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Connect the World
North Korea Announces It Will Restart Reactors At Yongbyon; Activist Organization Estimates 6,000 Deaths In Syria In March; Former Swindon City Boss Discusses Paolo Di Canio's Past, Future As Sunderland's Manager
Aired April 02, 2013 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BECKY ANDERSON, HOST: And tonight on Connect the World, fire it up again. Five years after this nuclear complex was shut down and parts destroyed, North Korea says it wants to get it up and running. So how worried should the world be?
ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN London, this is Connect the World with Becky Anderson.
ANDERSON: Also ahead on the show, if a picture tells 1,000 words, well the new manager of a big British football club can't be very proud of this shot. Should allegations of fascism affect his suitability for the job?
And remember this?
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ANDERSON: The life and death drama of the king of pop gets another airing in court. We are live this hour in Los Angeles for the very latest.
First up this hour, a crisis that the United Nations warns could spiral out of control. North Korea raised the stakes yet again this Tuesday in its confrontation with South Korea and the United States. It says it will reboot a long dormant nuclear reactor.
First up Jim Clancy with details from Seoul.
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JIM CLANCY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It was 2008. After years of torturous negotiations it appeared the world had finally managed to shut down North Korea's nuclear program. The cooling down at the Yongboyn reactor was destroyed, but the promise of that dissolved in disputes over whether Pyongyang was fully complying with verification. Had it really abandoned its nuclear ambitions?
North Korea walked away, but the reactor site remained closed.
That all changed when North Korea announced Tuesday it was reopening the reactor and associated enrichment facilities both to generate electric power and enhance its nuclear weapons program. Not surprising, but worrisome.
DANIEL PINKSTON, INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP: On the weapons side, of course, if they restart these facilities it gives them access to more fissile material both highly enriched uranium. And if they restart the reactor, it gives them a source of plutonium that they can also use for bombs.
CLANCY: Hearing Pyongyang's announcement China and South Korea had almost identical reactions.
CHO TAI-YOUNG, SOUTH KOREAN FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMAN (through translator): If the report is true, it is really regrettable. North Korea should keep their promise and agreements and they should keep to denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
HONG LEI, CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMAN (through translator): We have noted the relevant comments by North Korea and express regret.
CLANCY: Nuclear weapons may not be the only concern for North Korea's neighbors. Without international supervision or IAEA inspectors to oversee any reboot of the Yongbyon reactor, Syria's safety issues arise.
PINKSTON: The North Koreans are not known for adhering to international standards in terms of nuclear safety, so there could be an accident. And in that case, it would not only affect North Koreans, but potentially others in the region in South Korea, Japan, or China.
CLANCY: This is just the latest in a roller coaster ride of threats, demands, and proclamations coming from North Korea's young leader, Kim Jong un. And even if it's not surprising, North Korea's neighbors are deeply troubled.
Jim Clancy, CNN, Seoul.
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ANDERSON: I want to get some analysis of what's going on, but before I do that let me just get you a shot here of the U.S. State Department. The Secretary of State John Kerry and the South Korean foreign minister Yun Byung-se will be speaking very shortly. When they do, we'll go straight to that. Those are bilateral talks. And what will come out of those talks, of course, will be extremely important.
Announcing a reboot of the nuclear reactor is one thing, actually getting up and running quite another. How long could that process take? And what exactly is involved? And how worried should any of us be?
Let's ask Rebecca Johsnon, an expert on nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation. She director of the Acronym Institute for Disarmament Diplomacy. Rebecca, in 2008 my colleague Christiane Amanpour visited the plant. I want to just get some shots up of that, because at the time it certainly looked as if it had, or was being moth-balled. This is Christiane actually getting suited. But we'll see the shots of the, what looks like a moth-balled plant after that.
And as we look at these shots here, should we -- or can we believe that it was, in fact, disabled?
REBECCA JOHNSON, ACRONYM INSTITUTE FOR DISARMAMENT DIPLOMACY: I think it's fair to say that it was disabled to some extent. We saw the cooling tower, which was pretty old by that time as well, being dismantled, being blown up in fact. And if they were going to restart, they would have to either rebuild that cooling tower, or they'd have to find some other mechanism for cooling.
Also, Sigfried Hecker from the U.S. nuclear labs went in 2010 and he was shown other aspects of the plant that had been dismantled.
The key question for us is when you have a country like that that practically has a slave labor force and is willing to commit any amount of money without any oversight to rebuilding, how long would that take?
ANDERSON: Well, we're looking at pictures here. And you can just look on the screens here of what looks as if -- are shots of the cooling plant being blown up. Look, as well if you will, at this satellite animation. It takes you to Yongbyon about 90 kilometers north of the capital. At the site, you see the reactor's old cooling tower, this elongated shower and pictures dating, let me say, before 2008.
Now this tower, as we saw it, was destroyed by the government in what was quite spectacular fashion in June 2008 as a way to signal, as they said at the time the nation was ending its nuclear activities.
Look, though, Rebecca at this. Skipping ahead to 2010, you can see construction activity at the same site, space being cleared, a concrete foundation, pulled cranes in place, and check out that circular structure. According to experts this time lapse, which runs through last September shows construction progressing on a new light water nuclear reactor.
If that is the case, how concerned should we be?
JOHNSON: Well, the light water reactor is a different thing from the graphite cooled reactor. The graphite reactor, the five megawatt reactor was the one that was producing the spent fuel that was then being reprocessed to produce plutonium that was used in the nuclear weapon tests, for example, and could be used for the nuclear warheads.
Now the light water reactor as it currently stands, certainly it's an excuse for enriching uranium. And North Korea has now admitted what was long suspected, that has the uranium enrichment. We know of at least one uranium enrichment is above ground. We can see it. What we don't know is have they got other uranium enrichment facilities in the mountains that are enriching for nuclear weapon purposes, which is a much higher level than for the reactor.
ANDERSON: And this, of course, is the big problem. It's difficult enough for us as a television program to get enough picture to really give our viewers a sense of what's going on. For experts like yourself, the details of course are very sketchy. What are we hearing? And how are you reading what we're hearing from the new president. Is this bluff, or something more?
JOHNSON: I don't think we can talk about it as bluff, but what we have to understand is, these days nuclear weapons are far more about domestic policy, they're far more about weak leaders wanting to shore up domestic support, domestic constituencies. We saw that with the Indian nuclear test. We see that with Pakistan. We see that to some extent with the jockeying around nuclear technologies with Iran.
So, you know, there are two audiences for the signaling that's going on. One audience may well be the U.S. and South Korea. And that's -- that's, you know, certainly worrying, but I don't think that they -- you know, they need to keep very cool heads.
The major audience for Kim Jong un is his domestic audience. This is a country where people don't have enough to eat, where you know it's so highly controlled, but also unable to deliver economic development for its people.
What can they do? They can posture around being a nuclear weapon state. And we have to understand why that is, is because in the world there are nine countries that have given value to pursuing having nuclear weapons. And they are not the most powerful countries by and large that are the ones seeking to hold on to them.
ANDERSON: Always a pleasure to have you on the show. Thank you.
You're watching Connect the World live from London. Of course, our top story this hour, the North Korea crisis has gone too far, so says the UN chief after Pyongyang announced plans to restart its main nuclear complex. Now the details sketchy at best as we said. It's not clear whether North Korea is any closer to launching a nuclear warhead. What does seem clear, though, is that six years of nuclear diplomacy are effectively dead. All bets are off. The west -- at least this hour it seems is back to square one.
You're watching Connect the World live from London. Up next, is Europe facing the very real prospect of a lost generation. More on another grim statistic in the EuroZone's short history.
He's trying to focus on his football team's survival, but allegations of fascism are hounding this new Premiership manager. Coming up, what a former colleague makes of Paolo Di Canio.
And...
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ANDERSON: Jay-Z adds another career to his CV. And we explain more on that as we do the top sports stories a little later.
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ANDERSON: This is Connect the World on CNN. I'm Becky Anderson in London. Welcome back.
Now EuroZone unemployment has hit a new record high. Figures show the total number of jobless soared to 12 percent in February. That is about 19 million people out of work.
Now the highest numbers you're probably not going to be surprised to hear this. The highest increase registered in Greece. Unemployment went up by 5 percentage points in just one year.
The Iberian nations are faring just as badly. I don't know if I can bring -- let me take that down and see if I can bring this one up -- Portugal, you can see there, it rose to 17.5 percent in just one year again.
Spain, well the numbers speak for themselves, really, don't they? And these numbers aren't the worst. Do remember the jobless numbers in Spain over 50 percent as we speak.
And we're going to just move on here, it's young people who are the worst affected. Nearly one in every four young people, or persons are out of work. And that's the number for you. 55.7 percent in Spain.
CNN's Al Goodman is in Spain where he's been speaking to some of those worst hit by this crisis. And he just, before the show, sent us this report.
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AL GOODMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is the Malasana District in Madrid, long a magnet for young people who have been especially hard hit by the jobless crisis in Spain.
In this cafe, we immediately met people who are out of work, like Berjer Bada Capati from the Philippines.
BERJER BADA CAPATI, JOBLESS RESTAURANT WORKER: I lost my job a month ago. It's not that it was really going bad, it's more like it's -- my employer preferred to keep his money, what's remaining of it, than to just keep going. So what he did was he closed the place and he's going to move in another place just to get rid of us.
We prepare cocktails and listen to music. We also do lunch. It's a restaurant, actually. It's a bar/restaurant.
GOODMAN: And how many people lost their jobs approximately?
BADA CAPATI: Around 25 people.
This has been my job since three years ago. And I really want to do something -- I mean, I want to work on something with languages. I mean, I speak English, French, and Spanish. I'm from the Philippines actually. I came here as a scholar.
GOODMAN: What do you think of this economic crisis here?
BAD CAPATI: I think they're cheating on us, on everybody. I read several newspapers every day just to get a comparison of what is hidden from us and which informations are manipulated.
GOODMAN: Right here in the bar I also met a theater lighting technician who lost his job two months ago, an office worker who says she's been out of work for more than two years, a college graduate who has been looking for work since last May and says he's going to move to Los Angeles to try his luck.
On top of all that, the bar owner says business is down by 30 percent this year due to the economic crisis.
Al Goodman, CNN, Madrid.
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ANDERSON: Well, to Syria now for you where more than 6,000 people were killed in just four weeks, that is according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights who says March was the deadliest month of the entire civil war. Let's put that into context for you, that's more than all the deaths that occurred during the first nine months of that war.
The UN now estimates that more than 70,000 people have been killed since the conflict began back in March 2011. This report from Nick Paton Walsh.
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NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, how did the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights get this remarkable number. Well, it seems split between combatants and civilians and those combatants share the casualty between the regime and the rebels, but the regime really under pressure asking for a draft amongst civilians to assist the Bashar al-Assad regime.
Another reason for these higher numbers, though, the increased use of heavy weaponry across the country. This ballistic missile used in the Daryyah area near Damascus. Heavy weapons hitting indiscriminately civilian areas, that's long been a regime tactic, but rebels are also getting their hands on heavy weapons now as well.
Another reason, a general uptick of violence across the country as rebels advance. They've been pushing hard for Aleppo now for quite some time, but also a new front in the south in Daraa, a tightened grip around Damascus, edging toward the regime's inner circle there. They recently took a town called Dial (ph) between the two which could potentially cut off lots of the southern border for regime forces.
But so much of this is really estimates.
We know from the Observatory for Human Rights, they reckon about a fifth of the casualties they counted are women and children. Often we'd see that type of civilian more affected by violence. So much of this could suggest they may have fled the country or perhaps some part of the count is missing.
Syrian observatory for human rights say 62,000 dead. So far, the UN put that at 70,000. Other estimates perhaps say 90,000. The final guess of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, though, is we could be looking at 120,000 dead so far in these two years of war.
Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, London.
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ANDERSON: Seems remarkable doesn't it?
Well, some advice now for international travelers heading to Europe wrap up warm, it may be the season for Spring Break, but the reality here in Europe, at least, is rather chilling.
Ralitsa Vassileva with this report.
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RALITSA VASSILEVA, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It feels more like winter than spring in Europe. An arctic chill has most of the continent in an icy grip. Many are sick of the cold. At Berlin Zoo, even the penguins are miserable.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Today we were planning to do our spring tour around the zoo and now it feels like winter again. Many animals feel the same as I do. They paw their hooves, flap their wings. The penguins too.
VASSILEVA: It's so cold that snow bunnies edged out snowmen. And the spring flowers were wearing a coat of snow. In fact, Easter was colder than Christmas. The UK experienced the coldest March in more than 50 years.
Why is it so cold? Meteorologist Brandon Miller says it has a lot to do with global warming. Higher temperatures had melted 80 percent of the Artic's ice over the last 30 years or so.
BRANDON MILLER, METEOROLOGIST: What that does is it weakens our polar vortex, because the polar vortex depends on that temperature grade, that change in temperatures form the poles to the tropics. If that lessens, the polar vortex lessens -- think of the polar vortex like a belt that keeps that cold Arctic air trapped in the Arctic. And when that belt loosens, the cold air flows down into North America, Asia, Europe in this case. And as long as Arctic oscillation is negative, then what we're going to see is more cold air spilling down.
VASSILEVA: As climate continues to change, many scientists say we're in for more extreme weather like this one.
Ralitsa Vassileva, CNN, Atlanta.
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ANDERSON: All the good news on CNN this evening.
Live from London this is Connect the World. Coming up he wanted to talk about football, but the media wanted to talk about fascism. Up next, what Sunderland's new football manager had to say about his controversial past.
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ANDERSON: Right, welcome back. It's 22 minutes past 9:00 here in London.
Now he was once reported to have said that he was a fascist, not a racist. But today, those comments were the last thing that Italian Paolo Di Canio wanted us to discuss as he took over as manager of the English Premier League football club Sunderland. It's a big ask, that club.
Martin Geissler reports.
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MARTIN GEISSLER, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: It is standard practice when a new manager joins a football club, that he's unveiled to the press, happy pictures for the strip, for a scarf, then down to business. The problem for Paolo Di Canio is that he can't seem to turn his back on images from his past. This one in particular, a right hand salute to right-wing supporters of his beloved Lazio in Rome.
At the time, he said, "I'm a fascist, but not a racist."
But now, as he takes charge of one of the big clubs in the world's biggest league, we came to see if he'd elaborate.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You said before that you're a fascist. Are you still a fascist?
GEISSLER: It became uncomfortable and unseemly. Sunderland's press officer repeatedly telling reporters to ask football questions only.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just to clear it up, do you still believe in fascism?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, no, we're finished now, thanks.
PAOLO DI CANIO, SUNDERLAND MANAGER: OK, so.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ...address it now you can end this, nip in the bud and it'll be over.
DI CANIO: So...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there any way you can...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Paolo has spoken enough.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's given you clarity. (inaudible) gentlemen. He's not sitting here to just...
DI CANIO: I've spoken many times more than this. I don't want any speculation anymore.
(CROSSTALK)
GEISSLER: In the absence of clarity, some have already taken action. Today, Durham Miners' Association cut their close links with the club.
DAVID HOPPER, DURHAM MINERS' ASSOCIATION: It was Shuntly (ph) who said football is more important than life, it's not -- you know, it's about life, it's about principles, it's about doing the right thing. And in this end we think we're doing the right thing. We think Sunderland Football Club is doing the wrong thing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE : Big day for Sunderland, Paolo Di Canio. What do you reckon?
GEISSLER: He is polarizing opinion as ever, with many fans delighted Di Canio is on (inaudible) side.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He can get the team (inaudible) than the last.
GEISSLER: The man who wrote the book on Di Canio says he's misunderstood.
GABRIELE MARCOTTI, DI CANIO BIOGRAPHER: When he said what he said, that was in Italy, that was in a different context, or perhaps it's viewed differently than it is here, because it's a different country, it has a different history.
GEISSLER: Paolo Di Canio's job is to keep struggling Sunderland in the Premier League. He faces challenges on and off the pitch.
Well, you may have noticed there Sunderland's main shirt sponsor is invested in Africa and The Nelson Mandeal Foundation have strong links with the club as well. They sent somebody here to the northeast to speak to Sunderland officials yesterday. They also spoke to Di Canio himself. And today they said they will keep up their association with Sunderland, because they're dealing with an institution and not an individual.
Oh, how Paolo Di Canio must just wish this would all go away so he could concentrate on the football. But realistically, unless he makes a position on this one issue absolutely clear, that's not going to happen any time soon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Martin Geissler reporting for you.
Well, my next guest worked with Paolo Di Canio during the former player's managerial stint at Swindon Town Football Club. But Jeremy Wray is the side's former chairman. And earlier I asked him how he would describe Di Canio.
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JEREMY WRAY, FORMER SINDON TOWN FC CHAIRMAN: Passionate, committed, focused, dedicated, a little bit mad, but not a fascist, not a racist, not a politician, he's 24/7 football.
ANDERSON: He's not a fascist and yet I want our viewers to just be reminded of this picture, which of course was him as a player for Lazio, a club which has a legacy -- let's say, and a record for racism, sadly.
When you look at that picture, Jeremy, what do you think?
WRAY: It's a picture that's been in the media for a very long time. It's a right arm salute amongst the hardcore fans of the Lazio...
ANDERSON: A Roman salute.
WRAY: A Roman salute.
ANDERSON: A fascist salute.
WRAY: Which is -- it is hard to distinguish. And I think it's -- you know, I'm not here to defend fascism in any way, and I'm not -- certainly I'm not here to defend racism in any way. And I know Paolo has been quoted, or misquoted or whatever in terms of the -- trying to distinguish one from the other. And really, this has blown up out of something that he's 100 percent football.
ANDERSON: He says he doesn't sit in the house of commons or parliament as he says. He says he's not a politician. But he has a responsibility. The world of football these days is the world of entertainment. It makes an awful lot of money and many, many, many millions of people around the world look to people like Di Canio for the way they should act.
Should he apologies at this stage for something that happened in the past, sweep it under the table and move on?
WRAY: I think he wants to let what he was employed to do at Sunderland, which is football be absolutely what people focus on. I think if it hadn't come out that David Milliband had suddenly resigned, then this would not have had a huge issue.
ANDERSON: Is that why this has come out? David Milliband, who might have been the leader of the Labor Party here, who was a director at Sunderland, has resigned as a result of this.
Now many people will say, he was moving to New York anyway. He has a new job. What's your sense? Why did this happen now/
WRAY: And that's, you know, I think politicians are better than the rest of us at spotting an opportunity timing wise to tie two things together. And I just thought it was unfortunate that a deputy chairman of Sunderland, he had the opportunity, then, probably to have met Paolo once he'd been appointed. And if he had concerns and he felt that other people might have had concerns to have asked those questions then and to allay people's fears. And coming from a prominent politician, that would have put things to bed.
I think that -- you know, Paolo has had this opportunity. He's been offered this job. He's taken the job. He's totally focused on football. And for people then to sort of turn to politics, it's sad, to be honest.
He's been in England as manager of Swindon for two years. You know, if it was -- what is it that Swindon was two small for this moral issue to be discussed? I've known him during those two years. He has opinions on many things. We've never discussed politics once.
ANDERSON: Is he going to be good for Sunderland?
WRAY: He'll be superb for Sunderland. I mean, he's...
ANDERSON: Big club. Big opportunity for him. He's an outstanding manager, outstanding man, motivated. I have no doubts -- you know, he left us with the second best win percentage of any manager, only Alex Ferguson better. That's not bad for a rookie manager starting out.
His best friend is Jewish. His agent is Jewish. You know, these are things that people don't take into account.
He comes from the working class background. Dad was a bricky. He lost both his parents while he was with us. Family comes very, very high on his agenda.
So people at Sunderland who are concerned: family, club, family issues. The fans at Swindon were concerned. To be honest, he won them over in a very short space of time. He will do the same thing at Sunderland.
ANDERSON: Let's hope his record speaks volumes.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Let me tell you, the club needs it.
That was former Swindon chairman Jeremy Wray speaking to me just before this show.
And staying with football, there's a terrific night of Champion's League games on. The final minutes of two of the first leg matches of the quarterfinals. Find out who the winners and losers are a little later this hour.
You're watching Connect the World. Right after this break, the latest world news headlines as you would expect here on CNN at the bottom of the hour. Plus, the world watches as the life and death of the king of pop is aired once again. A live report out of LA for you.
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SHERYL SANDBERG, CHIEF OPPERATING OFFICER, FACEBOOK: Put your foot on that gas pedal and keep it there until the day you have to make a decision, and then make a decision.
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ANDERSON: Can a simple message of "you can lead" change the future for women in business? Find out in our series Leading Women in about 20 minutes' time.
And fancy owning a bit of a deep blue sea? Well, recession may have hurt the housing market, but the world's oceans, it seems, are doing swimmingly.
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ANDERSON: A very warm welcome back, this is CONNECT THE WORLD, I'm Becky Anderson, the top stories for you this hour.
The United States is asking Russia and China to help rein in North Korea. Pyongyang announced today that it will restart all activity at its main nuclear complex in Yongbyon, and that includes a reactor capable of producing weapons-grade plutonium.
A quick note: we are also keeping an eye on the US State Department in Washington, a live picture for you from there. US Secretary of State John Kerry and the South Korean foreign minister expected to hold a news conference any moment now. One would assume it will be about the North Korean situation. We will bring that to you as and when it happens. Stick with us for that.
Unemployment in the eurozone hit a record high for the second month in a row. Just over 19 million people out of work, that's an increase of 1.8 million compared to the same period last year.
The Cypriot finance minister has resigned from his post. It comes just a week after he helped break a $13 billion bailout to save the country from financial ruin. He'll be replaced by the current minister of labor and social insurance.
The United Nations General Assembly has approved its first-ever treaty to regulate the global arms trade. Supporters say that will help stop the flow of arms used to commit war crimes and genocide. Syria, North Korea, and Iran voted against it.
Well, jury selection has begun in what is a highly-anticipated trial tied to Michael Jackson's death. The pop legend's mother and three kids have filed a lawsuit against AEG Live. Now, they say that the promoter is to blame for hiring the doctor who was found guilty of Jackson's manslaughter, and they are said to be seeking billions of dollars worth of damage.
We're going live to CNN's Miguel Marquez in a moment. First, though, let's take a look back at the events leading up to today.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAEL JACKSON, SINGER: This is it, and see you in July.
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MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): "This is it" meant to herald Michael Jackson's comeback. Like so many things in Jackson's life and death, it's become a super-sized trial. Reports that Jackson family seeking from concert promoter AEG as much as $40 billion for the wrongful death of the 50-year-old king of pop, reports the Jackson camp denies.
KEVIN BOYLE, JACSON FAMILY ATTORNEY: If the jury feels the family deserves $40 billion, that's what they're going to give. But I can tell you, no demand has been made by the Jackson family for $40 billion from AEG. That is just not true.
MARQUEZ: At the center of the trial, who hired Dr. Conrad Murray, found guilty in 2011 of involuntary manslaughter for injecting the insomniac pop star with a lethal dose of the anesthetic propofol.
PIERS MORGAN, HOST, "PIERS MORGAN TONIGHT": What do you think, as his mother, caused his death?
KATHERINE JACSON, MICHAEL JACKSON'S MOTHER: I don't know. All I know is they used propofol and they shouldn't have used it.
MARQUEZ: The plaintiffs, Jackson's mother Katherine and his three kids, blame AEG. Its lawyer says there was never a signed contract, and Murray, who was never paid anything, served only at the pleasure of Michael Jackson.
MARVIN PUTNAM, AEG ATTORNEY: If you look at the drafts explicitly, is that he was chosen by Michael Jackson, he'd be there at Michael Jackson's behest. Michael Jackson was the only person who could get rid of him at will.
MARQUEZ: Possibly testifying, Jackson's 16-year-old son, Prince Michael, and 14-year-old daughter, Paris. Also on the list but not expected to testify, the artist Prince, who has his own history with AEG. Musician Quincy Jones could take the stand to testify how much Jackson could have earned if he had lived.
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ANDERSON: Miguel joining us now, live, outside the courthouse in Los Angeles. What happened today, Miguel?
MARQUEZ: Well, three big things. One, they argued strenuously over whether or not television cameras would be allowed in the courtroom so that the public could watch this thing live. AEG not wanting cameras in, Michael Jackson's attorney wanting the cameras in, Michael Jackson's estate not wanting the cameras in, a very bizarre sort of mix for the judge to get over.
But the AEG attorney and the attorney for Michael Jackson's -- for Michael Jackson both spoke to CNN over the weekend, and the attorneys for Michael Jackson just went after the AEG attorneys, saying look, you can't speak to CNN, slur our client all over the press, and then say, oh, you can't have cameras in the courtroom.
It was a really, really hot day in court. If this is any indication of how this thing is going to go, it's going to be a very interesting one, perhaps the most interesting Michael Jackson trial yet, Becky.
ANDERSON: How long do you think this is going to take?
MARQUEZ: A long time. Jury selection finally got underway today. That was the main order of business today. They're going through jurors slowly, they need to get to about 100 jurors that can hang out for the two to three months that it will take to get through this trial.
They will question them to get to 12 jurors and 5 alternates. The lawyers speculating today it could take as many as three or four weeks just to get the jury, two to three months beyond that for the trial. A long time.
ANDERSON: Remarkable stuff. All right. Well, stand by, it's going to be a long few weeks for you. Miguel Marquez there outside the court.
Whether he wanted it or not, Jackson, of course, lived his life in the limelight. Now, the king of pop's life and death to be aired all over again. Diane Diamond is the reporter who first broke the story of the molestation allegations against the singer. She's covered all of Jackson's trials and joins me now from Rockland County, New York.
And as if we hadn't heard enough -- hold on for one second. I'm going to come to you. Let's just go to the State Department where John Kerry is now holding a press conference with his South Korean counterpart. We'll come back to you.
JOHN KERRY, US SECRETARY OF STATE: -- doing here today to Washington. This is his first visit as the foreign minister, and it's my first visit with him as secretary of state, and we're both delighted to start off the day.
Two very close friends, countries that have traveled a very interesting journey together for 60 years now. We celebrate the 60 years of this alliance.
So for decades, the United States and the Republic of South Korea -- Republic of Korea -- have worked side-by-side as allies, and we have, I think, stood up to a wide range of challenges over that period of time, not just in the Asia Pacific -- excuse me -- but in other parts of the world as well.
When you look back at our common commitment to democracy, to human rights, and to rule of law, it's no wonder that we have been such natural partners. Our alliance, which is in this moment of its 60th anniversary celebration, remains critical to American engagement in Asia, and it is a lynchpin of peace and stability in the region.
The United States is completely committed to deepening this relationship in the years ahead, and that's one of the reasons why I will be visiting Seoul next week and the president of Korea will be -- the Republic of Korea -- will be here in Washington to meet with President Obama in early May.
Today, we discuss all of the issues that you would obviously imagine we would, and even more. We covered a great deal, but I will start with North Korea.
We've heard an extraordinary amount of unacceptable rhetoric from the North Korean government in the last days, so let me be perfectly clear her today. The United States will defend and protect ourselves and our treaty ally, the Republic of Korea.
The foreign minister and I also think it's important to stay absolutely focused on our shared goal of a peaceful Korean peninsula, free of nuclear weapons. And we agree that improved relations between North and South would ultimately help to re -- move us towards that go.
That is a stated goal of the new president of the Republic of Korea, and we look forward to working with her to achieve that goal.
We also discussed our collaboration on global security issues. South Korea has done great work on the UN Security Council, helping to curb civilian casualties in combat zones, and they have done that work not just in the Far East, but around the world.
We're also grateful for South Korea's continued commitment to reducing Iranian oil imports. This has not been easy. It's at a cost to their economy. It's difficult, but they have played their role and take their part in helping to have an impact on trying to change the behavior of Iran.
Iran knows exactly what it needs to do in order to address international concerns about its nuclear program, and it can start doing so next weekend in Almaty at the P5+1 talks.
We also discussed ways to work more closely on the humanitarian crisis in Syria, and I thanked the Republic of Korea for their support on the humanitarian concerns in that area. We also have shared initiatives in sub-Sahara Africa. We thank them for that.
In terms of bilateral issues, the foreign minister and I both want to promote the smooth implementation of the US-Korea free trade agreement. This agreement is good for both countries, and it will strengthen our broad economic ties, it will spur growth, it will help create jobs in both countries and in both regions.
We also had a good discussion on the bilateral civilian nuclear agreement. We have a long record of cooperation on this issue, and we are committed to finding a workable ambitious way forward.
And finally, we also are both deeply concerned about addressing the problem of climate change. We discussed that. We will have further discussions when I go to Seoul next week. We both support clean energy development and we will be looking for ways to work closely on these issues as we enter a period of new negotiations on climate change over the course of the next few years.
So, this was a very productive meeting. I hope the first of many in the years ahead, and Mr. Foreign Minister, I look forward to seeing you again in a very short period of time, and I thank you for your commitment to this important partnership, and I thank you for taking time to come and visit here today to prepare for the important meetings of our leaders in early May. Thank you.
YUN BYUNG-SE, SOUTH KOREAN FOREIGN MINISTER: Thank you. Good afternoon. I wish to thank Secretary Kerry for his invitation and for his hospitality. As Mr. Kerry explained, we had an excellent meeting today. We discussed a wide range of key issues, including our alliance, North Korea, regional and global agendas.
As Secretary Kerry mentioned, this year marks the 60th anniversary of the South Korea-US alliance. In Korea, 60 years symbolizes maturity and wisdom. As we celebrate one may describe as one of the strongest alliances in history, we affirm the need to further consolidate our comprehensive strategic alliance defining the 21st century.
In this regard, we share the view that President Park's visit to the United States in May, which will be her very first overseas visit as head of the state, will elevate our 60-year-old alliance to a new height. Secretary Kerry and I pledged to make every effort to ensure a successful summit.
More than anything else, I discussed with Secretary Kerry the serious nature of the security situation on the Korean peninsula, including North Korea's nuclear testing as well as the series of threats from the North.
We agreed to further strengthen credible and robust deterrents vis-a- vis North Korea's nuclear and additional provocations. In particular, the secretary and I expressed satisfaction over the progress made in the tailored standard deterrence and the counter-provocation plan.
I reaffirmed my government's strong commitment to work closely with the United States on North Korea policy. Both Secretary Kerry and I agreed that North Korea should abandon its nuclear ambitions and bellicose rhetoric.
We also agreed to collaborate to ensure full implementation of the UN's Security Council Resolution 2094. I also briefed Secretary Kerry on my government's policy of building trust between Seoul and Pyongyang as North Korea makes the right choice.
I also emphasized that President Park's new policy to promote peace and cooperation in Northeast Asia is in line with the United States policy towards Asia and that the mutually reinforce each other.
As we celebrate the first anniversary of the KORUS FTA, both Secretary Kerry and I were pleased with the smooth implementation of the agreement. I also took the opportunity to affirm -- to reaffirm my government's --
ANDERSON: You're listening to the South Korean foreign minister, who is in Washington this evening. That is the State Department. He has just been holding a news conference with the new secretary of state, John Kerry, who said we celebrate a 60-year alliance with the Republic of Korea.
Our alliance, he said, remains critical to US engagement in Asia. The US, Kerry said, completely committed to deepening the relationship with South Korea in the years ahead. They said that they had discussed North Korea, and John Kerry said that he, and I quote, "heard an extraordinary amount of unacceptable rhetoric from the North."
The US, he said, will "defend and protect ourselves and treat our ally, South Korea, according." So the treaty alliance, of course, suggesting that they will look after South Korea. "We want to ensure a peaceful peninsula, free of nuclear weapons." South Korean foreign minister referring to the "bellicose rhetoric" from the North.
We're going to take a very short break. Back after this.
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ANDERSON: Well, the woman who runs the business side of Facebook wants to see more female leaders, and that makes Sheryl Sandberg one of our Leading Women.
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SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg is on a mission to empower and inform women.
SANDBERG: Our lack of positions of power means that when the decisions are made, our voices are not equally hears.
O'BRIEN: It's not the first time Sandberg has given women this pointed talk.
SANDBERG: Do not lean back. Lean in. Put your foot on that gas pedal and keep it there until the day you have to make a decision, and then make a decision.
O'BRIEN: She's fine-tuned this message in her book "Lean In," viewed by some as a modern-day feminist blueprint.
O'BRIEN (on camera): Is this a movement?
SANDBERG: I really want to help change the conversation on women from what we can't do to what we can. We're not close to getting our share of the leadership roles in any industry anywhere in the world.
O'BRIEN (voice-over): To combat that dismal reality, Sandberg challenges women to take ownership of their careers.
SANDBERG: "Lean In" is not about fixing women. "Lean In" is about all of us coming together to understand the stereotypes that are holding women back and fix them.
O'BRIEN: And according to Sandberg, what's holding women back is, in part, women themselves. The book offers potentially career-boosting advice in chapters titled "Sit at the table," "Make your partner a real partner," "Don't leave before you leave," in which Sandberg tells women considering motherhood don't enter the workforce already looking for the exit.
SANDBERG: If you start leaning back too early, you're going to wind up in a job that pays less, or you're going to wind up working for some guys who ten years before was leaning forward when you were leaning back.
O'BRIEN: But "Lean In's" prescription may be a bitter pill for some women to swallow, those who believe while women can make some changes, the established work structure is what needs to become more flexible.
But Sandberg is convinced women can benefit from her work experience and lessons learned, especially young women. Since graduating from Harvard Business School, she's been a chief of staff at the US Treasury Department, a vice president at Google, and for the past five years, COO at Facebook, working side-by-side with the co-founder and her boss, Mark Zuckerberg. She considers him a mentor.
O'BRIEN (on camera): When you talk about your mentors in the book, it's mostly men.
SANDBERG: I've never worked for a woman. I have been really lucky and I've had great mentors and great sponsors, and part of "Lean In" is trying to help people find the right way to develop those mentors and sponsors and saying to every man out there, it should be a badge of honor to mentor a young woman.
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ANDERSON: Well, as promised, we are back with the results from the two Champions League quarterfinal matches, which have just ended. Don Riddell joining us from CNN Center. I know you're going to give us the results, but David Beckham also, of course, starting the PSG match with Barca. How did he do?
DON RIDDELL, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: He played pretty well. Importantly, he started, Becky, and he actually made it to about halfway through the second half before he was substituted, but he played his part in what was a very, very entertaining game.
It finished two-all. Barcelona took the lead through that man, Lionel Messi, scoring his eight goal in the Champions League this season, but he left at halftime with an injured hamstring, which could be a factor in the second leg if he doesn't recover in time.
Ibrahimovic equalized from an offside position for Paris Saint- Germain, but as I said, this game ended two-all, and Barcelona thought they'd done it. Xavi scored a penalty very, very late on, only for PSG to equalize with the very last kick of the game, a shot from Matuidi, making it two-all.
So, Paris have something to take to the second leg against Barcelona next week, but you would still think that Barcelona have done just enough in this tie, given that they have scored two away goals tonight. But we will see. Two-all the score there, Becky.
ANDERSON: Yes, makes -- it makes an exciting second leg anyway. The other match featuring the league leaders in Germany and Italy, how did that one end?
RIDDELL: Well, this was two-nil to Bayern Munich. They beat Juventus by two goals to nil. Juventus haven't conceded in the Champions League for 491 minutes, but they let a goal in after just 25 seconds. It was a deflected shot from David Alaba, and Bayern then made it two-nil later on with a goal from Thomas Muller.
They are the runaway leaders in the German Bundesliga, and they absolutely have one foot in the semifinal, given that score tonight, Becky.
ANDERSON: All right. Parting Shots from you then, tonight. One of the world's most successful hip hop artists becoming quite a player in the world of sports. You have 20 seconds, sir.
RIDDELL: Oh, OK, yes. Jay-Z very successful, he's got a very beautiful and very successful wife, Beyonce, as well. He's a part owner in the Brooklyn Nets NBA team, and he's just set up his own spots management agency. His first client, the Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano, who in just a few months' time is going to become the most-coveted free agent in major league baseball.
ANDERSON: The guy's no fool. Nor, sir, are you. You'll be back at the bottom of the hour with "World Sport," of course. Much more on Champions League, it's been a great night of football and more to come, of course.
I'm Becky Anderson, that was CONNECT THE WORLD, thank you for watching.
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