Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

US College Student Arresteed in North Korea; Massive Winter Storm Aimed at US East Coast; World Stock Markets Bounce Back; Contaminated Water in Flint, Michigan; Terror Attack in Somalia. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired January 22, 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]

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN NEWSROOM HOST: We're learning more about North Korea's arrest and investigation of an American student accused of carrying out acts against the state. We'll follow that story

NATALIE ALLEN, CNN NEWSROOM HOST: A police officer convicted of rape now sentenced to more than 200 years in prison. We'll speak with the attorney of some of the victims in this case.

HOWELL: And later this hour, a stun looking at Britain's past. Archaeologists discover the remains of homes from the Bronze Age.

(CROSSTALK)

ALLEN: Hello welcome to viewers here in the U.S. and around the world. I am Natalie Allen.

HOWELL: And I am George Howell from CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. CNN Newsroom starts right now.

Good day to you. We begin this hour with the breaking news we're following, an American student arrested in North Korea.

ALLEN: The state-run media say the student from a University in Virginia was taken into custody in the midst of "a hostile act" against North Korea. The report says the student is currently under investigation. CNN's Paula Hancocks is following this story in North Korea, Paula, anything to expand on as far as this alleged hostile act.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Natalie, the facts that we have at this point, the information is from state-run media KCNA, and as you say, saying an U.S. student has been detained, is under investigation, it says he went and entered into North Korea on a tourist visa and he was trying to effectively topple the regime according to this report. Saying also "at the tacit connivance of the U.S. government and under its manipulation," so saying this student is under investigation for these anti-regime hostile acts, but also blaming the U.S. government for this as well.

We have spoken to the U.S. Embassy in Seoul. They're aware of the report. But we have been hearing in recent months -- the most recent in November of last year, the State Department warning all U.S. citizens not to travel to North Korea, saying that don't assume a part of this group and being a tour guide will prevent you from being arrested. So strong warnings against travel to North Korea, clearly, there are still U.S. citizens heading to North Korea for this particular student, we don't have too much information at this point.

In about half an hour's time, there will be a bulletin on state-run media. We'll see if they'll actually release a photo or something more of this individual.

ALLEN: Right, and wondering if his family knows about this. And Paula, I want to ask you, certainly Americans have been detained before, are there commonalities to the cases that they get detained?

HANCOCKS: For the most part there are. There's probably been a half a dozen over the past five years who have been arrested on a number of different charges, espionage, hostile acts against the regime, as we're hearing from this to the officials and then they're release we certainly hope that's the case here.

ALLEN: We'll be following this story, Paula Hancocks there for us in Seoul, South Korea.

HOWELL: Now back to the United States, and a historic storm that is headed for the east coast, where some 75 million people are in the storm's path, more than 30 million are facing blizzard conditions especially in Washington, D.C., and more than 4,500 flights have already been canceled in U.S. major cities.

ALLEN: There's still snow on the ground from Wednesday which already crippled parts of the Washington metro area, it hit right during rush hour.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would hope that they would have anticipated a little better.

[03:05:01]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As soon as the snow started to fall and no treatment on the road, it immediately froze, and once it froze everything seized up traffic-wise. If this was a test, we failed. And we really needed to be prepared for this and we weren't.

HOWELL: Joining us now on the line is Dawn Eischen, the Director of Public Affairs for the Virginia Department of Emergency Management. Dawn, it's good to have you -- to chat with you about this situation there. The governor has declared a state of emergency for the state with a lot of snow on the way. How are you telling people to prepare?

DAWN EISCHEN, DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS FOR THE VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT: Well, we're telling people to get to where they need to go before the weather gets bad. We're expecting the weather to get bad Friday evening into Saturday morning. So as much as possible, we're telling people to stay off the roads particularly during the height of the storm. HOWELL: The snow expected to fall as you mentioned late Friday, but

the worst of it predicted Friday night into Saturday afternoon. So talk to us about what your crews are doing in the state of Virginia for those people who may be on the roads.

EISCHEN: Well, the Virginia Department of Transportation has about 2,500 crew members and more than 13,000 pieces of equipment ready to plow the roads and they also have a state-wide network of weather centers so that they know when the bridges are freezing and they can immediately send crews to those areas and get that taken care of.

HOWELL: Dawn, you know we talked about the particulars that you're doing there in the state to prepare, but let's talk big picture here when a storm like this hits the east coast, hits that state and others, what sort of an impact does it have economically?

EISCHEN: You know that's a good point. Getting businesses back and running is a really critical thing that emergency manage is focused on, because that's the first thing, you know people want to get back to their jobs, people want to get back out, go to restaurants, so it's really important that the infrastructure is cleared, the roads, the bridges. The overpasses and also, trees and downed power lines. I mean, we're expecting severe wind gusts with this storm, upwards of 50 miles per hour. So there could be some downed trees, power outages.

HOWELL: Dawn, share with our viewers who may be watching to, you know, what sort of tips can people do to prepare, everything from just checking on the elderly, you know, I have covered plenty of these stories and the situation where people weren't able to get out and still aren't able to get out even after the storm passes, how important is that?

EISCHEN: Well, you know, we're telling people to prepare to take care of themselves and their family for at least a couple of days, it may take a couple of days particularly if you live in more remote areas to get the roads cleared, and if there are trees downed or power lines down on the roads it may take longer. If people have the supplies they need on hand so they sustain themselves and their families for a couple of days, it will make it much easier for everybody.

HOWELL: Dawn Eischen, the Director of Public Affairs for the Virginia Department of Emergency Management, Dawn, thank you so much for your time.

EISCHEN: Thank you.

ALLEN: Thank goodness the Washington area is being warned with plenty of time. The storm is already causing problems across the southern USA. It's quickly moving east. Derek Van Dam is keeping up with this story and another weather story.

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's a blockbuster. But, it's still getting strength, that's the point, it's already been causing severe weather, over 50 reports of severe weather and heavy snow in Little Rock, Arkansas, they received 2 1/2 inches in just an hour's time. That's an extremely heavy amount of snowfall, lots of heavy rain into Atlanta. That will change over from rain into snow, that shading of purple and pink, the potential for ice. Then we focus on Washington, D.C., the Delmarva Peninsula, that's the bull's eye for our blizzard event.

Blizzard watches for New York and Philadelphia area. It comes down to where the exact track and path of this low pressure will go. The Mid- Atlantic States will certainly ill feel the effects of this storm, road closures, and coastal erosions. Just a few minutes ago, how imperative it is to keep ahead of this storm to know exactly what's to come. Louisiana into parts of Alabama, southern Georgia and the Florida panhandle, you're next.

[03:10:01]

You have the potential of severe weather into Friday. Let's time out this storm for you, there's the snowfall and rain and ice that will overspread the Carolinas. We start to see the snow pick up in intensity. For the nation's capital and depending on which computer model you look at, you start to see the snowfall extending as far north as New York City, but that really seems to be the cut-off point to where the outer periphery is.

Here's the latest American global forecast model. The bull's-eye over Washington, D.C., look at the differences between New York City, between the European model and the global forecast model, there's significant, total difference in terms of how much snow, but nonetheless, the entire eastern seaboard needs to be aware that a major winter storm is on the way. High tide will be particularly high, especially on Saturday morning, with the peak of this storm.

We have the potential of moderate to major coastal erosion across that are. The eastern U.S. isn't the only area experiencing extreme weather. Beijing could temperatures at about 17 degrees Celsius below freezing. Something they haven't experienced in almost 30 years.

ALLEN: Thank you, Derek. Stay on top of it.

We're going to turn now to a story in Oklahoma. Former police officer convicted of raping women while on duty is now a prisoner and he will be for a very long time.

HOWELL: A judge sentenced Daniel Holtzclaw to more than 200 years behind bars for crimes he committed against women that he thought no one would be believe.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: Two hundred sixty three years in prison, that's the sentence handed down to a Former Oklahoma City Police Officer Daniel Holtzclaw, convicted for rape and sexually victimizing more than a dozen African- American women. Holtzclaw entered the courtroom in handcuffs, a relief to victims who can clearly see now he's no longer on the streets.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know I couldn't have done this alone without you guys' help and I appreciate it from the bottom of my heart. HOWELL: Prosecutors say that Holtzclaw selected his victims in one of

the city's poorest neighborhoods, based on their criminal histories, assuming that that would undermine under claims made against him. But during a month-long trial, 13 women testified against him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Many victims believed that no one will believe it.

HOWELL: Hundreds of people turned out to see the sentences. Holtzclaw's defense team announced they plan to appeal but for now, he'll start serving his 263 years behind bars consecutively.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And this is a victory not only in the courtroom but a victory over rape for all women all over the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP) HOWELL: Joining me now on the phone is civil rights attorney Benjamin Krump. It's good to have you this hour. First of all, let's talk about the case and the reaction from the victims.

BENJAMIN KRUMP, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Well, the women -- these survivors are truly happy that he won't be allowed to harm any other woman. What they said, George, in that courtroom today was so powerful. He would never know how they hurt, how they were hurt and how they would never get over the scars that he placed on them. They're dealing with this day-to-day and they were already in not the best situations in life and he preyed on them and made their lives that much more complicated.

HOWELL: Mr. Krump, one question that has been raised, his defense has said they will appeal, what you have been hearing from the survivors about that.

KRUMP: Obviously, lot of things in the legal process that they don't understand, George. But one thing became clear, based on the jury it was an all-white jury ruled on this matter, he was convicted on 18 out of 36 charges. So it's very hard to suggest in any way that there was some error made by this jury and this court system, the evidence was overwhelming considering the DNA evidence found inside his pants.

[03:15:01]

I think it's going to be very troubling. These women don't trust the system, so they're concerned that he might be able to somehow get out on a technicality, but today, they're celebrating a landmark victory. That speaks to so many issues of oppression and racism and sexual assault on particularly black women, so this is a victory and they have been very, very solemn in saying they're thanking god that he has been put behind bars.

HOWELL: Civil rights attorney Benjamin Krump, live for us on the phone. Mr. Krump, thank you so much for taking time to give us your insight on the case.

ALLEN: And he's certainly an emotional person who was convicted, I don't know if he was surprised or we'll have to read more about that.

HOWELL: Convicted and behind bars for a quite a long time.

ALLEN: Well, a display of emotion as an American released by Iran arrives home.

I like that moment right there. We'll show more of this touching moment right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:20:01]

ALLEN: Well, this is my favorite video of our newscast, probably yours, too. An American released by Iran in a prisoner swap on Sunday made it home and what a homecoming it was. Watch.

Pretty certain that's his mama, that's Saeed as he arrived home Thursday.

HOWELL: Iran accused the Christian pastor of attempting to undermine the government. Abedini's wife writes on Facebook. She hopes they can fulfill his son's wish of going to Disney, Disney Amusement Park I should say for his eighth birthday.

ALLEN: Another released American Amir Hekmati also arrived home in Flint, Michigan, the Iranian government accused him of espionage. The former marine said, "It's been a very long road but it is great to be back."

HOWELL: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says the fight over -- is over between the Obama administration and the Israeli government when it comes to the Iran nuclear deal. Mr. Kerry met with Prime Minister Netanyahu at The World Economic Forum in Davos this week.

ALLEN: Netanyahu was one of the deal's biggest critics. Israeli officials are concerned that terror groups like Hezbollah will get increased funding from Iran with the help of sanctions relief.

All right, just 10 days away from the first votes leading up to the U.S. Presidential election, the Iowa caucuses.

HOWELL: Getting close.

ALLEN: And a new CNN poll shows Democrat Bernie Sanders pulling further ahead of Hillary Clinton while Republican Donald Trump opened up a lead over his closest rival Ted Cruz.

HOWELL: Among Republicans, Mr. Trump leads the pack with 37 percent, Texas Senator Ted Cruz now in second with 26 percent, and among Democrats, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders has jumped ahead of the presumed front-runner Hillary Clinton 51 percent now to Clinton's 43 percent. Sanders were on the campaign trail in New Hampshire Thursday. He's taking shots at Hillary Clinton as the establishment candidate because of her long history in Washington.

ALLEN: Establishment seems to be the dirty word out there on the campaign trail. Sanders are also bragging about a recent poll showing him doing better than Hillary Clinton in head to head matchups with Republicans.

BERNIE SANDERS, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And here is my favorite because it deals with my good, good friend, Donald Trump. Secretary Clinton defeats Mr. Trump by 9 points, we beat him by 23 points.

ALLEN: Hillary Clinton not surprisingly says she's the better choice than Sanders to become U.S. President. She disagrees with her rival on key issues facing Americans right now.

HILLARY CLINTON, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're in the final phase of this campaign, and certainly Senator Sanders has drawn contrast with me as he should. I have the greatest respect for him and for his conviction about the kind of country that we can be. We just have a disagreement for example on health care, I think we should not plunge our nation into another contentious debate over health care, we Democrats have been trying to get universal health coverage since Harry Truman. More than 90 percent of Americans are covered.

I am going to get us the rest of the way and I am also going to decrease the cost. He wants to start all over again. I think that's a very clear contrast.

ALLEN: All right, on the Republican side the war of words between Donald Trump and Ted Cruz is escalating.

HOWELL: Cruz says his popularity in the polls is unnerving Mr. Trump, but Trump mocked Cruz's reputation as a hard-liner who refuses to compromise.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Guys like Ted Cruz will never make a deal. No, you cannot have that.

TED CRUZ, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This past week, as our poll numbers have surged, as Donald's numbers keep dropping are getting more and more rattled and each day he's engaging in more and more personal attacks.

[03:25:01]

HOWELL: So we're seeing Donald Trump and Ted Cruz trade these attacks. But the influential National Review is taking a stand. The magazine unveiling a special issue that opposes Trump's run for the White House. The cover you see it here, simply say against Trump, inside a blistering editorial calls Trump, "A menace to American conservatism." Trump is hitting back, though, he's tweeted this, National Review is a failing publication that has lost its way. Its circulation is way down with the influence being at an all-time low. And he concluded, Sad.

ALLEN: More help on the way is for Flint, Michigan, where the city's water supply is contaminated with led and a key federal official is resigning because of it. We'll have more on CNN Newsroom in just a minute.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HOWELL: A warm welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. You're watching CNN Newsroom. Good to have you with us. I am George Howell.

ALLEN: And I am Natalie Allen. We're live from Atlanta. Here are our top stories. First, breaking news out of North Korea, an American student is under arrest, state news agency reports say the student was in the country on a tourist visa. That student is said to attend the University in Virginia.

HOWELL: Millions of people in the United States, they'll be cold facing blizzard conditions this weekend in what's being called the biggest snowstorm of the winter so far. Washington, D.C. and surrounding areas are expected to be hit among the hardest. More than 4,500 flights have been canceled.

[03:30:01]

ALLEN: European stock markets are getting some much-needed relief from the recent sell-off, right now London's FTSE is up 1.63 percent, in Frankfurt, the DAX up as well. In Paris, the CAC 40 is up 2.17 percent.

HOWELL: Back to the story we have been following here on CNN, Flint, Michigan, and the city's led contaminated water. The regional administrator for that area resigned.

ALLEN: She admitted last week that her department knew back in April that Flint residents were at risk for led poisoning but did not alert the public, unbelievable. Meantime, U.S. President Obama is making $08 million in new funding available to help fix Flint's water infrastructures.

BARACK OBAMA, U.S. PRESIDENT: Last month's bipartisan budget agreement, we secured funding for cities like yours to fund infrastructure. Our children should not have to be worried about the water that they're drinking in American cities. That's not something that we should accept.

HOWELL: The crisis is the subject of the latest Time Magazine cover, featuring the cover of 2-year-old boy, his skin covered in rashes. It's titled the Poisoning of an American City, toxic water, sick kids, and the incompetent leaders who betrayed Flint.

ALLEN: Of course, it's been argued that the city was ignored because it's impoverished and a majority African-American. Hundreds of people in Flint, said they have made them sick, everything from hair loss to rashes and other unexplained illnesses. CNN's Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sunjay Gupta has more about one family.

SUNJAY GUPTA, CNN'S CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: When her son Gavin started to become ill, it was subtle. So subtle that she wouldn't be blamed for missing it. Look up. Look down. Do you have any -- do your fingers feel numb at all? But one day she looked at Gavin and then looked at his twin brother Garrett, side by side. The difference was staggering. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The size he is right now is pretty much the size

he was last February, February 5th of 2015.

GUPTA: So, almost a year?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Almost a year ago. Yes.

GUPTA: How much does he weigh versus his twin?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's 38.5 pounds and his twin is 53 pounds.

GUPTA: For months, they had been drinking the same water, but Gavin was showing the effects of big poisoned by lead. It can affect people differently, even twins. Do you remember what the number was?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Six point five.

GUPTA: And what is normal?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nothing. There's no safe exposure to lead.

GUPTA: Its mantra repeated by doctors all over the world, no lead, not even a little bit is acceptable. Because we know more than ever what it does to the body. When lead is ingested or inhaled, no organ in the body is spared. Lead even attacks the DNA, affecting not just you, but your future children, all of it essentially irreversible. Equally frustrating, the symptoms could show up now or years from now.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How do you live your life like that?

GUPTA: Right, it's upsetting.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's four.

GUPTA: The lead was coming from the corroded pipes carrying the water. The longer the water was in the pipes, the more hazardous it became. Their house is one of the furthest away from the treatment facility. It partly explains why the testing here was among the highest, 13,000 parts per billion. To give you context, 5 parts per billion would be cause for concern, 5,000 parts per billion is associated with toxic waste, this home, and 13,000 parts per billion. It's not just one home. It's an entire community of Flint. A 100,000 people live here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When pediatricians hear anything about lead, we absolutely freak out.

GUPTA: It wasn't a freak youth at first, but doctors in Flint started hearing whispers about elevated lead levels in the water in 2015. So this doctor started looking at lead levels in her young patients, and what she found was shocking.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The percentage doubled in the city of Flint. In some neighborhoods it actually tripled.

GUPTA: She sounded the alarm to state officials as loudly as she could. No one listened, instead...

[03:35:01]

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were attacked. I was called an unfortunate researcher, that I was causing hysteria and that the state's numbers were not consistent with our findings.

GUPTA: Maybe denial was so easy, because Flint, a city surrounded by some of the largest fresh water lakes in the world was now delivering some of the world's most contaminated water to its citizens. In October of 2014, General Motors, you say stopped using the water because it was corroding their parts.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right.

GUPTA: That seems like a pretty obvious clue.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah, red flags. So alarms should have been going off in people's brains. If it's corroding engine parts, what is it doing to our plumbing that is predominantly lead based?

GUPTA: Water that could corrode engine parts. Imagine what it was doing to the body and brain of Gavin Walters.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: These kids did nothing wrong except being poor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Professor Marc Edwards from Virginia Tech, and Dr. Mona Hannah Atisha sounded an alarm about lead in Flint's water.

GUPTA: The governor says, look, you can have anything you want.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want a rewind button to April 2014, that's what I want because you can't undo this. You cannot undo this.

GUPTA: If there's ever been a U.S. city in need of a rewind button, it's Flint, Michigan. More than a third of people here live in poverty. Life expectancy is 10 to 20 years shorter than any other state. There's not a full-scale grocery store anywhere in sight.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you were to think of something to put in a population to keep them down for generations to come, it would be lead. This is a loss of words.

GUPTA: But they, Dr. Mona, Leann, the 100,000 citizens of Flint, have to believe that clean water will return one day soon. Do you know why people have been putting you on TV lately?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah.

GUPTA: Why?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because they wanted to see us.

GUPTA: Because you're handsome.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah. GUPTA: Dr. Sunjay Gupta, CNN, Flint, Michigan.

HOWELL: We know about this now. But it is tragic that we are only finding out about it at this point.

ALLEN: Heroes like the doctor and the student...

HOWELL: Who were sounding the alarm...

ALLEN: And ignored, unreal story.

We want to turn far away from Flint, Michigan, we're going to head to Somalia, the capital, reporting at least 17 people there dead after an attack by terrorists at a beachside resort.

ALLEN: This latest attack claimed by the terror group Al Shabaab. It happened during a popular family night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBIN KRIEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Thursday night attack on the hotel located on Mogadishu's was both complex and sustained. Al Shabaab gunmen sprayed the outer, luring the security team outside. They rammed a car laden with an explosive into that security team. Another group of attackers advanced on the hotel from the beach. The gunfire lasted for hours and two more powerful explosions at least were heard, Somali officials launched the rescue operation of the hostages.

Thursday night is a big family night, the hotel would have likely have been filled with families and even wedding parties. Al Shabaab has for years targeted civilians in hotels and restaurant bombings. The Somali government has condemned the attack, saying the people of Somalia want peace and they will not be intimidated by Al Shabaab.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: Saudi Arabia says it would not cut oil production despite falling prices around the world. Next here, we'll go live to Davos, Switzerland, to find out what's behind that decision.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:43:01]

ALLEN: Europe's financial markets are off to a positive start for the day, trading under way for 40 minutes now. As you can see, some healthy gains right across the board.

HOWELL: Some big gains on the day in Tokyo, the Nikkei had its best day in four months, stocks up nearly six percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng closed up almost three percent higher.

ALLEN: In Wall Street, the U.S. markets are looking to finish the week in positive territory. On Thursday, the DOW gained 115 points to close at 15,882. HOWELL: Falling oil prices have been dragging down the financial

markets. But right now, Brent Crude, it is up in international trading just over $30 a barrel. Saudi Arabia says it will not cut its oil production and give up its market share to prop up prices.

ALLEN: (Inaudible) Hosted by CNN's John Defterios, a roundtable. Saudi Arabia has continued not to cut oil production. John joins us live from Davos, hi there, John, I want to ask you a bold comment from a top player in the oil industry during that panel that you lead. What did he have to say?

JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They drew the line again in the sand if you will if the snow because we're in Davos, Natalie, they're not going to budge on this strategy they developed back in November of 2014. Originally, Saudi Arabia used to be the swing producer, add to production to stabilize prices. They changed that strategy. The largest oil company in the world and the largest exporter of crude around the world said it's not its role anymore to support the market.

The higher cost producers should leave the market. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a position that we have earned over a long time and we earned it by investing, by being true to our principals and by continuing to be committed to our consumers, and we're not going to leave that position for others.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEFTERIOS: Pretty clear signal from the chairman of Saudi Aramco. It's complicated by geopolitics, Natalie. Saudi Aramco, while Iran had the sanctions on them. The chairman suggested that they're not going to give up production even though Iran wants to come back into the market in a fairly aggressive way in 2016. He said this, 75 percent corrections since June of 2014, the correction we have seen since the start of this year is irrational. But he did suggest it's going to be very choppy times ahead at least for the first half of this year.

ALLEN: John, since the fall of oil has been a top issue in Davos this year, what's the forecast for any sort of recovery?

DEFTERIOS: Well, it's interesting, the near term, as the chairman of Saudi Aramco said it's going to be turbulent, Iran wants to come in with another million at least this year, get much more complicated before it stabilizes. But we saw in the last week, about 400 billion projects delayed between this year and 2020. It will take a while for it to work through. Another member of our panel, he thinks by the end of this year or by early 2017, prices could shoot right back up. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For investors, for governments, $60 to $70 will be an excellent price. I hope to see that sooner or later.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: By 2017 you think.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think so. 2017. This year, a period of stabilization and hopefully, we can see the growth.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEFTERIOS: Some believe that's wishful thinking by the President of Azerbaijan. Their currency is down 70 percent. The Russian Ruble under pressure as well, it's a battle over production right now, and that's why we see a price around $30 a barrel or lower at the start of 2016, back to you.

[03:48:01]

ALLEN: All right John Defterios, live there in Davos, Switzerland.

HOWELL: Let's take a look at where the U.S. financial markets are headed on Friday. Right now, you can see the DOW futures trading up this hour at .8 percent, the S&P 500 at this point trading up .9 percent, and the NASDAQ trading up 1.23 percent up.

Have you wondered how people lived 3,000 years ago? An archaeological dig in England is providing some answers that Natalie and I will want to see, the story ahead on CNN Newsroom.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ALLEN: Here's a cool one, archaeologists in the U.K. are getting a glimpse into how people lived 3,000 years ago.

HOWELL: Dating back to the end of the Bronze Age. Nick Glass has this report.

[03:53:01]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NICK GLASS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Under cover in eastern England, archaeological sites like few others, from our ancestors. English oak singed and charred, this a palisade the perimeter fence of their settlement, and this, a lattice possibly of willow that made up part of a wall constantly surprised.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, it feels odd, you don't want to get a stupid grin on your face every time, but there's this sense that you're flabbergasted. The next day you come back and something else comes up.

GLASS: Everything is astonishingly well preserved, pottery intact. Weaponry like this bronze spearhead, harvesting, so complete is this site that archaeologists have begun piecing together an extraordinary story, the story of a single fiery day in the English wet lands some 3,000 years ago. In prehistory, this was river channels as far as the eye could see. Bronze Age man built in the round of the river's edge. This local reconstruction of a roundhouse gives us some idea of how we lived.

The new dig has uncovered two of these houses, there may be more. But with an important difference, they were built on piles or stilts and at some point they caught fire. The timbers and everything else inside quickly collapsed into the dense river silk below, some left perfectly entombed for us to discover all these years later.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The roof of the building collapsed down. What's fantastic is there's that sort of hump beneath that center. We suggest that those are the contents of the buildings underneath. Over the next few weeks, we take the roof away and see what's underneath.

GLASS: That's an exciting process.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

GLASS: This is an absolutely forensic record, almost like a modern crime scene investigation, timbers drawn and numbered. What's developing here is a rare and wondrous intimacy with a distant past. It feels as if we have arrived just after the fire rather than 3,000 years later. Already, a skull has been found. The crown of a head still embedded in the mud. It began with a fireball among the beds. In the next few weeks, we may find out what caused that fire, domestic accident or an attack. Nick Glass, CNN, in the English Fens.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: I will be looking for Nick Glass's next report to find out what happened there.

ALLEN: Fascinating.

HOWELL: Absolutely. Before we go, we want to introduce you to Jamie Keaton, he's from Illinois. Here's the thing...

ALLEN: I haven't seen this yet.

HOWELL: You're going to like this, he makes a living from sticking things like cans, bottles, and iPhone's to his head.

ALLEN: He's going keep going. Keaton said he's not sure why things stick to him. One doctor said it's because of his abnormally high body temperature.

JAMIE KEATON: Well, 23 years ago, I shaved my head for the first time and I was at a ball game. I was trying to cool my head down because it was a hot day, they hit a home run, I went up to grab it and missed and I was like where's my drink? It was stuck to my head. I just go like this and it sticks.

ALLEN: And that's a first. Keaton says he can make up $1,000 a day renting out his head. And he says just last week in China, he set a world record for sticking the most cans to his head. His wife probably says, ok, honey, I have seen that 20 times today.

HOWELL: That's the guy you want to go to a game with. ALLEN: I hope he recycles, too. Thanks for watching CNN. I am

Natalie Allen.

HOWELL: And I am George Howell. Thanks for being with us.

[04:00:00]