Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Iran Frees 5 American, U.S. Releases 7 Iranians; 3 American Contractors Missing in Baghdad; Democratic Candidates Clash over Issues During Debate; Asian Markets Off to Rough Start Monday Due to Falling Oil Prices; 29 Killed, 54-Plus Wounded in Burkina Faso Attack; Jakarta Defiant after Deadly Terror Attack; Democratic Candidates Clash over Wall Street Reform; Reports of Alleged Tennis Match Fixing. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired January 18, 2016 - 02:00   ET

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

(HEADLINES)

[02:00:38] ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome. Thanks for joining us this hour. I'm Rosemary Church.

ERROL BARNETT, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Errol Barnett. Let's kick off the week. CNN NEWSROOM starts now.

So seeing the fruit of something that took more than a year, Rosemary, of secret negotiations.

CHURCH: Yeah, and talks came close to falling apart. But three Americans are in Germany after being released from prison in Iran. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says "Washington Post" Reporter Jason Rezaian, Marine Veteran Amir Hekmati and Pastor Saeed Abedini will reunite soon with their families.

BARNETT: U.S. Barack Obama haled their release, calling the efforts to free them tireless.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Today, we're united in welcoming home sons and husbands and brothers, who have endured an absolute nightmare. But they never gave in and never gave up. At long last, they can stand tall and breathe deep the fresh air of freedom. As a nation, we face real challenges around the world and here at home. Many of them will not be resolved quickly or easily. But today's progress, Americans coming home, an Iran that rolled back its nuclear program and accepted unprecedented monitoring of that program, these things are a reminder of what we can achieve when we lead with strength and with wisdom.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BARNETT: President Obama there.

Iran also freed two other Americans. The U.S. has pardoned or commuted sentences of seven Iranians. Our senior international correspondent, Frederick Pleitgen, joins us

now from Germany this morning.

Fred, it is very exciting for these three Americans. They made it out safely, finally. They are set to get these medical checks. What do we know about how long that may taken a when they will get to see their friends and family?

FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We expect them to be able to see their friends and families as early as today. Some family members have already come here to the Regional Medical Center, the entrance you see behind me here. And of course, that is more than just a hospital. It is a big compound. So it is also a place where they and their families can also have privacy to themselves, no doubt. It'll be a very emotional time. And then what you're going to see is obviously medical checks which no doubt will include physical, medical checks. You recall especially as far as the health of Jason Rezaian was concerned when he was incarcerated in prison in Tehran, there was a lot of concern about that, about his blood pressure, about the fact he was in solitary confinement for a very long time. There will be physical health issues. Also with this amount of time people have been in detention, there are mental health things that they will have to take care of as well. Because you have to keep in mind, someone like Amir Hekmati, for instance, he was in prison for some four year, more than four years. That is a very long time. And the prison in Tehran is known to be a notorious place with very tough detention conditions.

But however, at this point in time, they are all, will all, be very thrilled that there was a talk between Jason Rezaian and editors of the "Washington Post." They made some of that public. He said he was in very good spirits. He is feeling a lot better than he did 48 hours earlier and that he is now ready to go home and obviously meet his friends and family. It has been a very emotional past couple of hours as they arrive here at the medical center -- Errol?

BARNETT: We have seen the fruits of labor on the diplomatic front between Iran and the U.S. You have the Iran deal and the incident recently with Americans reportedly accidently crossing over into Iranian water space. And obviously this nuclear deal helped those things succeed. But there are limitations. There is a fourth freed American who ended up refusing to head back to the United States. Do we know anything about his story? And why he decided to stay in Iran?

[02:04:54] PLEITGEN: Yeah. Very little. He was also freed as part of the prisoner exchange between the U.S. and Iran and he apparently elected not to go on that plane back to the U.S. that Jason Rezaian and Amir Hekmati and Saeed Abedini took. It is unclear why he was incarcerated in Iran in the first place. Those are all things that haven't been cleared. His case wasn't very prominent. It is one of the things that U.S. President Barack Obama also said when he gave that speech yesterday. He said that this is something that is not so prominent. However, of course, the U.S., even if cases are not as prominent as others, they will still push for people's release. Obviously, they don't want them languishing in Iranian jails. But you're right. The nuclear agreement is something that has

limitations. One of the things that John Kerry said is to get these Americans freed now, there was a window of opportunity, he felt. There was goodwill between the two sides as nuclear negotiations were going on. There were better contact between he and the prime minister. So they saw this window of opportunity and they felt they could capitalize on it. Of course, it is unclear how long that goodwill between these two sides will be open. Because, of course, we have also seen some pretty strong rhetoric between Tehran and Washington in the past couple of days and weeks as well -- Errol?

VAUSE: Certainly is welcome good news for those freed Americans. We will see how this all unfolds in days and weeks ahead.

Fred Pleitgen, live for us in Germany this morning outside the medical facility. Fred, thanks very much.

CHURCH: Now to another major story we've been watching very closely. Three American contractors have now been missing in Iraq for more than two days.

Senior international correspondent, Nick Paton Walsh, has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): We know very little at this stage. We know that the company they are working filed a report on Sunday about their staff going missing two days ago. That's according to a senior Iraqi security official in Baghdad. Initial reports suggest some of them may hold dual nationalities of American and Iraqi as well. They are said to be contractors. That information could mean that there are a variety of potential tasks, anything from security to communication logistics could be the kind of thing they are involved in. They went missing and there have been reports suggesting this could be a detention or a kidnap in a southern neighborhood of Baghdad. The State Department has said they are working with Iraqi officials as much as they can to try and ensure security and are working with the full cooperation of Iraqi authorities. That's according to the State Department Spokesman John Kirby.

Now we don't know who might be behind this detention or the natural of how they had gone missing from Iraqi officials. The area in Baghdad in which it would have occurred would most likely suggest that perhaps militia in Baghdad could be responsible rather than this being something that perhaps ISIS or more extremist militias could be involved in. We know they have minimal ability to penetrate the Iraqi capital.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Nick Paton Walsh reporting there.

BARNETT: The U.S. Democratic candidates went at it in South Carolina, finding ways to poke holes in each other's positions. We will tally the score card coming up. CHURCH: Plus, falling oil prices put the squeeze on a broad range of

stocks. We will show you the latest market damage.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(SPORTS)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:12:26] CHURCH: Well, the latest U.S. presidential debate was expected to be heated and the Democratic candidates did not disappoint.

BARNETT: That's right. With voting beginning in just two weeks in the Iowa caucuses, the latest polls show Bernie Sanders gaining on Hillary Clinton in Iowa and in New Hampshire. And one major area where they disagree is over gun control.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS, (I), VERMONT & DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think that Secretary Clinton knows that what she says is very disingenuous. I have a D-minus voting record from the NRA.

HILLARY CLINTON, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: I have made it clear, based on Senator Sanders own record, that he has voted with the NRA, with the gun lobby, numerous times. He voted against the Brady Bill five times. He voted for what we call the Charleston loophole. He voted to let guns go on to Amtrak, guns go into national parks. He voted against doing research to figure out how we can save lives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: CNN political reporter, Maeve Reston, joins me now to talk more about the last Democratic debate before the Iowa caucuses.

Thanks so much for talking with us.

So the Democratic candidates clashed over a number of issues, including health care, guns, foreign policy and Wall Street reform. What is your initial reading of all it all went, and who do you think came out on top?

MAEVE RESTON, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: This is an interesting debate. It was Bernie Sanders who is the target here, which is a little bit unusual given that Clinton has been the candidate on top for so much of this race. Tonight she went after him really hard on guns. Also questioning whether his numbers actually add up on the new health care plan that he has introduced, Medicare for all. And you know, I think Hillary Clinton did win this debate tonight just by going after him again and again and coming after him on foreign policy as well, showing her credentials as secretary of state. And it just is a fascinating debate heading into Iowa as people are getting ready to vote in the next couple weeks. CHURCH: Interesting. So what do you think were the standout moments

in the debate in the ones everyone will be talking about in the hours ahead?

RESTON: I think that Clinton's attacks on Sanders on guns were the most fiery moment of the debate. He came back very strongly saying that her attacks were disingenuous and he had a D-minus from the guns rating from the National Rifle Association. But this will be an issue on the campaign trail that two of them will engage over.

There was another interesting moment where Bernie Sanders was asked about his critique on Bill Clinton's past indiscretions, and he said, wait a minute here, this is not the kind of issue I want to be talking about here on the campaign trail, I want to have an issues debate. And so there was sort of an interesting exchange there between the two of them.

[02:15:38] CHURCH: Yeah. And as Bernie Sanders pointed out as well, the race between him and Hillary Clinton is very close in Iowa and New Hampshire. Clinton claims she is not concerned, but as the presumptive nominee, she must be a little worried. What are your sources telling you?

RESTON: Well, they definitely are worried. And a lot of Democrats who are pulling for Clinton are worried. I don't think that they expected the race to get this close and the question always has been whether Bernie Sanders' lead in some of the states is real or not. But he's really getting organized in these states. And what everyone is so afraid of is that once again she may have underestimated her challenger here. There was a story in "The New York Times" today, looking a little bit at Bill Clinton, wondering whether or not they underestimated Bernie Sanders. It will be interesting to see how much firepower she trains on him over the next couple of weeks. If tonight is any indication, it is a very, very feisty battle right down to the end.

CHURCH: I think you're right.

Maeve Reston, thank you very much for joining us. Appreciate it.

RESTON: My pleasure. Thank you.

BARNETT: A powerful winter storm has led to massive travel disruptions across parts of Eastern Europe. Temperatures there are set to plummet.

Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri joins us now with more on what is a very chilly start to the week.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It absolutely is. The coldest of the season. In most snow seen in parts of Eastern Europe and if you ask me what is the single hottest time of the year, I would say late July and early August. When you ask the coldest time of the year, I say 15th of January to the first week of February. We're in the heart of it right now for the northern hemisphere. They are feeling it. This is what it looks like across parts of Romania. Folks literally

getting on the highways and coming to blockades where the highway is just impassable and blizzard like conditions that have been in place. We know disruptions forcing road closures, school closures, power outages. Hundreds upon hundreds of flights disrupted across this region of Bulgaria and also on into Romania and into Turkey as well. Take a look at the maps here. We will show you what has transpired. Chronologically speaking, the coldest time of the year. Take a look at this. Wild horse. This is in Belfast across parts of Northern Ireland where impressive snow has come down. Very cold temperatures. I thought it was neat, a wild horse in place. But you take a look, middle of January into February, this is the coldest time of the year climatologically speaking where the northern hemisphere, also known as the dead of winter, we're upon it right now across this region of the world. You take a look, and indicated in the purple and blue, that's the arctic air shifting further east and slicing the continent in half and see the eastern side of it really impacted by the cold air. And Sophia and Bulgaria, mayor in town talk about helping with the officials to have the snow removal process really speed up. Look at Bucharest, 27 centimeters. Sophia, 40 centimeters. 60-plus centimeters in parts of Serbia in recent days. You look at wind chills even in Berlin, minus 9 degrees this morning. Work your way further east and Moscow it feels like 22 below. This continues over the next few days with wind chills 10 to nearly 20 below zero across central Europe. And snow showers are also in place. Eastern Ukraine gets in on it. Also snow showers this morning across this region. In fact, just checked in with the airport in Istanbul. 222 flights, 225 flights either cancelled or delayed, about 170 of them related to Turkish airlines. So if you have plans across this part of the world, keep that in mind. Tokyo dealing with snow out there. Cancellations and delays. And this is what it looks like in Tokyo from your Monday morning. Snow came down, about 6 centimeters came down. But one of our producers shared with us some of these photographs on her way it CNN in Tokyo and said this is what it looked like in the subway trains because the city hit hard with snow. Again, 6, 7 centimeters, not much for some people. Some got more than that. But in a city of 38 million people, that's a lot of snow.

CHURCH: It is.

BARNETT: Are they sending that picture to say I won't make it in today?

(LAUGHTER)

That's my excuse.

(LAUGHTER)

JAVAHERI: I think she made it.

(LAUGHTER)

BARNETT: All right, Pedram, thanks very much.

JAVAHERI: Thank you for having me. BARNETT: See you begin soon.

Now we will have much more on the U.S. Democratic presidential debate throughout our two hours, including insights on the chances of Democrats even winning this year's election.

[02:20:00] CHURCH: Plus, oil prices are dropping further and they are taking stock prices with them. We are live from Hong Kong to make some sense of it all.

Back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BARNETT: Most of the Asia-Pacific stocks are off to another rough start in Monday trading. This is mostly due to falling oil prices. You can see that the Shanghai Composite is up almost half a percentage point. The Nikkei is down more than a percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng down among nine-tenths of a percent. Australia's S&P ASX 200 down .7.

CHURCH: For more on the markets and the falling oil prices, Andrew Stevens, joining me live from Hong Kong.

Andrew, markets across Asia not looking that good. Although, it is interesting what is happening in China there. What's it going to look like once an additional half a million barrels of oil a day from Iran start flooding the market? And just how low could oil prices go as a result of all of this?

ANDREW STEVENS, CNN ASIA-PACIFIC EDITOR: We've seen this big sell-off in oil prices, Rosemary, really, since late last week, which is continuing through here into Asia today. And on Friday, Brent was trading down 6 percent in New York when it closed. And it opened here in Asia down another 4 percent to actually under $28. It's come back a little bit. It's around $28 at the moment. But that's really in anticipation of this 500,000 extra barrels of oil that's going to be pumped daily from Iran. And analysts obviously say that they can ramp up that production to the extra level pretty quickly. And bear in mind, too, something like 24 giant oil tankers brimming with oil sitting off the Iranian coast just waiting for the signal to go to market. So it is basically already under way, this extra oil production. That's why you're seeing this extra leg down in the oil prices.

How far will it go down? Well, if you read some of the more bearish statements from the research houses around the world, the answer is quite a way. Goldman Sachs is talking about a $20 a barrel oil price. Standard Charter saying it could get to $10 a barrel. Analysts, again, I was speaking to here in Asia are saying around maybe $25. But still the pressure needs to be one way at the moment, Rosemary, which is down. So expect this price, it may stabilize for a bit and maybe a few more leagues down, but certainly unlikely to rebound any time soon.

Very quickly, on the market numbers, Shanghai, wouldn't read too much into that at a moment. A report out in the "Wall Street Journal" today saying the market is pretty high overvalued at the moment so that also in the real world should have a way it fall. But this is the China stock market, which doesn't really reflect much of the real world at all. So best to take what's going on there with a grain of salt.

[02:25:57] CHURCH: Good point to make, there. So, Andrew, what do you think? What is likely to happen as we watch European markets open next hour?

STEVENS: Well, there's a chance it will roll through to the European markets as well. Because the Dow really has been the leader when judging or gauging what's been happening in the oil markets. When the Dow tumbles on the back of falling oil prices, it tends to reverberate on to the Asian markets and to the European markets. So it is possible the European markets will land lower.

The focus of the markets I suspect will switch tomorrow morning, Asia time, to the China GPD numbers, which have very much now the capacity to roil the markets to influence investors. Not just in China but all around the world. So people will be watching that one very closely. If it is weaker than expected, if the Yuan, the currency weakens more, that's a signal for further turmoil in the markets I expect because everyone is watching not so much the Shanghai but the value of the Yuan. That has been falling. And the extrapolation of that, Rosemary, it is falling because China's authorities are trying to get the value down so they can boost exports to help the economy, I.E., the economy is much weaker than we think. So watch that space over the next few hours.

CHURCH: And we will. A lot of nervous investors out there right across the globe, in fact.

Andrew Stevens bringing us up-to-date on the situation there from Hong Kong. Many thanks to you.

STEVENS: Thanks, Rosemary.

Deadly terror attacks in Jakarta last week. How Indonesia is handling a threat that's surprisingly close to home.

BARNETT: Plus, U.S. Democratic presidential contenders trade barbs before a final meeting before voting starts in key states. We'll bring you a quick recap of their debate and whose jabs landed where, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:31:13] CHURCH: A warm welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Rosemary Church.

BARNETT: I'm Errol Barnett. We are a half an hour in today. Let's update you on our top stories this hour. (HEADLINES)

BARNETT: Now Burkina Faso is reeling from deadly terrorist attacks that struck a cafe and hotel on Friday.

CHURCH: Authorities say the siege appeared well-planned with some attackers going to the hotel during the day and mingling with guests.

BARNETT: Our David McKenzie has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The terrible toll of the attack by al Qaeda affiliates in Burkina Faso is becoming clearer. At least 28 have been killed, say authorities, including six Canadians, French, Ukrainians, Swiss, and one American, a missionary, Mike Riddering (ph), who was in the country to help women and orphaned children. Those who survived the attack, many of them injured, are still reeling.

(GUNFIRE)

MCKENZIE (voice-over): Fiery scenes, both shocking and horribly familiar. Authorities say at least four heavily armed attackers, two of them women, storming a cafe popular with Westerners in Burkina Faso's capital late Friday.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): It was horrible because everyone was panicked and was laying down on the floor. There was blood everywhere. They were shooting at people at point blank. The sound of the detonation was so loud. We could hear them talking and they were walking around and kept shooting at people that seemed alive.

MCKENZIE: Officials in Burkina Faso say it was a complex attack. Some terrorists posing as tourists during the day before striking at night, moving from the cafe to a popular hotel across the street.

Burkina Faso forces joined by French Special Forces flown in from Mali and American intelligence support.

Hours into the bloody siege, the security operation moved in and the shooting stopped but the attack left dozens dead from at least 18 countries. More than 120 hostages were freed and many still injured.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (through translation): They came in. We were all lying on the ground. And they shot at everybody. Maybe I was lucky it was just my arm.

MCKENZIE: The attacks allegedly claimed by al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and executed by al Marabatur, led by this man, the notorious one-eyed sheik, Muktar Belmuktar.

(SHOUTING)

MCKENZIE: The same groups behind the deadly Radisson Hotel attack in Mali late last year.

(on camera): The president of Burkina Faso has thanked Americans and the French for assisting in the security operation. And the country is going through three days of national mourning.

But questions being asked al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and al Marabatur, the two groups that claimed responsibility. They are also behind the recent attack in Mali on a hotel using similar tactics, sparking fear that al Qaeda in the region could be on the rise.

David McKenzie, CNN, Johannesburg, South Africa.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[02:35:12] CHURCH: The death toll from last week's terror attack in Jakarta has risen to four. Authorities say a new Southeast Asian faction of ISIS was behind the deadly strike.

BARNETT: Four of the attackers were killed and 12 other suspects have been arrested. Indonesians have not succumbed to fear after the attacks but they must confront the threat of homegrown radicalism.

As you see on your screens, our senior international correspondent, Ivan Watson, joins us live from Jakarta to talk about all of this.

And, Ivan, we were speaking with witnesses around this time on Thursday. They were so shocked at the brazen nature of those daylight attacks. It is still early days but where does the investigation stand now?

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, so brazen. And what's crazy is I'm only a couple hundred meters away, Errol, from where the attacks took place. As you can see, it is very much life as usual. The Indonesian capital got back to its original kind of tempo.

But Indonesian authorities have arrested at least 12 people in connection with this. And they say that the mastermind is a man that they've named as Bahrun Naim, and they have identified him as a new dangerous generation of violent jihadis seeking to expand ISIS influence in Southeast Asia.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WATSON (voice-over): Suicide bombers strike in broad daylight. A deadly terrorist attack outside a Starbucks in the Indonesian capital on Thursday carried out by Indonesian members of ISIS.

The mastermind behind the attack, Indonesian authorities say, a 32- year-old radical named Bahrun Naim, who was arrested in 2010 and served time in prison for possession of ammunition.

Police accuse Bahrun Naim of leading a Southeast Asian branch of ISIS in Syria.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His vision is yet to, you know, to join the -- to unite all ISIS supporting in Southeast Asia, in Asia, Malaysia and Philippines.

WATSON: This is a recruiting video made by Indonesian members of ISIS in Syria. Hundreds of Indonesians are believed to have traveled to the Syrian city of Raqqa, ever since is declared it the capital of a self-declared caliphate in 2014. Among those to make the pilgrimage last year, Bahrun Naim.

(on camera): Do you think Naim is a terrorist?

(voice-over): This man is an expert on radical Islam and a former leader of the Islamist movement. That's where he says he first developed a mentor-like relationship with Bahrun Naim who he describes as his little brother.

(on camera): Can I look at your phone, please?

(voice-over): He said the two men stayed in touch via text message long after the militant joined ISIS in Syria.

(on camera): This is the last message you got from Bahrun Naim?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

WATSON (voice-over): December 3, 2015.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

WATSON: He confirms that Bahrun Naim published blogs from Syria explaining how to make suicide vests and remote-controlled bombs. And he said that last November, Bahrun Naim was wounded in an accident while working with chemicals.

(on camera): He was trying it make bombs.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Maybe.

WATSON: Or chemical weapons.

(voice-over): He says Bahrun Naim has become an inspiring figure to many young Indonesian ISIS supporters but he insists the 32-year-old is too young to be the movement leader in Southeast Asia.

Indonesia has a long history of battling violent al Qaeda-linked Islamists.

(SIRENS)

WATSON: The police here say that ideologically this new generation of ISIS militants is far more dangerous because ISIS views fellow Muslims as legitimate targets.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ISIS is more dangerous in the case of Indonesia. Why? Because they are allowed to kill other Muslims.

[02:39:31] WATSON: ISIS, a deadly new threat for the world's most populous Muslim country. (END VIDEOTAPE)

WATSON: Errol, we've learned that while ISIS and its supporters here in Indonesia are still partly very much an extremist movement, we have learned a little bit about how they communicate. They use a social media text message app on their phone called Telegram. That is how the friend, the mentor, was communicating with Bahrun Naim in Syria as recently as last December and updating him on developments that have been taking place here in Indonesia. We learned a little bit more about Bahrun Naim, who used to run an Internet cafe. He had a three- year graduate degree, basically undergraduate degree in information technology. When he was arrested and convicted, after his time in prison, his friend says he became much more militant and much more extreme in his views. When he made his trip to Syria it join ISIS in Raqqa, he is believed to have taken along two wives and two children. And the parents of one of those wives did not even know their daughter left the country. The friend was left to inform these very panicked and frightened parents that their daughter had gone to the headquarters, self-declared caliphate, in a war zone thousands of miles away -- Errol?

BARNETT: You can only imagine what it was like for them to receive that kind of communication.

Ivan Watson live for us this afternoon in Jakarta, Indonesia. Just past 2:41 in the afternoon there. Ivan, thanks.

The Australian Open is under way. Defending champs, Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams hope to hoist trophies again this year. They are both advanced past the first round. And Australian tennis legend, Lleyton Hewitt, will play Tuesday. He announced he will retire after this year's tournament making it his 20th and final appearance.

CHURCH: But the tennis season is opening amid some scandals. The sport's four governing bodies are strongly rejecting explosive new reports of wide-spread match fixing.

BARNETT: They are responding to the BBC and "Buzzfeed News" report, which both say they have acquired secret internal files implicating 16 players ranked in the world top 50. All of this over the past decade. And that includes grand slam winners. No players have been named. And the ATP, WTA grand slam board and ITF all deny allegations of a cover-up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS KERMODE, ATP EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN: The Tennis Integrity Unit and the tennis authorities absolutely reject any suggestion that evidence of match-fixing has been suppressed for any reason or isn't being thoroughly investigated. And while the BBC and "Buzzfeed" reports mainly refer to events from about 10 years ago, we will respond to any new information, and we always do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And we will have more on that next hour. But we will take a break right here. When we come back, the British

parliament is preparing to debate a hot topic. Should Donald Trump be banned from the United Kingdom? We will have a live report from London just ahead. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:46:53] BARNETT: Welcome back. With a significant shift in poll numbers, the Democratic candidates for the U.S. presidency focus their aim at each other this past weekend.

CHURCH: Yeah, they met Sunday in their final debate before voting begins in Iowa in two weeks. Hillary Clinton now faces a more serious challenge from Bernie Sanders in both Iowa and New Hampshire. And the two were quick to clash on a number of issues, including Wall Street reform.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS, (I), VERMONT & DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: First, the difference is I don't think money from big banks. I don't get personal speaking fees from Goldman Sachs. What I would do --

(APPLAUSE)

SANDERS: What I would do is understand that when you have three out of the four largest banks today bigger than they were when we bailed them out because they were too big to fail, when you have the six largest financial institutions having assets of 60 percent of the GDP of America, it is very clear to me what you have to do. You've got to bring back the 21st century Glass-Steagall legislation and break up the huge financial institutions.

HILLARY CLINTON, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: I go after them, and I can tell you, that the hedge fund billionaires who are running ads against me right now, and Karl Rove, who started running an ad against me right now, funded by money from the financial services sector, sure thing, I'm the one they don't want.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BARNETT: Larry Sabato is the author of "The Kennedy Half Century" and is the director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics.

Thank you so much for coming to the CNN Center.

You can follow Larry Sabato on Twitter.

My first question to you is why in the world who you watch "The Godfather" to prepare for the damn debate? I saw you tweet. You're busted.

(LAUGHTER)

DR. LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR POLITICS, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA & AUTHOR: You're absolutely correct. I had a couple hours to spare after I got into Atlanta. So I was just cruising through the networks and found HBO and "The Godfather" and it actually fit quite well.

(CROSSTALK)

SABATO: Well, for one thing, the Democratic debate always touches on gun control. And "The Godfather" could use some gun control.

BARNETT: We have a serious competition that seems to be shaping up at least. Secretary Clinton essentially tied with Senator Sanders in Iowa, one of the first states to go to early primary and caucus voting. The race has really narrowed between the two. Did Hillary do enough during this debate to stop Sanders' momentum, do you think?

SABATO: I doubt it. I think she did a good job stressing her issues and putting Sanders on the defensive again about guns. She's where the party is on guns. But he has the more emotional issue of Wall Street. Democratic activist it feel strongly about income equality and what happened with the Great Recession. So I would say that she solidified her support and he probably solidified his and it is a she close race in both Iowa and New Hampshire.

BARNETT: But there is something beyond that, after they get the party's nomination and some said that Bernie Sanders with the Democratic Socialist push, things like $15 minimum wage, fighting climate change, talking about the prison system, that that's essential pushed Hillary to the left, as she tries to outdo Sanders. That may serve her well for these early primaries. But might that hurt Hillary Clinton in a general election when you need centrist voters? Not the far left.

[02:50:17] SABATO: That's good point. The truth is that Clinton would have much preferred to not be pulled to the left, not having Sanders as strong an opponent as he turned out to be. But you know the Clintons are very good to moving and drifting ideologically as need. I think she will scramble back to the middle for the general election, and given her long record, she can cite something for that move.

BARNETT: Isn't history on the side of Republicans here? Because you have two terms of a Democratic president. Typically, doesn't the pendulum swing the other way?

SABATO: It usually does. The third term is very difficult to get. The only time in modern history that it's happened is when George H.W. Bush succeeded Ronald Reagan. But there have been a lot of close calls. It almost happened four other times in recent years. So I don't think it's impossible. It is difficult. And in the end, there is no way for Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders to avoid President Obama's record. They have to embrace it because they have to -- they have to excite the Democratic base. If you can't get Democrats it turn out, Republicans will certainly win, unless they nominate a very controversial candidate.

BARNETT: Most of the excitement, based on what we've seen, goes toward Donald Trump for the Republicans and Bernie Sanders for Democrats. Where do you think this election will end up?

SABATO: I'll be surprised if it is a choice between Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders, and I would bet against both of them to be party nominees.

BARNETT: Maybe Ted Cruz rather than Trump?

SABATO: I think Cruz has a better chance than Trump but there may be an opportunity for one of those more establishment candidates as we move through the primaries. And on the Democratic side, it is hard to imagine Democrats going anywhere but Hillary Clinton. The question is, will they be excited about her, and will she sweep into the convention or will she limp into the convention?

BARNETT: All right. So much more time to go. At least we're in the year of the elections.

SABATO: Finally close to it.

(LAUGHTER)

BARNETT: Larry Sabato, director of University of Virginia Center for Politics and the author of "The Kennedy Half Century."

Thanks for your time. And good luck on your next movie choice.

SABATO: Thank you so much. Appreciate it.

CHURCH: All right. Let's take you back to a story we told you about a short time ago. Match fixing allegations have been published by the BBC and "Buzzfeed News" implicating 16 tennis players ranked in the world top 50 over the last decade. Some players have been under suspicious as far back as 2003.

CNN digital producer, Ravi Ubha, joins us now live from Melbourne.

Ravi, these are serious allegations of match fixing at top-level tennis from the BBC and "Buzzfeed." Professional players suspected of throwing matches for money. What's the latest on this and what is the evidence?

RAVI UBHA, CNN DIGITAL PRODUCER: Rosemary, let's start off with your second question first. The evidence, as you might expect, in a report like this came from various sources, people inside the game, tennis authorities, gambling authorities. Also, analysis of 26,000 matches betting patterns in those matches and also leaked documents. That's where the evidence came from. And in terms of what's been happening in the latest, we heard from Chris Kermode earlier on and we all heard from, and he was very quick to say first of all there's zero tolerance policy, and number two, there is never anything on their part that it suppressed any information that they had received. He was quick to come out. And it was interesting because here we are, first match, first day of the Australian Open, Serena Williams on center court, and we're focused on Serena, we're focused on the match fixing story, and everyone scrambling to hear what authorities had to say.

CHURCH: Yeah. I want to talk to you about that. This is explosive. It has potential to destroy careers and reputations if the evidence is strong enough. What has been the response from the tennis world so far and what impact is this having at the Australian Open with some players there under a shadow.

UBHA: Yeah. We did hear from Chris. He was quick to come out, and speaking on behalf of several different authorities. I spoke to a couple of agent who told me off the record not for public use, or essentially talking about if their players had been approached in the past and these types of situations and they said that has not been the case. And also spoke to others in the game saying you know what, there's a distinction between top, top highest level and players in the second tier and third tier, and we call them challengers and the future. At that level, game players not making a lot of money. And they can be susceptible to these types of things. It's a matter of choice. Players say they have to do the right thing and make the right close. That's what it boils down to. And we will hear later on from Novak Djokovic who just finished his match. But Serena Williams has spoken out and she said she feels like she is in her own bubble and she feels like the players she plays, play very hard and she hasn't seen any of it.

[02:55:12] CHURCH: Interesting. And we will hear from you again next hour.

Thank you so much. Ravi Ubha, reporting there from Melbourne. Many thanks.

BARNETT: Finally this hour, sales of David Bowie's final album, "Blackstar," are soaring in the U.S. and the U.K. The late singer's farewell to his fans debuted at number one on the "Billboard 200." That makes this Bowie's first number-one in the West.

CHURCH: "Blackstar" also tops the U.K.'s top 100 official chart. Nine of the singer's other albums have also reentered the top 40.

And thanks for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Rosemary Church.

BARNETT: I'm Errol Barnett.

We've had a pretty busy hour. But there's much more to come. Next hour, we will have live reports from Davos, Vienna, Melbourne and more. Please do stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)