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Donor Conference Seeks Billions for Aid to Syria; Democrat Differences Sharpen Ahead of New Hampshire Primary; Brazil's President Calls on Country to Fight Zika Virus; Germany Assaults on Women Incidents Update; Bill Cosby to Appeal Assault Case Decision. Aired 3- 4a ET
Aired February 04, 2016 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[03:00:00]
ERROL BARNETT, CNN NEWSROOM SHOW HOST: An urgent appeal. A Syria donor's conference seeks billions in aid to help with the country's refugee crisis.
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN NEWSROOM SHOW HOST: And to U.S. of course, democratic hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders sharpen their differences ahead of the first in the nation presidential primary.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BERNIE SANDERS, (D) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's not just electing a president. It is creating a political revolution.
HILLARY CLINTON, (D) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's very hard to see how any of his proposals could ever be achievable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARNETT: Also coming up, a call to action. Brazil's president calls on all Brazilians to fight against the mosquitos that carry the Zika virus.
Hello and welcome to our second hour. Those of you watching from all around the world, I'm Errol Barnett.
CHURCH: And I'm Rosemary Church. Thanks for joining us. This is CNN newsroom.
We begin this hour with the crisis in Syria. World leaders are meeting right now at a donor conference in London for the Syrian refugees.
CHURCH: It comes just a day after the Syrian government claimed a major battlefield victory in areas around Aleppo.
BARNETT: Now this video is said to show Syrian troops with Russian air support as they made it to key villages that had been controlled by the opposition. We should note that CNN cannot independently confirm the authenticity of the video. CHURCH: Well, fighting like this contributed to the U.N.'s decision
to temporarily suspend the peace talks meant to end the bloody conflict until February 25th. The U.S. Special Envoy for Syria says humanitarian promises have not been fulfilled and that more work needs to be done to protect the Syrian people.
Well, the U.N. is seeking more than $7 billion in aid for Syrians this year. But Jordan is asking for help in this crisis as well.
I want to bring in Jomana Karadsheh. She is in Oman, Jordan. So, let's talk about that, Jomana, and describe to us the situation on the ground there in Jordan, just how bad is it?
JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rosemary, now for years Jordan had opened its borders to Syrian refugees and has taken in, according to Jordanian government figures, there are more than 1.2 million Syrians current living in the country.
That's nearly 20 percent of Jordan's population. And the country is really struggling to cope. Because the majority of these refugees are not living in camps. The overwhelming majority are urban refugees, they are in cities and in towns across the country.
And according to UNHCR, nearly 9 out of 10 of these refugees are living below the poverty line. So, they're struggling to have a life here. They're struggling to survive on a daily basis, but also their presence is a real burden on Jordan. This country of very little resources is saying that it's getting to a breaking point right now where the country's services are under a lot of pressure, it's basic services, it's infrastructure.
And so it needs more support. Jordan's message is help Jordan. Help the refugees, which also would help the international community, would help Europe. It will provide a better life for the refugees here in Jordan. And they would hope that this would stop many from trying to go to Europe to find a better life.
But they also are concerned about the sentiment among Jordanians that have been putting up with the pressure that is provided on the limited resources this country has that they have to share with the Syrian refugees.
So, Jordan really is going with this message, Rosemary, saying they want to see a shift in the international approach to dealing with the crisis. They say what the international community has been so far is not working. This shift, they say they want to broaden the kind of support that the international community is pledging or providing to the refugees.
They want to go beyond emergency relief, more to longer-term, more sustainable economic plan. Things like creating more jobs, not just for Syrians, but also for Jordanians. And really, Jordan saying that unless it gets this help, the entire world is going to be dealing with the problem that Jordan is dealing with now, just as we are seeing in Europe, Rosemary.
CHURCH: And, Jomana, what -- what are you hearing about the refugees who are stuck on the Syrian side of the border trying to get in?
KARADSHEH: Well, Rosemary, according to -- we're hearing from eight organizations saying that more than 17,000 Syrian refugees are stranded on the Syrian/Jordanian border in an area close to the Iraqi border. This is northeast of the country.
[03:05:01] And they have been putting pressure on Jordan to admit these refugees, to allow them in, but Jordan for the past few months has been doing this very slowly. We've been seeing according to government figures, about 50 to 100 refugees being admitted on a daily basis.
And according to the Jordanian government they say this is because of security concerns. They say that their security is priority for this country, and that they need to screen these refugees coming through, because they're really concerned about some of these refugees coming from ISIS-controlled areas.
They are worried about infiltrators within the refugee population. And that Jordan says that it has the right to screen the refugees. And they're allowing in what they're describing as emergency cases, like the wounded and pregnant women and the elderly, Rosemary.
CHURCH: It is certainly a dire situation. Jomana Karadsheh joining us there from Oman, Jordan. Many thanks to you.
BARNETT: Our diplomatic -- diplomatic editor, Nic Robertson is outside a donor conference for Syria. Nic, this is the fourth conference of its kind. I'm wondering how much previously-pledged money has actually made it to Syrians in need. Because sometimes we see differences between what is pledged for this type of thing and what actually gets there.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, certainly, the hope here this time, Errol, is that the money that is pledge- shared is going to arrive. They say it's very much need, 6.5 million displaced people internally inside Syria, 13.5 million people inside Syria, in the 5.8 million people inside Syria without shelter.
Seventy percent of the population without a good water supply. The average life expectancy, this conference says that is, it can be expected now by Syrians has dropped by 20 percent, 4.7 million refugees in the region. Four million people in those neighboring countries affected.
The statistics are staggering. The money that they're trying to raise here, $7.73 billion is not just for refugees -- not just for the displaced and the needy inside Syria but for the region around.
And the reason, one of the principle reasons that there is this huge need to help the countries around Syria is because as we've seen in Europe, that refugees are making their way here. It's putting a burden on Europe.
Europe and the world are going to be dipping into that pocket here to try to help the Syrians close to the home. But the idea that money pledged here wouldn't actually be finally stumped up and handed over, that is a concern. That's one of the concerns of all these source of donor conferences.
But the expectation here will be that that money is so desperately needed, that whoever pledges it and so far Britain's just pledged $1.75 billion. That money that is pledged will make it to all those people. They say approximately 22.2 million people are affected. They're aiming this money at overall that the money and the aid that they will provide and support will reach them.
BARNETT: And I saw some reports saying that some 43 percent of pledged money in 2015 has actually arrived. So, there is still a desperate need for help. Now what about the peace talks in Geneva paused until late February, might that encourage donors to give more, or might they be inclined to wait as unfortunate as that may be?
ROBERTSON: The reality of Geneva is that peace is a long, long way off. If it was even going to get going in Geneva, it was still going to be 18 months away before -- before the election for new leadership inside Syria.
The donors that are coming here recognize that this is an enduring and long-term situation that needs to be addressed right now. The needs are right now. And there's a huge imperative on the political leaders in Europe, at least, to address the issue.
It's not going away anytime soon, and I think, you know, despite the fact that peace talks really failed to get going in Geneva, and I think a big question mark really still has to hang over their future viability. Such was the lack of apparent will on -- to get the, you know, to get the talks going. So, I think for the donors here, they know that this is money that is needed now. And that need is not going to change any time soon. Errol.
BARNETT: Yes. Desperately needed. Nine minutes past 8 in the morning there in London. Nic Robertson, thank you.
CHURCH: We turn now to the U.S. presidential race and the political buzzword of the day -- progressive. The two democrats who both hope to be the next president met with voters in New Hampshire on Wednesday, each claiming to be the true progressive candidate.
[03:09:58] BARNETT: That's right. Bernie Sanders says he wants his campaign to start a revolution against income inequality and corporate greed. And Hillary Clinton talked up her experience and promised to expand and improve Obamacare.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: I was somewhat amused today that Senator Sanders has set himself up to be the gatekeeper on who's a progressive. Because under the definition that was flying around on Twitter and statements by the campaign, Barack Obama would not and progressive, Joe Biden would not be a progressive. I'm not going to let that bother me. I -- I know where I stand. I know who stands with me. I know what I've done.
SANDERS: I do not know any progressive who has a super PAC and takes $15 million from Wall Street.
(APPLAUSE)
That I'm not progressive. As I mentioned earlier, the key foreign policy vote of modern American history was the war in Iraq. The progressive community was pretty united in saying don't listen to Bush. Don't go to war. Secretary Clinton voted to go to war.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Now, as you heard there, Bernie Sanders did not miss the opportunity to remind voters that back in 2002, Hillary Clinton voted for the Iraq war, while he voted against it. And it came as host Anderson Cooper asked why democrats in Iowa who ranked terrorism as a top concern voted overwhelmingly for Clinton.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SANDERS: I think because she has a great deal of experience. She was Secretary of State of our country for four years. But I would say, Anderson, that the key foreign policy vote in modern American history was whether or not we should go into Iraq.
And Secretary Clinton was in the Senate then, I was in the House then. We both listened to the same evidence. I made the decision which I think history will conclude was the right decision not to go to war.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARNETT: Now for her part, Clinton seemed to blame her vote on then President George W. Bush.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: I did make a mistake, and I admitted that I made a mistake. And in large measure, that mistake really arose from the Bush administration's approach it to what they thought they could accomplish in Iraq. The very explicit appeal that President Bush made before announcing the invasion that getting that vote would be a strong piece of leverage in order to finish the inspections.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARNETT: Now, polls show voters are still concerned about whether they can trust Hillary Clinton. We've heard that they come up time and time again. Here's how she responded to that question.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: All I can do is to just get up every day and work to do what I believe our country needs. Find ways to help people, whether it's on mental health or addiction or autism or student loans, whatever it might be.
And I trust the American people. I trust the people of New Hampshire to see my lifetime of work and service and to sort out all of the static and to know that I will work my heart out for you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Our CNN political commentator, Peter Beinart joins me now from New York. He's also a contributor for The Atlantic. Thanks so much for being with us, Peter. And of course you watched CNN's democratic presidential town hall. What were the stand-out moments, and who do you think did better, Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton?
PETER BEINART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think they're both performing well, but in very different ways. Bernie Sanders' appeal is that he's promising, as he calls it a political revolution. And for democrats who feel like even having a liberal democrat in the White House for eight years hasn't fundamentally changed the power dynamic in which the 1 percent control so much of American politics and economics.
That's very appealing. Hillary Clinton can't compete with that. But what she does do well is the argument that she knows her stuff, that she's fluent in policy and that she knows the system and that she can make tough, incremental change. So, it's two very different messages.
CHURCH: Yes, certainly. And what about Bernie Sanders attack on Hillary Clinton on whether she's a progressive. Does that even matter? Does it -- does it resonate with voters at all?
BEINART: I think it resonates with the kind of voters who like Bernie Sanders, white liberals. And there are a lot of them in New Hampshire. New Hampshire is a State with a very high, it's overwhelmingly white state, and the very high percentage of those white voters in the Democratic Party are liberals.
So, they have played well. I don't think it plays as well when he meet New Hampshire and he go to states that have a more moderate electorate and have a larger minority turnout. There I'm not sure the message works as well.
[03:14:59] CHURCH: And of course Bernie Sanders is way ahead of Hillary Clinton in all the polls for New Hampshire. But the polls got it wrong for the most part in Iowa. So, how do you think it will likely play out in New Hampshire?
BEINART: I think on the democratic side the polls were particularly off. They had been in Iowa showing a very close race. It would be a real surprise if Bernie Sanders did not win New Hampshire. He's had a significant lead here for a while now.
I think the Clinton campaign is already trying to set the stage for a loss by playing up the fact that he's from neighboring Vermont and some suggesting that there would be an asterisk associated with it.
She can afford to lose here. I think she would -- she hopes that the loss is not so big that it rattles the confidence of her supporters in the rest of the country.
CHURCH: All right. Peter Beinart, always a pleasure. BEINART: Thank you.
CHURCH: And if you missed the New Hampshire town hall, don't worry. You can see it in its entirety Thursday at 12 p.m. in London, 1 p.m. Central European Time, only here on CNN.
Well, the new Zika virus warning for pregnant women. Up next, what U.S. health officials want them to do to keep their unborn babies safe from the virus.
Plus, we'll explain why a sexual assault case against entertainer Bill Cosby will go forward in Pennsylvania.
And Cologne, Germany is ramping up security measures ahead of its next celebration after hundreds of women say that they have been assaulted on New Year's Eve. We're live in Cologne, coming up.
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KATE RILEY, CNN WORLD SPORT ANCHOR: I'm Kate Riley with your CNN World Sport headlines.
Barcelona (Inaudible) torn Valencia while parting the first leg of the Copa del Rey race semifinals. Thanks to Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez this master club. The lethal strikers both scored hat-tricks as faster Gary Neville's side, 7-0. It was another special night for Messi. He scored his 500 career goal during the match with his hat-tricks strike making it 501.
And with Suarez contributing the other four goals, there's no hiding place for Valencia who still have to play the second leg.
Now, there were two matches in the English Premier League, and U.K. (ph) also remains in the bottom three after leaving 3-0. Chelsea are also five places above the drop zone. And (Inaudible) manage to goal as draw third to Greg Acosta made the most of the headlines getting involved in some feisty exchanges and could have even won the game late on.
And the Calgary Flames defenseman, Dennis Wideman has been suspended for 20 games for violating the league's Physical Abuse of Officials policy. The ruling comes a day after he attended a league's hearing for the hit on linesman Don Henderson last week in Calgary.
[03:20:01] Wideman claims he didn't see the official until the last second and couldn't avoid the contact. Pending an appeal, Wideman won't be able to play again until March 14th, and will also forfeit more than $560,000 in salary.
And that's a look at all your World Sport headlines. I'm Kate Riley.
CHURCH: Welcome back, everybody. Well, pregnant women in the U.S. have new guidelines now that officials say that a case of the Zika virus has been sexually transmitted. Zika has been linked to a birth defect in newborns. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its guidance on Wednesday. BARNETT: Yes. You want to see this. It says, if your male sexual
partner has traveled to or lives in an area with active Zika virus transmission, you should abstain from sex or use condoms the right way every time you have sex for the duration of the pregnancy.
CHURCH: Meantime, Delta and United Airlines are allowing employees to opt out of flights to Latin America and the Caribbean over Zika concerns. United said on Wednesday that pregnant flight attendants can change their assignments. And Delta says it has been offering swaps for pilots and flight attendants for two weeks now.
BARNETT: Now as we told you, Brazil is believed to be ground zero for this outbreak. On Wednesday, President Dilma Rousseff said hundreds of thousands of troops will be deployed next weekend to fight Zika's spread.
CHURCH: They'll hand out pamphlets and search for places where the mosquitoes have spread the virus breed. President Rousseff said that Brazilians are in this fight together.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DILMA ROUSSEFF, BAZILIAN PRESIDENT (TRANSLATED): As long as we do not find and develop a vaccine, we have to fight against the mosquito. And the most efficient way is destroying every places where they can thrive. These places are in our home. The fight against these mosquitoes is complex. It has to be carried out everywhere. So, we all have to work together.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARNETT: Now researchers are still investigating where the Zika is linked to a medical condition where newborns have abnormally small heads. And as you see there, the number of babies being born in Brazil with microcephaly, as it's called is soaring. Four hundred four newborns had the condition between November 8 of last year and the end of January. That is a 12-week span. And it eclipses the annual totals seen between 2010 and 2014.
CHURCH: Let's talk about this now with CNN's medical analyst, Dr. Seema Yasmin. Thanks so much for joining us. So, let's start with this new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warning pregnant women to present and protect themselves by using condoms if their male sexual partner has traveled to an area infected by the Zika virus. Is this confirmation that the Zika virus can be transmitted sexually?
SEEMA YASMIN, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: It is, and this is based on the fact that we have a case here in Dallas where I am, where a person who has not travelled anywhere where the Zika virus and hasn't come into contact with any mosquitoes that have the virus that has come down with the infection because they sexual contact with somebody who had the infection.
It's also based, Rosemary, that on one other report that we know of a man in Colorado who became infected in 2008 when he was doing research in Senegal, came back home to the U.S., had sex with his wife, and it's believed that she also became infected through sexual transmission, and that's why we're seeing this new guidance.
But it's important to note that we still think with this epidemic, the main culprit is the mosquito. The aedes aegypti mosquito seems to be the main culprit to spreading the Zika virus. But it's so important now that we add this guidance so people know that it can also be sexually transmitted.
CHURCH: Absolutely. And what more are we learning about that case you mentioned, the sexually transmitted case of the Zika virus in Texas, and what is the risk to their unborn child?
YASMIN: Well, we don't think there's any harm to any pregnant woman involved in the two Dallas cases. That's what official here have told us, which is very reassuring. But we are really in a situation where we're scrambling to learn as much as we can about this infection.
We discovered it in 1947. There are been many outbreaks since then, some of them in fact, in the South Pacific Islands where Zika infected about 28,000 people. But sadly, we are really lacking in the amount of knowledge and scientific understanding we have about Zika, and that's why now we have so many unanswered questions.
We do know that here in the U.S. we are fast-tracking research. The National Institutes of Health last week told researchers across the country that they are mobilizing funds and they are really encouraging scientists to do as much research on Zika virus as possible.
CHURCH: So, we do know that the risks to unborn children are immense. But what about the general population? How concerned should people be about this virus?
YASMIN: We have to say, Rosemary, that this link between Zika virus and a birth defect still remains to be proven. So, every day there's more and more evidence, but we can't say for sure right now from a scientific perspective that Zika virus definitely causes microcephaly.
[03:25:03] But we do think that there could be a link and that's why the guidance is mostly focused on pregnant women. For anyone else, Zika virus can be a minor nuisance.
In fact, 80 percent of people who become infected won't even know they have the virus because they won't have any symptoms of it. For that one in five people who do get symptoms they have quite mild things like a headache, red eyes, joint pains and fever. And they go away on their own within a few days to a week.
So, that's the important things to remember, that it isn't a huge health concern for the majority of people, but we do know that for pregnant women, this could be something very concerning.
CHURCH: And, doctor, just very quickly, how far away are we from having a vaccine for Zika virus?
YASMIN: It depends who you ask. Tony Fauci has one of the institutes at the NIH said that he thinks we should be optimistic and we could have something ready by the end of this year.
But, Rosemary, I've spoken to scientists here in Texas who say that's overly optimistic. It takes a long time to develop and then test a vaccine. They're saying we're looking at upwards of 10 to 15 years.
CHURCH: Wow. Dr. Seema Yasmin, thank you so much for talking with us. We appreciate it.
YASMIN: Thank you.
BARNETT: WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange says he may walk out of the Ecuadorian embassy where he's been held up for years and risk being arrested by British police.
CHURCH: Assange has been in that embassy in London for three years now trying to avoid being sent to Sweden. That is where he faces allegations of suspicion of rape. Charges he denies.
BARNETT: Now Assange tweeted a few hours ago saying if the U.N. panel on arbitrary detention rules against him, he will walk out and risk arrest on Friday. But if the panel rules in his favor, he expects to get his passport back and not face further attempts to arrest him.
Now in the U.S., lawyers for Bill Cosby say they will appeal a judge's decision in Pennsylvania to move a sexual assault case against the entertainer through the legal system.
CHURCH: The case involves a former Temple University employee who claims Cosby drugged and assaulted her back in 2004.
CNN's Jean Casarez has more.
JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The case against Bill Cosby will proceed. It is not being dismissed. The judge in his ruling said and he emphasized, there is no basis for relief of what the defense wants in this case, and what the defense wanted, for this case to be over.
They allege that the former district attorney, Bruce Castor who did not bring criminal charges against Bill Cosby in 2005, made a promise to one of Bill Cosby's lawyers that he would never prosecute Bill Cosby in this jurisdiction in regard to sexual assault of Andrea Constand.
It was only communicated to one attorney. That attorney is now deceased. It was never put in writing. It was never told to anyone else, but that, he said was his promise. It was a declaration, he said, not an agreement. He decided it.
He decided it because he wanted Andrea Constand to be able to go to civil court and to be able to get a lot of money. Andrea Constand's attorney, her civil attorney took the stand, and she said he never told me that there was an agreement like this, that he promised Bill Cosby this, and I wouldn't have agreed to it.
Because I wanted Bill Cosby to be prosecuted. The prosecutor himself, in closing arguments, said that it just makes no common sense that the prosecutor for the commonwealth of Montgomery County would make a promise to never prosecute someone but then want them to be victorious in civil court. It makes no sense, because you're not benefitting in any way. You're only benefitting for the defendant himself.
CHURCH: As worth pointing out, that more than 50 women have publicly accused Cosby of raping or assaulting them over the past four decades. Many have spoken with CNN on camera about their allegations. The comedian has vehemently denied any wrongdoing.
BARNETT: So incredible just to see that picture.
CHURCH: It is.
BARNETT: Those making allegations.
Now, still to come here on CNN Newsroom, Donald Trump led the polls for months but lost the vote in Iowa. But now he's calling foul throwing what he's opponent calls a "Trump tantrum".
CHURCH: And police hope to head off any trouble at the next celebration in Cologne, Germany. A live report coming your way.
[03:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: A warm welcome back to our viewers all across the globe. I'm Rosemary Church.
BARNETT: And I'm Errol Barnett. It's our last half hour with you now. So, let's update you on our top stories.
The United Nations and several countries are hosting a donor conference in London to support the need of Syria's people. This follows a U.N. appeal for more than $7 billion in refugee's aid this year. Britain has already pledged more than $1 billion for Syrians by 2020.
CHURCH: We are just five days away from the U.S. presidential primary in New Hampshire. Democrats Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton are trying to convince the state voters they are the real progressive candidate. Sanders and Clinton answered questions on Wednesday in a CNN town hall event.
BARNETT: Brazil's president vows to fight the Zika virus that is suspected of causing a spike of neurological birth defects in her country.
In an address on Wednesday, Dilma Rousseff said she would only -- she would deploy hundreds of thousands of troops next weekend, they will go door to door looking for breeding grounds of mosquitoes that carry the virus.
CHURCH: The field of U.S. republican presidential candidates is now down by two, Rand Paul and Rick Santorum say they are suspending their campaigns.
BARNETT: Meantime, Donald Trump claims Ted Cruz stole the Iowa caucuses and is now demanding a new vote.
Jim Acosta has more on the accusations of dirty politics.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Donald Trump is demanding a do over. In a Twitter I read Trump says Ted Cruz didn't win Iowa, he stole it. That is why all of the polls were so wrong and why he got far more votes than anticipated. Bad. Trump told Boston Herald Radio he'll probably sue.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Will you file a formal complaint?
TRUMP: Well, I probably will, yes. But, you know, what he did is unthinkable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: The real estate mogul's accusations came just hours after discussing his gracious concession speech on Monday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I'm just trying to be a little bit more understated and statesman like. Some people like that, some people don't.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: But Trump was clearly already stewing over false claims decimated by the Cruz campaign wile people were caucusing on Monday that Ben Carson was dropping out of the race. A potential boost to the Texas Senator.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[03:34:59] TRUMP: When they said that Ben Carson is out of the race and come vote for him, I thought that was terrible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: Based on the fraud committed by Senator Ted Cruz during the Iowa caucus, Trump tweeted either a new election should take place or Cruz's results nullified. Cruz fired back, Bernie Sanders is contesting Iowa results, he tweeted, maybe Donald Trump should go back to Iowa and join the democrat that they'd love. But the Texas Senator did admit his campaign made a mistake.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TED CRUZ, (R) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Unfortunately, they did not then forward the subsequent story that was Ben's campaign clarifying that he was continuing the campaign and was not canceling the campaign. And so I apologize to Ben for that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: Still he later dismissed his archival for having what he called a "Trump tantrum."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CRUZ: Trump guaranteed a victory in Iowa. And then he lost. It is no surprise that Donald is throwing yet another temper tantrum. You know, my girls are 5 and 7. And I got to tell you, Caroline and Kathryn are better behaved than a presidential candidate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: One of Trump's chief surrogates, Sarah Palin entered the fray on Facebook slamming the Cruz camp for what she called dirty politics. After sending the controversy Carson weighed in, too, revealing that Cruz had apologized to him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BEN CARSON, (R) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He could very well have not known about it. But it's obvious that that were people in his organization not only knew about it but who carried it out, who executed it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: Even though Trump is trying to make a comeback in New Hampshire, he was in Arkansas tonight, adding to the fight already on his hands, Marco Rubio announced endorsements he's picking up in Arkansas. He did that even before Trump even arrived here. Trump heads back to New Hampshire with five events on his schedule for Thursday.
Jim Acosta, CNN, Little Rock, Arkansas.
BARNETT: Now U.S. President Barack Obama responded directly to anti- Muslim rhetoric on the campaign trail by going to a mosque not too far from Washington.
CHURCH: He told the crowd they are essential to America. The president also denounced republican proposals to combat terrorism by targeting Muslims.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA PRESIDENT: We can't be bystanders to bigotry. And together we've got to show that America truly protects all faiths. Which brings me to my next point. As we protect our country from terrorism, we should not reinforce the ideas and the rhetoric of the terrorists themselves.
The best way for us to fight terrorism is to deny these organizations legitimacy and to show that here in the United States of America, we do not suppress Islam. We celebrate and lift up the success of Muslim Americans. That's how we show the lie that they're trying to propagate.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARNETT: Now Muslim leaders had been asking Mr. Obama to visit an American Islamic center to publicly reject Islamophobia. Still, though, many Muslim-Americans on social media said this visit should have happened sooner. And they are using the hash tag too late Obama online to voice that frustration.
CHURCH: While to another story we are following. Now security is being tightened the carnival in Cologne, Germany after hundreds of women were assaulted New Year's Eve.
BARNETT: Now there will be more officers on duty. Surveillance cameras will be operating and dark areas of the city will be lit.
CHURCH: Our Atika Shubert joins us now from Cologne with the details on this. So, Atika, talk to us about these boosted security measures being put in place in Cologne, and what can people attending there expect to see?
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, as you can see right there, the party's just about started. I've just received a vitsen (ph), a little kiss on the cheek. This is one of the traditions here in Cologne. And it's exactly the kind of thing that police have actually been trying to tell people about. This is going to be a huge party that's going on, but there is a lot of extra security, precisely because of those assaults.
And so, what they've been seeing now, you probably see the police car behind me. There's about 2,500 police on the streets today, that's more than double of what they had last year. They've been handing out leaflet like this which talks about security.
They are in English but also in Arabic, basically explaining what's going to be happen the extra security in place and explaining a lot of drinking will be done here and you will receive kisses like that, but it's not necessarily any invitation to anything else.
So, there are all these kinds of measures in place. And I'm going to spin around the camera here to show you something else. This here is the women's security point. You can see it there. This is really just sort of a marker. Women who feel that they, perhaps, have been assaulted or feel unsafe, can come here. They'll be brought inside the building where there are counselors, police, who can help them to the rest of the process.
So, that's what's underlining the rest of this party spirit as you can see its people move across. So, even though it is a time of celebration here, there is underneath this, this concern. The security concern.
[03:40:11] It's only 9.30 in the morning. The party's only started. Normally, this area would be partly packed with people. So, it is having an impact. The numbers are reduced here as people are concerned about their security, Rosemary.
CHURCH: Yes. And what are Germans saying about this increased security? How do they feel about this?
SHUBERT: Well, I think there is two sides to this. On the one side, people say, you know, Cologne's tradition here is carnival. It's something that goes back generations, centuries really, and they don't to give up on that tradition. So, they are insisting on coming out and celebrating it as normal.
Others however, feel that security is a big issue, ever since New Year's, and so, they are glad to see the extra numbers of police but it is still an underlying fear. And there is the sense here that has not yet been resolved and there needs to be a way to sort of draw a line under what happened the New Year's.
CHURCH: All right. Our Atika Shubert reporting there live from Cologne in Germany. It is 9.40 in the morning. The party has just begun but slowly, right? Thanks so much, Atika. I appreciate it.
BARNETT: Still to come this hour, we will take you to an oil field in Syria that was liberated from ISIS control. You will see what the militants left behind and you'll hear messages from the underground prison cells.
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BARNETT: The coalition fighting ISIS has been trying to cut off one of the main sources of income for the militants, oil fields.
CNN's international correspondent, Clarissa Ward joins us now from Erbil, Iraq to discuss this. Clarissa, bombing ISIS oil fields is actually a delicate proposition because while U.S. forces want the militants to flee, they want the fields to be viable once it's been cleared. What did you find?
CLARISSA WARD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right, Errol. Not so long ago now ISIS was making up to $500 million a year through its oil industry. That's figure really seems pretty staggering. But now, on the back of a protracted U.S. air campaign and plummeting oil prices, ISIS is actually barely in the oil industry anymore.
Take a look. Bubbling beneath this desolate landscape is the black gold that has funded the ISIS war machine. Bhad Shiro (ph) is a fighter with the Syrian democratic forces who are battling ISIS in this part of the country.
He showed us around an oil field rural Deir Ezzor that was seized from the militants two months ago.
(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
ISIS earned a lot of money from these fields, he tells us. People from all over this area came here to buy their fuel. You can still hear the hiss of gas, but the pump is no longer operational.
[03:45:02] The U.S.-led coalition has been hammering ISIS's oil, which at one time generated $40 million a month. Airstrikes have targeted refineries, pumping stations and lines of tankers waiting for gas. Shiro says the militants learned to adapt.
(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
In each field they put just one person as a cashier to sell the fuel and one tanker could come at a time, he says. They used this tactic because the planes are looking for big groups, not individuals. But Kurdish fighters and U.S. airstrikes eventually forced ISIS into retreat. All that remains now of their presence is some graffiti.
The Kurds and their Arab allies here are desperate to get the oil pumping again, but they have two major problems. Firstly, the frontlines are still just a few miles away from here. And secondly, they don't have the money or the expertise that they would need to start repairing the damage that has been done.
The trickle of oil will not become a flow for months or even longer. As ISIS fighters fled they destroyed what they could. Electric cables were cut, booby traps were laid. Only one facility was left untouched, just behind the refinery, a row of tanks turned into an underground prison.
Each cell held up to 15 people, he tells us. Among them, women and children. Written on the walls of one, a harrowing message. "I'm not afraid of dying, but I fear the tears of my loved ones." Shiro and his men are now starting to clear the wreckage left behind by ISIS. But they can't erase the terror inflicted here.
I just wanted to read you another translation from that graffiti on the inside of that cell wall. It says "Even if my eyes can't see you, my heart will not forget you." And we were told by Bhad Shiro who was showing us around that these cells were reserved for those who ISIS considered to be the worst offenders. Errol.
BARNETT: Just eerie hearing some of those messages from those underground cells. Clarissa Ward live in Erbil, Iraq for us. Approaching the day there. Clarissa, thank you.
CHURCH: And now to that major breakthrough for the Syrian government on the battlefield. Sources say Syrian regime forces have broken through a siege near the City of Aleppo. Now we can't independently confirm this video, but it purportedly shows the Syrian army fighting rebel groups.
BARNETT: Now regime forces are said to have reached key villages that were under rebel control and cut off the opposition supply route linking Aleppo to the Turkish border. Syrian government media says this ends a three and a half year siege.
CHURCH: The United Stated says attacks on Syrian civilians partially led to the temporary force of the peace talks meant to end the conflict there.
BARNETT: And the U.S. Department of State is blaming the regime of Bashar al-Assad and his backers in Russia for the growing violence.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JOHN KIRBY, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESPERSON: Today, we continue to see more Russian airstrikes in and around Aleppo. Strikes not aimed at Daesh but almost exclusively on the opposition. Strikes, which again, have led to report some civilian casualties, increased displacement of Syrian citizens, and the possible destruction of humanitarian assistance routes.
It's difficult in the extreme to see how strikes against civilian targets contribute in any way to the peace process now being explored.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARNETT: Joining me now from Washington is CNN military analyst, Colonel Cedric Leighton. Colonel, always great to have you on the program. Syria's government forces have advanced against rebels near Aleppo. This is of course, with the help of Russian air support. Meanwhile, ISIS remains, and this seems to have been the overall trend in recent months. Where do you see the status of the war on the ground right now?
CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Errol, I think it's very difficult to tell right now, because there's so many elements that are so fluid at this point. What we see is a back and forth, especially around the Aleppo area, where the Syrian government and its Russian allies have pounded the rebel positions in and around Aleppo.
And what the resulting, a view on the ground is going to be will really depend on a variety of factors. First of all, can the Russians continue to sustain their air campaign? And secondly, does the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad still have the military power to go that extra distance that it will take them to get into Aleppo and to clear that area of the rebels.
BARNETT: And on those points, Secretary Kerry has been pushing Russia to halt its air campaign against rebels, but the Russians only acknowledged that their fight against, quote, "terrorists will continue." Considering that, what kind of chance to any peace talks even have with Russia in the equation in this way?
[03:50:02] LEIGHTON: Well, I think it's very minimal at best, and this is very unfortunate, because the Russian role is not, has not been a constructive one in the peace talks so far.
Of course, they will say that they are going after terrorists, but their version of terrorists includes the forces that we support that are weighed against the Assad regime. They have not done very much against ISIS.
There have been a few instances where they have engaged ISIS or ISIS has engaged Russian forces but they have not done very much vis-a-vis ISIS and they've done a lot more against to free Syrian army and other associated rebels groups, the ones said the Gulf states that the U.S. tend to support.
BARNETT: Now, our Clarissa Ward reported from Deir Ezzor showing an ISIS oil field that the U.S. bombed. There's an airstrip we've seen in Northern Syria the U.S. has been beefing up. This sounds like progress, but have we seen the limitations of the U.S.-led air campaign? Meaning, is there more of a case now for U.S. ground troops to really turn this thing?
LEIGHTON: Well, I think if you want to turn anything like this from a military standpoint, it is very difficult to do it just from the air. And the reason I say that is air power can do a lot. It can do a lot of what they call shaping of the strategic and the tactical environments.
But beyond the shaping part, it becomes very difficult to physically move a lot of the forces that are entrenched on the ground, and that is also true not just for standing armies, but it is true for groups like ISIS as well.
And that's the prime difficulty. So, every time we go into an environment like Syria or like the fight against ISIS, we find ourselves in a situation where we really have to have several means of power at our disposal from a military perspective, and that means not only air power, but we should also be able to use ground forces when the need is necessary for them, it's necessary for them to be used.
BARNETT: CNN military analyst, Colonel Cedric Leighton, thanks for your time today.
LEIGHTON: You bet, Errol. My pleasure. Thanks for having me.
CHURCH: We will take a short break here. But still to come, in China, a top football team has signed a big-name star for the highest transfer price ever for the Chinese Super League. We will tell you why this is part of a greater government move in the sport.
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PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Ski watch across the Americas looks favorable for a few spots around the Western and in the Northwestern corner of the U.S. at least. But some winter advisories that are in place is all ahead of a storm system that comes any year. Initially on the mild side and eventually, cooler air filters in back behind.
So, I think some decent conditions going to build and certainly have been very nice in the way of snowfall in recent days across parts of Western U.S. And that looks to really continue over the next three days.
Look at this, about a foot comes down around Mt. Baker. It could be here around seven inches out of Crystal Mountain as low temperatures here, should be cold enough, at least in the overnight hours to support snow showers. Could see that mixed in with some rain while after the sun comes up across that region.
Across California, the trails all ago almost 100 percent open across the border with Zirconia, Washington State being the one lone spot that has about 96 percent of its trails open. So, the south at this point it looks like a drying trend with the storm track really remaining confined farther to the north.
So, the ski resorts again doing pretty well. Squaw Valley, one of those spots we're watching carefully about 60 percent of the trails open at this point. Packed powdery conditions there. And watching a storm system that will eventually push across the intermountain West. And as it does, could bring in Utah some snow showers.
Again, doing pretty well across these areas. Bay steps about 90 or so inches, have seen a couple of inches have come out of Alta ski resort in recent days. So, certainly improving conditions there, and we will leave you with the forecast high temperatures across this area.
[03:55:08] CHURCH: The NHL has handed down a 20-game suspension to Calgary Flames defenseman, Dennis Wideman for hitting a referee. Check out the video from last week's game against the Nashville Predators as Wideman hits linesman Don Henderson squarely in the back.
BARNETT: Gosh. He didn't even seen him coming obviously. Now, Wideman says this was an accident and he will appeal. Henderson was not seriously hurt. Wideman will forfeit more than $500,000 in salary.
CHURCH: Well, China is hoping to become a football powerhouse to someday compete for a World Cup title.
BARNETT: Yes. And our Alexandra Field tells us about the signing of this football player, the highest transfer price ever for the Chinese Super League.
ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Consider this a major coup for Chinese football and Guangzhou ever grand fans. A record-setting investment that will bring more star power to the squad. The team is shelling out $46 million for athletic Madrid's striker, Jackson Martines.
This is all part of a spending fee meant to propel the floundering Chinese Super League to greater prominence on the world stage. The push to improve the league's reputation is being led by Chinese president and football fan Xi Jinping.
CNN recently sat down with China's richest man who talked about the need to invest more in making Chinese sports bigger business.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WANG JIANLIN, DALIAN WANDA GROUP CHAIRMAN (TRANSLATED): There's basically no sports business in China at this point. And the Chinese government has just released a policy to developed the sports business. To grow into a 5 trillion renminbi business within 10 years. That is close to $800 billion U.S. and slightly larger than the current size of the sports business in the U.S. now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FIELD: The Martinez deal isn't the first big investment for the league. It follows other high profile findings. Last week, Jiangsu Sunning signed Chelsea player Ramires for 28.5 million. Before that, Shanghai Greenland Shenhua signed Fredy Guarin from Inter Milan for more than 14 million.
Martines will join up with the rest of the team at their winter training camp in Dubai before their first match after the break.
In Guangzhou, Alexandra Field, CNN.
CHURCH: And thank you so much for your company. I'm Rosemary Church.
(CROSSTALK)
BARNETT: You're welcome. Oh, lovely.
CHURCH: I'm so glad you were here.
BARNETT: All right. Well, you, too. And I'm Errol Barnett. Remember, you can connect with us on Twitter any time. Always great to hear from you.
CHURCH: Absolutely. And stay with us, the news continues on CNN. Have a great day.
BARNETT: See you.
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