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Connect the World

Guardian Reports UK Spied On G20 Participants; Turkish Unions Stage One Day Strike; Former British Prime Minister Works For Girl's Education; Parents Can Be Driving Force For Star Athletes; Presidents Obama, Putin Fail To Reach Consensus On Resolution To Syrian Conflict

Aired June 17, 2013 - 16:00   ET

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

FIONNUALA SWEENEY, HOST: On the front line with Assad's fighters. Tonight, exclusive insight into who pro-government forces in Syria say is the real enemy.

Also ahead, more explosive spying revelations from this man. But just why is he dishing the dirt?

And a victory dedicated to his dad. How parents can shape the careers of sports stars.

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

SWEENEY: And we begin tonight with news just coming in to CNN. U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin have wrapped up their talks with no unified solution on how to end the conflict on Syria.

The two men were meeting on the sidelines of the G8 meeting in Northern Ireland. Mr. Putin is the only G8 leader who backs the Bashar al- Assad regime. He and Mr. Obama said they have a difference of opinion on the issue. They do agree on the need to secure chemical weapons. And they agree they want the violence to end.

The sticking point is just how to achieve peace.

Take a listen to the U.S. president just moments ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And with respect to Syria, we do have differing perspectives on the problem, but we share an interest in reducing the violence, securing chemical weapons and ensuring that they're neither used or are they subject to proliferation.

And we want to try to resolve the issue through political means if possible. And so we will instruct our team to continue to work on the potential of a Geneva followup to the first meeting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SWEENEY: Well, discussions on Syria are sure to continue throughout the summit. Just last week, the UN released a revised death toll nearing 93,000 people, not to mention the number of wounded and displaced. And inside Syria itself, the violence seems to have intensified.

Frederik Pleitgen is in Damascus where he's been witnessing the fighting firsthand.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Fionnuala, there's a lot of districts, especially on the outskirts of Damascus, that are in opposition hands, but they are hotly contested. We went to one of those places. It's called Yarmouk. And by many accounts, this place has seen some of the fiercest fighting in the entire Damascus area.

Among the rebels, there's a lot of Islamist fighters. Now we went along with a detachment of pro-Assad forces. These are Palestinians fighting on the side of the Syrian government. And they took us to the front lines to see the urban combat there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRED PLEITGEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The urban combat is fierce. In Yarmouk, a suburb of Damascus close to the city center. We're on the front line with Palestinians fighting for the Assad regime. Snipers do much of the fighting and death can come any second.

(on camera): This is a pro-government sniper position. And this fighter here just told me he sees a sniper through his scope from here. So we'll wait and see what happens.

(voice-over): The man said that shot took out a rebel fighter.

Yarmouk, which was set up as a Palestinian refugee camp by the Assad regime decades ago, bears the scars of war. But the pro-government fighters tell me like on other front lines in Syria. They are now turning the tide, winning back ground.

The commanders name is Abu Ehab (ph). I ask him who his enemy is.

"They are mostly islamists from al Qaeda and Jabat al Nusra," he says. "Mostly foreigners from the Emirates, from Afghanistan and Pakistan, but also Syrians and Palestinians."

A lot of the fighting happens inside the houses. And here, only a wall of sandbags separates the two sides.

The pro-government militiamen say the rebels knocked these holes into the walls when they owned this turf and rigged some of the passages with explosives when they fled.

(on camera): So the men tell us they've just recently retaken this house. And as you can see, the fighters that left here from the other side, they booby trapped this entrance here with what looks like a hand grenade or something. So anybody who would have gone through there and triggered that wire there would have been killed.

The pro-government fighters say they're angry at the U.S. after the Obama administration's announcement that it will help arm the opposition.

"We will keep fighting until we get rid of Jabat al Nusra and al Qaeda," he says, "and all other insurgents in Syria. And we're sure that god will be on our side."

In breaks from combat, the pro-government militiamen sing the praise of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, emboldened by recent gains on the battlefield but also worried what changes U.S. involvement might bring.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PLEITGEN: And Fionnuala, when you go to places like this and you see the fighting that's being done there and you see the state that that place is in, you just realize why up to 93,000 people have already been killed in this conflict. The fighting there is very intense. And when you go into the rooms of those houses, a lot of them have been burned out. And of course in many of those buildings, there are still civilians who are simply caught between the front lines -- Fionnuala.

SWEENEY: Frederik Pleitgen reporting.

Well, since the conflict began more than two years ago, jihadi fighters have flocked to Syria to join the cause. One groups that's been gaining ground is the al Nusra Front, a group affiliated with al Qaeda. Recent U.S. intelligence estimates that al Nusra is now the most well equipped al Qaeda group in the world with up to 10,000 fighters in Syria alone.

Their involvement in the conflict creates a huge stumbling block for the west, making a diplomatic solution for Syria seem even further out of reach.

So let's bring in Michael Weiss, a columnist for NOW Lebanon. He was in Aleppo last year. He's covered Syria extensively.

Michael, does the involvement of al Nusra and other groups make -- while it makes a diplomatic solution all the more difficult, does it make it in your opinion impossible?

MICHAEL WEISS, COLUMNIST, NOW LEBANON: Well, I think not just the presence of Jabat al Nusra, but I think that the very nature of the conflict and the nature of the Assad regime makes it impossible.

Look, al Qaeda, their presence there is the result of the absence of any other kind of intercessory or intervening force in Syria on the side of the opposition. And many Syrian activists and civilians and rebels themselves had said we're going back now a year, including in articles in the Wall Street Journal and so on saying, look, we would prefer that NATO or the U.S. came to our aid. But if push comes to shove, and it's the guys with the long black beards who are willing to blow themselves up in order to take out a muqabarat (ph) checkpoint or a Syrian army checkpoint, we will unfortunately have to partner with them.

Now this is laying the seeds of a very dramatic and very dangerous conflict in the future, one that I would call the civil war within the civil war, because there are moderate forces in the Free Syrian Army headed by General Salim Idriss who is the U.S. designated, or U.S. recognized FSA commander. And these guys are going to have to turn their guns against al Qaeda.

Now this is a conflict that's already started in certain parts of the country -- in the Aleppo countryside, even in parts of Damascus. This will be, if and when the Assad regime does fall -- and that's a contingency much remoter now than it did even weeks ago -- that is going to be, I think, the major conflict that grips this country, absolutely.

SWEENEY: Well -- and when you talk about the Wall Street Journal there, there's also a report in there at the weekend that really what decided the Obama regime in terms of arming the rebels was not so much the sarin gas, but also the presence of Hezbollah obviously supporting Syria's Assad. Is this taking on something after the horses built it, trying to close the gate when this has really gone beyond what is just taking place in Syria, but is, some would argue, the ends of the Sykes-Pico Agreement of 100 years ago?

WEISS: Well, indeed. I mean, you know, Sykes-Pico, if that does get unraveled it will be happening in the eastern part of Syria where the jihadis tend to be, you know, strongest in number.

I mean, look, I think what we're seeing here is a coordinated effort not just on the part of the United States, but particularly Britain, France, and most importantly -- and this is something I wish the media were paying more attention to -- Saudi Arabia has now essentially got the keys to the car when it comes to the Syrian opposition.

Hezbollahs' presence in Syria was taken very, very personally by the Saudi royal family. And they are now coordinating almost directly with the French to the point that I think the United States is almost a marginal player in this conflict.

Indeed when President Obama himself didn't even acknowledge that they were going to arm the rebels, he had one of his communications aids do that on a press conference, Salim Idriss wasn't even made aware that this was the new U.S. policy decision. He was only told it by the French and the Saudis.

So, look, Saudi Arabia's role here I think will be key in the coming weeks and months.

SWEENEY: All right. So you know presumably Qatar as well. And they say that they're supportive of al Nusra's efforts in the region -- allegations that may prove false. But either way, let me ask you, is there a viable solution at all on the horizon? And does the election of what is considered to be a more moderate conservative Iranian president change anything?

WEISS: On the question of Syria, no. If you look at the president- elect of Iran, he's given comments to Press TV and other Iranian regime controlled outlets saying that, you know, the conflict in Syria -- the Syrian uprising going back two years was a Zionist plot.

And I mean, you're seeing the same kind of messaging that's come from -- it's not even the sort of political class in Iran, it's the Islamic Revolutionary Guard corps.

And I mean, look, Iran's policy in Syria is very, very clear, they are inheriting the role of the Syrian regime. This is no longer becoming a conventional military conflict run by the Syrian army, this is now becoming a sectarian militia run conflict, headed by Hezbollah on the one hand, but also joined by a consortium of mainly Shia and Alawite sectarian militias that are being trained and financed by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard corps.

A lot of these fighters, by the way, they come from Iraq, they come from Lebanon, they come from Gulf countries. They're being flown to Tehran to get special...

(CROSSTALK)

WEISS: Is there a solution to this? No. I'm afraid there's not. I think that the fighting in Syria -- whatever happens, if Assad hangs on, if he falls, this is a conflict that's going to go on for years, if not decades. And I'm sorry to say, there is no diplomatic solution to it. If there's a military solution to it, this is something that's years on at this point.

SWEENEY: On that pessimistic note, we must leave it there. Michael Weiss in New York, thank you, though, for joining us with your insight.

WEISS: Thank you very much.

SWEENEY: You're watching Connect the World. Still to come tonight, the truth can't be stopped, that is the message from Edward Snowden, the man who says he leaked sensitive top secret British and American surveillance operations.

He's again defending his actions. Hear what else he had to say later in this program.

A new era, as we mentioned, in Iranian politics as the president-elect vows to adopt a moderate approach in dealing with the rest of the world.

And we'll tell you why photos of this British celebrity chef and her husband are causing a stir in the UK and beyond.

All that and much more when Connect the World continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SWEENEY: Iran's newly elected president has laid out his policy objectives in his first news conference since winning last week's election. Hassan Rouhani says he'll adopt a moderate foreign policy approach and is open to more transparency when it comes to Iran's nuclear program.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HASSAN ROUHANI, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF IRAN (through translator): Of course our nuclear operations and programs are fully transparent, but we are still prepared to bring and show further transparency. We can make it clear to the whole world that the measures and activities of the Islamic Republic of Iran are totally within international regulations and mechanisms.

There is this fresh opportunity for interaction at the global level. And this is the chance that people that create it, this was thanks to the people's active presence, their turnout, their participation and their votes that have created the responsibility and chance. So I'm hopeful that all countries will make use of this opportunity, because making use of this opportunity will culminate in mutual interests.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SWEENEY: Well, Rouhani's victory is seen by many analysts as a new opportunity for Iran and the international community to engage. CNN's chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour explains.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Mr. Rouhani's first presser as president-elect was really one in which he spoke very, very clearly about a new era for Iran. He talked about needing an era of moderation. He gave a slap to what he said had been years of extremism and egotism, self-centeredness. And analysts believe he was referring to the very bombastic and belligerent presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Now although a lot of power is held by Iran's Supreme Leader, the president makes a difference. He is the public face of Iran. And if a centrist, reformist candidate is elected, a moderate candidate like Rouhani is, it will perhaps be able to lower the pressure, lower the rhetoric between Iran and the west.

To that end, Mr. Rouhani said that his first priority is to fix Iran's dire economy. Years of mismanagement as well as crippling sanctions by the west have forced a majority of Iranians into poverty, below the poverty line. That is their number one need.

And then of course Iranians also want much more moderation, a much better relationship with the rest of the world. This is incredibly important -- including the United States.

So, Mr. Rouhani has said there needs to be a pragmatic approach, an approach that eases tensions with the rest of the world -- although he did say the world has to understand that Iran insists on its nuclear rights, its right to enrich. And he insisted that the rest of the world should not meddle in Iranian affairs. And their relationship should be built on mutual interests and mutual benefit.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SWEENEY: Christiane Amanpour reporting there.

Now the Turkish government is threatening to call out the military to help stop anti-government protests. Demonstrations continued today with trade unions trying to turn up the pressure on the prime minister. Our senior international correspondent Arwa Damon is in Istanbul this evening. She joins me now.

What is the scene -- or describe the scene behind you and around you, Arwa.

ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fionnuala, we're actually just seeing the water cannon truck pulling back. There was a unit of riot police that were based down here, this being the very beginning of Istiklal Street (ph), a commercial street here that one group of demonstrators at the -- earlier in the day was trying to come up, but now we're seeing the riot police really pulling that their positions from here.

Istiklal Street (ph) of course connects straight to Taksim Square itself. And then, you know, behind Taksim Square is Gezi Park.

Now in different parts of Istanbul, the trade unions were trying to organize demonstrators. Thousands of people gathered. They were trying to make their way here. And by and large they ended up sitting down in front of the riot police and then reading out a statement, the trade union leaders did, demanding an end to what they're calling the siege of Taksim Square, but also more importantly perhaps an end to police brutality.

That being said, we have been seeing the riot police using significantly more restraint today than they have been in the past.

What's been interesting, though, too is that the demonstrators now ever since they were dispersed from Gezi Park itself, have really been unable to regroup en masse.

So down Istiklal Street (ph), you'll see small clusters of them sometimes getting a little bit larger, but the riot police letting them be. It's as if the government were somehow trying to dial back the situation.

The demonstrators themselves, too, perhaps trying to dial back the situation. But what we're also hearing from a lot of people that have been involved in these widespread demonstrations is that there is a lot of fear, Fionnuala. People are not afraid of the tear gas, of the water cannons, but rather they are afraid of being detained. There are various different reports of hundreds of individuals being taken in. There are very conflicting numbers. But true or not, those rumors are circulating. That is causing some people to be quite anxious before they take that decision to come out into the streets.

There have also been a number of videos circulating on social media showing police beating up demonstrators.

So a lot of these young people that took to the streets, a lot of the middle class that was out there on a regular basis, now are genuinely frightened of what could take place.

And so it's not that the anger towards the government has subsided, but rather that for now people just trying to figure out how they can regroup and overcome that fear of being detained or potentially be (inaudible), Fionnuala.

But this country most certainly going through an incredibly critical period. The country has not been as polarized as it is right now in at least the last three decades.

SWEENEY: And it raises the question what impact, if any, did the trade union strike have on the demonstrations today and whether or not there are any communications at all, back channel or otherwise, between the government and the protesters and the trade unions?

DAMON: Well, that strike most certainly did not serve the purpose of paralyzing the country, or even bringing anything remotely close to a halt. It was perhaps to a certain degree symbolic. And it was the trade unions that were the main organizers behind the various venues that people were gathering in today.

As far as we are aware, there are no back channel communications at this stage, at least none that are being publicly spoken about.

We have heard from the prime minister, we heard from him today, again over the weekend. Both here in Istanbul and in the capital Ankara, continuing to have a very defiant and confident tone, the tone of a man who believes that the support that he has from what he says if 50 percent of the population is sufficient to carry him forward even though he continues to say that he represents 100 percent of the Turkish people.

The issue is that as long as his tone remains incredibly condescending, as his opponents would say, he continues to alienate those who did not vote for him, continues to isolate them even further Fionnuala.

SWEENEY: We leave it there. Arwa Damon in Istanbul, thank you for that.

Not too far away, the official Athens news agency is reporting that a Greek court has partially suspended a government order to close the state broadcaster ERT. Now that move originally prompted mass protests across Greece last week. The court says the government must restart the broadcaster until a new national media body is created.

She's one of the UK's most recognizable celebrity chefs. And now disturbing images of Nigella Lawson and her husband are causing alarm. The story and photos first appeared in the British tabloid the Sunday People.

Let's bring in Matthew Chance. He's live outside the London restaurant where this incident happened. Matthew, what do we know?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Fionnuala, thanks very much.

Well, this incident took place, as you say, in this restaurant right behind me. It's in the center of this upscale area of London called Mayfair. And it's where these pictures were taken by a paparazzi photographer over the course of the past few days.

There you can see Nigella Lawson. And you may be able to make out here there's a hand around her neck. Nigella, of course, is one of Britain's most, you know, celebrity -- biggest celebrity chefs.

The hand belongs to her millionaire husband Charles Saatchi who is a prominent advertising executive. He's also one of the biggest collectors of contemporary art in the world.

Mr. Saatchi has tried to make light of this, or at least he's tried to brush off the outrage that's been caused by these pictures saying that the grip was not really there. There was no grip, he says, it was a playful tiff is how he's characterized this.

The pictures are horrific, he acknowledges in a statement to the Evening Standard, the newspaper here. But give a far more drastic and violent impression of what took place.

Nigella's tears, he says, were because we both hate arguing, not because she had been hurt.

Charles Saatchi saying that the argument was about -- was more of an intensive debate in fact, he says, about their children.

So far, there's been no police action taken, but Scotland Yard, the police force here in London say they're looking into this issue to see whether they need to start a formal investigation, Fionnuala.

SWEENEY: All right. Matthew Chance reporting from Mayfair in London.

This is Connect the World. And coming up, a new controversy surrounding activist Cheng Guangcheng. This time, it's in New York. We'll have the latest.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SWEENEY: His dramatic escape to the U.S. from house arrest in China caught our attention last year. Now, blind activist Cheng Guangcheng says he's being forced from his new position at New York University. He says the university is bowing to pressure from China, because NYU reportedly wants to build a campus there. David McKenzie reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Cheng Guangcheng isn't new to the spotlight. Christian Bale tried to reach him in house arrest with a CNN crew. The actor roughed up for his efforts.

CHRISTIAN BALE, ACTOR: Why can I not go visit this man?

MCKENZIE: The self-taught blind lawyer is a tireless advocate for human rights in China, held prisoner with his family for 18 months at his home in Chengdong. In 2012, he made a dramatic escape, seeking refuge in the U.S. embassy in Bejing, sparking a diplomatic firestorm.

After tend negotiations he was allowed to leave and took up a fellowship at prestigious New York University.

Now, Cheng says NYU is pushing him out, because of the, quote, "unrelenting pressure of the Chinese Communist Party."

"Academic freedom in the United States is being greatly threatened by a totalitarian regime," he wrote in a statement.

Cheng says he must leave by the end of the month.

He claims he's been unable to meet with NYU's president John Sexton, hinting at the political sensitivities of his stay.

In a recent interview on CNN, before the current controversy, Cheng said that any compromise with the Communist Party is unacceptable.

CHENG GUANGCHENG, CHINESE ACTIVIST (through trnaslator): If you compromise with them, they ask for more. Today, you lower your head to him, tomorrow they will ask you to bow, the day after, they will ask you to kneel down.

MCKENZIE: NYU, like several elite U.S. universities, has a growing presence in China with a new campus in Shanghai. And Chinese are the single biggest group of foreign students in the U.S. But NYU has hit back, saying they are puzzled and saddened by Cheng's fictional allegations.

"Mr. Cheng's fellowship at NYU and its conclusion have nothing to do with the Chinese government. All fellowships come to an end," the university said in a statement.

NYU says it has been extraordinarily generous with Cheng and his family. And despite the accusations, they say, they will continue to support the Cheng's. But this is a deeply embarrassing controversy for NYU and also poses some uncomfortable questions about the relationship of the Chinese government with U.S. universities.

David McKenzie, CNN, Beijing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SWEENEY: The latest world news headlines just ahead including the leaking scandal that keeps growing. We'll have the latest developments in the Edward Snowden case.

And a long road to success. We'll have a full report on the first major win for an English golfer in 17 years.

Also ahead, how girls in Ethiopia are forced into marriage and out of education. We'll meet Malka (ph), who is doing something about it. Stay here for our special Girl Rising report.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SWEENEY: This is Connect the World. The top stories this hour.

The U.S. and Russian leaders discuss Syria on the sidelines of the G8 summit in Northern Ireland, but say they have different views on the conflict. Russian President Vladimir Putin did say that both countries want a peaceful situation. He's the only G8 leader who supports the al- Assad regime.

Meanwhile, the U.S. and Europe will begin talks next month on creating a Transatlantic trade agreement. Leaders announce the talks before the G8 summit began. They say a deal could create millions of jobs.

Iran's president-elect has given his first news conference since his landslide victory in last week's election. Hassan Rouhani says he'll focus on boosting economic growth and having good relations with the rest of the world.

(inaudible) Turkey look to put new pressure on the country's prime minister during a nationwide strike. Demonstrators hit the streets again, although the crowds were smaller than they have been in the last few weeks. Small clashes were reported between protesters and police near Taksim Square.

Well, let's get more now on the G8 summit as White House correspondent Brianne Keilar is just over the boarder from the summit in Sligo, Ireland.

So it wasn't expected, but definitely now no meeting of minds on Syria.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: No, not -- I don't think it was expected, Fionnuala, that there would be suddenly some sort of breakthrough between President Obama and President Putin. They are worlds apart when it comes to Syria, as you know. But they did agree that they would try to push both sides -- the U.S. pushing the Syrian rebels, Putin pushing the Syrian government, Bashar al-Assad and his regime to the negotiating table. And I think that was really the best hope that could come out of this.

This was a meeting that lasted two hours, so a rather long meeting. And if you look at the pictures and sort of the body language between presidents Obama and Putin, you might not think that they're exactly terribly warm toward each other, but I'll tell you being at the G20 summit in Mexico around this time last year, they were downright chummy compared to the very icy interaction that we saw them have on camera there.

But here's just a snippet of what President Obama said a short time ago.

Actually, we don't have that sound.

But Fionnuala, they're still worlds apart. In this case, as you know, last week President Obama, the Obama administration saying that Syria had definitively crossed a red line, that it had definitely used chemical weapons against the rebels causing the deaths of at least 100 of them. But on the flip side, you have Russian officials who are questioning whether that's true. They say that they don't feel that that's based in fact.

We heard even just yesterday as President Putin met with British prime minister David Cameron that he likened the rebels to cannibals. And of course Russia has been arming Syria and also has threatened to provide anti-aircraft missiles should any allies of the rebels, the U.S. or NATO allies, try to put in place a no-fly zone like we saw in Libya.

So, we even heard that today from both presidents Putin and Obama admitting that they have very much differences on this. But at this point, they're trying to get both sides to the negotiating table. Russia and the U.S. have agreed to a peace conference in Geneva. They haven't set a date for that, so that may be the next step here, Fionnuala.

SWEENEY: And that is essentially what President Obama was saying earlier.

Brianna Keilar in Sligo, Ireland. Thank you very much indeed.

Meanwhile, there's been another bombshell report by Britain's Guardian newspaper based on documents provided by American data leaker Edward Snowden. The paper says documents show Britain's GCHQ spy agency intercepted phone calls and monitored the computers of politicians and officials at two G20 conferences in London in 2009.

Officials from both Turkey and South Africa have demanded answers from the British government.

Well, just before we came on air, I spoke to the Guardian columnist who helped publish the leaked documents. I asked Glenn Greenwald if the story had given rise to the kind of debate he'd hoped for.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GLENN GREENWALD, GUARDIAN NEWSPAPER: You've seen over the past seven to 10 days more open debate about surveillance policy in the United States than we've had in the last 12 years since the so-called war on terror began. You had members of congress who feel betrayed by things that have been said to them that turned out not to be true. You have other members of congress proposing laws that would restrict or limit what the NSA can do and how it spies on people or offer more oversight and limits on the things they can do.

So I think that certainly the kinds of debates that we hoped to trigger are starting to emerge.

SWEENEY: I want to ask you about an opinion poll that was released today that shows in the last month that President Obama's likability rating, trustworthiness has dipped sharply. And particularly, it seems, among younger people. And I'm wondering whether you have a view on whether this whole business of listening in to calls or collecting metadata or the internet is -- resonates more with younger people than it does with perhaps older people?

GREENWALD: I think it's a very good question. I think the answer is absolutely. I mean, younger people grew up with the internet as their primary culture and means of communication. And to learn that the U.S. government is attempting to invade those communications on an indiscriminate, mass basis, or has done so to a large extent, I think is very disturbing and alarming.

I also think it's disturbing to have learned that the U.S. government is collecting everybody's phone records and learning who it is they called, by whom they were called, it's really the revelations that picked a -- depict a picture of the United States government engaged in massive surveillance, including on the internet, which is supposed to be a place where we could behave in an unobstructed free way and do so with anonymity. And I think you're right that younger people particularly value the internet for the promise that it brings and are disturbed by these revelations more than anybody.

SWEENEY: The U.S. intelligence agencies would argue that they checked the metadata of only 300 telephone accounts in 2012. And I have a question in relation to Edward Snowden, he says he was disappointed by the Obama. There are young people who seem to be disappointed by the Obama campaign of 2008, promising more transparency. And I'm wondering just how much of this is political as well as about freedom, as such?

GREENWALD: I don't think it's political. I -- you know, I ask him the question when did you start thinking for the first time about leaking information. And he said that it was when he was stationed at the CIA in Geneva, Switzerland from 2007 to 2009. And he started seeing things the disillusioned him greatly about what his country is doing in the world, what his government is like. And he said the reason he didn't at the time was because he thought that Obama's election would usher in a variety of reforms.

So it was only once he saw that he didn't that he did this.

SWEENEY: Right, OK. But I mean, I've read some of those transcripts, too. And some of it doesn't seem what one might expect out of the ordinary and a sort of typical post -- or indeed a cold war scenario.

This is my final question to you is, where is this going in terms of revelations? Can we expect more?

GREENWALD: Yeah, there are definitely a lot more revelations to come. There's going to be a lot more transparency brought to the NSA and what they're doing both in the United States and around the world.

SWEENEY: You believe that this is really going to change how America and other countries behave?

GREENWALD: Of course. I mean, why would I not believe that. We see all kinds of examples of populations around the world changing how their governments behave. That's what journalism is about, is informing people so that they can make decisions to pressure their government to do things differently.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SWEENEY: Glenn Greenwald there.

Live from Atlanta, you're watching Connect the World. Pushy and perfectionist, words applied to the motivated parents of 14 superstars. They had an in depth look at the psychology behind them here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUSTIN FOSE, 2013 U.S. OPEN CHAMPION: Silverware in the history books are phenomenal, but it's the moments when you're out there and you're learning about yourself and you're learning how you can handle it and, you know, you wonder if you can handle it. And then when you realize you can you want to experience that feeling again and again and again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SWEENEY: Well, golfer Justin Rose there just moments after becoming the first Englishman in more than 40 years to clinch the U.S. Open title.

It was an especially poignant Father's Day moment. Rose dedicating the victory to his late dad who hugely influenced his career.

Welcome back. I'm Fionnuala Sweeney and you are watching Connect the World.

Well, Justin Rose's win has pulled on people's heart strings. And there's plenty of congratulations pouring in for him online. Business personality Donald Trump tweeted "you were fantastic in winning the U.S. Open. Your father is looking down and proud of you."

Fellow golfer Rory McIlroy says he's so happy for Justin Rose and that it couldn't happen to a better lad.

Golfing legend Gary Player also tweeted saying, "congratulations Justin Rose on a fantastic, emotional, and deserving victory. I am so happy for you and your family."

And Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron also getting a word in with his tweets saying I'm proud of Justin Rose, let's hope it heralds the start of another spectacular sporting summer.

Well, Rose's play on the day was truly impressive. He finished two shots ahead of Phil Mickelson and Jason Day closing with 70 for a one over 281 total. A beaming Rose reflected on his big day with CNN's Shane O'Donoghue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROSE: I've thought about my dad quite a bit this week, even Saturday. I was driving to the course and I looked in the rear-view mirror and I saw my eyes. And that was one thing my dad always knew, he could tell by looking in my eyes if I was going to play well or not.

O'DONOGHUE: Really?

ROSE: And I kind of looked into the rear-view mirror and I was like I wonder how my dad thinks I'm going to play today.

So he was on the -- you know, I always knew the U.S. Open finished on Father's Day. And, you know, I've been in contention most of the week. And I kind of really wanted to have that moment where I could share with him and honor him, you know, because he sacrificed so much for me and he taught me the game. And, you know, I've seen Rory celebrate with his dad, (inaudible) celebrate with his dad, and you know, Furyk with his dad. And I've kind of always thought that moment must just be so special. And for me, today, it was special in my own way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SWEENEY: Well, parents are often the driving force needed to instill a hard work ethic and motivation into successful sports stars. Tennis coach Judy Mary is often credited with the success of her son Andy Murray, but many have slammed her as controlling and pushy. She's begun to cut down the number of matches she attends.

Earl Woods introduced his son Tiger to the world of golf before he was two years old. He propelled Tiger to become a superstar and wrote a book about raising children in sports, too.

Child le Clos caused a splash at London 2012 when he beat Michael Phelps in the men's 200 meter butterfly final. But it was his dad Burt whose emotional and over-the-moon reaction caught the hearts of spectators.

And finally, tennis player Jennifer Capriati's stormy relationship with her dad was often blamed for ruining her career. Stefano Capriati (ph) was descried as abusive and his antics often got his daughter in trouble on the court.

So, it begs the question of how far is too far when it comes to parents managing their children's careers?

Dr. Steven Ungerleider is a sports psychologist in the U.S. state of Oregon. He joins us now on Skype.

Thank you very much for joining us.

First of all, I guess Justin Rose was playing yesterday and winning this for his dad as much as his dad having been a motivating influence in his life.

STEVEN UNGERLEIDER, SPORTS PSYCHOLOGIST, UT AUSTIN: Indeed. And congratulations, a terrific win and just as an aside, everybody should feel wonderful in the UK. I serve on the Olympic committee, so I spent a good part of the summer in London and probably one of the best Olympic games out of the 12 that I've been to over my career.

So, yes, very exciting for Justin. And I think the emotions really pushed through his game in a very elegant way.

SWEENEY: How influential are the actions are parents. We know generally throughout life, of course, they often determine or help determine how one lives one's life when one becomes an adult. But when it comes to looking at the psychology of a sports star or his or her makeup, how influential is the role do they play?

UNGERLEIDER: Well, I think it can go both ways. I think historically we've seen in your setup piece you mentioned a number of great athletes, some I've known through the Olympics, and some just through professional athletics. An overbearing parent can push a young athlete away and really bury them into a, you know, non-productive way.

SWEENEY: But that might not come until later -- apologies for interrupting you, but that might not come until later. They might perform very well for a time, but then later on as a young adult might run away from the sport.

UNGERLEIDER: Absolutely. I mean, we've seen that over and over. Peter Sampras is somebody I interviewed in one of my books. And his father was very close to him and a very good influence, positive role model. But at one point in his later career was really interfering and Sampras, you know, said I need a coach outside of my family, because it's interfering with my personal life and also I'm not developing fully as an athlete.

So I think in some cases it can work fine. In many cases, it's counter productive.

SWEENEY: If you look at the case of Tiger Woods, I mean his very public fall from grace came not long after his father had passed away. His father of course introducing him to the sport, as we mentioned, and a huge influence.

UNGERLEIDER: He was, indeed.

Yeah, I don't know what the correlation is from his father not being around and other extracurricular behaviors, but certainly in Mr. Woods' career at Stanford and his early professional career his father was a huge presence both in the physiology of the game, in the mental aspect of the game, psychology of the game.

And he's an interesting example, because Tiger Woods' father and Tiger Woods would often refer to the mental aspect of the game when he was three years old, which is rather unusual for a young child to be going there, that usually happens later in life when you get a coach at a higher developmental layer talking about the visualization, imagery and things like that.

SWEENEY: What do you think is the single most important gift that a parent can give an up and coming sports star?

UNGERLEIDER: Well, I'm the father of two very wonderful accomplished daughters. And I competed at the collegiate level. And I knew being in the field and being an athlete I had to be very careful not to push them too hard. In fact, back off and get them to do lots of sports, not focus on one sport, do multiple sports, especially as young ladies. And then find their passion and don't try and direct their passion, but let them find their passion, encourage them, support them, be there for them, go to their games, but allow them to find that inner strength to, you know, find the game that works best and be there as a support system.

And I must tell you in many, many years of working with families at high school, college, pro, Olympic levels, that it's a very difficult -- it sounds good on paper, but it's very difficult for parents to back away.

SWEENEY: Strike that balance.

OK. We must leave it there, but Steven Ungerleider, thank you very much indeed for joining us from Oregon.

And coming up after this short break on Connect the World, he is a former British prime minister and now he's fighting for the right to educate girls. Our interview with Gordon Brown next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SWEENEY: Many of us take if for granted, but education is a right that 57 million children around the world are denied. The majority of them are girls. A new CNN film, Girl Rising takes a look at some of the stories at the heart of this struggle.

One of those struggles belongs to Malka (ph), an Ethiopian girl who was taken out of school to be a bride.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is Malka (ph). She lives in northern Ethiopia and her story is far too common. At the age of 14, she was forced into an arranged marriage.

MAAZA MENGISTE, WRITER: In Ethiopia, one in five girls gets married before the age of 15. The reason is really financial hardships. The family feels like they need to send a girl off to another man's home so that he can take care of her.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But when girls like Malka (ph) refuse to marry, they suffer.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Without my consent my parents forced me to get married. I said I do not want to go. And when I refused to go, my parents beat me.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: On her wedding night, Malka (ph) ended up in the hospital. Authorities got involved and she was sent back to her family. Her mother says she regrets forcing Malka (ph) to marry, believing they both would have been better off if Malka (ph) had continued her education.

Now Malka (ph) is working to prevent this from happening to other girls. She spends her free time at the local primary school, teaching them about the dangers of early marriage and how they can make a better life for themselves by staying in school.

Women like Malka (ph) want girls in Ethiopia to know they have a choice and they are not alone.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SWEENEY: And you can see a special presentation of CNN's film Girl Rising. That is on Saturday night, June 22 at 8:00 pm in London, 9:00 in Berlin and 11:00 in Abu Dhabi right here on CNN.

Well, Malala Yousafzai has launched an online petition today calling on world leaders to fund a new plan that will ensure every boy and girl is in school by December 2015. The Pakistani schoolgirl will present the petition to the United Nations in New York on her birthday July 12. She'll be accompanied by UN special envoy for global education Gordon Brown for what will be her first speech since she was shot by Taliban gunmen in October.

The former British prime minister says the education for all mission can be achieved. And he explained the plan to Zain Verjee.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GORDON BROWN, FRM. BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, we've got 10 million girls a year who are being married off as children. So we've got to eliminate child brides and child marriage. We've got 50 million children a year who are working when they should be at school. So child labor, domestic labor, manufacturing factory labor, it's got to be dealt with and we've got to really be serious about countries abolishing child labor.

We've got to deal with discrimination against girls. So we've got to have a worldwide campaign to ensure that girls have an equal right to go to school as boys. But then we've got to hire 2 million extra teachers. We've got to build 4 million extra classrooms. And if we were to do that, we would then become the first generation in history where we could genuinely say that every child was at school.

It is possible for us to do this. It is not so expensive it cannot be done, but it's an essential element of the human rights of every child.

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Where are the most effective pressure points? Is it government and policy? Is it at the grass roots level? Is it cultural? Fathers are sometimes the obstacles to education. Where do you think in your new role can be the most effective in having more girls in schools?

BROWN: I think the most significant change is the pressure that's coming from girls and boys themselves. And it's been amazing to see the response when Malala Yousafzai was shot at and 3 million people, and 2 million of them in Pakistan, signed petitions calling for a change in education policy.

And the pressure point on world leaders is going to be that large numbers of people, I hope, will support the various campaigns that we're running on child labor, on child trafficking, on discrimination against girls, on child marriage, but also they will support the general case the governments have got to invest -- rich governments and poor governments -- have got to invest in education, otherwise we cannot build a successful economic future.

VERJEE: What motivates you about being involved in something like this? And give us a sense on a personal level how it's impacted you since being prime minister and what struck you?

BROWN: We've underestimated the importance of education. And I think all of us from our own personal experience knows that what really changes, the potential that we have, is the ability to get a good education. And you cannot continue with a situation without there being huge ramifications over decades where 60 million children are not going to school.

How can we deny a child who has done nothing to deserve this the chance of making the most of their talent?

So I think that this is a movement of opinion whose time has come. And I see girls and boys themselves as pushing this case in a way that has never happened before.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SWEENEY: Well, what do you think of Gordon Brown's campaign? The team at Connect the World wants to hear from you. Facebook, I should say - - Facebook.com/cnnConnect. And you can tweet the program @CNNConnect and have your say on the fight for girl's education and, indeed, on any other stories we've covered this hour. Your thoughts please @CNNConnect.

I'm Fionnuala Sweeney. That was Connect the World. Thank you for watching.

END