Return to Transcripts main page
Quest Means Business
Pope Francis' First Day; China's New President; Samsung's New Galaxy; Future Phones; Google Settlement; Unsecured Wifi Snooping Today; Make, Create, Innovate: PillCam Allows Doctors Peek Inside Body
Aired March 14, 2013 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MAX FOSTER, HOST: Big step for China and for the Catholic Church as two new leaders go to work.
Samsung's new Galaxy comes out tonight. We're set for a razzle-dazzle debut in New York.
And from mouse to muscle, how to click the calories away while sitting at your desk.
I'm Max Foster in London, this is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.
Hello to you. On his first day as leader of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis has begun to stamp his personality on the papacy. The new pope has just finished holding mass with the cardinal electors inside the Sistine Chapel. He began the day with prayers at the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore.
His next public appearance is not likely to be until Sunday. Already he has lived up to his name as a man of humble tastes, though. He declined to ride in the private car provided to him, choosing instead to catch the bus with the other cardinals. He refused to sit on a throne to receive the oaths of allegiance. Instead, he stood on the same level as the cardinals.
Becky is at the Vatican for us tonight. So, Becky, in 24 hours, you've actually learned quite a lot, haven't you?
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And what we are learning, certainly if his actions are anything to go by, is that he is a humble man. Pope Francis, of course, taking the name after Francis of Assisi, who was an advocate of the poor.
As you say, not taking the car last night, getting on the bus with the other cardinals, not using that throne. This afternoon, just before he celebrated mass with those elector cardinals, he went back to the hotel that he'd been staying in before the conclave, and he thanked the staff there, he picked up his belongings, and he paid his bill himself.
This is a humble man. I spoke to a lot of people from Argentina last night, some of whom were outside St. Peter's Basilica as he was announced to the world, and some of them knew him and know of him, had met him before in Buenos Aires. He called himself there Father Jorge, never called himself an archbishop.
And they say that he is a tremendously nice bloke. This was coming from those who know him and that we met here in Rome last night. So, certainly it's been a busy first day for him, but if, as I say, his actions are anything to go by, this looks like a very different man from, perhaps, those we've seen before. Max?
FOSTER: Yes, and it's a huge job in so many ways, but he's also a head of state, isn't he? A small state, but with a lot of money. How's he looking at the budget and the finances? How's he going to cope with that? Are you getting any indication?
ANDERSON: Yes, no, there are early indications. Look, we're well aware of not just the sex abuse scandals that have plagued the church over the last eight years and way back when, of course, we're only learning about some of these scandals over the last eight years, but also the financial scandals, of course, as well.
The elector cardinals apparently just before they went into conclave, one of the last meetings that they had -- and they held a number of meetings amongst themselves, the details of which we didn't get an awful lot on -- but one of the meetings was about the financial transparency or lack thereof of Vatican finances.
We spoke at CNN today to Cardinal Schonborn of Austria, who actually was in sort of leading contention, we were told, for the job of pope, and this is what he said in reference to Pope Francis getting to grips with that sort of financial inadequacy, that financial secrecy. Have a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTOPH SCHONBORN, AUSTRIAN CARDINAL: One of the things he has to do among many others -- and I think it is already on the rail -- he has only to look that it goes on, and that -- these weak points are taken up seriously. And I am convinced he will do. He has done it in his diocese. He will do it in the Vatican in a very -- decided but also human and Christian way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: And this is a man who is no stranger to financial problems. He's out of Argentina -- of course you'll remember in 2001, the problems that Argentina had. It's still facing issues about whether it will, indeed, pay back its lenders from its problems more than a decade ago. So, there are real financial inadequacies in Argentina as we speak.
This is a man who's lived through the turmoil that a bankrupt economy can bring, not just to its administrators, of course, but to the people. And this is a man -- again, let's remind ourselves -- who's such a champion of the poor. He'll be well aware of the damage that financial inadequacy can do to the people.
The Vatican Bank itself, when it's got assets of something like $7.6 billion, 30,000 accounts. And then, the sort of capital that it has all over the world. So, this is a really big job. It's not just the spiritual leader of the place behind me here, Vatican City. He is the CEO of an enormous institution, the world's oldest international institution. Max?
FOSTER: Becky, thank you very much, indeed. Well, Becky will host "Connect the World" live from Rome. Tonight, we'll the backstory on that show to yesterday's announcement, what it was like actually standing amid the crowd when we heard those words, "Habemus Papam." That starts at 9:00 PM in London, 10:00 in Berlin here on CNN.
With the world's media fixed on the historic event unfolding at the Vatican, you may have missed another very important leadership change. China's Xi Jinping has been officially declared president. His formal acceptance of the role marks the end of a leadership transition which began last November. David McKenzie looks at the challenges facing Xi as he begins his decade in office.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The pomp of party politics. Delegates cast their ballots for China's next president. Now officially one of the most powerful men in the world, Xi Jinping.
MCKENZIE (on camera): State media called it the embodiment of democracy, but Xi Jinping won by 2,952 votes to 1. So, it's not so much whether he would win, but how he will rule.
MCKENZIE (voice-over): As a man of the people, says state media. Visiting a village in Hebei province, "You need to take your medicine on time," he tells this man. The pragmatic reformer, he's called, who travels by bus, approachable and charming.
But Xi inherits a country at the crossroads, increasing domestic tension and protest, a capital clogged with pollution, a growing middle class wanting more freedom with their wealth, anger over government corruption.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The government corruption is disloyal to the country. The government isn't doing right by the people, and the people will stop identifying with the government.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Yes, of course it is important. The common people can't survive if this problem isn't solved. They can't survive.
WENRAN JIANG, SENIOR FELLOW, ASIA PACIFIC FOUNDATION OF CANADA: Corruption is a very, very serious issue that's been widely recognized by the general public in China as a serious problem. It's been talked about, debated about, and the party has to register about it.
MCKENZIE: But he's also consolidating his hold on the military, leading a more assertive China on the regional stage, helping protect his domestic agenda, says author Robert Kuhn.
ROBERT KUHN, AUTHOR, "HOW CHINA'S LEADERS THINK": When any new leader comes into office in any country, they need to tack with a nationalistic viewpoint. They need to show an appreciation for their country's pride and patriotism and to defend their own sovereignty.
MCKENZIE: Where will Xi lead China in the next decade? No one knows. But as he takes power in the shadow of China's turbulent past, some worry that he may well put power and stability before meaningful reforms.
David McKenzie, CNN, Beijing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Meanwhile, New York's braced for an Android invasion. We're just hours away from the unveiling of Samsung's next generation Google- powered SmartPhone. We'll look at what to expect next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FOSTER: Now, in just a few hours, Samsung is set to unveil one of the most anticipated phones of the year. The Galaxy S4 will make its debut in New York's Radio City Music Hall. It is the latest incarnation of a handset that took Samsung from being a bit player in the SmartPhone market to its undisputed king.
In January, Samsung announced it had sold more than 100 million of its flagship Galaxy S phones. Samsung was the market leader in Q4 of last year, accounting for 29 percent of global SmartPhone sales, according to market research firm IDC. Apple was in second place with around 22 percent.
Now, this is the handset that established Samsung as a serious SmartPhone player. The original Galaxy S was released in 2010, not very long ago. Samsung says it sold 24 million of these. The second generation, released a year later, was even more popular, with double the sales of the original model. At the time of release, the S2 was the world's fastest phone.
The S3 was unveiled around a year ago. It has sold more than 40 million units so far. As for the fourth generation, well, we've got a few more hours to wait until we find out more about it. Maggie Lake has been looking at what we can expect, though.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MAGGIE LAKE, CNN INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Radio City Music Hall, the iconic home of the high-kicking Rockettes. And where on the same stage, Samsung hopes to bring down the house with the unveiling of the new Galaxy S4.
SHELLY PALMER, AUTHOR, "DIGITAL WISDOM": The idea that they're going to rent out Radio City and they're going to do it up, obviously they're expecting this to be the song and dance show of all time.
LAKE (on camera): Samsung is going to have to impress. Consumers have a huge selection of SmartPhones to choose from, and Apple's iPhone is still the bestseller in the US. If Samsung wants consumers to switch from one of these to one of these, it's going to need a wow factor.
LAKE (voice-over): Buzz is building that the new Galaxy S4 will have eye control innovation eye pause, a feature which pauses video when you look away, and eye scroll, which automatically moves text by tracking eye movements. Just watch how you spell them.
Samsung is also aggressively targeting the business customer who's been reluctant to move to Android because of security issues.
DAVID GOLDMAN: Android has all kinds of problems with malware, so what Samsung did was they came out with Knox. It keeps all of your applications in one part of the phone, and it keeps all of your work applications in a separate part.
LAKE: Samsung hopes its new system, Knox, will lure away corporate BlackBerry customers. It's been running a series of cheeky commercials that poke fun directly at BlackBerry culture.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP - SAMSUNG AD)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Actually, I'm closing deals with clients and watching the game. Modern business, my friend.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is business.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What, the jacket?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAKE: But analysts say it's really Apple that has the most to fear from the new Galaxy S4. Though Apple still has 38 percent of the US market, Samsung has rapidly closed the gap with 21 percent. With ads that target Apple --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP - SAMSUNG AD)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Saved you a spot.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've moved on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAKE: Flash mob promotions in Times Square, and leaked photos on the web, Samsung is clearly on the offense. But that means expectations for the Galaxy 4 are high at its big Radio City debut.
Maggie Lake, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Well, Jeffrey Cole is a futurist -- it is a job -- and the director of the USC Annenberg Center for the Digital Future. He told me that SmartPhones have come of age and are now the number one way of getting online.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEFFREY COLE, USC ANNENBERG CENTER FOR THE DIGITAL FUTURE: The SmartPhone's really beginning to replace the PC. We're seeing SmartPhone sales far ahead of PCs. We're seeing most people connect, new users connect, through SmartPhones. So, SmartPhones are really entering their mature stage, which is how most people are connecting to the internet.
FOSTER: Yes, how would you define the SmartPhone? What is it? What service is it providing us?
COLE: The SmartPhone at its core gives you all internet function, which of course means e-mail, Facebook, the ability to search the web and, most importantly, apps. But it's also become everything a wallet's become.
It's becoming now at Starbucks and increasingly at other stores how you pay for merchandise as you leave. Some people think it's going to become your actual interaction with every merchant, with every kind of vendor, that it's going to really be your all-purpose Swiss Army Knife kind of device.
FOSTER: And what is it in the technology right now that's holding it back, would you say? Something that, if you could get beyond it, would solve all the problems you've got right now?
COLE: The only limitation, really, to the SmartPhone is the size -- there are certain things you can't do with it -- but it's about to morph. This new Samsung phone that's coming out is probably going to be come the most popular phone, but it's not a game-changer, it's an evolution.
I think the next game-changer is what Google is doing with Google Glass, where they're trying to move the SmartPhone into your glasses, what you wear, that's accessible with just movement of your eyes, and it's with you 24/7 except when you take them off and go to sleep.
FOSTER: And what other technologies are just around the corner which you haven't quite nailed yet that people can expect to see in the next year or so?
COLE: Beyond Google Glass, I think what you saw at the Consumer Electronics Show this year is we're about to see bendable or foldable screens, which may mean SmartPhones with bigger screens than we're able to keep in our pocket. That's the primary device -- the primary change.
I think we're also going to see SmartPhones and internet technologies embedded into our clothing. You mentioned the wristwatch, but we think it's going to become just a part of wearable with you all the time.
FOSTER: You're going to have to think up a new name, then, aren't you? Because there won't be a SmartPhone. It'll just be -- technology.
COLE: It's not going to be a phone as we know it. It's going to -- we'll see what the new name becomes, but it's just going to be the wearable, always with us internet.
FOSTER: It's not going to be anything, though, is it? It's not going to be a physical thing almost?
COLE: It's -- it's going to become less and less of a device or a brick. It's going to be interwoven into everything.
FOSTER: Is there any point in me teaching my kids to type or to write?
COLE: You know, I went through the California school system. I took typing in the 8th grade. There's not a kid who gets to the 8th grade today who hasn't been typing for six years. We're probably raising the worst generation of typists in history because they're all self-taught.
We know kids aren't learning cursive anymore, so no. Whatever they need to do, typing, handwriting, they will teach themselves. Probably poorly.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: There's a prediction of the future. The man in charge of Google Maps is switching jobs. "The Washington Journal" reports that Jeff Huber will move from the Maps and Commerce unit to the secretive Google X division. That's where futuristic project like self-driving cars and Google Glass are worked on.
Early this week, Google agreed to pay out $7 million to settle snooping claims in the US. The company admits its Street View cars mined information from unprotected wifi networks. Our Jim Boulden has been finding out how easy it is to do this kind of wireless snooping. He took this route around London with his SmartPhone in hand. We'll see what he came up with on his travels.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM BOULDEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So, when Google was collecting the information between 2007 and 2010 to create Street View, it also was collecting data from unsecured networks.
Now, most people today would not have an unsecured network, but we thought we'd drive around some parts of London to see if we could find any. Let's have a look.
BOULDEN (voice-over): One big part of the Google business plan was to help users pinpoint exact locations using Street View, with Google cars collecting more data than just pictures from wifi networks that were not locked.
BOULDEN (on camera): Even though Google collected this data from a car, I'm not picking up many networks this way, so I thought I'd try some on foot.
BOULDEN (voice-over): In 2010, Google admitted it also collected so- called payload data, which included e-mails, passwords, URLs, even text messages. It says it never used that data.
BOULDEN (on camera): Not finding -- no unsecured network here at the Egyptian embassy. Let's see on another street.
Oh, MI5 surveillance. No joke. Can't be the real name. That must just be a bit of fun. I'm not going to click on that one.
So, I walked around the streets of London. I can't find any unsecured networks that would let me, if I was allowed to, to log in and surf the net. Either they all have locks or they of course would have a password you have to pay for it to get on.
BOULDEN (voice-over): It was six years ago that Google started collecting the data, another era in the fast-paced world of tech. In fact, it's hard to believe people, companies, and hotels had so many unsecured networks back then.
BOULDEN (on camera): Maybe the point is, if Google was going around now doing Street View, it wouldn't be able to pick up that information, presumably, because everyone seems to have or should have a secure network, a password, a lock, on their wifi networks.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Now, a Currency Conundrum for you. We all know the face value of a US dollar, but how much does it cost to produce? Is it A 2.5 cents, B 5.5 cents, or C 8.5 cents? We'll have the answer later in the show.
The euro and the pound are strong against the dollar, meanwhile the yen continues its slide against the greenback.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FOSTER: Now, some medical breakthrough that you can swallow. This little pill, would you believe, allows our bodies to be filmed from the inside, producing images from deep within our digestive system without the need for invasive surgery. On tonight's Make, Create, Innovate, Nick Glass meets the inventor of the PillCam.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK GLASS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Now, here was an extraordinary medical challenge: how to reach one of the most inaccessible parts of our body, namely the small intestine or bowel, a long, narrow and twisting tract that in some cases is up to 7 meters long.
GLASS (voice-over): Twenty years ago, Gavriel Iddan developed an answer to the problem.
GAVRIEL IDDAN, INVENTOR, PILLCAM: PillCam is a small, ingestable video camera with a transmitter. That's it.
GLASS: Doctors have long been able to examine more obviously accessible parts of our digestive system by endoscopy or colonoscopy, but never before the small bowel.
GLASS (on camera): How does it actually work?
IDDAN: You have a tiny camera, with the lenses, the recording chip, you have to lights, because inside a body, there's no natural illumination. In other words, a complete TV studio.
GLASS: And how small did it have to be? How miniature?
IDDAN: So that it will be easy to swallow. And easy to swallow means no more than 11 millimeters in diameter and no more than, say, 30 millimeters in length.
GLASS (voice-over): Iddan first dreamt up the PillCam in 1993.
GLASS (on camera): These are your notebooks, aren't they?
IDDAN: Yes, I have many of them I brought. What you can see here --
GLASS: Yes?
IDDAN: -- is an early drawing of the capsule. The date is 20 years ago.
GLASS: Did you specifically patent that at the time?
IDDAN: Yes. Each one of the components were known components. I could not patent them. A lens is a lens is a lens. An imager was not my invention. My invention was the convergence of all these technologies in generating or creating a new product.
GLASS (voice-over): A quarter of a million PillCams are manufactured every year, with a retail value of about $500 each.
It seemed only natural that I should take the PillCam, try it out for myself, under the supervision of Professor Ian Gralnek.
IAN GRALNEK, GASTROENTEROLOGIST: Is that comfortable?
GLASS (on camera): It's fine.
GRALNEK: OK, right into the data recorder --
GLASS (voice-over): He straps on a device that will receive and record all the images being taken by the PillCam.
GRALNEK: All you're going to have to do, Nick, is pick that up, take the glass of water, and swallow it down.
GLASS (on camera): This is the moment of truth.
GLASS (voice-over): PillCam photographs the unseen world of our insides before naturally passing through with our body waste.
GRALNEK: Come in.
GLASS (on camera): Good morning, Professor.
GRALNEK: Good morning, Nick. How are you?
GLASS: Not bad, not bad.
GRALNEK: Nice to see you.
GLASS: Anxious to know the results, though, I have to say.
GRALNEK: Everything looks good. Don't be anxious.
GLASS (voice-over): Fortunately for me, my tract is healthy. But in other patients, Professor Gralnek is looking for evidence of gastroenterological disease, like this ulcer.
GRALNEK: It allowed us, really, for the first time, it's been a revolution in how we can see the entire small bowel. We weren't able to do that before.
GLASS: And how does all this progress make the inventor feel?
IDDAN: It's a great feeling. There were many lives were saved, but also, many people have a better living now.
GLASS (on camera): Some 1.7 million people have taken the PillCam so far, and for many of them, that has meant proper medical diagnosis, proper treatment, and improved quality of life. For a few of them, it's actually saved their lives.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Amazing thing. Now, whoever said the EU summit was a quiet affair?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(DRUMMERS BANGING ON OIL CANS)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Anti-austerity protests reached the gates of the European Commission. We'll bring you the latest from Brussels next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FOSTER: Welcome back. I'm Max Foster in London. These are your news headlines.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER (voice-over): Pope Francis says the church risks becoming a pitiful, non-governmental organization if it doesn't change. Strong words from the pope during his first mass with the cardinals who elected him. It's a sign the pontiff may be ready to break some new ground at the time of great turmoil for the church.
World leaders (inaudible) sending their congratulations to Xi Jinping now that he is officially president of China. (Inaudible) Xi was formally elected by China's parliament early on -- earlier on Thursday. He succeeds Hu Jintao in the country's once-in-a-decade leadership transition.
With much of Syria in ruins from two years of fighting, France pushing the case for arming the rebels. In an op-ed published in a French newspaper, French foreign minister Laurent Fabius wrote that Europe must lift its arms embargo (inaudible) Syrian opposition. He says if that doesn't happen, quote, "the slaughter will continue."
Italian police have seized $60 million worth of Bulgari linked assets in a tax evasion probe. Police said they investigated its focus on four men, including Paulo and Nicolo (ph) Bulgari, grandsons of the founder of the jeweler. Authorities accused the men of avoiding Italian taxes by fraudulent declarations.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Europe's jobs crisis continues to deepen. Employment levels of the Eurozone are at their lowest point since 2006. The number of employed people in the bloc fell by 0.3 percent in the last three months of 2012. Only two Eurozone countries saw their job numbers improve. And that's Germany and Austria.
New jobs add new growth are the top priorities of the E.U. summit in Brussels, as leaders try to soften austerity backlash. Heads of governments are currently at a working dinner, having a ride in the Belgium capital earlier on Thursday.
They'll discuss ways to tackle the social costs of the debt crisis, painfully high unemployment and discontent over austerity measures. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the young people of Europe need to start seeing results.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANGELA MERKEL, CHANCELLOR OF GERMANY (through translator): We have decided on a growth pact in the summer of last year, and now this growth pact has to be filled with life. The money is there, but it has to reach the people. So the young people in Europe get jobs and we still do everything to become competitive and grow.
FOSTER (voice-over): Well, the austerity backlash was visible on the summit's very doorstep. Thousands of protesters gathered outside the European Commission. The head of one Belgium trade union said it was time for a change of tack.
CLAUDE ROLIN, SECRETARY-GENERAL, ACV-CSC (through translator): Austerity does not work. In short, austerity is socially unfair because it hurts those who are victims of the crisis. It is economically stupid because it does not work.
We have seen it in Greece and everywhere in Europe. Austerity is counterproductive. It kicks companies out of business. It puts people in misery. What we want is another policy that is intelligent and creates sustainable growth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Europe's trade commissioner says he has the solution to creating jobs and growth. A free trade pact with the United States. Karel de Gucht says formal talks could begin in June on the deal, but was announced back in February. Earlier he explained to me what could be achieved through the biggest bilateral trade deal in history.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAREL DE GUCHT, E.U. TRADE COMMISSIONER: We are going to create -- I mean, that's what we are aiming at -- kind of a trans-Atlantic marketplace. And we are doing that because we believe that would result in hundreds of thousands of jobs on both sides of the Atlantic. So it is really a challenge. But with a big reward and a big reward would be much more growth and much more jobs.
FOSTER: It does seem to make sense from an economic point of view with the U.S. economy suffering, European economy suffering, it's actually probably quite a good time to address this. But what challenges are you facing within Europe for member countries? Where are the sticking points as you see them right now?
DE GUCHT: Well, I believe there are sticking points on both sides of the Atlantic. In Europe, you could hint at agriculture, at health and safety regions.
For example, on GMOs, on the hormone beef, but in American market we are going to face other problems with public procurement, at the state level, regulations on a number of services, non-tariff barriers, for example, the Jones Act. It's about the oldest non-tariff barrier. It's about maritime passport that exists in the world. So you have difficulties on both sides.
FOSTER: And in terms of a successful deal, if we get to that point, how do you think that will actually benefit Europe? Do you think this is actually part of the answer to getting Europe out of the slump?
DE GUCHT: I hope it would contribute to getting out of the crisis, yes. And that's why, I think, we should make a maximum effort to come to a result anytime soon as our American counterparts have been saying.
We are going to do it on one tank of gas. Of course, the price of gas has come down considerably in the U.S. But that's -- we should be aiming at that. Let's make a great deal a good deal. But let's also try to do it as quickly as possible.
FOSTER: And your thoughts, if I could ask you, just on the U.K. economy right now, looking ahead to a crucial budget for the country, another time when actually British finance minister is really sticking up for British interests in Europe.
DE GUCHT: I believe that Great Britain's place is in Europe. We are their biggest client. And the prospect of having negotiations with the United States is certainly something that will be greeted with a lot of sympathy in Great Britain.
And I hope it would contribute to calm down a little bit this open discussion on whether or not they should stay in the European Union. It simply makes sense. And best sense for them to stay in.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Well, Jeffrey Sachs says it's likely that the U.S. and E.U. can find some common ground. Here's the head of Columbia University's Earth Institute, and says this deal has a much better chance of completion than others.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEFFREY SACHS, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: Trade agreements between the U.S. and Europe these days are easier than trade agreements between the high income countries which is the U.S. and Europe together relative to the developing countries. The interests are more divergent when you're talking about trade agreements worldwide.
That's why the global trade negotiations have been absolutely stuck for more than a decade. But agreements between rich countries generally one can find areas of agreement and something probably will happen. But the global trade round, that I have my doubts.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: As a few others do.
Now the major European markets all ended the day higher. (Inaudible) DAX index led the way, closing stronger by 1.1 percent. London, Paris and Zurich also entered the trading session with strong gains.
Meanwhile, U.S. stocks are trading higher in trade with the Dow scaling new peaks in fact. It is the Dow's 10th straight day of gains (inaudible) better than expected jobs report on U.S. jobless claims (inaudible) 5 percent at the moment.
Now sitting in an office all day is no way to burn calories, we're told. But with the math clicks, you can actually make a start (inaudible). We'll explain after the break.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER (voice-over): Time for the answer to today's "Currency Conundrum," earlier we asked you how much it cost to manufacture one U.S. dollar bill. And the answer is, it's B, 5.5 cents. The Federal Reserve says that includes the cost of materials, printing and transport -- bargain.
If you spent the day at your desk, meanwhile, eating junk food like this, tasty as it is, this next story may offer you some hope. According to research in Japan, even small movements of the body can burn off calories, including clicking a mouse.
Look at that. Every time you click, that's how many type things you lose. Basically, scientists have calculated that every time you click the mouse button, your burn off around 1.4 calories. Well, just over one- thousandth of a kilo -- a kilo calorie. Have you heard of that?
That would make it hypothetically possible to burn off junk food without leaving your desk. And (inaudible) tiring. Extraordinary.
Now this 330-milliliter of cola here has 139 calories. That apparently can be burned off with 100,000 clicks, a mere 100,000. That's roughly 270 clicks every day for a year. This chocolate bar -- we're going up -- contains 233 kilo calories. That would equal around 167,000 clicks.
Now if you sit down for lunch with some fish and chips, you can supposedly click away the average portion contains 575 kilo calories. That equals 425,000 clicks. So if you work an 8-hour day you only have to click just over two times per minute every day of the year before you've burned it off. Alternatively, you could do some exercise. At least there's a positive everywhere.
Jenny Harrison, very fit and healthy, as you can see.
(CROSSTALK)
JENNY HARRISON, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Max, you realize you didn't even burn off one calorie and you said you were tired already? I mean, you know --
FOSTER: Says it all.
HARRISON: It does, well, whatever.
FOSTER: I'm breathing in.
HARRISON: Oh, yes, breather. And (inaudible) of course (inaudible), that's the answer. Let's have a look at the weather conditions. We know all about western Europe at the start of this week. It has been improving steadily, certainly in the last 24 hours.
But you can see all this across central and eastern areas. This is where the new -- the next huge swage -- can't say it -- the next huge swath of snow is going to be. Now look at the temperatures. Very, very cold night again, look at this, -12 it got down to in Berlin. The average is just 1 Celsius. So 13 degrees below the average, 12 below the average in Hamburg at -12.
Temperatures right now on the cold side. It feels like -10 in Warsaw, the temperature dropping in London. The winds have been coming from the north. So all of these snow flurries. And they've been very light, really, working their way from the north. And then the northwest, we've seen a mostly rain. That's going to change though.
There's the next area of low pressure coming in. So it'll change the direction of the winds. It'll be quite strong, the wind. But it will at least be milder. So not a huge amount to worry about for the next 48 hours across central and western regions. This is what it looks like in Pamplona, though, in northern Spain up there in the Pyrenees.
My goodness, again, a huge amount of snow. We are at that higher elevation of course. So not surprising in the roads look pretty good in clear although it has to be said there's not a huge amount of traffic on that.
But this is the area to watch next. Eastern Europe, 28 centimeters due to come down in Minsk and Belarus. It will stay cold as well, that cold air is heading in that direction. So not bad for you, Max, but not so good in the east.
FOSTER: No, we don't need any more cold air. Jenny, thank you very much indeed.
That is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS. I'm Max Foster in London. Thank you for watching. MARKETPLACE EUROPE continues here on CNN.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN HOST: Hello and welcome to MARKETPLACE EUROPE. I'm Nina dos Santos on the banks of Lake Como. Italy is in political limbo these days. The recent elections have left no party with a working majority.
And as politicians ponder either an unlikely coalition or calling another round of elections, well, this country remains stuck in the grip of its worst recession since the 1930s.
In this week's program, we've come to the spring gathering of the Ambrosetti forum to take the pulse of the European economy.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DOS SANTOS (voice-over): Coming up, an economic recovery on the horizon, I test the water with some business leaders and economists.
And the CEO of GE Europe says it's a most positive outlook from delegates.
CEO, GE EUROPE: I would say that people, either they are tired or (inaudible) negative or it is really the moment when, you know, the machine is starting again to build up a certain amount of steam.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DOS SANTOS: Twice a year the picturesque Villa Desta plays host to the Ambrosetti Forum, which attracts economists and business leaders from right around the globe. They gather here to share their views on the global economy. So given that spring is now well and truly upon us, do they see any telltale signs of those green shoots for recovery?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Europe is in the middle. There are -- there is, you know, we don't know where the power is. It's not in this thing. We're in the cities not in Brussels. Either we go back to a national state and we play like Malaysia or we go into a union. But staying, it is uncertainty. We'll kill Europe simply.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A welcome part a year ago when there was a risk that Greece would exit the Eurozone, that the Eurozone would break up, that Italy and Spain was market access.
Those still risk of being reduced and being reduced because the European Central Bank has created this new program to support their sovereigns because the European had this new pot of money (inaudible) euros 12 sovereigns in the banks.
DOS SANTOS: It's a permanent bailout fund, if you like, for want of a better word.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely. There's been also politically talk about banking, fiscal (inaudible) union. So those (inaudible) been reduced. But the problem with the Eurozone is that one of the fundamental problems of the Eurozone have not been resolved. You still have a low potential growth. You have an ongoing recession. (Inaudible) are still very high in the private and public sector.
DOS SANTOS: And a lack of competitiveness, some might say.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely. And fourth, a lack of competitiveness has not been resolved as well. So this toxic nexus between lack of competitiveness, bad sustainability, low potential growth and recession is ongoing. And now there is a political backlash not just in Italy but throughout the periphery against the austerity. So the fundamental problems of the Eurozone remain with us.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If we carry on the same way as we are, by 2020, the euro might not exist because if you look at the pounds of global trade, it we carry on the same as the first 11 years of BRIC life, Germany will be exporting twice as much to China as it does to France by the end of 2020.
And as I joked to some of the European policymakers, in such an environment, Germany would want to be in a monetary union with China, not with France.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, I think that overall the word is growing wherever we go and wherever we do business all over. We're working in more than 80 countries. We do well except for Europe and Italy.
But why is that? It's that because Europe is not competitive? Is that because Europe doesn't have technology to sell? Probably not.
It needs to go through a -- say discontinue with the -- of how we manage our expenses so the austerity, I was so called has been spoken a lot, has not just a negative fact but just as a -- the moment where you need to have a fiscal company balancing of your expenses, which is proportional to the revenues you make. And that was the main stream of thinking during this conference.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DOS SANTOS: The (inaudible) during the coffee break at the Ambrosetti Spring Forum.
Coming up, I speak with the man at the helm of General Electric in Europe about his plans for generating growth. That's coming up next.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
DOS SANTOS: Welcome back to MARKETPLACE EUROPE from Lake Como. Politics is high up in the minds of many of the delegates here, given Italy's uncertain future. But industrialists are also keeping a keen eye fixed on Brussels. One of those is the CEO of General Electric in Europe.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
DOS SANTOS (voice-over): Founded in 1892, the American multinational conglomerate General Electric has developed a wide portfolio of products and services. From aircraft engines and power generation to household appliances, medical imaging and consumer finance. Europe has been key to GE's growth as a global company.
GE employs 84,000 people across the continent, delivering annual revenues of over $30 billion.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
NANI BECCALLI-FALCO, CEO, GE EUROPE: I think that this is not a European crisis. But it is a crisis of some member states.
As a matter of fact if you look at the overall economic picture of Europe, if you think about (inaudible) for instance, and also the U.K., for that matter, with the new discoveries and exploitations of oil in the North Sea, you have an incredible boom that is happening.
When you look at Central and Eastern Europe, with all the money that is coming, with all the funding that is coming from the European Union to bring the infrastructure to the same level where other European countries are, there is a considerable growth that is experienced there.
When you look at Germany, Germany is, you know, is not growing leaps and bounds, but it is an economy that keeps itself on a slow growth. But it is very, very consistent. The problems come when you're talking about the southern part of Europe.
The problems come when you're talking about Portugal, Spain, Italy and Greece. And there is the question of (inaudible) France. In my mind, France is now on the verge of either taking the road of greatness to become like Germany or taking a road which is a little bit more challenging.
DOS SANTOS: Because they may be Germany is the real key player for you, key market --
(CROSSTALK)
FALCO: You're absolutely right. Germany is the economic locomotive of Europe. And our position was not satisfactory in Germany. So we decided to make a statement. We decided to strengthen our resources there and to increase our effort.
And as a matter of fact, we are making a lot of investments which, you know, I'm not going to list here. But it is definitely a position that we have taken because we want to strengthen our image, our effort, our investments in Germany.
DOS SANTOS: Well, let's talk about those investments as well, because you have said in the past -- GE -- that you could be making acquisitions, also making investments in Europe. Is now the time to be doing that, to get things on the cheap? Bargains to be had?
FALCO: I don't think that there are bargains out there. But I think that we do walk the talk because we are investing in Europe. Think about the fact that we just concluded on the 22nd of December of last year the potential acquisition of an Italian asset called Adio (ph) for $4.3 billion. This is a big investment.
And we are planning to take that specific investment and continue to expand it. So we do invest in Europe and you know, our chairman is an enforcer of the concert (ph). He's talking about the very strong manufacturing base that we have in Europe, the fact that we have to defend a manufacturing base and expand it, and expand it with high technology. And you find high technology in Europe.
DOS SANTOS: What would you like to see, those who are writing the rules, regulations and reforms implementing here to help companies like GE employ more people as well, because that's key. You're an enormous employer in this region.
FALCO: What would I like to see is the fact that there has to be a convergence between the several member states on several different elements (inaudible). Europe has developed a common monetary policy. It is the euro. I consider it successful, even in this very difficult time of crisis. No country has gone out of the euro.
And the commitment of all the state leaders has been the one of maintaining integrity of the euro and, as a matter of fact, since last summer when Draghi had the famous statement, "we'll do whatever it takes to defend the euro," you see that the situation around the euro has really -- has become much, much, much calmer.
However, you cannot have a strong monetary policy if you don't have a common or at least harmonized fiscal policy. And we need to work on that. If you look at the strength of Europe, which one it is, it is size. Europe of 27 is the biggest economy in the world, more than $16 trillion, bigger than the United States, so with -- and with 500 million people.
So with the capability of creating and absorbing business, which is second to none, sure today we're talking about the fast growth of China, no question about it. China is coming up, is one of the upcoming economies.
But think about the future. What could even Germany do, squeezed between United States on one side and a strong China on the other side? Is ending up to be the salami in the sandwich, which is not a very comfortable position to be in.
So the strength of Europe is in the size. The strength of Europe is in being able to be together. And in order to be able to be together, we have to do several different things from the -- from the engineering of the processes and from the policy point of view.
DOS SANTOS: What would you say the buzz at this conference is all about? What's your take-home message?
FALCO: I would say that people, either they are tired of talking negative or it is really the moment when, you know, the machine is starting again to build up a certain amount of steam. It's not going to be a -- you know, it's not going to be a growth comparable to the growth in other part of the world.
But on the other side, there are some specific segments that do enjoy growth here in Europe. And this needs to come out. And I think people are beginning to feel that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DOS SANTOS: The CEO of General Electric in Europe, Nani Beccalli- Falco, bringing this week's MARKETPLACE EUROPE to a close. Join us again next week. But in the meantime, from me on the shores of Lake Como, it's thanks for watching and goodbye.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
END
