Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Europe's "Breakthrough" Bank Deal; Egypt's Pres.-Elect Speaks in Cairo; Basketball Diplomacy; British Student Recalls Attack In Egypt

Aired June 29, 2012 - 12:00   ET

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

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to NEWSROOM INTERNATIONAL. I'm Suzanne Malveaux. We are taking you around the world in 60 minutes.

Today, we are live from Aspen, Colorado. It is a beautiful setting to talk about some of the world's most pressing problems.

It is the 8th Annual Aspen Ideas Festival. We are talking leaders and thinkers from around the United States and around the world, meeting to discuss ideas from policy and politics to business, science, arts, culture and values. It is a chance to learn and listen as well as debate.

President Obama will be in Colorado today, about 110 miles from here. He's getting a look firsthand at the wildfires raging near Colorado Springs. At least one person has now died. Hundreds of homes destroyed. We're going to have more of that up ahead.

The sound of gun fire and plumes of smoke filled the air over the town of Homs in Syria today. The government rebel forces battled across the country. At least 30 people at least have been killed today alone. The international diplomats are going to talk about it in Switzerland this weekend. And just ahead, we're going to talk with former U.S. ambassador to the NATO, Nick Burns.

And it is back to Earth for China's first female astronaut and the two other crew members. Support teams met the astronauts after a parachute brought the capsule down earlier today. China has made some progress in the space program over the past 10 years and the latest mission was a manned space docking. Now, only the U.S. and Russia have done it before.

European leaders are calling it a breakthrough deal to help rescue struggling banks. Now the agreement is welcomed news to financial markets both here in the United States as well as across Europe. It calls to use bailout money to provide direct help to banks without adding to the debt of countries like Spain and Italy. It sets up a single body to oversee the banks in the eurozone -- that is the 17 countries where the euro is the currency. That's basically the nuts and the bolts of the deal.

I want to bring in Richard Quest in London to talk about what this agreement means.

Richard, obviously, this has got to be great news for Spain which could be looking at 50 billion euros to 60 billion euros worth of loans, right, to the banks. That's about $76 billion U.S. dollars.

RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: You are right. It's good news for Spain, which will get its money, and looks like as if Italy could get money if Italy asks, and that is now the big question. And a major step was taken towards creating if you like a single banking union, a single area for banking in the European, in the eurozone.

Now, the way to think about it is highly technical, but in the era of low expectations, the mere fact that the Europeans didn't have a fistfight and fall out is to be celebrated.

As for this whole question of money being bailed out, think of it this way, Suzanne, it is as if you have -- it's as if you have given or you have guaranteed the debt of your children, and it is no longer on your books. Your child's borrowed money, i.e. Spain or Italy, but you're no longer up for the guarantee. That's really what's happening and that's why it is so important.

For the first time, at least since this crisis -- go ahead.

MALVEAUX: So that everybody can understand that, I like that analogy. There is a lot of talk, of course, about the eurozone, whether or not it would even break apart. Does this basically put that to rest?

QUEST: The eurozone sleeps better tonight, but it still doesn't get a full good night's sleep is the best way to think of it. It's still going to get up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, it's still going to toss and turn, and who knows, there might be a few more doses of insomnia before we are through.

But again, I mean, I hate to keep sort of having low expectations, but in an era where people are just glad they did something, we go home to the night a little bit more relieved.

MALVEAUX: And it does -- does it mean that some of the countries won't be dealing with those severe cuts they were so concerned about before, just making the government work?

QUEST: There will be measures to ease the austerity. But if it's broke, you've still got to fix it. And I'm afraid that is the problem with countries like Italy and Spain and Greece.

So you may sort of spend a bit longer tinkering with the machinery, but you can, so for example, as a 120 billion euros worth of growth packages as well -- very much along the American line to keep it moving while things get better. But the reality is ultimately, no, they are going to still have to go through the pain. Anybody who says otherwise should be locked up for misleading the public.

MALVEAUX: All right. Richard, final question here: Should we be checking here in the United States -- should we be checking our 401(k)s, should be checking our bank accounts? How is this impacting us?

QUEST: Well, I certainly, I would have thought and hoped that you have better things to do than necessarily checking the 401(k) purely on the back of the eurozone crisis. And the truth is that with Europe in recession, and with the U.S. growing at 1.9 percent, with unemployment high, we know that there will be very low -- very high stimulus for the foreseeable future, and everybody should be checking their 401(k)s on a regular basis and rebalancing where necessary and taking professional advice, but ultimately recognizing that if your money is in the bank, it's probably FDIC insured.

MALVEAUX: All right. That's good information. Good to know.

Richard, thank you very much.

QUEST: Thank you.

MALVEAUX: It is a beautiful setting here in Aspen, Colorado, for talking about of course some of the world's most pressing problems. This is the Eighth Annual Aspen Ideas Festival. Here, you've got leaders, thinkers from the United States and around the world to meet, discuss ideas and we are talking about policy, politics, business, science, culture, arts -- the whole thing.

It really is a chance to learn, listen and debate.

Right now, I want to bring in Walter Isaacson. He is the president and CEO of the Aspen Institute and former chairman and CEO of CNN, for the opening session.

So nice to see you, Walter.

WALTER ISAACSON, ASPEN INSTITUTE: Thanks for being here.

MALVEAUX: The opening session -- it was really so exciting, because you had people around the world talking about the big ideas and the kind of things they wanted to see improve our society. Do you have a big idea?

ISAACSON: Well, one of the things that is important is that when you have a big idea, you have to figure out how it relates to the values we have, and those values are sometimes in conflict, as we have seen throughout the history and even in the past week. Supreme Court did a good job yesterday of figuring out a balance of values and ideas.

And I think that sometimes in the society, we don't value balance enough. Know in knowing that the other side actually has values on their side as well, and how do you strike the right balance.

MALVEAUX: You are somebody who has travelled the world and done some deep dives when it comes to writing the books -- Benjamin Franklin and Steve Jobs. And what have you learned, do you think? Are there universal values when you look at the world crises today, and do you think, I've got something that I think is going to really help the society?

ISAACSON: Oh, yes. I think that we all know how, you know, certain solutions whether it be between the Palestinian and Israeli problem, or how to improve K to 12 education in the United States, we all know certain ideas that could really work. It's just a question of getting the will, figuring it out and knowing the path there.

I mean, I think k to 12 education is something that we were just talking about in there, you can put together a series of proposals, including longer school days and years, and making sure that we have the proper tools for our teacher, but also the proper assessment of the teacher -- those are the things that if you delve into it, you can form a consensus and I hope improve the way we do things.

MALVEAUX: Do you think the part of the problem is that we just don't communicate any more, we don't talk to each other?

ISAACSON: You know, one of the things that happened, I was surprised at how much this ideas festival has grown, we have done public policy research on this campus, you know, for 60 years, but the notion of everybody wants to come and see and talk about has grown in the digital age.

And I think it's partly because we get a lot of the exchange of ideas on Twitter or Facebook or e-mail or we're Skyping each other or listening to the TV or the radio -- the notion of actually sitting down with a person face-to-face or sitting down with 12 people at a table and discussing things -- there's a hunger for that in our society. And I think that's kind of a good thing, too

MALVEAUX: And now, the one thing that's really great about the Aspen Ideas Festival is that you have people like Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan, you have Ehud Barak of Israel, you have Bob Harper of the "Biggest Loser" and Lance Armstrong and Moby, they're all sitting at the same place, at the same table and they're talking about this. What do you hope comes from that?

ISAACSON: You know, part of creativity, I was just thinking about when you said it, you know, comes when people from different -- backgrounds different, ideas different, strengths somehow get together. I grew up in New Orleans and you look at why did jazz music come along? Well, it was because different people whether they had fought in the Spanish American war or worked on plantations or grew up -- you mix different types of people together and it sparks creativity.

I was just totally amused last night hearing Moby ask a lot of questions that sort of sparked some creative thinking of people in totally different fields.

MALVEAUX: What's the most interesting thing you've heard so far in the last couple of days?

ISAACSON: Well, just this morning as I said, this whole notion of how we can take America's teachers both, you know, hold them accountable for making sure that the kids learn, but also making them into a true profession to get the learning where they deserve, I just think we all should like a laser right now in K to 12 education so that kids can be ready for jobs. And when they are, you know, help create the jobs that we need for the economy.

MALVEAUX: All right. One of the big ideas. Walter, good to see you again.

ISAACSON: Thank you, Suzanne. And good to see you again.

MALVEAUX: Here is more of what we are working on for news hour international:

Egypt's new president is speaking to crowds right now live in Tahrir Square. Now, this is a speech a day before he is sworn in to replace Egypt's former president, Hosni Mubarak. We're going to take you live after the break.

Plus, Egypt's new first lady is also the first person of her husband. We're going to introduce you to the woman behind the veil.

And as well, no politics, just good ole competition. That is why North Korea loves basketball, and so an American team is there to shoot some hoops, but warm relations between the two countries. We'll take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We wanted to promote basketball diplomacy and friendship and break those barriers, you know, bring in a whole team of Americans and say, hey, you know, we are not those guys that you see on the posters. We're not the guys that, you know, that you guys hate so much.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Egypt's president-elect, Mohamed Morsi, he is addressing a packed Tahrir Square right now. Morsi became the country's first ever democratically elected president in a nail-biting runoff vote. The former Muslim Brotherhood leader, he's going to make history again today when he announces the appointment of a female vice president.

Michael Holmes, he's joining us now from Atlanta to talk about this.

First of all, Michael, talk about what we are actually seeing in Tahrir Square. This is a very significant moment.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR & CORRESPONDENT: It is. And those people --they had called for a million man march, a million people to turn out there and listen to Mohamed Morsi this day. It's far less than that, but it still a significant crowd. You can see them there still gathered as he continues to talk.

You know, the first -- you think about this, and you go back 7,000 years, the first democratically elected president where the people have actually had a vote and they gotten the person they voted for. A lot of people -- and you know a lot of people who were in Tahrir Square during the revolution, this is not guy they wanted, but you and I have discussed that before, they weren't politically organized.

There were four or five different moderate candidates. They split the vote, and so, the runoff between Mohamed Morsi of the Islamic Muslim Brotherhood, and, of course, Ahmed Shafik who is of the old guard.

So, the people we saw at the heart of the revolution, this is not the guy they wanted, and that is for sure. He probably ended up with 25 percent of the overall vote, but he certainly won the election, and that is democracy in play. And this is a guy they have gotten and he's going to be sworn in tomorrow.

MALVEAUX: I want you to hold on if you can.

I want to bring in Nick Burns. He's a former U.N. ambassador to NATO, just to talk a little bit about what we are seeing -- these amazing pictures out of Tahrir Square. You have the Muslim Brotherhood candidate who won the presidency.

What does that mean? How significant is this moment?

NICHOLAS BURNS, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO NATO: Well, I think it's a big, big moment in Egyptian history. This is the first democratic election in Egypt's 7,000-year history. He's the first Islamist to be elected worldwide. So, it's a transcendent moment. He's got a very tough battle, obviously. He's got the Egyptian military struggling with him for power.

This speech in Tahrir Square is appealing to the people of Egypt to support him, because the key thing that has needs to happen right now, Suzanne, is that the constitution assembly has to meet. They have to write a constitution, and decide who has power, the military or the new Muslim Brotherhood-dominated government.

MALVEAUX: Does it worry you at all that we don't have those assurances yet? That the military is still for the most part in charge of that country?

BURNS: It's a very messy situation. And, in fact, you can liken what the military is trying to do over the last 10 days, to an insipient military coup d'etat against this election.

So, you've seen President Obama reached out to Mohamed Morsi, call him on Sunday, we're clearly going to work with him, as well as the military. And we're going to have to try to use some American influence behind the scenes to appeal to both of them to work out the compromises, because this is a precious and rare opportunity for a democratic government to take hold in the Arab world.

MALVEAUX: Now, Hosni Mubarak -- I mean he was not democratic, obviously. There were a lot of problems in Egypt, but he did keep stability and held back al Qaeda, he held back some of the radicals in the country.

Do you have the same kind of confidence that Morsi is going to be dedicated to that mission?

BURNS: We just don't know. That is the dilemma for the both U.S. and the Egyptian people. Mubarak did oppose Iran, which is important to us, and he opposed al Qaeda. And he was a factor of stability in the region. So, obviously, the United States would like to see an Egyptian government especially in the Camp David Accords with Israel maintain those policies.

On the other hand, the United States has an interest in democracy. We ought to have an interest in the Arab people finding their way forward and Morsi is the key to that, because we have to respect the elections other countries have. So, that's the dilemma that most of the world is experiencing in reaction to this new president.

MALVEAUX: All right. Nick, stick around because I want to talk about Syria in just a few minutes.

Michael, I want to bring you back in to talk a little bit about Morsi's wife and what we know about her. There is a lot of concern inside of Egypt, that she is very traditional in the way she dresses with the abaya, the veil, and her role in the campaign, and what that'll mean for the country.

Explain who she is and what she's like.

HOLMES: Yes, Naglaa Ali Mahmoud is her name. Yes, she is not your sort common first lady in the West, but she is somebody that's attracted -- well, sort of a split vote if you'd like. The Twitter- sphere in the Middle East has been alive discussing this lady. She was married at 17 to her husband, they are first cousins.

She has been a charity worker and translator. She actually lived in the United States with her husband while he studied here. She's going to be the first lady, but she does not want to be called that.

Now, the clothing as you point out, some people see it as emblematic of what some people feared which is a steady march if you would like towards conservative Islam. But a lot of other people are saying, no, she dresses like this, like most Egyptian women, and she is one of the people. She is an ordinary person, and she's going to be an ordinary first lady if you'd like and that she is one of us.

So -- if you are going to have democracy and freedom of choice, well, it is her freedom and choice to wear what she wants to wear.

So, you are hearing both sides of the argument at the moment in Egypt.

MALVEAUX: There was something else that kind of raised some eyebrows here, the fact that she and her husband are first cousins. That might seem unusual to many folks, but this is actually a practice that is not uncommon in much of the world, right?

HOLMES: It's certainly not uncommon in the Middle East or in Muslim countries. Pakistan, for example, it's extremely common. Under Islam, it is not illegal if you like or forbidden to marry your first cousin. In fact, the Prophet Mohammad cousins when he was alive.

So, no, it is often practiced in Islam. It's practiced in other religions as well. I mean, you know, you could say that it's not expressly forbidden in the Bible. But, of course, in the West, it is seen as incest and certainly not genetically smart.

But you are right, in the Muslim world it is not forbidden and not all that uncommon and in some ways, it is keeping things in the family, literally be that wealth or loyalties. It's a social thing in many ways as well.

MALVEAUX: All right. Michael, thank you very much. Thanks for breaking it down for us as always. Good to see you.

If it could get any worse, the crisis in Syria is actually deepening. We're going to will talk to former NATO ambassador Nick Burns about what can actually be done.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Now, more of the widening crisis in Syria and the race to find a diplomatic solution.

Gun fire and smoke filled the air over Homs today, fierce battles between government forces and rebel fighters -- they are going on unabated.

In a town outside of Damascus, activists describe an attack on an armored vehicle. Now, CNN cannot confirm the authenticity of the video.

Thirty people have been killed across Syria alone today.

I want to talk about the growing crisis with former NATO ambassador to the U.S., Nick Burns.

Thank you for joining us again.

First of all, let's talk to us about what we are seeing on the streets here. I mean, just the bloodshed is just unbelievable. This is communities, these are not just numbers. These are people.

What can be done?

BURNS: Horrific violence in Syria and it's the government firing on its own people. I think at this point, there's very little appetite on the part of the Arab League of the U.N. to march into Syria with a military intervention forces to stop the fighting of what essentially happened in Libya. China and Russia are blocking that in a very cynical way.

So, most of the attention is on -- can we convince President Assad to voluntarily give up power? There's no question his days are numbered. It maybe he survives for a couple of more months. But too much of the Syrian population has turned against him because of his vicious policies.

So, could Russia, for instance, step up to the plate, convince President Assad much in the way we convinced President Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen to voluntarily leave power and perhaps be guaranteed to live in some comfort in a third country, he wouldn't have to face trial as a war criminal, that is a compromise that would be acceptable to most countries but Russia is the key country here. But Russia is a key country here.

MALVEAUX: We know that Secretary Clinton is meeting with her Russian counterpart today as we speak. How much leverage does U.S. have with Russia, because we saw President Obama meet with President Putin in a couple of weeks ago, and did not seem to convince Russia to get on board here, and they are critical.

BURNS: They are absolutely critical. Russia has influence in two countries that are important -- Iran and Syrian. And, of course, Iran is an actor in the Syrian drama.

So, the Russians have been intent on blocking United States until now. We don't want to see a repeat of Libya where NATO goes in and deposes a government.

MALVEAUX: So what does the secretary offered Russia?

BURNS: I think the secretary has to say that, you know, Russian's interest is going -- Russia is going to lose in Syria. Russia has influence there. They have an arms relationship with the Syrian government. They have access to naval ports that are important to them.

They might lose everything if they are seen to be the last defender of President Assad. So, can Russia get ahead of the curve and put together the international coalition to resolve this peacefully. And I think that's what's on offer to Russia. It's very unclear if President Putin is going to take the offer, but it's worth a trial.

MALVEAUX: What about the role of NATO? Because you are the former ambassador to NATO. And as we know, Turkey and Syria -- there's a lot of tension between the two and certainly they believe that Turkey has been supplying some of the Syrian rebels, the opposition. We saw one of those Turkish planes basically shot down by Syrian forces. So, they are really at a tense moment here.

Is it possible, is it even advisable for Turkey as a NATO member to invoke Article Five and say all for one, one for all, if we are attacked, all the other NATO members are going to join in, in attacking Syria?

BURNS: I don't think that's going to happen at this point, after the shoot-down of the Turkish airliner, Turkey convened NATO meeting and said please support us. And what the Turks did, Prime Minister Erdogan, was issued a very tough statement, that kind of rhetorical shot that cost at Syria, saying, if you do this one more time, we will react militarily.

Should that happen, Suzanne, then Turkey as a NATO member could turn to its NATO allies and say, we need military support -- I think Assad would be smarter in taking on the Turks again.

MALVEAUX: Would U.S. give -- should military support if it gets down to that, though?

BURNS: I remember September 11th, I was NATO ambassador on that day and all of the allies came to our defense under Article Five. Everyone single one of them pledged support for us.

So, if Turkey hypothetically ended up with some war with Syria, certainly the United States and NATO should be in support of Turkey. But I think President Assad understands that if he uses force against Turkey, under any situation in the next few weeks he is going to get into a shooting war. He can't afford that right now.

MALVEAUX: All right. Nick Burns, good to see you as always. Thanks.

BURNS: Thank you.

MALVEAUX: I really appreciate.

Well, she grew up with a family of 25 children. Find out how she beat the odds to become the first African woman to win the New York marathon.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: She is the mother of three and the grandmother of two, 49-year-old Australian Penny Palfrey is trying to swim 103 miles from Havana to the Florida Keys. She dove into the Hemingway marina earlier today and -- get this -- she is doing this without a shark cage in heavy shark-infested waters. Palfrey is hoping to break her own swimming record.

We're going to be keeping a close eye on what she's all about.

And meet another casualty of Mexico's war on the drug cartels. It is not a person, but it is actually a whole town.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: Welcome to Pesqueria, Mexico, the town near the Texas border used to boast a population of more than 20,000 only three years ago. But for all practical purposes, it has now become a ghost town.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: It has become a virtual ghost town and Pescaria, Mexico was a quaint and peaceful town, but now among many places in Mexico, it is completely deserted. The drug cartels have people running for their lives. The presidential elections are days away, the election is taking center stage. Rafael Romo has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At this abandoned gas station the only thing that you hear is the howling wind. Nearby a partially collapsed wall and a window blown out. Welcome to this town in Mexico near the Texas border and it used to post a population of 20,000 three years ago, but for all practical purposes it has now become a ghost town. A handful of residents remain, only those who cannot afford to leave.

Ephraim Virrael says he lives in terror and that is the reason why most people left. Constant shootouts between rival drug cartels and an explosion in violent murders drove people to leave the town in a panic.

Almarosa Lopez would like to leave as well, if she could afford to. And drug cartels harassed residents and they left in droves. And this is almost as many as displaced in Libya in the revolution that toppled Moammar Khadafi.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Some of the people with power decided to go to the United States or some places that they considered safer.

ROMO: This professor says that many people have moved to places like Monterey, Mexico's third largest city, and now a person like this woman is painting a mural to paint the violence.

ROSA LUCIA, DISPLACED ARTIST: We need to understand what is happening to us. We need to stop seeing it as normal and do something about it. We chose this way to communicate to people know what is going on.

ROMO: Getting to the polls is of concern for people to get to the vote for the presidential elections. 50,000 people have died in drug violence in the last five years.

Meanwhile, back in this town a lamp post that nobody would fix lies on the ground rusting. A sad reminder that a town has fallen to organized crime and a challenge to the next leader of Mexico.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Rafael Romo joins us from Mexico City. Rafael, tell us if the government is doing something to protect the folks from this organized crime.

ROMO: The government, Suzanne, has done a lot of things in the last few years. President Felipe Calderon dispatched as many as 50,000 army troops and federal police to some of the hot spots areas in northern Mexico, but it seems like one area is stabilize, and then another one blows up. That is what has been happening in that area around that town, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: It is very close to the U.S. border. Is this a kind of violence that is spilling over into the American side as well?

ROMO: Well, so far, there's no indication that the criminal organizations in Mexico are targeting foreigners or specifically Americans or we haven't seen incidents of violence spilling over to the American side. We have had some very unfortunate incidents in which Americans have died however in Mexico. For example consular employee, U.S. consular employee Leslie Enriquez was shot in 2010 in what is described as a case of mistaken identity. Suzanne?

MALVEAUX: Thank you, Rafael Romo.

We are here at the Aspen Ideas conference which is attracting people around the world, and one of the issues is how the bring peace to a place where there only seems to be violence and war. Joining me now is a woman who is using sports to bring peace. Joining me is the New York marathon winner who is now a U.N. Peace ambassador who is hoping to end the fighting in Uganda and also one of the women who sits on her board, Wendy . I have to ask you, did you go running this morning? You have been running here since you got here?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I have to be honest, I did not go this morning. I wish I had. Did you go?

MALVEAUX: For a little bit of a run. You to tell the viewers first of all, you are the world's fastest woman twice in the Olympics and what was your time for the marathon?

TEGLA LOROUPE, UN PEACE AMBASSADOR: My time is 2:27 in New York, but the other one was 2:20 is the fastest African woman in the world.

MALVEAUX: I do marathons and three hours later behind you.

LOROUPE: Well, I have heard that people run it in three hours is not easy.

MALVEAUX: You make it look easy. Tell us how running has changed your life and condition and you have been through tremendous odds and obstacles.

LOROUPE: You have to understand that women from Africa, we do not have enough support. We have to fight all of the time, but when I became the fastest African woman to win New York and also that opened up the doors not for me alone, but for the women on the continent.

MALVEAUX: Tell us what is happening now, because this is incredible and we are looking at pictures here of warriors and fighters who have put down their weapons and put on the green t-shirts and competing in sports. Why are they doing this? How are you doing this?

LOROUPE: Well, Suzanne, where I come from there is a lot of conflicts and you see in my own film, the opposition, and that is when I decided to go home and encourage the youths that there is another way, and probably we can use sports. I want the use the youth sports as a platform for the government to come to the people. It is difficult for the youths in the community all of the sudden, they start to respect my voice and also including our own government and also the neighbor Uganda.

MALVEAUX: Wendy, tell us why this is actually effective and you have seen people putting their we weapons down, and they are now competing?

WENDY FOSTVEDT, BOARD MEMBER, TEGLA LOROUPE PEACE FOUNDATION: Well, it is amazing. I went to Kenya in November and ran in one of her peace races, and the Peace Foundation that she established after her winnings, Tegla went back and began reforming warriors, and because she had a voice, they listened to her. She began to promote peace through running and starting the peace races through Uganda and Sudan and Somalia, and they respected her as the world's fastest woman at the time. They listened to her. They understood that there was a reason to give up the fighting for peace. So they started, and so when I went to the peace run in November, it was amazing, because I met so many reformed warriors that now work on her behalf to go out to work so hard to reform other warriors because they have so much credibility. So it is just that I learned from Tegla that one person's efforts can change the world.

MALVEAUX: And why is it that when they talk to you, why do they say they are willing to stop fighting?

LOROUPE: Well, one thing, they are thinking that when you become to the U.S. or in Europe, but I came home to support them. I just wanted them to have education so they can see further. Not everybody can run, but if they can use a means of education, and say, you are not a politician, and you are a person and you can use what you are earning, and you can say in Nairobi and you can have peace especially the women.

MALVEAUX: They want to see peace?

LOROUPE: Yes. They are losing their sons and children, and also the neighbors.

MALVEAUX: It is amazing thing that you are doing.

LOROUPE: It is so small that sports cannot help a lot. You need more than, more than sports.

MALVEAUX: But it is a good beginning. It is amazing.

LOROUPE: And if I did not have that event I could not have met somebody like Wendy. And today, yes, I am here sitting with you and you will also help with the message.

MALVEAUX: Yes, we will take the message and a lot of people watching will take the message. Thank you, both.

Basketball diplomacy and the Americans are shooting hoops in North Korea to break barriers and warm relations between the two countries.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Welcome to "NEWSROOM INTERNATIONAL" where we take you around the world in 60 minutes. Let's look at what is trending globally now. Europe. As we say hot topic on Twitter and final game of the European soccer championship is Sunday. Fans are going wild. Here they are celebrating Italy's win over Germany in the semifinals, and Italy's Super Mario scoring two goals to beat the Germans. Germany has lost to Italy in the last eight times they have played in major tournaments. Spain will face the Italians in the final held in Ukraine. They beat Portugal in the penalty kick shootout that happened on Wednesday and Spain is defending the Euro and the world cup champion.

In 1971, the U.S. table tennis team was invited to visit China, paving the way for President Nixon's visit in 1972. Well, it ended 25 years of separation between the two sides and now another group of Americans is using basketball to forge a relationship with a country that still remains a mystery. Paula Hancocks has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN ANCHOR: Chingu (ph) means friend. Not necessarily what you'd expect Americans and North Koreans to be shouting together. But this is basketball. No politics here. A group of Americans, many of them coaches and former U.S. college basketball players, formed a club, the Coaches Team, while living in South Korea and they took their talents north this month to teach and compete.

LUKE ELIE, FOUNDER, COACHES TEAM: We really wanted to promote basketball diplomacy, friendship and break those barriers. You know, bring in a whole team of Americans and say, hey, you know, we're not those, you know, those guys that you see on posters. We're not those guys that, you know, that you guys hate so much.

HANCOCKS: The team had far more interaction with North Koreans than most visitors, although Luke says it took a little while for their hosts to relax.

ELIE: At first there was distance. But before the end of the -- before the end of the games, before the end of the practice sessions, the kids were definitely laughing with us.

HANCOCKS: Basketball is one of the few American exports welcomed in North Korea. The young leader, Kim Jong-un, is believed to love the sport, as did his father. Rumor has it the late Kim Jong-Il was a huge fan of American star Michael Jordan. It wasn't all sport for Coaches Team.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is Kim Il-Sung Square.

HANCOCKS: The usual tours and visits were filmed by their tour group in conjunction with North Korean partners, hence the music and, of course, the propaganda.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is a (INAUDIBLE)) imperialists were afraid that future generations might see the place where they signed and surrendered document after suffering shameful defeat in Korean War.

HANCOCKS: The team were treated to a visit to USS Pueblo, a U.S. ship captured by North Korea in the 1960s, and the anti-American rhetoric that went with it.

ELIE: We try not to look to the anti-Americanism or the propaganda. We knew it was coming. We knew it. I mean we were briefed ahead of time. And we didn't want to get caught up in that.

HANCOCKS: There was the obligatory visit to the giant bronze statues of former North Korean leaders Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Il, and a trip to Pyongyang's fun fair. The whole trip cost $50,000 and was self- funded by the players. The intention is to find sponsorship for future visits.

ELIE: We're convinced we introduced the high five to North Korea. That's our claim. We don't know if that's true or not, but they responded well to it.

HANCOCKS: Their hope is that basketball diplomacy can build trust where politics can't.

Paula Hancocks, CNN, Seoul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: While thousands were celebrating Egypt's historic election, a British student was fighting for her life after a mob of men attacked her.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Welcome to NEWSROOM INTERNATIONAL, where we take you around the world in 60 minutes.

Just a few minutes ago, Egypt's president-elect wrapped up a speech before a massive crowd in Tahrir Square. Mohammed Morsi is sworn into office tomorrow. Now, the mood in the square, it is festive but -- just like it was on Sunday when he became the country's first democratically elected leader. But, there was a dark side to the celebrations. Dan Rivers reports from Cairo.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Just hours after the Muslim Brotherhood's victory in Egypt's presidential election, we shoot jubilant crowds on a bridge near Tahrir Square, unaware that just a short distance away a young British journalist was about to be savagely attacked. The young woman wanted to tell her story.

NATASHA SMITH, JOURNALISM STUDENT: I was in this weird detached state of mind, and I just kept saying, please God, please make it stop. Please God, please make it stop.

Good afternoon. It's 4:00. I'm Natasha Smith. RIVERS: Natasha Smith is a student at a journalism school in Britain. Her documentary on women's rights in Egypt was to be her final college project and her first international assignment. But it quickly descended into hell. She was filming in the square with journalist friends Callum Paton and Kas Bavot (ph), but they became separated by a mob.

SMITH: Men started ripping off my clothes. And first of all it was -- it was my skirt. And that -- that just went straight away. And I didn't even feel my underwear being removed. And then -- then my shoes went. And then my upper -- and my clothes on my upper half, were just being -- just ripped off me. And that was quite painful.

RIVERS: CNN's rooftop camera caught the moment an ambulance tried to push its way through the crowds to help her. By this point, she was being sexually assaulted by dozens of men.

RIVERS (on camera): Finally, after what must have seemed like an eternity, she was rescued and taken to the relative safety of this medical tent. Her friend Callum thinks had the staff there not helped, she might not have survived her horrific ordeal.

CALLUM PATON, NATASHA'S FRIEND: There were several moments at which I thought that she was going to die. And I think really the fact that we're all still alive, and especially Natasha is alive, is because there were so many people who were willing to help us and who risked their own lives put them in dire danger to get her out of that situation.

RIVERS (voice-over): Inside the tent, a man helped disguise her with a full length burqa and escorted her away from the mob.

SMITH: And I had -- just had to pretend to be his wife and walk through the streets. And he just kept saying to me, don't cry. Do not cry. If you cry, people will know.

RIVERS: Eventually, she made it to this hospital, where she and Callum were met by British embassy staff, who together with doctors, have corroborated their account to CNN.

SMITH: There's been all this fuss because I'm British and I'm young and I'm a girl. But this is happening to women elsewhere constantly and we don't hear about that. We don't hear about the stories of Egyptian women or African women or women across the world who often suffer these attacks, and worse, worst attacks. And there will be no justice done.

RIVERS: Natasha Smith is now back in the U.K. Her documentary on hold. But she defiantly insists she will return to Cairo to finish her work in spite of her terrifying experience at the hands of a mob.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Dan Rivers is live above Tahrir Square.

Dan, this is just, when you look at it, it is so disturbing. It certainly reminds you of what happened to the CBS (ph) reporter, Lara Logan, during the country's revolution just last year, also who had been attacked. And these are brave women. They come forward. They talk about what's taking place in Egypt. What is actually being done?

RIVERS: Well, sadly, very little. The reality is, down there in the square, there is a bit of a security vacuum. You don't see that many police or soldiers around. It is really the mob that rules the streets down there. And, therefore, you are incredibly vulnerable as a woman down there to that kind of horrendous attack, which is all too common, sadly, in Egypt.

They did a survey a couple of years back, a women's rights group, asking women whether they'd ever been harassed verbally or physically. And 83 percent of those women that they asked said they had been harassed in some form. That gives you an idea of just how widespread the problem is here.

We hear about it when it's a westerner. The reality is, it's probably going on every day to Egyptian women and, you know, many of them are discouraged from ever reporting it to the police or even their own families.

MALVEAUX: Tell us what this new president, President-elect Morsi, is doing about this? He has said -- at least he's talking about protecting women and beefing up women's rights.

RIVERS: He's talked about that, yes. He just gave a kind of rabble rousing speech here in Tahrir Square in the last hour. Again, said he would govern for everybody. He mentioned Christians. He mentioned women.

I think most people are waiting to see whether his words translate into action. There's been a lot of him saying he will govern for all of Egypt. The problem is, you know, will he be able to do that. His powers are quite constrained anyway given that the army has taken many of them away. And also he is constrained, to some extent, by the agenda that they set out before the election. He has resigned from the Muslim Brotherhood now saying he's going to govern on behalf of everyone. We'll have to wait and see if he does that.

MALVEAUX: And, Dan, one of the things that we notice is that he has chosen, for his vice president, a woman. Do people there in Egypt, do they think that's going to make a difference?

RIVERS: Yes, we haven't had that officially confirmed, but that's certainly what he's indicated and what his people are indicating. Whether that's going to make a difference, I don't know. I mean if the parliaments that was just dissolved of the 500 or so members, only three were women. That gives you an idea of what a massive uphill struggle there is for equality in this country.

MALVEAUX: All right, Dan Rivers. Thank you, Dan.

Fascinating pictures taken from around the world. We're going to tell you why these children in the Philippines are wearing rugs on their heads. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)