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Connect the World

British Lawmakers: Rupert Murdoch Unfit to Run International Company; Closer Look at England's New Football Manager

Aired May 01, 2012 - 16:00   ET

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

MAX FOSTER, HOST: Tonight on Connect the World, a blow to the heart of a global media empire: a panel of British lawmakers finds Rupert Murdoch unfit to run an international company.

ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center, this is Connect the World.

FOSTER: Tonight, after lots of investigations into the phone hacking scandal what a damning verdict now means for Rupert Murdoch and his multibillion global business.

Also tonight, exactly one year after U.S. Navy SEALs killed Osama bin Laden, what many Muslims in the Middle East think about al Qaeda.

And...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HERBIE HANCOCK, JAZZ PIANIST: Of course he's going to win the next election. He has to.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Wrapping up politics, the legendary musician Herbie Hancock on who will win the U.S. election.

Rupert Murdoch was today accused of willfully turning a blind eye to his company's criminal activity. In outlining a report on the phone hacking scandal, some by not all lawmakers on the panel declared that Rupert Murdoch is not a fit person to exercise a stewardship of a major international company, a damning indictment of his leadership of News Corporation.

Dan Rivers is outside Westminster in Central London with the latest. Felicia Taylor is covering how this is playing out in the crucial United States.

First to Dan. You've been following all the recent ups and downs of the phone hacking scandal and this is a big black mark for Rupert Murdoch right?

DAN RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, yeah.

In Britain, parliament, the building behind me, is considered the highest torch in the land in many ways. In lying to it is taken extremely seriously. But a committee of politicians today have concluded that that happened with three of Rupert Murdoch's executives, that they mislead them. It's all contained here in this report.

But the most damning headline from this report is reserved for Rupert Murdoch himself.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RIVERS: Rupert Murdoch is not fit to run an international company, that is the withering assessment of the British Parliamentary committee tasked with getting to the bottom of the phone hacking scandal.

Though they stopped short of accusing Rupert and James Murdoch of misleading the committee, six of the 10 members did vote to include this blistering paragraph about Rupert Murdoch. It says, "he turned a blind eye and exhibited willful blindness to what was going on in his companies." Adding, "it speaks volumes about the lack of effective corporate governance at News Corp. and News International. We conclude, therefore, that Rupert Murdoch is not a fit person to exercise the stewardship of a major international company."

And there was worse criticism still for some of his executives. Former tabloid editor Colin Myler, legal affairs manager Tom Crone, and News Corp veteran Les Hinton all accused of misleading parliament, not telling the truth during their evidence to the committee. But it was Rupert Murdoch himself who bore the brunt of one politician's attack.

TOM WATSON, BRITISH PARLIAMENT MEMBER: More than any individual alive he is to blame. Morally, the deeds are his. He paid the piper and he caught the tune. It is his company, his culture, his people, his business, his failures, his lies, his crimes, the price of profits and his power.

RIVERS: But four members of the committee who belong to the ruling Conservative Party thought labeling Murdoch unfit to run a company went too far and News Corp itself later called it highly partisan.

In the end, the damning the paragraph on Rupert Murdoch was included here on page 70. Being condemned by the British parliament for not being fit enough to run an international company is pretty humiliating, but if the British TV regulator Ofcom which is deliberating on a similar question agrees with this report, it could spell the end of Rupert Murdoch's involvement with BSkyB.

The satellite broadcaster is a cash cow for News Corp. If Ofcom forces News Corp to give up its 39 percent stake in the company because of Rupert Murdoch's failure to get a grip on the phone hacking scandal, then pressure on the 81-year-old media tycoon to step down may become overwhelming.

BRIAN CATHCART, ANTI-MURDOCH ACTIVIST: It's hard to imagine, though, there's anybody big enough in a corporation to sort of put a hand on a shoulder and say, Rupert I think it's time you did the decent thing. On the other hand, how else is it going to happen?

RIVERS: What started as a scandal about the illegal accessing of phone messages by tabloid journalists has now grown to threaten a global empire worth billions, engulfing the man at the top, Rupert Murdoch.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RIVERS: Well this evening News Corp has issued a statement saying that this report is unjustified and highly partisan. Ofcom, the TV regulator here, has also put out a statement saying they are reading the report with interest and will be considering it as part of their evidence. Back to you.

FOSTER: Dan, thank you very much indeed.

Well, you might expect this report have a damaging effect on News Corp's share price. Not so, shares actually finished the session higher. CNN's Felicia Taylor joins me now from New York to explain -- Felicia.

FELICIA TAYLOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's what the interesting part of the story is as frankly, you know, when you take a look at News Corp overall it's really it's interest sort of in Fox News, Fox Sports and its other cable channels that are most important to shareholders, that's where the bulk of its money is actually made.

That 39 percent stake in BSkyB of course is very important to Rupert Murdoch's entire empire, but when I spoke to one of his major shareholders today he said that frankly he respects Rupert Murdoch as a CEO. He's one of the greatest leaders of a company that has ever been. And frankly he hopes that he stays on top for a long time, but that doesn't mean that he doesn't have plenty of dissenters as Dan Rivers told us in that report. And earlier I spoke to a defense lawyer who had this to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRADLEY SIMON, SIMON & PARTNERS: He's not someone that people have a warm and fuzzy feeling about. So, you know there's the old saying live by the sword, die by the sword. There are many people who are I would say gleeful at the predicament that he finds himself in right now. So, yes, the fact that he's a celebrity probably causes him to have greater scrutiny, but also his -- who he is. There are a lot of people that have been gunning for him over the years. He's quite a controversial figure.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAYLOR: So clearly there are plenty of dissenters out there, but on the other hand, you know, fellow media mogul Barry Diller who worked with him at one point had this to say, "I worked intimately for eight years with Rupert Murdoch. I never once, not once, in any situation saw anything other than the most honorable behavior in every possible business situation. He is more fit, morally and otherwise, to lead an organization than the majority of those that do."

So there's definitely two sides to this argument. And also, you know, if you take a look at the worst case scenario, Max, which would be that they would have to get rid of BSkyB, a lot of that negative news is already priced into the stock, as you mentioned at the top of the segment. It went up today by about 1.5 percent.

So if you take a look at that, the actual cost of the company would come in -- if there were any gains which would be a tax issue, but also it's priced out at about .68 cents a share, between $1.4 and $1.6 billion to the company which frankly is a fraction compared to the company's actual overall value -- Max.

FOSTER: Very interesting. Felicia, thank you very much indeed for joining us from News. And also Dan there in London outside the hearings.

Well, there's a reason why people refer Murdoch's media holdings as an empire and you only have to see how far it stretches to see why. It all began in Murdoch's native Australia during the 1950s when he inherited two Adelaide newspapers from his father. It was followed by a string of newspapers throughout the country.

Murdoch's acquisitions in Britain began in the late 1960s with the News of the World and later The Sun. Murdoch founded the Sky satellite television network, now known as BSkyB in 1989. By then, his News Corp empire had spread to the United States. And Murdoch is best known for owning Fox Broadcasting, as Felicia was saying.

And to make his global empire complete, News Corp has a controlling interest in Hong Kong's Star TV.

Well our next guest is Claire Enders. She's worked with some of the globe's largest media organizations. And I asked her if she thinks this report shows a failure in corporate governance in the Murdoch media empire.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLAIRE ENDERS, ENDER ANALYSIS: In essence, the committee has failed to actually portray that failure of corporate governance in clear terms by using overblown words and arguments which are outside the brief of the committee itself. So in a way it's kind of lost the opportunity to actually address the issues of what Rupert Murdoch should have known, what James Murdoch could have known, because both of them in their evidence last week repeated claims that they were so far from the fray that they literally had read, you know, key articles and newspapers in 2010. And James Murdoch confirmed that he hadn't been aware of the details of the civil cases until the Sienna Miller case in the late part of 2010.

It is quite a litany of ignorance and lack of interest.

FOSTER: In the U.S. there are potentially more damaging court cases, because they're targeted at the individuals Rupert Murdoch and James Murdoch. And that's probably what they're more worried about at this point.

ENDERS: Well, the main audience for their appearances last week, and indeed the main interest in the current report would be perhaps more what the U.S. Justice Department and its ongoing FCPA investigation, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act...

FOSTER: Which is potentially farm more damaging to the Murdoch empire.

ENDERS: That is potentially far more damaging, because it might involve a fine, or series of fines, and actions on management.

But this report today, you know, will not have made easy or comfortable reading perhaps on a superficial basis, but in relation to the FCPA both the evidence provided last week and this report will be inconclusive.

FOSTER: The regulators now, involved though. Ofcom is considering this report. And they've got true force. And they've got the law behind them. So this could take -- well, that's going to increase the stakes for the Murdochs in this country. It could affect their businesses here.

ENDERS: Not really. I don't think that's going to be the result of this report. And we don't think that the Ofcom investigation into the fit and proper test, which was moved up a notch on Friday. We don't think that that will have been particularly advanced by this report today, because Ofcom knows its stuff and we don't really see the ground upon which it can take a view at this time with what has been disclosed that News Corp is not a fit and proper owner of the 39 percent of BSkyB that they own.

FOSTER: So bad PR day for the Murdochs, but not critical for their business.

ENDERS: Well, it is something that is causing a bit of as it were a road block in their UK interests. And we've had a lot of talk today about you know the company finding itself in the fork in the road and deciding that it may dispose of its newspapers or dispose of its stake in BSkyB, neither of which we think are realistic strategic actions in the here and now.

We know that Rupert Murdoch is deeply tied to the newspapers that the launch of The Sun of Sunday has improved the economics of those newspapers and that, you know, the existing scale and scope of the enterprise in the UK is something that News Corp really wanted to enlarge rather than reduce.

And it may be that, you know, it has dawned on everyone that they can't increase their stake in BSkyB whilst owning all the newspapers that they do. But they may seek to change that over time.

So I'm not entirely -- I mean, obviously the situation is stable in terms of their assets and in terms of their reputation. A bad headline day, but in reality you know not anything that's really going to concern us in reality on the ground.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Claire Enders.

Our top story tonight, global media tycoon Rupert Murdoch is not a fit person to run a major international company. That's according to British lawmakers investigating phone hacking at his now closed tabloid News of the World. The report is another black mark for Murdoch and could prompt British regulators to force him to sell a significant chunk of his empire.

You're watching Connect the World live from London.

Still to come, from Johannesburg to Jakarta, thousands of workers have taken to the streets to mark international labor day.

And Roy is the boy. Meet the man who signs on the dotted line to become England's next football manager.

That and much more still ahead when Connect the World continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: Welcome back to Connect the World. U.S. President Barack Obama is making a surprise visit to Afghanistan. After meeting American troops at the Bagram Air Base, he went to Kabul to sign a new partnership agreement with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Mr. Obama will return to the air base, then make a live televised address in about three hours time. We'll bring that to you, of course.

Now one year ago today, almost down to the minute, Osama bin Laden was removed from the list of the world's most wanted terrorists. U.S. Navy SEALs stormed his hideout in Abbottabad in Pakistan killing the al Qaeda leader and September 11 mastermind in a raid that stunned the world.

Many U.S. authorities believe that al Qaeda's capabilities have been seriously degraded since his death, but today New York's police commissioner also said this on CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAYMOND KELLY, NEW YORK POLICE COMMISSIONER: We are certainly concerned about al Qaeda surrogates in Somalia, in the Maghreb, in other parts of Africa. And we're concerned, of course, about the lone wolf. The last three people we've arrested for terrorism here have been lone wolfs in essence, although Faisel Shahzad did go to Pakistan for training.

So we need sort of a 360 degree perimeter. And the al Qaeda and the terrorist threat is still very much alive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: A look at some of the other stories connecting our world tonight.

Rallies are being held around the world to mark May Day, the international labor day. From Istanbul to Havana, crowds packed the streets to protest austerity, unemployment, and greed. Thousands turned out in Greece and Spain to demonstrate against government spending cuts. In New York, the Occupy Wall Street movement called for a general strike.

These are live pictures coming to us from Seattle in the northwestern United States U.S. State of Washington, rather our affiliate there, reports that some bank and car windows have been smashed. Protesters marched through the city's downtown.

In France, May Day became a political opportunity for the country's presidential candidates. The two contenders, Nicolas Sarkozy and Francois Hollande, held rival rallies in Paris ahead of Sunday's vote. The far right leader Marine Le Pen who came third in the first round of voting, also held a rally. She's widely expected to endorse one of the candidates, but in a surprise move told her six million supporters she would abstain.

Francois Hollande wasn't always the clear choice to lead the Socialists to victory. Many in France, though, thought the former head of the IMF Dominique Strauss-Kahn would be their next president, that's until allegations of sexual assault landed him in hot water last year. He was later cleared of all criminal charges, but today a supreme court judge ruled that a civil suit against him can go ahead, dismissing his claim to diplomatic immunity.

We're going to take you to a short break now, but when we come back it's official, this man will be England's next football manager. We'll discuss whether he's the right person for the job next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: You're watching Connect the World live from London. Welcome back. I'm Max Foster.

England opens play in the European Football Championship in 40 days. On Tuesday they finally settle, though, on who will manage the team for the upcoming tournament. Current West Brom manager Roy Hodgson is the choice. He has experience, but is he the man for England? There's a debate for you.

Let's bring in Patrick Snell to help us answer it -- Patrick.

PATRICK SNELL, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Max.

Yes, look, the English FA had to make an appointment sooner rather than later. As you say, the day is counting down to Euro 2012. A little more than a month or so to go. And I think for many, Roy Hodgson is a surprise, particularly in the UK. But I think if you take it outside of the UK, for international observers this is a coach who is highly experienced. He's 64-years-old of age. He knows what he's doing in terms of tactics. He may not be perhaps the best man motivator out there.

But look, he took the small Swiss nation to the USA last 16, USA '94. That's a pretty decent achievement. And he's also managed Internatinoale of Italy, Liverpool -- OK, the stint at Liverpool didn't go too well, but you could argue that it's not exactly going swimmingly in terms of league play currently under Kenny Dalglish.

So I think there are many attributes to Roy Hodgson. He's highly, highly regarded within the corridors of power, for example, at UEFA. And the English FA have obviously seen something they like. And if nothing else, he is promising that he is going to give it his best possible shot.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROY HODGSON, ENGLAND MANAGER: I'm a very happy man to have been offered the chance of managing my country. I'm looking forward, enormously to the task ahead. Everyone knows it's not an easy one. And I was hoping that everybody -- fans, supporters, everybody within the country will get behind the team, because it's the team that counts and it's the team which will win us matches. And what I would do is I will do my very best to make sure the team is as well prepared as possible for the tasks that lie ahead.

So I'm grateful for the chance to be the manager of England. And I will be looking forward to it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SNELL: Time will tell. Personally I think it's a good move by the English FA. I think he will bring stability to the team, much needed stability Max, after the way the Fabio Capello reign ended.

FOSTER: But quite bold, no? The FA wasn't Redknapp the people's choice who everyone assumed he would get it.

SNELL: Right, the people's choice. But the people do not determine the next head coach of the English National Team. I think that's certainly something I would like to address there. And I think the English FA clearly feel the same way. Harry Redknapp is a very popular man, the UK media certainly love him, the sports reporters over there certainly like the way he always has time for the most part to speak to them.

But you know on some level he has fallen short in the eyes of the Football Association. There is no question about that. Perhaps it was along the lines of experience, perhaps his recent trials and tribulations in court didn't work in his favor either, although he was cleared of those tax evasion charges.

But, you know, who could actually get into the mind of the English FA. Let's hear exactly what they had to say, if anything, about individual cases and Harry Redknapp in particular.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID BERNSTEIN, FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION CHAIRMAN: First of all, I'm not going to discuss any other manager or any other name of any other club. I made that quite clear. And can I also say that we had a short list. And the short list was not two people. We had a short list of more than two people. It wasn't -- it was never a two man race.

So I'm very comfortable with what we did. It was our strategy from the beginning to do things extremely thoroughly. And try and end up with a single candidate and a single (inaudible) which is exactly what we've done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SNELL: So we'd not learned too much from that. We don't even know if Harry Redknapp himself was even interviewed for the post. We do know that there were probably more than two candidates for the job.

But what we can say for sure, Max, is that the Roy Hodgson era is very much underway.

FOSTER: Good luck to him. He'll need it. It's a tough job, isn't it.

Patrick, thank you very much indeed.

Still to come on Connect the World, an assessment of al Qaeda a year after its leader was killed. We'll talk with a security expert who said it'll be a dangerous mistake to underestimate the threat.

And legendary jazz pianist Herbie Hancock tells us who he'd like to win America's next presidential election.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: A warm welcome to our viewers across Europe and around the world. I'm Max Foster. These are the latest world headlines from CNN.

A committee of British lawmakers says Rupert Murdoch is not fit to run an international company. The report into the UK phone-hacking scandal also said Murdoch exhibited willful blindness to his company's wrongdoing.

US president Barack Obama is on a surprise visit to Afghanistan. After meeting American troops at Bagram Air Base, he headed to Kabul to sign a new partnership agreement with Afghan president Hamid Karzai. He's due to make a televised address in the coming hours.

Just days before the French presidential runoff, the woman who could be king maker says she has decided to endorse no one. Far right politician Marine Le Pen says she'll cast a blank protest ballot. That's bad news for President Nicolas Sarkozy. In particular he's been trying to recruit her supporters.

A New York judge has refused to dismiss a case against Dominique Strauss-Kahn on the grounds of diplomatic immunity. The former head of the IMF is facing a civil lawsuit by a hotel maid who accuses him of sexual assault. Criminal charges against him were dropped last year.

Now on US president Obama's visit -- surprise visit -- to Afghanistan, Nick Paton Walsh joins us from Kabul. Nick, what can you tell us?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, about six hours ago, we started hearing rumors in Afghan media, President Barack Obama had already arrived, quick to be squashed by Afghan and US officials.

But yes, about an hour and a half to two hours ago, we heard rare helicopters in the night here in a city which had fallen exceptionally silent, suggesting that the rumors were, in fact, correct. Announced about an hour and a half ago by the White House as being the case.

He has just signed, we understand, with Afghan president Karzai -- rare visit to the Afghan presidential palace here -- a strategic partnership agreement between the two nations, something which Washington has been desperately trying to shine a spotlight upon after four months of incredibly bad news here after a decade-long war.

This agreement, effectively, symbolic in many ways, outlining the kind of relationship the two nations would like to have once NATO troops pull out in 2014, making commitments more of a symbolic nature, as I said, rather than specific financial undertakings. And leaving also the thorny question of the US military presence here once NATO leaves to later agreements. Max?

FOSTER: Nick, thank you very much, indeed. Well, the Pentagon issued a new report today on the Afghan war effort. It says al Qaeda militants continue to operate with impunity from sanctuaries in neighboring Pakistan. CNN's Reza Sayah takes a look, now, and takes stock of al Qaeda's capabilities one year after the death of Osama bin Laden.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Today, the compound where Osama bin Laden used to hide from authorities is a patch of dirt and rubble Pakistani kids use as a playground.

One year after the raid on the compound, US and Pakistani analysts and government officials say much of the core group of al Qaeda lay in ruins, as well. Hamid Mir is one of the few journalists who interviewed bin Laden before and after 9/11.

SAYAH (on camera): What is the state of al Qaeda in Pakistan today?

HAMID MIR, INTERVIEWED BIN LADEN: Al Qaeda is weak after the death of Osama bin |Laden.

SAYAH: Have you seen any evidence that al Qaeda is plotting and planning an attack against the US? A legitimate plan to attack the US? Have you seen any evidence of that?

MIR: No, I have not seen any evidence after 9/11.

SAYAH (voice-over): Analysts suspect al Qaeda's current leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, and several other operatives could still be hiding in Pakistan, but they say what mostly remains is al Qaeda as an ideology against the US government and its policy in the region.

SAYAH (on camera): A poll by the Pew Research Center completed this month shows even the ideology is losing support here. The poll shows 13 percent of Muslims in Pakistan have a favorable view of al Qaeda, 55 percent have an unfavorable view, and about a third offered no opinion.

SAYAH (voice-over): Despite al Qaeda's apparent decline in Pakistan, the region is still plagued by Islamist militants motivated by different factors, according to Mir.

SAYAH (on camera): What inspires al Qaeda operatives, militants, in this region today?

MIR: The majority of the people in this region, they consider the US troops as the occupational forces. And then, the incidents like the desecration of the holy Koran, the killing of the innocent women and children in Afghanistan. Majority of them, more than 95 percent militants in Pakistan and Afghanistan, they just want the ouster of the foreign forces from Afghanistan, that's it.

SAYAH: They don't necessarily want to attack the US?

MIR: They don't want to go to the United States and organize attack on the United States because they will not get rid of them doing that.

SAYAH: And that's, perhaps, the most complicated dilemma for Washington when it comes to the fight against extremism in this region. The mere presence of US forces seems to serve as the main motivating factor for Islamist militants. But Washington has made it clear: for now, leaving immediately is not an option.

Reza Sayah, CNN, Islamabad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Our next guest warns against underestimating the threat from al Qaeda. He says the terror group is far from defeated. Seth Jones is a senior political scientist at the Rand Corporation. He's also author of "Hunting in the Shadow: The Pursuit of al Qaeda Since 9/11." Thank you so much for joining us, Seth.

First of all, a lot of people assume that with the leader or the figurehead, at least, dead that the organization would break down, but explain why that hasn't happened.

SETH JONES, SENIOR POLITICAL SCIENTIST, RAND CORPORATION: Well, it hasn't happened because al Qaeda today is more than just about al Qaeda in Pakistan. It's about an al Qaeda that has adopted a mergers and acquisitions strategy and has affiliates who have sworn loyalty, now, to Ayman al-Zawahiri based out of Yemen, Somalia, Iraq, and North Africa.

So, it is a -- an expand -- it has an expanding global presence, and it's not just the Pakistan bin Laden organization that we've seen historically.

FOSTER: It's important for an organization, even if it is very disparate, like al Qaeda, to have some sort of figurehead. So, you're saying that Osama bin Laden has been replaced in a meaningful way?

JONES: Well, he has been replaced by Ayman al-Zawahiri. We have seen that, in terms of a range of other senior leadership positions, they've been replaced, as well, because the head of external operations, Ilyas Kashmiri, was killed.

So -- but we have a new cadre of individuals that have filled those positions. We still have a range of military committees, financial committees, they're staffed with operatives in Pakistan. So, it is an organization that is continuing to function. It has not gone away in Pakistan.

FOSTER: With a new leader, you get a different -- slightly different philosophy. How's the organization changed in the last year, would you say?

JONES: Well, I think it's changed. It's changed because it's tried to take advantage of the Arab Spring. So, we see with the weakening regime in Yemen that has faced multiple insurgencies, it's pushed fighters in, and actually expanded its presence along the Gulf of Aden.

It's pushed in fighters into Syria, where we've seen an insurgency develop against the Assad regime. Now, it's pushed some fighters into Mali, into Libya, and into parts of Egypt. So, it's an organization that is desperately trying to take advantage of instability in the Arab world.

FOSTER: We've heard that in Libya, it hasn't been that successful, though. But do you think that's just because they haven't been there that long?

JONES: Well -- in a sense, this is a long struggle. Al Qaeda has definitely pushed some fighters into Libya right now. What's unclear is whether they will be able to have a meaningful influence across the country.

What's of most concern to me in Libya is that we have a -- a very weak central government, a range of militia groups. So, the ability of al Qaeda to establish a sanctuary is certainly a possibility.

FOSTER: Many people outside those areas will be listening to this conversation and thinking, does that make us vulnerable again? Are people still vulnerable, more vulnerable, less vulnerable? How worried should people around the world be?

JONES: I think most of al Qaeda's affiliates have primarily been targeting the governments in the countries they operate in. Somalia, al- Shabaab is mostly a Somalia issue right now.

I think the biggest concern right now, frankly, is al Qaeda in the Arabian peninsula in Yemen, which does appear to be interested, capable, and certainly willing to conduct plots overseas. And innovate in trying to do them in ways, to smuggle bombs through body cavities onto air craft. That, I think, is a serious concern.

FOSTER: OK. Seth Jones, thank you very much, indeed, for joining us.

Now, she is one of Norway's most powerful businesswomen. Up next, what you need to make it to the top when our special Leading Women series continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: Every month, we profile extraordinary women who are leading the field, but what does it take to make it to the top and be ready for anything? Well, Becky caught up with one of Norway's most powerful women to find out.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Kristin Skogen Lund is a rare breed in Norway's business world. As executive vice president of one of Norway's largest companies, Telenor, and president of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise, she is very often the only one wearing a skirt in a meeting. A fact that doesn't faze her one bit.

KRISTIN SKOGEN LUND, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, TELENOR GROUP: I don't even think about it, I'm so used to it.

ANDERSON: Names by CNN Money as one of the ten global women on the rise and by "Capital" magazine as Norway's most powerful woman, this mother of four says she is ready for anything.

LUND: I think I have some of that killer instinct, and I put myself in uncomfortable situations, and I don't allow myself not to deliver.

ANDERSON: This is Kristin Skogen Lund.

It's a cold winter's morning in Oslo, Norway. In the pre-dawn hours, hundreds of people start arriving at one of Oslo's most exclusive restaurants, resting on a hill overlooking the city. They're gathering to hear from some of the biggest names in what could be a major partnership between Norway and Germany, a discussion about energy sharing between the two countries.

Among the list of presenters are Norway's minister of petroleum and energy Ola Borten Moe, former German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, and Kristin Skogen Lund. In her role as president of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise or NHO.

LUND: I receive a lot of attention for being a woman, and I get, of course, often asked questions that I never would have been asked if I were a man. Not so much "How did you get here?" But often more, "How do you manage it all?"

And of course, you can choose to get sick and tired of it, or you can choose to just accept it that it is a bit unusual being a female in this position. So, it doesn't really bother me. If I can, to some extent, serve as an example that it's actually possible to do it and still have a reasonably normal life, then that maybe -- might serve a purpose.

ANDERSON: As president of the NHO, Lund represents employers in Norway and, together with the labor unions organization and the government, she helps shape Norway's economic policy. Lund also oversees billions of dollars in revenue for the telecoms group Telenor as head of the company's Nordic region and head of digital services.

LUND: It's a bit like I have two jobs. I actually have three jobs, if you don't add the fourth being a mom and all of that.

Hello.

UNIDENTIFIED MALES: Hello.

LUND: And then, I'm actually meeting the boss of a Japanese gaming company that we're looking at entering into a cooperation with later, so, it should be an exciting day.

ANDERSON: What she calls "an exciting day" is filled with tough decisions. She takes it all in stride, switching between formal meetings and some that are more casual, and in this situation, with our cameras following her every move.

And did you notice her office? Well, it's a desk with a view, but in a very non-upper management way, it's situated in the middle of an open office space. The executive vice president sits across from her executive assistant, and next to the people who manage the countries she oversees.

LUND: Sit there on equally-sized desks and I really enjoy that, actually.

ANDERSON: Lund was named Most Powerful Woman in Norway by "Capital" magazine, which formerly had only given the distinction to politicians.

Despite all of her success, Lund tries to remain grounded.

There are many more revelations to come. In the coming weeks, Lund will share insight from her approach to work and life.

LUND: I am not very tactical or strategic about things. I live very much every day for that day, and I think my life has shown that if you have that attitude and you have an open mind, opportunities will arise. But they won't arise in the way you expected them to.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Do head to cnn.com/leadingwomen for much more on the series, and next week we'll introduce you to an American fashion designer whose dresses have graced Hollywood stars on the red carpet for the Oscars, the Golden Globes, and many other award shows. Tune in next week to find out who she is.

You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD. When we come back, he's a legendary jazz musician and, to his legion of fans, he's the master of cool. So, why does Herbie Hancock say he's a geek at heart? We'll find out next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: Now, he is one of the all-time greats, a jazz musician who's revered by his contemporaries and his legions of dedicated fans. Now, Herbie Hancock wants to take his toe-tapping music to a wider audience. In tonight's Big Interview, he tells Becky why he's spearheading International Jazz Day.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(MUSIC -- "WATERMELON MAN" BY HERBIE HANCOCK)

ANDERSON (voice-over): It's one of the most recognizable tunes in the world, recorded by countless artists. But here on Elvis Costello's Spectacle, it's played by the man who wrote it, jazz legend Herbie Hancock.

ANDERSON (on camera): One of your most famous pieces of music, of course -- songs -- is "Watermelon Man." It's been performed by countless different artists since you conceived this. Have you got a favorite version?

HERBIE HANCOCK, JAZZ MUSICIAN: A favorite version? You know what? Every version is a favorite version.

(LAUGHTER)

HANCOCK: Just the fact that someone else actually wants to record it, put a different spin on it, put their personal spin on it, that pleases me to no end. And by the way, it took me 15 minutes to write that song.

ANDERSON: Fifteen?

HANCOCK: So, it just --

ANDERSON: I don't believe it.

HANCOCK: Yes.

ANDERSON: Really?

(LAUGHTER)

ANDERSON: Oh, my goodness.

HANCOCK: I actually thought -- I thought about it longer than that. I thought about the idea, maybe, overnight, but actually putting it together only took about 15 minutes.

ANDERSON (voice-over): A little humble, maybe, coming from a man who was considered a child prodigy and who spent more than five decades changing the way we listen to jazz.

HANCOCK: I started off playing classical music. When I was 7. And when I was 14, that's when I first became attracted to jazz because I saw a guy my age in my high school playing it, and from that point on, it was like a magnet, it just kept pulling me more and more into it.

ANDERSON: He's worked alongside Miles Davis and he was among the first jazz musicians to experiment with synthesizers.

(MUSIC - "ROCKIT" BY HERBIE HANCOCK)

ANDERSON: The 80s hit "Rockit" is amongst Hancock's most famous crossover tunes, but his musical fusions don't end there.

(MUSIC - "RHAPSODY IN BLUE" BY GEORGE GERSHWIN)

ANDERSON: Most recently, he's been collaborating with acclaimed Chinese pianist Lang Lang.

HANCOCK: Nice! I love that. Wow, what did you do there? It's so beautiful. This is like a good jazz thing. (singing) Ba-ba-ba-bum!

ANDERSON (on camera): What inspired the changes that you made to the sound of jazz?

HANCOCK: Really, for me it was my curiosity. I've been curious ever since I can remember. And it's partly what kind of drives my interest in science and technology. I'm a real geek. I like technology -- gadgets.

And so, when synthesizers came along -- by the way, I was an engineering major first for my first two years of college at Grinnell College. And -- but then I changed to music. One day I looked in the mirror and said, "Hey, look, who you trying to kid?" So, I knew what was really in my heart.

ANDERSON: Lovely.

ANDERSON (voice-over): It's a passion that has earned him multiple awards, including a Best Original Score Oscar for "Round Midnight."

ANDERSON (on camera): You have won an Academy Award and several Grammys. Which one are you proudest of or means most to you, Herbie?

HANCOCK: Well, to be perfectly honest with you, the nicest answer would be to say "all of them," which is very true. But for -- because the Oscars started before I was born and I was already 18 when the Grammys started, the Oscars actually meant more to me than -- having that Oscar meant more to me than the Grammys.

But -- in 2008, I got the Album of the Year. That was the icing on the cake. And so, I actually put that Grammy in front of my Oscar.

ANDERSON (voice-over): Now, at the age of 72, Hancock is spearheading the creation of International Jazz Day, a global UNESCO event on April the 30th that he hopes will become an annual event.

ANDERSON (on camera): Why create an International Jazz Day? What's this all about?

HANCOCK: Well, jazz has continually over the past half century or more been a voice of freedom for very -- many different periods of time that are very significant. For example, during the Second World War and Hitler's regime, he -- actually, the Nazis banned jazz and it really became kind of a voice of freedom for the French people and people, particularly in Eastern Europe.

At this time in my life, I'm interested in doing everything that I can to bring people together, because I -- I really feel that this is exactly what the world really needs at this point.

ANDERSON: And International Jazz Day is going to play a big, big part in that. Last question to you. You played at the inaugural celebration for President Barack Obama, of course, back in 2008. Is he going to win the next election, and if he does, are you going to be involved in any sort of celebration with him?

HANCOCK: Of course he's going to win the next election. He has to.

(MUSIC - "SWEET HOME CHICAGO")

(CROWD CHEERS)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Well, what's on your mind? The team at CONNECT THE WORLD want to hear from you, facebook.com/CNNconnect, do have your say. And you can tweet @CNNconnect all your thoughts, please. Do get them in, we're always fascinated to read them.

Now, in tonight's Parting Shots, it's taken over 50 years, but a postcard sent in 1956 has finally reached its destination. Scott McMurry was shocked to receive a postcard sent by his parents half a century ago. It had a two-cent stamp and a note from his mum saying "We'll be -- we'll probably be back before this arrives."

The card was addressed to the US state of Georgia, but instead, it ended up in a mailbox in Florida five decades later. The recipient took to Facebook and was eventually able to find McMurry in Virginia. That's what you call special delivery.

I'm Max Foster, that was CONNECT THE WORLD. Thank you for watching. The world headlines up next after a short break.

(MUSIC - "WATERMELON MAN" BY HERBIE HANCOCK)

END