xi jinping spent his formative years out here, china's poor interior. he was sent to labor as a teenager. villagers stopped us filming outside his homer felt -- former home. digging too deep into the past of the man who might be president is not welcome. it might be sensitive, but for xi jinping, the time he spent here matters for his image. the communist party wants to paint him as someone who has experienced a life of china's poorest. he has claimed the hardships he faced here have given him the will power to take on any challenge. one of the toughest will be tackling china's huge and growing inequality. some families still live in a cave and get no vote to choose china's next president. what they think of him still matters. >> xi jinping lived here. he knew this place. if he becomes leader, it will be good for us. >> living in caves may have hardened xi. he has little time for china's critics. these are some of the only unguarded comments he has made. >> some have nothing better to do them. fingers at us. we do not cause trouble for them. what else d

today, xi jinping made the rounds in china while conceding the need for civil rights. >> xi jinping is known to be a fan of hollywood war films. in the oval office, a first date. a chance to see how we feels about iran, syria, and a growing u.s. presence in asia. >> we are a growing nation and we are very interested and focused on continuing to strengthen our relationships and to enhance our trade and commerce and nature that we are a strong and effective partner. >> mr. xi said that he was here to reinforce the vacations' and friendship but that the discussions would be frank. there is a strategic pivot toward asia. >> this is an integrated strategy of human-rights, economics covering asia from india to tokyo and the chinese are nervous about it. >> outside the talks, a vocal commander of that wherever china goes, controversy follows. they were here for tibet, taiwan, and human rights. they are a feature of every chinese visit here, a reminder of how complex the relationship is. there is an extra factor in play. the u.s. presidential election because china has become a political footb

so xi jinping will become the next top leader in the next year.o it is very important for the leaders to build relations. >> what about the chinese vice president? what does he hope to achieve? is this only and getting to know you visit? >> for him, this is very much of visit initiated by the u.s. the top leadership of the visit to the united states. it happened in 1979. then hu jintao visited the u.s. the chinese leadership is rather opaque. to deal person to person, understanding that is very important for both parties, it is better for the u.s. >> if the vice president becomes the next leader of china -- is still not confirmed -- how different will he lead china vis-À-vis the current leaders such as hu jintao and wen jiabao? >> that is a hypothetical question, but my educated guess is that he likely will become, for an economic standpoint, he could be more liberal because of his experience. his family suffered during the cultural revolution. he worked in the coastal areas. he could be more liberal than the current leadership. but he could also,

xi jinping is expected to take over this fall as head of the ruling communist party. already the chinese vice president is getting a rough ride. u.s. president barack obama lectured him on beijing's record on trade and human rights. nhk world reports from washington. >> thank you. >> reporter: president obama has certainly heard xi jinping's name. his opinions remain somewhat of a mystery. so the two took time in the oval office to get to know each other a little better. obama got right to it, pressing xi on some of the same issues he has stressed with other chinese leaders. >> we want to work with china to make sure that everybody is working by the same rules of the road when it comes to the world economics system, and that includes ensuring that there is a balanced trade flow. >> reporter: u.s. leaders failed to raise human rights when they meet with their chinese counterparts. obama, too, had some advice. >> expanding power and prosperity also comes with increased responsibilities. >> reporter: xi said china and the u.s. should build a partnership based on mutual r

jim, you were at the lunch for xi jinping. say that he strikes you immediately as a different kind of chinese leader. warmer, more personable. did you feel that way? >> it's hard to judge, of course, seeing a person in a ceremonial event like that, but certainly i have seen hu jintao in a similar setting and hu jintao seemed a more stolid expressionless character. mr. xi was talking about his adventures in iowa, what that meant to him. what was striking is that just before he spoke, vice president biden gave what was a very, very tough toast by the standards of these kind of events talking about currency valuation, human rights, and all the rest. so that made for a different sort of diplomatic encounter than normal. >> people who were there tell me it seemed almost rude what biden did in the context of a ceremonial state occasion. one of the observers said we seemed like the yahoos and they seemed like the sophisticated war power kind of -- >> it certainly was startling to me. we've all seen events like this before, and usuall

xi jinping is known tour a fan of hollywood war films but much else about him is unknown. so in the oval office on valentine's day, a first date, a chance to see how he feels about iran, syria and growing u.s. presence in asia. >> the united states is a pacific nation and we are very issued and focused on continuing to strengthen our relationships, to enhance our trade and our commerce and make sure that we are a strong and effective partner. >> mr. xi replies he was here based on mutual understanding and friendship but warned the discussions would be candid. the chinese want to know more about a repositioning of u.s. military assets, part of what washington calls a strategic pivot towards asia. >> this is an integrated strategy, security, diplomacy, economics, even human rights covering asia from anthony -- india to tokyo and the chinese are nervous about it. >> outside the talks, reminder that wherever china go, controversy follows. they were here for tibet, taiwan and human rights. the protestors are a feature of every chinese visit here, yet another sign of just how co

speaking of xi jinping, the next stop for him is the u.s. state of iowa.s been there before as part of a pig farming program back in the 1980s. at the time he was reported to have said he wasn't impressed but stayed in good contact with those people and he'll be meeting them when he heads back out there many years later. >>> this is how long we've got to go under the u.s. markets, just under five hours. the big three indices looking set for a mostly lower open when trading gets under way on wall street. the three leading indices ended the session higher on monday. among some of the big gainer was goog. its shares rose by 1% on monday. the day won an unconditional approval from the european commission and the u.s. justice department for a takeover the motorola mobility. that deal still needs the nod from regulators in other places across the world, china, taiwan and israel. >>> i want to bring your attention to another market mover in the united states. a lot of people are attributing a rise in a certain stock to this man. jeremy lin of the new york knicks.

and i hope that the white house, i hope the house and the senate and i hope that xi jinping is listening to this appeal from two wives for your individual husban husbands, but also all the other left-behind family members, on behalf of the tens of thousands of political prisoners and religious prisoners in china. so thank you for your outstanding statement. >> sir, also i want congress can keep my husband articles, the 347 articles and two letters to the hu jintao and the premier wen jiabao. >> we will receive those articles. >> on the congressional record. >> thank you. >> good afternoon mr. chairman and mr. co-chairman and thank you for the opportunity to speak with all of you today. i want to begin by thanking the congressional executive commission on china and all the members and staff today for the fabulous work that you're doing on behalf of the united states. it is real service to our country to have such scrutiny of the chinese government's human rights record. as international pro bono legal counsel to imprisoned chinese lawyer, i want to provide you with a brief overview of his

i think xi jinping is savvy politically. i suspect the 23450 team within the standing committee of the politburo will recollect nays -- recognize the need to want to sit down and make a few accommodations at the right time. >> charlie: where might those accommodations be? >> well i'm guessing that we're going to have to deal with three major concerns that are fall into their lapse very very soon after they take power. one of which the question of whether or not china's becoming more repressive toward its people. i believe the answer and that will require some sort of domestic fix, whether it is greater openness and tolerance toward dissent. whether it's opening up the political party to accommodate some sort of approach toward choosing officials based on a vote. in other words, demonstrat demog the party within its own elections. whether it's articulating a role for the internet in society, providing less in the way of rode blocks toward openness and expression. and how they deal with tibet. this will be part of the discussi

someone like xi jinping who is well schooled, well-respected. army, ile's liberation would argue that after a year of consolidating his power, he will have an opportunity by virtue of new leadership of actually engaging in some meaningful change. >> do you think that he is interested in change? >> i believe that he is politically savvy enough and astute enough to know that he has no change because he is up against reform elements in china. when you consider that china has 500 million internet users, and a very restive population looking for change. they're looking for political reform. they're looking for recognition of basic human rights. there looking for greater tolerance of greater aspects of society. if such accommodations aren't made in the next couple of years, you could argue that there could be a head-on collision between those reform- minded elements and the keepers of the status quo with the population. >> it is a good thing to be seen as a friend of the chinese. there is a lot of pressure to be tough on china. does america have it ri

is xi jinping a bigger figure? is he, perhaps, more western, better connected, even from that brief visit 27 years ago to iowa? >> my guess is that he has a much better orientation of the west, and specifically of the united states. he's done a very good job in terms of winning over the people's liberation army, which is absolutely critical if you're going to succeed in politics in china. he's won over the princeling community, of which she is one. and of course, he's been able to win over the communist party, which tells you that he's in line to take the mantle in october. it's not 100% done, but this trip to the united states for xi jinping was critically important, because he's playing to two audiences here. he's playing, of course, to the u.s. audience, but more importantly to him and his future, he's playing to the beijing audience. so everything he's said in his public appearances, this visit to iowa, is pretty much geared towards the decision makes who up a the standing committee of the bureau in beijing, th

xi jinping also met with u.s. vice president joe biden.et another bump in the road to gris''s second bailout. eu finance ministers said the creek -- again delayed a final decision on releasing the funds. the meeting due on wednesday has been scaled down to a conference call on what they're calling outstanding issues. greece needs that bailout to avoid going bankrupt, and a new figures show how dire its economy has become. gross domestic product plunged 7% in the last quarter of 2011 compared to a year earlier. greece is facing its fifth straight year of recession. in greece may be the worst case, but it is certainly not the only country suffering in europe right now. >> the ratings agencies were on the prowl again last night. this time it was midi's with downgrades. it had some big targets. >> britain saw its outlook lowered to negative. that is not the same as a downgrade, but it is a blow to a country outside the eurozone that so far escaped the ire of the ratings agencies. >> it is not a downgrade, but it is a warning. moody's placed br

xi jinping arrives in california for a two-day visit hosted by state governor jerry brown. visit will include a tour of the port of los angeles, china shipping terminal, which is undergoing an upgrade as sign of u.s. trade continues to grow. >>> those are the headlines from cnn, the world's news leader. i'm monita rajpal. "world business today" starts right now. >>> good morning from cnn london, i'm nina dos santos. >> and good afternoon from cnn hong kong, i'm andrew stevens and you're watching "world business today." the top stories this thursday, february 16th. the accounting scandal surrounding olympus escalates. seven arrests are made regarding the billion dollar fraud of the jab these cameramaker. >>> greece's finance minister has been ramping up the rhetoric suggesting that some key eurozone players want to see his country default on its debts. >>> and qantas shares fly high as the company unveils cost-cutting plans. it's bad news for 500 staff who face losing their job. >>> seven men have been arrested in connection with a $1.7 billion fraud at olympus. the company'

the white house is rolling out the red carpet to it for the future leader of china xi jinping, who is in town meeting the president in the oval office and will sit down with joe biden. the visit matters because xi jinping will likely takeover ruling the chinese communist party this year and become the next president next year. activists gathered protest the visit today, rallying for freedom in tibet from chinese control. coming up on abc7 news at noon, apple frenzy. white bands may be lining up even earlier than they thought. -- why fans may be lining up. the home of a supreme court justice attacked. a unique celebration this valentine's day. the forecast looks a little bit better out there now. a chance of >> you are watching abc7 news at noon. on your side. >> is suspect remains at large in the armed robbery of supreme court justice stephen briar when there were with their friends on the caribbean island of nevis. a man wielding a machete stole $1,000. unfortunately -- fortunately, no one was hurt. good news for apple lovers. the ipad3 8 becoming too a store closer than you think. t

. >> today president obama held talks with xi jinping. the two discussed a wide range of issues including trade the middle east situation, and human rights. xi jinping also held talks with joe biden. he is on a five day visit to the united states. he was in two days in washington before heading to iowa and los angeles. >> now, the race for the presidential nomination. a pair of two poll's brings good news for rick santorum. a statistical dead heat has mitt romney in the lead by two percentage points. newt gingrich and ron paul trailing far behind. eight q research center poll shows that the other way. the margin of error included is a statistical tie. >> some disturbing statistics about voter registration in the country. a new survey finds 24 million motor registration records are inaccurate, out of date, or duplicate. that amounts to one in eight registrants. they found nearly 3 million people are registered in two or more states and nearly two million registered voters are dead. >> still to come, see how your trip to the mall paid off f

he greeted vice president xi jinping at the white house. xi is expected to become head of the ruling communist party this fall. >> translator: i look forward to my in-depth discussion with you, president obama. >> obama told xi china must play fair with its trade partners around the world. >> we want to work with china to make sure everybody is working by the same rules of the road when it comes to the world economic system, and that includes ensuring that there is a balanced trade flow between not only the united states and china but around the world. >> obama urged xi to recognize the importance of human rights. he said increased responsibility goes hand in hand with power and prosperity. xi said he hopes his visit will deepen mutual understanding and lead to greater consensus. he said the countries should build a cooperative partnership based on mutual respect and interest, but he suggested the two need to acknowledge their differences. u.s. leaders are extending an unprecedented level of hospitality to xi. vice president joe biden is ac

now xi jinping begins with a new set of realities.w dynasty altogether. >> right. >> and now he has to deal with a reality of a china that has seen greater repression domestically. we're seeing a china engaging in more nationalistic economic behavior. >> yeah. >> seeing a china that is more assertive internationally and the whole world is watching to see how they deal with these issues. some of them are driven by domestic policymaking, how you make combinations with the aforementioned items. he's got these major issues falling on his lap. one thing is for sure, erin, it'll be a year or two before he consolidated his pour base at home before he can do anything substantial at all. > tonight, whitney houston, was she a victim of her success? an investigation into her death. >> this is an active investigation by the beverly hills police department. >>> now to politics. we look at the race between romney and rick santorum. statistics show mitt romney and rick santorum a virtual tie. 32% support mitt romney and 30% support rick santorum, ob

the vice-president of china, xi jinping of district in the u.s. and will meet with other top u.s.group will hold protests outside today, a group wanting to free tibet. the white house wants to cut $50 million from 150 million metro receives every year. the money is used to pay for track repairs and escalators and real cars. the transit agency says a reduction could impact safety and capital improvements. and whatsays it will work to preserve the funding. it's 38 degrees in alexandria. >> still ahead on this tuesday rick santorum surging. a new poll shows the former senator and giving mitt romney a run for his money. >> we will show you the finalists for the westminster best in show. >> checking traffic and weather every ten minutes. a nice view of the nation's capital this morning. 6:36 now. back after this as we continue. >> welcome back. time for traffic and weather every ten minutes. >> let's find out how the roads are. good morning, lisa baden. >> if you're heading on to 95 in maryland in and out of baltimore, in good shape right now on 270 70, and the complicated from waldorf

after being pressed by the obama administration, xi jinping responded diplomatically. >> of course there is always room for improvement when it comes to human rights. >> president obama said the chinese leader suggested he was open to change. their wives and practical suggestions have provided me with much food for thought -- their wives and practical suggestions -- wise and practical suggestions. >> he will visit the town he saw back in 1985 as part of a cultural exchange. >> tonight governor o'malley says he is just a couple of votes shy of being able to capacity same sex marriage bill into law. >> will catch up with one >> will catch up with one undecided delegates achoo! [ male announcer ] but when she used tissues, she went crazy wild. tissue after tissue, she always took a ton. until mom explained with puffs ultra soft & strong, you only need one. two times stronger than the leading value brand, they always win this test. soft non-lotion pillows, they're sure to impress. now the tissue monster had gone away, and puffs ultra soft & strong saved the day. a nose in need deserves puffs

chinese vptd xi jinping was in iowa yesterday for a speech. he will -- this morning washington journal talked to a reporter following the story about the impact of the visit. >> and here is the cover of cq weekly, too big to bash as the u.s. does more business with the chinese, policymakers find it harder to take a tough stance. why is china too big to bash in your view? >> thanks for having me on and we tried to take a look in this piece that china will emerge as a major issue on the campaign trail. there will be critics of the chinese and their economy. and mitt romney and the business community taking swipes at china and its policies. you have quite a bit of a split in the business community about what to do about china, there's a lot of angst about currency, piracy and things like that and a lot of companies are making quite a bit of money in china. as a result there's a split in the business community and as a result you're not seeing a lot of action from the government. >> and you write in your piece, two sides of the coin is the name of

xi jinping met with president obama in washington.is expected to succeed hu jintao as china's president next year. "world business today" starts right now. >>> good morning from cnn london. welcome to "world business today. "greece gets a slap on the wrist. the government still hasn't done enough to qualify for a new multibillion dollar bailout. >>> the debt crisis dampens's europe's largest economy, germany. france is still expected to grow in the fourth quarter. >>> and why twitter won't be going towards an ipo. >>> supposing you're not a greek national, sunday's austerity deal in athens may have seemed too good to be true. turns out it was. the president of the euro group has been saying greece still hasn't done enough to secure a multi billion dollar bailout, as if to underline it's a point, he called off a meeting meant to approve it. he has been saying this, further technical work between greece and the troika is needed in a number of areas here. he also says this includes the closure of the fiscal gap of some 325 million euros

she jinping is american colleagues a voice disappointment with beijing and moscow vetoing that recently were his admission on syria also that china was a criticism of its type of trade that was an act of copyright in force which was the visiting vice president took stoically. brief exchanges that he was not a ceremonial as american leaders sized up being the man widely tipped to be beijing the next decade christine because of the nation state between the two economic times. he loves me loves me that age old question is one china at least has every right to ask regarding its relationship with the united states just in the last three years china has been winding down mind. praised and envied for its ability to do whatever it wants to right now in china the government can disconnect parts of its internet in the case of war we need to have that here too the chinese pay zero capital gains tax folks in congress are also going to get a chance to decide later in the month whether our construction workers should sit around doing nothing while china builds the best railroads the best schools the

xi jinping. he met him at the white house. mr. told xi that china needs to play fair in world trade. vice president biden was blunt when he spoke about china's poor record on human rights which includes jailing political dissidents. >> we have been clear about our concern over the areas in which, from our perspective, conditions in china have deteriorated and about the plight of several very prominent individuals. >> reporter: through a translator, xi said china has made great progress on human rights in the last 30 years, though he admit there had's room for improvement. tomorrow xi will do something that every serious presidential candidate does in this country, he'll viz sit iowa. but wyatt andrews says in muscatine, xi just wants to catch up with old friends. >> reporter: it was 27 years ago when xi jinping led a six-manning a which you are delegation to muscatine, iowa. sitting on a bend of the mississippi, it has huge grain processing plant bus small town values. so sarah lande who organized the visit, put xi in the spare ro

no wonder xi jinping is about to announce a $2 billion tie-up with a u.s. movie company. we've got all details, next. >>> this is "world business today," live on cnn. welcome back. >> after politicking in washington and visiting old friends in the midwestern state of iowa, china's vice president, xi jinping, is now heading up hollywood as he wraps up his visit to the united states. later this friday he's widely expected to announce a multibillion dollar silver screen deal that could benefit both the u.s. and chinese film industries. ramy inocencio has been following the story for us. he joins us now. what is that deal? >> a lot of people in tinseltown are happy, even pretty animated over this deal, including china's vice president, xi jinping. this joint venture involves two chinese state owned media firms, one called the shanghai media group, another is china media capital, a fund that backs the chinese entertainment industry and the third entity is one that many people also know, the u.s.'s own dreamworks animation. dreamworks as you know, does this. >> you guys, did yo

leaders could china's vice president leader great to see jinping two nations ripe for the upper hand turbulent relationship. and online twenty four hours a day this is r.t. the pictures are familiar regime forces cracking down on protesters but this time they're emanating from bahrain just hours ago activists trying to mark the one year anniversary of a proto moxy uprising were dispersed by heavily armed police. reports the weapons as well as the tactics may have been imported from the u.k. . tear gas and stun grenades supposedly the work of a reformed police force but one year on since the first anti-government protests were crushed in bahrain it seems not much has changed the only difference now the crackdown has been planned by one of britain's former top cops john yates used to be assistant commissioner of london's metropolitan police he now works for bahrain's monarchy which says he's there to oversee police reforms the police have borrowed or behaving despicably their latest trick is to throw cans of tear gas into homes of people they don't like shut the doors and people have d

world xi jinping's -- "xi jinping's u.s.oming out party. " it saysit says -- "he also complained about growing instances of intellectual property theft." host: that is "the financial times" this morning. brian is in raleigh n.c., a democrat. caller: i thought it was not a fair choice, friend or foe. they are a competitive nation. we are going to be competing with them. they have not been on our radar for the last couple decades. it will be direct competition on many levels. economically, i think, as americans, we have a choice as to who is the winners and losers as far as our consumption goes. we can choose to look at labels, which are provided freely on almost all the goods that are sold in our country. we can say "do i really need this right now? am i willing to spend a little more money on a better made good or on a good that was made in our country?" i think we have given away a lot of our choice, even though it's right in front of us. we have information on all of our goods. i do not think all of us use that information

leaders could jolt china's a visiting vice president and leaving waiting she jinping as a two nations vie for the upper hand in a turbulent relationship. one sided reports from syria blaming any regime for atrocities seen by some as an attempt to hide the truth of the conflict sweeping rebel crimes under the carpet. for next season or smith talks to middle east expert tariq ali and the turbulent situation in syria and what it could mean for the entire region. i'm talking to tariq ali who's a historian and author and writes mainly on subjects to do with the middle east of course we're talking about events in syria tariq ali thanks very much for talking to us now president assad seems to be clinging on to power in syria do you think there's any chance of him stepping down in the near future well it looks unlikely as if he'll step. of his own accord i think he has to be pushed out the syrian people are of course doing their best in the country what is more dangerous is the pressure being built outside especially in istanbul and by need to try and organize an intervention that i think wou

>> well, for him, for xi jinping it's not to make a mistake.e reason is his whole path to power is not so clear as it was two weeks ago. >> what happened? >> about a week ago there was an extraordinary series of events. while we were watching the super bowl, mid-level chinese official tried to defect to a u.s. consulate in western china. one provincial leader invaded another province with hundreds of armed security troops to prevent all of this from going on. essentially, many people say that this was engineered by hu jintao, the senior leader of china, to sort of attack one of the allies of xi jinping. that means that xi jinping while he looked 100% a couple weeks ago now looks only 80% in terms of being able to get to the path of being the leader of china. >> so he is pro-western. how is that going to play -- you don't think so? unfair characteristic? >> i don't think so. >> when you read his quotes from iowa he speaks very much with great affection for the united states. >> well, you know hrks we may have affection for the united states but