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President Obama Visits Saudi Arabia; Chinese Tourists Turn To Social Media For Destinations; Leading Women: Christine Lagarde; Snow Storm Slams Northeast

Aired January 27, 2015 - 8:00   ET

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

KRISTIE LU STOUT: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. And welcome to News Stream where news and technology meet.

Now the U.S. President arrives in Riyadh to meet the new king and offer condolences in the death of a man who came before him. Fareed

Zakaria will tell us what President Obama told him about the U.S. relationship with Saudi Arabia.

On the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, we speak to the first American to discover another Nazi concentration camp.

And New York slowly returns to business as usual after a massive blizzard strikes overnight.

Now we begin with U.S. President Barack Obama's first meeting with the new king of Saudi Arabia. Now, Mr. Obama's plane touched down in Riyadh

just a short time ago. At an airport ceremony, he was greeted by King Salman and other Saudi officials.

Now Mr. Obama is there to pay respects after the death of King Abdullah last week. Now and King Salman are also expected to discuss a

number of critical issues, including the fight against the extremist group ISIS in Iraq and Syria as well as the crisis in Yemen where Shiite Houthi

rebels have taken over the capital.

Now let's go live to Riyadh. Our senior international correspondent Nic Robertson is there. And he joins us now.

And Nic, officially President Obama is there to pay his respects, but what is the wider purpose of his visit there to Saudi Arabia?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's clearly to continue a strong relationship with Saudi Arabia. The United States

continues to rely on Saudi Arabia to be a major player in the region and help sort of bring other Arab allies along with them in the fight against

ISIS. And potentially now much more keenly focusing on the issues in Yemen. Now it's increasingly destabilized by this Houthis uprising that

Saudi Arabia really feels that Iran is behind.

But I think you only have to look at the sort of the depth and the sort of longevity and the number of different administrations served by

some of the people in President Obama's delegation. I mean, you have the current U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, you have Senator John McCain,

former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, you have -- you have John Brennan, the head of the CIA who was stationed here for many years.

But you also have people like former Secretary of State James Baker going back a couple of decades, Condoleezza Rice. You have national

security adviser Sandy Berger, Steven Hadley, you know people who have worked with previous U.S. presidents who have had strong relationships

going back over several decades with Saudi Arabia. You have, you know, Ben Rhodes today's National Security Adviser here, too.

So what it appears President Obama is really doing is wanting to keep that relationship that's been there and been strong over decades, keep it

on the same track -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: A very high level delegation is there from the United States. Yemen, ISIS, front and center during this visit.

Now human rights groups have also called on President Obama to bring up Saudi Arabia's treatment of political opponents. So Nic, will human

rights be on the agenda?

ROBERTSON: Well, it doesn't appear to be something that's front and center for President Obama right now. In his conversation a little while

ago with Fareed Zakaria, he really indicated that you know there's a balance and the most important thing right now are the pressing security

counterterrorism issues. Yemen, you know, ISIS is another issue; Syria, relationship with Iran. There's differences between the United States and

Saudi Arabia on their views on how to deal with Iran.

But these are the central issues at the moment. And in a long ongoing relationship and a continuing dialog that the United States has with Saudi

Arabia, President Obama appears to feel that the issue of human rights, the issue of women's right to drive here -- something King Abdullah was never

able to push through that he said that he would, or at least he hoped to do that, the issue of freedom of expression, the blogger who was jailed -- who

was subject to 1,000 -- or rather sentenced to 1,000 lashes, 50 lashes each week. These sorts of issues don't appear to be on the table front and

center this time, Kristie.

LU STOUT: All right, Nic Robertson reporting live from Riyadh for us. Many thanks indeed for that, Nic.

Now before heading to Riyadh, Mr. Obama was in India, and there, as Nic just mentioned, he sat down with CNN's Fareed Zakaria for an exclusive

wide-ranging interview.

Now for a preview on that discussion as well as more on the state of U.S.-India ties, Fareed Zakaria joins us now live. And Fareed, first, what

do you make of this changing U.S.-India relationship?

FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's really crucial. Remember, this is the second largest country in the world. In many ways

it's been the second fastest growing large developing country in the world. And increasingly, India is becoming very pro-American. Pro-American in the

sense that people here are fascinated by America. Obama was a big hit here. But the government is also recognizing that in an Asia where China

is rising, it would make sense to have a closer relationship with the United States.

The visit -- Obama's visit was planned very carefully, choreographed very carefully by the Indian prime minister and for three days it was wall-

to-wall Obama in India. Very successful, at least at the level of the atmospherics, which was largely the point of this visit.

LU STOUT: A carefully choreographed visit, a highly watched one as well inside India and throughout the world. China watching it too.

Now Fareed, there in India, you had an interesting discussion with the U.S. President Barack Obama about U.S.-Saudi relations. We've got a clip

of that exchange. Let's roll it now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have maintained a sustained dialogue with the Saudis and with all the other countries that we

work with. You know, what I've found effective is to apply steady, consistent pressure even as we are getting business done that needs to get

done. And oftentimes that makes some of our allies uncomfortable. It makes them frustrated. Sometimes we have to balance our need to speak to

them about human rights issues with immediate concerns that we have in terms of countering terrorism or dealing with regional stability.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: So Fareed, the U.S. President Barack Obama. He is now in Riyadh. He is there with a very high level delegation there to continue to

cement ties with this key ally in the wake of the death of King Abdullah, the issue of human rights, do you think that's going to be brought up when

he meets with King Salman?

ZAKARIA: No. I agree with Nic. He's pretty much clearly signaled to me that he would not be bringing it up. And I can understand that this is

the first visit with Salman as the king, though he has met him previously. And I think he's probably going to try to take the measure of whether the

new king will follow the old king's foreign policy.

King Abdullah, a quiet man and the Saudis general very low key, had adopted a very aggressive foreign policy in the last four years. They had

aggressively rolled back the democratic progress movements in Bahrain. They had actively supported general el-Sisi's military takeover. They have

been very active in Syria. They had been active in Yemen.

This is quite unusual for Saudi Arabia. And I'm sure the administration is trying to figure out what the new king going to do? Is

he going to be that aggressive? How is he going to deal with the instability in Yemen? Is he going to continue to try to send, you know,

jihadi forces into Syria? What are they going to do with regard to countries like Egypt and Jordan?

So there are a lot of big security issues at stake. And my guess is that human rights is not going to make it at the level of the president to

the king, though it maybe brought up at a lower level.

LU STOUT: Yeah, especially when you have, as you put it, those top security issues at stake here.

Now this was again an exclusive interview that you had with President Obama, a wide ranging discussing. And you brought up the drone, the camera

drone, that crashed onto the White House lawn early this week. It appears to be just this hobbyist toy, but does it raise more security concerns for

the U.S. president. What did he tell you?

ZAKARIA: Well, what he told me was that he was going to let the Secret Service deal with this particular issue, but he is worried, or he is

concerned about the fact that you have this whole new class of technology and we haven't really figured out the rules of the road. You know, if

Amazon is going to be delivering packages with drones, if anybody can buy this -- he pointed out this drone was apparently the kind you can buy at a

Radio Shack, then do there need to be some kind of rules -- does there need to be somebody monitoring them.

And he compared it to cyber security, one of these areas where technology has gone faster than the law and regulation, and so we kind of

have to sit back and take stock of where things are.

But he didn't seem very concerned about the fact that this had happened.

I said to him, how would you make sure that the next one isn't armed, isn't an armed drone? And he said, well, I'm going to let the Secret

Service talk about that.

LU STOUT: Yeah, it's a technology that's just so new, so emerging. It was just a couple of weeks ago we announced at CNN and the FAA signed an

agreement to explore how to use this for drone journalism.

Fareed Zakaria, thank you so much for sharing the highlights from your exclusive interview with the president of the United States. Fareed

Zakaria joining us live from New Delhi.

Now, it was on this date in 1945 that the outside world saw the worst that humans were capable of. We look back at what happened at Auschwitz 70

years after its liberation.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Now a place that is now synonymous with one of the darkest chapters in human history is being remembered by countless people around

the world right now. It was on this day, 70 years ago, that the Auschwitz concentration camp was liberated by Soviet forces near the end of World War

II. By then, more than a million Jews and other prisoners who had been sent to work and die there had been exterminated by the Nazis.

Now today, former prisoners and staff members at the Auschwitz memorial laid wreaths and placed other tributes that one notorious part of

the camp known as the death walk.

Now just over an hour from now, Poland's president will lead the main 70th anniversary commemoration at Auschwitz. And CNN's Ivan Watson will be

a key part of our coverage. He looks back at some of the unspeakable atrocities that happened within the death camp's walls.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL SCHUDRICH, CHIEF RABBI OF POLAND: This is the largest murder place on the planet throughout any part of human history.

IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The Auschwitz concentration camp. Of the more than 6 million Jews slaughtered by Nazi

Germany during World War II, more than a million were murdered here.

SCHUDRICH: Academics still argue, was it 1.2, 1.3, 1.4 million - could you imagine? They are not sure, they could be up to 200,000 extreme in

being murdered there. It was so massive we are not even sure.

WATSON: 70 years later one still struggles to comprehend the scale of the atrocities committed within this compound of barbed wire, bricks and

snow.

At the Auschwitz Museum, grim exhibits: The mounts of shoes that the Nazis confiscated from their prisoners. The hunting portraits of inmates,

Polish, Russian, French, Jewish, Roma, photos taken just days before these victims died.

MARIAN TURSKI, AUSCHWITZ SURVIVOR: So, what was the worse? Humiliation. Humiliation. That you was not, you were not considered to be a

human being, you were considered to be like an insect.

WATSON: Marian Turski is a Polish Jew, and today an editor at one of Poland`s most respected magazines.

TURSKI: Out of `40s, the members of my closest family only four - four survived.

WATSON: In 1944, he was only a teenager when he arrived at the Auschwitz Camp via Nazi-occupied Poland. Like hundreds of thousands of

other victims, crammed into a cattle car onboard a train. Turski was among the minority destined for slave labor. Tattooed with a number that for

months became his identity.

TURSKI: I`m B9408. This is my name -- yeah, this is my name.

WATSON: Turski survived slave labor, starvation and disease. And went on to tell the world the story of what he endured. Nazi-occupied Poland was

the epicenter of Adolph Hitler`s plan to wipe the Jews off the face of Europe. It was a plan that failed.

70 years after World War II, there`s a small but growing community of Jews in Poland. A new generation to carry the memories of their elders.

Ivan Watson, CNN, Auschwitz, Poland.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And Auschwitz wasn't the only concentration camp operated by the Nazis.

Now after the break right here on News Stream, we hear from a World War II veteran who told me in detail the moment he discovered the

Buchenwald Camp. His amazing account is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back.

As CNN marks holocaust memorial day, on the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, we also want to focus on the young heroes who made

freedom possible for hundreds of thousands of prisoners at other Nazi-run concentration camps in Europe. We also want to focus on the young heroes

who made freedom possible for hundreds of thousands of prisoners at other Nazy-run concentration camps in Europe.

Now, Rick Carrier is one such hero. The World War II veteran was the first American to discover Germany's Buchenwald Camp ultimately leading to

its liberation.

Now I spoke to Rick Carrier. And now even at 90-years-old, he relives that date in incredible detail. Here is his story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICK CARRIER, WWII VETERAN: I saw the opening of Buchenwald, the main gate, and I had with me, I went up there because I wanted to find space and

material for engineering. We needed rocks. We needed timber. We needed rearing. We needed all sorts of stuff to build roads with. And that was

my job was to find these things.

When we were up to the camp and went in there, I was very cautious. When I got in there and looked at it, I said, whoa. I parked the Jeep in

the woods and then walked around the other side and they were over to the barbed-wire fence.

When I got there, I looked down and there was a guy crawling underneath the wire, because they cut off the electricity. And he was

snaking underneath the wire. And the barbed-wire was ripping his back like a cat was ripping apart. And I mean his back was just streaks of blood.

He was torn up, because he wanted out of there.

I got down and I got my clippers out and I cut a big oval in the barbed-wire and he got out. But once he got out, he stood up. Now this

man was nothing more than a human skeleton with skin on it. His eyes were black-rimmed and little dots for the irises, every part of his body had

sores on it, vituperated puss coming out of the eyes. But he came at me. And I saw something in his eye that I'd never seen before.

LU STOUT: What was that?

CARIER: I could see love. And I could see affection pouring out these eyes, this body, his hands out. And he couldn't speak. He was

walking toward me and shuffling. And he knew what I gave him, but he wanted to tell me that.

And behind him three others were coming out with him. And they (inaudible). And I says, whoa, whoa, wait a minute.

Now the odor in this situation was unbelievable. You think about a rotten egg. Well, just think of rotten egg and a dozen other things that

are foul smelling, because that (inaudible). And I felt myself begin to collapse again, because it happened to me earlier. And I really started to

go down. And I said, no, I can't do this.

So I backed up a little bit. And when I backed up, I heard machine gun fire. And behind me, up in the tower -- clock tower, is a front -- the

machine gun bullets knocked the glass out of the front. And I looked up and it was 3:15 in the afternoon and it stopped. And I said it's time to

get out of here.

I looked at my colonel and he said. He said, I've already spoken to the Eisenhower's office and also Patton's office. And I want you to go up

there -- back to the camp and be there tomorrow morning at 8:30 so that when the cap come down from the (inaudible) army tank corps you show him

where this is.

And then he'll go up and you then blow off the (inaudible) and then call us and tell us it's OK to come up.

So that became the official opening day for liberation day for Buchenwald. And so that, the 11th is the official day. That we had

everything up.

But when we got up there, the tank got up there, I blew the lock off the gate. We went -- the lock was nothing more than a chain wrapped

(inaudible) around the chain. And they were like a pair of big shears cutting it off.

And that fell on the ground and the chain fell off and the hand of one of those guys come out and took it in, a souvenir.

And the gate slid open, the tank went in and all the guys piled out and started doing (inaudible). And they didn't know at the time, but

(inaudible) took the chocolate and ate them. And they took three steps and fell dead. They couldn't take it. Within minutes, nurses and doctors came

in and said you can't feed these people that. And they started taking and cleaning them up and delousing them and taking them place and giving them

bath.

They're on the train Margaret Burke White (ph) took pictures of them on the train. And the one picture in it was a guy pointing his finger in

the air. And that finger, that man that did that, called me on the phone five years ago and said, Mr. Carrier, I would like to have lunch with you.

Would you come up?

And I said, who is this?

He said, Irvin Braun (ph). He said I was one of the orphans in that - - you left out on Buchenwald and I want to thank you for it.

And I said, sure.

So I went up to the restaurant he did and I went in. And he was sitting down. And he came over to me, got up and came over, and he put his

arms out and he hugged me. And he put -- when he did his eyes are having tears and I thought -- and he said, I want you to know that I would not be

alive today if you hadn't come there, because I was on the next batch to be taken out in the woods and shot. And I would have been -- you saved me by

one-fourth of a day.

LU STOUT: And this photo is of someone now. That's him.

CARRIER: That's him. That's Irvin (ph) right there. And he was on the march of the living. And we became friends. And I've given many

lectures in places with him with me. And I tell my side and he tells his side.

Today I talked to a whole room full of students. And every one of them asked me the same question. And I said this, when you see something

like this there's no way to be prepared for it. You can be trained and anything you can think of, but when you see it and smell it and feel it in

the nature of where it is and see that absolutely depravity of what the Germans did to them, the Nazis did to them, you cannot believe for a minute

that anybody would survive it, because they were living skeletons with skin on it, but they were still up and bravely walking because they had the idea

the sooner they would be saved rather than die. And that -- I felt that come out of them in the ones that came out of there, I felt their

willingness to live was stronger then their willingness to let them die.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: It's such an extraordinary and incredibly vivid account. I will never forget it.

That was World War II veteran Rick Carrier sharing his incredible true story of discovering and helping to liberate Nazi Germany's Buchenwald

concentration camp.

Now that was April 11, 1945, just one day after Carrier's 20th birthday.

You're watching News Stream. After the break, the first major snow storm of 2015 is slamming the eastern seaboard of the U.S. It's happening

right now. We'll tell you who is getting hardhit and which areas have been spared the worst. Keep it here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

Now U.S. President Barack Obama is in the capital Saudi Arabia where he and First Lady Michelle Obama were greeted at the airport by the new

King Salman. Now Mr. Obama is paying his respects after the death of King Abdullah last week. He and King Salman are also expected to discuss the

fight against ISIS and the crisis in Yemen.

Now here you see smoke rising outside this luxury hotel in the capital of Libya. Now a security official there says three gunmen attacked the

hotel killing two Libyan security officials. A standoff is said to be still underway. A car bomb exploded in the parking lot before the gunmen

shot their way into the hotel. Now guests have reportedly been evacuated to safety.

The northeastern United States is seeing its first major snowstorm of 2015, but after a night of heavy snowfall the blizzard warning has now been

lifted from most of New York and New Jersey.

Now the forecast is also improving slightly for the city of Boston.

Now for more on what we can expect from this major storm system in the hours ahead, meteorologist Ivan Cabrera is tracking the blizzard from the

world weather center. He joins us now -- Ivan.

IVAN CABRERA, CNN WEATHER CORRESPONDENT: Incredible imagery coming out of the satellite here. And I must imagine that meteorology professor

across the United States are recording the images here because this is the storm that will be taught in weather schools for years to come, a classic

mid-latitude cyclone here, a winter hurricane if you will.

Look at this wrapping up here and the comma shape going all the way down into the Caribbean.

But in the northeast is where we're interested, because this is where the snowfall has been incredible.

Now New York is out of it. You're done with the blizzard warning. In fact, the governor has lifted the travel bans. So people are able to get

out and about. They were on the western edge of that sharp gradient where we had a few centimeters, and then you move a little further to the east

and you got onto Long Island and that's when you started getting into some more significant totals, in fact upwards of 25, 30 centimeters.

And then the areas like Boston as well. There you see some areas not faring as well -- New York as well.

Wind gusts hurricane force, 125 kilometer per hour winds in parts of Massachusetts. Currently behind me you'll be able to see that the snow is

still falling, 111 kilometer per hour, that just coming in from Nantucket, 74 in parts of Long Island, 57 in Boston, blinding snow is what we're

talking about here again.

Columbus Circle, live pictures coming out of New York for us, not as bad here. But a little further to the east and that is when we get into

the blockbuster snow totals.

Look at this, in parts of New York, 63 centimeters, that is on Long Island. Worester, Mass, that is in central Massachusetts 63 centimeters.

I think they're going to get another 25, another 25 centimeters on top of what they're already had. That's going to be the case in Boston as well,

another 25 centimeters. So do the math there.

And then there's Central Park getting left out. Great for them, but not so much for folks further to the east where the travel is going to be a

mess and it's going to be a while before we can dig out.

There's that hurricane force wind at 125 kph.

And still some very strong winds, dangerous winds out there. And that's why the blizzard warnings have continued from Maine all the way into

New Haven and then winter storm warnings just for New York at this point here.

But I think New York City itself is done with this storm.

So let's recap here what's going on and what's going to be happening over the next several hours. First, New York, as I mentioned, this storm

is over. And travel is resuming there and the trains will likely open soon.

New England, another 30 centimeters potentially to come in the next six hours. Widespread power outages being reported. And then the coastal

flooding event. I've been seeing some pictures. We'll get to those for you over the next few hours of significant flooding right along the

coastline because of high tide and because of the winds that are just ferocious.

So here's the clock. Tuesday at 17:30 eastern time and we're still snowing across the area, but beginning now to get this storm lifting up

Tuesday night and then Wednesday we are done with it here. But again a few more centimeters here I think by the time all is said and done this will be

quite historic storm not for New York City, but for Boston.

Look at that, our high resolution computer model forecast still predicting another 27 centimeters in the next few hours -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: All right. Ivan Cabrera there with the Blizzard of 2015. I know you would be the one who would case study on it one day. Ivan,

thank you.

Now Chinese holiday makers, they're getting more and more of a taste for foreign travel and it's changing the landscape of the tourism industry.

Now the Hong Kong research firm CLSA estimates that the year 2020 the number of Mainland Chinese taking vacations abroad will double to 200

million.

But where are they going?

Now Andrew Stevens tells us how social media is helping them decide on their destinations.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDREW STEVENS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's a familiar sight in Hong Kong, the world's top destination for Mainland Chinese

tourists. But thanks in part to the power of social media that's about to change from this to this according to a new report by Hong Kong research

firm CLSA.

AARON FISHER, CLSA: They want to go the next place, the next exotic place. They want to be -- they don't want to be the guy that's old girl

that's been to Hong Kong take a picture of (inaudible) ferry, or ICC, or IFC, they want to go somewhere new.

Even for some of those people going to the Eiffel Tower is not good enough anymore.

So it's seeing people travel to these more exotic locations.

So if they're going to Europe, instead of going to Paris or Milan they might be looking at places like Greece or Croatia. So it's really trying

to find that next destination.

STEVENS: As of last year, nearly half of China's 100 million outbound tourists went to Hong Kong. But that number, says CLSA, is likely to fall

to 26 percent by 2020.

So, where do they want to go?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Next year I'm going to graduate. I want to go to Italy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I want to go to Seoul. And ideally I want to go to Europe. That would be best.

STEVENS: And this is where they get their inspiration. CLSA says that some three-quarters of all Chinese travelers now use social media to

get an idea for their next getaway.

Browsing photos and sharing their own on message app WeChat. Tourism boards around the world have taken notice.

The city of Los Angeles is just one destination that's created an account on Chinese microblogging site Weibo aimed at potential travelers.

And with up to 200 million Chinese taking a trip every year by 2020, there's big money at stake.

FISHER: The world is -- needs to be prepared for this onslaught of more Chinese tourists. And I think for a lot of industries they should be

very excited about that.

STEVENS: They're saying Hong Kong, we have arrived. But it's social media that will decide where they go next.

Andrew Stevens, CNN, Hong Kong.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now the man who operated a drone that crashed on the grounds of the White House called the Secret Service and is said to be cooperating

with investigators.

Now a source says the man is a government employee who was flying the drone as recreation. Thought the White House was locked down early on

Monday morning after an officer spotted the drone flying low.

Now is the crashed drone. And gadget fans, you may have recognized it, it is a Phantom Drone from DJI, one of the more popular models commonly

used for taking aerial footage.

You're watching News Stream. And still to come, we continue our Leading Women series with this rare in depth look at IMF chief Christine

Lagarde. Hear how she feels about suggestions she should run for president of France.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

Now one of the most powerful women in global finance is giving us a rare look into her life and career. As part of our Leading Women series we

continue our one-on-one with IMF managing director Christine Lagarde.

And this week, she opens up about once walking out of a job interview. And tells us whether she has any desire to run for president of France one

day.

Now here is more of her in-depth conversation with Gabriela Frias.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTINE LAGARDE, MANAGING DIRECTOR, IMG: I think that confidence is beautiful because you have it but you give it to other people. It's a give

and take process. Then you can feed confidence to others.

GABRIELA FRIAS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Spend some time with Christine Lagarde and it's easy to see confidence is something she has

plenty of.

We traveled with the IMF chief on a recent trip to South America. She has the daunting job of monitoring the global economy. But even early in

her career, Lagarde was self-assured.

Tell us the story about the time you walked out on a job when you were told that you wouldn't be made partner.

LAGARDE: Well, I applied with the, you know, most reputable law firm in Paris. And I was told that I would be a great recruit, but I should

never expect to make partnership because I was a woman. And I thought to myself you don't deserve me. I'm going.

And I had that sense of extraordinary freedom walking down the staircase and thinking to myself what would I do in this firm? Why would I

work with that kind of attitude?

Those two policies are unprecedented...

FRIAS: Now, years later, Lagarde is sometimes referred to as the most powerful woman in global finance.

How does that description sit with you?

LAGARDE: In whichever position I am, or I've had throughout my life, I've tried to do a good job.

FRIAS: What would be your best advice, Madam Lagarde, for someone who is just starting out, who might have the aspiration of reaching as high as

you have in your career, in their career?

LAGARDE: Learn, study, work hard.

You know, be open to other people, respect other people and don't be guided by your ambition to progress and grab the ladder. If you

contribute, if you respect other people, if there is good worth about yourself, providence will take you.

FRIAS: A belief Lagarde has held throughout her life.

She says she's never had a career plan. But instead seizes opportunities, something she encourages young people and women to do in

their own careers.

For you personally is there someone that you have an eye on that you think would be a good leader in the future? Do you have your eye on

somebody you want to help?

LAGARDE: I have in the organization several young women whom I think are very capable, very talented and I try to encourage them.

FRIAS: As for Lagarde's future, she's confident in one thing.

You have a very important job as the managing director of the IMF. Your term is up in 2016. Do you wan to be the president of France?

LAGARDE: No way.

FRIAS: Why not? You may be the leader...

LAGARDE: Because I'm sane. And I want to remain sane.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Good answer.

Now the conversation doesn't end here. If you'd like to learn some little known facts about the IMF chief, head over to our website

CNN.com/leadingwomen.

And that is News Stream. I'm Kristie Lu Stout, but don't go anywhere, World Sport with Patrick Snell is up next.

END