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Connect the World

Heads Roll At Barclays As Two More Resign Today; Serena Williams Books Place In Wimbledon's Semifinals

Aired July 03, 2012 - 16:00   ET

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

JIM CLANCY, HOST: Tonight on Connect the World heads will roll at Barclay's. First, Bob Diamond. And then his COO resigns with 15 other banks under investigation this may be a taste of what's yet to come.

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

CLANCY: In the wake of the banking scandal, we're going to ask if more regulation might be the answer, or is it part of the problem?

Also tonight, Human Rights Group accusing Syrian forces of widespread and systematic torture. We're going to hear what former prisoners have to say about the regime's methods.

And the latest on Formula 1 driver Maria Viotta, hospitalized after suffering life threatening injuries in a test crash.

Well, the scalps just flying in the British banking scandal. Today, the CEO of Barclays, Bob Diamond resigned under serious pressure. Then, just hours later he was followed by his right-hand man Jerry del Missier, the company's chief operating officer. They both followed the resignation of Barclay's chairman Mark Agius at the weekend.

Diamond said "my motivation has always been to do what I believe to be in the best interest of Barclays. No decision was as hard as the one that I make now to stand down."

Diamond will be explaining his decisions tomorrow when he appears in front of the UK's treasury committee.

Richard Quest joins me from London right now.

Richard, if you can for us all, sum up what was it that happened today in your view?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What happened today was the inability of Barclays to stop the tide of criticism. The chairman went, and they hoped that that was going to be enough, but my understanding is that the regulators basically told Diamond it was time to go and take the pistol and do the honorable thing.

Now in terms of did we learn anything more? Yes, we did learn about this meeting, this phone conversation that Diamond had with the Bank of England during the credit crunch when you know you paid your money you take your choice. Diamond said he was left in that. He didn't think he was being given the green light to cut rates, but Missier says he did think he was being given the green light to artificially cut rates.

What will happen tomorrow, Jim, is just how much dirty linen does Bob Diamond decide to wash in public? What's what we're waiting to see.

CLANCY: And that of course could involve many other people, many other banks.

But before we get to that, you know, I really want to focus on who was Bob Diamond? Like most people, I'd never heard of the man before. What did he represent?

QUEST: Ah, I mean, this is one of the old school big -- this is the big, monster type banker that's -- you know, brute of a banker. Bob Diamond was known in the industry.

Join me at the CNN super screen. And I'll show you what I mean.

He originally came to Barclays from UB -- from Credit Suisse. He joined and he became head of Barclays Capital. And in doing so, he took this investment firm right to the top. And he also most notably in 2008, at the very top of the worst moment of the Lehman scandal, Barclays with Bob Diamond moves in and grabs in Lehman's famous U.S. assets. And overnight, Barclays becomes not just a big British bank with bits overseas, but a powerhouse on Wall Street.

Some critics say, by the way, that Lehman traders in New York thought they'd bought Barclays, the way they're so arrogant about this. But that's another story for another day.

In 2010, Barclays -- Diamond becomes the chief executive of the bank. And throughout of this, he has constantly been making the sort of statements such as enough apologizing, enough of this more bonuses on that. He's always been saying the honest truth as he sees it and annoying just about everyone else in the process.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOB DIAMOND, BARCLAYS CEO: It's not OK for taxpayers to have to bailout banks. Banks should be allowed to fail. And that's -- if banks have bad management, then they should be allowed to fail.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: A man who doesn't suffer fools gladly, whose totally loyal to the organization and his employees, who has fought tooth and nail to get Barclays into the premier league of the banking industry and who because of his time at (inaudible) did actually preside over -- although one would never suggest he knew the rigging that was now taking place, or was taking place with the LIBOR rate. So the answer to your short answer to question, Bob Diamond is the sort of banker that perhaps people like myself remember from the 80s and 90s, but we may see quite the like again.

CLANCY: Richard Quest putting it like nobody else could. And Richard, the portrait you paint, I'm going to be glued to Quest Means Business until we find out just how this all sorts out and who else may be involved.

Richard, as always, thank you.

As Richard, everyone has noted here, it's not clear how many other banks were involved in this scandal. What is clear, there are growing calls for greater regulation.

Phil Han takes a look at the big bang in the banking industry that lead up to it all.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHIL HAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It was the big bang that radically changed the way London did business, that made the city a financial powerhouse. 25 years ago there was a sweeping overhaul of the London stock exchange and mass deregulation. The Thatcher government said it was a matter of keeping London competitive on the global stage by reducing financial charges, getting rid of bureaucracy and making it easier for foreign companies to do business.

The result: sky high profits for banks and traders, and a big bang for London.

Since 1986, the trademark FTSE index has grown by nearly 300 percent. Back then, the annual turnover in UK equities was just $252 billion. Last year, that number was $1.8 trillion.

The boom as so immense that an entirely new financial district was built in London. Another significant change from the big bang was the change in culture. In the era of deregulation, profit was everything.

Phil Han, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: This is where we are now.

Phrases that we're hearing, age of responsibility and greater regulation, those are the ones being thrown around right now. The general consensus is that change needs to happen. The question really is, is more regulation the answer?

I'm joined now from London by Dominic Johnson, CEO of the employee owned investment management firm Somerset Capital. And Barbara Ridpath, she's the chief executive of the International Center for Financial Regulations. Welcome to you both.

And let me begin by asking you both very briefly, sum it all up, give me the bottom line in your view, would more regulation improve confidence in the banking sector?

Dominic, start us off.

DOMINIC JOHNSON, CEO, SOMERSET CAPITAL: For me, it's not about regulation, it's about culture. I'm really interested in your story on the big bang. What the big bang did was it broke up the cartels, which were those big broker houses that had lasted for many hundred years in some instances, but it also saw the end of a very powerful culture of responsibility and of the concept of partnership where people themselves took responsibility for their own actions, where they actually cared about the customer, and on those relationships, those lifetime relationships rather than very short-term opportunities to make as much money as possible.

So it's not really about regulation, it's about culture. That's what I'm pressing.

CLANCY: All right. Barbara, your view?

BARBARA RIDPATH, CEO, THE INTERNATIONAL CENTRE FOR FINANCIAL REGULATION: I'm actually in significant agreement, because it is the culture that needs to change. And it needs to change so that the customer is again the center of the bank's operations and the bank's business and the bank's interest, because in all business, not just financial services, it's only when the customer is at the center of it that both the employees and the shareholders benefit best.

CLANCY: But Barbara, you know, I -- and I appreciate this whole notion of a culture, and boy wouldn't that be nice. But Barbara, they're not a very cultured lot are they from reading the financial headlines.

RIDPATH: Well, they should, though. If you think about systemic stability, it's in everybody's interest. It's in their interest to keep their institutions going. It's in the regulators' interest to keep the system safe. And the legislators' interest. And certainly in the consumers' interest.

So it should be a win-win if they can contain some of their, let's say less valuable tendencies.

CLANCY: Dominic, it should be a win-win, but let's face it there are -- there are tens if not hundreds of billions of dollars on the sidelines, unavailable to business because small investors, even medium investors, do not trust your industry, your banking sector.

Now without regulation, what is going to make me trust you?

JOHNSON: Well, that's a good point. To me, again, it's not about regulation, it's about incentivization. The problem with regulation...

CLANCY: What, we should give them more money in order to behave? Does that make sense?

JOHNSON: You should incentivize different types of behavior. So rather than incentivizing huge businesses that just try and grow and make ever larger profits, you should incentivize small, privately owned businesses where individuals themselves are aligned with their customers' needs.

CLANCY: Dominic, this all sounds wonderful, but please we're missing the point entirely, I think. My point that I'm asking you is, these huge megabanks that make these kinds of decisions, as we see Barclays caught up in right now, do they need somebody looking over their shoulder? And who should it be?

JOHNSON: Well, let's not jump on the regulation bandwagon. We've got more regulation now than we've ever had before. And you know what it does? It means that small businesses like mine, that are employee owned, that behave properly, can't actually function because compliance costs are so high.

So what's going to happen is we're going to have a massive backlash, and understandable. My god, you know, this is going to be a huge problem for us to destroy the cultural brand of London. We're going to have a hug backlash. New regulations are going to come to the fore. Whole new agencies telling me to do all different contradictory things. I'm not going to give my client any better service. It's going to cost me more, and possibly drive me out of the market. That can't be good for our financial services community.

We want to incentivize good behavior, not try to regulate everyone to death.

CLANCY: All right.

You know, Dominic makes a lot of sense there, Barbara. But I've still got this problem with these huge banks with the, you know, investment houses married to the -- you know people talk about too big to fail. Is too big to fail just too big? Maybe the answer isn't regulation, but it's you know busting up the big banks?

RIDPATH: People talk about too big too fail and too big to manage, that's the new buzz word. And it's possible, at least here, with the creation of the independent commission on banking and the legislation that will come out of that. There will be an effort to ring fence the retail from the trading portion of the bank.

But I actually don't think that's the answer. I think we tend to mix up regulation, which is actually three different things. Regulation is the rules of the game, supervision is making sure the banks are complying with them, and enforcement is dealing with them when they don't. And it's pretty clear that they need better teeth on the enforcement side when these mistakes are made.

CLANCY: OK, let's look at that a little bit more closely, because we talk about too big to fail, too big to manage. And we hear bankers today - - I had no idea the trader was doing this. Yeah, they may not be lying. They may be totally unaware somebody may be keeping them in the dark. Doesn't that tell us it's too big?

JOHNSON: Well, it's a huge issue. I mean, you can call it a lot of different things. I quite like the idea of more local banks, credit unions, and I know in the states they're very popular. We're seeing them in the...

CLANCY: They're becoming more popular because people are so angry at the big banks.

JOHNSON: They are. And also they're local, so you invest locally. And you have a true relationship again with your bank. They're not for profit and they're backed by the states so they have a lot of advantages.

I think that's got to the direction traveled. These huge organizations, going back to the point about partnerships, the reason why I like that structure is because we're all in it together in the firm. Our necks are on the line genuinely. You actually get peer review and better risk control. The problem with these huge organizations is everyone (inaudible), no one knows what everyone else is doing. All they focus on is making their own profit centers. And that's where you get the problems, which is lack oversight, it's lack of peer review and control, and ultimately the lack of culture of a group and collective responsibility. That's what we need to change.

And I think -- the problem is the government -- the spokesman just in these huge organizations are not helping smaller businesses that behave properly, because their structure is better, but to actually flourish and suddenly we get hit by waves of regulation instead, which is a big problem.

CLANCY: Dominic, I want to thank you, because I think you have there laid out the problem in a very sensible way. So Barbara, you get the much tougher question to close things off.

So what the heck do we do about it, Barbara? What will work? Go ahead.

RIDPATH: Well, I think -- to address Dominic's point, which is absolutely legitimate, one of the problems we've got is the way regulation is currently structured. It encourages banking consolidation. If you watch what's happened since the crisis, the big have gotten and the smaller have disappeared. And so you actually if you get too much of the regulation moving in the same way around the world and you get shareholders looking at the same things around the world, you don't get the diversity of business models you need for Dominic's world to work.

And I think he's right, you need a regulatory system that is adapted to the size and the risks of the institution and not a one-sized fits all regulatory system that makes it impossible for a cooperative bank to survive.

CLANCY: Barbara Ridpath of the International Center for Financial Regulation, and Dominic Johnson CEO of Somerset Capital, I want to thank you both, very honest. Good discussion here of what's wrong and what we've got to do to fix it.

Well, still to come right here tonight, no apology but an expression of regret, Syria's president talking about the downing of a Turkish fighter jet, an incident that outraged a powerful neighbor.

And the female Formula 1 driver who is now in hospital after suffering serious injuries in a freak accident just this morning.

And it's lonely hearts in the Ukraine as our eye on series continues with a look at an internet matchmaker that caters to single women there. All that and much more straight away as Connect the World continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CLANCY: Welcome back everyone. You're watching CNN. This is Connect the World. I'm Jim Clancy.

Syria's president trying to smooth over an incident that infuriated Turkey saying he wished it had never happened. Bashar al-Assad telling a Turkish newspaper he regrets that Syria's military shot down a Turkish fighter jet last month. He did not, however, apologize. He says the jet was in Syrian airspace and suggested that his forces acted in self defense, believing that jet was coming from Israel.

We'll have much more on Syria ahead, including Becky Anderson's interview with two dignitaries from the Elders Group, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former Irish President Mary Robinson are going to share their own thoughts on how to bring peace to Syria.

Here's a look now at some of the other stories that are making news tonight and connecting our world.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announcing that Pakistan will reopen critical supply routes into Afghanistan, those routes shut down last November after a NATO air strike killed 25 Pakistani soldiers. Mrs. Clinton praising Pakistan for the decision and offering her own apology for the incident.

French police raided the home and the offices of former President Nicholas Sarkozy Tuesday, all part of a probe into suspected illegal donations to his 2007 presidential campaign. Sarkozy has denied any wrongdoing. France television TV 3 senior foreign policy analyst Christian Mallard telling CNN the raid not really surprising.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTIAN MALLARD, SENIOR FOREIGN POLICY ANALYST, FRANCE TV3: Sarkozy knew that he would have this kind of problem, because as I said he had so many bones of contention with French justice, which has qualified as being quite on the left and that probably all these judges decided that the day when Sarkozy would lose his diplomacy community, he would start having problem with justice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CLANCY: Now this just coming in to CNN, the projected runner-up in Mexico's presidential elections now officially demanding a complete recount of the vote. Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of the Democratic Revolution Party is claiming irregularities in the process. Earlier the presumed president-elect, Enrique Pena Nieto said he had received congratulatory calls from other world leaders. Prediction polls show Mr. Pena Nieto in the lead with 38% of the vote.

We're going to take a short break now, but when we come back the head to head between two former Wimbledon winners. Find out who booked their spot in the ladies semifinals coming up straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CLANCY: You're watching Connect the World live from CNN Center. Welcome back everyone. I'm Jim Clancy.

A Spanish Formula 1 test driver, one of the very few women involved in Formula 1 at that level, now tonight battling severe injuries after a crash. World Sport's Don Riddell joins us now to tell us a little bit more about this.

What actually happened. This is baffling?

DON RIDDELL, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. It was an absolutely freak accident and you're absolutely right very, very baffling.

The good news is that Maria De Vilotta seems to be on the improvement when she was taken from the car after this crash earlier on this Tuesday the ambulance service described her injuries at life threatening. She now is in hospital. She's conscious. They're assessing the extent of her injuries.

But I mean, what happened it was just absolutely incredible. She was test driving the Marussia Formula 1 car at the Duxford airfield just on the northern side of London. This was the first time she'd been in the car. She only got the job four months ago. She got the car up to the speed to 200 miles and hour. And she was just returning to the pit area and slowing down when the car, by all accounts, suddenly sped up and slammed into one of the trucks that the team had brought -- actually the car was brought to the track in this truck. And the reason it's just a freak accident is that the top of the car and her helmet bore the brunt of the impact against this tail lift that had been lowered from the truck.

So although the car wasn't going terribly fast, you don't have to be going that fast for it to sustain facial and head injuries, which is exactly what's happened in this instance.

We don't know the true extent of the injuries. It doesn't seem to be as bad as people feared earlier on this morning. But I mean, still...

CLANCY: A lot of investigating to be done, too. What happened?

RIDDELL: What on earth happened? Absolutely. I mean, fingers crossed for Maria. I know that the whole Formula 1 community, which is preparing for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone this weekend is praying for her and fingers crossed she pulls through.

CLANCY: All right.

Well, let's turn to sport elsewhere in Britain. Wimbledon is here. And Venus Williams who has really had a dry spell, boy, coming back ablaze.

RIDDELL: Well, yeah -- Serena actually. Venus is already out.

Serena has had a dry spell, too. Both sisters have really struggled in the last couple of years. It's been two years since Serena won a major title, which came at Wimbledon. She's been battling with health problems. She had, you know, the cut foot and the -- you know, the other infection she was struggling from.

But, yeah, she today played arguably the game of the match of the season for her. She knocked out the defending champion Petra Kvitova in straight sets. She will now play the reigning Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka. Within the last couple of minutes, Jim, Azarenka knocked out Tamira Paszek in straight sets. So that is shaping up to be a terrific semifinal.

On the men's draw earlier on today Andy Murray booked his place in the next round. He knocked out Marin Cilic in straight sets.

The draw has really opened up for Murray with the departure of Rafael Nadal last week, you would think that Murray could at least make it all the way through to the final of Wimbledon.

CLANCY: Well, there's a lot of people thinking that around this building tonight.

RIDDELL: A lot of people in Britain. The British media desperately, desperately want Andy Murray to finally win a major. And of course if he had to win any, Wimbledon would be the one that the British sports fans would pick.

But he's going to get -- have to get past David Ferrer.

CLANCY: You know what, it would be the one.

Don, we're going to see you back here in what about an hour's time with World Sport?

RIDDELL: Absolutely, right.

CLANCY: Looking forward to it. A lot of news to report today. Thanks.

Well, still to come right here on Connect the World, behind every uptick in the death toll in Syria there's another grieving family.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DESMUND TUTU: It's not (inaudible) it's the daughter of someone, it's the mother of somebody who are dying.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CLANCY: Archbishop and Nobel Laureate Desmund Tutu speaking out on the relentless violence.

And one of the world's most successful women tells us why it's not enough to be equal to men, women have got to be a whole lot better.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CLANCY: A very warm welcome back to our viewers all across Europe and, in fact, all around the world. I'm Jim Clancy. I want to give you now the latest world headlines from CNN.

The runner-up in Mexico's presidential election now demanding a complete recount of the vote. Official results from Sunday's poll haven't been released yet, but projections show Enrique Pena Nieto with a clear lead over the leftists candidate, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. Obrador says the poll was plagued by what he termed "irregularities."

The chief executive of scandal-struck Barclays bank resigning. Bob Diamond had been under pressure to leave after the bank was fined for manipulating interest rates. Hours later, the company's chief operating officer, Jerry del Missier, also resigned.

Syrian opposition activists report more heavy shelling around the city of Homs, as well as the Damascus suburb of Douma. Activists say at least 52 people have been killed across Syria today alone.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says that Pakistan will reopen critical supply routes into Afghanistan. Those routes were shut down last November after a NATO air strike accidentally killed 24 Pakistani soldiers. The US offered its deepest regrets for the incident.

A new report says the Syrian government is operating a network of torture chambers to punish dissidents and intimidate ordinary civilians. We've heard horrific accounts of torture in Syria many, many times before. What is different this time? The details.

The report lists where the alleged abuses took place. You can see the sites here on this map. It also gives dates, and crucially, it names names. Here's Ivan Watson.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): "Basat al reeh." "Dulab." "Falaqa." Arabic names for torture techniques that former prisoners and security officers say are systematically used by government security forces across Syria.

OLE SOLVANG, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: We have documented the use of torture in 27 detention facilities scattered across Syria. And what we've found is that torture is widespread and systematic.

WATSON: A new report published by the group Human Rights Watch maps out dozens of detention facilities where prisoners say they've been routinely tortured. Human Rights Watch is calling it the "Torture Archipelago."

SOLVANG: It is a network of torture center -- of torture chambers that the authorities are using to intimidate, to punish people who dare to oppose the government.

WATSON: Human Rights Watch interviewed scores of torture victims, some of whom were only children.

UNIDENTIFIEFD BOY (through translator): On the third and last time, they took me in for questioning, they pulled out my nails with pliers or something like a screwdriver.

WATSON: These testimonies are very similar to those gathered by CNN over the last 15 months. This opposition activists from Latakia says security forced beat him after handcuffing and blindfolding him when he was arrested in April of 2011. The torture continued throughout his 40-day detention.

TAREK, OPPOSITION ACTIVIST (through translator): "They used the car tire technique and basat al reeh. They threw cold water on our naked bodies, and they also urinated on us," he said.

WATSON: Torture victim accounts match those of former torturers, like this former secret police officer. He defected months ago and joined the rebel Free Syrian Army.

AHMED, FORMER SECRET POLICE OFFICER (through translator): We would put the prisoner in the basat al reeh. He would scream, "for God's sake!" So we would say, OK, bring the "for God's sake" stick. Every stick had a name.

WATSON: Human Rights Watch isn't just documenting abuses. It's also naming and shaming, publishing names and ranks of commanders of individual detention centers.

SOLVANG: By indicating the names and identifying the people responsible for these detention facilities, we're really putting them on notice that somebody will have to -- somebody will have to answer for these violations.

WATSON: Violations that the Syrian government routinely denies. But the evidence being gathered in reports like this one by Human Rights Watch is being prepared for that day when the dust finally settles in Syria. A day when many hope those accused of crimes against humanity will be brought to justice before an international court of law.

Ivan Watson, CNN, Istanbul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: Across the last 16 months, if you've been watching television, you have noticed without a doubt that world leaders seem to come together in agree something has to be done about Syria. But there's a problem. They cannot agree on just what that something might be.

Becky Anderson sat down with two prominent members of The Elders. Now, that's a group of global leaders who promote peace and human rights. People who are famous in their own right. Here's her interview with former Irish president Mary Robinson, and South African Archbishop and Nobel Laureate, Desmond Tutu.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DESMOND TUTU, ARCHBISHIOP AND NOBEL LAUREATE: We are very, very concerned about all the carnage from whichever side, and we have been urging that a -- stop report on all of that killing. It's not statistics. It's the torture of someone. It's the mother of somebody who is dying. And for goodness sake, can they do something about putting a stop to that?

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Mary, you're not involved directly in mediation, but you can have an influence as the Elders. I know that Kofi Annan has recused himself as he tries to effort some sort of diplomacy. It's not working, is it?

MARY ROBINSON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF IRELAND: It is appalling to have blatant killing, and now evidence of deliberate torture of the citizens of a country. And I think we haven't learned how to be effective as a world to stop this. Everybody's crying out for it to stop.

And I do think that we can't go in militarily. I think everybody, hopefully, is agreed on that. And therefore, we have to work together as effectively as possible, knowing that that's not an appropriate option in this case.

ANDERSON: Archbishop Desmond Tutu, you once said, and I quote you, "If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor." Can you be neutral as a group in this situation, a situation of brutal injustice?

TUTU: No, no, no. We are not -- we're -- Kofi has to try to be, for instance, in this situation, he has to try and indicate that he is even- handed. He has not come supporting one side or the other. He's trying to see how you can end that ghastly setup.

ROBINSON: We are very engaged on these issues, and I think that's why we try to get our voice out. Obviously, we don't mediate, we don't have political power, but we, I hope, can try to persuade those with responsibility to take that responsibility.

ANDERSON: And that would include Russia and China, Mary?

ROBINSON: Very much so. And also, maybe a message to all five of the Security Council. At the moment, the idea of the United States, the United Kingdom, and others is that Assad can't be part of a future government. Maybe there's a way of trying to say, if conditions are accepted, the six conditions of Kofi Annan, there could be a progression to a transition.

And that -- there has to be some way of bringing about an end to this indiscriminate, blatant killing, and particularly by the government forces. And inevitably, it's leading to a civil war.

ANDERSON: What do you see as a solution, Archbishop?

TUTU: Clearly, you would want to have a state where all the citizens feel safe, secure. They have a government which is answerable to the electorate. But maybe there are intermediate steps from what we have to that, and --

ANDERSON: Which could include Assad?

TUTU: Well, yes. I mean, what -- what one wants to see is an evolution from what we have to something where the people have a voice in the government that rules over them.

Some people are saying, is this not a situation where you want an intervention? And most of them have been saying no. A military intervention -- be careful before you go to that extreme.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: They're trying. They're thinking about it. Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former Irish president Mary Robinson, there, speaking with our own Becky Anderson.

Britain's foreign secretary also talking about Syria today, William Hague telling CNN's Christiane Amanpour that Russia has essentially conceded that Bashar al Assad must go.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAM HAGUE, BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY: Clearly, it was a change for all of us to be able to agree that that's how a government should be formed, and no one can imagine in Moscow or anywhere else that mutual consent would involve President Assad being a part of that government.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CLANCY: You can watch Christiane's entire interview with Secretary Hague right here on CNN in about 20 minutes' time. That's 10:00 PM in London.

Well, up next, a Leading Woman whose knack with numbers has seen her rise to the very top of the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. But just wait until you discover what Ester Levanon did in her last job.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CLANCY: Welcome back, everyone. This is CONNECT THE WORLD, and each week, we've been getting to know some of the world's Leading Women, discovering what makes them tick, how they became so successful today.

And we want to turn our attention now to Ester Levanon. She runs the Tel Aviv -- Stock Exchange, and she says it can't be enough for women just to be equal to men, they've actually got to be a whole lot better. Here's a report from Felicia Taylor.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FELICIA TAYLOR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When she walks into a room, an aura of strength surrounds here, built in part by years spent with the Israeli Security Service.

She's now the CEO of the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, another high-stress job, and a position held by only a handful of women at stock exchanges around the world. But just don't point that out to her.

ESTER LEVANON, CEO, TEL AVIV STOCK EXCHANGE: The head of a stock exchange is the head of a stock exchange. Whether it's a man or a woman, there is no difference.

TAYLOR: She exudes power. Yet a glimpse into her family life shows her softer side. This powerhouse with a great sense of humor is the head of the TASE: Ester Levanon.

Tel Aviv, Israel, the largest city in the country. It's known for its nightlife and beaches. It's also the country's business hub and has positioned itself as one of the world's biggest high-tech hot spots. Leading the charge is the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.

LEVANON: We don't have natural resources in Israel, so when you don't have natural resources, you need your brain resources. And that's how the high-tech community came to life.

TAYLOR: I met Levanon when she visited New York for a joint TASE- NASDAQ investors conference.

TAYLOR (on camera): How many women have ever done this before?

LEVANON: Well, actually, I'm the first.

TAYLOR: Of course.

LEVANON: But not on the first women, the first time on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, it's not an economist at the head of the Exchange, but someone that came from IT. So, that's a first for all aspects.

But that goes well with my theory about how women should go on in life. You have to be much better than men.

(APPLAUSE)

TAYLOR (voice-over): Levanon's theory came from a manager, who once told her he would only hire a woman if she was a much better candidate than a man. Levanon chose to turn his words into a lesson, and it led her to head up the IT department at the very macho Israeli Security Service.

LEVANON: And I say, not too loudly so they won't hear, that was the most chauvinistic organization on the face of the Earth. Only men, no women managers, nothing.

TAYLOR: She became the first female manager, who had to prove to the previously inflexible organization that her job and a computer department were vital. It didn't take long for that point to become clear, during the first Lebanon war in 1982.

LEVANON: Actually, I don't believe I had a moment to myself during work hours, at home, during night. I got calls all the time because they needed any kind of services from the IT division.

TAYLOR: Levanon went on to head up the IT department at the Stock Exchange, and 20 years later, she became its CEO.

SANDY FRUCHER, VICE CHAIRMAN, NASDAQ: She comes into a room and you think, oh, Grandma's here. But you turn around, and what do you have? You have one of the smartest, one of the brightest, one of the most incredibly insightful people in the business.

TAYLOR (on camera): So, it's not that she's a woman.

FRUCHER: No. It's not that she's a woman. It is that she is an extraordinary human being.

TAYLOR (voice-over): Under Levanon's lead, the TASE stepped out of the emerging market and into the developed market index, and now has more than 600 companies listed.

YONI SHEMESH, EVP AND CIO, TEL AVIV STOCK EXCHANGE: What you see here is a fully-automated exchange, fully-automated clearing houses, and the edge of technology being established here in the exchange, thanks to the work and the vision of Ester.

TAYLOR: To show how much the TASE is growing, Levanon takes us to see its new home, under construction. This won't have a trading floor at all, but a bigger space for more computers to manage the exchange.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You feel like you're on the top of the world over here?

LEVANON: Yes, of course.

TAYLOR: Levanon has reached a level of success that few women have achieved, and in the coming weeks, she reveals her biggest fears, mistakes, and why she could never be a stay-at-home mom.

LEVANON: I have to tell you this. Once I stayed home for one week. They went crazy. They wanted me out of the house.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: Next week, we're going to introduce you to Katrina Markoff, a US entrepreneur who turned her love of chocolate into, well, sweet success, shall we say? And you've really got to take a look at this. Go to our website at cnn.com/leadingwomen and see how the battle of the sexes is playing out when it comes to political power. Check it out, cnn.com/leadingwomen.

You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD, and when we come back, it's love in a cold climate as the ladies of Ukraine search for their perfect match.

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CLANCY: All this week, we've had our eye focused on Ukraine. Yesterday, we showed you the impact of the Euro 2012 football competition on the country's young people.

Hello, everyone, welcome back. I'm Jim Clancy. This is CONNECT THE WORLD and, today, Ukranian ladies looking for love. They may be beautiful, but these women are searching beyond Ukranian shores for their dream match. CNN's Jim Boulden visits an internet company that tries to find them the perfect foreign partner.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM BOULDEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a big step at Kiev's wedding registry office for British-born James and his Ukranian bride, Antonina. They take their vows, kiss, and walk down the aisle husband and wife. Antonina joins a long list of Ukranian women who are making a new life in a new country.

BOULDEN (on camera): All marriages in Kiev that involve a foreign national have to take place here at this registry office, including those for men who find their wives through marriage agencies.

BOULDEN (voice-over): They met in a Kiev bar 20 months ago while he was here for work. Other young Ukranian women turn to the internet, marriage agencies, to find their man overseas. Many young women who use an agency come from provincial cities, like Chernihiv.

To find out why, we traveled to this Soviet-era high rise, to the 15th floor. Down a dark, dingy hallway is the Seventh Heaven Marriage Agency.

BOULDEN (on camera): Hello.

AGNESSA KALASHNIKOVA, SEVENTH HEAVEN MARRIAGE AGENCY: Hello.

BOULDEN: I'm Jim.

KALASHNIKOVA: Agnessa.

BOULDEN (voice-over): Agnessa is not looking for a husband, but helps young women around her age who are.

KALASHNIKOVA: Many girls say that here is not so serious men. And many girls want to find men who are older.

BOULDEN: One of those is 23-year-old teacher Galina. She did not want us to use her last name. Part of the service these young women get includes making photos and a video. Galina insists she is looking for a soulmate, wherever he may be.

GALINA, CLIENT, SEVENTH HEAVEN MARRIAGE AGENCY: In the time of internet, we can also search with help.

BOULDEN (on camera): So, it could be Australia, it could be Mexico, USA --

GALINA: Yes.

BOULDEN: -- or it could be down the street?

GALINA: I don't know where my soulmate may be? Maybe it's just waiting for me around that corner.

BOULDEN (voice-over): Galina says the search has been frustrating.

GALINA: So, some men, they have to say -- they promise that they will come here and meet me, but no one comes, no.

BOULDEN: The men looking for Ukranian wives pay agencies. The women here don't pay a thing.

KALASHNIKOVA: I see their eyes, I see how they want to be together. And for me, it is a really great sign, so I can say to her, yes it is yours and you should be with him, for example. Only I can say that -- maybe slow down, wait a little bit, and so on.

BOULDEN: No slowing down for those marrying in Kiev on this happy day, for those women driving off to a new life in a new country.

Jim Boulden, CNN, Kiev, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: And quite the party it was. In tonight's Parting Shots, I want to show you how record-breaking temperatures right here in the United States gave one car's occupants the -- fright? Or the flight of their life.

Unknown to them, on this road, the heat had caused it to buckle. Take a look there. Their SUV, their sport utility vehicle literally goes airborne. A woman who had stopped to take photos in the road captured the whole thing on video.

The local sheriff tells us that two people were inside that SUV. They didn't know what was coming up ahead of them. Two people inside there had to be transported to the hospital.

There are record-setting temperatures all over the United States right now. They often talk about frying an egg on the sidewalk. But very few times do we see them -- the heat, anyway -- launching an SUV into the air on a highway. What a scene. People broiling in the United States right now. And for that matter, in some other parts of the world, as well, as you may well know.

All right. That has to be it for us right now. I'm Jim Clancy, that was CONNECT THE WORLD. I want to thank you for joining us. "Amanpour" is up next, but first, we'll be checking the world headlines after a very, very short break. Don't go away.

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