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Facebook Stock Down After Mixed Earnings Report; India Mourns Another Rape, Murder Of Young Girl; Ireland Clarifies Abortion Law

Aired May 01, 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: This is Connect the World. I'm Becky Anderson. This just in to CNN. Expect disruption on the ground of this hour at Gatwick Airport in London. Police tell CNN that a bomb disposal unit carried out a controlled explosion on a suspicious vehicle at the airport's north terminal car park. Police are checking all areas of the airport. Flights are still normal, we are told, but passengers are being urged to allow more time to travel.

May Day, or International Workers Day, is a holiday in many parts of the world. And for some, it's a day to celebrate spring. For others, it is a day of protest. Well, in Turkey May Day rallies turned into violent clashes earlier as protesters defied a ban on demonstrations in Istanbul's Taksim Square.

The square is a traditionally rallying place, but officials said renovations there posed a security problem. Police fired water cannons and tear gas to disperse the crowds. Dozens were hurt, including several police officers. the Istanbul governor's office says 72 protesters were arrested -- excuse me.

Well, May Day protests in Bangladesh took on an added significance this Wednesday with thousands of gun workers calling for safer working conditions. It's been one week since a devastating factory building collapsed, killing more than 400 people. A military official told CNN the number of people missing is still unclear.

Bangladesh's biggest trading partner, the EU, has said it's considering imposing sanctions to try and force the government to improve safety standards there.

Well, earlier I spoke to the Bangladeshi home minister for his response to possible EU action.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MUHIUDDIN KHAN ALAMGIR, BANGLADESHI HOME MINISTER: Change is a two- way game. We also, then they also (inaudible). They cheap supplies (inaudible) we also (inaudible).

You see, you want the cheapest, but at the same time you want their standards should be upped. These don't work together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, you can hear the full interview in about 20 minutes time here on the show. Also tonight, a hospital officials in India confirmed the rape of another girl, this one four years old. And it gets even worse as my colleague Ram Ramgopal explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAM RAMGOPAL: A heartbreaking scene in central India. Tears and cries of grief from the family of a young rape victim. The four-year-old girl died nearly two weeks after being attacked. Her tiny body was marched through the streets of her hometown before being buried. The girl had been in a coma since the April 17 attack. Doctors say she had suffered severe brain damage and was on life support. Late Monday, her conditioned worsened and doctors could not save her.

ASHOK TANK, DOCTOR (through translator): At around 7:45 pm the rape victim was declared dead after suffering a cardiac arrest. The victim's condition had been deteriorating.

RAMGOPAL: Authorities say the girl had been kidnapped from her home and raped, her bleeding body left in a field. The girl's parents found her unconscious the following day.

Police say a 35-year-old man has been arrested and confessed to the attack. The victims' family is now asking authorities to seek the death penalty.

AALOK VAJPAYEE, VICTIM'S RELATIVE (through translator): We hope from the administration, the police and the court that a fast track court will hear the case and that the accused will be given the death sentence.

RAMGOPAL: Sadly, this is the latest in a string of high profile attacks on girls and women in India. The recent rape of a five-year-old in New Delhi triggered widespread protests in the capital. Both cases seem to have reignited concern about safety for young girls in India where, according to UNICEF, one-in-three rape victims are children.

Ram Ramgopal, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: Beggar's belief, doesn't it?

Well, the numbers many investors have been waiting for are just out. Moments ago, Facebook announced its first quarter earnings. The social media giant reports a 38 percent jump in quarterly revenue. Crucially, though, profits missed forecasts on the slowing rate of mobile user growth. Right now, the stock down in after hours trading. Do watch that, that's going to be a big mover tomorrow.

Well, we want to show you some video now of what purports to be an horrific cargo plane crash at Bagram air force base in Afghanistan on Monday.

Now I want to warn you that the images are graphic and disturbing. And I mean that. We have, though, decided to show you them, because it is extremely rare that a crash of this nature involving a Boeing 747 is caught on camera. Again, this is the video of the crash as it happened.

Now investigators are trying to figure out what caused this crash that killed all seven American crew members. The cargo carrier National Airlines says the Boeing 747 was carrying routine cargo on a flight to Dubai when it seemed to simply fall out of the sky shortly after takeoff. CNN's aviation expert Richard Quest has been studying this video. He says that the plane took off at a very steep angle, as you can see.

Adds that the Afghanistan civil aviation authority will host the investigation, but the expertise will come from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board. He says they'll be looking at whether cargo and possible engine failure, or some combination of both, were responsible.

Well, earlier I asked an aviation expert Jim Tilmon what he thought of the doomed plane's takeoff. This is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM TILMON, AVIATION EXPERT: It was a horrible time, a horrible, very fast few minutes which meant that as soon as it broke ground they -- I believe that if that is when the load shifted or if it was properly loaded at the beginning, the nose began to come up almost on its own. And attempts to try to stop the nose from rising were becoming very, very difficult if not impossible. So you ended up with a controlled full forward trying to keep the nose down and keep your air speed up. And not able to do so, because of this imbalance.

That means that you just did not have control of the airplane from the very beginning from the time that you left the ground until you crashed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Ireland's prime minister says that a new proposed bill would help, and I quote, "save lives" when pregnant women are at risk. The government is trying to clarify when doctors can legally terminate a pregnancy even though abortion is generally banned.

As Dyane Connor explains, the death of a woman last year triggered demands for change.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DYANE CONNOR, TV3: This new legislation allows for a termination to be carried out if there is a risk to the woman's life, including the threat of suicide. In a medical emergency, one doctor can grant permission for a termination to be carried out. But if there is a risk of suicide, three specialist consultants are needed to all agree that a termination should be carried out. If they refuse, the woman does have the option of appealing and must be seen by a further three specialists.

The legislation also includes a proposal that a woman faces up to 14 years in prison if she's found to have had an illegal abortion.

Now our Taoiseach Enda Kenny held a press conference today saying that this doesn't change the abortion law in Ireland, but it does provide clarity to the medical profession and pregnant women.

ENDA KENNY, IRISH PRIME MINISTER: Our end, therefore, is to protect the lives of women and their unborn babies by clarifying the circumstances in which doctors can intervene where a woman's life is at risk.

CONNOR: The debate on the abortion law here in Ireland has been rumbling on for over 20 years now since the (inaudible) case. But what really brought it to a fore and put the government under pressure was the death of Savita Halappanavar late last year in Galway University Hospital. She was admitted suffering from a miscarriage, but because there was a fetal heartbeat it was illegal for termination to be carried out. By the time it was legal for a termination to be carried out it was too late and she died essentially from an E. Coli bacterial infection.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: Dyane Connor reporting there for our Irish affiliate TV3. She says the legislation is expected to pass when it comes to a vote in mid-July.

You're watching Connect the World live from London. I'm Becky Anderson for you. 24 minutes past 9:00 here.

Coming up later in the show, find out who will face Dortmund in the Champion's League final. Will it be an all-German battle? Well, we're live in Barcelona from the Noy camp (ph) to find out. Back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: You're watching Connect the World live from London. I'm Becky Anderson for you.

Let's get more now on those Facebook earnings, shall we? Alison Kosik is live at the New York Stock Exchange.

The headline number does -- looks pretty impressive, but when you grind down on these numbers how do they appear to you?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know what this winds up being? It winds up being a pretty decent report, earnings report. Very mixed though. So what investors were really looking for was revenue growth, the money that's coming into Facebook. And that's where Facebook beat. It came in with $1.46 billion as opposed to what was expected, $1.44. So that's a good thing with Facebook reporting a 38 percent jump in quarterly revenue.

Here's the thing, though, it missed on profit. And says there's a slowing rate of mobile user growth as well.

Also, since more people are using Facebook on smartphones and tablets, the buzz word that investors were looking for were revenue from mobile advertising. And we learned that mobile ad revenue is 30 percent of Facebook's total ad revenue. But ad revenue is down from last quarter. But if you look from a year ago, it's up. So it really depends on how you crunch the numbers on how good that is.

One more thing, the number of active users. Facebook says that number is up. Facebook's mobile monthly active users is at 751 million as of March 31. That's up 54 percent year over year. However, that's less growth than the previous quarter.

So you see when you start comparing between the quarters, Facebook is actually showing a little bit of slowing down, Becky.

ANDERSON: We know, because Mark Zuckerberg told us recently in a huge press conference, didn't he, at a huge event, that mobile growth is where it's all at. And he talked about the new mobile Facebook environment where mobile will effectively be your operating -- you're operating OS on your phone going forward. That's where they see the growth.

These numbers underline that that's where users see Facebook going forward or not?

KOSIK: It's not really so much what users think. You know, if you think about it, if you've got an iPhone when was the last time you were on Facebook and actually clicked on an ad. It just doesn't happen. So that's the problem with Facebook right now is trying to monetize, because all those eyeballs are on those mobile devices, they've not on your PC where you see the ads in the column and you're maybe more likely to click. But that's why Facebook is sort of having this continuous sort of issue with trying to get money out of its users through these mobile ads.

ANDERSON: These numbers only just out, out after the market closed, of course. There is after hours trade and immediately these numbers were out. The stock is down in after hours trade. This will be a mover tomorrow whichever way it goes, won't it?

KOSIK: It will be, it will be. And you know you have to also mark the calendar, because we are just a couple of weeks away from the one year anniversary of Facebook's IPO which you remember, Becky, was a total disaster. The technical glitches at the NASDAQ led to a delayed open for the stocks and the buy and the sell orders weren't completed. You know, some banks and investors bought the stock at a higher price than they intended. We have been watching the stock plunge -- where we watched it plunge for months after that day.

The stocks were covered a bit, but if you look overall, Facebook shares are still down 27 percent since its IPO. And this was supposed to be the best thing since sliced bread. It didn't turn out to be that way.

ANDERSON: Yeah. And when you see Mark Zuckerberg selling off some of his stock every so often, doesn't suggest he doesn't think the company is going place. It's always interesting to see where the board and the CEO see the market going forward.

All right, Alison, thank you for that. Alison Kosik for you on what are the big numbers out after the market closed today, Facebook numbers.

Let's get back to our colleagues at UN -- in the U.S. at CNN for the latest on the Boston bombings now.

(SIMULCAST WITH CNN USA)

ANDERSON: Domestic CNN struggling with what we were struggling there, trying to get to a press conference where actually nothing was there. But keeping you bang-up-to-date, so forgive us if things like that happen. They have been keeping you bang-up-to-date on exactly what is going on out of Boston.

The latest world news headline are ahead here on CNN, plus why did Bangladesh refuse international offers of aid? My interview with the country's home minister is after our headline wrap.

Also, the first public sighting of Syria's president in weeks. We'll be live for you in Damascus.

And who will be heading to Wembley? Barcelona and Bayern Munich bat it out for a place in the Champions League final.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: All right. I do want to get you to our colleagues now at CNN USA.

(SIMULCAST CNN USA)

ANDERSON: Jeffrey Toobin and Jake Tapper. You've been watching CNN International's sister network CNN USA, updating you on the latest on the Boston bombing investigation. Let's get you the latest headlines, then, this hour.

And as you've been hearing, US authorities have made three additional arrests in the Boston bombing investigation. Two of the suspects are students from Kazakhstan. A photo taken in New York shows them standing with the younger Tsarnaev brother Dzhokhar, who's charged with the bombing. The third suspect is a US citizen identified as Robel Phillipos.

Pope Francis used his Wednesday mass to condemn what he called conditions of slave labor in Bangladesh. More than 400 people are now confirmed dead in last week's building collapse near the capital, Dhaka. The nine-story building contained five garment factories.

Another rape victim in India has died after being attacked, and she was only four years old. She suffered multiple injuries and was on a ventilator at the hospital, but since she went into cardiac arrest.

Syrian president Bashar al-Assad made a rare public appearance today. He visited an electrical plant in Damascus to commemorate Workers' Day. This video broadcast on state TV shows him talking with employees and thanking them for their service.

Let's get more, now, on last week's devastating building collapse in Bangladesh. The deadly disaster that claimed over 400 lives came just months after a factory fire killed 111 people, and the repeated tragedies have cast a harsh spotlight on the unsafe conditions in the nation's garment industry.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(PEOPLE CHANTING)

ANDERSON (voice-over): Traditionally a day where people around the world rally for workers' rights, May the 1st takes on extra poignancy in Bangladesh. Hundreds of people gathered in the capital to protest against industrial death traps following the collapse of a garment factor last week.

The toll from the disaster has now risen above 400, and an unknown number remain missing in the rubble. More than 2400 workers have been rescued, but hopes of finding any other survivors have faded.

The grief is on a mass scale. So, too, the burials. Beyond Bangladesh, the international outcry is growing. The pope used his Wednesday mass to condemn what he describes as slave labor and a society that, quote, "only seeks profit."

To that end, more than 68,000 people have also now signed a petition calling on Western retailers who bought cheap garments from the factory to pay compensation to the families of those killed or injured in the disaster.

But the most stinging reaction has come from Bangladesh's biggest trading partner, the European Union announcing it's considering taking action on trade quotas and incentives unless the country improves labor conditions immediately.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: Well, earlier, I spoke to the Bangladeshi home minister, and I began by asking him why his country had refused offers of international aid during that rescue operation. Take a listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MUHIUDDIN KHAN ALAMGIR, BANGLADESHI HOME MINISTER: But we needed equipment, equipment was not offered. They wanted to send us a contingent of people, 30-odd or 20-odd number of people. We said that we don't need people, we have enough people who have been trying it.

We don't have a number of integrals, which you may have and please send us any equipment. They didn't sent us any equipment.

ANDERSON: With respect sir, turning down the offer of expert help, even if it weren't equipment surely --

(CROSSTALK)

ALAMGIR: We started to show --

ANDERSON: -- was a mistake when you might have saved somebody else's life.

ALAMGIR: Out of 3,000 people who were trapped, we rescued more than 90 percent. This is a record which is more than what is recorded at the international level. No other country in the recent past could account for such a rescue of living people from such damage. And we did our job.

And I think we have got our people, who have devoted their lives, who have devoted with their lives and they saved these people and we are proud of our achievement.

ANDERSON: Low pay, limited rights, and dangerous working conditions. Would you agree that that adequately describes the Bangladeshi garment industry?

ALMAGIR: I don't think so. Western countries are well-equipped. Where are they? As I say, insistence by our buyers in the developed countries to supply the cheapest possible garments also have a toll. You see? You want the cheapest, but at the same time, you want to this disaster shouldn't happen. These don't work together. We --

(CROSSTALK)

ANDERSON: Seriously -- seriously -- are you arguing with me here that it's not Bangladesh's fault, but it's the rest of the world's fault that your garment industry --

ALMAGIR: I am certain -- I am certain --

ANDERSON: -- is in such a shocking mess?

ALMAGIR: -- what I would like to say, trade is a two-way game. We also gain, they also gain. They get cheap supplies we provide, we also get employment.

ANDERSON: What's your response to the threat of trade sanctions from the EU at this point?

ALMAGIR: There is no reason why they should do it. It's a two-way problem. There isn't a reason why there should be universal action that will harm a particular country.

ANDERSON: How do you respond to the pope talking about worker exploitation and slave labor?

ALMAGIR: No, I don't think in any country -- anyone or any authority can blame us for the exploitation of labor.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: The Bangladeshi home minister speaking to me just before the show. You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD live from London. This is CNN. Coming up after the break, I travel to Romania and to Europe's eastern Gateway on the Black Sea.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: This month, the Gateway travels to Romania, home to the largest port in the Black Sea. Tonight, Romania's president tells me that despite tough economic times, he is determined to make the Port of Constanta an invaluable eastern trading hub for Europe.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON (voice-over): It's a misty morning as a 300-meter vessel makes its way into the container terminal at Constanta, the biggest port on the Black Sea. Before long, operations on the land will be in full swing.

VIOREL DELEANU, VESSEL TALLYMAN, DP WORLD: In this business, we have to be very, very fast. It's going to be a difficult day, you see? The weather is not so well today. But we are -- we keep doing our job because we are involved 100 percent. In my opinion, this is the most competitive port in the Black Sea, Constanta Port.

ANDERSON: Or is it? I meet Romanian president Traian Basescu to find out.

(LAUGHTER)

TRAIAN BASESCU, PRESIDENT OF ROMANIA: Until December 89, Constanta Harbor was mainly used to export the goods produced by the Romanian economy and to import raw materials. Now, Constanta Harbor is more or less a kind of gate, first of all for Romania, connecting Romania with the world, and at the same time, it's a gate for Central and Eastern Europe.

ANDERSON: Basescu has close ties with Constanta, having spent 12 years of his life as a sea captain at the helm of huge oil tankers.

BASESCU: My career is in connection with the ships with crude oil carriers, mainly. Being proud that you are captain onboard a vessel by 306 meters, I find the resources to remain strong exactly in this period of my life.

ANDERSON: This period navigating choppy economic waters that continue to hamper Romania's growth. The port was expanded in times of prosperity in the 1960s, and its strategic location promised to make it among the biggest maritime hubs in Europe. Currently, it operates at just 50 percent capacity, but the president is optimistic.

ANDERSON (on camera): As a priority for Romania, how high up does the port stand?

BASESCU: It's the single harbor which is connected with Danube, with the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal, and with the Rotterdam. It's the end of a blue motorway, which is starting in Rotterdam and is finished in Constanta Harbor.

It's by extraordinary importance, which is connected practically with all Europe. But we have to develop the capacities for large vessels in Constanta Harbor, and a lot of other things to be done.

ANDERSON (voice-over): While the fog has not yet lifted on the Romanian economy, it's clear that keeping round-the-clock operations like these at the container terminal could be key to the country's future prospects.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: That was Gateway, this is CONNECT THE WORLD on CNN. Coming up, we are live in Barcelona as the Champions League final match-up is set.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: Mouths watered at a potential Barcelona versus Real Madrid's Champions League final, but there will be none of that at Wembley Stadium later this month. Our Alex Thomas joins us now from Barcelona, where he's been watching a terrific game. Once again, German football really flexing its muscle in these two semifinals, didn't they?

ALEX THOMAS, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Becky, and this seems something of an anti-climax after Real Madrid's late fight back just 24 hours ago. Bayern Munich not just beating the once mighty Barcelona, but absolutely hammering, winning this second leg three-nil for a seven-nil victory on aggregate over the two legs.

You're probably seeing the Camp Nou Stadium behind me. You can still see some red-and-white-shirted Bayern Munich fans. They're probably being kept there, because it's usual for crowd control to keep the away fans back in the stadium and let the home fans disperse.

But they probably don't want to leave anyway, because this will go down as one of if not the most famous nights in Bayern Munich's history, coming just under 12 months after the bitter disappointment of losing a Champions League final in their home stadium.

Now they'll go forward as firm favorites to beat fellow German club Borussia Dortmund in next month's final at London's Wembley Stadium, Becky.

ANDERSON: Alex, I wonder what you'd have got on a seven-nil result across the two legs and also what you'd have gotten -- I'm talking about the bookies, here -- on Barcelona not scoring at home tonight.

THOMAS: Yes, I don't know what the odds were, they would've been absolutely huge. This is the first time Barcelona have lost a home Champions League match since October 2009. I had to check my notes, because it's hard to believe. Sort of three and a half years since they last lost at home. That was to Rubin Kazan, would you believe? A 2-1 defeat in the group stages then.

Since then, they've been almost imperious under Pep Guardiola and then Tito Vilanova, who despite his battles against cancer this season, seems to have guided Barca to yet another La Liga title. They'll probably wrap that up this weekend. And yet, it'll almost go down as a bit of a failure after they failed to reach the final and lost out to this Bayern Munich side that look awfully good.

And suddenly, are we seeing a shift in the power of European football from Spain to Germany, Becky? We know the Spanish national side are double European champions, winning a World Cup in between those two titles, that's never been done before. Suddenly, German football on the rise. The Bundesliga seems to be the trending competition. My, how quickly sport turns around.

ANDERSON: Yes, absolutely. Anybody who's a football fan, of course, knows that these are two terrific German teams. But you're absolutely right, the tectonic plates are shifting in the world of European football this season, and my goodness, that's going to be a great final at Wembley in a week or so's time. Mr. Thomas, thank you for that. Alex Thomas in Barcelona for you this evening.

And in tonight's Parting Shots just before we go, a peace pact at 23,000 feet. Believe me. Two hastily handwritten paragraphs that may just have saved lives on the world's highest mountain. Have a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON (voice-over): When you're climbing towards the top of the world, frayed tempers can be as dangerous as frayed ropes. That's why after a brawl at 7,000 meters, mountain climbers and their Sherpa guides have agreed to put their differences behind them.

In this handwritten Treaty of Everest, both sides kiss and make up, acknowledging they were both in the wrong and promising to get along in the future.

It was last weekend on Everest's freezing mountain face that things got pretty heated. Just past base two, Sherpas accused a group of climbers of knocking ice down onto a guide below.

On his website, climber Simone Moro said 100 angry Sherpas then attacked his group, throwing rocks as well as punches. He told PlanetMountain.com it's a miracle he survived. The expedition has now been called off.

Thankfully, it seems, these fights on the mountain face are few and far between.

BYRON SMITH, MOUNTAIN CLIMBER: At that altitude, for the most part, people are not going to have the ability to start scrapping and fighting.

MINIGMA TENJI, SHERPA MOUNTAIN GUIDE: It is our occupation and we really respect them. And even if one Sherpa fights, I don't think all Sherpas go together to throw the rocks.

ANDERSON: Now, with the Treaty of Everest and a promise to help each other, hopefully there'll be no high-altitude hijinks or making mountains out of molehills.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: I'm Becky Anderson, that was CONNECT THE WORLD. This is CNN, thank you for watching.

END