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Matthew Trevithick Arrives In Boston Monday After Being Held In Iran For 40 Days; Glenn Frey Dead At 67 Years Old; FIFA President Sepp Blatter Banned From World Soccer But Still Getting Paid, According To Reuters Report; Avalanche In French Alps Kills Five Soldiers; Iranian Deputy Oil Minister Says The Country Plans To Increase Production By 500,000 Barrels A Day; Donald Trump Going After The Evangelical Vote. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired January 19, 2016 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:01]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL NEWSROOM ANCHOR: Back together, emotional reunions for the families of Americans released by Iran. And new details on how the deal almost came apart.

ERROL BARNETT, CNN INTERNATIONAL NEWSROOM ANCHOR: Tough talk. Donald Trump ramps up his attacks on Ted Cruz. And Cruz responds in kind.

CHURCH: Also ahead, another rock legend falls silent, a look back at the career of Glenn Frey, co-founder of one of the greatest rock bands of all-time.

Hello and welcome to our viewers here in the United States, and all around the world. I am Rosemary Church.

BARNETT: And I am Errol Barnett. Thanks for joining us as we roll through our second hour of CNN Newsroom.

CHURCH: The first of five Americans released from Iranian prisons is now back in his hometown of Boston. Matthew Trevithick had gone to Tehran as a student but was arrested and held for 40 days.

BARNETT: Now his release was not part of the prisoner swap which freed four other Americans. One of that group chose to stay in Iran. The other three are recovering right now at a U.S. military hospital in Germany. CNN's Jim Sciutto has their stories.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: After a four-hour flight from Tehran to Geneva, these were the American prisoners' first moments of freedom, and first family reunions. Jason Rezaian, Washington Post journalist freed after a year and a half jailed in Iran, Amir Hekmati, a former U.S. marine, freed after more than four years behind bars, including a death sentence. American Pastor Saeed Abedini released after three years in jail. They had to pass one final unexpected obstacle. Just before takeoff, Iranian authorities tried to block Jason's mother and wife from joining him onboard. I spoke today with Rezaian's brother, Ali.

ALI REZAIAN, BROTHER OR JASON REZAIAN: The Iranians threw up a roadblock as at that point. What happened? The Iranians, as they have done all along continued to manipulate them, continued to try to mess with them and prevented them for leaving for some period of time. Thanks to the Swiss and Americans, she came with them as well.

SCIUTTO: Rezaian, Abedini, and Hekmati are now undergoing physical and psychological medical checks in a U.S. military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany. Congressman Dan Kildee who long advocated for Hekmati's release joined the reunion.

DAN KILDEE, U.S. HOUSE DEMOCRAT: I wear it almost all the time, this little button that says free Amir. I guess I can flip it around and just have it say Amir free.

SCIUTTO: The surprise announcement came on the same day that the U.S. and Iran announced the completion of the nuclear agreement, which crucially brought an end to all economic sanctions against Iran for its nuclear activities.

Earlier in an interview with Wolf in the Situation Room, Secretary of State John Kerry denied that the hostages' freedom depended on sanctions relief.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No one really believes it was a coincidence that on the day the implementation of the nuclear deal goes forward, finally the Americans are released from Iran.

JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: Well, it became, as I say, it became convenient. It was not linked.

SCIUTTO: Events this weekend bring a fundamental change not just to relations between Iran and the U.S., but in Iran's relationship with the world. Iran now has access to the U.S. Treasury, estimates $50 billion in frozen assets. It can sell its oil and gas freely on world markets. And western companies, including American firms, can now do business with Iran for the first time in years. There are still two Americans held by Iran, an Iran-American businessman and also Robert Levinson, a former FBI employee who disappeared in 2007.

I spoke with his family today, and they said it is nonsense that Iran does not know his whereabouts or his condition. Jim Sciutto, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And now, Fred Pleitgen is outside the military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany, where three of the Americans are being treated. He joins us live now. Fred, how much longer will the three released Americans need to undergo the medical checks before they can get home to the United States, and what is the latest on how they're feeling and what they may have been through while in Iran?

[03:05:01] FRED PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Rosemary. It's not clear how

long this process is still going to have to go on. We have to keep in mind this is a voluntary process. However, there is a protocol followed that could take anywhere from a couple of days to even longer. There are cases in the past where a process like that has taken weeks. Now, one of the things that many people find encouraging is over the past -- I will say 12 hours, you've seen pictures emerge of these three former prisoners meeting together with their families for the first time.

You saw the picture of Jason Rezaian, meeting with his family, Amir Hekmati who as we've seen met with Representative Kildee. That many believed is a good sign that they are in good spirits and apparently also are in good health. Jason Rezaian apparently told the Washington Post, according to an article that he does feel as though he is in good health. Nevertheless, the tests as to how they're actually doing are something that is going to be ongoing.

At the same time, we saw throughout the day that we were here yesterday, that the physicians here at the Landstuhl Regional Center want to make the reintegration process not too fast so as not to overwhelm the three with the people who are here. There are a lot of supporters who have come here. American politicians, other people who have kept their cases in the public spotlight as these three men were in detention, and many have now come here to welcome them back and to show their joy that they have now finally been released.

It's unclear how long this process is still going to take. However, it appears from those that we've been speaking to, we spoke to both Amir Hekmati and Jason Rezaian, both of them appear to be in good health. Nevertheless, the tests will be ongoing for just a little while longer, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Still yet to learn what exactly they all went through while in Iran, for sure. Frederick Pleitgen joining us there live from Landstuhl in Germany, many thanks to you, as always.

BARNETT: Donald Trump is pumping up his push for the evangelical vote. The Republican front-runner has a healthy lead in New Hampshire where he campaigned on Monday. But the race against Ted Cruz is much tighter in Iowa.

CHURCH: With voting there just two weeks away, Trump is looking to chip away at Cruz's support. Dana Bash has more on Trump's speech to thousands of Christian students.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're going to have some fun, right?

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Appearing at Virginia's Liberty University is a right of passage for GOP Presidential candidates, even Donald Trump who drew a big crowd beyond students required to attend.

TRUMP: I want to generally knock the hell out of them.

BASH: He stumbled a bit, quoting scripture.

TRUMP: I hear this is a major theme right here. But 2 Corinthians, 3:17, that's the whole ball game, where the spirit of the lord, right, where the spirit of the lord is, there is liberty.

BASH: It is second Corinthians, not two, a moment showing sharp contrast with Ted Cruz who comfortably weaves bible verses into speeches.

TED CRUZ, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: How can you know that I will follow through on those promises on the first day in office and every day afterwards? As the scripture has said, you shall know them by their fruits.

BASH: But so far, polls show evangelicals like Trump, despite him not talking the talk of a typical Republican trying to reach them.

CRUZ: It seems Donald has a lot of nervous energy.

BASH: Still, a big part of the Cruz/Trump escalating war is a personality and character contest.

TRUMP: He's a nasty guy. Nobody likes him. Nobody in congress likes him. Nobody likes him anywhere once they get to know him. He's got an edge that's not good.

BASH: Today, Cruz responded to being called nasty with a classically Cruz pop culture reference. But Cruz is no longer laughing Trump off. He is now following Jeb Bush's lead, questioning Trump's conservative credentials.

CRUZ: Ronald Reagan was a voice of consistency. And I am pretty sure that Ronald Reagan didn't write checks and support Democratic politicians.

BASH: And Cruz super PAC released this new TV ad trying to paint Trump as a hypocrite. As for Trump, his campaign clearly knows they have some image softening to do, going up on New Hampshire radio with a testimonial from his daughter, Ivanka.

[03:10:01]

IVANKA TRUMP, DAUGHTER OF DONALD TRUMP: When I was a young girl, my father Donald Trump, always told me that I could do anything that I set my mind to if I coupled vision with determination and hard work.

BASH: Trump didn't just call Cruz nasty, he also went after him in a twitter tirade, for taking money from Wall Street, and much, much more. But that was all over the weekend. Come Monday, here in New Hampshire, and earlier in Virginia, not one word about Cruz, perhaps because Trump has been getting some blowback from conservative talk radio hosts who have a lot of influence with Republican voters, warning Trump not to go too far and alienating Cruz voters who may also be potential Trump voters, Dana Bash, CNN, Concord, New Hampshire.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BARNETT: What do Iowans think of all this? They will cast caucus votes in less than two weeks. Kyle Munson is a columnist with the Des Moines Register and joins us now to discuss their views. Kyle, in 2012, only 20 percent of registered Republican voters took part in the Iowa caucus. It seems who has the most enthusiastic base. How do Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, and Marco Rubio stack up in that regard?

KYLE MUNSON, "THE DES MOINES REGISTER" COLUMNIST: I think right now, the conventional wisdom is that Cruz has the most consistent enthusiastic ground game in terms of number of events, getting people out to-- you know all of his bust tour events, whereas, Trump is flying in for larger scale events. He has more coming up on the calendar. So he's trying to -- you know pump up his base in that way. Rubio in one town and I ended the day with Cruz in another. But you know Cruz especially has seemed to just by number of events, and small towns, some conservative enclaves around Iowa, he's really been out there pretty frequently.

BARNETT: That probably explains why Donald Trump has been trying to figure out how to attack Cruz while not annoying his supporters. Last time around, though, Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney walked away with 26 percent support each. Romney eventually became the nominee. Of course, he lost in the general election. So in the end, what is an Iowa win really worth?

MUNSON: The road to the White House still goes through Iowa. But it's true, especially on the GOP side -- you know the candidates coming out of Iowa, the top winner has been more of a conservative right candidate. You mentioned that the bromance as it were is over between Cruz and Trump. They've been sparring, and they're duking it out now in the final weeks for that top place finish in Iowa.

Because, you know now Cruz has an expectation, because he has the evangelical vote -- you know pretty firmly in his corner in a lot of ways, there is this expectation because of the recent track record in Iowa that he pretty much should win. So I think it's pretty much agreed if Trump would come out of Iowa with a win that would be perceived as a pretty big win for him.

BARNETT: I want to ask you about this. The U.K. Parliament proposed a ban on Donald Trump for what people there feel is a hate speech. The vote essentially went nowhere. But the petitions get more than half a million votes. What do Iowans make of that?

MUNSON: Yeah, I -- you know I think in some ways, for the most conservative voters, it would almost be a badge of honor. I would say on the right, in the GOP race on the right, especially to have conservative voters who buy into this philosophy of making America great again per se, it's not about pleasing another country or another constituency outside of America. And so that just makes a candidate like Trump arguably look all the tougher.

BARNETT: You and I are watching this closely, along with everyone else. We will see what happens, Kyle Munson with the Des Moines Register, thank you for your time.

MUNSON: Thank you very much.

CHURCH: All right. Let's take a short break here. Still to come, two Hollywood a-listers are planning to be no-shows at the Academy Awards, after black actors get snubbed on 26 Oscar nominations, that story ahead.

BARNETT: And later this hour, fans and friends pay tribute after the death of Eagles co-founder Glenn Frey.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:19:01]

BARNETT: Welcome back. We want to update you on a developing story right now. In northwest Pakistan, local officials in the Khyber Agency say at least 10 people are dead now after a blast near a security checkpoint. Last hour, that death toll was at seven. You're looking at pictures coming in to us from the area. All of this is just west of Peshawar, 36 people are now reported injured. We understand some of them are in critical condition. So the death toll could continue to rise. We will continue to gather more information for you and bring it to you when we have it, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Errol, we have this other story to bring everyone. Backlash over lack of diversity among this year's Oscar nominees is having a big impact. The President of the Academy Awards says the group will recruit some diverse new members. That announcement came after actress Jada Pinkett Smith and filmmaker Spike Lee announced separately that they are boycotting the awards show this year. And here's part of Smith's video message on Facebook.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JADA PINKETT SMITH, ACTRESS: Begging for acknowledgment or even asking diminishes dignity and diminishes power. And we are a dignified people. And we are powerful. And let's not forget it. So let's let the Academy do them, with all grace and love. And let's do us, differently.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Joining me now to talk more about the lack of diversity in the Oscar nominations is Entertainment Journalist Holland Reid. And she joins me now via Skype. Thanks so much for being with us. Now, actress Jada Pinkett Smith says she won't be attending the Oscars after sending out a number of tweets, questioning the lack of nominations for people of color. Director Spike Lee and his wife say they won't be going either. Why do you think this problem of lack of diversity persists in the Oscar nominations, and will and will a boycott make any difference?

HOLLAND REID, ENTERTAINMENT JOURNALIST: You know when you have -- and thanks for having me on, by the way. When you have a group or a membership committee that is only made up of one specific demographic, we're talking over 75 percent of all -- mostly white males over the age of 60, that's a problem when it comes to relatability, I think and also choosing projects that really represent a diverse group. Not just ethnicity but sexuality. Gender as well. This group two years in a row now has been all white actors, which says something about the representation of other actors and groups and ethnicities and nationalities behind closed doors. And I think boycotting the awards is just a start.

CHURCH: And it's interesting because that problem has been recognized by the academy President, Cheryl Burn Isaacs put out a statement in fact late Monday saying this. And I will just quote this directly. "I am both heartbroken and frustrated about the lack of inclusion. It's time for big changes." She then goes on to say we need to do more and better and more quickly. And she talks about the implemented changes to diversify or try to diversify academy membership that you talked about there but adds the changes are not going fast enough.

How significant is it that she has issued a statement like that, and why can't the changes happen faster?

REID: Definitely huge -- very big deal she issued this statement. I was so happy to read it. I was so glad she took that step forward and put her foot down and made that statement. I don't think the changes have happened because of the powers that be. The people that are again behind those closed doors making those votes -- making those recommendations for nominations are the people in charge.

These are the -- you know the good old boys club so to speak that has been around for a really long time, and they are the powers that be. So people like the Jada Pinkett Smith who are the new powers that be in a different way are now taking that power and hopefully using it like you said for a boycott and trying to make changes that happen immediately and more impactful.

CHURCH: And ironically, comedian and actor Chris Rock will host the Oscars this year. How do you expect him to respond to this lack of diversity in nominations?

REID: I absolutely cannot wait to hear what he has to say about this. We know that he tweeted out he said that oh, look, the Oscars are just the white BET Awards. So we know he is already probably penning those jokes to really shine a light on this problem. You know nobody wants to take away from these artists and these projects that are absolutely deserving of this award.

[03:24:01]

That's the fine line that a lot of these actors and celebrities -- you know kind of straddle because you would never want anybody to be recognized for their work for any other reason other than it being their artistry, but you do have to recognize that there is a major problem with the diversity in the film community, especially when it comes time for awards season.

CHURCH: Yeah. And the hashtag Oscars still so white, it remains relevant at this point, and perhaps sometime in the future it won't be necessary. We will see. Many thanks to Holland Reid for joining us via Skype, we appreciate it.

REID: Thank you.

CHURCH: Of course, some analysts have suggested it's going to take more actors deciding they're not going to attend for anything to happen at the academy. For this year it's over.

BARNETT: Because this online push has now resonated with big name actors and a lot of minority actors do get other awards at other ceremonies but not the Oscars for some reason. We'll see.

CHURCH: It's glaring.

BARNETT: If this does have an impact.

Now China's economy is still growing, but at its weakest rate in 25 years. GDP for 2015 came in at 6.9 percent, right in line with government expectations.

CHURCH: And trading is done for the day in the Asia pacific markets. In Tokyo the Nikkei finished up half a percent. In Hong Kong it was up more than two percent. Look at that. And the Shanghai Composite gained more than three percent. Australia added nearly one percent there.

BARNETT: Let's bring in CNN's Asia Pacific Editor Andrew Stevens live in Hong Kong for us today. So Andrew, China's economic numbers released today matched almost perfectly what was predicted. There's always a bit of suspicion surrounding what China says about its economy, but the regional market reaction is all in the green right now. Why is that?

ANDREW STEVENS, CNN'S ASIA PACIFIC EDITOR: Yeah, that's the point, Errol. It is in the green. So watch what the market does and not what people say. And investors have taken these numbers from China, which as you point out is the slowest growth for 25 years. But they're taking it as a positive. And it's all relative because you don't have to go back too far when the world was waiting wit with baited breath to see what these numbers were, fearing the worst, fearing that China could be on the edge of an abyss because there had been an unusual devaluation of the currency, the Yuan, unexpected.

The stock market was doing crazy things and the government was doing very heavy-handed intervention, and people were asking themselves what the hell's going on in China. Well, these are the numbers. These are the official numbers. Whether they're absolutely accurate or not it's being seen as a vote of confidence and that is the response. Interestingly, today, Errol, I spoke to China's richest man. He's the head of Dalian Wonder Group. His name is Zhang Zhao Lin. And he was -- he's obviously very, very close to what's going on in the economy. And I asked him whether he thought there was a danger that China's economy could have a hard landing. This is what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZHANG ZHAO LIN, CHINA'S RICHEST MAN: Absolutely not. I don't normally use the word not. But I have to stress absolutely not. The main reason is there's vast demand for the service industry in China.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEVENS: Ok. So you see there, there is a big demand according to him from service sector, not the manufacturing and the exports, which have been weakening as part of this transition. Let's not take his word as gospel, though. But certainly for the moment, the fear has subsided about the state of China's economy. It will continue to weaken. The question is by how much. Most analysts, the IMF says look for growth this year of around 6 1/2 percent.

BARNETT: All right. Andrew Stevens from Hong Kong with what is viewed being good news there, a lot of green in that part of the world. Let's quickly take a look at the markets in Europe. Just getting going and warming up this morning. And it's replicating what we're seeing in Asia, a lot of green. Generally speaking, markets up give or take two percent there. We'll continue to watch this, but a good day for markets.

CHURCH: Yeah, very encouraging there.

Well, an international chef and restaurateur in the Philippines has just been named Asia's Best Female Chef of 2016. Margarita Flores is known for her mastery of Italian cuisine. She's the woman behind casual dining chain Cibo and several other restaurants.

BARNETT: She has a great story. She wasn't always in the culinary industry. She began as an accountant, and then worked in the fashion world. She learned to love authentic Italian cuisine during a tour of Italy back in 1986.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARGARITA FLORES, CHEF: The interest in the Italian stuff, more with the food, I would like cook for my friends at night and just get together as an excuse to be able to make pasta for people. You know when I started 30 years ago, you couldn't get a good tomato in the Philippines, and now we have all these wonderful farmers who are doing really exciting things, and now we have tomatoes that come close to the ones in Italy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[03:29:01]

BARNETT: All right. We're just going to show you a portion because Rosemary and I get too hungry if we listen to too much conversation about food. You can watch the full interview with chef Margarita on our website. Just head to CNN.com and look for the lifestyle section.

CHURCH: Sounds fabulous. All right, well, still to come, the world number one in men's tennis weighs in on the explosive new allegations of match fixing in the sport's top levels.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: And a warm welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. I am Rosemary Church.

BARNETT: And I am Errol Barnett. Let's update you on our top stories.

One of the Americans released from Iran this past weekend is now home. Matthew Trevithick arrived home in Boston Monday after being held 40 days in Iran. The student is the first of the Americans back on U.S. soil. His release was not part of the prisoner exchange, which freed four other Americans.

CHURCH: Glenn Frey, co-founder of the legendary rock band the Eagles has died at the age of 67. He helped define the band's trademark sound, lending his voice to all-time classics like Take It Easy, as the Eagles topped the charts throughout the '70s.

Well, the world number one in men's tennis is responding to the match- fixing allegations overshadowing the year's first major.

BARNETT: Novak Djokovic says he was indirectly offered $200,000 to throw a match back in 2007. But he does not believe there's a match- fixing problem at the top of the sport.

CHURCH: Tennis's four governing bodies have rejected the reports from BBC and Buzzfeed News in even stronger terms. Ravi Uppal joins us now live from Melbourne. A lot to cover here, so Ravi, Novak Djokovic says he was approached to throw a match in 2007 but doesn't think match fixing is a big problem at the top level of tennis. What are other players saying about this and of course, the allegations?

[03:34:01]

RAVI UPPAL, SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Andy Murray was speaking about this after his first-round victory, and one thing that Murray was calling for was more transparency. I found it interesting that Murray, when he was talking about the issue said that some of the stuff in the report he knew about, other stuff he didn't know about. He felt it was imperative, Rosemary, for younger players coming up to be educated, because they'll know in the future when placed in these situations exactly what to do.

So that's something that Murray called for, and it has been such a distraction for the players who've been asked about this issue on day one and for most of day two.

CHURCH: And Ravi, we have to go to action on the court because a big upset at the Australian Open involving Rafael Nadal. What happened?

UPPAL: Rosemary, Rafael Nadal last year, he was in mostly slump mode. He didn't play all that well, didn't win a grand slam, which is the crown jewels of the events, for the first time since 2004. His ranking almost fell out of the top ten. But he finished 2015 very, very strong. Came into the Australian Open, had a pretty tough draw against his fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco. They played an epic in 2009 here in the semifinals, five sets. Rafael Nadal won that day. Not today, Verdasco beating Nadal in five sets. He came from 2-1 down. So if you look at what's happened, Rosemary, on Monday, talking about

match fixing, more match fixing today, and the loss of Rafael Nadal, one of the biggest stars, sporting stars in the world, has not been a great start, you could say, for the event.

CHURCH: Yeah. And pretty dramatic day, too, at the Australian Open. Many thanks to Ravi Uppal, reporting there live from Melbourne.

BARNETT: FIFA President Sepp Blatter is banned from world soccer, but according to Reuters he is still getting paid. FIFA suspended Blatter in October and later banned him from the game for eight years over ethics violations.

CHURCH: A FIFA official tells Reuters that Blatter's bonuses have stopped, but based on his contract he will continue receiving his salary until a new President is elected next month.

BARNETT: Now, an avalanche in the French Alps has killed five soldiers. Four others were injured, and two are being treated for hypothermia.

CHURCH: Soldiers were doing military training at the time. Monday's accident happened just four days after another avalanche in the Alps killed three people.

BARNETT: For more on all of this, we are going to bring in our meteorologist Pedram Javaheri, who is at the international weather center. Pedram, multiple avalanches apparently happened in this specific location. You can explain exactly how all that happens.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: This is the highest density, guys, of snow pack as far as the Alps are concerned. This region of the Alps having the most snow on the ground, anywhere between 40 and 70 centimeters, and we have prime ingredients in place, very steep slopes here. Generally, for an avalanche to occur most of the time it occurs between the angles of 20 degree slopes to 50 degree slopes. And this certainly was in place across this region. We've had gusty winds.

And also the temperatures have been a little mild. And I just want to lay the land and bring the floor maps into perspective. Because when you take a look at the amount of snow that's come in across this region, again comparing the multiple locations, there's the highest density of the snow pack across anywhere in the Alps, you have the one that occurred last year, the Le Doux Alps, when we had three fatalities. The five fatalities occurred about 100 kilometers to the east.

Want to show you how this all transpired. The temperatures in the afternoon hours across some of these, has been mild. The snow pack has been tremendous. By the evening hours we get heavy snowfall. But one of the main primary ingredients when it comes to avalanches occurring is the bond between snow layers. So when you have mild temperatures in the afternoon, you allow that surface layer to begin to melt. It creates an icy glaze and that icy glaze, additional snowfall can

come down on top of in the overnight hours when the temperatures are cold enough. This really weighs down on this initial pack at the surface and destabilizes the snow pack. If the winds are strong enough, you will have this collapse, and this leads of course, to large-scale fatalities. If you have a lot of people in the path of these avalanches that's one of the primary ingredients across this region of the Alps when it comes to getting heavy snowfall coming onto the surface again that has been melting in the morning hours, it is just not cold enough and creating a destabilized surface leading to the avalanches here.

BARNETT: Very scary stuff. Thanks, Pedram.

CHURCH: Thank you.

Well, Iran says now that sanctions have been lifted, it plans to boost oil production. We will see what that could mean for prices and the world's financial markets, back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:42:01]

BARNETT: Iran's deputy oil minister says his country plans into crease its oil production by about 500,000 barrels a day now that sanctions have been lifted. The increased supply is likely to send oil prices even lower. You see there the current price of Brent Crude just over $29 a barrel.

CHURCH: Iran says if it doesn't increase production, other countries will take its share of the market.

BARNETT: Now, oil prices and China's economy are expected to dominate discussions over the next few days at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. And that is where we find the Anchor of CNN's the Business View, Nina Dos Santos. Nina, just outline some of the conversations around the dropping price of oil that's been as we said hovering around $30 a barrel, but Goldman Sachs report that it could be as low as $20 a barrel this year. What impact might that have?

NINA DOS SANTOS, ANCHOR OF CNN'S THE BUSINESS VIEW: Or even $10 a barrel if you believe the economists and analysts at Standard Charter, another big important investment bank too, Errol. It's a rather chilly morning here in Davos. About 16 degrees with a chill wind blowing in from the east. Economically speaking, of course, I am talking about those low growth figures for China. The growth figures went through earlier on in the show, pointing out they were the lowest level since 1990, although they're only a smidgen below expectations, at least according to the official figures.

But the real concern here among delegates in Davos is nobody really knows what to believe when it comes to the official figures in China. There's a lot of skepticism about exactly what pace the Chinese economy will be growing at for the rest of the year. Whether it perhaps is a little bit lower than the official statistics suggest. China's in the middle of this big transition phase. But of course, it is still one of the biggest consumers of energy. And this is where the China oil dynamic really comes to the fore here at Davos.

There are a lot of concerns that as you were pointing out before, as the Iranian oil comes onto the market now further exacerbating the glut of this commodity, we could also see at the same time demand starting to wane from China, which has been voraciously lapping up that extra oil at these current cheap prices. So oil and China, you're right, likely to dominate the debate. And let's have a look at how it's dominating the stock markets as well, because it's volatility that's been coming from China, not so much just the growth pattern of China that has also roiled markets right around the world.

If we look at things like the Brent Crude price as you just pointed out, that's ticking up a little bit higher in today's session. Divorced from reality analysts and investors would say because it's heading up at the time it should be heading down because there's more oil coming onto the market. But the financial markets as you can see also heading up despite these kind of concerns. We've got some pretty robust gains like at the CAC 40 in Paris, the Dax. One market still up is the FTSE 100, despite fact we've had corporate earnings like Unilever already warning that these signs of volatility are starting to affect their bottom line. Bit of gloom here in Davos, but certainly not in the markets today.

BARNETT: All right. Nina Dos Santos, joining us from Davos, 9:43 in the morning. We assure our viewers she is actually there. It's not a green screen or a trick. Nina's cold breath proves it, Nina, thanks a lot.

CHURCH: All right, back now to the warming relations between Washington and Tehran and the worries from opponents of the nuclear deal.

BARNETT: Of particular concern to some is that Iran's regional rivals may pursue nuclear weapons themselves in the face of an emboldened Tehran. CNN's Wolf Blitzer sat down with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and had a conversation with him about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Saudis are not even ruling out the possibility given their concern about this nuclear deal with Iran, they could go forward and maybe buy a nuclear bomb maybe from Pakistan. You've heard those concerns.

KERRY: Sure, we've heard those things. But you can't just buy a bomb and transfer...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why not? They've got a lot of money.

KERRY: There are all kinds of NPT consequences. I mean there are huge implications of that. And Saudi Arabia knows, I believe, that that is not going to make them safer, nor is it going to be easy because the very things that Iran went through they would then be subject to with respect to inspection, NPT and so forth. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bob Levinson, the American, former FBI agent,

contractor for the CIA, disappeared during a 2007 business trip to Iran. Is he still alive?

KERRY: Bob Levinson is very, very much a part of our negotiation, very much part of every conversation we have had with the Iranians. He is in fact in the agreement itself, specifically by name and process going forward. The Iranians have agreed to continue to help us try to find the whereabouts, whatever may or may not have happened to Bob Levinson. We are going to continue that effort. I feel horrible for the family. I know it's very difficult for them...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You think the Iranians...

KERRY: To see people coming back. We do not have evidence at this point as to where he is. We have been very clear about that. We are tracing every lead...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But you believe he is alive.

[03:47:01]

KERRY: We don't -- we are trying to find out where he is and what the circumstances are. We are proceeding as if he is. We want him to be. We hope he is. We don't have a capacity at this point to draw any kinds of conclusions. But we are working on it. And the Iranians are cooperating with us. There are efforts that we have made to actually trace leads. And I know it's very, very difficult for his family to see these other folks come back and not have answers.

I just want to make clear. We will not stop. We are continuing in every respect to try to follow up to get the answers with respect to Bob Levinson.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two other Americans are still being held by the Americans. (Inaudible) weren't they part of this deal?

KERRY: Well, as you know, this has been a secret negotiation for a long period of time. I know you know that particularly. And we have kept everybody part of our discussions. There's nobody who is an American who has not been part of these discussions. And I am not free to go into details about what will happen. But there are people who came out, as you know, separately from the airplane that brought Jason and the others out, and we will make certain every American is home and we know pretty much where we're heading with respect to that process.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Donald Trump. He keeps saying you're the worst negotiator ever. You want to respond to him?

KERRY: No. No, I have no need to really.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You want to say anything?

KERRY: No. I think -- I will let the process take care of itself, Wolf. I am not involved in politics. I am not involved in the Presidential race. And I really just prefer to keep focused on my job and what I am doing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Twenty years from now, how will history judge this deal?

KERRY: Twenty years from now, Iran will not have a nuclear weapon. And if they start to break out and do, the United States of America will have done something about it because we'll know about it. So I think this deal will stand the test of time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Secretary, you've been very generous with your time. Thank you very much for joining us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And we'll take a very short break here. But still to come, Glenn Frey, co-founder of the iconic rock band the Eagles, has died at the age of 67. And we will look back on his life and the impact he had on rock music.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:53:01]

CHURCH: Glenn Frey, one of the founding members of the Eagles, has died at 67. That was him as a young man of course, singing one of the band's biggest hits, Take It Easy.

BARNETT: The Eagles topped the charts throughout the '70s with their trademark laid-back sound. Sara Sidner looks back on the life of a music icon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Glenn Frey gave us those laid back, sing along lyrics effortlessly weaving rock and country music strains. Born in Detroit, Frey would grow up to become part of a hit-making machine, the Eagles. Frey's usual partner in rhyme was Don Henley, and the Paris harmonies got stuck in heads for generations. From Tequila Sunrise to Hotel California, this was certified platinum 16 times. Frey's performance and songwriting skills helped send the Eagles to soaring heights commercially.

Frey got his break as part of a backup band for rockstar Linda Ronstadt.

GLENN FREY, EAGLES: While touring with her Linda, Don and I told her we wanted to start our own band, and she more than anyone else helped us put together the Eagles.

SIDNER: On the day Frey, died Linda Ronstadt remembered her friend and his talent when she spoke to Anderson Cooper.

LINDA RONSTADT: I remember mostly in that way before he was well known he was just going on raw courage and nerve, and talent, and plenty of talent. SIDNER: The Eagles were formed in 1971 and would amass a collection

of greatest hits that became America's best-selling album of the 20th century, selling more copies than the Beatles or Michael Jackson. Frey's loss is immeasurable to his family, the industry, and his fans. Everyone from Stevie Nicks to Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee is paying tribute, and of course, his wingman, Don Henley, who sent a statement saying in part, he was funny, bullheaded, mercurial, generous, deeply talented and driven. He loved his wife and kids more than anything.

Frey and his band mates lived a rock and roll lifestyle, where for years excess was the norm. But when it came to work, Frey never missed a beat.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was a perfectionist. There was zero room for error with him. There was -- everything needed to be exactly where it should be. Musically and technically, really is where I am speaking from. Technically, everything had to be right on point.

SIDNER: Eric Scott did sound for four years on an Eagles world tour. He now works as a sound designer for CNN. For Scott, Frey has meant so much more than just his music.

You have a very personal story, don't you, about Glenn Frey.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I do. Had it not been for Glenn and the Eagles, I would have never met my wife. Judy and I met on the Eagles. She had done makeup for them on the Rolling Stone's cover shoot and then was hired on the spot by Glenn, and I had been working on the tour. And that's where we met.

[03:58:01]

SIDNER: To the Scotts and fans everywhere, losing Frey was a shock. The one consolation, his music lives on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Brilliant music there. I am Rosemary Church.

BARNETT: And I am Errol Barnett. Thanks for being with us. We'll see you tomorrow.

[04:00:00]