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Connect the World

South African Court Will Charge 3 of4 Minors as Adults in Rape Case; Israeli Military Chief: Iran Will Not Make Nuclear Weapon

Aired April 25, 2012 - 16:00   ET

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

BECKY ANDERSON, HOST: Tonight on Connect the World, united in disgust: demonstrators call for justice in Johannesburg as seven suspects accused of taking part in a brutal videotape in January appear in court.

ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN London, this is Connect the World with Becky Anderson.

ANDERSON: Well, it's a story that has shocked an entire nation and driven many of you to speak out. Tonight, a self confessed rapist explains why shamefully this crime can be seen as normal in South Africa.

Also tonight, at odds with Israeli politicians the country's military chief says Iran probably won't develop a nuclear weapon.

And going for Gold, a British Paralympian talks about the accident that changed her life forever.

We begin tonight with one barbaric crime that has exposed a nationwide epidemic. Seven South African teenagers appeared in court today for a bail hearing. They are accused of brutally gang raping a mentally disabled girl, laughing and joking as she cried for them to stop.

In a country where rape occurs approximately every 26 seconds the crime may have gone unnoticed but for a cellphone video that went viral.

Let's bring in CNN's Nkepile Mabuse in Johannesburg who has been reporting on this case now for some time. What do we know at this point?

NKEPILE MABUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, the seven boys are facing very, very serious charges of course including sexual assault and rape. Raping a mentally disabled person here in South Africa could land you in jail for life. So very, very serious charges indeed.

And today, the courts decided that three of the four minors will go through a full trial. They'll be fully prosecuted. And the third -- the fourth minor who is 13-years-old, Becky, decision still has to be made on whether he is -- has criminal capacity or not. A psychologist and psychiatrist still studying the young man and we'll find out in a couple of weeks whether he also will go through a trial or a diversion program where really diversion programs focus on rehabilitating young offenders.

Of course, as you had mentioned earlier, Becky, this is a pervasive crime. Earlier I spoke to a self-confessed rapist who explained in detail the day he participated in a gang rape with his friends.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DUMISANI REBOMBO, GENDER EQUALITY ACTIVIST: They brought beer. And, you know, I was made to drink beer and smoke daha (ph).

MABUSE: Because you were scared.

REBOMBO: Yep. So -- to this day, I don't know when the first guy raped and the second followed and I was the last one. I don't even remember if I had an erection. It was just something that I didn't want to do, but I had pressure to go on. This seen as another (inaudible) at the time. So I did it.

MABUSE: How did you feel? Obviously she was screaming.

REBOMBO: Terrible. Terrible. And I felt guilty. See I'm scared if my mother would find out, my father would find out. No thought about how the victim was feeling at all.

MABUSE: Why? Why do think that was the case?

REBOMBO: It's because when the environment accepts that behavior as the norm it -- you don't pay too much attention to it.

MABUSE: 20 years later you went back to confront your victim. Tell me what happened. What did she say?

REBOMBO: She just looked at me and started crying. As she was just trying to speak she said to me, you know, my life has never been the same again since that incident. Not only you, too, are the one raped me, but...

MABUSE: After this incident she was raped twice?

REBOMBO: And I'm married now, she said. Sometimes my husband touches me, we're happy, but I just cringe. And I don't want him to -- and I'm not ready to tell -- I've never spoken to anyone about this. And I lived my life on a daily basis without even thinking of her.

I think we need to say, you know, where is political leadership about this?

MABUSE: And should President Jacob Zuma be speaking out on this?

REBOMBO: Definitely he should be. President Zuma, you may recall, once during his rape trial he said that a Zulu man when he sees a woman aroused, doesn't leave like that. To me that talks to what you find in communities. The traditional beliefs about women and how women are perceived and how from your (inaudible) with women. And it becomes -- I know -- it becomes accepted. Worst thing by some women in our societies.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MABUSE: Becky, Dumisani Rebombo strongly believes that the situation can be changed, but he admits that it's going to take many, many years, Becky.

ANDERSON: Nkepile, the reporting of these crimes extremely rare, which is perhaps part of the problem, something we're going to explore with our next guest in South Africa. Even rarer, the reporting of the rape of men by men and women. But I know there is a case going through the courts in South Africa about exactly that at present.

MABUSE: Yes, indeed, Becky. And the two women will be reappearing in court next week. I mean, this obviously this problem of females raping males is not as big as the problem of males raping females, but it is serious enough that the law was changed in 2007 to make this crime rape and not indecent assault, because that's what it was before 2007.

And a study conducted, Becky, in 2008 found that two out of every five boys will have been forced to have sex before they reach the age of 18. So it's quite series, Becky, obviously adding to this whole culture of rape and how it has become in South Africa accepted and acceptable, Becky.

ANDERSON: Enough is enough. Nkepile, your reporting has been quite remarkable. We thank you very much indeed for that. Nkepile Mabuse for you out of South Africa.

Newspapers across the country joining in the what we'll call soul search, shall we, over what one calls a nation's shame. An editorial in the Cape Times says "parents, schools and the wider community need to instill the right values in their kids. Everyone needs to wake up. Only then will we be able to start lifting the national veil of shame."

Rita of the Times of Johannesburg said this about the victim of the case in Johannesburg at present, the mentally disabled girl gang raped by eight boys, seven of whom are in court today. "Social services failed her. The faith-based organization where she worked had failed her. Civil society has hopelessly failed her." I'm referring to crimes such as rape and corruption.

The Sowetan says, "these continue to eat into the diminishing social fabric suggesting we are unable to track their genesis and are unable to comprehend their nature and consequences. As a result we are unable to craft solutions."

All right. Let's -- let's do more on this. Many South Africans are demanding the maximum punishment in this case, saying it's important to send a strong message. And it's got to be said that reflected very much in those newspaper reports that we've just brought you. Our reporting reflects the sad truth. And in South Africa the rest of the conviction rates of rape perpetrators are extremely low and consequently men and women who experience these violations are denied justice which many experts say contributes to the normalization of rape, the most barbaric of crimes I think you'll agree.

We're joined now by Troy Martin, spokeswoman for the Women's League of the ruling party the African National Congress.

Troy, didn't the constitution of South Africa not enshrine the basic rights of men, women, and children to be safe from violation?

TROY MARTENS, SPOKESWOMAN, ANC WOMEN'S LEAGUE: This is true. And as South Africa we have one of these most progressive constitutions in the world.

I think the problem really lies, Becky, is in the patriarchal society that we live in. We come from a background where men feel they are superior to women and they feel they have this right that they are better than women. And we really have to genderize our society to think differently and to -- we come from a culture where in apartheid we had the triple oppression of women. We had the oppression of the gender based oppression, we had economic based oppression, and then we had race based oppression.

So women are coming from three steps back. And I think that's really where we have to change the mindset of South African society.

ANDERSON: And that's a very good point. You heard Nkepile's interview with a man who admits that gang rape in the party says this is a problem of culture.

But 20 year -- or nearly 20 years on since the end of apartheid, there will be people watching this show tonight who say this isn't acceptable. Nearly 20 years on, why hasn't anything been done? If the ANC enshrined in the constitution the rights of all South Africans to human dignity, what -- give me some examples of what's being done recently to avoid the sort of cases we are seeing today, and I'm talking about 66,000 reported rape cases a year. Those are just the reported ones.

MARTENS: You know, Becky, I agree with you wholeheartedly. More needs to be done. And I think to say that nothing has been done in 20 years is not really fair. We have recently in 2009 developed a ministry of women, children, and people with disabilities to specifically address the needs of women, disabled people. And, you know, to say that nothing has been done is a bit unfair.

We have like I said an extremely progressive constitution. And we have laws. And we actually are working on -- we've recently developed a sexual offenses unit within the police force to really try to tackle the real issues that are happening in our society.

But I agree with you wholeheartedly that more does need to be done. And at the ANC Women's League we are putting forward a gender policy discussion document which actually speaks to some of these issues.

ANDERSON: Should as the reformed rapist -- my goodness, you know, even using a term like that is pretty horrifying, but anyway, Nkepile spoke to a guy who admits to rape in the past. He says that Jacob Zuma, as the president of the country, should speak out on this issue. He hasn't yet. Should he?

MARTENS: Most definitely. I think that all South Africans, no matter who you are, should speak out against rape. And I think that's something, that's where the role of the ANC Women's League really comes in. And I think we have been very vocal about this issue. The day that young girl, that this was, this came to the fore, this whole issue with this gang rape, when the video went viral, the ANC Women's League was out there with police in Soweto. We were actually with -- I was in the police holding room where the MEC (ph) of police was being briefed as to what happened. And unfortunately I was -- I was exposed to this absolutely horrific, heart wrenching video.

And I think words -- you actually struggle to explain with words the feeling that one gets when you're confronted with that video to see young boys committed gang rape as if they're playing with a soccer ball, laughing and cheering as if they're not doing anything wrong. I think anyone who can look at that and watch that without feeling completely heart broken there's definitely something wrong with them. And I think it speaks to societal change that really needs to take place.

We've got the laws. We've got the progressive constitution. We've got the -- you know, perhaps we need to reinforce the police, get more police that are changed in sexual offenses crimes, we need to get more prosecutors that are trained specifically to deal with sexual offenses. I mean, these are obviously things that need to happen.

But we also need to look at what is wrong within our society, why is this taking place. And I think...

ANDERSON: You make a very good point.

MARTENS: ...very conservative society, but I think we need to start talking openly about these issues. And I think that's where we've gone wrong.

ANDERSON: Troy, you make some really good points tonight. Let's hope that there are enough people listening, because I'm sure the work that you do is good work. Troy Martens with you tonight out of South Africa.

Our top story, day one of a gang rape case in South Africa that will defy belief were it not for the fact that the victim in this case, a mentally disabled girl, is one of 66,000 South Africans every year. Most of the women who suffer this most brutal of crimes and few of the perpetrators ever face justice. Really, tonight, enough is enough.

There's still much more here on this show, Connect the World. A few minutes past time out of London, including an assessment of Iran's nuclear ambitions that may surprise you, especially coming from an influential figure in Israel. That and more coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: Welcome back, this is Connect the World. The other news headlines tonight.

For months now, Israeli leaders have been warning the world that Iran is, and I quote, working feverishly to develop a nuclear weapon. So it's no wonder that the head of Israel's military raised eyebrows today when he said well he doesn't believe Iran will go down that road, calling its leadership, quote, very rational.

Elise Labott following the story for us tonight from Jerusalem. Elise, remarkable stuff.

ELISE LABOTT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's really not. It really kind of surprised people a little bit here, Becky. It's really not the official Israeli line as the head of the military Lieutenant General Benny Gantz saying that he thinks that Iran hasn't gone that extra mile, hasn't taken the decision to go for the nuclear weapon and that he thinks the threat of Israeli military strike could perhaps convince them not to.

Now the idea that Iran hasn't made this decision isn't new, per se. You know, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and in fact U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta have said that they don't think Iran has made that decision. But what's different here is that the official Israeli line is the decision is irrelevant, it's all about stopping Iran from getting that nuclear capability, having the fissile material and the delivery system to launch a nuclear weapon. They don't think they've got that yet. And they say once they have those capabilities, it's too late. So Lieutenant General Gantz's comments certainly a little out of step with the Israeli leadership.

Prime Minister Netanyahu says this is why the sanctions are so important. On Tuesday he gave an interview to CNN's Erin Burnett and he said the sanctions are working, but not enough. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL: Well they're certainly taking a bite out of the Iranian economy, but so far they haven't rolled back the uranium program or even stopped it by one iota. I mean, I hope that changes, but so far I can tell you the centrifuges are spinning. They were spinning before the talks began recently with Iran, they were spinning during the talks, they're spinning as we speak.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LABOTT: So Becky I think what you have here is a little bit of a disconnect between the Israeli political leadership and the military leadership. Prime Minister Netanyahu is a little bit more hawkish on a possible military strike against Iran, while the military feels, you know, they were the ones that have to carry out the strike, maybe not so keen. And it's important to lower the rhetoric and see if military if diplomacy can have a chance here, Becky.

ANDERSON: Elise, thank you for that. Elise Labott out of Jerusalem for you this evening.

A look at some of the other stories that are connecting our world this evening.

And the UK has been dragged back into recession, the second time in four years. They call it a double dip, don't they, those economists. UK government figures show economic output fell by .2 percent in the first three months of 2012 after a .3 percent drop in the previous quarter.

British prime minister David Cameron says these figures are, quote, "very disappointing."

Norwegian mass killer Anders Breivik's psychiatric report that declared him insane is based on, quote, "fabrications." However, a second assessment said he was sane. Breivik says the authors of the first report were trying to portray him as an unintelligent man. He's currently standing trial for massacring 77 people in Norway last year.

A former frontrunner throwing in the towel. News sources close to Newt Gingrich say CNN -- well, tell CNN at least -- he plans to quit the race for the Republican presidential nomination. He's expected to officially end that campaign rally next Tuesday before throwing in his full support, we believe, behind Mitt Romney. Romney is almost certain now to become the Republican nominee.

We're going to take a very short break here on CNN. 22 minutes passed 9:00 out of London at least. We're going to take a break, but after that we're going to take on the Champion's League semifinal draw. Will Real Madrid survive to battle Chelsea for what is one of the ultimate titles in football. Find out up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: All right. All eyes on the Champion's League where a thrilling semifinal is underway between Bayern Munich and Real Madrid. Could it be any more thrilling than last night's classic upset by Chelsea over Barcelona? Well, oh my goodness, the picture seems to tell the story.

Don Riddell is at CNN Center to answer that. What's going on, Don?

DON RIDDELL, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Oh, Becky, I just tweeted it's not a good week for fingernails. Two absolutely incredible football matches. And tonight is showing quite a few parallels to last night.

As it stands, Real Madrid are winning the game 2-1, which means it's 3-all on aggregate which means we are about five minutes away from extra time. And after 14 minutes, this was not a scenario you would have forecast, because Real came out of the blocks really, really fast. Christiano Ronaldo scored twice within the first 14 minutes, once from the penalty spot, then he scored again. Bayern were on the ropes. Although it has to be said they were making chances.

Then towards the -- well, midway through the first half Arjen Robben put them back on level on aggregate terms with a penalty of his own. And it now stands at 3-all on aggregate.

I think Real are getting a little bit nervous at this point, because a Bayern goal would take them through on the away goals rule. Real of course play Barcelona at the weekend in La Liga in the Classico. Maybe they're a bit tired. But it is yet another thrilling game, Becky.

ANDERSON: Yeah, and so good for football.

Listen, I want to take you back to last night's match. I was off last night, so I was watching. And it was edge of the seat stuff. I got mullered by some of Piers Morgan's followers on Twitter for suggesting that we should tip our hats to the boys from Stamford Bridge, Chelsea. I'm not a Chelsea fan by any stretch of the imagination. I never suggested it was the greatest of all games, but it was a spectacle right?

RIDDELL: Oh, absolutely. And it might be one of the -- maybe not the greatest European games, but certainly one of the great comebacks...

ANDERSON: Great comeback, surely...

RIDDELL: ...one of the great performances by Chelsea. I mean, you know, they were playing against arguably the greatest team that's ever been assembled. They were playing against the European champions in their backyard. Chelsea were the underdogs anyway. They go 2-nil down. They lose one of their central defenders to an injury. Then they lose their other to a red card. I mean, that was -- that was it. It looked like the flood gates were going to open. How on earth Chelsea came back from that, I do not know. But they did it. They've got themselves into the final. And it really was an absolutely thrilling Chelsea performance and a brilliant game to watch.

ANDERSON: Yeah, absolutely. I fundamentally agree with you.

Good, all right.

We've just got time to do something away from football. It's Michael Jordan, NBA great of course, receiving the -- so much criticism right now. For what?

RIDDELL: Yeah, this is incredible. An NBA legend, arguably the greatest that's ever played basketball. He won six NBA titles. He's now the owner of the Charlotte Bobcats who this season have won barely a tenth of their games. They are 7-57. There's two games left to play against Orlando and New York during the regular season. They are trying to avoid setting the worst record in the history of basketball. They've got to win just one of those games to do it, but at the moment they're on a 21 games losing streak.

Remember, he made the number 23 famous? They could end this season on a 23 game losing streak. What a story that would be.

ANDERSON: Remarkable.

Don, always a pleasure. And he will be back with world sport of course in an hour from now. So you've got to stay tuned. Thanks Don.

Still to come on Connect the World, he says he has never asked a prime minister for anything. Media magnate Rupert Murdoch defends he relationships with politicians. That and your headlines coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: A very long introduction to CONNECT THE WORLD. A very warm welcome to our viewers across Europe and around the world. I'm Becky Anderson, and these are the latest world news headlines from CNN.

Israel's military chief says he doesn't believe Iran will try to acquire nuclear weapons. In an interview with the daily, "Haaretz," Benny Gantz called the Iranian leadership, and I quote, "very rational" and said international pressure on the regime appears to be working.

A former frontrunner in the US Republican presidential race will soon throw in the towel. Sources close to Newt Gingrich tell CNN the former House Speaker will likely drop out at his final campaign event next week. We're told Gingrich will then endorse Mitt Romney, who has all but wrapped up the Republican nomination.

Anders Breivik, the man who admits killing 77 people in Norway last July, insists that he is sound of mine. On the eighth day of his trial in Oslo, Breivik accused the time of psychiatric experts of making things up to prove him insane. Breivik describes himself as a political activist.

One of the world's most influential media moguls, Rupert Murdoch, took the stand in London today in what is the UK's media ethics inquiry. Meanwhile, sparks flew in the British parliament in the aftermath of James Murdoch's appearance -- his son -- on Tuesday, revealing communications between the younger Murdoch and government ministers prompted one ministerial advisor to resign.

Kicking off this part of the show, CNN's Senior International Correspondent Dan Rivers was in court today to hear the man behind News Corp defend himself.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN RIVERS, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): His appearance was, perhaps, the most anticipated moment of the Leveson inquiry into press ethics. A man synonymous with ruthless journalism and political influence insisted he neither condoned nor knew about phone hacking at his papers.

RUPERT MURDOCH, CEO, NEWS CORPORATION: I don't believe in using -- hacking, I don't believe in using private detectives or whatever. I think that's just a lazy way of reporters not doing their job.

RIVERS: But much of the questioning centered on Rupert Murdoch's alleged influence over successive prime ministers. He met Margaret Thatcher secretly in 1981 to discuss buying two more British newspapers. So, did she go along with his deal in return for good press?

ROBERT JAY, LAWYER: No express favors were offered to you by Mrs. Thatcher, is that right?

MURDOCH: And none asked. I think if I'd asked for anything, it was to -- I think it was very certain they would have recorded that.

JAY: But you wouldn't have been so undeft and candid to have asked directly, would you, Mr. Murdoch?

MURDOCH: I hope not. I've never asked a prime minister for anything.

RIVERS: He robustly denied accusations his papers gave politicians favorable coverage in return for commercial benefits.

MURDOCH: I take a particularly strong pride in the fact that we have never pushed our commercial interests in our newspapers.

RIVERS: But there were recollections of serious clashes with politicians, too, like his infamous decision not to back Labour prime minister Gordon Brown in 2009, prompting a hostile call from Mr. Brown.

MURDOCH: He said, "Well, your -- your company has made -- declared war on my government. And we have no alternative but to make war on your company."

And I said, "I'm sorry about that, Gordon. Thank you for calling."

RIVERS: Gordon Brown responded within hours describing that testimony as wholly wrong. But the media tycoon repeatedly rejected any suggestions that all his papers reflected his personal political views.

MURDOCH: You can't say that of the "Sun." I think we're, perhaps, the only independent newspaper in the business.

RIVERS: For his enemies outside, that was simply outrageous.

ALEX WILLKS, CAMPAIGN DIRECTOR, AVAAZ: The Murdochs have corrupted British politics for a generation. Now, we're beginning to hear the full truth, and politicians need to take their distance from the Murdochs and tell them to go home.

RIVERS (on camera): Rupert Murdoch's enemies are hoping this will be the beginning of the end of the Murdoch mafia, but the truth is, Rupert Murdoch still maintains massive press interests here in the UK. He is the biggest owner of newspapers, with 36 percent of the UK market.

Dan Rivers, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: Well, my next guest has probably forgotten more about Rupert Murdoch than we will ever know. He worked for Murdoch's organizations in various senior editorial guises over the last couple of decades and was even quoted to Rupert Murdoch in the inquiry today.

I asked Andrew Neil if we'd learn anything more about allegations the Murdochs have influence by multibillion-dollar deal. This is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDREW NEIL, BROADCASTER AND FORMER NEWS CORPORATION EDITOR: No, they did nothing on the BSkyB deal, where Rupert Murdoch was trying to buy a big chunk of the -- chunk of the satellite system in the United Kingdom that he doesn't own.

We may get on to that tomorrow, but there was -- he denied that he'd ever asked for anything from a politician. Whereas I'm not quite -- that may be to the letter of the law true. I'm not sure in the spirit of the law it's actually true.

I think people in all democracies are genuinely worried when politicians get too close to powerful media barons. And I think that everybody would accept that the Blair government in Britain, followed by the Brown government, and now the Cameron government had got too close to Mr. Murdoch.

Indeed, David Cameron, the current British prime minister, said today, "We all got too close to Rupert Murdoch."

ANDERSON: There will be viewers bemused by the scope of this inquiry as they watch it and our program tonight. There are millions, Andrew, being spent to unearth whether the press has too much influence on British politicians. For free tonight, can you tell us whether it does or not?

(LAUGTHER)

NEIL: Well, it -- the press has huge power in this country, as it does in the United States and most democracies. This, though, the Leveson inquiry, has turned into a never-ending media studies class. Indeed, I don't think media studies students around the world need to go to university anymore. They just need to tune in and watch the Leveson inquiry.

And it's very hard. It's become as long as a piece of string. It's all over the place. It's doing all sorts of things. The judge himself, who began by not knowing much about the media, is using this as his own master class in media.

At the end, does the media have too much power? In certain areas it does, in other areas it doesn't have enough. Frankly, although we've learned a lot, most of it we've actually learned from the media itself. The inquiry hasn't brought out much that we didn't know already.

ANDERSON: Back to testimony today, finally, did Rupert Murdoch say anything that could cause him trouble in the US for his media business there?

NEIL: No, he didn't. He'd liked to have, let me tell you. He wants to do a slash and burn. This is a man on a revenge mission that wants to take down politicians who he thinks are out to destroy him.

But before he went in front of the cameras and into the court today, he had been thoroughly hosed down by his expensive team of New York lawyers, who'd been flown across especially to do the hosing down.

They warned him that he mustn't say what he thinks, do what he wants, because he mustn't do anything that causes trouble in the United States, where his real money is, and where he is under investigation from the Department of Justice, the FBI, and the SEC. So, so far, he buttoned his bottom lip. We're hoping that may loosen a bit and give us more fun tomorrow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: There's a man who knows about the media, Andrew Neil for you tonight. Under the spotlight but still defiant. There'll be more tomorrow when Rupert Murdoch takes the stand again. CNN will be all over it, as you would expect.

And in the meantime, head to cnn.com where you'll find all the latest, including an editorial by Des Freedman, for example, the author of "The Politics of Media Policy," asking the big question: did the UK minister work for the government or Murdoch? It's a fascinating read.

Ahead here on CONNECT THE WORLD on CNN, not one, not two, but three. Get ready to meet the young British athlete going for triple medal glory this summer.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: Here in the UK this week, we had a taste of the kind of excitement that we can expect from the Olympic Games in the summer. The London Marathon was held, attracting 37,000 competitors, both amateurs and Olympic hopefuls alike.

Amongst them, the young athlete in tonight's Big Interview. She is one of Britain's great medal hopes. And this week, she's shown some scintillating form.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON (voice-over): First across the line in front of a home crowd in an Olympic year. Shelly Woods' convincing victory in the 2012 London Marathon has put her firmly among the favorites for gold in the Paralympics.

ANDERSON (on camera): What does a win like that do for your confidence as we count down to the Paralympics?

SHELLY WOODS, BRITISH PARALYMPIAN: It's definitely a confidence boost, because London Marathon, it's a big event, it was a great field, and I think it means I was the best girl on the day, really. I don't think it definitely means that I'm going to win gold in the Paralympics in the summer.

It's definitely a good start to 2012, and I'm -- I'll keep training hard and do my best and hopefully, it will come good this summer.

ANDERSON: Do your best in one event. It's not your only event, though, is it?

WOODS: No. I'm planning to race three events, potentially, in London, the 1500, the 5,000, and the marathon.

ANDERSON: Why?

WOODS: I don't know. Maybe I'm mad. But no, they're my most competitive events and it's just what I do.

ANDERSON (voice-over): But not what the British wheelchair racer had expected to be doing as a child.

ANDERSON (on camera): You were confined to a wheelchair, I know, after falling out of a tree when you were 11 years old. What do you remember of life before that?

WOODS: Before that, I was just an active youngster. I was -- I had just finished primary school, was about to go to secondary school. And it's a life-changing thing, I now have to use a wheelchair.

But at the same time, I was -- I was upset, but it could have been worse, and life goes on. I still had the rest of my life in front of me. And if someone had said to me when I was 10, 11, that when you're 26, you'd be racing in the London Paralympics, I -- in a racing chair, I would've thought that they were silly. So, sometimes it's -- life throws some unexpected things.

ANDERSON: When did you decide you wanted to be an athlete?

WOODS: I started racing when I was 15. I started to get good when I was about 18, and I think it was about then when I had a real taste for it. I entered my first marathon in 2005, which was at the London marathon, actually, and I finished second, and I went under two hours, which is a good time for your first marathon. And it just gave me the bug for it.

ANDERSON (voice-over): Woods has since won two London Marathons, holds the 1500 meter world record, and also claimed a silver and a somewhat controversial bronze medal at the Beijing Games.

ANDERSON (on camera): You were involved in a mass pileup, of course, in Beijing, the 5,000 meters. Take me back to that day.

WOODS: Yes, well, it was my first Paralympic final in any race, and to win the silver, and then the crash, I avoided the crash, just stayed up, and then they decided to rerun the race and I got a bronze in the rerun.

There's a lot of controversy in sport sometimes, and sometimes it's not fair. But there's nothing I could do about it. That was the decision that was made, and it was either race or don't race, and obviously I wanted to race, because that's what I was there for.

It was great to win the bronze knowing that everybody had no excuses and everyone was standing. But at the same time, I was gutted that -- it was quite an emotional roller coaster.

Well, you've got a medal, and then I actually had the medal in my bag, and then before they told me that they were rerunning it, they let me go out on the podium, get it. I think that was the hardest thing. I could've -- it would've been a bit easier if they'd have just not given us the medals and said we're going to rerun, so --

ANDERSON: What's the dream for London 2012?

WOODS: My dream for London 2012 is to just have a great Games and enjoy it. My ambition in my athletics career, my racing career, is to try and win a medal, a gold medal, at some point in my career. Whether that's London, I don't know, but I'm definitely going to give it my best shot.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: And we are rooting for you. Completely unpartisan, of course. Shelly Woods, there, on CONNECT THE WORLD.

You're watching CNN. When we come back, a journey across continents produces mouthwatering results. Indian super chef Sanjeev Kapoor prepares to challenge his taste buds in Copenhagen as part of our Fusion Journeys series, and that is up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: A very warm welcome back. Now, Indian cuisine, known for its spice and bold flavors, of course, a stark contrast to what is a more simple, fresh flavors of Danish cuisine. So, what happens when you combine the two? Well, in tonight's Fusion Journey, Indian super chef Sanjeev Kapoor travels to Copenhagen to find out.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(JET ENGINE)

SANJEEV KAPOOR, CHEF, "KHANA KHAZANA" TV SHOW: My name is Sanjeev Kapoor, and I'm a chef. I took a journey to Copenhagen in Denmark to learn about a new and very contrasting genre: Nordic cuisine.

Oh!

RENE REDZEPI, HEAD CHEF, NOMA: Hello, Sanjeev.

KAPOOR: Hi, Hi. Good to see you.

REDZEPI: Welcome to Denmark.

KAPOOR: Oh, this is fantastic!

I'm here to learn about Nordic food because that is catching attention of the world, and I can't be left far behind.

REDZEPI: It's like a rickshaw.

KAPOOR: Oh, yes, it is!

REDZEPI: It's just for small people. Come on, I need a coffee.

KAPOOR: So do I. Coffee for two, please!

(LAUGHTER)

REDZEPI: You're all right, no? You're comfortable?

KAPOOR: Oh, I'm OK.

REDZEPI: Perfect.

KAPOOR: This is a visitor --

REDZEPI: Yes.

My name is Rene Redzepi. I am the head chef and owner of the restaurant in Copenhagen called Noma.

KAPOOR: I think it's a big contrast from Mumbai.

REDZEPI: Parliament, old stock exchange.

KAPOOR: I think there's a freshness in the air. There's some sense of purity, now. I want to see how it translates into food.

REDZEPI: In here is the marketplace. Everybody comes to the market to buy food. It's a great cultural institution where you just feel the ambiance and the vibe of the city.

Look at this.

This is what we're going into right now, season of cabbages. Taste it.

KAPOOR: Yes?

REDZEPI: Yes, yes, taste it. It's sweet. They're sweet and they're full of flavor. It's really --

KAPOOR: Oh!

REDZEPI: You know?

KAPOOR: The tradition of Indian cuisine is it's more of a cooked cuisine, whereas right now, we're in a very raw state.

REDZEPI: Taste it. It's quite pungent.

And I want to show Sanjeev that where the foundation of Noma started.

Three guys and a dog in a field.

Those ones, right there. See the root in here?

As a cook, you try to create your language. And in order to do that, you need a vocabulary, and the vocabulary is the ingredients.

KAPOOR: Yes.

SOREN WIUFF, FARMER: Make a small bowl down here.

REDZEPI: We entered here, found Soren, and he gave us more letters in our vocabulary. We simply became better in forming our culinary language.

WIUFF: Oh --

REDZEPI: Perfect. Look at these guys.

KAPOOR: Oh.

WIUFF: This is my good man, Andre (ph) --

REDZEPI: Let's take a few of these.

KAPOOR: Oh. Denmark you don't play together, right?

(LAUGHTER)

KAPOOR: Look how beautiful it is here.

REDZEPI: Well the idea of foraging to us is something that comes very naturally in our part of the world. Small growth, small plants.

KAPOOR: Yes.

REDZEPI: See, it's kind of pretty, yes?

KAPOOR: Yes, yes.

REDZEPI: We found this five years ago. That was truly one of the moments where we thought, OK. What is out there to be found? What have we not yet discovered?

KAPOOR: Trying to get closer to the ingredients and trying and understanding their real taste and character. To me, it feels like I just started.

REDZEPI: Let's cook a bit.

KAPOOR: Yes.

REDZEPI: Well, welcome to my little humble test kitchen.

KAPOOR: Fantastic. Looks very good. Very exciting, very nice.

REDZEPI: And this you have vegetables. And some of the plants that we picked on the field. And then hazelnuts. Just give them a whack with this one and open them.

KAPOOR: Yes? How do you want them, really crushed?

REDZEPI: No -- half. We have a big chef coming from India --

KAPOOR: No, no, no, no, no, it's --

REDZEPI: And I make you peel -- peel nuts.

KAPOOR: Yes. That's --

REDZEPI: This is a type of rose that's wild. This takes three months to do. Every time I eat in my -- I get a bit of --

KAPOOR: Goose pimples, yes?

REDZEPI: I made these for you. This is a lot of fermented gooseberries.

KAPOOR: OK.

REDZEPI: You know?

KAPOOR: Very nice.

REDZEPI: Yes.

This are like trading pillars of cuisine. This is not about change the menu tomorrow. It's like salt in a different way. You need salt everywhere. This you could put everywhere.

KAPOOR: Everywhere.

It's very simple. It's not complex. Yet, the visual appeal is fantastic, and there is a lot of precision that is there. And I'm not sure whether in India we appreciate that.

I think Indian food is very tasty. However, the real taste of vegetables is something that you compromise by adding so many things, and it does not look like this.

I would say that this is something which I would want to try with our vegetables. There's so much that I have experienced here. I have some direction, which is clear in my mind, but what or which, you and I don't know at this time.

(JET ENGINE)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: And do read more about Sanjeev's journey on our website, cnn.com/fusionjourneys.

Well, the team at CONNECT THE WORLD wants to hear form you, facebook.com/CNNconnect, have your say, and you can tweet me @BeckyCNN. The top story tonight, the gang rape case in South Africa continues to generate an emotional debate. Your thoughts, please, @BeckyCNN. I'm reading them all.

And just to update you on that Champions League game semifinal, Real Madrid against Bayern Munich, three all on aggregate, they're into the second half of extra time. What a game following a most spectacular game last night, of course, Chelsea-Barca, Chelsea through to the finals. So, wait and see who comes up and good out of that game.

The world news headlines are next here on CNN, and we're going to leave you with some new pictures just into CNN of Prince William and his wife Catherine at the London premier of a new Disney Film "African Cats." Your headlines follow this.

END