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Connect the World

Syrian Regime Agrees In Principle To Eid Holiday Ceasefire; Serena Williams Continues 29-1 Streak Defeating Victoria Azarenka; Interview With WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange

Aired October 25, 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 CNN exclusive...

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I didn't like living in the embassy. I mean, this is something that I - people ask a lot of questions about, but...

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

FOSTER: As WikiLeaks releases another slew of secret U.S. government files, founder Julian Assange tells CNN what it's like to be holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London.

Also tonight, Hurricane Sandy sets its sights on the Bahamas and the U.S. coast after pummeling Cuba. We'll have a live update on the damage.

And...

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I asked what is this. And they said it was a service for me. And I said to them I'm alive. I'm not dead.

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FOSTER: What is it like to attend your own funeral?

Well, for months now, he's been the subject of a diplomatic tug of war, granted asylum by Ecuador, Julian Assange remains holed up in its embassy in London. If he leaves, the British government says he'll be arrested an extradited to Sweden. Atika Shubert has spoken exclusively to the WikiLeaks founder. And Atika, he hasn't given up his day job has he?

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No, he definitely has not. If anything, the release of the documents that he put out today shows that WikiLeaks is still very much a force to be reckoned with. Basically, they've begun releasing 100 - more than 100 U.S. military documents, detention policies for places such as Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay, detention centers in Iraq, also other places in Europe.

So the fact that WikiLeaks could even put this out even as their founder and editor is in asylum at the Ecuador embassy. He still faces allegations of sexual assault in Sweden, but clearly he's still making use of his time.

Take a listen to the interview we did with him today.

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SHUBERT: What exactly are we going to see inside these documents and what do they reveal?

JULIAN ASSANGE, WIKILEAKS FOUNDER: I think the broad pattern over the 100 is policies of unaccountability. And that leads to a policy of impunity. So that's when, for example, in 2005 the U.S. military introduced the policy about how to not give detainees even prisoner numbers. Their ISN or internal security numbers. That's to keep them out of U.S. military central records in order that the prisoner may be then transferred on to another government organization, almost certainly the CIA, and disappeared in some manner.

So when you have those policies combined with policies of destroying videotapes, it's another document we have released, or not making them in the first place, it leads to a situation where abuse can occur and it can't be discovered.

WikiLeaks has now released three years worth of main Guantanamo Bay manuals. The rest of the world's press combined have released zero. Zero. That is simply not acceptable. These are documents who have credible historical importance that have gone on to shape not only prison conditions around the world, but have gone on to produce a climate of unaccountability within the U.S. military, within the CIA, that is then also spread to other western institutions.

SHUBERT: What is it actually like living in the embassy? I mean, this is something that I - people ask a lot of questions about...

ASSANGE: Well, I joked it's a little bit like living in a space station, because there's no natural life. I mean, you've got make all your own stuff and you can't go out to shops and so on.

But I've been in solitary confinement. I know what life is like for prisoners. It's a lot better than it is for prisoners.

SHUBERT: What you're facing in Sweden are allegations completely separate from the investigation that you're facing in the U.S. Why not just go to Sweden and face the questioning? You've already said, you know, you've denied any wrongdoing. So why not just go?

ASSANGE: Look, I have been - there's attempts to extradite me without charge and without evidence allegedly for the purpose of questioning. All meanwhile, the FBI has been engaged in building this tremendous case, now up to 42,135 pages at least. So...

SHUBERT: So what's the way out of this? I mean, you can't I presume stay here forever.

ASSANGE: I think we need the U.S. government to drop its investigation. The DOJ needs to drop the investigation against WikiLeaks. It must drop the investigation against WikiLeaks. It's an immoral investigation. It breaches the first amendment. It breaches all the principles that the United States government says that it stands for. And it absolutely breaches the principles that the U.S. founding fathers stood for and which most of the U.S. people believe in.

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SHUBERT: You know, one of the questions I asked him was actually whether or not he considers himself a dissident. This is one way he's been described. And he said, no, that he simply sees himself as providing a sort of public service, putting out these documents that may not have any immediate impact now, but he says will be very important historically. He says people will look back and basically the post 9/11 history will be all there on WikiLeaks.

FOSTER: He's living this very difficult life, isn't he, living in a very small embassy here in London. How is his health?

SHUBERT: Yeah, I mean, when I talk to him he seemed very relaxed. He was willing to talk. There are a lot of concerns about, you know, if he's stuck in the embassy and he has a health issue can he be brought out to the hospital, for example. There are rumors that he was losing weight. Clearly he seemed perfectly fine. And we even asked the ambassador, you know, how is his health being taken care of. Here's what she said.

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ANNA ALBAN, ECUADORAN AMBASSADOR TO UK (through translator): We're worried about Julian's health in the sense that something could happen to him. Until now, Julian is a young man. We have a doctor who visits him regularly. He hasn't found anything major that affects his health apart from what could happen if he doesn't get enough daytime light, or have enough space to exercise. We're worried about what could happen to him, yes, that something could happen later.

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SHUBERT: So as far as his health is concerned, he seems fine. The bigger question is where does this end and how do you get out of the stalemate/

FOSTER: Yeah, I'm sure you'll find out some more updates for us. But great to see that interview. Thank you very much indeed Atika.

You are watching Connect the World live from London. Still to come, some welcome visitors for the Pakistani girl shot by the Taliban as her parents touch down here in England.

There's thousands of homes damaged as Hurricane Sandy pummels Cuba. We're live in Havana after the break.

And...

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FOSTER: .an award ceremony with an emotional meeting for Hollywood actor Christian Bale.

All that and much more when Connect the World continues.

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FOSTER: You're watching CNN. And this is Connect the World with me, Max Foster. Welcome back to you.

Now some welcome visitors today for the young Pakistani activist who was attacked by the Taliban. The parents of Malala Yousafzai arrived in Birmingham, England where the daughter is being treated for a gunshot wound to the head. Malala has been - or become an international symbol of courage for defying the Taliban and demanding education for girls. Before her father left for England he made his first public remarks since the shooting.

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ZIA UDDIN, MALALA YOUSAFZAI'S FATHER (through translator): I'm leaving this country with a heavy heart and an extraneous circumstances because the whole country knows that it is essential that I be with my daughter during her recovery. With the nation's prayers, she survived the attack and she will surely recover. And her health will progress. And god willing, as soon as she is recovered I will be back in Pakistan.

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FOSTER: Well, doctors say Malala continues to make good progress, but faces a long road to recovery.

We've been asking you to send in your get well messages for Malala and your responses have been overwhelming. On Facebook, Twitter and iReport your comments have been flooding in in the thousands. And from all around the world as well.

Here in Britain on Twitter Diane Porter says, "get well soon, Malala, lots of us here in the UK support you and are working to get more girls in school."

There's message from Surajit Basumatari in India. He says, "Malala, your words are mightier than bullets. We support you. Victory to you."

From Panama, Juan Ruiz writes, "Malala "The Brave." Courageous young Malala who is an example for all humanity. Get well soon."

Remember, do send your reports via the hashtag #messageformalala on Twitter or our Facebook page as well.

Here's a look at some other stories making headlines this hour. New hope for peace in Syria even if it lasts only a few days. Both the government and main rebel force say they will honor a temporary ceasefire that begins on Friday morning. But they're reserving the right to respond to any aggression.

Let's bring in Mohammed Jamjoom for details. He's following the story for us from Beirut. It sounds like a shaky ceasefire, but at least a ceasefire I guess.

MOHAMMED JAMJOOM, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Max, there are glimmers of hope at this hour. This has been an arduous process to say the least. Yesterday the Syrian foreign ministry announcing they would make their decision today. It wasn't until about 6:00 pm tonight that the decision was finally announced in Syrian state television that the Syrian government would accept the ceasefire. They have three caveats, including they have the right to respond to terrorist attacks and that they have the right to protect their borders.

And we've also heard from FSA, rebel Free Syrian Army members. They say they're willing to put down their weapons for this ceasefire, but they do not believe that the Syrian government is actually being sincere in that they will adhere to the ceasefire.

So as you said, this is shaky at best right now. We'll see what happens tomorrow when the ceasefire is supposed to begin.

Earlier in the day, I want to point our viewers to some video that we saw. The rebel Free Syrian Army has been saying for days that one of the things they wanted to see during a ceasefire was a cessation to the violence going on in Homs. This is a city that's been besieged for months. We've heard many times it's been shelled consistently by the Syrian regime.

Earlier in the day rebel Free Syian Army members posted a video online purporting to show members in the streets of Homs pointing out how dire the circumstances are there. Here's more of what they had to say.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The truce is a big deal to us. Even Prophet Mohammed made truce and treaties. But what kind of truce and the planes are in the sky? What kind of truce is that when these children do not have milk to drink?

We don't have medical care, no medicine, no hospital. We want a humanitarian corridor to be opened.

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JAMJOOM: And today has been a day of violence. We've heard from many opposition activists that there have been clashes and there's been violence throughout the country including in and around Damascus. And in fact there's some more amateur video that we'd like to point out to our viewers, this purporting to show violence that was going on around Khaboun (ph), which is a suburb of Damascus. One video purports to show Syrian regime forces. They're behind a wall, or they appear to be behind a wall in this video shooting into the streets. We're told they're clashing with rebel Free Syrian Army members there. And there's another video in which you see what appears to be a Syrian regime tank patrolling those streets.

We heard that there were violent clashes today in and around Damascus, specifically Khaboun (ph), but we've also heard of dozens more killed today in violence throughout Syria.

So all in all a very shaky ceasefire it seems right now. We'll have to wait until tomorrow to find out if this actually starts to take hold - Max.

FOSTER: How confident is the international community that it will take hold?

JAMJOOM: Well, right now the international community is more optimistic than anything really saying how glad they are that at least both parties in the civil war, both warring factions have accepted this ceasefire, however tenuous their acceptance might be.

Now we've heard from the UN. Ban Ki-moon, the secretary-general of the UN, announced how pleased he was. And here's more of what his spokesperson had to say at the UN earlier.

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MARTIN NESIRKY, UN SPOKESMAN: The world is now watching to see what will happen on Friday morning. It's in everybody's interests, not least the long suffering Syrian people, that the guns fall silent tomorrow morning for the Eid holiday.

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JAMJOOM: And one other thing that the UN is particularly interested in is trying to get aid to needy families in Syria. To that end, the UNHCR announced just a few hours ago that if this ceasefire does in fact take root, that they plan to start delivering aid to areas that they have not been able to give to in Syria for the past several months. They try to get aid packages to at least 65,000 families in the next four days. The UNHCR has said many times these past few weeks, these past few months that there's over a million families in need in Syria, that the circumstances for them are dire and that unless there was a cessation in violence, they were not able to get aid packages to different parts of the country. They're hoping that this ceasefire does hold, at least for a few days, so they can start getting aid packages to families that are so in need and caught in that crossfire in that brutal civil war in Syria - Max.

FOSTER: Of course. Mohammed, thank you very much indeed.

U.S. President Barack Obama is about to make history. In about an hour, he'll cast his own ballot in the election, becoming the first commander-in-chief to take advantage of early voting. And the president is on a whirlwind tour of battleground states. Today, he's visiting Florida, Virginia, and Ohio.

His Republican rival Mitt Romney is also making a mad dash for last minute votes. He's making three stops in Ohio today. The election is now just 12 days away with the race far too close to call.

Blind - Hurricane Sandy is tearing through the Caribbean heading towards the Bahamas, that's after it hammered Cuba, damaging over 3,000 homes. The category 2 hurricane wiped out power and uprooted trees as it blew through the island. CNN's Patrick Oppmann is live in Havana for us. How is it looking, Patrick?

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN INTERNAITONAL CORRESPONDENT: Max, Hurricane Sandy slammed into Cuba this morning, devastating parts of the island's second largest city Santiago de Cuba. Thousands of people tonight are still without electricity. Hundreds of thousands of people reported damage. Up to 3,000 people had their homes damaged or destroyed by the storm. We don't know official death toll, Max, but the remnants of the storm are just leading the Havana area. But the damage and destruction caused by Sandy will be with Cuban people for quite some time, Max.

FOSTER: OK, Patrick, thank you very much indeed. We'll keep following that of course.

Blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng was honored at a human rights dinner in New York on Wednesday in what became a very emotional affair.

And it was the first time the activist came face to face with Batman star Christian Bale, the actor who championed his cause. Bale traveled to China last year to meet Chen, but was stopped by guards outside his house. In a moving speech last night, he paid tribute to the activist. Take a listen.

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CHRISTIAN BALE, ACTOR: He represents the people of China, the people that I met. He represents their hopes, their aspirations, and their desire to be free from corruption and tyranny. He is a symbol of what an individual is capable of no matter how humble his or her origins, he is in my opinion a giant among men.

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FOSTER: We're going to take you to a short break, but when we come back it was an historic night of baseball's World Series. See how this man became the biggest Giant of them all.

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

Now the two best teams in baseball are set to square off again tonight in Game 2 of the World Series. But in San Francisco the talk is all about the Game 1 heroics of the man known as Kung Fu Panda.

We're laughing.

PEDRO PINTO, CNN SPORTS CORREPSONDENT: You've got kids, right?

FOSTER: I do.

PINTO: Have they watched Kung Fu Panda?

FOSTER: Yeah, it's fantastic.

PINTO: Yeah, well I bet they haven't watched anything like this particular Kung Fu Panda, that's his nickname. Pablo Sandoval. He was the star of game one of the world series between the San Francisco giants and the Detroit Tigers, because he didn't hit one, he didn't hit two, he hit three home runs in Game 1 of the World Series. Just an unbelievable performance, an historic performance. Only three other men ever had been able to do this. They were Babe Ruth, Reggie Jackson, and Albert Pujols. But Sandoval gave the Giants an 8-3 win against the Tigers in Game 1 putting them in control.

And it was just unbelievable. This is a guy, Max, who hit just 12 home runs during the regular season. He now has six in the postseason. And this is how rare it is. It's only been done five times in the history of the World Series in 624 games. You don't need a calculator to figure out that that's pretty rare.

And this kind of power really wasn't expected from someone like Sandoval, but this is the story in the World Series so far. And as you mentioned Game 2 starts in a few hours time. And a lot of people are wondering what can this guy do for an encore?

FOSTER: Absolutely.

Serena Williams on a real string of success, amazing streak of playing if we can call it that.

PINTO: Yeah. She's in Istanbul right now playing in the season ending women's tour championships. And she beat world number one player in the world Victoria Azarenka. This was actually a really big match for Azarenka herself, because she knew if she beat the American she would guarantee enough points to finish the season as world number one.

But she had a lot of trouble with her serving. And you can see she wasn't happy about that at all, served various double faults, lost the first set in the double fault. Played a little bit better in the second set and took a 3-0 lead. But then, you know, Serena, even if she's down she's definitely not out. And the American who had a magical summer rebounded and won the match in straight sets against Azarenka 6-4 and 6-4.

This means that Azarenka now has to wait a little bit longer to get those points she needs to become world number one at the end of the season. And this is the kind of run she's on right now, Williams. 29-1 since the start of Wimbledon. Of course she won Wimbledon, then she won the Olympic gold medal, then she won the U.S. Open. Now she's the favorite to win the WTA Tour Championships this week in Istanbul.

Max, I was out in Istanbul earlier this week for our CNN show Open Court and talked to Serena about the season she's had. It's crazy, you know, just...

FOSTER: She's 31.

PINTO: Yeah, I know. But 30 is the new 20, maybe? I just made that up.

FOSTER: Works for us.

PINTO: Yeah, works for me anyway. But she was just on fire.

FOSTER: Yeah, brilliant. Thank you, Pedro.

You're watching Connect the World live from London. Still to come, as Ford announces thousands of job losses in Europe, we hear from two young people about their economic hopes for the future.

Behind Bond's biggest thrills we talk to the stuntmen responsible for the hair raising action scenes in the new Bond blockbuster.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): When I walked through the door I saw the coffin and was a bit flabbergasted.

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FOSTER: The story of the day. Find out what happened when this man turned up at his own wake.

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

New hope for peace in Syria. Both the government and the main rebel force say they will honor a temporary ceasefire that begins on Friday morning. But they're reserving the right to respond to any aggression.

The parents of Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai arrived in Birmingham, England. Their daughter is being treated at a hospital there for a gunshot wound to the head. Yousafzai has become an international hero for defying the Taliban and demanding education for girls.

Hurricane Sandy is now churning towards the Bahamas after hitting eastern Cuba with heavy rain and strong winds. The category 2 storm blew down trees and ripped off roofs on the island where more than 3,000 homes are said to be damaged.

Ford has announced the closure of two plants in Britain leaving to around 1,400 job losses. And on Wednesday, the vehicle maker said it was shutting a plant in Gent, Belgium which currently employs over 5,000 people. Ford is facing a round a billion dollar's worth of losses in its European division this year.

News of the Fords cuts comes on the same day as the latest British growth figures, and they're much better news. Britain is officially out of the double-dip recession. It's partly thanks to the Olympics, which helped the third quarter register growth at one percent.

Jan Randolph of IHS Global Insight joins me in the studio. Thanks for joining us. So, the Ford news, it's obviously a knock to the UK, but it's interesting to see that Ford hasn't managed to turn around its European business.

JAN RANDOLPH, DIRECTOR OF SOVEREIGN RISK, IHS: No, it's a big, big loss. European car and automobile have been longtime over capacity, and dramatic falls in sales in the southern eurozone really broke the camel's back, here, and Ford made the decision to cut losses and close plants.

FOSTER: And in terms of the UK GDP figures, we're talking about the strength of a major international economy, one of the top ten in the world. It's growing, but it's just come out of a double-dip recession. So, is this going to be a lasting growth?

RANDOLPH: It's really difficult to tell. Basically, there a number of oddities this year because of the extremely wet weather, queen's jubilee, extended banking holidays, Olympics, and really, a lot of it's statistical.

I think the increase of one percent Q3 -- Q2 through 3 really over -- overstates the strength of the economy. It simply makes up for the contractions of the previous three quarters. The economy's no bigger than a year ago, and that's likely to happen for 2012, basically flat. And still a couple of percentages down on the peak of 2007.

FOSTER: David Cameron, the prime minister, in some political trouble at the moment. His coalition is looking a bit shaky at the moment, a lot of analysts are saying. But does this allow him to say that being outside the eurozone is actually a great thing for countries close to the eurozone?

RANDOLPH: Well, whether you're in or out, we're very close by, and we're effected, and the poor news out of the eurozone, the Purchasing Managers' Index, suggest increasing headwinds. So, we're not going to be able to export our way out. Germany particularly important here as an export market, and they're close to stagnating, as well. So, increasing headwinds.

It's very difficult to tell whether there's any real growth traction in the economy. We won't find that out until next quarter, but it's going to be very weak, whatever -- even on the best case.

FOSTER: And Britain has pushed through quite a tough austerity program compared with many other countries. Is this evidence that that works?

RANDOLPH: I think the IMF advice is quite good here. They're saying we've got to have a contingency plan. If there's not going to be in growth traction over the next few quarters, we do need to ease off on the brakes of austerity. And the bond markets are giving us the benefit of the doubt, there, with extremely low borrowing costs.

FOSTER: OK, stay with us, Jan. British GDP is showing some positive signs, but it's not the same across the globe. Whilst China's enormous economy appears to have beaten its growth slump, it's predicted to stay level at around 7.5 percent. Brazil has had to revise its growth forecast down to 2 percent.

But that's healthy compared with what are considered established economies in Europe, with France predicting little or no growth, and Spain expecting to contract a full 1.8 percent. Jan, in terms of the global picture, the developing world needs to be doing better, doesn't it, to hold up the global economy?

RANDOLPH: Well, it's true, ever since the financial crisis broke in 2007, the emerging markets have led the way, led by China, head and shoulders above everyone else. They lifted the global economy out of recession, basically, 2009.

The trouble is, China itself is now slowing, and it is importantly connected to other emerging markets that are also slowing: Brazil, Russia, India, Africa, and so on. And this has also affected growth in Germany, which has been dependent -- very successful in sending back to the likes of China.

FOSTER: OK. Jan, thank you very much, indeed. This change in fortunes between the West and emerging economies has also been highlighted in a new survey commissioned by One Young World, and organization likened to a young Davos.

The poll found that 72 percent of 20 to 29-year-olds from China believed they would have better lives than their parents. Brazilians were also highly optimistic. But less than a quarter of young people surveyed from eurozone countries felt confident of a better life ahead. Becky asked two One Young World delegates, one from Brazil and one from France, about the mood amongst their peers.

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ALEXANDRE LEBOUCHER, ONE YOUNG WORLD: We are hearing really bad news all the day in France, especially President Hollande and the government want to create a 20 billion additional tax on businesses and households.

And this is really a bad thing, because young people, if they want -- especially for young entrepreneurs, if they want to start their own business, this is really difficult.

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You're a successful young man, a law student. Are you finding it tough to find a job that you want?

LEBOUCHER: This is the main problem in France is that graduate people are not really sure to find the job they want and work for the company they really want.

ANDERSON: In Brazil, Alex, the survey showed that 69 percent of young people there believe they'll have a better life than their parents. A lot more optimistic than the sort of numbers that we're seeing here. Why is that?

ALEXANDRE WARCHAVCHIK REBOUCAS, ONE YOUNG WORLD: Well, I think not only because the obviously reason, that the economy's growing, but the fact that the survey was made with people from 20 to 29 years old. So they're - - our parents, they lived -- first they lived the curfew in Brazil, which was quite a tough time for everybody, and after the curfew ended in 1985, we had crazy, crazy inflation times.

And now, what I feel is like there's so much opportunity, everybody -- I even asked some friends of mine, who work with poorer communities to check if that was the reality also for them, and it looks like everybody sees that there's better opportunity, now, for whatever.

ANDERSON: Certainly Brazil worked hard to stimulate growth over the past 20-odd years, and the economy, it seems, has benefited from that. In a debate between austerity and stimulus, Alex from Brazil, then what would you say?

REBOUCAS: I'd say that what the government seems to be doing, cutting the interest rates, is stimulating it, but that's also leading for a growth of our inflation, a rise in our inflation, and I really think that the stimulus, if we only stimulate, cut interest rates, that might not be sustainable, and that might lead to growth stop.

LEBOUCHER: This is also what we face in Europe with austerity and growth, because many governments are doing austerity, in Spain, in Italy, in France, in the UK, and I definitely like the word, "austerity," because for me there is good austerity and bad austerity.

And we need growth. We have to create an environment where everybody matters, especially in business.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Now, US president Barack Obama's about to make history. He arrived home in Chicago a short time ago, where he'll cast his own ballot in the election. That makes him the very first American president to take advantage of early voting.

Before that, both he and Republican rival Mitt Romney are focusing on key swing states in the final days of campaigning with just 12 days left. The race is considered too close to call.

Still to come on CONNECT THE WORLD, he admits he was a strange child, but it all paid off in the end. The winner of a major architectural prize tells us how he made it.

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FOSTER: This year, Wang Shu became the first Chinese citizen to win the prestigious Pritzker Architectural Award for his unique designs that combine nature with modern living. In this week's Human to Hero series, Wang tells us what inspires his work.

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WANG SHU, WINNER, PRITZKER ARCHITECTURE PRIZE 2012: This campus, no people here, only you stand here. Maybe you can hear it. The buildings, they talk to each other. The buildings talk to the hills. They have some sounds.

Before I do this drawing, I imagine the buildings, the surroundings, outside, inside. Everything I see very clear. But when you write the first line, something changes. Finally, you will find you are doing something different -- different from what you imagined. It's the most exciting time, every time like this. This means something really is born.

I want my architecture to become more near nature, so that's why I so like the Chinese traditional architecture. The people, they can live with nature together.

In Hangzhou, we have the traditional pagoda. When I see the pagoda and I go in and go up, suddenly I understand some things. For example, this pagoda is very huge, but if you see this from a different place, this pagoda becomes totally mixed in the mountains. You can't see it.

Why? First, is the materials. It absorbs the light. So, all the pagoda, the material is not shiny materials. That's why I design many, many buildings that gradually become more dark.

If you see the Chinese traditional buildings, you will find many outside spaces inside the buildings. The people, they want to live with fresh air, with trees, flowers, water, together.

They don't use very solid materials. They use wood, they use bamboo. It's not permanent. This means it's something that will decay, something that will be reborn. It's very similar to the natural process.

I know my way is very unique, I know. But I didn't know that I could win the Pritzker Prize. Yes.

I was a very strange child, because every child played everywhere, but I stayed home to write calligraphy. For example, I copied some traditional masterpieces. Every day, I did this for ten years. Finally, I knew what the real feeling is of this master who lived 2,000 years ago.

You can see the shape of the roof. This comes from a traditional building, but I write it a little bit different from the traditional. It comes from the feeling from the calligraphy. The curve. This line, this curve. It directly comes from the feeling of the hand. It's not from here.

If you really want to understand traditional Chinese architecture, you should really know the craftsman works, because in China, we don't have architects. We only have craftsmen. Throughout the 1990s, I just worked with the craftsmen together, for 10 years. They use the small materials.

I find in the countryside, the people that still use this way, they're not just using the traditional materials. They also use the modern materials. They mix them together. This means these skills are still alive.

Concrete now in China is named the most cheap system, but if you have to use concrete, how can the traditional way coexist with the concrete system together? That's my way.

That's my pagoda. The shape, this comes from the stone, from the scholars' gardens. They have a special meaning. It just means independent spirit. If you're an artist, you can keep your passion for maybe three days, nine months, enough. But for the architect, you should keep the passion from the first day past five years to the end.

I like real things. I like truths. The modern architecture system is too abstract. It's like some production, like some abstract concept floating in the air and not rooted in the ground. I do something that directly roots in the ground. I think that's more important.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Now, in just the last few minutes, Apple's just released its fourth quarter earnings. It comes a day after it unveiled its new iPad Mini. And those results came in slightly less than analysts had been expecting, so Apple's posting $8.2 billion worth of profit on a $36 billion quarterly revenue.

It is worth nothing, though, that those analysts' forecasts had been downgraded already because there's some concern that iPad 2s weren't selling in quite the numbers that were hoped for, but to put that into context, they have sold 100 million iPad 2s, so they're not doing particularly badly.

Now, he's parachuted off the Eiffel tower, skied off a cliff, and barrel-rolled a sports car. It's all in a day's work for James Bond, coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: Well, he has parachuted off the Eiffel tower and skied off a cliff and barrel-rolled a sports car. It's all in a day's work for James Bond, but not all of 007's extreme moves would have happened without the help of a stunt double, of course. See Neil Curry find out how Bond's action-packed adventures are brought to life.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NEIL CURRY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They're as much a part of any Bond movie as the villains, the girls, the gadgets, and even Bond himself. Fast-paced, often outrageous action scenes, which set the pulse racing.

VIC ARMSTRONG, STUNT COORDINATOR: The most important thing is to make sure the actor that you're doubling a lot of the time is integrated completely into that sequence. There's nothing worse than an audience coming out of a cinema thinking, oh, that was great what the stuntman did in that sequence. They've got to believe and they've got to see the actor doing it all.

CURRY: Actor Daniel Craig is quick to recognize the role of the stunt teams, which enable his character to be at the center of the action.

DANIEL CRAIG, ACTOR, "SKYFALL": A Bond movie isn't a Bond movie without a great opening sequence and at least a couple more great set pieces, and you've got those in this movie, so -- we've got Gary Powell, who's the stunt arranger, and Chris Corbould, who designs all the sort of incredible machinery that we use on the set.

They're just the best at their job, and having them around means we can push the envelope as much as possible.

CURRY: Industry legend Vic Armstrong's Bond career spans five decades. As a stunt actor, he's doubled for three Bonds, and a stunt coordinator, he's been the brains behind some of the franchise's most memorable action scenes.

ARMSTRONG: "You Only Live Twice" was my first Bond. They wanted over 100 stunt people, so they took anybody they could taxi drive as bodyguards, anybody that was around.

There was a huge set where the 007 stage is now ideas, which was the interior of the volcano. Had an electric sliding roof and you could actually fly a helicopter in through the roof and land on the tower, the landing pad, they had a rocket tower in there, monorail all the way around. It was a massive, massive set.

And they pointed to the ceiling, which was 125 feet high, and said, "We need people to slide down on a rope one-handed, firing a gun. Can you do that?"

I said, "Oh, of course I can," thinking in my own mind they're completely mad, they were never going to do that. Anyway, I went up there and I trained for weeks with them and did end up sliding down, became a ninja and slid down and fired my gun and everything else, and that was my first experience with Bond.

(GUNFIRE)

ARMSTRONG: When I got the job "On Her Majesty's Secret Service," it was purely by chance. I ended up doubling George Lazenby on the second unit. Had a fantastic skier look-alike who did all the skiing. I took over when he landed, skied over the edge of the cliff and tripped and fell to end up hanging over a 5,000-foot cliff. It was just massive.

CURRY: The heart-stopping scene was made more tense as Vic was using the same cable which had snapped the previous day on an earlier stunt.

ARMSTRONG: So, we threw the cable out, measured roughly what the distance was, brought it back in, made the loop, tied it around my ankle, and then I ran and did the belly flop and the dive and the skid through the snow.

But of course, as I got to the edge of the cliff, about three or feet of snow just came off like it was an avalanche, which meant I went another three or four foot further down over the edge than I was planning, and I immediately thought the cable had snapped, but it wasn't, it was just my --

(LAUGHTER)

ARMSTRONG: -- my nerves.

Yes, "The World is Not Enough" was a great shoot.

CURRY: By now, Armstrong was employed as a stunt coordinator, creating scenes for his team of stunt actors.

ARMSTRONG: All the script said was: "Bond leaves MI6 at Vauxhall Bridge in a boat." Didn't know what sort of a boat. "And he ends up at the dome, and we need a hot air balloon involved in it."

So, I wrote a sequence where he goes through a fish market and through a restaurant and all that sort of stuff. And I'm very, very proud of that chase, actually, because it started off with nothing, and a boat chase is a tough thing to try and achieve. It's one of the things that gets as much credit and recognition as anything I've done.

(BOND THEME MUSIC)

CURRY: For all Armstrong's work, ask him to choose his favorite Bond stunt, and he'll select a scene which wasn't one of his own.

ARMSTRONG: For me, the greatest one is when he skied off the cliff with the Union Jack parachute. To me, that is sensational. And I saw that and the whole cinema erupted, and I thought that was the most fantastic opening ever. It was just brilliant.

(BOND THEME MUSIC)

CRAIG: Traditionally, all these Bonds have done big stunts, and obviously when in the 80s when technology, CGI now, you can fake so much, and it's never been part of Bond -- the Bond process. It's always about doing it for real. And that still applies.

CURRY: Neil Curry, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Now, from a stuntman to a dead man -- or not. A family in Brazil was all set to bury their beloved relative when they had an unexpected visitor at the wake. Shasta Darlington reports on the man who turned up alive at his own funeral.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You can call Gilberto Araujo a dead man walking. Or just the victim of a case of mistaken identity. The family of a man in Brazil got the shock of a lifetime when the relative they were about to bury showed up at his own wake.

Gilberto Araujo heard rumors that he had died. So, the 41-year-old car washer decided to go to his mother's home, where the wake was held to prove he wasn't dead.

GILBERTO ARAUJO, CAR WASHER (through translator): When I walked through the door, I saw the coffin and was a bit flabbergasted. I asked, "What is this?" and they said it was a service for me, and I said to them, "I'm alive. I'm not dead."

DARLINGTON: Gilberto's family hadn't seen him for months. His own brother identified the body.

JOSE MARCOS ARAUJO, GILBERTO'S BROTHER (through translator): There was no way to tell the difference because they were actually very similar. So, I proceeded to confirm it was actually my brother and brought the body home.

DARLINGTON: Gilberto even tried to phone someone attending the wake, and it was thought to be a prank call.

JOAO, GILBERTO'S FRIEND (through translator): I saw people screaming, "Gilberto is alive! He is alive!" One of the guys was even a bit drunk, and he said, "I told you I saw the body moving in the coffin!"

DARLINGTON: The question now is, who's the man in the coffin? Authorities have launched an investigation into his identity. But for now, a family that was once grieving is now grateful their loved one is alive and well.

Shasta Darlington, CNN, Sao Paulo.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: You could not make it up. In tonight's Parting Shots, they say never work with children and animals. Pippa Middleton might be regretting ignoring that advice during an event to launch her new book on party-planning tonight. Listen to what these children had to say to the Duchess of Cambridge's sister.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PIPPA MIDDLETON, DUCHESS OF CAMBRIDGE'S SISTER: I was a tomboy as a kid. I bet in five years -- how old are you now?

UNIDENTIFIED GIRL: Ten and a half.

MIDDLETON: Ten and a half. How old are you?

UNIDENTIFIED GIRL: I'm seven.

MIDDLETON: I bet when you're ten, you'll love pink and you'll love princesses.

UNIDENTIFIED GIRL: I hate princesses.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED GIRL: I hate fairy tales.

MIDDLETON: I walked into that one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: A little girl who hates princesses. There are a few of them, of course, but not the ideal person to say it to. She made fun of it, thought. It goes to show, you can't plan the perfect party. It's the guests that make or break it, they say.

This is the book that Pippa has released today. Inside, various crafts and ways of entertaining. And we put it to the test, actually. Last night, Dominique, one of our producers, tried to produce this. It is, if you're wondering, a lollipop-studded pumpkin, "a great table centerpiece. The lollipops can be handed out as going home treats, as well."

And there it is. It's basically a -- technically a lollipop -- a load of lollipops stuffed into a pumpkin. And Dominique, unfortunately, didn't have the napkins available, so she used to roll, but we think she carried it off rather beautifully.

That finishes off the show, a table direction for you on the set. I wonder what Becky thinks of that. I'll send her the video.

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

END