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Family Reunions After Prisoner Swap between U.S./Iran; France Launches De-Radicalization Program; Novak Djokovic Comments on Alleged Tennis Match Fixes; Remembering Glenn Frey; Family of Robert Levinson Demands Answers; John Kerry Talks U.S. Sailors Captured During Iran Prisoner Swap; Democratic Candidates Arrive in South Carolina Following Debate; Zika Virus Hits Hawaii; "White Out" at the Oscars. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired January 19, 2016 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[02:00:38] ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Rosemary Church.
ERROL BARNETT, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Errol Barnett. Thank you for joining us for our two hours. This is CNN NEWSROOM.
CHURCH: We start with a thaw between Iran and the United States. Tehran is moving fast to get back into the world oil market, now that sanctions have been lifted. The country's deputy oil minister has confirmed that Iran plans to pump up its daily output. The price of crude has been plummeting.
BARNETT: Meanwhile, the first American released from Iran this past weekend is now back home in Boston. Iran held Student Matthew Trenathick for 40 days. Now, his release was not part of the deal that led to the release of four other Americans. Three of that group now at a U.S. military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany.
Our Fred Pleitgen joins us from there now this morning.
Fred, because we've had another day here, we're getting more information about the 14 to 15 months that led up to the prisoner swap, and how Jason Rezaian's family was almost kept back in Tehran rather than allowing them to fly out with him before that was all resolved. What exactly happened then, and what's happening today?
FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, you're absolutely right. There's a lot of things that we're learning. One of the most important things we learned yesterday is all three men have now been reunited with their friends and family. It was a process that the physicians here at the Landstuhl Regional Center wanted to do slowly, because they didn't want them to be overwhelmed with so many well wishers coming here to Germany, to go and see them, because, of course, after such a long time in detention, it is something that can be quite difficult to deal with.
But you're absolutely right, there was apparently the danger that all of this could have been held up even more, the threat all of it could have fallen apart at the last second. There was an agreement between the U.S. and Iran that these five passengers in total, Jason Rezaian, Amir Hekmati, and Saeed Abedini, as well as Jason's mother and wife. Apparently, at the last minute, it was said that Jason's mother and sister were not allowed to go on the flight because allegedly they were not on the flight manifest. What it took in the end was a phone call from U.S. Secretary of State Kerry directly to his Iranian counterpart, Javad Zarif, and once the two men talked things over, Javad Zarif deployed four of his aides to the airport to allow this plane to leave.
But, of course, as you recall, over the past couple of days, we've been reporting about this, it is something that caused about a 20, almost 24-hour delay these men coming back -- Errol?
BARNETT: It's just another piece of proof that because of the new diplomatic relationship between the U.S. and Iran, because of the nuclear deal, things like this were able to get resolved, not only happening in the first place.
Secretary of State John Kerry was with Wolf Blitzer on Monday, and said he had not yet been briefed on the Americans' condition. Specifically, he didn't know if any of the detained Americans were tortured. What are we learning about the conditions they were kept in and their health now?
PLEITGEN: Well, we're learning very little about the conditions they were kept in. I spoke to Jason's brother yesterday, and he said at this point, Jason isn't talking very much about it, because they're all seeing each other for the first time. They have family matters to talk about. They talked about the coverage that we're doing out here. Of course, a lot of them finding it strange to be in the news themselves. We spoke to some representatives and family members of Amir Hekmati, and Jason Rezaian, and both of them say the two men are in good spirits. Seem to be in fairly good health condition as well.
But at the same time, of course, they have been in detention for a very long time. Ami Hekmati, for instance, was in detention for four years. They're going to be undergoing tests, and additional evaluation here also on the psychological level. One of the family members put it this way to me, "They're going to undergo this, because they feel putting in a little bit of effort now in the reintegration into society really will help them along the way so they wouldn't have to put in a lot of effort further down the road."
And so it seems as though they are all in good spirits, they are all in good health. However, they are going to go through this protocol here to make sure they're all right once they're able to go back home -- Errol?
[02:05:19] BARNETT: It's hard to imagine what they've been through, and what this experience is like for them. Jason Rezaian's colleges at the "Washington Post" said he was starved for information as soon as he got out, being a news guy. But there will be many psychological things for them to go through as well.
Fred Pleitgen, live for us this morning in Landstuhl, Germany. Five minutes past 8:00 there. Fred, thanks.
CHURCH: Another big story we're following, a Belgian national has been arrested in morocco for alleged ties to the Paris terrorist attacks last November. French and Moroccan authorities identified the man as Jallell Atta (ph). They tell CNN affiliate, RTL, said that Atta met with the ringleader. French law enforcement said he traveled to Syria with one of the Paris bombers in 2013.
BARNETT: Now, as Europe struggles against extremism, France has launched a de-radicalization program.
CHURCH: Joana was raised Catholic, but got caught up in extremist ideology after converting to Islam.
BARNETT: CNN's Atika Shubert has an exclusive look inside the intervention that saved her.
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ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Amidst of the terror attacks in 2015 in Paris, a 15-year-old girl found herself in contact with one of the women directly involved in the attack.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translation): This woman spoke to me on social media. She wanted to go to Syria with someone. She didn't want to go alone. She was also trying to control everything I was doing.
SHUBERT: Joana, not her real name, is one of the youngest in France's de-radicalization program. Along with mandatory counseling, she must now report to police every day.
She and her mother allowed CNN to observe her counseling session. Both wanted to remain anonymous. She tries to explain to her counselor the grip ISIS recruiters had.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
SHUBERT: Joana was recruited entirely online, groomed by propaganda that painted ISIS as a defender of Muslims. As a fervent convert seeking more understanding of Islam, Joana was an easy target.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
SHUBERT: At first, Joana's mother chalked it up to teenage rebellion. But when her daughter called her an "infidel," she called the national hotline to alert authorities.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translation): I was feeling guilty. Our first reaction is to feel guilty as a mom. We try to find out the reasons why our child suddenly changed.
SHUBERT: Joana said the program has allowed a way for her to reconnect with her family and still maintain her faith, far from the toxic ideology of ISIS.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translation): I made the decision not to get a new phone. It's better this way. I need to learn how to think by myself. Without a phone and Internet, there's no one to tell me what to do anymore. For now, I don't feel like going back on social media.
SHUBERT (on camera): What advice do you have for other girls like you, and how not to fall into those same traps?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translation): You should always be careful on the Internet. Don't even go there. Don't speak to them. Don't take any risk. For those who are already radicalized, please open your eyes to reality. Don't go to Syria. It's suicide. It's death.
SHUBERT (voice-over): There are some days when Joana is confident. But she still fears a relapse. She refuses to have a Smartphone and won't touch a computer with Internet access. But it's a daily struggle, especially for a girl so young.
Atika Shubert, CNN, Paris.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[02:10:05] BARNETT: I want to bring you this news just in to us from Pakistan. Local officials say at least seven people are dead after a blast near a security checkpoint there. The pictures and video you're seeing now is the first glimpse we're getting of what happened. They're coming to us from the area just west of Pashara (ph). More than a dozen people are reported wounded in this explosion. At this stage, there has been no claim of responsibility. And with at least seven people dead, folks in the hospitals there are fearful that number could rise, as many of the injured are in critical condition. We will continue to follow this story in the hours to come, and bring you more as soon as it's available.
CHURCH: In the meantime, let's take a very short break. Still to come, Eagles co-founder, Glenn Frey, has died at the age of 67. We will look back on a legendary career in music.
BARNETT: Plus, the top player in men's tennis gives his take on the explosive new allegations of match fixing at the sport's highest level. Stay with us.
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[02:15:06] BARNETT: The top tennis player in men's tennis is weighing in on the allegations overshadowing this year's first major, that bombshell of an investigative report. Novak Djokovic said he was indirectly offered $200,000 to throw a match back in 2007.
CHURCH: But he insists there's no match fixing problem at the sport's highest level. Take a listen.
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NOVAK DJOKOVIC, CHAMPION TENNIS PLAYER: There's no room for any match fixing or corruption in the sport.
I was not approached directly. I was approached through people that were working with me at that time.
And of course, we threw it away right away. It made me feel terrible.
Somebody may call it an opportunity, I call it -- for me, that's an act of unsportsmanship, a crime in sports.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Tennis' four governing bodies have also rejected the reports from BBC and "Buzzfeed News."
Ravi Ubha joins us now live from Melbourne.
So, Ravi, we heard there from Novak Djokovic describing how he was approached to throw in 2007. But he doesn't think match fixing is a big problem at the highest level of tennis. What's been the reaction to his comments, and how many more tennis stars are likely to speak out publicly?
RAVI UBHA, CNN DIGITAL PRODUCER: I think the reaction, first of all, Rosemary was inside the tennis world, Djokovic's story about that incident, he talked about that before, so it was known. But it got worldwide attention yesterday after a report by "Buzzfeed." In terms of reactions from the players, I spoke to a couple of players today. Some of them didn't really want to chat about the situation, but they did tell me just in passing, they felt it was a nonstory at the highest level, because of the fact that they are making such good money, that for them, it's not really a factor in these situations. So speculation was the word that Djokovic used yesterday. Another player I talked to said, yeah, it was a nonissue, really.
CHURCH: That's the thing, isn't it? These players are getting so much money, when you think in terms of $200,000 an offer here you would think most of them would turn away from that. But what impact have these allegations had on the Australian Open there in Melbourne?
UBHA: Well, Rosemary, this situation, we're in the second day, deep into the second day, and still much of the headlines surrounding the tournament are talking about match fixing, what's going on off the court rather than on the court. We heard from four of the biggest names in tennis yesterday, including Djokovic, Maria Sharapova, Federer, Serena Williams, all talked about it. Murray spoke about it, he's never been shy to talk about these issues, and he was vocal, too, saying tennis needs a little more transparency. He was hoping this report maybe would lead the ATP and the governing bodies to look more into it, and to provide some more of the transparency.
CHURCH: All right. Ravi joining us there from Melbourne at the Australian Open. We'll talk again on this same issue next hour. Many thanks to you.
BARNETT: China's latest economic data show the country's economic -- I should say the economy is still growing but not as fast as it had been. Gross domestic product for 2015 grew at a rate of 6.9 percent. That's right in line with government estimates, but the weakest annual growth in 25 years.
CHURCH: Amid the release of five Americans from Iran, one other family in the U.S. is frustrated and heart broken. Ahead, the latest on missing CIA contractor, Robert Levinson.
BARNETT: Plus, we'll remember Glenn Frey, the co-founder of the legendary rock band, the Eagles. He has passed away.
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[02:22:13] CHURCH: The music world has lost another legend. Eagles co-founder, Glenn Frey, died Monday at the age of 67.
BARNETT: He was behind some of the band's greatest hits, famously lending his vocals to "Take It Easy," among many others.
Our Anderson Cooper looks back on a life in music.
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(SINGING)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, A.C. 360 (voice-over): By the time Glenn Frey sold this version of the most famous song, he was more than a quarter century from where he started, co-founder of one of the most iconic rock bands around, the group that he and Don Henley began in 1971. Some called their music country rock. To millions, it was ageless.
(SINGING)
COOPER: A couple of years ago, Showtime aired a three-hour documentary on the Eagles. Glenn Frey, of course, was at its center. But the Eagles only lasted for nine years before they broke up.
GLENN FREY, BAND MEMBER, EAGLES: Everybody was really happy.
(SINGING) COOPER: But in those nine years of albums, road trips, alcohol abuse, drug abuse, and goodness knows what else, Glenn Frey and the Eagles made some truly amazing music.
Who can forget "Hotel California."
(SINGING)
COOPER: "Lying Eyes."
(SINGING)
COOPER: "Take It to the Limit."
(SINGING)
COOPER: And a song first made a hit by Linda Ronstadt, "Desperado."
(SINGING)
COOPER: Amidst it all, Glenn Frey remembered the music and the drugs.
FREY: I was riding shotgun in a Corvette with a drug dealer on the way to a poker game, and the next thing I knew we're going about 90 miles an hour. Holding, big time. I was like, hey, man, what are you doing? He looked at me and he grinned and he goes, "Life in the fast lane."
[02:25:14] COOPER: He had a successful solo career for many years --
(SINGING)
COOPER: -- with hits like "The Heat is On."
(SINGING)
COOPER: 14 years after the Eagles broke up, they reunited and began touring again all over the world. Their songs have sold millions and millions of copies, and they were to have been honored last year at the Kennedy Center, but Glenn Frey was too ill.
On the word of his death, Don Henley released a statement that said, in part, "I'm not sure I believe in faith, but I know that crossing paths with Glenn Lewis Frey in 1970 changed my life forever and it eventually had an impact on the lives of millions of people all over the planet. It will be very strange going forward in a world without him in it."
(SINGING)
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BARNETT: Anderson Cooper reporting there.
Now, the Motion Picture Academy is getting slammed over its slate of Oscar nominees for 2016. The Academy is promising to do better. CHURCH: The issues that set them apart. Coming up, the Democratic
candidates head back out onto the campaign trail after a heated debate. Back with that, and more, in just a moment.
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[02:30:14] BARNETT: This is CNN NEWSROOM. We want to welcome our viewers joining us from the United States right now. And of course, welcome back to our international viewers. I'm Errol Barnett.
CHURCH: And I'm Rosemary Church. It is, of course, time to update you on the stories we've been watching this hour.
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CHURCH: The first of five Americans released from Iran last weekend is now home in Boston, Matthew Trevithick. The student was held for 40 days in Iran. Now, his release was not part of the prisoner swap which freed four other Americans.
BARNETT: It's important to point out that there are other Americans still in Iran, and one of them is missing.
CHURCH: Robert Levinson disappeared there in 2007 and his family is demanding answers.
CNN's Brian Todd has the details.
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BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Along with the images of joy and relief for some released Americans and their families, there's renewed heart break and mystery surrounding two Americans left behind in Iran. One is Robert Levinson, a 67-year-old former FBI agent. Levinson vanished in March 2007 from the tiny Iranian resort island, of Kish. Iranian officials are promising to help find Levinson. The Iranians have denied holding him and say they don't know where he is. That doesn't fly with Levinson's family.
DAN LEVINSON, SON OF ROBERT LEVINSON: We all believe, I think it's very obvious that the Iranian government knows exactly where he is.
TODD: At the time he vanished, Levinson's family said he was working as a private investigator, looking into a case of cigarette smuggling. The family has since admitted Levinson worked as a contractor for the CIA. Neither the CIA, the FBI, nor the White House have ever publicly acknowledged any connection between the CIA and Levinson.
A senior administration official tells CNN they've had reason to believe Levinson may have been held outside of Iran.
In 2011, the family received these harrowing photos of Levinson in an orange jump suit and they had earlier received this proof of life video.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ROBERT LEVINSON, ALLEGED IRANIAN PRISONER & FORMER FBI CONTRACTOR: I'm not in very good health. I am running very quickly out of diabetes medicine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FORMER CIA OFFICER: I think the chances of the Iranians releasing live a former FBI officer, someone who was working for the CIA, are zero. I think the videos that came out showing Levinson, to taunt and toy with the family and the government.
TODD: Another American who was released Nosratollah Khosravi-Roodsari represents a different sort of mystery. It's not clear why he was imprisoned in Iran. A senior administration official tells CNN Khosravi-Roodsari chose to stay in Iran after his release, but neither U.S. nor Iranian officials are saying why.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you have assurances that are satisfactory to him, that he'll be allowed to live freely in Iran, he has family, or business, or for whatever reason, and chooses to stay there, it's understandable.
TODD: As for Robert Levinson's family, we got a sense of his wife's frustration when she described retracing his steps at the place he was last seen.
CHRISTINE LEVINSON, WIFE OF ROBERT LEVINSON: We went to the hotel. We saw it is in an area of the island where there is not much activity and very quiet. And it's a short distance from the airport. And we believe that something happened between the airport and the hotel.
TODD (on camera): What do you believe happened?
CHRISTINE LEVINSON: I don't know. I don't have an answer. That's the hard part. I don't have an answer.
TODD (voice-over): Adding to the mystery, this man who claims to be the last person to see Levinson alive. His name is Dalud Salahudean (ph). He says he met with Levinson just before he disappeared to discuss the cigarette smuggling case.
(on camera): Salahudean (ph) said he and Levinson were both detained by Iranian police. But he has baggage of his own. He's an American fugitive, given refuge in Iran after he admitted killing a pro-Western Iranian diplomat in the Washington, D.C., suburbs in 1980. U.S. officials have said Salahudean (ph) is not a credible source of information about Robert Levinson.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
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[02:35:12] CHURCH: The prisoner swap was complicated by an unforeseen incident. Two small U.S. Navy vessels ended up in Iranian waters, and Iran took the sailors prisoner.
BARNETT: Our Wolf Blitzer sat down with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and asked him about that incident. Take a listen.
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WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Mr. Secretary, you were a sailor. You were in the Navy. When you saw those 10 American sailors with their hands over their heads, on their knees, was that enough for you -- do you threaten the Iranians, the foreign minister, the U.S. was going to walk away from this deal unless they were immediately released?
JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: Suffice it to say, I don't want to get into precise language. I think that's inappropriate. But let me make it clear, I was extremely upset, frustrated. It was inappropriate. And I made it very, very clear to the Iranians that we needed those people back, and we needed them right away.
BLITZER: What would have happened if they wouldn't have returned them?
KERRY: I'm not going to -- I don't think it does any purpose. I want to -- you know, my counterpart, Foreign Minister Zarif, responded promptly. He could not have been more serious. He understood the gravity of the situation. President Rouhani, others engaged. Within a matter of a very few hours we did what could not have been done a year ago, two years ago, three years ago. We wouldn't have known who to call two years ago. Maybe the Swiss, maybe the British. That could have become a major hostage situation. It could have been very, very dangerous. But because we have a channel of communication, because we have worked on this nuclear agreement, we were able to resolve this. That is very important.
BLITZER: If things start moving in the right direction, could you see normalization of relations with Iran, reopening of embassies, as you did last year with Cuba?
KERRY: Again, can I see it? Somewhere in time.
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: While you're secretary of state.
KERRY: I can't speculate on that.
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: Do you think that's realistic over the next year?
KERRY: I have no sense of timing and we haven't had those discussions at this point in time. We need to work through some very serious issues before that's on the table. But obviously, the world would be better off if we could move down a different road, and particularly, if we can reduce the tensions between the Gulf States, and Iran, because Iran's behavior actually changes. That's critical.
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: On Syria, do you think Iran will abandon Bashar al Assad? KERRY: I've never said that.
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BLITZER: Do you believe they could?
KERRY: Here's what I know. That Syria -- that the Iranians have agreed to come to the table. They have sat at that table with Saudi Arabia and other countries. Nobody could have imagined that a year or so ago, or even months ago. Both the Saudis and the Iranians have agreed that they will not let their differences at this moment get in the way of a process of trying to work on Syria. And the Iranians have put forward their plan for Syria, which involves a cease-fire, a negotiation of a reform with respect to the constitution of Syria, a rewriting of that constitution, a unity government, and an election. That is very close to what Geneva has been trying to achieve over a period of time. So this needs to be explored. I'm making no promises. I can't tell you whether this can or can't work. I can tell you that if you're going to have a political settlement, which everybody says is critical, this is the only way to get to it. And we are going to put it to the test.
BLITZER: The Saudis have severed diplomatic relations --
KERRY: Yes.
CHURCH: -- with Iran after the Iranians ransacked their embassy. The Saudis executed a top Shiite cleric in Saudi Arabia. The Saudis really, like the IAEA, like the moderate Arab states, the Israelis, for that matter, they hate this improved relationship with Iran, the billions of dollars that are going to --
(CROSSTALK)
KERRY: They don't hate them. What they hate is what Iran is doing in the region, and engaged in, and in their country, they believe, and in Yemen and elsewhere. That's what they don't like.
(CROSSTALK)
CHURCH: -- they're not even ruling out --
(CROSSTALK)
KERRY: They don't like any more than we like it. We don't like the fact that Hezbollah and the IRGC in Syria, propping up the dictator who is killing his people, and who is the principal attraction of jihadis. Nobody likes that. So that's why we are pushing forward on this Syria negotiation in an effort to see if we can come to an agreement where there's a transition government, and where the people of Syria can choose the leadership going forward, and we can resolve this challenge.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BARNETT: Now, with just two weeks to go before the Iowa caucuses, the Democratic presidential candidates are highlighting the differences that separate them.
CHURCH: Briana Keilar reports Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders started the day in South Carolina after Sunday night's contentious debate.
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[02:40:10] HILLARY CLINTON, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: Hello, South Carolina!
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders speaking in a unified voice today in South Carolina about Martin Luther King Jr's legacy.
CLINTON: He died with his work unfinished, and it is up to us to see it through.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS, (I), VERMONT & DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What is important is that we remember his vision.
KEILAR: But last night --
SANDERS: I think Secretary Clinton knows what she says is very disingenuous.
KEILAR: -- a Democratic house divided. Clinton hammering Sanders on health care, accusing him of wanting to scrap Obamacare by providing Medicare for all Americans.
CLINTON: I want us to defend and build on the Affordable Care Act, and improve it.
SANDERS: We're not going to tear up the Affordable Care Act. I helped write it.
KEILAR: With a ferocity that reveals just how competitive the race for the Democratic nomination has become in Iowa and New Hampshire, but belies Clinton's 25-point lead nationally, she zeroed in on sander's moderate record on guns.
HILLARY: He voted against the Brady Bill five times. He voted for immunity from gun makers and sellers, which the NRA said was the most important piece of gun legislation in 20 years.
KEILAR: Sanders said he is willing to reconsider his vote on immunity and turned his attention to Clinton's ties to Wall Street.
SANDERS: I don't get personal speaking fees from Goldman Sachs.
KEILAR: Clinton hit Sanders for voting to deregulate credit default swaps, that paved the way for the financial crisis.
CLINTON: Senator Sanders, you are the only one on this stage that voted to deregulate the financial market in 2000 --
(CROSSTALK) KEILAR: But it was Bill Clinton who backed that bill, signing it into law. The Clinton campaign highlighting the former president's admission years later that it was a mistake.
(SHOUTING)
KEILAR: Now Sanders is looking south for support from black voters who disproportionately support Clinton.
Key African-American leaders, like former Attorney General Eric Holder and most of the Congressional Black Caucus have endorsed her.
CLINTON: God bless you.
KEILAR: But Sanders has hit pop artiest, Killer Mike, in his corner.
KILLER MIKE, POP ARTIST: Look at that picture of Dr. King on your grandma's wall your whole life and say to yourself whose policies best identify most with that person. In my case, it's Senator Sanders.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Brianna Keilar reporting there.
Well, members of Britain's parliament debated with a U.S. presidential candidate, Donald Trump, should be banned from the U.K. It was in response to a petition accusing Trump of hate speech over his remarks in the U.S. about Muslims.
BARNETT: Now, some British lawmakers expressed support for Trump while others slammed him. Some very colorful things were said as well. But look, most said banning Trump would against free speech.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED BRITISH M.P.: This ridiculous individual that is Mr. Trump, may be elected --
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED BRITISH M.P.: May be elected president of the United States.
UNIDENTIFIED BRITISH M.P.: The great danger by attacking this one man is that we can fix on him a halo of victimhood, giving him the role of martyrdom which can seem to be an advantage among those who support him.
UNIDENTIFIED BRITISH M.P.: I've heard of a number of cases where people have been excluded for incitement of hatred. I've never heard one for stupidity. I'm not sure that we should be starting now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARNETT: Plenty of laughs there. Now, British Prime Minister David Cameron has said he was against
banning Trump. He's now proposing his own plan to integrate Muslim women and female migrants in the U.K., effectively forcing them to learn English.
CHURCH: He said migrants coming into the U.K. on a spousal visa must pass a series of language skills tests or risk being deported. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID CAMERON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: We want to build a more cohesive one-nation society where everyone can make the most of their talents. You can't have a country of opportunity if some people can't speak the language. In many cases, it's no fault of their own. It's because they've been put into a situation where they were taught not to integrate, not to go out, not to learn the language. And that's not good enough. That needs to change in our country. And these proposals will make sure it does.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: That proposed language tuition program will cost $28.5 million.
[02:45:36] BARNETT: The Academy Awards are promising big changes. The group's president says she will lead the fight. This, after black actors have been shut out of Oscar nominations once again. We'll bring you the controversy after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
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BARNETT: Welcome back. We want to get you to the U.S. state of Michigan now because protesters there are calling for the arrest of Governor Rick Snider. This, over lead poisoned water in the city of Flint. More than 100 people marched outside his home in Ann Arbor on Monday.
CHURCH: Snider admits the situation is a disaster, but says he won't be stepping down. He has called in the National Guard to help deliver clean water to the city's 100,000 residents.
Well, health officials say they do not expect the Zika Virus to spread further in the United States, but there is a case in Hawaii that has doctors asking questions about the virus.
BARNETT: That's right. We have more on this story now from CNN senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: This is believed to be a first. The first time that a baby has been born in the United States with Microcephaly linked to the Zika Virus. Microcephaly is a birth defect. It's where the baby's head is too small. That can be very, very serious.
The Zika Virus is not spread person to person, rather it's spread by mosquito bites.
Now, this mom while she was pregnant, she was in Brazil. It's believed that's where she contracted the virus.
Most people who contract the virus, about four out of five people, they don't even know they've contracted it. They don't get sick. Only about one in five get sick. And even then, it's very mild. It's a rash. It's a fever.
But with babies, the situation is different. With babies, thousands have been born in Brazil with this birth defect and dozens have died. That's why the CDC on Friday issued a travel warning to women, warning pregnant women about traveling to parts of central and South America, and to Mexico and Puerto Rico.
There are no known cases where someone became infected with Zika from a mosquito bite in the United States.
Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[02:50:32] CHURCH: Five soldiers were killed in an avalanche on Monday while taking part in a military training exercise in the French Alps.
Our Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri has been following this closely.
Pedram, talk to us about the situation now. This is just a tragedy.
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It is. You know, it's another one in which occurred in this region. The last week or so we've had multiple avalanches take place in a similar spot. Take a look at the actual location across portions of the French Alps. Of course, the snow pack has been significant. I want to show you what's transpired as we go to the floor graphics. To put it in scale here, in this region it's been rather dry, until the past couple of weeks. Snow depth impressive in the last few weeks as you work into 2016. Here's the most recent avalanche that occurred, where we had five fatalities, several people injured. You work your way back to the West, 100 kilometers away, that region had three fatalities in the past week as well from an avalanche that occurred there with a snow pack between 45 and 60 centimeters. Very rapid increase in the snow pack. What's happened in recent days here, we've had brutally cold temperatures on the eastern side of the continent. Out over the Western edge of Europe across eastern parts of France is where the avalanches have occurred. Again, within 100 kilometers of one another. Look in that region, temperatures are actually rather mild, even in the higher elevations. Work your way into the higher elevations over this region, generally minus 1 to above 1 Celsius. Mild enough in spots where some of the afternoon snow is beginning to melt. And keep in mind, the bond between slow areas is an ingredient. We've had tremendous snow pack in recent weeks. Mild temperatures set up in the afternoon hours. We get parts of these snow packs beginning to melt and glaze over in the overnight hours. Additional snow comes down, Rosemary, and this really sets up this disaster scenario where it destabilizes the top layer of snow, and everything collapses, causing the avalanches we're seeing now in this region in large numbers -- Guys?
BARNETT: Great way to break all that down.
Pedram explaining how that happens.
We appreciate it. We'll see you here next hour.
JAVAHERI: See you next hour.
BARNETT: Now, in the U.S., many mark the holiday celebrating the birth of civil rights leader, Martin Luther King Jr, on Monday. A group marched to his memorial in Washington to lay a wreath in tribute.
CHURCH: Others chose to celebrate the day with acts of service, paying tribute to King's legacy by helping others.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REV. JOSEPH LOWERY, CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST: We've got more black police officers, even police chiefs, and a black president, and yet we have more racial profiling, more police brutality, excessive use of force. Black young men keep dying on our streets at the hands of police officers. So we've come a long way, but we still have a long way to go. And we really don't do King justice by simply having some recitations and programs on his birthday and then the rest of the year we go about the business of prejudice, bias, racism, sexism, and all the things that Dr. King stood against.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARNETT: On that point, Reverend Lowery just made, two big names in Hollywood chose Martin Luther King Day to take a stand for adversity at the Academy Awards.
CHURCH: Jeremy Roth has that story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JADA PINKETT SMITH, ACTRESS: Let's do us differently.
JEREMY ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In a video posted to Facebook, Actress Jada Pinkett Smith said she is boycotting the Academy Awards and won't be watching from home either. She made the dramatic announcement in the wake of a growing controversy over the lack of diversity among this year's Oscar nominees.
PINKETT SMITH: Begging for acknowledgement or even asking diminishes dignity, and diminishes power. And we are a dignified people.
ROTH: Her husband, Will Smith, is one of the actors of color who did not get nominated this year, despite critical acclaim for his performance in "Concussion."
Pinkett Smith said now it's time to reevaluate things.
[02:55:22] PINKETT SMITH: Maybe it is time that we pull back our resources and we put them back into our communities, into our programs.
ROTH: Pinkett Smith is not alone in her frustration. On social media, many have vented over the lack of Oscar diversity. For the second straight year, the #Oscarsowhite has been trending online.
Spike Lee, meanwhile, said he's boycotting the ceremony as well. In a post on social media, the director asks, quote, "How is it possible, for the second consecutive year, all 20 contenders under the actor category are white."
Both stars said they wished their friends involved in the Oscars production the best. And Pinkett Smith praised Chris Rock, who will be hosting the show next month.
I'm Jeremy Roth reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BARNETT: What was an unprecedented move, the president of the Academy, Cheryl Boone Isaacs, expressed her frustration publicly over the lack of inclusion.
CHURCH: She says -- and I'm quote, "The Academy is taking dramatic steps to alter the makeup of our membership. In the coming days and weeks, we will conduct a review our membership recruitment in order to bring about must-needed diversity."
BARNETT: Of course, a lot of the conversation being pushed on social media.
Certainly connect with us online. Let us know what you think of all this. CHURCH: Next hour, my interview with an entertainment reporter who's
been following this boycott. Why not stay with us?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
