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Turkey Vows Response to Deadly Attack; Desperately Needed Aid Delivered in War-Torn Syria; Cruz, Rubio, Carson Answer Voter Questions at CNN Town Hall; Sanders Wants to Model U.S. after Denmark; Pope Francis Offering Blessings in Dangerous Border Town; White House, Trump Take Sides in Apple Fight; Egypt Enhances Airport Security; Big Economic Ramifications Whether or Not U.K. Stays in E.U.; Egypt Aston Martin Auctions James Bond Car. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired February 18, 2016 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[02:00:30] ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome to our viewers all across the world. I'm Rosemary Church. This is CNN NEWSROOM.
We begin in the Turkish capital where at least 28 people were killed in an exPLOsion near a military convoy. It happened near parliament and other government buildings, and no one has claimed responsibility. Now this video caught the moment of the blast. Turkish officials say it was a car bomb. The Turkish president said, and I'm quoting here, "Our determination to respond in kind against such attacks, against our unity and future from outside and inside is even more strengthened through such attacks." He also added, "Turkey will not hesitate to use its right to self-defense any time, anywhere, and in all situations," end of quote there. Well, the blast is the latest in a series of attacks in the country.
Our senior international correspondent, Ivan Watson, has reported extensively on Turkey many years now and joins us with more on this.
Ivan, as we said, no one has claimed responsibility. But what are authorities saying about the details of this? And who they think may very well be behind this deadly attack?
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There are two main groups that Turkey is currently battling right now, Rosemary, two main armed and very determined enemies. They are ISIS, on the one hand, and the PKK, or the Kurdistan Worker's Party, on the other. ISIS has been linked to three prior deadly attacks, bombings, in July of last year in the border town of Suditch (ph), in Ankara in October of last year, and in Istanbul just last month. All suicide bombings that in total killed more than 150 people. In another battle that Turkey is battling is the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, where you have a guerrilla war that has ebbed and flows, mostly in largely Kurdish southeastern Turkey, for the better part of 30 years. And a peace process collapsed last summer, and that has led to very intense battles taking place in southeastern Turkish cities in recent months, and a flare up and spike in ethnic tensions involving the Kurds, Turkey's largest ethnic minority, which number around 20 percent of the population -- Rosemary?
CHURCH: Ivan, what impact is this having on the Turkish government, and how is it likely to respond to this?
WATSON: It's in a very difficult situation because, again, there are two determined armed foes that it is facing right now. And there are a number of domestic challenges that the Turkish government is having to deal with, the flare up in ethnic tensions, the fact that this society is largely polarized between people who love or loathe the long-serving president and prime minister, Erdogan, and then you have millions of refugees that have flooded across the border from Syria as the Syrian civil war has deteriorated over the past several years. And most recently, the apparent collapse of Turkey's policy across the border in Syria as Turkish-backed Arab rebels are basically in retreat in the face of the onslaught of Syrian government forces that are supported by Russian air strikes and Iranian and Hezbollah troops on the ground. That's made for a very complicated situation across the border in Syria. And we do see, I think, in this series of bombings that the violence in Syria has spill-over effects in Turkey -- Rosemary?
CHURCH: Ivan Watson joining us there with some perspective and some background. We do appreciate it. Many thanks.
Now to a glimmer of hope in war-torn Syria. Aid convoys reached five besieged towns on Wednesday to deliver desperately needed food and medical supplies. The U.N. says this supply was enough to help nearly 100,000 civilians. The U.N. negotiated access to seven besieged areas in all. And you can see five of them on this map in relation to the capital, Damascus. Two other towns are due to receive supplies soon.
CNN's Frederick Pleitgen traveled with one of the aid convoys.
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[02:05:14] FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: After a long time coming, the first convoys have departed central Damascus on their way to get aid to besieged areas here in Damascus area bit also other parts of Syria as well. Some of the convoys are going are near the Syrian capital, but one is also Madaya. This place shocked the world when images there showed the people were starving because they simply didn't have any food. Also, no medicine as well.
Now, the United Nations has accused the Syrian government, rebel groups, and first and foremost, ISIS, of using the denial of food and medicine as a weapon in this ongoing civil war. Some of the areas that are reached by those convoys today are in areas that are besieged by the government. Others are in areas that are besieged by rebel groups. However, one of the main areas is besieged by ISIS. What the United Nations wants to do there is air drop aid in because of course ISIS is not part of any sort of agreement to get relief to people.
Now the U.N. says this is a positive first step. But they also demand that from now on convoys be allowed to get into besieged areas to get people aid there.
Fred Pleitgen, CNN, near Madaya, Syria.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: For the first time, U.S. Republican presidential candidate, Ted Cruz, has pushed past Donald Trump in a national poll. Now, it's not a wide lead, but in the latest survey from NBC and the "Wall Street Journal," 28 percent of likely Republican primary voters support Cruz. Trump is at 26 percent. Marco Rubio trails them with 17 percent. But he just picked up the endorsement of South Carolina's Governor Nikki Haley. Now, that could help Rubio in Saturday's Republican primary there. Right now, according to the latest CNN/ORC poll, Trump is leading the state. He's up by about 16 percentage points over his nearest rival.
Meanwhile, three of the candidates had some one-on-one time with South Carolina voters at the CNN Republican town hall. And we will hear from the remaining three on Thursday. At Wednesday's event, voters got to see the candidates name calling, singing, and even agreeing with President Barack Obama.
Mary Maloney explains.
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MARY MALONEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Struggling to keep his campaign afloat, Ben Carson resurrected a line from Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential bid.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: It's 3:00 a.m., who do you want answering the phone?
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DR. BEN CARSON (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I can guarantee you, I have had more 2:00 a.m. phone calls than all the rest of them put together. Had to make life-and-death decisions.
MALONEY: Carson claimed if he was in President Obama's shoes he would nominate a Supreme Court justice in his last months in office, something the president vowed to do and Republicans promised to block.
CARSON: I would probably take the opportunity to nominate someone.
MALONEY: Marco Rubio slammed President Obama's plan to visit Cuba.
SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R-FL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: They're a repressive regime.
MALONEY: He boasted about his campaign's diverse endorsements.
RUBIO: I got the endorsement of a governor of Indian decent, who endorsed a presidential of Cuba decent, and tomorrow, we'll be campaigning alongside an African-American Republican Senator.
MALONEY: But Rubio called out fellow Cuban-American, Ted Cruz. RUBIO: I said he has been lying because if you say something that's
not true and you say it over and over again and you know it's not true there is no other word for it.
MALONEY: Cruz focused on Donald Trump saying Trump's attempts to sue him aren't serious.
SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'll confess, I laughed out loud.
MALONEY: But at one point, he broke out in the song.
(SINGING)
MALONEY: Donald Trump participated in his own town hall on MSNBC and lashed out against the latest NBC/"Wall Street Journal" poll that gives Cruz the edge.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have never done well in the Wall Street Journal poll. I think somebody at the "Wall Street Journal" doesn't like me.
MALONEY: I'm Mary Maloney, reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: We just heard what Ben Carson would do about replacing Justice Scalia. Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz answered the same question at our town hall. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: If President Obama sends up a nominee, should they get a hearing to replace Justice Scalia?
CRUZ: They should not. For 80 years, it has been the Senate and the Senate has not confirmed any nomination made during an election year. And we shouldn't make an exception now.
RUBIO: The Supreme Court can function with eight justices. Then their term will end, a new one will begin in October, and we will have an election in November. This is going to be an issue in the campaign. Voters will ask the candidates, what kind of justice are you going to appoint. There's going to be an election. And then a new president will have an opportunity to nominate someone and the Senate to confirm. That's the approach I support.
[02:10:03] CHURCH: And CNN is hosting two of the Republican town halls ahead of the crucial South Carolina primary. All six Republican presidential candidates are taking part. And our Anderson Cooper is the moderator. And you can see part one coming up again on Thursday. And part two on Friday at 11:00 a.m. in London. That's noon central European time only here on CNN.
When it comes to the Democrats, Bernie Sanders says he wants to model the U.S. after Denmark, which provides access to universal health care, free education through college, and guaranteed paid time off work. And here's what he said at debate back in October.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When you look around the world, you see every other major country providing health care to all people as a right, except the United States. And I think we should look to countries like Denmark, like Sweden, and Norway, and learn from what they have accomplished for their working people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Now, it is worth pointing out that in order to pay for those services Denmark has some of the highest tax rates in the world. But could that work in the United States?
CNN's Chris Moody investigates.
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CHRIS MOODY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Bernie Sanders has talking about Denmark for years. We came here to find out what the buzz is all about.
Most people say the United States could never be like Denmark. It's too diverse, too big. It just wouldn't work.
BO LIDEGAARD, EXECUTIVE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, POLITIKEN: It's not a paradise or a society free of conflict or social tension. But it is a society where the government takes care of Social Security, health and education, and this is free for all.
ANDERS AGNER PEDERSEN, EDITOR, KONGRESSEN.COM; The whole part about what kind of role government plays and the whole level of taxes is so different compared to what we do, compared to what you do. So in that sense, it's hard to see that the Danish model could be completely transformed into an American scale, at least not without a massive political fight.
LARS CHRISTENSEN, DANISH ECONOMIST: I think this system is possible because we essentially are all the same. Maybe if you wanted to introduce such a scheme in Utah, then you could do some of that. But doing it across the U.S., I find it completely and utterly impossible just for the sheer fact that Americans are so different.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: There you go.
Pope Francis celebrates mass in a Mexican town plagued by violence. Still to come, his special gesture for peoples affected across the border.
Plus, the debate over a judge's order against Apple. The tech company's CEO vows to fight, saying privacy should not be traded for national security. We'll explain on the other side of the break. Stay with us.
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[02:16:57] CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. U.S. President Barack Obama will visit Cuba next month according to sources with knowledge of the plan. The White House is expected to formally announce the long-expected trip just hours from now. The visit is a culmination of months of work to restore relations between the two countries. Mr. Obama's administration broke the half-century diplomatic freeze between the two nations last year.
Pope Francis is flying back to Rome right now after his five-day Mexican tour. He got a warm farewell from children who rushed to hug him as he walked to his plane on Wednesday. The pope spent his final day in Ciudad Juarez, a city just south of the U.S. border. Earlier in the day, his blessed inmates in a prison before celebrating mass. He spoke out against the conditions migrants face as they cross into the U.S.
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POPE FRANCIS (through translation): One step, a journey laden with terrible injustices, enslaved, imprisoned, extorted. So many of these are brothers and sisters who are the consequence of the human beings and the trading people. We cannot deny the humanitarian crisis, which in recent years has led to migration of thousands of people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: John Allen is CNN's senior Vatican analyst and associated editor of Catholic news site, Crux, and he joins me now to talk more about the pope's five-day trip to Mexico.
Thank you so much for being with us.
So, of course, Pope Francis has wrapped up his trip. He is now winging his way back to Rome. But what all did he achieve, particularly when he celebrated mass do you remember near the U.S.- Mexico border.
JOHN ALLEN, CNN SENIOR VATICAN ANALYST: Rosemary, clearly, the decision to come to the U.S.-Mexican border was -- the Vatican always says these trips are pastoral, about the pope exercising spiritual and religious leadership. Obviously, there was a political subtext to a great deal of this trip and, in particular, his decision to end it by coming to Ciudad Juarez on the U.S./Mexican border, which was calculated as a statement about immigrant rights. In the homily, in the mass he celebrated on the final day of his trip, basically, his swan song, he talked about the human tragedy that immigrants often face and the need for societies to show compassion and welcome and acceptance to these people. In particular, the need compassion and aid for families who are separated. Now, whether any of that, Rosemary, is going to actually result in
concrete political change, in particular, and whether it will produce immigration reform in 2016 in the United States where the country is already wrap up in the presidential elections, remains to be seen. Clearly, Francis thought this was a statement that was important enough that he wanted to end this trip by making it.
[02:20:12] CHURCH: Interesting that you mention the political race, because U.S. presidential candidate, Donald Trump, criticized the pope's plan to visit the U.S./Mexico border and accused the pope of being too political and not understanding immigration issues in the U.S. But the Vatican was quick to respond saying he's not political. But your sense is that he was making a political statement here?
ALLEN: Yeah, you know, typically, the Vatican would let that kind of thing roll off its back. In this case, they obviously felt it was important to respond. A Vatican spokesperson called Trump's comments very strange, saying that the people is concerned with the fate of migrants and refugees all around the world, not just in the United States and Mexico. And they added that he routinely makes these kinds of comments to leaders in Europe, saying that Trump might realize that if he ever got over to Europe.
CHURCH: John, yesterday, we ran footage of Pope Francis losing his temper with an overly eager fan in the crowd who pulled him down onto a young man in a wheelchair. It is unusual to see a pope lose his composure in public, despite it being a part of the human condition, of course. But how likely is it that he regrets that incident, or would he see it as a perfectly real moment?
ALLEN: You know, I'm skeptical, Rosemary, that he would regret it particularly. I think it's striking that that footage is playing out at the same time that we have a story about letters between the late Pope John Paul II, now St. John Paul II, and a polish immigrant in the United States, a woman, in which there is a suggestion that although John Paul certainly never violated his vows of celibacy, he may have harbored some romantic feelings to this woman. I think both of these stories taken together make a very simple point, Rosemary, which is that popes are people, too. I think probably both John Paul and Pope Francis would have been the first to concede that. And if these two things coming at the same time have brought that point home, I don't think they would regret that at all.
CHURCH: Breaking news, popes are human, too, right?
(LAUGHTER)
John Allen, thank you for joining us. Appreciate it.
ALLEN: You bet.
CHURCH: Well, the pope's mass in Ciudad Juarez included a cross- border blessing for the people standing on the U.S. side. The moment brought attention to the plight of migrants and victims of violence as we've been reporting.
Ed Lavandera has the story of a man who received the papal blessing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CARLOS GUTIERREZ, LOST LEGS IN ATTACK IN MEXICO: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Carlos Gutierrez finds peace on a bicycle rolling past El Paso's desert landscape. It might not seem like a big deal, but when you hear his story, you will realize he's lucky to ride.
Five years ago, Carlos Gutierrez was a successful business man in Mexico, a comfortable life with his wife and two sons. Until he says two dirty police officers started demanding money. The extortion demands went on for a year, until he couldn't afford the pay any more. The cops made him pay with his legs. Then he told Carlos they would cut off his sons' heads next.
GUTIERREZ: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
LAVANDERA (on camera): The three men that attacked him chopped his legs off with an ax. And he says almost five years later that that's a sensation and a feeling that he still feels. That sometimes he feels like his legs are still being chopped at and cut.
(voice-over): After the attack, Gutierrez left Mexico to seek asylum in the United States, and with the gift of prosthetic legs, started riding a bike. And he hasn't stopped. So we joined him.
(on camera): Carlos says it was riding a bike out here after he got his prosthetic leg that made him feel free again and able to do whatever it's wanted. That's why he started riding and riding and riding, miles and miles.
(voice-over): "This is my great therapy," he tells me as we coast over rolling hills.
Gutierrez will enjoy a special moment when Pope Francis visits Juarez and walks to the border to help highlight the plight of migrants and the victims of Mexican violence. Gutierrez is part of a small group that will stand on the border's edge and look into Mexico for a blessing from Pope Francis.
GUTIERREZ: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
LAVANDERA: And that is why Carlos Gutierrez is hopeful about what lies on the road ahead for his family.
Ed Lavandera, CNN, El Paso, Texas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[02:25:22] CHURCH: An extraordinary story there.
We'll take a short break here. But still to come, the privacy battle broadens between tech companies and the U.S. government. Why Apple's CEO says he won't help authorities hack into a terrorist's iPhone. And why it matters for you.
It has been more than three months since a Russian plane departed from the Sharm el Sheik Airport in Egypt before it was blown up in the sky. CNN shows you exclusively what the airplane has done to improve security there.
Back in a moment.
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CHURCH: Welcome back. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Rosemary Church.
Want to update you on the main stories we are following this hour.
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[02:30:48] CHURCH: A fight is brewing between the U.S. government and one of the world's biggest tech companies. Apple's CEO is angry over a federal judge's order to help authorities unlock a terrorist's iPhone. Now, the White House and Donald Trump are taking sides.
Laurie Segall reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAURIE SEGALL, CNN MONEY TECH CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a move Apple CEO Tim Cook is calling unprecedented and a threat to security of customers. A judge is ordering Apple to help the FBI break into a cell phone used by one of the San Bernardino shooters. The FBI are asking Apple to deactivate an iPhone security feature that locks out users and erases the phone's data after the wrong password is entered 10 times. Cook says that would mean building a new operating system with potential to unlock any iPhone. He says if the FBI could use it as a back door into your phone, hackers could, too.
He has spoken openly about this in the past.
TIM COOK, CEO, APPLE: There have been people that suggested we should have a back door. The reality is, if you put a back door in, that back door's for everybody, good guys and bad guys.
CHARLIE ROSE, PBS HOST: Helps me understand how you get through the government's dilemma.
COOK: I don't believe that the trade-off here is privacy versus security.
SEGALL: Today, the White House spokesman disputed it would open the door to all phones.
JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECURITY: They are not asking Apple to redesign its product or to create a new back door to one of their products. They are simply asking for something that would have an impact on this one device. SEGALL: Using other means like cell phone tower data, the FBI has
been able to extract location data from the shooter's phone. They are hoping to gather more valuable information.
But security experts say this particular move could have implications for regular civilians.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This basically reduces the security over all iPhone devices and platforms and it wouldn't be the most secure platform out there today.
SEGALL: Putting Apple in between the fight against terrorism and the fight against hackers. Given Apple's choice, it's now facing not just a legal fight but a reputation battle that has even hit the campaign trail.
TRUMP (voice-over): But to think Apple won't allow us to get into their cell phone. Who do they think they are? We have to open it up. This is one case, and this is a case that certainly we should be able to get into the phone.
RUBIO: If you pass a law in the U.S. that says we don't allow encryption or we have to provide back doors, there is already existing encrypted software that will continue to remain in place. And we can't control what foreign countries, what is designed in other countries.
SEGALL: Bringing center stage on an election year a debate on privacy versus protection, more relevant than ever in the digital age.
Laurie Segall, CNN Money.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Google's CEO is defending Apple. He says he understands the need to protect the public but sent some tweets saying, "We build secure products to make your information safe and we give data to law enforcement based on valid legal orders. But that's wholly different than requiring companies to enable hacking of customer devices and date. Could be a troubling precedent," he says.
A hospital in Los Angeles says it was forced to pay a $17,000 ransom after a hacker locked up their computer system. Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center says the hacker locked up the system with malware and demanded money. The hospital's president says the quickest and most efficient way to restore the system was to pay the ransom and get the decryption key.
Well, Egypt is urging the United Kingdom and Russia to resume flights to and from the Sharm El Sheik Airport. Flights have been suspended since October when a Russian plane blew up over the Sinai Peninsula shortly after takeoff.
CNN has been granted exclusive access to the security operations there. And our Ian Lee joins us live now from Cairo.
Ian, talk to us about the security system.
IAN LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rosemary, I was just in Sharm, and the city literally is ghost town. That's because three-quarters of the tourists who normally would be there physically can't make it because their countries have banned flights. Now that has left Egypt, the city, actually, losing $300 million a month. That's why Egyptian officials are so keen to show what they say is tough security at the airport. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[02:35:22] LEE (voice-over): The remains of Metro Jet 9268. 224 passengers and crew perished in Egypt's Sinai. Russia, the U.S. and the U.K. blamed terrorism. ISIS claimed responsibility. Egypt says the investigation is still underway. Experts scrutinized security at the departing airport in Sharm El Sheik. Moscow and London banned flights. Three months later, Egypt's south Sinai governor insists it's time to resume flights.
"We've completed all the security measures that should be in place at the airport and the city," he says. "The ball is now in the court of the countries to resume flights."
Airport officials say the screening process is more rigorous. Every passenger receives a thorough pat-down, even employees and security personnel, unlike before. 20 percent of bags receive a random search. Officials doubled the number of security personnel. Bomb-sniffing dogs now patrol from the entrance to baggage handling. And more cameras monitor every movement.
The few passengers still flying expect long lines.
The new measures are meant to prevent a bomb, like this homemade bomb that ISIS says blew up the Russian plane. Recent reports suggest an airport employee smuggled in the explosive.
"Every employee has been screened and investigated," the governor tells me, "but no one has been arrested. No Egyptian has been held responsible for this as has been reported. I completely refute all reports."
Officials say everything now entering the service entrance is scanned as well.
(on camera): One of the new security measures since the October crash that we can't show are you the army Special Forces that not only secure inside the airport, but also around it.
(voice-over): Russia's minister of transport commented on the situation Saturday saying, "It depends on the Egyptian side. When they create necessary conditions that will meet the safety requirements, we will check them, make sure, and then resume the flights immediately."
Egypt says it's ready to go. Now it needs to convince others to get on board. (END VIDEOTAPE)
LEE: Rosemary, a British firm is also looking at the security measures not only at Sharm El Sheik but also at airports around Egypt. Traveling through the airport -- I've done it a number of times. When I went last time, I noticed an increase in security not just when I was doing the story but when I was trafficking. But I'm not a security expert. It is going to be up to British and Russian security experts whether or not they are happy with the new measures.
CHURCH: Ian, while Egypt insists the country is safe and secure, it's also cracking down on those who monitor the security services. What can you tell us about that?
LEE: Egyptian officials just announced that they have ordered the closure of the Nadime Center (ph), one of the premiere NGOs that monitors torture, also monitors people who are forcibly disappeared, which is when the police allegedly take someone and hold them in a prison or somewhere else and their families and no one knows where they go. Well, this center has been around since 1993. It has monitored a lot of cases. Just recently, it released a report that said just last year alone roughly 500 people died in police custody and also documented 700 cases of torture.
And so this has been seen as a very political movement by the government to shut down the center, although the Egyptian government is saying that it has violated some regulations of the Ministry of Health, although those regulations haven't been specified.
CHURCH: All right. Ian Lee reporting there live from Cairo. Many thanks to you. We'll talk again next hour.
Today is the day. Talks will begin soon in Brussels over whether Britain should remain a part of the European Union. We'll have that in just a moment. Stay with us.
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[02:42:46] CHURCH: Today marks the start of a long haul for British lawmakers as the country decides whether to remain a part of the European Union. Leaders from 28 E.U. countries will be in Brussels to decide whether to negotiate a deal to persuade U.K. voters to stay. But a new report says four countries already oppose part of that deal and the referendum is not until June.
Former European Commission president, Jose Manuel Barroso, says he thinks Britain will stay.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSE MANUEL BARROSO, FORMER EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT: Recently, there were some concerns also expressed, namely from sources from France and Germany, regarding some kind of guarantees that British may like to have for the financial sector because of the very special position of London as a very important financial place. So let's hope that this will not derail the overall atmosphere. Because one thing I know, all the other countries very much want Britain to remain in European Union, including some that don't like this kind of agreement, for instance, Poland. But they want Britain to be part of the European Union, so if there is reason on all sides, a solution can and should be found.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Whether Britain chooses to stay or leave the European Union, the economic ramifications could be big.
CNN Money European editor, Nina dos Santos, reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN MONEY EUROPEAN EDITOR (voice-over): Crisscrossing the continent shaking hands and at times showing his teeth --
DAVID CAMERON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: We want to have a Europe where we are not subsumed into a super state but we can be proud and independent.
DOS SANTOS: -- David Cameron has plowed on in his efforts to get reform at the E.U. concessions that he hopes will persuade the country to stay in the union on its own terms.
CAMERON: We want a Europe that is competitive. We want a Europe that respects our currency and that treats us fairly.
DOS SANTOS: Behind the scenes and in front of the cameras, experts have begun to lay the troubles on the table, acting out how a British exit, or Brexit, would play out in complex negotiations. It isn't pretty.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is not as of the 1st of July you would be out. You would be out once you come to an agreement with the European Union.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Euro is going to be a disaster.
[02:45:10] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You are not going to be saved in a kind of Noah's ark.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is an absolutely devastating decision Britain has taken.
DOS SANTOS (voice-over): The E.U. is the U.K.'s biggest export market, taking in 44 percent of its goods and services every year. That share has been dwindling over the past decades. What's more, the U.K. runs a deficit with Europe and a trade surplus with other faster- growing economies, which is why some suggest the nation could afford to go it alone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have people at either ends of the debates, some desperate to leave, some desperate to stay. Most people try to find what is actually in Britain's long-term interest. DOS SANTOS (voice-over): But leaving the E.U. could cost the country
dear. Up to 3 percent of its GDP, according to some surveys, as tree trade deals become void and tariffs return.
Goldman Sachs reckons the pound could plunge 20 percent.
For the rest of the E.U., a U.K. department wouldn't just mean lost growth. It could set up a dangerous precedent for others eyeing the exit door.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A Brexit is dangerous because it is the first time the right of cessation would occur, and it is a bad signal.
DOS SANTOS: Which mean, either way, this referendum won't just redefine Britain's relationship with its neighbors but test the tie that binds the whole block.
Nina dos Santos, CNN Money, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Let's take a short break. Still to come, $2 million for a car you can't even take for a drive. We will show you what makes this ride so special.
Plus, a strange intruder is menacing one Australian town. We'll tell you all about their battle with massive tumble weeds.
Back in a moment.
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(WEATHER REPORT)
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[02:50:45] CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. Fresh off the warmest year on record, January 2016 has now just set another dubious record.
We have Derek Van Dam joining us here in the studio to talk more about this, our resident meteorologist.
What's the record?
DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: The dubious record. January 2016 decided it would piggyback on the entire 2015 and say, you know what, we'll be the warmest month on record.
CHURCH: I don't have a problem with that.
VAN DAM: You don't have a problem with that.
(LAUGHTER)
A lot of people don't. But we have to believe this is not normal for planet, right? I want to show you a couple of things. A lot of people have to go
back to January -- you will be asking me, Derek, what gives? You keep talking about the extreme cold in China. Remember Beijing? They had their coldest record low temperatures that they hadn't seen since 30 years ago. And remember the extensive coverage on the record-breaking snowstorm along the east coast of the United States in January? People tend to fixate on those. But these extreme climatic events aren't enough to combat the strength of the warm air across the plan net the entire month of January.
So let's compare the differences between NASA and NOAA, two very reputable sources across North America. They average the temperature throughout the world and come up with these results. They both agree it was the warmest January on record. In fact, the ninth consecutive monthly record set with warmth. There are minor discrepancies here, minor differences. NASA claims this is actually the warmest month on record with 1.13 degrees Celsius above average. NOAA says it's actually the second-warmest month on record. What gives? Another one of those splitting hairs-type situations. But the point I want you to get coming out of all this information is that it has been extremely warm. And we are setting records across the world. If we look at the warmest month since 1880 when records were set, they come in the past four months.
Now take a look at the hot spots throughout the world. The eastern section of South America, the northern half of North America. We have Senegal, which, in fact, this is the warmest temperature in the northern hemisphere in January, roughly 43. In South Africa, for all my family and friends down there, we had the warmest temperature in the southern hemisphere near Uppington, 46.6 degrees Celsius. That's extremely hot. We look towards the western U.S., we're setting records. Possible 23 record-high temperatures in the U.S. today alone. That heat is eventually going to shift further and further eastwards as well. Australia, you've had your fair share of warmth. Look at what the warm temperatures happened to bring to this small town in Victoria. We're used to tumble weeds in Texas but Australia has got a leg up on these guys. Imagine coming home to something like this. Having to clear out your front garden. Eight hours of work for these guys. Tumble weeds blanketing their garage door, their porch. It's a nuisance. We think it is interesting and provides some great visuals. Clue the western movie or the cliche western movie. Really, this has been quite a nuisance for these individuals, and it keeps blowing up onto their porches.
CHURCH: Very different look to the tumble weeds Americans are used to.
VAN DAM: Yes, that's right. I think they look less nimble, smaller.
CHURCH: Lots of fluff.
Thank you. We'll talk to you next hour. Appreciate it.
VAN DAM: Thanks, Rosemary. All right.
CHURCH: Well, Aston Martin is hoping to raise a pretty penny for charity by auctioning off a piece of movie history. The company is offering a thrilling ride, a car driven by none other than James Bond in the new film "Spectre."
Kelly Morgan checked it out.
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KELLY MORGAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Aston Martin DB 10, it could only be one man's car.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The DB 10 that we are selling it's one of 10 that was made specifically for the film.
MORGAN: But this is the only one that's for sale, the featured piece of an auction of 24 props from the latest Bond film "Spectre."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Magnificent, isn't she? Zero to 60 in 3.2 seconds.
[02:55:] MORGAN: Aston Martin is synonymous with Bond, the current choice for the spy for 50 years. This one is special, it's designed by Daniel Cray himself and comes complete with an eject button.
(on camera): How much do you expect to get?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The auction estimate is 1.5 million pounds but we've had enormous interest already from across the world.
MORGAN (voice-over): That's around $2 million, quite a sum, given whoever parts with the cash won't be able to drive the car.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's not roadworthy. So it can be driven on a private estate or on a racetrack.
MORGAN (on camera): At least whoever buys the Bond car will appreciate it. In the film, Bond destroys the DB 10 within minutes when he ditches it in the tiger river in Rome. He also shows little respects for another profit off of her, the Tom Ford white Hennisey (ph).
(voice-over): The suit has a minimum price tag of almost $29,000.
Also on the block, a token of villainy. This "Spectre" ring is expected to tell for between $5,000 and $9,000. It was worn by Bond's nemesis.
The auction itself has only good intentions, though, with the proceeds destined for charity.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What's really important to production and the whole team is to actually give something back, which this auction does in such a special way.
MORGAN: Kelly Morgan, CNN, London. (END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: A lot of money, but all for a good cause.
And you are watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Rosemary Church.
Do remember to keep in touch on Twitter any time, @Rosemary/CNN.
Coming up next, all the top stories from around the world.
Do stay with us.
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[02:59:51] CHURCH: Turkey vows to find the attackers after a car bomb killed at least 28 people in the capitol.
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