildings near the town of Bagaa (ph) where it's believed the militants

carried out a massacre earlier this month.

Now, Pope Francis is just beginning a five-day visit to the Philippines. He was greeted in Manila today by the Philippines President

Benigno Aquino along with a huge cheering crowd. The pope is under pressure, though, to address controversial topics such as divorce,

contraception and homosexuality. These are issue that continue to divide moderate and conservative Catholics in the country.

Well, let's head straight to Manila now. Anna Coren is standing by to talk to us.

Anna, he was going to make that procession, so to speak, into the city in the Popemobile. Tell us what you've been seeing this evening.

ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Look, he did that in his open air Popemobile. He traveled some 22 kilometers and you could

see the tens of thousands of Filipinos who lined the streets just to catch a glimpse of His Holiness. It's being described as a Sea of Light because

everybody had up their mobile phones or their tablets taking photos as his motorcade passed them by at a rather slow pace so that everybody could, you

know, really catch a glimpse of him.

But certainly the pope receiving just love and adoration from the public. And this is what he's going to receive over the coming days.

Where we are situated right now, this is going to be where the pope will deliver mass on Sunday. And there's 6 million people that are

expected to come here, so you can imagine this is a security nightmare for authorities, that's how it's being described by the top military commander

here in the Philippines. They have up to 40,000 police and military personnel who will be deployed during his five day visit.

And interestingly, Manisha, the pope spoke to reporters on the plane from Sri Lanka to Manila and he talked about the Paris terror attacks and

he mentioned -- and I'll just read now that he condemns religious violence. He says that the freedom of religion and speech is a fundamental human

right. And he says that to kill in the name of god is an aberration.

Now he was also asked about safety and security. And he said that he's concerned about the security of the followers who come to these events

when he is overseas. He was then asked about his own personal security and how he feels. He says he's also concerned, but that he has a dose, a

healthy dose of recklessness, which I thought was rather interesting. He just doesn't want to feel any pain.

The other thing that he was asked about was climate change. Now this is something that he's expected to talk about in a speech on Saturday when

he heads to Tacloban. Tacloban, of course, was hit by Typhoon Haiyan back in 2013 in which more than 7,000 people were killed.

Well he is traveling down there to meet with survivors, to meet with the families of the victims. And he's going to be talking about climate

change. When he was asked about it, he said that it was mainly attributed to man who slaps mother nature in the face.

So, definitely it's something interesting to be -- you know, coming out of the church, coming from the Pope, but we can be expecting lots of

surprises over the coming days, Manisha.

TANK: Well, Anna, I'm sure if there are those surprises as well as all the regular news and updating us on his trip you will be there to tell

us all about it. Thank you very much for that Anna Coren for updating us on the beginnings of that visit from Manila.

Coming up next here on News Stream, the Oscar nominees are? We'll find out live after the break when we go live to California for the big

announcement. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TANK: Well, I don't know about you but it's always a mark for me of how quickly time is ticking by when the Oscars come around once again. It

is that time of the year. The stars of Hollywood are up early this morning, the 2015 Oscar nominations are being revealed right now as I speak

in Beverly Hills, California.

For the first time ever, though, all 24 categories are being announced. Earlier, the directors Alfonso Cuaron and JJ Abrams presented

the first 11 categories. And now it's time for Actor Chris Pine and Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs to reveal the remaining contenders.

Winners will be announced at the Academy Awards Show. And that is going to be happening on February 22. People all over the world will be

tuning in for that. It's always a big moment on the calendar coming right off the back of the Golden Globes.

We will be going there now to listen in.

(ACADEMY AWARD NOMINATION CEREMONY)

TANK: Oh, yes, indeed. I was busy trying to write all of those down -- who got snubbed and what were the biggest surprises.

Let's go straight to film critics Richard Fitzwilliams who has been listening in to the nominations along with us. He joins us live from

London.

Anything stand out to you there?

RICHARD FITZWILLIAMS, FILM CRITIC: Well, several categories that Oscar loves dearly are very well represented. I mean there was absolutely

no doubt that bio pics -- The Theory of Everything story of Stephen Hawking with Eddie Redmayne, that was included; as we expected The Imitation Game

about Alan Turing who cracked the code during the war with Benedict Cumberbatch, that was included.

Selma, I had expected David Oyelowo would get a nomination playing Martin Luther King which he did so brilliantly and Ava DuVernay as the

first African-American director -- female director. Neither happened, but it was mentioned in the list of best movies. That was the one surprise, I

thought.

We've also seen the Academy very fond of pictures about those who are mentally challenged. And here Julianne Moore, I mean there's little doubt

she's going to win, I think, as professor suffering from Alzheimer's, an academic who is struggling in its throes for Still Alice, also the two

scientists played by Benedict Cumberbatch so superbly by Eddie Redmayne.

But it's a very good list. They spread it around. Interstellar, I think, Christopher Nolan will be very disappointed there, though.

TANK: Let's just look at a couple of movies here. Birdman -- I'm not going to do the whole title -- Birdman and the Grand Budapest Hotel. Each

of these movies has had nine nominations of one kind or another.

FITZWILLIAMS: I think that both of them are wonderfully quirky. This shows how adaptable the Academy can be.

What you've got, I think the actual ceremony on the 22 of February will be Boyhood, which is a unique movie, which of course did tremendously

well and had the nominations that we predicted -- directed by Richard Linklater -- against Birdman, which is this wonderful savagely funny movie

about an actor whose career is trashed trying to make a disastrous comeback on Broadway, and with Michael Keaton in the top row. Normally, I think

Keaton would win in a different year had the competition be different.

The Grand Budapest Hotel is one of the wonderfully quirky movies that somehow tapped into public consciousness because it's made quite a lot of

money at the box office. And it's one of those glorious movies that people have enjoyed because Wes Anderson has made such a surreal creation there.

TANK: And what's quite interesting is as the nominations for best picture are being read out, one of our crew -- I won't say who -- happened

to say I haven't heard of half of those. But it's not always necessarily the case that an Oscar nomination means that that particular movie was a

blockbuster.

FITZWILLIAMS: Oh, no. Absolutely the reverse.

I mean, if you look at the big blockbusters of the year -- Interstellar, Exodus, Gods and Kings, The Hobbit, a large number of science

fiction movies, you don't find any of them there. Maybe one of the strengths of this year's nominations -- and this goes in many of the

categories -- is that very small budget films have done tremendously well. They are not here to Nightcrawler and there with Steve Carell being

nominated for best actor for Foxcatcher.

It's tremendously significant that an independent movie like Boyhood, for example, the favorite to win best picture hasn't made that much money.

It was on a budget of $2.4 million. It was set over 12 years. Such a leap of faith in its director. And the members of its cast who got together

every year in that amazing period of time to make it.

So, this is a marvelous list, I think, for the Academy to consider, because it spreads it around, because there's so much talent, but then

you've got (inaudible) picks, you've got also so many fascinating insights into the human condition, including a movie called Whiplash, which is

definitely going to get best supporting actor for JK Simmons and was a movie that certainly I found an extraordinary traumatic experience.

Patricia Arquette, incidentally, likely to win for a very strong categories in the best support actress.

Meryl Streep there. The Academy have a love affair with her. Into the Woods, though, snubbed. But then it's a bit of a mess as a movie.

TANK: I'm sure people will want to rent that one just to see what you mean by -- when you say that.

Richard, just finally, Ravi (ph), our producer and quite rightly so pointed out as we heard the best actor nominations. You've got a really

strong lineup here. Eddie Redmayne. You've got Michael Keaton, Benedict Cumberbatch, Steve Carell, Bradley Cooper, some of the biggest names in

the business right now.

FITZWILLIAMS: Yes, absolutely. And indeed you could have added to those, may I say. And I'm glad that it was mentioned that some categories

-- Mr. Turner, Timothy Spall who wasn't mentioned and also Oscar Isaac for A Most Violent Year who wasn't mentioned simply because they couldn't fit

it in. That shows what a wonderful year for movies it is. And also what wonderful talent there is, something to celebrate, something also with the

oldest ceremony that there is, the most high profile in the world where a nomination can mean success for life, where a win means a meteoric boost to

your career and where it's also a fashion fest. Who could wish for anything more thrilling than the Oscars?

TANK: Yeah, well, whether it's best actor or best actress or best supporting actor or actress, they're all the biggest names in the business

now, aren't they? They've just been announced.

Thank you very much, though, Richard. Richard Fitzwilliams for that. Your analysis has been very valuable today. And we'll look forward to

February 22 with much anticipation.

FITZWILLIAMS: It's a pleasure and it'll be very exciting.

TANK: Yes, I'm sure.

You're watching News Stream. Still to come on the show, imagine two Empire State Buildings stacked one on top of the other. Well, these

adventurers scale the rock that high over several days. It's an immense challenge, but they conquered El Capitan.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TANK: There are some pretty tall buildings there, but nothing as tall as this. Two climbers reached the top of El Capitan on Wednesday after a

nearly three week journey. The rock formation at Yosemite National Park in California is more than 900 meters high.

Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jogfin (ph) completed what's known as a free climb, using only their hands and feet. CNN's Dan Simon has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And this was considered the world's hardest climb, that's because the pair using just their feet and hands to

scale that massive 3,000 foot fall known as El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, they become the first people in the world to freeclimb the

formation's Don wall.

Now they did have ropes and other safety devices in case there was a fall. They did fall from time to time, but they did achieve the

impossible. Tommy Caldwell, Kevin Jorgenssion (ph) doing that free climb.

Now you're talking about a journey that goes all the way back to December 27. They did have some supporters who were sending them up

supplies and food to keep them going. As you can imagine, going down will be a lot easier than going up. That moment five years in the making.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TANK: Remarkable stuff.

Well, we want to give you a visual of just how tall El Capitan actually is and what makes the climb so impressive. Let's use Google Earth

to put the Burj Khalifa next to El Capitan and you can see the difference right there. There you go.

So the world's tallest building is actually shorter than the mountain. The Burj Khalifa stands at 828 meters, short of the 900 meters height of El

Capitan's Dawn Wall. It's really quite incredible.

Well, that was News Stream. I'm Manisha Tank. World Business Today with Maggie Lake is up next.

END